bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Incoherent non-Hermitian skin effect in photonic quantum walks
Authors: Longhi Stefano 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe non-Hermitian skin effect describes the concentration of an extensive number of eigenstates near the boundaries of certain dissipative systems. This phenomenon has raised a huge interest in different areas of physics, including photonics, deeply expanding our understanding of non-Hermitian systems and opening up new avenues in both fundamental and applied aspects of topological phenomena. The skin effect has been associated to a nontrivial point-gap spectral topology and has been experimentally demonstrated in a variety of synthetic matter systems, including photonic lattices. In most of physical models exhibiting the non-Hermitian skin effect full or partial wave coherence is generally assumed. Here we push the concept of skin effect into the fully incoherent regime and show that rather generally (but not universally) the non-Hermitian skin effect persists under dephasing dynamics. The results are illustrated by considering incoherent light dynamics in non-Hermitian photonic quantum walks.
TMEM9 promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression via activating the MEK/ERK/STAT3 pathway to induce VEGF expression
Authors: Wang Zhiqian , Zhao Peng , Tian Kaihua , Qiao Zhongshi , Dong Hao , Li Jie , Guan Zitong , Su Hui , Song Yang , Ma Xuezhen 
Published: April 2024

AbstractAbnormal Transmembrane protein 9 (TMEM9) expression has been identified in various human tumors. However, the prognostic potential and mechanistic role of TMEM9 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain unclear. Here, we first found a significant upregulation of TMEM9 in LUAD tissues, and TMEM9 expression was positively correlated with microvessel density (MVD), T stage, and clinical stage. Survival analysis demonstrated TMEM9 was an independent indicator of poor prognosis in LUAD patients. In addition, downregulation of TMEM9 suppressed tumor growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo models, and reduced HUVEC proliferation, migration, and tube formation in a cancer cell/HUVEC coculture model. Furthermore, TMEM9 upregulated VEGF expression, and VEGF-neutralizing antibodies reversed HUVEC angiogenesis and cancer cell migration ability caused by overexpression of TMEM9. In contrast, recombinant VEGF (rVEGF) abolished the inhibitory effect of TMEM9-knockdown LUAD cells on HUVEC angiogenesis and tumor cell migration. Moreover, we showed that TMEM9 upregulated VEGF expression by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/STAT3 (MEK/ERK/STAT3) pathway. Together, our study provides mechanistic insights into the role of TMEM9 in LUAD and highlights the potential of targeting the TMEM9/MEK/ERK/STAT3/VEGF pathway as a novel therapy for preventing LUAD progression.
PICK1 inhibits the malignancy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and serves as a novel prognostic marker
Authors: Ou Xiaomin , Zhang Yingzi , Xu Yiqing , Liu Yi , Tu Wenzhi , Hu Chaosu , Liu Yong 
Published: April 2024

AbstractAlthough many important advances have been made in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in recent years, local recurrence and distant metastasis remain the main factors affecting NPC prognosis. Biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of NPC need to be urgently identified. Here, we used whole-exon sequencing (WES) to determine whether PICK1 mutations are associated with the prognosis of NPC. Functionally, PICK1 inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of NPC cells both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, PICK1 inhibited the expression of proteins related to the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. PICK1 restrained the nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and accelerated the degradation of β-catenin through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The reduced PICK1 levels were significantly associated with poor patient prognosis. Hence, our study findings reveal the mechanism by which PICK1 inactivates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, thereby inhibiting the progression of NPC. They support PICK1 as a potential tumor suppressor and prognostic marker for NPC.
Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics
Authors: Jung Yeongju , Kwon Kangkyu , Lee Jinwoo , Ko Seung Hwan 
Published: April 2024

AbstractSoft actuators produce the mechanical force needed for the functional movements of soft robots, but they suffer from critical drawbacks since previously reported soft actuators often rely on electrical wires or pneumatic tubes for the power supply, which would limit the potential usage of soft robots in various practical applications. In this article, we review the new types of untethered soft actuators that represent breakthroughs and discuss the future perspective of soft actuators. We discuss the functional materials and innovative strategies that gave rise to untethered soft actuators and deliver our perspective on challenges and opportunities for future-generation soft actuators.
Disordered clock protein interactions and charge blocks turn an hourglass into a persistent circadian oscillator
Authors: Jankowski Meaghan S. , Griffith Daniel , Shastry Divya G. , Pelham Jacqueline F. , Ginell Garrett M. , Thomas Joshua , Karande Pankaj , Holehouse Alex S. , Hurley Jennifer M. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractOrganismal physiology is widely regulated by the molecular circadian clock, a feedback loop composed of protein complexes whose members are enriched in intrinsically disordered regions. These regions can mediate protein-protein interactions via SLiMs, but the contribution of these disordered regions to clock protein interactions had not been elucidated. To determine the functionality of these disordered regions, we applied a synthetic peptide microarray approach to the disordered clock protein FRQ in Neurospora crassa. We identified residues required for FRQ’s interaction with its partner protein FRH, the mutation of which demonstrated FRH is necessary for persistent clock oscillations but not repression of transcriptional activity. Additionally, the microarray demonstrated an enrichment of FRH binding to FRQ peptides with a net positive charge. We found that positively charged residues occurred in significant “blocks” within the amino acid sequence of FRQ and that ablation of one of these blocks affected both core clock timing and physiological clock output. Finally, we found positive charge clusters were a commonly shared molecular feature in repressive circadian clock proteins. Overall, our study suggests a mechanistic purpose for positive charge blocks and yielded insights into repressive arm protein roles in clock function.
Establishing superfine nanofibrils for robust polyelectrolyte artificial spider silk and powerful artificial muscles
Authors: He Wenqian , Wang Meilin , Mei Guangkai , Liu Shiyong , Khan Abdul Qadeer , Li Chao , Feng Danyang , Su Zihao , Bao Lili , Wang Ge , Liu Enzhao , Zhu Yutian , Bai Jie , Zhu Meifang , Zhou Xiang , Liu Zunfeng 
Published: April 2024

AbstractSpider silk exhibits an excellent combination of high strength and toughness, which originates from the hierarchical self-assembled structure of spidroin during fiber spinning. In this work, superfine nanofibrils are established in polyelectrolyte artificial spider silk by optimizing the flexibility of polymer chains, which exhibits combination of breaking strength and toughness ranging from 1.83 GPa and 238 MJ m−3 to 0.53 GPa and 700 MJ m−3, respectively. This is achieved by introducing ions to control the dissociation of polymer chains and evaporation-induced self-assembly under external stress. In addition, the artificial spider silk possesses thermally-driven supercontraction ability. This work provides inspiration for the design of high-performance fiber materials.
Magnetically propagating Hund’s exciton in van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS3
Authors: He W. , Shen Y. , Wohlfeld K. , Sears J. , Li J. , Pelliciari J. , Walicki M. , Johnston S. , Baldini E. , Bisogni V. , Mitrano M. , Dean M. P. M. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractMagnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials have opened new frontiers for realizing novel many-body phenomena. Recently NiPS3has received intense interest since it hosts an excitonic quasiparticle whose properties appear to be intimately linked to the magnetic state of the lattice. Despite extensive studies, the electronic character, mobility, and magnetic interactions of the exciton remain unresolved. Here we address these issues by measuring NiPS3with ultra-high energy resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). We find that Hund’s exchange interactions are primarily responsible for the energy of formation of the exciton. Measuring the dispersion of the Hund’s exciton reveals that it propagates in a way that is analogous to a double-magnon. We trace this unique behavior to fundamental similarities between the NiPS3exciton hopping and spin exchange processes, underlining the unique magnetic characteristics of this novel quasiparticle.
Multiple hydrogen-bonding induced nonconventional red fluorescence emission in hydrogels
Authors: Wu Jiayu , Wang Yuhuan , Jiang Pan , Wang Xiaolong , Jia Xin , Zhou Feng 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe development of unconventional long-wavelength fluorescent polymer hydrogels without using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or extended π-conjugation is a fundamental challenge in luminescent materials owing to a lack of understanding regarding the spatial interactions induced inherent clustering-triggered emission under water-rich conditions. Inspired by the color change of protein astaxanthin as a result of heat-induced denaturation, we propose a thermodynamically driven strategy to develop red fluorescence (~610 nm) by boiling multiple hydrogen-bonded poly(N-acryloylsemicarbazide) hydrogels in a water bath. We reveal that thermodynamically driven conformational changes of polymer chains from isolated hydrogen bonding donor-acceptor structures to through-space interaction structures induce intrinsic fluorescence shifts from blue to red during clustering-triggered emission. The proposed multiple hydrogen-bonding supramolecular hydrogel shows good fluorescence stability, mechanical robustness, and 3D printability for customizable shaping. We provide a viable method to prepare nonconventional long-wavelength fluorescent hydrogels towards soft fluorescent devices without initially introducing any fluorescent components.
Persistent TFIIH binding to non-excised DNA damage causes cell and developmental failure
Authors: Muniesa-Vargas Alba , Davó-Martínez Carlota , Ribeiro-Silva Cristina , van der Woude Melanie , Thijssen Karen L. , Haspels Ben , Häckes David , Kaynak Ülkem U. , Kanaar Roland , Marteijn Jurgen A. , Theil Arjan F. , Kuijten Maayke M. P. , Vermeulen Wim , Lans Hannes 
Published: April 2024

AbstractCongenital nucleotide excision repair (NER) deficiency gives rise to several cancer-prone and/or progeroid disorders. It is not understood how defects in the same DNA repair pathway cause different disease features and severity. Here, we show that the absence of functional ERCC1-XPF or XPG endonucleases leads to stable and prolonged binding of the transcription/DNA repair factor TFIIH to DNA damage, which correlates with disease severity and induces senescence features in human cells. In vivo, in C. elegans, this prolonged TFIIH binding to non-excised DNA damage causes developmental arrest and neuronal dysfunction, in a manner dependent on transcription-coupled NER. NER factors XPA and TTDA both promote stable TFIIH DNA binding and their depletion therefore suppresses these severe phenotypical consequences. These results identify stalled NER intermediates as pathogenic to cell functionality and organismal development, which can in part explain why mutations in XPF or XPG cause different disease features than mutations in XPA or TTDA.
Ultrastructural localization of Porphyromonas gingivalis gingipains in the substantia nigra of Parkinson’s disease brains
Authors: Ermini Florian , Low Victoria F. , Song Jennifer J. , Tan Adelie Y. S. , Faull Richard L. M. , Dragunow Michael , Curtis Maurice A. , Dominy Stephen S. 
Published: April 2024

AbstractGingipains are protease virulence factors produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis, a Gram-negative bacterium best known for its role in chronic periodontitis. Gingipains were recently identified in the middle temporal gyrus of postmortem Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains, where gingipain load correlated with AD diagnosis and tau and ubiquitin pathology. Since AD and Parkinson’s disease (PD) share some overlapping pathologic features, including nigral pathology and Lewy bodies, the current study explored whether gingipains are present in the substantia nigra pars compacta of PD brains. In immunohistochemical techniques and multi-channel fluorescence studies, gingipain antigens were abundant in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of both PD and neurologically normal control brains. 3-dimensional reconstructions of Lewy body containing neurons revealed that gingipains associated with the periphery of alpha-synuclein aggregates but were occasionally observed inside aggregates. In vitro proteomic analysis demonstrated that recombinant alpha-synuclein is cleaved by lysine-gingipain, generating multiple alpha-synuclein fragments including the non-amyloid component fragments. Immunogold electron microscopy with co-labeling of gingipains and alpha-synuclein confirmed the occasional colocalization of gingipains with phosphorylated (pSER129) alpha-synuclein. In dopaminergic neurons, gingipains localized to the perinuclear cytoplasm, neuromelanin, mitochondria, and nucleus. These data suggest that gingipains localize in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and interact with alpha-synuclein.
The relationship between prescription rates of oral corticosteroids for respiratory diseases and deprivation in England
Authors: Barker Erin , Pocock Jessica , Moss Joe , Hex Nick , Rankin Jordan , Hudson Richard 
Published: April 2024

AbstractRespiratory diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are common in England with the worst respiratory outcomes observed in the most deprived areas. There is limited published research to establish whether the rate of oral corticosteroid (OCS) prescribing for asthma and COPD is linked to levels of deprivation. This study carried out a multivariable regression analysis of publicly available data and found that deprivation is associated with a statistically significant increase in the proportion of patients receiving an OCS prescription for asthma or COPD at a GP practice level (p < 0.001). The model estimated that the proportion of prescriptions is 1.88% (95% CI 1.83% to 1.92%) and 2.84% (95% CI 2.70% to 2.98%) for the least deprived GP practice and the most deprived GP practice, respectively. This study lays the groundwork for future research using individual patient level data to consider the impact of variation in OCS prescribing rates.
Normative volumes and relaxation times at 3T during brain development
Authors: Romascano David , Piredda Gian Franco , Caneschi Samuele , Hilbert Tom , Corredor Ricardo , Maréchal Bénédicte , Kober Tobias , Ledoux Jean-Baptiste , Fornari Eleonora , Hagmann Patric , Denervaud Solange 
Published: April 2024

AbstractWhile research has unveiled and quantified brain markers of abnormal neurodevelopment, clinicians still work with qualitative metrics for MRI brain investigation. The purpose of the current article is to bridge the knowledge gap between case-control cohort studies and individual patient care. Here, we provide a unique dataset of seventy-three 3-to-17 years-old healthy subjects acquired with a 6-minute MRI protocol encompassing T1 and T2 relaxation quantitative sequence that can be readily implemented in the clinical setting; MP2RAGE for T1 mapping and the prototype sequence GRAPPATINI for T2 mapping. White matter and grey matter volumes were automatically quantified. We further provide normative developmental curves based on these two imaging sequences; T1, T2 and volume normative ranges with respect to age were computed, for each ROI of a pediatric brain atlas. This open-source dataset provides normative values allowing to position individual patients acquired with the same protocol on the brain maturation curve and as such provides potentially useful quantitative biomarkers facilitating precise and personalized care.
Development and validation of a smartwatch algorithm for differentiating physical activity intensity in health monitoring
Authors: Chen Daixi , Du Yuchen , Liu Yuan , Hong Jun , Yin Xiaojian , Zhu Zhuoting , Wang Jingjing , Zhang Junyao , Chen Jun , Zhang Bo , Du Linlin , Yang Jinliuxing , He Xiangui , Xu Xun 
Published: April 2024

AbstractTo develop and validate a machine learning based algorithm to estimate physical activity (PA) intensity using the smartwatch with the capacity to record PA and determine outdoor state. Two groups of participants, including 24 adults (13 males) and 18 children (9 boys), completed a sequential activity trial. During each trial, participants wore a smartwatch, and energy expenditure was measured using indirect calorimetry as gold standard. The support vector machine algorithm and the least squares regression model were applied for the metabolic equivalent (MET) estimation using raw data derived from the smartwatch. Exercise intensity was categorized based on MET values into sedentary activity (SED), light activity (LPA), moderate activity (MPA), and vigorous activity (VPA). The classification accuracy was evaluated using area under the ROC curve (AUC). The METs estimation accuracy were assessed via the mean absolute error (MAE), the correlation coefficient, Bland–Altman plots, and intraclass correlation (ICC). A total of 24 adults aged 21–34 years and 18 children aged 9–13 years participated in the study, yielding 1790 and 1246 data points for adults and children respectively for model building and validation. For adults, the AUC for classifying SED, MVPA, and VPA were 0.96, 0.88, and 0.86, respectively. The MAE between true METs and estimated METs was 0.75 METs. The correlation coefficient and ICC were 0.87 (p < 0.001) and 0.89, respectively. For children, comparable levels of accuracy were demonstrated, with the AUC for SED, MVPA, and VPA being 0.98, 0.89, and 0.85, respectively. The MAE between true METs and estimated METs was 0.80 METs. The correlation coefficient and ICC were 0.79 (p < 0.001) and 0.84, respectively. The developed model successfully estimated PA intensity with high accuracy in both adults and children. The application of this model enables independent investigation of PA intensity, facilitating research in health monitoring and potentially in areas such as myopia prevention and control.
PHOTH-graphene: a new 2D carbon allotrope with low barriers for Li-ion mobility
Authors: Santos E. A. J. , Lima K. A. L. , Mendonça F. L. L. , Silva D. A. da , Giozza W. F. , Junior L. A. Ribeiro 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe continued interest in 2D carbon allotropes stems from their unique structural and electronic characteristics, which are crucial for diverse applications. This work theoretically introduces PHOTH-Graphene (PHOTH-G), a novel 2D planar carbon allotrope formed by 4-5-6-7-8 carbon rings. PHOTH-G emerges as a narrow band gap semiconducting material with low formation energy, demonstrating good stability under thermal and mechanical conditions. This material has slight mechanical anisotropy with Young modulus and Poisson ratios varying between 7.08-167.8 GPa and 0.21-0.96. PHOTH-G presents optical activity restricted to the visible range. Li atoms adsorbed on its surface have a migration barrier averaging 0.38 eV.
Sex ratio shift after frozen single blastocyst transfer in relation to blastocyst morphology parameters
Authors: Wang Tiantian , Zhu Lixia , Yin Mingru , Yu Weina , Dong Jing , Jin Wei , Lyu Qifeng , Jin Lei , Long Hui 
Published: April 2024

AbstractThe sex ratio shift was observed in peoples who underwent ART treatment. Moreover, there is limited evidence on differences in sex ratio between single frozen-thawed blastocyst morphology, insemination type and transfer days. So further research is needed in this area with regard to factors possibly affecting the sex ratio. Retrospective study based on multicenter including two large assisted reproduction centers in Shanghai and Wuhan in China. A total of 6361 singleton delivery offspring after frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer. Propensity score weighting and logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between blastocyst morphology grading and child sex ratio. The main outcome measures is singleton sex ratio. In our study, the primary outcome measure was sex ratio which was calculated as the proportion of male newborns among all live births. Higher quality blastocysts resulted in a higher sex ratio than single poor-quality frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer. Among the three blastocyst morphological parameters of trophectoderm (TE), Grade A and B were significantly associated with a higher sex ratio than Grade C. The similar trend was observed in both IVF and ICSI treated subgroups. As compared with expansion (4 + 3), expansion degree 6 achieved a higher sex ratio in overall populations and IVF treated subgroup. Transferring blastocysts of day 6 had the highest sex ratio both in IVF group and ICSI group. A 6.95% higher sex ratio in transferring blastocysts of day 5 in IVF group than those in ICSI group. No significant association between inner cell mass degree and sex ratio was observed. However, as compared with IVF treatment, all morphology parameters achieved the similar or the biased sex ratio favoring female in ICSI treated subgroup. Quality of blastocysts was positively associated with sex ratio. TE score and expansion degree rather than ICM were significantly associated with sex ratio at birth. ICSI treatment promotes the biased sex ratio favoring female.
A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial on Lactobacillus-containing cultured milk drink as adjuvant therapy for depression in irritable bowel syndrome
Authors: Sarkawi Marlynna , Raja Ali Raja Affendi , Abdul Wahab Norhazlina , Abdul Rathi Norshafila Diana , Mokhtar Norfilza Mohd 
Published: April 2024

AbstractIrritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is frequently linked with coexisting mental illnesses. Our previous study discovered that 32.1% of IBS patients had subthreshold depression (SD), placing them at higher risk of developing major depression. Gut microbiota modulation through psychobiotics was found to influence depression via the gut-brain axis. However, the efficacy of lessening depression among IBS patients remains ambiguous. The study’s aim was to investigate the roles of cultured milk drinks containing 109 cfu Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 and Lactobacillus paracasei L. CASEI-01 on depression and related variables among IBS participants with SD. A total of 110 IBS participants with normal mood (NM) and SD, were randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups: IBS-NM with placebo, IBS-NM with probiotic, IBS-SD with placebo, and IBS-SD with probiotic. Each participant was required to consume two bottles of cultured milk every day for a duration of 12 weeks. The following outcomes were assessed: depression risk, quality of life, the severity of IBS, and hormonal changes. The depression scores were significantly reduced in IBS-SD with probiotic and placebo from baseline (p < 0.001). Only IBS-SD with probiotic showed a significant rise in serotonin serum levels (p < 0.05). A significantly higher life quality measures were seen in IBS-SD with probiotic, IBS-SD with placebo, and IBS-NM with placebo (p < 0.05). All groups, both placebo and probiotic, reported significant improvement in IBS severity post-intervention with a higher prevalence of remission and mild IBS (p < 0.05). Dual strains lactobacillus-containing cultured milk drink via its regulation of relevant biomarkers, is a potential anti-depressive prophylactic agent for IBS patients at risk.