bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The common H232 STING allele shows impaired activities in DNA sensing, susceptibility to viral infection, and in monocyte cell function, while the HAQ variant possesses wild-type properties
Authors: Froechlich Guendalina , Finizio Arianna , Napolano Alessandra , Amiranda Sara , De Chiara Arianna , Pagano Pasqualina , Mallardo Massimo , Leoni Guido , Zambrano Nicola , Sasso Emanuele 
Published: November 2023

AbstractDifferent innate immune pathways converge to Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and trigger type I interferon responses after recognition of abnormal nucleic acids in the cells. This non-redundant function renders STING a major player in immunosurveillance, and an emerging target for cancer and infectious diseases therapeutics. Beyond somatic mutations that often occur in cancer, the human gene encoding STING protein, TMEM173 (STING1), holds great genetic heterogeneity; R232, HAQ (R71H-G230A-R293Q) and H232 are the most common alleles. Although some of these alleles are likely to be hypomorphic, their function is still debated, due to the available functional assessments, which have been performed in biased biological systems. Here, by using genetic background-matched models, we report on the functional evaluation of R232, HAQ and H232 variants on STING function, and on how these genotypes affect the susceptibility to clinically relevant viruses, thus supporting a potential contributing cause to differences in inter-individual responses to infections. Our findings also demonstrate a novel toll-like receptor-independent role of STING in modulating monocytic cell function and differentiation into macrophages. We further supported the interplay of STING1 variants and human biology by demonstrating how monocytes bearing the H232 allele were impaired in M1/M2 differentiation, interferon response and antigen presentation. Finally, we assessed the response to PD-1 inhibitor in a small cohort of melanoma patients stratified according to STING genotype. Given the contribution of the STING protein in sensing DNA viruses, bacterial pathogens and misplaced cancer DNA, these data may support the development of novel therapeutic options for infectious diseases and cancer.
Electric hand warmer versus observation to avoid discomfort during scalp cooling for chemotherapy-induced alopecia prevention: a randomized study
Authors: Landeiro Luciana Castro Garcia , Lopes Paim Miranda Diego , Mathias Machado Roberto , Dienstmann Rodrigo , Costa e Silva Matheus , da Silva Ceci Figuerêdo , de Castro Adriana Lisbôa Ramalho , dos Santos Ana Paula Teixeira , Bomfim Victor Hugo Valença , Teixeira Machado Bruno , Viviane Carvalho Rodrigues Gonçalve Michele , Freitas Muniz Teixeira Andréa , Jamile Santiago Costa Maira , de Oliveira Dantas Viana Priscila , Almeida Pâmela , de Cerqueira Mathias Clarissa Maria 
Published: November 2023

AbstractChemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) is a challenge in the management of cancer patients. Scalp cooling (SC) leads to reduction in CIA, however it is associated with significant adverse events, leading to 3–13% discontinuation rates. This pilot study evaluated the role of Electric Hand Warmers (EHW) on thermal (TC), sensorial (SCo) and general comfort (GC) in patients with breast cancer (BC) undergoing chemotherapy and SC to reduce CIA. Patients were randomly assigned to EHW use or observation. TC, SCo and GC were evaluated after each chemotherapy infusion. Favorable outcomes in both TC and SCo defined a positive result on GC. We analysed the impact of age, alopecia, chemotherapy regimen and EHW use in the different comfort scales using a Logistic Regression (LR) model. Forty women with early breast cancer were randomly assigned to EHW (n = 20) or observation (n = 20) during neo(adjuvant) chemotherapy. Median age was 53 years. In the EHW arm, favorable thermal response was reported by 79% versus 50% in the control arm (odds ratio [OR] 3.79, p < 0.001). SCo was satisfactory in 82% in the EHW arm versus 74% in the control arm (OR 1.62, p = 0.1). Overall, 73% in the EHW arm had favorable GC versus 44% in the control arm (OR 3.4, p < 0.001). Age, alopecia, and chemotherapy regimen did not impact on comfort measures. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the use of an EHW has a consistent favorable impact on TC and GC of BC patients under SC technology to prevent CIA.
Self-rated physical health predicts mortality in aging persons beyond objective health risks
Authors: Reinwarth Anna C. , Wicke Felix S. , Hettich Nora , Ernst Mareike , Otten Danielle , Brähler Elmar , Wild Philipp S. , Münzel Thomas , König Jochem , Lackner Karl J. , Pfeiffer Norbert , Beutel Manfred E. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractPrevious studies on self-rated health and mortality have usually not differentiated between physical and mental health, respectively have not considered physical diseases. This study aims to determine self-rated physical and mental health from middle to old age, examine associations with mortality adjusted for objective risk factors and assess effect modification by gender. In a large population-based sample (N = 14,993 at baseline), self-rated physical and mental health were rated separately by a single-item. Associations to mortality were modelled by Cox regressions, adjusting for potential confounding variables. Most participants rated their physical (79.4%), resp. mental health (82.3%) as good. Poor self-rated physical health was lowest in the youngest group (19.6%, age 35–44), and highest in midlife (29.1%, age 55–64). Poor self-rated mental health was lowest among the oldest (18.5%), and highest from 45 to 54 years (29.3%). Poor self-rated physical, but not mental health was predictive of mortality when adjusting for objective risk factors. Male gender and poor self-rated physical health interacted (RERI 0.43 95%-CI 0.02–0.85). Self-rated physical health was best in the youngest and worst in the midlife group, this pattern was reversed regarding self-rated mental health. Poor self-rated physical, but not mental health was predictive of mortality, adjusting for objective risk factors. It was more strongly predictive of mortality in men than in women. Poor subjective physical health ratings, should be taken seriously as an unfavorable prognostic sign, particularly in men.
Disturbance rejection model predictive control of lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton
Authors: Jin Xin , Guo Jia 
Published: November 2023

AbstractNowadays, exoskeleton is broadly used in the rehabilitation training of many postoperative patients. However, the uncertainty and disturbances caused by different patients and system itself may lead to incompletely rehabilitation training as planned, or even unsafety. This paper addresses the control problem of a lower limb exoskeleton, in the spirit of the recent progress on model predictive control (MPC) and extended state observer (ESO). More precisely, our approach is based on the strategy that designing an ESO to estimate the total disturbance of the dynamics model and compensating it in the design of the MPC process. To accomplish this, we introduce the virtual control quantity to decouple the dynamics model of the system and summarize the human disturbances, unmeasured states and system non-linearity as the total disturbance of the model. By doing so, the uncertainty can be estimated by our designed ESO. Based on the moving horizontal optimization and feedback mechanism of MPC, the output prediction of the system can be more accurate since the uncertainty are effectively compensated. The virtual experiment results demonstrate that proposed controller significantly improves the control accuracy on lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton with disturbances (improved by over 34$$\%$$%), comparing with conventional MPC and fuzzy PID. As a result, our achievements will make contributions to better rehabilitation training for patients using rehabilitation exoskeletons.
Dual-radionuclide in vivo imaging of micro-metastasis and lymph tract with submillimetre resolution
Authors: Yagishita Atsushi , Takeda Shin’ichiro , Ohnuki Kazunobu , Katsuragawa Miho , Sampetrean Oltea , Fujii Hirofumi , Takahashi Tadayuki 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMulti-radionuclide in vivo imaging with submillimetre resolution can be a potent tool for biomedical research. While high-resolution radionuclide imaging faces challenges in sensitivity, multi-radionuclide imaging encounters difficulty due to radiation contamination, stemming from crosstalk between radionuclides and Compton scattering. Addressing these challenges simultaneously is imperative for multi-radionuclide high-resolution imaging. To tackle this, we developed a high-spatial-resolution and high-energy-resolution small animal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanner, named CdTe-DSD SPECT-I. We first assessed the feasibility of multi-tracer SPECT imaging of submillimetre targets. Using the CdTe-DSD SPECT-I, we performed SPECT imaging of submillimetre zeolite spheres absorbed with 125I- and subsequently imaged 125I-accumulated spheroids of 200–400 µm in size within an hour, achieving clear and quantitative images. Furthermore, dual-radionuclide phantom imaging revealed a distinct image of the submillimetre sphere absorbed with 125I- immersed in a 99mTc-pertechnetate solution, and provided a fair quantification of each radionuclide. Lastly, in vivo imaging was conducted on a cancer-bearing mouse with lymph node micro-metastasis using dual-tracers. The results displayed dual-tracer images of lymph tract by 99mTc-phytic acid and the submillimetre metastatic lesion by 125I-, shown to align with the immunofluorescence image.
Orai1α and Orai1β support calcium entry and mammosphere formation in breast cancer stem cells
Authors: Jardin Isaac , Alvarado Sandra , Jimenez-Velarde Vanesa , Nieto-Felipe Joel , Lopez Jose J. , Salido Gines M. , Smani Tarik , Rosado Juan A. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractOrai1 is the pore-forming subunit of the Ca2+-release activated Ca2+ channels that mediate store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) in excitable and non-excitable cells. Two Orai1 forms have been identified in mammalian cells, the full-length variant Orai1α, and the short form Orai1β, lacking the N-terminal 63 amino acids. Stem cells were isolated from non-tumoral breast epithelial cells of the MCF10A cell line, and the most representative ER+ , HER2 or triple negative breast cancer cell lines MCF7, SKBR3 and MDA-MB-231, respectively. Orai and TRPC family members expression was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting. Changes in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration were analyzed by confocal microscopy using Fluo 4 and the spheroid-forming ability and self-renewal was estimated in culture plates coated with pHEMA using a cell imaging system. Here, we have characterized the expression of Orai family members and several TRPC channels at the transcript level in breast stem cells (BSC) derived from the non-tumoral breast epithelial cell line MCF10A and breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) derived from the well-known estrogen receptor positive (ER+), HER2 and triple negative cell lines MCF7, SKBR3 and MDA-MB-231, respectively. Furthermore, we have evaluated the mammosphere formation efficiency and self-renewal of the BSC and BCSC. Next, through a combination of Orai1 knockdown by iRNA and the use of MDA-MB-231 KO cells, missing the native Orai1, transfected with plasmids encoding for either Orai1α or Orai1β, we show that Orai1 is essential for mammosphere formation and self-renewal efficiency in BCSC derived from triple negative and HER2 subtypes cell cultures, while this channel has a negligible effect in BCSC derived from ER+ cells as well as in non-tumoral BSC. Both, Orai1α, and Orai1β support SOCE in MDA-MB-231-derived BCSC with similar efficiency, as well as COX activation and mammosphere formation. These findings provide evidence of the functional role of Orai1α and Orai1β in spheroid forming efficiency and self-renewal in breast cancer stem cells.
Enduring questions in regenerative biology and the search for answers
Authors: Seifert Ashley W. , Duncan Elizabeth M. , Zayas Ricardo M. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe potential for basic research to uncover the inner workings of regenerative processes and produce meaningful medical therapies has inspired scientists, clinicians, and patients for hundreds of years. Decades of studies using a handful of highly regenerative model organisms have significantly advanced our knowledge of key cell types and molecular pathways involved in regeneration. However, many questions remain about how regenerative processes unfold in regeneration-competent species, how they are curtailed in non-regenerative organisms, and how they might be induced (or restored) in humans. Recent technological advances in genomics, molecular biology, computer science, bioengineering, and stem cell research hold promise to collectively provide new experimental evidence for how different organisms accomplish the process of regeneration. In theory, this new evidence should inform the design of new clinical approaches for regenerative medicine. A deeper understanding of how tissues and organs regenerate will also undoubtedly impact many adjacent scientific fields. To best apply and adapt these new technologies in ways that break long-standing barriers and answer critical questions about regeneration, we must combine the deep knowledge of developmental and evolutionary biologists with the hard-earned expertise of scientists in mechanistic and technical fields. To this end, this perspective is based on conversations from a workshop we organized at the Banbury Center, during which a diverse cross-section of the regeneration research community and experts in various technologies discussed enduring questions in regenerative biology. Here, we share the questions this group identified as significant and unanswered, i.e., known unknowns. We also describe the obstacles limiting our progress in answering these questions and how expanding the number and diversity of organisms used in regeneration research is essential for deepening our understanding of regenerative capacity. Finally, we propose that investigating these problems collaboratively across a diverse network of researchers has the potential to advance our field and produce unexpected insights into important questions in related areas of biology and medicine.
Synthesis and luminescence properties of substituted benzils
Authors: Yasui Masamichi , Fujihara Takashi , Ohtsu Hiroyoshi , Wada Yuki , Shimada Terumasa , Zhu Yiying , Kawano Masaki , Hanaya Kengo , Sugai Takeshi , Higashibayashi Shuhei 
Published: November 2023

AbstractPhotophysical properties of benzil (1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-dione) and its derivatives in the crystal state have recently attracted much attention. However, the study of substituted benzils has mostly been limited to para-substituted derivatives, which did not induce a significant effect on the emission wavelength compared to pristine benzil. The effects of ortho- and meta-substituents on the photophysical properties in the crystal state have not been investigated so far. Our recently developed organocatalytic pinacol coupling of substituted benzaldehydes allowed us to prepare various ortho-, meta-, and para-substituted benzil derivatives and to investigate their luminescence properties. Ortho- and meta-substituents affected the electronic states of benzils in the crystal state, resulting in differences in their luminescence properties. The luminescence wavelength and type, i.e., phosphorescence or fluorescence, were altered by these substituents. Fast self-recovering phosphorescence-to-phosphorescence mechanochromism by the para-CF3 substituent at room temperature was also discovered.
Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas of the world
Authors: Ahvo Aino , Heino Matias , Sandström Vilma , Chrisendo Daniel , Jalava Mika , Kummu Matti 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe industrialization of agriculture has led to an increasing dependence on non-locally sourced agricultural inputs. Hence, shocks in the availability of agricultural inputs can be devastating to food crop production. There is also a pressure to decrease the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in many areas. However, the combined impact of the agricultural input shocks on crop yields has not yet been systematically assessed globally. Here we modelled the effects of agricultural input shocks using a random forest machine learning algorithm. We show that shocks in fertilizers cause the most drastic yield losses. Under the scenario of 50% shock in all studied agricultural inputs, global maize production could decrease up to 26%, and global wheat production up to 21%, impacting particularly the high-yielding ‘breadbasket’ areas of the world. Our study provides insights into global food system resilience and can be useful for preparing for potential future shocks or agricultural input availability decreases at local and global scales.
Pseudo-Directive Speech Act in the Javanese Language: Culture-Specific Pragmatic Perspective
Authors: Rahardi R. Kunjana , Rahmat Wahyudi , Kurniawan Yohan 
Published: November 2023

Purpose:This study aims to illustrate the diverse modes and implications of pseudo-directive speech acts in Javanese, specifically emphasizing the Jogjakarta area. This field of pragmatics has garnered heightened attention in recent decades. However, it is worth noting that language researchers have not thoroughly examined these pragmatic studies and have not been extensively explored in linguistics.Method:The primary data source of the study consists of excerpts of verbal expressions within the familial context. The provenance of the locational data can be traced to a familial unit with a cultural legacy deeply embedded in Javanese customs. The data were collected using observation and participation methodologies, employing advanced techniques of recording and note taking. The data were categorized and characterized to identify the various data types and formats. The tabulated results of classification and typification are presented to triangulate theory through expert validation and justification of theories. The method of contextual analysis was utilized to conduct the data analysis that relies on the pragmatic context.Results:The study's findings indicate the following: The Javanese language encompasses various modes of pseudo-directive utterances, such as commanding, ordering, suggesting, insinuating, and recommending. In addition, the Javanese language encompasses pseudo-directive pragmatics such as warning, prohibiting, reminding, suggesting, and commanding.Conclusion:This research will significantly assist in formulating a pragmatic framework that considers cultural factors, as other linguistic phenomena in various regional languages remain unresolved.
Our Experience of Placement of Airway Sems in Three Different Scenarios of Lung and Esophageal Malignancy
Authors: Rao Sarath Chandra Kadur Srikanta , Baikunje Nandakishore , Thimmaiah Chandramouli Mandya , Venkataram Rajesh , Hosmane Giridhar Belur 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMalignant central airway obstruction refers to the obstruction of the trachea, and right or left main bronchus due to neoplastic growth. The airway is generally compromised by ∼50% at presentation when the patient develops symptoms. Diagnosis is done by flexible bronchoscopy and imaging. However, treatment is challenging due to recurrence, and increased vascularity of tumors, owing to dreaded complications of bleeding and airway compromise. Tracheoesophageal fistula is an abnormal communication of the trachea with the esophagus. It occurs in advanced stages of esophageal and lung malignancy. Bronchoscopy and airway stenting is the palliative treatment option due to the advanced stage of the disease. We present three different case scenarios of thoracic malignancies who underwent airway stenting.
Self-Efficacy and Learner Satisfaction in the Management of Respiratory Emergency among Undergraduate Students: A Simulation-Based Study
Authors: Muhammad Sharvan , Barboza Hezil Reema , Jawadagi Shashikumar 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Background Simulation is an educational method that utilizes scenarios and simulators that aide to replicate real clinical situations. This research was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation and satisfaction following the use of high-fidelity simulation among nursing students studying at undergraduate level.
Materials and Methods This is a quasi-experimental research study which was conducted in the simulation laboratory of Mangaluru, Karnataka. This study involves simulation-based learning to improve clinical competency among 100 B.Sc. nursing students. The presimulation self-efficacy was assessed by giving a questionnaire to the students. After the pretest, the researchers gave a brief introduction to the simulation scenario and explained the facilities available in the simulation laboratory. Learning objectives were explained and the samples were divided into small groups. The simulation was given using clinical scenarios and computer-assisted Human Patient Simulator for 45 minutes in the simulation laboratory. Postassessment of self-efficacy as well as student satisfaction assessment were performed using a questionnaire.
Results The findings showed that the simulation is a productive learning strategy and builds confidence. After the simulation, 79% of students strongly agreed that their self-efficacy improved in the management of patients with respiratory emergencies. The results showed positive correlation between the variables which indicates higher level of self-efficacy improves satisfaction among learners. The present study results also revealed that 98% of students had good satisfaction and found debriefing very useful.
Conclusion The high-fidelity simulation had a great influence on improving self-efficacy and satisfaction. Hence, simulation needs to be incorporated into the curriculum to enrich skills.