bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Viral infection and host immune response in diabetes
Authors: Joshi Garima , Das Anushka , Verma Garima , Guchhait Prasenjit 
Published: December 2023

AbstractDiabetes, a chronic metabolic disorder disrupting blood sugar regulation, has emerged as a prominent silent pandemic. Uncontrolled diabetes predisposes an individual to develop fatal complications like cardiovascular disorders, kidney damage, and neuropathies and aggravates the severity of treatable infections. Escalating cases of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes correlate with a global upswing in diabetes‐linked mortality. As a growing global concern with limited preventive interventions, diabetes necessitates extensive research to mitigate its healthcare burden and assist ailing patients. An altered immune system exacerbated by chronic hyperinflammation heightens the susceptibility of diabetic individuals to microbial infections, including notable viruses like SARS‐CoV‐2, dengue, and influenza. Given such a scenario, we scrutinized the literature and compiled molecular pathways and signaling cascades related to immune compartments in diabetics that escalate the severity associated with the above‐mentioned viral infections in them as compared to healthy individuals. The pathogenesis of these viral infections that trigger diabetes compromises both innate and adaptive immune functions and pre‐existing diabetes also leads to heightened disease severity. Lastly, this review succinctly outlines available treatments for diabetics, which may hold promise as preventive or supportive measures to effectively combat these viral infections in the former.
Identifying oil price shocks with global, developed, and emerging latent real economy activity factors
Authors: Djogbenou Antoine A. 
Published: December 2023

SummaryThis paper proposes an identification strategy for international oil price shocks while accounting for the heterogeneous sources of oil demand from global, developed, and emerging economies. Unlike existing works, we isolate global oil demand shocks, associated with a global real economic activity factor, from oil demand shocks originating specifically from developed and emerging economies, associated with real economic activity factors within these two groups of economies. The paper uses a structural factor‐augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) model with latent global and specific factors to model crude oil demand and supply. To identify the shocks, we extract real economic activity factors from a large panel of emerging and developed economies' real activity variables using a two‐level factor model. The paper shows how structural shocks can be identified by solving equations that arise from economically meaningful zero restrictions on the impact matrix of the reduced‐form FAVAR model innovations. The empirical application shows that identifying the international oil demand shocks based on the global and specific latent factors is essential to appropriately quantify their heterogeneous impacts on these factors, the crude oil production, and the real oil price.
Ajmalicine induces the pyroptosis of hepatoma cells to exert the antitumor effect
Authors: Sun Zhangchi , Ma Chenfang , Zhan Xiaolan 
Published: December 2023

AbstractAjmalicine (AJM) is an alkaloid extracted from the root of Yunan Rauvolfia verticillata. At present, little research has reported the antitumor pharmacological action and mechanism of AJM. Therefore, this work aimed to conduct relevant research. The mouse hepatoma cell line H22 was intervened with a gradient concentration of AJM. Subsequently, the pyroptosis level was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of inflammatory factors and lactate dehydrogenase was measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) expression was detected by dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate probe. In addition, the tumor‐bearing model mice were also treated with AJM to analyze tumor growth as well as the expression levels of tissue inflammatory factors and proteins. According to our results, AJM promoted the pyroptosis of H22 cells, increased the pyroptosis rate, and upregulated the expression of inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin‐1β, and interleukin‐6. At the same time, it enhanced the openness of membrane pores and increased the expression of ROS. Moreover, AJM promoted the expression of Caspase‐3 and N‐terminal gasdermin E (GSDME). The AJM‐induced pyroptosis was suppressed after N‐acetylcysteine treatment to inhibit ROS, while Caspase‐3 knockdown also inhibited the AJM‐induced pyroptosis. In animals, AJM suppressed tumor growth. AJM can activate ROS to induce pyroptosis and exert the antitumor effect via the noncanonical Caspase‐3‐GSDME pyroptosis pathway.
Hormone profiles of the African pygmy mouse Mus minutoides, a species with XY female sex reversal
Authors: Veyrunes Frederic , Perez Julie , Heitzmann Louise D. , Saunders Paul A. , Givalois Laurent 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIn mammals, most sex differences in phenotype are controlled by gonadal hormones, but recent work on transgenic mice has shown that sex chromosomes can have a direct influence on sex‐specific behaviors. In this study, we take advantage of the naturally occurring sex reversal in a mouse species, Mus minutoides, to investigate for the first time the relationship between sex chromosomes, hormones, and behaviors in a wild species. In this model, a feminizing variant of the X chromosome, named X*, produces three types of females with different sex chromosome complements (XX, XX*, and X*Y), associated with alternative behavioral phenotypes, while all males are XY. We thus compared the levels of three major circulating steroid hormones (testosterone, corticosterone, and estradiol) in the four sex genotypes to disentangle the influence of sex chromosomes and sex hormones on behavior. First, we did not find any difference in testosterone levels in the three female genotypes, although X*Y females are notoriously more aggressive. Second, in agreement with their lower anxiety‐related behaviors, X*Y females and XY males display lower baseline corticosterone concentration than XX and XX* females. Instead of a direct hormonal influence, this result rather suggests that sex chromosomes may have an impact on the baseline corticosterone level, which in turn may influence behaviors. Third, estradiol concentrations do not explain the enhanced reproductive performance and maternal care behavior of the X*Y females compared to the XX and XX* females. Overall, this study highlights that most of the behaviors varying along with sex chromosome complement of this species are more likely driven by genetic factors rather than steroid hormone concentrations.
Antibody responses to SARS‐CoV‐2 Omicron infection in patients with hematological malignancies: A multicenter, prospective cohort study
Authors: Li Jun , Liu Yi , Wei Xia , Liu Zhanshu , Yang Zailiang , Liu Ling , Zhou Meiyu , Xu Guofa , Chen Lanting , Ding Yao , Lei Haike , Yang Zailin , Chen Shuang , Zhang Xiaomei , Tang Yifeng , Fu Huihui , He Sanxiu , Guo Bingling , Liang Xiping , Zhang Lingqian , Zhang Wenjun , Wu Jing , Wang Chaoyu , Hu Chongling , Hu Renzhi , Luo Xin , Quan Xi , Zeng Chensi , Liang Shunsi , Liu Tingting , Lv Jing , Luo Qin , Qi Qin , Xu Luxiang , Xiong Yan , Liu Jueyin , Huang Dehong , Xiao Chunyan , Liu Jun , Yang Tao , Xiang Ying , Li Qiying , Nan Yingyu , Li Jieping , Zhang Yong , Wu Yongzhong , Liu Yao 
Published: December 2023

AbstractLittle is known about antibody responses to natural Omicron infection and the risk factors for poor responders in patients with hematological malignancies (HM). We conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study during the latest Omicron wave in Chongqing, China, aiming to compare the antibody responses, as assessed by IgG levels of anti‐receptor binding domain of spike protein (anti‐S‐RBD), to Omicron infection in the HM cohort (HMC) with healthy control cohort (HCC), and solid cancer cohort (SCC). In addition, we intend to explore the risk factors for poor responders in the HMC. Among the 466 HM patients in this cohort, the seroconversion rate was 92.7%, no statistically difference compared with HCC (98.2%, p = 0.0513) or SCC (100%, p = 0.1363). The median anti‐S‐RBD IgG titer was 29.9 ng/mL, significantly lower than that of HCC (46.9 ng/mL, p < 0.0001) or SCC (46.2 ng/mL, p < 0.0001). Risk factors associated with nonseroconversion included no COVID‐19 vaccination history (odds ratio [OR] = 4.58, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.75–12.00, p = 0.002), clinical course of COVID‐19 ≤ 7 days (OR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.31–6.25, p = 0.008) and severe B‐cell reduction (0–10/μL) (OR = 3.22, 95% CI: 1.32–7.88, p = 0.010). Risk factors associated with low anti‐S‐RBD IgG titer were clinical course of COVID‐19 ≤ 7 days (OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.59–4.18, p < 0.001) and severe B‐cell reduction (0–10/μL) (OR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.57–5.24, p < 0.001). This study reveals a poor antibody responses to Omicron (BA.5.2.48) infection in HM patients and identified risk factors for poor responders. Highlights that HM patients, especially those with these risk factors, may be susceptible to SARS‐CoV‐2 reinfection, and the postinfection vaccination strategies for these patients should be tailored. Clinical trial: ChiCTR2300071830.
Cellular dormancy: A widespread phenomenon that perpetuates infectious diseases
Authors: da Silva Claudio V. , Velikkakam Teresiama , de Oliveira Elida C. M. , Silveira Anna C. A. , de Lima Júnior Joed P. , Uombe Nelsa P. I. , da Silva Paulo H. R. , Borges Bruna C. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractUnder adverse environmental conditions, microorganisms are able to enter a state of cellular dormancy which consists of cell cycle arrest and interruption of multiplication. This process ensures their perpetuation in the infected host organism and enables the spread of disease. Throughout biological evolution, dormancy allowed microorganisms to persist in a harsh niche until favorable conditions for their reactivation were re‐established. Here, we propose to discuss the dormancy of bacteria and protozoa pathogens focusing on the potential mechanisms and components associated with dormancy.
Derivation of threshold values for the sulfur nutritional status of European silver fir from a cumulative concentration distribution
Authors: Göttlein Axel 
Published: December 2023

AbstractFor European silver fir (Abies alba (Mill)), reliable threshold values for the sulfur nutritional status are not available. Because European silver fir is an important coniferous tree species in Central Europe and due to the fact that by reduced S emissions, S is becoming a more and more critical nutrient this knowledge gap should be closed. From the interpretation of the cumulative distribution of sulfur concentrations in first‐year needles, the respective threshold values for the range of normal nutrition as well as the threshold for deficiency could be derived. When knowing these thresholds also the range of harmonic nutrition, which is the range for the optimal relation of two nutrients, could be calculated. As compared to the very few literature data available and compared to the respective values of the two most important European conifers Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), the values derived for S nutrition of European silver fir are very reasonable. With respect to the S nutritional thresholds, European silver fir is very close to the values of the other two conifers, whereas the harmonic range of S in relation to N is a bit shifted to higher values indicating that European silver fir has a slightly higher demand for S (in relation to N). There is a certain time lag between the reduction of SO2 emissions in Europe and the reduction of S concentrations in needles, suggesting that S stored in the soil during periods of high emissions is relevant for S nutrition of trees for a longer period of time.
Cancer surgery on the global stage: Updates and progress
Authors: Murthy Shilpa S. , Are Chandrakanth 
Published: December 2023

AbstractOver 5 billion people lack access to basic surgical procedures, and it is estimated, the number of surgical procedures needed for cancer care will increase by 5 million from 2018 to 2040. The greatest increase in demand will occur in low‐ and middle‐income countries. In this article, we highlight progress made in surgical cancer care globally and gaps that still needs to be addressed. We highlight political support, workforce progress and shortages, impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic, and the importance of high value cancer care
Evaluating the caregiver experience during neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Authors: Ruff Samantha M. , Stevens Lena , Bressler Luke , Khatri Rakhsha , Sarna Angela , Ejaz Aslam M. , Dillhoff Mary , Pawlik Timothy M. , Rose Karen , Cloyd Jordan M. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIntroductionNeoadjuvant therapy (NT) is increasingly recommended for patients with localized pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Recent research has highlighted the significant treatment burden that patients experience during NT, but caregiver well‐being during NT is poorly understood.MethodsA cross‐sectional mixed‐methods analysis of primary caregivers of patients with localized PDAC receiving NT was undertaken. All patients completed the Caregiver Quality of Life Index‐Cancer (CQOLC) survey, while semi‐structured interviews were conducted among a convenience sample of participants.ResultsAmong 28 caregivers, the mean age was 60.1 years, and most were patient spouses/significant others (71.4%). Patients had resectable (18%), borderline resectable (46%), or locally advanced (36%) PDAC with a mean treatment duration of 2.9 months at the time of their caregiver's enrollment. Most caregivers felt that they received adequate emotional/psychosocial support (80%) and understood the rationale for NT (93%). A majority (60%) reported that caregiving responsibilities impacted their daily lives and required a decrease in their work hours, leading to financial challenges (47%). While overall QOL was moderate (mean 83 ± 21.1, range 0–140), “emotional burden” (47.3 ± 20.9), and “positive adaption” (57.3 ± 13.9) were the lowest ranked CQOLC subsection scores.DiscussionCaregivers of patients with PDAC undergoing NT experience significant emotional symptoms and impact on their daily lives. Assessing caregiver needs and providing resources during NT should be a priority.
Akkermansia muciniphila and Alcohol‐Related Liver Diseases. A Systematic Review
Authors: Sparfel Lydie , Ratodiarivony Sandy , Boutet‐Robinet Elisa , Ellero‐Simatos Sandrine , Jolivet‐Gougeon Anne 
Published: December 2023

ScopeAkkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) are Gram negative commensal bacteria, degrading mucin in the intestinal mucosa, modulating intestinal permeability and inflammation in the digestive tract, liver, and blood. Some components can promote the relative abundance of A. muciniphila in the gut microbiota, but lower levels of A. muciniphila are more commonly found in people with obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndromes, or inflammatory digestive diseases. Over‐intake of ethanol can also induce a decrease of A. muciniphila, associated with dysregulation of microbial metabolite production, impaired intestinal permeability, induction of chronic inflammation, and production of cytokines.Methods and resultsUsing a PRISMA search strategy, a review is performed on the bacteriological characteristics of A. muciniphila, the factors capable of modulating its relative abundance in the digestive tract and its probiotic use in alcohol‐related liver diseases (alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic transplantation, partial hepatectomy).ConclusionSeveral studies have shown that supplementation with A. muciniphila can improve ethanol‐related hepatic pathologies, and highlight the interest in using this bacterial species as a probiotic.
Intraprocedural C‐arm dual‐phase cone‐beam enhancement patterns correlate with tumor absorbed dose after radioembolization
Authors: Bastiaannet Remco , Lin MingDe , Frey Eric C. , de Jong Hugo W. A. M. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractBackgroundRecent studies have shown a clear relationship between absorbed dose and tumor response to treatment after hepatic radioembolization. These findings help to create more personalized treatment planning and dosimetry. However, crucial to this goal is the ability to predict the dose distribution prior to treatment. The microsphere distribution is ultimately determined by (i) the hepatic vasculature and the resulting blood flow dynamics and (ii) the catheter position.PurposeTo show that pretreatment, intra‐procedural imaging of blood flow patterns, as quantified by catheter‐directed intra‐arterial contrast enhancement, correlate with posttreatment microsphere accumulation and, consequently, absorbed dose.Materials and methodsPatients who participated in a clinical trial (NCT01177007) and for whom both a pretreatment dual‐phase contrast‐enhanced cone‐beam CT (CBCT) and a posttreatment 90Y PET/CT scan were available were included in this retrospective study. Tumors and perfused volumes were manually delineated on the CBCT by an experienced radiologist. The mean, sum, and standard deviation of the voxels in each volume were recorded. The delineations were transferred to the PET‐based absorbed dose maps by coregistration of the corresponding CTs. Linear multiple regression was used to correlate pretreatment CBCT enhancement to posttreatment 90Y PET/CT‐based absorbed dose in each region. Leave‐one‐out cross‐validation and Bland–Altman analyses were performed on the predicted versus measured absorbed doses.ResultsNine patients, with a total of 23 tumors were included. All presented with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Visually, all patients had a clear correspondence between CBCT enhancement and absorbed dose. The correlation between CBCT enhancement and posttherapy absorbed tumor dose based was strong (R2 = 0.91), and moderate for the non‐tumor liver tissue (R2 = 0.61). Limits of agreement were approximately ±55 Gray for tumor tissue.ConclusionThere is a linear relationship between pretreatment blood dynamics in HCC tumors and posttreatment absorbed dose, which, if shown to be generalizable, allows for pretreatment tumor absorbed dose prediction.
Improving model–data mismatch for photon‐counting detector model using global and local model parameters
Authors: Lee Donghyeon , Zhan Xiaohui , Tai W. Yang , Zbijewski Wojciech , Taguchi Katsuyuki 
Published: December 2023

AbstractBackgroundAn energy‐discriminating capability of a photon counting detector (PCD) can provide many clinical advantages, but several factors, such as charge sharing (CS) and pulse pileup (PP), degrade the capability by distorting the measured x‐ray spectrum. To fully exploit the merits of PCDs, it is important to characterize the output of PCDs. Previously proposed PCD output models showed decent agreement with physical PCDs; however, there were still scopes to be improved: a global model–data mismatch and pixel‐to‐pixel variations.PurposesIn this study, we improve a PCD model by using count‐rate‐dependent model parameters to address the issues and evaluate agreement against physical PCDs.MethodsThe proposed model is based on the cascaded model, and we made model parameters condition‐dependent and pixel‐specific to deal with the global model–data mismatch and the pixel‐to‐pixel variation. The parameters are determined by a procedure for model parameter estimation with data acquired from different thicknesses of water or aluminum at different x‐ray tube currents. To analyze the effects of having proposed model parameters, we compared three setups of our model: a model with default parameters, a model with global parameters, and a model with global‐and‐local parameters. For experimental validation, we used CdZnTe‐based PCDs, and assessed the performance of the models by calculating the mean absolute percentage errors (MAPEs) between the model outputs and the actual measurements from low count‐rates to high count‐rates, which have deadtime losses of up to 24%.ResultsThe outputs of the proposed model visually matched well with the PCD measurements for all test data. For the test data, the MAPEs averaged over all the bins were 49.2–51.1% for a model with default parameters, 8.0–9.8% for a model with the global parameters, and 1.2–2.7% for a model with the global‐and‐local parameters.ConclusionThe proposed model can estimate the outputs of physical PCDs with high accuracy from low to high count‐rates. We expect that our model will be actively utilized in applications where the pixel‐by‐pixel accuracy of a PCD model is important.
Intramolecular CH‐Hydrogen Bonding During the Dissociation of the Oxaphosphetane Intermediate Facilitates Z/E‐Selectivity in Wittig Olefination
Authors: Sreenivas Kukkamudi , Rao Chintada Nageswara , Khan Faiz Ahmed 
Published: December 2023

AbstractHerein, DFT studies corroborating experimental results revealed that the shortest intramolecular hydrogen bonding distance of cis/trans‐oxaphosphetane (OPA) oxygen with the CH‐hydrogen of a triphenylphosphine phenyl ring provides good evidence for the attained olefin Z/E‐selectivity in Wittig olefination of the studied examples. 2‐Nitrobenzaldehyde, 3‐nitrobenzaldehyde, 2‐nitro‐3‐bromobenzaldehyde, 2‐nitro‐5‐bromobenzaldehyde and 2‐nitro‐5‐arylbenzaldehydes provided Z‐nitrostilbenes with (2‐chloro‐4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxy‐5‐(methoxycarbonyl)benzyl) triphenylphosphonium chloride as the major products. However, 4‐nitrobenzaldehyde and 2‐nitro‐6‐bromobenzaldehydes furnished E‐nitrostilbenes as the major products in high yields. Furthermore, the DFT computed intramolecular CH1/CH2‐hydrogen bond distances with Cl/NO2 of selected stilbene derivatives were in good agreement with intramolecular hydrogen bond distances measured from single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction measurements.
Development of green composites from bio‐benzoxazine and epoxy copolymer reinforced with alkali‐treated pine nut shell particles
Authors: Gorar Athar Ali Khan , Zhiyi Guo , Wang Zhicheng , Daham Abbas , Wang Jun , Liu Wen‐Bin , Wang Jun‐yi , Derradji Mehdi 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIn the current study, an isothermal compression molding process was used to develop enhanced green composites made from alkali‐treated pine nut shell particles (TPS) reinforced in fully bio‐driven benzoxazine (VB) and epoxy (EP) copolymer. Reinforcement with varying weight percent (wt%) of bio‐filler enhanced the properties of composites. Composites showed a rise of 75.9 MPa, 5.8 GPa, and 5.1 kJ/m2 in flexural strength, modulus, and impact strength, respectively. Thermal stability shows that composites can endure higher temperatures and hence be classified as flame‐retardant materials. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) confirms that composites exhibit higher storage modulus, which was elevated to 77.6% compared to the unfilled copolymer. FTIR spectroscopy analyzed the structure of copolymerized composites. Further, finite element analysis (FEA) was observed for the prepared composites. A transversely isotropic composite material model was created with the properties of composites, and stress analysis was observed. FEA outcomes are in good agreement with experimental findings.