bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Perceptions and acceptability of the controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) model in The Gambia: a qualitative study
Authors: Dabira Edgard Diniba , Fehr Alexandra , Beloum Nathalie , Van geertruyden Jean-Pierre , Achan Jane , Erhart Annette , Martinez-Alvarez Melisa , D’Alessandro Umberto 
Published: May 2023

AbstractControlled human malaria infection (CHMI) studies, i.e. the deliberate infection of healthy volunteers with malaria parasites to study immune response and/or test drug or vaccine efficacy, are increasingly being conducted in malaria endemic countries, including in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there have been few studies on the perceptions and acceptability of CHMI by the local communities. This qualitative study assessed the perception and acceptability of such studies in The Gambia following the first CHMI study conducted in the country in March–May 2018. Data were collected through non-participant observation, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions and analyzed using NVivo 12 software with an inductive-deductive approach. Sixty-seven participants were involved, including volunteers enrolled in the CHMI, community stakeholders and members of the Gambian Ethics Committee. Respondents expressed a positive view about CHMI. Key motivating factors for participation were the financial compensation, comprehensive health checks, and willingness to support malaria research. Risks associated with participation were considered low. Concerns raised included the frequency of bleeding and the blood volume collected.
Encouraging adoption of green manure technology to produce clean rice product
Authors: Valizadeh Naser , Jalilian Sara , Hallaj Zeynab , Esfandyari Bayat Samira , Hayati Dariush , Bazrafkan Khadijeh , Kianmehr Nazanin , Akbari Morteza 
Published: May 2023

AbstractGreen manure is used as an environmentally friendly technology to produce clean agricultural products. This technology not only helps reduce environmental and health concerns, but can also increase productivity. Green manure is especially needed in the production of paddy. Because rice as a strategic product is the main food of people in many countries of the world. Rice production using green manure can enable countries to develop and increase healthy production. However, the acceptance of this technology is low in many rice producing countries. In this regard, this study used an integrated and extended version of the theory of planned behavior to predict and encourage the adoption of green manure technology in Iran. To collect the required data, a cross-sectional survey was performed among Iranian rice growers and the results of hypothesis testing were analyzed using partial least squares-based structural equation modeling. The results revealed that moral norms of green manure, attitude towards green manure, perceived behavioral control on using green manure, and trialability of green manure have positive and significant effects on intention towards using green manure. In addition, bootstrap analysis showed that moral norms of green manure and trialability of green manure positively and significantly mediated the (indirect) effects of subjective norms towards application of green manure on intention towards using green manure. The results led to important practical and theoretical implications that could provide new insights for policy-makers, planners, and practitioners to develop and encourage the adoption of green manure technology to produce clean and healthy agricultural products.
High-resolution structural and functional retinal imaging in the awake behaving mouse
Authors: Feng Guanping , Joseph Aby , Dholakia Kosha , Shang Fei , Pfeifer Charles W. , Power Derek , Padmanabhan Krishnan , Schallek Jesse 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe laboratory mouse has provided tremendous insight to the underpinnings of mammalian central nervous system physiology. In recent years, it has become possible to image single neurons, glia and vascular cells in vivo by using head-fixed preparations combined with cranial windows to study local networks of activity in the living brain. Such approaches have also succeeded without the use of general anesthesia providing insights to the natural behaviors of the central nervous system. However, the same has not yet been developed for the eye, which is constantly in motion. Here we characterize a novel head-fixed preparation that enables high-resolution adaptive optics retinal imaging at the single-cell level in awake-behaving mice. We reveal three new functional attributes of the normal eye that are overlooked by anesthesia: 1) High-frequency, low-amplitude eye motion of the mouse that is only present in the awake state 2) Single-cell blood flow in the mouse retina is reduced under anesthesia and 3) Mouse retinae thicken in response to ketamine/xylazine anesthesia. Here we show key benefits of the awake-behaving preparation that enables study of retinal physiology without anesthesia to study the normal retinal physiology in the mouse.
Boosting intracellular sodium selectively kills hepatocarcinoma cells and induces hepatocellular carcinoma tumor shrinkage in mice
Authors: Clemente Nausicaa , Baroni Simona , Fiorilla Simone , Tasso Francesco , Reano Simone , Borsotti Chiara , Ruggiero Maria Rosaria , Alchera Elisa , Corrazzari Marco , Walker Gillian , Follenzi Antonia , Crich Simonetta Geninatti , Carini Rita 
Published: May 2023

AbstractPharmacological treatments for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have a partial efficacy. Augmented Na+ content and water retention are observed in human cancers and offer unexplored targets for anticancer therapies. Na+ levels are evaluated upon treatments with the antibiotic cation ionophore Monensin by fluorimetry, ICP-MS, 23Na-MRI, NMR relaxometry, confocal or time-lapse analysis related to energy production, water fluxes and cell death, employing both murine and human HCC cell lines, primary murine hepatocytes, or HCC allografts in NSG mice. Na+ levels of HCC cells and tissue are 8-10 times higher than that of healthy hepatocytes and livers. Monensin further increases Na+ levels in HCC cells and in HCC allografts but not in primary hepatocytes and in normal hepatic and extrahepatic tissue. The Na+ increase is associated with energy depletion, mitochondrial Na+ load and inhibition of O2 consumption. The Na+ increase causes an enhancement of the intracellular water lifetime and death of HCC cells, and a regression and necrosis of allograft tumors, without affecting the proliferating activity of either HCCs or healthy tissues. These observations indicate that HCC cells are, unlike healthy cells, energetically incapable of compensating and surviving a pharmacologically induced Na+ load, highlighting Na+ homeostasis as druggable target for HCC therapy.
Relationship between oxide identity and electrocatalytic activity of platinum for ethanol electrooxidation in perchlorate acidic solution
Authors: You Xinyu , Han Jiaxing , Del Colle Vinicius , Xu Yuqiang , Chang Yannan , Sun Xiao , Wang Guichang , Ji Chen , Pan Changwei , Zhang Jiujun , Gao Qingyu 
Published: May 2023

AbstractWater and its dissociated species at the solid‒liquid interface play critical roles in catalytic science; e.g., functions of oxygen species from water dissociation are gradually being recognized. Herein, the relationship between oxide identity (PtOHads, PtOads, and PtO2) and electrocatalytic activity of platinum for ethanol electrooxidation was obtained in perchlorate acidic solution over a wide potential range with an upper potential of 1.5 V (reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE). PtOHads and α-PtO2, rather than PtOads, act as catalytic centers promoting ethanol electrooxidation. This relationship was corroborated on Pt(111), Pt(110), and Pt(100) electrodes, respectively. A reaction mechanism of ethanol electrooxidation was developed with DFT calculations, in which platinum oxides-mediated dehydrogenation and hydrated reaction intermediate, geminal diol, can perfectly explain experimental results, including pH dependence of product selectivity and more active α-PtO2 than PtOHads. This work can be generalized to the oxidation of other substances on other metal/alloy electrodes in energy conversion and electrochemical syntheses.
Breaking universal limitations on quantum conference key agreement without quantum memory
Authors: Li Chen-Long , Fu Yao , Liu Wen-Bo , Xie Yuan-Mei , Li Bing-Hong , Zhou Min-Gang , Yin Hua-Lei , Chen Zeng-Bing 
Published: May 2023

AbstractQuantum conference key agreement is an important cryptographic primitive for future quantum network. Realizing this primitive requires high-brightness and robust multiphoton entanglement sources, which is challenging in experiment and unpractical in application because of limited transmission distance caused by channel loss. Here we report a measurement-device-independent quantum conference key agreement protocol with enhanced transmission efficiency over lossy channel. With spatial multiplexing nature and adaptive operation, our protocol can break key rate bounds on quantum communication over quantum network without quantum memory. Compared with previous work, our protocol shows superiority in key rate and transmission distance within the state-of-the-art technology. Furthermore, we analyse the security of our protocol in the composable framework and evaluate its performance in the finite-size regime to show practicality. Based on our results, we anticipate that our protocol will play an important role in constructing multipartite quantum network.
High seismic velocity structures control moderate to strong induced earthquake behaviors by shale gas development
Authors: Li Junlun , Xu Jian , Zhang Haijiang , Yang Wen , Tan Yuyang , Zhang Fengshou , Meng Lingyuan , Zang Yang , Miao Siyu , Guo Chang , Li Zhenyue , Lu Renqi , Sun Jianbao 
Published: May 2023

AbstractModerate to strong earthquakes have been induced worldwide by shale gas development, however, it is still unclear what factors control their behaviors. Here we use local seismic networks to reliably determine the source attributes of dozens of M > 3 earthquakes and obtain a high-resolution shear-wave velocity model using ambient noise tomography. These earthquakes are found to occur close to the target shale formations in depth and along high seismic velocity boundaries. The magnitudes and co-seismic slip distributions of the 2018 Xingwen$${M}_{{{{{{\rm{L}}}}}}}5.7$$ML5.7and 2019 Gongxian$${M}_{{{{{{\rm{L}}}}}}}5.3$$ML5.3earthquakes are further determined jointly by seismic waveforms and InSAR data, and the co-seismic slips of these two earthquakes correlate with high seismic velocity zones along the fault planes. Thus, the distribution of high velocity zones near the target shale formations, together with the stress state modulated by hydraulic fracturing controls induced earthquake behaviors and is critical for understanding the seismic potentials of hydraulic fracturing.
Distribution and diversity of ‘Tectomicrobia’, a deep-branching uncultivated bacterial lineage harboring rich producers of bioactive metabolites
Authors: Peters Eike E , Cahn Jackson K B , Lotti Alessandro , Gavriilidou Asimenia , Steffens Ursula A E , Loureiro Catarina , Schorn Michelle A , Cárdenas Paco , Vickneswaran Nilani , Crews Phillip , Sipkema Detmer , Piel Jörn 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Genomic and functional analyses of bacterial sponge symbionts belonging to the uncultivated candidate genus ‘Entotheonella’ has revealed them as the prolific producers of bioactive compounds previously identified from their invertebrate hosts. These studies also suggested ‘Entotheonella’ as the first members of a new candidate phylum, ‘Tectomicrobia’. Here we analyzed the phylogenetic structure and environmental distribution of this as-yet sparsely populated phylum-like lineage. The data show that ‘Entotheonella’ and other ‘Tectomicrobia’ are not restricted to marine habitats but widely distributed among terrestrial locations. The inferred phylogenetic trees suggest several intra-phylum lineages with diverse lifestyles. Of these, the previously described ‘Entotheonella’ lineage can be more accurately divided into at least three different candidate genera with the terrestrial ‘Candidatus Prasianella’, the largely terrestrial ‘Candidatus Allonella’, the ‘Candidatus Thalassonella’ comprising sponge-associated members, and the more widely distributed ‘Candidatus Entotheonella’. Genomic characterization of ‘Thalassonella’ members from a range of sponge hosts did not suggest a role as providers of natural products, despite high genomic similarity to ‘Entotheonella’ regarding primary metabolism and implied lifestyle. In contrast, the analysis revealed a correlation between the revised ‘Entotheonella’ 16S rRNA gene phylogeny and a specific association with sponges and their natural products. This feature might serve as a discovery method to accelerate the identification of new chemically rich ‘Entotheonella’ variants, and led to the identification of the first ‘Entotheonella’ symbiont in a non-tetractinellid sponge, Psammocinia sp., indicating a wide host distribution of ‘Entotheonella’-based chemical symbiosis.
Incongruence between transcriptional and vascular pathophysiological cell states
Authors: Fernández-Chacón Macarena , Mühleder Severin , Regano Alvaro , Garcia-Ortega Lourdes , Rocha Susana F. , Torroja Carlos , Sanchez-Muñoz Maria S. , Lytvyn Mariya , Casquero-Garcia Verónica , De Andrés-Laguillo Macarena , Muhl Lars , Orlich Michael M. , Gaengel Konstantin , Camafeita Emilio , Vázquez Jesús , Benguría Alberto , Iruela-Arispe M. Luisa , Dopazo Ana , Sánchez-Cabo Fátima , Carter Hannah , Benedito Rui 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe Notch pathway is a major regulator of endothelial transcriptional specification. Targeting the Notch receptors or Delta-like ligand 4 (Dll4) dysregulates angiogenesis. Here, by analyzing single and compound genetic mutants for all Notch signaling members, we find significant differences in the way ligands and receptors regulate liver vascular homeostasis. Loss of Notch receptors caused endothelial hypermitogenic cell-cycle arrest and senescence. Conversely, Dll4 loss triggered a strong Myc-driven transcriptional switch inducing endothelial proliferation and the tip-cell state. Myc loss suppressed the induction of angiogenesis in the absence of Dll4, without preventing the vascular enlargement and organ pathology. Similarly, inhibition of other pro-angiogenic pathways, including MAPK/ERK and mTOR, had no effect on the vascular expansion induced by Dll4 loss; however, anti-VEGFA treatment prevented it without fully suppressing the transcriptional and metabolic programs. This study shows incongruence between single-cell transcriptional states, vascular phenotypes and related pathophysiology. Our findings also suggest that the vascular structure abnormalization, rather than neoplasms, causes the reported anti-Dll4 antibody toxicity.
Childhood asthma, allergies and risk of premenstrual disorders in young adulthood
Authors: Yang Yihui , Gong Tong , Camargo Carlos A. , Valdimarsdóttir Unnur A. , Bertone-Johnson Elizabeth , Lu Donghao 
Published: May 2023

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests inflammation is involved in the development of premenstrual disorders (PMDs). We assessed whether childhood asthma and allergies, as inflammatory conditions that may share etiology with PMDs, are associated with risk of PMDs in adulthood. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 6,524 girls in the Growing Up Today Study between 1996 and 2013. Self- and mother-reported diagnoses of asthma and allergies before age 18 were assessed at baseline and updated multiple times during follow-up. Current premenstrual symptoms and cases of PMDs were evaluated using validated tools in 2013. Log-binomial and linear regressions were employed to assess the associations of asthma/allergies with PMDs and premenstrual symptoms (zscore), respectively. At a mean (s.d.) age of 25.7 (3.5) years, 19.3% of participants met the criteria for PMDs. Compared with girls free of asthma, those having asthma had an increased risk of PMDs (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 1.20 [95% CI 1.07 to 1.34]) and increased symptom score (β = 0.13 [95% CI 0.08 to 0.19]). Allergies were positively associated with PMDs (aRR 1.11 [95% CI 0.99 to 1.24]) and premenstrual symptoms (β = 0.09 [95% CI 0.04 to 0.14]). Specifically, the association with PMDs was statistically significant for food allergy (aRR 1.28 [95% CI 1.06 to 1.54]). The associations between asthma/food allergy and PMDs appeared more pronounced for probable premenstrual dysphoric disorder than for premenstrual syndrome. The findings, which show that individuals with childhood asthma or food allergy are at increased risk of PMDs in adulthood, may provide important evidence for future mechanistic research into inflammation and PMDs.
Vitamin D deficiency in early life regulates gut microbiome composition and leads to impaired glucose tolerance in adult and offspring rats
Authors: Liu Jing , Liu Junyi , Zhang Jingyi , Liu Chunyan , Qu Chunbo , Na Lixin 
Published: May 2023

Vitamin D deficiency in early life leads to impaired glucose tolerance in adult and offspring rats. This effect may be partly achieved by regulating gut microbiota including Desulfovibrio, Roseburia, Blautia as well as their co-metabolites.
Broken-gap type-III band alignment in monolayer halide perovskite/antiperovskite oxide van der Waals heterojunctions
Authors: Zhong Hongxia , Xu Zhengyu , Feng Chunbao , Wan Xiaoying , Li Jiahui , Wang Hai , Tang Gang 
Published: May 2023

We show that Rb2CdCl4/Ba4OSb2 van der Waals heterostructures exhibit a rare type-III band alignment with a broken gap, which can be tuned by applying strain or an external electric field, paving the way for the novel tunnel field-effect transistors.
Bit‐level evaluation of piccolo block cipher by satisfiability problem solver
Authors: Utsumi Shion , Sakamoto Kosei , Isobe Takanori 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIn the field of symmetric key cryptography, the security against distinguishing attacks is one of the crucial security requirements. With advancements in computing capabilities and cryptanalysis techniques in recent years, more efficient methods have been proposed for exploring distinguishers using Mixed‐Integer Linear Programing (MILP) or satisfiability problem (SAT), thereby updating the security bounds of various ciphers. Piccolo is a lightweight block cipher proposed at CHES in 2011, with support 80‐bit and 128‐bit keys. Designers have undergone a rough security evaluation against differential, impossible differential, and related‐key differential attacks, based on nibble‐wise estimations due to the limitation of computational resource. Here, the authors perform bit‐level evaluations on Piccolo block cipher against differential, integral and impossible differential attacks by leveraging SAT‐based approaches. For the first time, the authors succeed in identifying optimal differential distinguisher on 6 rounds in the single key setting, and on 10/12 rounds in the related‐key setting for 80‐bit and 128‐bit keys, respectively. For integral attacks, the authors find integral distinguisher up to 7 rounds. Although the number of attacked rounds is the same as that of the previous attack, the authors find the 56th ordered integral distinguisher, which enable reducing the data complexity for attacks from 263 to 256. As a result, the authors find the 7‐round impossible differentials which is the same number of rounds as the previous nibble‐wise evaluation.
Gas and stellar kinematic misalignment in MaNGA galaxies: What is the origin of counter-rotating gas?
Authors: Zinchenko I. A. 
Published: May 2023

Context. Kinematic misalignment between gas and stellar components is observed in a certain fraction of galaxies. It believed to be caused by the acquisition of gas from the external reservoir by, for example, major or minor mergers, accretion from cosmological filaments, or the circumgalactic medium.
Aims. We aim to constrain the possible sources of the gas that forms the counter-rotating component.
Methods. We derived the gas-phase oxygen abundances of 69 galaxies with a kinematic misalignment between gas and stellar components from the MaNGA DR17 survey and compared them with the metallicity expected according to the mass–metallicity relation.
Results. We find that the oxygen abundance of the counter-rotating gas in our sample is higher than 8.2 dex, which rules out a significant role for the inflow of pristine gas. Meanwhile, there is a significant difference in the oxygen abundance of the counter-rotating gas between red and blue galaxies. In general, the oxygen abundance is lower than expected for the stellar mass in red galaxies but is compatible with or even higher than typical values for the stellar mass in blue galaxies.
Conclusions. We show that the exchange of enriched gas between galaxies is the most plausible mechanism for explaining the metallicity of counter-rotating gas components in galaxies of all masses and colors. Meanwhile, minor mergers may play a significant role in the formation of counter-rotating gas components in red and quenched galaxies.
Adaptability of polyurea microcapsules loaded with octyl salicylate for sunscreen application: influence of shell thickness of microfluidic-calibrated capsules on UV absorption efficiency
Authors: Du Jiupeng , Canamas Pablo , Guichardon Pierrette , Ibaseta Nelson , Montagnier Bruno , Hubaud Jean-Claude 
Published: May 2023

The common chemical ultraviolet (UV) filters such as octyl salicylate that are used in sunscreen cream may cause irritation and other unknown medical conditions. One possible route to avoid the direct contact of UV filters with human skin is to enclose those filters in microcapsules. In this study, microcapsules with a size calibrated at 78 μm via microfluidics but with different shell thicknesses (0.4 to 2.5 μm) are used for the first time, to study the influence of shell thickness of microcapsules on the UV absorption efficiency. The results show that the shell thickness of microcapsules has no obvious influence on the UV absorption efficiency. Besides, a rough model based on the Beer–Lambert law is used to compare the experimental results.