bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First case of ventilator-associated pneumonia due to Aeromonas hydrophila
Authors: Srivastava Amit , Tripathy Sarvodaya , Gutte Shreyas Hanumantrao , Sahu Chinmoy , Gurjar Mohan , Patel Sangram Singh 
Published: July 2023

Introduction Aeromonas hydrophila is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause various infections, including pneumonia, in immunocompromised individuals. This case report presents a rare occurrence of nosocomial pneumonia caused by Aeromonas hydrophila in a female patient with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Case presentation The patient exhibited sign and symptoms of nosocomial pneumonia and was successfully treated with intravenous Ciprofloxacin. The discussion highlights the characteristics of Aeromonas species, its virulence factors, risk factors for infection, and diagnostic methods.
Conclusion It emphasizes the need for awareness and suspicion of Aeromonas as a potential cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in ICU settings, as well as the importance of early detection and appropriate treatment for improved outcomes. To the best of the author’s knowledge, no case report has been published reporting Aeromonas attributing to VAP.
COMPARISON OF LARGE SUBCOSTAL HERNIAS TREATED WITH OPEN ANTERIOR COMPONENTS SEPARATION OR OPEN TRANSVERSUS ABDOMINIS RELEASE TECHNIQUES
Authors: Espinosa-de-los-Monteros Antonio , Fernandez-Alva Daniela , Solis-Reyna Rodrigo Alejandro , de-la-Garza-Elizondo Cesar Alberto , Vazquez-Guadalupe Joseph , Posadas-Trujillo Oscar Emmanuel , Diaz-Trueba Flavio Enrique 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACTBackgroundLarge subcostal incisional hernias are considered as complex defects, and a few different approaches have been described for repair. The purpose of this comparative cross-sectional study is to evaluate the outcomes of patients with large subcostal incisional hernias treated with either the open anterior components separation technique (ACS) or with the open transversus abdominis release technique (TAR).MethodsFrom the database of patients with large complex incisional hernias who underwent abdominal wall reconstruction with open techniques between April 2007 and October 2022 at our institution, on May 25th, 2023 we identified those whose hernias were located in the subcostal areas and who underwent reconstruction with a components separation technique and mesh. Perioperative variables and outcomes were compared between the patients with large subcostal hernias who underwent abdominal wall reconstruction with either the ACS or the TAR techniques.ResultsThirty-one patients with large subcostal hernias were included in the study. ACS and intra-abdominal mesh was used in 11 patients; TAR and retro-muscular mesh was performed in 20 patients. More postoperative local abdominal wall complications were seen in patients undergoing ACS as opposed to TAR (55% vs 15%, p=0.02). Hernia recurrence was more common in patients undergoing ACS as opposed to TAR (55% vs 5%, p=0.008).ConclusionsMore post-operative complications and recurrences were seen in patients undergoing ACS as opposed to TAR.
Interindividual differences in pain can be explained by fMRI, sociodemographic, and psychological factors
Authors: Gim Suhwan , Lee Dong Hee , Lee Sungwoo , Woo Choong-Wan 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACTIn a recent article, Hoeppli et al. (2022) reported that sociodemographic and psychological factors were not associated with interindividual differences in reported pain intensity. In addition, the interindividual differences in pain could not be detected by thermal pain-evoked brain activities measured by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Their comprehensive analyses provided convincing evidence for these null findings, but here we provide another look at their conclusions by analyzing their behavioral data and a large-scale fMRI dataset involving thermal pain (N= 124). Our main findings are as follows: First, a multiple regression model incorporating all available sociodemographic and psychological measures could significantly predict the interindividual differences in reported pain intensity. The key to achieving a significant prediction was including multiple individual difference measures in a single model. Second, with fMRI data from a relatively homogeneous group of 124 participants, we could identify brain regions and a multivariate pattern-based predictive model significantly correlated with the interindividual differences in reported pain intensity. Our results, along with the findings of Hoeppli et al., highlight the challenge of predicting interindividual differences in pain, but also suggest that it is not an impossible task.
Artificial Tactile Stimulation Provides Haptic Cuing in Force Field Adaptation
Authors: Avraham Chen , Avraham Guy , Nisky Ilana 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWhen interacting with objects with unfamiliar dynamics, the sensorimotor system uses haptic information to develop internal representations of the new dynamics. These representations are subsequently used to manipulate the objects by applying predictive forces that comply with the mechanical properties of the objects. In a recent study (Farajian et al. 2020), we showed that when participants evaluated the stiffness of elastic objects, adding artificial tactile stimulation created an illusion of higher stiffness, increasing the grip force control used to interact with the object. Here, we took a step further in understanding how kinesthetic and tactile information is integrated into the control of objects. Specifically, we examined how added skin stretch influenced thelearningof novel forces. We found that the extent of force compensation that the participants exhibited depended on the direction of the artificial skin stretch applied simultaneously with the force; learning was enhanced when the skin was stretched in the opposite direction to the external force and diminished when the skin was stretched in the same direction. Strikingly, when the skin stretch stimulation was delivered during probe trials in which the force perturbation was absent, the behavior pattern was flipped, with an increase in force compensation for the same-direction skin stretch stimulation and vice versa. Modeling suggests that these results reflect a unique effect of tactile stimulation during the learning of novel forces; rather than becoming integrated with the dynamic information, it is used by the sensorimotor system as a guidance cue, possibly through explicit mechanisms, providing information on the way to compensate for the forces and optimize movements. We believe that these findings propose a novel instructive role of tactile stimulation during interaction with a dynamic object. This provides a significant potential to leverage these effects in the development of devices aiming to assist and guide users in many human-in-the-loop applications, such as rehabilitation and surgical robotics.
Discovery & Evaluation of novel fluorescence molecules for selective recognition of G-quadruplexes structure
Authors: Neha  , Ranjan Prashant , Das Parimal , Kumar Surendra , Singh Roop Shikha , Pandey Daya Shankar 
Published: July 2023

AbstractCurrently, G-quadruplex structure targeting strategies are considered as a promising anticancer approach. In the search of selective and potent G-quadruplex binders, Here we discuss an analysis of a few chroman derivatives ligands: (A) chroman 7-[2-pyrrolo]-pyrrole-[1,2-a]12H pyrrolino[2,3-b]chroman-4-one, and (C) 4-methyl-7-[2-pyrrolo]-pyrrole[1,2-a]12H pyrrolino[2,3-b]chroman-4-one and their respective borondifluoride complexes B and D as a quadruplex targeting compounds which found to stabilize G-quadruplex structure. To investigate the binding characteristics of these molecules with G-quadruplex vs. duplex selectivity,In vitrobiophysical studies were performed by steady-state fluorescence, UV-visible titration, fluorescent TO displacement assay, CD thermal melting, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and cellular imaging by employing both telomeric and PRCC G-quadruplex forming sequences. Our investigation shows that these chromam ligands and their complexes are able to selectively bind and stabilize parallel and mixed hybrid topology of G-quadruplex bothIn vitroand in cellular conditions. A molecular docking study also suggests the binding of these compounds with G-quadruplex conformation. Collectively our study suggests these chroman complexes as a potentially useful fluorescent chemical product for G-quadruplex specific ligands and expands an option for G-quadruplex targeting ligands.
Phase-Amplitude Coupling Detection and Analysis of Human 2-Dimensional Neural Cultures in Multi-well Microelectrode Array in Vitro
Authors: Salimpour Yousef , Anderson William S. , Dastyeb Raha , Liu Shiyu , Ming Guo-li , Song Hongjun , Maragakis Nicholas J. , Habela Christa W. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractHuman induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived neurons offer the possibility of studying human-specific neuronal behaviors in physiologic and pathologic statesin vitro. However, it is unclear whether these cultured neurons can achieve the fundamental network behaviors that are required to process information in the human brain. Investigating neuronal oscillations and their interactions, as occurs in cross-frequency coupling (CFC), is potentially a relevant approach. Microelectrode array culture plates provide a controlled framework to study populations of hiPSC-derived cortical neurons (hiPSC-CNs) and their electrical activity. Here, we examined whether networks of two-dimensional cultured hiPSC-CNs recapitulate the CFC that is present in networksin vivo. We analyzed the electrical activity recorded from hiPSC-CNs grown in culture with hiPSC-derived astrocytes. We employed the modulation index method for detecting phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) and used an offline spike sorting method to analyze the contribution of a single neuron’s spiking activities to network behavior. Our analysis demonstrates that the degree of PAC is specific to network structure and is modulated by external stimulation, such as bicuculine administration. Additionally, the shift in PAC is not driven by a single neuron’s properties but by network-level interactions. CFC analysis in the form of PAC explores communication and integration between groups of nearby neurons and dynamical changes across the entire network.In vitro, it has the potential to capture the effects of chemical agents and electrical or ultrasound stimulation on these interactions and may provide valuable information for the modulation of neural networks to treat nervous system disordersin vivo.SignificancePhase amplitude coupling (PAC) analysis demonstrates that the complex interactions that occur between neurons and network oscillations in the human brain,in vivo, are present in 2-dimensional human cultures. This coupling is implicated in normal cognitive function as well as disease states. Its presencein vitrosuggests that PAC is a fundamental property of neural networks. These findings offer the possibility of a model to understand the mechanisms and of PAC more completely and ultimately allow us to understand how it can be modulatedin vivoto treat neurologic disease.
Associations of Blood Inflammatory Cytokines and Hair Cortisol with Depression Symptoms and Cognitive Functioning in Huntington’s Disease
Authors: Bilal Hiba , McDonald Stuart J. , Stout Julie C. , Harding Ian H. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractBackgroundHuntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease involving progressive motor abnormalities, cognitive decline, and psychiatric disturbances. Depression and cognitive difficulties are among the most impactful symptoms of HD, yet the pathogenesis of these symptoms is not fully understood. HD involves low-level chronic inflammation and dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which are linked to depression and cognitive impairment in non-HD populations. However, previous research on the relationships of these pathologies with depression and cognition in HD is limited and inconsistent.MethodsFifty-three adults with the HD gene expansion (30 pre-manifest, 23 manifest) completed measures of depression and cognitive functioning. Forty-eight out of 53 participants provided hair samples for quantification of cortisol, and 34 participants provided blood samples for quantification of peripheral inflammatory cytokines. We examined the associations of four cytokines (interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL-1β, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α) and cortisol levels with depression and cognitive scores.ResultsIn unadjusted models, higher levels of plasma IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α correlated with higher depression scores, and higher levels of IL-10 and TNF-α correlated with poorer cognitive performance. After controlling for age, sex, and body mass index, only the correlations of IL-10 with depression and cognitive performance remained significant. No correlations were evident with hair cortisol.ConclusionsPeripheral inflammation is associated with depression symptoms and cognitive impairment in HD. Our findings suggest that interactions between the immune and nervous systems are important in HD, and that inflammatory cytokines may be suitable as therapeutic targets for future clinical trials in HD.
Sex-specific prefrontal-hypothalamic control of behavior and stress responding
Authors: Schaeuble Derek , Wallace Tyler , Pace Sebastian A. , Hentges Shane T. , Myers Brent 
Published: July 2023

AbstractDepression and cardiovascular disease are both augmented by daily life stress. Yet, the biological mechanisms that translate psychological stress into affective and physiological outcomes are unknown. Previously, we demonstrated that stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has sexually divergent outcomes on behavior and physiology. Importantly, the vmPFC does not innervate the brain regions that initiate autonomic or neuroendocrine stress responses; thus, we hypothesized that intermediate synapses integrate cortical information to regulate stress responding. The posterior hypothalamus (PH) directly innervates stress-effector regions and receives substantial innervation from the vmPFC. In the current studies, circuit-specific approaches examined whether vmPFC synapses in the PH coordinate stress responding. Here we tested the effects of optogenetic vmPFC-PH circuit stimulation in male and female rats on social and motivational behaviors as well as physiological stress responses. Additionally, an intersectional genetic approach was used to knock down synaptobrevin in PH-projecting vmPFC neurons. Our collective results indicate that male vmPFC-PH circuitry promotes positive motivational valence and is both sufficient and necessary to reduce sympathetic-mediated stress responses. In females, the vmPFC-PH circuit does not affect social or preference behaviors but is sufficient and necessary to elevate neuroendocrine stress responses. Altogether, these data suggest cortical regulation of stress reactivity and behavior is mediated, in part, by projections to the hypothalamus that function in a sex-specific manner.
Nischarin negatively impacts ShcD-mediated tumor cell migration
Authors: Hago Rayan A. , Wong Sook P. , Hachim Mahmood Y. , Hachim Ibrahim Y. , Saber-Ayad Maha , Prigent Sally A , Ahmed Samrein B.M. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractShcD was previously found to promote cell motility in melanoma cells. Screening of a yeast two hybrid mouse embryo cDNA library identified Nischarin, a negative regulator to cell motility, as an interacting partner to the ShcD-CH2 domain. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the interaction between Nischarin and ShcD in mammalian cells and to determine their functional impact on cell migration. The Nischarin/ShcD interaction was confirmed by transfection and co-immunoprecipitation assays using full-length constructs in HEK293, MCF7 and MM253 cell lines. Deletion of the first 93 amino acids of ShcD abrogated the interaction indicating the importance of these residues for Nischarin binding. Co-expression of Nischarin and ShcD demonstrated an inhibitory effect on the levels of phospho-ERK and phospho-LIMK. In support of this, Nischarin was found to block the migratory activities of ShcD. A brief in silico analysis of publicly available breast cancer patient data was performed to elucidate the effect of Nischarin/ShcD co-expression on the patients’ overall survival. Patients with high expression of both proteins had better survival than those with only ShcD overexpression. Our results reveal that the novel protein Nischarin is an interacting partner to ShcD. In addition, we report that the tumour suppressive abilities of Nischarin can overcome ShcD-mediated cell migration when both proteins are concomitantly expressed.*This abstract was presented in the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI)-2019
Virally induced CRISPR/Cas9-based knock-in of fluorescent albumin allows long-term visualization of cerebral circulation in infant and adult mice
Authors: Vittani Marta , Knak Philip Aleksander Gade , Fukuda Masahiro , Nagao Masaki , Wang Xiaowen , Kjaerby Celia , Konno Ayumu , Hirai Hirokazu , Nedergaard Maiken , Hirase Hajime 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAlbumin, a protein produced by liver hepatocytes, represents the most abundant protein in blood plasma. We have previously engineered a liver-targeting adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) that expresses fluorescent protein-tagged albumin to visualize blood plasma in mice. While this approach is versatile for imaging in adult mice, transgene expression vanishes when AAV is administered in neonates due to dilution of the episomal AAV genome in the rapidly growing liver. Here, we use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to insert the fluorescent protein mNeonGreen (mNG) gene into the albumin (Alb) locus of hepatocytes to produce fluorescently labeled albumin (Alb-mNG). We constructed a CRISPR AAV that includes ∼1 kb homologous arms around Alb exon 14 to express Alb-mNG. Subcutaneous injection of this AAV with AAV-CMV-Cas9 in postnatal day 3 mice resulted in two-photon visualization of the cerebral cortex vasculature within ten days. The expression levels of Alb-mNG were persistent for at least three months and were so robust that vasomotion and capillary blood flow could be assessed transcranially in early postnatal mice. This knock-in approach provides powerful means for micro- and macroscopic imaging of cerebral vascular dynamics in postnatal and adult mice.
Distinct phases of cellular signaling revealed by time-resolved protein synthesis
Authors: Lee Gihoon , Muir Tom W. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe post-translational regulation of protein function is involved in most cellular processes. As such, synthetic biology tools that operate at this level provide opportunities for manipulating cellular states. Here, we deploy a proximity-triggered protein trans-splicing technology to enable the time-resolved synthesis of target proteins from pre-made parts. The modularity of the strategy allows for the addition or removal of various control elements as a function of the splicing reaction, in the process permitting the cellular location and/or activity state of starting materials and products to be differentiated. The approach is applied to a diverse set of proteins, including the kinase oncofusions BCR/ABL and DNAJB1/PRKACA where dynamic cellular phosphorylation events are dissected, revealing distinct phases of signaling and identifying molecular players connecting the oncofusion to cancer transformation as novel therapeutic targets of cancer cells. We envision that the tools and control strategies developed herein will allow the activity of both naturally occurring and designer proteins to be harnessed for basic and applied research.
A divide and conquer approach (DACA) to predict high fidelity structure of large multidomain protein BRWD1
Authors: Mondal Rajkrishna , Mandal Malay , Lahiri Tapobrata 
Published: July 2023

AbstractTherapeutic importance in inhibiting Bromodomain and WD Repeat Domain containing BRWD1 against numerous human pathophysiological processes including cancers prompts prediction of a workable structure of this large protein. Here, a novel divide and conquer strategy was adopted to utilize smaller overlapping sequence-fragments of BRWD1 to further utilize their predicted structures as derived templates for prediction of complete BRWD1 structure in absence of its desired homologues in the template database. The novelty of this methodology stemmed from the requirement of templates of high sequence similarity in any comparative model based predictors whereas, the own fragments of the same target protein, BRWD1 could successfully fulfill this criteria. Additionally, the outputs of different high performing predictors including AlphaFold and RoseTTAFold were systematically integrated under the premise of Inductive Reasoning. The resultant structures were validated using existing validation parameters. Finally, a new validation paradigm was adopted to screen the best structure from the result presenting in-silico studies of known interactions of BRWD1 with various small molecules like, BD inhibitors, modified histone tails, DNA motifs and interacting proteins. The algorithm proposed in this work also paved the way for prediction of authentic structures of large size proteins.
Quantifying visual acuity inHeliconiusbutterflies
Authors: Wright Daniel Shane , Manel Anupama Nayak , Guachamin-Rosero Michelle , Chamba-Vaca Pamela , Baquet Caroline Nicole , Merrill Richard M. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractHeliconiusbutterflies are well-known for their colourful wing patterns, which advertise distastefulness to potential predators and are used during mate choice. However, the relative importance of different aspects of these signals will depend on the visual abilities ofHeliconiusand their predators. Previous studies have investigated colour sensitivity and neural anatomy, but visual acuity (the ability to perceive detail) has not been studied in these butterflies. Here, we provide the first estimate of visual acuity inHeliconius: from a behavioural optomotor assay, we found that mean visual acuity = 0.49 cycles-per-degree (cpd), with higher acuity in males than females. We also estimated visual acuity from eye morphology and reported slightly lower values (mean visual acuity = 0.38 cpd), but acuity was still higher in males. Finally, we estimated how visual acuity affectsHeliconiusvisual perception compared to a potential avian predator. Whereas the bird predator maintained high resolving power,Heliconiuslost the ability to resolve detail at greater distances, though colours may remain salient. These results will inform future studies ofHeliconiuswing pattern evolution, as well as other aspects in these highly visual butterflies, which have emerged as an important system in studies of adaptation and speciation.