bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The interaction of Schistosoma mansoni infection with diabetes mellitus and obesity in mice
Authors: Amer Alaa S. , Othman Ahmad A. , Dawood Lamees M. , El-Nouby Kholoud A. , Gobert Geoffrey N. , Abou Rayia Dina M. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractHuman schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases worldwide. Various host factors can affect the host–parasite interactions. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to determine the parasitological, histopathological, biochemical, and immunological status of Schistosoma mansoni-infected hosts with metabolic disorders to identify the underlying possible mechanisms of these comorbidities. The study animals were divided into four groups. Group I represented the control groups, namely, the normal control group, the S. mansoni-infected control group, and the noninfected type 1 diabetes (T1DM), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and obesity groups. The mice of the other three groups underwent induction of T1DM (Group II), T2DM (Group III) and obesity (Group IV) before being infected with S. mansoni. All mice were subjected to body weight measurement, blood glucose and insulin assessment, parasitological evaluation of adult worm count, tissue egg count and intestinal oogram. Histopathological and immunohistochemical study using anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and image analysis of Masson’s trichrome-stained liver sections using ImageJ (Fiji) software were carried out. Additionally, immunological analysis of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) beta, interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-10, Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) and pentraxin 3 (PTX3) levels besides biochemical study of total lipid profile were evaluated. The present study revealed a significant increase in the adult worm count and tissue egg output in the obesity group compared to the infected control group. The oogram of counted eggs showed prevalence of immature eggs in T1DM group, while T2DM and obese groups showed prevalence of mature eggs. The fibrosis area percentage showed significant increase in T2DM and obese groups while it was decreased in T1DM group in comparison to infected control group. Our data also showed significant increase in the levels of TNF-β, IL-5, PTX3 in T1DM, T2DM and obesity groups in comparison to infected control group, whilst the levels of FOXP3 and IL-10 were increased in the infected groups in comparison to their noninfected controls. Moreover, infected T1DM, T2DM and obesity groups showed higher blood glucose and lipid profile in comparison to the infected control group. However, these parameters were improved in comparison to their noninfected controls. In sum, induction of T2DM and obesity increased tissue egg counts, mature egg percentage, and fibrosis density, while schistosome infection induced changes in the lipid profile and blood glucose levels in infected diabetic and obese groups and impacted favorably insulin levels in obese mice. By better understanding the complexities of host–parasite interactions, efforts to reduce the burden of these debilitating diseases can be improved.
Re-irradiation combined with bevacizumab for recurrent glioblastoma beyond bevacizumab failure: survival outcomes and prognostic factors
Authors: You Weir-Chiang , Lee Hsu-Dung , Pan Hung-Chuan , Chen Hung-Chieh 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe combination of re-irradiation and bevacizumab has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy for patients experiencing their first glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) recurrence. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the re-irradiation and bevacizumab combination in treating second-progression GBM patients who are resistant to bevacizumab monotherapy. This retrospective study enrolled 64 patients who developed a second progression after single-agent bevacizumab therapy. The patients were divided into two groups: 35 underwent best supportive care (none-ReRT group), and 29 received bevacizumab and re-irradiation (ReRT group). The study measured the overall survival time after bevacizumab failure (OST-BF) and re-irradiation (OST-RT). Statistical tests were used to compare categorical variables, evaluate the difference in recurrence patterns between the two groups, and identify optimal cutoff points for re-irradiation volume. The results of the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that the re-irradiation (ReRT) group experienced a significantly higher survival rate and longer median survival time than the non-ReRT group. The median OST-BF and OST-RT were 14.5 months and 8.8 months, respectively, for the ReRT group, while the OST-BF for the none-ReRT group was 3.9 months (p < 0.001). The multivariable analysis identified the re-irradiation target volume as a significant factor for OST-RT. Moreover, the re-irradiation target volume exhibited excellent discriminatory ability in the area under the curve (AUC) analysis, with an optimal cutoff point of greater than 27.58 ml. These findings suggest that incorporating re-irradiation with bevacizumab therapy may be a promising treatment strategy for patients with recurrent GBM resistant to bevacizumab monotherapy. The re-irradiation target volume may serve as a valuable selection factor in determining which patients with recurrent GBM are likely to benefit from the combined re-irradiation and bevacizumab treatment modality.
Tryptophan-like side chain holding aptamers inhibit respiratory syncytial virus infection of lung epithelial cells
Authors: Percze Krisztina , Tolnai Zoltán János , Eleveld Marc , Ou Li , Du Haijuan , Olia Adam S. , Kwong Peter D. , de Jonge Marien I. , Mészáros Tamás 
Published: June 2023

AbstractRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of serious and even fatal acute lower respiratory tract infections in infants and in the elderly. Potent RSV neutralization has been achieved by antibodies that selectively bind the prefusion form of the viral fusion (F) protein. We hypothesised that similar potent neutralization could be achieved using F protein targeting aptamers. Aptamers have yet to reach their translational potential for therapeutics or diagnostics due to their short half-life and limited range of target-aptamer interactions; these shortcomings can, however, be ameliorated by application of amino acid-like side chain holding nucleotides. In this study, a stabilized version of the prefusion RSV F protein was targeted by aptamer selection using an oligonucleotide library holding a tryptophan-like side chain. This process resulted in aptamers that bound the F protein with high affinity and differentiated between its pre- and postfusion conformation. Identified aptamers inhibited viral infection of lung epithelial cells. Moreover, introduction of modified nucleotides extended aptamer half-lives. Our results suggest that targeting aptamers to the surface of viruses could yield effective drug candidates, which could keep pace with the continuously evolving pathogens.
A downscaling and bias correction method for climate model ensemble simulations of local-scale hourly precipitation
Authors: Yoshikane Takao , Yoshimura Kei 
Published: June 2023

AbstractEnsemble simulations of climate models are used to assess the impact of climate change on precipitation, and require downscaling at the local scale. Statistical downscaling methods have been used to estimate daily and monthly precipitation from observed and simulated data. Downscaling of short-term precipitation data is necessary for more accurate prediction of extreme precipitation events and related disasters at the regional level. In this study, we developed and investigated the performance of a downscaling method for climate model simulations of hourly precipitation. Our method was designed to recognize time-varying precipitation systems that can be represented at the same resolution as the numerical model. Downscaling improved the estimation of the spatial distribution of hourly precipitation frequency, monthly average, and 99th percentile values. The climate change in precipitation amount and frequency were shown in almost all areas by using the 50 ensemble averages of estimated precipitation, although the natural variability was too large to compare with observations. The changes in precipitation were consistent with simulations. Therefore, our downscaling method improved the evaluation of the climatic characteristics of extreme precipitation events and more comprehensively represented the influence of local factors, such as topography, which have been difficult to evaluate using previous methods.
A simulation study on missing data imputation for dichotomous variables using statistical and machine learning methods
Authors: Ge Yingfeng , Li Zhiwei , Zhang Jinxin 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe problem of missing data, particularly for dichotomous variables, is a common issue in medical research. However, few studies have focused on the imputation methods of dichotomous data and their performance, as well as the applicability of these imputation methods and the factors that may affect their performance. In the arrangement of application scenarios, different missing mechanisms, sample sizes, missing rates, the correlation between variables, value distributions, and the number of missing variables were considered. We used data simulation techniques to establish a variety of different compound scenarios for missing dichotomous variables and conducted real-data validation on two real-world medical datasets. We comprehensively compared the performance of eight imputation methods (mode, logistic regression (LogReg), multiple imputation (MI), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), and artificial neural network (ANN)) in each scenario. Accuracy and mean absolute error (MAE) were applied to evaluating their performance. The results showed that missing mechanisms, value distributions and the correlation between variables were the main factors affecting the performance of imputation methods. Machine learning-based methods, especially SVM, ANN, and DT, achieved relatively high accuracy with stable performance and were of potential applicability. Researchers should explore the correlation between variables and their distribution pattern in advance and prioritize machine learning-based methods for practical applications when encountering dichotomous missing data.
Influence of aluminum and iron chlorides on the parameters of zigzag patterns on films dried from BSA solutions
Authors: Glibitskiy Dmitriy , Gorobchenko Olga , Nikolov Oleg , Cheipesh Tatyana , Dzhimieva Tatyana , Zaitseva Inna , Roshal Alexander , Semenov Mihail , Glibitskiy Gennadiy 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe relationships between the structural and aggregational state of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the specific length and total number of zigzag pattern segments of the film textures formed upon drying biopolymer solutions with aluminum and iron chlorides have been shown. To obtain films, saline solutions of BSA were dried in a glass cuvette under thermostatically controlled conditions. It is shown that the formation of zigzag structures is sensitive to the influence of aluminum chlorides Al3+ and iron chlorides Fe3+ and depend on the concentration of AlCl3 and FeCl3. This may be due to a change in the charge and size of BSA particles and due to a change in conformation or a violation of the structure of BSA. These factors, in turn, affect the hydration of the solution components and the structural state of free water in solution, which presumably also affects the formation of zigzag structures. It is established that the analysis of the specific length and the number of segments of zigzag patterns makes it possible to evaluate changes in the state of biopolymers in the initial solution during structural changes and aggregation.
Threshold magnetic field as a universal criterion for the selective transport of magnetized particles in microdroplets
Authors: Bono Shinji , Konishi Satoshi 
Published: June 2023

AbstractTransportation of magnetized particles (MPs) against gravity is possible by applying a magnetic field to the particles. This transport phenomenon of MPs in microdroplets can be quantitatively assessed by determining the contribution of individual forces acting on the MPs. We studied the selective transportation of MPs in microdroplets. MPs in microdroplets were transported in the opposite direction to gravity when we applied an external magnetic field larger than a threshold value. We modulated the intensity of the external magnetic field and selectively manipulated the MPs. As a result, MPs were separated into different microdroplets based on their magnetic properties. Our quantitative investigation of transport dynamics shows that the threshold magnetic field depends only on the magnetic susceptibility and the density of MPs. This is a universal criterion for the selective transport of magnetized targets such as magnetized cells in microdroplets.
Multitemporal modeling and simulation of the complex dynamics in urban wetlands: the case of Bogota, Colombia
Authors: Cuellar Yenny , Perez Liliana 
Published: June 2023

AbstractUrban wetlands are essential to the longstanding health and well-being of cities. Acknowledged as rich in biodiversity and highly productive ecosystems, they provide ecosystem services represented in aspects such as air purification, urban climate regulation, physical and mental health, recreation, and contemplation, among a wide variety of other goods and services on which the quality of life of the inhabitants of large cities such as Bogota depends largely. We used cellular automata to model and simulate urban wetland changes in Bogota, Colombia. The study applied the coupled Markov-Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model to simulate and analyze land use/land cover (LULC) change over 20 years. First, we used an orthomosaic (1998) and two WorldView-2 satellite images (2004 and 2010), to detect land cover changes. Then, using the artificial neural network FLUS module, we calculated the relationships between land classes and associated drivers and estimated the probability of occurrence of each land class. Finally, we applied Intensity Analysis to examine the observed and projected LULC change (1998–2034). Results indicate that gains in areas of crops and pastures are at the expense of wetlands. In addition, simulation outputs show that wetlands will likely represent less than 2% of the total study area in 2034, representing a 14% decrease in 24 years. The importance of this project lies in its potential contribution to the decision-making process within the city and as an instrument of natural resource management. Additionally, the results of this study could contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, “Clean water and sanitation," and climate change mitigation.
Earth-vertical motion perception assessment using an elevator: a feasibility study
Authors: Schellenberg Simona , Straumann Dominik , Green David Andrew , Schuetz Philipp , Zehnder Yves , Swanenburg Jaap 
Published: June 2023

AbstractA feasible, inexpensive, rapid, and easy-to-use method to measure vestibular vertical movement perception is needed to assess the sacculus-mediated low-frequency otolith function of dizzy patients. To evaluate the feasibility of reaction time assessment in response to vertical motion induced by an elevator in healthy young individuals. We recorded linear acceleration/deceleration reaction times (LA-RT/LD-RT) of 20 healthy (13 female) subjects (mean age: 22 years ± 1 SD) as a measure of vertical vestibular motion perception. LA-RT/LD-RT were defined as the time elapsed from the start of elevator acceleration or deceleration to the time at which subjects in a sitting position indicated perceiving a change in velocity by pushing a button with their thumb. The light reaction time was measured as a reference. All 20 subjects tolerated the assessment with repeated elevator rides and reported no adverse events. Over all experiments, one upward and four downward rides had to be excluded for technical reasons (2.5%). The fraction of premature button presses varied among the four conditions, possibly related to elevator vibration (upward rides: LA-RT-up 66%, LD-RT-up 0%; downward rides: LA-RT-down 12%, LD-RT-down 4%). Thus LD-RT-up yielded the most robust results. The reaction time to earth-vertical deceleration elicited by an elevator provides a consistent indicator of linear vestibular motion perception in healthy humans. The testing procedure is inexpensive and easy to use. Deceleration on upward rides yielded the most robust measurements.
The impact of seasonality on the annual air-sea carbon flux and its interannual variability
Authors: Rustogi Paridhi , Landschützer Peter , Brune Sebastian , Baehr Johanna 
Published: June 2023

AbstractInterannual variability of the ocean carbon sink is often assessed using annual air–sea carbon fluxes, but the drivers of the variability may instead arise from seasonal processes that are neglected in the annual average. The seasonal cycle largely modulates air–sea carbon exchange, hence understanding seasonal mechanisms and their link to interannual variability is necessary to determine long-term changes in the ocean carbon sink. We contrast carbon fluxes from an Earth System Model large ensemble and an observation-based ensemble to assess the representation of annual and seasonal carbon fluxes in two distinct ocean regions—the North Atlantic basin and the Southern Ocean and investigate if seasonal variability can help diagnose interannual variability. Both ensembles show strong agreement in their annual mean fluxes. However, discrepancies between the two ensembles are one to two times greater for the seasonal fluxes than the annual fluxes in the North Atlantic basin and three to four times greater in the Southern Ocean. These seasonal discrepancies compensate in the annual mean, obscuring significant seasonal mismatches between the ensembles, particularly in the Southern Ocean. A solid understanding of seasonal variability can be leveraged to diagnose interannual variability of carbon fluxes where necessary observational constraints have been built, for example, in the North Atlantic basin, where boreal winter and spring drive the interannual variability. However, in a data-sparse region like the Southern Ocean, both ensembles disagree substantially in their representations of seasonal carbon fluxes and variability, and currently, seasonal variability is of limited use in diagnosing the interannual variability of carbon fluxes in the Southern Ocean.
Physics-informed neural networks for modeling physiological time series for cuffless blood pressure estimation
Authors: Sel Kaan , Mohammadi Amirmohammad , Pettigrew Roderic I. , Jafari Roozbeh 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe bold vision of AI-driven pervasive physiological monitoring, through the proliferation of off-the-shelf wearables that began a decade ago, has created immense opportunities to extract actionable information for precision medicine. These AI algorithms model input-output relationships of a system that, in many cases, exhibits complex nature and personalization requirements. A particular example is cuffless blood pressure estimation using wearable bioimpedance. However, these algorithms need training over significant amount of ground truth data. In the context of biomedical applications, collecting ground truth data, particularly at the personalized level is challenging, burdensome, and in some cases infeasible. Our objective is to establish physics-informed neural network (PINN) models for physiological time series data that would use minimal ground truth information to extract complex cardiovascular information. We achieve this by building Taylor’s approximation for gradually changing known cardiovascular relationships between input and output (e.g., sensor measurements to blood pressure) and incorporating this approximation into our proposed neural network training. The effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated through a case study: continuous cuffless BP estimation from time series bioimpedance data. We show that by using PINNs over the state-of-the-art time series models tested on the same datasets, we retain high correlations (systolic: 0.90, diastolic: 0.89) and low error (systolic: 1.3 ± 7.6 mmHg, diastolic: 0.6 ± 6.4 mmHg) while reducing the amount of ground truth training data on average by a factor of 15. This could be helpful in developing future AI algorithms to help interpret pervasive physiologic data using minimal amount of training data.
Reorganization of the ancestral sex-determining regions during the evolution of trioecy in Pleodorina starrii
Authors: Takahashi Kohei , Suzuki Shigekatsu , Kawai-Toyooka Hiroko , Yamamoto Kayoko , Hamaji Takashi , Ootsuki Ryo , Yamaguchi Haruyo , Kawachi Masanobu , Higashiyama Tetsuya , Nozaki Hisayoshi 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe coexistence of three sexual phenotypes (male, female and bisexual) in a single species, ‘trioecy’, is rarely found in diploid organisms such as flowering plants and invertebrates. However, trioecy in haploid organisms has only recently been reported in a green algal species, Pleodorina starrii. Here, we generated whole-genome data of the three sex phenotypes of P. starrii to reveal a reorganization of the ancestral sex-determining regions (SDRs) in the sex chromosomes: the male and bisexual phenotypes had the same “male SDR” with paralogous gene expansions of the male-determining gene MID, whereas the female phenotype had a “female SDR” with transposition of the female-specific gene FUS1 to autosomal regions. Although the male and bisexual sex phenotypes had the identical male SDR and harbored autosomal FUS1, MID and FUS1 expression during sexual reproduction differed between them. Thus, the coexistence of three sex phenotypes in P. starrii is possible.
Navoximod modulates local HSV-1 replication to reshape tumor immune microenvironment for enhanced immunotherapy via an injectable hydrogel
Authors: Zhuang Qiuyu , Zhao Binyu , Lin Zhiwen , Liang Yuzhi , Zhao Qingfu , Wang Yunhao , Liao Naishun , Tu Haibin , Zheng Youshi , Chen Hengkai , Zeng Yongyi , Zhang Da , Liu Xiaolong 
Published: June 2023

AbstractOncolytic virotherapy can lead to tumor lysis and systemic anti-tumor immunity, but the therapeutic potential in humans is limited due to the impaired virus replication and the insufficient ability to overcome the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). To solve the above problems, we identified that Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibitor Navoximod promoted herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication and HSV-1-mediated oncolysis in tumor cells, making it a promising combination modality with HSV-1-based virotherapy. Thus, we loaded HSV-1 and Navoximod together in an injectable and biocompatible hydrogel (V-Navo@gel) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) virotherapy. The hydrogel formed a local delivery reservoir to maximize the viral replication and distribution at the tumor site with a single-dose injection. Notably, V-Navo@gel improved the disease-free survival time of HCC- bearing mice and protects the mice against tumor recurrence. What’s more, V-Navo@gel also showed an effective therapeutic efficacy in the rabbit orthotopic liver cancer model. Mechanistically, we further discovered that our combination strategy entirely reprogramed the TME through single-cell RNA sequencing. All these results collectively indicated that the combination of Navoximod with HSV-1 could boost the viral replication and reshape TME for tumor eradication through the hydrogel reservoir.