bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hazard identification and the prevalence of occupational skin disease in Indonesian Batik workers
Authors: Febriana Sri Awalia , Ridora Yohanes , Indrastuti Niken , Dewi Kusuma , Erdina  , Oginawati Katharina , Tanziha Ikeu , Prakoeswa Cita Rosita Sigit , Waskito Fajar , Schuttelaar Marie-Louise 
Published: April 2023

AbstractBatik, a resist-dyeing technique to decorate a special cotton fabric, has been practiced for centuries in Indonesia. Unfortunately, as an informal enterprise, batik industry activities lack work safety and health regulations. This study aimed to identify potential health hazards, including inventorying the chemicals to which the workers are exposed, the PPE profile, and investigating the prevalence of occupational skin diseases (OSD) in the batik industry. A cross-sectional study and an inventory of exposure to the chemicals were done in traditional batik workplaces in 5 districts in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia. The chemicals were classified as potential sensitizers/irritants, and the workers were examined and interviewed using the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire-2002/LONG. Of 222 traditional batik workers, OSD were diagnosed in 61 (27.5%) workers, with occupational contact dermatitis was the most common OSD encountered (n = 23/61; 37.7%) (allergic contact dermatitis n = 7/23; irritant contact dermatitis n = 16/23). A smaller portion of other OSD was also encountered including callus, miliaria, and nail disorder (9%, 6.3%, and 5.9%, respectively). During each step of the traditional batik manufacturing process, the workers are exposed to substances that act as irritants and/or as potential contact allergens. However, only one-fourth of the workers used PPE regularly, particularly during the coloring process and wax removal (wet processes). Traditional batik manufacturing process exposes the worker to various physical and chemical hazards, resulting in a high prevalence of occupational skin diseases, especially contact dermatitis among the employees.
Dynamic balance and explosive strength appears to better explain single leg hop test results among young elite female basketball athletes
Authors: Dominguez-Navarro Fernando , Casaña Jose , Perez-Dominguez Borja , Ricart-Luna Borja , Cotolí-Suárez Pedro , Calatayud Joaquin 
Published: April 2023

AbstractTo analyze the impact of balance, lower-limb explosive strength and anthropometric variables on the result of the hop test in young elite female basketball athletes. Ninety young elite female basketball athletes (13–17 years), without current or recent lower-limb injury, were assessed in the off-season period of July 2021. Single leg hop test, countermovement jump, Y balance test and anthropometric outcomes were assessed. A correlation study and a regression model were performed to investigate the influence of such outcomes and the value of their participation on the hop test results. It was found a low-to-moderate correlation effect size for both countermovement jump (distance and power flight) and Y balance test values (except interlimb outcomes) with the single leg hop test results. Anthropometric outcomes did not show significant correlation (p > 0.05). Regression model revealed that for right hop test, countermovement jump values exhibited an adjusted determination coefficient of 0.408, (β = 0.249, p = 0.013), For left hop test, again the countermovement jump values (β = 0.229, p = 0.025), and left Y balance test values (β = 0.331, p = 0.011) jointly obtained an adjusted determination coefficient of 0.263 significant predictive value for countermovement jump outcomes in both right (β = 0.249, p = 0.013; β = 0.301; p = 0.031) and left leg (β = 0.229, p = 0.025; β = 0.365, p = 0.040), as well as certain Y balance outcomes values. Explosive strength, and dynamic balance although to a lesser extent, appear to be the most relevant physical-functional factors influencing the single leg hop test results among young elite female basketball athletes. These findings may a serve as a basis to implement targeted interventions, such as plyometric and balance training, for an enhancement on functional rehabilitation and reducing the risk of injury related to the hop test results.
Indwelling stents cause severe inflammation and fibrosis of the ureter via urothelial–mesenchymal transition
Authors: Reicherz Alina , Eltit Felipe , Scotland Kymora , Almutairi Khaled , Bell Robert , Mojtahedzadeh Bita , Cox Michael , Chew Ben , Lange Dirk 
Published: April 2023

AbstractTo explore the pathways and mechanisms driving inflammation and fibrosis in stented ureters. In total, six healthy female pigs underwent cystoscopic unilateral ureteral stent insertion (6 Fr). After 14 days indwelling time, ureteral tissue was harvested in three pigs, while the remaining three pigs had their stents removed, and were recovered for 7 days. Three separate pigs served as controls. Tissue from stented and contralateral ureters was analysed histologically to evaluate tissue remodelling and classify the degree of inflammation and fibrosis, while genome, proteome and immunohistochemistry analysis was performed to assess changes at the transcriptional and translational levels. Finally, immunofluorescence was used to characterize the cell composition of the immune response and pathways involved in inflammation and fibrosis. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism and RStudio for Welch ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis and Dunnett’s T3 multiple comparison test. Stents cause significant inflammation and fibrosis of ureters. Gene set enrichment analysis confirmed fibrotic changes and tissue proliferation and suggests that epithelial–mesenchymal transition is a driver of fibrosis. Moreover, IL-6/JAK/STAT and TNFα via NF-κB signalling might contribute to chronic inflammation promoting a profibrotic environment. Immunostaining confirmed epithelial–mesenchymal transition in the urothelium and NF-κB expression in ureters stented for 14 days. Tissue alterations do not fully recover after 7 days. Histological evaluation showed that contralateral, unstented ureters are affected by mild inflammation. Our study showed that stenting has a significant impact on the ureter. Chronic inflammation and epithelial–mesenchymal transition are drivers of fibrosis, potentially impairing ureteral functionality in the long term. Furthermore, we observed mild inflammation in contralateral, unstented ureters.
Hypoxic microenvironment as a crucial factor triggering events leading to rupture of intracranial aneurysm
Authors: Ono Isao , Kayahara Tomomichi , Kawashima Akitsugu , Okada Akihiro , Miyamoto Susumu , Kataoka Hiroharu , Kurita Hiroki , Ishii Akira , Aoki Tomohiro 
Published: April 2023

AbstractSubarachnoid hemorrhage being the rupture of intracranial aneurysm (IA) as a major cause has quite poor prognosis, despite the modern technical advances. Thereby, the mechanisms underlying the rupture of lesions should be clarified. Recently, we and others have clarified the formation of vasa vasorum in IA lesions presumably for inflammatory cells to infiltrate in lesions as the potential histopathological alternation leading to rupture. In the present study, we clarified the origin of vasa vasorum as arteries located at the brain surface using 3D-immunohistochemistry with tissue transparency. Using Hypoxyprobe, we then found the presence of hypoxic microenvironment mainly at the adventitia of intracranial arteries where IA is formed. In addition, the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from cultured macrophages in such a hypoxic condition was identified. Furthermore, we found the accumulation of VEGF both in rupture-prone IA lesions induced in a rat model and human unruptured IA lesions. Finally, the VEGF-dependent induction of neovessels from arteries on brain surface was confirmed. The findings from the present study have revealed the potential role of hypoxic microenvironment and hypoxia-induced VEGF production as a machinery triggering rupture of IAs via providing root for inflammatory cells in lesions to exacerbate inflammation.
Edge-preserving smoothing filter using fast M-estimation method with an automatic determination algorithm for basic width
Authors: Yamaguchi Yudai , Yoshida Ichiro , Kondo Yuki , Numada Munetoshi , Koshimizu Hiroyasu , Oshiro Kaito , Saito Ryo 
Published: April 2023

AbstractDigital filtering is essential for digital imaging, image recognition, and super-resolution technology. For example, the presence of noise in images captured by digital cameras causes deterioration of the image quality and image recognition rate. In order to improve the image recognition rate, noise reduction and edge preservation must be performed during preprocessing. Noise is generally reduced using low-pass filters, such as the Gaussian filter. Although they reduce noise, such filters also have the properties of blurring edge. A strong edge blur reduces the accuracy of the feature detection in image recognition. Therefore, in our previous study, a fast M-estimation Gaussian filter for images (FMGFI) was proposed as an image filter that simultaneously achieves denoising and edge preservation. In the FMGFI, the setting of the optimal basic width of the 2nd order B-spline basis functions is important for achieving simultaneous denoising and edge preservation. In this method, the optimal basic width of the FMGFI was determined not only by manually setting the basic width but also by human judgment of the filtered images. Consequently, the inability to automatically determine the optimal basic width hindered efficient denoising during image processing Therefore, in this research, we develop and propose a method that can automatically determine the optimal basic width of the FMGFI. The previously proposed method calculates using the same basic width for all the pixels over the entire image; in contrast, the proposed method calculates using the basic width automatically determined for each pixel. The experiments confirmed that the method proposed in this study achieves higher denoising and edge preservation performance than the ones used in previous research. The results also showed that it has the highest denoising performance against salt-and-pepper noise as compared to other filters: non-local mean filter, Gaussian filter, median filter, bilateral filter, adaptive bilateral filter, and FMGFI. The experimental results for the Gaussian noise sowed that the proposed method has the same denoising and edge preservation performance as the other filters in visual evaluation. From the above, the proposed method is expected to contribute to efficient denoising and improvement of image quality by using it as a preprocessing.
Circulating cf-miRNA as a more appropriate surrogate liquid biopsy marker than cfDNA for ovarian cancer
Authors: Gahlawat Aoife Ward , Witte Tania , Sinn Peter , Schott Sarah 
Published: April 2023

AbstractOvarian cancer (OC) is an aggressive disease, primarily diagnosed in late stages with only 20% of patients surviving more than 5 years. Liquid biopsy markers have great potential to improve current diagnostic and prognostic methods. Here, we compared miRNAs and DNA methylation in matched plasma, whole blood and tissues as a surrogate marker for OC. We found that while both cfDNA and cf-miRNAs levels were upregulated in OC compared to patients with benign lesions or healthy controls, only cf-miRNA levels were an independent prognosticator of survival. Following on our previous work, we found members of the miR-200 family, miR-200c and miR-141 to be upregulated in both plasma and matched tissues of OC patients which correlated with adverse clinical features. We could also show that the upregulation of miR-200c and -141 correlated with promoter DNA hypomethylation in tissues, but not in plasma or matched whole blood samples. As cf-miRNAs are more easily obtained and very stable in blood, we conclude that they might serve as a more appropriate surrogate liquid biopsy marker than cfDNA for OC.
Real-world efficacy of anti-IL-5 treatment in patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
Authors: Tomomatsu Katsuyoshi , Yasuba Hirotaka , Ishiguro Takashi , Imokawa Shiro , Hara Johsuke , Soeda Seiko , Harada Norihiro , Tsurikisawa Naomi , Oda Naohiro , Katoh Shigeki , Numata Takanori , Sugino Yasuteru , Yamada Mitsuhiro , Kamimura Mitsuhiro , Terashima Takeshi , Okada Naoki , Tanaka Jun , Oguma Tsuyoshi , Asano Koichiro 
Published: April 2023

AbstractDespite standard treatment with systemic corticosteroids and/or antifungal triazoles, a substantial proportion of patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) experience frequent relapses and require long-term treatment despite unfavorable adverse effects. We investigated the efficacy and safety of anti-interleukin (IL)-5/IL-5 receptor α chain (Rα) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in patients with ABPA complicated by asthma. ABPA cases treated with anti-IL-5/IL-5Rα mAbs were collected from 132 medical institutes in 2018 and published case reports in Japan. Clinical outcomes, laboratory and physiological data, and radiographic findings during 32 weeks before and after treatment were retrospectively evaluated. We analyzed 29 cases of ABPA: 20 treated with mepolizumab and nine with benralizumab. Treatment with anti-IL-5/IL-5Rα mAbs reduced the frequency of exacerbations (p = 0.03), decreased the dose of oral corticosteroids (p < 0.01), and improved pulmonary function (p = 0.01). Mucus plugs in the bronchi shrank or diminished in 18 patients (82%). Despite the clinical/radiographical improvement, serum levels of total IgE, the key biomarker for the pharmacological response in ABPA, were unchanged. Anti-IL-5/IL-5Rα mAbs that directly target eosinophils are promising candidates for the treatment of patients with ABPA, especially those with mucus plugs in the bronchi.
Parallel recovery of chromatin accessibility and gene expression dynamics from frozen human regulatory T cells
Authors: Wong Ying Y. , Harbison Jessica E. , Hope Christopher M. , Gundsambuu Batjargal , Brown Katherine A. , Wong Soon W. , Brown Cheryl Y , Couper Jennifer J. , Breen Jimmy , Liu Ning , Pederson Stephen M. , Köhne Maren , Klee Kathrin , Schultze Joachim , Beyer Marc , Sadlon Timothy , Barry Simon C. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractEpigenetic features such as DNA accessibility dictate transcriptional regulation in a cell type- and cell state- specific manner, and mapping this in health vs. disease in clinically relevant material is opening the door to new mechanistic insights and new targets for therapy. Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin Sequencing (ATAC-seq) allows chromatin accessibility profiling from low cell input, making it tractable on rare cell populations, such as regulatory T (Treg) cells. However, little is known about the compatibility of the assay with cryopreserved rare cell populations. Here we demonstrate the robustness of an ATAC-seq protocol comparing primary Treg cells recovered from fresh or cryopreserved PBMC samples, in the steady state and in response to stimulation. We extend this method to explore the feasibility of conducting simultaneous quantitation of chromatin accessibility and transcriptome from a single aliquot of 50,000 cryopreserved Treg cells. Profiling of chromatin accessibility and gene expression in parallel within the same pool of cells controls for cellular heterogeneity and is particularly beneficial when constrained by limited input material. Overall, we observed a high correlation of accessibility patterns and transcription factor dynamics between fresh and cryopreserved samples. Furthermore, highly similar transcriptomic profiles were obtained from whole cells and from the supernatants recovered from ATAC-seq reactions. We highlight the feasibility of applying these techniques to profile the epigenomic landscape of cells recovered from cryopreservation biorepositories.
Combined use of CRP with neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in differentiating between infectious and noninfectious inflammation in hemodialysis patients
Authors: Beberashvili Ilia , Omar Muhammad Abu , Nizri Elad , Stav Kobi , Efrati Shai 
Published: April 2023

AbstractWe tested whether CRP combined with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) optimizes the prediction of infectious inflammation in hemodialysis patients. We conducted a retrospective study of 774 (mean age 71.1 ± 12.8 years, 35% women) hemodialysis patients from our institution, hospitalized between 2007 and 2021 for various reasons, with CRP levels available at admission. Infection was defined according to the International Sepsis Definition Conference criteria. An algorithm for the optimal CRP and NLR cutoff points for predicting infection was developed based on a decision tree analysis in the training cohort (n = 620) and then tested in the validation cohort (n = 154). A CRP level above 40 mg/L (obtained as the cutoff point in predicting infections in the training group, using ROC curve analysis) predicted an infection diagnosis with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 76% with an odds ratio (OR) of 9.37 (95% CI: 5.36–16.39), according to a multivariate logistic regression analysis. Whereas, CRP levels above 23 mg/L together with an NLR above 9.7 predicted an infection diagnosis with a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 84% with an OR of 25.59 (95% CI: 9.73–67.31). All these results were reproduced in the validation set. Combined use of CRP with NLR may lower the CRP cutoff point in distinguishing between infectious and noninfectious inflammation in hemodialysis patients.
A sophisticated design of copper core to converge rotating eddy current control for detecting cracks in conductive materials
Authors: Trung Le Quang , Kasai Naoya , Sekino Kouichi , Miyazaki Seishu 
Published: April 2023

AbstractEddy current (EC) testing has been selected as a standard candidate for detecting defects in conductive materials in the past few decades. Nevertheless, inventing EC probes capable of detecting minor defects has always been challenging for researchers due to the tradeoff between the probe dimensions and the strength of the EC generated on the surface of the test piece. Here, we use a copper core with a sophisticated design to converge the rotating EC at the tip of the copper core to detect small cracks in all directions in conductive materials. In this method, we can arbitrarily accommodate a large excitation coil so that a larger rotating uniform EC is generated in a small area of the test piece. Hence, the probe can detect cracks in all directions in conductive materials.
Refining the time–frequency characteristic of non-stationary signal for improving time–frequency representation under variable speeds
Authors: Liu Yi , Xiang Hang , Jiang Zhansi , Xiang Jiawei 
Published: April 2023

AbstractTime–frequency ridge not only exhibits the variable process of non-stationary signal with time changing but also provides the information of signal synchronous or non-synchronous components for subsequent detection research. Consequently, the key is to decrease the error between real and estimated ridge in the time–frequency domain for accurate detection. In this article, an adaptive weighted smooth model is presented as a post-processing tool to refine the time–frequency ridge which is based on the coarse estimated time–frequency ridge using newly emerging time–frequency methods. Firstly, the coarse ridge is estimated by using multi-synchrosqueezing transform for vibration signal under variable speed conditions. Secondly, an adaptive weighted method is applied to enhance the large time–frequency energy value location of the estimated ridge. Then, the reasonable smooth regularization parameter associated with the vibration signal is constructed. Thirdly, the majorization–minimization method is developed for solving the adaptive weighted smooth model. Finally, the refined time–frequency characteristic is obtained by utilizing the stop criterion of the optimization model. Simulation and experimental signals are given to validate the performance of the proposed method by average absolute errors. Compared with other methods, the proposed method has the highest performance in refinement accuracy.
Metallurgical investigation of early failure of heater pipes in a gas complex
Authors: Khalifa Waleed , El-Hadad Shimaa 
Published: April 2023

AbstractAn early corrosion failure of the piping system of a gas heater was reported by a gas complex company. Local corrosion rates of 0.90 and 0.66 mm/year were observed in the heater piping system. An investigation including visual examination, macrostructure, microstructure (SEM, EDS and XRD), thickness gauging, chemical analysis, and mechanical testing, was performed. The results showed that corrosion damage occurred on the external surface of the pipes. Corrosion occurred at the cold sides of the pipes and elbows. The corrosion pattern is broad and shallow pitting. Some elbows showed an early stage of carbide spheroidization and pearlite decomposition. The EDS microanalysis revealed that the level of sulfur, chlorine, and nitrogen was substantially high in the rust samples. The XRD of the corrosion products showed that the main oxyhydroxide was Akaganeite. The analysis of results showed that the flue gas dew point corrosion was the mechanism of damage, and the root cause was the operation of the heater at low temperatures and the frequent outings of service, combined with evident material drawbacks including low levels of Si, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Mo. These elements should be at their maximum allowable limits of the SA 105 and SA 106 to improve the corrosion resistance of the steel piping components.
An ultra-high-throughput screen for the evaluation of peptide HLA-Binder interactions
Authors: Krämer Stefan , Moritz Andreas , Stehl Luca , Hutt Meike , Hofmann Martin , Wagner Claudia , Bunk Sebastian , Maurer Dominik , Roth Günter , Wöhrle Johannes 
Published: April 2023

AbstractPeptide human leukocyte antigen (pHLA) targeting therapeutics like T-cell receptor based adoptive cell therapy or bispecific T cell engaging receptor molecules hold great promise for the treatment of cancer. Comprehensive pre-clinical screening of therapeutic candidates is important to ensure patient safety but is challenging because of the size of the potential off-target space. By combining stabilized peptide-receptive HLA molecules with microarray printing and screening, we have developed an ultra-high-throughput screening platform named ValidaTe that enables large scale evaluation of pHLA-binder interactions. We demonstrate its potential by measuring and analyzing over 30.000 binding curves for a high-affinity T cell Engaging Receptor towards a large pHLA library. Compared to a dataset obtained by conventional bio-layer interferometry measurements, we illustrate that a massively increased throughput (over 650 fold) is obtained by our microarray screening, paving the way for use in pre-clinical safety screening of pHLA-targeting drugs.