bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Design and simulation of a novel integrated microfluidic chip for cell isolation and culture
Authors: Tabatabaei Seyed Ali , Javaherchian Javane 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe lab on a chip is utilized as a background and a substrate for creating a proper flow for cellular processes in medicine. In this study, the concepts of cell isolation and cell transfer methods have been discussed. After that, the device of separation and transfer systems has been designed, simulated, and verified by placing the frequency of particle separation and droplet formation, which is tried to introduce a new device that can be used in cellular studies. The optimal operation conditions for the problem have also been investigated. High separation efficiency (99%) could be achieved when the velocity of the sample inlet in the microchannel separator is 180 μm/s. Also, a microfluidic device for droplet generation has been designed to transfer the isolated cells to the culture medium. For this purpose, the frequency of droplet production must be synchronized with particle ejection frequency and equals 9.09 Hz.
Compassionate use of recombinant human IL‐7‐hyFc as a salvage treatment for restoring lymphopenia in patients with recurrent glioblastoma
Authors: Ahn Stephen , Park Jae‐Sung , Kim Heewon , Heo Minkyu , Sung Young Chul , Jeun Sin‐Soo 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPurposeAddressing lymphopenia in cancer patients has been suggested as a novel immunotherapeutic strategy. As interleukin‐7 (IL‐7) is necessary for proliferation of lymphocytes and to increase total lymphocyte count (TLC), IL‐7 therapy has been attempted in various cancers. Here, we describe the clinical results of treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) with a long‐acting engineered version of recombinant human IL‐7 (rhIL‐7‐hyFc).MethodsThis prospective case series based on compassionate use was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in South Korea. Primary outcomes were safety profile and TLC. Secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS).ResultsAmong the 18 patients enrolled, 10 received rhIL‐7‐hyFc with temozolomide, 5 received rhIL‐7‐hyFc with bevacizumab, 1 received rhIL‐7‐hyFc with PCV chemotherapy, and 2 received rhIL‐7‐hyFc alone. Mean TLC of the enrolled patients after the first rhIL‐7‐hyFc treatment increased significantly from 1131 cells/mm3 (330–2989) at baseline to 4356 cells/mm3 (661–22,661). Higher TLCs were maintained while rhIL‐7‐hyFc was repeatedly administered. Median OS and PFS were 378 days (107–864 days) and 231 days (55–726 days), respectively.ConclusionOur study reports that IL‐7 immunotherapy can restore and maintain TLC during treatment with various salvage chemotherapies in recurrent GBM patients without serious toxicity.
Quinoline Alkaloids from the Roots of Orixa japonica with the Anti‐Pathogenic Fungi Activities
Authors: Jian Jun‐You , Fan Yi‐Min , Liu Qian , Jin Jun , Yuan Chun‐Mao , Gu Wei , Hu Zhan‐Xing , Huang Lie‐Jun , Hao Xiao‐Jiang 
Published: December 2022

AbstractA new quinoline alkaloid, 5‐hydroxy‐6‐methoxy‐N‐methyl‐2‐phenylquinoline‐4‐one (1), and seventeen known quinoline alkaloids (2–18) were isolated from the roots of Orixa japonica. The structure of 1 was determined by analysis of spectroscopic data. Among them, compounds 2, 3, and 13 were isolated from this plant for the first time. All isolates were screened for the anti‐pathogenic fungi activities, including Rhizoctonia solani, Magnaporthe oryzae, and Phomopsis sp. The results showed that five compounds (4, 8, 10, 11, and 12) exhibited significant anti‐pathogenic fungi effects at 50.0 μg/mL. In special, compound 10 exhibited the best antifungal activities toward R. solani and M. oryzae with the IC50 values of 37.86 and 44.72 μM, respectively, better than that of the positive control, hymexazol (IC50 121.21 and 1518.18 μM, respectively). Moreover, eleven new quinoline alkaloids derivatives (12a–12k) were designed and synthesized to investigate the structure−activity relationships (SARs). The SARs analysis indicated that the furo[2,3‐b]quinoline skeleton and the methoxy at C‐7 (compounds 8, 11, and 12) played a key role for improving the antifungal activities.
Bifidobacterial GH146 β‐l‐Arabinofuranosidase (Bll4HypBA1) as the Last Enzyme for the Complete Removal of Oligoarabinofuranosides from Hydroxyproline‐Rich Glycoproteins
Authors: Ishiwata Akihiro , Tsunomachi Hanako , Kameyama Kyohei , Sophon Kaeothip , Nakamura Masayuki , Kitahara Kanefumi , Tanaka Katsunori , Ito Yukishige , Fujita Kiyotaka 
Published: December 2022

AbstractIn plant cell walls, the hydroxyproline‐rich glycoproteins (HRGPs) such as extensin contain oligoarabinofuranoside linked to a hydroxyproline (Hyp) residue. The mature arabinooligosaccharide was revealed to be a tetrasaccharide (α‐l‐Araf‐(1→3)‐β‐l‐Araf‐(1→2)‐β‐l‐Araf‐(1→2)‐β‐l‐Araf, l‐Araf4), whose linkages are targets of the bifidobacterial and Xanthomonas arabinooligosaccharide‐degrading enzymes. The l‐Araf4 motif was cleaved by GH43 α‐l‐arabinofuranosidase (Arafase) and converted to an l‐Araf3‐linked structure. The latter is then cleaved by GH121 β‐l‐arabinobiosidase (HypBA2), producing β‐l‐Araf‐(1→2)‐l‐Ara (β‐l‐arabinobiose) and mono‐β‐l‐Araf linked to the HRGP backbone. In bifidobacteria, the β‐l‐arabinobiose is then hydrolyzed by GH127 β‐l‐Arafase (Bll1HypBA1), a mechanistically unique cysteine glycosidase. We recently identified the distantly related homologue from Xanthomonas euvesicatoria as GH146 β‐l‐Arafase along with paralogues from Bifidobacterium longum, one of which, Bll4HypBA1 (BLLJ_0089), can degrade l‐Araf1‐Hyp in a similar way to that of GH146. As the chemical synthesis of the extensin hydrophilic motif 1 a, which possesses three distinct linkages that connect four oligoAraf residues [Hyp(l‐Arafn) (n=4, 3, 1)], was achieved previously, we precisely monitored the step‐wise enzymatic cleavage of 1 a in addition to that of potato lectin. The results unequivocally revealed that this enzyme specifically degrades the Hyp(l‐Araf1) motif.
Recognizing the Minimum Structural Units Driving the Crystallization of SAPO‐34 in a Top‐Down Process
Authors: Zhang Xiaosi , Yang Miao , Wang Li , Han Jingfeng , Lou Caiyi , Xu Shutao , Zhang Yanyu , Wu Ren'an , Tian Peng , Liu Zhongmin 
Published: December 2022

AbstractRecognizing the structure and nature of the nuclei for zeolites crystallization on an atomic level is of great importance, which can provide guidance on the control of crystallization kinetics and the rational synthesis of zeolites. However, it remains a long‐standing challenge due to the difficulty in characterization of amorphous precursor with limited crystal nuclei. Herein, a top‐down synthesis system was designed for SAPO‐34 molecular sieve and well investigated. A clear precursor solution with abundant SAPO‐34 crystal nuclei was obtained under a depolymerization‐dominant condition. The species in the liquid precursor were identified by FT‐ICR MS, solid‐state MAS NMR and atomic pair distribution function analyses. In combination with various designed experiments, it is revealed that both the formation of small species containing Si−O−Al bonds and reaching a certain concentration, is crucial for driving the crystallization of SAPO‐34, rather than structural units with specific spatial conformation. This work provides an important understanding on the (pre)nucleation of SAPO‐34 and sheds light on the synthesis control of SAPO molecular sieves.
Customizable 2D Covalent Organic Frameworks for Optoelectronic Applications
Authors: Shao Mingchao , Liu Yunqi , Guo Yunlong 
Published: December 2022

Comprehensive Summary2D covalent organic framework (2D‐COF), a modular three‐dimensional material, is easily influenced by the component module. The assembly of different functionalized modules gives 2D‐COF unique performance. The modular structure not only allows for customization but also allows for variety, which gives 2D‐COF a wide range of functions. Hence, many building blocks with catalytic, ligand, semiconductor, luminescent, and redox centers are integrated into the COF scaffold. The connection and assembly of such modules determine the nature of the final block material. The intra‐layer connections of the modules form a monolayer mesh chemical structure, and the subsequent stacking of the monolayer mesh structure produces the final crystalline porous material—2D‐COF. This review describes in detail the potential of COF materials as optoelectronic materials and our understanding of optoelectronic processes, starting from monolayer reticulation chemistry to final 3D stacked structures, thus establishing a new paradigm for the rational design of well‐defined novel 2D‐COF optoelectronic materials and devices.
Efficient Small‐Molecule Organic Solar Cells by Modulating Fluorine Substitution Position of Donor Material
Authors: Zhang Tao , Lv Qianglong , Peng Zhongxiang , An Cunbin , Bi Pengqing , Xu Ye , Yang Ni , Wang Jingwen , Xian Kaihu , Ye Long , Zhang Shaoqing , Hou Jianhui 
Published: December 2022

Comprehensive SummaryThe fluorine substitution position in organic semiconductors is critical in improving device performance for organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, two similar small‐molecule donors, B3T‐PoF and B3T‐PmF, are designed and synthesized, which only differ on the fluorine substitution position on the pendent benzene unit. Although both small‐molecule donors exhibit similar absorption profiles and molecular energy levels, B3T‐PmF has stronger crystallinity and lower energetic disorder than B3T‐PoF. After blending with the non‐fullerene acceptor of BO‐4Cl, B3T‐PmF shows better phase separation and more ordered molecular packing in blend film. As a result, the B3T‐PoF:BO‐4Cl‐based OSC shows a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.3%. In contrast, the B3T‐PmF:BO‐4Cl‐based cell demonstrates obviously increased JSC and FF values, thus yielding an excellent PCE of 14.7%. This study indicates that reasonable selection of fluorine atom substitution position in conjugated side chains is one of the promising strategies for achieving high‐performance SM‐OSCs.
Characterisation of a novel transcript LNPPS acting as tumour suppressor in bladder cancer via PDCD5‐mediated p53 degradation blockage
Authors: Li Juan , Wang Yifan , Zhang Xinya , Yang Xuemei , Qi Qiuchen , Mi Qi , Feng Maoxiao , Wang Yunshan , Wang Chuanxin , Li Peilong , Du Lutao 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackgroundLong non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a crucial role in tumour initiation and progression. However, little is known about their contributions to p53‐related bladder cancer (BC) inhibition.MethodsBy using high‐throughput sequencing, we screened the expression profiles of lncRNAs in BC and adjacent non‐tumour tissues. The roles of a novel lncRNA, named LNPPS [a lncRNA for programmed cell death 5 (PDCD5) and p53 stability], were determined by gain‐ and loss‐of‐function assays. RNA pull‐down followed by mass spectrometry analysis, RNA immunoprecipitation assays and other immunoprecipitation assays were performed to reveal the interactions among LNPPS, PDCD5 and p53, and the regulatory effect of LNPPS on the complex ubiquitination network comprising PDCD5, p53 and mouse double minute 2 homologue (MDM2).ResultsLNPPS was downregulated in BC and markedly inhibited the viability of BC cells by inducing PDCD5/p53‐related apoptosis in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, LNPPS, serving as a scaffold, connected PDCD5 and p53 with nucleotides (nt) located at 121‒251 nt and 251‒306 nt of LNPPS, respectively. This process allowed LNPPS to protect PDCD5 from proteasomal degradation by blocking its K20 site ubiquitination. On the other hand, the increased interaction between PDCD5 and p53 displaced p53 from the MDM2‒p53 ubiquitination complex, resulting in an increase in p53 expression and related apoptosis levels. Moreover, LNPPS could induce the accumulation of PDCD5 and p53 in the nucleus and exert a synergistic effect on the prevention of protein degradation. In addition, we confirmed that the downregulation of LNPPS in BC was mediated by the decreased N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification.ConclusionOur findings highlight a novel cross‐talk between LNPPS and the PDCD5/p53/MDM2 ubiquitination axis in BC development, indicating its potential as a therapeutic target for BC patients.
Changes in microbial community structure and functioning with elevation are linked to local soil characteristics as well as climatic variables
Authors: Lux Johannes , Xie Zhijing , Sun Xin , Wu Donghui , Scheu Stefan 
Published: December 2022

AbstractMountain forests are important carbon stocks and biodiversity hotspots but are threatened by increased insect outbreaks and climate‐driven forest conversion. Soil microorganisms play an eminent role in nutrient cycling in forest habitats and form the basis of soil food webs. Uncovering the driving factors shaping microbial communities and functioning at mountainsides across the world is of eminent importance to better understand their dynamics at local and global scales. We investigated microbial communities and their climatic and local soil‐related drivers along an elevational gradient (800–1700 m asl) of primary forests at Changbai Mountain, China. We analyzed substrate‐induced respiration and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) in litter and two soil layers at seven sites. Microbial biomass (Cmic) peaked in the litter layer and increased towards higher elevations. In the litter layer, the increase in Cmic and in stress indicator ratios was negatively correlated with Ca concentrations indicating increased nutritional stress in high microbial biomass communities at sites with lower Ca availability. PLFA profiles in the litter layer separated low and high elevations, but this was less pronounced in soil, suggesting that the litter layer functions as a buffer for soil microbial communities. Annual variations in temperature correlated with PLFA profiles in all three layers, while annual variations in precipitation correlated with PLFA profiles in upper soil only. Furthermore, the availability of resources, soil moisture, Ca concentrations, and pH structured the microbial communities. Pronounced changes in Cmic and stress indicator ratios in the litter layer between pine‐dominated (800–1100 m) and spruce‐dominated (1250–1700 m) forests indicated a shift in the structure and functioning of microbial communities between forest types along the elevational gradient. The study highlights strong changes in microbial community structure and functioning along elevational gradients, but also shows that these changes and their driving factors vary between soil layers. Besides annual variations in temperature and precipitation, carbon accumulation and nitrogen acquisition shape changes in microbial communities with elevation at Changbai Mountain.
Metabolic rates in the squareback marsh crab Armases cinereum
Authors: Smith Nanette , Anderson Lars , Fletcher Laura S. , Stancil Carter K. , Griffen Blaine D. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractMetabolic rate is a basic individual metric that extends beyond the individual to link the ecology of populations, communities, and ecosystems via its role as a central component of energy budgets. Metabolic rates are often measured indirectly by quantifying respiration under simplified, standard laboratory conditions. This approach limits the application of these measurements to a small range of conditions that commonly do not reflect natural field conditions. We measured metabolic rates of the squareback marsh crab Armases cinereum under field conditions. Previous work highlights that movement of individual A. cinereum, especially females, provides a potential spatial subsidy of energy, as individuals consume foods in salt marshes and then transfer the resulting energy to upland forest ecosystems. We show that metabolic rate increases with size for both males and females and that metabolic rates are influenced by temperature and by whether females are vitellogenic. The metabolic rates that we measured more closely approximate field metabolic rates than standard metabolic rates and demonstrate that individual crabs experience high energy expenditures, reducing the amount of energy that may be transferred as a subsidy between marsh and forest as a result of the daily movements of individual crabs. Our measurements are therefore also a key component for the construction of an energy budget for this species.
Quantifying (non)parallelism of gut microbial community change using multivariate vector analysis
Authors: Härer Andreas , Rennison Diana J. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractParallel evolution of phenotypic traits is regarded as strong evidence for natural selection and has been studied extensively in a variety of taxa. However, we have limited knowledge of whether parallel evolution of host organisms is accompanied by parallel changes of their associated microbial communities (i.e., microbiotas), which are crucial for their hosts' ecology and evolution. Determining the extent of microbiota parallelism in nature can improve our ability to identify the factors that are associated with (putatively adaptive) shifts in microbial communities. While it has been emphasized that (non)parallel evolution is better considered as a quantitative continuum rather than a binary phenomenon, quantitative approaches have rarely been used to study microbiota parallelism. We advocate using multivariate vector analysis (i.e., phenotypic change vector analysis) to quantify direction and magnitude of microbiota changes and discuss the applicability of this approach for studying parallelism, and we compiled an R package for multivariate vector analysis of microbial communities (‘multivarvector’). We exemplify its use by reanalyzing gut microbiota data from multiple fish species that exhibit parallel shifts in trophic ecology. We found that multivariate vector analysis results were largely consistent with other statistical methods, parallelism estimates were not affected by the taxonomic level at which the microbiota is studied, and parallelism might be stronger for gut microbiota function compared to taxonomic composition. This approach provides an analytical framework for quantitative comparisons across host lineages, thereby providing the potential to advance our capacity to predict microbiota changes. Hence, we emphasize that the development and application of quantitative measures, such as multivariate vector analysis, should be further explored in microbiota research in order to better understand the role of microbiota dynamics during their hosts' adaptive evolution, particularly in settings of parallel evolution.
Leaving more than footprints: Anthropogenic nutrient subsidies to a protected area
Authors: Guerra A. S. , Bui A. , Klope M. , Orr D. A. , Shaffer S. A. , Young H. S. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractMobile animals that traverse ecosystem boundaries can fundamentally reshape environments by providing critical nutrient and energy inputs to the ecosystems they inhabit. In particular, aggregations of seabirds often transform coastal and island ecosystems through large amounts of nutrient‐rich guano deposition. Anthropogenically driven losses of these subsidies can occur through changes in abundance of mobile species, including seabirds, and have been shown to drive whole‐scale ecosystem state change on islands. However, even though many species that forage on anthropogenic food sources are highly mobile and may thus play important roles in moving nutrients from urban systems to otherwise conserved ecosystems, the impacts of anthropogenic supplements on spatial subsidies have been largely ignored. Here we examine the effects of large nesting colonies of Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis), a generalist carnivore known to forage on human refuse, on the Channel Islands of California. Specifically, we explore how their foraging on human subsidies may change nutrient deposition patterns at their relatively remote and protected breeding islands. We equipped gulls with GPS loggers to assess the frequency of urban foraging, and we partnered this tracking data with bird density data to estimate the rate of wild and urban‐derived guano deposition on two different islands. Consistent with research on other gull species, we found high (up to 40%) but island‐specific rates of urban foraging, resulting between 66 and 93 kg ha−1 of guano in these two sites during the breeding season, a level greater than half the amount of fertilizer applied annually in typical commercial agricultural settings and likely the primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to this system. Specifically, we estimate that 27 kg ha−1 year−1 of nutrient‐rich guano is shuttled to these otherwise isolated islands from anthropogenic sources. This research highlights the large shadow (i.e., footprint) that human activity can cast on even remote ecosystems by driving significant nutrient enrichment through impacts on animal behavior and connectivity.
One‐Pot Synthesis of N‐Benzyl/Allyl‐N‐phenyl‐2‐benzothiazolamines from 1‐(2‐Iodophenyl)‐3‐phenylthioureas and Benzyl/Allyl Halides
Authors: Feng Rong , Ma Jie , Dong Zhi‐Bing 
Published: December 2022

AbstractA facile method for the copper‐catalyzed synthesis of N‐benzyl‐N‐phenyl‐2‐benzothiazolamines was explored. In the presence of CuI, N‐phenylbenzothiazolamines was in situ generated from substituted 1‐(2‐iodophenyl)‐3‐phenylthioureas, which susequently underwent coupling with benzyl/allyl halides to give the desired N‐benzyl/allyl‐N‐phenyl‐2‐benzothiazolamines fluently in a one‐pot manner. The protocol features easy performance, easily available materials, good yield and broad substrates scope, showing potential synthetic value for the preparation of a variety of biologically or pharmaceutically active compounds.
A continuous Bayesian network regression model for estimating seismic liquefaction‐induced settlement of the free‐field ground
Authors: Hu Jilei , Xiong Bin , Zhang Zheng , Wang Jing 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe Bayesian network (BN) method has been successfully applied to evaluate earthquake liquefaction‐induced settlement of free‐field ground in recent years due to several specific advantages. However, the existing BN models need to discretize all continuous variables, and therefore, they can only predict the range value of the settlement (i.e., classification). Thus, information loss is inevitable in the process of discretization, which will largely reduce the prediction accuracy of the model. To realize the application of the BN method in the regression prediction of seismic liquefaction‐induced settlement, this study proposes a hybrid modelling method combining a hill‐climbing algorithm and domain knowledge to construct the structure of a continuous BN regression model based on historical liquefaction‐induced settlement data, and then the conditional linear Gaussian approach is used to learn the conditional probability distributions of parameters. A five‐fold cross‐validation test is used to demonstrate better generalization performance and advantages (such as considering model uncertainty and prior knowledge) of the continuous BN regression model compared with a discrete BN classification model, simplified methods such as the Tokimatsu & Seed and Ishihara & Yoshimine methods, and an artificial neural network model. Their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. In addition, the other two continuous BN models using the Arias intensity and cumulative absolute velocity instead of the peak ground acceleration perform slightly worse than the proposed continuous BN model, and the reason for this difference is discussed.