bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing tissue cyst yield in a murine model of chronic toxoplasmosis
Authors: Troublefield Cortni A. , Murphy Robert D. , Miracle Joy S. , Donkin Ryan W. , Sinai Anthony P. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractRecent advances into the unique biology of Toxoplasma tissue cysts and the bradyzoites they house necessitates optimization of tissue cyst recovery from infected mouse brains. Here, we present data from 68 tissue cyst purifications of Type II ME49 tissue cysts in CBA/J mice performed over a period of two years. The effects if infecting with both tissue culture tachyzoites as well asex vivotissue cysts were assessed. Significant mortality was restricted to tachyzoite infections with female mice being more susceptible. Infection with tissue cysts was associated with both lower overall symptomology and mortality exhibiting no sex bias. Cumulatively, host sex did not impact overall tissue cyst yields, although, tachyzoite initiated infections generated significantly higher yields compared to tissue cyst-initiated infections. Notably, serial passage of tissue cysts was accompanied with a decreasing trend for subsequent cyst recovery. The time of tissue cyst harvest, a potential reflection of bradyzoite physiological state, had no significant impact on subsequent cyst yield at the selected time points. In aggregate, the data reveal the considerable heterogeneity associated with tissue cyst yield making the design of adequately powered experiments critical. This is particularly the case for drug studies where overall tissue cyst burden currently serves as the primary and often sole metric of efficacy, as the data presented here demonstrate that cyst recovery between preparations of untreated animals can mirror the reported effects of drug treatment.
Unexpectedly higher levels of naturally occurring anti-Orthopoxvirus neutralizing antibodies are observed among gay men than general adult population
Authors: Feng Yanmeng , Zhang Yifan , Liu Shengya , Guo Cuiyuan , Wang Wanhai , Zhang Wenhong , Tang Heng , Wan Yanmin 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe confirmed cases in the current outbreak of Monkeypox are predominantly identified in the networks of men who have sex with men (MSM). It is suggested that special behavioral characteristics might make the virus spread more easily in this population, but the biological factors affecting the spread of this outbreak have not been fully clarified. In this study, we measured the anti-Monkeypox and anti-Vaccinia antibodies in an MSM cohort (comprising 326 individuals) and a general population cohort (comprising 295 individuals) and compared the antibody responses between the two cohorts. Meanwhile, we also compared the antibody responses between individuals born before and in/after 1981, when the smallpox vaccination was ceased in China. Our data showed that binding antibodies against Monkeypox H3L, A29L, A35R proteins and Vaccinia whole-virus lysate could be detected in individuals born both before and in/after 1981, of which the anti-Vaccinia binding antibody levels were found to be significantly higher among the individuals born before 1981 in the general population cohort. Moreover, we unexpectedly found that the levels of binding antibody responses against Monkeypox proteins were significantly lower among individuals of the MSM cohort born in/after 1981, but the anti-Vaccinia neutralizing antibody levels were significantly higher among these individuals compared to those age-matched participants of the general population cohort. Additionally, we demonstrated that the positive and negative rates of anti-Monkeypox antibody responses were associated with the anti-Vaccinia antibody responses among individuals born before 1981 in the general population cohort, but no significant association was observed among individuals born in/after 1981 in both cohorts. Further studies are warranted to clarify the impact of the naturally occurring anti-Orthopoxvirus antibodies on the transmission of Monkeypox, especially among gay men who have not been vaccinated against smallpox.
Prevalence and determinants of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) antibody positivity among adults living with HIV in East Africa
Authors: Gowdara Chandana K. , Byakwaga Helen , Dollard Sheila C. , Muzoora Conrad K. , Glidden David V. , Hunt Peter W. , Bwana Bosco M. , Haberer Jessica E. , Bangsberg David R. , Martin Jeffrey N. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackgroundPersons living with HIV (PLHIV) who are also infected with Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) constitute a group among the highest risk for Kaposi sarcoma (KS). As such, understanding KSHV prevalence amongst PLHIV is important for the control of KS. To date, data on KSHV prevalence amongst PLHIV in East Africa — one of the world’s hotbeds for KS — is both sparse and variable.MethodsIn a cross-sectional design, we studied consecutive adult PLHIV identified just prior to starting antiretroviral therapy at an ambulatory HIV clinic in Mbarara, Uganda. Results from two enzyme immunoassays (with synthetic K8.1 and ORF 65 antigens as targets) and one immunofluorescence assay (using induced BCBL cells) to detect antibodies to KSHV were combined to classify KSHV antibody positivity.ResultsWe evaluated 727 PLHIV between 2005 to 2013; median age was 34 years (interquartile range (IQR): 28-40), 69% were women, and median CD4 count was 167 cells/µl (IQR: 95-260). Prevalence of KSHV antibody positivity was 42% (95% CI: 38%-46%), with little substantive change after several correction approaches, including Rogan-Gladen. Adjusted prevalence of KSHV antibody positivity was 1.6 times (95% CI: 1.3-1.9) higher in men than women; adjusted absolute prevalence difference was +0.20 (95% CI: +0.11 to +0.30). Lack of formal education (prevalence ratio=1.6 comparing no school to ≥ 4 years of secondary school; 95% CI: 1.1-2.3) was also associated with KSHV infection. We found no strong evidence for a role for age, alcohol use, or other measurements of sexual behavior, SES, or well-being in the occurrence of KSHV antibody positivity.ConclusionAmong adult PLHIV in western Uganda, KSHV prevalence is estimated at 42%, with little change after several approaches to correction for antibody detection inaccuracy. This estimate differs from several others in the region (up to 83%), highlighting need for inter-assay comparison studies using identical local specimens. To the extent HIV does not influence KSHV acquisition, the findings may also represent KSHV prevalence in the general population. The large-magnitude effect of sex and education on KSHV acquisition motivates an accelerated search for mechanisms. The sex effect, in part, may explain the higher incidence of KS among men.
Number of COVID-19 hospitalisations averted by vaccination: Estimates for the Netherlands, January 6, 2021 through August 30, 2022
Authors: van Iersel Senna C.J.L. , McDonald Scott A. , Gier Brechje de , Knol Mirjam J. , Melker Hester E. de , van Werkhoven C.H. (Henri) ,   the RIVM COVID-19 epidemiology and surveillance team, Hahné Susan J.M. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackgroundVaccines against COVID-19 have proven effective in preventing COVID-19 hospitalisation. In this study, we aimed to quantify one aspect of the public health impact of COVID-19 vaccination by estimating the number of averted hospitalisations. We present results from the beginning of the vaccination campaign (period 1, January 6, 2021) and a period starting at August 2, 2021 (period 2) when all adults had the opportunity to complete their primary series, until August 30, 2022.MethodsUsing calendar-time specific vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates and vaccine coverage (VC) by round (primary series, first booster and second booster) and the observed number of COVID-19 associated hospitalisations, we estimated the number of averted hospitalisations per age group for the two study periods. From January 25, 2022, when the indication of hospitalisation was registered, hospitalisations not causally related to COVID-19 were excluded.ResultsIn period 1, there were an estimated 98,170 (95% confidence interval (CI) 96,123-99,928) averted hospitalisations, of which 90,753 (95% CI 88,790-92,531) in period 2, representing 57.0% and 67.9% of all hospital admissions. Estimated averted hospitalisations were lowest for 12-49-year-olds and highest for 70-79-year-olds. More admissions were averted in the Delta period (72.3%) than in the Omicron period (63.4%).ConclusionCOVID-19 vaccination prevented a large number of hospitalisations. Although the estimated number of hospitalisations during the study period could not have realistically occurred due to capacity limits on health care, these findings underline the public health importance of the vaccination campaign to policy makers and the public.
Systematic review: Longitudinal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health
Authors: Wolf Kristin , Schmitz Julian 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackground:The COVID-19 pandemic and the protection measures to contain its spread have massively changed daily lives of billions of children and adolescents worldwide.Objective:We conducted a systematic review to investigate the global longitudinal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on various mental health outcomes in children and adolescents over a period of one and a half years.Methods:This review was conducted in accordance with the guidelines recommended by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The databases “PubMed”, “Web of Science”, and “APA PsycInfo” were searched (last access: 01/2022). Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed and published between December 2019 and December 2021, if they followed a longitudinal or repeated cross-sectional design, and if they assessed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic or a related stressor on mental health indicators.Findings:Of 7,451 identified studies, 69 studies (n∼ 130,000) meeting eligibility criteria were included in a qualitative analysis. The results indicate a general trend of decreased psychological well-being, increased psychopathological distress, and heightened symptom levels (particularly of depressive and anxiety symptoms) from before to during the pandemic. Data suggests that both the intensity of protection measures and infection dynamic were positively associated with severity of psychopathology. The most reported influencing factors on the effect of the pandemic on child and adolescent mental health were age, gender, socio-economic status, previous state of mental and physical health, self- regulation abilities, parental mental health, parenting quality, family functioning, social support, isolation and loneliness, health-related worries, and consistent routines and structure.Conclusion:Our systematic review shows that children and adolescents worldwide have experienced increased psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These results call for improvement in access to child and adolescent mental health care and the prioritisation of child and adolescent well-being in political decision making.
Clinicians’ perspectives and experiences of providing cervical ripening at home or in-hospital in the United Kingdom
Authors: Yuill Cassandra , Harkness Mairi , Wallace Chlorice , Cheyne Helen , Black Mairead , Modi Neena , Pasupathy Dharmintra , Sanders Julia , Stock Sarah J , McCourt Christine 
Published: December 2022

AbstractInduction of labour, or starting labour artificially, is offered when the risks of continuing pregnancy are believed to outweigh the risks of the baby being born. In the United Kingdom, cervical ripening is recommended as the first stage of induction. Increasingly, maternity services are offering this outpatient or ‘at home’, despite limited evidence on its acceptability and how different approaches to cervical ripening work in practice. There is also a paucity of literature on clinicians’ experiences of providing induction care in general, despite their central role in developing local guidelines and delivering this care. This paper explores induction, specifically cervical ripening and the option to return home during that process, from the perspective of midwives, obstetricians and other maternity staff. As part of process evaluation involving five case studies undertaken in British maternity services, interviews and focus groups were conducted with clinicians who provide induction of labour care. The thematic findings were generated through in-depth analysis and are grouped to reflect key points within the process of cervical ripening care: ‘Implementing home cervical ripening’, ‘Putting local policy into practice’, ‘Giving information about induction’ and ‘Providing cervical ripening’. A range of practices and views regarding induction were recorded, showing how the integration of home cervical ripening is not always straightforward. Findings demonstrate that providing induction of labour care is complex and represents a significant workload. Home cervical ripening was seen as a solution to managing this workload; however, findings highlighted ways in which this expectation might not be borne out in practice. More comprehensive research is needed on workload impacts and possible lateral effects within other areas of maternity services.
Anin silicoapproach to determine inter-subunit affinities in human septin complexes
Authors: Grupp Benjamin , Lemkul Justin A. , Gronemeyer Thomas 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe septins are a conserved family of filament-forming guanine nucleotide binding proteins, often named the fourth component of the cytoskeleton. Correctly assembled septin structures are required for essential intracellular processes such as cytokinesis, vesicular transport, polarity establishment, and cellular adhesion. Structurally, septins belong to the P-Loop NTPases but they do not mediate signals to effectors through GTP binding and hydrolysis. GTP binding and hydrolysis are believed to contribute to septin complex integrity, but biochemical approaches addressing this topic are hampered by the stability of septin complexes after recombinant expression and the lack of nucleotide-depleted complexes. To overcome this limitation, we used a molecular dynamics-based approach to determine inter-subunit binding free energies in available human septin dimer structures and in their apo forms, which we generatedin silico. The nucleotide in the GTPase active subunits SEPT2 and SEPT7, but not in SEPT6, was identified as a stabilizing element in the G interface as it is coordinated at its ribose ring to conserved amino acids. Removal of GDP from SEPT2 and SEPT7 results in flipping of a conserved Arg residue and disruption of an extensive hydrogen bond network in the septin unique element, concomitant with a decreased inter-subunit affinity.
CircPrime: a web-based platform for design of specific circular RNA primers
Authors: Sharko Fedor , Rbbani Golam , Siriyappagouder Prabhugouda , Raeymaekers Joost A.M. , Galindo-Villegas Jorge , Nedoluzhko Artem , Fernandes Jorge M.O. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackgroundCircular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed-loop RNAs with critical regulatory roles in cells. The tenth of thousands of circRNAs have been unveiled due to the recent advances in high throughput RNA sequencing technologies and bioinformatic tools development. At the same time, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cross-validation for circRNAs predicted by bioinformatic tools remains an essential part of any circRNA study before publication.ResultsHere, we present the CircPrime web-based platform, providing a user-friendly solution for DNA primer design and thermocycling conditions for circRNA identification with routine PCR methods.ConclusionsUser-friendly CircPrime web platform (http://circprime.elgene.net/) works with outputs of the most popular bioinformatic predictors of circRNAs to design specific circular RNA primers. CircPrime works with circRNA coordinates and any reference genome from the National Center for Biotechnology Information database (NCBI).
pGG-PIP: A GreenGate (GG) entry vector collection with Plant Immune system Promoters (PIP)
Authors: Calabria Jacob , Rast-Somssich Madlen I. , Wang Liu , Chen Hsiang-Wen , Watt Michelle , Idnurm Alexander , Persson Staffan , Somssich Marc 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe regulatory sequences controlling the expression of a gene (i.e., the promoter) are essential to properly understand a gene’s function. From their use in mutant complementation assays, to studying their responsiveness to different stimuli via transcriptional reporter lines or using them as proxy for the activation of certain pathways, assays using promoter sequences are valuable tools for insight into the genetic architecture underlying plant life. The GreenGate (GG) system is a plant-specific variant of the Golden Gate assembly method, a modular cloning system that allows the hierarchical assembly of individual donor DNA fragments into one expression clone via a single reaction step. Here, we present a collection of 75 GG entry vectors carrying putative regulatory sequences forArabidopsis thalianagenes involved in many different pathways of the plant immune system, designated Plant Immune system Promoters (PIP). This pGG-PIP entry vector set enables the rapid assembly of expression vectors to be used for transcriptional reporters of plant immune system components, mutant complementation assays when coupled with coding sequences, mis-expression experiments for genes of interest, or the targeted use of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. We used pGG-PIP vectors to create fluorescent transcriptional reporters inA.thalianaand demonstrated the potential of these reporters to image the responsiveness of specific plant immunity genes to infection and colonization by the fungal pathogenFusarium oxysporum. Using the PLANT ELICITOR PEPTIDE (PEP) pathway as an example, we show that several components of this pathway are locally activated in response to colonization by the fungus.
Prospects for weather-indexed insurance for blueberry growers
Authors: Liu Xuan , van Kooten G. Cornelis , Gerbrandt Eric Martin , Duan Jun 
Published: December 2022

PurposeThe authors investigate whether an index-based weather insurance (WII) product can complement or replace existing traditional crop yield insurance for mitigating farmers' financial risks, with an application to blueberry growers in British Columbia (BC).Design/methodology/approachA hybrid model combining expected utility (EU) and prospect values is developed to analyse farmers' demand for WII.FindingsWhile weather data are used to investigate supply elements, a hybrid model combining EU theory and prospect theory (PT) is developed to analyse farmers' demand for WII. On the supply side, a quality index is constructed and the relationship between the quality index and key weather parameters is quantified using a partial least squares structural model. The authors then model weather parameters via time-series analysis and statistical distributions to provide reasonable estimates for calculating actuarially sound insurance premiums for a rainfall indexed, insurance product. This model indicates that decreases in the proportion of a blueberry grower's total revenue and revenue volatility will decrease the possibility that they participate in WII. At the same time, an increase in the value loss aversion coefficient and WII's basis risk further leads to less demand for WII. In short, a grower may decide not to participate in WII at an actuarially fair premium due to the combined effects of the above factors. Overall, while the supply analysis enables us to demonstrate that WII can potentially help in mitigating farmers' financial risks, it turns out that, on the demand side, blueberry growers are unwilling to pay for such a product without large government subsidies.Originality/valueThe authors argue that the demand for insurance may be affected by the level and the volatility of a berry grower's total revenue. Hence, the authors propose a hybrid expression that assumes a farmer seeks to maximize the total utility function to capture the rational and intuitive parts of a farmer's decision-making process. The EU represents rationality and the prospect value represents the intuitive component. Meanwhile, the authors investigate the possibility of using key weather parameters to construct a berry quality index – one that could be applied to other agricultural areas for studying the relationship between weather conditions and product quality.
Thermodynamic properties of ketone with 2-methyl-1-butanol/2-ethyl-1-butanol at various temperatures
Authors: Vijaya Lakshmi Chaduvula , Ravi Kiran Ch. , Gowrisankar M. , Babu Shaik , Ramachandran D. 
Published: December 2022

PurposeThe paper aims to throw light on the interactions taking place between the different chemical compositions at various temperatures. P-methylacetophenone is a polar dissolvable, which is positively related by dipole–dipole co-operations and is exceptionally compelling a direct result of the shortfall of any critical primary impacts because of the absence of hydrogen bonds; hence, it might work an enormous dipole moment (μ = 3.62 D). Alcohols additionally assume a significant part in industries and research facilities as reagents and pull in incredible consideration as helpful solvents in the green innovation. They are utilized as pressure-driven liquids in drugs, beauty care products, aromas, paints removers, flavors, dye stuffs and as a germ-free specialist.Design/methodology/approachMixtures were prepared by mass in airtight ground stopper bottles. The mass measurements were performed on a digital electronic balance (Mettler Toledo AB135, Switzerland) with an uncertainty of ±0.0001 g. The uncertainty in mole fraction was thus estimated to be less than ±0.0001. The densities of pure liquids and their mixtures were determined using a density meter (DDH-2911, Rudolph Research Analytical). The instrument was calibrated frequently using deionized doubly distilled water and dry air. The estimated uncertainty associated with density measurements is ±0.0003 g.cm−3. Viscosities of the pure liquids and their mixtures were determined by using Ostwald’s viscometer. The viscometer was calibrated at each required temperature using doubly distilled water. The viscometer was cleaned, dried and is filled with the sample liquid in a bulb having capacity of 10 ml. The viscometer was then kept in a transparent walled water bath with a thermal stability of ±0.01K for about 20 min to obtain thermal equilibrium. An electronic digital stop watch with an uncertainty of ±0.01 s was used for the flow time measurements for each sample at least four readings were taken and then the average of these was taken.FindingsNegative values of excess molar volume, excess isentropic compressibility and positive values of deviation in viscosity including excess Gibbs energy of activation of viscous flow at different temperatures (303.15, 308.15 and 313.15 K) may be attribution to the specific intermolecular interactions through the hetero-association interaction between the components of the mixtures, resulting in the formation of associated complexes through hydrogen bond interactions.Originality/valueThe excess molar volume (VE) values were analyzed with the Prigogine–Flory–Patterson theory, which demonstrated that the free volume contribution is the one of the factors influencing negative values of excess molar quantities. The Jouyban–Acree model was used to correlate the experimental values of density, speed of sound and viscosity.