bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Functional and sequence-based metagenomics to uncover carbohydrate-degrading enzymes from composting samples
Authors: Santos-Pereira Cátia , Sousa Joana , Costa Ângela M. A. , Santos Andréia O. , Rito Teresa , Soares Pedro , Franco-Duarte Ricardo , Silvério Sara C. , Rodrigues Lígia R. 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The renewable, abundant
, and low-cost nature of lignocellulosic biomass can play an important role in the sustainable production of bioenergy and several added-value bioproducts, thus providing alternative solutions to counteract the global energetic and industrial demands. The efficient conversion of lignocellulosic biomass greatly relies on the catalytic activity of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). Finding novel and robust biocatalysts, capable of being active under harsh industrial conditions, is thus imperative to achieve an economically feasible process. In this study, thermophilic compost samples from three Portuguese companies were collected, and their metagenomic DNA was extracted and sequenced through shotgun sequencing. A novel multi-step bioinformatic pipeline was developed to find CAZymes and characterize the taxonomic and functional profiles of the microbial communities, using both reads and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) as input. The samples’ microbiome was dominated by bacteria, where the classes Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Balneolia stood out for their higher abundance, indicating that the degradation of compost biomass is mainly driven by bacterial enzymatic activity. Furthermore, the functional studies revealed that our samples are a rich reservoir of glycoside hydrolases (GH), particularly of GH5 and GH9 cellulases, and GH3 oligosaccharide-degrading enzymes. We further constructed metagenomic fosmid libraries with the compost DNA and demonstrated that a great number of clones exhibited β-glucosidase activity. The comparison of our samples with others from the literature showed that, independently of the composition and process conditions, composting is an excellent source of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comparative study on the CAZyme abundance and taxonomic/functional profiles of Portuguese compost samples.

Key points
• Sequence- and function-based metagenomics were used to find CAZymes in compost samples.
• Thermophilic composts proved to be rich in bacterial GH3, GH5, and GH9 enzymes.
• Compost-derived fosmid libraries are enriched in clones with β-glucosidase activity.
Does timing of neoadjuvant chemotherapy influence the prognosis in patients with early triple negative breast cancer?
Authors: Hatzipanagiotou Maria Eleni , Pigerl Miriam , Gerken Michael , Räpple Sophie , Zeltner Verena , Hetterich Madeleine , Ugocsai Peter , Fernandez-Pacheco Miriam , Inwald Elisabeth Christine , Klinkhammer-Schalke Monika , Ortmann Olaf , Seitz Stephan 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Purpose
For patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), the optimal time to initiate neoadjuvant chemotherapy (TTNC) is unknown. This study evaluates the association between TTNC and survival in patients with early TNBC.

Methods
A retrospective study using data from of a cohort of TNBC patients diagnosed between January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2018 registered in the Tumor Centre Regensburg was performed. Data included demographics, pathology, treatment, recurrence, and survival. Interval to treatment was defined as days from pathology diagnosis of TNBC to first dose of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). The Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression methods were used to evaluate the impact of TTNC on overall survival (OS) and 5 year OS.

Results
A total of 270 patients were included. Median follow up was 3.5 years. The 5-year OS estimates according to TTNC were 77.4%, 66.9%, 82.3%, 80.6%, 88.3%, 58.3%, 71.1% and 66.7% in patients who received NACT within 0–14, 15–21, 22–28, 29–35, 36–42, 43–49, 50–56 and > 56 days after diagnosis. Patients who received systemic therapy early had the highest estimated mean OS of 8.4 years, while patients who received systemic therapy after more than 56 days survived an estimated 3.3 years.

Conclusion
The optimal time interval between diagnosis and NACT remains to be determined. However, starting NACT more than 42 days after diagnosis of TNBC seems to reduce survival. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to carry out the treatment in a certified breast center with appropriate structures, in order to enable an adequate and timely care.
One-dimensional viscoelastic von Kármán theories derived from nonlinear thin-walled beams
Authors: Friedrich Manuel , Machill Lennart 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWe derive an effective one-dimensional limit from a three-dimensional Kelvin–Voigt model for viscoelastic thin-walled beams, in which the elastic and the viscous stress tensor comply with a frame-indifference principle. The limiting system of equations comprises stretching, bending, and twisting both in the elastic and the viscous stress. It coincides with the model already identified via Friedrich and Kružík (Arch Ration Mech Anal 238:489–540, 2020) and Friedrich and Machill (Nonlinear Differ Equ Appl NoDEA 29, Article number: 11, 2022) by a successive dimension reduction, first from 3D to a 2D theory for von Kármán plates and then from 2D to a 1D theory for ribbons. In the present paper, we complement the previous analysis by showing that the limit can also be obtained by sending the height and width of the beam to zero simultaneously. Our arguments rely on the static $$\Gamma $$
Γ
-convergence in Freddi et al. (Math Models Methods Appl Sci 23:743–775, 2013), on the abstract theory of metric gradient flows (Ambrosio et al. in Gradient flows in metric spaces and in the space of probability measures. Lectures mathematics, ETH Zürich, Birkhäuser, Basel, 2005), and on evolutionary $$\Gamma $$
Γ
-convergence (Sandier and Serfaty in Commun Pure Appl Math 57:1627–1672, 2004).
Cardiovascular risk in axial spondyloarthritis—a systematic review
Authors: Hintenberger Rainer , Affenzeller Barbara , Vladychuk Valeriia , Pieringer Herwig 
Published: July 2023

AbstractCardiovascular manifestations are common in patients suffering axial spondyloarthritis and can result in substantial morbidity and disease burden. To give an overview of this important aspect of axial spondyloarthritis, we conducted a systematic literature search of all articles published between January 2000 and 25 May 2023 on cardiovascular manifestations. Using PubMed and SCOPUS, 123 out of 6792 articles were identified and included in this review. Non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis seems to be underrepresented in studies; thus, more evidence for ankylosing spondylitis exists. All in all, we found some traditional risk factors that led to higher cardiovascular disease burden or major cardiovascular events. These specific risk factors seem to be more aggressive in patients with spondyloarthropathies and have a strong connection to high or long-standing disease activity. Since disease activity is a major driver of morbidity, diagnostic, therapeutic, and lifestyle interventions are crucial for better outcomes.

Key Points• Several studies on axial spondyloarthritis and associated cardiovascular diseases have been conducted in the last few years addressing risk stratification of these patients including artificial intelligence.• Recent data suggest distinct manifestations of cardiovascular disease entities among men and women which the treating physician needs to be aware of.• Rheumatologists need to screen axial spondyloarthritis patients for emerging cardiovascular disease and should aim at reducing traditional risk factors like hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and smoking as well as disease activity.
Simple odd $$\beta $$-cycle inequalities for binary polynomial optimization
Authors: Del Pia Alberto , Walter Matthias 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWe consider the multilinear polytope which arises naturally in binary polynomial optimization. Del Pia and Di Gregorio introduced the class of odd $$\beta $$
β
-cycle inequalities valid for this polytope, showed that these generally have Chvátal rank 2 with respect to the standard relaxation and that, together with flower inequalities, they yield a perfect formulation for cycle hypergraph instances. Moreover, they describe a separation algorithm in case the instance is a cycle hypergraph. We introduce a weaker version, called simple odd $$\beta $$
β
-cycle inequalities, for which we establish a strongly polynomial-time separation algorithm for arbitrary instances. These inequalities still have Chvátal rank 2 in general and still suffice to describe the multilinear polytope for cycle hypergraphs. Finally, we report about computational results of our prototype implementation. The simple odd $$\beta $$
β
-cycle inequalities sometimes help to close more of the integrality gap in the experiments; however, the preliminary implementation has substantial computational cost, suggesting room for improvement in the separation algorithm.
The globalization theorem for $$\textrm{CD}(K, N)$$ on locally finite spaces
Authors: Li Zhenhao 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWe establish the local-to-global property of the synthetic curvature-dimension condition for essentially non-branching locally finite metric-measure spaces, extending the work [Cavalletti and Milman in Invent Math 226(1):1–137, 2021].
Optimizing glucocorticoid therapy for Behçet's uveitis: efficacy, adverse effects, and advances in combination approaches
Authors: Li Biao , Li Haoran , Huang Qun , Zheng Yanlin 
Published: July 2023

AbstractBehçet's uveitis (BU) is a debilitating manifestation of Behçet's disease, often requiring prompt and aggressive treatment to prevent vision loss. Glucocorticoids (GCS) serve as a first-line therapy for BU; however, their long-term, high-dose use can result in significant adverse effects. This review summarizes the efficacy, adverse effects, and advances in combination therapy involving GCS for the management of BU. We discuss the benefits and drawbacks of various GCS administration routes, including periocular and intravitreal injections, intravitreal sustained-release devices, and systemic therapy, highlighting the role of fluocinolone acetonide and dexamethasone as primary sustained-release formulations. Moreover, we underscore the importance of combining GCS with immunosuppressive drugs and biological agents to minimize adverse reactions and optimize therapeutic outcomes. The review concludes that, while GCS remain a crucial component of BU treatment, careful consideration of their administration and combination with other therapies is essential to achieve long-term remission and improved visual outcomes for patients with BU.
Financial literacy and advice perceptions among UK higher education students: an ethnicity tale?
Authors: Leone Vitor , Thompson Piers 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAlthough considerable efforts have been made in many countries to raise the financial literacy of those from disadvantaged backgrounds, it is unclear whether these are having an effect. This is particularly the case for those of ethnic minority background, who may suffer from other disadvantages. This study examines the financial literacy of students from two universities in the East Midlands region of the UK. It considers the role played by ethnic background. It is found that significant differences in financial literacy remain between the White majority and particular ethnic groups. In part, this appears to reflect their perceptions of the types of decision they see financial literacy relating to. Some ethnic groups saw financial literacy as being of more relevance for larger, less frequent financial decisions, but saw less connection, and relevance, to the day to day choices they had to make. Ethnicity also potentially has an indirect effect, as informal sources of advice, and those that promote a financial market perspective, tend to be valued more highly. The implications are worrying given that the respondents are the more highly educated independent young members of the population. Current attempts to assist the development of financial literacy therefore appear to be failing those from some ethnic minority groups. This will leave them at a continuing disadvantage, unless interventions can highlight the day to day importance and value of financial literacy.
Scalable Gromov–Wasserstein Based Comparison of Biological Time Series
Authors: Kravtsova Natalia , McGee II Reginald L. , Dawes Adriana T. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractA time series is an extremely abundant data type arising in many areas of scientific research, including the biological sciences. Any method that compares time series data relies on a pairwise distance between trajectories, and the choice of distance measure determines the accuracy and speed of the time series comparison. This paper introduces an optimal transport type distance for comparing time series trajectories that are allowed to lie in spaces of different dimensions and/or with differing numbers of points possibly unequally spaced along each trajectory. The construction is based on a modified Gromov–Wasserstein distance optimization program, reducing the problem to a Wasserstein distance on the real line. The resulting program has a closed-form solution and can be computed quickly due to the scalability of the one-dimensional Wasserstein distance. We discuss theoretical properties of this distance measure, and empirically demonstrate the performance of the proposed distance on several datasets with a range of characteristics commonly found in biologically relevant data. We also use our proposed distance to demonstrate that averaging oscillatory time series trajectories using the recently proposed Fused Gromov–Wasserstein barycenter retains more characteristics in the averaged trajectory when compared to traditional averaging, which demonstrates the applicability of Fused Gromov–Wasserstein barycenters for biological time series. Fast and user friendly software for computing the proposed distance and related applications is provided. The proposed distance allows fast and meaningful comparison of biological time series and can be efficiently used in a wide range of applications.
Protective role of plant growth-promoting fungi Aspergillus chevalieri OP593083 and Aspergillus egyptiacus OP593080 as biocontrol approach against Alternaria leaf spot disease of Vicia faba plant
Authors: Daigham Ghadir E. , Mahfouz Amira Y. , Abdelaziz Amer M. , Nofel Mohamed M. , Attia Mohamed S. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractCrop loss brought on by phytopathogens is a significant issue that affects the entire world. Synthetic pesticides have been used for years to prevent economic losses caused by phytopathogens, raising severe worries about the environment and public health. Therefore, today, there is growing interest in using helpful microorganisms to control plant pathogens. In this way, Aspergillus chevalieri AGH-1 OP593083 and Aspergillus egyptiacus AGH-4 OP593080 isolated from wheat rhizosphere have been applied as plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) for combating early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani (A. solani) and inducing the defense system and growth promotional strategies in Vicia faba. Two milligrams per milliliter ethyl acetate crude extracts of A. chevalieri and A. egyptiacus demonstrated effective antifungal efficacy against A. solani with an inhibition zone of 18 and 16 mm respectively compared with 20 mm attained by fluconazole as a positive control. Moreover, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were (0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml) for A. chevalieri and A. egyptiacus extracts respectively. Data showed that A. chevalieri was the best isolate producing indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophores (+ + +) followed by A. egyptiacus (+ +). Also, the best isolates capable of phosphate solubilization in the soil was A. egyptiacus (+ + +), followed by A. chevalieri (+ +). It is interesting that the PGPF isolates used, whether single or mixed, showed a significant improvement in all growth and yield as well as photosynthetic pigments in Vicia faba. Moreover, A. chevalieri and A. egyptiacus played an important role in improving plant immunity by increasing phenol, proline, and antioxidant enzymes (POD and PPO) activities, as well as reducing oxidative stress by reducing MDA and H2O2. We can conclude that A. chevalieri and A. egyptiacus are considered eco-friendly safe strong inducers of Vicia faba plant immunity alternatives to chemical pesticides against A. solani early blight to preserve plant, soil, and human health.
Effects of SGM Education for Undergraduate Medical Students in a Canadian Context
Authors: Karsenti Nessika , Chambers Jason , Espinosa Aldo 
Published: July 2023

AbstractMedical schools have been striving to equip students with the tools and skills needed to serve patients from the LGBTQ + community, also called the Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) community. This study aims to assess student comfort with providing care, and faculty knowledge and preparedness in delivering SGM-centered education at our home institution. We conducted two mixed-methods surveys, one geared towards medical students across four years of study and one towards medicine faculty. Each survey collected first demographic information about participants, then used a validated tool to assess knowledge of the SGM community. The qualitative component of both surveys then consisted of a needs assessment to determine what students felt should be changed about their curriculum, and what faculty felt should change about their training to deliver this curriculum. We received 26 student responses from all 4 years of study and 35 faculty responses from a variety of medical specialties. Difference in knowledge assessment scores was not statistically significant across both cohorts. Most students felt overall comfortable providing care for sexual minority individuals, and faculty similarly felt comfortable teaching, but data showcases that perceived comfort is higher among the student cohort. We propose that students are acquiring knowledge and comfort with providing for SGM individuals from sources outside their curriculum, and that additional training of faculty is vital to ensure students not doing this independent learning do not fall through the cracks.
Decentralized fault-tolerant control of modular robot manipulators with actuator saturation: neural adaptive integral terminal sliding mode-based control approach
Authors: Lu Zengpeng , Li Yuanchun , Fan Xirui , Wang Qingyun , Li Yan 
Published: July 2023

AbstractA novel neural adaptive integral terminal sliding mode control for decentralized fault-tolerant control strategy, including the integral terminal sliding mode surface, the nonlinear disturbance observer, the radial basis neural network and robust controller, is presented in this paper to achieve fault-tolerant control of modular robot manipulators. First, the integral terminal sliding mode is designed for the fault-tolerant controller. Then, to boost the performance of the controlled system, the radial basis neural network and disturbance observer are introduced to approximate the nonlinear terms and disturbances. The reconstructed approximate uncertainty term is applied as compensation. Next, the super-twisting technique is employed to compensate for estimation errors to ensure stability. In addition, for the actuator saturation problem, the radial basis function neural network-based compensation control is proposed. Finally, the stability of the closed-loop robotic system is demonstrated based on Lyapunov theory. Computer simulations verified the efficiency and advantages of the presented approach.
Curriculum reform in African higher education: solving society’s problems and meeting its needs
Authors: Agbaje Olaide 
Published: July 2023

AbstractHigher education is often regarded as a crucial driver of development in Africa. Notably, the curricula in African higher education institutions are central to the discourse of development and the production of graduates who are sufficiently critical to challenge the historical, political, economic and social status quo in Africa. Curriculum experts in Africa have called for revisiting the purpose and the content of higher education curricula in Africa, and embracing an indigenous knowledge system that not only brings about development in nations themselves or the continent as a whole, but which also enhances human capacity. This paper argues that it is important for higher education institutions to embrace a curriculum that is synchronised to the particularities of African societies. One way to achieve this is by reforming the curriculum to reflect the realities and needs of the African continent, rather than providing a mere replica of the Western model. This paper also argues that curriculum reform is inevitable if the university is to fulfil this important role. This paper aims to answer the pertinent question; In what ways are Africa’s higher education curricula solving societal problems and meeting societal needs? This paper is guided by the theory of critical pedagogy developed by Paulo Freire and is developed through a review of the literature. The findings show that curriculum reform that promotes indigenous knowledge systems in Africa is imperative for meeting some of the needs of the African continent.
The effect of human serum albumin on ZIF-8 used in drug delivery: structural, linear and nonlinear optical properties
Authors: Al-Jouhani Saja , Al-Azwari Raghad , Al-Shemari Sara , Al-Anezi Rawan , Khasim Syed , Mohamed S. , Al-Ghamdi S. A. , Darwish A. A. , Hamdalla Taymour A. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractZeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIF-8) are extremely useful substances that have been utilized in a variety of commercial and medical applications due to their interesting properties. Understanding the properties of ZIF-8 doped human serum albumin with different concentrations can lead to the development of new applications in areas such as sensing, drug delivery, and catalysis. Here, we investigated the extent of interaction between ZIF-8 and HSA by examining the structural, linear, and nonlinear optical properties of ZIF-8@xHSA where x is 2.5, 5, 10 wt%. Scanning electron microscope and Transmission electron microscope images revealed that both ZIF-8 and ZIF-8@10 wt% HSA had regular cubic shapes, with average particle sizes of 38 nm and 49 nm, respectively. The X-ray diffraction shows a crystalline shape for ZIF-8 and ZIF-8@10 wt% HAS. The energy gap of our composite was calculated using the Wemple-Didomenico model, and it exhibited strong concentration-dependent behavior. The Z-scanner was used to investigate the nonlinear properties, which indicated that ZIF-8@10 wt%HSA had a high nonlinear response. As the understanding of this interaction deepens, it is expected that innovative applications in biomedical and pharmaceutical fields will emerge, highlighting the vital connection between HSA and ZIF-8.