bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
High porosity PEG‐based hydrogel foams with self‐tuning moisture balance as chronic wound dressings
Authors: Lan Ziyang , Kar Ronit , Chwatko Malgorzata , Shoga Erik , Cosgriff‐Hernandez Elizabeth 
Published: January 2023

AbstractA major challenge in chronic wound treatment is maintaining an appropriate wound moisture balance throughout the healing process. Wound dehydration hinders wound healing due to impeded molecule transport and cell migration with associated tissue necrosis. In contrast, wounds that produce excess fluid contain high levels of reactive oxygen species and matrix metalloproteases that impede cell recruitment, extracellular matrix reconstruction, and angiogenesis. Dressings are currently selected based on the relative amount of wound exudate with no universal dressing available that can maintain appropriate wound moisture balance to enhance healing. This work aimed to develop a high porosity poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate hydrogel foam that can both rapidly remove exudate and provide self‐tuning moisture control to prevent wound dehydration. A custom foaming device was used to vary hydrogel foam porosity from 25% to 75% by adjusting the initial air‐to‐solution volume ratio. Hydrogel foams demonstrated substantial improvements in water uptake volume and rate as compared to bulk hydrogels while maintaining similar hydration benefits with slow dehydration rates. The hydrogel foam with the highest porosity (~75%) demonstrated the greatest water uptake and rate, which outperformed commercial dressing products, Curafoam® and Silvercel®, in water absorption, moisture retention, and exudate management. Investigation of the water vapor transmission rates of each dressing at varied hydration levels was characterized and demonstrated the dynamic moisture‐controlling capability of the hydrogel foam dressing. Overall, the self‐tuning moisture control of this hydrogel foam dressing holds great promise to improve healing outcomes for both dry and exudative chronic wounds.
Serum biomarker panel for disease severity and prognosis in patients with COVID‐19
Authors: Li Jing , Tang Mingyang , Liu Didi , Xie Zongyu , Wang Fengchao , Yang Yanqing 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackgroundCoronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) has become a worldwide emergency and has had a severe impact on human health. Inflammatory factors have the potential to either enhance the efficiency of host immune responses or damage the host organs with immune overreaction in COVID‐19. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the functions of inflammatory factors and serum markers that participate in disease progression.MethodsIn total, 54 COVID‐19 patients were enrolled in this study. Disease severity was evaluated by clinical evaluation, laboratory tests, and computed tomography (CT) scans. Data were collected at: admission, 3–5 days after admission, when severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) RNA detection became negative, and composite endpoint.ResultsWe found that the positive rate in sputum was three times higher than that in throat swabs. Higher levels of C‐reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D‐dimer (D‐D), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) or lower lymphocyte counts suggested more severe disease, and the levels of cytokines and serum markers were intrinsically correlated with disease progression. When SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA detection became negative, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated that LDH had the highest sensitivity independently, and four indicators (NLR, CRP, LDH, and D‐D) when combined had the highest sensitivity in distinguishing critically ill patients from mild ones.ConclusionsMonitoring dynamic changes in NLR, CRP, LDH, IL‐6, and D‐D levels, combined with CT imaging and viral RNA detection in sputum, could aid in severity evaluation and prognosis prediction and facilitate COVID‐19 treatment.
Bracing for the sting of disposal: Product purgatories encourage mental simulation of the disposal process
Authors: Isaac Mathew S. , Vinoo Poornima 
Published: January 2023

AbstractProduct owners often find it challenging to part with their possessions. As a result, owners may pursue various behavioral strategies to facilitate disposal, even when considering products that are no longer needed or personally useful. According to ethnographic research, one such strategy is to move products into purgatories, or temporary liminal spaces. Using an experimental approach, we aim to causally assess whether product purgatories do in fact induce disposal. Findings from three studies indicate that moving items into purgatories allows owners to psychologically brace for subsequent product disposal. However, unlike prior research that has focused on reduced product attachment as a primary driver of disposal preparedness, the present research documents a novel mechanism that does not necessarily entail attachment reduction. Specifically, purgatories are shown to trigger mental simulation of the product disposal process, thereby helping product owners brace for the looming loss of their product.
Mastery, models, messengers, and mixed emotions: Examining the development of engineering self‐efficacy by gender
Authors: Chen Xiao‐Yin , Usher Ellen L. , Roeder Madelyn , Johnson Alecia R. , Kennedy Marian S. , Mamaril Natasha A. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackgroundEngineering self‐efficacy, or the belief in one's own capabilities to complete engineering tasks, has been shown to predict greater motivation, academic performance, and retention of engineering students. Investigating the types of experiences that influence engineering students' self‐efficacy can reveal ways to support students in their undergraduate engineering programs.Purpose/Hypothesis(es)The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine how undergraduate engineering students describe the sources of their engineering self‐efficacy and whether patterns in students' responses differed by gender.Design/MethodParticipants (N = 654) were undergraduate engineering students attending two public, land‐grant universities in the U.S. Open‐ended survey questions were used to identify the events, social experiences, and emotions that students described as relevant to their engineering self‐efficacy. Chi‐square analyses were used to investigate whether response patterns varied by gender.ResultsStudents described enactive performances as their most salient source of self‐efficacy, but interesting insights also emerged about how engineering students draw from social and emotional experiences when developing their self‐efficacy. Women more often referred to social sources of self‐efficacy and reported fewer positive emotions than did men.ConclusionFindings suggest ways that educators can provide more targeted opportunities for students to develop their self‐efficacy in engineering.
Characterizing asparagine synthetase deficiency variants in lymphoblastoid cell lines
Authors: Staklinski Stephen J. , Chang Mario C. , Ahrens‐Nicklas Rebecca C. , Kaur Shagun , Stefanatos Arianna K. , Dudenhausen Elizabeth E. , Merritt Matthew E. , Kilberg Michael S. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractAsparagine synthetase (ASNS) catalyzes the synthesis of asparagine (Asn) from aspartate and glutamine. Biallelic mutations in the ASNS gene result in ASNS Deficiency (ASNSD). Children with ASNSD exhibit congenital microcephaly, epileptic‐like seizures, and continued brain atrophy, often leading to premature mortality. This report describes a 4‐year‐old male with global developmental delay and seizures with two novel mutations in the ASNS gene, c.614A > C (maternal) and c.1192dupT (paternal) encoding p.H205P and p.Y398Lfs*4 variants, respectively. We employed the novel use of immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) to show that the proliferation of the heterozygotic parental LCL was not severely affected by culture in Asn‐free medium, but growth of the child's cells was suppressed by about 50%. Asn production by the LCL from both the father and the child was significantly decreased relative to the mother's cells. mRNA and protein analysis of the paternal LCL cells for the Y398Lfs*4 variant revealed reductions in both. Attempts to ectopically express the truncated Y398Lfs*4 variant in either HEK293T or ASNS‐null cells resulted in little or no detectable protein. Expression and purification of the H205P variant from HEK293T cells revealed enzymatic activity similar to wild‐type ASNS. Stable expression of WT ASNS rescued the growth of ASNS‐null JRS cells in Asn‐free medium and the H205P variant was only slightly less effective. However, the Y398Lfs*4 variant appeared to be unstable in JRS cells. These results indicate that co‐expression of the H205P and Y398Lfs*4 variants leads to a significant reduction in Asn synthesis and cellular growth.
On using self‐organizing maps and discretized Sammon maps to study links between atmospheric circulation and weather extremes
Authors: Stryhal Jan , Plavcová Eva 
Published: January 2023

AbstractClassifications by self‐organizing maps (SOMs) have been used to study links between extreme weather events and atmospheric circulation. However, SOMs may often provide a too generalized image of circulation, which is too coarse to properly resolve meteorological extremes. Several approaches have been used to circumvent this limitation, including an increase in the number of nodes and/or relaxation of the stress on topological ordering of nodes, through adjusting the neighbourhood radius. Here, we (1) test whether weighting of training fields based on extremity of their circulation could lead to SOMs that would better represent circulation extremes without impairing the topological ordering of nodes, and (2) we investigate whether Sammon maps (SM), which have so far been limited to validation of SOMs in climatology, could provide a viable alternative to SOMs in studying weather extremes. We show that removing a certain percentage of circulation fields closest to the climatological mean has a greater effect on the representation of circulation extremes than more than doubling the SOM array size. Additionally, this step allows for decreasing the neighbourhood radius, the parameter responsible for topological ordering, which would not otherwise be possible without impairing the topology of the map. The SOMs are compared with two newly developed methods that discretize SMs based on arbitrarily chosen and distribution‐based bins. We demonstrate the usefulness of both methods in climate model validation and show that both methods are able to capture circulation variability in its extremes in more detail than the SOMs. The distribution‐based method does not suffer from sample‐size issues and outperforms all other classifications in extracting ERA5 patterns leading to extreme temperature minima over central Europe. Our results suggest that classifications based on SM could be a viable alternative to SOMs when SOMs lack the ability to discriminate circulation outliers leading to temperature extremes.
Fretting corrosion testing of acetabular modular tapers for total hip replacements: A comparison of two designs
Authors: Mace Annsley , Goodwin Charley M. , Gilbert Jeremy L. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractAcetabular components (DePuy Pinnacle (A) and Stryker Trident (B), Ti‐6Al‐4V shells and CoCrMo liners) with varying geometries were assembled under a 4 kN seating load. Liner‐displacement was recorded. Cyclic compression to 4 kN, R = 0.01, 9 Hz was applied for three million cycles to evaluate fretting corrosion currents (n = 5). Fretting currents, load‐displacement, ion dissolution, and disassembly loads were used to compare device performance. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with Tukey post hoc comparisons (p < 0.05). Liner seating displacements were not significantly different between groups. Fretting currents averaged over the initial 10 h and over three million cycles were 0.17 μA (A) and 0.55 μA (B) and 0.05 μA (A) and 0.17 μA (B), respectively (p = 0.19). No variation in ion averages between A and B (0.23 and 0.45 ppm for Ti [p = 0.21], 0.63 and 0.85 ppm for Co [p = 0.47]) existed. Average push‐out forces, −2.41 (A) and −2.42 kN (B), were not significantly different (p = 0.97). SEM and EDS showed some titanium and metal oxide transfer from the shell to the liner in both designs. Overall, both implant designs exhibited very minor MACC in these experiments. This study demonstrates quantitative measures of in vitro fretting corrosion over the course of three million cycles and the minimal degree of acetabular taper damage. Clinical Significance: Retrieval studies show dual mobility acetabular shell‐liner tapers with metal‐on‐metal contacts are susceptible to fretting corrosion in vivo.
Phase‐Locking of Random Lasers by Cascaded Ultrafast Molecular Excitation Dynamics
Authors: Zhang Xinping , Hu Jingyun , Fu Yulan , Guo Jinxin , Zhang Yiwei , Song Xiaoyan 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThere are conventionally coherent and incoherent types of random lasers, which are characteristic of broadband and randomly distributed narrow‐band lasing spectrum, respectively. No fixed phase relationship has ever been observed between the lasing modes in such lasers. However, herein a new form of random lasers in patterned organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite MAPbBr3 is discovered, where multiple simultaneously lasing modes are stably locked in phase so that lasing lines are achieved with equal spectral separations. This is the first observation of phase locking between random lasers, which is established by the cascaded molecular absorption‐emission or cascaded excitation‐injection processes between random laser modes. The fixed phase relationship is determined by the ultrafast relaxation of the excited molecules to the lower edge of the excitation band, correlating directly the absorption/excitation and emission/injection processes and producing a fixed phase shift. Thus, the bandwidth and separation of the lasing lines are dependent on the relaxation lifetime of the excited molecules and the number of cascading cycles. Such cascading dynamics has a timescale faster than 300 fs. These characteristics innovate the physics and explore new applications of both the MAPbBr3 material and the random lasers. Such a strong phase‐locking mechanism suggests new mode‐locking schemes for ultrafast lasers.
Compartmentalized Intracellular Click Chemistry with Biodegradable Polymersomes
Authors: Oerlemans Roy A. J. F. , Shao Jingxin , Huisman Sander G. A. M. , Li Yudong , Abdelmohsen Loai K. E. A. , van Hest Jan C. M. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractPolymersome nanoreactors that can be employed as artificial organelles have gained much interest over the past decades. Such systems often include biological catalysts (i.e., enzymes) so that they can undertake chemical reactions in cellulo. Examples of nanoreactor artificial organelles that acquire metal catalysts in their structure are limited, and their application in living cells remains fairly restricted. In part, this shortfall is due to difficulties associated with constructing systems that maintain their stability in vitro, let alone the toxicity they impose on cells. This study demonstrates a biodegradable and biocompatible polymersome nanoreactor platform, which can be applied as an artificial organelle in living cells. The ability of the artificial organelles to covalently and non‐covalently incorporate tris(triazolylmethyl)amine‐Cu(I) complexes in their membrane is shown. Such artificial organelles are capable of effectively catalyzing a copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition intracellularly, without compromising the cells’ integrity. The platform represents a step forward in the application of polymersome‐based nanoreactors as artificial organelles.
Impaired Metacognition of Voluntary Movement in Functional Movement Disorder
Authors: Verrel Julius , Chwolka Fabian , Filevich Elisa , Moyé Josephine , Paulus Theresa , Zittel Simone , Bäumer Tobias , Münchau Alexander , Weissbach Anne 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackgroundMotor symptoms in functional movement disorders (FMDs) are experienced as involuntary but share characteristics of voluntary action. Clinical and experimental evidence indicate alterations in monitoring, control, and subjective experience of self‐performed movements.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to test the prediction that FMDs are associated with a reduced ability to make accurate (metacognitive) judgments about self‐performed movements.MethodsWe compared 24 patients with FMD (including functional gait disturbance, functional tremor, and functional tics) with 24 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects in a novel visuomotor‐metacognitive paradigm. Participants performed target‐directed movements on a graphics tablet with restricted visual feedback, decided which of two visually presented trajectories was closer to their preceding movement, and reported their confidence in the visuomotor decision. We quantified individual metacognitive performance as participants' ability to assign high confidence preferentially to correct visuomotor decisions.ResultsPatients and control subjects showed comparable motor performance, response accuracy, and use of the confidence scale. However, visuomotor sensitivity in the trajectory judgment was reduced in patients with FMD compared with healthy control subjects. Moreover, metacognitive performance was impaired in patients, that is, their confidence ratings were less predictive of the correctness of visuomotor decisions. Exploratory subgroup analyses suggest metacognitive deficits to be most pronounced in patients with a functional gait disturbance or functional tremor.ConclusionsPatients with FMD exhibited deficits both when making visuomotor decisions about their own movements and in the metacognitive evaluation of these decisions. Reduced metacognitive insight into voluntary motor control may play a role in FMD pathophysiology and could lay the groundwork for new treatment strategies. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Plasticity of Arabidopsis rosette transcriptomes and photosynthetic responses in dynamic light conditions
Authors: Alameldin Hussien F. , Montgomery Beronda L. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractWith the high variability of natural growth environments, plants exhibit flexibility and resilience in regard to the strategies they employ to maintain overall fitness, including maximizing light use for photosynthesis, while simultaneously limiting light‐associated damage. We measured distinct parameters of photosynthetic performance ofArabidopsis thalianaplants under dynamic light regimes. Plants were grown to maturity then subjected to the following 5‐day (16 h light, 8 h dark) regime: Day 1 at constant light (CL) intensity during light period, representative of a common lab growth condition; Day 2 under sinusoidal variation in light intensity (SL) during the light period that is representative of changes occurring during a clear sunny day; Day 3 under fluctuating light (FL) intensity during the light period that simulates sudden changes that might occur with the movements of clouds in and out of the view of the sun; Day 4, repeat of CL; and Day 5, repeat of FL. We also examined the global transcriptome profile in these growth conditions based on obtaining RNA‐sequencing (RNA‐seq) data for whole plant rosettes. Our transcriptomic analyses indicated downregulation of photosystem I (PSI) and II (PSII) associated genes, which were correlated with elevated levels of photoinhibition as indicated by measurements of nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), energy‐dependent quenching (qE), and inhibitory quenching (qI) under both SL and FL conditions. Furthermore, our transcriptomic results indicated downregulation of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis associated genes, coupled with reduced levels of chlorophyll under both SL and FL compared with CL, as well as downregulation of photorespiration‐associated genes under SL. We also noticed an enrichment of the stress response gene ontology (GO) terms for genes differentially regulated under FL when compared with SL. Collectively, our phenotypic and transcriptome analyses serve as useful resources for probing the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with plant acclimation to rapid light intensity changes in the natural environment.
Boron difluoride hydrazone (BODIHY) complexes: A new class of fluorescent molecular rotors
Authors: Bismillah Aisha N. , Aprahamian Ivan 
Published: January 2023

AbstractFluorescent dyes exhibiting luminescence in the solid state are crucial for the development of efficient solid‐state lighting devices. Most fluorophores though do not emit in the solid state, mainly as a result of intermolecular interactions that cause emission quenching. Boron difluoride hydrazone (BODIHY) dyes are peculiar in this sense as their emission is drastically enhanced when transferred from solution to the solid state. The BODIHY dyes are easy to synthesize and derivatize, have tunable absorption and emission profiles and large Stokes shifts, which are all desirable characteristics from solid‐state emitters. Here, we summarize the discovery and development of BODIHY dyes including the tuning of their photophysical properties through structure‐property analyses.
Towards a templated reaction that translates RNA in cells into a proaptotic peptide‐PNA conjugate
Authors: Altrichter Yannic , Bou‐Dib Peter , Kuznia Christina , Seitz Oliver 
Published: January 2023

Nucleic acid‐templated chemistry opens the intriguing prospect of triggering the synthesis of drugs only in diseased cells. Herein, we explore the feasibility of using RNA‐templated chemical reactions for the activation of a known Smac peptidomimetic compound (SMC), which has proapoptotic activity. Two peptide nucleic acid (PNA) conjugates were used to enable conditional activation of a masked SMC by reduction of an azide either by Staudinger reduction or catalytic photoreduction using a ruthenium complex. The latter provided ~135 nM SMC‐PNA on as little as 10 nM (0.01 eq.) template. For the evaluation of the templated azido‐SMC reduction system in cellulo, a stable HEK 293 cell line was generated, which overexpressed a truncated, non‐functional form of the XIAP mRNA target. We furthermore describe the development of electroporation protocols that enable a robust delivery of PNA conjugates into HEK 293 cells. The action of the reactive PNA conjugates was evaluated by viability and flow cytometric apoptosis assays. In addition, electroporated probes were re‐isolated and analyzed by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Unfortunately, the ruthenium‐PNA conjugate proved phototoxic, and treatment of cells with PNA‐linked reducing agent and the azido‐masked SMC conjugate did not result in a greater viability loss than treatment with scrambled sequence controls. Intracellular product formation was not detectable. A control experiment in total cellular RNA isolate indicated that the templated reaction can in principle proceed in a complex system. The results of this first‐of‐its‐kind study reveal the numerous hurdles that must be overcome if RNA molecules are to trigger the synthesis of pro‐apoptotic drugs inside cells.