bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of selenite reduction under salinity and sulfate stress in anaerobic membrane bioreactor
Authors: Zhang Yuanyuan , Liu Shuang , Zhang Gaorong , Peng Yixiang , Wei Qiaoyan , Jiang Minmin , Zheng Junjian 
Published: March 2023

Current microbial reduction technologies have been proven to be suitable for decontaminating industrial wastewaters containing high concentrations of selenium (Se) oxyanions, however, their application is strictly limited by the elemental Se (Se0) accumulation in the system effluents. In this work, a continuous-flow anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was employed for the first time to treat synthetic wastewater containing 0.2 mM soluble selenite (SeO32−). The SeO32− removal efficiency by the AnMBR was approachable to 100% in most of the time, regardless of the fluctuation in influent salinity and sulfate (SO42−) stress. Se0 particles were always undetectable in the system effluents, owing to their interception by the surface micropores and adhering cake layer of membranes. High salt stress led to the aggravated membrane fouling and diminished content ratio of protein to polysaccharide in the cake layer-contained microbial products. The results of physicochemical characterization suggested that the sludge-attached Se0 particles presented either sphere- or rod-like morphology, hexagonal crystalline structure and were entrapped by the organic capping layer. According to the microbial community analysis, increasing influent salinity led to the diminished population of non-halotolerant Se-reducer (Acinetobacter) and increased abundance of halotolerant sulfate reducing bacteria (Desulfomicrobium). In the absence of Acinetobacter, the efficient SeO32− abatement performance of the system could still be maintained, as a result of the abiotic reaction between SeO32− and S2- generated by Desulfomicrobium, which then gave rise to the production of Se0 and S0.
Combining machine learning and structure-based approaches to develop oncogene PIM kinase inhibitors
Authors: Almukadi Haifa , Jadkarim Gada Ali , Mohammed Arif , Almansouri Majid , Sultana Nasreen , Shaik Noor Ahmad , Banaganapalli Babajan 
Published: March 2023

Introduction: PIM kinases are targets for therapeutic intervention since they are associated with a number of malignancies by boosting cell survival and proliferation. Over the past years, the rate of new PIM inhibitors discovery has increased significantly, however, new generation of potent molecules with the right pharmacologic profiles were in demand that can probably lead to the development of Pim kinase inhibitors that are effective against human cancer.Method: In the current study, a machine learning and structure based approaches were used to generate novel and effective chemical therapeutics for PIM-1 kinase. Four different machine learning methods, namely, support vector machine, random forest, k-nearest neighbour and XGBoost have been used for the development of models. Total, 54 Descriptors have been selected using the Boruta method.Results: SVM, Random Forest and XGBoost shows better performance as compared to k-NN. An ensemble approach was implemented and, finally, four potential molecules (CHEMBL303779, CHEMBL690270, MHC07198, and CHEMBL748285) were found to be effective for the modulation of PIM-1 activity. Molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation corroborated the potentiality of the selected molecules. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study indicated the stability between protein and ligands.Discussion: Our findings suggest that the selected models are robust and can be potentially useful for facilitating the discovery against PIM kinase.
Relationship between disorders of the intestinal microbiota and heart failure in infants with congenital heart disease
Authors: Zhang Qi-Liang , Chen Xiu-Hua , Zhou Si-Jia , Lei Yu-Qing , Huang Jiang-Shan , Chen Qiang , Cao Hua 
Published: March 2023

PurposeThere is a close relationship between the intestinal microbiota and heart failure, but no study has assessed this relationship in infants with congenital heart disease. This study aimed to explore the relationship between heart failure and intestinal microbiota in infants with congenital heart disease.MethodsTwenty-eight infants with congenital heart disease with heart failure admitted to a provincial children’s hospital from September 2021 to December 2021 were enrolled in this study. A total of 22 infants without heart disease and matched for age, sex, and weight were selected as controls. Faecal samples were collected from every participant and subjected to 16S rDNA gene sequencing.ResultsThe composition of the intestinal microbiota was significantly disordered in infants with heart failure caused by congenital heart disease compared with that in infants without heart disease. At the phylum level, the most abundant bacteria in the heart failure group were Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, and the most abundant bacteria in the control group were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. At the genus level, the most abundant bacteria in the heart failure group were Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, Subdoligranulum, Shigella, and Streptococcus, and the most abundant bacteria in the control group were Bifidobacterium, Blautia, Bacteroides, Streptococcus, and Ruminococcus. The alpha and beta diversities of the gut bacterial community in the heart failure group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p&lt;0.05). Compared with the control group, retinol metabolism was significantly downregulated in the heart failure group.ConclusionHeart failure in infants with congenital heart disease caused intestinal microbiota disorder, which was characterised by an increase in pathogenic bacteria, a decrease in beneficial bacteria, and decreases in diversity and richness. The significant downregulation of retinol metabolism in the intestinal microbiota of infants with heart failure may be related to the progression of heart failure, and further study of the underlying mechanism is needed.
Echocardiography-based AI for detection and quantification of atrial septal defect
Authors: Lin Xixiang , Yang Feifei , Chen Yixin , Chen Xu , Wang Wenjun , Li Wenxiu , Wang Qiushuang , Zhang Liwei , Li Xin , Deng Yujiao , Pu Haitao , Chen Xiaotian , Wang Xiao , Luo Dong , Zhang Peifang , Burkhoff Daniel , He Kunlun 
Published: March 2023

ObjectivesWe developed and tested a deep learning (DL) framework applicable to color Doppler echocardiography for automatic detection and quantification of atrial septal defects (ASDs).BackgroundColor Doppler echocardiography is the most commonly used non-invasive imaging tool for detection of ASDs. While prior studies have used DL to detect the presence of ASDs from standard 2D echocardiographic views, no study has yet reported automatic interpretation of color Doppler videos for detection and quantification of ASD.MethodsA total of 821 examinations from two tertiary care hospitals were collected as the training and external testing dataset. We developed DL models to automatically process color Doppler echocardiograms, including view selection, ASD detection and identification of the endpoints of the atrial septum and of the defect to quantify the size of defect and the residual rim.ResultsThe view selection model achieved an average accuracy of 99% in identifying four standard views required for evaluating ASD. In the external testing dataset, the ASD detection model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.92 with 88% sensitivity and 89% specificity. The final model automatically measured the size of defect and residual rim, with the mean biases of 1.9 mm and 2.2 mm, respectively.ConclusionWe demonstrated the feasibility of using a deep learning model for automated detection and quantification of ASD from color Doppler echocardiography. This model has the potential to improve the accuracy and efficiency of using color Doppler in clinical practice for screening and quantification of ASDs, that are required for clinical decision making.
Lower diurnal HPA-axis activity in male hypertensive and coronary heart disease patients predicts future CHD risk
Authors: Degroote Cathy , von Känel Roland , Thomas Livia , Zuccarella-Hackl Claudia , Messerli-Bürgy Nadine , Saner Hugo , Wiest Roland , Wirtz Petra H. 
Published: March 2023

BackgroundCoronary heart disease (CHD) and its major risk factor hypertension have both been associated with altered activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis but the biological mechanisms underlying prospective associations with adverse disease outcomes are unclear. We investigated diurnal HPA-axis activity in CHD-patients, hypertensive (HT) and healthy normotensive men (NT) and tested for prospective associations with biological CHD risk factors.MethodsEighty-three male CHD-patients, 54 HT and 54 NT men repeatedly measured salivary cortisol over two consecutive days. Prospective CHD risk was assessed by changes between baseline and follow-up in the prothrombotic factors D-dimer and fibrinogen, the pro-inflammatory measures interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and acute phase protein C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as blood lipids in terms of total cholesterol (tChol)/high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL)-ratio. We aggregated coagulation and inflammatory measures to respective indices.ResultsThe groups differed in repeated daytime cortisol (dayCort) secretion (p=.005,η2p=.03,f=0.18) and cortisol awakening response (CAR) (p=.006,η2p=.03,f=0.18), with similarly lower overall dayCort and CAR in CHD-patients and HT, as compared to NT. The groups differed further in cortisol at awakening (p=.015,η2p=.04,f=0.20) with highest levels in HT (p´s≤.050), and in diurnal slope between waking and evening cortisol (p=.033,η2p=.04,f=0.20) with steepest slopes in HT (p´s≤.039), although in part not independent of confounders. Lower aggregated dayCort and CAR in terms of area-under-the-curve (AUC) independently predicted increases in future overall CHD risk (AUCdayCort: p=.021,η2p=.10,f=0.33;AUCCAR: p=.028,η2p=.09,f=0.31) 3.00 ± 0.06(SEM) years later, with risk prediction most pronounced in fibrinogen (AUCdayCort: p=.017,ΔR2= 0.12;AUCCAR: p=.082).ConclusionWe found evidence for an HPA-axis hypoactivity in CHD and HT with lower diurnal HPA-axis activity predicting increases in cardiovascular risk as evidenced by increases in circulating levels of biomarkers of atherothrombotic risk. Down-regulation of basal HPA-axis activity may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and thrombosis in CHD via effects on coagulation.
The effect of environmental governance in quality improvement of urbanization—Evidence from China 2000–2017
Authors: Tang Zhiguo , Tian Yanping , Yu Shuyi 
Published: March 2023

Introduction: The promotion effect of environmental governance on improving the quality of urbanization is yet to be fully understood. No consensus exists on the concept of urbanization quality, and the exploration of the promotion effect of` environmental governance focuses on the economic dimension. Since 2000, high-quality and distinctive urbanization has been an important part of China’s social development, and environmental governance has been a primary aspect of this pursuit. Therefore, Chinese practice is a suitable research object to help enrich the exploration of the academic community.Material and Methods: This paper constructs an evaluation index system for urbanization quality based on a new development philosophy by the Chinese government and adopts the entropy value method to investigate the effect of environmental governance using provincial panel data from 2000 to 2017.Results: Firstly, the overall effect of environmental governance on improving the quality of urbanization is significant, however, among the environmental governance effects of the five dimensions of urbanization quality, it is conducive to innovation and coordinated development but not conducive to shared development. Secondly, the role of the three governance mechanisms in the environmental governance system is not balanced. The contributions of market governance are much higher than that of government governance and public governance, And there is a large room for improvement in the effectiveness of collaborative governance. In terms of the improvement of specific dimensions of urbanization quality, government governance contributes significantly to innovative development but restricts open and shared development; market governance promotes green and shared development but inhibits open development; public governance plays a positive role in coordinated and open development but hinders innovative, green and shared development. Thirdly, the role of environmental governance has significant regional differences. The eastern region is high, the northeast and central regions are second, and the western region is a negative effect. Within the environmental governance system, government governance has a significant promoting effect on all regions, market governance has a significant promoting effect on eastern, western, and northeastern regions. And public governance has the largest promoting effect on eastern and central regions, while it has an inhibiting effect on western and northeastern regions.Discussion: It is necessary to build an environmental governance system adapted to the regional reality, play the leading role of government environmental regulation, and optimize the collaborative mechanism of the government, enterprises and the public in the environmental governance system with the guidance of market governance.
Soil moisture and salinity dynamics of drip irrigation in saline-alkali soil of Yellow River basin
Authors: Wang Yaqi , Gao Ming , Chen Heting , Fu Xiaoke , Wang Lei , Wang Rui 
Published: March 2023

Soil secondary salinization in the Yellow River Diversion Irrigation Area of Northwest China seriously threatens local agricultural production. Drip irrigation technology is one of the largest contributors to low-yielding saline-alkali land; however, research on the high spatio-temporal scale variability of soil moisture and salinity in drip irrigation is still lacking. Herein, four treatments, CK (flood irrigation, 900 mm), W1 (small volume drip irrigation, 360 mm), W2 (medium volume drip irrigation, 450 mm), and W3 (large volume drip irrigation, 540 mm), were set up to investigate the characteristics and laws of soil moisture and salinity under different irrigation methods. The results showed that the soil moisture of drip irrigation was 5.02%–17.88% (W1), 7.36%–21.06% (W2), and 13.79%–27.88% (W3) higher than that of flood irrigation, resulting in a vertical distribution of soil moisture being low at the top and high at the bottom. Under drip irrigation, the soil salinity formed a desalination zone centered on the drip emitter and this zone gradually expanded to deeper soil with continuous drip irrigation, gradually transforming the soil from surface aggregation type to the bottom accumulation type. The desalination rates of W1, W2, and W3 were 18.46%, 20.84%, and 22.94%, respectively, whereas the salt leaching rate of CK was slower and the salt distribution was not uniform; therefore, the desalination rate was only 5.32%. By precisely controlling the irrigation water volume and flow, drip irrigation significantly reduced surface evaporation and subsurface leakage of water and improved water use efficiency, thus increasing grain yield. Compared with flood irrigation, the yield increase rates of W1, W2, and W3 were 6.6%, 16.18%, and 18.32%, respectively. Therefore, drip irrigation with an appropriate irrigation volume in the saline land in northern Ningxia can improve water saving, salt suppression, and maize yield.
Cervical cancer immune infiltration microenvironment identification, construction of immune scores, assisting patient prognosis and immunotherapy
Authors: Yao Shijie , Zhao Liyang , Chen Siming , Wang Hua , Gao Yang , Shao Ning-Yi , Dai Mengyuan , Cai Hongbing 
Published: March 2023

BackgroundThe immune microenvironment is of great significance in cervical cancer. However, there is still a lack of systematic research on the immune infiltration environment of cervical cancer.MethodsWe obtained cervical cancer transcriptome data and clinical information from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, evaluated the immune microenvironment of cervical cancer, determined immune subsets, constructed an immune cell infiltration scoring system, screened key immune-related genes, and performed single-cell data analysis and cell function analysis of key genes.ResultsWe combined the TCGA and GEO data sets and obtained three different immune cell populations. We obtained two gene clusters, extracted 119 differential genes, and established an immune cell infiltration (ICI) scoring system. Finally, three key genes, IL1B, CST7, and ITGA5, were identified, and single-cell sequencing data were mined to distribute these key genes in different cell types. By up-regulating CST7 and down-regulating IL1B and ITGA5, cervical cancer cells’ proliferation ability and invasion ability were successfully reduced.ConclusionWe conducted a comprehensive assessment of the state of the tumor immune microenvironment in cervical cancer, constructed the ICI scoring system, and identified the ICI scoring system as a potential indicator of susceptibility to immunotherapy for cervical cancer, identifying key genes suggesting that IL1B, CST7, and ITGA5 play an essential role in cervical cancer.
Activation of endothelial NO synthase and P2X7 receptor modification mediates the cholinergic control of ATP-induced interleukin-1β release by mononuclear phagocytes
Authors: Richter Katrin , Asci Nilay , Singh Vijay K. , Yakoob Sanaria Hawro , Meixner Marion , Zakrzewicz Anna , Liese Juliane , Hecker Andreas , Wilker Sigrid , Stumpf Sabine , Schlüter Klaus-Dieter , Rohde Marius , Gödecke Axel , Padberg Winfried , Manzini Ivan , Schmalzing Günther , Grau Veronika 
Published: March 2023

ObjectiveThe pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) plays a central role in host defense against infections. High systemic IL-1β levels, however, promote the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders. Therefore, mechanisms controlling IL-1β release are of substantial clinical interest. Recently, we identified a cholinergic mechanism inhibiting the ATP-mediated IL-1β release by human monocytes via nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits α7, α9 and/or α10. We also discovered novel nAChR agonists that trigger this inhibitory function in monocytic cells without eliciting ionotropic functions at conventional nAChRs. Here, we investigate the ion flux-independent signaling pathway that links nAChR activation to the inhibition of the ATP-sensitive P2X7 receptor (P2X7R).MethodsDifferent human and murine mononuclear phagocytes were primed with lipopolysaccharide and stimulated with the P2X7R agonist BzATP in the presence or absence of nAChR agonists, endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) inhibitors, and NO donors. IL-1β was measured in cell culture supernatants. Patch-clamp and intracellular Ca2+ imaging experiments were performed on HEK cells overexpressing human P2X7R or P2X7R with point mutations at cysteine residues in the cytoplasmic C-terminal domain.ResultsThe inhibitory effect of nAChR agonists on the BzATP-induced IL-1β release was reversed in the presence of eNOS inhibitors (L-NIO, L-NAME) as well as in U937 cells after silencing of eNOS expression. In peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes from eNOS gene-deficient mice, the inhibitory effect of nAChR agonists was absent, suggesting that nAChRs signal via eNOS to inhibit the BzATP-induced IL-1β release. Moreover, NO donors (SNAP, S-nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine; SIN-1) inhibited the BzATP-induced IL-1β release by mononuclear phagocytes. The BzATP-induced ionotropic activity of the P2X7R was abolished in the presence of SIN-1 in both, Xenopus laevis oocytes and HEK cells over-expressing the human P2X7R. This inhibitory effect of SIN-1 was absent in HEK cells expressing P2X7R, in which C377 was mutated to alanine, indicating the importance of C377 for the regulation of the P2X7R function by protein modification.ConclusionWe provide first evidence that ion flux-independent, metabotropic signaling of monocytic nAChRs involves eNOS activation and P2X7R modification, resulting in an inhibition of ATP signaling and ATP-mediated IL-1β release. This signaling pathway might be an interesting target for the treatment of inflammatory disorders.
Protective effects of intrathecal injection of AAV9-RabGGTB-GFP+ in SOD1G93A mice
Authors: Gao Tianchu , Huo Jia , Xin Cheng , Yang Jing , Liu Qi , Dong Hui , Li Rui , Liu Yaling 
Published: March 2023

IntroductionAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that widely affects motor neurons of the CNS. About 20% of patients with ALS have familial ALS (fALS). One of the classic models of ALS are SOD1G93A mice. Misfolded SOD1 protein can be overexpressed in motor neurons, which results in progressive paralysis of the limbs of mice. There is still no effective treatment for ALS. In recent years, the treatment of ALS by regulating autophagy has become a research hotspot. Autophagy obstacles have been confirmed to be one of the early pathological events of ALS. Rab7 is a member of the Ras superfamily and plays a key role in the late stage of autophagy. In our previous studies, we found that prenoylation of Rab7 was inhibited in the ALS model. Prenylation is a post-translational modification in which farnesyl or geranylgeranyl groups are covalently linked to target proteins. Based on these findings, we proposed the novel idea that the regulation of RabGGTB (the β-subunit of RabGGTase) mediated prenylation modification of Rab7, and that this can be used as a prevention and treatment of ALS associated with abnormal protein accumulation.MethodsIn the present study, RabGGTB was overexpressed in mouse spinal cord motoneurons by using adeno-associated virus as vector. Then immunofluorescence quantitative analysis was used for pathological study. The body weight, footprint analysis, the accelerating rotarod test, and neurological deficits score were used to evaluate animal behavior.ResultsOur results show that the protein level of RabGGTB was significantly increased in the lumbar and thoracic regions of spinal cord motoneurons of injected mice. Furthermore, the onset time and survival time of SOD1G93A mice injected with AAV9-RabGGTB-GFP+ were delayed compared with those of mice without overexpression. At the same time, we also observed a decrease in SOD1 misfolded and glial overactivation in the lumbar spinal cord of these SOD1G93A mice.ConclusionThe findings reported here show that RabGGTB plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of SOD1G93A mice and with great therapeutic potential for reducing abnormal aggregation of SOD1 in ALS.