bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MEX3A promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression via the miR-3163/SCIN axis by regulating NF-κB signaling pathway
Authors: Xiang Xin-xin , Liu Yong-liang , Kang Yi-fan , Lu Xiang , Xu Kai 
Published: April 2022

AbstractMex-3 RNA Binding Family Member A (MEX3A) is an RNA-binding protein that plays complex and diverse roles in the development of various malignancies. However, its role and mechanism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remain undefined and were therefore evaluated in this study. By analyzing Gene Expression Omnibus data and using tissue microarrays, we found that MEX3A is significantly upregulated in NPC and negatively associated with prognosis. Notably, MEX3A depletion led to decreased cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, but increased apoptosis in NPC cells in vitro, while inhibiting tumor growth in vivo. Using whole-transcript expression arrays and bioinformatic analysis, we identified scinderin (SCIN) and miR-3163 as potential downstream targets of MEX3A in NPC. The regulatory mechanisms of MEX3A, SCIN and miR-3163 were further investigated using rescue experiments. Importantly, SCIN depletion and miR-3163 inhibition reversed and rescued the oncogenic effects of MEX3A, respectively. Moreover, NF-κB signaling inhibition reversed the oncogenic effects of both SCIN and MEX3A. In summary, our results demonstrate that MEX3A may promote NPC development and progression via the miR-3163/SCIN axis by regulating NF-κB signaling, thus providing a potential target for NPC treatment.
GCN5-mediated regulation of pathological cardiac hypertrophy via activation of the TAK1-JNK/p38 signaling pathway
Authors: Li Jia , Yan Chenghui , Wang Yilong , Chen Can , Yu Haibo , Liu Dan , Huang Kai , Han Yaling 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPathological cardiac hypertrophy is a process of abnormal remodeling of cardiomyocytes in response to pressure overload or other stress stimuli, resulting in myocardial injury, which is a major risk factor for heart failure, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. General control nonrepressed protein 5 (GCN5)/lysine acetyltransferase 2 A, a member of the histone acetyltransferase and lysine acetyltransferase families, regulates a variety of physiological and pathological events. However, the function of GCN5 in pathological cardiac hypertrophy remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of GCN5 in the development of pathological cardiac hypertrophy. GCN5 expression was increased in isolated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) and mouse hearts of a hypertrophic mouse model. GCN5 overexpression aggravated the cardiac hypertrophy triggered by transverse aortic constriction surgery. In contrast, inhibition of GCN5 impairs the development of pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Similar results were obtained upon stimulation of NRCMs (having GCN5 overexpressed or knocked down) with phenylephrine. Mechanistically, our results indicate that GCN5 exacerbates cardiac hypertrophy via excessive activation of the transforming growth factor β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1)-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 signaling pathway. Using a TAK1-specific inhibitor in rescue experiments confirmed that the activation of TAK1 is essential for GCN5-mediated cardiac hypertrophy. In summary, the current study elucidated the role of GCN5 in promotion of cardiac hypertrophy, thereby implying it to be a potential target for treatment.
Effects of breccia and water contents on the mechanical properties of fault-core-zone materials
Authors: Yun Hyun-Seok , Moon Seong-Woo , Seo Yong-Seok 
Published: April 2022

AbstractDetermining the mechanical properties of fault-core-zone materials is challenging because of the low strength of such materials, which affects field sampling, specimen preparation, and laboratory testing. We overcame this problem by preparing and testing mechanical properties of 132 artificial fault-core-zone specimens consisting of mixtures of breccia, sand, clay, and water. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (E), and penetration resistance value (PRV) of these fault-core-zone materials were measured, and the effects of breccia content and water content on mechanical properties were assessed. Results show that UCS is inversely proportional to breccia content and water content, and that E is inversely proportional to water content. Furthermore, the inverse relationship of UCS with water content varies with breccia content. UCS is proportional to both PRV and E, and the relationship for each varies with breccia content. High coefficients of determination (R2 = 0.62–0.88) between the parameters suggest that breccia content, water content, and PRV are potentially useful parameters for estimating the mechanical properties of fault core zones.
The functional safety assessment of cyber-physical system operation process described by Markov chain
Authors: Kovtun Viacheslav , Izonin Ivan , Gregus Michal 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe functional safety assessment is one of the primary tasks both at the design stage and at the stage of operation of critical infrastructure at all levels. The article's main contribution is the information technology of calculating the author's metrics of functional safety for estimating the instance of the model of the cyber-physical system operation. The calculation of metric criteria analytically summarizes the results of expert evaluation of the system in VPR-metrics and the results of statistical processing of information on the system's operation presented in the parametric space Markov model of this process. The advantages of the proposed approach are the following: the need to process orders of magnitude less empirical data to obtain objective estimates of the investigated system; taking into account the configuration scheme and architecture of the security subsystem of the investigated system when calculating the metric; completeness, compactness, and simplicity of interpretation of evaluation results; the ability to assess the achievability of the limit values of the metric criteria based on the model of operation of the investigated system. The paper demonstrates the application of the proposed technology to assess the functional safety of the model of a real cyber-physical system.
Aptamer loaded superparamagnetic beads for selective capturing and gentle release of activated protein C
Authors: Hamedani Nasim Shahidi , Happich Felix Lucian , Klein Eva-Maria , Rühl Heiko , Mayer Günter , Oldenburg Johannes , Müller Jens , Pötzsch Bernd 
Published: April 2022

AbstractActivated protein C (APC) is a serine protease with anticoagulant and cytoprotective activities which make it an attractive target for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this work, we present one-step activation of APC from a commercial source of protein C (PC, Ceprotin) followed by rapid and efficient purification using an APC-specific aptamer, HS02-52G, loaded on MyOne superparamagnetic beads. Due to the Ca2+-dependent binding of APC to HS02-52G, an efficient capturing of APC was applied in the presence of Ca2+ions, while a gentle release of captured APC was achieved in the elution buffer containing low EDTA concentration (5 mM). The captured and eluted APC showed more than 95% purity according to SDS-PAGE gel analysis and an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (VIDAS Protein C). The purification yield of 45% was calculated when 4.2 µg APC was used, however this yield reduced to 21% if the starting amount of APC increased to 28.5 µg. Altogether, this method is recommended for rapid and efficient PC activation and APC purification. The purified APC can be used directly for downstream processes where high concentration of pure and active APC is needed.
Evaluation of skeletal muscle activity during foot training exercises using positron emission tomography
Authors: Kanayama Tomoyuki , Nakase Junsuke , Mochizuki Takafumi , Asai Kazuki , Yoshimizu Rikuto , Kimura Mitsuhiro , Kinuya Seigo , Tsuchiya Hiroyuki 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe foot exercises “rock-paper-scissors” and “towel gathering” are widely used in patients with lower limb disorders; however, there are no detailed reports on muscle activity during such training. We quantitatively evaluated the difference in skeletal muscle activity between the two exercises using positron emission tomography. Eight university student athletes were included. Four participants each were assigned to the foot rock-paper-scissors and towel gathering groups. Participants in each group underwent continuous training for 15 min, and received an intravenous injection of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose. After retraining for 15 min, participants rested for 45 min. Regions of interest were defined in 25 muscles. The standardized uptake value (SUV) in the trained limb was compared with that in the non-trained control limb. SUVs increased in four skeletal muscles (tibialis anterior, peroneus brevis, extensor hallucis brevis, and abductor hallucis) in the rock-paper-scissors group, and in four muscles (flexor digitorum longus, extensor hallucis brevis, extensor digitorum brevis, and quadratus plantae) in the towel gathering group. Thus, foot rock-paper-scissors and towel gathering involved skeletal muscles related to the medial longitudinal arch and toe grip strength, respectively. Given that the two exercises target different skeletal muscles, they should be taught and implemented according to their respective purposes.
Deep parameter-free attention hashing for image retrieval
Authors: Yang Wenjing , Wang Liejun , Cheng Shuli 
Published: April 2022

AbstractDeep hashing method is widely applied in the field of image retrieval because of its advantages of low storage consumption and fast retrieval speed. There is a defect of insufficiency feature extraction when existing deep hashing method uses the convolutional neural network (CNN) to extract images semantic features. Some studies propose to add channel-based or spatial-based attention modules. However, embedding these modules into the network can increase the complexity of model and lead to over fitting in the training process. In this study, a novel deep parameter-free attention hashing (DPFAH) is proposed to solve these problems, that designs a parameter-free attention (PFA) module in ResNet18 network. PFA is a lightweight module that defines an energy function to measure the importance of each neuron and infers 3-D attention weights for feature map in a layer. A fast closed-form solution for this energy function proves that the PFA module does not add any parameters to the network. Otherwise, this paper designs a novel hashing framework that includes the hash codes learning branch and the classification branch to explore more label information. The like-binary codes are constrained by a regulation term to reduce the quantization error in the continuous relaxation. Experiments on CIFAR-10, NUS-WIDE and Imagenet-100 show that DPFAH method achieves better performance.
Occupational disease claims and non-occupational morbidity in a prospective cohort observation of nickel electrolysis workers
Authors: Syurin Sergei , Vinnikov Denis 
Published: April 2022

AbstractExposure to nickel aerosol in the nickel production is associated with greater occupational risk, yet little is known how many workers will develop an occupational disease and claim compensation. The aim of this analysis was to prospectively observe a cohort of nickel electrolysis workers and quantitatively assess confirmed occupational disease claims. We observed a cohort of nickel electrolysis workers (N = 1397, median age 39, 68% males) from 2008 till 2020 in one of the largest nickel producers in the Russian High North. Cumulative incidence of confirmed occupational disease claims in seven occupational groups, including electrolysis operators, hydrometallurgists, crane operators, final product cleaners, metalworkers, electricians and ‘other’ was analyzed and supplemented with Cox proportional hazards regression, yielding hazard ratios (HR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) of occupational disease claims for each group. N patients with occupational disease claims varied from 1 in 2016 to 22 in 2009, and in total 87 patients developed one or more occupational diseases (cumulative incidence 6.2%, p < 0.001 between seven groups). Accounting for 35,527 person-years of observation in total, cleaners exhibited the greatest risk (HR 2.58 (95% CI 1.43–4.64)), also adjusted for smoking, number of non-occupational diseases and group 2 (hydrometallurgists). Smoking was independently associated with having an occupational disease claim in all groups (p < 0.001), as was the number of non-work-related diseases in six groups of seven. Despite consistent improvement in the exposure control measures in nickel production, occupational morbidity persists. More effort is needed to reduce exposure in final product cleaners.
The protective effect of the experimental TiF4 and chitosan toothpaste on erosive tooth wear in vitro
Authors: Francese Monique Malta , Gonçalves Isabela Vieira Bolzan , Vertuan Mariele , de Souza Beatriz Martines , Magalhães Ana Carolina 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThis study evaluated the protective effect of TiF4and chitosan toothpaste on erosive tooth wear (ETW) in vitro. Enamel and dentin samples were randomly assigned to toothpastes (n = 12): (G1) TiF4(1400 ppm F−), (G2) 0.5% chitosan (75% deacetylation, 500 mPas), (G3) TiF4(1400 ppm F−) plus 0.5% chitosan (75% deacetylation, 500 mPas), (G4) Placebo, (G5) Erosion Protection (Elmex-GABA, 1400 ppm F−). Twelve samples were only eroded. All samples were submitted to erosive pH cycles and G1 to G5 to abrasive challenges using toothpastes’ slurries plus 45 s of treatment, for 7 days. The final profile was overlaid to the baseline one for the ETW calculation (µm). The data were subjected to Kruskal–Wallis/Dunn tests. TiF4toothpastes, regardless of the presence of chitosan, were able to significantly reduce ETW compared to placebo, while chitosan alone was similar to placebo for both tissues. The toothpastes containing TiF4were even superior to the commercial Elmex toothpaste on enamel, while they were similar on dentin; both were also significantly different from placebo for both tissues. TiF4and Elmex toothpastes minimized the impact of brushing on eroded surface. In conclusion, TiF4toothpastes, regardless the presence of chitosan, showed to be effective in minimizing ETW in vitro.
Role of neuroticism and perceived stress on quality of life among patients with dry eye disease
Authors: Tananuvat Napaporn , Tansanguan Sasiwimon , Wongpakaran Nahathai , Wongpakaran Tinakon 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThis hospital-based, cross-sectional observational study aimed to examine whether neuroticism has an impact on stress that is related to dry eye disease (DED) and quality of life (QOL). One hundred participants who had DED completed the Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score (DEQS) questionnaire, a 5-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L), Neuroticism Inventory (NI), and 10-Item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Hierarchical linear regression was applied to determine the predictive effect of the independent variables. Participants’ mean age was 50.91 ± 14.3 years, and females totalled 89.0%. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that DESQ-Ocular symptoms were the strongest predictor for QOL either assessed by DEQS or EQ-5D, and its effect was lessened when perceived stress and neuroticism were added to the model. The final model explained up to 30–39% variance of the QOL, compared with 13–32% by DESQ-Ocular symptoms alone. QOL of the patients with DED, is not only related to eye symptoms but perceived stress. Moreover, neuroticism was a strong predictor contributing to the QOL among patients with DED. The study showed a significant association between perceived stress, neuroticism and the QOL of patients with DED. Personality has some impact on both subjective dry eye symptoms and impact on daily life, along with the general health-related QOL.
Lightweight and Deep Appearance Embedding for Multiple Object Tracking
Authors: Ye Liangling , Li Weida , Zheng Lixin , Zeng Yuanyue 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe main challenge of Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) is that there is great uncertainty in data association when using the tracked predicted values and tracked trajectories. Meanwhile, the MOT is complex and time‐consuming. When equipment resources are limited or real‐time requirement is high, its application is very limited. Therefore, we propose a Lightweight Deep Appearance Embedding (LDAE) to assist the association of trajectories. Firstly, in addition to motion information in data association, we also introduce more discriminative appearance features to participate in the affinity measure to effectively distinguish similar targets. Secondly, according to the idea of feature mapping, we design a lightweight deep appearance embedding module. It can help extract appearance features with less computation. Finally, we propose a simulated occlusion strategy for the training of the LDAE, which helps improve the ability to recognise different targets in dense scenes. The LDAE dramatically reduces the computational cost and improves the accuracy of data association. Extensive experiments are conducted on the MOT datasets (MOT16, MOT17 and MOT20), which prove that the LDAE outperforms several state‐of‐the‐art trackers in the tracking accuracy and anti‐occlusion performance. Furthermore, we apply the LDAE to escalators, which can achieve fast and stable tracking effect.
Unidirectional medium voltage rectifier utilizing sinusoidal input currents
Authors: Makoschitz Markus 
Published: April 2022

AbstractDue to recent advances in the field of wide bandgap semiconductors, medium voltage converters are starting to regain momentum. This is mainly facilitated as SiC MOSFETs with blocking voltages of up to 10 kV and switching frequencies in the 10th of kilohertz range are starting to become commercially available. Therefore, a unidirectional three‐phase medium voltage rectifier based on a diode bridge rectifier and active current injection network is proposed which benefits from a relatively low number of active semiconductor devices compared to already existing medium voltage solutions. Furthermore, sinusoidal mains currents can be achieved due to third harmonic injection techniques.
Multi‐hazard fragility analysis of RC bridges for high seismicity and high scouring scenarios
Authors: Ghimire Roshan , Pradhan Piyush , Gautam Dipendra 
Published: April 2022

AbstractBoth earthquakes and floods occur frequently in the Himalayas. Since bridge structures are designed considering earthquake forces alone, floods are causing significant damage to bridges almost every year. Thus, it is obvious that floods and earthquakes are the two most important natural hazards that could alter the performance of bridges in the Himalayas. Furthermore, settlement and scouring are commonly observed in many bridges in Nepal and neighbouring regions. To this end, the conventional earthquake force‐based analysis approaches become conservative as the conventional approaches do not account for multi‐hazard impacts and design considerations. To fulfil the gap regarding multi‐hazard vulnerability characterization, this study presents a comparative assessment of single and multiple natural hazards that are likely to impact Nepali highway bridges. Seismic fragility functions for representative reinforced concrete (RC) bridges are developed for earthquake only and earthquake and scouring scenarios. Parametric variation of likely scouring depth obtained from the hydrological analysis is used to depict the probabilistic scenario to obtain fragility functions for various scour levels. The sum of the findings outlines that the seismic vulnerability of RC bridges increases significantly when scouring precedes seismic excitation.
Transplantatversagen nach PKP und DMEK: Was ist die beste Option?
Authors: Seitz Berthold , Daas Loay , Wykrota Agata Anna , Flockerzi Elias , Suffo Shady 
Published: April 2022

ZusammenfassungDie Hornhauttransplantation ist das weltweit am häufigsten durchgeführte Verfahren zur Transplantation von menschlichem Gewebe. Aufgrund der großen Anzahl von Transplantationen hat sich das
Versagen von Hornhauttransplantaten aus immunologischen und nicht immunologischen Gründen (z. B. Rezidiv der Grunderkrankung, hoher Augendruck, transplantierte Guttae, übertragene HSV- oder
CMV-Infektion) zu einer der häufigsten Indikationen für Hornhauttransplantationen entwickelt. Die relativ neuen lamellären Transplantationstechniken haben bestimmte potenzielle
Komplikationen mit sich gebracht, die zu einem Transplantatversagen führen und andere Ansätze als die perforierende Keratoplastik für eine erneute Transplantation erforderlich machen können.
Andererseits bieten diese neuen lamellären Techniken auch neue Möglichkeiten zur Rettung fehlgeschlagener perforierender Transplantate, mit potenziellen Vorteilen gegenüber
aufeinanderfolgenden perforierenden Keratoplastiken, wie z. B. geringere intraoperative Risiken, schnellere visuelle Rehabilitation und reduziertes Abstoßungsrisiko. Heute stellt bei gutem
Heilungsverlauf der mit seinem Transplantat vor der endothelialen Dekompensation zufriedene Patient mit geringem Astigmatismus und ohne stromale Narben die optimale Voraussetzung für die
DMEK nach PKP dar. Diese kann auch mit einer Phakoemulsifikation kombiniert werden (sog. Triple-DMEK). Anderenfalls erfolgt eine perforierende Re-Keratoplastik mit einem größeren
Transplantat (typischerweise Excimerlaser-Re-PKP 8,5/8,6 mm), um gleichzeitig Ödem, Narben und Verkrümmung zu therapieren. Die Anamnese hat bei dieser Entscheidung Gewicht! Eine Re-DMEK bei
Transplantatversagen nach DMEK und DSAEK bedarf keiner Modifikation der Standardtechnik und führt bei raschem Vorgehen zu guten Visusergebnissen. Bei eindeutiger stromaler Vernarbung nach
multiplen (externen) DMEKs kann auch eine PKP zur Bereinigung der Situation erwogen werden. Bei ansonsten grundlos rezidivierenden Transplantatversagen muss man an eine herpetische oder
CMV-Endotheliitis denken und nach PCR-Analyse des Kammerwasseraspirats entsprechend medikamentös therapieren.
Acquired von Willebrand Syndrome in Children
Authors: Sandrock-Lang Kirstin , Glonnegger Hannah , Zieger Barbara 
Published: April 2022

AbstractAcquired von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS) is a rare bleeding disorder caused by various underlying diseases or conditions and should be distinguished from the inherited type of von Willebrand disease. AVWS is associated with underlying diseases such as cardiovascular, autoimmune, malignant, proliferative disorders, or with mechanical circulatory support (MCS). AVWS was first reported in 1968 and most case reports describe AVWS in adults. However, AVWS can appear in pediatric patients occasionally as well. Because bleeding complications are rare in everyday life, AVWS may be underdiagnosed in pediatric patients. Therefore, the diagnosis should be suspected in a pediatric patient who is known for one of these underlying diseases or conditions and who presents with an onset of bleeding symptoms, especially before the child will undergo an invasive procedure. Here, we present an overview of the diagnostic analyses regarding AVWS and of the underlying diseases or conditions in which AVWS should be considered. Importantly, the patient's history should be investigated for bleeding symptoms (mucocutaneous or postoperative bleeding). As no single routine coagulation test can reliably confirm or exclude AVWS, the diagnosis may be challenging. Laboratory investigations should include analysis of von Willebrand factor (VWF):antigen, VWF:collagen-binding capacity, VWF:activity, and VWF multimeric analyses. For treatment, tranexamic acid, 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin, and VWF-containing concentrate can be used. AVWS disappears after the underlying disease has been successfully treated or the MCS has been explanted.