bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intracranial recordings in humans reveal specific hippocampal spectral and dorsal vs. ventral connectivity signatures during visual, attention and memory tasks
Authors: Castelhano João , Duarte Isabel , Bernardino Inês , Pelle Federica , Francione Stefano , Sales Francisco , Castelo-Branco Miguel 
Published: March 2022

AbstractInvasive brain recordings using many electrodes across a wide range of tasks provide a unique opportunity to study the role of oscillatory patterning and functional connectivity. We used large-scale recordings (stereo EEG) within and beyond the human hippocampus to investigate the role of distinct frequency oscillations during real-time execution of visual, attention and memory tasks in eight epileptic patients. We found that activity patterns in the hippocampus showed task and frequency dependent properties. Importantly, we found distinct connectivity signatures, in particular concerning parietal-hippocampal connectivity, thus revealing large scale synchronization of networks involved in memory tasks. Comparing the power per frequency band, across tasks and hippocampal regions (anterior/posterior) we confirmed a main effect of frequency band (p = 0.002). Gamma band activity was higher for visuo-spatial memory tasks in the anterior hippocampus. Further, we found that alpha and beta band activity in posterior hippocampus had larger modulation for high memory load visual tasks (p = 0.004). Three functional connectivity task related networks were identified: (dorsal) parietal-hippocampus (visual attention and memory), ventral stream- hippocampus and hippocampal-frontal connections (mainly tasks involving face recognition or object based search). These findings support the critical role of oscillatory patterning in the hippocampus during visual and memory tasks and suggests the presence of task related spectral and functional connectivity signatures. These results show that the use of large scale human intracranial recordings can validate the role of oscillatory and functional connectivity patterns across a broad range of cognitive domains.
Optimizing surgical outcome of auricular keloid with a novel multimodal approach
Authors: Hung Yi-Teng , Lin Shih-Min , Tzeng I-Shiang , Ng Chau Yee 
Published: March 2022

AbstractVarious treatments are available for auricular keloids, but none has an absolute advantage. A practical and safe therapy to optimize the surgical outcome for auricular keloids is needed. We adopted a multimodal treatment of surgical enucleation, core fillet flap reconstruction, intraoperative corticosteroid injection, and immediate postoperative radiotherapy. There were no routine intralesional corticosteroid injections during follow-up. Keloid recurrences, complications, and risk factors for recurrences were analyzed. The outcome was compared with other published literatures. 45 auricular keloids were included in this study. 85.7% were female with an average age of 27.1 ± 7.5 years, and averaged size was 1.8 × 1.2 ± 0.9 × 0.6 cm. 71.1% were located at ear helix with 28.9% at the ear lobe. Nine keloids were classified as Chang-Park classification type I, 30 for type II, two for type III, and four for IV. The average radiation dosage was 1578.6 cGy. The recurrence rate was 6.7% at an average 24.1-month follow-up. There were no complications of surgery, radiotherapy, and intralesional corticosteroid injection. Our recurrence rate was lower than those in mono-adjuvant therapies of intraoperative corticosteroid injection or radiotherapy. This one-session multimodal approach optimizes treating auricular keloids with a low recurrence rate and minimal post-radiation and long-term corticosteroid injection-related complications.
High-content analysis of microRNAs involved in the phenotype regulation of vascular smooth muscle cells
Authors: Zhang Jian , Starkuviene Vytaute , Erfle Holger , Wang Zhaohui , Gunkel Manuel , Zeng Ziwei , Sticht Carsten , Kan Kejia , Rahbari Nuh , Keese Michael 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIn response to vascular injury vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) alternate between a differentiated (contractile) and a dedifferentiated (synthetic) state or phenotype. Although parts of the signaling cascade regulating the phenotypic switch have been described, the role of miRNAs is still incompletely understood. To systematically address this issue, we have established a microscopy-based quantitative assay and identified 23 miRNAs that induced contractile phenotypes when over-expressed. These were then correlated to miRNAs identified from RNA-sequencing when comparing cells in the contractile and synthetic states. Using both approaches, six miRNAs (miR-132-3p, miR-138-5p, miR-141-3p, miR-145-5p, miR-150-5p, and miR-22-3p) were filtered as candidates that induce the phenotypic switch from synthetic to contractile. To identify potentially common regulatory mechanisms of these six miRNAs, their predicted targets were compared with five miRNAs sharing ZBTB20, ZNF704, and EIF4EBP2 as common potential targets and four miRNAs sharing 16 common potential targets. The interaction network consisting of these 19 targets and additional 18 hub targets were created to facilitate validation of miRNA-mRNA interactions by suggesting the most plausible pairs. Furthermore, the information on drug candidates was integrated into the network to predict novel combinatorial therapies that encompass the complexity of miRNAs-mediated regulation. This is the first study that combines a phenotypic screening approach with RNA sequencing and bioinformatics to systematically identify miRNA-mediated pathways and to detect potential drug candidates to positively influence the phenotypic switch of VSMCs.
Viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in droplets and bioaerosols directly captured during breathing, speaking and coughing
Authors: Johnson Tyler J. , Nishida Robert T. , Sonpar Ashlesha P. , Lin Yi-Chan James , Watson Kimberley A. , Smith Stephanie W. , Conly John M. , Evans David H. , Olfert Jason S. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractDetermining the viral load and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in macroscopic respiratory droplets, bioaerosols, and other bodily fluids and secretions is important for identifying transmission modes, assessing risks and informing public health guidelines. Here we show that viral load of SARS-CoV-2 Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) in participants’ naso-pharyngeal (NP) swabs positively correlated with RNA viral load they emitted in both droplets >10 $$\upmu \hbox {m}$$

μ
m

and bioaerosols <10 $$\upmu \hbox {m}$$

μ
m

directly captured during the combined expiratory activities of breathing, speaking and coughing using a standardized protocol, although the NP swabs had $$\approx$$
≈
10$$^3\times$$

3

×

more RNA on average. By identifying highly-infectious individuals (maximum of 18,000 PFU/mL in NP), we retrieved higher numbers of SARS-CoV-2 RNA gene copies in bioaerosol samples (maximum of 4.8$${\times }10^{5}$$

×

10
5

gene copies/mL and minimum cycle threshold of 26.2) relative to other studies. However, all attempts to identify infectious virus in size-segregated droplets and bioaerosols were negative by plaque assay (0 of 58). This outcome is partly attributed to the insufficient amount of viral material in each sample (as indicated by SARS-CoV-2 gene copies) or may indicate no infectious virus was present in such samples, although other possible factors are identified.
A Lab-in-a-Fiber optofluidic device using droplet microfluidics and laser-induced fluorescence for virus detection
Authors: Parker Helen E. , Sengupta Sanghamitra , Harish Achar V. , Soares Ruben R. G. , Joensson Haakan N. , Margulis Walter , Russom Aman , Laurell Fredrik 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMicrofluidics has emerged rapidly over the past 20 years and has been investigated for a variety of applications from life sciences to environmental monitoring. Although continuous-flow microfluidics is ubiquitous, segmented-flow or droplet microfluidics offers several attractive features. Droplets can be independently manipulated and analyzed with very high throughput. Typically, microfluidics is carried out within planar networks of microchannels, namely, microfluidic chips. We propose that fibers offer an interesting alternative format with key advantages for enhanced optical coupling. Herein, we demonstrate the generation of monodisperse droplets within a uniaxial optofluidic Lab-in-a-Fiber scheme. We combine droplet microfluidics with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection achieved through the development of an optical side-coupling fiber, which we term a periscope fiber. This arrangement provides stable and compact alignment. Laser-induced fluorescence offers high sensitivity and low detection limits with a rapid response time making it an attractive detection method for in situ real-time measurements. We use the well-established fluorophore, fluorescein, to characterize the Lab-in-a-Fiber device and determine the generation of $$\sim$$
∼
0.9 nL droplets. We present characterization data of a range of fluorescein concentrations, establishing a limit of detection (LOD) of 10 nM fluorescein. Finally, we show that the device operates within a realistic and relevant fluorescence regime by detecting reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) products in the context of COVID-19 diagnostics. The device represents a step towards the development of a point-of-care droplet digital RT-LAMP platform.
Maturation of the internal auditory canal and posterior petrous bone with relevance to lateral and posterolateral skull base approaches
Authors: Rennert Robert C. , Brandel Michael G. , Steinberg Jeffrey A. , Friedman Rick A. , Couldwell William T. , Fukushima Takanori , Day John D. , Khalessi Alexander A. , Levy Michael L. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractAnatomic knowledge of the internal auditory canal (IAC) and surrounding structures is a prerequisite for performing skull base approaches to the IAC. We herein perform a morphometric analysis of the IAC and surgically relevant aspects of the posterior petrous bone during pediatric maturation, a region well-studied in adults but not children. Measurements of IAC length (IAC-L), porus (IAC-D) and midpoint (IAC-DM) diameter, and distance from the porus to the common crus (CC; P-CC) and posterior petrosal surface (PPS) to the posterior semicircular canal (PSC; PPS-PSC) were made on thin-cut axial CT scans from 60 patients (grouped by ages 0–3, 4–7, 8–11 12–15, 16–18, and > 18 years). IAC-L increased 27.5% from 8.7 ± 1.1 at age 0–3 to 11.1 ± 1.1 mm at adulthood (p = 0.001), with the majority of growth occurring by ages 8–11. IAC-D (p = 0.52) and IAC-DM (p = 0.167) did not significantly change from ages 0–3 to adult. P-CC increased 31.1% from 7.7 ± 1.5 at age 0–3 to 10.1 ± 1.5 mm at adulthood (p = 0.019). PPS-PSC increased 160% from 1.5 ± 0.7 at age 0–3 to 3.9 ± 1.2 mm at adulthood (p < 0.001). The majority of growth in P-CC and PPS-PSC occurred by ages 12–15. Knowledge of these patterns may facilitate safe exposure of the IAC in children.
Negativity in delayed affective recall is related to the borderline personality trait
Authors: Maraz Aniko , Nagy Tamás , Ziegler Matthias 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe present study assessed selected factors that contribute to the recollection of emotional memories over time. Participants with high-trait borderline personality disorder (BPD) watched a randomly selected positive, negative, or neutral character in a video clip (stimulus) and were asked to recall the content immediately, then 2, 4, and 6 days later. In the final sample (N = 558, average age: 33 years, 65% female), general impression had the strongest effect on recall after accounting for the effect of current mood, extremity of the responses, and level of BPD, regardless of stimulus valence. The level of BPD had an effect only when negative evaluative wording (e.g., “guilty”) was used. In conclusion, people with high-trait BPD tend to remember negative stimuli more negatively over time (unlike neutral or positive stimuli), and this effect is mostly related to general impression.
Radiotherapy alters expression of molecular targets in prostate cancer in a fractionation- and time-dependent manner
Authors: Eke Iris , Aryankalayil Molykutty J. , Bylicky Michelle A. , Makinde Adeola Y. , Liotta Lance , Calvert Valerie , Petricoin Emanuel F. , Graves Edward E. , Coleman C. Norman 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe efficacy of molecular targeted therapy depends on expression and enzymatic activity of the target molecules. As radiotherapy modulates gene expression and protein phosphorylation dependent on dose and fractionation, we analyzed the long-term effects of irradiation on the post-radiation efficacy of molecular targeted drugs. We irradiated prostate cancer cells either with a single dose (SD) of 10 Gy x-ray or a multifractionated (MF) regimen with 10 fractions of 1 Gy. Whole genome arrays and reverse phase protein microarrays were used to determine gene expression and protein phosphorylation. Additionally, we evaluated radiation-induced pathway activation with the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. To measure cell survival and sensitivity to clinically used molecular targeted drugs, we performed colony formation assays. We found increased activation of several pathways regulating important cell functions such as cell migration and cell survival at 24 h after MF irradiation or at 2 months after SD irradiation. Further, cells which survived a SD of 10 Gy showed a long-term upregulation and increased activity of multiple molecular targets including AKT, IGF-1R, VEGFR2, or MET, while HDAC expression was decreased. In line with this, 10 Gy SD cells were more sensitive to target inhibition with Capivasertib or Ipatasertib (AKTi), BMS-754807 (IGF-1Ri), or Foretinib (VEGFR2/METi), but less sensitive to Panobinostat or Vorinostat (HDACi). In summary, understanding the molecular short- and long-term changes after irradiation can aid in optimizing the efficacy of multimodal radiation oncology in combination with post-irradiation molecularly-targeted drug treatment and improving the outcome of prostate cancer patients.
Effect of SGLT-2 inhibitor, empagliflozin, on blood pressure reduction in Chinese elderly hypertension patients with type 2 diabetes and its possible mechanisms
Authors: Cheng Lan , Fu Qianyu , Zhou Longhua , Fan Yuqin , Liu Fenfen , Fan Yuanyuan , Zhang Xin , Lin Weiqing , Wu Xiaohe 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe current study evaluated the effect of SGLT-2 inhibitor, empagliflozin, on blood pressure reduction in Chinese elderly hypertension patients with type 2 diabetes and investigated its possible mechanisms. 124 patients were randomized to receive 25 mg empagliflozin QD, or placebo double blind for 12 weeks. Patients underwent 24-h ABPM. Endothelial function and arterial stiffness were also measured prior to randomization and at week 12. At week 12, adjusted mean difference versus placebo in change from baseline in mean 24-h SBP was − 8.14 mmHg (95% CI − 10.32, − 3.96,P = 0.005). At week 12, adjusted mean difference versus placebo in change from baseline in mean 24-h DBP was − 5.27 mmHg (95% CI − 8.19, − 1.35,P < 0.001). Changes in office BP were consistent with ABPM. Empagliflozin was well tolerated. Empagliflozin was associated with significant and clinically meaningful reductions in BP versus placebo in Chinese elderly patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The underlying mechanisms possiblely at least in part were the improvements of endothelial function and arterial stiffness associated with empagliflozin.Registration number: ChiCTR2100054678, Registration date: December 23, 2021.
Writing and reading with the longitudinal component of light using carbazole-containing azopolymer thin films
Authors: Porfirev Alexey , Khonina Svetlana , Ivliev Nikolay , Meshalkin Alexei , Achimova Elena , Forbes Andrew 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIt is well known that azobenzene-containing polymers (azopolymers) are sensitive to the polarization orientation of the illuminating radiation, with the resulting photoisomerization inducing material transfer at both the meso- and macroscale. As a result, azopolymers are efficient and versatile photonic materials, for example, they are used for the fabrication of linear diffraction gratings, including subwavelength gratings, microlens arrays, and spectral filters. Here we propose to use carbazole-containing azopolymer thin films to directly visualize the longitudinal component of the incident laser beam, a crucial task for the realization of 3D structured light yet remaining experimentally challenging. We demonstrate the approach on both scalar and vectorial states of structured light, including higher-order and hybrid cylindrical vector beams. In addition to detection, our results confirm that carbazole-containing azopolymers are a powerful tool material engineering with the longitudinal component of the electric field, particularly to fabricate microstructures with unusual morphologies that differentiate from the total intensity distribution of the writing laser beam.
Waste tea residue adsorption coupled with electrocoagulation for improvement of copper and nickel ions removal from simulated wastewater
Authors: Jean Claude Nizeyimana , Shanshan Lin , Khan Junaid , Yifeng Wu , dongxu Han , Xiangru Liu 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe present research involves removing copper and nickel ions from synthesized wastewater by using a simple, cheap, cost-effective, and sustainable activated green waste tea residue (AGWTR) adsorption coupled with electrocoagulation (ADS/EC) process in the presence of iron electrodes. By considering previous studies, their adsorbents used for treating their wastewaters firstly activate them by applying either chemicals or activating agents. However, our adsorbent was prepared without applying neither chemicals nor any activating agents. The operating parameters such as pH, hydraulic retention time, adsorbent dose, initial concentration, current density, and operating cost for both metals were optimized. In ADS/EC, the removal efficiency was obtained as 100% for copper and 99.99% for nickel ions. After the ADS/EC process, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis were used to characterize the adsorbent green waste tea residue. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic model results showed that the Langmuir and the pseudo-second-order were well-fitted to the experimental adsorption data better than the Freundlich and pseudo-first-order models for both Cu2+ and Ni2+ with their maximum adsorption capacity of 15.6 and 15.9 mg g−1, respectively. The above results give an option to recycle the metal-based industrial effluents, tea industry-based wastes, enabling a waste-to-green technique for adsorbing and removing the heavy metals and other pollutants in water.
Scaling SARS-CoV-2 wastewater concentrations to population estimates of infection
Authors: Kaplan Edward H. , Zulli Alessandro , Sanchez Marcela , Peccia Jordan 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMonitoring the progression of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks requires accurate estimation of the unobservable fraction of the population infected over time in addition to the observed numbers of COVID-19 cases, as the latter present a distorted view of the pandemic due to changes in test frequency and coverage over time. The objective of this report is to describe and illustrate an approach that produces representative estimates of the unobservable cumulative incidence of infection by scaling the daily concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater from the consistent population contribution of fecal material to the sewage collection system.
Three cases of discontinuous refractive index in metamaterial study
Authors: Wegrowski Antoine , Wang Wei-Chih , Tsui Chileung 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWe investigate three cases of metamaterials presented in the literature displaying refractive index with one or more discontinuities along the frequency spectrum. We reproduce the numerical simulations of these metamaterials and compare our simulations to each reported case. For each case, we perform a geometrical investigation of each metamaterial’s refractive index by mean of a numerical simulation of a prism made of the reported metamaterials upon which is incident a plane electromagnetic wave. Such investigation allows us to infirm or confirm negative refraction at resonance frequency. Finally, we carry a numerical and theoretical investigation of this discontinuity and show that, as the refractive index crosses a discontinuity, while the topology of the effective wave has changed within the metamaterial, the dynamics of the phases remain unchanged at any time at the metamaterial's boundaries.
Designing siRNA/chitosan-methacrylate complex nanolipogel for prolonged gene silencing effects
Authors: Cao Ye , Tan Yang Fei , Wong Yee Shan , Aminuddin Muhammad , Ramya Bhuthalingam , Liew Melvin Wen Jie , Liu Jiaxin , Venkatraman Subbu S. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractDespite immense revolutionary therapeutics potential, sustaining release of active small interfering RNA (siRNA) remains an arduous challenge. The development of nanoparticles with siRNA sustained release capabilities provides an avenue to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of gene-based therapy. Herein, we present a new system based on the encapsulation of siRNA/chitosan-methacrylate (CMA) complexes into liposomes to form UV crosslinkable Nanolipogels (NLGs) with sustained siRNA-release properties in vitro. We demonstrated that the CMA nanogel in NLGs can enhance the encapsulation efficiency of siRNA and provide sustained release of siRNA up to 28 days. To understand the particle mechanism of cellular entry, multiple endocytic inhibitors have been used to investigate its endocytosis pathways. The study saw positively charged NLGs entering cells via multiple endocytosis pathways, facilitating endosomal escape and slowly releasing siRNA into the cytoplasm. Transfection experiments confirmed that the crosslinked NLG delivery system provides effective transfection and prolonged silencing effect up to 14 days in cell cultures. We expect that this sustained-release siRNA NLG platform would be of interest in both fundamental biological studies and in clinical applications to extend the use of siRNA-based therapies.
Long-read sequencing for identification of insertion sites in large transposon mutant libraries
Authors: Yasir Muhammad , Turner A. Keith , Lott Martin , Rudder Steven , Baker David , Bastkowski Sarah , Page Andrew J. , Webber Mark A. , Charles Ian G. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractTransposon insertion site sequencing (TIS) is a powerful method for associating genotype to phenotype. However, all TIS methods described to date use short nucleotide sequence reads which cannot uniquely determine the locations of transposon insertions within repeating genomic sequences where the repeat units are longer than the sequence read length. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a TIS method using Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology that generates and uses long nucleotide sequence reads; we have called this method LoRTIS (Long-Read Transposon Insertion-site Sequencing). LoRTIS enabled the unique localisation of transposon insertion sites within long repetitive genetic elements of E. coli, such as the transposase genes of insertion sequences and copies of the ~ 5 kb ribosomal RNA operon. We demonstrate that LoRTIS is reproducible, gives comparable results to short-read TIS methods for essential genes, and better resolution around repeat elements. The Oxford Nanopore sequencing device that we used is cost-effective, small and easily portable. Thus, LoRTIS is an efficient means of uniquely identifying transposon insertion sites within long repetitive genetic elements and can be easily transported to, and used in, laboratories that lack access to expensive DNA sequencing facilities.