bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Surveillance for substandard and falsified medicines by local faith-based organizations in 13 low- and middle-income countries using the GPHF Minilab
Authors: Gnegel Gesa , Häfele-Abah Christine , Neci Richard ,   Difäm-EPN Minilab Network, Alladjaba Markous , Lächele Micha , Grace Neenodji , Djekadoum Ndilta , Gounouman Julien Basile , Mpawenimana Servilien , Muziganyi Egide , Mukamanzi Anastasie , Zawadi Jean Claude , Cletus Tambo Ajong , Ngah Ndze Edward , Chakraborty Bishnu , Mutombo Georges Munguakonkwa , Chioke Sr Jane Frances , Okpan Esther , Ngene Juliet , Higenyi Emmanuel , Agiro Priscilla , Uggi Titus , Anderson Tumaini Petro , Ndakengurutse Pamella , Ndayikeza Emmanuel , Kigera Stephen , Wanyama Mildred , Sowah Frederick , Kachiponde Fredrick , Malanda Folita , Julienne Dina Pecke , Nyaah Fidelis , Dohnji Manyi Pattinora , Neci Richard , Gnegel Gesa , Häfele-Abah Christine , Heide Lutz 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThis study evaluates the use of the Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF) Minilab for medicine quality screening by 16 faith-based drug supply organizations located in 13 low- and middle-income countries. The study period included the year before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019) and the first year of the pandemic (2020). In total 1,919 medicine samples were screened using the GPHF Minilab, and samples showing serious quality deficiencies were subjected to compendial analysis in fully equipped laboratories. Thirty-four (1.8%) of the samples were found not to contain the declared active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), or less than 50% of the declared API, or undeclared APIs, and probably represented falsified products. Fifty-four (2.8%) of the samples were reported as substandard, although the true number of substandard medicines may have been higher due to the limited sensitivity of the GPHF Minilab. The number of probably falsified products increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially due to falsified preparations of chloroquine; chloroquine had been incorrectly advocated as treatment for COVID-19. The reports from this project resulted in four international WHO Medical Product Alerts and several national alerts. Within this project, the costs for GPHF Minilab analysis resulted as 25.85 € per sample. Medicine quality screening with the GPHF Minilab is a cost-effective way to contribute to the global surveillance for substandard and falsified medical products.
Spatial distribution differences of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in healthy elderly people under the influence of geographical environmental factors
Authors: Yang Wenjie , Ge Miao , Wang Yabo , Pang Xinrui , Wang Congxia 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe main targets of this were to screen the factors that may influence the distribution of 25-hydroxyvitamin D[25(OH)D] reference value in healthy elderly people in China, and further explored the geographical distribution differences of 25(OH)D reference value in China. In this study, we collected the 25(OH)D of 25,470 healthy elderly from 58 cities in China to analyze the correlation between 25(OH)D and 22 geography secondary indexes through spearman regression analysis. Six indexes with significant correlation were extracted, and a ridge regression model was built, and the country’s urban healthy elderly’25(OH)D reference value was predicted. By using the disjunctive Kriging method, we obtained the geographical distribution of 25(OH)D reference values for healthy elderly people in China. The reference value of 25(OH)D for healthy elderly in China was significantly correlated with the 6 secondary indexes, namely, latitude (°), annual temperature range (°C), annual sunshine hours (h), annual mean temperature (°C), annual mean relative humidity (%), and annual precipitation (mm). The geographical distribution of 25(OH)D values of healthy elderly in China showed a trend of being higher in South China and lower in North China, and higher in coastal areas and lower in inland areas. This study lays a foundation for further research on the mechanism of different influencing factors on the reference value of 25(OH)D index. A ridge regression model composed of significant influencing factors has been established to provide the basis for formulating reference criteria for the treatment factors of the vitamin D deficiency and prognostic factors of the COVID-19 using 25(OH)D reference value in different regions.
Modelling monthly pan evaporation utilising Random Forest and deep learning algorithms
Authors: Abed Mustafa , Imteaz Monzur Alam , Ahmed Ali Najah , Huang Yuk Feng 
Published: July 2022

AbstractEvaporation is the primary aspect causing water loss in the hydrological cycle; therefore, water loss must be precisely measured. Evaporation is an intricate nonlinear process occurring as a result of several climatic aspects. The purpose of this research is to assess the feasibility of using Random Forest (RF) and two deep learning techniques, namely convolutional neural network (CNN), and deep neural network (DNN) to accurately estimate monthly pan evaporation rates. Month-based weather data gathered from four Malaysian weather stations during the 2000–2019 timeframe was used to train and evaluate the models. Several input attributes (predictor variables) were investigated to select the most suitable variables for machine learning models. Every approach was tested with several models, each with a different set of model aspects and input parameter combinations. The formulated ML approaches were benchmarked against two commonly used empirical methods: Stephens & Stewart and Thornthwaite. Model outcomes were assessed using standard statistical measures to determine their effectiveness in predicting evaporation. The results indicated that the three ML models developed in the study performed better than empirical models and could significantly improve the precision of monthly Ep estimates even with the identical input sets. The performance assessment metrics also show that the formulated CNN approach was acceptable for modelling monthly water loss due to evaporation with a higher degree of accuracy than other ML frameworks explored in this study. In addition, the CNN framework outperformed other AI techniques evaluated for the same areas using identical data inputs. The investigation’s findings in relation to the various performance criteria show that the proposed CNN model is capable of capturing the highly non-linearity of evaporation and could be regarded as an effective tool to predict evaporation.
Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells derived extracellular vesicles regulate acquired immune response of lupus mouse in vitro
Authors: Xie Min , Li Cuifang , She Zhou , Wu Feifeng , Mao Jueyi , Hun Marady , Luo Senlin , Wan Wuqing , Tian Jidong , Wen Chuan 
Published: July 2022

AbstractSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease involving multiple systems. Immunopathology believes that abnormal T cell function and excessive production of autoantibodies by B cells are involved in multi-organ damage. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) therapies have endowed with promise in SLE, while the function of MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) was still unclear. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are subcellular components secreted by a paracellular mechanism and are essentially a group of nanoparticles. EVs play a vital role in cell-to-cell communication by acting as biological transporters. New evidence has shown beneficial effects of MSC-EVs on autoimmune diseases, such as their immunomodulatory properties. In this study, we investigated whether hUCMSCs derived extracellular vesicles (hUCMSC-EVs) could regulate abnormal immune responses of T cells or B cells in SLE. We isolated splenic mononuclear cells from MRL/lpr mice, a classical animal model of SLE. PBS (Phosphate-buffered saline), 2 × 105hUCMSCs, 25 µg/ml hUCMSC-EVs, 50 µg/ml hUCMSC-EVs were co-cultured with 2 × 106activated splenic mononuclear cells for 3 days in vitro, respectively. The proportions of CD4+T cell subsets, B cells and the concentrations of cytokines were detected. Both hUCMSCs and hUCMSC-EVs inhibited CD4+T cells, increased the production of T helper (Th)17 cells, promoted the production of interleukin (IL)-17 and transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) (P < 0.05), although they had no significant effects on Th1, Th2, T follicular helper (Tfh), regulatory T (Treg) cells and IL-10 (P > 0.05); only hUCMSCs inhibited CD19+B cells, promoted the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and IL-4 (P < 0.05). hUCMSCs exert immunoregulatory effects on SLE at least partially through hUCMSC-EVs in vitro, therefore, hUCMSC-EVs play novel and potential regulator roles in SLE.
DltC acts as an interaction hub for AcpS, DltA and DltB in the teichoic acid d-alanylation pathway of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum
Authors: Nikolopoulos Nikos , Matos Renata C. , Courtin Pascal , Ayala Isabel , Akherraz Houssam , Simorre Jean-Pierre , Chapot-Chartier Marie-Pierre , Leulier François , Ravaud Stéphanie , Grangeasse Christophe 
Published: July 2022

AbstractTeichoic acids (TA) are crucial for the homeostasis of the bacterial cell wall as well as their developmental behavior and interplay with the environment. TA can be decorated by different modifications, modulating thus their biochemical properties. One major modification consists in the esterification of TA by d-alanine, a process known as d-alanylation. TA d-alanylation is performed by the Dlt pathway, which starts in the cytoplasm and continues extracellularly after d-Ala transportation through the membrane. In this study, we combined structural biology and in vivo approaches to dissect the cytoplasmic steps of this pathway in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, a bacterial species conferring health benefits to its animal host. After establishing that AcpS, DltB, DltC1 and DltA are required for the promotion of Drosophila juvenile growth under chronic undernutrition, we solved their crystal structure and/or used NMR and molecular modeling to study their interactions. Our work demonstrates that the suite of interactions between these proteins is ordered with a conserved surface of DltC1 docking sequentially AcpS, DltA and eventually DltB. Altogether, we conclude that DltC1 acts as an interaction hub for all the successive cytoplasmic steps of the TA d-alanylation pathway.
A systematic review of skin ageing genes: gene pleiotropy and genes on the chromosomal band 16q24.3 may drive skin ageing
Authors: Ng Jun Yan , Chew Fook Tim 
Published: July 2022

AbstractSkin ageing is the result of intrinsic genetic and extrinsic lifestyle factors. However, there is no consensus on skin ageing phenotypes and ways to quantify them. In this systematic review, we first carefully identified 56 skin ageing phenotypes from multiple literature sources and sought the best photo-numeric grading scales to evaluate them. Next, we conducted a systematic review on all 44 Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) on skin ageing published to date and identified genetic risk factors (2349 SNPs and 366 genes) associated with skin ageing. We identified 19 promising SNPs found to be significantly (p-Value < 1E−05) associated with skin ageing phenotypes in two or more independent studies. Here we show, using enrichment analyses strategies and gene expression data, that (1) pleiotropy is a recurring theme among skin ageing genes, (2) SNPs associated with skin ageing phenotypes are mostly located in a small handful of 44 pleiotropic and hub genes (mostly on the chromosome band 16q24.3) and 32 skin colour genes. Since numerous genes on the chromosome band 16q24.3 and skin colour genes show pleiotropy, we propose that (1) genes traditionally identified to contribute to skin colour have more than just skin pigmentation roles, and (2) further progress towards understand the development of skin pigmentation requires understanding the contributions of genes on the chromosomal band 16q24.3. We anticipate our systematic review to serve as a hub to locate primary literature sources pertaining to the genetics of skin ageing and to be a starting point for more sophisticated work examining pleiotropic genes, hub genes, and skin ageing phenotypes.
A maternal high-fat diet induces fetal origins of NASH-HCC in mice
Authors: Takiyama Takao , Sera Toshihiro , Nakamura Masanori , Hoshino Masato , Uesugi Kentaro , Horike Shin-ichi , Meguro-Horike Makiko , Bessho Ryoichi , Takiyama Yuri , Kitsunai Hiroya , Takeda Yasutaka , Sawamoto Kazuki , Yagi Naoto , Nishikawa Yuji , Takiyama Yumi 
Published: July 2022

AbstractMaternal overnutrition affects offspring susceptibility to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Male offspring from high-fat diet (HFD)-fed dams developed a severe form of NASH, leading to highly vascular tumor formation. The cancer/testis antigen HORMA domain containing protein 1 (HORMAD1), one of 146 upregulated differentially expressed genes in fetal livers from HFD-fed dams, was overexpressed with hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1alpha) in hepatoblasts and in NASH-based hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in offspring from HFD-fed dams at 15 weeks old. Hypoxia substantially increased Hormad1 expression in primary mouse hepatocytes. Despite the presence of three putative hypoxia response elements within the mouse Hormad1 gene, the Hif-1alpha siRNA only slightly decreased hypoxia-induced Hormad1 mRNA expression. In contrast, N-acetylcysteine, but not rotenone, inhibited hypoxia-induced Hormad1 expression, indicating its dependency on nonmitochondrial reactive oxygen species production. Synchrotron-based phase-contrast micro-CT of the fetuses from HFD-fed dams showed significant enlargement of the liver accompanied by a consistent size of the umbilical vein, which may cause hypoxia in the fetal liver. Based on these findings, a maternal HFD induces fetal origins of NASH/HCC via hypoxia, and HORMAD1 is a potential therapeutic target for NASH/HCC.
Examining sex disparity in the association of waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and BMI with hypertension among older adults in India
Authors: Muhammad T. , Paul Ronak , Rashmi Rashmi , Srivastava Shobhit 
Published: July 2022

AbstractHypertension is a public health issue touted as a “silent killer” worldwide. The present study aimed to explore the sex differential in the association of anthropometric measures including body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio with hypertension among older adults in India. The study used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) conducted during 2017–18. The sample contains 15,098 males and 16,366 females aged 60 years and above. Descriptive statistics (percentages) along with bivariate analysis were presented. Multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations between the outcome variable (hypertension) and putative risk or protective factors. About 33.9% of males and 38.2% of females aged 60 years and above suffered from hypertension. After adjusting for the socioeconomic, demographic and health-behavioral factors, the odds of hypertension were 1.37 times (CI: 1.27–1.47), significantly higher among older adults who were obese or overweight than those with no overweight/obese condition. Older adults with high-risk waist circumference and waist-hip ratio had 1.16 times (CI: 1.08–1.25) and 1.42 times (CI: 1.32–1.51) higher odds of suffering from hypertension, respectively compared to their counterparts with no high-risk waist circumference or waist-hip ratio. The interaction effects showed that older females with overweight/obesity [OR: 0.84; CI: 0.61–0.74], high-risk waist circumference [OR: 0.89; CI: 0.78–0.99], and high-risk waist-hip ratio [OR: 0.90; CI: 0.83–0.97] had a lower chance of suffering from hypertension than their male counterparts with the similar anthropometric status. The findings suggested a larger magnitude of the association between obesity, high-risk waist circumference, high-risk waist-hip ratio and prevalent hypertension among older males than females. The study also highlights the importance of measuring obesity and central adiposity in older individuals and using such measures as screening tools for timely identification of hypertension.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Mycobacterium bovis triggered different variations in lipid composition of Bovine Alveolar Macrophages
Authors: Chen Yuqi , Ma Huiya , Duan Yangbo , Ma Xueyan , Tan Lihui , Dong Jianjian , Jin Chenkai , Wei Rong 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe lipid composition performs important functions in interaction between macropha-ge and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)/Mycobacterium bovis (MB). Current understanding regarding the lipid responses of bovine alveolar macrophage (BAM) to MTB/MB is quite limited. The present study conducted lipidomics and transcriptome to assess alterations in BAM lipid compositions upon MB and MTB infection. We found that both MTB and MB induced glycerophospholipids accumulation in BAM, and MTB induced more alterations in lipid composition. MTB could affect the contents of various lipids, especially ceramide phosphocholines, polystyrene (PS) (17:0/0:0), testolic acid and testosterone acetate. Meanwhile, MB particularly induced accumulation of 1-alkyl,2-acylglycerophosphoinositols. Both MB and MTB suppressed the contents of palmitoleamide, N-ethyl arachidonoyl amine, N-(1,1-dimethyl-2-hydroxy-ethyl) arachidonoyll amine, eicosanoyl-EA, and PS (O-18:0/17:0) in BAM. Additionally, transcriptome analysis revealed that only MTB triggered genes involved in immune signaling and lipid related pathways in BAM. And MTB mainly activated genes CXCL2 and CXCL3 relevant to NOD-like receptor, IL-17 and TNF to further induce lipid accumulation in BAM, which in turn promoted the formation of foam cells. Meanwhile, time course RT-qPCR results showed that MTB was recognized by BAM to triggered dramatic immune responses, whereas MB could effectively escape the recognition system of BAM, leading rearrangement of lipid metabolisms in BAM at early infection stage. Altogether, the results of the present study provided evidence for changes in lipid metabolism of MTB/MB attacked BAM and contributed to the detection and treatment of zoonotic tuberculosis.
See-N-Seq: RNA sequencing of target single cells identified by microscopy via micropatterning of hydrogel porosity
Authors: Lee Jeong Hyun , Park Emily S. , Choi Jane Ru , Matthews Kerryn , Lam Alice V. , Deng Xiaoyan , Duffy Simon P. , Ma Hongshen 
Published: July 2022

AbstractSingle cell RNA sequencing has the potential to elucidate transcriptional programs underlying key cellular phenotypes and behaviors. However, many cell phenotypes are incompatible with indiscriminate single cell sequencing because they are rare, transient, or can only be identified by imaging. Existing methods for isolating cells based on imaging for single cell sequencing are technically challenging, time-consuming, and prone to loss because of the need to physically transport single cells. Here, we developed See-N-Seq, a method to rapidly screen cells in microwell plates in order to isolate RNA from specific single cells without needing to physically extract each cell. Our approach involves encapsulating the cell sample in a micropatterned hydrogel with spatially varying porosity to selectively expose specific cells for targeted RNA extraction. Extracted RNA can then be captured, barcoded, reverse transcribed, amplified, and sequenced at high-depth. We used See-N-Seq to isolate and sequence RNA from cell-cell conjugates forming an immunological synapse between T-cells and antigen presenting cells. In the hours after synapsing, we found time-dependent bifurcation of single cell transcriptomic profiles towards Type 1 and Type 2 helper T-cells lineages. Our results demonstrate how See-N-Seq can be used to associate transcriptomic data with specific functions and behaviors in single cells.
Chiral trabeated metabeam for low-frequency multimode wave mitigation via dual-bandgap mechanism
Authors: Park Jeonghoon , Lee Dongwoo , Jang Yeongtae , Lee Anna , Rho Junsuk 
Published: July 2022

AbstractAn elastic wave in a physical beam naturally possesses many wave modes, such as flexural, longitudinal, and torsional. Therefore, suppression of all possible vibration modes has been rarely achieved in beam-shaped periodic systems, especially at low frequencies. Here we present a low-frequency complete bandgap mechanism by overlapping the flexural bandgap with the longitudinal-torsional bandgap. To strengthen the general framework, we enforce an extra degree of freedom (rotational and torsional-spring) on the spring-mass system for the flexural and coupled (longitudinal-torsional) modes. The low rotational stiffness provides a low flexural bandgap, whereas the torsional stiffness yields a coupled-mode bandgap. To meet these prerequisites in physical modeling, a chiral trabeated metabeam is conceived, which allows all wave modes to be suppressed by a complete bandgap. Apart from single-mode mitigation, our work provides a route to implementing a low-frequency complete bandgap in a periodic fashion, potentially enabling the use of chirality in elastic structures.
Geometric origin of intrinsic spin hall effect in an inhomogeneous electric field
Authors: Zhang Anwei , Rhim Jun-Won 
Published: July 2022

AbstractIn recent years, the spin Hall effect has received great attention because of its potential application in spintronics and quantum information processing and storage. However, this effect is usually studied under the external homogeneous electric field. Understanding how the inhomogeneous electric field affects the spin Hall effect is still lacking. Here, we investigate a two-dimensional two-band time-reversal symmetric system and give an expression for the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity in the presence of the inhomogeneous electric field, which is shown to be expressed through the geometric quantities: quantum metric and interband Berry connection. We show that for Rashba and Dresselhaus systems, the inhomogeneous intrinsic spin Hall conductivity can be tuned with the Fermi energy. On the other hand, when people get physical intuition on transport phenomena from the wave packet, one issue appears. It is shown that the conductivity obtained from the conventional wave packet approach cannot be fully consistent with the one predicted by the Kubo-Greenwood formula. Here, we attempt to solve this problem.