bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
CCN2 Facilitates IL-17 Production and Osteoclastogenesis in Human Osteoarthritis Synovial Fibroblasts by Inhibiting miR-655 Expression
Authors: Liu Shan-Chi , Hsieh Hung-Lun , Tsai Chun-Hao , Fong Yi-Chin , Ko Chih-Yuan , Wu Hsi-Chin , Chang Sunny Li-Yun , Hsu Chin-Jung , Tang Chih-Hsin 
Published: July 2022

ABSTRACT
Osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with extensive upregulation of osteoclastogenesis and subsequent bone breakdown. The CCN family protein connective tissue growth factor (CCN2, also called CCN2) enhances inflammatory cytokine production in OA disease. The cytokine interleukin (IL)-17 is known to induce osteoclastogenesis and bone erosion in arthritic disease. Our retrieval of data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data set and clinical tissues exhibited higher CCN2 and IL-17 expression in OA synovial sample than in normal healthy samples. We observed the same phenomenon in synovial tissue from rats with anterior cruciate ligament transaction (ACLT)-elicited OA compared with synovial tissue from control healthy rats. We also found that CCN2 facilitated increases in IL-17 synthesis in human OA synovial fibroblasts (OASFs) and promoted osteoclast formation. CCN2 affected IL-17 production by reducing miR-655 expression through the ILK and Syk signaling cascades. Our findings improve our understanding about the effect of CCN2 in OA pathogenesis and, in particular, IL-17 production and osteoclastogenesis, which may help with the design of more effective OA treatments. © 2022 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
Board diversity: Are firms rewarded?
Authors: Bonaparte Isaac , Mburu Henry Kimani , Sun Huey‐Lian 
Published: July 2022

AbstractTo adduce empirical evidence of the benefits of board diversity to investors, we examine the relation between board age‐diversity and firm value. We examine different factors that are known to influence firm value both in the short‐term and long‐term horizons: cumulative abnormal returns, real earnings management, firm innovative activities, and analyst coverage. Our proxy for board diversity is the board age diversity. We find that board age‐diversity enhances firm value through different mechanisms; increased firm innovative activities and curtailed real earnings manipulation. We find that board age‐diversity has (no) effect on firm value in the long (short) term horizon. Overall, our results emphasize the long‐term benefits of board diversity to investors.
Photocatalytic degradation of Ponceau 4R by ZnAl‐layered double hydroxide nanostructures obtained with and without polyvinyl alcohol
Authors: Balayeva Ofeliya Oqtay 
Published: July 2022

AbstractIn this work, zinc‐aluminum layered double hydroxides were synthesized with and without the presence of polyvinyl alcohol by co‐formation and co‐precipitation methods, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the obtained nanocomposites was studied and a comparative analysis was performed. The mechanism of photocatalytic decomposition of Ponceau 4R (P4R) on the nanocomposites has been explained in detail by relating it to the compositional and structural properties of the nanocomposite. The structural and optical properties of nanocomposites are characterized by XRD, UV–vis, PL, and SEM in a pure state, dye loaded and after photodegradation. The bandgap of nanocomposites (Eg = 3,23 eV) was reduced after sorption (Eg = 3,1 eV) and photocatalytic degradation (Eg = 2,87 eV) of P4R. This result is in good agreement with basal spacing determined by XRD. To study the sunlight degradation of P4R at different initial concentrations (8, 12, 16, 20, 30, 40, 50 mg L−1), firstly sorption was developed with Langmuir and other isothermal models. The Langmuir constant value (KL = 0,102) of ZnAl‐LDH/PVA is close to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood constant (KL‐H = 0,094) obtained from the kinetics of the photodegradation in sunlight. The photocatalytic degradation of P4R onto the obtained nanocomposites follows the Langmuir‐Hinshelwood kinetic model.
Danish heritable retinoblastoma survivors' perspectives on reproductive choices: “It's important for me, not to pass on this condition”
Authors: Gregersen Pernille A. , Funding Mikkel , Alsner Jan , Olsen Maja H. , Overgaard Jens , Urbak Steen F. , Staffieri Sandra E. , Lou Stina 
Published: July 2022

AbstractDespite reporting an overall normal life, survivors of heritable retinoblastoma face numerous physical and psychosocial issues. In particular, reproductive decision‐making is often complex and difficult. This study aims to examine survivors' reflections on passing on heritable retinoblastoma to their children, how survivors approach their reproductive choices, and how the healthcare system can optimize counseling and support. Semi‐structured interviews with Danish adult survivors of heritable retinoblastoma were qualitatively analyzed to explore their experiences. Participants were recruited from the Retinoblastoma Survivorship Clinic, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Thematic data analysis was conducted followed by a condensing process specifically for the subthemes relating to reproductive choices. A common subtheme for all participants was a strong wish to avoid passing on retinoblastoma to their children. The participants emphasized the various medical, practical, emotional, and moral issues impacting their final reproductive choice in the process of family planning to conceive a child unaffected by retinoblastoma. Some had no option other than to conceive naturally and hope for an unaffected baby; while others weighed the pros and cons of choosing natural conception with prenatal testing and then considering termination of pregnancy (in case of an affected fetus) versus choosing fertility treatment with preimplantation genetic testing to achieve an unaffected pregnancy. Several participants underlined the complexity of their decisions, and also expressed feelings of guilt, both toward their affected child, and guilt for putting their partner through many difficult decisions and obstacles due to their genetic condition. Our findings demonstrate how one family‐planning decision is not unequivocally “better” or easier than another. Healthcare professionals must provide the necessary information and tools to support the individual's unique decision‐making process. Survivors' autonomy and individual needs, as well as the numerous and diverse aspects of heritable retinoblastoma, should be carefully considered.
The mutation features and geographical distributions of the surface glycoprotein (S gene) in SARS‐CoV‐2 strains: A comparative analysis of the early and current strains
Authors: Liu Rang , Lin Xinran , Chen Bing , Hou Zhenhui , Zhang Qiuju , Lin Shouren , Geng Lan , Sun Zhongyi , Cao Canhui , Shi Yu , Xia Xi 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe surface glycoprotein (S protein) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) was used to develop coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccines. However, SARS‐CoV‐2, especially the S protein, has undergone rapid evolution and mutation, which has remained to be determined. Here, we analyzed and compared the early (12 237) and the current (more than 10 million) SARS‐CoV‐2 strains to identify the mutation features and geographical distribution of the S gene and S protein. Results showed that in the early strains, most of the loci were with relative low mutation frequency except S: 23403 (4486 strains), while in the current strains, there was a surge in the mutation strains and frequency, with S: 23403 constantly being the highest one, but tremendously increased to approximately 1050 times. Furthermore, D614 (S: 23403) was one of the most highly frequent mutations in the S protein of Omicron as of March 2022, and most of the mutant strains were still from the United States, and the United Kingdom. Further analysis demonstrated that in the receptor‐binding domain, most of the loci with low mutation frequency in the early strains, while S: 22995 was nowadays the most prevalent loci with 3 122 491 strains in the current strains. Overall, we compare the mutation features of the S region in SARS‐CoV‐2 strains between the early and the current stains, providing insight into further studies in concert with emerging SARS‐CoV‐2 variants for COVID‐19 vaccines.
Afforestation may accelerate the depletion of deep soil moisture on the Loess Plateau: Evidence from a meta‐analysis
Authors: Liang Haibin , Xue Yayong , Li Zongshan , Gao Guangyao , Liu Guohua 
Published: July 2022

AbstractAfforestation is an effective way to restore degraded landscapes and protect ecosystems in arid and semiarid regions. However, the responses of soil moisture content (SMC) to afforestation in deep soil layers as well as the related controlling factors on a regional scale are still poorly understood. In this study, a meta‐analysis compiled a total of 3045 individual measurements in 203 sites, was conducted to evaluate the effects of afforestation on SMC to a depth of 300 cm based on a field transect survey covering non‐afforested modes (traditional rain‐fed cropland as the control) and afforested vegetation types (forestland, shrubland, and grassland) from southeast to northwest across the Chinese Loess Plateau and to examine the relationships between the SMC and potential affecting factors. The results showed that afforestation led to a decreasing SMC across the entire profile, especially in forestland and shrubland. Soil moisture changes were significantly affected by restoration types (forests, shrubs, and grasses) and restoration ages. Mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, and initial soil moisture jointly affected soil moisture in all land use types along the precipitation gradient. The artificial restoration mode significantly decreased the soil moisture, while the natural restoration mode partially restored the soil moisture. These results indicate that natural restoration may be the better choice from the soil moisture perspective in the context of future climate change in arid and semiarid regions.
Catalytic Graphitized Silicone Rubber Coatings with Highly Graphitized Ceramic Layer and Superior Ablation Resistance
Authors: Chen Yang , Liu Zhuodong , Huang Yisen , Liang Mei , Zou Huawei 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe strength of the ceramic layer formed during ablation of the silicone rubber composite is closely related to its resistance to ablation. Increasing the content of graphitic carbon in the ceramic layer plays a key role in enhancing the strength of ceramic layer. In this study, series of catalytically graphitized mesophase pitch‐modified silicone rubber composites with excellent ablation performance are prepared. And the average linear ablation rate of the composite is reduced to a maximum of 0.046 mm s‐1, which is 44.0% lower than that of the sample without catalyst named 5MP. XRD characterization proves that the addition of transition metal catalysts increases the content of graphitic carbon in the ceramic layers after ablation. The strength of ceramic layer of the 0.13Fe2O3 reached 12.09 MPa, which is 60.3% higher than that of the 5MP. The transition metal catalyst effectively increases the content of graphitic carbon in the ceramic layers, and the strengths of the ceramic layers are significantly improved, thereby greatly improving the ablation performance of the composites.
Critical Assessment of State‐of‐the‐Art Ligand‐Based Virtual Screening Methods
Authors: Sciabola Simone , Torella Rubben , Nagata Asako , Boehm Markus 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe availability of large chemical libraries containing hundreds of millions to billions of diverse drug‐like molecules combined with an almost unlimited amount of compute power to achieve scientific calculations has led investors and researchers to have a renewed interest in virtual screening (VS) methods to identify biologically active compounds. The number of in silico screening tools and software which employ the knowledge of the protein target or known bioactive ligands is increasing at a rapid pace, creating a crowded computational landscape where it has become difficult to assess the real advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy and efficiency of each individual VS technology. In the current work, we evaluate the performance of several state‐of‐the‐art commercial software for 3D ligand‐based VS against well‐known 2D methods using an internally curated benchmarking data set. Our results show that the best individual methods can differ significantly based on the data set, and that combining them using data fusion techniques results in improved enrichment in the top 1 % of retrieved hits. Although 2D methods alone can already provide a significant enrichment in the number of predicted active compounds, the combination of data‐fused 2D results with just one out of the best 3D methods (ROCS, FLAP or Blaze) further improves early enrichment and the likelihood of identifying additional chemotypes.
SENSE EPI reconstruction with 2D phase error correction and channel‐wise noise removal
Authors: Powell Elizabeth , Schneider Torben , Battiston Marco , Grussu Francesco , Toosy Ahmed , Clayden Jonathan D. , Wheeler‐Kingshott Claudia A. M. Gandini 
Published: July 2022

PurposeTo develop a robust reconstruction pipeline for EPI data that enables 2D Nyquist phase error correction using sensitivity encoding without incurring major noise artifacts in low SNR data.MethodsSENSE with 2D phase error correction (PEC‐SENSE) was combined with channel‐wise noise removal using Marcenko–Pastur principal component analysis (MPPCA) to simultaneously eliminate Nyquist ghost artifacts in EPI data and mitigate the noise amplification associated with phase correction using parallel imaging. The proposed pipeline (coined SPECTRE) was validated in phantom DW‐EPI data using the accuracy and precision of diffusion metrics; ground truth values were obtained from data acquired with a spin echo readout. Results from the SPECTRE pipeline were compared against PEC‐SENSE reconstructions with three alternate denoising strategies: (i) no denoising; (ii) denoising of magnitude data after image formation; (iii) denoising of complex data after image formation. SPECTRE was then tested using high ‐value (i.e., low SNR) diffusion data (up to  s/mm) in four healthy subjects.ResultsNoise amplification associated with phase error correction incurred a 23% bias in phantom mean diffusivity (MD) measurements. Phantom MD estimates using the SPECTRE pipeline were within 8% of the ground truth value. In healthy volunteers, the SPECTRE pipeline visibly corrected Nyquist ghost artifacts and reduced associated noise amplification in high ‐value data.ConclusionThe proposed reconstruction pipeline is effective in correcting low SNR data, and improves the accuracy and precision of derived diffusion metrics.
Effect of miR‐34b/c rs4938723 T > C on pediatric glioma susceptibility
Authors: Jia Xingyu , Chen Wenchao , Chen Wei , Liao Yuxiang , Zhou Jingying , Yuan Li , Lin Huiran , Bian Jun 
Published: July 2022

AbstractGliomas, the most common type of primary intracranial tumor, arise from the brain's glial cells and constitute 30% of all brain and central nervous system tumors. MiR‐34b/c plays an important role in colorectal cancer and other cancers, but its role in glioma is unknown. In this study, we attempted to assess the effect of rs4938723 T > C in miR‐34b/c on the susceptibility of glioma Chinese children. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between the selected polymorphism and glioma susceptibility. Our results showed that there is no significant association between this polymorphism and the risk of glioma in Chinese children. However, stratified analysis showed that the rs4938723 TC/CC genotype significantly reduced the risk of glioma in participants under 60 months of age (adjusted OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35–0.88, p = .013). Overall, our study indicates that miR‐34b/c rs4938723 T > C polymorphism may have a weak influence on glioma susceptibility. Nevertheless, these findings need to be validated in well‐designed studies with larger sample sizes and different populations.
From a Shapiro–Keyser extratropical cyclone to the subtropical cyclone Raoni: An unusual winter synoptic situation over the South Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Reboita Michelle Simões , Gozzo Luiz Felippe , Crespo Natália Machado , Custodio Maria de Souza , Lucyrio Vinícius , de Jesus Eduardo Marcos , da Rocha Rosmeri Porfírio 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe eastern coast of South America is a cyclogenetic region in terms of extratropical cyclones and, in lower number, of subtropical cyclones that are more frequent in austral summer and autumn. However, in June 2021, an unusual cyclone developed near the boundary of Uruguay and southern Brazil, initially having extratropical features and later undergoing a subtropical transition. At 1200 UTC 29 June, the Brazilian Navy named it as subtropical cyclone Raoni. This study aims to describe the synoptic evolution of the cyclone and address physical drivers for the subtropical transition based on the ECMWF‐ERA5 reanalysis and numerical experiments with the WRF model. The cyclone precursor of Raoni had its genesis at 1800 UTC 26 June 2021 forced by a trough at mid–upper levels that crossed the Andes Mountains and caused a rapid surface pressure drop. Less than 24 hr later, the cyclone presented a frontal T‐bone pattern and warm seclusion, following the Shapiro–Keyser development model. Strong surface heat fluxes, a deep moist troposphere, and the vertical alignment of the warm seclusion with an upper‐level cut‐off pattern provided the adequate environment for organising convection and, consequently, for subtropical transition at 0600 UTC 28 June. The fundamental role of the surface turbulent heat fluxes for the transition is confirmed through numerical experiments. This study is unprecedented in the sense that no subtropical cyclone originating from a warm seclusion has been documented over the South Atlantic before. These findings emphasise the need of monitoring cold‐season extratropical Shapiro–Keyser cyclones in the region since they can evolve to a subtropical or tropical cyclone and can cause damage to the maritime activities and coastal region due to the strong winds.
Influence of the interaction between different low‐ and mid‐level wind couplings and orography on the evolution of mesoscale convective systems in northwest China: A case study
Authors: Liang Zhaoming 
Published: July 2022

AbstractA mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) event occurring in northwest China is investigated to discuss the influences of interaction between different couplings of low‐ and mid‐level winds and orography on the evolution of MCSs, using high‐resolution reanalysis data. The formation of a low‐level anticyclonic circulation related to the plateau high caused the sequential occurrence of reverse and perpendicular low‐ and mid‐level winds couplings and the stagnation and expansion of a high‐humidity zone originating from the mountains. In the case of reverse coupling of low‐ and mid‐level winds, mid‐level winds were constantly lifted by low‐level winds ascending the mountains, resulting in strong updrafts and relevant inertia–gravity waves occurring continuously in the upstream direction of mid‐level winds. The unstable stratification generated by the high‐humidity zone prevented the inertia–gravity waves from propagating into the updrafts, leading to the maintenance and connection of the updrafts. Meanwhile, a strong downdraft occurred and was maintained on the leeward side of the updrafts due to the coupling of the inertia–gravity waves associated with the uplift of mid‐level winds with the inertia–gravity wave triggered by low‐level winds ascending the mountains. Consequently, MCSs developed as they propagated into the updrafts, and perished abruptly when they reached the leeward‐side downdraft. In the case of perpendicular coupling of low‐ and mid‐level winds, a broad and strong low‐level updraft band formed and stayed on the windward side of the mountain ridge due to terrain‐induced uplift. Significant mid‐level updraft and an associated inertia–gravity wave were triggered on the side of the low‐level updraft band blown by mid‐level winds. The unstable stratification generated by the high‐humidity zone hindered the propagation of the gravity wave into the low‐level updraft band, leading to the maintenance of strength and continuity of the low‐level updraft band. Consequently, MCSs were maintained during their entire propagation along the low‐level updraft band.
A novel saturation‐related event‐triggered scheme for systems with asymmetric input constraint
Authors: Li Hongchao , Zhang Nan , Zuo Zhiqiang , Deng Huimin 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThis paper investigates the problem of event‐triggered control for systems with asymmetric input constraint by establishing a novel saturation‐related triggering condition, which could reduce the number of events. By designing a subregion‐based control law, a sufficient condition is deduced to ensure the asymptotic stability of the underlying system with the proposed triggering rule. Moreover, an optimal algorithm is formulated to estimate the domain of attraction of the closed‐loop system. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the derived approaches.
Fixed‐time self‐structuring neural network cooperative tracking control of multi‐robot systems with actuator faults
Authors: Liu Haitao , Huang Xin , Tian Xuehong , Yuan Jianbin 
Published: July 2022

AbstractIn this study, a fixed‐time adaptive cooperative controller by a self‐structuring neural network is proposed, and actuator faults are considered for multi‐robot systems. First, a novel fixed‐time leader state observer is developed to estimate the state information of the leader and pass on to other followers without measuring the leader's velocity. Second, a fixed‐time cooperative controller is designed to achieve fast response and high precision. Third, a fixed‐time convergent self‐structuring neural network is designed to improve the approximation accuracy affected by system uncertainties and actuator faults. A new neuronal splitting strategy is designed to avoid excessive computational burden caused by too many neurons. Next, the Lyapunov stability theorem is employed to demonstrate that the whole error closed‐loop system can globally converge to a small region around zero in a fixed time. Finally, a simulation example on multi‐robot systems shows that the proposed fixed‐time adaptive cooperative controller is able to obtain satisfactory performances in the presence of uncertainties from external disturbances, actuator faults and other causes.