bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Inulin prebiotic reinforces host cancer immunosurveillance via γδ T cell activation
Authors: Boucher Emilie , Plazy Caroline , Richard Mathias L. , Suau Antonia , Mangin Irène , Cornet Muriel , Aldebert Delphine , Toussaint Bertrand , Hannani Dalil 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe gut microbiota is now recognized as a key parameter affecting the host’s anti-cancer immunosurveillance and ability to respond to immunotherapy. Therefore, optimal modulation for preventive and therapeutic purposes is very appealing. Diet is one of the most potent modulators of microbiota, and thus nutritional intervention could be exploited to improve host anti-cancer immunity. Here, we show that an inulin-enriched diet, a prebiotic known to promote immunostimulatory bacteria, triggers an enhanced Th1-polarized CD4+and CD8+αβ T cell-mediated anti-tumor response and attenuates tumor growth in three preclinical tumor-bearing mouse models. We highlighted that the inulin-mediated anti-tumor effect relies on the activation of both intestinal and tumor-infiltrating γδ T cells that are indispensable for αβ T cell activation and subsequent tumor growth control, in a microbiota-dependent manner. Overall, our data identified these cells as a critical immune subset, mandatory for inulin-mediated anti-tumor immunityin vivo, further supporting and rationalizing the use of such prebiotic approaches, as well as the development of immunotherapies targeting γδ T cells in cancer prevention and immunotherapy.SignificanceOur study reveals that γδ T cells anti-cancer activity can be improved by nutritional intervention, in a microbiota-dependent manner. This work also indicates that γδ T cells are indispensable for reinforcing αβ T cells cancer immunosurveillance and subsequent tumor growth control. We believe that these findings could be of interest to the field of gut microbiota modulation, rationalizing the use of such prebiotic approaches as well as γδ T cells targeting, in cancer prevention and immunotherapy.
Egg size effects on nestling mass in JackdawsCorvus monedula: a cross-foster experiment
Authors: Borger Mirjam J. , Bauch Christina , Boonekamp Jelle J. , Verhulst Simon 
Published: October 2022

AbstractVariation in developmental conditions is known to affect fitness in later life, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain elusive. We previously found in jackdawsCorvus monedulathat larger eggs resulted in larger nestlings up to fledging. Through a cross-foster experiment of complete clutches we tested whether this association can be attributed to egg size per se, or to more proficient parents producing larger eggs and larger nestlings, with the latter effect being more or less independent of egg size. Due to other manipulations post-hatching, we primarily investigated effects on nestling mass on day 5, which we show to predict survival until fledging. We introduce a new statistical approach to compare the competing hypotheses and conclude that 92% of the association between egg size and nestling mass is attributed to a direct effect of egg size, and that this relationship is not affected by variation in other parental quality. Intriguingly, the effect of egg size on day 5 nestling mass was steeper (1.7 g/cm3) than the effect of egg size on day 1 hatchling mass (0.7 g/cm3). Early growth is exponential, and the difference in effect size may therefore be explained by hatchlings from large eggs being further in their development at hatching. The direct effect of egg size on nestling mass raises the question what causes egg size variation in jackdaws.
The application of an extracellular vesicle-based biosensor in early diagnosis and prediction of chemoresponsiveness in ovarian cancer
Authors: Asare-Werehene Meshach , Hunter Rob , Gerber Emma , Reunov Arkadiy , Brine Isaiah , Chang Chia-Yu , Chang Chia-Ching , Shieh Dar-Bin , Burger Dylan , Anis Hanan , Tsang Benjamin K. 
Published: October 2022

ABSTRACTOvarian cancer (OVCA) is the most fatal gynecological cancer with late diagnosis and chemoresistance being the main obstacles of treatment success. Since there is no reliable approach to diagnosing patients at an early stage as well as predicting chemoresponsiveness, there is the urgent need to develop a diagnostic platform for such purposes. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) present as an attractive biomarker given their potential specificity and sensitivity to tumor sites. We have developed a novel sensor which utilizes cysteine functionalized gold nanoparticles to simultaneously bind to cisplatin (CDDP) and EVs affording us the advantage of predicting OVCA chemoresponsiveness, histologic subtypes, and early diagnosis using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. EVs were isolated and characterized from chemosensitive and resistant OVCA cells lines as well as pre-operative patient blood samples. The mechanistic role of plasma gelsolin (pGSN) in EV-mediated CDDP secretion in OVCA chemoresistance was investigated using standard cellular and molecular techniques. We determined that chemoresistant cells secrete significantly higher levels of small EVs (sEVs) and EVs containing CDDP (sEV-CDDP) compared with their sensitive counterparts. pGSN interacted with cortactin (CTTN) and both markers were significantly upregulated in chemoresistant patients’ tumors compared with the sensitive patients. Silencing pGSN decreased EV and EV-CDDP secretions in the resistant cells whereas its over-expression in sensitive cells upregulated EV and EV-CDDP secretion, suggesting the potential role of pGSN in EV-mediated CDDP export. sEV/CA125 ratio outperformed CA125 and sEV individually in predicting early stage, chemoresistance, residual disease, tumor recurrence, and patient survival. These findings highlight pGSN as a potential therapeutic target as well as providing a potential diagnostic platform to detect OVCA earlier and predict chemoresistance; an intervention that will positively impact patients’ survival.
Geriatrics 8 scores as a predictor of postoperative outcome in elderly patients with Head and Neck cancer in Rajavithi Supertertiary Care Hospital
Authors: Lertseree Sirikon , Chindavijak Somjin 
Published: October 2022

BackgroundTo determine preoperative Geriatric 8 (G8) score in predicting postoperative complications for elderly head and neck cancer patients.Material and MethodsThe prospective study in elderly head and neck cancer patients who underwent surgery during 30th January 2021-25th January 2022. G8 score were collected before surgery and analysed for the association with complication outcome.ResultOf 104 patients included in this study, The mean age was 68.84 (SD =6.99 years). The Geriatric 8 (G8)score ≤ 14 which were frail group in 73 cases (70.2%) The Clavien-Dindo complications grade III-IV were 30 patients (28.8%). Among these groups, 26 patients (86.7%) was in frail groups and 4 patients (13.3%) with non frail group which is statistically significant different (p=0.019) and Odd ratio of 3.32, CI =1.01-10.87, p=0.048ConclusionThe G8 score is a practical tool for prediction post operative complication in elderly Head and Neck Cancer surgery.
A common neural code for meaning in discourse production and comprehension
Authors: Patel Tanvi , Morales Matías , Pickering Martin J. , Hoffman Paul 
Published: October 2022

AbstractHow does the brain code the meanings conveyed by language? Neuroimaging studies have investigated this by linking neural activity patterns during discourse comprehension to semantic models of language content. Here, we applied this approach to the production of discourse for the first time. Participants underwent fMRI while producing and listening to discourse on a range of topics. We used a distributional semantic model to quantify the similarity between different speech passages and identified where similarity in neural activity was predicted by semantic similarity. When people produced discourse, speech on similar topics elicited similar activation patterns in a widely distributed and bilateral brain network. This network was overlapping with, but more extensive than, the regions that showed similarity effects during comprehension. Critically, cross-task neural similarities between comprehension and production were also predicted by similarities in semantic content. This result suggests that discourse semantics engages a common neural code that is shared between comprehension and production. Effects of semantic similarity were bilateral in all three RSA analyses, even while univariate activation contrasts in the same data indicated left-lateralised BOLD responses. This indicates that right-hemisphere regions encode semantic properties even when they are not activated above baseline. We suggest that right-hemisphere regions play a supporting role in processing the meaning of discourse during both comprehension and production.
Low daytime light and bright night-time light are associated with psychiatric disorders: an objective light study in >85,000 UK Biobank participants
Authors: Burns Angus C. , Windred Daniel P. , Rutter Martin K. , Olivier Patrick , Vetter Céline , Saxena Richa , Lane Jacqueline M. , Phillips Andrew J. K. , Cain Sean W. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractCircadian rhythm disturbance is a common feature of many psychiatric disorders. Light is the primary input to the circadian clock, with daytime light strengthening rhythms and night light disrupting them. Therefore, habitual light exposure may represent an environmental risk factor for susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. We performed the largest to-date cross-sectional analysis of light, sleep, physical activity, and mental health (n= 86,772 adults; aged 62.4 ± 7.4 years; 57% women). We examined the independent association of day and night light exposure with covariate-adjusted risk for psychiatric disorders and self-harm. Greater night light exposure was associated with increased risk for major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and self-harm behavior. Independent of night light, greater day light exposure was associated with reduced risk for major depressive disorder, PTSD, psychosis, and self-harm behavior. These findings were robust to adjustment for sociodemographics, photoperiod, physical activity, and sleep quality. Avoiding light at night and seeking light during the day may be a simple and effective, non-pharmacological means of broadly improving mental health.
The Novel Psychoactive Substances Epidemic: a Scientometric Perspective
Authors: Neoh Michelle Jin Yee , Carollo Alessandro , Lim Mengyu , Corazza Ornella , Coppola Aurora , Esposito Gianluca 
Published: October 2022

AbstractThe unprecedented proliferation of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the illicit drug market has been a public health concern since their emergence in the 2000s. Their consumption can pose a severe health risks as their mechanism of action is poorly understood and their level of toxicity is high mainly due to the diffusion of very potent synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic opioids. This study systemically analyses the evolution of the scientific literature on NPS to gain a better understanding of the areas of major research interests and how they interlink. Findings indicate that the published evidence covers clusters focused on classes of NPS that have received widespread media attention, such as mephedrone and fentanyl, and have largely been concerned with the pharmacological and the toxicological profiles of these substances. This scientometric perspective also provides greater insight into the knowledge gaps within this new and rapidly growing field of study and highlights the need for an interdisciplinary approach in tackling the NPS epidemic.
Making use of an App (Tawakkalna) to track and reduce COVID transmission in KSA
Authors: Bisanzio Donal , Reithinger Richard , Almudarra Sami , Alsukait Reem F. , Dong Di , Zhang Yi , El-Saharty Sameh , Almossawi Hala , Herbst Christopher H. , Alqunaibet Ada 
Published: October 2022

AbstractSince March 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has launched several digital applications to support the intervention response to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. At the beginning of 2021, the KSA Government introduced a mandatory immunity passport to regulate access to public venues. The passport was part of the strategy of resuming public activities before reaching high vaccination coverage. The passport was implemented as a new service in the Tawakkalna mobile phone application (App). The immunity passport allowed access to public locations only for the users who recovered from COVID-19 or those who were double vaccinated. Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the immunity passport, implemented through the Tawakkalna App, on SARS-CoV-2 spread. We built a spatial-explicit individual-based model to represent the whole KSA population (IBM-KSA) and its dynamic on a national scale. The IBM-KSA was parameterized using country demographic, remote sensing, and epidemiological data. The model included non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccination coverage. A social network was created to represent contact heterogeneity and interaction among age groups of the population. The IBM-KSA also simulated the movement of people across the country based on a gravity model. We used the IBM-KSA to evaluate the effect of the immunity passport on the COVID-19 epidemic’s outcomes. The IBM-KSA results showed that implementing the immunity passport through the Tawakkalna App mitigated the SARS-CoV2 spread. In a scenario without the immunity passport, the KSA could have reported 1,515,468 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 965,725-1,986,966) cases, and 30,309 (95% CI: 19,314-39,739) deaths from March 2021 to November 2021. The comparison of IBM-KSA results with COVID-19 official reporting estimated that the passport effectively reduced the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by 8.7 times, 13.5 times, and 11.9 times, respectively. These results showed that the introduction of the immunity passport through the Tawakkalna App was able to control the spread of the SARS-COV-2 until vaccination reached high coverage. By introducing the immunity passport, The KSA was able to allow to resume most of public activities safely.
An allosteric switch between the activation loop and a c-terminal palindromic phospho-motif controls c-Src function
Authors: Cuesta Nicolás , Contreras Julia , Sánchez-Waldermer Jana , Soriano-Maldonado Pablo , Martín-Hurtado Ana , Muñoz Inés G. , Llimargas Marta , Muñoz Javier , Plaza Menacho Iván 
Published: October 2022

SummaryAuto-phosphorylation controls the transition between discrete functional and conformational states in protein kinases, yet the structural and molecular determinants underlaying this fundamental process remain unclear. Here we show that c-terminal Tyr 530 is ade factoc-Src auto-phosphorylation site with slow time-resolution kinetics and strong intermolecular component. On the contrary, activation-loop Tyr 419 undergoes fast kinetics and a cis-to-trans phosphorylation-switch that controls c-terminal Tyr 530 auto-phosphorylation, enzyme specificity and strikingly, c-Src non-catalytic function as a substrate. In line with this, we visualize by X-ray crystallography a snapshot of Tyr 530 intermolecular phosphorylation in which a c-terminal palindromic phospho-motif flanking Tyr 530 on the susbtrate molecule engages the P-loop of the active kinase for ready entry prior catalysis. Perturbation of the phospho-motif accounts for c-Src disfunction as indicated by viral and a colorectal cancer (CRC) associated c-terminal deleted variants. We show that c-terminal residues 531 to 536 are required for c-Src Tyr 530 and global auto-phosphorylation, and this detrimental effect is caused by the susbtrate molecule inhibiting allosterically the active kinase. Our work reveals a bi-directional crosstalk between the activation and c-terminal segments that controls the allosteric interplay between susbtrate and enzyme acting kinases during auto-phosphorylationHighlightsA bi-directional phospho-switch connecting the activation and c-terminal segments controls c-Src functionActivation-loop Tyr 419 is required for c-terminal Tyr 530 auto-phosphorylation, enzyme specificity and non-catalytic function as a substrateBiochemical and structural visualization of c-Src Tyr 530 intermolecular auto-phosphorylationA double-phosphorylated c-Src on both the activation and c-terminal segments is a fully active proteinCancer associated c-terminal deleted variants inhibit allosterically c-Src activity by a dominant negative effect
Accessing abortion in a highly restrictive legal regime: characteristics of women and pregnant people in Malta self-managing their abortion through online telemedicine
Authors: Dibben Andreana , Stabile Isabel , Gomperts Rebecca , Kohout James 
Published: October 2022

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the numbers and characteristics of women and pregnant people in Malta seeking at-home medical abortion using online telemedicine from 2017 to 2021.DesignPopulation-based study.SettingRepublic of MaltaParticipantsBetween 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2021, 1090 women and pregnant people requested at-home medical abortion through one online telemedicine provider (Women on Web). Mifepristone and misoprostol were shipped to 658 women (60.4% of requests).Main Outcome MeasuresThe numbers and demographics of persons to which abortion pills were shipped, their reasons for termination of pregnancy, and reasons for requesting medical abortion between January 2017 and December 2021 were analysed. Selected data were compared across different groups.ResultsThe number of persons in Malta to whom medical abortion pills were shipped increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women and pregnant people requesting medical abortion were diverse with respect to age, pregnancy circumstances and reasons for seeking termination. More than half were mothers and over 90% reached out to Women on Web at < 7 weeks. Among those completing a medical abortion, 63% did not use contraception (n=412), and in 30% (n=197) there was contraception failure. The most common reasons for ordering medical abortion pills online were difficulty accessing abortion because of legal restrictions (73%) and abortion pills not being available (45%) in the country.ConclusionsDespite a complete ban on abortion, the number of women and pregnant people residing in Malta completing at-home medical abortions is considerable and has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.Summary BoxesWhat is already knownLegal restrictions do not impede women and pregnant people from accessing abortion care but make them liable to criminal prosecution.What this study addsSince abortion is criminalised in Malta, there are no official statistics related to abortion. This is the first study looking at the number and characteristics of women and pregnant people who access abortion care outside the formal healthcare system in this highly restrictive legal regime.Despite the abortion ban, women and pregnant people in Malta are increasingly accessing telemedicine and self-managing their abortions.
Validity of gait parameters of healthy young adults using a motion-sensor-based gait analysis system (ORPHE ANALYTICS) during walking and running
Authors: Uno Yuki , Ogasawara Issei , Konda Shoji , Yoshida Natsuki , Tsujii Akira , Nakata Ken 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundMotion sensors are widely used for gait analysis. ORPHE ANALYTICS is a motion-sensor-based gait analysis system. The validity of commercial gait analysis systems is of great interest to clinicians because calculating position/angle-level gait parameters using motion sensor data potentially produces an error in the integration process; moreover, the validity of ORPHE ANALYTICS has not yet been examined.Research questionHow valid are the position/angle-level gait parameters calculated using ORPHE ANALYTICS relative to those calculated using conventional optical motion capture?MethodsNine young adults performed gait tasks on a treadmill at speeds of 2–12 km/h. The motion sensors were mounted on the shoe midsole (plantar-embedded) and shoe instep (instep-mounted). The three-dimensional marker position data of the foot as well as the acceleration and angular velocity data of the motion sensors were collected. The position/angle-level gait parameters were calculated from motion sensor data obtained using ORPHE ANALYTICS and optical motion capture data. Intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC(2,1)] were calculated for relative validities, and Bland–Altman plots were plotted.ResultsEight items, namely, stride duration, stride length, stride frequency, stride speed (plantar-embedded), vertical height (plantar-embedded), stance phase duration, swing phase duration, and sagittal angleIC, exhibited excellent relative validities [ICC(2,1)> 0.9]. In contrast, the sagittal angleTOdemonstrated good relative validity [ICC(2,1)= 0.892–0.833], while the frontal angleICexhibited moderate relative validity [ICC(2,1)= 0.566–0.627].SignificanceORPHE ANALYTICS, a motion-sensor-based gait analysis system, was found to exhibit excellent relative validity for most gait parameters. This finding suggests its feasibility for gait analysis outside the laboratory setting.HighlightsGait-parameter validities were examined for treadmill-based gait tasks at 2–12 km/h.Most gait parameters showed excellent relative validity with optical motion capture.Shoe midsole-embedded sensors had higher validities than instep-mounted sensors.ORPHE ANALYTICS is potentially useful in clinical measurements.
Irreversible k-threshold conversion number of some graphs
Authors: Shaheen Ramy , Mahfud Suhail , Kassem Ali 
Published: October 2022

PurposeThis paper aims to study Irreversible conversion processes, which examine the spread of a one way change of state (from state 0 to state 1) through a specified society (the spread of disease through populations, the spread of opinion through social networks, etc.) where the conversion rule is determined at the beginning of the study. These processes can be modeled into graph theoretical models where the vertex set V(G) represents the set of individuals on which the conversion is spreading.Design/methodology/approachThe irreversible k-threshold conversion process on a graph G=(V,E) is an iterative process which starts by choosing a set S_0?V, and for each step t (t = 1, 2,…,), S_t is obtained from S_(t−1) by adjoining all vertices that have at least k neighbors in S_(t−1). S_0 is called the seed set of the k-threshold conversion process and is called an irreversible k-threshold conversion set (IkCS) of G if S_t = V(G) for some t = 0. The minimum cardinality of all the IkCSs of G is referred to as the irreversible k-threshold conversion number of G and is denoted by C_k (G).FindingsIn this paper the authors determine C_k (G) for generalized Jahangir graph J_(s,m) for 1 < k = m and s, m are arbitraries. The authors also determine C_k (G) for strong grids P_2? P_n when k = 4, 5. Finally, the authors determine C_2 (G) for P_n? P_n when n is arbitrary.Originality/valueThis work is 100% original and has important use in real life problems like Anti-Bioterrorism.