bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Integrated metagenomics identifies a crucial role for trimethylamine-producing Lachnoclostridium in promoting atherosclerosis
Authors: Cai Yuan-Yuan , Huang Feng-Qing , Lao Xingzhen , Lu Yawen , Gao Xuejiao , Alolga Raphael N. , Yin Kunpeng , Zhou Xingchen , Wang Yun , Liu Baolin , Shang Jing , Qi Lian-Wen , Li Jing 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMicrobial trimethylamine (TMA)-lyase activity promotes the development of atherosclerosis by generating of TMA, the precursor of TMA N-oxide (TMAO). TMAO is well documented, but same can not be said of TMA-producing bacteria. This work aimed to identify TMA-producing genera in human intestinal microbiota. We retrieved the genomes of human-associated microorganisms from the Human Microbiome Project database comprising 1751 genomes, Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome collection consisting 4644 gut prokaryotes, recapitulated 4930 species-level genome bins and public gut metagenomic data of 2134 individuals from 11 populations. By sequence searching, 216 TMA-lyase-containing species from 102 genera were found to contain the homologous sequences of cntA/B, yeaW/X, and/or cutC/D. We identified 13 strains from 5 genera with cntA sequences, and 30 strains from 14 genera with cutC showing detectable relative abundance in healthy individuals. Lachnoclostridium (p = 2.9e−05) and Clostridium (p = 5.8e−04), the two most abundant cutC-containing genera, were found to be much higher in atherosclerotic patients compared with healthy persons. Upon incubation with choline (substrate), L. saccharolyticum effectively transformed it to TMA at a rate higher than 98.7% while that for C. sporogenes was 63.8–67.5% as detected by liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. In vivo studies further showed that treatment of L. saccharolyticum and choline promoted a significant increase in TMAO level in the serum of ApoE−/− mice with obvious accumulation of aortic plaque in same. This study discloses the significance and efficiency of the gut bacterium L. saccharolyticum in transforming choline to TMA and consequently promoting the development of atherosclerosis.
Plant stem tissue modeling and parameter identification using metaheuristic optimization algorithms
Authors: Ghoneim Mohamed S. , Gadallah Samar I. , Said Lobna A. , Eltawil Ahmed M. , Radwan Ahmed G. , Madian Ahmed H. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractBio-impedance non-invasive measurement techniques usage is rapidly increasing in the agriculture industry. These measured impedance variations reflect tacit biochemical and biophysical changes of living and non-living tissues. Bio-impedance circuit modeling is an effective solution used in biology and medicine to fit the measured impedance. This paper proposes two new fractional-order bio-impedance plant stem models. These new models are compared with three commonly used bio-impedance fractional-order circuit models in plant modeling (Cole, Double Cole, and Fractional-order Double-shell). The two proposed models represent the characterization of the biological cellular morphology of the plant stem. Experiments are conducted on two samples of three different medical plant species from the family Lamiaceae, and each sample is measured at two inter-electrode spacing distances. Bio-impedance measurements are done using an electrochemical station (SP150) in the range of 100 Hz to 100 kHz. All employed models are compared by fitting the measured data to verify the efficiency of the proposed models in modeling the plant stem tissue. The proposed models give the best results in all inter-electrode spacing distances. Four different metaheuristic optimization algorithms are used in the fitting process to extract all models parameter and find the best optimization algorithm in the bio-impedance problems.
Physiological acclimatization in Hawaiian corals following a 22-month shift in baseline seawater temperature and pH
Authors: McLachlan Rowan H. , Price James T. , Muñoz-Garcia Agustí , Weisleder Noah L. , Levas Stephen J. , Jury Christopher P. , Toonen Robert J. , Grottoli Andréa G. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractClimate change poses a major threat to coral reefs. We conducted an outdoor 22-month experiment to investigate if coral could not just survive, but also physiologically cope, with chronic ocean warming and acidification conditions expected later this century under the Paris Climate Agreement. We recorded survivorship and measured eleven phenotypic traits to evaluate the holobiont responses of Hawaiian coral: color, Symbiodiniaceae density, calcification, photosynthesis, respiration, total organic carbon flux, carbon budget, biomass, lipids, protein, and maximum Artemia capture rate. Survivorship was lowest in Montipora capitata and only some survivors were able to meet metabolic demand and physiologically cope with future ocean conditions. Most M. capitata survivors bleached through loss of chlorophyll pigments and simultaneously experienced increased respiration rates and negative carbon budgets due to a 236% increase in total organic carbon losses under combined future ocean conditions. Porites compressa and Porites lobata had the highest survivorship and coped well under future ocean conditions with positive calcification and increased biomass, maintenance of lipids, and the capacity to exceed their metabolic demand through photosynthesis and heterotrophy. Thus, our findings show that significant biological diversity within resilient corals like Porites, and some genotypes of sensitive species, will persist this century provided atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are controlled. Since Porites corals are ubiquitous throughout the world’s oceans and often major reef builders, the persistence of this resilient genus provides hope for future reef ecosystem function globally.
Systematic understanding of anti-tumor mechanisms of Tamarixetin through network and experimental analyses
Authors: Shaji Sanu K. , Drishya G. , Sunilkumar Damu , Suravajhala Prashanth , Kumar Geetha B. , Nair Bipin G. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractTamarixetin, a flavonoid derived from Quercetin, was shown to possess anti-cancer properties in various types of cancer. However, the mechanism of action of this compound is not well understood. Observations from reverse docking and network pharmacology analysis, were validated by cell based studies to analyse the chemotherapeutic potential and elucidate the molecular mechanism of action of Tamarixetin in breast cancer. In silico analysis using reverse docking and PPI analysis clearly indicated that out of 35 proteins targeted by Tamarixetin, the top 3 hub genes, namely, AKT1, ESR1 and HSP90AA1, were upregulated in breast tumor tissues and more importantly showed strong negative correlation to breast cancer patient survival. Furthermore, the KEGG pathway analysis showed enrichment of target proteins of Tamarixetin in 33 pathways which are mainly involved in neoplastic signalling. In vitro cell-based studies demonstrated that Tamarixetin could inhibit cell proliferation, induce ROS and reduce mitochondrial membrane potential, leading to cell death. Tamarixetin induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and inhibited the migration as well as the invasion of breast cancer cells. Taken together, the combination of in silico and in vitro approaches used in the present study clearly provides evidence for the chemotherapeutic potential of Tamarixetin in breast cancer.
On chip random lasing performance of the acceptor dye in a specially designed linear and zig zag array of microdroplets with intrinsic disorder
Authors: Sundaresan Aswathy , Nuchikkat Soniya , Alee K. Shadak 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWe demonstrate high-quality on chip random lasing of the acceptor dye using a specially designed dynamic linear array of microdroplets with unconventional shapes that do not support the whispering gallery modes. The intrinsic disorder in the droplet array consequent to its dynamic nature is utilized in achieving the randomness in the lasing emission without deliberately adding the disorder as in ordinary random laser systems. The novelty of the generated structure is illustrated by comparing its emission characteristics with two other arrays made of microspheres and microtriangular droplets arranged in a zig zag fashion. We show that only the linear array of microdroplets supports lasing in the acceptor emission. The design of the array structure allows to further reduce the lasing threshold drastically either by incorporating the radiative energy transfer or by tuning the number of acceptor dye molecules. The highly directional, well-controlled, and intense emission of weakly emitting dye generated on chip without the aid of conventional methods opens up a new scheme of random lasing generation mediated by microdroplets.
Evaluation of macro- and meso-mechanical properties of concrete under the aggressiveness of landfill leachate
Authors: Feng Wei 
Published: March 2022

AbstractCurrent researches on the mechanical properties of concrete are mainly concentrated on the aggressiveness of sulfate, chloride ion, acid and freeze–thaw cycles. However, the evolution of concrete mechanical properties aggressived by landfill leachate remains to be revealed. As the micro-nano indentation test is a new method to measure the fine/micro mechanical behavior of materials, it is used in this research to evaluate the micro-mechanics of the landfill leachate of the concrete sample surface and different aggressived depths. In addition, the evolution of the macro-mechanical properties of concrete aggressived by the landfill leachate was studied through uniaxial compression tests. The results show that the hydration products with high elastic modulus are consumed by the aggressiveness of landfill leachate, which results in a large number of microscopic cracks on the surface of the concrete. Moreover, the longer the aggressive time, the shallower the aggressive depth, and the more severe the deterioration of the micromechanical properties of the sample surface. It is also notable that the uniaxial compressive strength of the concrete samples aggressived by landfill leachate showed a linear increase and then gradually decrease. Comparing with the sodium chloride and sodium sulfate solutions, the landfill leachate has the most significant weakening effect on the elastic modulus of concrete.
Predicting the possibility of African horse sickness (AHS) introduction into China using spatial risk analysis and habitat connectivity of Culicoides
Authors: Gao Shan , Zeng Zan , Wang HaoNing , Chen FangYuan , Huang LiYa , Wang XiaoLong 
Published: March 2022

AbstractAfrican horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating equine infectious disease. On 17 March 2020, it first appeared in Thailand and threatened all the South-East Asia equine industry security. Therefore, it is imperative to carry out risk warnings of the AHS in China. The maximum entropy algorithm was used to model AHS and Culicoides separately by using climate and non-climate variables. The least cost path (LCP) method was used to analyze the habitat connectivity of Culicoides with the reclassified land cover and altitude as cost factors. The models showed the mean area under the curve as 0.918 and 0.964 for AHS and Culicoides. The prediction result map shows that there is a high risk area in the southern part of China while the habitats of the Culicoides are connected to each other. Therefore, the risk of introducing AHS into China is high and control of the border area should be strengthened immediately.
Event topology and global observables in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider
Authors: Prasad Suraj , Mallick Neelkamal , Behera Debadatta , Sahoo Raghunath , Tripathy Sushanta 
Published: March 2022

AbstractParticle production and event topology are very strongly correlated in high-energy hadronic and nuclear collisions. Event topology is decided by the underlying particle production dynamics and medium effects. Transverse spherocity is an event shape observable, which has been used in pp and heavy-ion collisions to separate the events based on their geometrical shapes. It has the unique capability to distinguish between jetty and isotropic events. In this work, we have implemented transverse spherocity in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}$$

s
NN

= 5.02 TeV using A Multi-Phase Transport Model (AMPT). While awaiting for experimental explorations, we perform a feasibility study of transverse spherocity dependence of some of the global observables in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider energies. These global observables include the Bjorken energy density ($$\varepsilon _\text{Bj}$$

ε
Bj

), squared speed of sound ($$c_\text{s}^2$$

c
s
2

) in the medium and the kinetic freeze-out properties for different collision centralities. The present study reveals about the usefulness of event topology dependent measurements in heavy-ion collisions.
A SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan spike virosome vaccine induces superior neutralization breadth compared to one using the Beta spike
Authors: van der Velden Yme U. , Grobben Marloes , Caniels Tom G. , Burger Judith A. , Poniman Meliawati , Oomen Melissa , Rijnstra Esther Siteur-van , Tejjani Khadija , Guerra Denise , Kempers Ronald , Stegmann Toon , van Gils Marit J. , Sanders Rogier W. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractCurrent SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are effective, but long-term protection is threatened by the emergence of virus variants. We generated a virosome vaccine containing the Beta spike protein and compared its immunogenicity in mice to a virosome vaccine containing the original Wuhan spike. Two administrations of the virosomes induced potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in both vaccine groups. The level of autologous neutralization in Beta-vaccinated mice was similar to the level of autologous neutralization in Wuhan-vaccinated mice. However, heterologous neutralization to the Wuhan strain in Beta-vaccinated mice was 4.7-fold lower than autologous neutralization, whereas heterologous neutralization to the Beta strain in Wuhan-vaccinated mice was reduced by only 1.9-fold compared to autologous neutralization levels. In addition, neutralizing activity against the D614G, Alpha and Delta variants was also significantly lower after Beta spike vaccination than after Wuhan spike vaccination. Our results show that Beta spike vaccination induces inferior neutralization breadth. These results are informative for programs aimed to develop broadly active SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
A survey of train driver schedules, sleep, wellbeing, and driving performance in Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Dorrian Jillian , Chapman Janine , Bowditch Lorelle , Balfe Nora , Naweed Anjum 
Published: March 2022

AbstractTrain drivers work long hours on 24 h schedules and many factors impact their fatigue risk at work, creating a clear imperative for good rostering practice. Adopting a systems approach, this study investigated the relationship between multiple interrelated factors (train drivers’ schedule, sleep, wellbeing, and fatigue) and the perceived influence of these factors on train driving performance and safety using an online survey distributed in Australia and New Zealand. In addition to demographics and work schedule, passenger and freight train drivers (n = 751) answered questions about: (1) Sleep duration; (2) wellbeing, including physical and mental health, the extent to which shiftwork causes sleep, social, domestic, and work problems, and (3) the extent to which ten fatigue, health and wellbeing factors in the work and home environment negatively impact their driving performance. The key factor that emerged from analyses, with the largest and most consistent negative effects (and controlling for other factors) was schedule irregularity. Approved rosters were ranked as having the most important impact on day-to-day driving performance, followed by physical and mental health, and outside work factors. Results also suggested that schedule irregularity may amplify the negative impacts of the roster, impaired physical and mental health, and outside work factors on driving performance. As shift variability and schedule irregularity are often poorly represented in existing industry guidance, these results provide evidence for increased reflection on current fatigue management guidelines for train drivers and suggest a need for greater focus on schedule irregularity through the lens of a systems approach.
Establishment of a reliable in-vivo model of implant-associated infection to investigate innovative treatment options
Authors: Kreis C. , Aschenbrenner F. K. , Günther D. , Tholema-Hans N. , Koeppe J. , Rosslenbroich S. B. , Raschke M. J. , Fuchs T. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe increasing number of implant-associated infections and of multiresistant pathogens is a major problem in the daily routine. In the field of osteomyelitis, it is difficult to manage a valid clinical study because of multiple influencing factors. Therefore, models of osteomyelitis with a simulation of the pathophysiology to evaluate treatment options for implant-associated infections are necessary. The aim of this study is to develop a standardized and reproducible osteomyelitis model in-vivo to improve treatment options. This study analyses the influence of a post-infectious implant exchange one week after infection and the infection progress afterward in combination with a systemic versus a local antibiotic treatment in-vivo. Therefore, the implant exchange, the exchange to a local drug-delivery system with gentamicin, and the implant removal are examined. Furthermore, the influence of an additional systemic antibiotic therapy is evaluated. An in-vivo model concerning the implant exchange is established that analyzes clinic, radiologic, microbiologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical diagnostics to obtain detailed evaluation and clinical reproducibility. Our study shows a clear advantage of the combined local and systemic antibiotic treatment in contrast to the implant removal and to a non-combined antibiotic therapy. Group genta/syst. showed the lowest infection rate with a percentage of 62.5% concerning microbiologic analysis, which is in accordance with the immunohistochemical, cytochemical, histologic, and radiologic analysis. Our in-vivo rat model has shown valid and reproducible results, which will lead to further investigations regarding treatment options and influencing factors concerning the therapy of osteomyelitis and implant-associated infections.
Pd on thermo-responsive composite of silica-coated carbon nanotube and 1-vinyl-3-butylimidazolium-based ionic liquid copolymers as an efficient catalyst for hydrogenation of nitro compounds
Authors: Sadjadi Samahe , Abedian-Dehaghani Neda , Heravi Majid M. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractIn this work, an ionic liquid-containing thermo-responsive heterogeneous catalyst with utility for promoting hydrogenation of nitro-compounds in aqueous media is developed. To prepare the catalyst, silica-coated carbon nanotubes were synthesized and vinyl-functionalized. The resulted compound was then polymerized with 1-viny-3-butylimidazolium bromide and N-isopropylacrylamide. The obtained ionic liquid-containing thermo-responsive composite was palladated via wet-impregnation method to give the final catalyst. Study of the performance of the catalyst confirmed high catalytic activity of the catalyst at temperature above the lower critical solution temperature. Furthermore, the catalyst was highly recyclable and showed negligible Pd leaching upon recycling. Broad substrate scope and selectivity of the catalyst towards reduction of nitro functionality were also confirmed. Furthermore, hot filtration test implied the heterogeneous nature of the catalysis. The comparison of the activity of Pd/CNT-P with some control catalysts approved the importance of hybridization of P and CNT and the presence of ionic liquid for the catalytic activity.
Long-term and daily use of molecular hydrogen induces reprogramming of liver metabolism in rats by modulating NADP/NADPH redox pathways
Authors: Adzavon Yao Mawulikplimi , Xie Fei , Yi Yang , Jiang Xue , Zhang Xiaokang , He Jin , Zhao Pengxiang , Liu Mengyu , Ma Shiwen , Ma Xuemei 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMolecular hydrogen (H2) has emerged as a new therapeutic option in several diseases and is widely adopted by healthy people. However, molecular data to support therapeutic functions attributed to the biological activities of H2 remain elusive. Here, using transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches coupled with biochemistry and micro-CT technics, we evaluated the effect of long-term (6 months) and daily use of H2 on liver function. Rats exposed 2 h daily to H2 either by drinking HRW (H2 dissolved in H2O) or by breathing 4% H2 gas showed reduced lipogenesis and enhanced lipolysis in the liver, which was associated with apparent loss of visceral fat and brown adipose tissue together with a reduced level of serum lipids. Both transcripts and metabolites enriched in H2-treated rats revealed alteration of amino acid metabolism pathways and activation of purine nucleotides and carbohydrate biosynthesis pathways. Analysis of the interaction network of genes and metabolites and correlation tests revealed that NADP is the central regulator of H2 induced metabolic alterations in the liver, which was further confirmed by an increase in the level of components of metabolic pathways that require NADP as substrate. Evidence of immune response regulation activity was also observed in response to exposure to H2. This work is the first to provide metabolomic and transcriptomic data to uncover molecular targets for the effect of prolonged molecular hydrogen treatment on liver metabolism.
Visual guidance can help with the use of a robotic exoskeleton during human walking
Authors: Kim Myunghee , Jeong Hyeongkeun , Kantharaju Prakyath , Yoo Dongyual , Jacobson Michael , Shin Dongbin , Han Changsoo , Patton James L. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWalking is an important activity that supports the health-related quality of life, and for those who need assistance, robotic devices are available to help. Recent progress in wearable robots has identified the importance of customizing the assistance provided by the robot to the individual, resulting in robot adaptation to the human. However, current implementations minimize the role of human adaptation to the robot, for example, by the users modifying their movements based on the provided robot assistance. This study investigated the effect of visual feedback to guide the users in adapting their movements in response to wearable robot assistance. The visual feedback helped the users reduce their metabolic cost of walking without any changes in robot assistance in a given time. In a case with the initially metabolic expensive (IMExp) exoskeleton condition, both training methods helped reduce the metabolic cost of walking. The results suggest that visual feedback training is helpful to use the exoskeleton for various conditions. Without feedback, the training is helpful only for the IMExp exoskeleton condition. This result suggests visual feedback training can be useful to facilitate the use of non-personalized, generic assistance, where the assistance is not tuned for each user, in a relatively short time.