bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rapid, multiplex detection of SARS-CoV-2 using isothermal amplification coupled with CRISPR-Cas12a
Authors: Figueiredo Diogo , Cascalheira António , Goncalves Joao 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
In December 2019 an outbreak erupted due to the beta coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China. The disease caused by this virus (COVID-19) rapidly spread to all parts of the globe leading to a global pandemic. Efforts to combat the pan-demic rely on RT-qPCR diagnostic tests that have high turnaround times (~24h), are easily contaminated, need specialized equipment, facilities, and personnel that end up increasing the overall costs of this method. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) coupled with a reverse transcription step (RT-LAMP) is an alternative diagnostic method that can easily overcome these obstacles, when coupled with CRISPR/Cas it can eliminate false positives. Here we report a fast (~40 min), highly sensitive, point-of-care RT-LAMP and CRISPR/Cas12a assay to detect SARS-CoV-2. This fluorescence-based test prevents carry-over contamination using dUTP/UDG and achieved 100% specificity and 93% sensitivity using 25 positives and 50 negative patient samples for Ct<35. Our reported LoD of 3 copies/µL will enable the robust, fast detection of the virus in a dedicated equipment which is a major step towards population-wide accessible testing.
The growth and developmental of the myodural bridge and its associated structures in the human fetus
Authors: Song Yang , Lai Hua-Xun , Song Ting-Wei , Gong Jin , Liu Bo , Chi Yan-Yan , Yue Chen , Zhang Jing , Sun Shi-Zhu , Zhang Cheng-Hong , Tang Wei , Fan Ning , Yu Wei-Hua , Wang Yi-Fei , Hack Gary D. , Yu Sheng-Bo , Zhang Jian-Fei , Sui Hong-Jin 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The myodural bridge (MDB) is a dense connective tissue structure between the suboccipital musculature and the spinal dura mater (SDM). However, few reports on the development and maturation of the human MDB. 30 head and neck specimens from human fetuses (F) from 12–40 weeks (W) were made into histological sections. The F12W sections evidenced that the SDM dominated by fibroblasts, attached to the posterior atlantoaxial membrane (PAAM) which completely sealed the atlantoaxial space. In the F13W stage, myofibrils of the suboccipital muscle fibers increased significantly in number. At the F14W stage, a gap was observed at the caudal end of the PAAM. Numerous myodural bridge-like structures were observed blending into the SDM through the gap. At the F15W stage, the MDB fibers originated between the posterior arch of atlas (C1) and the obliquus capitis inferior muscle, and extended forward and downward into the spinal canal through the atlantoaxial gap. Starting at the F21W stage, the MDB fibers were observed to pass through the atlantoaxial interspace and radially attach to the SDM. The present study adds to the knowledge base of developmental morphology research of the human embryonic MDB and provides a developmental morphological basis for its potential functionality.
The Gender Gap in Scholarly Self-Promotion on Social Media
Authors: Peng Hao , Teplitskiy Misha , Romero Daniel , Horvát Emőke-Ágnes 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Self-promotion in science is ubiquitous but not exercised to the same extent by everyone. It is unclear whether there are gender differences in the frequency of self-promotion or the benefits individuals get from it. Here, we examine gender differences in scholarly self-promotion using 7M Tweet mentions of 539K research papers published in 2018 by 1.3M authors. Our analysis shows that female authors are significantly less likely than male authors to promote their papers, even after controlling for a number of important factors including journal impact, affiliation prestige, author productivity and number of citations, authorship position, number of coauthors, and research topics. The magnitude of the gender gap is more strongly associated with papers' journal impact factor than authors' affiliation prestige, previous productivity, or academic discipline. In particular, male scholars are 60\% more likely than comparable female scholars to self-promote papers published in journals with very high impact factor, whereas the difference is only 28\% for papers in low impact journals. Although women self-promote less often overall, when they do, their papers receive slightly more mentions on Twitter. Our findings offer the first large-scale evidence for a gender gap in scholarly self-promotion online and show the circumstances under which the gap is most substantial, helping inform policy aimed at mitigating discrepancies in visibility and recognition.
TLR2-ERK signaling pathway regulates expression of galectin-3 in a murine model of OVA-induced allergic airway inflammation
Authors: Lv Yunxiang , Jiang Guiyun , Jiang Yanru , Peng Caiqiu 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Background: Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and galectin-3 (Gal-3) mediate the pathological process of asthma, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. We hypothesized that TLR2 pathway may regulate expression of Gal-3 in allergic airway inflammation. Methods: Wild-type (WT) and TLR2−/− mice were sensitized on day 0 and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA) on days 14–21 to establish a model of allergic airway inflammation, and were treated with U0126. Airway inflammation was analyzed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Periodic Acid-Schiff (PAS) staining; cytokines and anti-OVA immunoglobulin E (IgE) were tested by ELISA; and related protein expression in lung tissues was measured by western blot. Results: We found that the expression levels of TLR2 and Gal-3 markedly increased concomitantly with airway inflammation after OVA induction, while TLR2 deficiency significantly alleviated airway inflammation and reduced Gal-3 expression. Moreover, the expression levels of phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinases (p-MAPKs) were significantly elevated in OVA-challenged WT mice, while TLR2 deficiency only significantly decreased phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK) levels. Although blockade of ERK by U0126 had no effect on OVA-induced TLR2 activation, TLR2 deficiency significantly reduced p-ERK expression, suggesting that TLR2 is an upstream signal molecule of ERK. Furthermore, U0126 treatment significantly alleviated allergic airway inflammation and decreased Gal-3 levels in OVA-challenged WT mice, but had no further effect in OVA-challenged TLR2−/− mice. We further demonstrated that TLR2 regulates Gal-3 expression through the ERK pathway in S. aureus-infected macrophages in vitro.Conclusions: Our findings showed that the TLR2-ERK signaling pathway regulates Gal-3 expression in a murine model of allergic airway inflammation.
Nontrivial Solutions for Klein-Gordon-Maxwell Systems with Sign-changing Potentials
Authors: Zhang Xian , Huang Chen 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
This paper is concerned with the nonlinear Klein-Gordon-Maxwell systems. Unlike all known results in the literature, the Schrödinger operator −∆ + V is allowed to be indefinite and the weaker superlinear conditions instead of the common 4-superlinear conditions on f. By combining a local linking argument and Morse theory, we obtain that the system admits a nontrivial solution.Mathematics Subject Classification(2010): 35J60; 35J10
Integrative network analysis interweaves the missing links in cardiomyopathy diseasome
Authors: Chauhan Pankaj Kumar , Sowdhamini Ramanathan 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Cardiomyopathies are progressive disease conditions that give rise to an abnormal heart phenotype and are a leading cause of heart failures in the general population. These are complex diseases that show co-morbidity with other diseases. The molecular interaction network in the localised disease neighbourhood is an important step toward deciphering molecular mechanisms underlying these complex conditions. In this pursuit, we employed network medicine techniques to systematically investigate cardiomyopathy’s genetic interplay with other diseases and uncover the molecular players underlying these associations. We predicted a set of candidate genes in cardiomyopathy by exploring the DIAMOnD algorithm on the human interactome. We next revealed how these candidate genes form association across different diseases and highlighted the predominant association with brain, cancer and metabolic diseases. Through integrative systems analysis of molecular pathways, heart-specific mouse knockout data and disease tissue-specific transcriptomic data, we screened and ascertained prominent candidates that show abnormal heart phenotype, including NOS3, MMP2 and SIRT1. Our computational analysis broadens the understanding of the genetic associations of cardiomyopathies with other diseases and holds great potential in cardiomyopathy research.
Antimicrobial Activity of Probiotic Lactobacilli against some Pathogenic Bacteria
Authors: Rushdi Radwan , Rushdi Maryam 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Probiotics are viable lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that are believed to provide health benefits when administered in appropriate quantities. Lactobacillus is one of the most important genera of LAB that are known to produce substances including bacteriocins which can inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. The current study determined the antibacterial activity of probiotic lactobacilli against some clinical bacterial isolates. A commercially available probiotic lactobacilli product which contains (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus Plantarum) strains were tested for their antibacterial activity against the clinical bacterial isolates: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, following disk diffusion method. The cell-free supernatant of Lactobacilli strains isolated in the present study exhibited very remarkable and noticeable antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria.
The first Physico-chemical characterization of coastal sands in the DOUKKALA region (Morocco)
Authors: mghaiouini redouane , Salah Mohammed , Harrati Achraf , Monkade Mohamed , Bouari Abdeslam EL 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
This paper investigates a different type of sands of the coast: El Oualidia, Sidi Moussa, El JorfLasfar, Ouled El Ghadbane, and Moulay Abdellah Amghar in the DOUKKALA region (Morocco). Our sand samples were subjected to a physicochemical characterization by analytical techniques such as particle size analysis by sieving, mineralogy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These analyzes revealed that the main component found for these sands is silicon dioxide (SiO2), with the presence of impurities (iron, clay and organic). This study can be very useful for construction engineering.
Coherently coupled mechanical oscillators in the quantum regime
Authors: Hou Pan-Yu , Wu Jenny , Erickson Stephen , Cole Daniel , Zarantonello Giorgio , Brandt Adam , Wilson Andrew , Slichter Daniel , Leibfried Dietrich 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Coupled harmonic oscillators are ubiquitous in physics and play a prominent role in quantum science. They are a cornerstone of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, where second quantization relies on harmonic oscillator operators to create and annihilate particles. Descriptions of quantum tunneling, beamsplitters, coupled potential wells, ``hopping terms'', decoherence, and many other phenomena rely on coupled harmonic oscillators. However, the ability to couple separate quantum harmonic oscillators directly, with coupling rates that substantially exceed decoherence rates, has remained elusive.
Here, we realize high-fidelity coherent exchange of single motional quanta between harmonic oscillators -- in this case, spectrally separated harmonic modes of motion of a trapped ion crystal -- where the timing, strength, and phase of the coupling are controlled through an oscillating electric potential with suitable spatial variation. The coupling rate can be made much larger than the decoherence rates, enabling demonstrations of high-fidelity quantum state transfer, entanglement of motional modes, and Hong-Ou-Mandel-type interference. We also project a harmonic oscillator into its ground state by measurement and preserve that state during repetitions of the projective measurement, an important prerequisite for non-destructive syndrome measurement in continuous-variable quantum error correction. Controllable coupling between harmonic oscillators has potential applications in quantum information processing with continuous variables, quantum simulation, and precision measurements. It can also enable cooling and quantum logic spectroscopy involving motional modes of trapped ions that are not directly accessible.
Probing topological protected transport in finite-sized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains
Authors: Chang Yu-Han , Torres Nadia , Manrique Santiago , Robles Raul , Silalahi Vanna , Wu Cen-Shawn , Wang Gang , Marcucci Giulia , Pilozzi Laura , Conti Claudio , Lee Ray-Kuang , Kuo Watson 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
In order to transport information with topological protection, we reveal and demonstrate experimentally the existence of a characteristic length $L_c$, coined as the transport length, in the bulk size for edge states in one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains. In spite of the corresponding wavefunction amplitude decays exponentially, characterized by the penetration depth ξ, the transport between two edge states remains possible even when the lattice size L is much larger than the penetration depth, i.e., ξ << L << Lc. Due to the non-zero coupling energy in a finite-size system, the supported SSH edge states are not completely isolated at the two ends, giving an abrupt change in the wave localization, manifested through the inverse participation ratio to the lattice size. To verify such a non-exponential scaling factor to the system size, we implement a chain of split-ring resonators and their complementary ones with controllable hopping strengths. By performing the measurements on the group velocity from the transmission spectroscopy of non-trivially topological edge states with pulse excitations, the transport velocity between two edge states is directly observed with the number of lattices up to 20. Along the route to harness topology to protect optical information, our experimental demonstrations provide a crucial guideline for utilizing photonic topological devices.
Epigenetic perspectives associated with COVID-19 infection and related cytokine storm: An updated review
Authors: Dey Amit , K Vaishak , Deka Dikshita , Radhakrishnan Arun Kumar , Shanmugam Priyadarshini , Daniel Alice Peace , Pathak Surajit , Duttaroy Asim K. , Banerjee Antara 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-COV-2) has put the world in a medical crisis for the past three years, and almost every country, regardless of its developmental status, has been affected by the situation. Nearly 6.3 million lives have been diminished due to the virus outbreak. Numerous in-depth studies of the mechanisms used by SARS-COV-2 have been going on to minimize the consequences of the viral outburst. Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 receptors and Transmembrane serine protease 2 facilitates the viral entry to the host cells, and upon internalization, it uses the host machinery to replicate viral copies and alter the downstream regulation of the normal cells, causing infection-related morbidities and mortalities. In addition, several epigenetic regulations such as DNA methylation, acetylation, histone modifications, microRNA, and many epigenetic factors such as age and sex are responsible for several upstreaming. Down streaming regulations of the viral entry, its immune evasion, and cytokine responses also play a major modulatory role in COVID-19 severity, which has been discussed in detail in this review.
Cognizance of Collective Bargaining and its benefits in relation to Teacher’s Welfare and Working Condition in Public Secondary School in Delta State
Authors: OKORO Patience 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The study focus mainly on the cognizance of collective bargaining and its benefits in relation to teacher’s welfare and working condition in public secondary school in Delta State. Two research questions were asked and answered. One hundred teachers were purposively selected from fourteen secondary schools in Delta Central Senatorial District. The questionnaire which was rated on a five point Likert Scale was administered as the main instrument and the reliability coefficient was 0.90. Descriptive statistical procedures were employed in the analysis of data. The study revealed that the awareness of collective bargaining in public secondary school in Delta State was high as majority of the respondents were members of union. The resolution of issues was done through collective bargaining. Furthermore, some of the benefits revealed from findings of the study were better working condition, staff welfare, recognition and promotion. The study recommends that union should seek the opinion of teachers; finding out their grievances and discussing various issues leading to addressing general school disputes and not just focusing on wage increment only.
Feasibility and impact of a remote flow-based, moderate-intensity yoga intervention on stress and executive functioning among working adults: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Phansikar Madhura , Gothe Neha , Hernandez Rosalba , Lara-Cinisomo Sandraluz , Mullen Sean P 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
The feasibility of a moderate-intensity yoga intervention, delivered remotely via supervised and unsupervised sessions, and its psychosocial and cognitive effects have not been thoroughly investigated. This randomized controlled trial assessed feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an 8-week moderate-intensity yoga intervention (3x/week, 50 mins) delivered remotely (vs. a waitlist control arm), on stress and cognitive functioning. Participants (n = 86) were low active, full-time working adults (81.40% female; Mage=41 years) with symptoms of stress. Feasibility was assessed via adherence, enjoyment, and safety; stress and anxiety via self-report questionnaires; and executive functioning via neuropsychological tests. Overall attendance was 75.1%, 100% of participants enjoyed the intervention, and only one adverse event reported. At follow-up, the yoga group had significantly lower stress and anxiety, and higher accuracy on working memory tasks. Remote moderate intensity yoga practice proved safe, enjoyable, and may reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning. This study was pre-registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04740229).
An optical and chemiluminescence assay for assessing cytotoxicity of Balamuthia mandrillaris against human neurospheroid
Authors: Pengsart Worakamol , Kulkeaw Kasem 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
A spheroid is a cell aggregate in a three dimensional context; thereby, it recapitulates cellular architecture in human tissue. However, utility of spheroid as an assay for host-parasite interaction remain unproven yet. This study demonstrate potential use of neurospheroid for assessing cytotoxicity of life-threatening pathogenic amoeba, Balamuthia mandrillaris. The neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells formed a spheroid in a hanging drop of culture medium. Cellular damage of B. mandrillaris trophozoites on human neuronal spheroid were observed using microscopic imaging and ATP detection. B. mandrillaris trophozoites rapidly caused decrease of ATP production of the spheroid, leading to loss of neurospheroid integrity. Moreover, a 3D imaging of confocal microscope reveal interaction between the trophozoites and the SH-SY5Y neuronal cells at the outer layer of the neurospheroid. In conclusion, the neurospheroid allows assessment of host cell damage in a simple and quantitative manner.
Advanced setup for safe breath sampling and patient monitoring under highly infectious conditions in the clinical environment
Authors: Sukul Pritam , Trefz Phillip , Schubert Jochen , Miekisch Wolfram 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Being the proximal matrix, breath offers immediate metabolic outlook of respiratory infections. However, high viral load in exhalations imposes higher transmission risk that needs improved methods for safe and repeatable analysis. Here, we have advanced the state-of-the-art methods for real-time and offline mass-spectrometry based analysis of exhaled volatile organics under SARS-CoV-2 and/or similar respiratory conditions. To reduce infection risk, the general experimental setups for direct and offline breath sampling are modified. Certain mainstream and side-stream viral filters are examined for direct and lab-based applications. Confounders/contributions from filters and optimum operational conditions are assessed. We observed immediate effects of infection safety mandates on breath biomarker profiles. Main-stream filters induced physiological and analytical effects. Side-stream filters caused only systematic analytical effects. Observed substance specific effects partly depended on compound’s origin and properties, sampling flow and respiratory rate. For offline samples, storage time, -conditions and -temperature were crucial. Our methods provided repeatable conditions for point-of-care and lab-based breath analysis with low risk of disease transmission. Besides breath VOC profiling in spontaneously breathing subjects at the screening scenario of COVID-19/similar test centres, our methods and protocols are applicable for moderately/severely ill (even mechanically-ventilated) and highly contagious patients at the intensive care.
Intraspecific trait variation and species functional turnover in successional tropical forests: assessing trait imputation for community weighted means
Authors: Hogan J. Aaron , Xu Han , Baraloto Christopher 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
Accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) is central to plant ecology and crucial for vegetation modeling efforts. ITV can be substantial; however, it remains unclear how ITV influences community-weighted mean (CWM) trait estimates. We use leaf and root trait data from 423 trees of 72 species from 15 Angiosperm families in combination with community data from 164 25×25m plots comprising 580 species to evaluate the contribution of ITV to CWMs, comparing unlogged primary tropical forest to selectively-logged and clear-cut secondary tropical forest. We examine the effect of gap-filling missing trait values using phylogenetic generalized linear modeling (PhyloPars) on CWMs. For six of the seven traits, ITV negatively covaried with species turnover to generate larger CWM differences between forest types than observed if ITV was not integrated. For example, plot average assemblage-weighted mean specific leaf area was 10.7 and 10.4 m2 kg-1 for primary and secondary forests, not accounting for ITV, but shifted to 9.8 and 11.1 m2 kg-1 after doing so. Our results from 72-species assemblages were largely consistent with results using phylogenetically-imputed traits for the entire community. The contribution of ITV to CWMs ranged from 25 to 75%, with nearly all trait variation due to forest type attributable to ITV. CWM trait estimates became more conservative with forest age, whereas ITV for many traits showed an acquisitive shift (i.e., increasing in leaf area or root length), and because of negative covariation between ITV and species turnover, forest age-related CWM differences increased.