bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Luteinizing hormone receptor promotes angiogenesis in ovarian endothelial cells ofMacaca fascicularisandHomo sapiens
Authors: Lund Merete , Pearson Andrew C , Sage Megan A G , Duffy Diane M 
Published: October 2022

AbstractAngiogenesis within the ovarian follicle is an important component of ovulation. New capillary growth is initiated by the ovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone (LH), and angiogenesis is well underway at the time of follicle rupture. LH-stimulated follicular production of vascular growth factors has been shown to promote new capillary formation in the ovulatory follicle. The possibility that LH acts directly on ovarian endothelial cells to promote ovulatory angiogenesis has not been addressed. For these studies, ovaries containing ovulatory follicles were obtained from cynomolgus macaques and used for histological examination of ovarian vascular endothelial cells, and monkey ovarian microvascular endothelial cells (mOMECs) were enriched from ovulatory follicles for in vitro studies. mOMECs expressed LHCGR mRNA and protein, and immunostaining confirmed LHCGR protein in endothelial cells of ovulatory follicles in vivo. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a ligand for LHCGR, increased mOMEC proliferation, migration and capillary-like sprout formation in vitro. Treatment of mOMECs with hCG increased cAMP, a common intracellular signal generated by LHCGR activation. The cAMP analog dibutyryl cAMP increased mOMEC proliferation in the absence of hCG. Both the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H89 and the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U73122 blocked hCG-stimulated mOMEC proliferation, suggesting that multiple G-proteins may mediate LHCGR action. Human ovarian microvascular endothelial cells (hOMECs) enriched from ovarian aspirates obtained from healthy oocyte donors also expressed LHCGR. hOMECs also migrated and proliferated in response to hCG. Overall, these findings indicate that the LH surge may directly activate ovarian endothelial cells to stimulate angiogenesis of the ovulatory follicle.
Safety, feasibility, and prognostic value of stress perfusion CMR in patients with MR-conditional pacemaker
Authors: Pezel Théo , Lacotte Jérôme , Horvilleur Jérôme , Toupin Solenn , Hovasse Thomas , Unterseeh Thierry , Sanguineti Francesca , Said Mina Ait , Salerno Fiorella , Fiorina Laurent , Manenti Vladimir , Zouaghi Amir , Faradji Alyssa , Nicol Martin , Ah-Sing Tania , Dillinger Jean-Guillaume , Henry Patrick , Garot Philippe , Bousson Valérie , Garot Jérôme 
Published: October 2022

Abstract

Aims
To assess the safety, feasibility, and prognostic value of stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with pacemaker (PM).

Methods and results
Between 2008 and 2021, we conducted a bi-centre longitudinal study with all consecutive patients with MR-conditional PM referred for vasodilator stress CMR at 1.5 T in the Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris Sud and Lariboisiere University Hospital. They were followed for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as cardiac death or non-fatal myocardial infarction. Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the prognostic value of CMR parameters. The quality of CMR was rated by two observers blinded to clinical details. Of 304 patients who completed the CMR protocol, 273 patients (70% male, mean age 71 ± 9 years) completed the follow-up (median [interquartile range], 7.1 [5.4–7.5] years). Among those, 32 experienced a MACE (11.7%). Stress CMR was well tolerated with no significant change in lead thresholds or pacing parameters. Overall, the image quality was rated good or excellent in 84.9% of segments. Ischaemia and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) were significantly associated with the occurrence of MACE (hazard ratio, HR: 11.71 [95% CI: 4.60–28.2]; and HR: 5.62 [95% CI: 2.02–16.21], both P &lt; 0.001). After adjustment for traditional risk factors, ischaemia and LGE were independent predictors of MACE (HR: 5.08 [95% CI: 2.58–14.0]; and HR: 2.28 [95% CI: 2.05–3.76]; both P &lt; 0.001).

Conclusion
Stress CMR is safe, feasible and has a good discriminative prognostic value in consecutive patients with PM.
YgeA is involved in L- and D-homoserine metabolism in Escherichia coli
Authors: Miyamoto Tetsuya , Saitoh Yasuaki , Katane Masumi , Sekine Masae , Homma Hiroshi 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
Noncanonical D-amino acids are involved in peptidoglycan and biofilm metabolism in bacteria. Previously, we identified amino acid racemases with broad substrate specificity, including YgeA from Escherichia coli, which strongly prefers homoserine as a substrate. In this study, we investigated the functions of this enzyme in vivo. When wild-type and ygeA-deficient E. coli strains were cultured in minimal medium containing D-homoserine, the D-homoserine level was significantly higher in the ygeA-deficient strain than in the wild-type strain, in which it was almost undetectable. Additionally, D-homoserine was detected in YgeA-expressed E. coli cells cultured in minimal medium containing L-homoserine. The growth of the ygeA-deficient strain was significantly impaired in minimal medium with or without supplemental D-homoserine, while L-methionine, L-threonine or L-isoleucine, which are produced via L-homoserine, restored the growth impairment. Furthermore, the wild-type strain formed biofilms significantly more efficiently than the ygeA-deficient strain. Addition of L- or D-homoserine significantly suppressed biofilm formation in the wild-type strain, whereas this addition had no significant effect in the ygeA-deficient strain. Together, these data suggest that YgeA acts as an amino acid racemase and plays a role in L- and D-homoserine metabolism in E. coli.
Mitigating the risk of wind damage at the forest landscape level by using stand neighbourhood and terrain elevation information in forest planning
Authors: Ruotsalainen Roope , Pukkala Timo , Ikonen Veli-Pekka , Packalen Petteri , Peltola Heli 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
Wind damage and the bark beetle outbreaks associated with it are major threats to non-declining, long-term wood production in boreal forests. We studied whether the risk of wind damage in a forested landscape could be decreased by using stand neighbourhood information in conjunction with terrain elevation information. A reference management plan minimized the differences in canopy height at stand boundaries and did not utilize information on the topography of the terrain, overlooking the possibility that the risk of windthrow may depend on the elevation of the terrain. Alternative management plans were developed by using four different weighting schemes when minimizing differences in canopy height at stand boundaries: (1) no weight (reference); (2) mean terrain elevation at the stand boundary; (3) deviation of the mean elevation of the boundary from the mean elevation of the terrain within a 100-m radius and (4) multipliers that described the effect of topography on wind speed at the stand boundary. For each management plan, we calculated the total number of at-risk trees and the total area of vulnerable stand edge. These statistics were based on the calculated critical wind speeds needed to uproot trees in stand edge zones. Minimization of the weighted mean of canopy height differences between adjacent stands resulted in homogeneous landscapes in terms of canopy height. Continuous cover management was often preferred instead of rotation management due to smaller canopy height differences between adjacent stands and its economical superiority. The best weighting scheme for calculating the mean canopy height difference between adjacent stands was the deviation between the mean elevation of the boundary and the mean elevation of the terrain within 100 m of the boundary. However, the differences between the weighting schemes were small. It was found that reasonably simple methods, based on a digital terrain model, a stand map, and the canopy heights of stands, could be used in forest planning to minimize the risk of wind damage. Validation against actual wind damages is required to assess the reliability of the results and to further develop the methodology presented.
Fine-Tuning LightGBM Using an Artificial Ecosystem-Based Optimizer for Forest Fire Analysis
Authors: Nguyen Quoc-Huy , Nguyen Huu-Duy , Le Dinh Tan , Bui Quang-Thanh 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
This study’s main objective is to propose a hybrid machine learning model based on a gradient boosting algorithm named LightGBM and an artificial ecosystem-based optimization to improve the accuracy of forest fire susceptibility assessment. Four hundred twenty-six historical forest fires from the NASA portal and thirteen conditional factors including elevation, aspect, slope, curvature, normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference water index, distance to residence, distance to road, distance to river, temperature, rain, humidity, and wind were used to train the model. The model performance was evaluated and compared with other benchmark models using root mean square error, area under receiver operating characteristics (AUC), and overall accuracy. The results show that the proposed model (AUC = 0.9705) outperforms others, such as Random Forest (AUC = 0.958), AdaBoost (AUC = 0.905), Bagging (AUC = 0.945), and Random Subspace (AUC = 0.938), respectively. The final model was interpreted to better understand the most influential factors of forest fire hazards.
A rapid method for extraction, purification and structure analysis of chondroitin sulfate from six marine tissues
Authors: Wang Yuying , Ahmadi Shokouh , Yu Chengxiao , Zhang Laiming , Hu Xinxin , Ye Xingqian , Chen Shiguo 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
This study was designed to establish a strategy for the extraction, purification, and structure analysis of chondroitin sulfate (CS) in milligram amounts. Crude acidic polysaccharides were extracted from six kinds of marine animals by enzymatic hydrolysis and hexadecylpyridinium chloride precipitation and purified by Q Sepharose Fast Flow strong anion exchange column. The purification of each crude polysaccharide was completed within 1 h. The structure of the polysaccharides, i.e. their chemical characterization, functional group, molecular weight and monosaccharide composition, were analyzed by colorimetry, nuclear magnetic resonace and high-performance liquid chromatogrpahy, respectively. All polysaccharides were identified as CS. The oligosaccharide profile produced by enzyme hydrolysis of polysaccharides was determined by strong anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatorgraphy. This method can be widely applied to the extraction and characterization of chondroitin sulfate from unknown raw materials, screening high-quality sources of functional polysaccharides, and laying a good foundation for the following study of the structure–function relationship of polysaccharides.
Computational analysis of prodomain cysteines in human TGF-β proteins reveals frequent loss of disulfide-dependent regulation in tumors
Authors: Daly Samantha M , Peraza Ashley , Newfeld Stuart J 
Published: October 2022

Abstract
The functionally diverse members of the human Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) family are tightly regulated. TGF-β regulation includes 2 disulfide-dependent mechanisms—dimerization and partner protein binding. The specific cysteines participating in these regulatory mechanisms are known in just 3 of the 33 human TGF-β proteins. Human prodomain alignments revealed that 24 TGF-β prodomains contain conserved cysteines in 2 highly exposed locations. There are 3 in the region of the β8 helix that mediates dimerization near the prodomain carboxy terminus. There are 2 in the Association region that mediates partner protein binding near the prodomain amino terminus. The alignments predict the specific cysteines contributing to disulfide-dependent regulation of 72% of human TGF-β proteins. Database mining then identified 9 conserved prodomain cysteine mutations and their disease phenotypes in 7 TGF-β proteins. Three common adenoma phenotypes for prodomain cysteine mutations suggested 7 new regulatory heterodimer pairs. Two common adenoma phenotypes for prodomain and binding partner cysteine mutations revealed 17 new regulatory interactions. Overall, the analysis of human TGF-β prodomains suggests a significantly expanded scope of disulfide-dependent regulation by heterodimerization and partner protein binding; regulation that is often lost in tumors.
Local magnitude determination for Turkey from two independent seismic networks and a consistent M4 + catalogue
Authors: Rojo Limón G , Ouillon G , Kissling E , Sornette D 
Published: October 2022

SUMMARY
Turkish seismicity is routinely recorded by two broad-band seismic networks: the Turkish National Seismic Network (AFAD ‘TU’ network) and the Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory And Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI ‘KO’ network). Each of them has over 200 seismic stations distributed across the country. We obtain a new uniform and consistent local magnitude (Ml) scale for Turkey using data from both networks, as well as the M4 + catalogue with Ml values that results from applying said scale to the events that occurred between 2007 and 2016 within the country. We measure the half peak-to-peak amplitude of the vertical component seismograms and estimate the attenuation parameters through an iterative procedure that fits the logarithm of the amplitude as a function of the hypocentral distance, the local magnitude, the station corrections and a constant accounting for possible systematic differences between amplitudes measured on horizontal seismographs and those measured on vertical seismographs. We additionally scale Ml to the moment magnitude measured by an independent source, obtaining a magnitude relationship accounting for attenuation adjustments, as well as differences between maximum horizontal and vertical amplitudes. The estimated Ml formula shows that station corrections from both networks regionally agree, and that non-zero corrections are centred on zero, within −0.48 and 0.46 magnitude units (corresponding to the 2.5 and the 97.5 quantiles). The new M4 + catalogue with consistent Ml values for AFAD and KOERI shows magnitude residuals that cannot be explained by a Gaussian distribution. We also show a very good agreement between our new Ml value and the original Ml values of AFAD and KOERI, with median differences below 0.1 magnitude units.
Dynamics and variability of transcriptomic dysregulation in congenital myotonic dystrophy during pediatric development
Authors: Hale Melissa A , Bates Kameron , Provenzano Marina , Johnson Nicholas E 
Published: October 2022

AbstractMyotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multi-systemic disorder caused by expansion of CTG microsatellite repeats within DMPK. The most severe form, congenital myotonic dystrophy (CDM), has symptom onset at birth due to large intergenerational repeat expansions. Despite a common mutation, CDM individuals present with a distinct clinical phenotype and absence of common DM1 symptoms. Given the clinical divergence, it is unknown if the hallmark of DM1 pathology, dysregulation of alternative splicing (AS) due to sequestration of MBNL proteins within toxic CUG repeat RNAs, contributes to disease throughout pediatric development. To evaluate global transcriptomic dysregulation, RNA-seq was performed on 36 CDM skeletal muscle biopsies ages 2 weeks to 16 years, including two longitudinal samples. Fifty DM1 and adult/pediatric controls were also sequenced as comparative groups. Despite a large CTG expansion and shared age of onset, CDM individuals presented with a heterogenous, MBNL-dependent mis-splicing signature. Estimation of intracellular MBNL concentrations from splicing responses of select events correlated with total spliceopathy and revealed a distinct, triphasic pattern of AS dysregulation across pediatric development. CDM infants (&lt; 2 years) possess severe mis-splicing that significantly improves in early childhood (2–8 years) independent of sex or CTG repeat load. Adolescent individuals (8–16 years) stratified into two populations with a full range of global splicing dysregulation. DMPK expression changes correlated with alterations in splicing severity during development. This study reveals the complex dynamics of the CDM muscle transcriptome and provides insights into new therapeutic strategies, timing of therapeutic intervention, and biomarker development.
Singular fourth-order Sturm–Liouville operators and acoustic black holes
Authors: Belinskiy Boris P , Hinton Don B , Nichols Roger A 
Published: October 2022

AbstractWe derive conditions for a one-term fourth-order Sturm–Liouville operator on a finite interval with one singular endpoint to have essential spectrum equal to $[0,\infty )$ or $\varnothing $. Of particular usefulness are Kummer–Liouville transformations which have been a valuable tool in the study of second-order equations. Applications to a mechanical beam with a thickness tapering to zero at one of the endpoints are considered. When the thickness $2h$ satisfies $c_1x^{\nu }\leq h(x)\leq c_2x^{\nu }$, we show that the essential spectrum is empty if and only if $\nu &lt; 2$. As a final application, we consider a tapered beam on a Winkler foundation and derive sufficient conditions on the beam thickness and the foundational rigidity to guarantee the essential spectrum is equal to $[0,\infty )$.
Role of bone biopsy and deep tissue culture for antibiotic stewardship in diabetic foot osteomyelitis
Authors: Hockney Sara M , Steker Danielle , Bhasin Ajay , Krueger Karen M , Williams Janna , Galvin Shannon 
Published: October 2022

Abstract

Objectives
To describe organisms most frequently identified on bone biopsy or deep tissue culture and determine how culture data impacted antibiotic management in patients with diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO).

Methods
We retrospectively reviewed patients admitted with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) between 3 March 2018 and 31 December 2019 and selected for patients diagnosed with infectious osteomyelitis (OM) of the lower extremity. We stratified patients by whether a bone biopsy or deep tissue culture was obtained and compared rates of antibiotic utilization with chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests.

Results
Of 305 patients with a DFU, 152 (50%) were clinically diagnosed with DFO. Forty-seven patients received 41 deep tissue cultures and 29 bone biopsy cultures for a total of 70 cultures. Of 45 (64%) positive cultures, 36 (80%) had Gram-positive organisms and 19 (42%) had Gram-negative organisms. MDR organisms were isolated in 7 (15%) patients. Culture data resulted in antibiotic changes in 41 (87%) patients. Therapy was narrowed in 29 (62%) patients and broadened due to inadequate empirical coverage in 4 (9%) patients. Culture data from 18 (40%) patients showed susceptibility to an oral treatment regimen with high bioavailability. There was no significant difference in rates of antibiotic utilization at discharge between patients who underwent bone biopsy or deep tissue culture relative to those who did not (77% versus 75%, P = 0.86), although less MRSA coverage was used (34% versus 50%, P = 0.047).

Conclusions
In patients with DFO, deep tissue and bone biopsy cultures were infrequently obtained but resulted in targeted therapy changes in most patients. Culture data usually allowed for narrowing of antibiotics but revealed inadequate empirical coverage in a subset of patients.
Knowledge, attitudes and practices on antimicrobial resistance among pharmacy personnel and nurses at a tertiary hospital in Ndola, Zambia: implications for antimicrobial stewardship programmes
Authors: Tembo Nanji , Mudenda Steward , Banda Michelo , Chileshe Mwitwa , Matafwali Scott 
Published: October 2022

AbstractIntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health problem that has led to increased morbidity and mortality, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Zambia. This study evaluated AMR knowledge, attitudes and practices among pharmacy personnel and nurses at Ndola Teaching Hospital, Zambia’s second-largest hospital.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 263 participants using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed with IBM SPSS version 23.0. All statistical tests were conducted at a 95% confidence level. Univariate analysis was used to determine differences in knowledge, attitudes and practices on AMR between pharmacy personnel and nurses.ResultsOf the 263 participants, 225 (85.6%) were nurses and 38 (14.4%) were pharmacy personnel. Compared with nurses, pharmacy personnel had better knowledge of the spread of resistant bacteria from one person to another (P = 0.001) and the use of antibiotics in livestock as a contributing factor to AMR (P = 0.01). Pharmacy personnel had better attitudes towards AMR as a public health problem (P = 0.001) and the use of antibiotics in livestock as a source of resistant pathogens (P = 001). Lastly, more pharmacy personnel than nurses participated in awareness campaigns (P = 0.029), continued professional development (P = 0.001) and courses on the use of antibiotics and AMR (P = 0.028).ConclusionsThe study showed that most participants had adequate knowledge, a positive attitude and good practices towards AMR. Significant differences in knowledge, attitudes and practices were observed between pharmacy personnel and nurses in AMR, highlighting a need for increased educational programmes for these healthcare personnel.
Terrorism, Media Coverage, and Education: Evidence from al-Shabaab Attacks in Kenya
Authors: Alfano Marco , Görlach Joseph-Simon 
Published: October 2022

AbstractWe relate terrorist attacks to media signal coverage and schooling in Kenya to examine how terrorism alters the demand for education through perceived risks and returns. Exploiting variation in wireless signal coverage and attacks across space and time, we establish that media access reinforces negative effects of terrorism on schooling. Our results are robust to instrumenting both media signal and attacks. We also find that attacks raise self-reported fears for households with media access. Based on these insights, we estimate a simple structural model where heterogeneous households experiencing terrorism form beliefs about risks and returns to education. We allow these beliefs to be affected by media and find that households with media access significantly over-estimate fatality risks.
Doubled-haploid induction generates extensive differential DNA methylation in Arabidopsis
Authors: Piskorz Ewa W , Xu Linhao , Ma Yingrui , Jiang Hua 
Published: October 2022

AbstractDoubled haploids (DHs) fix traits from hybrids in one generation. DH induction includes two changes in ploidy levels typically associated with variation in DNA methylation. However, DNA methylation patterns in DH plants and their biological significance are largely unknown. We generated three DH lines in Arabidopsis thaliana by crossing a haploid inducer with the accession Col-0, thus removing tissue culture and hybridization as a variable. DH induction produced thousands of differentially DNA methylated regions (DMRs), most of which were stochastic. Both haploidization and colchicine-induced genome duplication produced DMRs; the former mainly yielded DMRs at non-CG contexts, whereas the latter affected differential gene body methylation. Spontaneous genome doubling of haploid plants also induced DMRs in greater numbers than self-propagation. Our results provide the first evidence that haploid induction and genome doubling result in differential DNA methylation, offering a novel approach to induce epialleles.