bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Meteorin-like is an injectable peptide that can enhance regeneration in aged muscle through immune-driven fibro/adipogenic progenitor signaling
Authors: Lee David E. , McKay Lauren K. , Bareja Akshay , Li Yongwu , Khodabukus Alastair , Bursac Nenad , Taylor Gregory A. , Baht Gurpreet S. , White James P. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPathologies associated with sarcopenia include decline in muscular strength, lean mass and regenerative capacity. Despite the substantial impact on quality of life, no pharmacological therapeutics are available to counteract the age-associated decline in functional capacity and/or, resilience. Evidence suggests immune-secreted cytokines can improve muscle regeneration, a strategy which we leverage in this study by rescuing the age-related deficiency in Meteorin-like through several in vivo add-back models. Notably, the intramuscular, peptide injection of recombinant METRNL was sufficient to improve muscle regeneration in aging. Using ex vivo media exchange and in vivo TNF inhibition, we demonstrate a mechanism of METRNL action during regeneration, showing it counteracts a pro-fibrotic gene program by triggering TNFα-induced apoptosis of fibro/adipogenic progenitor cells. These findings demonstrate therapeutic applications for METRNL to improve aged muscle, and show Fibro/Adipogenic Progenitors are viable therapeutic targets to counteract age-related loss in muscle resilience.
Vision-based Pakistani sign language recognition using bag-of-words and support vector machines
Authors: Mirza Muhammad Shaheer , Munaf Sheikh Muhammad , Azim Fahad , Ali Shahid , Khan Saad Jawaid 
Published: December 2022

AbstractIn order to perform their daily activities, a person is required to communicating with others. This can be a major obstacle for the deaf population of the world, who communicate using sign languages (SL). Pakistani Sign Language (PSL) is used by more than 250,000 deaf Pakistanis. Developing a SL recognition system would greatly facilitate these people. This study aimed to collect data of static and dynamic PSL alphabets and to develop a vision-based system for their recognition using Bag-of-Words (BoW) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) techniques. A total of 5120 images for 36 static PSL alphabet signs and 353 videos with 45,224 frames for 3 dynamic PSL alphabet signs were collected from 10 native signers of PSL. The developed system used the collected data as input, resized the data to various scales and converted the RGB images into grayscale. The resized grayscale images were segmented using Thresholding technique and features were extracted using Speeded Up Robust Feature (SURF). The obtained SURF descriptors were clustered using K-means clustering. A BoW was obtained by computing the Euclidean distance between the SURF descriptors and the clustered data. The codebooks were divided into training and testing using fivefold cross validation. The highest overall classification accuracy for static PSL signs was 97.80% at 750 × 750 image dimensions and 500 Bags. For dynamic PSL signs a 96.53% accuracy was obtained at 480 × 270 video resolution and 200 Bags.
An efficient human stem cells derived cardiotoxicity testing platform for testing oncotherapeutic analogues of quercetin and cinnamic acid
Authors: Mandal Saurabh , Gamit Naisarg , Biswas Subhankar , Rao C. Mallikarjun , Sethi Gautam , Warrier Sudha 
Published: December 2022

AbstractOncotherapeutics research is progressing at a rapid pace, however, not many drugs complete the successful clinical trial because of severe off-target toxicity to cardiomyocytes which ultimately leads to cardiac dysfunction. It is thus important to emphasize the need for early testing for possible cardiotoxicity of emerging oncotherapeutics. In this study, we assessed a novel stem cell-derived cardiac model for testing for cardiotoxicity of novel oncotherapeutics. We evaluated the cardiotoxic effect of synthesized derivatives of oncotherapeutics, quercetin (QMJ-2, -5, and -6) and cinnamic acid (NMJ-1, -2, and -3) using human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells-derived cardiomyocytes (WJCM) against known cardiotoxic oncologic drugs, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin. QMJ-6, NMJ-2, and NMJ-3 were not cardiotoxic and had minimum cardiac side effects. They did not show any effect on cardiomyocyte viability, caused low LDH release, and intracellular ROS production kept the calcium flux minimal and protected the active mitochondrial status in cardiomyocytes. They persevered cardiac-specific gene expression as well. However, compounds QMJ-2, QMJ-5, and NMJ-1 were cardiotoxic and the concentration needs to be reduced to prevent toxic effects on cardiomyocytes. Significantly, we were able to demonstrate that WJCM is an efficient cardiac testing model to analyze the cardiotoxicity of drugs in a human context.
Mblk-1/E93, an ecdysone related-transcription factor, targets synaptic plasticity-related genes in the honey bee mushroom bodies
Authors: Matsumura Yasuhiro , To Taiko Kim , Kunieda Takekazu , Kohno Hiroki , Kakutani Tetsuji , Kubo Takeo 
Published: December 2022

AbstractAmong hymenopteran insects, aculeate species such as bees, ants, and wasps have enlarged and morphologically elaborate mushroom bodies (MBs), a higher-order brain center in the insect, implying their relationship with the advanced behavioral traits of aculeate species. The molecular bases leading to the acquisition of complicated MB functions, however, remains unclear. We previously reported the constitutive and MB-preferential expression of an ecdysone-signaling related transcription factor, Mblk-1/E93, in the honey bee brain. Here, we searched for target genes of Mblk-1 in the worker honey bee MBs using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequence analyses and found that Mblk-1 targets several genes involved in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory abilities. We also demonstrated that Mblk-1 expression is self-regulated via Mblk-1-binding sites, which are located upstream of Mblk-1. Furthermore, we showed that the number of the Mblk-1-binding motif located upstream of Mblk-1 homologs increased associated with evolution of hymenopteran insects. Our findings suggest that Mblk-1, which has been focused on as a developmental gene transiently induced by ecdysone, has acquired a novel expression pattern to play a role in synaptic plasticity in honey bee MBs, raising a possibility that molecular evolution of Mblk-1 may have partly contributed to the elaboration of MB function in insects.
In vitro modelling of human proprioceptive sensory neurons in the neuromuscular system
Authors: Badiola-Mateos Maider , Osaki Tatsuya , Kamm Roger Dale , Samitier Josep 
Published: December 2022

AbstractProprioceptive sensory neurons (pSN) are an essential and undervalued part of the neuromuscular circuit. A protocol to differentiate healthy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) human neural stem cells (hNSC) into pSN, and their comparison with the motor neuron (MN) differentiation process from the same hNSC sources, facilitated the development of in vitro co-culture platforms. The obtained pSN spheroids cultured interact with human skeletal myocytes showing the formation of annulospiral wrapping-like structures between TrkC + neurons and a multinucleated muscle fibre, presenting synaptic bouton-like structures in the contact point. The comparative analysis of the genetic profile performed in healthy and sporadic ALS hNSC differentiated to pSN suggested that basal levels of ETV1, critical for motor feedback from pSN, were much lower for ALS samples and that the differences between healthy and ALS samples, suggest the involvement of pSN in ALS pathology development and progression.
Influence of online opinions and interactions on the Covid-19 vaccination in Chile
Authors: Villegas Claudio , Ortiz Abril , Arriagada Víctor , Ortega Sofía , Walker Juan , Arriagada Eduardo , Kalergis Alexis M. , Huepe Cristián 
Published: December 2022

AbstractWe analyze 6 months of Twitter conversations related to the Chilean Covid-19 vaccination process, in order to understand the online forces that argue for or against it and suggest effective digital communication strategies. Using AI, we classify accounts into four categories that emerge from the data as a result of the type of language used. This classification naturally distinguishes pro- and anti-vaccine activists from moderates that promote or inhibit vaccination in discussions, which also play a key role that should be addressed by public policies. We find that all categories display relatively constant opinions, but that the number of tweeting accounts grows in each category during controversial periods. We also find that accounts disfavoring vaccination tend to appear in the periphery of the interaction network, which is consistent with Chile’s high immunization levels. However, these are more active in addressing those favoring vaccination than vice-versa, revealing a potential communication problem even in a society where the antivaccine movement has no central role. Our results highlight the importance of social network analysis to understand public discussions and suggest online interventions that can help achieve successful immunization campaigns.
The usefulness of presepsin in the diagnosis of postoperative infectious complications after gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Imai Yoshiro , Tanaka Ryo , Honda Kotaro , Matsuo Kentaro , Taniguchi Kohei , Asakuma Mitsuhiro , Lee Sang-Woong 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThis prospective study aimed to evaluate presepsin use as a biomarker of on postoperative infectious complications after gastrectomy, compared to C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cells (WBCs), and neutrophils (Neuts). Overall, 108 patients were enrolled between October 2019 and December 2020. Presepsin, CRP, WBC, and Neut levels were measured preoperatively and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, 5, and 7, using a postoperative morbidity survey. Grade II or higher infectious complications occurred in 18 patients (16.6%). Presepsin levels on all evaluated PODs were significantly higher in the infectious complication group than in the non-complication group (p = 0.002, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, and p = 0.025, respectively). The area under the curve (AUC) values were the highest for presepsin on PODs 3 and 7 (0.89 and 0.77, respectively) and similar to that of CRP, with a high value > 0.8 (0.86) on POD 5. For presepsin, the optimal cut-off values were 298 pg/mL (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 83.3%), 278 pg/mL (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 82.2%), and 300 pg/mL (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 82%) on PODs 3, 5, and 7, respectively. Presepsin levels on PODs 3, 5, and 7 after gastrectomy is a more useful biomarker of postoperative infectious complications compared to CRP, WBCs, and Neuts, with a high sensitivity and specificity.
NLRP3 inflammasome activation in neutrophils directs early inflammatory response in murine peritonitis
Authors: Fukui Saeko , Fukui Shoichi , Van Bruggen Stijn , Shi Lai , Sheehy Casey E. , Chu Long , Wagner Denisa D. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractNLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome mediates caspase-1-dependent processing of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, an essential endothelial activator, and contributes to the pathology of inflammatory diseases. To evaluate the role of NLRP3 in neutrophils in endothelial activation, which is still elusive, we used the thioglycollate-induced peritonitis model characterized by an early neutrophil influx, onNlrp3−/−andNlrp3+/+mice.Nlrp3−/−mice recruited fewer neutrophils thanNlrp3+/+into the peritoneum and showed lower IL-1β in peritoneal lavage fluid. The higher production of IL-1β inNlrp3+/+was neutrophil-dependent as neutrophil depletion prevented the IL-1β production. TheNlrp3+/+neutrophils collected from the peritoneal fluid formed significantly more filaments (specks) thanNlrp3−/−neutrophils of ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase activating and recruitment domain), a readout for inflammasome activation. Intravital microscopy revealed that leukocytes rolled significantly slower inNlrp3+/+venules than inNlrp3−/−.Nlrp3−/−endothelial cells isolated from mesenteric vessels demonstrated a lower percentage of P-selectin-positive cells with lower intensity of surface P-selectin expression than theNlrp3+/+endothelial cells evaluated by flow cytometry. We conclude that neutrophils orchestrate acute thioglycollate-induced peritonitis by producing IL-1β in an NLRP3-dependent manner. This increases endothelial P-selectin expression and leukocyte transmigration.
Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character
Authors: Llobera Joan , Jacquat Valentin , Calabrese Carmela , Charbonnier Caecilia 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPerceptual-motor synchronisation in human groups is crucial in many activities, from musical ensembles to sports teams. To this aim, the mirror game, where partners are asked to imitate each other’s movements or gestures, is one of the best available experimental paradigms to study how humans engage in joint tasks and how they tend to synchronise their behaviour. However, to date, virtual reality characters do not engage in motor synchronisation with human users. In this work, we explored to what extent an autonomous virtual character and a human that play the mirror game in virtual reality can synchronise their behaviour. We created a full-body version of the mirror game with an autonomous virtual character, whose movements were driven by a model based on coupled oscillators. Participants engaged in a joint imitation task with a virtual player animated with one of three options: a model that included a small coupling, a model with no coupling, or another human. Behavioural measures and subjective reports suggest that participants were unable to distinguish the condition of small coupling from the engagement with an avatar driven by another human participant.
Evaluation of the Access Bio CareStart rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen test in asymptomatic individuals tested at a community mass-testing program in Western Massachusetts
Authors: Suliman Sara , Matias Wilfredo R. , Fulcher Isabel R. , Molano Francisco J. , Collins Shannon , Uceta Elizabeth , Zhu Jack , Paxton Ryan M. , Gonsalves Sean F. , Harden Maegan V. , Fisher Marissa , Meldrim Jim , Gabriel Stacey , Franke Molly F. , Hung Deborah T. , Smole Sandra C. , Madoff Lawrence C. , Ivers Louise C. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPoint-of-care antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to detect Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represent a scalable tool for surveillance of active SARS-CoV-2 infections in the population. Data on the performance of these tests in real-world community settings are paramount to guide their implementation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated the performance characteristics of the CareStart COVID-19 Antigen test (CareStart) in a community testing site in Holyoke, Massachusetts. We compared CareStart to a SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) reference, both using anterior nasal swab samples. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and the expected positive and negative predictive values at different SARS-CoV-2 prevalence estimates. We performed 666 total tests on 591 unique individuals. 573 (86%) were asymptomatic. There were 52 positive tests by RT-qPCR. The sensitivity of CareStart was 49.0% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 34.8–63.4) and specificity was 99.5% (95% CI 98.5–99.9). Among positive RT-qPCR tests, the median cycle threshold (Ct) was significantly lower in samples that tested positive on CareStart. Using a Ct ≤ 30 as a benchmark for positivity increased the sensitivity of the test to 64.9% (95% CI 47.5–79.8). Our study shows that CareStart has a high specificity and moderate sensitivity. The utility of RDTs, such as CareStart, in mass implementation should prioritize use cases in which a higher specificity is more important, such as triage tests to rule-in active infections in community surveillance programs.
Temperature-resilient anapole modes associated with TE polarization in semiconductor nanowires
Authors: Thakore Vaibhav , Ala-Nissila Tapio , Karttunen Mikko 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPolarization-dependent scattering anisotropy of cylindrical nanowires has numerous potential applications in, for example, nanoantennas, photothermal therapy, thermophotovoltaics, catalysis, sensing, optical filters and switches. In all these applications, temperature-dependent material properties play an important role and often adversely impact performance depending on the dominance of either radiative or dissipative damping. Here, we employ numerical modeling based on Mie scattering theory to investigate and compare the temperature and polarization-dependent optical anisotropy of metallic (gold, Au) nanowires with indirect (silicon, Si) and direct (gallium arsenide, GaAs) bandgap semiconducting nanowires. Results indicate that plasmonic scattering resonances in semiconductors, within the absorption band, deteriorate with an increase in temperature whereas those occurring away from the absorption band strengthen as a result of the increase in phononic contribution. Indirect-bandgap thin ($$20 \,\mathrm {nm}$$

20

nm

) Si nanowires present low absorption efficiencies for both the transverse electric (TE, $$E_{\perp }$$

E
⊥

) and magnetic (TM, $$E_{\parallel }$$

E
‖

) modes, and high scattering efficiencies for the TM mode at shorter wavelengths making them suitable as highly efficient scatterers. Temperature-resilient higher-order anapole modes with their characteristic high absorption and low scattering efficiencies are also observed in the semiconductor nanowires ($$r \! = \! 125 \! - \! 130$$

r

=

125

-

130

nm) for the TE polarization. Herein, the GaAs nanowires present $$3 \! - \! 7$$

3

-

7

times greater absorption efficiencies compared to the Si nanowires making them especially suitable for temperature-resilient applications such as scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), localized heating, non-invasive sensing or detection that require strong localization of energy in the near field.
Monitoring extreme meteo-marine events in the Mediterranean area using the microseism (Medicane Apollo case study)
Authors: Borzì Alfio Marco , Minio Vittorio , Cannavò Flavio , Cavallaro Angelo , D’Amico Sebastiano , Gauci Adam , De Plaen Raphael , Lecocq Thomas , Nardone Gabriele , Orasi Arianna , Picone Marco , Cannata Andrea 
Published: December 2022

AbstractMicroseism is the continuous background seismic signal caused by the interaction between the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the solid Earth. Several studies have dealt with the relationship between microseisms and the tropical cyclones, but none focused on the small-scale tropical cyclones that occur in the Mediterranean Sea, called Medicanes. In this work, we analysed the Medicane Apollo which impacted the eastern part of Sicily during the period 25 October–5 November 2021 causing heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts and violent sea waves. We investigated the microseism accompanying this extreme Mediterranean weather event, and its relationship with the sea state retrieved from hindcast maps and wave buoys. The spectral and amplitude analyses showed the space–time variation of the microseism amplitude. In addition, we tracked the position of Apollo during the time using two different methods: (i) a grid search method; (ii) an array analysis. We obtained a good match between the real position of Apollo and the location constraint by both methods. This work shows that it is possible to extract information on Medicanes from microseisms for both research and monitoring purposes.
Study on the technology of brewing red raspberry wine by using new immobilized yeast technology
Authors: Liu Miao , Qin Xiaoyu , Wu Xiaotong 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to establish a new process for brewing red raspberry wine with immobilized yeast and improve the value of red raspberry. Using the spore filaments of P. chrysogenum as a carrier to co-culture with yeast to obtain immobilized yeast. And the preparation method of immobilized yeast was optimized by single-factor experiment and orthogonal experiments. And the red raspberry wine was brewed in these conditions. The result shows that the optimal preparation conditions for the immobilized yeast of P. chrysogenum were 5 g/L gluconic acid, 5 g/L yeast extract, and the addition amount of P. chrysogenum spores 1 × 105 cfu/ml. Compared with free yeast, the immobilized yeast of P. chrysogenum has better fermenting ability, can better keep the anthocyanins and polyphenols and other active ingredients of red raspberry. The quality of the wine was improved due to increase in aroma components such as alcohols and esters. The immobilized yeast of P. chrysogenum maintained good fermentation performance after three consecutive fermentations.
Visual threats reduce blood-feeding and trigger escape responses in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Authors: Wynne Nicole E. , Chandrasegaran Karthikeyan , Fryzlewicz Lauren , Vinauger Clément 
Published: December 2022

AbstractThe diurnal mosquitoesAedes aegyptiare vectors of several arboviruses, including dengue, yellow fever, and Zika viruses. To find a host to feed on, they rely on the sophisticated integration of olfactory, visual, thermal, and gustatory cues emitted by the hosts. If detected by their target, this latter may display defensive behaviors that mosquitoes need to be able to detect and escape in order to survive. In humans, a typical response is a swat of the hand, which generates both mechanical and visual perturbations aimed at a mosquito. Here, we used programmable visual displays to generate expanding objects sharing characteristics with the visual component of an approaching hand and quantified the behavioral response of female mosquitoes. Results show thatAe. aegyptiis capable of using visual information to decide whether to feed on an artificial host mimic. Stimulations delivered in a LED flight arena further reveal that landedAe. aegyptifemales display a stereotypical escape strategy by taking off at an angle that is a function of the direction of stimulus introduction. Altogether, this study demonstrates that mosquitoes landed on a host mimic can use isolated visual cues to detect and avoid a potential threat.
Application of TEM and HDRM in hydrogeophysical surveys in Meisibulake coal mine
Authors: Zhang Yanlong , Wu Yanqing , Zheng Haize , Xu Yangcheng , Cheng Xiaoyang 
Published: December 2022

AbstractWater disaster is one of the major disasters threatening the safety production of coal mine, which is rank only second to gas disaster. And Meisbluke Coal Mine is seriously affected by water disasters. In order to find out the scope and location of water-bearing areas in Meisbluke Coal Mine. The comprehensive geophysical exploration method combining transient electromagnetic method (TEM) and high-density resistivity method (HDRM) is used to carry out this research. Firstly, the measuring area is determined and the relevant measuring points are arranged, and 73 TEM survey lines and 10 HDRM survey lines were arranged according to the requirements. Then, the principle, data processing method and main parameters of TEM and HDRM are introduced. The TEM detection results show that the thickness of Quaternary inferred by TEM is consistent with the geological conditions revealed by boreholes, and the thickness is about 50–80 m. And the water enrichment of the bedrock is obviously recharged by the Quaternary aquifer. Besides, the water-enriched areas in each elevation are marked and the water inrush runoff channel is deduced based on the 3D scenario inverted by TEM. And the detection results of the water-bearing areas by the two methods are in good agreement with each other, which can confirm and complement each other, and the interpretation of the data is scientific and reasonable with high reliability. Besides, the detection depth of HDRM is larger than that of TEM.