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Sci Rep 2021 Apr 16;11(1):8356. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Richards Building, D101, 3700 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.

While awaiting the COVID-19 vaccines, researchers have been actively exploring the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the new virus, among which the BCG vaccine (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) receives the most attention. While many reports suggest a potential role for BCG immunization in ameliorating SARS-CoV-2 infection, these findings remain controversial. With country-level COVID-19 outbreak data from Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, and BCG program data from World Atlas of BCG Policies and Practices and WHO/UNICE, we estimated a dynamic model to investigate the effect of BCG vaccination across time during the pandemic. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Apr 16;11(1):8346. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, PO Box 589, 33014, Tampere, Finland.

Especially the applications of fibrous composites in miniature products, dental and other medical applications require accurate data of microscale mechanics. The characterization of adhesion between single filament and picoliter-scale polymer matrix usually relies on the experiments using so-called microbond (MB) testing. The traditional MB test systems provide unitary data output (i. Read More

Int J Artif Organs 2021 Apr 16:3913988211008912. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.

Objective: The aim of this study was to optimize a decellularization protocol in the trachea of (pig) as well as to study the effects of long-term cryopreservation on the extracellular matrix of decellularized tracheas.

Methods: Porcine tracheas were decellularized using Triton X-100, SDC, and SDS alone or in combination. The effect of these detergents on the extracellular matrix characteristics of decellularized porcine tracheas was evaluated at the histological, biomechanical, and biocompatibility level. Read More

Phys Rev E 2021 Mar;103(3-1):032204

Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.

We study a system of Kuramoto oscillators arranged on a two-dimensional periodic lattice where the oscillators interact with their nearest neighbors, and all oscillators have the same natural frequency. The initial phases of the oscillators are chosen to be distributed uniformly between (-π,π]. During the relaxation process to the final stationary phase, we observe different features in the phase field of the oscillators: initially, the state is randomly oriented, then clusters form. Read More

J Mol Graph Model 2021 Apr 5;106:107915. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, 39217, USA. Electronic address:

Biomaterials play a crucial role in tissue engineering as a functional replacement, regenerative medicines, supportive scaffold for guided tissue growth, and drug delivery devices. The term biomaterial refers to metals, ceramics, and polymers account for the vast majority. In the case of polymers, hydrogels have emerged as active materials for an immense variety of applications. Read More

Toxicol In Vitro 2021 Apr 13:105172. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.

Many substances are already tested in the long-term (2-year) rodent bioassay (RCB). Nonetheless, statements such as the following are common in the regulatory literature: "the significance of the carcinogenicity findings in rodents relative to the therapeutic use of drugs in humans is unknown." (U. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2021 Apr 13. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address:

The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)shows similar pathology to MERS and SARS-CoV, with a current estimated fatality rate of 1.4%. Open reading frame 10 (ORF10) is a unique SARS-CoV-2 accessory protein, which contains eleven cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes each of nine amino acids in length. Read More

IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst 2021 Apr 16;PP. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

This article develops an adaptive observation-based efficient reinforcement learning (RL) approach for systems with uncertain drift dynamics. A novel concurrent learning adaptive extended observer (CL-AEO) is first designed to jointly estimate the system state and parameter. This observer has a two-time-scale structure and does not require any additional numerical techniques to calculate the state derivative information. Read More

Biomed Khim 2021 Mar;67(2):119-129

Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia.

High density lipoproteins (HDL) are a unique natural structure, protecting the body from the development of atherosclerotic vascular lesions and cardiovascular diseases due to this ability to remove cholesterol from cells. Plasma HDL level estimated by their cholesterol content, is a common lipid parameter, and its decrease is considered as an established atherosclerosis risk factor. However, a number of studies have shown the absence of positive clinical effects after drug-induced increase in HDL cholesterol. Read More

J Adv Vet Anim Res 2021 Mar 5;8(1):44-50. Epub 2021 Mar 5.

Department of Aquaculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Objective: This study was carried out to estimate the sex ratio, maturity size, gonadosomatic index (GSI), and peak breeding season of mud crabs.

Materials And Methods: Samples were collected randomly from the estuary and river of the study area. Sampling was carried out monthly from April to September at every full moon during one high tide. Read More

Front Cardiovasc Med 2021 30;8:652761. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Department of Cardiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.

Since the 1990s, there has been a steady increase in the number of cancer survivors to an estimated 17 million in 2019 in the US alone. Radiation therapy today is applied to a variety of malignancies and over 50% of cancer patients. The effects of ionizing radiation on cardiac structure and function, so-called radiation-induced heart disease (RIHD), have been extensively studied. Read More

Carbohydr Polym 2021 Jul 21;263:117970. Epub 2021 Mar 21.

Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Division of Surface Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Science, Leipzig University, Linnéstraße 5, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Cell.Copedia GmbH, Bosestraße 4, 04109 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address:

Due to their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, natural hydrogels are highly demanded biomaterials for biomedical applications such as wound dressing, tissue engineering, drug delivery or three dimensional cell culture. Highly energetic electron irradiation up to 10 MeV is a powerful and fast tool to sterilize and tailor the material's properties. In this study, electron radiation treatment of agarose hydrogels was investigated to evaluate radiation effects on physical, structural and chemical properties. Read More

PLoS Comput Biol 2021 Apr 15;17(4):e1008798. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Science for Life Laboratory, Solna, Sweden.

Repeat proteins are abundant in eukaryotic proteomes. They are involved in many eukaryotic specific functions, including signalling. For many of these proteins, the structure is not known, as they are difficult to crystallise. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, People's Republic of China.

A theoretical assessment of the o-nitrophenol adsorption on layered double hydroxides containing different metallic species (Ca-Al, Ni-Al and Zn-Al) was performed. Experimental o-nitrophenol adsorption isotherms obtained at different adsorption temperatures with these layered double hydroxides were analyzed using a statistical physics monolayer model. Model calculations showed that the o-nitrophenol aggregation could occur with a high degree. Read More

Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open 2021 Apr 8;9(4):e3526. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Background: The nose is a common site for cutaneous malignancy and post-ablative reconstruction. To our knowledge, a myocutaneous island flap based on the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi (LLSAN) and nasalis muscles, with vascularity from the lateral nasal and angular arteries, has not been described for reconstruction of the lower lateral nose.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent LLSAN-nasalis island flap reconstruction between 2015 and 2019 was performed. Read More

Cogn Neurodyn 2021 Apr 1;15(2):359-367. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Computer Science Department, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel.

Experimental observations of simultaneous activity in large cortical areas have seemed to justify a large network approach in early studies of neural information codes and memory capacity. This approach has overlooked, however, the segregated nature of cortical structure and functionality. Employing graph-theoretic results, we show that, given the estimated number of neurons in the human brain, there are only a few primal sizes that can be attributed to neural circuits under probabilistically sparse connectivity. Read More

J Genet Eng Biotechnol 2021 Apr 14;19(1):56. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of plant breeding and Biotechnology, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran.

Background: Evaluation of genetic diversity and relationships among crop wild relatives is an important task in crop improvement. The main objective of the current study was to estimate molecular variability within the set of 91 samples from Triticum aestivum, Aegilops cylindrica, and Aegilops crassa species using 30 CAAT box-derived polymorphism (CBDP) and start codon targeted (SCoT) markers.

Results: Fifteen SCoT and Fifteen CBDP primers produced 262 and 298 fragments which all of them were polymorphic, respectively. Read More

Wiad Lek 2021 ;74(1):28-34

SUMY STATE UNIVERSITY, SUMY, UKRAINE.

Objective: The aim: Improving perinatal outcomes in pregnant women at high risk of intrauterine infection by developing diagnostic criteria and algorithms for managing pregnancy and childbirth.

Patients And Methods: Materials and methods: The study of pregnancy and childbirth was conducted in 72 patients at high risk of IUI, which formed the main group. The control group consisted of 64 patients with a low infectious risk of IUI. Read More

J Mol Graph Model 2021 Mar 24;106:107907. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China. Electronic address:

The geometries, electronic properties, and chemical bonding of (VH) (n=10-30) nanoclusters are systematically investigated by a combination of artificial bee colony optimization with density functional theory calculations. Structure analysis indicates that the structures of (VH) nanoclusters tend to be a disorder, where the hydrogen atoms prefer to occupy the hollow sites among different V atoms, binding three V atoms to form the HV moieties. The bond length suggests that the average V-V bond lengths are about 2. Read More

PLoS One 2021 13;16(4):e0249857. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Departament of Physics and Mathematics, Universidad Iberoamericana CDMX, Ciudad de México, México.

The problem of multistage allocation is solved using the Target Date Fund (TDF) strategy subject to a set of restrictions which model the latest regulatory framework of the Mexican pension system. The investment trajectory or glide-path for a representative set of 14 assets of heterogeneous characteristics is studied during a 161 quarters long horizon. The expected returns are estimated by the GARCH(1,1), EGARCH(1,1), GJR-GARCH(1,1) models, and a stationary block bootstrap model is used as a benchmark for comparison. Read More

CEN Case Rep 2021 Apr 13. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Department of Nephrology, Yokosuka Kyosai Hospital, 1-16 Yonegahamadori, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 238-8558, Japan.

We report a case of immunotactoid glomerulonephritis (ITG) in a patient with cold agglutinins. An 86-year-old Japanese male with a history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and gastric malignancy presented to our hospital for the evaluation of proteinuria and hematuria. He had an elevated blood pressure of 200/77 mmHg and edema of the lower extremities. Read More

ChemSusChem 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Osaka University, Japan, Graduate School of Engineering, 2-1 Yamadaoka, 565-0871, Suita, JAPAN.

A non-fullerene small molecular acceptor (NFA) is a prominent molecule that shows moderate electron mobility and a narrow bandgap complementary to middle-bandgap p-type conjugated polymers, which leads to great improvement in the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. However, little is known about the relaxation of charge carriers, which is key to efficient charge transport. Herein, we report simultaneous time-of-flight (TOF) and time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements employing benzodithiophene-based polymer (PBDB-T):soluble C 70 -fullerere (PCBM) and PBDB-T:NFA (ITIC or Y6) blends, as benchmark systems. Read More

Heredity (Edinb) 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal.

Inferring the demographic history of species is one of the greatest challenges in populations genetics. This history is often represented as a history of size changes, ignoring population structure. Alternatively, when structure is assumed, it is defined a priori as a population tree and not inferred. Read More

J Phys Chem Lett 2021 Apr 12:3773-3778. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Department of Photo-Molecular Science, Institute for Molecular Science, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan.

The conduction band dispersion in methylammonium lead iodide (CHNHPbI) was studied by both angle-resolved two-photon photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-2PPE) with low photon intensity (∼0.0125 nJ/pulse) and angle-resolved low-energy inverse photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-LEIPS). Clear energy dispersion of the conduction band along the Γ-M direction was first observed by these independent methods under different temperatures, and the dispersion was found to be consistent with band calculation under the cubic phase. Read More

Chem Asian J 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Saint Petersburg State University, Department of Chemistry, Universitetsky Pr., 26, 198504, Saint Petersburg, RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

An interplay between 4-bromo- and 4-iodo-5-nitrophthalonitriles (XNPN, X = Br or I) and any one of the azines (pyridine 1 , 4-dimethylaminopyridine 2 , isoquinoline 3 , 4-cyanopyridine 4 , 2-methylpyridine 5 , 2-aminopyridine 6 , quinoline 7 , 1-methylisoquinoline 8 , and 2,2'-bipyridine 9 ) proceeds differently depending on steric and electronic effects of the heterocycles. Sterically unhindered azines 1 - 3 underwent the N -arylation to give the corresponding azinium salts (characterized by 1 H and 13 C{H} NMR and high-resolution ESI-MS). In contrast, azines 4 - 9 with sterically hindered N atoms or bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent, are formed stable co-crystals with XNPN, where two interacting molecules are bound by halogen bonding. Read More

IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 2021 Apr 12;PP. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

There is significant acoustic impedance contrast between the cortical bone and surrounding soft tissue, resulting in difficulty for ultrasound penetration into bone tissue with high frequency. It is challenging for the conventional pulse-echo modalities to give accurate cortical bone images using uniform sound velocity model. To overcome these limitations, an ultrasound imaging method called full-matrix Fourier-domain synthetic aperture based on velocity inversion (FM-FDSA-VI) was developed to provide accurate cortical bone images. Read More

Acta Crystallogr B Struct Sci Cryst Eng Mater 2021 Apr 17;77(Pt 2):249-259. Epub 2021 Mar 17.

School of Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People's Republic of China.

Single crystals of (E)-N'-(4-isopropylbenzylidene)isonicotinohydrazide monohydrate (IBIHM) were grown from ethanol by the slow evaporation from solution growth technique at room temperature. The structure was elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and crystallized in the orthorhombic system with noncentrosymmetric space group P222. Optical studies reveal that the absorption was minimum in the visible region and the band-gap energy was estimated using the Kubelka-Munk algorithm. Read More

ACS Omega 2021 Apr 24;6(13):8829-8836. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

The production of graphene films is of importance for the large-scale application of graphene-based materials; however, there is still a lack of an efficient and effective approach to synthesize graphene films directly on dielectric substrates. Here, we report the controlled growth of ultrathin carbon films, which have a similar structure to graphene, directly on silicon substrates in a process of seeded chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Crystalline silicon with a thermally grown 300 nm oxide layer was first treated with 3-trimethoxysilyl-1-propanamine (APS), which was used as an anchor point for the covalent deposition of small graphene flakes, obtained from graphite using the Hummers' method. Read More

Ecol Evol 2021 Apr 22;11(7):3286-3299. Epub 2021 Feb 22.

Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt am Main Germany.

The structure and sequence of plastid genomes is highly conserved across most land plants, except for a minority of lineages that show gene loss and genome degradation. Understanding the early stages of plastome degradation may provide crucial insights into the repeatability and predictability of genomic evolutionary trends. We investigated these trends in subtribe Gentianinae of the Gentianaceae, which encompasses ca. Read More

Front Plant Sci 2021 25;12:638597. Epub 2021 Mar 25.

Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.

(Orininae, Cynodonteae, Chloridoideae, Poaceae) is an ecologically important genus. The phylogenetic placement of and phylogenetic relationships among taxa remain controversial for a long time. To resolve the intra- and inter-generic relationships of , the plastomes of 12 taxa (including 8 species and 4 varieties), one species, 15 species, two species, and two species were included in the present study. Read More