Search

Copyright of Signa is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Simple Summary: Diabetic male reproductive damage is a prevalent complication of type II diabetes, prompting a multitude of experimental investigations. However, the use of mammalian models for studying diabetic reproductive damage is expensive and raises ethical concerns. Hence, the identification of alternative animal models is imperative. The scientific community is increasingly recognizing the use of silkworms Bombyx mori as animal models, primarily because of their numerous advantages, including low cost and fewer ethical concerns. This study established a type II diabetic silkworm model via a high-glucose diet. The impact of diabetes on the reproductive system of male silkworms was observed, confirming the potential for using silkworms to create a model for diabetic reproductive damage. The increasing prevalence of diabetic reproductive complications has prompted the development of innovative animal models. The use of the silkworm Bombyx mori as a model for diabetic reproductive damage shows potential as a valuable research tool. This study employed silkworms as a novel model to investigate diabetic reproductive damage. The silkworms were fed a high-glucose diet containing 10% glucose to induce a diabetic model. Subsequently, the study concentrated on assessing the influence of diabetes on the reproductive system of male silkworms. The results indicate that diabetes resulted in reduced luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (T) levels, as well as elevated triglyceride (TG) levels in male silkworms. Moreover, diabetes mellitus was associated with pathological testicular damage in male silkworms, accompanied by decreased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, along with increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the testis. Additionally, diabetes mellitus reduced the expression of siwi1 and siwi2 genes in the testis of male silkworms. Overall, these results support using silkworms as a valuable model for studying diabetic reproductive damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

APC and TP53 are the two most regularly mutated genes in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), especially in progressive malignancies and antitumoral immune response. The current bioinformatics analysis investigates the APC and TP53 gene expression profile in colon adenocarcinoma as a prognostic characteristic for survival, particularly concentrating on the correlated immune microenvironment. Clinical and genetic data of colon cancer and normal tissue samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-COAD and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) online databases, respectively. The genetic differential expressions were analyzed in both groups via the one-way ANOVA test. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were applied to estimate the overall survival (OS). P < 0.05 was fixed as statistically significant. On Tumor Immune Estimation Resource and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis databases, the linkage between immune cell recruitment and APC and TP53 status was assessed through Spearman's correlation analysis. APC and TP53 were found mutated in 66.74% and 85.71% of the 454 and 7 TCGA-COAD patients in colon and rectosigmoid junction primary sites, respectively with a higher log2-transcriptome per million reads compared to the GTEx group (318 samples in sigmoid and 368 samples in transverse). Survival curves revealed a worse significant OS for the high-APC and TP53 profile colon. Spearman's analysis of immune cells demonstrated a strong positive correlation between the APC status and infiltration of T cell CD4+, T cell CD8+, NK cell, and macrophages and also a positive correlation between status and infiltration of T cell CD4+, T cell CD8+. APC and TP53 gene mutations prevail in colon cancer and are extremely associated with poor prognosis and shortest survival. The infiltrating T cell CD4+, T cell CD8+, NK cell, and macrophages populate the colon microenvironment and regulate the mechanisms of tumor advancement, immune evasion, and sensitivity to standard chemotherapy. More comprehensive research is needed to demonstrate these results and turn them into new therapeutic outlooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a special issue of the journal Nonlinear Studies, featuring interdisciplinary perspectives in applied mathematics. It includes articles on consumer behavior, diffusion of innovation, numerical methods, game theory, and optimization, covering domains such as engineering, management, and physics. The papers have undergone peer review and offer original and high-quality research. The document compiles research contributions on reliability analysis, mathematical modeling, differential equations, and optimization problems, with references for further exploration. The authors express gratitude to the contributors and reviewers for their valuable contributions. [Extracted from the article]

In the framework of f (R , T , R a b T a b) gravity theory, the slow-roll approximation of the cosmic inflation is investigated, where T is the trace of the energy–momentum tensor T a b , R and R a b are the Ricci scalar and tensor, respectively. After obtaining the equations of motion of the gravitational field from the action principle in the spatially flat FLRW metric, the fundamental equations of this theory are received by introducing the inflation scalar field as the matter and taking into account only the minimum curvature-inflation coupling term. Remarkably, after taking the slow-roll approximation, the identical equations as in f (R , T) gravity with a R T mixing term are derived. We study several potentials of interest in different domains. We perform analytical analyzes under various approximate conditions, and present numerical results and their comparison with existing observational data at the same time. In the appendix, we analyze the behavior of the inflation scalar field under perturbation while ignoring the effect of metric perturbations. This research complements the slow-roll inflation in the modified theory of gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractSemiparametric mixture of regression (SMR) models provide a popular and flexible framework for modeling heterogeneous data that violates some of the parametric assumptions assumed in traditional finite mixture of regressions models. The majority of applications of SMR models assume normality for their error terms. As is well known, Gaussian distribution is sensitive to outliers or heavy-tailed distribution. In this article, we propose a more robust approach of SMR by modeling the error distribution as t distributions. By combining the EM algorithm and kernel density estimator, two algorithms are proposed to fit the robust SMR models and are proven to monotonically increase the likelihood function. We further investigate a modified version based on trimming for high leverage outliers. In real applications, a data adaptive mechanism is discussed to choose the degrees of freedom. A simulation study and three real data analyses show the superiority of the new methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple myeloma (MM) associated with Chagas disease is rarely described. This disease and its therapy suppress T cell and macrophage functions and increase regulatory T cell function, allowing the increase of parasitemia and the risk of Chagas Disease Reactivation (CDR). We aimed to analyze the role of conventional (cPCR) and quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) for prospective monitoring of T. cruzi parasitemia, searching for markers of preemptive antiparasitic therapy in MM patients with Chagas disease. Moreover, we investigated the incidence and management of hematological diseases and CDR both inside and outside the transplant setting in the MEDLINE database. We found 293 studies and included 31 of them. Around 1.9-2.0% of patients with Chagas disease were reported in patients undergoing Stem Cell Transplantation. One case of CDR was described in eight cases of MM and Chagas disease. We monitored nine MM and Chagas disease patients, seven under Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (ASCT), during 44.56±32.10 months (mean±SD) using parasitological methods, cPCR, and qPCR. From these patients, three had parasitemia. In the first, up to 256 par Eq/mL were detected, starting from 28 months after ASCT. The second patient dropped out and died soon after the detection of 161.0 par Eq/mL. The third patient had a positive blood culture. Benznidazole induced fast negativity in two cases; followed by notably lower levels in one of them. Increased T. cruzi parasitemia was related to the severity of the underlying disease. We recommend parasitemia monitoring by qPCR for early introduction of preemptive antiparasitic therapy to avoid CDR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone biomineralization is a complex process in which type I collagen and associated non-collagenous proteins (NCPs), including glycoproteins and proteoglycans, interact closely with inorganic calcium and phosphate ions to control the precipitation of nanosized, non-stoichiometric hydroxyapatite (HAP, idealized stoichiometry Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) within the organic matrix of a tissue. The ability of certain vertebrate tissues to mineralize is critically related to several aspects of their function. The goal of this study was to identify specific NCPs in mineralizing and non-mineralizing tissues of two animal models, rat and turkey, and to determine whether some NCPs are unique to each type of tissue. The tissues investigated were rat femur (mineralizing) and tail tendon (non-mineralizing) and turkey leg tendon (having both mineralizing and non-mineralizing regions in the same individual specimen). An experimental approach ex vivo was designed for this investigation by combining sequential protein extraction with comprehensive protein mapping using proteomics and Western blotting. The extraction method enabled separation of various NCPs based on their association with either the extracellular organic collagenous matrix phases or the inorganic mineral phases of the tissues. The proteomics work generated a complete picture of NCPs in different tissues and animal species. Subsequently, Western blotting provided validation for some of the proteomics findings. The survey then yielded generalized results relevant to various protein families, rather than only individual NCPs. This study focused primarily on the NCPs belonging to the small leucine-rich proteoglycan (SLRP) family and the small integrin-binding ligand N-linked glycoproteins (SIBLINGs). SLRPs were found to be associated only with the collagenous matrix, a result suggesting that they are mainly involved in structural matrix organization and not in mineralization. SIBLINGs as well as matrix Gla (γ-carboxyglutamate) protein were strictly localized within the inorganic mineral phase of mineralizing tissues, a finding suggesting that their roles are limited to mineralization. The results from this study indicated that osteocalcin was closely involved in mineralization but did not preclude possible additional roles as a hormone. This report provides for the first time a spatial survey and comparison of NCPs from mineralizing and non-mineralizing tissues ex vivo and defines the proteome of turkey leg tendons as a model for vertebrate mineralization.

The brainstem is a site of early pathology in several neurodegenerative diseases. The overall goal of this project was (a) To develop a method to segment internal brainstem structures from MP2RAGE derived images. (b) To compare the segmentations at 3 and 7 T. (c) To investigate age effects on intensities and segmentations. MP2RAGE derived T1 weighted images (UNI) and T1 relaxation maps (T1map) were obtained from two public data sets (LEMON: 50 3 T data sets, ATAG: 46 7 T data sets). The UNI and T1map images were rescaled using a linear scaling procedure and a ratio (RATIO) image calculated. The brainstem was extracted and k-mean clustering used to identify six intensity clusters from the UNI, T1map and RATIO at 3 and 7 T. Nonlinear diffeomorphic mapping was used to warp the six intensity clusters in subject space into a common space to generate probabilistic group averages/priors that were used to inform the final probabilistic segmentations at the single subject level for each field strength. The six clusters corresponded to six brainstem tissue types (three gray matter clusters and two white matter clusters and one csf/tissue boundary cluster). The quantitative comparison of the 3 and 7 T probabilistic averages showed subtle differences that affected the localization of age-associated brainstem volume losses. The segmentation approach presented here identified the same brainstem gray and white matter structures at both field strengths. Further studies are necessary to investigate how resolution and field strength contribute to the subtle differences observed at the two field strengths.

Harness® is a commercial herbicide that contains acetochlor at a concentration of 84% as an active ingredient. Ubiquitous, persistent, and substantial uses of Harness® in agricultural processes have resulted in the pollution of nearbywater sources, posing a threat to various aquatic biotas, including fish. The effects of Harness® toxicity on fish health are little known. So, this study aimed to describe the impact of herbicide Harness® on the oxidative stress and reproductive and thyroid performance of male and female tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and also investigate the prospective role of the natural antioxidant lycopene supplementation in dismissing the adverse properties of Harness®. Antioxidant enzyme (catalase, superoxide dismutase, and total antioxidant capacity) and hormone measurements (T, E2, T3, and T4) were carried out, and gonadal and thyroid follicle histological sections were examined as amethod to investigate the effects of Harness® toxicity on fish. Male and female tilapia were exposed to 10 µmol/L and 100 µmol/L of Harness® and treated with 10 mg lycopene/kg for 15 days of exposure. Our results demonstrated that the antioxidant enzyme activity was altered by Harness exposure and serum T for both males and females dropped; also, female E2 levels decreased, but male E2 increased. Exposure to higher dose of Harness® induced elevation in both T3 and T4 levels, although the low exposure dose stimulated T4 levels. Harness® exposure prompted histological variations and degenerative changes in testicular, ovarian, and thyroid follicle tissues. Lycopene supplement administration diminished oxidative stress induced by Harness®, alleviating its endocrine disparaging effects by neutralizing T3, T4, T, and E2 and ameliorating the histological structure of gonadal and thyroid tissues. In conclusion, lycopene supplementation was preformed to normalize the alterations and oxidative damage caused by Harness® in Nile tilapia, suggesting that lycopene-supplemented diet functioned as potent antioxidants and had the ability to alleviate oxidative stress and thyroid and reproductive toxicity caused by herbicide Harness®. Moreover, it is crucial to take appropriate care when consuming herbicides to defend the aquatic environme [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A future circular collider (FCC) with a center-of-mass energy of 100 TeV and a circumference of around 100 km, or an energy upgrade of the LHC (HE-LHC) to 27 TeV require bending magnets providing 16 T in a 50-mm aperture. Several development programs for these magnets, based on Nb3Sn technology, are being pursued in Europe and in the U.S. In these programs, cos-theta, block-type, common-coil, and canted-cos-theta magnets are explored; first model magnets are under manufacture; limits on conductor stress levels are studied; and a conductor with enhanced characteristics is developed. This paper summarizes and discusses the status, plans, and preliminary results of these programs.

Based on the literature data, the most used chemical element for the removal of the contaminant fluoride ions from different water systems was the Al followed by the Zr, Mg, Fe, C, and several others elements that form stable Me–F complexes. The application of mixed composite adsorbents is a modern tendency, but in this study, the dry aluminum sulfate was tested for direct chemical elimination of the fluoride ions from real industrial zinc sulfate electrolytes. The behavior of the used fluorine ion-selective electrode (FISE) was tested in the presence of sodium fluoride and aluminum sulfate. For suppression of the negative role of the aluminum ions on the FISE potential citrate total ionic strength adjustment buffer (TISAB) was used for appropriate ex situ analytical measurements of the fluoride ions in the real zinc electrolytes from the different hydrometallurgical purification stages. The elimination of the free fluorine ions was tested at room temperature (18–27 °C) and by heating up to 40 °C. The obtained results show that at room temperature, the efficiency of the reaction between F− and Al3+ ions was not very satisfied. Maximum 13% from the initial fluoride concentration was reduced at real conditions. By heating the process was intensified up to 75–95%, but in excess of non-reacted aluminum ions that additionally contaminated the electrolyte for zinc electrowining. The experimentally proven advantages and disadvantages revealed that the elimination reaction needs further optimizations before any applications at plant conditions. Factors as temperature was beneficial, whereas pH was hard for operation since the dry aluminum sulfate acidified the plant electrolytes and the zinc sulfate matrix precipitated easy by titration from acid to neutral conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By a strange coincidence, Trilce and The Waste Land were both published in October 1922, the annus mirabilis of Modernism, and in this essay I intend to «excavate» how modernity was projected in the work of T. S. Eliot and César Vallejo. I draw upon five exemplars of excavation in the modern era - of the earth, of the human body and brain, of the atom, and (via Heidegger and Foucault) of language itself - before moving onto an investigation of the search in the work of T. S. Eliot and Vallejo of a new dimension of reality contained within poetic language. The meaning of the poem in the Work of the Avant-Garde now springs from within the crevices between words. I conclude the essay with a discussion of the hypothesis that - in 1922 - Vallejo, along with T. S. Eliot, in their respective poems which were constructed out of «piles» of «broken images», created a completely new mythology of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A next step of energy increase of hadron colliders beyond the LHC requires high-field superconducting magnets capable of providing a dipolar field in the range of 16 T in a 50-mm aperture with accelerator quality. These characteristics could meet the requirements for an upgrade of the LHC to twice the present beam energy or for a 100-TeV center of mass energy future circular collider. This paper summarizes the activities and plans for the development of these magnets, in particular within the 16 T Magnet Technology Program, the WP5 of the EuroCirCol, and the U.S. Magnet Development Program.

It was in Love in Earnest (1970), one of the rare studies ever written on Uranian poetry, that Timothy d'Arch Smith chose the name 'Uranians' to designate a group of English poets and artists who shared a common love for boys and poetry in a period that went from about 1880 to 1930. These poets resorted to a set of symbols and imagery as a mode to conceal the object of their writings, appropriating fin-de-siècle Decadence and modelling a real 'fashion', an artistic attitude that might well be defined as 'Decadent Neoclassicism'. The aim of this article is to examine the uses and functions of flowers in Uranian poetry, and more specifically two peculiar flowers often associated with malemale love as from the late nineteenth century: hyacinths and narcissi. One of the reasons behind their employment goes beyond aesthetic choices, as they are part of those ways adopted to conceal - or, simultaneously, highlight - the Uranian theme. Once outlined the polarities of an aporia of light and shade, candour and censorship, which can be traced in different hues in each and every author and text of my corpus, I will consider the possible Uranian influences on the works of those who, at least in their explicit intentions, would flee from such a poetics: the Modernist poets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute diarrhea is the most frequent diagnosis among ill travelers. Sleep loss may weaken the body's defense against pathogens and increase susceptibility to infection. The relationship between sleep and infectious diarrhea has not been studied and was assessed utilizing data from a controlled human infection model (CHIM) for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC).Methods: During a CHIM assessing the efficacy of an immunoprophylactic targeting ETEC against moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) following challenge, we measured sleep via actigraphy over an 8-day inpatient period. We hypothesized better sleep pre-challenge would predict illness symptomatology following challenge.Results: Among 57 participants (aged 34.4 ± 8.1 years, 64% male), there was no relationship between sleep metrics and incidence of MSD. However, longer total sleep time the night preceding ETEC challenge was associated with lower maximum 24 h diarrhea volume (B = -1.80, p = 0.01) and total diarrhea volume (B = -2.45, p = 0.01).Conclusions: This novel study showed that shorter sleep duration predicted diarrhea severity over the course of an ETEC infection. Future work should experimentally manipulate sleep to further clarify its impact on diarrhea-related outcomes for ETEC and other important enteric pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We evaluated a standardized interferon-γ (IFN-γ) release assay (IGRA) for detection of T-cell immune response after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or vaccination. Methods This prospective study included patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with different severity of illness and follow-up (FU), vaccinated subjects, and healthy unvaccinated persons. SARS-CoV-2 T-cell response was measured using a specific quantitative IGRA in whole blood (Euroimmun, Germany) and TrimericS-IgG and neutralizing antibodies with validated serological platforms. Positivity of reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction or vaccination was considered as the reference standard. Results A total of 239 individuals were included (152 convalescent, 54 vaccinated, and 33 uninfected unvaccinated). Overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive- and negative-predictive values (95% confidence interval) of the IGRA were 81.1% (74.9–86%), 90.9% (74.5–97.6%), 98.2% (94.5–99.5%), and 43.5% (31.8–55.9%), respectively. All vaccinated SARS-CoV-2-naive subjects had positive IGRA at 3 months. In convalescent subjects the magnitude of IFN-γ responses and IGRA accuracy varied according to disease severity and duration of FU, with the best performance in patients with severe COVID-19 at 3 months and the worst in those with mild disease at 12 months. The greatest contribution of IGRA to serological tests was observed in patients with mild disease and long-term FU (incremental difference, 30.4%). Conclusions The IGRA was a reliable method of quantifying T-cell response after SARS-COV-2 infection or vaccination. In convalescent patients, the sensitivity is largely dependent on disease severity and time since primary infection. The assay is more likely to add clinical value to serology in patients with mild infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently available commercial remote laser beam welding (LBW) scanners allow a fast laser beam manipulation up to 1 KHz. In this work, wobbling (fast laser beam oscillation) was applied to weld aluminium alloy (5754) sheets of 1.6 mm thickness that are subjected to stamping processes later on. Influence of process parameters (laser power and speed, incidence angle and wobbling frequency and amplitude) in weld quality of T joint and edge lap joint configurations was studied. In T joint configuration, the use of 4047 wire filler metal of 1.2 mm of diameter was beneficial to avoid excessive undercuts and provide good penetration, weld shape and dimensions. Metallographic characterisation confirmed the absence of other defects such as lack of fusion, pores or cracks. In addition, wobbling led to optimal results without removing the protective coating of Ti/Zr from the sheets. Finally, mechanical characterisation for post-welding stamping suitability assessment of the welds was performed using shear and bending tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]