Scientific Reports

Prostate diseases include prostate cancer, which is the second most common male neoplasia, and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which affects approximately 50% of men. The incidence of prostate disease is increasing, and some of this increase may be attributable to ancestral exposure to environmental toxicants and epigenetic transgenerational inheritance mechanisms. The goal of the current study was to determine the effects that exposure of gestating female rats to vinclozolin has on the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of prostate disease, and to characterize by what molecular epigenetic mechanisms this has occurred...

Herbicides are the most commonly used means of controlling weeds. Recently, there has been growing concern over the potential impacts of global climate change, specifically, increasing temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide (CO2 ) concentrations, on the sensitivity of weeds to herbicides. Here, glyphosate response of both Conyza canadensis and Chenopodium album was evaluated under different environmental conditions. Reduced glyphosate sensitivity was observed in both species in response to increased temperature, elevated CO2 level, and the combination of both factors...

Serum 1,25(OH)2 D and 24,25(OH)2 D are decreased in CKD. Megalin in proximal tubular epithelial cells reabsorbs glomerular-filtered 25(OH)D-DBP complex to convert 25(OH)D to 1,25(OH)2 D and 24,25(OH)2 D. Urinary C-megalin excretion is increased via exocytosis from injured nephrons overloaded with megalin-mediated protein metabolism. This study investigated the significance of urinary C-megalin excretion in vitamin D metabolism in 153 pre-dialysis CKD patients. Urinary C-megalin was positively associated with urinary protein, β2 MG and α1 MG, and exhibited negative correlations with serum 25(OH)D, 1,25(OH)2 D and 24,25(OH)2 D...

Multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are one of the most intensively explored nanomaterials because of their unique physical and chemical properties. Due to the widespread use of MWCNTs, it is important to investigate their effects on human health. The precise mechanism of MWCNT toxicity has not been fully elucidated. The present study was designed to examine the mechanisms of MWCNT toxicity toward human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells. First, we found that MWCNTs decreased the viability of neutrophil-like differentiated HL-60 cells but not undifferentiated HL-60 cells...

It is increasingly acknowledged that land-use and land-cover change has become a key subject that urgently needs to be addressed in the study of global environmental change. In the present study, supported by the long-time-series of land-use and land-cover data from 1990, 2000, and 2017, we used the land-use transition matrix, Markov chain model and Moran's I to derive detailed information of the spatial patterns and temporal variation of the land-use and land-cover change; additionally, we highlight the deforestation/afforestation conversion process during the period of 1990-2017...

Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) is an essential climate indicator of the direction and magnitude of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) transfer between land surfaces and the atmosphere. Improved estimates of NEE can serve to better constrain spatiotemporal characteristics of terrestrial carbon fluxes, improve verification of land models, and advance monitoring of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. Spatiotemporal NEE information developed by combining ground-based flux tower observations and spatiotemporal remote sensing datasets are of potential value in benchmarking land models...

Dysbiosis in the genital tract or gut microbiome can be associated with endometriosis. We sampled vaginal, cervical and gut microbiota from 14 women with histology proven stage 3/4 endometriosis and 14 healthy controls. The V3 and V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were amplified following the 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation. Despite overall similar vaginal, cervical and intestinal microbiota composition between stage 3/4 endometriosis group and controls, we observed differences at genus level. The complete absence of Atopobium in the vaginal and cervical microbiota of the stage 3/4 endometriosis group was noteworthy...

This study aims at analyzing all publicly available HAdV-C whole genome sequences (WGSs) and describes the genetic relationships between these genomes as well as identifies potential hotspots for recombination throughout the viral genome. In addition to the 4 prototypical genomic sequences, this analysis identified 20 HAdV-C WGSs which should be relevant for future recombination analysis of HAdV-C. This report confirmed the recombinogenic property of HAdV-C genomes and identified two main regions for breakpoints, within the hexon gene and around the fiber genomic region...

The postembryonic growth of skeletal muscle in teleost fish involves myoblast proliferation, migration and differentiation, encompassing the main events of embryonic myogenesis. Ascorbic acid plays important cellular and biochemical roles as an antioxidant and contributes to the proper collagen biosynthesis necessary for the structure of connective and bone tissues. However, whether ascorbic acid can directly influence the mechanisms of fish myogenesis and skeletal muscle growth remains unclear. The aim of our work was to evaluate the effects of ascorbic acid supplementation on the in vitro myoblast proliferation and migration of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus)...

The visual system is required to compute objects from partial image structure so that figures can be segmented from their backgrounds. Although early clinical, behavioral, and modeling data suggested that such computations are performed pre-attentively, recent neurophysiological evidence suggests that surface filling-in is influenced by attention. In the present study we developed a variant of the classical Kanizsa illusory triangle to investigate whether voluntary attention modulates perceptual filling-in...

Radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy (CT) are the major therapeutics to treat cancer patients. Conventional in vitro 2D models are insufficient to study the combined effects of RT and CT towards optimized dose selection or drug screening. Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare cancers with profound social impacts as they affect patients of all ages. We developed a microfluidic device to form and culture STS spheroids to study the combined cytotoxicities of RT and CT. Uniformly-sized spheroids of two different cell lines, STS 93 and STS 117, were formed in the device...

To evaluate pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (panNENs) grade prediction by means of qualitative and quantitative CT evaluation, and 3D CT-texture analysis. Patients with histopathologically-proven panNEN, availability of Ki67% values and pre-treatment CT were included. CT images were retrospectively reviewed, and qualitative and quantitative images analysis were done; for quantitative analysis four enhancement-ratios and three permeability-ratios were created. 3D CT-texture imaging analysis was done (Mean Value; Variance; Skewness; Kurtosis; Entropy)...

There is increasing evidence that aerosol transmission is a major contributor to the spread of influenza. Despite this, virtually all studies assessing the dynamics and control of influenza assume that it is transmitted solely through direct contact and large droplets, requiring close physical proximity. Here, we use wireless sensors to measure simultaneously both the location and close proximity contacts in the population of a US high school. This dataset, highly resolved in space and time, allows us to model both droplet and aerosol transmission either in isolation or in combination...

In this paper, the novelty of exploring the applications of the Iraqi Palm Tree Remnants (IPTR) mixed with Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles (NONP) hosted in Polyethylene (PE), called INP substrates, is utilized by printing metamaterial (MTM) based high gain microwave antennas on them. The proposed INP substrates are mainly created from pressed flexible organic fibers to suite the ink jet printing technologies. The complex relative constitutive parameters are characterized in terms of permittivity (ε) and permeability (μ) within the frequency range from 2 GHz up to 6 GHz using an open end dielectric probe and a T-stub transmission line technique...

This study evaluated hepatic lesion volumes on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) images in patients with pyrrolizidine alkaloid-induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (PA-SOS) and the association of lesion volume with the clinical severity and prognosis of the disease. Twenty-five patients with PA-SOS were included in this study, and all patients were subjected to a complete CT imaging series. The imaging results were quantitatively analyzed by a threshold-based region growing algorithm. The liver volumes and hepatic lesion volumes of the patients were estimated...

This study aims to examine whether perceived poor sleep quality predicts subsequent recurrence of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) in older patients with mild cognitive impairment following Helicobacter pylori eradication and to investigate whether social engagement status alters this association. Of 1,689 older patients with H. pylori-infected PUD recruited from eight Grade-A hospitals in the People's Republic of China between 2011 and 2014, H. pylori was eradicated and PUD cleared in 1,538 patients by the end of 2014; 1,420 of these were followed for up to 36 months...

Orthognathic surgery treatment (OGS) after orthodontic treatment of dentofacial deformities is a widely performed procedure, often accompanied by a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO). Positioning of the condyle during this procedure is a crucial step for achieving optimal functional and anatomical results. Intraoperatively poorly positioned condyles can have a negative effect on the postoperative result and the patient's well-being. Changes of the condylar position during OGS Procedures and its effects on the temporomandibular joint in orthognathic surgical interventions (OGS) are subject of scientific discussions...

Cereal cyst nematode (CCN, Heterodera avenae) presents severe challenges to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production worldwide. An investigation of the interaction between wheat and CCN can greatly improve our understanding of how nematodes alter wheat root metabolic pathways for their development and could contribute to new control strategies against CCN. In this study, we conducted transcriptome analyses of wheat cv. Wen 19 (Wen19) by using RNA-Seq during the compatible interaction with CCN at 1, 3 and 8 days past inoculation (dpi)...

Anti-Dense Fine Speckled 70 (DFS70) antibodies are a common finding in clinical laboratory referrals. High prevalence of DFS70 autoantibodies in healthy population and usual negative association with Antinuclear Antibody (ANA)-associated autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AARD) were reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of DFS70 autoantibodies and their association with other autoantibodies in the context of a routine ANA referral cohort. Consecutive sera submitted for ANA screening were analyzed for anti-DFS70 antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) (n = 3175, 1030 men and 2145 women) then confirmed by immunoblotting...

Although there are great concerns to what extent current and future climate change impacts biodiversity across different spatial and temporal scales, we still lack a clear information on different climate change metrics across fine spatial scales. Here we present an analysis of climate change and climate change velocity at a local scale (1 × 1 km) across Germany. We focus on seasonal climate variability and velocity and investigate changes in three time periods (1901-2015, 1901-1950 and 1951-2015) using a novel statistical approach...