bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Malocclusion in Patients with Thalassemia Major: A Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Namdar Parastoo , Shiva Atena , Etezadi Tahura , Yazdani Charati Jamshid , Karami Hossein , Iri Sina
Published: August 2021

Background: Iran lies in the world's thalassemia belt; accordingly, the beta‐thalassemia gene is carried by 4% of the Iranian population. Due to the dearth of research and literature available on the prevalence of malocclusions in the Iranian population with beta-thalassemia major, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence and severity of facial abnormalities among patients who were referred to Bu-Ali Sina Hospital, Sari, Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 patients with thalassemia major who were referred to the care unit of Bu-Ali Sina teaching and therapeutic Hospital, Sari, Iran, in 2018. The patients were then visited by a trained dentist who had been given the necessary theoretical and practical training. Malocclusion was classified based on Angle's classification. Spacing, overcrowding, overjet, and overbite were measured, and the distances were recorded based on a checklist. Results: The prevalence of malocclusions obtained was 87.5%, which included malocclusions of Class I (34%), Class II (31%), and Classes III (22%) amongst patients. There was no significant relationship between the type of malocclusion and gender (P = 0.77). Moreover, no significant difference was observed among patients with thalassemia major and different classes of malocclusions in terms of age both in males (P = 0.49) and females (P = 0.58). Conclusions: Malocclusions are common among adolescents and adults with thalassemia, which is not associated with age or gender. Therefore, patients should be regularly visited and followed up by a dentist to manage and control their dental problems. In addition, effective and preventive measures, as well as health education should be seriously considered in these patients.
Service Development and Implementation of an Exercise Therapy Unit in a Psychiatric Hospital in Iran: A Brief Report
Authors: Tazesh Behnaz , Pourgharib Shahi Mohammad Hossein , Mokri Azarakhsh , Naghavi Hamidreza , Sharafi Sayedeh Elham , Mirsepassi Zahra
Published: August 2021

: According to the existing evidence, physical health in patients with mental disorders is poorer than in the general population. After a comprehensive literature review, we developed and implemented the first structured sports and exercise unit in a psychiatric hospital in Iran. After running workshops and supervision sessions for nurses and personal trainers, we provided a nutrition education program (NEP) alongside a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise three times a week. After unit development, we made several efforts to introduce the services to psychiatrists and residents by sending emails, holding a symposium, and notifications in hospital virtual channel. In about five months, 69 patients were introduced to sports and exercise specialists, 67 were included in exercise therapy, and three high-risk patients were excluded. The age range of participants was 19 - 50 years, and the mean age was 33.54 years. The total number of provided exercise therapy service was 533, and the mean of sessions was eight. The average duration of participation in the program was 24 days. Exercise therapy and lifestyle modification package for patients with mental illness should be integrated into a comprehensive treatment program. Starting this intervention during patients’ admission may lead to more engagement after discharge.
Prevalence of Human Polyomavirus BK Virus in Prostate Cancer Patients and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Cross-sectional Study on Prostate Patients Referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz Between 2015 and 2017
Authors: Mohammadi Elyasi Maryam , Makvandi Manoochehr , Ranjbari Nastaran , Latifi Seyed Mahmoud , Kaydani Gholam Abbas , Beigom Bigdeli Shamloo Marzieh
Published: August 2021

Background: Human polyomavirus BK virus (BKV) belongs to the Polyomaviridae family and seems to be a drastic virus in prostate cancer (PCa) etiology. BK virus induces oncogenesis via the expression of large tumor antigen (LTAg) and small tumor antigen (stAg). Also, BKV infection seems to play an essential role in prostate cancer development. Objectives: In this study was aimed to study the prevalence of BKV in benign and cancerous prostate tissues. Methods: In this study, 100 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of PCa specimens and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were collected. The DNA was extracted from tissue samples, and the BKV DNA was investigated using a semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The MEGA 6.0 software was used for phylogenetic analysis to assemble the viral genome. A phylogenetic tree was constructed by neighbor-joining analysis with 1,000 replicates of the bootstrap resampling test. Results: The BKV DNA was found in 66% (33/50) of patients with PCa and 36% (18/50) of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (P = 0.003). The frequency of BKV DNA in different classes of Gleason score (5 - 10) was not significant (0.094). The distribution of BKV DNA among different age groups was not significant (P = 0.086). Conclusions: High frequency of BKV infection was detected in patients with PCa compared to patients with BPH (P = 0.003), and the coexistence of BKV DNA was confirmed in 51% (51/100) of tissue samples, which were confirmed to be subtype 1 of BKV infection.
An Iranian Model for Elderly Care in Residential Long-term Care Institutions: A Delphi-Based Study
Authors: Gavarskhar Fatemeh , Matlabi Hossein , Gharibi Farid
Published: August 2021

Background: It is necessary to develop a functional and evidence-based model to meet the various care needs of elderly individuals. Objectives: The present study was conducted to propose a national residential care model for Iranian elderly individuals. Methods: A systematic review was designed to identify common models of residential care centers in developed countries. A two-round Delphi survey consisting of 48 potential and eligible experts was also conducted to make a consensus on the standards of residential care applicable to the Iranian model. The study experts were the professors and officers with at least 5 years of academic and executive experiences in geriatric health. Results: The primary questionnaire was prepared with 305 care standards which were obtained from well-developed elderly care models. In the first round, 40 questionnaires were given back and analyzed, and 232 care standards were approved by the experts. In the second round, 38 questionnaires were returned from 40 distributed questionnaires, and 40 consensus standards were approved (from 73 standards). Moreover, others failed to enter the ultimate model. In the final model, out of the 275 accepted standards, 102 (37.09%), 75 (27.27%), 42 (15.27%), 42 (15.27%), 9 (3.27%), and 5 (1.81%) standards were related to health-related services, service providers, public services, facilities of care centers, eligibility criteria, and financing, respectively. Conclusions: Given the high consensus of experts on developed standards and the unique comprehensiveness of criteria, the obtained model can be implemented after conducting a pilot study in the Iranian elderly care centers. It seems that the implementation of the model will improve the provided care leading to higher levels of life expectancy and quality of life among elderly individuals.
Evaluating Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin as an Early Marker of Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients
Authors: Chetan Chettipunyam S , Challa Suhas , Shetty Manjunath S , Murthy K A Sudarshana , Kelur Kiran K , Malleshappa Pavan
Published: August 2021

Background: Detecting significant renal injury in an accurate and timely manner in acute kidney injury (AKI) patients who are critically ill remains controversial. Serum creatinine (Cr) is an important marker of kidney function in clinical practice, and its limitations are well known. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as a marker of the early development of AKI in critically ill AKI patients. Methods: This prospective study was carried out at JSS Hospital, Mysuru, India. The diagnosis and staging of AKI was done according to the RIFLE criteria. Results: A total of 53 critically ill patients were enrolled in this study. During Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay, 34 (64.2%) patients developed AKI according to RIFLE criteria. Serum NGAL levels assessed on admission were an appropriate predictor of AKI com-pared to serum Cr. Serum NGAL levels also showed a significant elevation among AKI patients than non-AKI cases. The mean levels for AKI patients at 0, 4, and 8 hours were 870.53, 1074.9, and 1090, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean levels for non-AKI patients at 0, 4, and 8 hours were 337, 307, and 292. Conclusions: Measuring serum NGAL on admission is useful in the early diagnosis of AKI com-pared to serum Cr.
Aptamer-Assisted Delivery of Nucleotides with Tumor-Suppressing Properties for Targeted Cancer Therapies
Authors: Safarzadeh Kozani Pouya , Safarzadeh Kozani Pooria , Rahbarizadeh Fatemeh
Published: August 2021

: Targeted cancer therapy is developing rapidly according to the fact that it has been demonstrated that this type of therapy can reduce various side effects and adverse events of the commonly available cancer treatment approaches such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This selective type of cancer therapy can mediate encouraging outcomes where the frontline cancer treatment methods have failed to do so. Aptamer-assisted delivery of various types of cargoes or the utilization of aptamer for the redirection of delivery vehicles is among various fields of targeted cancer therapy that have gained significant attention lately. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides or peptide molecules that harbor significant levels of specificity and affinity toward various types of targets such as cell surface antigens, ions, toxins, chemicals, etc. They have shown encouraging results in several types of targeted cancer therapy for the redirection of a variety of cargoes. In this review, we shed the light on the application of aptamers for the delivery of nucleotides such as MicroRNAs (miRNAs), short or small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and short hairpin RNA or small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) that harbor tumor suppression properties in various kinds of malignancies.
Dinosaurs and Reasonable Disagreement
Authors: Turnbull Margaret Greta ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: August 2021

Most philosophical discussions of disagreement have used idealized disagreements to draw conclusions about the nature of disagreement. I closely examine an actual, non-idealized disagreement in dinosaur paleobiology and show that it can not only teach us about the features of some of our real world disagreements, but can help us to argue for the possibility of reasonable real world disagreement.
Implementing and Managing a Data Curation Workflow in the Cloud
Authors: Rios Fernando , Ly Chun
Published: August 2021

Objective: To increase data quality and ensure compliance with appropriate policies, many institutional data repositories curate data that is deposited into their systems. Here, we present our experience as an academic library implementing and managing a semi-automated, cloud-based data curation workflow for a recently launched institutional data repository. Based on our experiences we then present management observations intended for data repository managers and technical staff looking to move some or all of their curation services to the cloud.

Methods: We implemented tooling for our curation workflow in a service-oriented manner, making significant use of our data repository platform’s application programming interface (API). With an eye towards sustainability, a guiding development philosophy has been to automate processes following industry best practices while avoiding solutions with high resource needs (e.g., maintenance), and minimizing the risk of becoming locked-in to specific tooling.

Results: The initial barrier for implementing a data curation workflow in the cloud was high in comparison to on-premises curation, mainly due to the need to develop in-house cloud expertise. However, compared to the cost for on-premises servers and storage, infrastructure costs have been substantially lower. Furthermore, in our particular case, once the foundation had been established, a cloud approach resulted in increased agility allowing us to quickly automate our workflow as needed.

Conclusions: Workflow automation has put us on a path toward scaling the service and a cloud based-approach has helped with reduced initial costs. However, because cloud-based workflows and automation come with a maintenance overhead, it is important to build tooling that follows software development best practices and can be decoupled from curation workflows to avoid lock-in.
Computational Reproducibility: A Practical Framework for Data Curators
Authors: Sawchuk Sandra L. , Khair Shahira
Published: August 2021

Introduction: This paper presents concrete and actionable steps to guide researchers, data curators, and data managers in improving their understanding and practice of computational reproducibility. Objectives: Focusing on incremental progress rather than prescriptive rules, researchers and curators can build their knowledge and skills as the need arises. This paper presents a framework of incremental curation for reproducibility to support open science objectives. Methods: A computational reproducibility framework developed for the Canadian Data Curation Forum serves as the model for this approach. This framework combines learning about reproducibility with recommended steps to improving reproducibility. Conclusion: Computational reproducibility leads to more transparent and accurate research. The authors warn that fear of a crisis and focus on perfection should not prevent curation that may be ‘good enough.’
Data Curation in Practice: Extract Tabular Data from PDF Files Using a Data Analytics Tool
Authors: Choi Allis J. , Xin Xuying
Published: August 2021

Data curation is the process of managing data to make it available for reuse and preservation and to allow FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) uses. It is an important part of the research lifecycle as researchers are often either required by funders or generally encouraged to preserve the dataset and make it discoverable and reusable. This has been especially important as the Open Access (OA) policy is being implemented in many institutions across the nation. In facilitating research data discovery and enhancing its easier reuse, an efficient data repository and its data curation play key roles. In this article, we briefly discuss the local institutional repository at Penn State University and the general data curation practices we adopt for the deposited files and datasets, then we focus on a data analytics tool that has recently been applied to extract tabular data from PDF files. This is an enhancement to the existing data curation practices as it adds additional tabular data to deposits with PDF files where tables are often embedded and not easily reused.
Plain Text & Character Encoding: A Primer for Data Curators
Authors: Erickson Seth
Published: August 2021

Plain text data consists of a sequence of encoded characters or “code points” from a given standard such as the Unicode Standard. Some of the most common file formats for digital data used in eScience (CSV, XML, and JSON, for example) are built atop plain text standards. Plain text representations of digital data are often preferred because plain text formats are relatively stable, and they facilitate reuse and interoperability. Despite its ubiquity, plain text is not as plain as it may seem. The set of standards used in modern text encoding (principally, the Unicode Character Set and the related encoding format, UTF-8) have complex architectures when compared to historical standards like ASCII. Further, while the Unicode standard has gained in prominence, text encoding problems are not uncommon in research data curation. This primer provides conceptual foundations for modern text encoding and guidance for common curation and preservation actions related to textual data.
Agroindustrial complex: problems and instigating trends
Authors: Zhuravleva Lyudmila Anatol'evna
Published: August 2021

The article analyzes the current problems, functional strategies and instigating trends of the agroindustrial complex. The author describes the possible ways of solving problems and considers the prospects for the development of small-scale enterprises based on the existing government support programs for rural areas. Among the most acute problems for the successful development of farms, the author identifies the following groups of problems: 1. Economic problems: rising prices for fuels and lubricants; the volatility of the ruble exchange rate; the constant increase in tariffs for gas, electricity, fertilizers, machinery for agricultural production; the disproportion of prices of products and resources spent on their production; the lack of long-term supportive programs of preferential lending and leasing services; low level of innovation and investment activity; low level of solvency of the population; unsatisfactory state of telephone and Internet communications, roads and transport links; monopolization of sales markets by large agricultural holdings; insufficient development of marketing and logistics issues; weak image advertising of farm products and the lack of integrated marketing communications, which reduce the profitability and profitability of agricultural production. 2. Technological problems: technical and technological lagging behind the developed countries; low technological efficiency of agricultural production of peasant farms; a high degree of deterioration of the equipment and machinery. 3. Ecological problems: industrial and agricultural enterprises impacting on the environment; the inrease in land fertility; the use of pesticides leading to soil and water pollution; the lack of effective control over the quality and safety of food. 4. Social problems of rural areas: the lack of educational institutions with educational services of high quality and developed infrastructure; the lack of jobs for the adult population and youth's low interest in farming as a way of life; domestic problems. 
A feedback loop between the androgen receptor and 6-phosphogluoconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) drives prostate cancer growth
Authors: Gillis Joanna L , Hinneh Josephine A , Ryan Natalie K , Irani Swati , Moldovan Max , Quek Lake-Ee , Shrestha Raj K , Hanson Adrienne R , Xie Jianling , Hoy Andrew J , Holst Jeff , Centenera Margaret M , Mills Ian G , Lynn David J , Selth Luke A , Butler Lisa M
Published: August 2021

Alterations to the androgen receptor (AR) signalling axis and cellular metabolism are hallmarks of prostate cancer. This study provides insight into both hallmarks by uncovering a novel link between AR and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Specifically, we identify 6-phosphogluoconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) as an androgen-regulated gene that is upregulated in prostate cancer. AR increased the expression of 6PGD indirectly via activation of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1). Accordingly, loss of 6PGD, AR or SREBP1 resulted in suppression of PPP activity as revealed by 1,2-13C2 glucose metabolic flux analysis. Knockdown of 6PGD also impaired growth and elicited death of prostate cancer cells, at least in part due to increased oxidative stress. We investigated the therapeutic potential of targeting 6PGD using two specific inhibitors, physcion and S3, and observed substantial anti-cancer activity in multiple models of prostate cancer, including aggressive, therapy-resistant models of castration-resistant disease as well as prospectively collected patient-derived tumour explants. Targeting of 6PGD was associated with two important tumour-suppressive mechanisms: first, increased activity of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which repressed anabolic growth-promoting pathways regulated by acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1); and second, enhanced AR ubiquitylation, associated with a reduction in AR protein levels and activity. Supporting the biological relevance of positive feedback between AR and 6PGD, pharmacological co-targeting of both factors was more effective in suppressing the growth of prostate cancer cells than single-agent therapies. Collectively, this work provides new insight into the dysregulated metabolism of prostate cancer and provides impetus for further investigation of co-targeting AR and the PPP as a novel therapeutic strategy.
Separable pupillary signatures of perception and action during perceptual multistability
Authors: Brascamp Jan W , de Hollander Gilles , Wertheimer Michael D , DePew Ashley N , Knapen Tomas
Published: August 2021

The pupil provides a rich, non-invasive measure of the neural bases of perception and cognition and has been of particular value in uncovering the role of arousal-linked neuromodulation, which alters both cortical processing and pupil size. But pupil size is subject to a multitude of influences, which complicates unique interpretation. We measured pupils of observers experiencing perceptual multistability—an ever-changing subjective percept in the face of unchanging but inconclusive sensory input. In separate conditions, the endogenously generated perceptual changes were either task-relevant or not, allowing a separation between perception-related and task-related pupil signals. Perceptual changes were marked by a complex pupil response that could be decomposed into two components: a dilation tied to task execution and plausibly indicative of an arousal-linked noradrenaline surge, and an overlapping constriction tied to the perceptual transient and plausibly a marker of altered visual cortical representation. Constriction, but not dilation, amplitude systematically depended on the time interval between perceptual changes, possibly providing an overt index of neural adaptation. These results show that the pupil provides a simultaneous reading on interacting but dissociable neural processes during perceptual multistability, and suggest that arousal-linked neuromodulator release shapes action but not perception in these circumstances.
Human immunocompetent Organ-on-Chip platforms allow safety profiling of tumor-targeted T-cell bispecific antibodies
Authors: Kerns S Jordan , Belgur Chaitra , Petropolis Debora , Kanellias Marianne , Barrile Riccardo , Sam Johannes , Weinzierl Tina , Fauti Tanja , Freimoser-Grundschober Anne , Eckmann Jan , Hage Carina , Geiger Martina , Ng Patrick Ray , Tien-Street William , Manatakis Dimitris V , Micallef Virginie , Gerard Regine , Bscheider Michael , Breous-Nystrom Ekaterina , Schneider Anneliese , Giusti Anna Maria , Bertinetti-Lapatki Cristina , Grant Heather Shannon , Roth Adrian B , Hamilton Geraldine A , Singer Thomas , Karalis Katia , Moisan Annie , Bruenker Peter , Klein Christian , Bacac Marina , Gjorevski Nikolce , Cabon Lauriane
Published: August 2021

Traditional drug safety assessment often fails to predict complications in humans, especially when the drug targets the immune system. Here, we show the unprecedented capability of two human Organs-on-Chips to evaluate the safety profile of T-cell bispecific antibodies (TCBs) targeting tumor antigens. Although promising for cancer immunotherapy, TCBs are associated with an on-target, off-tumor risk due to low levels of expression of tumor antigens in healthy tissues. We leveraged in vivo target expression and toxicity data of TCBs targeting folate receptor 1 (FOLR1) or carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) to design and validate human immunocompetent Organs-on-Chips safety platforms. We discovered that the Lung-Chip and Intestine-Chip could reproduce and predict target-dependent TCB safety liabilities, based on sensitivity to key determinants thereof, such as target expression and antibody affinity. These novel tools broaden the research options available for mechanistic understandings of engineered therapeutic antibodies and assessing safety in tissues susceptible to adverse events.
FDI Time Series Forecasts: Evidence from Emerging Markets
Authors: Dobrota Marina , Zornić Nikola , Marković Aleksandar
Published: August 2021

Research Question: This paper investigates the trend and flow of foreign direct investments (FDI) in emerging markets, with the focus on FDI in Serbia in comparison with akin countries from the region. Motivation: FDI is an important factor of growth and prosperity in developing countries. It largely influences trade, productivity, and economic development of a receiving country. Based on UNCTAD’s World Investment Report of 2019, the share of global FDI in developing countries was 54 per cent, which was a record. Recently, Serbia has been recognized as one of the most popular destinations for FDI in Southeastern Europe. This motivated us to analyze the chances and possibilities of enlargement of FDI in Serbia, as well in other Balkan countries. Idea: The main idea of the paper is to analyze and estimate time series of FDI net inflows for Serbia. We strive to investigate whether FDI demonstrates the durable growth in the future period of time. Furthermore, we compare the state of Serbian FDI with the former Yugoslav countries, in search for disparities or similarities. Data: We observed the FDI net inflows that are measured in current US dollars, while the data were retrieved from the World Bank database. The earliest available time point is 1992, while the latest available year of observation is 2018. Tools: We estimated the FDI net flow time series using a list of suitable ARIMA models, and we have chosen the best model fit among them using AIC and BIC criteria. Findings: We have found that Serbia and North Macedonia show a mild growth in future investments. A significant percentage of the cumulative FDI inflows from EU companies have been invested precisely in Serbia, while in North Macedonia, fostering FDI has been promoted as one of the main instruments for employment and economic development. Oher Yugoslav countries tend to stagnate in the future period, which is in literature called a negative ‘Western Balkans’ effect on FDI. Contribution: Findings of the mild growth in FDI inflows in Serbia and North Macedonia contribute to the policy of attracting the FDI inflows in the countries of Southeastern Europe.
Challenges of Financial Risk Management: AI Applications
Authors: Bogojevic Arsic Vesna
Published: August 2021

Research Question: This paper reviews different artificial intelligence (AI) techniques application in financial risk management. Motivation: Financial technology has significantly changed the business operations which required transformation of financial industry. The financial risk management needs to be restructured because the methods that have been used in the past became low effective. The artificial intelligence techniques proved their efficiency and contributed to fast, low–cost and improved financial risk management in both financial institutions and companies. Idea: The aim of this paper is to present a state of AI techniques application in financial risk management, as well as to point out the direction in which further application and development could be expected. Data: The analysis was conducted by reviewing various papers, books and reports on AI applications in financial risk management. Tools: The relevant literature systematization was used to provide answers to the question to what extent AI techniques (especially machine learning) could be used in managing financial risk management. Findings: Artificial intelligence largely improved the market risk and credit risk management through data preparation, modelling risk, stress testing and model validation. Artificial intelligence techniques can be useful in data quality assurance, text-mining for data augmentation and fraud detection. The financial technology will continue to affect the financial sector through requiring the adaption to new environment and new business models. Because of that, it could be expected that artificial intelligence will become part of the financial risk management framework. Contribution: This paper provides a review of artificial intelligence applications in market risk management, credit risk management and operational risk management. The paper identified the key AI techniques that could be used for financial risk management improvement because of financial industry transformation.
Enabling Equal Opportunity in Logistic Regression Algorithm
Authors: Radovanović Sandro , Ivić Marko
Published: August 2021

Research Question: This paper aims at adjusting the logistic regression algorithm to mitigate unwanted discrimination shown towards race, gender, etc. Motivation: Decades of research in the field of algorithm design have been dedicated to making a better prediction model. Many algorithms are designed and improved, which made them better than the judgments of people and even experts. However, in recent years it has been discovered that predictive models can make unwanted discrimination. Such unwanted discrimination in the predictive model can lead to legal consequences. In order to mitigate the problem of unwanted discrimination, we propose equal opportunity between privileged and discriminated groups in the logistic regression algorithm. Idea: Our idea is to add a regularization term in the goal function of the logistic regression. Therefore, our predictive model will solve both the social problem and the predictive problem. More specifically, our model will provide fair and accurate predictions. Data: The data used in this research present U.S. census data describing individuals using personal characteristics with a goal to provide a binary classification model for predicting if an individual has an annual salary above $50k. The dataset used is known for disparate impact regarding female individuals. In addition, we used the COMPAS dataset aimed at predicting recidivism. COMPAS is biased toward African-Americans. Tools: We developed a novel regularization technique for equal opportunity in the logistic regression algorithm. The proposed regularization is compared against classical logistic regression and fairness constraint logistic regression, using a ten-fold cross-validation. Findings: The results suggest that equal opportunity logistic regression manages to create a fair prediction model. More specifically, our model improved both disparate impact and equal opportunity compared to classical logistic regression, with a minor loss in prediction accuracy. Compared to the disparate impact constrained logistic regression, our approach has higher prediction accuracy and equal opportunity, while having a lower disparate impact. By inspecting the coefficients of our approach and classical logistic regression, one can see that proxy attribute coefficients are reduced to very low values. Contribution: The main contribution of this paper is in the methodological part. More specifically, we implemented an equal opportunity in the logistic regression algorithm.
Biogeography, diversity and environmental relationships of shelf and deep-sea benthic Amphipoda around Iceland
Authors: Lörz Anne-Nina , Kaiser Stefanie , Oldeland Jens , Stolter Caroline , Kürzel Karlotta , Brix Saskia
Published: August 2021

The waters around Iceland, bounding the Northern North Atlantic and the Nordic seas, are a region characterized by complex hydrography and seabed topography. This and the presence of the Greenland-Iceland-Faroe-Scotland ridge (GIFR) are likely to have a major impact on the diversity and distribution of the benthic fauna there. Biodiversity in this region is also under increasing threat from climate-induced changes, ocean warming and acidification in particular, affecting the marine realm. The aim of the present study was to investigate the biodiversity and distributional patterns of amphipod crustaceans in Icelandic waters and how it relates to environmental variables and depth. A comprehensive data set from the literature and recent expeditions was compiled constituting distributional records for 355 amphipod species across a major depth gradient (18–3,700 m). Using a 1° hexagonal grid to map amphipod distributions and a set of environmental factors (depth, pH, phytobiomass, velocity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved iron, salinity and temperature) we could identify four distinct amphipod assemblages: A Deep-North, Deep-South, and a Coastal cluster as well as one restricted to the GIFR. In addition to depth, salinity and temperature were the main parameters that determined the distribution of amphipods. Diversity differed greatly between the depth clusters and was significantly higher in coastal and GIFR assemblages compared to the deep-sea clusters north and south of the GIFR. A variety of factors and processes are likely to be responsible for the perceived biodiversity patterns, which, however, appear to vary according to region and depth. Low diversity of amphipod communities in the Nordic basins can be interpreted as a reflection of the prevailing harsh environmental conditions in combination with a barrier effect of the GIFR. By contrast, low diversity of the deep North Atlantic assemblages might be linked to the variable nature of the oceanographic environment in the region over multiple spatio-temporal scales. Overall, our study highlights the importance of amphipods as a constituent part of Icelandic benthos. The strong responses of amphipod communities to certain water mass variables raise the question of whether and how their distribution will change due to climate alteration, which should be a focus of future studies.
Small-scale variation in a pristine montane cloud forest: evidence on high soil fungal diversity and biogeochemical heterogeneity
Authors: Velez Patricia , Tapia-Torres Yunuen , García-Oliva Felipe , Gasca-Pineda Jaime
Published: August 2021

Montane cloud forests are fragile biodiversity hotspots. To attain their conservation, disentangling diversity patterns at all levels of ecosystem organization is mandatory. Biotic communities are regularly structured by environmental factors even at small spatial scales. However, studies at this scale have received less attention with respect to larger macroscale explorations, hampering the robust view of ecosystem functioning. In this sense, fungal small-scale processes remain poorly understood in montane cloud forests, despite their relevance. Herein, we analyzed soil fungal diversity and ecological patterns at the small-scale (within a 10 m triangular transect) in a pristine montane cloud forest of Mexico, using ITS rRNA gene amplicon Illumina sequencing and biogeochemical profiling. We detected a taxonomically and functionally diverse fungal community, dominated by few taxa and a large majority of rare species (81%). Undefined saprotrophs represented the most abundant trophic guild. Moreover, soil biogeochemical data showed an environmentally heterogeneous setting with patchy clustering, where enzymatic activities suggest distinctive small-scale soil patterns. Our results revealed that in this system, deterministic processes largely drive the assemblage of fungal communities at the small-scale, through multifactorial environmental filtering.
Exploring the role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in fibroblast-like synovial cells in rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Tong Xiang , Yu Dongdong , Yu Li , Chen Weiqian , Wen Yanling , Gu Pengcheng
Published: August 2021

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease with persistent synovitis. In the present study, the impact of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) was explored to determine methods for the diagnosis and treatment of RA.

Methods

First, fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) were obtained from a collagen-induced rat RA model. Next, MCP-1-overexpression plasmid and small interfering RNA were transfected into human and rat FLSs. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), Transwell migration and flow cytometry assays were used to analyze cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis of FLSs following MCP-1 transfections, respectively. Furthermore, western blotting was used to analyze the expression levels of p-P38, p-PI3K, PI3K, CD31, VEGF, TNF-α and IL-β in FLSs following MCP-1 transfection. In addition, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and ELISAs were used to analyze the expression levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), estrogen receptor, MCP-1 and pentraxin-3 in patients with clinical RA, followed by correlation analysis of clinical data. Finally, expression validation, diagnostic and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis of MCP-1 were performed.

Results

MCP-1 promoted FLS proliferation and migration, and affected the apoptosis of FLSs. In addition, the expression levels of p-P38, p-PI3K, PI3K, CD31, VEGF, TNF-α and IL-β were also affected by MCP-1. In patients with clinical RA, the expression level of MCP-1 was increased. Moreover, CRP expression level was significantly up-regulated in RA. Clinically, MCP-1 was strongly correlated with tender joint count, swollen joint count, visual analog scale for general health and disease activity score 28 (DAS28)-MCP-1, and was moderately correlated with DAS28 and DAS28-CRP. PPI analysis showed that MCP-1 mainly interacted with other inflammatory cytokines.

Conclusion

In conclusion, MCP-1 may play a significant regulatory role in RA, and could be used as a measurement index of clinical RA activity.
Functional Properties of Complementary Food from Millet (Pennisetum glaucum), African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa), and Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) Flour Blends: A Comparative Study
Authors: Eke-Ejiofor Joy N. , Ojimadu Adelaide E. , Wordu Gabriel O. , Ofoedu Chigozie E.
Published: August 2021

The progress towards exploring the potentials of underutilized indigenous food sources via product development to curb food wastage and agro-food extinction is a way of attaining food nutrition and security within a region. In this context, a comparative study involving some functional properties of complementary food from some underutilized foods (millet, African yam bean, and jackfruit) was carried out. Briefly, millet, African yam bean, and jackfruit were subjected to series of processing treatments such as malting, pre-gelatinization, drying, and milling, followed by blending into various ratios to obtain different samples of composite flours as a complementary food. From these, the functional properties, that is, water absorption capacity (WAC), loose bulk density (LBD), packed bulk density (PBD), foam capacity (FC), swelling index (SI), dispersibility, wettability, and sinkability were determined. Results showed that malting and pre-gelatinization influenced the intrinsic functional properties of the flour blends. In addition, composite flours containing malted samples had significantly lower (p<0.05) dispersibility, SI, WAC, LBD, and PBD, but significantly higher (p<0.05) wettability and sinkability. The variations in flour substitution showed no impact on the flour functionality except for SI and dispersibility. All composite flours exhibited an appreciable level of functionality and suitability to be used as a complementary food for weaning purposes. Overall, this research has demonstrated the potentials of utilizing millet, African yam bean, and jackfruit as sustainable nutrient-dense food materials for the production of complementary food.
Conservation Status of Shark Landed in Local Fish Market in Pangandaran Regency, Indonesia
Authors: Permana Rega , Nursaidah . , Hadi Ihda Abdul , Rinaldi Idham
Published: August 2021

Pangandaran has a great fishery potential. Therefore, fishing communities make fisheries a source of economy, especially in the fishing sector, namely by buying and selling the catch. Fish buying and selling activities are increasing in line with the fish consumption needs of the community. This has an effect on increasing fishing activity, causing a decrease in fish production. The study was conducted to find out information on the IUCN group of fish that are still sold in the fish market. The research was conducted by direct observation in the field at the Pangandaran fish market and its surroundings. Observations show that the Pangandaran fish market still sells fish that are listed in the IUCN. There are sharks and ray fish sold at the Pangandaran fish market. The species found were 3 species spread over five observation locations with details of one species listed IUCN-Least concern, and one species registered IUCN-Vulnerable for hammerhead shark and IUCN- Near Threatened for blacktip shark. The sharks identified as Appendix II species while the freshwater stingray belongs to Appendix III of CITES. Because endangered fish are still sold routinely, conservation is needed to preserve the biota. Fisheries management in the catching process also needs to be done so that endangered fish caught can be minimized.
Soil Chemical Properties Changes under Alley Cropping in Terrace Ecosystem of Bangladesh
Authors: Alam A. S. M. J. , Saha S. R. , Miah M. G. , Rahman M. M. , Islam M. R. , Das A. K.
Published: August 2021

Soil health needs to be improved for the sustenance of a productive agriculture and sound environment where alley cropping system might play a vital role. The study was composed of two factors viz. three alley widths of Gliricidia sepium (3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 m), and five nitrogen levels (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of the recommended dose) along with pruned materials in a split-plot design with three replications. The soil chemical properties were examined in alleys of Gliricidia sepium tree over two consecutive seasons. Results displayed that pruned materials (PM) of G. sepium increased the soil pH, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S), exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soil in different alley widths compared to the control. However, alley width 3.0 m and 100% N along with PM displayed the maximum OC (0.94%), total N (0.21%), available P (16.26 ppm), exchangeable Ca (2.54 meq/100 g) and Mg (0.90 meq/100 g), while maximum exchangeable K and CEC were noted in alley width 4.5 m and 100% N along with PM. The above results explicated that the improvement of the soil chemical properties by using pruned materials of G. sepium in alleys can be a promising option for uplifting the soil health condition as well as sustainable agricultural practices.
Phytochemicals, Heavy Metal and Proximate Analysis of Parkia biglobosa and Three Varieties of Bouillon Cubes (Purchased From Iyana Iba Market, Ojo Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria
Authors: Adu A. A. , Aderinola O. J. , Avoseh O. , Bamiwola R. S. , Adegorite A. E. , Olaoye T. H. , Adeboyejo O. A.
Published: August 2021

Despite the huge nutritional values and availability of local seasonings such as Parkia biglobosa, knorr chicken as food seasonings, some developing countries like Nigeria require more information on the needs for increasing their utilization. Analysis was done using standard analytical methods, to compare the nutritional and heavy metal composition of P. biglobosa seed and bouillon cubes (Knorr chicken, magi star and Tasty cubes). The specific focus was to find out the proximate analysis (carbohydrate, fat, protein and vitamin), heavy metals, Minerals and phytochemicals composition of P. biglobosa and bouillon cubes. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used in the determination of the levels of (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn). Phytochemicals, including phytic acid, tannins, carotenoids, phenols, saponins and hydrocyanic acid were also determined using method of Ola and Oboh [19]. The result shows that the seeds of P. biglobosa had significantly higher (p<0.05) Moisture (17.530±3.686) crude protein (25.722±3.524%), crude fat (27.536±2.273%) and Crude fiber (6.540±1.795%) contents compared to the bouillon cubes (Knorr chicken, Maggi Star, tasty cubes). The bouillon cubes had significantly higher (p>0.05) contents of ash (22.188±0.950, 24.092±0.911, 22.880±0.736) which is found to be low in P. biglobosa seed. Carbohydrate level in bouillon cubes were also found to have higher means values of (28.87±1.581, 46.785±2.243, 38.035±12.574). The minerals content of the analyzed samples shows that the P. biglobosa seeds have higher means value in Ca (126.285±16.393), Na (150.820±25.075), and K (1454.432±199.575) and bouillon  cubes were also found to be high in  (Ca, Na , K , Fe), respectively. While the values of (Mn, Zn, Cr  Cb, Pb  pH) were found to have low mean value which were higher than WHO permissible limits. For the ANFs,  P. biglobosa seeds recorded higher levels of  Phytic acid (31.171±8.369 mg/100g), saponins (15.767±4.663 mg/100g) and tannins (55.772±6.655 mg/100g), Total carotenoids (41.561±2.632), Total phenols (65.689±14.439), Hydrocyanic acid (7.618±1.922mg/100g) and Ascorbic acid (101.025±11.670 mg/100g) while it was not detected (ND) in bouillon cubes on analysis. T he heavy metal contents in P. biglobosa was found to be high in copper with mean value of (2.478±2.077) while it was found to be insignificant in (Cr, Cb, and pb)  and are not within the recommended value by WHO. The overall results are suggestive of higher nutritional quality of the Parkia biglobosa seeds than the bouillon cubes. It was therefore recommended that information concerning the use of local seasonings should be made available through public awareness campaign.
GC-MS Analysis of the Rauwolfia vomitoria Ethanol Extracts
Authors: Asoro I. I. , Ebuehi O. A. T. , Igwo-Ezikpe M. N.
Published: August 2021

Bioactive compounds are the frontline potent agents in both nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical industries. The bioactive compounds are gaining much importance for their ability in enhancing resistance to various diseases and to improve the health of people both by traditional and modern ways of administrations. R. vomitoria is one of the medicinal plants used traditionally to manage hypertension, diabetes and mental disorder. This present study sought to characterize the bioactive components of R. vomitoria leaf and root ethanol extracts using Gas-Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC-MS). The results of the GC-MS analysis provide different peaks indicating the presence of 22 phytochemicals in the plant leaf and 16 phytochemicals in the root. The major bioactive compounds in the leaf were squalene (18.69%), phytol (16.47%), n-hexadecanoic acid (15.68%), 7-tetradecenal, (Z) (12.90%), 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, ethyl ester, (Z,Z)-, (9.56%) and others, while the roots contains; cis-vaccenic acid (32.13%), n-hexadecanoic acid (15.41%), (E)-9-octadecenoic acid ethyl ester (9.83), cyclohexanecarbonitrile 1-(-4- chlorophenyl (9.45%), 8H-azeceno[5,4-b] indol-8-one, 5-ethylidene (7.66%) and other minor compounds. Pharmacological activities of these compounds indicated that the compounds present in the leaf of the plant can be used as a crude drug which could be developed into a novel drug. Some of these compounds have antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic as well as cancer preventive activities amongst others. The findings suggest that there is an indication that both R. vomitoria leaves and roots contain potent bioactive compounds that may be linked to its beneficial effects on health, with the leaf taking the lead. It is therefore recommended as a plant of phytopharmaceutical significance.