bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Population study: Incidence of Congenital Cataracts and Efficacy of Screening Programme
Authors: Pritchard Edward , Tan Rosanne , Shirley Kate , George Sonia , McLoone Eibhlin
Published: October 2022

Background
The red reflex test (RRT) is widely used as a screening tool to detect congenital cataract. This study aims to determine the incidence of congenital cataract in Northern Ireland and to evaluate the success of the RRT screening programme.
Methods
Retrospective review of consecutive abnormal red reflex referrals in 2017 and 2018 inclusive. We collected data on the source and timing of referral, diagnostic outcome, visually significant cataract, and surgical intervention. Additionally, data was collected on all cases of confirmed congenital cataract diagnosed in the Regional Paediatric Ophthalmology Service within the same time period.
Results
In the study period, 179 children with suspected red reflex abnormalities were referred. In the same period, thirteen patients were diagnosed with visually significant congenital cataract under one year. Eight (62%) were female and seven (54%) affected both eyes. Only 46% were detected through the screening programme. Three children were above one year of age at the time of diagnosis with sub-optimal outcomes. Six patients were diagnosed with non-visually significant congenital cataract and one juvenile onset were not included. Eight infants diagnosed with lens opacities required surgical intervention. Incidence of visually significant congenital cataract in Northern Ireland was calculated at 2.8 per ten thousand live births per year.
Conclusions
Northern Ireland has a similar incidence of congenital cataract compared to the remainder of the UK. This study highlights that red reflex screening requires further refinement, which can be augmented by pupillary dilatation, to ensure timely diagnosis and improve visual outcomes. ​
Degradation characteristics of four different diets in the rumen of goat
Authors: ismartoyo ismartoyo , Islamiyati Rohmiyatul , Muhammad Rusdy , Wijaya Andi Ikhsan
Published: October 2022

The main aim of this experiment in sacco was to examine the characteristic degradation of four grasses in the rumen of goat. Those of four grasses studied were R1 = Elephant grass, R2 = Mini elephant grass, R3 = Panicum maximum grass, and R4 = Brachiaria decumbens grass. Randomised complete design (RCD) was employed to allocate four fistulated goat. The protocol for this study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the University of Hasanuddin Makassar, before the commencement of the experiment. Goat was kept in an individual metabolism crate and fed with general purpose diets. A general purpose (GP) diet was mixed with equal amounts of those 4 grasses Elephant grass (R1), Mini elephant grass (R2), Panicum maximum grass (R3) and Brachiaria decumbens grass (R4). The GP diet was added with 20% of rice bran. Water and salt were provided ad libitum. Voluntary feed intake was then measured every day by weighing feed offered at 7am and feed residue at 7 am in the next day. In order to determine the DM degradability, 3 g samples of four grasses were weighed in duplicates into standard nylon bags. The bags were incubated in the rumen and withdrawn after 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72h. The result of this experiment showed that the average of feed voluntary feed intakes was dry matter 460.5g/d, organic matter 984.9g/d, and crude protein 139.8g/d, respectively. The dry matter loss at 72h after incubation was R1 = 55.7%, R2 = 55.6%, R3 = 53.2%, and R4 = 46.1%, respectively. The crude protein loss after 72h of incubation was 71.9%, 62.7%, 72.1%, and 62.5%, respectively. The characteristics degradation of R1was a = 9.9%, b = 64.4%, and c = 0.05; R2 was a = 16.5%. b = 45.3%. c = 0.04; R3 was a = 7.4%. b = 68.2%. and c = 0.04; and R4 was a = 6.7%, b = 56.2%, and c = 0.06. Mini elephant grass had the longest of lag time (4.2h) compared to that of other grass studied (average 1.2h). It is concluded that all grasses investigated were acceptable, palatable, and readily degradable by rumen microbes in the rumen of goat. Therefor those of 4 grasses are a good feed resources for ruminant.
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Metabolic Bone Disease in Men with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Kamaruzaman Hanis Rabeah , Hatta Sharifah Faradila Wan Muhamad , Sharif Nur Hidayati Mohd , Ismail Zaliha , Idorus Mohd Yusri , Rahman Thuhairah Hasrah Abdul , Razali Rafezah , Ghani Rohana Abdul
Published: October 2022

INTRODUCTION Postmenopausal women and people over the age of 70 are more likely to develop osteoporosis. It is recognized as significant comorbidity among those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and male fractures are on the rise with higher rates of mortality than women (37.5% vs 28.2% respectively). However, there is a scarcity of data linking T2DM and metabolic bone disease in men.
OBJECTIVE Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of metabolic bone diseases, including osteoporosis and osteopenia, and the associated factors, bone turnover markers, and vitamin D in men with T2DM.
METHOD This is a cross-sectional, single-center study in men above 50 years of age with T2DM, conducted from December 2021 to June 2022. Demographic data, baseline comorbidities, and biochemical profiles including urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) was obtained. Bone turnover markers including C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) and bone-specific alkaline phosphates (bsALP) were measured. Osteoporosis and osteopenia were determined by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA).
RESULT Total of 148 men with T2DM with a median age of 64 (IqR 11) years was recruited. The prevalence of metabolic bone disease in the study population was 20.3%. Multivariate analysis shows total bilirubin level [OR: 1.13 (95% CI: 1.050, 1.223) p<0.001], high intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level ≥6.9 pmol/L [OR 3.05 (95% CI: 1.141, 8.187), p=0.026] and use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP4i) [OR 0.274 (95% CI: 0.093, 0.809) p=0.01] are predictors of metabolic bone disease in the study population.
CONCLUSION Metabolic bone disease affects about 1 in 5 men with T2DM patients, and its risk factors include increased total bilirubin and iPTH level. The use of DPP4i for the treatment of T2DM was shown to be somewhat protective against metabolic bone disease. There is a need to identify metabolic bone disease in men with T2DM so early intervention could be initiated to prevent fractures.
In vitro and in vivo profile of PT-31 GIRSUPAN, a novel α2-adrenoceptor agonist with analgesic properties
Authors: Cimatti Hellen Mariana Baldan , Pestana Kelly Chrystina , de Moraes Luis Henrique Oliveira , Planeta Cleopatra da Silva , Pitta Maira Galdino da Rocha , Pitta Ivan da Rocha , Peccinini Rosângela Gonçalves
Published: October 2022

The compound 3-(2-chloro-6-fluoro-benzyl)-imidazolidine-2,4-dione (PT-31 GIRSUPAN; PT-31) has analgesic effects through the activation of a2-adrenoceptors in the central nervous system. Furthermore, when administered via the intraperitoneal (IP) route in mice (15 mg/kg), the compound shows a synergistic effect with morphine. This study aimed to investigate some properties of PT-31, namely partition coefficient (logP) and chemical stability in vitro (buffer) and ex vivo (rat plasma), and to evaluate its pharmacokinetic profile in Wistar rats after IP and oral administration as a single dose. PT-31 was also administered alone and combined with morphine in Wistar rats to assess liver and kidney toxicity and the potential for addiction. An HPLC-MS/MS bioanalytical method was developed and validated to determine PT-31, which showed suitable confidence limits for the intended application. The log P of PT-31 was 1.2 using the shake flask method. In the pharmacokinetic study of the compound administered alone, the clearance (Cl) observed was similar between IP and oral routes, but the distribution volume (0.978 and 0.681 L/kg, respectively) and elimination half-life (3.7 and 2.9 h, respectively) were significantly higher in oral administration (p<0.05). The compound has high oral absorption compared to that IP administration. PT-31 when combined with morphine showed changes in pharmacokinetic parameters. No changes in biochemical parameters related to liver and kidney function were observed. The results of locomotor activity demonstrated that the compound did not change the behavior of the animals at the doses administered (3, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg), indicating that the compound had no addictive potential. These findings showed that the PT-31 GIRSUPAN has promising features for potential clinical application.
DNA methylation feature differences by gender in sarcopenia using data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study
Authors: Lee Sangyeob , Gim Jeong-An , Kim Seung Chan , Baek Kyung-Wan , Yoo Jun-Il
Published: October 2022

Background: Sarcopenia is progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that can lead to physical impairment, poor quality of life, and death. DNA methylation is being studied as a hallmark with a crucial influence on aging and sarcopenia. However, studies have limitations in that they depended on a small sample size, and did not distinguish between those with sufficient muscle mass and those with insufficient muscle mass among the older people. Therefore, extensive studies on DNA methylation in older people with sarcopenia are needed.
Methods: We obtained Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KOGES) data conducted between 2009–2010 for analysis. We compared the demographic data of people with high muscle mass index (MMI) and those of people with low MMI. Furthermore, we conducted a DNA methylation study and investigated the effects of epigenetic factors on sarcopenia by identifying differentially methylated regions (DMRs). The pathfindR package of R software was used to perform DMR enrichment analysis to evaluate the relationship between identified DMRs and MMI according to gender.
Results: Muscle loss according to age was clearly revealed in men, but in women, the age difference according to MMI was not significant in demographic study. The enrichment analysis of DMRs showed that in the male group, human T-cell leukemia virus 1 infection showed the highest association, followed by allograft rejection, graft-versus-host disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and autoimmune thyroid disease. On the other hand, cell cycle showed the highest association, followed by ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and the MAPK signaling pathway in women group. In men, many DMRs related to autoimmune were found, and in women, the ubiquitin-proteasome system-related DMRs played an important role.
Conclusions: The present study results provide differences according to gender in the epigenetic study of sarcopenia and provide an insight in the direction of further sarcopenia research.
Study the Activity of Natural Ligands of Lettuce as Agonists in the Management of Uremic Pruritus: An In-Silico Simulation Survey
Authors: Habibzadeh Sepideh , Ziari Mitra , Didehban Khadijeh
Published: October 2022

Uremic pruritus frequently occurs in patients on dialysis for more than three months. It is one of the most prominent, debilitating, and distressing symptoms in these patients, and despite various studies, no definite treatment has been found. The purpose of this research is to investigate the outstanding potential of natural components of lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.) in the management of pruritus. ADME analysis and PASS predictions were employed to determine the drug likeliness potential of these natural ligands. A molecular docking study was performed on 19 bioactive ligands of lettuce against four protein receptors. The results showed that most of the selected compounds strongly react with kappa-opioid receptors 4DJH, 6VI4, 6B73, and G protein-coupled receptor 5ZTY and have better binding energies compared to the antipruritic drug gabapentin. The obtained docking scores (DS) and inhibition constants (Ki) revealed that the most potent antipruritic activities are exhibited by campesterol, δ-tocopherol, α-tocopherol, Δ-tocopherol, and α-lactucerol ligands. Our results from the MD simulation of the campesterol-5ZTY complex provide a theoretical validation that the ligand is stabilized in the protein active site. The binding free energy calculations quantitatively show that the association of the ligand to the protein increases the change in the total binding energy. This in-silico approach proposes that the natural ligands of lettuce could exert antipruritic effects by activating kappa-opioid receptors and may become recommended over synthetic drugs.
Anomalous retro-psoas iliac artery in a patient with Guillain-Barre syndrome: case report
Authors: Mouhsen Abdulmajeed , Rousan Liqa
Published: October 2022

The retro-psoas iliac artery is a rare vascular anomaly that has been reported few times in the literature; and while it may be clinically silent with no specific symptoms; reporting it can prevent many complications that may arise during surgical and interventional procedures. We report a case of a 40-year-old male who presented with progressive neurological symptoms, and was found to have a right retro-psoas iliac artery as an incidental finding on a lumbar spine MRI.
Bonding of isovalent homologous actinide and lanthanide pairs with chalcogenide donors: Effect of metal f-orbital participation and donor softness
Authors: Chattaraj Saparya , Bhattacharyya Arunasis
Published: October 2022

Chemistry of f-element gains importance in several fields due to the extensive scope of their applications. The aim of this study is to understand the subtle differences in bonding of theexceptionally similar actinides and their homologous (isovalent) lanthanides with several donors, which may lead to their covalency mediated separation. Several experimental and theoretical studies have been reported to address this aspect. However, to the best of our knowledge, systematic study on the variations in the bonding patterns of the isovalent ‘Ln’ and ‘An’ pairs encompassing the effect of valence f-orbitals participation was not encountered. In this study, the minute differences in covalent interactions of these isovalent f-element pairs with chalcogenide ions of varying softness via the metal (n-2)f orbital participation was probed using relativistic density functional theory (DFT). The f-electronic configurations of the metal ions were observed to play an important role in the f-orbital participation. f0, f7(half filled) [AnX]+/ [LnX]+pairs expresses resistance to f-orbital directed bonding, unlike the f3, f5, f6pairs. QTAIM study indicated that the f-orbital directed covalent bonding is pronounced for the [AnX]+systems of the latter set than the corresponding [LnX]+s, and it is near degeneracy driven. The extent of near degeneracy driven covalency was found to increase with the subsequent increase in the softness of the donor centres i.e. oxides through sulphides to selenides, although energetic stabilisation was not rendered. These results are anticipated to provide deeper understanding on exclusive differences in bonding of the homologous An3+/Ln3+ions with the chalcogenide donors.
Disposal of wood waste by granulation to produce biofuels
Authors: Malovanyy Myroslav , Paraniak Roman , Tymchuk Ivan , Zhuk Volodymyr , Ablіeіeva Iryna , Dziurakh Yurii
Published: October 2022

The perspective way of waste wood disposal by creation of pellet fuels has been considered. The prospects of using sulphate soap (a product of digestion of lignin from wood in pulp and paper production) as a binder for the creation of pellet fuels have been proved. Drying of waste woodto the required moisture is proposed to be carried out in an inviolable filtration layer. Optimal parameters of filtration drying and energy costs for the drying process are set for the conditions of the process implementation. The process of waste woodpelleting has been investigated and the optimal concentration of binder in the pellet has been established, which provides the necessary statistical strength and high calorific value of the pellet.
Assessment of Glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in malaria suspected patients attending at Shele and Lante Health Center, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Negash Meshesha T. , Feleke Sindew M. , Lo Eugenia , Nega Desalegn , Abebe Abnet , Dufera Boja , Kepple Daniel , Witherspoon Logan , Shenkutie Tassew T. , Adamu Aderaw , Gidey Bokretsion , Hailu Hiwot A. , Degu Sileshi , Kassie Enirsie , Mekonen Bacha , Yimer Mengistu , Golassa Lemu , Tassew Geremew , Dugassa Sisay
Published: October 2022

Background
In Ethiopia, an estimated 68 million peoples are at risk of malaria – 60% caused by Plasmodium falciparum and 40% by Plasmodium vivax. The national elimination program has begun a journey since 2016 with a vision to see a malaria-free country by 2030. The radical cure of P. vivax with the drug primaquine is an important component of the elimination strategy. However, Primaquine causes acute hemolytic anemia in glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme deficient cases and is a threat to P. vivax elimination. G6PD is a cytoplasmic enzyme for all human cells that involves in the pentose phosphate pathway of metabolic reaction and protects red blood cells from cellular oxidative damage by detoxifying free radicals. This study is therefore carried out to determine the G6PD deficiency prevalence among malaria-suspected patients in the study sites.
Method
Health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 at Shele and Lante health centers. A total of 858 self-presented malaria suspected patients were enrolled in this study. The socio-demographic and clinical information of the study participants were collected using a pre-validated questionnaire, entered into Epi Info™ 7 software, and analyzed using SPSS V.20 statistical software. Finger prick blood samples were collected for onsite CareSTART G6PD biosensor analyzer test, dried blood spot (DBS) preparation, and malaria microscopy. The DBS samples are used for molecular confirmation of G6PD deficiency.
Results
A total of 858 study participants of which 49.3% (423) were males with the median and interquartile age range of 26 and 21 years, respectively were enrolled in the study. Of all the study participants, 14.3%, 9.3%, and 4.1% were microscopy positive for P. falciparum, P. vivax, and mixed parasites, respectively. The phenotypic CareSTART biosensor analyzer G6PD deficiency rate was 4.8% (41/858). Whereas the molecular genotyping result analyzed in selected 13 patients have shown G6PD gene mutation in 10 (76.9%) of the samples. Particularly G267 + 119C/T mutations were seen in 9 of 13 (69.2%), A376G in 3/13 (23.1%), and G1116A in 3/13 (23.1%). In addition, new mutations such as A376T (A◊T) 2/13 (15.4%) and G1116T (G◊T 1/13 (77 %) were also identified.
Conclusion and recommendation
: The result implied that G6PD deficiency among the study participants is not significantly high. In addition, the G267 + 119C/T mutation was the most frequent variant reported in this study. Therefore, it is recommended to consider hemolysis risk while prescribing the primaquine drug in the study area.
The Role of Alcoholic Extract of Cranberry in Improving Serum Indices of Experimental Metaproterenol-induced Heart Damage in Rats
Authors: Salmasi Kimia , Hassanpour Ali , Tabrizi Bahram Amouoghli , Moghaddam Sina
Published: October 2022

Cranberry has countless cardiovascular benefits. According to some studies, this fruit causes the oxidation of low-capacity lipoprotein, improves high-capacity lipoprotein, reduces platelet coagulability, and promotes vascular activity. Albino male rats were divided into five groups (n = 5 per group). In the control group, normal saline was administered intraperitoneally. The second group was injected with metaproterenol (MET) three days a week for four weeks. The third, fourth, and fifth groups received 75, 100, and 150 doses of cranberry extract along with heart-damaging drugs. Then the blood samples were taken and sent to the laboratory on the fourth weekend and a week after finishing the injections in the fourth week (the sixth weekend) to check the serum factors, including cardiac creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). The serum activity of the cardiac evaluation parameters in the fourth week revealed a highly significant relationship between the studied groups regarding AST and cTnI (p˂0.001). Moreover, a significant relationship was reported between AST and cTnI among the target groups (p˂0.05). Finally, the findings revealed that the consumption of blueberry extract with its effect on heart function could effectively modify the serum indicators associated with heart damage. The used extract was also effective; however, its effects were not stable. Accordingly, it is recommended to be used synergistically with other chemical and herbal medicines to achieve more prolonged effects.
Wheat Leaf Disease classification using modified ResNet50 Convolutional Neural Network model
Authors: A USHA RUBY , J George Chellin Chandran , N Chaithanya B , J Swasthika Jain T , Patil Renuka
Published: October 2022

Wheat leaf disease prevention and treatment requires a accurate and rapid classification of wheat leaf diseases and their extent. Using healthy wheat, leaf rust, crown and root rot, and wheat loose smut as research objects, this study proposes a deep learning-based technique for classifying the wheat leaf diseases. A collaborative generative adversarial network is used as an image imputation in the proposed methodology, allowing a generator and discriminator network to properly estimate the missing data in the dataset using the residual method. It is used to improve the feature extraction in wheat leaf images. The major contribution of this study is to use a pre-trained deep learning convolutional neural network architecture as a foundation to improve and construct an automated tool for wheat leaf disease image categorization. To classify wheat leaf diseases, a modification to ResNet50 is being suggested. The ′Conv′, ′Batch Normaliz′, and ′Activation Leaky Relu′ layers were added as part of this modification. These layers are inserted into the ResNet50 architecture for accurate feature extraction and discrimination. Extensive tests are carried out to evaluate the proposed model's performance on photos from a large wheat disease classification dataset. The suggested approach outperforms ResNet50, InceptionV3, and DenseNet, according to the experimental findings. The suggested method achieves the greatest identification accuracy of 98.44%. These discoveries might aid in the accurate detection and categorization of wheat leaf diseases.
The UBA5-GABARAP-PERK axis promotes cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis by inhibiting autophagy and promoting endoplasmic reticulum stress
Authors: Wang Genchun , Sun Kai , Guo Zhou , Hou Liangcai , Zheng Zehang , Xu Jingting , Zhang Xiong , Ye Yaping , guo fengjing
Published: October 2022

purpose
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of disability in the elderly. Ubiquitin-like modifier-activated enzyme 5 (UBA5) is a critical factor in preventing cellular autophagy and causing endoplasmic reticulum stress but has not been studied in OA. We aimed and explored the involvement of the UBA5-GABARAP-PERK axis in regulating cartilage matrix metabolism and apoptosis in osteoarthritis.
Methods
Oxidative stress was induced using IL-1β, which disrupted the homeostatic balance of cartilage. In in vivo and in vitro experiments, Western blot, qt-QPCR, scanning electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, and mCherry-GFP-LC3 plasmid were applied to observe OA-associated cartilage degeneration, ROS production, mitochondrial function, autophagic flux, endoplasmic reticulum stress and matrix after application of UBA5 selective inhibitor DKM2-93, knockdown or overexpression of UBA5 changes in metabolic indicators. UBA5 adeno-associated virus was injected into the cavity of mice, and a mouse OA model was induced by DMM surgery. Histological analysis of cartilage degeneration was performed using immunohistochemistry, Safranin-O staining, HE staining, Micro-CT, OARSI, and synovitis score.
Results
Expression of UBA5 was increased in chondrocytes receiving IL-1β intervention. Knockdown of UBA5 in vivo and in vitro inhibited OA-related chondrogenic degeneration, alleviated mitochondrial dysfunction, stimulated autophagy, inhibited endoplasmic reticulum stress, reduced catabolism, and increased anabolism. Overexpression of UBA5 also promotes oxidative stress and disrupts the molecular signature of healthy chondrocytes. Mechanistically, the destructive function of UBA5 may be attributed to the activation of the PERK/ATF4 signaling pathway. Through immunoprecipitation experiments, UBA5 was shown to inhibit autophagy by interacting with GABARAP to activate the PERK signaling pathway. Inhibition of PERK attenuated UBA5-induced osteoarthritis. Our findings suggest that Jun-B and C-Jun transcription factors may promote UBA5 expression and inhibition of UBA5 expression by in vivo application of adeno-associated virus, reduce chondrocyte death, attenuate cartilage degeneration, and promote subchondral bone remodeling.
Conclusions
This study revealed that UBA5 might regulate chondrocyte matrix catabolism and anabolism through the UBA5-GABARAP-PERK axis, suggesting a potential role for UBA5 in OA cartilage injury.
Accurate identification of locally aneuploid cells by incorporating cytogenetic information in single cell data analysis
Authors: Li Ziyi , Li Ruoxing , Ganan-Gomez Irene , Abbas Hussein , Colla Simona , Garcia-Manero Guillermo , Sun Wei
Published: October 2022

Single-cell RNA sequencing is becoming an increasingly common tool to investigate the cellular population and patients' outcomes in cancer research. However, due to the sparse data and the complex tumor microenvironment, it is challenging to identify neoplastic cells that play important roles in tumor growth and disease progression. This challenge is exaggerated in the research of blood cancer patients, from whom the neoplastic cells can be highly similar to normal cells. Here, we present partCNV/partCNVH, a statistical framework for rapid and accurate detection of aneuploid cells with local copy number deletion or amplification. Our method uses an expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm with mixtures of Poisson distributions while incorporating cytogenetic information to guide the classification (partCNV). When applicable, we further improve the accuracy by integrating a hidden Markov model for feature selection (partCNVH). We evaluate the performance of the proposed methods using extensive simulation studies and three scRNA-seq datasets from patients with blood cancers. In these applications, our proposed methods demonstrate favorable accuracy and more interpretable results compared with existing methods. In the real data analysis, our results identify many biological processes that have or have not been previously validated, implying multiple biological processes involved in the oncogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia.
Specific KIR-HLA genotypes predict the outcomes of refractory or recurrent primary central nervous system lymphoma
Authors: Lin Zhiguang , Xu Huiwen , Ma Jingjing , Ma Yan , Li Qing , Kang Hui , Zhang Mengxue , Chen Bobin
Published: October 2022

Purpose

An effective salvage regimen for the reinduction of remission is lacking for refractory or recurrent primary central nervous system lymphoma (r/r PCNSL). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-dose cytarabine plus temozolomide in treating r/r PCNSL and to explore the associated prognostic factors.

Methods

A single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of high-dose cytarabine and temozolomide (AT) in r/r PCNSL patients. KIR and HLA genotyping was performed on peripheral blood samples from each patient.

Results

Thirty PCNSL patients receiving an AT regimen (cytarabine 3 g/m2 for 2 days combined with temozolomide 150 mg/m2 for 5 days) in our institution were analyzed. The median age was 65 years (range 25–79 years). A total of 43.4% of patients (13/30) achieved an overall response within a median follow-up of 16 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11–23 months). The median PFS and OS of the cohort were 1.75 months (95% CI: 1–4 months) and 19.5 months (95% CI: 11 months to not calculable), respectively. Patients harboring KIR3DL1/HLA-B genotypes predicting low affinity had a higher response rate (p = 0.042) and longer median PFS (3 months) than those with KIR3DL1/HLA-B genotypes predicting high affinity (1 month) (p = 0.0047). Cox regression analysis indicated that KIR/HLA-B genotypes were independently associated with PFS (p = 0.043). However, KIR/HLA-B genotypes had no impact on the OS of the cohort. The toxicity of AT treatment was mild and manageable.

Conclusion

The AT regimen was well tolerated, and patients with specific KIR-HLA genotypes may benefit from this regimen.
Trial registration number: ChiCTR2100054482
Date of registration: 2021-12-18
Registration status: prospective registration
Performance Evaluation of Matrix-Matrix Multiplication using Parallel Programming Models on CPU Platforms
Authors: Akoushideh Alireza , Shahbahrami Asadollah
Published: October 2022

Today’s hardware platforms have parallel processing capabilities and many parallel programming models have been developed. It is necessary to research an efficient implementation of compute-intensive applications using available platforms. Matrix-matrix multiplication is an important kernel used in many scientific and multimedia applications. This kernel is a compute-intensive program too. This paper aims to efficiently implement this kernel using different parallel programming models such as SIMD, OpenMP, and OpenCL. Our experiment results for different matrix sizes show that speedups up to 6.5x, 3.2x, 16.7x, and 32x are achieved for SIMD, OpenMP, hybrid OpenMP-SIMD, and OpenCL implementations over-optimized serial implementation, respectively.
Improving the productivity of malic acid by alleviating oxidative stress during Aspergillus niger fermentation
Authors: Wu Na , Xing Mingyan , Chen Yaru , Zhang Chi , Li Yingfeng , Song Ping , Xu Qing , Liu Hao , Huang He
Published: October 2022

Background
As an attractive platform chemical, malic acid has been commonly used in the food, feed and pharmaceutical field. Microbial fermentation of biobased sources to produce malic acid has attracted great attention, due to its sustainability and environment-friendly. However, most studies mainly focus on improving yield and ignore shortening fermentation time. A long fermentation period means high cost, and hinders the industrial applications of microbial fermentation. Stresses, especially oxidative stress generated during fermentation, inhibit microbial growth and production, and prolongs fermentation period. Previous studies have shown that polypeptides could effectively relieve stresses, but the underlying mechanisms were poorly understood.
Results
In this study, polypeptides (especially elastin peptide) addition improves the productivity of malic acid in A. niger, resulting in shortening of fermentation time from 120 to 108 h. Transcriptome and biochemical analyses demonstrated that both antioxidant enzyme-mediated oxidative stress defense system, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and nonenzymatic antioxidant system, such as glutathione, were enhanced in the presence of elastin peptide, suggesting elastin peptide relieving oxidative stresses is involved in many pathways. In order to further investigate the relationship between oxidative stress defense and malic acid productivity, we overexpressed three enzymes (Sod1, CAT, Tps1) related to oxidation resistance in A. niger, respectively, and these resulting strains display varying degree of improvement in malic acid productivity. Especially, the strain overexpressing the Sod1 gene achieved a malate titer of 91.85 ± 2.58 g/L in 96 h, corresponding to a productivity of 0.96 g/L/h, which performs better than elastin peptide addition.
Conclusions
Our investigation provides an excellent reference for alleviating the stress of the fungal fermentation process and improving fermentation efficiency.
Influence of Synthesis Procedures on the Preparation of Strontium Titanate Nanoparticles and Photocatalytic application for Methylene blue degradation
Authors: Aktaş Pelin Sözen , Ay Emriye
Published: October 2022

SrTiO3 is a well-known photocatalyst with various applications, such as antibacterial agents, self-cleaning surfaces, and water and air conditioning. In the present study, pure SrTiO3 (ST) photocatalysts were prepared by the high-energy ball milling and Pechini method and then characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis, FTIR, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Structural parameters were evaluated by Rietveld refinement analysis from XRD data, which confirmed the cubic system of SrTiO3. The obtained nanoparticles were used for photocatalytic methylene blue (MB) degradation and the influence of synthesis methods on catalytic activity was investigated. The degradation rate constant of MB on the ST1 (Pechini-synthesized sample) and ST2 (high energy ball milled sample) is 0.0151 and 0.0092 min-1, respectively. The better photocatalytic activity of the ST1 demonstrated 93% degradation of dye under the solar light simulator. The photocatalytic reaction data provided well a first-order kinetic model.
Circular RNA hsa_circ_0005218 Promotes the Early Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Targeting the miR-31-5p/CDK1 Pathway
Authors: Wang Xiao-bo , Luo Tao , Lu Shao-long , Lu Hua-ze , Jiang Zhi-jun , Liu Xin-yu , Zhao Chang , Li Le-qun , Chen Jie
Published: October 2022

Increasing evidence has manifested that circular RNAs (circRNAs) exhibited critical function in regulating various signaling pathways related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence. However, the role and mechanism of the circRNAs in the HCC early recurrence remain elusive. In this study, high-throughput RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis was conducted to identify the expression profile of circRNAs in HCC tissues and circ_0005218 was identified as one circRNA that significantly up-regulated in early recurrent HCC tissues. And patients with high expression of circ_0005218 showed worsen overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Moreover, the promotion effects of circ_0005218 on HCC cells in term of proliferation, invasion and metastasis were confirmed both in vitro and vivo by gain- and loss-of function assays. In addition, dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that circ_0005218 could competitively bind to micro-RNA (miR)-31-5p. Furthermore, we showed that suppression of CDK1 by miR-31-5p could be partially rescued by up-regulating circ_0005218. Taken together, the present study indicates that circ_0005218 absorbed miR-31-5p as a sponge to weaken its suppression on CDK1 expression, and thus boost HCC cell invasion and migration, which would act as a potential biomarker to predict the HCC early recurrence and as a new therapeutic target for treatment of HCC.
Soil organic matter, greenhouse gas emission and global warming: Following one-time high rate compost application with annual cover crop planting in a dryland winter wheat-fallow rotation
Authors: Brempong Mavis B. , Norton Urszula , Norton Jay B.
Published: October 2022

In dryland organic winter wheat-fallow rotation systems of U.S. Central High Plains, the usual practice of 10–15 Mg/ha compost application every 3–4 years, has not yielded desired soil organic matter (SOM) improvements. One-time high rate compost application and annual cover crop planting (instead of repetitive tillage) to control weeds have been proposed for carry-over SOM improvement in these systems. In this study, 15, 30 and 45 Mg/ha compost rates and controls (‘no amendment’ and inorganic fertilizer) were considered. One-half of fallow blocks were planted to cover crop mixtures. SOM indices: soil nitrate (NO3−), ammonium (NH4+), dissolved organic C/N (DOC/N), potential mineralizable N (PMN), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and soil moisture were measured bi-weekly across three winter wheat growing seasons. The 45 Mg/ha compost affected 25–35% more NO3− in the first growing season; 27–70%; 8–49%; 12–44% more DON, PMN, DOC and 25–57% less CO2 in the second growing season; but did not worsen global warming potential in any growing season. In the fallow phases, cover crops depleted 10–14% soil moisture in the first two growing seasons, which was recovered by precipitation in succeeding wheat phases. Cover crops utilized 21–46% soil NO3− in these growing seasons which reduced N2O emission by 26%. The 45 Mg/ha compost improved SOM and ensured environmental quality, but annual cover crop biomass (< 2000 kg/ha) did not add significant SOM. Therefore, integrating larger biomass producing cover crops with 45 Mg/ha compost in wheat-fallow rotations may be a better prospect.
A simple and scalable structure of Particle Swarm Optimization based on linear system theory
Authors: Zhu Jian , Liu Jianhua
Published: October 2022

Since it was fifirst presented, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has seen numerous improvements as a traditional optimization process. PSO algorithm becomes more complex as a result of the majority of improvement strategies, which use learning model replacement or parameter adjustment to enhance PSO algorithm’s performance. Based on linear system theory, this paper proposes a simple and scalable framework for restructuring Particle Swarm Optimization (RPSO) and provides a new example of the RPSO algorithm framework, Q-RPSO. The framework of RPSO adopts one position updating formula instead of the original position and velocity updating formulas, which is unrelated to the velocity and the current position of PSO. The experiments have been carried out by comparison with the standard PSO algorithm and four PSO variants based on benchmark functions of CEC 2013. The experimental results demonstrate that, whether in terms of global exploration capability or convergence accuracy, Q-RPSO outperforms all competitor algorithms.
SplitDB: Building a large-scale key-value store based on LSM-tree by split operations
Authors: Ren Jiancheng , Chen Guanzhong , Qian Keyu
Published: October 2022

Key-value stores based on Log-Structured Merge Tree (LSM-tree) arewidely used in various big data storage scenarios. The performance bottleneck mainly comes from the compaction operation that maintains the order between LSM-tree levels. As the amount of data increases, the depth of the LSM-tree increases and the compaction becomes more and more complex, resulting in a significant degradation of read and write performance. In this paper, we propose a new LSM-tree structure based storage SplitDB to optimize the storage problem under large data volume, namely Split Log-Structured Merge Tree (SLSM-tree) storage model. SplitDB modifies part of the compaction into a split operation to improve execution speed and reduce write amplification. At the same time, it splits the keyrange and establishes multiple independent SLSM-trees to balance the pressure of each, and builds an index tree in memory to manage SLSM-trees. We implemented SplitDB on RocksDB and used micro-benchmarks and YCSB to evaluate SplitDB. In micro-benchmarks, SplitDB improved random write and random read throughput by 22% and 36%, respectively, and improved read-missing performance by 104% and scan performance by up to 93%. For the basic YCSB workload a-f also both improve the throughput by 36%-58%.
The Dynamics of Foreign Portfolio Investment, Equities Market Volatility and Exchange Rate in Zimbabwe
Authors: Mushaike Pasca , Mavodyo Elisha
Published: October 2022

In recent years, the amount of foreign equity investment inflows in Zimbabwe has decreased against the backdrop of an unstable and rapidly appreciating local currency. The aim of the study was to reveal the nexus among foreign portfolio investment, stock market performance and exchange rate in Zimbabwe from October 2018 to April 2022. The research utilized a package of hybrid multi-equation models including, vector autoregressive system to capture feedback relationships, EGARCH to incorporate asymmetric and volatility effects on stock performance and Granger causality to capture cause and effect dynamics. Impulse response functions and variance decompositions were employed to capture responses and innovations in the VAR system. Results revealed presence of short-lived volatility (implied risk) persistence, positive link between lagged market returns and foreign portfolio investment, inverse link between volatility of market returns and net foreign equity flows. On Granger causality, triangular linkages were revealed with unilateral causality emanating from foreign portfolio investment to stock market volatility (implied risk) to foreign portfolio investment volatility. Thus, it may be concluded that stock market volatility attenuated the relationship between foreign portfolio investment volatility and that relationship. Consequently, the study's empirical results has various policy ramifications. The investment community is recommended to buy assets at deep discounts and keep them for long-term wealth maximization in order to capitalize on the ZSE's transient volatility. In terms of policy recommendations, the Ministry of Finance is urged to reduce the withholding tax and capital gains tax on long-term stock and debt investors on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
Dynamic Analysis of Gear Pairs with the Effects of Stick-slip
Authors: Xun Chao , Dai He , Wang Yunlong
Published: October 2022

A stick-slip dynamic model of a two-gear set is proposed. In this model, time-varying mesh stiffness, tooth separation, friction between the gear teeth surfaces and potential stick-slip are considered. Considering the contributions of the vibration velocity to the gear teeth sliding velocity, transition conditions between the stick state and slip state are revealed. Dynamic analysis shows that, when stick appears, the vibration amplitudes are dramatically increased, and tooth separation occurs. Additionally, stick also induces half-frequency components of the mesh frequency and causes chaos. Parametric studies show that heavy loads and rough tooth surfaces increase the probability of stick and increase the time of the stick state over a single mesh period. However, due to the complex nonlinearity, the existence of a certain relationship between the gear rotation speed and the stick time is not confirmed.
Teacher Collaboration in Supporting Students with Twice-Exceptionality to Transition to Secondary School
Authors:   Queensland University of Technology, Minnie Carolyn , Lassig Carly ,   Queensland University of Technology, Tangen Donna ,   Queensland University of Technology, Beutel Denise ,   Queensland University of Technology
Published: October 2022

This study explored teacher collaboration to support a particular cohort of students with twice-exceptionality (2E), specifically students with the concomitant of autism with intellectual giftedness (IG), to transition from primary to secondary school. Findings indicated a general lack of teacher collaboration regarding the sharing of student information between primary and secondary sectors. Teachers seemed to lack an understanding of 2E and did not collaborate with ‘knowledgeable others’ (learning support teachers and gifted education teachers) in the school to learn how best to support students’ transition. Moreover, teachers tended to take a deficit approach with a focus on student misbehaviour rather than on the transitioning needs of these students.
Implementation of corporate governance, family ownership, and family-aligned board: Evidence from Indonesia
Authors: Setiawati Erma , Putri Eskasari , Nisa Nashirotun
Published: October 2022

This study aims to examine the impact of family ownership on the composition of the board of directors and the number of family-affiliated directors. In addition, it analyzes how it affects corporate governance. Big capital and middle capital companies among the top 50 IICD (Indonesia Institute for Corporate Directorship) awards issuers from 2017 to 2019 make up the study population. The sample consists of 57 middle capital companies and 72 big capital companies. The link between the variables is examined using multiple linear regression. Both the partial coefficient test and the model accuracy test were performed. First, the study findings indicate that family-owned businesses have a higher proportion of family-affiliated board members and commissioners on their boards in big capital and middle capital companies. Second, while family ownership has a favorable impact on middle capital companies, it has a negative and significant impact on the application of corporate governance in big capital firms. Third, since big capital companies exhibit different signals than middle capital companies, it can be inferred that the number of directors and commissioners who are members of the same family affects the adoption of good governance practices and, consequently, the development of sound policies to deal with challenging issues that may arise within a company. This study is innovative in that it divides the sample into big capital and middle capital companies.
Sexual pain disorder
Authors: Stenyaeva N. N.
Published: October 2022

Sexual pain disorder, combining the terms dyspareunia, vaginismus, genitopelvic pain, and penetration disorder, is common in women of reproductive and postmenopausal age worldwide (up to 34-45%) and is more often manifested as recurrent acute pain. A diagnosis of genitopelvic pain/penetration disorder (GPPD) is made when at least one of the following symptoms is present: persistent or recurrent difficulty with vaginal penetration; marked vulvovaginal or pelvic pain during vaginal intercourse and attempts of vaginal penetration; marked fear or anxiety about vulvovaginal or pelvic pain in anticipation, during or as a result of vaginal penetration; marked tension of the pelvic floor muscles during attempts of vaginal penetration. Additional criteria include the presence of the listed symptoms for at least 6 months, resulting in significant sexual distress that causes serious problems in the relationship and is not related to the effects of any substance or any other medical condition. The mechanisms of sexual pain are determined by a wide range of biological, psychiatric and social factors, which explains the difficulty in diagnosing and treating it, as well as the negative impact on sexual functioning in the couple. Timely multidisciplinary care for women suffering from a sexual pain disorder can effectively alleviate the condition and ensure marital sexual harmony in the couple. The modern range of treatment options includes both conservative and surgical treatment methods, the rational choice of which can significantly improve patients’ quality of life.