bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The feasibility of existing JADAS10 cut-off values in clinical practice: A study of data from the Finnish Rheumatology Quality Register
Authors: Backström Maria , Salo Henri , Kärki Johanna , Aalto Kristiina , Rebane Katariina , Levälampi Tiina , Minna-Maija Grönlund , Kröger Liisa , Pohjankoski Heini , Hietanen Maiju , Korkatti Katja , Kuusalo Laura , Rantalaiho Vappu , Huhtakangas Johanna , Relas Heikki , Pääkkö Tero , Löyttyniemi Eliisa , Sokka-Isler Tuulikki , Vähäsalo Paula
Published: January 2023

Background. The ten-joint juvenile arthritis disease activity score (JADAS10) is designed to measure the level of disease activity in non-systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis by providing a single numeric score. The JADAS10 (cJADAS10) is a modification of the JADAS10 that excludes erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Three different sets of JADAS10/cJADAS10 cut-offs for disease activity states have been published, i.e., the Backström, Consolaro, and Trincianti cut-offs. The objective of this study was to investigate the performance of existing JADAS10 cut-offs in real-life settings using patient data from the Finnish Rheumatology Quality Register (FinRheuma). Methods. Data were collected from the FinRheuma register. The proportion of patients with an active joint count (AJC) above zero when classified as being in clinically inactive disease (CID) or low disease activity (LDA) groups according to existing JADAS10/cJADAS10 cut-off levels were analyzed. Results. A significantly larger proportion of the patients classified as being in CID had an AJC > 0 when using the JADAS10/cJADAS10 cut-offs by Trincianti et al. compared to those for the other cut-offs. In the LDA group, a significantly larger proportion of the polyarticular patients (35%/29%) had an AJC of two when Trincianti JADAS10/cJADAS10 cut-offs were used compared with when Backström (11%/10%) and Consolaro (7%/3%) JADAS10/cJADAS10 cut-offs were used. Conclusions. We found the cut-offs proposed by Consolaro et al. to be the most feasible, since these cut-off levels for CID do not result in the misclassification of active disease as remission, and the proportion of patients with AJC > 1 in the LDA group is lowest using these cut-offs.
High-throughput image analysis with deep learning captures heterogeneity and spatial relationships after kidney injury
Authors: McElliott Madison C. , Al-Suraimi Anas , Telang Asha C. , Ference-Salo Jenna T. , Chowdhury Mahboob , Soofi Abdul , Dressler Gregory R. , Beamish Jeffrey A.
Published: January 2023

Recovery from acute kidney injury can vary widely in patients and in animal models. Immunofluorescence staining can provide spatial information about heterogeneous injury responses, but often only a fraction of stained tissue is analyzed. Deep learning can expand analysis to larger areas and sample numbers. Here we report one approach to leverage deep learning tools to quantify heterogenous responses to kidney injury that can be deployed without specialized equipment or programming expertise. We first demonstrated that deep learning models generated from small training sets accurately identified a range of stains and structures with performance similar to that of trained human observers. We then showed this approach accurately tracks the evolution of folic acid induced kidney injury in mice and highlights spatially clustered tubules that fail to repair. We then demonstrated that this approach captures the variation in recovery across a robust sample of kidneys after ischemic injury. Finally, we showed markers of failed repair after ischemic injury were correlated both spatially within and between animals and that failed repair was inversely correlated with peritubular capillary density. Combined, we demonstrate the utility and versatility of our approach to capture spatially heterogenous responses to kidney injury.
The Link Between Glycemic Control Measures and Eye Microvascular Complications in a Clinical Cohort of Type 2 Diabetes with MicroRNA-223 Signature
Authors: Da'as Sahar , Ahmed Ikhlak , Hasan Waseem , Abdelrahman Doua , Aliyev Elbay , Nisar Sabah , Bhat Ajaz Ahmed , Joglekar Mugdha , Hardikar Anand , Fakhro Khalid , Akil Ammira Al-Shabeeb
Published: January 2023

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a critical healthcare challenge and priority in Qatar which is listed amongst the top 10 countries in the world, with its prevalence presently at 17% double the global average. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of (T2D) and long-term microvascular complications including diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Methods: In this study, a T2D cohort that accurately matches the characteristics of the general population was employed to find microRNA (miRNA) signatures that are correlated with glycemic and β cell function measurements. Targeted miRNA profiling was performed in (471) T2D individuals with or without DR and (491) (non-diabetic) healthy controls from the Qatar Biobank. Discovery analysis identified 20 differentially expressed miRNAs in T2D compared to controls, of which miR-223 was significantly upregulated (fold change:5.16, p=3.6e-02) and positively correlated with glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels (p-value = 9.88e-04 and 1.64e-05, respectively), but did not show any significant associations with insulin or C-peptide. Accordingly, we performed functional validation using a miR-223 mimic (overexpression) under control and hyperglycemia-induced conditions in a zebrafish model.
Results: Over-expression of miR-223 alone was associated with significantly higher glucose (42.7mg/dL, n=75 vs 38.7mg/dL, n=75, p=0.02) and degenerated retinal vasculature, and altered retinal morphology involving changes in the ganglion cell layer and inner and outer nuclear layers. Assessment of retinal angiogenesis revealed significant upregulation in the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors, including kinase insert domain receptor. Further, the pancreatic markers, pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1, and the insulin gene expressions were upregulated in the miR-223 group.
Conclusion: Our zebrafish model validates a novel correlation between miR-223 and DR development. Targeting miR-223 in T2D patients may serve as a promising therapeutic strategy to control DR in at-risk individuals.
Building a Named Entity Recognition model for Ethiopian Languages: a comparative analysis of composite feature embedding
Authors: Hirpassa Sintayehu
Published: January 2023

Named Entity Recognition (NER) has become a critical and essential step in information extraction, machine translation, and question-and-answering systems in a different language. One of the most important factors which directly and significantly affects the quality of the NER is the selection and encoding of the input features to generate rich semantic and grammatical representation vectors. However, the existing NER models are insufficient to handle new and unseen entity types from the growing Amharic digital data, and the development of more effective and accurate NER models is being widely researched. In this regard, herein, we propose a deep learning NER model that effectively represents word tokens through the design of a combinatorial feature embedding; and performed a comparative analysis with the existing models for Ethiopian languages. The word vectors built for all tokens using an unsupervised learning algorithm was merged with a set of specifically developed language-independent features and together fed to the neural network model to predict the classes of the words. Empirical results over the Ethiopian language dataset show that the use of character-level word embeddings in conjunction with other features in BiLSTM-CRF models leads to comparable state-of-the-art performance. Besides just showing the ability of our model to generalize to different languages, we evaluated the model and obtained state-of- the-art performances: 92.88%, and 82.35% of accuracy on AM_NER and Oro_ NER datasets, respectively.
Patients’ experience with Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy for DLBCL in China: a qualitative study
Authors: Mao Yiwen , Huang Lihong , Ruan Haitao , Guo Yue , Ni Sha , Ling Yuying
Published: January 2023

Purpose
The experiences of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy have received little attention. This study aimed to explore the treatment experience of patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell lymphoma during CAR T-cell therapy in China.
Methods
This descriptive qualitative study was conducted using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 21 DLBCL patients 0–2 years after CAR-T infusion. Two researchers independently coded the interviews in MAXQDA 2022, and the original data were analyzed by conventional content analysis.
Results
Four themes emerged from the transcripts: (1) physiological distress; (2) functional impacts; (3) psychological experience; and (4) support requirement. Participants expressed 29 short-term or long-term symptoms related to their disease and treatment that are influencing their daily life and function in a social setting. Participants expressed different negative emotions, polarized expectations about efficacy, and over-reliance on authoritative medical care. Their major concerns and hopes were achieving life goals, being treated with respect, obtaining more information about CAR T-cell therapy, and receiving government financial sponsorship.
Conclusions
Patients experienced short-term and long-term symptoms of physical distress. Patients who have experienced failure in CAR T-cell treatment also experienced strong negative emotions, such as dependency and guilt. They also required spiritual and financial information that are authentic. Our study may guide the development of standardized and comprehensive nursing care for R/R DLBCL patients undergoing CAR T-cell treatment in China.
Exosomal PGE2 from M2 macrophage inhibits neutrophil recruitment and NET formation through lipid mediator class switching in sepsis
Authors: Ma Zhengliang , Jiao Yang , Zhang Ti , Liu Mei , Zhou Luyang , Qi Mengzhi , Xie Xin , Huang Yulin , Xu Rui , Shi Xueyin , Gu Xiaoping
Published: January 2023

Excess polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) recruitment or overzealous neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation could lead to the development of multiple organ dysfunction during sepsis. M2 macrophage-derived exosomes (M2-Exo) have exhibited anti-inflammatory activities in some inflammatory diseases to mediate organ functional protection. However, whether M2-Exo could modulate PMN abnormal behaviors to prevent potentially deleterious inflammatory effects during sepsis is poorly understood. Here, we report that M2-Exo inhibited PMN migration and NET formation, alleviated lung injury and reduced the mortality without significantly affecting bacterial load in the lungs in cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis model. In vitro co-culture experiments using PMNs isolated from both healthy volunteers and septic patients further demonstrated that M2-Exo significantly decreased PMN migration and NET formation capacity, leading to lipid mediator class switching from proinflammatory leukotriene B4 (LTB4) to anti-inflammatory lipoxin A4 (LXA4) through upregulating 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) expression in PMNs. Treatment with LXA4 receptor inhibitor attenuated the function of M2-Exo on PMNs and lung injury. Mechanistically, LXA4 increased by M2-Exo inhibited PMN function through downregulating chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 2 (CXCR2) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) expressions in PMNs. In addition, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was highly expressed in M2-Exo. By deleting PGE2 in M2-Exo, we found that exosomal PGE2 from M2 macrophage was necessary for 15-LO upregulation and PMN inhibition through functioning on EP4 receptor. Our findings reveal a previously unknown role of M2-Exo in regulating PMN migration and NET formation, thus highlighting the potential application of M2-Exo in controlling PMN-mediated tissue injury in patients with sepsis.
A structured, telephone-delivered intervention to reduce methamphetamine use: Study protocol for a parallel group randomised controlled trial
Authors: Lubman Dan , Manning Victoria , Arunogiri Shalini , Hall Kate , Reynolds John , Straglinos Peta , Petukhova Rachel , Gerhard Robyn , Tyler Jonathan , Bough Anna , Harris Anthony , Grigg Jasmin
Published: January 2023

Background Australia has one of the highest rates of methamphetamine (MA) use in the world; however, uptake of in-person psychological treatment remains extremely low due to numerous individual (e.g., stigma, shame) and structural (e.g., service accessibility, geographical location) barriers to accessing care. Telephone-delivered interventions are ideally placed to overcome many of the known barriers to treatment access and delivery. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) will examine the efficacy of a standalone, structured telephone-delivered intervention to reduce MA problem severity and related harms. Methods This study is a double-blind, parallel group RCT. We will recruit 196 ± 8 individuals with mild to moderate MA use disorder from across Australia. After eligibility and baseline assessments, participants will be randomly allocated to receive either the Ready2Change-Methamphetamine (R2C-M) intervention (n = 98 ± 4; four to six telephone-delivered intervention sessions, R2C-M workbooks, and MA information booklet) or control (n = 98 ± 4; four to six ≤ 5-minute telephone check-ins and MA information booklet including information on accessing further support). Telephone follow-up assessments will occur at 6-weeks and 3-, 6- and 12-months post-randomisation. The primary outcome is change in MA problem severity (Drug Use Disorders Identification Test, DUDIT) at 3 months post-randomisation. Secondary outcomes are: MA problem severity (DUDIT) at 6- and 12-months post-randomisation; amount of methamphetamine used, methamphetamine use days, methamphetamine use disorder criteria met, cravings, psychological functioning, psychotic-like experiences, quality of life, and other drug use days (at some or all timepoints of 6-weeks and 3-, 6- and 12-month post-randomisation). Mixed-methods program evaluation will be performed and cost effectiveness will be examined. Discussion This study will be the first RCT internationally to assess the efficacy of a telephone-delivered intervention for MA use disorder and related harms. The proposed intervention is expected to provide an effective, low-cost, scalable treatment for individuals otherwise unlikely to seek care, preventing future harms and reducing health service and community costs.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04713124, pre-registered 19 January, 2021.Protocol versionV5 01 September 2022
Comparative study of biomechanical effects between two types of 2 × 4 techniques employing a rocking-chair archwire: a three-dimensional finite element analysis
Authors: Wang Shaotai , Hu Min , Wang Sihan , Qi Huichuan , Song Dongsheng , Jiang Huan
Published: January 2023

ObjectivesAfter bonding brackets to the first deciduous molar in a 2 × 4 technique, a three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D FEA) is used to demonstrate the biomechanical changes in an orthodontic system. This study aims to opt for the appropriate type of orthodontic technology by analyzing and comparing the mechanical systems produced by two types of 2 × 4 technologies employing rocking-chair archwires.Materials and methodsHerein, maxilla and maxillary dentition are modeled by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and 3D FEA. Common clinically used round titanium-molybdenum alloy archwires (diameter: 0.016’’ and 0.018’’) and round stainless-steel archwires (diameter: 0.016’’ and 0.018’’) are bent into the shape of a rocking chair with a depth of 3 mm. The forces and moments applied to the brackets are transferred to the dentition to evaluate the biomechanical effects of the 2 × 4 technique after the bracket is bonded to the first deciduous molar.ResultsWhen using the same size and orthodontic technique, the forces and moments applied to the teeth by the rocking-chair stainless-steel archwire are approximately three times those applied by the rocking-chair titanium-molybdenum alloy archwire. Therefore, this study investigates only the initial movements of teeth and periodontal ligaments using round stainless-steel archwires. The left-hand side of the patient is defined as the positive X-axis direction, rear as the positive Y-axis direction, and top as the positive Z-axis direction. For the central incisor, the teeth-moving distance in all three directions increases with the bracket bonding to the first deciduous molar using the 0.016’’ rocking-chair archwire. No significant differences between the two orthodontic methods using a 0.018’’ archwire are observed. For the lateral incisor, the tooth root moves toward the gingival side when using 0.016’’ and 0.018’’ archwires. Moreover, for the same archwire size, the lateral incisors move toward the gingival side by bonding the bracket to the first deciduous molar, which is conducive to the anterior teeth intrusion. For the first molar, using rocking-chair 0.016’’ or 0.018’’ archwires, after the bracket is bonded to the first deciduous molar, in the X-axis direction, the buccal movement distance of the first molar crown increases. In the Y-axis and Z-axis directions, the modified 2 × 4 technology significantly increases the effect of backward-tipping compared with the traditional 2 × 4 technology; thus, the modified 2 × 4 technology considerably reduces the anchorage loss.ConclusionsIn clinical practice, the modified 2 × 4 technology can be used to increase the movement distance of anterior teeth to a certain extent and accelerate the orthodontic teeth movement. Moreover, the modified 2 × 4 technology is better in anchorage conversation of the first molar than the traditional technology.
Developing a warning model of potentially inappropriate medications in older Chinese outpatients in tertiary hospitals: a machine learning study
Authors: Hu Qiaozhi , Tian Fangyuan , Lin Gongchao , Teng Fei , xu Ting
Published: January 2023

Objectives
Due to multiple comorbidillnesses, polypharmacy, and age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in older adults, the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) is high, which affects the quality of life of older adults. Building an effective warning model is necessary for the early identification of PIMs to prevent harm caused by medication in geriatric patients. The purpose of this study was to develop a machine learning-based model for the warning of PIMs in older Chinese outpatients.
Method
This retrospective study was conducted among geriatric outpatients in nine tertiary hospitals in Chengdu from January 2018 to December 2018. The Beers criteria 2019 were used to assess PIMs in geriatric outpatients. Three problem transformation methods were used to tackle the multi-labelclassification problem. After the division of patients into the training and test sets (8:2), we adopted sixwidely used classification algorithms to conduct the classification task and assessed the discriminative performance by the accuracy, precision, recall, F1 scores, subset accuracy (ss Acc) and Hamming loss (hm) of each model.
Results
Among 11741 older patient prescriptions, 5816 PIMs were identified in 4038(34.39%) patient prescriptions. A total of 41 types of PIMs were identified in these prescriptions. The three problem transformation methods included Label Power Set (LP), Classifier Chains (CC), and Binary Relevance (BR). Six classification algorithms were used to establish thewarning models, including Random Forest (RF), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), CatBoost, Deep Forest (DF), and TabNet. The CC+CatBoost model had the highest accuracy value (97.83%), recall value (89.34%), F1 value (90.69%), and ss Acc value (97.79%) with good precision value (92.18%) and had the lowest hm value (0.0006). Therefore, the CC+CatBoost model was selected to predict the occurrence of PIM in geriatric Chinese patients.
Conclusion
This study novelty establishes a warning model for PIMs in geriatricpatients by using machine learning. With the popularity of electronic patient record systems, sophisticated computer algorithmscan be implemented at the bedside to improve medication use safety in geriatric patients in the future.
Are People Able and Willing to Pay for CBHI Membership in Ethiopia? National Household Survey
Authors: Mirach Tsega Hagos , Berhanu Negalign , Dessie Ermias , Medhin Girmay , Alemayehu Yibeltal Kiflie , Fekadu Lelisa , Kiros Mizan , Walelign Fasil , Dadi Tegene Legese , Tigabu Setegn , Tadesse Daniel , Demissie Mekdes , Abebe Frehiwot , Abebe Gudeta , Argaw Muluken , Tiruneh Getachew , Reshad Abduljelil , Jemal Seid , Abdella Zemecha , Haile Hagos , Tesefaye Kiflu , Habte Tigistu , Berhanu Damtew , Teklu Alula M
Published: January 2023

Background
The existing evidence on households’ ability and willingness to join the community-based health insurance (CBHI) scheme in Ethiopia is inadequate and lacks representativeness and disaggregation. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the ability to pay (ATP) and willingness to pay (WTP) for CBHI membership and to identify factors that WTP
Methods
A nationwide cross-sectional household survey, involving both CBHI member and nonmember households, was conducted from February to May 2020. Two-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to select enumeration areas (EAs) and households from within EAs. ATP was measured using the spending net of the poverty line approach. The maximum monetary value that obtained a “yes” response in the bidding game exercise was used as a measure of WTP. Linear regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with WTP.
Results
Among the study participants, 30.9% were active members of the scheme. The mean ATP was Ethiopian Birr (ETB) 3,992.45 (USD 139.4) at 10% and ETB 15,969.82 (USD 557.6) at 40% cutoff. The mean WTP was ETB 244 (SD = ETB 175.4) in rural areas and ETB 361.6 (SD = ETB 210.8) in urban areas per household per year. The average WTP was higher if the family size was increased by one person both in rural (AMD = 9.3; 95% CI [6.8, 11.9]) and urban (AMD = 7.2; 95% CI [1.0, 13.4]) settings and positively associated with ATP for CBHI (AMD = 64.1; 95% CI [6.3, 121.8]) in urban settings. The male and literate respondents in urban areas had higher mean WTP values (AMD = 39.8; 95% CI [13.1, 66.4] and AMD = 56.8; 95% CI [26.1, 87.4], respectively) compared to their counterparts. Being a leader in the Health Development Army (HDA), Women’s Development Army (WDA), or a 1:5 network (in urban settings) positively affected WTP (AMD = 23.4; 95% CI [3.4, 43.5]).
Conclusions
Most households could afford the CBHI premiums at a 10% threshold. Premium revisions based on ATP, while addressing challenges in WTP through an in-depth understanding of modifiable factors and by adopting effective strategies to modify these factors, is crucial.
Optical Flow Correction Network for Repairing Video
Authors: Huang Fujie , Luo Bin
Published: January 2023

Some areas in the video may be defective due to storage medium damage or data transmission loss. The defective area can be repaired utilizing the optical flow since the optical flow represents the motion information of the pixel and contains the information redundancy properties of the video. However, it is a challenge for current algorithms to directly calculate the correct optical flow in the defective area. Therefore, an optical flow correction network (OFC-Net) is proposed to solve this problem. Firstly, as the basic framework, OFC-Net employs a lightweight U-shaped structure to gradually "repair" the broken optical flow map based on the known information in the defective neighborhood. And then the activation function that conforms to the property of optical flow is used to accelerate the model's convergence during training, while the simplified loss function is adopted to evaluate the similarity of the optical flow map from a global perspective to improve the prediction accuracy. As a result, the corrected optical flow output at the masked position can be obtained. Secondly, the optical flow corrected by OFC-Net can guide locating the pixels in nearby frames to repair the defective region. Optical flow correction and video repair experiments were conducted on MPI Sintel, DAVIS datasets, and real movie clips. The experimental results show that the corrected optical flow map is accurate without bringing artifacts under a wide range of scenarios and the arbitrary irregular mask shapes, which demonstrate the network's strong generalization capabilities. The average PSNR and SSIM of repaired video frames are greater than 33.67 and 0.986, respectively, outperforming the results from the traditional method PatchMatch and deep learning-based synthetic pixel methods.
Predictability of migraine by identifying novel biomarkers in PAM rs73189054 at chromosome 5q21 Position
Authors: Huang Hsiao-Ling , Lin Chun Hsiang , Liu Wen-Hsiu , Lee Ying-Shiung , Wu Chi-Ling
Published: January 2023

Background
Some genes influenced by these variants are highly expressed in vascular tissues and dysfunction can play a role in migraine. The richest tissues are part of blood vessels. In this study, a novel biomarker to predict prevalent migraine by association and mechanisms was presented.
Methods
Using Microarray data collection and processing and migraine summary GWAS database. Then using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), heuristic fine mapping by FUMA GWAS, and identification of PAM in the position of chromosome 5q21 by Pheweb of the biobank and MR-based platform.
Results
GSEA identified positions that were significantly increased by PAM overexpression, and gene expression was assessed in migraine patients (GSE76242). On position chromosome 5q21, modules were enriched in migraine patients with an enrichment score - 0.50, the nominal enrichment score was 1.15, and the nominal p-value (0.30142567) migraine.
In FUMAGWAS, we added an analyzer for gene set analysis by enrichment. One of the GeneSets was chromosome 5q21, N was 15, n was 2, the value of P was 2.14e-4, the adjusted P was 1.60e-2, and the genes were the PAM gene and were assigned by the SNP coding area rs73189054 (lead SNP).
Conclusions
In conclusion, this study provides a novel migraine rs73189054 from PAM rs73189054, in the position of chromosome 5q21. In particular, it could be determined to predict the susceptibility and vulnerability of migraine.
Melanoleuca monticola and M. romanensis, two new European species of Melanoleuca, and comments to M. graminicola group
Authors: Antonín Vladimír , Ďuriška Ondrej , Jančovičová Soňa , Kudláček Tomáš , Para Roberto , Ševčíková Hana , Tomšovský Michal
Published: January 2023

Melanoleuca is one of the taxonomically most complicated genera of Agaricomycetes. The aim of this study is taxonomic revision of European specimens confused with M. angelesiana A.H. Sm. and delimitation of four species, M. brachyspora Harmaja, M. graminicola (Velen.) Kühner & Maire, M. rufipes Bon and M. stridula (Fr.) Singer. The research is based on macro- and micromorphological characters and the multigene phylogenetic analyses of a combined (ITS, rpb2, and tef1) dataset. According to the result, the two new species are proposed – M. monticola sp. nov. which accomodates European specimens previously confused with American species M. angelesiana and M. romanensis sp. nov. from Italy. Moreover, American specimens identified as M. angelesiana belongs to three different phylogenetic species (M. angelesiana sensu typi, M. acystidiata aff. and one more separate lineage). M. graminicola is emended and the respective epitype designated. An identification key of the European species of subg. Urticocystis is provided.
Long-term safety and efficacy of a foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens for the correction of myopia
Authors: Royo Mariano , Jiménez Ángel , Piñero David P.
Published: January 2023

Purpose: To analyze and report the 13-year follow-up outcomes in terms of efficacy and safety of eyes implanted with the spherical version of a foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) for the correction of myopia.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of the results of 56 eyes of 32 patients (age, 19-45 years) who underwent implantation of the spherical model of the Artiflex pIOL (Ophtec B.V., Groningen, The Netherlands) for the correction of myopia. Visual, refractive, biometric, intraocular pressure (IOP) and corneal endothelial changes were evaluated during a 13-year follow-up.
Results: At 4 weeks postoperatively, a significant reduction of manifest sphere and spherical equivalent (SE), with a significant improvement of uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) associated (all p<0.001) were found. No significant changes were found during the rest of follow-up in sphere (p≥0.072). The percentage of eyes with SE within ±1.00 D was over 83% during the whole follow-up. A non-significant trend to IOP increase was observed at 4 weeks postoperatively (p=0.530), with a significant reduction at 1 year after (p=0.039) and no significant changes during the rest of follow-up (p=0.180). There was an initial significant reduction of anterior chamber depth (p<0.001), with no significant changes during the following 9 years of follow-up (p=0.118). Mean endothelial cell loss changed from 2.01% at 4 weeks after surgery to 9.11% at the end of the follow-up. No complications were reported during the follow-up.
Conclusions: Myopia correction with the Artiflex pIOL is an effective and safe procedure in the long term.
Variable selection in gender and age decision-making for traumatic spine and thoracic pathologies after various accidents: MARS
Authors: Gencer Kerem , Gencer Gülcan , Dumanlı Ahmet
Published: January 2023

Trauma is a condition that affects the body's structure and results from outside factors. After heart disease and cancer, it is the most common cause of death across all age categories. For a variety of causes, people are routinely exposed to traumatic vertebral, thoracic pathologies and rib fractures. Ribs can be harmed by simple falls, impacts, and blunt injuries as well as broken due to car accidents and falling from a height. Magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography are used to diagnose these fractures. In this study, non-linear complex methods were used to categorize gender and age by utilizing thoracic pathologies, fractures or cracks in the body as a result of traffic accidents or falling from a height, which have the feature of being a case in forensic issues. Variables were selected to identify the most important data. MARS (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline) method of variable selection. Although autopsy should be utilized in these situations, complex regression methods is intended to have an impact on quick and accurate decision-making about events in order to speed up or direct the process in the field of forensic medicine. As a result, the effectiveness of the experts' subsequent predictions will be increased by the preliminary findings produced by real-world data and artificial intelligence algorithms or complex non-linear regression problems.
Influence of Sorting Measures on Similar Segment Grouping based Denoising Algorithms
Authors: Preethisree G. , Vivekanand V. , Mishra Deepak , Sethunadh R.
Published: January 2023

Denoising is a fundamental challenge in the field of digital image processing and computer vision. Many of the denoising algorithms operate on segments of images in which non-locally distributed similar segments are identified and grouped to form sub-images. The denoising algorithm is applied on these sub-images to recover the actual image. The basis of such denoising algorithm is the existence of non-local self similarity or redundancy of segments within the natural images. But choosing the similarity measures for segment segregation is challenging. An analysis of various sorting measures and its effect on the performance of the denoising algorithms is presented.
Dose selection for aztreonam-avibactam, including adjustments for renal impairment, for phase IIa and phase III evaluation
Authors: Das Shampa , Riccobene Todd , Carrothers Timothy J. , Wright James G. , MacPherson Merran , Cristinacce Andrew , McFadyen Lynn , Xie Rujia , Luckey Alison , Raber Susan
Published: January 2023

Purpose A series of iterative population pharmacokinetic (PK) modelling and probability of target attainment (PTA) analyses were undertaken to support dose optimization for aztreonam-avibactam, a combination antibiotic.
Methods Joint PTA analyses (primary target: 60% fT>8 mg/L for aztreonam, 50% fT>2.5 mg/L for avibactam) explored the impact of patient variability, and evaluated loading doses and extended infusions, and adjustments for patients with moderate (estimated creatinine clearance [CrCL] >30 to ≤50 mL/min) and severe renal impairment (>15 to ≤30 mL/min). Achievement of >90% joint PTA, and the impact of differential renal clearance, were considerations in dose selection.
Results Dose selection for phase I and phase IIa (Cohort 1) was based on PK models of avibactam in patients and of aztreonam in healthy volunteers with ‘patient-like’ assumptions. Simulations demonstrated that: 3-h and continuous infusions provide comparable PTA; with patient variability, avibactam dose is the main driver of joint PTA; loading doses support more rapid joint target attainment. Aztreonam/avibactam 500/137 mg 30-min loading dose and 1500/410 mg 3-h maintenance infusions q6h was selected for initial phase IIa evaluation in patients with complicated intra-abdominal infection. Later PTA analyses using expanded PK models supported an increased avibactam dose (500/167 mg loading; 1500/500 q6h maintenance) and were also used to select doses for renal impairment.
Conclusion Aztreonam-avibactam 3-h infusions administered q6h are necessary to optimize joint PTA. Aztreonam-avibactam 500/167 mg loading 30-min infusion followed by 1500/500 mg maintenance 3-h infusions q6h (for CrCL >50 mL/min) is undergoing phase III evaluation.
Clinical trial registration: NCT01689207 (September 21, 2012); NCT02655419 (January 14, 2016); NCT03329092 (November 1, 2017); NCT03580044 (July 9, 2018)
A novel design of industrial real-time CT system based on sparse-view reconstruction and deep-learning image enhancement
Authors: Fang Zheng , Wang Tingjun
Published: January 2023

Industrial CT is useful for defect detection, dimensional inspection and geometric analysis. While it does not meet the needs of industrial mass production, because of its time-consuming imaging procedure. This article proposes a novel stationary real-time CT system, which is able to refresh the CT reconstructed slices to the detector frame frequency. This structure avoids the movement of the X-ray sources and detectors. Projections from different angles can be acquired with the objects’ translation, making it easier to be integrated into production line. All the detectors are arranged along the conveyor, and observe the objects in different angle of view. With the translation of objects, their X-ray projections are obtained for CT reconstruction. To decrease the mechanical size and reduce the number of X-ray sources and detectors, the FBP reconstruction algorithm was combined with deep-learning image enhancement. Medical CT images were applied to train the deep-learning network for its quantity advantage in comparison with industrial ones. It is the first time to adopt this source-detector layout strategy. Data augmentation and regularization were used to elevate the generalization of the network. Time consumption of the CT imaging process was also calculated to prove its high efficiency.
Guadecitabine increases response to combined anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 treatment in mouse melanoma in vivo by controlling the responses of T-cells, myeloid derived suppressor cells and NK cells
Authors: Amaro Adriana , Reggiani Francesco , Fenoglio Daniela , Gangemi Rosaria , Tosi Anna , Parodi Alessia , Banelli Barbara , Rigo Valentina , Mastracci Luca , Grillo Federica , Cereghetti Alessandra , Tastanova Aizhan , Ghosh Adhideb , Sallustio Fabio , Emionite Laura , Daga Antonio , Altosole Tiziana , Filaci Gilberto , Rosato Antonio , Levesque Mitchell , Maio Michele , Pfeffer Ulrich , Croce Michela
Published: January 2023

Background: The combination of Programmed Cell Death 1 (PD-1) and Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blockade has dramatically improved the overall survival rate for malignant melanoma. Immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) limit the tumor’s immune escape yet only for approximately a third of all tumors and, in most cases, for a limited amount of time. Several approaches to overcome resistance to ICBs are being investigated among which the addition of epigenetic drugs that are expected to act on both immune and tumor cells. Guadecitabine, a dinucleotide prodrug of a decitabine linked via phosphodiester bond to a guanosine, showed promising results in the phase-1 clinical trial, NIBIT-M4 (NCT02608437).
Methods: We used the syngeneic B16F10 murine melanoma model to study the effects of immune checkpoint blocking antibodies against CTLA-4 and PD-1 in combination, with and without the addition of Guadecitabine. We comprehensively characterized the tumor’s and the host’s responses under different treatments by flow cytometry, multiplex immunofluorescence and methylation analysis.
Results: In combination with ICBs, Guadecitabine significantly reduced subcutaneous tumor growth as well as metastases formation compared to ICBs and Guadecitabine treatment. In particular, Guadecitabine greatly enhanced the efficacy of combined ICBs by increasing effector memory CD8+ T cells, inducing effector NK cells in the spleen and reducing tumor infiltrating regulatory T cells and myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC), in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Guadecitabine in association with ICBs increased serum levels of IFN-γ and IFN-γ-induced chemokines with anti-angiogenic activity. Guadecitabine led to a general DNA-demethylation, in particular of sites of intermediate methylation levels.
Conclusions: These results indicate Guadecitabine as a promising epigenetic drug to be added to ICBs therapy.
Study on the efficacy and mechanism of Jintiange Capsules in the tre atment of osteoarthritis in rats
Authors: Zhang Xue , Shi Ya-Jun , Zhang Xiao-Fei , Guo Dong-Yan , Zhai Bing-Tao , Cheng Jiang-Xue , Zhang En-Hu , Zou Jun-Bo , Yuan Pu-Wei
Published: January 2023

Background:To study the pharmacodynamic effect of Jintiange capsules (JTG) on collagenase-induced osteoarthritis (OA) in rats; Based on the chondrocytes model, to explore the mechanism of treating OA with JTG-containing serum.
Methods: 1. 60 Sprague-dawley (SD) rats were used to establish OA model by type II collagenase. Knee joint diameter, lower limb load and pain threshold were measured. Then ELISA detection, micro-CT scanning and crocus solid green staining were performed.
2. Chondrocytes were extracted from SD rats. The effect of JTG on the migration of chondrocytes induced by il-1β was evaluated by Scratch Test. Chondrocytes were divided into control group, model group and JTG Group. RNA sequencing, nucleic acid sequence analysis, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis and qRT-PCR were performed after administration.
Results:1. Micro CT and safranine fast green staining showed that the number of bone trabeculae in JTG group increased significantly, arranged neatly.
2. The containing serum of JTG significantly increased the scratch healing rate of chondrocytes. GO and KEGG showed that the above differential genes were mainly enriched in immune system processes and TNF signaling pathways. RT-qPCRresults indicated that the TNF pathway and immune system regulation related genes were key pathways and genes in the treatment of OA.
Conclusion: JTG effectively blocks the progression of articular cartilage through the TNF pathway and genes involved in immune system regulation.
Analysis and Modeling of Android Software Vulnerabilities: A Numerical Approach
Authors: Gencer Kerem , Başçiftçi Fatih
Published: January 2023

A software security vulnerability is a mistake or violation of the security policy that occurs during the creation or development of the software. A vulnerability discovery model is a structure enabling the prediction of software security vulnerabilities that might occur after the software is released. In a more general sense, modeling is the method that allows us to analyze a phenomenon in detail and make accurate predictions for the future. The model must be able to explain the target environment in the best way possible and make the best predictions possible. Recently, there have been many studies on the subject of modeling security vulnerabilities. Most of these studies are concerned with desktop operating systems and internet browsers. Although there are studies based on the most popular mobile operating system, Android, there has never been a study that investigates different statistical distributions to find the most suitable one. The most popular model for vulnerability prediction is the Alhazmi-Malaiya Logistic (AML) model. This model has been observed to achieve better performance than other models in modeling security vulnerabilities. The AML model is similar to a logistic distribution, which has a symmetrical structure. In this study, certain aspects of Android security vulnerabilities were investigated using some symmetric and asymmetric distributions that are close to the AML distribution. The data used in this study was obtained from the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) by filtering Android vulnerabilities from 2016 to 2018, a time interval in which monthly information was continuously available. Furthermore, with the 0 to 10 scoring data obtained from the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), the average monthly impact values of vulnerabilities have also been modeled. Logistic, Weibull, Normal, Nakagami, Gamma, and Log-logistic distributions were used to model the average monthly impact values of vulnerabilities, and the Logistic, Weibull, Nakagami, Gamma, and Log-logistic distributions were used to model the monthly vulnerability count. From the goodness-of-fit tests, which are methods to establish how well sample data matches the expected distribution values, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling, and Cramer-von Mises tests were applied. Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria and Log-likelihood were used to see how robust the models were. As a result, the average monthly impact value and the monthly vulnerability count were observed to be best modeled by the Logistic and Nakagami distributions, respectively. Vulnerability detection models help us forecast software vulnerabilities and enable the necessary precautions to be taken, such as planning the generation of a patch. With suitable distributions, it has been shown that Android vulnerabilities can be modeled and forecasts can be made.
Characterization and dressing effect of CMP diamond disc conditioner with ordered abrasive distribution
Authors: Zhaozhi Guo , Songhao Yang , Zhenhui Wen , Jingyu Li , Jun Cheng
Published: January 2023

With the advent of the 5G information age, the production and processing of computer chips has attracted people's attention. In order to adapt to the rapid development in the field of chip manufacturing, high requirements are placed on chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). Among them, the porous structure on the surface of the polishing pad is easily blocked and loses its performance during the use of the polishing pad. Therefore, the use of diamond disc conditioner to dress the polishing pad in the CMP process is an indispensable part. In this paper, a new method of measuring the dressing disc is proposed, after the wax block is melted, it solidifies on the surface of the dressing disc to obtain the protrusion height of the grains, this method has more advantages than measuring with an optical microscope because of the error caused by the diffuse reflection of the microscope. For diamond conditioners used in the experiments, the dressing trajectory of abrasive grains is simulated, which is the basis on choosing the experimental method, and the material removal rate model of the polishing pad is established. In addition, the diamond conditioners with orderly distributed abrasive grains are used to dress the polishing pad after polishing silicon wafer two hours, the discs can remove the blocking material on the surface of the polishing pad after dressing 30 minutes, the dressing effect and efficiency of the diamond disc with grain size of 100µm is more obvious. The surface roughness and the liquid contact angle of the polishing pad before and after dressing are measured, after a period of conditioning, they can be restored to a state similar to that of the new polishing pad.
Ulva and its components as potential stimulants in aquaculture feeds: chemosensory response of a valuable sea urchin species
Authors: Addis Pierantonio , Pasquini Viviana , Angioni Alberto , Malavasi Veronica , Solari Paolo
Published: January 2023

Ulva is close to becoming popular due to its suitability as potential feedstock production and for food items. However, there is a general lack of studies on the aversion or acceptability of this green alga by marine organisms, in particular on its role as a chemoattractant and/or phagostimulant activity. Here we tested the effect of Ulva and other biochemicals as potential chemostimulating compounds for a valuable sea urchin species Paracentrotus lividus, selected as model species for our tests. Sea urchins’ chemical sensitivity was estimated by the analysis of movements of spines, pedicellariae, tube feet, and individual locomotion, using an innovative bioassay. Our results showed that all forms of Ulva (fresh, defrosted, and fragmented) resulted in an effective stimulus, evoking in sea urchins strong responses with robust activation of spines and tube feet, where the defrosted one was the most stimulating. Among the amino acids tested, glycine, alanine, and glutamine produced a significant response, highlighting for the latter a concentration-response relationship. Sea urchins responded to glucose, not to fructose and sucrose. Spirulina resulted as the most effective stimulus, acting in a dose-dependent manner. These results first indicate the role of Ulva and its most representative compounds as chemostimulant for such herbivore species. From an applied point of view, the presence of potential Ulva's feed-related compounds, acting as chemoattractants (to reduce food searching time) and/or feeding stimulants (to stimulate ingestion), would improve the several applications of Ulva in the formulation of the feeds for sustainable aquaculture.