bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Establishing a Baseline of Mammal Diversity in Kali Tiger Reserve, India through Camera Trapping
Authors: Tripathy Bismay Ranjan , Patel Imran , Pai Omkar , Kumar Pavan , Das Kavya H , Naik Soumya , D Maria Christu Raja , Mahanta Kirti Kumar , Hiremani Pradeep Kumar
Published: August 2023

The conservation of endangered and rare mammal populations requires accurate inventorying. Traditional live-trapping methods can be labor-intensive, time-consuming and prone to errors. Camera trapping (CT) offer an effective alternative. The sampling period was from March to May 2021, divided into three phases, each lasting 25 days and covering a different region. Rarefaction technique confirmed that 364 camera stations out of 462 (9,100 trapping effort) was sufficient to capture 22 mammal species, which includes eight herbivores, two omnivores, and six carnivores. The eastern region had a higher concentration of mammal species with the highest captures occurring at elevation ranging from 400 to 800 m. The study also highlighted the potential impacts of hunting and poaching activities on wild animal communities within the reserve. The findings serve as a baseline for future assessments of conservation management interventions. CT offer an effective and practical method for inventorying mammal populations, enabling conservation efforts focus most in need.
The quality of primary care services in public sector facilities in a Ugandan district: a cross-sectional descriptive study
Authors: Besigye Innocent , Mash Robert
Published: August 2023

Background
In order to strengthen primary health care (PHC), there is a need to measure its performance. The World Health Organisation has published a measurement framework for PHC. This framework emphasised the core functions of primary care: access, continuity, coordination, comprehensiveness and person-centredness. This study aimed to measure the performance of primary care using the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) in one rural Ugandan district.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey of Tororo District administered the PCAT across a sample of 51/58 PHC facilities. There were four levels of health facilities (health centres II to general hospital). A random sample of at least 100 users was obtained from each level, and from all primary care providers and managers. Data was collected in REDCap software, and analysed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences vs23.
Results
Only 35.1% of users had a strong affiliation with their PHC facility. The overall primary care score suggested that performance was acceptable to the majority of users (58.9% rating the performance at least acceptable). Ongoing care was rated by users as very poor (< 25% of people rating it at least acceptable). Comprehensiveness (services available) was rated as poor by users (≤ 50% finding it at least acceptable). Users rated first contact access and coordination (information systems) as acceptable (51–75% finding them at least acceptable). Person-centredness and comprehensiveness (services provided) were rated as good by users (> 75% rating them as acceptable or more). Providers and users differed significantly in their scoring across all domains, with providers usually more positive. Performance significantly improved as the PHC level increased, with the general hospital having the highest score.
Conclusion
The PCAT was able to identify the primary care functions that needed improving. The results will be used to co-design interventions to improve performance. The PCAT may be a useful tool to measure PHC performance across the region.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis with SOD1 mutation presenting with progressive cerebellar ataxia
Authors: Sequeira Marta , Godinho Filipe , Lourenço João
Published: August 2023

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder known to affect upper and lower motor neurons, being SOD1 mutations the second most commonly found in familial and sporadic cases. We describe a patient with a pathogenic mutation in SOD1 gene that presented with a progressive cerebellar ataxia and ultimately developed a complex phenotype of cerebellar ataxia and motor neuron disease. The linkage between the cerebellum and ALS is shortly discussed.
Identification of a Cinnamoyl-CoA Reductase Involved in Cinnamaldehyde Biosynthesis from Cinnamomum cassia
Authors: Ye Peng , Su Jianmu , Lin Jianhao , Li Yanqun , Wu Hong
Published: August 2023

A significant accumulation of cinnamaldehyde has been found in the barks of Cinnamomum cassia, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Cinnamaldehyde exhibits various pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and stomachic effects. However, further confirmation of the biosynthetic pathway for cinnamaldehyde is needed. In this study, we analyzed 15 transcriptomes from five different tissues to understand the accumulation of active components and identify the genes responsible for cinnamaldehyde biosynthesis. Our transcriptome database contained nearly all genes associated with the cinnamaldehyde pathway, with the majority of them demonstrating high abundance in branch barks and barks. We successfully cloned C. cassia cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CcCCR1), a key gene in the biosynthesis of cinnamaldehyde, and found that its expression pattern mirrored the cinnamaldehyde content level. The recombinant CcCCR1 protein efficiently converted cinnamoyl-CoA into cinnamaldehyde. Compared to Arabidopsis thaliana cinnamoyl-CoA reductase 1 (AtCCR1), CcCCR1 exhibited approximately 17-fold higher catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km). Molecular docking studies also indicated superior catalytic activity of CcCCR1 compared to AtCCR1, which can be utilized for engineering higher cinnamaldehyde production as previously reported. These findings provide valuable insights for the functional characterization of enzyme-coding genes and hold potential for future engineering of cinnamaldehyde biosynthetic pathways.
Super-resolution mapping using cellular automata model
Authors: Habibiyan Sajad , Aghighi Hossein , Azadbakht Mohsen , Matkan Ali Akbar , Mirbagheri Babak
Published: August 2023

Super-resolution mapping (SRM) is a category of techniques that aim to estimate fine-scale land cover maps from coarse spatial resolution remote sensing images. The main limitations of SRM methods are high computational complexity, demanding training data and parameter tuning. To overcome these drawbacks, this paper proposes a cellular automata (CA) based SRM (SRM-CA) approach. CA is adopted as it is a fast and efficient technique that incorporates simple rules about spatial adjacency effects. In the first step of SRM-CA, the proportions of endmembers were computed, to generate SR map the pure pixels were then mapped. To assign an appropriate label for unlabeled sub-pixels; the energy function was computed. Each given sub-pixel was then assigned to a class with maximum amount of the energy. Two synthetic imageries, namely circle and concentric circles images, and an orthophoto map from the city Centre of Vaihingen, Germany were tested for validation and comparison. The average computed Percent Correct Classified (PCC’) index for Vaihingen dataset was 98.52%. Moreover, in the case of employed circle synthetic dataset, the comparison of the results between SRM-CA technique and SRM Using Neural Network Predicted Wavelet Coefficients model illustrated that there are no differences between PCC and Kappa coefficient. Regarding concentric circles, SRM-CA approach outperforms BPFM model with gains of 99.91% in Kappa metric. Meanwhile, the proposed method requires less than 50 seconds computation time for Vaihingen data set which considerably less than other state-of-the-art SRM methods, and hence SRM-CA approach provides a new solution to sub-pixel land cover mapping.
A Systematic review and Network Meta-analysis of Minimally Invasive Intervention use in Pain Management
Authors: Shetty Ashish , Delanerolle Gayathri , Cavalini Heitor , Qui Yinshan , Boyd Amy , Bouchareb Yassine , Thillainathan Anish , Kim Seung Cheol , Phiri Peter , Shi Jian Qing , Deer Timothy
Published: August 2023

Background
Chronic, non-cancer pain represents a serious public health and economic issue affecting approximately 20% of the global population. Chronic pain can affect many aspects of patient’s lives, including mental health, employment, and relationships. Current medical management is largely focussed on investigating and managing acute pain. Patients and clinicians are now increasingly aware of the potential benefits of combined treatments or complex interventions in alleviating chronic pain. These approaches physical interventions such as exercise or yoga, as well as psychological support including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and talking therapies.
Methods
This study used network meta-analyses to explore the prevalence of complex interventions in pain management, and the effects of these interventions on quality of life, using outcome measures including intensity of chronic pain, assessment of functional disability and participant’s psychological state.
Results
Psychological interventions were associated with improvements in pain intensity and depression. Exercise and manipulation technique-based treatments provided a statistically significant reduction in pain intensity. This effect was enhanced when exercise and CBT were combined. Mensendieck somatocognitive therapy (MSCT) plus standard gynaecological treatment (STGT) treatments appeared to have a better effect on chronic pain than multimodal exercise plus CBT treatment. Combined MSCT and STGT treatment, and multimodal exercise plus CBT treatments, reduced pain intensity, whilst MSCT + STGT treatments had a slightly better effect than exercise plus CBT treatment.
Conclusions
Complex interventions have become more popular with patients as the risks associated with other interventions including surgery and pharmacological management have become better understood. These interventions can potentially have a positive effect both on the physical and psychological health of patients. The analysis presented in this study suggests that further work is warranted in this area and that additional studies are required, both in more geographically diverse locations, and with larger cohorts.
BMSCs overexpressing hBcl2 can resist myelin-induced apoptosis and promote repair after spinal cord injury in rats
Authors: Tian Dasheng , You Xingyu , Ye Jianan , Chen Gan , Yu Hang , Lv Jianwei , Shan Fangli , Liang Chao , Bi Yihui , jing Juehua , Zheng Meige
Published: August 2023

After spinal cord injury (SCI), the production of myelin debris at the lesion core worsens parenchymal cell death and hinders axonal regrowth. BMSCs are susceptible to apoptosis after transplantation, and it remains unclear if this process is associated with myelin debris. we constructed BMSCs overexpressing hBcl2 (hBcl2group), BMSCs overexpressing hBcl2 with an endoplasmic reticulum-anchored segment (hBcl2-cb) (cb group), and a negative control group (NC group) for this study. Immunocytochemistry staining showed that hBcl2 was more stably and significantly higher in BMSCs of the hBcl2 group. All BMSCs from each group exhibited the ability to phagocytize Dil-myelin debris. However, only BMSCs from the hBcl2 group demonstrated resistance to apoptosis and sustained survival for up to 5 days in the presence of myelin debris. This process appeared to be associated with the efficient degradation of myelin debris through the Lamp1+ lysosomal pathway in the hBcl2 group. In the in vivo transplantation experiments, the hBcl2 group exhibited significantly higher numbers of surviving cells and fewer apoptotic cells compared to the cb and NC groups following BMSCs transplantation. Additionally, the hBcl2 group showed a remarkable reduction in GFAP+ glial scarring and significantly greater preservation of NF200+ axons in the lesion regions of SCI rats. This study revealed that myelin debris induces apoptosis in BMSCs, providing a potential explanation for the low survival rate of transplanted BMSCs after SCI. Interestingly, it was observed that the overexpression of hBcl2 protein, rather than its endoplasmic reticulum-anchored counterpart, significantly enhances the resistance of BMSCs against myelin debris-induced apoptosis. Consequently, the survival rate of transplanted BMSCs is improved, and there is an enhancement in axonal preservation within the injured spinal cord.
Phenotypes of patients with systemic sclerosis in the Chinese Han population: A cluster analysis
Authors: Zhao Yaqi , Xu Wei , Gao Wenfeng , Li Xinya , Liu Baocheng , Yan Suyan , Ma Zhenzhen , Yang Qingrui
Published: August 2023

Objective
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous connective tissue disease that is commonly subdivided into limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) based on the extent of skin involvement. This subclassification may not reflect the full range of clinical phenotypic variation. This study aimed to investigate clinical features and aggregation of patients with SSc in China based on SSc manifestations and organ involvements.
Methods
In total 287 SSc patients were included in this cross-sectional study. A cluster analysis was applied according to 13 clinical and serologic variables to determine subgroups of patients. Survival rates between obtained clusters and risk factors affecting prognosis were also compared.
Result
In this study, six clusters were observed: cluster 1 (n = 66) represented the skin type, with all patients showing skin sclerosis. In cluster 2 (n = 56), most patients had vascular and articular involvement. Cluster 3 (n = 14) individuals mostly had cardiac and pulmonary involvement. In cluster 4 (n = 52), the gastrointestinal type, 50 patients presented with gastritis. In cluster 5 (n = 50), patients barely had any major organ involvement. Cluster 6 (n = 49) included six patients with renal insufficiency, 28 patients with muscle pain and 42 patients with Raynaud’s symptoms.
Conclusion
The results of our cluster analysis study implied that limiting SSc patient subgroups to those based only on skin involvement might not capture the full heterogeneity of the disease. Organ damage and antibody profiles should be considered when identifying homogeneous patient groups with a specific prognosis.
Understanding the associations between receipt of, and interest in, advice from a healthcare professional and quality of life in individuals with a stoma from colorectal cancer: A latent profile analysis
Authors: Goodman William , Downing Amy , Allsop Matthew , Munro Julie , Hubbard Gill , Beeken Rebecca J
Published: August 2023

Purpose: To explore whether profiles derived from self-reported quality of life were associated with receipt of, and interest in, advice from a healthcare professional in people with a stoma.
Methods: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional national survey data from England of 4487 people with a stoma from colorectal cancer. The survey assessed quality of life using various scales, receipt and interest in various forms of advice, and physical activity. A three-step latent profile analysis was conducted to determine the optimum number of profiles. Multinomial regression explored factors associated with profile membership. A series of logistic regression models examined whether profile membership was associated with interest in advice.
Results:Five profiles were identified; ‘consistently good quality of life’, ‘functional issues’, ‘functional and financial issues’, ‘low quality of life’ and ‘supported but struggling’. Individuals in the ‘functional and financial issues’ and ‘low quality of life’ profiles were more likely to have received financial advice compared to the ‘consistently good quality of life’ profile. When compared to the ‘consistently good quality of life’ profile, all other profiles were more likely to report wanting advice across a range of areas, with the strongest associations in the ‘low quality of life’ profile.
Conclusion: Findings indicate that people with a stoma are not a homogenous group in terms of quality of life. Participants in profiles with quality of life concerns report wanting more advice across various categories but findings suggest there is scope to explore how this can be tailored or adapted to specific groups.
Salting out, non-ideality and Synergism: how the Complex Chemical Composition of Atmospheric Aerosols Enhances Surfactant Efficiency
Authors: Noziere Barbara , Haber Manuella El , Ferronato Corinne , Fendler Anne Giroir , Fine Ludovic
Published: August 2023

In Earth’s atmosphere the efficiency of sub-micron aerosol particles to produce cloud droplets is expected to be affected by their surface tension. But this quantity cannot be measured directly and is inferred from the chemical compounds present in aerosols. Amphiphilic surfactants are present in aerosols but direct experimental information on the impacts of other aerosol components on their surface properties is lacking. This work explores systematically how NaCl, (NH4)2SO4, oxalic, and glutaric acid modify the surface properties of amphiphilic surfactants, SDS, Brij35, TritonX100, TritonX114, and CTAC, by determining the adsorption isotherms for these mixtures. The results reveal that all these water-soluble aerosol components enhance the efficiency of surfactants. The inorganic salts substantially lowered the surface tension (- Δσ > 10 mN m-1) and CMC of the surfactants by salting out while the surface tension of mixtures with organic acids deviated strongly from ideality (- Δσ = 10 - 30 mN m-1) and displayed some synergism. These results suggest that molecular interactions take place at the surface, even with non-ionic surfactants, that need to be further studied and included in models.
Hesperidin relieves irradiation-induced cognitive dysfunction via regulation of HMGB1-mediated neuroinflammation
Authors: Huang Wei , Xie Li , Ma Jun , Lu Hong , Chen Lejun , Yu Dahai , Yao Chang
Published: August 2023

Background: High mobility group box1 (HMGB1)is a chromatin-binding protein that especially regulates inflammatory signaling cascades. Several reports have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effect of hesperidin. Whether hesperidin attenuates radiation-induced brain injury via inhibiting HMGB1-mediated neuroinflammation remains unclear.
Methods: Morris water maze test and the step-down passive avoidance test were applied to evaluate whether hesperidin could relieve the irradiation-induced cognitive dysfunction. Nissl staining, western blotting and immunofluorescence were performed to uncover the mechanisms.
Results: In this study, we found that radiation reduced the neuronal number and increased the content of the proinflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus, and hesperidin significantly reversed these changes. More importantly, hesperidin significantly improved the learning and memory abilities of X-ray-stimulated mice. We also found that radiation markedly increased Iba-1 expression in the hippocampus and resulted in substantial translocation of HMGB1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in the hippocampus and BV-2 cell, and hesperidin reversed the radiation-induced upregulation of Iba-1 and the cytoplasmic translocation of HMGB1. Moreover, hesperidin rescued the radiation-induced the upregulations in the phosphorylation levels of ERK, p38 and p65 in the hippocampus.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that hesperidin alleviated the radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction via inhibiting HMGB-mediated neuroinflammation, and indicated that hesperidin could be a promising candidate for treatment of radiation- induced brain injury.
U2-Net_S Fire Smoke Segmentation Based on Multiscale Edge Fusion Convolutional Encoder and Edge Supervision
Authors: Zheng Yuanpan , Wang Hui , Gan Xinxin , Niu Liwei
Published: August 2023

The production of smoke is a sign of fire occurrence, and in the monitoring and prevention of disasters, the research value of smoke is higher than that of flames. Segmentation of smoke targets is of great significance for the study of smoke characteristics. However, traditional methods for smoke target segmentation are limited in accuracy and are easily affected by the scene. Existing smoke segmentation models rely on a large-scale classification backbone, which sacrifices high-resolution feature mappings to achieve deeper architectures. These models neglect the relatively important local details and global contrast information that are crucial for smoke segmentation, and their segmentation results for smoke edge details are also not satisfactory. In this paper, the Sobel operator and multi-scale convolutional encoder are fused for feature extraction, and the residual mixing attention mechanism as well as the edge segmentation module are added to the model, and a multi-scale segmentation model for fire smoke edge segmentation is proposed, which improves the segmentation accuracy, segmentation precision and edge segmentation. The test results of the homemade smoke segmentation dataset show that the model's mIoU can reach up to 90.48% and finally stabilized at 90.09%, mPA is up to 96.96%, MAE is reduced to 0.02, and MaxF1 reaches 94.37%, which is superior to the current semantic segmentation model. Compared with the base model U2-Net improves 3.26% (AVG20) and 2.68% (TOP1) in mIoU metrics, and 0.95% and 1.36% in mPA and MaxF1 metrics, respectively. The method proposed in this paper is more suitable for fire smoke segmentation, which is important for smoke characterization and smoke source point identification research.
"Selected fungicides as potential EDC estrogenic micropollutants in the environment"
Authors: Jabłońska-Trypuć Agata , Wydro Urszula , Wołejko Elżbieta , Makuła Marcin , Krętowski Rafał , Naumowicz Monika , Sokołowska Gabriela , Serra-Majem Lluis , Pasko Marzanna Cechowska – , Łozowicka Bożena , Kaczyński Piotr , Wiater Józefa
Published: August 2023

An increasing level of pesticides exposition is being observed as a result of the consumption of large amounts of fruit, vegetables and grain products, which are key components of the vegetarian diet. Fungicides have been classified as a endocrine-disrupting compounds, but their mechanisms of action have not yet been clarified. The effect of boscalid (B), cyprodinil (C) and iprodione (I) combined with Tamoxifen (T) and 17β-estradiol (E2) on cell viability, cell proliferation, reporter gene expression, ROS content, cell membrane’s function, cell morphology and antioxidant enzymes gene expression on MCF-7 and T47D-KBluc cell lines were investigated. Cell lines were chosen due to their response to 17β -estradiol. Selected fungicides are commonly used in Poland to protect crops against fungi. Our results revealed that studied fungicides caused significant increase in cell viability and proliferation and estrogenic activity was present in all studied compounds depending on their concentrations. Oxidative stress activated uncontrolled cancer cell proliferation by inducing ROS production and by inhibiting antioxidant defense. Our findings verified that studied fungicides could possibly exhibit endocrine disrupting properties and exposure should be avoided.
The impacts of tourist destinations on wildlife in northern Finland
Authors: Huhta Esa
Published: August 2023

The sprawl of tourism to natural areas may have many kinds of effects on wildlife species due to urban development, landscape fragmentation and increased disturbance. I examined potential effects of tourist destinations on four forest grouse and five mammalian species in northern Finland. I used density data coming from the late-summer and mid-winter wildlife counts. The data was collected in 88 wildlife triangles (length of 12 km each) within a radius of 40 km around ten tourist destinations in northern Finland conducted during 1989–2006 by hunters. The densities of the mountain hare (Lepidus timidus) and the mustelid species correlated negatively with the distance to a tourist destination. The density of adult grouse, juvenile grouse, mountain hare, and mustelids were positively correlated with the area of mixed forests surroundings of destinations. The densities of adult and juvenile grouses were positively and the density of pine marten and mustelids were negatively correlated with the area of agricultural land surroundings of destinations. The density of studied wildlife species varied between the destinations and the years. The results of the study suggest that the current recreation pressure has not caused substantial changes in the wildlife fauna in the surroundings of tourist destinations studied. The location of a destination, predator densities, and a landscape structure around destinations affected most the density of wildlife species.
Enhanced delivery of retinoic acid to breast cancer cells by folate receptor- targeted folic acid-conjugated glutenin nanoparticles for promising treatment of breast cancer
Authors: Rajeshkumar Raja Rajeswari , Pavadai Parasuraman , Panneerselvam Theivendren , Pandian Sureshbabu Ram Kumar , Kumar A. Santhana Krishna , Maszczyk Piotr , Babkiewicz Ewa , Kabilan Shanmugampillai Jeyarajaguru , Kunjiappan Selvaraj
Published: August 2023

Targeted delivery via surface receptors can significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the adverse drug reactions. The protein nanocarrier system offers many advantages, such as encapsulation in various drugs and molecules and prolonged circulation. Here, the folate receptor-targeted folic acid-conjugated retinoic acid-loaded glutenin nanoparticles (FA-RA-Glu NPs) were successfully synthesised for enhanced delivery of retinoic acid to breast cancer cells (MCF-7). After a complete physico-chemical characterisation of FA-RA-Glu NPs, stability, drug release, release kinetics, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, cell death, and nucleic acid fragmentation were analysed. The results showed that FA-RA-Glu NPs were ⁓185 nm in size, predominantly spherical in shape, crystalline in nature and had a zeta potential of − 3 mV. The RA encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of Glu NPs were 83.537% ± 3.32% and 9.917 ± 1.68%, respectively. The effects of FA-RA-Glu NPs against MCF-7 cells significantly reduced the number of viable cells and the induction of apoptosis. The cellular uptake study showed that the FA-RA-Glu NPs had facilitated endocytosis and delivered RA into MCF-7 cells. After treatment with FA-RA-Glu NPs, contracted nuclei and deformed membrane bodies were observed as typical apoptotic morphological changes. The released RA also targeted the mitochondria of MCF-7 cells, which significantly increased the levels of reactive oxygen species and contributed to the damage of mitochondrial membrane integrity. These results suggest that FA-RA-Glu NPs with facilitated endocytosis and targeted delivery of RA into MCF-7 cells may have significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of breast cancer.
Controllable synthesis of spherical S@CoMn2O4 battery-type electrode material for hybrid supercapacitors
Authors: Lv Xinrong , Min Xiaoqin , Liu Xuhui , Yang Changgui , Chen Jianyou , Lin Xiaoyun
Published: August 2023

A novel spherical Co-Mn composite -CoMn2O4 was synthesized via a one-step solvothermal method, and S doping CoMn2O4 (S@CoMn2O4) battery-type electrode material was further obtained via a hydrothermal vulcanization. This ion exchange technique is mainly carried out on the surface of the material and will not destroy the morphology of the original oxide-MOF, so the obtained materials generally have a core-shell structure. The S@CoMn2O4 not only remains a spherical character, but also possesses a coarser surface and porous structure, which considerably increases the specific surface areas (SSA) and electrochemical active sites (EAS) for electrode materials, thus facilitating the charge transfer kinetics for ions and electrons. When the current density (CD) is 1 A g-1, the specific capacity (Cs) of S@CoMn2O4 is 812 C g-1. Moreover, S@CoMn2O4 has excellent electrochemical cycling performance, and the retention rate of Cs for the S@CoMn2O4 reach 92.91% after 5000 cycles at 10 A g-1. When the specific power (Ps) is 775 W kg-1, the specific energy (Es) for S@CoMn2O4//AC device reaches 44.36 Wh kg-1.
Residual pattern of the hyperintense area on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging after initial treatment predicts the pattern and location of recurrence in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma
Authors: Shimoda Yoshiteru , Kanamori Masayuki , Yamashita Shota , Shibahara Ichiyo , Umezawa Rei , Mugikura Shunji , Jingu Keiichi , Saito Ryuta , Sonoda Yukihiko , Kumabe Toshihiro , Endo Hidenori
Published: August 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of residual hyperintensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in patients with glioblastoma (GB) without enhanced lesions at the end of initial treatment with debulking surgery and concomitant radiotherapy and temozolomide.
Methods: Among 185 GB cases, 80 cases without enhanced lesions at the end of initial treatment and without factors modifying the distribution of residual hyperintense area or pattern of recurrence were included. We retrospectively reviewed the relationship of residual hyperintense area after initial treatment with progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and pattern of recurrence.
Results: In these 80 cases, the median PFS and OS were 12.0 and 37.5 months, respectively. At the end of initial treatment, 53 (66.3%) cases had residual hyperintense lesions (T2 residual group, T2R), whereas 27 (33.8%) showed no hyperintensity (T2 vanished group, T2V). Based on univariate and multivariate analyses, the residual hyperintense area after initial treatment was not a prognostic factor for PFS or OS. Distant recurrences occurred more frequently in the T2V group than in the T2R group (47.6% vs. 12.8%). In the T2R group, the recurrence site coincided with the residual hyperintense area in 32 (80.0%) of 40 recurrences.
Conclusion: In GB cases without enhanced lesions at the end of initial treatment, the complete disappearance of the residual hyperintense area after initial treatment does not indicate a favorable outcome. Additionally, distant recurrences should be considered in T2V group and local recurrences should be considered in T2R group.
A new look at acute kidney injury in human visceral leishmaniasis: the relationship with circulating immune complexes
Authors: Corrêa-Castro Gabriela , Silva-Freitas Maria Luciana , Paula Ludmila , Soares Leonardo , Dutra Maria Rita Teixeira , Albuquerque Hermano Gomes , Cota Glaucia , Martins Caroline Azevedo , Da-Cruz Alda Maria , Gomes-Silva Adriano , Santos-Oliveira Joanna Reis
Published: August 2023

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an infectious disease caused by Leishmania infantum. Clinically, VL evolves with systemic impairment, immunosuppression and hyperactivation with hypergammaglobulinemia. Although renal involvement has been recognized, a dearth of understanding about the underlying mechanisms driving acute kidney injury (AKI) in VL remains. We aimed to evaluate the involvement of immunoglobulins (Igs) and immune complexes (CIC) in the occurrence of AKI in VL patients. Fourteen VL patients were evaluated between early treatment and 12 months post-treatment (mpt). Anti-Leishmania Igs, CIC, cystatin C, C3a and C5a were assessed and correlated with AKI markers. Interestingly, high levels of CIC were observed in VL patients up to 6 mpt. Concomitantly, twelve patients met the criteria for AKI, while high levels of cystatin C were observed up to 6 mpt. Plasmatic cystatin C was positively correlated with CIC and Igs. Moreover, C5a was correlated with cystatin C, CIC and Igs. We did not identify any correlation between amphotericin B use and kidney function markers in VL patients, although this association needs to be further explored in subsequent studies. Our data reinforce the presence of an important renal function impairment during VL, suggesting the involvement of Igs, CIC, and C5a in the clinical condition.
Construction of Financial Risk Pre-alarm Index System in Refractory Industry
Authors: Jin Yingying
Published: August 2023

Refractory materials are important basic materials for high-temperature industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, environmental protection and electric power. Due to the continuous downturn in the business performance of upstream and downstream industries, the speed of capital return has decreased, and the capital chain of refractory companies may be broken. Therefore, it is imperative to build a financial risk pre-alarm system for refractory companies and strengthen related research on financial risk pre-alarm of refractories. In order to solve the difficulties that the traditional financial risk pre-alarm model is difficult to deal with highly nonlinear models and lacks adaptive ability, this article applies sparse noise reduction self-coding neural network (SDAE-NN) to the financial risk pre-alarm system of refractory industry, and constructs the financial risk pre-alarm model of refractory industry. Due to the serious overcapacity of China iron and steel, and most of them are low-end products, most enterprises are in a state of loss, and they are considering transformation and development, and the refractory enterprises that provide products and services for them have also been greatly impacted. In order to ensure the stability of macro-economy and the healthy and effective operation of enterprises, it is of great practical significance to innovate and construct financial management theory, establish financial risk pre-alarm mechanism and accurately identify crisis signals to predict financial risks of enterprises.
Quercetin protects cadmium-induced renal injury in mice by inhibiting pyroptosis
Authors: wang juyu , Yang Jieyan , Liu Kai , Zhang Limei , Qu Weijie , Wang Kun , Zhao Yu , Zhou Yaxiong , Liu Xiang , Gu xiaolong , Wang Shengkui
Published: August 2023

The heavy metal pollutant cadmium (Cd) is frequently found in the environment and is highly toxic, particularly affecting the kidneys. It remains unclear whether the non-toxic flavonoid quercetin can counteract Cd-induced renal pyroptosis. In this study, we established a model of cadmium poisoning treated with quercetin both in vitro (using mouse renal MES-13 cells at a concentration of 5 µM for 24 h) and in vivo (10 Kunming mice receiving 1 mg/kg body weight via oral gavage for 4 weeks). In vitro experiments revealed that cell viability significantly decreased after exposure to different concentrations of Cd for 12h and 24h, following a concentration-time dependent pattern. Furthermore, treatment with Cd led to a significant increase in cleaved caspase-1, NLRP3, and IL-1β protein levels in MES-13 cells (P < 0.01), which was effectively alleviated by quercetin treatment. In vivo studies demonstrated that Cd significantly elevated blood urea nitrogen levels while reducing GPX and SOD levels. Pathological sections revealed tubular stenosis and renal interstitial congestion as characteristic damage caused by Cd exposure. Notably, Cd-induced renal cell pyroptosis protein cleaved caspase-1 was significantly increased, however, quercetin administration could mitigate these injuries induced by Cd exposure through decreasing caspase-1 protein expression and inhibiting renal cell pyroptosis. Collectively, our findings indicate that kidney cells are susceptible to pyroptotic cell death due to Cd exposure possibly mediated by ROS production leading to oxidative cellular damage followed by activation of caspase-1; meanwhile, quercetin exhibits protective effects against kidney injuries induced by Cd through inhibition of kidney cell pyroptosis.
Octoploids show enhanced salt tolerance through chromosome doubling in Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.)
Authors: Fan Yupu , Ye Jiali , Zhang Hui , Yin Lina , Teng Wenjun , Teng Ke , Wu Juying , Fan Xifeng , Wang Shiwen , Yue Yuesen
Published: August 2023

Background Polyploid plants often exhibit enhanced stress tolerance. Switchgrass is a perennial rhizomatous bunchgrass that is considered ideal for cultivation in marginal lands, including sites with saline soil. In this study, we investigated the physiological responses and transcriptome changes of octoploid and tetraploid of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L. ‘Alamo’) under salt stress.Results We found that autoploid 8× switchgrass had enhanced salt tolerance compared with the amphidiploid 4× precursor as indicated by physiological and phenotypic traits. Octoploids had increased salt tolerance by significantly changes to the osmoregulatory and antioxidant systems. The salt-treated 8× Alamo plants showed greater K+ accumulation and an increase in the K+/Na+ ratio. Root transcriptome analysis for octoploid and tetraploid plants with or without salt stress revealed that 302 upregulated and 546 downregulated differentially expressed genes were enriched in genes involved in plant hormone signal transduction pathways, and were specifically associated with the auxin, cytokinin, abscisic acid, and ethylene pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis detected four significant salt stress-related modules.Conclusions This study explored the changes in the osmoregulatory system, inorganic ions, antioxidant enzyme system, and the root transcriptome in response to salt stress in 8× and 4× Alamo switchgrass. The results enhance knowledge of the salt tolerance of artificially induced homologous polyploid plants, and provide experimental and sequencing data to aid research on the short-term adaptability and breeding of salt-tolerant biofuel plants.
Shunt Resistance Optimized Indoor Photovoltaic System for Powering Internet of Things
Authors: Xue Shujian , Yang Guangan , Zhao Xing , Wu Jianfei , Li Run , Li Binhong , Xu Yong
Published: August 2023

This article proposes a photovoltaic system of ultrathin silicon solar cell by using indoor lighting through enhanced shunt resistance, nanostructure of light-trapping, and tubular daylight system for powering the internet of things (IoT) devices. Simulation results show that, by increasing the shunt resistance from 100 Ω.cm2 to 104 Ω.cm2, the efficiency of indoor solar cell can be improved from less than 0.5% to be over 14%. Moreover, with the help of ultrathin wafer and nanostructure of light-trapping to improve the near-infrared light absorption and open circuit voltage, the efficiency of the indoor amorphous silicon (a-Si) heterojunction solar cell can be further improved to be 17.09%. The tubular daylight system is an excellent supplement to the light indoor intensity and thus can increase the power production.
Green synthesis of novel pyrazole carbonitrile and aryl methylene-pyrazole derivatives using 2-aminopyridine-Functionalized Silica-Coated Fe3O4 Nanoparticles as a highly-efficient and magnetically Separable Catalyst (Fe3O4@SiO2/NH/CC/2APy/CuII)
Authors: liwal abdulqader , Akbarpour Tahereh , khazaei adeshir , Ghanbarpour Amir
Published: August 2023

A novel catalyst namely, Fe3O4@SiO2/Si(OEt)(CH2)3NH/CC/2-aminopyridine/Cu(OAc)2, abbreviated (Fe3O4/SiO2/NH/CC/2APy/CuII) was designed and prepared. In this study, we show that Copper(II) acetate complex-based 2-amino pyridine coated on Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as an effective and Magnetically Separable nanocatalyst by a low-cost and simple procedure. The morphology and structure of Fe3O4/SiO2/NH/CC/2APy/CuII were studied and characterized using several techniques. Nanocatalysts synthesized (Fe3O4/SiO2/NH/CC/2APy/CuII) in very simple ways are separated by an external magnet for five runs, according to the results, no significant reduction in reaction yields was observed. Catalytic studies revealed that the Fe3O4/SiO2/NH/CC/2APy/CuII catalyst is a highly efficient and green nanocatalyst for the synthesis of pyrazole carbonitrile and aryl methylene-pyrazol. The use of synthetic catalyst in this method has many advantages, including high efficiency, simple method, short reaction time, and easy recovery of the catalyst.
Pathologist-Trained Machine Learning Classifiers Developed to Quantitate Celiac Disease Features Differentiate Endoscopic Biopsies According to Modified Marsh Score and Dietary Intervention Response
Authors: Gruver Aaron M , Lu Haiyan , Zhao Xiaoxian , Fulford Angie D , Soper Michael D , Ballard Darryl , Hanson Jeff C , Schade Andrew E , Hsi Eric D , Gottlieb Klaus , Credille Kelly M
Published: August 2023

Background
Histologic evaluation of the mucosal changes associated with celiac disease is important for establishing an accurate diagnosis and monitoring the impact of investigational therapies. While the Marsh-Oberhuber classification has been used to categorize the histologic findings into discrete stages (i.e., Type 0-3c), significant variability has been documented between observers using this ordinal scoring system. Therefore, we evaluated whether pathologist-trained machine learning classifiers can be developed to objectively quantitate the pathological changes of villus blunting, intraepithelial lymphocytosis, and crypt hyperplasia in small intestine endoscopic biopsies.
Methods
A convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained and combined with a secondary algorithm to quantitate intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) with 5 classes on CD3 immunohistochemistry whole slide images (WSI) and used to correlate feature outputs with ground truth modified Marsh scores in a total of 116 small intestine biopsies.
Results
Across all samples, median %CD3 counts (positive cells/enterocytes) from villous epithelium (VE) increased with higher Marsh scores (Type 0 %CD3 VE=13.4; Type 1-3 %CD3 VE=41.9, p<0.0001). Indicators of villus blunting and crypt hyperplasia were also observed (Type 0-2 villous epithelium/lamina propria area ratio = 0.81; Type 3a-3c villous epithelium/lamina propria area ratio = 0.29, p<0.0001), and Type 0-1 crypt/villous epithelial area ratio = 0.59; Type 2-3 crypt/villous epithelial area ratio = 1.64, p<0.0001). Using these individual features, a combined feature machine learning score (MLS) was created to evaluate a set of 28 matched pre- and post-intervention biopsies captured before and after dietary gluten restriction. The disposition of the continuous MLS paired biopsy result aligned with the Marsh score in 96.4% (27/28) of the cohort.
Conclusions
Machine learning classifiers can be developed to objectively quantify histologic features and capture additional data not achievable with manual scoring. Such approaches should be further investigated to improve biopsy evaluation, especially for clinical trials.
Phage-mediated transmission of colistin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii
Authors: Lucidi Massimiliano , Imperi Francesco , Artuso Irene , Capecchi Giulia , Spagnoli Cinzia , Visaggio Daniela , Rampioni Giordano , Leoni Livia , Visca Paolo
Published: August 2023

Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat to human health, and Acinetobacter baumannii is a paradigmatic example of how rapidly bacteria become resistant to clinically relevant antimicrobials. The emergence of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains has forced the revival of colistin as a “last-resort” drug, suddenly leading to the emergence of colistin resistance. Here, we demonstrate that the A. baumannii temperate bacteriophage Φ19606 acts as a vehicle of colistin resistance through the horizontal transfer of the eptA1 gene, encoding a lipid A phosphoethanolamine transferase which prevents colistin from binding to the outer membrane. eptA1 is coregulated with its chromosomal homolog pmrC via the PmrAB two-component system, and the expression of both genes is induced by low calcium and magnesium levels, resulting in colistin resistance. Moreover, eptA1 facilitates the emergence of spontaneous colistin-resistant mutants. Overall, Φ19606 is an unprecedented example of a self-transmissible phage vector implicated in the dissemination of colistin resistance.
Labor market pigeonholes: Positive stereotypes and immigrants’ frames of reference in the Norwegian hospitality industry
Authors: Gamage Tharindu Nuwan
Published: August 2023

Despite the extensive research and policy focusing on labor market integration, the clustering of immigrants in elementary occupations is still apparent in many countries, including countries like Norway, where social equality is enshrined. In this study, we focused on two less researched factors for this, positive stereotypes and immigrants’ dual frame of reference to investigate their impact on immigrants’ clustering in elementary occupations. The present study draws heavily upon two influential theories in labor market integration and discrimination, namely, statistical discrimination theory and Piore's dual frame of reference theory. Based on qualitative data collected from a highly immigrant-concentrated industry in Kristiansand, Norway - the hospitality industry - the paper describes how positive stereotypes and immigrant workers' frames of reference contribute to immigrants' clustering in elementary occupations.
According to previous studies, statistical discrimination, which refers to making hiring decisions based on previous experiences, stereotypes, particularly negative stereotypes, are among the major factors affecting immigrants’ clustering in elementary occupations. However, this study describes how positive stereotypes also lead to statistical discrimination and affect the immigrants’ clustering in elementary occupations. Further, considering immigrants’ dual frames of reference, this study demonstrates that the referencing points of immigrants cannot be limited to their home and host countries. Moreover, when comparing their reference points, immigrants consider financial benefits and social and cultural factors. Therefore, this study proposes “value aspects of immigrants’ frames of reference” as an extension of Piore’s dual frame of reference theory.
Aldosterone induces hepatic stellate cells activation and liver fibrosis through Cav-1 dependent pathway
Authors: Li Xu , Li Yang , Chen Tingting , Zhang Yan , Xu Qihan , Zhang Yijie , Lin Ying , Gong Jiacheng , Yang Qiaomu , Chen Zhuoer , Meng Ying
Published: August 2023

Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation is a pivotal event in liver fibrosis. Aldosterone (Aldo) is upregulated in liver fibrosis, but its role in HSC activation remains unclear. Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is a key structural protein of caveolae that facilitates the actions of Aldo in various cellular processes. However, the expression and function of Cav-1 in HSCs during HSC activation and liver fibrosis are controversial. Our findings demonstrate that the intracellular expression of Aldo and Cav-1 is upregulated during HSC activation. Administration of spironolactone or knockdown of Cav-1 in HSCs resulted in ameliorated liver fibrosis induced by Aldo infusion or bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats. Mechanistically, Aldo recruited proteins such as mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), and NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) into HSC caveolae via Cav-1, thereby elevating intracellular levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), consequently enhancing HSC contraction and migration abilities. Our study reveals a novel mechanism through which Aldo regulates HSC activation and promotes liver fibrosis via the Cav-1 dependent pathway, highlighting the therapeutic potential of blocking the Aldo receptor or specifically targeting intracellular Cav-1 to ameliorate cholestatic liver fibrosis.
Conditional Inference on the Weibull Distribution Parameters Based on the Generalized Progressive Hybrid Censoring Scheme
Authors: Maswadah M.
Published: August 2023

It is widely known that conditional inference is usually just as effective as Bayesian inference based on a non-informative prior. However, it is less efficient than Bayesian inference based on the informative prior distribution. Therefore, the main objective is to find the conditional point estimates using pivotal functions for the Weibull distribution parameters, based on the generalized progressive hybrid-censoring scheme, and compare it with the Bayesian estimates, via Monte Carlo simulation. The simulation results showed that conditional inference is highly efficient and provides better estimates than Bayesian estimates based on different loss functions. Finally, the proposed model could be important for analysing real data to demonstrate the efficiencies of the proposed methods.