bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association of tissue oxygen saturation levels with skeletal muscle injury in the critically ill
Authors: Sugiya Ryuji , Arizono Shinichi , Higashimoto Yuji , Kimoto Yuta , Shiraishi Masashi , Mizusawa Hiroki , Tawara Yuichi , Shigeoka Hironori , Bakker Jan , Shinozaki Koichiro
Published: August 2023

Objectives:
This study aimed to investigate the association between the level of tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) and quadriceps/skeletal muscle dysfunction, measured using the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale and ultrasonography, in critically ill patients.
Methods:
Thirty-four patients hospitalized at the Critical Care Medicine Center of Kindai University Hospital, between January 2022 and March 2023, were enrolled in this study. The StO2 of the quadriceps muscle was measured via near-infrared spectroscopy. Muscle atrophy was measured by the thickness, cross-sectional area (CSA), and echo intensity of the rectus femoris (RF). These values were evaluated every alternate day until 13 days after admission or until discharge, whichever occurred first. Muscle weakness was assessed using the sum score of the MRC scale (MRC-SS), with the patient sitting at bedside.
Results:
The mean age of the patients was 67.3 ± 15.3 years, and 20 (59%) were men. Seven patients (21%) were admitted for trauma, and 27 (79%) were admitted for medical emergencies or others. The mean score for the MRC-SS was 51.0 ± 7.9 points. RF thickness and CSA significantly decreased after day 5 (p<0.05). There were no significant changes in StO2 levels during hospitalization. However, there were positive correlations between the nadir StO2 during hospitalization and MRC-SS, and changes in RF thickness and CSA at discharge (r=0.41, p=0.03; r=0.37, p=0.03; and r=0.35, p=0.05, respectively).
Conclusion:
StO2 in the quadriceps muscle may be useful for predicting muscle atrophy and dysfunction in patients with critical illnesses.
Comprehensive Characterization of the structure of Zr-based metallic glasses
Authors: Lahiri Debdutta , Krishna K V Mani , Verma Ashok K. , Modak P. , Vishwanadh B , Chattopadhyay Soma , Shibata Tomohiro , Sharma S. K. , Sarkar Sudip Kumar , Clifton Peter H. , Biswas A. , Garg Nandini , Dey G. K.
Published: August 2023

Structure of metallic glasses fascinates as the generic amorphous structural template for ubiquitous systems. Its specification necessitates determination of the complete hierarchical structure, starting from short-range-order (SRO) → medium-range-order (MRO) → bulk structure and free volume (FV) distribution. This link has largely remained elusive since previous investigations adopted one-technique-at-a-time approach, focusing on limited aspects of any one domain. Reconstruction of structure from experimental data inversion is non-unique for many of these techniques. As a result, complete and precise structural understanding of glass has not emerged yet. In this work, we demonstrate the first experimental pathway for reconstruction of the integrated structure, for Zr67Ni33 and Zr52Ti6Al10Cu18Ni14 glasses. Our strategy engages diverse (7) multi-scale techniques [XAFS, 3D-APT, ABED/NBED, FEM, XRD, PAS, FHREM] on the same glass. This strategy complemented mutual limitations of techniques and corroborated common parameters to generate complete, self-consistent and precise parameters. Further, MRO domain size and inter-void separation were correlated to identify the presence of FV at MRO boundaries. This enabled the first experimental reconstruction of hierarchical subset: SRO → MRO → FV→ bulk structure. The first ever image of intermediate region between MRO domains emerged from this link. We clarify that determination of all subsets is not our objective; the essence and novelty of this work lies in directing the pathway towards finite solution, in the most logical and unambiguous way.
PPM1F regulates ovarian cancer progression by affecting the dephosphorylation of ITGB1
Authors: Leng Yahui , Li Zihang , Ma Yongqing , Zhou Yang , Liu Jiaqi , Tian Tian , Feng Wenxiao , Pan Zhongqiu , Zhang Huimei , Zhao Xuan , Liu Yanni , Shi Qin , Huang Chengyang , Liu Ao , Wang Wenlong , Wang Tianhang , Liu Song , Ren Qiulei , Shen Li , Zhang Te , Zhao Hongyan
Published: August 2023

Background
PPM1F has been shown to play diverse biological functions in the progression of multiple tumors. PPM1F controls the T788/T789 phosphorylation switch of ITGB1 and regulates integrin activity. However, the impacts of PPM1F and ITGB1 on ovarian cancer (OV) progression remain unclear. whether there is such a regulatory relationship between PPM1F and ITGB1 in ovarian cancer has not been studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to elucidate the function and mechanism of PPM1F in ovarian cancer.
Methods
The expression level and survival curve of PPM1F were analyzed by databases. Gain of function and loss of function were applied to explore the function of PPM1F in ovarian cancer. Tumor formation assay in nude mice showed that knockdown of PPM1F inhibited tumor formation. We testified the effect of PPM1F on ITGB1 dephosphorylation in ovarian cancer cells by co-immunoprecipitation and western blotting. Loss of function was applied to investigate the function of ITGB1 in ovarian cancer. ITGB1-mut overexpression promotes the progression of ovarian cancer. Rescue assays showed the promoting effect of ITGB1-wt on ovarian cancer is attenuated due to the dephosphorylation of ITGB1-wt by PPM1F.
Results
PPM1F and ITGB1 play an oncogene function in ovarian cancer. PPM1F regulates the phosphorylation of ITGB1, which affects the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer.
Detecting smishing attacks on smartphones: a comparative study between supervised and unsupervised learning techniques
Authors: SIF-EDDINE Mouna , MAZRI Tomader
Published: August 2023

Smishing is a phishing technique that involves sending short messages (SMS) to a smartphone user's inbox to defraud them and disclose their personal information using social engineering. This type of attack is often used for financial theft by attackers. The excessive multiplication of these attacks leads cyber security researchers to employ advanced detection techniques such as machine learning. Our work involves evaluating the detection performance of selected Machine Learning algorithms using supervised and unsupervised learning and comparing the results obtained regarding detection accuracy. For supervised learning, we chose to work with these classification algorithms, which gave the following results: Naive Bayes (96%), Decision Tree (94%), Random Forest (95%), and Multi-layer perceptron (92.2%). For unsupervised learning, we chose the Gaussian Mixture Model algorithm, which gave an overall accuracy of 59%. The results demonstrate that supervised learning models are better at detecting smishing attacks than unsupervised learning models, which require the parallel intervention of other analysis techniques, such as behavioral analysis, to improve the detection of such types of attacks.
Trends difference in prevalence of hypertension subtypes and hypertension control in US adults as defined by 2017 ACC/AHA Guideline and 2003 JNC7 Guideline
Authors: Huang Zengfa , Du Xinyu , Tang Ruiyao , Wang WanPeng , Zhou Mi , Ding Yi , Liu Ni , Yang Yang , Li Xiang , Zhao Xu , Zhou Zhiqiang , Wang Xiang
Published: August 2023

This study sought to compare the trends difference in prevalence of hypertension subtypes and hypertension control in US adults, by 2017 ACC/AHA and 2003 JNC7 guidelines. Serial cross-sectional analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data of U.S. adults with hypertension from 1999–2000 to 2017–2018 were included. Hypertension was defined with two guidelines and BP control among those with hypertension was determined by the two guidelines respectively. Hypertension grades, hypertension subtypes and hypertension accompanied with other diseases were also analyzed. A total of 22371 and 17411 participants meet the diagnostic criteria of 2017 ACC/AHA guideline and 2003 JNC7 guideline, respectively in the current study. Among all adults included in the analysis, the crude percentage of hypertension grades, hypertension subtypes and hypertension with other accompanying disease or risk (10-year predicted cardiovascular disease risk ≥ 10%, CVD history, diabetes, CKD) defined by the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline were all higher than those based on the 2003 JNC7 guideline. Among all adults with hypertension, the proportion of taking antihypertensive medication increased from 44.5% in 1999–2000 to 58.5% in 2017–2018 according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline compared with 60% in 1999–2000 to 74.5% in 2017–2018 according to the 2003 JNC7 guideline. Among all adults with hypertension accompanied with other diseases, hypertension with 10-year predicted cardiovascular disease risk ≥ 10% showed lowest proportion of taking antihypertensive medication, which increased from 54.9% in 1999–2000 to 69.7% in 2017–2018 and 65.7% in 1999–2000 to 79.2% in 2017–2018 based on the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline and the 2003 JNC7 guideline, respectively. The proportion of controlled BP based on the 2003 JNC7 guideline showed higher than those based on the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline and both of them revealed the similar trend. Compared with the 2003 JNC7 guideline, the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline result in increasing in both the proportion of hypertension, hypertension grades and hypertension subtypes among all adults with hypertension, and decreasing the proportion of hypertension accompanied with other diseases, the proportion of taking antihypertensive medication among all adults with hypertension, hypertension grades, hypertension subtypes or hypertension accompanied with other diseases, and the proportion of controlled BP among taking antihypertensive medication with hypertension and hypertension accompanied with 10-year ASCVD risk ≥ 10% and CVD history.
Spatially varying motion blurred fruit image restoration based on an end-to-end multi-scale conditional generative adversarial networks
Authors: Tao Dan , Zhang Sheng , Qiu Guangying , Zhan Baishao
Published: August 2023

During the process of automatic fruits picking by the robot in the orchard, the movements of the robot invariably bring the shakes of the camera, resulting in spatially-varying motion blurs that may impair the accuracy of fruit detection and localization. Therefore, this research proposes a spatially-varying motion blurred fruit image restoration approach based on an end-to-end multi-scale conditional generative adversarial network. Firstly, by adopting a multi-scale residual module, it effectively improves the network's ability to extract the features and reduce the network parameters quantity. Then, it builds a generator network with multi-scale residual blocks as the main body. Additionally, to help the generator in synthesizing the simulated images, the relativistic discriminator structures are employed to evaluate the probability that the real data is more realistic than the simulated data. The low quality orchard fruit image restoration is effectively accomplished by the model, in which the weights are obtained by the GoPro training dataset. The model presented in this paper performs better than other widely-used image recovery algorithms in terms of both qualitative and quantitative indicators, which are demonstrated by the simulated and real experiments. Furthermore, this research can also successfully restore other motion-blurred images in the agricultural field.
Fourth order numerical method for solving third order nonlinear ODE with integral boundary conditions
Authors: A Dang Quang , Long Dang Quang
Published: August 2023

In this paper we establish the existence results and construct fourth order numerical method for solving fully third order nonlinear differential equation with integral boundary conditions. The method is based on the discretization of an iterative method on continuous level with the use of the trapezoidal quadrature formulas with corrections. Some examples demonstrate the applicability of the theoretical results of existence and uniqueness of solution and the convergence order 4 of the proposed numerical method. The approach used for the third order nonlinear differential equation with integral boundary conditions can be applied to differential equations of any orders.
Development and validation of nomograms for predicting the prognosis of early and late recurrence of advanced gastric cancer after radical surgery
Authors: Liu Chenming , Lu Jialiang , An Liang
Published: August 2023

Objective In this study, we aimed to explore the risk factors influencing post recurrence survival (PRS) of early recurrence (ER) and late recurrence (LR) in stage advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients after radical surgery, respectively, and to develop predictive models in turn.
Methods Medical records of 192 AGC patients who recurred after radical gastrectomy were retrospectively reviewed. They were randomly divided into the training and validation set at a ratio of 2:1. Nomograms were built based on risk factors influencing PRS of ER and LR explored by Cox regression analyses, respectively. Concordance index (C-index) values and calibration curves were used to evaluate predictive power of nomograms.
Results Body mass index < 18.5 kg/m2, prealbumin level < 70.1 mg/l, positive lymph nodes ratio ≥ 0.486 and palliative treatment after recurrence were independent risk factors for the prognosis of ER. In contrast, prealbumin level < 170.1 mg/l, CEA ≥ 18.32 μg/l, tumor diameter ≥ 5.5 cm and palliative treatment after recurrence were independent risk factors for the prognosis of LR. The C-index value was 0.801 and 0.772 for ER and LR in the training set, respectively. The calibration curves of validation set showed a C-index value of 0.744 and 0.676 for ER and LR, respectively.
Conclusions Nomograms which were constructed to predict the prognosis of ER and LR of AGC after surgery showed great predictive power and could provide reference for clinicians’ treatment strategies to some extent.
Electroconvulsive therapy for adolescents with major depressive disorder and suicidality：retrospective comparison between responders and nonresponders
Authors: Ren Hao , Wang Xinglian , Zhang Zheng , Zhong Xiufen , Luo Qinghua , Qiu Haitang , Huang Yan
Published: August 2023

Background: For adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who exhibit suicidal tendencies, Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is increasingly adopted in clinical practice. Yet, the precise mechanisms behind its effectiveness remain elusive, and studies on factors that influence treatment outcomes are scarce.
Methods: In this retrospective comparative study, we included all adolescent MDD patients with suicidal tendencies admitted to the Psychiatry Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between 2017 and 2021 and received ECT treatment. By collecting data on personal history, medical history, and standard treatment features, we established demographic, disease, medication, and ECT treatment factors variables.Patients were divided into effective and ineffective groups based on the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) scale scores, and differences between outcomes were compared. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors independently associated with ineffectiveness.
Results: A total of 494 adolescent MDD patients with suicidal behavior who received ECT were included in this study. According to CGI-I scores, the treatment was effective in 361 patients (73.1%) and ineffective in 133 patients (26.9%). Logistic regression analyses showed that 8 to 12 and 12 to 16 ECT sessions reduced the risk of ineffectiveness compared to fewer than 4 sessions. The risk of ineffectiveness decreased with age and increased with comorbidity with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Compared to sertraline, escitalopram was associated with a heightened risk of futility, whereas olanzapine and aripiprazole demonstrated a reduced risk when contrasted with quetiapine.
Conclusions: ECT's ineffectiveness in treating adolescent MDD with suicidal behavior decreases with age, and comorbidity with OCD significantly increases the risk of treatment failure. Fewer than 8 ECT sessions may hinder achieving satisfactory results.
Application of self-attention in offline handwritten Chinese character recognition
Authors: Chen Zhanghui , Ma Guochun
Published: August 2023

To improve the accuracy of offline handwritten Chinese character recognition (offline HCCR), combined with self-attention, this paper proposes a collaborative multi-model approach for offline HCCR. Most existing offline HCCR models use different network structures to obtain different features, which may lead to different results in terms of accuracy, and the results that errors occurred may also be different. Utilizing this feature, combined with self-attention, we propose our method hoping to improve their accuracy. In this paper, five models, including AlexNet, VGG16, GoogLeNet, ResNet34 and ResNet50, are selected and modified as base models for offline HCCR, and the outputs of the adopted 2, 3, 4, and 5 models are corrected by the self-attention fusion module. Our methods are tested on the evaluation dataset of the ICDAR 2013 Chinese Handwriting Recognition Contest. Our HCCR results obtained are at least 0.485, 0.786, 0.981 and 1.065 percentage points higher than the highest accuracy of all 2, 3, 4 and 5 base models, respectively. The experiments show that our method is effective in improving the accuracy of offline HCCR.
Efficacy of delayed pegfilgrastim administration following consolidation therapy with high-dose cytarabine (HiDAC) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients
Authors: Yingling Spencer K. , Francis Joshua , Seago Kelsea , Safi Salah Ud Din , Wen Sijin , Cumpston Aaron
Published: August 2023

Purpose: To study the effects of delaying pegfilgrastim administration following high-dose cytarabine (HiDAC) consolidation in AML patients on time to neutrophil count recovery, infectious complications, and survival.
Methods: Single-center retrospective chart review of 55 patients receiving pegfilgrastim as early administration (within 72 hours) or delayed administration (after 72 hours) of HiDAC.
Results: The difference in neutrophil recovery time was similar between the early and delayed groups (18 days versus 19 days, P<0.28). Infections were seen in four patients in the early administration group following chemotherapy compared to none in the delayed group (p=0.04). Febrile neutropenia rates were also decreased in the delayed administration group (23.1% versus 10.3%, p=0.28) as well as longer median survival (16 months versus 19 months, p=0.69) and overall survival (21 months versus 31 months, p=0.47).
Conclusion: A difference in time to neutrophil recovery was not observed between the early and delayed administration groups yet decreased infectious complications may support the delayed of administration of pegfilgrastim in these patients.
Integration of a Pressure Sensor for Continuous Glucose Monitoring System
Authors: Guttikonda Sai Lakshmi , K Srinivasa Rao
Published: August 2023

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, if a person is once diagnosed it’s not resolvable and is identified by variations in glucose concentration levels. We are designing an osmotic pressure sensor for the continuous glucose monitoring system. For this, microbridge and microcantilever with different principles are optimized and suitable is integrated to pressure sensor by using FEM tool, the performance analysis of the pressure sensor are analyzed on the aspects of sensitivity and non-linearity
Identification of clickbait news articles using SBERT and correlation matrix
Authors: Supriya Supriya , Singh Jyoti Prakash , Kumar Gunjan
Published: August 2023

Clickbait refers to the practice of using attention-grabbing or misleading headlines to attract readers to click on particular headlines or pieces of content. This technique often involves exaggerating claims or adding false information to attract traffic. In general, clickbait headlines are less similar to detailed articles associated with that headline compared to the standard news post. In our proposed system, we have exploited that to create features from headlines and its paragraph by using SBERT. Since the size of the paragraph is quite large compared to the headlines, we have selected a few sentences from the paragraph using a dissimilarity matrix. The extracted features from the headlines, target title and selected sentences of the paragraph are concatenated and classified using machine learning (ML) classifiers. The proposed model was tested extensively on two real-world datasets, and the results showed that it performed better than the current state-of-the-art models. The experimental results, the support vector machine (SVM) classifier with the concatenated embedding of six dissimilar sentences from paragraph exhibited the best performance with an accuracy of 0.84, weighted precision of 0.83, weighted recall of 0.84, and weighted F1-score of 0.82 surpassing the state-of-the-art model by 0.088 in terms of F1-score.
Functionally Graded Chitosan Ferrite Beads for Photocatalytic Degradation of Eriochrome Black T and Congo Red Dyes
Authors: You Qinghong , Ali Farman , Ahmad Waqar , Said Amir , Arif Umar , Muntha Sedra tul , Ali Nisar , Mehmood Sahid , Lu Zaijun , Zhang Hao , Yin Xiulian
Published: August 2023

Heterogeneous photocatalysis plays a vital character in the degradation of organic dyes and their by-products, which pose a threat to aquatic and terrestrial life if discharged in wastewater. Herein, we developed a one-pot synthesis method for producing cobalt-ferrite (CoFe2O4) and nickel-ferrite (NiFe2O4) nanoparticles via a co-precipitation technique. Then prepared five different nanocomposite beads, including chitosan beads, Chi-CoFe2O4-1, Chi-CoFe2O4-2, Chi-NiFe2O4-1, and Chi-NiFe2O4-2 in an aqueous acidic system. All the nanocomposite beads were structurally characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope, X-ray Diffraction, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis. Further, the as-prepared nanocomposite beads were utilized in the photo-degradation of Eriochrome black T, (EBT) and Congo red (CR) organic dyes. The outcomes demonstrated that, after 110 min of visible light illumination, the maximum photo-degradation of EBT dye reached 93%. While the maximum photo-degradation of CR dye reached 92% within 90 min by Chi-NiFe2O4-2. The corresponding turnover frequencies were 1257.5 kg− 1/sec, 1287 kg− 1/sec, 1318.18 kg− 1/sec, 1363 kg− 1 /sec, and 1393 kg− 1/sec, respectively. Furthermore, the turnover numbers were 2.26x10^7 Kg− 1/sec, 2.3×10×7 kg− 1/sec, 2.37×10×7 kg− 1/sec, 2.45×10×7 kg− 1/sec, and 2.5x10×7 kg− 1/sec for Chitosan beads, Chi/CoFe2O4 − 1, Chi/CoFe2O4 − 2, Chi/NiFe2O4 − 1, and Chi/NiFe2O4 − 2 respectively. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that engineered nanocomposite beads have a significant potential for visible-light-driven catalytic remediation of hazardous dyes. These results also suggest that there is a need for further research on the photocatalytic abatement of organic contaminants.
Determination of the flow rate characteristics of porous media under the positive pressure and vacuum
Authors: Zhong Wei , Fu Kaiwen , Wang Yihao , Li Chong , Shao Jiang
Published: August 2023

Currently, porous media is widely used to replace the conventional orifices as restrictors in vacuum handling process. In this study, a theoretical model describing the flow rate characteristics, including effects from both viscosity and inertia, is established based on Darcy-Forchheimer’s law. The simulation work is firstly conducted, followed by establishing apparatuses to determine permeability and inertial coefficients. The permeability is determined within a small pressure difference (< 2 kPa) and the inertial coefficient is obtained with Re > 0.1 as the boundary. The average permeability is 1.21×10− 12 m2, 1.56×10− 12 m2, 3.41×10− 12 m2 and 12.21×10− 12 m2, respectively. The inertial coefficient is determined under the positive pressure at the maximum pressure difference and vacuum with pressure difference from 50 kPa to 70 kPa. For different pressure conditions, it is confirmed that the theoretical flow rate can predict the experimental data within a 3% uncertainty which is sufficient for most applications. Finally, to obtain the inertial coefficient, two methods including the single-point method and the multi-point method are proposed. We found that the single-point method gives an error of 3.1% while the multi-point method gives an error of 1.9% for the determination of the entire flow rate characteristics.
Resilience strengthening in youth with a chronic medical condition- a randomized controlled feasibility trial of a combined app and coaching program
Authors: Bischops Anne C. , Sieper Larissa , Dukart Jürgen , Schaal Nora K. , Reinauer Christina , Oommen Prasad T. , Tomoiaga Cristina , David Oana , Mayatepek Ertan , Meissner Thomas
Published: August 2023

Objective: Youth with a chronic medical condition (CMC) are often affected by comorbid mental disorders. Resilience-strengthening interventions can protect youth’s mental health, yet evidence-based programs remain scarce. To address this lack, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a dual approach combining app-based resilience training and cognitive-behavioral group coaching.
Methods: 51 youths with CMC treated at a German university children’s hospital aged 12-16 years were recruited. They were randomly assigned to a combined app-game and coaching intervention or sole app gameplay. Pre-, postintervention and at a two-months follow-up resilience, automatic negative thoughts and an app and coaching evaluation were assessed. Feasibility was defined as a recruitment rate of ≥ 70%, an 85% adherence rate for the REThink app, and 70% participation in both coaching sessions.
Results: Feasibility criteria were reached for coaching participation but not for recruitment or app adherence. While both the REThink app and coaching intervention had high acceptance rates among youth with CMC, participants receiving additional coaching sessions showed higher satisfaction and adherence rates. Participants preferred remote to in-person meetings.
Conclusions: The findings support a combination of a gamification app-approach with online group coaching. Group coaching can improve adherence while online options increase accessibility. Future research should focus on testing in diverse participant samples, language and age-adapted updates of the REThink app. These findings provide guidance for increasing adherence in future intervention studies in youth with CMC cohorts.
Trial registration number: DRKS00027870, registered 24.01.2022.
The optimum number of induction chemotherapy cycles for N3M0 stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on pre-treatment plasma EBV DNA
Authors: Weng Youliang , Cai Sunqin , Li Chao , Xu Yun , Pan Yuhui , Huang Zongwei , Li Ying , Wu Zijie , Chen Yu , Qiu Sufang
Published: August 2023

Background
The objective of this study was to examine the significance of pre-treatment Epstein-Barr virus DNA (pre-DNA) in determining the optimal number of induction chemotherapy cycles (ICC) prior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with stage N3M0 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
Methods
In this research, we used propensity score matching to divide enrolled patients into 3 cycles (IC = 3) or 4 cycles (IC = 4) group based on the number of ICC. To assess the disparity in survival and toxicities, the log-rank and chi-squared tests were employed, respectively. The main endpoint was distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS). Additional endpoints included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS). Multivariate cox proportional hazard analysis identified potential independent prognostic factors.
Results
Of 369 patients, 194 were enrolled, with 97 and 97 included in IC = 3 and IC = 4 group respectively. The IC = 4 group exhibited markedly superior 3-year OS, PFS, DMFS, and LRRFS compared to the IC = 3 group (all p < 0.05), while experiencing higher adverse reactions, although not statistically significant. Based on DMFS, the cut-off value of pre-DNA was 8700 copies/ml (area under curve, 0.593; sensitivity, 0.794; specificity, 0.481). For low-risk patients with pre-DNA < 8700 copies/ml, both groups demonstrated comparable survival results. Nonetheless, the IC = 4 group exhibited better survival in 3-year OS, PFS, DMFS, and LRRFS compared to the IC = 3 group among high-risk patients with pre-DNA ≥ 8700 copies/ml (78.2% vs 49.1%, 69.1% vs 40.0%, 74.5% vs 40.0%, 70.9% vs 47.3%, all p < 0.05). Additionally, in high-risk group, ICC was considered as a protective element for OS and DMFS according to multivariate analysis.
Conclusions
For N3M0 stage NPC, pre-DNA could be a powerful predictor to guide the optimum number of ICC. IC = 4 was recommended for high-risk patients due to superior survival, while for low-risk patients, IC = 3 might be sufficient.
Psychometric properties of the Persian version of a novel short-form nutrition literacy measurement tool for nursing students
Authors: Mirzaei Alireza , Mojebi Mohammad Reza , Mostafazadeh Pouya , Jamshidinia Mobina , Nemati-Vakilabad Reza , Jafari Mohammad Javad
Published: August 2023

Background: Nutrition literacy (NL) encompasses knowledge and skills that can influence individuals' food choices. The present study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of a novel short-form nutrition literacy (NL-SF12 (measurement tool for nursing students.
Methods: This study aimed to translate a novel short-form nutrition literacy measurement tool for nursing students into Persian. Subsequently, this version was used for psychometric evaluation. Face, content, and construct validity were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest reliability (ICC) were calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software.
Results: The results showed that NL-SF12 was successfully adapted into the Persian language, demonstrating face validity, content validity, convergent validity, and internal consistency for both the overall scale and its subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the six-factor conceptual structure of the measure had a good fit. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency and test-retest stability. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.834 and the infraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.830.
Conclusion: The Persian version of the SF-12 questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for measuring the health status. Therefore, it can be used for comprehensive assessment of the health status in nursing students.
Echocardiographic Profile of Cirrhotic Patients with Sepsis and Septic Shock: A Propensity Score Matched Case-Control Study
Authors: You Jee Young , Sato Ryota , Chawla Sanchit , Kapoor Aanchal , Wang Xiaofeng , Collier Patrick , Auzinger Georg , Duggal Abhijit , Dugar Siddharth
Published: August 2023

Background
Our understanding of changes in hemodynamics in cirrhotic patients with sepsis and septic shock and its impact on outcomes remains limited. Our study aims to investigate differences in hemodynamic profiles using echocardiography between septic patients with and without cirrhosis.
Methods
This is a single-center, retrospective study of septic patients with echocardiogram within 3 days of a medical intensive care unit (MICU) admission. We compared baseline characteristics, echocardiographic parameters, and outcomes between patients with and without cirrhosis. A propensity score-matched case-control model was developed to describe the differences in hemodynamic parameters between the groups.
Results
3,151 patients with sepsis and septic shock were included of which 421 (13%) had cirrhosis. In the propensity score model, cirrhotic patients had significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction (63.4 vs. 56.2%, p < 0.001) and stroke volume (73.3 vs. 52.0 ml, p < 0.001) along with lower arterial elastance (Ea) (1.31 vs. 1.82, p < 0.001) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) (1,110 vs. 1,370 dynes/sec/m− 5, p = 0.001). There was no difference between left ventricular elastance (Ees) (0.99 vs. 1.09, p = 0.107) and ventricular-arterial coupling (Ea/Ees) (1.29 vs. 1.40, p = 0.061).
Conclusion
Septic patients with cirrhosis had higher LVEF with a significantly higher percentage of hyperdynamic state than those without cirrhosis. Lower Ea and SVR without significant differences in Ees and Ea/Ees suggest vasodilation as the principal driver of the hyperdynamic profile in cirrhosis. This finding may facilitate tailored hemodynamic management focused on restoring vascular tone in cirrhotic septic patients.
Single-cell analysis extracted CAFs-related genes to established online app to predict clinical outcome and radiotherapy prognosis of prostate cancer
Authors: Lai Cong , Wu Zhikai , Li Zhuohang , Huang Xin , Hu Zhensheng , Yu Hao , Yuan Zhihan , Shi Juanyi , Hu Jintao , Mulati Yelisudan , Liu Cheng , Xu Kewei
Published: August 2023

Background
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play a significant role in regulating the clinical outcome and radiotherapy prognosis of prostate cancer (PCa). The aim of this study is to identify CAFs-related genes (CAFsRGs) using single-cell analysis and evaluate their potential for predicting the prognosis and radiotherapy prognosis in PCa.
Methods
We acquire transcriptome and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) results of PCa and normal adjacent tissues from The GEO and TCGA databases. The "MCPcounter" and "EPIC" R packages were used to assess the infiltration level of CAFs and examine their correlation with PCa prognosis. ScRNA-seq and differential gene expression analyses were used to extract CAFsRGs. We also applied COX and LASSO analysis to further construct a risk score (CAFsRS) to assess biochemical recurrence-free survival (BRFS) and radiotherapy prognosis of PCa. The predictive efficacy of CAFsRS was evaluated by ROC curves and subgroup analysis. Finally, we integrated the CAFsRS gene signature with relevant clinical features to develop a nomogram, enhancing the predictive accuracy.
Results
The abundance of CAFs exhibited a negative correlation with the prognosis of PCa. ScRNA-seq and differential gene expression analysis revealed 323 CAFsRGs. After COX and LASSO analysis, we obtained seven CAFsRGs with prognostic significance (PTGS2, FKBP10, ENG, CDH11, COL5A1, COL5A2, and SRD5A2). Additionally, we established a risk score model based on the training set (n = 257). The ROC curve was used to confirm the performance of CAFsRS (The AUC values for 1, 3 and 5-year survival were determined to be 0.732, 0.773, and 0.775, respectively.). The testing set (n = 129), GSE70770 set (n = 199) and GSE116918 set (n = 248) revealed that the model exhibited exceptional predictive performance. This was also confirmed by clinical subgroup analysis. The violin plot demonstrated a statistically significant disparity in the CAFs infiltrations between the high-risk and low-risk groups of CAFsRS. Further analysis confirmed that both CAFsRS and T stage were independent prognostic factors for PCa. The nomogram was then established and its excellent predictive performance was demonstrated through calibration and ROC curves. Finally, we developed an online prognostic prediction app (https://sysu-symh-cafsnomogram.streamlit.app/) to facilitate the practical application of the nomogram.
Conclusions
The prognostic prediction risk score model we constructed could accurately predict BRFS and radiotherapy prognosis PCa, which can provide new ideas for clinicians to develop personalized PCa treatment and follow-up programs.
Enviro-economic Optimization for the Design of Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategies
Authors: Puchongkawarin Channarong
Published: August 2023

A significant amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation and ineffective management can cause adverse impacts on the environment (air and water pollution) and human health. Therefore, a sustainable approach for handling MSW is required. The aim of this study is to develop a tool to select the most promising MSW management system using the superstructure optimization technique to ensure that the selected system can achieve minimization of the total annual cost and environmental impacts. This can lead to a multi-objective superstructure optimization problem which can be solved by using the augmented ε-constraint method. Then, the state of the art optimization solver can be used to solve the problem. The developed mathematical model is based on the concept of material balance and all potential technologies include anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, gasification, incineration, sanitary landfill, material recovery facility and composting. The proposed methodology is applied to synthesize the MSW management system in Warin Chamrap district to determine its applicability. In this research, the composition of MSW include organics, paper, plastic, glass, and others. The results show that the Pareto-optimal solutions optimizing both total annualcost and environmental impacts can be developed. The MSW management system with the lower total annual cost tends to have the higher environmental impacts and the trade offs between each objective can be identified so the decision makers are able to consider before making their decision. Further investigation on sensitivity analysis reveals that the selling prices of products, annual capital cost and operating cost factors have different degree of impacts on the waste management strategies and total annual cost.
Suspension Training Improves the Muscle Quality of Older Adults
Authors: Medalha Ricardo Alessandro , Soligon Samuel Domingos , Silva Deivid Gomes , Bergamasco João Guilherme Almeida , Dias Nathalia Fernanda , Nóbrega Sanmy Rocha , Angleri Vitor , Libardi Cleiton Augusto
Published: August 2023

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the effect of suspension training (ST) on muscle quality (MQ) in older adults.Methods Twenty-two physically independent elderly men and women were recruited and assigned to ST or control groups (CON). The MQ of the upper limbs (UL) and lower limbs (LL) was established by a ratio between maximum dynamic strength and lean body mass (LBM), assessed through the 1RM test and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, respectively, before and after a 12-week intervention period. The significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05.Results The ST was able to promote increases in the strength of the UL and LL (P < 0.0001). However, only LBMUL increased after 12 weeks of ST (P = 0.031) compared to CON. ST increased MQ for both QMUL (P = 0.011) and MQLL (P < 0.0001), while the CON group did not show any significant changes (P > 0.05).Conclusion these results indicate that ST can improve the MQ of older adults.
Construction of a novel prognostic risk model based on m6A-related miRNAs for acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Chen Shuyi , Xu Xiaoli , Mo Jierong , Chen Yimin , Yuan Danyun , He Lang , Li Anqiao , Zhang Heng , Xu Lihua , Zhao Ying
Published: August 2023

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification and miRNAs were important in tumorigenesis and development. We aim to identify prognostic markers and construct a risk prediction model for AML patients. First, 17 prognostic m6A-related miRNAs were filtrated, whose expression profiles were included to cluster patients into 2 subtypes. The OS of cluster1 had worse prognosis. GSEA analysis showed cluster1 enriched in tumor-related pathways, including Toll like receptor signaling pathway, PPAR signaling pathway and apoptosis. Next, 10 miRNAs filtered by LASSO regression analysis were used to construct a risk model. Patients in high-risk groups had unfavorable prognosis and risk score might could act as the independent prognostic factors in AML. The expression of immune checkpoints (PD-L1, LAG-3 and CTLA4) were higher in high-risk group. Finally, we built a regulatory network of m6A regulators- m6A-related miRNAs- target mRNAs. The GO function analysis showed the target genes were enriched in the biological process related with leukemia, including tissue morphogenesis, regulation of leukocyte migration, positive regulation of cell adhesion and so on. The KEGG pathway analysis indicated that these genes were mainly enriched in Ras signaling pathway and signaling pathways regulating pluripotency of stem cells. The finding provided novel implication for efforts to improve the treatment of AML.
Developing a Novel Immune-Related two-Gene Signature and Immune Infiltration Pattern in Patients with psoriasis and chronic kidney disease
Authors: yin Tingting , zhang zhijun , Ma lei
Published: August 2023

Individuals with severe psoriasis (Ps) are at increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), and conversely, CKD may contribute to the development of Ps. However, despite such an association between Ps and CKD, this relationship has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, there is a need for an in-depth study of the interactions between biomolecules and immunomarkers, as such associations may form the basis for identifying reliable diagnostic and monitoring methods for the disease. The goal of this study was to explore the potential relationship between Ps and biomarkers associated with CKD risk. First, we identified 74 common genes shared between Ps and CKD. These genes showed common transcriptional profiles in patients with Ps and CKD, and further functional analyses highlighted the key roles of inflammatory activation and innate immune response in the development of Ps and CKD. In addition, PPI networks and modules were constructed based on these genes, and four hub genes were screened using seven topological algorithms. Further analyses revealed altered immune responses common to patients with Ps and CKD. We identified two core immune-related genes (HIRGs), MX1 and DDX58, which were positively associated with macrophage and mast cell changes. Single-cell analysis revealed significantly increased expression of MX1 and DDX58 in T cells from patients with Ps and CKD. MX1 and DDX58 are involved in regulating the immune microenvironment and may induce inflammatory responses and immune dysfunction through T cell activation, which ultimately leads to the development of Ps and CKD. These two pivotal genes, MX1 and DDX58, may provide a new direction for breakthroughs in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of Ps combined with CKD.
Navigating the Gastric Cancer Maze: Embracing Laparoscopic D2 Lymphadenectomy for Safer and Faster Treatment: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Bharati Vikeerna , Poddar Kallol Kumar Das , Sahoo Manas Ranjan , Shastri Shriganesh
Published: August 2023

Objective: This retrospective comparative study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy (LSG) with D2 lymphadenectomy compared to open subtotal gastrectomy (OSG) for distal gastric adenocarcinoma.
Methods:A total of 42 patients with biopsy-proven distal gastric adenocarcinoma underwent either LSG or OSG with D2 lymphadenectomy at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India, from March 2019 to July 2022. Baseline characteristics, operative parameters, postoperative outcomes, and one-year follow-up data were reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0.
Results: LSG was performed in 26 patients, with 4 cases (15.38%) requiring conversion to OSG due to technical challenges or bleeding. Both LSG and OSG groups were comparable in age, sex, BMI, comorbidities, and clinical stage. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 86.4% and 85.0% of patients in LSG and OSG groups, respectively. The mean number of harvested lymph nodes in the LSG group was 20.77, meeting the AJCC criteria for radical gastrectomy. The mean operative time and blood loss were similar between the groups. LSG patients had significantly lower pain scores at 3 and 12 hours post-operation, faster resolution of postoperative ileus, and earlier mobilization compared to OSG. The incidence of postoperative complications was comparable between the groups, with no significant difference in disease-free survival after one year.
Conclusion: LSG with D2 lymphadenectomy is a feasible and safe option for resectable distal gastric adenocarcinoma, offering comparable outcomes to OSG. While the mean number of harvested lymph nodes in LSG was slightly lower than OSG, it still met the AJCC criteria. Careful patient selection and surgeon expertise are essential due to the potential need for conversion to open surgery. The impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on lymph node harvest rates in LSG cases warrants further investigation. The choice between LSG and OSG should be individualized based on patient factors and tumor characteristics.
Phylogeny of the tribe Sophoreae (Fabaceae, Faboideae) and taxonomy of Ammopiptanthus using plastome data
Authors: Lv Weiwei , Gao Yuchen , Qian Jiayi , Chai Xueping , Liu Luxian
Published: August 2023

Background
The tribe Sophoreae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae, previous studies relating on the phylogeny of the tribe Sophoreae were mainly limited to a small number of molecular markers, and Ammopiptanthus is a problematic taxonomic genus within the tribe Sophoreae.
Methods and results
We assembled three plastomes including two A. mongolicus and one A. nanus based genome skimming data. The plastomes of the two species are from 153 812 bp to 153 921 bp, with typical quadripartite structures containing a large single copy, a small single copy, and a pair of inverted repeats. Comparative genomic analyses show that the plastomes of the tribe Sophoreae are relatively conserved. Phylogenetic analyses based on plastomes of the tribe Sophoreae indicate that all the species are divided into three clades, two genera including Thermopsis and Sophora are recovered as non-monophyletic. Multiple individuals of A. mongolicus and A. nanus are intraspecific monophyletic with full support in the phylogenetic tree, confirming that A. nanus should be treated as a distinct species within Ammopiptanthus.
Conclusions
In this study, we conducted genome skimming of three individuals including two A. mongolicus and one A. nanus. Combined with previously published data, the phylogeny of the tribe Sophoreae was investigated and the taxonomy of Ammopiptanthus was fully resolved by plastome data.
The Second Hyper-Zagreb Index and Coindex of Chemical Nano-structures in Drugs
Authors: Alsharafi Mohammed , Zeren Yusuf , Ahmed Haifa , Alameri Abdu
Published: August 2023

The various dendrimer nanoparticles have properties like multivalency, controlled size, and surface functionality that make them promising nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery and other applications in pharmaceutical sciences. The precise tunability of dendrimers is an advantage over other nanoparticles. The topological descriptors can be used to predict the physicochemical properties of dendrimers and optimize their branching pattern for specific applications. The second Hyper-Zagreb index and coindex were computed for various chemical structures, including dendrimers, to facilitate the correlation between their structure and biological activity. In this study, the second Hyper-Zagreb index and coindex were computed for various chemical structures, such as the molecular graph of poly(propyl) ether imine dendrimer P ET IM nanostar dendrimer (D3[p]), Polypropylenimine octaamine dendrimer (NS1[p]) and (NS2[p]), Polymer dendrimer (NS3[p]) and (NS5[p]), Fullerene dendrimer (NS4[p]), and other classes of dendrimers.