bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
External validation and clinical application of the predictive model for severe hypoglycemia
Authors: Yun Jae-Seung , Han Kyungdo , Choi Soo-Yeon , Cha Seon-Ah , Ahn Yu-Bae , Ko Seung-Hyun
Published: September 2022

Objective

An internally validated, one-year risk prediction model for severe hypoglycemia (SH) in type 2 diabetes was evaluated in a general hospital setting to externally verify and validate its performance.

Research design and methods

Between December 2017 to December 2019, 2,645 adult patients with type 2 diabetes who visited the diabetes center were enrolled. The receiver operating characteristics curve and Harrell C-statistics were compared to identify the discrimination of the model. The predicted and actual incidence of SH for one year in the development and validation cohorts were compared by ranking participants by deciles of predicted risk.

Results

The concordance index was 0.878 in the external validation cohort. The sensitivity and specificity of the predictive model were 0.833 and 0.847, respectively. Based on the predicted risk, we stratified the groups into four categories: low (<0.05%), intermediate (0.05% to <0.5%), high (0.5% to <2.0%), and very high-risk group (≥2.0%). The actual annual incidence of SH gradually increased with the increased risk score level for the decile group (P for trend <0.001). The actual annual SH incidence significantly increased with increase in SH risk scores, which proportionately increased with age, duration of diabetes, glycated hemoglobin, and albuminuria and decreased with body mass index, renal function (p for trends <0.001 for all) in type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion

On external validation, the novel one-year SH prediction model showed excellent discrimination in participants with type 2 diabetes and can effectively screen high-risk patients for SH, even in the general hospital setting.
Benchmarking marine renewable energy technologies through LCA: Wave energy converters in the Mediterranean
Authors: Bruno Morena , Maccanti Matteo , Pulselli Riccardo Maria , Sabbetta Alessio , Neri Elena , Patrizi Nicoletta , Bastianoni Simone
Published: September 2022

The present work evaluates the environmental performance of three wave energy converters including on-shore oscillating water columns and oscillating floaters embedded in piers, and near-shore seabed-based buoys in the Mediterranean Basin. The life cycle assessment methodology was used to account for their potential environmental impact, in terms of carbon footprint (t CO2eq), considering four main phases, i.e., manufacturing of material components, assembling and installation on site, maintenance in time, and decommission end of life. Results show the greenhouse gas emission from different lifecycle processes, based on the inventory of main energy inputs and materials, highlighting the major impact of the manufacture of the structural components (52 %), especially due to the limited durability of materials. In order to compare the performances of the three different wave energy converters, the carbon intensity of electricity was evaluated considering a range of electricity production per technology based on data available in scientific literature. The results obtained for a single device (203–270 g CO2eq‧kWh−1 for the oscillating water column system; 94–374 g CO2eq‧kWh−1 for oscillating floater and 105–158 g CO2eq‧kWh−1 for the seabed-based buoy) highlight that wave energy converters are promising solutions to harvest wave energy, showing lower carbon intensity of electricity values compared to fossil energy sources; nevertheless, technological improvements are needed to increase efficiency and achieve the performances of other renewable energy sources. Moreover, the combination of wave energy converters with other solutions, such as offshore wind turbines, represents a valuable option in the future to increase productivity and foster energy transition of the Mediterranean regions.
Environmental regulation, low-carbon technology progress and energy efficiency
Authors: Yu Yingjing , Shi Junwei
Published: September 2022

Low-carbon technological progress is an important way to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, as well as achieve the goal of peaking carbon emission and carbon neutrality. Due to the difference in energy input structure, the difficulty of attaining low-carbon technology progress in industries with different energy consumption levels will lead to different responses to environmental regulation, affecting energy efficiency. This paper demonstrates the theoretical mechanism of how environmental regulation affects energy-saving efficiency through low-carbon technological progress in industries with different energy consumption levels. By reconstructing energy consumption of different industries in each province, this paper estimates the low-carbon technology progress in high-energy-consuming industries and low-energy-consuming industries in 30 provinces and cities of China from 2000 to 2016. It carries out empirical tests using mediating effect model. The results show that nationwide, the impact of environmental regulation on energy efficiency through low-carbon technology progress is U-shaped. Low-carbon technology progress accelerates the inflection point, indicating that the progress of low-carbon technology is beneficial for strict environmental regulation policies to improve energy efficiency. It shows there is asymmetric regional heterogeneity in the impact of environmental regulation on energy efficiency through low-carbon technology progress in high-energy-consuming and low-energy-consuming industries: in the central-western region, the progress of low-carbon technology in high-energy-consuming industries is faster than that in low-energy-consuming industries; in eastern region, room for energy-saving through low-carbon technology in low-energy-consuming industries is more significant than that in high-energy-consuming industries. This paper provides empirical evidence and policy suggestions for China to implement differentiated environmental regulation policies in accordance with local conditions, promote green technology transformation, and conserve the ecological civilization.
Good environmental governance: Predicting PM2.5 by using Spatiotemporal Matrix Factorization generative adversarial network
Authors: Zhang An , Chen Sheng , Zhao Fen , Dai Xiao
Published: September 2022

In the context of low-carbon globalization, green development has become the common pursuit of all countries and the theme of China’s development in the new era. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is one of the main challenges affecting air quality, and how to accurately predict PM2.5 plays a pivotal role in environmental governance. However, traditional data-driven approaches and deep learning methods for prediction rarely consider spatiotemporal features. Furthermore, different regions always have various implicit or hidden states, which have rarely been considered in the off-the-shelf model. To solve these problems, this study proposed a novel Spatial-Temporal Matrix Factorization Generative Adversarial Network (ST MFGAN) to capture spatiotemporal correlations and overcome the regional diversity problem at the same time. Specifically, Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) composed of graph Convolutional Network (GCN) and Long-Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network is used to generate a large amount of reliable spatiotemporal data, and matrix factorization network is used to decompose the vector output by GAN into multiple sub-networks. PM2.5 are finally combined and jointly predicted by the fusion layer. Extensive experiments show the superiority of the newly designed method.
Spatiotemporal analysis of land use changes and their trade-offs on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, China
Authors: Ma Haitao
Published: September 2022

The unprecedented urbanization recently has inevitably intensified the changes in land use morphology. However, current studies on land use primarily analyze a single morphology, ignoring the relationships between different land use morphologies. Taking the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (NSTM) as the study area, this article quantifies the spatiotemporal pattern of land use change, and estimates trade-offs and synergies between dominant (patch density, largest patch index, and landscape shape index) and recessive (land use efficiency, land use intensity, and agricultural non-point source pollution) morphologies to fully understand the dynamic characteristics of land use. Results showed bare areas and grassland were always predominant land use types, and land use change from 1990 to 2020 was characterized by the increase of impervious surfaces and the decrease of bare areas. The strongest trade-off was found between largest patch index and land use intensity, while the synergy between landscape shape index and land use intensity was strongest. There are significant disparities in terms of temporal and spatial patterns of trade-offs/synergies. The correlation coefficients in different study periods were much smaller than their estimations in the whole region, and the trade-offs/synergies in the eastern NSTM were basically identical with the whole relationships. The findings reveal the interactions among various land use characteristics, and provide significant references for coordinated land management and regional high-quality development.
Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection
Authors: da Costa Cíntia Fernanda , Ramos Pereira Maria João
Published: September 2022

The Pampa is the least protected and one of the least sampled for bats among the Brazilian domains. This leads to significant Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls for bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna ecoregion. Here, we aimed to model the occupancy of aerial insectivorous bats in response to landscape structure at different scales, considering the influence of microclimate on bat detection. We acoustically monitored 68 locations during the spring and summer of 2019/2020, gathering data on temperature and humidity associated with each acoustic record using data loggers. We detected at least 11 species of the Molossidae and the Vespertilionidae families, of which 9 were used in the model. The response to landscape structure was species-specific: the occupancy probability of Eptesicus brasiliensis and Molossus cf. currentium increased with landscape connectivity at the 500 m scale while Eptesicus furinalis and Histiotus cf. velatus were negatively affected by landscape connectivity at the 5.0 km scale. Molossus occupancy probability responded negatively to landscape heterogeneity at the 3.0 km scale, while Promops centralis responded positively to landscape heterogeneity at the 5.0 km scale. Molossus rufus responded negatively to native vegetation cover and positively to landscape heterogeneity at the 5.0 km scale. Myotis albescens and Molossops temminckii did not respond significantly to any of the evaluated landscape metrics. Our results show that different bat species perceive the landscape differently, regardless of the guild of use of space – edge- or open-space forager. Our estimate of projected occupancy for the areas contiguous to those sampled ranged from 0.45 to 0.70 for the whole of the bat taxa, suggesting that the landscape, particularly where it still maintains its native elements, is reasonably favourable to aerial insectivores.
Pollen and nectar have different effects on the development and reproduction of noctuid moths
Authors: He Limei , Zhao Shengyuan , He Wei , Wu Kongming
Published: September 2022

Although many noctuid insects are agricultural pests that threaten food production, they are also the major nocturnal pollinators of flowering plants. Larval foods of noctuid pest insects have been well studied for developing control strategies, but knowledge on host plants for the adults is rather scarce. Here, the impact of plant-derived foods on adult survival, fecundity and reproductive physiology of four global species of noctuid pests (Mythimna separata Walker, Mythimna loreyi Duponchel, Athetis lepigone Möschler, and Hadula trifolii Hufnagel) was assessed in laboratory experiments. Our results indicated that nectar slowed testis decay and prolonged the oviposition period and lifespan, increasing fecundity. Acacia nectar increased the longevity of male and female adults by 3.2∼10.9 and 2.4∼5.0 days, respectively, and fecundity of females by 1.22∼3.34 times compared to water-fed individuals. The fitness among the different species of noctuid moths differed on specific pollen diets. On pine pollen, the fecundity of female moths of M. separata, A. lepigone and H. trifolii was 10.06, 33.52, and 28.61%, respectively, lower than those of the water-fed females, but the fecundity of female moths of M. loreyi on pine pollen was 2.11 times greater than for the water-fed individuals. This work provides valuable information on the nutritional ecology for noctuid moths, which can aid the development and design of nutritional attractants within noctuid pests-infected cropping systems and provide a basis for effective and targeted management of global noctuid pests.
Comparative analysis of the chloroplast genomes of eight Piper species and insights into the utilization of structural variation in phylogenetic analysis
Authors: Li Jing , Fan Rui , Xu Jintao , Hu Lisong , Su Fan , Hao Chaoyun
Published: September 2022

With more than 2000 species, Piper is regarded as having high medicinal, cosmetic, and edible value. There also remain some taxonomic and evolutionary uncertainties about the genus. This study performed chloroplast genome sequencing of eight poorly studied Piper species and a comparative analysis with black pepper (Piper nigrum). All examined species were highly similar in gene content, with 79 protein-coding genes, 24 tRNAs, and four rRNAs. They also harbored significant structural differences: The number of SSRs ranged from 63 to 87, over 10,000 SNPs were detected, and over 1,000 indels were found. The spatial distribution of structural differences was uneven, with the IR and LSC being relatively more conserved and the SSC region highly variable. Such structural variations of the chloroplast genome can help in evaluating the phylogenetic relationships between species, deciding some hard-to-distinguish evolutionary relationships, or eliminating improper markers. The SSC region may be evolving at high speed, and some species showed a high degree of sequence variation in the SSC region, which seriously affected marker sequence detection. Conversely, CDS sequences tended to lack variation, and some CDSs can serve as ideal markers for phylogenetic reconstruction. All told, this study provides an effective strategy for selecting chloroplast markers, analyzing difficult-to-distinguish phylogenetic relationships and avoiding the taxonomic errors caused by high degree of sequence variations.
Integrative analyses of prognosis, tumor immunity, and ceRNA network of the ferroptosis-associated gene FANCD2 in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Yang Zhihao , Song Yaoshu , Li Ya , Mao Yiming , Du Guobo , Tan Bangxian , Zhang Hongpan
Published: September 2022

Extensive evidence has revealed that ferroptosis plays a vital role in HCC development and progression. Fanconi anemia complementation group D2 (FANCD2) has been reported to serve as a ferroptosis-associated gene and has a close relationship with tumorigenesis and drug resistance. However, the impact of the FANCD2-related immune response and its mechanisms in HCC remains incompletely understood. In the current research, we evaluated the prognostic significance and immune-associated mechanism of FANCD2 based on multiple bioinformatics methods and databases. The results demonstrated that FANCD2 was commonly upregulated in 15/33 tumors, and only the high expression of FANCD2 in HCC was closely correlated with worse clinical outcomes by OS and DFS analyses. Moreover, ncRNAs, including two major types, miRNAs and lncRNAs, were closely involved in mediating FANCD2 upregulation in HCC and were established in a ceRNA network by performing various in silico analyses. The DUXAP8-miR-29c-FANCD2 and LINC00511-miR-29c-FANCD2 axes were identified as the most likely ncRNA-associated upstream regulatory axis of FANCD2 in HCC. Finally, FANCD2 expression was confirmed to be positively related to HCC immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoints, and IPS analysis, and GSEA results also revealed that this ferroptosis-associated gene was primarily involved in cancer-associated pathways in HCC. In conclusion, our investigations indicate that ncRNA-related modulatory overexpression of FANCD2 might act as a promising prognostic and immunotherapeutic target against HCC.
PFP-GO: Integrating protein sequence, domain and protein-protein interaction information for protein function prediction using ranked GO terms
Authors: Sengupta Kaustav , Saha Sovan , Halder Anup Kumar , Chatterjee Piyali , Nasipuri Mita , Basu Subhadip , Plewczynski Dariusz
Published: September 2022

Protein function prediction is gradually emerging as an essential field in biological and computational studies. Though the latter has clinched a significant footprint, it has been observed that the application of computational information gathered from multiple sources has more significant influence than the one derived from a single source. Considering this fact, a methodology, PFP-GO, is proposed where heterogeneous sources like Protein Sequence, Protein Domain, and Protein-Protein Interaction Network have been processed separately for ranking each individual functional GO term. Based on this ranking, GO terms are propagated to the target proteins. While Protein sequence enriches the sequence-based information, Protein Domain and Protein-Protein Interaction Networks embed structural/functional and topological based information, respectively, during the phase of GO ranking. Performance analysis of PFP-GO is also based on Precision, Recall, and F-Score. The same was found to perform reasonably better when compared to the other existing state-of-art. PFP-GO has achieved an overall Precision, Recall, and F-Score of 0.67, 0.58, and 0.62, respectively. Furthermore, we check some of the top-ranked GO terms predicted by PFP-GO through multilayer network propagation that affect the 3D structure of the genome. The complete source code of PFP-GO is freely available at https://sites.google.com/view/pfp-go/.
Simultaneous detection of genomic imbalance in patients receiving preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic diseases (PGT-M)
Authors: Yang Lin , Xu Yan , Xia Jun , Yan Huijuan , Ding Chenhui , Shi Qianyu , Wu Yujing , Liu Ping , Pan Jiafu , Zeng Yanhong , Zhang Yanyan , Chen Fang , Jiang Hui , Xu Yanwen , Li Wei , Zhou Canquan , Gao Ya
Published: September 2022

Background: Preimplantation genetic test for monogenic disorders (PGT-M) has been used to select genetic disease-free embryos for implantation during in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. However, embryos tested by PGT-M have risks of harboring chromosomal aneuploidy. Hence, a universal method to detect monogenic diseases and genomic imbalances is required.

Methods: Here, we report a novel PGT-A/M procedure allowing simultaneous detection of monogenic diseases and genomic imbalances in one experiment. Library was prepared in a special way that multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was integrated into the process of whole genome amplification. The resulting library was used for one-step low-pass whole genome sequencing (WGS) and high-depth target enrichment sequencing (TES).

Results: The TAGs-seq PGT-A/M was first validated with genomic DNA (gDNA) and the multiple displacement amplification (MDA) products of a cell line. Over 90% of sequencing reads covered the whole-genome region with around 0.3–0.4 × depth, while around 5.4%–7.3% of reads covered target genes with >10000 × depth. Then, for clinical validation, 54 embryos from 8 women receiving PGT-M of β-thalassemia were tested by the TAGs-seq PGT-A/M. In each embryo, an average of 20.0 million reads with 0.3 × depth of the whole-genome region was analyzed for genomic imbalance, while an average of 0.9 million reads with 11260.0 × depth of the target gene HBB were analyzed for β-thalassemia. Eventually, 18 embryos were identified with genomic imbalance with 81.1% consistency to karyomapping results. 10 embryos contained β-thalassemia with 100% consistency to conventional PGT-M method.

Conclusion: TAGs-seq PGT-A/M simultaneously detected genomic imbalance and monogenic disease in embryos without dramatic increase of sequencing data output.
Comprehensive analysis of m7G modification patterns based on potential m7G regulators and tumor microenvironment infiltration characterization in lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Ma Shouzheng , Zhu Jun , Wang Mengmeng , Zhu Jianfei , Wang Wenchen , Xiong Yanlu , Jiang Runmin , Liu Lei , Jiang Tao
Published: September 2022

Background: The non-negligible role of epigenetic modifications in cancer development and tumor microenvironment (TME) has been demonstrated in recent studies. Nonetheless, the potential regulatory role of N7-methylguanosine (m7G) modification in shaping and impacting the TME remains unclear.

Methods: A comprehensive analysis was performed to explore the m7G modification patterns based on 24 potential m7G regulators in 817 lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients, and the TME landscape in distinct m7G modification patterns were evaluated. The m7G score was established based on principal component analysis (PCA) to quantify m7G modification patterns and evaluate the TME cell infiltrating characteristics of individual tumors. Further, correlation analyses of m7Gscore with response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy were performed.

Results: We identified three distinct m7G modification patterns with the biological pathway enrichment and TME cell infiltrating characteristics corresponded to immune-desert, immune-inflamed and immune-excluded phenotype, respectively. We further demonstrated the m7Gscore could predict the TME infiltrating characteristics, tumor mutation burden (TMB), response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as prognosis of individual tumors. High m7Gscore was associated with increased component of immune cell infiltration, low TMB and survival advantage, while low m7Gscore was linked to decreased immune cell infiltration and increased TMB. Additionally, patients with lower m7Gscore demonstrated significant therapeutic advantages.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the regulatory mechanisms of m7G modification on TME formation and regulation of lung adenocarcinoma. Identification of individual tumor m7G modification patterns will contribute to the understanding of TME characterization and guiding more effective immunotherapy strategies.
HLA Associations in pediatric autoimmune liver diseases: Current state and future research initiatives
Authors: Mack Cara L.
Published: September 2022

The strongest genetic association with autoimmunity is within chromosome 6p21, where the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex resides. This review will focus on the HLA associations within pediatric autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. In general, there is considerable overlap in HLA genotypes conferring susceptibility to pediatric autoimmune liver diseases, however unique HLA associations and protective HLA genotypes exist. There are numerous areas for future research initiatives in pediatric autoimmune liver diseases and HLA associations with clinical outcomes, autoantigen discovery and novel therapeutics targeting the HLA- autoantigen- T cell pathway will be highlighted.
The impact of platelets on pulmonary microcirculation throughout COVID-19 and its persistent activating factors
Authors: Xiang Mengqi , Wu Xiaoming , Jing Haijiao , Liu Langjiao , Wang Chunxu , Wang Yufeng , Novakovic Valerie A. , Shi Jialan
Published: September 2022

Patients with COVID-19 often have hypoxemia, impaired lung function, and abnormal imaging manifestations in acute and convalescent stages. Alveolar inflammation, pulmonary vasculitis, and thromboembolism synergistically damage the blood-air barrier, resulting in increased pulmonary permeability and gas exchange disorders. The incidence of low platelet counts correlates with disease severity. Platelets are also involved in the impairment of pulmonary microcirculation leading to abnormal lung function at different phases of COVID-19. Activated platelets lose the ability to protect the integrity of blood vessel walls, increasing the permeability of pulmonary microvasculature. High levels of platelet activation markers are observed in both mild and severe cases, short and long term. Therefore, the risk of thrombotic events may always be present. Vascular endothelial injury, immune cells, inflammatory mediators, and hypoxia participate in the high reactivity and aggregation of platelets in various ways. Microvesicles, phosphatidylserine (PS), platelets, and coagulation factors are closely related. The release of various cell-derived microvesicles can be detected in COVID-19 patients. In addition to providing a phospholipid surface for the synthesis of intrinsic factor Xase complex and prothrombinase complex, exposed PS also promotes the decryption of tissue factor (TF) which then promotes coagulant activity by complexing with factor VIIa to activate factor X. The treatment of COVID-19 hypercoagulability and thrombosis still focuses on early intervention. Antiplatelet therapy plays a role in relieving the disease, inhibiting the formation of the hypercoagulable state, reducing thrombotic events and mortality, and improving sequelae. PS can be another potential target for the inhibition of hypercoagulable states.
The utilization of physically based models and GIS techniques for comprehensive risk assessment of storm surge: A case study of Huizhou
Authors: Wang Si , Mu Lin , Qin Hao , Wang Lizhe , Yao Zhenfeng , Zhao Enjin
Published: September 2022

Quantitative analyses of storm surge risk, which are mostly focused on physical vulnerability, have been widely used to help coastal communities mitigate impacts and damage. Such assessments, however, overlook the social aspect of vulnerability in storm surge risk. By considering both the community’s social vulnerability and buildings’ physical vulnerability, this study proposed a methodology that incorporates social vulnerability into the framework for making quantitative risk assessments of storm surge using a coupled hydrodynamic and wave model, Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques, and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method. The coastal area of Huizhou was chosen as the case study due to its high concentration of oil and gas infrastructure in China’s southern Guangdong Province. By combining hazard, exposure, physical vulnerability, and social vulnerability, it was possible to explore the effect of social vulnerability on the physical vulnerability-based risk assessment of storm surge and determine the overall risk level. First, the Gumbel distribution was utilized to establish five representative and plausible hypothetical typhoon events with different return periods (10, 20, 50, 100, and 1000 years) for the study area. Then, using the well-validated fully-coupled model, the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model and the ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) model, storm surge simulations for defined return periods were run, and the geographical distribution of the maximum surge elevations displayed on a GIS platform was used to assess hazard levels. In terms of the physical aspect, the depth-damage functions for buildings were established to estimate direct economic losses and assign risk levels accordingly. For the social vulnerability of a community, a composite score was computed using the PCA method by combining and aggregating indicators representing various characteristics of the social group. The results show that the overall risk level, taking into account both social vulnerability and physical vulnerability, has decreased on average. It suggests that social vulnerability-based risk assessment may account for a significant portion of the overall risk assessment, which is frequently overlooked in traditional storm surge risk assessment. Additionally, the comprehensive and precise risk maps can assist local policymakers in identifying areas at different risk levels and developing evacuation plans, thereby minimizing potential losses, especially in high-risk areas.
Molecular simulation of the effect of plasma modification on the microscopic properties of polyimide
Authors: Ding Can , Chen Chen , Yuan Zhao , Chen LiXue
Published: September 2022

Polyimide is often used as the insulating material of the repulsion coil, which needs to withstand the collision of the fast repulsion mechanism in high-speed motion and temperature rise. The polyimide molecular model was established in this study. The external electric field was applied to the model through the semi-empirical method to calculate the total molecular energy, dipole moment, molecular orbital energy, and energy gap of polyimide. It was found that the total molecular energy of plasma-modified polyimide was lower, the energy gap was smaller, and the corresponding molecular properties were more stable. Then, the cell models of ordinary polyimide and plasma-modified polyimide were established by molecular dynamics simulation. The effects of plasma modification on the micro properties of polyimide were studied and compared. The free volume, mean square displacement, cohesive energy density, mechanical properties, and relative dielectric constant of polyimide models with different modified ratios were calculated. The results show that the introduction of polar groups through plasma modification can inhibit the movement of the polyimide molecular chain and improve the thermal stability of the polyimide system. The mechanical properties of polyimide are also improved due to plasma modification, and the elastic modulus is the largest when the modification rate is 20%. At the same time, the relative dielectric constant of polyimide increases with the increase of the modification rate.
Survival outcomes of surgical and non-surgical treatment in elderly patients with stage I pancreatic cancer: A population-based analysis
Authors: Nie Duorui , Lan Qingxia , Shi Bin , Xu Fei
Published: September 2022

Background

Due to underrepresentation in randomized controlled trials among old people (≥65 years old), the effectiveness of clinical trial-based recommendations about the treatment for stage I pancreatic cancer remains controversial. In this research, we intended to investigate the different strategies of this population in surgery group and non-surgery group.

Materials and methods

Elderly patients aged 65 years or older with histologically diagnosed stage I pancreatic cancer from 2006 to 2017 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The included patients were divided into surgery group (receiving surgery with chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy) and non-surgery group (receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy, both, or neither). Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were compared between groups by Kaplan–Meier analysis. Cox proportional hazards regression (Cox) proportional hazards regression was used to determine factors associated with survival.

Results

A total of 2,448 eligible patients were recruited. Among them, 18.4% were treated surgically and 81.6% were treated non-surgically. The median OS (mOS) was 26 months (95% CI: 24–30 months) in the surgery group and 7 months (95% CI: 7–8 months) in the non-surgery group. In multivariate analyses, surgery was an important factor in improving OS compared with non-surgical treatment (HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.29–0.39, p < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, surgery plus chemotherapy was an independent factor for OS in the surgery group, while chemoradiotherapy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were independent prognostic factors for patients in the non-surgery group.

Conclusion

Surgical resection and post-operative chemotherapy are recommended for elderly patients with stage I pancreatic cancer who can tolerate treatment, but post-operative chemoradiotherapy does not bring survival benefits compared with post-operative chemotherapy. Moreover, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy are significantly related to the prognosis of elderly patients with untreated pancreatic cancer, but chemoradiotherapy has the most obvious benefit.
Real clinical experience after one year of treatment with tolvaptan in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease
Authors: Naranjo Javier , Borrego Francisco , Rocha José Luis , Salgueira Mercedes , Martín-Gomez Maria Adoración , Orellana Cristhian , Morales Ana , Vallejo Fernando , Hidalgo Pilar , Rodríguez Francisca , Garófano Remedios , González Isabel , Esteban Rafael , Espinosa Mario
Published: September 2022

Background

Tolvaptan (TV) is the first vasopressin-receptor antagonist approved for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). No publications report TV experience in real clinical practice during the first year of treatment.

Methods

A prospective study of an initial cohort of 220 rapidly progressing patients treated with TV for 12 months. The tolerability of TV, the evolution of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), analytical parameters, and blood pressure were analyzed.

Results

A total of 163 patients (78.2%) received TV for 1 year. The main causes of treatment withdrawal were the aquaretic effects (11%), eGFR deterioration (5%), and hepatic toxicity (2.3%). eGFR decreased significantly after 1 month of treatment without further changes. The decrease in eGFR in the first month was higher in patients with an initially higher eGFR. The eGFR drop during the first year of treatment with TV was lower than that reported by patients in the 2 years prior to TV treatment (–1.7 ± 7.6 vs. –4.4 ± 4.8 mL/min, p = 0.003). Serum sodium and uric acid concentrations increased, and morning urinary osmolality decreased in the first month, with no further changes. Blood pressure decreased significantly without changes in antihypertensive medication.

Conclusion

TV treatment is well tolerated by most patients. Liver toxicity is very rare and self-limited. TV reduces eGFR in the first month without showing further changes during the first year of treatment. Patients with a higher starting eGFR will suffer a greater initial drop, with a longer recovery. We suggest using the eGFR observed after a month of treatment as the reference for future comparisons and calculating the rate of eGFR decline in patients undergoing TV treatment.
Streptomyces: The biofactory of secondary metabolites
Authors: Alam Khorshed , Mazumder Arpita , Sikdar Suranjana , Zhao Yi-Ming , Hao Jinfang , Song Chaoyi , Wang Yanyan , Sarkar Rajib , Islam Saiful , Zhang Youming , Li Aiying
Published: September 2022

Natural products derived from microorganisms serve as a vital resource of valuable pharmaceuticals and therapeutic agents. Streptomyces is the most ubiquitous bacterial genus in the environments with prolific capability to produce diverse and valuable natural products with significant biological activities in medicine, environments, food industries, and agronomy sectors. However, many natural products remain unexplored among Streptomyces. It is exigent to develop novel antibiotics, agrochemicals, anticancer medicines, etc., due to the fast growth in resistance to antibiotics, cancer chemotherapeutics, and pesticides. This review article focused the natural products secreted by Streptomyces and their function and importance in curing diseases and agriculture. Moreover, it discussed genomic-driven drug discovery strategies and also gave a future perspective for drug development from the Streptomyces.
Spectral imaging and nucleic acid mimics fluorescence in situ hybridization (SI-NAM-FISH) for multiplex detection of clinical pathogens
Authors: Azevedo Andreia S. , Fernandes Ricardo M. , Faria Ana R. , Silvestre Oscar F. , Nieder Jana B. , Lou Chenguang , Wengel Jesper , Almeida Carina , Azevedo Nuno F.
Published: September 2022

The application of nucleic acid mimics (NAMs), such as locked nucleic acid (LNA) and 2′-O-methyl-RNA (2’OMe), has improved the performance of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) methods for the detection/location of clinical pathogens since they provide design versatility and thermodynamic control. However, an important limitation of FISH techniques is the low number of distinguishable targets. The use of filters in fluorescence image acquisition limits the number of fluorochromes that can be simultaneously differentiated. Recent advances in fluorescence spectral image acquisition have allowed the unambiguous identification of several microorganisms in a single sample. In this work, we aimed to combine NAM-FISH and spectral image analysis to develop and validate a new FISH variant, the spectral imaging-NAM-FISH (SI-NAM-FISH), that allows a multiplexed, robust and rapid detection of clinical pathogens. In the first stage, to implement/validate the method, we have selected seven fluorochromes with distinct spectral properties and seven bacterial species (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Citrobacter freundii, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus). As a strong variation in fluorescence intensities is found between species and between fluorochromes, seven versions of a EUB LNA/2’OMe probe, each conjugated to one of seven fluorochromes, were used to rank species/fluorochromes by FISH and then optimize species/fluorochrome pairing. Then, final validation tests were performed using mixed populations to evaluate the potential of the technique for separating/quantifying the different targets. Overall, validation tests with different proportions of bacteria labeled with the respective fluorochrome have shown the ability of the method to correctly distinguish the species.
Interactions between glutathione S-transferase genes and household air pollution on asthma and lung function
Authors: Dai Xin , Dharmage Shyamali C. , Lodge Caroline J.
Published: September 2022

Oxidative stress is one of the main pathophysiological mechanisms for chronic respiratory disease. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes play important roles in antioxidant defences and may influence respiratory health. Although there is not consistent evidence that the three commonly studied genes of GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 are associated directly with respiratory outcomes, they seem to be related to disease susceptibility if exposure interactions are taken into account. Exposure to household air pollution may be particularly important in increasing lung oxidative stress. This review summarizes the relationships between GST genes, household air pollution and asthma and impaired lung function. Our findings support a role for GST polymorphisms in susceptibility to asthma and impaired lung function via oxidative stress pathways. Future research should additionally consider the role of gene-gene interactions, multiple environmental exposures, and gender in these complex associations, that are involved in maintaining antioxidant defences and lung health.
Anti-aging efficacy of solid-state fermented ginseng with Aspergillus cristatus and its active metabolites
Authors: Park Sang Cheol , Ji Yura , Ryu Jeoungjin , Kyung Seoyeon , Kim Minji , Kang Seunghyun , Jang Young Pyo
Published: September 2022

Aspergillus cristatus is a beneficial fungus of microbial fermented teas such as China’s Fuzhuan brick tea and Pu-erh tea, and is commonly called golden flower fungus (GFF) because its cleistothecium has a yellow millet or sand grain shape. Since natural materials fermented with GFF exhibit various physiological activities, a new active cosmeceutical ingredient was developed by solid-state fermentation of ginseng, a famous active material for healthy skin, with GFF. The extract of solid-state fermented ginseng with GFF (GFFG) exhibited potent anti-aging efficacy on the skin such as the increase of hyaluronic acid synthesis, aquaporin expression, and mRNA level of filaggrin in HaCaT keratinocyte. GFFG also inhibited the expression of MMP-1 increased by TNF-α in human dermal fibroblast. Sophisticated chromatographic and spectroscopic studies have elucidated isodihydroauroglaucin and flavoglaucin as the metabolites which were not present in ginseng extract nor GFF extract alone. Bioassay of these metabolites revealed that these compounds were part of active principles of GFFG. These results suggest that GFFG would be a potential active ingredient in anti-aging cosmeceutical products.
Gait decline while dual-tasking is an early sign of white matter deterioration in middle-aged and older adults
Authors: Alzaid Haidar , Ethofer Thomas , Kardatzki Bernd , Erb Michael , Scheffler Klaus , Berg Daniela , Maetzler Walter , Hobert Markus A.
Published: September 2022

Loss of white matter integrity (WMI) is associated with gait deficits in middle-aged and older adults. However, these deficits are often only apparent under cognitively demanding situations, such as walking and simultaneously performing a secondary cognitive task. Moreover, evidence suggests that declining executive functions (EF) are linked to gait decline, and their co-occurrence may point to a common underlying pathology, i.e., degeneration of shared brain regions. In this study, we applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a standardized gait assessment under single- and dual-tasking (DT) conditions (walking and subtracting) in 74 middle-aged and older adults without any significant gait or cognitive impairments to detect subtle WM alterations associated with gait decline under DT conditions. Additionally, the Trail Making Test (TMT) was used to assess EF, classify participants into three groups based on their performance, and examine a possible interaction between gait, EF, and WMI. Gait speed and subtracting speed while dual-tasking correlated significantly with the fractional anisotropy (FA) in the bilateral anterior corona radiata (highest r = 0.51/p < 0.0125 FWE-corrected). Dual-task costs (DTC) of gait speed correlated significantly with FA in widespread pathways, including the corpus callosum, bilateral anterior and superior corona radiata, as well as the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (highest r = −0.47/p < 0.0125 FWE-corrected). EF performance was associated with FA in the left anterior corona radiata (p < 0.05); however, EF did not significantly mediate the effects of WMI on DTC of gait speed. There were no significant correlations between TMT and DTC of gait and subtracting speed, respectively. Our findings indicate that gait decline under DT conditions is associated with widespread WM deterioration even in middle-aged and older adults without any significant gait or cognitive impairments. However, this relationship was not mediated by EF.
The relationship between mild cognitive impairment and postoperative delirium undergoing total knee arthroplasty: The PNDABLE study
Authors: Wang Bin , Mu Chuanlin , Tang Xinhui , Wang Fei , Zhang Gaofeng , Wang Jiahan , Dong Rui , Lin Xu , Bi Yanlin
Published: September 2022

Background

Patients undergoing surgery are at a higher risk of developing postoperative delirium (POD) as a result of anesthesia and surgical procedures. This study examined the association between POD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and whether MCI influences POD through the core pathology of POD.

Methods

We enrolled Chinese Han patients undergoing unilateral total knee arthroplasty (aged 50–90, weighing 50–80 kg, and using ASAI-II), combined with epidural anesthesia between October 2020 and June 2021. All the participants were assessed using Winblad's criteria for diagnosing MCI on pre-operation and using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) and the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale (MDAS) postoperative 1–7 days (or before discharge) for diagnosing POD by an anesthesiologist. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of POD were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). To examine the mechanism by which POD pathologies affect cognition, causal mediation analyses were performed.

Results

POD incidence was 20.2%, including 32.5% in the MCI group and 12.4% in the non-mild cognitive impairment (NMCI) group. The MCI and CSF levels of T-tau and P-tau were risk factors, and the CSF levels of Aβ42, Aβ42/ T-tau, and Aβ42/ P-tau were protective factors in POD (p < 0.05). Part of the effects of MCI on cognition can be attributed to amyloid pathology and tau.

Conclusion

MCI may be a reasonably good prognostic factor in POD development. Overall, amyloid pathology and tau protein might partially mediate the influence of MCI on POD.

Clinical trial registration

www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: ChiCTR2000033439.
Non-invasive brain stimulation for osteoarthritis
Authors: Zhu Hui-Qi , Luo Jing , Wang Xue-Qiang , Zhang Xin-An
Published: September 2022

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, the prevalence of OA is increasing, and the elderly are the most common in patients with OA. OA has a severe impact on the daily life of patients, this increases the demand for treatment of OA. In recent years, the application of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has attracted extensive attention. It has been confirmed that NIBS plays an important role in regulating cortical excitability and oscillatory rhythm in specific brain regions. In this review, we summarized the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of different NIBS techniques in OA, clarified the potential of NIBS as a treatment choice for OA, and provided prospects for further research in the future.
Lesions causing central sleep apnea localize to one common brain network
Authors: Yuan Taoyang , Zuo Zhentao , Xu Jianguo
Published: September 2022

Objectives

To characterize the specific brain regions for central sleep apnea (CSA) and identify its functional connectivity network.

Methods

We performed a literature search and identified 27 brain injuries causing CSA. We used a recently validated methodology termed “lesion network mapping” to identify the functional brain network subtending the pathophysiology of CSA. Two separate statistical approaches, the two-sample t-test and the Liebermeister test, were used to evaluate the specificity of this network for CSA through a comparison of our results with those of two other neurological syndromes. An additional independent cohort of six CSA cases was used to assess reproducibility.

Results

Our results showed that, despite lesions causing CSA being heterogeneous for brain localization, they share a common brain network defined by connectivity to the middle cingulate gyrus and bilateral cerebellar posterior lobes. This CSA-associated connectivity pattern was unique when compared with lesions causing the other two neurological syndromes. The CAS-specific regions were replicated by the additional independent cohort of six CSA cases. Finally, we found that all lesions causing CSA aligned well with the network defined by connectivity to the cingulate gyrus and bilateral cerebellar posterior lobes.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that brain injuries responsible for CSA are part of a common brain network defined by connectivity to the middle cingulate gyrus and bilateral cerebellar posterior lobes, lending insight into the neuroanatomical substrate of CSA.