bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of enhanced ct to diagnose lymph node metastasis in patients with resectable advanced gastric carcinoma
Authors: Ming Shuai , Hu Guoqing , Cheng Peng , Chai Jie , Zhang Yadi , Wei Wei
Published: April 2023

Background: Computed tomography (CT) has uncertain value in determining preoperative lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with advanced gastric carcinoma (AGC). This study aimed to determine the ability of enhanced CT to diagnose LNM in patients with resectable AGC.
Methods: Eighty-five AGC patients who received enhanced CT, gastrectomy, and lymph node (LN) dissection were examined. Patients were divided into two groups based on postoperative pathological examinations: a LN positive group (n=32) and a LN negative group (n=53). LNs were examined using preoperative enhanced CT, and axial diameters and enhanced CT values were recorded to enable comparisons with pathological results.
Results: In the LN-positive group, the number of positive LNs was 359 based on CT and 135 based on pathology. In the LN-negative group, the number negative LNs was 1301 based on CT and 174 based on pathology. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated the critical LN measurement was 7.5 mm for the long axis and 5.5 mm for the short axis. The critical values of average HU values (AHUVs) from CT increased with cancer stage. The sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve (AUC) had moderate values based on a single index. The combination of LN short axis and arterial phase AHUVs after logistic regression led to a sensitivity of 77%, specificity of 84%, and AUC of 0.89.
Conclusions: Use of the LN short axis length and arterial phase AHUVs had high reliability for diagnosis of LNM in AGC patients, and may be useful for clinical decision-making.
Standardization of process for the development of Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) flower powder supplemented functional yogurt
Authors: Kumar Pankaj , Chaudhary Rajan , Tripathi Abhishek Dutt , Agarwal Aparna , Paul Veena
Published: April 2023

The present investigation was carried out to develop functional yogurt enriched with dried Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) flower. Initially, physicochemical, microbiological, and sensorial attributes of yogurt prepared from different concentrations (0 to 3%) of Butterfly pea flower were studied. Yogurt supplemented with 1%, w/v butterfly pea flower showed better overall acceptability in sensorial terms and was optimized. The optimized BPF-rich yogurt showed 0.74 ± 0.3% ash content and 16.12 ± 0.02 total soluble solids which were higher than control yogurt. Rheological attributes (viscosity and syneresis), pH, and titratable acidity were similar in optimized BPF-rich yogurt and control yogurt. The DPPH inhibition activity (61.50%) and total phenolic content (87.23 mg GAE/g) and texture of optimized BPF-rich yogurt were better than control. The effect of storage period on free fatty acid, whey separation, acidity, total lactic acid bacteria count, coliform, yeast and mold count, and sensory parameters were studied. A significant increase was observed in free fatty acid value, acidity, and whey separation, while the lactic acid bacteria count was observed to be decreasing significantly (p < 0.05) in BPF-rich yogurt during 21 days of storage. Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis revealed better morphological characteristics and hydration properties in optimized BPF-rich yogurt. Ultra-Performing Liquid Chromatography analysis of BPF yogurt showed bioactive compounds such as delphinidin derivatives and cyanidin derivatives exhibiting functional attributes.
Effect of Hyperhidrosis on Quality of Life and its Correlation with Anxiety
Authors: MONGA PRABHNOOR , MANJHI MUKESH
Published: April 2023

A comprehensive understanding of the extent and nature of daily life and quality of life of various individuals suffering from hyperhidrosis and its correlation with mental health issues like anxiety, especially in a developing country like India is still lacking. This study investigated the effect of hyperhidrosis on the daily life of patients along with its correlation and predisposition to anxiety using a mix of qualitative research methods.
Integrating social vulnerability into global flood risk mapping
Authors: Fox Sean , Agyemang Felix , Hawker Laurence , Neal Jeffrey
Published: April 2023

Global flood risk maps combine data from hydrodynamic models with gridded population or GDP data to estimate the amount of people or wealth likely to be exposed to future flood events. These estimates rarely incorporate measures of social vulnerability, which is a key source of variation in outcomes for exposed populations. To address this lacuna, we integrate annual average exceedance probability estimates from a high-resolution (~90m) flood model with gridded population and economic data to create a global vulnerability-adjusted risk index for flooding (VARI Flood). Designed for decision makers, this approach radically alters how we perceive the geography of risk by identifying ‘hotspots’ characterised by high population density and high levels of social vulnerability. VARI Flood could be used as a complement to traditional population or asset-centred approaches. Our results also highlight the urgent need to improve social vulnerability mapping within cities and rapidly urbanizing regions.
Anti-inflammatory Properties of Ginseng-Derived Exosome-like Nanoparticles in LPS-induced RAW264.7
Authors: Kyung Kim Youn , Lee Yeon-Hee , Sang-Woo Lee
Published: April 2023

Objectives Exosomes are extracellular nano-sized vesicles which transport proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and polysaccharides. Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer is known to have various pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Furthermore, ginseng derived exosome-like nanoparticles (GDEs) may be considered to contribute to inflammation mechanisms. The main aim of this study elucidated that GDEs exert anti-inflammatory activities, which can molecularly modulate an inflammation mechanism in mammalian cells.Methods GDEs were isolated by the method using sucrose cushioning ultracentrifugation and the morphology of GDEs was shown through transmission electron microscope (TEM). The number of particles and size distribution of the GDEs were evaluated using nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). To investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of GDEs, the expression levels of inflammatory mediators and cytokines were analyzed in lipopoly-saccarides (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7, murine macrophages. ELISA, qPCR, WB and nitric oxide assay were carried out for analyzing anti-inflammatory effects of the GDEs in mammalian cells.Results GDEs showed a spherical shape with an average diameter of 176.2 nm and a substantial number of GDEs was counted as 1.09 x 1012 ± 1.19 x 1011 particles/ml. The pretreated GDEs in LPS-induced RAW264.7 suppressed the protein expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interlukin-1beta (IL-1β), interlukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). In addition, protein expression levels of inflammation-related enzymes, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) as well as production of nitric oxide (NO) were dramatically decreased by the GDEs in LPS-induced RAW264.7. Correspondingly, the GDEs treatment clearly reduced LPS-induced mRNA expression levels of the iNOS and COX-2. In addition, expression patterns of the IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α were gradually down-regulated by the GDEs in a dosage dependent manner.Conclusion These results demonstrated that Ginseng-derived exosome-like nanoparticles inhibited the expression of the inflammation mediators, suggesting that the GDEs possess anti-inflammatory activities and molecularly regulate the inflammatory mechanism in mammalian cells. Collectively, the GDEs has high potential as a novel therapeutic agent to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.
Paleoclimatic evolution and weathering in the Northern South China Sea during the last 61 kyr BP--Sedimentary records from the coastal zone
Authors: Liang Dingyong , Xu Guoqiang , Xia Changjian , Gao Fanglei , Lin Yihua , Du Juan , Liyun JIA
Published: April 2023

The history of silicate chemical weathering is recorded by Marine sediments in the west coastal zone, contains the information of terrigenous climate and environment evolution.in order to constrain the Proxy index and driving mechanism of summer monsoon intensityof the sediments from this core since ~61 Kyr BP, the grain size, clay minerals and elemental geochemistry of sediments from core KZK01 in the coastal zone of the Northern South China Sea have been analyzed. The results showed that the illite crystallinity and smectite/(illite+chlorite) not only reflects the intensity of surface chemical weathering in the source area, but also clearly records the Heinrich event (H5), Younger Dryas event and the cold events since the Holocene, such as 8.2 Ka, 4.2 Ka and 2.8 Ka.The regional East Asian summer monsoon is mainly driven by the summer solar radiation at low latitudes in the northern hemisphere,Cold climate events have a global consistency and may be related to the global impact of high-latitude ice sheets.The paleoclimatic changes since 61 Kyr BP in the Northern South China Sea can be divided into 61kry BP~59.5kry BP、59.5kry BP~49.5kry BP、49.5kry BP~40.5kry BP、and 40.5kry BP~11.5kry BP、11.5kry bp~2 kry BP and 2kry BP to present six stages.In different stages of climate evolution, the alternating characteristics of cold, dry, warm and wet are obvious, with significant stages.
CIS deletion by CRISPR/Cas9 enhances human primary natural killer cell functions against allogeneic glioblastoma
Authors: Nakazawa Tsutomu , Morimoto Takayuki , Maeoka Ryosuke , Matsuda Ryosuke , Nakamura Mitsutoshi , Nishimura Fumihiko , Ouji Noriko , Yamada Shuichi , Nakagawa Ichiro , Park Young-Soo , Ito Toshihiro , Nakase Hiroyuki , Tsujimura Takahiro
Published: April 2023

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant brain tumor and has “immunologically cold” features. Changing GBM to an “immunologically hot” tumor requires a strong trigger that induces initial immune responses in GBM. Allogeneic natural killer cells (NKCs) have gained considerable attention as promising immunotherapeutic tools against cancer, where gene-edited NKCs would result in effective anti-cancer treatment. The present study focused on the immune checkpoint molecule cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein (CIS) as a critical negative regulator in NKCs. We successfully induced human CIS-deleted NKCs (NK dCIS) by combining our specific human NKC expansion method available for clinical application and genome editing technology. CIS gene-specific guide RNA/Cas9 protein complex suppressed CIS expression in the expanded NKCs with high expansion efficacy. Comprehensive gene expression analysis demonstrated increased expression of 265 genes and decreased expression of 86 genes in the NK dCIS, which were comparatively small changes. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that the enriched genes were involved in NKC effector functions. Functional analysis revealed that the NK dCIS had increased interferon (IFN)ɤ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production. CIS deletion enhanced NKC-mediated apoptosis induction against allogeneic GBM cells and spheroids. Intracranial administration of the allogeneic NKCs prolonged the overall survival of xenograft brain tumor mice. Furthermore, the NK dCIS extended the overall survival of the mice. The findings demonstrated the successful induction of human primary NK dCIS with CRISPR/Cas9 with efficient expansion. CIS deletion enhanced the NKC-mediated anti-tumor effects in allogeneic GBM and could be a promising immunotherapeutic alternative for patients with GBM.
Using Multi-Ancestry Polygenic Risk Scores for Coronary Artery Disease as Risk Enhancers for a 10 Year Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Tool
Authors: Busby George , Kulm Scott , Bolli Alessandro , Kintzle Jen , Domenico Paolo Di , Bottà Giordano
Published: April 2023

Clinical implementation of new prediction models requires evaluation of their validity and utility in a broad range of intended use populations. Here we outline the development and validation of multiple ancestry-specific Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) using a dataset comprising 29,389 individuals from multiple cohorts and diverse genetic ancestry groups. We leverage summary statistics from multiple genome-wide association studies comprising over 850,000 individuals to develop calibrated CAD PRSs with an average Odds Ratio per Standard Deviation (ORxSD) of 1.57 (SD = 0.14). Relative to competing scores, across major genetic ancestry groups these PRSs identify between 26 and 184 additional high risk individuals for every 1,000 people screened. We infer ancestry- specific high risk PRS thresholds and apply these to independent test datasets to identify between 12% and 24% of individuals who are at greater than twice the polygenic risk of CAD compared to the rest of the population. Using these PRSs to reclassify borderline or intermediate 10 year Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) risk in a cohort of 9,691 individuals improved the classification of those at increased risk of both CAD (Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) = 13.14% (95%CI 9.23-17.06%)) and ASCVD (NRI = 10.70 (95%CI 7.35-14.05)). Our analyses demonstrate that using PRSs as Risk Enhancers can improve clinical 10 year ASCVD risk assessments and provide an approach for utilizing polygenic information to guide ASCVD prevention efforts.
Ecological Assessment of the Terrestrial Biomes for Wildlife in Iran
Authors: Ansari Amir , Ghorbanpour Mansour , Kazemi Ali
Published: April 2023

Man-made activities owing to damage and fragmentation of habitat are the biggest threats to the biodiversity of Iran's Terrestrial Biomes in recent years. To fully understand the treats, we must first identify and map those biomes. Data sources used to do that included: For this study, IDRISI TerrSet 18.31 Software, Iranian Roads, Iran Protected Areas, Iran Terrestrial Biomes, Iran-wide Land cover maps of 2017, and the Terrestrial Biomes Ecosystem Service Modeler on the InVEST toolkit (TBESMI) were used to map biomes. The results show that the largest terrestrial biome in Iran is Deserts and Xeric Shrublands (DXS) (57.77%) and the smallest is Flooded Grasslands and Savannas (FGS) (0.44%). Roads, and urban and agricultural development are among the largest threats and most destructive stressors in terrestrial biomes. This study shows that there is a growth in destruction of habitat in the Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest (TBMF) (11.08%), Temperate Coniferous Forest (TCF) (8.84%), and Flooded Grasslands and Savannas (FGS) (7.77%); and a decrease in the DXS (5.14%). There is also an increase in habitat landscape quality in the DXS (62.91%), FGS (57.44%), and Montane Grasslands and Shrublands (MGS) (47.44%); and a decrease in the TGSS (23.19%) and TBMF (26.59%). Finally, there are an increase in the cumulative risk of habitat degradation in the TCF (86.61), Temperate-Grasslands-Savannas-Shrublands (TGSS) (85.83%), and TBMF (83.1%); and a decrease in cumulative risk in the DXS (41.12%). The Iran Terrestrial Biomes include areas protected for quality (11.68%), degradation (8.04%), and risk (8.5%). The FGS Terrestrial Biome with the highest cumulative risk and the MGS Terrestrial Biome with the highest cumulative risk exposure are at the highest risk from man-made activities. Stressors from Agriculture and Urbanization have the highest exposure scores in the MGS, and Roads have the highest exposure scores in the TBMF and DXS Terrestrial Biomes.
Real-world post-deployment performance of a novel machine learning-based digital health technology for skin lesion assessment and suggestions for post-market surveillance
Authors: Kalsi Dilraj , Thomas Lucy , Hyde Chris , Mullarkey Dan , Greenhalgh Jack , Ko Justin M
Published: April 2023

Deep Ensemble for Recognition of Malignancy (DERM) is an artificial intelligence as a medical device (AIaMD) tool for skin lesion assessment. We report prospective real-world performance from its deployment within skin cancer pathways at two National Health Service hospitals (UK). Between July 2021 and October 2022, 14,500 cases were seen, including patients 18–100 years old with Fitzpatrick skin types I–VI represented. Based on 8,571 lesions assessed by DERM with confirmed outcomes, versions A and B demonstrated very high sensitivity for detecting melanoma (95.0–100.0%) or malignancy (96.0–100.0%). Benign lesion specificity was 40.7–49.4% (DERM-vA) and 70.1–73.4% (DERM-vB). DERM identified 15.0–31.0% of cases as eligible for discharge. We show DERM performance in-line with sensitivity targets and pre-marketing authorisation research, and it reduced the caseload for hospital specialists in two pathways. Based on our experience we offer suggestions on key elements of post-market surveillance for AIaMDs.
Synthesis and structure characterization of three pharmaceutical compounds based on tinidazole compounds
Authors: Li Na , Chen Ruixin , Zhang Mingjuan , Wu Tingting , Liu Kang
Published: April 2023

Tinidazole (TNZ), a 5-nitroimidazole derivative, has received increasing attention due to its pharmacological activities in treatment for amebic and parasitic infections. However, this pharmaceutical shows poor stability. In order to improve the stability of TNZ, we synthesized three novel drug supramolecular compounds successfully. The three compounds discussed in our work were constructed by TNZ and 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,6-DHBA), 4-methylsalicylic acid (4-MAC) and 5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzoic acid (5-C-2-HBA). The N-H···O, O-H···O hydrogen bonds and weak C-H···O hydrogen bonds are the primary intermolecular force in the construction of the three compounds. Crystal structure analysis revealed that all the cocrystals exhibit three-dimensional supramolecular architectures. Furthermore, six primary synthons Ⅰ R22 (8), Ⅱ R21 (6), Ⅲ R22(12), Ⅳ R33(9), Ⅴ R22(12), Ⅵ R33(9) forming through various hydrogen bonds are founded in the three compounds. What’s more, resulting pharmaceutical supramolecular compounds showed improved stability. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are reported.
Trends in antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae from 2016 to 2021 in Shanghai, China
Authors: huanjin Liao , Lan Yu , Cui zelin , rong Tong
Published: April 2023

Objectives We sought to analyze the antimicrobial resistance trends of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) isolated from patients.Methods Twelve commonly used antibiotics from E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolated every year from 2016 to 2021 were analyzed to identify trends in antimicrobial resistance over time using univariate tests of trend and multivariate regression models to account for the effects of patient demographics.Results The numbers of E. coli and K. pneumoniae strains increased, while the rates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae remained stable. The number and rate of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae increased. Statistically significant increases in the proportions of E. coli and ESBL-producing E. coli isolates resistant to meropenem, cefepime, cefoperazone-sulbactam, piperacillin-tazobactam, cotrimoxazole, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, and fosfomycin were observed, and increases in the non-ESBL-producing E. coli resistance rates to cefepime, ceftazidime, and piperacillin-tazobactam were observed. Similarly, the proportions of K. pneumoniae and ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae resistant to imipenem, meropenem, cefoxitin, cefepime, ceftazidime, cefoperazone-sulbactam, piperacillin-tazobactam, ciprofloxacin, and fosfomycin increased during the study, while the non-ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae resistance rates to cefazolin and fosfomycin increased.Conclusions Increases in ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae resistance to multiple classes of antimicrobials and the marked increase in carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae were the most remarkable changes observed from 2016 to 2021. This paper provides important information for governments and clinicians to track antimicrobial resistance and will provide insights into antimicrobial strategies.
Is single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) for gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) dependent on the location of the tumor?
Authors: Seo Ji Won , Park Ki Bum , Chin Hyung Min , Jun Kyong-Hwa
Published: April 2023

Purpose We compared the surgical outcomes of single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) and conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).Methods We performed single-incision gastric wedge resection on prospectively-enrolled 15 consecutive patients with gastric GIST between November 2020 and April 2022 in a single tertiary center. The early perioperative outcomes of these patients were compared to those of patients who underwent CLS. The indications did not differ from those for conventional laparoscopic procedures for gastric GIST.Results In total, 30 patients were assigned to the SILS (n = 15) and CLS (n = 15) groups. There were no significant differences in the estimated blood loss and intraoperative blood transfusion between the SILS and CLS groups. There were no intraoperative complications or conversions to multiple-port or open surgery in the SILS group. Proximally located tumors were more commonly treated with CLS than with SILS (P = 0.045). GISTs located in the greater curvature were more commonly treated with SILS than with CLS, although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.08). The mean incision length in the SILS group was 4.1 cm shorter than that in the CLS group (3.2 ± 0.7 and 7.3 ± 5.2 cm, respectively, P = 0.01). The postoperative analgesic dose was significantly lower in the SILS than in the CLS group (0.4 ± 1.4 and 2.1 ± 2.3, respectively P = 0.01). Also, the duration of postoperative use of analgesic was shorter in SILS than in CLS (0.4 ± 0.7 and 2.0 ± 1.8, respectively, P = 0.01). There were no significant differences in the early postoperative complications between the groups.Conclusions SILS is as safe, feasible, and effective for the treatment of gastric GIST as CLS with comparable postoperative complications, pain, and cosmesis. Moreover, SILS can be considered without being affected by the type or location of the tumor.
Specific pathway abundances in the neonatal calf faecal microbiome are associated with susceptibility to Cryptosporidium parvum infection: A metagenomic analysis
Authors: Hares Miriam F , Griffiths Bethany E , Johnson Flora , Nelson Charlotte , Haldenby Samuel , Stewart Christopher J , Duncan Jennifer S , Oikonomou Georgios , Coombes Janine
Published: April 2023

Background Cryptosporidium parvum is the main cause of calf scour globally. With limited therapeutic options and research compared to other Apicomplexa, it is important to understand the parasites’ biology and interactions with the host and microbiome in order to develop novel strategies against this infection. The age-dependent nature of symptomatic cryptosporidiosis suggests a link to the undeveloped immune response, the immature intestinal epithelium, and its associated microbiota. This led us to hypothesise that specific features of the early life microbiome could predict calves’ susceptibility to C. parvum infection.Results In this study, faecal samples were collected from ≤ 1-week-old calves (n = 346). A retrospective case-control approach was taken whereby a metagenomic analysis was conducted on healthy calves (Control group; n = 30) and calves that went on to develop diarrhoea and test positive for C. parvum infection (Cryptosporidium-positive group; n = 30). Taxonomic analysis showed no significant differences in alpha diversity, beta diversity, and taxa relative abundance between controls and Cryptosporidium-positive groups. Analysis of functional potential showed pathways related to isoprenoid precursor, haem and purine biosynthesis were significantly higher in abundance in calves that later tested positive for C. parvum (q ≤ 0.25). These pathways are uniquely lacking in the C. parvum parasites, unlike the other Apicomplexa. Though the de novo production of isoprenoid precursors, haem and purines are absent, C. parvum has been shown to encode enzymes that catalyse the downstream reactions of these pathway metabolites, indicating that C. parvum may scavenge those products from an external source.Conclusions The host has previously been put forward as the source of essential metabolites, but our study suggests that C. parvum may also be able to harness specific metabolic pathways of the microbiota in order to survive and replicate. This finding is important as components of these microbial pathways could be exploited as potential drug targets for the prevention or mitigation of cryptosporidiosis in bovine neonates.
Security and application of semi-quantum key distribution protocol for users with different quantum capabilities
Authors: Ye Chong-Qiang , Li Jian , Chen Xiu-Bo , Hou Yanyan , Wang Zhuo
Published: April 2023

Semi-quantum protocols serve as a bridge between quantum users and "classical" users with limited quantum capabilities, providing support for application scenarios that cannot afford the excessively high cost of quantum resources. In this paper, we present a semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) protocol based on Bell states and single particles, which is designed for key distribution between different types of users. The protocol enables simultaneous key distribution between quantum and classical users, as well as key establishment between two classical users. The security analysis demonstrates that the protocol can reach the same level of security as the full quantum protocol. Furthermore, we extrapolate the proposed protocol to other semi-quantum protocols, such as semi-quantum key agreement and semi-quantum private comparison protocols. Compared with previous similar ones, our SQKD protocol and its extended versions can fulfill the requirements of their respective counterparts individually. Therefore, our SQKD protocol has the potential for broader applications in practical scenarios.
Are vascular endothelium and angiogenesis effective MicroRNA Biomarkers associated with the prediction of early-onset preeclampsia (EOPE) and adverse perinatal outcomes?
Authors: Ozler Sibel , Kebapcilar Aysegul , Ozdemir Ebru Marzioglu , Mert Muhammed , Arıkan Mehmet Nurullah , Celik Cetin
Published: April 2023

Purpose : We aimed to investigate serum MicroRNA (miRNA) levels in preeclampsia (PE) and to determine whether any changes in miRNA levels are useful in predicting early onset preeclampsia (EOPE) and adverse perinatal outcomes. Methods: A total of 89 pregnant patients were enrolled in this prospective case-control study (55 PE and 34 healthy controls). miR-17, miR-20a, miR-20b, miR126, miR155, miR-200, miR-222, and miR-210 levels were studied in maternal serum in preeclamptic pregnant women. The Real-time RT-PCR method was used to determine maternal serum miRNA levels. Results: Serum miR-17, miR-20a, miR-20b, miR126, and miR-210 levels were significantly higher in PE than the control group . Increased miR-17, miR-20a, and miR-20b levels were independently associated with PE. Increased miR-17 and miR-126 levels were negatively correlated with serum EOPE in PE, and increased miR-210 levels were significantly positively correlated with EOPE in PE. Conclusion: Increased expression of serum miR-17, miR-20a, miR-20b, miR126, and miR-210 were found to be associated with PE, also increased expression of miR-17, miR-20a and miR-20b were to be prediction with PE, also increased maternal serum miR-17 and miR-126 expressions were negatively correlated and increased miR-210 expression was positively correlated with EOPE in PE women.
Diet effects on colonic health influence the efficacy of Bin1 mAb immunotherapy for ulcerative colitis
Authors: Thomas Sunil , Dilbarov Nickey , Kelly Joseph , Mercogliano Giancarlo , Prendergast George C.
Published: April 2023

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an idiopathic disease of the large intestine linked to high fat-high protein diets, a dysbiotic microbiome, and a metabolome linked to diet and/or aberrant circadian rhythms associated with poor sleeping patterns. Understanding diet-affected factors that negatively influence colonic health may offer new insights into how to prevent UC and enhance the efficacy of UC immunotherapy. In this preclinical study, we found that standard or high fiber diets in mice positively influenced their colonic health, whereas a high fat-high protein diet negatively influenced colonic health, consistent with clinical findings. Animals fed a high fat/high protein diet experienced obesity and a reduced colon length, illustrating a phenotype we suggest calling peinosis [hunger-like-condition; Greek, peina: hunger; osis: condition], as marked by a lack of nutrient energy remaining in fecal pellets. Notably, a high fat/high protein diet also led to signs of muscle weakness that could not be explained fully by weight gain. In contrast, mice on a high fiber diet ranked highest compared to other diets in terms of colon length and lack of muscle weakness. That said, mice on a high fiber diet were more prone to UC and toxic responses to immunotherapy, consistent with clinical observations. Recent studies have suggested that a standard diet may be needed to support the efficacy of immunotherapeutic drugs used to prevent and treat UC. Here we observed that protection against UC by Bin1 mAb, a passive UC immunotherapy that acts by coordinately enforcing intestinal barrier function, protecting enteric neurons, and normalizing the microbiome, was associated with increased colonic levels of healthful short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), particularly butyric acid and propionic acid, which help enforce intestinal barrier function. This work offers a preclinical platform to investigate how diet affects UC immunotherapy and the potential of dietary SCFA supplements to enhance it. Further, it suggests that the beneficial effects of passive immunotherapy by Bin1 mAb in UC treatment may be mediated to some extent by promoting increased levels of healthful SCFA.
The adsorption of alpha-synuclein and inhibition of fibrillization by nanocellulose and nanocellulose coated with gold atoms
Authors: Jebali Ali , Outeiro T. F.
Published: April 2023

The aim of this study was to investigate the adsorption of alpha-synuclein (aSyn) and inhibition of fibrillization by nanocellulose (NC) and NC coated with gold atoms (NCCGAs) using in silico approaches. First, the 3D structure of NC, NCCGAs, partial aSyn (36–55), and full-length aSyn (1-140) was designed, modeled, and saved in PDB format. HDOCK server and Ascalaph designer software were used to understand the possible molecular interaction of partial aSyn (36–55) and full-length aSyn (1-140) when exposed to NC and NCCGAs. In the experimental section, acid hydrolysis was used for the synthesis of NC and then reacted with HAuCl4 to achieve NCCGAs. The Adsorption of aSyn by NC and NCCGAs was analyzed at 280 nm and the inhibition of aSyn fibrillization was assessed using Thioflavin T. A numerical comparison of docking results showed that NCCGAs have more and better adsorption to partial/full-length aSyn than NC. Also, MD simulation showed us that adsorbed molecules had enough stable interaction and they even become more stable over time. Experimentally, the adsorption of aSyn and the inhibition of aSyn fibrillization were seen when they were exposed to NC or NCCGAs. Although both NC and NCCGAs were able to absorb aSyn, NCCGAs had a higher capability (P > 0.05). The same pattern was observed for the inhibition of fibrillization of aSyn. You should end with a sentence explaining the implication of the findings – why is this important?
Thermo- and pH-responsive cotton gauzes as drug delivery system obtained by gamma radiation and chemical initiator
Authors: Romero-Fierro David , Esquivel-Lo Y. Aylin , Camacho-Cruz Alejandro , Bucio Emilio
Published: April 2023

The grafting of stimuli-responsive polymers into medical devices to create functional materials has attracted the attention of scientific community. The capacity of these polymers to change its conformation reversibly as function of variables of the environment in which it is applied, is well taken into account to create drug delivery systems. Because cotton gauzes are materials of priority use in biomedical area, and they are susceptible to develop biofilm on its surface contaminating skin wounds. In this work it is proposed the modification of cotton gauze with a dual stimuli-responsive copolymer, composed by two monomers such as methacrylic acid and N-isopropylacrylamide, through a grafting copolymerization induced by chemical initiator and gamma radiation. Experimental conditions were evaluated for each method. Grafting was verified by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as its thermal behavior was determined through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Critical pH was confirmed by potentiometric titrations finding a value of 4.7 for grafted cotton gauzes and their critical temperature ranging between 31–34°C, which was determined by water uptake as function of temperature. The loading and release of norfloxacin were tested, finding that grafted gauzes exhibited affinity for this drug and it is released under simulated physiological conditions of temperature and pH. Norfloxacin-loaded gauzes show their efficiency inhibiting E. coli and S. aureus growth in a contaminated environment, at different pH values. This improvement of cotton gauzes can serve as barrier to avoid the formation of biofilm in surgical conditions and for wound healing.
Utilizing auxiliary electrodes in ionic wind blowers to improve the flow distribution
Authors: Cai Rong-jie , Wang Jing , Li Zheng-sheng , Ji Yu-qing , Wang Jun
Published: April 2023

A new kind of ionic wind blower that employs auxiliary electrodes to boost the ionic wind velocity and enhance the cooling efficiency is developed to address the issue of heat dissipation in electronic devices with high heat flux densities. The ‘wire-mesh-auxiliary electrode’ and ‘needle-mesh-auxiliary electrode’ blowers have been designed. An emitter, a collector, and two auxiliary electrodes make up each structure. Before determining the optimum operational voltages for the auxiliary electrode under the two configurations, experiments are carried out to confirm the secondary acceleration effect of the auxiliary electrodes. The effects of the auxiliary electrode's spacing and the voltage polarity supplied to the emitting electrode and auxiliary electrodes on the produced ionic wind velocity are investigated once the working voltage has been determined. Finally, a simulation computation is implemented to look into the ionic wind flow distribution in the ‘needle-mesh-auxiliary electrode’ blower. The findings indicate that in terms of voltage endurance operating range and maximum output ionic wind velocity, the ‘needle-mesh-auxiliary electrode’ blower outperforms the ‘wire-mesh-auxiliary electrode’ blower. The system's output ionic wind velocity is greater when negative high voltage is supplied to the emitting electrode and positive high power is applied to the auxiliary electrode. Following the use of auxiliary electrodes, a considerable amount of electrons condense in the central area between the two auxiliary electrodes, creating an ion jet downstream. The output velocity of the ionic wind is greater, and the flow is more concentrated. Some electrons in the mainstream produce the reverse ionic wind under the influence of the electric field downstream of the auxiliary electrodes, which disrupts and deflects the mainstream's velocity.
Joint use of two-step fermentation and in-situ addition of chitosan oligosaccharide improving bacterial cellulose pellicle in the synthesis and various behaviors
Authors: Tong Jie , Yu Chenrui , Wang Yu , Hu Ziwei , Han Zhenxing , Liu Dandan , Yue Wenjin J. , Li Chuang , Nie Guangjun J.
Published: April 2023

Low productivity, high cost, and disbalance between swelling behavior and mechanical properties have limited extensive applications of bacterial cellulose pellicle (BCP). To remove the drawbacks, two-step fermentation and in-situ modification of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) were jointly used to improve the yield and mechanical properties of BCP in this work. The results indicated that based on the optimization of the culture components, a higher yield of 5.5 g/L, which is 1.9-fold of the control produced under static fermentation, was achieved at the agitation speed of 220 rpm for 3 h (total incubation time 10 d), revealing that high agitation speed in the early incubation can promote BCP production and shorten the production time. In-situ addition of COS can induce the self-assembly of bacterial nanofibers to form a compact network of BCP through intermolecular hydrogen bond instead of intramolecular hydrogen bond, increasing the yield and mechanical properties. The yield increased to 10.8 g/L, approximately 2.0-fold that of the control. The Young’s modulus, toughness, yield strength, and resilience of BCP were increased by 5.7, 2.9, 3.1, and 4.0 folds, respectively. It is convinced that COS modification well improved BCP production and balanced the swelling behavior and mechanical properties. Consequently, this work removed the drawbacks of BCP production to a certain degree, which hopefully contributes to an extensive application of BCP.
Accuracy of the Clock Drawing Test in Screening for Early Post-Stroke Neurocognitive Disorder: The Nor-COAST Study
Authors: Navickaite Egle , Saltvedt Ingvild , Lyndersen Stian , Munthe-Kaas Ragnhild , Ihle-Hansen Hege , Grambaite Ramune , Aam Stina
Published: April 2023

BACKGROUND
Post-stroke neurocognitive disorder (NCD), though common, is often overlooked by clinicians. Moreover, although the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has proven to be a valid screening test for NCD, even more time saving tests would be preferred. In our study, we examined the accuracy of the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) in diagnosing patients with post-stroke NCD and the association between the CDT and MoCA.
METHODS
This study is part of the Norwegian Cognitive Impairment After Stroke study, a multicentre prospective cohort study following patients admitted with acute stroke. At the three-month follow-up, patients were classified with normal cognition, mild NCD or major NCD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria. Any NCD compromised both mild- and major NCD. The CDT, as part of the MoCA at the three-month assessment, was given scores ranging from 0 to 5. Patients able to complete the CDT and whose cognitive status could be classified were included in analyses. The CDT accuracy for diagnosing post-stroke NCD was examined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. The association between the MoCA and CDT was analysed with Spearman’s rho.
RESULTS
Of 554 participants, 238 (43.0%) were women. Mean (SD) age was 71.5 (11.8) years, while mean (SD) National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 2.6 (3.7). The area under the ROC curve of the CDT for major NCD and any NCD was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.68–0.79) and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.63–0.72), respectively. A CDT cutoff of < 5 yielded 68% sensitivity and 60% specificity for any NCD and 78% sensitivity and 53% specificity for major NCD. Spearman’s correlation coefficient between scores on the MoCA and CDT was 0.50 (95% CI, 0.44–0.57, p < .001).
CONCLUSIONS
The CDT is not accurate enough to diagnose post-stroke NCD but shows reasonable accuracy in identifying major NCD. Performance on the CDT was associated with performance on MoCA; however, the CDT is inferior to MoCA in identifying post-stroke NCD.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT0265053)
Forced Convection Characteristics with Parabolic Temperature Variations in a Transposed C-Shaped Lid-Driven Square Cavity using Lattice Boltzmann Method
Authors: Yadav Mahendra , Yadav Rajendra Singh , Makinde Oluwole Daniel
Published: April 2023

The present study is focused on the numerical simulations of forced convection characteristics with parabolic temperature variations in a wall-driven C-Shaped cavity using the lattice Boltzmann method. In this study, the flow parameters being investigated are Reynolds number, Nusselt number, skin friction coefficient, kinetic energy density function, and aspect ratio. The results show that the development of the primary vortex inside the cavity can lead to an assisting effect to the different hot surfaces for different aspect ratios to enhance the heat transfer rate. It is found that for aspect ratio one, the upper hot surface, assigned with parabolic temperature variations, gives the best heat transfer rate, whereas, for aspect ratios two and three, the right hot surface gives the best heat transfer rates. Further, The average Nusselt number is found to be increasing with the increase of Reynolds number and found to be decreasing with the increase of aspect ratio. Besides this, for low Reynolds numbers with elongation of the cavity in the horizontal direction, perfect sand clock patterns are recorded in the streamlines formation, whereas for high Reynolds numbers, the sand clock patterns become distorted in the streamlines formation. Moreover, the distribution of the skin friction coefficient and the kinetic energy density function against the Reynolds number is also presented.
Navigating the Challenges of Sentiment Analysis: Accuracy and Bias
Authors: Garg simran , Chaturvedi Devang , Jain Tanya , Mishra Anju , Kapoor Anjali
Published: April 2023

Our work provides an overview of sentiment analysis and its applications in diverse fields, highlighting the challenges sentiment analysis faces, such as accuracy and bias issues. We emphasize the importance of sentiment analysis in gaining insights into people's attitudes and opinions, and provide examples of related work in sentiment analysis, particularly in the context of Twitter data extraction and sentiment classification. Additionally, we emphasize the need for automated sentiment analysis techniques to efficiently process large volumes of text data. Our study focuses on VADER, a rule-based approach for sentiment analysis that utilizes a lexicon and syntactical and contextual rules to determine the sentiment of a given text. We aimed to optimize its performance further to increase its accuracy and precision. We implemented additional pre-processing steps, including removing stop words, lemmatizing, and stemming the text data to achieve this. Furthermore, we fine-tuned the sentiment score threshold to optimize the classification of neutral sentiment. As a result, we achieved higher accuracy and precision in our sentiment analysis results. Our research highlights the importance of pre-processing in sentiment analysis and showcases how even an already existing model like VADER can be optimized to improve its performance. These findings can aid researchers and practitioners in various fields in better understanding sentiment analysis and enhancing its accuracy and effectiveness.
The metabolic score for insulin resistance in the prediction of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients after coronary artery bypass surgery: a multicenter retrospective cohort study
Authors: Zhang Shuai , Wu Zhenguo , Zhuang Yifan , Sun Xiangfei , Wang Juan , Chen Sha , Guo Dachuan , Xu Panpan , Zhang Cheng , Yang Jianmin
Published: April 2023

Background: The metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR) is a simple, convenient, and reliable marker for resistance insulin (IR), which has been regarded as a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiovascular events. However, few studies examined the relationship between METS-IR and prognosis after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). This study aimed to investigate the potential value of METS-IR as a prognostic indicator for the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients after CABG.
Method: 1100 patients who had CABG were enrolled in the study, including 760 men (69.1%) and 340 women (30.9%). The METS-IR was calculated as Ln [(2×FPG (mg/dL) +fasting TG (mg/dL)] ×BMI (kg/m2)/Ln [HDL-C (mg/dL)]. The primary endpoint of this study was the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including a composite of all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery revascularization, and stroke.
Result: During the follow-up period, there were a total of 243 MACEs (22.1%).The probability of cumulative incidence of MACE increased incrementally across the quartiles of METS-IR (log-rank test, p＜0.001). Multivariate cox regression analysis demonstrated a hazard ratio (95% CI) of 1.97 (1.36-2.86) for MACE in quartile 4 compared with participants in quartile 1. The addition of the METS-IR to the model with fully adjusting variables significantly improved its predictive value [C-statistic increased from 0.702 to 0.720, p＜0.001, continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI) = 0.305, ＜0.001，integrated discrimination improvement (IDI)=0.021, p＜0.001].
Conclusion: METS-IR is an independent and favorable risk factor for predicting the occurrence of MACE and can be used as a simple and reliable indicator that can be used for risk stratification and early intervention in patients after CABG.
Comprehensive pan-cancer analysis reveals the importance of SPATS2 in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Ding Jie , Li Long , Yu Wuhan , Deng Hong , Chen Lang , Li Teng Fei , Zhang You Cheng
Published: April 2023

RNA binding protein (RBP) Spermatogenesis-associated serine-rich 2 (SPATS2) has been examined the function in cancer pathogenesis, diagnosis, and prognosis. However, little is known about SPATS2 in human cancers. Gene expression and clinical implication of SPATS2 were assessed in multiple human pan-cancer cohorts from the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases. In general, SPATS2 is a robust biomarker for liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) prognosis. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and the published literature were used to meta-analyze the expression and diagnostic value of SPATS2 in LIHC. A nomogram for predicting the overall survival (OS) was established to present the prognostic value of SPATS2 in LIHC patients. The SPATS2 correlation genes were used to perform the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) for predicting the biological function of SPATS2. Collectively, this study suggests that SPATS2 could be used as a diagnostic biomarker, prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for LIHC. Mechanistically, elevated SPATS2 expression was positively correlated with kinesin family member 11 (KIF11/Eg5) mRNA and protein expression. There were protein-mRNA binding sites between SPATS2 protein and KIF11/Eg5 mRNA by PRIdicto predictor analysis. SPATS2 may affect mitotic spindle formation by binding to KIF11-mRNA to post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of KIF11 to promote the formation of the mitotic spindle and the proliferation of LIHC cells.