bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Infant Conditions, Damage Morbidity and Treatment Recovery Rate using Korean National Hospital Discharge Injury Survey
Authors: Park Hye-Rin , Jeong Sun-Rak , Shin Eun-Kyoung , Lee Won Kee
Published: June 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the morbidity and treatment recovery rates for the conditions and injuries of infants who were hospitalized and treated.Methods: The analysis was based on infants under the age of 1 from the 2nd-15th data (patients discharged from 2006 to 2018) of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ‘In-Depth Discharge Injury Survey’.Results: As a result of the study, it was confirmed that most infants admitted to the hospital from 2006 to 2018 improved and were discharged with an overall improvement rate of 98.47%. In addition, the morbidity rate of infants admitted to hospitals with specific conditions originating before and after birth showed a steady decrease, but increased around 2018, and the morbidity rate of infants hospitalized due to injury showed a gradual decrease, and showed a sharp decline after 2015. It was found that the overall infant condition improvement rate increased and the injury morbidity rate was rapidly decreasing.Conclusions: If systems and policies are established to provide medical services to mothers and newborns who are in medically vulnerable groups, as well as to improve the high-risk maternal emergency system and high-risk neonatal intensive care unit, it is possible to reduce the risk of diseases and unintentional damage that can occur before and after childbirth. Therefore, it is suggested that the morbidity rate can be improved.
The Relationship between Depression and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Korean Adults: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2014, 2016
Authors: Cho Eunyoung , Song Yeoungsuk
Published: June 2022

Objectives: This study was to investigate the relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among Korean adults.Methods: A total of subjects from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (VI-2, VIII-1) were 7,417 (men 3,023, women 4,394). The relationship between depression and CVD risk factors of the study subjects were analyzed using descriptive analysis, chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression.Results: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia was 14.9% and 43.5% in depression group and there were stastically signficant. However there was not significantly associated between depression and hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia.Conclusions: Although this study showed that depression was not associated with cardiovascular factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia, the prevalence of diabetes and hyperlipidemia in depression group was significant. Therefore, further study is needed to find relationship with depression and CVD risk factors, and develop the intervention program to control depression and CVD risk factors.
Low Back Pain and Its Influencing Factors among Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Uhm Hyun Ju , Park Hye-Ja
Published: June 2022

Objectives: This study determined the associated factors with low back pain in intensive care unit nurses.Methods: In this cross-sectional correlational study, 85 nurses working at five intensive care units completed questionnaires on the low back pain using visual analogue scale (VAS), use of body mechanics, work-related factors, the Oswestry disability index (%), the FACIT-fatigue, and the mini-sleep questionnaire. A back pain score of ≥ 4 was considered significant. Data were analyzed with χ2 test, unpaired t-test, Pearson correlation analysis and logistic regression.Results: Forty-five nurses (52.9%) had a significant low back pain score of ≥ 4 (VAS). Higher low back pain was associated with greater use of body mechanics (r = 0.37, p= 0.001), higher disability index (r = 0.72, p< 0.001), greater fatigue (r = 0.59, p< 0.001), and poorer sleep quality (r = 0.36, p= 0.001). Low back pain was associated with heavy workload (odds ratio, OR: 4.20, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.40-12.58) and long standing to work (OR: 3.54, 95% CI: 1.20-10.48). Low back pain was associated with fatigue (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.08-1.30) after adjusting covariates.Conclusions: Low back pain is associated with a heavy workload, long-standing to work, and greater fatigue among intensive care unit nurses.
EVALUATION OF SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS IN INDUSTRIAL HEMP AFTER PHYTOHORMONAL TREATMENT
Authors: Mendel Peter
Published: June 2022

Plant growth and development is significantly influenced by phytohormones – endogenous molecules present naturally in plants. The best known plant hormones are auxins and cytokinins. This study examined the possible effect of externally applied plant hormone analogues (growth regulators): 1-naphthyl acetic acid (NAA) and 6-benzyl aminopurine (BAP) on industrial fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L., variety Bialobrzeskie). Plants were treated with three different concentrations of NAA (5, 10 and 20 mg/l) and three different concentrations of BAP (10, 25 and 50 mg/l). Morphological and physiological characteristics, such as apical dominance, shoot branching, fibre properties, and flavonoid content were evaluated. The chosen variety of hemp had a significant response to exogenous application of growth regulators, as has been observed with other plant species. Most notably, completely understood and controlled synthetic auxin tretament has a potential to increase the bark fibre yield of hemp.
Analysis of perioperative patient adverse event reports and anesthesia safety management in an anesthesia department of a tertiary A hospital in 2019-2020
Authors: Chen Hongyang , Wang Zining , Zhang Weiyi , Zhu Tao
Published: June 2022

Objective
To analyze the characteristics of anesthesia adverse events in our department and propose measures for anesthesia safety management, to achieve better improvement of medical quality and promote medical safety.
Methods
A total of 589 cases of anesthesia adverse events were collated and analyzed, including the time period of anesthesia adverse events and ASA (American Society of Aneshesiologists) classification of anesthesia adverse events.
Results
The anesthesia induction and awakening periods were the main time periods for the occurrence of anesthesia adverse events, other human factors were the main reasons for the occurrence of anesthesia adverse events, and ASA grading II and III surgical patients accounted for the main proportion (mainly because of the heavy proportion of II and III surgical patients).
Conclusion
Understanding the causes of adverse anesthesia events and implementing strict anesthesia safety management measures are conducive to reducing the occurrence of adverse anesthesia events and improving the safety of anesthesia.
An Intelligent Fraud Detection Model based on Deep Learning Ensembles
Authors: Zioviris Georgios , Kolomvatsos Kostas , Stamoulis George
Published: June 2022

Fraud detection and prevention has received a lot of attention from the research community due to its high impact on financial institutions' revenues and reputation. The increased use of the Web and the provision of online services open up the pathway for exposing these systems to numerous threats and jeopardise their effective functioning. Naturally, financial frauds are increased in number and forms imposing various requirements for their efficient and immediate detection. These requirements are related to the performance of the adopted models as well as the timely response of the decision making mechanism. Machine Learning (ML) and data mining are two research domains that can provide a number of techniques/algorithms for fraud detection and setup the road for mitigation actions. However, these methods still need to be improved with respect to the detection of unknown fraud patterns and the incorporation of big data processing mechanisms. This paper presents our attempt to build a hybrid system, i.e., an ensemble scheme for combining two deep learning models and efficiently detect potential financial frauds. We elaborate on the combination of an autoencoder and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network trained upon datasets which are processed through the use of an oversampling technique. Oversampling is adopted to handle heavily imbalanced datasets which is the `natural' scenario due to the limited number of frauds compared to the humongous volumes of transactions. The proposed approach tends to capture much more fraud events in comparison with other conventional ML techniques. Our experimental evaluation exposes that our model exhibits a good performance in terms of accuracy, recall & precision.
Human basic Fibroblastic Growth Factor production by codon optimization in rice cell suspension culture
Authors: Bastami Meysam , Hosseini Ramin
Published: June 2022

Human basic fibroblastic growth factor (hbFGF), possesses several highly important biological functions, such as cell proliferation, protein synthesis and metabolism. This study is the first investigation to transfer a hbFGF gene cassette into rice cells. To improve the human bFGF expression in rice an optimized coding sequence was developed. Following synthesis, the expression cassette was constructed by fusing the PCR- amplified RAm3D promoter and terminator sequences to the codon-optimized hbFGF sequence. Then, the cassette was transferred into the pCAMBIA1304 shuttle vector. This vector also contained the RAmy3D signal peptide for the secretion of the recombinant protein into the culture medium. Rice (Oryza sativa cv. Kanto 51) seeds were cultured on the 2N6PG medium composing of the N6 basal medium supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-D for callus induction. Callus transformation was performed by employing Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404. The verification of bFGF gene integration into the chromosomes of putative transgenic calli was carried out by genomic DNA PCR. A transformed callus line expressing the highest level of bFGF (38.1 mg/kg FW) was recognized by ELISA and selected to establish cell suspension culture. The expression and secretion of the recombinant bFGF into the culture medium in the developed transgenic rice cell culture was evident on day 3 after incubation of cells in the sucrose-free medium. The recombinant bFGF with a molecular weight of ~ 17 kDa was detected by the Western blot and SDS-PAGE analyses in the culture medium under reducing conditions. The purification of bFGF was performed using HiTrap Heparin HP column. The activity assay indicated that the rice derived bFGF stimulated the proliferation of NIH/3T3 cells similar to the commercial bFGF.
Outcome of Ultrafiltration in On-pump vs Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Patients with Renal Impairment
Authors: Phothukun Amarit , Nawarawong Weerachai , Tantraworasin Apichat , Tepsuwan Thitipong
Published: June 2022

Objective: Cardiopulmonary bypass circuit (CPB) is a technique used in conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) that cause many adverse effects including renal dysfunction. Ultrafiltration (UF) removes excess fluid and inflammatory mediators that result from the exposure to the CPB. Therefore, conventional CABG with UF and Off-pump CABG (OPCAB) could provide comparable protective option in reducing adverse effects of CPBMethod: A retrospective study of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients who underwent CABG. The renal outcomes were compared between the patients who underwent conventional CABG with UF and the patients who underwent OPCAB. A repeated measure mixed model adjusted by propensity score was used for comparing the renal outcome. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for acute renal failure (AKI) and adverse outcomes.Results: From January 2009 and June 2020, there were 220 CKD patients, 109 (49.55%) patients underwent CABG with UF and 111 (50.45%) patients underwent OPCAB. There were statistically significant differences in the change of the average level of creatinine between CABG with UF (increased +0.09 mg/dl) and OPCAB (decreased -0.05 mg/dl) (p=0.043). Also, patients who underwent CABG with UF had significantly increased risk for AKI (OR = 5.38, p=0.038, 95CI 1.09, 26.5)Conclusion: OPCAB tend to provide better renal preservation and protection against post-cardiac surgery AKI than CABG with UF. OPCAB, if technically feasible, would be a preferable choice for patients with renal dysfunction. Study registration number: SUR-2562-06607/Research ID: 6607
Halloysite nanotubes for regulating thermodynamics and kinetics of polysulfone/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) copolymer mixed matrix membranes with enhanced antifouling, permeability, and mechanical strength
Authors: Li Jianxin , Kadanyo Sania , Matindi Christine N , Dlamini Derrick , Hu Yunxia , Cui Zhenyu , He Benqiao , Mamba Bhekie , Gumbi Nozipho
Published: June 2022

In this study, hydrophilic halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) and poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) were mixed with hydrophobic polysulfone (PSF) in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to fabricate mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) free of macrovoids and enhanced performance via non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) technique. Various analytical techniques were used to probe the MMMs in terms of surface and cross-sectional morphology, functional groups, hydrophilicity, and mechanical strength. The separation and antifouling properties of PSF/EVOH/HNTs membranes were performed by bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution and gasoline (Oil) emulsion. The results showed delayed demixing and the formation of PSF/EVOH-MMMs with a spongy structure when the content of HNTs in the casting solutions was varied from 0.06–0.12 wt.%, owing to the formation of strong hydrogen bonds between PSF, EVOH, PEG and HNTs, which was confirmed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The mechanical strength of the MMMs with 0.12 wt.% HNTs was increased 2.2-fold (up to 6.22 MPa), while the contact angle (CA) was the lowest at 47.42 ± 1.9°, indicating a significant increase in hydrophilicity. The underwater super oleophobic CA of the MMMs (169◦) also showed a 21% improvement over the pristine membrane (137◦). At the same time, the water permeability increased by a factor of 1.7 up to 419 L m− 2 h− 1 bar − 1 compared to the pristine membrane (0 wt.% HNTs) (246 L m− 2 h− 1 bar − 1). The rejection rates of MMMs (M12) for oil and BSA were > 90% and > 95%, respectively. After three cycles of fouling and cleaning experiments, the MMMs had > 90% flux recovery for both oil and BSA. In conclusion, this study demonstrates a new way to control the dope thermodynamics, formation dynamics, as well as morphology of MMMs by using the synergy of HNTs and polymers while maintaining promising properties for an improved separation performance of the UF membrane.
New machine learning ensemble for flood susceptibility estimation
Authors: arabameri alireza , Costache Romulus , Costache Iulia , Crăciun Anca , Pham Binh Thai
Published: June 2022

Natural disasters in particular have resulted in several economic losses that are resulting from an exponential increase in the number of economic losses in general across the globe. The floods are among the most severe natural hazards phenomena that affect the people aroung the world. Due to this fact, the identification of zones highly susceptible to floods became a very important activity in the researchers works. In this context, the present research work aims to propose the following 3 novel ensembles to estimate the flood susceptibility on Putna river basin from Romania: UltraBoost-Weights of Evidence (U-WOE), Stochastic Gradient Descending-Weights of Evidence (SGD-WOE) and Cost Sensitive Forest-Weights of Evidence (CSForest-WOE). In this regard a sample of 132 flood locations and 14 flood predictors was used as input dataset in the 3 aforementioned models. The modelling procedure performed through a ten-fold cross-validation method revealed that the SGD-WOE ensemble model achieved the highest performance in terms of ROC Curve-AUC (0.953) and also in terms of Accuracy (0.94). The slope and distance from river flood predictors achieved the highest importance in terms of flood susceptibility genesis, while the aspect, TPI, hydrological soil groups and plan curvature have the lowest influence in terms of flood occurence. The area with high and very high susceptibilty represents between 21% and 24% of the Putna river basin from Romania.
GOLPH3 promotes cell proliferation and malignancy in Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma via AKT-mTOR axis activation
Authors: Liu Jianmin , Zhou Tao , Wang Yongkuan , Cao Shuwei , Zhang Meng
Published: June 2022

Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) is a type of the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and it tends to have malignant transformation and result in poor prognosis effected by oncogene. Studies have shown that Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) is highly expressed in HNSCC, which can activate AKT-mTOR signaling pathway. However, the functions of GOLPH3 in HSCC was unclear. Based on the analysis of 520 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we employed GOLPH3 stable knockdown and overexpression of FaDu cell lines to investigated that function and impact of GOLPH3 on HSCC in vitro and vivo. The functions and pathway of genes that positively related to GOLPH3 via enrichment analysis and western blot. Our results showed that GOLPH3 promotes HSCC cells proliferation, migration and subcutaneous tumor in vivo. We confirmed the positive correlation between GOLPH3 and AKT-mTOR signal activation in vitro. Enrichment analysis indicated that GOLPH3 is critical for HSCC development. Taken together, GOLPH3 promotes tumor cells proliferation and malignancy via AKT-mTOR signal activation, and this mechanism may be a key factor for HSCC tumor malignancy. It may provide an important target for clinical treatment of HSCC.
A novel transcript of LncRNA ELDR promotes chondrocyte senescence and osteoarthritis progression by tuning chromosomal dynamics
Authors: Lu Jun , ji Ming liang , Li Zhuang , Chang Qing , Geng Rui , Zhou Zhi wen , Lin Yu cheng
Published: June 2022

Epigenetic reprogramming plays a critical role in chondrocyte senescence during osteoarthritis (OA) pathology, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here using large-scale patient data sets and genetically engineered (Col2a1-CreERT2;Eldrflox/flox and Col2a1-CreERT2;ROSA26-LSL-Eldr+/+ KI) mouse models, we show that a novel transcript of long noncoding RNA ELDR is essential for the development of chondrocyte senescence. ELDR is highly expressed in chondrocytes and cartilage tissues of OA. Mechanistically, exon 4 of ELDR physically mediates a complex consisting of hnRNPL and KAT6A to regulate histone modifications of the promoter region of the IHH gene, thereby activating hedgehog signaling and promoting chondrocyte senescence. Therapeutically, GapmeR-mediated silencing of ELDR in OA model substantially attenuates chondrocyte senescence and cartilage degradation. Clinically, ELDR knockdown in cartilage explants from OA patients decreased the expression of senescence markers and catabolic mediators. Taken together, these findings uncover a previously uncharacterized lncRNA-dependent epigenetic driver in chondrocyte senescence, highlighting that ELDR could be a promising therapeutic avenue for OA.
The role of susceptibility, exposure and vulnerability as drivers of flood disaster risk at the parish level
Authors: Santos Pedro Pinto , Pereira Susana , Rocha Jorge , Reis Eusébio , Santos Mónica , Oliveira Sérgio Cruz , Garcia Ricardo A. C. , Melo Raquel , Zêzere José Luís
Published: June 2022

Fluvial flooding continues to be a process that has a major impact on society, the environment and the economy. Although its triggering factors are natural, the spatial configuration of exposure and vulnerability is expected to play a relevant role in explaining the damage records. The starting point of this research is the use of existing flood susceptibility, exposure and social vulnerability mapping, produced at the parish level, as input data in a Classification and Regression Trees model. The model uses as a dependent variable, separately, two databases of flood damage: one with the most severe losses from the DISASTER database, and another that sums the DISASTER cases and the lower impact damages. The results show a quite distinct classification of parishes, whether one database is used or the other. The DISASTER database reveals susceptibility has the most relevant flood risk driver in explaining the damage patterns, while the database with all the cases identifies exposure as the more relevant driver. In the end, the degree of damages has documented in databases is conditioned by the geographical distribution and overlay configuration of the three flood risk drivers. Finally, the CART classification groups are analyzed at the light of the European Union’s Floods Directive areas of significant potential flood risk. This analysis showed that the Directive’s parishes are interpreted differently - in terms of their positioning in face of the risk drivers – which is explained by the use of distinct impacting-criteria in the construction of the flood damage databases.
The Performance Analysis of 802.11p with Cooperative Communication and Dynamic Contention Window
Authors: Septa Neha , Rathod Devichand
Published: June 2022

Road safety applications provided by the Vehicular ad hoc networks demand less delay, high throughput, and reliable communication under highly dense traffic conditions. It becomes very challenging to design a network that suits the high mobility of vehicles and frequently changing network topology. To overcome these challenges in the network, we propose a new algorithm to dynamically adapt the contention window size (DYCW) to the vehicle density conditions. Along with that, we have introduced a cooperative relay vehicle for relaying the safety messages that failed to reach the destination. We have also carried out analytical study of the proposed model and the simulation results for the our model show that using DYCW enhances the system functioning by leading to higher throughput with stability in the performance and decreases both the delay and the packet drop ratio (PDR) of the system.
Satisfaction survey on a preoperative explanation method using 3-dimensional breast imaging for breast cancer patients considering breast conserving surgery
Authors: Ozaki Yuri , Kotani Haruru , Adachi Yayoi , Sawaki Masataka , Hattori Masaya , Yoshimura Akiyo , Kataoka Ayumi , Nozawa Kazuki , Sugino Kayoko , Horisawa Nanae , Endo Yuka , Takatsuka Daiki , Isogai Ayaka , Iwata Hiroji
Published: June 2022

PurposeWomen diagnosed with early breast cancer are faced with a choice of surgical procedures. Although one of the essential factors in surgical shared decision making is the impact on the body image, the breast morphology after breast conserving surgery is particularly difficult to explain in a uniform manner due to large individual differences. MethodsPatients with breast cancer eligible for breast conserving surgery (BCS) were recruited between June 2020 and October 2021. We surveyed the patients’ satisfaction with our explanation method about breast morphology after BCS using 3D breast imaging in the form of a questionnaire.ResultsA total of 162 patients were enrolled and 137 (84.6%) answered the questionnaire. One hundred and sixteen patients (84.6%) answered that they were very satisfied or satisfied with our explanation method and 100 (73.0%) patients were very satisfied or satisfied with the 3D breast imaging. Some patients answered that visually understanding the breast morphology by 3D breast imaging helped them to prepare for BCS, or on the contrary, made them chose mastectomy with breast reconstruction because the postoperative deformation of BCS was found to be unacceptable. Only a few patients who actually underwent BCS felt that their postoperative morphology was more deformed than the preoperatively imagined one.ConclusionOur results suggest that our preoperative explanation method using 3D breast imaging was useful for shared decision making. We think that 3D breast imaging can help the patients to visualize the individual shape of their breast, and the tumor position and size.
Correlation between Default mode network and Symptomatic Domains: A Spectral Approach to Schizophrenia
Authors: Sánchez Ana María Granados , Zapata Juan Felipe Orejuela , Dávila César Augusto Arango , Arango Isabella Moreno
Published: June 2022

Introduction
When evaluating psychiatric pathologies using imaging studies, the categorical approach supposes a significant challenge. Redefining these pathologies with the use of behavioral dimensions that are related to brain biology has been attempted. This paper aims to describe the findings on functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with schizophrenia and correlate it with their symptomatic domains.
Materials and methods
This study is a descriptive, observational, transversal study. Fourteen patients with schizophrenia and Fourteen controls were explored using functional magnetic resonance during a resting period and developing easy, medium, and complex tasks. The default mode network was evaluated, registering the voxel activation on a cluster and its maximum activation over interest areas. Subjects were interrogated using the Derogatis Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) and correlation coefficients were applied for data analysis.
Results
Diminished activation of the default mode network was evidenced in association with the complexity of the task in the control group. Patients presented a steady activation when comparing their resting state with the activation during the different tasks. A negative correlation was observed implicating the volume of the functional cluster in the posterior cingulate cortex during the high complexity task and the interpersonal sensitivity domain. A moderate positive correlation was found with symptomatic domains of interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobia, and depression, while a moderate negative association was found with psychosis.
Conclusions
Imaging evaluation of the psychiatric pathologies could be useful if the pathology is approached through the spectrum of symptomatic domains. This perspective would enhance the assertiveness of the therapeutics.
How can Chinese petrochemical companies achieve the “Dual Carbon” goal? A scenario-based system dynamics analysis
Authors: Yu Xianyu , Zhou Kangjie , Zhou Dequn , Wang Qunwei , Sang Xiuzhi
Published: June 2022

With the pressure of achieving the “Dual Carbon” goal (carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060) goal, it is very important to explore the appropriate carbon emission reduction strategy for petrochemical company. Based on an integrated analysis of alternative carbon emission reduction methods and national carbon emission reduction policies, simulation scenarios of carbon emission reduction strategies for petrochemical companies were designed in this study. A corresponding scenario-based system dynamics (SD) simulation model was then constructed to analyze the effect of each carbon emission reduction strategy. The obtained simulation results show that a petrochemical company implementing an aggressive carbon emission investment strategy will obtain the best emission reduction effect. Corresponding carbon emissions will begin to decline in 2030 and carbon neutrality will be achieved by 2058. It is suggested that, in the short term, petrochemical companies focus on carbon reduction technology innovation, which will help to reduce carbon emissions stably and quickly. In the long run, petrochemical companies should pay more attention to carbon capture, utilization, and storage to achieve the carbon neutrality goal no later than 2060. It is further recommended that the Government implements loose carbon emission reduction policies for the petrochemical companies to ensure economic development and carbon emission reduction investment by petrochemical companies.
MRC2 overexpression combined with intronic hypomethylation: potential predictors for glioma
Authors: Hua Shi , Cheng Yanhao , Zhang Moxuan , Dai Chao , Wang Wenlai , Li Hongyan , Lu Yucheng
Published: June 2022

Purpose
This study mainly to explore the effect of DNA methylation on the MRC2 expression, and the mechanism of MRC2 regulating the biological function of glioma cells.
Methods
MRC2 was found to be differentially expressed in glioma after large-scale screening of expression data. Logistic regression and Pearson correlation coefficient (r) scaled the correlation between MRC2 expression and clinical characteristics; immunohistochemistry and Western blot verified the expression of MRC2. ROC, Cox and Kaplan-Meier approach for quantifying MRC2 expression on survival. GSEA predicted signal pathways that may be activated by high expressed MRC2.
Results
High expression of MRC2 accompanied by promoter and intronic hypomethylation in glioma was related to survival rate, recurrence, tumor grade, chemotherapy, IDH_mutation, 1p19q_codeletion. Six pathways activated by highly expressed MRC2 were mainly regulated the proliferation and invasion in glioma. Co-expressed genes of MRC2 could be found in each pathway, and they were functionally consistent with MRC2.
Conclusion
The up-regulated MRC2 expression was related to promoter and intronic hypomethylation in glioma. Signal pathways activated by MRC2 mainly regulated the proliferation and invasion in glioma, and led to poor prognosis. MRC2 could be seen as a novel molecular target for glioma.
Early-phase pandemic in Italy: Covid-19 spread determinant factors
Authors: Urso Patrizia , Cattaneo Andrea , Pulvirenti Salvatore , Vercelli Franco , Cavallo Domenico Maria , Carrer Paolo
Published: June 2022

Although the Covid-19 pandemic is more than two-years ongoing, the environmental factors beyond virus diffusion are still partially unknown. This statistical study investigates the early phase of pandemic in Italy, as its heterogeneity in pollution levels and climate conditions provides an ideal scenario for an ecological study. The selected period excludes important confounding factors, as different virus variants, restriction policies or vaccines. The short-term relationship between the infection maximum increase and demographic, pollution and meteo-climatic parameters was investigated, including both winter-spring and summer 2020 data, also focusing separately on the two seasonal periods and on North vs Centre-South. Among main results, the importance of population size confirmed social distancing as a key management option. The pollution hazardous role undoubtedly emerged, as NO2 affected infection increase in all the studied scenarios, PM2.5 manifested its impact in North of Italy, while O3 always showed a protective action. Whereas higher temperatures were beneficial, especially in the cold season with also wind and relative humidity, solar irradiance was always relevant, revealing several significant interactions with other co-factors. Presented findings address the importance of the environment in Sars-CoV-2 diffusion and suggest prevention strategies in crowded areas, especially if highly polluted and weakly exposed to sun.
GWAS analysis of grain color and tannin content in Chinese sorghum based on resequencing technology
Authors: Zhang Liyi , Xu Jianxia , Ding Yanqing , Cao Ning , Gao Xu , Li Kuiying , Feng Zhou , Cheng Bing , Zhou Lengbo , Ren Mingjian , Tao Yuezhi , Xin Zhanguo , Zou Guihua
Published: June 2022

Sorghum is mainly used for brewing distilled liquors in China. Since grain tannins play an important role in liquor brewing, accurately understanding the relationship between grain color and tannin content can provide basis for selection standards of tannin sorghum. We resequenced a panel of 242 Chinese sorghum accessions and performed population structure and GWAS analysis to identify QTLs affecting pericarp color, testa pigment, and tannin content. Dendrogram, principal component analysis (PCA), and admixture model were used to infer population structure. Two distinct genetic sub-populations were identified according to their corresponding northern and southern geographic origin. To investigate the genetic basis of natural variation in sorghum grain color, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 2,760,264 SNP was conducted with multiple models (Blink, FarmCPU, GLM, and MLM). The four models identified 1090, 259, 32 and 251 SNP loci for the color of exocarp, mesocarp, testa, and tannin content, respectively. These SNPs were distributed in 440 SNP peaks. Some novel quantitative trait loci for sorghum pericarp color, testa pigments and tannin content colocalized with homologous genes in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway from other plants, including an orthologue of maize ( Zea mays ) bz2 and homologues of Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) TT2 , TT12 , and TT16 . Our investigation of the variation in grain color and tannin content in Chinese sorghum germplasm may help guide future sorghum breeding for liquor brewing.
Scanning Electron Microscopy and Metabolite Measurement Revealed the Stress Mechanism of PS-COOH Microplastics on Rhodotorula mucilaginosa AN5
Authors: Ma Jiahao , Meng Xiangfei , Li Zixin , Li Lexian , Xu Jiwen , Kan Guangfeng
Published: June 2022

Microplastics in the marine environment have been paid more and more attention by researchers, and the impact of these substances on marine microorganisms can not be ignored. This study aims to pay attention to the effect and mechanism of microplastics (80 nm PS-COOH) on Antarctic marine yeast, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa AN5. In our work, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of yeast cells under microplastic stress, and metabolite analysis was used to explore the possible mechanism of yeast cell damage. The results showed that: (1) a certain concentration of PS-COOH could inhibit 40% growth of yeast cells and destroy the cell morphology. (2) Physiological and biochemical changes showed that under PS-COOH stress, the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA) content and the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) of R. mucilaginosa AN5 increased from 34–66%. It can be guessed that yeast can eliminate excess ROS in cells by the activity of oxidative kinases increased and maintain the balance of reactive oxygen species in cells.
High-intensity circuit training change serum Myostatin but not Myogenin in adolescents’ soccer players: a quasi-experimental study
Authors: Ziyaiyan Amirhosein , Kordi Mohammad Reza , Hofmeister Martin , Chamari Prof. Karim , Moalla Wassim , Gaeini Abbas Ali
Published: June 2022

Background: Skeletal muscle contractions due to exercise lead to the secretion of many proteins and proteoglycan peptides called myokines. Myostatin (MSTN) and MyoGenin (MyoG) are two of the most important skeletal muscle growth regulatory factors related to myoblast differentiation and muscle hypertrophy. The present study aims at investigating the effects over eight weeks of high-intensity circuit training (HICT) on serum MyoG and MSTN in male soccer players. Method: The present study is a quasi-experimental study on 21 male soccer players (Experimental group: n=11, Control group: n=10) (ages 15.0±3.4 years, body mass 55.7 ±7.8 kg, height 173.3 ±8.0 cm, Body mass index 18.4 ±1.9 kg.m-2, maximum oxygen uptake 61.89±3.01 ml.kg-1 and the peak height velocity 14.5 ± 0.3 years). Participants were randomly divided into two groups of training group (TG) and a control group (CG). The first resting blood samples were obtained in the morning-fasting state, and the second blood samples were obtained after the maximum aerobic test at pre- and post-HICT. Results: There were non-significant differences in resting serum values of MyoG (p=0.309, p>0.05) but significant differences in resting serum values of MSTN between the training and control groups after eight weeks of HICT (p=0.003, p<0.05). No significant differences were observed between groups in the acute response of serum values of MyoG (p=0.413, p<0.05) and MSTN (p=0.465, p<0.05) to the maximum aerobic test after eight weeks HICT. Conclusion: These results suggest, eight weeks of HICT can decrease the resting serum values of MSTN but not change the resting serum values of MyoG in male adolescent soccer players. Also, eight weeks of HICT does not affect the acute response of MSTN and MyoG after a maximum aerobic test.
Effect of oxide layers formed by thermal oxidation on mechanical properties and NaCl-induced hot corrosion behavior of TC21 Ti-alloy
Authors: Ahmed Fathy S. , El-Zomor Mohamed A. , Ghazala Magdy S. Abo , Elshaer Ramadan N.
Published: June 2022

In the current study on TC21 Ti-alloy (6.5Al-3Mo-1.9Nb-2.2Sn-2.2Zr-1.5Cr), the thermal oxidation formed oxide layers that considerably influenced mechanical properties (hardness and wear). The corrosion of raw and oxidized specimen by NaCl-induced hot salt was also examined. TC21 alloy specimens were oxidized at 600, 700, 800, and 900°C for 5, 20, and 50 h. Salt spray test was utilized on raw and oxidized (600°C /50 h & 800°C/50 h) specimens of salt corrosion evaluated at 600°C for cycling 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 h. Average thickness of the layer grew with increasing oxidation time and temperature. Thin oxide layer (average 0.16 µm) was generated by oxidation temperature at 600°C duration 5 h. at 800°C oxide layer thickness was 10.8 µm large layer. Most significant surface hardness was 1108 HV0.5 which is produced for an oxidized layer at 900°C. However, lowest hardness of 360 HV0.5 was recorded for raw materials. The best wear resistance had at 800°C specimens, while raw ones had the lowest. During NaCl hot corrosion test, weight loss of the raw specimen was 6.4 mg/cm2 because the corrosion product was flaking off. However, for oxidized at 600°C for 50 h, weight loss after corrosion testing was 0.54 mg/cm2, which was less than that of specimen before corrosion. Oxidized specimens at 800 exhibited the best mechanical characteristics and corrosion resistance.
Effectiveness and Safety of Intravenous Golimumab With and Without Concomitant Methotrexate in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Prospective, Noninterventional AWARE Study
Authors: Broadwell Aaron , Schechtman Joy , Conaway Douglas , Kivitz Alan , Shiff Natalie J. , Black Shawn , Xu Stephen , Langholff Wayne , Schwartzman Sergio , Curtis Jeffrey R.
Published: June 2022

Background: Biologic therapies are often prescribed for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have an inadequate response to or are intolerant to methotrexate (MTX) and patients with poor prognostic indicators. This post hoc analysis evaluated the effectiveness and safety of intravenous golimumab+MTX vs golimumab monotherapy in RA patients. Methods: AWARE, a real-world, prospective and pragmatic, Phase 4 study, compared the effectiveness and safety of golimumab and infliximab in biologic-naïve and biologic-experienced patients. All treatment decisions were at the discretion of the treating rheumatologist. Effectiveness was evaluated by mean change in CDAI scores at Months 6 and 12; last observation carried forward was utilized for missing data. Safety was monitored through approximately 1 year.Results: Among 685 golimumab-treated patients, 420 (61%) received concomitant MTX during the study and 265 (39%) did not receive MTX after enrollment; 63% and 72%, respectively, discontinued the study. Relative to golimumab monotherapy, golimumab+MTX patients had shorter mean disease duration (8.7 vs 10.0 years) and a lower proportion received prior biologics (60% vs 72%); mean±standard deviation (SD) baseline CDAI scores were similar (30.8±15.1 and 32.6±15.4). Mean±SD changes from baseline in CDAI scores at Months 6 and 12, respectively, were similar with golimumab+MTX (-10.2±14.2 and -10.8±13.8) and golimumab monotherapy (-9.6±12.9 and -9.9±13.1). The incidence of adverse events/100 patient-years(PY) (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 155.6 (145.6, 166.1) for golimumab+MTX and 191.2 (176.2, 207.1) golimumab monotherapy; infections were the most common type. The incidence of infusion reactions/100PY (95% CI) was 2.1 (1.1, 3.6) with golimumab+MTX vs 5.1 (2.9, 8.3) with golimumab monotherapy; none were considered serious. For golimumab+MTX vs golimumab monotherapy, rates/100PY (95% CI) of serious infections, opportunistic infections, and malignancies were 2.6 (1.5, 4.3) vs 7.0 (4.4, 10.6), 0.9 (0.28, 2.03) vs 2.6 (1.1, 5.0), and 3.0 (1.7, 4.7) vs 1.0 (0.20, 2.79), respectively. Conclusions: Changes in CDAI score with golimumab monotherapy was generally similar to that of golimumab+MTX through 1 year, regardless of prior biologic therapy. Adverse events were consistent with the known IV golimumab safety profile. These results provide real world evidential data that may assist healthcare providers and patients with RA in making informed treatment decisions.Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov NCT02728934 05/04/2016
Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen by Vincent van Gogh: a combined multi-instrumental approach to analyse the painting materials and support varnish removal
Authors: Iwanicka Magdalena , Moretti Patrizia , Pilz Kathrin , Doherty Brenda , Cartechini Laura , Geldof Muriel , Groot Suzan , Miliani Costanza , Targowski Piotr
Published: June 2022

Vincent van Gogh’s painting Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen from the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was executed in 1884 and partially repainted by the artist in 1885. The painting was restored in 1961, however the details of this treatment were not documented. After being stolen from the museum in 2002 and finally recovered in 2016, the Church was subjected to an extensive examination campaign which started in 2017 aiming at the characterisation of the painting materials used by Van Gogh, including the stratigraphy of both initial and later paint layers, as well as the assessment of the state of preservation, and the feasibility of the desired restoration treatment. A single paint sample was collected and embedded in resin for analysis by means of Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR-ATR), which identified constituent materials and evidenced the painting’s complex stratigraphy. Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) was employed to non-invasively identify elements composing pigments in the paint layers. Additional non-invasive measurements were performed in a MOLAB campaign in 2018 by two complementary and portable analytical techniques: Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and reflection FTIR spectroscopy were used to gain further insight into the painting’s stratigraphy and identification of the surface layers, respectively across various regions of the entire painting. The existence of an original varnish lying under the paint from 1885 (and therefore identified as applied by Van Gogh himself) was revealed by OCT. It was characterised as being protein based (probably egg white) by FTIR-ATR and reflection FTIR spectroscopy, whereas the upper varnish layer was identified as an alkyd resin applied during the aforementioned 1961 treatment. The combined use of FTIR and OCT enabled non-invasive in situ assessment of solvent cleaning procedures aimed at the selective removal of the 1961 restoration varnish with the preservation of Van Gogh’s original varnish. Specifically, OCT and FTIR analyses were carried out before, during and after each cleaning test to carefully assess the condition of the painted surface and that of the original varnish. The results of the cleaning tests aided in fine-tuning the procedure of varnish removal during the restoration process.
A conceptual model to manage multiple chronic conditions based on PDSA theory
Authors: Zhou Xuan , Zhang Dan
Published: June 2022

Background: The increasing prevalence of comorbidities poses a significant challenge to population health management. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that an integrated care model relieves the pressure of healthcare management on people with multimorbidity. Objective: We constructed a conceptual model to manage multiple chronic conditions based on PDSA theory, consisting of four key elements: management team, proceedings, tools, and performance. Result: The model merges patient-centered care, multidisciplinary team, self-management, and other intervention methods mentioned in previous research. Meanwhile, we rely on big data to set up a decision support platform to realize the whole life cycle health management of comorbid patients.
Silibinin affects transcription factors of cell cycle, apoptosis, angiogenesis and metastasis in breast cancer mice model: Targeting the hallmarks of cancer
Authors: Golambahri Hamid Zarei , Motamed Nasrin , Davoody Mohammed
Published: June 2022

Silibinin is a phyto-flavonoid compound and has been reported to exert anticancer effects on several tumors, including breast cancer. The present study exploited Flow cytometry, H&E staining, immunofluorescence (IF), and RT-PCR to extensively observe the effect of silibinin on the expression of cell-cycle and apoptosis-related transcription factors and genes in mice breast cancer cells 4T1. culture of 4T1 cell, MTT, flow cytometry, hematoxylin and eosin stains, immunofluorescent and Real Time PCR experiments were performed. silibinin caused a significant cytotoxicity, induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in 4T1 cells, in vitro and in vivo. CD31 and HmgB1 expression showed a considerable decline. Evaluation of gene expression showed a marked decrease in Bcl-2, FoxC2, HoxB9, and FoxM1 genes, while a significant increase in TP53, P21, Bax, FoxF1, and HmgB1. Silibinin indicates the impact on inducing apoptosis by lower expression of Bcl-2, higher expression of Bax and TP53. While increased expression of P21 is thought to cause cell cycle arrest. In the meanwhile, under-expression of HoxB9, FoxC2, and FoxM1 and over-expression of FoxF1 caused restricted EMT, metastasis, angiogenesis and invasion in cancer.
Simulation of climate change effects on streamflow based on a deep learning network (case study: a semi-arid region in central Iran)
Authors: Zareian Mohammad Javad , Salem Fatemeh
Published: June 2022

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of climate change on streamflow in the Eskandari basin in central Iran. A deep learning model named convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to simulate the monthly streamflow in this region. 7 structures were defined for the model (M1 to M7) which included a combination of different components (minimum air temperature, maximum air temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, sunshine and streamflow). Observed data from 1981 to 2015 were used to calibrate and test the CNN network. The output of 7 General Circulation Models (GCMs) related to the sixth IPCC assessment report (CMIP6), were used to investigate the effects of climate change in the region in the future (2023 to 2038). These outputs were investigated under 3 emission scenarios: SSP126, SSP245 and SSP585. Then the streamflow of the region in the next period was simulated using a calibrated CNN network. The results showed that the M4 structure is the most efficient in simulating the streamflow in the study area (R2 = 0.82, MAE = 2.63, RMSE = 5.19). Evaluation of the GCM output also showed that the temperature of the region will increase between 0.5 to 1°C in different emission scenarios and the precipitation of the region will decrease between 1.6 to 21.4%. These conditions will reduce the streamflow in the future between 2.1 to 21.1%. Overall, the results show that the region's water resources will be subject to significant stress due to climate change in the future.