bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pattern of Consumption of Dietary and Herbal Supplements by Individuals with Non-communicable Diseases During Covid-19 Pandemic in Nigeria
Authors: Afolabi Bamgboye M. , Holdbrooke Susan A , Odubela Oluwatosin O.
Published: January 2023

Cognizance of the implication of Covid-19 pandemic on health and well-being resulted in an upsurge is use of several dietary and herbal supplements (DHS) for the prevention and/or prophylaxis against the new disease.
Objectives: To evaluate the pattern of DHS consumption among Nigerians with Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Setting: Adolescents, and adults residing in Nigeria.
Participants:Participants with NCD (n = 165) from a larger study (n=645) were recruited from different geo-political zones and various ethnic groups.
Primary and Secondary Outcomes: Prevalence and determinants for the use of different DHS for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in Nigeria, and sources of information for DHS use.
Results: Hypertension was the most prevalent NCD (63.6%) in the study and both breast cancer and anxiety disorder were the least (0.6%). A minimum (75.2%) of the respondents had less than 8 hours of sleep daily and almost all did not smoke cigarette at all. The proportion of male and female hypertensives who believed that dietary supplements are necessary during infectious disease outbreak such as Covid-19 was moderately high (55.2%), higher among asthmatics (65.0%), diabetes (58/105, 68.4%), those with kidney disease (100.0%), ulcer (83.3%) and liver disease. Almost all the respondents with hypertension (101/105, 96.2%), asthma (19/20, 95.0%), diabetes (19/19, 100.0%) and kidney disease (6/6, 100.0%), consumed supplements more during Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The proportion of those who consumed supplements more during the pandemic in Nigeria was higher among male hypertensives (57/101, 56.4%) than among the female (44/101, 43.6%), though the difference was not significant (χ²=2.93, P-value=0.09). Vitamin C was the commonest vitamin taken by respondents with ulcer (83.3%), kidney disease (83.3%), diabetes (57.9%), asthma (50.0%), hypertension (48.6%) and the two respondents with breast cancer (1, 100.0%) and anxiety disorder (1, 100.0%) respectively. Calcium and zinc were the commonest minerals taken by respondents with ulcer (50.0%, 16.7%), diabetes (10.5%, 5.3%), asthma (30.0%, 10.0%) and hypertension (13.3%, 11.4%) respectively. High proportions (83.3%, 80.0%) of those with kidney disease and with asthma consumed DHS to maintain good health. Health workers were the dominant source of information for most on the use of supplements during Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Conclusions: The findings showed widespread use of DHS for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 among persons with NCD. The use of DHS in this study was mainly guided by health workers with a marginal role of social media and Mass media. These findings call for a more robust consolidative tactic towards DHS to ensure its proper and safe use.
Sex-based differences in IGF1 signaling pathways in response to PAPP-A2 deficiency
Authors: Navarro Juan Antonio , López-Gambero Antonio Jesús , Fernández-Arjona María del Mar , de Ceglia Marialuisa , Rubio Leticia , de Fonseca Fernando Rodríguez , Barrios Vicente , Chowen Julie A. , Argente Jesús , Perez Juan Suarez , Rivera Patricia
Published: January 2023

Background.
Patients with pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) mutations have progressive postnatal growth retardation and high circulating levels of IGF1 bound in ternary complexes. The present study aims to assess whether Pappa2 deficiency is associated with sex-specific differences in the main components of IGF1 ternary complexes and IGF1 signaling pathways in response to low IGF1 bioavailability.
Methods.
Plasma, hypothalamus, pituitary gland and liver were analyzed in constitutive Pappa2ko/ko mice of both sexes that have reduced skeletal growth and impaired bone composition.
Results.
The reduction in body and femur length of Pappa2ko/ko mice was associated with increases in total IGF1 and IGFBP5 concentrations in plasma of females, Igfbp5 mRNA levels in the hypothalamus of males, and Igf1, Igfbp3 and Igfals mRNA levels in the liver of females, suggesting sex- and tissue-specific effects of Pappa2 deficiency on IGF ternary/binary complexes. Pappa2 deficiency was also accompanied by increased pituitary GH concentrations in both sexes. Sex-specific dysregulation of IGF1 signaling pathways was found in Pappa2ko/ko mice with higher phosphorylated forms of AKT, mTOR, GSK3β and ERK1/2 in the female hypothalamus, GSK3β in the male pituitary gland, and PI3K and AMPKα in the female liver, suggesting sex-based alterations in regulators of cell proliferation/growth and protein/glucose metabolism.
Conclusions.
These data suggest that sex-specific differences in IGF ternary complexes and IGF1 signaling pathways are associated with Pappa2 deficiency, pointing to molecular mechanisms that may participate in the physiopathology of postnatal growth retardation in a sex-dependent manner.
Thickness effect on electro-optical characteristics of MoS 2 /p-Si heterojunction devices fabricated by Aerosol Jet Printing
Authors: Kaya Meltem Donmez , Ozcelik Suleyman
Published: January 2023

The main aim of this article has to investigate some electro-optical properties of MoS2/p-Si heterojunctions fabricated by an innovative technique, AJP. For this purpose, MoS2 thin films of different thicknesses were deposited on corning glass and p-type Si substrates by using RF magnetron sputtering. The structural, morphological and optical properties of MoS2 films were analyzed by different characterization techniques. In addition, the electrical properties of heterojunction devices of MoS2/p-Si were examined by I-V measurements. Depending on the film thickness, localized states in the band gap region, which are explained by Urbach energy, electron-phonon interaction and steepness parameter analyses, were considered to be effective on device performance. It was observed that the fabricated MoS2/p-Si device with a thickness of 10 nm exhibited a higher rectification ratio and photovoltaic outputs. According to the obtained results, this study offers a new way to make better the performance of electro-optical devices based on MoS2.
A Higher Dysregulation Burden of Brain DNA Methylation in Female Patients Implicated in the Sex Bias of Schizophrenia
Authors: Chen Chao , Zhou Jiaqi , Xia Yan , Li Miao , Chen Yu , Dai Jiacheng , Liu Chunyu
Published: January 2023

Sex differences are pervasive in schizophrenia (SCZ), but the extent and magnitude of DNA methylation (DNAm) changes underlying these differences remain uncharacterized. In this study, sex-stratified differential DNAm analysis was performed in postmortem brain samples from 117 SCZ and 137 controls, partitioned into discovery and replication datasets. Three differentially methylated positions (DMPs) were identified (adj.p < 0.05) in females and 29 DMPs in males without overlap between them. Over 81% of these sex-stratified DMPs were directionally consistent between sexes but with different effect sizes. Down-sampling analysis revealed more DMPs in females than in males when the sample sizes matched. Females had higher DNAm levels in healthy individuals and larger magnitude of DNAm changes in patients than males. Despite similar proportions of female-related DMPs (fDMPs, 8%) being under genetic control compared with males (10%), significant enrichment of DMP-related SNPs in signals of genome-wide association studies was identified only in fDMPs. One DMP in each sex connected the SNPs and gene expression of CALHM1 in females and CCDC149 in males. PPI subnetworks revealed that both female- and male-related differential DNAm interacted with synapse-related dysregulation. Immune-related pathways were unique for females and neuron-related pathways were associated with males. This study reveals remarkable quantitative differences in DNAm-related sexual dimorphism in SCZ and that females have a higher dysregulation burden of SCZ-associated DNAm than males.
Experimental investigation of the alternate recurrence of quasi-static and dynamic crack propagation in PMMA.
Authors: Heinzmann Raphael , Seghir Rian , Alam Syed-Yasir , Réthoré Julien
Published: January 2023

The alternate (stick-slip) cracking phenomenon in Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was investigated using high-speed imaging and digital image correlation (DIC). PMMA is known to show a great variety of fracture behaviors by even small changes in loading conditions. With TDCB-shaped samples and under a range of constant extension rates, the phenomenon of alternate cracking is observed. Here, loops of successive quasi-static and dynamic crack propagations are found within a single fracture experiment suggesting a `forbidden' velocity regime. For the first time, such material/structural cyclic fracture behavior is examined through the lens of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) by using in-situ High-Speed (HS) DIC. Energy release rates and crack velocities during fracture experiments are derived from full-field measurements using Williams' series expansion. Fracture surfaces of post-mortem samples have been systematically analyzed using optical microscopy. The investigation of the actual limits of the `forbidden' velocity regime in terms of critical velocity and energy release rate in relation to post-mortem crack length features is achieved by holistic experimental data on alternate cracking. This work provides key experimental data regarding the improved understanding of a unified theoretical framework of crack instabilities.
Wafer Particle Inspection Technique Using Computer Vision based on Color Space Transform Model
Authors: Wang Jingyan , Chun Heebum , Kim Jungsub , Lee ChaBum
Published: January 2023

This paper introduces a computer vision technique for wafer particle metrology and inspection. Artificially generated particle images based on their color properties were used to verify HSV (hue, saturation, value) color space models of each particle and to demonstrate how the proposed method efficiently classifiesparticles by their types with minimum crosstalk. A high-resolution microscope consisting of an imaging system, illumination system, and spectrometer was developed for the experimental validation. The three kinds of micrometer-scale particles were randomly placed on the wafers and the images collected under the exposed white light illumination were analyzed and segmented by particle types based on pre-developed HSV color space models specified for each particle type. The proposed method is expected to inspect and classify various wafer particles in the defect binning process.
Genetic mapping of the wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr19 and development of translocation lines to break the linkage with PSY-E1
Authors: Xu Shoushen , Lyu Zhongfan , Zhang Na , Li Mingzhu , Wei Xinyi , Gao Yuhang , Cheng Xinxin , Ge Wenyang , Li Xuefeng , Bao Yinguang , Yang Zujun , Wang Hongwei , Kong Lingrang
Published: January 2023

The Lr19 locus, which was transferred to wheat from the wheat relative Thinopyrum ponticum in 1966, still confers broad resistance to most known leaf rust isolates worldwide. However, this gene has not been fine mapped to day, and its tight linkage with the yellow pigment gene PSY-E1 has limited the deployment of Lr19 in bread wheat breeding. In this paper, we genetically mapped Lr19 using a bi-parental population obtained by crossing two wheat-Th. ponticum substitution lines, 7E1(7D) (carrying Lr19) and 7E2(7D) (susceptible to leaf rust). Genetic analysis of the F2 population and F2:3 families showed that Lr19 is a single dominant gene, and it was successfully mapped within a 0.3 cM interval on the long arm of the Th. ponticum chromosome 7E1, flanked by markers XsdauK3734 and XsdauK2839. To reduce the size of the Th. ponticum chromosome segment carrying Lr19, the Chinese Spring Ph1b mutant was employed to promote recombination between the homoeologous chromosomes of the wheat chromosome 7D and 7E1. Two translocation lines with short Th. ponticum chromosome fragments carrying Lr19 were identified using markers closely linked to Lr19, and in one of the lines the linkage between Lr19 and PSY-E1 was broken. Both translocation lines were resistant to 16 Pt isolates collected from China. Thus, the Lr19 linkage markers and translocation lines developed in this study can be used for marker-assisted selection in common wheat breeding programs.
Increased incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in China: an analysis of 119 million screened newborns
Authors: Yao Yongna , Deng Kui , Zhu Jun , Xiang Liangcheng , Yuan Xuelian , MSE Qi Li , Liu Lei , GUO Yingkun , Liu Hanmin , Li Xiaohong
Published: January 2023

Purpose: The incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in China has increased though no nation-wide epidemiology has reported. To evaluate its trends and explore the possible reasons behind it.
Methods: Data of screened newborns from the Chinese Newborn Screening Information System from 2012 to 2019 was collected. We applied a Bayesian Hierarchical Poisson Regression model, meta-analysis, and several quantitative analyses to estimate incidence or proportion over years.
Results: 119,230,553 screened neonates and 56,617 CH cases were collected. The estimated CH incidence increased from 4.01 per 10,000 births in 2012 to 5.77 per 10,000 births in 2019. The average annul growth rate (ARG) of CH incidence for all provinces varied from 0.59% to 20.96%. Incidences of cases with initial TSH concentration of <10 mIU/L rose most rapidly. The results of meta-analysis showed the proportion of permanent CH increased by 0.024% (0.011%, 0.037%) per year. Each one-unit (mIU/L) decrease in TSH cutoffs value was associated with a 2.96% increase in CH incidence. The proportion of premature CH cases in the total number of CH increased from 6.60% to 9.10%, the increase of which was much higher than that of preterm birth rate in the same period. The provincial growth rate of screening coverage and provincial baseline CH incidences showed no significant association with their annual growth rates of CH incidence.
Conclusion: CH incidence has substantially increased in China. The slight adjustment of TSH cutoff value, and improvement of screening algorithm for preterm newborn might contribute to such a trend, however, their contribution is limited.
Combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses reveal the phosphorus stresses response mechanisms of Artemisia argyi
Authors: Wang Zixin , Ma Lin , Chen Changjie , Sun Haodi , Liu Anzheng , Guo Lujuan , Zhao Tingting , Liu Dahui
Published: January 2023

Purpose
Enzymatic activity in plant signaling, photosynthesis, energy metabolism, and respiratory activities depend on the amount of readily available phosphorus in the soil. Artemisia argyi(A. argyi) is a medicinal plant with antifungal, antiinsect, and anti-inflammatory activities. Our goal was to increase knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in the investigation of the effects of soil phosphorus on important secondary metabolites of A. argyi that regulate growth.
Methods
At various phosphorus levels, A. argyi was examined for its agronomic characteristics, elemental content in the leaves, generation of significant metabolic chemicals, and molecular mechanisms.
Results
A. argyi displayed the highest levels of phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid B, isochlorogenic acid C, and neochlorogenic acid) and flavonoids (hispidulin, jaceosidin, eupatilin, and casticin), measured in the leaves, when treated with low levels of phosphorus. P-element levels significantly correlated with the amount of each active ingredient, and transcript Phosphorus levels also affected terpenoid content and the expression of numerous genes involved in the 4-hydroxytoluene pathway (MEP) and the pentadienyl pathway (MVA), which are both necessary for terpenoid production.
Conclusions
Low levels of phosphorus application enhance the accumulation of medicinal chemicals in A. argyi, medium levels of phosphorus application stimulate the growth of A. argyi, and associated genes are often down-regulated with higher levels of phosphorus application.
Phosphorylation state of S6K1 is redundant for its interaction with F actin
Authors: Latoo Shafat A. , Andrabi Khurshid I
Published: January 2023

Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1(S6K1) is an evolutionary conserved kinase that is activated in response to growth factors and viral stimuli to influence cellular growth and proliferation. The serine/threonine kinase, S6K1 which is a downstream effector of phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase / Akt pathway, is frequently activated in certain types of cancers. S6K1 acts as an actin filament cross linking and as a Rho family of GTPase activating protein. We here present the evidence for domain specific interaction of S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) with filamentous actin or F actin. We show for the first time that [∆NH2-146 / ∆CT240 a. acid] region of S6K1 is actually responsible for its discrete binding to F actin. We also provide evidence that the binding of S6K1 to filamentous actin is phosphorylation independent and not facilitated by any other protein rather direct interaction and we couldn’t observe any interaction of S6K1 for monomeric actin (G actin) .By a time course experiment, we could found that the presence of S6K1 did not affect the kinetics of spontaneous actin polymerization but it enforces stability in F actin by cross linking it and rendering it more stable in the form of multifilament bundled actin. Using electron microscopy we found that these closely apposed bundles were often slightly curved, suggesting flexible cross linking. We further observe that S6 kinase 1 continued to exhibit sensitivity towards filamentous actin that remained unaffected by deletions compromised for [∆NH2-146 / ∆CT104] or [∆NH2-46] / ∆CT104] [∆NH2-146] or [∆NH2-46] or [∆CT104] . By computational study we found that [∆NH2-146 / ∆CT240 a. acid] region of S6K1 is rich in hydrophobic amino acids and has predominant α helical and coiled coil structure which serves as a structural basis for some of the actin binding proteins. These data together with the ability of the S6K1 to bind to F actin indicate that binding is phosphorylation independent, direct and facilitated by the [∆NH2-146 / ∆CT240 a. acid] region of S6K1.
Assessment of pulmonary artery size at birth as a prognostic factor in congenital diaphragmatic hernia: results of a multicenter study in Japan
Authors: Okazaki Tadaharu , Terui Keita , Nagata Kouji , Hayakawa Masahiro , Okuyama Hiroomi , Amari Shoichiro , Masumoto Kouji , Yamoto Masaya , Inamura Noburu , Toyoshima Katsuaki , Furukawa Taizo , Okawada Manabu , Yokoi Akiko , Koike Yuki , Nojiri Shuko , Nishizaki Yuji , Yanagisawa Naotake , Usui Noriaki
Published: January 2023

Objective: To assess the reliability of pulmonary artery (PA) parameters as a prognostic marker in neonates with isolated left-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia (IL-CDH).
Study design: A retrospective cohort study conducted by the Japanese CDH Study Group (JCDHSG).
Results: 323 IL-CDH patients registered with the JCDHSG were included. 272 patients survived to 90 days of age. Right PA (RPA) and left PA (LPA) diameters and pulmonary artery index (PAIndex) at birth were significantly larger in survivors. The cutoff values of RPA and LPA diameters and PAIndex for survival up to 90 days were 3.2 mm, 2.8 mm and 83.7, respectively, and logistic regression analysis showed that these were significantly related to survival. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that both the PA parameters and liver herniation were significantly related to survival.
Conclusions: Three PA parameters at birth predict clinical outcomes, and are considered as independent risk factors of liver herniation.
Preparation of core/shell Fe3O4@SiO2 .DIL as a magnetically heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 1, 8‐dioxodecahydroacridine
Authors: Ebadi Amin , Vadie Sanaz
Published: January 2023

In this research design and synthesis of the magnetic nanoparticle, coating by a silica shell and modified with dicationic ionic liquid is described. Characterization of Fe3O4@SiO2.DIL was done by means of techniques such as XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, and TGA. The catalytic activity of Fe3O4@SiO2.DIL as a new nanocatalyst was tested in the the one-pot tree-component synthesis of 1,8-dioxodecahydroacridines. To achieve higher yield of products, factors such as reaction temperature, reaction time, the amount of nanocatalyst and solvent were studied, and optimized conditions were investigated. The results indicated that the reaction time for aromatic aldehydes bearing substituent at para position is shorter and higher yields of products were obtained with these substrates. Short reaction time, high yield of products, easy purification and easy recoverable catalyst without significantly less of its activity are the main advantages of the process presented. The results clearly show that the existing catalytic system could be eco-friendly and economical to carry out this reaction.
Exponential stability of Lord Shulman thermoelastic system with porous damping and distributed delay term
Authors: Bouzettouta Lamine , Boulkheloua Chaima , Khochemane Houssem Eddine , Karek Widad
Published: January 2023

In this paper, we consider a one-dimensional Lord-Shulman thermoelastic system 1 with porous damping and distributed delay term acting on the porous equation. Under suitable assumptions on the weight of distributed delay, we establish the well-posedness of the system by using semigroup theory and we show that the dissipations due to thermal effects with porous damping are strong enough to stabilise the system exponentially, independently of the wave speeds of the system.
A Prognostic Model Based on Nutritional Indexes for Patients with Pan-Carcinomas: A Real-World Cohort Study
Authors: Zheng Lin , Yu Qian-Qian , Ruan Wen-Bin , Chen Jin , Deng Qing-Hua , Zhang Ke , Jiang Xu-Li , Jiang Wen-Jun , Cai Dan-Na , He Chen-Jie , Wang Yu-Feng , Jiang Shen-Li , Chen Ming-Cong , You Guang-Xian , Ying Rong-Biao , Zhou Zhi-Rui
Published: January 2023

Background
Cancer patients have a high incidence of malnutrition, but traditional nutritional screening tools have low sensitivity and specificity, so they cannot properly stratify patient prognosis. Thus, we aimed to identify the nutritional indexes associated with patient prognosis, construct a prognostic model, and develop a nomogram for predicting individual survival probability.
Methods
Based on real-world data, patients admitted to the Department of Chemotherapy & Radiotherapy in Taizhou Cancer Hospital from January 1, 2017, to July 1, 2020, were included in the analysis. We collected nutritional indicators, clinicopathological characteristics, and previous major treatment details of the patients. The enrolled patients were randomly divided into training and validation cohorts in a 7:3 ratio. Lasso regression cross-validation was used in the training cohort to determine the variables to include in the Cox regression model. The training cohort was used to build the prediction model, and the validation cohort was used to further verify the discrimination, calibration and clinical effectiveness of the model.
Results
A total of 2,020 patients were included. The median follow-up time was 33.48 months (IQR, [15.79, 56.73] months), and the median OS was 56.50 months (95% CI, 50.36–62.65 months). In the training cohort of 1,425 patients, through Lasso regression cross-validation, thirteen characteristics were included in the model: sex, age, baseline weight, food intake reduction grade, emerging disease, ECOG performance status, hospitalization frequency, prealbumin, albumin, clinical stage, hemoglobin suppression grade, platelet suppression grade, and liver function classification. Based on these factors, a Cox proportional hazards model was developed and visualized as a nomogram. The C-indexes of the model for predicting 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year OS were 0.848, 0.826, 0.814 and 0.799 in the training cohort and 0.851, 0.819, 0.814, and 0.801 in the validation cohort. The model showed great calibration in the two cohorts. Patients with a score of less than 274.29 had a better prognosis (training cohort: HR, 6.932; 95% CI, 5.723–8.397; log-rank P < 0.001; validation cohort: HR, 8.429; 95% CI, 6.180-11.497; log-rank P < 0.001).
Conclusions
The prognostic model based on the nutritional indexes of patients with pan-carcinomas can divide patients into different survival risk groups and performed well in internal validation.
Human exposure to diesel exhaust induces CYP1A1 expression via AhR activation without a coordinated antioxidant response
Authors: Friberg Maria , Behndig Annelie Flodström , Bosson Jenny Ann , Muala Ala , Barath Stefan , Dove Rosamund , Glencross Drew , Kelly Frank James , Blomberg Anders , Mudway Ian Stanley , Sandström Thomas , Pourazar Jamshid
Published: January 2023

Background
Diesel exhaust (DE) induces neutrophilia and lymphocytosis in experimentally exposed humans. These responses occur in parallel to nuclear migration of NF-κB and c-Jun, activation of mitogen activated protein kinases and increased production of inflammatory mediators. There remains uncertainty regarding the impact of DE on endogenous antioxidant and xenobiotic defences, mediated by nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) respectively, and the extent to which cellular antioxidant adaptations protect against the adverse effects of DE.
Methods
Using immunohistochemistry we investigated the nuclear localization of Nrf2 and AhR in the epithelium of endobronchial mucosal biopsies from healthy subjects six-hours post exposure to DE (PM10, 300 µg/m3), as a marker of activation. Cytoplasmic expression of cytochrome P450s, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 (Cyp1A1) and subfamily B, Polypeptide 1 (Cyp1B1) were examined to confirm AhR activation; with the expression of aldo-keto reductases (AKR1A1, AKR1C1 and AKR1C3), epoxide hydrolase and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase quinone 1 (NQO1) also quantified. Inflammatory and oxidative stress markers were examined to contextualize the responses observed.
Results
DE exposure caused an influx of neutrophils to the bronchial airway surface (p = 0.013), as well as increased bronchial submucosal neutrophil (p < 0.001), lymphocyte (p = 0.007) and mast cell (p = 0.002) numbers. In addition, DE exposure enhanced the nuclear translocation of the AhR and increased the CYP1A1 expression in the bronchial epithelium (p = 0.001 and p = 0.028, respectively). Nuclear translocation of AhR was also increased in the submucosal leukocytes (p < 0.001). Epithelial nuclear AhR expression was negatively associated with bronchial submucosal CD3 numbers post DE (r=-0.706, p = 0.002). In contrast, DE did not increase nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and was associated with decreased NQO1 in bronchial epithelial cells (p = 0.02), without affecting CYP1B1, aldo-keto reductases, or epoxide hydrolase protein expression.
Conclusion
These in vivo human data confirm earlier cell and animal-based observations of the induction of the AhR and CYP1A1 by diesel exhaust. The induction of phase I xenobiotic response occurred in the absence of the induction of antioxidant or phase II xenobiotic defences. Thus, DE-associated compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), induce detoxification pathway and acute inflammation without concomitant protective cellular adaptations.
Cancer Screening Behaviors and Health Literacy Levels of Women aged 30 and over
Authors: Çelikkalp Ülfiye , Irmak Aylin Yalçın
Published: January 2023

Purpose This study aimed to determine the cancer screening behaviors of women over 30 and the factors affecting them during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted with 301 women aged 30 and over in Edirne, the border province in northwest Turkey. Study data were collected with the Personal Information Form and Turkiye Health Literacy Scale-32 (THL-32). Results The mean age of the participants was 43.66 ± 9.02; 65.1% were between the ages of 30–49, and 85% were married. 74.8% of the participants did not have a screening test during the pandemic. Women underwent breast examination (32.2%), pap smear test (21.9%), and fecal occult blood test (19.9%), respectively, with an attending physician. The mean health literacy score of the participants was 28.18 ± 7.55, and the majority (80.7%) were in the category of inadequate-limited health literacy. The mean health literacy score and breast cancer screening were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion The study group's participation status and health literacy levels in cancer screening tests were low. The COVID-19 pandemic period negatively affected the individuals' participation in screening tests.
Tailored versus conventional surgical debridement in complex facial lacerations in emergency department: a retrospective study
Authors: Park Byeong Kwon , Min Jin Hong , Park Jung Soo , You Yeon Ho , Jeong Won Joon , Cho Yong Chul , Oh Se Kwang , In Yong Nam , Ahn Hong Joon , Kang Chang Shin , Kyung Hyun woo , Kim Joo Hak , Yang Ho Jik , Lee Byung Kook , Yoo Heon Jong
Published: January 2023

Background
Surgical debridement is usually an essential step in treating complex facial lacerations (CFL). As the severity of CFL increases, conventional surgical debridement (CSD) of wound edges becomes difficult and may be insufficient to remove damaged tissues and create clean edges. Because the severity and shape of CFL are diverse and different, it is necessary to tailor the customized pre-excisional design, the tailored surgical debridement (TSD), for each case before performing surgical debridement. Applying TSD is expected to enable effective debridement in CFL with higher severity. This study compared cosmetic outcomes and complication incidence of CSD and TSD, according to CFL severity.
Methods
This was a retrospective observational study. Eligible patients with CFL who visited the emergency department between August 2020 and December 2021 were examined. CFL severity was graded to Grades I and II. CSD and TSD outcomes were compared using the Scar Cosmesis Assessment and Rating (SCAR) scale. Furthermore, a good cosmetic outcome was defined as a SCAR score of ≤ 2. The percentage of good cosmetic outcome between the two groups was compared. The SCAR score and percentage of good cosmetic outcomes between the two groups were compared overall and by severity. For comparison of complication incidence, asymmetry, infection, and dehiscence incidence were compared.
Results
In total, 252 patients were enrolled (121 [48.0%] CSD and 131 [52.0%] TSD). In CSD and TSD groups, the median SCAR scores were 3 (1–5) and 1 (0–2) in all enrolled patients (p < 0.001), 2 (0–4) and 1 (0–1) in Grade I (p < 0.01), and 5 (4–6) and 1 (1–2) in Grade II (p < 0.001). The good cosmetic outcomes were 46.3% and 84.0% overall (p < 0.001), 59.6% and 85.0% in Grade I (p < 0.01), and 9.4% and 83.5% in Grade II (p < 0.001) for CSD and TSD. The incidence of complications was significantly higher in the CSD than in the TSD groups, but this was limited to asymmetry. There was no statistical difference in both infection and dehiscence.
Conclusion
TSD can lead to an objectively good cosmetic prognosis at higher CFL severity than CSD and can reduce the occurrence of facial asymmetry.
Genetic analysis of brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål.) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) based on DNA markers
Authors: Babu Soumya Bharati , Govindharaj Guru-Pirasanna-Pandi , C Parameswaran , Padhi Jayaraj , G Basana-Gowda , M Annamalai , Patil Naveenkumar , Meher Chanchala , S Sabarinathan , Rath Prakash Chandra
Published: January 2023

Brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål.) is one of the most ruinous pest of rice in south-east Asia. This insect had the tendency to express differential reaction to resistant rice cultivars and various insecticide groups in different geographic locations. Therefore, genetic diversity among the N. lugens populations is required to be understood for their effective management. Hence, in the present study, genetic structure and genetic diversity of 22 N. lugens populations collected from 22 hotspot regions of India were studied with genomic simple sequence repeats (NlSSR) markers. Results revealed that mean genetic diversity was 0.399 and polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.337 in the 30 selected SSR markers. Further, molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed only 2% variation among population and 98% within the populations. In cluster and population structure analysis, all the 22 population were sub-grouped into three groups. Interestingly, north and west Indian population showed high genetic similarity and assembled into one cluster in cluster analysis. The east and south Indian populations were evenly segregated into rest two clusters. Similarly, north and west Indian population again deemed to be occupied same compartment in Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). This variation might be associated with the N. lugens migration due to wind movement of south-west monsoon in two branches viz. Arabian sea branch and Bay of Bengal branch. Present study provides the molecular evidence of population genetics of N. lugens in India and the information could be useful to devise the efficient management strategy against this pest in different rice ecosystem.
Dental injuries in the pediatric emergency department: A retrospective analysis and literature review
Authors: Cohen Neta , -Kagan Renana Via , Haberman Shira , Gigi Dana , Ianculovici Clariel , Rimon Ayelet
Published: January 2023

This retrospective cohort study included all patients aged 0-18 years who presented to our pediatric emergency department (PED) between 2017 and 2021 following injuries of primary and permanent teeth. We explored risk factors for the need for dental intervention that required urgent consultation with an oral and maxillofacial specialist and included: tooth repositioning, splinting, extraction, replantation, intraoral soft tissue laceration repair, and surgical intervention. Of the total of 830 patients (mean age 7.1±3.9 years, 589 males [71.0%]), 237 (28.5%) required dental intervention. All patients with alveolar fractures and those with involvement of permanent teeth with extrusive luxation mandated urgent dental consultation. Additional independent predictors for dental intervention for primary tooth injury were: root fracture (aOR 38.4 [95%CI: 3.95–373.22, p = 0.002), facial bone involvement (aOR 12.40 [95%CI: 2.33–65.93], p = 0.003), lateral luxation (aOR 6.9 [95%CI: 4.27–11.27], p < 0.001), extrusive luxation (aOR 6.44 [95%CI: 2.74-15.14, p < 0.001), and avulsion (aOR 2.06 [95%CI: 1.23–3.45], p= 0.006). Additional independent predictors for permanent tooth injury were: lateral luxation (aOR 27.8 [95%CI: 6.1–126.6], p < 0.001) and avulsion (aOR 6.8 [95%CI: 2.9-15.9], p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Alveolar fracture is the most severe pediatric dental injury, requiring immediate dental intervention for injuries of both primary and permanent teeth. Tooth luxation with significant mobility or malocclusion, incomplete avulsion, a suspected root involvement, or facial bone injury in the primary teeth, and tooth luxation (extrusive/lateral) and avulsion in the permanent teeth dictate urgent dental consultation and intervention. Clinical algorithms for dental injuries management are suggested.
Early Effect of Microtopography of Site Preparation on Vegetation Restoration in Young Mixed Hemiboreal Stands
Authors: Zuševica Austra , Dūmiņš Kārlis , Štāls Toms Artūrs , Lazdiņa Dagnija
Published: January 2023

Tree logging significantly impacts environmental conditions, increases soil and air temperature, and changes the microclimate and soil hydrology. This contributes to the changes in bryophyte and vascular plant cover and species composition. Site preparation positively affects the growth of planted trees in young stands but also creates forest understorey disturbance. During site preparation in young stands by spot mounding and disc trenching methods, new microtopographies e.g. soil uplifts and hollows—are made in young stands. Site preparation generally increases vascular plant diversity, but there is a lack of information about the vegetation differences between microtopography depending on different site preparation methods and soil types. The aim of this study was to investigate how the microtopography created during site preparation by spot mounding or disc trenching affects bryophyte and vascular plant communities in hemiboreal young stands two to three years after tree logging. Spot mounding altered vegetation composition more than disc trenching. Bryophyte species cover decreased in prepared soil, but Ellenberg’s Moisture value increased; therefore, site preparation before planting contributes to the conservation of typical forest bryophyte species in young stands. Hollows lead to better typical forest habitat species preservation, but soil uplifts diversify environmental conditions by providing new patches for the development of grassland habitat species that are not typical in this ecosystem, but temporally provide new ecosystem services.
Assessment of male reproductive traits in endangered leuciscids from the Iberian Peninsula: first attempts to store gametes both at short- and long- term
Authors: Hernández-Rodríguez Ana , Sousa-Santos Carla , Gil Fátima , Cabrita Elsa , Guerreiro Pedro M. , Gallego Victor
Published: January 2023

During the spring of 2022 several endangered leuciscid species (Anaecypris hispanica, Squalius aradensis, Anachondrostoma. occidentale and Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum) were sampled both at the Vasco da Gama aquarium facilities and in some rivers of the Algarve region, Portugal. Sperm samples were extracted by gentle abdominal pressure and sperm motion parameters were assessed for the first time in four species, using a computerised analysis system. The results obtained showed that spermatozoa kinetic patterns were similar for all 4 species, with high motility and velocity values after the sperm activation time and with a marked decrease after 20 seconds. On the other hand, sperm longevity was highly variable between species, with short longevities (around 40 s) for A. hispanica and S. aradensis, and longer longevities (100–120 s) for A. occidentale and I. lusitanicum, which could indicate a latitudinal pattern in terms of sperm longevity. At the same time, morphometric analysis was carried out for the four target species, revealing that spermatozoa showed similar sizes and shapes to other external fertilizers belonging to Leuscididae, with small spherical heads, uniflagellate and without acrosomes. In addition, different short-term gamete storage trails were performed by diluting sperm in 1:9 (sperm:extender) and storing them at 4ºC. Although the results obtained were uneven among the species studied, the dilution and extender used generated motilities above 40% up to day 4 of storage in S. aradensis and I. lusitanicum, and up to day 1–2 in A. hispanica and A. occidentale, respectively. Finally, gamete cryopreservation trials were also carried on these threatened species. Although cryopreserved samples showed significantly lower motility than fresh samples, some protocols generate acceptable percentages of viability, DNA integrity, and sperm motility in some species such as I. lusitanicum and A. occidentale. The data revealed that the protocol based on 10% DMSO plus 7.5% egg yolk generated the best results. This study is the first to assess the reproductive traits of wild and captive populations of endangered leuciscids endemic from the Iberian Peninsula, describing the spermatozoa kinetics and developing protocols for managing male gametes both in short- and long- term storage. Outcomes will provide new and useful tools to complement the management and conservation of ex-situ breeding programs that are being developed on these four endangered species.
Metronidazole (Flagyl) use as an emergency contraceptive and associated factors among University female students in Dodoma region Tanzania: A descriptive crossectional study
Authors: Samson Nipael M. , Sumari Emmanuel Izack , Ndesendo Valence , Mbwasi Romuald
Published: January 2023

Background: Metronidazole is known for its therapeutic effect as antibacterial and anti-parasitic. However, its toxicity on the reproductive system remains not well studied. Its use in rodents was associated with toxic effects on the reproductive system, including hormonal alterations, reduced number of fertile cells, and effects on implantations. Its use at a therapeutic dose among humans has been associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion. The effects on the reproductive system in humans may result in misconceptions about contraceptive effects hence sexually active individuals like students who, for any reason, fail to access safe contraceptive services use any possible methods to protect them from conception. This study explored if Metronidazole (Flagyl) is unofficially used as an emergency contraceptive among female university students and its associated factors for possible interventions.
Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study involved 470 participants conveniently recruited from three educational institutions in the Dodoma Municipal, Dodoma region. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 25, descriptive and analytical statistical analysis was done to determine the association and relationship between the study variables, and p<0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.
Results: The study revealed exciting findings: among the participants with experience using emergency contraceptives, 169(62.4%) reported using Metronidazole as an emergency contraceptive. Notably, 345(73.4%) of the study participants said they had ever heard someone use Metronidazole for contraception, especially their peers. Furthermore, an increase in the year of study was significantly associated with reduced use of Metronidazole as an emergency contraceptive (B= [-0.45], p= [0.02]). Furthermore, an increase in age, studying in non-medical college/university, the experience of using contraceptive methods, and hearing someone ever used Metronidazole were found to be positively associated with its use as an emergency contraceptive, although not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Metronidazole was found to be used as an emergency contraceptive in high doses, different factors associated with its use, and reasons influencing its use. Further research may be done to explore the toxicological effect of high doses of Metronidazole as a contraception in human subjects.
A conceptual analysis of the Funds of Knowledge and Identity approach from an eco- functional perspective
Authors: Nigrini Leonard , Esteban-Guitart Moisés
Published: January 2023

The article situates the Funds of Knowledge (FoK) approach and the Funds of Identity (FoI) theory in the context of the eco-functional perspective. It proposes to understand the ‘funds’ as external factors of extra-cerebral organizations, as both refer to products of historically accumulated social labor. Furthermore, the article lays out, that similar to the dynamic features of external factors in developing functional psychic organizations, funds of knowledge and identity have to be considered specific to a social and developmental context. It is found, that Vygotsky’s concept of perezhivanie and Holzkamp’s concept off position-specifity may provide a valid framework for realization of this dynamic understanding of FoK and FoI.
Improvement of social cognition in a Down’s syndrome patient after Bilateral PFC Deep HF-rTMS: A Clinical Case Report
Authors: Torre Ona Martin de la , Vázquez Javier C. , Redolar-Ripoll Diego
Published: January 2023

Bilateral PFC Deep HF-rTMS protocol improved social cognition in a patient with Down’s Syndrome (DS, also known as Trisomy 21). DS is a genetic disorder originating from the existence of all or part of the third copy of chromosome 21 and is usually associated with difficulties in motor development, expressive language, grammar, speech clarity, number skills, verbal short-term memory etc.
Opsoclonus Induced by Head-Shaking in Vestibular Migraine
Authors: Kim Min-Ku , Lee Won-Hyeong , Yang Xu , Kim Hyo-Jung , Choi Jeong‑Yoon , Kim Ji-Soo
Published: January 2023

Opsoclonus refers to saccadic oscillations without an intersaccadic interval occurring in multiple planes. Opsoclonus mostly indicates dysfunction of the brainstem or cerebellum. We report opsoclonus induced by horizontal head-shaking without other signs of brainstem or cerebellar dysfunction in two patients with vestibular migraine (VM). The development of opsoclonus after horizontal head-shaking indicate unstable or hyperactive neural circuits between the excitatory and inhibitory saccadic premotor burst neurons in these patients with VM.
Gaussian Transformation Enhanced Semi-Supervised Learning for Sleep Stage Classification
Authors: Guo Yifan , Mao Helen , Yin Jijun , Mao Zhi-Hong
Published: January 2023

Sleep disorder has become an ubiquitous problem in modern society. Related long-term clinical diagnoses suffer from data deficiency because analyzing sleep data requires enormous human expertise and labor. Moreover, current clinical sleep data acquisition processes usually cover only one night’s sleep history, which is too short to recognize long-term sleep patterns. To address this challenge, we propose a semi-supervised learning approach for sleep stage classification, combining clustering algorithms with the traditional supervised learning pipeline. Also, we propose two types of Gaussian transformations to make the semi-supervised learning process more robust and accurate. We reveal the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm via experiments on whole-night electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Our algorithm evidently outperforms the state-of-the-art baseline on out-of-distribution human subjects. The experiments also prove that the proposed Gaussian transformations can significantly gain normality to EEG band-power features which in turn facilitate the semi-supervised learning process.
Comparison of thickness, gap width and translucency for 3D-printed and thermoformed clear aligners: A micro-CT analysis
Authors: Park So Yeon , Choi Sung-Hwan , Yu Hyung-Seog , Kim Su-Jung , Kim Hoon , Kim Ki Beom , Cha Jung-Yul
Published: January 2023

The present study aimed to compare the thickness, gap width, and translucency of 3D-printed and thermoformed clear aligners using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Four groups of clear aligners were tested: thermoformed with single-layer material (TS, polyethylene terephthalate glycol) or a multi-layer material (TM, copolyester-elastomer combination), and 3D-printed TC-85 cleaned with alcohol (PA) or with centrifuge (PC). Aligners (n=10) were fitted onto respective models and micro-CT was performed. Thickness and gap width were measured for different tooth type in sagittal sections on all sides. CIELab coordinates were measured (n=5) to compare the translucency. Depending on tooth type and location, thermoformed and 3D-printed clear aligners have significantly varied thicknesses and showed a clinically acceptable range of fit with differences in regions of best fit. Centrifugation in post-processing significantly improved the translucency of 3D-printed aligners.