bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prognostic prediction of preoperative nutritional status in low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms
Authors: Wang Bing , Ma Ruiqing , Shi Guanjun , Yang Zhenpeng , Tang Huazhen , Lu Shuai , Wang Yuying , Qu Jinxiu , Rao Benqiang , Xu Hongbin
Published: December 2021

Background

To describe the preoperative nutritional status of Low-grade Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasms (LAMNs) and identify prognostic factors for survival.
Methods

Medical records from 165 patients with LAMNs who attended the Aerospace Center Hospital, Beijing, China between January 2017, and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan-Meier method, the log-rank test, and a Cox proportional hazards model.
Results

Among 165 patients, 59 (36%) were male and 106 (64%) were female. Patient’s median age was 58 years (range, 20 to 78 years). Univariate analysis indicated that gender, weight loss, prior surgical score (PSS), red blood cell, albumin, peritoneal cancer index (PCI), completeness of cytoreduction (CCR), and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) were related to prognosis. Multivariate analysis showed that PSS, CCR and HIPEC were independent predictors of prognosis.
Conclusions

The preoperative nutritional status of patients plays an important role in predicting prognosis. Patients can benefit from a complete cytoreductive surgery (CCRS) and HIPEC in an experienced institution for the first medical treatment.
Meaning in Life of Terminally Ill Parent with Young Children – A Quantitative Evaluation with SMiLE
Authors: Cuhls Henning , Ateş Gülay , Heuser Gregory , Radbruch Lukas , Hesse Michaela
Published: December 2021

Background Increasing the quality of life is one of the objectives of palliative care. Meaning in life has a significant influence on the perceived quality of life. We found no studies focusing on patients with young children.Methods Young parents diagnosed with life-limiting disease could participate and create an audiobook. Patients were assessed using Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluaton (SMiLE) pre and post intervention. The SMiLE is a validated instrument to assess meaning in life. Patients list their individual items that provide meaning in life. In a second step they are requested to rate their current level of satisfaction and in a last step they are asked to rank the importance of each item. Overall indices of weighting, satisfaction and importance are calculated. In addition, participants were interviewed twice over the course regarding expectations, concerns, motivation, and experiences.ResultsThe data were collected from February 2017 till September 2020. Fifty-four patients with ninety-six children at a mean age of seven years could be included. The involvement with the SMiLE made patients think about their resources. Most important items were in decreasing order family (100%), social relations (79.6%), leisure time (61.1%), nature/animals (38.9%), and home/garden (29.6%). Index of weighting (IOW) was 81.5, index of satisfaction (IOS) was 71.4, and a total SMiLE Index (IOWS) was 72.4. Parent felt limited by their illness in being a mother or father, as they wanted to be.ConclusionItems relevant for young parent showed differences to evaluations of cancer patients and palliative care patients. Most important item for meaning in life is the family numerated by all participants. The results indicate that evaluation of meaning in life is a coping strategy and helps young parent with young children.
Throughput Performance of A Delay Constraint Transmission For Half-Duplex And Full-Duplex Cognitive Relay Networks
Authors: Prasad Binod , Das Gopal Chandra , Nallagonda Srinivas , Saha Seemanti , Bhowmick Abhijit
Published: December 2021

The performance of a relay based Half-Duplex (HD) and Full-Duplex (FD) cooperative cognitive radio (CR) network with a RF energy harvesting (EH) is studied in this paper. Co-operative environment includes a network with multiple primary users (PUs), and CRs. The relay node is considered as an EH node which harvests energy (HE) from RF signal (RFS) of source and loop-back interference. The network performance is studied for instantaneous transmission and delay constraint transmission for decode and forward (DF) relaying protocol. The performance is investigated under a relay energy outage constraint and the expression of throughput is redesigned. Expressions of energy outage, data outage and throughput for HD and FD are developed. The impact of several parameters such as transmitting SNR, fractional harvesting time parameter, fractional transmission time parameter, and loop-back interference on the system throughput has been investigated.
Explainable analytics: Understanding causes, correcting errors, and increasingly achieving perfect accuracy from nature of distinguishable patterns
Authors: Pai Hao-Ting , Hsu Chung-Chian
Published: December 2021

In addition to pursue accurate analytics, it is invaluable to clarify how and why inaccuracy exists. We propose a transparent classification method (TC). In training, we discover patterns from positive and negative observations respectively; next, patterns are excluded if they appear in both types. In testing, observations are scored by the pure patterns and connected like social networks. Based on set theory, pure patterns have explanatory power for distinguishing tangled relationship between negative and positive observations. Experimental results demonstrate that TC can identify all positive (e.g., malignant) observations at low ratios of training to testing, e.g., 1:9 in Breast Cancer Wisconsin (Original) and 3:7 in Contraceptive Method Choice dataset. Without fine-tuned parameters and random selection, TC eliminates uncertainty of the methodology. TC can visualize causes, and therefore, prediction errors are traceable and can be corrected. Further, TC shows potential of identifying whether the ground truth is incorrect (e.g., diagnostic errors).
An Improved Typhoon Simulation Method Based On Latin Hypercube Sampling Method
Authors: Sun Jianpeng , Lv Guanjun , Huang Wenfeng , Wang Rong , Ma Xiaogang
Published: December 2021

In order to further improve the prediction accuracy of typhoon simulation method for extreme wind speed in typhoon prone areas, an improved typhoon simulation method is proposed by introducing the Latin hypercube sampling method into the traditional typhoon simulation method. In this paper, the improved typhoon simulation method is first given a detailed introduction. Then, this method is applied to the prediction of extreme wind speeds under various return periods in Hong Kong. To validate this method, two aspects of analysis is carried out, including correlation analysis among typhoon key parameters and prediction of extreme wind speeds under various return periods. The results show that the correlation coefficients among typhoon key parameters can be maintained satisfactorily with this improved typhoon simulation method. Compared with the traditional typhoon simulation method, extreme wind speeds under various return periods obtained with this improved typhoon simulation method are much closer to the results obtained with historical typhoon wind data.
Fireworks Ocular Injury in Saudi Children; Profile and Management Outcomes
Authors: AlGhadeer Huda , Khandekar Rajiv
Published: December 2021

Background: To explore the demographic profiling, causes, types, complications, management outcomes, and severity of fireworks- inflicted ocular injuries and traumas in children in KSA.Methods: This is a retrospective study of 115 cases with eye injuries managed at the Emergency Department, of our institution between 2003 and 2019. Demography, clinical features at presentation, mode of management and the Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) were evaluated at the last follow up. Results: The study included 117 eyes of 115 children [median age: 9 years; 96 (83.5%) boys; 19(16.5%) girls]. Fifty-six (48.7%) participants were bystanders. The injuries were caused mainly due to bangers (n=47; 40.9%), rockets in bottle (n=28; 24.3%), firecrackers (n=27; 23.5%), and nonspecific reasons (n=13; 11.3%). The children had presented with various severity levels: corneal abrasion (n=52; 44.4%); cataract (n=47;40.2%); penetrating injury (n=40; 34.2%); secondary glaucoma (n=22;18.8%); subluxated lens (n=19;16.2%); limbal stem cell deficiency (n=14;12.0%); Iridodialysis (n=12;10.3%), and vitreous hemorrhage (n=11;9.4%). Management interventions of the eyes under study included: penetrating injury repair (n=40; 34.2%), lens removal plus intraocular lens implantation (n=26; 22.2%), removal of foreign body (n=9; 7.7%). The BCVA after six months was 20/20- 20/60 in 49(41%) cases; 20/70 - 20/200 in 27 (23.1%) cases; <20/200-20/400 in 7 (6%) cases, and <20/400 in 34(29.1%) of the cases. Out of 51.3% eyes with <20/200 before management, only 35% recorded severe visual impairment.Conclusion: Fireworks-related eye injuries were mainly observed in boys primarily due to the use of bangers . Visual disability remained in one-third of the managed cases.
Reciprocal Innovation: A New Approach to Equitable and Mutually Beneficial Global Health Research and Partnership
Authors: Sors Thomas G , O'Brien Rish Chauhan , Scanlon Michael , Bermel Li Yuan , Chikowe Ibrahim , Gardner Adrian , Kiplagat Jepchirchir , Lieberman Marya , Moe Sharon , Soto Nydia Morales , Nyandiko Winstone , Plater David , Rono Betsy Cheriro , Tierney William M , Vreeman Rachel C , Wiehe Sarah E , Wools-Kaloustian Kara , Litzelman Debra K
Published: December 2021

Background: Global health researchers and partnerships often discount the potential for mutual learning and benefit to address shared health challenges across high and low- and middle-income settings. Drawing from a 30-year partnership called AMPATH that started between Indiana University in the US and Moi University in Kenya, we describe an innovative approach and program for mutual learning and benefit coined “reciprocal innovation.” In this paper, we define reciprocal innovation and identify its core principles with illustrative examples and describe building a reciprocal innovation program established in 2018 at the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI).Results: Reciprocal innovation harnesses a bidirectional, co-constituted, and iterative exchange of ideas, resources, and innovations to address shared health challenges across diverse global settings. The success of the AMPATH partnership in western Kenya, particularly in the areas of HIV/AIDS and community health, resulted in several innovations in Kenya being “brought back” to the US. To facilitate and promote the bidirectional flow of learning and innovations, the Indiana CTSI reciprocal innovation program hosts annual meetings (hosted in Indiana and Kenya) of multinational researchers and practitioners to identify shared health challenges across diverse global settings and facilitate partnership building and collaboration. The program supports pilot grants for projects that demonstrate reciprocal exchange and benefit. The program has produced a wealth of educational materials, including videos, webinars and an online dashboard, to train investigators on reciprocal innovation approaches in global health. Lessons learned in building a reciprocal innovation program include increasing awareness of reciprocal approaches among investigators and in supporting collaboration for global–local research. While many global health investigators have strong collaborators with international partners, a challenge has been partnering with “local” Indiana researchers to create reciprocal learning and benefit. Conclusions: The transformative power of global health to address systemic health inequities embraces equitable and reciprocal partnerships with mutual benefit across countries and communities of academics, practitioners, and policymakers, as demonstrated through a reciprocal innovation approach. Leveraging a long-standing partnership, the Indiana CTSI has built a reciprocal innovation program with promise to redefine global health for shared wellbeing at a truly global scale.
Response of Broiler Chickens to Oral Administration of Ocimum Gratissimum Leaf Extracts
Authors: Egbeyale Lawrence Tokunbo , adegoke Adeola , Ayo-Ajasa Olapeju , Adewole Fatai , Yusuf Abdulbasit , Amusan Tunji , Gbegbin Akintoba , Taylor Samuel
Published: December 2021

The study was carried out on one hundred and ninety-five day-old broiler chicks of cobb500 to study the effect of Ocimum gratissimum leaf extracts on growth performance, blood profile, microbial population in the faecal and gut samples. The chicks were randomly selected into five groups with thirty-nine chicks per group and each group replicated thrice. The groups were: control (synthetic antibiotics), extracts from 200 g fresh leaf, 400 g fresh leaf, 40 g air-dried leaf and 80 g aid-dried leaf per litre of water respectively. Data collected were subjected to one-way Analysis of Variance. The growth performance except mortality was similar (P>0.05) across the groups. Albumin, urea, cholesterol, alkaline phosphate and sodium were influenced (P<0.05) at the starter phase while only alkaline phosphate was significantly (P<0.05) highest in birds on 400 g of fresh leaf extract at the finisher phase. Neutrophil was highest (P<0.05) in birds on 400 g of fresh leaf extract while those on 200 g had higher values of lymphocytes and eosinophil at starter phase. At finisher phase, birds on antibiotics and 80 g of air-dried leaf extract had higher (P<0.05) white blood cell. Faecal total microbial population was least (<0.05) in birds on antibiotics and 200 g fresh Ocimum gratissimum leaf extract at starter phase. The study concluded that the adoption of Ocimum gratissimum leaf extract as prophylactic treatment against bacteria should be encouraged among poultry farmers.
Antioxidant Activity of Eugenol And Its Acetyl And Nitroderivatives: A DFT Approach of DPPH Test.
Authors: Júnior José Roberval Candido , Romeiro Luiz Antônio Soares , Marinho Emmanuel Silva , Monteiro Norberto de Kássio Viera , de Lima-Neto Pedro
Published: December 2021

This work evaluates the antioxidant potential of acetyl and nitro derivatives of eugenol through computational techniques. Structural analysis and Hydrogen Atomic Transfer (HAT) antioxidant mechanism were investigated by density functional theory (DFT). Each molecular structure was optimized by the hybrid functional M06-2X with a basis set 6-31+G(d,p), and the HAT mechanism with HO, HOO, CH3O, DPPH radicals was evaluated. In agreement with experimental data from previous studies, two steps of hydrogen transfer were tested. Thermodynamic data showed the need for two stages of hydrogen transfer, followed by the formation of quinones to make the reaction with DPPH spontaneous. Theoretical kinetic data showed that the preferred antioxidant site depends on the instability of the attacking radical and confirmed the antioxidant profile of eugenol (E1) and 5-allyl-3-nitrobenzene-1,2-diol (E5) in the DPPH test. This study shows that the 4-allyl-2-methoxy-(4-nitrophenol) (E4) structure also has an anti-radical activity that is not seen in the experimental due to chemoselectivity of DPPH.
Experimental Validation of Stability and Applicability of Start Growth Time Method For High-Throughput Bacterial Ecotoxicity Assessment.
Authors: Wu Siang Chen , Shih Chang-Chun
Published: December 2021

Ecotoxicity assessments based on bacteria as model organisms is widely used for routine toxicity screening because it has advantages of time-saving, high sensitivity, cost-effectiveness, and less ethical responsibility. Determination of ecotoxicity effect via bacterial growth can avoid the restriction of model bacteria selection and unique equipment requirement, but traditional viable cell count methods are relatively labor- and time-intensive. The Start Growth Method (SGT) is a high-throughput and time-conserving method to determine the amount of viable bacterial cells. However, its usability and stability for ecotoxicity assessment are rarely studied. This study confirmed its applicability in terms of bacterial types (gram-positive and gram-negative), growth phases (middle exponential and early stationary phases), and simultaneous existence of dead cells (adjustment by flow cytometry). Our results verified that the stability of establishing SGT correlation is independent of the bacterial type and dead-cell portion. Moreover, we only observed the effect of growth phases on the slope value of established SGT correlation in Shewanella oneidensis, which suggests that preparing inoculum for the SGT method should be consistent in keeping its stability. Our results also elucidate that the SGT values and the live cell percentages meet the non-linear exponential correlation with high correlation coefficients from 0.97 to 0.99 for all the examined bacteria. The non-linear exponential correlation facilitates the application of the SGT method on the ecotoxicity assessment. Finally, applying the exponential SGT correlation to evaluate the ecotoxicity effect of copper ions on E. coli was experimentally validated. The SGT-based method would require about 6 to 7 hours to finish the assessment and obtained an estimated EC50 at 2.27 ± 0.04 mM. This study demonstrates that the exponential SGT correlation can be a high-throughput, time-conversing, and wide-applicable method for bacterial ecotoxicity assessment.
Active And Avoidant Coping Profiles In Children And Their Relationship With Anxiety And Depression During The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Zhang Qiaochu , Ho Samuel M.Y. , Zhou Yanlin
Published: December 2021

Active and avoidant coping styles are important dispositional factors for the development of anxiety and depression symptoms. Children use both active and avoidant coping together in daily life. No studies have investigated the relationship between active-avoidant coping profiles and internalizing symptoms of children in the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aimed to investigate children’s active-avoidant coping profiles and assess the relationship of active-avoidant coping profiles to anxiety and depression symptoms in the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted among 322 Chinese children in mainland China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist – Revised1 in Time 1 and the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale in Time 1 and 6 months later (Time 2). Four active-avoidant coping profiles were revealed: Low Active copers, High Active copers, Balanced copers, and Avoidant copers. Low and High Active copers were related to lower levels of anxiety and depression symptoms than Balanced copers and Avoidant copers. Avoidant copers showed less decrease in depression symptoms than Balanced copers and High Active copers. It is important to improve children's active-avoidant coping profiles for relieving anxiety and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long-read 16S-seq reveals nasopharynx microbial dysbiosis and enrichment of Mycobacterium and Mycoplasma in COVID-19 patients: A source of co-infection
Authors: Prasad Punit , Mahapatra Soumendu , Mishra Rasmita , Murmu Krushna Chandra , Aggarwal Shifu , Sethi Manisha , Mohapatra Priyanka , Ghosh Arup , Yadav Rina , Dodia Hiren , Ansari Shamima Azma , De Saikat , Singh Deepak , Suryawanshi Amol , Dash Rupesh , Senapati Shantibhushan , Beuria Tushar K. , Chattopadhyay Soma , Syed Gulam Hussain , Swain Rajeeb , Raghav Sunil K. , Parida Ajay
Published: December 2021

Background
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a major global health concern. This virus infects the upper respiratory tract and causes pneumonia-like symptoms. So far, few studies have shown alterations in nasopharyngeal (NP) microbial diversity, enrichment of opportunistic pathogens and their role in co-infections during respiratory infections. Therefore, we hypothesized that microbial diversity changes, with increase in the population of opportunistic pathogens, during SARS-CoV2 infection in the nasopharynx which may be involved in co-infection in COVID-19 patients.
Methods
The 16S rRNA variable regions, V1-V9, of NP samples of control and COVID-19 (symptomatic and asymptomatic) patients were sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore™ technology. Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis for determining alpha/beta diversities, non-metric multidimensional scaling, correlation studies, canonical correspondence analysis, linear discriminate analysis, and dysbiosis index were used to analyze the control and COVID-19-specific NP microbiomes.
Results
We observed significant dysbiosis in COVID-19 NP microbiome with increase in abundance of opportunistic pathogens at genus and species levels in asymptomatic/symptomatic patients. The significant abundance of Mycobacteria spp. and Mycoplasma spp. in symptomatic patients suggest their association and role in co-infections in COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, we found strong correlation of enrichment of Mycobacteria and Mycoplasma with the occurrences of chest pain and fever in symptomatic COVID-19 patients.
Conclusion
This is the first study from India to show the abundance of Mycobacteria and Mycoplasma opportunistic pathogens in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients and their relationship with symptoms, indicating the possibility of co-infections.
Old Agents and Novel Variants of Tick-borne Microorganisms From Angola, 2017
Authors: Palomar Ana María , Molina Israel , Bocanegra Cristina , Portillo Aránzazu , Salvador Fernando , Moreno Milagros , Oteo Jose A.
Published: December 2021

The study of microorganisms from ticks collected in cattle from Angola is reported herein, demonstrating the circulation of the pathogen R. aeschlimannii and potential novel tick-borne microorganisms with unknown pathogenicity belonging to Ehrlichia, Spiroplasma, Coxiella, Babesia and Francisella spp. and corroborating the presence of Rickettsia africae and Babesia bigemina.
Nomogram for Predicting Overall Survival in Patients With Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma After Breast-Conserving Surgery: A Population‐Based Analysis
Authors: Zhao Yuting , Li Shouyu , Yan Lutong , Yang Zejian , Chai Na , Qiu Pei , Zhang Jian , Zhang Huimin , He Jianjun , Zhou Can
Published: December 2021

Background: Due to the rarity of invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast, no randomized trial has investigated the prediction of overall survival (OS) for patients with IMPC after breast-conserving surgery (BCS). This study aimed to construct a nomogram for predicting OS in IMPC patients after BCS. Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, 481 eligible cases diagnosed with IMPC were collected. OS in IMPC patients after BCS were assessed through multivariable Cox analyses, Harrell’s concordance indexes (C-indexes), receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) curves, calibration curves, decision curve analyses (DCA), and survival analyses. Results: 336 patients were randomly assigned into training cohort and 145 cases in validation cohort. The multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that age at diagnosis, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, marital status, hormone receptor status and chemotherapy were significant prognostic factors for OS in conservatively operated IMPC patients. The nomogram had a good prediction performance with the C-indices 0.771 (95%CI, 0.712-0.830) and 0.715 (95%CI, 0.603-0.827) in training and validation cohorts, respectively, and good consistency between the predicted and observed probability, with calibration curves plotted and the slope was close to 1. Based on calculation of the model, participants in low-risk group had a better OS in comparison with those in high-risk group (P < 0.001). Conclusions: A nomogram was developed to predict individualized risk of OS for IMPC patients after BCS. By risk stratification, this model is expected to guide treatment decision making in improving long-term follow-up strategies for IMPC patients.
Production and Characterization of High Solid Content Cellulose Nanofibrils from Pretreated Fluff Pulp
Authors: Ponnusamy Prabaharan Graceraj , Sharma Suraj , Mani Sudhagar
Published: December 2021

The increasing demand for cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) necessitates the development of novel processes to produce high-solid content and consistent quality nanofibrils. In this study, we investigated the combination of mechanical and chemical pretreatment methods (carboxymethylcellulose, CMC dispersion, and sodium hydroxide, NaOH swelling with ball milling) for cellulose fibers followed by high-pressure homogenization to evaluate the CNF characteristics. The carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) dispersion with 75 min ball milling and NaOH swelling with 15, 45, and 75 min ball milling of cellulose slurry reduced the fiber dimensions by up to 90% that eased the fibrillation to produce about 6% solid content CNF during high-pressure homogenization. The characterization of CNF hydrogels produced from pretreated samples revealed that they had an average fibril width of less than 30 nm with good dispersion stability. The CMC dispersion and NaOH swelling with ball milling of cellulose slurry did not significantly affect the chemical structure and the crystallinity of CNF hydrogels. On the other hand, the tensile strength of all the pretreated CNF samples was increased up to 105±14 MPa when compared with that of the control sample (58±6 MPa). NaOH treatment has slightly increased the thermal stability of CNF samples over CMC treated and control samples. In conclusion, short fibers generated by mild alkaline pretreatment with ball milling followed by high-pressure homogenization of cellulose fibers can produce the consistent quality CNF with high solid content and tensile strengths for various industrial applications.
In Vitro Susceptibility of Talaromyces Marneffei In Malaysia: Comparison of Yeast and Mycelial Phases
Authors: Tan Xue Ting , Shuhairi Nurliyana binti Mohd , Ginsapu Stephanie Jane , Shukor Surianti Binti , Amran Fairuz Binti
Published: December 2021

Talaromyces marneffei is an etiologic agent of talaromycosis. It can cause serious complications and death in immunocompromised patients, particularly in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. This infectious disease is endemic in Southeast Asia including Malaysia. To date, published reports on the antifungal susceptibility profile of T. marneffei is very limited. The objective of this study is to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of T. marneffei in yeast and mycelial phases in Malaysia. In the year 2020, 27 clinical strains of T. marneffei were received from various hospitals in Malaysia. The identification was carried out using microscopic, macroscopic and molecular methods. Following that, the susceptibility of each isolate in both yeast and mycelial form to thirteen common antifungals was performed according to the broth microdilution in Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) M38 method. The antifungals tested were anidulafungin, micafungin sodium, caspofungin diacetate, 5-fluorocytosine, amphotericin B and terbinafine hydrochloride, posaconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, ravuconazole, clotrimazole and isavuconazole. The geometric mean of all antifungals other than anidulafungin, micafungin sodium, caspofungin diacetate and 5-fluorocytosine against T. marneffei mould (mycelial) were >2 μg/ml. However, the geometric mean of all antifungals against T. marneffei yeast was <2 μg/ml. Our in vitro data suggests promising activities of amphotericin B, terbinafine hydrochloride, posaconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, ravuconazole, clotrimazole and isavuconazole against yeast and mould phases of T. marneffei.
Writing And Reading With The Longitudinal Component of Light Using Carbazole-Containing Azopolymer Thin Films
Authors: Porfirev Alexey , Khonina Svetlana , Ivliev Nikolay , Meshalkin Alexei , Achimova Elena , Forbes Andrew
Published: December 2021

It is well known that azobenzene-containing polymers (azopolymers) are sensitive to the polarization orientation of the illuminating radiation, with the resulting photoisomerization inducing material transfer at both the meso-and macroscale. As a result, azopolymers are efficient and versatile photonic materials, for example, they used for the fabrication of linear diffraction gratings, including subwavelength gratings, microlens arrays, and spectral filters. Here we propose to use carbazole-containing azopolymer thin films to directly visualize the longitudinal component of the incident laser beam, a crucial task for the realization of 3D structured light yet remaining experimentally challenging. We demonstrate the approach on both scalar and vectorial states of structured light, including higher-order and hybrid cylindrical vector beams. In addition to detection, our results confirm that carbazole-containing azopolymers are a powerful tool material engineering with the longitudinal component of the electric field, particularly to fabricate microstructures with unusual morphologies that differentiate from the total intensity distribution of the writing laser beam.
Epidemiology, Incidence and Trend of Injuries in Iran: A National Study
Authors: Akbari Hossein , Mahdian Mehrdad , Motalebi Masoud , Asgarian Fatemeh Sadat
Published: December 2021

Background: Injuries are one of the well-known leading causes of disability and mortality in all societies. This study aims to determine the incidence and trend of injuries and their epidemiologic characteristics in Iran.Methods: In a cross sectional study, injuries fatality data from 2006 to 2016 were obtained from the registry of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (Iran) and analyzed to determine the epidemiological pattern of injuries. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Excel and statistical package of SPSS version 22 were used for data analysis. The P value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The highest incidence of injuries was related to traffic injuries with 546.4 per 100000 populations, followed by trauma and falls from heights with 497.7 and 195.2 per 100000 population, respectively. The highest incidence of traffic injuries in Iran had occurred in the year 2011 with 628.1 per 100000 population.Conclusion: Regarding the high incidence of injuries, especially traffic crashes, traumas and falls the priorities for close monitoring of these injuries during the high-risk periods in order to decrease and control of the rate of the injuries strongly felt.
Application of Organic Amendments to Cadmium-contaminated Soils for Phytostabilization Potential by Dicotyledonous Bioenergy Crops
Authors: Taeprayoon Puntaree , Homyog Kunaporn , Meeinkuirt Weeradej
Published: December 2021

Acacia (Acacia mangium), jatropha (Jatropha curcas), and cassava (Manihot esculenta) were cultivated in a greenhouse to see how organic amendments affected plant survival and accumulation of cadmium (Cd) in plant tissues. The study plants are bioenergy crops, which are advantageous to phytomanagement because they provide a significant economic benefit to local residents and farmers in the agricultural sector while also simultaneously reducing Cd entry into food webs through consumption. In this study, bone meal/bat manure and leonardite/bat manure were the key organic amendments that promoted the best growth performances in acacia (growth rate in dry biomass; GRDB 24.2) and cassava (GRDB 22.2), respectively, while jatropha preferred bone meal (GRDB 17.2). However, leonardite/bone meal considerably reduced Cd uptake values in whole plant tissues of acacia and cassava (35 mg plant-1 and 119.1 mg plant-1, respectively), while bone meal/chicken manure greatly reduced Cd uptake values in jatropha (127.8 mg plant-1). Cassava is a Cd excluder; however, it may not be a useful bioenergy crop to cultivate in Cd soil because it displayed toxicity symptoms after harvesting. The best plant for phytomanagement in this study was jatropha, which demonstrated substantial growth biomass and Cd accumulation, followed by acacia.
Application Analysis of Omental Flap Isolation and Modified Pancreaticojejunostomy in Pancreaticoduodenectomy (175 Cases)
Authors: Deng Shun , Luo Jianhong , Ouyang Yongzhong , Xie Jiangbo , He Zhuo , Huang Bo , Bai Fei , Xiao Ke , Yin Bin , Wang Jinfeng , Xu Biaoming , Zuo Chaohui
Published: December 2021

Background: To explore the application value of free omentum wrapping and modified pancreaticojejunostomy in pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD).Methods: The clinical data of 175 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy from January 2015 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were divided into 86 cases in group A (omental wrapping and modified pancreaticojejunostomy) and 89 cases in group B (control group). The incidence of pancreatic fistula and other related complications, inflammatory factors and survival rate were compared between the two groups.Results: The incidences of B/C pancreatic fistula, bile leakage, delayed bleeding, and reoperation in group A were lower than those in group B, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The free omentum wrapping isolation and the modified pancreaticojejunostomy group drainage tube extubation time, open diet time and postoperative hospital stay were earlier than the control group (P <0.05). There were also statistically significant differences in CRP, IL-6, PCT inflammatory factors 1, 3, and 7 days after surgery as well as in postoperative survival rate.Univariate analysis showed that BMI, pancreatic duct diameter, greater omental flap isolation and modified pancreaticojejunostomy were related to the occurrence of pancreatic fistula after PD. Multivariate analysis showed that BMI≥24, pancreatic duct diameter less than 3mm, no greater omental flap isolation method and modified pancreaticojejunostomy were independent risk factors for pancreatic fistula (P<0.05).Conclusions: Wrapping and isolating with free greater omentum plus modified pancreaticojejunostomy can significantly reduce the incidence of postoperative pancreatic fistula and related complications, inhibit the development of inflammation, and is conducive to the prognosis.
Coverage Prediction for Target Coverage in WSN Using Machine Learning Approaches
Authors: Chaturvedi Pooja , Daniel Ajai Kumar , Narayan Vipul
Published: December 2021

Mathematical programming techniques are widely used in the determination of optimal functional configuration of a wireless sensor network (WSN). But these techniques have usually high computational complexity and are often considered as Non Polynomial (NP) complete problems. Therefore, machine learning (ML) techniques can be utilized for the prediction of the WSN parameters with high accuracy and lesser computational complexity than the mathematical programming techniques. This paper focuses on developing the prediction model for determination of the node status to be included in the set cover based on the coverage probability and trust values of the nodes. The set covers are defined as the subset of nodes which are scheduled to monitor the region of interest with the desired coverage level. Several machine learning techniques have been used to determine the node activation status based on which the set covers are obtained. The results show that the random forest based prediction model yields the highest accuracy for the considered network setting.
Baicalein Attenuates Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Survival and Induces Apoptosis Through the miR‑3178/HDAC10 pathway
Authors: Qi Junan , Li Jun , Bie Beibei , Shi Mengjiao , Zhu Mengchen , Tian Jing , Zhu Kai , Sun Jin , Mu Yanhua , Li Zongfang , Guo Ying
Published: December 2021

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of hepatic malignancies with high mortality and poor prognosis and is the third most common cause of malignancies death worldwide which is more than 700,000 deaths per year. Baicalein, one of the major and bioactive flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, which is reported to have anti-proliferation effect in varying cancers, including HCC, whose underlying molecular mechanism is still largely unknown. In this study, the results showed that administration of baicalein significantly inhibited proliferation and colony formation, blocked cell cycle arrest at the S phase, and promoted apoptosis in HCC cells MHCC-97H and SMMC-7721 in vitro and reduced HCC tumor volume and weight in vivo. Increased microRNA (miR)‑3178 levels and decreased histone deacetylase 10 (HDAC10) expression were found in cells treated with baicalein and in patients’ HCC tissues. HDAC10 was identified as a target gene of miR‑3178 by luciferase activity and western blot. Both baicalein treatment and overexpression of miR-3178 could down-regulate protein expression of HDAC10 and inactivated AKT, MDM2/p53/Bcl2/Bax and FoxO3α/p27/CDK2/Cyclin E1 signal pathways. Not only that, knockdown of miR‑3178 could partly abolish the effects of baicalein and the restoration of HDAC10 could abated miR-3178-mediated role in HCC cells. Collectively, baicalein inhibited cell viability, blocks cell cycle and induces apoptosis in HCC cells by regulating the miR‑3178/HDAC10 pathway. This finding indicated that baicalein might be promising for treatment of HCC.
Prognostic Role of Ngal In Critically Ill Patients
Authors: Bhardwaj Anubhuti , Chaurasia Ajeet Kumar , Gupta Poonam , Narain Upma , Gupta Arvind
Published: December 2021

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequently encountered outcome in critically ill patients, accounting for increased mortality. Neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been of paramount importance as a novel biomarker of AKI. This study is an attempt to assess the use of NGAL in critically ill patients so that timely interventions can be done to reduce morbidity and mortality in such patients.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted at SRN Hospital from August 1st 2020 to March 15th 2021, which included only critically ill patients with SOFA score>1 and requiring ICU admission. Patients of known renal diseases were excluded from the study. Blood as well as urinary samples for NGAL and other laboratory parameters were collected within 8 hours of admission. Patients who developed renal dysfunction were noted as our cases and the others were noted as controls. Results: The study was done on 125 patients, out of which 67 developed AKI while 58 did not develop AKI. Higher mortality was seen in patients with higher stage of AKI (P- 0.011). The cutoff of serum and urinary NGAL for predicting AKI were >42.3 ng/mL, >40.5 ng/mL respectively (P value <0.001). Hazard Ratio for all cause mortality of raised serum and urinary NGAL was 2.0062 (p value- 0.0001, 95% CI-1.0031 to 1.0092) and 2.0046 (p value-0.0035, 95% CI-1.0015 to 1.0078) respectively. Serum and urinary neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin at values >91 and >131 respectively were found to predict requirement of hemodialysis (p value<0.001).Conclusion: A single measurement of NGAL at the time of admission had good predictive ability for AKI. Higher values of NGAL were associated with staging of AKI and thus, correlated with need of hemodialysis. Furthermore, mortality was found to be associated with development of AKI and raised NGAL. Thus, NGAL maybe used to assess the prognosis of ICU patients so that patients at high risk may be managed aggressively, thus reducing mortality.
Changes in limiting factors for forager population dynamics in Europe across the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition
Authors: Ordonez Alejandro , Riede Felix
Published: December 2021

Population dynamics set the framework for human genetic and cultural evolution. For foragers, demographic and environmental changes correlate strongly, although the causal relations between different environmental variables and human responses through time and space likely varied. Building on the notion of limiting factors, namely that the scarcest resource regulates population size, we present a statistical approach to identify the dominant climatic constraints for hunter-gatherer population densities and then hindcast their changing dynamics in Europe for the period between 20kyBP to 8kyBP. Limiting factors shifted from temperature-related variables during the Pleistocene to a regional mosaic of limiting factors in the Holocene. This spatiotemporal variation suggests that hunter-gatherers needed to overcome very different adaptive challenges in different parts of Europe, and that these challenges vary over time. The signatures of these changing adaptations may be visible archaeologically. In addition, the spatial disaggregation of limiting factors from the Pleistocene to the Holocene coincides with and may partly explain the diversification of the cultural geography at this time.
Sensitivity of A Frequency-Based Alignment-Free Approach For Phylogeny Rreconstruction.
Authors: Hrytsenko Yana , Daniels Noah M. , Schwartz Rachel S.
Published: December 2021

Background: Phylogenies enrich our understanding of how genes, genomes, and species evolve. Traditionally, alignment-based methods are used to construct phylogenies from genetic sequence data; however, this process can be time-consuming when analyzing the large amounts of genomic data available today. Additionally, these analyses face challenges due to differences in genome structure, synteny, and the need to identify similarities in the face of repeated substitutions resulting in loss of phylogenetic information contained in the sequence. Alignment Free (AF) approaches using k-mers (short subsequences) can be an efficient alternative due to their indifference to positional rearrangements in a sequence. However, these approaches may be sensitive to k-mer length and the distance between samples.Results: In this paper, we analyzed the sensitivity of an AF approach based on k-mer frequencies to these challenges using cosine and Euclidean distance metrics for both assembled genomes and unassembled sequencing reads. Quantification of the sensitivity of this AF approach for phylogeny reconstruction to branch length and k-mer length provides a better understanding of the necessary parameter ranges for accurate phylogeny reconstruction. Our results show that a frequency-based AF approach can result in accurate phylogeny reconstruction when using whole genomes, but not stochastically sequenced reads, so long as longer k-mers are used. Conclusions: In this study, we have shown an AF approach for phylogeny reconstruction is robust in analyzing assembled genome data for a range of numbers of substitutions using longer k-mers. Using simulated reads randomly selected from the genome by the Illumina sequencer had a detrimental effect on phylogeny estimation. Additionally, filtering out infrequent k-mers improved the computational efficiency of the method while preserving the accuracy of the results thus suggesting the feasibility of using only a subset of data to improve computational efficiency in cases where large sets of genome-scale data are analyzed.
The use of vagal manoeuvres in narrow complex tachyarrhythmias in primary care
Authors: Murphy Shane , Torlutter Michele
Published: December 2021

Supraventricular tachydysrhythmias (SVTs) are a common presenting complaint, with a national prevalence of 3/1000 persons. Whilst most commonly stable, prolonged paroxysms can deteriorate into haemodynamically unstable subtypes or ventricular dysrhythmias. Early recognition with appropriate management is critical to reducing the morbidity associated with this condition. The American Heart Association holds that vagal manoeuvres are a first-line therapy in the management algorithm of stable SVTs. However, they state that no clear recommendations can be made around which manoeuvre to use, highlighting that future research should examine the efficacy and safety profiles of the various manoeuvres. In the South African primary care setting, clinicians must be at the forefront of pragmatic management strategies in the face of resource limitations, such as the unavailability of adenosine – a second-line therapy when vagal manoeuvres fail. In this article, we begin with a case study and review the literature around vagal manoeuvres.
A Study of Fabricating Nano-W Colloid by Discharge Energy Enhancement of the micro-EDM System
Authors: Chang Chaur-Yang , Tseng Kuo-Hsiung , Chang Jui-Tsun , Chung Meng-Yun , Lin Zih-Yuan
Published: December 2021

This study enhanced the discharge energy of an existing micro-electric discharge machining (EDM) system to provide the system with the ability to prepare nano-tungsten (nano-W) colloid. The energy- enhanced EDM system, referred to as the upgraded-micro-EDM system, enables spark discharge using tungsten wires immersed in deionized water to produce nano-W colloids. Compared with the chemical preparation method, the processing environment for preparing colloids will not have nanoparticle escape in this study. Among the nano-W colloids prepared using the upgraded-micro-EDM system and an industrial EDM system, the colloid prepared by the upgraded-micro-EDM system exhibited more favorable absorbance, suspensibility, and particle size. The colloid prepared by the upgraded-micro-EDM system with the pulse on time and off time of 10–10 µs had an absorbance of 0.277 at the wavelength of 315 nm, ζ potential of −64.9 mV, and an average particle size of 164.9 nm. Transmission electron microscope imaging revealed the minimum particle size of approximately 11 nm, and the X-ray diffractometer spectrum verified that the colloid contained only \({\text{W}}_{2.00}\) and W nanoparticles. Relative to industrial EDM applications for nano-W colloid preparation, the upgraded system boasts lower costs and smaller size, and produces nano-W colloid with superior performance. These advantages contribute to the competitiveness of electrical spark discharge method in the preparation of high-quality nano-W colloids.
Active learning of reactive Bayesian force fields: Application to heterogeneous catalysis dynamics of H/Pt
Authors: Vandermause Jonathan , Xie Yu , Lim Jin Soo , Owen Cameron , Kozinsky Boris
Published: December 2021

Atomistic modeling of chemically reactive systems has so far relied on either expensive ab initio methods or bond-order force fields requiring arduous parametrization. Here, we describe a Bayesian active learning framework for autonomous ``on-the-fly'' training of fast and accurate reactive many-body force fields during molecular dynamics simulations. At each time step, predictive uncertainties of a sparse Gaussian process are evaluated to automatically determine whether additional ab initio training data are needed. We introduce a general method for mapping trained kernel models onto equivalent polynomial models whose prediction cost is much lower and independent of the training set size. As a demonstration, we perform direct two-phase simulations of heterogeneous H2 turnover on the Pt(111) catalyst surface, at chemical accuracy. The model trains itself in three days and performs at twice the speed of a ReaxFF model, while maintaining much higher fidelity to DFT and excellent agreement with experiment.