bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Relapse of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Renal Significance after mRNA Covid-19 vaccination: a case report
Authors: Tsaftaridis Nikolaos , Potoupni Victoria , Koraka Lydia , Iatridi Foteini , Lioulios Georgios , Christodoulou Michalis , Fylaktou Asimina , Papagianni Aikaterini , Stangou Maria
Published: November 2022

Introduction
This case report represents, to our knowledge, the first suspected case of Light Chain Deposition Disease (LCDD) relapse associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. It must be made clear that timing is the only link between the vaccination and the relapse of LCDD, and since millions of individuals received these vaccines, an event like this may be due to chance. At the same time, this case report may be an entry point into further explorations of the pathogenesis of LCDD, given the mechanism of action of the vaccine and the pathophysiology of the disease, as it is currently understood.
Case presentation
The 75-year-old female patient of Greek ethnicity was admitted into our clinic for the investigation of worsening renal function that was detected on routine lab examinations two weeks after she received the second dose of the moderna COVID vaccine (mRNA-1273). Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and anemia were the most notable findings upon admission. She had a history of Light Chain Deposition Disease (LCDD) which had remained stable under management for four years. Serum protein electrophoresis was performed and showed monoclonal kappa zones, while bone marrow biopsy revealed 5% plasma cell infiltration. All the above, along with other investigations, established the diagnosis of LCDD recurrence. She was started on chemotherapy, which improved her immunological profile but not her renal function. The patient has remained on hemodialysis since.
Conclusions
The association between mRNA vaccinations and LCDD relapse may be ground for investigations into the pathophysiology of MGRS, given the patient’s previous long-term remission. In this context, we want to stress once again the importance of following standardized routine mandates on COVID vaccination, especially in immunocompromised patients. This case report is not intended to directly inform changes in clinical practice.
Paternal UPD14 with sSMC derived from chromosome 14 in Kagami-Ogata syndrome
Authors: Wang Jiyong , Lichty Angie , Johnson Jill , Couick Chandler , Moore Mary Alice , Christensen Beth , Howard Khirston , Lee Jennifer A. , DuPont Barbara , Clarkson Lola B. , Hilton Benjamin A.
Published: November 2022

Uniparental disomy (UPD) has been associated with several well-characterized disorders due to abnormal imprinting of the underlying genes. Depending on the parent-of-origin, paternal and maternal UPD are frequently associated with clinically distinct imprinting disorders. Here we report a neonatal case that was referred to Greenwood Genetic Center for clinical genetic testing. Prenatal ultrasound identified polyhydramnios and congenital cardiac anomalies and neonatal examination revealed a prune-like belly and bowel obstruction. Taking advantage of a variety of cytogenetic and molecular genetic approaches, we identified the presence of a small supernumerary marker chromosome (sSMC) associated with a complex chromosomal rearrangement derived from 14q11.2 and absence of heterozygosity on the chromosome 14q, indicative of uniparental isodisomy for chromosome 14. In addition, microsatellite DNA analysis of chromosome 14 showed UPD14 in this patient is paternal in origin, which is consistent with a clinical diagnosis of Kagami-Ogata syndrome (KOS). To our knowledge, this is the first case report of KOS resulting from paternal UPD14 and presence of sSMC with complex chromosomal rearrangement involving 14q11.2 without evidence of mosaicism.
MarIA and BETO are sexist: evaluating gender bias in large language models for Spanish
Authors: Garrido-Muñoz Ismael , Martínez-Santiago Fernando , Montejo-Ráez Arturo
Published: November 2022

The study of bias in language models is a growing area of work, however, both research and resources are focused on English. In this paper, we make a first approach focusing on gender bias in some freely available Spanish language models trained using popular deep neural networks, like BERT or RoBERTa. Some of these models are known for achieving state-of-the-art results on downstream tasks. These promising results have promoted such models' integration in many real-world applications and production environments, which could be detrimental to people affected for those systems. This work proposes an evaluation framework to identify gender bias in masked language models, with explainability in mind to ease the interpretation of the evaluation results. We have evaluated 20 different models for Spanish, including some of the most popular pretrained ones in the research community. Our findings state that varying levels of gender bias are present across these models. This approach compares the adjectives proposed by the model for a set of templates. We classify the given adjectives into understandable categories and compute two new metrics from model predictions, one based on the internal state (probability) and the other one on the external state (rank). Those metrics are used to reveal biased models according to the given categories and quantify the degree of bias of the models under study.
Tetragonal Mexican-Hat Dispersion and Switchable Half-Metal State with Multiple Anisotropic Weyl Fermions in Penta-Graphene
Authors: Zhao Jijun , Jia Ningning , Shi Yongting , Lv Zhiheng , Qin Junting , Cai Jiangtao , Jiang Xue , Liu Zhifeng
Published: November 2022

Due to the paired valence electrons configuration, all known 2D carbon allotropes are intrinsically nonmagnetic. Based on the reported 2D carbon structure database and first-principles calculations, herein we demonstrate that inherent ferromagnetism can be obtained in the prominent allotrope, penta-graphene, which has a unique Mexican-hat valence band edge, giving rise to van Hove singularities and electronic instability. Induced by modest hole-doping that is achievable in electrolyte gate, the semiconducting penta-graphene can be transformed into different ferromagnetic half-metals with room-temperature stability and switchable spin directions. In particular, multiple anisotropic Weyl states, including type-I and type-II Weyl cones and hybrid quasi Weyl nodal loop, can be found in a sizable energy window of spin-down half-metal under proper strains. These findings not only identify a promising carbon allotrope to obtain the inherent magnetism for carbon-based spintronic devices, but highlight the possibility to realize different Weyl states by combining the electronic and mechanical means as well.
Family-based analysis of the contribution of rare and common genetic variants to school performance in schizophrenia
Authors: Rammos Alexandros , Kirov George , Hubbard Leon , Walters James T. R. , Holmans Peter , Owen Michael J. , O'Donovan Michael C. , Rees Elliott
Published: November 2022

Impaired cognition in schizophrenia is associated with worse functional outcomes. While genetic factors are known to contribute to variation in cognition in schizophrenia, few rare coding variants with strong effects have been identified, and the relative effects from de novo, inherited and non-transmitted alleles are unknown. We used array and exome sequencing data from 656 proband-parent trios to examine the contribution of rare and common variants to school performance, and by implication cognitive function, in schizophrenia. Probands who performed worse at school were enriched for damaging de novo coding variants in genes associated with developmental disorders (DD) (p-value = 0.00026; OR = 11.6). Damaging, ultra-rare coding variants in DD genes that were transmitted or non-transmitted from parents, had no effects on school performance. 13 probands had damaging de novocoding variants in DD genes, of whom 12 had lower school performance. Among probands with lower school performance, those with damaging de novocoding variants in DD genes had a higher rate of comorbid mild intellectual disability (p-value = 0.0002; OR = 15.6). Parental transmission of common genetic liability for educational attainment and intelligence, but not for schizophrenia, was associated with proband school performance, but no significant effects were seen for non-transmitted parental alleles. Overall, we provide evidence for rare and common genetic contributions to school performance in schizophrenia. The strong effects for damaging de novocoding variants in DD genes provide further evidence that cognitive impairment in schizophrenia has a shared aetiology with developmental disorders. Furthermore, we report no evidence in this sample that non-transmitted parental alleles for cognitive traits contributed to school performance in schizophrenia via indirect effects on the environment.
Association analysis of 27 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in a Chinese population with essential tremor
Authors: Cao Lanxiao , Gu Luyan , Pu Jiali , Lv Dayao , Tian Jun , Yin Xinzhen , Gao Ting , Song Zhe , Lu Jinyu , Zhao Gaohua , Zhang Baorong , Yan Yaping , Zhao Guohua
Published: November 2022

Genetic factors play a major role in essential tremor (ET) pathogenesis. This study aimed to assess variant burden in ET associated genes in a relatively large Chinese population cohort. We genotyped 27 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously reported to be associated with ET using the MassARRAY System in 488 familial and sporadic ET patients and 514 healthy controls (HCs). Then we performed allelic and genotypic association test by Pearson chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. A total of 1002 samples were included in our analysis, consisting of 488 ET patients and 514 sex and age-matched HCs. For rs10937625, the C allele was linked to increased risk of ET (p = 0.019, OR = 1.503, 95% CI = 1.172–1.928). The carriers of the C/C homozygote and C/T heterozygote showed a significantly higher risk of ET compared with the T/T homozygote under the dominant model (p = 0.019, OR = 1.628, 95% CI = 1.221–2.170). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of other SNPs between ET patients and healthy controls. Rs10937625 (STK32B) may increase the risk of ET in eastern Chinese population.
A remotely sensed study of the impact of meteorological parameters on vegetation for the eastern basins of Afghanistan
Authors: Nabizada Ahmad Farid , Rousta Iman , Mozaffari Gholamali , Dalvi Marjan , Olafsson Haraldur , Siedliska Anna , Baranowski Piotr , Tkaczyk Przemysław , Krzyszczak Jaromir
Published: November 2022

Despite the importance of the Amu Darya and Kabul River Basins as a region in which more than 15 million people live, and its vulnerability to global warming, only several studies addressed the issue of the linkage of meteorological parameters on vegetation for the eastern basins of Afghanistan. In this study, data from the MODIS, Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM), and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) was used for the period from 2000 to 2021. The study utilized several indices, such as Precipitation Condition Index (PCI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI), Soil Moisture Condition Index (SMCI), and Microwave Integrated Drought Index (MIDI). The relationships between meteorological quantities, drought conditions, and vegetation variations were examined by analyzing the anomalies and using regression methods. The results showed that the years 2000, 2001, and 2008 had the lowest vegetation coverage (VC) (56, 56, and 55% of the study area, respectively). On the other hand, the years 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2020 had the highest VC (71, 71, 72, and 72% of the study area, respectively). The trend of the VC for the eastern basins of Afghanistan for the period from 2000 to 2021 was upward. High correlations between VC and soil moisture (R = 0.70, p = 0.0004), and precipitation (R = 0.5, p = 0.008) were found, whereas no significant correlation was found between VC and drought index MIDI. It was revealed that soil moisture, precipitation, land surface temperature, and area under meteorological drought conditions explained 45% of annual VC variability.
A novel pH sensitive theranostic PLGA nanoparticle for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy in Mesothelioma treatment
Authors: Sforzi Jacopo , Lanfranco Alberto , Stefania Rachele , Alberti Diego , Bitonto Valeria , Parisotto Stefano , Renzi Polyssena , Protti Nicoletta , Altieri Saverio , Deagostino Annamaria , Crich Simonetta Geninatti
Published: November 2022

This study aims to develop poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles with an innovative imaging-guided approach based on Boron Neutron Capture Therapy for the treatment of mesothelioma. The herein-reported results demonstrate that PLGA nanoparticles incorporating oligo-histidine chains and the dual Gd/B theranostic agent AT101 can successfully be exploited to deliver a therapeutic dose of boron to mesothelioma cells, significantly higher than in healthy mesothelial cells as assessed by ICP-MS and MRI. The selective release is pH responsive taking advantage of the slightly acidic pH of the tumour extracellular environment and triggered by the protonation of imidazole groups of histidine. After irradiation with thermal neutrons, tumoral and healthy cells survival and clonogenic ability were evaluated. Obtained results appear very promising, providing patients affected by this rare disease with an improved therapeutic option, exploiting PLGA nanoparticles.
Total skin helical tomotherapy based on 3D printed total skin bolus
Authors: Wang Haiyang , Pi Yifei , Liu Chunbo , Wang Xin , Guo Yuexin , Lu Lei , Pei Xi , Xu Xie George
Published: November 2022

Objective
To investigate the effectiveness of the 3D printing total skin bolus which was first used to treat mycosis fungoides (MF) with total skin helical tomotherapy (TSHT).
Materials and Methods
A 65-year-old female MF patient with a 3-year medical history was studied, and an in-house desktop fused deposition modeling printer was used to make flexible material of 5 mm thickness for the total skin bolus to increase the skin dose through build-up. The patient was scanned in upper and lower segments while the position of 10cm above the patella was defined as the dividing line, the prescription was 24 Gy in 24 fractions, and 5 times per week. The plan parameters consisting of the FW of 5 cm, the pitch of 0.287 and the MF of 3. The complete block was 4 cm away from the planning target volume (PTV) to reduce the dose of the internal organ at risk (OAR) especially the total bone marrow. Cheese Phantom point dose, ArcCHECK 3D plane dose, and total body multi-point EBT3 film verification was performed to ensure dose delivery accuracy. Finally, MVCT guidance was used to ensure the accuracy of setup and treatment.
Results
A 5 mm thick 3D printing suit was used as the bolus to achieve target volume coverage with 95% of the prescribed dose. The lower target's conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) were slightly better than the upper target. The doses of bone marrow gradually decreased with increasing distance from the skin, and the doses of other OARs were within the clinical requirements. The deviation of point dose verification was less than 1%, the 3D plane dose verification was greater than 90%, and the film multi-point dose verification deviation was less than 3%, multiple verification methods have proved the accuracy of the actual dose. The total treatment time was about 1.5 hours (0.5 hour for wearing 3D printing suit and 1 hour for beam-on), and patients may only have slight fatigue, mild nausea or vomiting, low-grade fever, and grade Ⅲ bone marrow suppression.
Conclusion
The TSHT of 3D printing suit can produce a uniform dose distribution with a short treatment time, simple implementation process, good clinical effect, and low toxic effect, this study provides one more treatment method to reach a better clinical effect for the treatment of MF.
Validating the APACHE Ⅳ score in predicting length of stay in the intensive care unit among patients with sepsis
Authors: Zangmo Kinley , Khwannimit Bodin
Published: November 2022

The Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV model can predict the intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS) in critically ill patients. Thus, this study aimed to validate the performance of the APACHE Ⅳ score in predicting ICU LOS among patients with sepsis. This retrospective study was conducted in the medical ICU of a tertiary university between 2017 and 2020. A total of 1,039 sepsis patients were enrolled. Patients with an ICU stay of 1 and > 3 days accounted for 20.1% and 43.9%. The overall observed and APACHE IV score predicted ICU LOS were 6.3 ± 6.5 and 6.8 ± 6.5, respectively. The APACHE IV score slightly over-predicted ICU LOS with standardized length of stay ratio 0.95 (95%CI 0.89–1.02). The predicted ICU LOS based on the APACHE IV score was statistically longer than the observed ICU LOS (p < 0.001) and were poorly correlated (R2 = 0.02, p < 0.001), especially in patients with a lower severity of illness. In conclusions the APACHE IV model poorly predicted ICU LOS in patients with sepsis. The APACHE IV score needs to be modified or we need to make a new specific model to predict ICU stays in patients with sepsis.
n-Pentanol lubrication of silica layers passivated with hydroxyl groups under constant shear stress and load, and isothermal conditions
Authors: Rivera Jose Luis , Bastida-Silva Vidal Moises , Guerra-Gonzalez Roberto , Ramirez-Zavaleta Fernando Iguazu , Lima Enrique
Published: November 2022

Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study the frictional behavior of silica layers passivated with hydroxyl groups and n-pentanol chains at constant shear stress, constant normal load, and isothermal conditions. We analyzed the shear stress conditions that produce sliding conditions under regimes of single slips, multiple slips, and continuous sliding. We also analyzed the single and multiple slips in terms of their conformations and displacements and proposed a sliding mechanism between the methyl groups of the n-pentanol chains located at the sliding surface. We studied the equilibration periods, which can reach high accelerations, prior to the continuous sliding behavior. A critical ordering of the hydrogen bonds at the silica surface is needed prior to reaching the stationary state. The velocities obtained in the stationary states follow a logarithmic dependence with the shear stresses, as previously reported for the single slip regime. Finally, we studied the conformations of the systems under the shortest and the largest shear stresses, which resulted in small changes in the lubricant volume, expanded as the shear stress increased.
Mastering Vacuum Swallowing to Improve Pharyngeal Bolus Passage by Creating Negative Pressure in the Esophagus
Authors: Kunieda Kenjiro , Fujishima Ichiro , Ohno Tomohisa , Sugi Takafumi , Tanahashi Kazuo , Okamoto Keisi , Suzuki Saori , Shigematsu Takashi , Yagi Naomi , Oku Yoshitaka
Published: November 2022

Objective
Vacuum swallowing improves pharyngeal bolus passage by creating negative pressure in the esophagus. This study aimed to (1) assess whether patients with dysphagia with lateral medullary syndrome (LMS) could reproduce vacuum swallowing and (2) evaluate its safety using a swallowing and breathing monitoring system (SBMS).
Methods
Two patients with dysphagia with LMS were instructed to perform vacuum swallowing. Videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing (VF) was performed. High-resolution manometry (HRM) parameters, including the esophageal minimum pressure (Pmin) and maximum pressure (Pmax) in the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), were compared to the values obtained during normal swallowing. The coordination between vacuum swallowing and breathing was evaluated using SBMS.
Results
VF showed that pharyngeal residues in the pyriform sinus were sucked into the esophagus during vacuum swallowing. No aspiration was observed. Pmin was significantly lower, and Pmax was significantly higher during vacuum swallowing. In the SBMS study, vacuum swallowing followed an expiratory swallowing pattern; this pattern was observed in 3 out of 5 swallowing episodes in Patient 1 and all swallowing episodes in Patient 2. Deglutition apnea was observed during vacuum swallowing.
Conclusion
Patients could safely master vacuum swallowing. This may be a new method for improving pharyngeal bolus passage.
Cognitive map formation in the blind is enhanced by three-dimensional tactile information
Authors: Bleau Maxime , Acker Camille van , Nemargut Joseph Paul , Ptito Maurice
Published: November 2022

For blind individuals, tactile maps are useful tools to form cognitive maps through touch. However, they still experience challenges in cognitive map formation and independent navigation. Three-dimensional (3D) tactile information is thus increasingly being considered to convey enriched spatial information, but it remains unclear if it can facilitate cognitive map formation compared to traditional two-dimensional (2D) tactile information. Consequently, the present study investigated the impact of the type of sensory input (tactile vs. visual) on cognitive map formation. To do so, early blind (EB, n = 13), late blind (LB, n = 12), and sighted (SC, n = 14) participants were tasked to learn the layouts of mazes produced with different sensory information (visual vs. tactile 2D vs. tactile 3D) and to infer routes from memory. Results show that EB only manifested stronger cognitive map formation with 3D mazes. LB performed equally well with 2D and 3D mazes, and SC manifested equivalent cognitive map formation with visual and 3D tactile mazes. 3D tactile maps therefore have the potential to improve spatial learning for EB and newly blind individuals through a reduction of cognitive overload. Installation of 3D tactile maps in public spaces should be considered to promote universal accessibility and reduce blind individuals’ wayfinding deficits related to the inaccessibility of spatial information through non-visual means.
Recovery of high-quality genomes from the fecal microbiome of the domestic cat (Felis catus) using Hi-C proximity ligation
Authors: Rojas Connie A. , Ganz Holly H. , Gardy Jennifer , Eisen Jonathan A.
Published: November 2022

Objectives:The fecal microbiome of domestic cats is largely unexplored but of great interest to veterinarians, pet owners, and the pet food industry. Prior studies have mostly utilized 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and some have employed shotgun metagenomics but none have assembled bacterial genomes. Cultivation efforts in veterinary medicine have focused on pathogens or disease-associated taxa, and as a result, we are still building our understanding of the commensal bacteria associated with cats. Here we use Hi-C proximity ligation in combination with shotgun sequencing to retrieve high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from the fecal microbiomes of two healthy domestic cats (Felis catus). These genomes were assessed for completeness and contamination and were classified taxonomically.Data description:We used Phase Genomics’ ProxiMeta Kit to reconstruct 52 high-quality MAGs and also provide information on the putative AMR alleles encoded in these MAGs. Briefly, DNA was cross-linked, digested, and ligated to create chimeric junctions. These were sequenced and analyzed in conjunction with shotgun metagenome assemblies to assemble high-quality MAGs. This study is the first to provide MAGs from the fecal microbiomes of domestic cats and future studies can build off this work to further our understanding of the composition and function of the felid fecal microbiome.
Growing a Peritoneal Dialysis Program in Palestine from Zero to 178 Patients in 5 Years: A Single-Center Experience
Authors: Taher Ameed , Enaya Ahmad , Sarsour Ala , Bahar Sami , Hamayel Dalia , Safarini Omar , Hamdan Zakaria , Nazzal Zaher
Published: November 2022

Introduction: Kidney failure is rapidly rising in Palestine, as the number of patients receiving maintenance dialysis has quadrupled in the last 15 years. In this study, we share an overview of our experience growing a peritoneal dialysis (PD) program from zero to 178 patients in five years at An-Najah National University Hospital in Palestine, presenting some challenges and ways to overcome them.Methods: This was a single-center retrospective study of patients treated with PD from November 2016 to December 2021. Demographic and clinical data were obtained for each patient. In addition, PD discontinuation and peritonitis rates were calculated and presented as the primary patient outcomes.Results: A total of 158 patients were eligible for the study. The mean age was 51.8 ± 16.4 years, and 53.8% of patients were male. Diabetic nephropathy was the most common cause of kidney failure. Sixty-three episodes of peritonitis were diagnosed in 48 patients (30.4%) for a rate of 1 episode/ 38.2 patient-months (0.31 episodes/ patient-years). Twenty patients had their PD treatment discontinued, mainly due to psychosocial reasons and infectious and mechanical complications. Death was the fate of 27 patients, with cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 being the two main causes.Conclusion: The outcomes of this experience proved favorable and showed that PD could serve as a viable option for kidney failure patients in Palestine. Moreover, this study can serve as an example for other places where circumstances are challenging to take the initiative of starting their PD programs.
Anti-adhesion mechanism of TiB2 deposited Ti6Al4V blade tip against Al-hBN seal coating during high-speed rubbing
Authors: Wu Bi
Published: November 2022

The TiB2 coating deposited by magnetron sputtering on the Ti6Al4V simulated blade tip with a dense fiber-like microstructure has the adhesion strength grade of HF1. High-speed rubbing results showed that the TiB2 coating could inhibit the adhesive transfer of the Al-hBN seal coating at 300 m/s. It was found that the tribological oxidation of TiB2 coating led to the TiB2/fused Al interface reaction by characterization of the interface microstructure of the Al-adhesive blade tip. The thin interface reaction interlayer mainly consists of TiAl3 phase. The large thermal stress at TiAl3/TiB2 interface makes the interface reaction layer with the Al-adhesive transfer layer easily peel off from the blade tip. Thus, the Al-adhesive transfer is always at a lower level.
Synthesis and characterization of g-C 3 N 4 modified zeolite and its application as a methyl violet 6b cationic dye sorbent
Authors: Karimi Somayeh , Saraji Mohammad
Published: November 2022

This paper reports a novel, low-cost and facile approach to prepare a hybrid material consisting of zeolite, Fe3O4 and graphitic carbon nitride as a sorbent to remove methyl violet 6b (MV) from aqueous solutions. To improve the performance of the zeolite for the removal of MV, graphitic carbon nitride (with different C-N bonds and conjugated π region) was used. Also, to perform an easy and fast separation of sorbent from aqueous media, magnetic nanoparticles were incorporated into the sorbent. The prepared sorbent was characterized by different analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared, field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The effects of four parameters of initial pH, initial concentration of MV, contact time and the adsorbent amount on the removal process were investigated and optimized by the central composite design method. The removal efficiency of MV was modeled as a function of the experimental parameters an optimal removal efficiency of 89% and maximum adsorption capacity of 384.61 mg g− 1 was achieved using 10 mg of the sorbent at a 2-min contact time. The applied composite can efficiently remove MV from various wastewater samples (paint, textile industries, pesticide production wastewater samples and municipal wastewater).
Correlation between the Clinical Treatment Score Post 5 years (CTS5) and the Oncotype DX 21-gene recurrence score (ODX-RS); can we accurately predict patients who require extended adjuvant hormonal manipulation.
Authors: Shrestha Amber , Cullinane Carolyn , Evoy Denis , Geraghty James , Rothwell Jane , McCartan Damian , Quinn Cecily , Enda McDermott , Walshe Janice , Prichard Ruth
Published: November 2022

Background. While hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER 2-negative (HER2-), node-negative breast cancer is associated with an excellent overall prognosis, it possesses a unique penchant for late recurrence. Estimating breast cancer recurrence has traditionally relied on clinicopathologic markers, such as those underpinning the Clinical Treatment Score Post 5 years (CTS5) but there is an increasing dependence on multigene molecular signatures such as the Oncotype DX 21-gene recurrence score (ODX-RS). The purpose of this current study was to examine the relationship between the novel CTS5 and the ODX-RS with an observational cohort study.
Methods. The CTS5 and ODX-RS were calculated for 1,358 patients who were diagnosed with HR+, HER2-VE, node-negative, invasive breast cancer. The cohort was split according to menopausal status as defined by age. 381 pre-menopausal (<52 years) and 977 post-menopausal (≥ 52 years) patients were included in the analysis. Correlation statistics were used to investigate the relationship between the CTS5 and the ODX-RS.
Results. Considering the CTS5 and ODX-RS as categorical and continuous variables respectively, there was a significant relationship between the CST5 and the ODX-RS categories (Pearson's chi-squared (x2) p <0.001), and a high ODX-RS was weakly associated with a high CTS5 RS (Pearson product moment correlation pre-menopausal r=0.274, p<0.05; post-menopausal r=0.222, p<0.05).
Conclusion. The current study demonstrates a weak but statistically significant correlation between the CTS5 and the ODX-RS that is independent of age. This finding mirrors previous research which indicates that the ODX-RS is poorly correlated with traditional clinicopathologic features used to predict recurrence risk.
Comparing GDF9 in mature follicles and clinical outcome in different PCOS Phenotypes
Authors: Cai Jingjing , Luo Xiangmin , Wang Zhengyao , Chen Zixuan , Huang Donghong , Cao Hui , Chen Jing , Wu Jinxiang
Published: November 2022

Backgroud: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the leading cause of anovulatory infertility. Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) is aprime candidate as potential biomarker for the assessment of oocyte competence. Herein, we aimed to screen GDF9 of mature follicles in women with differentPCOS phenotypes undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COS) and analyse the correlation between GDF9 expression levels and the oocyte developmental ability.
Methods: In this study, follicular fluid (FF) and cumulus cells(CCs) of mature follicles were collected from different PCOS phenotypes, Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to examine the level of GDF9 in FF; Immunohistochemical method was performed to detect GDF9 protein expression in CCs. The indenpendent effect of GDF9 on blastocyst formation and clinical pregnancy was determined by Binary Logistic Regression analysis.
Results:The GDF9 levels in FF for phenotype A and B were significantly increased, compared to the phenotype D, (P=0.019, P=0.0015, respectively). Increased GDF9 expression in CCs of phenotype A and B was accompanied by the changes of FF. The analysis of the multivariable logistic regression showed that GDF9 was a significant independent prognosticator of blastocyst formation(P＜0.001). The phenotype A had a higher percent of blastocyst formationthan the phenotype B and D (P＜0.001).
Conclusions: Taken together, GDF9 expression varied in different PCOS phenotypes. The phenotype A had a higher GDF9 level and even more ability of blastocyst formation.
Effects of rearing mode on gastro-intestinal microbiota and development, immunocompetence, sanitary status and growth performance of lambs from birth to two months of age
Authors: Duniere Lysiane , Ruiz Philippe , Lebbaoui Yacine , Guillot Laurie , Bernard Mickael , Forano Evelyne , Chaucheyras-Durand Frédérique
Published: November 2022

Background: Artificial rearing system, commonly used in prolific sheep breeds, is associated to increased mortality and morbidity rates before weaning, which might be linked to perturbations in digestive tract maturation, including microbiota colonization. This study evaluated the effect of rearing mode (mothered or artificially reared) on the establishment of the rumen and intestinal microbiome of lambs from birth to weaning. We also measured immunological and zootechnical parameters to assess lambs’ growth and health. GIT anatomy as well as rumen and intestinal epithelium gene expression were also analysed on weaned animals to assess possible long-term effects of the rearing practice.
Results: Total VFA concentrations were higher in mothered lambs at 2 months of age, while artificially-reared lambs had lower average daily gain, a more degraded sanitary status and lower serum IgG concentration in the early growth phase. Metataxonomic analysis revealed higher richness of bacterial and eukaryote populations in mothered vs artificially-reared lambs in both Rumen and Feces. Beta diversity analysis indicated an evolution of rumen and fecal bacterial communities in mothered lambs with age, not observed in artificially-reared lambs. Important functional microorganisms such as the cellulolytic bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes and rumen protozoa did not establish correctly before weaning in artificially-reared lambs. Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli were dominant in the fecal microbiota of mothered lambs, but main E. coli virulence genes were not found differential between the two groups, suggesting they are commensal bacteria which could exert aprotective effect against pathogens. The fecal microbiota of artificially-reared lambs had a high proportion of lactic acid bacteria taxa. No difference was observed in mucosa gene expression in the two lamb groups after weaning.
Conclusions: The rearing mode influences gastrointestinal microbiota and health-associated parametersin offspring in early life: rumen maturation was impaired in artificially-reared lambs which also presented altered sanitary status and gut dysbiosis. The first month of age is thus a critical period where the gastrointestinal tract environment and microbiota are particularly unstable and special care should be taken in the management of artificially fed newborn ruminants.
Twenty-year longitudinal evaluation of blood-based DNA methylation biomarkers for early prediction of Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Hackenhaar Fernanda Schäfer , Josefsson Maria , Adolfsson Annelie Nordin , Landfors Mattias , Kauppi Karolina , Porter Tenielle , Milicic Lidija , Laws Simon M. , Hultdin Magnus , Adolfsson Rolf , Degerman Sofie , Pudas Sara
Published: November 2022

Background
DNA methylation (DNAm) is an epigenetic mechanism reflecting both inherited and environmental influences, and is a promising biomarker of multifactorial aging-related disorders like Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Early prediction of AD is critical, but little is known about the time-course of DNAm biomarkers long before symptom onset.
Methods
The long-term predictive ability of four existing DNAm-based epigenetic age acceleration clocks was tested in a longitudinal case-control sample (50 late-onset AD cases; 51 age- and sex-matched controls) with prospective data up to 16 years prior to clinical onset (mean: 8 years), and a post-onset follow-up. In addition, novel blood-based DNAm biomarkers for AD prediction were generated with epigenome-wide longitudinal linear mixed effects models, as well as sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis applied at time-points 10–16 years pre-onset and 0–7 years post-onset.
Results
Epigenetic age acceleration clocks did not differentiate cases from controls at any point during the 20-year follow up time (ps > 0.05). Our new DNA biomarkers, comprising 73, 7, and 27 CpG sites respectively, had excellent in-sample discriminatory and predictive accuracy on average 8 years prior to clinical onset (AUCs = 71.1–98.2% including age, sex, and white blood cell proportions). The longitudinal panel of CpGs replicated nominally (p = 0.012) in an external cohort (n = 146 cases, 324 controls). However, compared with the established genetic marker APOE ε4 our panel had a limited effect size (OR = 1.38 per 1 SD panel score increase vs. OR = 13.58 for ε4-allele carriage) and discriminatory accuracy in the external cohort (AUC = 77.2% vs. 87.0% for models with age, sex, and white blood cell proportions). A literature review showed low overlap (n = 4) across 3275 CpGs previously reported to be AD-associated in 8 published studies, and no overlap with our currently identified CpGs.
Conclusions
The results extend prior studies showing a limited predictive and prognostic value of epigenetic age acceleration in AD by considering a longer pre-onset follow-up time, and with appropriate control for age, sex, APOE, and white blood cell proportions. The findings further highlight challenges with replicating discriminatory or predictive CpGs across studies.
Targeted chitosan nanobubbles as a strategy to down-regulate microRNA-17 into B-cell lymphoma models
Authors: Capolla Sara , Argenziano Monica , Bozzer Sara , D’Agaro Tiziana , Bittolo Tamara , Leo Luigina , Not Tarcisio , Busato Davide , Bo Michele , Toffoli Giuseppe , Cavalli Roberta , Gattei Valter , Bomben Riccardo , Macor Paolo
Published: November 2022

Background: MicroRNAs represent interesting targets for new therapies because their altered expression influences tumor development and progression. miR-17 is a prototype of onco-miRNA, known to be overexpressed in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) with peculiar clinic-biological features. AntagomiR molecules have been largely studied to repress the regulatory functions of up-regulated onco-miRNAs, but their clinical use is mainly limited by their rapid degradation, kidney elimination and poor cellular uptake when injected as naked oligonucleotides.
To overcome these problems, we exploited CD20 targeted chitosan nanobubbles (NBs) for a preferential and safe delivery of antagomiR17 to B-NHL cells.
Results: Positively charged 400 nm-sized nanobubbles (NBs) represent a stable and effective nanoplatform for antagomiR encapsulation and specific release into B-NHL cells. NBs rapidly accumulated in tumor microenvironment, but only those conjugated with a targeting system (antiCD20 antibodies) were internalized into B-NHL cells, releasing antagomiR17 in the cytoplasm, both in vitro and in vivo. The result is the down-regulation of miR-17 level and the reduction in tumor burden in a human-mouse B-NHL model, without any documented side effects.
Conclusions: Anti-CD20 targeted NBs investigated in this study showed physico-chemical and stability properties suitable for antagomiR17 delivery in vivo and represent a useful nanoplatform to address B-cell malignancies or other cancers through the modification of their surface with specific targeting antibodies.
New impressive analytical optical soliton solutions to the Schrödinger-Poisson dynamical system against its numerical solutions
Authors: Zahran Emad H.M. , Bekir Ahmet , Ibrahim Reda A.
Published: November 2022

In our current study, we will derive new diverse enormous impressive analytical optical soliton solutions for the Schrödinger-Poisson dynamical system. The proposed model is applied in gravity field with the corresponding quantum state that produces coupling between different gravity states. Moreover, this model has a significant role in the field of many quantum phenomena. Hereby, we will construct diverse forms of the soliton behaviors that arising from this dynamical system via the solitary wave ansatze method. This technique is one of the ansatze methods that doesn’t surrenders to the homogeneous balance and continuously achieves good results. Moreover, we will construct the numerical solutions that are identical for all achieved exact solutions by using two-dimensional differential transform method (TDDTM). The extracted soliton solutions are new compared with that realized before by other authors who used various techniques. The achieved solutions will give new distinct configurations to soliton behaviors arising from this model and show the fact of charges regular distributions on conductors’ materials surface.
Analysis of Surgical Strategies and Efficacy in the Treatment of Os Odontoideum with Atlantoaxial Dislocation
Authors: Yang Baohui , Lu Teng , He xijing , Li Haopeng
Published: November 2022

Background:
There are many classification systems for atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD). Among these systems, the definitions of irreducible AAD remain vague, and its treatments are not unified.
Objective: To explore the surgical strategies and their efficacy for the treatment of os odontoideum (OO) with AAD.
Methods: The clinical data of 56 OO patients with AAD who underwent surgery from January 2017 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. AAD was classified into four types, Type I and type II were treated with posterior fixation and fusion. Type III received posterior fixation and fusion after irreducible dislocations were converted to reducible dislocations by trans lateral mass release or transoral release. Type IV required transoral release for conversion into reducible dislocations before posterior fixation and fusion. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and perioperative complications were recorded. The preoperative and postoperative neurological function changes were assessed using the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. Postoperative fusion status was assessed by X-ray or CT scan.
Results: There were 40 cases (71%) of type I-II, 14 cases (25%) of type III, and two cases (4%) of type IV AAD. The operation time was 137.5±42.04 min, and the blood loss was 202.85±171.21 mL. One patient with type III died, one with type III underwent revision surgery due to infection, and three patients with type I had further neurological deterioration after operation. Except for the patients who died, all patients were followed up for 12-24 months. The follow-up results showed that sufficient decompression was achieved and that the fixation and fusion were effective. The JOA score increased from 9.58±1.84 points before operation to 13.09±2.68 points at 3 months after operation,14.07±2.83 points at 6 months and 14.25±2.34 at 12 months after operation, all significant differences comparison with preoperative results (P<0.05).
Conclusion: OO patients with irreducible AAD can be treated by trans lateral mass release or transoral release combined with posterior fixation and fusion, while some of those with bony fusion can be treated by transoral release combined with posterior fixation and fusion.
GCPAN: A Group Convolution Network with Pixel Attention Mechanism for Remote Sensing Image Super-resolution
Authors: liu cong , Wang Yaxin
Published: November 2022

Image super-resolution reconstruction techniques, particularly those based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), have recently been successful in remote sensing image reconstruction. However, as we all known that, there are still two limitations, which limit their performance on several remote sensing tasks. Firstly, most of existing methods usually need a large number of parameters to construct their networks, which make the network difficult to train. Moreover, due to the gradient problem and the data degradation problem caused by large parameters, the model will become inefficient and have heavy computational burden. Secondly, the remote sensing image often contains many high frequency and low frequency information and most existing methods are treat them equally. Aiming at these problems, in this paper, we design a novel group convolution network with a pixel attention mechanism named GCPAN to better recover the details of the remote sensing image. First, we use the group convolution to reduce the parameters and computations by diving the feature maps into some groups, however, that may lost the correlation of different features, which is solved by using the channel shuffle after the group convolution. Second, we design a new attention mechanism (pixel attention mechanism) to capture more important information by assigning different weights to each pixel. All of these operations can improve the discriminative learning ability of the network. Our experiments show that our proposed model outperforms the existing state-of-the-art methods both quantitatively and perceptually.
Impact of Nutrition Education on Knowledge and Beliefs about Dietary supplements/Herbal foods: A pre - post intervention study
Authors: Kalkuz Seyma , Goktas Zeynep
Published: November 2022

Background:Dietary supplements/herbal foods are widely recommended in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 through social media and conventional media platforms, although their effects are unproven. However, studies showed that both general population and health professionals, who recommend these products to the general population, may not be adequately informed about dietary supplements/herbal foods use. The unnecessary use of dietary supplements/herbal foods may cause harmful effects including food-drug interactions and side effects. Hence, this study aims to determine the knowledge and beliefs of health professionals and general population towards the use of dietary supplements/herbal foods in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition education intervention.Methods:Overall,106 health professionals and 110 general population completed the study.The intervention was administered in 2 sessions for each group through an online video communication application. The main outcomes were tested with self-administered questionnaires. Comparison of the groups before and after the intervention was implemented with McNemar's test for categorical variables and Paired Sample T-test for numerical variables.Results:Total knowledge scores of health professionals (from 3.85 ± 1.60 to 5.51 ± 1.45) and general population (from 8.34 ± 1.45 to 9.39 ± 0.87)improved significantly after the intervention (p=0.000). While most health professionals and general population believed that dietary supplements/herbal foods were effective in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, this rate decreased significantly after the intervention (p<0.05).Conclusions:Education intervention is effective to inform both health professionals and general population about the effectiveness of dietary supplements/herbal foods in COVID-19. It is important to raise awareness on this topic to prevent the unnecessary use of dietary supplements/herbal foods. Future studies may focus on the development of other educational materials.
Electrostatic solution of massless quenches in Luttinger liquids
Authors: Ruggiero Paola , Calabrese Pasquale , Giamarchi Thierry , Foini Laura
Published: November 2022

The study of non-equilibrium dynamics of many-body systems after a
quantum quench received a considerable boost and a deep theoretical
understanding from the path integral formulation in imaginary time.
However, the celebrated problem of a quench in the Luttinger parameter
of a one dimensional quantum critical system (massless quench) has so
far only been solved in the real-time Heisenberg picture. In order to
bridge this theoretical gap and to understand on the same ground massive
and massless quenches, we study the problem of a gaussian field
characterized by a coupling parameter KK
within a strip and a different one K_0K0
in the remaining two semi-infinite planes. We give a fully analytical
solution using the electrostatic analogy with the problem of a
dielectric material within a strip surrounded by an infinite medium of
different dielectric constant, and exploiting the method of charge
images. After analytic continuation, this solution allows us to obtain
all the correlation functions after the quench within a path integral
approach in imaginary time, thus recovering and generalizing the results
in real time. Furthermore, this imaginary-time approach establishes a
remarkable connection between the quench and the famous problem of the
conductivity of a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid coupled to two semi-infinite
leads: the two are in fact related by a rotation of the spacetime
coordinates.