bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prediction of concentration of SOx, NOx and PM10 due to vehicular emission using CART (Regression Tree) analysis
Authors: Singh Ram Kishor , Lal Bindhu , Prasad Navin
Published: April 2023

Urbanization and industrial expansion are two factors which contribute to an enormous rise in air pollution. Even mountainous towns like Ranchi in Jharkhand, India have seen a decline in air quality. Urbanization leads to an increase in traffic density. The primary pollutants which contribute to air pollution from vehicular emissions are SOX, NOX & PM10. An attempt is made in this research to estimate the concentration of the above pollutants using regression tree analysis (CART). Statistical parameters like Index of agreement (d), Net Absolute Error (NAE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Square Error (MSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Coefficient of Determination (R2) are used to validate the accuracy of models.
A Novel Hypoxia-associated Gene Signature for Prognosis Prediction in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Luo Jingyi , Huang Yuejiao , Wu Jiahe , Dai Lin , Dong Mingyou , Cheng Bo
Published: April 2023

Background
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the most common malignant tumor of head and neck, which seriously threatens human life and health. However, the mechanism of hypoxia-associated genes(HAGs)in HNSCC remains unelucidated. This study aims to establish a hypoxia-associated gene signature and the nomogram for predicting the prognosis of patients with HNSCC.
Methods
Previous literature reports provided a list of HAGs. The TCGA database provided genetic and clinical information on HNSCC patients. First, a hypoxia-associated gene risk model was constructed for predicting overall survival (OS) in HNSCC patients and externally validated in four GEO datasets (GSE27020, GSE41613, GSE42743, and GSE117973). Then, immune status and metabolic pathways were analyzed. A nomogram was constructed and assessed the predictive value. Finally, experimental validation of the core genes was performed by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.
Results
A HNSCC prognostic model was constructed based on 8 HAGs. This risk model was validated in four external datasets and exhibited high predictive value in various clinical subgroups. Significant differences in immune cell infiltration levels and metabolic pathways were found between high and low risk subgroups. The nomogram was highly accurate for predicting OS in HNSCC patients.
Conclusions
The 8 hypoxia-associated gene signature can serve as novel independent prognostic indicators in HNSCC patients. The nomogram combining the risk score and clinical stage enhanced predictive performance in predicting OS compared to the risk model and clinical characteristics alone.
Quality of life of elderly lung cancer patients on chemotherapy and factors associated with it: a cross-sectional study
Authors: zhong hongyue , xiao tian , rong huan , chen xiaoju , liao haiyan , liu chunmei , li li , xiao ruihan
Published: April 2023

Purpose To assess the quality of life (QOL) of elderly lung cancer patients on chemotherapy and explore factors that influence it.
Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with elderly lung cancer patients on chemotherapy at a single cancer center in Chengdu China.Participants completed the Medical Coping Modality Questionnaire, Nutrition Risk Screening 2002, and Distress Thermometer.QOL was assessed using the Function Assessment Cancer Therapy-Lung Module.Multiple linear regression was performed to identify factors independently associated with QOL.
Results The 211 lung cancer patients were 65.81 ± 3.61 year old,their total QOL score was94.65 ± 16.51, and their lung cancer-specific module score was 25.64 ± 4.41. Multiple linear regression identified the following factors as associated with QOL, which together explained 47% of observed variance: place of residence, risk of malnutrition, level of psychological distress, and type of coping strategies (adjusted R2 = 0.47, p < 0.001).
Conclusion Elderly lung cancer patients on chemotherapy are at risk of poor QOL, which may be improved through timely screening to identify those at risk of malnutrition and through interventions to reduce psychological distress and promote positive coping strategies.
Computational modelling of formamide adsorption on the surface of pure, Al-, N-doped, and Al/N co-doped (8, 0) single-wall carbon nanotubes
Authors: Ghafari Marjan , Mohammadi-Manesh Hossein , Fotooh Forough Kalantari
Published: April 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
A relict Triassic brittle star (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) in the Lower Jurassic of Asturias, Spain
Authors: Thuy Ben , Piñuela Laura , García-Ramos José Carlos
Published: April 2023

Ophiuroids, also called brittle stars, are an important component of modern marine benthos, yet their fossil record is still poorly understood. Here, we describe new finds of ophiuroids from the Upper Sinemurian (Lower Jurassic) of Asturias, Spain. The material consists of several articulated specimens showing all relevant anatomical details to allow for an exhaustive description. The specimens belong to a new species,Arenorbis santameraensissp. nov., adding a Jurassic species to the genusArenorbispreviously known exclusively from the Middle Triassic of central Europe. We show thatArenorbishas characters typically found in the suborder Ophiodermatina. The new Jurassic occurrence ofArenorbisshows remarkable parallels with its Middle Triassic equivalents in terms of sedimentologic and taphonomic context, suggesting niche conservatism inArenorbis. In contrast to the wide geographical distribution of the genus in the Middle Triassic, the new species is currently only known from a restricted area, suggesting that it represents a Jurassic relict of a formerly widespread Triassic lineage.
Identification of Kinase inhibitors as PINK1 activators for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Pawar Aiswarya B , Bhosale Sumedha , Roy Sudip , Singh Jayant
Published: April 2023

Mutations in PINK1 kinase are known to be responsible for the early-onset of Parkinson's disease. The protein resides on the outer-membrane of healthy mitochondria, and acts as a quality controller by regulating and maintaining dysfunctional mitochondria also known as mitophagy. Limited knowledge of the mechanism of protein has made it cumbersome to elucidate an effective treatment. In this paper, we screen a set of kinase inhibitors using high-throughput screening for investigating potential activators. We have for the first time shown the plausible binding and selectivity towards the kinase inhibitors in the mutant PINK1 binding site. We also could highlight the ligand bind/unbinding pathway identifying the most stable binding pose utilizing the residues from the P-loop and DFG motif for drugs Tepotinib and Pyrotinib. Interestingly, no direct interaction of mutated residues with the ligand molecules were observed. Furthermore, we highlight that the Ins3 region and SER228 of the N-lobe display distinct conformational states that are inline with crystal structure for substrate binding specificity. Collectively, our findings provide a molecular basis for the PINK1 potential kinase activator, which would further facilitate as a starting point to probe new therapeutics by using the structure based drug designing for treating neurological disorder.
Securing Recommender System via Cooperative Training
Authors: Wang Qingyang , Wu Chenwang , Lian Defu , Chen Enhong
Published: April 2023

Recommender systems are often susceptible to well-crafted fake profiles, leading to biased recommendations. Among existing defense methods, data-processing based methods inevitably exclude normal samples, while model-based methods struggle to enjoy both generalization and robustness. To this end, we suggest integrating data processing and the robust model to propose a general framework, Triple Cooperative Defense (TCD), which employs three cooperative models that mutually enhance data and thereby improve recommendation robustness. Furthermore, Considering that existing attacks struggle to balance bi-level optimization and efficiency, we revisit poisoning attacks in recommender systems and introduce an efficient attack strategy, Co-training Attack (Co-Attack), which cooperatively optimizes the attack optimization and model training, considering the bi-level setting while maintaining attack efficiency. Moreover, we reveal a potential reason for the insufficient threat of existing attacks is their default assumption of optimizing attacks in undefended scenarios. This overly optimistic setting limits the potential of attacks. Consequently, we put forth a Game-based Co-training Attack (GCoAttack), which frames the proposed CoAttack and TCD as a game-theoretic process, thoroughly exploring CoAttack’s attack potential in the cooperative training of attack and defense. Extensive experiments on three real datasets demonstrate TCD’s superiority in enhancing model robustness.
Additionally, we verify that the two proposed attack strategies significantly out perform existing attacks, with game-based GCoAttack posing a greater poisoning threat than CoAttack.
The 2021 Melamchi Flood: A massive erosional cascade in the Himalayan Mountains of central Nepal
Authors: Chen Chan-Mao , Hollingsworth James , Clark Marin , Zekkos Dimitrios , Chamlagain Deepak , Bista Sujata , Siwakoti Anuj , West A. Joshua
Published: April 2023

Large, sediment-laden floods in mountainous terrain can have disastrous consequences and play important roles in landscape evolution. These events often unfold as a series of interconnected processes, but understanding of such “hazard cascades” has been hampered by lack of quantitative data on sediment movement. Here, we use a time series of high-resolution satellite imagery to quantify erosion and aggradation during the 2021 Melamchi Khola Floods in the Himalaya of central Nepal, providing a unique sediment budget for such an event. Our analysis reveals massive headwater erosion via remobilization of Gorkha landslides, gullying, debris-flows, and incision of glacial deposits. Unlike many other high mountain floods, the widely distributed erosion suggests this event was not primarily driven by a single source, e.g., glacial lake or landslide dam failure. High sediment supply caused aggradation in a high-elevation, low-relief glacial valley and triggered catastrophic incision into associated ancient fills. As this material was transported downstream, it caused further riverbed incision that in turn resulted in failures of surrounding hillslopes. Further downstream, as river steepness diminished, the main channel in the lower basin was widened by 3-5-fold and aggraded by ~ 5–20 m. However, deposition in the Melamchi Khola was not enough to accommodate the vast amount of flood material, and over 70% was delivered from the Melamchi Khola to the downstream Indrawati basin. Our sediment budget provides rare insight into the chain of events involved in a massive flood and helps shed light on how such floods can magnify hazard and reshape the fluvial landscape.
Evaluation of water hyacinth utility through geospatial mapping and in-situ biomass estimation approach: case study of Deepor beel (wetland), Assam, India
Authors: Rajora Koshal , Tyagi Shipra , Sarma Kiranmay , Sarma Arun Kumar , Jena Rajendra
Published: April 2023

As an invasive species, water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) are known to progressively proliferate and cause the ecological invasions of aquatic environment. Their incursions not only cause the disappearance of native species but gradually degrades the natural habitats of freshwater regimes. The control and management of these species is laborious task, however, transforming weed into wealth can substantially serve a sustainable approach to reduce the efforts. Therefore, the present study intends to utilise the application of geospatial techniques for mapping the water hyacinths growth in the Deepor beel (wetland) of Assam, India. Sentinel based image analysis has shown that pre-monsoon seasons has encountered massive productivity and area coverage of water hyacinth, whereas in post-monsoon seasons, productivity of water hyacinths reduces to half. Furthermore, in-situ biomass estimation of the water hyacinths samples same around the productive season has been collected and analysed 6 kg (green biomass) and 1 kg (dry biomass after sun-dried). Finally, this hybrid approach evaluated the production and revenue generation from Moorhen yoga mat (handicraft item) made from the dried water hyacinths. After assuming the actual availability of 50% of total mass yield of water hyacinths, around ~ 0.8 million (8.8 lakhs) yoga mats can be commercially produced within the most productive seasons. The revenue generation from the yoga mat in the domestic and international markets evaluated around US $ 12.79 million (Rs. 105.85 Crore) and US $ 15.99 million (Rs. 132.31 crore), respectively from a single productive season. Thus, applicative intent of this study can boost potential market in Assam, renovate the weed waste of water hyacinth into wealth generation, and sustainably support the livelihoods of the local communities.
Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Substituted Bezaldehyde Derivatives of 4- Aminopyrrolo [2, 3-D] Pyrimidine
Authors: Hande Bhausaheb B. , Gavali Laxman V.
Published: April 2023

The primary objective of this research was to synthesize, characterize, and evaluate the antibacterial and antifungal activities of novel pyrrolopyrimidine derivatives. The current research attempted to synthesise prrolopyrimidine derivatives containing substituted benzaldehydes (o-salicylaldehydes, m-salicylaldehydes, p-salicylaldehydes, 5-nitrosalicylaldehydes, 2,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde, 2,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde, 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde). Spectral (IR, NMR, and UV) methods were used to characterize all of the synthesized compounds. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the synthesized compounds were tested in vitro against two gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus MCC 2010 and Bacillus subtilis MCC 2010), two gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli MCC 2412 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MCC 2080), and two fungi (Candida albicans 1439 and S. cerevisiae MCC1033). In FT(IR), 1H and 13C NMR, and UV spectral analysis, all of the synthesized compounds showed remarkable peaks. In vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities revealed that e and g had more potent antibacterial and antifungal activities than the standard drugs streptomycin and fluconazole, respectively.
Habitual Water Intake Impacted the Body Composition of Young Male Athletes in Free-Living Conditions: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: ZHANG Jianfen , ZHANG Na , LI Yibin , HE Hairong , Song Ge , Chen Junying , YAN Yi , Ma Guansheng
Published: April 2023

The study aimed to explore the associations between water intake and body composition, and to investigate the differences of body composition among young male athletes. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 111 young male athletes in Beijing, China. Total drinking fluids (TDF) and water from food were assessed by a 7-day, 24-hour fluid intake record questionnaire and duplicate portion method, respectively. The osmolality of 24-hour urine and blood samples were tested. The body composition was tested with a bioelectrical impedance analyzer (BIA) twice at 5 minutes interval. According to the recommendations of total water intake (TWI) and TDF of China, participants were divided into two groups, respectively. Participants were divided into three groups according to 24h urine osmolality. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were performed to determine the relationship between water intake and body composition. Chi-square tests and Students’ t tests were used to compare the differences. A total of 109 subjects completed the study. TDF and TWI were positively correlated with total body water (TBW), intracellular water (ICW) and extracellular water (ECW), respectively (r=0.230, p=0.016; r=0.234, p=0.014; r=0.242, p=0.011; r=0.275, p=0.004; r=0.243, p=0.011; r=0.243, p=0.011). The TBW/BW was positively associated with TDF percentage of body weight (TDF/W), water from food percentage of body weight and TWI percentage of body weight (TWI/W), respectively (r=0.267, p=0.005; r=0.217, p=0.024; r=0.316, p=0.001). Participants achieved the recommendation of TDF of China had 1.3kg, 0.9kg, 0.5% higher skeletal muscle mass (SMM), ICW and TBW/BW than those who did not, respectively (all p < 0.05); with the FFM and TBW tended higher (p=0.051; p=0.050). Those met the recommendation of TWI of China had 1.3kg, 2.4 kg, 1.1 kg, 0.6kg and 1.7kg higher SMM, free fat mass (FFM), ICW, ECW and TBW than their counterparts, respectively (all p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in values of body composition among subjects in different hydration groups (all p> 0.05). Moderate associations were found between water intake and body composition. Participants met the recommendation of TWI or TDF had better distribution of body composition than their counterparts. Habitual water intake affected the body composition among athletes in free-living conditions.
Infodemic: Challenges and solutions in topic discovery and data process
Authors: Zhang Jinjin , Pan Yang , Lin Han , Sun Zoubao , Wu Pingping , Tu Juan
Published: April 2023

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge shock to society, and the ensuing information problems had a huge impact on society at the same time. The urgent need to understand the infodemic, i.e. the importance of the spread of misinformation and rumors related to the epidemic, has been highlighted. However, while there is a growing interest in this phenomenon, studies on the subject discovery, data collection, and data preparation phases of the information analysis process have been lacking.
Objective
Since the epidemic is unprecedented and has not ended to this day, we aimed to examine the existing infodemic-related literature from the beginning of the epidemic to December 2022.
Methods
We have systematically searched ScienceDirect and IEEE Xplore databases with some search limitations. From the searched literature we selected titles, abstracts and keywords, and limitations sections. We conducted an extensive structured literature search and analysis by filtering the literature and sorting out the available information.
Results
A total of 47 papers ended up meeting the requirements of this review. Researchers in all of these literatures encountered different challenges, most of which were focused on the data collection step, with few challenges encountered in the data preparation phase and almost none in the topic discovery section. The challenges were mainly divided into the points of how to collect data quickly, how to get the required data samples, how to filter the data, what to do if the data set is too small, and how to pick the right classifier. In addition, researchers have proposed partial solutions to the challenges, and we have also proposed possible solutions.
Conclusions
This review found that information epidemics is a rapidly growing research area that attracts the interest of researchers from different disciplines. The number of studies in this field has increased significantly in recent years, with researchers from different countries, including the United States, India, and China. Infodemic topic discovery, data collection, and data preparation are not easy, and each step faces different challenges. While there is some research in this emerging field, there are still many challenges that need to be addressed. These findings highlight the need for more articles to address these issues and fill these gaps.
Does month of birth influence colorectal cancer prognosis?
Authors: Martín-Arévalo Jose , Moro-Valdezate David , Pla-Martí Vicente , García-Botello Stephanie , Pérez-Santiago Leticia , Moya-Marcos Pablo , Izquierdo-Moreno Ana , Casado-Rodrigo David , Roselló-Keränen Susana , Espí-Macías Alejandro
Published: April 2023

Purpose
The main aim of this study was to identify a possible association between month of birth of colorectal cancer (CCR) patients and overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS).
Methods
This observational study included all consecutive adult patients diagnosed with CRC undergoing oncological surgery from January 2005 to December 2019 with a minimum follow-up of 36 months. The outcome variables were locoregional recurrence, death due to cancer progression, OS and DFS. Non-supervised learning techniques (K-means) were conducted to identify groups of months with similar oncologic outcomes. Finally, OS and DFS were analysed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression tests.
Results
A total of 2520 patients were included. Three birth month groups with different oncologic outcomes were obtained. Survival analysis showed between-group differences in OS (p < 0.001) and DFS (p = 0.03). The multivariable Cox proportional hazards model identified the clusters obtained as independent prognostic factors for OS (p < 0.001) and DFS (p = 0.031).
Conclusion
There is an association between month of birth and oncologic outcomes of CRC. Patients born in the months of August, September, and November had better OS and DFS than those born in different months of the year.
Prediction and optimal control of fungal contamination of food under the influence of temperature and water content
Authors: Wang Li , Feng Shanfang , Zheng Lang , Jin Xuebo , Wang Xiaoyi , Yu Jiabin , Bai Yuting , Xu Jiping
Published: April 2023

The mildew phenomenon and mycotoxin pollution caused by the mass reproduction of grain fungi seriously endanger food security and people's health. The existing fungal growth models are difficult to accurately describe and predict the fungal growth trend, and can't optimally control the temperature and water content of grain storage environment. This paper constructs a fungal growth model with temperature and water content as the influencing factors to predict the fungal growth trend, and puts forward the optimal control method of temperature and water content during grain storage. Firstly, on the basis of the existing temperature-based microbial growth dynamics model, water influencing factors were added, and the transformation relationship model between colony diameter and fungal spore number was put forward by improving the two-dimensional normal distribution model. Then, the growth trend of fungi was predicted by discretizing and incrementing the model. On this basis, according to the characteristics of grain fungus pollution, the predictive control theory was improved, and the optimal control objective function with fungus growth as the predictive variable and temperature and water as the control variables was established. The fixed point method was used for iterative solution to achieve the global minimization of colony growth rate, temperature and water control cost. The experimental data of rice storage were used to verify the proposed method, and it was verified that the prediction accuracy of the established fungal growth model was high, and by optimizing the control of temperature and water content, the fungal growth could be significantly reduced.
A multicenter retrospective study of Clostridium difficile infection in Ningxia, China
Authors: Zang Yiming , Fu Hui , Zou Cuimei , Zhao Mei , Ren Zheng , Mao Yongjuan , Yuan Mingli , Li Gang , Jia Wei
Published: April 2023

Background: The toxigenic stool culture (TC) was used as the gold standard to evaluate the performance of C. Diff Quick Check Complete and Xpert C. difficile to support the detection of clinical CD. The clinical data of the patients were also retrospectively analyzed to explore the susceptibility factors and susceptible population of Clostridium difficileinfection (CDI) in Ningxia region.
Methods: 432 stools were collected from September 2020 to December 2021 from patients who presented with diarrhea after admission to several hospitals in Ningxia, China. CD was detected by enzyme immunoassay (C. Diff Quick Check Complete) and Xpert C. difficile. The results were compared and evaluated with those detected by TC. We also retrospectivelyanalyzed the clinical data and treatment history of patients with definite CDI.
Results: C. Diff Quick Check Complete suggested 35 cases of CD, Xpert suggested 31 cases. The Statistical data of two methods were both statistically significant(P<0.05). 25.81% of 31 TC-positive patients had gastrointestinal diseases and hepatobiliary diseases, 22.58% of them were with malignant tumors. 16 (51.61%) of the patients used antibiotics during hospitalization, of which cephalosporins were the most common, accounting for 75.00%.
Conclusion: Both Xpert C. difficile and C. Diff Quick Check Complete can be used for the rapid detection of CD, but not as an independent diagnostic method. Clinicians should establish early screening mechanisms to reduce the incidence of CDI in high-risk groups who are elderly, have gastrointestinal diseases, a history of antimicrobial drug use, and a history of recent hospitalization.
Telling the whole truth to patients before hip fracture repair surgery. Cross sectional study.
Authors: Masarwa Rawan , Natan Merav Ben , Berkovich Yaron
Published: April 2023

Background

Hip fracture repair surgery is associated with a certain mortality risk. However, there is evidence that orthopedic surgeons tend to refrain from discussing this issue with their patients prior to surgery.

Aim

To examine whether orthopedic surgeons raise the issue of one-year post-surgery mortality before hip fracture repair surgery. Moreover, this study examined factors related to the decision whether to inform patients of the mortality risk one-year post-surgery.

Method

The study is a cross sectional study, where validated digital questionnaires were administered to 150 orthopedic surgeons.

Results

A minority of the orthopedic surgeons reported that they always inform the patients of the risk of mortality in the year following a hip fracture surgery. The wish to avoid frightening the patient, lack of time, and the concern of causing patients to lose hope were found to be the most prevalent causes of not informing patients of the one-year risk of mortality after hip fracture repair surgery. Orthopedic surgeons reported a medium-high level of perceived self-efficacy. Higher self-efficacy was found to reduce the likelihood that the orthopedic surgeon would inform the patient of the one-year mortality risk after hip fracture surgery. Moreover, older age and being an expert were found to increase the likelihood that the surgeon would inform the patient of the one-year mortality risk after hip fracture surgery.

Conclusions

It seems that orthopedic surgeons tend to refrain from revealing to their patients the issue of mortality following hip fracture repair surgery, conduct that appears to be affected by personal, professional, and organizational factors. It is necessary to raise the awareness of orthopedic surgeons regarding this tendency. As part of their studies, medical students should be given tools for dealing with these barriers.

Trial registration

The study doesn`t reports the results of a health care intervention.
A Sustainable Resource-Constrained Project Selection and Scheduling Model using Scenario-Based Stochastic Programming: A case study of industrial projects
Authors: Rahimi Fatemeh , Davari-Ardakani Hamed , Ameli Mariam , Beheshtkhah Mahdi Kabiri
Published: April 2023

Due to a wide variety of real-world constraints, proper project portfolio selection is a critical issue for project-oriented organizations. In this paper, a bi-objective stochastic mixed-integer linear program is developed to cope with the resource-constrained project selection and scheduling problem in the presence of greenhouse gas emissions, and non-hazardous and hazardous wastes regulatory restrictions. Moreover, reinvesting proceeds of projects as well as loans are allowed to finance projects over the planning horizon. The proposed model maximizes the net present value of the expected project portfolio's terminal wealth under uncertain conditions, as well as the sustainability score of the project portfolio, simultaneously. The sustainability score is calculated by one of the recent multi-criteria decision-making methods, SECA, based on seven qualitative sustainability indicators and by solving a non-linear optimization model. To assess the performance of the proposed model, a case study of eighteen industrial projects is applied. Since the duration of industrial projects is usually uncertain, the proposed model is reformulated as a scenario-based stochastic programming model. Furthermore, the CPLEX solver and Branch and Benders algorithm are used to solve the problem. Results show that the Branch and Benders algorithm is much more efficient than the Cplex solver. In the end, according to the performed sensitivity analysis, in some cases, increasing the carbon and landfill tax rates, does not significantly reduce the negative environmental effects, while making the projects less attractive for investment. This highlights the importance of coping with the problem under consideration for managers, legislators, and policymakers.
Charge cluster occurrence in land plants’ mitochondrial proteomes with functional and structural insights
Authors: Ayadi Imen , Nebli Syrine , Marzoug Riadh Ben , Rebai Ahmed
Published: April 2023

The Charge Clusters (CCs) are involved in key functions and are distributed according to the organism, the protein’s type, and the charge of amino acids. In the present study, we have explored the occurrence, position, and annotation as a first large-scale study of the CCs in land plants mitochondrial proteomes. A new python script was used for data curation. The Finding Clusters Charge in Protein Sequences Program was performed after adjusting the reading window size. A 44316 protein sequences belonging to 52 species of land plants were analysed. The occurrence of Negative Charge Clusters (NCCs) (1.2%) is two times more frequent than the Positive Charge Clusters (PCCs) (0.64%). Moreover, 39 and 30 NCCs were conserved in 88 and 41 proteins in intra and in inter proteomes respectively, while 14 and 21 PCCs were conserved in 53 and 85 protein sequences in intra and in inter proteomes consecutively. Sequences carrying mixed CCs are rare (0.12%). Despite this low abundancy, CCs play a crucial role in protein function. The CCs tend to be located mainly in the terminal regions of proteins which guarantees specific protein targeting and import into the mitochondria. In addition, the functional annotation of CCs according to Gene Ontology shows that CCs are involved in binding functions of either proteins or macromolecules which are deployed in different metabolic and cellular processes such as RNA editing and transcription. This study may provide valuable information while considering the CCs in understanding the environmental adaptation of plants.
Soybean leaf estimation based on RGB images and machine learning methods
Authors: li xiuni , xu xiangyao , xiang shuai , chen menggen , he shuyuan , wang wenyan , liu chunyan , Yu liang , Liu Weiguo , yang wenyu
Published: April 2023

Background: RGB photographs are a powerful tool for dynamically estimating crop growth. Leaves are related to crop photosynthesis, transpiration, and nutrient uptake. Traditional blade parameter measurements were labor-intensive and time-consuming. Therefore, based on the phenotypic features extracted from RGB images, it is essential to choose the best model for soybean leaf parameter estimation. This research was carried out to speed up the breeding procedure and provide a novel technique for precisely estimating soybean leaf parameters.
Results: The findings demonstrate that using an Unet neural network, the IOU, PA, and Recall values for soybean image segmentation can achieve 0.98, 0.99, and 0.98, respectively. Overall, the average testing prediction accuracy (ATPA) of the three regression models is Random forest> Cat Boost > Simple nonlinear regression. The Random forest ATPAs for leaf number (LN), leaf fresh weight (LFW), and leaf area index (LAI) reached 73.45%, 74.96%, and 85.09%, respectively, which were6.93%, 3.98%, and 8.01%, respectively, higher than those of the optimal Cat Boost model and 18.78%, 19.08%, and 10.88%, respectively, higher than those of the optimal SNR model.
Conclusion: The results show that the Unet neural network can separate soybeans accurately from an RGB image. The Random forest model has a strong ability for generalization and high accuracy for the estimation of leaf parameters. Combining cutting-edge machine learning methods with digital images improves the estimation of soybean leaf characteristics.
Quantitative speech assessment in ataxia- Consensus recommendations by the Ataxia Global Initiative Working Group on Digital-motor Biomarkers
Authors: Vogel Adam , Grobe-Einsler Marcus , Vasco Gessica , Sobanksa Anna , Borel Stephanie , Summa Susanna , Gupta Anoopum
Published: April 2023

Dysarthria is a common and debilitating symptom of many neurodegenerative diseases, including those resulting in ataxia. Changes to speech lead to significant reductions in quality of life, impacting the speaker in most daily activities. Recognition of its importance as an objective outcome measure in clinical trials for ataxia is growing. Its viability as an endpoint across the disease spectrum (i.e., pre-symptomatic onwards) means that trials can recruit ambulant individuals and later-stage individuals who are often excluded because of difficulty completing lower limb tasks. Here we discuss the key considerations for speech testing in clinical trials including hardware selection, suitability of tasks and their role in protocols for trials and propose a core set of tasks for speech testing in clinical trials. Test batteries could include forms suitable for remote short, sensitive, and easy to use, with norms available in several languages. The use of artificial intelligence also could improve accuracy and automaticity of analytical pipelines in clinic and trials.
Real-world data of clazosentan for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a multicenter retrospective cohort study
Authors: Muraoka Shinsuke , Asai Takumi , Fukui Takahiko , Ota Shinji , Shimato Shinji , Koketsu Naoki , Nishizawa Toshihisa , Araki Yoshio , Saito Ryuta
Published: April 2023

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) may lead to cerebral vasospasm which is significantly associated with morbidity and mortality. Clazosentan, an endothelin-1 receptor antagonist, has been shown to reduce cerebral vasospasm-related morbidity and all-cause mortality compared to placebo in patients with aSAH. To investigate effectiveness of clazosentan combination therapy we conducted a multicenter, retrospective, observational cohort study of Japanese patients with aSAH (35 female; age 64.4 ± 15.0 years old) between June 2022 and March 2023. Of the 47 cases, 29 (61.7%) had favorable outcomes and 9 (19.1%) had unfavorable outcomes. For postoperative aSAH management, clazosentan, cilostazol, and statins were typically used. Fasudil and ozagrel were used in 18 (38.3%) and 15 cases (31.9%), respectively. In 16 cases (34.0%), vasospasm occurred, but vasospasm-related delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) was reported in only 4 cases (8.5%). Complications of pulmonary edema and hypotension occurred in 19 cases (40.4%) and 16 cases (34.0%), respectively. Risk factors of pulmonary edema were older age, clazosentan discontinuation, positive fluid balance, and lower serum albumin levels. Lower BMI, higher WFNS grade, lower urine output, lower serum albumin were risk factors of hypotension. The risk factors of vasospasm-related DCI were clazosentan discontinuation and positive fluid balance. Hypotension and vasospasm-related DCI were related to unfavorable outcomes. Combination therapy with clazosentan could be effective in preventing post-aSAH vasospasm-related DCI. However, caution must be taken as combination therapy may increase the risk of hypotension and pulmonary edema compared with clazosentan single therapy. Perioperative fluid balance management may be critical for preventing unfavorable outcomes.
Do Investors Reward Countries for Participating in Climate Agreements?
Authors: Saxena Konark , Singh Mandeep
Published: April 2023

Yes. The reward is a decline in sovereign bond yields of countries that commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions under a climate agreement. This decrease is likely due to climate-aware investors incentivizing governments for such climate-friendly decisions. Transition and regulatory climate risks are expected to increase after signing a climate agreement, so they cannot explain a decrease in yields. Exposures to physical climate risks play a role, but their effect is weaker than the incentive effect. Overall, our findings suggest that climate-aware investors are nudging governments to cooperate in international climate agreements.
Identification of prognostic signature of cancer-associated fibroblasts associated with castration resistance prostate cancer based on Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis
Authors: Zhang Wenjun , Che Bangwei , Liu Miao , Li Wei , Huang Tao , Yu Ying , Xu Shenghan , He Jun , Zha Cheng , Peng Zheng , Huang Kunyuan , Tang Kaifa
Published: April 2023

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men and often progresses to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after treatment, with a poor prognosis. Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF) are a major components of tumor microenvironment (TME), which participate in angiogenesis and immunosuppression, promote metastasis and treatment drug resistance. In order to identify the CAF prognostic genes associated with CRPC, the RNA sequencing data of 745 PCa patients from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were downloaded. The CAF-related hub genes were identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WCGNA). The CAF prognostic markers (FAP, SFRP2, COL1A1, VCAN) and signature were developed by machine learning methodology. Meanwhile, verified the CAF prognostic model could predict biochemical recurrence, metastasis and immunotherapy response. In addition, CAF infiltration was associated with immunosuppressive microenvironment, positively correlated with tumor mutation burden and “p53 downstream pathway”, “MET promotes cell motility pathway” and “TGF- β signal pathway”. subsequently, verified the CAF prognostic markers (FAP, SFRP2, COL1A1, VCAN) were specifically expressed in fibroblast cell lines, and the protein expression were located in stromal cells. In conclusion, these results indicated that CAF infiltration promoted the progression of PCa and associated with PCa recurrence and poor prognosis. The PCa prognostic signature has a potential clinical application value and the prognostic markers in CAF might be targets for inhibiting the progression of PCa.
On a nonlocal logistic equation with nonlinear advection term
Authors: DE LIMA ROMILDO , SOUTO MARCO , DUARTE RONALDO
Published: April 2023

Note: Please see pdf for full abstract with equations.
In this paper, we study a nonlocal logistic equation with nonlinear advection term$$\left\{\begin{array}{lcl}-\Delta u+\vec{\alpha}\cdot \nabla (|u|^{p-1}u)=\left(\lambda-\int_{\Omega}K(x,y)u^{\gamma}(y)dy \right)u,\mbox{ in }\Omega\\u=0,\mbox{ on }\partial\Omega\end{array}\right.\leqno(P)_p$$where $\Omega\subset\R^N$, $N\geq1$, is a bounded domain with smooth boundary, $\vec{\alpha}=(\alpha_1,\cdots,\alpha_N)$ is a flow satisfying suitable condition, $\gamma>0$, $p\geq1$, $\lambda\in\R$ and $K:\Omega\times\Omega\rightarrow\R$ is a nonnegative function with $K\in L^{\infty}(\Omega\times\Omega)$ and verifying other conditions that will be detailed below.
2020 Mathematics Subject Classification. 35B50, 35B51, 35J60.
Comparison of complications for cirrhotic versus non-cirrhotic patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy
Authors: Zamorano Alicia Amairan G. , Valencia Paula Spang , Porrazzo Gina R. , Almerey Tariq , Stauffer John Andrew
Published: April 2023

Purpose
To compare the outcomes between patients with cirrhosis and those without who have undergone pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) in our institution.
Methods
A review of patients undergoing PD from the time period of January 2010 to December 2020 was performed. Patients that have undergone open or laparoscopic PD and had liver cirrhosis diagnosed prior to surgery were included and matched on a 1:2 basis with non-cirrhotic patients based on age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and date of surgery. Data was obtained from our medical records and ten major postoperative complications variables were compared to the matched group.
Results
Overall, 16 patients with cirrhosis were compared to 32 matched controls. No significant differences were found in pancreatic fistula (18.8% vs. 21.8%; P = 1.000), hemorrhage (6.3% vs. 6.2%; P = 1.000), delayed gastric emptying (6.3% vs. 15.6%; P = 0.648), wound infection (0% vs. 9.3%; P = 0.541) intraabdominal abscess (31.2% vs 6.2%; 0.4998) for cirrhotic vs. non-cirrhotic respectively. There were no postop ileus, gastric fistula, mesenteric portal thrombosis, biliary fistula, abdominal ischemic event in either group. The average length of stay for both groups was similar (6.9 vs. 9.3 days; P = 0.4019). There were no mortalities and major morbidity was similar (37.5% vs 34.3%;P = 0.3549). One patient required readmission for liver-related decompensation with full recovery.
Conclusion
PD in patients with cirrhosis can be safe and feasible in well-selected patients. In a high-volume institution, postoperative complications are similar to those patients without cirrhosis of the liver
Attention Inspiring Receptive-Fields Multi-Task Network via Self- supervised Learning for Violence Recognition
Authors: Li Suyuan , Song Xin
Published: April 2023

Generally, a large amount of training data is essential to train deep learning model for obtaining more accurate detection performance in computer vision domain. However, to collect and annotate datasets will lead to extensive cost. In this letter, we propose a self-supervised auxiliary task to learn general videos features without adding any human-annotated labels, aiming at improving the performance of violence recognition. Firstly, we propose a violence recognition method based on convolutional neural network with self-supervised auxiliary task, which can learn visual feature for improving down-stream task (recognizing violence). Secondly, we establish a balance-weighting scheme to solve the crucial problem of balancing the self-supervised auxiliary task and violence recognition task. Thirdly, we develop an attention receptive-field module, indicating that the proper use of the spatial attention mechanism can effectively expand the receptive fields of the module, further improving semantically meaningful representation of the network. To evaluate the proposed method, two benchmark datasets have been used, and better performance is shown by the experimental results comparing with other state-of-the-art methods.
On the stability of the Pexider system of bi-additive and bi-quadratic equations
Authors: Sayyari Yamin , Dehghanian Mehdi , Park Choonkil , Donganont Mana
Published: April 2023

In this paper, we solve a system of bi-additive and bi-quadratic equations and we study the Hyers-Ulam stability of the Pexider system of bi-additive and bi-quadratic equations.
AMS Subject Classification: Primary; 47B47, 17B40, 39B72, 47H10
THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL SPECIAL COMPETENCIES OF GENERAL PRACTICE DOCTORS-FAMILY PHYSICIANS IN PROVIDING MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR DISEASES OF THE EAR, THROAT, AND NOSE
Authors: Smiianov Vladyslav , Yemets Tetiana
Published: April 2023

Introduction. Currently, the health care system of Ukraine needs to be restored and optimized due to the situation caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and its consequences. At the same time, the availability of medical care is provided by primary medical care on the basis of general medical practice - family medicine. To provide the population with ear, throat, and nose diseases with quality medical care, family doctors must have special theoretical and practical competencies. This determined the relevance of the study.
The objective of the study: to determine special theoretical and practical competencies for general practitioners-family doctors in providing medical care for diseases of the ENT organs and the optimal ways to acquire them.
Materials and methods. Methods: bibliosemantic, expert assessments, statistical, structural, and logical analysis. Independent experts: 25 specialists according to the defined profile of providing medical care. Materials: project of special competencies of general practitioners-family doctors in providing medical assistance for diseases of the ear, throat, and nose.
Results and their discussion. In the course of the study, special theoretical and practical competencies were determined for general practitioners-family doctors in providing medical care for diseases of the ENT organs and the optimal ways of acquiring them to provide the population with high-quality primary health care for otolaryngological diseases. Theoretical special competencies provide family doctors with knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the external, middle, and internal ear, throat, and nose; clinical symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of the main diseases of the ENT organs and their prevention in the age aspect, as well as the principles of providing emergency care for urgent ENT pathology. The special practical competencies of family doctors in medical care for diseases of the ear, throat, and nose allow doctors to conduct a diagnostic examination and provide emergency medical care and treatment.
Conclusion. Theoretical and practical competencies for general practitioners-family doctors in providing medical assistance for diseases of the ENT organs and the optimal ways of their acquisition have been determined by experts.
Effect of Karas (Aquilaria malaccensis) on Male Reproductive Organs and Sperm Quality in Adult Sprague Dawley Rats
Authors: Norahidah Zaidi  , Mohd Nizam Haron  , Connie Fay Komilus  , Fathurrahman Lananan  , Ha Hou Chew  , Nadzifah Yaakub  , Asmad Kari
Published: April 2023

Reproductive health and male fertility are closely related to dietary practices. In recent years, Malaysia has shown a lot of interest in using herbal plants as dietary supplements or in the treatment of numerous diseases. Aquilaria malaccensis, commonly known as karas or gaharu, has recently gained attention for its potential to cure many diseases due to its pharmacological properties. However, studies on its effect on male fertility and reproductive organs are very scarce. This study was conducted to determine the effect of A. malaccensis on male reproductive organs’ weight (testis, epididymis, prostate gland and seminal vesicle) and sperm quality (sperm count, sperm morphology and sperm motility) in adult Sprague Dawley rats. Twenty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were allocated into four treatment groups; Control (C: 1 mL of distilled water, n = 6), Treatment 1 (T1: 1 g A. malaccensis/kg body weight, n = 6), Treatment 2 (T2: 2 g A. malaccensis/kg body weight, n = 6) and Treatment 3 (T3: 3 g A. malaccensis/kg body weight, n = 6), respectively. Distilled water and A. malaccensis were administered by oral gavage once daily for 28 days. The rats were euthanised on Day 29 for assessment of reproductive organs’ weight and sperm quality. Result shows that weight of testis, epididymis, prostate gland, seminal vesicle and sperm motility did not differ (p > 0.05) among control and treated groups. A significant increase (p < 0.05) of sperm number (1.36 × 10??) and a decrease (p < 0.05) in percentage of the abnormal sperm (8.17%) were observed in T1 group when compared to Control group. Incremental dosage of A. malaccensis seemed to decrease number of sperm (T3: 0.78 × 10?? < T1: 1.36 × 10?? with p < 0.05) and increase percentage of abnormal sperm (T3: 18.83% > T2: 12.17% > T1: 8.17% with p < 0.05). In conclusion, the administration of either 1, 2 or 3 grams of A. malaccensis did not alter the reproductive organs’ weight and sperm motility. However, the higher concentration of A. malaccensis consumed by the rats seemed to have detrimental effects on the number and morphology of sperm.