bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictors of Mortality in Hospitalized African American Covid-19 Cancer Patients
Authors: Challa Suryanarayana Reddy , Oskrochi Gholamreza , Chirumamilla Lakshmi G , Shayegh Nader , Brim Hassan , Ashktorab Hassan
Published: March 2022

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated outcomes manifest differently depending on patients’ background and pre-existing conditions. It remains unclear how African Americans with and without cancer have been affected.Aim: To determine epidemiological, clinical comorbidities, and laboratory test results to identify markers associated with mortality in COVID-19 cancer patients.Methods: We reviewed all Covid-19 hospitalized patients records from Dec. 2019 to Oct. 2021 at Howard University Hospital. Patients having a history of, or active cancer status were reviewed. All the clinical, treatment, lab values, and pathological data were extracted. Statical analysis of the Covid-19 cancer patients and comparison with non-cancer Covid-19 patients was performed using univariate and multivariate analyses.Results: Out of 512 COVID-19 infected patients, a total of 49 patients were identified with different types of cancer, with both active and previous history. Females consisted of 26 cancer patients (53%). African American race was predominant in both cases and controls, 83.6% and 66.7% respectively. Cancer patients were older than non-cancer patients (Mean Age-70.6 vs. 56.3 years) and had an increased length of hospital stay (Mean 13.9 vs 9.4 days). Among cancer patients, breast cancer was more prevalent in females and prostate cancer in males, (54% and 52% respectively). Comparison of patients with active vs. previous cancer showed no significant difference in the clinical outcome, death vs. discharge (P=0.34). A higher reduction in albumin level in cancer cases, from the time of admission to day five, was significantly associated with death during the same hospital stay compared to those discharged (n=24, 48.9%, p<0.001). In controls, Lymphopenia (n=436, 94.1%, p=0.05), AST (n=59, 12%, p=0.008) and Albumin (n=40, 10.7%, p=0.02) have shown an association with increased mortality. Conclusion: Albumin level has shown to have an inverse relationship with clinical outcomes among all COVID infected African American patients. Reduction in Albumin level during the hospital stay, particularly in COVID-19 cancer patients should be considered as a predictor of mortality. No significant difference was noticed in the clinical outcome in patients with previous versus active cancer. Further research with a large cohort size is needed to verify and identify other predictors of outcome in Covid-19 cancer patients and develop appropriate treatment modalities.
Changes in body composition of patients with acute leukemia during induction and consolidation chemotherapies
Authors: Zou Jing-Ying , Li Yan-Yan , Gu Ying , Ling Chen-Jie
Published: March 2022

Purpose: Malnutrition is detrimental to the treatment and prognosis of patients with acute leukemia (AL). Body composition analysis is a reliable method to monitor and assess the nutritional status of patients. However, there are few studies focusing on body composition changes of patients with AL undergoing chemotherapy.Methods: Patients who were newly-diagnosed with AL were enrolled in this study. The body composition was measured before and after induction and consolidation chemotherapies. Paired-samples T test and multiple linear regression analysis were used to compare body composition changes and explore the influencing factors.Results: After induction chemotherapy, weight, body mass index (BMI), total body water, fat free mass (FFM), skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and basal metabolic rate were significantly decreased, but fat mass (FM), percentage of body fat (PBF) and visceral fat area (VFA) were significantly increased. There were no significant changes in body composition during consolidation chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis showed that age was negatively related to declines in weight, BMI, FFM and SMM during induction chemotherapy and acute myelocytic leukemia patients dropped less in FFM and SMM and increased less in PBF and VFA, compared with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).Conclusion: Decreased FFM and increased FM were seen in AL patients after induction chemotherapy. Conventional nutritional monitoring and timely support are very important for patients with AL during chemotherapy, especially for ALL patients.
Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms on Social Avoidance and Distress among Young adult patients with Cancer: The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support
Authors: Qiao Shiman , Wang Rui , Liu Fuyan , Liu Yuqi , Liu Limin , Lu Yu , Xu Haiyan , Su Yonggang
Published: March 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms, perceived social support, and social avoidance and distress among young adult cancer patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted and 330 participants completed the questionnaires, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), as well as social-demographic and clinical variables from June 2020 to March 2021 in Jinan City, China. Dummy variable regression analysis was performed to examine the effects of anxiety and/or depressive symptoms on social avoidance and distress. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the mediating role of social support between them.
Results: The main results indicated that anxiety and/or depressive symptoms could positively predict the level of young adults' s social avoidance and distress. Social support could partially mediate the relationship between comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms and social avoidance and distress and could completely mediate the impact of depressive symptoms only on social avoidance and distress. However, social support could not mediate the relationship between anxiety only and social avoidance and distress.
Conclusions: Strategies and interventions on psychological distress reduction and social support enhancement should take the group differences into consideration, especially for those depressive symptoms only patients to decrease the level of social avoidance and distress, in consequence, promote the health outcomes among them.
How to measure barriers in accessing mental healthcare? Psychometric evaluation of a screening tool in parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Authors: Xiong Ting , Kaltenbach Elisa , Yakovenko Igor , Lebsack Jeanine , McGrath Patrick J
Published: March 2022

Caring for children with special needs can cause an enormous physical and emotional burden, and therefore these parents have an elevated risk to experience mental health problems. The characteristics of current healthcare systems and parents’ responsibilities to care for their children seem to impede their access to mental healthcare. There is so far a lack of instruments to screen for such obstacles. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale for measuring barriers to accessing mental healthcare. The Parental Healthcare Barriers Scale (PHBS) was developed on the basis of an extensive literature research, input and discussion from experts and parents with lived experience. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from 456 parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Physical health, mental health, social support, and parenting were measured for convergent and discriminant validity of the PHBS. The PHBS scale revealed acceptable to good reliability and validity. It consists of four subscales (i.e., support accessibility, personal belief, emotional readiness, and resource availability). The PHBS found parents prioritized their children’s treatments over their own mental health challenges (93.4%), did not have enough time (90.4%), and had financial concerns (85.8%). Parents in rural and remote areas had more limited resources. Findings from our study suggest increasing the public literacy on mental health challenges, introducing evidence-based treatments, increasing the availability of healthcare services for parents, and adjusting current services to their needs.
Barriers in Medical Education: A Scoping Review of Common Themes for Medical Students With Disabilities
Authors: Nash Ranna , Conner Brandon , Fellows Katelyn , Clemmensen Brooke , Gullickson Robert , Goldrup Sharon
Published: March 2022

Many leaders in medical education have called for the inclusion of students with disabilities. Yet, a small number of review articles have been written summarizing the key literature addressing this topic. This review focuses on literature published between 2000-2021 that discusses medical education disability-specific barriers, student disability prevalence, and available institutional disability resources. Barriers include lack of procedure for students with disabilities to access services, delays in education to address disability needs, identified institutional disability resource professional (DRP), structural and physical barriers, outdated policies, and lack of understanding of accommodations needed in all educational settings, especially clinical. Medical school stakeholders must clearly understand the published literature on this topic to promote the full inclusion of students with disabilities.
“SpezPat”- common advance directives versus disease-centred advance directives: a randomised controlled pilot study on the impact in physicians’ understanding of patients’ end-of- life decisions
Authors: Koenig Julia Felicitas Leni , Asendorf Thomas , Simon Alfred , Bleckmann Annalen , Truemper Lorenz , Wulf Gerald , Overbeck Tobias R.
Published: March 2022

Background: The advance directive holds patients’ health care choices and fosters the patients’ autonomy. Nevertheless, understanding the patients’ wishes based on the information provided in advance directives, remains a challenge for health care providers. Based on the ethical premises of positive obligation to autonomy, an advanced directive that is disease-centred and features problems and complications of the disease the patient has, should help the health care providers to understand the patients’ wishes correctly. To test this hypothesis, a pilot-study was conducted to compare if physicians could make the correct end-of-life decision for their patients when patients used a disease-centred advance directive versus a common advance directive.Material and Methods: A randomised, controlled, prospective pilot study was designed, that included patients with NSCLC stage VI from the Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology, University Medical Centre, Goettingen. Patients were randomised into intervention and control groups. The control group received a common advance directive and the intervention group a disease-centred advance directive. Both groups filled out their advance directives and returned it. Subsequent, patients were asked to complete nine medical scenarios with different treatment decisions. For each scenario the patients had to decide whether they wanted to receive treatment on a 5-point-Likert scale. Four physicians were given the same scenarios and asked to decide on the treatment, according to the patients’ wishes as stated in the advance directive. The answers by patients and physicians were compared whether the physicians had made the correct assumptions.Results: Recruitment was stopped prematurely. 15 patients completed the study, 9 patients were randomised into the control group and 6 patients in the intervention group. A total of 135 decisions were evaluated. Concordance of physicians’ and patient’s answers, was 0.83 (95%-CI 0.71-0.91) in the intervention group, compared to 0.60 (95%-CI 0.48-0.70) in the control group and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p=0.005).Conclusions: This pilot study showed that disease-centred advance directives help physicians to understand their patients’ wishes more precisely and make treatment choices according to their wishes. Trial registration: The study is registered at the German Clinical Trial Register (no. DRKS00017580, registration date 27/08/2019)
Revealing The Nexus Between Tourism Development And CO2 Emissions In Asia: Does Asymmetry Matter?
Authors: Wangzhou Kaixin , Wen Julie Jie , Wang Zheng , Wang Huamin , Hao Chunbo , Andlib Zubaria
Published: March 2022

Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions in international tourism, economic growth, and CO2 emissions around the globe. However, the relationships between tourism and CO2 emissions are little and unclearly identified. The purpose of the study is to explore the dynamic link between tourism and CO2 emissions in a panel of five high emitters Asian countries covering the period of 1995-2019 by panel-NARDL-AMG. The empirical results reveal that a positive shock in tourism arrivals promotes CO2 emissions, while a negative shock also increases CO2 emissions. Tourism receipts are expected to maintain the robustness of CO2 emissions in long run in Asian economies. The authorities should develop and design green international tourism activities in the Asian economies.
Profile of 208 Patients With Inborn Errors of Immunity at a Tertiary Care Center in South India
Authors: Bhattad Sagar , Mohite Rachna Shanbhag , Ramprakash Stalin , Commondoor Raghuram , Kotecha Udhaya , Rayabarapu Pranavchand , Jayaram Ananthvikas , Ginigeri Chetan , Kumar Harish , Unni Jeeson , Cyril Gladys , Kumar Suresh , Pachat Divya , Jakka Shrinivas , Jhawar Prerna , Makam Adinarayana , Porta Fulvio
Published: March 2022

Primary immune deficiencies better known as Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEI) are a heterogeneous group of disorders that predispose affected individuals to infections, allergy, autoimmunity, autoinflammation, and malignancies.. Inborn Errors of Immunity are increasingly being recognized in the Indian subcontinent. Two hundred and eight patients diagnosed with an IEI during February 2017 to November 2021 at a tertiary care centre in South India were included in the study. The clinical features, laboratory findings including microbiologic and genetic data, treatment & outcome details were analyzed. The diagnosis of IEI was confirmed in a total of 208 patients (198 kindreds) based on relevant immunological tests and/or genetic tests. The male to female ratio was 1.8:1. The most common IEI in our cohort was SCID (17.7%) followed by CGD (12.9%) and CVID (9.1%). We also had a significant proportion of patients with DOCK8 deficiency (7.2%), LAD (6.2%), and six patients (2.8%) with autoinflammatory diseases. Autoimmunity was noted in forty-six (22%) patients during the course of their illness. Molecular testing was performed in 152 patients by exome sequencing on NGS platform and a genetic variant was reported in 132 cases. Twenty-nine children underwent 34 HSCT, and 135 patients remain on supportive therapy such as immunoglobulin replacement and/or antimicrobial prophylaxis. Fifty-nine (28.3%) patients died during the study period and infections were the predominant cause of mortality. Seven families underwent prenatal testing in the subsequent pregnancy. We describe the profile of 208 patients with IEI and to the best of our knowledge, this represents the largest data on IEI from the Indian subcontinent reported so far.
Degradation of 2-chlorophenol From Aqueous Solution by Soybean Residue Biochar Supported Sulfide-modified Nanoscale Zero-valent Iron Activated Persulfate
Authors: Xie Ronghuan , Wang Mu , Song Junjie , Li Weiping , Liu Xiaodong
Published: March 2022

In this work, soybean biochar supported sulfide-modified nanoscale zero-valent iron (BC@S-nZVI) was synthesized and used to activate persulfate (PS) for degrading 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in aqueous solutions. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the degradation effects under different conditions, including initial mass ratios among 2-CP, PS, and BC@S-nZVI, initial pH values, temperature, and anions. The results showed that the mass ratio of PS to 2-CP equaling 70 and the mass ratio of BC@S-nZVI to PS equaling 0.4 were the optimum mass ratios in the degradation system. The degradation efficiency of 2-CP was higher under acidic and alkaline conditions than the neutral condition, and the effect was best at the pH of 3, meanwhile, it increased with the increase of temperature. Moreover, the degradation rates were restrained with the addition of Cl−, NO3− and CO32−. The degradation process of 2-CP in BC@S-nZVI/PS system could be better described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model than a pseudo-first-order kinetic model, and SO4∙− was the predominant free radical under acidic conditions. The experimental results showed that it was promising to remove 2-CP from groundwater by PS activated with BC@S-nZVI.
Antagonistic activity of wild growing mushrooms against various fungal rice pathogen.
Authors: Baseri Nurkhalida Mohd , Anuar Muhammad Salahudin Kheirel , Shamsuhazli Nur Alia Syamimi , Zulkifli Mohd Amirul Faiz , Wasoh Helmi , Yusof Mohd Termizi
Published: March 2022

Paddy is an important crop in Malaysia. There are various pathogens able to infect paddy causing a loss in yield’s production. In this study, dual culture method, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) analysis and non-volatile compound analysis were used to assess the ability of mushroom to control fungal rice pathogens including Curvularia lunata, Bipolaris panici-miliacei and Nigrospora sp. Four mushroom isolates were further analysed for their antagonistic activity against rice pathogen. The highest percentage inhibition of radial growth (PIRG) was recorded between 45.55–73.68% observed in isolate 42b. The 4 isolates with the highest PIRG based on the dual culture analysis were then tested for their production of VOCs and non-volatile compound. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region analysis of the 4 mushroom isolates revealed their identity as Coprinellus disseminates (isolate 12b), Marasmiellus palmivorus (isolate 42b), Trametes maxima (isolate 56e), and Lentinus sajor-caju (isolate 60a). This study showed that mushroom isolates have the potential of antagonistic effect on various fungal rice pathogens tested by the production of secondary metabolites and mycoparasitic interaction.
Enantioselective Synthesis, Computational Molecular Docking and Invitro Anticoagulant Activity of Warfarin-Based Derivatives
Authors: Afzal Zakia , Rashid Naghmana , Nadeem Humaira , Khan Arifullah , Ashraf zaman
Published: March 2022

Warfarin containing coumarin ring system possesses excellent anticoagulant activity in its enantiomeric form (S). The present work designed to synthesize warfarin based derivatives enantioselectivily to explore their anticoagulant potential. The substituted chalcones were reacted with 4-OH coumarin in presence of chiral catalyst 9-amino-9-deoxyepiquinine to afford warfarin based analogues 5a-5k. The structures of synthesized compounds 5a-5k were confirmed by FTIR, 1HNMR,13CNMR and EIMS data. The enantioselectivity has been assured by determining the enantiomeric excess (ee) in chiral HPLC which exhibited 16-99%ee. The invitro anticoagulant activity of synthesized compounds 5a-5k was evaluated by plasma recalcification time (PRT) method and it was found that most of the derivatives showed good anticoagulant activity specifically compound 5b exhibited excellent results compared to warfarin. The compound 5b displayed IC50 value 249.88µM better than standard warfarin (IC50 408.70µM). The molecular docking studies has been performed against vitamin K epoxide reductase with PDBID 3kp9. The synthesized compounds binds well in active binding site of target enzyme. The derivative 5b showed pi-stacking interactions with amino acid phenylalanine (PHE A 114).The antimicrobial activity of synthesized compounds has also been performed and results showed moderate antimicrobial activity. Based upon our results it is proposed derivative 5b may act as lead compound to design more potent anticoagulant derivatives.
Predicting Perinatal Mortality Based on Maternal Health Status and Health Insurance Service using Homogeneous Ensemble Machine Learning Methods
Authors: Bogale Dawit S , Abuhay Tesfamariam M , Dejene Belayneh E
Published: March 2022

Background
Perinatal mortality in Ethiopia is the highest in Africa, with 68 per 1000 pregnancies intrapartum deaths (death during the delivery). It is mainly associated with home delivery, which contributes for more than 75% of perinatal deaths. Financial constraints have a significant impact on timely access to maternal health (MH) care. Financial incentives, such as health insurance, can address the demand- and supply-side factors. This study, hence, aims to predict perinatal mortality based on maternal health status and health insurance service using homogeneous ensemble machine learning methods
Methods
The data was collected from Ethiopian demographic health survey from 2011 to 2019 G.C. The data were pre-processed to get quality data that are suitable for a homogenous ensemble machine-learning algorithm to develop a model that predicts perinatal mortality.
Results
For constructing the proposed model, three experiments were conducted using random forest, gradient boosting, and cat boost algorithms. The overall accuracy of random forest, gradient boosting, and cat boost with 17 features is 89.95%, 90.24%, and 82%, respectively.
Conclusions
We finally concluded that perinatal mortality over time in Ethiopia is decreasing. We found out that perinatal mortality in Ethiopia is associated with risk factors such as community-based health insurance, mother's educational level, residence, mother age, wealth status, distance to the health facility, preterm, smoke cigarette, anemia level, haemoglobin level, and marital status.
Deuterium separation under ambient conditions by spatial confinement between Pd nanoparticles and benzene skeleton
Authors: Fu Jingru , Das Saikat , Zhang Xiqi , Wang Ying , Xiao Hongyan , Ben Teng , Jiang Lei
Published: March 2022

Deuterium with high purity can be widely used in non-radioactive isotope tracking, neutron scattering and nuclear fusion. Current approaches for deuterium separation with Pd membrane and quantum sieving-based nanoporous materials are performed at high temperature (673 K) and ultralow temperature (30 K), respectively, both requiring high energy consumption but possessing low separation efficiency. However, efficient separation of deuterium under ambient conditions is still a remaining challenge. Here, we efficiently extract high-purity deuterium from an isotopic mixture under ambient conditions via spatial confinement between Pd nanoparticles and benzene skeleton, and reducing activation energy of the reaction. In-situ FT-IR results confirm that Pd nanoparticles (ca. 1.1 nm) in crystalline porous organic framework (CPOF-1) can chemically adsorb deuterium at room temperature. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that the spatial confinement effect reduces the reaction activation energy, and leads to Pd-deuterium reaction at room temperature. This study provides a new concept for deuterium separation with low energy consumption, low cost and high efficiency, and we envision that it could be of great significance in practical applications.
Valorization of Rice Straw for Optimization of Production of Thermotolerant Cellulase by Parageobacillus Thermoglucosidasius NBCB1 Under Submerged Fermentation
Authors: Basak Arijita , Murmu Nensina , Gavande Parmeshwar Vitthal , Ghosh Shilpi
Published: March 2022

Rice straw can be a substrate for production of cellulolytic enzymes, a vital step in economical deconstruction of cellulosic biomass in industry. We herein report the optimization of cellulase production by the thermotolerant Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius NBCB1, in rice straw based submerged fermentation. Optimization of process parameters by One Factor At a Time (OFAT) suggested Day 3, medium pH 5.5, 1% (v/v) sorbitol, 1% (v/v) peptone and a cultivation temperature of 60°C as the optimal conditions for cellulase production. Further optimization of effective variables: incubation period, medium pH, sorbitol and peptone concentrations, by Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networking (ANN) improved cellulase yield to 3.106 ± 0.005EU and 3.488 ± 0.004 EU/mg protein, respectively, which were closer to model diagnosed values. OFAT, RSM and ANN improved cellulase production by ~ 6.66, ~ 9.34 and ~ 10 folds, respectively, compared with enzyme production in unoptimized medium, indicating the later two being equally effective in the maximization of cellulase production. Purified cellulase (MW 31 kDa) with pH and temperature optima of 5.5 and 60°C, respectively, retained 100% activity upon pre-incubation at 60°C indicating it’s thermostability. It also showed halotolerance and heavy metal tolerance properties. Due to it’s versatile nature, the cellulase produced by P. thermoglucosidasius NBCB1 could be suitable for industrial degradation of agroresidues.
The role of lymphocyte-monocyte ratio on Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy diagnosis and disease activity
Authors: hong zhenmei , xia ping , zhang shuijing , Gong Binfei , wang yanbo
Published: March 2022

Background: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is characterized by significant clinical heterogeneity, and as such reliable biomarkers help to identify and measure disease activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) in CIDP diagnosis and disease activity classification. Method: This retrospective study involved 36 patients with CIDP and 36 healthy controls (HC). The CIDP patients were grouped into 23 active CIDP patients and 13 with long-lasting remission. Hematological parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) , and LMR were compared between the CIDP patients and HCs. Pearson or Spearman correlation analyses were used to evaluate the correlations between LMR and other indicators. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the role of LMR in the diagnosis of CIDP.Results: The CIDP patients showed lower LMR compared to HCs (P<0.05), and active disease patients showed lower LMR levels compared to the remission group (P<0.05). Positive correlations were observed between LMR and Hb (Hemoglobin), RBC (Red blood cells), and A/G (Albumin/globulin ratio), whereas LMR was negatively correlated with NLR, PLR, RDW (Red cell distribution width) (P<0.05). ROC curves showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for LMR in the diagnosis of CIDP was 0.807 (95% CI=0.705-0.908) with a sensitivity and specificity of 77.78 and 75%, and the AUC (95% CI) for the combination of ESR, A/G and LMR was 0.885 (0.809- 0.961) with a sensitivity and specificity of 80.56% and 77.48% respectively. Conclusion: Our study suggests that LMR may be an important inflammatory marker for recognizing CIDP and assessing disease activity.
Diketopiperazines, promising anti-adhesion metabolites of Glycomyces sediminimaris against dental pathogen Streptococcus mutans
Authors: Heidarian Sheida , Almasi Faezeh , Mohammadipanah Fatemeh
Published: March 2022

Oral biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans as a critical and the predominant causative agent of several dental and physiologic disorders needs to be tackled. Investigating anti-biofilm compounds from marine Actinobacteria as a source of natural product for blocking the biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans was conducted. Anti-adhesion activity of Actinobacterial extracts was investigated through crystal violet assay. Herein, the extract of Glycomyces sediminimaris UTMC 2460 (DSM 103727) prevented the adhesion potency of S. mutans up to 95.1% at 100 𝜇g/mL. The Extracellular Polymeric Substance (EPS) production and cell hydrophobicity index of the strain was restrained up to 66% and 30%, respectively. The extract showed metabolism suppression up to 20% in S. mutans even in the biofilm state at the effective biofilm inhibition concentration (100 𝜇g/mL). Metabolic profiling of Glycomyces sediminimaris revealed the presence of anti-biofilm diketopiperazines compounds as major components of the extract. The current finding postulate that the metabolic profile of marine Glycomyces sediminimaris includes biocompounds that can be evaluated in further studies as an anti-biofilm of S.mutans which has not been previously reported.
Fission and Fusion Solutions to the (2+1)-Dimensional Generalized Konopelchenko–Dubrovsky–Kaup–Kupershmidt Equation Arising in Fluid Mechanics and Plasma Physics
Authors: ma hongcai , Gao Yidan , Deng Aiping
Published: March 2022

Fission and fusion are common phenomena in nature, they usually occur in physical and biological fields. In this paper, we will give new constraint to obtain fission and fusion solutions which have the shape of the letter Y . In combination with velocity resonance method, mode resonance method and long-wave limit method, we construct the interaction solutions of y-type molecules with soliton molecules, breather molecules and lump molecules respectively. We also obtain a novel solution containing a mixture of lump molecules, breather molecules and y-type molecules. At the same time, we analyze the dynamic behaviors of these interaction solutions and give the problems waiting to be solved.
Variations in the aluminum fractions within soils associated with different tea varieties (Camellia sinensis L.): Insights at the aggregate scale
Authors: Yang Jia , Zheng Zicheng , Li Tingxuan , Ye Daihua , Wang Yongdong , Huang Huagang , Yu Haiying , Liu Tao , Xizhou Zhang
Published: March 2022

Background
Soil aggregates play an important role in the transformation of aluminum (Al) fractions, but little is known about the changes in Al fractions based on the aggregates in soils of different tea varieties.
Methods
The distribution of Al fractions in aggregates collected from soils planted with four tea varieties (C. sinensis ‘Fuding Dabaicha’ (FD), Chuancha No. 3 (CC3), Chuanmu No. 217 (CM217) and Chuannong Huangyazao (CN)) was investigated by continuous extraction method.
Results
Results showed significant differences in the distributions of Al fractions among the soils, which were related to the changes in soil aggregate compositions and the aggregate-associated Al fractions. The FD soil had the highest Or-Al concentration, which was related to its high proportion of > 5 mm aggregates and the high Or-Al concentration in the > 5 mm aggregates. The CC3 soil had the highest concentrations of total aluminum (T-Al), water-soluble aluminum (Ws-Al) and exchangeable aluminum (Ex-Al), and the accumulation of T-Al, Ws-Al and Ex-Al depended on the highest concentrations of T-Al, Ws-Al and Ex-Al in the > 5 mm and < 0.25 mm aggregates among the four soils. Therefore, the formation of aggregates and the high Al preservation capacity of the aggregates determined the high Al concentrations of the FD and CC3 soils.
Conclusions
This study helps elucidate the mechanisms of Al sequestration, and provides evidence for developing appropriate management plans to prevent an increase in Al concentrations in the soils of CC3 and FD by adjusting the soil aggregate composition and the Al concentration of aggregates.
A spatio-temporally constrained gene regulatory network directed by PBX1/2 acquires limb patterning specificity via HAND2
Authors: Losa Marta , Barozzi Iros , Osterwalder Marco , Zarrineh Peyman , Benazet Jean Denis , Chacon Brandon , Girdziusaite Ausra , Morabito Angela , Zhu Jianjian , Mackem Susan , Capellini Terence , Bobola Nicoletta , Dickel Diane , Zuniga Aimée , Visel Axel , Zeller Rolf , Selleri Licia
Published: March 2022

A lingering question in developmental biology has centered on how PBX TALE transcription factors, viewed primarily as HOX co-factors, can confer functional specificity to spatially-restricted HOX proteins despite being ubiquitously distributed in vertebrate embryos. Here, using the murine hindlimb as a model, we investigate the elusive mechanisms whereby PBX homeoproteins themselves attain tissue-specific developmental functions. We first demonstrate that mesenchymal-specific loss of PBX1/2 or the transcriptional regulator HAND2 generates similar limb phenotypes. By combining tissue-specific and temporally-controlled mutagenesis with multi-omics approaches, we then reconstruct a GRN at organismal-level resolution that is collaboratively directed by PBX1/2 and HAND2 within subsets of posterior-proximal hindlimb mesenchymal cells. Genome-wide profiling of PBX1 binding across multiple embryonic tissues further reveals that HAND2 selects a subset of PBX-bound regions to impart limb patterning functionality. Our research elucidates fundamental principles by which promiscuous transcription factors cooperate with select cofactors to instruct distinct developmental programs.
Ocular surface squamous neoplasia with 360° limbal involvement: A comparative study of 130 patients
Authors: Vempuluru Vijitha S , Ghose Neha , Pattnaik Monalisha , Mohamed Ashik , Kaliki Swathi
Published: March 2022

Purpose
To describe the risk factors, clinical features and management outcomes of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) with 360° of limbal involvement (360-OSSN).
Methods
Retrospective comparative study.
Results
Of 1250 patients diagnosed with OSSN during the study period, 30 (2%) had 360-OSSN. A total of 100 patients of OSSN with segmental limbal involvement (SL-OSSN) were included for comparison. 360-OSSN patients more often had longer duration of symptoms (mean, 17 months vs 8 months; p, 0.003), prior misdiagnosis (17% vs 6%, p, 0.13) and prior intervention (47% vs 13%; p, 0.0002) than patients with SL-OSSN. 360-OSSN tumors were more extensive (mean diameter, 24mm vs 8 mm; p < 0.0001), had diffuse ocular surface involvement (63% vs 3%, p < 0.0001), scleral fixity (57% vs 16%; p < 0.0001), corneal/scleral melt (17% vs 0%; p, 0.0005), intraocular tumor extension (17% vs 0%; p, 0.003), orbital tumor extension (33% vs 1%; p < 0.0001), and advanced T stage at presentation (Tis: 37% vs 76%, T1: 0% vs 15%; T2: 7% vs 4%; T3: 27% vs 4%; T4: 30% vs 1%; p < 0.001). Over a mean follow-up of 15 months in patients with 360-OSSN and 13 months in those with SL-OSSN, lymph node metastasis (8% vs 0%; p, 0.05) and distant metastasis (4% vs 0%; p, 0.23) was more common in 360-OSSN group vs SL-OSSN group.
Conclusion
Risk factors of 360-OSSN include prolonged symptoms, prior misdiagnosis and prior intervention. It represents an advanced form of disease with larger, diffuse lesions, propensity for corneo-scleral melt and invasive disease which requires aggressive management.
Molecularand Phylogenetic Characterization Of Cryptosporidium Species In The Saffron Finch Sicalis Flaveola
Authors: de Oliveira Francisco Carlos Rodrigues , Gallo Samira Salim Mello , Elizeu Taynara Kerolayne Santos , Ederli Nicole Brand
Published: March 2022

Cryptosporidium is the most common protozoan that can infect a wide variety of animals, including mammals and birds. Fecal samples of saffron finches, Sicalis flaveola, from a commercial establishment were screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium by the modified Ziehl–Neelsen technique and nested PCR of the 18S rRNA gene followed by sequencing of the amplified fragments. The species Cryptosporidium galli was identified in six saffron fiches, in addition to Cryptosporidium andersoni in one of the birds, indicating a mixed infection. Only two birds had feathers that were ruffled and dirty with feces. Concomitant infection with Isospora spp. was observed in all birds. In conclusion, this is the third report of parasitism by C. galli in S. flaveola and that this bird is a possible host of C. andersoni.
Light-dependence of Formate (C1) and Acetate (C2) Transport and Oxidation in Poplar Trees
Authors: Jardine Kolby J. , Lei Joseph , Som Suman , Souza Daisy , Clendinen Chaevien S. , Mehta Hardeep , Handakumbura Pubudu , Bill Markus , Young Robert P. , Brodie Eoin
Published: March 2022

BackgroundAlthough apparent light inhibition of leaf day respiration is a widespread reported phenomenon, the mechanisms involved, including utilization of alternate respiratory pathways and substrates and light inhibition of TCA cycle enzymes are under active investigation. Recently, acetate fermentation was highlighted as a key drought survival strategy mediated through protein acetylation and jasmonate signaling. Here, we evaluate the light-dependence of acetate transport and assimilation in Populus trichocarpa trees using a new dynamic xylem solution injection (DXSI) method for continuous studies of C1 and C2 organic acid transport and light-dependent metabolism. ResultsOver 7 days, 1.0 L of [13C]formate and [13C2]acetate solutions were delivered to the stem base of 2-year old potted poplar trees, while continuous diurnal observations were made in the canopy of CO2, H2O, and isoprene gas exchange together with δ13CO2. Stem base injection of 10 mM [13C2]acetate induced an overall pattern of canopy branch headspace 13CO2 enrichment (δ13CO2 +27‰) with a diurnal structure in δ13CO2 reaching a mid-day minimum following by a maximum shortly after darkening where δ13CO2 values rapidly increased up to +12‰. In contrast, 50 mM injections of [13C]formate were required to reach similar δ13CO2 enrichment levels in the canopy with δ13CO2 following diurnal patterns of transpiration. Illuminated leaves of detached poplar branches pretreated with 10 mM [13C2]acetate showed lower δ13CO2 (+20‰) compared to leaves treated with 10 mM [13C]formate (+320‰), the opposite pattern observed at the whole plant scale. Following dark/light cycles at the leaf-scale, rapid, strong, and reversible enhancements in headspace δ13CO2 by up to +60‰ were observed in [13C2]acetate treated leaves which showed enhanced dihydrojasmonic acid and TCA cycle intermediate concentrations. ConclusionsThe results are consistent with acetate in the transpiration stream as an effective activator of the jasmonate signaling pathway and respiratory substrate. The shorter lifetime of formate relative to acetate in the transpiration stream suggests rapid formate oxidation to CO2 during transport to the canopy. In contrast, acetate is efficiently transported to the canopy where an increased allocation towards mitochondrial dark respiration occurs at night. The results highlight the potential for an effective integration of acetate into glyoxylate and TCA cycles and the light-inhibition of citrate synthase as an important regulatory mechanism in controlling the diurnal allocation of acetate between anabolic and catabolic processes.
Endoscopic Trans-Mini-Cylinder Biopsy for Intraparenchymal Brain Lesions
Authors: Takeuchi Kazuhito , Ohka Fumiharu , Nagata Yuichi , Maeda Sachi , Tanahashi Kuniaki , Araki Yoshio , Yamamoto Taiki , Sasaki Hiroo , Mizuno Akihiro , Harada Hideyuki , Saito Ryuta
Published: March 2022

Purpose: Recently, the importance of molecular diagnosis has increased, along with the volume of specimens required for diagnosis. Biopsy procedures must simultaneously reduce invasiveness and ensure the collection of adequate tissue volume. We examined the efficacy and safety of endoscopic biopsy using a minimal diameter cylinder.Methods: Patients who underwent endoscopic biopsy surgery with a 6-mm diameter cylinder for intraparenchymal lesions were included. Postoperative hematoma formation and the extent of trajectory scarring were assessed. Molecular genetic analysis was performed for cases of diffuse infiltrated glioma.Results: Fifty-two procedures performed on 51 patients were analyzed in this study. Postoperative neurological deterioration was not observed in any case. A pathological diagnosis was made for all patients. Postoperative CT revealed no hematoma after 49 procedures and a small hematoma after 3 procedures, and no patients required additional treatment. A postoperative trajectory scar less than 5 mm in size was observed after 30 procedures, a scar of 5-10 mm was observed after 19 procedures, and a scar larger than 10 mm was observed after 3 procedures at 1 week after surgery, and 40, 6 and 0 scars were observed at 3 months after surgery. Molecular genetic analysis was performed in 17 cases, resulting in a change to a higher grade in the integrated diagnosis of 3 cases.Conclusions: Endoscopic biopsy using a small-diameter cylinder is a possible alternative biopsy technique for intraparenchymal lesions. This surgical technique is useful especially in cases where hemorrhagic complications are expected.Trial registrationRegistry name and number: Efficacy and safety of the neuro-endoscopic treatment for brain tumors. (2019-0254)
Exploring public interest from Twitter in 2021 using natural language processing for post-2020 biodiversity conservation strategies﻿
Authors: Ohtani Shimon
Published: March 2022

The need to develop more effective biodiversity conservation strategies for the post-2020 period is now being called for both globally and in individual countries. As an example of analysis that should serve as a clue for this purpose, this paper presents a methodology for exploring public interest in “biodiversity” by analyzing text posted on Twitter in 2021 using natural language processing, which is one of the big data analyses that have been rapidly advancing in recent years. First, the frequency of idioms was explored by aggregating bigrams in contexts where the word “biodiversity” is used, and then the tweet data set was classified into 40 meaningful topics and defined by LDA topic modeling. In addition, two ways of sentiment analysis by NRC emotion lexicon and VADER were used to visualize the rough emotional trends that can be read from the data set. And I then selected a topic on “Extinction of Species” for intensive discussion, and also picked up and discussed tweets about “30 by 30” as an example of a cross-topic analysis. However, developing measures to compensate for the weaknesses of incompleteness and non-representativeness of big data is also a major challenge. In the future, cultivating interdisciplinary knowledge and promoting collaboration among researchers in different fields and deep social networking literacy to enable a hybrid analysis of multiple data sets will be essential for effective biodiversity conservation strategies.
Intravesical Ectopic Prostatic Tissue May be Misdiagnosed as Nephrogenic Adenoma: a Case Report and Overview
Authors: Wu Yonglu , Wu Aiming , Li Zhiqin
Published: March 2022

Background Ectopic prostatic tissue is a relatively infrequent condition, usually found accidentally during imaging examinations or surgery. From 1967 to 2021, the reports of ectopic prostate tissue in English literature are increasing. It is rarely reported that ectopic prostate may be misdiagnosed as a nephrogenic adenoma (NA). Case presentationThis article reports a 45-year-old male patient with no symptoms. The computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a homogeneous isoechoic mass in the posterior inferior wall of the bladder. Firstly, the transurethral cystoscopic biopsy revealed a smooth sessile mass that covered normal bladder mucosa located in the middle of the interureteric ridge, and pathological results considered an intravesical NA. Then, the mass was completely resected under laparoscopic pneumovesicum and the pathological diagnosis was ectopic prostate tissue. Conclusions The clinical symptoms of ectopic prostate were similar to other bladder neoplasms, and fewer characteristics of imaging examinations are available to diagnose. Surgery was the mainstay treatment of ectopic prostatic tissue and has a good prognosis. Ectopic prostatic tissue presents as a tumor in the bladder, urologists may easily misdiagnose the condition like a tumor. Therefore, it is necessary to awareness of ectopic prostatic tissue to avoid misdiagnosis.
Variation of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after primary BNT162b2 vaccination and homologous booster
Authors: Salvagno Gian Luca , Henry Brandon M. , Pighi Laura , De Nitto Simone , Lippi Giuseppe
Published: March 2022

Background: In this serosurveillance study, we investigated the variation of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) antibodies in healthcare workers receiving primary BNT162b2 vaccination and homologous booster.Methods: A total number of 524 subjects (median age, 46 years; 65.3% females), were studied. All received primary BNT162b2 vaccination (two doses) and homologous booster (one dose) >8 months after completing the primary cycle. Blood samples were collected before the first and second vaccine doses, at 1, 3 and 6 months after the second dose, as well as before and 1 month after booster. Total anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies were assayed with Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S chemiluminescent immunoassay.Results: Overall, 65.1% subjects were baseline (i.e., prevaccination) SARS-CoV-2 seronegative and always tested SARS-CoV-2 negative (“N/N”), 16.2% were baseline SARS-CoV-2 seronegative but tested SARS-CoV-2 positive after receiving the vaccine booster dose (“N/P”), whilst 18.7% were baseline SARS-CoV-2 seropositive and always tested SARS-CoV-2 negative afterwards (“P/N”). All groups displayed a similar trend of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibodies throughout the study period, though the P/N cohort exhibited higher values compared to the other two groups until receiving the booster, after which the levels become similar in all cohorts. Significant differences in total anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibodies values were not found between N/N and N/P groups, neither 1 month after booster. The rate of subjects with protective antibodies values become 100% in all groups after booster.Conclusions: Although baseline seropositivity is associated with more pronounced humoral immune response following primary vaccination compared to never infected subjects, SARS-CoV-2 infection after booster does not significantly foster antibody titers.
Comparative Effectiveness of Two Behavioral Change Intervention Packages for Tobacco Cessation Initiated in The Tertiary Care Setting of North India-Protocol for A Two-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Dhawan Priyanka , Goel Sonu , Aggarwal Ashutosh , Ghosh Abhishek , Vijayvergiya Rajesh , Medhi Bikash , Khurana Dheeraj , Verma Roshan
Published: March 2022

ackground:To reduce the global burden of tobacco use, clinical guidelines support behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy as preferred interventions for tobacco cessation. The evidence based behavioral interventions has consistently shown to be impactful in community settings, however its efficacy has not been established in hospital settings. The current study aims to investigate impact of trans-theoretical based behavioral intervention package on tobacco users suffering from non-communicable diseases attending tertiary care settings of North India.Methods/Design: A two arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) in a tertiary health care hospital will be performed. A total of 360 tobacco users attending NCD clinics in four departments: Cardiology, Neurology, Pulmonary Medicine, ENT (Otolaryngology) will be recruited over a period of three months. After ascertaining the eligibility criteria they will be followed up to 6 months (1, 3, 6) for their tobacco use status, readiness to quit, nicotine dependence, stage of behavior change and self-reported & biochemical validation (urine cotinine) for tobacco abstinence. Assignment of intervention including allocation concealment, sequence generation, blinding will be done as per SPIRIT guidelines for RCT protocols.Discussion:As no strong evidence exists about the effectiveness of tobacco cessation intervention in tertiary settings, the current study will build evidence about the similar interventions in such settings.Trial Registration: CTRI/2019/09/021406