bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring the Ferroptosis Mechanism of Zhilong Huoxue Tongyu Capsule for the Treatment of Intracerebral Hemorrhage Based on Network Pharmacology and In Vivo Validation
Authors: Wang Lixia , Ren Wei , Wang Li , Mao Linshen , Mazhar Maryam , Zhou Chen , Xu Houping , Yang Sijin
Published: September 2022

Objective. The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of the Zhilong Huoxue Tongyu (ZL) capsule in the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) via targeting ferroptosis based on network pharmacology. Methods. The active ingredients and related key targets of the ZL capsule were screened using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). The gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were also performed. Finally, identified targets were validated in an in-vivo model of ICH. Results. A total of 30 active ingredients and 33 intersecting targets were identified through a TCMSP database search. Ingredients-Targets-Pathways network was constructed to filter out the key targets according to the degree value. TP53 was selected as the key target. The in-vivo validation studies demonstrated that TP53 was down-regulated and GPX4 was upregulated in rats following ZL capsule treatment. Conclusions. It is concluded that the ZL capsule could alleviate ICH in a muti-target and multi-pathway manner. ZL capsule could alleviate ICH by inhibiting ferroptosis, and TP53 is identified to be the potential target. Further research is needed to clarify the detailed anti-ferroptotic mechanism of the ZL capsule.
Stability Analysis of COVID-19 Epidemic Model of Type
S
E
I
Q
H
R
with Fractional Order
Authors: Ould Beinane Sid Ahmed , Lemnaouar Mohamed Reda , Zine Rabie , Louartassi Younes
Published: September 2022

In this article, we consider a fractional

S
E
I
R

model, denoted by the

S
E
I
Q
H
R

model, which aims to predict the outbreak of infectious diseases in general. In particular, we study the spread of COVID-19. The fractional order offers a flexible, appropriate, and reliable framework for pandemic growth characterization. Firstly, we analyze some elementary results of the model (boundedness and uniqueness of solutions). In addition, we establish certain conditions to ensure the local stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibrium points. Based on analytical and numerical results, we conclude that coronavirus infection (COVID-19) remains endemic, which requires long-term prevention and intervention strategies.
Exploring the Protective Effects and Mechanism of Huaji Jianpi Decoction against Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation
Authors: Xue Hongkun , Wang Yu , Xiang Hongwei , Song Qi , Zhang Guowei , Wang Jianguo , Ge Shaoqin
Published: September 2022

This paper was designed to predict the mechanisms of the active components of Huaji Jianpi Decoction (HJJPD) against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) based on network pharmacology-combined animal experiments. The candidate compounds of HJJPD and its relative targets were obtained from TCMSP and PharmMapper web server, and the intersection genes for NAFLD were discerned using OMIM, GeneCards, and DisGeNET. Then, the target protein-protein interaction (PPI) and component-target-pathway networks were constructed. Moreover, gene function annotation (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed to study the potential signaling pathways associated with HJJPD’s effect on NAFLD. Molecular docking simulation was preformed to validate the binding affinity between potential core components and key targets. Eventually, the candidate targets, the possible pathway, and the mechanism of HJJPD were predicted by the network pharmacology-based strategy, followed by experimental validation in the NAFLD mice model treated with HJJPD. A total of 55 candidate compounds and 36 corresponding genes were identified from HJJPD that are associated with activity against NAFLD, and then the network of them was constructed. Inflammatory response and lipid metabolism-related signaling pathways were identified as the critical signaling pathways mediating the therapeutic effect of the active bioactive ingredients on NAFLD. Compared with the model group, the liver wet weight, liver/body ratio, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in serum in the HJJPD low-dose (17.52 g/kg·d), medium-dose (35.04 g/kg·d), and high-dose (70.07 g/kg·d) groups significantly decreased (

P
<
0.05

). Light microscope observation shows that HJJPD could control the degree of lipid denaturation of the mouse liver tissue to a great extent. RT-qPCR results show that the mRNA expression levels of peroxisome proliferative activated receptor gamma (PPARG), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), antiserine/threonine protein kinase 1 (AKT1), and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase (PTGS2) in the liver tissues of the three HJJPD groups (17.52 g/kg·d, 35.04 g/kg·d, and 70.07 g/kg·d) were significantly lower than those in the model group (

P
<
0.05

). HJJPD can exert its effect by inhibiting hepatic steatosis and related mRNA expression and decreasing the levels of other liver-related indexes. This study suggested that HJJPD exerted its effect on NAFLD by modulating multitargets with multicompounds through multipathways. It also demonstrated that the network pharmacology-based approach might provide insights for understanding the interrelationship between complex diseases and interventions of HJJPD.
Dl-3-n-Butylphthalide (NBP) Mitigates Muscular Injury Induced by Limb Ischemia/Reperfusion in Mice through the HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB Pathway
Authors: Sun Huanhuan , Wang Jueqiong , Bi Wei , Zhang Feng , Chi Kui , Shi Long , Li Meng , Zhang Jinwen , Zhang Yanrong , Gao Xiang
Published: September 2022

Objective. Limb ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a clinical syndrome associated with severe damages to skeletal muscles and other fatal outcomes. Oxidative stress and inflammatory response play vital roles in the development of limb I/R injury. Existing evidence further indicates that Dl-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. However, whether NBP can protect skeletal muscles from limb I/R injury and the mechanism in mediating the action of NBP treatment still remain to be investigated, which are the focuses of the current study. Methods. The model of limb I/R injury was established and H&E staining was adopted to assess the pathological changes in skeletal muscles following limb I/R injury. Additionally, the W/D ratio of muscle tissue was also measured. ELISA and biochemical tests were carried out to measure the levels of inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress in mouse models of limb I/R injury. Moreover, the levels of the HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB pathway-related proteins were also determined using immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. Results. It was established that NBP treatment alleviated I/R-induced pathological changes in muscular tissue of mice, accompanied by lower W/D ratio of skeletal muscular tissue. Meanwhile, the limb I/R-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in skeletal muscles of mice were also inhibited by NBP. Mechanistic study indicated that the alleviatory effect of NBP was ascribed to inactivation of the HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB pathway. Conclusions. Our findings highlighted the potential of NBP as a novel strategy for limb I/R-driven muscle tissue damages by suppressing inflammatory response and oxidative stress via the HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB pathway.
Optimization of Suzhou Garden Infrastructure Layout Based on Federal Learning
Authors: Li Min
Published: September 2022

Along with the accelerating urbanization process in China, the problem of urban infrastructure layout has become increasingly prominent. The high density of buildings and the extremely unreasonable distribution of infrastructure make the development face great resistance. This paper reveals the problems in the layout of garden infrastructure by studying and analyzing the theoretical foundations of federal learning and distributed learning and provides an in-depth analysis and elaboration of the problem. The paper uses the shape index and landscape index of green infrastructure (green space, arable land, and water bodies), the average width of roads, road network density, and weighted buildings to conduct a comparative study through the differences in ventilation speed and temperature at different layout garden scales. According to the problems existing in the garden layout in the experimental results, corresponding improvement measures are targeted, and the infrastructure layout of the garden is combined with ecology to make the layout within the garden more suitable.
Pan-Cancer Gene Analysis of m6A Modification and Immune Infiltration in Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma
Authors: Xie Bing-fan , Xia Yan , Lin Dan-huan , Lian Bing , Zhang Meng-li , Liu Lu , Qin Chun-Rong
Published: September 2022

Objective. This investigation was to test the potential role of m6A-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and immune infiltration as crucial factors in the diagnosis and treatment of uterine corpus endometrial cancer (UCEC). Method. The UCEC RNA-seq data were downloaded in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA, https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/). There were 587 samples totally, containing 543 UCEC cases and 35 healthy cases. The clinical information of UCEC cases included survival time, survival status, gender, age, stage, and TMN stage. Twenty-three m6A-related genes were found in published journals. The RNA-seq documents of UCEC were downloaded in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The hub gene data of UCEC were downloaded from GEPIA2 database. The different packages of R language were applied to calculate and analyze in this research. Results. Among 587 cases in our study, we discovered 3039 lncRNAs in the TCGA-UCEC database. After the differential analysis, 23 m6A-associated genetics were screened and twenty-one m6A-associated differential genetics were found. In the end, we obtained 20 m6A-related lncRNAs. LNCTAM34A was considered as a predictive gene through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. In addition to the above, patients with high LNCTAM34A expression had better outcomes than those with low LNCTAM34A expression. The high-risk cohort had greater scores of activated dendritic cells (aDCs), B cells, and T cell regulatory (Tregs) than low-risk cohort; in the meanwhile, high-risk cohort had lower scores of DCs and iDCs. Then, the high-risk cohort displayed greater scores in the immune functions of MHC class I, para-inflammation, and type I IFN response than those of low-risk cohort. Among 27 immune-inducible genes, the level of CD244, KIR3DLI, NRP1, PDCD1LG2, and TNFRSF8 was reduced in UCEC samples and the level of CD27, CD28, CD70, CD80, CD86, HAVCR2, ICOS, IDO1, LAIR1, PDCD1, TIGIT, TNFRSF18, -25, -9, -14, and VTCN1 was increased in UCEC samples. Conclusion. The key role of M6A-related lncRNAs in immune microenvironment in high-risk patients of UCEC. The patients with strong expression of LNCTAM34A have a good prognosis, and LNCTAM34A can be used as a prognostic gene for UCEC. m6A-related lncRNAs can be used as a potential treatment for UCEC. Our observations can be used as a hypothetical basis for future in vitro and animal experiments.
Social Acceptance of Greywater Reuse in Rural Areas
Authors: Al-Khatib Issam A. , Al Shami Abed al Hamid U. , Garcia Gonzalo Rodriguez , Celik Ilke
Published: September 2022

Like many countries, Palestine suffers from water scarcity. Here, treated greywater is considered an essential nonconventional water resource. We aim to identify some wastewater reuse and disposal practices in rural areas and assess the acceptance level of different reuses of greywater. We conducted a survey analysis in four villages with a strong agricultural activity of the western Bethlehem Governorate. The level of acceptance of greywater reuse was generally independent of demographic variables like family size, income, or water bill, with a few exceptions regarding gender, age, and level of education. Centralized treatment was more valued than treatment at home, which presented similar acceptance levels than no treatment and might indicate a lack of trust in this alternative. The only reuse alternative trusted across treatments was bush irrigation (3.53‐3.86 on a five‐point Likert scale), but other options without clear, direct human contact like crop irrigation (3.14‐3.62), stone cutting (3.19‐3.36), and construction (3.12‐3.42) also received considerable support. Reused perceived as having direct contact with humans was rejected, as it was the flushing of public toilets (2.59‐2.7), aquaculture (1.98‐2.37), olive pressing (1.85‐1.94), and drinking (1.62‐1.72). Relatively new reuse, car washing (2.95‐3.17), was somewhere in between, partially because of its novelty. To increase this and other reuses, we strongly encourage local authorities to inform the population about the potentialities of greywater reuse.
Primary Investigation of Deep Learning Models for Japanese “Group Classification” of Whole-Slide Images of Gastric Endoscopic Biopsy
Authors: Fan Xiaoya , Yu Lihui , Qi Xin , Lin Xue , Zhao Junjun , Wang Dong , Zhang Jing
Published: September 2022

Background. Accurate pathological diagnosis of gastric endoscopic biopsy could greatly improve the opportunity of early diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. The Japanese “Group classification” of gastric biopsy corresponds well with the endoscopic diagnostic system and can guide clinical treatment. However, severe shortage of pathologists and their heavy workload limit the diagnostic accuracy. This study presents the first attempt to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of AI-aided system for automated Japanese “Group classification” of gastric endoscopic biopsy. Methods. In total, 260 whole-slide images of gastric endoscopic biopsy were collected from Dalian Municipal Central Hospital from January 2015 to January 2021. These images were annotated by experienced pathologists according to the Japanese “Group classification.” Five popular convolutional neural networks, i.e., VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, Xception, and InceptionV3 were trained and tested. The performance of the models was compared in terms of widely used metrics, namely, AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, i.e., ROC curve), accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 score. Results. Results showed that ResNet50 achieved the best performance with accuracy 93.16% and AUC 0.994. Conclusion. Our results demonstrated the applicability and effectiveness of DL-based system for automated Japanese “Group classification” of gastric endoscopic biopsy.
Using Spectral Clustering Association Algorithm upon Teaching Big Data for Precise Education
Authors: Zhou Yongfu , Zeng Zhi , Wang Huabin
Published: September 2022

With the continuous deepening of the application of educational OA, massive educational data has been produced. Hence, the application of teaching big data (TBD) has a certain theoretical basis, practical methods, and research methods in the field of education. How to fully play the leading role of education on TBD in professional education, guide and recommend students to carry out personalized learning, change the teaching mode, enrich the teaching evaluation, then further improve the quality of talent training is a current issue, which has yet to be solved. Based on the analysis and mining of big data, this paper uses the spectral clustering algorithm to construct the curriculum association classification model and realizes the clustering of core courses. Then, through the analysis of the academic achievements of previous professional core courses, we can master the current situation of students' learning, construct the model as the portrait of students' individual, curriculum, and professional characteristics through deep learning, so as to realize the precise referral of personalized learning courses, provide students with targeted academic guidance, and further dynamically adjust the teaching syllabus, including the teaching methods and teaching means. Vice versa, we can improve the core courses clustering to further feedback on the curriculum association classification model by analyzing the job position technical requirements. Experiments show that the proposed model using a spectrum clustering algorithm could be better provided strong technical support for the decision-making of precision education in colleges and universities.
Efficacy of Mecobalamin Tablets Combined with Troxerutin in the Treatment of NSCLC Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
Authors: Li Yang , Gu Jiufu , Yu Qiquan
Published: September 2022

Objective. To assess the efficacy of mecobalamin tablets combined with troxerutin in the treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Methods. From January 2020 to December 2021, 120 NSCLC patients with CIPN treated in our institution meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled and assigned to receive mecobalamin tablets treatment in the control group, or assigned to receive mecobalamin tablets combined with troxerutin treatment in the research group, with 60 patients in each group. All patients were evaluated for clinical efficacy, neuropathic score, patient-reported CIPN symptoms, neuropathic pain grade, and quality of life after 3 weeks of treatment. Results. The clinical treatment effective rate of the patients in the research group was significantly higher than that of the patients in the control group (81.7% vs. 58.3%,

P
<
0.05

). Compared with before treatment, neuropathic score, numbness and tingling score, hot/coldness in hands/feet score, and peripheral neurotoxicity grade in all patients decreased significantly after treatment (

P
<
0.05

). And these reductions were more considerable in the research group compared to the control group (

P
<
0.05

). In addition, the quality of life scores (EORTC QLQ-C30) increased significantly in all patients after treatment, and this rise was more considerable in the research group compared to the control group (

P
<
0.05

). Conclusion. Mecobalamin tablets combined with troxerutin in the treatment of NSCLC patients with CIPN is effective and safe, and can significantly improve the symptoms and quality of life of NSCLC patients with CIPN.
Exploration of the Potential Link, Hub Genes, and Potential Drugs for Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Lung Cancer Based on Bioinformatics Analysis
Authors: Wang Ye , Li Qing , Zhang Jianfang , Xie Hui
Published: September 2022

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a huge influence on global public health and the economy. Lung cancer is one of the high-risk factors of COVID-19, but the molecular mechanism of lung cancer and COVID-19 is still unclear, and further research is needed. Therefore, we used the transcriptome information of the public database and adopted bioinformatics methods to identify the common pathways and molecular biomarkers of lung cancer and COVID-19 to further understand the connection between them. The two RNA-seq data sets in this study—GSE147507 (COVID-19) and GSE33532 (lung cancer)—were both derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for lung cancer and COVID-19 patients. We conducted Gene Ontology (GO) functions and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment analysis and found some common features between lung cancer and COVID-19. We also performed TFs-gene, miRNAs-gene, and gene-drug analyses. In total, 32 DEGs were found. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by DEGs, and 10 hub genes were screened. Finally, the identified drugs may be helpful for COVID-19 treatment.
Validated UPLC-MS/MS Method for Determination of Futibatinib and Its Pharmacokinetics in Beagle Dogs
Authors: Li Heng , Ding Hao-Zhe , Wang Yi-Lin , Zhang Feng , Song Ya-Hao , Qiu Xiang-Jun
Published: September 2022

Futibatinib, a highly selective, irreversible potent fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor, has been proved to be effective in clinical trials of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICCA) patients. An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method to determine the concentration of futibatinib in beagle dog plasma was developed and validated for the study of pharmacokinetics. After the plasma protein was removed by acetonitrile precipitation, futibatinib was detected and derazantinib was used as the internal standard (IS). Futibatinib and IS were separated in an UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.7 μm) with acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase, and the flow rate was 0.3 mL/min. Under the positive ion condition of an electrospray spray ion (ESI+) source, multireaction detection was used, and the ion pairs for futibatinib and IS were m/z 418.99 ⟶ 295.97 and 468.96 ⟶ 382.00, respectively. Futibatinib had a good linear relationship in the linear range of 0.5∼100 ng/mL; the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.5 ng/mL. The RSDs of the intraday and interday precision were all less than 10.70%, and the RE value of accuracy was between −3.87% and 3.28%. The extraction recovery of futibatinib was more than 80%, and the matrix effect was around 100%, and futibatinib was found to be stable under four experimental conditions. The new optimized and validated UPLC-MS/MS method was an effective tool to determine the concentration of futibatinib in plasma and has been successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics of futibatinib in beagle dogs. This method would also be used to study drug-drug interaction (DDI).
Application Method of Environmental Protection Building Elements Based on Artificial Intelligence Technology in the Field of Urban Planning and Design
Authors: Yan Lihong
Published: September 2022

In order to improve the efficiency of urban planning and design and reduce the construction waste caused by inefficient design schemes, this paper proposes an application method of environmental protection building elements based on artificial intelligence technology in the field of urban planning and design. This model enables agents to learn how to interact with the environment with appropriate strategies, so as to generate the road network design scheme required by users. In order to better control the generation of the result scheme, this paper designs the rules and feedback of the agent. Among them, rules restrict the behavior of agents to avoid design schemes that do not meet the road design specifications. Feedback determines the values followed by agents, that is, the direction of agent strategy optimization. The experimental results show that after 4×105 iterations of the training process, the model is derived and used to generate 10000 plot road network schemes, the mean and variance of key indicators are calculated, and the scores of 153 plots with similar area and shape and the same land function in the same indicators from the real case base are calculated. From the performance of these indicators, it can be seen that the performance of the road network generated by the model is similar to that of the real road network in terms of traffic performance. Conclusion. the model completely retains the structural geographic information inside the plot, and the generated results can be directly applied to mainstream urban design software through data format conversion.
Outcome of Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression for Multisegment Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and the Effect on VAS Scores
Authors: Li Chi , Guo Zhonghua
Published: September 2022

Purpose. To investigate the efficacy of percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic lumbar decompression (PTED) in the treatment of multisegment lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and its effect on VAS scores. Methods. 126 patients with multisegment LSS admitted between August 2017 and August 2021 were selected and divided into the PTED group and the traditional open surgery group (TOS group) according to the different treatment methods. There were 70 cases in the PTED group, treated with PTED, and 56 cases in the TOS group, treated with traditional open surgery. The clinical outcomes, the preoperative and postoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS), the Oswestry disability index (ODI), the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire scores, the perioperative indicators (operative time, days in hospital, intraoperative blood loss), the postoperative complications, and imaging data were compared between the two groups. Results. After the operation, the excellent and good rate in the PTED group (91.43%) was significantly higher than that in the TOS group (75.00%) (P<0.05). At each time after the operation, the VAS and ODI scores of the two groups were lower than those before the operation, and the VAS scores of the PTED group at 1 day and 3 months after operation were lower than those of the TOS group, and the ODI scores of the PTED group at 3 months after operation were lower than those of the TOS group (P<0.05). 3 months after the operation, the SF-36 scores in both groups were higher than those before the operation, and those in the PTED group were higher than those in the TOS group (P<0.05). The operation time and days in hospital in the PTED group were shorter than those in the TOS group, and the intraoperative dominant blood loss and recessive blood loss were less than those in the TOS group (P<0.05). The total incidence of complications in the PTED group (15.71%) was significantly lower than that in the TOS group (32.14%) (P<0.05). Conclusion. Both PTED and traditional open surgery are effective in treating patients with multisegmental LSS, and both show positive postoperative changes in all indicators, but the former has more promising near -term results in improving lumbar spine pain, function and quality of life than the latter, and has the advantages of less trauma, less bleeding, and fewer complications.
Neuroprotective Treatments for Digestive Forms of Chagas Disease in Experimental Models: A Systematic Review
Authors: do Carmo Neto José Rodrigues , Guerra Rhanoica Oliveira , Rodrigues Wellington Francisco , da Silva Marcos Vinicius , Machado Juliana Reis
Published: September 2022

Chagas disease is an anthropozoonosis caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and is characterized as a neglected disease. It is currently endemic in 21 countries on the Latin American continent, including Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay. Unfortunately, there are no optimally effective treatments that can reduce the damage caused in the digestive form of the disease, such as the neuronal destruction of the myenteric plexus of both the esophagus and the colon. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to report the possible pharmacological neuroprotective agents that were tested in murine models of the digestive form of Chagas disease. Inclusion criteria are in vivo experimental studies that used different murine models for digestive forms of Chagas disease related to pharmacological interventions with neuroprotective potential, without year and language restriction. On the other hand, the exclusion criteria were studies that did not approach murine models with the digestive form of the disease or did not use neuroprotective treatments, among others. The search in the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and LILACS databases was performed on September 4, 2021. In addition, a manual search was performed using the references of the included articles. The risk of bias assessment of the studies was performed based on the SYRCLE tool guidelines, and the data from the selected articles are presented in this review as a narrative description and in tables. Eight articles were included, 4 of which addressed treatment with acetylsalicylic acid, 3 with cyclophosphamide, and 1 with Lycopodium clavatum 13c. In view of the results of the studies, most of them show neuroprotective activity of the treatments, with the potential to reduce the number of damaged neurons, as well as positive changes in the structure of these cells. However, more studies are needed to understand the mechanisms triggered by each drug, as well as their safety and immunogenicity. Systematic review registration is as follows: PROSPERO database (CRD42022289746).
Zingiber officinale and Vernonia amygdalina Infusions Improve Redox Status in Rat Brain
Authors: Rotimi Damilare Emmanuel , Ben-Goru Goodnews Mavoghenegbero , Evbuomwan Ikponmwosa Owen , Elebiyo Tobiloba Christiana , Alorabi Mohammed , Farasani Abdullah , Batiha Gaber El-Saber , Adeyemi Oluyomi Stephen
Published: September 2022

The study investigated the effects of Zingiber officinale root and Vernonia amygdalina leaf on the brain redox status of Wistar rats. Twenty-four (24) rats weighing 160 ± 20 g were randomly assigned into four (4) groups, each with six (6) rats. Animals in Group 1 (control) were orally administered distilled water (1 mL), while the test groups were orally administered 5 mg/mL of either Z. officinale, V. amygdalina infusion, or a combination of both, respectively, for 7 days. The rats were sacrificed at the end of treatments and blood and tissue were harvested and prepared for biochemical assays. Results showed that administration of V. amygdalina and Z. officinale, as well as their coadministration, reduced the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in rat brain tissue compared with the control group. Conversely, coadministration of V. amygdalina and Z. officinale increased the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) in rat brain tissue compared with the control group. However, the administration of the infusions singly, as well as the combination of both infusions, did not have any effect on the rat brain levels of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) antioxidant enzymes compared to the control. Taken together, the findings indicate that the V. amygdalina and Z. officinale tea infusions have favorable antioxidant properties in the rat brain. The findings are confirmatory and contribute to deepening our understanding of the health-promoting effects of V. amygdalina and Z. officinale tea infusions.
Emotionally Intelligent Chatbots: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Bilquise Ghazala , Ibrahim Samar , Shaalan Khaled
Published: September 2022

Conversational technologies are transforming the landscape of human-machine interaction. Chatbots are increasingly being used in several domains to substitute human agents in performing tasks, answering questions, giving advice, and providing social and emotional support. Therefore, improving user satisfaction with these technologies is imperative for their successful integration. Researchers are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to impart emotional intelligence capabilities in chatbots. This study provides a systematic review of research on developing emotionally intelligent chatbots. We employ a systematic approach to gather and analyze 42 articles published in the last decade. The review is aimed at providing a comprehensive analysis of past research to discover the problems addressed, the techniques used, and the evaluation measures employed by studies in embedding emotion in chatbot conversations. The study’s findings reveal that most studies are based on an open-domain generative chatbot architecture. Researchers mainly address the issue of accurately detecting the user’s emotion and generating emotionally relevant responses. Nearly 57% of the studies use an enhanced Seq2Seq encoding and decoding of the input of the conversational model. Almost all the studies use both the automatic and manual evaluation measures to evaluate the chatbots, with the BLEU measure being the most popular method for objective evaluation.
Neoadjuvant Radiation Therapy and Surgery Improves Metastasis-Free Survival over Surgery Alone in a Primary Mouse Model of Soft Tissue Sarcoma
Authors: Patel Rutulkumar , Mowery Yvonne M. , Qi Yi , Bassil Alex M. , Holbrook Matt , Xu Eric S. , Hong Cierra S. , Himes Jonathon E. , Williams Nerissa T. , Everitt Jeffrey , Ma Yan , Luo Lixia , Selitsky Sara R. , Modliszewski Jennifer L. , Gao Junheng , Jung Sin-Ho , Kirsch David G. , Badea Cristian T.
Published: September 2022

This study aims to investigate whether adding neoadjuvant radiotherapy (RT), anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) antibody (anti–PD-1), or RT + anti-PD-1 to surgical resection improves disease-free survival for mice with soft tissue sarcomas (STS). We generated a high mutational load primary mouse model of STS by intramuscular injection of adenovirus expressing Cas9 and guide RNA targeting Trp53 and intramuscular injection of 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) into the gastrocnemius muscle of wild-type mice (p53/MCA model). We randomized tumor-bearing mice to receive isotype control or anti–PD-1 antibody with or without radiotherapy (20 Gy), followed by hind limb amputation. We used micro-CT to detect lung metastases with high spatial resolution, which was confirmed by histology. We investigated whether sarcoma metastasis was regulated by immunosurveillance by lymphocytes or tumor cell-intrinsic mechanisms. Compared with surgery with isotype control antibody, the combination of anti–PD-1, radiotherapy, and surgery improved local recurrence-free survival (P = 0.035) and disease-free survival (P = 0.005), but not metastasis-free survival. Mice treated with radiotherapy, but not anti–PD-1, showed significantly improved local recurrence-free survival and metastasis-free survival over surgery alone (P = 0.043 and P = 0.007, respectively). The overall metastasis rate was low (∼12%) in the p53/MCA sarcoma model, which limited the power to detect further improvement in metastasis-free survival with addition of anti–PD-1 therapy. Tail vein injections of sarcoma cells into immunocompetent mice suggested that impaired metastasis was due to inability of sarcoma cells to grow in the lungs rather than a consequence of immunosurveillance. In conclusion, neoadjuvant radiotherapy improves metastasis-free survival after surgery in a primary model of STS.
The Burden of Fear of Cancer Recurrence in Genitourinary Cancers: A Prospective Study (NCT04535921)
Authors: Volz Yannic , Troost Johanna , Eismann Lennert , Jokisch Friedrich , Schulz Gerald Bastian , Schlenker Boris , Kretschmer Alexander , Staehler Michael , Boeck Stefan , Waidelich Raphaela , Buchner Alexander , Stief Christian G. , Rodler Severin
Published: September 2022

Introduction: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a challenging and often unaddressed concern, and predictive factors for high FCR remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess predictive factors for high FCR in patients undergoing surgery for genitourinary cancer. Materials and Methods: Overall, 525 patients were prospectively included. FCR was measured using the validated FCR7 questionnaire prior to surgery and after receipt of the histological result. Family support, religiousness, quality-of-life impairment due to FCR, and distress were determined. Patient and tumor-related factors were compared with FCR levels using Mann-Whitney U test or Wilcoxon test. Multivariate analysis was performed by linear/binary regression. Results: FCR after receipt of the final histology was significantly lower (median 13, range 6–34) than before surgery (median 15, range 6–36, p < 0.001). In univariate analysis, significant impact on preoperative FCR was observed for gender (p = 0.017), age (p = 0.002), working status (p = 0.038), and education (p = 0.002). High impairment of QoL was associated with higher FCR levels (p < 0.001). Comparing tumor-related factors with FCR, we observed significantly higher FCR scores in patients with nonorgan-confined disease (p = 0.011). Conclusion: This study is the first to describe FCR in patients with genitourinary cancers. Surgical treatment improves FCR. Sociodemographic factors like age, female gender, employment, and education were observed to influence FCR levels. Strong correlations between FCR, QoL, and psychological distress indicate the importance of further clinical screening for FCR. Tumor-related factors however seem to play a less prominent role.
Aproximações entre as releituras saramaguianas de Caim e Jesus
Authors: Campos Valéria Hernandorena Monteagudo de
Published: September 2022

Em O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo e Caim, José Saramago recria mitos da cultura judaico-cristã e convida à releitura coletiva do Antigo e Novo Testamento. Neste artigo, pretende-se evidenciar as similaridades na construção das protagonistas dos dois romances quanto à criação de inícios e fins cíclicos nas narrativas; a ênfase na trajetória formativa das personagens; a iniciação no amor pelas mãos da mulher; a reinterpretação dos mitos pelas personagens e a revelia diante dos planos divinos. São utilizadas comparações com os textos bíblicos, assim como reflexões sobre a crítica literária pertinente.
Todos os nomes que o acaso tem: a descoberta de si pelo outro
Authors: Silva Adriana Gonçalves da
Published: September 2022

O romance Todos os nomes, publicado em 1997, possui relevante entrada na produção do autor: é posterior ao remodelamento de sua narrativa ocorrido em 1995 com Ensaio sobre a cegueira e é imediatamente anterior ao laureamento com o prêmio Nobel. A narrativa apresenta como protagonista um indivíduo assolado pelo enfado causado pela rotina e pela solidão de seu trabalho na Conservatória Geral. Com uma personalidade moldada e construída pelas relações capitalistas, o acaso será o responsável por colocá-lo em contato com o ficheiro da mulher desconhecida, o que desestabilizará a construção identitária de funcionário padrão, provando que “É necessário sair da ilha para ver a ilha” (SARAMAGO, 2012, p.41). Nesse sentido, a leitura que se pretende neste artigo busca corroborar certa constatação frequente nos romances saramaguianos desta segunda fase, a de que o homem é o único redentor de si, mas de que essa via passa quase sempre pelo outro.
Land snails of Guwahati, Assam, India
Authors: Kalita Girindra
Published: September 2022

Assam is located in the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot, and contains many animals and plants that have not been investigated scientifically. Increasing urbanization and destruction of forest cover have created threats to the survival of many species, hence scientific investigation is important to support conservation efforts. I undertook this study to evaluate the status of land snails in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, a fast-growing city 216 km2 in area where shrinkage of natural forest cover has become a matter of great concern. A total of 12 species were recorded: Cyclophorus pearsoni (Benson, 1851), C. zebrinus (Benson, 1836), Pterocyclus parvus (Pearson, 1833), Endothyrella affinis (Gude, 1897), Cryptaustenia silcharensis (Godwin-Austen, 1907), Macrochlamys atricolor (Godwin-Austen, 1875), M. hengdanensis Godwin-Austen, 1899, Sitala rimicola (Benson, 1859), Bradybaena cestus (Benson, 1836), Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822), Allopeas gracile (Hutton, 1834), and Rishetia hastula (Benson, 1860). I have provided a detailed discussion of our findings.
Diversity, distribution, and abundance status of small mammalian fauna (Chiroptera: Rodentia: Eulipotyphla) of Manipur, India
Authors: Saikia Uttam , A.B. Meetei
Published: September 2022

The three mammalian orders Chiroptera, Rodentia, and Eulipotyphla constitute the bulk of small mammalian species. In spite of their diversity, numerical preponderance, and widespread distribution, they are the least explored mammals with serious information gap on the diversity and distribution especially in the context of northeastern India. To partially fill this crucial information gap, we conducted two extensive field surveys covering nine districts of Manipur state during 2019 and 2021 resulting in the collection of 62 examples of these groups. Besides, 12 additional examples of bats and shrews from Manipur deposited at the North Eastern Regional Centre (NERC) of ZSI, Shillong and two specimens of rodents deposited in Manipur University  in recent times were also examined. Based on these voucher records and field evidences, we report the presence of 38 species of small mammals from the state including 27 species of bats, 10 species of rodents and one species of shrew. Out of these, 12 species of bats have been recorded for the first time from the state. It is expected that the present inventory will expand with further surveys as fossorial rodents and shrews were not adequately sampled during the present studies.
Iron Deficiency in Heart Failure and Effect of Dapagliflozin: Findings From DAPA-HF
Authors: Docherty Kieran F. , Welsh Paul , Verma Subodh , De Boer Rudolf A. , O’Meara Eileen , Bengtsson Olof , Køber Lars , Kosiborod Mikhail N. , Hammarstedt Ann , Langkilde Anna Maria , Lindholm Daniel , Little Dustin J. , Sjöstrand Mikaela , Martinez Felipe A. , Ponikowski Piotr , Sabatine Marc S. , Morrow David A. , Schou Morten , Solomon Scott D. , Sattar Naveed , Jhund Pardeep S. , McMurray John J.V. ,   on behalf of the DAPA-HF Investigators and Committees
Published: September 2022

Background:

Iron deficiency is common in heart failure and associated with worse outcomes. We examined the prevalence and consequences of iron deficiency in the DAPA-HF trial (Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse-Outcomes in Heart Failure) and the effect of dapagliflozin on markers of iron metabolism. We also analyzed the effect of dapagliflozin on outcomes, according to iron status at baseline.

Methods:

Iron deficiency was defined as a ferritin level <100 ng/mL or a transferrin saturation <20% and a ferritin level 100 to 299 ng/mL. Additional biomarkers of iron metabolism, including soluble transferrin receptor, erythropoietin, and hepcidin were measured at baseline and 12 months after randomization. The primary outcome was a composite of worsening heart failure (hospitalization or urgent visit requiring intravenous therapy) or cardiovascular death.

Results:

Of the 4744 patients randomized in DAPA-HF, 3009 had ferritin and transferrin saturation measurements available at baseline, and 1314 of these participants (43.7%) were iron deficient. The rate of the primary outcome was higher in patients with iron deficiency (16.6 per 100 person-years) compared with those without (10.4 per 100 person-years;
P
<0.0001). The effect of dapagliflozin on the primary outcome was consistent in iron-deficient compared with iron-replete patients (hazard ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.58–0.92] versus 0.81 [95% CI, 0.63–1.03];
P
-interaction=0.59). Similar findings were observed for cardiovascular death, heart failure hospitalization, and all-cause mortality. Transferrin saturation, ferritin, and hepcidin were reduced and total iron-binding capacity and soluble transferrin receptor increased with dapagliflozin compared with placebo.

Conclusions:

Iron deficiency was common in DAPA-HF and associated with worse outcomes. Dapagliflozin appeared to increase iron use but improved outcomes, irrespective of iron status at baseline.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT03036124.
Yield of Dual Therapy With Statin and Ezetimibe in the Treat Stroke to Target Trial
Authors: Amarenco Pierre , Kim Jong S. , Labreuche Julien , Charles Hugo , Giroud Maurice , Lee Byung-Chul , Lavallée Philippa C. , Mahagne Marie-Hélène , Meseguer Elena , Nighoghossian Norbert , Steg Philippe Gabriel , Vicaut Éric , Bruckert Eric ,   on behalf of the Treat Stroke to Target Investigators
Published: September 2022

Background:

In atherosclerotic stroke, lipid-lowering treatment with a target LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol of <70 compared with 100±10 mg/dL reduced the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events. This post hoc analysis explored the relative effects of the combination of statin and ezetimibe (dual therapy) and statin monotherapy in achieving the lower LDL cholesterol target and in reducing the risk of major vascular events, as compared with the higher target group.

Methods:

Patients with ischemic stroke in the previous 3 months or transient ischemic attack within the previous 15 days and evidence of cerebrovascular or coronary artery atherosclerosis were randomly assigned to a target LDL cholesterol of <70 or 100±10 mg/dL, using statin and/or ezetimibe as needed. The primary outcome was the composite of ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, new symptoms requiring urgent coronary or carotid revascularization, and vascular death. Cox regression model including lipid-lowering therapy as a time varying variable, after adjustment for randomization strategy, age, sex, index event (stroke or transient ischemic attack), and time since the index event.

Results:

Among 2860 patients enrolled, patients who were on dual therapy during the trial in the lower target group had a higher baseline LDL cholesterol as compared to patients on statin monotherapy (141±38 versus 131±36, respectively,
P
<0.001). In patients on dual therapy and on statin monotherapy, the achieved LDL cholesterol was 66.2 and 64.1 mg/dL respectively, and the primary outcome was reduced during dual therapy as compared with the higher target group (HR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.39–0.91];
P
=0.016) but not during statin monotherapy (HR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.70–1.20];
P
=0.52), with no significant increase in intracranial bleeding.

Conclusions:

In the TST trial (Treat Stroke to Target), targeting an LDL cholesterol of < 70 mg/dL with a combination of statin and ezetimibe compared with 100±10 mg/dL consistently reduced the risk of subsequent stroke.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT01252875. URL:
clinicaltrialsregister.eu
; Unique identifier: EUDRACT2009-A01280-57.