bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Determinants of quality of life and emotional well-being in a prospective bariatric cohort of 1501 multi-ethnic Asian patients
Authors: Shabbir Asim , Chua Wei Yu , Chia Daryl , Chan Yiong Huak , Leong Eugene , Chen Ashley , Asif Sharen , Wong Yu An , Fung Javis , Johnson Rachel , Poojari Shefali , Gani Qamaruzaman , Lin Wen , Wai Shu Ning , Kayambu Geetha , Lim Serene , Neo Wen Joo , Wee Candice , Lomanto Davide , Kim Guowei , So Jimmy
Published: September 2023

Objective:The relationship between ethnicity, obesity and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) outcomes in a multi-ethnic population remain poorly understood. We aim to investigate the relationship between ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, as well as determinants of quality of life (QoL) in Southeast Asian patients with obesity. We aim to develop and validate a simple objective score to identify bariatric patients at high risk for major depression.

Methods:Associations between ethnicity, comorbidities, BMI and determinants of QoL (PHQ-9 and SF-36) were analysed using multivariate logistic regression in a prospective cohort of 1501 bariatric patients. Multivariate regression and Receiver Operating Characteristics curves were used to develop and validate a novel scoring system to identify patients at risk of major depression.

Results:Patients of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnicity had increased risk of hypertension (OR: 1.51 [95% CI: 1.19–1.92, p<0.001]), BMI Class 4 (OR: 17.89 [95% CI: 9.53-33.60, p<0.001]) and major depression (OR: 1.71 [95% CI: 1.23–2.39, p=0.002]) respectively. Females (OR: 1.46 [95% CI: 1.16 – 1.84, p=0.001] & OR: 1.43 [95% CI: 1.11 – 1.83, p=0.005]) and Indian ethnicity (OR: 1.47 [95% CI: 1.09 – 1.98, p=0.011] & OR: 1.42 [95% CI: 1.04 – 1.94, p=0.028]) are at increased risk for poor physical & mental quality of life. Factors associated with major depression (gender, ethnicity, age, OSA, PCS and MCS scores) were used to create and validate a novel scoring system with an AUC of 0.812 (95% CI: 0.787-0.837). A cut-off of 4 of 7 points was identified on ROC curves and Youden’s index with a sensitivity of 70%, specificity 81%, PPV 53% and NPV 90%.

Conclusion:The prevalence of metabolic complications from obesity significantly varies with ethnicity. We developed a novel and simple scoring tool combining objective demographic and patient-reported outcomes to screen and triage patients at risk of major depression.
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in Pakistan: An Initial Assessment and Future Directions
Authors: Ahmad Hamza , Arnaert Antonia , Shedio Waqas , Tanoli Omaid , Deckelbaum Dan , Pasha Tayyab
Published: September 2023

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, a novel and cost-effective perioperative surgical intervention, has been demonstrated to reduce patients’ hospital length of stay, provide a higher turnover of available resources and decrease the postoperative expenses for both patients and hospitals. Even though the potential benefits of implementing ERAS in LMICs could outweigh those in HICs, a successful long-term implementation of ERAS has yet to be completed across Pakistan. Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain insights and identify potential opportunities to ERAS implementation in the context of the local socio-environmental setting. A qualitative descriptive study design consisting of individual semi-structured interviews was utilized to explore the experiences of 11 surgical residents when implementing ERAS guidelines at one of the public tertiary care hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. Acknowledging the benefits of ERAS, participants faced several challenges when implementing ERAS in their respective wards. Several key opportunities to successful implementation including enhanced team work and collaboration amongst medical teams, improved patient education and compliance towards ERAS, strengthening of peripheral healthcare services, and targeted resource allocation were identified by the participants. Even though several challenges identified by the participants were similar to those highlighted in HICs, unique barriers specific to the healthcare structure and culture of Pakistan also emerged. Further research exploring and highlighting these specific challenges is needed to overcome these core barriers and promote a shift towards a standardized healthcare system focused on improving patient outcomes.
Soldier crabs learn from the repetition of simple exploratory tasks
Authors: Kawai Takeshi , Gunji Yukio Pegio
Published: September 2023

Learning is a very important function for the survival of animals and is believed to occur in most species. Crustaceans are no exception, with several studies concluding that crabs and crayfish exhibit the ability to learn.
The soldier crab, a species that lives on a remote island in Okinawa, Japan, forms groups ranging from several hundred to several tens of thousands of individuals when foraging. However, few studies have examined the learning ability of crustaceans that form such large groups.
In this study, to examine the learning ability of individual soldier crabs, we conducted an experiment in which individuals in a laboratory environment were tested with a simple task: crabs were placed in a bisected arena, half with sand that allowed them to burrow underground and half with sand that did not. The significant results indicated that crabs may exhibit learning in response to the environment.
Effects of warming and elevated CO2 on stomatal conductance and chlorophyll fluorescence of C3 and C4 coastal wetland species
Authors: Sendall Kerrie , Muñoz Cyd M. Meléndez , Ritter Angela D. , Rich Roy L. , Noyce Genevieve L. , Megonigal J. Patrick
Published: September 2023

Coastal wetland communities provide valuable ecosystem services such as erosion prevention, soil accretion, and essential habitat for coastal wildlife, but are some of the most vulnerable to the threats of climate change. This work investigates the combined effects of two climate stressors, elevated temperature (ambient, +1.7°C, +3.4°C, and 5.1 °C) and elevated CO2 (eCO2), on leaf physiological traits of dominant salt marsh plant species. The research took place at the Salt Marsh Accretion Response to Temperature eXperiment (SMARTX) at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, which includes two plant communities: a C3 sedge community and a C4 grass community. Here we present data collected over five years on rates of stomatal conductance (gs), quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm), and rates of electron transport (ETRmax). We found that both warming and eCO2 caused declines in all traits, but the warming effects were greater for the C3 sedge. This species showed a strong negative stomatal response to warming in 2017 and 2018 (28% and 17% reduction, respectively in +5.1°C). However, in later years the negative response to warming was dampened to <7%, indicating that S. americanus was able to partially acclimate to the warming over time. In 2022, we found that sedges growing in the combined +5.1°C eCO2 plots exhibited more significant declines in gs, Fv/Fm, and ETRmax than in either treatment individually. These results are important for predicting future trends in growth of wetland species, which serve as a large carbon sink that may help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Multiomics Analysis of COL12A1 as a Promising Prognostic Biomarker for Immune-Related Treatment of Gastric Cancer
Authors: Shi Jin , Ding Fan , Dai Dezhu , Song Xudong , Wu Xu , Yan Dongsheng , Han Xiao , Tao Guoquan , Dai Weijie
Published: September 2023

COL12A1 has an instrumental role in the extracellular matrix (ECM), but its effect on gastric cancer (GC) as well as the clinical significance remains unclear. The co-expression differential genes (co-DEGs) were acquired from Venn diagrams via The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) as well as Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) stomach RNAseq dataset. Intersection between co-DEGs and TCGA prognosis-related genes was used to to pinpoint genes differentially associated with prognosis. The COL12A1 gene was selected as the key factor for the present work. COL12A1 level within human GC was analyzed in relation to its clinicopathological characteristics, and the TCGA database was adopted for plotting overall survival (OS) together with disease-free survival (DFS) curves, and the prognostic column. The relative protein gene expression was assessed by Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database, four downloaded datasets, along with PCR experiments. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs related to COL12A1 were detected via LinkedOmics, and subject to GO as well as KEGG analysis based on related genes. The cBioPortal and Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer databases were first utilized for the expression and identification of COL12A1-correlated mutation analysis. Multiple databases were analyzed for the relationship between COL12A1 and methylation. COL12A1 was examined using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database for identifying association of COL12A1 gene level with stomach adenocarcinoma-infiltrating immune cells. Finally, this work examined correlation of COL12A1 with drug sensitivity with RNAactDrug database. COL12A1 over-expression within gastric cancer was detected, which was closely related to clinicopathological features. GO/KEGG functional enrichment analysis revealed that COL12A1 was associated with pathways like extracellular structure organization, extracellular matrix organization and collagen-containing extracellular matrix. The analysis of several databases revealed that COL12A1 was associated with gene mutation and methylation. Additionally, as revealed by CIBERSORT profiling and TIMER database, COL12A1 expression related to immune cell infiltration. Correlation analysis through the RNAactDrug website revealed that COL12A1 is associated with drug sensitivity. COL12A1 can be a diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker for GC, which may be associated with tumor immune infiltration and drug sensitivity.
Tailoring Remote Patient Management in Cardiovascular Risk Management for Healthcare Professionals using Panel Management: a Qualitative Study
Authors: Rakers Margot , Hattem Nicoline van , Simic Iris , Chavannes Niels , Peet Petra van , Bonten Tobias , Vos Rimke , Os Hine van
Published: September 2023

Background
While remote patient management (RPM) holds potential to reach cardiovascular risk factor treatment targets in primary care, its effectiveness can vary across different patient subgroups. Panel management - proactive care to specific patient risk groups - could be a promising approach to tailor RPM. This study aimed (i) to assess the perception of healthcare professionals and other stakeholders of the adoption of a panel management approach to tailor an RPM intervention to specific patient risk groups and (ii) to identify the barriers and facilitators for successful implementation of a panel management approach for RPM for cardiovascular risk factor control in primary care.
Methods
In total, 24 participants (GPs, nurses, health insurers, project managers, and IT consultants) participated in nineteen semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions for this qualitative study conducted in the Netherlands. Three authors reviewed the audited transcripts. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Strategies (CFIR) domains were used for the thematic analysis.
Results
Overall, panel management was considered valuable. Implementation barriers encompassed concerns about missing necessary risk factors for patient stratification, additional clinical and technical tasks for nurses, and reimbursement agreements. Facilitators included tailoring consultation frequency and early detection of at-risk patients, an implementation manager accountable for supervising project procedures, and establishing agreements on assessing implementation metrics and ambassador roles.
Conclusion
Panel management could enhance proactive care and accurately identify which patients could benefit most from RPM to mitigate CVD risk. However, for successful implementation, it is recommended to have clear agreements on technical support, financial infrastructure and the criteria for measuring evaluation outcomes.
WHICH WAVELENGTH OF LASER YIELD THE MOST SUCCESSFUL RESULTS IN MRONJ TREATMENT? AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
Authors: AYHAN Mustafa , KALELIOGLU Ekrem Emir , KUNDAKCIOGLU Abdulsamet , GEDIK Betul , ADEMOGLU Evin , YALTIRIK Mehmet , KOCAELLI Humeyra , ALATLI Fatma Canan , KUCUKGERGIN Canan , CANKAYA Abdulkadir Burak
Published: September 2023

Background: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of lasers at various wavelengths in treating medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) using biochemical, clinical scoring, micro CT analysis, and histopathological methods.
Methods: In our study, there were 6 groups, including one SHAM group, one CONTROL group, and four experimental groups, with 8 rats in each individual group. Each rat received antiresorptive drug intraperitoneally for 4 weeks and then extracted the left second molar in the mandible. All animals were sacrificed at the end of the 12th week. In the experimental groups, lasers at wavelengths of 405nm, 445nm, 660nm, and 808nm were applied to the animals. In all groups, parameters such as serum vitamin D levels, bone density and bone volume at the extraction site, new bone formation, dead bone count, inflammatory cell count, and epithelial regeneration were examined. Additionally, clinical scoring was conducted after sacrifice. Statistical analyses were performed with the NCSS (Number Cruncher Statistical System) 2007 Statistical Software (Utah, USA) package program. The results were evaluated at the p<0.05 significance level.
Results: According to the results obtained from our study, new bone formation in all experimental groups was significantly higher than in the SHAM and CONTROL groups. Furthermore, the 660nm and 808nm wavelengths increased considerably serum vitamin D levels. The most successful outcomes were observed in clinical scoring, dead bone count, epithelial cell regeneration, and bone density in the 660nm and 808nm wavelength groups.
Conclusions: The combined use of lasers at 660nm and 808nm wavelengths may yield successful results in treating MRONJ.
Impact of COVID-19 on Gynecological Cancer Incidence: A Large Cohort Study in Japan
Authors: Komatsu Hiroaki , Ikeda Yuji , Kawana Kei , Nagase Satoru , Yoshino Kiyoshi , Yamagami Wataru , Tokunaga Hideki , Kato Kiyoko , Kimura Tadashi , Aoki Daisuke
Published: September 2023

Background: The influence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the number of newly diagnosed gynecological cancers has not been extensively investigated in Japan. This study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of gynecological cancer.
Methods: Using the registry database of the Japanese Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologic Oncology, the distribution of the number of patients by clinical staging or tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classifications before and during the COVID-19 pandemic was analyzed to compare the trends. The clinical staging classification of cervical cancer in Japan was based on the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)-2008 from 2018 to 2020 and on the FIGO-2018 from 2021. Since FIGO-2018 classified N1 cases as stage IIIC, we focused on T classification without reference to the clinical staging (FIGO staging) of patients with cervical cancer in 2021.
Results: The number of patients with endometrial cancer and malignant ovarian tumor of all clinical stages increased uniformly year-by-year while the number of patients with stage III cervical cancer increased sharply in 2021 owing to the adoption of the revised classification. On comparing cases with cervical cancer in 2020 and 2021, we found that T1 cases decreased and T2 and T3 cases increased in 2021 compared to those in 2020 (p=0.006). CIN3/AIS decreased in 2020 compared to in 2019 but increased again in 2021. The number of patients with cervical cancer decreased in most prefectures in 2020.
Conclusion: The incidence of locally advanced cervical cancer increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comparative study to determine the proper sequence of simulation training: Pelvic Trainer versus Virtual Reality Simulator
Authors: Sherpa Ngima Yangji , Minawi Ahmed El , Askalani Ahmed , abdalla marwa
Published: September 2023

Background: Since its inception, the adoption of minimally invasive surgical techniques has increased dramatically due to improved patient outcomes. Over the last decade, simulation-based surgical education has received significant attention. Several laparoscopic simulators have been employed. Box trainers (BTs) or pelvic trainers and virtual reality (VR) simulators are the two main training modalities employed in hospitals and clinical training centers for laparoscopic skills acquisition and development.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the proper sequence of pelvic trainers and VR simulator training to improve gynecological laparoscopic skills.
Methodology: This quasi-experimental counterbalanced design study was conducted among twenty residents with little or no laparoscopic experience at the Virtual Endoscopic Simulation and Skills Acquisition Lab at Kasr Al Ainy Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt, from February 2022 to August 2022.
The participants were subdivided into two equal groups. Group A began their training with a pelvic trainer and was assessed using a checklist; then they were trained on a VR simulator and were assessed using electronic auto assessment via the simulator. Group B began their training on a VR simulator and was assessed using electronic auto assessment via the simulator; then they were trained on pelvic trainers and were assessed using a checklist.
Results: When comparing the results of the assessment of pelvic trainer skills between the two trained groups, there was no significant difference in camera navigation, cutting pattern, peg transfer, or running stitches (P values 0.646, 0.341, 0.179, and 0.939 respectively), and when comparing the results of the assessment of VR simulator skills between the 2 trained groups, there was no significant difference in camera navigation, cutting pattern, peg transfer, or running stitches (P values 0.79, 0.3, 0.33, and 0.06, respectively).
Conclusion: There was no difference in training, whether started on a pelvic trainer or the VR simulator, so both could be used in laparoscopic training with no preferred order.
Trial registration: The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov with the name " Pelvic trainer vs VRS" and the identifier " NCT05255614" The date of registration was January 19, 2022, and the trial was prospectively registered.
URL: https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/app/action/ViewOrUnrelease?uid=U0004GED&ts=22&sid=S000BR5D&cx=t6mc14
Autophagy-Associated Markers LC3-II, ULK2 and microRNAs miR-21, miR-126 and miR-374 as a Potential Prognostic Indicator for Glioma Patients
Authors: Amin Wajiha , Enam Syed Ather , Sufiyan Sufiyan , Naeem Sana , Laghari Altaf Ali , Ghias Kulsoom , Bajwa Mohammad Hamza , Abidi Syed Hani , Mughal Nouman
Published: September 2023

Autophagy has a dual role in gliomagenesis in a microRNA modulated environment. We investigated the potential relevance of autophagy in glioma development and survival by exploring the association of autophagy-associated genes and microRNAs in low- and high-grade gliomas. Real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to determine the expression of genes and microRNAs in 50 glioma tissues while Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of the same patients were used for immunohistochemistry. The Mann-Whitney U-test test, Spearman correlation test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were performed to evaluate the expression, association, and overall survival in patients respectively. The expression of LC3, AKT and miR-21 were increased in high-grade glioma compared to low-grade glioma while ULK2 expression was decreased in high-grade glioma. A strong-positive correlation was observed for ULK2 with UVRAG, PTEN, miR-7 and miR-100, while moderate correlation with mTOR, Beclin1, miR-30, miR-204, miR-374, miR-21 and miR-126 in low grade glioma, while a moderate positive correlation between ULK2 and PI3K, PTEN, ULK1, VPS34, mTOR, Beclin1, UVRAG, AKT and miR-374, and between AKT and ULK1, VPS34, UVRAG, and miR-7 in high-grade gliomas. The low ULK2 and LC3 expression group was significantly associated with better overall survival in gliomas while miR-21 overexpression showed a poor prognosis in glioma patients. Therefore, miR-21, ULK2, and LC3 may serve as prognostic biomarkers for survival outcomes in glioblastoma.
On the Impact of Net-Zero Forcing Q-flux Change
Authors: Eiselt Kai-Uwe , Graversen Rune Grand
Published: September 2023

Numerical climate model simulations suggest that global warming is enhanced or hampered by the spatial pattern of the warming itself. This phenomenon is known as the ``pattern effect'' and has in recent years become the most promising explanation for the change over time of climate sensitivity in climate models. Under historical global warming, different patterns of surface-temperature change have emerged, notably a yet unexplained cooling in the Southern Ocean and the East Pacific. Historical climate model simulations notoriously fail to reproduce this cooling, which may contribute to the deviation of the simulated global-mean warming from the observed record.Here we qualitatively investigate the potential impact of historical and other surface-temperature pattern changes by changing the ocean heat transport convergence (Q-flux) in a slab-ocean model. The Q-flux changes are always implemented such that in the global mean they impose no net forcing. Consistent with earlier studies we find that the impact of a negative Q-flux change in the Southern Ocean has a stronger effect than in other regions because of a feedback loop between sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) and clouds in the Southern Ocean and the stably stratified regions in the tropics. The SST-cloud feedback loop facilitates the expansion of the Antarctic sea ice, indeed taking the model into a Snowball-Earth state. The intensity of this effect is found to be model dependent, especially due to differences in the cloud parametrisation. In experiments with deactivated sea ice the impact of the negative Q-flux change is much weaker.
Zinc toxicity and phytoremediation potential of Oleander: How silicon can help?
Authors: LEFI Elkadri , ELLOUZI Hasna , ATIA Khawla , RABHI Mokded , ABDELLY Chedly , ZORRIG Walid
Published: September 2023

Soil contamination by heavy metals, such as zinc, has significant environmental consequences. Phytoremediation, among various remediation techniques, has been developed and applied to restore contaminated soils. However, phytoremediation has limitations related to slow plant growth, influenced by contaminant toxicity. This study aims to investigate the effect of the interaction between zinc and silicon on growth, hydration, photosynthetic and biochemical behaviours, as well as the phytoremediation capacity in oleander (Nerium oleander), a promising species for phytoremediation. Oleander plants were exposed to four treatments, including two adequate zinc treatments (0.76 µM Zn) with two different silicon concentrations (0 mM and 0.5 mM Si) and two zinc toxic treatments (1800 µM Zn) with the same silicon concentrations (0 mM and 0.5 mM Si). The results revealed that zinc toxicity negatively affected most of the measured parameters. However, the depressive effects of zinc toxicity were significantly mitigated under silicon treatments. Adding silicon alleviated leaf chlorosis and improved biomass production, water status, photosynthetic pigment contents, photosynthetic gas exchange, oxidation state of photosystem I (PSI), membrane integrity, soluble protein content, and antioxidant enzyme activity (especially guaiacol peroxidase). Overall, silicon had beneficial effects on the phytoremediation capacity of N. oleander. Therefore, fertilization rich in silicon could represent an effective solution for enhancing the phytoremediation capacity of this species, minimizing one of the major disadvantages of phytoremediation, namely low biomass production influenced by toxicity.
Preoperative prediction of postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreatic head resection using radiomics and machine learning based on computed tomographic diagnostics
Authors: Lettner Johannes D , Benndorf Matthias , Biesel Esther A , Neubauer Claudia , Fichtner-Feigl Stefan , Bamberg Fabian , Wittel Uwe A , Neubauer Jakob
Published: September 2023

Purpose
This study employed machine learning and radiomics to determine whether postoperative pancreatic fistulas (POPF) and perioperative drain amylase dynamics can be predicted prior to pancreaticoduodenectomy by evaluating the radiologic appearance of the pancreatic tissue.
Methods
68 patients were included. Radiomic features of the pancreas were extracted from the arterial phase of computed tomography (CT) at a 1 mm slice thickness for each patient. the Radiomic features with highest correlation with POPF for our models, controlling for autocorrelation and applying Bonferroni correction for P-values were selected. For amylase prediction model (APM), radiomic features were correlated with postoperative maximum drain amylase levels at a cut-off of 1000U/l. ROC analysis was performed for evaluation of the resulting prediction models.
Results
POPF prediction model (PPM) showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.897 (confidence interval (CI) = 82.3–97.1%) in the cohort. The AUC of PPM was higher than that for Roberts’ score, but the difference was not statistically significant. An attempt to predict postoperative amylase dynamics in the drainage fluid achieved an AUC of 0.936 (CI = 88%-99.1%).
Conclusions
Preoperative prediction of POPF and drain amylase dynamics using radiomics showed promising results. Both models offer new approaches to the clinical management of POPF.
Nudging the Recommendation Algorithm Increases News Consumption and Diversity on YouTube
Authors: Haroon Muhammad , Yu Xudong , Menchen-Trevino Ericka , Wojcieszak Magdalena
Published: September 2023

Recommendation algorithms profoundly shape users' attention and information consumption on social media platforms. This study introduces a computational intervention aimed at mitigating two key biases in algorithms by influencing the recommendation process. We tackle interest bias, or the tendency of the algorithm to recommend non-news, non-political information to the majority of users, and ideological bias, or the algorithm directing the politically interested and more strongly partisan users to one-sided congenial content. Employing a sock-puppet experiment alongside a month-long randomized experiment involving 2,142 frequent YouTube users, we investigate if nudging the algorithm by playing videos from quality, verified, and ideologically balanced news channels in the background increases recommendations to and consumption of quality news content. We additionally test if providing balanced news input to the algorithm promotes diverse and cross-cutting news recommendations and consumption. We find that nudging the algorithm significantly and sustainably enhances both recommendations and consumption of news and also successfully minimizes ideological biases in recommendations and consumption, particularly among conservative users. In fact, recommendations have stronger effects on users’ exposure than users’ exposure has on subsequent recommendations. In contrast, nudging the users themselves has no observable effects on news consumption. Increased news consumption, however, has no effects on democratic attitudes (e.g., knowledge, participation, polarization, misperceptions), adding to growing evidence of limited effects of on-platform exposure. The intervention does not adversely affect user engagement on YouTube, showcasing its potential for real-world implementation. These findings underscore the profound influence wielded by platform recommender algorithms on users' attention and information exposure.
Ap4A modulated quorum sensing in treated bacteria to resistant kanamycin
Authors: Ji Xia , Yu Ruojing , Zhang Cuilin , Zhu Meilian , Cai Tianshu , Li Weiwei
Published: September 2023

Background
Dinucleotide alarmone, diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) that increased in cellular has been shown to affect bacteria survival under stress.
Results
Here, we labeled Ap4A with biotin and incubated the labeled Ap4A with the total proteins extracted from the kanamycin treatment E. coli to screen the Ap4A binding protein in bacteria under kanamycin treatment. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) uncovered novel Ap4A interaction proteins that involved biofilm formation, quorum sensing, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis pathways. Furthermore, we used apaH knockout strain of E. coli K12-MG1655 which increased intracellular Ap4A to demonstrate that Ap4A affected the expression of biofilm formation related genes including csrB、csrC、rpoS, quorum sensing related genes sdiA、ribA, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis related genes lpxA、lpxC、lpxP、waaC、gmhB. The biofilm formation of apaH mutant strain and wild-type strain has no difference, but under the kanamycin treatment, the biofilm formation of the mutant strain decreased compared with the wild-type strain. We also observed that apaH mutant reduced the swarming motility of bacteria.
Conclusions
These results showed that Ap4A can regulate the quorum sensing (QS) mechanism to impact bacteria swarming motility reducing the bacteria’s survival under kanamycin stress. According to these, we could enlarge kanamycin in combination compound to use in the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Investigation of imprinted differentially methylated regions implicates placenta- specific haplotypes as potential internal reference markers for non-invasive prenatal testing
Authors: Jia Xiaojun , Tang Huijun , Wu Xiaoyan , Zhao Xinzhi , Ye Weiping
Published: September 2023

Background:
Imprinted genes play important roles in placental development and fetal growth. The human placenta exhibits a unique pattern in genomic imprinting compared to that in somatic tissues. Here, we investigated imprinted differentially methylated regions (iDMRs) in the placenta and their changes associated with preeclampsia.
Methods:
We analyzed 3362 CpG sites in 62 iDMRs using BisCap targeted bisulfite resequencing (BisCap-seq) assays of maternal blood, healthy and preeclamptic placenta samples. We constructed 185 imprinted methylation haplotype blocks (iMHBs) using these coupled CpG sites in the iDMRs. We accessed the methylation status of each iMHB and CpG site in the maternal blood, healthy and preeclamptic placenta samples.
Results:
We found that the CpG sites in the CpG islands of the iDMRs tended to show tightly coupled intermediate methylation (methylation levels: 0.35–0.65, D’ > 0.8). In addition to 60 placenta-specific iMHBs, 38 somatic iMHBs were differentially methylated (p < 2.70 ×10-4) in the placenta compared with maternal blood. We identified 27 iMHBs with differentially variable methylation patterns in the placenta, suggesting polymorphic imprinting on the sub-iDMRs scale. Moreover, iMHB methylation did not change in the preeclamptic placentas. However, we detected a significant association between preeclampsia and 27 differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs, p < 1.49 ×10-5), which were located outside the iMHB structures in the placenta. We found that placenta-specific haplotypes (PSHs) of iMHBs could quantify the placental compositions of maternal plasma circulating DNA.
Conclusions:
Our results demonstrated additional genomic imprinting features in the placenta and suggested that PSHs are potential internal reference markers of the placenta that may be used for non-invasive prenatal testing.
Boosting the Efficiency and Stability of Blue TADF Emitters by Perdeuteration
Authors: Duan Lian , Huang Tianyu , Wang Qi , Zhang Hai , Zhang Yuewei , Zhan Ge , Zhang Dongdong
Published: September 2023

Highly efficient and stable blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), though desired for displays and lightings, remain rare after decades of research. Here we report a perdeuteration strategy to stabilize blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. It is unveiled that deuteration would reduce the population at high vibrational energy levels by suppressing high-frequency vibrations, thus reducing the possibility of bond dissociation. Deuteration also leads to a denser packing of vibrational energy states, thus slowing down the internal conversion of the excited states to the ground and impeding non-radiative decay. The proof-of-concept perdeuterated blue TADF emitters concurrently exhibit not only higher efficiencies but also more than doubled lifetimes in OLEDs compared to protonated ones. By using them as sensitizers in TADF-sensitized fluorescent devices, a maximum external quantum efficiency of 33.1% and a superbly long LT80 (time to 80% of initial luminance) of 1,365 h with a Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage y-coordinate of 0.20 under 1,000 cd m− 2 are obtained simultaneously, even outperforming the best blue phosphorescent OLEDs.
Role of Apoptosis and Immune Infiltration in Chronic Atrophic Gastritis from Bioinformatics Analysis
Authors: men xiaoxiao , xu qianqian , Liu mingyue , Yang Hongli , Lan Yadi , Sun Weijia , xu hongwei
Published: September 2023

Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is usually caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. It is increasingly being recognized as a precancerous lesion that progresses to gastric carcinoma. This study was designed to explore the role of apoptosis and immunity in CAG caused by H. pylori via bioinformatic analysis and to explore the key genes and molecular mechanisms involved in CAG. Gene expression datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) were employed to identify the main signaling pathways of CAG. Apoptosis and immune-related significant genes (API-DEGs) were determined based on differentially expressed genes. The Cytoscape software was used to visualize and identify hub genes. The Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases were used for the pathway enrichment analysis of API-DEGs. The ImmuCellAI algorithm was applied to evaluate immune infiltration patterns. Finally, the miRNA–mRNA–TF regulatory network was built. Findings indicated that apoptosis and immunity are the two most relevant processes involved in H. pylori-associated atrophic gastritis. Further, we identified 45 API-DEGs including 10 hub genes. This study provides base-line data to study the etiological mechanisms of atrophic gastritis and develop therapeutic strategies in the future.
Preventive versus Curative photobiomodulation in patients with multiple myeloma undergoing hematopoietic stem cells transplantation: which approach is more effective?
Authors: Cornacchia Arianna , Rupel Katia , Poiani Monica , Mohamed Sara , De Bellis Eleonora , Ballerini Mario , Preda Magdalena Theodora Bogdan , Poropat Augusto , Lenarda Roberto Di , Zaja Francesco , Biasotto Matteo , Ottaviani Giulia
Published: September 2023

Purpose
There is increasing evidence that photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy is both an effective and safe approach in hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT) for the management of oral mucositis (OM), but its use in clinical practice is still limited and the timing of application is under discussion. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate possible differences between patients treated either with preventive or curative PBM therapy.
Methods
The retrospective study included 24 patients suffering from multiple myeloma who underwent the same conditioning and transplantation protocol. Patients were treated either with preventive PBM starting from the first day of conditioning up to two days post-HSCT, or with curative PBM (starting at OM onset for four days). OM score, pain and functional parameters were recorded.
Results
All patients developed OM. Preventive PBM was significantly more effective in limiting OM severity (p < 0.0001) and pain (p < 0.0001) 7 days post-HSCT than curative PBM. We found a lower number of patients reporting discomfort in all subjective parameters (pain during swallowing, chewing and speaking) at T7 in the preventive PBM group. No adverse events related to PBM therapy were recorded in both groups.
Conclusion
The timing for PBM therapy in patients undergoing HSCT is crucial: when started on the first day of conditioning, it significantly reduces both pain and OM severity, providing an important benefit also in subjective oral functions such as speaking, swallowing, and chewing thus increasing the overall adherence to the oncological therapies.
A time-space periodic population growth model with impulsive birth
Authors: Li Zhimin , Zhao Xiao-Qiang
Published: September 2023

This paper is devoted to the study of spatial dynamics for a time-space periodic population growth model with impulsive birth.We first formulate a discrete-time semiflow by the one-year solution map, and obtain a threshold-type result for the semiflow with the spatially periodic initial data.Then we establish the existence and a computational formula of the spreading speed and prove the coincidence ofthe spreading speed with the minimal speed of spatially periodic traveling waves in the monotone case. Further, we investigate the global dynamics of this model in a bounded spatial domain.Finally, we conduct numerical simulations to verify our analytic results andillustrate some interesting findings.
Interaction of cecropin A analogs with DNA analyzed by multi-spectroscopic methods
Authors: Yuan Libo , Wang Ke , Fang Yuan , Xu Xiujuan , Chen Yingcun , Zhao Dongxin , Lu Kui
Published: September 2023

Cecropin A is a cationic antimicrobial peptides which contain lots of basic amino acids. To understand the effect of basic amino acids on cecropin A, analogues CA2, CA3 and CA4 which have more arginine or lysine at the N-terminal or C-terminal were designed and synthesized. The interaction of cecropin A and its analogs with DNA was studied using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Multispectral analysis showed that basic amino acids improved the interaction between the analogues and DNA. The interaction between CA4 and DNA is most pronounced. Fluorescence spectrum indicated that Ksv value of CA4 is 1.19×105 L·mol− 1 compared to original peptide cecropin A of 3.73×104 L·mol− 1. The results of antimicrobial experiments with cecropin A and its analogues showed that basic amino acids enhanced the antimicrobial effect of the analogues. The antimicrobial activity of CA4 against E. coli was 8-fold higher than that of cecropin A. The importance of basic amino acid in peptides is revealed and provides useful information for subsequent studies of antimicrobial peptides.
CrackUNet: A Novel Network with Joint Network-in-network Structure and Deformable Convolution for Pavement Crack Detection
Authors: Qi Lei , Li Chenhao , Mei Tao
Published: September 2023

Automatic pavement crack detection is a critical technique in the intelligent transportation system, which can effectively replace the person with a machine to detect the pavement crack automatically. This task is excellently challenging due to the tiny texture and the various shapes of each crack object. Previous crack detection networks mainly aim to perform complicated multi-scale feature fusion to learn the semantic information of cracks. However, the typical symmetrical networks with high-to-low resolution are undesirable to extract detailed crack texture information, and these existing methods cannot effectively deal with the issue of the various shapes.This paper proposes a novel end-to-end U-shaped con-volutional neural network, termed CrackUNet, for the pavement crack detection task. To extract the information of the tiny texture, we design a novel network-in-network structure, which can enlarge the receptive field and obtain multi-scale features by putting a sub-network into each convolutional layer. Besides, to handle the issue of the various shapes for the crack object, we exploit the deformable convolution to capture contextual information of each crack, which can further improve the performance of crack detection. We train and evaluate the proposed CrackUNet on three public pavement crack datasets. The quantitative experimental results illustrate that our network outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods with almost the same efficiency. Specifically, the precision, recall, and F1-score of the CrackUNet are approximately 92.27%, 93.99%, and 92.94%, respectively.
Spatial-Temporal Differentiation of Green Agricultural Total Factor Productivity in China under the Guidance of Digital Technology and Fuzzy System
Authors: Wen Changcun , Hu Bao , Sun Yongpeng , Xiao Yiping
Published: September 2023

This work aims to promote the concept of green development of agriculture and the sustainable development of China’s agriculture. First, the application concept of digital technology is expounded. Then, the basic idea of the fuzzy system is discussed. Finally, the composition and development of China’s green agricultural total factor productivity (ATFP) are analyzed, and the green ATFP model is constructed. The results demonstrate that the current agricultural development mainly depends on labor force and resources, and the transformation of labor force structure is an essential factor affecting the agricultural development. The agricultural labor force especially changes to feminization, aging, and urbanization, resulting in a severe shortage of agricultural labor force and retardation in agricultural development. In addition, this work builds the theoretical framework of green ATFP based on the guidance of digital technology and fuzzy system. The evaluation results indicate that the contribution rate of each index drops significantly under the green ATFP model, and the highest contribution rate is around 1.23. It can be seen that the current measures of China’s green agricultural total elements are not perfect, the development of China’s agriculture is not sufficient, and the emphasis on the environment is not high enough. The research reported here provides a reference for promoting the development of agriculture and contributes to the green development of agriculture in China.
Robust Carrier Phase Tracking in the GNSS Space-Time Anti-Jam Array Processing
Authors: Xie Yuchen , Lu Zukun , Chen Feiqiang , Song Jie , Yu Yi
Published: September 2023

Maliciously or not, jamming is one of the most serious threats to GNSS users, since it worsens the signals’ quality and causes the receivers out of function. There are many ways for the GNSS anti-jam; among them, the space-time array processing (STAP) technology is the most effective. However, the traditional STAP introduces carrier phase bias to signals, which may decrease the precision of phase tracking or even cause unlock of the receiver tracking loop. Although plenty of algorithms are studied to solve this problem, many prerequisites are needed for them to be applied, such as the calibration of antennas or the signals’ direction. Hence, these methods cannot be widely used in the general array receivers. In this paper, the carrier phase bias correction (CPBC) algorithm is proposed for robust GNSS carrier phase tracking in the static STAP anti-jamming receivers, which does not require the intricate pre-information compared to the traditional methods. The CPBC estimates the STAP-introduced bias in the phase tracking loop and corrects it by phase shift. The simulation and two types of open-sky tests show that the CPBC effectively mitigates the phase bias with a residual error less than 8°, and it maintains the robust phase tracking in the GNSS receiver.
Spontaneous Coronary Artery Rupture after Lung Cancer Surgery: A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Ruan Yingding , Han Jianwei
Published: September 2023

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Rupture (SCAR) is an exceedingly rare and life-threatening complication following lung cancer surgery. We put forward a case of left anterior descending branch (LAD) coronary artery rupture that occurred 19 hours after the left upper lobectomy. The medical team saved the patient's life through an emergency thoracotomy and coronary artery ligation. Furthermore, a comprehensive literature review on the topic is available.
Improving the co-removal efficiency of dyes from water by a novel four-component chitosan flexible film containing graphene oxide
Authors: Salami Saed , Bahram Morteza , Farhadi Khalil , Ansari Legha
Published: September 2023

In the present study, a novel four-component flexible film based on α-ketoglutaric acid, chitosan, polyaniline, and graphene oxide (α-CTS-PANI-GO) was synthesized and characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Raman spectroscopy. The simultaneous removal properties of α-CTS-PANI-GO were evaluated in the removal of cationic and anionic dyes, Methylene Blue (MB) and Acid Orange 7 (AO7). Using the Central Composite Decomposition (CCD), the effect of different variables such as pH, temperature, adsorbent dose, and time on AO7 and MB removal was studied. Various isotherm models, such as Langmuir and Freundlich, were investigated, and the processing of experimental equilibrium data confirmed the suitability and application of the Langmuir model. Analysis of experimental adsorption data using various kinetic models, such as quasi-first and second-order models, shows the applicability of the first-order equation. The results showed that in the optimal conditions, the removal percentage was about 95% for AO7 and 80% for MB, which indicates the successful performance of the synthetic film compared to the method.
An approach to Hammond's principle through Kullback-Leibler's entropy
Authors: Flores-Gallegos Nelson , Gómez-Damián Ofelia
Published: September 2023

In this work, we used Kullback-Leibler’s entropy defined in terms of the occupation numbers, and it is grouped into the set of informational entropies, this entropy is considered a measure of the divergence between two probabilistic distributions, which permit to compare two chemical species.
On the other hand, in the field of chemical reactions, since the middle of the 1950s Hammond’s postulate has been used to complement the description of chemical reactions, particularly the transition state structures, this postulate establishes that the transition state structure of a chemical reaction will be structurally similar to a structure with similar energy.
In this work, we analyze seven chemical reactions, exothermic, thermoneutral, and endothermic, our results show that in some cases Hammond’s principle fails in its prediction, while Kullback-Leibler’s entropy does not.