bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A method for correction of occlusal relationships between dental rows using digital technology
Authors:   National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Vоkulova J.A. , Zhulev E.N. ,   Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Vel’makina I.V. ,   Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Bragina O.M. ,   Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Hramushev G.N. ,   Privolzhsky Research Medical University
Published: September 2022

The aim of the research. To develop a technique for correction of occlusal contacts using digital technology. Material and methods. Th is clinical study included 30 (16 male and 14 female) patients aged 33 to 69. Th e patients were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 10 patients whose orthopaedic treatment was carried out with fi xed prostheses made of the E.max CAD material. Digital modelling of complete anatomical orthopaedic structures was carried out using a virtual articulator. In the patients of the second group, the frames of all-ceramic fixed prostheses were made in the KaVo ARCTICA CAD/CAM system from the ARCTICA ZS-Blank zirconium oxide. Then, the dental technician plastered the jaw models into a fully adjustable articulator Artex CR and applied the facing ceramic mass VM9. For the patients of the third group, the frames of all-ceramic fixed prostheses were made in the KaVo ARCTICA CAD/CAM system from zirconium oxide ARCTICA ZS-Blank. Then, the dental technician plastered the jaw models into a STRATOS 100 medium anatomical articulator and applied a VM9 ceramic facing mass. Occlusion was registered using T-ScanIII. Statistical analysis of the results obtained was carried out in the R soft ware environment using Fisher’s exact test. Results. Regarding the occlusal balance, the technique for manufacturing of fixed prostheses using a virtual articulator is distinguishable from the methods for manufacturing of orthopedic structures using patient-specific and average-value articulators at a significance level of p<0.0167. At this level of significance, there was no statistically signifi cant diff erence between the methods of fixed prostheses manufacturing using patient-specifi c and average-value anatomical articulators. Conclusion. Th e use of digital intraoral scanning technology, modeling of dentures using a virtual articulator and manufacturing of orthopedic structures in CAD/CAM systems makes it possible to obtain non-removable dentures that do not require correction of occlusal contacts at the stage of fi tting in the oral cavity. Th e proposed method for correction of occlusal contacts with digital technology is highly effective.
Epidemiology of thermal hand injury in adults
Authors:   R.R.Vreden National Medical Research Center for Traumatology and Orthopedics, Medvedev G.V. , Rodomanova L.A. ,   R.R.Vreden National Medical Research Center for Traumatology and Orthopedics, Timirbaeva O.Yu. ,   I.P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, Zhogina M.A. ,   R.R.Vreden National Medical Research Center for Traumatology and Orthopedics, Melnikova O.A. ,   I.I. Mechnikov North-Western State Medical University, Mustafaev A.Sh. ,   I.I. Mechnikov North-Western State Medical University, Chernomyrdin N.A. ,   I.I. Mechnikov North-Western State Medical University, Panasyuk E.I. ,   Medical Academy named after S. M. Kirov
Published: September 2022

Thermal injury to the hand (TIH) is one of the most common burn injuries among adults, including the consequences of exposure to domestic, industrial and military thermal damaging factors. The study of the epidemiological indicators of TIH is important for a realistic assessment of the economic burden on non-surgical and surgical treatment of TIH and its consequences, as well as the indirect economic costs of the rehabilitation of patients who had TIH. The aim of the research. To analyze the results of epidemiological studies of TIH carried out in Russia and abroad and to update current knowledge of the frequency of occurrence of TIH among adults. Material and methods. We have analyzed domestic and foreign epidemiological studies published in the eLibrary, Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer, Scopus, Elsevir, Oxford Press, Clinical Case, Cochrane databases. Th e depth of research is 10 years (2011-2021). Th e full-text articles in Russian and English have been analyzed, including: original articles, thematic and system reviews, and Cocrane reviews. Results. Th e valuation of the results of the epidemiological studies of TIH among adults is diffi cult due to the lack of a consistent approach to the design and duration of the previous studies. Besides, studies analyzed included not only TIH, but also thermal injuries of the upper limbs in general. It has been done this way due to the lack of consistent approaches to the classification of TIH. Th e incidence of TIH varied from 0.34 % to 79 % in the world, the average incidence was 32.9 %. Conclusion. Th e review indicates that the results of domestic epidemiological studies of TIH differ significantly from the results of foreign research.
Comparison of Halldorsdottir’s Caring Relationship Theory to Antiracism Concepts
Authors: Wolf Zane Robinson
Published: September 2022

American nursing leaders, responding to George Floyd’s and other Black peoples’ deaths and subsequent protests, have shared the need for a new analysis of racism in nursing. Professional nursing organizations have also responded. This essay was motivated by personal reflections on racism and antiracism and the need to increase knowledge of antiracism concepts. It aligns elements of Halldorsdottir’s theory of caring on nurse–patient relationships with Kendi’s antiracism concepts. The essay examines the main concepts of Haldorsdottir’s theory of caring, selects antiracism concepts presented by Kendi, and views antiracism through the lens of the caring theory. Caring actions are proposed.
A review of causality-based fairness machine learning
Authors: Su Cong , Yu Guoxian , Wang Jun , Yan Zhongmin , Cui Lizhen
Published: September 2022

With the wide application of machine learning driven automated decisions (e.g., education, loan approval, and hiring) in daily life, it is critical to address the problem of discriminatory behavior toward certain individuals or groups. Early studies focused on defining the correlation/association-based notions, such as statistical parity, equalized odds, etc. However, recent studies reflect that it is necessary to use causality to address the problem of fairness. This review provides an exhaustive overview of notions and methods for detecting and eliminating algorithmic discrimination from a causality perspective. The review begins by introducing the common causality-based definitions and measures for fairness. We then review causality-based fairness-enhancing methods from the perspective of pre-processing, in-processing and post-processing mechanisms, and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the advantages, disadvantages, and applicability of these mechanisms. In addition, this review also examines other domains where researchers have observed unfair outcomes and the ways they have tried to address them. There are still many challenges that hinder the practical application of causality-based fairness notions, specifically the difficulty of acquiring causal graphs and identifiability of causal effects. One of the main purposes of this review is to spark more researchers to tackle these challenges in the near future.
A comparison study to detect seam carving forgery in JPEG images with deep learning models
Authors: Celebi Naciye Hafsa , Hsu Tze-Li , Liu Qingzhong
Published: September 2022

Aim: Although deep learning has been applied in image forgery detection, to our knowledge, it still falls short of a comprehensive comparison study in detecting seam-carving images in multimedia forensics by comparing the popular deep learning models, which is addressed in this study. Methods: To investigate the performance in detecting seam-carving-based image forgery with popular deep learning models that were used in image forensics, we compared nine different deep learning models in detecting untouched JPEG images, seam-insertion images, and seam removal images (three-class classification), and in distinguishing modified seam-carving images from untouched JPEG images (binary classification). We also investigate the different learning algorithms with the Efficientnet-B5 in adjusting the learning rate with three popular optimizers in deep learning. Results: Our study shows that EfficientNet performs the best among the nine different deep learning frameworks, followed by SRnet, and LFnet. Different algorithms for adjusting the learning rate result in different detection testing accuracy with Efficientnet-B5. In our experiments, decouples the optimal choice of weight decay factor from the setting of the learning rate (AdamW) is generally superior to Adaptive Moment Estimation (Adam) and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). Our study also indicates that deep learning is very promising for image forensics, such as the detection of image forgery. Conclusion: Deep learning is very promising in image forensics that is hardly discernable to human perceptions, but the performance varies over different learning models and frameworks. In addition to the models, the optimizer has a considerable impact on the final detection performance. We would recommend EfficientNet, LFnet and SRnet for seam-carving detection.
Polypharmacy Management in a Gender Perspective: at the Heart of The Problem. Analysis of Major Cardiac Diseases, Sars-Cov-2 Affection and Gender in a Cohort of Patients in Internal Medicine Ward
Authors: Pietrantonio Filomena , Ciamei Angela , Vinci Antonio , Ciarambino Tiziana , Alessi Elena , Pascucci Matteo , Delli Castelli Michela , Zito Silvia , Sanguedolce Simona , Rainone Marianna , Di Lorenzo Jacopo , Vinci Fabio , Laurelli Giulia , Di Iorio Claudia , Corsi Roberto , Ricci Serafino , Di Berardino Alessandra , Ruggeri Matteo , Rosiello Francesco
Published: September 2022

Background: Covid-19 patients with any pre-existing cardio-vascular disease (CVD) are at highest risk for viral infection and for developing of severe disease. Pathophysiological mechanism is characterized by the viral link to Angioten-sin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the involvement of the endothelial system with the release of cytokines and direct damage on myocardium, micro throm-bosis, and alterations of oxygen diffusion. Aim of the study is to analyze clinical course, treatment and outcome in patients (gender stratified) with pre-existing CVD. Methods: Out of the 1299 (700 M/599 F) patients admitted to Internal Medicine COVID Unit of “Castelli Hospital”, Lazio, Italy, from 01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021, 278 patients (167 M/111 F), mean age 76 (76 M/ 75 F) had previous CVD. Demographic characteristics, length of the stay (LOS) and oxygen therapy were evaluated. Results: Most common CVD pathologies were Hearth Failure (HF): 131 (72 M/59 F), Atrial Fibrillation (AF): 45 (25 M/20 F), Myocardial Infarction (MI): 26 (19 M/7 F) and associations among them. 100% of CVD COVID patients under-went Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) and were treated with more than 5 drugs. HF was linked with increased LOS (23 days) compared to AF (21 days), MI (18 days) and no CVD (16 days). Overall mean LOS was 16,5 days. 21,4% of total pa-tients had CVD. Conclusions: Timely identification and evaluation of patients with pre-existing CVD are fundamental for adequate treatment based on gender, severity and state of illness and for risk reduction. Keywords: polypharmacy, gender medicine; COVID 19; Sars CoV 2; cardiovas-cular disease.
Coordinación y cooperación de las redes formadas detrás del continuo de atención a personas que viven con VIH en México
Authors: Salas-Ortiz Andrea , Ochoa-Sánchez Luz Edith , Bautista-Arredondo Sergio
Published: September 2022

Objetivo. Describir y caracterizar las redes formadas detrás del continuo de atención a personas que viven con VIH en México. Material y métodos. Bajo un enfoque de análisis de redes sociales se analizó información sobre las relaciones que establecen los actores que participan en el continuo de atención del VIH. Resultados. Existe una formación de re­des de atención con distintos actores y, conforme se avanza en el continuo de atención, las redes tienden a fragmentarse y se observa una baja conectividad. Conclusiones. La provisión de servicios para VIH en México es un proceso de gober­nanza múltiple; sin embargo, la configuración de las redes no implica que la provisión de servicios sea óptima. No obstante, la formación de redes es una potencial herramienta que los Centros Ambulatorios para la Prevención y Atención de Sida e Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual y Servicios de Atención Integral Hospitalaria han establecido para lograr su objetivo de ofrecer atención oportuna y continua, ante un contexto de recursos limitados y de gestión pública por resultados.
Psychological discomfort and binge drinking in Mexican adults
Authors: Quiroz-Reyes Josué Alai , Bojórquez-Chapela Ietza Rocío , Colchero M Arantxa
Published: September 2022

Objective. To analyze the relationship between binge drin­king and psychological discomfort in Mexican adults. Mate­rials and methods. We used data from the 2011 National Survey on Addictions in Mexico. A two-stage bivariate probit model with instrumental variables was used to address the potential reverse causality in the association between binge drinking and psychological discomfort. Results. Individuals who had at least one episode of binge drinking in the last year and in the last month are more likely to experience psychological discomfort. Conclusion. This study shows the relevance of developing prevention and treatment programs for people who consume alcohol in excess due to its negative effects on mental health.
Asociación de la exposición a contaminantes atmosféricos con indicadores epidemiológicos de morbilidad y mortalidad por Covid-19 en el Valle de México
Authors: Oliva-Sánchez Pablo Francisco , López-Landeros Salvador , Velázquez-Trejo Diego Arturo , Brenner-Muslera Eduardo , Martínez-Kobeh Juan Pablo , González-Reyes David , Guasque-Gil Iñaki , Vadillo-Ortega Felipe
Published: September 2022

Objetivo. Analizar la asociación de la concentración de con­taminantes atmosféricos y los indicadores epidemiológicos de Covid-19 en la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México (ZMVM). Material y métodos. Se diseñó un estudio epidemiológico ecológico. Se utilizaron modelos lineales tipo Poisson para variables de conteo y modelos lineales de efectos aleatorios en variables continuas para cuantificar la asociación entre los contaminantes atmosféricos y los indicadores de Covid-19. Los datos obtenidos fueron del 28 de febrero de 2020 al 30 de junio de 2021. La exposición a contaminantes se estratificó por estaciones climáticas. Resultados. Los contaminantes que tuvieron asociación significativa con indicadores de morbilidad y mortalidad fueron CO, NOX, O3 y PM10. En la estación seca fría el CO y el NOX tuvieron efecto sobre los casos diarios confirmados y las defunciones diarias. Las PM10 se asociaron con efecto en los indicadores de casos diarios confirmados, incidencia diaria, porcentaje de hospitalizados y la tasa de letalidad. Conclusiones. Los resultados sugieren una asociación entre el comportamiento epidemiológico de Covid-19 y la exposición a CO, NOX, O3 y PM10, en la que se encontró un mayor efecto en la estación seca-fría en la ZMVM.
Desigualdades socioespaciales de la mortalidad por Covid-19 después de la vacunación masiva en Buenos Aires, Argentina
Authors: Leveau Carlos M
Published: September 2022

No disponible
Guía de Práctica Clínica para el diagnóstico temprano y la referencia oportuna del cáncer de pulmón
Authors: Arroyo-Hernández Marisol , Alva-López Luis Felipe , Rendón Adrián , Barroso-Villafuerte Francisco Raúl , Báez-Saldaña Renata , Corona-Cruz José Francisco , Farfán-Salazar Georgina , Guerrero-Ixtlahuac Jorge , Castillo-González Patricia , Salmon-Demongin Alfredo , Zaldívar-Crosby Guillermo , Bolaño-Guerra Laura M , Zavala-Cruz Gad Gamed , Sánchez-Gutiérrez Alejandro , Rendón-Ramírez Erick Joel , Magdaleno-Maldonado Gerardo E , Olivares-Torres Carlos A , López-Saucedo Raúl Alejandro , Lizardo-Rodríguez Adolfo E , Ortiz-Vázquez Sandra , Vázquez-García Jorge , Montes-Narváez Gabriel , Pacheco-Juárez Mariana , Arrieta-Rodríguez Oscar G
Published: September 2022

Objetivo. Proporcionar recomendaciones para la detección temprana de pacientes con alto riesgo de desarrollar cáncer de pulmón (CP) en el primer nivel de atención y su referencia oportuna. Material y métodos. Se realizó una búsqueda detallada de la evidencia científica disponible para responder las preguntas de investigación clínica y se utilizó el Panel Delphi modificado para lograr un consenso entre expertos. Resultados. Se generaron 14 recomendaciones siguiendo los estándares de una GPC. Conclusión. El CP representa un problema de salud pública en México; por ello, esta guía establece recomendaciones que apoyan la toma de decisiones sobre la detección precoz y la referencia de pacientes con sospecha de CP en el primer nivel de atención.
Temporal dynamics in alpine snowpatch plants along a snowmelt gradient explained by functional traits and strategies
Authors: Verrall Brodie , Green Ken , Pickering Catherine Marina
Published: September 2022

Alpine snowpatches are characterised by persistent snow cover, short growing seasons and periglacial processes, which has resulted in highly specialised plant communities. Hence, these snowpatch communities are among the most threatened from climate change. However, temporal dynamics in snowpatch microclimate and plant composition are rarely explored, especially in the marginal alpine environments of Australia. Seven snowpatches were categorised into early, mid and late snowmelt zones based on growing season length, with soil temperatures recorded from 2003 to 2020 and plant composition surveyed in 84 1 m² quadrats in 2007, 2013 and 2020. Microclimate, species diversity, plant cover and composition, along with community trait-weighted means and plant strategies were assessed to understand snowpatch dynamics in response to climate change. We found that growing season length and temperatures have increased in late melt zones, while changes were less consistent in early and mid melt zones. There were few changes in species diversity, but increases in graminoids and declines in snowpatch specialists in mid and late melt zones. Community-weighted plant height, leaf area and leaf weight also increased, particularly in mid and late melt zones, while plant strategies shifted from compositions of ruderal-tolerant to stress-tolerant. Here, we show that snowpatch communities are rapidly changing in response to longer growing seasons and warmer temperatures, with the greatest changes occurring where snow persists the longest. The results highlight the climate-induced loss of defining biotic and abiotic characteristics of snowpatches, as temporal convergence of compositions along snowmelt gradients threatens the novelty of snowpatch plant communities.
Cryptanalysis and improvement of Rana-Mishra's lattice-based key agreement protocol under ring-LWE problem for IoT enabled smart devices
Authors: Yadav Sonam , Dabra Vivek , Malik Pradeep , Kumari Saru , Chen Chien Ming
Published: September 2022

Advances in communication technologies as well as the availability of the Internet and Internet of Things (IoT) devices enable users to access various services on the internet. However, open communication with IoT devices can be attacked. Recently, Rana et al. proposed a secure key agreement protocol using RLWE. In this paper, we exploited the vulnerability of Rana et al.'s protocol by using a key mismatch attack. Moreover, it has been shown how an adversary who plays a user's role recovers the server's long-term secret key.
Unsupervised Few-shot Object Recognition by Self-Supervised Training
Authors: Khan Asif , Li Jianping , Varish Naushad
Published: September 2022

Humans can easily spot people, objects, scenes, and visual details in photographs and videos. The main goal is to make a computer capable of what humans can do with learning a level of understanding of actual image/video content. Object recognition is one of the computer vision techniques for identifying objects in images or videos, and it is a key learning point. The proposed research addresses unsupervised few-shot object recognition learning, where all the supervised training images are prepossessed. In this learning, the classes are shared partially with labeled support images for few-shot recognition in testing. This work uses a new SVM-like deep architecture for unsupervised learning of an image representation, where it will encode latent object parts that generalize well to partially shared classes in the presented few-shot recognition task. The proposed model recognition task integrates self-supervision training decomposition in few-shot learning. This paper is based on two stages; rstly, to handle the discussed issues, there is a need for an intelligent mechanism to observe, detect, and predict with speci c control parameters. Secondly, this study has used at observation level singular value decomposition (SVD) and zero-shot learning for detection and prediction tasks. The large-scale CIFAR-10 image dataset has been used in the experimental results to validate the proposed method. Several Experiments have been performed on the given dataset, and the eciency of the proposed method has been remarkable over some state-of-the-art classi cation algorithms.
Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Through Phytolith Analysis in the Casa Da Pedra Shellmound Archaeological Site, São Francisco Do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Authors: Machado David Oldack Barcelos Ferreira , Coe Heloisa Helena Gomes , Bandeira Dione da Rocha , Souza Rosa , Rasbold Giliane Gessica , Chueng Karina Ferreira , Dias Raphaella Rodrigues , Ferreira Jessica , Voss Celso Vieira , de Sa Julio Cesar
Published: September 2022

Shellmounds, or middens, are artificial accumulations constituted by food remains, sediments, artifacts, and vestiges of daily life and funerary rituals, and built by groups of fishermen-hunter-gatherers. These archaeological sites contain groups of organisms representative of the fauna and flora existing at the time they were formed, enabling the recovery of paleoenvironmental aspects related to species biodiversity and biogeography, studies with 14 C dating, and analysis of changes in the patterns of marine biodiversity and ocean circulation. This paper uses the Casa de Pedra Shellmound under rock, located in São Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina, to infer aspects of the paleoenvironment through analyses of phytoliths extracted from the archaeological matrix of the site. The material presents a good quantity of well-preserved phytoliths and sponge spicules. Among the phytoliths, those from grasses predominate with the presence of some trees and palms, with no variation in vegetation type during the period of site occupation, between 5,470 and 4,460 years BP. Despite the vegetation stability, a small densification of the tree cover was identified from the base to the top, which may be related to an increase in humidity, and is in agreement with other paleoenvironmental studies carried out in the southern region of Brazil.
Reinvigorating mission statement to enhance firm performance through CSR practices: evidence from Egyptian SMEs
Authors: Abdelkareem Reda shaker , Mady Khalid
Published: September 2022

Although the mission statement has been long considered a vital strategic management tool, its impact on financial performance has not been firmly affirmed. Hence, this paper investigates the effect of mission statement drivers on the mission statement contents and firms’ financial performance. Furthermore, it examines the moderating role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in these relationships. Using the structural equation modelling method, based on a sample of 298 manufacturing SMEs operate in food production in Egypt, the study identified four main results. First, the contents of the mission statement can be seen as consequences of mission statement drivers. Second, the effect of the mission statement as a set of drivers on financial performance cannot be emphasized. Third, Trible Bottom Line (TBL) mission achieves its ends in terms of financial success. Finally, with respect to the African context particularly Egypt, the financial success can be enhanced by the mission statement through the firm’s commitment to CSR practices.
Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery: Factors Associated with Tumor Progression in Pituitary Adenomas
Authors: Parrado Laura , Bravo-Gamboa Brian , Gempeler Andrés , Lobato-Polo Javier
Published: September 2022

Objective: This study aimed to measure the incidence of tumor recurrence amongst patients that underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenomas, as well as the performance of the molecular and radiological factors that are commonly associated with recurrence.Methods: Patients of both adult and pediatric populations with pituitary adenomas who were treated for the first time with endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery in a single tertiary care center, between June 2006 and December 2019 were included. Clinical features, laboratoryresults, imaging findings and molecular test results were collected. Progression was measured in a follow-up MRI.Results: 88 patients were included. 19.5% presented gonadotroph adenomas and nonfunctional adenomas, followed by corticotrophs (17.2%) and somatotrophs (13.8%). 20.7% had cellular atypia, 26.2% p53 mutation and up to 79.5% had Ki-67 under 3%. On postoperative MRI (available for 90.9% of patients) 43.8% had tumor residue. Tumor progression occurred in 32 patients (36.4%). The Median progression-free survival time was 5.37 years (95%CI= 3.29 - N/A). Cellular atypia, Ki-67 elevation, cavernous sinus invasion and tumor residue were suggested as significant prognostic factors. Nonetheless, the multivariate time-to-event analysis identified tumor residue as the only factor significantly associated withprogression: HR= 4.0, 95%CI= 1.56 - 10.31.Conclusions: Residual tumor in postoperative imaging aids as a predictor for tumor progression and the invasion of the cavernous sinus, presence of cellular atypia and a proliferation index (Ki-67) above 3% influence the speed at which the recurrence appears, therefore not being a predictive factor but rather a modifier of the recurrence.
Automated Marker-Free Longitudinal Infrared Breast Image Registration by GA-PSO
Authors: Lee Chi-En , Chen Chung-Ming , Lin Fan-Ya , Chang Yeun-Chung , Huang Chiun-Sheng
Published: September 2022

The automated marker-free longitudinal Infrared (IR) breast image registration overcomes several challenges like no anatomic fiducial markers on the body surface, blurry boundaries, heat pattern variation by environmental and physiological factors, nonrigid deformation etc., has the ability of quantitative pixel-wise analysis with the heat energy and patterns change in a time course study. To achieve the goal, Scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), Harris corner and Hessian matrix were employed to generate the feature points as anatomic fiducial markers, and hybrid genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization (GA-PSO) minimizing the matching errors was used to find the appropriate corresponding pairs between the 1st IR image and the nth IR image. Moreover, the mechanism of the IR spectrogram hardware system has a high level of reproducibility. The performance of proposed longitudinal image registration system was evaluated by the simulated experiments and the clinical trial. In the simulated experiments, the mean difference of our system is 1.64 mm, which increases 57.58% accuracy than manual determination and makes 17.4% improvement than the previous study. In the clinical trial, 80 patients were captured several times of IR breast images during chemotherapy. Most of them were well aligned in the spatiotemporal domain. In the few cases with evident heat pattern dissipation and spatial deviation, it still provided the reliable comparison of vascular variation. Therefore, the proposed system is accurate and robust, which could be considered as a reliable tool for longitudinal approaches of breast cancer diagnosis.
Non-linear scanning switch-off microscopy for super-resolution fluorescence imaging
Authors: Gao Zhaoshuai , Hou Shangguo , Deng Suhui , Liang Le , Wang Fei , Guo Linjie , Fang Weina , Li Qian , Kang Bin , Chen Hong-Yuan , Fan Chunhai
Published: September 2022

Super-resolution (SR) microscopy provides a revolutionary approach to study cells and animals by breaking the diffraction limit of optical imaging. However, the popularity of the super-resolution microscope in biological sciences remains to be impeded by the high cost of hardware and/or the complexity of software. Here, we present a conceptually different non-linear scanning switch-off microscopy (nSSM) that exploits the omnipresent switch-off effect of fluorophores to enable super-resolution imaging beyond the diffraction limit. We develop a theoretical model of nSSM and experimentally implement the nSSM scheme with an unmodified confocal microscope. We also release a free code for the automatic reconstruction of super-resolution images. By measuring the PSF of the imaged DNA origami nanostructure and mammalian cytoskeleton structures, we demonstrate an SR resolution of ~ 100 nm that excels the optical resolution limit by over two folds. We further show the generality of nSSM using a range of commercially available fluorescent dyes and proteins to realize SR imaging in various settings. This nSSM methodology may in principle empower any confocal microscope to implement SR imaging to promote biological research.
Current Trend of Water Hyacinth Expanation and Investigation of Possible Cause for Water Hyacinth Using Remote Sensing in the Case Study of Lake Tana, Ethiopia
Authors: BELAYNEH ALEMSHET , Workie Wolelaw Shebabaw , Gashaye Dejen
Published: September 2022

Lake Tana is facing a big problem with water hyacinth invasion since September 2011 of which it is worst for lakes in the world that invades vast area of lakes with in limited period of time if it does not control properly. Water hyacinth is an invasive and free-floating water plant that grows into large dense vegetable mats blocks transportation of boats and sun energy transmission into Lake Bottom. Since its official recognition, GPS have been used in order to delineate the infestation on the lake, but using GPS for infestation mapping is not time and cost effective, and note safe for data collectors. Considering this reason, this study focuses on mapping of water hyacinth infestation coverage area and analyzing its possible cause on Lake Tana by applying satellite imagery and nutrient level of it. In this document, Landsat 7ETM+ and Landsat 8 images were used with the conversion of DN values to TOA reflectance, and TOA were used to evaluate different spectral indices like NDWI and NDVI. These indices with dynamic threshold increasing between class variance were used to map potential water hyacinth infestation area from 2011 to 2018, and NDWI used to discriminate Lake Tana from its surrounding background feature while NDVI was used to separate open water surface from aquatic vegetation coverage areas. In addition to these indices, thermal band of Landsat images were used to discriminate water hyacinth from other features. The accuracy of satellite image classification on this study was evaluated using error matrices and achieved with the best overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient (K). Total nitrogen concentration was increased from dry month to wet month and total phosphorus was increased from wet month to dry month and potential water hyacinth was greatly found where nutrient level was highly available. To reduce infestation rate of its special soil management practice applies to reduce nutrient has to implement. In addition, there has to be buffer zone for the lake and recessional agriculture has to be stopped.
Evidence of orthohantavirus and leptospira infections in small mammals in an endemic area of Gampaha district in Sri Lanka
Authors: Sunil-Chandra N.P. , Fahlman Asa , Waidyarathna Shantha , Näslund Jonas , Jayasundara M.V.M.L. , Wesula Lwande Olivia , Bucht Göran
Published: September 2022

BackgroundOrthohantaviruses and leptospira are emerging zoonotic pathogens of high public health significance. The epidemiology of orthohantavirus infections and leptospirosis is similar and presents related clinical pictures in humans. However, a paucity of data on actual reservoir hosts for orthohantaviruses and leptospira exists. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the occurrence of orthohantaviruses and leptospira in small mammals captured in an endemic region of Sri Lanka.MethodsRodents and shrews were morphologically and/or genetically identified using morphological keys and DNA barcoding techniques targeting the cytochrome oxidase b subunit gene (Cytb). Lung tissues and sera were subsequently analyzed for the presence of orthohantavirus RNA using qRT-PCR and antibodies against these pathogens.ResultsForty-three (43) small mammals representing: Rattus (R.) rattus (black rat) or R. tanezumi (Asian rat), Suncus murinus (Asian house shrew), R. norvegicus (brown rat) and Mus musculus (house mouse) were investigated. No orthohantavirus RNA was detected from the lung tissue or serum samples of these animals. Elevated levels of IgG antibodies against Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) and/or Seoul orthohantavirus (SEOV) antigens were detected in sera of 28 (72%) out of the 39 rats analysed. Interestingly, 36 (92%) of the 39 rats also showed presence of anti leptospira-IgG antibodies in their serum, representing dual infection or dual exposure in 26/39 (66.7%) of examined rats.ConclusionsThis project targets important public health questions concerning the occupational risk of orthohantavirus infections and/or leptospirosis in an endemic region of Sri Lanka. Most rats (72%) in our study displayed antibodies reacting to orthohantavirus NP antigens, related to PUUV and/or SEOV. No correlation between the orthohantavirus and leptospira IgG antibody levels were noticed. Finally, a combination of both morphological and DNA barcoding approaches revealed that several species of rats may play a role in the maintenance and transmission of orthohantavirus and leptospira in Sri Lanka.
HDAC Inhibitor Vorinostat and BET Inhibitor Plx51107 Epigenetic Agents’ Combined Treatments Exert a Therapeutic Approach Upon Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cell Model
Authors: Alçıtepe İlayda , Salcın Hilal , Karatekin İlknur , Kaymaz Burcin Tezcanli
Published: September 2022

The process of cancer initiation and development is regulated via the transcriptional expression of cells going under genomic and epigenetic changes. Targeting epigenetic "readers", i.e. bromodomains (BRD) and post-translational modifications of nucleosomal histone proteins regulate gene expression in both cancerous and healthy cells. In this study, the new epigenetic agent BRD inhibitor PLX51107 and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor SAHA’ s (vorinostat) single/combined applications’ reflections were analyzed in case of cell proliferation, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and finally target gene expression regulation upon both AML and healthy B-lymphocyte cells; HL60 and NCI-BL2171, respectively; in vitro. Since mono treatments of either Vorinostat or Plx51107 regulated cellular responses such as growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest of tumor cells; their combination treatments exerted accelerated results. We detected that combined treatment of Plx51107 and vorinostat strengthened effects detected upon leukemic cells for gaining more sensitization to the agents, decreasing cell proliferation, dramatically inducing apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest; thus regulating target gene expressions. We have shown for the first time that the newly analyzed BRD inhibitor Plx51107 could be a promising therapeutic approach for hematological malignancies and its mono or combined usage might support a rapid transition to clinical trials.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production from residual glycerol by wild type Cupriavidus necator
Authors: Nygaard Daiana , Yashchuk Oxana , Hermida Élida B
Published: September 2022

Purpose : The main objective of the present study is to assess and improve fermentation conditions to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), such as the homopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and the copolymer polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV), from renewable and inexpensive industrial waste by wild type Cupriavidus necator.Methods : Untreated residual glycerol, a byproduct generated by biodiesel industry, was used as the main carbon source by wild type C. necator . The bacterial adaptation stage, the glycerol concentration and other medium components were adjusted to enhance the PHB production. Fed batch fermentation with a pulse feeding strategy of propionic acid solution was employed for PHBV production.Results: C. necator , previously adapted to glycerol utilization, was able to accumulate PHB up to 4.1 g/l under optimal substrate concentration conditions. The bacterium could also synthesize up to 3.4 g/l PHBV, with a mole fraction of 3-hydroxyvalerate (HV) up to 12 % by fed-batch fermentation with a pulsed propionic acid feed strategy.Conclusion: This is the first report on the use of residual glycerol as ideal feedstock for PHA production by native C. necator strain.
Population-adjusted Rates of Rectal Prolapse Repair in Washington State Over a Contemporary, 12-year Time Period
Authors: Soriano Celine , Tam Justina , Koenig Hannah , Kaplan Jennifer , Kobashi Kathleen , Moonka Ravi , Lee Una , Simianu Vlad V.
Published: September 2022

Background Rectal prolapse, with or without concurrent vaginal prolapse, is a debilitating condition. Despite debate regarding the optimal surgical approach, operative repair remains the mainstay of treatment. Our objective was to describe trends of rectal prolapse repair in Washington State. Methods A retrospective cohort of patients undergoing rectal prolapse repair was created from the Washington State Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System. Age- and sex-adjusted rates of rectal prolapse repair (RPR) alone and concurrent rectal and vaginal prolapse repair (CRVR), trends over time, and factors associated with variation in rates are described. Results There were 2755 hospitalizations in which patients underwent RPR, with 33.3% undergoing CRVR. Seventy-five percent of all repairs were in patients older than 50. Rates for rectal prolapse repair went from 3.72/100,000 people in 2008 to 3.25/100,000 people in 2019 (p = 0.003) and did not increase in patients ages 65–79 (p = 0.09) or older than 80 (p = 0.945). Perineal repairs accounted for 31% of repairs and declined after 2014. Minimally-invasive abdominal repairs doubled from 32.5% in 2008 to 65.4% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Seventy-five percent of patients lived within 20 miles of the treating facility. Conclusions Despite a broad shift towards abdominal, minimally invasive approaches, population-adjusted rates of rectal prolapse repair have remained stable in Washington State, even in elderly demographics in which rectal prolapse is more prevalent. Most patients receive operations at local facilities, but rates of repair vary with population size and number of surgeons, suggesting there are other factors driving care for rectal prolapse at a population level.
Contributions of circadian clock genes to cell survival in fibroblast models of lithium-responsive bipolar disorder.
Authors: McCarthy Michael , Mishra Himanshu , Wei Heather , Rohr Kayla , Nievergelt Caroline , Maihofer Adam , Ko Insu , Shilling Paul , Alda Martin , Berrettini Wade , Brennand Kristen , Calabrese Joseph , Coryell William , Frye Mark A. , Gage Fred , Gershon Elliot , McInnis Melvin , Nurnberger John , Oedegaard Ketil , Zandi Peter , Kelsoe John
Published: September 2022

Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by mood episodes, disrupted circadian rhythms and gray matter reduction in the brain. Lithium is an effective pharmacotherapy for BD, but not all patients respond to treatment. Lithium has neuroprotective properties and beneficial effects on circadian rhythms that may distinguish lithium responders (Li-R) from non-responders (Li-NR). The circadian clock regulates molecular pathways involved in apoptosis and cell survival, but how this overlap impacts BD and/or lithium responsiveness is unknown. In primary fibroblasts from Li-R/Li-NR BD patients and controls, we found patterns of co-expression among circadian clock and cell survival genes that distinguished BD vs. control, and Li-R vs. Li-NR cells. In cellular models of apoptosis using staurosporine (STS), lithium preferentially protected fibroblasts against apoptosis in BD vs. control samples, regardless of Li-R/Li-NR status. When examining the effects of lithium treatment of cells in vitro, caspase activation by lithium correlated with period alteration, but the relationship differed in control, Li-R and Li-NR samples. Knockdown of Per1 and Per3 in mouse fibroblasts altered caspase activity, cell death and circadian rhythms in an opposite manner. In BD cells, genetic variation in PER1 and PER3 predicted sensitivity to apoptosis in a manner consistent with knockdown studies. We conclude that distinct patterns of coordination between circadian clock and cell survival genes in BD may help predict lithium response.
PepQSAR: A Comprehensive Data Source and Information Platform for Peptide Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships
Authors: Lin Jing , Wen Li , Zhou Yuwei , Wang Shaozhou , Ye Haiyang , Li Juelin , Shu Jianping , Huang Jian , Zhou Peng
Published: September 2022

Peptide quantitative structure–activity relationships (pQSARs) have been widely applied to the statistical modeling and extrapolative prediction of peptide activity, property and feature. In the procedure, the peptide structure is characterized at sequence level using amino acid descriptors (AADs) and then correlated with observations by machine learning methods (MLMs), consequently resulting in a variety of quantitative regression models used to explain the structural factors that govern peptide activities, to generalize peptide properties of unknown from known samples, and to design new peptides with desired features. In this study, we developed a comprehensive platform, termed PepQSAR database, for pQSARs, which is a systematic collection and decomposition of various data sources and abundant information regarding the pQSARs, including AADs, MLMs, data sets, peptide sequences, measured activities, model statistics, literatures, etc. The database also provides a comparison function for the various previously built pQSAR models reported by different groups via distinct approaches. The structured and searchable PepQSAR database is expected to provide a useful resource and powerful tool for the computational peptidology community, which is freely available at http://i.uestc.edu.cn/PQsarDB.
Effectiveness of Using Low-osmolarity Water-soluble Contrast in the Evaluation of Intestinal Obstruction With Conservative Management.
Authors: Navarro-Nuño Damaris Estefanía , Villarreal-Salgado José Luis , Adame-Palacios Oscar Uriel , García-Bravo Luis Manuel , Escobar-Cornejo Gibrán , Elías-Acosta Claudia Khiabet , Torres Quitzia Libertad
Published: September 2022

INTRODUCTION: Intestinal occlusion represents a frequent cause of medical attention in the emergency department, within the current management guidelines it is well established that conservative treatment should be used as the first option. Gastrograffin® has been recommended to be used as a contrast agent as a predictor of successful conservative management; however, it is not usually available for use in public hospitals in our country. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether oral low-osmolarity water-soluble contrast (LOWS) is useful in identifying patients with bowel obstruction who will have a good response with conservative management. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective, non-randomized, cohort study conducted in patients over 18 years of age, who presented with a diagnosis of intestinal obstruction. A nasogastric tube was placed for gastric emptying and intestinal decompression. After 6 hours, improvement was assessed by the decrease in nasogastric tube output and contrast medium was administered. Bolus LOWS 50cc were used and followed up radiologically. Surgical management was considered lacking contrast 24 hours after administration. RESULTS: In 41 cases we observed adequate passage of contrast and in 7 cases it did not reach the colon, in which case surgical exploration was indicated. Of the 41 patients with adequate clearance, 7 underwent surgery because of continued symptomatology. A PPV of 100% and NPV of 82.92% were calculated. The rate of complications is closely related to the need for surgical intervention, the degree of contamination of the abdominal cavity and hospital stay, there were no adverse events associated with the use of LOWS.
Evaluation of Mandibular Trabecular Bone by Fractal Analysis in Pediatric Patients with Hypodontia
Authors: Temur Katibe Tuğçe , Magat Güldane , Coskunarslan Aykagan , Önsüren Aslı Soğukpınar , Özcan Sevgi
Published: September 2022

Objective: In the literature, it is still unclear whether the trabecular structure of the jaw in subjects with hypodontia is different from those without hypodontia. Hence, the aim was to determine whether the mandibular trabecular bone structure of children and adolescents with hypodontia differs from the control group by using the fractal analysis method in this study.Materials and Methods: A total of 138 radiographs of 69 cases and 69 control subjects (mean age 13.2±10.1) were evaluated. The age and gender of subjects in the case and control groups were matched. Three regions of interest (ROI) were selected from the panoramic radiographs. Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests were used. p<0.05 was accepted for the significance value.Results: The mean fractal dimension (FD) values of ROI1, ROI2, and ROI3 were 1,25, 1,20, and 1,13, respectively. The means FD values obtained from the ramus region were higher than the other regions (p<0.05). The FD values did not differ significantly according to gender and age (p>0.05). The FD values of the case group were lower than the control group for ROI3 (p<0.05).Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the mandibular trabecular bone quality of pediatric patients with one missing tooth was different from the healthy group. The difference in the mean FD values from the ROIs indicates that the ramus has a denser structure than the mandibular corpus. Therefore, it shows that individuals with hypodontia may need additional procedures in cases that require orthodontic and implant treatment.Clinical Relevance: Clinicians should consider that individuals with hypodontia may need additional procedures in cases requiring orthodontic and implant treatment.