bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Case report: Two unique nonsense mutations in HTRA1-related cerebral small vessel disease in a Chinese population and literature review
Authors: Chen Weijie , Wang Yuanyuan , Huang Shengwen , Yang Xiaoli , Shen Liwei , Wu Danhong
Published: December 2022

Background

Homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the high-temperature requirement A serine protease 1 gene (HTRA1) elicits cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and white matter lesions (CARASIL). The relationship between some heterozygous mutations, most of which are missense ones, and the occurrence of cerebral small vessel diseases (CSVD) has been reported. Recently, heterozygous HTRA1 nonsense mutations have been recognized to be pathogenic.

Case presentation

We described two Chinese patients diagnosed with HTRA1-CSVD accompanied by heterozygous nonsense mutations. Their first clinical manifestations were symptoms due to ischemic stroke, and brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) showed diffuse white matter lesions (WMLs) and microbleeds in both of them. Genetic sequencing revealed two novel heterozygous nonsense mutations: c.1096G>T (p.E366X) and c.151G>T (p.E51X).

Conclusion

This case report expands the clinical, radiographic, and genetic spectrum of HTRA1-CSVD. Attention should be paid to young patients with ischemic stroke as the first clinical manifestation. Genetic screening for such sporadic CSVD is recommended, even if the symptoms are atypical.
Unilateral upper limb chorea associated with hyperthyroidism: A case report and literature review
Authors: Chen Wei , Wu Bin , An Hongna , Zheng Kaiying , Zhai Daming , Zang Jiahua , Wu Xiaobing
Published: December 2022

Chorea, a hyperkinetic syndrome, is generally reported in patients with Huntington's disease (HD), hyperglycemia, and other diseases but occasionally occurs in patients with Grave's disease. Here, we report a 44-year-old woman presenting with a 1-year history of involuntary movements with a known history of primary hyperthyroidism. Physical examination revealed the continuous, rapid, irregular, and spontaneous choreic movement of her right arm. Laboratory investigations demonstrated increased triiodothyronine (T3) and free thyroxine (FT4) and suppressed thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. An electroencephalogram and brain magnetic resonance imaging were normal. After antithyroid treatment, the patient achieved complete remission. Our case indicated that hemichorea might initially manifest hyperthyroidism. Therefore, thyroid function tests should be routinely performed in patients with chorea.
Audiological characteristics and cochlear implant outcome in children with cochlear nerve deficiency
Authors: Ren Cuncun , Lin Ying , Xu Zhuo , Fan Xiaoqin , Zhang Xinyu , Zha Dingjun
Published: December 2022

Objectives

This study aimed to examine the audiological characteristics and validity of predicting outcomes of cochlear implants (CIs) in children with cochlear nerve deficiency (CND) based on the internal auditory meatus (IAM) nerve grading system.

Methods

The audiological characteristics of 188 ears in 105 children diagnosed with CND were analyzed based on the IAM nerve grading system. In addition, 42 children with CND who underwent CI were also divided into four groups based on the system, and their auditory and speech performance at baseline (preoperative) and 6, 12, and 24 months after CI were analyzed and compared with those of the control group (n = 24) with a normal cochlear nerve (CN) and CI.

Results

The audiological test results showed no significant differences among the four CND groups in terms of elicited rates of distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) (p = 1.000), auditory brainstem response (ABR) (p = 0.611), and cochlear microphonic (CM) (p = 0.167). Hearing in the CND IV group was significantly better than that in the CND I group (p < 0.05). In children with CI, the auditory and speech performance of the control group was significantly higher than all CND groups from 6 to 24 months (p < 0.05) and 12 to 24 months (p < 0.05), respectively. Meanwhile, there were no significant differences between each pair group in the four CND groups (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Children with CND, including those in whom the CN was not visualized by MRI, can benefit from CI. Additionally, the IAM nerve grading system could not predict the outcomes of CI in children with CND.
Sleep deprivation and NLRP3 inflammasome: Is there a causal relationship?
Authors: Amini Mohammad , Yousefi Zahra , Ghafori Sayed Soran , Hassanzadeh Gholamreza
Published: December 2022

In the modern era, sleep deprivation (SD) is one of the most common health problems that has a profound influence on an individual’s quality of life and overall health. Studies have identified the possibility that lack of sleep can stimulate inflammatory responses. NLRP3 inflammasome, a key component of the innate immune responses, initiates inflammatory responses by enhancing proinflammatory cytokine release and caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis. In this study, NLRP3 modification, its proinflammatory role, and potential targeted therapies were reviewed with regard to SD-induced outcomes. A growing body of evidence has showed the importance of the mechanistic connections between NLRP3 and the detrimental consequences of SD, but there is a need for more clinically relevant data. In animal research, (i) some animals show differential vulnerability to the effects of SD compared to humans. (ii) Additionally, the effects of sleep differ depending on the SD technique employed and the length of SD. Moreover, paying attention to the crosstalk of all the driving factors of NLRP3 inflammasome activation such as inflammatory responses, autonomic control, oxidative stress, and endothelial function is highly recommended. In conclusion, targeting NLRP3 inflammasome or its downstream pathways for therapy could be complicated due to the reciprocal and complex relationship of SD with NLRP3 inflammasome activation. However, additional research is required to support such a causal claim.
Adversarial attacks on spiking convolutional neural networks for event-based vision
Authors: Büchel Julian , Lenz Gregor , Hu Yalun , Sheik Sadique , Sorbaro Martino
Published: December 2022

Event-based dynamic vision sensors provide very sparse output in the form of spikes, which makes them suitable for low-power applications. Convolutional spiking neural networks model such event-based data and develop their full energy-saving potential when deployed on asynchronous neuromorphic hardware. Event-based vision being a nascent field, the sensitivity of spiking neural networks to potentially malicious adversarial attacks has received little attention so far. We show how white-box adversarial attack algorithms can be adapted to the discrete and sparse nature of event-based visual data, and demonstrate smaller perturbation magnitudes at higher success rates than the current state-of-the-art algorithms. For the first time, we also verify the effectiveness of these perturbations directly on neuromorphic hardware. Finally, we discuss the properties of the resulting perturbations, the effect of adversarial training as a defense strategy, and future directions.
s-ketamine enhances thalamocortical and corticocortical synaptic transmission in acute murine brain slices via increased AMPA-receptor-mediated pathways
Authors: Bieber Matthias , Schwerin Stefan , Kreuzer Matthias , Klug Claudia , Henzler Marie , Schneider Gerhard , Haseneder Rainer , Kratzer Stephan
Published: December 2022

Despite ongoing research efforts and routine clinical use, the neuronal mechanisms underlying the anesthesia-induced loss of consciousness are still under debate. Unlike most anesthetics, ketamine increases thalamic and cortical activity. Ketamine is considered to act via a NMDA-receptor antagonism-mediated reduction of inhibition, i.e., disinhibition. Intact interactions between the thalamus and cortex constitute a prerequisite for the maintenance of consciousness and are thus a promising target for anesthetics to induce loss of consciousness. In this study, we aim to characterize the influence of s-ketamine on the thalamocortical network using acute brain-slice preparation. We performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from pyramidal neurons in cortical lamina IV and thalamocortical relay neurons in acute brain slices from CB57BL/6N mice. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) were obtained via electrical stimulation of the cortex with a bipolar electrode that was positioned to lamina II/III (electrically induced EPSPs, eEPSPs) or via optogenetic activation of thalamocortical relay neurons (optogenetically induced EPSPs, oEPSPs). Intrinsic neuronal properties (like resting membrane potential, membrane threshold for action potential generation, input resistance, and tonic action potential frequency), as well as NMDA-receptor-dependent and independent spontaneous GABAA-receptor-mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) were evaluated. Wilcoxon signed-rank test (level of significance < 0.05) served as a statistical test and Cohen’s U3_1 was used to determine the actual effect size. Within 20 min, s-ketamine (5 μM) significantly increased both intracortical eEPSPs as well as thalamocortical oEPSPs. NMDA-receptor-mediated intracortical eEPSPs were significantly reduced. Intrinsic neuronal properties of cortical pyramidal neurons from lamina IV and thalamocortical relay neurons in the ventrobasal thalamic complex were not substantially affected. Neither a significant effect on NMDA-receptor-dependent GABAA sIPSCs (thought to underly a disinhibitory effect) nor a reduction of NMDA-receptor independent GABAA sIPSCs was observed. Both thalamocortical and intracortical AMPA-receptor-mediated EPSPs were significantly increased.In conclusion, our findings show no evidence for a NMDA-receptor antagonism-based disinhibition, but rather suggest an enhanced thalamocortical and intracortical synaptic transmission, which appears to be driven via increased AMPA-receptor-mediated transmission.
Low muscle strength and low phase angle predicts greater risk to mortality than severity scales (APACHE, SOFA, and CURB-65) in adults hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia
Authors: Rosas-Carrasco Oscar , Núñez-Fritsche Gisela , López-Teros Miriam Teresa , Acosta-Méndez Pamela , Cruz-Oñate Juan Carlos , Navarrete-Cendejas Ada Yuseli , Delgado-Moreno Gerardo
Published: December 2022

Introduction

The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE), sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA), score for pneumonia severity (CURB-65) scales, a low phase angle (PA) and low muscle strength (MS) have demonstrated their prognostic risk for mortality in hospitalized adults. However, no study has compared the prognostic risk between these scales and changes in body composition in a single study in adults with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. The great inflammation and complications that this disease presents promotes immobility and altered nutritional status, therefore a low PA and low MS could have a higher prognostic risk for mortality than the scales. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic risk for mortality of PA, MS, APACHE, SOFA, and CURB-65 in adults hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

Methodology

This was a longitudinal study that included n = 104 SARS-CoV-2-positive adults hospitalized at General Hospital Penjamo, Guanajuato, Mexico, the PA was assessed using bioelectrical impedance and MS was measured with manual dynamometry. The following disease severity scales were applied as well: CURB-65, APACHE, and SOFA. Other variables analyzed were: sex, age, CO-RADS index, fat mass index, body mass index (BMI), and appendicular muscle mass index. A descriptive analysis of the study variables and a comparison between the group that did not survive and survived were performed, as well as a Cox regression to assess the predictive risk to mortality.

Results

Mean age was 62.79 ± 15.02 years (31–96). Comparative results showed a mean PA of 5.43 ± 1.53 in the group that survived vs. 4.81 ± 1.72 in the group that died, p = 0.030. The mean MS was 16.61 ± 10.39 kg vs. 9.33 ± 9.82 in the group that died, p = 0.001. The cut-off points for low PA was determined at 3.66° and ≤ 5.0 kg/force for low grip strength. In the Cox multiple regression, a low PA [heart rate (HR) = 2.571 0.726, 95% CI = 1.217–5.430] and a low MS (HR = 4.519, 95% CI = 1.992–10.252) were associated with mortality.

Conclusion

Phase angle and MS were higher risk predictors of mortality than APACHE, SOFA, and CURB-65 in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. It is important to include the assessment of these indicators in patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 and to be able to implement interventions to improve them.
Visualization of hypoxia in cancer cells from effusions in animals and cancer patients
Authors: Li Yue , Zhao Long , Huo Yunlong , Yang Xianghong , Li Yong , Xu Hao , Li Xiao-Feng
Published: December 2022

Objective

Tumor hypoxia is frequently observed in primary solid malignancies, but the hypoxic status of tumor cells floating in body cavity effusions is largely unknown, especially in patients. This study was to observe the hypoxia and proliferation status of cancer cells floating in effusions in mice and patients.

Methods

The distribution of hypoxia in cancer cells floating in ascites was first studied in nude mice. Hypoxia was detected by immunofluorescent visualization of pimonidazole and GLUT-1. For cancer patients, we retrospectively collected 21 ascites and 7 pleural effusion sample blocks of cancer patients, which were confirmed to contain tumor cells. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of endogenous hypoxic markers HIF-1α and GLUT-1, proliferation index Ki-67. 18F-FDG PET/CT was performed to detect the glucose metabolism status of tumor cells in effusions.

Results

The tumor cells collected from ascites were positive for pimonidazole and GLUT-1, which suggesting that the cancer cells floating in ascites were hypoxic. Patterns of tumor hypoxia in human patients are similar to those observed in animal. HIF-1α and GLUT-1 were expressed by tumor cells in nearly all 28 cytological cases. For Ki-67 index, ascites tumor cells had a relatively low expression level compared with their corresponding primary or its metastatic lesions. Tumor cells in effusions showed high 18F-FDG uptake indicated the enhanced activity of glucose metabolism.

Conclusion

Tumor cells in body cavity effusions, as a unique subgroup of tumor, are in a state of hypoxia and low proliferation, which would be one of the driven causes of chemo-radiotherapy resistance. Novel therapeutic interventions are urgently needed to overcome tumor hypoxia.
Advantages of FBPA PET in evaluating early response of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice: Comparison to FDG PET
Authors: Tatsumi Mitsuaki , Soeda Fumihiko , Naka Sadahiro , Kurimoto Kenta , Ooe Kazuhiro , Fukui Hideyuki , Katayama Daisuke , Watabe Tadashi , Kato Hiroki , Tomiyama Noriyuki
Published: December 2022

Purpose

PET with L-4-borono-2-[18F] fluoro-phenylalanine (FBPA) was reported to be useful to differentiate malignant tumors and inflammation. Although immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has been applied to cancer treatment recently, FDG PET may not be suitable to determine the effect of ICIs because of false-positive findings caused by treatment-related inflammation. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate that FBPA PET allowed detection of the early response of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in tumor-bearing mice, comparing the results with those of FDG PET.

Materials and methods

Mice with B16F10 melanoma tumor xenografts were prepared. Anti-mouse PD-1 antibody or PBS was administered twice intraperitoneally to the tumor-bearing mice on Day 0 (3 days after inoculation) and Day 5 (treatment or control group ). PET/CT imaging was performed twice for each mouse on Day 0 before the anti-PD-1 antibody/PBS administration and on Day 7 using a micro-PET/CT scanner. FBPA and FDG PET/CT studies were conducted separately. SUVmax and the tumor to liver ratio (T/L ratio) were used as parameters exhibiting tumor activity. Tumor uptake volume (TUV) and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) were also calculated for FBPA and FDG, respectively. Changes between pre- and posttreatment SUVmax or T/L ratio were observed using the formula as follows: [(posttreatment parameter values/pretreatment values - 1) × 100] (%).

Results

Tumors in TrG were smaller than those in CoG on Day 7. SUVmax and T/L ratio represented no differences between TrG and CoG in FBPA and FDG PET before treatment. FBPA PET on Day 7 demonstrated that SUVmax, T/L ratio, and TUV in TrG were statistically smaller than those in CoG. %T/L ratio and %SUVmax exhibited the same trend in FBPA PET. However, FDG PET on Day 7 revealed no differences in all parameters between TrG and CoG. T/L ratio and %SUVmax in TrG represented larger values than those in CoG without statistical significances.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that FBPA PET allowed detection of the early response of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice. FDG PET did not detect the response. Further studies are required to determine whether FBPA PET is useful in evaluating the treatment effect of ICIs in humans.
Cuproptosis-related LncRNAs are potential prognostic and immune response markers for patients with HNSCC via the integration of bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation
Authors: Zhou Liuqing , Cheng Qing , Hu Yao , Tan Haoyue , Li Xiaoguang , Wu Shuhui , Zhou Tao , Zhou Jieyu
Published: December 2022

Introduction

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a malignant neoplasm typically induced by alcohol and tobacco consumption, ranked the sixth most prevalent cancer globally. This study aimed to establish a cuproptosis-related lncRNA predictive model to assess the clinical significance in HNSCC patients.

Methods

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was utilized to download cuproptosis-related genes, lncRNAs profiles, and selected clinical information of 482 HNSCC samples. Cuproptosis-related lncRNAs were analyzed by Pearson correlation method, with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and univariate/multivariate Cox analyses performed to establish the cuproptosis-related lncRNA predictive model. Subsequently, the time-dependent receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier analysis were applied to assess its prediction ability, and the model was verified by a nomogram, univariate/multivariate Cox analysis, and calibration curves. Furthermore, the principal component analysis (PCA), immune analysis, and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) were performed, and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) prediction in the risk groups was calculated. Furthermore, the expression of six cuproptosis-related lncRNAs in HNSCC and paracancerous tissues was detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).

Results

A total of 467 lncRNAs were screened as cuproptosis-associated lncRNAs in HNSCC tissues to establish an eight cuproptosis-related lncRNA prognostic signature consisting of AC024075.3, AC090587.2, AC116914.2, AL450384.2, CDKN2A-DT, FAM27E3, JPX, and LNC01089. For the high-risk group, the results demonstrated a satisfactory predicting performance with considerably worse overall survival (OS). Multivariate Cox regression confirmed that the risk score was a reliable predictive factor (95% CI: 1.089–1.208, hazard ratio =1.147), with the area of 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS under the ROC curve of 0.690, 0.78524, and 0.665, respectively. The differential analysis revealed that JPX was significantly upregulated in HNSCC tissues, while AC024075.3, AC090587.2, AC116914.2, AL450384.2, CDKN2A-DT were downregulated in HNSCC tissues by qRT-PCR assays. In addition, this gene signature was also associated with some immune-related pathways and immune cell infiltration and affected the anti-cancer immune response. Furthermore, Bexarotene, Bleomycin, Gemcitabine, etc., were identified as potential therapeutic compounds for HNSCC.

Discussions

This novel cuproptosis-related lncRNAs prognostic signature could predict prognosis and help propose novel individual therapeutic targets for HNSCC.
Metabolism heterogeneity in melanoma fuels deactivation of immunotherapy: Predict before protect
Authors: Zhang Xinyue , Tai Zongguang , Miao Fengze , Huang Hao , Zhu Quangang , Bao Leilei , Chen Zhongjian
Published: December 2022

Malignant melanoma is widely acknowledged as the most lethal skin malignancy. The metabolic reprogramming in melanoma leads to alterations in glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), forming a hypoxic, glucose-deficient and acidic tumor microenvironment which inhibits the function of immune cells, resulting in a low response rate to immunotherapy. Therefore, improving the tumor microenvironment by regulating the metabolism can be used to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy. However, the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the metabolism of malignant melanoma are highly heterogeneous. Therefore, understanding and predicting how melanoma regulates metabolism is important to improve the local immune microenvironment of the tumor, and metabolism regulators are expected to increase treatment efficacy in combination with immunotherapy. This article reviews the energy metabolism in melanoma and its regulation and prediction, the integration of immunotherapy and metabolism regulators, and provides a comprehensive overview of future research focal points in this field and their potential application in clinical treatment.
Case Report: Stage IIIc primary malignant mixed Müllerian tumor of the fallopian tube: A case of 5-year disease-free survival after cytoreductive surgery combined with peritoneal resection and adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel plus carboplatin
Authors: Xiao Xiaoli , Ma Ruiqing , Shi Lianyao , Wang Cong , Chen Jie , Lu Yiyan , Wang Yufeng , Zhai Xichao , Fu Fengxian
Published: December 2022

Malignant mixed Müllerian tumor (MMMT) of the fallopian tube is rare and has a poor prognosis. For the patient with fallopian tube MMMT, complete resection of the tumor invading the viscera and the peritoneum is a prerequisite for long-term survival. We report a case of stage IIIc MMMT of the fallopian tube treated by cytoreductive surgery (CRS), peritoneal resection, and adjuvant chemotherapy (paclitaxel plus carboplatin), with 5-year tumor-free survival. Postoperative chemotherapy combining platinum and paclitaxel is the most potent adjuvant therapy.
Tumour microenvironment landscape and immunotherapy response in bladder cancer decoded by stromal MOXD1 based on copper-related genes signature
Authors: Wang Wenhao , Hua Shan , Li Jianying , Zhao Jing , Zhang Yu , Jiang Juntao , Han Bangmin
Published: December 2022

Introduction

We aimed to develop a copper-related gene (CRG) signature that can be used to evaluate prognosis and guide therapeutic management in bladder cancer patients.

Methods

The raw transcriptome profiles and clinical data of 405 bladder samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and differentially expressed copper-related genes were identifified using the Molecular Signatures Database (MSigDB) database and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. A multigene prognostic signature based on 14 CRGs was developed by least absolute shrinkage and selection operation (LASSO) analysis in the TCGA cohort and validated in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort. Multiple analyses were then conducted in which the nomograms, clinicopathological features, immune-related cell infifiltration characteristics, and therapy responses of the high- and low-risk score groups were compared.

Results

A 14 CRGs signature was constructed and used to classify patients into high-risk and low-risk groups. Compared to patients classifified as high-risk, low-risk patients in both the TCGA cohort and the GEO cohort had better overall survival. Patients in high-risk groups had more aggressive clinical features, immunologically “cold” infifiltrating characteristics, and experienced lower therapeutic effificacy. We identifified a CRG signature of bladder cancer and validated it using unsupervised clustering analysis. Monooxygenase DBH-like 1 (MOXD1) was further identifified, and its potential for evaluating the tumor immune microenvironment and predicting the immunotherapy response was explored.

Discussion

These results suggest a novel research direction for precision therapy of bladder cancer and demonstrate that copper-related genes can play a promising role in predicting prognosis and may serve as therapeutic targets for bladder cancer.
Association of genetic ancestry with HER2, GRB7 AND estrogen receptor expression among Colombian women with breast cancer
Authors: Rey-Vargas Laura , Bejarano-Rivera Lina María , Mejia-Henao Juan Carlos , Sua Luz F. , Bastidas-Andrade Jhon Faustino , Ossa Carlos Andrés , Gutiérrez-Castañeda Luz Dary , Fejerman Laura , Sanabria-Salas María Carolina , Serrano-Gómez Silvia J.
Published: December 2022

Background

Our previous study reported higher mRNA levels of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-amplicon genes ERBB2 and GRB7 in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer patients with relatively high Indigenous American (IA) ancestry from Colombia. Even though the protein expression of HER2 and GRB7 is highly correlated, they may also express independently, an event that could change the patients’ prognosis. In this study, we aimed to explore the differences in ER, HER2 and GRB7 protein expression according to genetic ancestry, to further assess the clinical implications of this association.

Methods

We estimated genetic ancestry from non-tumoral breast tissue DNA and assessed tumoral protein expression of ER, HER2, and GRB7 by immunohistochemistry in a cohort of Colombian patients from different health institutions. We used binomial and multinomial logistic regression models to test the association between genetic ancestry and protein expression. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used to evaluate the effect of HER2/GRB7 co-expression on patients’ survival.

Results

Our results show that patients with higher IA ancestry have higher odds of having HER2+/GRB7- breast tumors, compared to the HER2-/GRB7- subtype, and this association seems to be stronger among ER-positive tumors (ER+/HER2+/GRB7-: OR=3.04, 95% CI, 1.47-6.37, p<0.05). However, in the multivariate model this association was attenuated (OR=1.80, 95% CI, 0.72-4.44, p=0.19). On the other hand, it was observed that having a higher European ancestry patients presented lower odds of ER+/HER2+/GRB7- breast tumors, this association remained significant in the multivariate model (OR=0.36, 95% CI, 0.13 - 0.93, p= 0.0395). The survival analysis according to HER2/GRB7 co-expression did not show statistically significant differences in the overall survival and recurrence-free survival.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that Colombian patients with higher IA ancestry and a lower European fraction have higher odds of ER+/HER2+/GRB7- tumors compared to ER+/HER2-/GRB7- disease. However, this association does not seem to be associated with patients’ overall or recurrence-free survival.
Case report: “Congenital cutaneous langerhans cell histiocytosis presenting with blueberry Muffin Rash”
Authors: Thalji Mariam , Yagmour Asil , Alameh Dania , Shatrit Hanin , Inerat Mais , Bannoura Sami Issa , Atawneh Amir , Abuawaad Motee
Published: December 2022

Congenital cutaneous Langerhans cell histiocytosis-(LCH), named Hashimoto Pritzker disease, is a rare subtype among the clinical spectrum of LCH that often presents at birth or through the neonatal term and spontaneously resolve within a few months. In rare instances, infants with congenital cutaneous LCH may present with a blueberry-muffin rash. We reported a case of a male newborn who presented with blueberry muffin rash and was diagnosed with congenital cutaneous LCH later on. The diagnosis was confirmed by excluding other possible systemic causes of blueberry muffin rash, followed by a skin biopsy. Skin biopsy showed reticular dermis-hypodermis infiltration by medium-sized cells which had a pale eosinophilic cytoplasm and irregular nuclei. The lesional cells were positive for Langerin, CD1a, S100, and CD68 immunostains, consistent with congenital cutaneous LCH. Investigations were performed and revealed no systematic disease involvement. After a discussion with the pediatric Hemato-Oncologist, the decision was to keep track of a “wait-and-see” approach. Long-term follow-up revealed no recurrence of the cutaneous lesions or any systemic involvement, which further leads to congenital cutaneous LCH diagnosis. Even though it is very rare, blueberry muffin rash differential diagnosis should include congenital cutaneous LCH. Early recognition of this condition protects patients from unnecessary and possibly unsafe systemic treatment.
Bibliometric analysis on exploitation of biogenic gold and silver nanoparticles in breast, ovarian and cervical cancer therapy
Authors: Bhandari Meena , Raj Seema , Kumar Ashwani , Kaur Dilraj Preet
Published: December 2022

Multifunctional nanoparticles are being formulated to overcome the side effects associated with anticancer drugs as well as conventional drug delivery systems. Cancer therapy has gained the advancement due to various pragmatic approaches with better treatment outcomes. The metal nanostructures such as gold and silver nanoparticles accessible via eco-friendly method provide amazing characteristics in the field of diagnosis and therapy towards cancer diseases. The environmental friendly approach has been proposed as a substitute to minimize the use of hazardous compounds associated in chemical synthesis of nanoparticles. In this attempt, researchers have used various microbes, and plant-based agents as reducing agents. In the last 2 decades various papers have been published emphasizing the benefits of the eco-friendly approach and advantages over the traditional method in the cancer therapy. Despite of various reports and published research papers, eco-based nanoparticles do not seem to find a way to clinical translation for cancer treatment. Present review enumerates the bibliometric data on biogenic silver and gold nanoparticles from Clarivate Analytics Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus for the duration 2010 to 2022 for cancer treatment with a special emphasis on breast, ovarian and cervical cancer. Furthermore, this review covers the recent advances in this area of research and also highlights the obstacles in the journey of biogenic nanodrug from clinic to market.
ABC energies and spectral radii of some graph operations
Authors: Bilal Ahmad , Munir Muhammad Mobeen
Published: December 2022

The present article presents some new results relating to Atomic Bond Connectivity energies and Spectral radii of generalized splitting and generalized shadow graphs constructed on the basis of some fundamental families of cycle graph Cn, complete graph Kn and complete bipartite graph Kn,n referred as base graphs. In fact we relate the energies and Spectral radii of splitting and shadow graphs with the energies and Spectral radii of original graphs.
CCDC22 and CCDC93, two potential retriever-interacting proteins, are required for root and root hair growth in Arabidopsis
Authors: Lewis Connor D. , Preston Jill C. , Tierney Mary L.
Published: December 2022

Endomembrane trafficking is essential for plant growth and often depends on a balance between secretory and endocytic pathways. VPS26C is a component of the retriever complex which has been shown to function in the recycling of integral plasma membrane proteins in human cell culture and is part of a core retriever complex in Arabidopsis that is required for root hair growth. In this work, we report a characterization of the Arabidopsis homologues of CCDC22 and CCDC93, two additional proteins required for retriever function in humans. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that CCDC22 (AT1G55830) and CCDC93 (AT4G32560) are single copy genes in plants that are present across the angiosperms, but like VPS26C, are absent from the grasses. Both CCDC22 and CCDC93 are required for root and root hair growth in Arabidopsis and localize primarily to the cytoplasm in root epidermal cells. Previous work has demonstrated a genetic interaction between VPS26C function and a VTI13-dependent trafficking pathway to the vacuole. To further test this model, we characterized the vti13 ccdc93 double mutant and show that like vps26c, ccdc93 is a suppressor of the vti13 root hair phenotype. Together this work identifies two new proteins essential for root and root hair growth in plants and demonstrate that the endosomal pathway(s) in which CCDC93 functions is genetically linked to a VTI13-dependent trafficking pathway to the vacuole.
Transcriptomic analysis unravels the molecular response of Lonicera japonica leaves to chilling stress
Authors: Zhang Meng , Li Mengxin , Fu Hongwei , Wang Kehao , Tian Xu , Qiu Renping , Liu Jinkun , Gao Shuai , Zhong Zhuoheng , Yang Bingxian , Zhang Lin
Published: December 2022

Lonicera japonica is not only an important resource of traditional Chinese medicine, but also has very high horticultural value. Studies have been performed on the physiological responses of L. japonica leaves to chilling, however, the molecular mechanism underlying the low temperature-induced leaves morphological changes remains unclear. In this study, it has been demonstrated that the ratio of pigments content including anthocyanins, chlorophylls, and carotenoids was significantly altered in response to chilling condition, resulting in the color transformation of leaves from green to purple. Transcriptomic analysis showed there were 10,329 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) co-expressed during chilling stress. DEGs were mainly mapped to secondary metabolism, cell wall, and minor carbohydrate. The upregulated genes (UGs) were mainly enriched in protein metabolism, transport, and signaling, while UGs in secondary metabolism were mainly involved in phenylpropaoids-flavonoids pathway (PFP) and carotenoids pathway (CP). Protein-protein interaction analysis illustrated that 21 interacted genes including CAX3, NHX2, ACA8, and ACA9 were enriched in calcium transport/potassium ion transport. BR biosynthesis pathway related genes and BR insensitive (BRI) were collectively induced by chilling stress. Furthermore, the expression of genes involved in anthocyanins and CPs as well as the content of chlorogenic acid (CGA) and luteoloside were increased in leaves of L. japonica under stress. Taken together, these results indicate that the activation of PFP and CP in leaves of L. japonica under chilling stress, largely attributed to the elevation of calcium homeostasis and stimulation of BR signaling, which then regulated the PFP/CP related transcription factors.
Chemical composition of the lipophilic compounds from the rind and pith of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) stems
Authors: Rosado Mario J. , Marques Gisela , Rencoret Jorge , Gutiérrez Ana , Bausch Florian , Rosenau Thomas , Potthast Antje , del Río José C.
Published: December 2022

Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) is a sedge plant with a high rate of biomass productivity that represents an interesting raw material to produce chemicals, materials and fuels, which are currently still obtained from fossil resources, in the context of a lignocellulosic biorefinery. In this work, the content and chemical composition of the lipids present in papyrus stems were thoroughly studied. For this, the papyrus stems were separated into the rind and the pith. The lipid content accounted for 4.1% in the rind and 4.9% in the pith (based on dry matter). The main compounds identified in both parts of the papyrus stem were hydrocarbons, n-fatty acids, 2-hydroxyfatty acids, alcohols, alkylamides, mono- and diglycerides, steroids (sterols, ketones, hydrocarbons, esters and glycosides), tocopherols, tocopherol esters, phytol, phytol esters, alkyl ferulates, ω-carboxyalkyl ferulates (and their monoglycerides), and acylglycerol glycosides. The rind presented a predominance of n-fatty acids (6790 mg/kg; that represented 28.6% of all identified compounds), steroid compounds (6255 mg/kg; 26.3%), phytol and phytol esters (4985 mg/kg; 21.0%), and isoprenoid hydrocarbons, namely phytadiene and squalene (2660 mg/kg; 11.2%), while the most abundant lipids in the pith were steroids (8600 mg/kg; 44.4% of all identified compounds) and fatty acids (6245 mg/kg; 32.2%). Due to the great diversity and significant abundance of the compounds identified in papyrus, it can be considered as a potential raw material for biorefineries to obtain valuable phytochemicals of interest to various industrial sectors.
Randomized controlled trial of emotion-focused training for helping professionals
Authors: Halamová Júlia , Ondrejková Natália , Kováč Karol
Published: December 2022

Introduction

The aim of this study was to examine the short- and long-term effectiveness of the novel Emotion-focused Training for Helping Professions on levels of compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress & burnout), self-criticism, self-compassion, and compassion for others.

Methods

A randomized controlled trial study was conducted. A total of 253 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group attended a 14-day online training. The control group did not perform any tasks.

Results

Results showed that after completing the intervention the experimental group participants reported significantly lower scores for secondary traumatic stress, burnout and self-criticism, and higher scores for self-compassion and that these lasted for two months after completion. Compared to the control group, the experimental group participants had significantly lower scores of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, self-criticism, and higher scores of self-compassion after the intervention. No significant changes were found for the control group, except a significant increase in time in the reported score for one dimension of burnout – exhaustion.

Discussion

The novel EFT-HP training was shown to be effective in reducing levels of compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress and burnout) and self-criticism and increasing self-compassion.
Processing different types of iconicity in Chinese transferred epithet comprehension: An ERP study
Authors: Liao Qiaoyun , Gao Mengting , Weng Xin , Hu Quan
Published: December 2022

Transferred epithet can be regarded as a reflection of semantic markedness since the modifier and the modified conflict with each other and lead to semantic deviation; yet the corresponding processing mechanism is less studied. The present study examined the neurocognitive mechanism of Chinese transferred epithet comprehension by employing ERP technique from the perspective of Iconicity of Markedness. Participants were required to read materials with different types of semantic markedness, namely unmarked linguistic expression (literal sentences) and marked linguistic expression (transferred epithets), and then judge whether the targets were words or pseudo-words. In terms of semantic markedness, the targets are words reflecting the unmarked semantic meaning of literal sentences and marked semantic meaning of transferred epithets respectively. The target words after transferred epithets elicited a larger N400 and a smaller LPC than those in literal sentences. These results suggest that processing sentences with marked and unmarked iconicity involve different neural mechanisms, with the former requiring more cognitive efforts to extract the similarity features.
Self-neglect among older adults with disabilities in Liaoning Province during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Dong Li , Sun Longfeng
Published: December 2022

Background

Self-neglect among older adults is a well-recognized public health issue. During the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), older adults with disabilities may be at increased risk for self-neglect. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of self-neglect and associated factors among older adults with disabilities in Liaoning Province during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to April 2021. A convenience sample of 230 older adults with disabilities filled out questionnaires that collected data on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics alongside data using the Barthel Index (BI), the Elder Self-Neglect Assessment (ESNA), the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Results

The overall self-neglect rate was 86%. The study revealed that self-neglect correlates positively with the degree of disability (p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (p < 0.001). In contrast, monthly income (p = 0.002) and perceived social support (p = 0.001) were negatively associated with self-neglect.

Conclusion

During the COVID-19 outbreak, self-neglect has been a serious public health problem among older adults with disabilities. Lower monthly income, decreased physical function, depressive symptoms, and perceptions of poor social support contributed to self-neglect among older adults with disabilities.
How and when does responsible leadership affect employees’ pro-environmental behavior?
Authors: Zhou Yuanyuan , Ning Yumei , He Hui , Li Dan
Published: December 2022

By integrating the resource accumulation perspective and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this research explores the impact mechanism of responsible leadership on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors (EPB). We conducted a survey to collect data from 319 employees in Chinese companies in three waves. Our research found that responsible leadership had significantly positive effect on EPB; employees’ perceived organizational support toward the environment (POS-E) and green self-efficacy played a serial multiple mediating role; meanwhile, employees’ chronic regulatory focus moderated the relationship between responsible leadership and EPB, with promotion focus strengthening the relationship and prevention focus weakening the relationship. Our findings support the applicability of JD-R model in the field of EPB, enrich the theoretical research on responsible leadership and EPB, and also provide a practical basis for organizations to effectively stimulate EPB and promote sustainable development.
Mining of risk perception dimensions of Chinese tourists’ outbound tourism based on word vector method
Authors: Yu Caihua , Zhao Yilin
Published: December 2022

Introduction

Safety is the lifeline of tourism development. The article’s goal is to examin how Chinese tourists perceive risk when travelling aboard.

Methods

In order to create the initial corpus, this study first uses “outbound tourism“as the key word to crawl the question and answer (hereinafter referred to as “Q & A”) data from 4 Chinese online travel operator platforms, then preprocesses the “Q & A” data in Python. Secondly, after being extracted, the feature words are converted into the word vector model using the word vector method based on neural network language model. Finally, the word vectors are clustered and classified.

Results

It is found that there are six dimensions of risk perception of Chinese tourists’ outbound tourism, namely traffic risk, planning risk, service risk, communication risk, financial risk and functional risk.

Discussion

Important and practical information for government and tourism enterprises is provided to accurately grasp the risk perception of Chinese tourists’ outbound tourism and continuously improve the supply of tourism risk information.
The effect of masks on the recognition of facial expressions: A true-to-life study on the perception of basic emotions
Authors: Leitner Michael Christian , Meurer Verena , Hutzler Florian , Schuster Sarah , Hawelka Stefan
Published: December 2022

Mouth-to-nose face masks became ubiquitous due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This ignited studies on the perception of emotions in masked faces. Most of these studies presented still images of an emotional face with a face mask digitally superimposed upon the nose-mouth region. A common finding of these studies is that smiles become less perceivable. The present study investigated the recognition of basic emotions in video sequences of faces. We replicated much of the evidence gathered from presenting still images with digitally superimposed masks. We also unearthed fundamental differences in comparison to existing studies with regard to the perception of smile which is less impeded than previous studies implied.
The associations of COVID-19 percent positivity rate, relationship quality, and season with daily anxiety and depression in couples living in NYC
Authors: Cornelius Talea , DiGiovanni Ana M. , Bolger Niall
Published: December 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic changed nearly every aspect of daily life and had detrimental effects on mental health. Yet, impacts have been heterogeneous. We tested whether fluctuations in local COVID-19 percent positivity rates were associated with daily anxiety and depression in couples living in NYC, as well as whether these associations varied by relationship quality or season. We expected that adverse impacts of COVID-19 may be attenuated by high-quality relationships and during warmer months, or that people may habituate over time.

Methods

Data on seven-day rolling average COVID-19 percent positive rate each day in NYC were merged with a 14-day dyadic diary study of cohabiting couples living in NYC between August 2020 through April 2021 (232 individuals from 116 couples; mean age 28.42 years, 52.59% female, 53.02% White). Dyadic multilevel models estimated the association COVID-19 positivity rate, season (sine and cosine of the calendar date), baseline relationship quality, and all two-and three-way interactions of these variables with daily anxiety and depression. Covariates included weekend and COVID-positive case within the couple.

Results

Anxiety and depression mirrored COVID-19 positivity rates, and there was some evidence for habituation over time. Significant two-and three-way interactions suggested that being in a high-quality relationship buffered the association of COVID-19 positivity rate with both anxiety and depression during months when cases were low. Anxiety was elevated for individuals in high- (v. low-) quality relationships during the December–January surge.

Conclusion

Seven-day rolling average COVID-19 percent positivity rate was associated with daily anxiety and depression among couples living in NYC. There was some evidence that individuals habituated to this stressor over time and that high-quality relationships were protective for mental well-being; however, there was some suggestion that couples in high-quality relationships may have engaged in processes such as co-rumination during surges, worsening their daily anxiety.