bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The significance of introducing socioeconomically sensitive therapeutic guidelines to end-stage renal disease patients in Sri Lanka as a practice in haemodialysis
Authors: Erandika HG Naduni , Nanayakkara Nishantha , Yatawara Lalani
Published: December 2022

Introduction: Malnutrition is very common and associated with adverse health outcomes among haemodialysis (HD) patients. In this study, we studied the nutritional intake and associated demographic, socio-economic characteristics among haemodialysis patients in Sri Lanka.
Methodology: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study which was conducted in 305 HD patients at Nephrology and Transplant Unit, National Hospital, Kandy, Sri Lanka in 2018. Interviewer administered; semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Nutritional data was collected using 24-hour dietary recall method. Statistical analysis was performed via IBM SPSS version 20. Ethical approval was given from the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya.
Results: The mean age of the study participants was 50.45±13.063 years and majority were males (69.2%; n=211). Only 1.6% (n=5) of the patients fulfilled the recommended calorie intake per day (>30 Kcal/day). Majority of the patients had more than 60% of the calorie intake from carbohydrates (n=232; 76.1%). Overall, energy, protein and fat intakes in 98.4%, 96.1% and 91.8% of the participants were less than the recommended values. There were statistically significant differences found between age categories and blood urea (p=0.023), urine output (UOP) (p=0.000), inter-dialytic weight gain (IDWG) (p=0.000) and dry weight (p=0.015). The entire micronutrients intake was less than the recommended level and there were significant differences between micronutrients based on the monthly income. Such as, dietary PUFA (p=0.021), cholesterol (p=0.002), vitamin E (p=0.018), vitamin B2 (p=0.000), vitamin B6 (p=0.008), folic acid (p=0.004), sodium (p=0.000), potassium (p=0.010), calcium (p=0.001), magnesium (p=0.038), phosphorus (p=0.000), iron (p=0.042) and zinc (p=0.003). High median values of the micronutrients were reported with the 30,000–50,000 LKR and 50,000 LKR earned groups.
Discussion and Conclusion: There is a wide gap between recommended nutrient intake and the actual nutrient intake of the participants of this study. Nutritional status and other clinical measures were influenced by age of the patients and monthly income. Regular optimal nutritional counseling and monitoring is very important to improve their outcome. Introduction of socio-economically and culturally sensitive dietary guidelines can be warranted.
ARSL-V: A Risk-aware Relay Selection Scheme using Reinforcement Learning in VANETs
Authors: Liu Xuejiao , Wang Chuanhua , Chen Wei , Xia Yingjie
Published: December 2022

In high-speed and dynamic Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs), cooperative transmission mechanism is a promising scheme to ensure the sustainable transmission of data. However, due to the possible malicious behavior of vehicles and the dynamic network topology of VANETs, not all vehicles are trustworthy to become relays and perform the cooperative transmission task reliably. Therefore, how to ensure the security and reliability of the selected vehicles is still an urgent problem to be solved in the relay selection research area. In this paper, we propose a risk-aware relay selection scheme (ARSL-V) using reinforcement learning in VANETs. Specifically, we design a risk assessment mechanism based on multiple parameters to dynamically assess the potential risk of relay vehicles by considering the reputation variability, abnormal behavior, and environmental impact of vehicles. Also, we model the relay selection problem as an improved Kuhn-Munkres algorithm based on the risk assessment to realize relay selection in multi-relay and multi-target vehicle scenarios. Besides, we use a reinforcement learning algorithm combined with feedback data to achieve dynamic adjustment of parameter weights. Simulation results show that compared with the existing schemes, ARSL-V can improve the detection rate of malicious behavior and cooperative transmission success rate by about 25% and 6%, respectively.
WITHDRAWN: The non-pharmacological interventions of people with psoriasis: a scoping review
Authors: Zhang Zhang Xiujie , Lin Jing-rong , Ou Min-xing , Feng Li , Gong Fu-qing
Published: December 2022

Introduction

The ultimate aim of health care is to eradicate a disease and return the person’s life to normal. But until the day comes when this has been achieved there will be a need to support and assist many people with psoriasis in non-pharmacological interventions. These ‘adjuvant’ approaches receive too little attention while dermatologists and researchers strive for better pharmacological therapy.

Methods

This scoping review identifies and catalogues non-pharmacological interventions in people with psoriasis. EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Scopus were searched from inception to June 2022. Regardless of the type of study, the research was included for non-pharmacological interventions in people with psoriasis. Following themes were extracted from the included articles. Two reviewers independently screened and analyzed them.

Results

From 1322 initial records, 71 studies were identified and analyzed. The non-pharmacological interventions for people with psoriasis include two levels of organizational and individual intervention. The organizational non-pharmacological interventions included the following: nationwide health care model (PsPSP, ProvenCare®, PsoHealth German, PsoNet, IMPROVE model and PsoWell clinic), innovative teledermatology models (mHealth APP, eTIPs study and therapist-Guided internet-based cognitive and behavioral treatments) and multidisciplinary intervention. The individual non-pharmacological interventions included educational interventions (therapeutic patient education, psycho-educational intervention and self-management education), psychosocial interventions (cognitive and behavioral treatments, self-help and peer to peer support program) and others (happify and motivational interviewing-based training).

Conclusions

Based on the previous literatures, a protocol of nationwide health care model was constructed for people with psoriasis. It not only provides a direction for building a new psoriatic health care model, but also a basis for summarizing the non-pharmacological interventions in people suffered from psoriasis to help them adapt to a variety of changes in skin disorder.
Efficacy of elotuzumab for multiple myeloma in reference to lymphocyte counts and kappa/lambda ratio or B2 microglobulin
Authors: Shimazu Yutaka , Kanda Junya , Kosugi Satoru , Ito Tomoki , Kaneko Hitomi , Imada Kazunori , Shimura Yuji , Fuchida Shin-ichi , Fukushima Kentaro , Tanaka Hirokazu , Yoshihara Satoshi , Ohta Kensuke , Uoshima Nobuhiko , Yagi Hideo , Shibayama Hirohiko , Yamamura Ryosuke , Tanaka Yasuhiro , Uchiyama Hitoji , Onda Yoshiyuki , Adachi Yoko , Hanamoto Hitoshi , Takahashi Ryoichi , Matsuda Mitsuhiro , Miyoshi Takashi , Takakuwa Teruhito , Hino Masayuki , Hosen Naoki , Nomura Shosaku , Shimazaki Chihiro , Matsumura Itaru , Takaori-Kondo Akifumi , Kuroda Junya
Published: December 2022

Novel therapeutic drugs have dramatically improved the overall survival of patients with multiple myeloma. We sought to identify the characteristics of patients likely to exhibit a durable response to one such drug, elotuzumab, by analyzing a real-world database in Japan. We analyzed 179 patients who underwent 201 elotuzumab treatments. The median time to next treatment (TTNT) with the 95% confidence interval was 6.29 months (5.18–9.20) in this cohort. Univariate analysis showed that patients with any of the following had longer TTNT: no high risk cytogenic abnormalities, more white blood cells, more lymphocytes, non-deviated κ/λ ratio, lower β2 microglobulin levels (B2MG), fewer prior drug regimens, no prior daratumumab use and better response after elotuzumab treatment. A multivariate analysis showed that TTNT was longer in patients with more lymphocytes (≥ 1400/µL), non-deviated κ/λ ratio (0.1–10), lower B2MG (< 5.5mg/L) and no prior daratumumab use. We proposed a simple scoring system to predict the durability of the elotuzumab treatment effect by classifying the patients into three categories based on their lymphocyte counts (0 points for ≥ 1400/µL and 1 point for < 1400/µL) and κ/λ ratio (0 points for 0.1–10 and 1 point for < 0.1 or ≥ 10) or B2MG (0 points for < 5.5mg/L and 1 point for ≥ 5.5mg/L). The patients with a score of 0 showed significantly longer TTNT (p < 0.001) and better survival (p < 0.001) compared to those with a score of 1 or 2. Prospective cohort studies of elotuzumab treatment may be needed to validate the usefulness of our new scoring system.
Study and comparison of prognostic characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma based on tumor microenvironment gene set
Authors: Yuan Jianxu , Jiang Qing , Wang Jiawu , Hua Zhengzhao , Yu Shengjie
Published: December 2022

Background: TME (Tumor microenvironment) plays a key role in the occurrence and development of lung cancer. Further research on TME will provide more comprehensive insights into relevant prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets. The purpose of this study is to develop a better prognosis model to predict the OS (overall survival) time of LUAD patients by identifying the TME component in lung cancer (especially lung adenocarcinoma) and comparing it with previous similar research results.
Methods: The original LUAD related data was from TCGA (the Cancer Genome Atlas). The DEGs (differentially expressed genes) related to TME in tumor tissues and normal tissues were calculated respectively. Then, NMF (nonnegative matrix factorization) clustering was applied to identify different subtypes. Univariate Cox regression analysis and lasso regression analysis were performed to screen genes with prognostic significance to construct the prognostic characteristics. Finally, ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve and DCA (decision curve analysis) were used to verify the model both internally and externally.
Results: Finally, we constructed a LUAD prognosis model containing five TME related genes (including C1QTNF6, PLEK2, FURIN, TM6SF1 and IGF2BP1). In our model, the survival time of high-risk group was indeed shorter. The prediction accuracy of the model was further verified by an independent cohort (GSE13213) in GEO (the Gene Expression Omnibus). In addition, we also integrated relevant clinical factors and drew a prognosis nomograph. The results showed that the patients in the high-risk group had less immune cell infiltration, more fibroblasts in the tissues, and poorer prognosis.
A prospective cohort study of clinical characteristics and outcome of Chinese patients with estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-positive early breast cancer
Authors: Fan Yu , Zhong Xiaorong , Wang Yu , Wang Zhu , Wang Yanping , Zheng Hong
Published: December 2022

Background
There has been a debate about whether the estrogen receptor (ER) -negative/progesterone receptor (PR) -positive breast cancer exists or is an artefact. Further, there have been conflicting results as to whether PR is a molecular marker for the benefit of adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET).
Methods
Early breast cancer patients of West China Hospital were divided into the ER-/PR+ group, ER+ group and ER-/PR- group. The Chi-square test was employed to analyze the differences in clinical and pathological features among the three groups. Multivariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were employed to compare the survival difference between all patients of the three groups, between the patients who had received ET of the three groups, and between patients who had or had not received ET in the ER-/PR+ group. Finally, we analyzed which subgroups of ER-/PR+ patients would benefit from ET.
Results
From 2008 to 2020, we enrolled 10494 early breast cancer patients with definite ER and PR status. 445, 7129, and 2920 patients were in the ER-/PR+ group, ER+ group and ER-/PR- group, respectively. ER-/PR+ group displayed unfavourable clinical and aggressive pathological characteristics than the ER+ group. The breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and distant disease-free survival (DDFS) of the ER-/PR+ group were worse than those of the ER+ group. After ET, the ER-/PR+ group still had a worse BCSS, LRFS and DDFS than those in the ER+ group. Patients who received ET in the ER-/PR+ group showed significantly better LRFS and BCSS than patients who did not, but there was no difference in DDFS. Subgroup analysis suggested ER-/PR+ patients with PR≥10% instead of PR<10% could benefit from ET.
Conclusion
The ER-/PR+ group has unfavourable clinic-pathological features and a worse prognosis than the ER+ group. ET still reduces endpoint events of LRFS and BCSS but could not reduce DDFS endpoint events. Further, subgroup analysis suggests ER-/PR+ patients could benefit from ET when PR expression is≥10%.
Large-scale Pacific-sourced intrusion into the glacial South Atlantic
Authors: Hallmaier Moritz , Rückert Eva , Link Jasmin , Lütkes Laura , Frank Norbert
Published: December 2022

The deep Southern Ocean (SO) circulation plays a key role in the storage and release of CO2 in Earth’s climate system. Uptake and release of CO2 strongly depend on the redistribution of well and poorly ventilated water masses. Here, we present new neodymium isotope data (εNd) from three sediment cores from the Atlantic sector of the SO to assess the distribution of water masses during the past 150 ka.
ODP 1094 (2807 m) reveals a tremendous Holocene εNd-variability (-0.25 to -6.07), which most likely reflects local influences. PS 1768-8 (3299 m) and ODP 1093 (3624 m), show far more unradiogenic interglacial εNd-signatures, which are similar to the present-day Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) (εNd~-8). During peak glacial periods, radiogenic εNd-values of ~-2.5 to -3.5 are recorded. This confirms a predominance of glacial Pacific-sourced deep water at depths of 3.3-3.6 km in the South Atlantic, with proportions close to 100% and lacking AABW. We advocate for the presence of Pacific Deep Water even during interglacials and further hypothesize that a possible intrusion due to a warming climate could accelerate climate warming. The persistent occurrence of such a highly radiogenic water mass substantially changes the view regarding the selection of the Southern Hemisphere εNd-endmember for the Atlantic Ocean and reinforces the major importance of carbon storage in the Glacial SO.
All-optical control of high-purity trions in nanoscale waveguide
Authors: Lee Hyeongwoo , Koo Yeonjeong , Kumar Shailabh , Jeong Yunjo , Heo Dong Gwon , Choi Soo Ho , Joo Huitae , Kang Mingu , Siddique Radwanul , Kim Ki Kang , Lee Hong Seok , An Sangmin , Choo Hyuck , Park Kyoung-Duck
Published: December 2022

The generation of high-purity localized trions, dynamic exciton–trion interconversion, and their spatial modulation in 2D semiconductors are building blocks for the realization of trion-based optoelectronic devices. Here, we present a method for the alloptical control of the exciton-to-trion conversion process and its spatial distributions in a MoS2 monolayer. We induce a nanoscale strain gradient in a 2D crystal transferred on a metal–insulator–metal (MIM) waveguide and exploit propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) to localize hot electrons. These significantly increase the electrons and efficiently funnel excitons in the MIM waveguide, facilitating complete exciton-to-trion conversion even at ambient conditions. Additionally, we modulate the SPP mode using adaptive wavefront shaping, enabling all-optical control of the exciton-to-trion conversion rate and trion distribution in a reversible manner. Our work provides a platform for harnessing excitonic quasiparticles efficiently in the form of trions at ambient conditions, enabling high-efficiency photoconversion.
Decolorization of Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) leaf extracts with activated charcoal and qualitative analysis of stevioside using chromatographic methods
Authors: Bhuiyan Mohammad Nazrul Islam , Shamima Kazi Asma Ahmed , Nahid Meher , Afrin Sadia , Hoque Mohammad Amirul , Haque Mohammad Majedul , Sarker Md. Khabir Uddin , Miah Md. Abdus Satter , Shaikh Md. Aftab Ali
Published: December 2022

Background
The Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) leaves are natural low-calorie sweeteners that are used in a wide range of products, including foods, drinks, medicines, cosmetics, and more. The current study aims to obtain high-purity stevioside by decolorizing the Stevia leaf extracts with activated charcoal, then purifying them with 70% ethanol, and concentrating them in a rotary evaporator, respectively.
Results
The yield was then calculated by weighing the crystallized sample following freeze-drying. The average yield is 8.13%. According to High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), the purity is 98.12%. The obtained stevioside was compared to standard stevioside and confirmed using Ultra Violet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The purified sample showed a wavelength region of 4000–650 cm-1 in FT-IR and UV-Vis spectrum was found at a wavelength of 206.49 nm. An accuracy and precision test was done with a crystal sample, which gave a similar spectrum to the standard stevioside at the same retention time in HPLC. The pH effect on the decolorization of Stevia leaf extracts with activated charcoal was 5.5–8.0.
Conclusion
In contrast to other commercially available methods, the aforementioned method can be used to purify pure stevioside from Stevialeaf extracts rapidly, simply, and, inexpensively.
Mechanical Vibration Promotes Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Periodontal Ligament Cells and their Inhibitory Regulation of Osteoclastogenesis
Authors: Cai guanhui , Ren chaochao , wang ting , Wang hua , liu dawei
Published: December 2022

Background: Periodontal ligament (PDL) is a dense fibrous connective tissue connecting tooth to its alveolar socket. As the most abundant cells in the PDL, PDL fibroblasts possess osteoblastic phenotypes and are mechanoresponsive to various mechanical stimuli including vibration. Recent studies show that low magnitude (0.2-0.5 g) high frequency (30-120 Hz) vibrations (LMHFV) could increase the mass and density of alveolar bone as well as restrain the atrophy of alveolar bone after tooth extraction. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of these anabolic actions of mechanical vibration are largely unknown. To study the effects of mechanical vibration on the osteogenic differentiation of human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) and its regulation on osteoclast formation, hPDLCs were subjected to sinusoidal LMHFV (0.3 g) at various frequencies (30, 60, 90 Hz).
Methods and Results: Our results show that LMHFV enhanced osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs most significantly at 60 Hz. Induction with the conditioned medium (CM) from the vibrated hPDLCs significantly inhibited osteoclastic formation. Mechanistically, LMHFV significantly induced potentiation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, in parallel with the up-regulated expressions of osteogenic marker genes RUNX2, OPN and BSP which were enhanced by LiCl. LiCl treatment also enhanced the LMHFV-induced up-regulation of osteoprotegerin (OPG)/nuclear factor-κ b ligand (RANKL) ratio.
Conclusions: LMHFV (0.3 g, 60 Hz) could maximally promote osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs via potentiation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and regulate its downstream OPG/RANKL axis towards inhibiting osteoclastogenesis.
Synergistic Governance for Regional Environment under Uncertainty: A Model of Cooperative Game with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Coalitions
Authors: Guo Shuai , Luo Donglin
Published: December 2022

Synergistic governance is an important way to realize the modernization of regional environmental governance capacity. This paper uses the intuitionistic fuzzy coalition cooperative game method with nonlinear programming to construct the optimal coalition structure and cooperative profit distribution model of regional environmental governance, and verifies its rationality and validity with the industrial statistics of Shaanxi, Henan and Shanxi provinces in China. The results shows: First, the total profits of the three provinces are maximized, and the profits allocated to each province are greater than those of working alone after transferring cooperative profits; Second, the method makes the distribution loss rates is 2.1453E-07, -6.6042E-08 and -1.9103E-07 respectively, whose the loss deviations are negligible; Third, three policy recommendations are offered: Integrating coalition structures to achieve structural synergy; Promoting transparent sharing of information on environmental cooperation to achieve data synergy; Innovating profit distribution mechanism to realize profit sharing.
Inactivated poliovirus vaccine induced Guillain–Barré syndrome: A Case Report
Authors: Bereda Gudisa
Published: December 2022

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a type of immune-mediated acute polyradiculoneuritis that is typically preceded by an unspecified infection. A 6-year-old black male preliminary school student who admitted to the pediatric ward with generalized body weakness comprising both lower and upper extremities (unable to move legs and hands as a usual motor movement), not walking alone without caregiver assistance, being unable to swallow food, blurred vision, tingling in the feet and hands, an irregular heartbeat, and severe muscular pain. The patient had quadriparesis, or muscle weakness, in all four limbs (both legs and arms). Motor examination revealed decreased muscle strength in all limbs, with a Medical Research Council score of 2/5 in the right arm of the upper extremities and 1/5 in the right leg of the lower extremities, and 1/5 in the left leg of the lower extremities and 2/5 in the left arm of the upper extremities. According to the clinical signs of Guillain-Barré syndrome, he received 400 mg/kg of intravenous immunoglobulin every day for five days.
Correction of hypertriglyceridemia by intestinal microbiota remodeling alleviates NASH and atherosclerosis in severe combined hyperlipidemia disease
Authors: Miao Guolin , Guo Jiabao , Lai Pingping , Chen Jingxuan , Zhou Zihao , Zhang Wenxi , Xu Yitong , Zhang Lianxin , Han Yufei , Chen Gonglie , Chen Jinxuan , Tao Yijun , Zhang Ling , Huang Wei , Wang Yuhui , Xian Xunde
Published: December 2022

Background
Combined hyperlipidemia (CHL), characterized by elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels in circulation, is a common risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) accompanied by obesity, insulin resistance and fatty liver. Emerging lines of evidence demonstrate that intestinal microbiota plays a central role in the development of metabolic disease and the application of antibiotics can influence microbial homeostasis in gut, suggesting that modulation of microbiota profiling by antibiotics could improve metabolic abnormalities. However, the beneficial consequence of CHL yielded by antibiotic-mediated remodeling of intestinal microbiota has not been investigated yet and whether intestinal microbiota can be a potential therapeutic target for CHL is still unknown so far.
Results
Intermittent antibiotic treatment and transfer of gut microbiota through cohousing approach could effectively change gut microbial composition and functions but didn't affect microbiota abundance in low density lipoprotein receptor deficient (LDLR−/−) hamsters fed an HFHC diet compared to placebo-treated control group. Modulating gut microbiota significantly reduced body weight gain, lowered plasma triglyceride levels without affecting cholesterol concentration, restrained adipocyte hypertrophy and brown adipocyte whitening, eventually alleviating obesity, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and atherosclerosis. Further omic analysis of intestinal microbiota showed that along with sequentially increased bacterial richness, Lactobacillus, Clostridia_UCG-014, Bifidobacterium and Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group were key four species that droved severe CHL-associated NASH progression. Additionally, we observed that Fusobacterium, Blautia, Parasutterella, and Methanosphaera genera were enriched in antibiotic treated LDLR−/− hamsters with mitigating aberrant intestinal absorption, NASH and atherosclerotic lesions.
Conclusion
Remodeling gut microbiota by antibiotics and transfer gut microbiota via cohousing approach effectively corrects hypertriglyceridemia in HFHC diet-fed LDLR−/− hamsters, which is sufficient to improve obesity, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and atherosclerosis caused by refractory CHL, further confirming that hypertriglyceridemia is the important risk factor for CVD and then suggesting that intestinal microbiota exert a therapeutic potential in CHL disease.
Enhanced forward error correction scheme in ACELP based codec for voice over IP network services
Authors: Gueham Tarek , Merazka Fatiha
Published: December 2022

Forward Error Correction (FEC) is a packet loss concealment (PLC) mechanism used to recover lost packets via the transmission of a set of redundant packets along with the original ones. Given its performance in improving the end-to-end error recovery capability of lossy networks as well as maximizing the end-to-end quality of service (QoS), FEC is usually considered to be an interesting choice for real-time applications like voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Note that this mechanism has a low efficiency against consecutive packet losses, which heavily affects the perceptual speech quality in a VoIP environment and could even produce a total desynchronization between the coder and the decoder. The objective of this paper is to introduce a new FEC scheme that can address the aforementioned issue. We use also a Time Scale Modification (TSM) procedure that enhance the performance of our proposed FEC scheme in order to further improve the performance of our scheme under severe network conditions. Subjective and objective evaluation metrics are used to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed method. Results show that the new FEC method achieves a Perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) value exceeding 3.5 at a 10% frame erasure rate with a noticeable enhancement in voice perception.
Construction of a risk prediction model for ureteral stricture after ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy
Authors: Li Ping , Wang Kangning , Luo Lin , Xie Qingzhi , Wu Yunchou , Liao Qiuling
Published: December 2022

Objective To analyze the influencing factors of ureteral stenosis after ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy.
Methods The clinical data of 427 patients treated with ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy were selected, and the patients were divided into two groups according to whether the patients had ureteral stenosis after operation. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression were used to analyze the independent risk factors for postoperative ureteral stenosis, and R software and regression coefficients were used to construct a predictive model.
Results After a one-year follow-up of 427 patients, 28 patients (6.56%) developed ureteral stenosis; univariate analysis showed that the occurrence of ureteral stenosis after subureteral holmium laser lithotripsy was related to stone diameter, stone incarceration,degree of hydronephrosis, holmium laser injury of mucosa, and operation time (P<0.05); further Logistic regression analysis showed that long stone diameter, stone incarceration, and moderate to severe hydronephrosis were independent risk factors for ureteral stricture after ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy (P<0.05); the H-L deviation degree and the area under the ROC curve were used to test, and the results showed that the model had high accuracy and discrimination.
Conclusion Stone diameter, stone incarceration, and degree of hydronephrosis were independent risk factors that affect the occurrence of ureteral stricture after ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy. The nomogram model established by this result has high accuracy and discrimination. It can effectively identify high-risk groups to prevent ureteral stenosis in time and minimize the risk of ureteral stenosis after surgery.
Validated Rp-Hplc Method For Quantification Of Teriflunomide In Solid-Lipid Nanoparticles (Sln’s): Application To Determine Drug Loading(%Dl), Drug Entrapment Efficiency(%Dee) And In-Vitro Release Studies
Authors: Sowmya Avula , Sastri K Trideva , P.R HemanthVikram , Beeraka Narasimha M , Tengli Anandkumar , Bidye Durgesh , Gupta Vishal Kumar
Published: December 2022

Background: Poor solubility of teriflunomide leading to poor bioavailability in disease conditions was a challenge that could be overcome by currently formulated SLNs. Hence, the development of a sensitive, accurate method for solid-lipid nanoparticles carrying teriflunomide is significantly required to analyze and quantify the drug in formulation and drug release samples. The main aim of this study is to develop a simple, linear, precise, accurate, and sensitive RP-HPLC with a UV detection method that has been developed and validated for the determination of teriflunomide in SLNs and other marketed formulations. Application of the same to determine %drug loading, %drug entrapment efficiency (DEE), and quantification of drug release studies.
Materials and Methods: Method optimization was carried out by using the various parameters (different Mobile phases with varying pH and Columns). The chromatographic separation was carried out by using Shim-pack GIST C18 (4.6 x 100mm, 5 µm) column, with a 70:30 v/v ratio, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, and acetonitrile make up the mobile phase, column temperature of 50˚C with 10min runtime and injection volume 10µL with flow rate 1.5mL/min. The effluent was detected by using a UV detector at 250nm.
Results and Discussion: Developed analytical method has a linearity range between 1-64µg/ml and a correlation coefficient (R2) value of 0.996. The limit of detection (LOD) of 0.98 µg/ml and the Limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1.05µg/ml with a % recovery of 98.2% and drug entrapment efficiency (DEE) was found to be 88.95.
Conclusion: In this study, a simple, accurate, sensitive, and repeatable RP-HPLC method was developed for the quantification of teriflunomide in SLNs.The developed method was validated according to ICH Q2 (R1) guidelines and the Developed method was found to be accurate, linear, robust, and precise Developed analytical method was applied for determining drug release, %drug loading, and drug entrapment efficiency (DEE).
A prognostic risk model of rectal cancer miRNA based on cuproptosis related genes
Authors: Tang Yubao , Zhang Qiang , Tang Xiaofei , Zhong Jianping , Tang Zhijie , Xu Ran , Zhu Yunxiang
Published: December 2022

Aims: To screen and select cuproptosis microRNAs (miRNAs) correlated with rectal adenocarcinoma prognosis, and further explore their translational applications, by bioinformatic methods.
Methods: Find differentially expressed cuproptosis miRNA between rectal cancer and normal tissue from public databases, then build up a prognostic risk model and further select specific miRNA by Cox regression and Lasso regression with corresponding clinical data. As for differentially expressed genes (DEGs), we combine immune-stromal score results from corresponding websites and the expression spectrum of rectal malignancies to select DEGs. Furthermore, we choose common DEGs by creating intersections for high- and low-risk group and perform functional enrichment analysis.
Results: We find 5 cuproptosis related miRNA with statistical significance, namely hsa-mir-4254, hsa-mir-4698, hsa-mir-548ba, hsa-mir-567 and hsa-mir-8079. And by immune correlation analysis, we found 2 differentially expressed genes, TSPAN32 and TENM2.
Conclusion: Those differentially expressed genes found in this study could provide potential therapeutic targets and markers for assessing the prognosis of rectal adenocarcinoma.
Sensitive and Rapid Sensing of Dimetridazole in Food and Environmental Samples Using a Water-Stable Luminescent Zwitterionic Cd(Ⅱ) Metal-Organic Framework
Authors: Wang Kaimin , Dong Yanqiu , Zhao Xiong , Duan Keyan , Zhao Ruiting , Ye Yanqing , Guo Jinrong , Pan Hao , Tang Huaijun , Ma Yulu
Published: December 2022

Dimetridazole (DTZ) is such a significant indicator in food safety assessment that a high priority should be given to it. In this work, a novel three-dimensional Metal-Organic Framework zwitterionic composite, {[CdL2]·Cl2·6H2O} (MOF 1), was synthesized by hydrothermal method and applied as a fluorescence probe for the detection of DTZ. Several crucial factors of the obtained MOF 1, such as structure stability, fluorescence properties, selectivity, sensitivity and reproducibility, were studied in detail. A series of sensing investigations demonstrate extremely specific and ultrafast detection of DTZ via a conspicuous fluorescence quenching (Ksv=8.1374 × 104 M− 1) from MOF 1 under the optimized conditions. The linear range for quantitative detection of DTZ was 0.0 µM ~ 40.0 µM with a low limit of detection of 0.012 µM. The fluorescence quenching mechanisms have been explained, being caused by a combination of both competitive absorption and photoinduced electron transfer. DTZ in milk, honey, tap and lake water were successfully determined by this fluorescence probe with quick response, and the recovery rates are 97.4%∼102.6%, which indicates MOF 1 having a tremendous application prospect in the detection of DTZ in food and environmental samples.
Computational Study of RNA-based Buckyballs Performance in Drug Delivery Process: Molecular Dynamics Approach
Authors: Bahreini Maziar
Published: December 2022

The drug delivery is the process of administering a pharmaceutical compound to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans/animals. In current computational research, the Molecular Dynamic Simulation (MD) method implemented to describe the RNA-based buckyballs performance in drug delivery process of Atropine molecules (as target drug). Current MD simulations done in two main steps. Firstly, temperature and potential energy convergence shows physical stability of modeled RNA- buckyballs in aqueous environment. These parameters converged to 300 K and 20.15 kcal/mol at standard condition, respectively. Furthermore, drug delivery process detected in RNA-based samples after 5.22 ns. Numerically, the drug release ratio converged to 81.18% which this numeric output shows promising performance of designed RNA-based buckyballs as drug deliverer system. Structurally, Atropine molecules diffused symmetrically inside simulation box. This atomic evolution of defined compounds arises from the symmetrical release of the target drug via drug deliverer sample. So, described performance of RNA-based buckyballs shows these modeled nanostructures can be used in actual applications for various treatment procedures.
Efficient Synthesis of New Azoimino-sulfathiazole and Considering Their Antibacterial, Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities
Authors: Amouee Fatemeh , Mahmoodi Nosrat O. , Nyaki Hadiseh Yazdani , Ahmadi Ali
Published: December 2022

Sulfonamides are important compounds that have special applications in pharmacy due to their antibacterial and anti-parasitic properties and are known as sulfa-drugs. One of the most important drugs is sulfathiazole. This drug has many uses in the treatment of diseases. In this research, the hybrid reaction between sulfathiazole and various azo compounds was performed via the imine bond. Here, nine new azoiminosulfathiazoles were synthesized, while compound 5g was designed in such a way that two sulfathiazole units were linked by an azo linker. The structure of the newly synthesized hybrid molecules after separation and purification was examined and confirmed by TLC, M.P, FT-IR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR, and their cytotoxicity was evaluated via MTT assay. Evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant and anticancer again (PC-3) human prostate line cells using MTT assay properties also showed acceptable results. Comparing 5g with penicillin as a standard drug with the aura of non-growth of bacteria (31 mm) in the presence of Staphylococcus aureus (27 mm) and in the presence of E.coli bacteria showed that it has the best antibacterial properties. Also, evidence shows that some compounds have more effective antibacterial activity than penicillin.
A mosquito vector control model based on incompatible and sterile insect techniques
Authors: Liu Yunfeng , Wang Lin , Yu Jianshe
Published: December 2022

Recent successful field trials have demonstrated that combining incompatible insect technique and sterile insect technique becomes promising and feasible for mosquito vector control. In this paper, by considering wild mosquito population consisting of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoesand regular uninfected individuals, we formulate a mathematical model to explore feasible releasing strategies of sterile male mosquitoes for mosquito vector control. Specifically, we study how often, and in what amount, should sterile mosquitoes be released, so that the entire wild mosquito population either becomes extinct or is replaced by Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. We identify several key thresholds related to releasing amount r and the waiting period T. These thresholds allow us to derive necessary and sufficient conditions on the existence anduniqueness of semi-trivial periodic solution and establish some global stability results. These results provide useful insights on designing practical releasing strategies for mosquito vectorcontrol and eradication of mosquito-borne infectious diseases.
Equity and efficiency of public maternal and child health institution’ health resource allocation in Henan Province, China
Authors: Feng Yifei , Jiang Rui , Wu Jvxiao , He Yilin , Zhao Lipei , Guo Xinghong , Wu Jian
Published: December 2022

Background
Henan Province is the third largest population province in China. This study aims to evaluate the equity, efficiency and productivity of maternal and child health (MCH) resource allocation in Henan Province using the most recent data, analyse the causes of deficiencies, and discuss measures to solve these problems.
Methods
Data sources were from the Henan Statistical Yearbook (2017–2021) and Henan Annual Monitoring Report of Public Hospitals (2016–2020). The Gini coefficient (G), Theil index (T) and health resource density index (HRDI) were chosen to study the fairness of health resource allocation in Henan Province. Correlation analysis and cluster analvsis were used to determine the input and output indexes. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) were used to analyse the efficiency and productivity of this allocation. Tobit Regression Model was used to explore the influence factors of efficiency.
Results
From 2016 to 2020, the G of beds, health technicians and government financial subsidies in Henan Province remained below 0.3 according to population and geographical allocation, but the fairness of beds and health technicians was better than that of government finance, and the fairness of population allocation was better than that of geographical allocation. The results of T show that inequality mainly comes from intra-regional differences, and the Central Urban Agglomeration (CUA) contributes the most to the overall difference. Although the HRDI of CUA is much larger than that of other regions, there are obvious differences among cities in the region. During 2016 to 2020, less than half of the cities in Henan are DEA efficient each year, and health technicians, building business room area, and the number of are outpatients external factors that affect efficiency.
Conclusion
The overall fairness of MCH resources allocation is good but the efficiency is low. The fairness of beds and health technicians are better than that of government financial subsidies, and the fairness of population allocation is better than that of geographical allocation. In addition, there are obvious regional differences in the geographical distribution of health resources. Henan Province needs to further optimize the allocation of resources and improve utilization efficiency.
Single Image Dehazing using Extended Local Dark Channel Prior
Authors: Dwivedi Pulkit , Chakraborty Soumendu
Published: December 2022

Image dehazing is an important technique aimed at eliminating the haze in the atmosphere to enhance the image's visual quality. There are many applications where it has been used as a prepossessing step, such as in event detection. In recent years, the dark channel prior methodology has been recognised as an effective approach for eliminating haze from hazy images. However, the main drawback of the existing dark channel prior methodology is that it only considers a single color channel of the RGB image with pixels having minimum intensity values. This non-uniform selection of the dark channel from a single channel eradicates the effect of the transmission across the different channels of the hazy image. Hence, the haze cannot be removed to a great extent using the existing method. So, here we propose an approach where the dark channel will be computed from all three channels of an image by selecting the minimum intensity. The main advantage of using the proposed prior-based methodology for image dehazing over deep neural network-based models such as CNN or GANs is that training deep models requires a large amount of training data, thus resulting in a longer training time. Experimental outcomes exhibit that the proposed technique outperforms state-of-the-art methods on synthetic datasets as well as real-world hazy images. The findings demonstrate that the proposed technique obtains better accuracy as compared to the state-of-the-art methods and recent deep learning-based models over the D-HAZY, I-HAZE, and O-HAZE databases.
Effect of carbide slag combined with biochar on improving acidic soil of copper sulfide mines
Authors: Han Huaqin , Xue Jinchun , Zhang Xiao , Wang Xiaojuan , Huang Jiaxing , Dai Xun
Published: December 2022

Heavy metal-rich acidic soils of copper sulfide mines can easily cause harm to the surrounding environment and ecosystem safety if not treated properly. Currently, the most common method of mine ecological remediation is to improve acidic soils of copper sulfide mines by adding different types of amendments. In this paper, different dosages of biochar and carbide slag applied singly and in combination were designed to investigate the changes of physicochemical properties and ryegrass growth in acidic soil of copper sulfide mines. Through soil incubation experiments and potting tests, different treatments explored the improvement effect of carbide slag combined with biochar on acidic soil of copper sulfide mines. Then, it was found that 2% (w/w) carbide slag in combination with 10% (w/w) biochar had the best effect on the improvement of copper sulfide mine acidic soil. Among them, carbide slag significantly increased the pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and acid neutralization capacity (ANC), and reduced the electrical conductivity (EC), net acid generation (NAG) and sulfate ion (SO42−) concentrations in the acidic soil of copper sulfide mines; biochar obviously reduced the bio-effectiveness of heavy metals Cu, Pb and Zn. Apart from that, there was a positive cooperativity between carbide slag and biochar, and their application effectively controlled the acidification process and heavy metal toxicity in the acidic soil of copper sulfide mines. In summary, the results will provide a theoretical basis for the large-scale reclamation of carbide slag and biochar in improving acidic soils of copper sulfide mines.
Application of myocardial contrast-enhanced ultrasound in heart transplantation in patients with acute myocardial infarction：A case report
Authors: Liao Xiaozu , Guo Miaoyun , Zhong Shi , Wen Junlin , Li Binfei
Published: December 2022

Background: MCE is a safe and effective myocardial perfusion assessment technique; it is used for the assessment of post MI viability.
Case presentation: A 52-year-old male with cardiogenic shock caused by secondary acute myocardial infarction and successful coronary stent implantation with ECMO, IABP and ventilator assistance and with no significant recovery of postoperative cardiac function. The result of MCE was also reported. The allograft was successfully performed 8 days after ECMO-assisted support. The patient was successfully transferred to the general ward 8 days after surgery and successfully discharged on day 86 of admission.
Conclusions: ECMO provides effective mechanical assistance support for patients with end-stage heart failure, buys time for heart transplantation surgery, and was an effective cardiopulmonary support treatment. An evaluation of myocardial perfusion and survival quantity was an important reference for emergency heart transplantation.
A Revised Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System Combined with Neural Network to Predict Diabetes
Authors: Wang Xi , Yu Jianlin , Li Zhenhao , Hu Jianzheng , Sun ChengLin , He Lili , Bai Hongtao
Published: December 2022

Today, neural network models are widely used to predict whether a person will develop diabetes in the future. However, for fuzzy inference engine and Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), it costs a lot when the number of features is large, and the model will be more explainable if we use feature selection methods. In this paper, we modify the ANFIS model, combine ANFIS and neural network, and propose the ANFIS-NN model. We use SMOTE to address the imbalance between different classes, and use RFE and Casual Inference to do feature selection work. Then, we train an ANFIS model, and use a 5-layer neural network to replace the last layers to improve prediction accuracy. Data comparison experiments shows that our models get 0.9812 on accuracy, 0.9790 on G-mean, 0.9776 on F1 score on PIMA dataset using Casual Inference feature selection method, much better than traditional ANFIS; and our model works better on other diabetes datasets. The ANFIS-NN proposed in this paper can also be applied to other datasets to predict diabetes.
Cellulose Microspheres as Controlled Release Carriers for Fertilizer
Authors: Balang Joshua Blucha , Tay Kimberly Wei-Wei , Chin Suk-Fun , Wasli Mohd Effendi , Musa Zaki , Chen Yi-Chun
Published: December 2022

Background

Cellulose fibers extracted from printed paper wastes are utilized to synthesize spherical cellulose microspheres via water-in-oil microemulsion and precipitation methods. Span 80 was used as a surfactant and acetic acid as a precipitating agent in the microemulsion and precipitation process to obtain cellulose microspheres. The effects of synthesis conditions such as cellulose concentrations and drying techniques were observed to have profound effects on the surface morphology, particle sizes, and surface area of cellulose microspheres produced.

Results

Spherical cellulose microspheres with particle sizes ranging from 5.2 to 9.3 µm were synthesized. Increasing cellulose concentrations led to larger particle sizes. Among various kinds of drying techniques, freeze-drying is the most preferable method in obtaining better yields and yet, larger cellulose microspheres. The potential applications of the synthesized cellulose microspheres as controlled-release carriers for fertilizer in various soil types were evaluated. The larger size of cellulose microspheres have a smaller specific surface area, but with higher loading capacities and slower urea release.

Conclusions

Our studies showed that the loading capacity and release profiles of urea could be tailored by modulating the mean particle sizes of the cellulose microspheres. Hence, cellulose microspheres have the potential to be utilized as fertilizer-controlled release carriers.
Hankel determinants for starlike functions associated with a cardioid domain
Authors: Riaz Amina , Raza Mohsan
Published: December 2022

Sharp bounds are given for second and third Hankel determinants, and the Zalcman functional $a_{2}a_{3}-a_{4}$ for starlike functions related to a cardioid domain.