bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vacuum Evaporation of High Quality Cspbbr3 Thin Films for Efficient Light-Emitting Diodes
Authors: Bai Tianxinyu , Yi Lixin
Published: March 2022

The all-inorganic lead halide perovskite has become a very promising optoelectronic material due to its excellent optical and electrical properties. Device performances are currently hindered by crystallinity of the film and environmental stability. Here, We adopted dual-source co-evaporation method to prepare CsPbBr3 films. By adjusting and controlling the co-evaporation ratio and substrate temperature, we obtained stable and large grains with uniform morphology CsPbBr3 films. Films with smooth surface and large grains exhibit efficient photon capture, fast carrier transport, and suppressed ion migration. Therefore, in this paper, by refining the annealing conditions, the effects of annealing temperature and time on the films were studied in detail. The CsPbBr3 films were annealed under suitable annealing temperature and time in ambient air, films with high quality and crystallinity, average grains size up to ~ 2.5 µm, films could maintain stability in ambient air for 130 days. The corresponding LED shows the full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the green EL spectrum is as narrow as 18 nm, the devices have a low turn-on voltage VT ~ 3 V and can work continuously for 12 hours in ambient air.
Ginsenoside Rg5 Boost Enhances the Therapeutic Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Blockade through NF- κB Signaling in Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Zhang Jiwei , Feng Yutao , Ma Fen , Mo Shaowen , Huang Yiming , Sun Xun , Song Mingxu , Yang Fan , Wu Enjiang , Sun Yidi , Wang Zhengtao , Li Yang
Published: March 2022

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Millennial-scale solar variability in tree rings of northern Fennoscandia at the end of the Holocene
Authors: Kasatkina Elena A. , Shumilov Oleg I. , Timonen Mauri , Potorochin Evgeniy O.
Published: March 2022

There is growing evidence that the Sun is one of the main drivers of the Earth’s climate in the past. To investigate the possible Sun-climate connection during the Holocene, the super-long tree-ring chronology covering the period from 5634 BC and 2004 AD is analyzed. The chronology used, consists of more than 1200 series including ones from sedimentary archives of small lakes in the region of northern Fennoscandia (68º- 70ºN, 20º - 30ºE). All series are dendrochronologically dated to calendar years. As indicator of solar activity we use a reconstruction of total solar irradiance (TSI) covering 9300 years which is based on a composite using the cosmogenic radionuclide Be^10 measured in ice cores GRIP (Greenland) and South Pole (Antarctic), and also on neutron monitor data (Steinhilber et al. 2009). To examine the relationship between tree’s growth and solar activity, the MTM, wavelet decomposition and wavelet coherence analysis were applied to the time series. MTM spectral analysis identifies in tree-ring series the main solar cycles at ~ 200 yr (de Vries or Suess) ~350 yr (unnamed) and ~ 900 yr (Eddy). The strongest cross-wavelet correlation was discovered between the millennium-cycle components of TSI and tree-ring width variations. This Eddy cycle, which was recently discovered in solar activity, remains both strong and stable through almost the entire Holocene, and it reappears again at lower ( ~ 1300 years) frequencies since around AD 200 till now. The millennial-cycle components are modulated by a ~ 6500-year period of solar or geomagnetic origin. Our results raise questions on the subject regarding the end of the Holocene and transition to the next glacial period. In any case, the results presented confirm the complex and nonlinear nature of the Sun-climate relationship during the Holocene epoch.
First Nationwide Survey of Infection Prevention and Control among Healthcare Facilities in Japan: Impact of the National Regulatory System
Authors: Nomoto Hidetoshi , Saito Hiroki , Ishikane Masahiro , Gu Yoshiki , Ohmagari Norio , Pittet Didier , Kunishima Hiroyuki , Allegranzi Benedetta , Yoshida Masaki
Published: March 2022

Background: Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in Japan are facilitated by a financial incentive process at the national level, where facilities are categorized into three groups (Tier 1, Tier 2, or no financial incentive). However, its impact on IPC at the facility level using a validated tool has not been measured.Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2019 to January 2020 to evaluate the situation of IPC programs in Japan, using the global IPC Assessment Framework (IPCAF) developed by the World Health Organization. Combined with the information on the national financial incentive system, the demographics of facilities and each IPCAF item were descriptively analyzed. IPCAF scores were analyzed according to the facility level of care and the national financial incentive system for IPC facility status, using Dunn-Bonferroni and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: Fifty-nine facilities in Japan responded to the IPCAF survey: 34 private facilities (57.6%) and 25 public facilities (42.4%). Of these, 11 (18.6%), 29 (49.2%), and 19 (32.3%) were primary, secondary, and tertiary care facilities, respectively. According to the national financial incentive system for IPC, 45 (76.3%), 11 (18.6%), and three (5.1%) facilities were categorized as Tier 1, Tier 2, and no financial incentive system, respectively. Based on the IPCAF total score, more than half of the facilities were categorized as “Advanced” (n = 31, 55.3%), followed by “Intermediate” (n = 21, 37.5%). The IPCAF total score increased as the facility level of care increased, while no statistically significant difference was identified between the secondary and tertiary care facilities (p= 0.79). There was a significant difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 for all core components and total scores. Core components 5 (multimodal strategies for implementation of IPC interventions) and 6 (monitoring/audit of IPC and feedback) were characteristically low in Japan with a median score of 65.0 (interquartile range 40.0–85.0) and 67.5 (interquartile range 52.5–87.5), respectively. Conclusions: The national financial incentive system was associated with IPC programs at facility level in Japan. The current financial incentive system does not emphasize the multimodal strategy or cover monitoring/audit, and an additional systematic approach may be required to further promote IPC for more practical healthcare-associated infection prevention.
Assessment of selected interleukins (IL-6, IL-17A, IL-18, IL-23) and chemokines (RANTES, IP-10) in children with acute and chronic urticaria
Authors: Góra Anna , Przybył Maciej , Świętochowska Elżbieta , Machura Edyta
Published: March 2022

Background Urticarial lesions develop as a result of the activation of mast cells which, through the release of mediators, influence the formation of local inflammatory infiltrates. Changes in the expression of many cytokines and chemokines are observed in the course of urticaria.The aim of the study was to evaluate serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17A, IL-18, IL-23, regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and interferon (IFN)-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) in children with acute and chronic urticaria in comparison to healthy volunteers. Moreover, we made an attempt to identify factors predicting the occurrence and course of urticaria among the studied parameters.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 32 children with acute urticaria and 32 children with chronic urticaria. The control group consisted of 40 healthy children. Each patient was clinically evaluated. Serum concentrations of selected cytokines and chemokines were determined by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsPatients with acute and chronic urticaria had higher concentrations of IL-6 and IL-17A (p<0.001) and lower concentrations of IL-18, IL-23, RANTES and IP-10 (p<0.001) as compared to the control group. IL-6 and IP-10 showed high predictive values for the development of urticaria. There was no correlation of the studied cytokines and chemokines with disease activity.ConclusionsIn children with acute and chronic urticaria, the cytokine profile differs compared to healthy subjects. IL-6 and IP-10 are useful in differentiating children with urticaria and healthy ones. The search for factors predicting the course of the disease requires further studies.
Paper-based Broadband Flexible Photodetectors with van der Waals materials
Authors: Mahmoodi Erfan , Amiri Morteza Hassanpour , Salimi Abdollah , Frisenda Riccardo , Flores Eduardo , Ares José R. , Ferrer Isabel J. , Castellanos-Gomez Andres , Ghasemi Foad
Published: March 2022

Layered metal chalcogenide materials are exceptionally appealing in optoelectronic devices thanks to their extraordinary optical properties. Recently, their application as flexible and wearable photodetectors (PDs) have received a lot of attention. Herein, broadband and high-performance paper-based PDs were established in a very facile and inexpensive method by rubbing molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and titanium trisulfide (TiS3) crystals on papers. Transferred layers were characterized by SEM, EDX mapping, and Raman analyses, and their optoelectronic properties were evaluated in a wavelength range of 405-810 nm. Although the highest and lowest photoresponsivities were respectively measured for TiS3 (1.50 mA/W) and MoS2 (1.13 μA/W) PDs, the TiS3-MoS2 heterostructure not only had a significant photoresponsivity but also showed the highest on/off ratio (1.82) and fast response time (0.96 s) compared with two other PDs. This advantage is due to the band offset formation at the heterojunction, which efficiently separates the photogenerated electron-hole pairs within the heterostructure. Numerical simulation of the introduced PDs also confirmed the superiority of TiS3-MoS2 heterostructure over the other two PDs and exhibited a good agreement with the experimental results. Finally, MoS2 PD demonstrated very high flexibility under applied strain, but TiS3 based PDs suffered from its fragility and experience a remarkable drain current reduction at strain larger than ± 0.33%. However, at lower strains, all PDs displayed acceptable performances.
Quantitative proteomics identified circulating biomarkers in lung adenocarcinoma diagnosis
Authors: Chen Hongyu , Lai Xiaoqin , Zhu Yihan , Huang Hong , Zeng Lingyan , Zhang Li
Published: March 2022

Background: Lung cancer is a malignant tumor with a high incidence and poor prognosis. Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of non-small cell lung cancer, accounting for approximately 40% of lung cancers. Methods: This study was based on total proteomic analysis and parallel reaction monitoring validation of peripheral blood from 20 lung adenocarcinoma patients and 20 healthy individuals. Furthermore, differentially expressed proteins closely related to prognosis were analysed using Kaplan–Meier Plotter and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The candidate proteins GAPDH and RAC1 showed the highest connectivity with other differentially expressed proteins between the lung adenocarcinoma group and the healthy group using STRING. Kaplan–Meier Plotter analysis showed that lung adenocarcinoma patients with positive ATCR2, FHL1, RAB27B, and RAP1B expression had observably longer overall survival than patients with negative expression (P<0.05). The high expression of ARPC2, PFKP, PNP, RAC1 was observably negatively correlated with prognosis (P<0.05). 17 out of 27 proteins showed a high area under the curve (>0.80) between the lung adenocarcinoma and healthy plasma groups. Among those proteins, UQCRC1 had an area under the curve of 0.960, and 5 proteins had an area under the curve from 0.90 to 0.95, suggesting that these hub proteins might have discriminatory potential in lung adenocarcinoma, P<0.05. Conclusions: These findings provide UQCRC1, GAPDH, RAC1, PFKP have potential as novel biomarkers for the early screening of lung adenocarcinoma.
Continuous Local Antibiotic Perfusion (CLAP): A Treatment Strategy that Allows Implant Retention in Fracture-Related Infections
Authors: Maruo¹ Akihiro , Oda² Takahiro , Mineo¹ Ryowa , Miya¹ Hidetoshi , Muratsu¹ Hirotsugu , Fukui Tomoaki , Oe Keisuke , Kuroda³ Ryosuke , Niikura³ Takahiro
Published: March 2022

BackgroundFracture-related infections (FRI) are challenging to treat because of the formation of biofilms around implants. Systemic antibiotics are notoriously ineffective against biofilms due to insufficient penetration of tissues with poor vascularity. The treatment of Fracture-related infections aims to achieve bone union while retaining the implant. As proposed by us, continuous local antibiotic perfusion (CLAP) refers to the continuous local delivery system of sufficient antibiotics to bone and soft tissue infection sites. This allows for continuous administration of antibiotics to bone marrow via needles as intra-medullary antibiotics perfusion (iMAP) and to soft-tissue via double-lumen sub tubes as intra-soft tissue perfusion (iSAP).MethodsWe examined the outcomes of FRI patients treated based on the concept of CLAP at the first author’s hospital. Forty patients treated with CLAP for FRI between 2015 and 2021 were included. CLAP was initiated as urgently as possible after the infection was diagnosed. Patient/treatment background and efficacy/safety evaluation were analyzed. Gentamicin was used in CLAP in all cases.ResultsThe mean patients’ age was 60.5 years, and the mean follow-up was 696.4 days. The affected bones were the tibia (n=17), humerus (n=6), patella (n=3), pelvis (n=3), radius (n=2), femur (n=2), calcaneus (n=2), metatarsals (n=2), ulna (n=1), proximal phalanx (n=1), and vertebra (n=1). Twelve cases were treated with iMAP alone, 11 were treated with iSAP alone, and 17 were treated with a combination of both. Implant removal was required in five patients. Two of them required toe amputation and knee arthrodesis, while fracture union was achieved in the remaining 38 patients. Only one case of transient acute renal injury was observed as a systemic side effect; however, the patient’s condition improved soon. No eighth cranial nerve neuropathy of concern was observed, and the blood concentration of gentamicin could be adjusted to an appropriate level through the combined use of iMAP and iSAP.ConclusionCLAP is a novel local drug delivery system that can potentially deliver sufficient concentrations of antibiotics with few systemic side effects and is a valuable option for FRI treatment.
Unplanned reoperation after radical surgery for oral cancer：an analysis of risk factors and outcomes
Authors: Wu Meng , Zhang Wei , Zhu Hong , Ye Pu
Published: March 2022

Background: Unplanned reoperation (UR) after radical surgery for oral cancer (OC) is a health threat for the patients. At present, the predictive factors for the UR effect are still debatable. The aim of the study was to understand the risk factors for unplanned reoperation after surgery, and to explore a potential role for long-term survival.Methods: Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors for demographic and clinical characteristics of patients. The data was analyzed statistically between November and December 2021.Results: The incidence of UR was 15.7%. The primary cause of UR was reconstructed flap complications. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that diabetes, tumor size, type of reconstruction, and nodal metastasis were independent risk factors for UR. Patients undergoing UR had a longer hospitalization, more post-operative complications, and a higher mortality compared with the non-UR group. UR is negatively correlated with the cancer-specific survival rate of patients (Log-rank test, P = 0.024).Conclusion: Diabetes, tumor size, pedicled flap reconstruction and cervical nodal metastasis (N2) as independent risk factors for UR was discovered. UR was positively correlated with perioperative complications prolong hospital stay, and increased early mortality, but negatively correlated with the cancer-specific survival rate survival rate.
Statistic evaluation of low-frequency acoustic wave impact on rainfall stimulation
Authors: WANG Mengyao , Chen Ji , LI Jiaye , WANG Jinzhao , XIE Hongwei
Published: March 2022

For securing sustainable water resources, traditional solutions including seawater desalination are limited due to high cost and restricted operating conditions. Thus, acoustic stimulation of precipitation is a potential alternative method due to its low cost and convenient operation. Low-frequency acoustic field can be used to stimulate precipitation through evoking wavy motion of air particles in clouds which will significantly enhance the process of collision coalescence of cloud droplets and lead to their volume increase. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of rational methods to evaluate the effect of acoustic enhancement of rainfall in field experiments. To this end, in this study, nearly two-month field experiments of acoustic rainfall enhancement with 39 trials from May to July 2020 were carried out by our research team in the Tibetan Plateau. Statistical analysis was applied to evaluate the effect of acoustic wave on rainfall stimulation. The results of average rainfall intensity distribution using ordinary least square analysis disclose that acoustic interference has a considerable effect on rainfall enhancement. Such a rainfall enhancement effect increases significantly along with the increase of rainfall duration which is the index of cloud precipitation potential. For rainfall events with the duration more than two hours, the average rainfall intensity was improved by 72% with the acoustic wave effect over the experiment site. The phenomena are consistent with the fact that clouds with larger precipitation potential contain more cloud droplets which are beneficial to the acoustic coagulation process.
Choice Models and Recommender Systems Effects on Users’ Choices
Authors: Hazrati Naieme , Ricci Francesco
Published: March 2022

Nowadays, the users of a web platform, such as a video-on-demand service or an eCommerce site, are routinely using the platform's Recommender System (RS) when choosing which item to consume or buy (e.g., movies or books). It is therefore important to understand how exposure to recommendations can influence the users' choices, particularly the quality and distribution of the chosen items. However, users, even in the presence of the same RS, may show diverse and even atypical choice behaviours, which are independent of the RS; they may have the preference for choosing more popular or recent items. The effect of these behaviours on the collective evolution of the choices and the performance of the RS is not well understood yet. In fact, in previous analyses, the users were supposed to only choose among the top recommendations, without any further discrimination. Hence, we first perform a correlation analysis, in some choices data sets, revealing that three kinds of choice behaviours, namely the tendency to choose popular, recent, and highly rated items, is actually observable in large percentages of the users. Then we investigate how these choice behaviours, implemented as algorithmic Choice Models (Popularity-CM, Age-CM and Rating-CM), can influence the overall choice distribution and the performance of the RS.
With the aim of understanding such relationships and consequences, we have designed a simulation framework where the considered choice models (CMs) are adopted to simulate users' choices when they are exposed to recommendations from alternative RSs. We found that, 1) the choices' distribution of a user population is significantly influenced not only by the RS, but also substantially by the prevalent choice model of the population, 2) some biases of the RS are translated to the choices whatever is the CM, and 3) some important biases of the RS, in how they influence users' choice distribution, depend also on the choice model that the users adopt. The study contributes to the start of a new line of research where the impact of recommendation technologies can be studied with respect to alternative decision making approaches, which are actually followed by real users. Additionally, the simulation approach can help other researchers and practitioners to investigate the effect of deploying an RS when a certain CM is identified in a population of users.
Heading: Multimodal therapy First case of Colorectal cancer treated by multimodal therapy: A case study with a review of literature
Authors: Daorong Wang , Diallo Maladho Tanta , Ali Muhammad , Wazir Junaid , Ullah Rahat , Zhang Qi , Wang Yang , Long Ziyang , Ding Jianyue , Zhu Xiaodong , Jiang Mingrui , Ren Jun , Sun Qiannan
Published: March 2022

Background: Colorectal cancer remains an incurable disease despite progress in treatment over the past few years. Methods: In this report, we presented a case of colon cancer leading to the development (metastasis) of colorectal cancer in a 56-year-old woman. Preoperative colonoscopy was performed, and the diagnosis revealed a malignant tumor of the colon with a tumor of the abdominal wall, a secondary malignant tumor of the abdominal cavity, and a malignant tumor of the ovary. The biopsies revealed a metastatic or invasive grade I-II adenocarcinoma. After a few days, laparoscopic surgery was performed.Results: During the surgery, a metastasis of about 3 cm was found, and the metastasis of the pelvic cavity showed that the anterior wall of the rectum and the cervical stump had a recurrence of about 4 cm, and some small intestinal cancerous adhesions were present in the lesion. Afterwards, the biopsy specimens were reanalyzed, and immunohistological analysis showed this as cancerous tissue.Conclusion: When colorectal cancer is detected in a patient with a history of colon cancer and bilateral metastatic ovarian adenocarcinoma, the physician should be very observant of the condition as there is the possibility of recidivism due to poor prognosis. Surgery is the only curative treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Regularity and Uniqueness for Viscous, Compressible, and Heat Conducting Navier-Stokes and Magnetohydrodynamic Flows
Authors: Zhang Mingyu
Published: March 2022

This paper concerns the Cauchy problem of three-dimensional viscous, compressible, and heat conducting Navier-Stokes and magnetohydrodynamic flows. Both some new Lp gradient estimates and the “div-curl” decomposition of ||∇u||L3 are established, the existence of global solutions to the Cauchy problem with small energy and lower regularity assumed on the initial data are obtained. Furthermore, we also prove that the global solution belongs to a new class of functions in which the uniqueness can be shown to hold.
Transcriptome sequencing of endophytic fungi with high yield tanshinone IIAand exploration of key genes in metabolic pathways
Authors: Xie Yifan , Wang Lei , Zheng Wangdong , Hu Yajun , Zhang Xuan , Dai Zhipeng , Liang Yu , Wei Xiying
Published: March 2022

Background: Medicinal plant endophytic fungi can produce the same or similar biologically active secondary metabolites as the host.In this study, the endophytic fungus T21 in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza can produce tanshinone IIA, the active substance of S. miltiorrhiza .We compared the differential expression between strain T21 and its high-yielding mutant strain F3-4 by transcriptome sequencing, so as to determine the key genes and pathways of tanshinone IIA synthesis in fungi. Methods and Results: Research materials were studied by transcriptome sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).A total of 11.31 Gb clean data were obtained. For each sample, there were 2.71 Gb clean data, and the Q30 base percentage of 86.15% and above was achieved. A total of 13,573 Unigene pieces were acquired after de novo assembly. Functional annotation of Unigene was performed, involving the comparison with non-redundant protein sequence (NR), swiss-prot, kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG), cluster of orthologous groups of proteins(COG)and gene ontology(GO)databases. Moreover, 10,218 annotation results of Unigene were achieved. This study delved into the gene expression differences between the two fungi and acquired 88 differentially expressed genes.Then, the relative expression levels of 7 genes in the MVA pathway and the highly differentially expressed gene NRPS were detected by qRT-PCR technology. Conclusion: As revealed from this finding, tanshinone IIA may be synthesized via MVA pathway in fungi, and NRPS gene also participates in the synthesis of tanshinone IIA.
A New Intelligent ECG Recognition Approach based on CNN and Improved ALO-SVM
Authors: Zhang Dan , He Zhitao , Chen Yongyi , Yin Wutao , Karimi Hamid Reza
Published: March 2022

Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common diseases, which seriously threatens people’s life and health. Therefore, the cardiovascular disease prevention becomes one of the most attractive research topics in health care system design. Intelligent recognition of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals represents an effective method for rapid diagnosis and the evaluation of cardiovascular diseases in medicine. Realization and efficiency of the classification of ECG signals in real time play major roles in detection of cardiovascular diseases. This paper is concerned with the proposition of an intelligent ECG signal recognition method on the basis of convolutional neural network (CNN) and support vector machines (SVM) with an improved antlion algorithm (ALO). First, the ECG signal is denoised and pre-processed by lifting wavelet. Subsequently, CNN is used to extract the signal characteristics of the denoising signal, and the extracted signal characteristics are used as the input characteristics of the SVM. Finally, an improved ALO algorithm is used to optimize the relevant input functions of the SVM to achieve a better signal classification. In our algorithm, the performance is enhanced by improving the threshold estimation method of the lifting wavelet, so as to improve the filtering effect. The proposed CNN architecture is tested with multi-lead ECG signals from the MIT-BIH ECG signal data set. The results display that the method has obtained an average accuracy, sensitivity and 1 Springer Nature 2021 L A T E X template A New Intelligent ECG Recognition Approach based on CNN and Improved ALO-SVM specificity values of 99.97%, 99.97% and 99.99% respectively. Compared with those state-of-arts, our result has a better recognition performance.
Identification of Five Novel Variants of ADAR1 in Dyschromatosis Symmetrica Hereditaria by Next-generation Sequencing
Authors: Ma Qian , Che Lingyi , Chen Yibing , Duan Juan , Gu Zhuoyu
Published: March 2022

Dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria (DSH) is a rare autosomal dominant inherited pigmentary dermatosis characterized by a mixture of hyperpigmented and hypopigmented freckles on the dorsal aspect of the distal extremities. To date, pathogenic mutations causing DSH have been identified in the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA1 gene (ADAR1), which is mapped to chromosome 1q21. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying pathological mechanism in 14 patients with DSH from five unrelated Chinese families. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and direct sequencing were performed on a proband with DSH to identify causative mutations. All coding, adjacent intronic, and 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions of ADAR1 were screened, and variants were identified. These mutations consisted of three missense mutations (NM_001025107: c.716G > A, NM_001111.5: c.3384G > C, and NM_001111.5: c.3385T > G), one nonsense mutation (NM_001111.5:c.511G > T), and one splice-site mutation (NM_001111.5: c.2080-1G > T) located in exon 2, exon 14, and the adjacent intronic region according to recommended Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) nomenclature. Moreover, using polymerase chain reaction and Sanger sequencing, we identified five novel ADAR1 variants, which can be predicted to be pathogenic by in silico genome sequence analysis. Among the mutations, the missense mutations had no significant effect on the spatial structure of the protein, while the stop codon introduced by the nonsense mutation truncated the protein. Our results highlighted that the advent of NGS has facilitated high-throughput screening for the identification of disease-causing mutations with high accuracy, stability, and specificity. Five novel genetic mutations were found in five unrelated families, thereby extending the pathogenic mutational spectrum of ADAR1 in DSH and providing new insights into this complex genetic disorder.
Influence of roads on space use by European hares in different landscapes
Authors: Mayer Martin , Fischer Christina , Blaum Niels , Sunde Peter , Ullmann Wiebke
Published: March 2022

ContextRoads are ubiquitous in human inhabited landscapes, and can impact animal movement and population dynamics, due to barrier effects, road mortality, but also by providing resources at road verges. Thus, we need a better understanding of how roads, in interaction with seasonal changes in habitat structure, affect space use and habitat selection of the animals that persist in these landscapes.ObjectivesHere, we used the European hare (Lepus europaeus) as model species to investigate how human-induced changes in landscape composition – measured as road density, land cover type, and field size – affect home range location, seasonal habitat selection and road crossings, which are likely to correlate with wildlife-vehicle collision risk.MethodsWe collected >240,000 GPS positions of 90 hares from three populations (one in Denmark and two in Germany) that differed regarding agricultural intensification and road density. Using this data, we analyzed home range location and habitat selection (using step-selection functions) in relation to roads, habitat composition, and seasonality, and quantified how these factors affected road crossings by hares.ResultsIn comparatively more heterogeneous landscapes, hares established home ranges in areas with lower road densities compared to the surrounding area, but not in more simple landscapes. Moreover, hares generally avoided main roads and selected for minor roads during the vegetation growth seasons, especially in areas with comparatively less heterogeneous habitat structure. After accounting for main road density, the number of main road crossings was comparatively higher in simpler landscapes, and the number of daily main road crossing changed seasonally.ConclusionsOur findings emphasize that it is important to distinguish between road types, as different roads can have different impacts on animals (e.g. small roads providing foraging opportunities via roadside vegetation and large roads being avoided). Moreover, animals in comparatively more heterogeneous landscapes are better able to adjust their habitat selection to avoid main roads than animals inhabiting simpler landscapes. More generally, homogenous landscapes increase the space use requirements of animals, leading to increased probability of road crossings, which in turn might affect population dynamics via increased road mortality risk.
Successful desensitization protocol for pyridostigmine in the 12 years old patient with myasthenia gravis
Authors: KAPLAN Fatih , TOPAL Erdem
Published: March 2022

Myasthenia gravis is a chronic, autoimmune disease with muscle weakness. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are used in the symptomatic treatment of the disease. A 12 years old female patient diagnosed with myasthenia gravis was consulted to our clinic with the complaint of urticaria due to pyridostigmine bromide. The oral challenge test performed with pyridostigmine bromide was positive. As the patient was required to be administered with pyridostigmine bromide and due to lack of any alternatives, administration of the desensitization was decided. During and after the desensitization protocol, no reaction was observed. In this presentation, a successful desensitization protocol for pyridostigmine bromide in a child with myasthenia gravis patient was discussed.
Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 2 Immunohistochemical Expression in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Implications in Prognosis and Immunomodulatory Effects
Authors: Gu Pengfei , Ling Bin , Ma Weike , Zhang Jinming , zhang Wei , Zeng Yu , Liu Yu , Chang Luchen , Ruan Xianhui , Zheng Xiangqian , Wei Songfeng , Gao Ming
Published: March 2022

Background: The linkage between IDO2 expression and cancer progression is still unclear, particularly in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Our purpose is to unveil the potential correlations between IDO2 status, clinical-pathological parameters, patients’ prognosis, and the possible immunomodulatory functions in MTC. Methods: Immunohistochemical expression levels of IDO2 were evaluated in the resected MTC surgical specimens and corresponding lymph nodes. CD4+ T cell infiltration was also evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis in the MTC tissues. The association of the IDO2 expression level with clinicopathologic characteristics, overall survival (OS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS), and CD4+T cell infiltration were retrospectively investigated. Results: High expression of IDO2 is closely associated with more aggressive clinicopathological features, such as multifocality, ETE, a higher pT stage and especially a higher pN stage. Moreover, a significant difference in RFS was observed between the IDO2-high and IDO2-low groups. IDO2 expression of lymph node tissues was significantly related to the metastasis status. Furthermore, we found that IDO2 expression is negatively correlated with CD4+T cell infiltrations in MTC tissues. Conclusions: The expression level of IDO2 is associated with aggressive characteristics and is predictive of poor prognosis in patients with MTC. Also, an interesting observation is that IDO2 involvement in MTC showed a moderate sexual dimorphism, of which female patients tend to be more affected by IDO2 status. Moreover, our results showed the potential immunomodulatory functions of IDO2. The close relationship between IDO2 and CD4+T cell infiltration in the MTC microenvironment, together with its potential prognostic implications, makes it possible for IDO2 to serve as an alternative drug target in cancer immunotherapy and as a new prognostic tool.
Gross motor development and malnutrition in Ecuadorian children: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Cavagnari Brian M. , Guerrero-Vaca Darío Javier , Carpio-Arias Tannia Valeria , Duran Samuel , Vinueza-Veloz Andrés Fernando , Robalino-Valdivieso María Paulina , Morejón-Terán Yadira Alejandra , Vinueza-Veloz María Fernanda
Published: March 2022

Objective: The objective of the present work was to study the relationship between malnutrition and gross motor development.Methodology: Sample included 6087 infants under 24 months of age, participants of the ENSANUT-ECU study. To evaluate nutritional status we calculated z-scores by sex for body mass index/age (BAZ) and height/age (HAZ). Six gross motor milestones were evaluated: sitting without support, crawling, standing and walking with support, standing and walking without support. Data was analyzed using logistic regression models in R.Results: Independently form age, sex and other socio-economic factors, the achievement of three gross motor milestones was significantly associated to nutritional status: sitting without support, crawling and walking without support. Compared to infants with normal HAZ, the odds of sitting without support was significantly lower among infants at risk of chronic undernutrition (OR, 0.688; 95%CI, 0.496–0.954) or with chronic undernutrition (OR, 0.601; 95%CI, 0.433–0.833). The odds of crawling (OR, 0.730; 95%CI, 0.635–0.860) and walking alone (OR, 0.741; 95%CI, 0.590–0.933) were also significantly lower among infants with chronic undernutrition in comparison to infants with normal HAZ. In general obesity/overweight were not associated with the achievement of gross motor milestones, except for sitting without support. Obese infants showed higher a odds of sitting without assistance in comparison with children with normal BAZ (OR, 1.650; 95%CI, 1.160–2.245).Conclusions: Chronic undernutrition is related to delayed gross motor development. In Ecuador, public health measures are needed to be implemented in order to prevent malnutrition and its detrimental effects on infant development.
Assessing bird habitat occupancy from gradient-based landscape metrics and polar spectral indices in the Colombian Andean region
Authors: Ortiz-Yusty Carlos Eduardo , Parra Juan Luis , Morales-Rozo Andrea , Munguía-Steyer Roberto , Abrego Joan Gastón Zamora
Published: March 2022

Context: The patch-mosaic model (PMM) is the most common way to describe the landscape in ecological research. Despite this, the gradient model (GM) was proposed as a more accurate representation of the heterogeneity of landscapes; however, little has been explored on the behavior and performance of continuous variables and surface-based metrics from GM under different analytical scenarios.Objectives: We address the question: which landscape metrics, patch-based or surface-based, best explain habitat occupancy patterns of six bird species with different ecological preferences?Methods: We generated detection histories for six bird species in a fragmented Andean landscape from Colombia. We obtain patch-based metrics from a land cover classification and surface-based metrics from the principal polar spectral indices (PPSi) to describe the landscape. Finally, we fitted dynamic occupancy models using variables derived from landscape models and compared their performance using quasi-AIC for each species.Results: We obtained 909 detections for the six selected bird species. We found that PPSi and surface-based metrics were more informative when assessing occupancy patterns for five of the six species studied. In addition, surface-based metrics allowed to detect interspecific differences between species beyond an affinity for a particular cover type.Conclusions: Surface-based metrics can be an alternative for assessing species response to landscape heterogeneity, particularly those that may be more sensitive to fine-scale changes in vegetation cover. However, there is no single “best” model to describe the landscape for all cases. PPSi can be very useful for land cover analysis in landscape ecology studies as an alternative to more popular vegetation indices.
SMC4 promotes the progression of cardia adenocarcinoma via regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway
Authors: Zhu Mengqi , Zhang Xinxin , Gao Kaiji , Zhang Lingmei , Feng Xiaojia , Wang Hui , Li Jing , Jia Jianguang
Published: March 2022

Background: Structural maintenance of chromosome protein 4 (SMC4) is crucial for chromosome assembly and separation, but its role and mechanism in cardia adenocarcinoma (CA) are unknown.Methods: SMC4 expression levels were initially detected by protein profiling in 20 CA tumour tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The level of SMC4 expression in CA was then evaluated using a Western Blot analysis. Cell proliferation was evaluated by CCK-8 and clone formation test, Scratch and transwell tests were used to investigate cell migration as well as invasion, while through the flow cytometry, we examined the cell apoptosis and progression of the cell cycle. The regulatory effects of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway were investigated using Western Blot. A tumorigenesis experiment was used to investigate the influence of SMC4 on tumor development in nude mice.Results: This study showed overexpression of SMC4 in CA tissues and cells. SMC4 knockout significantly caused the inhibition of proliferation, migration, and invasion of CA cells, and inhibited tumor growth in vivo by stimulating the apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, In addition, down-regulation of SMC4 resulted in decreased expression of Bcl-2, Cyclin D1, CDK4, CDK6, β-catenin, phosphorylated GSK-3β, N-cadherin, and Vimentin, with an increased level of proteins i.e Bax, cleaved-caspase3, and E-cadherin. When SMC4 was overexpressed, these effects were reversed.Conclusion: SMC4 can facilitate the biological progression of CA, suggesting that SMC4 could be a potential therapeutic target for the disease.An earlier version of our study has been presented as a preprint in the following link: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-698892/v1.
Costs and Profitability for Mechanized Pruning and Harvest in Two Cider Apple Orchard Systems
Authors: Galinato Suzette P. , Kendall Aidan , Miles Carol A.
Published: March 2022

Growers need reliable information on costs and returns they can expect for a cider apple (Malus ×domestica) orchard suitable for mechanization because specialty cider apples can only be used for making cider, and returns are expected to be lower than for fresh table apples. This study estimates the costs, returns, and net profit that growers may realize by planting cider apples in either a freestanding or tall spindle system that use a mechanical harvester (both systems) and mechanical hedger (tall spindle system only). Results show that both production systems have positive net returns during full production, and their respective break-even returns are lower than the current market price, demonstrating that both systems are potentially profitable investments. Results also show that the tall spindle system is potentially more profitable due to the advantages of earlier start of fruiting and higher crop yield. The estimated net returns of the tall spindle system during full production are nearly 4 times higher than that of a freestanding system. At a discount rate of 10%, the net present value (NPV) of the tall spindle system is positive and payback period is 13 years, whereas the NPV of the freestanding system is negative. The discount rate represents the time value of money and reflects the perception of risk for the investment. The break-even discount rates (i.e., NPV = 0) are ≈6.88% for the freestanding system and 10.78% for the tall spindle system. Sensitivity scenarios found that when all else was constant, profitability increased as market price, crop yield, and production area increase and also when the cost of the harvester decreased. Because mechanical harvesters are expensive, profitability tends to be more favorable for larger farms due to economies of scale. Also, a high picking efficiency is important because fruit that falls on the ground is considered crop yield loss and reduces the gross income from cider apples.
Analysis of dialogical relations between speech genres in the text of a french novel
Authors: Lepetiuk Iryna
Published: March 2022

The object of research of this article is the types of dialogic connections that arise between speech genres inserted into the structure of a literary text, between genres and the text of a novel, between inserted genres and existing texts.

Investigated problem: This study covers several levels. Firstly, the mechanisms of artistic communication, during which the author, with the help of the speech genres present in the text, can give the reader implicit information and activate the latter's participation in the perception of the text of the novel. Secondly, the concept of intertextual relations is expanded, in the case when we consider the inserted speech genre as an independent text. Thirdly, the studied dialogic connections can be extended to other areas of communication: advertising, political, Internet communication, etc.

Main results scientific: The article is the result of the application of the theory of speech genres by M. Bakhtin to the analysis of the structure of a literary text, leading to further development of the concepts of dialogism and intertextuality.

Area of practical implementation of the research results. Intertextuality is one of the main means of creating pragmatic influence in both commercial and political advertising, media and political discourse. Moreover, it can already be argued that with the advent of the latest information technologies, society is moving from intertext to hypertext, which is typical for communication in almost all areas, since they are mediated in one way or another by computer technologies. It is this fact that explains the necessity and necessity of studying the problem of dialogism and intertextuality
Exploring the high murder rate in South Africa
Authors: Yesufu Shaka
Published: March 2022

The objects of this research are: first, to explain some of the causes of high murder rates in South Africa. Second, to refute the labelling of South Africa as the murder capital of the world. Third, exploring some alternative ways to violence resulting in deaths.

The author investigated the following problems: murder done predominately by men, the inefficiency or shortcomings of the police to investigate murder successfully and lack of reports showing a drastic reduction of murders rates, possible due to lenient sanctions given by the courts.

The main results of the research are:

First, South Africa has been incorrectly referred to as the murder capital of the world. A label that scares would be visitors away from the country. This misleading labelling turned out to be factually incorrect according to several reports. Second, there are myriads of reasons why the death rates are very high in South Africa namely: varieties and normalization of violence; socio-economic inequalities; high youth unemployment rates; alcohol and drugs; culture of violence; easy access to firearms; lenient prison sentence; membership of gangsters; ineffective police investigation units; Mental illnesses or psychotic disorders and satanic beliefs.

The area of practical use of the research: is for all citizens, directly or indirectly affected by police and safer communities. Criminal justice students in higher institutions and criminal justice practitioners, government officials, and policymakers.
Development of statistical modeling of the pipelines' reliability projections of the main heat networks, according to the period of operation and diameter
Authors: Maliavina Olga , Yakunin Anatolii , Hrankina Viktoriia , Milanko Viktoria
Published: March 2022

Using the method of statistical modeling of pipeline reliability, the statistical model for forecasting the dependence of the failure parameter of pipelines of main heating networks on the service life and diameter was developed and analyzed. This method includes two techniques. The first allows to obtain predictive dependences of pipeline reliability indicators for systems that include sections of different diameters with different service life periods and actual data on damage over several years. The second increases the correctness of the obtained dependences by optimizing the service life step in the study of damage to heat pipes. As a result of the study, the dependence of the reliability of main pipelines on the service life and diameter was established. The condition and forecast values of the specified indicator of reliability of main heat pipelines, and also dynamics and range of its changes are defined. The average value of the failure rate parameter increases from 0.23 1/km year (diameter 300 mm) to 0.62 1/km year (diameter 800 mm), which is 2.7 times larger than the pipes with the diameter 300 mm. The multiplicity of changes in the value of the parameter of the flow of failures was also established in accordance with the change in the diameter of the pipelines. According to the developed statistical model the dependence for calculation of the forecast of quantity of damages of the main heat pipelines according to their service life, diameter and length is established. This will increase the reliability of heating systems and effectively plan the cost of material, technical and labor resources. The given method can be used to assess the forecast of the reliability of pipelines, respectively, of their diameters for other engineering systems and networks