bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Source variation in nutrient profile and the effects of Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larva meal at graded levels in diet on performance, carcass traits, serum biochemical profile and cellular immune response in broiler chicken
Authors: Raju M.V.L.N. , Rao S.V. Rama , Paul S.S. , Prakash Bhukya , Reddy M.R. , Kannan A. , Shanmugam M. , Kumar P. Santosh Phani
Published: April 2023

Four samples of Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larva meal (BSFLM), procured from 3 different sources, were analysed for nutrient profile. One of those, a partially-defatted BSFLM, was evaluated in male broiler chicken diet at 0, 2.5 and 5.0% (expt. 1), and at 0, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0% levels (expt. 2). Each of the experimental diets was fed to 12 replicates of 6 chickens each in expt. 1 (n=216) and 15 replicates of 25 chickens each in expt. 2 (n=1500). The nutrient profile varied greatly amongst the BSFLM samples (crude protein: 49.8 to 59.6%, crude fat: 12.0 to 38.4%, lysine: 2.4-4.7%, methionine: 2.3-4.6%, lauric acid: 15.2-62.4%). Body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) of broilers increased linearly in the groups fed BSFLM upto 5.0% during 0-3 weeks of age (expt. 1) and was similar during the remaining period, whereas the feed conversion ratio (FCR) linearly increased during 3 to 5 weeks. At higher levels of BSFLM (≥7.5% in diet) (expt. 2), significantly depressed BWG and FI, and increased FCR were observed. Dressing yield, breast weight and abdominal fat content linearly increased with BSFLM level in diet (expt. 2), while other organ weights, serum biochemical profile and PHA-P response were unaffected (expt. 1). It is concluded that the nutrient profile of BSFLM varied with the source and it could be used upto 5% in the diet of broiler chickens with beneficial effects on growth during the early life.
Registry-derived stage (RD-Stage) for capturing cancer stage at diagnosis for endometrial cancer: development and validation of business rules and capacity to report at a national level.
Authors: Evans Sue M , Ivanova Kris , Rome Robert M , Cossio Danica , Pilgrim Charles , Zalcberg John , Antill Yoland , Blake Louis , Du Guesclin Alexandra , Garrett Andrea , Giffard Dalisay , Golobic Nikkitia , Moir Diana , Parikh Sumit , Parisi Andrea , Sanday Karen , Shadbolt Clair , Smith Mirka , Marvelde Luc Te , Williams Karen
Published: April 2023

Background
Registry-derived stage (RD-Stage) provides a mechanism to capture cancer stage at diagnosis from routinely captured data available to population-based cancer registries (PBCRs). In 2021, a project was undertaken to develop business rules to capture RD-Stage for endometrial cancer, understand current capacity to capture this information at a national level, and assess how it compares with stage recorded in clinical notes at diagnosis by clinicians.
Methodology
Business rules for deriving RD-stage (Endometrial carcinoma) were developed using AJCC Cancer Staging Manual 8th edition and endorsed by a tumour-specific Expert Working group comprising cancer specialists responsible for delivering cancer care and PBCR epidemiologists and medical coders. Baseline completeness of data fields required to calculate RD-Stage, and an overall proportion of cases for whom an RD stage could be assigned was assessed across each Australian jurisdiction. A validation study was undertaken in one jurisdiction to compare RD-Stage (Endometrial cancer) calculated by the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) with clinical stage recorded in cases diagnosed in 2018-2020 in the National Gynae-Oncology Registry (NGOR).
Results
The level of completeness of data to enable RD-Stage (Endometrial carcinoma) to be calculated across jurisdictions ranged from 0 to 89%. Three jurisdictions captured degree of spread of cancer only (instead of TNM data) and therefore captured no data which would enable RD-Stage to be calculated.
The RD-Stage (Endometrial carcinoma) validation study found that RD-Stage could not be derived for 64/485 (13%) cases in the VCR and was not captured for 44/485 (9%) cases in NGOR. There was concordance at stage level (I, II, III, IV) in 393/410 (96%) of cases (95.8%, Kendall’s coefficient=0.95).
Conclusion
A lack of consistency in data captured by, and data sources reporting to, PBCRs meant that it was not possible to provide an accurate national baseline of endometrial carcinoma stage at diagnosis. In a sample of Victorian cases, there was very good concordance between RD-Stage (Endometrial carcinoma) and that recorded by clinicians in medical records and captured by NGOR. However, for 10% of cases RD-Stage could not be calculated because data was not available. RD-Stage provides a useful tool to be used for population epidemiological purposes.
GBDT_KgluSite: An improved computational prediction model for lysine glutarylation sites based on Feature Fusion and GBDT classifier
Authors: Liu Xin , Zhu Bao , Dai XiaWei , Xu ZhiAo , Li Rui , Qian Yuting , Lu YaPing , Zhang Wenqing , Liu Yong , Zheng Junnian
Published: April 2023

Background Lysine glutarylation(Kglu) is one of the most important Post-translational modifications(PTMs), which plays significant roles in various cellular functions, including metabolism, mitochondrial processes, and translation. Therefore, accurate identification of Kglu site is important for elucidating protein molecular function. Due to the time-consuming and expensive limitations of traditional biological experiment, computational-based Kglu site prediction research are gaining more and more attention.Results In this study, we proposed a new model named GBDT_KgluSite to identify Kglu and non-Kglu sequences based on the gradient-boosting decision tree (GBDT). Here, sequence-based features, physicochemical property-based features, structural-based features, and evolutionary-derived features were used to characterize proteins. The imbalance between positive and negative samples was addressed using the NearMiss-3 approach, and extraneous data was eliminated using the Elastic Net. The experimental results show that GBDT_KgluSite has good robustness and generalization ability, with accuracy and AUC values of 93.73%, and 98.14% on five-fold cross-validation as well as 90.11%, and 96.75% on the independent test dataset, respectively.Conclusion GBDT_KgluSite is an effectively computational method for identifying Kglu sites in protein sequences. It has good stability and generalization ability and could be useful for the identification of new Kglu sites in Mus musculus protein. The code and dataset of GBDT_KgluSite is available at https://github.com/flyinsky6/GBDT_KgluSite.
Cervical Vertebral Maturation: An Objective Staging System
Authors: Alhamady Ahlam M. , Ishaq Ramy Abdul Rahman , Alhammadi Maged Sultan , Al-mashraqi Abeer A. , Alhashimi Najah
Published: April 2023

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate an objective method for Cervical Vertebral Maturation (CVM) staging.Methods An initial sample of 647 Lateral Cephalometric Radiographs (LCR) were staged according to the CVM Baccetti et. al. by 4 examiners. The final sample (n = 394) included LCR on which the staging of the 4 investigators matched. The objective staging was performed by a single operator. The sample was divided according to the maturational stages into pre-pubertal, pubertal and post-pubertal groups. Measurements were performed on the Cervical Vertebrae (C2, C3 and C4). The angle between posterior and superior borders for C3 and C4 was the SWIA. Concavity Depth (CD) for C2, C3 and C4, and Body Shape (BS) (ratio of width to height of C3 and C4). Measurements of the 3 groups were compared.Results Mean values of SWIA and BS and median values of CD within maturational stage showed significant differences. Similar results were revealed for the comparisons between the values at different stages (P < 0.001).Conclusions A standardized, objective staging system using linear and angular measurements and ratios was applied for the determination of CVM.
The trail-following communication in Stylotermes spp. (Blattodea, Isoptera, Stylotermitidae)
Authors: Thakur Himanshu , Agarwal Surbhi , Hradecký Jaromír , Sharma Garima , Li Hou-Feng , Yang Shang-En , Sehadová Hana , Chandel Ravinder S. , Hyliš Mirek , Mathur Vartika , Šobotník Jan , Sillam-Dussès David
Published: April 2023

Stylotermitidae appear peculiar among all termites, feeding in trunks of living trees in South Asia only. The difficulty to collect them limits our ability to study them, and they thus still belong to critically unknown groups in respect to their biology. We used a combined approach of microscopic observations, chemical analysis and behavioural tests, to understand the source and chemical nature of the trail-following pheromone of Stylotermes faveolus from India and S. halumicus from Taiwan. The sternal gland is the exclusive source of the trail-following pheromone in both Stylotermes species. It is located at the 5th abdominal sternite in workers, made of class I, II and III secretory cells. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry showed a minor peak corresponding to (Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol (DOE). This compound elicits strong behavioural responses in workers, with a trail-following activity threshold around 10− 4 ng/cm in both species. Based on both chemical analysis and behavioural experiments, we estimated the amount of DOE around 0.1 ng/gland in S. faveolus and we conclude that DOE is the only active component of the trail-following pheromone of both Stylotermes species, like in all Kalotermitidae studied so far. Our results confirm the switch from complex aldehyde trail-following pheromones occurring in the basal groups to simpler linear alcohols in the ancestor of Kalotermitidae and Neoisoptera.
Oral microbiota may affect osteoradionecrosis following radiotherapy for head and neck cancer
Authors: Li Zhengrui , Fu Rao , Huang Xufeng , Wen Xutao , Zhang Ling
Published: April 2023

Background: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is a serious complication of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer (HNC). However, its etiology and pathogenesis have not been completely elucidated. Recent studies suggest the involvement of the oral microbiota in the development of ORN. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between oral microbiota and the extent of bone resorption in ORN patients.
Materials and methods: Thirty patients who received high-dose radiotherapy for HNC were enrolled. Tissue specimens were collected from the unaffected and affected sides. The diversity, species differences and marker species of the oral microbial community were determined by 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis.
Results: The ORN group had greater microbial abundance and species diversity. The relative abundance of f_Prevotellaceaeand, f_Fusobacteriaceae, f_Porphyromonadaceae, f_Actinomycetaceae, f_Staphylococcaceae, g_Prevotella, g_Staphylococcus, s_Endodontalis and s_Intermedia were particular;y increased in ORN, suggesting a potential association between the oral microbiota and ORN. Furthermore, g_Prevotella, g_Streptococcus, s_parvula and s_mucilaginosa were identified as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of ORN. Association network analysis also suggested an overall imbalance in species diversity and ecological diversity in the oral microbiota of ORN patients. In addition, pathway analysis indicated that the dominant microbiota in ORN may disrupt bone regeneration by regulating specific metabolic pathways that increase osteoclastic activity.
Conclusion: Radiation-induced ORN is associated with significant changes in the oral microbiota, and the latter may play a potential role in the etiopathology of post-radiation ORN. The exact mechanisms through which the oral microbiota influence osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis remain to be elucidated.
Identification and validation of three risk models in skin melanoma based on bioinformatics analysis
Authors: Yang Ronghua , Li Shengbo , Wang Xiaoxiang , Li Jiehua , Pi Xiaobing , Wang Zhengguang , Yang Xiaofan , Chen Zhenbing , Chen Xiaodong , Zhou Sitong
Published: April 2023

Background Skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) remains the deadliest form of skin cancer. However, mechanism of prognosis of SKCM is not yet clear, and accurate prediction of the prognosis remains difficult. Here, we developed and validated three prognostic risk models based on immune cell infiltration, DNA methylation features, and immune-related genes for SKCM patients.Methods We downloaded the datasets from high-dimensional public databases. Univariate and multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed to develop models based on prognostic tumor-infiltrating immune cells, methylation related DEGs (mrDEGs), and immune-related genes (IRGs). Functional enrichment analysis was performed using clusterProfiler and GSVA R package. Prediction of sensitivity to drugs was conducted using pRRophetic R package. The prognostic value of these models was assessed using survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.Results The immune cell model was constructed based on 5 immune cell subtypes. Nine mrDEGs were identified to develop the methylation model. Furthermore, the prognostic IS model based on 5 IRGs was established. These models showed good performance to predict the prognosis of SKCM patients. The IS and methylation score were demonstrated to be associated with immune cell infiltration, microsatellite instability, and tumor mutational burden in SKCM. Moreover, the IS could predict the sensitivity to drugs and the responsiveness to immunotherapy. Finally, IHC staining of the clinical samples confirmed the increased expression of the prognostic IRGs.Conclusions These risk models based on immune cell infiltration, DNA methylation, and IS could be used to predict the survival of SKCM patients and further to guide treatment decisions.
Pharmacotherapy for hypertension in very old people with frailty: A systematic review
Authors: Shantsila Eduard , Lip Gregory , Shantsila Alena , Maden Michelle , Hill Ruaraidh ,   Nefyn Williams5, Beevers Gareth
Published: April 2023

Frailty status in elderly people represents a stage of life when homeostatic reserves become exhausted leading to vulnerability to endogenous and exogenous stressors. Whilst elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for poor health in the general population, this may be different in very old people whose health has deteriorated to the stage of frailty. This systematic review aims to establish whether antihypertensive pharmacotherapy improve survival, morbidity and quality of life in very old people (i.e., aged 80 years or more) with frailty. We searched Ovid MEDLINE(R) 2000, ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) up until 12/03/2021 for clinical trials and observational studies of pharmacotherapy with antihypertensive agents compared to placebo or no treatment that include people aged 80 years or older described as being frail or separately reported outcomes for people aged 80 years or older described as frail. No eligible studies have been identified. There is no reliable evidence to prove benefits or safety of antihypertensive drug therapy in very old people with frailty. PROSPERO ID CRD42020183422
Experimental study on basic engineering properties of loess improved by burnt rock
Authors: Chen Kai , Shao Dan , Liu Zhiqi , Chen Lifeng , He Genyi
Published: April 2023

Engineering construction hazards and geological disasters in loess areas were severe due to the extraordinary nature of loess and its complex internal structure. However, burnt rock-solid waste was often used as filling material and light aggregate, while there were few studies on the engineering mechanical properties of modified soil. This paper proposed a method of burnt rock solid waste-modified loess. Therefore, we conducted compression-consolidation and direct shear tests on burnt rock solid waste-modified loess under different burnt rock contents to explore its improved loess’s deformation and strength characteristics. Then, we used an SEM to investigate the modified loess’s micro-structures under different burnt rock contents. The results showed that as the burnt rock-solid waste particle content continued to increase, the void ratio and compressibility coefficient of the samples with different ranges of burnt rock-solid waste particles gradually decreased with rising vertical pressure, while the compressive modulus increased first, then reduced and then increased with the increase of vertical pressure; the shear strength indexes all showed an increasing trend with the increased content of burnt rock-solid waste particles; when the content of burnt rock-solid waste particles was 50%, the compressibility of mixed soil was the lowest, the shear strength was the largest, and the compaction effect and shear resistance were the best. However, when the content of burnt rock particles was 10 ~ 20%, the shear strength of the soil improved significantly within the content range. The mechanism of burnt rock-solid waste to enhance the strength of the loess structure was mainly to reduce the porosity and average area of soil, significantly improve the strength and stability of mixed soil particles, and thus significantly improve the mechanical properties of soil. The results of this research will provide technical support for safe engineering construction and geological disaster prevention and control in loess areas.
Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) without the need for prior removal of DNA
Authors: Đermić Damir , Ljubić Sven , Matulić Maja , Procino Alfredo , Feliciello Maria Chiara , Ugarković Đurđica , Feliciello Isidoro
Published: April 2023

The procedure illustrated in this paper represents a new method for transcriptome analysis by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), which circumvents the need for elimination of potential DNA contamination. Compared to the existing methodologies, our method is more precise, simpler and more reproducible because it preserves the RNA’s integrity, does not require materials and/or reagents that are used for elimination of DNA and it also reduces the number of samples that should be set up as negative controls. This novel procedure involves the use of a specifically modified primer during reverse transcription step, which contains mismatched bases, thus producing cDNA molecules that differ from genomic DNA. By using the same modified primer in PCR amplification, only cDNA template is amplified since genomic DNA template is partially heterologous to the primer. In this way, amplification by PCR is unaffected by any potential DNA contamination since it is specific only for the cDNA template. Furthermore, it accurately reflects the initial RNA concentration of the sample, which is prone to changes due to various physical or enzymatic treatments commonly used by the current methodologies for DNA elimination. The method is particularly suitable for quantification of highly repetitive DNA transcripts, such as satellite DNA.
Designing and evaluating the performance of full scale bioretention cells in Indian conditions
Authors: Shah Aamir Ishaq , Siag Mukesh , Kaur Samanpreet , Thaman Sudhir , Sharda Rakesh
Published: April 2023

Urbanization leads to an increase in impervious area percentage and significantly alters the predevelopment hydrology. Bioretention cells are sustainable stormwater management techniques that mimic the natural soil system of an area and help in restoring the hydrological balance. Present study involved construction of full- scale bioretention cells and filling with engineered filter media derived from rice and maize residues. The filter media was derived from coarse sand and topsoil mixed with rice straw derived biochar and maize straw derived compost. The bioretention cells were planted with plant varieties- Thumbergia erecta, Haemelia patens and Tabernaemontana Divaricata. The bioretention cells were observed for pre and post plantation hydraulic conductivity and hydrologic performance. Full-scale bioretention cells reported a pre-plantation average hydraulic conductivity between 118 mm/hr-324 mm/hr. Post-plantation average hydraulic conductivity ranged between 341.6-562.0 mm/hr. The minimum and maximum pre-plantation hydraulic conductivity for bioretention cell 1 filled with compost were 112.5 and 136.5 mm/hr, respectively. The average hydraulic conductivity of 120.5, 211.1 and 241.4 mm/hr were observed for bioretention cells 1, 3 and 5 respectively. In the case of biochar-filled bioretention cells, the average hydraulic conductivity recorded for various rainfall events were 162.3, 175.5 and 190.3 mm/hr for bioretention cells 2, 4 and 6, respectively. Given the design parameters adopted for the field-scale bioretention cells, the time to empty based on minimum hydraulic conductivity values was 22 times faster than the recommended hydraulic conductivity for bioretention cells. The volume and peak flow reduction of the full-scale bioretention cells ranged between 82.95-90.28% and 86.1-92.3%, respectively. The total contribution of 6 bioretention cells to the groundwater recharge in three recorded events was 15.77 m3.
Memory-efficient low-compute segmentation algorithms for edge ultrasound devices: continuous bladder monitoring
Authors: Song Zhiye , Asiedu Mercy , Wang Shuhang , Li Qian , Ozturk Arinc , Mittal Vipasha , Schoen Scott , Ramaswamy Srinath , Pierce Theodore T. , Samir Anthony E. , Eldar Yonina C. , Chandrakasan Anantha , Kumar Viksit
Published: April 2023

Post-operative urinary retention is a medical condition where patients cannot urinate despite having a full bladder. Ultrasound imaging of the bladder is intermittently used to estimate urine volume for early diagnosis and management of urine retention. Moreover, the use of bladder ultrasound can reduce the need for an indwelling urinary catheter and the risk of catheter-associated urinary tract infection. Wearable ultrasound devices combined with machine-learning based bladder volume estimation algorithms reduce the burdens of nurses in hospital settings and improve outpatient care. However, existing algorithms are memory and computation intensive, thereby demanding the use of expensive GPUs. In this paper, we develop and validate a low-compute memory-efficient deep learning model for accurate bladder region segmentation and urine volume calculation. B-mode ultrasound bladder images of 360 patients were divided into training and validation sets; another 74 patients were used as the test dataset. Our 1-bit quantized models with 4-bits and 6-bits skip connections achieved an accuracy within 3.8% and 2.6%, respectively, of a full precision state-of-the-art neural network (NN) without any floating-point operations and with an 11.5× and 9.0× reduction in memory requirements to fit under 150 kB. The means and standard deviations of the volume estimation errors, relative to estimates from ground-truth clinician annotations, were 5.0±33 ml and 6.8±29 ml, respectively. This lightweight NN can be easily integrated on the wearable ultrasound device for automated and continuous monitoring of urine volume. Our approach can potentially be extended to other clinical applications such as monitoring blood pressure and fetal heart rate.
Modulation of ENSO on the annual cycle in the equatorial eastern Pacific
Authors: Xue Manrui , Li Tim
Published: April 2023

The annual cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial eastern Pacific (EEP) shows a distinctive change between the warm and cold phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with a much-enhanced cold tongue in boreal fall during La Niña than during El Niño. The specific dynamic and thermodynamic processes through which ENSO modulates the annual cycle during the various phase of the annual cycle were investigated through an analytical heat budget model. It is found that the modulation of ENSO is primarily through ocean dynamic heating processes, including anomalous temperature advection by mean vertical and meridional currents and mean temperature advection by anomalous zonal and vertical currents. While El Niño induced increase of column water vapor causes the increase of downward longwave radiation and thus the weakening of the cold tongue, an enhanced surface latent heat flux due to the increase of surface wind speed tends to strengthen the cold tongue and thus oppose the ocean dynamic effect. Such ENSO impacts persist from boreal fall to boreal winter and weaken substantially during the subsequent spring.
Various infections in patients with autoimmune bullous diseases: a retrospective case-control study
Authors: Zhou Feiran , Zheng Xiaoping , Yang Yixuan , Li Zhonghua , Yang Qingluan , Zhou JingYu , Xu Haoxin , Luo Xiaoqun , Shao Lingyun , Zhang Wenhong , Ruan Qiaoling
Published: April 2023

Background:Infection will cause adverse outcomes in autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBD). We aimed to analyze pathogen spectrum and location characteristics of infection in AIBD, risk factors of infection and provide probable suggestion to infection prevention.
Methods:This is a retrospective case-control study on medical records of inpatients diagnosed as AIBD in Huashan Hospital from 2017 to 2021.
Results: A total of 263 patients diagnosed with AIBD were enrolled. Total infection rate was 42.2%. Infection rate was 52.1% in pemphigus and 30.6% in bullous pemphigoid.Of patients with infections, 49.5% had bacterial infections, 13.5% had fungal infections, 2.7% had virus infection and 34.2% had mixed infections. 17.1% patients had localized infections and 24.7% had systemic infections. The most common pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus and Candida in localized infection, and were Cryptococcusand Candida in systemic infection. In multivariate logistic model, pemphigus compared to bullous pemphigoid (OR=2.56, 95% CI 1.41-4.63), hypoalbuminemia (OR=3.78, 95% CI 1.68-8.50) and systemic glucocorticoids treatment (OR=4.67, 95% CI 2.51-8.68) were infection risk factors. Bullous pemphigoid compared to pemphigus (OR=3.99, 95% CI 1.03-15.45), high dose systemic glucocorticoids treatment compared to low (OR=19.31, 95% CI 3.32-112.28) or medium dose (OR=5.71, 95% CI 1.37-23.79) were risk factors of systemic infection in infected patients with systemic glucocorticoids treatments.
Conclusions:Infection rate in AIBD patients was high. Pathogen spectrum and location of infection were broad. Systemic glucocorticoid treatment, especially with high dose in previous 3 months had been shown as an important risk factor of infection.
Fruit annual changes in morphological characteristic and essential oil accumulation of Litsea cubeba
Authors: Yang Yingyu , Gu Zhanying , Huang Peng , Gong Jialiang , Li Ping
Published: April 2023

Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. is an important spice plant in southern China. The whole plant of Litsea cubeba contains essential oils, among which the fruit has the highest essential oil content. And there is a significant market demand and widespread use of essential oil of Litsea cubeba fruit. However, there are few systematic studies on the growth and development of the Litsea cubeba fruit. This study aims to determine the regularity of annual changes in fruit morphology, essential oil content, and components of Litsea cubeba essential oil to determine the optimal harvest period and improve the utilization efficiency of Litsea cubeba resource. The results show that the annual change of fruit morphology of Litsea cubeba was consistent with the double "S" curve, which shows a general trend of rapid growth first, then slow growth, and finally rapid growth again. While the annual change of the essential oil of Litsea cubeba fruits was consistent with a single "S" curve, which shows a general trend of slow growth first, then rapid growth, and finally decreasing rapidly. Correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between morphological changes and essential oil accumulation in Litsea cubeba fruit. Combining the growing periods of fruit morphology and essential oil accumulation, the growth and development of Litsea cubeba fruit can be divided into four general periods: the first rapid growth period (rapid growth in fruit diameter and fruit weight with slow accumulation of essential oil), the essential oil accumulation period (rapid accumulation of essential oil with slow growth in fruit diameter and fruit weight), the second rapid growth period (fruit diameter and fruit weight increased rapidly for the second time while the essential oil content started to decrease), and the shriveling period (fruit diameter and weight and essential oil content all decreased rapidly). This study further confirmed that citral was the highest component in the essential oil of Litsea cubeba. When citral extraction is needed, the fruit can be harvested 139–149 days after anthesis.
Early Diabetic Outcomes in Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Type of Metabolic Surgery may be Irrelevant
Authors: Pang Wei Soon , Loo Guo Hou , Tan Guo Jeng , Mardan Mardiana , Rajan Reynu , Kosai Nik Ritza
Published: April 2023

Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is an alarming problem globally and a growing epidemic. Metabolic surgery has been shown to be successful in treating both obesity and T2DM, usually after other treatments have failed. This study aims to compare Roux-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy in determining early diabetic outcomes in obese Malaysian patients with T2DM following surgery.
A total of 172 obese patients with T2DM who were assigned to either laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) or laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) were analysed up to a year post-procedure. The patients’ T2DM severity were stratified using the Individualized Metabolic Surgery (IMS) score into mild, moderate and severe. Remission rates of diabetes were compared between surgical techniques and within diabetic severity categories.
T2DM remission for patients who underwent either surgical technique for mild, moderate or severe disease was 92.9%, 56.2% and 14.7% respectively. Both surgical techniques improved T2DM control for patients in the study. Comparing baseline with results 1 year postoperatively, median HbA1c reduced from 7.40% (IQR 2.60) to 5.80% (IQR 0.80) (p<0.001), mean total antidiabetic medications use reduced from 1.48 (SD 0.99) to 0.60 (SD 0.86) [p<0.001], insulin usage reduced from 27.9% to 10.5% (p<0.001), and T2DM control improved from 27.9% to 82% (p<0.001). The patients had a median excess BMI loss of 69.4% (IQR 34%) and 53.2% (IQR 36.0%) for RYGB and SG respectively (p=0.016). At one year following surgery, there is no difference between LRYGB and LSG in terms of diabetic remission.
LSG is not inferior to LRYGB in terms of early diabetic outcomes. Milder T2DM shows a better response. LSG is a simpler procedure with a lower risk profile and should be considered as an early treatment option for obese patients with T2DM.
Effects of COVID-19 Time on the Development of Pre-impaired Glucose Tolerance State in Children and Adolescents With Overweight and Obesity
Authors: Giannini Cosimo , Mastromauro Concetta , Chiarelli Franco , Mohn Angelika
Published: April 2023

Objectives
We aimed to characterize the effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on 2-h glucose values after an OGTT postulating a correlation between 2-h glucose spectrum and the decline of β-cell function. Particularly, we tried to evaluate the effects on the risk of showing 2-h glucose values in the highest range of normal values in obese children and adolescent during COVID-19 Pandemic compared to those evaluated during the 13 years before.
Subjects/Methods
Data from 532 obese and overweight children and adolescents (before COVID-19 Pandemic, 209M/262F, 2008–2019; during COVID-19 Pandemic, 40M/21F, 2020–2021) who had undergone a complete evaluation and had performed an OGTT after their first visit were analyzed. The two groups were further divided into three sub-groups based on the 2-h glucose values, group 1 (< 100 mg/dL), group 2 (100–119 mg/dL), group 3 (120–139 mg/dL), respectively. The prevalence of 2-h glucose values distribution in children was evaluated between the pre- and during COVID-19 Pandemic period and the main differences between the two groups 3 of each period were analyzed.
Results
A significant difference (P = 0.01) in terms of distribution of the prevalence of 2-h glucose values was documented between the group before COVID-19 (35.6%, 45.9% and 18.5%) and the group during COVID-19 Pandemic period (31.1%, 31.1% and 37.8%). A roughly doble higher prevalence of subjects with pre-IGT was documented in the COVID-19 group. In addition, group 3 of COVID-19 time showed significantly higher values for waist circumference (WC), Waist/Height ratio (WtHR), fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, and AUC Insulin, compared to the group 3 of the period before COVID-19 Pandemic (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions
During COVID-19 time a higher percentage of children are in the highest range of normal 2-h glucose values which is known to be associated with a significant impairment of β-cell function relative to insulin sensitivity and at higher risk of developing IGT.
Analysis and experimental validation of the innate immune gene PSMD1 in liver hepatocellular carcinoma and pan-cancer
Authors: Chen Xing , Liu Guihai , Wu Buqiang
Published: April 2023

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic, prognostic and biological role of PSMD1 in liver hepatocellular carcinoma(LIHC), an innate immune gene that has been identified as a biomarker for various types of cancer. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, we investigated the correlation of PSMD1 with overall survival (OS), prognosis and clinical characteristics of LIHC, its potential as a biomarker for LIHC, and validation using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data. Immunohistochemical and single-cell studies confirmed these findings and subsequently investigated its role in a variety of cancers. Results showed that PSMD1 was overexpressed in LIHC tissues and acted as an independent prognostic factor affecting patient survival, with effects on clinical traits reflected in advanced stage and T-stage. Genomic enrichment analysis revealed the regulation of synaptic signaling, organ development, cell membrane channel regulation and immune pathways by PSMD1. PSMD1 expression in LIHC was positively correlated with immune infiltration and involved multiple immune cells. Pan-cancer studies have shown that PSMD1 also has important research potential in various cancers. PSMD1 is a good biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of LIHC, and PSMD1 may contribute to the progression of LIHC through receptor ligand regulation and immune-related pathways.
Extraction and Characterization of Keratin (Natural Protein) from Waste Broiler Chicken Feathers
Authors: Singh Anurag , Maurya Shyam Dev
Published: April 2023

The current research was to extract the keratin protein from waste broiler chicken feather. Due to high keratin content in chicken feathers offers a valuable source of protein. The two steps involved are first employing (Na2S) to chicken feather then extracting the protein from chemicals. Sodium sulfide are employed as reducing agents. After the feather have been broken down using reducing agents in order to precipitate the protein dil. HCl is added to the solution. Protein that has been precipitated is repeatedly rinsed with distilled water and then kept into solution form by adding it into sodium hydroxide solution. Keratin obtained from broiler chicken feather had a yield of 81.1% which is relatively high in case of waste raw material conversion into value added product. The prepared keratin was characterized by FTIR, XRD, TGA to investigate the chemical composition, thermal properties, crystallinity properties and also physicomechanical properties including density were tested. From these findings results suggested that chicken feather can be used to extract protein. Due to biocompatible & biodegradable in nature. The keratin protein solution has a variety of uses such as anti-aging treatment, shampoo, conditioner and for medical treatment such as bone replacement and bone graft.
What happens after planting? Assessing canopy structure, vegetation cover index, and vegetation distribution of two Miyawaki forest stands in Bengaluru urban district, India
Authors: Roy Anirban , Chatterjee Nirmalya
Published: April 2023

The Miyawaki method, as a technique of forest plantation, is receiving a lot of implementation support and popularity in India and beyond. However, there exists a paucity of scientific data on both pre-implementation baseline and post-implementation monitoring and ecological evaluation of such Miyawaki forest stands (hereafter, MwFS). Quantitative biophysical information on ecological performance is lacking.
This study evaluates two MwFS in Bengaluru urban district (India) using canopy measurements and vegetation analysis. Metrics like seasonal vegetation indices and on-ground assessments of canopy closure were done on MwFS with a spectrum of ages indicating canopy closure stabilization at 90-93% in about 60 months. Normalized Green-Red Difference Index calculations on time-series aerial imagery indicate a monotonic progression of seasonal open and closed canopy tree vegetation cover and a general reduction in bare ground cover. However, apronounced lack of vegetation diversity through natural recruitment, especially of herbaceousspecies even 6 years after plantation, and a general lack of structural diversity in trees indicateprobable deviation from standard forest evolution and ecological processes.
Based on our findings we recommend that age and structural diversity is encouraged throughalteration of planting design, canopy management like coppicing and pruning, and niche fillingusing active herbaceous planting in the MwFS. Such strategies will help these MwFS improveecological functioning and add to the urban ecosystem in ways other than mere visual aestheticimprovement.
cDCBLD2 mediates sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma by sponging miR-345-5p binding to the TOP2A coding sequence
Authors: Ruan YeLing , Chen TianYi , Zheng LongBo , Cai JingWei , Zhao Hu , Wang YaLi , Tao LiYe , Xu JunJie , Ji Lin , Cai XiuJun
Published: April 2023

Background Sorafenib is a first-line chemotherapy drug for treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its therapeutic effect has been seriously affected by the emergence of sorafenib resistance in HCC patients. The underlying mechanism of sorafenib resistance is unclear. Here, we report a circular RNA, cDCBLD2, which plays an important role in sorafenib resistance in HCC.Methods Use in vitro and in vivo experiments to study the function of cDCBLD2. Immunohistochemical detection of type IIA topoisomerase (TOP2A) expression in HCC tissue. The downstream molecules of cDCBLD2 were identified by differential gene analysis after knocking down cDCBLD2. QPCR, pull-down assay, FISH, Western blotting, dual-Luciferase reporter, cck8 assay, flow cytometry and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mice were used to determine the molecular mechanism.Results We found that cDCBLD2 was upregulated in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells, and knocking down cDCBLD2 expression could significantly increase sorafenib-related cytotoxicity. Further evidence showed that cDCBLD2 can bind to microRNA (miR)-345-5p through a competing endogenous RNA mechanism, increase type TOP2A mRNA stability through a miRNA sponge mechanism, and reduce the effects of sorafenib treatment on HCC by inhibiting apoptosis. Our findings also suggest that miR-345-5p can negatively regulate TOP2A levels by binding to the coding sequence region of its mRNA. Additionally, targeting cDCBLD2 by injecting a specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) could significantly overcome sorafenib resistance in a PDX mouse model of liver cancer.Conclusion We found that cDCBLD2 can competitively bind to the TOP2A coding sequence region through the miR-345-5p sponge mechanism, and thus affect sorafenib resistance and caspase-3 mediated apoptosis of HCC cells. Taken together, our study provides a proof-of-concept for a potential strategy to overcome sorafenib resistance in HCC patients by targeting cDCBLD2 or TOP2A.
The Longitudinal Relationships between Social Relationships and Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Health: The Role of Frailty
Authors: Mehrabi Fereshteh , Béland François
Published: April 2023

Background Socially isolated older adults incur increased risks of adverse health outcomes, though the strength of this association is unclear. We examined whether changes in physical frailty moderated the associations between changes in social relationships and changes in health outcomes among older adults.Methods This longitudinal study is based on three waves of the FRéLE study among 1643 Canadian community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older over two years. We performed latent growth curve modeling to assess changes with the assumption of missing not at random, adjusting for time-invariant covariates. Social relationships were measured by social participation, social networks, and social support from social ties. Frailty was assessed using the five components of the phenotype of frailty.Results The moderation results revealed that changes toward increasing social participation, social contact with friends, social support from friends, and nuclear and extended family were associated with greater changes toward better cognitive and mental health, but not physical health, among frailer older adults in contrast with those who were more robust. These results highlight the beneficial role of social relationships on mental and cognitive health among frail older adults.Conclusions This longitudinal study suggests that social support has a protective and compensatory role in enhancing mental health among frail older adults. Further experimental studies and interventions are warranted to extend findings on the relationships between social relationships and health outcomes, targeting frail older adults. Future studies may consider other health-related risk factors that may impact the associations between social relationships and physical, mental, and cognitive health outcomes among older adults.
Protective effect of phosphorylated Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching polysaccharide on vascular endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Yin Kaiyue , Chen Jiyu , Miao Changqing , Gao Feng , Sheng Jiwen , Liu Dongmei
Published: April 2023

The purpose of this study was to prepare phosphorylated Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Cing polysaccharide (PPS) and investigate its protective effect on vascular endothelial cells (VECs) in vitro and in vivo and the underlying mechanisms. Sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) were used as phosphorylation reagents and PPS was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR) spectra. Chemical analysis demonstrated that PPS was composed of mannose, glucosamine, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, galactosamine, glucose, galactose, xylose, arabinose and fucose with a molar ratio of 11.36:0.42:4.03:1.12:1.81:0.26:33.25:24.12:6.85:14.46:2.32 and a molecular weight of 28837 Da. Results from in vitro and in vivo assays revealed that PPS protected human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) against H2O2-induced oxidative injury and attenuated VECs damage in mice treated with D-galactose. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis disclosed that PPS down- or up-regulated the expression of eighteen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the functions of vascular endothelium repairment, cell growth and proliferation, cell survival and apoptosis, inflammation, angiogenesis and antioxidant in mice abdominal aorta, implying that these biological processes might play crucial roles in the protective actions of PPS on VECs.
Dynamic SLAM: A Visual SLAM in Outdoor Dynamic Scenes
Authors: Wen Shuhuan , Li Xiongfei , Zhang Hong , Li Jiaqi , Tao Sheng , Long Yidan
Published: April 2023

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has been widely used in augmented reality(AR), virtual reality(VR), robotics, and autonomous vehicles as the theoretical basis for robots to perceive their environment. Most popular SLAM algorithms assume that objects in the scene are static. Solving dynamic problems in SLAM is now attracting increasing attention. In this paper, we propose a method that combines semantic segmentation information and spatial motion information of associated pixels to cope with dynamic objects in SLAM algorithms. Our system is built based on ORB-SLAM2. We add a deep segmentation network SegNet to segment each frame of the input image and obtain the semantic information for each feature point. Next, the spatial velocity of feature points between adjacent frames is calculated assuming uniform motion. Finally, the two parts are fused for the final judgment, and the dynamic feature points are removed to improve positioning accuracy. We evaluate our SLAM algorithms using the public KITTI dataset. The proposed algorithm has a similar overall accuracy level to ORB-SLAM2, but it is more accurate in sequences with many dynamic objects. On KITTI’s raw data sequence containing multiple dynamic objects, our pipeline achieves the best performance, improving 39.5% compared with the original system. We compare our algorithm with other state-of-the-art SLAM systems used to cope with dynamic environments. The results show that the proposed algorithm has better performance.
MiR-601-induced BMSCs senescence accelerates steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head progression by targeting SIRT1
Authors: Tang Boyu , Chen Yu , Zhao Pei , Yan Wenlong , Huang Xiao , Jiang Weiqian , Sun Mingjie , Zhang Hongrui , Xiang Dulei , Chen Tingmei , Lian Chengjie , zhang jian
Published: April 2023

Background: The imbalance between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is not only the primary pathological feature but also a major contributor to the pathogenesis of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SONFH). Cellular senescence is one of the main causes of imbalanced BMSCs differentiation. The purpose of this study was to reveal whether cellular senescence could participate in the progression of SONFH and the related mechanisms.
Methods: The rat SONFH model was constructed, and rat BMSCs were extracted. Aging-related indicators were detected by SA-β-Gal staining, qRT-PCR and Western Blot experiments. Using H2O2 to construct a senescent cell model, and overexpressing and knocking down miR-601 and SIRT1 in hBMSCs, the effect on BMSCs differentiation was explored by qRT-PCR, Western Blot experiment, oil red O staining, alizarin red staining, and luciferase reporter gene experiment. A rat SONFH model was established to test the effects of miR-601 and metformin in vivo.
Results:The current study showed that glucocorticoids (GCs)-induced BMSCs senescence, which caused imbalanced osteogenesis and adipogenesis of BMSCs, was responsible for the SONFH progression. Further, elevated miR-601 caused by GCs was demonstrated to contribute to BMSC senescence through targeting SIRT1. In addition, the anti-aging drug metformin was shown to be able to alleviate GCs-induced BMSCs senescence and SONFH progression.
Conclusions: Considering the role of BMSCs aging in the progression of SONFH, this provides a new idea for the prevention and treatment of SONFH.