bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Childhood brain tumors - InSight in Sight
Authors:   , Nuijts Myrthe Annelotte
Published: March 2023

Brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children with an estimated age-adjusted incidence of 6.21 per 100,000. Recent advances in the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of childhood brain tumors have considerably improved survival, with a current five-year survival rate reaching 75% in developed countries. This improved survival rate stresses the importance of awareness of the adverse effects coinciding with the brain tumor or its treatment. One of these adverse effects is an impaired visual function, which poses a substantial burden on the health, quality of life, and participation in daily life of children with a brain tumor.

This thesis provides insight into the ophthalmological consequences in children with a newly diagnosed brain tumor and in the potential role of retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) as an objective, non-invasive testing method of the visual function. To investigate these aims, we designed and conducted the CCISS study (‘Child Central nervous tumors InSight in Sight’), a prospective nationwide longitudinal cohort study investigating visual impairment in 170 children newly diagnosed with a brain tumor between May 2019 and August 2021 in the Netherlands.

Our analyses have shown that a major part of the children (79%) have ophthalmological abnormalities at brain tumor diagnosis and that ophthalmological abnormalities during examination were present in the majority of children (65%) who initially presented without visual symptoms. These findings stress the importance of standardized ophthalmological examination and the awareness of clinicians for latent ophthalmological abnormalities in children with a newly diagnosed brain tumor.

In addition, we investigated the value of retinal OCT thickness measurements to discriminate an abnormal visual function in children with a newly diagnosed brain tumor. We found relatively high negative predictive values of average circumpapillary RNFL thickness (83%)
and average macular GCL-IPL thickness (82%), but the positive predictive values (respectively 33% and 57%) were low, demonstrating a moderate diagnostic accuracy. This is
also is in line with the low to moderate sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, at this moment, RNFL thickness and GCL-IPL thickness measurements cannot be used for clinical care decision making in children with a newly diagnosed brain tumor, nor should these measurements replace the thorough standard ophthalmological examination.
INHERITANCE DISTRIBUTION FOR "KHUNTHA MUSHKIL" (SISSY) IN ISLAM:
Authors: Abizar Mukhammad Hafidz
Published: March 2023

This article is result of library research with a normative legal approach. Legal materials and data were obtained from Islamic legal norms regarding inheritance and khuntsa obtained from the texts of the Qur'an and Hadith, as well as the opinions of the jurists. This thesis discusses the distribution of khuntsa inheritance based on the opinion of Imam Ali As-Shobuni and Imam Abu Hanifah. People who do not have a clear gender status, not male and not female, are called khuntsa in Islamic law. One of the problems of khuntsa is in determining the right of inheritance. The Qur'an does not clearly state the portion of khuntha inheritance. This study concludes that in the unclear gender of khuntsa, it can be determined by two things, namely first, signs of maturity and second, where does urine come from. This argument is put forward using the istidlal theory used by Imam Ali As-Shobuni and Imam Abu Hanifah. If a khuntsa has a clear gender status, then this status follows the law of inheritance

Keyword : Khuntha mushkil, sissy, inheritance.

 

Abstrak

Artikel ini adalah hasil dari penelitian kepustakaan dengan pendekatan hukum normatif. Bahan hukum dan data diperoleh dari norma- norma hukum Islam tentang kewarisan dan khuntsa yang diperoleh dari nash al-Qur‟an dan Hadits, serta pendapat para fuqaha‟.  Tesis   ini   mendiskusikan pembagian  warisan  khuntsa  berdasarkan  pendapat  Imam Ali  As-Shobuni  dan     Imam  Abu  Hanifah.  orang  yang  tidak mempunyai status jenis kelamin yang jelas, bukan laki-laki dan bukan perempuan disebut dengan istilah khuntsa dalam hukum islam. Salah satu dari permasalahan  khuntsa  adalah dalam hal menentukan hak kewarisannya.  Al-Qur‟an  tidak menyebutkan secara jelas bagian waris khuntha. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa dalam ketidak jelasan jenis kelamin khuntsa, dapat ditentukan dengan dua hal, yaitu pertama, tanda-tanda kedewasaannya dan kedua, darimana ia mengeluarkan air kencing. Argumen ini diajukan dengan menggunakan teori istidlal yang digunakan oleh  Imam Ali  As-Shobuni  dan     Imam  Abu  Hanifah. Bila seorang khuntsa telah jelas status jenis kelaminnya, maka status ini mengikuti pada hukum kewarisannya.

Kata Kunci : Khuntha mushkil, banci, pembagian waris
Violent conflict and hostility towards ethno-religious outgroups in Nigeria
Authors: Tuki Daniel
Published: March 2023

Although Nigeria has a high incidence of violent conflict and is divided along ethno-religious lines, no study has, to the best of my knowledge, examined the effect of violent conflict on hostility towards ethnic and religious outgroups using representative data for Nigeria, nor the differential effects of violent conflict on outgroup hostility among Nigerias Muslim and Christian populations. This study does so. The instrumental variable regression results showed that among Nigerias population, violent conflict has a positive effect on outgroup hostility. A plausible mechanism through which this occurs is that violent conflict erodes trust and makes ethnic and religious fault lines salient, which in turn leads to outgroup hostility. When I broke down the data based on religious affiliation and estimated some models using the Muslim and Christian subsamples of respondents, the analysis showed that violent conflict has a positive effect on outgroup hostility only among Christians.
LITERASI POLITIK BERBASIS MEDIA
Authors: Imrani Rahmadina Aulia , Suteja Nathania Justine , Juddi Moh. Faidol
Published: March 2023

Kenyataannya di Indonesia seringkali pemilu tidak dimanfaatkan sebaik mungkin, peran penyebaran informasi juga dapat mempengaruhi partisipasi masyarakat untuk ikut menggunakan hak pilihnya. Komunikasi politik, Literasi politik dan media massa menjadi acuan teori untuk mendalami kegiatan literasi media berbasis media menjadi sebuah jembatan dalam pelaksanaan literasi plotik berbasis media. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif studi kasus yang nantinya akan menghasilkan pemahaman tentang suatu program yang dilaksanakan oleh pemerintah dan sejauh mana keikutsertaan masyarakat dalam program tersebut. Program yang diteliti bernama Desa Peduli Pemilu dan Pemilihan yang dilaksanakan KPU Kota Surabaya. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu untuk memahami bagaimana proses komunikasi yang dilakukan oleh KPU Kota Surabaya dalam menyampaikan program Desa Peduli Pemilu dan Pemilihan. Hasil penelitian ini mengatakan bahwa program kerja DP3 berjalan cukup baik, program ini merupakan inovasi KPU RI untuk meningkatkan kesadaran masyarakat akan pentingnya mengikuti pemilihan umum. Masyarakat nantinya akan dituntut untuk lebih peduli pada informasi yang disebarkan secara digital. Hal ini guna memaksimalkan pemilu serentak yang dilakukan pada tahun 2024.
Strength of a cement-based dental material: Early age testing and first micromechanical modeling at mature age
Authors: Dohnalík Petr , Hellmich Christian , Richard Gilles , Pichler Bernhard L. A.
Published: March 2023

The compressive strength evolution of 37 centigrade-cured Biodentine, a cement-based dental material, is quantified experimentally by crushing cylindrical specimens with length-to-diameter ratios amounting to 1.84 and 1.34, respectively, at nine different material ages ranging from 1 h to 28 days. After excluding strength values significantly affected by imperfections, formulae developed for concrete are i) adapted for inter- and extrapolation of measured strength values, and ii) used for quantification of the influence of the slenderness of the specimens on the compressive strength. The microscopic origin of the macroscopic uniaxial compressive strength of mature Biodentine is investigated by means of a micromechanics model accounting for lognormal stiffness and strength distributions of two types of calcite-reinforced hydrates. The following results are obtained: The material behavior of Biodentine is non-linear in the first few hours after production. After that, Biodentine behaves virtually linear elastic all the way up to sudden brittle failure. The strength evolution of Biodentine can be well described as the exponential of a function involving the square root of the inverse of the material age. The genuine uniaxial compressive strength evolution can be quantified using a correction formula taken from a standard for testing of concrete, which accounts for length-to-diameter ratios of cylindrical samples deviating from 2. Multiscale modeling suggests that 63% of the overall material volume, occupied by dense calcite-reinforced hydration products, fail virtually simultaneously. This underlines the highly optimized nature of the studied material.
Investigating the induction of polyphenol biosynthesis in the cultured Cycolocarya paliurus cells and the stimulatory mechanism of co-induction with 5-aminolevulinic acid and salicylic acid
Authors: Ling Li-Juan , Wang Meng , Pan Chuan-Qing , Tang Dao-Bang , Yuan En , Zhang Yuan-Yuan , Chen Ji-Guang , Peng Da-Yong , Yin Zhong-Ping
Published: March 2023

Background: Plant cell culture technology is a potential way to produce polyphenols, however, this way is still trapped in the dilemma of low content and yield. Elicitation is regarded as one of the most effective ways to improve the output of the secondary metabolites, and therefore has attracted extensive attention.

Methods: Five elicitors including 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and Rhizopus Oryzae Elicitor (ROE) were used to improve the content and yield of polyphenols in the cultured Cyclocarya paliurus (C. paliurus) cells, and a co-induction technology of 5-ALA and SA was developed as a result. Meanwhile, the integrated analysis of transcriptome and metabolome was adopted to interpret the stimulation mechanism of co-induction with 5-ALA and SA.

Results: Under the co-induction of 50 μM 5-ALA and SA, the content and yield of total polyphenols of the cultured cells reached 8.0 mg/g and 147.12 mg/L, respectively. The yields of cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, procyanidin B1 and catechin reached 28.83, 4.33 and 2.88 times that of the control group, respectively. It was found that expressions of TFs such as CpERF105, CpMYB10 and CpWRKY28 increased significantly, while CpMYB44 and CpTGA2 decreased. These great changes might further make the expression of CpF3′H (flavonoid 3′-monooxygenase), CpFLS (flavonol synthase), CpLAR (leucoanthocyanidin reductase), CpANS (anthocyanidin synthase) and Cp4CL (4-coumarate coenzyme A ligase) increase while CpANR (anthocyanidin reductase) and CpF3′5′H (flavonoid 3′, 5′-hydroxylase) reduce, ultimately enhancing the polyphenols accumulation

Conclusion: The co-induction of 5-ALA and SA can significantly promote polyphenol biosynthesis in the cultured C. paliurus cells by regulating the expression of key transcription factors and structural genes associated with polyphenol synthesis, and thus has a promising application.
Geographically weighted linear combination test for gene-set analysis of a continuous spatial phenotype as applied to intratumor heterogeneity
Authors: Amini Payam , Hajihosseini Morteza , Pyne Saumyadipta , Dinu Irina
Published: March 2023

Background: The impact of gene-sets on a spatial phenotype is not necessarily uniform across different locations of cancer tissue. This study introduces a computational platform, GWLCT, for combining gene set analysis with spatial data modeling to provide a new statistical test for location-specific association of phenotypes and molecular pathways in spatial single-cell RNA-seq data collected from an input tumor sample.

Methods: The main advantage of GWLCT consists of an analysis beyond global significance, allowing the association between the gene-set and the phenotype to vary across the tumor space. At each location, the most significant linear combination is found using a geographically weighted shrunken covariance matrix and kernel function. Whether a fixed or adaptive bandwidth is determined based on a cross-validation cross procedure. Our proposed method is compared to the global version of linear combination test (LCT), bulk and random-forest based gene-set enrichment analyses using data created by the Visium Spatial Gene Expression technique on an invasive breast cancer tissue sample, as well as 144 different simulation scenarios.

Results: In an illustrative example, the new geographically weighted linear combination test, GWLCT, identifies the cancer hallmark gene-sets that are significantly associated at each location with the five spatially continuous phenotypic contexts in the tumors defined by different well-known markers of cancer-associated fibroblasts. Scan statistics revealed clustering in the number of significant gene-sets. A spatial heatmap of combined significance over all selected gene-sets is also produced. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that our proposed approach outperforms other methods in the considered scenarios, especially when the spatial association increases.

Conclusion: Our proposed approach considers the spatial covariance of gene expression to detect the most significant gene-sets affecting a continuous phenotype. It reveals spatially detailed information in tissue space and can thus play a key role in understanding the contextual heterogeneity of cancer cells.
Chronic hypoxia is associated with transcriptomic reprogramming and increased genomic instability in cancer cells
Authors: Abou Khouzam Raefa , Sharda Mohak , Rao Shyama Prasad , Kyerewah-Kersi Stephanie Maame , Zeinelabdin Nagwa Ahmed , Mahmood Ayda Shah , Nawafleh Husam , Khan Munazza Samar , Venkatesh Goutham Hassan , Chouaib Salem
Published: March 2023

Hypoxia afflicts the microenvironment of solid tumors fueling malignancy. We investigated the impact of long hypoxia exposure on transcriptional remodeling, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and genomic instability of cancer cells that were grouped based on their inherent sensitivity or resistance to hypoxia. A hypoxia score was used as a metric to distinguish between the most hypoxia-sensitive (hypoxia high (HH)), and most resistant (hypoxia low (HL)) cancer cells. By applying whole exome sequencing and microarray analysis, we showed that the HH group was indeed more sensitive to hypoxia, having significantly higher TMB (p = 0.03) and copy number losses (p = 0.03), as well as a trend of higher transcriptional response. Globally cells adapted by decreasing expression of genes involved in metabolism, proliferation, and protein maturation, and increasing alternative splicing. They accumulated mutations, especially frameshift insertions, and harbored increased copy number alterations, indicating increased genomic instability. Cells showing highest TMB simultaneously experienced a significant downregulation of DNA replication and repair and chromosomal maintenance pathways. A sixteen-gene common response to chronic hypoxia was put forth, including genes regulating angiogenesis and proliferation. Our findings show that chronic hypoxia enables survival of tumor cells by metabolic reprogramming, modulating proliferation, and increasing genomic instability. They additionally highlight key adaptive pathways that can potentially be targeted to prevent cancer cells residing in chronically hypoxic tumor areas from thriving.
SFRP1 induces a stem cell phenotype in prostate cancer cells
Authors: Losada-García Alberto , Salido-Guadarrama Iván , Cortes-Ramirez Sergio Alberto , Cruz-Burgos Marian , Morales-Pacheco Miguel , Vazquez-Santillan Karla , Rodriguez-Martinez Griselda , González-Ramírez Imelda , Gonzalez-Covarrubias Vanessa , Perez-Plascencia Carlos , Rodríguez-Dorantes Mauricio
Published: March 2023

Prostate cancer (PCa) ranks second in incidence and sixth in deaths globally. The treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) continues to be a significant clinical problem. Emerging evidence suggests that prostate cancer progression toward castration resistance is associated with paracrine signals from the stroma. SFRP1 is one of the extracellular proteins that modulate the WNT pathway, and it has been identified as a mediator of stromal epithelium communication. The WNT pathway is involved in processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, cell anchoring, apoptosis, and cell cycle regulation as well as the regulation of stem cell populations in the prostatic epithelium. In the present study, we explored the role of exogenous SFRP1 on the stem cell phenotype in prostate cancer. The results reveal that cancer stem cell markers are significantly increased by exogenous SFRP1 treatments, as well as the downstream target genes of the Wnt/-catenin pathway. The pluripotent transcription factors SOX2, NANOG, and OCT4 were also up-regulated. Furthermore, SFRP1 promoted prostate cancer stem cell (PCSC) properties in vitro, including tumorsphere formation, migration, bicalutamide resistance, and decreased apoptosis. Taken together, our results indicate that SFRP1 participates in the paracrine signaling of epithelial cells, influencing them and positively regulating the stem cell phenotype through deregulation of the WNT/β-catenin pathway, which could contribute to disease progression and therapeutic failure. This research increases our molecular understanding of how CRPC progresses, which could help us find new ways to diagnose and treat the disease.
Simultaneous quantitative chiral analysis of four isomers by ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry and artificial neural network
Authors: Shi Yingying , Zhou Ming , Kou Min , Zhang Kailin , Zhang Xianyi , Kong Xianglei
Published: March 2023

Although mass spectrometry (MS) has its unique advantages in speed, specificity and sensitivity, its application in quantitative chiral analysis aimed to determine the proportions of multiple chiral isomers is still a challenge. Herein, we present an artificial neural network (ANN) based approach for quantitatively analyzing multiple chiral isomers from their ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectra. Tripeptide of GYG and iodo-L-tyrosine have been applied as chiral references to fulfill the relative quantitative analysis of four chiral isomers of two dipeptides ofL/DHisL/DAla andL/DAspL/DPhe, respectively. The results show that the network can be well-trained with limited sets, and have a good performance in testing sets. This study shows the potential of the new method in rapid quantitative chiral analysis aimed at practical applications, with much room for improvement in the near future, including selecting better chiral references and improving machine learning methods.
Peroxidase-like MoS2/Ag nanosheets with synergistically enhanced NIR-responsive antibacterial activities
Authors: Chen Huiying , Zhao Xinshuo , Cui Bingbing , Cui Haohao , Zhao Mengyang , Shi Jun , Li Jingguo , Zhou Zhan
Published: March 2023

Pathogenic microbial infections have been threatening public health all over the world, which makes it highly desirable to develop an antibiotics-free material for bacterial infection. In this paper, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets loaded with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were constructed to inactive bacteria rapidly and efficiently in a short period under a near infrared (NIR) laser (660 nm) in the presence of H2O2. The designed material presented favorable features of peroxidase-like ability and photodynamic property, which endowed it with fascinating antimicrobial capacity. Compared with free MoS2 nanosheets, the MoS2/Ag nanosheets (denoted as MoS2/Ag NSs) exhibited better antibacterial performance against Staphylococcus aureus by the generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) from both peroxidase-like catalysis and photodynamic, and the antibacterial efficiency of MoS2/Ag NSs could be further improved by increasing the amount of Ag. Results from cell culture tests proved that MoS2/Ag3 nanosheets had a negligible impact on cell growth. This work provided new insight into a promising method for eliminating bacteria without using antibiotics, and could serve as a candidate strategy for efficient disinfection to treat other bacterial infections.
Effects of emergency/nonemergency cervical cerclage on the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women with cervical incompetence
Authors: Xiao Yunshan , Huang Shiting , Yu Weiwei , Ni Yan , Lu Danni , Wu Quanfeng , Leng Qin , Yang Ting , Ni Meilan , Xie Jingxian , Zhang Xueqin
Published: March 2023

Background

Evaluation of the therapeutic effects of cerclage on preterm birth (PTB) caused by cervical incompetence remains challenging. The vaginal microbiome is associated with preterm births. Thus, this study aimed to analyse the vaginal microbiota of patients with cervical incompetence, explore the relationship between the composition of the vaginal microbiota before cervical cerclage and at term delivery, and assess the effect of cervical cerclage on the vaginal microbiota.

Methods

Patients (n = 30) underwent cerclage performed by the same surgical team. Vaginal swabs were obtained pre-surgery and seven days post-surgery. A gestational age-matched cohort of healthy pregnant women (n = 20) (no particular abnormality during pregnancy, delivery at term) was used as the control group and sampled during a comparable pregnancy. All collected vaginal swabs were analysed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Results

When comparing the healthy control and cervical cerclage groups, the enriched microorganism in the healthy controls was G. Scardovia, and the enriched microorganism of the cerclage was G. Streptococcus. α diversity was significantly increased in patients who received cerclage with preterm delivery compared with those with full-term delivery, and the enriched microorganism was F. Enterococcus. A comparison before and after nonemergency cerclage suggested that the enriched microorganisms were G. Lactobacillus and F. Lactobacillaceae before surgery. After nonemergency cerclage, the enriched microorganisms were F. Enterobacteriaceae and C. Gammaproteobacteria. Vaginal microbiota diversity significantly increased, and the proportion of women with Lactobacillus spp.-depleted microbiomes increased after emergency cerclage. Significant differences in β diversity were found between the groups. Before the emergency cerclage, the enriched microorganisms were G. Lactobacillus, O. Alteromonadales, and P. Firmicutes. After emergency cerclage, the enriched microorganisms were P. Actinobacteria, C. Actinobacteria, P. Proteobacteria, F. Bifidobacteriaceae, O. Bifidobacteriales, G. Gardnerella, and G. Veillonella.

Conclusion

Cerclage (particularly emergency cerclage) may alter the vaginal microbiota by increasing microbiota diversity, decreasing vaginal Lactobacillus abundance, and increasing the abundance of pathogenic bacteria that are not conducive to pregnancy maintenance, thereby affecting surgical efficacy. Therefore, the role of the vaginal microbiome should be considered when developing treatment strategies for pregnant women with cervical incompetence.

Clinical trial registration

https://www.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2100046305.
The effect of argon cold atmospheric plasma on the metabolism and demineralization of oral plaque biofilms
Authors: Zhao Haowei , Wang Xu , Liu Zhuo , Wang Ye , Zou Ling , Chen Yu , Han Qi
Published: March 2023

Objective

The aim of this study was to design and optimize a cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) device that could be applied in an oral environment and to study its effects on plaque biofilm metabolism and regrowth, as well as microbial flora composition and enamel demineralization.

Method

CAP was obtained through a dielectric barrier discharge device; the optical properties were analyzed using emission spectroscopy. The electrochemical analysis of plasma devices includes voltametric characteristic curves and Lissajous. The Streptococcus mutans (UA159) and saliva biofilms were treated in vitro, and the effects of CAP on biofilm metabolism were investigated using MTT and lactate dehydrogenase assays. The duration of antibacterial activity on biofilms was examined, scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the morphology of biofilms, and 16S rRNA sequencing was used to explore the influence of CAP on the microbial flora composition of saliva biofilms. An in vitro model of biofilm-enamel demineralization was designed, and the effect of CAP on enamel demineralization was evaluated by micro surface hardness and micro-CT analysis.

Results

CAP had antibacterial proliferative ability toward Streptococcus mutans biofilms and saliva biofilms and was stronger than ultraviolet under the same tested conditions. After 24 h, the antibacterial effect disappeared, which proved the short-term timeliness of its bactericidal ability. CAP can inhibit the acid production of biofilms, and its inhibitory effect on saliva biofilms can be extended to 24 h. CAP had a strong ability to regulate the composition of plaque biofilms, especially for Lactococcus proliferation, a major acid-producing bacterium in microcosm biofilms. The CAP-treated enamels were more acid-tolerant than non-treated controls.

Conclusion

CAP had an explicit bactericidal effect on caries-related biofilms, which is a short-term antibacterial effect. It can inhibit the acid production of biofilms and has a downregulation effect on Lactococcus in saliva biofilms. CAP can help reduce demineralization of enamel.
Replication in the presence of dengue convalescent serum impacts Zika virus neutralization sensitivity and fitness
Authors: Marano Jeffrey M. , Weger-Lucarelli James
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Flaviviruses like dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) are mosquito-borne viruses that cause febrile, hemorrhagic, and neurological diseases in humans, resulting in 400 million infections annually. Due to their co-circulation in many parts of the world, flaviviruses must replicate in the presence of pre-existing adaptive immune responses targeted at serologically closely related pathogens, which can provide protection or enhance disease. However, the impact of pre-existing cross-reactive immunity as a driver of flavivirus evolution, and subsequently the implications on the emergence of immune escape variants, is poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated how replication in the presence of convalescent dengue serum drives ZIKV evolution.

Methods

We used an in vitro directed evolution system, passaging ZIKV in the presence of serum from humans previously infected with DENV (anti-DENV) or serum from DENV-naïve patients (control serum). Following five passages in the presence of serum, we performed next-generation sequencing to identify mutations that arose during passaging. We studied two non-synonymous mutations found in the anti-DENV passaged population (E-V355I and NS1-T139A) by generating individual ZIKV mutants and assessing fitness in mammalian cells and live mosquitoes, as well as their sensitivity to antibody neutralization.

Results and discussion

Both viruses had increased fitness in Vero cells with and without the addition of anti-DENV serum and in human lung epithelial and monocyte cells. In Aedes aegypti mosquitoes—using blood meals with and without anti-DENV serum—the mutant viruses had significantly reduced fitness compared to wild-type ZIKV. These results align with the trade-off hypothesis of constrained mosquito-borne virus evolution. Notably, only the NS1-T139A mutation escaped neutralization, while E-V335I demonstrated enhanced neutralization sensitivity to neutralization by anti-DENV serum, indicating that neutralization escape is not necessary for viruses passaged under cross-reactive immune pressures. Future studies are needed to assess cross-reactive immune selection in humans and relevant animal models or with different flaviviruses.
Mesenchymal stem cells: Emerging concepts and recent advances in their roles in organismal homeostasis and therapy
Authors: Liu Peisheng , An Yongqian , Zhu Ting , Tang Siyuan , Huang Xiaoyao , Li Shijie , Fu Fei , Chen Ji , Xuan Kun
Published: March 2023

Stem cells play a crucial role in re-establishing homeostasis in the body, and the search for mechanisms by which they interact with the host to exert their therapeutic effects remains a key question currently being addressed. Considering their significant regenerative/therapeutic potential, research on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has experienced an unprecedented advance in recent years, becoming the focus of extensive works worldwide to develop cell-based approaches for a variety of diseases. Initial evidence for the effectiveness of MSCs therapy comes from the restoration of dynamic microenvironmental homeostasis and endogenous stem cell function in recipient tissues by systemically delivered MSCs. The specific mechanisms by which the effects are exerted remain to be investigated in depth. Importantly, the profound cell-host interplay leaves persistent therapeutic benefits that remain detectable long after the disappearance of transplanted MSCs. In this review, we summarize recent advances on the role of MSCs in multiple disease models, provide insights into the mechanisms by which MSCs interact with endogenous stem cells to exert therapeutic effects, and refine the interconnections between MSCs and cells fused to damaged sites or differentiated into functional cells early in therapy.
Housing and choice in Iquique and Alto Hospicio, Chile: Possibilities and limitations regarding the 2030 agenda and SDG 11
Authors: Alvarado Peterson Voltaire , Rojo-Mendoza Félix
Published: March 2023

Access to housing, more than an enforceable right, has become a multidimensional problem in Chile. Faced with the impossibility of obtaining housing through subsidies, informal settlements—camps and land grabs—have expanded through the country's different cities since 2019. Given the evident collision with the Sustainable Development Goals (in particular Goal 11) commitments to sustainable cities, the Chilean State has increased its housing budget since 2020 to reactivate investment during the COVID-19 pandemic and expand the housing access alternatives for lower-class families with few possibilities chances of obtaining a bank mortgage. But is it possible to choose housing in contexts like the one described? In addition to environmental difficulties, cities in northern Chile, wedged between the sea and the desert, need to produce a socially sustainable environment in accordance with the requirements of complex, dynamic systems under permanent pressure to generate wellbeing. This manuscript seeks to explore and analyze these tensions in the cities of Iquique and Alto Hospicio, in Chile's Tarapacá Region. They form a dynamic conurbation, where daily mobility and the dispute over access to housing clash with the choice offered by the different subsidy programs and the expansion of camps on the edges of the desert. So, how far or how close is SDG 11 in places like these? Is there a viable alternative for urban sustainability in precarious spaces?
Self-paced heart rate control for treadmill exercise
Authors: Wang Hanjie , Hunt Kenneth J.
Published: March 2023

Introduction: With conventional heart rate (HR) control systems, the exercising person is bound to walk or run at a pace determined by the feedback. This may be challenging for people with impairments that make it difficult for them to achieve a smooth, continuous pace. The aim of this work was to assess the technical feasibility of a novel self-paced heart rate control strategy and to compare its accuracy with conventional heart rate control.

Methods: We propose a self-paced heart rate control system that embeds an automatic positioning controller within the heart rate control loop. The treadmill speed command is decoupled from the heart rate compensator, whereas speed is determined by the exerciser’s own volition: target speed is displayed visually to the person and, when they try to follow this target, the position controller sets the treadmill speed while keeping the person at a safe reference position on the track. A further novel contribution of this work is a new input-sensitivity-shaping, frequency-domain design strategy for feedback control of position.

Results: Experimental evaluation with four participants showed that self-paced heart rate control is technically feasible: all participants were able to accurately follow the target running speed calculated by the HR compensator and presented to them visually; for all four participants, self-paced HR tracking accuracy was not substantially different from conventional HR control performance; on average, the self-paced heart rate controller gave slightly better performance than conventional HR control, with RMS tracking error of 2.98 beats per minute (bpm) vs 3.11 bpm and higher average control signal power.

Conclusion: The proposed self-paced heart rate control strategy with embedded automatic position control is deemed feasible. This approach may be helpful for people with gait impairments or other limitations that make it difficult for them to follow an imposed treadmill speed.
Risk investigation of in-stent restenosis after initial implantation of intracoronary drug-eluting stent in patients with coronary heart disease
Authors: Xi Hongfei , Liu Jiasi , Xu Tao , Li Zhe , Mou Xuanting , Jin Yu , Xia Shudong
Published: March 2023

Objective

To analyze the risk factors of in-stent restenosis (ISR) after the first implantation of drug-eluting stent (DES) patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and to establish a nomogram model to predict the risk of ISR.

Methods

This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with CHD who underwent DES treatment for the first time at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2016 to June 2020. Patients were divided into an ISR group and a non-ISR (N-ISR) group according to the results of coronary angiography. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was performed on the clinical variables to screen out the characteristic variables. Then we constructed the nomogram prediction model using conditional multivariate logistic regression analysis combined with the clinical variables selected in the LASSO regression analysis. Finally, the decision curve analysis, clinical impact curve, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and calibration curve were used to evaluate the nomogram prediction model's clinical applicability, validity, discrimination, and consistency. And we double-validate the prediction model using ten-fold cross-validation and bootstrap validation.

Results

In this study, hypertension, HbA1c, mean stent diameter, total stent length, thyroxine, and fibrinogen were all predictive factors for ISR. We successfully constructed a nomogram prediction model using these variables to quantify the risk of ISR. The AUC value of the nomogram prediction model was 0.806 (95%CI: 0.739–0.873), indicating that the model had a good discriminative ability for ISR. The high quality of the calibration curve of the model demonstrated the strong consistency of the model. Moreover, the DCA and CIC curve showed the model's high clinical applicability and effectiveness.

Conclusions

Hypertension, HbA1c, mean stent diameter, total stent length, thyroxine, and fibrinogen are important predictors for ISR. The nomogram prediction model can better identify the high-risk population of ISR and provide practical decision-making information for the follow-up intervention in the high-risk population.
Screening approaches to cardiac amyloidosis in different clinical settings: Current practice and future perspectives
Authors: Caponetti Angelo Giuseppe , Accietto Antonella , Saturi Giulia , Ponziani Alberto , Sguazzotti Maurizio , Massa Paolo , Giovannetti Alessandro , Ditaranto Raffaello , Parisi Vanda , Leone Ornella , Guaraldi Pietro , Cortelli Pietro , Gagliardi Christian , Longhi Simone , Galiè Nazzareno , Biagini Elena
Published: March 2023

Cardiac amyloidosis is a serious and progressive infiltrative disease caused by the deposition of amyloid fibrils in the heart. In the last years, a significant increase in the diagnosis rate has been observed owing to a greater awareness of its broad clinical presentation. Cardiac amyloidosis is frequently associated to specific clinical and instrumental features, so called “red flags”, and it appears to occur more commonly in particular clinical settings such as multidistrict orthopedic conditions, aortic valve stenosis, heart failure with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction, arrhythmias, plasma cell disorders. Multimodality approach and new developed techniques such PET fluorine tracers or artificial intelligence may contribute to strike up extensive screening programs for an early recognition of the disease.
How language can be used to promote gender equality in geoscience
Authors: Nardini Olga , Bandecchi Anna Elisa , Tofani Veronica , Intrieri Emanuele
Published: March 2023

Gender inequality is detrimental to individuals and ultimately to organizations. Furthermore, addressing this issue will become more important to be eligible for research funds, as already occurs in Europe. Since language shapes the way we think, some simple changes in the words we use daily in geoscience and in other academic fields could promote gender equality. Journal editorial boards could adopt similar measures to foster such changes in the geoscience community.
Views and experiences of using advanced technologies in higher education of healthcare professionals: A systematic mixed-method review
Authors: Atout Maha , Nalubega Sylivia
Published: March 2023

Introduction

While it is highly recommended to adopt technology in higher education of healthcare professionals, user experiences have not been widely studied. This review investigates the experience of using technology within healthcare higher education, in an attempt to gather useful insights into how use of such technologies can be improved.

Methods

Both quantitative and qualitative data was used for this mixed-method review.

Results

The findings revealed many benefits associated with technology use, which included; improved clinical competency, improved overall quality of education and improved peer networking. However, there were numerous factors which hindered the widespread adoption of advanced technology. These factors included; the high costs involved, a lack of adequate equipment and a lack of understanding in such technology.

Discussion

While the use of advanced technology for the training of healthcare professionals is generally embraced, it is not without problems. It is necessary for institutions to offer relevant and accessible support to both students and teachers, in order to improve the use of such technology in teaching and learning practice.
Conceptualizations and instructional strategies on critical thinking in higher education: A systematic review of systematic reviews
Authors: Andreucci-Annunziata Paola , Riedemann Andrea , Cortés Susana , Mellado Augusto , del Río María Teresa , Vega-Muñoz Alejandro
Published: March 2023

Aim

This systematic review identified systematic reviews of quantitative and qualitative empirical studies on the promotion and development of critical thinking in higher education students that allowed us to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the main definitions of critical thinking found in systematic reviews of critical thinking in higher education, and what are their similarities and differences? and (2) What are the most commonly used teaching strategies in higher education for teaching or promoting critical thinking, and how effective have they proven to be?

Methods

Systematic reviews were selected according to the guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyzes (PRISMA, 2020) and the eligibility criteria proposed by the PICOS strategy (population, interventions, comparators, outcomes and study design), based on 23 records of scientifically identified registers in the Journal Citation Report databases of the Web of Science.

Results

The bibliometric and systematic search of reviews of empirical studies on the topic allowed the selection of five systematic reviews. The results highlighted that conceptually critical thinking is related to both dispositions and skills, and that although there is no consensus on its definition, it is established that it is a higher-order cognitive process that can be trained. However, the results show that more studies have been conducted considering critical thinking as a skill than as a disposition, that the immersion approach has been widely used, and that some instructional strategies have shown greater effectiveness than others when the disciplines are evaluated independently.

Discussion

Despite the relative consensus on the importance of critical thinking for professional development in higher education, this review highlights some difficulties in conceptualizing critical thinking, in the relationship between dispositions and skills, and in its assessment in academic disciplines.
Prediction model for gestational diabetes mellitus using the XG Boost machine learning algorithm
Authors: Hu Xiaoqi , Hu Xiaolin , Yu Ya , Wang Jia
Published: March 2023

Objective

To develop the extreme gradient boosting (XG Boost) machine learning (ML) model for predicting gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared with a model using the traditional logistic regression (LR) method.

Methods

A case–control study was carried out among pregnant women, who were assigned to either the training set (these women were recruited from August 2019 to November 2019) or the testing set (these women were recruited in August 2020). We applied the XG Boost ML model approach to identify the best set of predictors out of a set of 33 variables. The performance of the prediction model was determined by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) to assess discrimination, and the Hosmer–Lemeshow (HL) test and calibration plots to assess calibration. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was introduced to evaluate the clinical use of each of the models.

Results

A total of 735 and 190 pregnant women were included in the training and testing sets, respectively. The XG Boost ML model, which included 20 predictors, resulted in an AUC of 0.946 and yielded a predictive accuracy of 0.875, whereas the model using a traditional LR included four predictors and presented an AUC of 0.752 and yielded a predictive accuracy of 0.786. The HL test and calibration plots show that the two models have good calibration. DCA indicated that treating only those women whom the XG Boost ML model predicts are at risk of GDM confers a net benefit compared with treating all women or treating none.

Conclusions

The established model using XG Boost ML showed better predictive ability than the traditional LR model in terms of discrimination. The calibration performance of both models was good.
Ownership structure and air pollution: The mediation effect of energy efficiency
Authors: Le Yang , Zhang Yifei , Chen Bo , Meng Chunyun , Ma Yinghui
Published: March 2023

There is no consensus on whether state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or privately-owned enterprises (POEs) pollute more. This study explores the impact of ownership on pollution emission intensity using micro-data from Chinese industrial enterprises. From the perspective of energy efficiency, the mechanism of ownership affecting pollution emissions is explored further. Research results show that the pollution emission intensity of SOEs is significantly higher than that of POEs. The underlying reason is the low energy efficiency of SOEs, and energy efficiency plays an important mediating role in the relationship between ownership and pollution emissions. Among industrial waste gas, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and dust emissions, energy efficiency plays the largest mediating effect between ownership and NOx emissions. Additionally, in both high-polluting and low-polluting industries, SOEs’ pollutant emission intensity is higher than that of POEs, however, the mediation effect of energy efficiency is greater in low-polluting industries. In cities with high growth pressure, SOEs’ pollutant emission intensity is more significant than that of POEs. On the contrary, there are no noticeable differences in pollutant emission intensity between SOEs and POEs in cities with low growth pressure. But the mediation effect of energy efficiency is more significant in cities with high growth pressure. Industrial enterprises are the ultimate sources of industrial pollution. Therefore, the formulation of effective environmental policies cannot be separated from the analysis of enterprises’ emission behaviors and the assessment of micro factors affecting emissions. The conclusions of this study provide a basis for developing countries to formulate environmental policies for industrial enterprises.
Surface irrigation potential assessment of Chacha River Watershed, Jemma subbasin of upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia
Authors: Getahun Yitea Seneshaw , Gebremedhn Abrha Ybeyn , Lemma Estifanos , Tesfay Fikrey , Tadesse Solomon Ayele
Published: March 2023

Introduction: Evaluation of water availability and land suitability for surface irrigation practice is crucial for a country like Ethiopia whose livelihood is highly dependent on seasonal rainfed agriculture, which is susceptible to climate change and has a large population suffering from food insecurity.

Methods: In this study, several factors, such as slope, land use land cover, rainfall, proximities to (market centers, roads, and rivers), and soil factors (i.e., pH, organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, electrical conductivity, available water storage capacity, drainage, depth, texture, and soil type) were considered. The data were entered and analyzed using the GIS tool and multicriteria analysis of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the suitable area for surface irrigation in the Chacha Watershed. Subsequently, a CROPWAT tool was used to check the water requirement of the dominant crops grown in the study watershed, while a flow duration curve of 90-percentile exceedance frequency of monthly average streamflow was carried out to identify the minimum available water flow in the Chacha River.

Results and Discussion: The findings of the suitability assessment revealed that 13336.5 ha (11.8%), 58357.4 ha (51.6%), 37588.1 ha (33.2 %), and 3887.9 ha (3.4 %) of lands found in the study watershed are highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable, and unsuitable for surface irrigation, respectively. The crop water requirement was estimated to be 7 l/s per hectare, and the minimum available water flow was estimated at 87 l/s which can potentially irrigate about 9280 ha of land with an average of 10 days of the watering interval using surface irrigation. However, the currently irrigated land in the study watershed was found to be 2159.8 ha implying that the existing surface irrigation practice is quite limited in the watershed though water availability is not a limiting factor. Hence, the government and other concerned bodies should exhaustively work to develop irrigation projects and practices to maximally utilize the available water and suitable land resources to enhance agricultural productivity. In return, it ameliorates the livelihoods of the communities and thereby helps ensure food security in the study watershed.