bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validation of the Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes Defined by International Consensus Classification
Authors: Lee Wan-Hsuan , Tsai Ming-Tao , Tsai Cheng-Hong , Tien Feng-Ming , lo ming-yen , Tseng Mei-Hsuan , Kuo Yuan-Yeh , Liu Ming-Chih , Chen Jui-Che , Yang Yi-Tsung , Tang Jih-Luh , Sun Hsun-I , Chuang Yi-Kuang , Lin Liang-In , Chou Wen-Chien , Lin Chien-Chin , Hou Hsin-An , Tien Hwei-Fang
Published: March 2023

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have varied prognoses and require a risk-adapted treatment strategy for treatment optimization. Recently, a molecular prognostic model (Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System [IPSS-M]) that combines clinical parameters, cytogenetic abnormalities, and mutation topography was proposed. This study validated the IPSS-M in 649 patients with primary MDS (based on the 2022 International Consensus Classification [ICC]) and compared its prognostic power to those of the IPSS and revised IPSS (IPSS-R). Overall, 42.5% of the patients were reclassified and 29.3% were up-staged from the IPSS-R. After the reclassification, 16.9% of the patients may receive different treatment strategies. The IPSS-M had greater discriminative potential than the IPSS-R and IPSS. Patients with high, or very high-risk IPSS-M might benefit from allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. IPSS-M, age, ferritin level, and the 2022 ICC categorization predicted outcomes independently. After analyzing demographic and genetic features, complementary genetic analyses, including KMT2A-PTD, were suggested for accurate IPSS-M categorization of patients with ASXL1, TET2, STAG2, RUNX1, SF3B1, SRSF2, DNMT3A, U2AF1, and BCOR mutations and those classified as MDS, not otherwise specified with single lineage dysplasia/multi-lineage dysplasia based on the 2022 ICC. This study confirmed that the IPSS-M can better risk-stratified MDS patients for optimized therapeutic decision-making.
New Loci Relating to Rice Tiller Angle Traits Discovery Through Genome-wide Association Analysis
Authors: Gui Jinxin , Luo Xinyang , Yan Yuntao , He Xi , Zhang Haiqing , He Jiwai
Published: March 2023

Tiller angle (TA) is one of the most important agronomic traits which directly affected plant architecture, photosynthetic efficiency, and planting density of rice. Although many quantitative trait loci (QTL) and associated genes for TA have been identified, the detection of QTL for TA still required emphasis. In this study, 238 micro-core germplasm populations were used for genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of the TA. The frequency distribution of TA was shown to be continuous in 2018 and 2019, five QTL designated as qTA1, qTA2, qTA6, qTA9, qTA12, and two QTL designated as qTA1, qTA1 were detected in 2018 and 2019, respectively. These QTL explained phenotypic variation ranged from 5.94–12.38%. Among them, qTA2 and qTA6 are new QTL for TA, and only qTA1 was detected repeatedly in two years. 253 germplasm from the 3K Rice Genome Project were used for candidate gene and haplotypes analysis, the candidate gene and haplotypes analyzed showed LOC_Os01g67770, LOC_Os02g35180 and LOC_Os09g38130 were the candidate gene of qTA1, qTA2, and qTA9, respectively. The results of this study provide insight into the genetic improvement of plant architecture in rice.
Glipizide alleviates periodontitis pathogenicity via inhibition of angiogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, and M1/M2 macrophage ratio in periodontal tissue
Authors: Ge Qing , Guo Xueqi , Yang Luxi , Huang Zhijun , Liang Dongliang , Huang Yinyin , Jiang Yiqing , Pathak Janak L. , Wang Lijing , Ge Linhu
Published: March 2023

New consensus indicates type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and periodontitis as comorbidity and may share common pathways of disease progression. Sulfonylureas have been reported to improve the periodontal status in periodontitis patients. Glipizide, a sulfonylurea widely used in the treatment of T2DM, has also been reported to inhibit inflammation and angiogenesis. However, the effect of Glipizide on periodontitis pathogenicity has not been investigated yet. We developed ligature-induced periodontitis in mice and treated with different concentrations of glipizide. Periodontal tissue status, alveolar bone loss, and osteoclast numbers were analyzed. Immunohistochemistry, RT-qPCR, and ELISA analyzed the inflammatory cells' infiltration and angiogenesis. Transwell assay and Western bolt analyzed macrophage migration and polarization. 16S rRNA sequencing analyzed the effect of glipizide on the oral microbial flora. mRNA sequencing of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) stimulated byP. gingivalislipopolysaccharide (Pg-LPS) after treatment with glipizide was analyzed. Glipizide reduced alveolar bone resorption, periodontal tissue degeneration, and the number of osteoclasts in periodontitis-affected periodontal tissue (PAPT). Glipizide-treated periodontitis mice showed reduced micro-vessel density and leukocyte/macrophage infiltration in PAPT. Glipizide significantly inhibited osteoclast differentiation in vitro experiments. Glipizide treatment did not affect the oral microbiome of periodontitis mice. mRNA sequencing and KEGG analysis showed that glipizide activated PI3K/AKT signaling in LPS-stimulated BMMs. Glipizide inhibited the LPS-induced migration of BMMs but promoted M2/M1 macrophage ratio in LPS-induced BMMs via activation of PI3K/AKT signaling. In conclusion, glipizide inhibits angiogenesis, macrophage inflammatory phenotype, and osteoclastogenesis to alleviate periodontitis pathogenicity suggesting its’ possible application in the treatment of periodontitis and diabetes comorbidity.
Comprehensive next-generation sequencing (NGS) reveals multiple primary colorectal carcinoma (MPCC)
Authors: Qu Yanjun , Wang Bo , Zhang Feng , Pan Evenki , Yang Peng , Zhang Qianshi , Fang Liping
Published: March 2023

Multiple primary colorectal carcinoma (MPCC) is a rare clinical disease, which is difficult to distinguish from metastatic disease by histopathological approaches. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) have been applied to solve the problem of identifying multiple primary cancers. In the study, a rare case of a 63-year-old male patient was diagnosed with MPCC by targeted NGS, which was firstly missed diagnosed by radiological evaluation. The separated two tumors on the surface of the colorectal shared no same genomic alterations. Based on the wild-type KRAS detected in the unresected tumor, the patient benefited from the EGFR inhibitor (cetuximab), but developed novel mutations including KIF5B-RET fusion, which provides possible resistance mechanism to anti-EGFR therapy. Our case highlights the necessity of using genetic testing for primary tumor diagnosis and the application of serial plasma ctDNA profiling for dynamic disease monitoring.
Identifying and optimizing key areas provide insights for landscape ecological planning: A case study in Guangxi, China
Authors: Wang Luying , Su Kai , Liang Xiaofei , Jiang Xuebing , Wang Jiping , Li Chuang , Chang Shihui , You Yongfa , Wei Changwen , Zhang Yiming , Liao Zhihong
Published: March 2023

Context A crucial step in achieving sustainable development is identifying and safeguarding critical natural asset sites.
Objectives Improving spatial connectivity and accessibility by optimizing the distribution and spatial structure of key sites is an effective strategy to achieve environmental preservation and economic development.
Methods Guangxi was chosen as the research area. The Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) was used to determine the ecological source. A comprehensive resistance evaluation index system for ecological source land expansion was created using the multifactor integrated decision-making method. The internal defects of the initial ecological network were extracted using the minimum cumulative resistance model and circuit theory and the priority areas for restoration and protection were determined with clear spatial positions.
Results 168 ecological barriers, 83 ecological pinch points and 71 ecological stepping stones were selected as priority areas for protection and restoration. The total area of priority area is 22090.009km2. After optimization, there are 332 new ecological sources and the number of ecological corridors has increased from 1,219 to 2,078. The ecological corridor is 23922.071 km in total. The GEP of the optimized structure increased by 13.338% compared to that of the unoptimized structure. The connectivity of the optimized ecological network structure is obviously improved., and it has better resistance and resilience to random attacks and malicious attacks.
Conclusions This study attempts to identify key sites of ecological assets and the priority regions of restoration and conservation with genuine geographical location, and reference material for regional ecological network optimization and implementation.
Genome-wide association study of Klebsiella pneumoniae urinary tract infection in Taiwanese patients identifies potential genetic risk factors
Authors: Chen Chi-Sheng , Hung Kuo-Sheng , J Ming-Jr , Chung Hsing-Yi , Chang Chih-Kai , Perng Cherng-Lih , Chen Hsiang-Cheng , Chang Feng-Yee , Wang Chih-Hung , Hung Yi-Jen , Shang Hung-Sheng
Published: March 2023

Background Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most common bacterial infections worldwide, andKlebsiella pneumoniae(K. pneumoniae) UTI are a notable issue worldwide, especially in Taiwan. This is not only because of the association with immunocompromised patients, but also because of the issue of antibiotic resistance caused byK. pneumoniae. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify possible risk factors in the genomes of Taiwanese patients withK. pneumoniaeUTI using genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Methods Genotyping results were collected from participants recruited from Tri-Service General Hospital who had a medical history of urinary tract infection and joined the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative (TPMI). A case-control study was designed using GWAS to identify possible susceptibility single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in patients withK. pneumoniaeinfected UTI. The corresponding genes were identified using the genome browser, and their expression profiles were confirmed using the GTEx database. To determine the relationship between these genes and biological function, molecular pathway and diseases, we also searched the GO, Rectome, DisGeNET, and MalacCards databases. Results The GWAS analysis identified 11 variants with a higher odds ratio than the control groups. These variants are involved in adhesion, protein depolymerization, Ca2+-activated potassium channels, SUMOylation, and protein ubiquitination, which might further impact the host immune response. Disease association analysis based on these risk variants also revealed several diseases that were compatible with the medical histories of the included patients. Conclusion This GWAS study based on the Taiwanese population suggests the idea that some risk variants may be associated withK. pneumoniaeinfection by affecting various molecular functions that could impact host immunity. Further studies and follow-up are required to clarify the impact of these risk variants on infectious diseases.
Implementation of Evolutionary Algorithms on Day Ahead Demand Side Management With Unit Commitment
Authors: Rajesh K. , Visali N
Published: March 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Expectations of clients, insurers, and providers: A qualitative responsiveness assessment among private health insurance sector in Kampala-Uganda
Authors: Tindyebwa Tonny , Ssempala Richard , Senyonjo Aloysius , Mayora Chrispus , Muhoozi Micheal , Tusabe Joan , Mukama Paul , Freddie Ssengooba
Published: March 2023

Background
There is less attention on assessing how health services meet the expectations of private health insurance actors in developing countries. During contractual negotiations, duties, obligations and privileges of the client, insurer and the provider in a health insurance arrangement are stipulated. Interdependently, service roles are ideally supposed to be performed while complementing each actor’s efforts aimed at meeting their expectations. This study assessed how these expectations were met to inform the nature of support to extend to Uganda’s intended national health insurance scheme.
Methods
This study employed a qualitative case-study design. Ten (10) Focus group discussions (FGDs) with insured clients and eleven (11) Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with Insurer and Provider liaison officers between October to February 2021 were conducted. Participants were purposively selected from eligible institutions. Thematic analysis was employed, and findings were presented using themes with corresponding anonymized narratives and quotes.
Results
Client-Provider, Client-Insurer and Provider-Insurer expectations were generally not met. Client-Provider expectations; Although most facilities were clean with a conducive care environment, clients experienced low service care responsiveness characterized by long waiting time. Both clients and providers received inadequate feedback about services they received and delivered respectively in addition to prompt care being received by a few clients. For Client-insurer expectations; under unclear service packages, clients received low quality medicines. Lastly, for provider-insurer expectations; delayed payments, selective periodic assessments, and inadequate orientation of clients on insurance plans were most reported. Weak coordination between the Client-Provider and Insurer did not support delivery processes for quality service.
Conclusion
Health care service responsiveness was generally low. There is need for committing resources to support setting up of clearer service package orientation programs, and efficient monitoring and feedback platforms. Uganda’s proposed National Health Insurance Act may use these findings to inform its design initiatives that will focus on operating under realistic expectations, investment in quality improvement systems and client care relationships while using well calibrated accountability tools.
A noble objective method for discriminating pathological and physiological colorectal uptake in the lower abdominal region using whole-body dynamic 18F-FDG-PET
Authors: Kato Toyohiro , Ichikawa Hajime , Shibutani Takayuki , Kita Akinobu , Watanabe Masanori , Tada Hiroomi , Sugiura Akie
Published: March 2023

Objectives To investigate whether the center-of-mass shift distance (CMSD) analysis on whole-body dynamic positron emission tomography (WBD-PET) with continuous bed motion was an objective index for discriminating pathological and physiological colorectal uptake in the lower abdominal region.
Methods We retrospectively analyzed the CMSD in 39 patients who underwent delayed imaging to detect focal uptake that were difficult to determine as pathological and physiological on an conventional early PET (early) image reconstructed by five-phase WBD-PET images. The CMSD between each phase of WBD-PET images and between early to delayed (early–delayed) images were classified into pathological and physiological uptake groups based on endoscopic histology or other imaging diagnostics. The diagnostic performance of CMSD analysis on WBD-PET images was evaluated by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis and compared to that of early–delayed images.
Results A total of 66 focal uptake detected early image were classified into 17 and 49 pathological and physiological uptake groups, respectively. The CMSD on WBD-PET and early–delayed images in the pathological uptake group was significantly lower than that in the physiological uptake group (p < 0.01), respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in CMSD analysis on WBD-PET images at the optimal cutoff of 5.2 mm estimated by the Youden index were 94.7%, 89.4%, and 89.4%, respectively, which were not significantly different (p = 0.74) from those of early–delayed images.
Conclusions The CMSD analysis on WBD-PET was useful in discriminating pathological and physiologicalcolorectal uptake in the lower abdominal region, and its diagnostic performance is comparable to that of early–delayed images. We suggested that CMSD analysis on WBD-PET images would be a new objective method to omit unnecessary additional delay imaging.
Aqueous leaf extract of Phyllanthus amarus protects against oxidative stress and misfiring of dopaminergic neurons in Paraquat-induced Parkinson’s disease-like model of adult Wistar rats
Authors: Enemali Felix , Iteire Kingsley Afoke , Uwejigho Raphael Eguono , Ogunberi Blessing
Published: March 2023

Background of the study: Phyllanthus amarus has high nutritional value and is beneficial in managing and treating diverse ailments. This study assessed the role of aqueous leaf extract of Phyllanthus amarus on Paraquat (PQ) induced neurotoxicity in the substantia nigra of Wistar rats.
Materials and methods: The role of aqueous leaves extract of Phyllanthus amarus was assessed using an open field test (OFT) for motor activity, oxidative stress biomarkers [Catalase (CAT), and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD)], histological examination (H and E stained) for cytoarchitectural changes and immunohistochemical studies using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) as a marker for dopaminergic neurons. Forty-two (42) rats were categorized into six groups (n = 7); group 1: control was administered 0.5 ml/kg distilled water, group 2: received 10 mg/kg PQ + 10 mg/kg L‑dopa as reference drug, group 3; received 10 mg/kg PQ, while group 4: received 10 mg/kg PQ + 200 mg/kg P. amarus, group 5: received 10 mg/kg PQ + 300 mg/kg P. amarus, and group 6: received 10 mg/kg PQ + 400 mg/kg P. amarus respectively, for 14 days. All administrations were done orally; a significant difference was set at p<0.05.
Results and discussion: The study's open field test (OFT) revealed no motor activity deficit with Paraquat (PQ) exposure. Also, cytoarchitectural distortions were not observed with Paraquat (PQ) only treatment group compared to the control and other groups pretreated with P. amarus and L-dopa. Moreover, the Paraquat (PQ) only treatment group showed oxidative stress by significantly decreasing the antioxidant enzyme (SOD) compared to the control and L-dopa pretreated group. A significant decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expressing dopaminergic neurons was also observed in Paraquat (PQ) only treatment. However, P. amarus treatment showed therapeutic properties by significantly increasing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expressing dopaminergic neuron levels relative to control.
Conclusion:Aqueous leaf extract of Phyllanthus amarus possesses therapeutic properties against Paraquat (PQ) induced changes in the substantia nigra of Wistar rats.
Data collection in pandemic times: the case of the Belgian COVID-19 Health surveys
Authors: Braekman Elise , Charafeddine Rana , Berete Finaba , Bruggeman Helena , Drieskens Sabine , Gisle Lydia , Hermans Lize , Heyden Johan Van der , Demarest Stefaan
Published: March 2023

Background
Survey data were needed to assess the mental and social health, health related behaviors and compliance with preventive measures of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the pandemic challenged classical survey methods. Time and budgetary constraints at the beginning of the pandemic led to ad hoc recruitment of participants and easily manageable data collection modes. This paper describes the methodological choices and results in terms of participation for the COVID-19 health surveys conducted in Belgium.
Methods
The COVID-19 health surveys refer to a series of ten non-probabilistic web surveys organized between April 2020 and March 2022. The applied recruitment strategies were diverse including, amongst others, a launch through the website and the social media of the organizing research institute. In addition, the survey links were shared in articles published in the national press and participants were requested to share the surveys in their network. Furthermore, participants were asked consent to be recontacted for next survey editions using e-mail invitations.
Results
These mixed approaches allowed to reach a substantial number of participants per edition ranging from 49339 in survey 1 to 13882 in survey 10. In addition, a longitudinal component was created; a large share of the same individuals were followed up over time; 12599 participants completed at least 5 surveys. There were, however, sex, age, educational level and regional differences in participation. Post-stratification weighting on socio-demographic factors was applied to at least partly take this into account.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 health surveys allowed rapid data collection after the onset of the pandemic. Data from these non-probability web surveys had their limitations in terms of representativeness due to self-selection but were an important information source as there were few alternatives. Moreover, by following-up the same individuals over time it was possible to study the effect of the different crisis phases on, amongst others, the mental health. It is important to draw lessons from these experiences: initiatives in order to create a survey infrastructure better equipped for future crises are needed.
Primary Systemic Amyloidosis Characterized by Multiple Keratinous Cysts: A Case Report
Authors: Lu Xiaoou , Fu Weiwei , Xie Demin , Zhang Jiali , Wang Da , Sun Yu , Chen Hongquan
Published: March 2023

Primary systemic amyloidosis (PSA) is a systemic disease caused by amyloid deposition in various tissues and organs. In the early stages of the disease, approximately 40% of patients have skin damage, which may be the only clinical manifestation. This report described the case of a 67-year-old male with PSA who presented with characteristic cutaneous manifestations. Physical examination showed seborrheic keratotic-like plaques around the orbit, purpura and ecchymosis on the neck and dorsum manus, as well as nail dystrophy. An auxiliary examination indicated a 24-h urine protein content of 2.89 g, and serum immunoelectrophoresis showed a monoclonal λ light chain. Echocardiography showed decreased left ventricular diastolic function and mild pulmonary hypertension. The dermoscopic features were multiple comedo-like openings and milia-like cysts. Histopathology showed multiple keratinous cysts in the dermis and eosinophilic, acellular, homogenous material in the dermis that was Congo red-positive. The diagnosis was confirmed through biopsy of skin lesions and kidney.Skin lesions of this case are rare.Skin lesions around the orbit need to arouse the vigilance of dermatologists. PSA should be considered if the patient with multisystemic symptoms.Skin biopsy and Congo red staining were very important for early diagnosis of PSA.
Measuring severe obesity in pediatrics: A cohort study
Authors: Ball Geoff DC , Sharma Atul K , Moore Sarah A , Metzger Dan L , Klein Doug , Morrison Katherine M
Published: March 2023

Purpose: To examine cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between body mass index (BMI)-derived metrics for measuring severe obesity (SO) using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) references and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents.
Methods: In this cohort study completed from 2013 to 2021, we examined data from 3- to 18-year-olds enrolled in the CANadian Pediatric Weight management Registry. Anthropometric data were used to create nine BMI-derived metrics based on the CDC and WHO references. Cardiometabolic risk factors were examined, including dysglycemia, dyslipidemia, and elevated blood pressure. Analyses included intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and receiver operator characteristic area-under-the-curve (ROC AUC).
Results: Our sample included 1,288 participants (n=666 [51.7%] girls; n=874 [67.9%] white), with SO of 59.9–67.0%. ICCs revealed high tracking (0.90–0.94) for most BMI-derived metrics. ROC AUC analyses showed CDC and WHO metrics discriminated the presence of cardiometabolic risk factors, which improved with increasing numbers of risk factors. Overall, most BMI-derived metrics rated poorly in identifying presence of cardiometabolic risk factors.
Conclusion: CDC BMI percent of the 95th percentile and WHO BMIz performed similarly as measures of SO, suggesting both can be used for clinical care and research in pediatrics. The latter definition may be particularly useful for clinicians and researchers from countries that recommend using the WHO growth reference.
A nomogram for predicting the risk of new vertebral compression fracture after percutaneous kyphoplasty
Authors: Zhang Aiqi , Lin Yichen , Kong Mingxiang , Chen Jiahao , Gao Wei , Fan Jiajun , Wang Junjie , Chen Zhe
Published: March 2023

Background
New vertebral compression fractures (NVCFs) are common adverse events in percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP). The present study aimed to investigate risk factors for NVCFs in patients after PKP and to construct a nomogram for prediction of the risk of re-fracture.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed medical records of patients after PKP surgery between January 2017 and December 2020. Patients were divided into an NVCF group (n = 225) and a control group (n = 94) based on the presence or absence of NVCFs at follow-up within 2 years after surgery. Lasso regression was used to screen for risk factors for re-fracture. Based on the results, a Lasso-logistic regression model was developed, and its prediction performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves, calibration, and decision curve analysis. The model was visualized, and a nomogram was constructed.
Results
A total of eight potential predictors were obtained from Lasso screening. Advanced age, low body mass index, low bone mineral density, lack of anti-osteoporosis treatment, low preoperative vertebral body height, vertebral body height recovery ≥ 2, cement leakage, and poor cement distribution were included in the logistic regression model.
Conclusions
A nomogram for predicting postoperative NVCF in PKP was developed and validated. This model can be used for rational assessment of the magnitude of the risk of developing NVCFs after PKP, and can help orthopedic surgeons make clinical decisions aimed at reducing the occurrence of NVCFs.
Face Mask Detection Model Using Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Gomaa Mamdouh M. , Elsherif Mahmoud M. , Elnashar Alaa , Zaki Alaa M.
Published: March 2023

Due to the rapid global spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, people's daily lives have been severely disrupted. To manage the outbreak, one solution is to mandate the wearing of face masks in public places. A face detection system that is automated and effective is therefore essential for enforcing this requirement. This paper presents a face mask detection model for images that classifies them as either "with mask" or "without mask." The three datasets Real-World Masked Face Dataset (RMFD), Simulated Masked Face Dataset (SMFD), and Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) are used to train and test the model, and attained a performance accuracy rate of 99.72% for first dataset, and 100% for the second and third datasets. This work can be utilized as a digitized scanning tool in schools, hospitals, banks, and airports, and many other public or commercial locations.
Schisandrin B prevents PM2.5-induced pyroptosis by protecting cell membrane integrity
Authors: Feng Tian-yang , Liao Lian-ying , Xue Wan-ting , Li Li , guo miaomiao
Published: March 2023

The main active substances of Schisandra chinensis are lignans. Lignans are largely composed of schisandrin B (Sch B), which has a very high biphenyl cyclooctene content. This study was designed to evaluate the ability of Sch B to repair the particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5)-induced THP-1 cell injury and determine the underlying mechanism of Sch B action. The results showed that Sch B significantly inhibited interleukin-1ꞵ (IL-1ꞵ) secretion and reduced PM2.5-caused cell pyroptosis. Mechanistically, Sch B reduced both cell membrane damage and the release of inflammatory factors via active reduction of caspase-1 enzyme activity and subsequent inhibition of gasdermin D (GSDMD) cleavage to N-GSDMD. In addition, Sch B treatment promoted the transcription of ALG2, ALIX, TSG101, and CHMP4B and membrane repair via ESCRT-III. Thus, we demonstrated that Sch B, the main active component of S. chinensis extracts, has anti-PM2.5 effect and elucidated the underlying mechanism of Sch B effects against THP-1 cell pyroptosis.
Disulfidptosis classification of hepatocellular carcinoma reveals correlation with clinical prognosis and immune profile
Authors: wang tianbing , Guo Kai , Zhang Di , Wang Haibo , Yin Jimin , Cui Haodong , Wu Wenyong
Published: March 2023

A new mode of cell death, disulfidptosis, has been discovered. Clinical prognostic significance of disulfidptosis related pattern in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). In this study, a risk score model was established based on disulfidptosis model to analyze the role of risk score in clinical prognosis, immune cell infiltration, drug sensitivity and immunotherapy response. Disulfidptosis subtype were constructed based on the transcriptional profiles of 15 disulfidptosis-related genes(DRGs). All 601 samples were defined as high risk group(HRG) and low risk group(LRG) based on the disulfidptosis risk score. Drug sensitivity and response to immunotherapy were calculated by immunophenotypic score(IPS), tumor prediction, tumor immune dysfunction and rejection(TIDE). RT-qPCR was used to determine the mRNA level of disulfidptosis prognostic gene. Risk groups was identified as potential predictors of immune cell infiltration, drug sensitivity, and immunotherapy responsiveness. HRG may benefit from immunotherapy. Classification is very effective in predicting the prognosis and therapeutic effect of patients, and provides a reference for accurate individualized treatment. This study suggests that new biomarkers related to Disulfidptosis can be used in clinical diagnosis of liver cancer to predict prognosis and treatment targets.
Sample-adaptive Classification Inference Network
Authors: Yang Juan , Zhou Guanghong , Wang Ronggui , Xue Lixia
Published: March 2023

Existing pre-trained models have yielded promising results in terms of computational time reduction. However, these models only focus on pruning simple sentences or less salient words, while neglecting the treatment of relatively complex sentences. It is frequently these sentences that cause the loss of model accuracy. This shows that the adaptation of the existing models is one-sided. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a sample-adaptive training and inference model. Specifically, complex samples are extracted from the training datasets and a dedicated data augmentation module is trained to extract global and local semantic information of complex samples. During inference, simple samples can exit the model via the Sample Adaptive Exit Mechanism, Normal samples pass through the whole backbone model before inference, while complex samples are processed by the Characteristic Enhancement Module after passing through the backbone model. In this way, all samples are processed adaptively. Our extensive experiments on classification tasks datasets in the field of Natural Language Processing demonstrate that our method enhances model accuracy and reduces model inference time for multiple datasets. Moreover, our method is transferable and can be applied to multiple pre-trained models.
Toxicity of different doses of Diclofenac in Black Kites
Authors: Farooq Muhammad , Khan Aleem Ahmed
Published: March 2023

The present experimental work was conducted to assess the toxicopathological effects of three different doses of diclofenac sodium in black kites (Milvus migrans) because now there are more opportunities for other animals and raptors including black kites to feed due to population collapse of vulture throughout Asia. It is vital to assess the toxicity of diclofenac sodium in other raptors like black kites. The goal of the current investigation was to determine whether diclofenac sodium is similarly hazardous to black kites as described in vultures. For this study 08 black kites (Milvus migrans) were randomly divided into four groups. The black kites in the control group (n = 02) were not treated with diclofenac sodium and birds in the first (n = 02), second (n = 02) and third (n = 02) groups were administered diclofenac sodium at 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg live body weight of bird/day, respectively, every day for 10 days. The diclofenac sodium-treated black kites displayed clinical manifestations like anorexia, lethargy, depression, shrunken eyes, reduced feed and water intake, in contrast to the clinically healthy appearing birds in the control group. The mortality was 100% in second and third groups. No mortality was seen in control group and treated group first. The control group did not show any lesions of gout but black kites of treated groups showed swelling, congestion, hemorrhage, necrosis, leukocytic infiltration and deposition of white chalky urates on the surface of liver, kidney and heart.
Total Variation Method Based on Modified Barzilai-Borwein Algorithm to Noise Reduction in MRI Images
Authors: Jalilian Hamed
Published: March 2023

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), notwithstanding the vital information they provide , introduces issues in diagnostic work due to inherent noise. The poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in MRI images demonstrates the importance of post-processing procedures. There are numerous strategies for reducing noise, but there is still a need for a solution that has both high accuracy and a fast convergence speed. In this study, we present a total variation (TV) method for noise reduction in MRI images utilizing a modified Barzilai-Borwein method(MBBM) algorithm. The proposed method is tested on three noisy and blurred images (IXI data set 3.1). The findings reveal that the reconstructed images have less noise and sharper edges. In comparison to similar existing iterative methods, Gradient projection method(GP) and Barzilai-Borwein method(BBM), the proposed method achieves higher accuracy in a substantially smaller number of iterations. The MBBM technique enhanced the quality metrics, Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM) for the first data set (data 2a). For instance, the PSNR and SSIM for noise level 0.06 improved from 2.62 and 0.22 to 33.12 and 0.90, respectively. This improvement in rating criteria was also seen in the next two experiments(data 2b and data 2c). When compared to similar methods, experimental results reveal that the suggested method is faster, more precise, more successful at preserving edges, and less compu-tationally demanding. Consequently, the presented method is effective and reliable both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Graph Neural Networks for Fast Track Finding
Authors: Lad Nisha
Published: March 2023

Future upgrades to modern high-energy particle detectors will pose considerable challenges for traditional particle track reconstruction methods. Within the past two years, architectures that operate on Graph Neural Networks (GNN) have shown high degrees of promise. Presented here is a novel approach to GNN-based track finding which uses Gaussian mixture techniques to describe track parameter estimates. Unlike traditional methodologies whereby Multi-Layered Perceptrons (MLPs) are employed, the proposed GNN architecture leverages the Kalman filter as a mechanism for information aggregation, in order to iteratively improve the precision of track parameters, as well as for extraction of track candidates compatible with particle motion model. The excitation and inhibition rules of individual edge connections are designed to facilitate the “simple-to-complex” approach for “hits-to-tracks” association, such that the network starts with low hit density regions of an event and gradually progresses towards more complex areas. This paper focuses on the track finding algorithm development and its application on the publicly available dataset designed for the Kaggle TrackML challenge. The preliminary results related to track reconstruction efficiency and purity metrics are presented and discussed. The ultimate aim of this work is to develop a realistic GNN-based algorithm for fast track finding that can be deployed in future high-luminosity phases of particle detector experiments.
Alterations in gut microbiome associated with severity of atopic dermatitis in infants
Authors: Liu Xiaoyi , Cai Meiqin , Chen Meiru , Chen Ji , Zhu Tingyu , Wu Shiyin , Jia Jie
Published: March 2023

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) often arises in infancy, and gut microbial dysbiosis is associated with the development of AD. However, less is known about specific changes in early-life gut microbiome associated with AD and AD severity. This study aims to reveal the gut microbial composition and function profiles associated with the severity of AD in infants.
Methods: Sixty-two infants (mean [SD] age, 4.7[1.9] months) with different severities of AD were enrolled and divided into three groups (mild, moderate, and severe) according to the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index. The profiles of gut microbial composition and function were analyzed by sequencing 16S ribosomal RNA amplicons. Quality of life on childrenand the family were evaluated using published questionnaires.
Results: Decreased levels of Clostridium sensu stricto, Collinsellaand increased level of Parabacteroides presented in the severe AD group compared with the mild AD group after adjusting potential confounders (P <0.05). There were strong positive correlations between the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index and the relative abundance (RA) of Bacteroides and functional pathways for metabolism of sphingolipids and glycosphingolipids (P <0.05). The SCORAD index was negatively correlated with the RA of Clostridium sensu stricto (P <0.05), and was also positively correlated with the index of quality of life on children and the family (P <0.05).
Conclusion: Discrepancies in gut microbial composition and functional pathways were observed in infants with mild-to-severe AD. Alterations in butyrate-producing bacteria (Clostridium sensu stricto), sphingolipid-producing bacteria (Parabacteroides,Bacteroides), and related functional pathways were associated with the severity of AD infants.
Impact of information update generation on the radio access network of cellular Internet of Things
Authors: Vásquez Marcelo Flores , Tello-Oquendo Luis , Capella-Hernández Juan , Aranda Juan , Guamo-Morocho Andrea
Published: March 2023

Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) is considered a suitable technology to provide connectivity to IoT devices and support machine type communication (MTC). CIoT relies on cellular networks, such as 5G, to handle the increased demand for data and avoid overload. However, the limited capacity of the Random Access Channel (RACH) represents a challenge for implementing real-time IoT applications in 5G Radio Access Networks (RANs). The information update generation and Random Access Protocol (RAP) play a crucial role in ensuring timely updates. This paper presents a performance analysis of the impact of information update generation patterns on the RAN in CIoT when the number of IoT devices and information update frequency increase. An extensive simulation study was conducted, considering MTC and H2H (human-to-human) traffic with varying access request intensities. We determine the maximum information update frequency to provide a highly successful access probability over the RAN.
Tax Morale: A Global Scoping Review from the Cultural Approach to Economics
Authors: Fonseca-Corona Francisco Javier
Published: March 2023

There is significant academic debate on how culture influences tax morale. The existing works in the field use several approaches, methods, and geographical outreaches. This article aims to present an up-to-date review of international literature on tax morale linked to cultural factors during the last twenty-five years (from 1998 to 2022). From the cultural approach to economics, this paper analyzes relevant scientific peer-reviewed articles following the extension for scoping reviews of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-ScR) and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) manual for scoping reviews. The selection process of sources of evidence yielded a total of sixty-six relevant empirical works. This review contributes to the literature on tax morale by revealing that there are scarce qualitative studies in the field; that it is necessary to develop more research focused on specific countries and regions within countries; and that more works should address how some particular cultural facets —like religion, ethnic identity, patriotism, or trust— individually affect tax morale.
JEL classification: H2, H26, H3, Z1
Optimizing 3D printing facility selection for ubiquitous manufacturing using an evolving fuzzy big data analytics approach
Authors: Chen Tin-Chih Toly , Lin Chi-Wei , Chiu Min-Chi
Published: March 2023

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been considered a sustainable and competitive tool for manufacturing products and their components in numerous industries. However, since there are more and more available 3D printing facilities providing unequal services, choosing a suitable 3D printing facility remains a challenging task to manufacturers. In addition, a decision maker also needs to make negotiation between selection criteria that may be conflicting and dependent. To overcome this challenge, this study proposes an evolving fuzzy big data analytics approach. In the proposed methodology, the modified evolving fuzzy assessment (MEFA) method is devised to improve the accuracy of deriving the fuzzy priorities of criteria efficiently. Subsequently, to remove the dependency between criteria, PCA is applied. Finally, the dependency-removed fuzzy technique for order preference via similarity to ideal solutions (FTOPSIS) (Dr-FTOPSIS) is proposed to assess and compare the 3D printing facilities under consideration. The evolving fuzzy big data analytics approach has been applied to a real case of choosing suitable 3D printing facilities in a prosthetic limb supply chain. The experimental results supported the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in improving the derivation process and making a more reasonable choice of suitable 3D printing facilities.
Biomechanical properties of the ascending aorta in patients with primary hypertension by velocity vector imaging
Authors: Yu Li , Xu Ganqiong , Zhou Qichang , Ouyang Minzhi , Gao Lei , Zeng Shi
Published: March 2023

Objective: To evaluate the biomechanical properties of the ascending aorta (AA) in patients with primary hypertension (PH) by velocity vector imaging (VVI).
Methods: Fifty patients with PH and 53 normal healthy control participants were prospectively enrolled. AA biomechanical properties, i.e., ascending aortic global longitudinal strain (ALS), ascending aortic global circumferential strain (ACS), and fractional area change (FAC), were evaluated by VVI. Pulse pressure (PP) was calculated. Distensibility (D) and stiffness index (SI) of AA were also obtained.
Results: The ALS, ACS and FAC in the PH group were significantly lower than those in the control group (31.8%±10.3% vs. 38.6%±14.7%, 10.5%±3.5% vs. 13.8%±4.2%, 20.7%±5.5% vs. 28.5%±6.2%, respectively, all p<0.05). There were significant associations between biomechanical properties and D, SI and PP (ALS and D: r＝0.621, ALS and SI: r＝-0.556, ALS and PP: r＝-0.526, ACS and D: r＝0.653, ACS and SI: r＝-0.634, ACS and PP: r＝-0.513, FAC and D: r＝0.622, FAC and SI: r＝-0.600, FAC and PP: r＝-0.459, respectively, p<0.05).
Conclusions: The biomechanical properties of AA were impaired in patients with PH and correlated with pulse pressure and stiffness.
Collection and Morphological Characterization of Wild Mushroom
Authors: Waktola Girma
Published: March 2023

Mushrooms have the ability to grow in every environment having many different growing systems with different adaptations. A survey was conducted in Horo Guduru Wollega Zone Horo district surrounding Shambu town from July-August 2022 comprising forest, farmland, and grassland. The entire wild mushroom observed or encountered in the field were collected and brought to the Wollega University Shambu campus Horticulture laboratory room immediately after collection in plastic bags. Different species of wild mushrooms were collected from different places and then characterized. The macroscopic features were carefully recorded and documented. The morphological characteristics were the appearance and color of fruiting bodies, the pilus diameter, flesh /tissue color, stipe length, stipe color, color change of stipe on pressing, and nature and color of spore print recorded and documented. In the laboratory, all 9 species of collected wild mushrooms were photographed and spore points were collected and then recorded. From all collected wild mushrooms, the largest cap is 11cm while the smallest is 1.8cm in diameter. The longest stipe is 12 cm whereas the shortest stipe is 3 cm. The gills' arrangement, color, and nature of the attachment to the stipe were different for different wild mushroom samples collected. The thickness and color of the tissue of the different mushrooms were found to be different.
MRI-based machine learning models predict the malignant biological behavior of meningioma
Authors: Li Maoyuan , Liu Luzhou , Qi Jie , Qiao Ying , Zeng Hanrui , Jiang Wen , Zhu Rui , Wu Shaoping
Published: March 2023

Background
The WHO grade and Ki-67 index are independent indices to evaluate the malignant biological behavior of meningioma. This study aims to develop MRI-based machine learning models to predict the malignant biological behavior of meningioma from the perspective of the WHO grade, Ki-67 index, and their combination.
Methods
This multicenter, retrospective study included 216 meningioma patients (60 male and 156 female), of which 41 were classified as high-grade (WHO II/III) and 175 as low-grade (WHO I). The Ki-67 expression was classified into low-expressed (n=152) and high-expressed (n=64) groups with a threshold of 5%. Among them, there were 83 patients with malignant biological behavior whose WHO grade or Ki-67 index increased either or both. All patients were randomly divided into the training and test sets in a ratio of 7:3.
Radiomic features were extracted from the maximum cross-sectional area (2D-ROI) and the whole tumor volume (3D-ROI) of the T1, T2-weighted, and T1 contrast-enhanced sequences, followed by five independent feature selections and eight classifiers. 240 prediction models were constructed for predict WHO grade, Ki-67 and their combination respectively. Models were evaluated by cross-validation in training set (n =151), suitable models were selected by compare the cross-validation area under the curves (AUC) and their relative standard deviations (RSD). Clinical and radiological features were collected and analyzed, and meaningful features were combined with radiomic features to establish the clinical-radiological-radiomic (CRR) models. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used to evaluate those models. Radiomic models and CRR models were compared by Delong test.
Results
1218 and 1278 radiomic features were extracted from 2D-ROI and 3D-ROI of each sequence. The selected grade, Ki-67 and their combination radiomic models were T1CE-2D-LASSO-LR, T1CE-3D-LASSO-NB, and T1CE-2D-RFE-LR, with cross-validated AUCs on the training set were 0.878, 0.802, and 0.884, the RSDs were 0.055, 0.048, and 0.051, the test set AUCs were 0.807, 0.792, and 0.840, respectively.
Heterogeneous enhancement was associated with high grade and Ki-67 status, while peritumoral edema was associated with high Ki-67 status. The Delong test shows that these significant radiological features did not significantly improve the predictive performance. The AUCs in the test set in predicting grade, Ki-67, and their combination were 0.811, 0.778, and 0.858, respectively.
Conclusions
This study demonstrated that MRI-based machine learning models could effectively predict the grade, Ki-67 index of meningioma. Models considering these two indices might be valuable for improving the predictive sensitivity and comprehensiveness of prediction of malignant biological behavior of meningiomas.