bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lymphocytes from B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients present differential regulation of the adenosinergic axis depending on risk stratification
Authors: Brum da Silva Nunes Vitória , Kehl Dias Camila , Nathali Scholl Juliete , Nedel Sant’Ana Alexia , de Fraga Dias Amanda , Granero Farias Mariela , Alegretti Ana Paula , Sosnoski Monalisa , Esteves Daudt Liane , Bohns Michalowski Mariana , Oliveira Battastini Ana Maria , Paz Alessandra Aparecida , Figueiró Fabrício
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Although risk-stratified chemotherapy regimens improve B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) clinical outcome, relapse occurs in a significant number of cases. The identification of new therapeutic targets as well as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers can improve B-ALL patients' clinical outcomes. Purinergic signaling is an important pathway in cancer progression, however the expression of ectonucleotidases and their impact on immune cells in B-ALL lacks exploration. We aimed to analyze the expression of ectonucleotidases in B-ALL patients’ lymphocyte subpopulations.

Methods

Peripheral blood samples from 15 patients diagnosed with B-ALL were analyzed. Flow cytometry was used to analyze cellularity, expression level of CD38, CD39, and CD73, and frequency of$${\mathrm{CD}38}^{+}{/\mathrm{CD}73}^{+}$$CD38+/CD73+, and$${\mathrm{CD}39}^{+}{/\mathrm{CD}73}^{+}$$CD39+/CD73+in lymphocyte subpopulations. Plasma was used for cytokines (by CBA kit) and adenine nucleosides/nucleotides detection (by HPLC).

Results

Comparing B-ALL patients to health donors, we observed an increase of CD4 + and CD8 + T-cells. In addition, a decrease in CD38 expression in B and Treg subpopulations and an increase in CD39+ CD73+  frequency in Breg and CD8+ T-cells. Analyzing cytokines and adenine nucleosides/nucleotides, we found a decrease in TNF, IL-1β, and ADO concentrations, together with an increase in AMP in B-ALL patients' plasma.

Conclusion

As immunomodulators, the expression of ectonucleotidases might be associated with activation states, as well as the abundance of different cellular subsets. We observed a pro-tumor immunity expression profile in B-ALL patients at diagnosis, being associated with cell exhaustion and immune evasion in B-ALL.
Integrated radiomics, dose-volume histogram criteria and clinical features for early prediction of saliva amount reduction after radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal cancer patients
Authors: Zhou Lang , Zheng Wanjia , Huang Sijuan , Yang Xin
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Previously, the evaluation of xerostomia depended on subjective grading systems, rather than the accurate saliva amount reduction. Our aim was to quantify acute xerostomia with reduced saliva amount, and apply radiomics, dose-volume histogram (DVH) criteria and clinical features to predict saliva amount reduction by machine learning techniques.

Material and methods

Computed tomography (CT) of parotid glands, DVH, and clinical data of 52 patients were collected to extract radiomics, DVH criteria and clinical features, respectively. Firstly, radiomics, DVH criteria and clinical features were divided into 3 groups for feature selection, in order to alleviate the masking effect of the number of features in different groups. Secondly, the top features in the 3 groups composed integrated features, and features selection was performed again for integrated features. In this study, feature selection was used as a combination of eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to alleviate multicollinearity. Finally, 6 machine learning techniques were used for predicting saliva amount reduction. Meanwhile, top radiomics features were modeled using the same machine learning techniques for comparison.

Result

17 integrated features (10 radiomics, 4 clinical, 3 DVH criteria) were selected to predict saliva amount reduction, with a mean square error (MSE) of 0.6994 and a R2score of 0.9815. Top 17 and 10 selected radiomics features predicted saliva amount reduction, with MSE of 0.7376, 0.7519, and R2score of 0.9805, 0.9801, respectively.

Conclusion

With the same number of features, integrated features (radiomics + DVH criteria + clinical) performed better than radiomics features alone. The important DVH criteria and clinical features mainly included, white blood cells (WBC), parotid_glands_Dmax, Age, parotid_glands_V15, hemoglobin (Hb), BMI and parotid_glands_V45.
Electrical properties of hematite and pure sand synthetic homogeneous mixture
Authors: Gomaa Mohamed Mahmoud
Published: December 2022

Substances' electrical properties react promptly to minor alterations in the specimens (texture). This electrical characteristics response depends on pH and, hence, on the surface charge. In this article, we attempt to keep the synthetic specimens homogeneous. Sand and pure hematite is smashed independently and aggregated (hematite were collected from Eastern Desert, Cairo, Egypt). Electrical parameters were examined at frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 105 Hz (dry, 21 °C). The electrical range of the measured data varies considerably depending on the frequency spectrum, specimens' concentration, constitution, and/or arrangement of the components (texture). There are two conduction areas relying on frequency-dependent conductivity (two slopes). Dielectric permittivity increases linearly with concentration. Dielectric permittivity is rapidly decreasing as the spectrum expands. Jonscher's law is applicable to all electrical characteristics. The hematite conductor concentration changes in the synthetic specimens and accordingly the texture of the specimens. The study of these electrical characteristics may assist in the modeling and simulation of rock electrical properties. The relationships between the ore's nature, mineral compositions, and electrical properties are valuable for exploration methods.
An intelligent approach to improve date palm crop yield and water productivity under different irrigation and climate scenarios
Authors: Dehghanisanij Hossein , Salamati Nader , Emami Somayeh , Emami Hojjat , Fujimaki Haruyuki
Published: December 2022

Drought, rising demand for water, declining water resources, and mismanagement have put society at serious risk. Therefore, it is essential to provide appropriate solutions to increase water productivity (WP). As an element of research, this study presents a hybrid machine learning approach and investigates its potential for estimating date palm crop yield and WP under different levels of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). The amount of applied water in the SDI system was compared at three levels of 125% (T1), 100% (T2), and 75% (T3) of water requirement. The proposed ACVO-ANFIS approach is composed of an anti-coronavirus optimization algorithm (ACVO) and an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Since the effect of irrigation factors, climate, and crop characteristics are not equal in estimating the WP and yield, the importance of these factors should be measured in the estimation phase. To fulfill this aim, ACVO-ANFIS employed eight different feature combination models based on irrigation factors, climate, and crop characteristics. The proposed approach was evaluated on a benchmark dataset that contains information about the groves of Behbahan agricultural research station located in southeast Khuzestan, Iran. The results explained that the treatment T3 advanced data palm crop yield by 3.91 and 1.31%, and WP by 35.50 and 20.40 kg/m3, corresponding to T1 and T2 treatments, respectively. The amount of applied water in treatment T3 was 7528.80 m3/ha, which suggests a decrease of 5019.20 and 2509.6 m3/ha of applied water compared to the T1 and T2 treatments. The modeling results of the ACVO-ANFIS approach using a model with factors of crop variety, irrigation (75% water requirement of SDI system), and effective rainfall achieved RMSE = 0.005, δ = 0.603, and AICC = 183.25. The results confirmed that the ACVO-ANFIS outperformed its counterparts in terms of performance criteria.
An innovative approach of GSSHA model in flood analysis of large watersheds based on accuracy of DEM, size of grids, and stream density
Authors: Fattahi Alireza Mohebzadeh , Hosseini Khosrow , Farzin Saeed , Mousavi Sayed-Farhad
Published: December 2022

Distributed modeling approach may have much better performance and accuracy compared with lumped-parameter hydrologic models. The main goals of this research are: investigating the possibility of combining distributed hydrological models with an one-dimensional hydraulic model and simulating waterways in large watersheds with limited hydrological and hydraulic data. Then performing sensitivity analysis on different parameters in order to identify the parameters containing the major influences on results. In the current research, an innovative approach in Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model, the cross-sections of all 414 waterways in the 3450 km2 Karvandar watershed, used for flow routing calculations, are uniquely extracted. Then, the effect of three essential factors are evaluated. These factors are accuracy of the digital topographic model, cell size of grid network, and density of streams, on the results of GSSHA model simulations. This watershed is located in southeastern Iran, has a dry climate with limited available hydrological data. Results showed that peak discharges obtained from the GSSHA model, developed based on a DEM with a spatial resolution of 12.5 m, are slightly (< 4%) lower than the corresponding values ​​in the GSSHA model with a 30 m DEM resolution. This fact confirms that the use of the topographic model with a lower spatial resolution has no substantial effects on the accuracy of simulation. Also, the peak discharges increased significantly (44% to 57%) by increasing the density of waterways in the GSSHA model. Furthermore, results showed that peak discharge obtained from three models with grid cell sizes of 100, 150, and 200 m (base model), are close together. Comparing with two models of coarser grids (250 and 300 m), significant differences observed, which indicated that the grids larger than 200 m could induce substantial errors in results.
Boosting ensembles for estimation of discharge coefficient and through flow discharge in broad-crested gabion weirs
Authors: Azma Aliasghar , Tavakol Sadrabadi Mohammad , Liu Yakun , Azma Masoumeh , Zhang Di , Cao Ze , Li Zhuoyue
Published: December 2022

Gabion weirs are environment-friendly structures widely used for irrigation and drainage network purposes. These structures' hydraulic performance is fundamentally different from solid weirs' due to their porosity and the existence of a through-flow discharge. This paper investigates the reliability and suitability of a number of Machine learning models for estimation of hydraulic performance of gabion weirs.  Generally, three different Boosting ensemble models, including Gradient Boosting, XGBoost, and CatBoost, are compared to the well-known Random Forest and a Stacked Regression model, with respect to their accuracy in prediction of the discharge coefficient and through-flow discharge ratio of gabion weirs in free flow conditions. The Bayesian optimization approach is used to fine-tune model hyper-parameters automatically. Recursive feature elimination analysis is also performed to find optimum combination of features for each model. Results indicate that the CatBoost model has outperformed other models in terms of estimating the through flow discharge ratio (Qin/Qt) with R2 = 0.982, while both XGBoost and CatBoost models have shown close performance in terms of estimating the discharge coefficient (Cd) with R2 of CatBoost equal to 0.994 and R2 of XGBoost equal to 0.992. Weakest results were also produced by Decision tree regressor with R2 = 0.821 and 0.865 for estimation of Cd and Qin/Qt values.
Climate change impact on hydro-climatic variables of Ribb watershed, Tana sub-basin, Ethiopia
Authors: Tenagashaw Diress Yigezu , Andualem Tesfa Gebrie , Ayele Workineh Tadesse , Belew Amanuel Zewdu
Published: December 2022

In Ethiopia, the Ribb River is one of the tributaries of the Lake Tana sub-basin. Temperature, precipitation, and streamflow would all be affected by climate change in the Ribb watershed. As a result of the disruption of regular hydrological processes, these climate changes have an impact on water resources. The goal of this study was to look into the effects of climate change on the Ribb watershed’s hydro-climatic characteristics. The forecasted climatic data for rainfall and temperature (minimum and maximum) came from the CORDEX (Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiments) Africa database. Climate change consequences were investigated using RCP 4.5 emission scenarios for the 2021–2060 time range, compared to the 1985–2005 baselines. The observed precipitation and temperature data were used to adjust for bias. The simulation of stream flow was carried out using the semi-distributed and physically based soil and water assessment tool (SWAT). From 1997 to 2003, the model was calibrated, and from 2004 to 2007, it was validated. To determine the trend of the climate variables, trend test analyses were performed on the various time series data. In all of the experiments conducted, the trend test revealed that historical and forecast precipitation recording stations showed statistically negligible trends for all critical values. At a level of 0.05, the historical and prospective maximum and minimum temperature data revealed increasing patterns. In general, the results demonstrated that meteorological conditions cause the flow to decrease over the season. As a result, climate change will have an impact on the Ribb watersheds water resources.
Evaluation of annual total precipitation in the transboundary Euphrates–Tigris River Basin of Türkiye using innovative graphical and statistical trend approaches
Authors: Buyukyildiz Meral
Published: December 2022

The Euphrates–Tigris River Basin (ETRB), one of the largest river basins in the Middle East, is also among the most risky transboundary basins in the world. ETRB has a critical importance for the region both politically and economically due to its location. Evaluating the increasing regional impacts of climate change is even more important for the sustainable management of water and soil resources, especially in transboundary basins such as ETRB. Türkiye is one of the most important riparian countries of the ETRB and the Türkiye part of ETRB constitutes the headwater of the basin. In this study, the temporal variability of the annual total precipitation data for the period 1965–2020 of eighteen stations located in the Türkiye part of the ETRB was investigated. Classical Mann–Kendall (MK) test was used to statistically determine the monotonic trend of precipitation. In addition to the MK method, analyses were carried out with three innovative trend methods, which have the ability to interpret trends both statistically and graphically. These innovative trend methods are Şen innovative trend analysis (Şen-ITA), Onyutha trend test (OTT) and trend analysis with combination of Wilcoxon test and scatter diagram (CWTSD). The results obtained show that there is a decreasing trend in annual total precipitation in ETRB according to all trend methods generally used for the examined period. In addition, the results obtained from the relatively new OTT and CWTSD methods show strong consistency with the results of the other two methods. The advantages such as performing numerical and visual trend analysis with innovative OTT and CWTSD methods, identifying trends in low–medium–high value data and detecting sub-trends have shown that these methods can be used as an alternative to the widely used MK and Şen-ITA.
Synthesis and Characterization of Nylon 6,6-Polyvinyl Alcohol-Based Polyelectrolytic Membrane
Authors: Mahmoud Atia , Saied Mohamed Abu , Naser Abdelrahman , Fahmy Alaa
Published: December 2022

This work presents the preparation and investigation of blended nylon (N)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based polyelectrolytic membranes that are modified with different concentrations of sulfuric acid (SA), chlorosulfonic acid (CSA), and sulfonated activated carbon (SAC) as a filler. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs illustrated good membrane homogeneity, and no cracks or phase separation were detected. Chemical interaction between N, PVA, and other membrane components was confirmed by Raman scattering spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). In addition, the molecular structure is verified by energy depressive X-ray (EDX). Furthermore, water and methanol uptake, gel fraction, and IEC were determined as functions of varied membrane modification components. The results revealed that increasing the portion of SA, CSA and SAC led to an increase in IEC and ionic conductivity values reached 2.12 meq/g–0.076 S/cm for (N/PVA-4.0% SA-4.0% SAC), respectively, and 2.71 meq/g–0.087 S/cm for (N/PVA-4.0% CSA-4.0% SAC), respectively, while the IEC and ionic conductivity value for non-modified N/PVA membrane was 0.02 meq/g and zero, respectively. Such results enhance the potential feasibility of modified N/PVA electrolytic membranes for fuel cell (FC) applications.
Taguchi Analysis of the Deformation Characteristics of Single-Point Cutting Tool with Micro-Tool Coatings During Orthogonal Machining
Authors: Pai Anand , Shenoy Baloor Satish , Kini Chandrakant R.
Published: December 2022

Machining, the art of processing materials, has progressed significantly over the past century. Advances in tool materials look at blended advantages of conventional and modern tool materials through coatings at micro-scales. Tool coatings improve the hot hardness and wear resistance of tool tip and faces. The current study utilizes the Taguchi technique to analyze the deformation response of HSS tools with three different tool coatings—titanium carbide, titanium nitride and titanium aluminum nitride. The coating thicknesses of 10, 50 and 100 $$\upmu$$
μ
m were employed on the rake face and the flank faces of the single-point cutting tool. The response of the tools while machining medium carbon steel 42CrMo4 has been studied using the finite element approach—transient structural analysis module on ANSYS®. The tool deformation was taken up as the key metric.
Who live longer than their age peers: individual predictors of longevity among older individuals
Authors: Nosraty Lily , Deeg Dorly , Raitanen Jani , Jylhä Marja
Published: December 2022

Background

There are a very few studies focusing on the individual-based survival with a long follow-up time.

Aim

To identify predictors and determine their joint predictive value for longevity using individual-based outcome measures.

Methods

Data were drawn from Tampere Longitudinal Study on Aging (TamELSA), a study of individuals’ age 60–89 years (N = 1450) with a mortality follow-up of up to 35 years. Two measures of longevity were used: the longevity difference (LD) and realized probability of dying (RPD), both of which compare each individual’s longevity with their life expectancy as derived from population life tables. Independent variables were categorized into five domains: sociodemographic, health and functioning, subjective experiences, social activities, and living conditions. Linear regression models were used in three steps: bivariate analysis for each variable, multivariate analysis based on backward elimination for each domain, and one final model.

Results

The most important predictors of both outcomes were marital status, years smoked regularly, mobility, self-rated health, endocrine and metabolic diseases, respiratory diseases, and unwillingness to do things or lack of energy. The explained variance in longevity was 13.8% for LD and 14.1% for RPD. This demonstrated a large proportion of unexplained error margins for the prediction of individual longevity, even though many known predictors were used.

Discussion and conclusions

Several predictors associated with longer life were found. Yet, on an individual level, it remains difficult to predict who will live longer than their age peers. The stochastic element in the process of aging and in death may affect this prediction.
Androgens in endometrial carcinoma: the killer or helper?
Authors: Wu X. , Zhang K. , Zhong X. , Huo X. , Zhang J. , Tian W. , Yang X. , Zhang Y. , Wang Y.
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The aim of this review is to discuss the role of androgens in the progression of endometrial carcinoma (EC) with particular focus on the different kinds of androgenic hormones, androgen receptor (AR) and intracrine androgen metabolism.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search within PubMed was performed. Selected publications related to androgens and EC were reviewed.

Results

There are different kinds of androgenic hormones, and different kinds of androgens may have different effects. Elevated androgens (especially testosterone) have been associated with an increased EC risk in postmenopausal women. 5α-reductases (5α-Reds) and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (17βHSD2) pathway may inhibit the progression of EC mediated by dihydrotestosterone (DHT), but aromatases stimulate further progression of EC. The most of studies accessing the prognostic value of AR have found that AR expression may be a favorable prognostic indicator.

Conclusion

Androgens may have both oncogenic and tumor suppressive roles. Androgen-specific biases in metabolism and the expression of AR may contribute to the different prognosis of patients with EC.
A multiscale convolution neural network for bearing fault diagnosis based on frequency division denoising under complex noise conditions
Authors: Wang Youming , Cao Gongqing
Published: December 2022

The condition of bearings has a significant impact on the healthy operation of mechanical equipment, which leads to a tremendous attention on fault diagnosis algorithms. However, due to the complex working environment and severe noise interference, training a robust bearing fault diagnosis model is considered to be a difficult task. To address this problem, a multiscale frequency division denoising network (MFDDN) model is proposed, where the frequency division denoising modules are presented to extract the detail fault features, and multiscale convolution neural network is employed to learn and enrich the overall fault features through two-scale convolution channels communication. The stacking convolution pooling layers are adopted to deepen the large-scale convolution channel and learn abundant global features. To remove the noise in the small-scale convolution channel, the frequency division denoising layers are constructed based on wavelet analysis to acquire the features of noise, where the input feature map is separated into high frequency and low-frequency features, and a sub-network based on attention mechanism is established for adaptive denoising. The superior features of MFDDN are the fusion of important fault features at each scale and custom learning of fine-grained features for the adaptive denoising, which improves the network feature extraction capability and noise robustness. This paper compares the performance of MFDDN with several common bearing fault diagnosis models on two benchmark bearing fault datasets. Extensive experiments show the state-of-the-art performance including robustness, generalization, and accuracy compared to the other methods under complex noise environment.
The length of uninterrupted CAG repeats in stem regions of repeat disease associated hairpins determines the amount of short CAG oligonucleotides that are toxic to cells through RNA interference
Authors: Murmann Andrea E. , Patel Monal , Jeong Si-Yeon , Bartom Elizabeth T. , Jennifer Morton A. , Peter Marcus E.
Published: December 2022

Extended CAG trinucleotide repeats (TNR) in the genes huntingtin (HTT) and androgen receptor (AR) are the cause of two progressive neurodegenerative disorders: Huntington’s disease (HD) and Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), respectively. Anyone who inherits the mutant gene in the complete penetrance range (>39 repeats for HD and 44 for SBMA) will develop the disease. An inverse correlation exists between the length of the CAG repeat and the severity and age of onset of the diseases. Growing evidence suggests that it is the length of uninterrupted CAG repeats in the mRNA rather than the length of poly glutamine (polyQ) in mutant (m)HTT protein that determines disease progression. One variant of mHTT (loss of inhibition; LOI) causes a 25 year earlier onset of HD when compared to a reference sequence, despite both coding for a protein that contains an identical number of glutamines. Short 21–22 nt CAG repeat (sCAGs)-containing RNAs can cause disease through RNA interference (RNAi). RNA hairpins (HPs) forming at the CAG TNRs are stabilized by adjacent CCG (in HD) or CUG repeats (in SBMA) making them better substrates for Dicer, the enzyme that processes CAG HPs into sCAGs. We now show that cells deficient in Dicer or unable to mediate RNAi are resistant to the toxicity of the HTT and AR derived HPs. Expression of a small HP that mimics the HD LOI variant is more stable and more toxic than a reference HP. We report that the LOI HP is processed by Dicer, loaded into the RISC more efficiently, and gives rise to a higher quantity of RISC-bound 22 nt sCAGs. Our data support the notion that RNAi contributes to the cell death seen in HD and SBMA and provide an explanation for the dramatically reduced onset of disease in HD patients that carry the LOI variant.
Vaccination with an HIV T-cell immunogen induces alterations in the mouse gut microbiota
Authors: Borgognone Alessandra , Elizalde-Torrent Aleix , Casadellà Maria , Romero Luis , Escribà Tuixent , Parera Mariona , Català-Moll Francesc , Noguera-Julian Marc , Brander Christian , Olvera Alex , Paredes Roger
Published: December 2022

The gut microbiota is emerging as a crucial factor modulating vaccine responses; however, few studies have investigated if vaccines, in turn, can alter the microbiota and to what extent such changes may improve vaccine efficacy. To understand the effect of T-cell vaccination on the gut microbiome, we administered an HIV-1 T-cell immunogen (HTI arm) or PBS (control, Mock arm) to C57Bl/6 mice following a heterologous prime-boost scheme. The longitudinal dynamics of the mice gut microbiota was characterized by 16 S ribosomal RNA sequencing in fecal samples collected from cages, as well as from three gut sections (cecum, small and large intestine). Serum and spleen cells were obtained at the last time point of the study to assess immune correlates using IFNγ ELISPOT and cytokine Luminex® assays. Compared with Mock, HTI-vaccinated mice were enriched in Clostridiales genera (Eubacterium xylanophilum group, Roseburia and Ruminococcus) known as primary contributors of anti-inflammatory metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids. Such shift was observed after the first HTI dose and remained throughout the study follow-up (18 weeks). However, the enriched Clostridiales genera were different between feces and gut sections. The abundance of bacteria enriched in vaccinated animals positively correlated with HTI-specific T-cell responses and a set of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6. This longitudinal analysis indicates that, in mice, T-cell vaccination may promote an increase in gut bacteria known to produce anti-inflammatory molecules, which in turn correlate with proinflammatory cytokines, suggesting an adaptation of the gut microbial milieu to T-cell-induced systemic inflammation.
Clinical outcomes of de novo metastatic HER2-low breast cancer: a National Cancer Database Analysis
Authors: Jiang Changchuan , Perimbeti Stuthi , Deng Lei , Shapiro Charles L. , Gandhi Shipra
Published: December 2022

The development of novel anti-HER2 drugs opens new treatment options for women with breast cancers, including lower expression of HER2. The epidemiology and clinical outcome of metastatic HER2-low breast cancer remain not well described. We designed a retrospective cohort study of the 2010–2017 National Cancer Database (NCDB) was designed to compare the overall survival of HER2-low and HER2-zero de novo metastatic breast cancer with systemic therapy. Multivariable Cox regression models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR), adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors. A total of 20,636 of 30,929 (66.7%) patients were HER2-low and 10,293 (33.3%) were HER2-zero. When stratified by hormonal receptor status, HER2-low tumors account for 18,066 (69.7%) cases in HR+/HER2− population and 2570 (51.4%) cases in HR−/HER2− population. The prevalence of HER2-low tumors was similar across racial groups with a slightly lower prevalence among the Hispanic population. Women with HER2-low tumors had longer overall survival (OS) than women with Her2-zero tumors in both HR-positive (median OS 39.0 months vs. 37.1 months; adjusted HR: 0.95, 95%CI (0.91–0.98)) and HR-negative groups (median OS 15.8 months vs. 14.1 months; adjusted HR: 0.92 95%CI (0.86–0.98)). The survival advantage was primarily observed in patients who received chemotherapy as their first line of treatment (HR 0.92 95%CI (0.88–0.96) vs. 0.99 95%CI (0.94–1.04), p-interaction = 0.04). In summary, HER2-low tumors, irrespective of hormone receptor status, have better survival than HER2-zero tumors in the de-novo metastatic setting. The survival advantage was primarily observed in patients who received chemotherapy in the first line.
Auditory hallucinations, childhood sexual abuse, and limbic gray matter volume in a transdiagnostic sample of people with psychosis
Authors: Millman Zachary B. , Hwang Melissa , Sydnor Valerie J. , Reid Benjamin E. , Goldenberg Joshua E. , Talero Jessica N. , Bouix Sylvain , Shenton Martha E. , Öngür Dost , Shinn Ann K.
Published: December 2022

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a potentially unique risk factor for auditory hallucinations (AH), but few studies have examined the moderating effects of sex or the association of CSA with limbic gray matter volume (GMV) in transdiagnostic samples of people with psychotic disorders. Here we found that people with psychotic disorders reported higher levels of all surveyed maltreatment types (e.g., physical abuse) than healthy controls, but people with psychotic disorders with AH (n = 41) reported greater CSA compared to both those without AH (n = 37; t = −2.21, p = .03) and controls (n = 37; t = −3.90, p < .001). Among people with psychosis, elevated CSA was most pronounced among females with AH (sex × AH status: F = 4.91, p = .009), held controlling for diagnosis, medications, and other maltreatment (F = 3.88, p = .02), and correlated with the current severity of AH (r = .26, p = .03) but not other symptoms (p’s > .16). Greater CSA among patients related to larger GMV of the left amygdala accounting for AH status, diagnosis, medications, and other maltreatment (t = 2.12, p = .04). Among people with psychosis, females with AH may represent a unique subgroup with greater CSA. Prospective high-risk studies integrating multiple measures of maltreatment and brain structure/function may help elucidate the mechanisms linking CSA with amygdala alterations and AH.
Identification of ferroptosis-related genes and pathways in diabetic kidney disease using bioinformatics analysis
Authors: Liu Dezhen , Zhou Wei , Mao Li , Cui Zhaohui , Jin Shanshan
Published: December 2022

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a major public health issue because of its refractory nature. Ferroptosis is a newly coined programmed cell death characterized by the accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the prognostic and diagnostic value of ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and their biological mechanisms in DKD remain elusive. The gene expression profiles GSE96804, GSE30566, GSE99339 and GSE30528 were obtained and analyzed. We constructed a reliable prognostic model for DKD consisting of eight FRGs (SKIL, RASA1, YTHDC2, SON, MRPL11, HSD17B14, DUSP1 and FOS). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed that the ferroptosis-related model had predictive power with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.818. Gene functional enrichment analysis showed significant differences between the DKD and normal groups, and ferroptosis played an important role in DKD. Consensus clustering analysis showed four different ferroptosis types, and the risk score of type four was significantly higher than that of other groups. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that the expression of macrophages M2 increased significantly, while that of neutrophils and mast cells activated decreased significantly in the high-risk group. Our study identified and validated the molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis in DKD. FRGs could serve as credible diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for DKD.
A neuro swarm procedure to solve the novel second order perturbed delay Lane-Emden model arising in astrophysics
Authors: Sabir Zulqurnain , Said Salem Ben , Al-Mdallal Qasem , Ali Mohamed R.
Published: December 2022

The current work provides a mathematical second order perturbed singular delay differential model (SO-PSDDM) by using the standard form of the Lane-Emden model. The inclusive structures based on the delay terms, singular-point and perturbation factor and shape forms of the SO-PSDDM are provided. The novel form of the SO-PSDDM is numerically solved by using the procedures of artificial neural networks (ANNs) along with the optimization measures based on the swarming procedures (PSO) and interior-point algorithm (IPA). An error function is optimized through the swarming PSO procedure along with the IPA to solve the SO-PSDDM. The precision, substantiation and validation are observed for three problems of the SO-PSDDM. The exactness of the novel SO-PSDDM is observed by comparing the obtained and exact solutions. The reliability, stability and convergence of the proposed stochastic algorithms are observed for 30 independent trials to solve the novel SO-PSDDM.
Association between medication adherence to chronic diseases and shift-work schedules in the Korean working population
Authors: Lee Seung-Yeon , Lee Seunghyun , Lee Wanhyung
Published: December 2022

Shift-working schedules are closely linked to chronic diseases, and only a few studies have investigated the association between working schedules and medication adherence in chronic diseases targeting workers. This study aimed to investigate whether shift-work schedules are associated with medication adherence in a working population with chronic conditions. The study participants (n = 11,460 person-years) were identified from the Korea Health Panel Study conducted from 2008 to 2018. Medication adherence was classified as good (2+) or poor (0 or 1) based on the 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Work schedules were categorized as shifts and fixed daytime work. Its association with medication adherence was investigated using a generalized estimating equation model, generating odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). According to work schedules, shift workers were more likely than fixed-day workers to have poor medication adherence (adjusted OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.02–1.33). Regarding occupational classification, manual workers had a significantly higher risk of poor medication adherence than those in other occupational categories (adjusted OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.13–1.43). Among shift workers, the major reason for poor medication adherence was forgetting to take medication (SPR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.07–1.38). Workers with irregular shift times are more vulnerable to poor medication adherence. Future studies are required to understand the mechanisms underlying this association and develop strategies to enhance medication adherence in the working population.
Expression profiles of small non-coding RNAs in breast cancer tumors characterize clinicopathological features and show prognostic and predictive potential
Authors: Kärkkäinen Emmi , Heikkinen Sami , Tengström Maria , Kosma Veli-Matti , Mannermaa Arto , Hartikainen Jaana M.
Published: December 2022

Precision medicine approaches are required for more effective therapies for cancer. As small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) have recently been suggested as intriguing candidates for cancer biomarkers and have shown potential also as novel therapeutic targets, we aimed at profiling the non-miRNA sncRNAs in a large sample set to evaluate their role in invasive breast cancer (BC). We used small RNA sequencing and 195 fresh-frozen invasive BC and 22 benign breast tissue samples to identify significant associations of small nucleolar RNAs, small nuclear RNAs, and miscellaneous RNAs with the clinicopathological features and patient outcome of BC. Ninety-six and five sncRNAs significantly distinguished (Padj < 0.01) invasive local BC from benign breast tissue and metastasized BC from invasive local BC, respectively. Furthermore, 69 sncRNAs significantly associated (Padj < 0.01) with the tumor grade, hormone receptor status, subtype, and/or tumor histology. Additionally, 42 sncRNAs were observed as candidates for prognostic markers and 29 for predictive markers for radiotherapy and/or tamoxifen response (P < 0.05). We discovered the clinical relevance of sncRNAs from each studied RNA type. By introducing new sncRNA biomarker candidates for invasive BC and validating the potential of previously described ones, we have guided the way for further research that is warranted for providing novel insights into BC biology.
Molybdenum carbide/Ni nanoparticles-incorporated carbon nanofibers as effective non-precious catalyst for urea electrooxidation reaction
Authors: Barakat Nasser A. M. , Ali Marwa A.
Published: December 2022

In this study, molybdenum carbide and carbon were investigated as co-catalysts to enhance the nickel electro-activity toward urea oxidation. The proposed electrocatalyst has been formulated in the form of nanofibrous morphology to exploit the advantage of the large axial ratio. Typically, calcination of electropsun polymeric nanofibers composed of poly(vinyl alcohol), molybdenum chloride and nickel acetate under vacuum resulted in producing good morphology molybdenum carbide/Ni NPs-incorporated carbon nanofibers. Investigation on the composition and morphology of the proposed catalyst was achieved by XRD, SEM, XPS, elemental mapping and TEM analyses which concluded formation of molybdenum carbide and nickel nanoparticles embedded in a carbon nanofiber matrix. As an electrocatalyst for urea oxidation, the electrochemical measurements indicated that the proposed composite has a distinct activity when the molybdenum content is optimized. Typically, the nanofibers prepared from electrospun nanofibers containing 25 wt% molybdenum precursor with respect to nickel acetate revealed the best performance. Numerically, using 0.33 M urea in 1.0 M KOH, the obtained current densities were 15.5, 44.9, 52.6, 30.6, 87.9 and 17.6 mA/cm2 for nanofibers prepared at 850 °C from electropsun mats containing 0, 5, 10, 15, 25 and 35 molybdenum chloride, respectively. Study the synthesis temperature of the proposed composite indicated that 1000 °C is the optimum calcination temperature. Kinetic studies indicated that electrooxidation reaction of urea does not follow Arrhenius’s law.
Clinical and psychological characteristics associated with negative beliefs and concerns about treatment necessity in rheumatic diseases
Authors: Tosato Sarah , Bonetto Chiara , Zanini Alice , Bixio Riccardo , Marchel Martina , Pacenza Giulio , Galvagni Isotta , Cristofalo Doriana , Fracassi Elena , Carletto Antonio
Published: December 2022

Identifying factors that influence problematic beliefs and behaviors related to pharmacotherapy may be useful for clinicians to improve the patients’ adherence. The study aims to assess patients’ beliefs about the necessity and concerns regarding pharmacotherapy in rheumatic diseases and attitude styles, and to investigate the association between clinical factors and negative beliefs about medication. A sample of 712 patients affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis was enrolled. They were assessed using the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaires-Specific (BMQ), the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), the Visual Analogue Scale for pain (VAS), the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI). The balance between benefits and costs in the BMQ-Specific was positive in the 79.4% of patients, negative in the 12.1% and equal in the 8.6%. SDAI, taking more than 5 medications, taking anti interleukin 6 (Anti-IL6) or biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (tsDMARDs), pain, and fatigue were significantly associated to higher Concerns. Having a longer disease duration was significantly associated with a higher Necessity, together with the current pharmacological treatments and the disability. The multivariate regression models estimated that higher pain and fatigue were associated to higher Concerns (p < 0.001), while a longer disease duration (p < 0.001) and all pharmacological treatments for a rheumatologic disease (p = 0.001) were associated to higher Necessity levels. A high length of disease, a low level of remission, a high number of total medications, the prescription of an Anti-IL6/bDMARDs/tsDMARDs drug, a high level of pain, fatigue and disability identified patients potentially less adherent to pharmacotherapy to be carefully looked after by clinicians.
Strong relationship between dyslipidemia and the ectopic ossification of the spinal ligaments
Authors: Endo Tsutomu , Takahata Masahiko , Fujita Ryo , Koike Yoshinao , Suzuki Ryota , Hasegawa Yuichi , Murakami Toshifumi , Ishii Misaki , Yamada Katsuhisa , Sudo Hideki , Iwasaki Norimasa
Published: December 2022

Obesity and metabolic disturbances are prevalent in ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF); however, the involvement of dyslipidemia (DL) in OPLL/OLF remains uncertain. We investigated the association between dyslipidemia and OPLL/OLF using a dataset of 458 individuals receiving health screening tests, including computed tomography. Subjects were grouped according to the presence or location of OPLL/OLF: controls (no OPLL/OLF, n = 230), OLF (n = 167), cervical OPLL (n = 28), and thoracic OPLL (n = 33). They were also grouped according to the presence of dyslipidemia (DL[+], n = 215; DL[−], n = 243). The proportion of dyslipidemia in the OLF and OPLL groups was 1.6–2.2 times higher than that in the control group. The proportion of OLF and OPLL in the DL(+) group was significantly higher than that in the DL(−) group (OLF, 43% vs. 29%; cervical OPLL, 14.4% vs. 3.2%; thoracic OPLL, 11.1% vs. 3.7%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed an association between all ossification types and dyslipidemia. This study demonstrated an association of dyslipidemia with OPLL/OLF; further investigation on the causal relationship between dyslipidemia and ectopic spinal ligament ossification is warranted to develop a therapeutic intervention for OPLL/OLF.
Dynamic expression of Mage-D1 in rat dental germs and potential role in mineralization of ectomesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Li Meng , Yu Xia , Luo Yuting , Yuan Hongyan , Zhang Yixing , Wen Xiujie , zhou Zhi
Published: December 2022

Mage-D1 (MAGE family member D1) is involved in a variety of cell biological effects. Recent studies have shown that Mage-D1 is closely related to tooth development, but its specific regulatory mechanism is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression pattern of Mage-D1 in rat dental germ development and its differential mineralization ability to ectomesenchymal stem cells (EMSCs), and to explore its potential mechanism. Results showed that the expression of Mage-D1 during rat dental germ development was temporally and spatially specific. Mage-D1 promotes the proliferation ability of EMSCs but inhibits their migration ability. Under induction by mineralized culture medium, Mage-D1 promotes osteogenesis and tooth-forming ability. Furthermore, the expression pattern of Mage-D1 at E19.5 d rat dental germ is similar to p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR), distal-less homeobox 1 (Dlx1) and msh homeobox 1 (Msx1). In addition, Mage-D1 is binding to p75NTR, Dlx1, and Msx1 in vitro. These findings indicate that Mage-D1 is play an important regulatory role in normal mineralization of teeth. p75NTR, Dlx1, and Msx1 seem to be closely related to the underlying mechanism of Mage-D1 action.
Analysis of factors influencing surface settlement during shield construction of a double-line tunnel in a mudstone area
Authors: Yuan Chengwang , Zhang Min , Ji Shengcai , Li Jiwei , Jin Lihaolin
Published: December 2022

Urban rail transit is widely used in major cities worldwide due to its high efficiency, safety, and environmental friendliness. Shield construction has a fast excavation speed and a negligible impact on ground transportation; thus, it is the preferred construction method for urban rail transit tunnels. Mudstone is a widely distributed soft rock characterized by large deformation, low strength, and significant rheological differences in different areas. Mudstone causes problems in the design and construction of subways. This paper uses finite element analysis to establish a three-dimensional numerical model of a double-line tunnel in a weathered mudstone area and analyze the influence of the stratum, design, and construction parameters on surface settlement and deformation during asynchronous and simultaneous shield construction. The research results show that the lateral surface settlement curve obtained from the simulation is consistent with the measured data, demonstrating the reliability and feasibility of the three-dimensional numerical model. The surface settlement is affected by the deformation modulus, cohesion, and the angle of internal friction, and the deformation modulus has the most significant impact. The surface settlement decreases as the buried depth of the tunnel or the distance between the two center lines of the two tunnels increases. As the buried depth of the double-lane tunnel decreases or the distance between the two center lines of the two tunnels increases to a certain value, the lateral surface settlement curve exhibits two peaks. The surface settlement shows a decreasing trend with an increase in the thrust of the shield machine and an improvement in the grouting quality. However, excess grouting pressure causes surface uplift and a subsequent increase in surface subsidence.
DIA mass spectrometry characterizes urinary proteomics in neonatal and adult donkeys
Authors: Yu Feng , Chen Yifan , Liu Bo , Wang Tao , Ding Zhaoliang , Yi Ziwen , Zhu Yiping , Li Jing
Published: December 2022

Health monitoring is critical for newborn animals due to their vulnerability to diseases. Urine can be not only a useful and non-invasive tool (free-catch samples) to reflect the physiological status of animals but also to help monitor the progression of diseases. Proteomics involves the study of the whole complement of proteins and peptides, including structure, quantities, functions, variations and interactions. In this study, urinary proteomics of neonatal donkeys were characterized and compared to the profiles of adult donkeys to provide a reference database for healthy neonatal donkeys. The urine samples were collected from male neonatal donkeys on their sixth to tenth days of life (group N) and male adult donkeys aging 4–6 years old (group A). Library-free data-independent acquisition (direct DIA) mass spectrometry-based proteomics were applied to analyze the urinary protein profiles. Total 2179 urinary proteins were identified, and 411 proteins were differentially expressed (P < 0.05) between the two groups. 104 proteins were exclusively expressed in group N including alpha fetoprotein (AFP), peptidase-mitochondrial processing data unit (PMPCB), and upper zone of growth plate and cartilage matrix associated (UCMA), which might be used to monitor the health status of neonatal donkeys. In functional analysis, some differentially expressed proteins were identified related to immune system pathways, which might provide more insight in the immature immunity of neonatal donkeys. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to report donkey urinary proteome and our results might provide reference for urinary biomarker discovery used to monitor and evaluate health status of neonatal donkeys.