bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of journaling in the management of mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Sohal Monika , Singh Pavneet , Dhillon Bhupinder Singh , Gill Harbir Singh
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Journaling is a common non-pharmacological tool in the management of mental illness, however, no clear evidence-based guideline exists informing primary care providers on its use. We seek here to present this synthesis that may begin to inform future research and eventual evidence-based guideline development.

Design

Of the 3797 articles retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, 20 peer-reviewed randomised control trials (31 outcomes) met inclusion criteria. These studies addressed the impact of a journaling intervention on PTSD, other anxiety disorders, depression or a combination of the aforementioned.

Eligibility criteria

Peer reviewed, randomised control trials on the impact of journaling on mental illness were included.

Information sources

MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO.

Results

The data are highly heterogeneous (control arm=I2 of 71.2%, intervention arm=I2 of 83.8%) combined with a B-level Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy recommendation. It was additionally found that there is a significant pre–post psychometric scale difference between control (−0.01, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.00) and intervention arms (−0.06, 95% CI −0.09 to −0.03). This 5% difference between groups indicates that a journaling intervention resulted in a greater reduction in scores on patient health measures. Cohen’s d effect size analysis of studies suggests a small to moderate benefit.

Conclusion

Further studies are needed to better define the outcomes. Our review suggests that while there is some randomised control data to support the benefit of journaling, high degrees of heterogeneity and methodological flaws limit our ability to definitively draw conclusions about the benefit and effect size of journaling in a wide array of mental illnesses. Given the low risk of adverse effects, low resource requirement and emphasis on self-efficacy, primary care providers should consider this as an adjunct therapy to complement current evidence-based management.
Fishing regulations, sexual dimorphism, and the life history of harvest
Authors: Wszola Lyndsie S. , Feiner Zachary S. , Chizinski Christopher J. , Poletto Jamilynn B. , DeLong John P.
Published: March 2022

Freshwater recreational fisheries regulations are a vital tool for achieving social and ecological fisheries objectives. However, angler behavior and fish biology may interact to influence regulation efficacy in unexpected ways. We combined models of fish growth and angler behavior to explore how angler behavior interacts with fish life history to shape the probability of fish harvest given capture across ages, life stages, and sexes of walleye ( Sander vitreus). Compared to females, males grew more quickly as juveniles, matured earlier, and reached smaller maximum sizes. Male walleye were therefore vulnerable to harvest for more of their reproductive lives than females because males spent more time at sizes where anglers were very likely to harvest them. We suggest that restricting harvest of large individuals in sexually dimorphic species may favor the survival of large, reproductive-aged females. Moreover, we show that combining models of fish growth and harvester behavior can provide insights into how harvest affects fish with complex life histories over the course of their lives.
Monopole Bremsstrahlung
Authors: Calucci Giorgio
Published: March 2022

A possible indirect way of detecting the presence of a monopole would be the detection of a photon shower originating from a collision of a monopole with an ordinary particle in the atmosphere with the accompanying Bremsstrahlung. Since a similar photon production can be interpreted as Bremsstrahlung by a heavy nucleus the observation of the simultaneous production of electron–positron pairs may help in distinguishing the two cases.
Modal Identification Technologies for High-Rise Buildings Under Non-Stationary Excitations
Authors: Sun Meng-Meng , Li Qiu-Sheng , Zhou Kang , Han Xu-Liang
Published: March 2022

For high-rise buildings subjected to typhoon or earthquake actions, the excitations are likely non-stationary, which inevitably violates the stationary assumption that is generally adopted by conventional modal identification methods. Under such a condition, conventional modal identification methods may not be applicable, and their performances need to be evaluated. To this end, the performances of seven widely used modal identification algorithms for structural modal estimation under non-stationary excitations are evaluated via a numerical simulation study. Then, three methods with good performance are selected to evaluate their applicability and accuracy for field measurements involving non-stationary excitations. From the comparative study, a time–frequency domain method with the best performance among these seven methods is employed to investigate the structural dynamic properties of a 509-m-tall skyscraper under typhoon and earthquake excitations. Based on the reliable modal estimates, the relationships between the modal properties with response amplitude and environmental temperature are presented and discussed. This paper aims to identify the effective methods for accurate estimation of structural modal parameters based on non-stationary structural responses and investigate the structural dynamic properties of high-rise buildings under typhoon and earthquake excitations.
NATURAL SEMANTIC INFORMATION-BASED EYE TRACKING USING IMPROVED NEEDLEMAN–WUNSCH AND SUBSMATCH METHODS
Authors: WANG XIAOWEI , ZHOU LUBIAO , WANG JINKE , TAMURA SHINICHI
Published: March 2022

This paper proposed an improved natural semantic information-based eye-tracking method combing Needleman–Wunsch and SubsMatch technologies in psychological assessments. The natural semantic information of the self-assessment scale in psychological measurement was combined with the participants’ eye-tracking data, and a time-space similarity method was proposed to calculate the eye-tracking differences between different participants in the questionnaire response and carry out visual pattern recognition to achieve the screening of the target population in psychological measurement. The proposed method was evaluated by screening a sample at high risk of depression. The comparative results showed that the average screening accuracy of the sample under the stimulation of a single topic was 80.13% and increased to 97.37% after a dimensionality reduction. This paper verified the objectivity and effectiveness of the semantic information-based eye-tracking time-space similarity method and proved it to be a promising objective tool to assist psychological measurement.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Exploring Privacy Risks of Mobile Augmented Reality Applications
Authors: Lehman Sarah M. , Alrumayh Abrar S. , Kolhe Kunal , Ling Haibin , Tan Chiu C.
Published: March 2022

Mobile augmented reality systems are becoming increasingly common and powerful, with applications in such domains as healthcare, manufacturing, education, and more. This rise in popularity is thanks in part to the functionalities offered by commercially available vision libraries such as ARCore, Vuforia, and Google’s ML Kit; however, these libraries also give rise to the possibility of a
hidden operations threat
, that is, the ability of a malicious or incompetent application developer to conduct additional vision operations behind the scenes of an otherwise honest AR application without alerting the end-user. In this article, we present the privacy risks associated with the hidden operations threat and propose a framework for application development and runtime permissions targeted specifically at preventing the execution of hidden operations. We follow this with a set of experimental results, exploring the feasibility and utility of our system in differentiating between user-expectation-compliant and non-compliant AR applications during runtime testing, for which preliminary results demonstrate accuracy of up to 71%. We conclude with a discussion of open problems in the areas of software testing and privacy standards in mobile AR systems.
Developing FRET Networks for Sensing
Authors: Algar W. Russ , Krause Katherine D.
Published: March 2022

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a widely used fluorescence-based sensing mechanism. To date, most implementations of FRET sensors have relied on a discrete donor-acceptor pair for detection of each analytical target. FRET networks are an emerging concept in which target recognition perturbs a set of interconnected FRET pathways between multiple emitters. Here, we review the energy transfer topologies and scaffold materials for FRET networks, propose a general nomenclature, and qualitatively summarize the dynamics of the competitive, sequential, homoFRET, and heteroFRET pathways that constitute FRET networks. Implementations of FRET networks for sensing are also described, including concentric FRET probes, other single-vector multiplexing, and logic gates and switches. Unresolved questions and future research directions for current systems are discussed, as are potential but currently unexplored applications of FRET networks in sensing.
KOH vs Deionized Water Operation in Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers
Authors: Hassan Noor Ul , Zheng Yiwei , Kohl Paul A. , Mustain William E.
Published: March 2022

Anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMELs) have recently received significant attention due to their potential advantages over proton exchange membrane electrolyzers (PEMELs). However, some AEMELs feed an aqueous salt solution to the cell where PEMELs typically feed deionized (DI) water. DI water is preferred to keep the system and maintenance costs low. Because of this, many AEMEL researchers report performance both in the salt solution (typically KOH) and DI water. However, the methodology for switching between KOH and DI water is often poorly defined, and it is unclear what impact the residual salt has on cell performance after switching from salt to DI water. Having a fully deionized environment is important because the presence of salts in the water feed increase the effective electrochemical surface area of the catalyst in the three-dimensional electrode and residual salt remaining after switching to DI water feed can have a misleading transient effect on cell performance. This paper focuses on understanding the transition from KOH to DI water testing in AEMELs. It is shown that when switching from salt to DI water feed, a large volume of DI water must be fed over several hours to achieve true DI-water performance. It is also shown that starting AEMELs from the beginning with DI water feed (without any KOH ever being fed to the cell) results in better cell durability. Lastly, a cell is demonstrated having operated exclusively on DI water at 1.0 A cm−2 for 500 h at an operating voltage of ca. 2 V and a low degradation rate.
The Coal Pillar Width Effect of Principal Stress Deflection and Plastic Zone Form of Surrounding Rock Roadway in Deep Excavation
Authors: Li Ji , Zhang Rongguang , Qiang Xubo
Published: March 2022

In order to explore the influence of coal pillar width on the principal stress deflection and plastic zone form of surrounding rock in deep roadway excavation, taking 11030 working face transportation roadway of Zhaogu No. 2 Coal Mine as engineering background, theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and field detection were used to study the effect of coal pillar width on principal stress deflection and plastic zone form and field detection and verification of plastic zone form of surrounding rock in 11030 transportation roadway. The results show that the maximum principal stress is deflected in the vertical direction, which in roadway surrounding rock excavation. The coal pillar width effect of principal stress deflection on both sides of roadway roof and floor and inside coal pillar are more obvious than that of middle roof and floor, coal pillar edge and coal wall position. The deflection of the principal stress affects the morphological distribution of the plastic zone of the surrounding rock, which led to the width effect of coal pillar in roof, and two sides plastic zone are more obvious than that in floor. The principal stress deflection of roadway surrounding rock is highly consistent with the maximum damage depth of plastic zone, and at the same time, the drilling peep results of surrounding rock are basically consistent with the form characteristics of plastic zone in numerical simulation. On this basis, the surrounding rock reinforcement support scheme of 11030 working face transportation roadway was proposed.
Accounting Information Disclosure and Financial Crisis Beforehand Warning Based on the Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Chen Yanjun , Zhang Sikang
Published: March 2022

With the continuous development of China’s market economy, market competition has become increasingly fierce. In this context, enterprises will face more and more problems. Among them, the financial crisis is undoubtedly the most significant and the biggest problem that threatens the survival and development of enterprises, and it is an unavoidable problem for all enterprises. Irregular accounting information disclosure is an important factor that leads to the financial crisis of enterprises. Because accounting information contains a lot of important financial information within the enterprise, if the information is not disclosed in compliance with the norm, it will cause immeasurable financial crisis to the enterprise. Therefore, it is of great significance to establish an effective financial crisis beforehand warning system and avoid the noncompliant disclosure of accounting information in order to avoid and control the occurrence of financial crisis in enterprises that threaten the survival and development of enterprises. At present, artificial neural network technology is constantly developing and improving with the development of science and technology, and it has been proven that it has remarkable performance for handling nonlinear data, which provides new ideas and technical support for enterprises’ financial crisis beforehand warning. This article is aimed at studying accounting information disclosure and financial crisis beforehand warning based on an artificial neural network. Based on the BP learning algorithm of the artificial neural network, an accounting information disclosure test and financial crisis beforehand warning model were constructed, and with the help of this model, the accounting information disclosure test and financial crisis beforehand warning experiment with H company as an example were carried out, and the conclusions were drawn: the accounting information disclosure test and financial crisis beforehand warning model based on the artificial neural network BP learning algorithm reduce the company’ s financial loss by 8% by reducing the company’ s noncompliant accounting information disclosure rate, and the accuracy rate of the company’ s financial crisis beforehand warning is also increased by 35%.
Astrocytes Protect Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells from Hypoxia Injury by Regulating VEGF Expression
Authors: Liu Jianmin , Li Jiwen
Published: March 2022

Hypoxic-ischemic stroke has been associated with changes in neurovascular behavior, mediated, in part, by induction of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of human astrocytes on the proliferation, apoptosis, and function of human microvascular endothelial cells (hBMEC) in vitro. Human microvascular endothelial cells (hBMEC) and human normal astrocytes (HA-1800) were used to establish in vitro cocultured cell models. The coculture model was used to simulate hypoxic-ischemic stroke, and it was found that astrocytes could promote hBMEC proliferation, inhibit apoptosis, reduce cell damage, and enhance antioxidant capacity by activating the VEGF signaling pathway. When VEGF is knocked out in astrocytes, the protective effect of astrocytes on hBMEC was partially lost. In conclusion, our study confirms the protective effect of hBMEC and laid a foundation for the study of hypoxic-ischemic stroke.
Braking Intention Recognition Method Based on the Fuzzy Neural Network
Authors: Tang Jinhua , Zuo Yanyan
Published: March 2022

This paper focuses on a braking intention recognition method based on the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and the data of braking tests. The displacement of brake pedal and its change rate were selected as the parameters of braking intention recognition; the braking conditions were divided into light braking, medium braking, and emergency braking. The test scheme of braking intention identification was designed, the braking test platform was built based on a vehicle, and the sample data of multiple groups of braking conditions were obtained. The parameters of braking intention recognition were fuzzed, the model of braking intention recognition was constructed based on ANFIS, and the recognition model was trained and tested. For the above three typical braking conditions, the constructed model of braking intention recognition was verified offline by using the data of the braking test. The results show that the proposed braking intention recognition method has high accuracy of braking intention recognition, which provides a theoretical basis for further application research.
Determination of Human Papillomavirus Type 18 Lineage of E6: A Population Study from Iran
Authors: Sadat Larijani Mona , Omrani Mir Davood , Soleimani Rahim , Bavand Anahita , Nejadeh Amir Houshang , Ezzatizadeh Vahid , Jamshidi Mahboubeh , Ramezani Amitis
Published: March 2022

The epidemiological studies in Iran on HPV18 nucleotide changes are rare. This type of virus is prevalent in the Iranian population. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to identify the genetic variability in HPV18 in the E6 region to evaluate the prevalence of lineage distribution and sublineages in a sample population in Iran. Overall, 60 HPV18 confirmed cases were investigated between 2019 and 2021. The specimens were collected, and molecular genotyping was done using the Linear Array HPV Genotyping Test. DNA extraction was performed by a viral DNA/RNA kit. The HPV E6 gene was amplified by using type‐specific primers designed according to the HPV18 genome prototype sequence. The sequencing of the E6 region was successfully done on 43 samples which were then compared to the reference sequence. The most frequent sublineage of HPV18 in this study was A4 (69.7%), followed by A1 (18.6%) and A3 (11.6%). Neither A2 nor A5 sublineage was not detected in this study. The related nucleotide acid changes according to the main references were as follows: A3: T104C/T232G/T485C/C549A, A4: T104C/T485C/C549A. The predominance of A lineage with the high frequency of A4 sublineage was found in the present research. The importance of sublineages in susceptibility to a progressive form of infection requires to be more investigated among the different population.
Deep Learning-Based Prediction of Physical Stability considering Class Imbalance for Amorphous Solid Dispersions
Authors: Lee Hanbyul , Kim Junghyun , Kim Suyeon , Yoo Jimin , Choi Guang J. , Jeong Young-Seob
Published: March 2022

This research is aimed at predicting the physical stability for amorphous solid dispersion by utilizing deep learning methods. We propose a prediction model that effectively learns from a small dataset that is imbalanced in terms of class. In order to overcome the imbalance problem, our model performs a hybrid sampling which combines synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) algorithm with edited nearest neighbor (ENN) algorithm and reduces the dimensionality of the dataset using principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm during data preprocessing. After the preprocessing, it performs the learning process using a carefully designed neural network of simple but effective structure. Experimental results show that the proposed model has faster training convergence speed and better test performance compared to the existing DNN model. Furthermore, it significantly reduces the computational complexity of both training and test processes.
Estimating the Risk of Maternal Death at Admission: A Predictive Model from a 5-Year Case Reference Study in Northern Uganda
Authors: Alobo Gasthony , Reverzani Cristina , Sarno Laura , Giordani Barbara , Greco Luigi
Published: March 2022

Background. Uganda is one of the countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa with a very high maternal mortality ratio estimated at 336 deaths per 100,000 live births. We aimed at exploring the main factors affecting maternal death and designing a predictive model for estimation of the risk of dying at admission at a major referral hospital in northern Uganda. Methods. This was a retrospective matched case-control study, carried out at Lacor Hospital in northern Uganda, including 130 cases and 336 controls, from January 2015 to December 2019. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the net effect of the associated factors. A cumulative risk score for each woman based on the unstandardised canonical coefficients was obtained by the discriminant equation. Results. The average maternal mortality ratio was 328 per 100,000 live births. Direct obstetric causes contributed to 73.8% of maternal deaths; the most common were haemorrhage (42.7%), sepsis (24.0%), hypertensive disorders (18.7%) and complications of abortion (2.1%), whereas malaria (23.5%) and HIV/AIDS (20.6%) were the leading indirect causes. The odds of dying were higher among women who were aged 30 years or more (OR 1.12; 95% CI, 1.04–1.19), did not attend antenatal care (OR 3.11; 95% CI, 1.36–7.09), were HIV positive (OR 3.13; 95% CI, 1.41–6.95), had a caesarean delivery (OR 2.22; 95% CI 1.13–4.37), and were referred from other facilities (OR 5.57; 95% CI 2.83–10.99). Conclusion. Mortality is high among mothers referred late from other facilities who are HIV positive, aged more than 30 years, lack antenatal care attendance, and are delivered by caesarean section. This calls for prompt and better assessment of referred mothers and specific attention to antibiotic therapy before and after caesarean section, especially among HIV-positive women.
Mitochondrial Haplogroup Classification of Ancient DNA Samples Using Haplotracker
Authors: Kim Kijeong , Kim Dong-han , Kim Kyung-yong
Published: March 2022

Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup classification is used to study maternal lineage of ancient human populations. The haplogrouping of ancient DNA is not easy because the DNA is usually found in small pieces in limited quantities. We have developed Haplotracker, a straightforward and efficient high‐resolution haplogroup classification tool optimized specifically for ancient DNA samples. Haplotracker offers a user‐friendly input interface for multiple mitochondrial DNA sequence fragments in a sample. It provides accurate haplogroup classification with full‐length mitochondrial genome sequences and provides high‐resolution haplogroup predictions for some fragmented control region sequences using a novel algorithm built on Phylotree mtDNA Build 17 (Phylotree) and our haplotype database (n = 118,869). Its performance for accuracy was demonstrated to be high through haplogroup classification using 8,216 Phylotree full‐length and control region mitochondrial DNA sequences compared with HaploGrep 2, one of the most accurate current haplogroup classifiers. Haplotracker provides a novel haplogroup tracking solution for fragmented sequences to track subhaplogroups or verify the haplogroups efficiently. Using Haplotracker, we classified mitochondrial haplogroups to the final subhaplogroup level in nine ancient DNA samples extracted from human skeletal remains found in 2,000‐year‐old elite Xiongnu cemetery in Northeast Mongolia. Haplotracker can be freely accessed at https://haplotracker.cau.ac.kr.
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Related Four-Biomarker Risk Classifier for Survival Evaluation in Esophageal Cancer
Authors: Xu Xiang , Tang Yeqing , Zhu Jiashan , Luo Jinhua
Published: March 2022

Purpose. Esophageal cancer (EC) is a lethal digestive tumor worldwide with a dismal clinical outcome. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress poses essential implications for a variety of tumor malignant behaviors. Here, we set up an ER stress-based risk classifier for assessing patient outcome and exploiting robust targets for medical decision-making of EC cases. Methods. 340 EC cases with transcriptome and survival data from two independent public datasets (TCGA and GEO) were recruited for this project. Cox regression analyses were employed to create a risk classifier based on ER stress-related genes (ERGs) which were strongly linked to EC cases’ outcomes. Then, we detected and confirmed the predictive ability of our proposed classifier via a host of statistical methods, including survival analysis and ROC method. In addition, immune-associated algorithm was implemented to analyze the immune activity of EC samples. Results. Four EGRs (BCAP31, HSPD1, PDHA1, and UBE2D1) were selected to build an EGR-related classifier (ERC). This classifier could distinguish the patients into different risky subgroups. The remarkable differences in patient outcome between the two groups were observed, and similar results were also confirmed in GEO cohort. In terms of the immune analysis, the ERC could forecast the infiltration level of immunocytes, such as Tregs and NK cells. Conclusion. We created a four-ERG risk classifier which displays the powerful capability of survival evaluation for EC cases.
Role of Senescence in Tumorigenesis and Anticancer Therapy
Authors: Stoczynska-Fidelus Ewelina , Węgierska Marta , Kierasińska Amelia , Ciunowicz Damian , Rieske Piotr
Published: March 2022

Although the role of senescence in many physiological and pathological processes is becoming more identifiable, many aspects of senescence are still enigmatic. A special attention is paid to the role of this phenomenon in tumor development and therapy. This review mainly deals with a large spectrum of oncological issues, beginning with therapy-induced senescence and ending with oncogene-induced senescence. Moreover, the role of senescence in experimental approaches, such as primary cancer cell culture or reprogramming into stem cells, is also beginning to receive further consideration. Additional focus is made on senescence resulting from mitotic catastrophe processes triggered by events occurring during mitosis and jeopardizing chromosomal stability. It has to be also realized that based on recent findings, the basics of senescent cell property interpretation, such as irreversibility of proliferation blockade, can be undermined. It shows that the definition of senescence probably requires updating. Finally, the role of senescence is lately more understandable in the immune system, especially since senescence can diminish the effectiveness of the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding all these issues.
Convolution-Based Design for Real-Time Pose Recognition and Character Animation Generation
Authors: Wang Dan , Lee Jonghan
Published: March 2022

Human pose recognition and its generation are an important animation design key point. To this end, this paper designs new neural network structures for 2D and 3D pose extraction tasks and corresponding GPU-oriented acceleration schemes. The scheme first takes an image as input, extracts the human pose from it, converts it into an abstract pose data structure, and then uses the converted dataset as a basis to generate the desired character animation based on the input at runtime. The scheme in this paper has been tested on pose recognition datasets and different levels of hardware showing that 2D pose recognition can reach speeds above 60 fps on common computer hardware, 3D pose recognition can be estimated to reach speeds above 24 fps with an average error of only 110 mm, and real-time animation generation can reach speeds above 30 frames per second.
Construction of MPEG‐PCL Nanomicelle Ocular Drug Delivery Vector and Its Application in the Treatment of Hypertensive Fundus Disease
Authors: Xu Hongxiao , Liu Jingxing , Teng Zhaoxia , Ru Ming , Wang Zhaoping , Wang Yingcui
Published: March 2022

With the continuous development of society and the continuous development of technology, people’s living standards have gradually improved, and the development of new things has gradually entered a new agenda. Alcoholism has gradually taken over most people’s lives. Excessive drinking can lead to excessive alcohol content in the body, which is harmful to the liver. The stomach and other organs are affected, and the formation of high blood pressure is directly related to excessive drinking. And hypertensive patients are prone to have some adverse reactions and cause other more serious diseases. Hypertensive ocular fundus disease is one of its complications. Hypertensive ophthalmopathy is caused by abnormal changes in the retina, which can be very harmful. Patients with low rates and blindness can cause vision loss. Such diseases must be treated in time to allow patients to get rid of the troubles of the disease as soon as possible and restore their quality of life. In the treatment of hypertensive fundus disease, low‐intensity laser radiation combined with nanomicelle ocular drug delivery carrier treatment has achieved a relatively ideal treatment effect. This article adopts the comparative treatment method and selects 120 patients with hypertensive ocular fundus disease admitted to X Hospital from 2018 to 2020 and evenly distributes them into the experimental group and the control group for comparative treatment experiments. Conclusions are obtained based on the analysis of treatment data. Related factors analyzed include age, gender, whether retinal laser photocoagulation has been performed before, and whether anti‐VEGF treatment has been performed before surgery. The experimental results proved that there was no difference in the overall quality of life between the two groups before the treatment and at the end of the first course of treatment (P > 0.05), and the overall quality of life of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group until the end of the second course of treatment (P < 0.05). Hypertensive fundus disease is very harmful. If it is not treated in time, it will cause blindness in patients. In the treatment of hypertensive fundus disease, the use of low‐intensity laser irradiation combined with MPEG‐PCL nanomicelle therapy is beneficial to the recovery of vision and blood flow. The change index can guarantee the safety of treatment at the same time, which is worthy of clinical promotion.
Application of Computational Digital Technology in the Improvement of Art Creation
Authors: Li Juanli
Published: March 2022

In order to promote the simultaneous development of art creation and modern information technology, this paper studies the application of digital technology in the improvement of art creation. Moreover, this paper combines image analysis technology and computer simulation technology to improve point cloud digital technology and build a human-computer interaction system for art creation based on digital technology. The system uses the visual computer to communicate, gives instructions through actions, and uses the computer’s visual dynamic tracking technology to make the computer recognize the instructions and information sent by the user so as to provide visual feedback. In addition, this visual interactive art creation application uses the real-time nature of the camera to capture real images of interaction between the environment and the work and then interacts the captured images with virtual bubbles. Finally, this paper studies the method proposed in this paper through case analysis. The research results show that digital technology can effectively promote the development of art creation.
Different Aspects of Weed Management in Maize (Zea mays L.): A Brief Review
Authors: Sharma Neelam , Rayamajhi Manisha
Published: March 2022

Maize yield and weed concentration have a long history of reciprocal correspondence. The maize crop plant and weed species compete ruinously for nutrients, space, light, and water essential for their progress and advancement. The losses due to weed and methodologies of weed management have been discussed in this review. Reports have estimated around a 37% global loss in total maize production due to weeds. Among the different available weed control methods, chemical methods have become the new common in today’s world. A major upswing in interest in chemical methods of weed control from people all over the world can be deduced from surveys. The monetary forces that are the foremost objectives guiding our choices in crop production practices play a major role in this stimulation of increasing interest. These changes are not in the least befitting for the long term, as the overexploitation of the herbicides has an adverse effect on the environment and causes dismissal of the productivity of the soil, although being market-driven and favorable in the beginning. Since none of the single approach methods can work well enough on maize crops, integrated weed management and biological methodologies are recommended through several reports. In contrast to various weed management strategies, a significant gain in the academic attention of biological control methods can be reckoned from reports over the past few years. Many research projects are also currently underway.
Modeling Dengue Immune Responses Mediated by Antibodies: Insights on the Biological Parameters to Describe Dengue Infections
Authors: Anam Vizda , Sebayang Afrina Andriani , Fahlena Hilda , Knopoff Damian , Stollenwerk Nico , Soewono Edy , Aguiar Maíra
Published: March 2022

Dengue fever is a viral mosquito-borne disease, a significant global health concern, with more than one third of the world population at risk of acquiring the disease. Caused by 4 antigenically distinct but related virus serotypes, named DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4, infection by one serotype confers lifelong immunity to that serotype and a short period of temporary cross immunity to other related serotypes. Severe dengue is epidemiologically associated with a secondary infection caused by a heterologous serotype via the so-called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), an immunological process enhancing a new infection. Within-host dengue modeling is restricted to a small number of studies so far. With many open questions, the understanding of immunopathogenesis of severe disease during recurrent infections is important to evaluate the impact of newly licensed vaccines. In this paper, we revisit the modeling framework proposed by Sebayang et al. and perform a detailed sensitivity analysis of the well-known biological parameters and its possible combinations to understand the existing data sets. Using numerical simulations, we investigate features of viral replication, antibody production, and infection clearance over time for three possible scenarios: primary infection, secondary infection caused by homologous serotype, and secondary infection caused by heterologous serotype. Besides, describing well the infection dynamics as reported in the immunology literature, our results provide information on parameter combinations to best describe the differences on the immunological dynamics of secondary infections with homologous and heterologous viruses. The results presented here will be used as baseline to investigate a more complex within-host dengue model.
Convulsive Status Epilepticus Induced by Electroconvulsive Therapy in a Patient with Major Depression
Authors: Wieben Emilie , Kjeldsen Marianne Juel , Sørensen Claus H.
Published: March 2022

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-known, safe, and efficient treatment for a variety of psychiatric diseases. We present here an unusual case of a 34-year-old patient with major depression, who developed convulsive status epilepticus persistent for eight days in connection to her first ECT—a very uncommon but serious complication. The patient was, prior to ECT treatment, treated with lithium carbonate and clomipramine for her depression. Six years prior to the ECT, the patient had experienced a convulsive syncope resulting in traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. This case emphasizes the importance of medical recording to detect possible risk factors when considering ECT treatment.
Targeting the PSGL-1 Immune Checkpoint Promotes Immunity to PD-1–Resistant Melanoma
Authors: DeRogatis Julia M. , Viramontes Karla M. , Neubert Emily N. , Henriquez Monique L. , Guerrero-Juarez Christian F. , Tinoco Roberto
Published: March 2022

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have had impressive efficacy in some patients with cancer, reinvigorating long-term durable immune responses against tumors. Despite the clinical success of these therapies, most patients with cancer continue to be unresponsive to these treatments, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic options. Although P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) has been shown to inhibit immune responses in a variety of disease models, previous work has yet to address whether PSGL-1 can be targeted therapeutically to promote antitumor immunity. Using an aggressive melanoma tumor model, we targeted PSGL-1 in tumor-bearing mice and found increased effector CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses and decreased regulatory T cells (Treg) in tumors. T cells exhibited increased effector function, activation, and proliferation, which delayed tumor growth in mice after anti–PSGL-1 treatment. Targeting PD-1 in PSGL-1–deficient, tumor-bearing mice led to an increased frequency of mice with complete tumor eradication. Targeting both PSGL-1 and PD-1 in wild-type tumor-bearing mice also showed enhanced antitumor immunity and slowed melanoma tumor growth. Our findings showed that therapeutically targeting the PSGL-1 immune checkpoint can reinvigorate antitumor immunity and suggest that targeting PSGL-1 may represent a new therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment.
Inactivation of the Anti-Müllerian Hormone Receptor Type 2 (amhrII) Gene in Northern Pike (Esox lucius) Results in Male-To-Female Sex Reversal
Authors: Pan Qiaowei , Herpin Amaury , Guiguen Yann
Published: March 2022

Background: The anti-müllerian hormone (Amh) pathway is crucial for sexual development in teleosts. A male-specific duplicate of anti-müllerian hormone (amhby) was previously identified as the northern pike (Esox lucius) master sex determination gene. However, the role of its putative cognate receptor, i.e., the anti-müllerian hormone receptor type 2 (amhrII) was unclear in this species. Objective: Here, we investigated the role of amhrII during sexual development of northern pike. Method: We generated stable mutants with deletions in exon 9 of amhrII, inactivating the AmhrII protein using a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene knockout strategy. Result: The inactivation of amhrII in northern pike results in a high level of male-to-female sex reversal. Conclusion: This result demonstrates that amhrII is necessary for male sexual development in northern pike and supports the idea that AmhrII is a conserved regulator of the teleosts sex differentiation network.
Primary Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Rectum in a Non-Immunosuppressed Patient with Ulcerative Colitis
Authors: Saraiva Sofia , Bernardo Sónia , Fernandes Samuel , Costa Pedro , Correia Luis , Tato Marinho Rui
Published: March 2022

Introduction: The incidence of primary colorectal lymphoma in the gastrointestinal tract is very low, the rectum being infrequently affected. The development of this entity in inflammatory bowel disease patients usually occurs in a context of immunosuppression-based therapy, with only a few case reports describing its development in patients presenting no known risk factors. Moreover, the clinical presentation of primary colorectal lymphomas may be difficult to distinguish from an acute flare of ulcerative colitis (UC). Case Presentation: We present a case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the rectum in a 42-year-old male with a 7-year history of UC and no previous exposure to immunomodulatory agents. He presented with a history of mucous diarrhoea, tenesmus, proctalgia and weight loss, refractory to optimized therapy. A lower gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed revealing a circumferential ulcerated lesion of the rectum, from which histopathological analysis established the diagnosis of a non-Hodgkin diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Discussion/Conclusion: The present case suggests the existence of alternative mechanisms for the development of DLBCL in UC patients. The clinical presentation mimicking an acute flare of UC posed a diagnostic challenge, highlighting the complexity behind the management of UC patients.
Renal Involvement in Transthyretin Amyloidosis: The Double Presentation of Transthyretin Amyloidosis Deposition Disease
Authors: Fenoglio Roberta , Baldovino Simone , Barreca Antonella , Bottasso Emanuel , Sciascia Savino , Sbaiz Luca , Papotti Mauro , Roccatello Dario
Published: March 2022

Transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis (ATTR) is either an inherited condition or a non hereditary disease due to misfolding of wild-type (WT) TTR. Amyloid deposits can be mainly detected in nerves in the inherited form and in myocardium in the acquired variant. Renal involvement has been described only in the Val30Met mutation of the familial form and is thought to be extremely rare in the WT TTR. However, ATTR is multi-organ disease, and even in the WT forms, apparently limited to the heart, carpal tunnel syndrome and lumbar or cervical spine amyloid deposition have been described. A series of 4 cases of biopsy-proven renal TTR amyloid deposition is reported in the present paper. We describe 2 WT ATTR patients, 1 patient with c.424G>A (p.(Val142Ile)) mutation of the TTR gene, and 1 patient with Val30Met mutation of the TTR gene. In all patients, the biopsy showed the presence of amyloid deposits with different distribution (#1 pericapsular, #2–3 vessels, #4 vessels, interstitium of medulla and cortex, and tubular basement membrane). The use of immunohistochemistry has enabled the identification of TTR, and identify the precursor protein. The possibility of kidney involvement in TTR amyloidosis should be taken into account in patients with renal impairment and unexplained cardiomyopathy and/or neuropathy. This is even of greater interest to the elderly for the possible confounding co-existence of plasma cell dyscrasia that could lead the clinician, in the presence of renal amyloid deposits, to misdiagnose AL amyloidosis and undertake inappropriate treatments.
Insulin Therapy: “When Saviour Turns Hostile”
Authors: Soodhana Mohan Dhanya , Hebbal Nagarajappa Vani , Sathyanarayana Santhosh Olety , Srinivas Sahana M. , Palany Raghupathy
Published: March 2022

Insulin is the cornerstone of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) treatment. Insulin allergy in patients with T1DM on insulin is an uncommon problem that might manifest itself as immediate or delayed symptoms after injections. We present 2 cases: the first is a 17-year-old girl who was diagnosed with T1DM at the age of 14 and has had several skin lesions at injection sites over the past 2 months that have not responded to antibiotics. The second case involves a 4-year-old boy who was diagnosed with T1DM at the age of 15 months and had non-tender, erythematous, and indurated lesions. Insulin hypersensitivity was detected in both cases, thus newer analogues were administered instead of regular and isophane insulin, and the lesions dramatically reduced.
Impact of Human Papillomavirus on Wnt/Beta-Catenin Signaling in Morphological Inconspicuous Cervicovaginal Cells
Authors: Donmez Hanife Guler , Akgor Utku , Onder Sevgen , Tanacan Atakan , Kuru Oguzhan , Ozgul Nejat , Usubutun Alp , Hufbauer Martin , Akgül Baki , Beksac Mehmet Sinan
Published: March 2022

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify early changes in the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway in high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infected cervicovaginal cells and to correlate these changes with cell proliferation, apoptosis, and autophagic processes. Methods: We evaluated 91 cervicovaginal smears of women with (n = 41) and without (n = 50) HPV-DNA. Smears were stained against beta-catenin, c-myc, secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (sFRP4), cleaved caspase-3, and the autophagy markers Beclin-1 and light chain 3B. In addition, sFRP-1, -2, -3, -4, -5 mRNA levels were determined by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR in primary keratinocytes and FaDu cells expressing HPV16-E6, -E7, or -E6E7. Results: Our data indicated that the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is activated in HPV (+) cervicovaginal cells that can already be detected in cells with no obvious changes in cellular morphology (HPV [+]/cyto [−]). These cells also had significantly higher sFRP4 levels when compared to HPV-negative samples. In primary keratinocytes, sFRP4 was found to be absent and sFRP1 and sFRP2 to be repressed in the presence of HPV16-E6 and E7. Interestingly, sFRP4 is expressed in FaDu cells and can be upregulated in the presence of E6E7. Curiously, SFRP4 expression correlated with an increase in the level of autophagic markers in HPV (+)/cyto (−) smears. Conclusion: In conclusion, the activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway and upregulation of sFRP4, paralleled by an activation of the autophagic pathway may represent predisposing cellular factors early after HPV infection which need to be further determined in larger study.
Functional Analysis of Mmd2 and Related PAQR Genes During Sex Determination in Mice
Authors: Zhao Liang , Thomson Ella , Ng Ee T. , Longmuss Enya , Svingen Terje , Bagheri-Fam Stefan , Quinn Alexander , Harley Vincent R. , Harrison Leonard C. , Pelosi Emanuele , Koopman Peter
Published: March 2022

Introduction: Sex determination in eutherian mammals is controlled by the Y-linked gene Sry, which drives the formation of testes in male embryos. Despite extensive study, the genetic steps linking Sry action and male sex determination remain largely unknown. Here, we focused on Mmd2, a gene that encodes a member of the progestin and adipoQ receptor (PAQR) family. Mmd2 is expressed during the sex-determining period in XY but not XX gonads, suggesting a specific role in testis development. Methods: We used CRISPR to generate mouse strains deficient in Mmd2 and its 2 closely related PAQR family members, Mmd and Paqr8, which are also expressed during testis development. Following characterization of Mmd2 expression in the developing testis, we studied sex determination in embryos from single knockout as well as Mmd2;Mmd and Mmd2;Paqr8 double knockout lines using quantitative RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. Results: Analysis of knockout mice deficient in Sox9 and Nr5a1 revealed that Mmd2 operates downstream of these known sex-determining genes. However, fetal testis development progressed normally in Mmd2-null embryos. To determine if other genes might have compensated for the loss of Mmd2, we analyzed Paqr8 and Mmd-null embryos and confirmed that in both knockout lines, sex determination occurred normally. Finally, we generated Mmd2;Mmd and Mmd2;Paqr8 double-null embryos and again observed normal testis development. Discussion: These results may reflect functional redundancy among PAQR factors, or their dispensability in gonadal development. Our findings highlight the difficulties involved in identifying genes with a functional role in sex determination and gonadal development through expression screening and loss-of-function analyses of individual candidate genes and may help to explain the paucity of genes in which variations have been found to cause human disorders/differences of sex development.