bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness and feasibility of online fertility preservation decision aids for young female patients with cancer: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Qin Ning , Wan Ziyu , Kang Yue , Luo Yating , Duan Yinglong , Xie Jianfei , Cheng Andy SK
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Cancer diagnosis and treatment can impair fertility, and younger female patients with cancer have a particularly strong need for fertility preservation. Fertility preservation decision aids are thought to help patients make proactive and informed treatment decisions. This systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of online fertility preservation decision aids for young female patients with cancer.

Methods and analysis

PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, Embase, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO and CHINAL, along with three grey literature sources (Google Scholar, ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform), will be searched from each database’s establishment to 30 November 2022. Two trained reviewers will independently screen the articles, and the data extraction and methodological quality of eligible randomised controlled trials and quasiexperimental studies will be assessed. A meta-analysis will be performed using Review Manager V.5.4 (Cochrane Collaboration) software, and heterogeneity will be assessed using I² statistics. If a meta-analysis is not possible, a narrative synthesis will be done.

Ethics and dissemination

Since this systematic review is based on published data, no ethical approval is required. The study’s findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42022363287.
Cross-cultural adaptation and its impact on research in emergency care
Authors: Roberts Tom , Carlton Edward , Booker Matthew , Voss Sarah , Vaillancourt Samuel , Jafar Anisa Jabeen Nasir , Benger Jonathan
Published: March 2023

The perspective of patients is increasingly recognised as important to care improvement and innovation. Patient questionnaires such as patient-reported outcome measures may often require cross-cultural adaptation (CCA) to gather their intended information most effectively when used in cultures and languages different to those in which they were developed. The use of CCA could be seen as a practical step in addressing the known problems of inclusion, diversity and access in medical research.

An example of the recent adaptation of a patient-reported outcome measure for use with ED patients is used to explore some key features of CCA, introduce the importance of CCA to emergency care practitioners and highlight the limitations of CCA.
The reversed umbrella: displacement of a Contour device into an MCA aneurysm 18 months after treatment
Authors: Bellanger Guillaume , Darcourt Jean , Januel Anne-Christine , Cognard Christophe
Published: March 2023

The Contour is a promising new device designed to treat large-neck intra-cranial aneurysms. We describe a first case of Contour device displacement 18 months after initial treatment.

A patient with a 10 mm unruptured right middle cerebral artery bifurcation aneurysm was treated with a 9 mm Contour. The device was correctly positioned at the neck during treatment and at the 6 month angiography follow-up. At 18 months follow-up we noticed a full displacement of the device into the aneurysm dome. The Contour had a reversed shape and the aneurysm was still fully opacified. No neurological event occurred during the whole follow-up. Contour may be a promising tool but needs to be assessed over a long-term period.
Predictors of persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) and similar forms of chronic dizziness precipitated by peripheral vestibular disorders: a systematic review
Authors: Trinidade Aaron , Cabreira Verónica , Goebel Joel A , Staab Jeffrey P , Kaski Diego , Stone Jon
Published: March 2023

Background

The literature on predictors of persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) following peripheral vestibular insults has not been systematically reviewed.

Methods

We systematically reviewed studies on predictors of PPPD and its four predecessors (phobic postural vertigo, space-motion discomfort, chronic subjective dizziness and visual vertigo). Investigations focused on new onset chronic dizziness following peripheral vestibular insults, with a minimum follow-up of 3 months. Precipitating events, promoting factors, initial symptoms, physical and psychological comorbidities and results of vestibular testing and neuroimaging were extracted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Results

We identified 13 studies examining predictors of PPPD or PPPD-like chronic dizziness. Anxiety following vestibular injury, dependent personality traits, autonomic arousal and increased body vigilance following precipitating events and visual dependence, but not the severity of initial or subsequent structural vestibular deficits or compensation status, were the most important predictors of chronic dizziness. Disease-related abnormalities of the otolithic organs and semi-circular canals and age-related brain changes seem to be important only in a minority of patients. Data on pre-existing anxiety were mixed.

Conclusions

After acute vestibular events, psychological and behavioural responses and brain maladaptation are the most likely predictors of PPPD, rather than the severity of changes on vestibular testing. Age-related brain changes appear to have a smaller role and require further study. Premorbid psychiatric comorbidities, other than dependent personality traits, are not relevant for the development of PPPD.
Coupled analysis of soil shear strength and retention curves with different interstitial fluids
Authors: Machado Sandro Lemos , Carvalho Miriam de Fátima , Vilar Orencio Monje , Maedo Michael Andrade
Published: March 2023

Soil shear strength is a fundamental property in analyzing the stability of soil masses in many geotechnical applications, such as slope stability, foundations, and retaining structures. Routinely application considers water as the interstitial fluid composing the soil, however, in some instance other liquids than water can infiltrate the ground due to accidental leakages of fuel and chemical substances. This paper evaluates the influence of fluids of different nature (water, ethanol, and diesel) on the shear strength of compacted specimens of clayey soil, both under saturated and unsaturated conditions. Test results show that the shear strength increases with suction and decreases with the dielectric constant for all the tested liquids. Based on simplified experimental procedures, two coupled models are proposed to reproduce the influence of soil suction and fluid dielectric constant on the soil shear strength and soil liquid retention curve, fairly reproducing experimental results, thus contributing to push unsaturated soil mechanics to geotechnical practice.
Effects of thinning on tradeoffs between drought resistance, drought resilience, and wood production in mature Douglas-fir in western Oregon, USA
Authors: Elfstrom L. Madelene , Powers Matthew D.
Published: March 2023

Climate projections predict more frequent and severe drought in coastal Pseudotsuga menziesii forests of western North America, raising concerns over how to promote drought adaptation. Thinning often increases drought resistance (the ability to maintain growth during a drought) and resilience (the ability to recover growth after a drought), but these effects vary with thinning intensity, shift over time, and may have tradeoffs with fiber production. We collected tree cores from a long-term thinning study with four residual density levels replicated across both uniform thinning and thinning with gaps, and used annual growth data to investigate responses to droughts occurring 8 and 21 years after thinning. For the first drought, resistance and resilience were higher in treatments with lower residual densities. For the second drought, there were no differences in drought response between the lowest and highest residual density treatments, and all treatments had lower drought resistance and resilience than for the first drought. Spatial arrangement had little impact on drought resistance or resilience and residual density level had a significant effect on the periodic annual volume increment—drought resistance tradeoff. Our results suggest that thinning can promote drought adaptation in Pseudotsuga menziesii forests, but these effects dissipate over time.
Factor graph localization for mobile robots using Google Indoor Street View and CNN-based place recognition
Authors: Tennakoon Kusal B. , De Silva Oscar , Jayasiri Awantha , Mann George K.I. , Gosine Raymond G.
Published: March 2023

This article proposes a mobile robot localization system developed using Google Indoor Street View (GISV) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based visual place recognition. The proposed localization system consists of two main modules. The first is a place recognition module based on GISV and a net Vector of Locally Aggregated Descriptors (VLAD)-based CNN. The second is a factor graph-based optimization module. In this work, we show that a CNN-based approach can be utilized to overcome the lack of visually distinct features in indoor environments and changes in images that can occur when using different cameras at different points in time for localization. The proposed CNN-based localization system is implemented using reference and query images obtained from two different sources (GISV and a camera attached to a mobile robot). It has been experimentally validated using a custom indoor dataset captured at the Memorial University of Newfoundland engineering building basement. The main results of this paper show that GISV-based place recognition reduces the percentage drift by 4% for the dataset and achieves a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 2 m for position and 2.5° for orientation.
On the non-Newtonian blood flow in the elliptical multi-stenosed inclined artery: Analytical approach
Authors: Allahyani Seham Ayesh
Published: March 2023

The analysis of blood flow in the stenotic artery is imperative as the existence and progression of stenosis effectively disturbs the blood flow in the artery, which may cause vascular disease. In this study, we considered the linearized Phan-Thien–Tanner (PTT) fluid model to study the non-Newtonian nature of blood flow in the stenosed artery inclined at an angle [Formula: see text]. The artery is considered to have multiple stenoses and a cross-section of elliptical shape. The PTT model is appropriate for this analysis as viscoelastic properties and shear-thinning characteristics characterize it. The elliptical cross-section of the artery raises the nonlinearity of the mathematical model and makes it effortful to solve the equations analytically. The mathematical equations of the model are processed to non-dimensional form under the assumptions of mild stenosis, which help us to get the exact solutions of the equations in the elliptical domain. The analytically acquired solutions are investigated in detail by their graphical interpretation. It is analyzed that progressive height of stenosis generates the more significant disorder in the narrowed part of the channel as the velocity reverses its behavior in that region. The advancing values of the Weissenberg number, Grashof number and extensional and heat source parameters cause to lessen the axial velocity and slow the fluid flow. The rising Grashof number has nearly no impact on the velocity in the center of the channel. The wall shear stress aggrandizes with the growth of stenosis height, and its behavior for other physical constraints is similar to the flow velocity. It also has a practical enhancement in the stenotic region of the conduit. It is observed that fluid velocity and wall shear stress have larger values for zero angles of inclination than the inclination angle of [Formula: see text]. The streamlined examination indicates the generation of the vortices in the stenotic part of the artery. Moreover, the flow velocity and wall shear stress have lower values for the nonuniform shape than for the uniform form of stenosis.
Analysis of Cattaneo–Christov heat flux and thermal radiation on Darcy–Forchheimer flow of Reiner–Philippoff fluid
Authors: Rehman M. Israr Ur , Chen Haibo , Hamid Aamir , Guedri Kamel
Published: March 2023

The non-Newtonian liquid scheme is created to address the limitations of the classical (Newtonian) scheme in terms of accurately reflecting real-world fluid flow behavior in industrial applications and improving operational efficiency. The Reiner–Philippoff model, one of the many extant models, modeling non-Newtonian fluids, is of concern because it only captures a few features in some circumstances. Thus, this study aims to investigate the theoretical aspects of Cattaneo–Christov for heat diffusion fusion of Reiner–Philippoff liquid stream in the presence of Darcy–Forchheimer media. Furthermore, the procedure of heat transport is taken out in the occurrence of nonlinear heat radiative, viscous dissipation and Ohmic heating. The partial derivatives of nonlinear differential equations are changed into similarity equations of a certain form by using appropriate similarity transformations. Furthermore, the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method with shooting approach is utilized to solve the dimensionless model. The influence of pertinent fluid flow parameters is illustrated graphically. The further engineering curiosity of a local Nusselt number is illustrated and analyzed. It is found that velocity curve is boosted with the augmenting scales of Reiner–Philippoff liquid parameter and Forchheimer number. Further, it is analyzed that increasing the thermal relaxation parameter and Eckert number reduces the heat transport rate at the surface.
HOPF BIFURCATION AND GLOBAL STABILITY OF A PREDATOR–PREY MODEL WITH ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE AND CANNIBALISM
Authors: LIU JUAN , UPADHYAY RANJIT KUMAR , AGRAWAL RASHMI , ZEB ANWAR , SAEED TAREQ , AHMAD ZAHID
Published: March 2023

In this study, we present a delayed predator–prey model with cannibalism including a prey, a juvenile predator and an adult predator. The adult predator hunts not only the prey but also the juvenile predator. The alternative resource is considered to reduce cannibalism in predator species. The main results are demonstrated by local stability and Hopf bifurcation. Sufficient criteria for local stability of the interior equilibrium point and the exhibition of a Hopf bifurcation are derived. Global stability is analyzed via designing a suitable Lyapunov function. Additionally, stability of the Hopf bifurcation is explored. Finally, numerical simulations are executed to validate the obtained results.
A POWER SERIES METHOD FOR THE FUZZY FRACTIONAL LOGISTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION
Authors: SHIRI BABAK , ALIJANI ZAHRA , KARACA YELIZ
Published: March 2023

Power series, as an important means to analyze functions in different complex settings, are employed in various applied areas to solve differential equations and nonlinear problems and provide the assessment of intervals of convergence. Accordingly, the fuzzy logistic differential equation using the Caputo operator has been studied in this paper. Accordingly, the fuzzy logistic differential equation using the Caputo operator has been studied in this paper. The generalized Hukuhara difference and the generalized Hukuhara derivative are also used, and a power series representation is proposed for the solution of the fuzzy fractional logistic equation. Afterward, power series coefficients are obtained using a recursive formula. Finally, numerical experiments and illustrated results of the computations are presented to allow for more realistic decisions reflecting high complexity and underlying uncertainty. Thus, the numerical computations in our study reveal the effectiveness and accuracy of the power series method. Therefore, it is found that the fuzzy solution converges to the deterministic solution when uncertainty decreases, and, based on the technical analyses, it has been demonstrated that the results obtained are more fundamental in preventing geometric growth in nonlinear phenomena where uncertainties emerge due to impreciseness and inexactness.
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS FOR HIDDEN CHAOTIC BEHAVIOR OF A COUPLED MEMRISTIVE DYNAMICAL SYSTEM VIA FRACTAL–FRACTIONAL OPERATOR BASED ON NEWTON POLYNOMIAL INTERPOLATION
Authors: ABDELMOHSEN SHAIMAA A. M. , AHMAD SHABIR , YASSEN MANSOUR F. , ASIRI SAEED AHMED , ASHRAF ABDELBACKI M. M. , SAIFULLAH SAYED , JARAD FAHD
Published: March 2023

Dynamical features of a coupled memristive chaotic system have been studied using a fractal–fractional derivative in the sense of Atangana–Baleanu. Dissipation, Poincaré section, phase portraits, and time-series behaviors are all examined. The dissipation property shows that the suggested system is dissipative as long as the parameter [Formula: see text]. Similarly, from the Poincaré section it is observed that, lowering the value of the fractal dimension, an asymmetric attractor emerges in the system. In addition, fixed point notions are used to analyze the existence and uniqueness of the solution from a fractal–fractional perspective. Numerical analysis using the Adams–Bashforth method which is based on Newton’s Polynomial Interpolation is performed. Furthermore, multiple projections of the system with different fractional orders and fractal dimensions are quantitatively demonstrated, revealing new characteristics in the proposed model. The coupled memristive system exhibits certain novel, strange attractors and behaviors that are not observable by the local operators.
FRACTAL AND CONVEXITY ANALYSIS OF THE QUATERNARY FOUR-POINT SCHEME AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Authors: YAO SHAO-WEN , ASHRAF PAKEEZA , GHAFFAR ABDUL , KOUSAR MISBAH , INC MUSTAFA , NIGAR NIAT
Published: March 2023

The main objective of this research is to analyze some geometrical properties of a quaternary four-point interpolatory subdivision scheme ([Formula: see text]-scheme) with a shape parameter and then find the precise range of the shape parameter of the [Formula: see text]-scheme to generate fractal and convexity of limit curves. That allows the curve to change easily and be more flexible without altering its control points. Therefore, by taking the various values of tension parameters, the curve still preserves its characteristics and geometrical configuration. These geometric modeling examples show that our techniques can be easily performed, and they can also provide us with an alternative strong strategy for the modeling of complex figures.
SIMULATION OF UNSTEADY TRANSPORT PHENOMENA USING NEW FINITE VOLUME METHOD
Authors: HUSSAIN ARAFAT , IQBAL ZAHOOR , ALHARBI KHALID ABDULKHALIQ M. , AHAMMAD N. AMEER , HAJJEJ FAHIMA , NOUR MANASIK M. , MAHMOUD ZAKARIA M. M. , ELDIN SYED M.
Published: March 2023

Based on the finite volume method (FVM), a numerical scheme is constructed to simulate the unsteady convection–diffusion transport problem. New expressions are obtained for interface approximation of the field variable, subsequently, these newly obtained interface expressions are used to develop the numerical scheme. Convection-dominant and diffusion-dominant phenomena are simulated by taking different values of convective velocity [Formula: see text] and diffusion coefficient [Formula: see text]. This newly proposed numerical scheme gives second order of convergence along space and time. Experiments are carried out to test the new proposed upwind approach. Numerical results produced by the proposed approach are compared with the conventional finite volume method, step-wise approach FVM and quadratic upwind interpolation finite volume approach. This comparative study indicates that for different cases for convection-dominant and diffusion-dominant problems, our proposed approach gives highly accurate and stable solution. The conventional finite volume method and other approaches result solution with non-physical oscillations. Our obtained numerical results are consistent and support our theoretical approach.
DYNAMICAL ASPECTS OF A DELAYED COMPUTER VIRUSES MODEL WITH HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL DISSEMINATION OVER INTERNET
Authors: DING JIAN , GUL NADIA , LIU GUIYUN , SAEED TAREQ
Published: March 2023

In this paper, to explore propagation dynamics of computer viruses over the Internet, a delayed SLBRS (susceptible–latent–breaking-out–recovering–susceptible) model of computer viruses considering horizontal and vertical dissemination over Internet is studied. The basic reproduction number at which computer viruses are prone to be extinct or continue to exist is calculated with the help of the next generation matrix method. By choosing the time delay because of processing time consumed to recover the breaking-out computers as bifurcation parameter, a series of sufficient criteria for experience of Hopf bifurcation are derived. Specially, optimal strategies to control dissemination of computer viruses over Internet are established. Finally, numerical simulations for certificating correctness of our theoretical findings are carried out. The findings show that the exhibition of Hopf bifurcation has an important impact on prediction and control of the propagation of computer viruses over the Internet.
Maneuver Conditioned Vehicle Trajectory Prediction Using Self-Attention
Authors: Huang Junan , Huang Zhiqiu , Shen Guohua , Wang Jinyong , Yin Xiaohua
Published: March 2023

Forecasting the motion of surrounding vehicles is necessary for a self-driving vehicle to plan a safe and efficient trajectory for the future. Like experienced human drivers, the self-driving vehicle needs to perceive the interaction of surrounding vehicles and decide the best trajectory from many choices. However, previous methods either lack modeling of interactions or ignore the multi-modal nature of this problem. In this paper, we focus on two important cues of trajectory prediction: interaction and maneuver, and propose Maneuver conditioned Attentional Network named MAN. MAN learns the interactions of all vehicles in a scenario in parallel by self-attention social pooling and the attentional decoder generates the future trajectory conditioned on the predicted maneuver among 3 classes: Lane Changing Left (LCL), Lane Changing Right (LCR) and Lane Keeping (LK). Experiments demonstrate the improvement of our model in prediction on the publicly available NGSIM and HighD datasets. We also present quantitative analysis to study the relationship between maneuver prediction accuracy and trajectory error.
Semantic Enhanced Video Captioning with Multi-feature Fusion
Authors: Niu Tian-Zi , Dong Shan-Shan , Chen Zhen-Duo , Luo Xin , Guo Shanqing , Huang Zi , Xu Xin-Shun
Published: March 2023

Video captioning aims to automatically describe a video clip with informative sentences. At present, deep learning-based models have become the mainstream for this task and achieved competitive results on public datasets. Usually, these methods leverage different types of features to generate sentences, e.g., semantic information, 2D or 3D features. However, some methods only treat semantic information as a complement of visual representations and cannot fully exploit it; some of them ignore the relationship between different types of features. In addition, most of them select multiple frames of a video with an equally spaced sampling scheme, resulting in much redundant information. To address these issues, we present a novel video-captioning framework, Semantic Enhanced video captioning with Multi-feature Fusion, SEMF for short. It optimizes the use of different types of features from three aspects. First, a semantic encoder is designed to enhance meaningful semantic features through a semantic dictionary to boost performance. Second, a discrete selection module pays attention to important features and obtains different contexts at different steps to reduce feature redundancy. Finally, a multi-feature fusion module uses a novel relation-aware attention mechanism to separate the common and complementary components of different features to provide more effective visual features for the next step. Moreover, the entire framework can be trained in an end-to-end manner. Extensive experiments are conducted on Microsoft Research Video Description Corpus (MSVD) and MSR-Video to Text (MSR-VTT) datasets. The results demonstrate that SEMF is able to achieve state-of-the-art results.
Comparative analysis of the functional properties of human and mouse ferroportin
Authors: Azucenas Corbin R. , Ruwe T. Alex , Bonamer John P. , Qiao Bo , Ganz Tomas , Jormakka Mika , Nemeth Elizabeta , Mackenzie Bryan
Published: March 2023

Ferroportin (Fpn)—expressed at the plasma membrane of macrophages, enterocytes, and hepatocytes—mediates the transfer of cellular iron into the blood plasma. Under the control of the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin, Fpn serves a critical role in systemic iron homeostasis. Although we have previously characterized human Fpn, a great deal of research in iron homeostasis and disorders uses mouse models. By way of example, the flatiron mouse, a model of classical ferroportin disease, bears the mutation H32R in Fpn and is characterized by systemic iron deficiency and macrophage iron retention. The flatiron mouse also appears to exhibit a manganese phenotype, raising the possibility that mouse Fpn serves a role in manganese metabolism. At odds with this observation, we have found that human Fpn does not transport manganese, so we considered the possibility that a species difference could explain this discrepancy. We tested the hypothesis that mouse but not human Fpn can transport manganese and performed a comparative analysis of mouse and human Fpn. We examined the functional properties of human Fpn, mouse Fpn, and mutant mouse Fpn by using radiotracer assays in RNA-injected Xenopus oocytes. We found that neither mouse nor human Fpn transports manganese. Mouse and human Fpn share identical properties with respect to substrate profile, calcium dependence, optimal pH, and hepcidin sensitivity. We have also demonstrated that Fpn is not an ATPase pump. Our findings validate the use of mouse models of ferroportin function in iron homeostasis and disease.
TBC1D1 Ser237 phosphorylation, but not insulin sensitivity, is higher following a bout of high-intensity interval exercise in healthy males as compared with females
Authors: Beaudry Kayleigh M. , Surdi Julian C. , Wilkinson Jennifer A. , Devries Michaela C.
Published: March 2023

Interval training has been found to lower glucose concentrations and increase insulin sensitivity in males but not in females, which may be due to inherent sex-based differences in metabolism. Twenty-four (12/sex) participants completed a bout of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE, 10 × 1 min at 90% HRmax) to evaluate whether sex influenced the physiological effects of HIIE on postexercise glycemic control during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Given that body anthropometrics influence postprandial glucose, data were also expressed as a function of the normalized glucose dose. In addition, we examined whether sex differences in postexercise glycemic control were related to sex differences in muscle metabolism and/or insulin signaling proteins. HIIE increased insulin sensitivity in both sexes as characterized by the Matsuda ( P = 0.03, ηp2= 0.20) and HOMA-IR ( P = 0.047, ηp2 = 0.17) indices. HIIE also lowered insulin concentration during the OGTT ( P = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.18) as compared with control. When normalized for glucose dose relative to lean mass, glucose area under the curve (AUC) was lower in females than in males ( P ≤ 0.001, ηp2 = 0.47). TBC1D1 Ser237 phosphorylation increased in males, but not in females, postexercise ( P = 0.03, ηp2 = 0.19). There was no difference in total insulin signaling protein content, muscle glycogen utilization, or AMPK activation during exercise between the sexes. These findings indicate that when the glucose dose is normalized for differences in body composition glycemic handling is better in females and that an acute bout of HIIE improves insulin sensitivity equally in healthy males and females.
Effects of Bio-Slurry and Chemical Fertilizer Application on Soil Properties and Food Safety of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.)
Authors: Lolamo Tseganesh , Senbeta Abate Feyissa , Keneni Yadessa Gonfa , Sime Getachew
Published: March 2023

This study evaluated the effects of bio-slurry (BS) and chemical fertilizer (CF) application on soil properties and food safety of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.). A field experiment consisting of 100% BS (5 ton BS ha−1), 100% CF (90 kg N·ha−1 + 30 kg P·ha−1 + 13 kg S·ha−1), and control was conducted. Soil samples from all the treatments were collected for their physico-chemical characteristics. The level of ten heavy metals in experimental soil and tomato fruit samples was also determined. Compared to CF and control, the application of BS improved soil physico-chemical characteristics. The BC significantly reduced the mean concentrations of Cd and Mn in the tomato fruit samples. The mean concentration of Ni (18.24 ± 0.61, 23.9 ± 0.3, and 9.66 ± 1.2 mg kg−1) and Mn (15.4 ± 2.4, 38 ± 3.3 and 21.8 ± 0.99 mg kg−1) in tomato fruit samples of BS-treated, CF-treated, and control soil, respectively, was above the safety limit set by the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization for human consumption. Similarly, the mean concentration of Cd (7.98 ± 0.72 and 3.29 ± 0.37 mg kg−1) in tomato fruit samples of CF-treated and control soil was above the safety limit. From this perspective, the consumption of these tomato fruits could be unsafe for human health with respect to Ni, Mn, and Cd toxicities. The application of BS could remediate the Cd toxicities, yet other scenarios of phytoremediation would be praiseworthy to address Ni, Cd, and Ni toxicities.
Financial Losses Arising from Cattle Organ and Carcass Condemnation at Lokoloko Abattoir in Wau, South Sudan
Authors: Taha Alfateh , Saad Shereen , Jubara Ambros , Wani Charles , Phiri A. M. , Simuunza Martin , Munyeme Musso , Hang’ombe Bernard , Mumba Chisoni
Published: March 2023

Slaughterhouses in South Sudan mirror the economic losses resulting from cattle organs and carcass condemnation due to zoonotic and epizootic diseases of livestock, such as tuberculosis, cysticercosis, and hydatidosis in cattle. However, due to the war, slaughterhouse record keeping has been inconsistent in South Sudan, and thus the estimation of diseases in cattle and their impact may be underestimated. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the major causes of carcasses and organ condemnation of cattle slaughtered at Lokoloko abattoir and the resulting financial losses. A cross-sectional active abattoir survey involving antemortem and postmortem examinations was conducted on 310 cattle between January 2021 and March 2021. Furthermore, five-year (September 2015–September 2020) retrospective data on meat inspection records were also collected and analyzed. During the antemortem inspection of the active abattoir survey, 103 (33.2%) cattle had signs of disease. These signs included herniam 17 (5.5%), local swelling 16 (5.2%), lameness 15 (4.8%), emaciation 13 (4.2%), blindness 12 (3.9%), depression 11 (3.5%), pale mucus membrane 7 (2.3%), nasal discharge 5 (1.6%), lacrimation 4 (1.3%), and salivation 03 (0.97%). Postmortem inspection revealed gross pathological findings on 180 (58.6%) carcasses, out of which 47 (26.1%) livers and 31 (17.2%) hearts were condemned due to various causes. The active abattoir survey and the retrospective data revealed that tuberculosis, fascioliasis, hydatidosis, and heart cysticercosis were the leading causes of condemnation of carcasses and organs. In the active abattoir survey, a total of 19,592,508 South Sudanese Pounds, equivalent to US$29,686 was lost from organ condemnation, while in the retrospective data; the overall direct financial loss during the five years was estimated to be 299,225,807 South Sudanese Pounds equivalent to US$453,372. This study revealed that bacterial and parasitic diseases were the common causes of carcass and organ condemnations and caused significant financial losses at Lokoloko abattoir in Wau, South Sudan. Therefore, there is a need for training farmers on cattle disease management, heightened meat inspections, and proper disposal of condemned meat.
Acquiring the Diagnosis of an Acquired Tracheoesophageal Fistula with EtCO2: A Case Discussion with Review of the Literature
Authors: Borja Janine Beatrice , Patel Ghanshyam , Baloch Luqman , Aqeel Ammar , Chand Mool , Korsapati Hariprasad , Dawood Altaf , Khan Naser
Published: March 2023

Acquired tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is a rare complication of esophageal or lung cancer. A 57-year-old male presented with complaints of vomiting, cough, 20 lb weight loss, and progressive dysphagia. Early laryngoscopy and CT chest showed a normal pharynx with an irregular thickness of the thoracic esophagus. The upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) and upper endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) revealed a hypoechoic mass evolving as complete obstruction. During the procedure, minimal CO2 was used for insufflation; however, when attempts were made to traverse the obstruction, capnography revealed an end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) estimating 90 mmHg indicating possible TEF. This case depicts the use of capnography during UGIE in diagnosing an acquired TEF.
Genome-Wide Splicing Quantitative Expression Locus Analysis Identifies Causal Risk Variants for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Jin Meng , Liu Bo , Chen Can , Huang Yongbiao , Zhang Huixian , Chen Bingliang , Song Guoda , Zhao Dong , Duan Limin , Liu Wei , Yang Haizhen , Yue Fang , Liu Peijun , Yuan Xianglin , Chu Qian , Tian Jianbo , Hu Ke
Published: March 2023

Alternative RNA splicing is an essential mechanism linking genetic variation to human diseases. While the signals from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been linked to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) in previous studies, further work is needed to better elucidate the relationship to other genetic regulatory mechanisms, such as splicing QTLs (sQTL). Here, we performed a genome-wide sQTL analysis to identify variants that might affect RNA splicing in 1,010 non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The identified sQTLs were largely independent of eQTLs and were predominantly enriched in exonic regions, genetic regulatory elements, RNA-binding protein (RBP) binding sites, and known NSCLC risk loci. In addition, target genes affected by sQTLs (sGenes) were involved in multiple processes in cancer, including cell growth, apoptosis, metabolism, immune infiltration, and drug responses, and sGenes were frequently altered genetically in NSCLC. Systematic screening of sQTLs associated with NSCLC risk using GWAS data from 15,474 cases and 12,375 controls identified an sQTL variant rs156697-G allele that was significantly associated with an increased risk of NSCLC. The association between the rs156697-G variant and NSCLC risk was further validated in two additional large population cohorts. The risk variant promoted inclusion of GSTO2 alternative exon 5 and led to higher expression of the GSTO2 full-length isoform (GSTO2-V1) and lower expression of the truncated GSTO2 isoform (GSTO2-V2), which was induced by RBP quaking (QKI). Mechanistically, compared with GSTO2-V1, GSTO2-V2 inhibited NSCLC cells proliferation by increasing S-glutathionylation of AKT1 and thereby functionally blocking AKT1 phosphorylation and activation. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive view of splicing variants linked to NSCLC risk and provides a set of genetic targets with therapeutic potential.

Significance:

Analysis of sQTL reveals the role of genetically driven mRNA splicing alterations in NSCLC risk and elucidates that rs156697 variant impacts risk by altering GSTO2 splicing.
MEN1 Degradation Induced by Neddylation and the CUL4B–DCAF7 Axis Promotes Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Progression
Authors: Xu Junfeng , Ye Zeng , Zhuo Qifeng , Gao Heli , Qin Yi , Lou Xin , Zhang Wuhu , Wang Fei , Wang Yan , Jing Desheng , Fan Guixiong , Zhang Yue , Chen Xuemin , Chen Jie , Xu Xiaowu , Yu Xianjun , Ji Shunrong
Published: March 2023

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) are a group of rare sporadic malignant tumors in the pancreas. MEN1 is the most frequently mutated gene in PanNETs. The MEN1-encoded protein is a typical tumor suppressor that forms a complex with epigenetic and transcription factors and is an attractive target for therapeutic interventions for patients with PanNET. A better understanding of the regulation of MEN1 protein expression in PanNETs could identify strategies for targeting MEN1. Here, we found that the neddylation pathway and DCAF7-mediated ubiquitination regulated MEN1 protein expression. Increased expression of members of the neddylation pathway and DCAF7 was found in PanNET tissues compared with paired-adjacent tissues and was associated with poor prognosis in patients with PanNET. Suppression of neddylation using the neddylation inhibitor MLN4924 or RNA interference significantly induced MEN1 accumulation and repressed cancer-related malignant phenotypes. CUL4B and DCAF7 promoted MEN1 degradation by binding and catalyzing its ubiquitination. In PanNET cells resistant to everolimus, a pharmacologic mTOR inhibitor widely used for advanced PanNET patient treatment, the downregulation of DCAF7 expression overcame resistance and synergized with everolimus to suppress mTOR activation and to inhibit cancer cell growth. The effects of DCAF7 loss could be counteracted by the simultaneous knockdown of MEN1 both in vitro and in vivo. The inverse correlation between DCAF7 and MEN1 was further validated in clinical specimens. This study revealed that the posttranslational control of MEN1 expression in PanNET is mediated by neddylation and the CUL4B–DCAF7 axis and identifies potential therapeutic targets in patients with MEN1-associated PanNET.

Significance:

Identification of neddylation and ubiquitination pathways that regulate MEN1 protein stability provides an opportunity for therapeutic interventions for treating patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Accessible Data Collections for Improved Decision Making in Neuro-Oncology Clinical Trials
Authors: Rahman Rifaquat , Ventz Steffen , Redd Robert , Cloughesy Timothy , Alexander Brian M. , Wen Patrick Y. , Trippa Lorenzo
Published: March 2023

Drug development can be associated with slow timelines, particularly for rare or difficult-to-treat solid tumors such as glioblastoma. The use of external data in the design and analysis of trials has attracted significant interest because it has the potential to improve the efficiency and precision of drug development. A recurring challenge in the use of external data for clinical trials, however, is the difficulty in accessing high-quality patient-level data. Academic research groups generally do not have access to suitable datasets to effectively leverage external data for planning and analyses of new clinical trials. Given the need for resources to enable investigators to benefit from existing data assets, we have developed the Glioblastoma External (GBM-X) Data Platform which will allow investigators in neuro-oncology to leverage our data collection and obtain analyses. GBM-X strives to provide an uncomplicated process to use external data, contextualize single-arm trials, and improve inference on treatment effects early in drug development. The platform is designed to welcome interested collaborators and integrate new data into the platform, with the expectation that the data collection can continue to grow and remain updated. With such features, GBM-X is designed to help to accelerate evaluation of therapies, to grow with collaborations, and to serve as a model to improve drug discovery for rare and difficult-to-treat tumors in oncology.
Long COVID: Mechanismen, Risikofaktoren und Genesung
Authors: Astin Rónan , Banerjee Amitava , Baker Mark R. , Dani Melanie , Ford Elizabeth , Hull James H. , Lim Phang Boon , McNarry Melitta , Morten Karl , O’Sullivan Oliver , Pretorius Etheresia , Raman Betty , Soteropoulos Demetris S. , Taquet Maxime , Hall Catherine N.
Published: March 2023

Long COVID, die lang anhaltende Krankheit und Erschöpfung, die bei einem kleinen Teil der SARS-CoV-2-Infizierten auftritt, stellt eine zunehmende Belastung für die Betroffenen und die Gesellschaft dar. Eine virtuelle Tagung der Physiological Society im Februar 2022 brachte Kliniker und Forscher zusammen, um das aktuelle Verständnis der Mechanismen, Risikofaktoren und Genesung nach Long COVID zu erörtern. In dieser Übersichtsarbeit werden die Themen behandelt, die sich aus dieser Tagung ergeben haben. Die Übersichtsarbeit befasst sich mit der Natur von Long COVID, untersucht den Zusammenhang mit anderen postviralen Erkrankungen wie der myalgischen Enzephalomyelitis/dem chronischen Erschöpfungssyndrom und zeigt auf, wie die Forschung zu Long COVID helfen kann, Patienten mit allen möglichen postviralen Syndromen besser zu unterstützen. Die Forschung zu Long COVID hat besonders rasche Fortschritte bei Bevölkerungsgruppen gemacht, die ihre körperliche Leistungsfähigkeit routinemäßig überwachen, insbesondere beim Militär und bei Leistungssportlern. In der Übersichtsarbeit wird hervorgehoben, inwiefern das hohe Niveau von Diagnose, Intervention und Erfolgskontrolle in diesen aktiven Bevölkerungsgruppen Informationen über Managementstrategien für die Allgemeinbevölkerung liefern kann. Anschließend wird untersucht, wie eine Schlüsselkomponente der Leistungsüberwachung bei diesen aktiven Bevölkerungsgruppen, das kardiopulmonale Training, Long-COVID-bedingte Veränderungen in der Physiologie aufdeckt – einschließlich Veränderungen der peripheren Muskelfunktion, der ventilatorischen Ineffizienz und der autonomen Dysfunktion. Das Wesen und die Auswirkungen der Dysautonomie werden im Zusammenhang mit dem posturalen orthostatischen Tachykardiesyndrom, der Fatigue und den Behandlungsstrategien, die darauf abzielen, der Überaktivierung des Sympathikus durch Stimulation des Vagusnervs entgegenzuwirken, erörtert. Anschließend untersuchen wir die Mechanismen, die den Symptomen von Long COVID zugrunde liegen. Dabei konzentrieren wir uns auf die gestörte Sauerstoffversorgung durch Mikrokoagulation und die Störung des zellulären Energiestoffwechsels, bevor wir Behandlungsstrategien betrachten, die direkt oder indirekt auf diese Mechanismen abzielen. Dazu gehören ein fernbetreutes Atemmuskeltraining und integrierte Versorgungspfade, die Rehabilitation und medikamentöse Interventionen mit der Erforschung des Zugangs zur Long-COVID-Versorgung in verschiedenen Bevölkerungsgruppen kombinieren. Insgesamt zeigt diese Übersichtsarbeit, wie im Rahmen der physiologischen Forschung die bei Long COVID auftretenden Veränderungen aufgedeckt werden und wie verschiedene therapeutische Strategien zur Bekämpfung dieser Erkrankung entwickelt und getestet werden.
Morphea – doch eine Systemerkrankung?
Authors: Sticherling Michael
Published: March 2023

Pediatric morphea is an inflammatory, fibrosing dermatologic disorder. Although morphea may be localized to the skin and subcutaneous tissues, differentiating it from systemic sclerosis, there is increasing evidence that morphea is a manifestation of a systemic inflammatory process, with the potential to involve many organ systems. Given the potential risk for irreversible sequelae, pediatric morphea should be treated early and aggressively. Long-term disease monitoring is essential.
Nebenwirkungen von Anti-Interleukin-23-Wirkstoffen bei Patienten mit Psoriasis: Ein systematischer Überblick
Authors: Naik Piyu Parth
Published: March 2023

Hintergrund: Psoriasis ist eine immunvermittelte, langwierige Erkrankung, von der weltweit etwa 100 Millionen Menschen betroffen sind. Anti-Interleukin (IL)-23-Wirkstoffe haben einen besonderen Status in Bezug auf die Sicherheit und klinische Wirksamkeit. Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffe haben in früheren weltweiten Forschungsarbeiten therapeutische Vorteile bei Psoriasis gezeigt. Allerdings war bei der Behandlung von Psoriasis eine Reihe von Nebenwirkungen mit den Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffen assoziiert. Ziel dieser systematischen Übersichtsarbeit war es, die in Phase-III-Studien ermittelten Nebenwirkungen von Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffen bei Patienten mit Psoriasis zu bewerten. Methodik: Für diese systematische Übersichtsarbeit wurden die PRISMA-Richtlinien herangezogen. Die Autorin durchsuchte systematisch die Datenbanken Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus und Cochrane, um geeignete Artikel über Nebenwirkungen von Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffen bei Patienten mit Psoriasis zu finden, einschließlich der entsprechenden Schlüsselbegriffe (Medical Subject Headings). Ergebnisse: Insgesamt 18 Studien, die die Auswahlkriterien erfüllten, wurden in diesen hochaktuellen systematischen Übersichtsartikel einbezogen. In diesem Review war die häufigste Nebenwirkung von Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffen Nasopharyngitis, gefolgt von Kopfschmerzen, Infektionen der oberen Atemwege und Rückenschmerzen, die während der Behandlung mit Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffen beobachtet werden. Die Anti-IL-23-Mittel Ustekinumab und Guselkumab waren signifikant an den Stufe-3-Nebenwirkungen bei der Behandlung von Psoriasis beteiligt, während die Anti-IL-23-Wirkstoffe Briakinumab, Tildrakizumab und Risankizumab signifikant an den Stufe-4-Nebenwirkungen beteiligt waren. Schlussfolgerung: Die zielgerichtete IL-23-Therapie hat einen raschen Aufschwung erlebt, da die Bedeutung der IL-23-Achse zunehmend erkannt wurde und einen neuen Maßstab für Behandlungsergebnisse bei Psoriasis gesetzt hat. In den letzten 3 Jahren sind nacheinander Ustekinumab, Guselkumab, Tildrakizumab und Risankizumab auf den Markt gekommen. Diese Medikamente verursachten jedoch mehrere immunologische und nicht immunologische Nebenwirkungen, sind aber in der Regel gut verträglich und haben ordnungsgemäße Sicherheitsvignetten.
Intrarenal and Urinary Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Beta Levels in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Zeng Lingfeng , Ng Jack Kit-Chung , Fung Winston Wing-Shing , Chan Gordon Chun-Kau , Chow Kai-Ming , Szeto Cheuk-Chun
Published: March 2023

Background: Renal glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3β) overactivity has been associated with a diverse range of kidney diseases. GSK3β activity in urinary exfoliated cells was reported to predict the progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). We compared the prognostic value of urinary and intrarenal GSK3β levels in DKD and nondiabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: We recruited 118 consecutive biopsy-proved DKD patients and 115 nondiabetic CKD patients. Their urinary and intrarenal GSK3β levels were measured. They were then followed for dialysis-free survival and rate of renal function decline. Results: DKD group had higher intrarenal and urinary GSK3β levels than nondiabetic CKD (p < 0.0001 for both), but their urinary GSK3β mRNA levels were similar. Urinary p-GSK3β level is statistically significantly correlated with the baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), but urinary GSK3β level by ELISA, its mRNA level, the p-GSK3β level, or the p-GSK3β/GSK3β ratio had no association with dialysis-free survival or the slope of eGFR decline. In contrast, the intrarenal pY216-GSK3β/total GSK3β ratio significantly correlated with the slope of eGFR decline (r = −0.335, p = 0.006) and remained an independent predictor after adjusting for other clinical factors. Conclusion: Intrarenal and urinary GSK3β levels were increased in DKD. The intrarenal pY216-GSK3β/total GSK3β ratio was associated with the rate of progression of DKD. The pathophysiological roles of GSK3β in kidney diseases deserve further studies.