bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Manure Application Affects Soil Bacterial Community Structure in the Maize-wheat Rotation System of North China Plain
Authors: Liu Gaoyuan , He Ailing , Du Jun , Yang Huanhuan , Yang Zhanping , Zhang Yuting
Published: January 2021

A 2-year maize-wheat rotation experiment was conducted to clarify the characteristics of soil bacterial community under reduced fertiliser-N application rate on the North China Plain. Treatments were conventional fertilisation (CF), 80% fertiliser-N input (80%N) and 80% fertiliser-N plus manure input (80%NM) in the wheat season, while the fertilisation regimes of previous maize were consistent. Results showed that 80%NM increased wheat ear·m-2 and 1,000-grain weight by 5.1% and 7.5%, and it also increased soil C/N ratio (by 29.1%) and dissolved organic N content (by 41.6%), compared with CF, although the difference in crop yields between treatments was not significant. Values of soil bacterial α-diversity parameters (observed species, chao1 estimator, evenness and Shannon’s diversity index) were improved under 80%NM, but not under 80%N. Compared with CF, 80%NM increased the abundance of phyla Firmicutes and Gemmatimonadetes but decreased the abundance of phylum Acidobacteria. Redundancy analysis indicated that organic C, dissolved organic N and C/N ratio were major environment variables affecting the distribution of bacterial phyla. These results suggest that manure application can improve soil fertility and productivity under reduced fertiliser-N application rate.
Central Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma Arising Directly From a Glandular Odontogenic Cyst of the Mandible: A Case Report
Authors: Maruyama Satoshi , Mori Taisuke , Yamazaki Manabu , Abé Tatsuya , Ryo Eijitsu , Kano Hiroyuki , Hasegawa Go , Tanuma Jun-ichi
Published: January 2021

BackgroundCentral mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is a rare salivary gland tumor that affects the jaw bone. Glandular odontogenic cyst (GOC) is also a rare odontogenic developmental cyst with glandular differentiation. GOC shares some histological features with central MEC, and a pre-existing GOC can develop into central MEC. Here, we present a rare case of central MEC developed directly from a pre-existing GOC of the mandible. Case presentationA 67-year-old Japanese man presented with a cystic lesion in the right third molar region. Histologically, the biopsy specimen demonstrated both typical of a GOC component lined with non-keratinized squamous epithelium and a recognizable component of central MEC consisting of polycystic nests with mucous cells, intermediate cells, and epidermoid cells in the cyst wall. The immunohistochemistry for cytokeratin (CK) profile results demonstrated that while both central MEC and GOC expressed CKs 7, 14, 18, and 19, interestingly CK13 was only expressed in GOC. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) revealed the rearrangement of the Mastermind like (MAML)-2 gene in both MEC and GOC components. Conclusions﻿Our case suggests that central MEC and GOC may be in the same spectrum of diseases caused by rearrangement of the MAML-2 gene. At the same time, the expression profile of CK13 was completely different in both central MEC and GOC. This also suggests that central MEC is a distinct tumor from GOC. Thus, we demonstrated the rare case that central MEC may have originated directly from the GOC.
Phase 2b Open-label Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of N-acetylcysteine in Reducing Adverse Drug Reactions among Adults Treated for Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis in Tanzania. (Trial Acronym NAC Trial).
Authors: Mpagama Stellah George George , Mvungi Happiness C , Mbelele Peter M , Semvua Hadija H , Liyoyo Alphonce A , de Guex Kristen P , Sloan Derek J , Kibiki Gibson S , Boeree Martin J , Phillips Patrick PJ , Heysell Scott K
Published: January 2021

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) frequently occur in patients using second-line anti-tuberculosis medicine for treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). ADRs contribute to treatment interruptions which can compromise treatment response and risk acquired drug resistance to critical newer drugs such as bedaquiline, while severe ADRs carry considerable morbidity and mortality . N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has shown promise in reducing ADRs for medications related to TB in case series or randomized controlled trials in other medical conditions. We therefore designed a pilot clinical trial to study the protective effect of NAC among people treated for MDR-TB with second-line anti-TB medications. Methods: This is a phase 2b randomized open label clinical trial with 3 treatment arms including a control arm , an interventional arm of NAC 900mg daily , and an interventional arm of NAC 900mg twice-daily administered during the intensive phase of MDR-TB treatment. Patients initiating MDR-TB treatment will be enrolled at Kibong’oto National Center of Excellence for MDR-TB in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania . The minimum anticipated sample size is 66 ; with 22 participants in each arm. ADR monitoring will be performed at baseline and daily follow-up over 24 weeks including blood and urine specimen collection for hepatic and renal function and electrolyte abnormalities, and electrocardiogram. Sputum will be collected at baseline and monthly thereafter and cultured for mycobacteria as well as assayed for other molecular targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Adverse drug events will be analysed over time using mixed effect models. Mean differences between arms in change of the ADRs from baseline (with 95% confidence intervals) will be derived from the fitted model. Discussion: Given that NAC promotes synthesis of glutathione, an intracellular antioxidant that combats the impact of oxidative stress , it may protect against medication induced oxidative damage in organs such as liver, pancreas, kidney and cells of the immune system. This randomized controlled trial will determine if NAC leads to fewer ADRs, and if this protection is dose dependent. Fewer ADRs among patients treated with MDR-TB may significantly improve treatment outcomes for multidrug regimens that necessitate prolonged treatment durations. Trial registration: PACTR202007736854169 Registered 03 July 2020 https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=12163
A Comparative Study of Objective Outcome Measures Used in Clinical Trials of Freezing of Gait 
Authors: Revuelta Gonzalo , Embry Aaron , Elm Jordan , Jenkins Shonna , Lee Philip , Kautz Steve
Published: January 2021

Background: Freezing of gait (FOG) is notoriously difficult to quantify, leading to multiple metrics utilized as outcomes for clinical trials. The instrumented timed up a go and the many parameters that can be derived from it are commonly used as objective markers of gait severity in FOG trials, however it is unknown if they represent FOG severity. Objective: To determine the specificity and responsiveness of objective surrogate markers of FOG severity commonly utilized in FOG studies. Methods: Markers compared included: velocity, step/stride length, step/stride length variability, TUG, and turn duration. Data was collected in four conditions (ON and OFF dopaminergic drugs, with and without a dual task). Unified Parkinson’s Disease rating scale (UPDRS) was administered in the ON and OFF states. Results: 33 subjects were recruited (17 PD subjects without FOG (PD-control), and 16 subjects with PD and dopa-responsive FOG PD-FOG). The UPDRS motor scores were: 24.9 for the PD-control group in the ON state, 24.8 for the FOG group in the ON state, 42.4 for the FOG group in the OFF state. Significant mean differences between the ON and OFF conditions were observed with all surrogate markers (p<0.01). However, only dual task turn duration and step variability showed trends toward significance when comparing PD-control and ON-FOG (p=0.08). Test-retest reliability was high (ICC >0.90) for all markers except standard deviations. Step length variability was the only marker to show an area under the ROC curve analysis >0.70 comparing ON-FOG vs. PD-control. Conclusions: Multiple candidate surrogate markers for FOG severity showed responsiveness to levodopa challenge, however, most were not specific for FOG severity.
Bioinformatic analysis and identification of potential hallmarks in poorly differentiated thyroid cancer
Authors: Chen Xin , Ma Runsheng , Li Hongqiang , Tang Yifeng , Yin Detao
Published: January 2021

Purpose: The accumulation of malignant tumor gene mutations makes differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) gradually dedifferentiated to poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC) or anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). This study analyzed the gene expression profile in the process of dedifferentiation of thyroid cancer, aiming to explore the molecular mechanism of PDTC and ATC.Methods: Eight series from GEO database are collected for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of DTC, PDTC and ATC. Then, GO analysis, KEGG pathway analysis, and functional path enrichment analyses are performed by MATESCAPE. Hub-genes are identified by using the method of MNC in protein interaction networks. Moreover, the expression of hub-genes and hub-gene related survival in thyroid cancers are analyzed by GEPIA2. Finally, the functional path enrichment pathways of PDTC are performed by GSEA Java.Results: There are obvious differences among DEGs of DTC, PDTC, and ATC, and 17 cross gene of DEGs were found. The DEGs in PDTC were mainly concentrated in regulation of cytoskeleton organization, cell division, positive regulation of kinase activity. While the DEGs in ATC were mainly in extracellular matrix organization, extracellular structure organization. Furthermore, 6 hub-genes were obtained in the development of PDTC by using Cytoscape: EGF, CCND1, DEPDC1, ANLN, HGF, BCL2L1. The high expression levels of the genes of EGF, DEPDC1, ANLN, HGF were associated with the poor survival of thyroid cancer. While the high expression levels of CCND1 and BCL2L1 were beneficial to the survival of patients with thyroid tumor. Finally, GSEA revealed that two gene sets are significantly enriched, including KEGG_THYROID_CANCER and KEGG_GLIOMA. And CCND1 and EGF have a core gene position in KEGG_GLIOMA.Conclusions: The molecular function (MF), biological processes (BP) and KEGG pathways have changed during the process of malignant transformation of thyroid cancer. Especially, the activation of EGF-EGFR pathway promotes the malignant transformation of thyroid tumor. Furthermore, six hub-genes, especially CCND1 and EGF, could become potential biomarkers of PDTC. This study can serve as a reference to understand the malignant transformation of thyroid cancer.
Development and Validation of an Immune-related Prognostic Signature in Cervical Cancer
Authors: Su Rongjia , Jin Chengwen , Bu Hualei , Wang Xiaoyun , Kuang Menghua , Xiang Jiangdong , jin chengjuan
Published: January 2021

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequently gynecological malignancy across the world. Immunotherapies have proved to improve prognosis of cervical cancer. However, few studies on immune-related prognostic signature had been reported in cervical cancer. Methods: Raw data and clinical information of cervical cancer samples were download from TCGA and UCSC Xena website. Immunophenoscore of immune infiltration cells in cervical cancer samples was calculated through ssGSEA method using GSVA package. WGCNA, Cox regression analysis, LASSO analysis and GSEA analysis were performed to classify cervical cancer prognosis and explore the biological signaling pathway. Results: There were 8 immune infiltration cells associated with prognosis of cervical cancer. Through WGCNA, 153 genes from 402 immune-related genes were significantly correlated with prognosis of cervical cancer. A 15-gene signature demonstrated powerful predictive ability in prognosis of cervical cancer. GSEA analysis showed multiple signaling pathways containing PD-L1 expression and PD-1 checkpoint pathway differences between high risk and low risk groups. Conclusions: The 15-gene signature was associated with multiple immune cells and immune infiltration in tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, the 15-gene signature is an effective potential prognostic classifier in the immunotherapies and surveillance of cervical cancer.
Assessment of Factors that Contribute to Deforestation in Shabe Sombo Woreda, Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia
Authors: Weyesa Guta Waktole Waktole
Published: January 2021

Deforestation is the process of removing forest areas and using the land for other uses. Deforestation also has been described as the cutting down of trees without planting others in their place. The causes of deforestation are varied but may broadly be categorized into anthropogenic and natural factors. For the anthropogenic factors, increased wood fuel collection, clearing of forests for agriculture, illegal and poorly regulated timber extraction, social and environmental conflicts, increasing urbanization and industrialization. This study is aimed to assess the deforestation status and contributing factors in making Shabe Sembo woreda, Jimma Zone South West Ethiopia. The main objective of this study is to assess the factors that contribute to deforestation in Shabe sombo woreda, jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia. The study has been conducted in Shabe Sombo woreda located in Jimma Zone, Oromia regional state. A cross sectional study design has been employed. The source of population was all households found in Shabe sombo Woreda. The sample size of this study was 100 householders from 1200 total households. Data were collected by using open and close ended questionnaires for gathering important information used for this study. About 52(54.167%) of the respondents reported that the most factor contributing to deforestation in Shabe Sombo was expansion of agricultural land. Whereas About 28 (29.167%) of the respondents reported as cutting trees for fire wood is one factor contributing to deforestation in shabe Sombo woreda, Jimma zone, Southwest Ethiopia.
Bridgmanite-Predominant Lower Mantle Evidenced from Velocity and Density Profiles across the 660-km Discontinuity
Authors: Fu Suyu , Zhang Yanyao , Okuchi Takuo , Lin Jung-Fu
Published: January 2021

Earth’s mantle composition is essential to our understanding of its physics and dynamics. Here we report single-crystal elasticity (Cij) of (Al,Fe)-bearing bridgmanite, Mg0.88Fe0.1Al0.14Si0.90O3 with Fe3+/∑Fe=~0.65, up to ~82 GPa measured in diamond anvil cells. Together with heat capacity measurements on bridgmanite and ferropericlase, we develop a fully internally-consistent thermoelastic model to simultaneously evaluate lower-mantle mineralogy and geotherm via comparisons of P-wave, S-wave velocities, and density (VP, VS, and ρ) with one-dimensional seismic profiles. Our best-fit model demonstrates the lower mantle consists of ~89 vol% (Al,Fe)-bearing bridgmanite, ~4 vol% ferropericlase, and ~7 vol% CaSiO3 perovskite. A chemically layered mantle with pyrolitic upper mantle and bridgmanite-predominant lower mantle would display ~3.2(±1.5)%, ~5.2(±1.5)%, and ~5.0(±1.0)% jumps in VP, VS, and ρ, respectively, across the 660-km discontinuity, which are well consistent with seismic reflection observations. The lower mantle could have become bridgmanite-predominant via accumulations of ancient silica-rich materials, which helps explain current deep-Earth seismic and geochemical signatures.
A Cassava Common Mosaic Virus Vector for Virus-induced Gene Silencing in Cassava
Authors: Tuo Decai , Zhou Peng , Yan Pu , Liu Yang , Cui Hongguang , Sun Di , Liao Wenbin , Wang He , Yang Xiukun , Li Xiaoying , Shen Wentao
Published: January 2021

Background: Cassava is an important crop for food security and industry in the least-developed and developing countries. The completion of the cassava genome sequence and identification of large numbers of candidate genes by next-generation sequencing provide extensive resources for cassava molecular breeding and increase the need for rapid and efficient gene function analysis systems in cassava. Several plant virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) systems have been developed as reverse genetic tools for rapid gene function analysis in cassava. However, these VIGS vectors could cause severe viral symptoms or inefficient gene silencing.Results:In this study, we constructed agroinfection-compatible infectious cDNA clones of cassava common mosaic virus strain CM (CsCMV-CM) that causes systemic infection with mild symptoms in cassava. CsCMV-CM was then modified to a viral vector carrying the Nimble cloning frame, which facilitates the rapid and high-throughput cloning of silencing fragments into the viral genome. The CsCMV-based vector successfully silenced phytoene desaturase (PDS) and magnesium chelatase subunit I (ChlI) in different cassava varieties and Nicotiana benthamiana. The silencing of the ChlI gene could persist for more than two months. Conclusions: This CsCMV-based VIGS system provides a new tool for rapid and efficient gene function studies in cassava.
Deep Hierarchical Embedding for Simultaneous Modeling of GPCR Proteins in a Unified Metric Space
Authors: Lee Taeheon , Lee Sangseon , Kang Minji , Kim Sun
Published: January 2021

GPCR proteins belong to diverse families of proteins that are defined at multiple hierarchical levels. Inspecting relationships between GPCR proteins on the hierarchical structure is important, since characteristics of the protein can be inferred from proteins in similar hierarchical information. However, modeling of GPCR families has been performed separately at each level. Relationships between GPCR proteins are ignored in these approaches as they process the information in the proteins with several disconnected models. In this study, we propose a deep learning model to simultaneously learn representations of GPCR family hierarchy from the protein sequences with a unified single model. Novel loss term based on metric learning is introduced to incorporate hierarchical relations between proteins. We tested our approach using a public GPCR sequence dataset. Metric distances in the deep feature space corresponded to the hierarchical family relation between GPCR proteins. Furthermore, we demonstrated that further downstream tasks, like phylogenetic reconstruction and motif discovery, are feasible in the constructed embedding space. These results show that hierarchical relations between sequences were successfully captured in both of technical and biological aspects.
High Expression of PD-L1 is Associated with Better Survival in Pancreatic/Periampullary Cancers and Correlates with Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition.
Authors: Thakur Nishant , Paik Kwang Yeol , Hwang Gyoyeon , Chong Yosep
Published: January 2021

BackgroundPeriampullary cancers (PACs) are characterised with tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), severe fibrosis, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). The immune checkpoint marker programmed death-1 (PD-1) and its ligands 1 and 2 have gained popularity in cancers with TILs. Evidence suggests a strong relationship between immune checkpoint markers and EMT in cancers. Here, we evaluated the expression and prognostic significance of immune checkpoint and EMT markers in PAC using an automated image analyser.MethodsFormalin-fixed, paraf-fin-embedded surgically excised PAC tissues from laboratory archives (1998-2014) were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining for PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 in a tissue microarray. ResultsIn total, 115 PAC patients (70 males and 45 female) with an average age of 63 years were analysed. Location, gross type, size, radial resection margin, N-M stage, lymphatic invasion, vascular invasion, peri-neural invasion, histologic well differentiation, severe inflammation, and high PD-L1 expression were significantly associated with recurrence. Higher PD-L1 expression, but not PD-1 and PD-L2, was significantly related to better overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). PD-L1 and PD-L2 were significantly related to EMT markers.ConclusionAside from other clinicopathologic parameters, high PD-L1 expression was significantly related to better OS and DFS of PAC patients. Moreover, immune checkpoint markers were significantly associated with EMT markers. Therefore, PD-L1 expression can be a good prognostic marker to guide future immune target-based therapies in PAC patients.
Identification of A 10-Gene Signature To Predict Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Therapy in Patients With HER2 Positive Breast Cancer.
Authors: Wang Yusong , Wang Mozhi , Sun Xiangyu , Yao Litong , Wang Mengshen , Dong Haoran , Li Xinyan , He Mingcong , Xu Yingying
Published: January 2021

Background:Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer represent a poor prognosis, which are recommended to be treated with neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). Tumor immune microenvironment, especially tumor infiltrating cells (TILs), are proved to predict the efficacy of NAT. However, validated immune-related multi-gene signatures for HER2-positive BC are still lacking.Methods:We collected gene expression arrays of pre-NAT samples from the National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus. Totally 4 studies are included in our study (n=295, no. of train=207, no. of validation=95) to construct the signature. Single Sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA)and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA)were used to quantify immune-infiltrating components in tumor environment and to identify immune related modules. We used spline regression to evaluate non-linear effect of genes and to construct the signature.Results:Immune infiltration status was significantly related to pathological complete response (pCR) (p=0.02). We filtered 80 differential expression genes according to immune infiltration status, and identified two gene modules correlated to pCR and immune infiltration status. CCL5, CD72, PTGDS, CYTIP, PAX5, and estrogen receptor (ER)status were significantly related to pCR in linear multivariate analysis. In spline regression, non-linear aspects of MAP7, IL2RB, CD3G, PTPRC, TRAC were relevant to pCR. We constructed a signature concerning both linear and non-linear effects of genes, which was validated in 5-fold cross validation (AUC=0.81) and an external validation cohort (n=88) (AUC=0.797).Conclusions:In HER2 positive BC, immune infiltration status should be involved into consideration to make optimal regimens. A ten-gene generalized non-linear signature including ER status could predict the efficacy of NAT.
Fast Characteristic of Skin Lesions by Machine-Learning of Raman Spectrum
Authors: Zhang Hua , Wang Danhua , Qu Limei , Xue Ying , Li Xinli , Li Bei , Liu Bin
Published: January 2021

Background: The traditional diagnosis of skin lesions mainly relies on dermoscope and pathological biopsy, of which the former is non-objective and the latter is invasive and time-consuming. It is necessary to find an objective and non-invasive inspection method for the diagnosis of skin cancer which is the most common malignant tumor. Herein, we aimed to fast identify the skin cancers on ultrathin frozen fresh tissue sections by combining Raman spectroscopy detection and machine learning technology. Methods and material: 22 fresh frozen tissue sections including 3 squamous cell carcinomas, 11 basal cell carcinomas, 2 malignant melanomas, 3 seborrheic keratosis, and 3 melanocytic nevi, were included and performed Raman detection. To prevent the discrete Raman data distribution affecting the generalization ability of the learning model, a series of adaptive preprocessing algorithms were first applied to standardize the raw Raman data of five skin lesions. The processed Raman data were performed visualized cluster analysis by principal components analysis (PCA) and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE). And, using K-nearest Neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers, two predictive models for diagnose were established and evaluated in the training set and test set by the confusion matrixes and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Results: The mean variance Raman spectrum graph of 5 skin lesion types were acquired after standardization procession and 4 peak positions with large differences were found. Through dimensionality reduction by PCA and t-SNE, the visual clustering results of Raman data showed heterogeneous intra-cluster homogeneity and inter-cluster dispersion. The test accuracies reached 94.56% and 98.94% in KNN and SVM classifiers respectively. The areas under the ROCs of the two classifiers, in the category dimension and the sample dimension, were all more than 0.99 which is close to the perfect classification effect. Conclusions: Raman spectroscopy is a competitive candidate for the fast and accurate diagnosis of skin lesions and the molecular information provided may be used in the pathological classification, predicting immunotherapy responsiveness and stratifying prognostic risk. Furthermore, the combination of Raman spectroscopy and machine learning methods showed great diagnostic capabilities with high accuracy is a promising tool for the diagnosis of skin lesions.
SLC25A21 Suppresses Cell Growth in Bladder Cancer Via The Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Mitochondrion-Dependent Apoptosis Pathway
Authors: Wang Yong , Gao Jiawen , Hu Shasha , Zeng Weiting , Yang Hongjun , Chen Hui , Wang Shuang
Published: January 2021

Background: Bladder cancer (BCa) is a commonly diagnosed malignancy worldwide that has poor survival depending on its intrinsic biologic aggressiveness and a peculiar radio- and chemoresistance features. Gaining a better understanding of tumorigenesis and developing new diagnosis and treatment strategies for BCa is important for improving BCa clinical outcome. SLC25 family member 21 (SLC25A21), a carrier transporting C5-C7 oxodicarboxylates, has been reported to contribute to oxoadipate acidemia. However, the potential role of SLC25A21 in cancer remains absolutely unknown. Methods: The expression levels of SLC25A21 in BCa and normal tissues were examined by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Gain-of- and loss-of-function experiments were performed to detect the biological functions of SLC25A21 in vitro and in vivo by CCK-8 assay, plate colony formation assay, cell migration, invasion assay and experimental animal models. The subcellular distribution of substrate mediated by SLC25A21, mitochondrial membrane potential and ROS production were assessed to explore the potential mechanism of SLC25A21 in BCa.Results: We found that the expression of SLC25A21 was downregulated in BCa tissues compared to normal tissues. A significant positive correlation between decreased SLC25A21 expression and poor prognosis was observed in BCa patients. Overexpression of SLC25A21 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion and induced apoptosis in vitro. Moreover, the enhanced SLC25A21 expression significantly suppressed tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. Furthermore, we revealed that SLC25A21 suppressed BCa growth by inducing the efflux of mitochondrial α-KG to the cytosol, decreasing to against oxidative stress, and activating the ROS-mediated mitochondrion-dependent apoptosis pathway. Conclusions: Our findings provide the first link between SLC25A21 expression and BCa and demonstrate that SLC25A21 acts as a crucial suppressor in BCa progression, which may help to provide new targets for BCa intervention.
Inflammatory Pseudo Tumor-Like Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma of the Liver with Hepatic Lymphoma History:A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Li Jian , Wang Wenqiang , Chen Dong , Akilu Wajeehullahi , Huang Zhiyong , Zhang Erlei
Published: January 2021

Background:Inflammatory Pseudo Tumor (IPT)-like Follicular Dendritic Cell (FDC) Sarcoma of the liver is a very rare disease and occurs mostly in the lymph nodes. Till now, only 19 cases were reported in the English literature. However, the coexistence of IPT-like Sarcoma and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma(NHL) in the same patient has never been reported.Case presentation:We reported a case of a 47-year-old male patient who had a history of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and presented with right upper abdominal discomfort. Nineteen years ago, he underwent liver resection of segment VII for Hepatic Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-cell lymphoma). Serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level was normal. However, Imaging studies revealed a well-circumscribed, solid mass in the right hepatic lobe and was diagnosed as (Hepatocellular Carcinoma) HCC or Hepatic Lymphoma preoperatively. Right hemi-hepatectomy was performed on this patient. Histological report showed features of a mixture of chronic inﬂammatory cells and variable amounts of spindle cells. Also, Immuno-Histo-Chemical (IHC) studies demonstrated that all the tumor cells showed strong nuclear in situ labeling for EBV-encoded small RNAs (EBER) and strongly positive stainings with CD21 and CD35. The patient is still disease free after a follow-up of 40 months. Conclusions:To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating Hepatic IPT-like FDC Sarcoma in a patient with Primary Hepatic Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma history. In regards to treatment, complete surgical resection should be performed and would acquire excellent long-term outcomes.
Preventive Effect of Resveratrol on Caerulein-induced Acute Pancreatitis in High-fat diet-feeding Mice
Authors: Zhang Xiaoying , Yang Guodong
Published: January 2021

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect and the underlying mechanism of resveratrol in high fat diet (HFD) and hyperlipidemia AP (HTG-AP) mice model. Methods: Following successful establishment of the HFD and HTG-AP mice model, resveratrol was administrated. 16sRNA sequencing of gut microbiota in colonic fecal, the LPS, MCP-1, TNF-α, and IL-6 expressions in serum, and MCP-1 expression of the pancreatic tissues were measured in HFD model. The MDA, SOD, T-AOC, TNF-α, and MCP-1 expressions; the NF‑κB proinflammatory signaling pathway‑related proteins in pancreatic tissues were determined. Histopathological examination was evaluated in both models.Results: Resveratrol effectively inhibited pancreatic pathological injury in both models. It reduced the MDA, SOD, T-AOC, TNF-α, and MCP-1 expressions and changed composition of gut microbiota in feces compared with the HFD model. Resveratrol also reduced oxidative stress by decreasing the level of MDA and increasing the levels of SOD and T-AOC. TNF-α and MCP-1 were decreased following the administration of resveratrol. Furthermore, resveratrol suppressed the NF‑κB proinflammatory signaling pathway in pancreatic tissues.Conclusions: The study suggested that resveratrol had therapeutic effect on HFD and HTG-AP mice model by regulating the gut microbiota, promoting antioxidant capacity and inhibiting proinflammatory cytokines via the NF‑κB inflammatory pathway. The results can provide evidence that resveratrol might be regarded as a promising therapeutic agent for HTG-AP.
Clinical Effectiveness of a Pneumatic Compression Device Combined with Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin for the Prevention of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Trauma Patients: a Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Guo Peng-chao , Li Nan , Zhong Hui-ming , Zhao Guang-feng , Zhang Mao
Published: January 2021

Purpose: To investigate the clinical effectiveness of a pneumatic compression device (PCD) combined with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for the prevention and treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in trauma patients.Materials and Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 286 patients with mild craniocerebral injury and clavicular fractures admitted to our department from January 2016 to February 2020. Patients treated with only LMWH were used as the control group, and patients treated with a PCD combined with LMWH were used as the observation group. The incidence of DVT, the postoperative change in the visual analog scale (VAS) score and coagulation function were observed and compared between the two groups. Excluding the influence of other single factors, binary logistic regression analysis can indicate whether the use of a PCD effectively improves the patient's postoperative coagulation function.Result: The incidence of DVT in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (7.1% vs. 16.7%, respectively, χ2=4.605, P<0.05). The postoperative VAS scores of the two groups were lower than those before surgery (P<0.05). The coagulation function of the LMWH+PCD group was significantly higher than that of the LMWH group, and the combined anticoagulant effect was better (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of preoperative and postoperative Glasgow coma scores, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative infection rate, or length of hospital stay (P>0.05). According to binary logistic regression analysis, the postoperative risk of DVT in patients with LMWH alone was 1.764 times that with the combination of LMWH+PCD (P <0.05). The incidence of DVT with LMWH alone was 1.37 times that with the combined application. Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), platelet (PLT) count, and DVT are independent risk factors that indicate the need for a PCD (P <0.05). Excluding the influence of other variables, LMWH+PCD can effectively improve the coagulation function of patients. The area under the curve data indicate that APTT and PLT are sensitive indicators of anticoagulant efficacy (Z inspection, inspection level α = 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with LMWH alone, PCD combined with LMWH can improve blood rheology and coagulation function in patients with traumatic brain injury and clavicular fracture, significantly reduce the incidence of DVT, shorten the hospital stay and improve the clinical effectiveness of treatment.
An Application of Quantitative Geomorphometric Indicators in identifying ‘[Susceptible Zones by Using SVM Model (Case study: Khorramabad- Pol Zal Freeway)
Authors: Ahmadabadi Ali , Saberi Mitra
Published: January 2021

Geomorphomety is the quantitative measurement of landforms based on height changes influenced by distance function. Geomorphomety indices express the characteristics of the terrain quantitatively. The present study emphasizes the use of geo-morphometric parameters and SVM algorithm to identify areas prone to landslide in Khorramabad- Paul Zal freeway as one of the important roads in the country. Other indices include slope, aspect, lithology, fault condition, drainage and land use which are applied together with the geometric indices such as profile curvature, plan curvature and total curvature use, artificial intelligence approach and linear functions and polynomial SVM algorithm to identify areas prone to landslides. The results show using Geomorphometric indices play an important role in increasing accuracy of assessing and identifying areas with an increasing the risk of landslides and assessing the accuracy through using land survey data shows that polynomial functions are more accurate in identifying areas prone to landslides than SVM algorithm linear function.
Differential Expression of Desmocollin2, Desmoglein2, and Plakophilin2 in the Progression of Esophagitis to Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Wu Yun , Liu Nannan , Bo Wanlan , Zhuang Liwei
Published: January 2021

BackgroundDesmosomes play a key role in intercellular adhesive, but also contribute to tumorigenesis. This study aimed to examine the differential expression of desmocollin2 (DSC2), desmoglein2 (DSG2), and plakophilin2 (PKP2) in the progression of reflux esophagitis to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in the rat model of reflux disease established by esophagogastroduodenal anastomosis (EGDA).MethodsEGDA was performed on rats to induce gastroesophageal reflux leading to the development of EAC. All rats were randomly divided into four groups: group A rats received EGDA only (n=27); group B rats received EGDA and iron supplementation (n=28); group C received pseudo surgery only (n=20); group D received pseudo surgery and iron supplementation (n=20). Animals were randomly selected from each group and euthanized at 8 weeks and 32 weeks following EGDA. Esophageal tissues were harvested and divided into 4 types (normal esophagus, esophagitis, dysplasia, and EAC). On these tissue types, immunohistochemistry was performed to characterize the localization and distribution of DSC2, DSG2, and PKP2, while qRT-PCR and western blot were performed to detect the expression of DSC2, DSG2, and PKP2 at the gene and protein levels.ResultsAt 8 weeks after surgery, 80% of rats in group A and 100% in group B had esophagitis. At 32 weeks, 29.41% and 17.65% of rats in group A developed dysplasia and EAC, respectively, while in group B, dysplasia and EAC accounted for 44.44% and 38.89%, respectively. The expression of DSC2, DSG2, and PKP2 at both the gene and protein levels increased progressively from esophagitis to dysplasia, and EAC. Of note, all of the three genes were significantly upregulated in EAC tissues compared with tissues of esophagitis.ConclusionDSC2, DSG2, and PKP2 may play an important role in the progression of esophagitis to EAC. Their expression levels may therefore be utilized as molecular biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted therapy for EAC.
Investigation of Stress Situation of Pediatric Nurses and Corresponding Changes of Intestinal Flora
Authors: Wu Zhixiang , JIANG Boyue , ZHANG Xueyan , HAO Jingyue , WANG Qingxuan , SHAO Rubing , CUI Zengzhen , ZHU Zhiyuan , SHEN Jie , ZHAO Mingyi
Published: January 2021

BACKGROUND: Sequencing the stool samples to explore the relationship between intestinal flora and the stressor of nurses. METHODS: The research take the pediatric nurses in the Third Xiangya Hospital as the research group and the internal medicine nurses as the control group. Use the "Chinese Nurse Stressor Scale"(CNSS) for general investigation and stress-related assessment. 6 in internal medicine group and 7 in pediatric group to conduct cell sequencing of intestinal flora. Gut microbiome was profiled by 16S rRNA sequencing. RESULTS: The work stressors of internal medicine and pediatric nurses includes nursing specialty and work (10.94±3.17 vs 12.25±2.78), work environment and resources (4.91±1.63 vs 5.66±2.03), patient care (15.86±4.30 vs 18.95±5.12) and management and interpersonal relationship (8.83±4.94 vs 10.86±5.01). The results were statistically different (P < 0.05). The abundance of Clostridia in internal medicine group is higher, while the abundance of Bacteroidia in pediatric group is higher. The abundance of γ-proteobacteria and β-proteobacteria also have obvious differences between two groups.CONCLUSIONS: The overall stress score of the pediatric nurse group was higher, with their stool samples having more abundance of Bacteroidia, but Clostridia, γ-Proteobacteria and β-Proteobacteria are fewer than that in internal medicine nurses.
Increased myofilament calcium sensitivity is associated with decreased cardiac troponin I phosphorylation in the diabetic rat heart
Authors: Greenman Angela , Diffee Gary M. , Power Amelia , Wilkins Gerard T. , Gold Olivia M. S. , Erickson Jeff R. , Baldi James C.
Published: January 2021

Background

The diabetic heart has impaired systolic and diastolic function independent of other comorbidities. The availability of calcium is altered, but does not fully explain the cardiac dysfunction seen in the diabetic heart. Thus, we explored if myofilament protein regulation of contraction is altered.

Methods

Calcium sensitivity (pCa50) was measured in Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat hearts at the initial stage of diabetes (12-week-old) and after 8 weeks of uncontrolled hyperglycaemia (20-week-old) and in non-diabetic (nDM) littermates. Skinned cardiomyocytes were connected to a capacitance-gauge transducer and a torque motor to measure force as a function of pCa (-log[Ca2+]). Fluorescent gel stain (ProQ Diamond) was used to measure total protein phosphorylation. Specific phospho-sites on cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and total cTnI O-GlcNAcylation were quantified using immunoblot.

Results

pCa50 was greater in both 12- and 20-week-old diabetic (DM) rats compared to nDM littermates (p = 0.0005). Total cTnI and cTnI serine 23/24 phosphorylation were lower in DM rats (p = 0.003 & p = 0.01, respectively), but cTnI O-GlcNAc protein expression was not different. pCa50 is greater in DM rats and corresponds with an overall reduction in cTnI phosphorylation.

Conclusions

These findings indicate that myofilament calcium sensitivity is increased and cTnI phosphorylation is reduced in ZDF DM rats, which suggests an important role for cTnI phosphorylation in the DM heart.
Association between serum chemokine CC-motif ligand 17 and prognosis of patients at risk for coronary heart disease
Authors: Feng Siqin , Wang Lei , Wang Yifei , Wang Yiyang , Chen Yuxiong , Tian Ran , Wang Hui , Liu Honghong , Zhang Shuyang
Published: January 2021

Background

It has been reported chemokine CC-motif ligand 17 (CCL17), an inflammatory mediator modulating T cells function to affect formation and stableness of atherosclerotic plaque and is associated with the severity of coronary heart disease (CHD). This research aims to further explore the relationship between serum CCL17 and the prognosis of patients at risk for CHD.

Method

This study retrospectively enrolled 495 patients receiving coronary angiogram at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2012 to December 2013. Serum CCL17 was measured on admission and annual routine telephone follow-up was carried out till December 2020. The prognosis of patients was evaluated by the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Cox survival analysis have been applied for univariate and multivariate models setting., Machine learning and data imbalance methods were also added to improve the model performance.

Results

Compared with patients with low serum CCL17 level, patients with medium and high serum CCL17 demonstrated elevated risk to develop MACE, with the hazard ratio (HR) being 4.53 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.08-9.88] and 6.38 (95% CI 3.07-13.28) respectively. CCL17 served as an independent risk factor to predict the incidence of MACE and the addition of CCL17 to the baseline risk model significantly increase the predictive ability for MACE (Area under curve: baseline risk model 0.803±0.021 vs baseline risk model+CCL17 0.836±0.021, p for comparison<0.001).

Conclusions

Elevated CCL17 functions as an independent predictor for MACE in patients at risk for CHD and the potential mechanisms deserved more exploration in the future.
Significance of day-to-day glucose variability in heart failure patients after acute coronary syndrome
Authors: Miyoshi Machiko , Uzui Hiroyasu , Shimizu Tomohiro , Aiki Takayoshi , Shiomi Yuichiro , Nodera Minoru , Ikeda Hiroyuki , Tama Naoto , Hasegawa Kanae , Morishita Tetsuji , Ishida Kentaro , Miyazaki Shinsuke , Tada Hiroshi
Published: January 2021

Background: Several studies have recently addressed the importance of glycemic variability (GV) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Although daily GV measures, such as mean amplitude of glycemic excursions, are established predictors of poor prognosis in patients with ACS, the clinical significance of day-to-day GV remains to be fully elucidated. We therefore monitored day-to-day GV in patients with ACS to examine its significance. Methods: In 25 patients with ACS, glucose levels were monitored for 14 days using a flash continuous glucose monitoring system. Mean of daily differences (MODD) was calculated as a marker of day-to-day GV. N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was evaluated within 4 days after hospitalization. Cardiac function (left ventricular end-diastolic volume, left ventricular ejection fraction, stroke volume) was assessed by echocardiography in the acute and chronic phases. Results: Of the 25 patients, 8 (32%) were diagnosed with diabetes, and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)-based MODD was high (10.3 to 42.3) in 24 patients (96%). Although MODD did not correlate with max CK, there was a positive correlation between J-index, high blood glucose index, and NT-proBNP ( r =0.83, p <0.001; r =0.85, p <0.001; r =0.41, p =0.042, respectively). Conclusion: In patients with ACS, MODD was associated with NT-proBNP. These results suggest that monitoring day-to-day GV in ACS patients may be useful for evaluating worsening cardiac function independent of myocardial infarction after ACS.
An Open Source Toolkit to Parse and Analyze Online Crowdsourced Portals
Authors: Verma Amit Arjun , Iyengar S.R.S , Setia Simran , Dubey Neeru
Published: January 2021

With the success of crowdsourced portals, such as Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, Quora, and GitHub, a class of researchers is driven towards understanding the dynamics of knowledge building on these portals. Even though collaborative knowledge building portals are known to be better than expert-driven knowledge repositories, limited research has been performed to understand the knowledge building dynamics in the former. This is mainly due to two reasons; first, unavailability of the standard data representation format, second, lack of proper tools and libraries to analyze the knowledge building dynamics. We describe Knowledge Data Analysis and Processing Platform (KDAP), a programming toolkit that is easy to use and provides high-level operations for analysis of knowledge data. We propose Knowledge Markup Language (Knol-ML), a generic representation format for the data of collaborative knowledge building portals. KDAP can process the massive data of crowdsourced portals like Wikipedia and Stack Overflow efficiently. As a part of this toolkit, a data-dump of various collaborative knowledge building portals is published in Knol-ML format. The combination of Knol-ML and the proposed open-source library will help the knowledge building community to perform benchmark analysis.
Determinants of dental caries in children in the Middle East and North Africa region: A systematic review based on literature published from 2000 to 2019
Authors: Elamin Amal , Garemo Malin , Mulder Anzelle
Published: January 2021

Background

Dental caries risk factors have been expanded to not only emphasize biology and dietary and oral habits but also broader social determinants such as socioeconomic factors and the utilization of health services. The aim was to review sociobehavioural/cultural and socioeconomic determinants of dental caries in children residing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Methods

A search was conducted in the PubMed/Medline database and Google Scholar to identify studies published from 2000–2019 covering children using key search terms. In the initial stages, titles, abstracts and, if needed, full articles were screened for eligibility. In the final stage, all included articles were reassessed and read, and relevant data were extracted.
Results

Out of 600 initial articles, a total of 77 were included in this review, of which 74 were cross-sectional, 2 were longitudinal and one was a case-control study. The studies included a total of 94,491 participants in 14 countries across the MENA region. A majority used the World Health Organization scoring system to assess dental caries. The caries prevalence ranged between 17.2–88.8%, early childhood caries between 3–57% and decayed missing filled teeth (dmft) varied between 0.6–8.5 across the various age groups. Increased age, low maternal education, low overall socioeconomic status, decreased frequency of tooth brushing, low parental involvement, poor oral habits, infant feeding practices and sugar were among the most prevalent determinants for increased risk of caries in the reviewed studies.
Conclusions

Dental caries was found to be high among children in many of the studies published from MENA. The key determinants of dental caries were found to include factors related to child characteristics, family background, oral hygiene and infant feeding and eating habits. The high dental caries prevalence emphasises the need to address the prevailing modifiable sociobehavioural and socioeconomic determinants by translating them into effective oral health prevention policies and programmes.