bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cell-type-specific DNA methylation analysis of the frontal cortices of mutant Polg1 transgenic mice with neuronal accumulation of deleted mitochondrial DNA
Authors: Sugawara Hiroko , Bundo Miki , Kasahara Takaoki , Nakachi Yutaka , Ueda Junko , Kubota-Sakashita Mie , Iwamoto Kazuya , Kato Tadafumi
Published: January 2022

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by repeated conflicting manic and depressive states. In addition to genetic factors, complex gene–environment interactions, which alter the epigenetic status in the brain, contribute to the etiology and pathophysiology of BD. Here, we performed a promoter-wide DNA methylation analysis of neurons and nonneurons derived from the frontal cortices of mutant Polg1 transgenic (n = 6) and wild-type mice (n = 6). The mutant mice expressed a proofreading-deficient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymerase under the neuron-specific CamK2a promoter and showed BD-like behavioral abnormalities, such as activity changes and altered circadian rhythms. We identified a total of 469 differentially methylated regions (DMRs), consisting of 267 neuronal and 202 nonneuronal DMRs. Gene ontology analysis of DMR-associated genes showed that cell cycle-, cell division-, and inhibition of peptide activity-related genes were enriched in neurons, whereas synapse- and GABA-related genes were enriched in nonneurons. Among the DMR-associated genes, Trim2 and Lrpprc showed an inverse relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression status. In addition, we observed that mutant Polg1 transgenic mice shared several features of DNA methylation changes in postmortem brains of patients with BD, such as dominant hypomethylation changes in neurons, which include hypomethylation of the molecular motor gene and altered DNA methylation of synapse-related genes in nonneurons. Taken together, the DMRs identified in this study will contribute to understanding the pathophysiology of BD from an epigenetic perspective.
Exacerbation of allergic asthma by somatic antigen of Echinococcus granulosus in allergic airway inflammation in BALB/c mice
Authors: Ghabdian Sara , Parande Shirvan Sima , Maleki Mohsen , Borji Hassan
Published: January 2022

Background

There is ample evidence demonstrating a reverse relationship between helminth infection and immune-mediated diseases. Accordingly, several studies have shown that Echinococcus granulosus infection and hydatid cyst compounds are able to suppress immune responses in allergic airway inflammation. Previous studies have documented the ability of hydatid cysts to suppress aberrant Th2 immune response in a mouse model of allergic asthma. However, there is a paucity of research on the effects of protoscoleces on allergic asthma. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of somatic antigens of protoscoleces in a murine model of allergic airway inflammation.

Methods

Ovalbumin (OVA)/aluminum hydroxide (alum) was injected intraperitoneally to sensitize BALB/c mice over a period of 0 to 7 days, followed by challenge with 1% OVA. The treatment group received somatic antigens of protoscoleces emulsified with PBS on these days in each sensitization before being challenged with 1% OVA on days 14, 15, and 16. The effects of somatic antigens of protoscoleces on allergic airway inflammation were evaluated by examining histopathological changes, the recruitment of inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage, cytokine production in the homogenized lung tissue (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-17, and IFN-γ), and total antioxidant capacity in serum.

Results

Overall, administration of somatic antigens of protoscoleces exacerbated allergic airway inflammation via increased Th2 cytokine levels in the lung homogenate, recruitment of eosinophils into bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and pathological changes. In addition, total antioxidant capacity and IFN-γ levels declined following the administration of somatic antigens.

Conclusions

The results revealed that the co-administration of somatic products of protoscoleces with OVA/alum contributed to the exacerbation of allergic airway inflammation in BALB/c mice. Currently, the main cause of allergic-type inflammation exacerbation is unknown, and further research is needed to understand the mechanism of these interactions.

Graphical Abstract
The CpG island methylator phenotype increases the risk of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and cervical cancer
Authors: Loaeza-Loaeza Jaqueline , Illades-Aguiar Berenice , del Moral-Hernández Oscar , Castro-Coronel Yaneth , Leyva-Vázquez Marco A. , Dircio-Maldonado Roberto , Ortiz-Ortiz Julio , Hernández-Sotelo Daniel
Published: January 2022

Background

High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection is the main cause of cervical cancer, but additional alterations are necessary for its development. Abnormal DNA methylation has an important role in the origin and dissemination of cervical cancer and other human tumors. In this work, we analyzed the methylation of eight genes (AJAP1, CDH1, CDH13, MAGI2, MGMT, MYOD1, RASSF1A and SOX17) that participate in several biological processes for the maintenance of cell normality. We analyzed DNA methylation by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and HPV infection using the INNO‑LiPA genotyping kit in 59 samples diagnostic of normal cervical tissue (non-SIL), 107 low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs), 29 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) and 51 cervical cancers (CCs).

Results

We found that all samples of LSIL, HSIL, and CC were HPV-positive, and the genotypes with higher frequencies were 16, 18, 51 and 56. In general, the genes analyzed displayed a significant tendency toward an increase in methylation levels according to increasing cervical lesion severity, except for the CDH13 gene. High CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) was associated with a 50.6-fold (95% CI 4.72–2267.3)-increased risk of HSIL and a 122-fold risk of CC (95% CI 10.04–5349.7).

Conclusions

We found that CIMP high was significantly associated with HSIL and CC risk. These results could indicate that CIMP together with HR-HPV infection and other factors participates in the development of HSIL and CC.
HobPre: accurate prediction of human oral bioavailability for small molecules
Authors: Wei Min , Zhang Xudong , Pan Xiaolin , Wang Bo , Ji Changge , Qi Yifei , Zhang John Z. H.
Published: January 2022

Human oral bioavailability (HOB) is a key factor in determining the fate of new drugs in clinical trials. HOB is conventionally measured using expensive and time-consuming experimental tests. The use of computational models to evaluate HOB before the synthesis of new drugs will be beneficial to the drug development process. In this study, a total of 1588 drug molecules with HOB data were collected from the literature for the development of a classifying model that uses the consensus predictions of five random forest models. The consensus model shows excellent prediction accuracies on two independent test sets with two cutoffs of 20% and 50% for classification of molecules. The analysis of the importance of the input variables allowed the identification of the main molecular descriptors that affect the HOB class value. The model is available as a web server at www.icdrug.com/ICDrug/ADMET for quick assessment of oral bioavailability for small molecules. The results from this study provide an accurate and easy-to-use tool for screening of drug candidates based on HOB, which may be used to reduce the risk of failure in late stage of drug development.

Graphical Abstract
Treatment outcomes of HIV patients with hepatitis B and C virus co-infections in Southwest China: an observational cohort study
Authors: Jia Jingya , Zhu Qiuying , Deng Luojia , Lan Guanghua , Johnson Andrew , Chen Huanhuan , Shen Zhiyong , Li Jianjun , Xing Hui , Ruan Yuhua , Li Jing , Lu Hui , Vermund Sten H. , Zhu Jinhui , Qian Han-Zhu
Published: January 2022

Background

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has reduced mortality among people living with HIV (PLWH) in China, but co-infections of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) may individually or jointly reduce the effect of ART. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of HBV/HCV coinfections on treatment drop-out and mortality among PLWH on ART.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study analysis of 58 239 people living with HIV (PLWH) who initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) during 2010–2018 was conducted in Guangxi Province, China. Data were from the observational database of the National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program. Cox proportional hazard models were fitted to evaluate the effects of baseline infection of HBV or HCV or both on death and treatment attrition among PLWH.

Results

Our study showed high prevalence of HBV (11.5%), HCV (6.6%) and HBV-HCV (1.5%) co-infections. The overall mortality rate and treatment attrition rate was 2.95 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.88–3.02] and 5.92 (95%CI5.82–6.01) per 100 person-years, respectively. Compared with HIV-only patients, HBV-co-infected patients had 42% higher mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.42; 95%CI1.32–1.54], HCV-co-infected patients had 65% higher mortality (aHR = 1.65; 95%CI1.47–1.86), and patients with both HCV and HBV co-infections had 123% higher mortality (aHR = 2.23; 95%CI1.87–2.66).

Conclusions

HBV and HCV coinfection may have an additive effect on increasing the risk of all-cause death among PLWH who are on ART. It is suggested that there is need for primary prevention and access to effective hepatitis treatment for PLWH.

Graphical Abstract
Public and health professional epidemic risk perceptions in countries that are highly vulnerable to epidemics: a systematic review
Authors: Abdelmagid Nada , Checchi Francesco , Roberts Bayard
Published: January 2022

Background

Risk communication interventions during epidemics aim to modify risk perceptions to achieve rapid shifts in population health behaviours. Exposure to frequent and often concurrent epidemics may influence how the public and health professionals perceive and respond to epidemic risks. This review aimed to systematically examine the evidence on risk perceptions of epidemic-prone diseases in countries highly vulnerable to epidemics.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review using PRISMA standards. We included peer-reviewed studies describing or measuring risk perceptions of epidemic-prone diseases among the general adult population or health professionals in 62 countries considered highly vulnerable to epidemics. We searched seven bibliographic databases and applied a four-stage screening and selection process, followed by quality appraisal. We conducted a narrative meta-synthesis and descriptive summary of the evidence, guided by the Social Amplification of Risk Framework.

Results

Fifty-six studies were eligible for the final review. They were conducted in eighteen countries and addressed thirteen epidemic-prone diseases. Forty-five studies were quantitative, six qualitative and five used mixed methods. Forty-one studies described epidemic risk perceptions in the general public and nineteen among health professionals. Perceived severity of epidemic-prone diseases appeared high across public and health professional populations. However, perceived likelihood of acquiring disease varied from low to moderate to high among the general public, and appeared consistently high amongst health professionals. Other occupational groups with high exposure to specific diseases, such as bushmeat handlers, reported even lower perceived likelihood than the general population. Among health professionals, the safety and effectiveness of the work environment and of the broader health system response influenced perceptions. Among the general population, disease severity, familiarity and controllability of diseases were influential factors. However, the evidence on how epidemic risk perceptions are formed or modified in these populations is limited.

Conclusions

The evidence affords some insights into patterns of epidemic risk perception and influencing factors, but inadequately explores what underlies perceptions and their variability, particularly among diseases, populations and over time. Approaches to defining and measuring epidemic risk perceptions are relatively underdeveloped.

Graphical Abstract
DMBT1 expression and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio during necrotizing enterocolitis are influenced by impaired perfusion due to cardiac anomalies
Authors: Diez Sonja , Besendörfer Manuel , Weyerer Veronika , Hartmann Arndt , Moosmann Julia , Weiss Christel , Renner Marcus , Müller Hanna
Published: January 2022

Background

Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) is involved in innate immunity and epithelial differentiation. It has been proven to play a role in various states of inflammation or hypoxia of fetal gastrointestinal and pulmonary diseases. Discrimination of pathogenesis in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) based on cardiac status improves the understanding of NEC in different patient subgroups. We aimed at examining DMBT1 expressions regarding their association with cardiac status leading to impaired intestinal perfusion, intraoperative bacteria proof, and a fulminant course of NEC.

Methods

Twenty-eight patients with NEC were treated surgically between 2010 and 2019 at our institution. DMBT1 expression was examined in intestinal sections using immunohistochemistry to detect DMBT1 protein. Associations of clinical parameters and DMBT1 expression were analyzed.

Results

We examined DMBT1 levels in 10 patients without cardiac defects and 18 patients with persisting ductus arteriosus (PDA) and congenital heart defects (CHD). Compared to patients without cardiac malformations, DMBT1 levels tended to score higher in patients with PDA/CHD (p = 0.2113) and were negatively correlated with C-reactive protein in these infants (p = 0.0172; r = − 0.5533). The number of DMBT1-expressing macrophages was elevated in the PDA/CHD-subgroup (p = 0.0399). Ratios of neutrophils and monocytes to lymphocytes were significantly higher in infants with PDA/CHD (p = 0.0319 and 0.0493). DMBT1 expression was significantly associated with positive bacterial culture of intraoperative swabs (p = 0.0252) and DMBT1 expression of the serosa was associated with a fulminant course of NEC (p = 0.0239).

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that DMBT1 expression may be influenced by cardiac anomalies with an impaired intestinal perfusion in the neonatal intestine. NEC in PDA/CHD infants is associated with more DMBT1-positive macrophages and a significantly elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio.
Modeling the public attitude towards organic foods: a big data and text mining approach
Authors: Singh Anupam , Glińska-Neweś Aldona
Published: January 2022

This study aims to identify the topics that users post on Twitter about organic foods and to analyze the emotion-based sentiment of those tweets. The study addresses a call for an application of big data and text mining in different fields of research, as well as proposes more objective research methods in studies on food consumption. There is a growing interest in understanding consumer choices for foods which are caused by the predominant contribution of the food industry to climate change. So far, customer attitudes towards organic food have been studied mostly with self-reported methods, such as questionnaires and interviews, which have many limitations. Therefore, in the present study, we used big data and text mining techniques as more objective methods to analyze the public attitude about organic foods. A total of 43,724 Twitter posts were extracted with streaming Application Programming Interface (API). Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm was applied for topic modeling. A test of topic significance was performed to evaluate the quality of the topics. Public sentiment was analyzed based on the NRC emotion lexicon by utilizingSyuzhetpackage. Topic modeling results showed that people discuss on variety of themes related to organic foods such as plant-based diet, saving the planet, organic farming and standardization, authenticity, and food delivery, etc. Sentiment analysis results suggest that people view organic foods positively, though there are also people who are skeptical about the claims that organic foods are natural and free from chemicals and pesticides. The study contributes to the field of consumer behavior by implementing research methods grounded in text mining and big data. The study contributes also to the advancement of research in the field of sustainable food consumption by providing a fresh perspective on public attitude toward organic foods, filling the gaps in existing literature and research.
Programming big data analysis: principles and solutions
Authors: Belcastro Loris , Cantini Riccardo , Marozzo Fabrizio , Orsino Alessio , Talia Domenico , Trunfio Paolo
Published: January 2022

In the age of the Internet of Things and social media platforms, huge amounts of digital data are generated by and collected from many sources, including sensors, mobile devices, wearable trackers and security cameras. This data, commonly referred to as Big Data, is challenging current storage, processing, and analysis capabilities. New models, languages, systems and algorithms continue to be developed to effectively collect, store, analyze and learn from Big Data. Most of the recent surveys provide a global analysis of the tools that are used in the main phases of Big Data management (generation, acquisition, storage, querying and visualization of data). Differently, this work analyzes and reviews parallel and distributed paradigms, languages and systems used today to analyze and learn from Big Data on scalable computers. In particular, we provide an in-depth analysis of the properties of the main parallel programming paradigms (MapReduce, workflow, BSP, message passing, and SQL-like) and, through programming examples, we describe the most used systems for Big Data analysis (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, and Storm). Furthermore, we discuss and compare the different systems by highlighting the main features of each of them, their diffusion (community of developers and users) and the main advantages and disadvantages of using them to implement Big Data analysis applications. The final goal of this work is to help designers and developers in identifying and selecting the best/appropriate programming solution based on their skills, hardware availability, application domains and purposes, and also considering the support provided by the developer community.
Machine learning approaches in Covid-19 severity risk prediction in Morocco
Authors: Laatifi Mariam , Douzi Samira , Bouklouz Abdelaziz , Ezzine Hind , Jaafari Jaafar , Zaid Younes , El Ouahidi Bouabid , Naciri Mariam
Published: January 2022

The purpose of this study is to develop and test machine learning-based models for COVID-19 severity prediction. COVID-19 test samples from 337 COVID-19 positive patients at Cheikh Zaid Hospital were grouped according to the severity of their illness. Ours is the first study to estimate illness severity by combining biological and non-biological data from patients with COVID-19. Moreover the use of ML for therapeutic purposes in Morocco is currently restricted, and ours is the first study to investigate the severity of COVID-19. When data analysis approaches were used to uncover patterns and essential characteristics in the data, C-reactive protein, platelets, and D-dimers were determined to be the most associated to COVID-19 severity prediction. In this research, many data reduction algorithms were used, and Machine Learning models were trained to predict the severity of sickness using patient data. A new feature engineering method based on topological data analysis called Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) shown that it achieves better results. It has 100% accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and ROC curve in conducting a prognostic prediction using different machine learning classifiers such as X_GBoost, AdaBoost, Random Forest, and ExtraTrees. The proposed approach aims to assist hospitals and medical facilities in determining who should be seen first and who has a higher priority for admission to the hospital.
IoT information theft prediction using ensemble feature selection
Authors: Leevy Joffrey L. , Hancock John , Khoshgoftaar Taghi M. , Peterson Jared M.
Published: January 2022

The recent years have seen a proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and an associated security risk from an increasing volume of malicious traffic worldwide. For this reason, datasets such as Bot-IoT were created to train machine learning classifiers to identify attack traffic in IoT networks. In this study, we build predictive models with Bot-IoT to detect attacks represented by dataset instances from the Information Theft category, as well as dataset instances from the data exfiltration and keylogging subcategories. Our contribution is centered on the evaluation of ensemble feature selection techniques (FSTs) on classification performance for these specific attack instances. A group or ensemble of FSTs will often perform better than the best individual technique. The classifiers that we use are a diverse set of four ensemble learners (Light GBM, CatBoost, XGBoost, and random forest (RF)) and four non-ensemble learners (logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), Naive Bayes (NB), and a multi-layer perceptron (MLP)). The metrics used for evaluating classification performance are area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and Area Under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC). For the most part, we determined that our ensemble FSTs do not affect classification performance but are beneficial because feature reduction eases computational burden and provides insight through improved data visualization.
A model for examining middle school students’ STEM integration behavior in a national technology competition
Authors: Ku Chih-Jung , Hsu Ying-Shao , Chang Mei-Chen , Lin Kuen-Yi
Published: January 2022

Background

Research on teaching and learning for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects has increased, and has demonstrated the importance of integrating interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. Our research model was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the data were analyzed by partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The present study aims to identify factors that play an important role in students’ ability to integrate STEM knowledge and skills.

Results

Data were collected from participants who had won awards in local contests and represented their regions in a national technology competition. The reliability and validity of our instrument, the Students’ STEM Integration Scale, were verified. The findings demonstrated that students’ intentions to integrate STEM knowledge and skills to solve complex problems can be predicted by their attitude and perceived behavioral control.

Conclusions

This work highlights factors which are associated with students’ intentions to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and skills, and serves as a reference for research on the gap between intentions and actual behavior. The findings could help teachers and instructors design STEM-based activities to enhance students’ attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and intentions, to improve their ability to integrate STEM knowledge and skills.
Ozonized biochar filtrate effects on the growth of Pseudomonas putida and cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942
Authors: Sacko Oumar , Engle Nancy L. , Tschaplinski Timothy J. , Kumar Sandeep , Lee James Weifu
Published: January 2022

Background

Biochar ozonization was previously shown to dramatically increase its cation exchange capacity, thus improving its nutrient retention capacity. The potential soil application of ozonized biochar warrants the need for a toxicity study that investigates its effects on microorganisms.

Results

In the study presented here, we found that the filtrates collected from ozonized pine 400 biochar and ozonized rogue biochar did not have any inhibitory effects on the soil environmental bacteriaPseudomonas putida,even at high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations of 300 ppm. However, the growth ofSynechococcus elongatusPCC 7942 was inhibited by the ozonized biochar filtrates at DOC concentrations greater than 75 ppm. Further tests showed the presence of some potential inhibitory compounds (terephthalic acid andp-toluic acid) in the filtrate of non-ozonized pine 400 biochar; these compounds were greatly reduced upon wet-ozonization of the biochar material. Nutrient detection tests also showed that dry-ozonization of rogue biochar enhanced the availability of nitrate and phosphate in its filtrate, a property that may be desirable for soil application.

Conclusion

Ozonized biochar substances can support soil environmental bacteriumPseudomonas putidagrowth, since ozonization detoxifies the potential inhibitory aromatic molecules.

Graphical Abstract
An increase in circulating levels of branched-chain amino acids during hemodialysis with regard to protein breakdown: three case reports
Authors: Fujiwara Masako , Ando Itiro , Shishido You , Imai Yutaka , Terawaki Hiroyuki
Published: January 2022

Background

Hemodialysis (HD) is a protein catabolic event. However, the amino acid (AA) kinetics during HD sessions involved in protein breakdown have not been well investigated in patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM).

Case presentation

Three patients (two patients with DM and one patient without DM) underwent fasting HD. Plasma levels of branched-chain AAs (BCAA; leucine, isoleucine, and valine), major non-essential AAs (alanine and glutamine, including glutamate), insulin, and ketone bodies were measured every hour during each HD session. After the start of the HD session, the plasma levels of insulin and all BCAAs dropped simultaneously. There was a significant subsequent increase in the plasma level of leucine and isoleucine levels, while valine levels remained constant. However, the recovery in levels of BCAAs during HD indicated a profound amount of BCAAs entering the blood from body tissues such as muscles. BCAAs may have surpassed their removal by HD. Ketone body levels increased continuously from the start of the sessions and reached high values in patients with DM. Synchronous changes in insulin depletion and an increase in the levels of ketone bodies may indicate disruption of energy metabolism.

Conclusions

This is the first report to demonstrate the time course of the changes in circulating levels of BCAAs and related metabolites in energy homeostasis during HD. An increase in BCAA levels during HD was found to be due to their transfer from the body tissue which suggested protein breakdown.
Efficacy of the entomopathogenic nematode isolate Heterorhabditis taysearae to control the cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Authors: Abd El Azim Amany M.
Published: January 2022

Background

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are promising alternatives since they have many characteristics as a biological control agent against insect pests.

Results

Among indigenous EPN isolated, adapted to local environmental conditions by employing the Galleria baiting strategy, only one sample was positive for the presence of EPNs. The new isolate was identified at the species level using DNA sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region and the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search of GenBank showed that the isolate had a high similarity (99%) with that sequence available for Heterorhabditis taysearae. The pathogenicity of the EPN isolate was tested against the cotton leaf worm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), using different concentrations (60, 90, 120 and 150 IJs/larvae). Data showed that 150 IJs/larvae caused 100% mortality rate, followed by 120 IJs/larvae (90%), while 60 IJs/larvae showed the lowest rate (60%) after 72 h.

Conclusions

The present study indicated that the native isolate of EPN could be recommended against S. littoralis as an efficient tool in its control programs.
Dissociative disorder in Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser syndrome with pulmonary agenesis: a case report
Authors: Joshi Sulochana , Bhandari Anup Raj , Shrestha Prashant , Shakya Rabi
Published: January 2022

Background

The Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser (MRKH) syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by the absence of uterus and vagina in a patient who is phenotypically a female, with 46 XX karyotypes. It affects 1 in 4000 to 5000 female new-borns. Pulmonary agenesis is a rare association in this MRKH syndrome. Females with MRKH face various mental health issues and psychological disturbances, including dissociative disorder which is a stress-related psychiatric disorder. Dissociative disorder in MRKH syndrome is under-recognized and under-treated.

Case presentation

A 23-year-old unmarried woman presented to the emergency forabnormal behaviour attack. Recurrent episodes of dissociative convulsions were present most of the time with MRKH syndrome as the pertinent stressor. Both antidepressants and psychotherapy helped to decrease the frequency of dissociative convulsions and come interms with the syndrome.

Conclusion

This case describes dissociative disorder as the presentation and comorbid condition of MRKH syndrome and the impact of MRKH syndrome on the patient. We attempt to explain the occurrence of dissociative disorder in MRKH syndrome and the results of under-recognition and under-treatment of the same. We aim to highlight the presence of commonly treatable conditions associated with a rare syndrome and its effect when untreated and unrecognized.
Arabidopsis NLP7 improves nitrogen use efficiency and yield in cotton
Authors: JAN Sami Ullah , LIAQAT Ayesha , ZHU Yonghong , LI Jing , ZHANG Huangyang , ABDALLA Mohnad , WU Jie , XIANG Chengbin , WU Shenjie , ALFATIH Alamin
Published: January 2022

Background

Nitrogen (N) is a required macronutrient for cotton growth and productivity. Excessive N fertilizers are applied in agriculture for crop yield maximization, which also generates environmental pollution. Improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is the most economical and desirable way of reducing fertilizer application and environmental pollution. NUE has been an important issue in cotton. So far there is no report on cotton NUE improvement via transgenic approach. Nin-like proteins (NLP) are transcription factors regulating NUE. We previously demonstrated that AtNLP7 improved NUE and biomass when overexpressed in Arabidopsis. However, it is not known whether AtNLP7 can be used to improve NUE in crops.

Results

To test the feasibility, we expressed AtNLP7 in cotton and evaluated NUE and yield of the transgenic cotton in the field. Transgenic cotton showed improved NUE and yield under both low and high N conditions. In addition, plant biomass, amount of absorbed N, N contents, activities of N-assimilating enzymes, and the expression of N-related marker genes were significantly increased in transgenic cotton compared with the wild type control, suggesting that AtNLP7 enhances NUE in cotton.

Conclusion

Together, our results demonstrate that AtNLP7 is a promising candidate to improve NUE and yield in cotton.
Weight-loss in obese dogs promotes important shifts in fecal microbiota profile to the extent of resembling microbiota of lean dogs
Authors: Macedo Henrique Tobaro , Rentas Mariana Fragoso , Vendramini Thiago Henrique Annibale , Macegoza Matheus Vinicius , Amaral Andressa Rodrigues , Jeremias Juliana Toloi , de Carvalho Balieiro Júlio César , Pfrimer Karina , Ferriolli Eduardo , Pontieri Cristiana Ferreira Fonseca , Brunetto Marcio Antonio
Published: January 2022

Background

Among the undesirable changes associated with obesity, one possibility recently raised is dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. Studies have shown changes in microbiota in obese rats and humans, but there are still few studies that characterize and compare the fecal microbiota of lean, obese and dogs after weight loss. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of a weight loss program (WLP) in fecal microbiota of dogs in addition to comparing them with those of lean dogs. Twenty female dogs of different breeds, aged between 1 and 9 years were selected. They were equally divided into two groups: Obese group (OG), with body condition score (BCS) 8 or 9/9, and body fat percentage greater than 30%, determined by the deuterium isotope dilution method, and lean group (LG) with BCS 5/9, and maximum body fat of 15%. Weight loss group (WLG) was composed by OG after loss of 20% of their current body weight. Fecal samples were collected from the three experimental groups. Total DNA was extracted from the feces and these were sequenced by the Illumina methodology. The observed abundances were evaluated using a generalized linear model, considering binomial distribution and using the logit link function in SAS (p < 0.05).

Results

The WLP modulated the microorganisms of the gastrointestinal tract, so that, WLG and LG had microbial composition with greater biodiversity than OG, and intestinal uniformity of the microbiota (Pielou’s evenness index) was higher in OG than WLG dogs (P = 0.0493) and LG (P = 0.0101). In addition, WLG had values of relative frequency more similar to LG than to OG.

Conclusion

The fecal microbiota of the studied groups differs from each other. The weight loss program can help to reverse the changes observed in obese dogs.
The F-18 FDG PET/CT evaluation of the metastatic adrenal lesions of the non-lung cancer tumors compared with pathology results
Authors: Koç Zehra Pınar , Özcan Pınar Pelin , Sezer Emel , Eser Kadir , Kara Tuba
Published: January 2022

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging in the diagnosis of primary and metastatic adrenal tumors that originate from non-lung cancer primary tumors.

Results

F-18 FDG PET/CT images of patients (8 male and 6 female; mean: 55.36 ± 16.2 years old) who attended with the diagnosis of primary or adrenal metastatic lesions other than lung cancer metastasis were evaluated in a retrospective manner. The diameter of the adrenal lesions was mean: 23.93 ± 36.6 mm with SUVmax levels of mean: 9.98 ± 7.8. The primary site of 2/3 of the patients with unknown primary was the adrenal gland, and in one of the patients primary tumor remained unknown during follow-up.

Conclusions

According to the results of this study, F-18 FDG PET/CT has high diagnostic performance in the diagnosis of the adrenal gland primary and metastatic lesions, which originate from non-lung cancer tumors. Further studies in the larger series are warranted.
The diagnostic value of digital breast tomosynthesis with complementary ultrasound in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging in assessment of postoperative changes and locoregional recurrence of breast cancer
Authors: Barakat Mai M. K. , Mohamed Eman K. A. E. , Habib Lobna A. E. , Ahmed Mortada Elsayed
Published: January 2022

Background

Digital breast tomosynthesis with complementary ultrasound is a powerful imaging modality in detection of breast cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging has many limitations due to its low specificity multiple pitfalls especially signal-to-noise ratio, as well as the spatial resolution. Our purpose of the study is to evaluate the role of digital breast tomosynthesis with complementary ultrasound compared to magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of postoperative changes and locoregional recurrence of breast cancer.

Results

Our prospective study included thirty women who underwent conservative breast surgery. Digital breast tomosynthesis with complementary ultrasound revealed greater specificity (95.2%) than Magnetic resonance imaging (90.5%) in the detection of locoregional recurrence of breast cancer. On the other hand, it revealed the same sensitivity (88.9%). Subsequently, digital breast tomosynthesis with complementary ultrasound showed higher accuracy (93.3%) and higher positive predictive value (88.9%) than magnetic resonance imaging (90%), (80%), respectively. However, both of them revealed a comparable negative predictive value (95%).

Conclusion

Digital breast tomosynthesis with complementary ultrasound is a powerful imaging modality that can be used to detect any recurrence in patients who are surgically treated for breast cancer with higher specificity, accuracy than magnetic resonance imaging. Additionally, the use of these modalities enhances the diagnosis of surgically treated breast cancer for early detection of recurrence.
Different metabolic pathways involved in anthracene biodegradation by Brevibacillus, Pseudomonas and Methylocystis Species
Authors: Magdy Mariam M. , Gaber Yasser , Sebak Mohamed , Azmy Ahmed F. , AbdelGhani Sameh
Published: January 2022

Background

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as anthracene are one of the most toxic contaminants to our environment. Microbial biodegradation of these xenobiotics is a cost-effective technological solution. The present study aimed to recover some bacterial isolates from Beni-Suef Governorate in Egypt with high capabilities of anthracene biodegradation. The selected isolates were molecularly characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the degree of anthracene biodegradation was monitored using optical density (OD) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), PCR amplification of some selected genes encoding biodegradation of PAHs was monitored, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis was applied for detecting the resulted metabolites.

Result

Three bacterial isolates were studied, the 16s rRNA sequences of the isolates showed homology of the first isolate to Brevibacillus sp. (94.58 %), the second isolates showed homology to Pseudomonas sp. (94.53%) and the third isolate showed homology to Methylocystis sp. (99.61 %), all isolates showed the ability to degrade anthracene. PCR amplification of some selected genes encoding biodegradation of PAHs revealed the presence of many biodegrading genes in the selected strains. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of the metabolites resulted from anthracene biodegradation in the present study suggested that more than one biodegradation pathway was followed by the selected isolates.

Conclusions

The selected strains could represent a potential bioremediation tool in solving the PAHs problem in the Egyptian environment with a clean and cost-effective technique.

Graphical Abstract
Pneumomediastinum: retrospective analysis of 19 cases and an innovation proposal in classification
Authors: Çetin Mehmet , Türk İlteriş , Fındık Göktürk , Aydoğdu Koray , Gülhan Selim Şakir Erkmen , Bıçakçıoğlu Pınar , Kaya Sadi
Published: January 2022

Background

Guidelines to standardize treatment and follow-up strategies in pneumomediastinum cases are lacking. The aim of the study was to evaluate the etiology in pneumomediastinum cases and the results of treatment and follow-up.

Results

Nineteen patients with pneumomediastinum who were followed up in our clinic between 2015 and 2020 comprised the study population. Among the patients, 16 (84.2%) were male, and the mean age was 31.15 years. The chief presenting complaints were chest pain and dyspnea. Pneumomediastinum was spontaneous in 15/19 patients (including spontaneous pneumomediastinum with an underlying pathology in 3/15), traumatic in 3/19, and iatrogenic in 1/19. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum without underlying pathology was seen in younger adults (mean age: 23 years). Surgical intervention in traumatic and iatrogenic pneumomediastinum cases was compared with spontaneous cases and no statistically significant difference was observed (p=0.178). The mean hospital stay of all patients was 3.15 days. Only one patient had a recurrence and died, which was later determined to be a secondary spontaneous pneumomediastinum case.

Conclusion

Pneumomediastinum often occurs with an underlying pathology in advancing age and as spontaneous in younger patients. Therefore, “secondary spontaneous pneumomediastinum” subclass should be evaluated in the classification to facilitate to create a standard guideline and prevent overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
Development of impact attenuator analysis tools in crash scenario using Euler method and finite element analysis
Authors: Athafarras Malik , Djamari Djati Wibowo , Fikri Muhamad Rausyan , Budiman Bentang Arief , Triawan Farid , Veza Ibham
Published: January 2022

The problem considered in this work is the development of simulation method for simulating car crash which utilizes simple car—impact attenuator model developed in MATLAB. Usually, car crash simulation is done using full finite element simulation which could take hours or days depending on the model size. The purpose of proposed method is to achieve quick results on the car crash simulation. Past works which utilizes simple car—impact attenuator model to simulate car crash use continuous time model and the impact attenuator parameter is obtained from the experimental results. Different from the related works, this work uses discrete time model, and the impact attenuator parameter is obtained from finite element simulation. Therefore, the proposed simulation method is not only achieving quick simulation results but also minimizing the cost and time in obtaining the impact attenuator parameter. The proposed method is suitable for parametric study of impact attenuator.
Hot and Cool Mothers
Authors: Zeavin Hannah
Published: January 2022

“Hot and Cool Mothers” moves toward a media theory of mothering and parental “fitness.” The article begins with an investigation into midcentury pediatric psychological studies on Bad Mothers and their impacts on their children. The most famous, if not persistent, of these diagnoses is that of the so-called refrigerator mother. The refrigerator mother is not the only bad model of maternality that midcentury psychiatry discovered, however; overstimulating mothers, called in this study “hot mothers,” were identified as equally problematic. From the mid-1940s until the 1960s and beyond, class, race, and maternal function were linked in metaphors of temperature. Whereas autism and autistic states have been extensively elaborated in their relationship to digital media, this article attends to attributed maternal causes of “emotionally disturbed,” queer, and neurodivergent children. The author argues that these newly codified diagnoses were inseparable from midcentury conceptions of stimulation, mediation, domesticity, and race, including Marshall McLuhan’s theory of hot and cool media, as well as maternal absence and (over)presence, echoes of which continue in the present in terms like “helicopter parent.”
Ontological Captivity
Authors: Henao Castro Andrés Fabián
Published: January 2022

Departing from where Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction of Martin Heidegger’s gender-neutral Dasein left off, this article argues for “ontological captivity” as a critical analytic for questioning Being under conditions of racial capitalism. Based on a broad understanding of the Black Radical tradition, the author argues for the importance of connecting the analysis of ontological difference with the political critique of concrete historical and material conditions that structurally link what it means to be human to overlapping and mutually reinforcing technologies of capture. From the slave ship, the plantation, the reservation, the prison, the detention center, the penal colony, and the concentration camp to the ways in which injurious signifiers fix the body and arrest its mobility, ontological difference should be unthinkable outside a confrontation with its material conditions of possibility and impossibility. These are the material conditions that, from W. E. B. Du Bois’s analysis of the “color-line” to Calvin Warren’s analytic of “onticide,” from Lewis Gordon’s “antiblackness” to Nelson Maldonado-Torres’s “coloniality of being,” and from Hortense Spillers’s “being for the captor” to Zakiyyah Iman Jackson’s “ontological plasticization,” call for a political rather than an ethical interrogation of Being.
Poetic Operations
Authors: cárdenas micha
Published: January 2022

In Poetic Operations artist and theorist micha cárdenas considers contemporary digital media, artwork, and poetry in order to articulate trans of color strategies for safety and survival. Drawing on decolonial theory, women of color feminism, media theory, and queer of color critique, cárdenas develops a method she calls algorithmic analysis. Understanding algorithms as sets of instructions designed to perform specific tasks (like a recipe), she breaks them into their component parts, called operations. By focusing on these operations, cárdenas identifies how trans and gender-non-conforming artists, especially artists of color, rewrite algorithms to counter violence and develop strategies for liberation. In her analyses of Giuseppe Campuzano's holographic art, Esdras Parra's and Kai Cheng Thom's poetry, Mattie Brice's digital games, Janelle Monáe's music videos, and her own artistic practice, cárdenas shows how algorithmic analysis provides new modes of understanding the complex processes of identity and oppression and the intersection of gender, sexuality, and race.
Co-creation methodology with Smart technologies in Health and well-being to enable communication between isolated and disperse small communities: a literature review
Authors: RAMOS Victoria ,   MELTIC partners, de San Pedro Iris , Casado Elvira , Santacruz Esmeralda , Hernández Coral , Alcoceda Jose A. , de Tena-Davila M.Jose , Burgos Alfredo , Perez de la Camara Santiago , Marina-Boillos Pablo , Pascual Mario
Published: January 2022

Objective: The objective is to determine reported cases of co-creation methodology about the use of smart technologies in public spaces in order to create new forms of social interactions and practices, which in turn creates new socio-spatial relations and promotes interactions and communication between isolated and disperse communities.  

Methods: The literature published in the last 5 years (2016-2020) has been reviewed. Searches on Co-creation methodology and ICTs in Health and Biomedicine, on topics such as interaction among users, ICT and social behaviour, spatial analyses, planning methodologies and public involvement, on-line gaming, self‐learning, and the prevention of risky habbits are made manually.

Results: Search strategies developed through electronic databases and manual search identified a total of 180 references, included in the supplementary material. They have been divided by the technologies used in the studies, co-creation methodology, and according to the type of socio-medical application. This research highlights the penetration of ICT in social and healthcare environments and clearly demonstrates the high number of publications that have come out over recent years and a lack of publications that evaluate co-creation methodology in this field.

Conclusions: Most of the papers included only partially cover the subject matter of ICT in Health and Biomedicine and how to use smart technologies to transform public spaces in small communities into people-friendly human environments. The research carried out for this paper clearly demonstrates the high number of publications concerning technology assessment. However, there is a distinct lack of publications that evaluate co-creation methodology.
Shortfall Risk Models When Information on Loss Function Is Incomplete
Authors: Delage Erick , Guo Shaoyan , Xu Huifu
Published: January 2022

Utility-based shortfall risk measures effectively captures a decision maker's risk attitude on tail losses. In this paper, we consider a situation where the decision maker's risk attitude toward tail losses is ambiguous and introduce a robust version of shortfall risk, which mitigates the risk arising from such ambiguity. Specifically, we use some available partial information or subjective judgement to construct a set of plausible utility-based shortfall risk measures and define a so-called preference robust shortfall risk as through the worst risk that can be measured in this (ambiguity) set. We then apply the robust shortfall risk paradigm to optimal decision-making problems and demonstrate how the latter can be reformulated as tractable convex programs when the underlying exogenous uncertainty is discretely distributed.