bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Subjective Social Status, Race and Metabolic Syndrome in Women with Breast Cancer
Authors: Greco Giampaolo , Bickell Nina , Lin Sylvia , Yagnik Radhi , LeRoith Derek , Gallagher Emily Jane
Published: December 2022

PurposeTo evaluate the association of subjective social status (SSS) with metabolic syndrome (MetS) severity and its potential contribution to racial health disparities in women with breast cancer.
Methods Multi-center cross-sectional study (10 US hospitals) in women (n=1206) with primary diagnosis of invasive breast cancer received during Mar/2013- Feb/2020. Participants, self-identified as non-Hispanic white or black, underwent physical and laboratory examinations and survey questions assessing socioeconomic parameters, medical history and behavioral risks. SSS was measured with the 10-rung McArthur scale. MetS severity was measured with a validated Z-Score. Generalized linear mixed modeling was used to analyze the associations. Missing data were handled using multiple imputation.
ResultsAverage age was 58 years. On average, the SSS of black women, given equivalent level of income and education, was lower than the SSS of white women: 6.6 (6.1 to 7.0) vs 7.7 (7.54 to 7.79) among college graduates and 6.8 (6.4 to 7.2) vs 7.6 (7.5 to 7.8) among women in the high-income category (> $75,000). In multivariable analysis, after controlling for age, income, education, diet and physical activity, increasing SSS was associated with a decrease in MetS-Z, - 0.10 (-0.16 to -0.04) per every 2 rung increase in the McArthur scale.
Conclusion Black women with breast cancer rank their SSS lower than white women with breast cancer do at each level of income and education. As SSS is strongly associated with MetS severity these results identify potentially modifiable factors that contribute to racial disparities.
A case of tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome accompanied by subclinical choroiditis
Authors: Arita Takuya , Namba Kenichi , Iwata Daiju , Suzuki Kayo , Ogino Yo , Mizuuchi Kazuomi , Hiraoka Miki , Kitaichi Nobuyoshi , Ishida Susumu
Published: December 2022

Background: Tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis (TINU) syndrome is an uveits characterized by complications of idiopathic acute tubulointerstitial nephritis, and most cases present only anterior uveitis. We report a case of TINU syndrome in which the presence of choroiditis was revealed by multimodal imaging.
Case presentation: A 12-year-old male visited our hospital with a 6-day history of ocular pain and hyperemia in the left eye (OS). Moderate anterior segment inflammation was found, without any inflammatory findings in the posterior segment OS. A few days later, ocular inflammatory findings appeared including in the right eye (OD). Conjunctival and ciliary injections, 1+ flare and 3+ cells of anterior chamber inflammation, and mutton fat keratic precipitates were observed in both eyes (OU). In addition, redness and swelling of the optic disc were observed OU. Laboratory tests showed slightly high levels of soluble IL-2R and serum β2 microglobulin and markedly high levels of urinary β2 microglobulin. The diagnosis of probable TINU syndrome was established on the basis of presenting bilateral anterior uveitis and in accordance with a clinical criteria of tubulointerstitial nephritis. Oral prednisolone (PSL) at 20 mg/day was given, and ocular findings improved. The dose of PSL was gradually reduced and withdrawn, but ocular inflammation recurred OU. Retinal exudates and snowball vitreous opacities were observed in the peripheral retina. Fluorescein angiography showed leakages from peripheral retinal vessels and staining corresponding to retinal exudates. Indocyanine green angiography showed hypofluorescent dots scattered over the ocular fundus. Optical coherence tomography revealed the presence of choroidal thickening. Laser speckle flowgraphy color map showed a relatively cooler color. Findings from multimodal imaging caused suspicion of a wide range of choroiditis; therefore, oral PSL was administered again. PSL was gradually tapered to 3 mg/day, and no anterior segment inflammation has been observed, but slight inflammatory findings in the posterior segment have persisted.
Conclusions: We describe a case of TINU syndrome complicated by subclinical choroiditis detected with multimodal imaging. Further studies are necessary to determine the frequency of subclinical choroiditis in TINU syndrome.
Metagenomic sequencing reveals altered gut microbial compositions and gene functions in patients with non-segmental vitiligo
Authors: Luan Mei , Niu Mengtian , Yang Pengju , Han Dan , Zhang Yudan , Li Weizhe , He Qiannan , Zhao Yixin , Mao Binyue , Chen Jianan , Mou Kuanhou , Li Pan
Published: December 2022

Background
Vitiligo has been correlated with an abnormal gut microbiota. We aimed to systematically identify characteristics of the gut microbial compositions, genetic functions, and potential metabolic features in patients with non-segmental vitiligo.
Methods
Twenty-five patients with non-segmental vitiligo and 25 matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatic analysis were performed to determine the gut microbiota profiles. Differences in gut microbiota diversity and composition between patients with vitiligo and HCs were analyzed. Gene functions and gut metabolic modules were predicted with the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes (KEGG) and MetaCyc databases.
Results
Compared with HCs, alpha diversity of intestinal microbiome in vitiligo patients was significantly reduced. At the species level, the relative abundance of Staphylococcus thermophiles was decreased, and that of Bacteroides fragilis was increased in patients with vitiligo compared with those of the HCs. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis revealed representative microbial markers of Lachnospiraceae_bacterium_BX3, Massilioclostridium_coli, TM7_phylum_sp_oral_taxon_348 and Bacteroides_fragilis for patients with vitiligo. KEGG gene function analysis showed that the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway was significantly enriched in patients with vitiligo. Gut metabolic modules (GMMs) analysis showed that cysteine degradation was significantly down-regulated, and galactose degradation was up-regulated in patients with vitiligo. A panel of 11 microbial features was constructed to distinguish patients with vitiligo from HCs.
Conclusions
The gut microbial profiles and genetic functions of patients with vitiligo were distinct from those of the HCs. The identified gut microbial markers may potentially be used for earlier diagnosis and treatment targets.
Measuring Grit, Self-Efficacy, Curiosity, and Intolerance of Uncertainty in First- Generation College and First-Generation Medical Students
Authors: Jones DeWitt , McCalla Monet , Beverly Elizabeth
Published: December 2022

Background
First generation students report more symptoms of burnout, depression, and psychological distress in medical school. Grit, self-efficacy, and curiosity are protective factors against the negative psychosocial effects of medical school, whereas intolerance of uncertainty is a risk factor. What is not known is the association among grit, self-efficacy, curiosity, and intolerance of uncertainty and first-generation students. Thus, we examined grit, self-efficacy, curiosity, and intolerance of uncertainty in first-generation college and first-generation medical students.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive study to assess medical students’ grit, self-efficacy, curiosity, and intolerance of uncertainty. We conducted independent samples t-tests and regression analyses using SPSS statistical software version 28.0.
Results
A total of 420 students participated in the study for a response rate of 51.5%. One-fifth of participants (21.2%, n = 89) identified as first-generation students, 38.6% (n = 162) participants reporting having a physician relative, and 16.2% (n = 68) reported having a physician parent. Grit scores did not differ by first-generation college status, physician relative(s), or physician parent(s). Similarly, self-efficacy scores did not differ by first-generation college status, physician relative(s), or physician parent(s), and curiosity scores did not differ by first-generation college status, physician relative(s), or physician parent(s). However, total intolerance of uncertainty scores differed by physician relative(s) (t= -2.830, p = .005), but not by first-generation status, or physician parent(s). Further, subscale scores for prospective anxiety differed by physician relative(s) (t= -3.379, p = .001) and physician parent(s) (t= -2.077, p = .038), but not by first-generation status. In the final regression model, both grit and self-efficacy were independently associated with intolerance of uncertainty, such that higher scores of grit (b = − .159, p = .003) and self-efficacy (b=-.316, p < .001) were associated with lower scores of intolerance of uncertainty. Having a physician in the family (b=-5.238, p = .003) was a protective factor against higher scores of intolerance of uncertainty.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that first-generation college students did not differ by grit, self-efficacy, curiosity, or intolerance of uncertainty. Similarly, first-generation medical students did not differ by grit, self-efficacy, or curiosity; however, first-generation medical students reported higher total intolerance of uncertainty and higher prospective anxiety. Additional research needs to confirm these findings in first-generation medical students.
Evaluating distributed-learning algorithms on real-world healthcare data
Authors: Almeida João , Cruz-Correia Ricardo , Rodrigues Pedro
Published: December 2022

With the application of intelligent data analysis in healthcare, the need to protect patients’ data increases as well. The centralised approach, where data from several institutions are aggregated into a single server renders good knowledge discovery opportunities but is a huge data breach liability. Distributed learning can help reduce this risk as data is exploited inside each institution and only derived models are shared among peers, but there is no clear assessment of the performance gap between approaches. In this work, we used real clinical data from nine Portuguese hospitalar obstetrics departments, to compare the predictive performance of a) local, b) distributed and c) globally centralised models, focusing on predicting delivery and patient-related outcomes. Our evidence suggests that distributed learning is a viable tool to ap- ply machine learning without a significant decrease in performance while promoting a more robust privacy-concerning methodology.
A diarized journey: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the older person’s lived experience of a hip or knee replacement within a fast-track programme
Authors: Burger Marisa , Watson Francois Gerald , Wyk Annemarie
Published: December 2022

Background
For the older person living with end-stage hip or knee osteoarthritis, a hip or knee replacement can be a traumatic event, influencing the physical, physiological, psychological, social and economic facets of daily living. This interpretative phenomenological study aimed to reveal and interpret the daily lived experiences of the older adult before, during and after a primary total hip or knee replacement surgery in a fast-track programme in South Africa.
Methods
A qualitative interpretive phenomenological study, collecting data through solicited diaries and reflexive member validation interviews from seven participants aged 65–75 years, who underwent a primary elective hip or knee replacement surgery. The surgical fast-track process and data collection process happened simultaneously. Data collection from the solicited diary started before surgery, continued during the surgery process and finished six weeks after surgery and this was followed with reflexive member validation interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used throughout the three phases of the fast-track programme.
Results
Three superordinate themes developed during the three phases of surgery: “The holistic impact of pain on daily quality of life”, “Finding ways to cope”, and “Transition between independence and dependence and back”. Although former research confirms the physical impact of osteoarthritis on the older adult and the success of fast-track programmes for subsequent hip and knee replacements, this research contributes to the holistic impact of the surgery on participants’ daily lives. The diarized journey of individuals through the psychological, psychosocial, physical, professional, and spiritual experience are described and interpreted in this research.
Conclusions
Across the solicited diaries, it was clear that pain as catalyst impacted the daily activities of the individual physically, psychologically, and psychosocially. Pain was subjectively present at different intensities during all the phases of the replacement surgery, impairing mobilization and triggering roller-coaster emotions. In order to cope with physical and emotional difficulties while preparing and adjusting to the environment, participants reflected on social support, physical and professional support, and spirituality. Throughout the preparation, hospitalization and the recovery process, the transition between independence, dependence, and back to independence was significant, reinforcing the individual’s determination to recover.
PCVP decrease the risk of cemented vertebra refracture compared with PKP: in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures
Authors: Zhou Qiang , Wan Yanlin , Ma Le , Dong Liang , Yuan Weijian
Published: December 2022

Summary Refracture of cemented vertebral body is a complication after vertebroplasty in treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures (OVCF). The cemented vertebra refracture incidence was compared between PCVP and PKP and the results showed that PCVP had lower refracture incidence, and entailed less fluoroscopy and operation time than bilateral PKP.
Introduction The purpose of this study is to compare the refracture incidence of the cemented vertebral body of percutaneous curved vertebroplasty (PCVP) and bilateral percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in the treatment of OVCF.
Methods Ninety-four patients with single segment thoracolumbar OVCF were randomly divided into two groups (47 patients in each) and underwent PCVP or bilateral PKP surgery respectively. The refracture of cemented vertebral body, bone cement injection volume and cement pattern, cement leakage rate, the total surgical time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, preoperative and postoperative Cobb angles and anterior vertebral height, Oswestry disability index questionnaire (ODI) and visual analog scales (VAS) were recorded.
Results The PCVP group had significantly lower refracture incidence of the cemented vertebral than the bilateral PKP group (p<0.05). There was a significant postoperative improvement in the VAS score and ODI in both group (p<0.01), and no significant difference was found between two groups. The operation time and intraoperative fluoroscopy times were significantly less in the PCVP group than the bilateral PKP group (p<0.01). The mean kyphosis angle correction and vertebral height restoration in the PCVP group was significantly less than that in the bilateral PKP group (p<0.01).
Conclusion Both PCVP and PKP were safe and effective treatment for OVCF.
The PCVP had lower refracture incidence of the cemented vertebral than the bilateral PKP group, and PCVP entailed less exposure to fluoroscopy and shorter operation time than bilateral PKP.
Chlorhexidine nanoemulsion at 0,25% in the skin antisepsis of cats
Authors: Machado Angela Valentina De La Porta , Risso Natalia Horstmann , Lugoch Gabriela , Primaz Sandy Liara , Viana Danilo Augusto Mendes , Vilela Jorge Abrão Pinto , Teixeira Flávia Elizabete Guerra , Stopiglia Cheila Denise Ottonelli , Haas Sandra Elisa , Oliveira Marília Teresa , Mestieri Maria Ligia Arruda , Beckmann Diego Vilibaldo
Published: December 2022

Background: The use of peripheral intravenous devices can lead to infections and increase the length of hospital care worldwide in humans and animals. Antisepsis is indicated in several ambulatory and surgical procedures. Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic widely used in veterinary clinical practice. Nanoparticle solutions have been studied to improve antimicrobial effect. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the antiseptic effect of chlorhexidine nanoemulsion at 0,25% (NM-Cl) in cat skin and to compare it with the chlorhexidine commercial solution at 2.0% (CS-Cl). After a wide trichotomy of the thoracic limbs, the skin antisepsis was performed with NM-Cl or CS-Cl and a catheter was inserted at the cephalic vein. Cutaneous microbiota swab samples (CMSS) were obtained before antisepsis (Tpre), immediately after antisepsis (Tpost), and four, eight, and 24 hours after antisepsis. The samples collected were immediately inoculated in blood agar plates and incubated at 35±2ºC in aerobiosis. The manual counting of the colony-forming unit (CFU) was performed 24 hours after inoculation. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests were used between groups and inside the same group, at different sample times.
Result: The NM-Cl and CS-Cl groups showed a reduction in the CFU between the Tpre and Tpost in all animals (p<0.001). Both formulations presented an antiseptic effect 24 hours after antisepsis (p<0.05), and there was no difference between formulations at the different times (p<0.05). Nonetheless, the NM-Cl carried a lowers concentration of chlorhexidine than CS-Cl.
Conclusion: The results showed that NM-Cl presents effective antiseptic action and a prolonged residual effect in the cat venipuncture antisepsis. Studies have been carried out to investigate the NM-Cl in veterinary routine.
Microevolutionary dynamics of eccDNA in Chinese hamster ovary cells grown in fed-batch cultures under control and lactate-stressed conditions
Authors: Chitwood Dylan , Wang Qinghua , Klaubert Stephanie , Green Kiana , Wu Cathy , Harcum Sarah , Saski Christopher
Published: December 2022

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines are widely used to manufacture biopharmaceuticals. However, CHO cells are not an optimal expression host due to the intrinsic plasticity of the CHO genome. Genome plasticity can lead to chromosomal rearrangements, transgene exclusion, and phenotypic drift. A poorly understood genomic element of CHO cell line instability is extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) in gene expression and regulation. EccDNA can facilitate ultra-high gene expression and are found within many eukaryotes including humans, yeast, and plants. EccDNA confers genetic heterogeneity, providing selective advantages to individual cells in response to dynamic environments. In CHO cell cultures, maintaining genetic homogeneity is critical to ensuring consistent productivity and product quality. Understanding eccDNA structure, function, and microevolutionary dynamics under various culture conditions could reveal potential engineering targets for cell line engineering. In this study, eccDNA sequences were investigated at the beginning and end of two-week fed-batch cultures in an ambr®250 bioreactor under control and lactate-stressed conditions. This work characterized structure and function of eccDNA in a CHO-K1 clone. Gene annotation identified 1,551 unique eccDNA genes including cancer driver genes and genes involved in protein production. Furthermore, RNA-seq data is integrated to identify transcriptionally active eccDNA genes.
Bathymetry-based submarine landslide volume assessments
Authors: Sager Thore F. , Urlaub Morelia , Berndt Christian
Published: December 2022

Submarine landslides can cause devastating tsunamis. The size of such tsunamis depends on water depth, acceleration, maximum velocity, and initial volume of the landslide. In the past, submarine landslide volume as the most important of these parameters has often been estimated by seismic data. It is well-established that this can lead to a significant over-estimation of the tsunamigenic landslide volume because the seismic data do not allow to distinguish the initially moving volume from material that has been deformed in-situ or incorporated at great water depth. Here, the volume of evacuated material from the source area derived from seafloor morphology is a good measure for the total tsunamigenic landslide volume. The analysis of high-resolution 3D reflection seismic data that cover the same submarine landslide also shows that a much greater volume of the seismically imaged landslide deposit has remained largely in-situ and could thus not have contributed to an associated tsunami. This distinction could not have been made with lower resolution 3D reflection seismic data or with high-resolution 2D reflection seismic data. These findings imply that under circumstances that tend to be fulfilled for small landslides, the bathymetrically derived volume of the source area can be a much better measure for the tsunamigenic volume of submarine landslides than individual seismic profiles.
Existence and asymptotic behaviour of solutions for the wave equation with a time varying delay and logarithmic nonlinearity
Authors: Ouyang Qiancheng , Zhang Zaiyun , Xie Zihan , Wang Dandan , Xu Chengzhao , Xiao Hua
Published: December 2022

This paper presents the study of a wave equation with a time varying delay and logarithmic nonlinearity
utt − Δu + μ1σ(t)g1(ut) + μ2σ(t)g2(ut(x, t − τ (t))) = uln|u|k, in Ω × (0,∞).
By using the Galerkin approximation method and potential-well method, the local and global existence of solutions under the conditions of some properties of specific functions as well as the weight of dissipation and delay are obtained. Moreover, by means of Lyapunov function technique and the properties of convex function, we investigated the asymptotic behaviour of solutions. Especially, the energy decay results we obtained are optimal and can be displayed graphically by selecting suitable functional in dissipation term. By considering the interaction of time varying delay and the logarithmic source term, these results extend the earlier ones in the literature [5] and [14].
Evaluating the prognostic effect of serum autoantibodies in relation to other blood biochemical markers in patients with different severity of COVID-19: Findings of a multicenter cohort study
Authors: Esfehani Reza Jafarzade , Khalilifar Mohammad Ali , Gouvarchinghaleh Hadi Esmaeili , Shahriari Alireza , Alishiri Golamhossein
Published: December 2022

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with abnormal immune responces. This study aimed to identify the prognostic effect of antiphospholipid antibodies on COVID-19 severity and survival.
Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted on patients with a documented COVID-19 based on molecular techniques. Patients were grouped based on anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) positivity following COVID-19 diagnosis. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings were evaluated in all patients and every patients were followed for six months after the first positive test.
Results: A total of 239 patients (52.7% female and 47.3% male) with a mean age of 45.60 ± 11.50 years were evaluated. Groups significantly differed in MCV, PLT, WBC, neutrophil and lymphocyte count (p<0.05). ANCA (p<0.001), B2gl IgG (p=0.022), and anti ds DNA (p<0.001) were significantly more prevalent in negative group. lupus anticoagulant (LAC), B2gl IgM, p-Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (pANCA), cANCA, Anti-cardiolipin (aCL) IgM and aCL IgG positivity was significantly higher in positive group (p<0.001 each). Hospital admission and mortality rate were 20.1% and 1.7%, respectively. Majority of the patients (66.0%) improved, while 31.4% were admitted, and 2.6% died. ANA positive patients were more likely to be admitted (p<0.001) and less likely to improve (p<0.001) compared to negative group. Study groups did not differ in terms of mortality (p=0.096). B2gl IgG was the sole predictor for admission (p=0.030, OR= 3.93).
Conclusions: COVID-19 severity was associated with ANA and antiphospholipid antibodies (B2Gl IgG, LAC, ACL IgM and IgG, p and cANCa), while mortality was only associated with ANA. B2gl IgG could only predict hospital admission.
Risk analysis of creating uneven heels and soles (ankles) after explosion operations in road construction projects in hard rock
Authors: Davarzani Mohammad Reza , Ataei Mohammad , Sereshki Farhang
Published: December 2022

A safe and risk-free environment must be created in every project, so the necessary and sufficient condition to reduce accidents and create a safe environment, identify hazards and classify them and provide solutions and apply them in the project. Risk management will lead to increasing productivity and maximum profit. This research has been done on the probability of occurrence of events after blasting and explosion in road construction projects in hard rock. In this research, an attempt was made to analyze the events with the highest probability in this type of project. The events that to have the greatest impact on the probability of events to be identified. In road construction projects where by explosion is the progress of work, fine dimensions of stone are not the criterion for work, creating uneven heels and floors is an event that is among the highest level. Investigations showed that the probability of occurrence of uneven heels and soles was 0.58818, which was the highest probability of occurrence in road construction operations in hard rock in conditions of uncertainty. In the intermediate events, design error and operational error and unpredictable natural disasters have a probability rate of 0.3958, 0.2292 and 0.1299, respectively.
David Operation in a patient with LDS and beta-thalassemia minor: A Case Report
Authors: Frieda-Maria Kainz , Podesser Bruno K. , Holzinger Christoph
Published: December 2022

We report about a 36-year-old European female patient who presented a growing ectasia of the ascending aorta of 40 mm, a sinus of valsalva of 47mm and a moderate aortic insufficiency. Also, she had an additional aneurysm in the truncus brachiocephalicus and multiple aneurysma in the arteria mammaria dextra. She was diagnosed as a Loeys-Dietz syndrome Typ RII because of a TGF-BETA receptor mutation. Additional she suffered from a beta-Thalassemia minor with hemoglobin levels of around 9 g/dL. During cardiac surgery the patient had to be cooled to at least 30°C to perform open aortic arch operation safely. This case report describes the effects of cooling, rewarming and the use of the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during an extensive operation in a patient with beta-thalassemia minor.
Catalyst- and solvent-free synthesis, characterization, biological activity of Schiff bases and their metal (II) complexes derived from ferrocene
Authors: Liu Yuting , Wang Longrui , Yin Dawei
Published: December 2022

A novel efficient method for synthesizing ferrocene-based schiff bases and their metal (II) complexes was developed. The compounds were characterized by XRD and various spectroscopic techniques. In addition, their physicochemical studies were carried out using TGA-DTA analysis. The biological activities of ligands and their metal (II) complexes have been screened for in vitro antibacterial (such as S. aureus, B. cereus and E. coli), antifungal properties (such as A. niger and A. fumigatus). The results of these studies have revealed that Zn (II) complexes B11 was the most active against all bacterial strains, and antifungal activity was overall enhanced after complexation of the ligands.
Blunted Circadian Variation of Blood Pressure in NF1 Patients
Authors: Rivera Ana M. Cieza , Fernández-Villa Tania , Martín Vicente , Atallah Isis
Published: December 2022

Background: Cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke are life-threatening complications associated with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). As previous studies observed an association between cardiovascular events and the loss of circadian variations of blood pressure, we investigated the 24h circadian rhythm of blood pressure in 24 NF1 patients (10 males and 14 females, with a mean age of 39.5 years ± 14 years) by using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).
Results: Only one-third of the patient were dippers, 50% were non-dippers, and 17% were risers. Reduced variability of systolic and diastolic nocturnal blood pressure was observed in NF1 patients compared with several studies of normotensive individuals (p=0.022). In NF1 patients, the blunted systolic nocturnal decline was significantly associated with cumulative tumor burden (presence of a plexiform neurofibroma and a high number of cutaneous neurofibromas) (p=0.002). This association was stronger for plexiform neurofibromas than for cutaneous neurofibromas (p=0.015 versus p=0.078).
Conclusions: Most NF1 patients in this study showed a blunted sleep-time BP pattern considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events in normotensive and hypertensive individuals. Periodic monitoring of BP should be included in NF1 follow-up guidelines to diagnose unmask hypertension or a non-dipper/riser pattern to implement therapeutic strategies.
Pyrene functionalized luminescent phenylalanine for selective detection of copper (II) ions in aqueous media
Authors: Tamrakar Arpna , Nigam Kamlesh Kumar , Maddeshiya Tarkeshwar , Pandey Mrituanjay D.
Published: December 2022

A novel pyrene-based fluorescent chemosensor 1
(pyren-1-ylmethyl)-L-phenylalanine was designed and synthesized by
combining 1-pyrenecarboxyaldehyde and L-phenylalanine.
1 was characterized by several analytical methods
and used as a fluorescent chemosensor for the selective and
sensitive detection of Cu2+ ions through
“turn-off” mechanism with a detection limit of 2 x
10− 8 M. 1 can also be used to detect
Cu2+ ions in a natural water sample and exhibits
gelation properties with high thermal stability.
Development of a supportive care needs eHealth application for patients with cervical cancer undergoing surgery: a feasibility study
Authors: Song Yongxia , Xia Lili , JU Xiaodi , Wang Wenjing , Ge Xiaoling , Hong Jingfang
Published: December 2022

Purpose
To inform the development of an eHealth application for patients with cervical cancer for monitoring supportive care needs, perceived care supply and quality of life.
Methods
A mixed-method design was conducted. The 19-month process involved: (a) a literature review to screen the components of applications, (b) a cross-sectional needs assessment for patients with cervical cancer to define the needs and application program draft, (c) expert consultation to refine the draft, (d) software development, and (e) a pilot testing and users experience description. Patients in the intervention group received a 7-day application intervention combined with usual care. Supportive care needs, perceived care supply, quality of life and user experience were collected.
Results
Literature review results conducted the importance of fully preparation before application development, especially the supportive care needs assessment. Subsequent supportive care needs investigation revealed the most urgent needs were informational needs and privacy protection. 43 expert suggestions for application improvement were refined. The new application contained the patient and the healthcare professional portal. At day 7, the pretest/posttest changes significant between-group differences in increasing perceived care supply and quality of life, with the intervention group exhibiting larger tendency on needs and supply than the control. Users had positive experience with the application.
Conclusions
This study provides feasibility of the application targeting access to supportive care, which may be effective for relieving patients’ needs and improving perceived supply and quality of life.
Performance analysis of the MWIR FSO link utilising SIMO and aperture averaging, and comparison with the SWIR FSO link under turbulence and various visibility conditions
Authors: MUKHERJEE SHIBABRATA , Paul Sujoy , Mazumdar Saswati
Published: December 2022

In this article, the authors study the effects of Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) diversity technique, aperture averaging schemes, and wavelength diversity method on a Free Space Optical (FSO) communication, in the presence of varying turbulence regime strengths with a variety of meteorological circumstances, including extremely clear visibility, clear visibility, haze, fog, etc. Here, two wavelength types- Mid Wave Infrared (MWIR) (4000 nm) and ShortWave Infrared (SWIR) (1550 nm) have been taken into consideration for the use of the wavelength diversity approach. For the investigation of the overall performance at a 4 km link distance, up to 12 number of detectors on the receiver side have been considered, and for aperture averaging, 0.05 to 0.2 m receiver aperture diameter has been taken into consideration. The system performance has been improved by enlarging the receiver's aperture diameter and receiver array, and applying their impacts for both of the two wavelength FSO links, the performance evaluation has been carried out for the two wavelengths. According to the analytical findings, MWIR wavelength performs better in foggy situations than SWIR wavelength with distinct turbulence regimes at the mentioned link distances, and the SIMO scheme is also significantly more effective in unfavourable weather scenarios (such haze, fog, etc.) compared to aperture averaging scheme.
Construction and analysis of a diagnostic model for arthritis based on N6-methyladenosine-related genes
Authors: Lao ChenDeng , Luo XiaoLin , Cheng JianWen , Liao ShiJie , Huang HengZhen , Huang Qian , Zhao JinMin
Published: December 2022

Background
Arthritis is the most common irreversible inflammatory disease of the bone and joints. We aimed to investigate the relationship between m6A methylation and arthritis and provide new strategies for diagnosis.
Methods
Microarray data and clinical data of 94 arthritis patients were downloaded from the GEO database. A total of 37 m6A methylated genes were obtained from the literature. A combined analysis of the data identified differentially expressed m6A genes associated with arthritis. Then, the least absolute shrinkage selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was used to construct a risk prediction model for m6A methylated genes. Subsequently, unsupervised clustering of hub genes was performed to analyze biological and immunological level differences between the two subgroups. Drug sensitivity analysis identified drugs with potential efficacy in arthritis.
Results
A diagnostic model of arthritis consisting of nine m6A methylated genes was obtained. Among them, YTHDF2, YTHDC1, and YTDC2 had the greatest effect on the model. Meanwhile, the two m6A-related genes subgroups differed at the level of the immune microenvironment.
Conclusion
This study obtained predictive models that can guide the diagnosis of arthritis and drugs that may have potential efficacy, thus providing new ideas to explore the potential molecular mechanisms of m6A methylation in disease development.
Identification of kinematic biomarkers for self-reported Parkinson's disease symptoms
Authors: Matzner Ayala , El-Hanany Yuval , Bar-Gad Izhar
Published: December 2022

Monitoring the motor fluctuations and the severity of symptoms over time in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients is crucial for quantifying the progression of the disease and the adjustment of personalized therapy. The widespread availability of wearable sensors enables remote tracking of patients and the development of digital biomarkers for motor-related symptoms derived from the kinematic data acquired from these devices. Despite the progress in remote monitoring of PD symptoms, most research has been conducted on controlled behavior in the clinic, which departs considerably from individual patients' everyday behaviors and daily routines. This manuscript describes our top-performing algorithm in the Biomarker & Endpoint Assessment to Track Parkinson’s Disease DREAM Challenge, funded by the MJFF, for predicting self-labeled PD symptom severity from free-behavior sensor data. To account for the self-labeled nature of the dataset and to capture each patient's subjective perception, we applied personalized automatic prediction algorithms consisting of ensembles of multiple random forest models followed by a predictability assessment of each patient. The results highlight the gradual approach required to develop new solutions in this field and constitute an important step forward in generating automatic and semi-automatic techniques that can facilitate the treatment of PD patients.
Supplementation of pitaya peel powder to cookie formulation: Effects of ratio of pitaya peel powder on the product quality, predicted glycemic index and antioxidant release during in vitro sequential digestion
Authors: Mai Thi Hai Anh , Tran Thi Thu Tra , Le Van Viet Man
Published: December 2022

Pitaya fruit processing generates a large amount of pitaya peel which contains high level of dietary fiber, betacyanins and phenolic compounds. In this study, pitaya peel powder was added to cookie formulation and the ratio of pitaya peel powder was varied from 0 to 25% of the amount of wheat flour. The obtained cookie samples were then used for analysis of proximate composition, physical properties, overall acceptability, predicted glycemic index and antioxidant release during in vitro sequential digestion. The higher the ratio of pitaya peel powder in the recipe, the greater the dietary fiber, betacyanin and phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of the product. High pitaya peel ratio also resulted in enhanced hardness and increased intensity of red color of the cookies; however, all cookie samples were considered acceptable. The use of pitaya peel significantly reduced the glycemic index of cookies and all supplemented pitaya peel cookies were classified as having low glycemic index. The release of betacyanins, phenolics and antioxidant activities from the cookie samples was recorded at the salivary, gastric, intestinal and colon steps during in vitro sequential digestion and the gastric digestion showed the highest release of antioxidant content and activity. The increased pitaya peel ratio in the cookie recipe improved the antioxidant activities of the soluble fractions at the four digestive steps.
Intratumor heterogeneity and clonal distribution of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes revealed by multiregional T and B cell receptor repertoires in gastric cancer
Authors: Cheng Xiaojing , Han Jing , Guo Ting , Hu Ying , Du Hong , Li Xiaomei , Zhang Chaoting , Xing Xiaofang
Published: December 2022

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) recognizing tumor neoantigens can be harnessed as a better prognosis for several human tumors. T and B cell receptor (TCR and BCR) repertoires are the key elements served as tags to track TILs in tumor immune microenvironment. This study intended to simultaneously profile TCR and BCR repertoires via ultra-deep sequencing of multiple tumor regions, adjacent normal mucosa tissues and peripheral blood from five gastric cancer (GC) patients. In parallel, immune-related molecule expression was evaluated for the immunological condition in multiregional tumors by real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. We found that TILs and clonality with majority of T and B cell clones were restricted to each GC regions, obviously different with those of adjacent normal mucosa tissues and peripheral blood, representing T and B cells could react to tumor antigens and delineate the heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment. Especially for BCR repertoires, clonal amplification of B cells dispersedly congested in intratumor regions. There is no correlation between TCR and BCR repertoires in the same GC patient, suggesting that there was a spatio-temporal heterogeneity in GC immune microenvironment. These results suggested that spatially dependent and functionally diverse lymphocyte clones existed in individual GC, expanding our understanding of the adaptive immune response in GC patients.
Rapid, simple, and effective strategy to produce monoclonal antibodies targeting native protein structures using hybridoma technology
Authors: Sakaguchi Atsumi , Tanaka Yoichiro , Shoji Eiki , Sakamaki Rina , Matsuba Takao , Kurihara Yasuyuki
Published: December 2022

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal antibodies are essential in life science research and developing antibody drugs and test drugs. Various methods have been developed to obtain monoclonal antibodies, among which hybridoma technology continues to be widely used. However, developing a rapid and efficient method for obtaining conformation-specific antibodies using hybridoma technology remains challenging. We previously developed the membrane-type immunoglobulin-directed hybridoma screening (MIHS) method, which is a flow cytometry-based screening technique based on the interaction between the B-cell receptor expressed on the hybridoma cell surface and the antigen protein, to obtain conformation-specific antibodies.
RESULTS: In this study, we proposed a streptavidin-anchored ELISA screening technology (SAST) as a secondary screening method that retains the advantages of the MIHS method. Anti-enhanced green fluorescent protein monoclonal antibodies were generated as a model experiment, and their structural recognition abilities were examined. Examination of the reaction profiles showed that all monoclonal antibodies obtained in this study recognize the native protein structure. Furthermore, these monoclonal antibodies were classified into two groups: those with binding activities against partially denatured proteins and those with complete loss of binding activities. Next, when screening monoclonal antibodies by the MIHS method as the first screening, we found that monoclonal antibodies with stronger binding constants may be selected by double-staining for hybridomas with fluorescently labeled target antigens and fluorescently labeled B cell receptor antibodies.
CONCLUSIONS: The proposed two-step screening method, which incorporates MIHS and SAST, constitutes a rapid, simple, and effective strategy to obtain conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies generated through hybridoma technology. The novel monoclonal antibody screening strategy reported herein could accelerate the development of antibody drugs and antibody tests.
Transition Information Enhanced GatedGraph Neural Networks for Session-based Recommendation
Authors: Gao Shiwei , Zeng Yufeng , Dang Xiaochao , Dong Xiaohui
Published: December 2022

Session-based recommendation (SBR) is designed to predict the nextmost likely interactive item based on the current session. The mostadvanced methods in SBR employ graph neural networks and attentionmechanisms to model the adjacent item transition information from othersession sequences and the current session sequence, it employs positionaware attention to incorporate the reversed position information in anitem to learn the importance of each item in the session when generatingthe session representation. But these approaches have some problems.Firstly, uncorrelated items (noise) are inevitably introduced when usinginformation from other sessions. Secondly, reverse position coding makesit difficult to learn the sequence transduction relationship of items inthe session sequence. In this paper, we have proposed a novel sessionbased recommendation method called Transition Information EnhancedGated Graph Neural Network (TIE-GGNN) to solve the above problems. Specifically, TIE-GGNN learns two levels of session embedding,global information enhanced session embedding and transition information enhanced session embedding. The global information enhancedsession representation learning layer (GIESRLL) employs the information of other sessions and the current session to learn global-level sessionembedding, and the transition information enhanced session representation learning layer (TIESRLL) employs the items of the current sessionto learn new session embedding and integrates the time information intothe item representation in the session sequence for neighbor embedding learning, so as to further enhance the sequential transition relationshipin the session sequence. Experiments on three benchmark datasets havedemonstrated that TIE-GGNN is superior to other advanced methods.
A New Approach to Network Traffic Efficiency and DDOS Attack Detection on Software-defined Networks
Authors: Çakır Abdulkadir , Açıkgözoğlu Enes
Published: December 2022

Many devices have been connected to each other and a wide platform has been formed with the development of internet technologies. The continuous expansion of this platform has revealed requirements such as single-point management, accessibility, bandwidth management, and efficient use of the network. Considering that software-defined networks are systematically managed with software, it is predicted that they will meet the specified network requirements more easily. In this study, a model that detects both efficient use of the network and Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDOS) attacks by clustering the bandwidths according to the network traffic history collected over the software-defined network is proposed. A dataset specific to the study was created to determine possible attacks and usages according to bandwidth. From the data in the dataset, 3 different datasets were created with the Kmeans clustering algorithm. A virtual network was created for the implementation of the model and tests were carried out on this network. Efficient use of the network is ensured by allocating bandwidth according to clusters created especially in multi-user, heavy-traffic networks. In addition, while the data is being collected, DDOS scanning is also performed to prevent possible attacks on the network.
Increased expression of RCN1P2, TPM3P9, and HSP90AB3P as pseudogenes in gastric cancer linked to proliferative, inflammatory and metastatic pathways through a competing endogenous RNAs network Running Title: Pseudogenes' role in gastric cancer pathogenesis
Authors: Sadeghi Ensieh Sagheb , Bioky Zahra Amrollahy , Hokmabadi Mahsa , Asadollahi Samira , Sarhadi Fatemeh , Dolatabadi Nasrin Fattahi , Zamani Atefeh , Mahdevar Mohammad , Samarghandian Saeed , Hashemi Mehrdad , Peymani Maryam
Published: December 2022

Introduction: Changes in the expression of pseudogenes have been demonstrated to play a role in the pathogenesis of various malignancies in studies. The goal of this study was to find pseudogenes with significant expression alterations in gastric cancer (GC) that could be implicated in the disease's development via the competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) network.
Methods: Pseudogenes, mRNAs, and microRNAs whose expression changes considerably in GC specimens were identified using the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) data. The ceRNAs network was constructed using the miRWalk, miRTarBase, and DIANA-LncBase databases. The cox regression test was performed to assess the correlation between candidate genes and patient prognosis using TCGA-derived GC clinical data. Finally, using the RT-qPCR method, the in silico results were evaluated using GC samples and adjacent normals.
Results: The ceRNA network revealed that pseudogenes such as RCN1P2, TPM3P9, and HSP90AB3P were most connected to changed mRNAs and microRNAs in GC. The findings of subnet enrichment for each of the pseudogenes mentioned revealed that the related mRNAs are involved in cell proliferation, inflammation, and metastatic pathways. Furthermore, elevated expression of several mRNAs linked to potential pseudogenes was linked to a poor prognosis. The results of RCN1P2, TPM3P9and HSP90AB3P expression levels in TCGA and tissue samples showed that their expression increased significantly in GC.
Conclusion: The expression of RCN1P2, TPM3P9, and HSP90AB3P is dramatically enhanced in GC. They can also influence the survival rate of GC patients by regulating pathways involved in cell proliferation, inflammation, and metastasis via the ceRNAs network.