bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Accuracy of self-collected versus healthcare worker collected specimens for diagnosing sexually transmitted infections: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Jaya Ziningi , Mapanga Witness , Dlangalala Thobeka , Thembane Nokukhanya , Kgarosi Kabelo , Dzinamarira Tafadzwa , Mashamba-Thompson Tivani
Published: February 2024

The use of self-collected specimens as an alternative to healthcare worker-collected specimens for diagnostic testing has gained increasing attention in recent years. This systematic review aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of self-collected specimens compared to healthcare worker-collected specimens across different sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including chlamydia, human papillomavirus (HPV), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis in females. A rigorous process was followed to screen for studies in various electronic databases. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool. There were no studies on syphilis that met the criteria for inclusion in the review. A total of six studies for chlamydia, five studies for HPV, four studies for MG, and seven studies for gonorrhoea and trichomoniasis were included in the review. However, not all studies were included in the sub-group meta-analysis. The analysis revealed that self-collected specimens demonstrated comparable diagnostic accuracy to healthcare worker-collected specimens across most STIs. This indicates that the diagnostic accuracy of self-collected specimens can provide accurate results and enhance access to diagnostic testing, potentially improving healthcare service delivery. Future research should further explore the diagnostic accuracy of self-collected specimens in larger and more diverse populations.
Changes in Motor and Sensory Cortical Neurotransmitters Following Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries in Adults Measured with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Authors: Wade Ryckie G , Bourke Gráinne , Olaru Alexandra M , Williams Steve R , Shelley David , Plein Sven , Bains Robert D , Bedford James D , Newton Lucy Homer , Ng Chye Yew , Parkes Laura , Lea-Carnall Caroline
Published: February 2024

GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. In response to injury within the central nervous system, GABA promotes cortical plasticity and represents a potential pharmacological target to improve functional recovery. However, it is unclear how GABA changes in the brain after traumatic brachial plexus injuries (tBPI). Therefore, neurometabolite concentrations were serially quantified in 7 males with acute tBPI, up to 19 months post-injury, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). We acquired J-difference editing MRS using a MAGNETOM Prisma 3T (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany). Data were analysed in jMRUI blind to clinical information to quantify GABA, GABA, creatine (Cr) and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) concentrations. Interhemispheric means were compared using linear methods. Confidence intervals (CI) were generated to the 95% level. Within weeks of injury, the hemisphere representing the injured upper limb had a significantly lower GABA:NAA ratio (mean difference 0.23 [CI 0.06–0.40]) and GABA:Cr ratio (mean difference 0.75 [CI 0.24–1.25]) than the uninjured side, which equalised 12 months post-injury. After BPI, there are interhemispheric differences in GABA concentrations within the sensory and motor cortex. Pharmacological modulation of these metabolites may enhance cortical plasticity, prolong the available time for reconstructive surgery and ultimately, improve function.
Activity-stability trade-off observed in variants at position 315 of the GH10 xylanase XynR
Authors: Nakamura Tomoka , Takita Teisuke , Kuwata Kohei , Mizutani Kimihiko , Mikami Bunzo , Nakamura Satoshi , Yasukawa Kiyoshi
Published: February 2024

XynR is a thermostable alkaline GH10 xylanase, for which we have previously examined the effects of saturation mutagenesis at position 315 on enzyme alkaliphily, and found that at pH 10, the activities of variants could be ordered as follows: T315Q > T315S = T315N > T315H = wild-type XynR (WT) > 15 other variants. In this study, we sought to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the variable activity of these different variants. Crystallographic analysis revealed that the Ca2+ ion near position 315 in WT was absent in the T315Q variant. We accordingly hypothesized that the enhancement of alkaliphily in T315Q, and probably also in the T315H, T315N, and T315S variants, could be ascribed to an activity-stability trade-off associated with a reduction in stability due to the lack of this Ca2+ ion. Consistent with expectations, the alkaline resistance of T315H, T315N, T315Q, and T315S, evaluated through the pH-dependence of stability at 0 mM CaCl2 under alkaline conditions, was found to be lower than that of WT. In addition, the thermostabilities of these four variants, as assessed using the denaturing temperatures (Tm) at 0 mM CaCl2 based on ellipticity at 222 nm in circular dichroism measurements, were lower than that of WT. Furthermore, the Tm values of WT and variants at 5 mM CaCl2 were higher than those at 0 mM CaCl2 by 6–11°C. Collectively, our findings in this study indicate that mutation of the T residue at position 315 of XynR to Q, S, N, and S causes an increase in the alkaliphily of this enzyme, thereby reducing its stability.
DTRoadseg: A duplex transform heterogeneous feature fusion network for road segmentation
Authors: Guo Zhiyang , Hu Xing , Wang Jiejia , Miao XiaoYu , Sun MengTeng , Wang HuaiWei , Ma XueYing
Published: February 2024

Detecting roads in automatic driving environments poses a challenge due to issues such as boundary fuzziness, occlusion, and glare from light. We believe that two factors are instrumental in addressing these challenges and enhancing detection performance: global context dependency and effective feature representation that prioritizes important feature channels. To tackle these issues, we introduce DTRoadseg, a novel duplex Transformer-based heterogeneous feature fusion network designed for road segmentation. DTRoadseg leverages a duplex encoder architecture to extract heterogeneous features from both RGB images and point-cloud depth images. Subsequently, we introduce a multi-source Heterogeneous Feature Reinforcement Block (HFRB) for fusion of the encoded features, comprising a Heterogeneous Feature Fusion Module (HFFM) and a Reinforcement Fusion Module (RFM). The HFFM leverages the self-attention mechanisms of Transformers to achieve effective fusion through token interactions, while the RFM focuses on emphasizing informative features while downplaying less important ones, thereby reinforcing feature fusion. Finally, a Transformer decoder is utilized to produce the final semantic prediction. Furthermore, we employ a boundary loss function to optimize the segmentation structure area, reduce false detection areas, and improve model accuracy. Extensive experiments are carried out on the KITTI road dataset. The results demonstrate that, compared with state-of-the-art methods, DTRoadseg exhibits superior performance in terms of segmentation accuracy.
Identification of a predictive model for schizophrenia based on SNPs in a Chinese population
Authors: 杨 志英 , 姚明 顺 , 徐 伊冲 , 张 小清 , 什 元 , 王 丽君 , 崔 东红
Published: February 2024

Background
Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disease with high heritability. A growing number of susceptibility genes associated with schizophrenia, as well as their corresponding SNPs loci, have been revealed by genome-wide association studies. However, using SNPs as predictors of disease and diagnosis remains difficult. Here, we aimed to uncover susceptibility SNPs in a Chinese population and to construct a prediction model for schizophrenia.
Methods
A total of 210 participants, including 70 patients with schizophrenia, 70 patients with bipolar disorder, and 70 healthy controls, were enrolled in this study. We estimated 14 SNPs using published risk loci of schizophrenia, and used these SNPs to build a model for predicting schizophrenia via comparison of genotype frequencies and logistic regression. We evaluated the efficacy of the diagnostic model in schizophrenia and control patients using ROC curves and then used the 70 patients with bipolar disorder to evaluate the model’s differential diagnostic efficacy.
Results
5 SNPs were selected to construct the model: rs148415900, rs71428218, rs4666990, rs112222723 and rs1716180. Correlation analysis results suggested that, compared with the risk SNP of 0, the risk SNP of 3 was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia (OR = 13.00, 95%CI:2.35–71.84, P = 0.003). The ROC-AUC of this prediction model for schizophrenia was 0.719 (95% CI: 0.634–0.804), with the greatest sensitivity and specificity being 60% and 80%, respectively. The ROC-AUC of the model in distinguishing between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder was 0.591 (95%CI: 0.497–0.686), with the greatest sensitivity and specificity being 60% and 55.7%, respectively.
Conclusions
The SNP risk score prediction model had good performance in predicting schizophrenia. To the best of our knowledge, previous studies have not applied SNP-based models to differentiate between cases of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. It could have several potential clinical applications, including shaping disease diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.
A climatology of stratospheric gravity waves induced by tropical cyclones
Authors: Zhang Lifeng , Wang Xu , Wang Yuan , Zhang Yun , Guan Jiping
Published: February 2024

A climatology of stratospheric gravity waves (SGWs) induced by tropical cyclones (TC-SGWs) is necessary for stratospheric aviation safety and accurate numerical weather prediction. Few previous works have characterized the climatology of TC-SGWs, and the relative importance of the source and background wind for TC-SGWs has not been clearly established. Here we present the distribution of TC-SGWs formed over the northwest Pacific Ocean based on 30 years of ERA5 reanalysis data. Using explainable artificial intelligence, we found the background wind in the lower stratosphere to be more important than TCs in controlling the distribution pattern of TC-SGWs. The background wind shear can influence the direction of TC-SGW propagation by refraction and filtering, which influences the distribution pattern of the TC-SGWs. The TC intensity only influences the TC-SGW intensity. Our results provide information on TC-SGW hotspots and suggest the importance of the background wind shear.
Investigation of Nicotine Dependence in Young Male Soldiers After High-altitude Exposure: a Cross- Sectional Study
Authors: Xiao Zhong-Ming , Chen Yu , Ma Ke , Li Shao-Ying , Men Bo , Yu Ting , Nian Zi-Xiong , He Gong-Hao , Zhang Xin , Cai Wen-Ke
Published: February 2024

This study was conducted as a cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire to analyze "demographic characteristics, nicotine dependence, and self-efficacy for smoking cessation" among healthy young adult male soldiers who are presently residing and training in high-altitude for a minimum period of 3 months. A total of 3307 questionnaires were distributed between January and August 2023 in the high-altitude areas (altitude approximately 1700m-3700m).The participants in the survey exhibited an average age of 24.5 ± 3.7 years. A notable 82% of the respondents migrated to the high-altitude from regions with an altitude below 1500m, while 12.5% of smokers had resided and worked in the high-altitude area for a duration of ≥6 months. A substantial 89.6% of participants shared living spaces with smoking roommates; 60.1% initiated smoking before reaching the age of 19; 75% of smokers maintained a smoking habit spanning 1-9 years; a predominant 94.2% manifested very low to moderate nicotine dependence, with the remaining 5.8% presenting high to very high dependence. A distinct correlation emerged between factors such as BMI, duration of residence and work at high altitudes, daily smoking quantity (in the last 6 months), maximum daily smoking amount, roommate smoking status, and smoking duration, and the heightened status of nicotine dependence. An impressive 82.1% of respondents conveyed a resolute intent to cease smoking, with pivotal determinants such as educational attainment, daily smoking quantity (in the last month), maximum daily smoking amount, and smoking duration significantly influencing the cessation intention. Nicotine dependence persists in young adult male soldier smokers post high-altitude exposure, with the majority expressing a strong desire to quit. Therefore, our focus should be on bolstering their willingness to quit, crafting a tailored cessation program, and elevating the success rate of smoking cessation.
RETRACTED: Multi-Source Assisted Mixed SWIPT for Energy Efficient Routing In IoT Networks
Authors: Nagelli Prasad , Nagavelli Ramana
Published: February 2024

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Induced Erotomania by Online Romance Fraud - A Novel Form of de Clérambault's Syndrome
Authors: Alotti Nasri , Osvath Peter , Tenyi Tamas , Voros Viktor
Published: February 2024

Background: Although the impact of internet usage on mental health is extensively documented, there is a notable scarcity of reports in the literature concerning cyber-induced Erotomania. Erotomania is a rare but likely underdiagnosed delusional disorder. It is characterized by an irrational belief held by the affected persons that someone of higher socioeconomic status harbor romantic feelings toward them. Here, we describe and summarize the psychopathology of Erotomanic delusion induced by online romantic fraud in a female patient. Employing this case as a focal point, we illuminate novel aspects of erotomania that warrant attention and examination.
Case presentation: We present a compelling case involving a 70-year-old married Caucasian woman diagnosed with medically controlled persistent depressive disorder for several years. The intricacies of her condition became evident as she became deeply engrossed in online profiles featuring the image of a renowned musician, inadvertently falling victim to an online romantic fraud. Subsequently, this distressing experience triggered the emergence of erotomanic delusions and a suicide attempt. The patient's history reveals an array of medical conditions and stressful life events, contributing to her vulnerability. The diagnosis of erotomanic delusional disorder, dysthymia, and mild cognitive impairment with cerebral vascular background was established. Treatment involved her previous antidepressant with low-dose risperidone, alongside supportive individual and group therapy. Her delusion showed remission four weeks later, prompting her discharge for outpatient follow-up. Although she retained some false beliefs, the intensity of the symptoms had notably diminished and her functionality improved.
Conclusions: This case underscores the complex interplay between mental health, online activities, and the consequences of delusions, including suicidal thoughts, shedding light on the need for a comprehensive approach in addressing such challenging psychiatric scenarios.
Association between education inequality and lung cancer: a two- sample Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Nian Hui , Chen Xiaosang , Xu Songtao
Published: February 2024

Background: While numerous studies have explored the correlation between educational disparities and lung cancer, the definitive determination of a causal link between these factors is still pending. This study seeks to clarify the potential causal role of educational disparities in the development of lung cancer.
Methods: This study employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis by using genetic data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to explore the hypothesized causal connection between educational attainment and lung cancer. The investigation specifically concentrated on its major subtypes: Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LUSC) and Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In order to enhance our understanding and address potential confounding factors, a Multivariable MR analysis was utilized. Additionally, an advanced Two-step MR methodology was applied to clarify the biological pathways through which educational attainment might impact the risk of lung cancer.
Results: This study employed the Multiplicative Random-Effect Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW-MRE) as primary method in Univariable Mendelian Randomization (UVMR) analysis. The IVW-MRE approach yielded MR estimates indicating an odds ratio (OR) of 0.153 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.125-0.186) for overall Lung Cancer (LUCA), 0.195 (95% CI: 0.154–0.246) for Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LUSC), and 4.860 (95% CI: 3.584–6.589) for Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Additionally, Multivariable Mendelian Randomization (MVMR) analysis confirmed the persistent significance of educational inequalities as risk determinants. A subsequent two-step MR analysis further delineated the mediating roles of smoking, alcohol consumption, and Body Mass Index (BMI) in this association, and only found alcohol consumption has mediation effect between the two traits.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate a genetic connection between educational inequality and susceptibility to lung cancer. This emphasizes the need for more extensive research to unravel the complex socio-genetic interactions involved. Importantly, these results underscore the crucial role of addressing educational disparities in the epidemiology and progression of lung cancer.
The influencing factors of tourists’ behavioral intention in City walk in Malaysia
Authors: wang zhenbin , Zhang Hui , Cao Chaoyi
Published: February 2024

The study aims to fill the gaps in theoretical studies of the new travel trend of city walk in Malaysia from the perspective of embodiment with factors of sensory experience, visitor engagement, authenticity, and behavioral intention. Memorable tourism experiences and perceived risk are mediators and moderators between embodied cognition and behavioral intention, MTEs, and behavioral intention. Chinese tourists who are the major international tourist in Malaysia were taken into the investigation. The results show that sensory experience and existential authenticity have a positive effect on behavioral intention, MTEs play a mediating role in the relationships of sensory experience, authenticity, and behavioral intention. there is no significant mediation effect between visitor engagement and behavioral intention through MTEs. Perceived risk also shows no significant moderating effect on behavioral intention in city walk in Malaysia. This study provides new conceptual frameworks and research perspectives on City walk in Malaysia with theoretical and practical contributions leading to further study and city tour development practices.
Targeted internalization and activation of glycosidic switch liposomes by an EphA2 PEG engager increases therapeutic efficacy against lung cancer
Authors: Ho Kai-Wen , Liu Yen-Ling , Huang Bo-Cheng , Hong Shih-Ting , Yang Shih-Hung , Liao Tzu-Yi , Liu En-Shuo , Chen Yu-Tung , Huang Yi-Zhong , Leu Yu-Lin , Chen Chiao-Yun , Chen Bing-Mae , Roffler Steve R. , Cheng Tian-Lu
Published: February 2024

Glycosidic switch liposome (GSL) technology uses a reversible glucuronide ester to efficiently encapsulate and stably retain potent anticancer drugs in liposomes. Parental drug is generated by enzymatic hydrolysis of the glucuronide switch in the lysosomes of target cells. Here we investigated if bispecific molecules simultaneously targeting polyethylene glycol (PEG) on GSL and an internalizing tumor antigen could increase uptake of GSL into cancer cells and enhance anticancer activity. A bispecific PEG engager (mPEG×EphA2) was generated by fusing a humanized anti-methoxy PEG (mPEG) Fab with an anti-EphA2 single-chain antibody. Mixing GSL with the PEG engager formed αEphA2/GSL, which can target EphA2 on cancer cells to trigger cellular internalization and enzymatic generation of topoisomerase I poison 9-aminocamptothecin (9AC) to kill cancer cells. Mixing mPEG×EphA2 with GSL created αEphA2/GSL targeted liposomes that specifically bind CL1-5 human lung adenocarcinoma cells and increase GSL internalization from 0–62.4% in 60 min. αEphA2/GSL displayed modestly enhanced cellular cytotoxicity in vitro as compared to GSL but targeted GSL increased intratumoral concentrations of 9AC by 8.4 fold at 24 h and the tumor/blood ratios of 9AC for αEphA2/GSL (medium of 9ACtumor/9ACblood ratio = 25.4%) was nearly 6-fold higher than αDNS/GSL (medium of 9ACtumor/9ACblood ratio = 4.4%) at 24 h. Five of seven mice bearing solid CL1-5 tumors were cured by treatment with targeted GSL. The PEG×EphA2 engager increases the uptake and generation of active drug from GSL, resulting in greatly increased therapeutic efficacy against lung cancer. αEphA2/GSL is a promising approach to treat tumors that overexpress EphA2.
Unlocking the Full Spectrum: A Paradigm Shift in Electrochromic Devices with High-Performance Black Conjugated Polymers
Authors: Chen Dinghui , Tong Zizheng , Rao Qiushi , Meng Hong , Huang Wei
Published: February 2024

The black-to-transparent electrochromism is hailed as the "Holy Grail" of organic optoelectronics. However, designing black electrochromic (EC) materials that fully absorb in the visible light region remains challenging. Electroactive materials that simultaneously possess excellent cyclic stability, fast switching times, and high coloration efficiency are extremely rare. In this work, copolymers capable of fully absorbing across the entire visible spectrum have been successfully designed through judicious selection of four types of monomers. We introduce two types of polar side chains, which synergistically improve the ionic conductivity of copolymer, thereby enhancing the performance of electrochromic devices(ECDs). ECDs exhibit unprecedentedlong-term cyclic stability, surpassing all previously reported high cyclic stability devices with over 126,786 cycles. Additionally, they achieve a coloration efficiency of 1273 cm²/C, which exceeds that of every high coloration efficiency ECDs present so far, along with fast coloring/bleaching times of 0.82 s/0.86 s. This study presents a new strategy for the design and synthesis of high-performance black electrochromic copolymers.
The Role of Saving Parameter on Chaotic Dynamics of Distribution of Money, Wealth, and Income
Authors: Rahmati Venus , Abolhassani Mohammadreza
Published: February 2024

In closed economic systems, there exist dual behaviors in the distribution of money, wealth, and income that lack economic justification. Analyzing the fundamental dynamics of these distributions proves useful when studying economic crises. The main purpose was to identify economic distributions exhibiting chaotic gas-like dynamics while incorporating the saving parameter. Computer simulation was employed to reproduce the data representing economic transactions between the participating agents in each transaction. The saving parameter was introduced into the conservation equations of money within the kinetic theory of gases, and chaotic dynamics were utilized to determine the selection of agents and the amounts of money exchange between them. In the simulated distributions, specifically in scenario II, where agent selection was chaotic, and the money exchange was random, a transition from an exponential distribution to a power-law distribution was observed across various saving propensities. Our findings demonstrate that incorporating chaotic dynamics alongside the saving parameter is a suitable approach for modeling economic systems, akin to stochastic dynamics.
A novel pyridoindole improves the recovery of residual hearing following cochlear implantation after a single preoperative application
Authors: Arnoldner Christoph , Nieratschker Michael , Yildiz Erdem , Gerlitz Matthias , Bera Sujoy , Gadenstaetter Anselm , Kramer Anne-Margarethe , Kwiatkowska Monika , Mistrik Pavel , Landegger Lukas , Braun Susanne , Schlingensiepen Reimar , Honeder Clemens , Rommelspacher Hans
Published: February 2024

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is the most common sensory deficit worldwide. Due to the heterogeneity of causes for SNHL, effective treatment options remain scarce, creating an unmet need for novel drugs in the field of otology. Cochlear implantation (CI) currently is the only established method to restore hearing function in profound SNHL and deaf patients. The cochlear implant bypasses the non-functioning sensory hair cells (HCs) and electrically stimulates the neurons of the cochlear nerve. CI also benefits patients with residual hearing by combined electrical and auditory stimulation. However, the insertion of an electrode array into the cochlea induces an inflammatory response, characterized by the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, upregulation of reactive oxygen species, and apoptosis and necrosis of HCs, putting residual hearing at risk. Here, we characterize the effects of the small molecule AC102, a pyridoindole, for its protective effects on residual hearing in CI. We show that AC102 significantly preserves hearing thresholds across the whole cochlea and confines the cochlear trauma to the directly mechanically injured area. In addition, AC102 significantly preserves auditory nerve fibers and inner HC synapses throughout the whole cochlea. AC102s effects are likely elicited during the inflammatory phase of electrode insertion trauma (EIT) and mediated by anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties, as uncovered by anin vitroassay of ethanol induced apoptosis and evaluation of mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in an organotypicex vivomodel of EIT. The results in this study highlight AC102 as a promising compound for the attenuation of EIT during CI. Moreover, as the inflammatory response in cochlear implantation shares similarities to other etiologies of SNHL, a beneficial effect of AC102 can be inferred for other inner ear conditions as well.
Safety and feasibility of pain management using high-dose oral acetaminophen for enhanced recovery after colorectal cancer surgery
Authors: Urakawa Shinya , Shingai Tatsushi , Kato Junichiro , Kidogami Shinya , Fukata Tadafumi , Nishida Hisashi , Takemoto Hiroyoshi , Ohigashi Hiroaki , Fukuzaki Takayuki
Published: February 2024

Postoperative pain management is one of the important components for enhanced recovery. High-dose oral acetaminophen is effective; however, the safety of long-course usage has not been established in gastrointestinal surgeries. This study aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer using high-dose acetaminophen. One hundred sixty-five consecutive colorectal cancer patients using high-dose oral acetaminophen (3600 mg/day between POD1 and POD7) were enrolled. One hundred forty-six patients (88.5%) completed the administration of high-dose oral acetaminophen. Drug-induced liver injury occurred in 55 patients (33.3%), and the cumulative incidence rates were 18.9% and 36.8% on POD6 and POD7, respectively. The severity of liver injury was grade 1 in all cases, which returned to normal without treatment. Patients with drug-induced liver injury had a higher frequency of dyslipidemia (47.3% versus 23.6%, P = 0.0021) and M1 staging (10.9% versus 1.0%, P = 0.0027). Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of dyslipidemia (OR 2.91, P = 0.0030) and M1 staging (OR 13.5, P = 0.019) were independent risk factors for drug-induced liver injury. Long-course usage of high-dose oral acetaminophen in colorectal cancer patients enrolled in enhanced recovery protocols is feasible. Moreover, the presence of dyslipidemia and the M status are risk factors for drug-induced liver injury.
Evidence for genetic correlation between appendix and inflammatory bowel disease: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Liu Dan , Dan Wanyue , Yan Bin , Peng Lihua , Pan Fei
Published: February 2024

Observational studies highlighted an association between the appendix and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, it's unclear whether the identified association is causal because of difficulties in establishing a clear temporal sequence. We investigated the association between acute appendicitis, appendectomy, and IBD by using two-sample bidirectional univariable Mendelian randomization (UVMR), multivariable MR (MVMR) and linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) analyses. Eligible instrumental variables were screened from previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of European ancestry for analysis. The inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method was used for the primary analysis. Sensitivity analyses were used to detect and correct pleiotropy. LDSC analysis determined SNP-based heritability (h2) for acute appendicitis, IBD, Crohn's disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC). Following that, cross-trait LDSC analysis assessed genetic correlations (rg) between these traits using GWAS summary data. Genetically predicted UC was associated with a significantly lower risk of acute appendicitis (OR = 0.933, P < 0.001) and appendectomy (OR = 0.954, P < 0.001), but conversely, acute appendicitis or appendectomy had no causal effect on IBD, UC or CD (all P > 0.05). CD had a suggestive association with appendectomy (OR = 0.981, P = 0.018) but was not significant after excluding the effect of UC by MVMR (OR = 0.999, P = 0.889). Furthermore, LDSC suggested a negative genetic correlation between UC and acute appendicitis (rg = -0.205, P = 0.005). In conclusion, our study confirms UC casually leads to a decreased risk of acute appendicitis and appendectomy, but neither acute appendicitis nor appendectomy reduces the risk of IBD, UC, and CD.
Change of mechanical properties of e-PTFE support by electrochemical degradation in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
Authors: Yoo Donggeun , Oh Sohyeong , Han Yuhan , Jeong Jihong , Jung Sunggi , Park Kwonpil
Published: February 2024

In polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the cost and durability are main challenges to commercialization. To achieve the long-term durability target, the durability of PEMFC materials should be further improved. In this paper, we investigated the chemical and electrochemical degradation of the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) support and examined how it influences the mechanical properties of the e-PTFE support. We conducted the Fenton test and open circuit voltage (OCV) holding and analyzed the chemical and physical structural changes of the e-PTFE support by utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and tensile test. After the chemical and electrochemical degradations, the molecular bonds of e-PTFE were broken, and the microstructures of e-PTFE were deformed. As the result the mechanical properties of e-PTFE showed significant decrease. Consequently, our results show that the e-PTFE support is deteriorated chemically during PEMFC operation, and this chemical degradation lead reduction of mechanical strength.
Analysis of infection status and infection risk factors of caregivers of COVID-19 patients
Authors: Li Yanchun , Wang Yonghong , Zhou Xuebing , Zhong Huaying , You Hailong
Published: February 2024

Background: Omicron infection often occurs in a family cluster, therefore, infection among caregivers of patients with COVID-19 is an important health concern. To explore the spread and risk factors of infection among caregivers of patients with COVID-19 and provide a theoretical basis for the scientific prevention and control of susceptible infections.
Methods: We recruited 66 caregivers of patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the medicine department of Jilin Provincial Hospital of Hepatobiliary Diseases supported by the First Hospital of Jilin University, between April 9, 2022 and April 30, 2022. We analyzed the impact of age, sex, vaccination history, positive conversion time, and some basic disease on the occurrence of infection among caregivers.
Results: At one week after discharge of the admitted COVID-19 patients, 54 of the enrolled caregivers (including 22 males and 32 females) turned positive, while the remaining 12 did not. Among the patients with positive conversion, 79.63% had underlying diseases, 83.33% had positive conversion within 3 days after admission, and 46.30% had received the last vaccination more than 200 days. The positive conversion time, was significantly longer in women than in men. Additionally, the positive conversion time in those with underlying disease was longer than in those without.
Conclusion: An understanding of the prevalence and risk factors for secondary infection among caregivers of COVID-19 patients would be useful in developing strategies for the prevention of infection in the of COVID-19-susceptible population and help improve the monitoring of various susceptible factors.
Role of Xpert PCR kit in estimating Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus in teaching tertiary level hospital in Pakistan
Authors: Ashraf Muhammad Arsalan , Baig Ammarah , Irfan Seema , Khan Hira , Ahmed Israr , Virani Nazleen , Roshan Rozina , Zeeshan Syed Mohammad Zeeshan
Published: February 2024

Background: The colonization of MRSA increases therisk of MRSA infection, making it crucial to identify colonized patients accurately and rapidly. The conventional culture-based method for detecting MRSA colonization has limitations in terms of sensitivity and turnaround time, leading to delayed implementation of infection control measures. A rapid PCR-based method can provide accurate results within a few hours and may help in identifying colonized patients promptly.
Materials and Methods: Nasal and skin swab specimens were collected from all patients admitted to medical/surgical units of the Aga Khan University Hospital from 1st April 2022 to 31st December 2022 for culture-based and PCR-based MRSA detection (MRSA Xpert).
Results: Culture identified 10.9% MRSA positive specimens whereas Xpert MRSA assay showed 100% sensitivity and 95.4% specificity.
Conclusion: Our set of specimens showed a high correlation between culture-based and molecular-based methods for detecting MRSA.
Statistical Analysis of Connectivity Enhancement for Cell-Edge Users in Wireless Cellular Networks Using Cooperative Non- Orthogonal Multiple Access (CNOMA)
Authors: Bagheri Asma
Published: February 2024

This paper explores the potential of Cooperative Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (CNOMA) to address the connectivity of cell-edge users in wireless cellular networks by leveraging intra-cell users as relays. These relays retransmit data to cell-edge users, thereby enhancing signal strength through selection diversity. The statistical analysis of connectivity is a critical aspect of understanding the Quality of Service (QoS) and overall performance in CNOMA-based networks. However, analyzing the connectivity of cell-edge users within such networks introduces specific challenges. These challenges include the effects of channel fading and the impact of successive interference cancellation (SIC) in relay users. To address these challenges, this paper provides a closed-form expression for the connectivity of a cell-edge user in a CNOMA-based cellular network, assuming Rayleigh fading channels and the probability of successive interference cancellation (SIC) in relay users. The provided closed-form expression for the connectivity probability of the cell-edge user is then evaluated through simulation results, offering insights to extend its effectiveness.
Performance of Risk Scores in Predicting Mortality at 3, 6, and 12 Months in Patients Diagnosed with Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Authors: Tuta-Quintero Eduardo , Bastidas Alirio R. , Guerrón-Gómez Gabriela , Perna-Reyes Isabella , Torres Daniela , Garcia Laura , Villanueva Javier , Acuña Camilo , Mikler Eathan , Arcila Juan , Chavez Nicolas , Riviera Allison , Maldonado Valentina , Galindo María , Fernández María , Schloss Carolina , Reyes Luis Felipe
Published: February 2024

Background
Risk scores play a crucial role in assessing mortality risk among patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Despite their practicality, there remains a dearth of comparative evidence regarding various risk scoring systems.
Methods
This multicenter retrospective study was conducted across two high-complexity medical institutions, focusing on individuals diagnosed with CAP. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess the predictive performance of each analyzed risk score questionnaire in predicting survival or death at 3, 6, and 12 months post-diagnosis.
Results
Out of a total of 7454 potentially eligible patients, 3688 were included in the final analysis. Survival at 3, 6, and 12 months was 94.8%, 91.7% and 83.7%, respectively. At 3 months, PSI, CHARLSON, and CRB-65 scores showed ROC curves of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.71–0.77), 0.71 (95% CI: 0.67–0.74), and 0.7 (95% CI: 0.66–0.74). At 6 months, PSI and CHARLSON scores showed performances of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.72–0.77) and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.69–0.74), respectively. At 12 months, all evaluated scores showed poor discriminatory capacity, including PSI, which decreased its capacity to poor with an ROC curve of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.61–0.66).
Conclusion
In predicting mortality in patients with CAP, it was observed that at 3 months, PSI, CHARLSON, and CRB-65 showed acceptable predictive performances. At 6 months, only PSI and CHARLSON maintained acceptable levels of accuracy. For the 12-month period, all evaluated scores exhibited very limited discriminatory ability, ranging from poor to almost negligible.
Radiomics approach for identifying radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity in the lung
Authors: Drayson Olivia GG , Gruel Pierre-Montay , Limoli Charles L.
Published: February 2024

Radiomic features were used in efforts to characterize radiation-induced normal tissue injury as well as identify if human embryonic stem cell (hESC) derived Extracellular Vesicle (EV) treatment could resolve certain adverse complications. A cohort of mice (n=12/group) were given whole lung irradiation (3x8Gy), local irradiation to the right lung apex (3x12Gy), or no irradiation. The hESC-derived EVs were systemically administered three times via retro-orbital injection immediately after each irradiation. Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) images were acquired at baseline and 2 weeks after the final radiation/EV treatment. Whole lung image segmentation was performed and radiomic features were extracted with wavelet filtering applied. A total of 851 features were extracted per image and recursive feature elimination was used to refine, train and validate a series of random forest classification models. Classification models trained to identify irradiated from unirradiated animals or EV treated from vehicle-injected animals achieved high prediction accuracies (94% and 85%). In addition, radiomic features from the locally irradiated dataset showed significant radiation impact and EV sparing effects that were absent in the unirradiated left lung. Our data demonstrates that radiomics has the potential to characterize radiation-induced lung injury and identify therapeutic efficacy at early timepoints.
Geographical Variations and Predictors of Coronary Artery Disease Mortality in Turkiye: An Environmental and Behavioral Analysis Running Title: CAD Mortality Patterns in Turkiye
Authors: Tutar Mehmet , Kocak Hilal Gulendam , Kocak Mehmet
Published: February 2024

Objective:This study aims to analyze the geographical variations and identify key environmental and behavioral predictors of coronary artery disease (CAD) mortality in Turkiye.Methods:A 10-year longitudinal province-level data was used to identify change trajectories of CAD mortality. . Environmental determinants (such as air quality and climatic conditions) and behavioral factors of alcohol consumption and smoking were examined for their association with CAD mortality change trajectories using Ordinal Logistic Regression models.Results:The study revealed significantly different trajectoriesof CAD mortality across Turkiye. Environmental factors, particularly air quality (Particulate Matter-10 variation) and climatic conditions (humidity and temperature variations), were heavily associated with the level of CAD mortality. Behavioral factors, notably alcohol consumption and smoking, also exhibited a significantly positive association.Conclusion:The study underscores the importance of addressing environmental and lifestyle factors in CAD management and prevention strategies. The findings suggest the necessity for region-specific interventions and public health policies tailored to the unique characteristics of each province in Turkiye. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the multifactorial nature of CAD mortality, providing valuable insights for healthcare planning and policy-making.
The contribution rate of climate driven net primary productivity growth of vegetation has significantly increased, while human activities dominated its decrease from 1982 to 2020 in China
Authors: Chen Qi , Shi WenJiao , Zhou Wei
Published: February 2024

Changes in vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) are primarily influenced by climate change and human activities, but understanding the dominant factors and their contributions at different time stages remains unclear. Here, we developed a method to quantify the relative contributions of climate and human factors to vegetation NPP in China over the past 40 years, using three types of NPP based on multi-source data sets - actual NPP (aNPP), potential NPP (pNPP) and human occupied NPP (hNPP). The results revealed a strong correlation (R2 = 0.7629, p < 0.001) between the estimated values of the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model and the measured values. The results showed that from 1982 to 2000, the annual average aNPP in China was 501.0 g C/m² with a sum annual aNPP of 378.2 Tg C. From 2001 to 2020, the annual average aNPP increased to 517.1 g C/m² with a sum annual aNPP of 391.1 Tg C. The increase or decrease in aNPP from 1982 to 2000 was primarily influenced by human activities, with contribution rates of 34.26% and 50.43%, respectively. From 2001 to 2020, climate became the dominant factor in the increase of aNPP (contribution rate of 43.90%), while human activities became the dominant factor in the decrease of aNPP (contribution rate of 83.75%). The study also revealed a significant positive correlation between aNPP and precipitation, temperature, and gross domestic product (GDP), as well as a negative correlation with population density. Overall, the upward trend of climate-dominated aNPP is gradually increasing (12.24–43.90%), while the downward trend of human-dominated aNPP is also gradually increasing (50.43–83.75%). This study is benefit to a comprehensive understanding of the driving forces of vegetation aNPP changes, and provide scientific strategies for vegetation adaptation to climate warming.
Continuous measurement in neurocritical care of cerebral blood flow (CBF) calculated from ICP and central venous pressure
Authors: Ryding Erik , Reinstrup Peter
Published: February 2024

The cerebral blood flow, CBF, is an important clinical parameter in neuro-intensive care. The possibility to continuously monitor CBF, computed from referential ICP (rICP, calculated from measured ICP and mean CVP) and venous outflow resistance, Rv, could importantly improve patient care. The theoretical background involves rICP (the venous perfusion pressure) and the pulsative part of CBF (with rICP increase due to vascular volume increase) which gives the venous outflow resistance, Rv. rICP divided with Rv then gives CBF. The parameters rICP, Rv and CBF were then calculated in the same way in nine subjects from measurements of ICP and of intracerebral venous volume increase. The result was two methods for continuous monitoring of CBF from rICP, one using the systolic ICP increase, and one using the relationship between Rv and rICP at rICP exceeding about 10 mmHg, The constant monitoring of rICP opens the possibility to constantly monitor CBF and other clinical parameters, like venous outflow resistance, and mean arteriolar sphincter resistance.
Comparative analysis of light storage in antirelaxation-coated and buffer-gas-filled alkali vapor cells
Authors: Đujić Marin , Buhin Danijel , Šantić Neven , Aumiler Damir , Ban Ticijana
Published: February 2024

We explore light storage in antirelaxation-coated and buffer-gas-filled alkali vapor cells, employing electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in warm rubidium vapor.We conduct a comparative study of light storage performance under identical experimental conditions for these two cell types. Using a buffer-gas-filled cell resulted in approximately a tenfold improvement in memory efficiency and storage time compared to antirelaxation-coated cells.Moreover, we demonstrate that memory efficiency can be further enhanced by choosing a near-resonant EIT $\Lambda$-scheme over a resonant one. Our findings provide valuable insights for optimizing light storage, thereby contributing to the development of field-deployable quantum memories.
Weighing China's Fast Deployment of Offshore Wind Turbines through Satellite Images
Authors: Wang Peng , Li Shujun , Li Wen , Li Jiashuo , Biyani Nivedita , Chen Wei-Qiang
Published: February 2024

Offshore wind turbines are being deployed at an unprecedented scale, mainly driven by China, to combat the global climate crisis. However, these wind turbines are highly material-intensive, which has aroused wide concerns on potential supply risks and end-of-life material decommissioning and management. Here, we develop an integrated Energy Infrastructure-Material Stock monitoring approach of offshore wind turbines (EIMS_owt) using satellite images to quantify the in-use stock of components (rotor, nacelle, tower, and cable) and materials (bulk metals, rare earth, and others) for each turbine unit in China. We captured the installment and operational data of nearly all existing offshore wind turbines and witnessed a 22-fold increase from 267 turbines in 2015 to 5921 turbines by 2022. Meanwhile, we find that over two-thirds of those turbines, associated with 4.5 million tons (Mt) of critical components such as rotors and nacelles in 2022, are located at offshore distance exceeding 20 kilometers, posing large challenges for their operation and waste management. It is estimated that around 3.5 Mt of steel, 157 kilotons (kt) of copper, 41 kt of aluminum, and 2.3 kt of rare earth are contained in those components, highlighting the prospective value of their future recycling. Accordingly, our approach provides a high-resolution and up-to-date monitoring solution to help both China and other countries in improving sustainable performance of their wind energy infrastructure.
Topic: Exploring the link between Metformin use and adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder: a retrospective cohort study in Taiwan
Authors: Lin Bing-Sian , Chien Wu-Chien , Lu Chieh-Hua , Chung Chi-Hsiang , Tsao Chang-Huei , Weng Zi-Xeng
Published: February 2024

ObjectiveThe risk of adhesive capsulitis of shoulder in diabetic patients taking metformin has not been evaluated. We aimed for evaluating the relative risk of adhesive capsulitis of shoulder in diabetic patients taking metformin at the level of the whole country population.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study using a national health insurance database in Taiwan from 2000 to 2013. We used International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, to categorise the medical condition for study group and comparison group. We used Cox proportional hazard regression analyses to determined adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of adhesive capsulitis of shoulder between study and comparison group after adjusting for sex, age and comorbidities.ResultsAmong 13863 diabetic patients using metformin, 1294 patients were diagnosis with adhesive capsulitis of shoulder during follow up. Of the 55452 patients without the use of metformin, 5227 patients developed adhesive capsulitis of shoulder. Adhesive capsulitis of shoulder risk was elevated in patients taking metformin than in non-metformin group (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.064, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.000 to 1.321; p = 0.048).ConclusionsRisk of adhesive capsulitis of shoulder among the diabetic patients taking metformin was higher than those did not taking metformin. It indicated that metformin may cause fibrosis in joint capsule.