bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dose selection for a phase III study evaluating gepotidacin (GSK2140944) in the treatment of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea
Authors: Scangarella-Oman Nicole E , Hossain Mohammad , Perry Caroline R , Tiffany Courtney , Powell Marcy , Swift Brandon , Dumont Etienne F
Published: November 2022

Background

Gepotidacin is a novel, first-in-class triazaacenaphthylene antibiotic that inhibits bacterial DNA replication by a distinct mechanism of action and is active against most strains ofNeisseria gonorrhoeae(N. gonorrhoeae). Phase II data suggested higher exposures were needed for efficacy and to suppress resistance development. A translational approach using in vitro pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) and clinical data was used to select a gepotidacin dose for a phase III study. In this narrative review of previously shown data, we summarise how a translational approach based on in vitro PK/PD and population PK modelling and simulation data was undertaken to select a dosing regimen for the ongoing phase III gepotidacin study in participants with uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea.

Methods

For dose selection, prior in vitro minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and PK/PD data were available. PK modelling was conducted to determine a dose that would limit plasma concentrations to less than 14 µg/mL (as concentrations above this are associated with QT prolongation and effects associated with acetylcholinesterase inhibition) while maintaining ≥90% probability of target attainment (PTA) for efficacy and resistance suppression againstN. gonorrhoeaeisolates with gepotidacin MICs ≤1 µg/mL.

Results

Two 3000 mg gepotidacin doses, administered 10–12 hours apart, resulted in PTA of ≥97.5% and ≥91.7% for gepotidacin MICs ≤1 µg/mL for the ratio of the area under the free drug plasma concentration–time curve over 24 hours to the MIC (fAUC0–24/MIC) efficacy, and resistance suppression targets of 40 and 46, respectively, but limited the occurrence of maximum plasma concentrations ≥14 µg/mL.

Conclusions

Two gepotidacin 3000 mg oral doses 10–12 hours apart provide ~2-fold higher systemic exposures, increase efficacy for higher gepotidacin MICN. gonorrhoeaeisolates, reduce resistance potential and limit plasma concentrations of potential safety concern, compared with higher doses.
Panax notoginseng Alleviates Colitis via the Regulation of Gut Microbiota
Authors: Wang Li , Shao Li , Chen Man-Yun , Wang Lin , Yang Pu , Tan Feng-Bo , Zhang Wei , Huang Wei-Hua
Published: November 2022

Gut microbiota are significantly associated with the occurrence and development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) could be used for colitis and to modulate gut microbiota. However, the mechanism behind the effects of PNS on anti-colitis that are pertinent to gut microbiota is largely unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-colitis effects of PNS and explore the involved mechanism as it is related to gut microbiota. Results showed that PNS significantly alleviated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. Meanwhile, after PNS treatment, the tight junction proteins were enhanced and proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-[Formula: see text], IL-6, IL-1[Formula: see text], and IL-17, were decreased. Furthermore, Bacteroides spp. were significantly increased after modeling, while PNS reduced their abundance and significantly increased the amount of Akkermansia spp. in vivo. Importantly, Akkermansia spp. and Bacteroides spp. were correlated with the IBD disease indicators. Moreover, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiments confirmed that PNS-reshaped gut microbiota significantly alleviated DSS-induced colitis, while A. muciniphila significantly reduced the levels of the LPS-induced cellular inflammatory factors IL-1[Formula: see text] and TNF-[Formula: see text]. In conclusion, PNS alleviated colitis pertinent to the upregulation of Akkermania spp. and downregulation of Bacteroides spp. in the gut.
20(S)-Protopanaxadiol fromPanax ginsengInduces Apoptosis and Autophagy in Gastric Cancer Cells by Inhibiting Src
Authors: Song Chaoran , Shen Ting , Kim Han Gyung , Hu Weicheng , Cho Jae Youl
Published: November 2022

20(S)-protopanaxadiol (PPD), a metabolite of Panax ginseng, has multiple pharmacological properties. However, the effects of PPD against human gastric cancer have not been elucidated. Our purpose in this study was to investigate if PPD has anticancer effects against human gastric cancer in vitro. Cell viability, migration, clone formation, and invasion were assessed to explore the effects of PPD on cancer cells. PI and annexin V staining as well as immunoblotting were employed to determine if PPD-induced apoptosis and autophagy of MKN1 and MKN45 cells. The target of PPD was identified using immunoblotting, overexpression analysis, and flow cytometric analysis. PPD exhibited significantly suppressed cell viability, migration, colony formation, and invasion. Phosphorylation of Src and its down-stream effectors were inhibited by PPD. PPD-enhanced apoptosis and autophagy in a dose- and time-dependent manner by inhibiting Src. Collectively, our results demonstrate that PPD induces apoptosis and autophagy in gastric cancer cells in vitro by inhibiting Src.
EFFECT OF WS2 POWDER DEPOSITION ON MODIFYING THE SURFACE OF Al 6061-T6 THROUGH ELECTRICAL SPARK APPROACH
Authors: RAJESHSHYAM R. , VENKATRAMAN R. , RAGHURAMAN S.
Published: November 2022

Aluminum 6061-T6 alloy is widely used in several manufacturing sectors like automotive, aerospace and marine industries owing to their unique characteristics of high strength to weight ratio, low density and supreme electrical and thermal conductivity. Some of the properties of Al 6061-T6, such as poor surface and tribological behaviors, make them unable to be used in critical parts. In this work, surface modification was performed for Al 6061-T6 using WS2 solid lubrication through the electrical spark deposition technique. The deposition was conducted by altering three different parameters, that is, powder concentration (PC), spark-on time (ST) and gap voltage (GV), based on the Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology. Effects of these deposition parameters were investigated on various surface modification aspects, including deposition rate, surface roughness (SR), microhardness and layer thickness. Results exhibit that the WS2 deposited surface significantly improved the surface characteristics. Material deposition rate predominantly increased with an increase in PC. Surface microhardness is enhanced by 9–20 times that of the base material. The lowest SR was attained at an intermediate level of PC with a low level of ST and GV. A minimum layer thickness of 32.12 [Formula: see text]m at intermediate PC and high ST with low GV was achieved. The elemental and structural analyses confirmed that the formation of intermetallics, such as WO2, WO3, Al2O3 and Al4C3, was formed during electrical spark deposition.
Three-Dimensional Effect of Feedback Controlled Winglets in Flutter Suppression of Suspension Bridge
Authors: Guo Zengwei , Ran Xu , Zhao Lin , Huang Xiaoming
Published: November 2022

To account for the influence of winglet’s arrangement length and installing position along the longitudinal direction of bridge deck, as well as actuators quantities on flutter control effect, a three-dimensional model of deck-winglet system was been derived in state space domain, and a model reduction method was also discussed to enhance control efficiency. Then, a suspension bridge with a main span of 3[Formula: see text]000[Formula: see text]m was used to investigate the control effect of active winglets, and to explore the influence of winglet length and actuator quantity on flutter control effect. Finally, the flutter and buffeting performance of winglet itself was investigated. The simulation results shows that the modes involved in flutter analysis should be determined according to mode-energy participation ratio. When installing a pair of winglets whose width is 10% of bridge deck, the critical wind speed of bridge deck may be twice of a non-controlled condition. In addition, the critical wind speed increases by increasing the length of winglets and actuator quantity. However, the critical wind speed may remain constant once the winglet length and actuator quantity exceed a critical value. By ensuring the critical wind speed of winglet itself is higher than bridge deck, winglet’s width should be less than 10% of bridge deck’s width, and the independent length winglet is proposed to be shorter than 15% of the length of center span of bridge deck.
A regime-switching stochastic SIR epidemic model with a saturated incidence and limited medical resources
Authors: Wei Wei , Xu Wei , Liu Jiankang
Published: November 2022

The stochastic switching SIR epidemic model with saturated incidence and limited medical treatment is investigated in this paper. By using Lyapunov methods and Itô formula, we first prove that the system has a unique global positive solution with any positive initial value. Then combining inequality technique and the ergodic property of Markov switching, the sufficient conditions for extinction and persistence in the mean of the disease are established. The results demonstrate that increasing medical resources and improving supply efficiency can accelerate the transition from the persistent state to the extinct state. Meanwhile, the high incidence rate will slow down the extinction of the disease. Specially, the switching noise can induce the system to toggle between the extinct and persistent states. Finally, some numerical simulations are carried out to confirm the analytical results.
The Impact of Flooding on Education of Children and Adolescents: Evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Ahmed Riaz , Barkat Waseem , Ahmed Adeel , Tahir Muhammad , Nasir Abdul Majid
Published: November 2022

This study traces short- to long-term adverse effects of the colossal flood 2010 on educational outcomes of children and adolescents (age 5–16 years) in the flooded districts of Pakistan. Taking advantage of the flood — a type of quasi-natural experimental research design we utilized a difference-in-differences (DID) approach with inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs) to estimate the impact of the flood on educational outcomes by using a household surveys’ dataset (six waves). We compare educational outcomes out-of-school or dropout from school of — children and adolescents in the flooded households with the educational outcomes of individuals of same age groups in the non-flooded households before, during and after the flood. Our findings reveal that, on an average, 39 out of 1000 children and adolescents in the flooded districts, compared with their counterparts in the non-flooded districts, were not admitted in any educational institutions and 16 of them dropped out from schools during the flood. The effect of flood on education of children and adolescents, then, disappeared after 2–4 years after the flood. The education outcomes of children and adolescents in flooded households in rural areas compared with their peers in non-flooded districts were severely affected by the flood. Mirroring the impact of flood on education sector to the current heavy flood 2022 in Pakistan or pandemic COVID-19 is similarly compelling nations around the world for closure of their schools and educational institutions. The findings of this study may have some policy implications in terms of identifying the most vulnerable children and adolescents to mitigate the adverse impact of the natural disasters such as flood or pandemic on education outcomes and particularly significant to pinpoint shocks of disasters that have large and long-run impacts on human capital accumulation.
Therapeutic potential of antimicrobial peptides for treatment of wound infection
Authors: Haidari Hanif , Melguizo-Rodríguez Lucía , Cowin Allison J. , Kopecki Zlatko
Published: November 2022

Healing of cutaneous wounds is a fundamental process required to re-establish tissue integrity, repair skin barrier function, and restore skin homeostasis. Chronic wound infection, exacerbated by the growing development of resistance to conventional therapies, hinders the skin repair process and is a serious clinical problem affecting millions of people worldwide. In the past decade, the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) has attracted increasing attention as a potential novel strategy for the treatment of chronic wound infections due to their unique multifaceted mechanisms of action, and AMPs have been demonstrated to function as potent host-defense molecules that can control microbial proliferation, modulate host-immune responses, and act as endogenous mediators of wound healing. To date over 3,200 AMPs have been discovered either from living organisms or through synthetic derivation, some of which have progressed to clinical trials for the treatment of burn and wound injuries. However, progress to routine clinical use has been hindered due to AMPs’ susceptibility to wound and environmental factors including changes in pH, proteolysis, hydrolysis, oxidation, and photolysis. This review will discuss the latest research focused on the development and applications of AMPs for wound infections using the latest nanotechnological approaches to improve AMP delivery, and stability to present effective combinatorial treatment for clinical applications.
PCM1 labeling reveals myonuclear and nuclear dynamics in skeletal muscle across species
Authors: Viggars Mark R. , Owens Daniel J. , Stewart Claire , Coirault Catherine , Mackey Abigail L. , Jarvis Jonathan C.
Published: November 2022

Myonuclei transcriptionally regulate muscle fibers during homeostasis and adaptation to exercise. Their subcellular location and quantity are important when characterizing phenotypes of myopathies, the effect of treatments, and understanding the roles of satellite cells in muscle adaptation and muscle “memory.” Difficulties arise in identifying myonuclei due to their proximity to the sarcolemma and closely residing interstitial cell neighbors. We aimed to determine to what extent (pericentriolar material-1) PCM1 is a specific marker of myonuclei in vitro and in vivo. Single isolated myofibers and cross sections from mice and humans were studied from several models including wild-type and Lamin A/C mutant mice after functional overload and damage and recovery in humans following forced eccentric contractions. Fibers were immunolabeled for PCM1, Pax7, and DNA. C2C12 myoblasts were also studied to investigate changes in PCM1 localization during myogenesis. PCM1 was detected at not only the nuclear envelope of myonuclei in mature myofibers and in newly formed myotubes but also centrosomes in proliferating myogenic precursors, which may or may not fuse to join the myofiber syncytium. PCM1 was also detected in nonmyogenic nuclei near the sarcolemma, especially in regenerating areas of the Lmna+/ΔK32 mouse and damaged human muscle. Although PCM1 is not completely specific to myonuclei, the impact that PCM1+ macrophages and interstitial cells have on myonuclei counts would be small in healthy muscle. PCM1 may prove useful as a marker of satellite cell dynamics due to the distinct change in localization during differentiation, revealing satellite cells in their quiescent (PCM1−), proliferating (PCM1+ centrosome), and prefusion states (PCM1+ nuclear envelope).
Short-chain fatty acids ameliorate necrotizing enterocolitis-like intestinal injury through enhancing Notch1-mediated single immunoglobulin interleukin-1-related receptor, toll-interacting protein, and A20 induction
Authors: Yu Wei , Venkatraman Aparna , Menden Heather L. , Martinez Maribel , Umar Shahid , Sampath Venkatesh
Published: November 2022

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as propionate and butyrate, metabolites produced by symbiotic gut bacteria are known to be anti-inflammatory, but the mechanisms by which they protect against NEC are not fully understood. In this study, we reveal that SCFAs regulate intestinal inflammation by inducing the key TLR and IL1R inhibitors, SIGIRR and A20, through activation of the pluripotent transcriptional factor NOTCH1. Butyrate-mediated SIGIRR and A20 induction represses experimental NEC in the neonatal intestine.
Impact of neurally mediated antidiuretic effect relative to pressure diuresis during acute changes in sympathetic nerve activity
Authors: Kawada Toru , Yokoi Aimi , Nishiura Akitsugu , Kakuuchi Midori , Li Meihua , Uemura Kazunori , Suehara Satoru , Sawada Satoshi , Saku Keita
Published: November 2022

We examined urine excretion during primary acute sympathetic activation (PASA) in anesthetized Wistar-Kyoto rats. Since arterial pressure (AP) changes with sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) during PASA, urine excretion reflects a neurally mediated antidiuretic effect combined with an effect of pressure diuresis. We hypothesized that preventing AP changes under PASA would enable the direct estimation of the neurally mediated antidiuretic effect alone. We changed the isolated carotid sinus pressure stepwise from 60 to 180 mmHg and compared the relationship of normalized urine flow (nUF, urine flow normalized by body weight) versus SNA between conditions allowing and preventing baroreflex-mediated changes in the mean AP. The slope of the SNA-nUF relationship was [Formula: see text]nUFvar = 0.444 ± 0.074 μL·min−1·kg−1·%−1 when the mean AP was variable, whereas it was [Formula: see text]nUFfix = −0.143 ± 0.032 μL·min−1·kg−1·%−1 when the mean AP was fixed at 100 mmHg ( n = 7 rats). The slope associated with the effect of pressure diuresis alone, calculated as [Formula: see text]nUFvar − [Formula: see text]nUFfix, was 0.586 ± 0.105 μL·min−1·kg−1·%−1. Hence, the potency of the neurally mediated antidiuretic effect |[Formula: see text]nUFfix|/([Formula: see text]nUFvar − [Formula: see text]nUFfix) was 0.235 ± 0.014 relative to the effect of pressure diuresis under PASA. Our findings would aid an integrative understanding of the effects of renal hemodynamic and sympathetic modulations on urine output function.
Effect of Fiber Content on Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Characteristics of Alkali Resistant Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete
Authors: Wu Chao , He Xiongjun , Zhao Xia , He Li , Song Yuan , Zhang Xiuyan
Published: November 2022

Owing to its enhanced strength, ductility, and resistance to harsh environments, increasing research attention has been paid to alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforced concrete (ARGFRC). This paper presents experimental studies concerning the effects of fiber content on the mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of ARGFRC. The amount of glass fiber was considered at levels of 0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.5% of the concrete volume. The compression, flexural, impact resistance, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy tests were conducted. The flexural load-deflection curve, flexural strength, flexural toughness index, flexural fracture energy, postcracking stiffness, postpeak stiffness, and impact resistance energy absorption were obtained. Then the changing law affected by fiber content on these mechanical properties was further analyzed, and the corresponding equation was fitted. When fiber content was 1.5%, the flexural toughness index I5, I10, and I20 values were 4.0, 5.9, and 8.9, respectively, and increased by 3.0∼7.9 times. Glass fiber incorporation could increase the ductility and delay the brittle failure when the fiber content reached 0.8%. The largest postcracking stiffness was calculated at 36.174 kN/mm with a fiber content of 0.8%. The higher the fiber content, the larger the postpeak stiffness of the tested beams. Impact resistance test results demonstrated that the optimum fiber content was 1.3%. As the fiber content increased, the effect of the concrete grout on the fiber packaging decreased, according to the scanning electron microscopy analysis. The energy dispersive spectroscopy observation proved that adding a certain fiber content did not affect the concrete hydration reaction.
Activity-Based Screening of Soil Samples from Nyingchi, Tibet, for Amylase-Producing Bacteria and Other Multifunctional Enzyme Capacities
Authors: Liu J. H. , Guo J. N. , Lu H. , Lin J.
Published: November 2022

Despite the interest in Tibetan soil as a promising source of functional enzymes with potential biotechnological applications, few studies have considered the screening and identification of amylase producing bacteria from Tibetan soil. Amylase has many applications in the food and feed industries, textile and biofuel production, and biomedical engineering. The area of amylase with specific properties is attracting growing attention because of its better application to various industrial conditions. This study aims to screen and identify amylase-producing strains from soil samples collected in Nyingchi, Tibet, and then explore whether the bacterial isolates are superior for unique enzymes. In this paper, a total of 127 amylase producing bacteria were isolated by activity-based screening of six Tibetan soil samples. The 16S rRNA gene survey then identified four major phyla, namely, firmicutes, bacteroidetes, proteobacteria, and actinobacteria, which were differentiated into twelve genera with a dominance of Bacillus (67.72%), followed by Pseudomonas (8.66%). Microbial diversity analysis revealed that the amylase-producing bacterial community of the Kadinggou forest soil sample showed the best variety (the Simpson index was 0.69 and the Shannon index was 0.85). The amylase activity assay of the bacterial isolates showed a mean of 0.66 U/mL at 28°C and pH 5.2. Based on the effect of temperatures and pHs on amylase activity, several bacterial isolates can produce thermophilic (50°C), psychrophilic (10°C), acidophilic (pH 4.2), and alkaliphilic (pH 10.2) amylases. Furthermore, four bacterial isolates were screened for amylase, protease, and esterase activities, which indicated multifunctional enzyme capacities. The present study is expected to contribute to our understanding of Tibetan microbial resources and their potential for scientific research and industrial applications.
Pueraria lobata Potentially Treating Prostate Cancer on Single-Cell Level by Network Pharmacology and AutoDock: Clinical Findings and Drug Targets
Authors: Mo Yongfeng , Chen Manying , Qin Honyu , Liu Huaying , Ye Yu
Published: November 2022

Background. Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the common malignant tumors of the urological system, and metastasis often occurs in advanced stages. Chemotherapy is an effective treatment for advanced PCa but has limitations in terms of efficacy, side effects, multidrug resistance, and high treatment costs. Therefore, new treatment modalities for PCa need to be explored and improved. Methods. R language and GEO database were used to obtain differentially expressed genes for PCa single-cell sequencing. TCMSP, STITCH, SwissTargetPrediction, and PubChem databases were used to obtain the active ingredients and targets of Pueraria lobata (PL). Next, Cytoscape software was used to draw the interactive network diagram of “drug–active component–target pathway.” Based on the STRING database, the protein–protein interaction network was constructed. Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were applied for the genes. Molecular docking was used to visualize the drug–target interaction via AutoDock Vina and PyMOL. Finally, prognosis-related genes were found by survival analysis, and Protein Atlas was used for validation. Results. Four active components and 31 target genes were obtained through the regulatory network of PL. Functional enrichment analysis showed that PL played a pharmacological role in the treatment of PCa by regulating the metabolic processes of reactive oxygen species, response to steroid hormones, and oxidative stress as well as IL-17 signaling pathway, PCa, and estrogen signaling pathway. Single-cell data showed that AR, MIF, HSP90B1, and MAOA genes were highly expressed, and molecular docking analysis showed that representative components had a strong affinity with receptor proteins. Survival analysis found that APOE, CA2, IGFBP3, MIF, F10, and NR3C1 could predict progression-free survival (PFS), and some of them could be validated in PCa. Conclusion. In this paper, a drug–active ingredient–target pathway network of PL at the single-cell level of PCa was constructed, and the findings revealed that it acted on genes such as AR, MIF, HSP90B1, and MAOA to regulate several biological processes and related signaling pathways to interfere with the occurrence and development of PCa. APOE, CA2, IGFBP3, MIF, F10, and NR3C1 were also important as target genes in predicting PFS.
Acupuncture Case Registry Study: Rationale, Implementations, and Achievements
Authors: Zhao Tianyi , Liu Jia , Li Yiming , Li Hongjiao , Wang Chao , Yang Zhuoxin , Wang Xin , Ai Yanke , Qin Yuning , Cao Xue , Yue Lihong , Ge Zhishan , Wang Shihua , Meng Xiangran , Wang Yanjun , He Liyun
Published: November 2022

The acupuncture case registry study is focusing on acupuncture therapy data from patient cases. The main objective is to collect real-world data and integrate clinically meaningful outcome evaluation indicators to uncover and evaluate real-world acupuncture efficacy and safety, explore factors affecting acupuncture efficacy, and provide real-world evidence to complement RCTs. Since the International Acupuncture Case Registry data collection system’s establishment in 2017, 16 projects have been underway, including two acupuncture specialty therapies and 15 diseases. Data from 3404 patients included extensive information on the diagnosis and treatment of acupuncture and the evaluation of its efficacy. In order to serve as a guide for future studies, this article discusses the value of and rationale for establishing acupuncture case registry studies, how to distinguish them from patient registries, and crucial techniques for implementing registry studies in terms of applications, patient recruitment, costakeholder collaboration, data collection and management, study quality control, and ethics.
Airway Management in Adult Intensive Care Units: A Survey of Two Regions in China
Authors: Zhang Sheng , Lin Jintuan , Diao Xiaoyan , Shi Wenjian , Huang Lei
Published: November 2022

The critical medicine residency training in China started in 2020, but no investigation on the practice of tracheal intubation in ICUs in China has been conducted. A survey was sent to the adult ICUs in public hospitals in Shenzhen (SZ) city and Xinjiang (XJ) province using a WeChat miniprogram to be completed by intensive care physicians. It included questions on training on intubation, intubation procedures, and changes in the use of personal protective equipment due to COVID‐19. We analyzed 301 valid questionnaires which were from 72 hospitals. A total of 37% of respondents had completed training in RSI (SZ, 40% vs. XJ, 30%; p = 0.066), and 50% had participated in a course on the emergency front of the neck airway (SZ, 47% vs. XJ, 54%; p = 0.256). Video laryngoscopy was preferred by 75% of respondents. Manual ventilation (56%) and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (34%) were the first‐line options for preoxygenation. For patients with a high risk of aspiration, nasogastric decompression (47%) and cricoid pressure (37%) were administered. Propofol (82%) and midazolam (70%) were the most commonly used induction agents. Only 19% of respondents routinely used neuromuscular blocking agents. For patients with difficult airways, a flexible endoscope was the most commonly used device by 76% of respondents. Most participants (77%) believed that the COVID‐19 pandemic had significantly increased their awareness of the need for personal protective equipment during tracheal intubation. Our survey demonstrated that the ICU doctors in these areas lack adequate training in airway management.
Bromelain Modulates Liver Injury, Hematological, Molecular, and Biochemical Perturbations Induced by Aluminum via Oxidative Stress Inhibition
Authors: El-Demerdash Fatma M. , Hussien Doha M. , Ghanem Nora F. , AL-Farga Ammar M.
Published: November 2022

Aluminum (Al) is an important factor in the environment as it is used in agriculture and several industries leading to hazardous effects via oxidative stress. Bromelain is a cheap extract from the byproduct waste of Ananas comosus stem. It has been used in several biological and therapeutic applications. So, this study was undertaken to assess the hepatoprotective potential of bromelain versus oxidative stress induced by aluminum chloride in rats. Results revealed that administration of AlCl3 reduced the body and liver weights and increased Al concentration in the blood and liver tissue. Also, AlCl3 caused valuable changes in hematological parameters and increased TBARS and H2O2 concentrations in rat liver. Enzymatic (SOD, CAT, GPx, GR, and GST) and nonenzymatic (GSH) antioxidants and protein content were significantly decreased. Furthermore, alterations in liver biomarkers such as bilirubin level and enzyme activities in both serum and liver homogenate (LDH, ALP, AST, and ALT) were detected. AlCl3 also caused inflammation as indicated by upregulation of the inflammation‐related genes [interleukin 1 beta (IL‐1β)], tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), as well as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP9), and downregulation of nuclear factor erythroid 2 (Nrf2) expression. In addition, histopathological examination showed significant variations in the liver that confirms the biochemical results. Otherwise, bromelain intake alone slumped lipid peroxidation and gotten better antioxidant status significantly. Moreover, supplementation with bromelain before AlCl3 intoxication restores enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants as well as biochemical indices and tissue architecture with respect to the AlCl3 group. In conclusion, bromelain proved its remarkable protective power to abolish AlCl3 toxicity. So, it might represent a new strategy in the therapy of metal toxicity by its antioxidant capacity.
Delphi Collaboration Strategy for Multiagent Optical Fiber Intelligent Health Monitoring System
Authors: Zhang Xiaoli , Fan Chunfeng , Zhang Bianlian , Guo Yali , Dong Shaofei , Yang Guangle
Published: November 2022

Optical fiber sensors are very attractive in mechanical structure intelligent health monitoring system due to some unique characteristics, such as immunity to electromagnetic interference and to aggressive environments, high sensitive and fast response, small physical dimension, excellent resolution and range, and so on. For improving the accuracy and reliability of the optical fiber intelligent health monitoring system in practical engineering application, the collaboration and decision-making strategy based on Delphi method for multiagent optical fiber intelligent health monitoring system is studied in this paper. The proposed system is mainly composed of optical fiber sensing agent, intelligent evaluation agent, and system collaborative decision-making agent. The intelligent evaluation agent is used to evaluate the health status of the monitored mechanical structures. Delphi method is used by the system collaborative decision-making agent to consult each intelligent evaluation agent. Meanwhile, the collaborative partner selection algorithm is used to select the intelligent evaluation agent participating in the collaboration, and the intelligent evaluation agent that does not participate in the decision-making is dynamically modified by the decision result. The experiment for an aircraft wing box as the typical engineering structure is carried out and the verification system is designed, the decision result is compared with that without dynamic correction of the evaluation result. The comparative results indicate that the evaluation accuracy and reliability of the monitored mechanical structural damage are improved significantly after multiple rounds of collaboration and decision making.
Intrusion Detection for Cyber-Physical Security System Using Long Short-Term Memory Model
Authors: Bashar Gazi Md. Habibul , Kashem Mohammod Abul , Paul Liton Chandra
Published: November 2022

In the present context, the deep learning approach is highly applicable for identifying cyber-attacks on intrusion detection systems (IDS) in cyber-physical security systems. As a key part of network security defense, cyber-attacks can change and penetrate the security of the network system, then, the role of an IDS is to detect suspicious behaviors and act appropriately to protect the network from the onset of attacks. Machine learning and deep learning techniques are important for current intrusion detection systems. However, traditional intrusion detection systems are far from being able to quickly and accurately identify complex and diverse network attacks and obtained low accuracy and detection rates, thus, these methods frequently fail to manage big amounts of data in a vast network infrastructure and utilize a lot of features leads to poor performance. For addressing these issues and improving the accuracy and scalability, in this paper, we have implemented the deep learning method based on a new approach multilayer long short-term memory (LSTM) model for detecting attacks on a network. The novelty of the proposed scheme is that the optimum multilayer architecture is built to achieve maximum accuracy in the network architecture in order to boost performance using stacking multiple layers of LSTM cells in a more effective manner, and better stability to perform consistently in both binary classification and multiclass classification on NSL-KDD datasets. Experimental tests with KDDTest + datasets show that the proposed multilayer LSTM model provides outstanding results with 95% and 96% accuracy, respectively, in binary and multiclass classification. In order to deal with actual datasets and obtain good performance in the network design, our optimum multilayer architecture must be put into practice in order to execute real-time applications. Therefore, the results are better and more robust than the existing state-of-the-art methods.
An Intelligent Smart Parking System Using Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Alsheikhy Ahmed A. , Shawly Tawfeeq , Said Yahia F. , Lahza Husam
Published: November 2022

Saudi Arabia has started building smart cities and communities as part of the Saudi 2030 vision, which aims to digitalize all services. Smart cities use different types of technologies and data to improve the quality of life for citizens, manage resources, and make operations more efficient. In big cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah, the number of vehicles on the road has dramatically increased. Hence, parking has become a problem since there are limited spaces available. In this article, a novel, intelligent, and automated method for vehicle parking and management is proposed. This approach employs a convolutional neural network (CNN) tool to train the algorithm deeply. Image segmentation and preprocessing techniques are employed as well. All operations are automated and cost-effective since the proposed smart parking management system utilizes only a single camera to provide real-time views of the status of a parking lot. Furthermore, there is no need for human interference, and it is easy to maintain. Several simulation scenarios were conducted on MATLAB to validate this approach and prove its efficiency. A comparative evaluation between the proposed system and some works of literature is provided, and it indicates that the developed system outperforms the works from the preexisting literature.
Identification of KIF21B as a Biomarker for Colorectal Cancer and Associated with Poor Prognosis
Authors: Xu Shanshan , Li Youran , Huang Hua , Miao Xian , Gu Yunfei
Published: November 2022

Objective. This study is aimed at exploring the function of KIF21B in colorectal cancer. Methods. The expression of KIF21B was analyzed by the UALCAN database, GEPIA site, and TIMER site. The survival rate was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves, and the prognosis was analyzed by ROC. Relevant signaling pathways and biological processes were analyzed by GO-KEGG enrichment analysis. The correlation between KIF21B and cancer immune infiltrates was analyzed by TIMER. The functional state of KIF21B in various types of cancers was conducted by single-cell RNA-sequencing. Furthermore, the expression of KIF21B was verified by real-time qPCR and Western blotting. The cell proliferation was measured by CCK8 assay. The cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion were determined by the transwell assay. Results. Combination analysis of bioinformatics methods revealed that KIF21B is high expression in CRC, associated with poor survival. KIF21B and associated genes were significantly enriched in covalent chromatin modification. The expression of KIF21B was positively correlated with infiltrating levels of CD4+ T cells and neutrophils, cell apoptosis, and metastasis. KIF21B was upregulated expression in CRC cell lines. KIF21B deficiency reduced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Conclusions. Our study suggested that KIF21B may be a biomarker in CRC.
Investigating the Mechanism of Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei Medicine in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking
Authors: Li Huan , Luo Dan , Wei Ran , Sun Mingliang , Zhang Xi , Deng Huan , Bian Wenfei , Wei Haoyue , Huang Yanqin
Published: November 2022

Objective. This study systematically explored the mechanism of Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by using network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. Methods. The TCMSP database was used to screen out the active ingredients and related targets of Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei (R‐E) drug pair. GeneCards, OMIM, DrugBank, and other databases were used to screen the related targets of T2DM, and then, the UniProt database was used to standardize the relevant targets of T2DM. Then, the Venn analysis was performed on the active ingredient‐related targets and disease‐related targets of R‐E drugs to find the intersection targets. Using the STRING database and Cytoscape software, the PPI network and “drug‐active ingredient‐target‐disease” network are constructed by intersecting targets and corresponding active ingredients. Through the cluster profiler package in the R software, GO function enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were carried out on the intersection targets and the screened core targets, and the prediction results were verified by molecular docking. Results. Taking OB ≥ 30% and DL ≥ 0.18 as the standard, a total of 25 effective active ingredients of R‐E drug pairs were screened, including berberine, palmatine, coptisine, and so on. After corresponding, 19 effective chemical components and 284 targets of the R‐E drug pair were obtained. After searching multiple disease databases, 1289 T2DM‐related targets were screened. After the summary, 159 common targets were obtained in this study. Finally, in the bioinformatics analysis, this study concluded that quercetin, luteolin, berberine, palmatine, and coptisine are the main chemical components of the R‐E drug pair. ESR1, MAPK1, AKT1, TP53, IL6, and JUN are the important core targets. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei could improve T2DM by regulating multiple biological processes and pathways. Molecular docking results showed that berberine, palmatine, and coptisine had higher binding to the core target, and MAPK1, AKT1, and IL6 could stably bind to the active ingredients of Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei. Conclusion. Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei may have therapeutic effects on T2DM such as anti‐inflammatory and regulating glucose and lipid metabolism through multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple signaling pathways, which provides a scientific basis for further research on the hypoglycemic effect of Rhizoma Coptidis‐Eupatorium fortunei drug pair.
Comparison of Adjuvant Hypertonic Saline and Normal Saline for Epidural Block in Patients with Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Double-Blind, Randomized Trial
Authors: Kwon Hyun-Jung , Kim Doo-Hwan , Cho Seong-Sik , Jeon Bokyoung , Karm Myong-Hwan , Choi Seong-Soo
Published: November 2022

Background. In patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the effectiveness of epidural block and the benefits of adjuvant hypertonic saline (HS) have not been fully determined. Therefore, we investigated these issues in this study. Methods. At a tertiary medical center’s single pain clinic in Seoul, Republic of Korea, patients complaining of PHN even after 4 months of herpes zoster onset were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the HS or normal saline (NS) group. After epidural block with adjuvant HS or NS administration according to each protocol, outcomes were assessed at baseline and one and three months after the intervention. The primary outcome was pain intensity on the numerical rating scale (NRS). The secondary outcomes were the insomnia severity index (ISI), the medication quantification scale (MQS), and the global perceived effect of satisfaction (GPES). Results. Thirty-six patients (NS: 17, HS: 19) were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. The estimated pain intensity decreased in both groups at one and three months after the procedure (

P

 < 0.001), without a significant group difference. The estimated ISI and MQS were not significantly different at 1 month compared with baseline but significantly decreased at 3 months in each group (

P

 < 0.001 and

P

 < 0.001, respectively), without group differences. In addition, there was no difference between the groups on the GPES scale at one and three months after the procedure. Conclusions. Epidural steroid injection may have the advantages of short-term pain relief, improved sleep quality, and decreased medication usage in patients with PHN. In addition, adjuvant HS administration with epidural steroid injection did not show beneficial effects in patients with PHN. Further studies are needed to clarify the potential effectiveness of HS in treating neuropathic pain such as PHN. This trial is registered with KCT0002845.
A High-Efficiency Microstrip Antenna Pair with Similar Pi-Shaped Decoupling Structure for 3.5 GHz 5G Ultrathin Smartphones
Authors: Wu Di , Qiu Yang , Yu Guoliang , Zhu Mingmin , Zhou Hao-Miao
Published: November 2022

In this paper, a low profile and high-efficiency decoupling antenna pair for multiunit smartphones is proposed using a similar π-shaped feed structure that can excite the dipole radiation mode of microstrip antenna. Ordinarily, symmetrical single-port T-shaped microstrip antennas can only excite monopole modes of bilateral radiation. This paper changes the vertical feeding microstrip structure into two oblique, similar π-shaped feeding structures. This oblique feeding structure can excite the dipole mode of unilateral radiation of the microstrip antenna. Using this method, the antenna design can be simplified, and the low-coupling independent radiation on both sides of the microstrip antenna can be freely controlled without the need for additional structures. Considering the ultra-thin characteristics of 5G smartphone devices, the parameters of the antenna are further optimized: the optimized antenna profile is only 3.7 mm. The measured results show that the 2 × 2 microstrip antenna pairs can effectively cover the 3.5 GHz band (3.4–3.6 GHz), with a coupling that varies from −16.14 dB to −11.01 dB and an efficiency that varies from 80% to 94.1%. The 8 × 8 MIMO smartphone antenna results show that the coupling varies from −20.1 dB to −12.17 dB, the efficiency varies from 79.72% to 93.7%, and the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is lower than 0.05. The microstrip antenna decoupling pair with a similar π-shaped feed structure proposed in this paper has high efficiency and low-profile characteristics have important application value in the decoupling design of 3.5 GHz 5G ultra-thin smartphone antennas.
Synthetic Aperture Radar Target Recognition Based on Multimodule Image Enhancement Network
Authors: Wang Xuan , Lu Yuliang , Yan Xuehu , Li Da , He Chunqian
Published: November 2022

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has been widely used in recent years, and SAR automatic target recognition (ATR) has become a research hotspot. Most of the existing SAR ATR methods focus on the network structure design and increasing data volume but omit image quality and real-time processing. We design a multimodule image enhancement network (MMIE-Net) to solve these problems, which include the target extraction module, the image processing module, and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). First, we use the target extraction module and the image processing module to enhance the quality of raw SAR images. Then we design a suitable network for SAR image recognition, which is simple, lightweight, and recognizable. The experiment was mainly carried out on the MSTAR dataset, which can be divided into two categories, Standard Operating Condition (SOC) and Extended Operating Condition (EOC). The identification accuracy, the parameter storage space, and the depth of the model are considered as the criterion. The experimental results show that, compared with other methods, the proposed method not only ensures the simple structure of the network model but also has better recognition accuracy. Additionally, our method is robust and stable to large depression angle variation as well.
Pandemic Critical Care Research during the COVID‐19 (2020‐2022): A Bibliometric Analysis Using VOSviewer
Authors: Ageel Mohammed
Published: November 2022

This paper has reviewed the global research on the pandemic critical care research during the COVID‐19 from 2020 to 2022. To this end, a bibliometric and cluster analysis by full counting has been carried out using VOSviewer software and bibliographic data extracted from the Scopus database. The research found and studied 2778 documents. The types of research documents were limited to an article (81.46%), a letter (9.43%), an editorial (3.92%), a note (3.92%), a conference paper (0.90), and a short survey (0.04%). The results show an incessant increase in the number of research documents published and citations received during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The U.S., U.K., Italy, and France have been shown to be the most productive countries, and there is a predominance of European institutions supporting and fostering research on pandemic critical care. Cecconi, M. (Italy) and Shankar‐Hari, M. (U.K.) produced the highest number of research documents. Mapping of citation, co‐citation, co‐authorship, and keyword cooccurrence highlighted the hotspot, knowledge structure, and important themes. Citation dynamics for the top‐cited research documents revealed static discourse. By reviewing the evolutionary trends of pandemic critical care research investigated factors, such as the influential works, main research topics, and the research frontiers, this paper reveals the scientific literature production’s main research objectives and directions that could be addressed and explored in future studies. This paper reveals the scientific literature production’s main research objectives and directions that could be addressed and explored in future studies after reviewing the evolutionary trends of pandemic critical care research during the COVID‐19 and the investigated factors, such as influential works, main research topics, and research frontiers.