bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional and microstructural brain abnormalities, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction after mild COVID-19
Authors: Scardua-Silva Lucas , Joao Rafael Batista , Nogueira Mateus Henrique , Aventurato Italo Karmann , de Campos Brunno Machado , de Brito Mariana Rabelo , Alvim Marina Koutsodontis Machado , Ludwig Guilherme Vieira Nunes , Rocha Cristiane , Souza Thierry Kaue Alves Silva , Costa Beatriz Amorim da , Mendes Maria Julia , Waku Takeshi , Boldrini Vinicius Oliveira , Brunetti Natália Silva , Baptista Sophia Nora , Schmitt Gabriel Silva , de Sousa Jhulia Gabriela Duarte , Cardoso Tânia Aparecida Marchiori Oliveira , Vieira André Schwambach , Santos Leonilda Maria Barbosa , Farias Alessandro , Cendes Fernando , Yasuda Clarissa Lin
Published: December 2022

Background: Little is known about the underpinning mechanisms of neurological dysfunction in post-COVID syndrome.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 87 consecutive subjects after a mild infection, with a median of 54 days after diagnosis of COVID-19. We performed structured interviews, neurological examinations, 3T-MRI scans, and neuropsychological assessments. The MRI study included white matter investigation with diffusion tensor images (DTI) and functional connectivity with resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI).
Results: Subjects self-reported headaches (40%) and memory difficulties (33%). The quantitative analyses confirmed symptoms of fatigue (68% of participants), excessive somnolence (35%), symptoms of anxiety (29%), impaired cognitive flexibility (40%), and language dysfunction (33%). Besides, we observed a correlation between DTI fractional anisotropy (FA) and abnormal attention and cognitive flexibility in the Trail Making Test part B. Elevated levels
of fatigue and somnolence associated with higher connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the RS-fMRI study of the default mode network. While higher connectivity of the PCC with bilateral angular gyri was associated with higher fatigue levels, the elevated levels of somnolence correlated with higher connectivity between the PCC and both the left thalamus and putamen.
Conclusions: COVID-19 is associated with long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms and cerebral functional and microstructural alterations.
The importance of caregiving in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma in treatment with hedgehog-pathway inhibitors: an observational prospective study
Authors: trane luciana , Salvati Lorenzo , SILVESTRI flavia , venturi federico , zuccaro biancamaria , de giorgi vincenzo
Published: December 2022

Background
Oral target therapy with hedgehog-pathway inhibitors has revolutionized the standard of care for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma. These patients are frail and elderly patients with various comorbidities and on pharmacological polytherapy. This scenario requires the clinician to manage the adverse events that can have a significant impact on therapeutic adherence.
Objectives
We evaluated the impact of caregivers in the treatment of patients with advanced BCC under treatment in terms of continuation of therapy over time.
Methods
All patients included in this observational prospective study have histologically confirmed metastatic or locally advanced basal cell carcinoma and were treated with hedgehog-pathway inhibitors from January 2016 to December 2021 at the Department of Dermatology at the University of Florence, Italy. The collected patient data included age, sex, BCC site and extension, number of cycles, dose, duration and tolerability of the therapy, marital status (single, divorced, married/live-in, widow/widower), and information such as living with someone, and the presence of any caregivers.
Results
Of the 34 patients included, 33 had a LaBCC and 1 metastatic BCC. There were 11 females (32.4%) and 23 males (67.6%). Among Basal Cell Carcinoma patients treated with hedgehog-pathway inhibitors, patients who were married or lived with a care-giver could better tolerate the therapy relative to single patients who live alone. Indeed, married/live-in patients and/or those with an adequate caregiver experienced greater therapeutic adherence and tolerated adverse events better.
Conclusions
Given the greater therapeutic adherence of married/live-in patients whose caregiver is the partner, it is essential to consider patient’s marital status. It is advisable to involve the caregiver upon enrollment. There should be a training discussion on the various possible adverse events and the best way to mitigate them. Success in therapy is linked not only to an informed patient but also to a trained caregiver.
Coexistence of cryoglobulinemia and ANCA-associated vasculitis in a chronic brucellosis patient -A case report and literature review
Authors: Yang Xu , Jiao Congcong , Liu Xiaomei , Zhang Yongzhe , Zhou Hua , Wang Yanqiu
Published: December 2022

Background
The renal involvement of brucellosis is not common. Here we reported a rare case of chronic brucellosis accompanied by nephritic syndrome, acute kidney injury, the coexistence of cryoglobulinemia and antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) associated vasculitis (AAV) superimposed on iliac aortic stent implantation. The diagnosis and treatment of the case are instructive.
Case presentation
A 49-year-old man with hypertension and iliac aortic stent implantation was admitted for unexplained renal failure with signs of nephritic syndrome, congestive heart failure, moderate anemia and livedoid change in the left sole with pain. Past history included chronic brucellosis and he just underwent the recurrence and completed the 6 weeks of antibiotics treatment. He demonstrated positive cytoplasmic/proteinase 3 ANCA, mixed type cryoglobulinemia and decreased C3. The kidney biopsy revealed endocapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis with a small amount of crescent formation. Immunofluorescence staining revealed only C3 positive staining. In accordance with clinical and laboratory findings, post-infective acute glomerulonephritis superimposed with AAV was diagnosed. The patient was treated with corticosteroid and antibiotics and sustained alleviation of renal function and brucellosis was achieved during the course of a 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions
Here we describe the diagnostic and treatment challenge in a patient with chronic brucellosis related glomerulonephritis accompanied by the coexistence of AAV and cryoglobulinemia. Renal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of postinfectious acute glomerulonephritis overlapping with ANCA related crescentic glomerulonephritis, which was not ever reported in the literature. The patient showed good respond to steroid treatment which indicated the immunity-induced kidney injury. Meanwhile it is essential to recognize and actively treat the coexisting brucellosis even when there are no clinical signs of the active stage of infection. This is the critical point for a salutary patient outcome for brucellosis associated renal complications.
Development of a quick-stop device for micro-cutting
Authors: Piquard Romain , D'Acunto Alain , Fontaine Michaël , Thibaud Sébastien , Gilbin Alexandre , Coz Gaël Le
Published: December 2022

Micro-cutting is characterised by undeformed chip thicknesses in the micron range. This range leaves little choice of in situ observation techniques. One solution is therefore to observe these zones a posteriori after the cutting has been abruptly interrupted. This technique has proven to be very useful for conventional machining. This paper deals with the development of a quick-stop device dedicated to micro-cutting. The aim of this device is to observe cutting mechanisms and chip formation at this scale.
Establishment and validation of a prediction model for older people with sarcopenia
Authors: Yin Guangjiao , Li Hang , Li Rui , Wang Ziwei , Lv Fang , Qin Juanjuan , Ye Xunjun
Published: December 2022

The burden of sarcopenia is increasing. However, most cases of sarcopenia are undiagnosed due to the lack of simple screening tools. Here, we aimed to develop and validate an individualized and simple nomogram for predicting sarcopenia in older Chinese people. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 consensus. The primary data were randomly divided into a train and validation set. Univariate logistic regression analysis was performed to select the risk factors of sarcopenia, which were subjected to the LASSO regression model for feature selection. The nomogram was built using multivariate logistic regression analysis by incorporating the features selected in the LASSO regression model. The discrimination and calibration of the predictive model were verified by the concordance index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and calibration curve. In this study, there were 55 cases of sarcopenia. Risk predictors included age, albumin (ALB), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), grip strength, and calf circumference. The model had good discrimination and calibration. C-index was 0.92 (95% confidence interval:0.84–1.00) and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.92 (95% confidence interval:0.83–1.00) in validation set. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test (HL) had a p-value of 0.94. Our predictive model will be a clinically useful tool for predicting the risk of sarcopenia. It facilitates earlier detection and therapeutic intervention for physicians and patients.
Flatten the curve. On a new Covid-19 (hit) severity.
Authors: Crombez John , De Staelen Rob
Published: December 2022

During the health crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic the adagium was to ``flatten the curve". We investigate how well countries succeeded in this aim by constructing an appropriate severity measure. It is able to distinguish between countries that e.g. experienced identical overall mortality rates or attained equal case load peaks. More classical measures (like summation or maximum) neglect this and are therefore inappropriate to assess the resilience of a health care system nor pandemic policy ex post performance.
For a set of 32 countries, based on the reported number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, we calculate the relative severity of the pandemic hitting each individual country. The flattening didn't go equally well in all countries. The difference in severity is large, with Norway being consistently the least severely hit by the pandemic (using deaths as indicator) during the whole observation period, while Hungary comes out as eventually being hit the hardest in our sample.
Having constructed a sound (hit) severity measure that enables to differentiate between countries' performances, further research should relate these observed differences to the pre pandemic health care status and the sanitary measures or restrictions imposed during the pandemic; in order to reveal what measures help the most in what type of health care system and society.
RETRACTED: Data-based Individualised Detoxification From Benzodiazepines and Other Gaba-a Receptor Agonists Driven by Serum-concentration Feedback: Presentation of the Saer Method
Authors: Basińska-Szafrańska Anna
Published: December 2022

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Circulating-infiltrating preparation of hydrophilic nylon 6 membrane to hydrophobic MWCNT@nylon composite membrane
Authors: Tai Nguyen Tan , Anh Tran Minh , Vuong Vinh-Dat , Thi Pham Tan , Le Thang Van , Phong Mai Thanh
Published: December 2022

The ion adsorption capacity has been added to the nylon 6 microfiltration (MF) membrane by grafting the fibers in its structure with carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH). Through a direct three-step functionalization reaction with hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) and MWCNT-COOH, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes grafted nylon (MWCNT@nylon) fibers are made up of original nylon 6 and intermediate amino-enriched (nylon-NH2) membranes. Chemical structure analysis shows that HMDA and MWCNTs were grafted to the nylon 6 fiber side wall, without causing damage to either the nylon 6 backbone or the pore size of the original membrane. The SEM images confirm this and further confirm that the plexus of MWCNT-COOH has a pore size of approximately 50 nm, covering the nylon 6 fibers. The sidewall of nylon-NH2 and MWCNT@nylon fibers contains hydrophilic groups (amino and carboxylic), allowing the as-prepared membranes to reduce the wetting angle from about 70.3° to about 108.1°. This special structure opens new possibilities for polyamide membranes as well as mass production by the proposed simple method.
A Subspace Constraint based Approach for Fast Hierarchical Graph Embedding
Authors: Yu Minghe , Chen Xu , Gu Xinhao , Liu Hengyu , Du Lun
Published: December 2022

Hierarchy network, as a type of complex graphs, is widely used in many application scenarios such as social network analysis in web, human resource analysis in e-government, and product recommendation in e-commerce. Hierarchy preserving network embedding is a representation learning method that project nodes into feature space by preserving the hierarchy property of networks. Recently, researches on network embedding are devoted to mining hierarchical structures and profit a lot form it. Among these works, SpaceNE stands out of preserving hierarchy with the help of subspace constraint on the hierarchical subspace system. However, like all other existing works, SpaceNE is based on transductive learning method and is hard to generalize to new nodes. Besides, they have high time complexity and hard to be scalable to large-scale networks. This paper proposes an inductive method, FastHGE to learn node representation more efficiently and generalize to new nodes more easily. As SpaceNE, a hierarchy network is embedded into a hierarchical subspace tree. For upper communities, we exploit transductive learning by preserving inner-subspace proximity of subspace from the same ancestor. For extending to new nodes, we adopt inductive learning to learn representations of leaf nodes. The overall representation of a node is retrieved by concatenating the embedding vectors of all its ancestor communities and the leaf node. By learning the basis vectors of subspace, the computing cost is alleviated from updating many parameters of projection matrices as in SpaceNE. The performance evaluation experiments show that FastHGE outperforms with much fast speed and the same accuracy. For example, in the node classification, FastHGE is nearly 30 times faster than SpaceNE. The source code of FastHGE is available online.
Warfarin pharmacogenes do not modify the risk association between warfarin use and cancer mortality among men with prostate cancer
Authors: Murtola Teemu J , Skantsi Kaisa M , Talala Kirsi , Taari Kimmo , Tammela Teuvo LJ , Schleutker Johanna , Auvinen Anssi , Sipeky Csilla
Published: December 2022

Although platelets and thrombosis play a role in cancer progression, anticoagulant drug warfarin has not been independently associated with prostate cancer (PCa) survival. SNPs altering warfarin metabolism may in theory affect the association. We investigated the risk associations by warfarin use stratified by the SNP-profile of CYP2C9 and VKORC1 enzymes known to affect warfarin metabolism. A total of 3,241 men participating in the FinRSPC and 1,436 men with PCa and treated at Tampere University Hospital were genotyped for CYP2C9 SNP rs1057910 and VKORC1 SNP rs9923231 known to affect warfarin metabolism. Cox regression method was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals for the risk of death overall, cancer death and PCa death after PCa diagnosis. Data on warfaring purchases was obtained from national registry. The SNPs did not modify the risk association between warfarin use and cancer death (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.77-1.35), PCa progression, clinical features of PCa or the risk of PCa death. Overall risk of death was non-statistically elevated among warfarin users compared to non-users independent of SNP carrier status. SNPs in CYP2C9 and VKORC1 do not modify the association between warfarin use and PCa risk or outcomes among men with PCa. However, use of warfarin is associated with higher overall risk of death independent of metabolic genotype. Our results confirm the previously demonstrated association between anticoagulant use and increased cancer mortality, and suggests the association is not directly caused by warfarin as it is not modified by warfarin metabolism.
Aurora-a inhibitor synergistically enhances the inhibitory effect of anlotinib on hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Wang Rui , Lin Xinrong , Pan Fan , Abudoureyimu Mubalake , Wang Ting , Hao Liping
Published: December 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant tumors worldwide. Except for all guidelines that have been approached in clinic, anlotinib and Aurora-A inhibitors also have been proved to be effective in HCC. However, Anlotinib which is a member of anti-angiogenesis therapy, has achieved great benefits in clinical trials, but its single-agent treatment limitations are also very obvious like drug resistance. Aurora-A inhibitors are in clinical trials but has limited benefit. Combination therapy is clearly superior to monotherapy under the situation. So we hope to explore whether the combination of the two drugs can enhance their strengths and avoid their weaknesses to obtain more clinical benefits. We confirmed that alisertib and anlotinib had an inhibitory effect on HCC cells in a time-dose relationship at first. In vitro, cytological experiments showed that the combination of the two drugs had a synergistic effect on inhibiting cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, and promoting cell apoptosis. We also uncovered the underlying molecular mechanism by which the combination of Aurora-A inhibitor alisertib and anlotinib inhibited HCC by inhibiting the activation of the NF-ĸB signaling pathway. In a word, we have demonstrated that anlotinib combined with Aurora-A inhibitor is effective, which also broadens the horizon for anlotinib before officially enter the clinical treatment of HCC in the future.
Risk assessment for highly pathogenic isolates of potato spindle tuber viroid in Dahlia
Authors: Tsushima Daiki , Fuji Shin-ichi
Published: December 2022

Dahlias naturally infected with potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) do not exhibit symptoms. Therefore, if highly pathogenic isolates infect dahlias, there is significant risk of PSTVd infecting other plants via dahlia. In this study, almost all highly pathogenic isolates can infect dahlia plants, but symptoms vary depending on the cultivar. When mixed inocula composed of dahlia isolates and highly pathogenic isolates were tested, the dahlia isolates dominantly infected dahlia plants; however, the highly pathogenic isolates also co-infected plants. In addition, our results indicate that seed or pollen transmission from infected dahlia plants does not occur.
Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control of Six-Phase Induction Motor
Authors: Gulbudak Ozan , Gokdag Mustafa , Akbaba Mehmet
Published: December 2022

Model predictive control (MPC) is a closed-loop technique to generate inputs to activate the process so that the outputs of the interest track a certain set point or reference signal. MPC performs this in a closed loop by updating the decision on the value of the input variables based on measurements from the system. MPC uses an explicit process model to predict what the system will do if a specific sequence of inputs is applied in the future. The MPC methods are popular in electrification and ac drive systems due to fast dynamic response. It offers great flexibility in handling multiple control goals and nonlinearities. This paper proposes a novel Finite Control Set MPC method that aims to keep control transitions to a minimum. In the proposed method, it is desired to achieve control targets by using minimum energy. The designed MPC controller meets all requirements for six-phase motor control. The proposed mathematical concept has been proven by experimental results. The experimental results have shown that the proposed method regulates system dynamics in a stable and effective way.
Deriving Optimal Operation Rule for Reservoir System Using Enhanced Optimization Algorithms
Authors: Almubaidin Mohammad Abdullah , Ahmed Ali Najah , Sidek Lariyah Mohd , AL-Assifeh Khlaif Abdul Hakim , El-Shafie Ahmed
Published: December 2022

Recently, there has been increased interest in using optimization techniques to find the optimal operation for reservoirs by applying them to various aspects of the reservoir operating system, such as finding the optimal rule curves for reservoirs. The use of different algorithms (artificial bee colony (ABC), particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), firefly algorithm (FA), invasive weed optimization (IWO), teaching learning-based optimization (TLBO), and harmony search (HS)) was investigated in this study by integrated every algorithm to a reservoir simulation model to search for the optimal rule curves for the Mujib reservoir in Jordan from the year 2004 to 2019. To evaluate the long-term impact of water shortages and excess releases on the Mujib reservoir's operation and the effect of water demand management when reducing it by 10%, 20%, and 30% in the reservoir. The findings showed that the algorithms effectively reduced cases of water shortage and excess release compared to the current operation. The best solutions using the TLBO algorithm reduced the frequency and average of the water shortage to 55.09 % and 56.26 %, respectively, and reduced the frequency and the average of the excess release to 63.16 % and 73.31 %, respectively. The findings highlight the impact of water demand management of the reservoir on the decrease in frequency and average of the water shortage, explaining the inability of the reservoir to supply water in some months and the possibility of exposure to a shortage of water for long periods.
Pressure-induced effects on physical and superconducting properties of ThIrGe: A DFT investigation
Authors: Islam M. N. , Podder J. , Anik M. , Ali M. S.
Published: December 2022

In present years, TiNiSi-type intermetallic materials have been searched extensively because of excellent electronic, mechanical, thermodynamic and superconducting natures. In this consideration, we investigate the spin dependence electronic, optical, mechanical, thermodynamic and superconducting properties of the newly synthesized TiNiSi-type ThIrGe. In this paper, hydrostatic pressure was applied from 0 to 15 GPa as changes in physical and superconducting natures were seen. As far as our knowledge, this is the first time we report the influence of pressure on physical and superconducting parameters with/without pressure ThIrGe compounds. Structural analysis shows that the unit cell constants, a, b, c and volume, V went down with developing hydrostatic pressure. The analyzed spin-dependent band structure and density of states (DOS) imply metallic properties for both stressed and unstressed ThIrGe compounds. The spin-dependent TDOS and PDOS indicate that the ThIrGe compound has strong hybridization between Th, Ir, and Ge atoms. As Vickers hardness value lies in soft material range, we predicated ThIrGe compound has a low covalent bond. The ThIrGe compounds have ductile nature ensured by Pugh’s ratio and Poisson’s ratio values. In addition, Debye temperature and melting temperature increase with driving hydrostatic pressure. The reflectance and absorption spectra reach higher energies with increasing applied pressure. Since θD tends to increase with driving pressure, TC may increase with driving pressure.
The Effects of Citalopram, Swimming, and Treadmill Exercises on Learning and Spatial Memory of Male Wistar Rats under Stress
Authors: Molamohammadi Akram , Shasaltaneh Marzieh Dehghan , Naghdi Nasser , Hemayattalab Rasool , Zandi Hassan Gharayagh
Published: December 2022

Purpose: Several factors such as stress disturb learning and memory, and interfere with normal human life. The present study aimed to compare the effects of citalopram, aerobic exercise with treadmill, and swimming on learning and memory among stressed rats.
Methods: The animals were exposed to different interventions such as immobility stress, running with gentle intensity, exercise in water, taking citalopram at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight for four weeks, and a combination of these interventions with stress or without intervention.
Results: The results showed that stress affects learning and memory based on the distance traveled to the platform. The exercises counteracted stress-induced functional impairment, and swimming had a positive effect on learning and memory in stressed rats. However, contrary to expectations, taking citalopram did not prevent stress-induced dysfunction. In stress-free conditions, the interactive effects of treadmill and swimming training between sports groups (swimming and treadmill), control group, and stress groups were not significant. None of these interventions affected the recall. However, they were effective only in the acquisition phase.
Conclusions: Exercising especially swimming, could be a substitute medication intervention since the effect of exercise with treadmill and that of water significantly differed by using citalopram while placing in stressful situations.
Biodiversity and molecular characterization of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from some soil invertebrates at high altitudes and the potential activities of Rhazya stricta extracts.
Authors: Hassan Mohamed M. , Albogami Bander , Mwabvu Tarombera , Awad Mohamed F. , Kadi Roqayah H. , Mohamed Alaa , Hassan Montaser
Published: December 2022

Background
Klebsiella is a common pathogen that is dangerous to humans and other animals, including invertebrates, and is widely present in the digestive system. It also appears that the genus Klebsiella is ubiquitous, as it is endemic to surface water, soil, and sewage.
Methods
In this study, 70 samples were obtained from soil-dwelling invertebrates from September 2021 to March 2022 from Taif and Shafa in different altitudinal regions. Fifteen of these samples contained Klebsiella spp. The Klebsiella isolates were genetically identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae using rDNA sequencing. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the Klebsiella isolates was determined. Amplification of virulence genes was performed using PCR.
Results
In this study, 16S rDNA sequencing showed similarity from 98–100% with related K. pneumonia from the NCBI database, and the sequences were deposited in NCBI GenBank under accession numbers ON077036 to ON077050. We then screened the growth inhibition properties of ethanolic and methanolic extracts of the medicinal plant Rhazya stricta leaves against some K. pneumoniae strains using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods and disc diffusion. In addition, the biofilm inhibitory potential of these extracts was investigated using crystal violet. HPLC analysis identified 19 components divided into six flavonoids, 11 phenolic acids, stilbene (resveratrol), and quinol, and revealed variations in the number of components and their quantities between extracts. Both extracts demonstrated interesting antibacterial properties against the K. pneumoniae isolates. The two extracts also showed strong biofilm inhibitory activities, with percentages of inhibition extending from 81.5–98.7% and from 35.1–85.8% for the ethanolic and methanolic extracts, respectively.
Conclusion
Rhazya stricta leaves extract revealed powerful antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against K. pneumoniae isolates and could be good candidates for the treatment or prevention of K. pneumonia-related infections.
Telomere dynamics in healthy expert meditators: a case control study
Authors: Dasanayaka Nirodhi Namika , Sirisena Nirmala Dushyanthi , Samaranayake Nilakshi
Published: December 2022

Practice of meditation has been suggested to improve telomere regulation. This case-control study compared the leucocyte telomere length (TL) and expression of hTERT and hTR genes, between thirty long-term, skilled meditators and thirty matched non-meditators. 63.34% of the participants were males and the average age of the meditators was 43.83±9.92 years. Meditators had practiced meditation over 6.8 years (±3.27) with 5.82 hours (±3.45) of average daily meditation. TL was found to decrease significantly with increasing age (r=-0.675, p<0.001) but was not associated with other biological variables. The long-term meditators had a significantly longer relative TL compared to the control group (p=0.020). Expression of hTERT (FC=1.3, p=0.020) and hTR (FC=1.4, p=0.029) genes showed significant up-regulation in long-term meditators compared to controls. Further, telomere length (r=0.838, p<0.001) and expression of hTR (r=0.378, p=0.039) and hTERT (r=0.622, p<0.001) genes showed a significant increase with the increasing duration of meditation practice. The regression analysis linking previous data from the same cohort indicated that the expression of hTERT gene significantly predicted the plasma telomerase level (p=0.034). The findings suggest that meditation as a lifestyle practice has multi-level beneficial effects on telomere dynamics with potential to promote healthy aging.
The Antibacterial property of ZnO Nanopowder with different concentration of Sodium Hydroxide prepared by hydrothermal method
Authors: Taha Ahmed B. , Murad Hind I. , Mohammed Mohammed A. , Jamal Raied K.
Published: December 2022

Zinc oxide Nanopowder was synthesized through a hydrothermal method in this study. The effect of three different NaOH concentrations on the properties of ZnO Nanopowder was studied. The hexagonal wurtzite structure of all ZnO Nanopowder is confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis, with average crystallite sizes in the range of (33.5–30.4) nm. It can be observed that the crystallite size become smaller with increasing NaOH concentration. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicates that ZnO has hexagonal shape uniform particle size distribution and their morphology was grain-like. Atomic force microscope shows that the ZnO Nanopowder average surface roughness decreased from (9.33–5.06) nm due to increasing NaOH concentration. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy peaks indicate successful preparation of ZnO Nanopowder. From the optical absorption spectra the band gap energy has been calculated. The NaOH concentrations have been found very effective on the energy gap value. So, its increased from (3.27 to 3.36) eV when the NaOH concentration is increased. ZnO Nanopowder shows high antibacterial activity against P.aeuruginosa and S. aureus bacteria. The ZnO Nanopowder shows has very high antibacterial activity on gram-positive (S. aureus) compared with antibacterial activity on the gram-negative (P.aeuruginosa) bacteria.
The prognostic significance of Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) and Pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) in patients with large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma
Authors: Menekse Serkan , Kut Engin
Published: December 2022

Large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNEC) are rare tumors of the lung. Due to their rarity, there is no standard follow-up and treatment. Inflammation and immune systems play an important role in the pathogenesis, development, and progression of lung and other cancers. Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) and Pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) are markers of inflammation and immune marker, and there is no study with LCNEC. Therefore, in our study to evaluate the relationship between these markers and LCNEC prognosis; We retrospectively analyzed 109 patients diagnosed with metastatic LCNEC in our center between 2009 and 2022 by calculating the LIPI and PIV values at the time of diagnosis. Median OS was 7.8 (95% Confidence interval (CI), 6.20-9.39) months. Respectively median OS times were 9.6 (95% CI, 7.28-11.91) months versus 4.5 (95% CI, 2.87-6.13) months in low and high LIPI scores. Median OS times were 10.25 months (95 CI, 9.12-11.32) compared to 3.95 months (95 CI, 2.5-6.36) in low and high PIV, respectively. In multivariate analysis ECOG performance score ( p=0.005), metastasis time (de novo vs recurrent) (p=0.008), platelet (p=0.04), albumin (p=0.026), lymphocyte count (p =0.037), LIPI (p =0.002) score and PIV (p =0.001) were related with survival time. In conclusion LIPI, PIV, ECOG performance score, de novo metastases, albumin levels, lymphocyte and platelet counts are associated with prognosis. These factors can be used in patient monitoring and treatment as simple and inexpensive biomarkers.
Complexation of metal ions by propyl gallate and procyanidins: A spectroscopic and quantum chemical calculation method
Authors: Zhang Liangliang , Guan Qinhao , Zhang He
Published: December 2022

The deprotonation mechanism for the phenolic hydroxyl and the complexing of metal ions with a commonly used food additive, propyl gallate (PG) were studied theoretically and experimentally. The interaction of procyanidins [PC, epicatechin16 (4→8) catechin], and its basic monomeric unit catechin (CA) with metal ions was studied by the fluorescence quenching spectra. The results showed that the 9-OH quinoid PG was formed at higher pH (10.9) by the oxidization of phenolic hydroxyl. The binding affinities (Ka) and stoichiometry of these metal ions with PG were determined. The Al3+ in PG-Al complex [Al(PG)(H2O)2Cl2]− was coordinated at the 8,9-OH doubly deprotonated catechol site with double chloride ions (Cl−) and double water molecules (H2O). The fluorescence quenching titration with Sn2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Al3+ and Fe3+ revealed that the stoichiometries of metal-bound PC were 1:1, 2:3, 2:3, 2:3 and 1:1, respectively. The presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) could enhance the complexing strength of PC with metal ions.
Network pharmacological analysis of corosolic acid inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression through P4HA2
Authors: Tang Feifeng , Liu Long , Tian Xiaoting , Li Ning , Peng Yingxiu , Qian Chunmei , Jia Tingting , Liu Jingjin , Gao Wenhui , Xu Yanfeng
Published: December 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer with very limited therapeutic options. Our previous study revealed that corosolic acid inhibited HCC proliferation and enhanced chemotherapy sensitivity. This study set out to identify the differentially expressed proteins of corosolic acid in the treatment of liver cancer cells, providing molecular targets for targeted therapy of liver cancer in the future. First, data on potential therapeutic targets regulated by corosolic acid were collected using proteomics. The enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) liver cancer dataset were analyzed by using the DESeq2 R package. Then,databases such as GEPIA2, Human Protein Atlas, and UALCAN were used to validate the differential expression of DEGs and the prognostic relevance to patients. Finally, experiments were carried out to verify the effect of corosolic acid on hepatocellular carcinoma cell phenotype and the modulation of the screened target proteins. This study will help to understand the molecular changes of HCC after corosolic acid treatment, which will help to find new targets and design effective chemotherapy regimens for future HCC treatment.
Genomics of breast cancer brain metastases: a meta-analysis and therapeutic implications
Authors: Nguyen Thuy Thi , Hamdan Diaddin , Angeli Eurydice , Le Quang Van , Pamoukdjian Frédéric , Bousquet Guilhem
Published: December 2022

Background
Breast cancer brain metastases are challenging daily pratice, and the biological link between gene mutations and metastatic spread to the brain remains to be determined. Here, we performed a meta-analysis on genomic data obtained from primary tumors, extracerebral metastases and brain metastases, to identify gene alterations associated with metastatic processes in the brain.
Methods
Articles with relevant findings were selected using Medline via PubMed, from January 1999 up to February 2022, and the algorithms were the following: ("Breast Neoplasms"[Mesh] AND "metast*" AND ("Genomics"[Mesh] OR "mutation*")), and "Breast" AND "brain" AND "metast*" AND ("Genom*" OR "mutation*" OR "sequenc*"). A critical review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis statement (PRISMA).
Results
Fifty-seven publications were selected for this meta-analysis, including 37,218 patients in all, 11,906 primary tumor samples, 5,541 extracerebral metastasis samples, and 1,485 brain metastasis samples. We report overall and sub-group prevalence of gene mutations, including comparisons between primary tumors, extracerebral metastases and brain metastases. In particular, we identified 6 genes with a higher mutation prevalence in brain metastases than in extracerebral metastases, with a potential role in metastatic processes in the brain: ESR1, ERBB2, EGFR, PTEN, BRCA2 and NOTCH1. We discuss here the therapeutic implications.
Conclusion
Our results underline the added value of obtaining biopsies from brain metastases to fully explore their biology, to develop personalized treatments.
Design of rice with low cadmium accumulation in grain based on single segment substitution line
Authors: Yuan Xue , Liang Ruiqing , Zhou Wenqi , Wang Gan , Liu Na , Gong Yongfu , Ma Shuaipeng , McCouch Susan R. , Chen Leyi , Huang Lilong , Liang Xiaoya , Ba Yuanyuan , Lu Qimiao , Lei Jingtong , Xiao Mengnan , Liang Jianchi , Zhang Guiquan , Wang Shaokui
Published: December 2022

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major source of dietary cadmium (Cd). Developing rice varieties with lower levels of Cd in the grain offers an economical and practical way to improve food safety, especially in areas with high Cd contamination. However, the genetic mechanism of Cd accumulation in rice grain is not fully understood. Here, we identified eight QTLs for Cd accumulation in rice grain based on substitution mapping using single segment substitution lines (SSSLs). The QTLs were located on 7 chromosomes, and named qCd-2-1, qCd-3-1, qCd-3-2, qCd-5-1, qCd-6-1, qCd-7-1, qCd-8-1 and qCd-11-1 accordingly. Two of them, qCd-5-1 and qCd-6-1 are reported here for the first time. The haplotypes of candidate genes associated with heavy metal metabolism, especially Cd accumulation, were analyzed in detail. All SSSLs harbouring alleles from donor parents significantly decreased Cd accumulation with additive effects ranging from − 0.061 to -0.105. Six pyramided lines were developed based on crossing and maker-assisted selection, and these six pyramided lines showed significantly decreased Cd content in grain compared with that of the elite, indica recurrent parent, HJX74, while most of agronomic characteristics of the pyramided lines were similar to HJX74. Taken together, this study demonstrates that identifying and pyramiding QTLs for lower Cd accumulation is an effective strategy for developing rice varieties with lower grain Cd accumulation.
AIBP promotes cell proliferation and migration through MAPK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Huang Tianxin , Ge Sijia , Huang Wei , Ma Tao , Sheng Yu , Chen Jing , Wu Shuzhen , Liu Zhaoxiu , Lu Cuihua
Published: December 2022

Background: Apolipoprotein A-I binding protein (AIBP) is the major apolipoprotein of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), which plays an important role in cholesterol metabolism and angiogenesis, as well as a variety of inflammation-related diseases, including cancer. However, the roles of AIBP in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.
Methods: The expression of AIBP and its relationship with clinical prognosis were analyzed based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Western blotting (Wb) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to analyze the expression of AIBP in human HCC tissues. CCK-8 and Colony-formation assays were used to evaluate the abilities of cell proliferation in vitro. Transwell and wound-healing assays were used to assess cell migration and invasion rate. The xenograft tumor model was used to explore the proliferation ability of HCC cells in nude mice.
Results: The expression levels of AIBP were significantly higher in HCC tissues than that in adjacent normal tissues. Patients with high AIBP expression showed poor prognosis. Overexpression of AIBP in SMMC-7721 cells could promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Conversely, knockdown of AIBP in HCC-LM3 cells significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. In addition, overexpression of AIBP could promote the proliferation ability of HCC cell in vivo. Finally, we found that AIBP could regulate the expression of MAPK signaling pathway related gene, such as ERK1/2, P-ERK1/2, MEK, P-MEK and c-Myc, and GDC-0994, a specific inhibitor of ERK1/2, could attenuated cell proliferation and migration abilities induced by overexpression of ABIP.
Conclusions: These results suggested that high expression of AIBP in HCC tissues may promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion through MAPK/ERK signaling pathway. AIBP was expected to be a potential marker for early diagnosis and prognosis of HCC.
Longitudinal Assessment of Left Ventricular Function in Patients with Myopericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination
Authors: Barresi Nicholas V. , McCollum Sarah , Faherty Erin , Steele Jeremy M. , Karnik Ruchika
Published: December 2022

Background
Multiple reports have described myopericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. However, data on the persistence of subclinical myocardial injury assessed by left ventricular (LV) longitudinal strain (LVLS) is limited.
Objectives
Our aim was to assess LV function longitudinally in our cohort of COVID-19 vaccine-related myopericarditis using ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), LVLS, and diastolic parameters.
Methods
Retrospective, single-center review of demographic, laboratory, and management data was performed on 20 patients meeting diagnostic criteria for myopericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Echocardiographic images were obtained on initial presentation (time 0), at a median of 12 days (7.5, 18.5; time 1), and at a median of 44 days (29.5, 83.5; time 2). FS was calculated by M-mode, EF by 5/6 area-length methods, LVLS by utilization of TOMTEC software, and diastolic function by tissue Doppler. All parameters were compared across pairs of these time points using Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Results
Our cohort consisted predominantly of adolescent males (85%) with mild presentation of myopericarditis. The median EF was 61.6% (54.6, 68.0), 63.8% (60.7, 68.3), 61.4% (60.1, 64.6) at times 0, 1, and 2, respectively. Upon initial presentation, 47% of our cohort had LVLS < -18%. The median LVLS was − 18.6% (-16.9, -21.0) at time 0, -21.2% at time 1 (-19.4, -23.5) (p = 0.004) and − 20.8% (-18.7, -21.7) at time 2 (p = 0.004, as compared to time 0).
Conclusions
Though many of our patients had abnormal strain during acute illness, LVLS improved longitudinally, indicating myocardial recovery. LVLS can be used as marker of subclinical myocardial injury and risk stratification in this population.
Antifungal activity of Co(II) and Cu(II) complexes containing 1,3-bis(benzotriazol-1-yl)-propan-2-ol on the growth, virulence traits of fluconazole-resistant Candida: Synthesis, DFT calculations and biological activity
Authors: Murcia-Galán Ricardo A. , Durán Sandra M. , Leal Sandra M. , Roa Martha V. , Vargas Jose D. , Herrera Laura V. , Muñoz-Castro Alvaro , MacLeod-Carey Desmond , Naranjo Tonny W. , Hurtado John J.
Published: December 2022

Relevant virulence traits in Candida are associated with the dimorphic change and biofilm formation, which became an important target to reduce the antifungal resistance. In this work, Co(II) complexes containing a benzotriazole derivative ligand showed a promising capacity of reduce these virulence traits. These complexes exhibited higher antifungal activities than the free ligands against all the Candida albicans and non-albicans strains tested, where compounds 2 and 4 showed minimum inhibitory concentration values between 15.62 and 125 µg mL− 1. Moreover, four complexes (2–5) of Co(II) and Cu(II) with benzotriazole ligand were synthesized. These compounds were obtained as air-stable solids and characterized by melting point, thermogravimetric analysis, infrared, Raman and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy. The analysis of the characterization data allowed to identify that all the complexes had 1:1 (M:L) stoichiometries. Additionally, Density Functional Theory calculations were carried out for 2 and 3 to propose a probable geometry of both compounds. The conformer Da of 2 was the most stable conformer according to the Energy Decomposition Analysis; while the conformers of 3 have a fluxional behavior in this analysis that didn’t allow to recognize the most probable conformer. These results provide an important platform for the design of new compounds with antifungal activities and capacity of attack other target of relevance to reduce the antimicrobial resistance.
NiTe Magnetic Semiconductor Nanorods for Optical Limiting and Hydrogen peroxide sensor
Authors: Manikandan M. , Manikandan E. , Alshgari Razan A. , Karami Abdulnasse Mahmoud , Ahmad Awais
Published: December 2022

The hydrothermal technique was used to make nickel telluride nanorods (NiTe NRs) utilising ascorbic acid and cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) as reducing agents. Temperature dependent magnetic study for NiTe NRs shows a ferromagnetism behavior. Under 532 nm laser excitation, the obtained materials had a better optical limiting property, with a two photon absorption coefficient of 6.6 ⋅ 10− 10 m/W and an optical limiting of 2.44 J/cm2 at 200 µJ. NiTe NRs modified electrode shows a excellent hydrogen peroxide electrocatalytic activity with reproducibility, repeatability and durability. It displays an outstanding sensitivity of 6.35 µAµM− 1 cm− 2 and a detection limit of 6 nM. In the presence of interfering species such as dopamine, uric acid, ascorbic acid, glucose, and folic acid, the electrode has a high level of selectivity. A real sample analysis for NiTe NRs sensor has been established in human serum and rat brain serum showed good recoveries.
A new composite technique to obtain non-traveling wave solutions of the (2+1)-dimensional extended variable coefficients Bogoyavlenskii-Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation
Authors: Zheng Xiaoxiao , Zhao Lingling , Xu Yuanqing
Published: December 2022

In this article, we investigate non-traveling wave solutions for the (2+1)-dimensional extended variable coefficients Bogoyavlenskii-Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation with time-dependent coefficients (VC-BKP). Inspired by Prof. Shang, we apply the extended three-wave method and the generalized variable separation method to the investigated problem for the first time in this article. The technique is effective, easily applicable, and reliable in solving non-traveling wave solutions. We successfully obtain forty-four exact non-traveling solutions, including double periodic solutions, kinky breather wave solution, periodic cross-kink solution and some new exact non-traveling solutions obtained firstly in this paper. These results all have a tail which gives a prediction of physical phenomenon. Moreover, we discuss the arbitrary coefficients of solutions in the real, purely imaginary and complex domains, which greatly enriches the forms of solutions. The dynamic phenomena of four types of exact solutions are demonstrated by contour, 2D and 3D graphics, which help to show their physical interpretation.
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 35C99, 35G20, 37K10, 68W30
The game of Hex, n-dimensional chessboard and Fixed Point Theorem
Authors: Turzański Marian , Ziajor Grzegorz
Published: December 2022

The main result of this paper is the algorithmic proof of n-dimensional Steinhaus’ chessboard theorem (as formulated in [12]). Our theorem implies Poincar´e Theorem [8] [7] which is equivalent to the Brouwer Fixed-Point Theorem