bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modulating the organic photovoltaic properties of non-fullerene acceptors by molecular modification based on Y6: a theoretical study
Authors: Zhang Cai-Rong , Yu Hai-Yuan , Zhang Mei-Ling , Liu Xiao-Meng , Chen Yu-Hong , Liu Zi-Jiang , Wu You-Zhi , Chen Hong-Shan
Published: August 2023

PM6:Y6, PM6:AQx-2, PM6:Y6-T, PM6:Y6-2T, PM6:Y6-O, PM6:Y6-1O and PM6:Y6-2O OSCs were studied in order to understand how to adjust photovoltaic performance by modifying the Y6's center backbone, π-spacer and side-chains.
A nutrient-wide association study for the risk of cardiovascular disease in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
Authors: Zhang Min-Jie , Zhang Min-Zhe , Yuan Shuai , Yang Hong-Guang , Lu Gao-Lei , Chen Rui , He Qi-Qiang
Published: August 2023

Evidence on the association between dietary nutrient-wide intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is inconclusive.
High efficiency production of ferulic acid using feruloyl esterase and xylanase in deep eutectic solvents
Authors: Jin Wenbin , Wang Kaipeng , Xu Xueyang , Xu Yiling , Li Fengwei , Ji Qingzhi , Chen Xiaodong , Yu Xiaohong
Published: August 2023

The mixed enzymatic system showed the best performance in the ChCl-Gly DES aqueous solution (a volume ratio of 1 : 2).
Uncovering the photoelectronic/catalytic property modulation and applications of 2D MoS2: from the perspective of constructing heterogeneous interfaces
Authors: Gao Yan , Wang Bin , Jiang Zhao , Wang Yuqi , Fang Tao
Published: August 2023

2D polyphase molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has become a popular material for energy conversion and interdisciplinary applications.
Asynchronous blockchain‐based federated learning for tokenized smart power contract of heterogeneous networked microgrid system
Authors: Sharma Desh Deepak
Published: August 2023

In a networked microgrid system (NMS), various heterogeneous microgrids are interconnected. A networked microgrid system facilitates a new kind of physical design that provides numerous advantages such as distributed economic optimization, reliability, resiliency, and focusing on distributed generations and customers. Designing the secure and privacy‐protected smart power contract between electricity suppliers and consumers, considered as agents, of different microgrids, is a challenging task in the networked‐ microgrid system. Each microgrid implements a heterogeneous or isomorphic blockchain based platform. The blockchain interoperability, inherently, presents in different blockchains implemented by various microgrids. This paper reviews the interoperability issues and smart contract designs in blockchain‐based systems and proposes new mechanisms to cater blockchain interoperability challenges to facilitate the design of secure and seamless smart contracts among different blockchains of microgrids. A network hub of heterogeneous blockchains of network microgrids has been proposed. A methodology has been developed to transfer tokens between interoperable blockchains. A distributed identity‐based microgrid (DIBM) scheme is incorporated to make the networked microgrid system secure and trustworthy. This paper suggests an effective consensus protocol for cross‐chain architecture that improves the tokenization system and smart power contract designs. Asynchronous blockchain based federated learning for peer‐to‐peer smart power exchange has been implemented in learning process of interoperable and heterogeneous blockchain based network hub of microgrid. For simulation purposes, MATLAB and python programming have been used with real‐time data of microgrids.
Minimizing the computation latency of FDMA‐based wireless powered edge computing network
Authors: Chen Xi , Jiang Guodong , Chi Kaikai , Zhang Shubin , Wei Xinchen , Chen Gang
Published: August 2023

The 0–1 mixed integer programming problem of binary offloading on wireless powered mobile edge computing (WP‐MEC) networks requires joint optimization of binary and continuous variables, which is computationally expensive for traditional techniques and difficult to solve within the channel coherence time under time‐varying condition. Using machine learning models to output variable values is also challenging. Hence, designing efficient and low‐complexity algorithms is crucial for optimal network performance. This paper focuses on the computation latency of the FDMA‐based WP‐MEC network and proposes a task‐offloading algorithm to minimize the total completion delay (TCD). The TCD minimization is modelled as a 0–1 MIP problem and is decomposed into a master problem of optimizing the offloading decision and the sub‐problem of optimizing other parameters under a given offloading decision. The sub‐problem is solved using optimization method, while the master problem is solved using a deep reinforcement learning algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve almost minimal TCD with low complexity.
Deep feature fusion‐based stacked denoising autoencoder for tag recommendation systems
Authors: Fei Zhengshun , Wang Jinglong , Liu Kangling , Attahi Eric , Huang Bingqiang
Published: August 2023

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, commercial robots have gradually entered our daily lives. In order to promote product dissemination, shopping guide robots are a new service options of commerce platforms that use tag recommendation systems to identify users' intentions. A large number of applications combine user historical tagging information with the multi‐round dialogue ability of shopping guide robots to help users efficiently search for and retrieve products of interest. Recently, tensor decomposition methods have become a common approach for modelling entity interaction relationships in tag recommendation systems. However, due to the sparsity of data, these methods only consider low‐order information of entities, making it difficult to capture the higher‐order collaborative signals among entities. Recommendation methods by autoencoders can effectively extract abstract feature representations while they only focus on the two‐dimensional relationship between users and items, ignoring the interaction relationship among users, items and tags in real complex recommendation scenarios. The authors focus on modelling the similarity relationship among entities and propose a method called deep feature fusion tag (DFFT) based on the deep feature fusion of stacked denoising autoencoders. This method can extract high‐order information with different embedding dimensions and fuse them in a unified framework. To extract robust feature representations, the authors inject random noise (mask‐out/drop‐out noise) into the tag information corresponding to users and items to generate corrupted input data, and then utilise autoencoders to encode the interaction relationship among entities. To further obtain the interaction relationship with different dimensions, different encoding layers are stacked and combined to produce a better expanded model which can reinforce each other. Finally, a decoding component is used to reconstruct the original input data. According to the experimental results on two common datasets, the proposed DFFT method outperforms other baselines in terms of the F1@N, NDCG@N and Recall@N evaluation metrics.
Multi‐round load control method considering the safe electricity consumption for industrial users based on situational awareness
Authors: Chen Zonghan , Xu Yonghai , Pan Mingming , Wang Tianze , Yuan Jindou , Chen Lin , Tao Shun
Published: August 2023

This paper proposes a situational awareness‐based method of load control for safe electricity consumption by industrial users to assess the risk of regulated load equipment within industrial users and to ensure their safe use of electricity. Firstly, in the situational perception stage, collecting key parameters such as controllable equipment within industrial users, and constructing a risk indicator system for industrial users in the process of load control from four perspectives: the degree of controllability of load equipment, the correlation and mutual influence of load equipment, the uncertainty of self‐provided power and economic losses; Then, in the situational understanding and presentation stage, a risk assessment method that integrates a self‐learning weight model and a cloud model is proposed to analyze the risk of industrial users under control; Finally, in the situational guidance stage, based on the assessment results of the risk situational of industrial users, industrial users' safe electricity consumption is controlled in multiple rounds to achieve the objective of maintaining safe and reliable operation of the power grid by accepting control at a low‐risk level. The simulation of the industrial users of steel mills is used to verify the rationality and effectiveness of the method proposed here.
Investigation of active cell balancing performance for series connected lithium‐ion cells in electric vehicle applications
Authors: Krishnamoorthy Umapathi , Satheesh Kumar Gobichettipalyam Shanmugam , Barua Sourav , Fayek Hady Habib
Published: August 2023

Lithium‐ion batteries have a very wide application range. They can power up small electronic devices such as smart watches to larger electric vehicles. Due to its varied range of applications, they come in different packaging and in such battery packs, even when individual cell voltage exceeds by a few milli‐volts above 4.2 V, it may result in thermal runaway and explode the cell. During discharge cycle, cell imbalances hinder the use of battery to its full capacity. This in turn decreases the battery lifetime. The individual battery cells should be equalized on a regular basis to keep the imbalances to a minimum and to have a good battery life. The process of balancing the individual cell charges by measuring the cell state of charge (SoC) and its voltage in a battery pack is known as cell balancing. This paper details an active cell balancing technique that uses a buck converter for balancing a series connected battery pack of lithium‐ion cells. A buck converter along with a pair of MOSFET switches for each cell, one turned on for charging the cell and the other one turned on while discharging the cell is used in this experiment. An algorithmic model suitable for reconfigurable battery systems that measures the individual cell voltages and is developed for balancing a pack of series connected Li‐ion battery cells. The developed model is simulated using MATLAB for verifying its performance. A state of charge of 25% is maintained across the cells and when SoC value drops below this even a difference of 0.02% is sensed by the algorithm to initiate balancing function. This balancing is found to take 275 ms to balance three 3.7 V batteries and thus the model is found to respond faster. The results show that this method can self‐adaptively attain satisfactory performance within a limited equalizing period.
A comparative analysis of deep neural network models in IoT‐based smart systems for energy prediction and theft detection
Authors: Sebastian Praveen Kallukalam , Deepa K , Neelima N. , Paul Rinika , Özer Tolga
Published: August 2023

Traditional analog and digital meters are being substantially replaced with technological advances and the Internet of Things (IoT) introduction. The smart meter is highly preferred for accessing real‐time consumption, tariff calculation, and remote system control. These smart meters also prevent the majority from bypassing theft. Despite its intelligence, it cannot be 100% secure. An error in the readings can be caused by hacking or damage to meter components making the utility companies suffer significant losses. Based on past and future energy consumption data predictions on the consumer side, various methods are used in the proposed work to identify theft or anomalies in smart meter readings. Forecast‐based detection proved to be the most effective and accurate method. The primary and secondary decision models, which employ a variety of statical analyses to identify system anomalies, serve as the foundation for the energy consumption that follows the forecasting. Past 24‐h data is needed for forecasting, which is passed through different statical calculations such as RMSE, simple moving average, and Absolute Percentage Error to conclude detecting the normal values. Long short‐term memory gives high accuracy of 97% for forecasting and detecting abnormalities.
Probability confidence correlation analysis for many‐objective optimal operation considering a set of conflict interests
Authors: Zheng J. H. , Guo Y. W. , Li Zhigang , Wu Q. H.
Published: August 2023

As the proportion of renewable energy penetrated in power systems further increases, the optimal operation faces a large obstacle to satisfying various conflict interests simultaneously. This paper first formulates a many‐objective optimal operation problem of the new power system considering a comprehensive set of economic, environmental, and reliable objectives. To figure out this problem efficiently, this paper proposes a probability confidence correlation analysis method (PCCA) utilizing a t‐distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (T‐SNE) standard to greatly preserve the distribution information and separability of the objectives. Consequently, the objectives can be aggregated and the objective dimension is reduced based on the important sorting and correlation of the objectives. Based on the outcome of the T‐SNE, the adopted optimal operation problem with low dimensional objectives is solved by a multiple producer group search optimizer (GSOMP) with less computation burden, to obtain the Pareto‐optimal solution set. Simulation studies are conducted on IEEE 30‐bus, 39‐bus and 57‐bus systems to investigate the performance of the proposed PCCA in terms of efficiency and accuracy, making comparisons of the existing many‐objective optimization algorithms.
An in vitro comparison of intra-operative isohemagglutinin and human leukocyte antigen removal techniques in pediatric heart transplantation
Authors: Hayes Emily A. , Walczak Ashley B , Goodhue Meyer Erin , Nicol Kathleen , Deitemyer Matthew , Duffy Vicky , Moore Padilla Michelle , Gajarski Robert J. , Nandi Deipanjan
Published: August 2023

Background: Highly sensitized pediatric patients awaiting heart transplantation experience longer wait times and thus higher waitlist mortality. Similarly, children less than 2 years of age have increased waitlist times and mortality when compared to their older peers. To improve the likelihood of successful transplantation in these patients, various strategies have been utilized, including peri-operative plasmapheresis. However, limited data exists comparing plasmapheresis techniques for antibody reduction. This study’s aim was to compare the in vitro magnitude of isohemagglutinin titers (IT) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibody removal and the time required between membrane-based plasmapheresis (MP) and centrifuge-based plasmapheresis (CP) incorporated into the extracorporeal (EC) circuit. Methods: Two MP (Prismaflex) and two CP (Spectra Optia, Terumo BCT) circuits were incorporated into four separate EC circuits primed with high titer, highly sensitized type O donor whole blood. Assays were performed to determine baseline IT and anti-HLA antibodies and then at 30-minute increments until completion of the run (two plasma volume exchanges) at two hours. Results: There was a decrease in anti-A and anti-B IgM and IgG titers with both MP and CP. Mean anti-A and anti-B titer reduction was by 4.625 titers (93.7% change) and 4.375 titers (93.8% change) using MP and CP, respectively. At 2 h of apheresis, CP reduced 62.5% of all ITs to ≤ 1:4, while MP reduced 50% of ITs to ≤ 1:4. Additionally, reduction of anti-HLA class II antibody to mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) <3000 was achieved with both MP and CP. At 2 h of apheresis, CP reduced MFI by 2–3.5 fold and MP reduced MFI by 1.7–2.5 fold. Both demonstrated similar hemolytic and thrombotic profiles. Conclusions: In this in vitro plasmapheresis model of IT and anti-HLA antibody reduction, both MP and CP incorporated into the EC circuit can be used quickly and effectively to reduce circulating antibodies. While CP may have some greater efficiency, further study is necessary to verify this in vivo.
Enhancing the tribological properties of pure Ti by pinless friction surface stirring
Authors: Ashoori M. , Jafarzadegan M. , Taghiabadi R. , Saghafi Yazdi M. , Ansarian I.
Published: August 2023

Friction surface stirring (FSS) was employed to enhance the tribological properties of commercially pure Ti (CP-Ti). Applying FSS under the optimised process parameters (i.e. rotation and traverse speeds of 100 rpm and 8 mm/min, respectively) was found to increase the surface hardness of as-received CP-Ti from about 200–630 HV. The sliding wear resistance was therefore increased by 76, 76, and 85% under applied loads of 5, 10, and 20 N, respectively. The average friction coefficient (AFC) of CP-Ti also reduced considerably by the FSS. For instance, the AFC was reduced from 0.67 ± 0.07 and 1.04 ± 0.14 to about 0.33 ± 0.03 and 0.45 ± 0.04 at the applied loads of 5 and 20 N, respectively. The wear and friction mechanisms were also discussed.
Bite-Sizing Digital Literature in theTwenty-First Century
Authors: Elliott Kamilla
Published: August 2023

The bite-sizing of fiction and poetry on twenty-first-century digital platforms constitutes a mode of adaptation that not only adapts literature to new technologies, economies, and modes of production and consumption but also adapts discourses of literary time and space and longstanding metaphors of literature as ‘food’. This article’s central argument is that digital literary bite-sizing, a combination of byte-sizing (digitizing) literature and bite-sizing literary portions for consumption simultaneously compresses and expands literary space and time and literary consumption. It is well documented that digitization, itself a technology of ‘byte-sizing’, has compressed literature into the tiny spaces of globally portable, hand-held devices, and reduced the time taken to access literature, paradoxically generating an exponential increase in the number of literary producers, products, and consumers. This essay considers how a concomitant bite-sizing of literary content on twenty-first-century digital platforms produces a further paradoxical compression and expansion of literary production and consumption. The adaptive dynamics are by no means homogenous, but amid a variety of producer reasons for bite-sizing literary portions, the sizes of portions nominated ‘bite-sized’, and consumer responses to them, the dynamic of compressed production to foster greater consumption remains, where ‘greater’ is not always a matter of quantity but in some cases a matter of quality. Although bite-sizing digital literary portions represent a literary adaptation not only to new technologies, platforms, and but also to digital bite-sizing more pervasively. Conversely, bite-sizing adapts to specifically literary practices and tropes that depart from discourses of bite-sizing other digital content.
VCFshiny: an R/Shiny application for interactively analyzing and visualizing genetic variants
Authors: Chen Tao , Tang Chengcheng , Zheng Wei , Qian Yanan , Chen Min , Zou Qingjian , Jin Yinge , Wang Kepin , Zhou Xiaoqing , Gou Shixue , Lai Liangxue
Published: August 2023

Next-generation sequencing generates variants that are typically documented in variant call format (VCF) files. However, comprehensively examining variant information from VCF files can pose a significant challenge for researchers lacking bioinformatics and programming expertise. To address this issue, we introduce VCFshiny, an R package that features a user-friendly web interface enabling interactive annotation, interpretation, and visualization of variant information stored in VCF files. VCFshiny offers two annotation methods, Annovar and VariantAnnotation, to add annotations such as genes or functional impact. Annotated VCF files are deemed acceptable inputs for the purpose of summarizing and visualizing variant information. This includes the total number of variants, overlaps across sample replicates, base alterations of single nucleotides, length distributions of insertions and deletions (indels), high-frequency mutated genes, variant distribution in the genome and of genome features, variants in cancer driver genes, and cancer mutational signatures. VCFshiny serves to enhance the intelligibility of VCF files by offering an interactive web interface for analysis and visualization.

Availability and implementation

The source code is available under an MIT open source license at https://github.com/123xiaochen/VCFshiny with documentation at https://123xiaochen.github.io/VCFshiny.
dRFEtools: dynamic recursive feature elimination for omics
Authors: Benjamin Kynon J M , Katipalli Tarun , Paquola Apuã C M
Published: August 2023

Motivation

Advances in technology have generated larger omics datasets with potential applications for machine learning. In many datasets, however, cost and limited sample availability result in an excessively higher number of features as compared to observations. Moreover, biological processes are associated with networks of core and peripheral genes, while traditional feature selection approaches capture only core genes.

Results

To overcome these limitations, we present dRFEtools that implements dynamic recursive feature elimination (RFE), reducing computational time with high accuracy compared to standard RFE, expanding dynamic RFE to regression algorithms, and outputting the subsets of features that hold predictive power with and without peripheral features. dRFEtools integrates with scikit-learn (the popular Python machine learning platform) and thus provides new opportunities for dynamic RFE in large-scale omics data while enhancing its interpretability.

Availability and implementation

dRFEtools is freely available on PyPI at https://pypi.org/project/drfetools/ or on GitHub https://github.com/LieberInstitute/dRFEtools, implemented in Python 3, and supported on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.
Phylogeography of Limia vittata (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae): geographical distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes is comparable to other Cuban poeciliids
Authors: Rodríguez-Machado Sheila , Ponce de León José L , Germon Isabelle , Casane Didier , García-Machado Erik
Published: August 2023

The genus Limia is endemic to the Greater Antilles with a single species in Cuba, Limia vittata, widespread in lowland ecosystems. The limited data available regarding its population structure suggest that its levels of intraspecific divergence are lower compared to other Cuban poeciliids. Furthermore, little is known about the dispersal pathways and demographic changes experienced by present-day populations. By analysing two mitochondrial markers and testing scenarios of dispersal and vicariance, we provide insights into the evolutionary history of L. vittata. Here, we show that this species is formed by three genetically differentiated and geographically delimited groups of populations. We also found moderate intraspecific divergence and a mtDNA pattern of high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity which is consistent with a rapid demographic expansion. Our Bayesian analysis recovered dispersal from eastern to western Cuba as the most likely scenario explaining the current distribution of this species. Limia vittata exhibited a distinct regional distribution of haplogroups that corresponds to major core landmasses within Cuba, along with a signature of rapid population expansion during relatively recent palaeoclimatic changes that occurred during the formation of the archipelago. Similar phylogeographic patterns have been identified in other freshwater and terrestrial taxa on the island.
Reversal of neurological deficits by painless nerve growth factor in a mouse model of Rett syndrome
Authors: Tiberi Alexia , Borgonovo Giulia , Testa Giovanna , Pacifico Paola , Jacob Ajesh , Di Caprio Mariachiara , Totaro Valentino , Calvello Mariantonietta , Cattaneo Antonino , Capsoni Simona
Published: August 2023

Rett syndrome is a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disease, affecting 1 in over 10 000 females born worldwide, caused by de novo mutations in the X-chromosome-located methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) gene. Despite the great effort put forth by the scientific community, a therapy for this devastating disease is still needed. Here, we tested the therapeutic effects of a painless mutein of the nerve growth factor (NGF), called human NGF painless (hNGFp), via a non-invasive intranasal delivery in female MeCP2+/− mice. Of note, previous work had demonstrated a broad biodistribution of hNGFp in the mouse brain by the nasal delivery route.

We report that (i) the long-term lifelong treatment of MeCP2+/− mice with hNGFp, starting at 2 months of age, increased the chance of survival while also greatly improving behavioural parameters. Furthermore, when we assessed the phenotypic changes brought forth by (ii) a short-term 1-month-long hNGFp-treatment, starting at 3 months of age (right after the initial presentation of symptoms), we observed the rescue of a well known neuronal target population of NGF, cholinergic neurons in the medial septum. Moreover, we reveal a deficit in microglial morphology in MeCP2+/− mice, completely reversed in treated animals. This effect on microglia is in line with reports showing microglia to be a TrkA-dependent non-neuronal target cell population of NGF in the brain.

To understand the immunomodulatory activity of hNGFp, we analysed the cytokine profile after hNGFp treatment in MeCP2+/− mice, to discover that the treatment recovered the altered expression of key neuroimmune-communication molecules, such as fractalkine.

The overall conclusion is that hNGFp delivered intranasally can ameliorate symptoms in the MeCP2+/− model of Rett syndrome, by exerting strong neuroprotection with a dual mechanism of action: directly on target neurons and indirectly via microglia.
ALCAM on human oligodendrocytes mediates CD4 T cell adhesion
Authors: Jamann Hélène , Desu Haritha L , Cui Qiao-Ling , Halaweh Alexandre , Tastet Olivier , Klement Wendy , Zandee Stephanie , Pernin Florian , Mamane Victoria H , Ouédraogo Oumarou , Daigneault Audrey , Sidibé Hadjara , Millette Florence , Peelen Evelyn , Dhaeze Tessa , Hoornaert Chloé , Rébillard Rose-Marie , Thai Karine , Grasmuck Camille , Vande Velde Christine , Prat Alexandre , Arbour Nathalie , Stratton Jo Anne , Antel Jack , Larochelle Catherine
Published: August 2023

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neuroinflammatory disorder characterized by demyelination, oligodendrocyte damage/loss and neuroaxonal injury in the context of immune cell infiltration in the CNS. No neuroprotective therapy is available to promote the survival of oligodendrocytes and protect their myelin processes in immune-mediated demyelinating diseases. Pro-inflammatory CD4 Th17 cells can interact with oligodendrocytes in multiple sclerosis and its animal model, causing injury to myelinating processes and cell death through direct contact. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the close contact and subsequent detrimental interaction of Th17 cells with oligodendrocytes remain unclear.

In this study we used single cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence studies on CNS tissue from multiple sclerosis subjects, its animal model and controls to characterize the expression of cell adhesion molecules by mature oligodendrocytes. We found that a significant proportion of human and murine mature oligodendrocytes express melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) and activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) in multiple sclerosis, in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and in controls, although their regulation differs between human and mouse. We observed that exposure to pro-inflammatory cytokines or to human activated T cells are associated with a marked downregulation of the expression of MCAM but not of ALCAM at the surface of human primary oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, we used in vitro live imaging, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry to determine the contribution of these molecules to Th17-polarized cell adhesion and cytotoxicity towards human oligodendrocytes. Silencing and blocking ALCAM but not MCAM limited prolonged interactions between human primary oligodendrocytes and Th17-polarized cells, resulting in decreased adhesion of Th17-polarized cells to oligodendrocytes and conferring significant protection of oligodendrocytic processes.

In conclusion, we showed that human oligodendrocytes express MCAM and ALCAM, which are differently modulated by inflammation and T cell contact. We found that ALCAM is a ligand for Th17-polarized cells, contributing to their capacity to adhere and induce damage to human oligodendrocytes, and therefore could represent a relevant target for neuroprotection in multiple sclerosis.
Rapid Identification of Alkaloids and Flavonoids in Fissistigma oldhamii var. longistipitatum by Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Liu Huizhen , Chen Jiaqian , Yuan Cheng Jun , He Junwei , Chen Heying , Jin Chen , Guo Qiang , Huang Huilian
Published: August 2023

The herb Fissistigma oldhamii var. longistipitatum has been used for a long time in Asian folk medicine in the treatment of several diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Researchers in China and elsewhere have analyzed and characterized its chemical content. In this study, a UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS method, run in both positive and negative modes, was used to identify the main chemical compounds in dichloromethane extracts of this F. oldhamii variant. A total of 64 compounds, including 44 alkaloids and 20 flavonoids, were rapidly identified or tentatively characterized by comparing the molecular ion peaks and MS2 mass spectrometry fragment ions, combined with the mass spectrometry information of reference substances, appropriate fragmentation ions and related literatures. For the first time, the developed UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis method allows for the determination of 64 compounds from extracts of the F. oldhamii variant. The method presented here produced results that will be useful in further studies of this herb.
Clinical Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Critical Outcomes Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19—VISION Network, 10 States, June 2021–March 2023
Authors: Griggs Eric P , Mitchell Patrick K , Lazariu Victoria , Gaglani Manjusha , McEvoy Charlene , Klein Nicola P , Valvi Nimish R , Irving Stephanie A , Kojima Noah , Stenehjem Edward , Crane Bradley , Rao Suchitra , Grannis Shaun J , Embi Peter J , Kharbanda Anupam B , Ong Toan C , Natarajan Karthik , Dascomb Kristin , Naleway Allison L , Bassett Elizabeth , DeSilva Malini B , Dickerson Monica , Konatham Deepika , Fireman Bruce , Allen Katie S , Barron Michelle A , Beaton Maura , Arndorfer Julie , Vazquez-Benitez Gabriela , Garg Shikha , Murthy Kempapura , Goddard Kristin , Dixon Brian E , Han Jungmi , Grisel Nancy , Raiyani Chandni , Lewis Ned , Fadel William F , Stockwell Melissa S , Mamawala Mufaddal , Hansen John , Zerbo Ousseny , Patel Palak , Link-Gelles Ruth , Adams Katherine , Tenforde Mark W
Published: August 2023

Background

The epidemiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to develop with emerging variants, expanding population-level immunity, and advances in clinical care. We describe changes in the clinical epidemiology of COVID-19 hospitalizations and risk factors for critical outcomes over time.

Methods

We included adults aged ≥18 years from 10 states hospitalized with COVID-19 June 2021–March 2023. We evaluated changes in demographics, clinical characteristics, and critical outcomes (intensive care unit admission and/or death) and evaluated critical outcomes risk factors (risk ratios [RRs]), stratified by COVID-19 vaccination status.

Results

A total of 60 488 COVID-19–associated hospitalizations were included in the analysis. Among those hospitalized, median age increased from 60 to 75 years, proportion vaccinated increased from 18.2% to 70.1%, and critical outcomes declined from 24.8% to 19.4% (all P < .001) between the Delta (June–December, 2021) and post-BA.4/BA.5 (September 2022–March 2023) periods. Hospitalization events with critical outcomes had a higher proportion of ≥4 categories of medical condition categories assessed (32.8%) compared to all hospitalizations (23.0%). Critical outcome risk factors were similar for unvaccinated and vaccinated populations; presence of ≥4 medical condition categories was most strongly associated with risk of critical outcomes regardless of vaccine status (unvaccinated: adjusted RR, 2.27 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 2.14–2.41]; vaccinated: adjusted RR, 1.73 [95% CI, 1.56–1.92]) across periods.

Conclusions

The proportion of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 who experienced critical outcomes decreased with time, and median patient age increased with time. Multimorbidity was most strongly associated with critical outcomes.
Chronic Hepatitis B Finite Treatment: Similar and Different Concerns With New Drug Classes
Authors: Peters Marion G , Yuen Man-Fung , Terrault Norah , Fry John , Lampertico Pietro , Gane Ed , Hwang Carey , Stamm Luisa M , Leus Mitchell , Maini Mala K , Mendez Patricia , Lonjon-Domanec Isabelle , Berg Thomas , Wang Su , Mishra Poonam , Donaldson Eric , Buchholz Stephanie , Miller Veronica , Lenz Oliver
Published: August 2023

Chronic hepatitis B, a major cause of liver disease and cancer, affects >250 million people worldwide. Currently there is no cure, only suppressive therapies. Efforts to develop finite curative hepatitis B virus (HBV) therapies are underway, consisting of combinations of multiple novel agents with or without nucleos(t)ide reverse-transcriptase inhibitors. The HBV Forum convened a webinar in July 2021, along with subsequent working group discussions to address how and when to stop finite therapy for demonstration of sustained off-treatment efficacy and safety responses. Participants included leading experts in academia, clinical practice, pharmaceutical companies, patient representatives, and regulatory agencies. This Viewpoints article outlines areas of consensus within our multistakeholder group for stopping finite therapies in chronic hepatitis B investigational studies, including trial design, patient selection, outcomes, biomarkers, predefined stopping criteria, predefined retreatment criteria, duration of investigational therapies, and follow-up after stopping therapy. Future research of unmet needs are discussed.
Trunk muscle quality and quantity are associated with renal volume in nondiabetic people
Authors: Tanaka Muhei , Okada Hiroshi , Hashimoto Yoshitaka , Kumagai Muneaki , Yamaoka Miyoko , Nishimura Hiromi , Fukui Michiaki
Published: August 2023

Background

Renal disease is a major problem in terms of community health and the economy. Skeletal muscle is involved in crosstalk with the kidney. We therefore investigated the relationship between muscle quality and quantity, and renal parenchymal volume (RPV).

Methods

The association between the parameters of skeletal muscle and RPV/body surface area (BSA) was analyzed by computed tomography in 728 middle-aged participants without kidney disease or diabetes mellitus in a cross-sectional study. A retrospective cohort study of 68 participants was undertaken to analyze the association between changes in RPV/BSA and muscle parameters. Parameter change was calculated as follows: parameter at the follow-up examination/parameter at the baseline examination. The normal attenuation muscle (NAM) and low attenuation muscle (LAM) were identified by Hounsfield Unit thresholds of +30 to +150, and –29 to +29, respectively.

Results

Positive correlations were found between estimated glomerular filtration rate and RPV/BSA (r = 0.451, P < .0001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that the NAM index was positively related to RPV/BSA (β = 0.458, P < .0001), whereas the LAM index was negatively related to RPV/BSA (β = –0.237, P < .0001). In this cohort study, a change in the LAM index was independently associated with a change in RPV/BSA (β = –0.349, P = .0032).

Conclusion

Both trunk muscle quantity and quality were associated with renal volume related to renal function in nondiabetic people. An increase in low quality muscle volume might be related to a decrease in renal volume.
Incidence and prognosis of acute kidney injury versus acute kidney disease among 71 041 inpatients
Authors: Xu Lingyu , Li Chenyu , Li Na , Zhao Long , Zhu Zhihui , Zhang Xiaosu , Wang Jing , Zhao Jun , Huang Junyan , Zheng Zhihua , Anders Hans-Joachim , Xu Yan
Published: August 2023

Background

Acute kidney disease (AKD) defines patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) or subacute loss of kidney function lasting for >7 days. Little is known about the prognosis of AKD in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors and prognosis of AKD and to compare different types of acute/subacute renal impairment among Chinese inpatients.

Methods

Complete data were available for 71 041 patients for a range of 5–63 months. AKI and AKD were diagnosed based on the Acute Disease Quality Initiative criteria of 2017.

Results

Of 71 041 inpatients, 16 098 (22.7%) patients developed AKI or AKD; 5895 (8.3%) AKI patients recovered within 7 days, 5623 (7.9%) AKI patients developed AKD and 4580 (6.4%) patients developed AKD without AKI. Mortality was proportional to stages of AKI and AKD (P < .05), while AKI followed by AKD was associated with a higher risk of long-term mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 4.51] as compared with AKD without AKI (HR 2.25) and recovery from AKI (HR 1.18). The AKD criteria were robustly associated with overall survival [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) 0.71] and de novo CKD (AUROC 0.71), while the AKI criteria showed a relatively lower ability to fit the risk of overall survival (AUROC 0.65) and CKD (AUROC 0.63).

Conclusions

AKD and AKD stages are useful clinical definitions for clinical practice, as they predict unfortunate clinical outcomes such as overall long-term mortality and CKD. Research activities should focus on AKD.
Stroke risk management in carotid atherosclerotic disease: a clinical consensus statement of the ESC Council on Stroke and the ESC Working Group on Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases
Authors: Musialek Piotr , Bonati Leo H , Bulbulia Richard , Halliday Alison , Bock Birgit , Capoccia Laura , Eckstein Hans-Henning , Grunwald Iris Q , Lip Peck Lin , Monteiro Andre , Paraskevas Kosmas I , Podlasek Anna , Rantner Barbara , Rosenfield Kenneth , Siddiqui Adnan H , Sillesen Henrik , Van Herzeele Isabelle , Guzik Tomasz J , Mazzolai Lucia , Aboyans Victor , Lip Gregory Y H
Published: August 2023

Carotid atherosclerotic disease continues to be an important cause of stroke, often disabling or fatal. Such strokes could be largely prevented through optimal medical therapy and carotid revascularization. Advancements in discovery research and imaging along with evidence from recent pharmacology and interventional clinical trials and registries and the progress in acute stroke management have markedly expanded the knowledge base for clinical decisions in carotid stenosis. Nevertheless, there is variability in carotid-related stroke prevention and management strategies across medical specialities. Optimal patient care can be achieved by (i) establishing a unified knowledge foundation and (ii) fostering multi-specialty collaborative guidelines. The emergent Neuro-Vascular Team concept, mirroring the multi-disciplinary Heart Team, embraces diverse specializations, tailors personalized, stratified medicine approaches to individual patient needs, and integrates innovative imaging and risk-assessment biomarkers. Proposed approach integrates collaboration of multiple specialists central to carotid artery stenosis management such as neurology, stroke medicine, cardiology, angiology, ophthalmology, vascular surgery, endovascular interventions, neuroradiology, and neurosurgery. Moreover, patient education regarding current treatment options, their risks and advantages, is pivotal, promoting patient’s active role in clinical care decisions. This enables optimization of interventions ranging from lifestyle modification, carotid revascularization by stenting or endarterectomy, as well as pharmacological management including statins, novel lipid-lowering and antithrombotic strategies, and targeting inflammation and vascular dysfunction. This consensus document provides a harmonized multi-specialty approach to multi-morbidity prevention in carotid stenosis patients, based on comprehensive knowledge review, pinpointing research gaps in an evidence-based medicine approach. It aims to be a foundational tool for inter-disciplinary collaboration and prioritized patient-centric decision-making.
Males at the Tails: How Socioeconomic Status Shapes the Gender Gap
Authors: Autor David , Figlio David , Karbownik Krzysztof , Roth Jeffrey , Wasserman Melanie
Published: August 2023

We document that the female advantage in childhood behavioural and academic outcomes is driven by gender gaps at the extremes of the outcome distribution. Using unconditional quantile regression, we show that family socioeconomic status particularly influences boys’ relative to girls’ outcomes at the lower tails of the outcome distribution, precisely where gender gaps are most pronounced. These relationships are not explained by school or neighbourhood factors, or parents’ differential treatment of boys. The disproportionate effect of socioeconomic status on boys at the tails substantially contributes to the gender gap in high school dropout.
2022 Joint ESC/EACTS review of the 2018 guideline recommendations on the revascularization of left main coronary artery disease in patients at low surgical risk and anatomy suitable for PCI or CABG
Authors: Byrne Robert A , Fremes Stephen , Capodanno Davide , Czerny Martin , Doenst Torsten , Emberson Jonathan R , Falk Volkmar , Gaudino Mario , McMurray John J V , Mehran Roxana , Milojevic Milan , Uva Miguel Sousa
Published: August 2023

Task Force structure and summary of clinical evidence of 2022 ESC/EACTS review of the 2018 guideline recommendations on the revascularization of left main coronary artery disease. CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; LM, left main; SYNTAX, Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery. a‘Event’ refers to the composite of death, myocardial infarction (according to Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction if available, otherwise protocol defined) or stroke.

In October 2021, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) jointly agreed to establish a Task Force (TF) to review recommendations of the 2018 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on myocardial revascularization as they apply to patients with left main (LM) disease with low-to-intermediate SYNTAX score (0-32). This followed the withdrawal of support by the EACTS in 2019 for the recommendations about the management of LM disease of the previous guideline. The TF was asked to review all new relevant data since the 2018 guidelines including updated aggregated data from the four randomized trials comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents vs. coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with LM disease. This document represents a summary of the work of the TF; suggested updated recommendations for the choice of revascularization modality in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization for LM disease are included. In stable patients with an indication for revascularization for LM disease, with coronary anatomy suitable for both procedures and a low predicted surgical mortality, the TF concludes that both treatment options are clinically reasonable based on patient preference, available expertise, and local operator volumes. The suggested recommendations for revascularization with CABG are Class I, Level of Evidence A. The recommendations for PCI are Class IIa, Level of Evidence A. The TF recognized several important gaps in knowledge related to revascularization in patients with LM disease and recognizes that aggregated data from the four randomized trials were still only large enough to exclude large differences in mortality.
Economic burden of cardiovascular diseases in the European Union: a population-based cost study
Authors: Luengo-Fernandez Ramon , Walli-Attaei Marjan , Gray Alastair , Torbica Aleksandra , Maggioni Aldo P , Huculeci Radu , Bairami Firoozeh , Aboyans Victor , Timmis Adam D , Vardas Panos , Leal Jose
Published: August 2023

Background and Aims

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) impacts significantly health and social care systems as well as society through premature mortality and disability, with patients requiring care from relatives. Previous pan-European estimates of the economic burden of CVD are now outdated. This study aims to provide novel, up-to-date evidence on the economic burden across the 27 European Union (EU) countries in 2021.

Methods

Aggregate country-specific resource use data on morbidity, mortality, and health, social and informal care were obtained from international sources, such as the Statistical Office of the European Communities, enhanced by data from the European Society of Cardiology Atlas programme and patient-level data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Country-specific unit costs were used, with cost estimates reported on a per capita basis, after adjustment for price differentials.

Results

CVD is estimated to cost the EU €282 billion annually, with health and long-term care accounting for €155 billion (55%), equalling 11% of EU-health expenditure. Productivity losses accounted for 17% (€48 billion), whereas informal care costs were €79 billion (28%). CVD represented a cost of €630 per person, ranging from €381 in Cyprus to €903 in Germany. Coronary heart disease accounted for 27% (€77 billion) and cerebrovascular diseases for 27% (€76 billion) of CVD costs.

Conclusions

This study provides contemporary estimates of the wide-ranging impact of CVD on all aspects of the economy. The data help inform evidence-based policies to reduce the impact of CVD, promoting care access and better health outcomes and economic sustainability.
Towards an understanding of the factors controlling bacterial diversity and activity in semi-passive Fe- and As-oxidizing bioreactors treating arsenic-rich acid mine drainage
Authors: Diaz-Vanegas Camila , Héry Marina , Desoeuvre Angélique , Bruneel Odile , Joulian Catherine , Jacob Jérôme , Battaglia-Brunet Fabienne , Casiot Corinne
Published: August 2023

Semi-passive bioreactors based on iron and arsenic oxidation and coprecipitation are promising for the treatment of As-rich acid mine drainages. However, their performance in the field remains variable and unpredictable. Two bioreactors filled with distinct biomass carriers (plastic or a mix of wood and pozzolana) were monitored during 1 year. We characterized the dynamic of the bacterial communities in these bioreactors, and explored the influence of environmental and operational drivers on their diversity and activity. Bacterial diversity was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. The aioA genes and transcripts were quantified by qPCR and RT-qPCR. Bacterial communities were dominated by several iron-oxidizing genera. Shifts in the communities were attributed to operational and physiochemical parameters including the nature of the biomass carrier, the water pH, temperature, arsenic, and iron concentrations. The bioreactor filled with wood and pozzolana showed a better resilience to disturbances, related to a higher bacterial alpha diversity. We evidenced for the first time aioA expression in a treatment system, associated with the presence of active Thiomonas spp. This confirmed the contribution of biological arsenite oxidation to arsenic removal. The resilience and the functional redundancy of the communities developed in the bioreactors conferred robustness and stability to the treatment systems.