bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quizartinib and High-dose Ara-C plus Mitoxantrone in Relapsed/Refractory AML with FLT3-ITD
Authors: Jaramillo Sonia , Cornet Lucian Le , Kratzmann Markus , Krisam Johannes , Görner Martin , Hänel Mathias , Röllig Christoph , Wass Maxi , Scholl Sebastian , Ringhoffer Mark , Reichart Alexander , Steffen Björn , Kayser Sabine , Mikesch Jan-Henrik , Schaefer-Eckart Kerstin , Schubert Jörg , Geer Thomas , Martin Sonja , Kieser Meinhard , Sauer Tim , Kriegsmann Katharina , Hundemer Michael , Serve Hubert , Bornhäuser Martin , Müller-Tidow Carsten , Schlenk Richard F.
Published: June 2022

Background: About 50% of older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) fail to attain complete remission (CR) following cytarabine plus anthracycline-based induction therapy. Salvage chemotherapy regimens are based on high dose cytarabine (HiDAC), which is frequently combined with mitoxantrone (HAM regimen). However, CR rates remain low, with less than one-third of the patients achieving a CR. FLT3 -ITD has consistently been identified as an unfavorable molecular marker in both relapsed and refractory (r/r)-AML. One-quarter of patients who received midostaurin are refractory to induction therapy and relapse rate at two years exceeds 40%. The oral second-generation bis-aryl urea tyrosine kinase inhibitor quizartinib, is a very selective FLT3 inhibitor, has a high capacity for sustained FLT3 inhibition, and an acceptable toxicity profile. Methods: In this multicenter, upfront randomized phase II trial, all patients receive quizartinib combined with HAM (cytarabine 3g/m² bidaily day one to day three, mitoxantrone 10mg/m² days two and three) during salvage therapy. Efficacy is assessed by comparison to historical controls based on the matched threshold crossing approach with achievement of CR or complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi) as primary endpoints. During consolidation therapy (chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation), patients receive either prophylactic quizartinib therapy or measurable residual disease (MRD)-triggered preemptive continuation therapy with quizartinib according to up-front randomization. Addressing the primary endpoint, CR/ CRi, after salvage therapy, the sample size required is of maximum 80 patients, assuming a logistic regression is performed at a one-sided significance level α=0.05, the aspired power is 0.8, and the number of matching partners per intervention patient is at least 1. After enrolling 30 patients, the trial sample size will be recalculated in an interim analysis based on a conditional power argument.Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval and approvals from the local and federal competent authorities were granted. Trial results will be reported via peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences and scientific meetings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03989713; EudraCT Number: 2018-002675-17. KEYWORDS (LIMIT: 3-10): Quizartinib, relapse, refractory, acute myeloid leukemia, measurable residual disease. matched threshold crossing approach
Characteristics and place of death in home care recipients in Germany - an analysis of nationwide health insurance claims data
Authors: Schnakenberg Rieke , Fassmer Alexander Maximilian , Allers Katharina , Hoffmann Falk
Published: June 2022

Background: Most care-dependent people live at home, where they also would prefer to die. Unfortunately, this wish is often not fulfilled. This study aims to investigate place of death of home care recipients, taking characteristics and changes in care settings into account.Methods: We retrospectively analysed a cohort of all home-care receiving people of a German statutory health insurance who were at least 65 years and who deceased between January 2016 and June 2019. Next to the care need, duration of care, age, sex, and disease, care setting at death and place of death were considered. We examined the characteristics by place of care, the proportion of dying in hospital by care setting and characterised the deceased cohort stratified by their actual place of death.Results: Of 46,207 care-dependent people initially receiving home care, 57.5% died within 3.5 years (n=26,590; mean age: 86.8; 66.6% female). More than half of those moved to another care setting before death with long-term nursing home care (32.3%) and short-term nursing home care (11.7%) being the most frequent transitions, while 48.1% were still cared for at home. Overall, 36.9% died in hospital and in-hospital deaths were found most often in those still receiving home care (44.7%) as well as care in semi-residential arrangements (43.9%) at the time of death. People who died in hospital were younger (mean age: 85.5 years) and with lower care dependency (low care need: 28.2%) as in all other analysed care settings.Conclusion: In Germany, changes in care settings before death occur often. The proportion of in-hospital death is particularly high in the home setting and in semi-residential arrangements. These settings should be considered in interventions aiming to decrease the number of unwished care transitions and hospitalisations at the end of life.
The Impact of a Cancer Diagnosis on Sexual Quality of Life: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Haber Lauren , Allen Andrew , Rune Karina
Published: June 2022

Sexual quality of life (SQoL) challenges are prevalent and persistent for people with a cancer diagnosis. Using a qualitative design, this study investigated the impact of a cancer diagnosis on SQoL. Participants (N = 18) with a current or past cancer diagnosis of various sites and severity. Thematic analysis identified three themes: gender attachment, vulnerability, and growth vs. fixed mindset. The theme of gender attachment is related to the impact of understanding SQoL based on heteronormative definitions of masculinity and femininity. The second theme of vulnerability suggested that pre-existing relational or personal challenges can amplify the impact of a cancer diagnosis on SQoL. The third theme of growth vs. fixed mindset explored how cognitive flexibility and optimism can support SQoL, while a rigid and pessimistic mindset can exacerbate SQoL challenges. The findings of this study build on the traditional medical understanding of SQoL and can inform SQoL support in cancer care settings.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Treatment for Mental Health Needs: A Perspective on Service Use Patterns and Expenditures from Commercial Medical Claims Data
Authors: Li Ta-Hsin , Kamin Leah , George Judy , Saiz Fernando Suarez , Meyer Pablo
Published: June 2022

Objective: To examine changes in use patterns, cost of healthcare services before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and their impacts on expenditures for patients receiving treatment for depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance use. Methods: This cross-sectional study employed statistical tests to analyze claims in Marketscan® Commercial Database in March 2020-February 2021 and quarterly from March 2020 to August 2021, compared to respective pre-pandemic periods. Results: Comparing year-over-year changes before and after the pandemic outbreak, proportion of patients receiving anxiety treatment among all individuals obtaining healthcare services grew at a higher rate (13.7% versus 10.0%) which, along with a higher rate of increase in price per episode (5.5% versus 4.3%) resulted in a greater increase in per claimant expenditure ($0.61 versus $0.41 per month); proportion of patients receiving treatment for depression grew at a lower rate (3.7% versus 6.9%), but per claimant expenditure grew by same amount due to an increase in price per episode (4.8%). Proportion of patients receiving treatment for anorexia started to increase in the fall of 2020 (21.1% or higher). Patient proportion of alcohol use in age group 18-34 decreased (17.9%) during the pandemic but price per episode increased (26.3%). Patient proportion of opioid use increased in March-May 2020 (11.5%) but decreased or had no significant changes in subsequent periods. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in use pattern and expenditure changes for patients receiving mental health services that varied across conditions and time periods. Some use patterns were unexpected.
Effect of Hydrophobic Groups on Adsorption of Arginine Based Amino Acids to Solid Surfaces in Water
Authors: Fukushima Akinori , Hirano Masaya , Sato Ryuichi
Published: June 2022

We calculate the free energies of adsorption between a solid wall and various arginine derivatives in water using molecular dynamics simulations. We vary the hydrophobic group size of the amino acids in two ways and the hydrophilicity of the solid wall in five ways. The free energy of adsorption decreases by increasing the hydrophilicity of the solid wall, regardless of the size of the hydrophobic group. Amino acids with small hydrophobic groups are adsorbed on the solid wall with the strongest hydrophilicity, but the free energy of the amino acids with large hydrophobic groups is relatively small. The free energy of adsorption in benzene solvent is increased by increasing the hydrophilicity of the solid wall; however, analogous to results in water solvent, it is independent of the size of the hydrophobic group. We attribute these differences in free energy to the effect of solvent molecules localized on the solid wall. Thus, these results may modulate peptide adsorption on a solid surface by the size of the peptide’s hydrophobic groups.
Assessment of Helicobacter pylori positive infected patients according to Clarithromycin resistant 23S rRNA, rpl22 associated mutations and cyp2c19*1, *2, *3 genes pattern in the Early stage of Gastritis
Authors: Maghami Atena Abedi , Mohabati Ashraf Mohabati , Esmaeili Saber , Yadegar Abbas , Nikkhah Maryam , Sadeghi Amir
Published: June 2022

Objective. Clarithromycin resistant Helicobacter pylori (CAM-R) is the main cause of standard triple therapy eradicating failure. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) directly poses bacteriocidic activity and prepare the optimum condition for clarithromycin best function. In counter with Poor metabolizer subjects, Homozygote Extensive Metabolizer patients have well characterized within treatment failure. Eventually, determination of CAM-R profile and estimation of PPIs metabolization rate support clinicians in better prescription. This experiment explored mutations in 23S rRNA and rpl22 resistant genes, cyp2c19 allele variations *1, *2, *3 and PPIs metabolization patterns, consequently the results reported to the physician. RESULTS. Sixteen out of 96 patients considered to be CAM-R Helicobacter pylori. A2143C (1/16), rpl22 insertion (16/16), and GTG deletion (2/16) recorded in CAM-R strains. P450 2C19 human genotyping demonstrated that the highest proportion of the H. pylori positive strains infected patients 43/61(70.49%) categorized in Homozygote extensive metabolizer class. The rest (12/61)19.66% classified as Poor metabolizer, and 6/61(9.83 %) distinct for Heterozygote extensive metabolizer group. Proportion of poor metabolizer and Heterozygote extensive metabolizer phenotypes between CAM-R strains mentioned to be 10/16(62.5%), and 6/16(37.5%). Cross points between the most frequent distributed allele in CAM-R strains indicated 81.25% for *2, and w2 for 18.75%.
Reducing street parking can free up large areas for urban nature
Authors: Croeser Thami , Garrard Georgia , Visintin Casey , Kirk Holly , Ossola Alessandro , Furlong Casey , Clements Rebecca , Butt Andrew , Taylor Elizabeth , Bekessy Sarah
Published: June 2022

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognised as a means to address critical urban sustainability problems such as heatwaves, flooding and biodiversity loss. Accordingly, cities around the world have committed to ambitious targets for urban greening. Meeting these targets will require large areas of land to be converted from existing uses to green space. However, finding this land is difficult in established urban areas, where space is already strongly contested. Here we show an approach by which cities can make substantial progress towards a range of sustainability targets: by converting redundant street parking into biodiverse green space. Significant areas of public land in dense cities are currently allocated to street parking, while off-street parking garages in urban areas are typically abundant and have high rates of vacancy. We demonstrate that vacancy in off-street garages is so substantial that up to half of street parking in our case study municipality (The City of Melbourne, Australia) could be accommodated in garages within 200 m, freeing up large areas for conversion to green space. Our modelling shows this would have significant benefits in terms of tree canopy cover, stormwater treatment and ecological connectivity in the city. These benefits would represent strong progress towards – and even meet – a number of the city’s ambitious NBS targets. As many cities allocate extensive areas to both street parking and off-street garages, this approach to freeing up space for nature in cities is widely applicable. Our findings indicate this is a practical means for municipalities with the required political will and public support to deliver their sustainability goals.
Primary Stent Implantation for Bilateral Spontaneous Cervical ICA Dissections with Hypoperfusion beyond 72 hours from Onset: A Case Report
Authors: Chen Yijie , Zhang Ningyuan , Chen Yigang , Zheng Xu , Jin Xing , Zhang Jinhua
Published: June 2022

Background: Spontaneous cervical internal carotid artery dissection (cICAD) is a common cause of stroke in young adults. Previous studies have shown that endovascular treatment may be a safe and effective choice for those with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). However, the exact procedural process is still unclear. Case presentation: We presented a bilateral spontaneous cICADs with hypoperfusion-related AIS beyond 72 hours from onset that responded well to primary Solitaire stent detachment at the critical flow-limiting site. Conclusions: Primary stent implantation at the critical flow-limiting site rather than covering the entire dissection appears to be simple and effective in face of spontaneous cICAD complicated with cerebral hypoperfusion. The Solitaire stent may be a good choice at the acute and subacute stages of spontaneous cICAD.
Remote Sensing/GIS Application For groundwater prospecting in Potwar Plateau, Pakistan
Authors: Raza Irfan , Khalid Perveiz , Qureshi Jahanzeb , Ullah Muhammad Fahad
Published: June 2022

The groundwater potential zone (GWPZ) mapping is fundamental target in urbanization and socio-economic development as well as environmental protection of an area. The delineation of fresh groundwater and saline water boundaries is a very crucial in water scarcity areas. Conventionally, geophysical survey is conducted for this objective, which is expensive and time consuming. Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan – a part of the Potwar Plateau – belongs to water scare area where sustainable supply of fresh water is very challenging. Remote Sensing (RS)/GIS techniques are applied for GWPZ in the study area comprised of 6,000 km2. Geology, land use/ land cover (LULC), slope, lineament density, geomorphology, rainfall, drainage density, soil type thematic maps were prepared using geological information, rainfall data and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission Digital Elevation Model (SRTM DEM). The analytical hierarchical process (AHP) multi-decision making analysis indicate that the weights of multiple parameters influence the GWPZ vary from 0.36–0.02 with LULC receives maximum weightage and soil type with minimum weightage. Based on these thematic maps GWPZ map was prepared and the whole area under investigation was classified into five groundwater potential zones ranging from very poor to very good. The study reveals about 50% of the entire total surface territory having good to very good potential for groundwater prospecting and around 20% area falls in poor to very poor zone. Due to the distribution of surficial, stream deposits and agricultural area with water penetration capacity, the very good GWPZ are dominating in the south and northwestern areas in the research region.
Changes in soil fungal community composition and functional groups during the succession of Alpine grassland
Authors: Zhao Wen , Yin Yali , Li Shixiong , Dong Yiling , Su Shifeng
Published: June 2022

Aims This study explored the trends in soil fungal patterns and their responses to carbon and nitrogen during the succession in Alpine grassland in the Qilian Mountain area.Methods Illumina sequencing of ITS genes was used to characterize the soil fungal construct, and the FUNGuild database to predict functional groups in Alpine grassland succession from swamp meadow to alpine meadow, steppe meadow. Soil carbon and nitrogen, vegetation carbon and nitrogen, and soil enzyme activity were also investigated. Results The soil fungal OTUs increased with succession in the first stages but then reached a relatively stable state in the second successional stages. The sobs and Chao1 index showed the same trend as OTUS during succession. And there are significant differences in fungal community structure among different succession stages. During succession, most phyla showed linear decreases trends; whereas Ascomycota showed linear increases. The relative abundance of Pathotroph and Saprotroph of fungal functional increased with the successional stages, while the Symbiotroph had no change during succession. We also found that NH4+-N is the dominating factor, which affects the structure of fungal community across all successional stages, and soil microbial carbon has the greatest influence on the variation of functional communities.Conclusions Our findings indicate that the community dramatically shifted with succession in the first stages but then reached a relatively stable state in the second successional stages, while the soil fungal function group did not follow this rule. NH4+-N and soil microbial carbon had the greatest influence on the community and function of fungi, respectively.
Effects of substitution of chemical fertilizer by Chinese milk vetch on distribution and composition of aggregates-associated organic carbon fractions in paddy soils
Authors: Huang Li , Huang Yanan , Nie Jun , Geng Mingjian , Lu Yanhong , Liao Yulin , Xue Bin
Published: June 2022

Purpose
Green manure plays a key role in reducing chemical fertilizer applications and increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stock. The effects of chemical fertilizer substitution by Chinese milk vetch (MV) on the distribution and composition of organic carbon fractions in macroaggregates and microaggregates and SOC stability mechanism were investigated in a paddy soil in southern China.
Methods
A 11-year (2008–2018) field experiment was conducted, including no fertilizer (CK), 100% NPK fertilizer (F100), MV with different percentages of chemical fertilizer (MV + F100, MV + F80, MV + F60 and MV + F40). The soil was separated into distinct organic carbon fractions using aggregate density fractionation and SOC chemical structure was analyzed by fourier-transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance.
Results
Chemical fertilizer substitution by MV increased SOC contents in the bulk soil by 9.07% (MV + F80), 5.08% (MV + F60), 17.93% (MV + F40) compared to F100. Organic carbon fraction mainly existed in mSOC, accounting for 70.28–83.70% and 69.43–83.97% of the relative mass of macroaggregates and microaggregates, respectively. Compared to F100, aromatic C increased by 11.59% and 29.06% under MV + F60 within mSOC in macroaggregates and microaggregates. Within the mSOC in macroaggregates, compared to CK, MV + F80 and MV + F60 promoted the proportion of alkyl C by 9.61% and 6.69%, and decreased the content of O-alkyl C by 14.10% and 11.03%, respectively, which correspondingly increased alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio.
Conclusions
Substitution of chemical fertilizer by MV (especially MV + F80 and MV + F60) improved the stability of SOC via increasing recalcitrant structure in mSOC, and was conducive to the sequestration of SOC in paddy soils.
Efficacy of High-Volume vs Very Low Volume Corticosteroid Subacromial Injection in Subacromial Impingement Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Apivatgaroon Adinun , Srimongkolpi Surasak , Boonsun Phanuwat , Chernchujit Bancha , Sanguanjit Prakasit
Published: June 2022

Background: Subacromial corticosteroid injections to treat shoulder pain is one of the most common procedures for subacromial impingement syndrome. However, a high-volume corticosteroid dose which might literally increase the incidence of local and general complications, and the efficacy of using a lidocaine solution must be considered together when determining an adequate dose affecting the overall efficacy of the treatment.Hypothesis/Purpose: This study aimed to compare the results of a treatment’s functional and clinical outcomes between the very low-volume corticosteroid injection and high-volume corticosteroid injection including to WORC, VAS, DASH and ROM.Study Design: Randomization-controlled trial studyMethods: A total of 64 patients presenting with subacromial impingement syndrome were evaluated in two corticosteroid injection volume in a randomization-controlled trial study. The WORC, DASH and ROM were assessed at 2 weeks, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months follow-up visits. The visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores for pain were assessed pre-injection, and 15 minutes post-injection.Results: Comparable for the high-volume and very low-volume corticosteroid injection. The VAS score for pain pre-injection and post-injection at 15 minutes, was from 5.34 ± 2.44 at before injection to 2.44 ± 1.58 at post injection 15 minutes in the high-volume corticosteroid injection group (P < 0.001) and from 5.19 ± 2.33 to 2.84 ± 1.49 in Very low volume corticosteroid injection group (P<0.001). Not significant differences at mean difference VAS post-injection 15 minutes VAS (P =0.324) and Percentage difference VAS pre-injection and post-injection (P = 0.24). At 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-up, there were no significant differences in WORC, DASH and ROM between the 2 trial groups at any time point (P > 0.05 in all).Conclusions: This study determined that the very low volume is non-inferior to high-volume corticosteroid injections in the primary and secondary outcomes of pain VAS score during activity. WORC and DASH score had no statistically significant difference after subacromial injection.Level of evidence: Level II; Therapeutic study Clinical Relevance: This study comparing VLVCI and HVCI found that VLVCI are non-inferior to HVCI in the primary and secondary endpoints of pain VAS score during activity.
Evaluation of galectin-3 gene Expression associated with Ehrlich tumor of female mice treated by Algerian Ephedra alata ethanolic extract
Authors: BENSAM Moufida , RECHRECHE Hocine , Abdelwahab Abeer E. , Ali Safaa M.
Published: June 2022

Background
Breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers among females worldwide. Ephedra alata is a Saharan endemic that may be found in Algeria, North Africa, and other parts of the world. Recently it has become very used by Algerian patients to treat several diseases. Galectin-3 is highly expressed in a variety of neoplasms, and its expression has been linked to metastasis in various tumour cell systems.
Methods
The present study therefore was conducted to test the effect of Ephedra alata ethanolic extract (EEEA) on Swiss female mice induced with cancer. Determination of the functional consequence of galectin-3 expression in malignant mice breast cells is one of the main Target of the study. The expression of galectin-3 genes was examined in various groups of mice to investigate the involvement of galectins in breast cancer (negative control group, tumour without treatment as positive control, group treated with oral extract, group treated with injection of tumour with extract and protective group which take oral extract before induce of tumor).
Results
Size of tumor in induced mice with cancer cell were decreased and appear as capsulated after treatment with tested EEEA. The fold difference in Gal-3 relative to control was 32.8 in case of untreated tumor where it decreased in case of treatment with Ephedra alata extract and treatment using letrazol which used as reference drug.
Conclusion
The alcoholic extract of the Ephedra alata plant was shown to have a positive effect on the treatment of breast cancer cells in the investigation.
Shelter identification for shelter-transporting AGV based on improved target detection model yolov5
Authors: Yang Dian , Su Chen , Wu Hang , Xu Xinxi , Zhao Xiuguo
Published: June 2022

Shelter identification is the fundamental issue to make shelter-transporting automated guided vehicle (AGV) effectively detect and transport shelter. Actively identifying shelter has an important problem of high accuracy but slow speed for a complex model, and fast speed but low accuracy for a simple model. However, all kinds of target detection algorithms available have low detection accuracy and speed. In this paper, the model yolov5n6* is developed based on the modified yolov5 model by selecting different model structures, introducing an attention mechanism, and improving loss function and non-maximum suppression (NMS). Then, the experiments for shelter recognition were carried out using the model yolov5n6*. The experimental results show that the box_loss is reduced by 1.2%, the mAP_0.5:0.95 is improved by 2%, and the detection accuracy is improved by 0.87% for the improved model yolov5n6* compared with the yolov5n6. However, the yolov5n6* size is only 7.2M, and the detection time is increased by 0.2ms. So it is proved that the modified model yolov5n6* not only has a significant improvement in the shelter detection ability but also has strong robustness, which meets both the requirements of the recognition accuracy and the detection speed.
Response of wheat root system and its mineralization to chemical inputs, plant genotype and phenotypic plasticity.
Authors: Rouch Laly , Follain Stéphane , Pimet Eric , Bizouard Florian , Hénault Catherine , Blouin Manuel
Published: June 2022

Purpose The main goal of this study was to determine if ancient wheat varieties could store more carbon than modern ones, due to a likely bigger and deeper root system and a slower mineralization rate. Methods We conducted a field experiment with four modern and four ancient varieties, with and without chemical inputs (nitrogen, herbicide and fungicide). Root morphology was assessed by image analysis, potential catabolic activities of fructose, alanine, citric acid by MicroResp™ and overall CO2 emissions by incubating soil and roots from each modality for 60 days. Results The breeding type did not affect root traits, substrates respiration nor CO2 emissions in our environmental conditions. The application of inputs did not affect root traits but influenced the respiration of specific substrates and CO2 emissions. The most noticeable response was due to the “breeding type x inputs” interaction: inputs increased CO2 emissions from soil and root tissues of ancient varieties by 19%, whereas no effect was observed for modern varieties. Conclusion Taken together, our results did not support the hypothesis that ancient varieties produce more root biomass and more recalcitrant tissues. It is unlikely that they could be more performant than modern ones in storing carbon in our experimental conditions.
Afghan Women’s Empowerment and Antenatal Care Utilization: A Population-based Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Yeo Sarah , Bell Melanie , Alaofè Halimatou , Kim Yu Ri
Published: June 2022

Background: Although antenatal care (ANC) offers a unique opportunity to diagnose and prevent complications by mitigating modifiable risk, 38.2% of women did not complete any ANC visits in Afghanistan in 2015. Women empowerment is associated with increased use of ANC; however, there is no evidence of the effect of women empowerment on ANC in the country. Addressing this gap, we aimed to evaluate the association between women's empowerment and ANC utilization based on the conceptual framework of women's empowerment.Methods: We analyzed data from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey for 11,056 women. The association between four domains of women’s empowerment, including capability, access to resources, security, and decision-making and power, and at least four ANC visits was analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression.Results: After adjusting for covariates, access to information (AOR 1.38, 95%CI 1.24, 1.54), and decision-making (AOR 1.16, 95%CI 1.08, 1.24) were positively associated with four or more ANC visits. Compared to those without any education, women with primary education (AOR 1.67, 95%CI 1.02, 2.72), secondary education (AOR 2.43, 95%CI 1.25, 4.70), and higher education (AOR 3.03, 95%CI 1.30, 7.07) had higher odds of least four ANC visits. However, asset ownership was negatively associated with ANC visits (AOR 0.72, 95%CI 0.56, 0.92). Variables related to security and literacy were not associated with the minimum ANC visits.Conclusions: The mixed results of the study highlight the complex natures of women’s empowerment, warranting a more nuanced understanding of women’s empowerment in the context and future research that capture multidimensionality of women’s empowerment. Also, efforts to empower women, particularly those with no education and had less decision-making power and access to health information, could be an effective strategy to enhance ANC use in Afghanistan.Trial registration: Not applicable.
Trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of aprepitant, palonosetron and dexamethasone antiemetic therapy (APDATE) for germ cell tumors: results of a single-arm study.
Authors: Fukuta Fumimasa , Kitamura Hiroshi , Hotta Hiroshi , Itoh Naoki , Okada Manabu , Shindo Tetsuya , Kyoda Yuki , Hashimoto Kohei , Kobayashi Ko , Tanaka Toshiaki , Masumori Naoya
Published: June 2022

Purpose
BEP (bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin) chemotherapy is a standard regimen for germ cell tumors (GCTs); however, their high emetogenicity is problematic. The control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is crucial to complete the treatment. We conducted this study to explore the efficacy and safety of antiemetic therapy with dexamethasone and aprepitant for 5 days in combination with palonosetron 0.75mg on days 1 and 5 in BEP.
Methods
This open-label single-arm study was prospectively conducted in 4 hospitals belonging to the Sapporo Medical University Urologic Oncology Consortium from May 2012 through March 2020. Chemotherapy-naïve men aged 20 years or more with GCT who were scheduled to receive the BEP regimen were eligible. The primary endpoint was the complete response (CR) rate of CINV.
Results
A total of 19 patients were enrolled (median age, 37 years). Overall, 16 (84.2%) patients experienced some nausea, whereas only 4 (21.1%) patients had grade 1 emetic events. Overall CR of CINV was achieved in 9 (47.4%) patients. CR for acute and delayed CINV were achieved in 13 (68.4%) and 10 (52.6), respectively. Although 14 (73.7%) patients experienced 22 adverse events after palonosetron administration, severe adverse events (grade 3 or more) attributable to it did not occur.
Conclusions
The results suggest that aprepitant, palonosetron and dexamethasone antiemetic therapy for patients with GCT receiving BEP is safe, whereas the efficacy of additional palonosetron administration on day 5 for prevention of delayed CINV remains unclear.
Comparison of the DNA Methylation and Expression Changes on Some Cadmium-induced Genes in Bread Wheat Exposed to Cadmium (Cd) Accumulation in the Soil
Authors: Colak İlknur , Karadayi Gokce
Published: June 2022

Factors such as chemical fertilizers used in recent years, incorrect irrigation techniques, changing climatic conditions increase the accumulation of cadmium (Cd) heavy metal in the soil. In study, it was aimed to determine the expression levels of stress-related genes in the plant and the methylation levels for the first time by Real-Time PCR-based quantitative DNA methylation analysis (qAMP) after Cd stress applied at different concentrations to bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), which is an important agricultural product. The development of wheat plants exposed to Cd stress at 0,100, 250, 500 µM doses was achieved and DNA and RNA isolations were performed from these plants. While the gene expression analyze was performed with the cDNAs produced by designing primers specific to the selected gene regions, the DNA methylation ratio were determined by applying the restriction enzyme-based qAMP technique. The obtained results were compared with gene expression analysis. Gene expression levels and DNA methylation percentages of UGT-3, LTP-4 and PIP-1 genes were determined under CdCl2 stress. The percentage of methylation in the UGT-3, LTP-4 and PIP-1 genes was determined at the highest concentration of 250 µM in both the shoot and root. The expression level of the UGT-3 gene gave the highest rate at 250 µM dose in the shoot, while the overexpression of the LTP-4 gene was observed at 250 µM concentration in the root. The changes in methylation rates of UGT-3, LTP-4 and PIP-1 genes were investigated for the first time with qAMP in plants. A significant correlation was observed between the expression levels of genes and their methylation status.
Event-Based Fuzzy-Adaptive Consensus Tracking Control for Stochastic High-Order Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems with Specified-Time Convergence
Authors: Zhou Chuhan , Wang Ying , Lv Maolong , Tian Wenjie
Published: June 2022

This paper proposes a novel specifified-time event-triggered fuzzy adaptive consensus control methodology for stochastic high-order nonlinear multi-agent networks, which is intrinsically challenging as the existence of stochasticity and high-order (positive odd integers greater than one) terms. In contrast with the state-of-the-art methodologies, the distinguishing contributions of this work lie in that: (a) a novel specifified-time performance function (STPF) is introduced and a new STPF-based high-order asymmetric time-varying barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) is designed to guarantee the local consensus tracking errors of entire network remain within a predefifined arbitrarily small residual set in specifified-time; (b) the communication effificiency of network is proved signifificantly owing to a new high-order switching threshold event-triggered mechanism, which is capable of resizing triggering threshold in real-time; (c) the fuzzy adaptive control algorithm and adaption laws are devised by combining adding one power integrator technique and fuzzy approximators. Comparative simulations are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Theoretical study of Ga-doped magnesium mineral based on the atomic cluster level: gas-phase GaMgn- (n=2-12) DFT investigation
Authors: Li Yu-Jin , Hao Yu-Jie , Jiang Ke , Zeng Lu , Sun Feng-Yu
Published: June 2022

The geometrical structure, electronic structure and chemical bond properties of the gas-phase GaMg n - (n=2-12) clusters were studied utilizing CALYPSO software as well as density functional theory (DFT). It is shown that tetrahedral-like and pyramidal-like structures are the two "seeds" for GaMg n - (n=2-12) clusters growth. Relative stability calculations indicate that GaMg 8 - cluster possesses the most robust stability and is a reasonable candidate for the "magic" cluster. NCP calculations confirm that Ga and Mg atoms play the roles of receiving and losing electrons, respectively.NEC analysis further yields that valence orbital electron transfer is s→p. ELF analysis shows that Mg-Mg covalent bonds start to appear in GaMg 2 - size, which is much earlier than in other "heavy" metal-doped magnesium. For the most stable GaMg 8 - cluster, UV-Vis, IR and Raman spectroscopic predictions were also performed specifically, and the excited state properties of this cluster were investigated by the hole-electron method and NTO.
Estimating WUI exposure probability to a nearby wildfire
Authors: Wei Yu , Gannon Benjamin , Young Jesse , Belval Erin , Thompson Matthew P , O’Connor Christopher , Calkin Dave E
Published: June 2022

Background
Estimating the factors affecting the risk of wildfire reaching the wildland urban interface (WUI) can help managers make decisions to prevent WUI property loss. This study compiles data on fire progression, wind, landscape characteristics, and fireline construction to estimate the probability of an on-going fire front reaching each of its nearby WUI blocks. We start by constructing fire and WUI interaction zones and fire spread funnels between recorded fire fronts and WUI blocks. We used the funnel analysis to characterize landscape and fireline arrangement, and a random forest modeling approach to quantify the probability for fire reaching the WUI.
Results
We found that WUI exposure probability to an ongoing fire has close relationships with the tested explanatory variables including wind gust, suppression difficulty, control potential, fireline arrangement, road densities, WUI block sizes, and the relative locations between WUI and fires. We found a random forest model can achieve reasonable accuracy in estimating the WUI fire exposure probability.
Conclusions
The focal analysis we developed based on fire spread funnels and random forest models can be used to estimate WUI fire exposure probability. This approach may be used to support large fire suppression decisions at division to incident scale.
Developing and Evaluation of an Electronic Educational Program about Palliative Care for Healthcare Workers in Syria
Authors: alhalabieh nahawand , Dashash Mayssoon , Chatty Eyad
Published: June 2022

Purpose: The e-learning systems act as a powerful aid to traditional teaching to provide high-quality education. E-learning can improve the effectiveness of medical education by transferring knowledge easily. There is neither a virtual nor traditional educational program on palliative care in Syria. E-learning can improve medical education in Syria by transferring primary knowledge of palliative care to healthcare workers. This study aimed to develop an electronic educational program about palliative care basics. Methods: A nonprobability convenience sample of (19) Syrian healthcare workers was included. The General Model for Instructional Design (ADDIE) was used in developing the electronic educational program. The program's effectiveness was measured by using the valid Palliative Care Knowledge Test. The test was translated into Arabic. One-Group Pretest-Posttest design was adopted. A comparison between pre-test and post-test after the sample attended an electronic educational program on palliative care was conducted and its effect was measured. Results: The mean score of the sample in the pre-test about knowledge of the basics of palliative care was (59.74%), while mean score of the sample in the post-test was (98.94%), meaning that the level of knowledge increased by (39.21) after the intervention, where the effect was (0.97). Conclusion: There is a lack of primary knowledge of palliative care basics among the studied sample. The described program provides an innovative learning strategy on the basics of palliative care delivered in an asynchronous online format. E-programs are effective in transferring knowledge of palliative care.
Gating effects of membrane potential on TMEM16A analyzed using molecular dynamics simulations combined with external electric field
Authors: Ji Wanying , Gao Zhiwei , Geng Yizhao , Geng JinPeng , Chen Yafei , Pang chunli , An Hailong
Published: June 2022

TMEM16A is the molecular basis of calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCCs) and is dual regulated by intracellular calcium ion and membrane potential. It is widely expressed and participates in important physiological processes. At present, although the cryo-EM structures of several states of TMEM16A protein are obtained, none of them shows a fully activated pore, and the role of membrane potential in regulation of the channel cannot be explained in these static structures. Here, based on the stereo structure of TMEM16A we used molecular dynamics (MD)with applied external electric field (EE-MD) simulations to understand how membrane potential regulates the gating process of TMEM16A channels. Our results indicate that the transmembrane helices TM3 and TM4, which constitute the ion-conducting pore, are strongly influenced by the membrane potential and expand outward, resulting in a clear separation of the hydrophobic-gated amino acids of TM4 and TM6, increasing the space for chloride ions (Cl−) to pass through. The membrane potential breaks the hydrogen bond between K645 and E705, directing the K645 side chain to the neck region, which lowers the energy barrier for chloride ion conduction by affecting the static electricity in the neck region. Furthermore, the simulation results indicate that the dual coupling of calcium ions and membrane potential can lead to the spontaneous diffusion of Cl− ions from the extracellular side through the pore. Our molecular dynamics simulations and analyses provide new dynamic, and energetic information of the gating mechanism by which membrane potential affects TMEM16A channels and to guide functional studies of the TMEM16A channels and development of its regulators.
Network Intrusion Detection Based on Explainable Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Wang Yiwen , Xu Lei , Liu Wanli , Li Rongzhen , Gu Junjie
Published: June 2022

People often use similar methods to invade network traffic, such as flood attacks and Ddos attacks. Early detection of malicious traffic usually uses manual filtering to establish a whitelist, and then uses some artificial intelligence to simply measure some characteristic parameters. The high predictive performance of artificial intelligence will inevitably introduce unknowable decision process into network intrusion detection. When it is applied to the extremely important network environment, human’s doubt on its black box effect will hinder its advancement. Here, we make a propose to come up with a network traffic intrusion detection method (XAI-IDS) on account of interpretable artificial intelligence to detect malicious traffic intrusion in networks. XAI-IDS analyzes network traffic data to predict whether the traffic is malicious intrusion.
Agricultural Land Suitability Assessment towards Promoting Community Crop Production in Tolon-Ghana
Authors: Antwi Effah Kwabena , Setiawati Martiwi Diah , Tetteh Jacob Doku , Boakye-Danquah John , Owusu-Banahene Wiafe , (Apronti) Priscilla Toloo Yohuno
Published: June 2022

Continuous use of agricultural land without periodic assessment of its suitability or performance for the cultivation of a specific crop could degrade soil fertility and compromise the long-term sustainability of the land to support production. Our aim is to use an integrated approach to assess agricultural land suitability in a small-scale farming system in the semi-arid region of northern Ghana, identify limiting factors for optimum crop production, and recommend intervention options towards sustainable farm management. We developed a data-driven model for land suitability analysis based on the Generalized Additive Models (GAM) approach. We validated the model with the actual yield data for six food crops (maize, pepper, yam, rice, peanut, and cowpea) under various biological, physical and chemical soil conditions across six communities. The result showed that the farmlands across the communities were highly suitable for maize and pepper but not suitable for cowpea. A qualitative validation method based on the contingency table showed the accuracy percentage of 84–100% for POD (Probability of Detection) and 6–21% for FAR (False alarm ratio) for all crops type. Hence, our model could be considered excellent to predict land suitability for different crop types. We recommend that stakeholders in the agricultural value chain should collaborate to develop low-cost and effective means of helping farmers determine the suitability of soils for specific crops to ensure that farmlands are not of depleted nutrients. In addition, periodic farmer training on appropriate farm management practices, including the right use of fertilizers, is needed.
CsAKT1 is a key gene for CeO2 nanoparticles improved cucumber salt tolerance: a validation from CRISPR-Cas9 lines
Authors: Peng Yuquan , Chen Linlin , Zhu Lan , Cui Lvjun , Yang Li , Wu Honghong , Bie Zhilong
Published: June 2022

Background
Salinity is one of the main factors limiting crop growth and yield. Applications of nanomaterials such as cerium oxide nanoparticles (nanoceria) improved salt tolerance in many plant species. The known mechanisms of nano-improved crop salt tolerance are mostly at the physiological and hormonal but not the gene level. Lack of proper methods to precisely investigate the key genes involved in nano-improved crop salt tolerance is one of the main reasons.
Results
We found that both leaf and root application of PNC (poly acrylic acid coated nanoceria) improved cucumber salt tolerance, showing higher shoot and root dry weight, and better photosynthetic performance than control plants. Under salinity stress, PNC treated cucumber plants showed significant lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content of leaf (46.7% and 13.3% for leaf and root application of PNC, respectively) and root (31.4% and 19.9% for leaf and root application of PNC, respectively), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level such as H2O2 content of leaf (46.6% and 22.0% for leaf and root application of PNC, respectively) and root (50.0% and 29.9% for leaf and root application of PNC, respectively). Further experiments showed that under salinity stress, compared with control plants, PNC treated cucumber plants had significant higher leaf (216.1% and 59.5% for leaf and root application of PNC, respectively) and root (148.2% and 71.8% for leaf and root application of PNC, respectively) K+ content. RNA seq showed that under salinity stress, the modulation on AKT1 is more responsible for the PNC improved K+ maintenance in cucumber. Further, CsAKT1 depletion experiment (CRISPR-Cas9 lines) confirmed that under salinity stress, CsAKT1 plays an important role in potassium uptake in cucumber plants treated with PNC.
Conclusions
Our results showed that foliar PNC delivery enabled stronger cucumber salt tolerance than the root application is associated with the better maintained K+/Na+ ratio. CRISPR-Cas9 lines further confirmed that CsAKT1 is a key gene involved in PNC-improved cucumber salt tolerance. Our work not only adds more knowledge to the mechanisms underlying nano-improved plant salt tolerance, but also suggests a CRISPR-Cas9 approach to study the key genes involved in it.
The Off-Hour Effect on Mortality in Traumatic Brain Injury According to Age Group
Authors: jung eujene , ryu Hyun ho
Published: June 2022

BackgroundTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is a time-sensitive and life-threatening surgical emergency. We hypothesized that off-hours, which includes night-time, weekends, and holidays, may influence mortality in TBI. Our study aimed to evaluate if the off-hours effect influences mortality in patients with TBI and whether this effect is dependent on the age group. MethodsThis study included patients who experienced TBI and were admitted to Chonnam National University Hospital (CNUH) between 2017 to 2020. The main exposure was arrival time at the emergency department (ED) (off-hours vs. working hours). The main outcome was mortality at hospital discharge. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to estimate the effect size of off-hours on mortality compared to that of working hours. We performed an interaction analysis between ED admission time and age group on study outcomes. ResultsIn the multivariable logistic regression analysis, there was no significant difference in mortality (AOR, 95% CI (1.05 [0.58—1.89]) in patients visiting the ED during off-hours. In the interaction analysis, the effect measure of ED admission during off-hours on mortality was significant among younger people (0—17 years (1.17 [1.04—1.30])), compared to that in other age groups. ConclusionsIn patients under 18 years old, admission during off-hours was associated with higher mortality at hospital discharge compared to admission during working-hours in patients with TBI with intracranial hemorrhage. EDs should be designed such that the same quality of emergency care is provided regardless of admission time.