bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE STRUCTURE OF EXCESS MORTALITY DUE TO THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS INFECTION PANDEMIC IN URBAN AND RURAL RESIDENTS
Authors:   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization, Sabgayda T.P. ,   Institute for Demographic Research - Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Published: December 2021

Significance. The pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection has further exacerbated the demographic problem in the Russian Federation, which was especially acute in rural areas. However, according to official data, only one third of the excess mortality in 2020 is accounted for by COVID-19. Purpose: to compare the structure of mortality growth in urban and rural residents and determine differences in loss associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods. Based on the Rosstat preliminary data, the author has analyzed increase in the number of deaths per 100,000 population in 2020 compared to 2019 among males and females residing in urban and rural areas of the Russian Federation. The indicators were compared by major classes of death causes and individual diseases across the following three age groups: 15-49 years, 50-64 years, and 65 years and older. Comparison was carried out by the Chi-square test. Results. Among the urban and rural population the death rate increased by 20.6% and 15.4%, respectively; the COVID-19 mortality equaled to 109.4 and 67.5 per 100,000 population; the share of COVID-19 in the increased total mortality added up to 44.6% and 33.0%, respectively. Among urban residents, the frequency of deaths from COVID-19 in males exceeds the female one 1.8 times in population aged 15-49, 2.0 times in population aged 50-64 and 65 +; among rural residents, these values equal to 1.2, 1.4 and 1.8, respectively. Conclusion. In the structure of excess mortality associated with the spread of the novel coronavirus infection that accounted for almost one fifth of deaths in 2019, the share of direct loss due to COVID-19 is underestimated. The direct loss associated with co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus can be traced at the population level, starting from the age of 65 in males and 50 years in females, in case of deaths from diseases of the nervous system, coronary heart disease, chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract and diseases of the pancreas. With a lower level of excess mortality among rural population, its quarter is accounted for by indirect loss due to the pandemic associated with the decreased access to medical care. In the structure of excess mortality among urban population, indirect loss accounts for about one tenth, and is mainly due to consequences of stress associated with the pandemic and forced isolation. Signs of incomplete examination of the deceased in older age groups to determine the death causes, especially among rural residents, have been identified.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS OF MORTALITY FROM INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN THE RUSSIAN REGIONS
Authors:   National Research University «Higher School of Economics» (HSE University), Kolosnitsyna M.G. , Chubarov M.Yu. ,   National Research University «Higher School of Economics» (HSE University)
Published: December 2021

Significance. Infectious diseases and mortality are correlated with numerous factors. These factors may be interrelated or act simultaneously, making it difficult to assess their impact. Purpose: based on the regression analysis, to identify socio-economic factors of mortality from infectious diseases in the Russian regions. Material and Methods. The authors used data from the Federal State Statistics Service on economic, demographic, ecological, and socio-cultural characteristics of 82 Russian regions (2014-2018). The authors have estimated the regression model of mortality from infectious diseases. Results. Mortality from infectious diseases, all other things being equal, is higher in the regions with high level of emissions; significant external migration; and a larger share of population living in big cities. Mortality from infectious diseases is lower in the regions with high average per capita income, better housing conditions, high level of fruit consumption, and large proportion of university students. Conclusions. High income, good housing conditions and nutrition, as well as high level of education in the region turned out to be significant predictors of low mortality from infectious diseases, while indicators of coverage with health care in the region are not related to the mortality indicators. Reduction in mortality from infectious diseases will be facilitated by both general economic measures aimed at increasing income and education of the population and targeted environmental policy measures and control of migration. Special attention should be paid to the infectious situation in poor regions, regions with high level of urbanization and significant share of external migrants in the population.
EVALUATION OF INDICATORS CHARACTERIZING INPATIENT SURGICAL CARE DELIVERY TO OLDER PATIENTS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Authors:   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Shlyafer S.I. , Shikina I.B. ,   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow
Published: December 2021

Significance: Population ageing challanges the majority of the world including the Russian Federation. Older people are more subject to operative interventions, including high tech interventions. The purpose of the study is to analyze indicators characterizing the level of surgical care deivery to older patients in the Russian hospitals in 2011-2019. Material and methods. Indicators characterising surgical care delivery in hospitals were analyzed including: the number of patients operated; the number of operations performed, including high tech interventions; the number of deaths after surgery, including after high tech interventions; frequency of postoperative complications; postoperative mortality among older patients (women - 55 years and older, men - 60 years and older). The authors used data of the federal statistical observation form No. 14 "Information onabout performance of units of medical organizations providing inpatient medical care" for the period from 2011 to 2019. Statistical (calculations of extensive and intensive indicators) and analytical methods were applied. Results. The share of older patients out of all patients operated in 2019 in the Russian hospitals equalled to 35.2% (vs 23.1% in 2011), including high tech interventions (18.9% of all operations). Conclusion: among older patients the study has identified: an 18.8% increse in the number of patients discharged from hospitals; a 5.6% increase in the number of patients operated; a 63.5% increase in the number of operations in the hospital, including a 2.6 fold increase in the number of operations using high technologies; a 73.4 % increase in the number of operated patients who died in the hospital; including a 3.8 fold increase in the number of patients died after operations using high technologies; postoperative mortality rate of patients increased from 2.21 to 2.39%. The rate of postoperative complications associated with all operations decreased from 1.06 to 0.64%, including decrease from 1.74 to 0.97% in postoperative complications associated with operations using high technologies.
WORKING TIME OF THE OBSTETRICIAN-GYNECOLOGIST AT THE OUTPATIENT LEVEL
Authors:   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Public Health of Russian Federation, Moscow, Banteva M.N.
Published: December 2021

Significance. The study of the costs of an obstetrician-gynecologist’s working time on an outpatient basis is a very urgent task, since it is the first stage in determining the standards for the number of these doctors, which needs to be revised based on the modern conditions for the provision of medical care. Purpose: to determine the costs of working time of an obstetrician-gynecologist on an outpatient basis, both for different types of admission of one patient and individual labor operations. Materials and methods: Materials: data of photo-timing observations, primary medical documentation (forms №№025/у «Medical record of a patient receiving medical care on an outpatient basis» and №111/у-20 «Individual medical record of a pregnant and postpartum woman»). Methods: photo-timing measurements, statistical, analytical, expert assessments, mathematical statistics, descriptive. Results. The time norms for one patient's appointment at the first level of outpatient medical care in modern conditions are: for medical and diagnostic purposes, primary - 17.88 minutes, repeated - 10.68 minutes; for prophylactic purposes, primary - 10.68 minutes, repeated - 1.5 minutes; for pregnancy women, primary - 22.89 minutes, repeated - 12.98 minutes. The average duration of admission of one patient by an obstetrician-gynecologist is 15.02 minutes. The time spent on performing the main activity amounted to 56.9%, while the implementation of the necessary additional activities takes 43.1% of the total time of the patient's appointment, of which 39.5% is represented by work with documentation. Conclusions. The duration of one patient's admission to an obstetrician-gynecologist at the first level of outpatient care is 15.02 minutes. A significant part of the time of admission of the studied specialist is spent on performing additional types of activities, where work with documentation prevails in the structure of the latter. The norms of time, workload and standards for the number of doctors should be periodically revised in order to correspond to the modern conditions of medical care. Application area of the results. The results of the study can be used in practical health care by the management team for making managerial decisions in the field of staff rationing. The proposed technique can be used to clarify the staffing standards of any other medical specialty.
Investigation of Additively Manufactured PEEK Modified With Glass Microballons as a Function of Density and Volume Fraction
Authors: Baligidad Sagar Mahalingappa , Gangadhara Chethan Kumar , Chandrashekhar Maharudresh Aralikatte
Published: December 2021

Low density and strong mechanical characteristics make hollow glass microballons (HGM) filled polyehteretherketone (PEEK) composites excellent for aerospace, transportation and civil applications. In this study, PEEK was filled with different densities of HGMs (low, medium, and high) and varied volume fractions (Vf) of HGMs (10%, 15%, and 20%) and exposed to different strain rates to investigate thermal, physical, energy absorption, and other physico-mechanical responses. PEEK/HGMs composites demonstrated a substantial strain rate impact, with the strain rate sensitivity factor increasing as the strain rate increased while decreasing as the filler Vf increased. The density of the composites was also shown to be inversely related to their strength properties. Incorporating high-density HGMs into the PEEK resulted in the lowest composite density so far reported while ensuring mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the HGM dispersion is uniform inside the matrix. Thermal stability of the syntactic foam was investigated by using Thermo Gravity Analysis (TGA) under inert atmosphere and oxidative environment conditions. The infusion of microspheres enhances the thermal stability of LDPEs, MDPEs, and HDPEs samples in an inert environment, with HDPEs samples being the most thermally stable. This might lead to the formation of a strong bond between polymer chains and HGM particles.
Influence of Ethanol Extracts From Pholiota Adiposa on Gut Microbiota and Their Antitumor Properties in H22 Tumor-Bearing Mice
Authors: Wang Xiao-yan , Zhang Ying , Liu Fang-fang
Published: December 2021

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common type of cancer—prevalent worldwide—and one of the causes of cancer-related deaths. In this study, ethanol extracts from Pholiota adiposa (EPA) were used to identify possible targets for HCC treatment and their effects on intestinal microflora were analyzed. Methods: Male mice were randomly assigned to groups—the model group, cyclophosphamide (25 mg/kg/d), and EPA groups, in which the mice were categorized based on the different concentrations of each compound (100, 200, and 300 mg/kg/day). Relevant biochemical indicators were detected using ELISA, H&E staining, and TUNEL assay. Four tumor apoptosis-related proteins and genes, Caspase3, BAX, Bcl-2, and VEGF, were detected by immunohistochemical staining, western blotting, and RT-PCR. The total genomic DNA was obtained from the contents of the small intestine and colon and was sequenced. The V3+V4 regions of bacterial 16s rDNA (from 341 to 806) were amplified. Results: The tests revealed that EPA exhibited antitumor activity in vivo by promoting apoptosis and inhibiting angiogenesis. Moreover, EPA treatment could increase beneficial and decrease harmful microflorae. These results demonstrate that EPA may be a potential therapy for HCC.
Glideosomal GAP50 binders that inhibit invasion and restrict malaria parasite in vitro and in vivo
Authors: AGRAWAL PRAKHAR , KUMARI SUREKHA , SHARMA UPENDRA , SAHAL DINKAR
Published: December 2021

Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Vaccines and drugs have a lot to learn from the malaria parasite before they can be successful. Here, using a filter for glideosomal anchor protein PfGAP50, we have explored a plethora of small molecules to shortlist eight GAP50 binders with promising antiplasmodial activity (IC50 < 3 µM) that are also highly selective. Of these, Hayatinin, Bedaquiline, MMV688271, Curine, and Brilacidin with PfINDO IC50 ≤ 1 µM were found to stall merozoites invasion by inhibiting IMC formation besides increasing ROS levels in trophozoites. Bedaquiline loaded healthy RBCs showed prophylactic ability to prevent intraerythrocytic development of malaria parasite. Synergistic activities with ΣFIC values as low as 0.22 (Curine and Artemisinin) or 0.37 (Bedaquiline and Artemisinin) augur well for the development of drug combinations to combat malaria effectively. Interestingly, orally delivered Bedaquiline (50 mg/Kg b. wt.) showed substantial suppression of parasitemia in the mouse model of malaria.
An Evolution From a Predominant K1 Allelic Variant to MAD20 of msp1 Gene Between 2015 to 2019 in Metehara, Southeast Ethiopia
Authors: Reda Abeba , Messele Alebachew , Mohammed Hussein , Assefa Ashenafi , Golassa Lemu , Mamo Hassen
Published: December 2021

Background: The complexity and quantity of parasite populations circulating in a specific location are reflected in the genetic diversity of malaria parasites (s). Between 2015 and 2019, this study in Metehara, South east, Ethiopia. set out to investigate the temporal dynamics of genetic diversity and multiplicity as a result of evolutionary change in the genes that contribute to Plasmodium falciparum infection elimination. Method: Between 2015 and 2019, a cross-sectional study was carried out. from eighty-three dry blood spots from malaria patients who were screened for P. falciparum mono-infection by QPCR. From this seventy confirmed P. falciparum were genotyping to merozoite surface protein 1,2 and glutamate-rich protein using nested PCR.Result: Between 2015 and 2019, seventy (84.3%) of the isolates were successfully genotyped for all three target genes in both years. In 2015 and 2019, the allelic distributions of the three genes differed significantly (P= 0.001). Overall, the most common allelic families for msp1 and msp2 were K1 and FC27 respectively. For glurp, eight distinct genotypes were identified. In 2015, the genotyping of msp1, msp2 and glurp was 25 (86.2%), 25 (86.2%) and 24 (82.2%) respectively. K1, MAD20 and RO33 all have 19(65.5%), 3(10.3%) and 3(10.3%) msp1 allelic families respectively. In 2019 the genes were 30 (73.2%), 39 (95.1%) and 30 (73.2%). K1, MAD20, and RO33 were genotyped for 6 (14.6 percent), 18 (43.9 percent) and 6 (14.6 percent) genotyping respectively. Over all the multiplicity of infection was 1.67 (95 percent CI 1.54-1.74) and the heterozygosity index for msp1, msp2, and glurp was 0.48, 0.70, and 0.55 respectively.Conclusion: This study provides current information on the genetic diversity of P. falciparum populations in Metehara over five-year intervals, The progression of the dominant K1 variant from 2015 to MAD20 variant in 2019 was observed in this study.
Assessment of Pain Severity and Associated Factors of Post Operative Pain Among Adult Patients in Public Hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2021
Authors: Besufekad Abinet , Admasu Wosenyeleh , Fentie Fissiha , Mahmud Sindew , Setot Mulualem , Shitemaw Tewodrose
Published: December 2021

Background: Post-operative pain management is one of the key responsibilities of health professionals. Failure to manage post-operative pain effectively will lead to increase morbidity and mortality, long hospital stay, increase health care costs, and patient dissatisfaction. Despite improved understanding of pain mechanisms, advances in pain management approach, and other focused initiatives large proportion of post-operative patient’s reports pain after surgery. Therefore the major aim of this study was to assess pain severity and associated factors among post-operative adult patients in public hospitals of Addis Ababa.Methods and materials: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 414 study participants were involved. Simple random sampling was used to select study participants. The data was collected by the standard questioner and checklist. The collected data were entered, cleaned, and analyzed by SPSS version 24.0 statistical software. Bi-variable analysis was employed to select independent predictors of pain severity and multivariable regression used to measure the association between independent and dependent variables. On bi-variable analysis, those variables with a value less than 0.20 were entered on multi-variable analysis. Finally, variables with a p-value < 0.05 were declared as independent predictors of the outcome variables.Results: A total of 406 study participants have responded to the interview giving a response rate of 98%. The overall incidence of moderate to severe pain was 85.5%. Preoperative analgesia adjusted odds ratio (confidence interval), 0.236(0.065-0.863), preoperative anxiety, 5.468(1.341-22.303), general surgery 7.627(1.901-30.602), orthopedics surgery, 7.195(1.055-49.094), size of the incision, 5.086(1.352-19.135), and postoperative analgesia; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 5.611(2.000-15.737), and tramadol, 4.714(1.506-14.753) was independent predictors of postoperative moderate to severe pain.Conclusion: The study revealed that the overall incidence of postoperative pain was high in the study area. This reflects attention given to postoperative pain management is low. Preoperative analgesia, preoperative anxiety surgery type, incision length, and postoperative analgesia were independent predictors of postoperative pain.
Evergreen Abundance Drives Ground Beetle Diversity And Density In Eastern Temperate Forests
Authors: Lienau Janey R. , Buchkowski Robert W. , Midgley Meghan G.
Published: December 2021

Purpose: Soil insects mediate plant-soil interactions by fragmenting and decomposing litter that forms the base of soil food webs and through predator-prey interactions. Plant communities, in turn, shape soil insect communities via the quality, availability, and diversity of their litters. However, these drivers have rarely been examined in concert even though describing soil insect community patterns is critical for mitigating the effects of global environmental changes. Methods: Here, we evaluated the effects of tree diversity, density, and functional groups on ground beetle (Carabidae) diversity, density, and community composition in four eastern temperate forest sites in the National Ecological Observatory Network. Results Though we expected that higher tree diversity and density would, respectively, lead to higher diversity and density ground beetle communities, we found little evidence to support this hypothesis. Instead, evergreen tree abundance strongly shaped ground beetle diversity, density, and community composition. Specifically, evergreen plots as defined by National Land Cover Database hosted lower density ground beetle communities than deciduous plots. Similarly, ground beetle Shannon diversity and density decreased as the relative abundance of evergreen tree species increased. Conclusions: Although further study is needed to explicitly link litter quality with soil insect communities, the resource environments created by trees with varying leaf habits appear to be a dominant force driving ground beetle community diversity and density patterns.
Overexpression of Chorispora bungeana CbPLDγ enhances drought tolerance in Arabidopsis
Authors: nikang  , bang
Published: December 2021

Phospholipase D (PLD) is a crucial enzyme participated in membrane phospholipid catabolism. In this study, to explore the function of CbPLDγ in drought stress, a CbPLDγ gene, which is a part of CbPLD gene family and from Chorispora bungeana (C. bungeana) was cloned and encoded a protein of 859 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 96.3 kDa and with a PI(Isoionic Point) of 7.88. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Beta-glucuronidase (GUS) assay showed that CbPLDγ was accumulated dominantly in roots and hypocotyls. Compared with the control, CbPLDγ was positively responsed to the low temperature, salt, mannitol, and exogenous ABA. Subcellular localization analysis showed that the CbPLDγ was localized in the cell membrane. CbPLDγ-overexpression Arabidopsis under drought stress showed higher relative expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD), as well as highe content of proline, soluble proteion and soluble sugar. However, H2O2, malonaldehyde (MDA) content and electrolyte leakage (EL) were lower than wild-type Arabidopsis. These indicated that CbPLDγ was involved in the drought tolerance, and overexpression of CbPLDγ enhanced the drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. This is the first report about cloning and characterizing the gene of CbPLDγ from C. bungeana. It laid a foundation for further research and improvement of the PLD gene family of C. bungeana.
Using Zeolite-Zirconia-Copper Nanocomposites as a New Asphaltene Inhibitor for Improving Permeability Reduction during CO 2 Flooding
Authors: Mansouri Mohsen , Ahmadi Yaser
Published: December 2021

Using nanoparticles for adsorbing asphaltene was known as an efficient method among researchers for crude oil upgrading and in this study, Zeolite-zirconia-copper nanocomposites (NCs) has been synthesized and characterized with SEM, XRD, BET, and EDX for asphaltene precipitation inhibition in the static phase and solving asphaltene deposition problems of dynamic CO2 flooding in low permeability carbonate reservoir. CO2-oil IFT tests, isotherm models, natural depletion tests at static phase were performed in the presence of NCs and the results were compared with zeolite nanoparticles. Then, CO2 core flooding tests at dynamic phase were designed in the presence of NCs at obtained static conditions for surveying permeability/porosity reduction in porous media. After adding NCs and zeolite nanoparticles, the 2nd to 1st slope ratio in CO2-oil IFT tests increased from 19.697 % to 20.895 % and 29.851 %, respectively which shows NCs adsorbed more asphaltene in comparison to zeolite nanoparticles which confirmed UV-Vis results. NCs was decreased asphaltene precipitation more than zeolite at same points during natural depletion tests and it was selected for dynamic CO2 tests. After adding NCs, asphaltene depositions which occurs after CO2 injection was decreased and permeability/porosity reduction parameters were improved.
Identifying the research advances on COVID-19, the economy and the environment: network- bibliometric analysis and statistical validation
Authors: Drago Carlo , Gatto Andrea
Published: December 2021

The COVID-19 outbreak dictates urgent research responses. The corpus of scientific publications on COVID- 19 is rapidly growing. Differently from health and technical sciences, social and environmental sciences risk to be neglected in this process. Similarly, Environmental Economics falls behind in terms of COVID-19 scholarship. The research note in hand examines and maps up-to-date research progress on the occurring Coronavirus disease, the economy and the environment. To this end, a bibliometric analysis of these three intertwined areas is performed. We constructed a database of the key publications and extracted the keywords co-occurrence network characterising each work. Thus, we studied the structural characteristics – i.e. the density and the centre – sorting from the co-occurrence network. This exercise identifies four communities of relevant keywords, including environmental health, economic impact and lifestyle, which present the maximal mutual interconnection. It is discovered that relevant possibilities and urgency to examine the relationship between the Coronavirus, the economy and the environment exist on the issues and, broadly, in the field of Environmental Economics. The study of environmental facets and environment-economy interplay within the current Coronavirus pandemic claims a larger academic production, resulting not yet relevant and scarcely explored and signals the need to boost public and environmental health scholarship response.JEL codes: C02, I15, I18, O13, Q56
An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Expert System for Clinical Staging of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Andoh Bernard , Adekoya Adebayo Felix , Weyori Benjamin Asubam , Tannor Elliot Koranteng
Published: December 2021

BackgroundChronic kidney disease (CKD) is a health complication faced by almost every nation, as Ghana is no exception. The Ghana Dialysis Service Foundation (DSF) indicated that an average of 12,000 kidney-failure cases is diagnosed among Ghanaians every year. An adequate diagnosis of suspected CKD will play a critical role in saving many lives. This study widens the predictive factors grouped as; personal lifestyle, laboratory findings, and medical history of a patient. The glomerulus filtration rate addresses the controversy of diagnosing CKD without considering aetiology.MethodsThe study adopted a structured, guided questionnaire to obtain the dataset from health records of 180 patients diagnosed with CKD. The Renal clinic of Komfo Anokye Teaching hospital gave access to the patients' health records following the clearance from the ethical committee in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The health records were categorized into Personal Lifestyle, Laboratory findings and Medical history. Eleven factors that influence the incidence of chronic kidney disease were identified and analyzed in this work. The developed model is based on a hybrid of Artificial Neural Network and Fuzzy logic (ANFIS) techniques.ResultsAn experimental result of the proposed predictive model recorded an average Root Mean Square Error of 0.85014 for training and 1.3983 for testing. The result showed a close relationship between the actual and predicted outcomes for the training and testing. The Modification of Diet for Renal Disease (MDRD) model is applied to the dataset to estimate the Glomerulus Filtration Rate to determine the stage of the Chronic Kidney Disease. The developed model (NANFIS) gave a better performance than the Modification of Diet for Renal Disease MODEL results.ConclusionsConsidering the aetiology that widens the predictive factors provides an improved perspective in predicting the stage of the disease. The Modification of Diet for Renal Disease model considers Age, race, sex and creatinine to determine the location of Chronic Kidney Disease. The increase in data would help to improve the performance of the developed model better.
Relationship Between Immobilization of Cells and Characterization of Binding Sites and of Cell-Free Bacteria and Immobilized Metal Biosorbents
Authors: Fadl Mostafa G. , Mohamed Zenat Kamel
Published: December 2021

Cell immobilization is preferred. Immobilized cells have been traditionally used for the treatment of sewage. The techniques employed for immobilization of cells are almost the same as those used for immobilization of enzymes with appropriate modifications. Entrapment and surface attachment techniques are commonly used. Gels, and to some extent membranes, are employed. Certain microorganisms were found to amass metallic components at a high limit Was Known as Bacterial Biosorption, Potent metal biosorbents among microorganisms, at low pH esteems, cell divider ligands are protonated and contend essentially with metals for official. With expanding pH, more ligands, such as amino and carboxyl groups, could be exposed, leading to attraction between these negative charges and the metals and consequently incremental biosorption onto the cell surface. Starting with isolation and identification of heavy metal-resistant bacteria from rock ore. Studying Factors Affecting Uranium Biosorption, Optimization of bacterial growth conditions and optimum for metal uptake by free and immobilized bacterial cells. All this evidence suggest that functions groups Represented in our study are responsible for metal uptake in our bacterial biomass beside change in peaks position which assigned for its groups confirm biosorption of metal ions from waste due to ions charge interaction comparing with immobilized we found increase in no of binding sites indicate that immobilized bacterial have high efficiency for metal up take which also change in peaks position which assigned for its groups confirm biosorption of metal ions from waste due to ions charge interaction, Where the high biosorption yield obtained by bacteria.
Topological Design of Strain Sensing Nanocomposites
Authors: Wang Long , Chiang Wei-Hung , Loh Kenneth J.
Published: December 2021

High-performance piezoresistive nanocomposites have attracted extensive attention because of their significant potential as next-generation sensing devices for a broad range of applications, such as monitoring structural integrity and human performance. While various piezoresistive nanocomposites have been successfully developed using different material compositions and manufacturing techniques, current development procedures typically involve empirical trial and error that can be laborious, inefficient, and, most importantly, unpredictable. Therefore, this paper aims to propose and validate a topological design-based methodology to strategically manipulate the piezoresistive effect of nanocomposites to achieve a wide range of optimized strain sensitivities without changing the material system. In particular, this work designed patterned nanocomposite thin films with stress-concentrating and stress-releasing topologies. The strain sensing properties of the different topology nanocomposites were characterized and compared via electromechanical experiments. Those results were compared to both linear and nonlinear piezoresistive material model numerical simulations. Both the experimental and computational results indicated that the stress-concentrating topologies could enhance strain sensitivity, whereas the stress-releasing topologies could significantly suppress bulk film piezoresistivity.
L,Varying Chest Compression Rates During Neonatal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Randomized Controlled Animal Trial
Authors: Bruckner Marlies , BSc Mattias Neset , Garcia-Hidalgo Catalina , Lee Tze-Fun , O'Reilly Megan , Cheung Po-Yin , Schmölzer Georg M.
Published: December 2021

Background To compare chest compression (CC) rates of 90/min with 180/min and their effect on the time to return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival, hemodynamic, and respiratory parameters. We hypothesized that asphyxiated newborn piglets that received CC at 180/min vs. 90/min during cardiopulmonary resuscitation would have a shorter time to ROSC.Methods Newborn piglets (n=7/group) were anesthetized, intubated, instrumented and exposed to 45 min normocapnic hypoxia followed by asphyxia and cardiac arrest. Piglets were randomly allocated to a CC rate of 180/min or 90/min. CC was performed using an automated chest compression machine. Hemodynamic and respiratory parameters and applied compression force were continuously measured.Results The mean (SD) time to ROSC was 91 (34) and 256 (97) sec for CC rates of 180/min and 90/min, respectively (p=0.08). The number of piglets that achieved ROSC was 7 (100%) and 5 (71%) with 180/min and 90/min CC rates, respectively (p=0.46). Hemodynamic parameters (i.e., diastolic and mean blood pressure, carotid blood flow, stroke volume, end-diastolic volume, left ventricular contractile function) and respiratory parameters (i.e., minute ventilation, peak inflation and peak expiration flow) were all improved with a CC rate of 180/min.Conclusion Time to ROSC and hemodynamic and respiratory parameters were all improved, with a CC rate of 180/min vs. 90/min. Higher CC rates during neonatal resuscitation warrant further investigation.
Clinically-translatable High-fidelity Photoacoustic Tomography Enhanced by Virtual Point Sources
Authors: Yao Junjie , Tang Yuqi , Tang Shanshan , Huang Chengwu , Chen Shigao
Published: December 2021

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), a hybrid imaging modality that acoustically detects the optical absorption contrast, is a promising technology for imaging hemodynamic functions in deep tissues. Particularly, PAT is capable of measuring the blood oxygenation level using hemoglobin as the endogenous contrast. However, the most clinically compatible PAT configuration usually employs a linear ultrasound transducer array and often suffers from the poor image fidelity, mostly due to the limited detection view of the transducer array. PAT can be improved by employing highly-absorbing contrast agents such as droplets and nanoparticles, which, however, have low clinical translation potential due to safety concerns and regulatory hurdles. Moreover, unlike hemoglobin, these exogenous contrast agents cannot report the functional hemodynamic information. In this work, we have developed a new methodology that can improve PAT’s image fidelity without hampering its functional capability or clinical translation potential. By using clinically-approved microbubbles as virtual point sources that strongly scatter the local pressure waves generated by surrounding hemoglobin, we can overcome the limited-detection-view problem and achieve high-fidelity functional PAT in deep tissues, a technology referred to as virtual-point-source PAT (VPS-PAT). We have thoroughly investigated the working principle of VPS-PAT by numerical simulations and phantom validations, showing the acoustic origin of signal enhancement and the superiority over traditional PAT. We have also demonstrated proof-of-concept applications of functional VPT-PAT for in vivo small-animal studies with physiological challenges. We expect that VPS-PAT can find broad applications in biomedical research and accelerated translation to clinical impact.
3D Texture Analysis of MRI Relaxation Time Maps for Assessment of Repair Cartilage with Treatment of Allogeneic Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells
Authors: Zhao Xinxin , Lu Qing , Ruan Jingjing , Li Jia , Dai Chengxiang , Pei Mengchao , Zhou Yan
Published: December 2021

Background: We used textural analysis matrix to examine the spatial distribution of pixel values and detect the compositional variation of repair cartilage with treatment of allogeneic human adipose-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells (haMPCs). Methods: Eighteen patients were divided randomly into three groups with intra-articular injections of haMPCs: the low-dose (1.0×107 cells), mid-dose (2.0×107), and high-dose (5.0×107) group with six patients each. 3D texture analyses based on gray level run-length matrix (GLRLM) of the segmented ROIs on MRI relaxation time maps including T1rho, T2, T2* and R2*. Five GLRLM parameters were analyzed, including run length non-uniformity (RLNonUni), grey level non-uniformity (GLevNonU), long run emphasis (LngREmph), short run emphasis (ShrtREmp) and fraction of image in runs (Fraction). We used the difference before and after treatment (D values) as the object to avoid errors caused by individual differences. Two-tailed Pearson linear correlation analysis was used to investigate correlations between texture parameters and the WOMAC scores. Results: The heterogeneity of spatial distribution of MRI relaxation time mapping pixels from three groups was decreased to varying degrees at 48 weeks after intra-articular injection of haMPCs. Spatial distribution of cartilage relaxation time maps pixels were uneven and layered, especially in T2 maps. Compared with base time, there were significant differences among three dose groups in GLRLM features for T1rho map including RLNonUni, GLevNonU, LngREmph, for T2 map including LngREmph, GLevNonU, ShrtREmp, for T2* map including RLNonUni, GLevNonU, and for R2* map including RLNonUni, GLevNonU. WOMAC pain scores were associated with RLNonUni of T1rho map, GLevNonU of T2 map, LngREmph of T2* map, LngREmph of R2* map and Fraction of T1rho map, whereas no significant correlations in other measurements.Conclusions: MRI texture analysis of cartilage may allow detection of the compositional variation of repair cartilage with treatment of allogeneic haMPCs. This has potential applications in understanding mechanism of stem cells repairing cartilage and assessing response to treatment.Trial registration: Clinicaltrials, NCT02641860. Registered 3 December 2015.https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02641860
Accurate Automatic Detection Method to Assist Physicians in Diagnosing Early Nondisplaced Fractures of Femoral Neck
Authors: Fang Jin-sheng , Chen Yen-Yu , Hsieh Shang-Lin , Lin Tsung-Li , Ko Chih-Yuan
Published: December 2021

Background - Nondisplaced femoral neck fractures are sometimes misdiagnosed by radiographs. We developed an automatic detection method using deep learning networks to pinpoint femoral neck fractures on radiographs to assist the physicians in making accurate diagnosis in the first place. Results - A total of approximately 3,840 images of non-displaced Garden type I and II femoral neck fracture cases collected from the Radiology Information System (RIS) from the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) database between 2018 and 2020 from the China Medical University Hospital (CMUH). Two senior orthopedic surgeons from the China Medical University Hospital participated in independently labeling the femoral neck margin and fracture line on these images as the training dataset for the deep learning network. Our proposed accurate automatic detection method, called direction-aware fracture detection network (DAFDNet), consists of two steps, namely region of interest (ROI) segmentation and fracture detection. The first step removes the noise region and pinpoints the femoral neck region. The fracture detection step uses direction-aware deep learning algorithm to mark the exact femoral neck fracture location in the region detected in the first step.Conclusions - Our proposed DAFDNet demonstrated over 94.8% accuracy in differentiating non-displaced Garden type I and type II femoral neck fracture cases. Our DAFDNet method outperforms the diagnostic accuracy of general practitioners and orthopedic surgeons in accurately locating Garden type I and type II fractures locations. This study can determine the feasibility of applying artificial intelligence in a clinical setting and how the use of deep learning networks assist physicians in improving the correct diagnosis compared to current traditional orthopedic manual assessments.
Genotyping and Association of the Presence of Helicobacter Pylori in Dental Plaque and Gastric Biopsy Specimens in Dyspeptic Patients by PCR-RFLP Technique in Southwest of Iran
Authors: Moosavian Mojtaba , Kushki Elyas , Navidifar Tahereh , Hajiani Eskandar , Mandegari Mahdi
Published: December 2021

The oral cavity can act as an extra gastric reservoir for H pylori, and also the presence of the bacteria in the oral cavity is associated with a higher risk of dental caries development. The aim of this study was to determine the genotype and evaluate the association of the presence of H. pylori in dental plaque and gastric biopsy specimens in dyspeptic patients in Ahvaz, Southwest of Iran. In this study, 106 patients with recruited dyspeptic complaints were selected and from each patient, two gastric antral biopsy specimens and two dental plagues were examined. The presence of H. pylori was identified by the Rapid Urease Test (RUT) and the amplification of ureAB and 16S rRNA genes. Also, to verify a hypothetical mouth-to-stomach infection route, the enzymatic digestions of three genes of cagA, vacA, and ureAB in H. pylori strains isolated from dental plaques and stomach samples were compared for each same case. H. pylori was found in the stomach of 52.8% (56 /106) and the dental plaques of 17.9% (19/106) of the studied cases. On the other hand, H. pylori was recognized in the stomach of all 19 cases with oral colonization. Following a combination of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of these three known genes on stomach and dental plague samples, 14 and 11 unique patterns were seen, respectively. However, for all H. pylori-positive cases (19), the comparison of RLFP patterns of these genes in the dental plaque and gastric biopsy specimens was different for the same case. This study showed, no significant association was observed between the presence of H. pylori in dental plaque and the stomach of the same case.
Clinical Features and Prognostic Factors of Elderly Individuals with Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma
Authors: Jin Shuai , Tao Lianyuan , Yu Haibo
Published: December 2021

Background: This study attempted to evaluate the clinical features and prognostic factors of elderly patients with retroperitoneal liposarcoma (RLS) and establish a nomogram to predict overall survival (OS). Methods: Patients diagnosed with RLS from 2010 to 2015 were identified from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database. Clinical features and prognostic factors were examined, and a nomogram was constructed. Results: There were many differences between the elderly patients with RLS and the young patients with RLS; these differences included marital status, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and OS (P<0.05). An analysis of prognostic factors showed that surgery, as the main treatment for elderly patients, can significantly improve prognosis. Histological type and AJCC stage also had a significant effect on OS. Unlike the young group, age was an independent prognostic factor for the elderly. Nomograms for the elderly population were developed based on these prognostic factors. The C-indexes of the 1-, 3- and 5-year survival nomograms were 0.737 (95% CI 0.692-0.782), 0.737 (0.692-0.782) and 0.7367 (0.692-0.782), and the AUCs at 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.749, 0.804 and 0.810, respectively. Further results demonstrate the superiority of this approach in risk stratification over the AJCC staging system. Conclusions: Elderly patients with RLS are a particular group of individuals who are distinct from young patients in many clinical characteristics, and the constructed nomograms could accurately predict OS in elderly patients with RLS.
TET3 Promotes HCC Proliferation And Metastasis Via lncRNA ARAP1-AS1
Authors: Zhuang Qiuyu , Xu Xuechun , Dai Zhiguo , Zheng Xiaoyuan , Guo Wuhua , Liu Xiaolong , Wang Yingchao , Zhao Bixing
Published: December 2021

Background: Aberrations of DNA methylation and proteins involved in DNA methylation process have been demonstrated to be correlated with tumor malignancy and prognosis of patients. The present study aims to investigate the preliminary mechanism underlying the biological functions of a DNA demethylation enzyme TET3 during HCC proliferation and metastasis.Methods: CCK8 assay, colony formation assay and transwell assay were performed to monito cell proliferation, migration and invasion. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was applied to screen the differentially expressed mRNA upon TET3 overexpression to investigate the downstream mediators of TET3 during HCC progression. The expression of TET3 or ARAP1-AS1 was examined by western blot or quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).Results: First, TET3 expression was increased in HCC tumor tissues and positively correlated with poor prognosis of HCC patients. Next, TET3 was found to promote the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. RNA-seq was then performed and unveiled lncRNA ARAP1-AS1, a well identified onco-lncRNA in several cancer types, as a candidate downstream mediator of TET3. The following results indicated that TET3 increased ARAP1-AS1 expression. And rescue experiments indicated that ARAP1-AS1 knockdown impaired the proliferation of HCC cells induced by TET3 overexpression.Conclusion: TET3 promoted the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells by regulating the expression of lncRNA ARAP1-AS1.
Structural and Band Structure Investigation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Incorporated PVA Nanocomposite Films
Authors: Aslam Muhammad , Basit Muhammad , Ahmad Muhammad , Raza Zulfiqar Ali
Published: December 2021

The work reported here deals with the fabrication and characterization of iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs – IONPs) incorporated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based nanocomposite films. The nanocomposite films, fabricated via solution casting route, have been characterized using advanced analytical techniques including x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and UV-visible (vis.) spectroscopy. There observed notable changes in the structural phases, crystallite size (2.3 to 2.1 nm), d-spacing (0.131 to 0.134 Å), optical absorption edge (5.12 to 4.84 eV), indirect bandgap (4.99 to 4.68 eV), direct bandgap (5.35 to 5.20 eV), and band tail (0.57 to 0.89 eV) from native PVA to nanocomposite films. The refractive index and optical conductivity enhancements were also observed on incorporating IONPs into the PVA matrix. It could be inferred that a minute loading of IONPs might induce significant alternation in opto-structural properties of the PVA-based nanocomposites for potential optoelectronic applications.
Effects of Transthoracic Echocardiography on the Prognosis of Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: a Propensity Score Matched Analysis of the MIMIC-III Database
Authors: Dong Daoran , Wang Yan , Wang Chan , Zong Yuan
Published: December 2021

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has high mortality and is mainly related to the circulatory failure.Therefore, real-time monitoring of cardiac function and structural changes has important clinical significance.Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a simple and noninvasive real-time cardiac examination which is widely used in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of TTE on the prognosis of ICU patients with ARDS.Methods: The data of ARDS patients were retrieved from the MIMIC-III v1.4 database and patients were divided into the TTE group and non-TTE group. Then, the baseline data were compared between the two groups, and the effect of TTE on the prognosis of ARDS patients was analyzed through multivariate logistic analysis and the propensity score (PS).Results: A total of 1,346 ARDS patients were enrolled, including 519 (38.6%) cases in the TTE group and 827 (61.4%) cases in the non-TTE group. Compared with the non-TTE group, the 28-day mortality of patients in the TTE group was greatly improved (OR=0.64 95%CI: 0.48-0.86, P=0.003). The length of ICU stay in the TTE group was significantly shorter than that in the non-TTE group (17d vs.14d, P=0.0001). The infusion volume in the TTE group was significantly less than that of the non-TTE group (6.2L vs.5.5L on day 1, P=0.0012). Importantly, the patients in the TTE group were weaned ventilators earlier than those in the non-TTE group (ventilator-free days within 28 d: 21 d vs. 19.8 d, respectively, P = 0.071).Conclusion: TTE can lower the risk of 28-d mortality in patients with ARDS.