bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Xenogenous implanted dental follicle stem cells promote periodontal regeneration throughinduces N2 phenotype of neutrophils
Authors: LIU LI , Wen Yuqi , Chen Liangrui , Li Maoxue , Yu Jialu , Tian Weidong , Wu Yafei , Guo Shujuan
Published: July 2024

Background
Periodontal tissue loss is the main reason of tooth mobility and loss caused by periodontal disease. Dental follicle stem cells (DFSCs) have significant therapeutic potential in periodontal regeneration, which maybe mainly depends on its potent immunomodulatory capacity. Consequently, this study aims to elucidate the impact of implanted xenogenous DFSCs on innate immune responses during early and late stage in periodontal defect repair period.
Methods
To trace and investigate the immunomodulation mechanisms of DFSCs in vivo, DFSCs were engineered (E-DFSCs) using lentiviral vectors expressing CD63-enhanced green fluorescent protein (CD63-EGFP) and β-Actin-mCherry protein (ACTB-mCherry) to exhibit green and red fluorescence. The biological characteristics and functions of E-DFSCs were verified by proliferation, differentiation and co-culture experiments in vitro. In vivo, the periodontal regeneration capacity of E-DFSC was detected by implantation of murine periodontal defect model, and the response of innate immune cells were detected at 1st ,3rd, 5th day (early stage) and 4th week (late stage) after implantation.
Results
In vitro assessments showed that E-DFSCs retain similar properties to their non-engineered counterparts but exhibit enhanced macrophage immunomodulation capability. In mice models, four-week micro-CT and histological evaluations indicated that E-DFSCs have equivalent efficiency to DFSCs in periodontal defects regeneration. At the early stage of repair in mice periodontal defect, fluorescence tracking showed that implanted E-DFSCs might primarily activate endogenous cells through direct contact and indirect actions, and most of these cells is myeloperoxidase positive neutrophils. Additionally, compared with the control group, the neutrophils infiltration and conversion of N2-type were significantly increased in the E-DFSC group. At the late stage of defect regeneration, more M2-type macrophages, fewer TRAP + osteoclasts and upregulated OPG/RANKL ratio were detected in the E-DFSC group compared to the control group, which indicated that immune balance tilt toward healing and bone-formation.
Conclusion
The xenogenous implanted DFSCs can induce N2 phenotype of neutrophils in early stage, which can activate the innate immune mechanism of the host to promote periodontal tissue regeneration.
Copper-cysteamine nanoparticle-mediated microwave dynamic therapy promotes colorectal cancer metastasis by inhibiting promoting ferroptosis via downregulating PTK2B
Authors: Zhou Hui , Zhang ZiJiang , Liu Zhongtao , Xiong Li , Wen Yu , Liu Juan , Chen Wei , Xu Jiachi
Published: July 2024

Cancer metastasis stands as the primary cause of cancer-related deaths. Recent studies highlight the role of ferroptosis in inhibiting cancer metastasis. In our prior research, we discovered that Cu-Cy-mediated Microwave Dynamic Therapy (MWDT) triggered ferroptosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, leading to reduced cell proliferation. However, the impact of MWDT on tumor metastasis remains unclear, as does the mechanism behind induced iron death. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of MWDT on CRC cell metastasis and uncover the underlying mechanisms. Our findings reveal that MWDT effectively suppresses CRC cell metastasis and significantly decreases PTK2B expression. Functional analyses demonstrate that altering PTK2B expression levels can modulate CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Further investigations unveil PTK2B's regulation of GPX4 and ACSL4 expression, which in turn influences LPO and MDA levels. Targeted overexpression of PTK2B attenuates MWDT's pro-ferroptosis effect and partially reverses its inhibitory effects on tumor cell metastasis and proliferation. Collectively, these results suggest that MWDT inhibits CRC progression and metastasis through PTK2B-mediated ferroptosis, presenting a novel therapeutic approach for metastatic cancer.
New domain decomposition algorithm for convection-dominated diffusion equations with the Samarskii scheme and the Jacobi explicit scheme
Authors: Xue Guanyu , Gao Yulong
Published: July 2024

A new algorithm for convection-dominated diffusion equations is proposed. Based on the domain decomposition method (DDM), the algorithm integrates the Samarskii scheme and the Jacobi explicit scheme with explicit/implicit coupling to provide parallelism. The domain decomposition method decomposes a large global problem into multiple sub-problems which can be solved on multiple processors in parallel. The parallel algorithm without needing numerical correction can obtain accuracy of Samarskii scheme while maintaining unconditional stability, which marks a step forward compared to the previous DDM. Both theoretical analysis and numerical examples show the accuracy and efficiency of the new algorithm.
AMS Subject Classification: 65M06; 65M12; 65M55; 65Y05
A Self-Questioning Framework Towards Knowledge Self-Organization in Children's Readings via Hybrid Prompt Learning
Authors: He Guoxiu , Yao Jiacheng , Xu Xin
Published: July 2024

The cultivation of children's intellectual and literacy skills will benefit from heuristic questioning in educational readings like fairy tales. However, as not all stories naturally encompass expert-derived questions, machine-generated questions need to serve as indispensable supplements to enrich the learning experience. Unfortunately, current text generation models fail to generate high-cognitive educational questions closely related to diverse knowledge of stories. To this end, we propose a novel framework that employs automatic hybrid prompt learning to enable self-questioning to organize knowledge. Initially, we design an identifier to locate sentences containing knowledge within a given text, and then train a model to generate corresponding knowledge inferences. Each inference, which acts as the hard prompt, is concatenated with the soft prompt (\textit{i.e.}, learnable parameters) to construct the hybrid prompt. Equipped with these prompts, pre-trained language models can be facilitated to generate questions and then their answers. These question and answer pairs are distillations of the reading's knowledge. We evaluate the generation performance of our framework on an educational question-answering benchmark known as FairytaleQA. Experimental results demonstrate that our framework outperforms baselines according to automatic and manual evaluation metrics. Notably, our approach excels at generating diverse heuristic questions. Moreover, our work holds the potential to contribute significantly to the advancement of children's education.
α-robust analysis of the mixed finite element method for the time-fractional Navier-Stokes equations
Authors: Wang Zhen , Zhu Rui , Wei Yabing
Published: July 2024

This study investigates the fully discrete mixed finite element approximation for the Navier-Stokes equations,incorporating the Caputo fractional derivative with an order $\alpha\in(0,1)$.For spatial discretization of the time-fractional Navier-Stokes equations,the Taylor-Hood finite element method is utilized.In the temporal direction, both the L1 scheme and the fast L1 scheme are employed under nonuniform meshes.The stability and convergence of these schemes are established,evaluating the velocity field in both $L^2$-norm and $H^1$-norm,and the pressure in the $L^2$-norm. Notably, all results demonstrate $\alpha$-robustness,ensuring their validity as $\alpha$ approaches 1 from the left.Furthermore, numerical experiments are conducted to validate the theoretical findings,and comparisons with the classical Navier-Stokes equations are presentedto enhance comprehension and practical application of these two model types.
Mathematics Subject Classification. 65M06; 65M12; 65M60.
Correlation of enamel surface roughness, hardness, and demineralization following the use of orthodontic brackets
Authors: Zawawi Rahaf , Almosa Naif
Published: July 2024

Objective
This study aimed to assess the correlation among altered enamel surface roughness, micro-hardness, and demineralization depth follwing the use of orthodontic brackets.
Materials and methods
Data of enamel surface roughness, micro-hardness, and demineralization depth were retrieved from two previous studies (each included 99 extracted human premolar teeth). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlation between variables.
Results
There was a non- significant weak positive correlation between enamel surface roughness and demineralization depth (r = + 0.151, P = 0.134). A significantly moderate negative correlation was observed between enamel surface micro-hardness and demineralization depth (r = − 0.504, P < 0.001). In addition, a significantly weak negative correlation was observed between the enamel surface roughness and micro-hardness (r = − 0.289, P = 0.004).
Conclusion
Enamel surface properties could affect each other and influence demineralization penetration. Enamel surface roughness is inversely correlated with hardness, and its hardness is inversely correlated with the demineralization depth. Clinical relevance: Dental enamel demineralization is multifactorial; there is limited data regarding enamel surface characteristics contribution its demineralization. This paper focuses on evaluating the correlation between altered enamel surface roughness, micro-hardness, and demineralization depth following the use of orthodontic brackets; thus, the gained data will offer a valuable information for current orthodontic practice (toward a more preventive practice), future research, and material improvement.
Thermodynamic modelling of Ag-Si nano phase diagram including shape effect
Authors: singroha Seema , Yadav Pooja , Kashyap Sanjay , Shekhar Chander
Published: July 2024

CALPHAD method is an especially effective method to calculate the nano phase diagram of systems by combining the thermodynamic database for the bulk with that of the nano systems. In the present study, the influence of particle size and shape has been studied for Ag-Si the system. The Ag-Si system's thermodynamic characteristics are strongly impacted by the change in particle size. The variation in melting temperature of nano particles due to change in their shape has also been calculated for different shapes like thin film, icosahedron, wire, spherical, hexahedron, octahedron and tetrahedron for Ag nanoparticles. It is found that melting temperature depression is minimum for thin films and maximum for tetrahedron-shaped nanoparticles. In this study, the calculated nano phase diagram and the bulk experimental data were compared.
Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Observable Social Cognition Rating Scale (OSCARS) in Arabic-speaking patients with schizophrenia
Authors: Fekih-Romdhane Feten , Kerbage Georges , Hachem Nagham , Murr Michelle El , Haddad Georges , Hayek Elissar El , Hallit Souheil
Published: July 2024

Background
No Arabic-language version of the Observable Social Cognition Rating Scale (OSCARS) has been made available that allows to properly and specifically assess the social cognition (SC) construct in Arabic-speaking populations, and inform the development and evaluation of strategies aimed at improving clinical and functional outcomes. Besides, only scant research has been done on SC in schizophrenia in the Arab contexts. This study aimed to examine the preliminary psychometric characteristics of the Arabic translated version of the OSCARS, including factor structure, reliability, concurrent validity and measurement invariance across sex.
Method
This cross-sectional study has been conducted during February and March 2024, and included 113 chronic, remitted and clinically stable patients with schizophrenia (mean age of 57.52 ± 10.35 years, 63.5% males).
Results
The originally proposed two-factor model (Social Cognitive Bias and Social Cognitive Ability) showed acceptable model fit in our sample of Arabic-speaking patients with schizophrenia, after removal of two items (items 2 and 3) which yielded low factor loadings. The Arabic version of the OSCARS total and factor scores showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha for of .85-.94. Measurement invariance was established across sex groups at the configural, metric, and scalar levels. No significant differences emerged between male and female patients for latent mean scores of the OSCARS. Finally, concurrent validity was supported by appropriate patterns of correlations with functioning, recovery and emotional intelligence measures. In particular, SC scores correlated negatively and moderately with levels of functioning and recovery of patients, as well as negatively and strongly with self-reported emotional intelligence.
Conclusion
The Arabic OSCARS stands out as a brief, valid, reliable and comprehensive assessment tool to evaluate SC in Arabic-speaking patients with schizophrenia based on the perspectives of interviewers. Offering the Arabic validated version of the OSCARS to clinicians and researchers who work in Arab settings may close the existing gap in the assessment of SC in schizophrenia. Due to its easy and fast application, the Arabic OSCARS is believed to be highly valuable in clinical and research practices.
Neoadjuvant Sintilimab Plus Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Real-World Study
Authors: Wang Congcong , XU Lulu , LIU Zeyu , JIANG Fenge , LIU Jiannan , SUN Ping , LIU Aina
Published: July 2024

Background: Immunotherapy has demonstrated promise in treating advanced esophageal cancer, yet evidence on neoadjuvant immunotherapy for locally advanced cases remains limited. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
Methods: A retrospective review of 54 patients undergoing radical esophageal cancer surgery following neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy was conducted. The treatment regimen consisted of sintilimab (200mg) with albumin paclitaxel (100 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8) and cisplatin (75 mg/m2 on day 1) every 3 weeks. Efficacy and safety were evaluated, alongside peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulation counts and clinicopathological characteristics to identify predictive factors of neoadjuvant efficacy.
Results: All 54 patients underwent surgery, with 53(98.1%) achieving R0 resection. Pathological complete response (pCR) was observed in 22(40.7%) patients. The overall response rate (ORR) was 83.3% (45/54) and the DCR was 100.00% (54/54). A significant association between pCR and CD4+/CD8+ ratio and frequency of CD4+ T cell (p = 0.01, p = 0.01) was identified.
Conclusions: Neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy combining sintilimab with chemotherapy resulted in favorable clinical outcomes in locally advanced ESCC, accompanied by well tolerability. Peripheral blood CD4+/CD8+ ratio and frequency of CD4+ T cell emerged as promising predictive biomarkers for treatment efficacy.
Influence of Cold Temperatures on Pollen Viability and Agronomic Traits of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) in the Post-Rainy Season
Authors: Gaddameedi Anil , Phuke Rahul M , Gorthy Sunita , J Jayakumar. , Bomma Naresh , Kumar A. Ashok
Published: July 2024

Low night temperatures during the November-December flowering stage significantly impact sorghum production in semi-arid regions of India, particularly during critical growth stages. To address this issue, a randomized complete block design experiment was conducted at ICRISAT, India, to characterize 16 sorghum genotypes, including nine varieties and seven hybrid parental lines, across controlled environment research facilities and precision experimental fields, with three replications for each genotype. The study found B line 296B and R line ICSR 93034 to be the most susceptible to cold treatments, while B lines 104B, ICSB52, and 185B showed better tolerance. Popular post-rainy sorghum cultivars and a line from Russia demonstrated cold tolerance, exhibiting higher values for pollen viability, panicle harvest index (PHI), and grain yield with minimal deviation between cold and control treatments. Treatment 2 (25°C/5°C) had the most detrimental effects, with the lowest values for pollen viability, PHI, and grain yield. Significant positive correlations were found between PHI (r = 0.67, p ≤ 0.01) and pollen viability (r = 0.50, p ≤ 0.01) with grain yield, indicating PHI's efficacy as a phenotypic indicator for cold tolerance. In field experiments, genotypes and date of sowing (DOS) significantly affected all studied traits, except plant height, with mean PHI, panicle weight, and grain yield notably reduced with the second DOS (8th November), highlighting the impact of cold on sorghum genotypes.
Impact of Temperature Upon Expression Levels of Thrr, Gnrhr, and Fshr Leading to Gonadal Maturation of G5 Transgenicmutiara Strain Female Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus)
Authors: Grandiosa Roffi , Buwono Ibnu Dwi , Mulyani Yuniar , Pratiwy Fittrie Meyllianawaty
Published: July 2024

This study aims to determine the impact of temperature upon the relative expression ratio of thyroid hormone receptor (THRr), gonadotrophin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHr), follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHr) and ꞵ-actin genes as internal control expression in transgenic G5 mutiara female catfish and non-transgenic catfish using real-time PCR. In addition, the expression of growth hormone (GH) and estradiol (E2) levels which both induced gonadal growth was further observed. The temperature treatment (A: 22°C; B: 26°C; C: 30°C for transgenic fish; and A*: 22°C; B*: 26°C; C*: 30°C for non-transgenic fish) were designed with 6 replicates (n = 6) during a 60-day rearing period. A warm temperature (26°C) was the optimum temperature that induced THRr, GnRHr, FSHr gene expressions (means, 3.40 ± 0.69, 4.23 ± 0.62, 7.25 ± 0.43 respectively) and induced higher GH (means, 6.13 ± 0.78 ng/ml) and E2 (means 5.78 ± 1.05 ng/ml) levels leading to an increase in transgenic ovary weight (means, 59.90 ± 2.20 g) in transgenic fish higher than non-transgenic. Meanwhile, low temperature (22°C) and high temperature (30°C) caused a decrease in the expression levels of THRr, GnRHr, FSHr for transgenic fish and for non-transgenic fish. The presence of CgGH in G5 transgenic catfish was able to maintain adequate GH levels and has the potential to stimulate the growth of female gonads at high temperatures (30°C).
The Risk Factors for Massive Cerebral Infarction Secondary to Epidural Hematoma Caused by Brain Trauma in Children
Authors: Yao Guojie , Si Yue , Lu Dan , 赵 晗文 , Jiang Xiaobing , Zhang Gang , Wang Jiancai , Yang Liu , Yang Yanping , Li Yuqian , Zhao Haikang
Published: July 2024

Massive cerebral infarction (MCI), which is associated with adverse outcomes and significant mortality rates, is one of the most severe complications following epidural hematoma (EDH) caused by brain trauma. In pediatric patients, the incidence of MCI is higher than in adults, yet current research on this condition remains limited. We conducted a multi-center retrospective study, collecting 15 clinical indicators from a cohort of 62 pediatric EDH patients who developed MCI and 65 pediatric EDH patients without MCI. The univariate and multivariate logistic analysis were performed for the preliminary evaluation of post-operative MCI to obtain the influencing factors of MCI. Of various parameters, 8 potential risk factors of cerebral infarction were revealed through the univariate analysis with statistically significant differences. And multivariate analysis of these indicators showed that 7 factors, including age, mid-line shift, preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale scores, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, multiple injuries, mydriasis and perioperative shock turned out to be the main significant risk factors. Our results provide predictors for children cerebral infarction, making early recognition for risks and aggressive managements more possible to prevent MCI.
Research on Rolling Bearing Fault Diagnosis Method Based on Simulation Source Domain to Experimental Target Domain with Improved Alternating Transfer Learning
Authors: Wang Heng , Wang Peng , Wang Siyuan , Li Danqing
Published: July 2024

Rolling bearing fault diagnosis is of significant importance in practical production and life. However, existing research still faces certain challenges. For instance, source domain data for rolling bearing fault diagnosis often originates from laboratory experiments, making it difficult to acquire real-world data during the transfer learning process. Additionally, the training approach of domain adaptation networks lags behind, failing to fully leverage the advantages of loss functions. To address these issues, this paper proposes a rolling bearing fault diagnosis method based on joint IATL (Improved Alternating Transfer Learning) from the dynamics simulation model source domain to the target domain. This paper considers the influence of real-time positions of rolling elements on the radial displacement excitation function when the rolling elements enter the defect region and takes into account factors such as the size of fault defects and bearing speed on the impact force at the edge of rolling elements after impacting defects. The dynamic equations of rolling bearings are modified to construct a dynamic simulation model of rolling bearing fault states to obtain a source domain dataset with rich fault label information. To harness the high recognition rate of CNN for images and improve the training speed of the model, vibration signal time-domain waveforms are directly converted into grayscale images as inputs to the neural network. An improved alternating transfer learning approach is proposed to enhance the loss function and training method for transfer learning. This is achieved by alternately calculating loss functions in different layers, reducing the distance between different domains, and updating network parameters alternately, harnessing the complementary advantages of different loss functions. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) bearing dataset is used as the target domain dataset. Three experimental verifications are conducted involving the same bearing model, cross-bearing model, and a small-sample dataset in the transfer from simulation domain to target domain. The results indicate that compared to algorithms that only calculate CORAL and MMD loss functions, this paper’s algorithm effectively reduces the feature distribution differences between domain data and exhibits a higher fault classification accuracy.
The Influencing Factors and Bridge Relationships of PTSD and Depression Symptoms among Snakebite Victims: A Cross-Sectional Community-Based Survey
Authors: Chen Yu , FU Wenning , Song Xingyue , Hu Yanlan , Wang Juntao , Hao Wenjie , He Lanfen , Diané Mohamed , Souaré Ibrahima Sory , Guo Wei , Lv Chuanzhu , Han Xiaotong , Yan shijiao
Published: July 2024

Background
The incidence of comorbid depression and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is higher in snakebite victims. However, it is currently unclear the current situation and influencing factors of depression and PTSD in Chinese snakebite victims.
Methods
A representative sample of 6837 snakebite victims were assessed with the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (Civilian Version) and The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Multivariate analyses, including network analysis, evaluated the influencing factors of PTSD and depression caused by snake bites, as well as the bridge symptoms of comorbidity networks.
Results
Among 6,837 snakebite victims, 79.5% reported PTSD symptoms and 81.4% reported depression. Comorbidity of PTSD and depression was found in 75.1%. Key factors included the presence sequelae after snakebite (ORPTSD =2.307, ORDepression=1.885), time to medical facilities (6–8 hours: ORPTSD =3.172, ORDepression =2.462), and marital status (divorced/widowed: ORPTSD =1.784, ORDepression =1.760). Symptoms I1 ("Repeated disturbing memories") and D1 ("Bothered by things that don’t usually bother me") bridged PTSD and depression networks.
Conclusion
The primary psychological challenges for snakebite victims in China are Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, which is concerning. Standardized diagnosis and treatments, timely medical care, and stable marital relationships can reduce risks. Additional psychological support, especially for those with severe bridge symptoms, and managing negative memories can help. Further research should concentrate on understanding victims' psychological states and developing effective interventions. And devising effective intervention programs.
Histopathology of the Tongue in a Hamster Model of COVID-19
Authors: Coggins John M , Saito Marina Hosotani , Cook Rebecca , Urata Shinji , Urata Megumi , Harsell Nantian Lin , Tan Wilhelmina Nanrui , Figueira Bibiana Toro , Bradley Megan , Quadri Nadia Z. , Saripada Janisah Amirah I. , Reyna Rachel A. , Maruyama Junki , Paessler Slobodan , Makishima Tomoko
Published: July 2024

Objective
With altered sense of taste being a common symptom of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), our objective was to investigate the presence and distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) within the tongue over the course of infection.
Methods
Golden Syrian hamsters were inoculated intranasally with SARS-CoV-2 and tongues were collected at 2, 3, 5, 8, 17, 21, 35, and 42 days post-infection (dpi) for analysis. In order to test for gross changes in the tongue, the papillae of the tongue were counted. Paraffin-embedded thin sections of the tongues were labeled for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antigen.
Results
There was no difference in fungiform or filiform papillae density throughout the course of infection. SARS-CoV-2 antigen was observed in the circumvallate papillae taste buds (3–35 dpi) and autonomic ganglia (5–35 dpi), as well as in the serous and mucous salivary glands of the posterior tongue (2–42 dpi).
Conclusion
The presence and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 suggest that the virus could cause taste disturbance by infecting the circumvallate taste buds. This effect could be exacerbated by a diminished secretion of saliva caused by infection of the serous salivary glands and the autonomic ganglia which innervate them.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: Threats and opportunities
Authors: Ziccardi Leonardo , yanai Aurora , Fearnside Philip , Stark Scott
Published: July 2024

Brazil holds the largest portion of the Amazon rainforest, which, in addition to its enormous biodiversity and vital role regulating local and global climate, is home to a great diversity of traditional communities and Indigenous peoples. Between August 2020 and July 2021, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached its highest rate in a decade, and record numbers of forest fires were detected. Considering the 2009–2022 period, an upward trend in deforestation was observed both inside and outside of conservation units (protected areas for biodiversity). One type of conservation unit, Environmental Protection Areas (APAs), had little or no effect in slowing deforestation. We show that deforestation rates during the last decade were partially associated with profits to soy growers, increases in cattle ranching and agricultural areas, and government policies. The recent increases in deforestation and forest degradation in Amazonian forests have led to international proposals that could drastically affect Brazil’s economy, which is the largest in Latin America. At the same time, these proposals also open new avenues for sustainable economic development that have been successful in reducing deforestation in developing countries. The search for more sustainable forms of income and development that protect ecosystem services provided by forests is essential for the Amazonian population and for climate change mitigation in Brazil.
TGF-β1 inhibits autophagy and collagen degradation in rat bronchial fibroblasts
Authors: Zhang Lanying , Yu Siyuan , Zhang Fuan , Chen Jie , Liao Shixia , Liu Yuting , Zhou Jian , An Xuan , Zhang Wei , Ouyang Yao
Published: July 2024

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major global health concern with an increasing prevalence. Notably, autophagy plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of airway remodeling. However, further research is required to determine the precise mechanism of autophagy in rat bronchial fibroblasts (RBFs). In this study, we investigated the role of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) on RBF-related collagen degradation following autophagy. We established rapamycin- and starvation-induced autophagy models of RBFs and then analyzed the expression of autophagy-related proteins (LC3-II, Beclin-1, and P62) in RBFs treated with TGF-β1. We also measured the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and its inhibitor, matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor-1 (TIMP-1) in the RBF supernatant using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results showed that TGF-β1 promoted RBF growth in a concentration-dependent manner, while rapamycin lowered RBF survival rates. TGF-β1 downregulated LC3-II and Beclin-1 expression but increased P62 expression levels after rapamycin and starvation-induced autophagy in RBFs. Adding TGF-β1 elevated TIMP-1 protein levels and reduced MMP-1 protein levels. The present study showed for the first time that TGF-β1 reduces airway remodeling in RBFs by inhibiting autophagy and collagen degradation, suggesting the potential therapeutic value of TGF-β1 for the prevention and treatment of COPD.
Signal timing Coordination optimization for intersections adjacent to roundabout
Authors: Zhang He , Zhang Xinyue , Fan Jihong , Zhang Yuanzheng , Guo Jinna
Published: July 2024

Aiming at the problem of traffic congestion or even locking in the roundabout, this paper takes the traffic flow of the roundabout as the research object, and researches the coordinated control method of the intersection near the roundabout. Firstly, the traffic flow theory is applied to the roundabout and its upstream intersection, and the correlation on the regional relationship and geometric condition between the inlet area and the weaving area of the roundabout and the upstream intersection is analyzed. The traffic state change between the regions is used to represent the traffic flow operation. and the upstream entrance of the intersection is used as the control source to apply the theory of coordinated control of signals at arterial intersections, combining regional relationship and geometric condition.The roundabout of Huanan Square in Dalian is used as a case study to solve the problem of internal locking of the roundabout.The results show that this method can play a good role in solving the serious congestion of the roundabout.
Re-staging of Meige's syndrome Based on Clinical Radiofrequency Treatment Options
Authors: Huang Bing , Huang Hao , Lin Huidan , Zhao Xian , Li Xue , Li Yang , Qian Tao , Zhou Qinghe
Published: July 2024

Background
The pathogenesis of Meige's syndrome (MS) remains unknown, posing a challenge for clinicians. The current classification system for MS causes confusion and difficulty in selecting target nerves for cranial nerve radiofrequency therapy. Therefore, to simplify the process of choosing radiofrequency therapy for MS, we suggest reorganizing the syndrome based on the affected cranial nerves.
Methods
The new classification of MS, which is based on the cranial nerves responsible, is more aligned with the requirements of radiofrequency therapy. Start by identifying the initial frequency of spasms from the patient's clinical symptoms, including muscles such as the frontal, orbicularis oculi, buccinator, orbicularis oris, latissimus, temporal, masseter, medial and lateral pterygoid, pharyngeal, lingual, sternocleidomastoid, and trapezius. Then, determine the involved cranial nerve based on the muscle's nerve innervation.
Results
The 117 MS patients were categorized into different groups based on their cranial nerve involvement: 73.50% were classified as the facial nerve type, 5.13% as the trigeminal nerve type, 2.56% as the sublingual nerve type, 0.85% as the glossopharyngeal nerve type, 4.27% as the accessory nerve type, and 13.67% as multiple groups of the cranial nerve complex.
Conclusions
The current classification of MS, which is based on clinical symptoms, does not make it easy to choose the target nerves for MS radiofrequency treatment. However, reclassifying MS according to the affected cranial nerves could simplify the process of radiofrequency treatment for MS.
Exploring Alu-Driven DNA Transductions in the Primate Genomes
Authors: Halabian Reza , Storer Jessica M. , Hoyt Savannah J. , Hartley Gabrielle A. , Brosius Jürgen , O’Neill Rachel J. , Makalowski Wojciech
Published: July 2024

Long terminal repeats (LTRs) and non-LTRs retrotransposons, aka retroelements, collectively occupy a substantial part of the human genome. Certain non-LTR retroelements, such as L1 and SVA, have the potential for DNA transduction, which involves the concurrent mobilization of flanking non-transposon DNA during retrotransposition. These events can be detected by computational approaches. Despite being the most abundant short interspersed sequences (SINEs) that are still active within the genomes of humans and other primates, the transduction rate caused by Alu sequences remains unexplored. Therefore, we conducted an analysis to address this research gap and utilized an in-house program to probe for the presence of Alu-related transductions in the human genome. We analyzed 118,489 full-length AluY subfamilies annotated within the first complete human reference genome, T2T-CHM13. For comparative insights, we extended our exploration to two non-human primate genomes, the chimpanzee and the rhesus monkey. After manual curation, our findings did not confirm any Alu-mediated transductions, whose source genes are, unlike L1 or SVA, transcribed by RNA polymerase III, implying that they are infrequent or possibly absent not only in the human but also in chimpanzee and rhesus monkey genomes. Although we identified loci in which the 3’ Target Site Duplication (TSD) was located distantly from the retrotransposed AluYs, a transduction hallmark, our study could not find further support for such events. The observation of these instances can be explained by the incorporation of other nucleotides into the poly(A) tails in conjunction with polymerase slippage.
Behavioral Risk Factors Clusters and their Associations with Self-Reported Burdens Among University Students in Finland
Authors: Ansari Walid El , El-Ansari Kareem , Sebena Rene
Published: July 2024

Introduction: No research among Finnish universities grouped students into clusters, based on their lifestyle behavioral risk factors (BRFs), and appraised relationships of the clusters with self-reported burdens, adjusting for confounders. The current study undertook this task.
Methods: Students (n=1169) at Turku University completed online questionnaire comprising sociodemographic variables (age, sex, income, social support), 18 burdens, and 5 BRFs (smoking, alcohol, drug use, food habits). Factor analysis reduced burdens into factors; cluster analysis of BRFs categorized students into clusters. Regression models appraised associations between sociodemographics and clusters with burdens.
Results: Mean age was ≈23 years, with ≈70% females, 23.4% smokers, 28.8% problematic drinkers, 21% illicit drug/s users, and mean dietary guideline adherence=4.84±1.57. Factor analysis of burdens generated four factors: ‘Studies’=3 items; ‘Future’=3 items; ‘Relationships’=7 items; and ‘Needs’=5 items. Cluster analysis produced four BRFs clusters with significantly different BRFs and sociodemographics. Cluster 1 exhibited less risk-taking behaviors, Cluster 4 comprised more risk-taking, and the other two clusters fell in-between. Regression showed that females were more likely to report ‘Studies’+‘Relationships’ burdens; higher social support was associated with less burdens generally; older age was associated with less ‘Studies’+‘Future’+‘Relationships’ burdens; and sufficient income was associated with less ‘Studies’+‘Future’+‘Needs’ burdens. Compared to Cluster 1, Cluster 4 membership was more likely to feel ‘Needs’ burdens; Cluster 3 more likely to report ‘Relationships’+‘Needs’ burdens (p range: <0.05 to <0.01 for all).
Conclusion: Controlling for sociodemographics, cluster membership was more influenced by students’ perceptions of ‘Relationships’+‘Needs’, rather than academic difficulties of ‘Studies’ or unsecure ‘Future’. Risk taking was more likely with relationship difficulties, isolation, and day-to-day problems (housing, financial situation, health) rather than academic load or concerns for future prospects. Preventive and intervention efforts tackling students’ lifestyle behaviours need to consider programs aimed at better relationship building/maintenance to prevent isolation, while mitigating ‘on-the-ground’ everyday challenges that students face.
PV-GNN:Point-Voxel 3D Object Detection based on Graph Neural Network
Authors: Fei Hansheng , Zhao Jiale , Zhang ZhiPeng , Wang Honggeng , Huang Xiangdang
Published: July 2024

Recently, two-stage detectors have been widely used in 3D object detection.Most of them perform ROI feature extraction using keypoint sampling or re-voxelization in the second stage.However, these methods do not make full use of the point correlation and ignore the surface texture information hidden in the point cloud.In this paper, we propose a novel 3D object detection framework, PointVoxel-GNN (PV-GNN), to accurately detect 3D objects from point cloud data.The framework uses both voxel neural network and PointNet-based set abstraction to extract more diverse point cloud features, and uses graph neural network to fully exploit the correlation of point cloud data.Specifically, the framework firstly converts the sparse point cloud data into a regular voxel network, and extracts effective features through the neural network. Then, all the voxels of the whole scene feature volume are summarized into a small number of feature keypoints by using the voxel-to-keypoint scene coding module.In order to further generate high-quality proposals, a GNN-RoI pooling layer is proposed to explicitly extract the texture information of the object surface through the graph neural network.Compared with the traditional pooling operation, GNN-RoI can encode richer context information, which is used to accurately estimate the confidence and location of the object.The framework has conducted a large number of experiments on KITTI dataset and Waymo Open dataset, and our proposed PV-GNN redetection accuracy has achieved significant progress.
Characterization of Changes in Torrefied Cellulose and Their Relationship with Glucose Yield: A Mechanistic Study
Authors: Tripathi Jaya , Ciolkosz Daniel
Published: July 2024

Various physical, chemical, and structural changes were assessed that occur during torrefaction of cellulose were assessed, including water uptake, tensile strength, FTIR, TG-MS & H-NMR spectra, and glucose yield. The water uptake capacity is positively correlated to glucose yield which suggests that water-substrate interaction may be a primary driver of the hydrolysis process. The wet-tensile strength of fibrous cellulose increases with torrefaction and is negatively correlated to glucose yield. The hydrogen bonding capacity of torrefied samples is likely to be impacted by the dehydration reaction induced by torrefaction, as indicated by discernible changes in both the FTIR spectra and solid-state H-NMR spectra. The emergence of a peak at 1724 cm-1 in the spectrum of torrefied cellulose is also suggestive of an inhibitory compound containing a carbonyl group. FTIR spectra show evidence of the removal of the suspected inhibitor by alkaline pretreatment. Additionally, with an increase in torrefaction severity, the specific surface area decreases. These results, taken together, suggest that decreased hydrolysis efficiency from torrefaction is a function of the combined effects on surface area, surface composition and chemistry, and H-bonding network.
Temporal changes in the role of species sorting and evolution determine community dynamics
Authors: Hoffmann Julius , Hogle Shane , Hiltunen Teppo , Becks Lutz
Published: July 2024

The understanding of when and how ecological and evolutionary processes structure communities is a central goal in ecology. Both evolutionary changes within community members and shifts in species composition via species sorting can contribute to the dynamics of community traits and composition over time. However, we currently lack an understanding of when and how species sorting and evolution contribute to community dynamics. Here, we estimated contributions of species sorting and evolution over time (60 days) in bacterial communities consisting of 24 species under selection by a protozoan predator Tetrahymena thermophila. We found that species sorting contributed to the communities' carrying capacity, while evolution contributed to its anti-predator defences, and that relative roles of both processes changed over time. In contrast to previous observations from single bacterial populations, bacterial defences declined rapidly. We also found that manipulating the evolutionary history of predator and prey (as a phenotypic match-mismatch combination) affected species sorting and evolution. Community composition, population densities and genomic evolution differed contingent on predator and prey history. Overall, our analysis indicates that the relative roles of ecology and evolution depended on the initial trait variation present in the community. If variation in the direction of selection was present species sorting prevailed, otherwise evolution drove phenotypic change.
CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LONG-COVID DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS IN PATIENTS OF DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS
Authors: Svitailo Vladyslav , Chemych Mykola
Published: July 2024

The aim of the study was to clarify patterns of Long-COVID development after coronavirus disease.
Materials and methods. A questionnaire and examination of people with COVID-19 and analysis of medical records were conducted. Taking into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 77 women and men who had suffered from coronavirus disease were included in the study group. The questionnaire included questions about age, gender, chronic diseases before the onset of coronavirus disease, vaccination status, complaints and general condition after the disease, medication, smoking, and the subjects' assessment of changes in physical endurance and overall quality of life after coronavirus disease. The comparison group consisted of practically healthy people of the appropriate age.
Results. In the period up to 3 months after the coronavirus disease, complaints were mainly from people aged 31-40 years, but with increasing time, older patients (51–60 years) began to predominate. The main groups of complaints (general, respiratory, neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular) were presented by subjects who were mostly vaccinated, with the overall vaccination rate among them exceeding 80%. Diseases of the cardiovascular system were mainly recorded in women aged 51–60 years, regardless of the duration of coronavirus disease.
Decreased physical endurance and a general decline in the quality of life according to subjective assessment were observed mainly in women aged 40 to 60 years, with the proportion of vaccinated women being 81.3%. At the same time, the level of smoking among the above groups of subjects was low.
Conclusions. The majority of people who reported complaints after coronavirus disease were women. The most common complaints were weakness (46.8%), anxiety (44.2%), mood disorders (41.6%), headache (28.6%), shortness of breath (23.4%), palpitations at rest (23.4%), and dizziness (16.7%). At the same time, there was a smaller proportion of those who reported cognitive impairment (impaired concentration and attention – 7.8%, memory impairment – 14.3%), gastrointestinal disorders (13.0%), and muscle pain (13.0%). The majority were vaccinated (80.0%), and the percentage of smokers was low (18.5%).
A CLINICAL CASE OF RECURRENT CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE-ASSOCIATED DIARRHEA IN A CHILD
Authors: Palatna Liudmyla , Shpak Iryna
Published: July 2024

Introduction. Clostridium difficile is the most important infectious aetiology of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Today, in the era of pandemics and numerous epidemics that have faced the humanity, antibiotic therapy is one of the most common medical practices. However, the careless use and irrational prescription of antibiotics increase the risk of their negative impact on the human body and steadily approach antibiotic resistance. American Academy of Pediatrics reports an increase in the incidence of Clostridium difficile infection in children; a wide spectrum of disease severity can occur, ranging from asymptomatic carriage to severe recurrent diarrhea. Annually 20 thousand cases of Clostridium difficile infection are registered among patients in the pediatric cohort аccording to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The relevance of the topic is due to the increase in the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea, which is a result of irrational antibiotic therapy.
The aim of the study: to increase the awareness and vigilance of medical workers regarding the possibility of recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in children based on the demonstration of a clinical case.
Materials and methods. The results of examination, clinical observation and analysis of clinical case of enterocolitis caused by Clostridium difficile in a 5-year-old child are given.
Results and discussion. A 5-year-old patient was hospitalised with complaints of increased body temperature, blood-tinged stools, abdominal pain, lethargy, and decreased appetite. Clostridium difficile toxin A and toxin B were detected by the PCR method during stool analysis for the detection of clostridia. The patient was discharged from the clinic with an improvement in his general condition after the treatment, on the background of clinical recovery. But later he was hospitalized twice to the the Kyiv City Children's Clinical Infectious Hospital with a recurrence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and positive Polymerase chain reaction test results.
Conclusions. Circumspection of the possibility of recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea is important in the diagnosis of infectious diseases.