bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MORe PREcISE: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort of Patient Reported Outcome Measures in Stroke
Authors: Corrigan Amber E , Carter Ben , Smith Alexander , Pennington Anna , Hewitt Jonathan
Published: September 2021

Background and Purpose: The use of patient reported outcomes measures (PROMs) may offer utility and provide outcome measures that are important for stroke survivors. This study used a stroke specific PROM, which contains Mental health (MH) and Physical Health (PH). The primary aim of this study was to assess the association between the MH and PH measures following a stroke and preexisting health conditions. Methods: A multicenter prospective cohort study at 19 hospital sites across England and Wales during 2019 was conducted. Prevalence of morbidity within PROMs was estimated with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The association between each PROM domain and demographic and health conditions were calculated using a multilevel multivariable linear model fitting the adjusted mean difference (aMD). Results: PROM morbidity was high post stroke; 93.2% of the participants reported combined post stroke PROM morbidity. The MH domain was associated with pre-existing: diabetes, previous stroke, age, and sex. The PH domain was found to be associated with gender (female) and previous stroke, Conclusions: Stroke survivors ubiquitously suffer morbidity. Risk factors associated with worsening MH and PH morbidity have implications in clinical management as they offer an opportunity to intervene, particularly to prevent long term mental health. PROMs provide useful outcome measure that matter to stroke survivors.
Experimental Study:Ranging of Sensor and Actuator Data for Real Time Interfacing
Authors: P Aravind , khan Khalid Ali
Published: September 2021

The primary purpose of the paper is to provide a guideline to process control researchers who are interested in the design controllers by their own. This article gives a simple technique to real time sensor and actuator interfacing in and to computer; it is tested in LabVIEW software. It mainly highlights the process of mapping the values of input signal and output signal values to process.
Sustainable Low-Cost Surfactin Production And Optimization By Bacillus Subtilis SNW3, Product Characterization, And Its Suitability For Plant Growth Promotion And Bioremediation of Crude Oil
Authors: Umar Aiman , Zafar Aneeqa , Wali Hasina , Siddique Meh Para , Qazi Muneer Ahmed , Naeem Afshan Hina , Malik Zulfiqar Ali , Ahmed Safia
Published: September 2021

At present time, every nation is absolutely concern about increase agricultural production and bioremediation of petroleum contaminated soil. Hence, with this intention in current study potent natural surfactant (surfactin) was evaluated for low-cost production by Bacillus subtilis SNW3, previously isolated from Fimkessar oil field, Chakwal Pakistan. The best results were obtained using substrates in combination (white beans powder (6% w/v) plus waste frying oil (1.5% w/v) and (0.1% w/v) urea) with surfactin production of about 1.17 g/L contributing 99% reduction in cost required for medium preparation. To the best of our knowledge, no single report is present describing surfactin production by Bacillus subtilis using white beans powder as a culture medium. Surfactin was confirmed as the principal product characterized by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, produced surfactin display great physicochemical properties of surface tension reduction value (SFT=28.8 mN/m), significant oil displacement activity (ODA=4.9 cm), excessive emulsification ability (E24=69.8 %), and attains critical micelle concentration (CMC) value at 0.58 mg/mL. Furthermore, surfactin exhibits excellent stability over an extensive range of pH (1-11), salinity (1-8%), temperature (20-121°C) and even after autoclaving. Subsequently, surfactin produced proved suitable for bioremediation of crude oil (86%) and as potent plant growth-promoting agent that significantly (P<0.05) increase seed germination and plant growth promotion of chili pepper, lettuce, tomato and pea maximum at concentration of (0.7 g/100 mL), proved as potential agent for agriculture and bioremediation processes by lowering economic and environmental stress.
Factors Influencing Ethnic Disparities in Outcomes after Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation
Authors: Divers Jasmin , Mohan Sumit , Brown William M. , Pastan Stephen O. , Israni Ajay K. , Gaston Robert S. , Bray Robert , Islam Shahidul , Sakhovskaya Natalia V. , Mena-Gutierrez Alejandra M. , Reeves-Daniel Amber M. , Julian Bruce A. , Freedman Barry I.
Published: September 2021

Background: African American (AA) recipients of deceased-donor (DD) kidney transplants (KT) have shorter allograft survival than recipients of other ethnic groups. Reasons for this disparity encompass complex interactions between donors and recipients characteristics. Methods: Outcomes from 3,872 AA and 19,719 European American (EA) DDs who had one kidney transplanted in an AA recipient and one in an EA recipient were analyzed. Four donor/recipient pair groups (DRP) were studied, AA/AA, AA/EA, EA/AA, and EA/EA. Survival random forests and Cox proportional hazard models were fitted to rank and evaluate modifying effects of DRP on variables associated with allograft survival. These analyses sought to identify factors contributing to the observed disparities in transplant outcomes among AA and EA DDKT recipients. Results: Transplant era, discharge serum creatinine, delayed graft function, and DRP were among the top predictors of allograft survival and mortality among DDKT recipients. Interaction effects between DRP with the kidney donor risk index and transplant era showed significant improvement in allograft survival over time in EA recipients. However, AA recipients appeared to have similar or poorer outcomes for DDKT performed after 2010 versus before 2001; allograft survival hazard ratios (95% CI) were 1.15 (0.74, 1.76) and 1.07 (0.8, 1.45) for AA/AA and EA/AA, compared to 0.62 (0.54, 0.71) and 0.5 (0.41, 0.62) for EA/EA and AA/EA DRP, respectively. Recipient mortality improved over time among all DRP, except unemployed AA/AAs. Relative to DDKT performed pre-2001, employed AA/AAs had HR=0.37 (0.2, 0.69) versus 0.59 (0.31, 1.11) for unemployed AA/AA after 2010. Conclusion: Relative to DDKT performed before 2001, similar or worse overall DCAS was observed among AA/AAs, while EA/EAs experienced considerable improvement regardless of employment status, KDRI, and EPTS. AA recipients of an AA DDKT, especially if unemployed, had worse allograft survival and mortality and did not appear to benefit from advances in care over the past 20 years.
Reinforcing Factors Influencing Patient-physician Relationships: A Content Analysis Study
Authors: Bagheri Masood , Somi Mohammad Hossein , Ghaffarifar Saeideh
Published: September 2021

Background: Building an effective patient-physician relationship is a vital component of a successful health care. Therefore, educating and preparing students to communicate effectively with patients has always been critical. Such a criticism needs to evaluate the current situation and the socio-cultural context in which the communications are built. The aim of this study was to analyze the status of patient-physician relationship and explore factors influencing communication in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (TUoMS) from the perspective of patients, students and faculty members.Methods: In this content analysis study, data were gathered using focus groups, semi-structured interviews and observations in the field, based on purposive sampling until the data saturation was achieved.Findings: Content analysis resulted in emerging five categories, affecting patient-physician relationship. They included factors related to: physician, patient, environment, socio-cultural context and health care system. Participants related their stratifying experiences of the PPR to 36 factors in five different categories. Among them, the factors related to the physician played the most significant role. Most students stated that they did not receive any practical or theoretical training in a form of a predefined formal program to improve their communication skills.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that the current situation of patient-physician relationship at TUoMS is not satisfying and serious and comprehensive interventions are needed to improve the PPR.
Histopathological and Radiographical Evaluation of Caprine Demineralized Bone Matrix in a Critical Ulnar Defect in a Rabbit Model
Authors: Alimi Olawale Alimi , Abuabakar Adamu Abdul , Yakubu Abubakar Sadiq , Shehu Sani Abdullahi , Abdulkadir Salman Zubairu
Published: September 2021

Background: Caprine species satisfy the conditions of an ideal donor animal when compared to bovine species that has been extensively studied and commercialized for bone xenograft. Histopathological and radiological evaluations of caprine demineralized bone matrix (CDBM) were therefore carried out for fracture healing properties for its possible use in bone grafting procedures. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four rabbits were used for this study and were divided randomly into three groups of eight (n=8) rabbits each. Critical bone defect was created on the ulnar diaphysis under xylazine-ketamine anaesthesia for autogenous bone graft (ABG) group, CDBM group and the last group was left unfilled as negative control (NC). Immediate post-grafting radiograph was taken and repeated on days 14, 28, 42 and 56 to monitor the evidence of radiographic healing. The animals were euthanized on day 56 and defect sites were harvested for histopathology. Results: There was a progressive evidence of radiographic healing and bone formation in all the groups with significance difference (P=0.0064). When compared with ABG, NC differ significantly (P<0.0001) whereas the CDBM did not differ significantly (P=0.6765). The histopathology sections of ABG and CDBM showed normal bone tissue while the NC section was predominated by fibrous connective tissue. There was therefore an overall significant difference (P=0.0001) in which CDBM did not differ from ABG (P=0.2946) while NC did (P=0.0005). Conclusion: The ABG and CDBM groups showed a similar healing effect in the critical bone defect. Therefore, CDBM could be used as an effective alternative to ABG in orthopaedics to circumvent the limitations and complications associated with it. Level of Evidence: Not applicable.
Endoscopic variceal ligation combined with sclerotherapy for management of gastroesophageal variceal bleeding in pediatric patients
Authors: Li Ming-Ming , Sun Fang , Huai Man-Xiu , Qu Chun-Ying , Shen Feng , Zhang Yi , Xu Lei-Ming
Published: September 2021

Background

Portal hypertension (PH) frequently gives rise to severe and life-threatening complications, including hemorrhage accompanied by the rupture of esophageal and gastric varices. In contrast to the widely studied guidelines for the management of PH in adults, there remains controversial about the optimal endoscopic management of variceal bleeding in children for secondary prophylaxis. The study aims to determine the efficacy and safety of endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) and sclerotherapy (EST) to control bleeding in children in our clinical center.
Methods

The retrospective study included 21 children with gastroesophageal variceal bleeding who were treated by endoscopic variceal ligation or sclerotherapy at Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine between January 2007 and July 2020. The treatment outcome involving short-term hemostatic rate and long-term rebleeding rate were investigated. Adverse events related to the procedures, such as esophageal ulcer, esophageal stricture, abnormal embolization, pneumonia and perforation were also observed.
Results

The 21 pediatric patients who were diagnosed as moderate to severe esophageal varices concurrent with gastric varices experienced EVL or EST successfully. Hemostasis was achieved in 45 of 47 (95.7%) episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The mean volume of each single aliquot of cyanoacrylate injected was 0.3 ± 0.1 mL (range: 0.1–0.5 mL). Twenty-four patients (75%) reach varices eradication in the EVL group with a median number of procedures before eradication of 2 (1–4) and a median time to eradication of 3.40 months (1.10-13.33). Eleven patients (52.4%) developed rebleeding events, with the mean duration of hemostasis being 11.1 ± 11.6 mo (range: 1.0-39.2 mo). No treatment-related complications, for example, distal embolism, were noted with the exception of abdominal pain in one patient (4.8%).
Conclusions

Endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy or in combination with EVL turns out to be an effective and safe approach to treat variceal hemorrhage in children for secondary prophylaxis.
Mechanism of Moisture Adsorption In Plant Fibers Surface-Modified With Glycerol Evaluated By LF-NMR Relaxation Technique
Authors: Fu Lili , Zhang Ke , Zhang Mingjian , Wang Le , Zheng Songjin , Liu Ze , Shang Shanzhai , Sun Yue , Huang Feng , Wang Shuang , Zhang Qi , Wang Bing , Li Bin , Cao Yan , Guo Zhongya
Published: September 2021

Surface modification by humectants is an important technology to improve product quality in textile field, healthcare, tobacco processing and paper-making industry. As a common humectant glycerol is applied to keep the moisture adsorbability of plant fibers during manufacturing. The effects of glycerol on the moisture adsorption of plant fibers were studied by analysising the induced differences of bulk and surface physicochemical property with XRD, FTIR, SEM characterizations. The improvement of moisture adsorption capacity of the modified plant fibers was due to the increased active adsorption sites, while the moisture diffusion resistance increased simultaneously with glycerol indicated by a declining Deff. LF-NMR relaxation spectra demonstrated the water sates and distributions in plant fibers were changed by loading glycerol. The moisture transfer mechanisms induced by glycerol were also investigated. Free water failed to materialize in the plant fibers treated with glycerol, immobile water existed preferentially during the adsorption, and bound water presented increasing after the immobile water were saturated. These findings are useful to improve the manufacturing processes of moisture-retaining properties of different functional plant fibers.
Assessment the Diversity of Circulating Natural Killer Cells Between Active Tuberculosis and Latent Tuberculosis Infection
Authors: Zhou Yu , Lan Haiping , Shi Hanlu , Wu Peihao , Zhou Yonglie
Published: September 2021

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading global public health problem, but the mechanisms underlying the immunopathology of TB progression are not well understood. It is currently believed that Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection can modify NK cell phenotypic signatures. Hence, our study was designed to investigate the diversity of circulating NK cells between active TB and latent TB infection. Peripheral blood NK subsets, as well as their expression of activating and inhibitory membrane receptors in different TB-infected status were evaluated in the present study. Results: Significant differences of NK phenotypes were observed in the ATB, LTBI and HC populations. Among them, CD56BrightCD16Dim (PATB VS HC=0.008, PLTBI VS HC=0.017) and CD27+CD56BrightCD16Dim (PATB VS HC=0.022, PLTBI VS HC=0.004) NK subsets were increased in TB-infected groups compared with HC group. On the contrary, the proportion of CD27 in NK cells (PATB VS HC=0.036, PLTBI VS HC=0.006) and CD56DimCD16+ NK subsets (PATB VS HC=0.0001, PLTBI VS HC=0.001) were diminished in TB-infected groups. Furthermore, the proportion of KLRG1 in NK cells (P=0.036), as well as their subsets CD56DimCD16+ NK (P=0.046) and CD27+ NK (P=0.027), were increased significantly in LTBI compared with the ATB group; while Mtb specific IFN-γ+CD56BrightCD16Dim NK cells expressed higher KLRG1 in ATB than LTBI (P=0.027). Within CD56BrightCD16DimNK subsets, the percentage of KLRG1 was elevated in ATB patients compared with HC group (P=0.037). However, the expression of activating receptor NKG2D in NK and its subsets showed no significant between the three participant groups.Conclusions: The present results demonstrated that the different TB infection states were coupled with the diversity of NK cell compartments, and the expression of KLRG1 in NK cells might be a specific phenotype to modulate the progression of TB from latent to active.
Development of Morphological Descriptors For Characterization of Teak (Tectona Grandis L. f.) Seed Sources In India
Authors: M.V. Jawahar Vishnu , K.T. Parthiban , S Umesh Kanna , S Radhakrishnan
Published: September 2021

Teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) plantations in India has been intensified in the recent past yet, morphological descriptors for teak is still lacking. Hence, this study aimed to develop descriptors using morphological traits. Among 30 seed sources collected from different states of India, 24 morphological descriptors viz., leaf length, leaf width, presence of petiole, petiole length, leaf shape, shape of leaf apex, shape of leaf base, leaf texture, phyllotaxy, leaf attitude, leaf margin, leaf margin undulation, leaf brightness, leaf venation, leaf main vein, leaf veins, leaf vein colour, leaf colour, leaf pubescence, young leaf colour, number of internodes, internodal length, trunk spots and trunk colour were developed based on leaf and stem characteristics. Subsequently, genetic similarity among the sources were estimated by Jaccard similarity index and cluster analysis was performed by Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA) method.
Identification of Potential miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Denervated Muscular Atrophy by Bioinformatics Analysis
Authors: Wang Jianhua , Liu Yuhang , Zhang Yongming , Liu Bin , Wei Zhijian
Published: September 2021

Muscle atrophy caused by long-term denervation leads to the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, resulting in a poor recovery of functional muscles and decreasing quality of life. Increasing differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMs) have been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of denervated muscle atrophy. However, there is still insufficient evidence to explain the role of miRNAs and their target genes in skeletal muscle atrophy. Therefore, an integrative exploration of the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in denervated muscle atrophy is necessary. A total of 21 (16 upregulated and 5 downregulated) DEMs were screened out in the GSE81914 dataset. Med1 was predicted and verified to be significantly upregulated, which may affect the process of denervated muscle atrophy by regulating mir-146b and mir-1949. 59 target genes were then predicted by submitting candidate DEMs to the miRNet database. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that target genes of DEMs were mainly enriched in the apoptotic process and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Through the PPI network construction, key modules and hub genes were obtained and potentially modulated by mir-29b, mir-132, and mir-133a. According to the qRT-PCR results, among the hub genes, Ctgf was significantly increased, which was consistent with the decreased mir-133a in denervated muscle atrophy. In the study, a potential miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was firstly constructed in denervated muscle atrophy. Two potential miRNA–mRNA pathways (miR-29b-COL1A1 and mir-133a-Ctgf) may provide new insight into the pathogenesis and treatment of denervated muscle atrophy.
QTL Mapping And Candidate Gene Mining of Flag Leaf Size Traits In Japonica Rice Based On Linkage Mapping And Genome-Wide Association Study
Authors: Jiangxu Wang , Tao Wang , qi Wang , Xiaodong Tang , Yang Ren , Haiyan Zheng , Kai Liu , Luomiao Yang , Hui Jiang , Yidan Li , qi Liu , Detang Zou , Hongliang Zheng
Published: September 2021

As one of the most important part of the ideal plant type of japonica rice, leaf shape affects the photosynthesis and carbohydrate accumulation directly. Mining and using new leaf shape related genes/QTLs can further enrich the theory of molecular breeding and accelerate the breeding process of japonica rice. In the present study, 2 RILs and a natural population with 295 japonica rice varieties were used to map QTLs for flag leaf length (FL), flag leaf width (FW) and flag leaf area (FLA) by linkage analysis and genome-wide association study (GWAS) through 2 years. A total of 64 QTLs were detected by 2 ways, and pleiotropic QTLs qFL2 (Chr2_33,332,579) and qFL10 (Chr10_10,107,835; Chr10_10,230,100) consisted of overlapping QTLs mapped by linkage analysis and GWAS through 2 years were identified. The candidate genes LOC_Os02g54254, LOC_Os02g54550, LOC_Os10g20160, LOC_Os10g20240, LOC_Os10g20260 were obtained, filtered by linkage disequilibrium (LD), and haplotype analysis. LOC_Os10g20160 (SD-RLK-45) showed outstanding characteristics in quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis in leaf development period, belongs to S-domain receptor-like protein kinases gene and probably to be a main gene regulating flag leaf width of japonica rice. The results of this study provide valuable resources for mining the main genes/QTLs of japonica rice leaf development and molecular breeding of japonica rice ideal leaf shape.
Application of Pd-Sn Modified Ru-Ir Electrode For Treating High Chlorine Ammonia-Nitrogen Wastewater
Authors: Yang Zhen-xing , Xie Wen-yu , Ye Fang-fang , Li De-hao
Published: September 2021

Electro-catalytic technology has attracted increasing attention as a promising approach for wastewater treatment, owing to its easy operation, minimal generation of secondary pollution, small foot-print and rapid start-up. In this work, the chlorine evolution potential of the Pd-Sn modified ruthenium(Ru)-iridium(Ir) electrode was investigated for electro-catalytic treatment of high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen wastewater. The effect of reaction conditions on the removal of ammonia-nitrogen, kinetics and apparent activation energy of the electro-catalytic treatment of ammonia-nitrogen were studied. The possible denitrification process of high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen wastewater treated by electrocatalysis was discussed. The results indicated that the chlorine evolution potential of the Pd-Sn modified Ru-Ir electrode was 1.0956 V(vs. SCE). The rule of electro-catalytic treatment of high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen conformed to zero-order kinetics, and the removal process was endothermic reaction with the apparent activation energy of 14.089 kJ/mol. With the current is 0.5 A, the removal efficiency of ammonia-nitrogen could achieve 100% at the reaction time of 40 min. Indirect oxidation played an essential role in the electro-catalytic ammonia-nitrogen removal using the Pd-Sn modified Ru-Ir electrode. This paper demonstrated that the electro-catalytic technology was a promising approach for efficiently treating the high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen wastewater.
The Role of Endogenous Carbon Monoxide (CO) in the Functioning of Biological Clocks in Pig and Wild Boar Hybrids During Long- and Short-day Seasons
Authors: GILUN Przemysław , Wąsowska Barbara , Sowa-Kućma Magdalena , Kozioł Katarzyna , Romerowicz-Misielak Maria , Koziorowski Marek , Koziorowska-Gilun Magdalena
Published: September 2021

Mature males of a wild boar-pig crossbreed during long- and short-day seasons were used for the study, which demonstrated that the chemical light carrier CO regulates the expression of biological clock genes in the hypothalamus (preoptic area - POA and dorsal part of hypothalamus - DH) via humoral pathways. Autologous blood with experimentally elevated concentrations of endogenous CO (using lamps with white light-emitting diodes) was infused into the ophthalmic venous sinus via the right dorsal nasal vein.The results showed that elevated endogenous CO levels through blood irradiation induced changes in gene expression involved in the functioning of the main biological clock. Changes in the expression of the transcription factors Bmal1, Clock and Npas2 had a similar pattern in both structures, where a very large decrease in gene expression was shown after exposure to elevated endogenous CO levels. The changes in the gene expression of PER 1-2, CRY 1-2, REV-ERB α-β and ROR β are not the same for both POA and DH hypothalamic structures, indicating that both structures respond differently to the received humoral signal.The obtained results indicate that CO is a chemical light molecule whose production in organisms depends on the amount of light. An adequate amount of light is an essential factor for the proper functioning of the main biological clock.
A Small Molecule Inhibitor of Deubiquitinase OTUD3 Promotes DR5-Induced Apoptosis in Lung Cancer Through ER Stress Modulation
Authors: Du Tongde , Wang Juan , Lu Ya , Xu Chenxin , Wu Jianzhong , Ma Rong , Cao Haixia , Jiang Jingwei , Feng Jifeng
Published: September 2021

Background: Lung cancer is cancer with the highest morbidity and mortality in the world and poses a serious threat to human health. Therefore, discovering new treatments is urgently needed to improve lung cancer prognosis. The ubiquitin-proteasome system is an important target for the research of antineoplastic drugs, in which deubiquitinase inhibitors have broad clinical applications. In this study, we show that Rolapitant, an inhibitor of deubiquitinase OTUD3, can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of lung cancer cells through OTUD3. Methods: Cell viability was measured by CCK8 assays. Apoptosis, cell cycle and surface DR5 expression on lung cancer cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of transcription level was measured by real time RT-PCR methods. Protein expression was examined in Rolapitant-treated lung cancer cells using Western blotting. Proteomics sequencing was used to detect the molecules which Rolapitant regulate. A549 xenograft nude mice were used to assess the efficacy of Rolapitant in vivo.Result: We showed that Rolapitant enhanced the ubiquitination levels of substrate GRP78 and reduced its protein level. Proteomics sequencing indicated that Rolapitant significantly upregulated the expression of death receptor 5 (DR5). Rolapitant also promoted lung cancer cell apoptosis through upregulating cell surface expression of DR5 and enhanced TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Mechanistically, Rolapitant directly targeted the OTUD3-GRP78 axis to trigger endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP)-DR5 signaling, sensitizing lung cancer cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. In the vivo assays, Rolapitant suppressed the growth of lung cancer xenografts in immunocompromised mice at suitable dosages without apparent toxicity.Conclusions: Therefore, the present study identifies Rolapitant as a novel inhibitor of deubiquitinase OTUD3 and establishes that the OTUD3-GRP78 axis is a potential therapeutic target for lung cancer.
High Expression of Mediator Complex Subunit 8 Acts as a Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Wu Shuang , Cao Yuan , Luo Senyuan , Cao Sancheng , Li Qiao , Zhang Taoyuan
Published: September 2021

Background : Mediator complex subunit 8 ( MED8 ) encodes a subunit of the mediator complex ( MED ), which is critical for transcription. MED8 is highly expressed in some tumours and is associated with a poor prognosis. However, correlations between MED8 and clinical features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been reported. Results: A univariate analysis showed that high MED8 expression predicts poor overall survival (HR: 2.495; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.740, 3.578; P < 0.001). A multivariate regression analysis showed that high MED8 (HR: 3.032 (1.817, 5.060); P < 0.001) expression and M stage (HR=4.075 (1.179-14.091) for M1 vs. M0, P=0.026) are independent prognostic indicator of poor overall survival in patients with HCC. The areas under the curve (AUC) for receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to describe the prognostic value of MED8 (AUC: 0.905 (0.849, 0.941)). Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Immune infiltration Analysis were applied to reveal significant enrichment differences among TCGA data. A functional analysis showed that the cell cycle checkpoints, mitotic G2-G2–M phases, transcriptional regulation by TP53, and regulation of TP53 activity were significantly enriched in DEGs associated with high MED8 expression. Th2 cells were positively correlated with MED8 expression. Conclusions: MED8 predicts poor prognosis in HCC, potentially via the regulation of the cell cycle regulation and Th2 cells. Key words: Mediator complex subunit 8, Mediator , hepatocellular carcinoma, prognosis, diagnostic biomarker
Insuring Well-being: Psychological Adaptation to Disasters
Authors: Yoo Sunbin , Kawabata Yuta , Kumagai Junya , Managi Shunsuke
Published: September 2021

We examine the impact of life and health insurance spending on subjective well-being. Taking advantage of insurance spending and subjective well-being data on more than 700,000 individuals in Japan, we examine whether insurance spending can buffer declines in subjective well-being due to exposure to mass disaster. We find that insurance spending can buffer drops in subjective well-being by approximately 3–6% among those who experienced the mass disaster of the great East Japan earthquake. Subjective health increases the most, followed by life satisfaction and happiness. On the other hand, insurance spending decreases the subjective well-being of those who did not experience the earthquake by approximately 3–7%. We conclude by monetizing the subjective well-being loss and calculating the extent to which insurance spending can compensate for it. The monetary value of subjective well-being buffered through insurance spending is approximately 33,128 USD for happiness, 33,287 USD for life satisfaction, and 19,597 USD for subjective health for a person in one year. Therefore, we confirm that life/health insurance serves as an ideal option for disaster adaptation. Our findings indicate the importance of considering subjective well-being, which is often neglected when assessing disaster losses.
Potential Roles for Pattern Molecule of PAMP-triggered Immunity in Improving Crop Cold Tolerance
Authors: Jin Ye , Tuang Za Khai , Wang Yizhong , Wu Zhenjiang , Yang Wan-Nian
Published: September 2021

Pathogen infection cross-activates cold response and increase cold tolerance of host plants. However it is not possible to use the infection to increase cold tolerance of field plants. Here flagellin 22 (flg22), the most widely-studied PAMP, was used to mimic the pathogen infection to cross-activate cold response. Flg22 treatment alleviated the injury caused by freezing in Arabidopsis, oilseed and tobacco. In Arabidopsis, flg22 activated the expression of immunity and cold-related genes. Moreover the flg22 induced alleviation of cold injury was lost in NahG transgenic line (SA-deficient), sid2-2 and npr1-1 mutant plants, and flg22-induced expression of cold tolerance-related genes, which indicating that salicylic acid signaling pathway is required for the alleviation of cold injury by flg22 treatment. In short flg22 application can be used to enhance cold tolerance in field via a salicylic acid-depended pathway.
Endolithic Borers Drive Rates of Bioerosion Among Inshore Turbid Reefs in Western Australia
Authors: Dee Shannon , DeCarlo Thomas , Lozic Ivan , Neilsen Jake , Browne Nicola
Published: September 2021

Bioerosion on turbid inshore reefs is expected to increase with global climate change reducing reef stability and accretionary potential. Most studies investigating bioerosion have focused on external grazers, such as parrotfish and urchins, whose biomass is more easily measured. Yet, cryptic endolithic bioeroders such as macroboring (worms, sponges and bivalves) and microboring taxa (fungus and algae) have the potential to be the dominant bioeroders, especially among inshore reef systems exposed to increased nutrient supply. We measured bioerosion rates of three bioeroder groups (microborers, macroborers, and grazers), and their response to environmental parameters (temperature, turbidity, light, chlorophyll a, salinity, pH) across two inshore reefs of north Western Australia. Total bioerosion rates were low (0.152 ± 0.012 kg m-1 yr-1) compared to average global rates, but were comparable to other inshore turbid reefs. Macroboring worms were the dominant source of bioerosion and displayed a significant negative relationship with temperature (r2= 0.24, P=0.008) and light (r2= 0.16, P=0.037). A global assessment of environmental influences on bioerosion further identified chlorophyll-a as a significant driver of macroboring (r2= 0.60, P=<0.001). Low bioerosion rates among marginal inshore reefs is encouraging as these reefs may be able to maintain a positive carbonate budget state despite lower coral cover and gross carbonate production rates. These data also highlight the necessity of reducing local impacts such as nutrient loads, which drive increases in chlorophyll a, to support marginal reef systems with climate change. Further, the development of empirical relationships that quantitatively link bioeroder activity and rates of environmental change will improve our ability to predict reef responses to environmental change, and better manage reefs into the future.
A Mathematical Modeling Framework To Detect The Optimal Financial Turning Points
Authors: Yazdani Fateme , Khashei Mehdi , Hejazi Seyed Reza
Published: September 2021

The financial markets have always witnessed the competition of their participants for gaining high and stable profits. The realization extent of this goal depends on the profitability of the trading points or turning points (TPs) ahead. TPs prediction problem is one of the most challenging yet important problems in the financial discipline. The first step towards predicting financial TPs is to detect TPs from the history of the corresponding financial time series. Literature indicates that the profitability of the predicted financial TPs depends on the profitability of the detected TPs. Given this, numerous efforts have been devoted to enhancing the profitability of the detected financial TPs. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, none of the existing detection methods can detect the most profitable or the optimal TPs from the history of financial time series. The present study concerns this research gap and ensures detecting the optimal financial TPs by proposing a mathematical modeling framework. The proposed optimal TPs detection model in this paper will be structured concerning the three following assumptions. First, short-selling the financial asset is possible. Second, the time value for the investment money is not considered. Third, detecting consecutive buying TPs and consecutive selling TPs is not allowed. Empirical results with twenty real data sets indicate that the proposed model, in contrast to the existing TPs detection methods, detects the optimal TPs from the history of the financial time series.
Comparative study of the efficacy and safety of minimally invasive interlaminar full-endoscopic discectomy versus conventional microscopic discectomy in single-level lumbar herniated intervertebral disc (ENDO-F Trial): A multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial protocol
Authors: Kim Jin-Sung , Lee Jun Ho , Bae Junseok , Lee Dong Chan , Shin Sang-Ha , Keum Han Joong , Choi Young Soo , Eun Sang Soo , Shin Seung Ho , Hong Hyun Jin , Kim Ji Yeon , Kim Tae Hyun , Lim Woojung , Kim Junghoon , Park Sang-Min , Park Hyun-Jin , Lee Hong-Jae
Published: September 2021

BackgroundAdvances in minimally invasive surgery have expanded the indications for interlaminar full-endoscopic discectomy. Although the clinical outcomes for this approach may be equivalent to those of conventional microscopic discectomy, the supporting evidence is based on small, single-center, prospective, and retrospective studies. Therefore, a multicenter, randomized controlled trial is warranted.MethodsThis will be a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy and safety of interlaminar full-endoscopic discectomy to those of conventional microscopic discectomy. The trial will enroll 100 participants with a lumbar disc herniation, 50 in each group. The primary outcome will be the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score at 12 months post-surgery. Secondary outcomes will be: back and leg pain (visual analog scale); the ODI; the EuroQol-5-Dimension score; patient satisfaction; and walking distance/time and time to return to daily activities post-surgery. Surgical outcomes will include postoperative drainage, operative time, duration of hospital stay, postoperative creatine kinase level as an indicator of muscle injury, and postoperative scarring. Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and simple radiography will be performed to evaluate radiographic outcomes between the two surgical approaches. Surgery-related complications and adverse effects will be evaluated as safety outcomes. A single assessor at each participating hospital, blinded to group allocation, will assess the enrolled participants at baseline, 2 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.DiscussionThis trial is designed to determine whether interlaminar full-endoscopic discectomy is clinically comparable to microscopic discectomy to treat lumbar disc herniations. All efforts will be made to reduce bias, including adequate sample sizes, blinded analyses, and multicenter prospective registration. The outcomes will inform practice, providing the evidence needed for the use of interlaminar full-endoscopic over microscopic discectomy by confirming the potential of this technique to improve patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.Trial registrationClinical Research Information Service; cris.nih.go.kr. (KCT0006277); protocol version (v1, June 8, 2021)
Clinical Effects and Characteristics of Color, Number, and Word Content Elements in Computerized Training Programs for the Prevention of Cognitive Decline
Authors: Jeong Jaehoon , Kim Sungmin , Kim Nahyeon , Lee Yoonjoo , Kim Daechang
Published: September 2021

Background: The biggest problem in an aging society is the development of degenerative brain disease in the elderly. Neurodegenerative brain disease can cause cognitive dysfunction and rapidly increase the prevalence of dementia and Parkinson's disease, posing a huge economic and social burden on the elderly. A computerized cognitive rehabilitation training system has been developed to prevent and train cognitive dysfunction, showing various clinical effects. However, few studies have analyzed components of contents such as memory and concentration training. In this study, the clinical effects and characteristics of the color, number and words elements were analyzed by subdividing the memory and concentration contents into elements, difficulty, and training methods.Methods: Using a total of eight contents developed based on neuropsychology, 24 normal subjects with an average age of 60.58 ± 3.96 years were conducted 3 times a week, and training was received for 30 to 45 minutes per session. To determine the training effect, MMSE-K, an evaluation tool most closely related to cognitive therapy, was used. The number of errors and problem solving time used in the analysis were dataized by measuring the number of incorrect answers selected by the subject and the time spent solving the problem, respectively. Using t-test, the significance of different between before and after training was determined. Correlation between the number of errors and problem-solving time by week was determined using a trend line. All experimental procedures and evaluations were conducted after obtaining IRB approval from Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital (DUIH2020-07-001).Results: The subjects' MMSE-K scores were 27.88 ± 1.70 points before intervention to 28.63 ± 1.69 points after three weeks of intervention. In each subdivided component, color element showed an effect of improving complex difficulty, number element had the most effective training effect, and word element had a predictive effect on cognitive decline. Conclusions: A detailed analysis results of the components used in a computerized cognitive rehabilitation training system will help develop degenerative brain disease contents to be developed later, and is expected to contribute to a prevention-oriented medical paradigm
k-Shape Clustering for Extracting Macro-patterns in Intracranial Pressure Signals
Authors: Martinez-Tejada Isabel , Riedel Casper Schwartz , Juhler Marianne , Andresen Morten , Wilhjelm Jens E.
Published: September 2021

Background: Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is a core component of neurosurgical diagnostics. With the introduction of telemetric monitoring devices in the last years, ICP monitoring has become feasible in a broader clinical setting including monitoring during full mobilization and at home, where a greater diversity of ICP waveforms are present. The need for identification of these variations, the so-called macro-patterns lasting seconds to minutes - emerges as a potential tool for better understanding the physiological underpinnings of patient symptoms. Methods: We introduce a new methodology that serves as a foundation for future automatic macro-pattern identification in the ICP signal to comprehensively understand the appearance and distribution of these macro-patterns in the ICP signal and their clinical significance. Specifically, we describe an algorithm based on k-Shape clustering to build a standard library of such macro-patterns. Results: In total, seven macro-patterns were extracted from the ICP signals. This macro-pattern library may be used as a basis for the classification of new ICP variation distributions based on clinical disease entities.Conclusions: We provide the starting point for future researchers to use a computational approach to characterize ICP recordings from a wide cohort of disorders.
Coverage and Determinants of Modern Contraceptive Use in Sub-saharan Africa: Further Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys
Authors: Boadu Isaac
Published: September 2021

Background: The use of modern contraceptives (MC) in most African countries has been low despite the high fertility rate and unmet need for family planning. This study sought to determine the coverage and determinants of modern contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Methods: Data for the study was obtained from the latest Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between 1995-2020 across 37 SSA countries. Women of reproductive age (15-19 years) was the unit of analysis. Analyses of data was done using STATA version 16 for windows. A bivariate Rao Scott’s chi-square test of independence was done to determine factors associated with the use of modern contraceptives. Factors that showed significance (p<0.05) were included in a multilevel logistic regression to determine significant predictors of modern contraceptives. Clustering, stratification and sample weighting were accounted for in the analyses. Results: The overall prevalence of the use of MC was found to be 22.0%. This ranged from 3.5% in the Central Africa Republic to 49.7% in Namibia. The most common type of contraceptives used were injections (39.4%), condoms (17.5%) and implants (26.5%). Women were less likely to use contraceptive if they: had no education (aOR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.38-0.44), had no children (aOR=0.27-0.42), not told of family planning at a health facility (aOR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.67-0.71), not heard of family planning in the media (aOR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.74-0.79) and being poor (aOR=0.76, 95%CI: 0.73-0.79). On the other hand, women were more likely to use modern contraceptive if they were between the age of 35-39 years (aOR=1.69, 95%CI: 0.73-0.79), married (aOR=2.66, 95%CI: 2.50-2.83), had seven or more children (aOR=1.27, 95%CI:1.17-0.38), had knowledge of any method of contraceptives (aOR=303.8, 95%CI: 89.9-1027.5) and when field worker visited and talked about family planning (aOR=1.53, 95%CI: 1.39-0.68).Conclusion: The study showed a low prevalence of modern contraceptive use in Sub-Sahara Africa. Findings from the study highlight the need to provide education to women to increase uptake of contraceptive use and also re-enforce contraceptive interventions to improve women’s health and well-being.
Remote Data Possession Checking Scheme with Supporting Efficient Group User Authority Management for Shared Cloud Data
Authors: Yuan Yilin , Zhang Jianbiao , Xu Wanshan , Wang Xiao , Liu Yanhui
Published: September 2021

Under the shared big data environment, most of the existing data auditing schemes rarely consider the authorization management of group users. Meanwhile, how to deal with the shared data integrity is a problem that needs to be pondered. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel remote data checking possession scheme which achieves group authority management while completing the public auditing. To perform authority management work, we introduce a trusted entity – group manager. We formalize a new algebraic structure operator named authorization invisible authenticator (AIA). Meanwhile, we provide two versions of AIA scheme: basic AIA scheme and standard AIA scheme. The standard AIA scheme is constructed based on the basic AIA scheme and user information table (UIT), with advanced security and wider applicable scenarios. By virtue of standard AIA scheme, the group manager can perfectly and easily carry out authority management, including enrolling, revoking, updating. On the basis of the above, we further design a public auditing scheme for non-revoked users’ shared data. The scheme is based on identity-based encryption (IBE), which greatly reduce the necessary certificate management cost. Furthermore, the detailed security analysis and performance evaluation demonstrate that the scheme is safe and feasible.
Complex Energies of the Coherent Logitudinal Optical Phonon-plasmon Coupled Mode According to Dynamic Mode Decomposition Analysis
Authors: Sakata Itsushi , Sakata Takuya , Mizoguchi Kohji , Tanaka Satoshi , Oohata Goro , Akai Ichiro , Igarashi Yasuhiko , Nagano Yoshihiro , Okada Masato
Published: September 2021

In a dissipative quantum system, we report the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) analysis of damped oscillation signals. We used a reflection-type pump-probe method to observe time-domain signals, including the coupled modes of long-lived longitudinal optical phonons and quickly damped plasmons (LOPC) at various pump powers. The Fourier transformed spectra of the observed damped oscillation signals show broad and asymmetric modes, making it difficult to evaluate their frequencies and damping rates. We then used DMD to analyze the damped oscillation signals by precisely determining their frequencies and damping rates. We successfully identified the LOPC modes. The obtained frequencies and damping rates were shown to depend on the pump power, which implies photoexcited carrier density. We compared the pump-power dependence of the frequencies and damping rates of the LOPC modes with the carrier density dependence of the complex eigen-energies of the coupled modes by using the non-Hermitian phenomenological effective Hamiltonian. Good agreement was obtained between the observed and calculated dependences, demonstrating that DMD is an effective alternative to Fourier analysis which often fails to estimate effective damping rates.
Quantum Networks and Symmetries
Authors: Hansenne Kiara , xu Zhen-Peng , Kraft Tristan , Gühne Otfried
Published: September 2021

Quantum networks are promising tools for the implementation of long-range quantum communication. The characterization of quantum correlations in networks and their usefulness for information processing is therefore central for the progress of the field, but so far only results for small basic network structures or pure quantum states are known. Here we show that symmetries provide a versatile tool for the analysis of correlations in quantum networks. We provide an analytical approach to characterize correlations in large network structures with arbitrary topologies. As examples, we show that entangled quantum states with a bosonic or fermionic symmetry can not be generated in networks; moreover, cluster and graph states are not accessible. Our methods can be used to design certification methods for the functionality of specific links in a network and have implications for the design of future network structures.