bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical Outcomes of a Novel Capsule Lumbar Interbody Fusion (CLIF) in Delayed Surgical Treatment of Cauda Equina Syndrome Retention (CESR) due to Lumbar Disc Herniation
Authors: Zhang Bin , Huan Le , Han Dan , Shi Jiangang , Sun Jingchuan
Published: November 2022

Objective. This present study aimed to explore the clinical effects of a novel capsule lumbar interbody fusion (CLIF) on delayed surgical treatment of cauda equina syndrome retention (CESR) due to lumbar disc herniation.
Methods. Between February 2017 and March 2019, a total of 25 patients admitted to our department with delayed surgical treatment (> 48h) of CESR due to lumbar disc herniation were prospectively enrolled. According to the selection of surgical technique, patients were divided into posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) group and CLIF group. We assessed patients’ neurological status using ODI, recovery rate (RR) of ODI, VAS, ICI-Q-SF, Rintala and IIEF-5 scores. A nerve tension surveying instrument was used to measure the nerve tension before and after intraoperative decompression. Related radiological parameters, operation time, blood loss, surgical segments, and surgery-associated complications were also recorded.
Results. All patients acquired improvement of neurological function in various degrees at the final follow-up. However, patients in the CLIF group showed better recovery of ODI and ICI-Q-SF than those in the PLIF group at 6 months after operation and final follow-up (all p < 0.05). In addition, the urodynamics parameters suggested that bladder compliance and residual urine were improved better in the CLIF group at final follow-up (both p < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that RR of ODI was positively related with change rate of nerve tension at 6 months after operation (r = 0.7171, p < 0.05) and final follow-up (r = 0.540, p < 0.05). No surgery-related complications were observed in both treatment groups.
Conclusions. Compared with traditional PLIF surgery, CLIF may more effectively reduce the nerve tension and promote the recovery of nerve function, which is safe and effective for the delayed surgical treatment of CESR.
Reassessing genetic relationships of Homo heidelbergensis among primates based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA
Authors: Cserhati Matthew
Published: November 2022

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA isolated from the fossils of Homo heidelbergensis are a real godsend. Morphological assessments of a given fossil can be highly subjective, sometimes having to transfer species from Homo to Australopithecus. However, sequencing data makes the accurate genetic reassessment of this fossil among primates possible. The mtDNA for 36 primates including Neanderthal, Denisovan, and Homo heidelbergensis were downloaded from NCBI and aligned and visualized in a heat map. Homo heidelbergensis appears to be a member of the human clade, separating sharply from all other primates. Comparisons between 21 modern humans, three archaic humans, and three Pan sequences show that archaic humans fit within the variation of modern humans, meaning that together with Neanderthal and Denisovans, Homo heidelbergensis is also part of the human clade. Reads from nine Homo heidelbergensis SRAs were downloaded from BioProject PRJEB10957 and ten for an archaic human from PRJEB22592. These reads were mapped to the hg38, the Neanderthal, and the panTro6 genomes, and variants were called using the samtools pipeline. The same proportion of reads mapped to hg38 as did from the archaic human genome, and more than to panTro6. Furthermore, the variant density was also the same between Homo heidelbergensis and archaic human, when mapping to hg38. BLASTing read sequences against hg38 and panTro6 gave similar results. Finally, the proportion of C > T/G > A point mutations in Homo heidelbergensis (40.1%) was statistically significantly greater than in modern human (33.2%). This indicates that 6.9% of these mutations stem from deamination. Homo heidelbergensis genetically behaves very much like archaic human, and thus can be considered to be human, just like Neanderthal and Denisovan. It would be of tremendous value if either mtDNA and/or nuclear DNA could be found in the fossils of other hominids so as to make a more precise assessment of human phylogenetics possible.
Medical care costs at the end of life among older adults with cancer: a national health insurance data-based cohort study
Authors: Jo Minjeong , Lee Yunji , Kim Taehwa
Published: November 2022

Objective
Along with aging, the elderly population with cancers is increasing. The costs of end-of-life (EOL) care are particularly high among cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the trends in medical costs in the last year of life among older adults with cancer.
Design, setting, and participants:
Using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services (HIRA) database for the period 2016–2019, we identified older adults aged ≥ 65 years who had a primary diagnosis of cancers and high-intensity treatment at least once in the intensive care unit (ICU) of tertiary hospitals.
Main outcomes and measures:
High-intensity treatment was defined as receiving at least one of the following treatments: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, hemodialysis, and transfusion. The EOL medical treatment costs were calculated by dividing periods 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months from the time of death, respectively.
Results
The mean total EOL medical expense per older adult during the year before death was $33,712. The cost of EOL medical expenses for three months and one month before subjects’ death accounted for 62.6% ($21,117) and 33.8% ($11,389) of total EOL costs, respectively. Among subjects who died while receiving high-intensity treatment in the ICU, the costs associated with medical treatments that occurred during the last month before death were 42.4% ($13,841) of the total EOL expenses during the year.
Conclusion
The findings indicate that EOL care expenditures for the older population with cancer are highly concentrated until the last month. The intensity of medical care is an important and challenging issue in terms of care quality and cost suitability. Efforts are needed to properly use medical resources and provide optimal EOL care for older adults with cancer.
The role of tyrosine hydroxylase within dapoxetine-assisted therapy against premature ejaculation
Authors: Liu Xi , Zhu Tianle , Gao Pan , Gao Jingjing , Gao Rui , Jiang Hui , Zhang Xiansheng
Published: November 2022

Background: There are several investigations that have revealed that cerebral dopamine (DA) plays a pivotal role in the occurrence of premature ejaculation (PE). Although tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is an essential enzyme for the synthesis of DA, only few investigations have describedthe role of TH in regulation mechanisms for ejaculation till now. To investigate whether there is a correlation between TH expression level in the brain and different ejaculation behavior in rats. Then explore whether the TH expression in the brain will change after acute dapoxetine treatment in rats with Rapid ejaculation.
Methods and Results: Male S-D rats were separated into three groups based on their ejaculation frequency: Rapid, Normal, and Sluggish. Expression level of DA in the brain was determined by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) kit, TH expression level in the brain was determined by immunohistochemistry and Western Blot (WB) techniques. Among the three groups, DA and TH expression level were the highest in the Rapid ejaculation group, while the lowest was the Sluggish ejaculation group. The results also showed that TH level was positively associated with ejaculation frequency (r=0.8038, P<0.001) and negatively associated with ejaculation latency (r=-0.6199, P<0.05). Furthermore, acute dapoxetine therapy in rats with Rapid ejaculation downregulated TH level in the brain.
Conclusion: Changes in ejaculation behavior were significantly linked with TH level. Upregulated TH in selected brain regions related with ejaculation could cause rapid ejaculation. The effect of dapoxetine in prolonging ejaculation could be related to TH downregulation within the brain.
Comprehensive Assessment of Isoform Detection Methods for Third-Generation Sequencing Data
Authors: Liu Wanlu , Su Yaqi , Yu Zhejian , Xue Ziwei , Guo Yixin
Published: November 2022

The advancement of Third-Generation Sequencing (TGS) techniques managed to increase the sequencing length to several kilobases, which leads to a bright future for completely reserving alternative splicing (AS) events and isoform expressions. In recent years, many computational methods for isoform detection from long-read sequencing data have been developed and published. However, there is no prior comparative study that systemically evaluates the performance of the software implemented with different algorithms. Here we benchmarked nine methods implemented in seven computational tools that can identify isoform structures from TGS RNA sequencing data and analyzed their performances from various aspects using both simulated datasets produced by an in-house simulator and previously published experimental data. Our results comprehensively demonstrate the relative effectiveness of the approaches and provide guidance as well as recommendations for future research on AS analysis and further improvement of the tools for isoform detection using TGS data.
Bioinformatics-based prognostic analysis of non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Zhao Ming-Li , Li Yun-Xia , Hao Shu , Wu Na , Zhou Wen-Ding , Xun Xiang-Han , Bi Qing
Published: November 2022

Background: With 75% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) being found at an intermediate to advanced stage and a five-year survival rate of only 7%-17%, there is a need to find ways to improve the five-year survival rate of patients with NSCLC for prognosis. We used bioinformatics analysis of NSCLC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to screen for differential genes and find multigene models for risk assessment of NSCLC patients, which is important for individualised clinical treatment and prognosis of NSCLC patients. Considering the limitations of the samples in this study, further validation in clinical and basic experiments is needed.
Methods and results: The 519 samples associated with NSCLC were screened using bioinformatics in TCGA database, and the differential genes were selected by univariate analysis and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression model. The most effective multi-gene model was selected by multi-gene analysis, and the validity of the multi-gene model was verified by survival analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, and finally by the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database and The mRNA differential genes were enriched KEGG and Gene Ontology (GO) databases. The GO enrichment analysis showed that the differential genes were associated with extracellular structural tissues, external encapsulated structural tissues and extracellular matrix tissues. enrichment indicated that the differential genes were associated with histidine metabolism, calcium signalling pathways and cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, among others. In conclusion, a polygenic model consisting of 22 genes can be used as a tool for the prognosis of NSCLC.
Conclusion: Polygenic models provide an ideal and effective approach to the prognosis of NSCLC. In this study, we screened a set of multigene models as a risk assessment model for the prognosis of NSCLC.
A savings intervention to reduce men's engagement in HIV risk behaviors: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Egbe Teniola I. , Omollo MPH Ouma Dan , Wesonga MScE Julius Oduor , Bair MS Elizabeth F. , Chakrabarti Averi , Putt PhD Mary E. , Celum Connie L. Celum L. , Camlin Carol S. , Napierala Sue , PhD  , Thirumurthy Harsha
Published: November 2022

Background
In much of eastern and southern Africa, the incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high despite the scale-up of promising biomedical and behavioral interventions. Studies have documented the crucial role of transactional sex – the exchange of money, material support or goods in, sexual relationships – and heavy alcohol use in driving HIV/STI incidence and influencing men’s and women’s health outcomes. Existing policy responses to this challenge have largely focused on interventions to reduce women’s engagement in transactional sex such as vocational training and cash transfers for economic empowerment. However, the effectiveness of these interventions has been hindered by the relative lack of programs targeting men’s behavior. There is a vital need for interventions that can reduce men’s engagement in risky behaviors that increase HIV/STI risk. We describe here a protocol for an economic intervention to reduce men’s engagement in HIV risk behaviors in Kenya.
Methods
We will conduct a randomized controlled trial among income-earning men in Kenya who are aged 18–39 years and self-report alcohol use and engagement in transactional sex. The study will enroll 1,500 participants and randomize them to a control group or savings group. The savings group will receive access to a savings account that includes lottery-based incentives to save money regularly, opportunities to develop savings goals/strategies, and text message reminders about their saving goals. The control group will receive basic health education. Over a period of 24 months, we will collect qualitative and quantitative data from participants and a subset of their female partners. Participants will also be tested for HIV and other STIs at baseline, 12, and 24 months.
Discussion
The findings from this study have the potential to address a missing element of HIV/STI prevention efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa by promoting upstream and forward-looking behavior and reducing the risk of acquiring HIV/STIs in a high HIV/STI burden setting. If this study is effective, it is an innovative approach that could be scaled up and could have great potential for scientific and public health impact in Kenya.
Trial registration
: Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov on May 23, 2022. Link: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05385484. Registration number: NCT05385484
FARSB Serves as a Novel Hypomethylated and Immune Cell Infiltration Related Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Zhen Jing , Pan Jingying , Zhou Xuanrui , Yu Zichuan , Jiang Yike , Gong Yiyang , Ding Yongqi , fang Jiayu , Liu Yue , Huang Da
Published: November 2022

Purpose
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent tumor with high morbidity, and an unfavourable prognosis. FARSB is an aminoacyl tRNA synthase, and plays a key role in protein synthesis in cells. Furthermore, previous reports have indicated that FARSB is overexpressed in gastric tumor tissues and is associated with a poor prognosis and tumorigenesis. However, the function of FARSB in HCC has not been studied.
Results
The results showed that FARSB mRNA and protein levels were upregulated in HCC and were closely related to many clinicopathological characteristics. Besides, according to multivariate Cox analysis, high FARSB expression was linked with a shorter survival time in HCC and may be an independent prognostic factor. In addition, the methylation level was negatively associated with the expression of FARSB. Furthermore, enrichment analysis showed that FARSB was related to the cell cycle. And TIMER analysis revealed that the FARSB expression was closely linked to tumor purity and immune cell infiltration. The TCGA and ICGC data analysis suggested that FARSB expression is greatly related to m6A modifier related genes. Potential FARSB-related ceRNA regulatory networks were also constructed. What’s more, based on the FARSB-protein interaction network, molecular docking models of FARSB and RPLP1 were constructed. Finally, drug susceptibility testing revealed that FARSB was susceptible to 38 different drugs or small molecules.
Conclusion
FARSB can serve as a prognostic biomarker for HCC and provide clues about immune infiltration, and m6A modification.
Toothpaste-related interests of Google users from different countries
Authors: Profio Bruna Di , Lotto Matheus , Aguirre Patricia Estefania Ayala , Villar Cristina Cunha , Romito Giuseppe Alexandre , Braga Mariana Minatel , Cruvinel Thiago , Pannuti Cláudio Mendes
Published: November 2022

Background
The Internet is a growing source of knowledge and can provide information about oral health. This ecological study aimed to characterize the interests of Google users on toothpaste in different countries.
Methods
This longitudinal retrospective study analyzed the toothpaste-related interest of Google users from ten distinct countries between January 2004 and December 2020. The monthly variation in Relative Search Volume (RSV) and the main related queries were determined using Google Trends. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) forecasting models were built to establish the predictive RSV values for mouthwash for an additional 12 months. Auto-correlation plots and a general additive model (GAM) were used to diagnose trends and seasonality in RSV curves. Additionally, the influence of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemics was analyzed.
Results
Although not detected by ACF and PACF analyses, the heuristic analysis showed an increase in the interest in toothpaste-related information in all countries, with a stable trend observed in the 12-month forecasts, except for the increases in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Also, GAM analyses demonstrated a non-significant monthly or quarterly seasonal influence on data. In addition, the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic did not influence the online information-seeking behavior of Google Search users linked to this topic.
Discussion
The heuristic analysis of the time series indicated an increase in the interest of Internet users in toothpaste between January 2004 and December 2020. This increase may reflect the population's growing autonomy for solving their own health problems. The Internet seems to be the most popular source of information. As such, this information may enable the implementation of specific public oral health policies and oral-care communications based on the population´s needs. Along these lines, information monitoring and improvements in oral health literacy may contribute to the reduction of currently existing social and economic barriers.
Conclusion
The interest of Google Search users in information about toothpaste increased in all ten countries. These trends were not influenced by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in most countries.
Diagnostic Value of ABO Blood Group Combined with Tumor Markers in Gastric Cancer
Authors: Liu Yuhuan , Chen Shasha , Shen Weina , Qu Xiaodong , Li Songbo , Shi Yongquan
Published: November 2022

Background
Blood type is related to the occurrence and development of gastric cancer. The aim of this study is to explore the value of combined detection of ABO blood group and tumor markers in the diagnosis of gastric cancer.
Methods
A total of 3650 gastric cancer patients treated in our center from January 2015 to December 2019, and 5822 controls were recruited, and divided into training set and validation set according to 7:3. The clinicopathological characteristics were recorded. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of tumor markers and their combined blood type for gastric cancer. The results were validated using another group of people (validation group).
Results
In both the training set and the validation set, the levels of tumor markers in gastric cancer patients were higher than those in the healthy control group (P < 0.05). The distribution of blood group in gastric cancer group was: A > B > O > AB, while that in healthy control group was: B > O > A > AB. Type B blood (AUC = 0.850,95%CI 0.837–0.863, P = 0.0006) and type AB blood (AUC = 0.837,95%CI 0.812–0.860, P = 0.0439) could improve the diagnostic value of CEA in gastric cancer.
Conclusion
The detection of blood group combined with tumor markers can improve the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of gastric cancer, which has a high reference value for the diagnosis of gastric cancer patients, and is worthy of further clinical study.
Local characteristics of molecular epidemiolgy of Acinetobacter baumannii in Jilin Province (northeast China)
Authors: You Qingsong , Du Xue , Hu Nannan , Zhang Yusi , Zhang Na , Wang Fusheng , Li Jinghua , Sun Yanbo , Wang Fang , Shi Hongyan
Published: November 2022

A. Baumannii is an opportunistic nosocomial pathogen which have severe antibiotic-resistant. However, the epidemiology is less clearly understood in Jilin province and China. Thus, 89 A. baumannii isolates from a single hospital in Jilin province between 2013-2017 were performed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), and all Chinese strains with definite STs in MLST database were analyzed by silico phylogenetic tools. A total of 22 Sequence types (STs) in Jilin were identified and 10 STs were found to be novel. The top three predominant sequence types are ST195 (n=34, 38.2%), ST208 (n=14, 15.7%) and ST540 (n=13, 14.6%). ST369 is predicted to be group founder and ST195, ST540 are subgroup founders of the majority STs in Jilin Province. The majority of all Jilin isolates showed clonality and close relationship with the majorities from other regions of China. But occupation of individual STs in Jilin were different from that of other domestic regions. Excepting domestic transmission, some newly discovered singleton showed close relationship with strains from other countries, which suggest that nation-cross transmission is one of important origin of Jilin strains. And the aggregation trend and close genetic relationship of dominant STs proved that predominant STs continue to mutate in the process of transmission. Drug resistance facilitated transmission of Jilin A.baumannii isolates because more than 94% of isolates are resistant to at least one carbapenem and the STs with strong resistance to carbapenems usually has more isolates. In conclusion, high diversity and different occupation of STs, and occupation of novel STs proved that epidemiology of A. baumannii in Jilin has special regional characteristics, and drug resistance facilitated transmission of domestic strains and foreign strains.
Drug-resistant extracellular vesicles: a reliable biomarker for predicting therapeutic response in patients with triple-negative breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy
Authors: Kim Min Woo , Lee Hyojung , Lee Suji , Moon Sol , Kim Young , Kim Joon Ye , Kim Seung Il , Kim Jee Ye
Published: November 2022

Background:Predicting tumor response for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is critical for evaluating prognosis and deciding the treatment strategy in patients with breast cancer; however, there are no reliable circulating biomarkers that can assess therapeutic responses appropriately and effectively. Therefore, we aimed to validate the clinical feasibility of extracellular vesicles (EV) collected through liquid biopsy as biomarkers for predicting tumor response after NAC.Methods:Drug-resistant sublines were generated from a panel of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines, including HCC1395, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468. Comparison with parental cells suggested candidate biomarkers to detect resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. EVs were isolated from cultured cells and plasma samples collected before NAC from breast cancer patients (N=36). The EVs were then coupled to immuno-beads to allow the quantification of drug resistance-related EV markers by flow cytometry.Results:Drug-resistant TNBC cell lines were stably established showing specific morphology and rapidly growing features. Among the differentially expressed gene profiles between parental and drug-resistant cell lines, drug efflux transporters, such as multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1), MDR-associated protein 1 (MRP1), and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) were highly expressed in resistant cell lines. Drug efflux transporters were identified in not only cell lines but also EVs released from parental cells with immuno-affinity-based EV isolation. Among 20 TNBC patients, the expression of drug-resistant markers in EVs from the patients with the residual disease was relatively high compared to that of patients with pathological complete response (pCR). The optimal combination of drug-resistant EV markers was significantly efficient in predicting patients showing resistance to NAC and represented the best performance with 93% sensitivity, 80% specificity, and 0.93 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.Conclusions:The combination of drug-resistant EV markers is effective in predicting the therapeutic response of breast cancer patients who are treated with NAC.
Successful First Use of a Phage Endolysin for Treatment of
Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome/Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis
Authors: Stevens Roy , Zhang Hongming , Kajsík Michal , Płoski Rafal , Rydzanicz Malgorzata , Sabaka Peter , Sutovský Stanislav
Published: November 2022

Chronic prostatitis (CP) is a common inflammatory condition of the prostate that is estimated to effect 2-10% of the world’s male population. It can manifest as perineal, suprapubic, or lower back pain and urinary symptoms occurring with either recurrent bacterial infection (chronic bacterial prostatitis [CBC]) or in the absence of evidence of bacterial infection (chronic pelvic pain syndrome [CPPS]). Here, we report a case of a 39-year-old patient displaying symptoms of CP in which a bacteriophage-derived muralytic enzyme (endolysin) was successfully used to resolve the disease. Bacteriological analysis of the patient’s prostatic secretion and semen samples revealed a chronic Enterococcus faecalis prostate infection, supporting a diagnosis of CBP. The patient’s E. faecalis strain was resistant to several antibiotics and developed resistance to others during the course of treatment. Previous treatment with multiple courses of antibiotics, bacteriophages, probiotics, and immunologic stimulation had failed to achieve long term eradication of the infection or lasting mitigation of the symptoms. A seven-day course of treatment with the endolysin resulted in the elimination of the E. faecalis infection to below culturally detectable levels, and the abatement of symptoms to near normal levels. Furthermore, during the endolysin treatment, the patient experienced no untoward reactions. The present report represents the first clinical demonstration of the efficacy of a bacteriophage endolysin in the management of a recalcitrant systemic infection.
Caries activity tests and associated factors among 3- to 5-year -old preschool children in Zhao County,Hebei province,China
Authors: Lin Xiuyan , Wang Yuan , Ma Zhe , Cao Fengdi , Zhao Caiyun , Wang Xinfeng , Shi Hong
Published: November 2022

Background:This study aims to investigate the caries activity (CA) and its caries status in children aged 3–5 years in Zhao County, Hebei province, China and to explore the related influencing factors. In addition, to analyze the diagnostic value of Cariostat caries activity test in early childhood caries (ECC).
Methods:Cariostat caries activity test and oral examination were performed on children aged 3–5 years old in Zhao county, Hebei province by a stratified sampling and to evaluate the caries status, decayed-missing-filled teeth (dmft), caries prevalence, and significant caries index (SiC). A questionnaire survey was used to analyze the CA-related influencing factors and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was to evaluate the diagnostic value of Cariostat caries activity test in children with ECC.
Results: A total of 693 children aged 3–5 years old were selected in this study. The mean dmft score was 7.6 ± 5.0, and the prevalence of deciduous dental caries was 90.5%. There is a positive correlation between the dmft score and CA value (r = 0.586, P < 0.001), and CA and caries prevalence increased with age (P < 0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis shows that the possible risk factors for high CA included: low educational level of mothers, night-weaning at a later age, high frequency of sugary beverages consumption and low frequency of dental visits. The higher the frequency of vegetables consumption, the lower the risk of CA. The area under the ROC curve was 0.924, and the sensitivity and specificity were 87.40% and 91.17%, respectively.
Conclusions:The caries status of preschool children aged 3–5 years old in Zhao county of Hebei province was serious. The higher the mean dmft of children, the greater the CA value. Mother's educational level and children's diet and lifestyle habits were closely related to CA. The Cariostat caries activity test has good efficacy in diagnosing ECC with high sensitivity and specificity.
P2RY6 activation aggravates NLRP3-dependent microglial pyroptosis via down-regulation of the PI3K/AKT pathway in a mouse model of intracerebral hemorrhage
Authors: Li Yulong , Tu Huiru , Zhang Shengfan , Ding Zhiquan , Wu Guiwei , Piao Jifeng , Lv Dingyi , Hu Libin , Li Feng , Wang Qinghua
Published: November 2022

Background Pro-inflammatory signals generated after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) trigger a form of regulated cell death known as pyroptosis in microglia. Although the p2Y purinoceptor 6 (P2RY6) plays a significant role in control of inflammatory reactions in central nervous system diseases, its roles in the development of neuroinflammation and microglial pyroptosis following ICH remain unclear. Methods Type IV collagenase was injected to induce ICH. Mice were then treated with MRS2578 and LY294002 to inhibit P2RY6 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), respectively. Bio-conductivity analysis was performed to examine PI3K/AKT pathway involvement. Immunostaining and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses were conducted to examine pyroptosis following P2RY6 inhibitor treatment. Western blot and immunostaining were performed to clarify the specific mechanisms underlying microglia pyroptosis and white matter injury (WMI). A modified Garcia test, corner turning test, and forelimb placement test were used to assess neurobehavioral function. Results Increases in the expression of P2RY6 and pyroptosis-related proteins were observed after ICH, peaking 24 h post ICH. P2RY6 was only expressed on microglia. Administration of MRS2578, a specific inhibitor of P2RY6, attenuated short-term neurobehavioral deficits and WMI while decreasing both microglia pyroptosis and cerebral edema. These changes were attended by decreases in pyroptosis-relatived proteins and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Bioinformatic analysis revealed an association between the PI3K/AKT pathway and P2RY6-mediated neuroinflammation. The effects of MRS2578 were partially reversed by treatment with LY294002, a specific PI3K inhibitor. Conclusion P2RY6 activation induces microglial pyroptosis, deficits in neurological function and WMI, partially via the P2RY6/PI3K/AKT/NLRP3 pathway. Consequently, targeting P2RY6 might be a promising approach to the therapy of ICH.
Conditional Survival in Multiple Myeloma and Impact of Prognostic Factors Over Time
Authors: Abdallah Nadine , Smith Alexandra , Geyer Susan , Binder Moritz , Greipp Patricia , Kapoor Prashant , Dispenzieri Angela , Gertz Morie , Baughn Linda , Lacy Martha , HAYMAN Suzanne , Buadi Francis , Dingli David , Hwa Yi , Lin Yi , Kourelis Taxiarchis , Warsame Rahma , KYLE Robert , Rajkumar S. Vincent , Kumar Shaji
Published: November 2022

Overall Survival estimates from diagnosis are valuable for guiding treatment, but do not consider the years already survived. Conditional survival (CS) provides dynamic survival predictions over time. This study was conducted to estimate CS at 1–8 years from diagnosis and the impact of baseline prognostic factors on CS in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. This is a retrospective study including 2556 MM patients diagnosed between 2004–2019. CS (t|s) was defined as the probability of surviving t years given survival of s years. Median age was 64 years. Median follow-up was 6.2 years and median overall survival from diagnosis was 7.5 years. The 5-year CS estimates at s = 0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 years were 0.64, 0.61, 0.61, 0.61, and 0.58, respectively. On multivariate analysis, age ≥ 65 and proteasome inhibitor + immunomodulatory-based induction were associated with decreased survival and increased survival, respectively, retained at 5 years. The adverse impact of 1q gain/amplification, high-risk IgH translocation, and ISS-3 was significant at 1 and 3 years but not 5 years. Chromosome 17 abnormality was associated with decreased survival only at 1 year. Among MM patients, 5-year CS was stable at 1–5 years from diagnosis. The prognostic impact of high-risk cytogenetic factors decreased with additional years survived.
A nasal spray vaccination device based on Laval nozzle and its experimental test
Authors: Wang Zhong , Zhang Zhengyuan , Wang Qian , Zeng Lingliao , Jin Jian
Published: November 2022

In order to realize the application of the nasal spray vaccination in the prevention and protection of respiratory infectious diseases, a nasal spray vaccination device is designed in this paper. The device uses a Laval nozzle structure to form a high-speed airflow to impinge on the vaccine reagent and form nebulized particles. Through optimization of the Laval nozzle structure and several experiments, a set of parameters which is applicable to actual nasal spray vaccination is obtained. The experimental results show that when the gas source pressure is 2 bar, the spray angle is about 15°, the diameter of the sprayed particles Xv50 is about 16 um, the volume fraction of particles with diameter larger than 10um is about 75%, the spraying rate is close to 300 ul/s. The vaccine activity tests demonstrate that under these conditions, not only the Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of the vaccine is guaranteed, but also the requirements of the spray particle diameter and spray rate for nasal spray inoculation are met.
Design, Carbon Emission and Economic Analysis of a Cogeneration System for Garments Group of Industries
Authors: Jain Narayan Lal
Published: November 2022

Cogeneration is the most efficient and reliable energy supply technology which is being utilized worldwide in individual industries but not in a group of industries. This paper presents a study which has been carried out to check the feasibility and economic viability of Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) in a group of industries of garments zone. Heat and power forms of energy are required in existing system. Electricity is supplied by the state grid while heat in the form of steam is generated by the industries individually by diesel fuel fired boiler. Power (electricity) and heat (steam) required in the garments zone (Group of Industries) is 700 kWh/hr and 2100 kg/hr respectively. To fulfill this requirement, CHP and steam distribution system has been designed in this study. Internal rate of return (IRR) has been calculated for different scenario. An industrialist in existing system spends Rs. 3.4/ kg steam and Rs. 6.5/kWh power. By replacing the existing system by the proposed system, IRR is 12% if the industrialist spends the same amount for next ten years to pay for proposed system. If the industrialist paid the same amount with an annual increase of 10% per year (which is actually happening in India) on diesel and electricity for the next ten years, there would be an IRR of 15% even when the steam is provided by the proposed system at Rs. 2.9/ kg. CO2 emissions are reduced by 85 Tonnes per year as compared to the existing system. The proposed system, therefore, is not only economically viable but also save the environment.
Changes in target accuracy and rate of cerebral hemorrhage following STN-DBS for the treatment of Parkinson's disease
Authors: Zheng Suyue , Xu Mingyu , Xie Liyuan , Lu Mingwei , Huang Hui
Published: November 2022

Purpose
To prevent the steps of the deep brain stimulation (DBS) operation from affecting the accuracy of target due to cerebral hemorrhage, cerebrospinal fluid loss and brain tissue displacement caused by microelectrode.
Methods
In the course of DBS, the preoperative operation plan was determined by double-dose enhanced intracranial vascular imaging, and involved the use of a microelectrode without dura mater incision and other methods. Through systematic retrospective analysis, the data of 34 patients who underwent DBS surgery in the Second Affiliated Neurosurgery Department of Nanchang University from May 2016 to August 2018 were compared before and after using these methods.
Results
1. Among the 34 patients, there were 19 males (55.9%) and 15 females (44.1%). In terms of age, 26 patients were older than 60 years old, accounting for 76.5% of the patients, and 8 patients were under 60 years old, accounting for 23.5% of the patients. According to the postoperative intracranial gas accumulation, before use of the improved method, the intracranial gas accumulation was 10.719 ± 14.001 ml, and after use of the improved method, the intracranial gas accumulation was 9.241 ± 9.818 ml. Chi-square analysis comparing the data before and after the improved method revealed a significant difference between the two patient groups. Before use of the improved method, two patients (13.3%) had cerebral hemorrhage, and the bleeding rate after use of the improved method was 0.
Conclusion
After improving the operation procedure, the displacement of brain tissue and bleeding during the operation were significantly reduced, the risks from the operation were reduced, the curative effect of the operation was improved, and good quality of life was obtained.
Research on Digital Twin Modeling Method for Array Antenna Assembly Performance Analysis
Authors: Guo XuePeng , Liu LinYan , Huang JingHong , Wang HuiFen , Du XiaoDong , Shi JianCheng , Wang Yue
Published: November 2022

In order to solve the problems of timeliness and accuracy in the performance analysis of complex product assembly, taking the performance analysis of the array antenna assembly process as the research object, and taking the assembly process performance "measurable" as the requirement, a digital twin modeling method for the assembly performance analysis of the array antenna is proposed. This method integrates finite element, mesh model simplification and surrogate model. In order to realize the real-time prediction and rapid visualization of the assembly performance in the assembly process, a mesh simplification algorithm for finite element mesh model based on edge collapse is proposed and a Gaussian process regression surrogate model for product assembly performance is constructed in order to complete the construction of a digital twin model for assembly performance analysis. Finally, the proposed method is verified by an example of the assembly performance analysis of a typical array antenna. The result shows that the digital twin model proposed has high response speed and fidelity in the analysis of assembly performance, and has certain reference value and significance for the application of digital twin technology in the product assembly process.
Effects of spring wheat / faba bean mixtures on early crop development
Authors: Paul Madhuri Rani , Demie Dereje T , Seidel Sabine J , Döring Thomas Felix
Published: November 2022

Aims. Intercropping cereals and grain legumes has the potential to increase grain yield in comparison to the respective sole crops, but little is known about mixture effects at the early crop developmental stage. In cereal legume mixtures, the cereal is usually the dominating partner. We aimed to find out when domination starts, which factors may enhance early domination, and if there is a legacy effect of early domination on later growth stages. Methods. We set up field trials at a low input conventional site in 2020 and an organic site in 2020 and 2021. Treatments included all possible monocultures and 1:1 mixtures of twelve spring wheat (SW) entries, and two faba bean (FB) cultivars. All combinations were each sown in two sowing densities. To measure the effect of the mixture on early crop development, we counted crop emergence (plant m− 2) at ~ 23 days after sowing (DAS) and crop biomass dry matter at ~ 52 and ~ 82 DAS. Results. We found positive mixture effects on SW emergence at the conventional site and on SW and FB emergence at the organic site in 2021. SW was the dominating partner in all three environments; SW domination, without suppressing FB, was already noticed at emergence at the conventional site. There, a small head start of SW at emergence favored dominance at later growth stages and lead to superiority over FB in terms of plant biomass. Conclusions. Understanding early dominancy in intercropping may help in managing competition in mixture to enhance complementarity and improve total productivity.
Frustrated Magnetic Cycloidal Structure and Emergent Potts Nematicity in CaMn2P2
Authors: Islam Farhan , Trevisan Thais , Heitmann Thomas , Pakhira Santanu , Riberolles Simon , Sangeetha N. S. , Johnston David , Orth Peter , Vaknin David
Published: November 2022

We report neutron-diffraction results on single-crystal CaMn2P2 containing corrugated Mn honeycomb layers and determine its ground-state magnetic structure. The diffraction patterns consist of prominent (1/6, 1/6, L) reciprocal lattice unit (r.l.u.; L = integer) magnetic Bragg reflections, whose temperature-dependent intensities are consistent with a first-order antiferromagnetic phase transition at the Néel temperature TN = 70(1) K. Our analysis of the diffraction patterns reveals an in-plane 6 × 6 magnetic unit cell with ordered spins that in the principal-axis directions rotate by 60-degree steps between nearest neighbors on each sublattice that forms the honeycomb structure, consistent with the PAc magnetic space group. We find that a few other magnetic subgroup symmetries (PA2/c, PC2/m, PS¯1, PC2, PCm, PS1) of the paramagnetic P¯3m11′ crystal symmetry are consistent with the observed diffraction pattern. We relate our findings to frustrated J1-J2-J3 Heisenberg honeycomb antiferromagnets with single-ion anisotropy and the emergence of Potts nematicity.
Identification of a novel gene signature with DDR and EMT difunctionalities for predicting prognosis, immune activity, and drug response in breast cancer
Authors: Zhang Pan , Li Quan , Zhang Yuni , Wang Qianqian , Yan Junfang , Shen Aihua , Hu Burong
Published: November 2022

Breast cancer (BRCA) is one of the leading causes of female death worldwide. There are substantial evidences that DNA damage repair (DDR) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are critically related to cancer’s progression and treatment. Nevertheless, it has not been illuminated whether genes with the two functions play a more crucial role in the prognosis, immune and therapy response of BRCA patients. In this study, We identified the prognostic-related genes with both DDR and EMT functions and explored the immune infiltration and chemosensitivity between the different risk groups. The transcriptome expression data and clinical information of BRCA patients were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The univariate Cox regression analysis was used to screen the prognosis-related DEDGs. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression was performed to construct a prognosis model. Additionally, the multivariate COX regression was conducted to construct a prognostic nomogram. ESTIMATE algorithm, ssGSEA, and the IC50 of chemotherapeutic drugs were used to assess immune activity and responsiveness to chemotherapy. And the prognostic model of six DEDGs were validated in two independent GEO cohorts. The study found that the high-risk group’s patients had significantly lower survival rates than the low-risk group. The immune infiltration levels were lower in the high-risk group. Moreover, patients in the high-risk group were more insensitive to chemotherapeutic agents. This study provides a theoretical framework for BRCA’s treatment and contributing into individualized therapy strategies in BRCA.
Rigidity Control Mechanism by Turgor Pressure in Plants
Authors: Kanahama Tohya , Tsugawa Satoru , Sato Motohiro
Published: November 2022

The bodies of herbaceous plants are slender, thin, and soft. These plants support their bodies through the action of turgor pressure associated with their internal water stores. The purpose of this study was to apply the principles of structural mechanics to clarify the rigidity control mechanism by which turgor pressure of plants. We modeled a wild plant as a thin cylindrical cantilever that is acted on by its own weight and by internal tension generated through turgor pressure. We derived an equation describing the plant's consequent deflection, introducing a dimensionless parameter to express the decrease in deflection associated with the action of turgor pressure. We found that herbaceous plants cleverly support their own bodies by selecting particular mechanical and physical characteristics that would appear to be counter-productive from a superficial perspective.
Integrated analysis of ovarian cancer stem cells-associated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network via microarray and Gene Expression Omnibus database
Authors: Li Zheng , Li Ying , Bai Jinling , Wang Zhijiao , Zhou Yingying
Published: November 2022

Background
Competing endogenous RNAs (CeRNAs) play an important role in maintenance of ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs) characteristics.
Objective
To isolate a new OCSC line and construct a ceRNA network for maintenance of OCSCs characteristics by the cell line and GEO Database.
Methods
We isolated OCSCs from ovarian cancer cell line COC1 by chemotherapy drugs and growth factors. We identified the DEMs, DELs and DEGs between OCSCs and COC1 by microarray and combined them with representative microarray profiles in GEO Database. The ceRNA network was constructed by STRING and Cytoscape. QPCR and western blot were used to verify the expression of several genes that contained in the predicted network.
Results
According to the combination, 28 DEMs were identified at first, and 452 DEGs were obtained combining with the predicted targets of these miRNAs and our mRNA microarray results. Up-regulated DEGs of them were significantly enriched in ‘p53 signaling pathway’, ‘FoxO signaling pathway’, et al, whereas down-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in ‘Adherens junction’ and ‘Hepatitis C’ pathway. Finally, we obtained OCSCs characteristics related ceRNA network with 10 DEMs, 21 DEGs, and 25 transcripts of 13 DELs. We verified that LINC00665-miR-146a-5p-NRP2 should be one of the pathways of the constructed ceRNA network.
Conclusion
The ceRNA network we constructed may be involved in the stem cell characteristics maintenance of OCSCs and provide directions for further OCSCs research in the future.
Analytical differentiation of the articulated-body algorithm: a geometric multilinear approach
Authors: Paz Alvaro , Arechavaleta Gustavo
Published: November 2022

This paper presents a new geometric algorithm to efficiently compute the analytical differentiation of the Articulated-body Algorithm (ABA) with respect to the state variables. Despite the fact that ABA solves the forward dynamics problem in linear-time for branched-multibody systems, its explicit differentiation is not straightforward, and computationally demanding tensor products and contractions appear. The proposed algorithm makes use of Lie algebraic and multilinear operations to recursively exploit the underlying sparsity of the linearization problem. As a result, the arithmetic complexity is dramatically reduced without affecting the analytical solution. Since the linealization of forward dynamics is of great importance in robot trajectory optimization, a differential dynamic programming solver is employed to demonstrate the performance of our algorithm with humanoid robot models such as N{\footnotesize AO} and HRP-2. In addition, we provide the computational cost with different robots using an optimized C++ implementation that can be found at https://github.com/garechav/geombd_crtp.git}{https://github.com/garechav/geombd\_crtp.