bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictors of	Post Partum Sepsis Directly Related to Pnuemonia Among Post-Partum Women at Finote Selam General Hospital, West Gojjam Zone, Amhara, Ethiopia, 2022
Authors: Ayele Habtamu , Baye Fekadu , Bishaw Geremew , Ayele Almaw
Published: March 2023

Introduction: Puerperal Sepsis is an inflammatory response to the infection of the female reproductive system caused by bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic pathogens. It affects women during or within six weeks of childbirth. For these,identification of determinants of puerperal sepsis reduces the health and economic impact through early detection and intervention. Though studies were conducted on puerperal sepsis in Ethiopia, there is a lack of information on its determinants of puerperal sepsis directly related to pneumonia in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to identify determinants of puerperal sepsis among post-partum women at Finote Selam General Hospital, Amhara, Ethiopia, 2022.
Method: Institutional based unmatched case-control study was conducted from May 10, 2022, to July 15, 2022, on post-partum women of 220 (55 cases and 165 controls with a 1:3 case-control ratio determined by the Open Epi version 3. Cases and controls were extracted by consecutive sampling. A structured face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaire and checklist were used. Data were entered and analyzed using EPI data version 4.4.2.1 and SPSS version 25, respectively.Variables with a p-value ≤0.25 in the bi-variable logistic analysis were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model. Hosmer and Lemeshow’s goodness-of-fit test and Multicollinearity were checked. Statistical significance was declared at P-value < 0.05 along with, 95% Confidence Interval.
Result: The result of multiple logistics regression revealed that the odds of developing PS directly related with post-partum pneumonia were caesarean delivery (AOR=2.802, 95 %CI: 1.207, 6.502), hypertension (AOR=2.431, 95% CI: 1.257, 4.700), history of anemia (AOR=0.343, 95%CI: 0.145, 0.811 were determinants of post-partum pneumonia.
Conclusion: majority of the determinants were obstetric related.
Screening and Validation of Salt-stress Responsive Cg-ssr Markers in Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Germplasm of Pakistan
Authors: Khalid Mishal , Kausar Rehana , Shahzad Armghan , Ali Ghulam Muhammad , Begum Sania
Published: March 2023

Background: Soil salinity has been affecting wheat production worldwide over past few decades. Evaluation of wheat genotypes for salinity tolerance at germination and vegetative growth level is crucial. Marker assisted selection is a technique used extensively for choosing salt-tolerant genotypes from breeding populations to introduce novel genes.
Methods and materials: The current study's main goal was to discover salt-stress resistant genes; genetic divergence and genome-wide connection by using recently designed candidate gene-based simple-sequence-repeat markers (cg-SSRs). The phenotypic connection of morphological features during the germination growth stage i.e., germination period, root length/weight and shoot length/weight, and vegetative growth stages i.e., root length/weight and shoot length/weight were tested in a group of 50 wheat genotypes. Significant difference was observed in germination rate, root length and weight among control and saline treatments.
Conclusion: Total 30 SSR markers were utilized to test salinity resistance genes in wheat genotypes. Three (10%) of which were monomorphic, one (3.34%) showed no result, and the other 26 (86%) were polymorphic. Using 30 polymorphic markers discovered total 37 alleles. The polymorphic information content (PIC), quantifies each SSR locus capacity to discriminate between wheat, varied from 0.00 to 0.38 with an average of 0.19. Association analysis revealed that 26 primers were associated with morphological features, 03 with root length and the remaining 23 with germination. Utilizing morphological data, stress tolerance index (STI) was designed concluding that Auqab-2000, Margala-99 and Ufaq showed better resistance against salinity among other wheat genotypes. Cluster analysis demonstrated that wheat genotypes have vast genetic variability.
Diffusionless relaxation of half-skyrmion liquid, hexatic, and crystalline states in a chiral molecular crystal
Authors: Takae Kyohei , Mitsumoto Kota
Published: March 2023

Particles in a crowded environment exhibit slow anomalous diffusion. In crystals, constituent particles do not diffuse, but skyrmions and half-skyrmions, spatially localised quasiparticles, exhibit normal diffusion in dilute conditions. However, the cooperative dynamics and diffusion of (half-)skyrmions in liquid, hexatic, and crystalline phases are elusive. Here we show that the fusion and fission of half-skyrmions, not their diffusion, are responsible for the primary structural relaxation in these condensed phases. The diffusion, which contributes to the secondary structural relaxation, is suppressed by cages formed by surrounding half-skyrmions, whereas enhanced by Mermin-Wagner fluctuation characteristic to two-dimensional systems, leading to subdiffusive motion. Large displacement of half-skyrmions is locally induced by fusion-fission and bond-breaking between adjacent half-skyrmions. Furthermore, the motion of half-skyrmions couples with transverse and longitudinal sound wave excitation differently. Our result provides a qualitative difference in dynamical properties between skyrmion gaseous and condensed phases, suggesting the efficient manipulation of high-density (half-)skyrmions.
Challenges of general practitioner-oncologist interaction in end-of-life communication: a qualitative study
Authors: Villalobos Matthias , Korezelidou Anastasia , Unsöld Laura , Deis Nicole , Thomas Michael , Siegle Anja
Published: March 2023

Purpose: To explore general practitioners‘ (GP) perspectives on initiation and conduction of end-of-life (EOL) conversations in patients with metastatic lung cancer and how they perceive the interaction with the oncologists of a cancer center.
Methods: Qualitative design with in-depth interviews with GPs that refer patients with metastatic lung cancer to a cancer center; thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke.
Results: We identified three main themes: timing and conduction of EOL-conversations, factors influencing EOL-conversations, and modes of GP-oncologist interaction. All themes showed important challenges in regard to communication strategies or procedures within the cancer center and between general practitioners and oncologists. Aside from known challenges of EOL-communication, important problems arise from the difficulties in keeping pace with advances in oncology and the increasing prognostic uncertainty. Additionally, the lack of standardized communication in EOL-topics between GPs and oncologists is underlined. Options in the mode of interaction include written information and direct phone calls.
Conclusions: Because of the growing complexity in modern oncology, strategies for improvement in EOL-communication and GP-oncologist interaction have to consider information and education about therapeutic advances and prognosis of patients. The written interaction in reports or digital platforms should include information about EOL-communication. As prognostic uncertainty may hinder the adequate provision and conduction of conversations, a trustful personal interaction through direct contact via phone calls between GPs and oncologists should be encouraged.
Spatio-temporal Joint Modelling on Moderate and Extreme Air Pollution in Spain
Authors: Wang Kai , Ling Chengxiu , Chen Ying , Zhang Zhengjun
Published: March 2023

Very unhealthy air quality is consistently connected with numerous diseases. Appropriate extreme analysis and accurate predictions are in rising demand for exploring potential linked causes and for providing suggestions for the environmental agency in public policy strategy. This paper aims to model the spatial and temporal pattern of both moderate and extremely poor PM10 concentrations (of daily mean) collected from 342 representative monitors distributed throughout mainland Spain from 2017 to 2021. We firstly propose and compare a series of Bayesian hierarchical generalized extreme models of annual maxima PM10 concentrations, including both the fixed effect of altitude, temperature, precipitation, vapour pressure and population density, as well as the spatio-temporal random effect with the Stochastic Partial Differential Equation (SPDE) approach and a lag-one dynamic auto-regressive component (AR(1)). The similar and different effects of interrelated factors are identified through a joint Bayesian model of annual mean and annual maxima PM10 concentrations, which may bring the power of statistical inference of body data to the tail analysis with implementation in the faster and more accurate Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) algorithm with respect to MCMC. Under WAIC, DIC and other criteria, the best model is selected with good predictive ability based on the first four-year data (2017-2020) for training and the last-year data (2021) for testing. The findings are applied to identify the hot-spot regions with extremely poor air quality using excursion functions specified at the grid level. It suggests that the community of Madrid and the northwestern boundary of Spain are likely to be exposed to severe air pollution simultaneously exceeding the warning risk threshold. The joint model also provides evidence that certain predictors (precipitation, vapour pressure and population density)influence comparably while the other predictors (altitude and temperature) impact oppositely in the different scaled PM10 concentrations.
Chrysophyllum albidum Deterioration Entails Decline in Pseudomonas and Increase in Acetobacter Abundance
Authors: Ogbuji Nkechi Gloria , Ataga Anthony Eromosele , Ukwu Ifeyinwa Albright , Nwosu Ugochukwu Chibuike
Published: March 2023

Microorganisms inhabiting fruits can affect the quality of fruits during storage. Some of these organisms are beneficial while others maybe deleterious (pathogenic). This paper analyzed African star apple (Chrysophyllum albidum) microbiota to detect the bacterial and fungal communities using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology. Healthy and diseased fruits of C. albidum were obtained from Choba market in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Bacterial and fungal DNA were extracted from the samples and subjected to 16S and 18S rRNA sequencing respectively. Metagenomic analyses of bacterial and fungal strains from the samples revealed total operational taxonomical units (OTUs) as 341 and 4366 respectively. Among bacteria, the phylum Proteobacteria was dominant while all identified fungi belong to the phylum Ascomycota. There was a significant reduction in the abundance of Pseudomonas in the diseased sample when compared to the healthy sample. Conversely, relative abundance of Acetobacter increased in the diseased sample compared to the healthy sample. The fungal genera, Acidomyces, Geosmithia and Magnaporthe were also obtained. Additionally, the bacterial genera, Candidatus Portiera, Blautia, Brevibacterium, Tetragenococcus and Acinetobacter which were present in healthy fruits were not present in the diseased sample. The current study has helped in recognizing the microbial community structure of healthy and diseased fruits of C. albidum. These findings can help predict microbial community structural dynamics involved in the spoilage of African star apple and thus how the spoilage can be prevented or controlled.
Construction of Cupriavidus necator displayed with a superoxide dismutase for enhanced growth in bioelectrochemical systems
Authors: Chen Ke , Ma Chunling , Cheng Xiaolei , Guo Kun , Liu Yihan , Zhu Zhiguang
Published: March 2023

It is of great significance to utilize CO2 as feedstock to synthesize biobased products, particularly single cell protein (SCP) as the alternative food and feed. Bioelectrochemical system (BES) driven by clean electric energy has been regarded as a promising way for Cupriavidus necator to produce SCP from CO2 directly. At present, the key problem of growing C. necator in BES is that reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in cathode chamber are harmful to bacterial growth. Therefore, it is necessary to find a solution to mitigate the negative effect of ROS. In this study, we constructed a number of C. necator strains displayed with superoxide dismutase (SOD), which allowed the decomposition of superoxide anion radical. The effects of promoter and signal peptide on cell surface display with SOD were analyzed. The protein displayed on the surface was further verified by the fluorescence experiment. Finally, the growth of C. necator CMS incorporating a pBAD-SOD-E-tag-IgAβ plasmid could achieve 4.9 ± 1.0 of OD600 by 7 days, equivalent to 1.7 ± 0.3 g/L dry cell weight (DCW), and the production rate was 0.24 ± 0.04 g/L/d DCW, around 2.7-fold increase than the C. necator CMS with surface display (1.8 ± 0.3 of OD600). This study can provide an effective and novel strategy of cultivating strains for the production of CO2-derived SCP or other chemicals in BES.
Adolescents’ Friendship Quality, Internalizing Problems, and Academic Achievement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Koele Iris J. , Blankenstein Neeltje E. , Schreuders Elisabeth , Duijvenvoorde Anna C. K. van , Güroğlu Berna
Published: March 2023

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic substantially influenced adolescents lives and possibly also their cognitive and mental health outcomes. In our longitudinal study, we investigated possible changes in adolescents’ academic achievement and internalizing problems across two academic years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we examined whether adolescents’ friendship quality buffers against possible changes in academic achievement and internalizing problems during the pandemic.
Methods
Our study sample consisted of Dutch young adolescents aged 11–16 (NT1 = 250) who filled out questionnaires on their friendship quality and internalizing problems during four data collection points across two academic years. Timepoint 1 (T1; November 2019) was before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent data collection points during the COVID-19 pandemic (T2: May/June 2020, T3: November/December 2020, T4: May/June 2021). Academic achievement was measured with school records of report grades. We conducted linear mixed models to analyze the data.
Results
Our findings showed that academic achievement decreased over time, and internalizing problems increased over time across two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we found that adolescents with better (i.e., higher positive and lower negative) friendship quality had fewer internalizing problems. This significant relationship between better friendship quality and fewer internalizing problems held across all timepoints (pre-pandemic and during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Conclusion
Together, our findings provide insights into the adverse effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on adolescents’ academic achievement (decrease over time) and internalizing problems (increase over time), which could be considered by future governmental policies on lockdowns and restrictions during a crisis, such as the pandemic. Additionally, our results provided support for the general significance of friendship quality for adolescents’ mental health (i.e., internalizing problems).
Tax Credits and Health Equity: An Observational Study of Tax Credits and Asthma Outcomes
Authors: Truschel Larissa , Woods Elizabeth R. , Sommer Susan J. , Bryson Emily A. , Hole Michael K. , Marcil Lucy E. , Bhaumik Urmi
Published: March 2023

Federal tax credits are an evidenced-based strategy to promote health equity. Our objectives were to describe families’ knowledge and use of tax credits, to analyze the association between receipt of tax credits and asthma health outcomes, and to offer referrals for free tax preparation to families. We hypothesized that tax credit receipt would be associated with improved asthma outcomes. We surveyed the parents of children aged 2–18 years old with high-risk asthma living in low-income neighborhoods about tax credits. We then conducted a retrospective observational study using a convenience sample of 102 parents of children enrolled in the Community Asthma Initiative from March 2017-January 2020. We analyzed the association of report of tax credits with reductions in ED visits, inpatient stays, PCP visits, steroid courses, missed school days, days of inactivity, and missed parental workdays using a paired t-test. We enrolled 102 parents in this study. Nearly one third of the parents (29%) did not report any tax credits. Housing costs (34%) and paying bills and debts (34%) were the most common use of tax credits. Among the 55 with 6-month follow-up information, significant reductions were seen in inpatient stays (0.46, p-value < 0.01), steroid courses (0.73, p-value < 0.01), missed school days (4.19, p-value < 0.01), and days of inactivity (2.81, p-value < 0.01) compared to no significant reductions among non-tax credit recipients. Expansion of tax credits may be an important way for pediatricians to promote health equity in asthma outcomes.
Prognostic value of the prognostic nutritional index for patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with variable glucose metabolism statuses: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: ling xuebin , Lin Chufen , Liu Jin , He Yibo , Yang Yongquan , Lu Na , jie wei , Liu Yong , Chen Shiqun , Guo Junli
Published: March 2023

Background:The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and different glucose metabolisms have been separately reported to be correlated with long-term prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, PNI application in patients with an impaired glucose metabolism has not been well validated, especially in pre-diabetic patients. This study evaluated whether PNI influences a long-term risk of mortality along different glucose metabolism statuses.Methods:A total of 17,697 patients with AMI and a history of PCI were enrolled in this retrospective observational cohort study from January 2007 to December 2020. Three subgroups with different glucose metabolism statuses, including normal glucose regulation (NGR), pre-diabetes mellitus (pre-DM) , and diabetes mellitus (DM) , were divided into three groups according to the tertiles of PNI, respectively.Results:All-cause mortality occurred in 2,613 (14.8%) patients within a median of 4.1 years of follow-up. Upon analyzing the Kaplan–Meier plots for the NGR, pre-DM, and DM groups, the incidence of all-cause or cardiovascular mortality in the low PNI (PNI-L, ≤ 42.7) subgroup was significantly higher than that in the median PNI(PNI-M, > 42.7 and ≤ 48.2) and high PNI (PNI-H, > 48.2) subgroups (all,P< 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality in the PNI-L group significantly increased compared to that in the PNI-H subgroups of the NGR group (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.14–1.66;P< 0.001), pre-DM group (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.02–1.62;P< 0.001), and DM group (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.13–1.63;P< 0.001). Given that there was evidence of interactions between PNI and different glucose statuses(Pfor interaction < 0.001), patients were divided into nine subgroups, and we found that DM patients with PNI-L statuses had the highest risk of all-cause mortality compared to NGR patients with PNI-H statuses (HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.42–2.01;P< 0.001).Conclusion:Lower PNI is a significant and independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in AMI patients undergoing PCI with different glucose metabolism statuses, and this risk further increases with DM compared to NGR or pre-DM statuses.
Neutrophil-activating peptide 2 as a novel modulator of fibrin clot properties in patients with atrial fibrillation
Authors: Ząbczyk Michał , Natorska Joanna , Matusik Paweł T. , Mołek Patrycja , Wojciechowska Wiktoria , Rajzer Marek , Rajtar-Salwa Renata , Tokarek Tomasz , Lenart-Migdalska Aleksandra , Olszowska Maria , Undas Anetta
Published: March 2023

Introduction:Neutrophil-activating peptide 2 (NAP-2, CXCL7), a platelet-derived neutrophil chemoattractant, is involved in inflammation. We investigated associations between NAP-2 levels, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation, and fibrin clot properties in atrial fibrillation (AF).Materials and Methods:We recruited 237 consecutive patients with AF (mean age, 68±11 years; median CHA2DS2VASc score of 3 [2-4]) and 30 apparently healthy controls. Plasma NAP-2 concentrations were measured, along with plasma fibrin clot permeability (Ks) and clot lysis time (CLT), thrombin generation, citrullinated histone H3 (citH3), as a marker of NETs formation, and 3-nitrotyrosine reflecting oxidative stress.Results:NAP-2 levels were 89% higher in AF patients than in controls (626 [448-796] vs. 331 [226-430] ng/ml; p<0.0001). NAP-2 levels were not associated with demographics, CHA2DS2-VASc score, or the AF manifestation. Patients with NAP-2 in the top quartile (>796 ng/ml) were characterized by higher neutrophil count (+31.7%), fibrinogen (+20.8%), citH3 (+86%), and 3-nitrotyrosine (+111%) levels, along with 20.2% reduced Ksand 8.4% prolonged CLT as compared to the remaining subjects (all p<0.05). NAP-2 levels were positively associated with fibrinogen in AF patients (r=0.41, p=0.0006) and controls (r=0.65, p<0.01), along with citH3 (r=0.36, p<0.0001) and 3-nitrotyrosine (r=0.51, p<0.0001) in the former group. After adjustment for fibrinogen, higher citH3 (per 1 ng/ml β=-0.046, 95% CI -0.029; -0.064) and NAP-2 (per 100 ng/ml β=-0.21, 95% CI -0.14; -0.28) levels were independently associated with reduced Ks.Conclusions:Elevated NAP-2, associated with increased oxidative stress, has been identified as a novel modulator of prothrombotic plasma fibrin clot properties in patients with AF.
Inequalities of Inpatient Health Services Utilization for the Middle-Aged and Elderly with Multiple Chronic Conditions in China
Authors: Wang Lingjie , Liu Wenbin
Published: March 2023

Background
Despite growing evidence of health inequalities, equity of inpatient health service utilization(IHSU) among middle-aged and elderly people with multiple chronic conditions(MCCs) have received little attention. Therefore, this study aims to access the inequities of IHSU among middle-aged and elderly people with MCCs in China, and determine the contributing social factors and their influences by using the national data.
Methods
This study used two cross-sectional data from the 2013 and 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS) The inequities of IHSU were illustrated and quantified by the concentration curve and normalized concentration index. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to identify the associated factors of IHSU. And decomposition analysis was further applied to decompose the contribution of each determinant to the observed inequalities of IHSU.
Results
The study indicated that the rate of IHSU among Chinese middle-aged and elderly people with MCCs was 16.6% in 2013 and 17.7% in 2018. The overall concentration index for IHSU was − 0.0301 in 2013 and 0.0354 in 2018, which suggested a higher concentration of IHSU among economically disadvantaged middle-aged and elderly people with MCCs in recent year. The results showed the rate of IHSU was associated with age, sex, household income per capita, self-rated health, smoking, and drinking. Decomposition results further revealed the contributions of the determinants to the inequalities of IHSU. Specifically, age (43.16%), sex (-12.46%), household income per capita (-8.89%), self-rated health (-35.71%), smoking (63.70%), and drinking (59.90%) have varying degrees of contributions to the inequality in IHSU.
Conclusion
This study sheds light on the pro-rich inequality in IHSU among Chinese middle-aged and elderly people with MCCs. It suggests that policymakers should pay more attention to middle-aged and elderly adults who are male, old, economically disadvantaged, smoking, and drinking. In addition, more targeted interventions should be taken to improve the economic situation of these vulnerable individuals and strengthen their ability to cope with MCCs.
Composting textile sludge using PGPRs grown sugarcane bagasse in a solid state bioreactor- a next step towards zero discharge of waste from textile industry
Authors: Kadam Suhas K. , Chandanshive Vishal V. , Watharkar Anuprita D. , Vyavahare Govind D. , Kadam Avinash A. , Perveen Kahkashan , Choo Yeon-Sik , Govindwar Sanjay P. , Pak Jae hong
Published: March 2023

Generation of solid dye waste during wastewater purification especially in coagulation/precipitation steps and its detoxification is a major issue since it again leachate in the ground water from the landfills because of rains. The semisolid textile waste (sludge) showed 99 and 97% decolourization at flask and reactor scale within 72 h, respectively when treated with consortium ARBR (Azotobacter vinelandii MTCC 1241, Rhodobacter erythropholis MTCC 4688, B. megaterium NCIM 2054 and Rhizobium meliloti NCIM 2757). The decolourization rate of textile sludge majorly affects by the pH, temperature and moisture content of the sludge. At the optimum conditions of pH (6), temperature (30 oC) and moisture content (90%) the consortium showed maximum decolourization of 81, 84 and 97, respectively. A significant increase in the activities of oxidoreductase enzymes such as lignin peroxidase (5 fold), laccase (2.6 fold), veratryl alcohol oxidase (4.7 fold) and tyrosinase (2.9 fold) was observed; while azo reductase (-1.3 fold) showed a decrease in the activity during sludge treatment. In addition, a noteworthy reduction in the concentration of macromolecules N (45%), P (70%), K (50%) and C (63%), and microelements B (59%), Cu (50%), Fe (59%) and Mn (75%) were also observed after treatment with sludge bed reactor. Bio-transformed sludge showed less toxic effects on plants. The outcome from the sludge bed bioreactor (solid state bioreactor) was found to be more effective and can be used using sugar industry waste like sugarcane bagasse (SCB) for composting.
Phospholipid scramblase 3: a latent mediator connecting mitochondria and heavy metal apoptosis
Authors: Palanirajan Santosh Kumar , Gummadi Sathyanarayana N
Published: March 2023

Lead and mercury are the ubiquitous heavy metals triggering toxicity and initiating apoptosis in cells. Though the toxic effects of heavy metals on various organs are known, there is a paucity of information on the mechanisms that instigate the current study. A plausible role of phospholipid scramblase 3 (PLSCR3) in Pb2+ and Hg2+ induced apoptosis was investigated with human embryonic kidney (HEK 293) cells. After 12 h of exposure, ~30-40% of the cells were in the early stage of apoptosis with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and increased intracellular calcium levels. Also, ~20% of the cardiolipin localized within the inner mitochondrial membrane was translocated to the outer mitochondrial membrane along with the mobilization of truncated Bid (t-Bid) to the mitochondria and cytochrome c from the mitochondria. The endogenous expression levels of PLSCR3, caspase 8, and caspase 3 were upregulated in Pb2+ and Hg2+ induced apoptosis. The activation and upregulation of PLSCR3 mediate CL translocation playing a potential role in initiating the heavy metal-induced apoptosis. Therefore, PLSCR3 could be the linker between mitochondria and heavy metal apoptosis.
MCM4 expression is associated with high-grade histology, tumor progression and poor prognosis in urothelial carcinoma
Authors: Kobayashi Go , Hayashi Tetsutaro , Sentani Kazuhiro , Uraoka Naohiro , Fukui Takashi , Kido Aya , Katsuya Narutaka , Ishikawa Akira , Babasaki Takashi , Sekino Yohei , Nose Hiroyuki , Arihiro Koji , Hinata Nobuyuki , Oue Naohide
Published: March 2023

Background
We previously reported Minichromosome maintenance 4 (MCM4) overexpression in gastric cancer. However, the clinicopathological significance of MCM4 in urothelial carcinoma (UC) has not been investigated. To clarify the clinicopathological significance of MCM4 in UC, we investigated MCM4 expression with immunohistochemistry (IHC).
Methods
We analyzed the expression and distribution of MCM4 in 124 upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) samples by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, using 108 urine samples, we analyzed MCM4 expression in urine cytology.
Results
In normal urothelium, MCM4 expression was weak or absent. Meanwhile, the strong nuclear expression of MCM4 was observed in UTUC tissues, and it was detected in 77 (62%) of a total of 124 UTUC cases. MCM4-positive UTUC cases were associated with nodular/flat morphology, high grade, high T stage, and poor prognosis. Moreover, MCM4 expression was significantly higher in the invasive front than in the tumor surface. Similar results were also obtained in TCGA bladder cancer cohort. Additionally, MCM4 expression was associated with highly expression of Ki-67, HER2, EGFR, and p53 in UTUC. Among representative cancer-related molecules, MCM4 had an independent predictive value for progression-free survival and high-grade UC. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) for MCM4 was also performed on urine cytology slides and showed that the nuclear expression of MCM4 was more frequently found in UC cells than in non-neoplastic cells. The diagnostic accuracy of urine cytology was improved by combining MCM4 immunostaining with cytology.
Conclusion
These results suggest that MCM4 might be a useful predictive biomarker for high-grade histology, tumor progression and poor prognosis in UC. Moreover, ICC for MCM4 might be helpful for UC detection as additional markers in the cytomorphology-based diagnosis.
Efficacy and Safety of Phaseolus angularis L for. as Anti- aging Therapy in Healthy Skin
Authors: Oh Sarang , Jeong Jeehaeng , Jin Xiangji , Kim Myeongju , Zheng Shengdao , Kim Yong-Min , Yi Tae-Hoo
Published: March 2023

Skin photoaging is caused by prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight. UV-exposed skin appears rough, thick, dry, loose, and showsdeep wrinkles, and thickening. Our previous research showed that a Phaseolus angularis seed extract (PASE) effectively inhibits photoaging through UVB protection in HaCaT cells. However, its efficacy has not been evaluated in clinical trials so far. In this single-centered, randomized, double-blind study, we investigated the anti-aging effect of PASE in eye wrinkle areas. To these 21 healthy adult women aged 30 to 59, a PASE cream was applied to the right eye wrinkle area and a placebo to the left eye wrinkle area twice a day (morning and evening) for 12 weeks. The change in thick, deep crease wrinkles around the eyes was confirmed by visual evaluation, skin measurements, and a questionnaire. As a result, the R1 (surface roughness), R2 (maximum roughness), R3 (average roughness), R4 (smoothness depth), and R5 (arithmetic mean roughness) values in the group using the PASE cream all decreased. Particularly, R1, R4, and R5 significantly decreased by 18.1%, 18.6%, and 25.0%. In addition, no participants reported side effects. Our study showed that PASE led to clinically significant levels of wrinkle improvement. In conclusion, as PASE is a natural food, safe, and with few side effects, it can be a good resource for natural anti-wrinkle cosmetics in the future.
Global existence and exponential stability of a dynamic frictionless contact problem with infinite memory and adhesion
Authors: Ouakil Imane , Benabderrahmane Benyattou , Boukhatem Yamna
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we study a dynamic contact problem between a nonlinear viscoelastic body and a foundation. The contact is adhesive and frictionless. The adhesion is modelled with a surface internal variable β. The contact is described with a version of a normal compliance condition. We prove the global existence of the solution. The proof is based on arguments of semigroup theory under suitable hypothesis on initial data and kernel memory function. Moreover, we obtain the exponential stability of the solution by using energy method to produce a suitable Lyapunov function.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2000). 74M15; 35B35; 74G25; 47H20.
An efficient vision-based parking slot detection method
Authors: Song Shaojing , Liu Zaiqing , Tang Pan , Miao Zhiqing , Hu Jinyan
Published: March 2023

High-accuracy detection of vacant parking slots using visual system is a prerequisite for automatic parking, which is significant for the promotion of automatic parking. Complex visual environment such as light occlusion, intensity variations and visual accuracy raises significant challenges for vision-based system parking slot detection. To address such problems, REPSDet (Resnet50 based Parking Slot Detection) is proposed for parking slot detection and occupancy classification in this paper, which is based on deep learning. Parking slot proximity information could be fully extracted by REPSDet,which is combined with parking slot classification and location information to improve the parking slot detection effect. For parking slot detection, REPS-Net is proposed in this paper, which is an improved yolov4 parking slot detection method. In REPS-Net, marker point positioning combined with geometric clues are used to infer the precise location of parking slots. For occupancy classification, the deep convolutional network m\_DCNN is proposed in this paper. Network structure and operation performance are optimized by m_DCNN, and the accuracy of parking slot detection is further improved. Experimental results show that REPSDet achieves precision rate of 97.77% and recall rate of 99.38% on the PS2.0_A dataset, which is significantly better than compared methods.
Dual-comb optomechanical spectroscopy
Authors: Ren Xinyi , Pan Jin , Yan Ming , Sheng Jiteng , Yang Cheng , Zhang Qiankun , Ma Hui , Wen Zhaoyang , Huang Kun , Wu Haibin , Zeng Heping
Published: March 2023

Optical cavities are essential for enhancing the sensitivity of molecular absorption spectroscopy, which finds widespread high-sensitivity gas sensing applications. However, the use of high-finesse cavities confines the wavelength range of operation and prevents broader applications. Here, we take a different approach to ultrasensitive molecular spectroscopy, namely dual-comb optomechanical spectroscopy (DCOS), by integrating the high-resolution multiplexing capabilities of dual-comb spectroscopy with cavity optomechanics through photoacoustic coupling. By exciting the molecules photoacoustically with dual-frequency combs and sensing the molecular-vibration-induced ultrasound waves with a cavity-coupled mechanical resonator, we obtain high-resolution broadband (>2 THz) overtone spectra for acetylene gas. The detection limit down to 15 parts per trillion is achieved without the restriction on the comb wavelengths. Our innovative approach not only enriches the practical applications of the emerging cavity optomechanics technology but also offers intriguing possibilities for multi-species trace gas detection.
Voices of Women at Entry Level Positions of Educational Administration
Authors: Hackney Catherine Eggleston
Published: March 2023

If women are to stand on equal professional footing with males in educational administration, a new organizational paradigm must emerge. Alternative voices, experiences, backgrounds, and histories must be acknowledged as valid. Each and every individual must be considered valuable to the organization. Compassion, respect, generosity, and connectedness must be the norm.
A New Sherriff in Town: The Barriers of Structural Discrimination Facing Women Leaders
Authors: Hughes Patrick J.
Published: March 2023

In the current world of organizations, it is no surprise that discrimination exists against women. Many organizations, however, exhibit structural discrimination and little is done to combat this. This is no more evident than within law enforcement organizations. This research focuses on the disparate treatment, as defined by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as the barrier keeping women becoming Sheriff. Current data show women make up less than one-half of one percent of all sheriffs nationwide. This research suggests women hold leadership competencies that the field of law enforcement is seeking. By more women becoming the top executive of these agencies, the discriminatory landscape within law enforcement agencies will begin to change.
Iron Sharpens Iron: Exploring the Experiences of Female College Student Leaders
Authors: Haber Paige
Published: March 2023

This qualitative study explored a small sample of female college students' perceptions of their experiences in leadership positions. Specifically the researcher examined the women's leadership styles and the factors that influenced how they lead. Additionally, the researcher focused on how gender may relate to the women's experiences. Basic interpretive and descriptive qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews, a focus group, and participant journals. Participants included four female students at a medium-sized, religiously affiliated private university who held significant leadership roles in student organizations. Results revealed that the participants employed either a relationship-oriented, task-oriented, or hybrid approach to leading. Additional themes emerged around influences on the women's approaches to leadership, with particular emphasis on the role of the larger environment in impacting students' leadership behaviors, and the role gender plays in their leadership experiences. This study can provide insight into the landscape of young women's leadership today and help begin to fill the research gap that currently exists about college student women holding formal leadership roles and how to support these leaders.
Faculty Tiering and Academic Inbreeding: One Institution's Relationships and Realities
Authors: Blanke Debra , Hyle Adrienne
Published: March 2023

"Like inbreeding, if the proliferation of faculty tiering is problematic for academe, this institution is promoting faculty tiering, but at a lower rate than national trends. But, inbreeding and faculty tiering appear to be related, with more inbred faculty in lower tiered positions."
Parametric couplings in engineered quantum systems
Authors: Metelmann Anja
Published: March 2023

Parametric couplings in engineered quantum systems are a powerful tool to control, manipulate and enhance interactions in a variety of platforms. It allows us to bring systems of different energy scales into communication with each other. This short chapter introduces the basic principles and discusses a few examples of how one can engineer parametric amplifiers with improved characteristics over conventional setups. Clearly, the selected examples are author-biased, and other interesting proposals and implementations can be found in the literature. The focus of this chapter is on parametric effects between linearly coupled harmonic oscillators, however, parametric modulation is also applicable with nonlinear couplings and anharmonic systems.
Usefulness of determining some markers of myocardial damage in sports horses subjected to physical exertion
Authors: MAKSYMOVYCH IHOR , SLIVINSKA LUBOV , KUBIAK KRZYSZTOF , JANKOWSKI MARCIN , LENO MARTA , CHERNUSHKIN BOGDAN , RUSYN VASYL , SPUŻAK JOLANTA , GLIŃSKA-SUCHOCKA KAMILA , KUBIAK-NOWAK DOMINIKA
Published: March 2023

The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of determining markers of myocardial damage, such as: aspartate aminotransferase, total creatine kinase, cardiac creatine kinase isoenzyme, total lactate dehydrogenase, cardiac lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme and peripheral blood lactic acid in sport horses subjected to physical exertion. The research was carried out on 50 horses of three breeds: Ukrainian Riding, Hanoverian and Westphalian, aged 4-16 years. In all horses, the activity of: aspartate aminotransferase, total creatine kinase, cardiac creatine kinase isoenzyme, total lactate dehydrogenase, cardiac isoenzyme lactate dehydrogenase and lactic acid concentration were marked before and after exercise. It was found that after physical exercise in the tested horses, there was an increase in markers of myocardial damage. On the basis of the conducted research, it was demonstrated that the highest increase concerned the concentration of lactic acid and the activity of the cardiac isoenzyme of creatine kinase. The conducted studies additionally indicate that the evaluation markers of myocardial damage in horses may be useful as a screening test in detecting cardiac muscle disorders associated with excessive exercise. However, it should be emphasized that it must be considered together with the results of a clinical examination and additional tests such as cardiac ultrasound and electrocardiography.
Vibration-collision mechanism of dual-stabilizer bottom hole assembly system in vertical wellbore trajectory
Authors: Fang Pan , Yang Kang , Li Gao , Feng Qunfang , Ding Shujie
Published: March 2023

The lateral vibration of drill string causes well deviation and the collision between drill collar and sidewall, and severe lateral vibration even affects the drilling safety or reliability. In view of the problems above, the lateral vibration characteristics of drill string need to be analyzed. Therefore, a newly vibration-collision model of BHA (bottom hole assembly) with random collision characteristics is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the dynamic model of drill collar with double stabilizer is presented by utilizing the Lagrange equations. Secondly, the dynamic characteristics of drill collar in air and mud drilling is analyzed with different collision frequencies. Subsequently, the displacement and motion trajectory of drill collar under different structure parameters of BHA and mechanical parameters of system are investigated by numerical simulation. Finally, the influence of rotation speed of BHA and length of drill collar on lateral vibration of drill collar is discussed. The results indicate that the lateral vibration of drill collar in air drilling is more serious than that in mud drilling; and the higher the collision frequency, the more severe the lateral vibration. Improving rotation speed of BHA, length of drill collar and WOB (weight on bit) have promoting influence on lateral vibration of drill collar; however, increasing stabilizer diameter has suppressing influence on lateral vibration of drill collar. The research findings give reasonable guidance for structure design of BHA and selection of mechanical parameters of system.
Extraction and recognition of music melody features using a deep neural network
Authors: Zhang Zhongqing
Published: March 2023

The music melody can be used to distinguish the genre style of music and can also be used for retrieving music works. This paper used a deep learning algorithm, the convolutional neural network (CNN), to extract the features of musical melodies and recognize genres. Three-tuple samples were used as training samples in the training process. Orthogonal experiments were conducted on the number of music segments and the type of activation function in the algorithm in the simulation experiments. The CNN algorithm was compared with support vector machine (SVM) and traditional CNN algorithms. The results showed that there were obvious differences in the pitch and melody curves of different genres of music; the recognition performance was best when the number of music segments was six and the activation function was relu; the CNN algorithm trained by three-tuple samples had better recognition accuracy and spent less recognition time.
On extension of the family of projections to positive operator-valued measure
Authors:   Steklov Mathematical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Alekseev Anton O. , Amosov Grigori G. ,   Steklov Mathematical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences
Published: March 2023

The problem of constructing a measure on a discrete set X taking values in a positive cone of bounded operators in a Hilbert space is considered. It is assumed that a projectionvalued function defined on a subset of X0 of the original set X is initially given. The aim of the study is to find such a scalar measure μ on the set X and the continuation of a projector-valued function from X0 to X, which results in an operator-valued measure having a projector-valued density relative to μ. In general, the problem is solved for |X| = 4 and |X0| = 2. As an example, we consider a function on X0 that takes values in a set of projections on coherent states. For this case, the question of the information completeness of the measurement determined by the constructed measure is investigated. In other words, is it possible to reconstruct a quantum state (a positive unit trace operator) from the values of the matrix trace from the product of a measure with a quantum state. It is shown that for the constructed measure it is possible to restore the quantum state only if it is a projection. A restriction on the probability distribution is also found, at which it can be obtained as a result of measuring a certain quantum state.
Link of ENSO and Southern Annular Mode as elements of Global Atmospheric Oscillation
Authors:   Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Serykh Ilya V. , Sonechkin Dmitry M. ,   Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Published: March 2023

Based on the monthly average data of NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, using a specially developed technique, the interannual variability of the sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies associated with the Global Atmospheric Oscillation (GAO) for the period 1950-2021 was studied. The field of mean deviations of the SLP anomalies during the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) from the interannual GAO variability has been calculated. It is shown that the variability of the SLP anomalies during the GAO contains, in addition to the mode associated with the ENSO, also the mode of interannual climatic variability associated with the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) – the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). It was found that the GAO does not include a part of the SLP anomaly variability associated with El Niño and La Niña events of the Central Pacific type. At all other grid nodes, the field of mean deviations of the SLP anomalies in the ENSO from the GAO has SLP differences slightly different from zero and formally statistically insignificant. This means that in the interannual climatic variability of the SLP associated with the GAO, there are only two modes: ENSO and SAM. With the help of cross-wavelet analysis, the relationships between the ENSO and SAM indices were studied. Negative relationships were found between these indices on fluctuation periods of about 11 years. An analysis of the time series of these indices and the time series of total solar irradiance (TSI) made it possible to put forward a hypothesis about the influence of synchronization and desynchronization of quasi-11-year changes in solar activity and ENSO on the weakening and strengthening of negative relationships between ENSO and SAM at periods of oscillations of about 11 years.