bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Time Spent and Academic Study Behavior of the Students of Agrotechnology Discipline of Khulna University of Bangladesh
Authors: Jhumur Sadia Tasnin , Ahmed Mohammad Bashir , Islam Md Rejaul 
Published: December 2021

The main purpose of the study was to determine the time spent and academic study behavior of the students of Agrotechnology Discipline of Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh. A number of activities were considered to measure the time spent by the students. Data were collected from randomly selected fifty students of five batches (2010-2014) of Agrotechnology Discipline, Khulna University. Data were also collected on selected eight characteristics of the students through personal interview using an interview schedule during October-November, 2014. The respondent students spent their time in eleven activities such as religious activities, academic learning, personal learning, games/sports, personal activities (sleeping, bathing, taking meal), chatting/gossiping with friends, private tuition, interaction with senior and/or junior, watching TV, internet browsing and mobile talking to different extent. Among the eleven activities, the respondent students preferred to spent highest time (7.827 hours) in personal activities followed by academic study (7.705 hours) which includes residential hall room, classroom, library and group studies. The respondents also preferred to spend least time in interaction with senior and/or junior (0.385 hours). Out of twenty four hours, the respondents were not able to indicate/specify the activities where they have spent the rest 1.465 hours. Most (86%) of the respondents showed medium to high academic study behavior. Among the selected eight characteristics of the respondent students, only participation in extracurricular activities showed a negative significant relationship with the academic study behavior/time spent in academic study of the students.
South Asian J. Agric., 7(1&2): 61-66
Avaliação do potencial de solubilização de fósforo pelo Aspergillus terreus
Authors: Ferreira Glalber Luiz da Rocha , Vieira José Daniel Gonçalves 
Published: December 2021

A biossolubilização é uma das tecnologias mais inovadora e promissora utilizada na recuperação de solos, totalmente aplicável aos rejeitos de mineração, apesar da imensa incapacidade das mineradoras de alcançarem a totalidade no aproveitamento de seus minerais, devido a métodos considerados falíveis no processo de mineração. Eeste estudo vislumbrou a possibilidade da aplicação da solubilização do fósforo presente no rejeito do minério de ferro pelo Aspergillus terreus. Os ensaios analíticos propostos no estudo indicaram uma solubilização máxima de 87.77% do fósforo pelo A. terreus a partir do rejeito do minério de ferro, correspondendo a uma concentração de 286.38 mg L-1 de fósforo solúvel, ocorrido a um período de 168 horas de processo de biossolubilização, e assim, contribuindo a uma solubilização média de 1,70 mg h-1 de fósforo pela biomassa fúngica. Complementando, as imagens microfotográficas obtidas pela MEV e MET revelaram por meio de análise os aspectos morfológicos e estruturais do micélio e da composição celular do fungo, demonstrando a eficiente solubilização do fósforo pelo A. terreus. As informações reveladas por este estudo demonstram a eficiente solubilização do componente fósforo presente no rejeito do minério de ferro pelo fungo, resultando numa excelente tecnologia, e sugestiva aplicação na mineração, como uma alternativa para redução de custos de produção, favorecendo a sustentabilidade do sistema de mineração, e assim, contribuindo numa melhor qualidade do minério de ferro e numa provável finalidade do fósforo solúvel, como exemplo, na produção de fertilizantes fosfatados.
Criação de aplicativo móvel para enfermagem oncológica: uma análise de conteúdo
Authors: Carvalho Raphael Braz de , Chagas Magda de Souza , Silva Ana Lúcia Abrahão da 
Published: December 2021

Objetivo: Analisar e refletir sobre a criação de aplicativo móvel para Enfermagem Oncológica a partir do olhar profissional. Método: Esta pesquisa possui abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa e foi desenvolvida a partir da metodologia de Análise de Conteúdo proposta por Bardin, com 17 enfermeiros especialistas em Enfermagem Oncológica, atuantes em uma instituição de saúde orientada aos cuidados ao paciente com câncer. Devido à pandemia de COVID-19, foi realizada inicialmente em caráter virtual, contudo, após a vacinação, em meio presencial. Os dados foram coletados por meio de transcrições dos encontros virtuais e presenciais e analisados pela perspectiva de Bardin. Resultados: Na análise, foi possível observar que os profissionais identificam a tecnologia digital como meio de formação no espaço de trabalho e que o desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta voltada à Enfermagem Oncológica agregaria conhecimento confiável e útil. Considerações finais: O objeto de estudo encontrou apoio nas considerações de todos os grupos apresentados. Foi observado que, independente da estrutura funcional escolhida, é de grande importância para a categoria da Enfermagem poder contar com acesso rápido à educação permanente em saúde voltada para o câncer.
Multifunctional Chiral Three-Dimensional Phosphite Frameworks Showing Dielectric Anomaly and High Proton Conductivity
Authors: Yu S. S. , Xu C. Y. , Pan X. , Pan X. Q. , Duan H. B. , Zhang H. 
Published: December 2021

Chair 3D Co(II) phosphite frameworks have been prepared by the ionothermal method. It belongs to chiral space group P3221, and the whole framework can be topologically represented as a chiral 4-connected qtz net. It shows a multistep dielectric response arising from the reorientation of Me2-DABCO in the chiral cavities. It can also serve as a pron conductor with high conductivity, 1.71 × 10−3 S cm−1, at room temperature, which is attributed to the formation of denser hydrogen-bonding networks providing efficient proton-transfer pathways.
Trajectory and Correlation of Intrinsic Capacity and Frailty in a Beijing Elderly Community
Authors: Liu Shuo , Kang Lin , Liu XiaoHong , Zhao SongQi , Wang XuePing , Li JiaoJiao , Jiang Shan 
Published: December 2021

Objectives: The World Health Organization proposed intrinsic capacity (IC) model to guide the implementation of person-centered care plan aimed at preserving or reserving functional ability, especially in frail older adults. We aimed to show the trajectory of IC and the overlap between IC impairment and frailty and investigate the correlation between IC domains and frailty status transitions.Method: Longitudinal observational study covering 230 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 84.0 ± 4.5 years) at baseline, and transition information at 2-year follow-up (n = 196). IC was measured by five domains: locomotion, cognition, vitality, psychological, and sensory. Frailty was defined by FRAIL Scale. IC and frailty status transitions were assessed. Logistic regression, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for the analysis.Results: The prevalence of frailty was 23.0% and increased up to 41.8% over two years. Regarding frailty transitions, 38.3% of older adults progressed to more frailty status, and 8.6% regressed to lesser frailty status. The prevalence of IC impairment was 67.9% and increased to 81.6% over two years. Regarding IC transitions, 49.2% of adults with no IC impairment at baseline kept stable, and 50.8% developed new IC impairment. Among individuals with IC impairment at baseline, 57.9% worsened, and 13.5% improved. Importantly, IC impairment at baseline existed in 42.4% robust adults, 83.3% pre-frail adults, and 93.3% frail adults. 47.1% individuals who kept non-frail status within two years experienced IC worsened transition. Univariable analysis illustrated that new impaired locomotion, vitality, cognition, and sensory domains increased the risk of non-frail progressed to frail status. After adjusting for covariables, new impaired locomotion (OR = 3.625, 95% CI: 1.348–9.747) and vitality domains (OR = 3.034, 95% CI: 1.229–7.487) were associated with a higher possibility of non-frail progressed to frail status.Conclusion: IC impairment and frailty overlap and co-exist in older adults. IC impairment, especially new impairment in locomotion and vitality are associated with the transitions from non-frail to frail status. It is important that geriatricians tightly monitor IC trajectory and find the new impaired domains to take early action to minimize the public health burden of frailty.
Usefulness of Machine Learning for Identification of Referable Diabetic Retinopathy in a Large-Scale Population-Based Study
Authors: Yang Cheng , Liu Qingyang , Guo Haike , Zhang Min , Zhang Lixin , Zhang Guanrong , Zeng Jin , Huang Zhongning , Meng Qianli , Cui Ying 
Published: December 2021

Purpose: To development and validation of machine learning-based classifiers based on simple non-ocular metrics for detecting referable diabetic retinopathy (RDR) in a large-scale Chinese population–based survey.Methods: The 1,418 patients with diabetes mellitus from 8,952 rural residents screened in the population-based Dongguan Eye Study were used for model development and validation. Eight algorithms [extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), random forest, naïve Bayes, k-nearest neighbor (KNN), AdaBoost, Light GBM, artificial neural network (ANN), and logistic regression] were used for modeling to detect RDR in individuals with diabetes. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and their 95% confidential interval (95% CI) were estimated using five-fold cross-validation as well as an 80:20 ratio of training and validation.Results: The 10 most important features in machine learning models were duration of diabetes, HbA1c, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride, body mass index, serum creatine, age, educational level, duration of hypertension, and income level. Based on these top 10 variables, the XGBoost model achieved the best discriminative performance, with an AUC of 0.816 (95%CI: 0.812, 0.820). The AUCs for logistic regression, AdaBoost, naïve Bayes, and Random forest were 0.766 (95%CI: 0.756, 0.776), 0.754 (95%CI: 0.744, 0.764), 0.753 (95%CI: 0.743, 0.763), and 0.705 (95%CI: 0.697, 0.713), respectively.Conclusions: A machine learning–based classifier that used 10 easily obtained non-ocular variables was able to effectively detect RDR patients. The importance scores of the variables provide insight to prevent the occurrence of RDR. Screening RDR with machine learning provides a useful complementary tool for clinical practice in resource-poor areas with limited ophthalmic infrastructure.
Dipolar Order Parameters in Large Systems With Fast Spinning
Authors: Franks W. Trent , Tatman Ben P. , Trenouth Jonah , Lewandowski Józef R. 
Published: December 2021

Order parameters are a useful tool for quantifying amplitudes of molecular motions. Here we measure dipolar order parameters by recoupling heteronuclear dipole-dipole couplings under fast spinning. We apply symmetry based recoupling methods to samples spinning under magic angle at 60 kHz by employing a variable flip angle compound inversion pulse. We validate the methods by measuring site-specific 15N-1H order parameters of a microcrystalline protein over a small temperature range and the same protein in a large, precipitated complex with antibody. The measurements of the order parameters in the complex are consistent with the observed protein undergoing overall motion within the assembly.
Friedreich's Ataxia Frequency in a Large Cohort of Genetically Undetermined Ataxia Patients
Authors: Brown Alexander F. , Parkinson Michael H. , Garcia-Moreno Hector , Mudanohwo Ese , Labrum Robyn , Sweeney Mary , Giunti Paola 
Published: December 2021

Background: Patients with suspected genetic ataxia are often tested for Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) and/or a variety of spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs). FRDA can present with atypical, late-onset forms and so may be missed in the diagnostic process. We aimed to determine FRDA-positive subjects among two cohorts of patients referred to a specialist ataxia centre either for FRDA or SCA testing to determine the proportion of FRDA cases missed in the diagnostic screening process.Methods: 2000 SCA-negative ataxia patients, not previously referred for FRDA testing (group A), were tested for FRDA expansions and mutations. This group was compared with 1768 ataxia patients who had been previously referred for FRDA testing (group B) and were therefore more likely to have a typical presentation. The phenotypes of positive cases were assessed through review of the clinical case notes.Results: Three patients (0.2%) in group A had the FRDA expansion on both alleles, compared with 207 patients (11.7%) in group B. The heterozygous carrier rate across both cohorts was of 41 out of 3,768 cases (1.1%). The size of the expansions in the three FRDA-positive cases in group A was small, and their presentation atypical with late-onset.Conclusions: This study demonstrates that FRDA is very rare among patients who were referred purely for SCA testing without the clinical suspicion of FRDA. Such cases should be referred to specialist ataxia centres for more extensive testing to improve patient management and outcomes.
Frozen Section Analysis and Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Surgical Specimen Oriented on 3D Printed Tongue Model to Assess Surgical Margins in Oral Tongue Carcinoma: Preliminary Results
Authors: Giannitto Caterina , Mercante Giuseppe , Disconzi Luca , Boroni Riccardo , Casiraghi Elena , Canzano Federica , Cerasuolo Michele , Gaino Francesca , De Virgilio Armando , Fiamengo Barbara , Ferreli Fabio , Esposito Andrea Alessandro , Oliva Paolo , Ronzoni Flavio , Terracciano Luigi , Spriano Giuseppe , Balzarini Luca 
Published: December 2021

BackgroundA surgical margin is the apparently healthy tissue around a tumor which has been removed. In oral cavity carcinoma, a negative margin is considered ≥ 5 mm, a close margin between 1 and 5 mm, and a positive margin ≤ 1 mm. Currently, the intraoperative surgical margin status is based on the visual inspection and tissue palpation by the surgeon and intraoperative histopathological assessment of the resection margins by frozen section analysis (FSA). FSA technique is limited and susceptible to sampling errors. Definitive information on the deep resection margins requires postoperative histopathological analysis.MethodsWe described a novel approach for the assessment of intraoperative surgical margins by examining a surgical specimen oriented through a 3D-printed specific patient tongue with real-time Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We reported the preliminary results of a case series of 10 patients, prospectively enrolled, with oral tongue carcinoma who underwent surgery between February 2020 and April 2021. Two radiologists with 5 and 10 years of experience, respectively, in Head and Neck radiology in consensus evaluated specimen MRI and measured the distance between the tumor and the specimen surface. We performed intraoperative bedside FSA. To compare the performance of bedside FSA and MRI in predicting definitive margin status we computed the weighted sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), accuracy (ACC), area under the ROC curve (AUC), F1-score, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), and Negative Predictive Value (NPV). To express the concordance between FSA and ex-vivo MRI we reported the jaccard index.ResultsIntraoperative bedside FSA showed SE of 90%, SP of 100%, F1 of 95%, ACC of 0.9%, PPV of 100%, NPV (not a number), and jaccard of 90%, and ex-vivo MRI showed SE of 100%, SP of 100%, F1 of 100%, ACC of 100%, PPV of 100%, NPV of 100%, and jaccard of 100%. These results needed to be validated in a larger sample size of 21- 44 patients.ConclusionThe presented method allows a more accurate evaluation of surgical margin status, and the first clinical experiences underline the high potential of integrating FSA with ex-vivo MRI of the fresh surgical specimen.
Clinical and Functional Characterization of a Novel Mutation in AVPR2 Causing Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus in a Four-Generation Chinese Family
Authors: Guo Shusen , Wu Shimin , Li Zhuxi , Huang Lianjing , Zhan Di , Zhang Cai , Luo Xiaoping 
Published: December 2021

Background: Congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (CNDI) is a rare inherited disease that is caused by mutations in arginine vasopressin receptor 2 (AVPR2) or aquaporin 2 (AQP2). Functional analysis of the mutated receptor is necessary to verify the impact of the mutation on receptor function and suggest some possible therapeutic strategies for specific functional defects.Methods: Family history and clinical information were collected. Whole-exome sequencing and sanger sequencing were performed to determine the potential genetic cause of diabetes insipidus. The identified variant was classified according to the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) criteria. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to predict the function of the identified variation. Moreover, wild-type and mutated AVPR2 vectors were constructed and transfection to HEK-293T cells. Immunofluorescence experiments were performed to investigate the expression and localization of the mutated protein and cAMP parameter assays were used to measure its activity in response to AVP.Results: The heights of the adult members affected with polyuria and polydipsia were normal, but all affected children had growth retardation. Next-generation sequencing identified a novel mutation in AVPR2 gene (c.530T &gt; A) in this family. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that the mutation in AVPR2 changed the hydropathic characteristic of the protein and was probably deleterious. Although immunofluorescence showed that the mutated AVPR2 was normally expressed in the cell surface, the intracellular cAMP concentration stimulated by AVP was significantly lower in cells transfected with mutated AVPR2 than cells transfected with wild-type AVPR2. Based on the ACMG criteria, the novel c.530T &gt; A variant of the AVPR2 gene was likely pathogenic and the affected family members were diagnosed as CNDI. After the confirmation of the diagnosis, the proband was treated with compound amiloride hydrochloride and rhGH, the symptoms of polyuria, polydipsia and growth retardation were all improved.Conclusion: These findings suggested that the novel mutation in AVPR2 (c.530T &gt; A) was a true disease-causing variant with mild effects, which could be classified as a type III mutant receptor. Moreover, investigations of the function of growth hormone axis could be important for the pediatric CNDI patients with extreme short stature, and rhGH treatment might improve the final adult heights in these patients.
Compound Kushen Injection Protects Skin From Radiation Injury via Regulating Bim
Authors: Zheng Jianxiao , Li Gong , Wang Juanjuan , Wang Shujing , Tang Qing , Sheng Honghao , Wu Wanyin , Wang Sumei 
Published: December 2021

Background: Radiation-induced skin injury is a major side-effect observed in cancer patients who received radiotherapy. Thus identifying new radioprotective drugs for prevention or treatment of post-irradiation skin injury should be prompted. A large number of clinical studies have confirmed that Compound Kushen injection (CKI) can enhance efficacy and reduce toxicity of radiotherapy. The aim of this study is to confirm the effect of CKI in alleviating radiotherapy injury in the skin and explore the exact mechanism.Methods: 60 patients who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria were allocated to treatment group (CKI before radiotherapy) or control group (normal saline before radiotherapy) randomly. MTT assay, flow cytometry, Western Blot, and transient transfection were performed to detect the cell viability, cell apoptosis and Bim expression after treatment with CKI or/and radiotherapy.Results: CKI had the effect of alleviating skin injury in cancer patients who received radiotherapy in clinic. CKI induced cancer cell apoptosis when combined with irradiation (IR), while it reversed the induction of cell apoptosis by IR in human skin fibroblast (HSF) cells. And Bim, as a tumor suppressor, was induced in cancer cells but had no change in HSF cells when treated with CKI. Moreover, the above effect could be attenuated when Bim was silenced by siRNA.Conclusion: We conclude that CKI represents a promising radio-protective agent with a potential differential beneficial effect on both cancer cells (inducing apoptosis) and HSF cells (providing radio-protection via inhibiting IR-induced apoptosis), via regulating Bim. Our study uncovers a novel mechanism by which CKI inhibits human cancer cell while protects skin from radiotherapy, indicating CKI might be a promising radio-protective drug.Clinical Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (www.chictr.org.cn), identifier ChiCTR2100049164.
The Dynamic Relationship Between Cortical Oxygenation and End-Tidal CO2 Transient Changes Is Impaired in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients
Authors: Marmarelis Vasilis Z. , Shin Dae C. , Zhang Rong 
Published: December 2021

Background: Recent studies have utilized data-based dynamic modeling to establish strong association between dysregulation of cerebral perfusion and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), expressed in terms of impaired CO2 dynamic vasomotor reactivity in the cerebral vasculature. This raises the question of whether this is due to dysregulation of central mechanisms (baroreflex and chemoreflex) or mechanisms of cortical tissue oxygenation (CTO) in MCI patients. We seek to answer this question using data-based input-output predictive dynamic models.Objective: To use subject-specific data-based multivariate input-output dynamic models to quantify the effects of systemic hemodynamic and blood CO2 changes upon CTO and to examine possible differences in CTO regulation in MCI patients versus age-matched controls, after the dynamic effects of central regulatory mechanisms have been accounted for by using cerebral flow measurements as another input.Methods: The employed model-based approach utilized the general dynamic modeling methodology of Laguerre expansions of kernels to analyze spontaneous time-series data in order to quantify the dynamic effects upon CTO (an index of relative capillary hemoglobin saturation distribution measured via near-infrared spectroscopy) of contemporaneous changes in end-tidal CO2 (proxy for arterial CO2), arterial blood pressure and cerebral blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral arteries (measured via transcranial Doppler). Model-based indices (physio-markers) were computed for these distinct dynamic relationships.Results: The obtained model-based indices revealed significant statistical differences of CO2 dynamic vasomotor reactivity in cortical tissue, combined with “perfusivity” that quantifies the dynamic relationship between flow velocity in cerebral arteries and CTO in MCI patients versus age-matched controls (p = 0.006). Significant difference between MCI patients and age-matched controls was also found in the respective model-prediction accuracy (p = 0.0001). Combination of these model-based indices via the Fisher Discriminant achieved even smaller p-value (p = 5 × 10–5) when comparing MCI patients with controls. The differences in dynamics of CTO in MCI patients are in lower frequencies (&lt;0.05 Hz), suggesting impairment in endocrine/metabolic (rather than neural) mechanisms.Conclusion: The presented model-based approach elucidates the multivariate dynamic connectivity in the regulation of cerebral perfusion and yields model-based indices that may serve as physio-markers of possible dysregulation of CTO during transient CO2 changes in MCI patients.