bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical Application of Chromosomal Microarray Analysis in Fetuses with Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Jin Yuxia , Li Suping , Tang Ping , Chen Jie , Yang Jing , Liu Xiaodan , Yang Li , Jiang Huling , Hu Yue , Zhou Qinqin , Ni Meidi , Shen Huaxiang 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is an important birth defect, but its mechanism is still unclear. In recent years, genetic causes including chromosomal abnormalities are associated with the occurrence of congenital heart disease. In this study, CMA technology is applied to explore the genetic causes of congenital heart disease, so as to further clarify the correlation between genotype and phenotype and prepare for late pregnancy intervention and postnatal diagnosis and treatment.Objective: To explore the chromosomal abnormalities and copy number variation (CNVs) of fetuses with CHD by CMA technology, and to clarify the clinical application value of CMA technology as a detection method of first-tier antenatal CHD.Methods: Amniotic fluid sample from 155 pregnant women diagnosed with fetus CHD by prenatal ultrasound from 2018 to 2021 are collected for SNP-array detection and karyotype analysis. According to the detected CNVs results, FISH, CMA or karyotype analysis are further selected for parental verification.Results: Among the 155 fetuses with CHD, a total of 32 (20.6%) cases of chromosomal abnormalities are detected, of which 31.3% are chromosome number abnormalities. CNVs of likely pathogenicity and unknown significance are 2.5% and 5.2% respectively. The detection rate of chromosomal abnormalities in CHD of different subtypes is different, among which the high detection rate is complex CHD (31.2%), right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (30.7%) and conotruncal defects (25%). The detection rate of chromosomal abnormalities in CHD with extracardiac structural abnormalities is significantly higher than that in isolated CHD (52.4% vs 11.3%, p<0.05). In addition, the detection rate of CHD with abnormal extracardiac structure is significantly higher than that of CHD with soft markers (52.4% vs 17.8%, p<0.05), which is statistically significant. There is no significant difference in detection rate between CHD with soft markers and isolated CHD (17.8% vs 11.3%). Of the 155 pregnant women with fetus CHD, 59 chose to terminate their pregnancies, some of which were terminated according to the results of SNP-array, and some of which were terminated according to the severity of CHD.Conclusion: SNP-array technology can be used to detect chromosomal abnormalities of first-tier antenatal CHD fetuses, with high resolution, short reporting period and high efficiency. Meanwhile, pregnancy intervention can be taken according to the results.
Assessment of New Composites Containing Polyamide-6 and Lead Monoxide as Shields against Ionizing Photonic Radiation based on Computational and Experimental Methods
Authors: Malekie Shahryar , Shooli Hassan , Hosseini Mohammad Amin 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
This study aimed to introduce new composites, containing polyamide-6 (PA6) and lead monoxide (PbO), to protect against ionizing photon sources used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Five composites, containing various weight percentages of PbO filler (0, 5, 10, 20, and 50%), were developed in this study. Initially, the numerical attenuation value was estimated using XMuDat program by calculating the mass attenuation coefficients at different energy levels. Next, the samples were synthesized based on the melt-mixing method in a laboratory mixing extruder, and their characteristics were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Finally, experimental radiation attenuation tests were carried out. Based on the SEM results, the acceptable filler weight percentage was up to 20%; however, substantial aggregates formation was observed at the highest weight percentage. The results of XRD analysis showed a higher tendency for crystallization by decreasing the amorphous area, while increasing the filler weight percentage. Moreover, the amount of mass loss was monitored at different temperatures, revealing that the filler incorporation improved the thermal durability of the samples. According to the radiation results, a good agreement was observed between the experimental and computational data, except when aggregates formation was substantial. According to the experimental data, by increasing the lead weight percentage from 0% (crude PA6) to 50%, the half-value layer decreased from 3.13 to 0.17 cm at an energy level of 59 keV and from 7.28 to 4.97 cm at an energy level of 662 keV. Considering these promising results, the applicability of PA6/PbO composites for protection against low- and medium-energy ionizing photon sources must be investigated in future studies.
Quantitating Psychological Status-Quo among Students in Bangladesh using Zung’s Self-Rating Anxiety Analysis: Architecting a Blueprint to Predict Behavior in Lockdowns
Authors: Munna Masudul Haque , Jimmy Abdun Naqib 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
The study objective is to create a baseline of the anxiety level among students in Bangladesh during country-wide lockdown phase. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted using snowballing technique. The integral instrument in this study is the Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) self-rating anxiety questionnaire. Data was cleaned and statistical analysis was conducted using Excel. 822 respondents were obtained. 3.17%, 71.41%, and 25.42% experienced minimal, Mild to severe, and extreme levels of anxiety, respectively. The male gender experienced 4.24%, 65.17%, and 30.59% of normal, mild to severe, and extreme anxiety levels, whereas the female counterpart experienced 1.87%, 78.88%, and 19.25% of the respective levels. The main stress factors were revealed to be uncertainty over the future concerning academics and professional careers. The anxiety level also appears to be a driving factor in influencing individuals to break isolation during the lockdown. This paper attempts to outline a blueprint to predict individual behavior in relation to their anxiety status-quo, and breed further research under this umbrella.
Experimental Study on Source Failure Mechanism and Acoustic Emission Characteristics of Red Sandstone Under Uniaxial Compression
Authors: Xu Hailiang , Zhu Wanyu , Song Yimin , An Dong , Ren Hehuan 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
In order to study the rock fracture mechanism and precursor characteristics, uniaxial compression experiments of red sandstone were carried out. Using acoustic emission technology and digital speckle correlation method as experimental observation means, the evolution characteristics of deformation field and acoustic emission index during rock deformation were studied. The results show that : (1) The deformation concentration of rock deformation localization zone is the main cause of nonlinear evolution of rock stress-strain curve. (2) The volume parameters of different types of cracks in rock acoustic emission change with the relative displacement rate and dislocation rate of deformation localization zone. (3) In terms of failure types, there are more high-frequency components of tensile fracture main frequency, more low-frequency components of shear fracture main frequency, and wider distribution of mixed fracture main frequency. In the time sequence, the spectrum distribution of acoustic emission signals is wide and the amplitude is small at the sudden change time. At the sudden change time, the spectrum distribution of acoustic emission signals becomes narrow, the amplitude increases, and the spectrum distribution of peak points is greatly narrowed. Therefore, it is considered that the spectrum distribution is greatly narrowed can be used as an early warning precursor.
A Study on Universal Factor Determining the Evolution of Surface Roughness During Electrochemical Polishing
Authors: Ji Jianwei , Ajmal Khan M. , Zhan Zejin , Yi Rong , Deng Hui 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Electrochemical polishing (ECP) is widely used for scratch- and damage-free finishing of metal components. Though the polishing effect of ECP has been confirmed in many researches, the influence of polishing parameters on evolution of surface roughness is still ambiguous owing to the use of different ECP systems. In this paper, the universal factor determining the evolution of surface roughness during ECP is studied by theoretical analysis as well as experiments. Theoretical analysis based on viscous layer mechanism demonstrates that the material removal thickness is the key parameter governing the roughness evolution of the polished surface regardless of other parameters including the voltage, current and electrolyte concentration and so forth. A series of experiments were designed and carried out to verify the proposed hypothesis. Both the experimental results and already published researches proved the validity and universality of the newly developed hypothesis on surface roughness evolution. This work is of great significance for further understanding the finishing mechanism of ECP and process control for its practical applications.
Anticancer Effect of in Vivo Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthase in a Rat Model of Breast Cancer
Authors: Avtandilyan Nikolay , Javrushyan Hayarpi , Ginovyan Mikayel , Karapetyan Anna , Trchounian Armen 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
High expression of nitric oxide (NO)-synthase has been found in different cancers like cervical, breast, and central nervous system. NO-synthase activity inhibition has been suggested as a possible tool to prevent breast cancer. The anti-tumor therapeutic effect of L-nitro arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in vivo remains understudied. Here we hypothesized that NOS inhibition by L-NAME has some antitumor effects on breast cancer development as it inhibits NO levels, which is a pathophysiological modulator of cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. We utilized a novel anti-cancer treatment model by the administration of NO-synthase inhibitor L-NAME (30 mg/kg in a day, intraperitoneal), injected every third day for five weeks (in parallel to tumors evolution) in opposition to high activity of NOS during 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced breast tumor in rats in vivo. The blood concentrations of nitrite anions, polyamines, malondialdehyde, NH4+ levels, and arginase activity decreased in DMBA+L-NAME-treated rats compared with DMBA rats. The reduction of these compounds also affects the decrease of the mortality rate of rats, tumor number, weight and volume, and the histopathological grade of breast cancer. Treatment with L-NAME showed increases in time of tumor incidence and body weight compared with DMBA-cancer rats. Therefore, the co-administration of L-NAME influences as a potent anti-cancer agent to treat breast cancer and can lead to the development of therapeutic methods for cancers in the future.
The Oncogenic Potential of TCTEX1D4 is Modulated by the Phosphoprotein Phosphatase PP1
Authors: Felgueiras Juliana , Sousa Luís , Teixeira Ana Luísa Luísa , Regadas Bárbara , Korrodi-Gregório Luís , Luers Georg , Ahlers Ann-Kristin , Medeiros Rui , Fardilha Margarida 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) regulates several cellular events via interaction with multiple regulatory subunits. The human prostate proteome includes various PP1-interacting proteins; however, a very limited number of interactions is yet characterized and their role in prostate tumorigenesis remains poorly understood. Tctex1 domain-containing protein 4 (TCTEX1D4) was previously identified as a PP1-interacting protein, but its function, as well as the relevance of its interaction with PP1, are virtually unknown. In this study we addressed the role of the PP1/TCTEX1D4 complex in prostate tumorigenesis. We found distinct expression levels and subcellular distributions for TCTEX1D4 and PP1γ in human prostate epithelial normal-like and malignant cells. Moreover, we showed that TCTEX1D4 participates in the regulation of cell proliferation and modulation of microRNAs expression and that its interaction with PP1 controls its function. Taken together, our study provides first evidence for the involvement of the PP1/TCTEX1D4 complex in prostate tumorigenesis.
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella and Cytomegalovirus Among Women of Reproductive Age in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran
Authors: Nasimi Ali , Fani Mona , Salehi Mitra , Ghasemi Hamed , Nezami Hossein , Haghighi Faria Hassanzadeh 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Purpose: TORCH syndrome is responsible for 2-3% of all congenital anomalies caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), Rubella virus (RV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Herpes simplex virus (HSV). The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of TORCH infection in women in Mashhad. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 417 patients who were referred to three laboratories in Mashhad, Iran. Laboratory data were collected from ​April 2016 to March 2020 to detect the specific IgG and IgM against TORCH syndrome.Result: The specific IgG antibodies were found to be positive in for CMV in 402 cases (96.4%), for RV in 394 cases (94.5%), and for T. gondii in 80 cases (19.2%). Moreover, 7 (1.6%) of them were found to be positive for anti-CMV IgM, 6 (1.4%) for anti-IgM RV, and 8 (1.9%) for anti-IgM T. gondii. In addition, the relationship between age and anti- T. gondii IgG in the age group of 37-47 years was 6.44 times higher than the age group of 17-27 years. Also, The relationship between age and anti-CMV IgG in the age group of 27-37 years was 4.13 times higher than the age group of 37-47 years.Conclusion: All women of reproductive age should be screened for the TORCH complex regularly to prevent congenital TORCH syndrome.
Association of Underlying Comorbidities and progression of COVID-19 Infection Among 2586 Patients Hospitalized in the National Capital Region of India: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Rana Rashmi , Ranjan Vivek , Kumar Naveen , Chugh Parul , Khillan Kamini , Gogia Atul , Rana Devinder Singh , Ganguly Nirmal Kumar 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Objectives This study is conducted to observe the association of diabetes (DM), hypertension (HTN), and chronic kidney disease on the prognosis and mortality of COVID-19 infection in hospital admitted patients.Methods This is a single centre, observational, retrospective study carried out at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, India. the burden of comorbidities on the prognosis and clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients admitted patients from April 8, 2020, to October 4, 2020. Chi-square and relative risk test were used to observe the association of comorbidities and disease prognosis.Results A total of 2586 patients were included in the study consisting of 69.6% of male patients. All the comorbidities were significantly associated with ICU admission and mortality. The relative risk showed that CKD is most prone to severity as well as mortality of the COVID-19 infection followed by HTN and DM. Further with the increase in comorbidity, the risk of ICU admission and mortality increases.Conclusion Diabetes, hypertension and CKD, all are associated with progression of COVID-19 disease to severity and higher mortality risk. The number of underlying comorbid condition is directly proportional to the progression of disease severity and mortality.
A Novel Polishing Process with Rigid-Flexible Composite Structure Plate and Its Performance in Polishing Sapphire Wafer
Authors: Xu Yongchao , Lin Chen , Wang Qianting , Zheng Charlesming , Zhan Youji , Chen Bingsan 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
A novel flexible polishing process has been developed for sapphire wafer by using a polishing plate with rigid-flexible composite structure to satisfy the demands of excellent surface shape accuracy and high surface topography quality simultaneously. This new polishing plate was fabricated by alternately casting and curing the ring structure of soft and hard unsaturated resins. It is found that the overall stiffness of the polishing plate is improved due to the “hard support frame” of rigid-flexible polishing plate, as well as the ability of removal selectivity of the polishing plate is strengthened. The topography quality and shape accuracy of sapphire wafer polished by presented novel polishing process have been compared with those polished by conventional flexible polishing, respectively. Both experiment and simulation results are shown that the surface roughness and topographical variations of sapphire wafer polished by the novel rigid-flexible composite structure polishing plate have been greatly improved. Comparing with the conventional flexible polishing, the surface shape accuracy of the sapphire wafer polished by the presented novel polishing process can be improved by 54.1%.
Prevalence of Parasitic Infections in a Tertiary Hospital in China: A 12-Year Retrospective Study
Authors: Zhang Jinming , Xu Jing , Tang Weiliang , Shang Dabao , Lu Jie , Li Ziqiang , Wang Xiaolin , Cai Wei , Wang Hui , Shi Dongmei , Xie Qing , Xiang Xiaogang 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
BackgroundParasitic infections represent a worldwide public health issue in many developing countries. Few epidemiological studies regarding parasitic infections and the evolution of infection spectrum in China have been reported up to date. It is necessary to investigate the epidemiological feature of parasitic infection during recent years.MethodsThree hundred and thirty-six cases of parasitic infections were retrospectively enrolled and analyzed. Electronic medical records of the enrolled parasitic patients from January 1, 2010 to May 31, 2021 were retrieved from the Electronic Medical Record System of a tertiary hospital in China. Demographic characteristics and data of laboratory tests were exported in Excel and analysis were performed using Graphpad Prism 5.ResultsOverall, seventeen species of parasites were detected in 336 admissions with a total number of infected individuals reached the peak in 2018. Moreover, the regions of patients distributed mainly included: Shanghai (40.48%), Zhejiang (18.45%), Anhui (6.85%), Jiangsu (6.25%) and Jiangxi (4.76%). Two hundred and eighty-eight cases were diagnosed with single species of parasitic infection and 47 cases were found mixed species infection. Foodborne parasites (FBPs) were the primary species of parasites and the top 4 were clonorchis sinensis (24.70%), sparganum mansoni (16.07%), paragonimus westermani (20.83%) and cysticercus (17.86%). Obvious eosinophil elevation was found in 56.54% enrolled patients. Patients with periods of infection before the time of diagnosis lasted longer than 6 months includes four parasites: sparganum mansoni (28.30%, 15/53), paragonimus westermani (38.57%, 27/70), cysticercus (25.00%, 15/60).ConclusionsOur study demonstrated the prevalence of parasitic infection over the latest 12 years in a single center of China. The trend of parasitic infection rate reached the peak in 2018 with the dominating parasitic species changed from soil origin to foodborne. Furthermore, with the emergence of various dietary habits and the development of living conditions, unclean diets especially eating raw meat had become the main route of transmission for parasites, which alarmed that food safety education for public should be strengthened and enlarged. Although eosinophil elevation and IgE is reliable indicators for initiating screening of parasitic infection but enough for diagnosis, novel diagnostic kits for parasites should be devepoled.
Butyrate Impedes the Recruitment of MDSCs to Alleviate CAC Development by Inhibition of the TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB Signaling Pathway
Authors: Xiao Tengfei , Chang Yi , Chen Hongmei , Kang Jingjing , Sun Mingzhong 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background: The colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) serving as its prelude often has a poor prognosis due to the hysteretic diagnosis. As a representative of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), butyrate has been proved to have obvious antitumor effect. Here, we aimed to examine its effect on CAC and possible mechanism in tumor microenvironment (TME).Method: The establishment of CAC mouse model was mainly based on the combination of AOM intraperitoneal injection and DSS three cycle. HE staining was used to analyze the degree of colonic inflammation and tumor dysplasia. The proportion of MDSCs population was mainly evaluated by flow cytometry assay. RT-PCR, immunohistochemical staining and western blot analysis was carried out to detect protein molecular expression.Results: In our current study, the AOM-DSS induced CAC mouse model was utilized to evaluate the effect of butyrate on CAC. The administration of butyrate significantly improved the weight loss, falling survival rate, higher DAI index and anal prolapse caused by the AOM-DSS during the CAC modeling process. Anatomical results including the size and number of tumors and histological results including the abnormal hyperplasia shown by HE staining also confirmed the inhibitory effect of butyrate on CAC. In addition, the proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) assisting tumor immune escape in tumor microenvironment (TME) decreased under the intervention of butyrate. And inflammatory mediators including CCL2, IL-6 and TNF-α in TME that induce the recruitment of MDSCs showed the same trend as MDSCs. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) as a receptor molecule related to inflammation and immune function was also up-regulated in CAC, accompanied by the synchronous up-regulation of downstream Myd88 and NF-κB molecules, while the use of butyrate significantly inhibited the up-regulation of these molecules.Conclusions: Butyrate might reduce the release of CCL2, IL-6 and TNF-α in TME by inhibiting TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway to reduce the recruitment of MDSCs in TME, which eventually weakened the immune escape of tumors and retarded the progress of CAC.
Discovery of Innovative Polymers for Next-Generation Gas-Separation Membranes using Interpretable Machine Learning
Authors: Yang Jason , Tao Lei , He Jinlong , McCutcheon Jeffrey R. , Li Ying 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Polymer membranes perform innumerable separations with far-reaching environmental implications. Despite decades of research on membrane technologies, design of new membrane materials remains a largely Edisonian process. To address this shortcoming, we demonstrate a generalizable, accurate machine-learning (ML) implementation for the discovery of innovative polymers with ideal separation performance. Specifically, multitask ML models are trained on available experimental data to link polymer chemistry to gas permeabilities of He, H2, O2, N2, CO2, and CH4. We interpret the ML models and extract chemical heuristics for membrane design, through Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis. We then screen over nine million hypothetical polymers through our models and identify thousands of candidates that lie well above current performance upper bounds. Notably, we discover hundreds of never-before-seen ultrapermeable polymer membranes with O2 and CO2 permeability greater than 104 and 105 Barrer, respectively. These hypothetical polymers are capable of overcoming undesirable trade-off relationship between permeability and selectivity, thus significantly expanding the currently limited library of polymer membranes for highly efficient gas separations. High-fidelity molecular dynamics simulations confirm the ML-predicted gas permeabilities of the promising candidates, which suggests that many can be translated to reality.