bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Production and Characterization of Bacterial Cellulose from Food waste: A sustainable approach
Authors: Marriam Sewera , Ghazal Shahina , Shahzadi Sawera , Fatima Syeda Noor 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Cellulose is a natural polymer found in plant cell walls and has been used in many industries for ages. The increasing demand for cellulose is estimated to be 100–125 Giga tons per year globally, contributing to deforestation and exacerbated global warming. However, bacterial cellulose has emerged as a promising alternative to plant based cellulose due to its unique properties including biodegradability, high crystallinity, high mechanical strength, porosity and great water absorption and retention capabilities. This study aims to optimize the production of bacterial cellulose economically using readily available resources like food waste addressing environmental concerns and production costs. Utilized tea as nitrogen source and Bagasse and glucose as carbon sources were used for the production of Bacterial cellulose. SCOBY culture is used as an inoculum for production. Characterization was done by tests like FTIR, XRD, and FE-SEM. The results of bacterial cellulose formed from these substrates were then compared with the result of the standard HS media. The finding demonstrates that characterization of Bacterial cellulose layer produced from the HS media was much similar with the results of utilized tea substrate, and it has higher crystallinity. It was observed that the FTIR spectrum of BC layers formed by utilized tea media and bagasse were similar to the Standard HS media produced BC, indicating that they contain the same chemical functional bonds. In FE-SEM analysis of sugarcane bagasse bacterial cellulose are densely packed, discontinuously arranged, irregular shaped nanofibers of different diameters were observed.
Nutritional status and vitamin D among adults
Authors: Rahman Dewan Imtiaz , Salmeen Aliva , Akhter Monira 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Despite having plenty of sunshine all year round, there is an alarming rise in vitamin D deficiency among the Bangladeshi population. This cross-sectional study explored the association between nutritional status and serum vitamin D level among adults. Two hundred and twelve respondents were purposively selected. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire, and checklist were used to collect data. Among all, 74.5% were female, and 66% were urbanites. The mean age of the respondents was 39.54 (± 13.36) years. The respondents' mean serum Vitamin D level was 20.63 (± 10.16) ng/ml. More than half of the respondents (54.7%) had vitamin D deficiency and 32.5% had vitamin D insufficiency. About three fourth (73.6%) of the respondents were obese or overweight. Vitamin D level was significantly less in urbanites. Gender was associated with serum vitamin D levels. The respondents' Vitamin D levels positively correlated with the sun exposure index. We found that vitamin D level was associated with skin color type and large and small fish intake frequency. Serum level of vitamin D gradually decreased among the overweight and obese. But this difference was not statistically significant. In multiple regression, after controlling the effect of sex, residence, large and small fish consumption, obese had significantly lower (6.82%) mean level of vitamin D than those who belonged to normal Body Mass Index (BMI) category. This study suggests the inclusion of fish in diet, more sun exposure, and maintaining a healthy body weight may assist in improving vitamin D levels of individuals.
WITHDRAWN: From myometrium to fibrosis: the underlying mechanism of endometrial injury in intrauterine adhesions
Authors: Xu Xiaotong , Guo Kaixuan , Zhao Peng , Zhang Xuemei , Zhao Pan , Sun Xianghang , Zhang Mingle , Tian Yanpeng , Zheng Jiahua , Huang Xianghua 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Our previous research revealed myometrium is closely related to the occurrence and regeneration of endometrial injury. This study aims to explore potential pathways of endometrial injury in intrauterine adhesions (IUA). Histological, transcriptomics, and proteomics methods were conducted on moderate and severe IUA leisional tissue, inner and outer normal myometrium. The results showed both IUA leisional tissues expressed smooth muscle markers α-SMA and H-caldesmon, and there was no statistically different between severe IUA leisional tissue with normal myometrium (P > 0.05). The genes involved in cell mitosis, such as KIF14, KIF4A, and CIT were downregulated in both IUA leisional tissues compared to inner myometrium. Additionally, the complement-coagulation cascade system was activated, with complement component C4A, C6, and Complement factor I downregulated in both IUA leisional tissues, while anticoagulant and fibrinolytic substances like Vitamin K-dependent protein S and Heparin cofactor II downregulated only in severe IUA leisional tissue. This study confirmed the correlation of endometrial injury with inner myometrium, revealed the inhibition of mitotic pathways may obstruct endometrial regeneration in IUA and stimulating consumption of fibrinolytic substances may further exacerbate the fibrosis of IUA.
Marine Heatwaves Modulate Food Webs and Carbon Transport Processes
Authors: Bif Mariana , Kellogg Colleen , Huang Yibin , Anstett Julia , Traving Sachia , Pena Angelica , Hallam Steven , Johnson Kenneth 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

The impact of marine heatwaves (MHWs) on ecosystem functions and services remains poorly constrained due in part to the limited availability of time-resolved datasets integrating physical, chemical and biological parameters at relevant operating scales. Here we paired over a decade of autonomous Biogeochemical (BGC)-Argo profiling float data with water column plankton community composition profiles to investigate the impacts of MHWs on carbon cycling dynamics in the Northeastern subarctic Pacific Ocean (NESAP), resolving temperature-induced changes in production and transport of particulate organic carbon (POC) within the water column. POC concentrations were extremely high during MHWs in Spring 2015 and 2019, associated with detritus enhancement and changes in plankton community structure. Instead of sinking, particles < 100 µm accumulated in mesopelagic waters where remineralization happened slowly over the year, thus decreasing the rapid deep particle export and carbon sequestration potential of thermally-impacted waters.
Palliative patients who may benefit from intranasal delivery of symptomatic drugs: a two-center observational study evaluated the administration of morphine and dexamethasone in Polish hospices
Authors: Ingielewicz Anna , Brunka Zuzanna , Szczupak Mateusz , Szymczak Robert 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Patients who are receiving hospice care often have various ailments and may need to take medications to relieve symptoms for the rest of their lives. The most common and recommended way to take morphine and streoids is orally, less frequently, subcutaneous or intravenous routes are used in palliative care. The intranasal route is a relatively uncommon but interesting alternative for administering drugs.
Aim: The study aims to identify palliative patients who may benefit from changing the standard opioid and steroid administration route to intranasal delivery.
Material and methods: The electronic medical records of all home and inpatient hospice patients were analyzed between February and April 2024. The study focused on the magnitude and type of problems associated with taking medications via standard routes and assessed the potential for changing to an intranasal route of administration.
Results: Out of 282 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 95 (43%) were eligible for analysis. According to a survey, 87% of patients experienced issues with taking medications through the standard route. Among the problems related to oral medicines, consciousness disorders were the most significant at 66%. For subcutaneous administration, the main issues were reluctance to inject at 19% and lack of cooperation from caregivers at 20%. Conclusion: The profile of a palliative patient who may benefit from intranasal administration of symptomatic drugs includes patients with impaired consciousness, aversion to subcutaneous injections, and inadequate support from caregivers.
Socio-demographic characteristics associated with high risk Human Papilloma Virus infection among reproductive women in Imo state Nigeria – a cross sectional study
Authors: Nzeribe Emily Akuabia , Ibe Sally , Nwoko Eunice , Dozie Ikechukwu , Ekeleme Godswill , Dozie Ugonma , Iwuoha Greg , Eteike Precious , Chukwuocha Uche 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background:
It has been established that hrHPV (High Risk Human Papilloma Virus) infection is necessary for cervical cancer. There are geographical and temporal determinants that affect the risk factors and ultimately the incidence and distribution of cervical cancer. Knowledge of socio demographic characteristics of those infected with High Risk Human Papilloma Virus is indispensable in planning and making policy decisions in the prevention of cervical cancer as well as in research on the subject matter.
Materials and methods:
This was a secondary analysis of a cross sectional population based study of women who had HPV DNA typing following community outreaches for women in Imo state-Nigeria between February and June 2023. A structured questionnaire was administered to the women by an interviewer and their responses noted. Speculum examinations was done for the purposes of collecting dry swab specimen for hr HPV DNA typing. Data analyses was done with SPSS version 26 IBM and socio-demographic variables were analyzed for any association with the HPV results using the χ2 test for categorical variables.
Results
Prevalence of high risk HPV infection was 43.6%. The significant characteristics such as occupation (P = 0.015, χ2 = 19.060, d.f = 8), ethnicity (P = 0.035) and the place of residence (P = 0.038, χ2 = 4.321, d.f = 1) showed significant association with the HPV infection. Associated reproductive factors of hrHPV infection in this study included coitarche (P = 0.040, χ2 = 8.336), number of pregnancies in the past (P = 0.008, χ2 = 13.80), number of living children (P = 0.003, χ2 = 16.02) and number of sexual partners (P = 0.012, χ2 = 12.88). Others include: frequency of genital tract infections (P = 0.019, χ2 = 11.80) and type of genital tract infection had (P = 0.001, χ2 = 21.88). Behavioral characteristics associated with HPV infection included use of habit forming drugs (P = 0.001, χ2 = 13.79) and use of tobacco (P = 0.017, χ2 = 8.117).
Conclusion
Prevalence of hrHPV is high in this study and knowledge of socio-demographic determinants will be very useful in primary prevention of cervical cancer using lifestyle changes.
Trial registration
Ethical approval was obtained from the Federal Medical Centre institutional review board ref FMC/OW/HREC/VOL.II/053.
Kirigami Oscillators: Nonlinear Free and Forced Responses
Authors: Danzi Francesco , Taoh Hongcheng , Silva Christian , Gibert James 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Inspired by the ancient Japanese art of kirigami, slitted plastic sheets, termed kirigami springs, were designed, fabricated, and characterized, utilizing the quasi-mechanism behavior of various slit patterns. Quasi-static tension tests determined the spring stiffness, and experimental transient responses were analyzed to infer system damping. A system of two parallel-connected kirigami springs, attached to a mass oscillating on a smooth track, was modeled as a 1 DOF Helmholtz-Duffing oscillator with nonlinear damping. The system's free and forced responses were compared to experimental and numerical results using asymptotically valid solutions derived via the Method of Multiple Time Scales. This approach provides an unprecedented degree of programmability in the constitutive relations for nonlinear oscillators and is straightforward to implement.
Morphological characteristics and distribution of antennal sensilla of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) using scanning electron microscopy
Authors: Li Yong-Ping , Zhou Hai-Yan , Ye Hui , Haack Robert A. , Yang Yuan , Hu Qiu-Lian , Jiang Ming-Min , Cao Jun 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a major agricultural pest, primarily in Asia and Oceania. Chemical odor-based trapping is a major method used to control S. litura, and thus understanding the antennal sensilla of S. litura is critical for improving the efficacy of the attractants used in the pest control. In the present study, the S. litura antennal sensillum types were examined by low-voltage field emission scanning electron microscopy, and morphological descriptions were provided. A total of eight types and two subtypes of the antennal sensilla were identified, namely Böhm's bristles, sensilla trichoidea, sensilla basiconica, sensilla chaetica, sensilla coeloconica, sensilla styloconica, sensilla squamiformia (I and II), and sensilla auricillica (I and II). Among them, sensilla squamiformia II, and sensilla auricillica II are reported for the first time in S. litura. This study provides morphological information to aid in future electrophysiological tests on the antennal sensilla of S. litura.
Efficacy and toxicity analysis of ganciclovir in patients with cytomegalovirus lung infection: what is new for target range of therapeutic drug monitoring
Authors: Guo Dongjie , Wang Xiaoxing , Li Pengmei , Shang Yongguang , Zhang Lei , Chen Yue , Kong Xudong , Chen Wenqian 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Objectives
To investigate the relationship between ganciclovir trough concentration and its clinical efficacy and safety in patients with pulmonary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. To evaluate the target value of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for predicting clinical efficacy or toxicity.
Methods
An observational study was conducted on patients with CMV lung infection between Jan 2021 and Dec 2023. Target trough ganciclovir concentrations were collected during TDM and clinical outcomes and adverse events (AEs) were assessed. Multiple regression analyses or binary logistic regression were used to analyze the factors affecting ganciclovir trough concentrations and clinical efficacy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis identified ganciclovir trough concentration cutoffs as predictors of toxicity.
Results
Of 149 included patients, only 19.22% of trough concentrations reached the target range of 2–4µg/ml. Diabetes, organ transplantation, and elevated hemoglobin levels decrease trough concentrations, whereas elevated blood creatinine and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) increase trough concentrations. No relationship was found between the trough concentrations and clinical outcomes. Organ transplantation, duration of ganciclovir administration, and albumin levels affect the clinical efficacy. ROC analysis identified ganciclovir trough concentrations of 0.985 µg/ml (AUC = 0.600) and 0.995 µg/ml (AUC = 0.701), associated with decreased hemoglobin and elevated blood creatinine levels, respectively.
Conclusions
No association was observed between ganciclovir trough concentration and clinical efficacy. However, thresholds for ganciclovir trough concentrations causing decreased hemoglobin and increased blood creatinine levels were identified. Renal replacement therapy is more likely to lead to elevated trough concentrations of ganciclovir. These findings suggest the importance of TDM for ganciclovir, and new target range should be considered.
Adversarial Sample Generation Method for Scene Text Images Based on Up-sampling
Authors: Zeng Zihao , Wang Chenxiao , Yang Xiao , Chen Yong 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Scene Text Recognition (STR) has significantly enhanced the efficiency of information acquisition and interaction in natural environments. However, it also introduces potential security risks, such as the unauthorized recognition and extraction of sensitive textual information from the environment, including personal identification numbers, license plates, and other confidential data. To address privacy protection in scene text, recent research has proposed using minimal pixel perturbations to safeguard textual information, making the content observable but difficult to extract accurately. However, such perturbation attacks are easily noticeable to the human eye, allowing adversaries to counteract them with defensive measures such as filtering small perturbations. Existing methods fail to simultaneously ensure high visual quality and make the perturbation attacks imperceptible. In this study, we propose a novel scene text adversarial sample generation method incorporating up-sampling. This method achieves a high attack success rate while increasing the payload applied to the image, preserving the perturbed image quality, and improving the stealthiness of the adversarial samples. To further enhance the quality of the perturbed images, we introduce the Adaptive Local Search Attack (ALSA), which utilizes adaptive perturbation based on visual quality and perceptual loss to ensure that the perturbed image remains as similar as possible to the original image in human vision, which can further enhance the stealthiness of adversarial samples and make perturbation attacks difficult to detect. Our experimental results show that the proposed method maintains high visual quality while achieving a better protection success rate across various text recognition models compared to existing methods.
Racial and Educational Isolation are Associated with Worse Outcomes in Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Sooy-Mossey Meredith , Sethi Neeta J. , Mulder Hillary , Chiswell Karen E. , Hoffman Timothy M. , Hartman Robert J. , Walsh Michael J. , Welke Karl , Paolillo Joseph A. , Sarno Lauren A. , Sang Charlie J. , D’Ottavio Alfred , Osgood Claire , Bravo Mercedes A. , Miranda Marie Lynn , Li Jennifer S. 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
Sociodemographic factors influence outcomes in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). We predict an association between measures of social isolation and outcomes in infants with complex CHD. These measures, racial (RI) and educational (EI) isolation range from 0 to 1, with 0 being no isolation and 1 being fully isolated within a specific population.
Methods
We identified patients less than 1-year-old undergoing CHD surgery in North Carolina from 2008–2013. We used negative binomial and logistic regression models to assess the case-mix adjusted associations between RI and EI and length of stay, complications, mortality, and resource utilization. We quantified the association of race with these indices and outcomes.
Results
We included 1,217 infants undergoing CHD surgery. Black infants had increased LOS (p < 0.001), other complications (p = 0.03), and death (p = 0.02). RI up to 0.3 was associated with decreased outpatient encounters (p < 0.001). RI was associated with increased inpatient encounters RI up to 0.3 (p < 0.001) but decreased for RI beyond 0.3 (p = 0.01). There was an association with increased risk of one or more emergency department visits (p = 0.001) at higher levels EI. Race and RI showed a cumulative effect with children with Black race and greater than median RI having increased LOS (p < 0.001) and fewer outpatient encounters (p = 0.02).
Conclusions
RI, EI, and Black race are associated with poorer outcomes. Children with Black race and greater than median levels of RI are at the highest risk of poor outcomes. These differences may be caused by differential access to resources or community support.
Unveiling the Prognostic Significance of RNA Editing-Related Genes in Colon Cancer: Evidence from Bioinformatics and Experiment
Authors: Deng Zhengcong , Jin Xueqin , Liu Bingxue , Zhen Hongyan , Huang Lixia , Wang Xiang 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
RNA editing is recognized as a crucial factor in cancer biology. Its potential application in predicting the prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) remains unexplored.
Methods
RNA editing data of COAD patients were downloaded from Synapse database. LASSO regression was used to construct risk model and verified by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to delineate the biological significance of the differentially expressed genes. Finally, differential analysis and immunohistochemistry were used to verify the expression of adenosine deaminase 1 (ADAR1).
Results
We evaluated a total of 4079 RNA editing sites in 514 COAD patients from Synapse database. A prognostic signature was constructed based on five genes were significantly associated with the prognosis of COAD patients including GNL3L, NUP43, MAGT1, EMP2 and ARSD. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that RNA editing-related genes (RERGs)-related signature was an independent risk factor for COAD. Moreover, Experimental evidence shows that ADAR1 is highly expressed in colon adenocarcinoma and silencing ADAR1 can inhibit cancer cell proliferation.
Conclusions
We established a prognostic model based on five RERGs with strong predictive value. This model not only serves as a foundation for a novel prognostic tool but also facilitates the identification of potential drug candidates for treating COAD.
Early childhood development in México before and after the Covid-19 pandemic: national results from 2018 and 2021.
Authors: Prado-Galbarro Francisco-Javier , Gamiño-Arroyo Ana-Estela , Baldwin Jasmine-Rena , Sanchez-Piedra Carlos 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
children were exposed to the social, psychological and academic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this analysis was to assess the prevalence of inadequate early childhood development (ECD) among children aged 36 to 59 months in Mexico, both before (2018) and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2021).
Methods
Observational study. ECD was assessed through the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) following the methodology of the Cluster Indicator Surveys (MICS), using data from the ENSANUT 2018-19 and 2021. Prevalences were estimated with population weights and Poisson regression models were applied to analyze association between ECD delay and covariates.
Results
A total of 19.34% of children aged 36 to 59 months had ECD delay in 2018 and 18.52% in 2021. The factors associated with ECD delay in 2018 were socioeconomic status, access to at least three children's books, domestic violence, and severe functioning difficulties, and the associated factors in 2021 were sex, region, learning support, access to at least three children's books, early education attendance, being an adolescent mother, severe functioning difficulties, and the child’s age.
Conclusion
factors associated with ECD delay in Mexico changed after the pandemic: there was an increase in learning support within the family, and the impact of socioeconomic differences on ECD was reduced.