bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Role of CT attenuation values in kidney stones: a combination of clinical investigations and molecular mechanism elucidation
Authors: Wang Jing , Guo Zihao , Ren Xiang , wang Shaogang , Zhu Yunpeng 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Randall's plaque theory suggests a systemic process that affects the kidneys, and unenhanced computed tomography (uCT) scans can identify changes in tissue density during stone formation. We carried out a retrospective cohort study comprising 163 kidney stone formers (KSFs) and 168 healthy control participants. The CT attenuation values of renal papillae in KSFs are significantly higher than those in controls. Multivariable regression demonstrated that kidney stone formation was associated with age, CT attenuation values, serum calcium, eGFR, hematuria and urinary leukocyte. KSFs with abdominal aortic calcification had significantly higher aortic calcification index (ACI) than the controls, and there was a significant interaction between ACI and CT attenuation values. The gene expression profiles of aortic calcification and nephrolithiasis were subjected to bioinformatics analysis. Twenty-five common differentially expressed genes (cDEGs) were identified, and the IL-17 signaling pathway was found to be predominantly enriched among the upregulated cDEGs according to KEGG analysis. The expression of MMP1, CCL7, HSP 90α/β, NF-κb p65, and p-NF-κb p65 was elevated in cell or animal models and clinical samples. Triptolide treatment inhibited stone formation and preserved kidney function by blocking IL-17 signaling transduction in the nephrolithiasis rats model.
Underwater Image Enhancement by Combining Multi-Attention with Recurrent Residual Convolutional U-Net
Authors: Wang Shuqi , Chen Zhixiang , Wang Hui 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The scattering and absorption of light lead to color distortion and blurred details in the captured underwater images. Although underwater image enhancement algorithms have made significant breakthroughs in recent years, enhancing the effectiveness and robustness of underwater degraded images is still a challenging task. To improve the quality of underwater images, we propose a combined multi-attention mechanism and recurrent residual convolutional U-Net (ACU-Net) for underwater image enhancement. First, we add a dual-attention mechanism and convolution module to the U-Net encoder. It can unequally extract features in different channels and spaces and make the extracted image feature information more accurate. Second, we add an attention gate module and recurrent residual convolution module to the U-Net decoder. It helps extract features fully and facilitates the recovery of more detailed information when the image is generated. Finally, we test the subjective results and objective evaluation of our proposed algorithm on synthetic and real datasets. The experimental results show that the robustness of our algorithm outperforms the other five classical algorithms, such as in enhancing underwater images with different color shifts and turbidity. Moreover, it corrects the color bias and improves the contrast and detailed texture of the images.
LNC01089-LINC00963/miR-1244-5p/IGF1 ceRNA axis might regulate FOXO signaling pathway in breast cancer patients: a biomarker discovery investigation
Authors: Rezaei Mohammad , Marghmaleki Ramin Masoudi , Boroujeni Farzaneh Sanati , Shahriari Abbas , Omidghaemi Shadi , Azadeh Mansoureh , Golshani Ashkan 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Background
Breast carcinoma (BC) ranks as one of the most prevalent illnesses among women, and a variety of factors, including inherited and environmental factors, can impact its start and progression. A variety of biological biomarkers (measurement of enzymes, hormones, and mRNA and microRNA expression patterns) have been identified for the prediction of poor prognosis and diagnosis of BC. In this study, we tried to analyze the expression patterns of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and find novel biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of BC during a systems biology approach.
Methods
Microarray analysis was performed to find novel potential BC biomarkers. Using miRWalk, lncRRIsearch, STRING, and Cytoscape, non-coding and protein interaction analysis was utilized and visualized. Pathway enrichment and gene ontology analyses were performed to find accurate biological mechanisms of selected RNAs. The correlation of lncRNA and mRNA expression level with the survival rate of BC patients was shown using GEPIA2. Expression level of miRNA was performed using ENCORI. Using qRT-PCR on 50 tumor samples compared to 50 control samples for validation of bioinformatics expression analyses and understanding of diagnosis capability of selected RNAs (using Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
Results
IGF1 expression level had a significant reduction in BC, based on microarray and qRT-PCR experiments. LINC00963 and LNC01089 also have significant decrease in expression level, based on GEPIA2 and qRT-PCR. LNC01089 and LINC00963 could represent suitable BC diagnostic (depending on ROC analysis) and prognosis (clinicopathological analysis) biomarkers. The two mentioned lncRNAs have direct interaction with IGF1 mRNA. miR-1244-5p as a potential up-regulated oncogene of BC suppresses the expression level of LNC01089, LINC00963, and IGF1. IGF1 is a key modulator of the FOXO signaling pathway. The mentioned RNAs have a significant correlation with clinicopathological features of BC patients, including age, lymph node metastasis, and menopausal status.
Conclusion
LINC00963 and LNC01089, as the two potential tumor suppressors of BC, could regulate the FOXO signaling pathway through direct interaction with IGF1 mRNA. miR-1244-5p also might have a critical role in FOXO regulation through suppression of IGF1 and two mentioned lncRNAs.
Exploring key regulators involved in cardiac ischemic preconditioning through proteomic analysis in ischemia reperfusion mice models
Authors: jiang yi , Chen Guodong , Luo Minghao , Luo Suxin , He An , Lv Dingyi , Peng Yuce , Ma Dan , Huang Longxiang , Li Yuanjing 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Background
Reperfusion therapy improved acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients’ prognosis. However, the ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury remains unsolved. During clinical practice, patients with recurrent angina manifested better outcomes after ACS, suggesting brief periods of sublethal ischemia separated by periods of short bursts of reperfusion delivered before the ischemic insult, known as ischemic preconditioning (IPC) could provide the cardio-myocardium with a means of protecting against ACS. However, the exact physiological mechanism remains controversial. Based on proteomic analysis, this study explored the role of mitochondrial metabolism in IPC and potential targets of IPC.
Methods
IR and IPC mice models were established as protocol, and myocardium tissue was acquired from animal models as samples. Mass spectrometry analysis was employed to acquire the protein expression profile. Comprehensive proteomic analysis was performed for differentially expressed protein acquisition, functional enrichment, hub gene identification, etc. GSE45818 was obtained from NCBI GEO for external validation.
Results
After the left anterior descending artery ligation, the myocardial blush was diminished and restored after untied. The following hematoxylin-eosin staining of cardiac slices demonstrating IPC and IR mice models were well established. After that, the rest of the cardiac samples were further proceeded through mass spectrometry analysis, and 3034 effective proteins were identified by mass spectrometry analysis. Among them, 145 proteins were significantly expressed between IPC and IR groups, and their corresponding genes’ function was enriched in mitochondrial translation and gene expression, ribosome component, etc. Differentially expressed genes (DEG) intersecting with mitochondrial genes were 19 mitochondria-related DEGs. Based on that, nine hub genes were obtained via PPI network analysis (Cox4i1, Cox5a, Cox7b, Ndufa2, Ndufa11, Ndufs2, Ndufs3, Ndufv1, and Uqcr11). Combined with protein expression data, 3 hub genes (Cox4i1, Cox7b, and Ndufa2) were differentially expressed between IR and IPC groups. The Cox4i1 showed adequate discrimination ability in external validation.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that IPC may exert therapeutic effects through up-regulating Cox4i1 expression in alleviating IR injury, and COX4 isoform changing could be a promising regulatory target of IR.
Target Link Protection against Link-Prediction-Based Attacks via Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm Based on Random Walk
Authors: Jiang Zhongyuan , Liu Haibo , Li Jing , Li Xinghua , Ma Jianfeng , Yu Philip S. 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Link prediction is a network analysis model used to discover missing links or future relationships that may appear, which has been widely used in many real network systems to predict the potential relationship between two individuals. However, link prediction can also be used by attackers to identify sensitive links that users are unwilling to expose, which makes only removing sensitive links from the original network ineffective and leads to the disclosure of privacy. In this paper, we propose a target link protection mechanism via artificial bee colony algorithm based on random walk (RABC), which can defend the link prediction attacks based on Resource Allocation (RA) metric effectively.To enhance the local search ability of RABC, the random walk algorithm is combined with the original artificial bee colony algorithm. Then, we compare our method with other existing methods, which shows that RABC has higher efficiency while ensuring the effectiveness. Finally, extensive experiments on real social networks are conducted to demonstrate the good performance of RABC on protecting sensitive links from being detected successfully by link prediction model. Furthermore, the perturbed networks generated by RABC is transferable to defend against other link prediction attacks.
Granular Syntax Processing with Multi-task and Curriculum Learning
Authors: Zhang Xulang , Mao Rui , Cambria Erik 
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Syntactic processing techniques are the foundation of Natural Language Processing (NLP), supporting many downstream NLP tasks. In this paper, we conduct pair-wise Multi-Task Learning (MTL) on syntactic tasks with different granularity, namely Sentence Boundary Detection (SBD), text chunking, and Part-of-Speech(PoS) tagging, so as to investigate the extent to which they complement each other. We propose a novel soft parameter sharing mechanism to share local and global dependency information that is learned from both target tasks. We also propose a Curriculum Learning (CL) mechanism to improve MTL with non-parallel labeled data. Using non-parallel labeled data in MTL is a common practice, whereas it has not received enough attention before. For example, our employed PoS tagging data do not have text chunking labels. When learning PoS tagging and text chunking together, the proposed CL mechanism aims to select complementary samples from the two tasks to update the parameters of the MTL model in the same training batch. Such a method yields better performance and learning stability. We conclude that the fine-grained tasks can provide complementary features to coarse-grained ones, while the most coarse-grained task, SBD, provides useful information for the most fine-grained one, PoS tagging. Additionally, the text chunking task achieves state-of-the-art performance when joint learning with PoS tagging. Our analytical experiments also show the effectiveness of the proposed soft parameter sharing and CL mechanisms.
Surgical Management and Outcome of Large and Giant Intracranial Aneurysm
Authors: Barbarawi Mohammed M. Al , Alawneh Khaled Z. , Bqour Abdelhalim Z. , Abdelaziz Walla , Qudsieh Suhair M. , Barbarawi Ala M. , Jarrar Sultan M. , Jaradat Amer A. , Megdadi Anwar , Ghammaz Owais 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Large and giant intracranial aneurysms, exceeding 10 mm and 25 mm in diameter, respectively, are rare in neurosurgery. These lesions carry substantial morbidity and mortality risks, often causing mass effects, intracranial hemorrhage, stroke, or seizures. We present our experience with 54 patients diagnosed with these aneurysms at King Abdullah University Hospital. We conducted neurological assessments and preoperative evaluations using the modified Rankin Scale. Individualized treatment strategies, employing surgical techniques or endovascular embolization, were tailored to each patient. Surgical interventions, including direct clipping, aneurysmal wall resection, aneurysmorrhaphy with clipping, and cross-clamping (average duration: 20 minutes), were performed in 32 cases (59.2%). Endovascular coiling was utilized in 22 patients (40.8%), with 10 requiring flow diverter stents. Of the cases, 32 were giant aneurysms, and 22 were large aneurysms. The cohort included 28 females and 26 males, averaging 46.9 years. Aneurysms were predominantly in the anterior circulation (80.6%), with initial symptoms including mass effect (78.7%), cerebral ischemia (8.3%), intracranial hemorrhage (3%), and seizures (2.8%). Outcomes ranged from favorable to excellent in 70.4% of patients, while 18.5% experienced poor outcomes, primarily in posterior circulation aneurysms or due to poor preoperative conditions. The overall mortality rate was 11.1%, with eight fatalities. Management of giant intracranial aneurysms remains challenging, with higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to other neurosurgical conditions. No universally effective technique exists, emphasizing the importance of meticulous perioperative planning and surgical expertise. Further research and treatment advancements are needed to enhance the management of these complex aneurysms.
Antiphospholipid Antibodies as Potential Predictors of Disease Severity and Poor Prognosis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus-Associated Thrombocytopenia: Results from a Real-World CSTAR Cohort Study
Authors: Li Jun , Peng Liying , Wu Lijun , Ding Yufang , Duan Xinwang , Xu Jian , Wei Wei , Chen Zhen , Zhao Cheng , Yang Min , Jiang Nan , Zhang Shangzhu , Wang Qian , Tian Xinping , Li Mengtao , Zeng Xiaofeng , Zhao Yan , Zhao Jiuliang 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Background: To investigate the role of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) in the disease severity and prognosis of SLE-related thrombocytopenia.
Methods: This multicenter prospective study was conducted based on data from the CSTAR registry. TP was defined as a platelet count＜100×109/L. Demographic characteristics, platelet count, clinical manifestations, disease activity, and autoantibody profiles were collected at baseline. Relapse was defined as the loss of remission. Bone marrow aspirate reports were also collected.
Results: A total of 350 SLE-TP patients with complete follow-up data, 194 (55.4%) were aPLs positive. At baseline, SLE-TP patients with aPLs had lower baseline platelet counts (61.0×109/L vs. 76.5×109/L, P＜0.001), and a higher proportion of moderate to severe cases (24.2% vs. 14.1% ; 18.0% vs. 8.3%, P＜0.001). SLE-TP patients with aPLs also had lower platelet counts at their lowest point (37.0 × 109/L vs. 51.0 × 109/L, P=0.002). In addition, thean increasing number of aPLs types was associated with a decrease in the baseline and minimum values of platelets ( P＜0.001, P=0.001). During follow-up, SLE-TP carrying aPLs had a higher relapse rate (58.2% vs. 44.2%, P=0.009) and a lower complete response (CR) rate. As the types of aPLs increased, the relapse rate increased, and the CR rate decreased. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the ratio of granulocytes to red blood cells (G/E), the total number of megakaryocyte and categories.
Conclusion: SLE-TP patients with positive aPLs had more severe disease a lower remission rate but a higher relapse rate.
Associations between a normal-range free thyroxine concentration and ovarian reserve in infertile women undergoing treatment via assisted reproductive technology
Authors: Zhang Qiaoling , Zhang Dandan , Liu Haoyuan , Fu Jinyun , Tang Li , Rao Meng 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Background Some recent studies have shown that female subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is associated with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). In this study, we aimed to investigate whether serum-free thyroxine (fT4) concentrations within the reference range are associated with ovarian reserve in women.Methods This cross-sectional study included 4933 infertile women with normal-range fT4 concentrations who received assisted reproductive technology treatment in our clinic. The data of women in different fT4 concentration tertiles (namely 12–15.33, 15.34–18.67, and 18.68–22 pmol/L) were compared with ovarian reserve markers, namely the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentration, the antral follicle count (AFC), and the number of aspirated oocytes. The primary outcomes were the AMH concentration and the risk of DOR, diagnosed as an AMH concentration < 1.1 ng/mL.Results The average ages of women in the low-normal, middle-normal, and high-normal fT4 tertiles were 33.20 (standard deviation [SD]: 5.11), 32.33 (SD: 5.13), and 31.61 (SD: 5.10) years, respectively (p < 0.0001). AMH concentrations (adjusted mean: 3.32 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 3.16 to 3.50] vs. 3.51 [3.40 to 3.62] vs. 3.64 [3.50 to 3.80] ng/mL, p = 0.022) were significantly different between the fT4 concentration tertiles. The risk of DOR was significantly increased in the low-normal (adjusted odds ratio: 1.61 [95% CI: 1.01 to 2.58]) and middle-normal (1.47 [95% CI: 1.00 to 2.16]) tertiles compared with the high-normal tertile. Subgroup analysis showed that AMH concentrations were significantly different among the fT4 concentration tertiles in women aged < 35 years (adjusted mean: 3.94 [95% CI: 3.70 to 4.20] vs. 4.25 [4.11 to 4.39] vs. 4.38 [4.18 to 4.58], p = 0.028), whereas this difference was not significant in women aged ≥ 35 years (p = 0.534). The general additive models using fT4 as a continuous variable indicated that a lower fT4 concentration within the normal range was significantly associated with a lower AMH concentration (p = 0.027), a lower AFC (p = 0.018), a lower number of aspirated oocytes (p = 0.001), and a higher risk of DOR (p = 0.007).Conclusion Low-normal fT4 concentrations are associated with lower ovarian reserve in infertile women
Performance Evaluation of Free Space Optical Communication System
Authors: Shaligram Mahajan Hrushikesh , Bajaj Praveen Kumar 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
In the rapidly evolving technology sector, the rapidly increasing demand for high-speed data transmission has driven significant advancements in data transfer technologies. Traditional optical fiber offers data transfer rates of 10 Gbps, but the telecommunications industry's escalating demands have led to the emergence of Free Space Optics (FSO) as a potential solution, capable of achieving speeds of up to 100 Gbps. The speed of data transmission is intricately linked to signal quality, quantified by the Quality Factor (Q). FSO, utilising the Earth's atmosphere as its propagation medium, is the focal point of our performance analysis. This study explores the critical factors influencing data transmission speed and signal quality in FSO systems, including wavelength, laser power, modulation techniques, and the distance between transmitter and receiver telescopes. The analysis focuses on assessing the Quality Factor and BER(Bit Error Rate) of signals, utilising Optical System simulations across a range of bit rates (10 Gbps, 12 Gbps, 14 Gbps, and 15 Gbps) and transmission distances of 10 km, 15 km, 20 km, 24 km, and 28 km. An Eye Diagram is employed for signal analysis, providing valuable insights into the comparison of Quality Factor (Q) and Bit Error Rate (BER). This research highlights the potential of FSO as a high-speed data transmission technology and its implications for the telecommunications industry.
The effect of Usnea longissima extract on chemotherapy-associated multi-organ damage in rats
Authors: Bingul Eda , Suleyman Bahadir , Mammadov Renad , Bulut Seval , Dogru Tugba Erkmen , Altuner Durdu , Suleyman Halis 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The toxic effects of doxorubicin and cisplatin in various organs have been associated with oxidative stress. Studies have shown that Usnea longissima has strong antioxidant effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of ethyl acetate extract from Usnea longissima (ULE), which is known to have strong antioxidant effects, on chemotherapeutic-induced heart, kidney, liver and ovarian toxicity. Albino Wistar female rats were divided into five groups (12 rats per group): healthy (HG), doxorubicin (DOX), Cisplatin (CIS), Doxorubicin + ULE (DULE), Cisplatin + ULE (CULE). In this experiment, ULE was given 100 mg/kg orally. After 1 hour, 2.5 mg/kg doxorubicin and 2.5 mg/kg cisplatin were administered intraperitoneally. Drug treatments continued once a day for seven days. At the end of seven days, six rats from each group were euthanised and heart, kidney, liver and ovary tissues were analysed biochemically. The remaining rats were left in the laboratory with male rats for 45 days for reproduction. ULE inhibited chemotherapeutic-induced increase in malondialdehyde, tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 6 and decrease in total glutathione in liver, kidney and ovarian tissues. ULE also inhibited the increase of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in serum. ULE treatment had no protective effect against doxorubicin and cisplatin cardiac toxicity. On the other hand, ULE also decreased the delay in pregnancy induced by chemotherapy. ULE may be considered as adjuvant therapy in patients receiving chemotherapy to reduce liver, kidney and ovarian toxicity.
Gendered impacts of 2022 floods on livelihoods and health vulnerability of rural communities in select Southern states in Nigeria
Authors: Ejem Agwu A. , Ben-Enukora Charity A. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractBackground: Social factors, gender norms and roles as well as biological and physiological differences lead to gender gap in post-disaster vulnerabilities. This emphasizes the need to adopt vulnerability approach in disaster management.Objective:This study investigated the relationship between gender dynamics and the impact of the 2022 floods in Nigeria on the health and livelihoods of men and women in select Southern states.Methodology:The authors adopted a mixed-method approach. Survey was used to gather data from 383 persons affected by the floods; a content analysis was done on secondary data from Flood Rapid Needs Assessment of the selected states; and an in-depth interview was conducted on the flood-affected persons.Results:The norms and roles of female members in their homes and the wider communities exposed them to vulnerabilities during the floods. As a result, more females than males lost their lives, jobs, and sources of livelihood during the floods. The females suffered more health vulnerabilities during and after the floods, were more traumatized, fell more ill as a result of the trauma caused by the flood, and suffered more from poor sanitary conditions after (and as a result of) the floods.Conclusion:It was concluded that inequalities in exposure and sensitivity to risk along with differences in access to resources, opportunities, and capabilities systematically hinder the females and make them more vulnerable to the effects of floods in Nigeria.Contribution:There should be a gendered response to disasters in Nigeria, and disaster planners should address the different needs of men and women, boys and girls.