bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparative study to determine the proper sequence of simulation training: Pelvic Trainer versus Virtual Reality Simulator
Authors: Sherpa Ngima Yangji , Minawi Ahmed El , Askalani Ahmed , abdalla marwa 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Background: Since its inception, the adoption of minimally invasive surgical techniques has increased dramatically due to improved patient outcomes. Over the last decade, simulation-based surgical education has received significant attention. Several laparoscopic simulators have been employed. Box trainers (BTs) or pelvic trainers and virtual reality (VR) simulators are the two main training modalities employed in hospitals and clinical training centers for laparoscopic skills acquisition and development.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the proper sequence of pelvic trainers and VR simulator training to improve gynecological laparoscopic skills.
Methodology: This quasi-experimental counterbalanced design study was conducted among twenty residents with little or no laparoscopic experience at the Virtual Endoscopic Simulation and Skills Acquisition Lab at Kasr Al Ainy Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt, from February 2022 to August 2022.
The participants were subdivided into two equal groups. Group A began their training with a pelvic trainer and was assessed using a checklist; then they were trained on a VR simulator and were assessed using electronic auto assessment via the simulator. Group B began their training on a VR simulator and was assessed using electronic auto assessment via the simulator; then they were trained on pelvic trainers and were assessed using a checklist.
Results: When comparing the results of the assessment of pelvic trainer skills between the two trained groups, there was no significant difference in camera navigation, cutting pattern, peg transfer, or running stitches (P values 0.646, 0.341, 0.179, and 0.939 respectively), and when comparing the results of the assessment of VR simulator skills between the 2 trained groups, there was no significant difference in camera navigation, cutting pattern, peg transfer, or running stitches (P values 0.79, 0.3, 0.33, and 0.06, respectively).
Conclusion: There was no difference in training, whether started on a pelvic trainer or the VR simulator, so both could be used in laparoscopic training with no preferred order.
Trial registration: The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov with the name " Pelvic trainer vs VRS" and the identifier " NCT05255614" The date of registration was January 19, 2022, and the trial was prospectively registered.
URL: https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/app/action/ViewOrUnrelease?uid=U0004GED&ts=22&sid=S000BR5D&cx=t6mc14
Autophagy-Associated Markers LC3-II, ULK2 and microRNAs miR-21, miR-126 and miR-374 as a Potential Prognostic Indicator for Glioma Patients
Authors: Amin Wajiha , Enam Syed Ather , Sufiyan Sufiyan , Naeem Sana , Laghari Altaf Ali , Ghias Kulsoom , Bajwa Mohammad Hamza , Abidi Syed Hani , Mughal Nouman 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Autophagy has a dual role in gliomagenesis in a microRNA modulated environment. We investigated the potential relevance of autophagy in glioma development and survival by exploring the association of autophagy-associated genes and microRNAs in low- and high-grade gliomas. Real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to determine the expression of genes and microRNAs in 50 glioma tissues while Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of the same patients were used for immunohistochemistry. The Mann-Whitney U-test test, Spearman correlation test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were performed to evaluate the expression, association, and overall survival in patients respectively. The expression of LC3, AKT and miR-21 were increased in high-grade glioma compared to low-grade glioma while ULK2 expression was decreased in high-grade glioma. A strong-positive correlation was observed for ULK2 with UVRAG, PTEN, miR-7 and miR-100, while moderate correlation with mTOR, Beclin1, miR-30, miR-204, miR-374, miR-21 and miR-126 in low grade glioma, while a moderate positive correlation between ULK2 and PI3K, PTEN, ULK1, VPS34, mTOR, Beclin1, UVRAG, AKT and miR-374, and between AKT and ULK1, VPS34, UVRAG, and miR-7 in high-grade gliomas. The low ULK2 and LC3 expression group was significantly associated with better overall survival in gliomas while miR-21 overexpression showed a poor prognosis in glioma patients. Therefore, miR-21, ULK2, and LC3 may serve as prognostic biomarkers for survival outcomes in glioblastoma.
On the Impact of Net-Zero Forcing Q-flux Change
Authors: Eiselt Kai-Uwe , Graversen Rune Grand 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Numerical climate model simulations suggest that global warming is enhanced or hampered by the spatial pattern of the warming itself. This phenomenon is known as the ``pattern effect'' and has in recent years become the most promising explanation for the change over time of climate sensitivity in climate models. Under historical global warming, different patterns of surface-temperature change have emerged, notably a yet unexplained cooling in the Southern Ocean and the East Pacific. Historical climate model simulations notoriously fail to reproduce this cooling, which may contribute to the deviation of the simulated global-mean warming from the observed record.Here we qualitatively investigate the potential impact of historical and other surface-temperature pattern changes by changing the ocean heat transport convergence (Q-flux) in a slab-ocean model. The Q-flux changes are always implemented such that in the global mean they impose no net forcing. Consistent with earlier studies we find that the impact of a negative Q-flux change in the Southern Ocean has a stronger effect than in other regions because of a feedback loop between sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) and clouds in the Southern Ocean and the stably stratified regions in the tropics. The SST-cloud feedback loop facilitates the expansion of the Antarctic sea ice, indeed taking the model into a Snowball-Earth state. The intensity of this effect is found to be model dependent, especially due to differences in the cloud parametrisation. In experiments with deactivated sea ice the impact of the negative Q-flux change is much weaker.
Zinc toxicity and phytoremediation potential of Oleander: How silicon can help?
Authors: LEFI Elkadri , ELLOUZI Hasna , ATIA Khawla , RABHI Mokded , ABDELLY Chedly , ZORRIG Walid 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Soil contamination by heavy metals, such as zinc, has significant environmental consequences. Phytoremediation, among various remediation techniques, has been developed and applied to restore contaminated soils. However, phytoremediation has limitations related to slow plant growth, influenced by contaminant toxicity. This study aims to investigate the effect of the interaction between zinc and silicon on growth, hydration, photosynthetic and biochemical behaviours, as well as the phytoremediation capacity in oleander (Nerium oleander), a promising species for phytoremediation. Oleander plants were exposed to four treatments, including two adequate zinc treatments (0.76 µM Zn) with two different silicon concentrations (0 mM and 0.5 mM Si) and two zinc toxic treatments (1800 µM Zn) with the same silicon concentrations (0 mM and 0.5 mM Si). The results revealed that zinc toxicity negatively affected most of the measured parameters. However, the depressive effects of zinc toxicity were significantly mitigated under silicon treatments. Adding silicon alleviated leaf chlorosis and improved biomass production, water status, photosynthetic pigment contents, photosynthetic gas exchange, oxidation state of photosystem I (PSI), membrane integrity, soluble protein content, and antioxidant enzyme activity (especially guaiacol peroxidase). Overall, silicon had beneficial effects on the phytoremediation capacity of N. oleander. Therefore, fertilization rich in silicon could represent an effective solution for enhancing the phytoremediation capacity of this species, minimizing one of the major disadvantages of phytoremediation, namely low biomass production influenced by toxicity.
Preoperative prediction of postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreatic head resection using radiomics and machine learning based on computed tomographic diagnostics
Authors: Lettner Johannes D , Benndorf Matthias , Biesel Esther A , Neubauer Claudia , Fichtner-Feigl Stefan , Bamberg Fabian , Wittel Uwe A , Neubauer Jakob 
Published: September 2023

Abstract

Purpose
This study employed machine learning and radiomics to determine whether postoperative pancreatic fistulas (POPF) and perioperative drain amylase dynamics can be predicted prior to pancreaticoduodenectomy by evaluating the radiologic appearance of the pancreatic tissue.
Methods
68 patients were included. Radiomic features of the pancreas were extracted from the arterial phase of computed tomography (CT) at a 1 mm slice thickness for each patient. the Radiomic features with highest correlation with POPF for our models, controlling for autocorrelation and applying Bonferroni correction for P-values were selected. For amylase prediction model (APM), radiomic features were correlated with postoperative maximum drain amylase levels at a cut-off of 1000U/l. ROC analysis was performed for evaluation of the resulting prediction models.
Results
POPF prediction model (PPM) showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.897 (confidence interval (CI) = 82.3–97.1%) in the cohort. The AUC of PPM was higher than that for Roberts’ score, but the difference was not statistically significant. An attempt to predict postoperative amylase dynamics in the drainage fluid achieved an AUC of 0.936 (CI = 88%-99.1%).
Conclusions
Preoperative prediction of POPF and drain amylase dynamics using radiomics showed promising results. Both models offer new approaches to the clinical management of POPF.
Nudging the Recommendation Algorithm Increases News Consumption and Diversity on YouTube
Authors: Haroon Muhammad , Yu Xudong , Menchen-Trevino Ericka , Wojcieszak Magdalena 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Recommendation algorithms profoundly shape users' attention and information consumption on social media platforms. This study introduces a computational intervention aimed at mitigating two key biases in algorithms by influencing the recommendation process. We tackle interest bias, or the tendency of the algorithm to recommend non-news, non-political information to the majority of users, and ideological bias, or the algorithm directing the politically interested and more strongly partisan users to one-sided congenial content. Employing a sock-puppet experiment alongside a month-long randomized experiment involving 2,142 frequent YouTube users, we investigate if nudging the algorithm by playing videos from quality, verified, and ideologically balanced news channels in the background increases recommendations to and consumption of quality news content. We additionally test if providing balanced news input to the algorithm promotes diverse and cross-cutting news recommendations and consumption. We find that nudging the algorithm significantly and sustainably enhances both recommendations and consumption of news and also successfully minimizes ideological biases in recommendations and consumption, particularly among conservative users. In fact, recommendations have stronger effects on users’ exposure than users’ exposure has on subsequent recommendations. In contrast, nudging the users themselves has no observable effects on news consumption. Increased news consumption, however, has no effects on democratic attitudes (e.g., knowledge, participation, polarization, misperceptions), adding to growing evidence of limited effects of on-platform exposure. The intervention does not adversely affect user engagement on YouTube, showcasing its potential for real-world implementation. These findings underscore the profound influence wielded by platform recommender algorithms on users' attention and information exposure.
Ap4A modulated quorum sensing in treated bacteria to resistant kanamycin
Authors: Ji Xia , Yu Ruojing , Zhang Cuilin , Zhu Meilian , Cai Tianshu , Li Weiwei 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Background
Dinucleotide alarmone, diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) that increased in cellular has been shown to affect bacteria survival under stress.
Results
Here, we labeled Ap4A with biotin and incubated the labeled Ap4A with the total proteins extracted from the kanamycin treatment E. coli to screen the Ap4A binding protein in bacteria under kanamycin treatment. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) uncovered novel Ap4A interaction proteins that involved biofilm formation, quorum sensing, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis pathways. Furthermore, we used apaH knockout strain of E. coli K12-MG1655 which increased intracellular Ap4A to demonstrate that Ap4A affected the expression of biofilm formation related genes including csrB、csrC、rpoS, quorum sensing related genes sdiA、ribA, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis related genes lpxA、lpxC、lpxP、waaC、gmhB. The biofilm formation of apaH mutant strain and wild-type strain has no difference, but under the kanamycin treatment, the biofilm formation of the mutant strain decreased compared with the wild-type strain. We also observed that apaH mutant reduced the swarming motility of bacteria.
Conclusions
These results showed that Ap4A can regulate the quorum sensing (QS) mechanism to impact bacteria swarming motility reducing the bacteria’s survival under kanamycin stress. According to these, we could enlarge kanamycin in combination compound to use in the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Investigation of imprinted differentially methylated regions implicates placenta- specific haplotypes as potential internal reference markers for non-invasive prenatal testing
Authors: Jia Xiaojun , Tang Huijun , Wu Xiaoyan , Zhao Xinzhi , Ye Weiping 
Published: September 2023

Abstract

Background:
Imprinted genes play important roles in placental development and fetal growth. The human placenta exhibits a unique pattern in genomic imprinting compared to that in somatic tissues. Here, we investigated imprinted differentially methylated regions (iDMRs) in the placenta and their changes associated with preeclampsia.
Methods:
We analyzed 3362 CpG sites in 62 iDMRs using BisCap targeted bisulfite resequencing (BisCap-seq) assays of maternal blood, healthy and preeclamptic placenta samples. We constructed 185 imprinted methylation haplotype blocks (iMHBs) using these coupled CpG sites in the iDMRs. We accessed the methylation status of each iMHB and CpG site in the maternal blood, healthy and preeclamptic placenta samples.
Results:
We found that the CpG sites in the CpG islands of the iDMRs tended to show tightly coupled intermediate methylation (methylation levels: 0.35–0.65, D’ > 0.8). In addition to 60 placenta-specific iMHBs, 38 somatic iMHBs were differentially methylated (p < 2.70 ×10-4) in the placenta compared with maternal blood. We identified 27 iMHBs with differentially variable methylation patterns in the placenta, suggesting polymorphic imprinting on the sub-iDMRs scale. Moreover, iMHB methylation did not change in the preeclamptic placentas. However, we detected a significant association between preeclampsia and 27 differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs, p < 1.49 ×10-5), which were located outside the iMHB structures in the placenta. We found that placenta-specific haplotypes (PSHs) of iMHBs could quantify the placental compositions of maternal plasma circulating DNA.
Conclusions:
Our results demonstrated additional genomic imprinting features in the placenta and suggested that PSHs are potential internal reference markers of the placenta that may be used for non-invasive prenatal testing.
Boosting the Efficiency and Stability of Blue TADF Emitters by Perdeuteration
Authors: Duan Lian , Huang Tianyu , Wang Qi , Zhang Hai , Zhang Yuewei , Zhan Ge , Zhang Dongdong 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Highly efficient and stable blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), though desired for displays and lightings, remain rare after decades of research. Here we report a perdeuteration strategy to stabilize blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. It is unveiled that deuteration would reduce the population at high vibrational energy levels by suppressing high-frequency vibrations, thus reducing the possibility of bond dissociation. Deuteration also leads to a denser packing of vibrational energy states, thus slowing down the internal conversion of the excited states to the ground and impeding non-radiative decay. The proof-of-concept perdeuterated blue TADF emitters concurrently exhibit not only higher efficiencies but also more than doubled lifetimes in OLEDs compared to protonated ones. By using them as sensitizers in TADF-sensitized fluorescent devices, a maximum external quantum efficiency of 33.1% and a superbly long LT80 (time to 80% of initial luminance) of 1,365 h with a Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage y-coordinate of 0.20 under 1,000 cd m− 2 are obtained simultaneously, even outperforming the best blue phosphorescent OLEDs.
Role of Apoptosis and Immune Infiltration in Chronic Atrophic Gastritis from Bioinformatics Analysis
Authors: men xiaoxiao , xu qianqian , Liu mingyue , Yang Hongli , Lan Yadi , Sun Weijia , xu hongwei 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is usually caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. It is increasingly being recognized as a precancerous lesion that progresses to gastric carcinoma. This study was designed to explore the role of apoptosis and immunity in CAG caused by H. pylori via bioinformatic analysis and to explore the key genes and molecular mechanisms involved in CAG. Gene expression datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) were employed to identify the main signaling pathways of CAG. Apoptosis and immune-related significant genes (API-DEGs) were determined based on differentially expressed genes. The Cytoscape software was used to visualize and identify hub genes. The Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases were used for the pathway enrichment analysis of API-DEGs. The ImmuCellAI algorithm was applied to evaluate immune infiltration patterns. Finally, the miRNA–mRNA–TF regulatory network was built. Findings indicated that apoptosis and immunity are the two most relevant processes involved in H. pylori-associated atrophic gastritis. Further, we identified 45 API-DEGs including 10 hub genes. This study provides base-line data to study the etiological mechanisms of atrophic gastritis and develop therapeutic strategies in the future.
Preventive versus Curative photobiomodulation in patients with multiple myeloma undergoing hematopoietic stem cells transplantation: which approach is more effective?
Authors: Cornacchia Arianna , Rupel Katia , Poiani Monica , Mohamed Sara , De Bellis Eleonora , Ballerini Mario , Preda Magdalena Theodora Bogdan , Poropat Augusto , Lenarda Roberto Di , Zaja Francesco , Biasotto Matteo , Ottaviani Giulia 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Purpose
There is increasing evidence that photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy is both an effective and safe approach in hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT) for the management of oral mucositis (OM), but its use in clinical practice is still limited and the timing of application is under discussion. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate possible differences between patients treated either with preventive or curative PBM therapy.
Methods
The retrospective study included 24 patients suffering from multiple myeloma who underwent the same conditioning and transplantation protocol. Patients were treated either with preventive PBM starting from the first day of conditioning up to two days post-HSCT, or with curative PBM (starting at OM onset for four days). OM score, pain and functional parameters were recorded.
Results
All patients developed OM. Preventive PBM was significantly more effective in limiting OM severity (p < 0.0001) and pain (p < 0.0001) 7 days post-HSCT than curative PBM. We found a lower number of patients reporting discomfort in all subjective parameters (pain during swallowing, chewing and speaking) at T7 in the preventive PBM group. No adverse events related to PBM therapy were recorded in both groups.
Conclusion
The timing for PBM therapy in patients undergoing HSCT is crucial: when started on the first day of conditioning, it significantly reduces both pain and OM severity, providing an important benefit also in subjective oral functions such as speaking, swallowing, and chewing thus increasing the overall adherence to the oncological therapies.
A time-space periodic population growth model with impulsive birth
Authors: Li Zhimin , Zhao Xiao-Qiang 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
This paper is devoted to the study of spatial dynamics for a time-space periodic population growth model with impulsive birth.We first formulate a discrete-time semiflow by the one-year solution map, and obtain a threshold-type result for the semiflow with the spatially periodic initial data.Then we establish the existence and a computational formula of the spreading speed and prove the coincidence ofthe spreading speed with the minimal speed of spatially periodic traveling waves in the monotone case. Further, we investigate the global dynamics of this model in a bounded spatial domain.Finally, we conduct numerical simulations to verify our analytic results andillustrate some interesting findings.
Interaction of cecropin A analogs with DNA analyzed by multi-spectroscopic methods
Authors: Yuan Libo , Wang Ke , Fang Yuan , Xu Xiujuan , Chen Yingcun , Zhao Dongxin , Lu Kui 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Cecropin A is a cationic antimicrobial peptides which contain lots of basic amino acids. To understand the effect of basic amino acids on cecropin A, analogues CA2, CA3 and CA4 which have more arginine or lysine at the N-terminal or C-terminal were designed and synthesized. The interaction of cecropin A and its analogs with DNA was studied using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Multispectral analysis showed that basic amino acids improved the interaction between the analogues and DNA. The interaction between CA4 and DNA is most pronounced. Fluorescence spectrum indicated that Ksv value of CA4 is 1.19×105 L·mol− 1 compared to original peptide cecropin A of 3.73×104 L·mol− 1. The results of antimicrobial experiments with cecropin A and its analogues showed that basic amino acids enhanced the antimicrobial effect of the analogues. The antimicrobial activity of CA4 against E. coli was 8-fold higher than that of cecropin A. The importance of basic amino acid in peptides is revealed and provides useful information for subsequent studies of antimicrobial peptides.