bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of medical treatment on outcome of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) in patients followed in University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK)
Authors: Bonane Alex , Nyirimodoka Alexandre , Hategekimana Theobald , Bizumuremyi Yves Constantin , Niyonkuru Jean Marie Vianney , Rickard Jennifer 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background The management of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) requires careful approach. The initial choices in the management of LUTS due to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia include watchful waiting, pharmacotherapy and surgical intervention. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of medical therapy on adult male patients with LUTS secondary to BPHMethods It was a prospective observational study for a period of 1year of men over 40 years with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms due to BPH diagnosed clinically. The enrollment was done through the out-patient clinic of urology unit and a follow up at 1,3 and 6months was done. We recorded variables like, Post-void residual urine (PVR), Prostate size, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), medication taken, etc. We described clinical and demographic characteristics using mean, standard deviation (SD), median, interquartile range (IQR), frequency, and percentage. The bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between medical treatment and the outcomes of interestResults A total of 163 patients were enrolled. Their mean age were 68years(SD = 8.6), The adherence to treatment was 151/154 (98.05%) in month 1 and 133/151 (88.08%) in month 6. The reason of no adherence was ignorance in 11/17(64.7%); drug was not available 3/17(17.6%), and 2/17(11.8%) were lucking money. Taking both monotherapy and combined therapy were associated with decrease in IPSSS score of more than 4points after 3 months and the relationship was statistically significant after adjusting to the initial prostate size as a confounder (pValue = 0.01(OR = 59.2) and pValue = 0.02(OR:13.8) respectively. The medical treatment was associated with mean decrease in PVR of 61ml and 94ml respectively after 3 months and 6months. The latter association was statistically significant in a bivariate analysis (pValue: 0.03 at 3month and pValue:0.04 at 6months).Conclusion medical treatment for BPH was associated with a significant reduction in IPSS after 3 months, which was consistent after 6 months. The reduction in PVR was observed after 3 and 6 months, but the relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for the baseline IPSS score.
Genetic variability and divergence studies on seed traits and L-dopa content of Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. accessions
Authors: PATEL SWETAL THAKORBHAI , Azeez Musibau A , Krishnamurthy R. 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. belongs to the Fabaceae family and is widely distributed across the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Seeds of Mucuna are the industrially important source of natural L-dopa. The present study is intended to screen out the superior Mucuna germplasm which can be utilized for commercial cultivation. A total of 59 accessions of M. pruriens (L.) DC. were collected from various geographical locations across India and evaluated for seed-associated agronomic traits and L- dopa content in the seed. Morphological observations of seed samples revealed a wide variation in seed color pattern including complete white, black and striped/mottled. Quantitative traits such as 100 seed weight (90.30-150.59gm), seed length (5-19.3 mm), width (2.66-13.00 mm), thickness (0.90–8.67 cm), length width ratio (1.17–2.26), length thickness ratio (1.50–7.40), width thickness ratio (0.89-6.00) seed geometric diameter (2.34–12.60 mm), arithmetic mean diameter (2.88–13.33 mm), seed sphericity (41.89–78.75), seed surface area (17.19-498.51 mm2) and L-dopa content (1.79–6.05%) were evaluated in order to compare the features of the accessions collected from different places. The inter-association between morphological observations and L-dopa content was measured using principal component analysis and Ward’s hierarchical clustering, as these are of vital importance in selecting the best accession of velvet bean for breeding programs.
Health care providers’ perceived barriers to providing breastfeeding support in Northwest rural China
Authors: Wu Jiao-Jiao , Zhang Qing-Ning , Liao Su-su , Li Jiang-hong , Zhang Jian-duan , Huang Jing-zhi 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background
Health care providers have been playing important roles in supporting breastfeeding. Although there has been insufficient actual breastfeeding support from health care providers in China, little research has been conducted to understand Chinese health care providers’ perceived barriers to providing breastfeeding support, especially in rural China. This study aimed to identify health care providers’ perceived barriers to providing breastfeeding support in Northwestern rural China.
Methods
A total of 41 health care providers were recruited by purposive sampling in two Northwest rural counties in China. These included obstetrician-gynecologists, midwives, nurses, village doctors, and township and village maternal and child health workers. Data were collected using semi-structured, one-on-one in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with qualitative design. Transcripts were thematically analyzed.
Results
Data from the interviews revealed four themes that the participants perceived as barriers in supporting breastfeeding. The four themes include: (1) lack of medical resources, (2) unclear responsibility designation at the individual level, (3) incompetency of health care providers, and (4) difficulty in accessing mothers.
Conclusions
Multiple barriers were perceived by health care providers in providing breastfeeding support. The specific breastfeeding support roles of different health care providers who serve for women and children need to be further clarified. Skillful training and technical support on breastfeeding are needed to match different health care providers’ specific responsibilities. The approaches of mobile health-based interventions to support breastfeeding can be explored in the future.
Influence of bleaching gels formulated with nano-sized sodium trimetaphosphate and fluoride on the physicochemical, mechanical, and morphological properties of dental enamel
Authors: Gruba Amanda Scarpin , Nunes Gabriel Pereira , Marques Mariana Takatu , Danelon Marcelle , Alves Renata de Oliveira , de Toledo Priscila Toninatto Alves , Briso André Luiz Fraga , Delbem Alberto Carlos Botazzo 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Objectives
To evaluate in vitro the effects of sodium fluoride (F) and nano-sized sodium trimetaphosphate (TMPnano) added to a 35% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) bleaching gel on the color alteration, enamel mechanical and morphological properties, and H2O2 transamelodentinal diffusion.
Materials and Methods
Bovine enamel/dentin discs (n = 180) were divided according to the bleaching gel: 35% H2O2 (HP); 35% H2O2 + 0.1% F (HP/F); 35% H2O2 + 1% TMPnano (HP/TMPnano); 35% H2O2 + 0.1% F + 1% TMPnano (HP/F/TMPnano) and 35% H2O2 + 2% calcium gluconate (HP/Ca). The gels were applied 3 times by 40 min; once each 7-day. Color alteration (ΔE and ΔE00), whitening index (ΔWID), surface (SH) and cross-sectional hardness (ΔKHN), surface roughness (Ra), and transamelodentinal diffusion were determined. Enamel surfaces were evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Dispersive Energy (EDX). Data were submitted to ANOVA, followed by the Student-Newman-Keuls test (p < 0.05).
Results
ΔE, ΔE00, and ΔWID were similar among the evaluated gels that produced a bleaching effect after enamel pigmentation (p < 0.001). Mineral loss (SH and ΔKHN), Ra, and H2O2 diffusion were lower for HP/F/TMPnano; the HP and HP/Ca groups presented the highest values (p < 0.001). For SEM/EDX, surface changes were observed in all bleached groups, but less intense with TMPnano.
Conclusions
Gels containing F/TMPnano do not interfere with the bleaching effect and reduced enamel demineralization, roughness, H2O2 diffusion, and morphological changes.
Clinical Relevance:
Whitening gels containing F/TMPnano can be used as a new strategy to increase safety and maintain clinical performance.
New immunomodulatory anticancer quinazolinone based thalidomide analogs: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation
Authors: Ward Maged Al , Abdallah Abdallah E. , Zayed Mohamed , Ayyad Rezk , El-Zahabi Mohamed 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
As an extension to our previous work for the development of new thalidomide analogs, the current work offers new insights into the immunomodulatory and anticancer activities of quinazolinone based molecules carrying a glutarimide moiety. The findings confirmed some previous findings and revealed some new information. Among the newly synthesized compounds, compounds 7d and 12 showed considerable immunomodulatory properties in comparison to thalidomide. 7d and 12 significantly reduced TNF-α levels in HepG-2 cells from 162.5 pg/mL to 57.4 pg/mL and 49.2 pg/mL, respectively compared to 53.1 pg/mL reported for thalidomide. Moreover, they caused 69.33% and 77.74% reduction in NF-κB P65, respectively, compared to 60.26% reduction for thalidomide. Similarly, they reduced VEGF from 432.5 pg/mL to 161.3 pg/mL and 132.8 pg/mL, respectively, in comparison to 153.2 pg/mL reported for thalidomide. The two new derivatives, 7d and 12 also showed about 8-fold increases in caspase-8 levels in cells treated with them. These results were slightly better than those of thalidomide. The obtained results revealed that Compound 12 had better immunomodulatory properties than thalidomide, with stronger effects on TNF-α, NF-B P65, VEGF, and caspase-8. Accordingly, this work indicates that compound 12 has interesting biological properties that should be further evaluated and modified in order to develop clinically useful thalidomide analogs.
Association of Coffee and Caffeine Intake with Risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: An Epidemiological Observational Study
Authors: Liao Wan-Zhe , Li Jia-Xin , Feng Wei-Yi , Xiao Jia-Qi , Wang Zi-Xun , Xie Shuo-Jia , Zhu Xiao-Feng , Hu Yi-Ming , Mao Jun-Hao , Huang Ze-Min , Guan Wei-Jie , Guo Xu-Guang 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Objectives This investigation aimed to examine the correlation between coffee and caffeine intake with the risk of COPD and lung function based on NHANES 2007–2012.Materials and Methods Exposure variables were established as coffee and caffeine consumption, while the risk of COPD and lung function were considered as the outcome variables. Other covariates were deemed potential confounders. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the NHANES to determine a definitive correlation between exposure variables and outcome variables.Results Multivariable regression models revealed positive associations between coffee and caffeine consumption and the risk of COPD and lung function. Subgroup analyses, stratified by sex, DM, hypertension status, and smoking habits, identified potential effect modifiers, as well as infection points from threshold effect examinations.Conclusions The results of this cross-sectional study indicated significant positive associations between coffee and caffeine consumption and the risk of COPD. Additionally, positive associations between exposure variables and FEV1 and FVC were discovered. Among the stratification factors, smoking status exhibited the most potential for modifying effects.
In silico prediction and experimental validation of MIR17HG long non-coding RNA, MIR17HG-derived miRNAs and GPC5 expression profile in Breast Cancer
Authors: Shahraki Reyhane Alidousti , Rahmani Saeid , Shafaroudi Afsaneh Malekzadeh , Sharifi-Zarchi Ali , Nafissi Nahid , Mowla Seyed-Javad 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

BACKGROUND Breast cancer as one of the most causes of cancer-related mortality in women has attracted the attention of researchers. Recently, biological biomarkers play important roles in the early diagnosis of breast cancers in clinics. They considered non-invasive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and play an important role in the prevention of tumor development.OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate lnc RNA MIR17HG which is the host gene for generating miR17-92 cluster. We employed bioinformatics and experimental approaches to evaluate the expression level of variants of lnc RNA MIR17HG and its derived miRNAs (miR18a-5p and miR20a-5p) and also its neighbor gene (GPC5). In addition, we evaluated the correlation of candidate genes to predict the similarity function of targeted genes in breast tumors and finally, we surveyed the efficacy of selected genes as new potential diagnostic biomarkers in discriminating against breast cancer patients and non-cancerous.METHODS We used bioinformatic tools to analyze TCGA data in order to predict results at the first step. The expression levels of candidate genes were assessed within tumors and adjacent normal tissues by qRT-PCR. Their impacts as diagnosis breast cancer biomarkers were evaluated by ROC curve analysis. The relation of candidate genes is also evaluated by Pearson's correlation coefficients.RESULTS According to our findings, MIR17HG and its derived miRNAs showed up-regulation and GPC5 showed down-regulation in BC. They also have a positive linear correlation in breast tumors and could discriminate between cancer and non-cancerous breast tissues.CONCLUSIONS Our data analysis showed differentially expressed of MIR17HG and its derived miRNAs and GPC5 in breast tissues compared to adj-normal tissue. Also, we demonstrate a linear correlation between candidate genes. In addition, selected genes can potentially act in discriminating tumor tissues and adj-normal tissue as breast cancer diagnosis biomarkers.
The clinicopathological significance and prognosis of long non-coding RNA SNHG14 expression in human cancers: a meta-analysis
Authors: Yang Zijiao , Jiang Xia 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background
Recently, the role of long non-coding RNA small nucleolar host gene14 (SNHG14) in various human cancers has attracted much attention. We will investigate the effects of SNHG14 expression on clinicopathological features and prognosis of different types of human cancer patients by meta-analysis.
Methods
We had speculated the potential association between SNHG14 expression and the prognostic significance and clinical features of cancer patients during some studies were searched electronically using PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library. Cochrane collaboration software (RevMan 5.3) was used to analyze the potential association between SNHG14 expression and prognostic significance and clinical features of cancer patients. Fixed and random-effects were used to measure pooled estimates. Corresponding odds ratios (OR) OR risk ratios (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared to evaluate the prognostic value of SNHG14.
Result
Overall, 19 randomized controlled trials were included in this meta-analysis, with a total of 1221 patients. The high expression rate of SNHG14 in the TNM stage I-II group was lower than that in the stage III-IV group (OR = 0.63; 95% CI,0.45 ~ 0.88; P = 0.006). In terms of lymph node metastasis, the high expression rate of SNHG14 in the group without lymph node metastasis was significantly lower than that in the group with lymph node metastasis (OR = 0.47; 95%CI, 0.33 ~ 0.65, P＜0.00001); As for distant metastasis, the high expression rate of SNHG14 in the group without distant metastasis was lower than that in the group with distant metastasis (OR = 0.41; 95%CI, 0.20 ~ 0.83;P = 0.01). In terms of survival outcome, high SNHG14 expression was significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 1.56; 95%CI, 1.22 ~ 1.99, P = 0.0004).
Conclusion
High expression of LncRNA SNHG14 is significantly associated with poor prognosis and advanced clinical features, suggesting that LncRNA SNHG14 can be used as a potential biomarker for predicting prognosis and clinical features in patients with various cancers.
Peripheral blood biomarkers in Immune Checkpoint Inhibition therapy in Metastatic Melanoma
Authors: GHELANI GHANSHYAM , Mandava Anupa , BouZerdan Maroun , Mehta Radhika , Sivapiragasam Abirami , Wong Roger 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Background
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are extensively employed in the management of various solid cancers. Our study aims to assess the potential prognostic and predictive value of peripheral blood biomarkers, as well as their correlation with adverse events.
Methods
In this study, we conducted a retrospective analysis of data retrieved from a cohort of 23 patients diagnosed with metastatic melanoma at a single institution between 2015 and 2019. Specifically, we focused on analyzing the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), absolute neutrophil + monocyte-to-absolute lymphocyte + eosinophil ratio (ANMC/ALEC) from complete blood count (CBC), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level from peripheral blood to assess their correlation with progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and immune-related adverse events (irAEs).
Results
Our findings revealed that NLR values less than 0.34 and ANMC/ALEC ratio less than 3.45 were associated with improved PFS and OS, as well as a lower incidence of immune-related adverse events, which supports our initial hypothesis. However, these results were not statistically significant due to the low power of our study. On the other hand, high NLR values were significantly associated with higher pre-treatment LDH levels (P-value = 0.037), which is a well-established adverse prognostic factor in melanoma. Additionally, high ANMC/ALEC ratios were also found to be associated with high LDH levels, although this relationship was not statistically significant (P-value = 0.133).
Conclusion
The results of our study suggest that patients with lower pre-treatment NLR and ANMC/ALEC ratios have better PFS and OS, as well as lower incidence of irAEs. Conversely, those with high NLR and high ANMC/ALEC ratios exhibited lower PFS and OS, as well as higher incidence of irAEs. High NLR and ANMC/ALEC ratios were also found to be associated with higher pre-treatment LDH levels, which have previously been demonstrated to be an adverse prognostic factor in melanoma [6, 8, 11].
Determinants of sickness presenteeism among Ghanaian workers: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Mensah Justice , Amponsah-Tawiah Kwesi , Tamakloe Setornam Abui 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Objective: The study explored the impact of demographic factors (gender, age, educational qualification, income, employment type, and position) on sickness presenteeism in Ghana.
Results: Using a one-way independent sample analysis of variance (ANOVA) the study found that the gender, age, and educational qualification of Ghanaian workers did not have a significant effect on sickness presenteeism. However, the study found that the income of employees in Ghana had a significant impact on sickness presenteeism. Furthermore, the study revealed that the employment type of employees had a significant impact on significant presenteeism among Ghanaian workers. Lastly, the findings revealed that the level of management employees operate in has a significant impact on sickness presenteeism. Further analysis revealed that the self-employed and employees at the executive level recorded higher sickness presenteeism. The study concludes by admonishing employers to create a culture that prioritizes employee health, as it will consequently enable them to achieve their business goals.
New orbital angular momentum multiplexing strategy: beyond the capacity limit of free-space optical communication
Authors: Yan Wenxiang , Gao Yuan , Long Xian , Yuan Zheng , Ren Zhi-Cheng , Wang Xi-Lin , Wang Hui-Tian , Ding Jianping 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Free-space optical (FSO) communication can exploit mode-division multiplexing using orthogonal spatial modes of Laguerre-Gaussian beams, such as orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes, wherein OAM multiplexing offers potentially infinite information capacity due to the arbitrary quantization of OAM. Combined with polarization-division multiplexing and wavelength-division multiplexing, OAM multiplexing is a promising solution for future capacity demands. However, the practically addressable number of spatial subchannels is severely limited by the receiver size and the rapid beam expansion with increasing mode order and communication distance. Based on the intrinsic and distinctive property that the divergent degree of the innermost ring of a Laguerre-Gaussian beam is significantly slower than that of the beam cross-section during propagation, here we propose theoretically and demonstrate experimentally a novel communication strategy—innermost-ring-dominated OAM (IRD-OAM) multiplexing—that can overcome these limits and achieve up to 1238% capacity of conventional OAM multiplexing in a canonical FSO link system without any additional hardware modifications. Alternatively, our strategy can also enable longer communication distance (403% of that for conventional OAM multiplexing), or smaller receiver (26.9% in size compared to conventional OAM multiplexing), while maintaining the same capacity as conventional OAM multiplexing. Our work will hasten the development of future FSO communications with ultra-high capacity, ultra-long distance, and highly-integrated devices for deep-space, near-Earth and Earth-surface applications.
Traces of Human Attitudes in Contemporary and Historical Word Embeddings (1800-2000)
Authors: Morehouse Kirsten , Rouduri Vaibhav , Cunningham Wil , Charlesworth Tessa 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Attitudes are argued to reflect widespread cultural information – information that can be revealed through language from contemporary and historical time. Yet research directly quantifying the relationship between attitudes and language patterns at-scale remains limited. Here, we address the question of whether and how attitudes are related to language by combining data from implicit and explicit attitudes of >200,000 participants towards 55 topics alongside language representations from word embeddings trained on 9 contemporary text corpora and 200 years of historical books. Results show strong relationships between implicit attitudes and language patterns, persisting beyond explicit attitudes, cultural attitudes, and even across two centuries. Explicit attitudes were not related to language in any corpus or time-period. Theoretically, language and implicit attitudes reflect widespread and historically-persistent statistical regularities, while explicit attitudes are filtered through values/goals. And methodologically, results provide validation of emerging research using language to expand the study of implicit social cognition.
A Mechanistic Reinterpretation of Fast Inactivation in Voltage-Gated Na+ Channels
Authors: Liu Yichen , Bassetto Carlos , Pinto Bernardo , Bezanilla Francisco 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
The hinged-lid model is long accepted as the canonical model for fast inactivation in Nav channels. It predicts that the hydrophobic IFM motif acts intracellularly as the gating particle that binds and occludes the pore during fast inactivation. However, the observation in recent high-resolution structures that the bound IFM motif locates far from the pore, contradicts this preconception. Here, we provide a mechanistic reinterpretation of fast inactivation based on structural analysis and ionic/gating current measurements. We demonstrate that in Nav1.4 the final inactivation gate is comprised of two hydrophobic rings at the bottom of S6 helices. These rings function in series and close downstream of IFM binding. Reducing the volume of the sidechain in both rings leads to a partially conductive “leaky” inactivated state and decreases the selectivity for Na+ ion. Altogether, we present an alternative molecular framework to describe fast inactivation.