bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Acupuncture combined with balloon dilation for post-stroke cricopharyngeal achalasia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Luo Jing , Huang Bingjing , Zheng Huiyan , Yang Zeyu , Xu Mingzhu , Xu Zhenhua , Ma Wenjun , Lin Run , Feng Zitong , Wu Meng , Cui Shaoyang 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture combined with balloon dilatation in patients with post-stroke cricopharyngeal achalasia (CPA) according to the effective rate, videofluoroscopy swallowing study (VFSS) score and standardized swallowing function assessment scale (SSA) score through Meta-analysis.MethodsEnglish and Chinese language literature published before July 24,2022 were searched in ten electronic databases. The identified articles were screened, data were extracted, and the methodological quality of the included trials was assessed. Using RevMan 5.4.1 software to perform Meta-analysis.Results10 studies with 517 patients with post-stroke CPA were included. Meta-analysis showed that the effective rate of the experience group was higher than that of the control group [OR = 0.62; 95% CI (2.32, 13.05); I2 = 0%; p = 0.0001]. Compared to the control group, the SSA score was lower in the experience group [MD = −4.22; 95% CI (−4.57, −3.87); I2 = 42%; p &lt; 0.00001]. In terms of VFSS scores, the experience group showed greater efficacy differences than control group [MD = 1.53; 95% CI (1.32, 1.75); I2 = 0%; p &lt; 0.00001]. The subgroup analysis of VFSS score based on the average course of disease (&lt;1 month vs. ≥1 month) showed no significant difference. The subgroup analysis based on average age (&gt;60 years vs. ≤60 years) showed the VFSS score of the experience group was significantly higher than that of the control group, and the effect may be better in the subgroup older than 60 years. The subgroup analysis based on the treatment course (&gt;30 days vs. ≤30 days) showed the VFSS score of the experience group was significantly higher than that of the control group, and the effect may be better in the subgroup the treatment course&gt;30 days.ConclusionAcupuncture combined with balloon dilatation may be an effective method for treating post-stroke CPA. Compared with balloon dilatation, acupuncture combined with balloon can significantly improve the swallowing function of patients, and it is also effective for patients of different courses, ages, and treatment course, while patients over 60 years old and the treatment course over 30 days may have better clinical outcomes.
Acute and chronic effects by nicotine on striatal neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in the female rat brain
Authors: Lucente Erika , Söderpalm Bo , Ericson Mia , Adermark Louise 
Published: January 2023

IntroductionTobacco use is in part a gendered activity, yet neurobiological studies outlining the effect by nicotine on the female brain are scarce. The aim of this study was to outline acute and sub-chronic effects by nicotine on the female rat brain, with special emphasis on neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS), a key brain region with respect to the formation of habits.MethodsIn vivo microdialysis and ex vivo electrophysiology were performed in nicotine naïve female Wistar rats, and following sub-chronic nicotine exposure (0.36 mg/kg free base, 15 injections). Locomotor behavior was assessed at the first and last drug-exposure.ResultsAcute exposure to nicotine ex vivo depresses excitatory neurotransmission by reducing the probability of transmitter release. Bath applied nicotine furthermore facilitated long-term synaptic depression induced by high frequency stimulation (HFS-LTD). The cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) agonist WIN55,212-2 produced a robust synaptic depression of evoked potentials, and HFS-LTD was blocked by the CB1R antagonist AM251, suggesting that HFS-LTD in the female rat DLS is endocannabinoid mediated. Sub-chronic exposure to nicotine in vivo produced behavioral sensitization and electrophysiological recordings performed after 2-8 days abstinence revealed a sustained depression of evoked population spike amplitudes in the DLS, with no concomitant change in paired pulse ratio. Rats receiving sub-chronic nicotine exposure further demonstrated an increased neurophysiological responsiveness to nicotine with respect to both dopaminergic- and glutamatergic signaling. However, a tolerance towards the plasticity facilitating property of bath applied nicotine was developed during sub-chronic nicotine exposure in vivo. In addition, the dopamine D2 receptor agonist quinpirole selectively facilitate HFS-LTD in slices from nicotine naïve rats, suggesting that the tolerance may be associated with changes in dopaminergic signaling.ConclusionNicotine produces acute and sustained effects on striatal neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in the female rat brain, which may contribute to the establishment of persistent nicotine taking habits.
The impact of bariatric surgery on macronutrient malabsorption depends on the type of procedure
Authors: Evenepoel Charlotte , Vandermeulen Greet , Luypaerts Anja , Vermeulen Daniel , Lannoo Matthias , Van der Schueren Bart , Buyse Johan , Verbeke Kristin 
Published: January 2023

IntroductionBariatric surgery, currently the most effective treatment for morbidly obese patients, may induce macronutrient malabsorption depending on the type of procedure. Macronutrient malabsorption affects the supply of substrates to the colon, subsequent microbial fermentation and possibly colonic health.MethodsUsing isotope technology, we quantified the extent of macronutrient and bile acid malabsorption and its impact on colonic protein fermentation in patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and in controls. Participants consumed a single test meal (day 0) that contained intrinsically labeled (13C, 15N, and 2H) egg protein for quantification of protein digestion, malabsorption and fermentation, respectively, together with a transit marker and a marker for bile acid malabsorption. They collected breath samples up to 6 h and all urine and stool for 48 and 72 h, respectively. Food intake was registered from day –3 to day 2.ResultsMalabsorption of fat, protein and carbohydrates differed between groups (p = 0.040; p = 0.046; and p = 0.003, respectively) and was slightly higher in RYGB but not in SG patients compared to controls. Protein fermentation was increased in both RYGB and SG patients compared to controls (p = 0.001) and was negatively correlated to 2H-recovery as a marker of transit (ρ = −0.47, p = 0.013).ConclusionThe limited macronutrient malabsorption likely does not affect the nutritional status of the patient. However, the higher protein fermentation may affect colonic health and warrants further investigation.
A signature-based classification of lung adenocarcinoma that stratifies tumor immunity
Authors: Zhang Xun , Jiang Dizhi , Li Shunjia , Zhang Xinyu , Zheng Wendi , Cheng Bo 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundImmune-related subgroup classification in immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy is largely inconclusive in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).Materials and methodsFirst, the single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) and K-means algorithms were used to identify immune-based subtypes for the LUAD cohort based on the immunogenomic profiling of 29 immune signatures from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (n = 504). Second, we examined the prognostic and predictive value of immune-based subtypes using bioinformatics analysis. Survival analysis and additional COX proportional hazards regression analysis were conducted for LUAD. Then, the immune score, tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), and immune checkpoint expression of the three subtypes were analyzed. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between three immune-based subtypes were subsequently analyzed for functional enrichment pathways.ResultA total of three immune-based subtypes with distinct immune signatures have been identified for LUAD and designated as cluster 1 (C1), cluster 2 (C2), and cluster 3 (C3). Patients in C3 had higher stromal, immune, and ESTIMATE scores, whereas those in C1 had the opposite. Patients in C1 had an enrichment of macrophages M0 and activation of dendritic cells, whereas tumors in C3 had an enrichment of CD8+ T cells, activation of CD4+ memory T cells, and macrophages M1. C3 had a higher immune cell infiltration and a better survival prognosis than other subtypes. Furthermore, patients in C3 had higher expression levels of immune checkpoint proteins such as PD-L1, PD1, CTLA4, LAG3, IDO1, and HAVCR2. No significant differences were found in cluster TMB scores. We also found that immune-related pathways were enriched in C3.ConclusionLUAD subtypes based on immune signatures may aid in the development of novel treatment strategies for LUAD.
Development of anoikis-related genes signature to predict the prognosis in gastric cancer patients
Authors: Cao Jie , Hong Kai , Cao Yuepeng , Cen Kenan , Mai Yifeng , Dai Ying , Ouyang Guifang , Mu Qitian , Guo Yangyang 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundIt is well known that the prognosis of Gastric cancer (GC) patient is affected by many factors. However, the latent impact of anoikis on the prognosis of GC patients is insufficient understood.MethodsAccording to the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we elected discrepantly expressed anoikis-related genes (ARGs). Univariate cox and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (lasso) analysis were applied to build the ARGs signature. The prognostic effect of the ARGs signature was also evaluated. A series of algorithms were performed to evaluate the discrepancies in the immune microenvironment. Moreover, the correlation between drug sensitivity and ARGs signature was analyzed. We also performed Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) to probe the signature.ResultsThe ARGs signature of 9 genes was constructed, which was apparently interrelated with the prognosis. The nomogram was established by combining the ARGs signature with clinicopathological characteristics. We found that the predictive power was noteworthily superior to other individual predictors. The immune microenvironment analysis indicated that ESTIMATEscore, ImmuneScores, StromalScores, tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) score were lower in the low-risk group, while immunophenoscore (IPS) was on the contrary. The infiltrated immune cells and immune checkpoint (ICP) expression levels were significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, nine drugs were positively associated with the ARGs signature score. The results of RT-PCR analysis were consistent with our previous differential expression analysis.ConclusionThe developed ARGs signature could act as the biomarker and provide a momentous reference for Individual therapy of GC patients.
Association between fibrinogen/albumin ratio and arterial stiffness in patients with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Chen Chun-mei , Lu Chun-feng , Liu Wang-shu , Gong Zhen-hua , Wang Xue-qin , Xu Feng , Ji Jian-feng , Fang Xing-xing 
Published: January 2023

Background: Fibrinogen albumin ratio (FAR) is significantly correlated with the severity and prognosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Arterial stiffness is an early lesion of CVD, but no studies have examined the correlation between arterial stiffness and FAR. This study aimed to examine the relationship between FAR and arterial stiffness in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), as measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).Methods: In this cross-sectional investigation, patients with T2D were enrolled between January 2021 and April 2022. In each patient, the levels of fibrinogen and albumin in the serum, and baPWV in the serum were measured. A baPWV greater than 1800 cm/s was utilized to diagnose arterial stiffness.Results: The study included 413 T2D patients. The mean age of these participants was 52.56 ± 11.53 years, 60.8% of them were male, and 18.6% of them had arterial stiffness. There were significant differences in baPWV level and proportion of arterial stiffness (p &lt; .001) between the four subgroups categorized by the FAR quartile. The relationships between the FAR and baPWV and arterial stiffness were significantly favorable in the overall population and subgroups of elderly men and non-elderly men (p &lt; .01), while they were insignificant in subgroups of elderly and non-elderly women (p &gt; .05). To investigate the correlation between the FAR and baPWV, the arterial stiffness and the FAR in male T2D patients, respectively, multivariable logistic regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were developed. The lnFAR and lnbaPWV had a significant relationship in the multiple linear regression analysis fully adjusted model. After adjusting for potential covariables, multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the FAR was independently associated with arterial stiffness [OR (95% CI), 1.075 (1.031–1.120)]. In addition, receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that the best FAR cutoff value for detecting arterial stiffness in male T2D patients was 76.67 mg/g.Conclusion: The level of FAR had an independent and positive correlation with baPWV and arterial stiffness in male patients with T2D, but not in female patients.
A comprehensive tool for tumor precision medicine with pharmaco-omics data analysis
Authors: Liu Yijun , Song Fuhu , Li Zhi , Chen Liang , Xu Ying , Sun Huiyan , Chang Yi 
Published: January 2023

Background: Cancer precision medicine is an effective strategy to fight cancers by bridging genomics and drug discovery to provide specific treatment for patients with different genetic characteristics. Although some public databases and modelling frameworks have been developed through studies on drug response, most of them only considered the ramifications of the drug on the cell line and the effects on the patient still require a huge amount of work to integrate data from various databases and calculations, especially concerning precision treatment. Furthermore, not only efficacy but also the adverse effects of drugs on patients should be taken into account during cancer treatment. However, the adverse effects as essential indicators of drug safety assessment are always neglected.Method: A holistic estimation explores various drugs’ efficacy levels by calculating their potency both in reversing and enhancing cancer-associated gene expression change. And a method for bridging the gap between cell culture and living tissue estimates the effectiveness of a drug on individual patients through the mappings of various cell lines to each person according to their genetic mutation similarities.Result: We predicted the efficacy of FDA-recommended drugs, taking into account both efficacy and toxicity, and obtained consistent results. We also provided an intuitive and easy-to-use web server called DBPOM (http://www.dbpom.net/, a comprehensive database of pharmaco-omics for cancer precision medicine), which not only integrates the above methods but also provides calculation results on more than 10,000 small molecule compounds and drugs. As a one-stop web server, clinicians and drug researchers can also analyze the overall effect of a drug or a drug combination on cancer patients as well as the biological functions that they target. DBPOM is now public, free to use with no login requirement, and contains all the data and code.Conclusion: Both the positive and negative effects of drugs during precision treatment are essential for practical application of drugs. DBPOM based on the two effects will become a vital resource and analysis platform for drug development, drug mechanism studies and the discovery of new therapies.
Development of integration mode proton imaging with a single CMOS detector for a small animal irradiation platform
Authors: Schnürle Katrin , Bortfeldt Jonathan , Englbrecht Franz Siegfried , Gianoli Chiara , Hartmann Jens , Hofverberg Petter , Meyer Sebastian , Niepel Katharina , Yohannes Indra , Vidal Marie , Landry Guillaume , Hérault Joël , Schreiber Jörg , Parodi Katia , Würl Matthias 
Published: January 2023

A novel irradiation platform for preclinical proton therapy studies foresees proton imaging for accurate setup and treatment planning. Imaging at modern synchrocyclotron-based proton therapy centers with high instantaneous particle flux is possible with an integration mode setup. The aim of this work is to determine an object’s water-equivalent thickness (WET) with a commercially available large-area CMOS sensor. Image contrast is achieved by recording the proton energy deposition in detector pixels for several incoming beam energies (here, called probing energies) and applying a signal decomposition method that retrieves the water-equivalent thickness. A single planar 114 mm × 65 mm CMOS sensor (49.5 µm pixel pitch) was used for this study, aimed at small-animal imaging. In experimental campaigns, at two isochronous cyclotron-based facilities, probing energies suitable for small-animal-sized objects were produced once with built-in energy layer switching and the other time, using a custom degrader wheel. To assess water-equivalent thickness accuracy, a micro-CT calibration phantom with 10 inserts of tissue-mimicking materials was imaged at three phantom-to-detector distances: 3 mm, 13 mm, and 33 mm. For 3 mm and 13 mm phantom-to-detector distance, the average water-equivalent thickness error compared to the ground truth was about 1% and the spatial resolution was 0.16(3) mm and 0.47(2) mm, respectively. For the largest separation distance of 33 mm air gap, proton scattering had considerable impact and the water-equivalent thickness relative error increased to 30%, and the spatial resolution was larger than 1.75 mm. We conclude that a pixelated CMOS detector with dedicated post-processing methods can enable fast proton radiographic imaging in a simple and compact setup for small-animal-sized objects with high water-equivalent thickness accuracy and spatial resolution for reasonable phantom-to-detector distances.
Indonesian public officials after erroneous statements about COVID-19: An application of image restoration theory
Authors: Andarini Rindang Senja , Pratiwi Miftha , Setiyowati Rini , Santoso Anang Dwi 
Published: January 2023

IntroductionThis study aimed to examine the tactics and strategies of Indonesian public officials to restore their reputation after making false claims and policies on coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The significance of this study can be separated into two categories. First, the application of image restoration theory to public organizations and public officials is uncommon. Second, it is essential to analyze the application of this theory to diverse social, political, and economic contexts of emerging nations; as a result, these distinctions may lead to varied research conclusions.MethodologyA dataset of 2,000 Instagram posts by Indonesian public officials was generated to conduct the content analysis.ResultsThis study found that reducing offensiveness, evading responsibility, and taking corrective action are the three most commonly seen practices followed by Indonesian public officials. This study confirms that denial and mortification are employed exceedingly infrequently in non-Western countries because both these strategies are believed to diminish the image of public leaders in public view.DiscussionThis study presents the practical implications that public officials or public relations experts who represent them must be cautious since it can have severe implications on their reputation. This study also argues that erroneous claims when posted by public officials attract unwanted public attention and negatively affect their image. Furthermore, this study provides practical implications for public officials and their representatives to be more cautious while handling media accounts.
Explaining the stability of cooperation in agricultural industry chains based on the institutional theory: Multiple mediating effects of perceived value and trust
Authors: Zhao Rong-Rong , Wang Qiao , Tian Yuan , Chen Qiu-Hua 
Published: January 2023

IntroductionDue to the superposition of multiple complex socioeconomic environments and the complexity and uncertainty of the agricultural industry chain itself, the agricultural industry chain has become unstable, jeopardizing its long-term sustainability.MethodsThe purpose of this study is to construct and validate a stability mechanism model of cooperative relationships within agricultural industry chains based on the institutional theory. The questionnaire survey method was used for empirical analysis.ResultsThe results show that imitative pressure, mandatory pressure, and normative pressure have significant positive effects on the stability of cooperative relationships in agricultural industrial chains. Besides, perceived benefits, perceived risks, and trust play composite multiple mediating roles between imitative pressure and cooperation stability, and between normative pressure and cooperation stability in agricultural industrial chains. Perceived benefits and trust play partial mediating roles in the stability of cooperative relationships between mandatory pressure and agricultural industrial chains.DiscussionThis study is conducive to further understanding the cooperative psychology of agricultural industry chain operators. And this research can provide a reference for managers to take targeted measures to deal with the instability in the development of agricultural industry chains.