Browse Articles

No evidence for active viral infection in unicentric and idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease by Viral-Track analysis

AbstractCastleman disease (CD) is a rare hematologic disorder characterized by pathologic lymph node changes and a range of symptoms due to excessive cytokine production. While uncontrolled infection with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is responsible for the cytokine storm in a portion of multicentric CD (HHV-8-associated MCD) cases, the etiology of unicentric CD (UCD) and HHV-8-negative/idiopathic MCD (iMCD) is unknown. Several hypotheses have been proposed regarding the pathogenesis of UCD and iMCD, including occult infection given the precedent established by HHV-8 infection. To investigate potential active infections in UCD and iMCD, we implemented Viral-Track, a computational method that identifies viral mRNA sequences from next-generation sequencing data. We applied Viral-Track to short sequencing reads from a cohort of UCD (n = 22), iMCD (n = 19), and controls (n = 86). While viral sequences for several unusual viruses were identified in individual CD patients,  sequences for the same virus were not found across multiple CD patients or they were not specific to CD samples and were also found in non-CD samples. These results suggest that active viral infection is unlikely to be a pathological driver of UCD or iMCD.

The MRI-based vertebral bone quality score is a predictor of pedicle screw loosening following instrumented posterior lumbar fusion

A sensory neuroprosthesis enhances recovery from treadmill-induced stumbles for individuals with lower limb loss

AbstractOver 50% of individuals with lower limb loss report a fear of falling and avoiding daily activities partly due to a lack of plantar sensation. Providing direct somatosensory feedback via neural stimulation holds promise for addressing this issue. In this study, three individuals with lower limb loss received a sensory neuroprosthesis (SNP) that provided plantar somatosensory feedback corresponding to prosthesis-floor interactions perceived as arising from the missing foot generated by electrically activating the peripheral nerves in the residuum. Participants walked on a treadmill while receiving perturbations involving brief increases in the belt speed. Perturbations were initiated during early stance and randomly delivered to intact and prosthetic sides with the SNP active or inactive. With the SNP active, participants exhibited decreased trunk angular sway and peak trunk flexion angular velocity during recovery from both prosthetic and intact side perturbations. For prosthetic side perturbations, peak ground reaction force magnitudes decreased when the SNP was active. For intact side perturbations, peak ground reaction force magnitudes increased on the prosthetic side’s first recovery step after the perturbation, which resulted in a more symmetric recovery because the force approached the response on the intact side’s first recovery step following a prosthetic side perturbation. These results suggest participants integrated the feedback from the SNP into their sensorimotor control for maintaining stability and gained confidence in relying on their prosthetic limb during recovery. Restoring plantar sensation with a SNP for individuals with lower limb loss could lead to reduced risk of falling by improving recovery from trips.

Study on the mechanical response characteristics of sandstone under elasticity plasticity and full path unloading after peak stress

Preparation and mechanical performance of fluorite tailings geopolymer precursor under alkaline heat activation

Abstract As one of the bulk solid wastes in the Yellow River basin in China, fluorite tailings urgently need to be utilized as resources. In this paper, NaOH and Na 2 CO 3 were used for alkali thermal activation of ground fluorite tailings under different temperature conditions, and the reactivity was analyzed by XRD, SEM and compressive strength after hydration, so as to evaluate the feasibility of fluorite tailings as geopolymer precursor. The results show that the fluorite tailings can exhibit certain reactivity under alkaline heat excitation, and significant amorphous glass phase can be detected. The better heat excitation temperature is 1000 °C, while there is not enough amorphous glass phase for hydration reaction at the lower or higher temperature. The compressive strength of the tailings harden paste can reach 7.2 MPa at 28d after excitation with 50%NaOH at 1000 °C, which is expected to be used as geopolymer precursor after excitation.

Development of a mitochondrial mini-barcode and its application in metabarcoding for identification of leech in traditional Chinese medicine

Abstract In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the medicinal leech is vital for treatments to promote blood circulation and eliminate blood stasis. However, the prevalence of counterfeit leech products in the market undermines the quality and efficacy of these remedies. Traditional DNA barcoding techniques, such as the COI barcode, have been limited in their application due to amplification challenges. This study identified high variability in the 16 S rRNA gene within the mitochondrial genome across five leech species, leading to the development of a novel 219 bp mini-barcode. Compared with the traditional COI barcode, our mini-barcode showed remarkable identification efficiency, classifying 142 out of 147 leech samples from fresh and processed materials. In contrast, the COI barcode could only successfully identify 79 out of the 147 samples. In the case of seven batches of leech decoction pieces, the mini-barcode identified six, whereas the COI barcode only recognized one. Additionally, the mini-barcode effectively discerned five leech species within Chinese patent medicines when combined with metabarcoding technology. These results confirm the mini-barcode’s potential as a reliable tool for rapidly and precisely identifying leech species in TCM products.

Factors involved in maintaining Karnofsky Performance Status (≥ 50%) in glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype patients treated with temozolomide and radiotherapy

Dynamics and development of interhemispheric conflict solving in pigeons

Abstract The dominance of one hemisphere for cognitive operations and decision making may be an efficient mechanism solving interhemispheric conflicts. To understand the ecological significance of the so-called metacontrol, we need better knowledge of its frequency and ontogenetic foundations. Since in pigeons, embryonic light experiences influence degree and direction of interhemispheric specialization and communication, it is conceivable that light affects metacontrol mechanisms. We therefore trained pigeons ( Columba livia ) with and without embryonic light stimulation in a colour discrimination task. Each eye/hemisphere learnt a different set of colours. After training, hemispheric-specific information was put into conflict and the analysis of conflict decision pattern allowed the identification of hemispheric dominance under binocular and monocular viewing conditions. A majority of pigeons displayed individual metacontrol independent of embryonic light experiences though not in the first test session. Reaction times indicate that interhemispheric mechanisms are critically involved in mediating the dominance of one hemisphere. The impact of interhemispheric components rises with increasing experience and even affects decision making under monocular seeing conditions. Overall results indicate that the hemispheres do not evaluate information independently and that interhemispheric communication in the pigeon brain is much stronger than previously thought and becomes more important with increasing experience.

A python approach for prediction of physicochemical properties of anti-arrhythmia drugs using topological descriptors

Comparison of Ziziphus jujube Mill. Syrup versus polyethylene glycol in children with functional constipation: a randomized clinical trial

Energy optimization and plant comfort management in smart greenhouses using the artificial bee colony algorithm

Sleep trajectories and frequency of non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents: a person-oriented perspective over two years

Abstract Adolescent sleep quality and quantity is commonly linked to worse emotion regulation. One maladaptive emotion regulation strategy that is on the rise is non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), which includes burning, hitting, or scratching one’s own body tissue without suicidal intent. The aim of this study was to explore the frequency of NSSI among different longitudinal trajectories of insomnia symptoms and short sleep duration to identify at-risk adolescents. We used questionnaire data collected annually (3 time points over 2 years) from a sample of Swedish adolescents (N = 1,294; Mage = 13.2 [range: 12–15 years], SD = 0.4; 46.8% girls). Adolescents answered questions about their sleep duration, symptoms of insomnia, NSSI, depressive symptoms, and demographics. Adolescents who reported persistent or increasing sleep problems over time also reported more NSSI. A notable pattern was that adolescents whose insomnia symptoms were high and increasing reported the highest frequency of NSSI, also compared to adolescents who started at the same high level of insomnia symptoms but improved over time. Therefore, measuring NSSI may help identify a risk-group for persistent sleep problems and self-injury. Because sleep disturbances, especially insomnia, and NSSI go hand-in-hand for most adolescents, sleep interventions would benefit the treatment and prevention of self-injury.

Application of machine learning in depression risk prediction for connective tissue diseases

Effective removal of heavy metal ions (Pb, Cu, and Cd) from contaminated water by limestone mine wastes

Abstract Limestone mining waste and its derived CaO were checked as an adsorbents of pb 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Cd 2+ ions from water solution. The characterization of Limestone and calcined limestone was studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Surface area measurements (BET). The optimum conditions of sorbent dosage, pH, initial concentration, and contact time factors were investigated for pristine limestone and calcined limestone absorbents. The results indicate that the optimum initial concentrations of (C i ) were 1200, 500, and 300 ppm for Pb, Cu, and Cd, respectively, using calcined limestone adsorbent, while using the pristine limestone adsorbent, the corresponding optimum initial concentrations were 700, 110, and 50 ppm. In the ternary system sorption, the results indicated that the selectivity sequence of the studied metals by limestone can be expressed as Pb 2+  > Cd 2+  > Cu 2+ , while calcined limestone exhibits a higher selectivity for Pb 2+ compared to Cu 2+ and Cd 2+ . Hence, various adsorption isotherm and kinetic models were examined to explore different patterns and behaviors of adsorption. So, the results indicate that calcined limestone has great potential for eliminating cationic heavy metal species from industrial water solutions.

A pilot study on the effects of olfactory stimulation with white musk aromatic oil on psychophysiological activity: a crossover study

AbstractStudies on the compounds of aromatic oils and their effects on psychophysiological changes in humans are often conducted separately. To obtain better validation, a suitable protocol is needed that can be extrapolated to large-scale olfactory stimulation experiments. Unfortunately, this type of study is still rarely performed. In this situation, we propose a randomized crossover pilot study on olfactory stimulation with aromatic oils in relation to changes in psychophysiological activity by focusing on white musk aromatic oil due to its popularity in the community. Chemical profiling by TDU-GC-MS (thermal desorption gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) was performed to understand the compounds of the aromatic oils presented. To understand the changes in the participants’ impressions and mood states, POMS 2 (Profile of Mood States 2nd Edition) and VAS (Visual analogue scale) were performed in addition to physiological evaluation by using EEG (electroencephalogram), ECG (electrocardiogram) and salivary amylase measurements. The proposed pilot study showed “gorgeous”, “sweet”, and “like” impression toward white musk aromatic oil under VAS evaluation. Mood evaluation under POMS 2 variables such as Fatigue-Inertia (FI), Tension-anxiety (TA) and TMD (total mood disturbance) were significantly decreased under white musk aromatic oil inhalation. Under current protocol, we can also see the changes in autonomic activity and brain activity during olfactory stimulation. This pilot study could be the first step towards a larger sample size experiment on olfactory stimulation. This experiment has been registered to UMIN Clinical Trials Registry with register ID : UMIN000051972 on 24/08/2023.

Association analysis of dry heat or wet cold weather and the risk of urolithiasis hospitalization in a southern Chinese city

Statistical and data visualization techniques to study the role of one-electron in the energy of neutral and charged clusters of Na39

Quantitative analysis on the optical kerr impact and third harmonic generation in beltrami-shaped curved graphene

Chinese herbal medicine recognition network based on knowledge distillation and cross-attention

A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors

AbstractThe effective prevention of many infectious and non-infectious diseases relies on people concurrently adopting multiple prevention behaviors. Individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social networks have been found to explain why people take up specific prevention behaviors. However, it remains challenging to understand how these factors shape multiple interdependent behaviors. We propose a multilevel social network framework that allows us to study the effects of individual and social factors on multiple disease prevention behaviors simultaneously. We apply this approach to examine the factors explaining eight malaria prevention behaviors, using unique interview data collected from 1529 individuals in 10 hard-to-reach, malaria-endemic villages in Meghalaya, India in 2020–2022. Statistical network modelling reveals exposure to similar behaviors in one’s social network as the most important factor explaining prevention behaviors. Further, we find that households indirectly shape behaviors as key contexts for social ties. Together, these two factors are crucial for explaining the observed patterns of behaviors and social networks in the data, outweighing individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social network size. The results highlight that social network processes may facilitate or hamper disease prevention efforts that rely on a combination of behaviors. Our approach is well suited to study these processes in the context of various diseases.