Nevin Manimala

Adv Mater. 2021 May 24:e2008498. doi: 10.1002/adma.202008498. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recently, great progress has been achieved in the design and preparation of conjugated organic polymer photocatalysts for hydrogen generation. However, it is still challenging to develop an organic polymer photocatalyst with high photoconversion efficiency. Rational structure design of organic polymer photocatalysts holds the key point to realize high photocatalytic performance. Herein, a series of donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) conjugated organic copolymer photocatalysts is developed using statistical copolymerization by tuning the feed molar ratio of pyrene (donor) to dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide (acceptor) units. It reveals that the photocatalytic activity of the resulting copolymers is significantly dependent on the molar ratio of donor to acceptor, which efficiently changes the polymer structure and component. When the monomer feed ratio is 25:75, the random copolymer PyBS-3 of 10 mg with Pt cocatalyst shows a high hydrogen evolution rate of 1.05 mmol h^-1 under UV/Vis light irradiation using ascorbic acid as the hole-scavenger, and an external quantum efficiency of 29.3% at 420 nm, which represents the state-of-the-art of organic polymer photocatalysts. This work demonstrates that statistical copolymerization is an efficient strategy to optimize the polymer structure for improving the photocatalytic activity of conjugated organic polymer catalysts.

PMID:34028900 | DOI:10.1002/adma.202008498

Stat Med. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1002/sim.9015. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Bulk and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data are being used as alternatives to traditional technology in biology and medicine research. These data are used, for example, for the detection of differentially expressed (DE) genes. Several statistical methods have been developed for the classification of bulk and single-cell RNA-seq data. These feature genes are vitally important for the classification of bulk and single-cell RNA-seq data. The majority of genes are not DE and they are thus irrelevant for class distinction. To improve the classification performance and save the computation time, removal of irrelevant genes is necessary. Removal will aid the detection of the important feature genes. Widely used schemes in the literature, such as the BSS/WSS (BW) method, assume that data are normally distributed and may not be suitable for bulk and single-cell RNA-seq data. In this article, a category encoding (CAEN) method is proposed to select feature genes for bulk and single-cell RNA-seq data classification. This novel method encodes categories by employing the rank of sequence samples for each gene in each class. Correlation coefficients are considered for gene and class with the rank of sample and a new rank of category. The highest gene correlation coefficients are considered feature genes, which are the most effective for classifying bulk and single-cell RNA-seq dataset. The sure screening method was also established for rank consistency properties of the proposed CAEN method. Simulation studies show that the classifier using the proposed CAEN method performs better than, or at least as well as, the existing methods in most settings. Existing real datasets were analyzed, with the results demonstrating superior performance of the proposed method over current competitors. The application has been coded into an R package named “CAEN” to facilitate wide use.

PMID:34028849 | DOI:10.1002/sim.9015

Biom J. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1002/bimj.202000148. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Much of the research on multiple comparison and simultaneous inference in the past 60 years or so has been for the comparisons of several population means. Spurrier seems to have been the first to investigate multiple comparisons of several simple linear regression lines using simultaneous confidence bands. In this paper, we extend the work of Liu et al. for finite comparisons of several univariate linear regression models using simultaneous confidence bands to finite comparisons of several multivariate linear regression models using simultaneous confidence tubes. We show how simultaneous confidence tubes can be constructed to allow more informative inferences for the comparison of several multivariate linear regression models than the current approach of hypotheses testing. The methods are illustrated with examples.

PMID:34028832 | DOI:10.1002/bimj.202000148

Aust Dent J. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1111/adj.12860. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the salivary β – galactosidase and halimeter values ​​(HMV), organoleptic scores (OLS), Winkel tongue coating index (WTCI) in periodontal health and periodontitis (P), and also their changes after phase I periodontal therapy and tongue cleaning.

METHODS: The participants were separated as follows: 25 P with halitosis (Group 1), 25 P without halitosis (Group 2), and 25 healthy controls (Group 3). Periodontal recordings, HMV, OLS, WTCI scores were recorded and whole saliva β – galactosidase levels were measured colorimetrically in the samples at baseline and 1 month after the therapy.

RESULTS: The baseline values of HMV, OLS, WTCI, and salivary β – galactosidase levels were significantly higher in group 1 than group 2 (p <0.05). There was a statistically significant decrease in periodontal recordings, HMV, OLS, WTCI, and salivary β – galactosidase levels in all P patients by the therapy (p <0.05). However, major reductions in halitosis measurements and saliva enzyme levels were observed in group 1 after the treatment.

CONCLUSION: Our results showed that salivary β – galactosidase was associated with halitosis parameters and phase I periodontal therapy played an important role to reduce this enzyme level and halitosis parameters in P.

PMID:34028827 | DOI:10.1111/adj.12860

Clin J Gastroenterol. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s12328-021-01407-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A 60-year-old man with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease presented with malaise, melena, and epigastric discomfort. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a massive elevated gastric cancer lesion involving the cardia. Histopathological evaluation of a biopsy specimen showed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography revealed significant fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the stomach, liver, bones, and bone marrow. He was diagnosed with metastatic gastric cancer resistant to chemotherapy, and he developed bone marrow carcinomatosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation and died 8 weeks after disease onset. A statistically significant association is reported between autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and gastric cancer. Moreover, the specific clinical features observed in our patient could be attributed to the molecular disorders like PC-1 and mechanistic target of rapamycin that are known to occur in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

PMID:34028786 | DOI:10.1007/s12328-021-01407-5

Eat Weight Disord. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s40519-021-01199-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory (ONI) in a large adult population.

METHODS: Included in this cross-sectional study, were 710 individuals living in Turkey who were between 18 and 65 years of age. The individuals were reached via an online questionnaire that included their sociodemographic characteristics and the ONI and Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the validity of the ONI. The ONI contains three sub-factors (behaviors, emotions, and impairments). Analyses were conducted using LISREL 8.80 for Windows and IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 22.0.

RESULTS: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.91 for the ONI total factor scores and Cronbach alpha values for behaviors, impairments, and emotions were found to be 0.82, 0.84, and 0.81, respectively. The CFA performed supported the three-factor structure of the ONI obtained in the first sample. The minimum discrepancy per degree of freedom = 5.65 and the model generally fit well to the structure (RMSEA = 0.08, CFI = 0.94, NFI = 0.93, SRMR = 0.07, IFI = 0.94). A positive and moderate relationship (r = 0.42) was found between the ONI and EAT-26. A positive and low level (r = 0.16) correlation was found between the ONI and body mass index. There was no statistically significant difference between the ONI scores according to gender (p = 0.22).

CONCLUSION: The findings suggested that the Turkish version of the ONI is a valid and reliable scale for determining the tendency for ON in a Turkish adult population.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study.

PMID:34028783 | DOI:10.1007/s40519-021-01199-0

Ann Nucl Med. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s12149-021-01631-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We previously developed a custom-design thoracic bone scintigraphy-specific phantom (“SIM² bone phantom”) to assess image quality in bone single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). We aimed to develop an automatic assessment system for imaging technology in bone SPECT and demonstrate the validity of this system.

METHODS: Four spherical lesions of 13-, 17-, 22-, and 28-mm diameters in the vertebrae of SIM² bone phantom simulating the thorax were filled with radioactivity (target-to-background ratio: 4). Dynamic SPECT acquisitions were performed for 15 min; reconstructions were performed using ordered subset expectation maximization at 3-15-min timepoints. Consequently, 216 lesions (54 SPECT images) were obtained: 120 and 96 lesions were used for software development and validation, respectively. The developed software used statistical parametric mapping to rigidly register and automatically calculate quantitative indexes (contrast-to-noise ratio, % coefficient of variance, % detectability equivalence volume, recovery coefficient, target-to-normal bone ratio, and full width at half maximum). A detectability score (DS) was used to define the four observation types (4, excellent; 3, adequate; 2, average; 1, poor) to score hot spherical lesions. The gold standard for DSs was independently classified by three experienced board-certified nuclear medicine technologists using the four observation types; thereafter, a consensus regarding the gold standard for DSs was reached. Using 120 lesions for development, decision tree analysis was performed to determine DS based on the quantitative indexes. We verified the validation of the quantitative indexes and their threshold values for automatic classification using 96 lesions for validation.

RESULTS: The trends in the automatically calculated quantitative indices were consistent. Decision tree analysis produced four terminal groups; two quantitative indexes (% detectability equivalence volume and contrast-to-noise ratio) were used to classify DS. The automatically classified DSs exhibited an almost perfect agreement with the gold standard. The percentage agreement and kappa coefficient were 91.7% and 0.93, respectively, in 96 lesions for validation.

CONCLUSIONS: The developed software automatically classified the detectability of hot lesions in the SIM² bone phantom using the automatically calculated quantitative indexes, suggesting that this software could provide a means to automatically perform detectability analysis after data input that is excellent in reproducibility and accuracy.

PMID:34028702 | DOI:10.1007/s12149-021-01631-6

Matern Child Health J. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s10995-021-03174-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The growing opioid crisis increasingly affects maternal care in the US and it is unknown if opioid use puts pregnant women at increased odds for cesarean delivery (CD). Understanding how opioids influence CD trends is important in improving maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study aims to understand the association of opioid use with CD in the context of the demographic, clinical, behavioral, and health system complexity.

METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional analysis used representative data from the 2012-2014 National Inpatient Sample. Opioid use during pregnancy, CD, and other clinical variables were identified using ICD9 codes. Characteristics were assessed using bivariate and multivariate statistics. A logistic regression model was used to determine the association between opioid use and CD while controlling for confounders. Adjustments were made for rural/urban hospital location, regional median income, maternal age, race, and medical and pregnancy-related conditions.

RESULTS: The rate of CD in the overall sample was about 30%. Among opioids-users, the overall proportion of CD was significantly less (24.7%). The adjusted odds ratio for CD among opioids users was 0.74 (CI: 0.73-0.76, p < 0.001). This finding is unique to pregnant women who are covered by public insurance. In rural areas, the relationship between opioid use and CD was not significant.

CONCLUSION: Opioid use during pregnancy is associated with lower CD rates in urban settings. This evidence suggests that maternal care varies between rural and urban areas in relation to CD of pregnant opioid users compared to non-opioid users.

PMID:34028655 | DOI:10.1007/s10995-021-03174-8

Mol Biol Rep. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s11033-021-06412-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Eccentric exercise has been extensively used as a model to study the contraction-induced muscle damage and its consequent processes. This study aimed at examining molecular responses associated with tissue remodelling, inflammation and angiogenesis in skeletal muscle during the recovery period after eccentric exercise in humans. Ten healthy men performed 50 maximal eccentric muscle actions with the knee extensors and muscle biopsies were collected from the vastus lateralis before and 6 h, 48 h and 120 h post eccentric exercise. Real Time-PCR was utilized to investigate alterations in gene expression of various tissue remodelling-, inflammation- and angiogenesis-related factors: uPA, uPA-R, TGF-β1, MMP-9, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, VEGF, VEGFR-2, HIF-1a, Ang-1, Ang-2 and Tie-2. The uPA/uPA-R system exhibited a similar time-expression pattern increasing 6 h post exercise (p < 0.05), while the other tissue remodelling factors TGF-β1 and MMP-9 did not change significantly over time. Transcriptional responses of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-8 increased significantly and peaked 6 h post eccentric exercise (p < 0.05), while IL-6 exhibited a similar, though not statistically significant, expression profile (p > 0.05). Similarly, the expression of angiopoietin receptor Tie-2 showed an early increase only at 6 h after the completion of exercise (p < 0.05), while the other angiogenic factors failed to reach statistical significance due a high interindividual variability in the gene expression responses. The early transcriptional upregulation of tissue remodelling, inflammation- and angiogenesis-related factors post eccentric exercise may indicate the acute intramuscular activation of these processes functionally related to muscle damage-induced adaptation.

PMID:34028651 | DOI:10.1007/s11033-021-06412-y

Qual Life Res. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s11136-021-02877-3. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: At the end of 2019, there were approximately one million people known to be living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China. Different sexual orientation groups were observed within the people living with HIV in general, and studies have found that socially marginalized groups exist among this population, such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and bisexual individuals. Correspondingly, sexual orientation may pose challenges to the emotional and psychological development of PLWHA. Under this background, we aim to analyze whether sexual orientation affects the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of PLWHA in order to provide evidence and suggestions for how wellbeing can be enhanced for sexual minorities living with HIV/AIDS.

METHOD: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from PLWHA in Yunnan province and Beijing municipality in China. In our study, sexual orientation was classified as heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual, and HRQOL was measured using the Chinese WHOQOL-HIV-BREF scale. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationships of participants’ sexual orientation and HRQOL. In addition, multivariable stepwise liner regression model was used to analyze the factors influencing HRQOL of PLWHA.

RESULTS: In total, 2610 PLWHA were included in the study, 36.5% of the participants identified as homosexual and most were males, 13.8% were bisexuals and 49.7% were heterosexuals. For the overall HRQOL, the homosexual PLWHA group scored highest (81.53 ± 12.45) with a high HRQOL score signifying a better health-related quality of life, followed by bisexuals (79.72 ± 12.81) and heterosexuals (78.02 ± 13.06). However, the bisexual group showed a markedly higher level of spiritual health. In addition, there was no statistical difference in the total HRQOL scores and domains by sex roles among the homosexual group (p > 0.01). However, sexual orientation was statistically associated with the physical and spiritual domains of HRQOL (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: In terms of sexual orientation for those living with HIV/AIDS, a better quality of life was found for homosexual individuals, whilst being a heterosexual individual saw a negative impact on quality of life, especially in the physical and spiritual domains. Strengthening the individualized and comprehensive care for heterosexual group as well as other sexual minority populations is imperative. Moreover, heterosexual PLWHA are more likely to be ignored and require more support and care to improve their HRQOL than do those in sexual minorities.

PMID:34028639 | DOI:10.1007/s11136-021-02877-3