Nevin Manimala

Pan Afr Med J. 2021 Jul 15;39:201. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2021.39.201.24420. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: health-related quality of life (HRQoL) can be affected by the existence of long-term medical conditions. This study compared the HRQoL of male and female patients living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who sought care at the antiretroviral clinic in a tertiary hospital.

METHODS: a comparative cross-sectional study with 512 female and 512 male HIV outpatients receiving care at the antiretroviral clinic in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. The WHOQoL-HIV-BREF which conceptualized HRQoL as a function of six factors – physical, psychological, social, environment, independence and spiritual health was administered. The gender difference in HRQOL was determined by the independent sample t-test, mean difference and standardized mean difference in items and domain scores. Meta-analytic approach was used to deduce the overall potential effect of gender on HIV infection. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to control for potential confounders of HRQoL among the study participants.

RESULTS: the mean age of the sampled population was 35.9 ± 11.8 years for the male and 35.3 ± 9.8 years for the female category. Male HIV patients reported significantly higher mean HRQoL scores across all domains of the scale except the spiritual domain. The 4.51% (95% CI of 3.63 to 5.39%) overall difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Other factors associated with good HRQoL were marriage status, monogamous family type and a higher level of education.

CONCLUSION: the significantly lower HRQoL among female HIV patients calls for a multiprong approach towards strengthening gender mainstreaming in the management and control of HIV patients in Nigeria.

PMID:34603582 | PMC:PMC8464207 | DOI:10.11604/pamj.2021.39.201.24420

Dis Markers. 2021 Sep 24;2021:1683129. doi: 10.1155/2021/1683129. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence has implicated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in glioma progression. Here, we aimed to explore the potential roles of a novel lncRNA, LINC00355, in glioma and to clarify the underlying mechanisms.

METHODS: RT-PCR was used to examine the relative expressions of LINC00355 in glioma cell lines and specimen samples. The clinicopathological and prognostic significances of LINC00355 in glioma patients were statistically analyzed. To determine cell activities, CCK-8, clonogenic assays, flow cytometry, migration, and invasion assays were performed. Moreover, the potential mechanisms of LINC00355 were investigated by bioinformatics assays and luciferase reporter assays.

RESULTS: LINC00355 expression was increased in glioma cell lines and specimens, and higher LINC00355 expression predicted advanced clinical progress and reduced overall survival and disease-free survival in glioma patients. Functionally, LINC00355 depletion promoted cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in glioma cells and induced apoptosis of glioma cells, whereas LINC00355 upregulation resulted in the opposite effects in vitro. Mechanistic assays revealed that LINC00355 as a sponge for miR-1225 repressed fibronectin type III domain-containing 3B (FNDC3B) expressions.

CONCLUSION: Our findings revealed the tumor-promotive roles of LINC00355 in the progression of glioma, indicating that LINC00355 exhibited ceRNA functions via modulating miR-1225/FNDC3B axis.

PMID:34603558 | PMC:PMC8486503 | DOI:10.1155/2021/1683129

Dis Markers. 2021 Sep 24;2021:1588220. doi: 10.1155/2021/1588220. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

METHODS: In this study, qRT-PCR was used to investigate the expression levels of the SOX15 gene and of miR-182, miR-183, miR-375, and miR-96 in thyroid tumors and adjacent noncancerous tissues. We also investigated the methylation status of the SOX15 promoter by methylation-specific PCR in tumors and adjacent noncancerous tissues.

RESULTS: We observed a statistically significant downregulation of SOX15 expression in tumors compared to noncancerous tissue samples. The methylation levels of tumors and matched noncancerous tissues were similar, but miR-182, miR-183, and miR-375 expression levels were elevated in tumor tissues compared to noncancerous tissue samples.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that SOX15 gene expression is associated with the pathogenesis of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), and the epigenetic control of the SOX15 gene is regulated by miRNAs rather than by promoter methylation.

PMID:34603557 | PMC:PMC8486500 | DOI:10.1155/2021/1588220

Cogn Neurodyn. 2021 Oct;15(5):897-914. doi: 10.1007/s11571-021-09667-0. Epub 2021 Feb 22.

ABSTRACT

This paper shows solicitude for the quantization synchronization of delayed chaotic master and slave neural networks under an dynamic event-triggered strategy. In virtue of a generalized Halanay-type inequality, a theoretical criterion for quasi-synchronization of master and slave neural networks is derived. Meanwhile, we can obtain an exact upper bound of synchronization error by using this criterion. Compared with output feedback controller with event triggering and quantization, the case where the controller only affected by quantization is also considered. Then, we exclude the Zeno behavior of the event-triggered controller. A sufficient criterion for the existence of the quantized output feedback controllers is also provided. A numerical example is cited to illustrate the efficiency of our theoretical criteria. In addition, some experiments of secure image communication are conducted under quasi-synchronization of master and slave neural networks.

PMID:34603550 | PMC:PMC8448828 | DOI:10.1007/s11571-021-09667-0

Cogn Neurodyn. 2021 Oct;15(5):873-886. doi: 10.1007/s11571-021-09669-y. Epub 2021 Feb 21.

ABSTRACT

Objective The stimulus color of P300-BCI systems has been successfully modified. However, the effects of different color combinations have not been widely investigated. In this study, we designed new stimulus patterns to evaluate the influence of color modulation on the BCI performance and waveforms of the evoked related potential (ERP).Methods Comparison was performed for three new stimulus patterns consisting of red face and colored block-shape, namely, red face with a white rectangle (RFW), red face with a blue rectangle (RFB), and red face with a red rectangle (RFR). Bayesian linear discriminant analysis (BLDA) was used to construct the individual classifier model. Repeated-measures ANOVA and Bonferroni correction were applied for statistical analysis. Results The RFW pattern obtained the highest average online accuracy with 96.94%, and those of RFR and RFB patterns were 93.61% and of 92.22% respectively. Significant differences in online accuracy and information transfer rate (ITR) were found between RFW and RFR patterns (p < 0.05). Conclusion Compared with RFR and RFB patterns, RFW yielded the best performance in P300-BCI. These new stimulus patterns with different color combinations have considerable importance to BCI applications and user-friendliness.

PMID:34603548 | PMC:PMC8448814 | DOI:10.1007/s11571-021-09669-y

J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput. 2021 Sep 25:1-27. doi: 10.1007/s12652-021-03493-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Dominant emergency action should be adopted in the case of an emergency situation. Emergency is interpreted as limited time and information, harmfulness and uncertainty, and decision-makers are often critically bound by uncertainty and risk. This framework implements an emergency decision-making approach to address the emergency situation of COVID-19 in a spherical fuzzy environment. As the spherical fuzzy set (SFS) is a generalized framework of fuzzy structure to handle more uncertainty and ambiguity in decision-making problems (DMPs). Keeping in view the features of the SFSs, the purpose of this paper is to present some robust generalized operating laws in accordance with the Einstein norms. In addition, list of propose aggregation operators using Einstein operational laws under spherical fuzzy environment are developed. Furthermore, we design the algorithm based on the proposed aggregation operators to tackle the uncertainty in emergency decision making problems. Finally, numerical case study of COVID-19 as an emergency decision making is presented to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed technique. Besides, the comparison of the existing and the proposed technique is established to show the effectiveness and validity of the established technique.

PMID:34603537 | PMC:PMC8475448 | DOI:10.1007/s12652-021-03493-2

J Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone Syst. 2021 Sep 15;2021:5509280. doi: 10.1155/2021/5509280. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread rapidly worldwide since December 2019. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has a great affinity for the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor, which is an essential element of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). This study is aimed at assessing the impact of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphisms, on the susceptibility and clinical outcomes of the COVID-19 immunoinflammatory syndrome. Patients and Methods. A total of 112 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between 1 and 15 May 2020 were enrolled in the study. ACE gene allele frequencies were compared to the previously reported Turkish population comprised of 300 people.

RESULTS: The most common genotype in the patients and control group was DI with 53% and II with 42%, respectively. The difference in the presence of the D allele between the patient and control groups was statistically significant (67% vs. 42%, respectively, p < 0.0001). Severe pneumonia was observed more in patients with DI allele (31%) than DD (8%) and II (0%) (p = 0.021). The mortality rate, time to defervescence, and the hospitalization duration were not different between the genotype groups.

CONCLUSION: Genotype DI of ACE I/D polymorphism is associated with the infectious rate particularly severe pneumonia in this study conducted in the Turkish population. Therefore, ACE D/I polymorphism could affect the clinical course of COVID-19.

PMID:34603503 | PMC:PMC8448604 | DOI:10.1155/2021/5509280

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Sep 22;2021:9508061. doi: 10.1155/2021/9508061. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the key objectives of WFAS “Technical Specifications of Acupuncture and Moxibustion: General Rules for the Drafting” (hereinafter referred to as General Rules).

METHODS: From the medical institutions, colleges, and scientific research organizations at major levels in China and overseas, leading researchers and experts in the field of acupuncture-moxibustion standardization, as well as some experienced foreign specialists in acupuncture-moxibustion, were selected as the respondents. The questionnaire was prepared by using the website of Questionnaire Star, and 60 links of the questionnaire were sent out through e-mail. Excel was used to set up the database and conduct statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Fifty-one valid questionnaires were collected with effective recovery rate of 85%, involving 9 countries (China, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, United States, and Canada) from 3 continents. Most experts agreed with us on the target people, structural elements, and text structure proposed in General Rules and held that the General Rules should emphasize the safety and international applicability and should stipulate in details the common problems (contraindications, indications, taboo crowd, target people, therapeutic effects) of various techniques and the specific contents of technical operation (manipulating techniques, selection of patient’s body position and treated areas, disinfection and environmental requirements, selection of acupuncture-moxibustion instruments, cautions, needle retention time, treatment frequency, precise location of the acupoints, treatment course) in order to enhance the practicality and operability.

CONCLUSION: The key objectives of General Rules mainly include target people, structural elements, text structure, safety requirements, common technical problems of acupuncture-moxibustion, and specific details of technical manipulations.

PMID:34603478 | PMC:PMC8483902 | DOI:10.1155/2021/9508061

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Sep 24;2021:6709725. doi: 10.1155/2021/6709725. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the diagnostic value of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), visceral fat index (VAI), and prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) in gestational metabolic syndrome (GMS).

METHODS: From December 2019 to March 2021,122 GMS high-risk pregnant women who received routine antenatal clinic visits and planned to give birth in our hospital were selected as the research objects. Pregnant women were divided into the GMS group (n = 79) and the control group (n = 43) according to GMS diagnostic criteria during the gestation period of 32-36 weeks. The general information such as age and gestational week of pregnant women as well as HOMA-IR, VAI, and BMI before pregnancy were compared between the two groups. The glucose and lipid metabolism indexes of pregnant women in two groups were analyzed, the detection rates of HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI in GMS between the two groups were compared. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for GMS in pregnant women, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to analyze the diagnostic value of HOMA-IR, VAI, prepregnancy BMI, and the combination of the three for GMS.

RESULTS: The body weight, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure of the GMS group were higher than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in age, gestational week, and height between the two groups (P > 0.05). The levels of FPG, FINS, TC, TG, LDL-C, and FFA in the GMS group were higher than the control group, the level of HDL-C in the GMS group was lower than the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The levels of HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI in the GMS group were higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The positive detection rates of HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI in the GMS group were 83.54%, 86.07%, and 81.01%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the positive detection rates of HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI between the two groups (P > 0.05). High levels of HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI were risk factors for GMS in pregnant women (P < 0.05). ROC curve showed area under the curve for HOMA-IR was 0.810, area under the curve for VAI was 0.771, and area under the curve for prepregnancy BMI was 0.749. The AUC for the combination of HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI was 0.918.

CONCLUSION: HOMA-IR, VAI, and prepregnancy BMI in GMS have a high detection rate and certain diagnostic value, and the combination of the three has higher clinical value.

PMID:34603475 | PMC:PMC8486542 | DOI:10.1155/2021/6709725

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Sep 23;2021:6637810. doi: 10.1155/2021/6637810. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Traditional Chinese drugs (TCDs) have been widely used in clinical practice in China and many other regions for thousands of years. Nowadays TCD’s bioactive ingredients and mechanisms of action are being identified. However, the lack of standardized terminologies or ontologies for the description of TCDs has hindered the interoperability and deep analysis of TCD knowledge and data. By aligning with the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), an ISO-approved top-level ontology, we constructed a community-driven TCD ontology (TCDO) with the aim of supporting standardized TCD representation and integrated analysis. TCDO provides logical and textual definitions of TCDs, TCD categories, and the properties of TCDs (i.e., nature, flavor, toxicity, and channel tropism). More than 400 popular TCD decoction pieces (TCD-DPs) and Chinese medicinal materials (CMMs) are systematically represented. The logical TCD representation in TCDO supports computer-assisted reasoning and queries using tools such as Description Logic (DL) and SPARQL queries. Our statistical analysis of the knowledge represented in TCDO revealed scientific insights about TCDs. A total of 36 TCDs with medium or high toxicity are most densely distributed, primarily in Aconitum genus, Lamiids clade, and Fabids clade. TCD toxicity is mostly associated with the hot nature and pungent or bitter flavors and has liver, kidney, and spleen channel tropism. The three pairs of TCD flavor-nature associations (i.e., bitter-cold, pungent-warm, and sweet-neutral) were identified. The significance of these findings is discussed. TCDO has also been used to support the development of a web-based traditional Chinese medicine semantic annotation system that provides comprehensive annotation for individual TCDs. As a novel formal TCD ontology, TCDO lays out a strong foundation for more advanced TCD studies in the future.

PMID:34603473 | PMC:PMC8483929 | DOI:10.1155/2021/6637810