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Aim: Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) has been shown to substantially reduce proteinuria in patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD); however, the effect of TwHF on renal outcomes in DKD remains unknown. Accordingly, we aimed to establish the effects of TwHF on renal outcomes in patients with DKD. Methods: Overall, 124 patients with DKD, induced by type 2 diabetes mellitus, with 24-h proteinuria > 2g, and an estimated glomerular filtration rate > 30mL/min/1.73 m² were retrospectively investigated. The renal outcomes were defined as doubling serum creatinine levels or end-stage kidney disease. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses were performed to analyze prognostic factors for renal outcomes. Results: By the end of the follow-up, renal outcomes were observed in 23 and 11 patients in the non-TwHF and TwHF groups, respectively (p=0.006). TwHF significantly reduced the risk of renal outcomes (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.271, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.111–0.660, p=0.004) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) G3 (adjusted HR 0.274, 95%CI 0.081–0.932, p=0.039). Based on the Kaplan-Meier analysis, 1- and 3-year proportions of patients without renal outcomes were significantly lower in the non-TwHF group than those in the TwHF group (92.8% vs. 95.5% and 47.2% vs. 76.8%, respectively; p=0.0018). Conclusion: In DKD patients with severe proteinuria, TwHF could prevent DKD progression, especially in patients with CKD G3. A randomized clinical trial is needed to elucidate the benefits of TwHF on renal outcomes in patients with DKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive species are ranked as one of the leading drivers of global biodiversity loss. To mitigate their impact, we must understand the future risks caused by invasive species, particularly to flora of conservation concern. Here we used species distribution modelling (SDM) to project the current and future (RCP45 and RCP85 2050) distributions of four deer species and 13 plant species of conservation concern for the island of Ireland, quantifying changes in distributions and overlap. Large areas of suitable habitat for the deer species were predicted with high accuracy across all counties, with future climate scenarios identifying an expansion in sika deer distributions and a decrease in muntjac and fallow deer distributions. Red deer declined under the moderate climate change scenario but increased under the worst-case projection. Future projections predicted the (local) extinction of six (out of 13) endangered and vulnerable plant species. An expansion in distributions was observed for four plant species; however, these areas had large overlap with the future predictions of deer, placing further pressures on these plant species. These findings suggest that targeted conservation and management measures are required to alleviate the pressures on 'at-risk' plant species due to grazing from native and non-native deer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sparse modeling plays a ubiquitous role in modern statistical regression. In particular, high-dimensional survival analysis has drawn a lot of attention as a result of the popularity of microarray studies involving survival data. In this paper, we focus on a scenario where predictors are strongly correlated, also known as grouping effect, which is highly desirable when analysing high-dimensional microarray data. To perform simultaneous variable selection and estimation under this circumstance, we propose the l 2 -regularized best-subsets estimator under the framework of additive hazards models based on a polynomial algorithm for the best subset selection. Moreover, we establish comprehensive statistical properties, including oracle inequalities under estimation loss for the proposed estimator. The proposed method is demonstrated by simulation studies and illustrated by a real data example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gestational protein intake restriction-induced long-lasting harmful outcomes in the offspring's organs and systems. However, few studies have focused on this event's impact on the brain's structures and neurochemical compounds. The present study investigated the effects on the amygdala neurochemical composition and neuronal structure in gestational protein-restricted male rats' offspring. Dams were maintained on isocaloric standard rodent laboratory chow with regular protein [NP, 17%] or low protein content [LP, 6%]. Total cells were quantified using the Isotropic fractionator method, Neuronal 3D reconstruction, and dendritic tree analysis using the Golgi–Cox technique. Western blot and high-performance liquid chromatography performed neurochemical studies. The gestational low-protein feeding offspring showed a significant decrease in birth weight up to day 14, associated with unaltered brain weight in youth or adult progenies. The amygdala cell numbers were unchanged, and the dendrites length and dendritic ramifications 3D analysis in LP compared to age-matched NP progeny. However, the current study shows reduced amygdala content of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine in LP progeny. These offspring observed a significant reduction in the amygdala glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid (MR) receptor protein levels. Also corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) amygdala protein content was reduced in 7 and 14-day-old LP rats. The observed amygdala neurochemical changes may represent adaptation during embryonic development in response to elevated fetal exposure to maternal corticosteroid levels. In this way, gestational malnutrition stress can alter the amygdala's neurochemical content and may contribute to known behavioral changes induced by gestational protein restriction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to survey the statistical inference for covariate-specific time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves with nonignorable missing continuous biomarker values. To construct time-dependent ROC curves, we consider a joint model which assumes that the failure time depends on the continuous biomarker and the covariates through a Cox proportional hazards model and that the continuous biomarker depends on the covariates through a semiparametric location model. Assuming a purely parametric model on the propensity score, we utilize instrumental variables to deal with the identifiable issue and estimate the unknown parameters of the propensity score by a simple and efficient method. In addition, when the propensity score is estimated, we develop HT and AIPW approaches to estimate our interested quantities. In the presence of nonignorable missing biomarker, our AIPW estimators of the interested quantities are still doubly robust when the true propensity score is a special parametric logistic model. At last, simulation studies are conducted to assess the performance of our proposed approaches, and a real data analysis is also carried out to illustrate its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of hierarchical interactions has long been a challenging problem due to the large number of candidate main effects and interaction effects, and the need for accommodating the "main effects, interactions" hierarchy. The two-stage analysis methods enjoy simplicity and low computational cost, but contradict the fact that the outcome of interest is attributable to the joint effects of multiple main factors and their interactions. The existing joint analysis methods can accurately describe the underlying data generating process, but suffer from prohibitively high computational cost. And it is not straightforward to extend their optimization algorithms to general loss functions. To address this need, we develop a new computational method that is much faster than the existing joint analysis methods and rivals the runtimes of two-stage analysis. The proposed method, HierFabs , adopts the framework of the forward and backward stagewise algorithm and enjoys computational efficiency and broad applicability. To accommodate hierarchy without imposing additional constraints, it has newly developed forward and backward steps. It naturally accommodates the strong and weak hierarchy, and makes optimization much simpler and faster than in the existing studies. Optimality of HierFabs sequences is investigated theoretically. Simulations show that it outperforms the existing methods. The analysis of TCGA data on melanoma demonstrates its competitive practical performance. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in ME/CFS, but there is a knowledge gap in the literature concerning gastrointestinal motility features and detailed symptom description. In this study, we aimed to characterize gastric motility and gastric symptoms in response to a liquid meal. We included 20 patients with ME/CFS with abdominal complaints who were recruited to a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of Rituximab. The patients of this sub study were examined with an ultrasound drink test, and gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated using the Rome III questionnaire and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) questionnaire. We found that patients commonly reported fullness/bloating (75%), abdominal pain (45%) and nausea (35%). Ultrasound measurements revealed lower proximal measurements of the stomach after a meal (p < 0.01) and larger fasting antral area (p = 0.019) compared to healthy controls. The patients had a stronger symptomatic response to the liquid meal compared to healthy controls regarding epigastric pain, discomfort and nausea (p < 0.05). Ninety percent of the patients reported bowel movement frequencies within the normal range but scored high on bowel habit dissatisfaction and life disruption. The patients presented with fullness/bloating, nausea and epigastric pain, showed signs of impaired gastric accommodation and visceral hypersensitivity, showing that the gastrointestinal symptoms of ME/CFS patients are similar to functional dyspepsia. Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in ME/CFS, but there is a knowledge gap in the literature concerning gastrointestinal motility features and detailed symptom description. • In this study, patients with ME/CFS had signs of impaired gastric accommodation after a liquid meal. • Out of 20 patients, 15 patients reported fullness/bloating, 9 reported abdominal pain, and 7 reported nausea. The patients showed signs of visceral hypersensitivity on a drink test. • Our findings suggest that patients with ME/CFS share many similarities with patients with Functional Dyspepsia. The findings were not typical for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with HIV (PWH) report higher rates of cannabis use than the general population. It is unclear how cannabis use among PWH has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications for the health and wellbeing of PWH. Objectives: To describe changes in frequency of cannabis use among a sample of PWH during the pandemic, reasons for those changes, and implications of the findings. Methods: The data are cross-sectional and come from questions asked in a follow-up phone survey administered to a prospective cohort of PWH in Florida between May 2020 and March 2021. Participants who used cannabis were asked about changes in their frequency of cannabis use in a quantitative survey and reasons for changes in a qualitative open-ended question. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Among 227 PWH (mean age 50, 50% men, 69% Black/African American, 14% Hispanic/Latino), 13% decreased frequency of cannabis, 11% increased frequency, and 76% reported no change. The most common reasons for increasing frequency of cannabis use were reducing anxiety/stress, trying to relax, coping with grief or reducing symptoms of depression, and reducing boredom during the pandemic. Supply or access issues, health concerns, and having already wanted to reduce cannabis use were common reasons for decreased frequency. Conclusion: Nearly 25% of the sample changed their cannabis use frequency during the pandemic. These findings shed light on the behaviors and motivations of PWH who use cannabis and can inform clinical practice and interventions during public health emergencies and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uplifting slide shoe (UPSS) bearing, consisting of multiple sliding surfaces, is a new type of bearing which has been proposed to achieve reduced displacement under strong earthquakes without losing advantage of the slide bearing to deal with the thermal effects on bridges girders. In the present study, bi-directional implementation of the UPSS devices is proposed to achieve effectiveness in controlling the bi-directional seismic response of girder bridges induced by bi-directional ground motions. A simplified multi-spring model of the bi-directional UPSS, considering the coupling effect of the friction mechanism and the geometric contact condition of the slider, is established to assess the bi-directional bridge response including the integrated nonlinear interaction between the longitudinal and transverse components. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the bi-directional UPSS is effective in reducing the pier response in the transverse direction compared with the conventional UPSS. The seismic performance of the bridge with the application of the bi-directional UPSS is shown to be superior to that of the functionally discrete bearing (FDB) systems in effectively reducing both the bearing displacement and the pier response ductility factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to examine the trend and factors associated with smoking marijuana from a hookah device among US adults. Methods: Data were drawn from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, an ongoing nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of the US population. Adult respondents who self-reported ever smoking marijuana from a hookah at Wave 5 (2018–19, N = 34,279 US adults) were included in the multivariable analysis. Trend analysis also was conducted using National Cancer Institute JoinPoint software from 2015 to 2019. Results: In 2018–19, an estimated 23.6 million (9.7%) US adults reported ever smoking marijuana from a hookah. Trend analysis showed the increasing prevalence of using marijuana from a hookah device from Wave 3 (8.9%) to Wave 5 (9.7%; time trend p =.007). Adults aged 25–44 years old (vs. 18–24; 13%, vs. 9%), whites (vs. Black; 11% vs. 9%), and lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB vs. straight; 17% vs. 9%) were more likely to report ever smoking marijuana from a hookah (ps <.05). Former and current users (vs. never users) of e-cigarettes (19% and 25% vs. 5%), cigarettes (11% and 21% vs. 2%), cigars (17% and 27% vs. 3%), and pipes (21% and 33% vs. 7%) and past 30-day blunt users (vs. non-users; 39% vs. 9%) were more likely to ever smoke marijuana from a hookah (ps <.05). Pregnant women (vs. non-pregnant; 12.8% vs. 8.6%; p = 0.03) were more likely to smoke marijuana from a hookah. Conclusions: Smoking marijuana from a hookah device is prevalent among young adults in the US, especially among vulnerable populations, and has increased significantly from 2015–2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to ascertain whether a diagnostic strategy combining D-dimer with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) could improve the discriminative performance for aortic dissection (AD). Baseline levels of D-dimer and NLR were measured in patients suspected of AD. The diagnostic performance and clinical usefulness of D-dimer, NLR, and their combination were assessed and compared using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis, logistic regression analysis, net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and decision curve analysis (DCA). The levels of D-dimer and NLR were both significantly higher in AD patients. The combined use displayed good discriminatory performance with an area under ROC curve (AUC) of 0.869, which was preferable to that of D-dimer. Although no meaningful improvement was found in the AUC by comparison with NLR alone, the combined use could significantly improve the discrimination power with a continuous NRI of 60.0% and an IDI of 4.9%. DCA demonstrated that the net benefit of the combined use was preferred over that of either single test. The combined use of D-dimer and NLR could improve the discriminatory efficiency for AD with the potential in clinical application. This study may provide a novel diagnostic strategy for AD. More studies need to be done to confirm the findings of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviewed the literature on psycho-social treatments for reducing school absenteeism in Japan, particularly focussing on those featuring a cognitive-behavioural approach. To extract studies, we screened journals published by 52 academic societies that are members of the Union of the Japanese Psychological Association and reviewed relevant peer-reviewed papers. We consequently analysed 31 cases: 21 elementary school students and 10 junior high school students. We found that to effectively address school absenteeism in Japan, cognitive-behavioural approaches should feature a combination of two or more behavioural techniques. These findings may help Japanese practitioners, such as school counsellors, explain to clients the benefits of choosing cognitive-behavioural approaches, as well as the prospects for support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, many Schiff base complexes of metal ions have exhibited substantial catalytic activity in various reactions such as oxidation, Henry reaction, hydroxylation, aldol condensation, and epoxidation. The literature survey shows that, over the past few years, there have been few reports on the catalytic aldol and Henry reaction where Schiff base-based metal complexes act as homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysis. This review reorganizes the various transition metal Schiff base complexes as well as chiral Schiff base metal complexes, which have potential application in catalytic activity on aldol and Henry reaction. Schiff bases are an important class of chelating ligands due to its coordination tendency and their complexes exhibit a wide range of applications in various fields like anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral, anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, magnetism, luminescence, conductivity, sensing, catalytic, and so on. This review mainly focuses on the catalytic activities of Schiff base ligands and their transition metal complexes to the aldol and Henry reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are approved treatments for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The present investigation aspired to explore the interrelation between molecular phenotype and PD-L1 expression in ESCC. Methods: PD-L1 testing and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) were performed on tumoral tissues from 139 ESCC patients. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were scrutinized using a tyramide signal amplification system combined with immunohistochemistry. Results: Among enrolled patients, 36.7% displayed high PD-L1 expression (combined positive score [CPS] ≥10). BRCA1 and NF1 gene mutations were significantly associated with high PD-L1 expression (p < .05) while TGFβ pathway alterations were linked to low PD-L1 expression (p = .02). High copy number instability (CNI) and copy number alterations (CNA) were correlated with low PD-L1 expression. Patients with CDKN2A deletion exhibited higher PD-L1 expression. Varying types of TILs were observed across different PD-L1 expression groups. The ratio of CD8+PD-L1+ T cells and CD8+PD-1+ T cells to CD8+ T cells remained comparable in both tumoral and stromal regions, but the ratio of CD68+PD-L1+ macrophages to CD68+ macrophages was higher than the ratio of CD68+PD-1+ macrophages to CD68+ macrophages. CPS was significantly correlated with PD-L1+ lymphocytes and CD68+ macrophages in the tumoral region. CD8+ T cell infiltration was positively correlated with PD-1+ cells in both tumoral and stromal regions. Conclusion: In this study, we presented the prevalence rates of PD-L1 expression in Chinese ESCC patients. The association of genetic profiles with PD-L1 expression levels also provide the clue that genomic phenotype may interact with the immunologic phenotype in ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the impact of marriage on multiple myeloma (MM) survival, and the role of factors such as age, sex, and income in this relationship. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was searched for eligible MM patients between 2007 and 2016. We compared overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) differences by the Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank tests. The hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for OS and CSS were estimated by Cox regression models. A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to minimize the covariates differences between married and unmarried group. This study identified 48,952 eligible patients diagnosed with MM, comprising 29,607 married patients, 5,147 divorced/separated patients, 6,851 single patients, and 7,347 widowed patients. Married MM patients were found to be an independent protective prognostic factor for OS and CSS (all P < 0.001). The survival advantage of marriage still remained in 1:1 matched-pair analysis. The stratified analysis further revealed that the OS and CSS was poorer in unmarried than married MM patients across different age of diagnosis, sex, income, race, and period of diagnosis subgroups (all P < 0.05). The beneficial effect of marriage on the survival of MM was particularly prominent in younger (<65 years) patients, males, higher income patients, non-Hispanic whites, and more recent years. Married patients with MM tend to have better OS and CSS likely due to their higher income, education level, insurance and receipt of chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selenium-containing heterocycles play a pivotal role to construct a variety of pharmaceutically important molecules. They are also extensively used in the glass industry as well as to make different types of solar cells and photocells. Moreover, their extensive applications in multiple organic reactions due to their remarkable reactivity make them an interesting subject of research for scientists. Therefore, a variety of synthetic protocols for selenium-based molecules have been described mainly from 2010 to 2021 which have been compiled in this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common cause of hair loss, often challenging to treat. While oral finasteride (1 mg/d) is an FDA-approved treatment for male AGA, oral minoxidil and oral dutasteride are not approved yet. However, clinicians have been increasingly using these two drugs off-label for hair loss. Recently, Japan and South Korea have approved oral dutasteride (0.5 mg/d) for male AGA. A probable efficacy ranking, in decreasing order, is – dutasteride 0.5 mg/d, finasteride 5 mg/d, minoxidil 5 mg/d, finasteride 1 mg/d, followed by minoxidil 0.25 mg/d. Oral minoxidil predominantly causes hypertrichosis and cardiovascular system (CVS) symptoms/signs in a dose-dependent manner, whereas oral finasteride and dutasteride are associated with sexual dysfunction and neuropsychiatric side effects. The average plasma half-lives of minoxidil, finasteride, and dutasteride are ∼4 h, ∼4.5 h, and ∼5 weeks, respectively. Minoxidil acts through multiple pathways to promote hair growth. It has been shown as a vasodilator, an anti-inflammatory agent, a Wnt/β-catenin signaling inducer, and an antiandrogen. Finasteride inhibits 5α-reductase (5AR) type II isoenzyme, while dutasteride inhibits both type I and type II. Thus, dutasteride suppresses DHT levels more than finasteride in the serum and scalp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transplant Referral Patterns for Patients (Pts) with Newly Diagnosed (ND) Higher-Risk (HR) Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), and European Leukemianet (ELN) 2010 Intermediate-Risk (IR) or Adverse-Risk (AR) Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in the Connect® MDS/AML Registry Transplant Cell Ther. Disease-free survival in patients with MDS (A, reported by Nakamura et al. [[3]]) and patients with AML (B, reported by Ustun et al. [[5]]) is superior after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation compared with no transplantation. In older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), reluctance to refer patients for consideration of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) still remains in some spheres. [Extracted from the article]

Survival regression is used to estimate the relation between time-to-event and feature variables, and is important in application domains such as medicine, marketing, risk management, and sales management. Nonlinear tree based machine learning algorithms as implemented in libraries such as XGBoost, scikit-learn, LightGBM, and CatBoost are often more accurate in practice than linear models. However, existing state-of-the-art implementations of tree-based models have offered limited support for survival regression. In this work, we implement loss functions for learning accelerated failure time (AFT) models in XGBoost, to increase the support for survival modeling for different kinds of label censoring. We demonstrate with real and simulated experiments the effectiveness of AFT in XGBoost with respect to a number of baselines, in two respects: generalization performance and training speed. Furthermore, we take advantage of the support for NVIDIA GPUs in XGBoost to achieve substantial speedup over multi-core CPUs. To our knowledge, our work is the first implementation of AFT that uses the processing power of NVIDIA GPUs. Starting from the 1.2.0 release, the XGBoost package natively supports the AFT model. The addition of AFT in XGBoost has had significant impact in the open source community, and a few statistics packages now use the XGBoost AFT model. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic isolation is an effective technology for mitigating the seismic damage to bridges. However, rupture and large cracks of laminated rubber bearings, including lead rubber bearings, have occurred at several bridges during recent earthquakes. Preventing the rupture of seismic isolators by considering uncertainties and variations in the mechanical properties due to ageing deterioration can improve the ductility capacity of the bridge systems when subjected to extreme ground motions. This study presents a time-dependent seismic reliability assessment methodology for isolated bridges that considers long-term ageing deterioration of lead rubber bearings. The effects of capacity hierarchy between the isolator and the column, as well as the ageing deterioration of isolators on the seismic reliability and the predominant ultimate failure mode were clarified. It was found that the effect of ageing deterioration of lead rubber bearings on seismic reliability is relatively smaller than that of the difference in seismic hazards at different sites. Furthermore, the seismic safety of isolated bridges can be significantly improved by setting an adequate capacity hierarchy between the isolator and the column, as it can prevent the rupture of the isolator under extreme ground motions considering the ageing deterioration of the isolator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concordance refers to the probability that subjects with high values on one variable also have high values on another variable. This index has wide application in practice, as a measure of effect size in group-comparison studies, an index of accuracy in diagnostic studies, and a discrimination index for prediction models. Herein, we provide a unified framework for statistical inference involving concordance indices for standard variables of binary, ordinal, and continuous types. In particular, we develop confidence interval procedures for a single concordance index and differences between two correlated indices. Simulation results show that procedures based on logit-transformation for a single index and Fisher's z -transformation for a difference between indices perform very well in terms of coverage and tail errors even when the sample size is as small as 30, unless the concordance is high and the standard is a binary variable for which at least 50 subjects are needed. We illustrate the procedures for a variety of standard variables with previously published data. Illustrative SAS code is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a review on the synthesis of thia-heterocycles by use of electro-organic methods since its establishment. The research articles are classified as intramolecular and intermolecular cyclization reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In comparative research on time-to-event data for two groups, when two survival curves cross each other, it may be difficult to use the log-rank test and hazard ratio (HR) to properly assess the treatment benefit. Our aim was to identify a method for evaluating the treatment benefits for two groups in the above situation. We quantified treatment benefits based on an intuitive measure called the area between two survival curves (ABS), which is a robust measure of treatment benefits in clinical trials regardless of whether the proportional hazards assumption is violated or two survival curves cross each other. Additionally, we propose a permutation test based on the ABS, and we evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of this test with simulated data. The ABS permutation test is a robust statistical inference method with an acceptable type I error rate and superior power to detect differences in treatment effects, especially when the proportional hazards assumption is violated. The ABS can be used to intuitively quantify treatment differences over time and provide reliable conclusions in complicated situations, such as crossing survival curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the advances in antiretroviral treatment (ART), persistent inflammation remained a challenge. We analyzed the inflammatory-score changes through 2-years in people living with HIV (PLWH) treated with different antiretroviral regimes. This study was conducted in Hacettepe University HIV/AIDS Treatment and Research Center. PLWH diagnosed between 2014 and 2020 were included. Inflammatory and metabolic markers (CD4/CD8 ratio, C-reactive protein (CRP), Systemic Inflammatory Index (SII), Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), Mean Platelet Volume (MPV), Platecrite (PCT), and Low-Density Lipoprotein/High-Density Lipoprotein (LDL/HDL), Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) and ARTs were captured from database through 2-years from the diagnosis. The 2-year change (Δ) in markers was calculated and compared by ART type (backbone and 3rd agent). Mann-Whitney-U test and T-test were used for statistical analysis. This study included 205 PLWH; 175 (85.4%) were male, and the mean age was 38.98 (±10.88) years. The number of PLWH with suppressed viremia (<40 HIV-RNA copies/ml) was 164 (80%) at the end of the second year. MPV increased significantly higher among PLWH receiving ABC/3TC compared to PLWH receiving TDF/FTC (p < 0.05). The CD4:CD8 ratio increased, and SII, NLR, LDL/HDL ratios decreased significantly among PLWH treated with integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI) compared with protease inhibitors (PI) and Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs) (p < 0.05). Integrase inhibitor treatment is related to favorable inflammatory marker profile among PLWH in the 2-year follow-up. A favorable inflammatory profile may, in turn, contribute to the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCD) among PLWH. This study showed that simple, easy-to-calculate markers could be implemented to define ongoing inflammation among PLWH under suppressive ART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanotechnological products have been used as strategies to optimize the therapy and minimize the side effects of topical corticoids. The objective of this study was to develop hydrogels by the addition of sclerotium gum to the suspensions of desonide-loaded açai oil-based nanocapsules and to study their biological effect using an animal model of acute skin inflammation. The hydrogels presented a pH compatible with topical application (4.4 to 5.0), nanometric mean diameter (131 to 165 nm), pseudoplastic behavior, and stability under room conditions during 30 days. The in vitro skin permeation/penetration study demonstrated that a higher amount of desonide (p < 0.05) was retained in the epidermis from the nanotechnological-hydrogels (0.33 to 0.36 µg.cm2) in comparison to the commercial gel cream (0.16 µg.cm2). In the dermis, the nanostructured hydrogels promoted a lower DES retention compared to the non-nanostructured formulations (p < 0.05). This result may indicate a smaller amount of drug reaching the bloodstream and, thus, fewer side effects can be expected. Concerning the anti-inflammatory effect, the developed hydrogels reduced both ear edema and inflammatory cell infiltration, showing an effect comparable to the commercially available formulation, which presents twice the drug concentration. The hydrogels developed may be considered a promising approach to treat dermatological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elasto-plastic behavior of the Fontainebleau sandstone is studied from experimental and numerical points of view on the basis of a series of conventional triaxial compression tests. Five distinct stages of the axial strain curve are quantified in terms of four stress thresholds (crack closure stress σcc, crack initiation stress σci, crack damage stress σcd and short-term peak strength σp). The onset of dilation and total volumetric strain reversal occur at axial stress level 30–50% and 50–80% of σp, respectively. A refined continuous strain deviation (RCSD) method is proposed to more accurately define the elastic parameters. Other internal state variables are determined accordingly. Some important information are gained as follows: (1) the Poisson's ratio decreases with the increase of the confining pressure; (2) at the same stress level, the higher of the confining pressure, the smaller of the negative plastic volumetric strain (dilatancy); (3) the evolution of the friction-like coefficient and the plastic volumetric strain can be described with an exponential function and a hyperbolic function, respectively. A strictly experimental based constitutive model is proposed to study the elasto-plastic behavior of the Fontainebleau sandstone. All numerical aspects including formulations, algorithms and experimental validations, are presented in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topical minoxidil (5% foam, 5% solution, and 2% solution) is FDA-approved for androgenetic alopecia (AGA) in men and women. Mechanism of action: Minoxidil acts through multiple pathways (vasodilator, anti-inflammatory agent, inducer of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, an antiandrogen), and may also affect the length of the anagen and telogen phases. Pharmacokinetics: Approximately 1.4% of topical minoxidil is absorbed through the skin. Minoxidil is a prodrug that is metabolized by follicular sulfotransferase to minoxidil sulfate (active form). Those with higher sulfotransferase activity may respond better than patients with lower sulfotransferase activity. Clinical efficacy (topical minoxidil): In a five-year study, 2% minoxidil exhibited peak hair growth in males at year one with a decline in subsequent years. Topical minoxidil causes hair regrowth in both frontotemporal and vertex areas. The 5% solution and foam were not significantly different in efficacy from the 2% solution. Oral and Sublingual minoxidil (not FDA approved; off-label): After 6 months of administration, minoxidil 5 mg/day was significantly more effective than topical 5% and 2% in male AGA. Low-dose 0.5–5 mg/day may also be safe and effective for female pattern hair loss and chronic telogen effluvium. Sublingual minoxidil may be safe and effective in male and female pattern hair loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected vehicle technology relying on Human Machine Interface (HMI) achieve a dominant position in the overall safety improvement. However, the impact of HMI on the driver's visual attention cannot be ignored, especially on the accident-prone foggy freeway. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the level of distraction caused by HMI in data analysis of drivers' visual characteristics and to establish a generic evaluation methodology. A connected vehicle test platform has been established based on the driving simulator, in which visibility was set to the level of heavy fog and the technical condition was set in two conditions (with or without HMI). Measurement of driving behavior parameters include frequency of fixations and saccades and the proportion of fixation. The researchers compared and analyzed the driver's visual characteristics and the degree of distraction in a combination of indices based on the AttenD algorithm, setting two technical conditions in a heavy fog. Drivers suffering more visual distraction and interference with HMI may have an impact on the driver's driving safety. The results provide a generic approach to evaluate the HMI of a connected vehicle system and a safety assessment methodology for the connected vehicle system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gray-zone lymphoma (GZL) reflects an aggressive B-cell neoplasm with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). The International Prognostic Index (IPI) and its derivatives (R-IPI, NCCN-IPI, and the Hasenclever IPS) have been established for DLBCL or cHL while the most suitable scoring system for GZL remains undetermined. In an exploratory multi-centric cohort of GZL (n = 61), we performed a comparative analysis of prognostic indices with regard to model fit and mutual concordance. The calculation of the corrected Akaike's information criterion (cAIC) and Harrel's concordance index (c-index) for each scoring system identified the NCCN-IPI to harbor the most convincing prognostic capabilities regarding both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared to its enhanced derivatives. The current results affirm the clinical utility of the NCCN-IPI and suggest its preferential use in clinical practice in GZL-patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel series of 3-chloro-4-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1-(3-aryl-1,8-naphthyridin-2-yl)azetidin-2-one 6(a–g) and 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(3-aryl-1,8-naphthyridin-2-yl)thiazolidin-4-ones 7(a–g) were synthesized through the reaction of Schiff base 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-N-(3-aryl-1,8-napthridine-2-yl)methanimines 5(a–g) with chloro acetyl chloride and mercaptoacetic acid respectively. The chemical structures of the synthesized derivatives were established by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, mass spectral, and C, H, N analysis. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for antibacterial Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis (two Gram positive) and Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia (two Gram negative) and antifungal Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum. The synthesized compounds showed considerable activity of antibacterial and antifungal activity comparable to that of the reference drug. The molecular docking study was succeeded to identify the likely interactions with the new synthesized derivatives 6(a–g) and 7(a–g). Docking investigation confirmed that active molecule 6b, 6d, 6f and 7b, 7d, 7f have better docking scores with protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research uses the theoretical framework of CALL normalisation developed by Bax (2003) and Chambers and Bax (2006) to offer a systematic review (Gough et al., 2012) of the uses and spread of data-driven learning (DDL) and corpora in language learning and teaching across five major CALL-related journals during the 2011–2015 period. DDL research represented 4.2% of all published papers on CALL during this time frame. The main focus of research was found to be the use of concordancing and collocations when developing university students' writing skills. Contrary to previous research, access to technology was not identified as an impeding factor for normalisation. Syllabus integration and a lack of contribution from language teachers other than researchers emerged as threats to the normalisation of corpora use. Further theorisation is needed if DDL and corpora are to expand their influence on mainstream second language education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black Americans are at high risk for HIV disease and associated morbidity. The impact and clinical correlates of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment among Black Americans is not fully understood. The current study uses a full factorial design to examine the independent and combined effects of race and HIV disease on neurocognitive functioning, including its associations with everyday functioning and clinical disease markers in Black and White persons with HIV (PWH). Participants included 40 Black PWH, 83 White PWH, 28 Black HIV- and 64 White HIV- individuals. Neurocognition was measured by raw sample-based z-scores from a clinical battery. Everyday functioning was assessed using self- and clinician-rated measures of cognitive symptoms and activities of daily living. HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders were also classified using demographically adjusted normative standards and the Frascati criteria. We observed a significant three-way interaction between HIV, race, and domain on raw neurocognitive z-scores. This omnibus effect was driven by medium and large effect size decrements in processing speed and semantic memory, respectively, in Black PWH compared to other study groups. Black PWH also demonstrated higher frequencies of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders as compared to White PWH. Unexpectedly, global neurocognitive performance was negatively related to everyday functioning impairments for White PWH, but not for Black PWH. Systemic disadvantages for Black Americans may combine with HIV disease to compound some neurocognitive impairments in this under-served population. Prospective studies are needed to identify better ways to prevent, measure, diagnose, and manage HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders among Black Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, pomegranate peel extract (PPE) was used for the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The AgNPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM micrograph showed the spherical shape of AgNPs sized between 30 and 50 nm. XRD confirmed the face-centered cubic (FCC) crystalline structure of AgNPs. The antibacterial activity and cellular toxicity of the modified porcelain with AgNPs were also studied. The results of biocompatibility of modified porcelain with AgNPs revealed that samples decreased the viability of L929 cells and after treatment with AgNPs samples antibacterial activity was significantly increased. The effect of AgNPs on the optical behavior (color change (ΔE), contrast ratio (CR), and translucency parameter (TP)) of feldspathic porcelain was investigated by clinical spectrophotometer. It was shown that addition of AgNPs to feldspathic porcelain significantly increased the TP and decreased the CR compared to the control group. The results of this study indicate that addition of AgNPs up to 500 µg/mL AgNPs to VitaVM9 feldspathic porcelain did not cause the clinically recognizable threshold color change (ΔE = 2.69) and increases the ceramic translucency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]