Search

Biomedical Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) play a fundamental role in evidence-informed healthcare and can serve as actionable insights for researchers and policy-making organizations in the field. In this paper, we focus on the phase of ‘study search’ in conducting SLRs, i.e., the process of organising a comprehensive search via biomedical databases, such PubMed, in order to obtain all the relevant articles on a certain topic of interest. We introduce FASS-BSLR, a dataset and a benchmark suit to facilitate developing and evaluating fully automated techniques for study search. We also provide and analyze a set of basic methods along with a number of generative models, and report the experiment’s results over the introduced dataset. We introduce a simple but effective model based on the resent transformer-based generative model, ChatGPT, for generating Boolean queries over PubMed. Through different experiments, we illustrate that this model is more effective than basic search models, than keyword search over PubMed, and than existing methods for crafting Boolean queries using ChatGPT. We show that the introduced model is even more effective than manual queries in terms of Precision, Recall, NDCG, and MAP in positions 10, and 100, but falls short of the recall that manual queries achieve at position 1000. We also report the retrieval performance of different models when a number of relevant articled have been provided as seed documents. We demonstrate that, when three documents are used as seed articles, the introduced model outperforms manual queries in all metrics except Recall@1000, on which its performance is comparable with the performance attained by manual queries.

Background: Sarcopenic obesity, which is associated with a poorer prognosis than that of sarcopenia alone, may be positively affected by soy isoflavones, known inhibitors of muscle atrophy. Herein, we hypothesize that these compounds may prevent sarcopenic obesity by upregulating the gut metabolites with anti-inflammatory effects. Methods: To explore the effects of soy isoflavones on sarcopenic obesity and its mechanisms, we employed both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Mice were fed a high-fat, high-sucrose diet with or without soy isoflavone supplementation. Additionally, the mouse C2C12 myotube cells were treated with palmitic acid and daidzein in vitro. Results: The isoflavone considerably reduced muscle atrophy and the expression of the muscle atrophy genes in the treated group compared to the control group (Fbxo32, p = 0.0012; Trim63, p < 0.0001; Foxo1, p < 0.0001; Tnfa, p = 0.1343). Elevated levels of daidzein were found in the muscles and feces of the experimental group compared to the control group (feces, p = 0.0122; muscle, p = 0.0020). The real-time PCR results demonstrated that the daidzein decreased the expression of the palmitate-induced inflammation and muscle atrophy genes in the C2C12 myotube cells (Tnfa, p = 0.0201; Il6, p = 0.0008; Fbxo32, p < 0.0001; Hdac4, p = 0.0002; Trim63, p = 0.0114; Foxo1, p < 0.0001). Additionally, it reduced the palmitate-induced protein expression related to the muscle atrophy in the C2C12 myotube cells (Foxo1, p = 0.0078; MuRF1, p = 0.0119). Conclusions: The daidzein suppressed inflammatory cytokine- and muscle atrophy-related gene expression in the C2C12 myotubes, thereby inhibiting muscle atrophy.

Abstract Biofilms are ubiquitous in nature and in the man-made environment. Given their harmful effects on human health, an in-depth understanding of biofilms and the monitoring of their formation and growth are important. Particularly relevant for many metabolic processes and survival strategies of biofilms is their extracellular pH. However, most conventional techniques are not suited for minimally invasive pH measurements of living biofilms. Here, a fluorescent nanosensor is presented for ratiometric measurements of pH in biofilms in the range of pH 4.5–9.5 using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The nanosensor consists of biocompatible polystyrene nanoparticles loaded with pH-inert dye Nile Red and is surface functionalized with a pH-responsive fluorescein dye. Its performance was validated by fluorometrically monitoring the time-dependent changes in pH in E. coli biofilms after glucose inoculation at 37 °C and 4 °C. This revealed a temperature-dependent decrease in pH over a 4-h period caused by the acidifying glucose metabolism of E. coli. These studies demonstrate the applicability of this nanosensor to characterize the chemical microenvironment in biofilms with fluorescence methods.

Aim of the study: To compare orthopantomography (OPG) with computed tomography (CT) to analyze the relative advantages, disadvantages and necessity of these modalities. Material and methods: Supported by narrative rewiew, we evaluated the necessity of CT and OPG in oral implantology practice. Results: The analysis shows that CT preference was greater for implant planning in comparison to OPG. Conclusions: The overall results suggested that CT has priority in assessing the parameters of implant site when compared to OPG.

The concept of sustainability has become a priority in the construction field, in a context where there is an increasing discussion about reducing carbon dioxide emissions, as the construction industry is one of the most polluting industries with a focus on the production of building materials. At present, the classic solution used for structural masonry walls worldwide is the ceramic block. Given that the production of ceramic blocks represents an environmentally polluting process, the alternative solution of using concrete blocks with wood chips is proposed. The proposed solution is more environmentally friendly, both in terms of production technology and materials used, as it is made of wood chips, wood being a sustainable material. These types of blocks are currently used in non-seismic areas due to their poor structural performance. This paper deals with a study on the use of recyclable materials, such as wood chips, from waste materials and aims to propose viable solutions for the use of this type of blocks for structural walls in seismic areas. Two solutions, including concrete blocks with wood chips, have been proposed and numerical analyses have been carried out. Numerical analyses were also carried out for the classical solutions, so that, finally, a comparison could be made between them from a structural point of view. Following the numerical analysis of four types of walls, the two proposed solutions of concrete blocks with wood chips had the best results in terms of force–displacement relationship. Moreover, the quantitative results are presented in a force–displacement graph for the four wall types. This stage represents the first phase of the research, while phase II will continue with experimental tests of the proposed solutions.

The trend towards product individualization in medical technology, e.g., for implants, is based on the realization that taking patient-specific characteristics into account significantly influences the therapy of diseases. However, one problem in the individualization of implants is the inaccessible position in the body, which only permits computer-aided modeling of individual solutions. A promising solution is using a Computer-Aided Engineering Environment (CAEE), which enables an algorithm-based approach to implement tools based on Computational Design Synthesis (CDS) that can build design knowledge and robustly generate patient-specific variants. In this paper, a case study is used to demonstrate the development of an algorithm-based approach within the framework of the CDS in a CAEE that performs hip arthroplasty individualization. The functions, implemented in a CAEE, includes all process steps, from medical image processing of Computed Tomographic (CT) data to generating a patient-specific solution. Relevant research questions addressed here include the automated recognition of geometry information from initialized data, processing of these data in product models to derive solutions automatically and implementing optimization algorithms to maximize requirement satisfaction. The result of this work is a fully automated model generator for hip stem prosthesis that requires only a CT scan for its design synthesis and optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Objectives. The most common cause for Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is due to 21- hydroxylase deficiency which can produce disorders of sex development. 46,XX maleness is a rare syndrome with an incidence of 1 in 20000-25000 males, and they are defined by ambiguous genitalia or partially to fully mature male genitalia. Materials and Methods. We present the case of a 49-year-old patient (46,XX) with CAH resulting from 21-hydroxylase deficiency, diagnosed with penoscrotal hypospadias at the age of 3 and a half years for whom multiple corrective surgeries were performed and was referred to our hospital for evaluation of urethrocutaneous fistulas. Results. In 2021, the patient was diagnosed by the endocrinology department with 46,XX Karyotype, male phenotype and congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21 hydroxylase deficiency. The urological diagnosis established at "Prof. Dr. Theodor Burghele" Clinical Hospital was of multiple urethrocutaneous fistulas that occurred after penoscrotal hypospadias repair in childhood. The surgical indication consisted of urethroplasty with oral mucosa graft in two steps, the time between interventions being about four months. The surgical evolution was good, without complications. Complications after multiple times operated hypospadias are redoubtable, including strictures of the anterior urethra, urethral fistulas, urethritis, and recurrent urinary tract infections. The treatment of such cases is particularly difficult. Conclusions. The use of extragenital tissues for urethral reconstruction (oral mucosa graft) provides superior functional and aesthetic results compared to the techniques using skin flaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]