Arts therapies for mental disorders in COVID-19 patients: a comprehensive review

Background and objectiveThe COVID-19 global pandemic has necessitated the urgency for innovative mental health interventions. We performed a comprehensive review of the available literature on the utility and efficacy of arts therapies in treating mental health problems, with special emphasis on their deployment during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to provide some evidence for the application of this therapy.MethodsThe potential studies were systematically sourced from five authoritative databases: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and the CNKI database. The evaluation of these studies was conducted based on stringent criteria, including validity, suitability, therapeutic potential, and consistency. Each piece of included literature was meticulously scored in accordance with these criteria, thus ensuring the inclusion of only the most robust studies in this review. The data from these Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) were carefully extracted using the PICO(S) framework, ensuring a comprehensive and systemic approach to data collection. In order to emphasize the variability in the effects of differing arts therapies on COVID-19-induced psychiatric disturbances, the sourced literature was systematically categorized and scrutinized based on distinct modalities.ResultsOut of the 7,250 sourced articles, 16 satisfied the inclusion conditions. The therapies were predominantly meditation (n = 7), supplemented by individual studies on color therapy (n = 3), music therapy (n = 2), and single studies on horticultural therapy, dance therapy, mindfulness and music therapy, and yoga and music therapy (n = 4 collectively). These various forms of arts therapies had a positive short to medium-term impact on the mental health of COVID-19 patients. Besides improving patients' physical and mental health, these therapies can also be employed to mitigate mental health issues among healthcare professionals.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has profound and long-lasting implications for public mental health. Diverse forms of arts therapies are potentially effective in addressing related psychiatric symptoms. The integration of artificial intelligence might further enhance the efficacy and scalability of arts therapies in future implementations

Greenhouse gas emissions (CO2–CH4–N2O) along a large reservoir‐downstream river continuum: The role of seasonal hypoxia

Recent studies suggest that hypolimnetic respiration may be responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deep reservoirs. Currently, quantitative evaluation of aerobic vs. anaerobic processes and priming (enhanced processing of organic matter due to the addition of labile carbon) in regulating GHG production and emissions across the reservoir-downstream continuum remains largely unknown. High-resolution, annual time-series observations in a large, subtropical reservoir (Shuikou) experiencing seasonal hypoxia in southeast China indicate that aerobic hypolimnetic CO2 production dominated in most periods of the stratified spring/summer with higher rates at higher temperatures. In addition, anaerobic production of hypolimnetic CO2 occurred in the late stratified spring/summer period, which stimulated hypolimnetic production of CH4 and N2O. Incubation experiments showed that priming in spring enhanced both aerobic and anaerobic production of excess GHGs. A late spring flood event generated the highest daily efflux of CO2 through the flushing of GHG-enriched hypolimnion waters. Turbine degassing contributed 59%, 93%, and 63% of annual CO2, CH4, and N2O effluxes, respectively. Moreover, annual downstream GHG emissions were similar to those in the transition/lacustrine zone of the Shuikou reservoir. Diurnal variation observations revealed net CO2 emissions even during algal bloom seasons. The reservoir-downstream river continuum was a year-round source of GHGs (218.5 ± 18.9 Gg CO2-equivalent yr−1; CO2 contributed 91%). However, the loss of oxygen also leads to increased production and storage of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (RDOC). Thus, identifying mechanisms controlling both GHG emissions and RDOC production is crucial to constrain the carbon neutrality issue of hydroelectric reservoirs in the context of climate change mitigation strategies

Immunoregulatory functions and therapeutic potential of natural killer cell-derived extracellular vesicles in chronic diseases

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been proven to play a significant immunoregulatory role in many chronic diseases, such as cancer and immune disorders. Among them, EVs derived from NK cells are an essential component of the immune cell functions. These EVs have been demonstrated to carry a variety of toxic proteins and nucleic acids derived from NK cells and play a therapeutic role in diseases like malignancies, liver fibrosis, and lung injury. However, natural NK-derived EVs (NKEVs) have certain limitations in disease treatment, such as low yield and poor targeting. Concurrently, NK cells exhibit characteristics of memory-like NK cells, which have stronger proliferative capacity, increased IFN-γ production, and enhanced cytotoxicity, making them more advantageous for disease treatment. Recent research has shifted its focus towards engineered extracellular vesicles and their potential to improve the efficiency, specificity, and safety of disease treatments. In this review, we will discuss the characteristics of NK-derived EVs and the latest advancements in disease therapy. Specifically, we will compare different cellular sources of NKEVs and explore the current status and prospects of memory-like NK cell-derived EVs and engineered NKEVs

Transarterial chemoembolization with or without multikinase inhibitors for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BackgroundRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing the combination therapy of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus multikinase inhibitor (MKI) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have yielded inconsistent results.MethodsIn this work, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to compare the TACE+MKI combination therapy versus TACE monotherapy in HCC patients with time to progression (TTP) adopted as primary outcome.ResultsA total of 10 RCTs comprising 2837 patients receiving combination therapy (TACE plus sorafenib, brivanib, orantinib or apatinib) were included. TACE+MKI significantly prolonged TTP (hazard ratio [HR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.62-0.89, p=0.001) versus TACE monotherapy. Subgroup analysis suggested MKI administration before TACE might be preferable to post-TACE MKI for TTP. TACE+MKI also increased objective response rate (ORR) (risk ratio [RR] 1.17, 95% CI 1.03-1.32, p=0.01), but failed to improve overall survival (OS) (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.86-1.13, p=0.82) and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.50-1.12, p=0.16). The incidence of any adverse event (AE) did not significantly differ between TACE+MKI and TACE groups (RR 1.17, 95% CI 0.96-1.42, p=0.01), while serious AEs showed significant difference (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.26-1.59, p<0.0001). Nevertheless, these AEs showing significant difference were mainly associated with MKI toxicities rather than TACE. ConclusionsTACE+MKI combination therapy improved TTP and ORR but not OS and PFS in patients with unresectable HCC. Further high-quality trials are needed to verify these clinical benefits, and our findings could be very informative for future trial design

Effectiveness and safety of 99Tc-methylene diphosphonate as a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) in combination with conventional synthetic (cs) DMARDs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 34 randomized controlled trials

Background: Technetium [99Tc] methylene diphosphonate injection (99Tc-MDP) is widely used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but there is still insufficient evidence for its application. Through the utilization of meta-analysis and systematic reviews, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of 99 TC-MDP in combination with conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) for RA. Methods: This study was registered on PROSPERO in advance (CRD42021220780). A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and multiple international public databases from their inception to April 2023 to identify clinical randomized controlled trials exploring the use of 99Tc-MDP combined with csDMARDs in the treatment of RA. Each outcome was subjected to meta-analysis, and the quality of evidence was assessed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The American College of Rheumatology's 50 %/70 % response criteria scores (ACR50/70) scores were utilized as the primary effectiveness outcomes, and risks were measured by assessing the rates of AEs. Moreover, secondary efficacy outcomes were evaluated, including the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) and bone mineral density (BMD) as joint function indicators and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) as inflammatory indicators. Results: In this meta-analysis, a total of 34 studies (2296 patients) were included out of 1149 retrieved studies. The summarized results showed that the treatment group treated with the combination of 99Tc-MDP and csDMARDs had significantly higher ACR50 (RR = 1.32, 95 % CI: 1.13–1.55, P = 0.0004) and ACR70 (RR = 1.40, 95 % CI: 1.07–1.82, P = 0.01) scores than the control group receiving csDMARDs alone. In addition, the overall incidence of AEs was lower with the combination of 99Tc-MDP and csDMARDs than with csDMARDs alone (RR = 0.75, 95 % CI: 0.60–0.93, P = 0.009), but the possibility of phlebitis was higher in the treatment group (RR = 4.15, 95 % CI: 1.04–16.50, P = 0.04). In addition, the combination of 99Tc-MDP and csDMARDs had advantages over csDMARDs alone in improving DAS28 (WMD = 1.56, 95 % CI: 0.86–2.25, P < 0.0001), BMD (SMD = 1.12, 95 % CI 0.46–1.78, P = 0.0008), ESR (SMD = 0.71, 95 % CI 0.45–0.97, P < 0.00001), and IL-17 (WMD = 5.82, 95 % CI 3.86–7.77, P < 0.00001). However, the above results might have been influenced by the 99Tc-MDP dosage, csDMARD category, and treatment duration. Combining methotrexate and leflunomide, administering continuous treatment for 24 weeks, or using 3 sets of 99Tc-MDP doses (16.5 mg) may be the optimal 99Tc-MDP treatment plan for RA. Conclusion: Compared with csDMARD therapy alone, the combination therapy with 99Tc-MDP is more effective for RA patients and is associated with a lower overall incidence of adverse events, although the possibility of phlebitis was higher. However, due to the inherent limitations of the included RCTs, high-quality clinical trials are still needed to further assess the effectiveness and safety of this combination therapy

A Survey of Deep Learning Models for Structural Code Understanding

In recent years, the rise of deep learning and automation requirements in the software industry has elevated Intelligent Software Engineering to new heights. The number of approaches and applications in code understanding is growing, with deep learning techniques being used in many of them to better capture the information in code data. In this survey, we present a comprehensive overview of the structures formed from code data. We categorize the models for understanding code in recent years into two groups: sequence-based and graph-based models, further make a summary and comparison of them. We also introduce metrics, datasets and the downstream tasks. Finally, we make some suggestions for future research in structural code understanding field.Comment: 48 pages, 4 figure

Fish Detection under Occlusion Using Modified You Only Look Once v8 Integrating Real-Time Detection Transformer Features

Fish object detection has attracted significant attention because of the considerable role that fish play in human society and ecosystems and the necessity to gather more comprehensive fish data through underwater videos or images. However, fish detection has always faced difficulties with the occlusion problem because of dense populations and underwater plants that obscure them, and no perfect solution has been found until now. To address the occlusion issue in fish detection, the following effort was made: creating a dataset of occluded fishes, integrating the innovative modules in Real-time Detection Transformer (RT-DETR) into You Only Look Once v8 (YOLOv8), and applying repulsion loss. The results show that in the occlusion dataset, the mAP of the original YOLOv8 is 0.912, while the mAP of our modified YOLOv8 is 0.971. In addition, our modified YOLOv8 also has better performance than the original YOLOv8 in terms of loss curves, F1–Confidence curves, P–R curves, the mAP curve and the actual detection effects. All these indicate that our modified YOLOv8 is suitable for fish detection in occlusion scenes

Clinical effect of Danshen decoction in patients with heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BackgroundThe incidence of heart failure (HF) is increasing year by year, posing a great threat to human health. Although pharmacotherapy has been able to significantly prolong patient survival, pharmacotherapy for HF still has limitations due to its complex pathogenesis and considerable individual variability, there is a great need to explore complementary and alternative therapies to slow down the progression of HF. Danshen decoction is used to treat several cardiovascular diseases including HF, but the efficacy of stabilization is uncertain. This meta-analysis evaluated the clinical efficacy of Danshen Decoction for the treatment of HF.MethodsThe registration number assigned to this meta-analysis on the PROSPERO platform is CRD42022351918. Four databases were searched, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Danshen decoction combined with conventional treatment (CT) of HF were screened, CT included medical treatments other than Danshen Decoction to which the patient was treated (including but not limited to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, angiotensin receptor blocker, angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors, β-blockers, diuretics, mineralcorticoid recept antagonist etc.). The clinical efficacy rate (CER), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were included as outcome indicators. The GRADE grading scale was used to grade the above indicators. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and the Jadad quality scale were used to assess the methodological quality of RCTs. Finally, RevMan V.4.5 software was used for data synthesis, 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dichotomous data, risk ratios (RR), and mean differences (MD) for continuous variables were calculated, Chi-square and I2 were used for heterogeneity assessment.ResultsNine RCTs with a total of 855 patients were included in this study, and all included RCTs had a low overall quality risk of bias and high quality of reported information. The results of the meta-analysis showed that compared with the use of CT, CER (%) was significantly improved due to Danshen decoction combined with CT (MD = 3.95, 95% CI [2.58, 6.04], P ConclusionOur research demonstrates that Danshen decoction is an effective and safe treatment option for HF. Nevertheless, considering the limitations of methodological and the quality of RCTs, more rigorous, large-scale, multicenter randomized clinical trials are needed to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of Danshen decoction in the treatment of HF patients

Application of high pressure mercury injection and nuclear magnetic resonance in analysis of the pore structure of dense sandstone: A case study of the Heshui area, Ordos Basin

Pore structure restricts the reservoir capacity and flow capacity of oil and gas in the reservoir, which is the key factor of studying tight sandstone reservoir, and also the key and difficult problem of current research. Taking the Chang 7 tight reservoir of Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in Heshui area of Ordos Basin as an example, the relationship between pore structure and movable fluid parameters was studied by combining high-pressure mercury injection and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis techniques. The main results are as follows: ① when using the conventional method and linear least square method to convert the NMR T2 spectrum into pore radius, the pore structure can be divided into two parts, The correlation coefficient is (0.87-0.98)/0.92. The inflection point of the mercury injection curve is calculated by fractal theory, and the corresponding T2 is converted. The T2 spectrum is converted by segments. After the conversion, the curve has a high degree of overlap, and the number of phase relations is (0.97-0.99)/0.98. ② By analyzing the influencing factors of fluid mobility, it is found that there is a direct relationship between rock physical properties, in which porosity is more suitable to characterize the size of reservoir space, the correlation is 0.9, and the correlation with movable fluid saturation is better; The characteristic parameters of pore structure have a good correlation with the parameters of movable fluid, and the tight pore structure restricts the mobility of fluid. The proportion of dead pores is related to SMFS φ The negative correlation coefficients of MFS were 0.5371 and 0.3775, respectively φ MFS has little effect, but it has no effect φ MFS is more suitable to characterize the micro pore structure