bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical Efficacy of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in the Treatment of Eczema: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Wang Xingxing , Meng Jian , Wu Qing , Feng Jingjing , Jing Huiling
Published: March 2022

Background. Both traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine are widely applied in the treatment of eczema, but there are few reports on integrated TCM and Western medicine for eczema. Objective. This meta-analysis carried out the evaluation on the efficacy of integrated TCM and Western medicine in the treatment of eczema. Methods. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were searched for all possible randomized controlled trials from 2000 to 2021. A meta-analysis of the included studies was also performed using Stata16 software. Results. A total of 16 studies including 1946 patients were included. Compared with the control group, the pooled results of the 16 studies showed that effective rate in the treatment group was higher (

OR
=
4.50

, 95% CI: 3.16-6.40,

P
<
0.05

), and the pooled data of 15 studies revealed that the cure rate was increased in the treatment group (

OR
=
2.60

, 95% CI: 2.13-3.18,

P
<
0.05

). Additionally, compared with the control group, pooled data of 11 studies demonstrated that lesion area after treatment was reduced in the treatment group (

SMD
=
−
1.91

; 95% CI: -2.51, -1.31;

P
<
0.05
)

, and pooled data of 9 studies showed that the degree of pruritus after treatment in the treatment group was lower (

SMD
=
−
1.69

; 95% CI: -2.07, -1.30;

P
<
0.05

). Conclusion. In comparison with Western medicine alone, integrated TCM and Western medicine are a more effective treatment for eczema, which can not only significantly improve the effective rate and cure rate but also reduce the lesion area and degree of pruritus.
Biomarkers for Breast Adenocarcinoma Using In Silico Approaches
Authors: Pandi Jhansi , Arulprakasam Ajucarmelprecilla , Dhandapani Ranjithkumar , Ramanathan Saikishore , Thangavelu Sathiamoorthi , Chinnappan Jayaprakash , Vidhya Rajalakshmi V. , Alghamdi Saad , Shesha Nashwa Talaat , Prasath S.
Published: March 2022

This work elucidates the idea of finding probable critical genes linked to breast adenocarcinoma. In this study, the GEO database gene expression profile data set (GSE70951) was retrieved to look for genes that were expressed variably across breast adenocarcinoma samples and healthy tissue samples. The genes were confirmed to be part of the PPI network for breast cancer pathogenesis and prognosis. In Cytoscape, the CytoHubba module was used to discover the hub genes. For correlation analysis, the predictive biomarker of these hub genes, as well as GEPIA, was used. A total of 155 (85 upregulated genes and 70 downregulated genes) were identified. By integrating the PPI and CytoHubba data, the major key/hub genes were selected from the results. The KM plotter is employed to find the prognosis of those major pivot genes, and the outcome shows worse prognosis in breast adenocarcinoma patients. Further experimental validation will show the predicted expression levels of those hub genes. The overall result of our study gives the consequences for the identification of a critical gene to ease the molecular targeting therapy for breast adenocarcinoma. It could be used as a prognostic biomarker and could lead to therapy options for breast adenocarcinoma.
A Novel Text Mining Approach for Mental Health Prediction Using Bi-LSTM and BERT Model
Authors: Zeberga Kamil , Attique Muhammad , Shah Babar , Ali Farman , Jembre Yalew Zelalem , Chung Tae-Sun
Published: March 2022

With the current advancement in the Internet, there has been a growing demand for building intelligent and smart systems that can efficiently address the detection of health-related problems on social media, such as the detection of depression and anxiety. These types of systems, which are mainly dependent on machine learning techniques, must be able to deal with obtaining the semantic and syntactic meaning of texts posted by users on social media. The data generated by users on social media contains unstructured and unpredictable content. Several systems based on machine learning and social media platforms have recently been introduced to identify health-related problems. However, the text representation and deep learning techniques employed provide only limited information and knowledge about the different texts posted by users. This is owing to a lack of long-term dependencies between each word in the entire text and a lack of proper exploitation of recent deep learning schemes. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to efficiently and effectively identify depression and anxiety-related posts while maintaining the contextual and semantic meaning of the words used in the whole corpus when applying bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT). In addition, we propose a knowledge distillation technique, which is a recent technique for transferring knowledge from a large pretrained model (BERT) to a smaller model to boost performance and accuracy. We also devised our own data collection framework from Reddit and Twitter, which are the most common social media sites. Finally, we employed word2vec and BERT with Bi-LSTM to effectively analyze and detect depression and anxiety signs from social media posts. Our system surpasses other state-of-the-art methods and achieves an accuracy of 98% using the knowledge distillation technique.
Test‐Retest Reliability of Postural Control Assessment on Biodex BioSway™
Authors: Miner Daniel , Harper Brent A. , Glass Stephen , Martin Brooke , Polizotto Molly , Hearl S. Montana , Turner Ellen
Published: March 2022

Background. Recent protocols for posturographic assessment of postural control and balance have included head shake test conditions to challenge the vestibular contributions of postural control in an effort to increase the diagnostic accuracy of identifying individuals with impaired balance. However, evidence is limited regarding the test‐retest reliability of such assessment protocols. Purpose. The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the test‐retest reliability of postural control assessment on the Biodex Biosway™, an accessible and field expedient tool for posturographic assessment, and to determine the test‐retest reliability of the Head Shake Sensory Interaction and Balance Test (HS‐SIB), an adaptation of the modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance (mCTSIB) which adds two head shake conditions to challenge the vestibular contributions to postural control. Study Design. This was a correlational time series cohort study completed in a biomechanics laboratory. Methods. The sample consisted of nineteen healthy adults (10 females, 9 males). Sway Index, Equilibrium Score, and the area of the ellipse enclosing 95% of the anterior‐posterior (AP) and medial‐lateral (ML) center of gravity (COG) displacement (AREA95) are the 3 summary variables. Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) and Minimum Detectable Change (MDC) are also reported. Results. Test‐retest reliability was generally poor with limited exceptions. Moderate to good reliability was observed for the more challenging stance conditions (ICC range 0.58‐0.81), including those with head shake. Conclusions. Field‐expedient systems, such as the Biodex BioSway™, may offer reliable posturographic testing where gold‐standard methods are not available. Clinicians should be aware that less demanding test conditions have limited reliability; however, test‐retest reliability of this assessment tool is improved with more challenged stance conditions and the inclusion of a head shake task.
Estimation and Prediction of Hospitalization and Medical Care Costs Using Regression in Machine Learning
Authors: Taloba Ahmed I. , Abd El-Aziz Rasha M. , Alshanbari Huda M. , El-Bagoury Abdal-Aziz H.
Published: March 2022

Medical costs are one of the most common recurring expenses in a person’s life. Based on different research studies, BMI, ageing, smoking, and other factors are all related to greater personal medical care costs. The estimates of the expenditures of health care related to obesity are needed to help create cost-effective obesity prevention strategies. Obesity prevention at a young age is a top concern in global health, clinical practice, and public health. To avoid these restrictions, genetic variants are employed as instrumental variables in this research. Using statistics from public huge datasets, the impact of body mass index (BMI) on overall healthcare expenses is predicted. A multiview learning architecture can be used to leverage BMI information in records, including diagnostic texts, diagnostic IDs, and patient traits. A hierarchy perception structure was suggested to choose significant words, health checks, and diagnoses for training phase informative data representations, because various words, diagnoses, and previous health care have varying significance for expense calculation. In this system model, linear regression analysis, naive Bayes classifier, and random forest algorithms were compared using a business analytic method that applied statistical and machine-learning approaches. According to the results of our forecasting method, linear regression has the maximum accuracy of 97.89 percent in forecasting overall healthcare costs. In terms of financial statistics, our methodology provides a predictive method.
Synthesis of Three‐Dimensional Reduced‐Graphene Oxide from Graphene Oxide
Authors: Singh Rasmeet , Ullah Sajid , Rao Nikita , Singh Mandeep , Patra Indrajit , Darko Daniel Amoako , Issac C. Prince Jebedass , Esmaeilzadeh-Salestani Keyvan , Kanaoujiya Rahul , Vijayan V.
Published: March 2022

Carbon materials and their allotropes have been involved significantly in our daily lives. Zero‐dimensional (0D) fullerenes, one‐dimensional (1D) carbon materials, and two‐dimensional (2D) graphene materials have distinctive properties and thus received immense attention from the early 2000s. To meet the growing demand for these materials in applications like energy storage, electrochemical catalysis, and environmental remediation, the special category, i.e., three‐dimensional (3D) structures assembled from graphene sheets, has been developed. Graphene oxide is a chemically altered graphene, the desired building block for 3D graphene matter (i.e., 3D graphene macrostructures). A simple synthesis route and pore morphologies make 3D reduced‐graphene oxide (rGO) a major candidate for the 3D graphene group. To obtain target‐specific 3D rGO, its synthesis mechanism plays an important role. Hence, in this article, we will discuss the general mechanism for 3D rGO synthesis, vital procedures for fabricating advanced 3D rGO, and important aspects controlling the growth of 3D rGO.
A Data-Driven Medical Decision Framework for Associating Adverse Drug Events with Drug-Drug Interaction Mechanisms
Authors: Noor Adeeb
Published: March 2022

Adverse drug events (ADEs) occur when multiple drugs interact within an individual, thus causing effects that were not initially predicted. Such toxic interactions lead to morbidity and mortality. Contemporary research surrounding ADEs has tended to focus on the detection of potential ADEs without great concern for elucidating the associations of drug-drug interaction (DDI) mechanisms that can predict potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Such associations are of great practical importance for everyday pharmacovigilance efforts. This study presents a data-driven framework for conducting knowledge-driven data analysis that combines a semantic inference system and enrichment analysis in order to identify potential ADE mechanisms. The framework was used to rank mechanisms according to their relevance for DDIs and also to categorize ADEs based on the number of DDI mechanism associations identified through enrichment analysis. Its validity is demonstrated through using both commercial and publicly available DDI resources. The results of this study solidly prove the framework’s effectiveness and highlight potential for future research by way of incorporating additional and broader data to deepen and expand its capabilities.
MicroRNA Expression Analysis of Mice Retinas with Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy by RNA Sequencing
Authors: Chen Xiuping , Li Xianglian , Liu Yan , Yuan Yuanzhi , Feng Yifan , Wang Jing , Li Min , Gao Dongmei , Yuan Fei
Published: March 2022

Purpose. To characterize the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in the retinas of mice with oxygen-induced retinopathy by RNA sequencing and to ascertain miRNAs associated with retinal neovascularization. Methods. Retina samples were obtained from 3 groups (6 retinas/group) of OIR mice and normal mice at P17. RNA was isolated from 24 retina samples and then detected on an Illumina HiSeq. Twelve retina samples were used for quantitative polymerase chain reaction to validate the RNA sequencing. Bioinformatics analyses were performed. Result. The RNA sequence showed that 565 miRNAs were detected in the retina of OIR mice and 583 miRNAs in the retina of normal control mice. A total of 553 miRNAs were expressed in both groups. Thirty-eight miRNAs showed altered expression in both groups (

p
≤
0.05

). Compared with the control group, 2 miRNAs were significantly upregulated in the OIR group, while 36 miRNAs were significantly downregulated. Meanwhile, 2 candidate miRNAs (miR-181a-5p and miR-21a-5p) with significant differences in miRNA expression (

p
<
0.01

) were selected for validation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to confirm the relative expression of the two miRNAs. Bioinformatics analyses showed that pathways involved in ischemic retinopathy (such as TGF-β, Ras, Hippo, PI3K-Akt, VEGF, and HIF-1 signaling pathways) were enriched. Conclusions. Our study provided an overall view of miRNA profiling in the OIR retina. These miRNA profiles provide a valuable framework for the potential therapy of retinal angiogenesis.
A Lightweight Authentication with Dynamic Batch-Based Group Key Management Using LSTM in VANET
Authors: Shen Xieyang , Huang Chuanhe , Pu Wenxin , Wang Danxin
Published: March 2022

Due to its complexity and mobility, VANET (vehicle ad hoc network) security has long plagued the development of the IoT industry. It is still a big challenge for users to decide the trustworthiness of an anonymous message or the preservation of personal information. Group signature is widely used in VANET anonymous authentication, but the existing solutions suffer from high computation costs in certificate revocation list (CRL) checking and signature verification process. In our scheme, we develop a lightweight protocol based on hashing functions and group keys, which escapes from the heavy computation cost. Then, we propose a dynamic batch-based group key distribution process, which is based on long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network to predict traffic flow and calculate the weight to determine the right time for key update. In this way, our method will significantly reduce computation delay and communication overhead. The security and performance analyses show that our scheme is more efficient in terms of authentication speed while keeping conditional privacy in VANET.
Transvenous Obliteration Procedure in the Management of Parastomal Variceal Bleeding: A Case Report
Authors: Estorninho João , Patrão Pedro , Temido Maria José , Perdigoto David , Figueiredo Pedro , Donato Paulo
Published: March 2022

Introduction: Parastomal variceal bleeding (PVB) is a recognized complication of ostomized patients in the presence of portal hypertension. However, since there are few reported cases, a therapeutic algorithm has not yet been established. Case Presentation: A 63-year-old man, who had undergone a definitive colostomy, recurrently presented to the emergency department hemorrhage of bright red blood from his colostomy bag, initially assumed to be caused by stoma trauma. Accordingly, temporary success on local approaches such as direct compression, silver nitrate application and suture ligation was achieved. However, bleeding recurred, requiring transfusion of red blood cell concentrate and hospitalization. The patient’s evaluation showed chronic liver disease with massive collateral circulation, particularly at the colostomy site. After a PVB with associated hypovolemic shock, the patient was submitted to a balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) procedure which stopped the bleeding successfully. The patient was subsequently proposed for a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) conjugated with percutaneous transhepatic obliteration (PTO). After an initial refusal by the patient, a new episode of self-limited PVB resulted in execution of the procedure. Four months later, in a routine consultation, the patient presented with grade II hepatic encephalopathy, successfully treated with medical therapy. After a 9-month follow-up, he remained clinically well and without further episodes of PVB or other adverse effects. Discussion: This report highlights the importance of a high index of suspicion when dealing with significant stomal hemorrhage. Portal hypertension as an etiology of this entity may compel to a specific approach to prevent recurrence of bleeding, including conjugation of endovascular procedures. The authors pre­sent a case of PVB, initially submitted to a variety of treatment options including BRTO, which was successfully addressed with conjugated treatment of TIPS and PTO.
Basilar Artery Tortuosity May Be Associated with Early Neurological Deterioration in Patients with Pontine Infarction
Authors: Ha Sang Hee , Kim Bum Joon , Ryu Jae-Chan , Bae Jae-Han , Kim Jong S.
Published: March 2022

Background: Early neurological deterioration (END) occurs in patients with pontine infarction that is adversely associated with a long-term functional outcome. As basilar artery (BA) tortuosity may alter hemodynamics, we investigated whether factors including BA tortuosity are associated with END and poor outcome at 3 months. Methods: We reviewed patients with acute (<7 days from stroke onset) unilateral pontine infarction mainly involving the pontine base and/or tegmental regions from January 2017 through April 2021. END was defined as increase of ≥2 in total National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score or ≥1 in motor NIHSS score within first 72 h. A poor clinical outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 3–6 at 3 months. The BA tortuosity index (TI) was measured: ([actual/straight length −1] x 100). To assess interobserver agreement, TI measurements were obtained by 2 independent raters. Results: The study included 245 patients; END occurred in 72 (29.3%) and 35 (14.2%) showed poor outcome at 3 months. Old age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.004–1.062; p = 0.027), previous stroke history (OR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.176–4.717; p = 0.016), lower initial NIHSS (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.628–0.827; p < 0.001), and high BA TI (OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.062–1.295; p = 0.002) were associated with END. On the other hand, old age (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.002–1.073; p = 0.037) and END (OR = 3.03, 95% CI: 1.429–6.403; p = 0.004) were associated with poor outcome at 3 months. Conclusions: High BA tortuosity may be a factor associated with END in patients with pontine infarction. As END was related to unfavorable clinical outcome, this risk may have to be carefully considered in patients with high BA tortuosity.
Psoriasis and Renal Disorders: A Large-Scale Population-Based Study in Children and Adults
Authors: Friedland Rivka , Kridin Khalaf , Cohen Arnon Dov , Landau Daniel , Ben-Amitai Dan
Published: March 2022

Background: Psoriasis is a systemic disease with associated comorbidities. An association between renal diseases and psoriasis has previously been reported in adult patients, but little is known about renal diseases in pediatric patients. Objective: To determine whether there is an association between psoriasis and renal comorbidities in adult and pediatric patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed the database of the largest health care maintenance organization in Israel. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios to compare 68,836 psoriatic patients and 68,836 controls with respect to renal comorbidities. Results: In adults, an inverse association emerged between psoriasis and dialysis (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.58–0.83) and kidney transplantation (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.43–0.83), a positive association with other kidney diseases (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.05–1.13), and no association between psoriasis and chronic kidney disease (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.98–1.09). Comparing 9,127 pediatric patients and 9,478 controls, no association was found between psoriasis and renal comorbidities, chronic kidney disease (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.33–2.48), dialysis (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 0.19–22.69), kidney transplantation (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.04–3.29), or other kidney diseases (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.79–1.23), even after a multivariate analysis adjusting for putative confounders. Conclusion: As opposed to adult patients, pediatric patients with psoriasis were not shown at risk of kidney diseases.
A Comparison of AKIN, KDIGO, and RIFLE Definitions to Diagnose Acute Kidney Injury and Predict the Outcomes after Cardiac Surgery in a South Asian Cohort
Authors: Yaqub Sonia , Hashmi Shiraz , Kazmi Muhammad Kashif , Aziz Ali Arzina , Dawood Tasneem , Sharif Hasanat
Published: March 2022

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is associated with an increased mortality and morbidity. Different definitions for AKI have been used such as Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN), Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO), or risk, injury, failure, loss, end-stage kidney disease (RIFLE). Each of these definitions has their own benefits and limitations for predicting the degree of AKI and adverse outcomes following cardiac surgery. This study was aimed to compare the three AKI definitions to diagnose AKI and their predictive ability for mortality and morbidity after isolated coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in a South Asian cohort. Material and Methods: A single-center retrospective review was conducted on 1,508 patients having undergone isolated CABG surgery from January 2015 to January 2019. AKI was assessed on three definitions, and comparative receiver operating characteristics curves were built against the outcomes to assess discriminative power of each. Results: Mean age of participants was 59.43 (±1.12) years, predominantly males (82.6%). Patients with AKI were elder, more likely to be diabetic and hypertensive. AKI by any definition occurred in 58.7% (885/1,508) patients. Frequency of AKI was 508 (33.7%), 517 (34.4%), and 871 (57.8%) on AKIN, KDIGO, and RIFLE criteria, respectively. The proportion of patients with RIFLE-risk 619 (41%) was greater compared with AKIN stage 1 (342 [22.7%]) and KDIGO stage 1 (330 [21.9%]), while for stages 2 and 3 the proportions were comparable across the three systems. Area under the curve (AUC) for 30-day mortality for AKIN was (0.786, [95% CI: 0.764–0.806]), KDIGO: (0.796, [95% CI: 0.775–0.816]) and for RIFLE (0.844, [95% CI: 0.825–0.862]). AUC for overall morbidity was in undesirable ranges (i.e., >0.5–≤0.7) for all three definitions. Conclusion: In a South Asian cohort, performance of AKIN and KDIGO criteria was comparable to diagnose AKI, while RIFLE definition, though overestimated the incidence of AKI particularly stage 1, and had an excellent discriminatory power to predict mortality compared to other two definitions.
Clock Gene Bmal1 Disruption in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Worsens Carotid Atherosclerotic Lesions
Authors: Lin Changpo , Xu Lirong , Tang Xiao , Li Xiaobo , Lu Chao , Cheng Qianyun , Jiang Junhao , Shen Yang , Yan Dong , Qian Ruizhe , Fu Weiguo , Guo Daqiao
Published: March 2022

Background:

Clock system disruptions are associated with cardiovascular diseases. We previously demonstrated Bmal1 (brain muscle aryl nuclear translocase like-1) expression is significantly attenuated in plaque-derived vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). However, the influence of Bmal1 disruption in VSMCs and its molecular targets are still unclear. Here, we aim to define how Bmal1 disruption in VSMCs influences the atherosclerosis lesions.

Methods:

The relationship among Bmal1, neurological symptoms, and plaque stability was investigated. VSMC Bmal1
−/−
and VSMC Bmal1
+/+
mice were generated and injected with adeno associated virus encoding mutant proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 to induce atherosclerosis. Carotid artery ligation and cuff placement were performed in these mice to confirm the role of Bmal1 in atherosclerosis progression. The relevant molecular mechanisms were then explored.

Results:

Bmal1 expression in the carotid plague was significantly lower in symptomatic patients as well as in unstable plaques. Moreover, Bmal1 reduction is an independent risk factor for neurological symptoms and plaque instability. Besides, VSMC Bmal1
−/−
mice exhibit aggravated atherosclerotic lesions. Further study demonstrated that Bmal1 downregulation in VSMCs increased VSMC migration, monocyte transmigration, reactive oxygen species levels, and VSMCs apoptosis. As for the mechanism, we revealed that Bmal1 suppresses VSMCs migration by inhibiting RAC1 activity in 2 ways: by activating the transcription of RhoGDIα and by interacting with RAC1. Besides, Bmal1 was shown to preserve antioxidant function in VSMCs by activating Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) and Bcl-2 transcription.

Conclusions:

Bmal1 disruption in VSMCs worsens atherosclerosis by promoting VSMC migration and monocyte transmigration and impairing antioxidant function. Therefore, Bmal1 may be a potential therapeutic target and biomarker of atherosclerosis in the future.
Bi-GRU Relation Extraction Model Based on Keywords
Attention
Authors: Zhang Yuanyuan , Chen Yu , Yu Shengkang , Gu Xiaoqin , Song Mengqiong , Peng Yu , Chen Jianxia , Liu Qi
Published: March 2022

Relational extraction plays an important role in the field of natural language processing to predict semantic relationships between entities in a sentence. Currently, most models have typically utilized the natural language processing tools to capture high-level features with an attention mechanism to mitigate the adverse effects of noise in sentences for the prediction results. However, in the task of relational classification, these attention mechanisms do not take full advantage of the semantic information of some keywords which have information on relational expressions in the sentences. Therefore, we propose a novel relation extraction model based on the attention mechanism with keywords, named Relation Extraction Based on Keywords Attention (REKA). In particular, the proposed model makes use of bi-directional GRU (Bi-GRU) to reduce computation, obtain the representation of sentences, and extracts prior knowledge of entity pair without any NLP tools. Besides the calculation of the entity-pair similarity, Keywords attention in the REKA model also utilizes a linear-chain conditional random field (CRF) combining entity-pair features, similarity features between entity-pair features, and its hidden vectors, to obtain the attention weight resulting from the marginal distribution of each word. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach can utilize keywords incorporating relational expression semantics in sentences without the assistance of any high-level features and achieve better performance than traditional methods.
Adaptive Learning Neural Network Method for Solving Time–Fractional Diffusion Equations
Authors: Shiri Babak , Kong Hua , Wu Guo-Cheng , Luo Cheng
Published: March 2022

A neural network method for solving fractional diffusion equations is presented in this letter. An adaptive gradient descent method is proposed to minimize energy functions. Due to the memory effects of the fractional calculus, the gradient of energy function becomes much more complicated, and we suggest a simplified method. Numerical examples with one-layer and two-layer neurons show the effectiveness of the method.
Chamaepinnularia salina (Bacillariophyta), a new diatom species from French mineral springs (Massif Central)
Authors: BEAUGER AUDE , WETZEL CARLOS E. , ALLAIN ELISABETH , BERTIN CLOTILDE , VOLDOIRE OLIVIER , BRETON VINCENT , BAKER LORY-ANNE , KOLOVI SOFIA , BIRON DAVID , ECTOR LUC
Published: March 2022

During a survey done on the mineral springs in the French Massif Central region, a new Chamaepinnularia species (Bacillariophyceae) was found and is hereby described: Chamaepinnularia salina Beauger, C.E.Wetzel, Allain & Ector sp. nov. This new small species, with valves linear with almost parallel margins, is formally described using light and scanning electron microscopy. The central area is rectangular, forming a rather broad fascia and the raphe is straight, filiform located on an elevated sternum. Virgae between striae are developed. The ecological preferences of Chamaepinnularia salina are presented. This species is mainly in mineral springs with Na-K-HCO3 water type.
Improved Outcomes in Treating Acute Biliary Disorders With a Shift-Based Acute Care Surgery Model
Authors: McGill Michelle , Dhanasekara Chathurika S. , Caballero Beatrice , Chung Caroline , Alhaj-Saleh Adel , Santos Ariel , Ronaghan Catherine , Dissanaike Sharmila , Richmond Robyn
Published: March 2022

Background

As Acute Care Surgery and shift-based models increase in popularity, there is evidence of better outcomes for many types of emergency general surgery patients. We explored the difference in outcomes for patients with acute biliary disorders, treated by either Acute Care Surgery (ACS) model or traditional call model (TRAD) during the same period.

Methods

Retrospective review of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute biliary disease 2017-2018. Demographics, clinical presentation, operative details, and outcomes were compared.

Results

Demographics, clinical presentation, and complication rates were similar between groups. Time from surgical consult to operating room (Δ = −15.34 hours [−24.57, −6.12], P = .001), length of stay (Δ = −1.4 days [−2.45, −.35], P = .009), and total charges were significantly decreased in ACS group compared to TRAD (Δ$2797.76 [−4883.12, −712.41], P = .009).

Conclusions

Acute biliary disease can be managed successfully in an ACS shift-based model with reduced overall hospital charges and equivalent outcomes.
Elevated C-Reactive Protein/Albumin Ratio Is Associated With Lesion Complexity, Multilevel Involvement, and Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease
Authors: Kim Byung Gyu , Seo Jongkwon , Kim Gwang Sil , Jin Moo-Nyun , Lee Hye Young , Byun Young Sup , Kim Byung Ok
Published: March 2022

Inflammation plays an important role in the progression of peripheral artery disease (PAD). We investigated the predictive value of the C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) on the severity of PAD and outcomes after endovascular therapy (EVT). Patients (n = 307) with PAD who underwent EVT were retrospectively reviewed and categorized according to CAR tertiles. The groups were compared for the prevalence of complex lesions and multilevel involvement as well as the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and major adverse limb events (MALEs). The rates of complex lesions and multilevel involvement increased with increasing CAR tertiles (all P < .001). These associations remained significant even after adjustment for other confounders (complex lesion odds ratio, 1.22 [1.03-1.50]; P = .036; multilevel disease odds ratio, 1.20 [1.01-1.44]; P = .041). The third CAR tertile showed a significantly higher incidence of MACEs and MALEs than the second and first tertiles within a year (log-rank P < .001). A higher CAR as a continuous variable was also independently associated with the 4-year rate of MACE (hazard ratio, 1.20 [1.04-1.38]; P = .015). Elevated CAR was a powerful surrogate marker of severe PAD and worse outcomes. Thus, CAR might become a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with PAD.
Polarization Sensitive Photothermal Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging of Human Bone Marrow Tissue
Authors: Mankar Rupali , Gajjela Chalapathi C. , Bueso-Ramos Carlos E. , Yin C. Cameron , Mayerich David , Reddy Rohith K.
Published: March 2022

Collagen quantity and integrity play an important role in understanding diseases such as myelofibrosis (MF). Label-free mid-infrared spectroscopic imaging (MIRSI) has the potential to quantify collagen while minimizing the subjective variance observed with conventional histopathology. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy with polarization sensitivity provides chemical information while also estimating tissue dichroism. This can potentially aid MF grading by revealing the structure and orientation of collagen fibers. Simultaneous measurement of collagen structure and biochemical properties can translate clinically into improved diagnosis and enhance our understanding of disease progression. In this paper, we present the first report of polarization-dependent spectroscopic variations in collagen from human bone marrow samples. We build on prior work with animal models and extend it to human clinical biopsies with a practical method for high-resolution chemical and structural imaging of bone marrow on clinical glass slides. This is done using a new polarization-sensitive photothermal mid-infrared spectroscopic imaging scheme that enables sample and source independent polarization control. This technology provides 0.5 µm spatial resolution, enabling the identification of thin (≈1 µm) collagen fibers that were not separable using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) imaging in the fingerprint region at diffraction-limited resolution ( ≈ 5 µm). Finally, we propose quantitative metrics to identify fiber orientation from discrete band images (amide I and amide II) measured under three polarizations. Previous studies have used a pair of orthogonal polarization measurements, which is insufficient for clinical samples since human bone biopsies contain collagen fibers with multiple orientations. Here, we address this challenge and demonstrate that three polarization measurements are necessary to resolve orientation ambiguity in clinical bone marrow samples. This is also the first study to demonstrate the ability to spectroscopically identify thin collagen fibers (≈1 µm diameter) and their orientations, which is critical for accurate grading of human bone marrow fibrosis.
Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care in a Urban School District
Authors: Williams Teressa
Published: March 2022

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty, staff, and administrative perceptions regarding implementation of trauma-informed care (TIC) in a small suburban school district. All employees of the district were invited to participate, with 91 submitting completed surveys. Participants completed the ARTIC-35 to measure perceptions of TIC. While no significant differences were found for the total or subscale scores, findings indicated the staff, as a whole, had positive perceptions of the program. Based on these findings, it appears that professional development before and during the program helped staff become more responsive to students who had experienced trauma.
Non-linear Effect of Real Exchange Rate Variability with Macroeconomic Variable on Non-Petroleum Commodities of India– US Trade
Authors: Gupta Mohini , Varshney Sakshi
Published: March 2022

This article aims to explore the asymmetric influence of real exchange rate volatility on India–US trade commodity-wise. In this study, the assumption of symmetric relation is neglected and assessed on the asymmetric effect of real exchange rate volatility on 90 commodities distributed under 6 industries. This study verifies short-run and long-run asymmetry effects, the short-run effect in 21 Indian exporting commodities and 19 Indian importing commodities. However, the short-run effect lasting onto the long run in 16 exporting commodities and 27 importing commodities strongly supports the J-curve. Also, non-linear causality is witnessed in this study running from real exchange rate variability to export trade and import trade. The empirical analyses explain that commodities will benefit the export or import growth with the depreciation of exchange rate or discouraging with the appreciation of exchange rate. The findings of the study provide a view for policy making.

JEL Codes: C22, F1, F14, F31, O19
Exploring semester abroad as a model for developing competencies for international social work
Authors: Das Chaitali , Rösner Verena
Published: March 2022

Student exposure to international contexts can support students to develop a variety of knowledge, values and skills for social work practice in a globalised world. While various models of internationalisation in social work education exist, semester abroad models have received scant attention in international social work. This article presents perceived learning outcomes for German social work students who participated in an integrated semester abroad programme within the European Union, that are comparable to other international pedagogies. The model showcases reciprocal study abroad arrangements between universities located in neighbouring countries that has implications for such internationalisation beyond exchanges between North-South countries.
Terrorism and Political Tolerance toward “Fellow Travelers”
Authors: Peffley Mark , Hutchison Marc L. , Shamir Michal
Published: March 2022

How does terrorism influence citizens’ willingness to deny basic liberties to domestic groups alleged to be “fellow travelers” of the perpetrators of terrorism? Based on intergroup threat theory and social identity theory, we hypothesize that political intolerance toward fellow traveler groups is determined by three factors: (1) the level of terrorism, (2) the degree to which domestic outgroups are alleged to be demographically or politically associated with terrorist groups, and (3) whether individuals identify strongly with the political Right. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that higher levels of terrorism in Israel over a thirty-year period produce a “diffusion of political intolerance” among Israeli Jews on the Right that extends to domestic groups distant from the perpetrators of terrorism. Our findings have important implications for the study of terrorism, democracy, and political tolerance.
Altered Rheological Properties of Saliva with Aging in Mouse Sublingual Gland
Authors: Yamada M. , Masaki C. , Mukaibo T. , Munemasa T. , Nodai T. , Kondo Y. , Hosokawa R.
Published: March 2022

Mucin in saliva plays a critical role in the hydration and lubrication of the oral mucosa by retaining water molecules, and its impaired function may be associated with hyposalivation-independent xerostomia. Age-dependent effects on salivary gland function and rheological properties of secreted saliva are not fully understood as aging is a complex and multifactorial process. We aimed to evaluate age-related changes in the rheological properties of saliva and elucidate the underlying mechanism. We performed ex vivo submandibular gland (SMG) and sublingual gland (SLG) perfusion experiments to collect saliva from isolated glands of young (12 wk old) and aged (27 mo old) female C57BL/6J mice and investigate the rheological properties by determining the spinnbarkeit (viscoelasticity). While fluid secretion was comparable in SMG and SLG of both mice, spinnbarkeit showed a significant decrease in SLG saliva of aged mice than that of young mice. There were no significant differences in GalNAc concentration between young and aged SLG saliva. Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis of SLG saliva revealed that (Hex)1 (HexNAc)1 (NeuAc)1 at m/z 793.31 was the most abundant O-glycan structure in SLG saliva commonly detected in both mice. Lectin staining of salivary gland tissue showed that SLG stained strongly with Maackia amurensis lectin II (MAL II) while Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) stained little, if any, SLG. The messenger RNA expression of St3gal1 that encodes an α-2,3 sialic acid sialyltransferase SIAT4-A showed a decrease in SLG of aged mice, confirmed by a Western blot analysis. Lectin blot analysis in SLG saliva revealed that the relative signal intensity detected by MAL II was significantly lower in aged SLG. Our results suggest that spinnbarkeit decreases in SLG of aging mice due to downregulation of sialic acid linked to α-2,3 sialic acid sialyltransferase expression.
Time for Physical Activity: Different, Unequal, Gendered
Authors: Doan Tinh , Yu Peng , LaBond Christine , Gong Cathy , Strazdins Lyndall
Published: March 2022

We investigate time inequity as an explanatory mechanism for gendered physical activity disparity. Our mixed-effect generalized linear model with two-stage residual inclusion framework uses longitudinal data, capturing differing exchanges and trade-offs in time resources. The first stage estimates within-household exchanges of paid and family work hours. Estimates show that men’s employment increases women’s family work hours while reducing their own, whereas women’s employment weakly affects men’s family time. Incorporating unequal household exchange into the second stage reveals that as women’s paid or family work hours increase, physical activity goes down. In contrast, men’s physical activity is unaffected by paid work hours, and family time appears protective. Control over work time further underscores gendered time exchange: Men’s activity increases with own or partner’s control, whereas women’s increases only with their own. Our approach reveals how men’s and women’s unequal capability to use time creates differing trade-offs between work, family, and physical activity, generating health inequity.
Lessons Learned From Dear Pandemic, a Social Media–Based Science Communication Project Targeting the COVID-19 Infodemic
Authors: Albrecht Sandra S. , Aronowitz Shoshana V. , Buttenheim Alison M. , Coles Sarah , Dowd Jennifer Beam , Hale Lauren , Kumar Aparna , Leininger Lindsey , Ritter Ashley Z. , Simanek Amanda M. , Whelan Christine B. , Jones Malia
Published: March 2022

The World Health Organization has identified excessive COVID-19 pandemic–related information as a public health crisis, calling it an “infodemic.” Social media allows misinformation to spread quickly and outcompete scientifically grounded information delivered via other methods. Dear Pandemic is an innovative, multidisciplinary, social media–based science communication project whose mission is to educate and empower individuals to successfully navigate the overwhelming amount of information circulating during the pandemic. This mission has 2 primary objectives: (1) to disseminate trustworthy, comprehensive, and timely scientific content about the pandemic to lay audiences via social media and (2) to promote media literacy and information-hygiene practices, equipping readers to better manage the COVID-19 infodemic within their own networks. The volunteer team of scientists publishes 8-16 posts per week on pandemic-relevant topics. Nearly 2 years after it launched in March 2020, the project has a combined monthly reach of more than 4 million unique views across 4 social media channels, an email newsletter, and a website. We describe the project’s guiding principles, lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities. Dear Pandemic has emerged as an example of a promising new paradigm for public health communication and intervention. The contributors deliver content in ways that are personal, practical, actionable, responsive, and native to social media platforms. The project’s guiding principles are a model for public health communication targeting future infodemics and can bridge the chasm between the scientific community and the practical daily decision-making needs of the general public.
Color segmentation of multicolor porous printed fabrics by conjugating SOM and EDSC clustering algorithms
Authors: Qian Miao , Wang Zhenfei , Huang Xuantao , Xiang Zhong , Wei Pengli , Hu Xudong
Published: March 2022

In order to achieve accurate color segmentation of printed fabrics, the color segmentation algorithm combining the self-organizing maps neural network and the efficient dense subspace clustering was proposed in this paper. After pre-processing of the fabric image, the primary clustering was implemented by the self-organizing maps algorithm, then the secondary clustering was done by the efficient dense subspace clustering algorithm. The optimal silhouette coefficient is introduced into the clustering process of the efficient dense subspace clustering algorithm to determine the number of clustering centers automatically. Finally, by the post-processing including gray-scale transformation, binarization and open operation, the mis-segmentation of edge color was eliminated, making the algorithm more suitable for industrial application. Experiments were carried out and results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper can recognize the color of small areas accurately and segment the color of complex printed fabric images. The color segmented results of 20 printed fabrics show that the accuracy of the algorithm proposed in this paper reaches 88.3%.
COMMENTARY – THE MAKING OF QUAD REALISM
Authors: Thornton William H. , Thornton Songok Han
Published: March 2022

Once again, the world is polarizing along ideological lines and this time India can neither stand aside nor stand alone. In the face of China's mounting provocations and patent military superiority, Narendra Modi knows that India has no choice but to seek security through Sino‐resistant channels like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or Quad), in league with America, Japan, and Australia. It is no accident that India's most dependable allies are liberal democracies. This puts Modi in a stupendous ideological bind. The Davos globalism he has courted in the past was so economistic that his domestic repression was all but ignored. Now, however, he is playing in a liberal international league where his style of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) autocracy will not be condoned. His fate as well as India's hinges on how he navigates a post‐globalist geopolitics that is presently defined by the moral realism of the Biden Doctrine.
Iteration in Mixed-Methods Research Designs Combining Experiments and Fieldwork,
Authors: Pérez Bentancur Verónica , Tiscornia Lucía
Published: March 2022

Experimental designs in the social sciences have received increasing attention due to their power to produce causal inferences. Nevertheless, experimental research faces limitations, including limited external validity and unrealistic treatments. We propose combining qualitative fieldwork and experimental design iteratively—moving back-and-forth between elements of a research design—to overcome these limitations. To properly evaluate the strength of experiments researchers need information about the context, data, and previous knowledge used to design the treatment. To support our argument, we analyze 338 pre-analysis plans submitted to the Evidence in Governance and Politics repository in 2019 and the design of a study on public opinion support for punitive policing practices in Montevideo, Uruguay. The paper provides insights about using qualitative fieldwork to enhance the external validity, transparency and replicability of experimental research, and a practical guide for researchers who want to incorporate iteration to their research designs.