bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Accumulated temperature requirements of Echinochloa crus‐galli seed‐setting: A case study with populations collected from rice fields
Authors: Chen Guoqi , Chen Yang , Yu Hang , Zhou Lin , Zhuang Xiangxin
Published: June 2022

Effective accumulated temperature (EAT) is a basic index to predict plant growing and development, while EATs for key stages during Echinochloa crus‐galli seed‐setting are still unclear. We collected three E. crus‐galli populations (Nanling [NL], Feidong [FD], and Sihong [SH]) from different rice fields in eastern China and conducted four sets of pot experiments in a greenhouse. Plants of the three populations sown on May 9–12, averagely reproduced 484–671 mature seeds per plant; showed a duration of 67–76 days from sowing to heading, with an average EAT of 1,156–1,274°C; showed a duration of 90–94 days from sowing to seeds starting maturation in plant individuals with average EATs about 1,571–1,647°C; and showed a maturation stage lasting for 14–36 days. Significant negative correlations (p < .01) were found between the period of collecting day after seed maturation and the number or 1,000‐seed weight of mature seeds collected on the day, in each set of experiment. Compared with NL individuals sown on May 9, NL individuals sown on April 10 needed significantly higher EATs for periods from sowing to seed maturation, and from heading to seed maturation. According to logistic regressions, duration days needed for 50% of seeds to mature were 93–122 days after sowing, with EATs of 1,625–1893°C for these E. crus‐galli populations. This study revealed EATs for E. crus‐galli seed‐setting, which suggested time windows for panicle‐removing control of E. crus‐galli in rice fields.
Hydrodynamic Interaction Between Two Flexible Finite Length Coaxial Cylinders: New Theoretical Formulation and Numerical Validation
Authors: Lagrange Romain , Adela Puscas Maria
Published: June 2022

This article addresses the interaction of two coaxial cylinders separated by a thin fluid layer. The cylinders are flexible, have a finite length, and are subject to a vibration mode of an Euler–Bernoulli beam. Assuming a narrow channel, an inviscid and linear theoretical approach is carried out, leading to a new simple and tractable analytical expression of the fluid forces. We show that the dimensionless form of this matrix reduces to a single coefficient whose properties (sign and variations) strongly depend on the boundary conditions, the wave number of the vibration modes, and the aspect ratio of the cylinders. All these properties are made explicit in our formulation, which applies to all classical types of boundary conditions. A numerical approach based on an arbitrary Lagrange–Eulerian method is also presented and successfully compared to the theoretical predictions.
Comparison of Existing Methods for Characterizing Bi-Linear Natural Ankle Quasi-Stiffness
Authors: Nigro Luke , Arch Elisa S.
Published: June 2022

Natural ankle quasi-stiffness (NAS) is a mechanical property of the ankle joint during dynamic motion. NAS has been historically calculated as the average slope (linear regression) of the net ankle moment versus ankle angle during discrete phases of stance. However, recent work has shown that NAS is nonlinear during the stance phase. Specifically, during the loading phase of stance (∼10 to 60% of total stance), plantarflexion moment increases at an accelerating rate compared to dorsiflexion angle. Updated models have been developed to better capture this inherent nonlinearity. One type of model called bi-linear NAS (BL-NAS) divides the loading phase of stance into two subphases, called early loading (EL) and late loading (LL) NAS. Two papers, written by Crenna and Frigo (2011, “Dynamics of the Ankle Joint Analyzed Through Moment-Angle Loops During Human Walking: Gender and Age Effects,” Hum. Mov. Sci., 30(6), pp. 1185–1198) and Shamaei et al. (2013, “Estimation of Quasi-Stiffness and Propulsive Work of the Human Ankle in the Stance Phase of Walking,” PLoS One, 8(3), p. e59935), outline different BL-NAS models. Both models fit measured data better (lower root-mean-squared error (RMSE)) than standard single linear NAS (SL-NAS) models but have not been widely adopted, possibly because of methodological discrepancies and lack of applicability to physical devices at the time. This paper compares and contrasts these existing BL-NAS models and translates those findings to possible orthotic device designs. Results showed that both BL-NAS models had lower RMSE than SL-NAS, EL-NAS was not significantly different across walking speeds, and LL-NAS increased significantly at faster walking speeds. These improved models of NAS much better approximate natural human movement than commonly used SL-NAS models, and thus provide a basis to design ankle-foot devices with multiple stiffness properties to emulate and facilitate natural human motion.
Patent Data for Engineering Design: A Critical Review and Future Directions
Authors: Jiang Shuo , Sarica Serhad , Song Binyang , Hu Jie , Luo Jianxi
Published: June 2022

Patent data have long been used for engineering design research because of its large and expanding size and widely varying massive amount of design information contained in patents. Recent advances in artificial intelligence and data science present unprecedented opportunities to develop data-driven design methods and tools, as well as advance design science, using the patent database. Herein, we survey and categorize the patent-for-design literature based on its contributions to design theories, methods, tools, and strategies, as well as the types of patent data and data-driven methods used in respective studies. Our review highlights promising future research directions in patent data-driven design research and practice.
Morphological Dynamics-Based Anomaly Detection Towards In Situ Layer-Wise Certification for Directed Energy Deposition Processes
Authors: Bappy Mahathir Mohammad , Liu Chenang , Bian Linkan , Tian Wenmeng
Published: June 2022

The process uncertainty induced quality issue remains the major challenge that hinders the wider adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) technology. The defects occurred significantly compromise structural integrity and mechanical properties of fabricated parts. Therefore, there is an urgent need in fast, yet reliable AM component certification. Most finite element analysis related methods characterize defects based on the thermomechanical relationships, which are computationally inefficient and cannot capture process uncertainty. In addition, there is a growing trend in data-driven approaches on characterizing the empirical relationships between thermal history and anomaly occurrences, which focus on modeling an individual image basis to identify local defects. Despite their effectiveness in local anomaly detection, these methods are quite cumbersome when applied to layer-wise anomaly detection. This paper proposes a novel in situ layer-wise anomaly detection method by analyzing the layer-by-layer morphological dynamics of melt pools and heat affected zones (HAZs). Specifically, the thermal images are first preprocessed based on the g-code to assure unified orientation. Subsequently, the melt pool and HAZ are segmented, and the global and morphological transition metrics are developed to characterize the morphological dynamics. New layer-wise features are extracted, and supervised machine learning methods are applied for layer-wise anomaly detection. The proposed method is validated using the directed energy deposition (DED) process, which demonstrates superior performance comparing with the benchmark methods. The average computational time is significantly shorter than the average build time, enabling in situ layer-wise certification and real-time process control.
Quantifying Viscous Damping and Stiffness in Parkinsonism Using Data-Driven Model Estimation and Admittance Control
Authors: Werning Alec , Umbarila Daniel , Fite Maxwell , Fergus Sinta , Zhang Jianyu , Molnar Gregory F. , Johnson Luke A. , Wang Jing , Vitek Jerrold L. , Escobar Sanabria David
Published: June 2022

Rigidity of upper and lower limbs in Parkinson's disease (PD) is typically assessed via a clinical rating scale that is subject to human perception biases. Methodologies to quantify changes in rigidity associated with the angular position (stiffness) or velocity (viscous damping) are needed to enhance our understanding of PD pathophysiology and objectively assess therapies. In this proof of concept study, we developed a robotic system and a model-based approach to estimate viscous damping and stiffness of the elbow. Our methodology enables the subject to freely rotate the elbow using an admittance controller while torque perturbations tailored to identify the arm dynamics are delivered. The viscosity and stiffness are calculated based on the experimental data using least-squares estimation. We validated our technique using computer simulations and experiments with a nonhuman animal model of PD in the presence and absence of deep brain stimulation therapy. Our data show that stiffness and viscosity measurements can better differentiate rigidity changes than scores previously used for research, including the work and impulse scores, and the modified unified Parkinson's disease rating scale. Our estimation method is suitable for quantifying the effect of therapies on viscous damping and stiffness and studying the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying rigidity in PD.
Loratadine tablet analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Authors: Rincón-Ortiz Sergio A. , García-Castro Andrés C. , Ospina Rogelio
Published: June 2022

Loratadine tablet was characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The sample was fixed to a stainless-steel sample holder with copper double-sided adhesive tape. Survey spectra, C 1s, O 1s, N 1s, Cl 2p, and Na 1s core levels spectra were acquired. Results showed the presence of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and chlorine, elements that constitute the loratadine molecule; however, carbon and oxygen are also found in the excipients (other ingredients). In addition, sodium was detected, which is associated with excipients.
Time-resolved absolute radius estimation of vibrating contrast microbubbles using an acoustical camera
Authors: Spiekhout Sander , Voorneveld Jason , van Elburg Benjamin , Renaud Guillaume , Segers Tim , Lajoinie Guillaume P. R. , Versluis Michel , Verweij Martin D. , de Jong Nico , Bosch Johannes G.
Published: June 2022

Ultrasound (US) contrast agents consist of microbubbles ranging from 1 to 10 μm in size. The acoustical response of individual microbubbles can be studied with high-frame-rate optics or an “acoustical camera” (AC). The AC measures the relative microbubble oscillation while the optical camera measures the absolute oscillation. In this article, the capabilities of the AC are extended to measure the absolute oscillations. In the AC setup, microbubbles are insonified with a high- (25 MHz) and low-frequency US wave (1–2.5 MHz). Other than the amplitude modulation (AM) from the relative size change of the microbubble (employed in Renaud, Bosch, van der Steen, and de Jong (2012a). “An ‘acoustical camera’ for in vitro characterization of contrast agent microbubble vibrations,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 100(10), 101911, the high-frequency response from individual vibrating microbubbles contains a phase modulation (PM) from the microbubble wall displacement, which is the extension described here. The ratio of PM and AM is used to determine the absolute radius, R0. To test this sizing, the size distributions of two monodisperse microbubble populations (R0= 2.1 and 3.5 μm) acquired with the AC were matched to the distribution acquired with a Coulter counter. As a result of measuring the absolute size of the microbubbles, this “extended AC” can capture the full radial dynamics of single freely floating microbubbles with a throughput of hundreds of microbubbles per hour.
Effects of an Offshore Sailing Competition on Anthropometry, Muscular Performance, Subjective Wellness, and Salivary Cortisol in Professional Sailors
Authors: Philippe Kilian , Paillard Thierry , Maurelli Olivier , Moody Jeremy , Prioux Jacques
Published: June 2022

Introduction: Evidence regarding the impact of offshore sailing on fatigue and readiness variables is conspicuous by its absence. This study investigated the acute effects of an offshore sailing regatta on anthropometry, muscular performance, subjective recovery, and salivary biomarker cortisol. Methods: Ten professional offshore sailors from a mixed-sex crew partook in the study (N = 10; mean [SD] age = 32.2 [3.96] y; stature = 179.1 [7.30] cm; body mass = 84.2 [12.1] kg). The race involved 3 offshore legs over a 3-week period. Baseline measures of anthropometry, lower- and upper-body muscular function, perceptions of subjective wellness, and salivary cortisol were assessed 3 hours prior to competition (ie, before the first leg). These measures were repeated within 30 minutes after the cessation of each leg. During each leg, boat movements were recorded via global positioning system units. Results: There were significant reductions in lower (effect size [ES] = 0.49) and upper muscular (ES = 0.21) functions, as well as in subjective wellness (ES = 1.65). Salivary cortisol levels increased (ES = 0.84). Conclusion: These results demonstrate that, during an intensified period of sailing competition, fatigue will progressively increase. This may impede sailing performance by reducing physical and cognitive efficiency. Furthermore, countermovement jump, handgrip strength, perception of subjective wellness, and cortisol concentration appear to be sensitive measures for monitoring fatigue and readiness in professional sailors.
Membrane-Tethered Mucin 1 Is Stimulated by Interferon and Virus Infection in Multiple Cell Types and Inhibits Influenza A Virus Infection in Human Airway Epithelium
Authors: Iverson Ethan , Griswold Kira , Song Daniel , Gagliardi Talita B. , Hamidzadeh Kajal , Kesimer Mehmet , Sinha Sanju , Perry Melissa , Duncan Gregg A. , Scull Margaret A.
Published: June 2022

Influenza A virus (IAV) targets airway epithelial cells for infection. Large, heavily glycosylated molecules known as tethered mucins extend from the airway epithelial cell surface and may physically restrict pathogen access to underlying cells.
Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiota and Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction in Pigs with Pulmonary Inflammation Induced by Mycoplasma hyorhinis Infection
Authors: Zhang Yingying , Gan Yuan , Wang Jia , Feng Zhixin , Zhong Zhaoxin , Bao Hongduo , Xiong Qiyan , Wang Ran
Published: June 2022

Cumulative evidence suggests that bacterial pneumonia may contribute to the dysbiosis of the gut microbiota and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Our experiment has demonstrated that lung inflammation induced by
M. hyorhinis
infection was associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis and intestinal barrier dysfunction, which may provide a theoretical basis for exploring the gut-lung axis based on
M. hyorhinis
infection.
Susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variants to Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Tao Kaiming , Tzou Philip L. , Kosakovsky Pond Sergei L. , Ioannidis John P. A. , Shafer Robert W.
Published: June 2022

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are among the most effective measures for preventing and treating COVID-19. However, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants contain many mutations in their spike receptor-binding domains, the target of all authorized MAbs.
Discordance between HIV-1 Population in Plasma at Rebound after Structured Treatment Interruption and Archived Provirus Population in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Authors: Hendricks Chynna M. , Cash Melanie N. , Tagliamonte Massimiliano S. , Riva Alberto , Brander Christian , Llano Anuska , Salemi Marco , Stevenson Mario , Mavian Carla
Published: June 2022

Even with effective ART, HIV-1 persists at undetectable levels and rebounds in individuals who stop treatment. Cellular and anatomical reservoirs ignite viral rebound upon treatment interruption, remaining one of the key obstacles for HIV-1 cure.
Rhabdomyolysis following snapper fish consumption (Haff disease): a family affair
Authors: Das Adarsh , Khoo Timothy , England Thomas , Lim Wai Hon
Published: June 2022

This case describes the first report of Haff disease in Australia, where a family of three all presented with myalgia, after ingesting recently thawed, baked queen snapper fish, caught off the coast of Western Australia. All three members (mother, father and son) developed rhabdomyolysis; however, the son, who had a higher creatine kinase level, also developed an acute kidney injury, likely linked to his double fish consumption. All members were admitted for intravenous hydration and clinically improved. This case highlights the importance of dietary and environmental history in cases of rhabdomyolysis without an obvious aetiology in an otherwise self-limiting disease.
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour—insulinoma masquerading as a psychiatric illness
Authors: Karanth Jnanaprakash B , Pai Vishwas , Maribashetti Kiran
Published: June 2022

A female patient in her early sixties had problems of recurrent syncopal attacks and panic attacks over the last 5 years. She had been initially managed for an anxiety disorder with psychiatric medications. During one of those episodes, she was brought to our hospital in an unconscious state with a low blood sugar level of 43 mg/dL. She was suspected to have a neuroendocrine tumour and diagnosis was established by supervised fasting up to 72 hours and imaging. Her recorded blood sugar during fasting was 37 mg/dL. She underwent surgery and presently remains asymptomatic. Physicians should have a high suspicion of insulinoma in patients presenting with repeated episodes of hypoglycaemic symptoms in the absence of any cognizable cause.
Does motor control training improve pain and function in adults with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation? A systematic review and meta-analysis of 861 subjects in 16 trials
Authors: Pourahmadi Mohammadreza , Delavari Somayeh , Hayden Jill A , Keshtkar Abbasali , Ahmadi Maryam , Aletaha Azadeh , Nazemipour Maryam , Mansournia Mohammad Ali , Rubinstein Sidney M
Published: June 2022

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of motor control training (MCT) compared with other physical therapist-led interventions, minimal/no intervention or surgery in patients with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation (LDH).

Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources

Eight databases and the ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from inception to April 2021.

Eligibility criteria

We included clinical trial studies with concurrent comparison groups which examined the effectiveness of MCT in patients with symptomatic LDH. Primary outcomes were pain intensity and functional status which were expressed as mean difference (MD) and standardised mean difference (SMD), respectively.

Results

We screened 6695 articles, of which 16 clinical trials (861 participants) were eligible. Fourteen studies were judged to have high risk of bias and two studies had some risk of bias. In patients who did not undergo surgery, MCT resulted in clinically meaningful pain reduction compared with other physical therapist-led interventions (ie, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)) at short-term (MD –28.85, –40.04 to −17.66, n=69, studies=2). However, the robustness of the finding was poor. For functional status, a large and statistically significant treatment effect was found in favour of MCT compared with traditional/classic general exercises at long-term (SMD −0.83 to –1.35 to −0.31, n=63, studies=1) and other physical therapist-led interventions (ie, TENS) at short-term (SMD −1.43 to –2.41 to −0.46, n=69, studies=2). No studies compared MCT with surgery. In patients who had undergone surgery, large SMDs were seen. In favour of MCT compared with traditional/classic general exercises (SMD −0.95 to –1.32 to −0.58, n=124, studies=3), other physical therapist-led interventions (ie, conventional treatments; SMD −2.30 to –2.96 to −1.64, n=60, studies=1), and minimal intervention (SMD −1.34 to –1.87 to −0.81, n=68, studies=2) for functional improvement at short-term. The overall certainty of evidence was very low to low.

Conclusion

At short-term, MCT improved pain and function compared with TENS in patients with symptomatic LDH who did not have surgery. MCT improved function compared with traditional/classic general exercises at long-term in patients who had undergone surgery. However, the results should be interpreted with caution because of the high risk of bias in the majority of studies.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42016038166.
Influence of gestational weight gain on baby’s birth weight in Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia: a follow-up study
Authors: Asefa Fekede , Cummins Allison , Dessie Yadeta , Foureur Maralyn , Hayen Andrew
Published: June 2022

Background

Gestational weight gain (GWG) is an important indicator of fetal well-being during pregnancy. Inadequate or excessive GWG could have undesirable effects on birth weight. However, information regarding the influence of GWG on birth weight is lacking from the Ethiopian setting.

Objective

This study aimed to determine the influence of GWG and other maternal-related factors on birth weight in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Design and methods

A cohort of pregnant women who received the first antenatal care before or at 16 weeks of gestation in health centres in Addis Ababa were followed from 10 January 2019 to 25 September 2019. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and medical record reviews. We conducted a multivariable linear regression analysis to determine the independent effect of gestational weight on birth weight.

Results

Of the 395 women enrolled in the study, the participants’ pregnancy outcome was available for 329 (83.3%). The mean birth weight was 3130 (SD, 509) g. The proportion of low birth weight (<2500 g) was 7.5% (95% CI 4.8% to 11.0%). Babies born to underweight women were 150.9 g (95% CI 5.8 to 308.6 g, p=0.049) lighter than babies born to normal-weight women. Similarly, babies whose mothers gained inadequate weight were 248 g (95% CI 112.8 to 383.6 g, p<0.001) lighter than those who gained adequate weight. Moreover, babies whose mothers had a previous history of abortion or miscarriages or developed gestational hypertension in the current pregnancy were 147.2 g (95% CI 3.2 to 291.3 g, p=0.045) and 310.7 g (95% CI 62.7 to 552.8 g, p=0.012) lighter, respectively, compared with those whose mothers had not.

Conclusions

Prepregnancy weight, GWG, having had a previous history of abortion or miscarriages, and developing gestational hypertension during a current pregnancy were independently associated with birth weight. Pregnancy-related weight management should be actively promoted through intensive counseling during routine antenatal care contacts.
Large scale clinical trials: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Horsley Alex R , Pearmain Laurence , Knight Sean , Schindler Nick , Wang Ran , Bennett Miriam , Robey Rebecca C , Davies Jane C , Djukanović Ratko , Heaney Liam G , Hussell Tracy , Marciniak Stefan J , McGarvey Lorcan P , Porter Joanna , Wilkinson Tom , Brightling Chris , Ho Ling-Pei
Published: June 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented substantial new challenges to clinical and research teams. Our objective was to analyse the experience of investigators and research delivery staff regarding the research response to COVID-19 in order to identify these challenges as well as solutions for future pandemic planning.

Methods

We conducted a survey of diverse research staff involved in delivery of COVID-19 clinical trials across the UK. This was delivered online across centres linked to the NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration. Responses were analysed using a formal thematic analysis approach to identify common themes and recommendations.

Results

83 survey participants from ten teaching hospitals provided 922 individual question responses. Respondents were involved in a range of research delivery roles but the largest cohort (60%) was study investigators. A wide range of research experiences were captured, including early and late phase trials. Responses were coded into overarching themes. Among common observations, complex protocols without adaptation to a pandemic were noted to have hampered recruitment. Recommendations included the need to develop and test pandemic-specific protocols, and make use of innovations in information technology. Research competition needs to be avoided and drug selection processes should be explicitly transparent.

Conclusions

Delivery of clinical trials, particularly earlier phase trials, in a pandemic clinical environment is highly challenging, and was reactive rather than anticipatory. Future pandemic studies should be designed and tested in advance, making use of pragmatic study designs as far as possible and planning for integration between early and later phase trials and regulatory frameworks.
Haemoglobin value and red blood cell transfusions in prolonged weaning from mechanical ventilation: a retrospective observational study
Authors: Fritsch Sebastian Johannes , Dreher Michael , Simon Tim-Philipp , Marx Gernot , Bickenbach Johannes
Published: June 2022

Introduction

The role of haemoglobin (Hb) value and red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in prolonged weaning from mechanical ventilation (MV) is still controversial. Pathophysiological considerations recommend a not too restrictive transfusion strategy, whereas adverse effects of transfusions are reported. We aimed to investigate the association between Hb value, RBC transfusion and clinical outcome of patients undergoing prolonged weaning from MV.

Methods

We performed a retrospective, single-centred, observational study including patients being transferred to a specialised weaning unit. Data on demographic characteristics, comorbidities, current and past medical history and the current course of treatment were collected. Weaning failure and mortality were chosen as primary and secondary endpoint, respectively. Differences between transfused and non-transfused patients were analysed. To evaluate the impact of different risk factors including Hb value and RBC transfusion on clinical outcome, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was used.

Results

184 patients from a specialised weaning unit were analysed, of whom 36 (19.6%) failed to be weaned successfully. In-hospital mortality was 18.5%. 90 patients (48.9%) required RBC transfusion during the weaning process, showing a significantly lower Hb value (g/L) (86.3±5.3) than the non-transfusion group (95.8±10.5). In the multivariate regression analysis (OR 3.24; p=0.045), RBC transfusion was associated with weaning failure. However, the transfusion group had characteristics indicating that these patients were still in a more critical state of disease.

Conclusions

In our analysis, the need for RBC transfusion was independently associated with weaning failure. However, it is unclear whether the transfusion itself should be considered an independent risk factor or an additional symptom of a persistent critical patient condition.
Comparison of lumen-apposing metal stents versus double-pigtail plastic stents for infected necrotising pancreatitis
Authors: Boxhoorn Lotte , Verdonk Robert C , Besselink Marc G , Boermeester Marja , Bollen Thomas L , Bouwense Stefan AW , Cappendijk Vincent C , Curvers Wouter L , Dejong Cornelis H , van Dijk Sven M , van Dullemen Hendrik M , van Eijck Casper HJ , van Geenen Erwin JM , Hadithi Muhammed , Hazen Wouter L , Honkoop Pieter , van Hooft Jeanin E , Jacobs Maarten AJM , Kievits June EC , Kop Marnix PM , Kouw Eva , Kuiken Sjoerd D , Ledeboer Michiel , Nieuwenhuijs Vincent B , Perk Lars E , Poley Jan-Werner , Quispel Rutger , de Ridder Rogier JJ , van Santvoort Hjalmar C , Sperna Weiland Christina J , Stommel Martijn WJ , Timmerhuis Hester C , Witteman Ben J , Umans Devica S , Venneman Niels G , Vleggaar Frank P , van Wanrooij Roy LJ , Bruno Marco J , Fockens Paul , Voermans Rogier P
Published: June 2022

Objective

Lumen-apposing metal stents (LAMS) are believed to clinically improve endoscopic transluminal drainage of infected necrosis when compared with double-pigtail plastic stents. However, comparative data from prospective studies are very limited.

Design

Patients with infected necrotising pancreatitis, who underwent an endoscopic step-up approach with LAMS within a multicentre prospective cohort study were compared with the data of 51 patients in the randomised TENSION trial who had been assigned to the endoscopic step-up approach with double-pigtail plastic stents. The clinical study protocol was otherwise identical for both groups. Primary end point was the need for endoscopic transluminal necrosectomy. Secondary end points included mortality, major complications, hospital stay and healthcare costs.

Results

A total of 53 patients were treated with LAMS in 16 hospitals during 27 months. The need for endoscopic transluminal necrosectomy was 64% (n=34) and was not different from the previous trial using plastic stents (53%, n=27)), also after correction for baseline characteristics (OR 1.21 (95% CI 0.45 to 3.23)). Secondary end points did not differ between groups either, which also included bleeding requiring intervention—5 patients (9%) after LAMS placement vs 11 patients (22%) after placement of plastic stents (relative risk 0.44; 95% CI 0.16 to 1.17). Total healthcare costs were also comparable (mean difference −€6348, bias-corrected and accelerated 95% CI −€26 386 to €10 121).

Conclusion

Our comparison of two patient groups from two multicentre prospective studies with a similar design suggests that LAMS do not reduce the need for endoscopic transluminal necrosectomy when compared with double-pigtail plastic stents in patients with infected necrotising pancreatitis. Also, the rate of bleeding complications was comparable.
Topological characterizations of crystal cubic carbon structures
Authors: Sattar Aqsa , Javaid Muhammad
Published: June 2022

Graph theory (GT) serves as a mathematical foundation that helps us to manipulate, develop, analyze, and comprehend the chemical networks or structures and their characteristics. Molecular graph is a graph made up of vertices (atoms) and edges (chemical bonds between atoms). Chemical GT applied geometrical and combinatorial GT to model the important chemical structures of chemistry. Chemical GT has a wide range of uses in the study of chemical structures. The examination and manipulation of chemical structural information is made feasible by utilizing the numerical graph invariants. A graph invariant or a topological index (TI) is a numerical measure of a chemical compound that is capable of describing the properties of chemical compounds, such as melting point, freezing point, density, pressure, tension, and temperature. In this article, we compute connection-based Zagreb indices (CBZIs), namely first CBZI, second CBZI, modified first CBZI, modified second CBZI, and modified third CBZI for one of the significant types of molecular structure named as crystal cubic carbon structure, which is the most important allotrope of carbon atom. Moreover, to examine the superiority and authenticity of our computed TIs, we compare the calculated values of these ZIs for crystal cubic carbon structure with each other. This comparison enables us to check which CBZI is more authentic and superior to predict the physical and chemical properties of crystal cubic carbon structure.
FINANCIAL RISK METER FOR CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND TAIL RISK NETWORK-BASED PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION
Authors: REN RUI , ALTHOF MICHAEL , HÄRDLE WOLFGANG KARL
Published: June 2022

Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a new asset class. In order to provide a thorough understanding of this new asset class, we study the dependencies in tail risk events within cryptocurrencies, and provide a hedging alternative in this paper. First, we adopt the Financial Risk Meter approach for cryptocurrencies, which is able to identify individual risk characteristics and indicate systemic risk in a network topology. Next, we detect the interdependencies across digital coins and study the spillover effects. Finally, we construct tail event sensitive portfolios and test the performance versus traditional approaches from January 2019 to May 2022.
Investigating Bifurcation Points of Complex Network Synchronization
Authors: Karimi Rahjerdi Bahareh , Ramamoorthy Ramesh , Nazarimehr Fahimeh , Rajagopal Karthikeyan , Jafari Sajad , Hussain Iqtadar
Published: June 2022

This paper investigates the relationship between synchronization, system dynamics, and bifurcation points. To investigate the synchronization of dynamical systems, first, two oscillators are considered. Then networks with different structures are generated. The Master Stability Function (MSF) and synchronization criterion are computed for various oscillator dynamics in each network. The results of this paper can be categorized into two groups. In the first group, three points around the bifurcation points of the systems (before, near, and after the bifurcation point) are investigated that show no specific variation in the MSF diagram or its zero-crossing. Then it is revealed that the zero-crossing of the MSF diagram is related to the bifurcation points of the synchronization measure. In the second group, the types of synchronization transitions and MSFs for two periodic and chaotic dynamics of the studied systems are investigated for different networks. The results show that the type of synchronization transition can be different by changing the dynamics or network structure. However, in all networks and dynamics, the zero-crossing of MSF is completely matched with the bifurcation points of synchronization measure.
Stability and Bifurcation Analysis of an Environmental Protection Model with Two Delays
Authors: He Jun , Yang Ping , Dai Yunxian
Published: June 2022

This paper is devoted to studying an environmental protection model with two delays. The model considers the interactions among visitors [Formula: see text], environmental resource [Formula: see text], and capital stock [Formula: see text] in protected areas. The tourism user fees obtained from visitors are partly used as an environmental expenditure and partly as the increment of capital stock. The spread delay [Formula: see text] and the protection delay [Formula: see text] are introduced. The stability switching cures for the two delays are used to investigate the stability of the equilibrium and the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation. The bifurcating directions are determined. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the results. In this model, the quality of the environmental resource is related closely to the environmental expenditure, where the more the environmental expenditure, the better the quality of the environmental resource. This result will be useful for the protection of the protected areas.
INSIGHT INTO AN EFFICIENT MICROMIXER WITH STAGGER ABREAST BAFFLES
Authors: XIE HANGDA , WANG LING , CHEN XUEYE
Published: June 2022

Passive micromixers utilize no external energy input. It mainly depends on the structure change of microchannel to produce chaotic convection effect, which increases the contact surface and contact time between the fluid. The mixing efficiency of stagger non-abreast baffles (SNB) micromixer and stagger abreast baffles (SAB) micromixer is compared at five kinds of Reynolds (Res). It may affect the mixing efficiency including the height ([Formula: see text]) and number ([Formula: see text]) of baffles, the distance between two adjacent baffles, non-abreast baffles, and abreast baffles. As the [Formula: see text] of the baffles changes, it contributes to enhance the chaotic convection of the micromixer. When Re [Formula: see text], the worst mixing efficiency of the most efficient seven SABs ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] mm, [Formula: see text] mm, [Formula: see text]) micromixer reaches an astonishing 98%. The concentration change along the microchannel is studied in this paper. At low Re, SAB makes fluid contact zigzag in microchannel and enhances molecular diffusion. At high Re, SAB causes chaotic convection in the microchannel and completes the mixing quickly.
A NEW STRATEGY FOR AUTOMATIC BREAST CANCER SEGMENTATION IN MRI IMAGES
Authors: AMMAR MOHAMMED , MAHMOUDI SAÏD
Published: June 2022

Breast tumor is one of the causes of women’s death in the world after cardiovascular diseases. Recently, the diagnosis and treatment planning of this kind of tumors are based on magnetic resonance imaging techniques, which are the reference imaging modality in breast tumors analysis since it can better differentiate soft tissues (compared to mammography and ultrasound). Segmentation of the breast cancer is a very important task for cancer response prediction in neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment based either on texture analysis or parametric response maps. In most of the previous works in the literature, the segmentation is generally done with manual annotation of tumor regions, which is time-consuming and error-prone. In this paper, we propose a new strategy for an automatic segmentation of breast tumors in MRI images. We propose first to separate the two breasts, and then, we use the Expectation–Maximization Algorithm to segment and detect the tumor lesion.
Deep Dexterous Grasping of Novel Objects From a Single View
Authors: Aktaş Ümit Ruşen , Zhao Chao , Kopicki Marek , Wyatt Jeremy L.
Published: June 2022

Dexterous grasping of a novel object given a single view is an open problem. This paper makes several contributions to its solution. First, we present a simulator for generating and testing dexterous grasps. Second, we present a dataset, generated by this simulator, of 2.4 million simulated dexterous grasps of variations of 294 base objects drawn from 20 categories. Third, we combine an existing approach to learn a grasp generation model with three different learned evaluative models employing ResNet-50 or VGG16 as their visual backbone. Fourth, we train, and evaluate 17 variants of the resulting generative-evaluative architectures on the simulated dataset, showing improvement from 69.53% grasp success rate to 90.49%. Fifth, we present a real robot implementation and evaluate the four most promising variants, executing 196 real robot grasps in total. We show that our best architectural variant achieves a grasp success rate of 87.8% on real novel objects seen from a single view, improving on a baseline of 57.1%. Finally, we explore the inner workings of our best evaluative model and perform an extensive analysis of its results on the simulated dataset.
Invariance properties, exact and explicit solutions of time-fractional Gear–Grimshaw model
Authors: San Sait , Koç Bahri
Published: June 2022

In this study, we consider a time-fractional shallow water wave model which was introduced by Gear and Grimshaw. This model represents the dynamics of two-layered shallow water waves in oceans and rivers. Also it covers many shallow water wave models with special values taken to parameters. By performing the group invariant analysis approach for the governing system with Riemann–Liouville derivative, symmetry generators were found. Similarity reduction was constructed by Erdelyi–Kober sense. In addition, by adapting the Sine-Gordon expansion method, we find some exact traveling wave solutions. Furthermore, explicit solutions in form of power series are examined via the residual power series method. Exact and approximate solutions are compared for some [Formula: see text] values and these are given as tables.
Motion by crystalline-like mean curvature: A survey
Authors: Giga Yoshikazu , Požár Norbert
Published: June 2022

We consider a class of anisotropic curvature flows called crystalline curvature flows. We present a survey on this class of flows with special emphasis on the well-posedness of its initial value problem.
Bifurcation analysis and optimal control of COVID-19 with exogenous reinfection and media coverages
Authors: Zhang Jiajia , Qiao Yuanhua , Zhang Yan
Published: June 2022

In this paper, a SEIR epidemic model related to media coverage and exogenous reinfections is established to explore the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. The basic reproduction number is calculated using the next generation matrix method. First, the existence of equilibrium points is investigated, and different kinds of equilibrium points indicate that the disease may disappear, or exist that result in different quantity of susceptible individuals, pre-symptomatic infected individuals and symptomatic infected individuals. The stability of the equilibria is discussed by a geometric approach, and it is found that controlling reproduction number to be lower than 1 is not sufficient for eradication of COVID-19. Second, transcritical bifurcation is explored, and it is found that improving the ratio of exogenous reinfection may lead to backward bifurcation under poor medical conditions, which indicates that two endemic equilibrium points appear. Third, to investigate the influence of parameters on the basic reproduction, sensitivity analysis is done to choose relatively sensitive parameters, and the parameters for treatment and media coverage are selected. An optimal control model is established to balance the treatment and media awareness. By exploring the existence and the uniqueness of the optimal control solution, the optimal control strategies are given. Finally, we run numerical simulations to verify the theoretical analysis on actual data of China, and the data from the four different states of India is used for forecasting the situation of infected individuals in a short period. It is found by the simulation that the co-function of treatment and media coverage results in the reduced number of infectious individuals.
Automated apoptosis identification in fluorescence imaging of nucleus based on histogram of oriented gradients of high-frequency wavelet coefficients
Authors: Liu Shutong , Su Limei , Sun Han , Chen Tongsheng , Hu Min , Zhuang Zhengfei
Published: June 2022

The automatic and accurate identification of apoptosis facilitates large-scale cell analysis. Most identification approaches using nucleus fluorescence imaging are based on specific morphological parameters. However, these parameters cannot completely describe nuclear morphology, thus limiting the identification accuracy of models. This paper proposes a new feature extraction method to improve the performance of the model for apoptosis identification. The proposed method uses a histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) of high-frequency wavelet coefficients to extract internal and edge texture information. The HOG vectors are classified using support vector machine. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed feature extraction method well performs apoptosis identification, attaining [Formula: see text] accuracy with low cost in terms of time. We confirmed that our method has potential applications to cell biology research.
VoiceTalk: Multimedia-IoT Applications for Mixing Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English
Authors: Lin Yi-Bing , Liao Yuan-Fu , Chen Sin-Horng , Hwang Shaw-Hwa , Wang Yih-Ru
Published: June 2022

The voice-based Internet of Multimedia Things (IoMT) is the combination of IoT interfaces and protocols with associated voice-related information, which enables advanced applications based on human-to-device interactions. An example is Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for live captioning and voice translation. Three major issues of ASR for IoMT are IoT development cost, speech recognition accuracy, and execution time complexity. For the first issue, most non-voice IoT applications are upgraded with the ASR feature through hard coding, which are error prone. For the second issue, recognition accuracy must be improved for ASR. For the third issue, many multimedia IoT services are real-time applications and, therefore, the ASR delay must be short.

This article elaborates on the above issues based on an IoT platform called VoiceTalk. We built the largest Taiwanese spoken corpus to train
VoiceTalk ASR (VT-ASR)
and show how the VT-ASR mechanism can be transparently integrated with existing IoT applications. We consider two performance measures for VoiceTalk: speech recognition accuracy and VT-ASR delay. For the acoustic tests of PAL-Labs, VT-ASR's accuracy is 96.47%, while Google's accuracy is 94.28%. We are the first to develop an analytic model to investigate the probability that the VT-ASR delay for the first speaker is complete before the second speaker starts talking. From the measurements and analytic modeling, we show that the VT-ASR delay is short enough to result in a very good user experience. Our solution has won several important government and commercial TV contracts in Taiwan. VT-ASR has demonstrated better Taiwanese Mandarin speech recognition accuracy than famous commercial products (including Google and Iflytek) in Formosa Speech Recognition Challenge 2018 (FSR-2018) and was the best among all participating ASR systems for Taiwanese recognition accuracy in FSR-2020.
Evaluation of Large-Format Lithium-Ion Cell Thermal Runaway Response Triggered by Nail Penetration using Novel Fractional Thermal Runaway Calorimetry and Gas Collection Methodology
Authors: Walker William Q. , Bayles Gary A. , Johnson Kenneth L. , Brown Ryan P. , Petrushenko David , Hughes Peter J. , Calderon Damien T. , Darst John J. , Hagen Richard A. , Sakowski Barbara A. , Smith James P. , Poast Kenneth I. , Darcy Eric C. , Rickman Steven L.
Published: June 2022

To simultaneously optimize the battery design, reduce risk, and maintain safety margin, it is important to design from the ground up based on test determined cell-specific thermal runaway behavior as a function of heat output and analysis of the expelled gases. These data will inform the analytical models used for design optimization. Here we analyze the thermal runaway behavior of the 134 A-h GS Yuasa Li-ion cell (LSE134) using a novel large format fractional thermal runaway calorimeter and gas collection methodology. Results indicate an average total thermal runaway energy yield of 2.86 MJ, or 1.6 times the stored electrochemical energy; this follows an assertion commonly found in literature that energy yield scales linearly with capacity. The average fractional energy distribution was 2% through the cell body, 53% through the electrode winding, and 45% through the ejecta material and gases. Lot-to-lot variability in heat output was also identified. Additionally, it was found that an average of 416.6 SL of gas was generated which is approximately 3.1 l A-h−1. The exhaust gas was determined to be a mixture of carbon dioxide, methane, ethane, oxygen, hydrogen, and other short chain hydrocarbons. Carbon dioxide was the largest component by volume with a range of 41% to 52% followed by hydrogen which ranged from 28% to 41%. Larger cells appear to result in strong ejecta flow driven events with higher fractions of the total energy delivered via the flow as compared to smaller format Li-ion cells (e.g. 18650 and 21700).
Fluorescein clearance kinetics in blood and bile indicates hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats
Authors: Kim Joohyun , Yang Yongqiang , Hong Seung-Keun , Zielonka Jacek , Dash Ranjan K. , Audi Said H. , Kumar Suresh N. , Joshi Amit , Zimmerman Michael A. , Hong Johnny C.
Published: June 2022

Previous attempts to use fluorophore clearance to test liver function have relied on a single source of data. However, the kinetics of substrate processing via bile metabolism include decreasing levels in blood and increasing levels in bile. Thus, we analyzed data from blood and bile to better reflect fluorescein clearance kinetics.