bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association of patient, treatment and disease characteristics with patient‐reported outcomes: Results of the ECHO Registry
Authors: Hay Charles R. M. , Makris Michael , Shima Midori , Nagao Azusa , Jiménez‐Yuste Víctor , Skinner Mark , Kessler Craig M. , von Mackensen Sylvia
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) in people living with haemophilia A (PLWHA) are often under‐reported. Investigating PROs from a single study with a diverse population of PLWHA is valuable, irrespective of FVIII product or regimen.

Aim

To report available data from the Expanding Communications on Haemophilia A Outcomes (ECHO) registry investigating the associations of patient, treatment and disease characteristics with PROs and clinical outcomes in PLWHA.

Methods

ECHO (NCT02396862), a prospective, multinational, observational registry, enrolled participants aged ≥16 years with moderate or severe haemophilia A using any product or treatment regimen. Data collection, including a variety of PRO questionnaires, was planned at baseline and annually for ≥2 years. Associations between PRO scores and patient, treatment and disease characteristics were determined by statistical analyses.

Results

ECHO was terminated early owing to logistical constraints. Baseline data were available from 269 PLWHA from Europe, the United States and Japan. Most participants received prophylactic treatment (76.2%), with those using extended‐half‐life products (10.0%) reporting higher treatment satisfaction. Older age and body weight >30 kg/m2 (>BMI) were associated with poorer joint health. Older age was associated with poorer physical functioning and work productivity. Health‐related quality of life and pain interference also deteriorated with age and >BMI; >BMI also increased pain severity scores.

Conclusion

ECHO captured a variety of disease characteristics, treatment patterns, PROs and clinical outcomes obtained in real‐world practice with ≤1 year's follow‐up. Older age, poorer joint health and >BMI adversely affected multiple aspects of participant well‐being.
Ameliorating epistemic injustice in practice: Communication strategies in a research project with refugee youth coresearchers
Authors: Inge Elin , Pérez‐Aronsson Anna , Ibrahim Kalid , Aljeshy Reem , Sarkadi Anna , Warner Georgina
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Many researchers want to include seldom involved groups, such as refugees and youth, in patient and public involvement (PPI), but experience a number of barriers. The PPI research community calls for critical evaluations that are prospective, data‐based and conducted by researchers and public contributors together. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal evaluation of a core activity in all collaborations: communication strategies. The aim was to evaluate the communication strategies adopted throughout a research project with refugee youth coresearchers.

Methods

This article is based on the evaluation of a project where refugee youth were involved in the online adaptation of a group‐based programme for youth with posttraumatic stress. Behavioural observations and field notes collected during the project were analysed with qualitative content analysis and a readability index, and discussed through the lens of epistemic injustice. The article was cowritten by researchers and refugee youth.

Findings

Four manifest categories were identified: Facilitating engagement through coplanning and circumstantial flexibility; Different needs require different channels; It's not just about the channel—facilitation skills matter; Finding a common language opens a communicative flow. In addition, a latent underlying theme reflecting the role of trust was identified: Interactive moments facilitate trust—trust facilitates richer involvement.

Conclusion

At the core of the identified communication strategies were strengthening relationship‐building and actively facilitating involvement. Establishing trusting relationships enabled refugee youth to share input. The communication strategies increased hermeneutical justice by contributing to a common understanding; thus, taking a step towards ameliorating epistemic injustice.

Patient or Public Contribution

This article is a participatory analysis of a PPI process; it was written in collaboration between researchers and refugee youth coauthors, who were all previously involved in the evaluated project.
Releasing the residual stress of Al2O3/304 stainless steel joint by introducing BN into Ag‐Cu‐Ti filler metal
Authors: Tao Li , Haitao Xue , Xianming Meng , Weibing Guo , Sai Zhang , Hao Wu
Published: November 2023

Owing to the native character of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between Al2O3 and 304 stainless steel, obtaining high strength for Al2O3/304 stainless steel joints remains challenging. In this study, the residual stress of an Al2O3/304 stainless steel brazed joint was relieved using the Ag‐Cu‐Ti + boron nitride (BN) composite filler. The results indicated that the elements between the filler and base metals on both sides were mutually diffused. Moreover, reaction layers formed at the interface, connecting the Al2O3 ceramic and 304 stainless steel. The microstructure of the joint was as follows: Al2O3/Cu3Ti3O + TiCu/Ag (s, s) + Cu (s, s) + TiN + TiB2 + TiCu/Cu0.8Fe0.2Ti/TiFe2/Fe‐Cr/304 stainless steel. When the .1 wt% BN was added, the average strength of the joint reached 151 ± 10 MPa, 15% higher than the average strength of the joint only using Ag‐Cu‐Ti filler (131 ± 9 MPa). The improvement in the shear strength and reduction in the residual stress was attributed to the formation of TiN and TiB2, reducing the CTE difference and refining the microstructure.
The effectiveness of chin‐down manoeuvre in patients with dysphagia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Li Mengchao , Huang Shaochun , Ding Yaping , Li Xianwen , Cui Yan , Chen Shen
Published: November 2023

Aim

The chin‐down posture is a widely used compensatory manoeuvre for patients with dysphagia. The aim of this study was designed to systematically measure the effectiveness of chin‐down manoeuvre application.

Methodology

We retrieved the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Medline, CNKI, WANFANG, VIP and SinoMed databases from inception to 30 August 2022. Raters independently screened literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality of the included literature was evaluated, and data were extracted. The software Review Manager software 5.3 was used for statistical analysis.

Results

Fourteen studies with a total of 571 patients were included in this meta‐analysis. The meta‐analysis indicated that chin‐down manoeuvre could significantly reduce the risk of aspiration (MD = −1.35, 95% CI [−2.25, −0.44], Z = 2.92, p < .01), decrease the chin angle (MD = −12.20, 95% CI [−14.61, −9.79], Z = 9.91, p < .001), shorten oral transit time (MD = −0.81, 95% CI [−1.20, −0.43], Z = 4.17, p < .001), reduce the maximum swallowing pressure at upper oesophageal sphincter (MD = −82.07, 95% CI [−112.77, −51.37], Z = 5.24, p < .001) and decrease pharyngeal residue.

Conclusions

Existing evidence indicated that chin‐down manoeuvre could reduce the risk of aspiration and pharyngeal residue, decrease the maximum swallowing pressure at UES. More large‐sample, high‐quality clinical trials are still needed in the future to further ascertain the results of this research.
Impact of irregular sleep pattern, and sleep quality on glycaemic parameters and endothelial function in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes
Authors: Promsod Ornpisa , Kositanurit Weerapat , Tabtieang Tanat , Kulaputana Onanong , Chirakalwasan Naricha , Reutrakul Sirimon , Sahakitrungruang Taninee
Published: November 2023

This study investigated the impact of comprehensive sleep patterns on glycaemic parameters and endothelial function in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Thirty subjects with type 1 diabetes (aged 13–25) without chronic complications participated. For 1 week, glucose levels were monitored by real‐time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and sleep was simultaneously assessed by actigraphy. Subjective sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Flow‐mediated dilatation (FMD) measured endothelial function at the brachial artery. Insulin sensitivity was determined by calculated estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR). Glycaemic control was assessed using haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels. To address potential confounding by metabolic syndrome on the FMD results, three affected subjects were excluded from FMD correlation analyses. Participants with PSQI scores >5 had a lower %FMD compared with those with scores ≤5 (4.6 ± 3.7% vs. 7.6 ± 3.0%, p = 0.03). Multivariate analysis indicated that lower sleep efficiency and higher sleep duration variability were associated with higher HbA1C levels (β = −0.076, 95%CI [−0.145, −0.008], p = 0.029; β = 0.012, 95%CI [0.001, 0.023], p = 0.033). Irregular sleep timing and lower sleep efficiency were related to decreased insulin sensitivity (sleep midpoint irregularity β = −1.581, 95%CI [−2.661, −0.502], p = 0.004, and sleep efficiency β = 0.147, 95%CI [0.060, 0.235], p = 0.001). No significant associations were found between glycaemic parameters and FMD. Our study demonstrated that sleep irregularity in type 1 diabetes was associated with glycaemic control and insulin resistance, while poor subjective sleep quality was linked to endothelial dysfunction. Promoting healthy sleep habits, including consistent sleep timing could benefit metabolic and cardiovascular health in type 1 diabetes.
Large‐scale sedimentary shift induced by a mega‐dam in deltaic flats
Authors: Wang Jie , Dai Zhijun , Fagherazzi Sergio , Lou Yaying , Mei Xuefei , Ma Binbin
Published: November 2023

Deltas are crucial for land building and ecological services due to their ability to store mineral sediment, carbon and potential pollutants. A decline in suspended sediment discharge in large rivers caused by the construction of mega‐dams might imperil deltaic flats and wetlands. However, there has not been clear evidence of a sedimentary shift in the downstream tidal flats that feed coastal wetlands and the intertidal zone with sediments. Here, integrated intertidal/subaqueous sediment samples, multi‐year bathymetries, fluvial and deltaic hydrological and sediment transport data in the Nanhui tidal flats and Nanhui Shoal in the Changjiang (Yangtze) Delta, one of the largest mega‐deltas in the world, were analysed to discern how sedimentary environments changed in response to the operations of the Three Gorges Dam. Results reveal that the coarser sediment fractions of surficial sediments in the subaqueous Nanhui Shoal increased between 2004 to 2021, and the overall grain size coarsened from 18.5 to 27.3 μm. Moreover, intertidal sediments in cores coarsened by 25% after the 1990s. During that period, the northern part of the Nanhui Shoal suffered large‐scale erosion, while the southern part accreted in recent decades. Reduced suspended sediment discharge of the Changjiang River combined with local resuspension of fine‐grained sediments are responsible for tidal flat erosion. This study found that the spatial pattern of grain‐size parameters has shifted from crossing the bathymetric isobaths to being parallel to them. Higher tide level and tidal range induced by sea‐level rise, an upstream increase in bed shear stress and larger waves likely further exacerbated erosion and sediment coarsening in deltaic flats. As a result, this sediment‐starved estuary coupled with sea‐level rise and artificial reclamations have enhanced the vulnerability of tidal flats in Changjiang Delta, this research is informative to the sedimentary shift of worldwide mega‐deltas.
Prevalence and molecular basis of null blood group phenotypes in the Korean population: Analysis using a public database
Authors: Kim Tae Yeul , Park Min‐Seung , Jang Ja‐Hyun , Woo Hee‐Yeon , Cho Duck
Published: November 2023

Background

Null phenotypes are characterized by complete absence of all antigens within a blood group system and caused by null variants (e.g., nonsense, frameshift, initiation codon, and canonical splice site variants) in the genes encoding the antigens. Knowing the prevalence and molecular basis of null phenotypes is essential to establish a rare donor program, and the aim of this study was to reveal the prevalence and molecular basis of null phenotypes using the Korean Reference Genome Database (KRGDB) containing whole‐genome sequences of 1722 Korean individuals.

Study Design and Methods

Population allele frequencies of null alleles in 39 blood group systems except ABO, MNS, Rh, Lewis, and FORS were obtained from the KRGDB. The prevalence of null phenotypes was calculated using Hardy–Weinberg equation.

Results

The prevalence of null phenotypes were estimated to be less than 0.001% in all blood group systems except JR and SID. The prevalence of the Jr(a−) and Sd(a−) phenotypes were estimated to be 0.0453% and 0.2323%, respectively. The most frequent null allele of the JR system was ABCG2*01N.01, accounting for approximately 85% of null alleles.

Discussion

Our approach using a public database allowed us to investigate the prevalence and molecular basis of null phenotypes in the Korean population, which will serve as a guide for establishing a rare donor program in Korea. Considering the clinical significance, Jr(a−) is an important null phenotype that should be typed in the Korean population, and molecular assays targeting the most frequent allele ABCG2*01N.01 may be useful in detecting this phenotype.
A Descriptive analysis of civil engineering maintenance in government hospital buildings
Authors: M. Zaki M. Faiz , Wan Muhamad Wan Zuki Azman , Ayob Afizah , Isa N. Fitriah , A. Rahim M. A. Haziq
Published: November 2023

Technical maintenance management was established to monitor the serviceability of some assets or buildings in providing the conducive environment to end users. Hospital classified as the most complex and heavily used buildings in government sectors and requires efficient maintenance schedule due to its functions to occupied patient almost all the time. Therefore, the scope of a maintenance management system in the government hospital is to ensure the preservation of its assets from defects and failures, thus optimize its function to serve the community accordingly. This research seeks to investigate the type of defects that normally occurred at the selected governments hospitals within Northern Peninsular Malaysia and the process of daily maintenance activities is to assess the hospital building performance with respect to their services and maintenances. In addition, this research also focuses the major problems that may arise during maintenance activities, thus offers the effective strategies to overcome them. In order to obtain the data, a set of questionnaire has been prepared and distributed to the selected hospitals. Data obtained from the survey is analyzed using IBM SPSS software. The result of the study presents the feedback and suggestion from the maintenance staff about the overall defects that have been identified in the government hospital building. Most of the respondents agreed that cracking is the major defect occurred in the selected hospital building. Improper installation during construction recognized as the vital factor leads to cracking in building structure. Based on the analysis, insufficient cost tends to constrain the maintenance work activities.
Finite orbits for large groups of automorphisms of projective surfaces
Authors: Cantat Serge , Dujardin Romain
Published: November 2023

We study finite orbits of non-elementary groups of automorphisms of compact projective surfaces. We prove that if the surface and the group are defined over a number field $\mathbf {k}$ and the group contains parabolic elements, then the set of finite orbits is not Zariski dense, except in certain very rigid situations, known as Kummer examples. Related results are also established when $\mathbf {k} = \mathbf {C}$. An application is given to the description of ‘canonical vector heights’ associated to such automorphism groups.
The XVI International Congress of Acarology (1–5 December 2022, Auckland, New Zealand): A full report
Authors: Zhang Zhi-Qiang
Published: November 2023

The 16th International Congress of Acarology was successfully conducted from December 1 to 5, 2022, at the Owen G. Glenn Building, The University of Auckland, in Auckland, New Zealand. The event saw a total of 259 attendees from 32 different countries or regions, with two-thirds of them participating virtually. Besides the opening and closing ceremonies, the congress included (1) five plenary keynote presentations (one each day), (2) 52 invited presentations across eight symposia, 93 presentations in 10 subject sections, and 19 poster flash presentations in two parallel sessions, and (3) 16 poster presentations. This congress was the first of its kind to publish the proceedings before the event began and to provide video recordings for the participants and potentially the wider community.
Clarifying the taxonomic status of New Zealand species of Typhlodromina (Acari: Phytoseiidae)
Authors: Fan Qing-Hai , Ma Min , Zhang Zhi-Qiang
Published: November 2023

The genus Typhlodromina (Acari: Phytoseiidae) comprises six species worldwide. Three of them were previously recorded in New Zealand. During our studies of the phytoseiid mites, notable misidentifications were found in mite collections within New Zealand. This paper aims to rectify the taxonomic uncertainties associated with this genus in the country. We conducted a comprehensive examination of specimens deposited in major collections across the country, employing detailed morphological characteristics. Our findings indicate that only two species, T. aristidesi (El Banhawy) and T. musero (Schicha), are present in New Zealand and the prior records of T. eharai Muma and Denmark actually correspond to T. musero (Schicha).
3D microscopy at the nanoscale reveals unexpected lattice rotations in deformed nickel
Authors: He Qiongyao , Schmidt Søren , Zhu Wanquan , Wu Guilin , Huang Tianlin , Zhang Ling , Jensen Dorte Juul , Feng Zongqiang , Godfrey Andrew , Huang Xiaoxu
Published: November 2023

In polycrystalline metals, plastic deformation is accompanied by lattice rotations resulting from dislocation glide. Following these rotations in three dimensions requires nondestructive methods that so far have been limited to grain sizes at the micrometer scale. We tracked the rotations of individual grains in nanograined nickel by using three-dimensional orientation mapping in a transmission electron microscope before and after in situ nanomechanical testing. Many of the larger-size grains underwent unexpected lattice rotations, which we attributed to a reversal of rotation during unloading. This inherent reversible rotation originated from a back stress–driven dislocation slip process that was more active for larger grains. These results provide insights into the fundamental deformation mechanisms of nanograined metals and will help to guide strategies for material design and engineering applications.
Is ICE hot? A genomic comparative study reveals integrative and conjugative elements as “hot” vectors for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes
Authors: Zheng Qi , Li Liguan , Yin Xiaole , Che You , Zhang Tong
Published: November 2023

The dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) driven by mobile genetic elements (MGEs), especially among pathogenic bacteria, is of increasing global concern. Different from other well-characterized MGEs, integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) have been lacking a comprehensive understanding of their roles in ARG propagation across bacterial phylogenies. Through genomic study based on a large collection of bacterial complete genomes and further comparative analysis with two prominent MGEs to spread ARGs—conjugative plasmids and class 1 integrons, we, for the first time, demonstrated that ICEs are indeed overlooked “hot” vectors from the aspects of mobility and pathogenicity: (i) ICEs exhibited broader phylogenetic distribution among two dominant phyla with high ARG diversity and (ii) ARG-carrying ICEs were significantly enriched in potential human pathogens covering all the six “ESKAPE” species, of which some displayed typical co-occurrence patterns with ARGs and virulence factors. Moreover, this first genomic comparative study also deciphered the distinct ARG profiles harbored by these three essential MGE groups in terms of diversity and prevalence, with characteristic ARG preference to each MGE group. Overall, our findings concerning the MGE-specific performance for ARG transmission, in particular, the historically understudied ICEs, could shed light on control strategy optimization to antibiotic resistance crises.

IMPORTANCE

Different from other extensively studied mobile genetic elements (MGEs) whose discoveries were initiated decades ago (1950s–1980s), integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), a diverse array of more recently identified elements that were formally termed in 2002, have aroused increasing concern for their crucial contribution to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, the comprehensive understanding on ICEs’ ARG profile across the bacterial tree of life is still blurred. Through a genomic study by comparison with two key MGEs, we, for the first time, systematically investigated the ARG profile as well as the host range of ICEs and also explored the MGE-specific potential to facilitate ARG propagation across phylogenetic barriers. These findings could serve as a theoretical foundation for risk assessment of ARGs mediated by distinct MGEs and further to optimize therapeutic strategies aimed at restraining antibiotic resistance crises.
Work productivity in patients with axial spondyloarthritis initiating biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis
Authors: Rudwaleit Martin , Mørup Michael F , Humphries Brittany , Zannat Noor-E , Willems Damon , Taieb Vanessa , Boonen Annelies
Published: November 2023

Background

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) can limit work participation. Our objective was to characterise productivity in patients with axSpA, including changes after 12–16 weeks of treatment with biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs).

Methods

A systematic literature review identified studies published from 1 January 2010 to 21 October 2021 reporting work productivity using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire in patients with axSpA initiating b/tsDMARDs. Baseline and Week 12–16 overall work productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism and activity impairment scores were used in a random-effects meta-analysis to calculate absolute mean change from baseline for each WPAI-domain.

Results

Eleven studies in patients with axSpA who received either placebo (n=727) or treatment with adalimumab, bimekizumab, etanercept, ixekizumab, secukinumab or tofacitinib (n=994) were included. In working patients initiating a b/tsDMARD, mean baseline overall work productivity impairment, absenteeism and presenteeism scores were 52.1% (N=7 studies), 11.0% and 48.8% (N=6 studies), respectively. At Week 12–16, the pooled mean change from baseline in overall work impairment for b/tsDMARDs or placebo was −21.6% and −12.3%. When results were extrapolated to 1 year, the potential annual reductions in cost of paid and unpaid productivity loss per patient ranged from €11 962.88 to €14 293.54.

Conclusions

Over 50% of employed patients with active axSpA experienced work impairment, primarily due to presenteeism. Overall work productivity improved at Weeks 12–16 to a greater extent for patients who received b/tsDMARDs than placebo. Work productivity loss was associated with a substantial cost burden, which was reduced with improvements in impairment.
Asymptotic Output Tracking Control of a Class of Linear Systems by Finite-and-Quantized Output Feedback
Authors: Guo Jian , Zhang Yanjun , Zhang Ji-Feng
Published: November 2023

This paper presents a novel finite-and-quantized output feedback asymptotic tracking control method for a general class of continuous-time linear time-invariant systems. First, we construct a finite quantizer with time-varying thresholds and design a pole placement control law that exclusively utilizes the finite-and-quantized output signal and an external reference signal. Then, we establish the boundedness of all closed-loop signals and prove the asymptotic convergence of the output tracking error to zero. The proposed method combines the advantages of classical pole placement control technique and finite quantization feedback technique. It not only reduces the requirement for feedback information compared with existing tracking control methods but also effectively handles unstable poles and zeros in controlled systems, thereby achieving asymptotic output tracking. Finally, we provide a representative example to validate the effectiveness and new features of our proposed method.
Breast Cancer Screening: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Female University Students in The Gambia
Authors: Kinteh Bakary , Kinteh Sambou L. S. , Jammeh Amienata , Touray Ebrima , Barrow Amadou
Published: November 2023

Background. Breast cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer in The Gambia, with an incidence rate of approximately 15% and a mortality rate exceeding 50% in 2020. The all‐age prevalence stands at 11.25 per 100,000 population. In light of this, we conducted a study to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of breast cancer screening among female university students. Method. We conducted an institutional cross‐sectional study involving 361 randomly sampled female university students. Data collection was done using a pretested, self‐administered questionnaire. We utilized descriptive statistics to describe the prevalence and burden of breast cancer screening among the participants. Results. Our study revealed good knowledge regarding breast cancer screening among female university students, yet 82.8% had a negative attitude about the disease. More than three‐quarters (76.6%) of the respondents had never practiced any form of breast cancer screening. Notably, there was a significant association between knowledge of breast cancer screening and attitude (p = 0.027), and factors such as level of study (p = 0.041), ethnicity (p = 0.026), parity (p = 0.018), and faculty of study (p = <0.001) influenced the participants’ knowledge. Conclusion. It is crucial to implement comprehensive awareness campaigns to address the negative attitude and poor screening practices among female university students regarding breast cancer. Additionally, providing free and widespread breast cancer screening services to students should be considered as a means to combat this disease.
Comparison of Inflammatory Cytokine Levels in Hepatic and Jugular Veins of Patients with Cirrhosis
Authors: Kaps Leonard , Medina-Montano Carolina , Bros Matthias , Grabbe Stephan , Gairing Simon Johannes , Schleicher Eva M. , Gehring Stephan , Schattenberg Jörn M. , Galle Peter R. , Wörns Marcus-Alexander , Nagel Michael , Labenz Christian
Published: November 2023

Background. Systemic inflammation with elevated inflammatory cytokines is a hallmark in patients with cirrhosis and the main driver of decompensation. There is insufficient data on whether inflammatory cytokine levels differ between hepatic and jugular veins, which may have implications for further immunological studies. Methods. Blood from the hepatic and jugular veins of 40 patients with cirrhosis was collected during hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurements. Serum levels of 13 inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, Int-α2, Int-γ, TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17A, IL-18, IL-23, and IL-33) were quantified by cytometric bead array. Results. Cytokine levels of IFN-α2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17A, IL-18, IL-23, and IL-33 were significantly elevated in patients with decompensated cirrhosis compared to patients with compensated cirrhosis. When comparing patients with clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH, HVPG ≥ 10 mmHg) to patients without CSPH, there were significantly enhanced serum levels of IL-6 and IL-18 in the former group. There was no significant difference between cytokine serum levels between blood obtained from the jugular versus hepatic veins. Even in subgroup analyses stratified for an early cirrhosis stage (Child-Pugh (CP) A) or more decompensated stages (CP B/C), cytokine levels were similar. Conclusion. Cytokine levels increase with decompensation and increasing portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis. There is no relevant difference in cytokine levels between hepatic and jugular blood in patients with cirrhosis.
An Unusual Presentation of Streptococcus gallolyticus in Infective Endocarditis
Authors: Cruz Laura Torres , Barkhordarian Maryam , Antony Neenu , Yasir Muhammad , Pulipaka Sai Priyanka , Al-Awwa Ahmad , Elias Sameh
Published: November 2023

Background. Streptococcus gallolyticus (previously known as Streptococcus bovis type-1) bacteremia has a well-established, almost pathognomonic association with colorectal carcinoma, with the most common hypothesized mechanism being ulceration of polyps leading to hematologic dissemination. There are few reported cases of streptococcus bacteremia from other, seemingly benign sources like cellulitis or colonic adenomas. Hence, there is limited focus on skin and soft tissue infections leading to potentially fatal infective endocarditis. Case Presentation. We present a novel case of streptococcus bacteremia from uncommon sources like abdominal wall cellulitis or colonic adenoma leading to infective endocarditis as well as other manifestations, including osteomyelitis and discitis. This report highlights a unique case of streptococcus bacteremia with an uncommon origin, arising from abdominal wall cellulitis or colonic adenoma, ultimately resulting in the development of infective endocarditis. Furthermore, the patient presented with additional clinical manifestations, including osteomyelitis and discitis. Conclusions. Through our case report, we emphasize the importance of investigating uncommon sources like cellulitis when initial malignant workup is negative in streptococcus bacteremia and further elucidate the pathophysiology of streptococcus bacterial dissemination from nonmalignancy-related sources.
Daily Speaking Time and Voice Intensity before and after Hearing Aid Rehabilitation in Adult Patients with Hearing Loss
Authors: Cardella Arianna , Ottaviani Francesco , Luzi Livio , Albera Andrea , Schindler Antonio , Mozzanica Francesco
Published: November 2023

Introduction: Hearing loss (HL) strongly impacts communication abilities and impairs social interactions. Moreover, it modifies the vocal parameters of affected patients. The effects of hearing rehabilitation through hearing aids (HA) on the vocal production of patients suffering from HL have not been thoroughly analyzed in the literature. The aim of this study was to use the ambulatory phonation monitor (APM), a portable vocal dosimeter, to evaluate the variations in the vocal production of a group of patients suffering from moderate-to-severe HL treated with HA and the relationship between such modifications and quality of life (QoL). Materials and Methods: Twenty-six patients suffering from a variable degree of HL and treated with HA have been enrolled. Each of them underwent an evaluation before and 4 months after rehabilitation with HA. The analysis of daily voice production was carried out with the APM, while subjective QoL data were collected through the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities questionnaire (SSQ) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA). The differences in phonatory measurements and subjective evaluations before and after HA rehabilitation were assessed using Wilcoxon signed rank test. The Spearman correlation test was used to analyze the correlation between phonatory measurements, auditory measurements, and SSQ scores. Results: Significant differences in the APM parameters before and after HA rehabilitation were found. After 4 months of HA use, we recorded a significant increase in phonation time and percentage of phonation time and a significant decrease in average amplitude in dB SPL. We also found a significant increase in the SSQ scores after HA rehabilitation. Finally, we were able to detect low but significant correlations between phonatory measurements and SSQ results. Conclusions: The APM proved to be a useful instrument in the evaluation of the benefits of HA and its measurements can be used as indicators of the participation in communication and social life of patients with HL, which are strongly related to QoL.
Unilateral Congenital Lenticular Pigmentation
Authors: Al-Najmi Yahya , Alsaggaf Abdulrahman , Abdalla Elsayed Maram E.A. , Albeedh Mohammed
Published: November 2023

Introduction: Release of pigments in the anterior chamber is frequently observed in pigment dispersion syndrome, an autosomal dominant disorder marked by bilateral pigment deposition on the anterior and possibly posterior lens capsule, zonules of the lens, trabecular meshwork, and corneal endothelium, in addition to radial, spoke-like transillumination defects in the mid peripheral iris [J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2017;29(3):412–414 and Optom Vis Sci. 1995;72(10):756–762]. Pigmentation of the anterior lens surface has also been associated with intraocular inflammation, pseudoexfoliation syndrome, siderosis, antipsychotic medication usage, and remnants of the tunica vasculosa lentis [Br J Ophthalmol. 1998;82(11):1344]. Case Presentation: A 23-year-old female presented to our eye clinic with chief complaint of mild blurring of vision in the right eye and inquired about refractive surgery. The patient denied any previous history of ocular inflammation, trauma, surgery, or use of topical or systemic medications. Slit-lamp examination of the right eye anterior segment was within normal limits except for the crystalline lens anterior capsular which showed confluent pigment deposits stellate in shape over the pupillary axis, whereas left eye examination was completely within normal limits. Ophthalmic examination of the posterior segment was normal in both eyes. Based on her previous ophthalmic history and slit-lamp examination of the right eye, a diagnosis of unilateral congenital lenticular pigmentation was made. Conclusion: Congenital lenticular pigmentation is a rare benign entity carrying no surgical indications with a relatively good visual response to optical correction. Recognition of this rare benign condition would add to the ophthalmologist’s differential of ocular pigmentation and avoid unnecessary concern and follow-up in more potentially progressive disorders such as pigmentary glaucoma.
Development of a C3 Humanized Rat as a New Model for Evaluating Novel C3 Inhibitors
Authors: Chen Jin Y. , Zhang Lingjun , Yang Maojing , Hughes Elizabeth D. , Freeman Zachary T. , Saunders Thomas L. , Lin Feng
Published: November 2023

Introduction: C3 is central for all complement activation pathways, thus making it an attractive therapeutic target. Many C3-targeted agents are under extensive development with one already approved for clinical use. However, most, if not all, C3 inhibitors are human or nonhuman primate C3-specific, making evaluating their efficacies in vivo before a clinical trial extremely difficult and costly. Methods: We first studied the compatibility of human C3 in the rat complement system, then developed a C3 humanized rat using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. We thoroughly characterized the resultant human C3 humanized rats and tested the treatment efficacy of an established primate-specific C3 inhibitor in a model of complement-mediated hemolysis in the C3 humanized rats. Results: We found that supplementing human C3 protein into the C3-deficient rat blood restored its complement activity, which was inhibited by rat factor H or compstatin, suggesting that human C3 is compatible to the rat complement system. The newly developed C3 humanized rats appeared healthy and expressed human but not rat C3 without detectable spontaneous C3 activation. More importantly, complement-mediated hemolysis in the C3 humanized rats was also inhibited by compstatin both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: The successfully developed C3 humanized rats provided a much-desired rodent model to evaluate novel C3 inhibitors in vivo as potential drugs.
Efficient fault tolerant cost optimized approach for scientific workflow via optimal replication technique within cloud computing ecosystem
Authors: Anjum Asma , Parveen Asma
Published: November 2023

Cloud computing is one of the dispersed and effective computing models, which offers tremendous opportunity to address scientific issues with big scale characteristics. Despite having such a dynamic computing paradigm, it faces several difficulties and falls short of meeting the necessary quality of services (QoS) standards. For sustainable cloud computing workflow, QoS is very much required and need to be addressed. Recent studies looked on quantitative fault-tolerant programming to reduce the number of copies while still achieving the reliability necessity of a process on the heterogeneous infrastructure as a service (IaaS) cloud. In this study, we create an optimal replication technique (ORT) about fault tolerance as well as cost-driven mechanism and this is known as optimal replication technique with fault tolerance and cost minimization (ORT-FTC). Here ORT-FTC employs an iterative-based method that chooses the virtual machine and its copies that have the shortest makespan in the situation of specific tasks. By creating test cases, ORT-FTC is tested while taking into account scientific workflows like CyberShake, laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO), montage, and sipht. Additionally, ORT-FTC is shown to be only slightly improved over the current model in all cases. 
An approach for explaining group recommendations based on negotiation information
Authors: Villavicencio Christian , Schiaffino Silvia , D´ıaz-Pace, Jorge Andrés , Monteserin Ariel
Published: November 2023

Explaining group recommendations has gained importance over the last years. Although the topic of recommendation explanation has received attention in the context of single-user recommendations, only a few group recommender systems (GRS) currently provide explanations for their group recommendations. However, those GRS that support explanations, provide either explanations being highly reliant on the aggregation technique used for generating the recommendation (most of them trying to tackle shortcomings of the underlying technique), or explanations with a rich content but requiring users to provide considerable additional data. In this article, we present a novel approach for providing explanations of group recommendations, which are generated by a GRS based on multi-agent negotiation techniques. An evaluation of our approach with a user study in the movies domain has shown promising results. Explanations provided by our GRS system helped users during the decision-making process, since they modified the feedback given to recommended items. This is an improvement with respect to systems that do not provide explanations for their recommendations.
Machine learning-based stress classification system using wearable sensor devices
Authors: Chandra Varun , Sethia Divyashikha
Published: November 2023

University students often become victims of high-stress levels due to the highly competitive work environment. Unmonitored stress levels in students can inflict severe physiological health problems. This work aims to build a stress classification framework using wearable sensor devices to predict mental stress levels for undergraduate engineering students. It comprises a study to collect a data set of 23 university students using wearable devices for four physiological signals, i.e., electroencephalogram (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), skin temperature (SKT), and heart rate (HR), when the students perform the montreal imaging stress task (MIST) for the mental workload. The machine learning models proposed in this work help classify stress into three levels: rest, moderate, and high. The models achieve a classification accuracy of 99.98% using the EEG signals’ time-frequency domain features and an accuracy of 99.51% using the EDA, HR, and SKT signals. The proposed models achieve better scores than all the previous studies on stress classification, using EEG signals and EDA, HR, and SKT signals. This study is novel since it also demonstrates the applicability and proficiency of wearable sensor devices in developing accurate stress classification models to help build real-time stress monitoring systems.
A survey of predicting software reliability using machine learning methods
Authors: Khaleel Shahbaa I. , Salih Lumia Faiz
Published: November 2023

In light of technical and technological progress, software has become an urgent need in every aspect of human life, including the medicine sector and industrial control. Therefore, it is imperative that the software always works flawlessly. The information technology sector has witnessed a rapid expansion in recent years, as software companies can no longer rely only on cost advantages to stay competitive in the market, but programmers must provide reliable and high-quality software, and in order to estimate and predict software reliability using machine learning and deep learning, it was introduced A brief overview of the important scientific contributions to the subject of software reliability, and the researchers' findings of highly efficient methods and techniques for predicting software reliability. 
Anomaly detection using deep learning based model with feature attention
Authors: Nayak Rikin J. , Chaudhari Jitendra P.
Published: November 2023

Anomaly detection is a difficult problem with numerous industrial applications, such as analyzing the quality of objects using images. Anomaly detection is the process of identifying outliers in a given dataset. Recently, machine learning approaches to computer vision problems have outperformed classical state-of-the-art approaches. Anomaly detection problems can be solved using supervised approaches. However, labelled datasets are hard to obtain. Thus, many researchers have taken an unsupervised approach to solving the problem of anomaly detection. In this study, we use an adversarial auto encoder model as a base model and create a custom model to detect anomalies in images and videos. The model was trained exclusively on normal data. The modified national institute of standards and technology database (MNIST) dataset achieved an area under curve (AUC) score of 0.872 for anomaly detection, while the University of California San Diego (UCSD) anomaly dataset (Video dataset) achieved an AUC score of 0.74 for Ped1 and 0.87 for Ped2. To calculate the anomaly score, the concept of attention weights is combined with the reconstruction loss, and the proposed method outperformed other similar methods designed for the same problem. However, the usefulness of the proposed model was demonstrated through the detection of anomalies, and the model is still being improved for use in real-world situations.
Defending against label-flipping attacks in federated learning systems using uniform manifold approximation and projection
Authors: Upreti Deepak , Kim Hyunil , Yang Eunmok , Seo Changho
Published: November 2023

The user experience can be greatly improved by using learning models that have been trained using data from mobile devices and other internet of things (IoT) devices. Numerous efforts have been made to implement federated learning (FL) algorithms in order to facilitate the success of machine learning models. Researchers have been working on various privacy-preserving methodologies, such as deep neural networks (DNN), support vector machines (SVM), logistic regression, and gradient boosted decision trees, to support a wider range of machine learning models. The capacity for computing and storage has increased over time, emphasizing the growing significance of data mining in engineering. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have recently achieved remarkable progress. We carried out research on data poisoning attacks in the FL system and proposed defence technique using uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP). We compare the efficiency by using UMAP, principal component analysis (PCA), Kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) and k-mean clustering algorithm. We make clear in the paper that UMAP performs better than PCA, KPCA and k-mean, and gives excellent performance in detection and mitigating against data-poisoning attacks. 
Toward accurate Amazigh part-of-speech tagging
Authors: Bani Rkia , Amri Samir , Zenkouar Lahbib , Guennoun Zouhair
Published: November 2023

Part-of-speech (POS) tagging is the process of assigning to each word in a text its corresponding grammatical information POS. It is an important pre-processing step in other natural language processing (NLP) tasks, so the objective of finding the most accurate one. The previous approaches were based on traditional machine learning algorithms, later with the development of deep learning, more POS taggers were adopted. If the accuracy of POS tagging reaches 97%, even with the traditional machine learning, for high resourced language like English, French, it’s far the case in low resource language like Amazigh. The most used approaches are traditional machine learning, and the results are far from those for rich language. In this paper, we present a new POS tagger based on bidirectional long short-term memory for Amazigh language and the experiments that have been done on real dataset shows that it outperforms the existing machine learning methods.
Design of Arduino UNO based smart irrigation system for real time applications
Authors: Ramasamy Palanisamy , Pandian Nagarajan , Mayathevar Krishnamurthy , Ravindran Ramkumar , Kandula Srinivasa Rao , Devadoss Selvabharathi , Kuppusamy Selvakumar
Published: November 2023

The fundamental principle of the paper is that the soil moisture sensor obtains the moisture content level of the soil sample. The water pump is automatically activated if the moisture content is insufficient, which causes water to flow into the soil. The water pump is immediately turned off when the moisture content is high enough. Smart home, smart city, smart transportation, and smart farming are just a few of the new intelligent ideas that internet of things (IoT) includes. The goal of this method is to increase productivity and decrease manual labour among farmers. In this paper, we present a system for monitoring and regulating water flow that employs a soil moisture sensor to keep track of soil moisture content as well as the land’s water level to keep track of and regulate the amount of water supplied to the plant. The device also includes an automated led lighting system.