bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Surprise of Behcet’s disease in a patient with bilateral disc oedema and the role of OCT
Authors: Banerjee Mousumi , Saluja Gunjan , Phuljhele Swati , Samdani Asha
Published: May 2020

Behcet’s disease is a multisystem vasculitis which can be associated with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) leading to increased intracranial tension and papilloedema. We report a case of a 17-year-old boy who presented to us with inward deviation of right eye with bilateral disc oedema and on further investigations was found to be Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) B5 positive, along with CVT on magnetic resonance venography which further led us to the diagnosis of non-parenchymal neuro-Behcet’s.
Severe statin-induced autoimmune myopathy successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulin
Authors: Güngör Cansu , Wieshmann Udo Carl
Published: May 2020

Statin-induced autoimmune necrotising myopathy causes a severe progressive muscle weakness even when the statins are discontinued. First-line treatment is usually with high dose steroids followed by immunosuppressants, but this is often ineffective and there is a high risk of side effects. We describe a diabetic patient who had a very severe statin-induced autoimmune myopathy. He made a full recovery with regular intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) infusion in relatively low dose (55 g the first day followed by 50 g/day the second and third day, subsequently he was given 50 g/day for 3 days every 6 weeks). His symptoms relapsed when the IVIgs were discontinued for 28 weeks but remitted again following recommencement of IVIg infusions (50 g/day for 3 days every 7 weeks). Our case suggests IVIgs are an effective and well tolerated alternative to steroids and immunosuppressants.
Characteristics of a novel on-line micro pressurized liquid extraction method
Authors: Taylor Bradley M. , Thurbide Kevin B.
Published: May 2020

A novel on-line micro pressurized liquid extraction (μPLE) method is introduced, which directly interfaces miniaturized solid sample preparation with HPLC for fast analysis. The technique employs rapid heating to remove analytes from 5–10 mg samples in typically 20–40 s using only about 300 μL of solvent. The resulting extract is then internally transferred to an HPLC injector for chromatographic analysis. Results show that good analyte recoveries can be achieved, similar to conventional PLE and off-line μPLE approaches, without manual sample handling. For example, 103% ± 3% (n = 4) of the acetylsalicylic acid present in pharmaceutical tablets was extracted into methanol after 20 s at 180 °C. Further, 105% ± 9% (n = 4) of the caffeine present in a green tea sample was extracted into methanol after 40 s at 275 °C. Typical time to analysis was about 95 s total for most samples, and solvents could also be easily alternated during trials to increase extract selectivity. The on-line μPLE system was applied to the extraction of model PAHs from a biochar matrix and was found to extract 97% ± 5% (n = 4) of anthracene present in the sample after a 30 s static and 60 s dynamic extraction at 220 °C. This yield is much better than results obtained by previous approaches and is attributed to the small size, high temperature, low thermal mass, and dynamic flow of the system. Findings indicate that the on-line μPLE system can greatly assist in such extractions and provide a useful method for rapidly preparing solid samples for analysis using little solvent.
Study involving removal of azo dye Direct Orange 34 by adsorption in zeolite–clay system
Authors: Das Mohuli , Dasgupta Sudipta , Klunk Marcos Antonio , Juceli Siqueira Soyane Xavier , Chemale Junior Farid , Wander Paulo Roberto
Published: May 2020

Recently, dyes have procured a wide range of application in the textile industry. These organic compounds possess toxic agents and act as water pollutants. Such dyes can be extracted by adsorption to prevent water pollution. The present work proposes removal of azo dye Direct Orange 34 from the aqueous solution using mixtures of sodalite zeolite (Si/Al ratio 2.5) and clay (vermiculite in 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 g). The methodology involves a system with different stages of separation, considering specified retention time (72, 48, 24, 12, 6 h) of adsorbate and dye concentrations (100, 50, 25, 10, 5 mg/L). The zeolite–vermiculite mixture has a high potential of dye removal due to extensive surface area and porosity with excellent cation exchange capacity conferring its adsorbent property. High concentrations (50 and 100 mg/L) and longer retention times than 48 h results in 50% removal of dyes, whereas a low concentration level (25, 10, 5 mg/L) increases the removal efficiency (74%). Henceforth, the experiment concluded that the zeolite–clay mixtures are capable of azo dye extraction.
Monitoring change in a dynamic environment: spatiotemporal modelling of calibrated data from different types of fisheries surveys of Pacific halibut
Authors: Webster Raymond A. , Soderlund Eric , Dykstra Claude L. , Stewart Ian J.
Published: May 2020

Monitoring distributional shifts in Arctic and subarctic fish species as environmental conditions change can be difficult due to sparse or infrequent surveys. Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) are found as far north as the Bering Strait, and future changes in sea temperatures and prey distribution may lead to an expanded range. For this and other species, it is therefore important to use as much survey data as is available when estimating density indices and other quantities of interest. Setline and trawl surveys in the eastern Bering Sea provide partial coverage each year, but the two gear types capture different size distributions of fish. We apply a calibration method to data from the setline and trawl surveys to produce consistent, spatially indexed estimates of indices of local density. The resulting estimates are then combined through spatiotemporal models that can incorporate environmental covariates to provide reliable density indices and to map the dynamic distribution of Pacific halibut. Such approaches may become increasingly important as climate change affects species distribution relative to historical survey footprints, and scientists must adapt to the use of new and variable data sources.
Behavior of viscoelastic models with thermal fluctuations
Authors: Hütter Markus , Carrozza Mick A. , Hulsen Martien A. , Anderson Patrick D.
Published: May 2020

Fluctuating viscoelasticity for conformation-tensor-based models is studied at equilibrium, in simple-shear deformation, and in uniaxial extension. The models studied are the upper-convected Maxwell model, the FENE-P model with finite chain-extensibility, and the Giesekus model with anisotropic drag. Using numerical simulations, the models are compared in detail both with each other and with analytical predictions for the Maxwell model. At equilibrium, the models differ only marginally, both in terms of static and dynamic characteristics. When deformed, the average mechanical response of the Maxwell model is unaffected by the strength of thermal fluctuations, while the mechanical response of the FENE-P and Giesekus models show a slight decrease the stronger the fluctuations in simple shear, whereas the decrease in uniaxial extension is marginal. For all models, the standard deviation of the mechanical response increases with increasing strength of fluctuations, and the magnitude of the standard deviation relative to the average for given fluctuation strength generally decreases the stronger the deformation, this effect being stronger for uniaxial extension than for simple-shear deformation.

Graphical abstract
Interfacial fluid flow for systems with anisotropic roughness
Authors: Persson B. N. J.
Published: May 2020

I discuss fluid flow at the interface between solids with anisotropic roughness. I show that the Bruggeman effective medium theory and the critical junction theory give nearly the same results for the fluid flow conductivity. This shows that, in most cases, the surface roughness observed at high magnification is irrelevant for fluid flow problems such as the leakage of static seals, and fluid squeeze-out. The effective medium theory predicts that the fluid flow conductivity vanishes at the relative contact area A/A0 = 0.5 independent of the anisotropy. However, the effective medium theory does not solve the elastic contact mechanics problem but is based on a purely geometric argument. Thus, for anisotropic roughness the contact area may percolate at different values of A/A0 depending on the direction. We discuss how this may be taken into account in the effective medium and critical junction theories.

Graphical abstract
Bosonic collective excitations in Fermi gases
Authors: Benedikter Niels
Published: May 2020

Hartree–Fock theory has been justified as a mean-field approximation for fermionic systems. However, it suffers from some defects in predicting physical properties, making necessary a theory of quantum correlations. Recently, bosonization of many-body correlations has been rigorously justified as an upper bound on the correlation energy at high density with weak interactions. We review the bosonic approximation, deriving an effective Hamiltonian. We then show that for systems with Coulomb interaction this effective theory predicts collective excitations (plasmons) in accordance with the random phase approximation of Bohm and Pines, and with experimental observation.
Efficiency Evaluation of Supply Chain Network Using a Framework Based on DEA and Seller-Buyer Structure
Authors: Arabshahi Hassan , Fazlollahtabar Hamed , Maboudi Leila
Published: May 2020

This paper aims to develop a DEA-based framework to evaluate the efficiency of the supply chain based on the seller–buyer structure and with respect to win–win strategy. This is a bi-stage model employing the CCR model in the forms of input-oriented and output-oriented considering the intermediate measures for two different conditions under a centralized point of view. The obtained results from the extension of this model to supply chain network lead to introduce “efficient path” concept being a path including different components of the supply chain that are efficient in terms of DEA. Other kinds of proper information provided by the proposed model can help the managers and decision-makers of the supply chain field in supplier selection procedure and making efficient portfolios and collaborations across the supply chain network.
Dissipative collapse of a Karmarkar star
Authors: Govender M. , Maharaj A. , Singh Ksh. Newton , Pant Neeraj
Published: May 2020

In this paper, we employ the Karmarkar condition to model a spherically symmetric radiating star undergoing dissipative gravitational collapse within the framework of classical general relativity. The collapse ensues from an initial static core satisfying the Karmarkar condition in isotropic coordinates and proceeds nonadiabatically by emitting energy in the form of a radial heat flux to the exterior Vaidya spacetime. We show that the dynamical nature of the collapse is sensitive to the initial static configuration that inherently links the embedding to the final remnant. Our model considered several physical tests on how an initially static stellar structure onset to a radiative collapse.
The effect of oxygen pressure on the fretting wear of titanium alloys
Authors: Wei Xuejiao , Sheng Liangliang , Li Hao , Xu Xiaojun , Peng Jinfang , Gou Guoqing , Zhu Minhao
Published: May 2020

A systematic experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of oxygen environment of different pressure on the fretting wear behavior of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy. In order to well probe the real tribo-chemical state, in this work, an in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis test developed by a self-designed high precision fretting wear tester integrated with an XPS equipment was used. The tribo-oxidation formed at the different oxygen pressure and its effect on the fretting wear mechanism and the resulting fretting wear volume in the different fretting run regime were discussed. Results show that the oxygen environment of different pressure has significant influence on the wear resistance of titanium alloy depending on the fretting run regime. In the partial slip regime (PSR), different oxygen pressure plays a little influence on fretting wear behavior, while a significant influence for the mixed fretting regime (MFR) and slip regime (SR). The tribo-oxidations produced at the oxygen environment of different pressure for the different fretting run regimes are found to correlate well with the resulting fretting wear mechanism and the fretting wear resistance.
Effects of DMSO Content on the Optical Properties, Liquid Stability, and Antimicrobial Activity of Fe3O4/OA/DMSO Ferrofluids
Authors: Saputro Rosy Eko , Taufiq Ahmad , Sunaryono  , Hidayat Nurul , Hidayat Arif
Published: May 2020

Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized through a sonochemical method and were subsequently investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), which showed that the phase obtained was Fe3O4 with the most intense peak at 2[Formula: see text] of 35.5∘. The particle size of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles was 11.4[Formula: see text]nm. The dried ferrofluids containing Fe3O4 as a filler, oleic acid (OA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as surfactants tended to be amorphous. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles revealed agglomeration, and the dried ferrofluids morphology showed excellent dispersion. The constituent elements of both the Fe3O4 nanoparticles and the Fe3O4/OA/DMSO ferrofluids were identified through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to be Fe, O and C. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) investigation revealed functional groups of the Fe3O4/OA/DMSO ferrofluids constituent Fe3O4 as the filler, OA and DMSO as surfactants, and olive oil as a dispersant. The absorbance of the samples was characterized by UV–Vis spectrophotometry, and the results were used to calculate the energy gap of the Fe3O4/OA/DMSO ferrofluids ranged from 2.20[Formula: see text]eV to 2.45[Formula: see text]eV. Through the absorbance measurements, the optical properties of Fe3O4/OA/DMSO ferrofluids were evaluated on the basis of their refractive indices, which ranged from 2.86 to 3.02. The stability of the Fe3O4/OA/DMSO ferrofluids was characterized by transmittance data collected for 12[Formula: see text]h, and excellent stability was obtained, as indicated by a relatively stable transmittance. Last, the antimicrobial activity of the Fe3O4/OA/DMSO ferrofluids was assessed through the diffusion method; the results showed that increasing DMSO volume resulted in greater ferrofluid antimicrobial activity.
Bidiagonal SVD Computation via an Associated Tridiagonal Eigenproblem
Authors: Marques Osni , Demmel James , Vasconcelos Paulo B.
Published: May 2020

The Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is widely used in numerical analysis and scientific computing applications, including dimensionality reduction, data compression and clustering, and computation of pseudo-inverses. In many cases, a crucial part of the SVD of a general matrix is to find the SVD of an associated bidiagonal matrix. This article discusses an algorithm to compute the SVD of a bidiagonal matrix through the eigenpairs of an associated symmetric tridiagonal matrix. The algorithm enables the computation of only a subset of singular values and corresponding vectors, with potential performance gains. The article focuses on a sequential version of the algorithm, and discusses special cases and implementation details. The implementation, called BDSVDX, has been included in the LAPACK library. We use a large set of bidiagonal matrices to assess the accuracy of the implementation, both in single and double precision, as well as to identify potential shortcomings. The results show that BDSVDX can be up to three orders of magnitude faster than existing algorithms, which are limited to the computation of a full SVD. We also show comparisons of an implementation that uses BDSVDX as a building block for the computation of the SVD of general matrices.
An Experimental Analysis of Security Vulnerabilities in Industrial IoT Devices
Authors: Jiang Xingbin , Lora Michele , Chattopadhyay Sudipta
Published: May 2020

The revolutionary development of the Internet of Things has triggered a huge demand for Internet of Things devices. They are extensively applied to various fields of social activities, and concerning manufacturing, they are a key enabling concept for the Industry 4.0 ecosystem. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices share common vulnerabilities with standard IoT devices, which are increasingly exposed to the attackers. As such, connected industrial devices may become sources of cyber, as well as physical, threats for people and assets in industrial environments.

In this work, we examine the attack surfaces of a networked embedded system, composed of devices representative of those typically used in the IIoT field. We carry on an analysis of the current state of the security of IIoT technologies. The analysis guides the identification of a set of attack vectors for the examined networked embedded system. We set up the corresponding concrete attack scenarios to gain control of the system actuators and perform some hazardous operations. In particular, we propose a couple of variations of Mirai attack specifically tailored for attacking industrial environments. Finally, we discuss some possible
Distributed Exact Shortest Paths in Sublinear Time
Authors: Elkin Michael
Published: May 2020

The distributed single-source shortest paths problem is one of the most fundamental and central problems in the message-passing distributed computing. Classical Bellman-Ford algorithm solves it inO(n) time, wherenis the number of vertices in the input graphG. Peleg and Rubinovich [49] showed a lower bound of ˜Ω(D+ √n) for this problem, whereDis the hop-diameter ofG.

Whether or not this problem can be solved inO(n) time whenDis relatively small is a major open question. Despite intensive research [10, 17, 33, 41, 45] that yielded near-optimal algorithms for theapproximatevariant of this problem, no progress was reported for the original problem.

In this article, we answer this question in the affirmative. We devise an algorithm that requiresO((nlogn)5/6) time, forD=O(√nlogn), andO(D1/3⋅ (nlogn)2/3) time, for largerD. This running time is sublinear innin almost the entire range of parameters, specifically, forD=o(n/ log2n).

We also generalize our result in two directions. One is when edges have bandwidthb≥ 1, and the other is thes-sources shortest paths problem. For both problems, our algorithm provides bounds that improve upon the previous state-of-the-art in almost the entire range of parameters. In particular, we provide an all-pairs shortest paths algorithm that requiresO(n5/3⋅ log2/3n) time, even forb= 1, for all values ofD.

We also devise the first algorithm with non-trivial complexity guarantees for computing exact shortest paths in themultipass semi-streamingmodel of computation.

From the technical viewpoint, our distributed algorithm computes a hopsetG′′of a skeleton graphG′ofGwithout first computingG′itself. We then conduct a Bellman-Ford exploration inG′∪G′′, while computing the required edges ofG′on the fly. As a result, our distributed algorithm computesexactlythose edges ofG′that it really needs, rather than computing approximately the entireG′.
Executives' Commitment to Information Security
Authors: Menon Nirup M. , Siponen Mikko T.
Published: May 2020

Two aspects of decision-making on information security spending, executives' varying preferences for how proposals should be presented and the framing of the proposals, are developed. The proposed model of executives' commitment to information security is an interaction model (in addition to the cost of a security solution, and the risk and the potential loss of a security threat) consisting of the interaction between an executive's preferred subordinate influence approach (PSIA), rational or inspirational, and the framing, positive or negative, of a security proposal. The interaction of these two constructs affects the executive's commitment to an information security proposal. The model is tested using a scenario-based experiment that elicited responses from business executives across 100+ organizations. Results show that the interaction of the negative framing of a proposal and the inspirational PSIA of an executive affects his or her commitment to information security. Further, negative framing of a proposal and the cost of the security solution interact to decrease the executive's commitment to information security. This study underscores that prescriptions for business executives from normative models in information security spending must be complemented with appropriately framed messages to account for the differences in executives' PSIA (rational and inspirational) and cognitive biases.
The Philosopher's Corner
Authors: Cuellar Michael J.
Published: May 2020

The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems has sponsored a series of articles on the thought of Paul Feyerabend (Treiblmaier, 2018, 2019; Gregor, 2018; Burton-Jones, 2018; Myers, 2018). Treiblmaier and the respondents discuss the actual meaning and implication of Feyerabend's ideas for information systems. In the series, the authors argue we already employ diverse methodologies. However, it is also apparent that a truncated view of philosophy as only concerned with epistemology and all methods as commensurable is employed. This paper argues we do not have a real diversity in the IS field and we should commit to the practice of a disciplined metatheoretic pluralism. Our methodology must not only be rigorously executed but also correctly interpreted in accord with our metatheoretic assumptions. We need to be open to all types of metatheory as well as methods and research topics. The paper provides four suggestions for how to implement disciplined metatheoretic pluralism: 1) Educate doctoral students into the various philosophical paradigms; 2) Require authors to state their metatheoretic assumptions and review for conformance to them; 3) Open publication venues to all authors, methodologies, metatheoretic commitments, and ideas; 4) Change the evaluation mechanism to reduce the pressure to conform to normal science.
Causal Interpretability for Machine Learning - Problems, Methods and Evaluation
Authors: Moraffah Raha , Karami Mansooreh , Guo Ruocheng , Raglin Adrienne , Liu Huan
Published: May 2020

Machine learning models have had discernible achievements in a myriad of applications. However, most of these models are black-boxes, and it is obscure how the decisions are made by them. This makes the models unreliable and untrustworthy. To provide insights into the decision making processes of these models, a variety of traditional interpretable models have been proposed. Moreover, to generate more humanfriendly explanations, recent work on interpretability tries to answer questions related to causality such as "Why does this model makes such decisions?" or "Was it a specific feature that caused the decision made by the model?". In this work, models that aim to answer causal questions are referred to as causal interpretable models. The existing surveys have covered concepts and methodologies of traditional interpretability. In this work, we present a comprehensive survey on causal interpretable models from the aspects of the problems and methods. In addition, this survey provides in-depth insights into the existing evaluation metrics for measuring interpretability, which can help practitioners understand for what scenarios each evaluation metric is suitable.
Cardiac mesenchymal cells from failing and nonfailing hearts limit ventricular dilation when administered late after infarction
Authors: Audam Timothy N. , Nong Yibing , Tomlin Alex , Jurkovic Andrea , Li Hong , Zhu Xiaoping , Long Bethany W. , Zheng Yi Wei , Weirick Tyler , Brittian Kenneth R. , Riggs Daniel W. , Gumpert Anna , Uchida Shizuka , Guo Yiru , Wysoczynski Marcin , Jones Steven P.
Published: May 2020

Most preclinical studies have used only cells from healthy, nonfailing hearts. Whether donor condition (i.e., heart failure) impacts cells used for cell therapy is not known. We directly tested whether donor condition impacted the reparative effects of cardiac mesenchymal cells in a chronic model of myocardial infarction. Although cells from failing hearts differed in multiple aspects, they retained the potential to limit ventricular remodeling.
Redistribution of cardiac output during exercise by functional mitral regurgitation in heart failure: compensatory O2 peripheral uptake to delivery failure
Authors: Guazzi Marco , Generati Greta , Borlaug Barry , Alfonzetti Eleonora , Sugimoto Tadafumi , Castelvecchio Serenella , Menicanti Lorenzo , Bandera Francesco
Published: May 2020

This is an analysis involving 134 heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction versus 80 controls investigated during functional evaluation with gas exchange and hemodynamic, addressing the severe mitral regurgitation phenotype and testing the hypothesis that the backward cardiac output redistribution to the lung during exercise impairs delivery and overexpresses peripheral extraction. This information is new and has important implications in the management of heart failure.
Conduit arterial wave reflection promotes pressure transmission but impedes hydraulic energy transmission to the microvasculature
Authors: Kondiboyina Avinash , Smolich Joseph J. , Cheung Michael M. H. , Westerhof Berend E. , Mynard Jonathan P.
Published: May 2020

With aging, a reduction in the stiffness gradient between elastic and muscular arteries is thought to reduce wave reflection in conduit arteries, leading to increased pulsatile pressure transmission into the microvasculature. This assumes that wave reflection limits pressure transmission in arteries. However, using a computational model, we showed that wave reflection promotes pulsatile pressure transmission, although it does limit hydraulic energy transmission. Increased microvascular pulse pressure with aging is instead related to decreasing arterial compliance.
Public Preference Analysis and Social Benefits Evaluation of River Basin Ecological Restoration: Application of the Choice Experiments for the Shiyang River, China
Authors: Xu Tao , Ni Qi , Yao Liu-yang , Qiao Dan , Zhao Min-juan
Published: May 2020

Revealing public preferences regarding the ecological restoration of a river basin and evaluating the associated social benefits provide important references for the development of related policies. Taking the Shiyang River Basin as an example, this study quantified and analyzed the difference in public preferences regarding the ecological restoration of the river basin by the choice experiments method and the random parameters logit (RPL) model. It also evaluated the social benefits of river basin ecological restoration. The results showed that (1) The residents all hoped to improve the ecological environment of the Shiyang River Basin and were willing to bear certain restoration costs. (2) There were significant differences in public preferences for ecological restoration of the river basin. These differences existed between the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the river and between urban and rural residents. (3) The average annual cost of ecological restoration that the basin residents were willing to pay was between 505.833 ∼ 948.571 RMB yuan, and the total annual benefits of ecological restoration were 381.2 million RMB yuan. Based on these conclusions, the following recommendations were made. First, future ecological and environmental policies should be further combined with public preferences; and even cross-regional ecological compensation can be introduced to balance the interests of different social groups, to win public support. Second, increased water-saving technology in industries and agriculture, residents’ awareness of water conservation, and the management of water pollution measures should be promoted in order to improve the ecological environment of the river basin. Third, the budget for the ecological restoration of the Shiyang River Basin should be 381.2 million yuan per year. Costs should be controlled while meeting the restoration goals.
Epidemiology of High Fertility Status among Women of Reproductive Age in Wonago District, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Reda Medhin Girmay , Bune Girma Tenkolu , Shaka Mohammed Feyisso
Published: May 2020

Background. High fertility remains one of the most important public health issues hampering the health and welfare of mothers and the survival of their children in developing nations. In Ethiopia, the high fertility rate has been seen for a long historical period with some pocket areas of high fertility still showing poor improvement. Hence, this study was aimed at determining the magnitude of high fertility status (number of children ever born alive≥5) and associated factors among women of the reproductive age group in Wonago district. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 512 women in Wonago district. Data were collected using a pretested structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Data was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and then analyzed by SPSS version 25. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data, and the adjusted odds ratio with the 95% confidence interval was computed, and a significant association was declared at p value ≤ 0.05. Result. This study revealed that 354 (69.1%) of the respondents have high fertility. High fertility is independently associated with residing in rural area [AOR=4.88, 95% CI: 3.21, 7.86], desire for children [AOR=6.97, 95% CI: 3.24, 11.40], history of under-five child mortality [AOR =5.32, 95% CI: 2.59, 8.43], poor knowledge of contraception [AOR=2.67, 95% CI: 1.66, 4.04], and low wealth tertile [AOR=2.21, 95% CI: 1.51, 3.58]. On the other hand, women with age at first birth above 18 years [AOR=0.34, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.68] and those with birth interval≥24 months [AOR=0, 26, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.49] were less likely to have high fertility. Conclusion and Recommendation. The substantial number of women in the study area has high fertility status far away from the country’s costed implementation plan of reducing the total fertility rate to 3.0. Considering these, much is needed to be done among poor, rural residents, who have not yet attained their desired number of children, and on enhancing the knowledge of mothers towards contraceptive methods.
Miniaturization of Quasi-Yagi Antenna Array with High Gain Using Split-Ring Resonators
Authors: Zhou Wenying , Lu Mai
Published: May 2020

In order to realize the miniaturization of quasi-Yagi antenna array, an antenna array with split-ring resonators (SRRs) based on two 7 units quasi-Yagi elements is designed in this paper. The radiation performance of the quasi-Yagi antenna array degrades significantly when array element spacing is reduced. After embedding SRRs on both sides of the miniaturized dielectric substrate surface, the S parameters and gain of array are significantly better than the array without SRRs, and the adjustable wave beam energy is also enhanced effectively. It indicates that the proposed antenna array with SRRs has good directional radiation performance under the miniaturize process at the operation frequency of 2.45 GHz, which could be widely applied in the fields of smart rail transportation and wireless power transfer.
Serum BDNF Levels Are Reduced in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness and Are Not Modified by Verticalization with Robot-Assisted Lower-Limb Training
Authors: Bagnato Sergio , Galardi Giuseppe , Ribaudo Francesco , Boccagni Cristina , Fiorilla Teresa Valentina , Rubino Francesca , D’Ippolito Maria Enza , Andriolo Maria
Published: May 2020

Little is known about plastic changes occurring in the brains of patients with severe disorders of consciousness (DOCs) caused by acute brain injuries at rest and during rehabilitative treatment. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin involved in neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity whose production is powerfully modulated by physical exercise. In this study, we compared serum BDNF levels in 18 patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and in a minimally conscious state (MCS) with those in 16 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. In 12 patients, serum BDNF levels before and after verticalization with ErigoPro robot-assisted lower-limb training were compared. Serum BDNF levels were significantly lower in patients (median, 1141 pg/ml; 25th and 75th percentiles, 1016 and 1704 pg/ml) than in controls (median, 2450 pg/ml; 25th and 75th percentiles, 2100 and 2875 pg/ml; p<0.001). BDNF levels measured before and after verticalization with robot-assisted lower-limb training did not change (p=0.5). Moreover, BDNF levels did not differ between patients with UWS and MCS (p=0.2), or between patients with traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries (p=0.6). BDNF level correlated positively with the time since brain injury (p=0.025). In conclusion, serum BDNF levels are reduced in patients with UWS and MCS and cannot be improved by verticalization associated with passive lower-limb training. Additional studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying BDNF reduction in patients with DOCs and to determine the best rehabilitative strategies to promote restorative plastic changes in these patients.
Effect of Nonlinear Baseline Length Constraint on Global Navigation Satellite System Compass: A Theoretical Analysis
Authors: Chen Yanlong , Fan Jincheng , Chang Guobin , Zhang Siyu
Published: May 2020

GNSS (global navigation satellite system) compass is a low-cost, high-precision, and temporally stable north-finding technique. While the nonlinear baseline length constraint is widely known to be important in ambiguity resolution of GNSS compass, its direct effect on yaw angle estimation is theoretically analyzed in this work. Four different methods are considered with different ways in which the length constraint is made use of as follows: one without considering the constraints, one with simple scaling, one with indirect statistical scaling, and one with direct statistical scaling. It is found that simple scaling does not have any effect on yaw estimation; indirect and direct statistical scalings are equivalent to each other with both being able to increase the precision. The analysis and the conclusion developed in this work can go in parallel for the case of the tilt angle estimation.
Sleep Quality and Associated Factors among Diabetes, Hypertension, and Heart Failure Patients at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia
Authors: Edmealem Afework , Degu Sr. Genet , Haile Dessalegn , Gedfew Mihretie , Bewket Bekalu , Andualem Atsedemariam
Published: May 2020

Background. Chronic illnesses have a negative impact on the quality of sleep; however, patients with chronic illness do not bring sleep issues while they are coming to a health institution for a follow-up. As a result, poor sleep quality among patients with chronic illness is often unrecognized and untreated, and it results to a negative impact on the prognosis of chronic illness. Methods. An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was employed from February 22, 2018, to April 6, 2018. The total sample size was 396. The study employed a stratified random sampling technique, and study participants were selected by systematic sampling. The data were collected by a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire which is a validated and standardized tool. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 25; text, tables, and figures were utilized for data presentation. By considering a 95% confidence level and P value of 0.05, binary logistic regression and Kruskal-Wallis test were enrolled. Results. The prevalence of poor sleep quality among diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure patients was 36.5%. The odds of being a poor sleeper are increased when age increased. Patients who have poor perception towards the prognosis of their illness were four times more likely to be a poor sleeper compared to patients with good perception (AOR=4.21, 95%CI=1.94‐9.13, P=0.001). Patients who have anxiety were four times more likely to be a poor sleeper compared with patients without anxiety (AOR=3.69, 95%CI=2.19‐6.20, P=0.001). The educational level and residence were other factors associated with sleep quality. There was a statistically significant difference of sleep quality between patients with diabetes and hypertension, and diabetes and heart failure (F 2,384=10.92, P=0.004). Conclusion and Recommendations. In this study, over one-third of patients had poor sleep quality. Age, educational level, residence, perception towards prognosis of illness, and anxiety were factors associated with sleep quality. All health care providers should assess and provide advice about sleep hygiene and influencing factors. Assessment of sleep quality for every diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure patients in every visit should be incorporated in the care package.
Tumor-Derived Exosomes in Immunosuppression and Immunotherapy
Authors: Olejarz Wioletta , Dominiak Agnieszka , Żołnierzak Aleksandra , Kubiak-Tomaszewska Grażyna , Lorenc Tomasz
Published: May 2020

Tumor-derived exosomes (TEX) are involved in cancer development, metastasis, and disease progression. They can modulate angiogenesis to elevate the malignant degree of tumor cells. TEX carry immunosuppressive factors affecting the antitumor activities of immune cells. Tumor cells as well as immune cells secrete immunologically active exosomes which affect intercellular communication, antigen presentation, activation of immune cells, and immune surveillance. Cell proliferation and immune response suppression create a favorable microenvironment for tumor. TEX can inhibit immune cell proliferation, induce apoptosis of activated CD8+ Teffs, suppress NK cell activity, interfere with monocyte differentiation, and promote Treg as well as MDSC expansion. Exosomes of microenvironment cells may also contribute to the development of drug resistance in cancer therapy. An important role of TEX in modulating the sensitivity of tumor cells to immunotherapy is a promising area of research to make the cancer therapy more successful.
Decision-Making of Electronic Commerce Supply Chain considering EW Service
Authors: Wang Yuyan , Yu Zhaoqing , Shen Liang , Fan Runjie
Published: May 2020

With the rapid development of the network economy, it is a marketing strategy to provide an extended warranty (EW) service. Considering the differences in the EW service providers and dominant enterprises, this paper proposes four kinds of decision-making models and aims to study decisions of the electronic commerce supply chain, including EW price, sales price, and service level of e-platform. Through comparative analysis and numerical analysis, this research shows that, among four decision-making models, the highest system profit can be achieved when the seller provides the EW service and the e-platform dominates the system. For electronic commerce supply chain enterprises, whether to dominate the system or to provide EW service, it is conducive to the increase of profits. When the e-platform provides the EW service, the conclusion is that who dominates the system is the one who gets more profit. However, when the seller provides the EW service, the conclusion is that who dominates the system is the one who gets less profit. When the EW service is offered by the dominating enterprise, service levels of the e-platform are lower.
Incidence, Predictors, and Outcome of Paravalvular Leak after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
Authors: Hagar Abdullah , Li Yijian , Wei Xin , Peng Yong , Xu Yuanning , Ou Yuanweixiang , Wang Zijie , Wang Xi , Shah Jageshwar-Prasad , Sihag Vivendar , Chen Mao , Feng Yuan
Published: May 2020

Background. Paravalvular leak (PVL) is common after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and has been linked with worse survival. This study aimed to investigate the determinants and outcome of PVL after TAVI and determine the role of aortic valve calcification (AVC) distribution in predicting PVL. Methods and Results. This was a retrospective cohort study of 270 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI. Determinants and outcomes of ≥mild PVL were assessed. Matching rates of PVL jet with AVC distribution were calculated. AVC volume, larger annulus dimensions, and transvalvular peak velocity were risk factors for ≥mild PVL after TAVI. AVC volume was an independent predictor of ≥mild PVL. On the other hand, annulus ellipticity, left ventricular outflow tract nontubularity, and diameter-derived prosthesis mismatch were not found to predict PVL after TAVI. PVL jet matched, in varying proportions, with calcification at all aortic root regions, and the highest matching rate was with calcifications at body of leaflets. Moreover, matching rates were less with commissure compared to cusp calcifications. Mild or greater PVL was not associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality up to 1-year follow-up. Conclusion. ≥mild PVL after TAVI is common and can be predicted by aortic root calcification volume, larger annulus dimensions, and pre-TAVI transvalvular peak velocity, with calcification volume being an independent predictor for PVL. However, annulus ellipticity, left ventricular outflow tract nontubularity, and diameter-derived prosthesis mismatch had no role in predicting PVL. Importantly, body of leaflet calcifications (versus annulus and tip of leaflet) and cusp calcifications (versus commissure calcification) are more important in predicting PVL. No association between ≥mild PVL and increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 1-year follow-up.
Maclaurin Coefficient Estimates for New Subclasses of Bi-univalent Functions Connected with aq-Analogue of Bessel Function
Authors: El-Deeb Sheza M.
Published: May 2020

In this paper, we introduce new subclasses of the function classΣof bi-univalent functions connected with aq-analogue of Bessel function and defined in the open unit disc. Furthermore, we find estimates on the first two Taylor-Maclaurin coefficientsa2anda3for functions in these new subclasses.
Transport of As (III) from Acidic Feed Solution through Supported Liquid Membrane Impregnated with Tri-n-dodecylamine and Recovery as As (V)
Authors: Ullah Najeeb , Akhthar Gul
Published: May 2020

The transport of As (III) via supported liquid membrane containing tri-n-dodecylamine (TDDA) as carrier in acidic medium has been studied. Various factors affecting the transport of As (III) were evaluated. The effects of acid concentration (HCl), metal ion concentration, carrier, and strippant (NaOH) concentration on transport of As (III) were thoroughly examined. Mathematical transport model was presented considering the formation of complex between TDDA, acid, and As (III) at feed membrane interface, then the diffusion of this complex through membrane, and finally dissociation of the complex in basic medium at strip membrane interface. The predicted results of this model strongly agree with experimental ones. The stoichiometry of complex was determined on the basis of slope analysis of plots. The mechanism of transport was determined by coupled co-ion transport mechanism, with H+ and Cl− coupled ions. The optimized SLM was efficiently used for transport of As (III) from acidic feed solution into basic strippant NaOH and oxidized to less toxic form As (V) by adding H2O2.
Baicalin Represses C/EBPβ via Its Antioxidative Effect in Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Lei Kecheng , Shen Yijue , He Yijing , Zhang Liwen , Zhang Jingxing , Tong Weifang , Xu Yichun , Jin Lingjing
Published: May 2020

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the gradual loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) and the formation of intracellular Lewy bodies (LB) in the brain, which aggregates α-synuclein (α-Syn) as the main component. The interest of flavonoids as potential neuroprotective agents is increasing due to its high efficiency and low side effects. Baicalin is one of the flavonoid compounds, which is a predominant flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. However, the key molecular mechanism by which Baicalin can prevent the PD pathogenesis remains unclear. In this study, we used bioinformatic assessment including Gene Ontology (GO) to elucidate the correlation between oxidative stress and PD pathogenesis. RNA-Seq methods were used to examine the global expression profiles of noncoding RNAs and found that C/EBPβ expression was upregulated in PD patients compared with healthy controls. Interestingly, Baicalin could protect DA neurons against reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreased C/EBPβ and α-synuclein expression in pLVX-Tet3G-α-synuclein SH-SY5Y cells. In a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) induced PD mouse model, the results revealed that treatment with Baicalin improved the PD model’s behavioral performance and reduced dopaminergic neuron loss in the substantia nigra, associated with the inactivation of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress. Hence, our study supported that Baicalin repressed C/EBPβ via redox homeostasis, which may be an effective potential treatment for PD.
Cortical Tasks-Based Optimal Filter Selection: An fNIRS Study
Authors: Khan Rayyan Azam , Naseer Noman , Saleem Sajid , Qureshi Nauman Khalid , Noori Farzan Majeed , Khan Muhammad Jawad
Published: May 2020

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is one of the latest noninvasive brain function measuring technique that has been used for the purpose of brain-computer interfacing (BCI). In this paper, we compare and analyze the effect of six most commonly used filtering techniques (i.e., Gaussian, Butterworth, Kalman, hemodynamic response filter (hrf), Wiener, and finite impulse response) on classification accuracies of fNIRS-BCI. To conclude with the best optimal filter for a specific cortical task owing to a specific cortical region, we divided our experimental tasks according to the three main cortical regions: prefrontal, motor, and visual cortex. Three different experiments were performed for prefrontal and motor execution tasks while one for visual stimuli. The tasks performed for prefrontal include rest (R) vs mental arithmetic (MA), R vs object rotation (OB), and OB vs MA. Similarly, for motor execution, R vs left finger tapping (LFT), R vs right finger tapping (RFT), and LFT vs RFT. Likewise, for the visual cortex, R vs visual stimuli (VS) task. These experiments were performed for ten trials with five subjects. For consistency among extracted data, six statistical features were evaluated using oxygenated hemoglobin, namely, slope, mean, peak, kurtosis, skewness, and variance. Combination of these six features was used to classify data by the nonlinear support vector machine (SVM). The classification accuracies obtained from SVM by using hrf and Gaussian were significantly higher for R vs MA, R vs OB, R vs RFT, and R vs VS and Wiener filter for OB vs MA. Similarly, for R vs LFT and LFT vs RFT, hrf was found to be significant p<0.05. These results show the feasibility of using hrf for effective removal of noises from fNIRS data.