bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Difficulty in Management of Advanced Pediatric Orbital Tumor
Authors: Sudrajat Nandang , Lutfi Delfitri
Published: December 2021

Introduction: Tertiary care centers often manage pediatric orbital tumors, especially in advanced lesions and complex management. We report a case of a young boy with a malignant orbital tumor involving intracranial infiltration. Case presentation: A four-year-old boy had proptosis on the left eye for two months accompanied with blurred vision, pain, and oftenly bleeds with ipsilateral nasal congestion. There was no history of trauma, eye disorders, systemic diseases, or growth disorders.  The physical examination showed stable vital signs, however a weak general condition and no enlarged regional lymph nodes. Visual acuity of the left eye was no light perception. There was a mass with protrusion of the left eye, swelling of the eyelid with an irregular surface, and a tendency to bleeds. The cornea was hazy with partly scarring, so we could not evaluate the posterior segment. MRI of the head presented a malignant soft tissue mass of the left orbital region with intracranial infiltration. The patient was given adjuvant chemotherapy; however, he could not survive due to systemic complications. Conclusions: The definitive diagnosis for the orbital tumor is obtained by histopathological examination. The investigation with CT scan or MRI imaging could be considered if not possible. However, since the definitive diagnosis still not assessed, the management can be affected. It is essential to have a definitive diagnosis to provide adequate treatment for the patients. Delayed and inadequate management can make malignant orbital tumors potentially life-threatening.
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Toward Traditional and Complementary Medicine Among Nurses and Midwives in North-Western Uganda
Authors: Alfred Yayi , Kizito Omona
Published: December 2021

Background: Traditional and complementary medicine is globally accepted and steadily gaining popularity among populations. The practices of conventional health care workers toward it vary from one country or setting to another. Limited literature exists on practices of health workers towards this form of medicine in low income settings especially in Africa where it is widely used with limited collaboration, integration and regulation.Purpose: To determine the prevalence and determinants of traditional and complementary medicine practices as well as health problems and reasons for its use among nurses and midwives in North Western Uganda.Materials & Methods: We used a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional design. Data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaires that were distributed to a sample of 300 nurses and midwives drawn from 6 hospitals. Descriptive statistics, chi squared and multiple binary logistic regression analysis were used for analysis.Results: Of all the respondents, 147 (54.9%) had personally ever used traditional and complementary medicine, 69 (25.7%) had personally used it in the past 12 months, 84 (31.3%) had ever recommended use of TCM. The most commonly used therapies were: herbalism (78.2%), traditional birth attendance (67.3%), nutritional supplements (67.3%), body massage (53.1%), spiritualism (24.5%), traditional dentistry (21.1%) and traditional bone setting (14.3%). Traditional and complementary medicine was mainly used for pain management (53.1%) followed by acute diseases (49.6%). The commonest reasons given for use were the fact that it is readily available, accessible and cheap. Chi square analysis showed statistically significant associations between TCM practices (personal use and recommendation to others) and respondents religion (p=0.046), location of hospital (p=0.002), presence of a family member who is a TCM provider (p=0.001), attendance of training on TCM in the years of work (p=0.001), provision of TCM as a business and duration of years served as a health professional (p=0.029).Conclusions: There is need to improve traditional and complementary medicine practices amongst nurses, midwives and other health care professionals. This will avert the negative/undesired effects in the community.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Authors: Ivanović Slobodan , Blažević Maja
Published: December 2021

An enterprises human assets or, put more conventionally, its human resources tend to be one the most significant costs for most hospitality enterprises. In most hotels the payroll is the single biggest cost item, whilst in restaurants and bars it is usually second only to material costs. Furthermore, human resources are usually the first point of contact between an enterprise and its customers. The effective management of these human resources is therefore vital to the success of the enterprise.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AS A NEW MANAGERIAL PARADIGM∗
Authors: Karamarko Nikola
Published: December 2021

Knowledge management research in Croatian hotels shows that it has become a new pattern of management, but only in cases of managements that handle the hotel product that is a brand (a protected hotel product with a trademark). Knowledge management as the property of a hotel organization entails the management of a series of processes associated with knowledge, such as: the advancement of the organization's knowledge, protecting the organization's knowledge, utilizing knowledge and sharing knowledge among everyone in the organization. Although the percentage of branded hotels in Croatia has significantly increased, from 2% in 2003 to 5% in 2007, the number of unbranded hotels still remains very high and adds up to 499 hotels. These are mainly hotels that still fall short of wholly using their knowledge and experience (know-how) as a license or franchise of the hotel product with a brand.
QUALITY AND SAFETY - TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
Authors: Steene Anders
Published: December 2021

This paper will discuss some methodical aspects in doing research in the field of hospitality and tourism. Quality aspects have been dominant subjects for a long time in the industry, safety and security aspects were more or less not on the agenda in the early 90-ies. According to how society has developed, the experience of risk and danger has changed in the society over time and nowadays both safety and security as well as quality aspects has become important elements in the tourism products. The question is, if those two different approaches can be used as mutual methods.
Mulheres no ensino superior
Authors: Silva Katiene Nogueira da , Silva Juliana de Souza
Published: December 2021

Com o presente artigo objetivamos evidenciar aspectos da trajetória dos estudos educacionais até a criação da Faculdade de Educação da USP e discutir a inserção das mulheres no ensino superior brasileiro. Para tanto, tomamos como fontes privilegiadas as entrevistas realizadas com duas professoras que tiveram sua história de formação intelectual e docente vinculadas à referida unidade ocupando papel de destaque no campo educacional brasileiro, bem como na docência e na gestão, uma vez que ambas ocuparam o cargo de diretoras da faculdade. Assim, por meio de suas memórias, pretendeu-se recuperar um conjunto de informações relevantes sobre a história institucional e sobre como as experiências dessas mulheres-professoras foram impactadas por ela.
The use of heterogeneous mechanics for modeling a gas-dust protoplanetary disk: II. The laminar stage of subdisk formation
Authors: Kolesnichenko Aleksandr Vladimirovich
Published: December 2021

In the presented work, in relation to the problem of reconstructing the evolution of an exoplanetary gas-dust cloud, a model of a turbulent heterogeneous medium is developed, on the basis of which it is possible to create a new class of numerical models of space gas-dust media, taking into account the influence on the nature and development of turbulence of the inertial properties of a polydisperse dust phase, heat and mass transfer processes, coagulation, chemical reactions and radiation. This makes it possible to signifi-cantly expand the possibilities of numerical modeling of various physical and chemical phe-nomena in such cosmological objects as accretion gas and dust disks formed in stars of var-ious classes during their differential rotation around the center of gravity and, in particular, to study their structure. physicochemical and hydrodynamic properties and time evolution.
Propuesta de reconstrucción gráfica de las iglesias medievales de Santo Domingo de Silos. Síntesis de la historiografía reciente
Authors: Antolin Minaya Rodrigo
Published: December 2021

Entre los siglos X y XIII la desaparecida iglesia de Santo Domingo de Silos se vio sometida a continuas reformas y ampliaciones que se solapaban unas a otras. El presente trabajo plantea propuestas de reconstrucción gráfica sobre la imagen aproximada que pudo tener cada una de aquellas intervenciones, recurriendo para ello al estudio de las diferentes hipótesis que han planteado los historiadores durante los últimos años. El trabajo, por tanto, es un recorrido por la historiografía reciente, de la que tomaremos las propuestas que consideramos más adecuadas a cada caso, las cuales intentaremos justificar a partir de nuestras propias observaciones.
Renato Guttuso e la Sicilia
Authors: Costanzo Cristina
Published: December 2021

El presente escrito ofrece un estudio de la figura de Renato Guttuso, un artista siciliano que ocupa un lugar destacado en el panorama de la pintura europea del siglo XX. Mediante el examen de sus obras en Sicilia, y a la luz de los estudios más actuales, se ofrecen nuevos estímulos para una reflexión sobre el vínculo del artista con su tierra natal.

Además del Museo Guttuso, fundado en Bagheria gracias a una donación del artista, y el Conjunto Monumental Steri, donde recientemente ha sido expuesta su obra maestra de fama internacional La Vucciria, encontramos numerosas manifestaciones de su investigación multiforme que demuestran la intensa actividad e intereses transversales de Guttuso en itinerarios dignos de mayor atención que reciben el apoyo de numerosas instituciones.
Development of a Semi-analytical Dynamic Thrust Force Model
Authors: Akter Marin , Alim Mohammad Abdul , Hussain Md Manjurul , Mita Kazi Shamsunnahar , Haque Anisul , Rahman Munsur
Published: December 2021

A moving water mass generates force which is exerted on its moving path. Cyclone generated storm surge or earthquake generated tsunami are specific examples of moving water mass the generates force along the coasts. In addition to human lives, these moving water masses cause severe damages to the coastal infrastructure due to tremendous force exerted on these structures. To assess the damage on these infrastructures, an essential parameter is the resultant force exerted on these structures. To evaluate the damages, there is hardly any quantitative method available to compute this force. In this paper we have developed a semi-analytical model, named as Dynamic Force Model (DFM), by using Variational Iteration Method to compute this force. As governing equations, we have used the Saint Venant equations which are basically 1D shallow water equations derived from the Navier-Stokes equations. The verified, calibrated and validated DFM is applied in Bangladesh coastal zone to compute dynamic thrust force due to tropical cyclone SIDR.
A New Gene Set Identifies Senescent Cells and Predicts Senescence-Associated Pathways Across Tissues
Authors: Khosla Sundeep , Saul Dominik , Kosinsky Robyn Laura , Atkinson Elizabeth , Doolittle Madison , Zhang Xu , LeBrasseur Nathan , Pignolo Robert , Robbins Paul , Niedernhofer Laura , Ikeno Yuji , Jurk Diana , Passos Joao , Hickson LaTonya , Xue Ailing , Monroe David , Tchkonia Tamara , Kirkland James , Farr Joshua
Published: December 2021

Although cellular senescence is increasingly recognized as driving multiple age-related co-morbidities through the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), in vivo senescent cell identification, particularly in bulk or single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data remains challenging. Here, we generated a novel gene set (SenMayo) and first validated its enrichment in bone biopsies from two aged human cohorts. SenMayo also identified senescent cells in aged murine brain tissue, demonstrating applicability across tissues and species. For direct validation, we demonstrated significant reductions in SenMayo in bone following genetic clearance of senescent cells in mice, with similar findings in adipose tissue from humans in a pilot study of pharmacological senescent cell clearance. In direct comparisons, SenMayo outperformed all six existing senescence/SASP gene sets in identifying senescent cells across tissues and in demonstrating responses to senescent cell clearance. We next used SenMayo to identify senescent hematopoietic or mesenchymal cells at the single cell level from publicly available human and murine bone marrow/bone scRNA-seq data and identified monocytic and osteolineage cells, respectively, as showing the highest levels of senescence/SASP genes. Using pseudotime and cellular communication patterns, we found senescent hematopoietic and mesenchymal cells communicated with other cells through common pathways, including the Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) pathway, which has been implicated not only in inflammation but also in immune evasion, an important property of senescent cells. Thus, SenMayo identifies senescent cells across tissues and species with high fidelity. Moreover, using this senescence panel, we were able to characterize senescent cells at the single cell level and identify key intercellular signaling pathways associated with these cells, which may be particularly useful for evolving efforts to map senescent cells (e.g., SenNet). In addition, SenMayo represents a potentially clinically applicable panel for monitoring senescent cell burden with aging and other conditions as well as in studies of senolytic drugs.
Effectiveness of Early Essential Newborn Care Implementation In Four Provinces of Western China
Authors: Wang Chenran , Lin Yun , Zhang Hanxiyue , Yang Ge , Tang Kun , Tian Xiaobo , Huang Xiaona , Xu Tao
Published: December 2021

Introduction: Neonatal survival remains a public health concern globally. Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC) recommended by World Health Organization is a package of cost-effective interventions to improve neonatal health and development outcomes. In this study we aimed to explore the effectiveness of EENC implementation in four provinces of western China.Methods: A pre- and post-intervention investigations were conducted in 4 selected EENC intervention counties and 4 control counties of four western provinces of China, during June to August 2017 and December 2020 to April 2021 respectively. A mixed quantitative and qualitative approach was used for data collection and analysis. Data on the coverage of EENC practices were collected through post-intervention face-to-face questionnaire interview with postpartum mothers before hospital discharge. Hospital-reported data on neonatal health outcomes were obtained through mail surveys in both investigations. We also performed semi-structured interviews with stakeholders of policymakers, health staff, and postpartum mothers to learn their perceived usefulness of EENC implementation. Results: 599 mother-newborn pairs in the intervention group and 699 pairs in the control group participated in the post-intervention survey. With the confounding factor of province being controlled for, proportions of newborns receiving any skin to skin contact (99.50% vs. 49.07%), exclusive breastfeeding before discharge (92.57% vs. 63.80%), no applied medicine to the umbilical cord (98.50% vs. 9.73%), routine eye care (93.16% vs. 8.73%), and vitamin K1 administration (98.33% vs. 88.98%) were higher in the intervention group compared with the control group (P<0.05). Lower incidences of neonatal diarrhea (0.07% vs. 0.22%) and eye infection (0.04% vs. 0.29%) were reported in the intervention group than the control group (P<0.05). The enhanced satisfaction of stakeholders primarily manifests in belief acknowledgement, policy promotion, emotional support, health improvement, widely-acknowledged sustainability, and work support. Conclusion: EEEC-recommended core practices have been successfully introduced in pilot hospitals. The efficacy of EENC implementation should be highly recognized to accelerate the progress towards its national rolling out.
A High-robust Sensor Activity Control Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Tsai Rong-Guei , Tsai Pei-Hsuan
Published: December 2021

In wireless sensor networks, it is important to use the best number of sensors to optimize the network and consider the key design and cost. Owing to the limited power of sensors, how controlling the state of the sensor through an automatic control algorithm and power-saving and efficient distribution of work have become important issues. However, sensor nodes are usually deployed in dangerous or inaccessible locations. Therefore, it is difficult and impractical to supply power to sensors through humans. In this study, we propose a high-reliability control algorithm with fast convergence and strong self-organization ability, called sensor activity control algorithm (SACA), which can efficiently control the number of sensors in the active state and extend their use time. SACA considers the relationship between the total number of inactive sensors and the target value and determines the state of the sensor in the next round. The data transmission technology of random access is used between the sensor and the base station; therefore, the sensor in the sleep state does not need to receive the feedback packet from the base station. The sensor can achieve true dormancy and power-saving effects. The experimental results show that SACA has fast convergence, strong self-organization capabilities, and power-saving advantages.
Autoantibody Signatures Discovered by HuProt Protein Microarray to Enhance the Diagnosis of Lung Cancer
Authors: Wang Yulin , Li Jiaqi , Zhang Xue , Liu Man , Ji Longtao , Yang Ting , Wang Kaijuan , Song Chunhua , Wang Peng , Ye Hua , Shi Jiangxiang , Dai Liping
Published: December 2021

Background: This study aims to comprehensively discover novel autoantibodies (TAAbs) against tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and establish diagnostic models for assisting in the diagnosis of lung cancer (LC) and discrimination of pulmonary nodules (PN).Methods: HuProt human microarray was used to discover the candidate TAAs and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect the level of TAAbs in 634 participants of two independent validation cohorts. Logistic regression analysis was used to construct models. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was utilized to assess the diagnostic value of models.Results: Eleven TAAs were discovered by means of protein microarray and data analysis. The level of ten TAAbs (anti-SARS, anti-ZPR1, anti-FAM131A, anti-GGA3, anti-PRKCZ, anti-HDAC1, anti-GOLPH3, anti-NSG1, anti-CD84 and anti-EEA1) was higher in LC patients than that in NC of validation cohort 1 (P<0.05). The model 1 comprising 4 TAAbs (anti-ZPR1, anti-PRKCZ, anti-NSG1 and anti-CD84) and CEA reached an AUC of 0.813 (95%CI: 0.762-0.864) for diagnosing LC from normal individuals. 5 of 10 TAAbs (anti-SARS, anti-GOLPH3, anti-NSG1, anti-CD84 and anti-EEA1) existed a significant difference between malignant pulmonary nodules (MPN) and benign pulmonary nodules (BPN) patients in validation cohort 2 (P<0.05). Model 2 consisting of anti-EEA1, traditional biomarkers (CEA, CYFRA211 and CA125) and 3 CT characteristics (vascular notch sign, lobulation sign, mediastinal lymph node enlargement) could distinguish MPN from BPN patients with an AUC of 0.845 (sensitivity: 58.3%, specificity: 96.6%).Conclusions: High-throughput protein microarray is an efficient approach to discovering novel TAAbs which could increase the accuracy of lung cancer diagnosis in the clinic.
Identification of Pathways and Genes Associated with Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer
Authors: Zhang Zhenhua , Zhang Yao , Ma Yongshun , Xiang Shixin , Shen Jing , Zhao Yueshui , Wu Xu , Li Mingxing , Yang Xiao , Du Fukuan , Liu Lin , Xiao Zhangang , Wen Qinglian
Published: December 2021

The standard treatment approach for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) is concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). However, resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy often leads to failure of LACC therapy. Thus, the key pathways and genes associated with CCRT in LACC should be identified urgently. The Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) was used for the identification of highly correlated gene modules. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING and hub genes were selected. Furthermore, single-cell transcriptome sequencing was used to elucidate the cell type composition of the cervix sample and analyze the expression levels of key genes in cells. We identified 580 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in LACCk, which were mainly invovled in Human papillomavirus infection, focal adhesion, and ECM-receptor interaction signaling pathways. Ten hub genes (COL1A1, COL6A1, COL6A2, LAMA4, COL6A3, LAMC1, HSPG2, ITGA9, CTGF, PDGFRB) were screened for further study. We showed that COL1A1, COL6A1, COL6A2 were highly expressed after radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. By analyzing the single-cell sequence, we found that the main cell types in cervical tissue include Fibroblasts, Smooth muscle cells, Tissue stem cells, Endothelial cells, Progenitor cells, Epithelial cells, T cells, Basal cells, Macrophages, and Mast cells. COL1A1, COL6A1, COL6A2, COL6A3, CTGF, and PDGFRB were highly expressed in Progenitor cells. Human papillomavirus infection, focal adhesion, and ECM-receptor interaction signaling pathway are related to the failure of CCRT for LACC, which warrants further research to improve CCRT sensitivity in LACC targeting on these candidate genes or pathways.
A Systematic Approach to Identifying and Developing Implementation Strategies to Support the Uptake of a Risk Tool to Aid in Clinical Management of Patients with Syncope: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Rouleau Geneviève , Thiruganasambandamoorthy Venkatesh , Wu Kelly , Ghaedi Bahareh , NGuyen Phuong Anh , Desveaux Laura
Published: December 2021

Background: The Canadian Syncope Risk Score (CSRS) is a validated risk stratification tool developed to optimize the accuracy of emergency department decisions and inform evidence-based clinical actions. While preliminary work has been undertaken to understand the barriers to CSRS use, no work to date has explored how to implement the CSRS to overcome these barriers in practice. This study aimed to identify which implementation strategies are most appropriate to address these barriers and how they should be implemented to mitigate the possibility of poor uptake. Methods: We conducted a series of three iterative online user-centered design workshops with emergency medicine physicians from three hospital sites in Ontario, Canada. The objective of the workshops was to engage participants in identifying acceptable strategies to promote CSRS uptake and how they should be operationalized. To support this, we systematically mapped previously identified barriers to corresponding behaviour change techniques to identify the most likely strategies to effect change. The sessions were audio-recorded and dialogue relating directly to the study objective were transcribed. We performed a qualitative content data analysis according to pre-defined objectives for each workshop. Results: Fourteen physicians participated across the three workshops. The main implementation strategies identified to overcome identified barriers were: education in the format of meetings, videos, journal clubs, and posters (uncertainty around when and how to apply the CSRS); an online calculator and integration of the CSRS into electronic medical record (uncertainty in how to apply the CSRS), local champion (lack of team buy-in); and dissemination of evidence summaries and feedback through email communications (lack of evidence about impact). Conclusions: The ability of the CSRS to effectively improve patient safety and syncope management relies on broad buy-in and uptake across physicians. To ensure the CSRS is well-positioned for impact, a comprehensive suite of implementation strategies was identified to address known barriers. This next phase of work will provide insight into whether these strategies facilitated better alignment with barriers, higher physician engagement with the implementation strategies, and broader uptake of the CSRS, with the objective of improving the likelihood that the CSRS will positively influence patient outcomes.
Egg White/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Clay Bionanocomposite Hydrogel Adsorbents for Dye Removal
Authors: Khadivi Homa , Sirousazar Mohammad , Abbasi-Chianeh Vahid , Jalilnejad Elham
Published: December 2021

In the current study, bionanocomposite hydrogels based on egg white and polyvinyl alcohol loaded with 0, 4 and 8 wt.% of montmorillonite clay were prepared and utilized as effective adsorbents for removing the methylene blue from aqueous solutions. The structural characteristics of the prepared adsorbents were studied and the gel content, the influence of the pH of the medium on swelling kinetics and the methylene blue diffusion coefficient in the adsorbents were investigated. It was found that the swelling ratio and diffusion coefficient of bionanocomposite hydrogel adsorbents increased either with increasing the pH of the medium or decreasing the loading level of montmorillonite and gel contact had a direct dependency on the montmorillonite content. Taguchi method was utilized to determine the effects of main factors on the batch adsorption process, including the montmorillonite loading level in adsorbent, pH of the solution and dye initial concentration in adsorption solution. The optimum adsorption conditions by the Taguchi method were determined as montmorillonite loading level of 8 wt.%, pH of 9 and methylene blue initial concentration of 5 mg/L. The experimental adsorption results were fitted to the various isotherms and kinetic models. It was shown that intra-particle diffusion was the best model for elucidating adsorbents' behavior in methylene blue removal. It was finally deduced that the prepared bionanocomposite hydrogel adsorbents could be recognized as effective eco-friendly adsorbents for removing the cationic dyes from wastewaters.
Energy Transfer and Fabry-Perot Oscillation: A New Paradigm for Electrically Driven Laser in Quasi-2D Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Microplates Film
Authors: Bera Krishna , Hanmandlu Chintam , Lin Hung-I , Ghosh Rapti , Gudelli Vijay Kumar , Lai Chao-Sung , Chu Chih-Wei , Chen Yang-Fang
Published: December 2021

Recently emerged metal-halide hybrid perovskite (MHP) possesses superb optoelectronic features, which have great attention in solid-state lighting, photodetection, and photovoltaic applications. Because of its excellent external quantum efficiency, MHP acquires enormous potential for manifestation of ultra-low threshold optically pumped laser. However, demonstration of electrical-driven laser remains a challenge because of vulnerable degradation of perovskite, limited exciton binding energy, and intensity quenching and efficiency drop by non-radiative recombinations. In this work, we observed an ultralow-threshold (~ 18 nJcm−2) optically pumped Fabry-Perot (F-P) laser from moisture insensitive mixed dimensional quasi-2D Rudlesden-Popper phase perovskite (RPP) microplates. Unprecedently, we demonstrated electrical-driven F-P laser with threshold ~ 0.15 Acm−2 from quasi-2D RPP by judicious combination of perovskite/hole transport layer (HTL) and electron transport layer (ETL) having suitable band alignment and thickness. Additionally, we showed tunibility of lasing modes by driving external electrical potential. Ultralow-threshold lasing is mainly ascribed by existence of F-P feedback resonance inside RPP microplate, and selective resonance energy transfer mechanism in-between microplates. Performing the finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations, we confirmed the presence of F-P feedback resonance, and light trapping effect at perovskite/ETL contributing to laser action. Our discovery of electrical-driven laser from MHP opens an alternative avenue in developing optoelectronics.
Crystalization-enhanced Stability by Effectively Suppressing Pho-tooxidation Defect for Lasing Emission and Electroluminescent Device
Authors: Zhang He , Lin Dongqing , Liu Huifang , Liu Wei , Wang Yang-Cheng , Jin Dong , Li Zhu-Xin , Zhang Xinwen , Huang Lei , Wang Shasha , Xu Chunxiang , Xie Linghai
Published: December 2021

Effectively protection against photooxidation of wide bandgap semiconductors remains a challenge that become the bottleneck on the road to commercialization. Herein, we demonstrated the crystallization effects of fluorene-based blue emitters on long-wavelength green band (g-band) defect with the well-defined organic micro/nanocrystals obtained via the self-assembly of surfactant-assisted reprecipitation methods. For the key molecule model 2,2'-bi(9,9-dipropyl)fluorene (DDC3F), the self-assembled nanorods film ex-hibits an ultrastable spectral stability without the presence of g-band emission (530 nm), and even main-tains the deep-blue emission under ultraviolet exposure (~ 3 h). In contrast, the spin-coated amorphous film shows a poor color purity with a green-index of ~ 4. Our results offer a robust evidence on the princi-ple in aggregate-enhanced stability, which is severely ignored by the general application of amorphously glassy molecules in OLED devices. In addition, the single nanorod as Fabry-Pérot (FP) optical resonator exhibits size-dependent dual wavelength lasing at 392 nm (threshold: 102 mW/cm2) and 412 nm (threshold: 216 mW/cm2), and generates the deep-blue electroluminescence in solution-processing OLED devices. The supramolecular self-assembled micro/nanocrystals strategy provides a potential platform to maintain ultrastable color purity in wide-bandgap optoelectronic device.
The Value of Ecological Assets Based on Land Cover/Use Pattern in Kunming, Yunnan Province
Authors: Xu Meng , Zhang Kouqiang , Wei Shu’na
Published: December 2021

Nowadays, the quantitative assessment of the ecological assets assessment was a hot topic and focus in the field of ecology and environmental economics. Quantitative evaluation of ecological assets can monetize the value of ecological assets, strengthen local ecological environment protection, and promote the service functions of regional ecosystems. Taking urban area as research area can clarify the value of local ecological protection and provide a scientific basis for the positioning of the functions and the construction of ecological civilization. The results showed that the value of ecological assets in Kunming was 249.858 billion yuan and 305.180 billion yuan in 2010 and 2020, respectively. Grassland made the largest contribution to ecological assets and was an important part of the composition of ecological assets, and the value of soil and water conservation occupied a large proportion in Kunming's ecological assets. The value of ecological assets in Kunming was growing in general, but a few ecological services have declined in value, so it was necessary to increase the ecological construction and strengthen the supervision and management of ecological assets.
Nutritional and Logarithmic Fungal Count of Brewers’ Grain Under Different Conservation Techniques and Brewery Sources
Authors: Kitaw Getu , Terefe Geberemariyam , Faji Mulisa
Published: December 2021

This study was contained two trials. The objectives of the first and the second trials were to explore variations in nutritional merits and investigate the effect of local conservation practices on nutritional and fungal load dynamics of wet brewers’ grain (WBG) received from different brewery sources, respectively. Fresh WBG samples for the first trial were obtained from four breweries (Meta Abo, Habesha, Dashen and Bedele) located in different districts of the country. Brewers’ grain sample received from Meta Abo brewery factory had superiorly higher (p<0.05) acid detergent fiber, lignin and digestible organic matter in the dry matter (DOMD), but comparable dry matter (DM), total ash, crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber with the other breweries. In the second trial, an attempt was made to evaluate three locally available WBG conservation practices, preservation of WBG using an ensiling technique maintained feed quality slightly comparable to the control sample (freeze dried ) but outperformed (p<0.05) other locally available conservational practices “soaking” and “sun drying “ with minimal loss on feed DM and other nutrients, lower total fungal, yeast and mold colony counts and above all superior CP digestion kinetics as measured through nylon bag degradability constants. If supply is not a constraint under local conditions, ensiling can fairly be recommended as a best bet WBG conservation practice for use at wider scale.
Cyclical Learning Rates (CLR’s) for Improving Training Accuracies and Lowering Computational Cost
Authors: Chopade Rushikesh , Stanam Aditya , Narayanan Anand , Pawar Shrikant
Published: December 2021

Prediction of different lung pathologies using chest X-ray images is a challenging task requiring robust training and testing accuracies. In this article, one-class classifier (OCC) and binary classification algorithms have been tested to classify 14 different diseases (atelectasis, cardiomegaly, consolidation, effusion, edema, emphysema, fibrosis, hernia, infiltration, mass, nodule, pneumonia, pneumothorax and pleural-thickening). We have utilized 3 different neural network architectures (MobileNetV1, Alexnet, and DenseNet-121) with four different optimizers (SGD, Adam, and RMSProp) for comparing best possible accuracies. Cyclical learning rate (CLR), a tuning hyperparameters technique was found to have a faster convergence of the cost towards the minima of cost function. Here, we present a unique approach of utilizing previously trained binary classification models with a learning rate decay technique for re-training models using CLR’s. Doing so, we found significant improvement in training accuracies for each of the selected conditions. Thus, utilizing CLR’s in callback functions seems a promising strategy for image classification problems.
The Combined Effects of Regular Classroom and Remedial Learning Programs on the Reading Achievement of First Grade Pupils
Authors: Steve Bissonnette , Boyer Christian , Morneau-Guérin Frédéric
Published: December 2021

In 2003, two school-based programs for teaching reading in English were introduced in Québec: the Accelerated Development of Reading (ADOR) program for first graders and, for ADOR pupils with weak reading skills, the Intensive Intervention in Reading (IIR) support program. Explicit and direct instruction provides the framework for ADOR and IIR. Two quasi-experimental studies were conducted to measure the effects of the ADOR and IIR programs compared to regular reading instruction and remediation. In both studies, the combined effects of ADOR and IIR were measured on two separate cohorts of grade 1 pupils over a full school year. This study shows that the ADOR and IIR programs result in superior reading performance and the largest effects were on subtests measuring reading comprehension.
Comparison of 18F-DOPA and 18F-DTBZ for PET/CT Imaging of Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Shi Xinchong , Yang Yang , Jiang LuLu , Chen Jinhua , Yi Chang , Luo Ganhua , Wu Lei , Chu Jianmin , Wang Jian , Zhang Xiangsong , Chen Ling
Published: December 2021

Objective: To compare the two imaging tracers 18F-DOPA and 18F-DTBZ for PET/CT imaging in idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Methods: 32 patients with final diagnosis of idiopathic PD and 12 healthy controls were recruited in our study. The clinical symptoms of PD patients were evaluated by using the UPDRS-III and modified H-Y stage. All subjects underwent both 18F-DOPA and 18F-DTBZ PET/CT, and the results were interpreted by visual analysis and semi-quantitative analysis. Semi-quantitative analysis was performed to calculate the specific uptake ratios (SURs) in the subregions of striatum with the occipital cortex as reference area. A one-way ANOVA test was used to compare the clinical data and the SURs among the patients at different stages. Regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the SURs and the clinical data. A kappa test was used to evaluate the consistency of the visual inspection results. Results: Among the PD patients, there were 7 patients in H-Y stage I, 14 patients in stage II, and 11 patients in stage III. No statistical difference in age or gender was found among the three groups (p >0.05). The semi-quantitative analysis of 18F-DOPA and 18F-DTBZ PET images showed that PD patients in different stages had significantly lower SURs in the striatum than the healthy controls (p <0.05), and the SURs generally decreased with the progression of PD staging (p<0.05). An exponential correlation was found between the SURs of each tracer in the putamen with the UPDR-III score (p <0.05), and a linear correlation was found in striatum SURs between two tracers (p<0.05). By visual analysis, 18F-DOPA detected 29 cases with bilateral uptake decrease and the other 3 stage I cases with unilateral uptake decrease, while 18F-DTBZ detected 26 cases with bilateral uptake decrease and 6 cases with unilateral uptake decrease. The overall consistency of visual analysis between these two tracers was 90.63% (Kappa=0.62, p < 0.001).Conclusion: Both 18F-DTBZ and 18F-DOPA are reliable imaging tracers for PET/CT imaging in PD patients with good consistency, and they have the same level of striatal SURs decline percent for PD patients in early stages.
Evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination websites using DISCERN and Quality Evaluation Scoring (QUEST) Tools
Authors: Prabhune Akash Gajanan , Mallawaram Aishwarya , Bhat Sachin S , Pandey Samridhi , Reddy Ashitha , H Vinay Sri
Published: December 2021

Background: The objective of this paper was to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine registration website across UN-recognized member states for their portal quality, reliability, Ease Use and help to the general population in informed decision making.Methods: 12 UN member states (Countries) were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria mentioned in the methodology section of this paper. PPS technique was used for sampling and selection of 12 countries from 193 UN member states. Post selection of UN member states the study used 2 step evaluation techniques, Step 1 The DISCERN checklist consists of 16 questions in three sections and is aimed to assess the reliability of information and quality of information; Step 2 The QUEST tool consists of 6 items with a subitem, Authorship, Attribution, Conflict of Interest, Complementarity, Currency, Tone. The authors developed a standard set of instructions for evaluating Vaccination Portals to bring uniformity in understanding and context setting.Results: DISCERN tool overall reliability score on the Likert scale of 0 to 5 was 4 (SD ± 1.28). On Quality of information regarding treatment choices, the average score was 3.4 (SD ± 1.67). The QUEST tool on ease of use, concision, and comprehensiveness demonstrated an average score of 18.1 (SD ± 8.3) out of 28.The vaccine registration portal of the Czech Republic was found to be most informative and was able to provide a piece of scientifically valid information on safety, efficacy, long-term short effects, choice of vaccine with attributable authors details. India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, South Africa scored relatively low to missing critical information on the website. The United Arab Emirates, Republic of South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, and Argentina had minor elements missing.Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination portals vary in the quality of information, and many were found unable to provide critical information for decision making on getting vaccinated.
WITHDRAWN: Prognostic Impact of the Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components in Acute Type A Aortic Dissection After Surgery: A 3-Year Follow-Up
Authors: Liu Peng , Zhang Feng , Wang Zibin , Zhang Miao , Niu Xupeng , Han Yaru
Published: December 2021

Background
The aim of this study is to explore whether or to what extent the metabolic syndrome (METs) and its components was associated with poor outcome in acute type A aortic dissection patients (ATAAD) after surgery.
Methods
This study involved 353 ATAAD patients undergo surgery. Data on demographic and clinical characteristics were collected. Subgroup analysis, mixed models regression analysis, score systems and receiver-operating characteristic curves (ROC) analysis were done.
Results
Overall, 353 inpatients were assigned to the poor outcome group (n = 69) and control group (n = 284) with or without METs. Compared to control group, the incidence of METs was higher in poor outcome group. Poor outcome were present in 0%, 4.4%, 12.3%, 47.6%, 71.4% and 100% of the six groups, who met the diagnostic criteria of MetS 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 times. For multivariable logistic regression, quartiles of BMI remained the risk factors of poor outcome after adjustment other risk factors. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, METs was an independent risk factors in several models. Assigning a score of one for each components, the AUC were 0.877 (95%CI: 0.823-0.923) in all patients, 0.864 (95%CI: 0.7945-0.935) in METs and 0.700 (95%CI: 0.567-0.833) in non-METs by Receiver-operating characteristic.
Conclusions
METs, especially for BMI, confers greater risk for poor outcome in ATAAD after surgery during 3-year follow up.
The Clinical Value of miRNA-21 in Cervical Cancer: A Comprehensive Investigation Based on Microarray Datasets
Authors: Deng zhimin , Zhou Chen-Liang , Dai Fang-Fang , Liu Shi-Yi , Yang Dong-Yong , Jia Yi-Fan , Cheng Yan-Xiang
Published: December 2021

Previous work has demonstrated that the expression of microRNA-21 (miR-21) is implicated in cervical cancer (CC). However, little is known regarding its associations with clinical parameters. We first conducted a meta-analysis using data from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) microarrays and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Then, enrichment analysis and hub gene screening were performed by bioinformatics methods. Finally, the roles of the screened target genes in CC were explored. From the meta-analysis, more miR-21 was expressed in cancer tissues than in adjacent nontumor tissues (P < 0.05). In addition, 46 genes were predicted as potential targets of miR-21. After enrichment analyses, it was detected that these genes were enriched in various cancer pathways, including the phosphatidylinositol signaling system and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. In this study, bioinformatics tools and meta-analysis validated that miR-21 may function as a highly sensitive and specific marker for the diagnosis of CC, which may provide a novel approach to the diagnosis and treatment of CC.
Mitigation of Total Body Irradiation-Induced Mortality and Hematopoietic Injury of Mice by a Thrombopoietin Mimetic (JNJ-26366821)
Authors: Kumar Vidya P. , Holmes-Hampton Gregory P. , Biswas Shukla , Stone Sasha , Sharma Neel Kamal , Hritzo Bernadette , Guilfoyle Mary , Eichenbaum Gary , Guha Chandan , Ghosh Sanchita P.
Published: December 2021

The threat of a nuclear attack has increased in recent years highlighting the benefit of developing additional therapies for the treatment of victims suffering from Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). In this work, we evaluated the impact of a PEGylated thrombopoietin mimetic peptide, JNJ-26366821, on the mortality and hematopoietic effects associated with ARS in mice exposed to lethal doses of total body irradiation (TBI). JNJ-26366821 was efficacious as a mitigator of mortality and thrombocytopenia associated with ARS in both CD2F1 and C57BL/6 mice exposed to TBI from a cobalt-60 gamma-ray source. Single administration of doses ranging from 0.3 to 1 mg/kg, given 4, 8, 12 or 24 hours post-TBI (LD70 dose) increased survival by 30 – 90% as compared to saline control treatment. At the conclusion of the 30-day study, significant increases in bone marrow colony forming units and megakaryocytes were observed in animals administered JNJ-26366821 compared to those administered saline. In addition, enhanced recovery of FLT3-L levels was observed in JNJ-26366821-treated animals. Probit analysis of survival in the JNJ-26366821- and saline-treated cohorts revealed a dose reduction factor of 1.113 and significant increases in survival for up to 6 months following irradiation. These results support the potential use of JNJ-26366821 as a medical countermeasure for treatment of acute TBI exposure in case of a radiological/nuclear event when administered from 4 to 24 hours post-TBI.
Genome-wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the Cucumber PP2C Genes Family
Authors: Zhang Guobin , Zhang Zeyu , Luo Shilei , Li Xia , Lyu Jian , Liu Zeci , Wan Zilong , Yu Jihua
Published: December 2021

Background: Type 2C protein phosphatase (PP2Cs) is a negative regulator of ABA signaling pathway, which play important roles in stress signal transduction in plants. However, cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), as an important economic vegetable, has little research on its PP2C genes family. Results: This study conducted a genome-wide investigation of CsPP2C gene family. Through bioinformatics analysis, 56 CsPP2C genes were identified in cucumber. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the PP2C genes of cucumber and Arabidopsis were divided into 13 groups. Gene structure and conserved motif analysis showed that CsPP2C genes in the same group had similar gene structure and conserved domains. Collinearity analysis showed that segmental duplication events played a key role in the expansion of cucumber PP2C genes family. In addition, the expression of CsPP2Cs under different abiotic treatments was analyzed by qRT-PCR. The results showed that CsPP2C family genes showed different expression patterns under ABA, drought, salt and cold treatment, and a significantly responsive gene CsPP2Cs was obtained (CsPP2C3). By predicting the cis-elements in the promoter, we found that all CsPP2C members contained ABA response elements (ABRE) and drought response elements (MYC). Additionally, the expression patterns of CsPP2C genes were specific in different tissues. Conclusions: The results of this study provide a reference for the genome-wide identification of PP2C gene family in other species, and provide a basis for future studies on the function of PP2C gene in cucumber.