bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterising the patterns of and factors associated with increased alcohol consumption since COVID‐19 in a UK sample
Authors: Oldham Melissa , Garnett Claire , Brown Jamie , Kale Dimitra , Shahab Lion , Herbec Aleksandra
Published: March 2021

Introduction

To examine changes in drinking patterns and to assess factors associated with reported increases in frequency of drinking, units consumed and frequency of heavy episodic drinking (HED) during the UK lockdown.

Methods

Online cross‐sectional survey of 2777 self‐selected UK adults.

Results

Thirty percent of participants reported drinking more frequently in lockdown, 16% reported drinking more units per drinking occasion and 14% reported more frequent HED. For men and women, increased frequency of drinking was associated with being less likely to believe alcohol drinking would lead to greater chance of catching COVID‐19 (men: OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.98, 1.00; women: OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.99, 1.00) and deterioration in psychological wellbeing (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.04, 1.54; OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.11, 1.51); increased unit consumption was associated with deterioration in financial situation (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.21, 1.86; OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.64) and physical health (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.67; OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.31, 2.10). Finally, increases in the frequency of HED were associated with deterioration in psychological wellbeing (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.25, 2.18; OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.17, 1.82) and being furloughed (OR = 3.25, 95% CI = 1.80, 5.86; OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.19, 3.56). Other gender differences were detected, for example, living with children was associated with an increase in units consumed (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.09, 2.73) and the frequency of HED (OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.44, 3.99) for men, but not women.

Discussion and Conclusions

In this self‐selected UK sample, a significant proportion of individuals reported drinking more frequently in lockdown, drinking more units per drinking occasion and more frequent HED. There were consistent predictors of increased consumption across men and women, but other gender differences were detected. This study identifies groups that may require targeted support in future lockdowns.
A free ride: Is long‐term omeprazole therapy safe and effective?
Authors: Sykes B. W.
Published: March 2021

Omeprazole has been widely used in the horse for nearly 20 years. Yet, to date, few studies have evaluated its safety with specific regards to the adverse effects reported in human medicine. Recent studies on omeprazole in the horse have highlighted the potential for rebound gastric hyperacidity at the time of discontinuation of therapy, for decreased calcium absorption during administration and for disruption to hindgut function when administered alongside non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs. Unlike human medicine, no clear evidence exists for a link between omeprazole administrations and an increased risk of fractures in the horse. However, evidence exists that the proposed pathophysiological pathways for increased fracture risk which are present in human medicine are also present in the horse. Limited evidence suggests that decreased efficacy may occur over time with long‐term omeprazole administration.
E‐learning? Never again! On the unintended consequences of COVID‐19 forced e‐learning on academic teacher motivational job characteristics
Authors: Kulikowski Konrad , Przytuła Sylwia , Sułkowski Łukasz
Published: March 2021

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, universities worldwide are going into ‘emergency mode’—radically transforming education by switching to online and e‐learning education. In the face of these emergent changes, many academic teachers who are unwilling to use e‐learning or who lack the appropriate competences are suddenly being forced to teach via electronic devices and the Internet. But how will this COVID‐19 forced e‐learning influence academic teachers' motivation and performance? In this conceptual paper, drawing from Job Characteristics Theory—a model of human work motivation, we would like to discuss the possible changes in six motivational job characteristics of the academic teacher's job (task identity, task significance, skill variety, feedback, autonomy, social dimensions of the work) caused by COVID‐19 forced e‐learning. Our concise conceptual elaboration might spark a debate on the possible unintended consequences of COVID‐19 forced e‐learning.
High CD8+ tumour‐infiltrating lymphocyte density associates with unfavourable prognosis in oesophageal adenocarcinoma following poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
Authors: Koemans Willem J , van Dieren Jolanda M , van den Berg Jose G , Meijer Gerrit A , Snaebjornsson Petur , Chalabi Myriam , Lecot Frederig , Riedl Robert , Krijgsman Oscar , Hofland Ingrid , Broeks Annegien , Voncken Francine E M , Peppelenbosch Maikel P , Sosef Meindert N , van Sandick Johanna W , Kodach Liudmila L
Published: March 2021

Aims

Determining prognosis following poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) remains challenging. An immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) as well as immune infiltrate density and composition are considered to play a critical role in the immune interaction between host and tumour and can predict therapy response and survival in many cancers, including gastrointestinal malignancies. The aim of this study was to establish the TME characteristics associated with survival following a poor response to nCRT.

Methods and results

The prognostic significance of OAC‐associated CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3+) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) expression was studied by immunohistochemistry and quantified by automated image analysis in 123 patients who underwent nCRT and curative resection. Results from good and poor responders were contrasted and immune infiltration was related to disease course in both groups. Subsequently a cohort of 57 patients with a moderate response to nCRT was analysed in a similar fashion. Tumour cell percentage positively correlated to immune infiltration markers. In good and moderate responders, none of the immune infiltrate parameters was associated with survival; in poor responders CD8+ was an independent negative predictor of OS in univariate analysis (P = 0.03) and high CD8+ infiltration was associated with worse OS (15 versus 32 months, P = 0.042).

Conclusion

A high CD8+ density is an independent biomarker of poor OS in poor responders to nCRT, but not in good and moderate responders. Our results suggest that patients with a poor response to nCRT but concomitant high CD8+ counts in the resection specimen require adjuvant therapy.
Between cultural relativism and liberal ethnocentrism: What does Saudi Arabia tell us about cultural variation in moral identity and prejudice?
Authors: AlSheddi Mona , Russell Pascale Sophie , Hegarty Peter
Published: March 2021

Cultural conceptions of morality are grounded in diverse moral foundations, but moral identity research often assumes that individualizing concerns are the universal basis for morality. Moral identity scales grounded only in individualizing foundations risk liberal ethnocentrism, to the extent that binding foundations emphasized in collectivist cultures are overlooked. Three hundred and ninety‐five Saudi Arabian and UK participants completed prejudice and moral identity measures, which either narrowly measured only individualizing foundations or broadly measured both binding and individualizing foundations. The broader measure had greater power to predict prejudice scores in both countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Generally, moral identities grounded in individualizing foundations predicted less prejudice, while moral identities grounded in binding foundations predicted higher prejudice in both countries. Individualizing measures of moral identity may assess ethnocentric concepts, but recognizing morality grounded in binding considerations may taint the category of moral identity with self‐concepts that are associated with greater—not less—ethnocentrism.
A novel epithelial‐mesenchymal transition molecular signature predicts the oncological outcomes in colorectal cancer
Authors: Shan Zezhi , Wu Wen , Yan Xuebing , Yang Yongzhi , Luo Dakui , Liu Qi , Li Xinxiang , Goel Ajay , Ma Yanlei
Published: March 2021

Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT), a biological process involving the transformation of epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells, promotes tumour initiation and metastasis. The aim of this study was to construct an EMT molecular signature for predicting colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis and evaluate the efficacy of the model. The risk scoring system, constructed by log‐rank test and multivariate Cox regression analysis according to EMT‐related gene expression in CRC patients from TCGA database, demonstrated the highest correlation with prognosis compared with other parameters in CRC patients. The risk scores were significantly correlated with more lymph node metastasis, distal metastasis and advanced clinical stage of CRC. The model was further successfully validated in two independent external cohorts from GEO database. Furthermore, we developed a nomogram to integrate the EMT signature with the pathological stage of CRC, which was found to perform well in predicting the overall survival. Additionally, this risk scoring model was found to be associated with immune cell infiltration, implying a potential role of EMT involved in immunity regulation in tumour microenvironment. Taken together, our novel EMT molecular model may be useful in identifying high‐risk patients who need an intensive follow‐up and more aggressive therapy, finally contributing to more precise individualized therapeutic strategies.
Neurochemical mechanisms and neurocircuitry underlying the contribution of stress to cocaine seeking
Authors: Caccamise Aaron , Van Newenhizen Erik , Mantsch John R.
Published: March 2021

In individuals with substance use disorders, stress is a critical determinant of relapse susceptibility. In some cases, stressors directly trigger cocaine use. In others, stressors interact with other stimuli to promote drug seeking, thereby setting the stage for relapse. Here, we review the mechanisms and neurocircuitry that mediate stress‐triggered and stress‐potentiated cocaine seeking. Stressors trigger cocaine seeking by activating noradrenergic projections originating in the lateral tegmentum that innervate the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to produce beta adrenergic receptor‐dependent regulation of neurons that release corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) into the ventral tegmental area (VTA). CRF promotes the activation of VTA dopamine neurons that innervate the prelimbic prefrontal cortex resulting in D1 receptor‐dependent excitation of a pathway to the nucleus accumbens core that mediates cocaine seeking. The stage‐setting effects of stress require glucocorticoids, which exert rapid non‐canonical effects at several sites within the mesocorticolimbic system. In the nucleus accumbens, corticosterone attenuates dopamine clearance via the organic cation transporter 3 to promote dopamine signaling. In the prelimbic cortex, corticosterone mobilizes the endocannabinoid, 2‐arachidonoylglycerol (2‐AG), which produces CB1 receptor‐dependent reductions in inhibitory transmission, thereby increasing excitability of neurons which comprise output pathways responsible for cocaine seeking. Factors that influence the role of stress in cocaine seeking, including prior history of drug use, biological sex, chronic stress/co‐morbid stress‐related disorders, adolescence, social variables, and genetics are discussed. Better understanding when and how stress contributes to drug seeking should guide the development of more effective interventions, particularly for those whose drug use is stress related.

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The Nuances of the “Latino Vote”: Toward the Unpacking of the Panethnic
Authors: Gonzalez‐Sobrino Bianca
Published: March 2021

This article reviews predictions made in an earlier piece entitled “Searching for the ‘Sleeping Giant’: Racialized News Coverage of Latinos Pre‐2020 Elections” (Gonzalez‐Sobrino 2020).
Layering sunscreen with facial makeup enhances its sun protection factor under real‐use conditions
Authors: Kim Min Ah , Jung Yu Chul , Bae Jiyoun , Ha Jaehyoun , Kim Eunjoo
Published: March 2021

Background

The proper application of sunscreen is important to ensure protection of the skin against ultraviolet (UV) damage. Sunscreens are used in various ways in real world situations, which alters their UV protection efficacy. In this study, we simulated typical consumer use of sunscreen, which is often sequentially covered with facial makeup, in a laboratory study.

Methods

We compared the sun protection factors (SPF) of sunscreen and makeup products after consecutive layering of the products.

Results

The SPF of each sunscreen and makeup product was dramatically lower than stated on the label upon application of a typical amount used by a consumer, which is lower than recommended. For high‐SPF products, the drop in effective protection was proportionally greater than those for the low‐SPF products upon application of lower doses. However, layering sunscreen and makeup products greatly increased the effective SPF compared with that achieved by single application of each product, even when the amount of each product used was below the recommended level.

Conclusion

Layering sunscreen with makeup may compensate for insufficient sunscreen application in real‐life conditions by providing an additional source of UV protection and improving the homogeneity of coverage. Our results suggest that recommending consecutive application of sunscreen and makeup products may be a practical and useful approach to improving UV protection that would not require additional steps in the facial care routines of many individuals.
The novel HLA‐DPB1 allele, HLA‐DPB1*04:01:51, first described in a Brazilian individual
Authors: Vianna Romulo , Lopes Giovanna , Georgiou Xenia , Turner Thomas R. , Porto Luís Cristóvão
Published: March 2021

The novel HLA‐DPB1*04:01:51 allele first described in a potential bone marrow donor from Brazil.
Los gestos de hospitalidad en el oficio de educar
Authors: Gómez-Ramos Daniel
Published: March 2021

Este artículo de investigación parte de la inquietud por colocar en el centro del trabajo educativo el cuidado y la responsabilidad ética ante la vida de los estudiantes: estos saberes favorecen sus procesos de aprendizaje y crecimiento personal.Desde un enfoque inspirado en la investigación de la experiencia y la fenomenología-hermenéutica,se acompaña a una maestra y sus alumnos en situación de vulnerabilidad. La descripción de escenas y las conversaciones con la maestra han permitido pensar los acontecimientos y producir comprensiones pedagógicas. Los resultados muestran cinco hilos de sentido desde los cuales reflexionar y practicar los gestos de la hospitalidad en educación.
An Architecture for Creating Engineering Applications: The Dynamic Integration System
Authors: Woyak Scott A. , Malone Brett , Myklebust Arvid
Published: March 2021

Software design within the engineering community has generally been relegated to encoding specific algorithms. This is very important, however substantially more is required to build an entire CAD/CAE application. Structure must be provided to the data maintained in the application. Analyses must be integrated and coordinated in an orderly fashion. Interaction with the user must be managed. These topics have traditionally received secondary attention. The result has been engineering applications that are difficult to use, costly to create, and expensive to maintain or modify. The architecture described in this paper, the Dynamic Integration System, addresses these issues with respect to engineering-related software. Software constructed with Dynamic Integration techniques is prepared for future needs, such as integration, before those needs explicitly arise. This greatly reduces downstream costs. The Dynamic Integration System consists of two primary constructs: Dynamic Variables and dependency hierarchies. Dynamic Variables are used to model the key data in an application while a dependency hierarchy is built from the relationships between Dynamic Variables. Using these constructs, issues such as integration and analysis coordination are automated by the underlying Dynamic Integration System facilities.
Generalization of the Classical Method of Complex Modes
Authors: Ma F. , Lee W. C.
Published: March 2021

The classical method of complex modes is extended in this paper so as to treat linear systems possessing nonsymmetric matrix coefficients.
Shell Mesh Generation by Medial Axis Transformation
Authors: Lee Yong-Gu , Lee Kunwoo
Published: March 2021

Shell mesh is widely used in simulating the flow of injected polymers in mold cavity and analyzing stresses in thin objects. But, before the shell mesh is to be generated, it is still common in the design process to build medial surfaces by human interactions instead of deriving them from an already created solid CAD model. This is a redundant operation and the resulting shell mesh is often inconsistent with its corresponding solid model.

Thus an algorithm is proposed to automatically generate the medial surfaces and the shell meshes from a given solid CAD model. This algorithm uses the intersection points of the medial surface patches as the node points. Subsequently, these node points are connected by using the intersection curves of the medial surface patches to generate the trimmed medial surface patches, and then the shell meshes are created on the trimmed medial surface patches.
Artificial Neural Networks for Automatic Dispatching Rule Selection
Authors: Liu Huajie , Dong Jian (John)
Published: March 2021

To schedule a job shop, the first task is to select an appropriate scheduling algorithm or rules. Because of the complexity of scheduling problems, no general algorithmic approach sufficient for solving all scheduling problems has been developed yet. Most scheduling systems offer multiple alternative algorithms to various circumstances, and experienced human schedulers are needed to select the appropriate dispatching rules in these systems.

To automate scheduling process, this paper discusses the use of neural networks for scheduling decision making. For a given workshop, various situations are simulated to identify the best dispatching rule. The inputs and outputs of the simulation model are used to train an artificial neural network. The trained neural network then will be used to automatically selecting an appropriate dispatching rule for a given situation.

Research results have shown great potential in using a neural network to replace human schedulers in selecting an appropriate approach for real time scheduling. This research is a part of an ongoing project of developing a real-time planning and scheduling system.
Version Management in a CAD Paradigm
Authors: Krishnamurthy Karthik , Law Kincho H.
Published: March 2021

This paper describes the change management capabilities of a data management model to support engineering design. Specifically, it addresses the problem of detecting changes made to a design during a CAD session and efficiently maintains an evolving description of a primitive entity through the design process. We propose a hierarchical versioning model to support the independent evolution of alternative deigns for a primitive entity and provide operators to store and manage changes among versions in a particular derivation hierarchy. In addition, we present a scheme to represent the version model in a CAD paradigm. The version model presented in this paper is a component of a larger data management model of versions, assemblies, configurations to address the change management needs of collaborative design.
Sandwiched Rényi relative entropy on density operators
Authors: Zhang Ting , Qi Xiaofei
Published: March 2021

Relative entropies play important roles in classical and quantum information theory. In this paper, we discuss the sandwiched Rényi relative entropy for [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] (the cone of positive trace-class operators acting on an infinite-dimensional complex Hilbert space [Formula: see text]) and characterize all surjective maps preserving the sandwiched Rényi relative entropy on [Formula: see text]. Such transformations have the form [Formula: see text] for each [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is either a unitary or an anti-unitary operator on [Formula: see text]. Particularly, all surjective maps preserving sandwiched Rényi relative entropy on [Formula: see text] (the set of all quantum states on [Formula: see text]) are necessarily implemented by either a unitary or an anti-unitary operator.
A classic experiment revisited: membrane permeability changes during the action potential
Authors: Powell Carolyn L. , Brown Angus M.
Published: March 2021

The ability to understand the relationship between the reversal potential and the membrane potential is a fundamental skill that must be mastered by students studying membrane excitability. To clarify this relationship, we have reframed a classic experiment carried out by Hodgkin and Katz, where we compare graphically the membrane potential at three phases of the action potential (resting potential, action potential peak, and afterhyperpolarization) to reversal potential for K+ ( EK), reversal potential for Na ( ENa), and membrane potential ( Em) (calculated by the Goldman Hodgkin Katz equation) to illustrate that the membrane potential approaches the reversal potential of the ion to which it is most permeable at that instant.
Theoretical Study of Convection Heat Transfer and Fluid Dynamics in Microchannels with Arrayed Microgrooves
Authors: Hu Hai-Ping
Published: March 2021

The analysis of heat transfer and fluid dynamics in a microchannel is currently one of numerous important research areas. The present study investigated the heat transfer and fluid dynamics in a microchannel with arrayed microgrooves. The boundary conditions in the microchannel and microgrooves were the velocity slip condition and temperature jump condition. The numerical calculations in the present study were based on a new numerical analysis scheme that was used to name modified point-matching methods. The methods are applied to calculate the two items coefficients of the series expressions of velocity in the microchannel with microgrooves. The methods analyzed four items coefficients of the series expressions of temperature in the microchannel with microgrooves. In addition, the fluid velocity, temperature distribution, Knudsen number effect, fluid friction factor in the microchannel, and heat transfer were discussed.
A Survey of k Nearest Neighbor Algorithms for Solving the Class Imbalanced Problem
Authors: Sun Bo , Chen Haiyan
Published: March 2021

k nearest neighbor (kNN) is a simple and widely used classifier; it can achieve comparable performance with more complex classifiers including decision tree and artificial neural network. Therefore, kNN has been listed as one of the top 10 algorithms in machine learning and data mining. On the other hand, in many classification problems, such as medical diagnosis and intrusion detection, the collected training sets are usually class imbalanced. In class imbalanced data, although positive examples are heavily outnumbered by negative ones, positive examples usually carry more meaningful information and are more important than negative examples. Similar to other classical classifiers, kNN is also proposed under the assumption that the training set has approximately balanced class distribution, leading to its unsatisfactory performance on imbalanced data. In addition, under a class imbalanced scenario, the global resampling strategies that are suitable to decision tree and artificial neural network often do not work well for kNN, which is a local information‐oriented classifier. To solve this problem, researchers have conducted many works for kNN over the past decade. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of these works according to their different perspectives and analyzes and compares their characteristics. At last, several future directions are pointed out.
Immune-Related Genes: Potential Regulators and Drug Therapeutic Targets in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Liu Wei , Ye Ju , Cai Jinqiang , Xie Feng , Tang Mengjie , Yang QinJing
Published: March 2021

Background. Accumulating evidence shows that the innate immune system is a key player in cardiovascular repair and regeneration, but little is known about the role of immune-related genes (IRGs) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods. The differential mRNA expression profiles of HCM samples were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset (GSE89714), and the IRG expression profile was obtained from the ImmPort database. The regulatory pathways of IRGs in HCM were screened out through discrepantly expressive genes (DEGs) analysis, enrichment of gene function/pathway analysis, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Besides, hub IRGs in the PPI network were selected for drug prediction. Results. A total of 854 genes were differentially expressed in HCM, of which 88 were IRGs. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that 88 IRGs were mainly involved in the biological processes (BP) of SMAD protein pathway, smooth muscle cell proliferation, protein serine/threonine kinase, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, TGFβ signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway were enriched in the pathway enrichment analysis of these 88 IRGs. Furthermore, the PPI regulatory network of IRGs was constructed, and 10 hub IRGs were screened out to construct a regulatory network for HCM. 4 transcription factors (TFs) were the major regulator of 10 hub IRGs. Finally, these 10 hub IRGs were entered into the pharmacogenomics database for prediction, and the relevant drugs were obtained. Conclusions. In this study, 10 hub IRGs were coexpressed with 4 TFs to construct a regulatory network for HCM. Drug prediction of these 10 hub IRGs proposed potential therapeutic agents that could be used in HCM. These results indicate that IRGs are potential regulators and drug therapeutic targets in HCM.
Gustatory Dysfunction among a Sample of Depressed Egyptian Adults under Antidepressants Therapy: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Mikhail Christine , Elgaaly Khaled , Abd El Latif Abd El Hamid Ahmed , Shaker Olfat , Ali Shereen
Published: March 2021

It is quite clear that the ability to perceive taste sensations significantly affects food choice, which consequently affects health status in the long term. Gustatory dysfunction is a neglected symptom among the depressed patients and those under antidepressants therapy, although these patients are suspectable to oral problems, due to general self-negligence related to mental disease, fear of dental treatment, and side effects of varied medications utilized in psychiatry. This study is aimed at assessing gustatory thresholds (detection and recognition thresholds) among a sample of 30 depressed Egyptian adults under antidepressants therapy for at least 3 months or psychotherapy with age ranging from 20 to 50 years old, seeking the Psychiatric Clinic at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt. These patients were distributed into three equal groups (tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and psychotherapy) and were assessed for gustatory detection and recognition thresholds using the filter paper disc method through a scoring system. The participants were also divided into normal taste group in which both the detection and recognition scores were 1, while the scores from 2 till 5 were considered as hypogeusia group and the score of 6 was considered as dysgeusia group. The TCA group was statistically significant from the other 2 groups in sweet detection thresholds (

p

 = 0.043) and sweet recognition thresholds (

p

 = 0.007). Hypogeusia for sweet was statistically significant (

p

 = 0.041), where it was more common among TCA (70%) than both SSRIs and the psychotherapy group (20%). Gustatory dysfunction was found to be mostly associated with TCA followed by SSRIs particularly for sweet taste thresholds. More attention has to be given to taste changes among these patients as oral health affects general health by causing considerable pain and by changing what people eat, their speech, and their quality of life and wellbeing. Proper awareness and evaluation of this problem will improve the quality of life for the depressed patients and avoid unnecessary treatment. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03599011.
Implementation of a Transform-Minutiae Fusion-Based Model for Fingerprint Recognition
Authors: Appati Justice Kwame , Nartey Prince Kofi , Owusu Ebenezer , Denwar Ismail Wafaa
Published: March 2021

Biometrics consists of scientific methods of using a person’s unique physiological or behavioral traits for electronic identification and verification. The traits for biometric identification are fingerprint, voice, face, and palm print recognition. However, this study considers fingerprint recognition for in-person identification since they are distinctive, reliable, and relatively easy to acquire. Despite the many works done, the problem of accuracy still persists which perhaps can be attributed to the varying characteristic of the acquisition devices. This study seeks to improve the issue recognition accuracy with the proposal of the fusion of a two transform and minutiae models. In this study, a transform-minutiae fusion-based model for fingerprint recognition is proposed. The first transform technique, thus wave atom transform, was used for data smoothing while the second transform, thus wavelet, was used for feature extraction. These features were added to the minutiae features for person recognition. Evaluating the proposed design on the FVC 2002 dataset showed a relatively better performance compared to existing methods with an accuracy measure of 100% as to 96.67% and 98.55% of the existing methods.
Research on Multibeam Pattern Synthesis of Time Modulated Array Based on Convex Optimization
Authors: Hu Jiawen , Dong Xikuan , Tan Jing , Jiang Yachao , Li Hailin
Published: March 2021

An efficient multibeam pattern synthesis method for time modulated array (TMA) is proposed in this paper. The aim of this method is to generate a beam pattern on the specified sideband of TMA. The pattern synthesis problem is divided into two stages. In the first stage, the sequential convex optimization method is used to suppress the sidelobe of the center frequency and reduce the amplitude dynamic range ratios (DRR). In the second stage, the iterative convex optimization method is used to realize the multibeam pattern synthesis in the sideband. Owing to the introduction of convex optimization, the proposed method could be more efficient than approaches using a global optimization algorithm. The proposed method is capable of realizing pattern synthesis under different DRR constraints and different beam radiation directions. Numerical examples of two beams and four beams patterns of 1000-element time modulated linear array verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Application Prospect of Artificial Intelligence in Rehabilitation and Management of Myasthenia Gravis
Authors: Zhang Ying , Yu Hongmei , Dong Rui , Ji Xuan , Li Fujun
Published: March 2021

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the nervous system, which is still incurable. In recent years, with the progress of immunosuppressive and supportive treatment, the therapeutic effect of MG in the acute stage is satisfactory, and the mortality rate has been greatly reduced. However, there is still no consensus on how to conduct long‐term management of stable MG, such as guiding patients to identify relapses, practice exercise, return to work and school, etc. In the international consensus guidance for management of myasthenia gravis published by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) in 2020, for the first time, “the role of physical training/exercise in MG” was identified as the topic of discussion. Finally, due to a lack of high‐quality evidence on physical training/exercise in patients with MG, the topic was excluded after the literature review. Therefore, this paper reviewed the current status of MG rehabilitation research and the difficulties faced by stable MG patients in self‐management. It is suggested that we should take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) and leverage it to develop the data‐driven decision support platforms for MG management which can be used for adverse event monitoring, disease education, chronic management, and a wide variety of data collection and analysis.
About Total Stability of a Class of Nonlinear Dynamic Systems Eventually Subject to Discrete Internal Delays
Authors: De la Sen Manuel
Published: March 2021

This paper studies and investigates total stability results of a class of dynamic systems within a prescribed closed ball of the state space around the origin. The class of systems under study includes unstructured nonlinearities subject to multiple higher-order Lipschitz-type conditions which influence the dynamics and which can be eventually interpreted as unstructured perturbations. The results are also extended to the case of presence of multiple internal (i.e., in the state) point discrete delays. Some stability extensions are also discussed for the case when the systems are subject to forcing efforts by using links between the controllability and stabilizability concepts from control theory and the existence of stabilizing linear controls. The results are based on the ad hoc use of Gronwall’s inequality.
Study on Potential of Meridian Acupoints of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Authors: Li Qiuping , Zhao Tianxia , Wang Xin’an , Qiu Changpei , Zhou Bing , Wang Hu , Wang Bo
Published: March 2021

In recent years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has attracted more and more attention due to its good therapeutic effect, low cost, and convenience. This research is also a part of the goal of the modernization of TCM. Based on the meridian electric potential acquisition system independently developed by our project team, in this paper, we designed the human body's meridian electric potential acquisition scheme. We use principal component analysis (PCA) to prove that the meridional potential signal is derived from the ECG signal. Then, Inception ResNet V2 was used to classify acupoints and nonacupoints. Finally, the classification accuracy rate reached 86.59045265, and the F1 score = 0.72161642. This shows that acupoints and nonacupoints can be distinguished by their surface potential.
Coronary Artery Fistula and Pectus Excavatum Paradox
Authors: Jilani Mohammad Hashim , Jamali Hina Khawar , Waqar Fahad , Effat Mohamed
Published: March 2021

Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital chest wall deformity. Its effects on cardiopulmonary function, exercise capacity, and body image are variable across affected patients. Management practices for pectus deformity vary considerably, but most authors agree on the need for surgical correction if pectus index is >3.0 and there is evidence of cardiac compression on imaging. We encountered a case of a middle-aged man with severe pectus deformity and a coincidental large coronary artery to right atrium fistula. Despite a pectus index of 4.8 and severe right heart compression on thoracic imaging, he had not developed any symptoms or hemodynamic complication from this pectus deformity. Additionally, hemodynamic studies revealed normal left and right heart function, normal pulmonary artery pressures, and absence of any evidence of myocardial ischemia or significant left-to-right shunt. These abnormalities would have been expected with a coronary fistula of this size. His pectus deformity and coronary fistula had opposing hemodynamic effects, thus protecting him from severe complications of either. Presently, an association between congenital coronary fistulae and pectus excavatum is not known, and this is one of the very first reported cases of these two congenital abnormalities coexisting in a patient. Additionally, concurrence of these two conditions poses a unique therapeutic challenge due to their opposing hemodynamic effects.
Effects of Thermal Water Upwelling on Microclimate Change in the High Geo‐Temperature Roadway
Authors: Wang Junhui , Wan Zhijun , Zhang Hongwei , Wang Jingchao , Wang Yi , Zhang Yuan , Liu Sifei , Lu Ning
Published: March 2021

Deep‐circling thermal water upwelling and trickling to high geo‐temperature roadway obviously alter the microclimate in mines, which brings difficulty to the prediction of airflow temperature and humidity. This is the basis of air‐conditioning cooling load calculation. The heat and mass transfer between trickling water and airflow is rather complicated. Moreover, humid air exhibits the accumulation effect of heat and humidity in the long‐distance flow process. In this paper, an apparatus was designed and developed to explore the influence of thermal water trickling on the airflow thermal parameters of a section of roadway (1L–39L, in which 1L–9L is the trickling section). The results show the following (1) With the rise of trickling water temperature, the total enthalpy difference of dry air in the roadway increases within a small range and that of humid air goes up nonlinearly. Besides, the increase of trickling water flow rate has an insignificant effect on the sensible heat of the airflow, while it plays a notable role in increasing the latent heat of the airflow. (2) High trickling water temperature results in a higher growth rate of humidity ratio at 19L than those at 29L and 39L in the early stage of thermal water trickling. Meanwhile, sensible heat exchange, which becomes strong after thermal water trickles for over 30 min, complicates the enthalpy difference variation rates of wet air at the three measuring points. (3) The three measuring points in the 19L–39L section all display a process of enthalpy growth with time. In the case of point 39L, the enthalpy difference of humid air surges sharply when the trickling water temperature is 80°C or the flow rate is 200 ml/min. The research results boast some reference value for thermal water management and microclimate change forecasting after the airflow passes through a trickling roadway.
Study on Characteristics of Mining Earthquake in Multicoal Seam Mining under Thick and Hard Strata in High Position
Authors: Wang Shuli , Zhu Guangli , Zhang Kaizhi , Yang Lei
Published: March 2021

Rock burst has become one of the most serious world’s problems in coal resources mining, and fracture and movement of thick and hard strata in high position is the main reason to induce strong mining earthquake and rock burst. Multicoal seam mining of 10302 working face in Baodian coal mine is selected as an engineering background, which has thick and hard strata in high position. Using SOS microseismic monitoring system to collect microseismic events and date during multicoal seam mining, characteristic and difference of microseismic in multicoal seam mining under thick and hard rock in high position is analyzed systematically. The main research work is as follows: reveal temporal and spatial distribution and evolution law of microseismic and analyze difference and correlation of microseismic in multicoal mining under thick and hard strata in high position, especially the relationship between mining earthquake with high energy and fracture and movement of thick and hard strata in high position. With the characteristics of microseismic, rock burst mechanism and difference induced by thick and hard strata in high position are discussed. The research and achievement could make guidance to multicoal seam mining safety under thick and hard strata in high position.
Pricing Corporate Bonds with Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, and Their Correlation
Authors: Li Xinting , Yang Baochen , Su Yunpeng , An Yunbi
Published: March 2021

This paper proposes a generalized bond pricing model, accounting for all the effects of credit risk, liquidity risk, and their correlation. We use an informed trading model to specify the bond liquidity payoff and analyze the sources of liquidity risk. We show that liquidity risk arises from reduced information accuracy and market risk tolerance, and it is market risk tolerance that links credit and liquidity. Then, we extend the traditional bond pricing model with only credit risk by incorporating liquidity risk into the framework in which the probabilities of the two risk events are estimated by a joint distribution. Using numerical examples, we analyze the role of the correlation between credit and liquidity in bond pricing, especially during a financial crisis. We document that the varying correlation between default and illiquidity explains the phenomenon of bond death spiral observed in a financial crisis. Finally, we take the US corporate bond market as an example to demonstrate our conclusions.
Research on Coal Bed Methane (Gas) Occurrence Controlled by Geological Tectonics in the Southern Margin of North China Plate: A Case Study of the Pingdingshan Coalfield, China
Authors: Yan Jiangwei , Tan Zhihong , Guo Yan , Jia Tianrang
Published: March 2021

The geological structure is complex in the plate margin zone, and the occurrence of coal bed methane (CBM) is nonuniform with an obvious zoning phenomenon. It plays an important role to reveal the spatial distribution of CBM and its influence factors in plate margin zone for CBM exploitation and gas disaster prevention in coal mines. Based on the data of gas emission during mining, CBM content, and gas pressure in the Pingdingshan Coalfield, lying on the south edge of North China plate, the distribution characteristics of CBM and its influence factors using theories of CBM (gas) geology and statistical analysis method are investigated. The research area is divided into four CBM occurrence belts. There are its own CBM occurrence feature and control structural type in each CBM belt. Likou syncline is the structure that controls the overall distribution of CBM. NW‐trending fold‐fault belt, Guodishan fault, and Jiaxian fault are the structures that control the CBM occurrence in CBM belt IV, CBM belt II, and CBM belt I, respectively. And the difference in structural types is the main factor of CBM zoning.
Winning and Losing Relationship: A New Method of University Ranking in the Case of Countries along the Belt and Road
Authors: Liu Jin , Lin Songyue , Wu Manling , Lyu Wenjing
Published: March 2021

From the perspective of the complex system, university ranking is a complex system that involves multiagent actors, which evolve over time. Yet, current major university rankings fail to reflect the system dynamics of the university innovation system. In this paper, we apply the complex system model in the field of the university innovation system in the context of university ranking in the countries along the Belt and Road, which is a long‐term overlooked field. We introduce a new method of university ranking based on the “winning and losing” relationship to measure the relative competitiveness between universities. This paper contributes to complex system research, the Belt and Road research, and the university ranking arena.
Anti‐inflammatory Effects of S. cumini Seed Extract on Gelatinase‐B (MMP‐9) Regulation against Hyperglycemic Cardiomyocyte Stress
Authors: Atale Neha , Mishra Chandra Bhushan , Kohli Shrey , Mongre Raj Kumar , Prakash Amresh , Kumari Sweta , Yadav Umesh C. S. , Jeon Raok , Rani Vibha
Published: March 2021

Black berry (Syzygium cumini) fruit is useful in curing diabetic complications; however, its role in diabetes‐induced cardiomyopathy is not yet known. In this study, we investigated the regulation of gelatinase‐B (MMP‐9) by S. cumini methanol seed extract (MSE) in diabetic cardiomyopathy using real‐time PCR, RT‐PCR, immunocytochemistry, gel diffusion assay, and substrate zymography. The regulatory effects of MSE on NF‐κB, TNF‐α, and IL‐6 were also examined. Identification and estimation of polyphenol constituents present in S. cumini extract were carried out using reverse‐phase HPLC. Further, in silico docking studies of identified polyphenols with gelatinase‐B were performed to elucidate molecular level interaction in the active site of gelatinase‐B. Docking studies showed strong interaction of S. cumini polyphenols with gelatinase‐B. Our findings indicate that MSE significantly suppresses gelatinase‐B expression and activity in high‐glucose‐ (HG‐) stimulated cardiomyopathy. Further, HG‐induced activation of NF‐κB, TNF‐α, and IL‐6 was also remarkably reduced by MSE. Our results suggest that S. cumini MSE may be useful as an effective functional food and dietary supplement to regulate HG‐induced cardiac stress through gelatinase.
Evolution Law of Floor Fracture Zone above a Confined Aquifer Using Backfill Replacement Mining Technology
Authors: Ning Shan , Zhu Weibing , Yi Xiaoyong , Wang Laolao
Published: March 2021

Disturbances owing to coal mining result in the movement and failure of floor strata. Mining-induced fractures within the floor may propagate to the confined aquifer, thereby causing water inrush disasters. In this study, we propose using strip mining and backfill replacement mining above the confined aquifer to investigate the failure depth of the floor. The problem is simplified as a distributed force model on a half-plane body. First, the stress disturbance of the floor during strip mining is calculated and the results are combined with the von Mises yield criterion. Then, the destruction of the floor after replacing the remaining coal pillars is explored. The results show that the widths of the strip mining face and coal pillars play an important role in affecting the failure depth of the floor: the greater the width, the larger the failure depth. Based on the parametric study results, the mining face and retention coal pillar width of 20 m is sufficient to prevent the occurrence of water inrush accidents. After the replacement of the remaining coal pillars, the failure area of the floor rock mass increases, but the maximum failure depth remains unchanged. Finally, we employed field measurement techniques at the Bucun coal mine to monitor the shear and vertical strains of the floor. The data collected was compared with the predicted results obtained from the proposed theoretical model. Good agreement was found between the monitoring and calculation results, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Finite element analysis on permeability of cut-off wall for landfill
Authors: Dai Guozhong , Xu Jiajing , Li Shujin , Li Xiongwei , Shi Guicai , Shi Weicheng
Published: March 2021

Finite element method is an efficient numerical calculation method based on information technology, which can be used to solve complex equations in various problems. At present, the finite element method is mainly used to deal with seepage problems in dams, while there is less study on seepage in landfill. In this paper, finite element method is used to analyze the seepage of cut-off wall of a landfill in Jiangsu Province, and the movement of landfill leachate in cut-off wall under different conditions is simulated. The simulation results show that The cut-off wall can effectively slow down the seepage velocity of leachate; Under different conditions, the maximum gradient of the cut-off wall are 18.68 and 13.84 respectively, which conforms to Chinese national standard. Therefore, the design of cut-off wall is safe and reasonable, and filtration erosion will not occur; This simulation method combined with information technology can provide new solutions and ideas for other projects to verify safety and rationality.