bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
To assess and compare the mental health of current-left-behind children, previous-left-behind children with never-left-behind children
Authors: Yang Guangyan
Published: September 2022

The study's goal was to compare the mental health of children who are now left-behind (current-LBC) to children who have never been left-behind (never-LBC). Recruits were culled from rural Chinese schools. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS) were used to examine participants' migratory status, mental health, and parent-child communication (PACS). A total of 2,000 current-, 500 previous-, and 300 never-LBCs in had complete data readily accessible for research and analysis. A number of mental health issues, such as emotional symptoms, conduct, and hyperactivity issues as well as overall challenges were considerably increased when all confounding factors were taken into account in the analysis. Our findings also showed a substantial link between children's overall issues and their inability to effectively communicate with parents. Children suffer long-term consequences as a result of their parents' frequent moves. The mental health of children is closely linked to the quality of communication between parents and children. Migrant parents' ability to comprehend and communicate with their children is critical to their children's development, according to the findings of this study.
Magnetic resonance imaging T2* of the pancreas value using an online software tool and correlate with T2* value of myocardium and liver among patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia major
Authors: Hoe Han Guan , Git Kim-Ann , Loh C-Khai , Abdul Latiff Zarina , Hong Joyce , Abdul Hamid Hamzaini , Wan Sulaiman Wan Noor Afzan , Mohd Zaki Faizah
Published: September 2022

Objective

Patients with thalassemia major do require lifetime blood transfusions that eventually result in iron accumulation in different organs. We described the usefulness of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2*imaging values for the evaluation of pancreatic iron load in these patients, and we correlated it with MRI T2* haemosiderosis of the myocardium and liver that has been recognized as a non-invasive assessment of iron overload among patients with thalassemia major.

Materials and methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study on 39 patients with thalassemia major in one of the tertiary university hospitals for a 1-year period. Demographic data were collected from the patient's history. MRI T2* of the pancreas, liver, and heart were executed on all patients in the same setting. Objective values of iron overload in these organs were obtained using the MRI post-processing software from online software.

Results

A total of 32 (82.1%) patients had pancreatic iron overload including 2 patients (5.1%) with severe iron overload and 15 patients (38.5%) with moderate and mild iron overload, respectively. Nine patients (23.1%) had myocardial iron overload, which included 3 patients (7.7%) who had severe cardiac haemosiderosis. Notably, 37 patients (94.9%) had liver iron overload, which included 15 patients (38.5%) who had severe liver haemosiderosis. There was a moderate positive correlation between the relaxation time of the pancreas and heart haemosiderosis (r = 0.504, P < 0.001). No significant correlation was found between the relaxation time of the pancreas with the liver and the heart with the liver.

Conclusion

Pancreatic haemosiderosis precedes cardiac haemosiderosis, which establishes a basis for initiating earlier iron chelation therapy to patients with thalassemia major.
Automated detection and classification of beaked whale buzzes on bottom-mounted hydrophones
Authors: Jarvis Susan M. , DiMarzio Nancy , Watwood Stephanie , Dolan Karin , Morrissey Ronald
Published: September 2022

Beaked whales, like many other odontocetes, produce bouts of very rapid clicking that serve as a homing signal just prior to a prey capture attempt. For Blainville’s and Cuvier’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris, Md,andZiphius cavirostris, Zc,respectively) these homing sequences have been dubbed “buzzes.” Buzz clicks have both a structure that is markedly different from and a source level that is significantly lower than the foraging clicks produced by these animals. To date, most of the studies of beaked whale echolocation behavior, especially buzz production, have relied on analysis of data from acoustic recording tags placed on vocal animals. While tag data has allowed detailed description of the dive cycles and foraging behavior of the tagged animals, providing invaluable ground truth for other passive acoustic monitoring studies, it is of limited quantity. Tagging beaked whales is difficult and the spatial and temporal coverage of tagged animals remains sparse. Growing numbers of bottom-moored and bottom-mounted sensors are being used for passive acoustic monitoring and for the study ofMdandZcbehavior and distribution. Buzzes fromMdandZcare detectable on such remote sensors and these buzz data can augment higher order studies, such as those on beaked whale habitat use and population health, as detected buzzes can serve as a proxy for prey capture attempts.
Classification of expert-level therapeutic decisions for degenerative cervical myelopathy using ensemble machine learning algorithms
Authors: Park Dougho , Cho Jae Man , Yang Joong Won , Yang Donghoon , Kim Mansu , Oh Gayeoul , Kwon Heum Dai
Published: September 2022

Background

Therapeutic decisions for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) are complex and should consider various factors. We aimed to develop machine learning (ML) models for classifying expert-level therapeutic decisions in patients with DCM.

Methods

This retrospective cross-sectional study included patients diagnosed with DCM, and the diagnosis of DCM was confirmed clinically and radiologically. The target outcomes were defined as conservative treatment, anterior surgical approaches (ASA), and posterior surgical approaches (PSA). We performed the following classifications using ML algorithms: multiclass, one-versus-rest, and one-versus-one. Two ensemble ML algorithms were used: random forest (RF) and extreme gradient boosting (XGB). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) was the primary metric. We also identified the variable importance for each classification.

Results

In total, 304 patients were included (109 conservative, 66 ASA, 125 PSA, and 4 combined surgeries). For multiclass classification, the AUC-ROC of RF and XGB models were 0.91 and 0.92, respectively. In addition, ML models showed AUC-ROC values of >0.9 for all types of binary classifications. Variable importance analysis revealed that the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association score and central motor conduction time were the two most important variables for distinguishing between conservative and surgical treatments. When classifying ASA and PSA, the number of involved levels, age, and body mass index were important contributing factors.

Conclusion

ML-based classification of DCM therapeutic options is valid and feasible. This study can be a basis for establishing generalizable ML-based surgical decision models for DCM. Further studies are needed with a large multicenter database.
Two kinds of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions reduce thymic inflammation levels and improve humoral immunity of finishing pigs
Authors: Wang Xiaoyu , Chen Jiajia , Yang Fan , Ali Farah , Mao Yaqin , Hu Aiming , Xu Tianfang , Yang Yan , Wang Feibing , Zhou Guangbin , Guo Xiaowang , Cao Huabin
Published: September 2022

In animal husbandry, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a reasonable alternative to antibiotics has attracted more and more concerns to reduce microbial resistance. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with TCM prescriptions on serum parameters and thymus inflammation responses in finishing pigs. Thirty finishing pigs were randomly divided into three groups, which included the Con group (basal diet), the TCM1 group (basal diet supplemented with Xiao Jian Zhong prescriptions), and the TCM2 group (basal diet supplemented with Jingsananli-sepsis). The results showed that the contents of C3 and C4 in the serum were significantly increased in both the TCM1 and TCM2 groups compared to the Con group on day 30. Similarly, the levels of IgA, IgG, and IgM were increased in the TCM2 group, and only the level of IgM in TCM1 was increased on day 30. Meanwhile, the levels of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) antibodies had a notable increase in the TCM1 and TCM2 groups. Both TCM1 and TCM2 inhibited the levels of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway-related mRNA (TLR4, MyD88, NF-κB, IL6, IL8, and TNF-α) and protein (p-IκBα and p-P65) expression levels in the thymus. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with TCM could reduce thymic inflammation levels and improve humoral immunity of finishing pigs.
Case Fatality Rate of COVID-19 and its Relationship to Sociodemographic Characteristics in Ecuador, 2020
Authors: Flores Sacoto Karla Margarita , Sanchez Del Hierro Galo Antonio , Moreno-Piedrahita Hernández Felipe Gonzalo , Jarrin Estupiñan Jose Xavier
Published: September 2022

Objective: To analyze sociodemographic factors’ influence on COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR) in Ecuador on a subnational level.

Methods: Publicly available register-based observational study. A retrospective cohort of COVID-19 infections between epidemiological weeks 8–53 in the Ecuadorian public healthcare system was determined from available records. Statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate CFR trends according to factors such as sex, age, location, and healthcare provider.

Results: Overall CFR was 9.4%; by canton, median CFR was 5.2%, with some cantons with much higher rates, like Santa Elena (39.1%). Overall CFR decreased during the period, from 16.6% (week 8) to 2.63% (week 53). Being in a rural area was an independent protective factor. Patients over 65 had a hazard ratio of 11.38 (95% CI [11.05, 11.72]). Sex, ethnicity, and treatment from public facilities were also associated with death risk.

Conclusion: CFR is a proxy indicator of COVID-19 impact in Ecuador, and this location-based analysis provides new information on the disease’s specific impact subnationally. Overall COVID-19 CFR during the entire period was high, suggesting the need to improve COVID-19 care in Ecuador.
The Pathologic Complete Response Ratio of Liver Metastases Represents a Valuable Prognostic Indicator
Authors: Xu Yanbo , He Jiarui , Li Weihao , Zhang Weili , Liu Songran , He Jiahua , Pan Zhizhong , Lu Zhenhai , Peng Jianhong , Lin Junzhong
Published: September 2022

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the pathologic complete response ratio of liver metastases (PCRRLM) in predicting the prognosis and recurrence of colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRLM).

Methods: A total of 305 CRLM patients who underwent preoperative chemotherapy followed by hepatectomy were included. PCRRLM was defined as the number of liver metastases exhibiting pathologic complete response (PCR) divided by the number of total resected liver metastases. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to calculate survival, and differences were examined by the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the predictors of PCRRLM, recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).

Results: Among the 305 included patients, 44 (14.4%) achieved a PCRRLM ≥0.50 (including PCRRLM = 1), and 261 (85.6%) achieved a PCRRLM <0.50 (including PCRRLM = 0). Patients of an older age (≥55 years old) and those with higher carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels (≥5 ng/ml) were less likely to achieve a PCRRLM ≥0.50. In the multivariate analysis, PCRRLM≥ 0.50 (vs. < 0.50, HR [95% CI]: 0.67 [0.46–0.99], p = 0.043) was associated with better RFS. Positive lymph node status (vs. negative, HR [95% CI]: 1.46 [1.04–2.05], p = 0.028) and TBS ≥5 (vs. < 5, HR [95% CI]: 1.44 [1.02–2.04], p = 0.038) were associated with worse RFS.

Conclusion: PCRRLM was significantly associated with long-term RFS after preoperative chemotherapy and CRLM resection. Thus, it may be a valuable indicator of recurrence in CRLM patients.
“A Delicate balance”—Perceptions and Experiences of ICU Physicians and Nurses Regarding Controlled Donation After Circulatory Death. A Qualitative Study
Authors: Le Dorze Matthieu , Martouzet Sara , Cassiani-Ingoni Etienne , Roussin France , Mebazaa Alexandre , Morin Lucas , Kentish-Barnes Nancy
Published: September 2022

Controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) is considered by many as a potential response to the scarcity of donor organs. However, healthcare professionals may feel uncomfortable as end-of-life care and organ donation overlap in cDCD, creating a potential barrier to its development. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain insight on the perceptions and experiences of intensive care units (ICU) physicians and nurses regarding cDCD. We used thematic analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews and 6-month field observation in a large teaching hospital. 17 staff members (8 physicians and 9 nurses) participated in the study. Analysis showed a gap between ethical principles and routine clinical practice, with a delicate balance between end-of-life care and organ donation. This tension arises at three critical moments: during the decision-making process leading to the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments (LST), during the period between the decision to withdraw LST and its actual implementation, and during the dying and death process. Our findings shed light on the strategies developed by healthcare professionals to solve these ethical tensions and to cope with the emotional ambiguities. cDCD implementation in routine practice requires a shared understanding of the tradeoff between end-of-life care and organ donation within ICU.
The Impact of Social Capital on Farmers’ Willingness to Adopt New Agricultural Technologies: Empirical Evidence from China
Authors: Han Mingyang , Liu Ruifeng , Ma Hengyun , Zhong Kaiyang , Wang Jian , Xu Yifan
Published: September 2022

Based on the microdata of 11,547 farmers from the China Labor Dynamics Survey (CLDS) database in 2017, an ordered multi-classification logistic model was constructed to empirically test the impact of social capital (i.e., social networks, social participation, and social trust) on farmers’ willingness to adopt agricultural technology. The moderating effect of demographic changes (i.e., the number of instances of hukou migration) on social capital and farmers’ willingness to adopt new agricultural technology was further investigated. The results show that the following: (1) Social trust has a significant positive impact on farmers’ willingness to adopt new agricultural technologies, while social participation has no significant impact on farmers’ willingness to adopt new technologies. (2) Social networks influence farmers’ technology adoption behavior differently, e.g., the scope of relatives’ wedding gifts has a significant and positive influence on farmers’ technology adoption behavior, while the scope of non-relatives’ wedding gifts has no significant influence on farmers’ technology adoption behavior. (3) Demographic change plays a moderating role in the impact of social capital on farmers’ willingness to adopt new agricultural technologies. In other words, the greater the number of instances of hukou migration, the less the promoting effect of social capital on farmers’ willingness to adopt agricultural technology. (4) In the eastern and central regions of China, social capital has a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption of new agricultural technologies. In the western region of China, social capital has a significant negative impact on farmers’ adoption of new agricultural technology. In the northeast region of China, social capital has no significant impact on farmers’ adoption of new agricultural technologies. Social capital and population changes are important factors that affect farmers’ willingness to adopt new agricultural technologies. Therefore, attention should be paid to cultivating and promoting farmers’ social capital to improve farmers’ willingness to adopt new agricultural technologies.
Population Genetic Structure of Meloidogyne javanica Recovered from Different Regions of Iran
Authors: Hesar Abbas Mokaram , Rostami Mahsa , Ghaderi Reza , Danesh Younes Rezaee , Jalal Arshad , da Silva Oliveira Carlos Eduardo , Teixeira Filho Marcelo Carvalho Minhoto
Published: September 2022

In a survey of root-knot nematodes in Iran, twenty-nine populations were collected from eleven provinces. All populations were identified as Meloidogyne javanica based on morphological and morphometric characteristics of females, males, J2s, and perineal patterns. Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) primers confirmed the morphological studies, and all these populations produced a specific band in 670 bp using Fjav and Rjav primers. Genetic structure analyses using the combination of RAPD and ISSR markers revealed four different groups, which was in agreement with UPGMA cluster analyses. These four groups were related to four different geographic regions with a high geographic distance. The total estimated genetic diversity was 8%, which was a low value. Values of FST and Nm were 0.628 and 0.148, indicating that populations of these four regions were separated from each other; however, some gene flow between them could be attributed to human activities. Mantel test also revealed a negative correlation between genetic diversity and geographic distance.
Impact of Drought and Groundwater Quality on Agriculture in a Semi-Arid Zone of Mexico
Authors: Santacruz-De León German , Moran-Ramírez Janete , Ramos-Leal José Alfredo
Published: September 2022

This paper analyzes the behavior of drought in the face of the impact of climate change and groundwater quality and its implications for agricultural production in a semi-arid area of northeastern Mexico. The pluviometric information of two stations from 1961 to 2020 was analyzed, and the Standardized Precipitation Index was applied in the spring–summer period (SPI-6). Twenty-five samples from the Ahualulco aquifer were collected and analyzed, to which quality indices for agricultural use were applied. The results show that in the last 20 years there have been mild to moderate droughts, which have considerably affected rainfed farmers. The area under irrigation is affected by salinity conditions as the water goes from medium to high conductivities and low to medium sodicity, which indicates a medium sodicity risk but an excessive salinity risk.
Effect of Sheath Blade Removal on Phyllostachys violascens Shoot Quality
Authors: Xu Sen , Chen Shuanglin , Guo Ziwu , He Yuyou , Yang Liting , Dong Yawen , Xie Yanyan , Zhang Jingrun
Published: September 2022

Sheath blades are the first bamboo organ exposed to sunlight after shoots initially emerge. However, it remains uncertain whether sheath blades affect bamboo shoot growth and quality. Accordingly, this study explores variations in Phyllostachys violascens shoot growth and quality, comparing natural growth conditions to periodic sheath blade removal treatments. Results show that sheath blade removal and interactions between sheath blade removal and duration had no significant effect on the morphology, protein nutritional quality, or value of bamboo shoots. However, the length of bamboo shoot was significantly lower 4 d after treatment compared to 4 d after natural growth conditions. Moreover, sheath blade removal did have a significant effect on soluble sugar, total acid, oxalic acid, tannic acid, and cellulose content as well as sugar–acid ratios of bamboo shoots, while having no significant effect on the content and proportion of amino acid flavor compounds. Interactions between sheath blade removal and duration only had a significant effect on total acid and sugar–acid ratios. Soluble sugar, oxalic acid, tannic acid, and sugar–acid ratios increased significantly 2 d after sheath blade removal, while total acid and cellulose content decreased significantly. Lastly, soluble sugar content and sugar–acid ratios increased significantly 4 d after sheath blade removal. Findings from this study indicate that sheath blades affect shoot quality, particularly taste, which is mainly driven by carbon metabolism, but the effect of nitrogen metabolism was not obvious. This study gave a new perspective for revealing the formation mechanism of shoot quality, and also provided possible methods of improvement for the shoot quality.
Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in Carex leucochlora under Continuous Salt Stress
Authors: Ren Zhixin , Shi Jiannan , Guo Ao , Wang Ye , Fan Xifeng , Li Runzhi , Yu Chunxin , Peng Zhen , Gao Yuerong , Liu Ziyan , Duan Liusheng
Published: September 2022

Soil salinity is one of the most critical factors limiting plant growth and development. Carex leucochlora is an important turfgrass species with a wide distribution in northern China that is highly sensitive to salt stress, which impairs its development. Recently, melatonin has emerged as a nontoxic biomolecule that regulates growth and enhances salt tolerance in plants. In this study, the mechanism of melatonin’s regulation of plant growth and anatomical characteristics in C. leucochlora seedlings under continuous salt stress was explored. Our results indicated that salt stress strongly suppressed plant growth and leaf cell activity, inhibited root morphology and root activity, and negatively affected leaf and root anatomic structures in the seedlings. Conversely, melatonin (150 μmol L−1) pretreatment improved the detrimental effect of salt stress by restoring the morphology of the leaf, alleviating damage to the cell membrane, improving root activity, and altering the root architecture and plant growth attributes. Moreover, after 12 days of salt stress, anatomical observations of the leaf showed that the thickness of the leaf blade, vascular bundle area of the leaf main vein, vesicular cell area, thickness of the upper epidermis, and thickness of the lower epidermis were increased by 30.55, 15.63, 12.60, 16.76 and 27.53%, respectively, with melatonin under salinity. Melatonin treatment also showed an increase of 5.91, 7.59, 15.57, and 20.51% in epidermal thickness, vascular cylinder diameter, xylem vessel diameter, and pith cell diameter, respectively, compared with salt stress after 12 days. These results suggest that melatonin alleviated salt stress through augmenting seedling growth, leaf cell activity, and root characteristics, maintained the stability of anatomic traits to maintain chloroplast cell homeostasis, and also protected the vascular tissues to promote the radial transport of water and ions in the C. leucochlora seedlings. These modifications induced by the exogenous application of melatonin may help C. leucochlora to acclimate successfully to saline soils.
Assessing the Impacts of Fertilization Regimes on Soil Aggregate Dynamics in Northeast China
Authors: Ding Weiting , He Hailong , Zheng Fengjun , Liu Xiaotong , Wu Xueping , Jiang Yu , Zhang Jizong
Published: September 2022

Determining the effects of fertilization regimes on soil aggregates, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) distribution, and pH is essential for improving soil structure and soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation to help in proper soil fertility management. Based on a 41-year field fertilization experiment conducted on dark brown soil in northeast China, we examined the soil aggregate size distribution and associated C, N, and pH to provide a scientific basis for elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the effects of fertilization treatments on soil structure and fertility. Six different fertilization treatments included no fertilizer (CK), low-dose chemical fertilizer (NP), moderate-dose chemical fertilizer (2NP), high-dose chemical fertilizer (4NP), normal-dose organic fertilizer (M), and normal-dose organic fertilizer plus moderate-dose chemical fertilizer (M+2NP). Our findings showed that compared to CK, M and M+2NP significantly increased the proportion of macroaggregates by 40% and 28%, respectively, whereas 4NP significantly decreased it by 19%. The mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) under M and M+2NP were significantly higher than that under CK, at 12–21% and 24–36%, respectively. The fractal dimension (D) value of M+2NP was significantly lower than those of 2NP and 4NP by 4% and 5%, respectively. Soil pH under the M treatment was highest, followed by M+2NP. Soil pH under 2NP and 4NP more significantly decreased, by 0.1 and 0.2 units, than under M treatment. Soil pH values were correlated with the proportion of soil macroaggregates, MWD, and GWD, respectively (p < 0.05). Relative to CK, M and M+2NP increased the contents and stocks of SOC (by 40–49% and 89–93%, respectively) and total N (59–68% and 119–123%, respectively). Furthermore, the contents and stocks of aggregate-associated SOC and total N decreased following the order: NP > 2NP > 4NP. Overall, the long-term application of organic fertilization regimes (M and M+2NP) effectively improved soil aggregation as well as SOC accumulation and decreased soil acidification in dark brown soil in northeast China.
Horses in the Early Medieval (10th–13th c.) Religious Rituals of Slavs in Polish Areas—An Archaeozoological, Archaeological and Historical Overview
Authors: Makowiecki Daniel , Chudziak Wojciech , Szczepanik Paweł , Janeczek Maciej , Pasicka Edyta
Published: September 2022

Knowledge about horses from early medieval (10th–13th c.) Poland has been largely based on historical and archaeological data. Archaeozoological information has only been used to a limited extent. Therefore, this article aims to present the current state of knowledge on this subject, drawing on archaeozoological data from studies of horse bones. Apart from confirming earlier reflections regarding the sacred significance of the horse, additional information was obtained about specific individuals who were the subject of magical treatments. It turned out that sites with horse skeletons and skulls are few compared to the familiar presence of horse remains among kitchen waste. This contrasts with the neighbouring regions, where horses were buried more frequently among the Germans, Scandinavians and Prussians. Some new data have been obtained thanks to taphonomic analyses, which demonstrated that horse skulls of apotropaic status were not only exposed to public viewing but were also deposited under stronghold ramparts. Horses suffering from infectious diseases could also be buried under such ramparts. Considerations in the article lead to conclusions that horses were used in religious rituals as sacrificial animals, apotropaic deposits, as fortune-telling animals and cosmological figures.
The Role of Socialisation in the Taming and Management of Wild Dingoes by Australian Aboriginal People
Authors: Brumm Adam , Koungoulos Loukas
Published: September 2022

Historical sources and Indigenous oral traditions indicate that Australian Aboriginal people commonly reared and kept the wild-caught pups of dingoes (C. dingo) as tamed companion animals. A review of the available evidence suggests Indigenous communities employed an intense socialisation process that forged close personal bonds between humans and their tame dingoes from an early age. This was complemented by oral traditions which passed down awareness of the dangers to children posed by wild or unfamiliar dingoes, and which communicated the importance of treating dingoes with respect. Together, these practices resulted in what can be interpreted as substantially altered behaviours in tamed dingoes, which, despite their naturally high prey drive, were not considered a serious threat to children and were thus able to be maintained as companion animals in the long term. This relationship is of importance for understanding the original domestication of the dog, as it demonstrates a means by which careful and deliberate socialisation by foragers could both manage risks to children’s safety posed by keeping wild canids in the domestic realm and retain them well into reproductive maturity—both issues which have been highlighted as obstacles to the domestication of dogs from wolves.
In Vitro and In Vivo Characterization of a Broadly Neutralizing Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Isolated from a Semi-Immune Phage Display Library
Authors: González-González Edith , Carballo-Uicab Gregorio , Salinas-Trujano Juana , Cortés-Paniagua María I. , Vázquez-Leyva Said , Vallejo-Castillo Luis , Mendoza-Salazar Ivette , Gómez-Castellano Keyla , Pérez-Tapia Sonia M. , Almagro Juan C.
Published: September 2022

Neutralizing antibodies targeting the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 are among the most promising strategies to prevent and/or treat COVID-19. However, as SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into new variants, most of the neutralizing antibodies authorized by the US FDA and/or EMA to treat COVID-19 have shown reduced efficacy or have failed to neutralize the variants of concern (VOCs), particularly B.1.1.529 (Omicron). Previously, we reported the discovery and characterization of antibodies with high affinity for SARS-CoV-2 RBD Wuhan (WT), B.1.617.2 (Delta), and B.1.1.529 (Omicron) strains. One of the antibodies, called IgG-A7, also blocked the interaction of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) with the RBDs of the three strains, suggesting it may be a broadly SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody. Herein, we show that IgG-A7 efficiently neutralizes all the three SARS-CoV-2 strains in plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNTs). In addition, we demonstrate that IgG-A7 fully protects K18-hACE2 transgenic mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 WT. Taken together, our findings indicate that IgG-A7 could be a suitable candidate for development of antibody-based drugs to treat and/or prevent SARS-CoV-2 VOCs infection.
Design of a Planar Antenna Array with Wide Bandwidth and Narrow Beamwidth for IR-UWB Radar Applications
Authors: Nguyen Van-Thang , Chung Jae-Young
Published: September 2022

This paper presents the design of an H-band planar antenna array with broad bandwidth and narrow beam width for an IR-UWB radar application. The basic single wideband microstrip antenna is achieved by adding slots and the inset-fed technique. Then, we proposed a planar antenna array on a limited area that obtains an essential narrow beamwidth for the radar of a Non-Contact Human Vital Signs Detection application. The experimental and simulated results of the microstrip antenna array are in good agreement. The measured results show that the proposed antenna array exhibits a wide impedance bandwidth of 10.7% at around 7.5 GHz and a narrow beamwidth of 40 degrees vertically and 50 degrees horizontally, respectively.
TiO2–Fe3O4 Composite Systems—Preparation, Physicochemical Characterization, and an Attempt to Explain the Limitations That Arise in Catalytic Applications
Authors: Krakowiak Rafal , Frankowski Robert , Mylkie Kinga , Mlynarczyk Dariusz T. , Ziegler-Borowska Marta , Zgoła-Grześkowiak Agnieszka , Goslinski Tomasz
Published: September 2022

In this work, a composite material based on titanium(IV) oxide and iron(II,III) oxide was prepared using mechanothermal method. The obtained composite system was thoroughly characterized using techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and nanoparticle tracking analysis. The acute toxicity of the composite material was evaluated with Microtox. In addition, the material’s photocatalytic potential was studied in photodegradation tests of ibuprofen. The composite system revealed magnetic properties of potential usage in its recovery after photocatalytic tests. However, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2–Fe3O4 was lower than that of bare TiO2. In the photocatalytic tests performed under UV (365 nm) light, a 44% reduction of initial ibuprofen concentration in the sample was noted for bare TiO2, while for TiO2–Fe3O4 composite, only a 19% reduction was observed. In visible light (525 nm), both materials achieved statistically insignificant photodegradation rates, which was contrary to the anticipated effect for TiO2–Fe3O4. The observation was explained by a side oxidation reaction of Fe3O4 to Fe2O3 by the generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the photocatalytic process, which significantly diminished the amount of available ROS for ibuprofen degradation. The oxidation process appearing within TiO2–Fe3O4 was evident and easily observed as the color of the material turned from gray to brown. Acute toxicity assay performed with the use of Microtox revealed reduced toxicity of TiO2–Fe3O4 (32% inhibition of the Aliivibrio fischeri bacteria cell viability according to bioluminescence emitted) when compared to bare Fe3O4 (56% inhibition), whereas bare TiO2 was non-toxic. In the study, the processes occurring during the photocatalytic reaction were analyzed and discussed in the context of the available literature data.
An Unsupervised Depth-Estimation Model for Monocular Images Based on Perceptual Image Error Assessment
Authors: Park Hyeseung , Park Seungchul
Published: September 2022

In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised learning-based model for estimating the depth of monocular images by integrating a simple ResNet-based auto-encoder and some special loss functions. We use only stereo images obtained from binocular cameras as training data without using depth ground-truth data. Our model basically outputs a disparity map that is necessary to warp an input image to an image corresponding to a different viewpoint. When the input image is warped using the output-disparity map, distortions of various patterns inevitably occur in the reconstructed image. During the training process, the occurrence frequency and size of these distortions gradually decrease, while the similarity between the reconstructed and target images increases, which proves that the accuracy of the predicted disparity maps also increases. Therefore, one of the important factors in this type of training is an efficient loss function that accurately measures how much the difference in quality between the reconstructed and target images is and guides the gap to be properly and quickly closed as the training progresses. In recent related studies, the photometric difference was calculated through simple methods such as L1 and L2 loss or by combining one of these with a traditional computer vision-based hand-coded image-quality assessment algorithm such as SSIM. However, these methods have limitations in modeling various patterns at the level of the human visual system. Therefore, the proposed model uses a pre-trained perceptual image-quality assessment model that effectively mimics human-perception mechanisms to measure the quality of distorted images as image-reconstruction loss. In order to highlight the performance of the proposed loss functions, a simple ResNet50-based network is adopted in our model. We trained our model using stereo images of the KITTI 2015 driving dataset to measure the pixel-level depth for 768 × 384 images. Despite the simplicity of the network structure, thanks to the effectiveness of the proposed image-reconstruction loss, our model outperformed other state-of-the-art studies that have been trained in unsupervised methods on a variety of evaluation indicators.
Special Issue on Dental Materials: Latest Advances and Prospects
Authors: Checchi Vittorio
Published: September 2022

Most fields of dentistry are closely related to newly developed materials, and all clinical improvements often follow or, in any case, go hand in hand with the creation and development of innovative and higher-performing materials, instruments, and equipment [...]
A Framework for Assessing the Performance Capabilities of Rock Fall Protections for Hazard Analysis and Zoning
Authors: Prina Howald Erika , Abbruzzese Jacopo Maria
Published: September 2022

Assets in mountain regions all over the world are at risk of being affected by rock falls; strategies for ensuring the safety of these areas are needed. Protection measures are a most useful and diffused solution to mitigate rock fall hazards, provided their design features and effectiveness are maintained throughout their life span. As performance capabilities might deteriorate in time, it is necessary to assess the current conditions of protections for establishing whether they can actually operate according to design. This paper introduces a methodological framework for a preliminary evaluation of the performance capacity of existing rock fall protections, based on their current state, and the way this aspect influences hazard assessment and zoning. The methodology features a heuristic approach based on coefficients, called “penalty coefficients”, degrading the parameters which control the behaviour of a given protection, depending on the severity of the conditions the protection measure is in. Details on the structure and concepts of the methodological framework are given at first, along with two schematic examples provided in the second part of the paper, which are aimed at highlighting the necessary elements and steps to be performed to apply the approach in practice.
Hybrid Techniques for Diagnosis with WSIs for Early Detection of Cervical Cancer Based on Fusion Features
Authors: Mohammed Badiea Abdulkarem , Senan Ebrahim Mohammed , Al-Mekhlafi Zeyad Ghaleb , Alazmi Meshari , Alayba Abdulaziz M. , Alanazi Adwan Alownie , Alreshidi Abdulrahman , Alshahrani Mona
Published: September 2022

Cervical cancer is a global health problem that threatens the lives of women. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) is one of the most used techniques for diagnosing cervical cancer; converting from vitreous slides to whole-slide images (WSIs) allows images to be evaluated by artificial intelligence techniques. Because of the lack of cytologists and cytology devices, it is major to promote automated systems that receive and diagnose huge amounts of images quickly and accurately, which are useful in hospitals and clinical laboratories. This study aims to extract features in a hybrid method to obtain representative features to achieve promising results. Three proposed approaches have been applied with different methods and materials as follows: The first approach is a hybrid method called VGG-16 with SVM and GoogLeNet with SVM. The second approach is to classify the cervical abnormal cell images by ANN classifier with hybrid features extracted by the VGG-16 and GoogLeNet. A third approach is to classify the images of abnormal cervical cells by an ANN classifier with features extracted by the VGG-16 and GoogLeNet and combine them with hand-crafted features, which are extracted using Fuzzy Color Histogram (FCH), Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) algorithms. Based on the mixed features of CNN with features of FCH, GLCM, and LBP (hand-crafted), the ANN classifier reached the best results for diagnosing abnormal cells of the cervix. The ANN network achieved with the hybrid features of VGG-16 and hand-crafted an accuracy of 99.4%, specificity of 100%, sensitivity of 99.35%, AUC of 99.89% and precision of 99.42%.
A Dual-Adaptive Approach Based on Discrete Cosine Transform for Removal of ECG Baseline Wander
Authors: Lin Chun-Chieh , Chang Pei-Chann , Tsai Ping-Heng
Published: September 2022

Removal of baseline wander (BW) is an important preprocessing step before manually or automatically interpreting electrocardiogram (ECG) records. It is a challenging issue to fully remove BW while preserving original clinical information because BW is usually mingled with low-frequency ECG components. A dual-adaptive approach based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) is presented in this study. Firstly, the cardiac fundamental frequency (CFF) of ECGs is accurately calculated through DCT domain analysis. Secondly, DCT coefficients of ECGs, whose frequencies are below CFF, are used to construct an amplitude vector in which the optimal cut-point between BW and ECGs is distinctly reflected. Finally, a new filtering technique based on DCT is exploited to suppress BW with its cutoff frequency adjusted to the optimal cut-point. The proposed method is applied to both real ECG records and simulated ECGs with its results compared to those of three previous methods published in the literature. The experimental results show that substantial improvements in performance can be achieved when adopting this dual-adaptive approach.
GAN-TL: Generative Adversarial Networks with Transfer Learning for MRI Reconstruction
Authors: Yaqub Muhammad , Jinchao Feng , Ahmed Shahzad , Arshid Kaleem , Bilal Muhammad Atif , Akhter Muhammad Pervez , Zia Muhammad Sultan
Published: September 2022

Generative adversarial networks (GAN), which are fueled by deep learning, are an efficient technique for image reconstruction using under-sampled MR data. In most cases, the performance of a particular model’s reconstruction must be improved by using a substantial proportion of the training data. However, gathering tens of thousands of raw patient data for training the model in actual clinical applications is difficult because retaining k-space data is not customary in the clinical process. Therefore, it is imperative to increase the generalizability of a network that was created using a small number of samples as quickly as possible. This research explored two unique applications based on deep learning-based GAN and transfer learning. Seeing as MRI reconstruction procedures go for brain and knee imaging, the proposed method outperforms current techniques in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index (SSIM). As compared to the results of transfer learning for the brain and knee, using a smaller number of training cases produced superior results, with acceleration factor (AF) 2 (for brain PSNR (39.33); SSIM (0.97), for knee PSNR (35.48); SSIM (0.90)) and AF 4 (for brain PSNR (38.13); SSIM (0.95), for knee PSNR (33.95); SSIM (0.86)). The approach that has been described would make it easier to apply future models for MRI reconstruction without necessitating the acquisition of vast imaging datasets.
OPC-UA Agent for Legacy Programmable Logic Controllers
Authors: Lee Seung-Yong , Sung Minyoung
Published: September 2022

Open platform communications (OPC) unified architecture (UA) is a communication standard increasingly used in industrial automation systems to enable the exchanging of control and management data between distributed entities. This paper proposes the design of an OPC-UA agent to enable UA information service and client functionalities in legacy programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The agent runs on a separate machine connected to the PLC using a dedicated link and maintains shared memory for certain variables in the PLC. Based on the periodically synchronized variables, the agent services the OPC-UA information model and executes client function blocks on behalf of the PLC. One important design feature is the remote procedure call of IEC 61131-3-based function blocks using synchronized variables. This allows the standard OPC-UA client functions to be used in existing PLCs which only support numeric types and do not support strings or complex structures. To validate the proposed design, we implement an agent prototype and demonstrate the successful monitoring and control of an industrial robot controller via OPC-UA. Through experiments, we evaluate the performance of UA functions in terms of the latency of read services for an increasing number of items. The evaluation results are believed to provide useful insights into agent-based approaches for integrating legacy PLCs into the OPC-UA framework.
Real-Time Strawberry Plant Classification and Efficiency Increase with Hybrid System Deep Learning: Microcontroller and Mobile Application
Authors: Kesler Selami , Karakan Abdil , Oğuz Yüksel
Published: September 2022

The strawberry plant has three life stages: seedling, blooming, and crop. It needs different acclimatization conditions in these life stages. A dataset consisting of 10,000 photographs of the strawberry plant was prepared. Using this dataset, classification in convolutional neural networks was performed in Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB). Nine different algorithms were used in this process. They were realized in ResNet101 architecture, and the highest accuracy rate was 99.8%. A low-resolution camera was used while growing strawberry plants in the application greenhouse. Every day at 10:00, a picture of the strawberry plant was taken. The captured image was processed in ResNet101 architecture. The result of the detection process appeared on the computer screen and was sent to the microcontroller via a USB connection. The microcontroller adjusted air-conditioning in the greenhouse according to the state of the strawberry plant. For this, it decided based on the data received from the temperature, humidity, wind direction, and wind speed sensors outside the greenhouse and the temperature, humidity, and soil moisture sensors inside the greenhouse. In addition, all data from the sensors and the life stage of the plant were displayed with a mobile application. The mobile application also provided the possibility for manual control. In the study, the greenhouse was divided into two. Strawberries were grown with the hybrid system on one side of the greenhouse and a normal system on the other side of the greenhouse. This study achieved 9.75% more crop, had a 4.75% earlier crop yield, and required 8.59% less irrigation in strawberry plants grown using the hybrid system.
Influence of Product Interface Material Stiffness on Human Tactile Perception during a Grasping Task
Authors: Harih Gregor , Kaljun Jasmin , Dolšak Bojan
Published: September 2022

When considering product handle ergonomics, authors have focused on product handle sizes and shapes, while handle materials have been largely ignored. Authors have shown that handles coated with rubber foam were more comfortable than stiff handles. However, they did not provide detailed material properties, nor did they investigate different stiffnesses and their impact on tactile perception during grasping. Therefore, in this article, we investigated the influence of product interface material stiffness using a common wood sawing task with a saw handle made of hard plastic and 3D-printed deformable material with different stiffnesses. The results showed that user tactile perception can be improved significantly where the 3D-printed cellular density, and, hence material stiffness, has a significant influence on the resulting tactile perception. However, results have shown that the material stiffness must be determined appropriately to maintain the stability of the products in hands. The results also suggest that the product interface material had a greater influence on the reported overall comfort rating than the product handle shape in the sawing task.
Towards Enabling Fault Tolerance and Reliable Green Communications in Next-Generation Wireless Systems
Authors: Rathore Rajkumar Singh , Kaiwartya Omprakash , Qureshi Kashif Naseer , Javed Ibrahim Tariq , Nagmeldin Wamda , Abdelmaboud Abdelzahir , Crespi Noel
Published: September 2022

Green communications have witnessed significant attention being paid to the next generation of wireless systems research and development. This is due to growing use of sensor- and battery-oriented smart wireless devices. The related literature in green communications for next-generation wireless systems majorly relies on transmission and sensing power management, but lacks a fault-tolerant centric approach. In this context, this paper presents a fault-tolerant and reliable green communications framework for next-generation wireless systems (FRGNWS). Firstly, maximum node-disjoint routes from all source nodes to the base station are identified based on the hybrid adapted grey wolf sine cosine optimizer. Secondly, a fault-tolerant and reliable route is selected from the maximum disjoint routes for each sensor node to the base station based on the hybrid adapted grey wolf whale optimizer. The performance of our proposed green communications framework is assessed by simulation experiments considering a realistic implementation scenario and different metrics. Simulation results clearly validate the efficacy of the proposed green communications framework as compared to the state-of-the-art techniques.