bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attitudes towards coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine and sources of information across diverse ethnic groups in the UK: a qualitative study from June to October 2020
Authors: Sides Eirwen , Jones Leah Ffion , Kamal Atiya , Thomas Amy , Syeda Rowshonara , Kaissi Awatif , Lecky Donna M , Patel Mahendra , Nellums Laura , Greenway Jane , Campos-Matos Ines , Shukla Rashmi , Brown Colin S , Pareek Manish , Sollars Loretta , Pawson Emma , McNulty Cliodna
Published: September 2022

Objectives

Across diverse ethnic groups in the UK, explore attitudes and intentions towards COVID-19 vaccination and sources of COVID-19 information.

Design

Remote qualitative interviews and focus groups (FGs) conducted June–October 2020 before UK COVID-19 vaccine approval. Data were transcribed and analysed through inductive thematic analysis and mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Setting

England and Wales.

Participants

100 participants from 19 self-identified ethnic groups.

Results

Mistrust and doubt were reported across ethnic groups. Many participants shared concerns about perceived lack of information about COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy. There were differences within each ethnic group, with factors such as occupation and perceived health status influencing intention to accept a vaccine once made available. Across ethnic groups, participants believed that public contact occupations, older adults and vulnerable groups should be prioritised for vaccination. Perceived risk, social influences, occupation, age, comorbidities and engagement with healthcare influenced participants’ intentions to accept vaccination once available. All Jewish FG participants intended to accept, while all Traveller FG participants indicated they probably would not.

Facilitators to COVID-19 vaccine uptake across ethnic groups included: desire to return to normality and protect health and well-being; perceived higher risk of infection; evidence of vaccine safety and efficacy; vaccine availability and accessibility.

COVID-19 information sources were influenced by social factors and included: friends and family; media and news outlets; research literature; and culture and religion. Participants across most different ethnic groups were concerned about misinformation or had negative attitudes towards the media.

Conclusions

During vaccination rollout, including boosters, commissioners and providers should provide accurate information, authentic community outreach and use appropriate channels to disseminate information and counter misinformation. Adopting a context-specific approach to vaccine resources, interventions and policies and empowering communities has potential to increase trust in the programme.
Eesophagogastroduodenoscopy in paediatrics: does abiding by the international guidelines lead to appropriate management? A cross-sectional study
Authors: Burayzat Salma , Odeh Mohanad , Altamimi Eyad , Al-Dweik Sarah , El Wahab Khaled , Alanasweh Muntasir , Al-Khraisat Mohammad , Barqawi Mohammad
Published: September 2022

Objectives Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is one of the most practiced procedures in paediatric gastroenterology. As with all other procedures, it is guided and controlled by specific guidelines developed and approved internationally. The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) guidelines are two of the most followed guidelines in paediatric gastroenterology. This study aimed to determine how optimal patient condition management is when following international paediatric gastroenterology guidelines and to correlate the appropriateness of EGD and other variables with positive or negative findings on EGD.

Design

A cross-sectional retrospective cohort of all first-time diagnostic upper endoscopies was conducted between 1 January 2016 and 1 February 2020, in Prince Hamzah Hospital in Jordan.

Participants

Paediatric patients between 9 months and 14 years of age with indications for EGD.

Results

Overall, 529 diagnostic EGDs were performed during the study period. Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis was the most common final diagnosis in 247 patients (47%). Furthermore, 488 (92%) EGDs were deemed appropriate, while 41 (7.7%) were considered inappropriate. Finally, 74.0% of all biopsies performed had positive contributive findings.

Conclusions

Abiding by international guidelines in paediatric gastroenterology can optimise care for paediatric patients. General paediatricians are urged to follow guidelines rigorously when referring patients to minimise inappropriate procedures.
Dynamic accessibility by car to tertiary care emergency services in Cali, Colombia, in 2020: cross-sectional equity analyses using travel time big data from a Google API
Authors: Cuervo Luis Gabriel , Martinez-Herrera Eliana , Osorio Lyda , Hatcher-Roberts Janet , Cuervo Daniel , Bula Maria Olga , Pinilla Luis Fernando , Piquero Felipe , Jaramillo Ciro
Published: September 2022

Objectives

To test a new approach to characterise accessibility to tertiary care emergency health services in urban Cali and assess the links between accessibility and sociodemographic factors relevant to health equity.

Design

The impact of traffic congestion on accessibility to tertiary care emergency departments was studied with an equity perspective, using a web-based digital platform that integrated publicly available digital data, including sociodemographic characteristics of the population and places of residence with travel times.

Setting and participants

Cali, Colombia (population 2.258 million in 2020) using geographic and sociodemographic data. The study used predicted travel times downloaded for a week in July 2020 and a week in November 2020.

Primary and secondary outcomes

The share of the population within a 15 min journey by car from the place of residence to the tertiary care emergency department with the shortest journey (ie, 15 min accessibility rate (15mAR)) at peak-traffic congestion hours. Sociodemographic characteristics were disaggregated for equity analyses. A time-series bivariate analysis explored accessibility rates versus housing stratification.

Results

Traffic congestion sharply reduces accessibility to tertiary emergency care (eg, 15mAR was 36.8% during peak-traffic hours vs 84.4% during free-flow hours for the week of 6–12 July 2020). Traffic congestion sharply reduces accessibility to tertiary emergency care. The greatest impact fell on specific ethnic groups, people with less educational attainment and those living in low-income households or on the periphery of Cali (15mAR: 8.1% peak traffic vs 51% free-flow traffic). These populations face longer average travel times to health services than the average population.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that health services and land use planning should prioritise travel times over travel distance and integrate them into urban planning. Existing technology and data can reveal inequities by integrating sociodemographic data with accurate travel times to health services estimates, providing the basis for valuable indicators.
Strategies Australian junior doctors use to maintain their mental, physical and social well-being: a qualitative study
Authors: Hobi Melanie , Yegorova-Lee Sonya , Chan Christopher Chun-lin , Zhao Hailin , Jiang Stephen , Tran Dan , Nair Gayathri , Borkoles Erika
Published: September 2022

Objectives

This study aimed to uncover the strategies that junior doctors implement to maintain their mental, physical and social well-being, and the barriers they experience in practising these strategies.

Participants

Fifteen junior doctors in their postgraduate year 1 or 2 currently practising in Australia were recruited.

Outcome measures

Semistructured interviews were conducted, and the transcripts underwent thematic analysis.

Results

Three key themes emerged from thematic analysis, namely: well-being strategies, barriers to well-being and and future interventions. Exercise, a healthy and balanced diet, quality sleep, and workplace organisations were frequently reported well-being strategies. High workload, unpredictable routines, lack of familiarity with the healthcare system and ongoing stigma surrounding mental health were seen as barriers to well-being. Suggested interventions included increased control over rosters, subsidised access to facilities such as gyms and increased internship preparedness programmes organised by the medical schools.

Conclusions

The findings from this study may assist in developing more personalised and targeted methods to help junior doctors maintain their mental, physical and social well-being. Future studies may address the structural and systemic changes required to develop a workforce that fosters the well-being of junior doctors and reduces the institutional barriers to practising well-being strategies.
Does comorbidity burden explain the higher COVID-19 mortality risk among men? A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of a well-defined cohort of patients in Bronx, New York
Authors: Vasa Aastha , Kini Maya , Neugarten Joel , Bellin Eran , Golestaneh Ladan
Published: September 2022

Objectives

Men have a higher mortality rate and more severe COVID-19 infection than women. The mechanism for this is unclear. We hypothesise that innate sex differences, rather than comorbidity burden, drive higher male mortality.

Design

Retrospective cohort.

Setting

Montefiore Health System (MHS) in Bronx, New York, USA.

Participants

A cohort population of 364 992 patients at MHS between 1 January 2018 and 1 January 2020 was defined, from which individuals hospitalised during the pre-COVID period (1 January 2020–15 February 2020) (n=5856) and individuals hospitalised during the COVID-19 surge (1 March 2020–15 April 2020) (n=4793) were examined for outcomes. A subcohort with confirmed COVID-19+ hospitalisation was also examined (n=1742).

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Hospitalisation and in-hospital mortality.

Results

Men were older, had more comorbidities, lower body mass index and were more likely to smoke. Unadjusted logistic regression showed a higher odds of death in hospitalised men than women during both the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods (pre-COVID-19, OR: 1.66 vs COVID-19 OR: 1.98). After adjustment for relevant clinical and demographic factors, the higher risk of male death attenuated towards the null in the pre-COVID-19 period (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.76) but remained significantly higher in the COVID-19 period (OR 2.02; 95% CI 1.73 to 2.34).

In the subcohort of COVID-19+ hospitalised patients, men had 1.37 higher odds of in-hospital death (95% CI 1.09 to 1.72), which was not altered by adjustment for comorbidity (OR remained at 1.38 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.76)) but was attenuated with addition of initial pulse oximetry on presentation (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.62).

Conclusions

Higher male mortality risk during the COVID-19 period despite adjustment for comorbidity supports the role of innate physiological susceptibility to COVID-19 death. Attenuation of higher male risk towards the null after adjustment for severity of lung disease in hospitalised COVID-19+ patients further supports the role of higher severity of COVID-19 pneumonia in men.
Knowledge and factors associated with obstetric danger signs among married men in Dessie town, South Wollo, North-East Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study
Authors: Shitie Anguach , Dilnessa Tenagnework , Ayalew Sindu , Tadesse Betelhem
Published: September 2022

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess knowledge and factors associated with obstetrics danger signs among married men in Dessie town, North-East Ethiopia in 2020.

Design

Community-based cross-sectional study.

Setting

Dessie town, North-East Ethiopia.

Participants

The study was conducted on selected 824 men. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews using pretested questionnaires and then the data were entered into Epi-Data V.3.1 software, and analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences V.20. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between each independent variable with the dependent variable, and those variables with a value of p≤0.25 in bivariable analysis were candidates for multivariable analysis. Finally those variables with a value of p<0.05 with 95% CI in multivariable analysis were reported as statistically significant.

Result

This study revealed that the overall knowledge of obstetric danger signs was 53.8% (95% CI 50.2 % to 57.2%). Respondents aged 35–40 years (AOR=4.92, 95% CI 2.6 to 9.0), exposure to media (AOR=10.4, 95% CI 4.19 to 25.9), wife’s age ≤35 years (AOR=4.16, 95% CI 2.25 to 7.69), wife who attended secondary education (AOR=1.59, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.39), participation in the Health Development Army (AOR=4.74, 95% CI 1.8 to 12.5), previous obstetric complication (AOR=4.27, 95% CI 2.0 to 9.14) and number of pregnancy ≤2 (AOR=0.42, 95% CI 0.05 to 3.38) and 3–4 (AOR=0.22 95% CI 0.06 to 0.83) were significantly associated with knowledge of obstetric danger signs.

Conclusion

Men’s knowledge about obstetric danger signs was low. Age of respondents, wives’ age, and respondents’ media exposure, participation in the Health Development Army, wives’ educational status, previous obstetrics complication and gravidity were significantly associated knowledge of obstetrics danger sign.
An intersectional analysis of historical and contemporary structural racism on non-fatal shootings in Baltimore, Maryland
Authors: Uzzi Mudia , Aune Kyle T , Marineau Lea , Jones Forrest K , Dean Lorraine T , Jackson John W , Latkin Carl A
Published: September 2022

IntroductionNon-fatal shooting rates vary tremendously within cities in the USA. Factors related to structural racism (both historical and contemporary) could help explain differences in non-fatal shooting rates at the neighbourhood level. Most research assessing the relationship between structural racism and firearm violence only includes one dimension of structural racism. Our study uses an intersectional approach to examine how the interaction of two forms of structural racism is associated with spatial non-fatal shooting disparities in Baltimore, Maryland.

MethodsWe present three additive interaction measures to describe the relationship between historical redlining and contemporary racialized economic segregation on neighbourhood-level non-fatal shootings.

ResultsOur findings revealed that sustained disadvantage census tracts (tracts that experience contemporary socioeconomic disadvantage and were historically redlined) have the highest burden of non-fatal shootings. Sustained disadvantage tracts had on average 24 more non-fatal shootings a year per 10 000 residents compared with similarly populated sustained advantage tracts (tracts that experience contemporary socioeconomic advantage and were not historically redlined). Moreover, we found that between 2015 and 2019, the interaction between redlining and racialized economic segregation explained over one-third of non-fatal shootings (approximately 650 shootings) in sustained disadvantage tracts.

ConclusionThese findings suggest that the intersection of historical and contemporary structural racism is a fundamental cause of firearm violence inequities in Baltimore. Intersectionality can advance injury prevention research and practice by (1) serving as an analytical tool to expose inequities in injury-related outcomes and (2) informing the development and implementation of injury prevention interventions and policies that prioritise health equity and racial justice.
Proposal to distinguish HER2-low from HER2-normal breast cancer by in situ hybridisation
Authors: Chen Yen-Ying , Yang Ching-Fen , Hsu Chih-Yi
Published: September 2022

Aims

‘HER2-low’ breast cancer is an emerging issue as the clinical trials for anti-HER2 antibody–drug conjugates (trastuzumab deruxtecan) are making progress. A reliable method to identify HER2-low cancers is needed. This study aimed to evaluate immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridisation (ISH) in detecting HER2-low status.

Methods

We evaluated the HER2 ISH data grouped by the IHC consensus in proficiency tests (PTs), and compared the HER2 ISH results between HER2 IHC scored 0 (IHC-0) and IHC scored 1+ (IHC-1+) tumours from in-house tissue microarrays (TMAs). Since benign/normal glands have HER2 expression and ideally should not be affected by targeted therapy, we evaluated HER2 ISH results in peritumoural benign glands of 52 breast cancers as reference values.

Results

None of the 565 tissue cores in PTs achieved an 80% participant agreement of IHC-1+. In PTs and in-house TMAs,HER2signals of the IHC-1+cores (median: 2.6 and 2.0, respectively) were significantly higher than those of IHC-0 cores (median: 2.0 and 1.7, respectively). But the ranges ofHER2signals had a considerable overlap between IHC-1+and IHC-0 cores. TheHER2signals andHER2:CEP17 ratios of peritumoural benign glands exhibited normal distributions, and their upper bounds of the 95% reference intervals were 2.10 and 1.30, respectively.

Conclusions

Current HER2 testing algorithms are unsatisfactory in detecting HER2-low cases. Using ISH to detect tumour withHER2signals andHER2:CEP17 ratio higher than the upper bound of the benign glands can be an alternative method.
MOONLIGHT study: the design of a comparative study of the effectiveness of belimumab in patients with a history of lupus nephritis from the post-Marketed effectiveness of belimumab cOhOrt and JapaN Lupus NatIonwide reGistry (LUNA) coHorT
Authors: Sada Kenei , Kurita Noriaki , Noma Hisashi , Matsuki Taizo , Quasny Holly , Levy Roger A , Jones-Leone Angela R , Gairy Kerry , Yajima Nobuyuki
Published: September 2022

Introduction

Lupus nephritis (LN) is more prevalent in patients with SLE of Asian ethnicity than in Caucasian patients. Belimumab became available in Japan in 2017 to treat patients with SLE, including those with LN. In the BLISS-LN trial (NCT01639339), belimumab showed a favourable effect on renal outcomes when combined with standard therapy (ST) starting at the induction treatment phase for active LN, but real-world effectiveness of belimumab in LN has not been extensively studied. Here we describe the protocol for the MOONLIGHT (post-Marketed effectiveness of belimumab cOhOrt and JapaN Lupus NatIonwide ReGistry (LUNA) coHorT) study, which will use data from a Japan postmarketing surveillance study and the Lupus Registry of Nationwide Institutions (LUNA) to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of belimumab plus ST versus ST alone in patients with a history of active LN who are not in the induction phase.

Methods and analysis

This multicentre, retrospective, observational study (GSK Study 214710) will enrol adults with SLE and a history of active LN, holding ≥3 years of complete follow-up data from the initiation of belimumab (no continuous treatment required). Data for patients with belimumab plus ST treatment (postmarketing registry data, belimumab cohort) will be compared with those for patients with ST only treatment (LUNA data, comparison cohort). Patients who discontinue/initiate belimumab after the start of the follow-up may be included in the comparison/belimumab cohort, respectively. The primary endpoint will be the occurrence of renal flares, for which belimumab’s effectiveness will be estimated using a marginal structural model to consider time-dependent treatment and confounding factors. Secondary endpoints will include change in corticosteroid dose, renal disease activity, extrarenal disease activity, disease severity/activity biomarkers, LN class changes, end-stage kidney disease events and hospitalisations.

Ethics and dissemination

This study will be conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki and the local ethical guidelines. Findings will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings.
Physical examination in functional unresponsiveness
Authors: Bacchi Stephen , Slee Mark
Published: September 2022

Functional unresponsiveness can present a diagnostic challenge, but there are many positive physical examination findings that may help to confirm this diagnosis. Some of these are associated with pain or potential tissue damage for the patient, and potentially ethical and legal risk for the practitioner, but several lesser-known physical examination techniques do not carry these risks. Such examination techniques include non-damaging irritative stimuli, a modification to the conventional hand drop test and evaluation of eyelid opening.
NIH stroke scale and unfavourable outcomes in acute ischaemic stroke: retrospective study
Authors: Tramonte Maiara Silva , Carvalho Ana Claudia Pires , Fornazari Ana Elisa Vayego , Villas Boas Gustavo Di Lorenzo , Modolo Gabriel Pinheiro , Ferreira Natalia Cristina , Lange Marcos Christiano , Minicucci Marcos Ferreira , Bazan Rodrigo , Lopes Laura Cardia Gomes
Published: September 2022

Objectives

To evaluate the determining factors of severe functional impairment (SFI) outcome at discharge and in-hospital mortality in patients who had an acute ischaemic stroke and thus favouring early implementation of primary palliative care (PC).

Methods

A retrospective descriptive study by the analysis of 515 patients who had an acute ischaemic stroke admitted at stroke unit, aged≥18 years, from January 2017 to December 2018. Previous clinical and functional status data, National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) on admission, and data related to the evolution during hospitalisation were evaluated, relating them to the SFI outcome at discharge and death. The significance level was set at 5%.

Results

Of 515 patients included, 15% (77) died, 23.3%(120) had an SFI outcome and 9.1% (47) were evaluated by the PC team. It was observed that NIHSS Score≥16 is responsible for a 15.5-fold increase in the occurrence of death outcome. The presence of atrial fibrillation was responsible for a 3.5-fold increase in the risk of this outcome.

Conclusion

NIHSS Score is an independent predictor of in-hospital death and SFI outcomes at discharge. Knowledge about the prognosis and risk of developing unfavourable outcomes is important for planning the care of patients affected by a potentially fatal and limiting acute vascular insult.
Hydromorphone for dyspnoea in terminally ill patients with cancer: case series
Authors: Sakaguchi Tatsuma , Kajiyama Toru
Published: September 2022

Objective

Opioids can mitigate dyspnoea, but the efficacy of hydromorphone use for dyspnoea in patients with cancer is not well known.

Methods

Patients with cancers with more than mild dyspnoea treated with subcutaneous injection of hydromorphone between March 2020 and February 2022 at Kitano Hospital (Osaka, Japan) were reviewed retrospectively. Only patients who could self-report their symptoms ≥3 days after the start of hydromorphone therapy were included. Dyspnoea severity was rated on a five-point scale (0: ‘not bothersome'; 1: ‘mild’; 2: ‘moderate’; 3: ‘severe’; 4: ‘overwhelming’).

Results

Fifteen patients (2 with moderate, 12 with severe and 1 with overwhelming dyspnoea) were deemed eligible. The median interval from the start of hydromorphone initiation to death was 19 (IQR, 11–37) days. Thoracic drainage and palliative sedation after the start of hydromorphone therapy was undertaken in three and two patients, respectively. At 3 days, the median score of the Dyspnoea Rating Scale was improved significantly from 3 to 2 compared with that at baseline (p=0.0023). The intensity of dyspnoea was improved in 11 patients (73%). Opioid-related adverse events were not observed within 3 days.

Conclusions

Using hydromorphone for dyspnoea in patients with cancer seems to be appropriate if morphine use is contraindicated.
Accuracy of Xpert Ultra for the diagnosis of paediatric tuberculosis in a low TB burden country: a prospective multicentre study
Authors: Aguilera-Alonso David , Solís-García Gonzalo , Noguera-Julian Antoni , González-Martín Julián , Román Cobeña Angely , Baquero-Artigao Fernando , Toro Rueda Carlos , Rodríguez-Molino Paula , Bloise Sánchez Iván , Vallmanya Teresa , Bernet-Sánchez Albert , Minguell Domingo Laura , Rubio Adriana , Saavedra-Lozano Jesús , Ruiz-Serrano María Jesús , Blázquez-Gamero Daniel , López-Roa Paula , Gomez-Pastrana David , López Prieto María Dolores , López Medina Eva María , Gil-Brusola Ana , Martín Nalda Andrea , Soriano-Arandes Antonio , Tórtola Teresa , Falcon-Neyra Lola , González Galán Verónica , Tebruegge Marc , Santiago-García Begoña
Published: September 2022

Introduction

Childhood pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains a diagnostic challenge. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of Xpert Ultra for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in children in a low TB prevalence setting.

Methods

Prospective, multicentre, diagnostic accuracy study. Children with clinical or radiological suspicion of pulmonary TB were recruited at 11 paediatric units in Spain. Up to three gastric or sputum specimens were taken on 3 consecutive days, and analysed by Xpert MTB/RIF, Xpert Ultra and culture in parallel.

Results

86 children were included (median age 4.9 years, IQR 2.0–10.0; 51.2% male). The final diagnosis was pulmonary TB in 75 patients (87.2%); 33 (44.0%) were microbiologically confirmed. A total of 219 specimens, comprising gastric aspirates (n=194; 88.6%) and sputum specimens (n=25; 11.4%), were analysed. Using culture as reference standard and comparing individual specimens, the sensitivity was 37.8% (14/37) for Xpert MTB/RIF and 81.1% (30/37) for Xpert Ultra (p<0.001); specificity was 98.4% (179/182) and 93.4% (170/182), respectively (p=0.02). In the per-patient analysis, considering positive results on any specimen, the sensitivity was 42.9% (9/21) for Xpert MTB/RIF and 81.0% for Xpert Ultra (17/21, p=0.01); specificity was 96.9% (63/65) and 87.7% (57/65, p=0.07), respectively.

Conclusions

In children with pulmonary TB in a low burden setting, Xpert Ultra has significantly higher sensitivity than the previous generation of Xpert assay and only marginally lower specificity. Therefore, in children undergoing evaluation for suspected pulmonary TB, Xpert Ultra should be used in preference to Xpert MTB/RIF whenever possible.
Quality of life in patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular disorders dependent on mechanical ventilation
Authors: Delorme Mathieu , Reveillere Christian , Devaux Christian , Segovia-Kueny Sandrine , Lofaso Frédéric , Boussaid Ghilas
Published: September 2022

This cross-sectional study evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular disorders dependent on mechanical ventilation (MV; ≥16 hours/day). 119 participants, with 9 years (25th–75th percentiles: 4–15 years) of MV dependence, were included. MV was applied via a tracheostomy in 80 participants (67.2%) and non-invasive interfaces in 39 participants (32.8%), including 28 participants (71.8%) with daytime mouthpiece ventilation. HRQoL was rated good or excellent by 81 participants (68.1%), independently from age, diagnosis or respiratory autonomy. On multivariate analysis, time since MV initiation, independence from family member(s), residence in a rural area, ability to go outdoors with MV and tracheostomy were associated with better HRQoL.
Shadow of the Kerr-like black hole
Authors: Sarikulov Furkat , Atamurotov Farruh , Abdujabbarov Ahmadjon , Ahmedov Bobomurat
Published: September 2022

The detailed study of horizon structure and the shadow cast by a Kerr-like black hole (BH) is performed. The trajectory of light rays forming the shadow of BH is found using the solutions of geodesic equation for the motion and effective potential of a photon around Kerr-like BH for different values of deviation parameter l in Kerr-like spcetime metric. It is observed that with an increase in the parameter l the size of the shadow of the BH is decreased. Additional, we have consider effect of plasma on BH shadow and the plasma influence on the shadow of Kerr-like BH, the size of observable radius of BH shadow and oblateness are explored with more details.
QUIDAM: A Framework for

Qu

ant

i

zation-aware

D

NN

A

ccelerator and

M

odel Co-Exploration
Authors: Inci Ahmet , Virupaksha Siri , Jain Aman , Chin Ting-Wu , Thallam Venkata , Ding Ruizhou , Marculescu Diana
Published: September 2022

As the machine learning and systems communities strive to achieve higher energy efficiency through custom deep neural network (DNN) accelerators, varied precision or quantization levels, and model compression techniques, there is a need for design space exploration frameworks that incorporate quantization-aware processing elements into the accelerator design space while having accurate and fast power, performance, and area models. In this work, we present
QUIDAM
, a highly parameterized quantization-aware DNN accelerator and model co-exploration framework. Our framework can facilitate future research on design space exploration of DNN accelerators for various design choices such as bit precision, processing element type, scratchpad sizes of processing elements, global buffer size, number of total processing elements, and DNN configurations. Our results show that different bit precisions and processing element types lead to significant differences in terms of performance per area and energy. Specifically, our framework identifies a wide range of design points where performance per area and energy varies more than 5× and 35×, respectively. With the proposed framework, we show that lightweight processing elements achieve on par accuracy results and up to 5.7× more performance per area and energy improvement when compared to the best 16-bit integer quantization–based implementation. Finally, due to the efficiency of the pre-characterized power, performance, and area models, QUIDAM can speed up the design exploration process by three to four orders of magnitude as it removes the need for expensive synthesis and characterization of each design.
Podocytes are lost from glomeruli before completing apoptosis
Authors: Yamamoto Kazuyoshi , Okabe Masahiro , Tanaka Keiko , Yokoo Takashi , Pastan Ira , Araoka Toshikazu , Osafune Kenji , Udagawa Tomohiro , Koizumi Masahiro , Matsusaka Taiji
Published: September 2022

This report clarifies why morphologically definitive apoptosis is not observed in podocytes in vivo. When caspase-3 is activated in podocytes, these cells are immediately detached from the glomerulus and lost in the urine before DNA fragmentation occurs. Detachment is facilitated by glomerular filtration. This phenomenon explains why podocytes in vivo rarely show TUNEL staining and never apoptotic bodies.
Mapping single-nephron filtration in the isolated, perfused rat kidney using magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Baldelomar Edwin J. , Charlton Jennifer R. , Bennett Kevin M.
Published: September 2022

We report MRI tools to measure and map single-nephron function in the isolated, perfused rat kidney. We used imaging tracers to identify nephrons throughout the kidney and to measure the delivery and filtration of the tracers at the location of the glomeruli. With this technique, we directly measured physiological parameters including estimated single-nephron glomerular filtration rate throughout the kidney. This work provides a foundation for new studies to simultaneously map the function of large numbers of nephrons.
Macrophage immunomodulation accelerates skeletal muscle functional recovery in aged mice following disuse atrophy
Authors: Ferrara Patrick J. , Yee Elena M. , Petrocelli Jonathan J. , Fix Dennis K. , Hauser Carson T. , de Hart Naomi M. M. P. , Mahmassani Ziad S. , Reidy Paul T. , O’Connell Ryan M. , Drummond Micah J.
Published: September 2022

A single intramuscular administration of polarized macrophages into muscles of aged mice following a bout of disuse atrophy was sufficient to improve functional recover similarly to young adults after disuse atrophy regardless of the age or experimental condition of the donor mice. Additionally, intramuscular delivery of macrophage-colony stimulating factor into aged mice was similarly effective. Targeting macrophage function early during the regrowth phase may be a novel tool to bolster muscle recovery in aging.
Predicting tracheal work of breathing in neonates based on radiological and pulmonary measurements
Authors: Gunatilaka Chamindu C. , Hysinger Erik B. , Schuh Andreas , Xiao Qiwei , Gandhi Deep B. , Higano Nara S. , Ignatiuk Daniel , Hossain Md M. , Fleck Robert J. , Woods Jason C. , Bates Alister J.
Published: September 2022

The work of breathing due to resistance in the trachea is an important metric for quantifying the effect of tracheal abnormalities such as tracheomalacia, but currently requires complex dynamic imaging and computational fluid dynamics simulation to calculate it. This study produces a method to predict the tracheal work of breathing based on readily available imaging and clinical metrics.
Security and Privacy Protection of Car Networking Consistent Algorithm Based on Smart Multi-Sensor
Authors: Niu Zuoling
Published: September 2022

With the rapid development of the Internet and wireless communications, smart multi-sensor networks are gradually being used in various fields, and the Internet of vehicles technology combined with smart multi-sensor network came into being. However, although the Internet of vehicles technology has greatly facilitated people’s travel in traffic, its problems in security and privacy protection have also been amplified and became a major threat to the Internet of vehicles technology. Consistency algorithms are an important solution to the trust problem and are a prominent representative of distributed algorithms. In order to solve the problem of security and privacy protection of smart multi-sensors in car networking technology, in this paper, consistent algorithm and group signature verification technology are used to study the security and privacy protection performance of the Internet of vehicles in a connected random network composed of 300 nodes through artificially synthesized simulation data. Using the method in this paper, collect and analyze the experimental data of the number of messages, verification delay, traffic load, and message loss rate of randomly generated vehicles within 200 seconds and evaluate the performance of privacy protection in the maximum consistent algorithm; the results show that the verification delay will increase with the increase of the number of messages, and the more traffic load, the higher the message loss and verification delay, and the maximum consistent algorithm has good privacy protection performance. In terms of data, the RSU-based auxiliary scheme consumes 25.59% of the communication of the KPI-based signature scheme and 25.64% of the swarm scheme.
[Retracted] Construction and Implementation of Marxist Learning Platform in New Media Environment
Authors: Deng Lina , Zhang Fuguo , Yang Bo
Published: September 2022

Popularizing contemporary Chinese Marxism is urgently needed in order to support the ongoing development of socialism with Chinese characteristics as well as the inherent necessity of Marxism. This essay views the popularization of Marxism as a turning point in the new media environment. It examines the necessity and reality of this popularization in the new media era, considers the new development needs of the popularization of Marxism in propaganda, and further unearths the original construction concepts of the popularization of the Marxism propaganda network. In parallel, a Marxist learning platform is built using data mining technology. Studies reveal that this algorithm has a high clustering accuracy and a recall rate that is about 6% higher than DECluster’s. Additionally, this algorithm takes less time to execute under the same scale transaction set. This demonstrates the superior performance of this algorithm. The user’s learning record and learning interests can be formed into an intuitive law using the algorithm presented in this study, which can be used to analyze and calculate the user’s learning content related to Marxism. This law can then be used to assist the user in creating a customized learning plan for Marxism.
Essential Guide to Manuscript Writing for Academic Dummies: An Editor’s Perspective
Authors: Aga Syed Sameer , Nissar Saniya
Published: September 2022

Writing an effective manuscript is one of the pivotal steps in the successful closure of the research project, and getting it published in a peer-reviewed and indexed journal adds to the academic profile of a researcher. Writing and publishing a scientific paper is a tough task that researchers and academicians must endure in staying relevant in the field. Success in translating the benchworks into the scientific content, which is effectively communicated within the scientific field, is used in evaluating the researcher in the current academic world. Writing is a highly time-consuming and skill-oriented process that requires familiarity with the numerous publishing steps, formatting rules, and ethical guidelines currently in vogue in the publishing industry. In this review, we have attempted to include the essential information that novice authors in their early careers need to possess, to be able to write a decent first scientific manuscript ready for submission in the journal of choice. This review is unique in providing essential guidance in a simple point-wise manner in conjunction with easy-to-understand illustrations to familiarize novice researchers with the anatomy of a basic scientific manuscript.
[Retracted] Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Interactive Environment of Film Discourse Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Man Shengchong , Li Zepeng
Published: September 2022

With the advent of the information age, language is no longer the only way to construct meaning. Besides language, a variety of social symbols, such as gestures, images, music, three‐dimensional animation, and so on, are more and more involved in the social practice of meaning construction. Traditional single‐modal sentiment analysis methods have a single expression form and cannot fully utilize multiple modal information, resulting in low sentiment classification accuracy. Deep learning technology can automatically mine emotional states in images, texts, and videos and can effectively combine multiple modal information. In the book Image Reading, the first systematic and comprehensive visual grammatical analysis framework is proposed and the expression of image meaning is discussed from the perspectives of representational meaning, interactive meaning, and composition meaning, compared with the three pure theoretical functions in Halliday’s systemic functional grammar. In the past, people often discussed films from the macro perspectives of literary criticism, film criticism, psychology, aesthetics, and so on, and multimodal analysis theory provides film researchers with a set of methods to analyze images, music, and words at the same time. In view of the above considerations, Mu Wen adopts the perspective of social semiotics, based on Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics and Gan He’s “visual grammar,” and builds a multimodal interaction model as a tool to analyze film discourse by referring to evaluation theory.
Nanoemulsion and Nanogel Containing Eucalyptus globulus Essential Oil; Larvicidal Activity and Antibacterial Properties
Authors: Alipanah Hiva , Abdollahi Abbas , Firooziyan Samira , Zarenezhad Elham , Jafari Mojtaba , Osanloo Mahmoud
Published: September 2022

Eucalyptus globulus essential oil (EGEO) possesses many biological effects such as antibacterial, antifungal, and insecticide properties. In the current study, the chemical composition of EGEO was first investigated using GC-MS analysis. Then, a nanoemulsion and nanogel containing EGEO (EGEO-nanoemulsion and EGEO-nanogel) were prepared. After that, the successful loading of EGEO was confirmed using ATR-FTIR analysis. EGEO-nanoemulsion and EGEO-nanogel with LC50 values of 27 and 32 μg/mL showed promising efficacies against Anopheles stephensi larvae. Besides, the efficacy of EGEO-nanogel (IC50 187 μg/mL) was significantly more potent than EGEO-nanoemulsion (IC50 3732 μg/mL) against Staphylococcus aureus. However, no significant difference was observed in the efficacy of EGEO-nanoemulsion and EGEO-nanogel against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Natural components, straightforward preparation, and proper efficacy are some of the advantages of EGEO-nanogel; it could be considered for further consideration against other pathogens and mosquito larvae.
Synthesis, Characterizations, and Thermochromic Properties of VO2 Particles Grafted with PSS : PEDOT
Authors: Srirodpai Onruthai , Wootthikanokkhan Jatuphorn , Nawalertpanya Saiwan
Published: September 2022

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) particles were modified by grafting with poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Critical transition temperature (

T

c

) of the modified VO2 ranging between 77 and 79°C was obtained. After mixing with acrylic-based emulsion, dispersion of the VO2 particles in the polymer matrix was significantly improved. The visible light transmittance through the composite films above 75% was maintained if a concentration of the modified VO2 particles loaded into acrylic polymer film was no greater than 1.0 wt%. The NIR transmittance through the acrylic/VO2@PSS : PEDOT also dropped by 9-10%, compared with that of the pure acrylic film (without any particles). Finally, glass substrates coated with the acrylic/VO2@PSS : PEDOT composite films could reduce the temperature inside a model house by 5-6°C, compared with that of the control system (pure acrylic coating film without VO2 particles). Overall, this work demonstrated that it was possible to improve the dispersion of VO2 particles in polymer films without sacrificing its NIR shielding ability by grafting the surface of VO2 particles with PSS : PEDOT chains, while providing the optimum grafting density and particle loading.
The Frequency Dependence of Poisson’s Ratio in Fluid-Saturated Rocks
Authors: Zhao Liming , Chen Tongjun , Zhang Xin , Xing Tao
Published: September 2022

We investigated the frequency dependence of Poisson’s ratio

ν

in partially/fully fluid-saturated rocks. Based on one dominant fluid flow mechanism at each condition, we theoretically summarized that (1) when a rock is partially saturated or transits from drained state to undrained state at full saturation,

ν

increases monotonously with frequency, and the associated attenuation

1
/

Q

ν

is positive with one peak. (2) When the rock transits from undrained state to unrelaxed state at full saturation, there are three cases: 1)

ν

increases monotonously with frequency and has positive

1
/

Q

ν

with one peak, 2)

ν

keeps constant with frequency and has no attenuation, 3) and

ν

decreases monotonously with frequency and has negative

1
/

Q

ν

with one peak. In this condition, the dependence is influenced by the concentrations of stiff and soft pores, the aspect ratio of soft pores, and the pore fluid bulk modulus. (3) When it comes to the transition from drained state to unrelaxed state at full saturation,

ν

can exhibit two shapes with frequency: 1) step shape with two positive attenuation peaks and 2) bell shape with one positive attenuation peak and one negative attenuation peak. Then, we conducted a numerical example to indicate the effect of influence factors (the concentrations of stiff and soft pores, the aspect ratio of soft pores, and the pore fluid bulk modulus) on Poisson’s ratio from undrained state to unrelaxed state, and validated the theoretical analysis by the published experimental data. In addition, based on

1
/

Q

ν

, we reanalyzed and validated the relationship between different attenuation modes (i.e., bulk attenuation

1
/

Q

K

, P-wave attenuation

1
/

Q

P

, extensional attenuation

1
/

Q

E

, and S-wave attenuation

1
/

Q

S

): (1) when

1
/

Q

ν

is positive, the relationship between them is

1
/

Q

K

>
1
/

Q

P

>
1
/

Q

E

>
1
/

Q

S

; when

1
/

Q

ν

is 0, the relationship between them is

1
/

Q

K

=
1
/

Q

P

=
1
/

Q

E

=
1
/

Q

S

; and when

1
/

Q

ν

is negative, the relationship between them is

1
/

Q

K

<
1
/

Q

P

<
1
/

Q

E

<
1
/

Q

S

. The relationship between different attenuation modes does not depend on saturation state (partial or full saturation) or

ν

but on

1
/

Q

ν

. This research provides the frequency dependence of Poisson’s ratio in partially/fully saturated rocks, which helps better understand Poisson’s ratio at different frequencies and saturation states and can be used to improve the accuracy of geophysical data interpretation, such as lithology identification, hydrocarbon characterization in conventional reservoir, and brittleness evaluation of shale/tight sandstones in unconventional reservoir.
Research on Service Quality of International Tourism Cities in the Context of Intelligent Network: A Case Study of Public Transport in Macao
Authors: Zhao Shutong , Zhao Liang , Gu Nailin
Published: September 2022

In order to study the service quality of international tourism cities under the intelligent network environment, this paper constructs an evaluation model named “IEP-CSI” for Macao bus service satisfaction according to the questionnaire data of Macao bus passengers. We draw the following conclusions: with the increase of passengers’ expectation of bus service, the actual perceived quality and satisfaction will decrease; in addition, the passengers’ satisfaction can also be affected by perceived value and perceived quality. This research provides some reference and insights for follow-up research.
[Retracted] Exploring the Path of Enhancing Ideological and Political Education in Universities in the Era of Big Data
Authors: Shao Nana , Hu He
Published: September 2022

The emergence of the big data era has drastically altered people’s lives and perceptions. One needs a thorough understanding of the topic to effectively apply big data’s benefits to the ideological and political education work that colleges and universities carry out. By doing so, the advantages of big data can be better exploited and integrated into the educational process, enhancing the work’s overall quality. To enhance the path of ideological and political education in colleges and universities, it is necessary to change according to the matter, advance according to the time, and make new changes according to the situation, and therefore, it is important to actively explore the path of ideological and political education in colleges and universities under the times. In this study, we research and analyze the opportunities and challenges facing the ideological and political education of universities in the era of big data, reexamine the subjective and objective environment in which the ideological and political education of universities is located, and explore the innovative development path of the ideological and political education of universities in the new environment. We will also encourage the innovative growth of ideological and political work in four areas, such as cultivating big data thinking innovation, working method innovation, working carrier innovation, and ideological work team construction, and conduct a ranking analysis on the significance of the exploration variables to improve the path of ideological work. The importance score measures the value of features in the construction of the ascending decision in the model, so the XGBoost algorithm is used to sort and analyze the significance of exploring variables to enhance the political and ideological work trajectory. The analysis of the experimental results shows that the innovation of working methods has greatly enhanced the conditions for carrying out ideological and political education in the new environment and has far‐reaching implications and important significance for the innovation of ideological and political education in universities.