bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Low-Complexity Direction-of-Arrival Estimation Algorithm for Noncircular Signals via Subspace Rotation Technique
Authors: Wang Wei , Zhang Ming , Yao Bobin , Zheng Tongxing , Fan Xiaojiao
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we investigate the problem of the heavy computational burden of the direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation for the noncircular (NC) signals. A novel low-complexity direction-of-arrival estimation algorithm for NC signals via subspace rotation technique (SRT) is proposed. The proposed algorithm divides the noise subspace matrix along its row direction into two submatrices, and the SRT is performed to get a new reduced-dimension noise subspace. Then, utilizing the separation of variables and the orthogonality between the reduced-dimension noise subspace and the space spanned by the columns of the extended manifold matrix, a new one-dimensional spectral search function is derived to estimate DoAs. As the size of the block matrices of the noise subspace matrix has a great impact on the computational complexity of the spectral search, the optimal number of rows of the block matrices is determined. The proposed algorithm not only avoids the two-dimensional spectral search but also efficiently removes the redundancy computations in the one-dimensional spectral search. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the computational efficiency on the premise of ensuring the accuracy of DoA estimation for the NC signals, especially in scenarios where large numbers of sensors are applied.
When More Satisfying and Supportive Relationships Increase Loneliness: The Social Worlds of People with Lived Experience of Homelessness
Authors: Bower Marlee , Carvalheiro Monica , Gournay Kevin , Perz Janette , Conroy Elizabeth
Published: March 2023

People experiencing homelessness can often have small and fragmented social networks, due to the loss and absence of critical connections, leaving them particularly susceptible to loneliness. During the course of homelessness, some people experience a changing profile of networks, transitioning away from family and some friends and forming new/substitute networks, such as service providers or pets. The resulting loneliness can have profound impacts on this group, threatening their physical and mental health and their ability to exit homelessness successfully. This study aimed to understand the social network characteristics and support associated with loneliness. MOS Social Support and social network questionnaire data from 124 participants (either currently or formerly homeless) were used in three hierarchical regression models to predict romantic, social, and family loneliness (SELSA-S), respectively. Findings suggested the more supportive, important, and (often) more satisfying that participants deemed current relationships to be, the lonelier they tended to feel. This occurred even if they were no longer homeless. These findings suggest that loneliness can operate differently in the context of poverty and homelessness. Whilst experiencing homelessness, people may prioritise relationships that provide resources and safety over those that assuage loneliness. Service providers can support people exiting homelessness to (re)connect with important and valued networks to reduce loneliness.
Five-year Survival Trends for Young Adult Cancers Diagnosed from 2002 to 2014 in Taiwan and the United States
Authors: Tsai Yu-Han , Teng Yu-Tung , Kuan Tai-Chuan , Liu Jason J.
Published: March 2023

Background:

Young adult cancer incidence has been increasing in Taiwan, but no studies have examined their survival trends.

Methods:

We analyzed data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database and the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. We obtained the five-year survival estimates and trends for primary invasive cancers diagnosed at 20–39 years of age from 2002 to 2014. When analyzing specific cancers, we focused on the common young adult cancers in Taiwan. For the trend analysis, the average annual percent change (AAPC) was calculated using joinpoint Regression Program. We also obtained estimates stratified by sex or age at cancer diagnosis.

Results:

The five-year age-standardized relative survival for all young adult cancers combined significantly increased in Taiwan [AAPC = 1.4%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.3%–1.5%] and the United States (AAPC = 0.4%; 95% CI, 0.3%–0.6%). Cancers occurring in both sexes had similar trend directions for both sexes. Lung and bronchus cancer, liver cancer, and leukemia had the most survival improvement in both regions. However, the five-year relative survival for cervical cancer declined in Taiwan (AAPC = −0.6%; 95% CI, -1.0% to −0.1%) and did not improve in the United States (AAPC = −0.1%; 95% CI, −0.4%–0.2%).

Conclusions:

Survival has improved for most but not all of the common young adult cancer types in Taiwan. Additional studies can understand why survival has not improved for certain cancer types, and examine subtype-specific survival trends.

Impact:

This is the first study of five-year survival trends for young adult cancers in Taiwan and the United States stratified by sex or age at diagnosis.
The Global Incidence Rate of Pemphigus Vulgaris: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Zhao Liuqi , Chen Yan , Wang Mingyue
Published: March 2023

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris is a life-threatening autoimmune bullous disease characterized by flaccid blister formation. As there has been no macroscopic assessment of epidemiological characteristics, its disease burden in the general population remains unknown. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the global incidence rate of pemphigus vulgaris in the general population. Methods: The search was conducted in databases including Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library from inception to May 1, 2022. We included original studies that either reported the incidence of pemphigus vulgaris or provided raw data for calculating. Studies based on a specific population instead of the general population were excluded. Individual studies were summarized using random-effects mode. The pooled incidence rate of pemphigus vulgaris among the general population and subgroups was obtained. Heterogeneity (I2 statistic) was assessed with the χ2 test on Cochrane’s Q statistic. Results: Twenty-nine studies were eligible for final analysis, and the pooled incidence rate of pemphigus vulgaris was 2.83 per million person-years (95% CI, 2.14–3.61). The incidence rate was similar between men and women and remained stable in the past half-century. Southern Asia showed the highest rate among subcontinents that had more than one study conducted as 4.94 per million person-years (95% CI, 2.55–8.10). Economic levels do not seem to have any bearing on incidence. Conclusions: Despite the substantial heterogeneity among studies, this meta-analysis revealed the worldwide incidence rate of pemphigus vulgaris for the first time and may assist in assessing global disease burden and promoting health policy.
The Outcomes of Maternal Immune Activation Induced with the Viral Mimetic Poly I:C on Microglia in Exposed Rodent Offspring
Authors: Loewen Sophia M. , Chavesa Adriano M. , Murray Colin J. , Traetta Marianela E. , Burns Sophia E. , Pekarik Keelin H. , Tremblay Marie-Ève
Published: March 2023

Maternal immune activation (MIA) can result from a variety of maternal inflammatory factors, including metabolic disorders, nutritional deficits, infections, and psychosocial stress. MIA has been consistently recognized as a major risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders, and this association seems to be especially important for viral infections as viral exposure during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, such as schizophrenia. In MIA, the gestational parent’s inflammatory response to an immune stimulus alters or interrupts fetal development, triggering neurodevelopmental consequences. As MIA can occur in any pregnancy, it is important to understand the many factors at play that contribute to altered brain development in the offspring, especially considering recent global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The underlying mechanisms by which MIA results in deleterious outcomes are not yet clear, but due to the inflammatory response it initiates, it is becoming apparent that microglia are critically involved. Through investigation of MIA animal models, the role of microglia in this field is becoming more evident. Compelling evidence from animal models indicates that MIA can disrupt synaptic pruning, neuronal progenitor cell proliferation/differentiation, oligodendrogenesis, and more. Microglia appear as an active player, assisting these neural-related functions during healthy development but also mediating MIA-induced disturbances in these critical processes when neurodevelopment is challenged. The present review illustrates this complex web by reviewing recent literature, focusing on the outcomes of MIA resulting from viral mimetic polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid in rodents, to provide a clear description of how MIA impacts microglial functions and what this means for the offspring’s neurodevelopment. Moreover, we discuss the possible implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the neurodevelopment of the current and next generations in the frame of MIA models and propose some putative pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to prevent or attenuate MIA consequences.
The Consistency between Registered Acupuncture-Moxibustion Clinical Studies and Their Published Studies and Update Status of Registered Information
Authors: Liu Yali , Wang Shu , Chen Wenjie , Tan Yingxin , Dun Wangqing , Zhang Yuan , Lu Tingting , Hou Xuejing , Liu Jia
Published: March 2023

Background: Few studies have analyzed the consistency between registered acupuncture-moxibustion clinical studies and their published research results as well as their update status of registered information. Methods: We searched for acupuncture-moxibustion clinical studies that were registered at the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform between 2013 and 2015 and collected data regarding their characteristics and update status. Published results of these registered studies were identified and compared with registered information. Results: A total of 425 registered acupuncture-moxibustion clinical studies were included; 379 (89.2%) of them were interventional studies, and the remaining 46 (10.8%) were observational studies. Forty-six studies (10.8%) were found to have published results, and 51 published articles were identified. Overall, 73.2% (311) of registered studies did not update the research status in time; 46.6% (198) stopped updating before recruiting; 21.6% (92) stopped updating after recruiting; and 4.9% (21) stopped updating after completion. Regarding the 46 studies with published results, 29 (63.0%) were considered to be affected by reporting bias. These reporting biases predominantly involved the omission of some predefined outcomes or endpoints (16 studies), contradictions regarding descriptions of sample sizes (9 studies), discrepancies in treatment measurements or group distribution (7 studies), and inconsistent treatment durations (4 studies). When compared with other studies, significant and various reporting biases could also be commonly found in fields other than acupuncture-moxibustion. Conclusions: There were many discrepancies between registered information and published reports on acupuncture-moxibustion, which could also be commonly observed in other fields. Moreover, a large proportion of registered studies did not update their research status in time. Efforts should be made to improve the reporting quality and timely updates.
Percepções de mulheres sobre gestação e os sentidos do trabalho
Authors: Toledo Jackeline de Souza , Martins Júlia Tomedi , Gonçalves Júlia
Published: March 2023

O trabalho é central na vida dos indivíduos e os sentidos atribuídos a ele são construídos a partir de percepções subjetivas e influenciados pelo contexto social-histórico. No entanto, marcos da vida como a gestação, para muitas mulheres, exigem reorganização da identidade e de prioridades. Essa pesquisa compreendeu os sentidos do trabalho para mulheres em período gestacional. Para tanto, oito gestantes trabalhadoras foram entrevistadas e os dados submetidos à análise de conteúdo. Um trabalho com sentido, para as entrevistadas, é aquele que proporciona prazer, satisfação e realização. Quanto à relação entre trabalho e gestação, apesar de notarem mudanças no modo de realização das atividades laborais, as mulheres não consideram a gravidez um impeditivo e consideram o trabalho como fonte de segurança financeira e de subsistência. Dessa forma, identifica-se um deslocamento dos sentidos do trabalho que antes eram predominantemente positivos, e durante a gestação ocorre o fortalecimento da perspectiva instrumental. Refletir sobre as percepções entre o trabalho e a gestação permite construir subsídios capazes de mitigar aspectos de desigualdade e discriminação deste contexto.
Cerebral and Retinal Infarction in Bicuspid Aortic Valve
Authors: Huntley Geoffrey D. , Michelena Hector I. , Thaden Jeremy J. , Alkurashi Adham K. , Pislaru Sorin V. , Pochettino Alberto , Crestanello Juan A. , Maleszewski Joseph J. , Brown Robert D. , Nkomo Vuyisile T.
Published: March 2023

Background

Description of cerebral and retinal infarction in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is limited to case reports. We aimed to characterize cerebral and retinal infarction and examine outcomes in patients with BAV.

Methods and Results

Consecutive patients from 1975 to 2015 with BAV (n=5401) were retrospectively identified from the institutional database; those with confirmed cerebral or retinal infarction were analyzed. Infarction occurring after aortic valve replacement was not included. Patients were grouped according to infarction pathogenesis: embolism from a degenerative calcific BAV (BAVi); non‐BAV, large artery atherosclerotic or lacunar infarction (LAi); and non‐BAV, non‐large artery embolic infarction (nLAi). There were 83/5401 (1.5%) patients, mean age 54±12 years and 28% female, with confirmed cerebral or retinal infarction (LAi 23/83 [28%]; nLAi 30/83 [36%]; BAVi 26/83 [31%]; other 4/83 [5%]). Infarction was embolic in 72/83 (87%), and 35/72 (49%) were cardioembolic. CHA
2
DS
2
‐VASc score was 1.4±1.2 in BAVi (
P
=0.188 versus nLAi) and 2.3±1.2 in LAi (
P
=0.005). Recurrent infarction occurred in 41% overall (50% BAVi,
P
=0.164 and 0.803 versus LAi and nLAi). BAVi was more commonly retinal (39% BAVi versus 13% LAi,
P
=0.044 versus 0% nLAi,
P
=0.002). Patients with BAVi and LAi were more likely to have moderate‐to‐severe aortic stenosis and undergo aortic valve replacement compared with patients with nLAi.

Conclusions

Cardioembolism, often from degenerative calcification of the aortic valve, is a predominant cause of cerebral and retinal infarction in patients with BAV and is frequently recurrent. Cerebral and retinal infarction should be regarded as a complication of BAV.
When Will We Have What We Need to Advise Patients How to Manage Their Carotid Stenosis?: Lessons From SPACE-2
Authors: Brott Thomas G. , Meschia James F. , Lal Brajesh K. , Chamorro Ángel , Howard Virginia J. , Howard George
Published: March 2023

The recently published SPACE-2 trial (Stent-Supported Percutaneous Angioplasty of the Carotid Artery Versus Endarterectomy-2) compared 3 treatments to prevent stroke in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis ≥70%: (1) carotid endarterectomy plus best medical treatment (BMT), (2) transfemoral carotid artery stenting plus BMT, or (3) BMT alone. Because of low enrollment, the findings of similar safety and efficacy for carotid endarterectomy, carotid artery stenting, or BMT alone were inconclusive. Publication of the CREST (Carotid Revascularization and Medical Management for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Trial)-2 results should provide level A evidence that has been lacking for 2 to 3 decades, to guide treatment of asymptomatic patients with severe carotid stenosis. For symptomatic patients with ≥70% stenosis, no trials are underway to update the degree of benefit reported for carotid endarterectomy by NASCET (North American Carotid Endarterectomy Trial) and ECST (European Carotid Surgery Trial), published in 1991. Subsequently, the use of cigarettes has plummeted, and major improvements in medical treatments and in carotid revascularization have emerged. These advances have coincided with abrupt decline in the clinical end points necessary for treatment comparisons in procedural trials. One of the advances in the invasive management of carotid disease has been transcarotid artery revascularization, already with limited approval by the US Food and Drug Administration. Establishing safety and efficacy of transcarotid artery revascularization compared with carotid endarterectomy, carotid artery stenting, or BMT alone may be challenging because of enrollment, regulatory, and funding barriers to design and complete an adequately powered randomized trial.
Reward Maximization Through Discrete Active Inference
Authors: Da Costa Lancelot , Sajid Noor , Parr Thomas , Friston Karl , Smith Ryan
Published: March 2023

Active inference is a probabilistic framework for modeling the behavior of biological and artificial agents, which derives from the principle of minimizing free energy. In recent years, this framework has been applied successfully to a variety of situations where the goal was to maximize reward, often offering comparable and sometimes superior performance to alternative approaches. In this article, we clarify the connection between reward maximization and active inference by demonstrating how and when active inference agents execute actions that are optimal for maximizing reward. Precisely, we show the conditions under which active inference produces the optimal solution to the Bellman equation, a formulation that underlies several approaches to model-based reinforcement learning and control. On partially observed Markov decision processes, the standard active inference scheme can produce Bellman optimal actions for planning horizons of 1 but not beyond. In contrast, a recently developed recursive active inference scheme (sophisticated inference) can produce Bellman optimal actions on any finite temporal horizon. We append the analysis with a discussion of the broader relationship between active inference and reinforcement learning.
Efficient Long-Text Understanding with Short-Text Models
Authors: Ivgi Maor , Shaham Uri , Berant Jonathan
Published: March 2023

Transformer-based pretrained language models (LMs) are ubiquitous across natural language understanding, but cannot be applied to long sequences such as stories, scientific articles, and long documents due to their quadratic complexity. While a myriad of efficient transformer variants have been proposed, they are typically based on custom implementations that require expensive pretraining from scratch. In this work, we propose SLED: SLiding-Encoder and Decoder, a simple approach for processing long sequences that re-uses and leverages battle-tested short-text pretrained LMs. Specifically, we partition the input into overlapping chunks, encode each with a short-text LM encoder and use the pretrained decoder to fuse information across chunks (fusion-in-decoder). We illustrate through controlled experiments that SLED offers a viable strategy for long text understanding and evaluate our approach on SCROLLS, a benchmark with seven datasets across a wide range of language understanding tasks. We find that SLED is competitive with specialized models that are up to 50x larger and require a dedicated and expensive pretraining step.
Becoming Turāth: the Islamic Tradition in the Modern Period
Authors: Elston Mary
Published: March 2023

In Egypt today, turāth (often translated as “heritage”, “legacy”, or “tradition”) is a pivotal concept for the Muslim religious scholars (ʿulamāʾ) of al-Azhar, the preeminent institution of Sunni learning located in Cairo. Although scholarly interest in turāth has grown in recent years, this literature has focused primarily on articulations of the concept at the hands of the Arab intelligentsia without attention to the ʿulamāʾ. To address this lacuna, and in so doing, offer a more complete understanding of the politics and contours of turāth debates in the contemporary Arab Muslim world, this article analyzes turāth in the writings and statements of ʿAlī Jumʿa (b. 1952), one of its most prolific interpreters amongst the contemporary Egyptian ʿulamāʾ. Sections one and two explore the semantic evolution of turāth in the intellectual genealogy within which Jumʿa locates his understanding of the concept, which includes two students of al-Azhar: Muḥammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905) and Ṭāhā Ḥusayn (1889–1973). The third section analyzes Jumʿa’s conceptualization of turāth and compares it to those of ʿAbduh and Ḥusayn. The article argues that Jumʿa’s representation of turāth is central to his efforts to reassert the intellectual and religious primacy of the ʿulamāʾ in the contemporary Muslim world.
Influence of Conditional Factors on the Financial Liberalization and Economic Growth Nexus in Tanzania
Authors: Hungu Obed A.
Published: March 2023

The current study analyzes the influence of conditional factors on the relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth in Tanzania. The motivation of the study is based on the inability of the developing countries to attain the targeted growth of their economies and the divided findings and conclusions of the existing studies on the topic. The study employed time series data spanning from 1970 to 2017 to examine the topic. Data was collected from the Bank of Tanzania and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The Augmented Dicky-Fuller and Phillips-Perron were used for unit root tests, the Bounds Approach for co-integration tests, and Process Macro for estimation. The study contributes to the literature by analyzing conditional factors on the relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth in Tanzania. The study reveals that out of the four conditioning factors (financial development, trade openness, government size, and inflation), only government size (captured by government expenditure) was found positive and statistically significant. The findings imply that financial liberalization enhances economic growth in Tanzania, subject to the level of government size. The study concludes that the relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth lacks support from a sufficient number of macroeconomic conditioning factors in spurring the economic growth of Tanzania. This scenario might contribute to the sluggish growth of the economy of Tanzania, which is below the target. Therefore, the study suggests a review of policy on the government size conditional factor so as to enhance more economic growth in Tanzania.
Even Chameleons Stalk Their Prey: Rinonyenga Rinohwarara Rinosumudza Musoro Rawana, Twenty-First Century Imperial Sleights of Hand and the Recolonisation of Africa
Authors: Nhemachena Artwell
Published: March 2023

Arguing that chameleons know best how to appear to be stationary even as they are motionary towards targeted flies, at which they suddenly dart their swift tongues once within range, this paper contends that the emergent postbinary world order is a chameleons’ world; it is a world where Africans – deemed, in Eurocentric animistic discourses, to be indistinct from flies – will be increasingly cannibalised. Of course, chameleons use sleights of tongue when they feast on flies but imperialists also use sleights of hand when they want to feast on Africans. Drawing on the Shona (a people of Zimbabwe) proverbial warning rinonyenga rinohwarara rinosumudza musoro rawana (he who courts may trick the subject of courtship, to feel safe and loved, only to become violent once he has achieved his goal), this paper argues that neoimperialism is using sleights of hand to recolonise Africans in the twenty-first century. Postulating a theory of rinonyenga rinohwarara rinosumudza musoro rawana for international relations, society and politics, this paper argues for the application of Ubuntu theory in international relations but with a caveat that imperial chameleon politics and relations premised on trickery are not part of the canons of Ubuntu.
Sceptical Agnosticism
Authors: Jonbäck Francis
Published: March 2023

Agnostics as well as theists should answer evidential arguments from evil, at least when confronted with them. In this paper, I answer such an argument by appealing to sceptical agnosticism. A sceptical agnostic is not only undecided about the existence of a perfectly good and omnipotent God, but also believes that we cannot make any judgement about whether or not seemingly gratuitous evil probably is gratuitous. I argue that such agnosticism has several advantages compared with sceptical theism.
Confusion, Understanding and Success
Authors: Belkoniene Miloud
Published: March 2023

The present paper examines a type of sceptical hypothesis put forward by Adam Carter that specifically targets understanding—the Confusion Hypothesis. After clarifying the nature and scope of that hypothesis, it discusses Carter’s favoured virtue perspectivist answer to the challenge it raises. It is argued that this answer is ultimately unsatisfying as it is unable to explain how a subject can obtain assurance that her grasp of a given body of information actually results from the competences she comes to appreciate as being reliable. A different answer that relies on the practical dimension of the specific grasp involved in understanding is then offered and is shown to avoid the problems faced by Virtue Perspectivism.
Differences in Time Perspective in Representatives of Various Generations
Authors: Kot Paweł
Published: March 2023

There are currently five generations: veterans (born 1922–1945), baby boomers (born 1946–1963), generation X (born 1964–1979), generation Y (born 1980–1995) and generation Z (born after 1995). Each person adopts a specific attitude to experiencing the passing of time, i.e., a time perspective. In addition, each person adopts a specific attitude to experiencing the passing time, i.e., a temporal orientation. This study investigates whether members of different generations differ in of terms of their preferred time perspective. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory was used in the study. A total of 435 people were surveyed, out of which 215 (49.4%) were women and 220 (50.6%) men. The subjects were aged 16–81, and the average age for the whole group was M = 45.04, SD = 19.20. The conducted analyses revealed the occurrence of statistically significant differences between generations X, Y, Z and between veterans and baby boomers. In the groups of veterans and baby boomers, the highest intensity was demonstrated for the past positive perspective. Among members of generations X and Y, future perspective was the most preferred one. In generation Z, the hedonistic present and the positive past are the most strongly preferred time perspective. The obtained results can be used in the work with individual generations in order to develop more adaptive profiles of time perspective. This applies in particular to generation Z, which seems to represent the least functional time perspective.
Is There an Alternative to Consensus? The Impact of the 2014 Coalition Deal on Voting Behaviour in the Eighth European Parliament (2014–2019)
Authors: Costa Olivier , Marié Awenig
Published: March 2023

Consensus is a key feature of the European Union. In the European Parliament, most legislation is adopted by a grand coalition between the left and the right. While this trans-partisan cooperation has always been informal, the epp and s&d groups agreed on a formal political coalition in 2014. For the first time in the ep’s history, this grand coalition was based on a policy programme negotiated by the two groups’ leadership. Based on roll-call vote data, this paper aims to understand the impact of this deal on actual coalition-building in the ep plenary. We find that the 2014 coalition deal provided a framework that incentivises legislative actors to increase their levels of cooperation on the issues on which they usually cooperate the least.
Begonia chenii, a synonym of B. mariachristinae (Begoniaceae) in Myanmar
Authors: AUNG AUNG , WAHLSTEEN ERIC , CHEN WEN HONG , SHUI YU-MIN
Published: March 2023

N/A
Marasmius margallensis, a new species of Marasmius sect. Sicci from Margalla Hills, Pakistan
Authors: RAZZAQ FAUZIA , KHALID ABDUL NASIR
Published: March 2023

Marasmius margallensis sp. nov. of sect. Sicci from Margalla hills, Islamabad, Pakistan, is described and illustrated, based on morphological characteristics and multigene phylogenetic analyses. The taxon is characterized by a pale yellow to dull orange pileus with light gray margins, clavate to narrowly fusiform basidiospores, rather short pleurocystidia and hymeniderm pileipellis with Siccus-type broom-cells. Marasmius pulcherripes is closest relative of the newly described species M. margallensis in sect. Sicci in phylogenetic analyses but the later one is distinct by macro-, and micro-morphological features and molecular data.
Two new species of Friesodielsia (Annonaceae) from Peninsular Thailand
Authors: LEERATIWONG CHARAN , KARAPAN SUNATE , SATTHAPHORN JIRATTHI , JOHNSON DAVID M.
Published: March 2023

Two new Friesodielsia species (Annonaceae) from Peninsular Thailand, F. betongensis and F. chalermgliniana, are described and illustrated. The addition of these raises the total number of Friesodielsia species in Thailand to 18. A conservation assessment for each new species and an identification key for all Thai species are provided.
A new genus and species of soft scale insect (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) on Ficus sp. from Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: HODGSON CHRIS J.
Published: March 2023

During a brief visit to the West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, several samples of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) were collected. Amongst these was an undescribed genus and species of soft scale (Coccidae: Coccinae), Bandamacoccus labiosus Hodgson (gen. nov. and sp. nov.). The adult female and second-instar male nymph are described below. A striking feature of both stages is the large size of the labium, which is wider than the clypeolabral shield, whilst the second-instar male also has a prominent inner submarginal band of ventral microducts.
Casing failure mechanism and slip anchoring optimization of the compression packer in the oil and gas well
Authors: Tang Yang , Wang Jie , Zhou Minghai , Li Guangyao , Xiao Xiao
Published: March 2023

The packer is a key tool to isolate downhole pressure during well testing and completion operations. The compression packer in the oil and gas wellbore needs to be anchored by hard contact between the slips and the casing when setting, which will cause the casing to suffer from occlusal damage and shorten the working life. It is necessary to combine casing damage and anchoring performance of the slip, select suitable packer slip material, and optimize its structural parameters to reduce casing hard contact damage and increase the working life of the slips and casing. Based on mechanical analysis and hard contact mechanism of the slip during the packer setting process, and selecting the slip material lower than the mechanical properties of the casing material, a finite element analysis model of interaction between the slips and the casing was established. The changes of slip equivalent plastic strain, maximum Mises stress, and CPRESS stress under three parameters of slip tooth number, tooth space, and tooth top angle were comprehensively evaluated. The results of analysis show that with the increase in the tooth number of slips, the tooth space or the top angle, the bending moment of slips increased, and the anchoring performance decreased. As the tooth number of slips, the tooth space or the top angle decreased, the damage of slip teeth increased. The combination optimization analysis of the above parameters was carried out using the orthogonal experiment method, and the optimal top angle of the slip structure of the compression packer is 90°, the tooth space is 4 mm, and the tooth number is 20. Compared with the anchoring performance of soluble metal slips, the optimized slips significantly reduce the damage to the casing. The study will provide a theoretical basis and date support for further analysis of the anchoring performance of the slip, the reduction of casing damage, and the design of new slips.
Design, analysis, and experimental study on a novel inertial piezoelectric actuator with double-stator cooperative motion
Authors: Yuan Lusheng , Wang Liang , Zhao Zhenhua , Jin Jiamei , Qi Rui
Published: March 2023

To realize high performance and suppress the backward motion of the inertia piezoelectric actuator, a novel inertial piezoelectric actuator with double-stator cooperative motion is proposed, designed, fabricated, and tested. The structure and the operation principle of the proposed actuator are first explained in detail. Then the flexible structure is analyzed through the finite element simulation. In addition, the dynamic model of the actuator with double-stator working mode is established and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, and the step characteristic is investigated, which provided a guidance for the design and optimization of inertial piezoelectric actuators with double-stator. Finally, an experimental investigation of the proposed actuator prototype was carried out and the results showed a significant improvement in the performance of the proposed actuator compared to the previous double-stator inertial piezoelectric actuators. The actuator exhibits a maximum speed of 32.84 mm/s, a maximum lateral load of 20 N, a maximum vertical load of 200 N, a minimum backward rate of 0.91%, and a minimum resolution of 127.5 nm. The actuator with double-stator can improve the maximum output performance to a certain extent, and suppress the backward rate, presenting a specific reference value for the design of future high-performance piezoelectric actuators.
The burden of disease due to COVID-19 in Sweden 2020–2021: A disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) study
Authors: Shedrawy Jad , Ernst Patricia , Lönnroth Knut , Nyberg Fredrik
Published: March 2023

Background:

The burden of COVID-19 disease can be measured in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which is composed of two components: the years of life lost through premature death (YLL) and the number of years lived with disability (YLD), adjusted for level of disability. This study measured DALYs due to COVID-19 in Sweden and compared it to the burden of other diseases.

Methods:

The methodology used in the calculation of DALYs was based on the Global Burden of Disease guidelines. The number of patients diagnosed with mild/moderate, severe or critical COVID-19 and/or post-COVID-19 condition between March 2020 and October 2021 was extracted from national registries and used for YLD calculations. In addition, the numbers of death due to COVID-19 in different age groups were used for the YLL calculation.

Results:

During the study period, 152,877 DALYs were lost to COVID-19 in Sweden, 99.3% of which was attributed to YLL. Loss of DALYs occurred mainly among the elderly, with 66.8% of DALYs attributed to individuals >70 years old. Compared to other diseases, the burden of COVID-19 in 2020 ranked as the eighth leading cause of DALY lost.

Conclusions:

Similar to other countries, the burden of COVID-19 in Sweden was concentrated mainly among the elderly, who contributed most of the DALY lost due to premature mortality. Yet, DALY loss remained lower for COVID-19 than for several other diseases. The contribution of YLD to DALYs lost was minimal. However empirical data on the occurrence and disability of post-COVID-19 condition are scarce, and YLD may therefore be underestimated.
Improved electrical properties of micro light-emitting diode displays by ion implantation technology
Authors: Hsu Yu-Hsuan , Wang Chi-Han , Lin Xin-Dai , Lin Yi-Hsin , Wuu Dong-Sing , Horng Ray-Hua
Published: March 2023

Generally, the inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) mesa technology was used to remove p-GaN/MQWs and expose n-GaN for electrical contact in a fabricated micro light-emitting diode (μLED). In this process, the exposed sidewalls were significantly damaged which result in small-sized μLED presenting a strong size-dependent influence. Lower emission intensity was observed in the μLED chip, which can be attributed to the effect of sidewall defect during etch processing. To reduce the non-radiative recombination, the ion implantation using an As+ source to substitute the ICP-RIE mesa process was introduced in this study. The ion implantation technology was used to isolate each chip to achieve the mesa process in the μLED fabrication. Finally, the As+ implant energy was optimized at 40 keV, which exhibited excellent current–voltage characteristics, including low forward voltage (3.2 V @1 mA) and low leakage current (10–9 A@− 5 V) of InGaN blue μLEDs. The gradual multi-energy implantation process from 10 to 40 keV can further improve the electrical properties (3.1 V @1 mA) of μLEDs, and the leakage current was also maintained at 10–9 A@− 5 V.
A web tool for the global identification of pig breeds
Authors: Miao Jian , Chen Zitao , Zhang Zhenyang , Wang Zhen , Wang Qishan , Zhang Zhe , Pan Yuchun
Published: March 2023

Background

Natural and artificial selection for more than 9000 years have led to a variety of domestic pig breeds. Accurate identification of pig breeds is important for breed conservation, sustainable breeding, pork traceability, and local resource registration.

Results

We evaluated the performance of four selectors and six classifiers for breed identification using a wide range of pig breeds (N = 91). The internal cross-validation and external independent testing showed that partial least squares regression (PLSR) was the most effective selector and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was the most powerful classifier for breed identification among many breeds. Five-fold cross-validation indicated that using PLSR as the selector and PLS-DA as the classifier to discriminate 91 pig breeds yielded 98.4% accuracy with only 3K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We also constructed a reference dataset with 124 pig breeds and used it to develop the web tool iDIGs (http://alphaindex.zju.edu.cn/iDIGs_en/) as a comprehensive application for global pig breed identification. iDIGs allows users to (1) identify pig breeds without a reference population and (2) design small panels to discriminate several specific pig breeds.

Conclusions

In this study, we proved that breed identification among a wide range of pig breeds is feasible and we developed a web tool for such pig breed identification.
Validation of the questionnaire for medical checkup of old-old (QMCOO) score cutoff to diagnose frailty
Authors: Yakabe Mitsutaka , Shibasaki Koji , Hosoi Tatsuya , Matsumoto Shoya , Hoshi Kazuhiro , Akishita Masahiro , Ogawa Sumito
Published: March 2023

Background

Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to poor resolution of homeostasis following a stress. Early diagnosis and intervention of frailty are essential to prevent its adverse outcomes. However, simple diagnostic criteria have not been established. The Questionnaire for Medical Checkup of Old-Old (QMCOO) is widely used for medical checkups of older adults in Japan. In our previous report, we developed a method to score the QMCOO and showed that frailty can be diagnosed with the highest accuracy when the score cutoff was set at 3/4 points. We aimed to validate the criteria in a larger cohort.

Methods

Participants aged 65 years or over were recruited in the western region of Japan. They answered all the items of the Kihon Checklist (KCL) and the QMCOO. Based on the KCL score, they were diagnosed as robust (3 or lower), prefrail (4 to 7), or frail (8 or over). Then we tested the effectiveness to diagnose frailty using the QMCOO cutoff of 3/4 points. We also aimed to determine the score cutoff to separate robust and prefrail.

Results

7,605 participants (3,458 males and 4,147 females, age 77.4 ± 6.9 years) were recruited. 3,665 participants were diagnosed as robust, 2,448 were prefrail, and 1,492 were frail based on the KCL score. The diagnosis of frailty had a sensitivity of 84.0%, specificity of 82.5%, and accuracy of 82.8% with a QMCOO score cutoff of 3/4 points, suggesting its validity. To separate robust and prefrail, both the accuracy and the Youden index were the highest with the QMCOO cutoff of 2/3 points (sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 63.9%, 83.4%, and 75.6%, respectively). All the questions of the QMCOO except Q12 (about smoking) were significantly related to prefrailty status after a logistic regression analysis.

Conclusion

Diagnosis of frailty using the QMCOO score cutoff of 3/4 points was validated. Prefrailty could be diagnosed using the score cutoff of 2/3 points.
Women’s experiences of trauma, the psychosocial impact and health service needs during the perinatal period
Authors: Perera Essence , Chou Sharon , Cousins Nicole , Mota Natalie , Reynolds Kristin
Published: March 2023

Background

Traumatic events are associated with psychological and physical health problems for women in the perinatal period (i.e., pregnancy-12-months after childbirth). Despite the negative impact of trauma on perinatal women, the long-term impact of such diverse trauma and women’s experience during the perinatal period remains understudied.

Methods

This study explored two research questions: 1) What are the psychological experiences of perinatal women who have experienced interpersonal traumatic events? And 2) What are the service needs and gaps expressed by women relating to perinatal medical protocols and psychological services? These questions were addressed via in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews with nine perinatal women (one pregnant and eight postpartum) residing in central Canada who reported experiencing interpersonal traumatic events occurring from adolescence to the perinatal period. Recruitment and data collection occurred from October 2020 to June 2021. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to constructivist grounded theory.

Results

The emergent grounded theory model revealed the central theme of the role of prior trauma in shaping women’s perinatal experiences, with four related main themes including perinatal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of social support in women’s perinatal experiences, the barriers that women experienced while seeking psychological and medical services prior to the perinatal period and during the perinatal period, and the specific needs of perinatal women with a history of interpersonal trauma.

Conclusions

Findings of this research highlight the negative and long-lasting impact of traumatic events experienced on women’s psychological health and psychosocial functioning during the perinatal period, as well as perinatal women’s unmet psychological and medical service needs. A call to action for perinatal researchers and clinicians is imperative in furthering this important area of research and practicing person-centered and trauma-informed care with this population.
Radiomics nomogram for preoperative differentiation of pulmonary mucinous adenocarcinoma from tuberculoma in solitary pulmonary solid nodules
Authors: Zhang Junjie , Hao Ligang , Qi MingWei , Xu Qian , Zhang Ning , Feng Hui , Shi Gaofeng
Published: March 2023

Objective

To develop and validate predictive models using clinical parameters, radiomic features and a combination of both for preoperative differentiation of pulmonary nodular mucinous adenocarcinoma (PNMA) from pulmonary tuberculoma (PTB).

Method

A total of 124 and 53 patients with PNMA and PTB, respectively, were retrospectively analyzed from January 2017 to November 2022 in The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University (Ligang et al., A machine learning model based on CT and clinical features to distinguish pulmonary nodular mucinous adenocarcinoma from tuberculoma, 2023). A total of 1037 radiomic features were extracted from contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). The patients were randomly divided into a training group and a test group at a ratio of 7:3. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm was used for radiomic feature selection. Three radiomics prediction models were applied: logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF). The best performing model was adopted, and the radiomics score (Radscore) was then computed. The clinical model was developed using logistic regression. Finally, a combined model was established based on clinical factors and radiomics features. We externally validated the three models in a group of 68 patients (46 and 22 patients with PNMA and PTB, respectively) from Xing Tai People’s Hospital (30 and 14 patients with PNMA and PTB, respectively) and The First Hospital of Xing Tai (16 and 8 patients with PNMA and PTB, respectively). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) value and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate the predictive value of the developed models.

Results

The combined model established by the logistic regression method had the best performance. The ROC-AUC (also a decision curve analysis) of the combined model was 0.940, 0.990 and 0.960 in the training group, test group and external validation group, respectively, and the combined model showed good predictive performance for the differentiation of PNMA from PTB. The Brier scores of the combined model were 0.132 and 0.068 in the training group and test group, respectively.

Conclusion

The combined model incorporating radiomics features and clinical parameters may have potential value for the preoperative differentiation of PNMA from PTB.
Bronchial tuberculosis with recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax: A case report
Authors: Li Ting , Li Yu-hong , Zhang Ming
Published: March 2023

Background

Spontaneous pneumothorax associated with tuberculosis due to clinical manifestations, imaging findings and negative pleural biopsy is rare.

Case report

A 43-year-old young woman went to the hospital several times because of recurrent dyspnea and was diagnosed with a right spontaneous pneumothorax. She underwent multiple closed thoracic drainage procedures, but the pneumothorax was not completely resolved. Pleural biopsy pathology was chronic inflammation; there was no evidence of tuberculosis. A small amount of pneumothorax persisted, intermittent dyspnea became more severe, and pneumothorax increased. Bronchoscopy showed thickening of the left lung lingular segment mucosa, and the bronchial lavage fluid gene X-PERT/rifampicin resistance test was positive. After one month of anti-tuberculosis treatment, the symptoms of short breath were completely relieved, and chest computerized tomography (CT) showed complete resolution of the right pneumothorax.

Conclusions

When searching for the cause of spontaneous pneumothorax, people should not overlook tuberculosis-related secondary pneumothorax, which should be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.