bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Milk Production and Reproductive Performance of Holstein Friesian Dairy Cattle in the Working Area of ​​South Bandung Pangalengan Animal Husbandry Cooperative (KPBS) Bandung Regency
Authors: Kusmayadi Tendy , Hadist Ibrahim
Published: February 2023

Increasing the population and productivity of dairy cows is one of the way to boost national milk production capacity. This study was aimed to determine and investigate the performance of milk production and reproduction of Friesian Holstein (FH) dairy cows in the Working Area of KPBS Pangalengan, Bandung Regency. This research used FH dairy cows with a complete milk production and reproduction record. In total, there were 90 heads of cows in the Pangalengan District and 178 heads of cows in the Kertasari District. This study used the survey method to collect the data. A Multistage Random Sampling Method was used in this research. Sampling was carried out in two stages, the first stage was sampling from two sub-district locations in Pangalengan and Kertasari Districts. In the second stage, two villages were selected from each district: Pangalengan and Margamukti Villages in Pangalengan District, and Santosa and Tarumajaya Villages in Kertasari District. Farmers and their cows were chosen by simple random sampling. Data on milk production and reproduction records were obtained from farmers and their cows through direct observation and interviews related to the identity of the cattle they owned. The results showed that the average performance of the milk production characteristics of FH dairy cows was: an average milk production of 3779.2±497.48 liters/head/day, an average length of lactation of 307.8±31.30 days, and an average dry period of 72.14±21.43 days. The lactation period had a significant effect (P<0.05) on milk production. The peak of milk production was reached in the fourth lactation period. The mean of reproductive traits consisting of the first postpartum mating was 77±20.5 days, the average length of days open was 96±26.4 days, the average number of services per conception was 1.8±0.85 times, and the average calving interval was 381.05± 24.5 days. In conclusion, FH dairy cows raised in Pangalengan and Margamukti Villages, Pangalengan District, Santosa and Tarumajaya Village, Kertasari District, in the working area of Pangalengan KPBS during the Covid-19 pandemic indicated a fairly good performance of milk production and reproduction characteristics.
Effect of Beta-Mannanase Supplementation on Growth Performance, Fecal Consistency, and Carcass Characteristics of Weanling Pigs
Authors: Rebosura Mariel , Purnamasari Listya , Dela Cruz Joseph Flores , Hwang Seong Gu
Published: February 2023

The study aimed to investigate the effect of beta-mannanase supplementation on growth performance, fecal consistency, and carcass characteristics of weanling pigs. A total of 100 weaned piglets (initial body weight = 7 ± 0.5 kg) were divided into 2 dietary treatments of (T1) control diet; and (T2) beta-mannanase supplemented diet. Each treatment was replicated 5 times with a pen of 10 piglets each following a completely randomized design. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum during the 30- day feeding trial. Fecal scores per pen were determined every morning on a daily basis; 1 pig per replicate was randomly selected for carcass evaluation. The results showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in feed conversion ratio, fecal consistency scores, dressing percentage, and loin eye area between T1 and T2. Treatment T1 produced a greater body weight and gained weight faster compared to T2. In conclusion, beta-mannanase supplementation did not improve growth performance, fecal consistency, and carcass characteristics in weanling pigs. The amount of beta-mannanase was not enough to degrade the non-starch polysaccharides of the soybean meal.
A scalable and real-time system for disease prediction using big data processing
Authors: ED-DAOUDY Abderrahmane , Maalmi Khalil , ouaazizi Aziza El
Published: February 2023

The growing chronic diseases patients and the centralization of medical resources cause significant economic impact resulting in hospital visits, hospital readmission, and other healthcare costs. This paper proposes a scalable, big data, real-time health status prediction and analytical system to filter, manage, process, predict and store streaming health data. The proposed system uses Twitter as data source, Apache Kafka as ingestion tool, Apache Spark as computing engine, Apache Cassandra as storage engine and Apache Zeppelin as analytical tool. Proposed Spark Parallel Random Forest (SPRF) is used as data classifier. The idea is to use Twitter as a communication channel to transmit data generated by IoT medical devices to a system to perform analytics in a real-time fashion, using streaming. Thus, Twitter users tweet attributes related to health, Kafka streaming receives all desired tweets attributes and ingest them to Spark streaming. Here, a machine learning algorithm model is applied to predict health status and send back a response message through Kafka. The result will be saved into distributed database for historical data analysis and visualization. The system has been tested with a Heart disease dataset from UCI. RF classification performances are compared to other machine learning classifiers of Apache Spark MLlib library. To test the system scalability, a comparative study between execution time of RF on Spark environment and on WEKA for both training and application stages. The results show significant better performances of Spark cluster in terms of scalability and computing times.
Blood Meal Identification Reveals Extremely Broad Host Range and Host Bias in a Temporary Ectoparasite of Coral Reef Fishes
Authors: Hendrick Gina , Nicholson Matthew , Pagan Andres , Artim John , Dolan Maureen , Sikkel Paul
Published: February 2023

Appreciation for the role of cryptofauna in ecological systems has increased dramatically over the past decade. The impacts blood-feeding arthropods, such as ticks and mosquitos, have on terrestrial communities are the subject of hundreds of papers annually. However, blood-feeding arthropods have been largely ignored in marine environments. Gnathiid isopods, often referred to as “ticks of the sea”, are temporary external parasites of fishes. They are found in all marine environments and have many consequential impacts on host fitness. Because they are highly mobile and only associated with their hosts while obtaining a blood meal, their broader trophic connections are difficult to discern. Conventional methods rely heavily on detecting gnathiids on wild-caught fishes. However, this approach typically yields few gnathiids and does not account for hosts that avoid capture. To overcome this limitation, we sequenced blood meals of free-living gnathiids collected in light traps to assess the host range and community-dependent exploitation of Caribbean gnathiid isopods. Using fish-specific COI (cox1) primers, sequencing individual blood meals from 1,060 gnathiids resulted in the identification of 70 host fish species from 27 families. Comparisons of fish assemblages to blood meal identification frequencies at four collection sites indicated that fishes within the families Haemulidae (grunts) and Lutjanidae (snappers) were exploited more frequently than expected based on their biomass, and Labrid parrotfishes were exploited less frequently than expected. The broad host range along with the biased exploitation of diel-migratory species has important implications for the role gnathiid isopods play in Caribbean coral reef communities.
Intelligent noise suppression for gravitational wave observational data
Authors: Wang He , Ren Zhixiang , Zhou Yue , Guo Zong-Kuan , Cao Zhou-Jian
Published: February 2023

With the advent of gravitational-wave astronomy and the discovery of more compact binary coalescences, data quality improvement techniques are desired to handle the complex and overwhelming noise in gravitational wave (GW) observational data. Though recent studies have shown promising results for
data denoising, they are unable to precisely recover both the GW signal amplitude and phase. To address such an issue, we develop a deep neural network centered workflow, WaveFormer, for significant noise suppression and signal recovery on observational data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-
Wave Observatory (LIGO). The WaveFormer has a science-driven architecture design with hierarchical feature extraction across a broad frequency spectrum. As a result, the overall noise and glitch are decreased by more than 1 order of magnitude and the signal recovery error is roughly 1% and 7% for the phase and amplitude, respectively. Moreover, we achieve state-of-the-art
accuracy on reported binary black hole events of existing LIGO observing runs and substantial 1386 years inverse false alarm rate improvement on average. Our work highlights the potential of large neural networks and can be extended to the data processing analyses of upcoming observing runs.
High Prevalence of Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure in New England Fishers (Pekania pennanti)
Authors: Buckley Jacqueline Y. , Cottrell Walter , Needle David , Royar Kimberly , Tate Patrick , Whittier Christopher
Published: February 2023

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are increasingly recognized as a threat to non-target species including native wildlife. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are generally considered deep forest inhabitants that are not expected to have high exposure to ARs. To evaluate the distribution and levels of ARs in fishers, we analyzed liver samples from fisher carcasses (N = 45) opportunistically trapped across Vermont and New Hampshire between 2018 and 2019. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to detect and quantify 11 different ARs in the liver tissue of each fisher at the time of trapping. All but one sample analyzed were positive for exposure to ARs, and 84% were positive for more than one type of AR. The most prevalent ARs detected were diphacinone (96%) and brodifacoum (80%). No samples had detectable levels of coumachlor, coumafuryl, difenacoum, pinodone, or warfarin. These results are mostly consistent with findings for fishers in the Pacific Northwest as well as with a variety of rodent specializing avifauna throughout the Northeastern USA, but show a higher prevalence of exposure and a different distribution of AR types than other studies. These results help establish current baseline exposure to ARs in fishers in the Northeast USA and suggest that ARs could pose a threat to wild mesocarnivore species in this region.
Multi-purpose biorefineries and their social impacts: A systematic literature review
Authors: Santos Dayvid Souza , Ianda Tito Francisco , de Carvalho Priscila Pereira Suzart , de Camargo Pedro Luiz Teixeira , Santos Fárlei Cosme Gomes dos , Alzate Carlos Ariel Cardona , Pessoa Fernando Luiz Pellegrini , Kalid Ricardo de Araújo
Published: February 2023

Multi-product biorefineries are very promising industries to diversify the economy of countries since they have a productive matrix with a biological characteristic capable of processing various types of biomass with applications in pharmaceutical, renewable energy, and other industries. In this context, this research carries out an analysis of the literature on biorefineries and the methods of assessing social impacts that consider quality of life, employment, and stakeholders, among other metrics, as guided by the United Nations – UN. A systematic review combined with bibliometric, semantic, and content analysis was carried out by searching scientific documents in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. A total of 116 articles were located, of which twenty-three were selected by three researchers to compose the research. The Fleiss Kappa Index was applied to verify the agreement of the evaluators' decision regarding the inclusion and exclusion of articles, they obtained K = 0.43 above the tolerable limit defined for the inclusion of articles, which is K ≥ 0.21Therefore, all twenty-three articles were included. The results indicate that most biorefinery projects consider optimization and econometric methods and especially the employment metric, therefore, understood as insufficient for assessing social impacts. On the other hand, projects whose methods consider Social Life Cycle and Multicriteria are more consistent for assessing the social impacts of biorefineries, as they allow an analysis of qualitative and significant information.
Genomic Determinants of Long COVID
Authors: Corpas Manuel , Pintos Ilduara , Moreno-Torres Víctor , Freidin Maxim B. , Fatumo Segun , Corral Octavio , Soriano Vicente , Mendoza Carmen
Published: February 2023

Around 5–10% of adults may experience persistence of symptoms/signs beyond 4 to 12 weeks after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. According to the World Health Organization, up to 40 million people suffer from Long COVID in Europe and the USA alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have encouraged the recognition of predictors for Long COVID. Any genetic markers associated to the disease have remained elusive to date. Here we explore the potential contribution of genetic traits to Long COVID. We used a well characterized cohort of 50 individuals with definitive diagnostic criteria for Long COVID from an initial set of patients of more than 1,200 with suspected Long COVID. All were attended at Hospital Puerta de Hierro, a large regional hospital in Madrid, Spain. All subjects had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and/or antibodies, showed clinical manifestations for more than 6 months, and developed more than 5 persistent symptoms/signs. Low pass whole genome sequencing was performed in blood specimens for our selected cohort. From hundreds of polygenic risk scores (PRS) recorded at the PGS Catalog, we tested in our selected cohort a total of 12 PRS that passed our filtering criteria. Selected PRS encompassed distinct medical conditions, including cancers, hematologic, cardiovascular, endocrine, immunologic and neurological disorders. The calculated PRS in our patients produced a distribution of scores that was compared to a control ancestry-matched general population. We found significant differences for the PRS of traits ‘Tiredness/lethargy in the last 2 weeks’ and suggestive significance for ‘Depression’ when comparing Long COVID patients and controls. Our results strongly support a genetic susceptibility for Long COVID, with those scoring high in genetic predisposition for ‘tiredness’ as more likely to develop the disease. Results shed new light into the physiopathological basis for Long COVID, contrary to opinions considering it a subjective condition.
Quantifying thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration
Authors: Alster Charlotte , de Laar Allycia van , Goodrich Jordan , Arcus Vickery , Deslippe Julie , Marshall Alexis , Schipper Louis
Published: February 2023

Quantifying the rate of thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration is essential in determining potential for carbon cycle feedbacks under a warming climate. Uncertainty surrounding this topic stems in part from persistent methodological issues and difficulties isolating the interacting effects of changes in microbial community responses from changes in soil carbon availability. To combat these challenges, we constructed a series of temperature response curves of microbial respiration (given unlimited substrate) using soils sampled from around New Zealand, including from a natural geothermal gradient, as a proxy for global warming. We estimated the temperature optima (Topt) and inflection point (Tinf) of each curve and found that adaptation of microbial respiration occurred at a rate of 0.29°C ± 0.04 1SE for Topt and 0.27°C± 0.05 1SE for Tinf per degree of warming. Our results indicate that thermal adaptation is demonstrably offset from warming and calculate the potential for both limitation and acceleration of soil C losses depending on specific soil temperatures.
Prediction of the Activity of Early Ankylosing Spondylitis using Radiomics Texture Analysis on STIR
Authors: Shi Zhaojuan , Yang Zhe , Wang Mei , Su Datian , Cheng Juan , Liu Hui , Zheng Hui , Han Jiankui , Li Changqin , Qin Jian
Published: February 2023

Purpose
To evaluate the early activity of ankylosing spondylitis(AS)is very important for clinical decision. Owing to lacking of uniform standard and some other limitations, the methods for it are still difficult to practice by clinicians. The study aimed to explore the value of texture analysis of radiomics based on STIR to evaluate the activity of bone marrow edema of sacroiliac joint in early AS.
Methods
A total of 43 patients with early AS were collected in our hospital, including 30 males and 13 females. According to the ratio of 7:3, all the patients were randomly divided into the training cohort (n = 116) and verification cohort (n = 56). Optimal feature subsets were obtained by the Mann-Whitney U test, the minimum-Redundancy Maximum-Relevancy (mRMR), and then the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) using these texture feature parameters. The optimal feature subset was used to construct the final prediction model, and Radscore was obtained by summing the selected features after being weighted by their coefficients. The effectiveness of Radscore value, SPARCC score and ADC value was evaluated by ROC curve. The correlations between Radscore values and the values of SPARCC score, ADC, BASDAI, ESR, CRP, ASDAS-ESR, ASDAS-CRP were analyzed by the Spearman correlation test.
Results
The eight texture feature subsets were selected to obtain Redscore. In the training cohort, to differentiate early AS sacroiliac joint bone marrow edema between between active and stable group,the AUC values of Radscore, SPARCC score and ADC were 0.81,0.91,0.78, respectively. In the validation cohort, the AUC values of them were 0.87,0.89,0.85. In the two cohorts, there were no significant differences in AUC values between values of Radscore and SPARCC score, ADC (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference in AUC values betweenvalues of SPARCC score and ADC in the training cohort (P < 0.05), without statistical significance in the validation cohort (P > 0.05). The correlations were all low between Radscore values and the values of the ESR, CRP, BASDAI, ASDAS-ESR, ASDAS-CRP (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
Radiomics analysis based on STIR texture analysis has a good prediction for the evaluation of bone marrow edema activity of sacroiliac joint in AS.It can be a new noninvasive and objective evaluation method for AS activity, especially for the invisible lesions.
Single ring isolation is superior to circumferential pulmonary vein isolation plus modified posterior box isolation with a high power of 40-45 W in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation
Authors: Song Yanbin , Xue Sheliang , Li Wenhua , Xu Bo , Xiao Jianqiang
Published: February 2023

This study aimed to evaluate the superiority of single ring isolation (SRI) over circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) plus modified posterior box isolation (MPOBI) using a high power of 40-45 W in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PeAF). We retrospectively studied 77 PeAF patients who underwent primary radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA). They were divided into the SRI group and the CPVI+MPOBI group according to the RFCA methods. Basic characteristics, procedural variables and AF recurrence rates at 3 months postprocedure were collected and compared between the two groups after propensity score matching (PSM) for age and left atrial diameter. After PSM, 28 patients in the SRI group were matched with 28 individuals in the CPVI+MPOBI group. Compared with the CPVI+MPOBI group, the total procedure time in the SRI group was not significantly shorter ( P =0.928). The total ablation time and ablation time of the PVs and posterior left atrium (ring ablation time) of patients with SRI were significantly shorter than those of patients with CPVI+MPOBI (all P <0.001). The total ablation spots and initial ring spots in the SRI group were significantly fewer than those in the CPVI+MPOBI group (all P <0.001), but the total additional spots were not different between the two groups (P=0.060). The proportion of immediate sinus rhythm was significantly higher in patients with SRI than in those with CPVI+MPOBI (P<0.001). At the follow-up analysis, the AF recurrence rate did not significantly differ between the SRI and CPVI+ MPOBI groups (14.3% vs. 17.9%, P=0.716). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that SRI with a high power was safe and effective for patients with PeAF, and it was superior to CPVI+MPOBI.
Determinants of the capacity of dryland ecosystems to store soil carbon under altered fire regimes
Authors: Pellegrini Adam , Reich Peter B , Hobbie Sarah , Coetsee Corli , Wigley Benjamin , February Edmund , Georgiou Katerina , Terrer César , Brookshire E.N. , Ahlström Anders , Nieradzik Lars , Sitch Stephen , Melton Joe , Forrest Matthew , Li Fang , Hantson Stijn , Burton Chantelle , Yue Chao , Ciais Philippe , Jackson Robert
Published: February 2023

Widespread changes in the intensity and frequency of fires across the globe are altering the terrestrial carbon (C) sink1–4. Although the changes in ecosystem C have been reasonably well quantified for plant biomass pools5–7, an understanding of the determinants of fire-driven changes in soil organic C (SOC) across broad environmental gradients remains unclear, especially in global drylands3,4,7–9. Here, we combined multiple datasets and original field sampling of fire manipulation experiments to evaluate where and why fire changes SOC the most, built a statistical model to estimate historical changes in SOC, and compared these estimates to simulations from ecosystem models. We found that drier ecosystems experienced larger relative changes in SOC than humid ecosystems—in some cases exceeding losses from plant biomass pools—primarily explained by high fire-driven declines in tree biomass inputs in dry ecosystems. Ecosystem models provided more mixed insight into potential SOC changes because many models underestimated the SOC changes in drier ecosystems. Upscaling our statistical model predicted that soils in 1.57 million km2 savanna-grassland regions experiencing declines in burned area over the past ca. two decades may have 23% more SOC, equating to 1.78 PgC in topsoils. Consequently, ongoing declines in fire frequencies have likely created an extensive carbon sink in the soils of global drylands that may have been underestimated by ecosystem models.
The clinical impact of Lumacaftor-Ivacaftor on structural lung disease and lung function in children aged 6-11 with Cystic Fibrosis in a real-world setting
Authors: McNally Paul , Linnane Barry , Williamson Michael , Elnazir Basil , Short Christopher , Saunders Claire , Kirwan Laura , Vandercorput Mariette , Tiddens H.A.W.M , Davies JC , Cox DW
Published: February 2023

Background:
Data from clinical trials of lumacaftor-ivacaftor (LUM-IVA) demonstrate improvements in lung clearance index (LCI) but not in FEV1 in children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) aged 6-11 years and homozygous for the Phe508del mutation. It is not known whether LUM/IVA use in children can impact the progression of structural lung disease. We sought to determine the real-world impact of LUM/IVA on lung structure and function in children aged 6-11 years.
Methods:
This real-world observational cohort study was conducted across four paediatric sites in Ireland over 24-months using spirometry-controlled CT scores and LCI as primary outcome measures. Children commencing LUM-/IVA as part of routine care were included. CT scans were manually scored with the PRAGMA CF scoring system and analysed using the automated airway-artery (AA) method. Secondary outcome measures included rate of change of ppFEV1, nutritional indices and exacerbations requiring hospitalisation.
Results:
Seventy-one participants were recruited to the study, 31 of whom had spirometry-controlled CT performed at baseline, and after one year and two years of LUM/IVA treatment. At two years there was a reduction from baseline in trapped air scores (0.13 to 0.07, p=0.016), but an increase from baseline in the % bronchiectasis score (0.84 to 1.23, p=0.007). There was no change in overall % disease score (2.78 to 2.25, p=0.138). Airway lumen to pulmonary artery ratios (AlumenA ratio) were abnormal at baseline and worsened over the course of the study. In 28 participants, the mean annual change from baseline LCI2.5 (-0.055 (-0.61 to 0.50), p=0.85) measurements over two years were not significant. Improvements from baseline in weight (0.10 (0.06 to 0.15, p<0.0001), height (0.05 (0.02 to 0.09), p=0.002) and BMI (0.09 (0.03 to 0.15) p=0.005) z-scores were seen with LUM/IVA treatment. The mean annual change from baseline ppFEV1 (-2.45 (-4.44 to 2.54), p=0.66) measurements over two years were not significant.
Conclusion:
In a real-world setting, the use of LUM/IVA over two years in children with CF aged 6-11 resulted in improvements in air trapping on CT but worsening in bronchiectasis scores. Our results suggest that LUM/IVA use in this age group improves air trapping but does not prevent progression of bronchiectasis over two years of treatment.
Formant-Aware Spectral Analysis of Sustained Vowels of Pathological Breathy Voice
Authors: Ikuma Takeshi , McWhorter Andrew J. , Oral Evrim , Kunduk Melda
Published: February 2023

Objectives. This paper reports the effectiveness of formant-aware spectral parameters to predict the perceptual breathiness rating. Breathy voice has a higher first harmonic, steeper spectral slope, and higher turbulent noise than normal voice. Measuring spectral parameters of acoustic signal over formant regions is a known approach to capture the properties related to breathiness. This study examines this approach by testing the contemporary spectral parameters and algorithms within the framework, alternate frequency band designs, and vowel effects.
Methods.Sustained vowel recordings (/a/, /i/, and /u/) of speakers with voice disorders in the German Saarbrueken Voice Database were considered (n=368). Recordings with spectral irregularity or roughness perception were excluded from the study. Four speech language pathologists perceptually rated the recordings for breathiness on a 100-point scale, and their averages were used as the ratings of the recordings. The acoustic spectra were segmented into four frequency bands according to the vowel formant structures. Five different spectral parameters were considered in each band or between bands (13 total plus the fundamental frequency) to predict the perceptual breathiness rating.
Results. Linear combinations of spectral parameters, led by the formant-focused harmonics-to-noise ratios (HNRs), were shown to explain up to 85% of the variance in perceptual breathiness ratings of disordered voice. This performance exceeded that of the Acoustic Breathiness Index (82%). Also, the best performing parameter (the HNR over the first two formants, 78%) explained more variances in the breathiness than the smoothed cepstrum peak prominence (74%). Some vowel effects were observed in the perceptual rating (higher for /u/), in predictability (5% lower for /u/), and in model parameter selections.
Conclusions.Strong breathiness correlates were found by segmenting the spectrum to isolate the portion most affected by breathiness.
Prediction of mammalian tissue-specific CLOCK-BMAL1 binding to E-box motifs
Authors: Marri Daniel , Filipovic David , Kana Omar , Tischkau Shelley , Bhattacharya Sudin
Published: February 2023

Motivation: The Brain and Muscle ARNTL-Like 1 protein (BMAL1) forms a heterodimer with either Circadian Locomotor Output Cycles Kaput (CLOCK) or Neuronal PAS domain protein 2 (NPAS2) to act as a master regulator of the mammalian circadian clock gene network. The dimer binds to E-box gene regulatory elements, activating downstream transcription of clock genes. Identification of transcription factor binding sites and features that correlate to DNA binding by BMAL1 is a challenging problem, given that CLOCK-BMAL1 or NPAS2-BMAL1 bind to several distinct binding motifs (CANNTG) on DNA.
Results: Using three different types of tissue-specific machine learning models with features based on 1) DNA sequence, 2) DNA sequence plus DNA shape, and 3) DNA sequence and shape plus histone modifications, we developed an interpretable predictive model of genome-wide BMAL1 binding to E-box motifs and dissected the mechanisms underlying BMAL1-DNA binding. Our results indicated that histone modifications, the local shape of the DNA, and the flanking sequence of the E-box motif are sufficient predictive features for BMAL1-DNA binding. Our models also provide mechanistic insights into tissue specificity of DNA binding by BMAL1.
BIM Interoperability in the Maintenance Planning Process for Existing Buildings
Authors: Inojosa Leonardo da Silveira Pirillo , Vilanova Kinderman de Araújo
Published: February 2023

One of the main difficulties inherent to the process of maintenance and management of existing assets is the lack of plans and project documents that allow a study and even an understanding of how the structure of the building works, in addition to the lack of records of the changes made that may have altered the structure of the heritage building over time. This makes it difficult to analyze interventions to treat possible problems that may evolve to more worrying pathologies and that put at risk the useful life of the property. Older buildings require more frequent inspections to carry out interventions that can extend their service life. Having all records of maintenance and inspections carried out is essential for better planning of future interventions. This work aims to develop a workflow methodology to facilitate the process of maintenance and management of existing buildings, uniting facility management concepts and using BIM interoperability, through IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), integrated with online forms for collection and documentation of visual inspection data of the structure. To perform this dialogue, the Software Navisworks Manage 2022 was used for the visualization and documentation of the 3D model referring to the as-built of the SG-12, part of the set of General Services Sheds of the University of Brasília, which besides being an old building and being in the process of being listed as cultural heritage, has undergone several changes over time. The methodology developed and the result of the documentation of the data are presented in detail.
Smart Plug Hub: A Sensor Fusion-Based Approach to Non-Invasive Activities of Daily Living Estimation
Authors: Kang Ho-Min , Lee Cheolhwan , Kang Soon-Ju
Published: February 2023

This paper presents Smart Plug Hub (SPH), a non-invasive system for accurately estimating a patient's Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Traditional methods for measuring ADL include interviews, remote video systems, and behavior-tracking wearable devices. However, these approaches have limitations, such as patient memory dependency, privacy violations, and device management issues. To overcome these limitations, SPH utilizes sensor fusion to analyze time-series environmental signals and accurately estimate a patient's ADL. We also efficiently utilized computing resources by implementing "device collaboration" in SPH to receive event data and segment a portion of the time-series environmental signal. By segmenting the data into small segments, we extracted an analyzable dataset, which was processed by an edge device. We conducted several experiments with SPH and successfully classified a patient's ADL by visualizing different activities. This study proposes an effective approach to analyzing both emergency situations and ADL, which is critical for accurate clinical decision-making.
Comparison of laparoscopic Nissen and Dor fundoplication for gastroesophageal reflux disease and paraesophageal hernia: A case-control study
Authors: Zhang Liang , Xinxin Yang , Hui Yang , Jianqiang Huang , Tao You , Xiangyang Xue , Xiaowu Xu , Yue Qu , Yingpeng Huang
Published: February 2023

Purpose
This case-control study aims to compare the different safety and efficacy of laparoscopic Nissen (LNF) and Dor (LDF) fundoplication totally from a patient-subjective view.
Methods
One hundred patients receiving laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS), either LNF or LDF to manage clinically diagnosed GERD & PEH between January 2018 and December 2021 were recruited. Patient outcomes were evaluated at the three-month follow up visit using GERD symptom questionnaire (GERD-Q), a dysphagia Likert scale, and GERD-Health Related Quality of Life (GERD-HRQL) questionnaire.
Results
Seventy-nine patients met the selection criteria. Twenty-one underwent LNF and fifty-eight received LDF. There was no significant difference in age, gender, preoperative BMI, surgical duration, bleeding volume, meshes replacement and postoperative hospital stays between these two groups (P > 0.05). The relief of GERD symptoms were achieved in patients receiving either LNF or LDF. Although LNF appeared to be better in controlling nausea, patients treated with LNF was more likely to suffer postoperative dysphagia than those receiving LDF (P = 0.035). Interestingly, HRQL assessment suggested that a higher percentage of LNF patients were unsatisfied with the treatment outcome relative to the LDF group, although the difference was marginal (28.57% versus 5.17%, P = 0.096).
Conclusion
Our patient-oriented comparisons suggested that LNF and LDF were both effective and safe for managing GERD & PEH. LNF appeared to cause less nausea in patients, while LDF was associated with fewer severe postoperative dysphagia cases and higher satisfaction of patients.
Short-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness between long-course chemoradiation and short-course radiotherapy followed by consolidation chemotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer
Authors: Cho Min Soo , Bae Hyeon Woo , Chang Jee Suk , Yang Seung Yoon , Kim Tae Hyun , Koom Woong Sub , Shin Sang Jun , Choi Gyu-Seog , Kim Nam Kyu
Published: February 2023

Background: Long-course chemoradiotherapy (LCRT) has been widely recommended in a majority of rectal cancer patients. Recently, encouraging data on short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) for rectal cancer has emergedWe aimed to compare these two methods in terms of short-term outcomes and cost analysis under Korean medical insurance system.
Materials and methods: 62 patients with high-risk rectal cancer underwent either SCRT or LCRT followed by total mesorectal excision (TME) and classified into two groups. Twenty-seven patients received 5 Gy × 5 with two cycles of XELOX (capecitabine 1,000 mg/m2 and oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) followed by TME (SCRT group). Thirty-five patients received capecitabine-based LCRT followed by TME (LCRT group). Short-term outcomes and cost estimation was assessed between the two groups.
Result: Pathological complete response was achieved in 18.5% and 5.7% of patients in the SCRT and LCRT groups, respectively (p = 0.223). The 2-year recurrence-free survival rate did not show significant difference between the groups (SCRT vs. LCRT: 91.9% vs. 76.2%, p = 0.394). The average total cost per patient for SCRT was 18% lower for inpatient treatment (SCRT vs. LCRT: $18,787 vs. $22,203, p < 0.001) and 40% lower for outpatient treatment (SCRT vs. LCRT: $11,955 vs. $19,641, p < 0.001) compared to LCRT. SCRT has been shown to be the dominant treatment option with fewer recurrences and fewer complications at a lower cost.
Conclusion: SCRT was well-tolerated and achieved favorable short-term outcomes. In addition, SCRT showed significant reduction of total cost of care and distinguished cost-effectiveness compared to LCRT.
A Cross-View Geo-localization Method Guided By Relation-Aware Global Attention
Authors: Sun Jing , Yan Rui , Zhang Bing , Zhu Bing , Sun Fuming
Published: February 2023

Cross-view geo-localization mainly exploits query images to match images from the same geographical location from different platforms. Most existing methods fail to adequately consider the effect of image structural information on cross-view geo-localization, resulting in the extracted features can not fully characterize the image, which affects the localization accuracy. Based on this, this paper proposes a cross-view geo-localization method guided by relation-aware global attention, which can capture the rich global structural information by perfectly integrating attention mechanism and feature extraction network, thus improving the representation ability of features. Meanwhile, considering the important role of semantic and context information in geo-localization, a joint training structure with parallel global branch and local branch is designed to fully mine multi-scale context features for image matching, which can further improve the accuracy of cross-view geo-localization. The quantitative and qualitative experimental results on University-1652, CVUSA, and CVACT datasets show that the algorithm in this paper outperforms other advanced methods in recall accuracy (Recall) and image retrieval average precision (AP).
Studies on the Origin of Asian Cultivated Rice Based on 15 Domestication Region
Authors: sun Tingting
Published: February 2023

Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important food crop in the world, and its domestication is one of the important historical developments. In this study, we found 15 domesticated fragments in all of them and their nucleotide diversity by analyzing 461 wild rice and 595 cultivated rice accessions. The 15 domesticated fragments were then individually phylogenetic tree constructed to analyze the most recent wild population for each branch. We identify wild populations in southern China and the India as the source of the temperate japonica and tropical japonica gene pool. In addition, wild populations in Southeast Asia, China and India as the source of the indica gene pool. Interesting, wild populations in India and Burma as the source of the Aus and Bas gene pool, respectively.
How should storm surge barrier maintenance strategies be changed in light of sea-level rise? A case study
Authors: Trace-Kleeberg Sunke , Haigh Ivan , Walraven Marc , Gourvenec Susan
Published: February 2023

Sea-level rise and changes in storminess, together with population growth and coastward migration, are increasing the risks of coastal flooding. The impacts are amplified in coastal cities due to the high concentration of inhabitants, infrastructure and services in low lying areas. Many coastal cities are located in estuaries, and storm surge barriers are often constructed to provide flood protection in these areas with long exposed coastlines. For these complex and unique structures, maintenance is vital to ensure they remain reliable and comply with legal protection standards. To ensure safe conditions for workers, storm surge barriers typically define water level thresholds, at which maintenance work must stop when these water levels are reached or exceeded. This paper evaluates the changes in past and future water levels exceeding the maintenance threshold to inform management, maintenance and operation strategies, and design, of storm surge barriers. The Maeslant barrier in Rotterdam, Netherlands is used as a case study to test this analysis. Water levels from measurements taken at the Hoek van Holland tide gauge are compared to the maintenance threshold level. The number of past threshold exceedances is determined and the sensitivity of exceedances to threshold level are assessed. Results show that the maintenance threshold has been exceeded 991 times of which 13% occurred during the maintenance season. Conversely, there were periods in the storm season when water levels were below the maintenance threshold and work could have been carried out safely. The effect of sea-level rise and natural inter-annual tidal cycles on future threshold exceedances is also assessed. Findings reveal that the maintenance window will shift earlier in the year and narrow until exceedances of the maintenance threshold occur regularly all year around. With 1 m sea-level rise maintenance threshold exceedances are likely to occur regularly all year around by 2048. This analysis highlights that maintenance strategies at the Maeslant barrier will need to be adapted for the barrier to remain operational until its design life of 2100. This is due to the increase in maintenance threshold exceedances resulting from natural interannual tidal cycles combined with sea-level rise. This analysis framework is applicable to existing barriers worldwide to assess future intervention points and for barriers in the design phase to verify the implications of design decisions on planned maintenance.
Genome size of grass Festuca mountain species from the Pyrenees and Prepyrenees: variation, evolution and new assessments
Authors: Garnatje Teresa , Catalán Pilar , Inda Luis A. , Vallès Joan , Pyke Samuel
Published: February 2023

Festuca is one of the most ecologically and economically important genera of temperate grasses. Species of its main subgenus Festucaare common components of cool-seasonal pastures and are especially frequent in mountainous areas, where there are often several morphologically similar species that grow in the same or comparable habitats and sometimes live in sympatry. Nuclear DNA assessments by flow cytometry can be used to identify taxa and uncover new ploidy levels in species complexes for which previous chromosome counts and genome sizes are known. 2C values of newly studied Pyrenean and Prepyrenean Festucasubgen. Festuca sects. Eskia, Festuca and Aulaxyperspecies range from 4.41 to 16.36 pg and include 2x, 4x, 6x and 8x ploidy levels. 2C mean values of diploids and polyploids are larger in the species of the more ancestral F. sect. Eskia group showing a decreasing trend in the species of the more recently evolved F. sects. Festuca and Aulaxyperlineages. Monoploid genome sizes of high polyploid Aulaxyper taxa are among the smallest of the three Festuca sections, corroborating previous findings. Our analysis provides new genome size values and inferred ploidy levels for hexaploid F. heteromallaand octoploid F. trichophylla and highlights the genomic and ecological differentiation of tetraploid F. gautieri susbsp. gautieri from diploid F. gautierisubsp. scoparia.
Successful systemic lysis therapy of a floating carotid thrombus in an acute stroke patient with known immune thrombocytopenic purpura on ongoing eltrombopag therapy and acute COVID-19 infection: A case report
Authors: Adam Lucas Christoph , Burgstaller Marian , Taetweiler Urs , Mueller Joerg
Published: February 2023

Background: Patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) under eltrombopag therapy are vulnerable to thrombotic disbalance either by disease and by therapy-related hypercoagulability. Vascular events such as the development of a free-floating carotid thrombus are known rare complications of acute COVID-19 infections due to an endothelial inflammation and underlying hypercoagulable state. New focal neurological symptoms in patients at risk should be immediately followed by angiographic diagnostics and, if necessary, proceed with the appropriate treatment immediately.
Case presentation: Here we report a case of a 38-old female with a medical history of ITP and presence of COVID-19 infection presenting an acute sensorimotor hemiparesis of the right side while oneltrombopag therapy. Initial CT angiography revealed a free-floating thrombus of the left carotid artery. At admission, platelet number was significantly increased at 896/nl. After systemic lysis therapy the thrombus was fully dissolved. Follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging revealed multilocular cortical infarction of the left ACM territory. The patient soon recovered and was released with residual mild sensorimotor deficits of the right arm. Eltrombopag was paused at admission, platelet number was quickly normalizing and the patient was discharged with a daily intake of acetylsalicylic acid, eltrombopag in reduced daily dose and weekly control of platelet number for 3 months.
Conclusions: This unique case enhances the need for caution in patients at vascular risk who exhibit an acute COVID-19 infection, and discusses thrombocytic derailment under thrombopoietin receptor agonist therapy associated with an acute COVID-19 infection.
Dietary Inflammatory Index, Erythrocyte Membrane Fatty Acids and Cognitive Function in Obese Chinese Population from 45 to 75 Years: Cross-Sectional and Mediation Analysis
Authors: Huang Hongying , Li Jinchen , Shen Jingyi , Zhao Tong , Xiao Rong , Ma Weiwei
Published: February 2023

Few studies have focused on the connection between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and cognitive function in obese people, despite the fact proved that both obesity and cognitive dysfunction are associated with chronic inflammation. Since DII can reflect the anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory potential of the diet, using the normal population as a reference we conducted a study in obese individuals to examine the relationship between DII and several cognitive functions in this population. Additionally, we investigate the mediating elements of this association. Higher DII scores were linked to lower Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) total scores, MoCA visuospatial function, MoCA naming, MoCA attention, and MoCA memory in the obese group, according to adjusted linear regression. Taking the tertile of DII score as a categorical variable substituted into a binary linear regression, the negative correlation between DII score and cognitive function score remains, as shown by the increasing incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as DII increases by one tertile. We discovered chained mediation effects in the mediation analysis between the DII score, erythrocyte membrane fatty acids and the overall MoCA score. We propose that in obese individuals, higher DII scores are linked to a deterioration in cognitive performance. Furthermore, the fatty acids in the erythrocyte membrane may mediate this action.
Acetylcholinesterase inhibition studies of alkaloid components from Crinum asiaticum var. sinicum plants: In vitro assessments by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Duc Ngo Viet , Trang Vu Thi , Anh Hoang Le Tuan , Ba Vinh Le , Phong Nguyen Viet , Thuan Tran Quang , Hieu Ngo Van , Dat Nguyen Tien , Nhan Le Van , Tuan Do Thanh , Thao Do Thi , Tai Bui Huu , Lien Le Quynh , Yang Seo Young
Published: February 2023

Alkaloids are among the most important and best-known secondary metabolites as sources of new drugs from medicinal plants and marine organisms. A phytochemical investigation of whole Crinum asiaticum var. sinicum plants resulted in the isolation of seven alkaloids (1–7), including one new compound (1). Their structures were elucidated using NMR and HR-ESI-MS. The absolute configuration of 1 was established by ECD. A molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation was carried out for the isolated compounds to screen for acetylcholine (AChE) inhibitory activity. The target compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on AChE activity in vitro. The results suggest that these C. asiaticum alkaloids possess the ability to treat Alzheimer’s disease.