bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Infection as a Core Strategy to Prevent Rifampicin-Resistant/Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Authors: Reuter Anja , Furin Jennifer
Published: May 2023

An estimated 19 million people are infected with rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistant strains of tuberculosis worldwide. There is little done to prevent these individuals from becoming sick with RR/MDR-TB, a disease that is associated with high rates of morbidity, mortality, and suffering. There are multiple phase III trials currently being conducted to assess the effectiveness of treatment of infection (i.e., “preventive therapy”) for RR/MDR-TB, but their results are likely years away. In the meantime, there is sufficient evidence to support a more comprehensive management of people who have been exposed to RR/MDR-TB so that they can maintain their health. We present a patient scenario and share our experience in implementing a systematic post-exposure management program in South Africa with the goal of inspiring similar programs in other high-burden RR/MDR-TB settings.
Crystalline Phase, Cross-Section, and Temporal Characteristics of Erbium-Ion in Lu3Ga5O12 Crystal
Authors: Zhang Pei , Zhang De-Long , Wang Yan
Published: May 2023

An erbium-doped Lu3Ga5O12(LuGG) single crystal was grown by the Czochralski method. The crystalline phase in the grown crystal was analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction. The erbium-ion emission spectra of the crystal were acquired. The erbium-ion emission cross-section (ECS) spectrum was computed from the acquired emission spectrum. The erbium-ion absorption cross-section (ACS) spectrum was computed using the McCumber relationship. The results are discussed in contrast to those computed from the acquired absorption spectrum, and the comparison shows that both methods give consistent results. The temporal characteristics of the emissions were also studied based on 0.98 μm pulse pumping. The study shows that the infrared emissions at 1.0, 1.5, and 2.8 μm show mono-exponentially temporal behavior. Instead, the decays of two visible emissions at 0.56 and 0.67 μm show considerable non-exponential features; each trace can be fitted double-exponentially. The non-exponential behavior is associated with those erbium ions that are present in the form of clusters, which enables non-radiative upconversion depopulation and hence additional contribution to the decay through cross relaxation between the erbium ions in clusters. The study also shows that about half of the erbium ions are present in the cluster state in the studied crystal.
Polarization Selective Broad/Triple Band Absorber Based on All-Dielectric Metamaterials in Long Infrared Regime
Authors: Zou Haotian , Ni Bo , Zhou Hua , Ni Haibin , Hua Guohuan , Chang Jianhua
Published: May 2023

In this paper, a polarization selective broad/triple-band metamaterial absorber based on SiO2 all-dielectric is designed and studied. The absorber works in a long infrared band (8–14 μm). It is composed of cuboid and trapezoidal silica structures in the upper layer and metal plates in the lower layer. We calculate the absorption results of the metamaterial absorber at different polarization angles as the polarization angle of incident light increases from 0° to 90°; that is, the light changes from Ex polarization to Ey polarization. The results show that the absorption rate of the structure is more than 90% in the range of 8.16 to 9.61 μm when the polarization angle is 0°. When the polarization angle of the incident light is less than 45°, the absorption result of the absorber does not change significantly. When the polarization angle of the incident light is greater than 45°, three absorption peaks appear in the long infrared band, realizing the selectivity of the polarization of the incident light. When the polarization angle increases to 90°, the absorptivity of the two absorption peaks at λ = 9.7 μm and 12.3 μm reaches more than 85%. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of the length, width, and thickness of the all-dielectric metamaterial absorber and the calculation of the electric field of this structure are also carried out. The designed all-dielectric metamaterial absorber has polarization selection and perfect absorption characteristics and has a broad application prospect.
Wide-Field-of-View Trans-Reflective RGB-Achromatic Metalens for Augmented Reality
Authors: Luo Lingcong , Wang Zhengyang , Li Juntao , Liang Haowen
Published: May 2023

In recent years, various solutions for augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays have been proposed. In order to achieve the dual functions of reflective focusing on virtual images and transparency to the real world, the optical design of AR eyepieces is particularly critical. Designs based on traditional optics still face the problems of huge volume and a limited field of view. Due to their extraordinary phase control ability, portability, easy integration, and other advantages, metalenses have triggered extensive research and found many applications, including providing an innovative solution for AR eyepieces. In this work, we propose a single-layer trans-reflective RGB-achromatic metalens with a large field of view of 90°. The metalens reflects the oblique incident virtual image while maintaining balanced transparency of real-world light. Through simulation, the ability of the metalens to focus light at the wavelengths of 488 nm, 532 nm, and 633 nm with the same focal length and balanced efficiency is validated. Moreover, the metalens is polarization-insensitive to the incident light, thus allowing the elimination of the polarization modulation components, which greatly simplifies the optical structure. Our work demonstrates the great potential of metalenses for AR eyepiece applications.
Foliar Applications of Salicylic Acid on Boosting Salt Stress Tolerance in Sour Passion Fruit in Two Cropping Cycles
Authors: Sobrinho Thiago Galvão , da Silva André Alisson Rodrigues , de Lima Geovani Soares , de Lima Vera Lúcia Antunes , Borges Vitória Ediclécia , Nunes Kheila Gomes , Soares Lauriane Almeida dos Anjos , Saboya Luciano Marcelo Fallé , Gheyi Hans Raj , Gomes Josivanda Palmeira , Fernandes Pedro Dantas , de Azevedo Carlos Alberto Vieira
Published: May 2023

Brazil stands out as the largest producer of sour passion fruit; however, the water available for irrigation is mostly saline, which can limit its cultivation. This study was carried out with the objective of evaluating the effects of salicylic acid in the induction of tolerance in sour passion fruit to salt stress. The assay was conducted in a protected environment, using a completely randomized design in a split-plot scheme, with the levels of electrical conductivity of the irrigation water (0.8, 1.6, 2.4, 3.2, and 4.0 dS m−1) considering the plots and concentrations of salicylic acid (0, 1.2, 2.4, and 3.6 mM) the subplots, with three replications. The physiological indices, production components, and postharvest quality of sour passion fruit were negatively affected by the increase in the electrical conductivity of irrigation water, and the effects of salt stress were intensified in the second cycle. In the first cycle, the foliar application of salicylic acid at concentrations between 1.0 and 1.4 mM partially reduced the harmful effects of salt stress on the relative water content of leaves, electrolyte leakage, gas exchange, and synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, in addition to promoting an increase in the yield and quality parameters of sour passion fruit.
Microbial Bioremediation of Environmental Pollution
Authors: Hlihor Raluca Maria , Cozma Petronela
Published: May 2023

Industrial and agricultural progress, coupled with population expansion, has led to many questions in the scientific community over the current status of environmental pollution and natural resource scarcity [...]
Optimal Designs of SVC-Based Content Placement and Delivery in Wireless Caching Networks
Authors: Zhang Xuewei , Zhang Lin , Ren Yuan , Jiang Jing , Wang Junxuan
Published: May 2023

To allieviate the heavy traffic burden over backhaul links and improve the user’s quality of service (QoS), edge caching plays an important role in wireless networks. This paper investigated the optimal designs of content placement and transmission in wireless caching networks. The contents to be cached and requested were encoded into individual layers by scalable video coding (SVC), and different sets of layers can provide different viewing qualities to end users. The demanded contents were provided by helpers caching the requested layers, or by the macro-cell base station (MBS) otherwise. In the content placement phase, this work formulated and solved the delay minimization problem. In the content transmission phase, the sum rate optimization problem was established. To effectively solve the nonconvex problem, the methods of semi-definite relaxation (SDR), successive convex approximation (SCA), and arithmetic-geometric mean (AGM) inequality were adopted, after which the original problem was transformed into the convex form. The numerical results show that the transmission delay is reduced by caching contents at helpers. Moreover, the fast convergence of the proposed algorithm for solving the sum rate maximization problem is presented, and the sum rate gain of edge caching is also revealed, as compared to the benchmark scheme without content caching.
A Novel Unsupervised Video Anomaly Detection Framework Based on Optical Flow Reconstruction and Erased Frame Prediction
Authors: Huang Heqing , Zhao Bing , Gao Fei , Chen Penghui , Wang Jun , Hussain Amir
Published: May 2023

Reconstruction-based and prediction-based approaches are widely used for video anomaly detection (VAD) in smart city surveillance applications. However, neither of these approaches can effectively utilize the rich contextual information that exists in videos, which makes it difficult to accurately perceive anomalous activities. In this paper, we exploit the idea of a training model based on the “Cloze Test” strategy in natural language processing (NLP) and introduce a novel unsupervised learning framework to encode both motion and appearance information at an object level. Specifically, to store the normal modes of video activity reconstructions, we first design an optical stream memory network with skip connections. Secondly, we build a space–time cube (STC) for use as the basic processing unit of the model and erase a patch in the STC to form the frame to be reconstructed. This enables a so-called ”incomplete event (IE)” to be completed. On this basis, a conditional autoencoder is utilized to capture the high correspondence between optical flow and STC. The model predicts erased patches in IEs based on the context of the front and back frames. Finally, we employ a generating adversarial network (GAN)-based training method to improve the performance of VAD. By distinguishing the predicted erased optical flow and erased video frame, the anomaly detection results are shown to be more reliable with our proposed method which can help reconstruct the original video in IE. Comparative experiments conducted on the benchmark UCSD Ped2, CUHK Avenue, and ShanghaiTech datasets demonstrate AUROC scores reaching 97.7%, 89.7%, and 75.8%, respectively.
UsbVisdaNet: User Behavior Visual Distillation and Attention Network for Multimodal Sentiment Classification
Authors: Hou Shangwu , Tuerhong Gulanbaier , Wushouer Mairidan
Published: May 2023

In sentiment analysis, biased user reviews can have a detrimental impact on a company’s evaluation. Therefore, identifying such users can be highly beneficial as their reviews are not based on reality but on their characteristics rooted in their psychology. Furthermore, biased users may be seen as instigators of other prejudiced information on social media. Thus, proposing a method to help detect polarized opinions in product reviews would offer significant advantages. This paper proposes a new method for sentiment classification of multimodal data, which is called UsbVisdaNet (User Behavior Visual Distillation and Attention Network). The method aims to identify biased user reviews by analyzing their psychological behaviors. It can identify both positive and negative users and improves sentiment classification results that may be skewed due to subjective biases in user opinions by leveraging user behavior information. Through ablation and comparison experiments, the effectiveness of UsbVisdaNet is demonstrated, achieving superior sentiment classification performance on the Yelp multimodal dataset. Our research pioneers the integration of user behavior features, text features, and image features at multiple hierarchical levels within this domain.
Interval Type-II Fuzzy Fault-Tolerant Control for Constrained Uncertain 2-DOF Robotic Multi-Agent Systems with Active Fault Detection
Authors: Yan Wen , Tu Haiyan , Qin Peng , Zhao Tao
Published: May 2023

This study proposed a novel adaptive interval Type-II fuzzy fault-tolerant control for constrained uncertain 2-DOF robotic multi-agent systems with an active fault-detection algorithm. This control method can realize the predefined-accuracy stability of multi-agent systems under input saturation constraint, complex actuator failure and high-order uncertainties. Firstly, a novel active fault-detection algorithm based on pulse-wave function was proposed to detect the failure time of multi-agent systems. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time that an active fault-detection strategy had been used in multi-agent systems. Then, a switching strategy based on active fault detection was presented to design the active fault-tolerant control algorithm of the multi-agent system. In the end, based on the interval type-II fuzzy approximated system, a novel adaptive fuzzy fault-tolerant controller was proposed for multi-agent systems to deal with system uncertainties and redundant control inputs. Compared with other relevant fault-detection and fault-tolerant control methods, the proposed method can achieve predefinition of stable accuracy with smoother control input. The theoretical result was verified by simulation.
Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Performance Comparison Utilizing Telnet and Superframe
Authors: Sathish Kaveripakam , CV Ravikumar , Ab Wahab Mohd Nadhir , Anbazhagan Rajesh , Pau Giovanni , Akbar Muhammad Firdaus
Published: May 2023

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) have recently established themselves as an extremely interesting area of research thanks to the mysterious qualities of the ocean. The UWSN consists of sensor nodes and vehicles working to collect data and complete tasks. The battery capacity of sensor nodes is quite limited, which means that the UWSN network needs to be as efficient as it can possibly be. It is difficult to connect with or update a communication that is taking place underwater due to the high latency in propagation, the dynamic nature of the network, and the likelihood of introducing errors. This makes it difficult to communicate with or update a communication. Cluster-based underwater wireless sensor networks (CB-UWSNs) are proposed in this article. These networks would be deployed via Superframe and Telnet applications. In addition, routing protocols, such as Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV), Fisheye State Routing (FSR), Location-Aided Routing 1 (LAR1), Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR), and Source Tree Adaptive Routing—Least Overhead Routing Approach (STAR-LORA), were evaluated based on the criteria of their energy consumption in a range of various modes of operation with QualNet Simulator using Telnet and Superframe applications. STAR-LORA surpasses the AODV, LAR1, OLSR, and FSR routing protocols in the evaluation report’s simulations, with a Receive Energy of 0.1 mWh in a Telnet deployment and 0.021 mWh in a Superframe deployment. The Telnet and Superframe deployments consume 0.05 mWh transmit power, but the Superframe deployment only needs 0.009 mWh. As a result, the simulation results show that the STAR-LORA routing protocol outperforms the alternatives.
cGPS Record of Active Extension in Moroccan Meseta and Shortening in Atlasic Chains under the Eurasia-Nubia Convergence
Authors: Chalouan Ahmed , Gil Antonio J. , Chabli Ahmed , Bargach Kaoutar , Liemlahi Hoda , El Kadiri Khalil , Tendero-Salmerón Víctor , Galindo-Zaldívar Jesús
Published: May 2023

The northwest-southeast convergence of the Eurasian and Nubian (African) plates in the western Mediterranean region propagates inside the Nubian plate and affects the Moroccan Meseta and the neighboring Atlasic belt. Five continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) stations were installed in this area in 2009 and provide significant new data, despite a certain degree of errors (between 0.5 and 1.2 mm year−1, 95% confidence) due to slow rates. The cGPS network reveals 1 mm year−1 North/South shortening accommodated within the High Atlas Mountains, and unexpected 2 mm year−1 north-northwest/south-southeast extensional-to-transtensional tectonics within the Meseta and the Middle Atlas, which have been quantified for the first time. Moreover, the Alpine Rif Cordillera drifts towards the south-southeast against its Prerifian foreland basins and the Meseta. In this context, the geological extension foreseen in the Moroccan Meseta and Middle Atlas agrees with a crustal thinning due to the combined effect of the anomalous mantle beneath both the Meseta and Middle-High Atlasic system, from which Quaternary basalts were sourced, and the roll-back tectonics in the Rif Cordillera. Overall, the new cGPS data provide reliable support for understanding the geodynamic mechanism that built the prominent Atlasic Cordillera, and reveal the heterogeneous present-day behavior of the Eurasia-Nubia collisional boundary.
Managing Information to Improve Conservation: The HBIM of the Wooden Chain of Santa Maria del Fiore
Authors: Celli Sofia , Ottoni Federica
Published: May 2023

A key potential of HBIM is its ability to reflect the complexity and stratification of built heritage. By gathering in a single place multiple data, the HBIM streamlines the knowledge process that is at the base of conservation activities. By describing the informative tool developed to support the preservation of the chestnut chain of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, this paper aims to address the topic of the management of information within the HBIM. In particular, it focuses on how to systematize data in order to facilitate decision making within the frame of a preventive and planned conservation. To this end, the research proposes a possible articulation for the informative apparatus to be associated with the 3D model. More importantly, it makes an attempt to translate qualitative data into numerical values to define a priority index. The latter will improve the scheduling and implementation of maintenance activities, concretely impacting the overall conservation of the object.
Lossless Reversible Data Hiding in Encrypted Image for Multiple Data Hiders Based on Pixel Value Order and Secret Sharing
Authors: Yu Haoyang , Zhang Junwei , Xiang Zixiao , Liu Biao , Feng Huamin
Published: May 2023

Reversible data hiding in encrypted images (RDH-EI) is instrumental in image privacy protection and data embedding. However, conventional RDH-EI models, involving image providers, data hiders, and receivers, limit the number of data hiders to one, which restricts its applicability in scenarios requiring multiple data embedders. Therefore, the need for an RDH-EI accommodating multiple data hiders, especially for copyright protection, has become crucial. Addressing this, we introduce the application of Pixel Value Order (PVO) technology to encrypted reversible data hiding, combined with the secret image sharing (SIS) scheme. This creates a novel scheme, PVO, Chaotic System, Secret Sharing-based Reversible Data Hiding in Encrypted Image (PCSRDH-EI), which satisfies the (k,n) threshold property. An image is partitioned into N shadow images, and reconstruction is feasible when at least k shadow images are available. This method enables separate data extraction and image decryption. Our scheme combines stream encryption, based on chaotic systems, with secret sharing, underpinned by the Chinese remainder theorem (CRT), ensuring secure secret sharing. Empirical tests show that PCSRDH-EI can reach a maximum embedding rate of 5.706 bpp, outperforming the state-of-the-art and demonstrating superior encryption effects.
Vibration and Noise Analysis and Experimental Study of Rail Conveyor
Authors: Hao Nini , Sun Xinming , Zhang Mengchao , Zhang Yuan , Wang Xingyu , Yi Xiaoting
Published: May 2023

The rail conveyor is a new type of energy-saving system for the long-distance transportation of bulk materials. Operating noise is an urgent problem that the current model faces. It will cause noise pollution and affect the health of workers. In this paper, the factors causing vibration and noise are analyzed by modeling the wheel-rail system and the supporting truss structure. Based on the built test platform, the system vibration of the vertical steering wheel, the track support truss, and the track connection were measured, and the vibration characteristics at different positions were analyzed. Based on the established noise and vibration model, the distribution and occurrence rules of system noise under different operating speeds and fastener stiffness conditions were obtained. The experimental results show that the vibration amplitude of the frame near the head of the conveyor is the largest. The amplitude under the condition of 2 m/s running speed at the same position is 4 times that under the condition of 1 m/s. At different welds of the track, the width and depth of the rail gap have a great influence on the vibration impact, which is mainly due to the impact of the uneven impedance at the track gap, and the greater the running speed, the more obvious the vibration impact. The simulation results show the trend of noise generation, the speed of the trolley, and the stiffness of the track fasteners have a positive effect on the generation of noise in the low-frequency region. The research results of this paper will play an important role in the noise and vibration analysis of rail conveyors and help to optimize the structure design of the track transmission system.
Methods for Comprehensive Calibration of a Low-Frequency Angular Acceleration Rotary Table
Authors: Feng Renjian , Yan Jiaxuan , Wu Yinfeng , Yu Ning , Yin Xudong
Published: May 2023

The total harmonic distortion (THD) index and its calculation methods are presented to calibrate the sinusoidal motion of the low-frequency angular acceleration rotary table (LFAART) and make up the incomprehensive evaluation based on the angular acceleration amplitude and frequency error indexes. The THD is calculated from two measurement schemes: a unique scheme combining the optical shaft encoder and the laser triangulation sensor and a regular scheme using the fiber optical gyroscope (FOG). An improved reversing moments recognition method is presented to upgrade the accuracy of solving the angular motion amplitude based on optical shaft encoder output. The field experiment shows that the difference in the THD values achieved using the combining scheme and FOG is within 0.11% when the signal-to-noise ratio of the FOG signal is higher than 7.7 dB, indicating the accuracy of the proposed methods and the feasibility of taking THD as the index.
An Optimised MS-Based Versatile Untargeted Metabolomics Protocol
Authors: Marques Cátia F. , Justino Gonçalo C.
Published: May 2023

Untargeted metabolomics approaches require complex samples containing the endogenous metabolites of a biological system. Here, we describe a set of protocols that can be applied to various types of samples, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, as well as animal and human samples. Following a single extraction step, samples are analysed using different chromatographic conditions coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry. Quantification of metabolite changes between samples is performed without internal standards, using peak areas from extracted ion chromatograms for statistical analysis. Bioinformatics annotation of the results allows a pathway- and process-oriented analysis across biological sample conditions, allowing a complete pathway interrogation.
Food Quality and Safety: Advances in Analytical Methods and Applications
Authors: Sorbo Angela , Zoani Claudia , Passeri Daniele
Published: May 2023

The Special Issue “Food Quality and Safety: Advances in Analytical Methods and Applications” was open to expert reviews and original contributions dealing with advances in analytical methods for the detection and quantification of potentially hazardous substances in food matrices [...]
Gendering the Political Economy of Smallholder Agriculture: A Scoping Review
Authors: Clark Madelyn , Bandara Shashika , Bialous Stella , Rice Kathleen , Lencucha Raphael
Published: May 2023

Gender plays a prominent role in shaping the practices and experiences of smallholding farming households. This scoping review seeks to chart and analyze how gender is used in the existing literature on the political economy of smallholder agriculture. The aim of this review is to first identify the extent to which gender is addressed as a unit of analysis in this body of literature, and second, to identify when and how gender is incorporated in this body of literature. The limited work on this topic may be due to a variety of factors, the most notable of which is the failure of political economy literature to attend to the small scale and the limited attention paid to the social dynamics of women and men in farming households. Classical political economy frameworks tend to dismiss micro-processes and trends in favor of macro-structural conditions. Included articles approach gender in two distinct ways: empirical (which frames gender as a binary unit of analysis, i.e., man–woman) and analytic (a construction that operates in different ways in different contexts). This review provides a nuanced understanding of how gendered identities produce and are produced by political economy, and how political economy shapes and is shaped by gender and household dynamics.
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Alternative Energy Sources in China
Authors: Xue Xiangwen , Zhang Qi , Cai Xinyu , Ponkratov Vadim V.
Published: May 2023

The transition to renewable energy sources is crucial for mitigating the impacts of climate change and achieving sustainable development goals. In China, the rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to an increasing demand for energy, highlighting the urgent need to transition to alternative energy sources. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative energy sources in China, considering multiple criteria such as cost, environmental impact, energy output, reliability, and scalability. We employed a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach to compare and rank different energy sources based on these criteria. Our findings indicate that wind energy is the most effective alternative energy source overall due to its relatively low cost, high efficiency, moderate environmental impact, good scalability, and high reliability. However, geothermal energy had the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), while hydro energy performed well in terms of efficiency and reliability. The environmental impact of wind energy was found to be moderate but still less severe compared to other energy sources. Our study provides important insights into the trade-offs and considerations that policymakers and industry leaders must make when selecting which energy sources to prioritize. The findings highlight the need for a comprehensive and integrated approach to energy policy that balances economic, environmental, and social considerations. In conclusion, this study contributes to the literature by emphasizing the importance of considering multiple criteria when evaluating alternative energy sources. Our findings can inform policy decisions regarding the development of a sustainable and reliable energy mix in China, and have important implications for other countries seeking to transition to renewable energy sources.
Research on the Influence of Ecological Environment Satisfaction and Income Level on Chinese Residents’ Happiness: Empirical Analysis Based on CGSS Data
Authors: Wu Yongsong , Cao Yang
Published: May 2023

Enhancing residents’ happiness is a fundamental goal of development and a priority for government action. This article conducts a theoretical analysis of the impact of the ecological environment and income level on residents’ happiness and uses data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2017 to construct an ordered probit model. The model examines the mechanisms of ecological environment satisfaction and income level on residents’ happiness. The study reveals that (1) residents’ satisfaction with the ecological environment has a significant positive effect on their happiness, which is consistent across urban–rural and regional contexts. (2) Both absolute and relative income have a significant positive effect on residents’ happiness, with relative income having a greater influence than absolute income. (3) Income level can regulate the impact of ecological environment satisfaction on residents’ happiness, indicating that an increase in residents’ income level weakens the effect of ecological environment satisfaction on their happiness. (4) Residents’ absolute income mediates the process by which ecological environment satisfaction impacts their happiness. These findings enhance our understanding of the relationship between the ecological environment, income level, and residents’ happiness, and provide new ideas for government action aimed at improving residents’ happiness.
Malignant Gastrointestinal Neuroectodermal Tumor: A Case Report and Literary Review for a Rare Differential Diagnosis
Authors: Baccaro Cinzia , Zorzetti Noemi , Cuoghi Manuela , Fornelli Adele , Franceschini Tania , Coluccelli Sara , Cennamo Vincenzo , Navarra Giuseppe Giovanni
Published: May 2023

Malignant gastrointestinal neuroectodermal tumor (GNET) is an infrequent soft-tissue sarcoma, formerly referred to as clear-cell sarcoma-like gastrointestinal tumor (CCSLGT) and frequently reported in the literature as clear-cell sarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract (CCS-GI); it is characterized by an absence of melanocytic differentiation and the presence of nontumoral osteoclast-like giant cells (OLGCs). The current study reports a case of a 79 year old woman admitted to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms of constipation and intestinal obstruction; a mass was found within the ileal wall necessitating of surgical approach. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells surprisingly had the hallmark of GNETs. Unfamiliarity with tumors with the features of GNETs can easily lead to a misdiagnosis by surgical pathologist. Therefore, comprehensive evaluation, including morphology and additional studies, is required for an appropriated diagnosis. Furthermore, without a high index of suspicion, there is actually no consensus on staging or treatment.
Bioprocessing and the Production of Antiviral Biologics in the Prevention and Treatment of Viral Infectious Disease
Authors: Meade Elaine , Rowan Neil , Garvey Mary
Published: May 2023

Emerging, re-emerging and zoonotic viral pathogens represent a serious threat to human health, resulting in morbidity, mortality and potentially economic instability at a global scale. Certainly, the recent emergence of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus (and its variants) highlighted the impact of such pathogens, with the pandemic creating unprecedented and continued demands for the accelerated production of antiviral therapeutics. With limited effective small molecule therapies available for metaphylaxis, vaccination programs have been the mainstay against virulent viral species. Traditional vaccines remain highly effective at providing high antibody titres, but are, however, slow to manufacture in times of emergency. The limitations of traditional vaccine modalities may be overcome by novel strategies, as outlined herein. To prevent future disease outbreaks, paradigm shift changes in manufacturing and distribution are necessary to advance the production of vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, cytokines and other antiviral therapies. Accelerated paths for antivirals have been made possible due to advances in bioprocessing, leading to the production of novel antiviral agents. This review outlines the role of bioprocessing in the production of biologics and advances in mitigating viral infectious disease. In an era of emerging viral diseases and the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance, this review provides insight into a significant method of antiviral agent production which is key to protecting public health.
Association between Overweight/Obesity and the Safety and Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review
Authors: Fu Cangcang , Lin Nan , Zhu Jihua , Ye Qing
Published: May 2023

Objective: The objective of this study was to appraise the interrelation between overweight/obesity and the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination by synthesizing the currently available evidence. Methods: A systematic review of published studies on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine in people who were overweight or obese was conducted. Databases including Embase, Medline Epub (Ovid), PsychInfo (Ovid), Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant studies. The databases of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) were also searched for relevant unpublished and gray literature. Results: Fifteen studies were included in the review. All the included studies used observational study designs; there were ten cohort studies and five cross-sectional studies. The sample size of these studies ranged from 21 to 9,171,524. Thirteen studies reported using BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), four reported using ChAdOx-nCov19 (AstraZeneca, U.K), two were reported using CoronaVac (Sinovac, China), and two were reported using mRNA1273 (Moderna, USA). The efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines have been extensively studied in individuals with overweight/obesity. Most studies have shown that the humoral response decreases with increasing BMI. The available evidence does not conclusively indicate that these vaccines are generally safe in this population. Conclusion: While the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine may be less than ideal in people who are overweight or obese, it does not mean that obese people should not be vaccinated, as the vaccine can still provide some protection. There is a lack of evidence for conclusions to be drawn about the safety of the vaccine in the population. This study calls on health professionals, policymakers, caregivers, and all other stakeholders to focus on monitoring the possible adverse effects of injections in overweight/obese people.
Knowledge and Attitudes towards Human Papillomavirus Vaccination (HPV) among Healthcare Providers Involved in the Governmental Free HPV Vaccination Program in Shenzhen, Southern China
Authors: Song Danhong , Liu Peiyi , Wu Dadong , Zhao Fanghui , Wang Yueyun , Zhang Yong
Published: May 2023

No research has been conducted to explore the variables associated with healthcare providers’ (HCPs) knowledge and attitudes toward the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) since the vaccine was approved for free use in some Chinese cities. In Shenzhen, southern China, a convenience sample strategy was used to distribute questionnaires to HCPs involved in the government’s HPV vaccination program from Shenzhen. There were 828 questionnaires collected in total, with 770 used in the analysis. The mean HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge score was 12.0 among HCPs involved in the government HPV vaccination program (with a total score of 15). the average scores for HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge varied among different types of medical institutions. District hospitals had the highest mean score of 12.4, while private hospitals ranked fourth with a mean score of 10.9. Multivariate logistic regression results revealed significant disparities in the type of license and after-tax annual income across HCPs (p < 0.05). The future education and training for HCPs should focus on private community health centers (CHCs), HCPs whose license type is other than a doctor, and HCPs with low after-tax annual income.
Paleopathological Changes in Animal Bones from Croatian Archaeological Sites from Prehistory to New Modern Period
Authors: Trbojević Vukičević Tajana , Korpes Kim , Đuras Martina , Vrbanac Zoran , Javor Ana , Kolenc Magdalena
Published: May 2023

A special part of archaeology, so-called archaeozoopathology or veterinary paleopathology is dedicated to studies of paleopathological changes in animal remains and contributes to the knowledge of ancient veterinary medicine and the history of diseases. In our study, we analyze paleopathological changes determined by gross observation and diagnostic imaging in the animal material originating from eight archaeological sites in Croatia. A standard archaeozoological analysis was carried out and specimens with visually detected macrostructural changes were radiographed. In total, 50 animal remains with altered macrostructure were identified in the archaeozoological material excavated from 2010 to 2022 at eight archaeological sites in Croatia. According to the taxonomic analysis, most of the bones with macrostructural changes originated from cattle (N = 27, 54% of the total number of bones with macrostructural changes), followed by the bones of small ruminants (N = 12, 24%) and pigs (N = 8, 16%). The horse, carnivore and chicken were represented with one bone each (2%). Radiological examination showed that three samples (6%) had a regular bone macrostructure, i.e., no pathological changes were visible upon radiological examination. The majority (64%) of pathologically altered bones are a consequence of keeping/working, followed by traumatic causes (20%). Changes in the oral cavity were found in 10% of specimens. Our study showed that gross examination will continue to be the primary method for the identification of pathologically altered remains in archaeozoological material. However, diagnostic imaging techniques such as radiography should be implemented to confirm or exclude suspected alterations and to help the classification of the specimen by etiology.
Location of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Based on Game Theory
Authors: Ma Hao , Pei Wenhui , Zhang Qi , Xu Di , Li Yongjing
Published: May 2023

In order to solve the design problem of electric vehicle charging station distribution, based on the consideration of user and investor costs, this paper establishes a mixed integer model for charging station site selection based on game theory ideas. Among them, the user cost is determined by two indicators, namely, the cost of time for users to reach the charging station and the cost of time for users to wait in line, while the cost of the charging station is determined by the construction cost and the daily operation and maintenance cost. In the established model, the hierarchical analysis is used to minimize the combined cost of users and charging stations as the objective. In addition, an improved artificial bee colony algorithm is designed to solve the model. The improved algorithm adds a neighborhood search method and a feasible decoding scheme to the honey bee harvesting and tracking process, thus solving the problems of low search accuracy, poor convergence, and inability to directly calculate the mixed integer model of the original algorithm. Simulation results show that the improved artificial bee colony algorithm can effectively solve the mixed integer model and has higher search accuracy and convergence speed compared with the traditional method. By applying the algorithm to solve the siting model, the location and number of charging stations can be clearly planned, thus improving charging efficiency and reliability.
Investigating The NTT Teachers in Facing The Online Teaching Challenges
Authors: Wea Teofanne Nurinik , Budiraharjo Markus
Published: May 2023

This study explored the challenges and the way how the teachers cope with their challenges. This study is a qualitative study which employed a narrative inquiry. Six participants from two different schools in NTT were participated in this study. They were English teachers, German teacher, mathematics teacher, history teacher and Geography teacher. In gathering the data, the researcher did a deep interview with the participants through Whatsapp voice note. In analyzing the data, the researcher did an interview transcript to note the participants’ responses. The researcher found that the participants had some difficulties in doing online learning such as their own ability about technology, students’ participation, students’ devices and ineffective learning. From those difficulties, they have a good self regulation to make a management time in order to make an effective learning and motivate the students to ignore their boredom. However, there was still a teacher who still had lack self efficacy since she had low ability in applying the technology devices in online learning. She had less confidence in doing online learning.
The Negative Impacts of the Cultural Ban and Oppression of Human Rights on the Afghan’s Psychological Condition in Khaled Hosseini’s Novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns
Authors: Gibran Ahmad Misuari , P M. Amir , Abbas Herawaty
Published: May 2023

These This article discusses two of Khaled Hosseini’s notable novels, namely The Kite Runner (2003) and A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007). These novels describes the story where Afghanistan is affected by the negative impacts of the long-running confilicts and the other social problems. The purpose of this article is to discuss the negative impacts of the cultural ban and the violation of human rights on the characters’ psychological condition. By applying the qualitative method and the psychoanalysis theory, this article would explain how the case of cultural ban and human rights violation affected the characters in the novels. The writer would also use several additional references to strengthen the evidences in this article. The findings of this article are related to the characters’ stresses in dealing with their respective problems in each novel. In The Kite Runner, the discussion focuses on the Hazara characters named Hassan and Sohrab, with the latter being the most-discussed one. Both are the victims of Taliban atrocities where Hassan was killed by the officials, and his son Sohrab was captured and forced to be a bacha bazi (dancing boy) by Assef, the antagonist of the novel , which reflected the negative impact of violations towards his psychological development. The next result is found in the second novel titled A Thousand Splendid Suns, which focuses on the story of Mariam. In the plot, Mariam is shown to be oppressed by both his temperamental husband Rasheed and the strict regulations of Taliban, which also at least prevented her to gain her rights and triggered her stress.
The Clandestine Polygamy and the Female Madness in The Official Wife
Authors: Kweka Elizabeth
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Studies on madness, for different reasons, have mainly focused on women as the most affected group. In patriarchal societies, madness is associated with women as the challenge of the weak gender which cannot handle difficult situations. In The Official Wife, Okurut presents a female character with a frequency of madness resulting from her patriarchal marriage. Other female characters in the novel are not only driven into madness because of patriarchal subordination, but also the dilemma of the kinds of marriage that they are involved in. Through the clandestine marriage, male characters marry more than one wife secretly while they are officially involved in Christian marriage which discourages polygamy. Okurut presents the Ugandan society where Christianity is entertained as a form of civilization while the societal traditions including polygamy are embraced. In the narrative, Liz’s confusion and madness against the system is a representation of the real condition of the female characters who have failed to understand and accept the existing system which acknowledges Christian marriage and accepts polygamy at the same time.
The Development of Portfolio Evaluation Tools to Improve Expository Writing Skills
Authors: Kuswardani Rahayu , Nur Abida Fithriyah Inda , Purwati Oikurema , Fauzia Nur , Darma Diana Budi , Fahri Fahri , Chakim Nur , Hilmi Muh Aries
Published: May 2023

This research is intended to help English teachers both at the college and high school levels in using portfolios as an evaluation tool in writing skills. Portfolio assessment was chosen in this research because of its wide use and easy adaptation to various needs. This study used Research and Development method. The development stage is based on the IQF curriculum implemented in English Language and Literature Department, Universitas Negeri Surabaya. The exploratory writing skills held for students are expected to help them in further writing, namely Thesis Proposal Writing and Academic Journal Writing where students will write down their thoughts about a concept or phenomenon and present an explanation accompanied by adequate research data. The results of the study show that the use of portfolio is quite positive. There is an improvement in students’ writing after applying a portfolio as an evaluation tool for writing skills. However, some additions need to be made to improve the quality and format of the portfolio as an evaluation tool for writing skills.
Home in the Poetry of Saudi Arabia Poets: Abdus-Salam Hafeth an Example of a Distinguished Arab (2)
Authors: Dahami Yahya Saleh Hasan
Published: May 2023

This study aims to shed light on some literary aspects of modern Saudi Arabic poetry, focusing on the concept of homeland as an example of the standing of modern Saudi poetry, with a specific reference to a contemporary Saudi poet, Abdus-Salam Hashem Hafeth. The researcher seeks to show the poet's intellect by showing his gorgeous metropolis as a symbol of his love for the grand home - the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study begins with a brief introduction to Arabic poetry and its language. Then it gives a symbolic picture of the outstanding Saudi poet – Abdus-Salam Hashem Hafeth and Saudi poetry in general. Following that, the study takes a critical-analytical approach to the second four verse lines of Hafeth's poem, 'Nostalgia, Oh my Home,' focusing on the concept of home as its main theme as well talent of the poet in using the grand Arabic language. Eventually, the research is concluded with a short premise and comments.
EFL Teaching Material Development for Junior High Schools in Arfak Mountains Regency, West Papua
Authors: Sukristiningsih Sukristiningsih , Sahid Suardi
Published: May 2023

This Research discusses about teaching attractive materials that are suitable for the students and situation in Junior High Schools in Arfak Mountains Regency. This research aims to identify kinds of teaching attractive materials that suitable to the students and situation in Junior High Schools in Arfak Mountains Regency, and to indicate some types of teaching attractive materials chosen that can be developed by English teachers concerning to availability of the equipment needed in Arfak Mountains Regency. This research used Qualitative method, and the data is collected from observation or interview. The result of this research is found there are only some that might be able to be adopted to use in teaching English in SMP Arfak Mountain Regency. Those are realia, games (board race, Simon says, board jumble race, and hot seat), audio/tapes, and pictures. To develop those types of teaching materials, teachers are expected to be able to create their own teaching materials proposed.