bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Team training program’s impact on medication administration, teamwork and patient safety culture in an ambulance service (TEAM-AMB): a longitudinal multimethod study protocol
Authors: Vifladt Anne , Ballangrud Randi , Myhr Kjetil , Grusd Eystein , Porthun Jan , Mæhlum Pål Anders , Aase Karina , Sollid Stephen J M , Odberg Kristian Ringsby
Published: January 2023

Introduction

Medication administration errors (MAEs) have the potential for significant patient harm, and the frequency of MAEs in the ambulance services is not well known. Effective teamwork is paramount for providing safe and effective patient care, especially in a time-sensitive, high-risk environment such as the ambulance services. Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is an evidence-based team training programme that, to our knowledge, has not been studied in the ambulance services previously. TeamSTEPPS is based on the five principles: team structure, communication, leadership, situation monitoring and mutual support. This study aims to advance the knowledge of the medication administration process in the ambulance services and study the impact of a team training programme on the frequency of MAEs, and the perception of teamwork, and patient safety culture.

Methods and analysis

This study uses a longitudinal multimethod design to evaluate medication administration and the implementation of the team training programme TeamSTEPPS in an ambulance service. A review of electronic patient journals 6 months prior to the intervention, and 12 months after the intervention will provide data on the frequency of MAEs. Focus group interviews and questionnaires will be carried out before and after the intervention to describe the perception of teamwork and patient safety culture among ambulance professionals. Observations, individual interviews and a review of guidelines will be conducted in the first and second quarters of 2022 to study the medication administration process in ambulance services.

Ethics and dissemination

The study protocol was reviewed by the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics Central Norway and approved by the Hospital Trust data protection officer, and the head of the Prehospital Division at the Hospital Trust. The data material will be managed confidentially and stored according to regulations. The results will be disseminated through scientific papers, reports, conference presentations, popular press, and social media.

Trial registration number

NCT05244928.
Data mining techniques for detecting signals of adverse drug reaction of cardiac therapy drugs based on Jinan adverse event reporting system database: a retrospective study
Authors: Guan Yuyao , Qi Yingmei , Zheng Lei , Yang Jing , Zhang Mingzhu , Zhang Qiuhong , Ji Lei
Published: January 2023

Objective

Cardiac therapy drugs are widely used in the treatment of heart disease. However, the concern regarding adverse events (AEs) of cardiac therapy drugs have been rising. This study aimed to analyse cardiac therapy drug-related AEs using the Jinan adverse event reporting system (JAERS) database mining and conduct a comprehensive evaluation to provide safe medication information for patients.

Design

Retrospective observational study.

Setting

In this study, cardiac therapy drug-related AEs were detected using the JAERS database from January 2000 to March 2022.

Methods

Reports of cardiac therapy drug-related AEs were extracted from JAERS database, and the basic information of patients, reports and common AEs were analysed. Four disproportionality analysis methods, proportional reporting ratio (PRR), reporting odds ratio (ROR), Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network (BCPNN), Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), were used to detect cardiac therapy drug-related signals. We further checked whether the detected signals exist on drug labels in China and two developed countries, the USA and Japan.

Results

In total, 168 314 AEs were reported, of which 4788 were associated with cardiac therapy drugs. Using the PRR, ROR, MHRA and BCPNN method, we detected 52 signals, 52 signals, 33 signals and 43 signals, respectively. Among the 52 signals, 14 were not included on the drug labels of China. One (isosorbide mononitrate—head bilges) was not included on the drug labels of the three countries.

Conclusion

We identified 14 new cardiac therapy drug signals that did not appear on drug labels in China and 1 new signal that did not appear on drug labels in 3 counties. A causal link between cardiac therapy drugs and AEs should be evaluated in further studies.
Impact of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on circulating extracellular vesicles in pregnant and non-pregnant women
Authors: Abolbaghaei Akram , Mohammad Shuhiba , da Silva Danilo Fernandes , Hutchinson Kelly Ann , Myette Robert L. , Adamo Kristi B. , Burger Dylan
Published: January 2023

Exercise improves cardiovascular and metabolic health in pregnancy and may represent a non-pharmacological approach to improving pregnancy outcomes. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction and offer the potential for evaluating vascular health non-invasively during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in circulating EV levels after an acute bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in healthy pregnant and non-pregnant women. We studied plasma samples from pregnant ( N = 13, 13–28 weeks) and non-pregnant ( N = 17) women. A pre-exercise blood sample was obtained followed by a 30 min bout of moderate-intensity treadmill-based exercise. Immediately following the exercise, a post-exercise blood draw was collected. Large EVs were isolated from plasma by differential centrifugation and characterized by Western blot and electron microscopy. We quantified circulating EVs by nanoscale flow cytometry. Endothelial EVs were identified as VE-Cadherin+, platelet EVs as CD41+, and leukocyte EVs as CD45+ events. Acute exercise was associated with a significant reduction in levels of circulating endothelial EVs in the non-pregnant group ( p = 0.0232) but not in the pregnant group ( p = 0.2734). A greater proportion of non-pregnant women (13/17, 76.47%) exhibited a reduction in endothelial EVs compared with their pregnant counterparts (4/13, 30.76%, p < 0.05). We also observed a positive association between measures of fitness (average speed) and baseline levels of platelet ( r = 0.5816, p = 0.0159) and total EVs ( r = 0.5325, p = 0.0296) in the non-pregnant group but not in pregnant individuals. Collectively, our study highlights that after a matched acute exercise, changes to circulating EV levels differ depending on pregnancy status.
Supporting the Detection of Early Alzheimer’s Disease with a Four-Channel EEG Analysis
Authors: Perez-Valero Eduardo , Morillas Christian , Lopez-Gordo Miguel A. , Minguillon Jesus
Published: January 2023

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia. Although there is no current cure, medical treatment can help to control its progression. Hence, early-stage diagnosis is crucial to maximize the living standards of the patients. Biochemical markers and medical imaging in combination with neuropsychological tests represent the most extended diagnosis procedure. However, these techniques require specialized personnel and long processing time. Furthermore, the access to some of these techniques is often limited in crowded healthcare systems and rural areas. In this context, electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive technique to obtain endogenous brain information, has been proposed for the diagnosis of early-stage AD. Despite the valuable information provided by clinical EEG and high density montages, these approaches are impractical in conditions such as those described above. Consequently, in this study, we evaluated the feasibly of using a reduced EEG montage with only four channels to detect early-stage AD. For this purpose, we involved eight clinically diagnosed AD patients and eight healthy controls. The results we obtained reveal similar accuracies ([Formula: see text]-value[Formula: see text]0.66) for the reduced montage (0.86) and a 16-channel montage (0.87). This suggests that a four-channel wearable EEG system could be an effective tool for supporting early-stage AD detection.
Rotationally invariant estimators on portfolio optimization to unveil financial risk’s states
Authors: García Medina Andrés , Macías Páez Rodrigo
Published: January 2023

Rotationally Invariant Estimators (RIE) are a new family of covariance matrix estimators based on random matrix theory and free probability. The family RIE has been proposed to improve the performance of an investment portfolio in the Markowitz model’s framework. Here, we apply state-of-the-art RIE techniques to improve the estimation of financial states via the correlation matrix. The Synthesized Clustering (SYNCLUS) and a dynamic programming algorithm for optimal one-dimensional clustering were employed to that aim. We found that the RIE estimations of the minimum portfolio risk increase the Active Information Storage (AIS) in the American and European markets. AIS’s local dynamic also mimics financial states’ behavior when estimating under the one-dimensional clustering algorithm. Our results suggest that in times of financial turbulence, RIE estimates can be of great advantage in minimizing risk exposure.
CWD2GAN: Generative Adversarial Network of Chronic Wound Depth Detection for Predicting Chronic Wound Depth
Authors: Chin Chiun-Li , Li Chieh-Yu , Lai Yan-Ming , Chen Ting , Sun Tzu-Yu , Lin Jun-Cheng
Published: January 2023

Clinically, for observing the healing of the patient’s wound, doctors need to insert a cotton swab into the deepest part of the wound to detect the depth of the wound. This measurement method will cause discomfort to the patient. Therefore, obtaining wound depth information directly from wound images is very important for doctors to understand the degree of wound healing. In this paper, we propose the generative adversarial network of chronic wound depth detection (CWD2GAN) to generate wound depth maps of four different shades of color according to the changes of the wound area in the chronic wound image. In CWD2GAN, the generator, which can generate the wound depth map, is composed of three parts: encoder, decoder, and concatenation. And, the discriminator uses the concept of cGAN. It can not only judge whether the generator produces an image but also know that this image is a depth map. In experimental results, the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and precision of CWD2GAN are 84.8%, 84.6%, 84.9%, and 86.3%, respectively. The results indicate that our proposed method can accurately generate the different depths layer in a chronic wound image, and reduce the pain caused by invasive testing for patients.
Automatic Segmentation Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Tumor CT Images
Authors: Li Yunbo , Li Xiaofeng
Published: January 2023

Tumor computed tomography (CT) image segmentation can provide a basis for the determination of tumor location and type. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the automatic segmentation method of tumor CT images. To address the problem of poor segmentation effect of traditional automatic tumor CT images segmentation methods, we propose an automatic segmentation method for tumor CT images using deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs). First, the CT tumor image is simplified. According to the features of the target region and the background region, the distribution features of the tumor region in the CT images are obtained by convolution calculation, and the feature extraction is completed by feature fusion. Second, based on the feature extraction results, a deep supervised network is constructed to determine the image depth, which lays a solid foundation for accurate segmentation of tumor regions. Finally, DCNN was used to construct automatic segmentation for tumor CT images, which achieves the automatic segmentation of tumor CT images by mode calculation. The results show that the segmented tumor region is close to the actual region and the maximum pixel loss coefficient is 0.07, the maximum segmentation sensitivity is 7865[Formula: see text]kbps/s, the pixel segmentation specific coefficient and the segmentation edge distance are kept at a low level, which has a certain application value in the field of tumor CT images.
A note on closed 3-braid knot shadows
Authors: Hanaki Ryo , Nakamura Masashi
Published: January 2023

A knot shadow is a diagram without over/ under information at all crossings. Many knot types are obtained from a knot shadow by assigning over/ under information to each crossing. The purpose of the paper is to observe numbers of knot types obtained from closed 3-braid knot shadows. As a result, we discover that given an arbitary odd integer [Formula: see text], there exists a closed 3-braid knot shadow [Formula: see text] such that the number of [Formula: see text] torus knots is more than that of trivial knots in the knots obtained from [Formula: see text] by assigning over/ under information to each crossing.
2022 Update of the discoveries of nuclides
Authors: Thoennessen M.
Published: January 2023

The 2022 update of the discovery of nuclide project is presented. It is the first update in four years, and 36 new nuclides were observed for the first time during 2019–2022. Isotopes that have so far only been published in conference proceedings or internal reports are also listed.
COVALENT CARBON NANOTUBE AND FULLERENE HYBRID STRUCTURES: MINI REVIEW
Authors: ALİYEVA SOLMAZ
Published: January 2023

Carbon atoms can connect with themselves and with other atoms (both electronegative and electropositive elements) in various ways. Thanks to these abilities, the diversity of carbon compounds is increasing day by day. This growth was even faster after the discovery of carbon nanoallotropes, i.e. carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and graphene. At present, these carbon nanoallotropes are widely studied, and new hybrid structures have been synthesized based on these nanoallotropes. Hybrid structures formed by the covalent bond of fullerenes to the outside carbon nanotubes are called carbon nanobuds (CNBs). Development of synthesis methods, computational calculations, and the study of CNB properties was much faster than other hybrid structures. However, only fewer articles on CNBs have been published in recent years. CNBs show a synergistic effect and have the unique properties of the carbon nanoallotropes from which they formed. This review discusses CNBs and reports the recent research on CNBs, mostly after 2016.
A novel method for predicting DNA N4-methylcytosine sites based on deep forest algorithm
Authors: Zhang Yonglin , Hu Mei , Mo Qi , Gan Wenli , Luo Jiesi
Published: January 2023

N4-methyladenosine (4mC) methylation is an essential epigenetic modification of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that plays a key role in many biological processes such as gene expression, gene replication and transcriptional regulation. Genome-wide identification and analysis of the 4mC sites can better reveal the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate various biological processes. Although some high-throughput genomic experimental methods can effectively facilitate the identification in a genome-wide scale, they are still too expensive and laborious for routine use. Computational methods can compensate for these disadvantages, but they still leave much room for performance improvement. In this study, we develop a non-NN-style deep learning-based approach for accurately predicting 4mC sites from genomic DNA sequence. We generate various informative features represented sequence fragments around 4mC sites, and subsequently implement them into a deep forest (DF) model. After training the deep model using 10-fold cross-validation, the overall accuracies of 85.0%, 90.0%, and 87.8% were achieved for three representative model organisms, A. thaliana, C. elegans, and D. melanogaster, respectively. In addition, extensive experiment results show that our proposed approach outperforms other existing state-of-the-art predictors in the 4mC identification. Our approach stands for the first DF-based algorithm for the prediction of 4mC sites, providing a novel idea in this field.
A pharmacokinetic model based on the SSA-1DCNN-Attention method
Authors: He Zi-yi , Yang Jie-yu , Li Yong
Published: January 2023

To solve the problem of the lack of representativeness of the training set and the poor prediction accuracy due to the limited number of training samples when the machine learning method is used for the classification and prediction of pharmacokinetic indicators, this paper proposes a 1DCNN-Attention concentration prediction model optimized by the sparrow search algorithm (SSA). First, the SMOTE method is used to expand the small sample experimental data to make the data diverse and representative. Then a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) model is established, and the attention mechanism is introduced to calculate the weight of each variable for dividing the importance of each pharmacokinetic indicator by the output drug concentration. The SSA algorithm was used to optimize the parameters in the model to improve the prediction accuracy after data expansion. Taking the pharmacokinetic model of phenobarbital (PHB) combined with Cynanchum otophyllum saponins to treat epilepsy as an example, the concentration changes of PHB were predicted and the effectiveness of the method was verified. The results show that the proposed model has a better prediction effect than other methods.
The Effects of Robot Voices and Appearances on Users’ Emotion Recognition and Subjective Perception
Authors: Ko Sangjin , Barnes Jaclyn , Dong Jiayuan , Park Chung Hyuk , Howard Ayanna , Jeon Myounghoon
Published: January 2023

As the influence of social robots in people’s daily lives grows, research on understanding people’s perception of robots including sociability, trust, acceptance, and preference becomes more pervasive. Research has considered visual, vocal, or tactile cues to express robots’ emotions, whereas little research has provided a holistic view in examining the interactions among different factors influencing emotion perception. We investigated multiple facets of user perception on robots during a conversational task by varying the robots’ voice types, appearances, and emotions. In our experiment, 20 participants interacted with two robots having four different voice types. While participants were reading fairy tales to the robot, the robot gave vocal feedback with seven emotions and the participants evaluated the robot’s profiles through post surveys. The results indicate that (1) the accuracy of emotion perception differed depending on presented emotions, (2) a regular human voice showed higher user preferences and naturalness, (3) but a characterized voice was more appropriate for expressing emotions with significantly higher accuracy in emotion perception, and (4) participants showed significantly higher emotion recognition accuracy with the animal robot than the humanoid robot. A follow-up study ([Formula: see text]) with voice-only conditions confirmed that the importance of embodiment. The results from this study could provide the guidelines needed to design social robots that consider emotional aspects in conversations between robots and users.
J-aggregates of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin. An overview of the supramolecular self-assembling mechanism
Authors: Zagami Roberto , Castriciano Maria Angela , Romeo Andrea , Scolaro Luigi Monsù
Published: January 2023

Under acidic conditions and at high ionic strength or in the presence of templating species, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS[Formula: see text] self-organizes into J-aggregates. In these species, the porphyrins align in a general edge-to-edge geometry, responsible for their peculiar optical properties. The self-assembling process is hierarchical, and the kinetics are strongly dependent on the mixing protocols. In the case of sigmoidal profiles, the kinetic data have been treated using a model proposed in the literature by R.F. Pasternack. Accordingly, an autocatalytic growth with the formation of an [Formula: see text]-mer of porphyrin units is the rate-determining step (RDS) leading to the eventual J-aggregates whose size spans from nano- up to the micro-scale. The impact of different experimental parameters, together with inorganic counter-anions, and various cationic and anionic species (organic anions, metal ions, porphyrins, and metal complexes) will be reviewed.
Coupled Chemo-Mechanical Swelling Behavior of PH-Sensitive Hollow Cylinder Hydrogels under Extension–Torsion and Internal Pressure: Analytical and 3D FEM Solutions
Authors: Askari-Sedeh Mahdi , Baghani Mostafa
Published: January 2023

The coupled transient chemo-mechanical behavior as well as the large deformation behavior under various complex load conditions must be taken into account when designing a functional responsive polymer actuator or sensor. One sort of deformation that can be used to characterize the properties of materials with complicated behavior, like soft hydrogels, is coupled extension and torsion with internal pressure. It is important to thoroughly research the complex kinetics of pH-hydrogels with coupled diffusion and massive deformation behavior. The transient behavior of cylindrical hydrogels under coupled extension–torsion with internal pressure under indifferent conditions is proposed in this work using a reliable semi-analytical method. In this regard, an analytical solution is offered to inspect this problem, which is used as a common experimental methodology for the characterization and modeling of polymeric materials. The results show that the rate of deformation and the physical characteristics of the material have a substantial impact on the cylindrical hydrogel’s transient behavior under coupled extension–torsion and internal pressure. For the same problem, a 3D finite element study was done to assess the analytical solution. The accuracy of our method is supported by the results’ agreement in both the FE analysis and the proposed approach. However, offering such a solution for this complex problem is of tremendous relevance given the significantly cheaper computational cost of analytical methods when compared to FEM. Additionally, the calculations indicate a complex reaction force and moment because the hydrogel experiences nonlinear Poynting-type effects in this deformation domain. The suggested semi-analytical procedure’s resilience behavior is demonstrated by the visualization of the effects of various material properties. This method can be used to calibrate constitutive models and to develop and improve hydrogel structures.
Fitting a manifold of large reach to noisy data
Authors: Fefferman Charles , Ivanov Sergei , Lassas Matti , Narayanan Hariharan
Published: January 2023

Let [Formula: see text] be a [Formula: see text]-smooth compact submanifold of dimension [Formula: see text]. Assume that the volume of [Formula: see text] is at most [Formula: see text] and the reach (i.e. the normal injectivity radius) of [Formula: see text] is greater than [Formula: see text]. Moreover, let [Formula: see text] be a probability measure on [Formula: see text] whose density on [Formula: see text] is a strictly positive Lipschitz-smooth function. Let [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] be [Formula: see text] independent random samples from distribution [Formula: see text]. Also, let [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] be independent random samples from a Gaussian random variable in [Formula: see text] having covariance [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is less than a certain specified function of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. We assume that we are given the data points [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text], modeling random points of [Formula: see text] with measurement noise. We develop an algorithm which produces from these data, with high probability, a [Formula: see text] dimensional submanifold [Formula: see text] whose Hausdorff distance to [Formula: see text] is less than [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text] and whose reach is greater than [Formula: see text] with universal constants [Formula: see text]. The number [Formula: see text] of random samples required depends almost linearly on [Formula: see text], polynomially on [Formula: see text] and exponentially on [Formula: see text].
Differential forms on orbifolds with corners
Authors: Solomon Jake P. , Tukachinsky Sara B.
Published: January 2023

Motivated by symplectic geometry, we give a detailed account of differential forms and currents on orbifolds with corners, the pull-back and push-forward operations, and their fundamental properties. We work within the formalism where the category of orbifolds with corners is obtained as a localization of the category of étale proper groupoids with corners. Constructions and proofs are formulated in terms of the structure maps of the groupoids, avoiding the use of orbifold charts. The Fréchet space of differential forms on an orbifold and the dual space of currents are shown to be independent of which étale proper groupoid is chosen to represent the orbifold.
Quasimorphisms on surfaces and continuity in the Hofer norm
Authors: Khanevsky Michael
Published: January 2023

There are a number of known constructions of quasimorphisms on Hamiltonian groups. We show that on surfaces many of these quasimorphisms are not compatible with the Hofer norm in a sense they are not continuous and not Lipschitz. The only exception known to the author is the Calabi quasimorphism on a sphere [M. Entov and L. Polterovich, Calabi quasimorphism and quantum homology, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2003 (2003) 1635–1676] and induced quasimorphisms on genus-zero surfaces (e.g. [P. Biran, M. Entov and L. Polterovich, Calabi quasimorphisms for the symplectic ball, Commun. Contemp. Math. 6 (2004) 793–802]).
Influence of LiBF4 sintering aid on the grain boundary and conductivity of LAGP electrolyte
Authors: Gao Congqiang , Zhou Junjie , Zhang Qi , Cui Peng , Zhang Qing , Wei Wei
Published: January 2023

NASICON-type Li[Formula: see text]Al[Formula: see text]Ge[Formula: see text]P3O[Formula: see text](LAGP) is one of the most promising inorganic solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). However, its practical applications have been hindered due to the high grain boundary resistance and poor sintering performance. In this work, we introduce a novel LiBF4 sintering aid into LAGP to promote the growth of grains, decrease grain boundary resistance, and supplement the loss of lithium. The experimental results show that the ionic conductivity of LAGP-0.5 wt% LiBF4 has the highest ionic conductivity (3.21 × 10[Formula: see text]S/cm), grain boundary impedance decreases from 162.2 [Formula: see text] to 35.2 [Formula: see text], the relative density increases from 93.6% to 96.5%, and no impurity phase is observed in LAGP–0.5 wt% LiBF4. At the same ionic conductivity, the sintering temperature of LAGP without LiBF4 and with a small amount of LiBF4 decreases from 800[Formula: see text]C to 700[Formula: see text]C. The Li/LAGP-LiBF4/LiFePO4 cell presents excellent cyclic stability (capacity retention of the discharge capacity is still 117.5 mAhg[Formula: see text] after 100 cycles) and a high initial discharge capacity of 164.2 mAhg[Formula: see text] at 0.2 C.
Pregnancy and Delivery of a Healthy Baby Boy from a Patient Embryo Cryopreserved for Over 18 Years: A Case Report
Authors: Okuyama Noriyuki , Koizumi Ai , Oka Nao , Takeshige Yuya , Yoshinaga Koki , Hashimoto Tomoko , Kyono Koichi
Published: January 2023

Cryopreservation offers semipermanent embryo storage. Although there have been various reports on effects of cryopreservation, there are few regarding preservation for 10 years or more. Here, we describe the delivery of a healthy child to a mother 51 years old, using an embryo cryopreserved for 18.3 years. The patient had four cleaved embryos cryopreserved when she was 32 years old. After more than 18 years, a Day-3, 10-cell stage embryo was transferred during a hormone replacement therapy cycle. The patient became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy boy (3,046 g). This case demonstrates the potential for live births at advanced maternal age by cryopreserving embryos at a young maternal age. To our knowledge, this is the longest cryopreservation period reported for a birth involving transfer of the mother’s own frozen embryo.
Building Machine Learning Models Like Open Source Software
Authors: Raffel Colin
Published: January 2023

Proposing a community-based system for model development.
(Re)Use of Research Results (Is Rampant)
Authors: Baldassarre Maria Teresa , Ernst Neil , Hermann Ben , Menzies Tim , Yedida Rahul
Published: January 2023

Prior pessimism about reuse in software engineering research may have been a result of using the wrong methods to measure the wrong things.
A Multifactor Ring Signature based Authentication Scheme for Quality Assessment of IoMT Environment in COVID-19 Scenario
Authors: Chatterjee Kakali , Singh Ashish , Neha  , Yu Keping
Published: January 2023

The quality of the healthcare environment has become an essential factor for healthcare users to access quality services. Smart healthcare systems use the
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
devices to capture patients’ health data for treatment or diagnostic purposes. This sensitive collected patient data is shared between the different stakeholders across the network to provide quality services. Due to this, healthcare systems are vulnerable to confidentiality, integrity and privacy threats. In the COVID-19 scenario, when collaborative medical consultation is required, the quality assessment of the framework is essential to protect the privacy of doctors and patients. In this paper, a ring signature-based anonymous authentication and quality assessment scheme is designed for collaborative medical consultation environments for quality assessment and protection of the privacy of doctors and patients. This scheme also uses a new KMOV Cryptosystem to ensure the quality of the network and protect the system from different attacks that hamper data confidentiality.
G Protein–Coupled Estrogen Receptor GPER: Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutic Applications
Authors: Arterburn Jeffrey B. , Prossnitz Eric R.
Published: January 2023

The actions of estrogens and related estrogenic molecules are complex and multifaceted in both sexes. A wide array of natural, synthetic, and therapeutic molecules target pathways that produce and respond to estrogens. Multiple receptors promulgate these responses, including the classical estrogen receptors of the nuclear hormone receptor family (estrogen receptors α and β), which function largely as ligand-activated transcription factors, and the 7-transmembrane G protein–coupled estrogen receptor, GPER, which activates a diverse array of signaling pathways. The pharmacology and functional roles of GPER in physiology and disease reveal important roles in responses to both natural and synthetic estrogenic compounds in numerous physiological systems. These functions have implications in the treatment of myriad disease states, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders. This review focuses on the complex pharmacology of GPER and summarizes major physiological functions of GPER and the therapeutic implications and ongoing applications of GPER-targeted compounds.
Calculation of Cathodic Limiting Current Density in Weak Acids: Part I. Aqueous CO2 Solutions
Authors: Nesic Srdjan , Madani Sani Fazlollah
Published: January 2023

The limiting current density for the hydrogen evolution reaction in aqueous saturated carbon dioxide solutions needed revisiting, as the basic understanding of the underlying reaction mechanism in weak acids has changed over the past few years. We now know that the direct reduction of undissociated carbonic acid on a metal surface in aqueous carbon dioxide solutions is not significant, as was thought before, and that there is only a single dominant pathway for hydrogen evolution: reduction of free hydrogen ions. The main role of weak carbonic acid is to provide additional hydrogen ions via buffering. Therefore, a new mathematical model was needed for calculation of the limiting current density for hydrogen ion reduction, that accounts for both hydrogen ion diffusion in the boundary layer and simultaneous buffering provided by dissociation of weak carbonic acid. The new model relies on analytically solving the co-diffusion of hydrogen ions and carbonic acid in the mass transfer boundary layer, with simultaneous homogenous chemical reactions. The new expression for the limiting current density takes the form:

i

l
i
m
,

H

+

b
u
f
f
,

CO
2

=
F

D

H
+

e
f
f
,

CO
2

k

f
,

CO

2

c

b
,

CO
2

e
q

c

b
,

H
+

e
q

c
o
t
h

δ

m
,

H

+

δ

r
,

H

+

CO
2

The performance of the new model was successfully validated by comparing it with experimental data over a broad range of conditions.
Glial cell activity in cardiovascular diseases and risk of acute myocardial infarction
Authors: Truter Nina , Malan Leoné , Essop M. Faadiel
Published: January 2023

Growing evidence indicates that the pathophysiological link between the brain and heart underlies cardiovascular diseases, specifically acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cells in the central nervous system and provide support/protection for neurons. Astrocytes and peripheral glial cells are emerging as key modulators of the brain-heart axis in AMI, by affecting sympathetic nervous system activity (centrally and peripherally). This review, therefore, aimed to gain an improved understanding of glial cell activity and AMI risk. This includes discussions on the potential role of contributing factors in AMI risk, i.e., autonomic nervous system dysfunction, glial-neurotrophic and ischemic risk markers [glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), astrocytic S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), silent myocardial ischemia, and cardiac troponin T (cTnT)]. Consideration of glial cell activity and related contributing factors in certain brain-heart disorders, namely, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, myocardial ischemia, and chronic psychological stress, may improve our understanding regarding the pathological role that glial dysfunction can play in the development/onset of AMI. Here, findings demonstrated perturbations in glial cell activity and contributing factors (especially sympathetic activity). Moreover, emerging AMI risk included sympathovagal imbalance, low GDNF levels reflecting prothrombic risk, hypertension, and increased ischemia due to perfusion deficits (indicated by S100B and cTnT levels). Such perturbations impacted blood-barrier function and perfusion that were exacerbated during psychological stress. Thus, greater insights and consideration regarding such biomarkers may help drive future studies investigating brain-heart axis pathologies to gain a deeper understanding of astrocytic glial cell contributions and unlock potential novel therapies for AMI.
Choroidal Vascular Density Quantification in High Myopia with or without Choroidal Neovascularization Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Authors: Lu Xuehui , Zhang Guihua , Cen Lingping , Du Yali , Liu Lifang , Jin Chuang , Chen Haoyu
Published: January 2023

Purpose. The aim of this study was to analyze choroidal vascular density alteration in high myopia with or without choroidal neovascularization by using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods. This was a cross‐sectional, observational study that included 60 high‐myopia eyes. All the participants had comprehensive ophthalmic assessments with visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slit lamp‐assisted biomicroscopy, color fundus photography, axial length, optometry, and OCTA. Age, sex, and comorbidities were collected from their medical charts. Univariate and multiple analyses were made to compare the age, spherical equivalent, choroidal vascular density, gender, and choroidal thickness between normal and patients with choroidal neovascularization. Results. 60 eyes with high myopia were included in our study, including 30 eyes with choroidal neovascularization and 30 eyes without choroidal neovascularization or other fundus pathology. The mean age of high myopic patients was older in the choroidal neovascularization group than in the normal group (48.43 ± 19.06 years vs. 28.83 ± 9.92 years, p < 0.01). The mean choroidal thickness of high myopic patients was thinner in the neovascularization group than in the normal group (68.81 ± 48.81 μm vs. 137.80 ± 66.33 μm, p < 0.01). The mean choroidal vascular density in the normal group was greater than in the choroidal neovascularization group (82.43 ± 8.73 vs. 67.54 ± 12.56, p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in spherical equivalent between the choroidal neovascularization group and the normal group (−10.56 ± 2.97D vs. −11.93 ± 3.38D, p = 0.11). Multivariate analysis showed that after adjusting for covariates, less choroidal vascular density and older age were independent factors associated with choroidal neovascularization in the high myopic eye. Conclusion. Decreased choroidal vascular density and older age played an important role in the development of choroidal neovascularization in high myopic eyes. OCTA may help us to identify the highly myopic patients that need to intervene.
Application of a Multiple Regression Model for the Simultaneous Measurement of Refractive Index and Temperature Based on an Interferometric Optical System
Authors: Guzman-Chavez Ana Dinora , Vargas-Rodriguez Everardo
Published: January 2023

Interferometric optical systems have been proposed for implementing dual‐parameter optical sensors. For this type of sensors, the sensitivity matrix equation is generally used to determine the parameters to be measured based on the sensitivity of each parameter to one particular feature of the output reflective spectrum of the interferometric system. One of the disadvantages of this method is that the measurement ranges will be very short if the sensitivities are not linear or if these present cross‐sensitivity. In this work, a multiple regression model for the simultaneous detection of refractive index and temperature based on an interferometric optical sensor is proposed. Here, the mathematical model is a weighted sum of features used to estimate the values of two response variables. These features are functions of an initial set of 27 explanatory variables whose values were extracted of the output reflective spectrum of the interferometric system. Besides, in order to sustenance the model application, the sensor was modeled and experimentally carried out. Three cases were studied: the estimation of temperature at different refractive indices, the estimation of temperature when refractive index is equal to one, and the estimation of refractive index at different temperatures. For each one of these cases, an optimal basis of functions was founded with the algorithm proposed and used to estimate the values of the response variables. Besides, a technique to reduce the initial set of variables was implemented. Finally, for the experimental data, For each one of these cases, an optimal basis of functions was founded with the algorithm 1 proposed and used to estimate the values of the response variables.
LncRNA SNHG5 Suppresses Cell Migration and Invasion of Human Lung Adenocarcinoma via Regulation of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Authors: Li Zhirong , Wu Yipeng , Zhang Cong , Dai Suli , Wei Sisi , Zhao Ruinian , Gao Feng , Zhao Lianmei , Shan Baoen
Published: January 2023

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are gradually being annotated as important regulators of multiple cellular processes. The goal of our study was to investigate the effects of the lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 5 (SNHG5) in lung adenocarcinoma (LAD) and its underlying mechanisms. The findings revealed a substantial drop in SNHG5 expression in LAD tissues, which correlated with clinical-pathological parameters. Transcriptome sequencing analysis demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of SNHG5 was associated with cell adhesion molecules. Moreover, the expression of SNHG5 was shown to be correlated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in western blots and immunofluorescence. SNHG5 also had significant effects of antimigration and anti-invasion on LAD cells in vitro. Furthermore, the migration and invasion of A549 cells were suppressed by overexpressed SNHG5 in the EMT progress induced by transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), and this might be due to the inhibition of the expression of EMT-associated transcription factors involving Snail, SLUG, and ZEB1. In LAD tissues, the expression of SNHG5 exhibited a positive association with E-cadherin protein expression but a negative correlation with N-cadherin and vimentin, according to the results of quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). In summary, the current work demonstrated that the lncRNA SNHG5 might limit cell migration and invasion of LAD cancer via decreasing the EMT process, indicating that SNHG5 might be used as a target for LAD therapeutic methods.
A Spectral Transfer Function to Harmonize Existing Soil Spectral Libraries Generated by Different Protocols
Authors: Francos Nicolas , Heller-Pearlshtien Daniela , Demattê José A. M. , Van Wesemael Bas , Milewski Robert , Chabrillat Sabine , Tziolas Nikolaos , Sanz Diaz Adrian , Yagüe Ballester María Julia , Gholizadeh Asa , Ben-Dor Eyal
Published: January 2023

Soil spectral libraries (SSLs) are important big-data archives (spectra associated with soil properties) that are analyzed via machine-learning algorithms to estimate soil attributes. Since different spectral measurement protocols are applied when constructing SSLs, it is necessary to examine harmonization techniques to merge the data. In recent years, several techniques for harmonization have been proposed, among which the internal soil standard (ISS) protocol is the most largely applied and has demonstrated its capacity to rectify systematic effects during spectral measurements. Here, we postulate that a spectral transfer function (TF) can be extracted between existing (old) SSLs if a subset of samples from two (or more) different SSLs are remeasured using the ISS protocol. A machine-learning TF strategy was developed, assembling random forest (RF) spectral-based models to predict the ISS spectral condition using soil samples from two existing SSLs. These SSLs had already been measured using different protocols without any ISS treatment the Brazilian (BSSL, generated in 2019) and the European (LUCAS, generated in 2009–2012) SSLs. To verify the TF’s ability to improve the spectral assessment of soil attributes after harmonizing the different SSLs’ protocols, RF spectral-based models for estimating organic carbon (OC) in soil were developed. The results showed high spectral similarities between the ISS and the ISS–TF spectral observations, indicating that post-ISS rectification is possible. Furthermore, after merging the SSLs with the TFs, the spectral-based assessment of OC was considerably improved, from R2 = 0.61, RMSE (g/kg) = 12.46 to R2 = 0.69, RMSE (g/kg) = 11.13. Given our results, this paper enhances the importance of soil spectroscopy by contributing to analyses in remote sensing, soil surveys, and digital soil mapping.
The Anisotropy Permeability Evolution and Deformation Behavior of Raw Coal under Cyclic Loading Conditions
Authors: Xu Hanhua
Published: January 2023

As an anisotropic porous media, coal’s intrinsic permeability is sensitive to stress variably in different directions. Likewise, the degree of damage sustained by the internal solid skeletal structure under external stresses is anisotropic. Four parameters are introduced: permeability stress-based loss rate (PEL) and permeability strain-based loss rate (PSL) highlight the stress sensitivity of the intrinsic permeability and deformation characteristics of coal’s internal structure during the loading process; stress-based irrecoverable permeability coefficient (EIP) and strain-based irrecoverable permeability coefficient (SIP) describe the loss of intrinsic permeability and irreversible deformation features in the whole load cycle. Stress sensitivity of the vertical intrinsic permeability is greater than that of the horizontal, and the ability of the vertical internal structure to resist deformation induced by an external load is weaker. During the cyclic loading process for the same coal sample, the stress sensitivity of the latter loading cycle is significantly less than the former.
Traffic Condition Classification Model Based on Traffic‐Net
Authors: Cao Fengyun , Chen Sijing , Zhong Jin , Gao Yikai
Published: January 2023

The classification and detection of traffic status plays a vital role in the urban smart transportation system. The classification and mastery of the traffic status at different time periods and sections will help the traffic management department to optimize road management and implement rescue in real time. Travelers can follow the traffic conditions. We choose the best route to effectively improve travel efficiency and safety. However, due to factors such as weather, time of day, lighting, and sample labeling costs, the existing classification methods are insufficient in real time and detection accuracy to meet application requirements. In order to solve this problem, this article aims to effectively transfer and apply the pretrained model learned on large‐scale image data sets to small‐sample road traffic data sets. By sharing common visual features, model weight parameter migration, and fine‐tuning, the road is finally optimized. Traffic conditions classification is based on Traffic‐Net. Experiments show that the method in this article can not only obtain a prediction accuracy of more than 96% but also can effectively reduce the model training time and meet the needs of practical applications.
Ferroptosis-Related Prognostic Gene LAMP2 Is a Potential Biomarker Differential Expressed in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer
Authors: Sun Chuanyu , Zhang Ningning , Hu Qingfeng , Xia Guowei
Published: January 2023

Background. It remains unclear about the mechanisms of prostate cancer progressing to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and the correlation with ferroptosis. Methods. We compared the gene profiles between localized prostate cancer and metastatic CRPC using the GEO dataset and intersected with a cluster of known ferroptosis-related genes. We received differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in CRPC related to ferroptosis and performed survival analysis to analyze the prognostic values. Furthermore, we conducted single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) to analyze immune infiltration and investigate microRNA crosstalk and methylation for prognostic genes using online databases. Results. We identified 84 DEGs in CRPC related to ferroptosis and 19 hub genes densely connected into networks by enrichment analysis. We performed survival analysis and Cox regression for these genes and identified LAMP2 with significantly prognostic values in overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) of prostate cancer. Furthermore, we found immune infiltration of various immune cells significantly correlated with LAMP2 expression in prostate cancer and identified multiple microRNAs associated with LAMP2 expression in prostate cancer. In addition, we found that the methylation level of LAMP2 in prostate cancer was significantly associated with cancer and identified 8 methylation sites for LAMP2. Conclusion. Ferroptosis-related gene LAMP2 is a potential biomarker with prognostic value for prostate cancer.