bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Numerical Simulation of Supersonic Carman Curve Bodies with Aerospike
Authors: Zhao HaiLong , Peng Ke , Wu ZePing , Zhang WeiHua , Yang JiaWei , Sun JingBo
Published: April 2021

Drag reduction is one of the important problems for the supersonic vehicles. As one of the drag reduction methods, aerospike has been used in some equipment because of its good drag reduction effect. In this paper, the numerical simulations of Carman curve bodies with different lengths of the aerospike and different radius of the flat cylindrical aerodisk in supersonic flow freestream are investigated. Based on the numerical simulations, the mechanism of drag reduction of the aerospike is discussed. The drag reduction effect influence of the parameters of the aerodisk radius and the aerospike length on the Carman curve body is analyzed. The aerodisk radius within a certain range is helpful for the drag reduction. The change of length of the aerospike has little effect on the drag of Carmen curve bodies. The drag reduction effect of the same aerospike becomes worse with the increase of the incoming Mach number.
Relationship between Bitcoin Exchange Rate and Other Financial Indexes in Time Series
Authors: Chang Chien-Yun , Lo Chien-Chien , Cheng Jui-Chang , Chen Tzer-Long , Chi Liang-Yun , Chen Chih-Cheng
Published: April 2021

The Bitcoin exchange rate (BER) is influenced by many variables such as human speculation and policies and, thus, is dependent on the financial system. The fluctuation of BER submitted has been extensively investigated. However, the correlation analysis of the short- and long-term effects by indicators of online sentiment is unexplored. Therefore, this study establishes a VAR model for BER which provides a framework to the Google search volume index (SVI), the investor fear gauge (VIX), and the S&P500 Index. The findings of the analysis suggest that BER and Google SVI have a Granger causality feedback relationship in both the short- and long-term co-integration equilibrium, and the VIX is significantly related to BER in the long-term co-integration.
Blockchain-Based Cloud Data Integrity Verification Scheme with High Efficiency
Authors: Xie Gaopeng , Liu Yuling , Xin Guojiang , Yang Qiuwei
Published: April 2021

With the large-scale application of cloud storage, how to ensure cloud data integrity has become an important issue. Although many methods have been proposed, they still have their limitations. This paper improves some defects of the previous methods and proposes an efficient cloud data integrity verification scheme based on blockchain. In this paper, we proposed a lattice signature algorithm to resist quantum computing and introduced cuckoo filter to simplify the computational overhead of the user verification phase. Finally, the decentralized blockchain network is introduced to replace traditional centralized audit to publicize and authenticate the verification results, which improves the transparency and the security of this scheme. Security analysis shows that our scheme can resist malicious attacks and experimental results show that our scheme has high efficiency, especially in the user verification phase.
Multilevel Regulation of β-Catenin Activity by SETD2 Suppresses the Transition from Polycystic Kidney Disease to Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Rao Hanyu , Li Xiaoxue , Liu Min , Liu Jing , Feng Wenxin , Tang Huayuan , Xu Jin , Gao Wei-Qiang , Li Li
Published: April 2021

Patients with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) are at a high risk of developing renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, little is known about genetic alterations or changes in signaling pathways during the transition from PKD to RCC. SET domain–containing 2 (SETD2) is a histone methyltransferase, which catalyzes tri-methylation of H3K36 (H3K36me3) and has been identified as a tumor suppressor in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), but the underlying mechanism remains largely unexplored. Here we report that knockout of SETD2 in a c-MYC–driven PKD mouse model drove the transition to ccRCC. SETD2 inhibited β-catenin activity at transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels by competing with β-catenin for binding promoters of target genes and maintaining transcript levels of members of the β-catenin destruction complex. Thus, SETD2 deficiency enhanced the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and tumorigenesis through the hyperactivation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our findings reveal previously unrecognized roles of SETD2-mediated competitive DNA binding and H3K36me3 modification in regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling during the transition from PKD to ccRCC. The novel autochthonous mouse models of PKD and ccRCC will be useful for preclinical research into disease progression.

Significance:

These findings characterize multiple mechanisms by which SETD2 inhibits β-catenin activity during the transition of polycystic kidney disease to renal cell carcinoma, providing a potential therapeutic strategy for high-risk patients.
Development and Validation of a Simplified Score to Predict Early Relapse in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma in a Pooled Dataset of 2,190 Patients
Authors: Zaccaria Gian Maria , Bertamini Luca , Petrucci Maria Teresa , Offidani Massimo , Corradini Paolo , Capra Andrea , Romano Alessandra , Liberati Anna Marina , Mannina Donato , de Fabritiis Paolo , Cascavilla Nicola , Ruggeri Marina , Mina Roberto , Patriarca Francesca , Benevolo Giulia , Belotti Angelo , Gaidano Gianluca , Nagler Arnon , Hájek Roman , Spencer Andrew , Sonneveld Pieter , Musto Pellegrino , Boccadoro Mario , Gay Francesca
Published: April 2021

Purpose:

Despite the improvement of therapeutic regimens, several patients with multiple myeloma (MM) still experience early relapse (ER). This subset of patients currently represents an unmet medical need.

Experimental Design:

We pooled data from seven European multicenter phase II/III clinical trials enrolling 2,190 patients with newly diagnosed MM from 2003 to 2017. Baseline patient evaluation included 14 clinically relevant features. Patients with complete data (n = 1,218) were split into training (n = 844) and validation sets (n = 374). In the training set, a univariate analysis and a multivariate logistic regression model on ER within 18 months (ER18) were made. The most accurate model was selected on the validation set. We also developed a dynamic version of the score by including response to treatment.

Results:

The Simplified Early Relapse in Multiple Myeloma (S-ERMM) score was modeled on six features weighted by a score: 5 points for high lactate dehydrogenase or t(4;14); 3 for del17p, abnormal albumin, or bone marrow plasma cells >60%; and 2 for λ free light chain. The S-ERMM identified three patient groups with different risks of ER18: Intermediate (Int) versus Low (OR = 2.39, P < 0.001) and High versus Low (OR = 5.59, P < 0.001). S-ERMM High/Int patients had significantly shorter overall survival (High vs. Low: HR = 3.24, P < 0.001; Int vs. Low: HR = 1.86, P < 0.001) and progression-free survival-2 (High vs. Low: HR = 2.89, P < 0.001; Int vs. Low: HR = 1.76, P < 0.001) than S-ERMM Low. The Dynamic S-ERMM (DS-ERMM) modulated the prognostic power of the S-ERMM.

Conclusions:

On the basis of simple, widely available baseline features, the S-ERMM and DS-ERMM properly identified patients with different risks of ER and survival outcomes.
Malignant Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Right Cerebellum: A Case Report
Authors: Zhu Ye-Tao , Liu Yang , Chen Li-Gang , Song Da-Ping
Published: April 2021

Solitary fibrous tumor is a very rare mesenchymal tumor that occurs mostly in the pleura, and there are few reported cases of a presence in the central nervous system, particularly in the cerebellum. In 2016, the WHO classified solitary fibrous tumors into grade I. In this article, we present a case of malignant solitary fibrous tumor recurring 8 years after surgery in a 63-year-old male. Magnetic resonance imaging showed low to intermediate mixed signal intensity on T1W1. Immunohistochemical staining positivity for Vimentin, CD99, CD34 and Bcl-2, it is consistent with the immunohistochemical characteristics of solitary fibrous tumor. We resected the patient’s tumor, and the patient was followed up for 3 months with no signs of recurrence. Solitary fibrous tumors are very rare in the central nervous system. Immunohistochemical staining positivity for CD34 and Bcl-2 is strongly expressed in most solitary fibrous tumor. Surgical resection is the preferred treatment. Due to the small number of cases, the biological behavior and prognosis of this tumor need to be further explored.
Infection-Related Glomerulonephritis
Authors: Khalighi Mazdak A. , Chang Anthony
Published: April 2021

Background: There has been a long, storied relationship between various bacterial infections and glomerular injury, which is now encompassed under the term of infection-related glomerulonephritis (GN). The clinical and pathologic manifestations vary depending on the duration, magnitude, and underlying pathogen associated with the inciting infectious process. A brief and acute episode may lead to a self-limiting glomerular manifestation while a chronic or repetitive infection can result in persistent and irreversible injury. In this review, we will discuss the clinical and pathologic findings associated with the infection-related glomerulonephritides. Summary: An acute exudative GN with an influx of neutrophils is the most characteristic morphologic alteration associated with infection-related glomerular injury. The immunofluorescence staining pattern often reveals prominent complement component C3 deposition in both capillary walls and mesangial regions with or without accompanying immunoglobulin. Large subepithelial electron-dense deposits known as “humps” are the hallmark ultrastructural finding; however, these features can also be present in C3 glomerulopathies, which are often triggered by infections and may have similar underlying abnormalities in alternative pathway complement activation. In addition, other glomerular injuries can simultaneously be present along with infection-related GN, such as diabetic nephropathy, lupus nephritis, or immunoglobulin A nephropathy, constituting a true diagnostic challenge for the pathologist. Key Messages: Bacterial infection-related GN represents a spectrum of glomerular injury with variable clinical and pathologic presentations. The pathologic findings can show overlap with other glomerular diseases, and different forms of infection-related GN vary in terms of prognosis and treatment approach.
SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pregnant Women: Neuroimmune-Endocrine Changes at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Authors: Granja Marcelo Gomes , Oliveira Amanda Candida da Rocha , de Figueiredo Camila Saggioro , Gomes Alex Portes , Ferreira Erica Camila , Giestal-de-Araujo Elizabeth , de Castro-Faria-Neto Hugo Caire
Published: April 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has devastating effects on the population worldwide. Given this scenario, the extent of the impact of the disease on more vulnerable individuals, such as pregnant women, is of great concern. Although pregnancy may be a risk factor in respiratory virus infections, there are no considerable differences regarding COVID-19 severity observed between pregnant and nonpregnant women. In these circumstances, an emergent concern is the possibility of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric harm for the offspring of infected mothers. Currently, there is no stronger evidence indicating vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2; however, the exacerbated inflammatory response observed in the disease could lead to several impairments in the offspring’s brain. Furthermore, in the face of historical knowledge on possible long-term consequences for the progeny’s brain after infection by viruses, we must consider that this might be another deleterious facet of COVID-19. In light of neuroimmune interactions at the maternal-fetal interface, we review here the possible harmful outcomes to the offspring brains of mothers infected by SARS-CoV-2.
Impact of Extended Duration of Polymyxin B-Immobilized Fiber Column Direct Hemoperfusion on Hemodynamics, Vasoactive Substance Requirement, and Pulmonary Oxygenation in Patients with Sepsis: An Observational Study
Authors: Mitaka Chieko , Kusao Makio , Kawagoe Izumi , Satoh Daizoh , Iba Toshiaki , Ronco Claudio
Published: April 2021

Introduction: Polymyxin B-immobilized fiber column direct hemoperfusion (PMX-DHP) is used for patients with septic shock, and the recommended hemoperfusion period is 2 h. However, it remains unclear whether the optimal duration is 2 h or longer. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of PMX-DHP between conventional and longer duration of PMX-DHP. Methods: We retrospectively investigated 103 patients with sepsis who underwent PMX-DHP. The demographic data, routine biochemistry, microbiological data, and primary infection site were reviewed in the medical chart. The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, heart rate, mean arterial pressure (MAP), vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS), and PaO2/FiO2, at baseline and day 3, were compared between the standard group (2 h of PMX-DHP) and the extended group (>2 h of PMX-DHP). Results: Median MAP was significantly lower and median VIS was significantly higher in the extended group at baseline (p < 0.05, 0.01, respectively) There were no significant differences in APACHE II score, SOFA score, and PaO2/FiO2 at baseline between the 2 groups. The increase of MAP and the decrease in VIS from baseline to day 3 were significantly greater in the extended group (p < 0.01, respectively). In the extended group, increase in PaO2/FiO2 was significantly larger in the patients who underwent ≥8 h duration than that in patients who underwent <8 h duration (p < 0.01). The ventilator-free days, the incidence of continuous renal replacement therapy, and the 28-day mortality were not different between the groups. Discussion/Conclusions: Longer duration of PMX-DHP was associated with the improved MAP and decreased volume of vasoactive-inotropic agents compared with the conventional duration. Eight and longer hours duration of PMX-DHP was associated with the improvement in the pulmonary oxygenation. Further studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of longer duration of PMX-DHP in patients with septic shock.
Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Malnutrition (Undernutrition) Screening Tools for All Adults
Authors: Skipper Annalynn , Coltman Anne , Tomesko Jennifer , Charney Pamela , Porcari Judith , Piemonte Tami A. , Handu Deepa , Cheng Feon W. 
Published: April 2021

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that, based upon current evidence, the Malnutrition Screening Tool should be used to screen adults for malnutrition (undernutrition) regardless of their age, medical history, or setting. Malnutrition (undernutrition) screening is a simple process intended to quickly recognize individuals who may have a malnutrition diagnosis. While numerous malnutrition screening tools are in use, their levels of validity, agreement, reliability, and generalizability vary. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reviewed the body of evidence supporting malnutrition screening tools and determined a single tool for identifying adults in all settings who may have malnutrition, regardless of their age or medical history. The Nutrition Screening for Adults Workgroup conducted a systematic review of the most robust evidence to promote using the highest-quality malnutrition screening tool available.
Solar/wind pumping system with forecasting in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Authors: Obaid Waleed , Hamid Abdul-Kadir , Ghenai Chaouki
Published: April 2021

This paper demonstrates a water pumping hybrid power system design. The proposed system was designed for water related applications in Sharjah (Latitude 25.29 °N and Longitude 55 °E), United Arab Emirates. The proposed water hybrid system has two primary renewable power systems: solar PV panels and wind turbines. The proposed hybrid system considers the changes in weather conditions (humidity, wind speed, and temperature) since wind speed affects the performance of the wind turbines and solar panels are affected by solar irradiance. The following components are involved in the proposed design: battery (to store the power from solar panels), voltage regulator circuit (for getting stable DC voltage), three-phase rectifier (to convert the reduced AC voltage to DC), three-phase transformer (for reducing the obtained AC voltage), and DC electric motor (the main output of the proposed water pumping system). The proposed water pumping system relies on neural network blocks to achieve weather forecasting by obtaining solar irradiance values from the input temperature, wind speed, and humidity in a span of five years. Both MATLAB and Simulink are used simulate the performance of the proposed system under different weather conditions by changing the values according to the measured weather conditions values over five years.
Design new voltage balancing control series connected for HV-IGBT`s
Authors: Fahmi M. I. , Mukmin M. F. , Liew H. F. , Wai C. L. , Aazmi M. A. , Arshad S. N. M.
Published: April 2021

The insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are widely used in various applications as they require low gate drive power and gate voltage. This paper proposes an active gain circuit to maintain voltage stability of series-connected IGBTs for high voltage applications. The novel gate driver circuit with closed-loops control amplifies the gate signal while restricting the IGBT emitter voltage below a predetermined level. With the proposed circuit, serial-connected IGBTs can replace high-voltage IGBTs (HV-IGBTs) for high-voltage applications through the active control of the gate signal time delay. Closed-loop controls function is to charged current to the gate to restrict the IGBT emitter voltage to a predetermined level. This paper also presents the experiment on the gate driver capability based on a series-connected IGBTs with three IGBTs and a snubber circuit. The experimental results show a voltage offset with active control with a wide variation in load and imbalance conditions. Lastly, the experimental results are validated with the simulation results, where the simulation results agree with the experimental results.
Breast cancer diagnosis system using hybrid support vector machine-artificial neural network
Authors: Lim Tze Sheng , Tay Kim Gaik , Huong Audrey , Lim Xiang Yang
Published: April 2021

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer occurring in women. Early detection through mammogram screening can save more women’s lives. However, even senior radiologists may over-diagnose the clinical condition. Machine learning (ML) is the most used technique in the diagnosis of cancer to help reduce human errors. This study is aimed to develop a computer-aided detection (CAD) system using ML for classification purposes. In this work, 80 digital mammograms of normal breasts, 40 of benign and 40 of malignant cases were chosen from the mini MIAS dataset. These images were denoised using median filter after they were segmented to obtain a region of interest (ROI) and enhanced using histogram equalization. This work compared the performance of artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), reduced features of SVM and the hybrid SVM-ANN for classification process using the statistical and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features extracted from the enhanced images. It is found that the hybrid SVM-ANN gives the best accuracy of 99.4% and 100% in differentiating normal from abnormal, and benign from malignant cases, respectively. This hybrid SVM-ANN model was deployed in developing the CAD system which showed relatively good accuracy of 98%.
Device to evaluate cleanliness of fiber optic connectors using image processing and neural networks
Authors: Fernandez Victor , Chavez Javier , Kemper Guillermo
Published: April 2021

This work proposes a portable, handheld electronic device, which measures the cleanliness in fiber optic connectors via digital image processing and artificial neural networks. Its purpose is to reduce the evaluation subjectivity in visual inspection done by human experts. Although devices with this purpose already exist, they tend to be cost-prohibitive and do not take advantage of neither image processing nor artificial intelligence to improve their results. The device consists of an optical microscope for fiber optic connector analysis, a digital camera adapter, a reduced-board computer, an image processing algorithm, a neural network algorithm and an LCD screen for equipment operation and results visualization. The image processing algorithm applies grayscale histogram equalization, Gaussian filtering, Canny filtering, Hough transform, region of interest segmentation and obtaining radiometric descriptors as inputs to the neural network. Validation consisted of comparing the results by the proposed device with those obtained by agreeing human experts via visual inspection. Results yield an average Cohen's Kappa of 0.926, which implies a very satisfactory performance by the proposed device.
Improved LEACH protocol for increasing the lifetime of WSNs
Authors: Daanoune Ikram , Baghdad Abdennaceur , Ballouk Abdelhakim
Published: April 2021

Recently, wireless sensor network (WSN) is taking a high place in several applications: military, industry, and environment. The importance of WSNs in current applications makes the WSNs the most developed technology at the research level and especially in the field of communication and computing. However, WSN’s performance deals with a number of challenges. Energy consumption is the most considerable for many researchers because nodes use energy to collect, treat, and send data, but they have restricted energy. For this reason, numerous efficient energy routing protocols have been developed to save the consumption of power. Low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) is considered as the most attractive one in WSNs. In the present document, we evaluate the LEACH approach effectiveness in the cluster-head (CH) choosing and in data transmission, then we propose an enhanced protocol. The proposed algorithm aims to improve energy consumption and prolong the lifetime of WSN through selecting CHs depending on the remaining power, balancing the number of nodes in clusters, determining abandoned nodes in order to send their data to the sink. Then CHs choose the optimal path to achieve the sink. Simulation results exhibit that the enhanced method can decrease the consumption of energy and prolong the life-cycle of the network.
Analysis of cyclic prefix length effect on ISI limitation in OFDM system over a Rayleigh-fading multipath
Authors: Zanafi Sarah , Aknin Noura
Published: April 2021

In this work, the influence of the cyclic prefix on the performance of the OFDM system is studied. We worked out an OFDM transceiver using a 16 QAM modulation scheme, a comparison of the BER for various lengths of the cyclic prefix has been achieved, and the influence of the noise introduced in the channel has been highlighted, for both a Gaussian and Rayleigh noise. The simulation was carried out on MATLAB where the curves of the BER for various lengths of the cyclic prefix are given and compared. We also adopted as a metric the QAM constellation to show the dispersion of the carriers as a consequence of the transmission channel, the mitigation of this effect by the CP is noticeable.
Optimization of open flow controller placement in software defined networks
Authors: Al mahdawi Raghda Salam , Salih Huda M.
Published: April 2021

The world is entering into the era of Big Data where computer networks are an essential part. However, the current network architecture is not very convenient to configure such leap. Software defined network (SDN) is a new network architecture which argues the separation of control and data planes of the network devices by centralizing the former in high level, centralised devices and efficient supervisors, called controllers. This paper proposes a mathematical model that helps optimizing the locations of the controllers within the network while minimizing the overall cost under realistic constrains. Our method includes finding the minimum cost of placing the controllers; these costs are the network latency, controller processing power and link bandwidth. Different types of network topologies have been adopted to consider the data profile of the controllers, links of controllers and locations of switches. The results showed that as the size of input data increased, the time to find the optimal solution also increased in a non-polynomial time. In addition, the cost of solution is increased linearly with the input size. Furthermore, when increasing allocating possible locations of the controllers, for the same number of switches, the cost was found to be less.
Collaborative intrusion detection networks with multi-hop clustering for internet of things
Authors: Wahidah Ida , Purwanto Yudha , Kurniawan Aditya
Published: April 2021

Internet of things (IoT) is an emerging topic in so many aspects nowadays. The integration between devices and human itself is currently in large scale development. With the continuous applications of the IoT, the hidden problems such as security threats become one of the key considerations. Furthermore, limited power and computational capability of the devices in the system make it more challenging.Therefore, the needs of reliable and effective security system throughout the networks are highly needed. This research proposed a collaborative system based on JADE that consists of 3 types of agent, which are IoT server, controller, and node. Every agents will collaborate each other in terms of exchanging the intrusion detection results. The collaboration between the agents will provide more efficient and good performance. Four classification algorithms were used to model IDS functions. Then, the performance evaluation was done on the system with several parameters such as cost loss expectation, energy consumption, and metric of IDS efficiency. The result shows that the number of reports sent by IoT controller were decreased up to 80% while preserving the security aspect.
Advances in lane marking detection algorithms for all-weather conditions
Authors: Ab Ghani Hadhrami , Besar Rosli , Md Sani Zamani , Kamaruddin Mohd Nazeri , Syahali Syabeela , Daud Atiqullah Mohamed , Martin Aerun
Published: April 2021

Driving vehicles in all-weather conditions is challenging as the lane markers tend to be unclear to the drivers for detecting the lanes. Moreover, the vehicles will move slower hence increasing the road traffic congestion which causes difficulties in detecting the lane markers especially for advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). Therefore, this paper conducts a thorough review on vision-based lane marking detection algorithms developed for all-weather conditions. The review methodology consists of two major areas, which are a review on the general system models employed in the lane marking detection algorithms and a review on the types of weather conditions considered for the algorithms. Throughout the review process, it is observed that the lane marking detection algorithms in literature have mostly considered weather conditions such as fog, rain, haze and snow. A new contour-angle method has also been proposed for lane marker detection. Most of the research work focus on lane detection, but the classification of the types of lane markers remains a significant research gap that is worth to be addressed for ADAS and intelligent transport systems.
An assistive model of obstacle detection based on deep learning: YOLOv3 for visually impaired people
Authors: Rachburee Nachirat , Punlumjeak Wattana
Published: April 2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2019 that at least 2.2 billion people were visual-impairment or blindness. The main problem of living for visually impaired people have been facing difficulties in moving even indoor or outdoor situations. Therefore, their lives are not safe and harmful. In this paper, we proposed an assistive application model based on deep learning: YOLOv3 with a Darknet-53 base network for visually impaired people on a smartphone. The Pascal VOC2007 and Pascal VOC2012 were used for the training set and used Pascal VOC2007 test set for validation. The assistive model was installed on a smartphone with an eSpeak synthesizer which generates the audio output to the user. The experimental result showed a high speed and also high detection accuracy. The proposed application with the help of technology will be an effective way to assist visually impaired people to interact with the surrounding environment in their daily life.
Audio compression using transforms and high order entropy encoding
Authors: Ahmed Zainab J. , George Loay E. , Hadi Raad Ahmed
Published: April 2021

Digital audio is required to transmit large sizes of audio information through the most common communication systems; in turn this leads to more challenges in both storage and archieving. In this paper, an efficient audio compressive scheme is proposed, it depends on combined transform coding scheme; it is consist of i) bi-orthogonal (tab 9/7) wavelet transform to decompose the audio signal into low & multi high sub-bands, ii) then the produced sub-bands passed through DCT to de-correlate the signal, iii) the product of the combined transform stage is passed through progressive hierarchical quantization, then traditional run-length encoding (RLE), iv) and finally LZW coding to generate the output mate bitstream. The measures Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and compression ratio (CR) were used to conduct a comparative analysis for the performance of the whole system. Many audio test samples were utilized to test the performance behavior; the used samples have various sizes and vary in features. The simulation results appear the efficiency of these combined transforms when using LZW within the domain of data compression. The compression results are encouraging and show a remarkable reduction in audio file size with good fidelity.
AlertNet: Deep convolutional-recurrent neural network model for driving alertness detection
Authors: Nissimagoudar P. C. , Nandi A. V. , Patil Aakanksha , H. M. Gireesha
Published: April 2021

Drowsy driving is one of the major problems which has led to many road accidents. Electroencephalography (EEG) is one of the most reliable sources to detect sleep on-set while driving as there is the direct involvement of biological signals. The present work focuses on detecting driver’s alertness using the deep neural network architecture, which is built using ResNets and encoder-decoder based sequence to sequence models with attention decoder. The ResNets with the skip connections allow training the network deeper with a reduced loss function and training error. The model is built to reduce the complex computations required for feature extraction. The ResNets also help in retaining the features from the previous layer and do not require different filters for frequency and time-invariant features. The output of ResNets, the features are input to encoder-decoder based sequence to sequence models, built using Bi-directional long-short memories. Sequence to Sequence model learns the complex features of the signal and analyze the output of past and future states simultaneously for classification of drowsy/sleepstage-1 and alert stages. Also, to overcome the unequal distribution (class-imbalance) data problem present in the datasets, the proposed loss functions help in achieving the identical error for both majority and minority classes during the raining of the network for each sleep stage. The model provides an overall-accuracy of 87.92% and 87.05%, a macro-F1-core of 78.06%, and 79.66% and Cohen's-kappa score of 0.78 and 0.79 for the Sleep-EDF 2013 and 2018 data sets respectively.
Time series activity classification using gated recurrent units
Authors: Tan Yi-Fei , Guo Xiaoning , Poh Soon-Chang
Published: April 2021

The population of elderly is growing and is projected to outnumber the youth in the future. Many researches on elderly assisted living technology were carried out. One of the focus areas is activity monitoring of the elderly. AReM dataset is a time series activity recognition dataset for seven different types of activities, which are bending 1, bending 2, cycling, lying, sitting, standing and walking. In the original paper, the author used a many-to-many Recurrent Neural Network for activity recognition. Here, we introduced a time series classification method where Gated Recurrent Units with many-to-one architecture were used for activity classification. The experimental results obtained showed an excellent accuracy of 97.14%.
Análise das condições de conforto térmico da cidade de Vitória, ES
Authors: Xavier Tatiana Camello , Oliveira Wemerson Diascanio , Fialho Edson Soares
Published: April 2021

A conformação do espaço urbano apresenta grande influência no microclima local e, consequentemente, no conforto térmico da população. As transformações do ambiente urbano ocasionam alterações da superfície natural, assim como do albedo e do balanço da radiação, gerando grandes impactos para o meio. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a evolução das condições de conforto térmico da cidade de Vitória, ES, relacionando o comportamento do clima e a evolução urbana, a partir das médias mensais das normais climatológicas do banco de dados do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET) abrangendo no total o período de 1931 a 2010. Para essa avaliação foi definido o índice de Temperatura Efetiva (TE) utilizando para o cálculo da sensação térmica as variáveis temperatura e umidade relativa do ar. Os resultados mostraram que ao longo dos anos, com o avanço da urbanização, tanto a temperatura do ar está aumentando quanto, consequentemente, a sensação de desconforto térmico, demandando um maior esforço do sistema termorregulador da população para preservar a temperatura interna do corpo. A temperatura aumentou 0,6°C em média entre os períodos, chegando a uma máxima de 1,6°C de diferença no mês de abril comparando os períodos de 1931-1960 e 1981-2010 e, como resultado, ocasionando uma variação na sensação de conforto de 1,3°C.
Avaliação qualitativa do risco de poluição por metais potencialmente tóxicos nos sedimentos do empreendimento hidrelétrico de Foz do Rio Claro
Authors: Nogueira Pollyanna Faria , Cabral João Batista Pereira , Camara Michaela Andréa Bette
Published: April 2021

O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a concentração de metais potencialmente tóxicos - Chumbo (Pb), Zinco (Zi), Níquel (Ni), Cobre (Cu) e Cádmio (Cd) - em amostras de sedimento coletadas no reservatório da UHE Foz do Rio Claro. Para avaliar os níveis de poluição, foram calculados o índice de geoacumulação (IGeo), além de utilizar os valores orientadores estabelecidos pela Resolução Conama 454/2012. De maneira geral, os elementos Cu e Cd apresentaram valores acima do nível II para a maioria dos pontos analisados, resultando na classificação de péssima qualidade dos sedimentos analisados. O cálculo do IGeo apontou a poluição do reservatório por Cu e Cd. Este estudo evidenciou a necessidade de um monitoramento frequente da qualidade dos sedimentos no reservatório Foz do Rio Claro, como procedimento indispensável para avaliação periódica da qualidade da bacia, considerando sua importância no fornecimento de água e geração de energia para o estado de Goiás.
Platelet Activation and Plasma Levels of Furin Are Associated With Prognosis of Patients With Coronary Artery Disease and COVID-19
Authors: Langnau Carolin , Rohlfing Anne-Katrin , Gekeler Sarah , Günter Manina , Pöschel Simone , Petersen-Uribe Álvaro , Jaeger Philippa , Avdiu Alban , Harm Tobias , Kreisselmeier Klaus-Peter , Castor Tatsiana , Bakchoul Tamam , Rath Dominik , Gawaz Meinrad Paul , Autenrieth Stella E. , Mueller Karin Anne Lydia
Published: April 2021

Objective:

Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are at increased risk for cardiac death and respiratory failure following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Platelets are crucially involved in pathogenesis of CAD and might also contribute to pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Approach and Results:

We enrolled a cohort of 122 participants from February 2020 to July 2020 including 55 patients with preexisting CAD and acute SARS-CoV-2 infection (CAD-SARS-CoV-2
positive
), 28 patients with CAD and without SARS-CoV-2 (CAD-SARS-CoV-2
negative
), and 39 healthy controls. Clinical and cardiac examination of the CAD-SARS-CoV-2
positive
group included blood sampling, echocardiography, and electrocardiography within 24 hours after hospital admission. Phenotyping of platelets was performed by flow cytometry; plasma levels of chemokines were analyzed by ELISA. Respiratory failure of patients was stratified by the Horovitz index as moderately/severely impaired when Horovitz index <200 mm Hg. The clinical end point was defined as Horovitz index <200 mm Hg with subsequent mechanical ventilation within a follow-up of 60 days. CAD-SARS-CoV-2
positive
patients display a significant enhanced platelet activation and hyper-inflammation early at time of hospital admission. Circulating platelet/leukocyte co-aggregates correlate with plasma levels of cytokines/chemokines like IL (interleukin)-6, CCL2, and CXCL10 (chemokine [C-X-C motif] ligand) as well as activation of platelets is associated with CCL5 and elevation of pulmonary artery pressure. Furthermore, furin is stored and released from activated platelets. High furin plasma levels are associated with poor clinical prognosis in CAD-SARS-CoV-2
positive
patients.

Conclusions:

Patients with CAD and SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibit elevated systemic platelet activation and enhanced plasma levels of the subtilisin-like proprotein convertase furin, which may contribute to an unfavorable clinical prognosis.
Severe Dysphagia Predicts Poststroke Fever
Authors: Stösser Sebastian , Gotthardt Matthias , Lindner-Pfleghar Beate , Jüttler Eric , Kassubek Rebecca , Neugebauer Hermann
Published: April 2021

Background and Purpose:

Fever is a common observation after ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and is associated with a worse clinical outcome. Infections, stroke severity, preexisting medical conditions, insertion of catheters, and dysphagia have been implicated in causing poststroke fever. Given that dysphagia has not been evaluated in detail yet, the aim of this study was to investigate if the severity of dysphagia assessed by a detailed swallowing assessment predicts poststroke fever.

Methods:

In this retrospective monocentric cohort study, all patients admitted for ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke within 12 months were included. Patients underwent a detailed standardized swallowing assessment including a clinical exam by a speech therapist and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation in a subset of patients. Patients who developed fever within 5 days were compared with patients without fever regarding swallowing parameters and other clinical characteristics relevant for the prediction of poststroke fever.

Results:

Nine hundred twenty-three patients with acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were included. One hundred twenty-seven (13.8%) patients developed fever. In multivariable analyses, fever was independently predicted by moderate-to-severe dysphagia in clinical assessments (odds ratio [95% CI], 3.05 [1.65–5.66]) and also by dysphagia with proven risk of aspiration as a combined end point of clinical and instrumental assessments (1.79 [1.07–3.00]). Other independent predictors were stroke severity (odds ratio, 1.06 per point on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score [1.01–1.11]) and the presence of an urinary catheter (odds ratio, 2.03 [1.13–3.65]).

Conclusions:

Severe dysphagia evaluated by a detailed clinical assessment complemented by instrumental testing predicts the development of poststroke fever. Early identification of patients with severe dysphagia after stroke followed by consequent monitoring and treatment might be effective in reducing poststroke fever.
Assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of osteoporosis among Singaporean women aged 65 years and above at two SingHealth polyclinics
Authors: Lulla D , Teo CW , Shen X , Loi ZBJ , Quek KW , Lis HLA , Koh SA , Chan ET , Lim SWC , Low LL
Published: April 2021

INTRODUCTION Singapore has one of the world’s most rapidly ageing populations. Osteoporosis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality from hip fractures in the elderly. This pilot study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of osteoporosis among Singaporean women aged ≥ 65 years, and assess barriers to osteoporosis screening. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 99 English-speaking women aged ≥ 65 years at two SingHealth polyclinics by convenience sampling. The validated Osteoporosis Prevention and Awareness Tool was used to assess their knowledge about osteoporosis prevention and awareness and perceived barriers to osteoporosis screening. Osteoporosis health education was provided, and bone mineral density (BMD) screening was offered to all participants. RESULTS The response rate was 91.6%. The majority of the participants (54.5%) had low knowledge of osteoporosis, and only 12.1% had high knowledge scores. Higher education levels were associated with higher knowledge scores (p = 0.018). Although participants with higher knowledge scores were more willing to undergo osteoporosis screening, these findings did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.067). The top reasons for declining BMD testing were misconceptions that lifestyle management is sufficient to prevent osteoporosis, poor awareness and knowledge of the disease, and the perceived high cost of BMD testing. CONCLUSION Interventions should focus on osteoporosis education and, eventually, BMD screening for less-educated patients. Health education should rectify common misconceptions of the disease, increase awareness of osteoporosis and improve screening rates.
In Defense of the Disabled Man at the Bethesda Fountain (John 5:1–15)
Authors: Martin Helena L.
Published: April 2021

A man has been lying at the Bethesda fountain for thirty-eight years when he has a miraculous encounter with Jesus. Throughout history, this man has been seen as lazy, unfaithful. Such unfavorable interpretations of this man rely not on the text but on physiognomy, wherein the man’s impaired body tells interpreters all they need to know about his moral character. Such interpretations originate in ableist biases, rather than unprejudiced readings of the text. I propose a disability-informed interpretation of John 5:1–15, aiming both to reread and rewrite the text. I first critique the reception of this text in history, then offer constructive suggestions using philological inquiry and reading the passage in the context of ancient humoral medicine. Finally, taking a cue from Wilda Gafney’s womanist midrash, I employ “sacred imagination” to re-tell the story. I hope to offer a new perspective on this passage that has been understood so harmfully.
Christemporos: Christ and the Market in Early Christian Texts
Authors: Nasrallah Laura
Published: April 2021

Early Christians coined the word christemporos (“Christ-seller”) to mark other early Christians as abusive in their apostolic or Christian labor. This article explores the neologism, first embedding it within the market terminology of contemporaneous epigraphy and emphasizing its similarity to the term sōmatemporos, slave-seller or slave-trader. Second, the term christemporos, because of its frequent connection to the image of “huckstering the word of God” from 2 Cor. 2:17, is analyzed in relation to practices of hospitium. The term christemporos is invective: you would have to be pretty low to sell the anointed one; you would have to be a huckster or peddler, as Paul says, or a betrayer, as Judas was. The term also reflects a larger area of inquiry in antiquity: Is hospitality or the gift possible? The article, in focusing on christemporos, also considers how philological investigation can participate in a transhistorical “wake work,” to cite Christina Sharpe.
The Multiple Aspects of ‘Time’ Rendering Justice for War Crimes in Iraq
Authors: Hansen Thomas Obel
Published: April 2021

This article takes the starting point in an examination of the case study of accountability for UK war crimes in Iraq, to engage recent developments in the transitional justice field. The article observes that while some passage of time in the context of war-related crimes tends to be a precondition for any kind of justice, the passage of time can easily end up complicating and obscuring the prospects for justice. The article demonstrates how accountability at the domestic level for these crimes has become increasingly implausible with time, partly due to the development of a prevailing narrative of ‘cycles’ of ineffective investigations (and re-investigations) that have become politically loaded and increasingly unpopular especially in what could be labelled the ‘pro-military establishment’.
Deconstruction of Soviet Deportations in Lithuania in the Context of the Genocide Convention
Authors: Sagatienė Dovilė
Published: April 2021

This paper explores Soviet deportations of Lithuanian citizens during occupations in 1940–1941 and 1944–1952 in the framework of a genocidal act as listed in Article ii, (c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention—deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. The focus of this paper is on the nature of Soviet deportations and the evaluation of two types of Soviet deportations from the perspective of legal elements indicated by Article ii, (c) of the Genocide Convention; including targeted persons, premeditation and principal mechanisms.
The Postmodern Pulse of Postproverbials in African Cultural Space
Authors: Akinsete Charles Tolulope
Published: April 2021

The last few decades of the twentieth century witnessed influx of Western theories into African scholarship. This is gradually being deconstructed with preponderant discourse of decolonization, as a contemporary theme in postcolonial Africa. The practice of postproverbiality, which resonates during the same historical phase, indicates transgressive subversion of alternate creations that run parallel with postmodern temperance. This study, therefore, examines the postmodern pulse as a significant component of the aesthetics and values of postproverbiality pulse in contemporary African literary cum cultural space. The aim is to foreground the theoretical significance of postmodernism as the compelling forte of postproverbiality and in furtherance, to articulate the postmodern presence in contemporary African literary space. Part of the research objectives is to critically analyse the socio-cultural content and context of postproverbials and explore the postmodern pulse of selected postproverbial forms as the prostheses of conventional African proverbs.