bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Molecular detection of spotted fever group of Rickettsiae in acute encephalitis syndrome cases from eastern Uttar Pradesh region of India
Authors: Behera Sthita Pragnya , Singh Rajeev , Deval Hirawati , Bhardwaj Pooja , Zaman Kamran , Misra Brij Ranjan , Kumar Niraj , Srivastava Mitali , Pandey Ashok Kumar , Yadav Rajaram , Kavathekar Asif , Kant Rajni , Bondre Vijay P.
Published: April 2023

The Eastern Uttar Pradesh region of India is known for its endemicity of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). Decades of research have established that Orientia tsutsugamushi, a causative of scrub typhus, is a substantial contributor (>60%) for the AES cases besides other aetiology, but additional factors in the remaining proportion are still unidentified. Rickettsial infections are challenging to diagnose in clinical settings due to overlapping clinical symptoms, the absence of definitive indicators, a low index of suspicion, and the lack of low‐cost, rapid diagnostic tools. Hence, the present study was designed to determine the load of rickettsial infections among AES cases. Furthermore, we aim to find out the prevalent rickettsial species in AES cases as well as in the vector population at this location. The study included the whole blood/cerebrospinal fluid of AES patients and arthropod specimens from rodents. The molecular identification was performed using the 23S‐5S intergenic spacer region and ompB gene with genomic DNA obtained from studied specimens. We detected 5.34% (62/1160) of rickettsial infection in AES cases. Among these, phylogenetic analysis confirmed the presence of 54.8% Rickettsia conorii (n = 34) and 16.1% of Rickettsia felis (n = 10), while the rest proportion of the isolates was unidentified at the species level. Furthermore, R. felis was identified in one CSF sample from AES patients and three flea samples from Xenopsylla cheopis. Rickettsia spp. was also confirmed in one Ornithonyssus bacoti mite sample. The results of this investigation concluded the presence of spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. among AES identified cases as well as in the mite and flea vectors that infest rodents.
Mineralogical Characterization of Pegmatites with Occurrences of Halloysite in the Regions of Porciúncula (RJ) and Patrocínio do Muriaé (MG), Southeastern Brazil
Authors: Licursi Ernesto Adler , Bertolino Luiz Carlos , Da Silva Francisco José
Published: April 2023

Halloysite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4.2H2O) is a polymorphic kaolinite mineral whose predominant morphology is tubular. Due to this characteristic, halloysite is widely used in industrial applications, such as manufacture of silica- luminous catalysts, used for industrial chemical reactions; French porcelain; and the cracking of petroleum fractions into gasoline. Halloysite also has potential as a nanomaterial, particularly as an ingredient in polymer nanocomposites and as active agent for medical, agricultural, and other uses. This clay mineral occurs in a wide variety of geological environments as a product of alteration of rocks rich in sodium and potassium feldspars, such as intrusive acid rocks, granites, anorthosites, and pegmatites. This article characterizes halloysite and describes the treating process of kaolin- halloysite samples from four pegmatites, located in Porciúncula (Rio de Janeiro State) and Patrocínio do Muriaé (Minas Gerais State). The samples of the studied pegmatites were treated for mineralogical characterization and analyzed by X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. Density, granulometry, and visual appearance of the grains were also analyzed. The samples were found to be composed of kaolinite/halloysite, feldspar, quartz, biotite, goethite and muscovite. Using X-ray diffractometry, gibbsite were  also identified in one sample. With the results presented here, the two regions can be possible targets for researching halloysite deposits in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
Escala de medición para la evaluación de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible en proyectos de inversión pública. El caso del Proyecto Morro de Moravia en Medellín, Colombia
Authors: Portocarrero Sierra Lorenzo , Vanegas López Juan Gabriel , Restrepo Morales Jorge Aníbal , Aguilar Barreto Andrea Johana
Published: April 2023

Este trabajo identifica las dimensiones clave en la evaluación de un proyecto de inversión pública de transformación medioambiental llevado a cabo en el barrio Moravia en Medellín, Colombia. Se adopta la óptica de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible mediante una escala modificada de cinco dimensiones que se aplica a 197 habitantes de la zona de influencia. Se usaron modelos de análisis factorial confirmatorio y ecuaciones estructurales que derivaron en modelos de primer y segundo orden que podrían utilizarse para definir la escala. Del modelo se desprende la identificación de las variables adecuadas que pueden contribuir eficazmente al reconocimiento del desarrollo sostenible para optimizar el destino de los recursos públicos, así como la sostenibilidad en el tiempo de los proyectos para un mejor diseño de políticas públicas.
Fractional Dynamics and Analysis of Coupled Schrödinger-KdV Equation With Caputo-Katugampola Type Memory
Authors: Singh Jagdev , Gupta Arpita , Baleanu Dumitru
Published: April 2023

Fundamental purpose of the current research article is to analyze the behavior of obtained results of time fractional nonlinear coupled Schrödinger-KdV equation, via implementing an effective analytical technique. In this work, Katugampola fractional derivative in Caputo type is used to model the problem. The coupled Schrödinger-KdV equation describes several kinds of wave propagation in plasma physics, like electromagnetic waves, dust-acoustic waves, and Langmuir waves. The fixed point theorem is used to present the existence and uniuness analysis of obtained solution of the discussed model. Numerical simulation and graphical behavior of the model are presented to show the reliability of the implemented analytical technique. A comparative analysis of exact and obtained approximate solutions is also presented.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Socioeconomic Inequality of Health Behavior Among Japanese Adolescents: A 2-Year Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey
Authors: Kyan Akira , Takakura Minoru
Published: April 2023

Background: Although disparities in socioeconomic status in health behaviors have been highlighted globally, they are not well understood in Japanese adolescents. The purpose of this study was to clarify the changes in socioeconomic disparities in adolescents’ fundamental health behaviors, such as physical activity, screen time (ST), sleep, breakfast intake, and bowel movement before and during COVID-19. Methods: This was a repeated cross-sectional study which used data from the 2019 and 2021 National Sports-Life Survey of Children and Young in Japan. Data of 766 and 725 participants in 2019 and 2021, respectively, were analyzed. Favorable health behaviors were defined as daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of at least 60 minutes, ST of less than 2 hours, sleep of 8 to 10 hours, daily breakfast intake, and bowel movement frequency of at least once in every 3 days. We calculated the slope index of inequality and relative index of inequality in each health behavior for equivalent household income levels for assessing absolute and relative economic inequalities. Results: Compliance with MVPA and ST recommendation significantly declined from 20.1% and 23.0% in 2019 to 11.7% and 14.9% in 2021, respectively. The slope index of inequality and relative index of inequality increased in MVPA for income levels, but decreased in daily breakfast in 2019 to 2021. Although the widening and narrowing of the disparity were inconclusive for ST, it exacerbated for the higher-income groups. Conclusions: Our study revealed widening of economic disparities in the achievement of recommended MVPA and narrowing of it in breakfast intake among adolescents before and during COVID-19.
Engineered Sucrose Metabolism Improves the Smut Disease Suppression Potency of Pseudomonas sp. ST4
Authors: Lin Nuo Qiao , Liang Zhi Bin , Wang Hui Shan , Wu Xiao Yan , Zhang Lian Hui , Deng Yi Zhen
Published: April 2023

Sporisorium scitamineum
and
Ustilago maydis
are typical dimorphic fungi causing severe sugarcane and maize smut diseases, respectively. Sexual mating of compatible sporidia is essential for these pathogens to form infections dikaryotic mycelia and cause smut diseases.
Extreme serpentinization and desulfurization in an early Earth setting
Authors: Clay Patricia L. , Day James M.D. , Busemann Henner , Bonnand Pierre , Burgess Ray , Hornsey Richard A. , Ash Richard D. , Moynier Frédéric , O’Driscoll Brian
Published: April 2023

The ca. 3.5 Ga Bon Accord Ni deposit was located in the Barberton Greenstone Belt of the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa, and contained a unique assemblage of Ni-rich minerals including trevorite (NiFe2O4). It was initially interpreted as a metamorphosed extraterrestrial body, recently ruled out by Cr isotope data, and subsequently as a fragment of the Archean Earth’s core. More recent suggestions have highlighted similarities between Bon Accord and Archean magmatic sulfide mineralization. We present a geochemical (rare earth element [REE], halogen, and highly siderophile element [HSE] abundance) and isotopic (noble gases, Zn, Cr, and Re-Os) study to elucidate the origin of this enigmatic body. Bon Accord is enriched in the REE relative to primitive mantle (PM), with a pattern resembling that of Aldepleted komatiites. The bulk material has >10 × PM Os and Ir, >100 × PM Ru, Pt, Pd, and Re, and radiogenic 187Os/188Os. Trevorite, silicates, and two bulk-rock samples are consistent with chondritic to sub-chondritic initial 187Os/188Os at the time of formation. The new REE data implicate a komatiite precursor in the formation of Bon Accord, and the HSE data bear striking similarities to those of Ni-enriched Archean magmatic sulfide deposits. Enrichment in the heavier Zn isotopes supports desulfurization of a sulfide (isotopically light) deposit during serpentinization to produce the trevorite-dominated body. We conservatively estimate this process could have mobilized as much as ~9.2 × 104 tonnes of H2S, offering an intriguing possibility for sourcing of the sulfur that fixes the historically important gold mineralization in the Barberton Greenstone Belt.
Supplemental Material: Fossil Java Sea corals record Laurentide ice sheet disappearance
Authors: Mann Thomas , al. et
Published: April 2023

Supplemental text and tables.  
Supplemental Material: Fast exhumation of Earth’s earliest ultrahigh-pressure rocks in the West Gondwana orogen, Mali
Authors: Ganade Carlos E. , al. et
Published: April 2023

Analytical procedures and detailed petrology.  
Supplemental Material: Mantle wedge olivine modifies slab-derived fluids: Implications for fluid transport from slab to arc magma source
Authors: de Hoog J C M , al. et
Published: April 2023

Analytical methods, sample descriptions including trace element geochemistry (2 tables and 1 figure), and SIMS spot locations on the samples. 
Deep-learning automated quantification of longitudinal OCT scans demonstrates reduced RPE loss rate, preservation of intact macular area and predictive value of isolated photoreceptor degeneration in geographic atrophy patients receiving C3 inhibition treatment
Authors: Fu Dun Jack , Glinton Sophie , Lipkova Veronika , Faes Livia , Liefers Bart , Zhang Gongyu , Pontikos Nikolas , McKeown Alex , Scheibler Lukas , Patel Praveen J , Keane Pearse A , Balaskas Konstantinos
Published: April 2023

Objective

To evaluate the role of automated optical coherence tomography (OCT) segmentation, using a validated deep-learning model, for assessing the effect of C3 inhibition on the area of geographic atrophy (GA); the constituent features of GA on OCT (photoreceptor degeneration (PRD), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) loss and hypertransmission); and the area of unaffected healthy macula.

To identify OCT predictive biomarkers for GA growth.

Methods

Post hoc analysis of the FILLY trial using a deep-learning model for spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) autosegmentation. 246 patients were randomised 1:1:1 into pegcetacoplan monthly (PM), pegcetacoplan every other month (PEOM) and sham treatment (pooled) for 12 months of treatment and 6 months of therapy-free monitoring. Only participants with Heidelberg SD-OCT were included (n=197, single eye per participant).

The primary efficacy endpoint was the square root transformed change in area of GA as complete RPE and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) in each treatment arm at 12 months, with secondary endpoints including RPE loss, hypertransmission, PRD and intact macular area.

Results

Eyes treated PM showed significantly slower mean change of cRORA progression at 12 and 18 months (0.151 and 0.277 mm, p=0.0039; 0.251 and 0.396 mm, p=0.039, respectively) and RPE loss (0.147 and 0.287 mm, p=0.0008; 0.242 and 0.410 mm, p=0.00809). PEOM showed significantly slower mean change of RPE loss compared with sham at 12 months (p=0.0313). Intact macular areas were preserved in PM compared with sham at 12 and 18 months (p=0.0095 and p=0.044). PRD in isolation and intact macula areas was predictive of reduced cRORA growth at 12 months (coefficient 0.0195, p=0.01 and 0.00752, p=0.02, respectively)

Conclusion

The OCT evidence suggests that pegcetacoplan slows progression of cRORA overall and RPE loss specifically while protecting the remaining photoreceptors and slowing the progression of healthy retina to iRORA.
Explaining COVID-19 mortality among immigrants in Sweden from a social determinants of health perspective (COVIS): protocol for a national register-based observational study
Authors: Juárez Sol Pia , Honkaniemi Helena , Aradhya Siddartha , Debiasi Enrico , Katikireddi Srinivasa Vittal , Cederström Agneta F , Mussino Eleonora , Rostila Mikael
Published: April 2023

Introduction

Adopting a social determinants of health perspective, this project aims to study how disproportionate COVID-19 mortality among immigrants in Sweden is associated with social factors operating through differential exposure to the virus (eg, by being more likely to work in high-exposure occupations) and differential effects of infection arising from socially patterned, pre-existing health conditions, differential healthcare seeking and inequitable healthcare provision.

Methods and analysis

This observational study will use health (eg, hospitalisations, deaths) and sociodemographic information (eg, occupation, income, social benefits) from Swedish national registers linked using unique identity numbers. The study population includes all adults registered in Sweden in the year before the start of the pandemic (2019), as well as individuals who immigrated to Sweden or turned 18 years of age after the start of the pandemic (2020). Our analyses will primarily cover the period from 31 January 2020 to 31 December 2022, with updates depending on the progression of the pandemic. We will evaluate COVID-19 mortality differences between foreign-born and Swedish-born individuals by examining each mechanism (differential exposure and effects) separately, while considering potential effect modification by country of birth and socioeconomic factors. Planned statistical modelling techniques include mediation analyses, multilevel models, Poisson regression and event history analyses.

Ethics and dissemination

This project has been granted all necessary ethical permissions from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr 2022-0048-01) for accessing and analysing deidentified data. The final outputs will primarily be disseminated as scientific articles published in open-access peer-reviewed international journals, as well as press releases and policy briefs.
Affordability of cigarettes in ten Southeastern European countries between 2008 and 2019
Authors: Zubović Jovan , Zdravković Aleksandar , Jovanović Olivera , Djukić Mihajlo , Vladisavljević Marko
Published: April 2023

Background

The empirical evidence shows that tobacco consumption is strongly associated with its affordability. The nominal growth in tobacco prices imposed by taxation should exceed or at least keep pace with nominal income growth, ensuring that tobacco products become less affordable over time. No analysis covering affordability issues in the Southeastern European (SEE) region has been conducted prior to this research.

Objectives

The study aims to examine trends in cigarette affordability in ten selected SEE countries over the period 2008–2019 and the impact of affordability on the consumption of cigarettes. On the policy side, it aims to support conducting of more effective evidence-based policy of tobacco taxation.

Methods

The relative income price of cigarettes and the tobacco affordability index are used as affordability measures. The panel regression was run to estimate the impact of affordability measures and other covariates on cigarette consumption.

Results

The affordability of cigarettes in the selected SEE countries has decreased on average but showed different patterns over the observed period. A decline in affordability has been more dynamic in Western Balkan (non-EU members) countries and low-and-middle-income countries within the SEE region. Econometric estimation confirms affordability as the main determinant of tobacco consumption, indicating that a decline in affordability considerably reduces tobacco consumption.

Conclusions

Despite the evidence, affordability is still widely ignored by SEE policymakers when designing national tobacco taxation policies. Policymakers should be aware of the risk that future increases in cigarette prices could lag behind real income growth, making tax policy less effective at reducing consumption. Reducing affordability should be the paramount consideration in designing effective tobacco taxation policies.
Patterns of poly tobacco use among adults in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, 2013–2017: a multistate Markov transition analysis
Authors: Shafie Khorassani Fatema , Brouwer Andrew F , Hirschtick Jana L , Jeon Jihyoun , Jimenez-Mendoza Evelyn , Meza Rafael , Fleischer Nancy L
Published: April 2023

Background

A better understanding of sociodemographic transition patterns between single, dual and poly tobacco product use may help improve tobacco control policy interventions.

Methods

HRs of transition between never, non-current (no past 30-day use), cigarette, e-cigarette, other combustible, smokeless tobacco (SLT), dual and poly tobacco use states in adults were estimated for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education and income using a multistate model for waves 1–4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study (2013–2017), a US-based cohort study, accounting for complex survey design.

Results

Sole cigarette and SLT use were persistent, with 77% and 78% of adults continuing use after one wave. Other use states were more transient, with 29%–48% of adults reporting the same pattern after one wave. If single-product users transitioned, it was most likely to non-current use while dual or poly cigarette users were most likely to transition to exclusive cigarette use. Males were more likely than females to initiate combustible product use after a history of no use, and after a period of tobacco use cessation. Hispanic and non-Hispanic black participants initiated cigarette use at higher rates than non-Hispanic white participants, and had higher rates of experimentation with tobacco products between study waves. Lower socioeconomic status was associated with higher rates of transition into combustible tobacco use.

Conclusions

Dual and poly tobacco use is largely transient, while single-use patterns are more stable over time. Transitions differ by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education and income, which may influence the impact of current and future tobacco control efforts.
Behavioral observations ofMolossus nigricansin a Neotropical city: a contribution toward understanding its urban tolerance
Authors: Avila-Flores Rafael , León-Madrazo Rafael , Perez-Perez Lucio , Rodas-Martínez Alba Z.
Published: April 2023

The family Molossidae includes several species of bats that thrive in tropical and subtropical cities of the world. It has been suggested that the remarkable tolerance of some molossid species to urban life might partially result from a suite of behavioral preadaptations. In this study, we described some aspects of the roosting, social, vocal, and foraging behavior of one of these species, Molossus nigricans Miller, 1902, in the tropical city of Villahermosa, in southeastern Mexico. We described roosting attributes and colony size in 54 roosts of M. nigricans between 2016 and 2018. In a subsample of roosts, we registered emergence and return times throughout the night, described colony composition, and recorded vocalizations using a full-spectrum ultrasonic detector. We found that M. nigricans exhibits high plasticity in its roosting behavior, occupying both natural and anthropogenic structures with narrow gaps and cracks. Their social structure appears to be flexible, and their colonies are variable in size, allowing them to exploit a wide variety of roosts. Their high foraging efficiency, tolerance to artificial light, and its remarkable vocal plasticity seem to be other elements that may help us to better understand the success of M. nigricans in tropical urban environments.
On a neutral Dirac particle interacting with a magnetic field in a topological defect space-time and its hidden supersymmetry
Authors: Zare Soroush , Hassanabadi Hassan , Junker Georg
Published: April 2023

In this paper, we study the relativistic quantum dynamics of a neutral Dirac particle with a permanent magnetic dipole moment that interacts with an external magnetic field in the background space-time of a linear topological defect called spiral dislocation. The generalized Dirac wave equation is derived from the full action of that model involving the Lagrangian density of the Dirac spinor field in the background and the interaction model. The energy eigenvalues and corresponding wave functions are found in closed form by reducing the problem to that of a non-relativistic particle moving freely on a plane with a hole at the origin whose radius is determined by the defect parameter. In the limit of vanishing external magnetic field we are also able to establish a hidden SUSY structure of the underlying Dirac Hamiltonian allowing us to discuss the non-relativistic limit in some detail.
Relation-aware Graph Contrastive Learning
Authors: Li Bingshi , Li Jin , Fu Yang-Geng
Published: April 2023

Over the past few years, graph contrastive learning (GCL) has gained great success in processing unlabeled graph-structured data, but most of the existing GCL methods are based on instance discrimination task which typically learns representations by minimizing the distance between two versions of the same instance. However, different from images, which are assumed to be independently and identically distributed, graphs present relational information among data instances, in which each instance is related to others by links. Furthermore, the relations are heterogeneous in many cases. The instance discrimination task cannot make full use of the relational information inherent in the graph-structured data. To solve the above-mentioned problems, this paper proposes a relation-aware graph contrastive learning method, called RGCL. Aiming to capture the most important heterogeneous relations in the graph, RGCL explicitly models the edges, and then pulls semantically similar pairs of edges together and pushes dissimilar ones apart with contrastive regularization. By exploiting the full potential of the relationship among nodes, RGCL overcomes the limitations of previous GCL methods based on instance discrimination. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms a series of graph contrastive learning frameworks on widely used benchmarks, which justifies the effectiveness of our work.
4-Free Strong Digraphs with the Maximum Size
Authors: Zhang Qifan , Xu Liqiong , Lin Yuqing
Published: April 2023

Directed cycles in digraphs are useful in embedding linear arrays and rings, and are suitable for designing simple algorithm with low communication costs in parallel computer systems, thus the existence of directed cycles on digraphs has been largely investigated. Let [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] be integers. Bermond et al. [Journal of Graph Theory 4(3) (1980) 337–341] proved that if the size of a strong digraph [Formula: see text] with order [Formula: see text] is at least [Formula: see text], then the girth of [Formula: see text] is no more than [Formula: see text]. Consequently, when [Formula: see text] is a 4-free strong digraph with order [Formula: see text], which means that every directed cycle in [Formula: see text] has length at least [Formula: see text], then the maximum size of [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we mainly give the structural characterizations for all 4-free strong digraphs of order [Formula: see text] whose arc number exactly is [Formula: see text].
BI-COMMUNITY DETECTION METHOD BASED ON BOTH INTRA- AND INTER-CORRELATION: AN APPLIED RESEARCH OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Authors: ZHANG CHENYAO , CHEN BOYU , LU WENLIAN
Published: April 2023

The relations between agents of complex networks are generally determined by their attributes, so we can instead study the corresponding bipartite network formed by agents and their attributes to gain a higher-dimensional perspective. General bipartite community detecting algorithms implicitly contain a fixed generation step to determine the intra-correlations of the two separate vertex sets (denoted as instance set and attribute set), thus ignoring problem-related heuristics. Inspired by this, we propose a bi-community detection framework concerning the problem-related features that directly takes such intra-correlations into account, and can be freely combined with different objective functions and optimization algorithms to cope with various network structures such as directed graphs with negative edge weights. The framework is adopted to analyze international relations on the dispute and alliance datasets, whose results contain the relevant events that support the establishment of each community and are highly consistent with Huntington’s theory. In addition, we analyze the impact of the instance–instance, instance–attribute, and attribute–attribute relations on the detection result through control experiments, and conclude that for the general community searching algorithms (including the bi-community case), appropriately taking these three relations together into account can help obtain different reasonable detection results.
Implementation of Noninvasive Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy with Spent Blastocyst Medium into Clinical and Laboratory Practice: The First Successful Experience in Taiwan
Authors: Chen Chun-Kai , Huang Wei-Han , Chang Tiencheng Arthur , Chao Kuang-Han , Chiang Wang-Fung , Yeh Hsin-Yi , Shen Szu-Yu
Published: April 2023

Noninvasive preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (niPGT-A) using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) present in the spent blastocyst medium (SBM) of human blastocysts has emerged as an alternative for classical preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A). The major benefit is to avoid possible damage to the trophectoderm and subsequently increase the implantation potential of the embryo. niPGT-A provides more information including the ploidy state of both trophectoderm and inner cell mass compared to invasive PGT-A in which only a few trophectoderm cells are assessed. This study was to report our first successful experience solely using niPGT-A to select embryos to transfer resulting in a successful delivery. This practical application is believed to be the first case report in Taiwan and can serve as an innovative model for other clinics to apply niPGT-A.
A Learning Framework for Distribution-Based Game-Theoretic Solution Concepts
Authors: Jha Tushant , Zick Yair
Published: April 2023

The past few years have seen several works exploring learning economic solutions from data, including optimal auction design, function optimization, stable payoffs in cooperative games, and more. In this work, we provide a unified learning-theoretic methodology for modeling such problems and establish tools for determining whether a given solution concept can be efficiently learned from data. Our learning-theoretic framework generalizes a notion of function space dimension—the graph dimension—adapting it to the solution concept learning domain. We identify sufficient conditions for efficient solution learnability and show that results in existing works can be immediately derived using our methodology. Finally, we apply our methods in other economic domains, yielding learning variants of competitive equilibria and Condorcet winners.
Joint Latent Space and Label Inference Estimation with Adaptive Fused Data and Label Graphs
Authors: Baradaaji A. , Dornaika F.
Published: April 2023

Recently, structured computing has become an interesting topic in the world of artificial intelligence, especially in the field of machine learning, as most researchers focus on the development of graph-based semi-supervised learning models. In this article, we present a new framework for graph-based semi-supervised learning. We present a powerful method for simultaneous label inference and linear transform estimation. The targeted linear transformation is used to obtain a discriminant subspace. To improve semi-supervised learning, our framework focuses on exploiting the data structure and soft labels of the available unlabeled samples. In the iterative optimization scheme used, the prior estimation of the label increases the supervision information indirectly through an introduced informative matrix called the label graph, thus avoiding the use of hard confidence-based decisions as used in self-supervised methods. In addition, the estimation of labels and projected data is made more robust by using smoothing concepts based on hybrid graphs. For each type of smoothing, the hybrid graph is an adaptive fusion of the two graphs encoding the similarity of the data and the similarity of the labels. The proposed method leads to an improved discriminative linear transformation. Several experimental results on real image datasets confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. They also show superior performance compared to semi-supervised methods that use integration and label inference simultaneously.
Automatic Core-Developer Identification on GitHub: A Validation Study
Authors: Bock Thomas , Alznauer Nils , Joblin Mitchell , Apel Sven
Published: April 2023

Many open-source software projects are self-organized and do not maintain official lists with information on developer roles. So, knowing which developers take core and maintainer roles is, despite being relevant, often tacit knowledge. We propose a method to
automatically
identify core developers based on role permissions of privileged events triggered in GitHub issues and pull requests. In an empirical study on 25/GitHub projects, (1) we validate the set of automatically identified core developers with a sample of project-reported developer lists, and (2) we use our set of identified core developers to assess the accuracy of state-of-the-art unsupervised developer classification methods. Our results indicate that the set of core developers, which we extracted from privileged issue events, is sound and the accuracy of state-of-the-art unsupervised classification methods depends mainly on the data source (commit data versus issue data) rather than the network-construction method (directed versus undirected, etc.). In perspective, our results shall guide research and practice to choose appropriate
unsupervised
classification methods, and our method can help create reliable ground-truth data for training
supervised
classification methods.
A Multistep Iterative Ranking Learning Method for Optimal Project Portfolio Planning of Smart Grid
Authors: Liu Cong , Li Xianghua , Liang Jian , Sheng Kun , Kong Lingzhao , Peng Xiaoyan , Zhao Wenxin
Published: April 2023

Optimal project portfolio planning is a typical nonconvex, multiobjective, highly constrained, multitemporal coupling, and combinatorial optimization problem. This paper proposes a novel multistep iterative ranking learning method (MIRL) to solve this complex combinatorial optimization problem from massive infrastructure projects of smart grid. The optimal project portfolio planning problem of power grid is formulated as the optimization process of massive project priority sorting with an improved knapsack model. The proposed method dynamically optimizes the best infrastructure project combination for each round to maximize the economic, social, and security benefits without exceeding the annual investment limit. A pairwise-based ranking learning algorithm is used to mine the priority sorting law from massive historical combination data of power grid to initialize candidate project portfolio. In order to approach the optimal portfolio planning solution with the constraint satisfactions of project construction duration and electric load supplies, a heuristic greedy strategy is designed to search the solution dynamically for selecting the project having highest construction benefits iteratively. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by experiments with real-world project data of Hunan power grid in China, and experimental results show that the proposed MIRL can outperform other methods on investment efficiency, calculation time, and rationality of project construction period schedule.
On Statistical Inference of Generalized Pareto Distribution with Jointly Progressive Censored Samples with Binomial Removal
Authors: Haj Ahmad Hanan , Almetwally Ehab M.
Published: April 2023

A jointly censored sample is a very useful sampling technique in conducting comparative life tests of the products, its efficiency appears in permitting the selection of two samples from two manufacturing lines at the same time and conducting a life‐testing experiment. This article presents estimation information of the joint generalized Pareto distributions parameters using Type‐II progressive censoring scheme, which is carried out with binomial removal. The generalized Pareto distribution has many applications in different fields. We outline the problem of parameter estimation using the frequentest maximum likelihood and the Bayesian estimation methods. Furthermore, different interval estimation methods for estimating the four parameters were used: the asymptotic property of the maximum likelihood estimator, the credible confidence intervals, and the Bootstrap confidence intervals. The detailed numerical simulations have been considered to compare the performance of the proposed estimates. In addition, the applicability of the joint generalized Pareto censored model has been performed by applying a real data example.
A Collaborative Transit Signal Priority Method Considering Gaming among Traffic Participants
Authors: Wu Bing , Wang Haishan , Wang Yanli , Zhai Ben , Xue TanXing
Published: April 2023

How to realize the game equilibrium between bus and nontransit vehicle is a hot topic in the field of transit signal priority (TSP). To this end, a collaborative transit signal priority (Co-TSP) method is proposed. The core of Co-TSP is a two-objective optimization problem which takes the expected delays of buses and the average delays of nontransit vehicles as the objectives. Different from previous studies, Co-TSP uses game theory to realize collaborative optimization, instead of transforming the problem into a single objective optimization problem by weighting. A finite state machine-based algorithm is developed to estimate the average delays of nontransit vehicles. The stochasticity of bus arrival time is also considered in the estimation of bus delays to improve the robustness. Candidate timing plans obtained by the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA) are divided into three priority levels based on the delays of buses. The final timing plans can be picked intuitively from the candidates by rules representing expert knowledge and demands to control the priority level. Co-TSP guarantees theoretically by preliminary screening that the expected delays of bus after optimization must be no higher than that before optimization. Simulation experiments are conducted in Shanghai, China, to verify the performance. Results show that Co-TSP reduces the delays of buses by 27.7%∼41.0% and still performs well under low and high congestion levels, while the conventional TSP (CTSP) fails in some cases. Priority control proves to be effective at last. The research provides a new idea for the benefit allocation among participants at intersections.
Risk Assessment of Distracted Driving Behavior Based on Visual Stability Coefficient
Authors: Wang Haixiao , Ding Xu , Wang Chutong
Published: April 2023

Cell phone call operations during driving can lead to distraction and cause potential safety hazards. In order to quantitatively characterize the influence of cell phone call mode on the driver’s visual behavior in different traffic conditions and to analyze the risk level of distracted driving from the visual level, a distracted driving simulation test was carried out based on a driving simulator and eye tracker. The eye movement data of drivers during normal driving, hands-free call, and video call under two typical traffic conditions of free flow and congested flow on the urban expressway were collected. Firstly, four visual characteristics indicators that were highly sensitive to traffic conditions and driving states were selected in terms of visual field range, visual recognition, visual search, and visual load, which were the information entropy of fixation area (IEFA), saccade amplitude, peak-to-average ratio of saccade velocity (PARSV), and relative change intensity of pupil area (RCPA). Then, based on the improved CRITIC method, the visual stability coefficient (VSC) was constructed as a new indicator to comprehensively assess the risk level of the driving state, and the assessment criteria were divided. Finally, the grey correlation analysis method was introduced to verify the assessment effect of VSC. The results show that different cell phone call modes increased driving risk in both traffic conditions. Among them, the negative influence of video calls on driving safety was significantly higher than that of hands-free calls, with a significant decrease in VSC, and the drivers’ VSC in the free flow scenario was more sensitive to the impact of cell phone call operation, and the driving risk increased significantly during distracted driving. The VSC can quantitatively assess driving risk from the perspective of visual psychological safety and contributes to the development of corresponding early warning and control measures.
Metal Chelates of Sulfafurazole Azo Dye Derivative: Synthesis, Structure Affirmation, Antimicrobial, Antitumor, DNA Binding, and Molecular Docking Simulation
Authors: El-Ghamry Hoda A. , Al-Ziyadi Rajaa O. , Alkhatib Fatmah M. , Takroni Khadiga M. , Khedr Abdalla M.
Published: April 2023

A series of divalent and one trivalent metal chelates of the azo ligand resulting from coupling of sulfafurazole diazonium chloride with resorcinol have been designed and synthesized. Structure investigation of the isolated chelates have been achieved by applying spectroscopic and analytical tools which collaborated to assure the formation of the metal chelates in the molar ratios of 1L: 1M for Ni(II), Co(II), and Fe(III) chelates, where Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes formed in the ratio 2L : 1M. The geometrical arrangement around the metal canters was concluded from UV-Vis spectra to be octahedral for all metal chelates. The attachment of the ligand to the metal ions took place through the azo group nitrogen and o-hydroxyl oxygen through proton displacement leading to the ligand being in monobasic bidentate binding mode. Antimicrobial and antitumor activities of the interested compounds have been evaluated against alternative microorganisms and cancer cells, respectively, in a trial to investigate their extent of activity in addition to docking studies. The mode of interaction of the compounds with SS-DNA has been examined by UV-Vis spectra and viscosity studies.
The Effect of Swallowing Action Observation Therapy on Resting fMRI in Stroke Patients with Dysphagia
Authors: Zeng Ming , Wang Zhongli , Chen Xuting , Shi Meifang , Zhu Meihong , Ma Jingmei , Yao Yunhai , Cui Yao , Wu Hua , Shen Jie , Xie Lingfu , Fu Jianming , Gu Xudong
Published: April 2023

Objective. Many stroke victims have severe swallowing problems. Previous neuroimaging studies have found that several brain regions scattered in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, such as Brodmann’s areas (BA) 6, 21, and 40, are associated with swallowing function. This study sought to investigate changes in swallowing function and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in stroke patients with dysphagia following action observation treatment. It also sought to detect changes in brain regions associated with swallowing in stroke patients. Methods. In this study, 12 healthy controls (HCs) and 12 stroke patients were recruited. Stroke patients were given 4 weeks of action observation therapy. In order to assess the differences in mfALFF values between patients before treatment and HCs, the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in three frequency bands (conventional frequency band, slow-4, and slow-5) were calculated for fMRI data. The significant brain regions were selected as regions of interest (ROIs) for subsequent analysis. The mfALFF values were extracted from ROIs of the three groups (patients before and after treatment and HCs) and compared to assess the therapeutic efficacy. Results. In the conventional band, stroke patients before treatment had higher mfALFF in the inferior temporal gyrus and lower mfALFF in the calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex and thalamus compared to HCs. In the slow-4 band, there was no significant difference in related brain regions between stroke patients before treatment and HCs. In the slow-5 band, stroke patients before treatment had higher mfALFF in inferior cerebellum, inferior temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and lower mfALFF in calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex compared to HCs. We also assessed changes in aberrant brain activity that occurred both before and after action observation therapy. The mfALFF between stroke patients after therapy was closed to HCs in comparison to the patients before treatment. Conclusion. Action observation therapy can affect the excitability of certain brain regions. The changes in brain function brought about by this treatment may help to further understand the potential mechanism of network remodeling of swallowing function.
Design of a Novel Superwideband Dual Port Antenna with Second-Order Hilbert Branches and a Modified T-Decoupling Structure
Authors: Nan Jingchang , Pan Junru , Han Xinxin , Wang Yifei
Published: April 2023

A novel super wideband (SWB) dual port antenna with second-order Hilbert branches and a modified T-decoupling structure is proposed. The overall size of the antenna is only 32 mm × 26 mm × 1 mm. The SWB antenna front comprises a “house” shaped radiating patch and a trapezoidal-shaped microstrip line. Two SWB antenna units are placed symmetrically on FR4 dielectric substrate to form the SWB-MIMO (multiple-in multiple-out) antenna. Two second-order Hilbert branches expand the wideband of the SWB-MIMO antenna. The antenna decoupling is mainly achieved by loading a fence-like “T” decoupling structure on the ground plane. The antenna is also miniaturized and isolated by adjusting the distance between the radiating patches of the units. The simulations and measurements show that the SWB-MIMO antenna operates in the frequency band of 1.98-30.8 GHz (175.84% relative bandwidth). The bandwidth dimensional ratio (BDR) (BDR is a measure of the compactness of the antenna, the higher the BDR, the better the compactness of the antenna, and the wider the working bandwidth of the antenna.) is 14653.33. The overall isolation is below −16.4 dB, and the important part (8.5–24.1 GHz) is below −20 dB. The envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is less than 0.03, and the radiation characteristics are excellent.
Quality of Life in Caregivers of Patients with Brain Tumours: A Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis
Authors: Tallant James , Pakzad-Shahabi Lillie , Lambert Sylvie D. , Williams Matthew , Wells Mary
Published: April 2023

Objective. (1) Examine QoL of caregivers of patients with brain tumours compared to population norms and other cancer caregiver groups, (2) appraise the content of quantitative QoL outcome measures utilised, and (3) assess to what extent QoL measures used in research align with caregivers’ priorities. Methods. Systematic literature search of studies including caregivers of brain tumour patients using self-completed assessments of QoL. Extracted data from included studies included quantitative QoL outcome data, QoL outcome measures utilised, and the included QoL domains. The impact of brain tumour patient caregiving was assessed by summarising included data comparing brain tumour caregivers to other cancer caregivers and normative population data. QoL measures utilised by the studies and their domains were extracted, coded, and analysed by themes. The rates of investigation by theme were then compared to existing data on caregiver-own preference in relation to QoL. Results. 49 studies, including 57 outcome measures, incorporating a combined 124 QoL domains. Brain tumour caregivers reported lower QoL outcomes than population norms but similar to other cancer caregiver groups. Thematic analysis of QoL domains generated 7 themes: caregiving burden and adaptation, existential and self, family and social support, finances, information needs, physical symptoms and functioning, and psychological symptoms and wellbeing. The most investigated themes were physical and psychological symptoms, the most important for caregivers themselves were family and social support. Conclusions. Caregiving for brain tumour patients is shown to negatively affect QoL, particularly mental health, burden, and social life. Existing QoL research in caregivers of brain tumour patients predominantly utilises generic QoL measures designed for use in patients and draws a medicalised view of QoL priorities. The few studies using caregiver-specific QoL measures demonstrated closer alignment to caregiver preferences such as family and social support.
Fractional Optimal Control Model of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Disease in Ghana
Authors: Okyere Samuel , Ackora-Prah Joseph , Darkwah Kwaku Forkuoh , Tabi Oduro Francis , Bonyah Ebenezer
Published: April 2023

Research focus on optimal control problems brought on by fractional differential equations has been extensively applied in practice. However, because they are still open ended and challenging, a number of problems with fractional mathematical modeling and problems with optimal control require additional study. Using fractional-order derivatives defined in the Atangana–Baleanu–Caputo sense, we alter the integer-order model that has been proposed in the literature. We prove the solution’s existence, uniqueness, equilibrium points, fundamental reproduction number, and local stability of the equilibrium points. The operator’s numerical approach was put into practice to obtain a numerical simulation to back up the analytical conclusions. Fractional optimum controls were incorporated into the model to identify the most efficient intervention strategies for controlling the disease. Utilizing actual data from Ghana for the months of March 2020 to March 2021, the model is validated. The simulation’s results show that the fractional operator significantly affected each compartment and that the incidence rate of the population rose when

v
≥
0.6

. The examination of the most effective control technique discovered that social exclusion and vaccination were both very effective methods for halting the development of the illness.