bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF SEED INJURY IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINES
Authors: Nurullin Elmas , Fayzullin Renat
Published: August 2022

In agricultural machines, seeds are injured, which damages the crop: conditions are created for the development of harmful organisms during storage, field germination decreases. The relevance of the study of seed injury is caused by the need to improve technologies and designs of agricultural machines that reduce or eliminate seed damage. Currently, there are no studies to assess the change in the amount of grain injury over the entire production cycle. The purpose of this work is to establish the regularity of changes in grain injury in agricultural machines by stages of technology. On the basis of a specially developed end-to-end technique, the injury of wheat seeds of different varieties, differing in categories according to GOST R 52325-2005 “Varietal and sowing qualities of seeds of grain and leguminous plants” and their reproductive anatomical parts - endosperm, embryo, tuft, was experimentally investigated. A new concept of “degree of injury” is introduced and a formula for its calculation is proposed, which allows quantifying the amount of injury to grain seeds and their anatomical parts. It was revealed that the greatest injury occurs in combine harvesters, where the degree of injury is 36.1 ...44.2%. It is established that at each stage, regardless of the technology used, the complex of machines and equipment, the number of injured seeds increases: during post-harvest processing, taking into account the separation of part of the injured grains, which cannot be tracked by 0.1 ...3.3%; when removing from storage and final processing of seed material before etching by 5.0... 10.4%; in a etching machine with screw loading and unloading devices by 7.3 %; in a screw-type seed loader by 4.9%; in seeding machines of individual dosing and gravity feeding of seeds into coulters by 2.9...3.2%, and group dosing with pneumatic transport of the sown material by 4.4...4.7%. In the end, when entering the soil, the degree of injury to wheat seeds is in the range of 57.0 ... 61.4%. Of these, with injury to the endosperm – 51.7...58.4%, germ – 1.9...2.2%, tuft – 1.1…1.8%. The lowest values were obtained when using bags for loading sowing machines, instead of a screw loader of seeders.
Rumours in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia: 100 Days from the Life of an Occupied Country
Authors: Majewski Piotr M.
Published: August 2022

The article discusses rumours recorded by the German Security Service [Sicherheitsdienst, SD] in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia between 1 January and 10 April 1943. The author pursues quantitative and qualitative analysis and discusses rumours shared by Czech and German inhabitants of the country. The analysis results indicate that early 1943 saw a real crisis of confidence in the state and the Nazi regime among Germans living in the Protectorate. The Czech public opinion had likely reached a turning point, still highly afraid of German repressions, but also with a growing hope for the defeat of the Reich and a swift end to the war.
Occupation as Social Practice and Ambiguous Space: The Lives of Ludwik Hirszfeld and Jan Czochralski in Warsaw, 1939–44
Authors: Steffen Katrin
Published: August 2022

This article evaluates the situation of two renowned scientists in Poland, namely the microbiologist and serologist Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884–1954), and the metallurgist Jan Czochralski (1885–1953), during the time of the German occupation from 1939–45. Both scientists strove to continue their scientific work even under the conditions of occupation but faced substantially different treatment by the occupiers: Hirszfeld was forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto, while Czochralski was allowed to stay in his home and work at the former Technical University of Warsaw. The article takes a comparative approach and will analyse the life situation of both scientists. This means looking at the limits of action for both scientists on one side, and on the other, at the room for manoeuvre, which, under the conditions of a brutal occupation, either emerged for the two of them or they actively created.
Extended Threshold Error Correction Model of economic growth in Israel
Authors: Osińska Magdalena , Gałecki Maciej , Boehlke Jerzy , Fałdziński Marcin , Khan Atif  Maqbool , Shachmurove Yochanan
Published: August 2022

The paper utilizes a comprehensive approach to threshold cointegration to analyse the Israeli per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth dynamics. The time-series data for the years 1980–2019 are taken. The study uses a two-regime threshold error correction model (TECM) to test short- and long-term growth factors. The results reveal that Research and Development (R&D) expenses measured as a percentage of GDP are the primary driving force in the long and short term. The threshold value of 3.25% of GDP exhibits a substantial difference between the two regimes corresponding to the development phases of the Israeli economy. The results are validated using various tests for threshold models. The general conclusion is that the applied hierarchical procedure for TECM model construction is robust and universal for modeling economic growth. The results allow the formulation of policy implications.
The role of participation in the development of the smart city idea: frameworks, opportunities, mechanisms
Authors: Lewandowska Agata , Chodkowska-Miszczuk Justyna
Published: August 2022

The progressing urbanisation process and its visible effects are prompting local authorities to seek new solutions to contemporary development challenges, especially those identified in post-socialist cities, including in Poland. Nowadays, the smart city concept is becoming widely popular. This idea is grounded in the principles of sustainable development in all spheres of socio-economic life. However, in a comprehensive approach, it moves away from its strictly technological definition towards the social context and local conditions. Nowadays, there are more and more instruments supporting social and civic activity of the inhabitants of Polish cities. One extremely popular mechanism is the participatory budget. In order to trace its importance in the implementation of the smart city concept, an empirical analysis was undertaken in Bydgoszcz (a medium-sized city in Poland). According to the research, the participatory budget is asymmetrical, with infrastructure investments dominating. Support is needed for pro-social activities and those activating residents. Therefore, the diversification of projects in the budget, including setting aside a pool of funds for pro-social and cross-district projects, should be viewed in a positive light.
Encounter as a Paradigm of Faith
Authors: Jasiński Karol
Published: August 2022

The author of the paper attempts to reflect critically on the encounter paradigm of faith. In his opinion, faith cannot be understood as an encounter, because man never meets a personal God directly, instead only having some experience of Him through another being. The two main reasons for this view stem from a reflection on the nature of encounter and of religious experience. The article consists of two main parts. The first part presents the concept of faith as an encounter against the background of the main ways of understanding faith (propositional and non-propositional). In the second part, the author offers a critique of the encounter paradigm of faith based on a reflection on the nature of encounter and of religious experience. Particular attention is paid to the essential features of encounter and religious experience.
Pilgrim Sites in the Methodist Church Ghana and the Concept of Communitas
Authors: Yalley Doris Ekua
Published: August 2022

The focus of this paper, the impact of the institutionalized pilgrimages of the Methodist Church Ghana (MCG), reckoned as a “Communitas” experience, affords Church Members an avenue for diverse religious experiences. Focus group discussions, interviews and participant observation were used to collect primary data from 134 respondents. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that visitors at the pilgrim sites experience healing, transformation and bonding, among other things. The communitas experiences have far reaching effects, but there is a need for education on the Church’s accepted practices at the pilgrim sites.
EDITORIAL
Authors: Giraldi Janaina De Moura Engracia , De Oliveira Jorge Henrique Caldeira
Published: August 2022

Editorial
FUNDOS DE INVESTIMENTOS EM AÇÕES NO BRASIL: ANÁLISE DE DESEMPENHO E SEUS DETERMINANTES
Authors: Bossan Victoria , Pimentel Renê Coppe
Published: August 2022

Este artigo analisa o desempenho de fundos de investimentos em ações no Brasil e investiga potenciais relações da performance dos fundos com seus respectivos tamanhos, idades, riscos (volatilidade total e beta), cobrança de taxa de performance e utilização de estratégias alavancadas de investimentos. Para tanto, utilizando as medidas de alfa e beta de Jensen, foram analisados 1.243 fundos, entre 1996 e 2019, resultando em 125.066 observações mensais. Os resultados sugerem que apenas 62% dos fundos superaram o benchmark de mercado no período. Já o desempenho dos fundos apresenta relação positiva e significativa com suas respectivas idades, tamanhos e a utilização de estratégias alavancadas. Em relação ao risco, documentaram-se relações negativas e significantes, o que, apesar de conflitante com a relação básica entre risco e retorno, sugere que, no período analisado e devido às elevadas taxas de juros, fundos com estratégias mais conservadoras por meio de maior alocação em ativos de renda fixa ou ações mais conservadoras tiveram, em média, retornos superiores.
BRAZILIAN PUBLICATIONS ON OUTSOURCING: BIBLIOMETRIC AND COOPERATION NETWORKS ANALYSIS
Authors: Soares Piccoli Marcella , Da Silva Leandra , Diehl Carlos Alberto
Published: August 2022

This research aimed to analyse the characteristics of scientific publications on the theme of outsourcing in Brazil through a bibliometric analysis and cooperation networks. The sample was composed of 268 articles and classified according to the year of publication, journal of publication, research method and number of citations. It was possible to verify that most publications were concentrated in the last ten years. The Bibliometric Laws analysis identified that most authors published just one article about outsourcing; 33% of publications are focused on 16 journals, and the word outsourcing is the most used as a keyword. The authors also identified that few researchers cooperate, and the relationship between authors is weak. The main contribution of the research is the compilation of more than 30 years of discussions. With coverage of a significant number of databases, the authors make a substantial contribution to future research by consolidating presently available information on the topic of outsourcing.
O ABSENTEÍSMO NAS INSTITUIÇÕES FEDERAIS DE ENSINO SUPERIOR: COMPOSIÇÃO DE UM RANKING DE EFICIÊNCIA
Authors: Mendes Nara Cristina Ferreira , Serrano André Luiz Marques , Ferreira Lucas Oliveira Gomes , Cavalcante Pedro Murce Menezes
Published: August 2022

Pesquisas estimam que a ausência não programada do trabalhador pode ser custoso para uma organização. Desta forma, o presente estudo possui o objetivo de identificar o impacto do absenteísmo na eficiência das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior (IFES’s). Para tratar a questão de pesquisa utilizou-se a Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA), com dados em painel para o período de 2008 a 2018. Diante do exposto, conclui-se que, sem considerar a variável interesse, das 100 instituições, 15% da amostra se destacaram como de referência para as demais. Já considerando a variável interesse, apenas 2% da amostra se mantiveram como referência. Sendo assim, o estudo concluiu que o absenteísmo impacta negativamente no desempenho das organizações. Compreender o absenteísmo possibilita a adoção de ações preventivas, aumentando o desempenho das organizações e, consequentemente, a oferta de serviços públicos, neste caso, educação para a sociedade.
DESPESA DE CAPITAL: UMA ANÁLISE SOBRE SEU IMPACTO NO CRESCIMENTO ECONÔMICO DOS MUNICÍPIOS MINEIROS NO PERÍODO DE 2009 A 2015
Authors: Wakim Vasconcelos Reis , Magalhães Elizete Aparecida de , Gomes Simaura Alves
Published: August 2022

Considerando que as Despesas Públicas se referem ao conjunto de gastos do governo com o objetivo de proporcionar o funcionamento e manutenção dos serviços prestados à sociedade, este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o impacto das despesas de capital no crescimento econômico dos municípios do estado de Minas Gerais, no período de 2009 a 2015. Para fins de estimação dos resultados, é utilizado o Modelo de Efeitos Aleatórios de Dados em Painel. Para a escolha do modelo, é rodado o teste de Hausman. As variáveis utilizadas são extraídas da Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional, Fundação João Pinheiro e Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. A partir dos dados obtidos, constata-se que as despesas de capital exercem influência positiva e significativa no crescimento econômico dos municípios mineiros, ou seja, a cada R$ 100,00 investidos em infraestrutura, o PIB do município tende a aumentar cerca de R$ 1,58. Evidencia-se, ainda, que despesas com pessoal e encargos, assistência social, saúde e saneamento influenciam positivamente no Produto Interno Bruto desses municípios. Dessa forma, é possível inferir que os gastos do governo, especialmente os referente às despesas de capital, são relevantes para promover o crescimento econômico dos municípios de Minas Gerais.
O EFEITO DA CORRUPÇÃO CORPORATIVA NO MERCADO DE CAPITAIS DOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DA AMÉRICA
Authors: Cavalcante Danival Sousa , Teodósio Igor Rodrigo Menezes , De Luca Marcia Martins Mendes , Góis Alan Diógenes
Published: August 2022

Fundamentado na Teoria da Sinalização, este estudo analisa o efeito da divulgação de casos de corrupção corporativa sobre o retorno anormal nos preços das ações das empresas que atuam no mercado de capitais dos Estados Unidos da América, quando da divulgação das primeiras denúncias em jornais e mídia especializada, e da sua efetiva condenação pela Securities and Exchange Commission por violação à Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Fez-se uso da técnica estudo de eventos e o contexto de análise compreende os eventos ocorridos em 2018. Os resultados evidenciaram que não houve sustentação estatística para generalizar um movimento de desvalorização na cotação das ações de empresas da amostra envolvidas em atos de corrupção, seja pela divulgação midiática de notícias anteriores, seja pela efetiva condenação das companhias. Entretanto, ocorreram movimentos aleatórios, em alguns casos significantes e noutros insignificantes, sugerindo que os investidores não reagem aos casos de corrupção, podendo isso ser reflexo de informações previsíveis por eles.
HEURÍSTICAS DA DISPONIBILIDADE E DA ANCORAGEM E AJUSTAMENTO NA QUALIDADE DA CONCILIAÇÃO CONTÁBIL
Authors: Ervilha Beatriz Caroline , Amaral Juliana Ventura , Russo Paschoal Tadeu
Published: August 2022

Os contadores estão sujeitos a variáveis comportamentais que podem influenciar a elaboração da informação contábil. Durante o processo de elaboração e evidenciação das demonstrações contábeis, os indivíduos podem fazer uso de atalhos mentais que reduzem o esforço cognitivo, as chamadas heurísticas. Esta pesquisa visou investigar os efeitos das heurísticas da disponibilidade e da ancoragem e ajustamento na qualidade da conciliação contábil. Foram coletados dados em uma indústria de cosméticos brasileira e desenvolvido um quase-experimento. Os resultados mostraram que os analistas estão sujeitos às heurísticas da disponibilidade e da ancoragem e ajustamento. Observou-se também que a qualidade da conciliação contábil é influenciada pelo tempo de experiência e pela faixa etária dos analistas. Com relação às contribuições ao mostrar que as heurísticas podem influenciar o processo de conciliação contábil, pode-se apontar necessidades de mitigações em tempo hábil, antes da divulgação da informação e do uso na tomada de decisão.
Point of Care Ultrasound Utility in the Setting of Chest Pain: A Case of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy
Authors:   Department of Medicine, University of Arizona - Tucson, Tucson, AZ USA, Ibrahim Ramzi , Takamatsu Chelsea , Ferreira João
Published: August 2022

Chest pain is a frequently encountered chief complaint in the Emergency Department and entails a broad differential. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can be utilized to guide diagnostic decision making and initial triaging. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy presents similarly to acute coronary syndrome and has characteristic findings on echocardiogram. This case presentation details a scenario of ST segment elevation on electrocardiogram and elevated high sensitivity troponin levels, worrisome for a ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Apical hypokinesis to akinesis and apical ballooning were appreciated on echocardiogram, raising suspicion for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, subsequently confirmed by coronary angiogram. A cardiac focused point-of-care ultrasound assessment can provide valuable information to aid in diagnostic accuracy.
Chinese Men's Practices of Intimacy, Embodiment and Kinship
Authors: Cao Siyang
Published: August 2022

This book explores Chinese young men’s views of manhood and how they construct and negotiate masculinities in everyday lives. Drawing from empirical research, it uses the term shenti (body-self) as a central concept to investigate the Chinese male body and explores masculinity within intimacy and kinship. The book proposes and develops a new concept of ‘elastic masculinity’ which can be stretched and forged differently depending on the context. At the same time, the men’s masculinity formation is constrained by the availability of resources, structural constraints, cultural traditions and diverse personal relationships. The book showcases how Chinese masculinities reflect the resilience of Confucian notions as well as transnational ideas of modern manhood. By doing so, it prioritizes local knowledge while setting the scene in a global framework. The book provides a unique dialogue with ‘western’ discourse on masculinity, and a timely study of how ordinary men actively engage with China’s global modernity, increasing individualisation, shifting gender values and changing local realities.
Underwater optical guiding and communication solution for the AUV and
seafloor node
Authors: Chen Yanhu , Duan Zhiyong , Zheng Fangzhou , Guo Yuteng , Xia Qingchao
Published: August 2022

In this paper, an optical guiding and docking scheme is designed, and a node integrating laser positioning guidance and communication functions is developed. Through experiments, it is verified that the laser docking system has the function of guiding and communicating the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with the support of the seabed observation network. It can provide two-dimensional position information for underwater platforms to navigate the media to sea network nodes and enable visual contact between them. The integrated terminals are small enough (6 cm in diameter) to be installed on small underwater platforms, such as AUVs. To safely work at a depth of thousands of meters, the devices have cylindrical shapes rather than spherical shapes. However, the cylindrical shell confines the view angle of the receiver. An optical system and a photodiode array are adopted to enlarge the cylindrical-shaped receiver’s view angle. The positioning algorithm is designed based on the optical lens system and the photodiode array. In a small-pool experiment, this system is tested to achieve a data rate of 1 Mbit/s at a distance of 4 m. Positioning algorithms are also confirmed preliminarily in the small-pool experiment, and the error of the positioning algorithm is discussed.
Excitation of surface plasmon polaritons by diffraction-free and vector beams
Authors: Diouf Mbaye , Burrow Joshua A. , Krishna Krishangi , Odessey Rachel , Abouraddy Ayman F. , Toussaint Kimani C.
Published: August 2022

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are traditionally excited by plane
waves within the Rayleigh range of a focused transverse-magnetic (TM)
Gaussian beam. Here we investigate and confirm the coupling between
SPPs and two-dimensional Gaussian and Bessel–Gauss wave packets, as
well as one-dimensional light sheets and space-time wave packets. We
encode the incoming wavefronts with spatially varying states of
polarization; then we couple the respective TM components of radial
and azimuthal vector beam profiles to confirm polarization-correlation
and spatial-mode selectivity. Our results do not require material
optimization or multi-dimensional confinement via periodically
corrugated metal surfaces to achieve coupling at a greater extent,
hereby outlining a pivotal, yet commonly overlooked, path towards the
development of long-range biosensors and all-optical integrated
plasmonic circuits.
Multilayer diffractive optical element material selection method based
on transmission, total internal reflection, and thickness
Authors: Laborde Victor , Loicq Jérôme , Hastanin Juriy , Habraken Serge
Published: August 2022

The polychromatic integral diffraction
efficiency (PIDE) metric is
generally used to select the most suitable materials for multilayer
diffractive optical elements (MLDOEs). However, this method is based
on the thin element approximation, which yields inaccurate results in
the case of thick diffractive elements such as MLDOEs. We propose a
new material selection approach, to the best of our knowledge, based
on three metrics: transmission, total internal reflection, and the
optical component’s total thickness. This approach, called “geometric
optics material selection method” (GO-MSM), is tested in mid-wave and
long-wave infrared bands. Finite-difference time-domain is used to
study the optical performance (Strehl ratio) of the “optimal” MLDOE
combinations obtained with the PIDE metric and the GO-MSM. Only the
proposed method can provide MLDOE designs that perform. This study
also shows that an MLDOE gap filled with a low index material (air)
strongly degrades the image quality.
Diffraction characteristics of orthogonal gratings analysis based on a spatial light modulator
Authors: Zhai Zhongsheng , Li Qinyang , Yu Xin , Zeng Zhen , Lv Qinghua , Feng Wei , Xiong Zhi , Wang Xuanze
Published: August 2022

The diffraction characteristics of orthogonal gratings with variable duty cycles and phase modulation depths are analyzed by using a spatial light modulator. The calculation methods of the transmission function, far-field diffraction light field, and diffraction efficiency of orthogonal gratings are deduced in theory. Meanwhile, the influences of the duty cycle and phase modulation depth on the diffraction characteristics of the orthogonal grating are discussed. The simulation and experimental results verify the correctness of the theoretical derivation. This method can be widely used in the fields of an optical vortex array, laser parallel processing, optical computing, optical communication, and optoelectronic hybrid processing.
Enhancement of the frequency conversion film imaging effect based on a cascade material fusion method
Authors: Zhou Jianwei , Cai Hongxing , Ren Yu , Li Shuang , Jiang Chunxu , Lv Zhong , Wang Tingting , Qu Guannan , Tan Yong , Shi Jing , Xin Minsi , Miao Xinhui , Liu Quansheng
Published: August 2022

Frequency conversion imaging technology can provide an effective way for infrared detection against the limitations of conventional infrared detectors, such as expense and cooling requirements, but the converted luminescence intensity of frequency conversion materials limits the application of this technology. In this paper, a cascade material (CM) fusion method is proposed to improve the conversion luminous intensity and thus enhance the frequency conversion imaging effect at 1550 nm near infrared (NIR) excitation. First, we derived from the energy level transition mechanism of CM that the CM fusion method can achieve three excitations of substrate materials (SMs). It can improve the conversion luminescence intensity of SM in CM. Then, we experimentally prepared CM and SM films and simultaneously measured the frequency conversion imaging effect of the two films at 1550 nm NIR excitation. It was found that the weight ratio of doped material (DM) to SM affects the imaging enhancement of CM films. Therefore, we compared the imaging grayscale value intensity of CM films with different weight ratios under the same detection conditions. Finally, it was concluded that the best enhancement of frequency conversion imaging was achieved with a DM to SM weight ratio of 0.25 for this mechanism. The enhancement was about 3.11 times compared to SM films.
White blood cell classification via a discriminative region detection assisted feature aggregation network
Authors: Jiang Lei , Tang Chang , Zhou Hua
Published: August 2022

White blood cell (WBC) classification plays an important role in human pathological diagnosis since WBCs will show different appearance when they fight with various disease pathogens. Although many previous white blood cell classification have been proposed and earned great success, their classification accuracy is still significantly affected by some practical issues such as uneven staining, boundary blur and nuclear intra-class variability. In this paper, we propose a deep neural network for WBC classification via discriminative region detection assisted feature aggregation (DRFA-Net), which can accurately locate the WBC area to boost final classification performance. Specifically, DRFA-Net uses an adaptive feature enhancement module to refine multi-level deep features in a bilateral manner for efficiently capturing both high-level semantic information and low-level details of WBC images. Considering the fact that background areas could inevitably produce interference, we design a network branch to detect the WBC area with the supervision of segmented ground truth. The bilaterally refined features obtained from two directions are finally aggregated for final classification, and the detected WBC area is utilized to highlight the features of discriminative regions by an attention mechanism. Extensive experiments on several public datasets are conducted to validate that our proposed DRFA-Net can obtain higher accuracies when compared with other state-of-the-art WBC classification methods.
In situ measurement of the stiffness increase in the posterior sclera after UV-riboflavin crosslinking by optical coherence elastography
Authors: Vinas-Pena Maria , Feng Xu , Li Guo-yang , Yun Seok-Hyun
Published: August 2022

Scleral crosslinking may provide a way to prevent or treat myopia by
stiffening scleral tissues. The ability to measure the stiffness of
scleral tissues in situ pre and post scleral
crosslinking would be useful but has not been established. Here, we
tested the feasibility of optical coherence elastography (OCE) to
measure shear modulus of scleral tissues and evaluate the impact of
crosslinking on different posterior scleral regions using ex
vivo porcine eyes as a model. From measured elastic wave
speeds at 6 - 16 kHz, we obtained out-of-plane shear modulus value of
0.71 ± 0.12 MPa (n = 20) for
normal porcine scleral tissues. After riboflavin-assisted UV
crosslinking, the shear modulus increased to
1.50 ± 0.39 MPa (n = 20).
This 2-fold change was consistent with the increase of static
Young’s modulus from 5.5 ± 1.1 MPa to
9.3 ± 1.9 MPa after crosslinking, which we
measured using conventional uniaxial extensometry on tissue stripes.
OCE revealed regional stiffness differences across the temporal,
nasal, and deeper posterior sclera. Our results show the potential of
OCE as a noninvasive tool to evaluate the effect of scleral
crosslinking.
Performance of rectangular QAM/FSO communication systems in the anisotropic non-Kolmogorov ground-to-satellite uplink
Authors: Zhai Chao
Published: August 2022

Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is an exciting technology to accomplish a high communication data rate without increasing the system bandwidth, which can undoubtedly greatly improve the performance of free-space optical (FSO) communication systems. With the increase of experimental and theoretical results about atmospheric turbulence, scientists have confirmed that the anisotropy and non-Kolmogorov property cannot be ignored for atmospheric turbulence. In this paper, utilizing the new anisotropic non-Kolmogorov (ANK) turbulence spectrum models for the satellite links that are applicable to both vertical and slant links, we derive the average bit error rate (BER) expression of rectangular QAM for a Gaussian-beam transmission through the weak ANK ground-to-satellite uplink under the influences of both scintillation and beam wander. Numerical results display that, when the zenith angle is less than a certain angle, the average BER of the ground-to-satellite uplink decays with the enhancement of the anisotropic factor, but while the zenith angle is greater than the certain angle, the contrary trend will occur. Our work will benefit the design optimization of QAM/FSO communication systems in ANK satellite links.
Nine quick tips for pathway enrichment analysis
Authors: Chicco Davide , Agapito Giuseppe
Published: August 2022

Pathway enrichment analysis (PEA) is a computational biology method that identifies biological functions that are overrepresented in a group of genes more than would be expected by chance and ranks these functions by relevance. The relative abundance of genes pertinent to specific pathways is measured through statistical methods, and associated functional pathways are retrieved from online bioinformatics databases. In the last decade, along with the spread of the internet, higher availability of computational resources made PEA software tools easy to access and to use for bioinformatics practitioners worldwide. Although it became easier to use these tools, it also became easier to make mistakes that could generate inflated or misleading results, especially for beginners and inexperienced computational biologists. With this article, we propose nine quick tips to avoid common mistakes and to out a complete, sound, thorough PEA, which can produce relevant and robust results. We describe our nine guidelines in a simple way, so that they can be understood and used by anyone, including students and beginners. Some tips explain what to do before starting a PEA, others are suggestions of how to correctly generate meaningful results, and some final guidelines indicate some useful steps to properly interpret PEA results. Our nine tips can help users perform better pathway enrichment analyses and eventually contribute to a better understanding of current biology.
Joint External Evaluation scores and communicable disease deaths: An ecological study on the difference between epidemics and pandemics
Authors: Jain Vageesh , Sharp Ashley , Neilson Matthew , Bausch Daniel G. , Beaney Thomas
Published: August 2022

The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) assesses national capacities to implement the International Health Regulations (IHR). Previous studies have found that higher JEE scores are associated with fewer communicable disease deaths. But given the impact of COVID-19 in many countries, including those believed to have developed IHR capacities, the validity of the JEE for pandemic preparedness has been questioned. We constructed univariable and multivariable linear regression models to investigate the relationship between JEE scores and i) deaths from communicable diseases before the pandemic and ii) deaths from COVID-19. We adjusted for country differences in age, health system access, national wealth, health expenditure, democratic governance, government restrictions, pre-pandemic tourist arrivals and testing capacity (estimated by test positivity rates). For COVID-19 deaths, we calculated cumulative deaths per 100,000 at 3, 6 and 12 months into the pandemic. A total of 91 countries were included, with a median JEE score of 50%. On multivariable linear regression the association between JEE scores and log COVID-19 deaths was significant and positive at 3 months (β 0.05, p = 0.02), becoming statistically non-significant, at 6 (β 0.02, p = 0.27) and 12 months (β -0.03, p = 0.19), while the association with log communicable disease deaths was significant and negative (β -0.03, p = 0.003). A higher Stringency Index was significantly associated with higher log COVID-19 deaths at 3 (β 0.04, p = 0.003) and 6 (β 0.04, p = 0.001) months, but not at 12 months (β 0.02, p = 0.08). Higher test positivity rates were associated with higher log COVID-19 deaths at all time points, at least partially attenuating the positive association between Stringency Index and log COVID-19 deaths. While universal health coverage indices (β -0.04 p<0.001) and international tourist arrivals were associated with log communicable disease deaths (β 0.02, p = 0.002), they were not associated with log COVID-19 deaths. Although the same tool is used to assess capacities for both epidemics and pandemics, the JEE may be better suited to small outbreaks of known diseases, compared to pandemics of unknown pathogens.
Current clinical practice in managing somatosensory impairments and the use of technology in stroke rehabilitation
Authors: Sidarta Ananda , Lim Yu Chin , Wong Russell A. , Tan Isaac O. , Kuah Christopher Wee Keong , Ang Wei Tech
Published: August 2022

Stroke-induced somatosensory impairments seem to be clinically overlooked, despite their prevalence and influence on motor recovery post-stroke. Interest in technology has been gaining traction over the past few decades as a promising method to facilitate stroke rehabilitation. This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study aimed to identify current clinical practice and perspectives on the management of somatosensory impairments post-stroke and the use of technology in assessing outcome measures and providing intervention. Participants were 132 physiotherapists and occupational therapists currently working with stroke patients in public hospitals and rehabilitation centres in Singapore. It was found that the majority (64.4%) of the therapists spent no more than half of the time per week on somatosensory interventions. Functional or task-specific training was the primary form of intervention applied to retrain somatosensory functions in stroke survivors. Standardised assessments (43.2%) were used less frequently than non-standardised assessments (97.7%) in clinical practice, with the sensory subscale of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment being the most popular outcome measure, followed by the Nottingham Sensory Assessment. While the adoption of technology for assessment was relatively scarce, most therapists (87.1%) reported that they have integrated technology into intervention. There was a common agreement that proprioception is an essential component in stroke rehabilitation, and that robotic technology combined with conventional therapy is effective in enhancing stroke rehabilitation, particularly for retraining proprioception. Most therapists identified price, technology usability, and lack of available space as some of the biggest barriers to integrating robotic technology in stroke rehabilitation. Standardised assessments and interventions targeting somatosensory functions should be more clearly delineated in clinical guidelines. Although therapists were positive about technology-based rehabilitation, obstacles that make technology integration challenging ought to be addressed.
A scoping review of Do-It-Yourself Automated Insulin Delivery system (DIY AID) use in people with type 1 diabetes
Authors: Morrison Amy E. , Chong Kimberley , Senior Peter A. , Lam Anna
Published: August 2022

Introduction

User designed Automated Insulin Delivery systems (AID), termed Do-It-Yourself (DIY) AID include; AndroidAPS, OpenAPS and Loop. These unregulated systems provide challenges for healthcare providers worldwide, with potential legal and ethical barriers to supporting their use. We performed a scoping review of the currently available literature surrounding DIY AID systems, specifically to highlight the evidence available to facilitate healthcare providers to support persons with diabetes who may benefit from DIY AID.

Methods

Studies relating to DIY AID systems were searched in Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, Proquest and Cochrane library until 31st December 2021. Publications were screened through title and abstract to identify study type and AID system type described. A thematic synthesis methodology was used for analysis of studies of DIY AID use due to the heterogeneity in study designs (case reports, qualitative, cross-sectional and cohort studies), with similarity in outcome themes.

Results

Following implementation of the search strategy, 38 relevant full texts were identified; comprising 12 case reports, 9 qualitative studies and 17 cohort studies, and data was also available from 24 relevant conference abstracts. No randomized studies were identified. Common themes were identified in the outcomes across the studies; glycemic variability, safety, quality of life, healthcare provider attitudes and social media.

Conclusion

There is extensive real-world data, but a lack of randomized control trial evidence supporting DIY AID system use, due to the user-driven, unregulated nature of these systems. Healthcare providers report a lack of understanding surrounding, and confidence in supporting, DIY AID despite impressive observational and user self-reported improvements in glycemic variability, without any reported safety compromises.
CTG-Net: Cross-task guided network for breast ultrasound diagnosis
Authors: Yang Kaiwen , Suzuki Aiga , Ye Jiaxing , Nosato Hirokazu , Izumori Ayumi , Sakanashi Hidenori
Published: August 2022

Deep learning techniques have achieved remarkable success in lesion segmentation and classification between benign and malignant tumors in breast ultrasound images. However, existing studies are predominantly focused on devising efficient neural network-based learning structures to tackle specific tasks individually. By contrast, in clinical practice, sonographers perform segmentation and classification as a whole; they investigate the border contours of the tissue while detecting abnormal masses and performing diagnostic analysis. Performing multiple cognitive tasks simultaneously in this manner facilitates exploitation of the commonalities and differences between tasks. Inspired by this unified recognition process, this study proposes a novel learning scheme, called the cross-task guided network (CTG-Net), for efficient ultrasound breast image understanding. CTG-Net integrates the two most significant tasks in computerized breast lesion pattern investigation: lesion segmentation and tumor classification. Further, it enables the learning of efficient feature representations across tasks from ultrasound images and the task-specific discriminative features that can greatly facilitate lesion detection. This is achieved using task-specific attention models to share the prediction results between tasks. Then, following the guidance of task-specific attention soft masks, the joint feature responses are efficiently calibrated through iterative model training. Finally, a simple feature fusion scheme is used to aggregate the attention-guided features for efficient ultrasound pattern analysis. We performed extensive experimental comparisons on multiple ultrasound datasets. Compared to state-of-the-art multi-task learning approaches, the proposed approach can improve the Dice’s coefficient, true-positive rate of segmentation, AUC, and sensitivity of classification by 11%, 17%, 2%, and 6%, respectively. The results demonstrate that the proposed cross-task guided feature learning framework can effectively fuse the complementary information of ultrasound image segmentation and classification tasks to achieve accurate tumor localization. Thus, it can aid sonographers to detect and diagnose breast cancer.
Effect of right hemispheric damage on structured spoken conversation
Authors: Kim Yeo Jin , Jeong Hye Yeong , Choi Hui-Chul , Sohn Jong-Hee , Kim Chulho , Lee Sang-Hwa , Shin Joon Soo , Chin So Ra , Lee Yoon Kyoung , Oh So Jung , Yoon Ji Hye
Published: August 2022

Patients with right hemisphere damage (RHD) occasionally complain of difficulties in conversation. A conversation is a type of communication between the speaker and listener, and several elements are required for a conversation to take place. However, it is unclear which of those elements affect communication in patients with RHD. Therefore, we prospectively enrolled 11 patients with right hemispheric damage due to acute cerebral infarction, within 1 week of onset. To evaluate patients’ conversational abilities, we used a structured conversation task, namely, the “Hallym Conversation and Pragmatics Protocol”. The topics of conversation were “family”, “leisure”, and “other/friends”. The conversation characteristics were classified according to three indices: the “conversational participation index”, “topic manipulation index”, and “conversational breakdown index”. Patients with RHD were compared with 11 age-, sex-, and years of education-matched healthy adults. The most common site of damage in the patients with RHD was the periventricular white matter. There was no significant difference in performance between the two groups according to the conversation participation index and in the discontinuance rate assessed with the conversational breakdown index. However, patients with RHD showed a lower topic maintenance rate and higher topic initiation and topic switching rates, according to the topic manipulation index. Therefore, we explored the characteristics of impaired conversation abilities in patients with RHD by assessing their ability to converse and manage topics during structured conversations, and found difficulties with pragmatics and communication discourse in these patients.
Gender, caste, and heterogeneous farmer preferences for wheat varietal traits in rural India
Authors: Krishna Vijesh V. , Veettil Prakashan C.
Published: August 2022

The research on crop genetic enhancement has created a continuous flow of new, improved germplasm for the benefit of farmers and consumers of the Global South during and after the Green Revolution. Understanding farmers’ heterogeneous preferences for varietal traits in different market segments and incorporating the prominent ones in crop breeding programs are expected to facilitate a faster diffusion of these new varieties. Albeit knowing little about farmers’ trait preferences in South Asia, public-sector breeding programs prioritize yield enhancement and risk reduction over other varietal traits. Against this backdrop, we examined wheat farmers’ preferences for varietal traits in Central India, where the prevailing varietal turnover rate has been meager. We conducted a ranking exercise among 120 individuals, followed by a sex-disaggregated survey with a choice experiment among 420 farm-households in 2019. The lowest varietal turnover rate was observed for the socially marginalized castes. Most women respondents were not actively involved in making decisions related to wheat cultivation, including varietal selection. However, the results indicate that marginalized caste and women farmers are open to experimentation with new varieties, as shown by their positive willingness to pay for improved varietal traits. Across the gender and caste groups, grain quality attributes (especiallychapatiquality) were ranked high, above the yield-enhancing and risk-ameliorating traits. From the observed patterns, one could deduce that developing and disseminating improved varieties with better grain quality and targeting women and marginalized social groups in varietal dissemination programs could enhance farmer adoption of new, improved germplasm and wheat productivity in Central India.
Low-dose abdominopelvic computed tomography in patients with lymphoma: An image quality and radiation dose reduction study
Authors: Yoon Sungjin , Yoo Kwai Han , Park So Hyun , Kim Hawk , Lee Jae Hoon , Park Jinny , Park Seong Ho , Kim Hwa Jung
Published: August 2022

This study aimed to evaluate image quality, the detection rate of enlarged lymph nodes, and radiation dose exposure of ultralow-dose and low-dose abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) in patients with lymphoma. Patients with lymphoma who underwent abdominopelvic CT using dual-source scanner were retrospectively recruited from a single center. CT images were obtained at 90 kVp dual-source mode reformatted in three data sets using the advanced modelled iterative reconstruction algorithm: 100% (standard-dose CT), 66.7% (low-dose CT), and 33.3% (ultralow-dose CT). Two radiologists analyzed subjective image quality and detection of abdominal enlarged lymph nodes on ultralow-dose, low-dose, and standard-dose CT blindly and independently. The results were compared with reference standards. Three readers (two radiologists and one hematologist) reviewed overall image quality and spleen size. In total, 128 consecutive CT scans (77 complete response, 44 partial response, 6 progressive disease, and 1 initial evaluation) from 86 patients (64 B-cell lymphoma, 14 T/NK-cell lymphoma, and 8 Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases) were assessed. The enlarged lymph node-based detection rates for two readers were 97.0% (96/99) and 94.0% (93/99) on standard-dose CT, 97.0% (96/99) and 94.0% (93/99) on low-dose CT, and 94.0% (93/99) and 89.9% (89/99) on ultralow-dose CT. Overall image quality was 3.8 ± 0.5, 3.9 ± 0.5, and 4.1 ± 0.5 on ultralow-dose CT; 4.7 ± 0.4, 4.6 ± 0.5, and 4.8 ± 0.3 on low-dose CT; and 4.8 ± 0.4, 4.7 ± 0.4, and 4.9 ± 0.2 on standard-dose CT, according to two radiologists and one hematologist, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients of spleen size were 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87–0.93), 0.91 (95% CI, 0.88–0.93), and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.88–0.93) on ultralow-dose, low-dose, and standard-dose CT, respectively. Mean effective radiation doses of standard-dose, low-dose, and ultralow-dose CT were 5.7 ±1.8 mSv, 3.8 ± 1.2 mSv, and 1.9 ± 0.6 mSv, respectively. Our findings suggest that ultralow-dose and low-dose CT, even with radiation doses reduced by 66.7% and 33.3%, respectively, maintained adequate image quality. These imaging modalities may be employed for follow-up lymphoma evaluation in consideration of the long surveillance periods.
Exosome mediated Tom40 delivery protects against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress by regulating mitochondrial function
Authors: Sayeed Nasif , Sugaya Kiminobu
Published: August 2022

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of neurodegeneration. The expression level of Tom40, a crucial mitochondrial membrane protein, is significantly reduced in neurodegenerative disease subjects. Tom40 overexpression studies have shown to protect the neurons against oxidative stress by improving mitochondrial function. Thus, successful delivery of Tom40 protein to the brain could lead to a novel therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. However, delivering protein to the cell may be difficult. Especially the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a big hurdle to clear in order to deliver the protein to the brain. In the current study, we engineered exosomes, which are the extracellular vesicles of endosomal origin, and able to cross BBB as delivery vehicles packing human Tom40. We found Tom40 protein delivery by the exosome successfully protected the cells against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress. This result suggests that exosome-mediated delivery of Tom40 may potentially be useful in restoring mitochondrial functions and alleviating oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.