bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
First Results after Implantation of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Trifocal Intraocular Lenses: Visual and Optical Performance
Authors: Poyales Francisco , Pérez Ricardo , López-Brea Israel , Zhou Ying , Garzón Nuria
Published: December 2021

Purpose. To compare postcataract surgery visual and optical performance between two trifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) with the same optical design: a hydrophobic acrylic glistening-free IOL and a hydrophilic acrylic IOL. Methods. Patients were bilaterally implanted with either the hydrophobic or the hydrophilic IOL. The data of the patients’ right eyes were evaluated. Visual quality assessments included refractive outcomes, monocular visual acuity (VA) at far, intermediate, and near distances, defocus curve, aberrations (spherical aberration (SA)), root mean square (RMS) of corneal, internal, and total higher-order aberrations (HOAs)), and tilt of IOL. Results. Fifty-one patients were included in the analysis: 26 patients implanted with the hydrophobic IOL and 25 patients implanted with the hydrophilic IOL. At 1 month, no statistically significant differences were found for monocular uncorrected and corrected VA at distance, distance-corrected VA at intermediate and near, defocus curve, manifest spherical equivalent, total SA, and RMS of the total, internal, and corneal HOA. The defocus curve of both groups showed a visual acuity of 0.3 logMAR or better in the intermediate range from 0.5 to −2.5 D of vergence level with no significant differences between the groups. Compared to the hydrophilic group, y-direction tilt was significantly higher in the hydrophobic group (

p
=
0.027

). The total tilt and x-axis tilt did not differ between the groups. Conclusion. Both IOLs demonstrated an excellent quality of vision and provided the patient with a wide range of vision.
Secrecy Capacity of Time Reversal Beamforming for Multi-User MIMO System under Spatial Correlation
Authors: He Bingyan , Sun Tao , Li Chuanmu , Huang Xingwang
Published: December 2021

In this paper, for strengthening the security of wireless transmission system, the time reversal (TR) beamforming method is proposed for the downlink of multi-user MIMO system with multiple users who potentially act as eavesdroppers. We develop a multi-input, single-output, multi-eavesdropper (MISOME) wiretap channel model in which Rayleigh fading and spatial correlation are taken into account. Using the proposed model, we further analyze the confidentiality provided by TR beamforming and we use achievable secrecy rates as our performance metrics. In particular, we derive novel closed-formed expressions for the average secrecy-SINR and the mean secrecy sum-rate in order to characterize the influences of propagation conditions on network secrecy metrics. These expressions provide deeper insights into the impact of network interference on communication confidentiality. We find that TR beamforming can deliver the maximum secrecy capacity potential in uncorrelated Rayleigh channels and achieve perfect confidential communication without any extra secrecy cost. On the other hand, even weak inter-user correlation may cause a significant loss of achievable secrecy sum-rate and therefore result in high secrecy cost. But benefiting more from larger signal bandwidth and rich-scattering environment, the TR beamforming technique is still an attractive and cost-effective solution for low-power indoor applications.
[Retracted] Using Depth Cameras for Recognition and Segmentation of Hand Gestures
Authors: Alhamazani Khalid Twarish , Alshudukhi Jalawi , Alharbi Talal Saad , Aljaloud Saud , Meraf Zelalem
Published: December 2021

In recent years, in combination with technological advances, new paradigms of interaction with the user have emerged. This has motivated the industry to create increasingly powerful and accessible natural user interface devices. In particular, depth cameras have achieved high levels of user adoption. These devices include the Microsoft Kinect, the Intel RealSense, and the Leap Motion Controller. This type of device facilitates the acquisition of data in human activity recognition. Hand gestures can be static or dynamic, depending on whether they present movement in the image sequences. Hand gesture recognition enables human‐computer interaction (HCI) system developers to create more immersive, natural, and intuitive experiences and interactions. However, this task is not easy. That is why, in the academy, this problem has been addressed using machine learning techniques. The experiments carried out have shown very encouraging results indicating that the choice of this type of architecture allows obtaining an excellent efficiency of parameters and prediction times. It should be noted that the tests are carried out on a set of relevant data from the area. Based on this, the performance of this proposal is analysed about different scenarios such as lighting variation or camera movement, different types of gestures, and sensitivity or bias by people, among others. In this article, we will look at how infrared camera images can be used to segment, classify, and recognise one‐handed gestures in a variety of lighting conditions. A standard webcam was modified, and an infrared filter was added to the lens to create the infrared camera. The scene was illuminated by additional infrared LED structures, allowing it to be used in various lighting conditions.
Perceptual Image Hashing Based on Multitask Neural Network
Authors: Xiong Cheng , Liu Enli , Li Xinran , Yao Heng , Zhang Lei , Qin Chuan
Published: December 2021

With the advent of the era of multimedia and in-depth development, the whole human society has been produced and spread a huge amount of image data, but at the same time, in view of the digital image and tamper with the attack of piracy phenomenon also more and more serious, malicious attacks will produce serious social, military, and political influence, therefore, to protect the authenticity of the original image content, which is also more and more important. In order to further improve the performance of image hashing and enhance the protection of image data, we proposed an end-to-end dual-branch multitask neural network based on VGG-19 to produce a perceptual hash sequence and used prepart of network of pretrained VGG-19 model to extract image features, and then, the image features are transformed into a hash sequence through a convolutional and fully connected network. At the same time, in order to enhance the function of the network and improve the adaptability of the proposed network to using scenarios, the rest part of the network layer of the VGG-19 model was used as another branch for image classification, so as to realize the multitask characteristics of the network. Through the experiment of the testing set, the network can not only resist many kinds of attack operations (content retention operations), but also realize accurate classification about the image, and has a satisfactory tampering detection ability.
Apolipoprotein B/A1 Ratio Is Associated with Severity of Coronary Artery Stenosis in CAD Patients but Not in Non-CAD Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Authors: Hua Rui , Li Yijun , Li Wenyuan , Wei Zhen , Yuan Zuyi , Zhou Juan
Published: December 2021

Background and Aims. Lipid metabolism plays important roles in atherosclerosis. Several studies have found that lipoprotein is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and hyperlipidemia. Although the roles of the apolipoprotein B/A1 ratio (ApoB/A1) were originally thought to be atherosclerotic, few studies have focused on the specific relationship between ApoB/A1 and severity of coronary artery stenosis with or without the presence of CAD. Methods. A total of 6956 consecutive patients aged 21–98 years with suspected CAD who had undergone coronary angiography were enrolled. The severity of coronary lesions was evaluated using the Gensini score (GS). The relationships between ApoB/A1 and severity of coronary artery stenosis were evaluated. Results. A total of 1795 non-CAD patients and 5161 CAD patients were included in the observational analysis. Patients with CAD had higher ApoB/A1 than individuals without CAD (0.67 (0.53-0.82) vs. 0.61 (0.49-0.75),

p
<
0.001

). In CAD patients, the higher the ApoB/A1 was, the higher the proportion of patients with MI, triple-vessel lesions, and higher Gensini scores. ApoB/A1 was significantly positively correlated with HbA1c and Gensini scores in CAD patients but not in non-CAD patients (all

p
<
0.001

). Logistic analyses showed that ApoB/A1 could be a risk factor for multivessel disease (OR: 2.768, 95% CI: 1.868-4.103,

p
<
0.001

). ApoB/A1 was found to be significantly positively correlated with the Gensini score in CAD patients. Conclusions. ApoB/A1 is highly associated with the presence and severity of coronary artery stenosis in patients with CAD but not in non-CAD patients.
Improving Anticompression Robustness of JPEG Adaptive Steganography Based on Robustness Measurement and DCT Block Selection
Authors: Fu Haocheng , Zhao Xianfeng , He Xiaolei
Published: December 2021

With the development of the Internet, social network platforms (SNPs) have become the most common channel for image sharing. As a result, transmitting stego images in the public channels gives steganographers the best opportunity to transmit secret messages with behavioral security preserved. However, the SNPs typically compress uploaded images and damage the weak signal of steganography. In this study, a robust JPEG steganographic scheme based on robustness measurement and cover block selection (CBSRS) is proposed. We first design a deep learning-based model to fit the blockwise change rate of coefficients after JPEG recompression. Then, a cover block selection strategy is proposed to improve the robustness by optimizing the joint distortion function of transmission costs and classic costs. Moreover, by embedding indicator of cover block selection in chrominance channels of JPEG images, a shareable cover construction scheme is designed to solve the problem of auxiliary information transmission. The experimental results show that our proposed framework improves robustness while maintaining statistical security. Comparing with state-of-the-art methods, the framework achieves better performance under given recompression channels.
TC-PSLAP: Temporal Credential-Based Provably Secure and Lightweight Authentication Protocol for IoT-Enabled Drone Environments
Authors: Ali Zeeshan , Alzahrani Bander A. , Barnawi Ahmed , Al-Barakati Abdullah , Vijayakumar Pandi , Chaudhry Shehzad Ashraf
Published: December 2021

In smart cities, common infrastructures are merged and integrated with various components of information communication and technology (ICT) to be coordinated and controlled. Drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) are amongst those components, and when coordinated with each other and with the environment, the drones form an Internet of Drones (IoD). The IoD provides real-time data to the users in smart cities by utilizing traditional cellular networks. However, the delicate data gathered by drones are subject to many security threats and give rise to numerous privacy and security issues. A robust and secure authentication scheme is required to allow drones and users to authenticate and establish a session key. In this article, we proposed a provably secure symmetric-key and temporal credential-based lightweight authentication protocol (TC-PSLAP) to secure the drone communication. We prove that the proposed scheme is provably secure formally through the automated verification tool AVISPA and Burrows–Abadi–Needham logic (BAN logic). Informal security analysis is also performed to depict that the proposed TC-PSLAP can resist known attacks.
Advertising Popularity Feature Collaborative Recommendation Algorithm Based on Attention-LSTM Model
Authors: Su Yang , Kong Xiangwei , Liu Guobao
Published: December 2021

To accurately predict the click-through rate (CTR) and use it for ad recommendation, we propose a deep attention AD popularity prediction model (DAFCT) based on label recommendation technology and collaborative filtering method, which integrates content features and temporal information. First, we construct an Attention-LSTM model to capture the popularity trends and exploit the temporal information based on users’ feedback; finally, we use the concatenate method to fuse temporal information and content features and design a Deep Attention Popularity Prediction (DAVPP) algorithm to solve DAFCT. We experimentally adjust the weighted composite similarity metric parameters of Query pages and verify the scalability of the algorithm. Experimental results on the KDDCUP2012 dataset show that this model collaborative filtering and recommendation algorithm has better scalability and better recommendation quality. Compared with the Attention-LSTM model and the NFM model, the F1 score of DAFCT is improved by 9.80 and 3.07 percentage points, respectively.
Molecular taxonomy and description of a new species of Limnodrilus (Naididae, Clitellata, Annelida) in China
Authors: ZHOU TINGTING , PENG YU , WANG HONGZHU , ERSÉUS CHRISTER , CUI YONGDE
Published: December 2021

The freshwater annelid worm genus Limnodrilus, including the widely distributed L. claparedianus Ratzel, 1868, is common in Chinese freshwater ecosystems. One species, previously recognized as morphologically intermediate between L. claparedianus and the North American taxon L. cervix Brinkhurst, 1963, is here described as a new species, L. paraclaparedianus Zhou & Cui n. sp., using both molecular and traditional taxonomy. Comparisons of sequences of the Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) mtDNA in a sample of Limnodrilus species showed that the distances between species were generally higher than the divergences within them. Phylogenetic analysis of COI as well as 16S mtDNA and Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) nDNA confirmed that the new species is an independent lineage. Moreover, morphological differences in the prostomium, characteristics of the chaetae and internal genitalia support the separation of the species.
Three new species of Metrocoris Mayr, 1865 (Heteroptera: Gerridae) from India and establishment of species groups
Authors: JEHAMALAR E. EYARIN , DASH SWETAPADMA
Published: December 2021

Three new species of Metrocoris, namely Metrocoris issaci sp. nov., Metrocoris josephi sp. nov. and Metrocoris latus sp. nov., are described from Meghalaya, India. Four new species groups are recognised in Metrocoris, namely the Metrocoris coxalis group, Metrocoris latus group, Metrocoris monticola group and Metrocoris nepalensis group. All except the M. latus group are erected from the M. compar group. Metrocoris issaci sp. nov. and M. josephi sp. nov. belong to the M. coxalis group and M. latus sp. nov. forms a monotypic group. Metrocoris issaci sp. nov. can be distinguished by the hind coxal process of female reaching half the length of hind trochanter; M. josephi sp. nov. can be distinguished by the medium-sized hind coxal process reaching only to the subbasal region of the hind trochanter and M. latus sp. nov. can be distinguished by the presence of broad parameres and conical pygophore of the male. Metrocoris dinendrai Basu, Polhemus & Subramanian, 2016, is synonymized with M. compar (White, 1883) and a redescription of M. compar is provided. Detailed illustrations of all the new species and M. compar are given.
A new naidid oligochaete species (Annelida, Clitellata, Naididae) from Vietnam with asexual reproduction by fragmentation
Authors: GUSAKOV VLADIMIR A.
Published: December 2021

A new oligochaete of the family Naididae, subfamily Naidinae, Bratislavia gusevi sp. n., was found in a forest stream in Vietnam. The worm is characterized by small size, asexual reproduction by fragmentation, and dorsal bundles of chaetae beginning from segment II. Each dorsal bundle bears one to two hairs and one to two simple-pointed or bifid, rarely trifid, needle chaetae. An additional distinctive feature of the worm is the presence of one to two enlarged simple-pointed needle chaetae in the bundles of segment IV. These chaetae are somewhat longer and markedly wider than the needles in the rest of the segments. The present paper provides an illustrated description of the discovered individuals and discusses the species’ systematic position, asexual reproduction and regeneration.
Second records and redescriptions of two rare thecate hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the southwestern Pacific
Authors: GALEA HORIA R.
Published: December 2021

Two thecate hydroids, Carpocladus fertilis Vervoort & Watson, 2003 (family Aglaopheniidae Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1890) and Gonaxia constricta (Totton, 1930) (family Gonaxiidae Maggioni, in Galea & Maggioni, 2021), are recorded for the first time from off New Caledonia, thus outside their original area of distribution in New Zealand waters. Specimens of both sexes of C. fertilis occur in the present collection, allowing the first description of its so far unknown female gonothecae. The trophosome of G. constricta, the only known to date, is thoroughly redescribed, pending the discovery of its gonothecae.
A new species of Prosopocoilus Hope & Westwood, 1845 from China and Vietnam (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae)
Authors: WANG CHENG-BIN , WANG YU
Published: December 2021

A new species of stag beetle, Prosopocoilus zhuchuangi new species (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Lucaninae) is described from China (Guizhou) and Vietnam. It is closely related to P. fulgens (Didier, 1927), sharing a fringe of dense setae in the apical 2/3 of the mesal sides of the mesotibiae and metatibiae. Diagnostic characters of the two species are illustrated and compared.
‘Goal-directed extracorporeal circulation: transferring the knowledge and experience from daily cardiac surgery to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation’
Authors: Condello Ignazio , Santarpino Giuseppe , Nasso Giuseppe , Moscarelli Marco , Speziale Giuseppe , Lorusso Roberto
Published: December 2021

Metabolism management plays an essential role in extracorporeal technologies. There are different metabolic management devices integrated to extracorporeal devices; the most commonly used and accepted metabolic target in adult patients is indexed oxygen delivery (280 mL/min/m2) and cardiac index (2.4 L/min/m2), which can be managed independently or according to other metabolic parameters. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a temporary form of life support providing a prolonged biventricular circulatory and pulmonary support for patients experiencing both pulmonary and cardiac failure unresponsive to conventional therapy. The goal-directed perfusion initiative during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) reduced the incidence of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery. On the basis of the available literature, the identified goals to achieve during CPB include maintenance of oxygen delivery > 300 mL O2/min/m2 and reduction in vasopressor use. ECMO and CPB are conceptually similar but differ in many aspects and finality; in particular, they differ in the scientific evidence for metabolic management nadirs. As for CPB, predictive target parameters have been found and consolidated, particularly in terms of acute renal injury and the prevention of anaerobic metabolism, while for ECMO management, a blurred path remains. In this context, we review the strategies for optimal goal-directed therapy during CPB and ECMO, trying to transfer the knowledge and experience from daily cardiac surgery to veno-arterial ECMO.
Strategies for appropriate positioning and repositioning the Avalon ECMO cannula in a 17-year-old with left hepatic vein malposition
Authors: Muhammad Haris , L’Huillier Joseph C , Benson Ham Phillip , Vali Kaveh
Published: December 2021

Introduction

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a well-recognized therapy in children with refractory hypoxia. Different cannulas have been used with reported complications with placement, such as cardiac perforation, and multiple reports focusing on avoiding this. However, strategies to avoid hepatic vein cannulation and reposition when it occurs are not well described.

Case report

Here, we report a case where a 27-Fr Avalon bicaval double lumen cannula in the left hepatic vein was successfully repositioning using serial chest X-rays (CXR) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in a 17-year-old female.

Discussion

While venovenous (VV) ECMO is preferred by many, placement of the Avalon catheter, a cannula available for VV ECMO, may be challenging due to migration or positioning issues. Specific techniques of wire and catheter advancement as well as confirming wire position in the infra-hepatic inferior vena cava can help ensure appropriate positioning while avoiding hepatic vein cannulation and enabling successful repositioning when it occurs.

Conclusion

Wire position in the infra-hepatic inferior vena cava helps ensure safe and appropriate Avalon cannula position and placement. The Avalon cannula can be successfully repositioned from the left hepatic vein by retracting the cannula, reinserting the wire and introducer together, and then manipulation techniques using serial CXR and TTE.
A hybrid fault diagnosis scheme for railway point machines by motor current signal analysis
Authors: Narges Khadem Hossaini , Ahmad Mirabadi , Fereydoun Gholami Manesh
Published: December 2021

Proper analysis of point machine current signal provides pervasive information of health status of their internal components. Point machines are subjected to several failure modes during their operation. “Gearbox,” “ball bearing,” “lead screw,” and “sliding chair” faults are among common mechanical failure modes. In this article, a two-stage prediction innovative process is proposed using Fault Detection based Decision Tree strategy (FDDT) where the healthy and faulty modes are first determined, followed by classifying the types of mechanical faults based on Parallel Neural Network Architecture and Fuzzy System (PNNFS). To differentiate between faulty and healthy point machines, some relevant features are extracted from the motors’ current signals which are used as input data for the proposed FDDT_PNNFS method. Feature selection has been performed using the ReliefF to select the dominant predictors in the point machine. Firstly, the Decision Tree (DT) algorithm is used to obtain a classifier model based on the offline training method for fault detection. The performance of DT is compared with the support vector machine algorithm. In the second stage, faulty data is fed to a bank of Neural Networks, designed in Parallel Neural Network Architecture (PNNA), which is used for identifying the type of failures. Each Neural Network Algorithm (NNA) is responsible for detecting only one type of failure and assessment of the NNA outputs shows the final failure of the point machine. If there is a discrepancy between the outputs of the NNAs, fuzzy logic plays the role of modifier and judges among outputs of NNAs and determines the more probable fault type.
Catastrophic anti-phospholipid syndrome with Libman-Sacks endocarditis following eltrombopag therapy for immune thrombocytopenic purpura: A case report
Authors: Dichtwald Sara , Meyer Avraham , Ifrach Nisim
Published: December 2021

Background

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disease, with accelerated destruction of platelets, estimated to affect 1.6–3.9 in 100,000 adults every year in the European Union. Glucocorticoids and intravenous immunoglobulins are common drug therapies. In refractory cases, drugs that enhance thrombopoiesis may be used. Eltrombopag is a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, known to increase platelet count in patients with refractory ITP. Thrombotic adverse events have been described in association with Eltrombopag administration.

Case report

A young female patient of Ethiopian ancestry with systemic lupus erythematosus, triple Antiphospholipid (APLA) positive serology and refractory ITP who received Eltrombopag and 2 weeks later developed catastrophic APLA syndrome with severe Libman-Sacks endocarditis of the mitral and aortic valves, multiple intracerebral infracts and arterial thrombosis of the left upper limb.

Conclusion

Eltrombopag is a salvage drug, used in refractory ITP. Thrombotic adverse events, some of which may be life-threatening, are a possible complication, especially in high-risk patients.
An innovative system of coupled steel plate shear wall with pin FUSE in link beam: Cyclic behavior and energy dissipation
Authors: Usefvand Mahdi , Maleki Ahmad , Alinejad Babak
Published: December 2021

Coupled steel plate shear wall (C-SPSW) is one of the resisting systems with high ductility and energy absorption capacity. Energy dissipation in the C-SPSW system is accomplished by the bending and shear behavior of the link beams and SPSW. Energy dissipation and floor displacement control occur through link beams at low seismic levels, easily replaced after an earthquake. In this study, an innovative coupled steel plate shear wall with a yielding FUSE is presented. The system uses a high-ductility FUSE pin element instead of a link beam, which has good replaceability after the earthquake. In this study, four models of coupled steel plate shear walls were investigated with I-shaped link beam, I-shaped link beam with reduced beam section (RBS), box-link beam with RBS, and FUSE pin element under cyclic loading. The finite element method was used through ABAQUS software to develop the C-SPSW models. Two test specimens of coupled steel plate shear walls were validated to verify the finite element method results. Comparative results of the hysteresis curves obtained from the finite element analysis with the experimental curves indicated that the finite element model offered a good prediction of the hysteresis behavior of C-SPSW. It is demonstrated in this study that the FUSE pin can improve and increase the strength and energy dissipation of a C-SPSW system by 19% and 20%, respectively.
Research on nonlinear model and fuzzy fractional order PIλDμ control of air suspension system
Authors: Wang Jingyue , Lv Kun , Wang Haotian , Guo Sheng , wang Junnian
Published: December 2021

To improve the ride comfort of wheeled armored vehicles, air springs are used. To describe the vehicle motion more accurately, a nine-degree-of-freedom air suspension system for the whole vehicle was established, and its equations of motion were derived. Through theoretical analysis of the stiffness characteristics and forces on the air springs, the nonlinear restoring force was obtained as a cubic polynomial of the air spring displacement. The simulation results obtained by fitting the polynomial and radial basis function curves with MATLAB/Simulink software are consistent with the actual test results, thus verifying the correctness of the nonlinear air spring polynomial model. Finally, a fuzzy fractional order PIλDμ controller is designed and simulated for the vehicle-seat-body model in terms of wheel dynamic load, suspension dynamic deflection, body acceleration, and other indicators. The simulation results show that the fuzzy fractional order PIλDμ Proportion Integral Differential (PID) control strategy has better overall performance than the PID control strategy, fuzzy control strategy, and fuzzy PID control strategy.
Efficient attention-based deep encoder and decoder for automatic crack segmentation
Authors: Kang Dong H , Cha Young-Jin
Published: December 2021

Recently, crack segmentation studies have been investigated using deep convolutional neural networks. However, significant deficiencies remain in the preparation of ground truth data, consideration of complex scenes, development of an object-specific network for crack segmentation, and use of an evaluation method, among other issues. In this paper, a novel semantic transformer representation network (STRNet) is developed for crack segmentation at the pixel level in complex scenes in a real-time manner. STRNet is composed of a squeeze and excitation attention-based encoder, a multi head attention-based decoder, coarse upsampling, a focal-Tversky loss function, and a learnable swish activation function to design the network concisely by keeping its fast-processing speed. A method for evaluating the level of complexity of image scenes was also proposed. The proposed network is trained with 1203 images with further extensive synthesis-based augmentation, and it is investigated with 545 testing images (1280 × 720, 1024 × 512); it achieves 91.7%, 92.7%, 92.2%, and 92.6% in terms of precision, recall, F1 score, and mIoU (mean intersection over union), respectively. Its performance is compared with those of recently developed advanced networks (Attention U-net, CrackSegNet, Deeplab V3+, FPHBN, and Unet++), with STRNet showing the best performance in the evaluation metrics-it achieves the fastest processing at 49.2 frames per second.
Recovery of E. coli From Liver and Spleen of Broiler Birds and the Effects of Induced High Ammonia Level on Haematobiochemical Parameters and Its Amelioration by Different Modifiers
Authors: Asif Muhammad Junaid , Javed Muhammad Tariq , Rehman Aziz ur , Manzoor Farkhanda , Riaz Muhammad , Javed Muhammad Asif , Zarnab Shaza , Rasool Ghulam
Published: December 2021

The poultry sector is one of the most vibrant segments of the agriculture industry of Pakistan. In addition to different infections, ammonia (NH3) production from litter material of broiler is the most harmful pollutant and causes serious threats for the environment. To overcome this problem, different methods are proposed assuring poultry bird’s health and production. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of toxic levels of NH3 on the haematology and serum proteins of broiler birds and its amelioration by using different modifiers. The recovery of Escherichia coli ( E. coli) from liver and spleen of broiler birds was also carried out. A total of 100 birds were divided into 5 separate groups (groups A–D). The groups C, D and E were treated with potassium aluminium sulphate, aluminium silicate and Yucca schidigera plant extract, respectively. Blood and tissue samples were collected after slaughtering the birds at 42 days of age. This study revealed increased RBC, total leucocyte count, Hb and heterophils percentage. Serum proteins were decreased in Yucca-treated and potassium aluminium sulphate–treated groups. This study concluded that NH3 production was reduced by the application of different modifiers, and these modifiers also neutralized the changes in blood parameters induced by NH3.
A Phenomenological Content Analysis of Elder Abuse during COVID-19 Pandemic in India
Authors: Patel Avanish B.
Published: December 2021

The entire globe has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic for the last two years including India. It has resulted in a slew of social problems for the millions of people in society. Elder abuse is one of them. Elder abuse due to COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of grave concern in Indian society. Today, due to COVID-19 pandemic, older people are facing social rejection, mental torture and abusive behaviour by family members, relatives, neighbours and caregivers. The objectives of present study are to examine the nature of elder abuse due to COVID-19 pandemic under the theoretical framework of anomie theory and to explore its outcome on the well-being of older people. The study uses phenomenological content analysis method. The information has been gathered from many Indian newspapers, magazines and news portals. The researchers examined the content of news stories about elder abuse that were published between 1 April 2021 and 15 May, 2021 and analysed the results. The study finds that older people have been abused due to fear of COVID-19 infection, poor financial condition and irresponsibility of caregivers. Most often, elders suffer abuse at the hands of their loved ones, neighbours and caregivers.
Worsening Restless Leg Syndrome Symptoms as a Presentation of Colon Cancer: A Reminder to Work Up the Anemia
Authors: Zhou Daniel J. , Vuppala Amrita-Amanda D. , Pedavally Swetha
Published: December 2021

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder with an estimated prevalence of 10–35% in people over 65 years of age. Current clinical practice guidelines include the recommendation to check serum ferritin levels and provide iron supplementation if the ferritin level is ≤75 μg/L. We present a case of an 84-year-old man who developed worsening RLS symptoms over the past year despite up-titration of oral ropinirole to maximum daily dose. As part of his workup for RLS, his serum ferritin level was found to be severely low. He was also previously noted to be anemic, so we recommended that he be worked up for iron deficiency anemia. He later received a colonoscopy, which revealed a cecal polyp with high grade dysplasia, and then underwent right hemicolectomy. The patient reported significant improvement in RLS symptoms following the surgery. This case demonstrates the importance of working up iron deficiency anemia in the setting of worsening RLS symptoms, particularly in the geriatric population.
Competitive Failure of Bolt Loosening and Fatigue under Different Preloads
Authors: Yang Guangwu , Yang Long , Chen Jingsong , Xiao Shoune , Jiang Shilin
Published: December 2021

Existing research on the competitive failure relationship, failure mechanism, and influencing factors of bolt loosening and fatigue under different preloads is insufficient. This study analyzes the competitive failure relationship between bolt loosening and fatigue under composite excitation through competitive failure tests of bolt loosening and fatigue under different preloads. The results indicated that the failure mode of the bolt is only related to the load ratio (R) and is unrelated to the initial preload and excitation amplitude, which only determine the failure life of the bolt. The small axial loads of composite excitation can restrain bolt failure, and the significant degree of this restraining effect is different for different preloads. Subsequently, a fracture analysis of the bolt was performed to verify the competitive failure relationship of the bolt from a microscopic perspective, and the competitive failure mechanism of the bolt was determined. Based on the findings, we propose a calculation equation for the optimal preload of 8.8 grade high-strength bolts that can serve as a reference for engineering applications.
InMut-finder: a software tool for insertion identification in mutagenesis using Nanopore long reads
Authors: Song Rui , Wang Ziyao , Wang Hui , Zhang Han , Wang Xuemeng , Nguyen Hanh , Holding David , Yu Bin , Clemente Tom , Jia Shangang , Zhang Chi
Published: December 2021

Background

Biological mutagens (such as transposon) with sequences inserted, play a crucial role to link observed phenotype and genotype in reverse genetic studies. For this reason, accurate and efficient software tools for identifying insertion sites based on the analysis of sequencing reads are desired.

Results

We developed a bioinformatics tool, a Finder, to identify genome-wide Insertions in Mutagenesis (named as “InMut-Finder”), based on target sequences and flanking sequences from long reads, such as Oxford Nanopore Sequencing. InMut-Finder succeeded in identify > 100 insertion sites inMedicago truncatulaand soybean mutants based on sequencing reads of whole-genome DNA or enriched insertion-site DNA fragments. Insertion sites discovered by InMut-Finder were validated by PCR experiments.

Conclusion

InMut-Finder is a comprehensive and powerful tool for automated insertion detection from Nanopore long reads. The simplicity, efficiency, and flexibility of InMut-Finder make it a valuable tool for functional genomics and forward and reverse genetics. InMut-Finder was implemented with Perl, R, and Shell scripts, which are independent of the OS. The source code and instructions can be accessed athttps://github.com/jsg200830/InMut-Finder.
Comparison of several blood lipid-related indexes in the screening of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in women: a cross-sectional study in the Pearl River Delta region of southern China
Authors: Wang Jingrui , Su Zhenzhen , Feng Yijin , Xi Ruihan , Liu Jiamin , Wang Peixi
Published: December 2021

Background

Lipid metabolism disorders play a critical role in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the number of studies on the relationships among blood lipid-related indexes and NAFLD is limited, and few studies have emphasized the comparison of blood lipid-related indexes in the same population to identify the optimal index for NAFLD screening. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among several blood lipid-related indexes and NAFLD, and to find the index with the best screening value for NAFLD.

Methods

Based on a general health examination at community health service agencies in the Pearl River Delta region of China in 2015, 3239 women were recruited in this cross-sectional study. The relationships among blood lipid-related indexes and NAFLD were assessed separately by constructing multivariate logistic regression models. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate and compare the screening abilities of the indexes for NAFLD. All data analyses were conducted in SPSS and MedCalc software.

Results

Whether in the crude model or each model adjusted for possible confounding factors, the risk of NAFLD significantly rose with increasing cardiometabolic index (CMI), triglyceride glucose index (TyG), triglycerides (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (TG/HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) to HDL-C ratio (TC/HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) to HDL-C ratio (LDL-C/HDL-C). Moreover, the area under the curve (AUC) of CMI was 0.744, which was better than that of TyG (0.725), TG/HDL-C (0.715), TC/HDL-C (0.650), and LDL-C/HDL-C (0.644) (P < 0.001). In addition, the optimal cut-off points were 0.62 for CMI, 8.55 for TyG, 1.15 for TG/HDL-C, 4.17 for TC/HDL-C, and 2.22 for LDL-C/HDL-C.

Conclusions

CMI is easy to obtain, is a recommended index in the screening of NAFLD in women and may be useful for detecting populations that are at high risk of NAFLD.
Habitual tea consumption and 5-year incident metabolic syndrome among older adults: a community-based cohort study
Authors: Dong Xing-Xuan , Wang Rui-Rui , Liu Jie-Yu , Ma Qing-Hua , Pan Chen-Wei
Published: December 2021

Background

The effect of tea consumption on metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains controversial. The objective of this study is to examine the prospective association of tea consumption with 5-year incident MetS among aged population in China.

Methods

This analysis included 3005 Chinese adults aged 60 years or older who were free of MetS at baseline examination. MetS was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III. Information regarding tea consumption was collected via an interviewer-administrated questionnaire. The prospective associations between tea consumption at baseline and 5-year incident MetS, as well as its individual components, were assessed by multiple logistic regression models.

Results

Of the 3005 participants free of MetS at baseline, 406 participants (cumulative incidence: 13.5%) developed MetS at the 5-year follow-up examination. In multiple logistic regressions, 5-year cumulative incidence of MetS was found to be higher in those who drank tea more than 5 times per week as compared with non-habitual drinkers (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.05-1.82; P = 0.02). This relationship still existed in men (OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.00-2.01; P = 0.05) when stratified by gender. Among the five major components of MetS, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was observed in men, while high body mass index, elevated blood pressure and the presence of diabetes mellitus were significant in women.

Conclusions

High-frequent tea consumption increased the risk of MetS among older Chinese adults. These findings may add novel knowledge to the current studies regarding the controversial effect of tea consumption on cardiovascular and metabolic health among the aged population.
Household quarantine of second degree contacts is an effective non-pharmaceutical intervention to prevent tertiary cases in the current SARS-CoV pandemic
Authors: Weigl Josef A. I. , Feddersen Anna-Katharina , Stern Mona
Published: December 2021

Background

Given the characteristics of SARS-CoV2 with regard to transmission before the onset of symptoms and varying manifestation indices according to age, isolation and quarantine have limited efficacy in the current pandemic. Household quarantine in second degree contacts (Hh-Q2°) outside the case household has so far only been addressed by modellers. In the literature there is no publication based on field data.

Methods

In a retrospective cohort study on real field data from a county health department (CHD), all PCR-confirmed cases and related contact persons put into quarantine were analysed. Hh-Q2° was used in our CHD from the onset of the pandemic.

Results

From 9 March to 8 December 2020, 353 PCR-confirmed cases were registered in the CHD Ploen, Northern Germany: 225 (63.7%) primary, 107 (30.3%) secondary and 21 (5.9%) tertiary cases. The 107 secondary cases resulted out of 470 (22.8%) close or 1°contacts and 21 tertiary cases out of 179 (11.7%) indirect or 2°contacts put into quarantine. The efficacy of Hh-Q2° was 51.5% (11.7%/22.8%) of that of quarantine in 1°contacts; 16.4% of all converted cases in quarantined persons were ascertained by Hh-Q2°. One in ten 1°contacts in households with tertiary cases remained asymptomatic.

Conclusion

The impact of Hh-Q2° in preventing further spread of SARS-CoV2 was considerable. With half the conversion rate in 2°contacts compared to 1°contacts, the efficacy of Hh-Q2° is substantial. Hh-Q2° should definitely be used routinely to control the spread of SARS-CoV2 more efficiently and national authorities should include it in their guidelines.
The spread of cholera in western Democratic Republic of the Congo is not unidirectional from East–West: a spatiotemporal analysis, 1973–2018
Authors: Kayembe Harry César Ntumba , Linard Catherine , Bompangue Didier , Muwonga Jérémie , Moutschen Michel , Situakibanza Hippolyte , Ozer Pierre
Published: December 2021

Background

Cholera outbreaks in western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are thought to be primarily the result of westward spread of cases from the Great Lakes Region. However, other patterns of spatial spread in this part of the country should not be excluded. The aim of this study was to explore alternative routes of spatial spread in western DRC.

Methods

A literature review was conducted to reconstruct major outbreak expansions of cholera in western DRC since its introduction in 1973. We also collected data on cholera cases reported at the health zone (HZ) scale by the national surveillance system during 2000–2018. Based on data from routine disease surveillance, we identified two subperiods (week 45, 2012–week 42, 2013 and week 40, 2017–week 52, 2018) for which the retrospective space–time permutation scan statistic was implemented to detect spatiotemporal clusters of cholera cases and then to infer the spread patterns in western DRC other than that described in the literature.

Results

Beyond westward and cross-border spread in the West Congo Basin from the Great Lakes Region, other dynamics of cholera epidemic propagation were observed from neighboring countries, such as Angola, to non-endemic provinces of southwestern DRC. Space–time clustering analyses sequentially detected clusters of cholera cases from southwestern DRC to the northern provinces, demonstrating a downstream-to-upstream spread along the Congo River.

Conclusions

The spread of cholera in western DRC is not one-sided. There are other patterns of spatial spread, including a propagation from downstream to upstream areas along the Congo River, to be considered as preferential trajectories of cholera in western DRC.
Limitations in cataract surgical services for children in Ethiopia: a nationwide survey of pediatric cataract surgeons
Authors: Asferaw Mulusew , Tolesa Kumale , Sherief Sadik Taju , Tadegagne Bezawit , Sintayehu Mandefro , Worku Addisu , Wondale Teshager , Girma Emebet , Gizachew Zelalem , Gilbert Clare , Woodruff Geoffrey
Published: December 2021

Background

Bilateral cataract is a significant cause of blindness in children in Ethiopia. This study aimed to identify the resources available for cataract surgery in children, and to assess current surgical practices, surgical output and factors affecting the outcome of surgery in Ethiopia.

Methods

A Google Forms mobile phone questionnaire was emailed to nine ophthalmologists known to perform cataract surgery in young children (0–5 years).

Results

All nine responded. All but one had received either 12- or 3–5-month’s training in pediatric ophthalmology with hands-on surgical training. The other surgeon had received informal training from an experienced colleague and visiting ophthalmologists. The surgeons were based in seven health facilities: five in the capital (Addis Ababa) and eight in six public referral hospitals and one private center.

Over 12 months (2017–2018) 508 children (592 eyes) aged 0–18 years (most < 15 years) were operated by these surgeons. 84 (17%) had bilateral cataract, and 424 (83%) had unilateral cataract mainly following trauma. A mean of 66 (range 18–145) eyes were operated per surgeon. Seventy-one additional children aged > 5 years were operated by other surgeons. There were substantially fewer surgeons per million population (nine for 115 million population) than recommended by the World Health Organization and they were unevenly distributed across the country.

Methylcellulose and rigid intraocular lenses were generally available but less than 50% of facilities had a sharp vitrectomy cutter and cohesive viscoelastic. Mean travel time outside Addis Ababa to a facility offering pediatric cataract surgery was 10 h.

Conclusion

Despite the high number of cases per surgeon, the output for bilateral cataracts was far lower than required. More well-equipped pediatric ophthalmology teams are urgently required, with deployment to under-served areas.
Discussing parenthood with gay men diagnosed with HIV: a qualitative study of patient and healthcare practitioner perspectives
Authors: Pralat Robert , Anderson Jane , Burns Fiona , Yarrow Elizabeth , Barber Tristan J.
Published: December 2021

Background

Research on HIV and reproduction has focused largely on women and heterosexual men. This article examines whether it is relevant to address parenthood in HIV care with gay men and what ways of doing so are most appropriate.

Methods

Qualitative interviews were conducted at four London clinics with 25 men living with HIV, aged 20–45, who did not have children, and 16 HIV clinicians. A thematic analysis identified potential reasons why parenthood was rarely discussed with gay men in HIV care.

Results

Two sets of ideas contributed to a lack of conversations about parenthood: clinicians’ ideas about what matters to gay men and men’s ideas about what it means to be HIV-positive. Both sets of ideas largely excluded having children, with patients and practitioners similarly unlikely to raise the topic of parenthood in the clinic. Contrary to what clinicians commonly assumed, many men expressed interest in receiving more information, highlighting the importance of reassuring people upon diagnosis that it is possible to become parents while living with HIV.

Conclusions

Parenting desires and intentions were rarely discussed with men in HIV care. Our findings illuminate the potentially beneficial effects of emphasising that having children is a possibility at diagnosis, regardless of patients’ gender or sexuality. Conveying this information seems meaningful, not only to men who want to become parents in the future but also to others, as it appears to alleviate fears about mortality and ill health.