bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The preoperative prognostic value of the radiomics nomogram based on CT combined with machine learning in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Tang Youyin , Zhang Tao , Zhou Xianghong , Zhao Yunuo , Xu Hanyue , Liu Yichun , Wang Hang , Chen Zheyu , Ma Xuelei
Published: August 2021

Background

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive liver carcinoma with increasing incidence and mortality. A good auxiliary prognostic prediction tool is desperately needed for the development of treatment strategies. The purpose of this study was to explore the prognostic value of the radiomics nomogram based on enhanced CT in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods

In this retrospective study, 101 patients with pathological confirmation of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma were recruited. A radiomics nomogram was developed by radiomics score and independent clinical risk factors selecting from multivariate Cox regression. All patients were stratified as high risk and low risk by a nomogram. Model performance and clinical usefulness were assessed by calibration curve, ROC curve, and survival curve.

Results

A total of 101patients (mean age, 58.2 years old; range 36–79 years old) were included in the study. The 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival rates were 49.5%, 26.6%, and 14.4%, respectively, with a median survival time of 12.2 months in the whole set. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method selected 3 features. Multivariate Cox analysis found three independent prognostic factors. The radiomics nomogram showed a significant prognosis value with overall survival. There was a significant difference in the 1-year and 3-year survival rates of stratified high-risk and low-risk patients in the whole set (30.4% vs. 56.4% and 13.0% vs. 30.6%, respectively, p = 0.018).

Conclusions

This radiomics nomogram has potential application value in the preoperative prognostic prediction of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and may facilitate in clinical decision-making.
Compound heterozygosity for hemoglobin S and hemoglobin E in a family of Proto-Australoid origin: a case report
Authors: Basumatary Noymi , Baruah Dipankar , Sarma Paresh Kumar , Sarmah Jatin
Published: August 2021

Background

Hemoglobin S and E are commonly occurring hemoglobin variants among distinctly separate tribal populations of Central and Northeast India, respectively. Combined heterozygosity for hemoglobin S and E or hemoglobin SE disease is a benign clinical condition with rare incidence. Reports of approximately 46 hemoglobin SE cases are available worldwide. We conducted a screening program to study the prevalence of hemoglobin variants among the tribal population working in the tea estates of Northeast India. A total of 551 subjects were screened, and complete blood count was performed. Based on their hematological profiles, hemoglobin typing was done for 218 subjects.

Case presentation

We describe a case of an adolescent male of Munda tribe diagnosed as double heterozygous for hemoglobin S and E. On screening of the nuclear family of the subject, the mother was found to have hemoglobin E disease and father as hemoglobin S trait. Both siblings of the subject were diagnosed as hemoglobin E trait.

Conclusion

This is the first case of compound heterozygous for hemoglobin S and E to be reported from the tea tribes of Assam, India.
A noise robust automatic radiolocation animal tracking system
Authors: Wang Liang , Diakogiannis Foivos , Mills Scott , Bajema Nigel , Atkinson Ian , Bishop-Hurley Greg J. , Charmley Ed
Published: August 2021

Agriculture is becoming increasingly reliant upon accurate data from sensor arrays, with localization an emerging application in the livestock industry. Ground-based time difference of arrival (TDoA) radio location methods have the advantage of being lightweight and exhibit higher energy efficiency than methods reliant upon Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Such methods can employ small primary battery cells, rather than rechargeable cells, and still deliver a multi-year deployment. In this paper, we present a novel deep learning algorithm adapted from a one-dimensional implementing a convolutional neural network (CNN) model, originally developed for the task of semantic segmentation. The presented model () both converts TDoA sequences directly to positions and reduces positional errors introduced by sources such as multipathing. We have evaluated the model using simulated animal movements in the form of TDoA position sequences in combination with real-world distributions of TDoA error. These animal tracks were simulated at various step intervals to mimic potential TDoA transmission intervals. We compare to a Kalman filter to evaluate the performance of our algorithm to a more traditional noise reduction approach. On average, for simulated tracks having added noise with a standard deviation of 50 m, the described approach was able to reduce localization error by between 66.3% and 73.6%. The Kalman filter only achieved a reduction of between 8.0% and 22.5%. For a scenario with larger added noise having a standard deviation of 100 m, the described approach was able to reduce average localization error by between 76.2% and 81.9%. The Kalman filter only achieved a reduction of between 31.0% and 39.1%. Results indicate that this novel 1D CNN like encoder/decoder for TDoA location error correction outperforms the Kalman filter. It is able to reduce average localization errors to between 16 and 34 m across all simulated experimental treatments while the uncorrected average TDoA error ranged from 55 to 188 m.
Unjust: the health records of youth with personal/family justice involvement in a large pediatric health system
Authors: Boch Samantha , Sezgin Emre , Ruch Donna , Kelleher Kelly , Chisolm Deena , Lin Simon
Published: August 2021

Background

Mass incarceration has had an undeniable toll on childhood poverty and inequality, however, little is known about the consequences on pediatric health. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the health of pediatric patients with probable personal or family history involvement with the correctional system.

Methods

A descriptive study was conducted using electronic health record data of 2.3 million youth (ages 0–21 years) who received care in a large Midwestern hospital-based institution from February 2006–2020. We employed a correctional-related keyword search (e.g. jail, prison, probation, parole) to locate youth with probable personal or family history involvement. Health characteristics were measured as clinician diagnostic codes.

Results

Two percent of the total pediatric population had a correctional keyword in the medical chart (N = 51,855). This 2% made up 66% of all patients with cannabis-related diagnoses, 52% of all patients with trauma-related diagnoses, 48% of all stress-related diagnoses, 38% of all patients with psychotic disorder diagnoses, and 33% of all suicidal-related disorders within this institution’s electronic health record database – among other highly concerning findings.

Conclusions

We captured an alarming health profile that warrants further investigation and validation methods to better address the gaps in our clinical understanding of youth with personal or family history involvement with the correctional system. We can do better in identifying, and supporting families affected by the correctional system.
On the usefulness of CDA-based score reporting: implications for self-regulated learning
Authors: Yi Yeon-Sook
Published: August 2021

In cognitive diagnostic modeling research, one area that has not had enough research interests is remedial learning or instruction based on the information provided by cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA). The present study tries to address this research gap by looking into the usefulness of the fine-grained score reports based on CDA in two different ways, i.e., a post-test and a survey inquiring about the perceived effectiveness of the score report that provided the skill profile of individual students. Another significance of the current research is that it attempted to introduce cognitive diagnostic assessment into a regular school exam unlike most previous studies that retrofitted to the existing tests. College students in Korea participated in the study, who were encouraged to do self-regulated learning utilizing the detailed information in the CDA-based score report. The results of the post-test and the survey were positive overall, supporting the utility of CDA-generated performance reports. The article ends with some suggestions for future research based on the limitations of the study.
Attachment, Mentalization, and Criterion B of the Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD)
Authors: Ball Cooper Ericka , Anderson Jaime L. , Sharp Carla , Langley Hillary A. , Venta Amanda
Published: August 2021

Background

The mentalization theory posits that interpersonal difficulties and maladaptive personality traits develop from an insecure attachment pattern with one’s caregiver and corresponding deficits in mentalizing—the ability to understand others’ and one’s own mental states. Mentalizing deficits have been theorized as the basis for all psychopathology, with the paradigmatic case being Borderline Personality Disorder. Nevertheless, developments in the personality field indicate personality pathology is best represented dimensionally, and such a proposal was outlined by the Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD). Despite evidence linking the mentalization theory to personality disorders, however, it has yet to be applied to Criterion B of the AMPD. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the moderating role of mentalizing in the relation between attachment and Criterion B maladaptive trait function in a sample of undergraduates. We hypothesized a model in which: (1) attachment insecurity would be positively associated with the Negative Affectivity, Antagonism, and Disinhibition personality domains; (2) mentalizing ability would be negatively associated with these domains; and, (3) there would be an interaction effect between attachment and mentalizing when predicting these same domains.

Methods

Personality domains were measured dimensionally via the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5-SF), while the dependence and avoidance domains of attachment were assessed via the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ). Mentalizing ability was tapped by the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). The AMPD personality domains and trait facets were examined as dependent variables; attachment dependence, attachment avoidance, and overall mentalizing ability were entered as independent variables; and interaction terms between mentalizing and each attachment dimension were used to test moderation via MANCOVAs.

Results

Consistent with expectations, results indicated overall mentalizing moderated the relation between attachment avoidance and Negative Affectivity. Posthoc analyses revealed similar effects on the relations between attachment avoidance and the Emotional Lability, Hostility, and Perseveration trait facets; however, there were no significant moderation findings related to attachment dependence.

Conclusions

These results support the mentalization theory’s application to Criterion B of the AMPD, particularly in relation to the links between Negative Affectivity and borderline-related traits, and encourage future research of dimensional maladaptive personality. They further bolster support for understanding maladaptive personality as a dimensional construct.
Structural properties of generalised Planck distributions
Authors: Pakes Anthony G.
Published: August 2021

A family of generalised Planck (GP) laws is defined and its structural properties explored. Sometimes subject to parameter restrictions, a GP law is a randomly scaled gamma law; it arises as the equilibrium law of a perturbed version of the Feller mean reverting diffusion; the density functions can be decreasing, unimodal or bimodal; it is infinitely divisible. It is argued that the GP law is not a generalised gamma convolution. Characterisations are obtained in terms of invariance under random contraction of a weighted version of a related law. The GP law is a particular instance of equilibrium laws obtained from a recursion suggested by a genetic mutation-selection balance model. Some related infinitely divisible laws are exhibited.
Effect of miniscrew insertion angle in the maxillary buccal plate on its clinical survival: a randomized clinical trial
Authors: Golshah Amin , Gorji Kimia , Nikkerdar Nafiseh
Published: August 2021

Introduction

This study sought to assess the effect of miniscrew insertion angle (vertical and oblique) on its clinical survival under shearing forces in orthodontic patients undergoing canine retraction.

Materials and methods

In this split-mouth randomized controlled clinical trial, 50 miniscrews were placed bilaterally in 25 patients with 45° and 90° insertion angles relative to a line perpendicular to the occlusal plane distal to the maxillary first premolar extraction site. Allocation of insertion angles to the right/left side was random using the Random Allocation Software. The patients, clinician, and statistician were blinded to the allocation of miniscrews to the side of jaw. The patients were followed-up monthly for 6 months. The primary outcome was the clinical survival of miniscrews, which was evaluated at each follow-up session. The secondary outcomes were the miniscrew stability based on the Periotest value (PTV) and the level of pain experienced by patients at 1, 12, and 24 h, and 7 days after miniscrew placement using a visual analog scale (VAS). Data were analyzed using paired t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, and McNemar’s test.

Results

The clinical survival rate of miniscrews placed at 90° and 45° angles was 76% and 88%, respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.375). No significant difference was noted between the two groups regarding the PTV or the pain score either (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

Clinically, the insertion angle of miniscrews (90° versus 45° relative to a line perpendicular to the occlusal plane) has no significant effect on the miniscrew survival rate or stability during orthodontic treatment.

Trial registration

This trial was registered at www.irct.ir (IRCT20190901044659N1).

Protocol

The protocol was published after trial commencement.
Flow-dependent regulation of endothelial Tie2 by GATA3 in vivo
Authors: Idowu Temitayo O. , Etzrodt Valerie , Pape Thorben , Heineke Joerg , Stahl Klaus , Haller Hermann , David Sascha
Published: August 2021

Background

Reduced endothelial Tie2 expression occurs in diverse experimental models of critical illness, and experimental Tie2 suppression is sufficient to increase spontaneous vascular permeability. Looking for a common denominator among different critical illnesses that could drive the same Tie2 suppressive (thereby leak inducing) phenotype, we identified “circulatory shock” as a shared feature and postulated a flow-dependency of Tie2 gene expression in a GATA3 dependent manner. Here, we analyzed if this mechanism of flow-regulation of gene expression exists in vivo in the absence of inflammation.

Results

To experimentally mimic a shock-like situation, we developed a murine model of clonidine-induced hypotension by targeting a reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP) of approximately 50% over 4 h. We found that hypotension-induced reduction of flow in the absence of confounding disease factors (i.e., inflammation, injury, among others) is sufficient to suppress GATA3 and Tie2 transcription. Conditional endothelial-specific GATA3 knockdown (B6-Gata3tm1-Jfz VE-Cadherin(PAC)-cerERT2) led to baseline Tie2 suppression inducing spontaneous vascular leak. On the contrary, the transient overexpression of GATA3 in the pulmonary endothelium (jet-PEI plasmid delivery platform) was sufficient to increase Tie2 at baseline and completely block its hypotension-induced acute drop. On the functional level, the Tie2 protection by GATA3 overexpression abrogated the development of pulmonary capillary leakage.

Conclusions

The data suggest that the GATA3–Tie2 signaling pathway might play a pivotal role in controlling vascular barrier function and that it is affected in diverse critical illnesses with shock as a consequence of a flow-regulated gene response. Targeting this novel mechanism might offer therapeutic opportunities to treat vascular leakage of diverse etiologies.
Anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy are associated with a decrease in quality of life in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy — a retrospective observational study
Authors: Fujii Hironori , Koda Maaya , Sadaka Shiori , Ohata Koichi , Kato-Hayashi Hiroko , Iihara Hirotoshi , Kobayashi Ryo , Ishihara Takuma , Uemura Shinya , Iwashita Takuji , Hayashi Hideki , Sugiyama Tadashi , Shimizu Masahito , Suzuki Akio
Published: August 2021

Background

Cancer chemotherapy usually improves clinical outcomes in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (APC), but can also cause moderate-to-severe adverse events (AEs). We investigated the relationship between moderate-to-severe AEs and quality of life (QOL) in patients with APC who received outpatient chemotherapy.

Methods

We recruited APC patients who received outpatient chemotherapy in Gifu University Hospital between September 2017 and December 2018. Adverse events related to chemotherapy were assessed by a pharmacist collaborating with a physician using common terminology criteria for AEs (CTCAE) ver 4.0, and QOL of patients was self-assessed by patients using the five-level EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L Japanese edition 2). Associations between the EQ-5D-5L utility value and serious AEs were assessed using proportional odds logistic regression.

Results

A total of 59 patients who received 475 chemotherapy cycles were included. The proportional odds logistic regression indicated that grade ≥ 2 anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy were significantly correlated with a decreased EQ-5D-5L utility value. Pharmaceutical intervention for these AEs significantly improved the patients’ EQ-5D-5L utility value.

Conclusions

Anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy were significantly associated with a decrease in QOL. It is assumed that appropriate pharmaceutical intervention with particular emphasis on these AEs can improve the QOL of pancreatic cancer patients receiving outpatient chemotherapy.
Pharmacist involvement in the inhaler choice improves lung function in patients with COPD: a prospective single-arm study
Authors: Shiwaku Eiji , Dote Satoshi , Kaneko Shinobu , Hei Chisato , Aikawa Masaki , Sakai Yuki , Kawai Takahiro , Iwatsubo Shigeaki , Hashimoto Michinobu , Tsuneishi Teppei , Nishimura Tomoko , Iwata Toshiyuki , Hira Daiki , Terada Tomohiro , Nishimura Takashi , Kobayashi Yuka
Published: August 2021

Background

Currently, in Japan, shifting tasks from physician to hospital pharmacist is being developed to reduce physician workload and improve the quality of pharmacotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pharmacist involvement in the choice of inhaler as the task on the clinical outcomes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods

This prospective, single-center, single-arm study included 36 outpatients with newly diagnosed COPD indicating inhaler therapy. Eligible patients were immediately interviewed by pharmacist. Then, pharmacist assessed patient’s inhalation flow rate, physical function to handle an inhaler, comprehension, and value, and finally recommended a personalized inhaler based on originally developed inhaler choice protocol, and pulmonologist prescribed a pharmacist-selected inhaler. The primary endpoint was the improvement in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) between baseline and week 26. The secondary endpoints were safety, and improvements at week 26 in scores for the COPD Assessment Test (CAT), modified British Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (mMRC), and Adherence Starts with Knowledge-20 (ASK-20).

Results

The pneumonologists completely agreed with the pharmacist-recommended inhaler. Mean FEV1significantly increased from baseline to week 26 (1.60, SD 0.54 L vs. 1.98, SD 0.56 L;p < 0.0001). Significant improvements in CAT, mMRC, and ASK-20 scores were also observed. The prevalence of CAT responders as a negative predictor of acute exacerbation, defined as those with a decrease in CAT score of ≥2 points from baseline, was 86%. None of the patients experienced exacerbation during the study period.

Conclusions

Pharmacist involvement in the choice of inhaler for patients with newly diagnosed COPD was associated with improved lung function, health status, clinical symptoms, and adherence to inhaler therapy. Shifting task of choosing appropriate inhaler from physician to hospital pharmacist may be performed effectively and safely with an inhaler choice protocol.

Trial registration number

UMIN000039722, retrospectively registered on March 10, 2020.
Pharmacokinetic modeling of over-the-counter drug diphenhydramine self-administered in overdoses in Japanese patients admitted to hospital
Authors: Adachi Koichiro , Beppu Satoru , Terashima Mariko , Kobari Wataru , Shimizu Makiko , Yamazaki Hiroshi
Published: August 2021

Background

Although the over-the-counter H1 receptor antagonist diphenhydramine is not a common drug of abuse, it was recently recognized as one of the substances causing acute poisoning in patients attempting suicide that led to admissions to our hospital emergency room.

Case presentation

Two patients [women aged 21 and 27 years (cases 1 and 2)] were emergently admitted after intentionally taking overdoses of 900 and 1200 mg diphenhydramine, respectively. The plasma diphenhydramine concentrations in case 1 were 977 and 425 ng/mL at 2.5 and 11.5 h after single oral overdose, and those in case 2 were 1320 and 475 ng/mL at 3 and 18 h after administration, respectively. We set up a simplified physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model that was established using the reported pharmacokinetic data for a microdose of diphenhydramine. The two virtual plasma concentrations and the area under the curve (AUC) values extrapolated using the PBPK model were consistent with the observed overdose data. This finding implied linearity of pharmacokinetics over a wide dosage range for diphenhydramine.

Conclusions

The determined plasma concentrations of diphenhydramine of around 1000 ng/mL at ~ 3 h after orally administered overdoses in cases 1 and 2 may not have been high enough to cause hepatic impairment because levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were normal; however, there was an increase in total bilirubin in case 1. Nonetheless, high virtual liver exposures of diphenhydramine were estimated by the current PBPK model. The present results based on drug monitoring data and pharmacokinetic predictions could serve as a useful guide when setting the duration of treatment in cases of diphenhydramine overdose.
Factors associated with modern contraceptive use among women with no fertility intention in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from cross-sectional surveys of 29 countries
Authors: Ahinkorah Bright Opoku , Budu Eugene , Aboagye Richard Gyan , Agbaglo Ebenezer , Arthur-Holmes Francis , Adu Collins , Archer Anita Gracious , Aderoju Yaa Boahemaa Gyasi , Seidu Abdul-Aziz
Published: August 2021

Background

In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of women of reproductive age who want to avoid pregnancy do not use any method of contraception. This study sought to determine the factors associated with  modern contraceptive use among women with no fertility intention in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods

This study used data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 87,554 women aged 15–49 with no fertility intention and who had completed information on all the variables of interest were considered in this study. Using a multilevel logistic regression analysis, four models were used to examine the individual and contextual factors associated with modern contraceptive use. The results were presented as adjusted odds ratios (aOR), with their respective confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical significance was set at p< 0.05.

Results

The prevalence of modern contraceptive use was 29.6%. With the individual-level factors, women aged 45–49 had lower odds of using modern contraceptives (aOR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.28, 0.39). Women who had their first sex at age 15–19 (aOR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.07, 1.17), those with higher education (aOR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.75, 2.13), and women who were exposed to newspaper (aOR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.20) and radio (aOR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.17, 1.26) had higher odds of modern contraceptive use. In terms of the contextual factors, women living in urban areas (aOR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.11), women in the richest wealth quintile (aOR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.43, 1.67), and those in communities with medium literacy level (aOR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.06, 1.16) and medium community socio-economic status (aOR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.23) had higher odds of modern contraceptive use. Across the geographic regions in sub-Saharan Africa, women in Southern Africa had higher odds of modern contraceptive use (aOR = 5.29, 95% CI = 4.86, 5.76).

Conclusion

There is a relatively low prevalence of modern contraceptive use among women with no fertility intention in sub-Saharan Africa, with cross-country variations. Women’s age, age at first sex, level of education, mass media exposure, place of residence, community literacy level and community socio-economic status were found to be associated with modern contraceptive use. It is, therefore, important for policy makers  to consider these factors when designing and implementing programmes or policies  to increase contraceptive use among women who have no intention to give birth. Also, policymakers and other key stakeholders should intensify mass education programmes to address disparities in modern contraceptive use among women.
Sex differences in family planning knowledge, attitudes, and use in Uganda
Authors: Nuwasiima Afra , Watsemba Agnes , Eyapu Allan , Kaddu Peter , Loiseau Justin
Published: August 2021

Background

Literature is satiated with studies focusing on knowledge, attitude, and practices of family planning (FP) among the female population, conversely, the gaps in sex-disaggregated data on FP continue to exist. This study sought to report sex differences existing in FP knowledge, attitude, and use in Uganda.

Methods

This study uses data from a household survey that covered 16 districts in Uganda. Multi-stage cluster randomized sampling was employed for participant selection. Bivariate analysis for categorical data was conducted. Multilevel logistic regression model was applied to model the effects of socio-demographic characteristics on the use of modern FP methods.

Results

Data from 4,352 respondents in the ratios of 70 % females and 30 % of males were analyzed. The mean age was 28.7 SD (8.5) and was not significantly different between males and females. More male respondents had secondary or higher level of education (44 %) than females (36 %). Knowledge of at least one modern FP method was high, but small significant differences were revealed between males (96 %) and females (98 %). Significant knowledge differences were seen in specific FP methods. A higher proportion of females (71 %) than males (67 %) perceived modern FP methods as always available in the community whereas more males (40 %) believed that modern FP methods can result in infertility than females (35 %). There was high self-efficacy about family planning methods use in both males and females. The proportion of married females that reported using or their partner using a modern FP method was 39 % compared to 45 % reported by the married males. Approx. 53 % of the males compared to 37 % of the females that reported condom use also cited STI/HIV prevention as the main reason for condom use suggesting dual protection as a driver for use. Males, young adults, the more educated, and those in marriage or active relationships were more likely to use modern FP methods.

Conclusions

Our study found significant sex differences in knowledge, attitudes, and use of FP methods. The young adults and more educated respondents were more likely to use FP methods. The high self-efficacy observed for both males and females is a signal that both sexes can use FP methods. Project strategies and implementation should take into consideration the existing differences by sex and devise sex-tailored approaches to improve FP knowledge, attitudes, and use in this population. There was increased reporting of condom use as an FP and STI/HIV prevention method, follow-up studies aiming at succinctly measuring dual protection, and its drivers for both sex should be done.
Migration infrastructures and the production of migrants’ irregularity in Japan and the United Kingdom
Authors: Sigona Nando , Kato Jotaro , Kuznetsova Irina
Published: August 2021

The article examines the migration infrastructures and pathways through which migrants move into, through and out of irregular status in Japan and the UK and how these infrastructures uniquely shape their migrant experiences of irregularity at key stages of their migration projects.

Our analysis brings together two bodies of migration scholarship, namely critical work on the social and legal production of illegality and the impact of legal violence on the lives of immigrants with precarious legal status, and on the role of migration infrastructures in shaping mobility pathways.

Drawing upon in-depth qualitative interviews with irregular and precarious migrants in Japan and the UK collected over a ten-year period, this article develops a three-pronged analysis of the infrastructures of irregularity, focusing on infrastructures of entry, settlement and exit, casting a comparative light on the mechanisms that produce precarious and expendable migrant lives in relation to access to labour and labour conditions, access and quality of housing and law enforcement, and how migrants adapt, cope, resist or eventually are overpowered by them.
Clinical Impact of after-consult clinic blood pressure: comparison with automated office blood pressure
Authors: Lee Cheol Ho , Ahn Ji Hun , Ryu Joon Ha , Choi Woong Gil
Published: August 2021

Background

It is most important to measure blood pressure (BP) exactly in treating hypertension. Recent recommendations for diagnosing hypertension clearly acknowledge that an increase in BP attributable to the “whitecoat response” is frequently associated with manual BP recordings performed in community-based practice.

However, there was no data about after-consult (AC) BP that could reduce whitecoat effect. So we evaluated before-consult (BC) and AC routine clinic BP and research based automated office blood pressure (AOBP) measured.

Methods

The study population consisted of 82 consecutive patients with hypertension between April 2019 and December 2019. We measured routine clinic BP and AOBP before and after see a doctor, respectively. Seated blood pressure and pulse are measured at each time after a rest period using an automated device as it offers reduced potential for observer biases. AOBP was measured and measuring BP 3 times un-observed. We compared each BP parameter for identifying exact resting BP state.

Results

There was significant difference between BC and AC systolic BP (135.37 ± 16.90 vs. 131.95 ± 16.40 mmHg, p = 0.015). However there was no difference in the BC and AC diastolic blood pressure (73.75 ± 11.85 vs. 74.42 ± 11.71 mmHg, p = 0.415). In the AOBP comparison, there was also significant difference (BC systolic AOBP vs. AC systolic AOBP, 125.17 ± 14.41 vs. 122.98 ± 14.09 mmHg, p = 0.006; BC diastolic ABOB vs. AC diastolic AOBP, 71.99 ± 10.49 vs. 70.99 ± 9.83, p = 0.038).

Conclusions

In our study, AC AOBP was most lowest representing resting state. Although AC BP was higher than BC AOBP, it might be used as alternative measurement for reducing whitecoat effect in the routine clinical practice.
Global neurosurgical workforce density—you cannot improve what you do not measure
Authors: Kanmounye Ulrick Sidney , Ammar Adam , Rolle Myron , El Ouahabi Abdessamad , Park Kee B.
Published: August 2021

Five million neurosurgical cases go untreated each year. This is in part due to the lack of neurosurgical care providers. The World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies has spearheaded efforts to monitor the number of neurosurgical providers around the globe since 2016. In this perspective, we discuss why, when, and how the neurosurgical workforce should be measured.
B2SMatcher: fine-Grained version identification of open-Source software in binary files
Authors: Ban Gu , Xu Lili , Xiao Yang , Li Xinhua , Yuan Zimu , Huo Wei
Published: August 2021

Codes of Open Source Software (OSS) are widely reused during software development nowadays. However, reusing some specific versions of OSS introduces 1-day vulnerabilities of which details are publicly available, which may be exploited and lead to serious security issues. Existing state-of-the-art OSS reuse detection work can not identify the specific versions of reused OSS well. The features they selected are not distinguishable enough for version detection and the matching scores are only based on similarity.This paper presents B2SMatcher, a fine-grained version identification tool for OSS in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. We first discuss five kinds of version-sensitive code features that are trackable in both binary and source code. We categorize these features into program-level features and function-level features and propose a two-stage version identification approach based on the two levels of code features. B2SMatcher also identifies different types of OSS version reuse based on matching scores and matched feature instances. In order to extract source code features as accurately as possible, B2SMatcher innovatively uses machine learning methods to obtain the source files involved in the compilation and uses function abstraction and normalization methods to eliminate the comparison costs on redundant functions across versions. We have evaluated B2SMatcher using 6351 candidate OSS versions and 585 binaries. The result shows that B2SMatcher achieves a high precision up to 89.2% and outperforms state-of-the-art tools. Finally, we show how B2SMatcher can be used to evaluate real-world software and find some security risks in practice.
Quantum key recovery attack on SIMON32/64
Authors: Liu Hui , Yang Li
Published: August 2021

The quantum security of lightweight block ciphers is receiving more and more attention. However, the existing quantum attacks on lightweight block ciphers only focused on the quantum exhaustive search, while the quantum attacks combined with classical cryptanalysis methods haven’t been well studied. In this paper, we study quantum key recovery attack on SIMON32/64 using Quantum Amplitude Amplification algorithm in Q1 model. At first, we reanalyze the quantum circuit complexity of quantum exhaustive search on SIMON32/64. We estimate the Clifford gates count more accurately and reduce the T gate count. Also, the T-depth and full depth is reduced due to our minor modifications. Then, using four differentials given by Biryukov in FSE 2014 as our distinguisher, we give our quantum key recovery attack on 19-round SIMON32/64. We treat the two phases of key recovery attack as two QAA instances separately, and the first QAA instance consists of four sub-QAA instances. Then, we design the quantum circuit of these two QAA instances and estimate their corresponding quantum circuit complexity. We conclude that the quantum circuit of our quantum key recovery attack is lower than quantum exhaustive search. Our work firstly studies the quantum dedicated attack on SIMON32/64. And this is the first work to study the complexity of quantum dedicated attacks from the perspective of quantum circuit complexity, which is a more fine-grained analysis of quantum dedicated attacks’ complexity.
Social engineering in cybersecurity: a domain ontology and knowledge graph application examples
Authors: Wang Zuoguang , Zhu Hongsong , Liu Peipei , Sun Limin
Published: August 2021

Social engineering has posed a serious threat to cyberspace security. To protect against social engineering attacks, a fundamental work is to know what constitutes social engineering. This paper first develops a domain ontology of social engineering in cybersecurity and conducts ontology evaluation by its knowledge graph application. The domain ontology defines 11 concepts of core entities that significantly constitute or affect social engineering domain, together with 22 kinds of relations describing how these entities related to each other. It provides a formal and explicit knowledge schema to understand, analyze, reuse and share domain knowledge of social engineering. Furthermore, this paper builds a knowledge graph based on 15 social engineering attack incidents and scenarios. 7 knowledge graph application examples (in 6 analysis patterns) demonstrate that the ontology together with knowledge graph is useful to 1) understand and analyze social engineering attack scenario and incident, 2) find the top ranked social engineering threat elements (e.g. the most exploited human vulnerabilities and most used attack mediums), 3) find potential social engineering threats to victims, 4) find potential targets for social engineering attackers, 5) find potential attack paths from specific attacker to specific target, and 6) analyze the same origin attacks.
Diagnosis of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia during late adulthood due to a rare genetic variant in RYR2: a case report
Authors: García-Cano Laura , Brouzet Thomas André , García-Fernández Amaya , Ibáñez-Criado José Luis , Monteagudo-Viana Marta , Ibáñez-Criado Alicia , Martínez-Martínez Juan Gabriel
Published: August 2021

Background

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a severe hereditary channelopathy characterized by the presence of ventricular arrhythmias triggered by adrenergic stimuli, usually diagnosed in the first two decades of life. Genetic variants in the cardiac ryanodine receptor gene are the most frequently occurring that cause an increase in intracellular calcium concentration and thus induce ventricular arrhythmias due to a delayed after depolarisation-induced triggered activity.

Case presentation

We present the case of a 74-year-old male, a regular athlete with no relevant family history who suffered from sinus dysfunction and frequent premature ventricular complexes with no symptoms. A treadmill test revealed severe polymorphic ventricular arrhythmias which led to the suspicion of CPVT. A genetic study was undertaken, and it identified a rare genetic variant in the RYR2 gene which was possibly associated with its development in heterozygosity: c.14465G > A, p.Arg4822His. While evaluating the co-segregation, we observed that most of his relatives exhibit polymorphic ventricular arrhythmias with exertion without symptoms and carried the same variant.

Conclusions

We described, for the first time, the clinical characteristics and co-segregation of a family diagnosed with CPVT secondary to a little-known genetic variant of the RYR2 gene. It is a variant that, in our case study, suggests an association with a very good prognosis.
Enlightening the black and white: species delimitation and UNITE species hypothesis testing in the Russula albonigra species complex
Authors: De Lange Ruben , Adamčík Slavomír , Adamčíkova Katarína , Asselman Pieter , Borovička Jan , Delgat Lynn , Hampe Felix , Verbeken Annemieke
Published: August 2021

Russula albonigra is considered a well-known species, morphologically delimited by the context of the basidiomata blackening without intermediate reddening, and the menthol-cooling taste of the lamellae. It is supposed to have a broad ecological range and a large distribution area. A thorough molecular analysis based on four nuclear markers (ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TEF1-α) shows this traditional concept of R. albonigra s. lat. represents a species complex consisting of at least five European, three North American, and one Chinese species. Morphological study shows traditional characters used to delimit R. albonigra are not always reliable. Therefore, a new delimitation of the R. albonigra complex is proposed and a key to the described European species of R. subgen. Compactae is presented. A lectotype and an epitype are designated for R. albonigra and three new European species are described: R. ambusta, R. nigrifacta, and R. ustulata. Different thresholds of UNITE species hypotheses were tested against the taxonomic data. The distance threshold of 0.5% gives a perfect match to the phylogenetically defined species within the R. albonigra complex. Publicly available sequence data can contribute to species delimitation and increase our knowledge on ecology and distribution, but the pitfalls are short and low quality sequences.
Promoting computational thinking through project-based learning
Authors: Shin Namsoo , Bowers Jonathan , Krajcik Joseph , Damelin Daniel
Published: August 2021

This paper introduces project-based learning (PBL) features for developing technological, curricular, and pedagogical supports to engage students in computational thinking (CT) through modeling. CT is recognized as the collection of approaches that  involve people in computational problem solving. CT supports students in deconstructing and reformulating a phenomenon such that it can be resolved using an information-processing agent (human or machine) to reach a scientifically appropriate explanation of a phenomenon. PBL allows students to learn by doing, to apply ideas, figure out how phenomena occur and solve challenging, compelling and complex problems. In doing so, students  take part in authentic science practices similar to those of professionals in science or engineering, such as computational thinking. This paper includes 1) CT and its associated aspects, 2) The foundation of PBL, 3) PBL design features to support CT through modeling, and 4) a curriculum example and associated student models to illustrate how particular design features can be used for developing high school physical science materials, such as an evaporative cooling unit to promote the teaching and learning of CT.
Psychological and behavioral complications in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Sohag
Authors: Hadad Saber , Ali Magda Mohamed , Sayed Taher Abdelraheem
Published: August 2021

Background

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease mainly diagnosed in children and adolescents. It has multiple psychiatric comorbidities. Our aim in this study was to determine the prevalence of psychological and behavioral problems in children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and to find if there is a strong correlation between these problems and different epidemiological- and disease-related factors such as age of the child, duration of diabetes, and other risk factors. We conducted a cross-sectional study and compared between 564 children diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1 (who attended Specialized Health Insurance Clinic in Sohag City, Upper Egypt, during the year 2018/2020) and 564 non-diabetic children matched with the diabetic children for age, sex, and socio-economic status. We used “Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)” to screen for behavioral, social, and emotional problems in diabetic and control children. “SDQ” is a 25-item brief behavioral screening questionnaire that consists of five subscales which are emotional problems, hyperactivity-inattention problems, conduct problems, peer problems, and prosocial behavior subscales. It generates total score and individual score for each subscale.

Results

In our study, we found that diabetic children had significantly higher prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems than control children (92.37% of diabetic children versus 20.2% of control children had abnormal total SDQ score with P value < 0.001). All subscales of SDQ except prosocial subscale were significantly affected in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus than control children with P value < 0.001. Certain factors were significantly associated with impaired subscales of SDQ scale. We found a positive correlation between age and emotional, hyperactivity and conduct problems as these problems were more frequent in older children. Female children had more hyperactivity and conduct problems than male children (68.6%, 71.7% vs. 58.0%, 62.0%, P 0.002 and 0.003, respectively) while male children were more affected by emotional problems than female children (68% vs. 57.4%, P 0.003). Peer problems were more prevalent in children of parents with higher educational level. Children with positive family history of diabetes were less affected by emotional problems than children with negative family history (50% vs.64.3%, P 0.04). Longer duration of disease was associated with increased prevalence of peer and emotional problems. Poor control of diabetes increased the prevalence of conduct and emotional problems (P 0.007 and 0.022, respectively).

Conclusion

Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus have more emotional, hyperactivity, conduct, and peer problems than non-diabetic children. These findings indicate a need to screen diabetic children and adolescents for behavioral and emotional problems and treat these problems if found.
The integrative bioinformatic analysis deciphers the predicted molecular target gene and pathway from curcumin derivative CCA-1.1 against triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
Authors: Novitasari Dhania , Jenie Riris Istighfari , Kato Jun-ya , Meiyanto Edy
Published: August 2021

Background

The poor outcomes from triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) therapy are mainly because of TNBC cells’ heterogeneity, and chemotherapy is the current approach in TNBC treatment. A previous study reported that CCA-1.1, the alcohol-derivative from monocarbonyl PGV-1, exhibits anticancer activities against several cancer cells, as well as in TNBC. This time, we utilized an integrative bioinformatics approach to identify potential biomarkers and molecular mechanisms of CCA-1.1 in inhibiting proliferation in TNBC cells.

Methods

Genomics data expression were collected through UALCAN, derived initially from TCGA-BRCA data, and selected for TNBC-only cases. We predict CCA-1.1 potential targets using SMILES-based similarity functions across six public web tools (BindingDB, DINIES, Swiss Target Prediction, Polypharmacology browser/PPB, Similarity Ensemble Approach/SEA, and TargetNet). The overlapping genes between the CCA-1.1 target and TNBC (CPTGs) were selected and used in further assessment. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) network analysis were generated in WebGestalt. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was established in STRING-DB, and then the hub-genes were defined through Cytoscape. The hub-gene’s survival analysis was processed via CTGS web tools using TCGA database.

Results

KEGG pathway analysis pointed to cell cycle process which enriched in CCA-1.1 potential targets. We also identified nine CPTGs that are responsible in mitosis, includingAURKB,PLK1,CDK1,TPX2,AURKA,KIF11,CDC7,CHEK1, andCDC25B.

Conclusion

We suggested CCA-1.1 possibly regulated cell cycle process during mitosis, which led to cell death. These findings needed to be investigated through experimental studies to reinforce scientific data of CCA-1.1 therapy against TNBC.