bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Profile of menthol cigarette smokers in the months following the removal of these products from the market: a cross-sectional population survey in England
Authors: Kock Loren , Shahab Lion , Bogdanovica Ilze , Brown Jamie
Published: November 2021

Introduction

In May 2020, the EU Tobacco Products Directive ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes was implemented in England. This study examined the prevalence of menthol cigarette smoking after the ban, according to sociodemographic and smoking characteristics.

Methods

Cross-sectional data came from a representative survey of current smokers (18+) in England (unweighted n=2681) between July 2020 and June 2021. The weighted prevalence of menthol cigarette smoking as a proportion of total cigarette smoking was calculated, log-binomial regression explored trends over time, and χ2statistics assessed the relationship between menthol smoking, sociodemographic and smoking characteristics. Sources of purchase of menthol cigarettes were explored.

Results

Between July 2020 and June 2021, 15.7% (95% CI 14.5 to 17.1) of smokers reported smoking menthol cigarettes. The fitted non-linear trend supported no initial change followed by a possible reduction across April–June 2021 and fit the data better than linear and null (no change) models (χ2(2)=2519.7, p=0.06; χ2(3)=2519.7, p=0.006). Menthol cigarette smoking was more common among younger groups (16–24=25.2%; 25–34=19.9%) and women (19.4%). Menthol cigarette smokers showed lower cigarette dependence compared with other smokers. Past-6-month purchases of menthol cigarettes from any illicit or cross-border source declined from 30.1% in the last 6 months of 2020 to 17.5% in the first 6 months of 2021.

Conclusions

A substantial minority of current smokers in England reported menthol cigarette smoking between July 2020 and June 2021, despite the ban, possibly reflecting mitigation of restrictions by a variety of licit means, such as legal menthol accessories. The reduction in menthol smoking across April–June 2021 warrants further monitoring.
Smart Educational Learning Strategy with the Internet of Things in Higher Education System
Authors: Wang Jing , Yu Zeyuan
Published: November 2021

Smart Educational Learning (SEL) has recently opened its ways in various changes in scientific discoveries, informatics, globalization, astronautics production, robotics, and artificial intelligence in the Higher Education System. In such an educational system, managing resources to increase education quality with an effective interactive environment has been considered a significant challenging factor for the Students and Teachers. Hence, in this paper, the internet of things assisted Interactive system (IoT-IS) for Smart Learning is used to measure the teachers’ and students’ performance analysis in the SEL platform. The psychometric processes with standards for effective teaching using smart educational learning tools have been discussed based on the higher education system requirements. Furthermore, an active learning strategy with an attention scoring method promotes students’ performance assessment in the higher education system using the interactive system. Facial expression detection and analysis are used and applied in online classroom videos in the SEL. Based on this detection and analysis, the attention of the students is observed. The experimental results show that the method enhances the student performance ratio of 98.5%, an accuracy ratio of 95.3%, an efficiency ratio of 96.7%, a reliability ratio of 93.2%, and a probability ratio of 94.5% compared to other existing methods.
Measuring and Modeling Group Dynamics in Open-Source Software Development: A Tensor Decomposition Approach
Authors: Bock Thomas , Schmid Angelika , Apel Sven
Published: November 2021

Many open-source software projects depend on a few core developers, who take over both the bulk of coordination and programming tasks. They are supported by peripheral developers, who contribute either via discussions or programming tasks, often for a limited time. It is unclear what role these peripheral developers play in the programming and communication efforts, as well as the temporary task-related sub-groups in the projects. We mine code-repository data and mailing-list discussions to model the relationships and contributions of developers in a social network and devise a method to analyze the temporal collaboration structures in communication and programming, learning about the strength and stability of social sub-groups in open-source software projects. Our method uses multi-modal social networks on a series of time windows. Previous work has reduced the network structure representing developer collaboration to networks with only one type of interaction, which impedes the simultaneous analysis of more than one type of interaction. We use both communication and version-control data of open-source software projects and model different types of interaction over time. To demonstrate the practicability of our measurement and analysis method, we investigate 10 substantial and popular open-source software projects and show that, if sub-groups evolve, modeling these sub-groups helps predict the future evolution of interaction levels of programmers and groups of developers. Our method allows maintainers and other stakeholders of open-source software projects to assess instabilities and organizational changes in developer interaction and can be applied to different use cases in organizational analysis, such as understanding the dynamics of a specific incident or discussion.
Graph Neural Collaborative Topic Model for Citation Recommendation
Authors: Xie Qianqian , Zhu Yutao , Huang Jimin , Du Pan , Nie Jian-Yun
Published: November 2021

Due to the overload of published scientific articles, citation recommendation has long been a critical research problem for automatically recommending the most relevant citations of given articles. Relational topic models (RTMs) have shown promise on citation prediction via joint modeling of document contents and citations. However, existing RTMs can only capture pairwise or direct (first-order) citation relationships among documents. The indirect (high-order) citation links have been explored in graph neural network–based methods, but these methods suffer from the well-known explainability problem. In this article, we propose a model called Graph Neural Collaborative Topic Model that takes advantage of both relational topic models and graph neural networks to capture high-order citation relationships and to have higher explainability due to the latent topic semantic structure. Experiments on three real-world citation datasets show that our model outperforms several competitive baseline methods on citation recommendation. In addition, we show that our approach can learn better topics than the existing approaches. The recommendation results can be well explained by the underlying topics.
Classifying Mobile Applications Using Word Embeddings
Authors: Ebrahimi Fahimeh , Tushev Miroslav , Mahmoud Anas
Published: November 2021

Modern application stores enable developers to classify their apps by choosing from a set of generic categories, or genres, such as health, games, and music. These categories are typically static—new categories do not necessarily emerge over time to reflect innovations in the mobile software landscape. With thousands of apps classified under each category, locating apps that match a specific consumer interest can be a challenging task. To overcome this challenge, in this article, we propose an automated approach for classifying mobile apps into more focused categories of functionally related application domains. Our aim is to enhance apps visibility and discoverability. Specifically, we employ word embeddings to generate numeric semantic representations of app descriptions. These representations are then classified to generate more cohesive categories of apps. Our empirical investigation is conducted using a dataset of 600 apps, sampled from the Education, Health&Fitness, and Medical categories of the Apple App Store. The results show that our classification algorithms achieve their best performance when app descriptions are vectorized using GloVe, a count-based model of word embeddings. Our findings are further validated using a dataset of Sharing Economy apps and the results are evaluated by 12 human subjects. The results show that GloVe combined with Support Vector Machines can produce app classifications that are aligned to a large extent with human-generated classifications.
A Game Theory Approach for Estimating Reliability of Crowdsourced Relevance Assessments
Authors: Moshfeghi Yashar , Huertas-Rosero Alvaro Francisco
Published: November 2021

In this article, we propose an approach to improve quality in crowdsourcing (CS) tasks using Task Completion Time (TCT) as a source of information about the reliability of workers in a game-theoretical competitive scenario. Our approach is based on the hypothesis that some workers are more risk-inclined and tend to gamble with their use of time when put to compete with other workers. This hypothesis is supported by our previous simulation study. We test our approach with 35 topics from experiments on the TREC-8 collection being assessed as relevant or non-relevant by crowdsourced workers both in a competitive (referred to as “Game”) and non-competitive (referred to as “Base”) scenario. We find that competition changes the distributions of TCT, making them sensitive to the quality (i.e., wrong or right) and outcome (i.e., relevant or non-relevant) of the assessments. We also test an optimal function of TCT as weights in a weighted majority voting scheme. From probabilistic considerations, we derive a theoretical upper bound for the weighted majority performance of cohorts of 2, 3, 4, and 5 workers, which we use as a criterion to evaluate the performance of our weighting scheme. We find our approach achieves a remarkable performance, significantly closing the gap between the accuracy of the obtained relevance judgements and the upper bound. Since our approach takes advantage of TCT, which is an available quantity in any CS tasks, we believe it is cost-effective and, therefore, can be applied for quality assurance in crowdsourcing for micro-tasks.
The Correlation Between the Electronegativities and the Standard Potentials
Authors: Chernomorskii A. I.
Published: November 2021

The linear correlations are analyzed between the empirical electronegativities
χ

a
of metals and non-metals and their standard potentials
E

o

. The correlation intersection corresponds to the transfer from metals to non-metals, characterized by the intermediate electronegativity
χ

a,interm
and the standard potential
E

o

∼+ 0.5 V SHE which is close to Billiter potential +0.475 V SHE. The electronegativity
χ

a,interm
and
E

o

∼ +0.5 V SHE would correspond to some hypothetical substance (neither metal nor non-metal) without own chemical actiity. This would be due to the intermediate non-specific (definite coulomb) bond of its outer electrons. This bond is not enough unstable (as metallic bonds) for breaking and not enough stable (as non-metallic bonds) for accepting electrons. Spontaneous half-reactions-interactions of Red - and Ox - forms on electrodes are due to the break Red + H2O → Ox + ne
interm and formation Ox + ne
interm
+ H2O → Red of specific (chemical) electron bonds with Ox-forms, where ne
interm are electrons without specific bond with Ox-forms. The instant division of electrons ne
interm, ions and polarized water molecules of formed intermediate complexes leads to the appearance of double-electric layers on electrodes.
Photovoltaic Response of Silicon Wafers Treated in the K2WO4-Na2WO4-WO3 Melt
Authors: Kosov A. V. , Semerikova O. L. , Vakarin S. V. , Grishenkova O. V. , Trofimov A. A. , Leonova A. M. , Leonova N. M. , Zaikov Y. P.
Published: November 2021

Texturing silicon wafers is one way to increase the performance of solar cells. This work is the first to report on the surface modification of Si wafers by processing in polytungstate melts. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, and photoelectrochemical measurements were used to elucidate the effect of texturing conditions in the Na2WO4—K2WO4 (1:1) melt containing 35 or 50 mol% WO3 at 973 K in air. As a result of cathodic treatment in the melt containing 50 mol% WO3 at the potential of –0.92 V (vs Pt) for 15 s, upright pyramids were formed on the Si surface. In addition, inverted pyramids appeared at the OTB/Si contact points. The photocurrent density of these samples was several times higher than that for the initial Si wafer or the Si wafer etched in 5 M NaOH solution at 353 K for 20 min. Mechanisms for the formation of upright and inverted pyramids were proposed. Unusual eight-faceted pyramids were formed on the Si surface during cathodic treatment in the melt containing 35 mol% WO3 at –1.19 V for 15 s, but the photocurrent density of such samples was low.
Analytical Impedance of Oxygen Transport in the Channel and Gas Diffusion Layer of a PEM Fuel Cell
Authors: Kulikovsky Andrei
Published: November 2021

Analytical model for impedance of oxygen transport in the gas–diffusion layer (GDL) and cathode channel of a PEM fuel cell is developed. The model is based on transient oxygen mass conservation equations coupled to the proton current conservation equation in the catalyst layer. Analytical formula for the “GDL+channel” impedance is derived assuming fast oxygen and proton transport in the cathode catalyst layer (CCL) In the Nyquist plot, the transport impedance consists of two arcs describing oxygen transport in the air channel (low–frequency arc) and in the GDL. The characteristic frequency of GDL arc depends on the CCL thickness: large CCL thickness strongly lowers this frequency. At small CCL thickness, the high–frequency feature on the arc shape forms. This effect is important for identification of peaks in distribution of relaxation times spectra of low–Pt PEMFCs.
Pd and Ag Binary Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Black and Tapioca for Nitrite Electrochemical Detection
Authors: de Freitas Rafaela Cristina , Orzari Luiz Otávio , de Oliveira Paulo Roberto , Janegitz Bruno Campos
Published: November 2021

This study reports the use of Pd and Ag bimetallic nanoparticles, supported on carbon black and tapioca for the modification of glassy carbon electrodes. The characterization of PdAg/carbon black and tapioca film on the electrode surface was performed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared and electrochemical impedance spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction, and cyclic voltammetry techniques. In addition, the proposed sensor was used for the electrochemical determination of nitrite, by differential pulse voltammetry, with a linear range from 5.0 to 1000 μmol L−1, and a detection limit of 1.24 μmol L−1. The proposed method was applied for the detection of the analyte of interest in environmental and food samples. The bimetallic composite production is simple and the sensor proved to be sensitive for electrochemical sensing of nitrite.
Perspective—Insights into Solar-Rechargeable Redox Flow Cell Design: A Practical Perspective for Lab-Scale Experiments
Authors: Whitley Shaun , Bae Dowon
Published: November 2021

Solar-rechargeable redox flow batteries (SRFBs) offer feasible solar energy storage with high flexibility in redox couples and storage capacity. Unlike traditional redox flow batteries, homemade flow cell reactors are commonly used in most solar-rechargeable redox flow batteries integrated with photoelectrochemical devices as it provides high system flexibility. This perspective article discusses current trends of the architectural and material characteristics of state-of-the-art photoelectrochemical flow cells for SRFB applications. Key design aspects and guidelines to build a photoelectrochemical flow cell, considering practical operating conditions, are proposed in this perspective.
Electroanalysis of Ascorbic Acid in Fresh Orange Juice Using a PTH/MWCNTCOOH-RGO/CS/CuO Film Modified Carbon Paste Electrode
Authors: AL-Refai Hanaa H. , Ganash Aisha A. , Hussein Mahmoud A.
Published: November 2021

The incorporation, characterization, and analytical ability of an ascorbic acid (AA) voltammetric sensor, based on the PTH/MWCNTCOOH-RGO/CS/CuO modified carbon paste electrode (CPE), were studied. The nanocomposite was prepared via anin situchemical polymerization route. The structural characterization, surface morphology, and thermal analysis of the modified polymers were confirmed. The kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation process of AA on the modified electrode were studied via scan rate analysis. The quantitative detection of AA was achieved effectually by a square wave voltammetry (SWV) technique. The proposed voltammetric sensor exhibited high performance in 0.1 M phosphate-buffered solution (PBS) at pH 3. In the pH range, 3 to 7 AA undergoes irreversible oxidation via transfer of 2H+/2e−. The proposed sensor showed a wide linear range (5μM to 2 mM) and a low detection limit (0.613μM). Additionally, the reproducibility and stability (at the 1 mM level) expressed in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD) were 2.13% and 1.98% respectively. The practicality of the proposed sensor was confirmed by the successful detection of ascorbic acid in fresh orange juice and the recovery was between 107.9% and 92.63%, with excellent accuracy.
Utilizing Spent Batteries to Fabricate Ni/ZnO-MnO2 Electrodes for Electrochemical Ammonia Oxidation
Authors: Yao Jiachao , Mei Yu , Wang Zeyu , Chen Jun , Hrynsphan Dzmitry , Savitskaya Tatsiana
Published: November 2021

In this work, a novel Ni/ZnO-MnO2 electrode was fabricated by utilizing spent zinc-manganese batteries and then was applied to the electrochemical treatment of ammonia-containing wastewater. The obtained Ni/ZnO-MnO2 electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and linear scanning voltammetry, suggesting that the fabricated electrode had a flower-like structure and showed high oxygen evolution potential and electrochemical activity. The electrochemical performance of the ZnO-MnO2 electrode in regard to ammonia removal and product selectivity was then investigated with different operating factors (i.e., electrolyte concentration, initial pH value, current density, and Cl− concentration), and the results indicated that the ammonia removal efficiency could reach 100% with a N2 selectivity of 91.8% under optimal conditions. Additionally, the mechanism of ammonia oxidation was proposed by cyclic voltammetry tests and active radical measurements, showing that ammonia was mainly oxidized via direct electron transfer, hydroxyl radicals, and active chlorine. Finally, the ZnO-MnO2 electrode was equipped for the treatment of actual pharmaceutical wastewater, results for which showed that ammonia could be completely removed with a current efficiency of 26.2% and an energy consumption of 52.7 kWh/kg N. Thus, the ZnO-MnO2 electrode prepared by recycling spent batteries is a promising anode for wastewater treatment.
Thermal Stability of Transparent ITO/n-Ga2O3/n+-Ga2O3/ITO Rectifiers
Authors: Xia Xinyi , Xian Minghan , Ren Fan , Rasel Md Abu Jafar , Haque Aman , Pearton S. J.
Published: November 2021

The thermal stability of n/n+
β-Ga2O3 epitaxial layer/substrate structures with sputtered ITO on both sides to act as rectifying contacts on the lightly doped layer and Ohmic on the heavily doped substrate is reported. The resistivity of the ITO deposited separately on Si decreased from 1.83 × 10−3 Ω.cm as-deposited to 3.6 × 10−4 Ω.cm after 300 °C anneal, with only minor reductions at higher temperatures (2.8 × 10−4 Ω.cm after 600 °C anneals). The Schottky barrier height also decreased with annealing, from 0.98 eV in the as-deposited samples to 0.85 eV after 500 °C annealing. The reverse breakdown voltage exhibited a negative temperature coefficient of −0.46 V.C−1 up to an annealing temperature of 400 °C and degraded faster at higher temperatures. Transmission Electron Microscopy showed significant reaction at the ITO and Ga2O3 interface above 300 °C, with a very degraded contact stack after annealing at 500 °C.
A Large-Size HfO2 Based RRAM Structure Suitable for Integration of One RRAM with One InGaZnO Thin Film Transistor for Large-Area Applications
Authors: Li Y. B. , Zhang J. , Sun J. X. , Chen T. P.
Published: November 2021

This work aims at finding a HfO2-based resistive random-access memory (RRAM) structure suitable for the integration of one RRAM with one InGaZnO thin film transistor (TFT) for large-area applications such as flexible electronic circuits. One of the major concerns is that the compliance current (CC) required for the formation of stable and strong conductive filaments in the forming and set processes as well as the maximum current required in the reset process in a large-size RRAM should be lower than that of the maximum current a TFT can deliver. In this work, an ultrathin Al2O3 layer of 2 nm was inserted between the HfO2 switching layer and the reactive Ti layer of the top electrode in the RRAM with the structure of Pt (bottom electrode)/HfO2/Al2O3/Ti/TiN (top electrode). With the ultrathin Al2O3 layer, the forming voltage was greatly reduced, and the CC for stable forming and set operations and maximum reset current can reach a low current level that an InGaZnO TFT is able to provide, while the device-to-device variation of the forming operation and cycle-to-cycle resistance variations of the set and reset operations are improved significantly.
Impact of Oral Health Educational Interventions on Oral Hygiene Status of Children with Hearing Loss: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Moin Maria , Saadat Sohail , Rafique Sara , Maqsood Afsheen , Lal Abhishek , Vohra Fahim , Alam Mohammad Khursheed , Ahmed Naseer
Published: November 2021

Introduction. Oral health is considered as one of the essential components of the overall health of every individual. Maintaining oral health is a gradual process that requires commitment. Children who require special care such as hearing impairment experience difficulty in maintaining oral health primarily due to communication difficulties. This study is aimed at using different interventions to evaluate the improvement of oral hygiene in hearing impaired children. Materials and Methods. Fifty‐nine children were recruited in this study that were allocated randomly into each group with twenty children as follows: group 1: pictorial, group 2: video, and group 3: control. Mean plaque and gingival scores were noted before and after the use of different interventions. Oral hygiene was categorized as “excellent,” “good,” and “fair.” Gingival health was categorized as “healthy,” “mild gingivitis,” and “moderate gingivitis.” Results. Thirty‐four children (57.6%) were from 12‐13 years of age bracket, and 25 (42.4%) belonged to 14‐16 years of age. Regarding gender, there were 37 (62.7%) males and 22 (37.3%) females. About comparison of mean gingival and plaque scores before and after interventions in each group, a significant difference was found in group 1 (p < 0.001) and group 2 (p < 0.001), as compared to group 3 where the difference in scores was not significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion. Maintaining oral health requires the compliance of individuals to perform different methods of preventive dentistry, such as tooth brushing and use of dental floss. The use of different oral hygiene educational interventions such as pictorial and video methods have been proven and useful for hearing impaired children in improving oral health.
Theta Omega Topological Operators and Some Product Theorems
Authors: Al Ghour Samer , El-Issa Salma
Published: November 2021

We introduce and investigate the concepts of

θ

ω

-limit points and

θ

ω

-interior points, and we use them to introduce two new topological operators. For a subset

B

of a topological space

Y
,
σ

, denote the set of all limit points of

B

(resp.

θ

-limit points of

B

,

θ

ω

-limit points of

B

, interior points of

B

,

θ

-interior points of

B

, and

θ

ω

-interior points of

B

) by

D

B

(resp.

D

θ

B

,

D

θ

ω

B

,

Int

B

,

Int

θ

B

, and

Int

θ

ω

B

). Several results regarding the two new topological operators are given. In particular, we show that

D

θ

ω

B

lies strictly between

D

B

and

D

θ

B

and

Int

θ

ω

B

lies strictly between

Int

θ

B

and

Int

B

. We show that

D

B

=

D

θ

ω

B

(resp.

Cl

θ

B

=

Cl

θ

ω

B

and

D

B

=

D

θ

ω

B

=

D

θ

B

) for locally countable topological spaces (resp. antilocally countable topological spaces and regular topological spaces). In addition to these, we introduce several product theorems concerning metacompactness.
Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Ocular Cells: A Means for Improving Ocular Tissue Engineering and Treatments of Eye Diseases
Authors: Sanie-Jahromi Fatemeh , Azizi Ali , Shariat Sahar , Johari Mohammadkarim
Published: November 2021

Tissue engineering is biomedical engineering that uses suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to assemble functional constructs that restore or improve damaged tissues. Recently, cell therapies as a subset of tissue engineering have been very promising in the treatment of ocular diseases. One of the most important biophysical factors to make this happen is noninvasive electrical stimulation (ES) to target ocular cells that may preserve vision in multiple retinal and optic nerve diseases. The science of cellular and biophysical interactions is very exciting in regenerative medicine now. Although the exact effect of ES on cells is unknown, multiple mechanisms are considered to underlie the effects of ES, including increased production of neurotrophic agents, improved cell migration, and inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines and cellular apoptosis. In this review, we highlighted the effects of ES on ocular cells, especially on the corneal, retinal, and optic nerve cells. Initially, we summarized the current literature on the in vitro and in vivo effects of ES on ocular cells and then we provided the clinical studies describing the effect of ES on ocular complications. For each area, we used some of the most impactful articles to show the important concepts and results that advanced the state of these interactions. We conclude with reflections on emerging new areas and perspectives for future development in this field.
Vitamin D3 Protects Mice from Diquat‐Induced Oxidative Stress through the NF‐κB/Nrf2/HO‐1 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Zhang Haiwen , Liu Youming , Fang Xin , Gu Lihong , Luo Caiwei , Chen Lu , Wang Qian
Published: November 2021

Vitamin D3, as an indispensable and fat‐soluble micronutrient, plays an important role in the health of humans and animals. At present, studies are focusing on the calcium absorption and immunoregulation function of vitamin D3; this study was aimed at exploring the antioxidative stress ability of vitamin D3 on diquat‐induced intestinal dysfunction of ICR mice and the underlying mechanism. The results showed that oral gavage of vitamin D3 daily significantly improved the body weight gain and immune organ index and significantly reverted the abnormal changes of ALT, AST, SOD, GSH‐Px, T‐AOC, and MDA in the serum and jejunum induced by diquat. The addition of vitamin D3 also significantly reduced the concentration of DAO, D‐LA, and certain proinflammatory cytokines in serum. Moreover, vitamin D3 improved the pathological morphology of the duodenum, jejunum, colon, liver, and kidney tissues, and it also largely attenuated the degree of inflammatory infiltration of macrophages and cell apoptotic index of jejunal epithelial tissue induced by diquat. The results demonstrated that vitamin D3 significantly recovered the intestinal barrier injury by enhancing the expression of mucins and tight junction proteins in the jejunum. In addition, the results indicated that vitamin D3 could significantly reduce the phosphorylation level of NF‐κB (p65) and enhance the expression of Nrf2 and HO‐1 in the jejunum compared with the diquat‐induced group. This study suggested that oral administration of vitamin D3 can protect mice against oxidative damage by inhibiting the phosphorylation level of NF‐κB (p65) and activating Nrf2‐related signaling pathways.
Vehicle Routing Problem in Relief Supply under a Crisis Condition considering Blood Types
Authors: Rezaei Kallaj Mahsa , Abolghasemian Milad , Moradi Pirbalouti Samaneh , Sabk Ara Majid , Pourghader Chobar Adel
Published: November 2021

Despite the advances achieved in Medical Sciences, no substitute has been found for blood as a vital factor. Therefore, preparing sufficient and healthy blood in crisis conditions is a challenge that health systems encounter. Along with examining the conducted investigations in this field, the main contribution of current research is to develop a biobjective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for relief supply under crisis condition. For this purpose, this paper proposes a model for routing of bus blood receiver under crisis conditions considering different blood groups. Besides, hours of unnecessary travel by bloodmobiles (buses) between each blood station (BS) and the crisis-stricken city for dispatching the collected blood is prevented thanks to considering a helicopter. The mentioned model has two objectives: maximizing the amount of blood collected by bloodmobiles and minimizing the arrival time of the blood receiver buses and a helicopter to a crisis-stricken city after the collected blood is used up. The model is coded by CPLEX software, and the results obtained from solving the model indicate that, without considering a helicopter, the demand is not supplied within the critical period after crisis. Given that blood cannot be artificially produced, its primary resource is blood donors. Concerning the importance of this issue under crisis conditions, this research investigates the relief vehicles’ routing problem, including bus and helicopter, in a crisis considering supply and transfer of different blood groups to a crisis-stricken city for maximum relief supply and blood transfer within the shortest period.
Whole Scenario of 5G Communication Access in the Digital Transformation of Medium and Large Enterprises
Authors: Yang Yi , Yan Zhichao , Xiao You
Published: November 2021

With the evolution and upgrading of the fifth-generation mobile communication technology, the mobile network will support a larger mobile user group and more diverse business scenarios, greatly enhance the Internet service experience, and fully support IoT-aware applications. As the forefront of the Internet of Everything, the wireless access network plays an important role in the evolution of the network. The continuous innovation of a new generation of information technology, especially the application of technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, has triggered an upsurge in the digital transformation of enterprises. Digital transformation has had a profound impact on the production and operation activities of enterprises and has also changed the organization and management of enterprise innovation activities. From the perspective of the innovation ecosystem, the digital transformation of a single enterprise leads to changes in innovation activities, which will converge and emerge new characteristics at the system level. The purpose of this article is to study the full scenarios of 5G communication access in the digital transformation of medium and large enterprises. This article starts with the development trend of wireless access networks, analyzes network slicing technologies in detail, and points out that wireless access networks are moving towards 5G. Important challenges are faced in the development of the times. Based on the adaptive random access model proposed in this paper, a feedback adaptive optimization method is proposed. This method estimates the real access load through feedback and calculates the access threshold through the access load. Then, broadcast the threshold value to each user equipment through downlink broadcast. The results show that the normalized throughput rate of random access methods using AC-RACH and FC-RACH is higher than that of RA-RACH. Especially, when the arrival rate of user requests is getting higher and higher, the throughput rate of RA-RACH access will continue to decrease with the collision until it approaches zero. By comparing the key data of normalized throughput rate and access success rate, it is concluded that the feedback adaptive method has a significant performance improvement under heavy load conditions compared with the previous method.
Laparoscopic Intervention to Pancreatic Pseudocyst Confers Short-Term Benefits: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Guo Yulin , Hu Shun , Wang Shuo , Li Ang , Cao Feng , Li Fei
Published: November 2021

Background. Surgical interventions for pancreatic pseudocyst (PP) are traditionally managed by an open surgical approach. With the development of minimally invasive surgical techniques, a laparoscopic surgical approach for PPs has been conducted increasingly with comparable outcomes. The present study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of surgical intervention for PPs between the laparoscopic approach and the open approach. Methods. Databases including Cochrane Library, PubMed, and EMBASE were searched to identify studies that compared the safety and efficacy of surgical intervention for PPs between the laparoscopic approach and the open approach (until Aug 1st 2020). Results. A total of 6 studies were eligible in qualitative synthesis. The laparoscopic approach was associated with less intraoperative blood loss (MD = −69.97; 95% CI: −95.14 to −44.70,

P
<
0.00001

;

P
=
0.86

for heterogeneity) and shorter operating time (MD = −33.12; 95% CI: −62.24 to −4.00,

P
=
0.03

;

P
<
0.00001

for heterogeneity). There was no significant difference found between the two approaches regarding the success rate and the recurrence rate. The postoperative complications and mortality rates were comparable between the two approaches. Conclusions. The laparoscopic approach for the surgical intervention of PPs is safe and efficacious with shorter-term benefits.
Text Sentiment Analysis of German Multilevel Features Based on Self-Attention Mechanism
Authors: Li Xiang
Published: November 2021

In this paper, we propose a multilevel feature representation method that combines word-level features, such as German morphology and slang, and sentence-level features, such as special symbols and English-translated sentiment information, and build a deep learning model for German sentiment classification based on the self-attentive mechanism, in order to address the characteristics of German social media texts that are colloquial, irregular, and diverse. Compared with the existing studies, this model not only has the most obvious improvement effect but also has better feature extraction and classification ability for German emotion.
Intelligent Data Analytics for Diagnosing Melanoma Skin Lesions via Deep Learning in IoT System
Authors: Zhang Shixiang , Huang Shuaiqi , Wu Hongkai , Yang Zicong , Chen Yinda
Published: November 2021

Melanoma is considered to be one of the most dangerous human malignancy, which is diagnosed visually or by dermoscopic analysis and histopathological examination. However, as these traditional methods are based on human experience and implemented manually, there have been great limitations for general usability in current clinical practice. In this paper, a novel hybrid machine learning approach is proposed to identify melanoma for skin healthcare in various cases. The proposed approach consists of classic machine learning methods, including convolutional neural networks (CNNs), EfficientNet, and XGBoost supervised machine learning. In the proposed approach, a deep learning model is trained directly from raw pixels and image labels for classification of skin lesions. Then, solely based on modeling of various features from patients, an XGBoost model is adopted to predict skin cancer. Following that, a diagnostic system which composed of the deep learning model and XGBoost model is developed to further improve the prediction efficiency and accuracy. Different from experience-based methods and solely image-based machine learning methods, the proposed approach is developed based on the theory of deep learning and feature engineering. Experiments show that the hybrid model outperforms single model like the traditional deep learning model or XGBoost model. Moreover, the data-driven-based characteristics can help the proposed approach develop a guideline for image analysis in other medical applications.
Self-Reported Antihypertensive Medication Class and Temporal Relationship to Treatment Guidelines
Authors: Egan Brent M. , Yang Jianing , Rakotz Michael K. , Sutherland Susan E. , Jamerson Kenneth A. , Wright Jackson T. , Ferdinand Keith C. , Wozniak Gregory D.
Published: November 2021

The greater antihypertensive responses to initial therapy with calcium channel blockers (CCBs) or thiazide-type diuretics than renin-angiotensin system blockers as initial therapy in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) adults was recognized in the US High BP guidelines from 1988 to 2003. The 2014 Report from Panel Members Appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee (2014 aJNC8 Report) and the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Guideline were the first to recommend CCBs or thiazide-type diuretics rather than renin-angiotensin system blockers as initial therapy in NHB. We assessed the temporal relationship of these recommendations on self-reported CCB or thiazide-type diuretics monotherapy by NHB and NHW adults with hypertension absent compelling indications for β-blockers or renin-angiotensin system blockers in National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2015 to 2018 versus 2007 to 2012 (after versus before 2014 aJNC8 Report). CCB or thiazide-type diuretics monotherapy was unchanged in NHW adults (17.1% versus 18.1%,
P
=0.711) and insignificantly higher after 2014 among NHB adults (43.7% versus 38.2%,
P
=0.204), although CCB monotherapy increased (29.5% versus 21.0%,
P
=0.021) and renin-angiotensin system blocker monotherapy fell (44.5% versus 31.0%,
P
=0.008). Although evidence-based CCB monotherapy increased among NHB adults in 2015 to 2018, hypertension control declined as untreated hypertension and monotherapy increased. While a gap between recommended and actual monotherapy persists, evidence-based monotherapy appears insufficient to improve hypertension control in NHB adults, especially given evidence for worsening therapeutic inertia. Initiating treatment with single-pill combinations and timely therapeutic intensification when required to control hypertension are evidence-based, race-neutral options for improving hypertension control among NHB adults.
High Lead Exposure Associated With Higher Blood Pressure in Haiti: a Warning Sign for Low-Income Countries
Authors: Yan Lily D. , Rouzier Vanessa , Pierre Jean Lookens , Lee Myung Hee , Muntner Paul , Parsons Patrick J. , Apollon Alexandra , St-Preux Stephano , Malebranche Rodolphe , Pierre Gerard , Emmanuel Evens , Nash Denis , Kingery Justin , Walsh Kathleen F. , Smith Caleigh E. , Metz Miranda , Tymejczyk Olga , Deschamps Marie , Pape Jean W. , Fitzgerald Daniel W. , McNairy Margaret L.
Published: November 2021

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in lower-income countries including Haiti. Environmental lead exposure is associated with high blood pressure and cardiovascular mortality in high-income countries but has not been systematically measured and evaluated as a potential modifiable cardiovascular risk factor in lower-income countries where 6.5 billion people reside. We hypothesized lead exposure is high in urban Haiti and associated with higher blood pressure levels. Blood lead levels were measured in 2504 participants ≥18 years enrolled in a longitudinal population-based cohort study in Port-au-Prince. Lead screening was conducted using LeadCare II (detection limit ≥3.3 µg/dL). Levels below detection were imputed by dividing the level of detection by √2. Associations between lead (quartiles) and systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were assessed, adjusting for age, sex, obesity, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, income, and antihypertensive medication use. The median age of participants was 40 years and 60.1% were female. The geometric mean blood lead level was 4.73µg/dL, 71.1% had a detectable lead level and 42.3% had a blood lead level ≥5 µg/dL. After multivariable adjustment, lead levels in quartile four (≥6.5 µg/dL) compared with quartile 1 (<3.4 µg/dL) were associated with 2.42 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.36–4.49) higher systolic blood pressure and 1.96 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.56–3.37) higher diastolic blood pressure. In conclusion, widespread environmental lead exposure is evident in urban Haiti, with higher lead levels associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Lead is a current and potentially modifiable pollutant in lower-income countries that warrants urgent public health remediation.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT03892265.
Is the KDIGO Systolic Blood Pressure Target <120 mm Hg for Chronic Kidney Disease Appropriate in Routine Clinical Practice?
Authors: Dasgupta Indranil , Zoccali Carmine
Published: November 2021

Meticulous management of hypertension is important in chronic kidney disease (CKD) to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, mortality, and progression of CKD. The recently published Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guideline on blood pressure (BP) management in CKD stresses the importance of standardized BP measurement and strict control of BP. This is a useful document that will help to improve the management of hypertension in CKD globally. However, the recommendation of systolic BP target of <120 mm Hg by KDIGO is controversial. It is based on weak evidence derived mainly from a single randomized controlled trial and its CKD subgroup analysis. Here, we review the current evidence surrounding BP target in CKD. We argue that the target recommended by KDIGO is not generalizable to the majority of people with CKD. Standardized BP measurements are challenging to implement outside specialist hypertension and research clinics, and the target of <120 mm Hg BP systolic cannot be extrapolated to routine clinic BP measurements. If applied to routine BP measurement, this target will expose the multimorbid and frail CKD patients to the risk of adverse events including falls and fractures. Furthermore, it will not be achievable in the majority of CKD patients. The target recommended by KDIGO is an outlier among contemporary major international hypertension guidelines and is likely to perplex clinicians. We believe the KDIGO-recommended target systolic BP <120 mm Hg for CKD is inappropriate in the majority of CKD patients and it may even be harmful for patients managed in routine clinical practice.
First Pass Effect With Neurothrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke: Analysis of the Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated With Stroke Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke Registry
Authors: Jadhav Ashutosh P. , Desai Shashvat M. , Zaidat Osama O. , Nogueira Raul G. , Jovin Tudor G. , Haussen Diogo C. , Mueller-Kronast Nils , Liebeskind David S.
Published: November 2021

Background and Purpose:

Achieving complete revascularization after a single pass of a mechanical thrombectomy device (first pass effect [FPE]) is associated with good clinical outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion. We assessed patient characteristics, outcomes, and predictors of FPE among a large real-world cohort of patients (Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated with Stroke Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke registry).

Methods:

Demographics, clinical outcomes, and procedural characteristics were analyzed among patients in whom FPE (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2c/3 after first pass) was achieved versus those requiring multiple passes (MP). Modified FPE and modified MP included patients achieving modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2B-3. Primary outcomes included 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score and mortality.

Results:

Among 984 Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated with Stroke Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke patients, 930 had complete 90-day follow-up. FPE was achieved in 40.5% (377/930) of patients and MP in 20.0% (186/930). Baseline characteristics were similar across all groups. The FPE group had fewer internal carotid artery occlusions compared with MP (
P
=0.029). The FPE group had faster puncture to recanalization time (
P
≤0.001), higher rates of 90-day mRS score of 0 to 1 (52.6% versus 38.6%,
P
=0.003), mRS score of 0 to 2 (65.4% versus 52.0%,
P
=0.003), and lower 90-day mortality compared with the MP group (12.0% versus 18.7%,
P
=0.038). Similarly, compared with modified MP patients, the modified FPE group had fewer internal carotid artery occlusions (
P
=0.004), faster puncture to recanalization time (
P
≤0.001), and higher rates of 90-day mRS score of 0 to 1 (
P
=0.002) and mRS score of 0 to 2 (
P
=0.003).

Conclusions:

Our findings demonstrate that FPE and modified FPE are associated with superior clinical outcomes.
Tenecteplase Improves Door‐to‐Needle Time in Real‐World Acute Stroke Treatment
Authors: Hall Jillian , Thon Jesse M. , Heslin Mark , Thau Lauren , Yeager Terri , Siegal Taylor , Vigilante Nicholas , Kamen Scott , Tiongson Justin , Jovin Tudor G. , Siegler James E.
Published: November 2021

Background

We report the interim results of a process improvement initiative at a comprehensive stroke center in which all tPA (tissue‐type plasminogen activator)–eligible patients were given tenecteplase for acute ischemic stroke.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed a prospectively maintained single‐center registry of consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke treated at our comprehensive stroke center emergency department or transferred for further care. Patients treated with alteplase (tPA) before the process improvement initiative (October 2019–April 2020) were compared with those treated with tenecteplase (May 2020–July 2021). The primary efficacy outcome was the Target: Stroke Phase II recommendation of door‐to‐needle (DTN) time ≤45 minutes. Backward stepwise logistic regression was used to estimate an independent effect of tenecteplase against DTN time ≤45 minutes. Two contemporaneous, negative controls (time to first emergency department antibiotic for patients who presented with infectious symptoms and door‐to‐groin puncture for thrombectomy) were evaluated to confirm DTN time was unrelated to emergency department and other stroke treatment throughput.

Results

Of the 113 included patients, 53 (47%) received tenecteplase. DTN time was significantly faster in patients treated with tenecteplase (median, 41 [interquartile range, 34–62] minutes versus 58 [interquartile range, 45–70] minutes;
P
<0.01), with no significant difference in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (2% versus 7%;
P
=0.37). Despite the higher proportion of tPA patients being transferred for care (with slower DTN time), tenecteplase remained independently predictive of DTN time ≤45 minutes (adjusted odds ratio, 3.96; 95% CI, 1.58–9.91). There was no difference in time to first emergency department antibiotic (
P
>0.05) or door‐to‐puncture (
P
>0.05) when similar periods were compared.

Conclusions

Tenecteplase was associated with faster DTN time when compared with tPA in those with acute ischemic stroke. This can likely be attributed to the ease of single bolus administration of tenecteplase.