bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antibiotic prescription for children with acute respiratory tract infections in rural primary healthcare in Guangdong province, China: a cross-sectional study
Authors: He Diqiong , Li Feifeng , Wang Jiong , Zhuo Chao , Zou Guanyang
Published: November 2023

Objectives

The objective of this study is to understand the characteristics and patterns of the first antibiotic prescriptions for children with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in rural primary healthcare (PHC) in Guangdong province, China.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting and participants

We used prescription data generated from the electronic medical record system of 37 township hospitals in two counties of Shaoguan City, Guangdong province. 46 699 first prescriptions for ARIs in children aged 0–18 years were screened from 444 979 outpatient prescriptions recorded between November 2017 and October 2018.

Outcome measures

Descriptive analyses were used to report sociodemographic characteristics and antibiotic prescribing profiles. χ2analysis and binary logistic regression were used to analyse the factors associated with antibiotic prescriptions in children.

Results

Of the 46 699 sampled cases, 83.00% (n=38 759) received at least one antibiotic as part of their first prescription. Of the 38 759 sampled cases treated with antibiotics, 40.76% (n=15 799), 56.15% (n=21 762) and 31.59% (n=12 244) received parenteral antibiotics, broad-spectrum antibiotics and two or more kinds of antibiotics, respectively. Multivariable analysis showed that children aged ≤5 years were less likely to be prescribed with antibiotics than those aged 16–18 years (OR 0.545, p<0.001). Those with health insurance were more likely to be prescribed with antibiotics than those without health insurance (OR 1.677, p<0.001).

Conclusions

Misuse and overuse of antibiotics were found in the prescriptions of children with ARIs in rural PHC. Antibiotic stewardship programme should be established to reduce the level of antibiotic prescriptions among children with ARIs in rural PHC, especially regarding the prescriptions of broad-spectrum antibiotics and parenteral antibiotics, tailored to different ages, sex and health insurance groups.
SalmonellaVaccine Study in Oxford (SALVO) trial: protocol for an observer-participant blind randomised placebo-controlled trial of the iNTS-GMMA vaccine within a European cohort
Authors: Hanumunthadu Brama , Kanji Nasir , Owino Nelly , Ferreira Da Silva Carla , Robinson Hannah , White Rachel , Ferruzzi Pietro , Nakakana Usman , Canals Rocio , Pollard Andrew J , Ramasamy Maheshi
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Invasive non-typhoidal Salmonellosis (iNTS) is mainly caused bySalmonella entericaserovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis and is estimated to result in 77 500 deaths per year, disproportionately affecting children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. Invasive non-typhoidalSalmonellaeserovars are increasingly acquiring resistance to first-line antibiotics, thus an effective vaccine would be a valuable tool in reducing morbidity and mortality from infection. While NTS livestock vaccines are in wide use, no licensed vaccines exist for use in humans. Here, a first-in-human study of a novel vaccine (iNTS-GMMA) containingS. Typhimurium andS. Enteritidis Generalised Modules for Membrane Antigens (GMMA) outer membrane vesicles is presented.

Method and analysis

TheSalmonellaVaccine Study in Oxford is a randomised placebo-controlled participant-observer blind phase I study of the iNTS-GMMA vaccine. Healthy adult volunteers will be randomised to receive three intramuscular injections of the iNTS-GMMA vaccine, containing equal quantities ofS. Typhimurium andS. Enteritidis GMMA particles adsorbed on Alhydrogel, or an Alhydrogel placebo at 0, 2 and 6 months. Participants will be sequentially enrolled into three groups: group 1, 1:1 randomisation to low dose iNTS-GMMA vaccine or placebo; group 2, 1:1 randomisation to full dose iNTS-GMMA vaccine or placebo; group 3, 2:1 randomisation to full dose or lower dose (dependant on DSMC reviews of groups 1 and 2) iNTS-GMMA vaccine or placebo.

The primary objective is safety and tolerability of the vaccine. The secondary objective is immunogenicity as measured by O-antigen based ELISA. Further exploratory objectives will characterise the expanded human immune profile.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval for this study has been obtained from the South Central—Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (Ethics REF:22/SC/0059). Appropriate documentation and regulatory approvals have been acquired. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed articles and conferences.

Trial registration number

EudraCT Number: 2020-000510-14.
Role of excessive weight in intraocular pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Waspodo Noro , Giffari Makkaraka Moh Anfasa , Nislawati Ririn , Ismail Abrar , Taufik Fadillah Zainal Ahmad , Lolok Giordano Bandi
Published: November 2023

Objective

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyse the effect of excess body weight on intraocular pressure (IOP) values.

Method and analysis

A literature search from PubMed, Medline and ScienceDirect Databases on 18 May 2023 was conducted by three reviewers, then filtered each study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. For the quality assessment of included studies, the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was adapted. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan V.5.4 by entering the IOP values of each group to measure the mean difference.

Results

From 2656 studies, there were 9 studies that matched the criteria and then were included to perform a quantitative meta-analysis. The results showed a mean difference of 0.93 (95% CI: 0.67 to 1.18) of the excessive weight group against the normal weight group. This suggests that there is a significant relationship between excess body weight and increasing values of IOP.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that excessive body weight tends to lead to higher IOP, which means that high IOP becomes a major risk factor for glaucoma.
Role of genetic polymorphisms in clopidogrel response variability: a systematic review
Authors: Lopez Jose , Mark Justin , Duarte Gustavo J , Shaban Mohammed , Sosa Franklin , Mishra Rishabh , Jain Swati , Tran An , Khizar Asma , Karpel Daniel , Acosta Giancarlo , Rodriguez-Guerra Miguel
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Clopidogrel is a P2Y12inhibitor that has become a mainstay treatment following percutaneous intervention with drug-eluting stent placement to decrease restenosis and its potential complications, including sudden cardiac death and ischaemic strokes in patients with significant vascular disease.

Areas covered

As a prodrug, the metabolism and efficacy of clopidogrel are contingent on the presence of wild-type CYP450 (CYP2C19) alleles. Genetic polymorphisms and variants are well known to impair its ability to prevent major adverse cardiovascular events in these patients, with inadequate response rates as high as 30% in previous publications. Patterns of allelic frequencies are expected to exhibit similarities between individuals of the same ancestry, ethnic group or geographic region. Accordingly, we seek to further elucidate worldwide prevalence rates for genetic polymorphisms in the CYP2C19-dependent metabolism of clopidogrel and review the potential of personalised CYP2C19 genotyping in clinical practice to mitigate this high treatment resistance and its associated burden on patients.

Experts’ commentary

Our findings support the consideration of genotyping before initiation of therapy to guide adequate dosage or substitutions of other P2Y12inhibitors to promote personalised, precision medicine and to prevent adverse events when these therapies may inevitably fail in patients with variants of the CYP450 (CYP2C19) system.
Continuous percolation in a Hilbert space for a large system of qubits
Authors: Watabe Shohei , Serikow Michael Zach , Kawabata Shiro , Zagoskin Alexandre
Published: November 2023

The development of percolation theory was historically shaped by its numerous applications in various branches of science, in particular in statistical physics, and was mainly constrained to the case of Euclidean spaces. One of its central concepts, the percolation transition, is defined through the appearance of the infinite cluster, and therefore cannot be used in compact spaces, such as the Hilbert space of an N-qubit system. Here, we propose its generalization for the case of a random space covering by hyperspheres, introducing the concept of a “maximal cluster”. Our numerical calculations reproduce the standard power-law relation between the hypersphere radius and the cover density, but show that as the number of qubits increases, the exponent quickly vanishes (i.e., the exponentially increasing dimensionality of the Hilbert space makes its covering by finite-size hyperspheres inefficient). Therefore the percolation transition is not an efficient model for the behavior of multiqubit systems, compared to the random walk model in the Hilbert space. However, our approach to the percolation transition in compact metric spaces may prove useful for its rigorous treatment in other contexts.
Triterpenoid Compounds from Cyclocarya paliurus: A Review of Their Phytochemistry, Quality Control, Pharmacology, and Structure–Activity Relationship
Authors: Zhang Shuran , He Junyu , Li Jie , He Haibo , He Yumin , Wang Xiao , Shu Heng , Zhang Jihong , Xu Daoxiang , Zou Kun
Published: November 2023

Cyclocarya paliurus (Batalin) Iljinskaja (C. paliurus) is a single species of Cyclocarya paliurus in Juglandaceae. It is a unique rare medicinal plant resource in China that is mainly distributed in the south of China. The leaves of C. paliurus, as a new food ingredient, are processed into tea products in daily life. Triterpenoids are the main active ingredient in C. paliurus. So far, 164 triterpenoid compounds have been isolated and identified from C. paliurus, which are included 3,4-seco-dammaranes, dammaranes, oleanane, ursane, lupinanes, taraxeranes, and norceanothanes. Modern pharmacological studies manifested that these ingredients have a wide range of pharmacological activities both in vitro and in vivo, such as reducing blood sugar, lowering blood lipids, and anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and other activities. In addition, current results indicate that the pharmacological mechanisms of triterpenoids were closely related to their chemical structure, molecular signaling pathways, and the expression of related proteins. In order to further study C. paliurus based on the current research situation, this review summarizes the prospect and systematic summary of the triterpenes of C. paliurus from the aspects of structural characteristics, quality control, biological activity, and the structure–activity relationship, which provide a reference for further research and application of the triterpenoids from C. paliurus in the field of functional food and medicine.
ISP Agent: A Generalized In-storage-processing Workload Offloading Framework by Providing Multiple Optimization Opportunities
Authors: Kang Seokwon , Kim Jongbin , Lee Gyeongyong , Lee Jeongmyung , Seo Jiwon , Jung Hyungsoo , Song Yong Ho , Park Yongjun
Published: November 2023

As solid-state drives (SSDs) with sufficient computing power have recently become the dominant devices in modern computer systems, in-storage processing (ISP), which processes data within the storage without transferring it to the host memory, is being utilized in various emerging applications. The main challenge of ISP is to deliver storage data to the offloaded workload. This is difficult because of the information gap between the host and storage, the data consistency problem between the host and offloaded workloads, and SSD-specific hardware limitations. Moreover, because the offloaded workloads use internal SSD resources, host I/O performance might be degraded due to resource conflicts. Although several ISP frameworks have been proposed, existing ISP approaches that do not deeply consider the internal SSD behavior are often insufficient to support efficient ISP workload offloading with high programmability.

In this article, we propose an ISP agent, a lightweight ISP workload offloading framework for SSD devices. The ISP agent provides I/O and memory interfaces that allow users to run existing function codes on SSDs without major code modifications, and separates the resources for the offloaded workloads from the existing SSD firmware to minimize interference with host I/O processing. The ISP agent also provides further optimization opportunities for the offloaded workload by considering SSD architectures. We have implemented the ISP agent on the OpenSSD Cosmos+ board and evaluated its performance using synthetic benchmarks and a real-world ISP-assisted database checkpointing application. The experimental results demonstrate that the ISP agent enhances host application performance while increasing ISP programmability, and that the optimization opportunities provided by the ISP agent can significantly improve ISP-side performance without compromising host I/O processing.
Hardware-hardened Sandbox Enclaves for Trusted Serverless Computing
Authors: Park Joongun , Kang Seunghyo , Lee Sanghyeon , Kim Taehoon , Park Jongse , Kwon Youngjin , Huh Jaehyuk
Published: November 2023

In cloud-based serverless computing, an application consists of multiple functions provided by mutually distrusting parties. For secure serverless computing, the hardware-based trusted execution environment (TEE) can provide strong isolation among functions. However, not only protecting each function from the host OS and other functions, but also protecting the host system from the functions, is critical for the security of the cloud servers. Such an emerging trusted serverless computing poses new challenges: Each TEE must be isolated from the host system bi-directionally, and the system calls from it must be validated. In addition, the resource utilization of each TEE must be accountable in a mutually trusted way. However, the current TEE model cannot efficiently represent such trusted serverless applications. To overcome the lack of such hardware support, this article proposes an extended TEE model called
Cloister
, designed for trusted serverless computing.
Cloister
proposes four new key techniques. First, it extends the hardware-based memory isolation in SGX to confine a deployed function only within its TEE (enclave). Second, it proposes a trusted monitor enclave that filters and validates system calls from enclaves. Third, it provides a trusted resource accounting mechanism for enclaves that is agreeable to both service developers and cloud providers. Finally,
Cloister
accelerates enclave loading by redesigning its memory verification for fast function deployment. Using an emulated Intel SGX platform with the proposed extensions, this article shows that trusted serverless applications can be effectively supported with small changes in the SGX hardware.
SAC: An Ultra-Efficient Spin-based Architecture for Compressed DNNs
Authors: Zhao Yunping , Ma Sheng , Liu Heng , Huang Libo , Dai Yi
Published: November 2023

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have achieved great progress in academia and industry. But they have become computational and memory intensive with the increase of network depth. Previous designs seek breakthroughs in software and hardware levels to mitigate these challenges. At the software level, neural network compression techniques have effectively reduced network scale and energy consumption. However, the conventional compression algorithm is complex and energy intensive. At the hardware level, the improvements in the semiconductor process have effectively reduced power and energy consumption. However, it is difficult for the traditional Von-Neumann architecture to further reduce the power consumption, due to the memory wall and the end of Moore’s law. To overcome these challenges, the spintronic device based DNN machines have emerged for their non-volatility, ultra low power, and high energy efficiency. However, there is no spin-based design that has achieved innovation at both the software and hardware level. Specifically, there is no systematic study of spin-based DNN architecture to deploy compressed networks.

In our study, we present an ultra-efficient Spin-based Architecture for Compressed DNNs (SAC), to substantially reduce power consumption and energy consumption. Specifically, we propose a One-Step Compression algorithm (OSC) to reduce the computational complexity with minimum accuracy loss. We also propose a spin-based architecture to realize better performance for the compressed network. Furthermore, we introduce a novel computation flow that enables the reuse of activations and weights. Experimental results show that our study can reduce the computational complexity of compression algorithm from 𝒪(
Tk
3
to 𝒪(
k
2
log
k
), and achieve 14× ∼ 40× compression ratio. Furthermore, our design can attain a 2× enhancement in power efficiency and a 5× improvement in computational efficiency compared to the Eyeriss. Our models are available at an anonymous link
https://bit.ly/39cdtTa
.
Contrastive Learning of View-invariant Representations for Facial Expressions Recognition
Authors: Roy Shuvendu , Etemad Ali
Published: November 2023

Although there has been much progress in the area of facial expression recognition (FER), most existing methods suffer when presented with images that have been captured from viewing angles that are non-frontal and substantially different from those used in the training process. In this article, we propose ViewFX, a novel view-invariant FER framework based on contrastive learning, capable of accurately classifying facial expressions regardless of the input viewing angles during inference. ViewFX learns view-invariant features of expression using a proposed self-supervised contrastive loss, which brings together different views of the same subject with a particular expression in the embedding space. We also introduce a supervised contrastive loss to push the learned view-invariant features of each expression away from other expressions. Since facial expressions are often distinguished with very subtle differences in the learned feature space, we incorporate the Barlow twins loss to reduce the redundancy and correlations of the representations in the learned representations. The proposed method is a substantial extension of our previously proposed CL-MEx, which only had a self-supervised loss. We test the proposed framework on two public multi-view facial expression recognition datasets, KDEF and DDCF. The experiments demonstrate that our approach outperforms previous works in the area and sets a new state-of-the-art for both datasets while showing considerably less sensitivity to challenging angles and the number of output labels used for training. We also perform detailed sensitivity and ablation experiments to evaluate the impact of different components of our model as well as its sensitivity to different parameters.
Advances and Challenges in Cell Biology for Cultured Meat
Authors: Martins Beatriz , Bister Arthur , Dohmen Richard G.J. , Gouveia Maria Ana , Hueber Rui , Melzener Lea , Messmer Tobias , Papadopoulos Joanna , Pimenta Joana , Raina Dhruv , Schaeken Lieke , Shirley Sara , Bouchet Benjamin P. , Flack Joshua E.
Published: November 2023

Cultured meat is an emerging biotechnology that aims to produce meat from animal cell culture, rather than from the raising and slaughtering of livestock, on environmental and animal welfare grounds. The detailed understanding and accurate manipulation of cell biology are critical to the design of cultured meat bioprocesses. Recent years have seen significant interest in this field, with numerous scientific and commercial breakthroughs. Nevertheless, these technologies remain at a nascent stage, and myriad challenges remain, spanning the entire bioprocess. From a cell biological perspective, these include the identification of suitable starting cell types, tuning of proliferation and differentiation conditions, and optimization of cell–biomaterial interactions to create nutritious, enticing foods. Here, we discuss the key advances and outstanding challenges in cultured meat, with a particular focus on cell biology, and argue that solving the remaining bottlenecks in a cost-effective, scalable fashion will require coordinated, concerted scientific efforts. Success will also require solutions to nonscientific challenges, including regulatory approval, consumer acceptance, and market feasibility. However, if these can be overcome, cultured meat technologies can revolutionize our approach to food.
The Role of Attitudes in Work Behavior
Authors: Kammeyer-Mueller John D. , Rubenstein Alex L. , Barnes Tianna S.
Published: November 2023

The relationship between work attitudes such as satisfaction and commitment and behaviors such as task effort, citizenship behavior, absenteeism, job search, and turnover is a perennial focus of organizational research. Over time we have learned a great deal about why, how, and when attitudes predict work behavior, but new questions and theories continue to proliferate. With this review, we aim to synthesize existing organizational literature on attitudes and behavior, focusing on how the field can be organized using principles from Ajzen & Kruglanski's (2019) theory of reasoned goal pursuit. The accumulated evidence answers longstanding questions while simultaneously raising new ones related to the link between general attitudes and specific behavior; the proximal effect of intentions; the role of goals, social contexts, and behavioral control; and the dynamic processes among attitudes, environments, and behavior. We also suggest applications of our organizing framework to enhance future work attitudes and behavior research.
On Relative Importance of Vehicular and Structural Motions in Defining Electrolyte Transport
Authors: Mistry Aashutosh , Yu Zhou , Cheng Lei , Srinivasan Venkat
Published: November 2023

Molecular motions of ionic and neutral electrolyte species determine transport properties at the continuum scale. These molecular motions can be classified as vehicular (e.g., cations moving with a solvation shell of neighboring solvent molecules) and structural (e.g., cations hopping from one solvation shell to another) motions. While literature studies have described the presence, and relative importance, of each of these motions in various electrolytes, a clear link to macroscopic transport properties has not been made. We herein establish this link by using the fluctuation-dissipation theorem to develop theoretical expressions connecting the molecular displacements to Stefan-Maxwell diffusivities. To illustrate the usefulness of the proposed equations, we study LiPF6 in propylene carbonate as an exemplar electrolyte. We show that its transport behavior improves at all concentrations when structural diffusion of cations is promoted. On the other hand, boosting the cation vehicular diffusion negatively affects the concentrated compositions. We extend this understanding to a generalized electrolyte of a salt dissolved in a solvent. Our theory suggests that while structural diffusion influences Stefan-Maxwell diffusivities globally, vehicular diffusion is only relevant under certain conditions. Such guidelines are critical for a bottom-up design of electrolyte transport.
The Catalytic Effect of Graphene Oxide on Magnesium Hydride-Based Anode for Lithium/Sodium-Ion Battery
Authors: Prajapati Abhimanyu Kumar , Bhatnagar Ashish
Published: November 2023

In the field of rechargeable batteries, magnesium hydride (MgH2) is one of the promising candidates among all metal hydrides due to its remarkable propeties. Nevertheless their practical application is limited due to some disadvantages such as poor reversibility, slow kinetics during charging/discharging, and unsatisfactory cyclability. In view of the above, the present work focused on, MgH2-catalyzed by graphene oxide (GO) as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) in which MgH2 nanoparticles are catalyzed with graphene oxide (5 wt% of MgH2) via ball-milling. The MgH2 anode shows the initial discharge/charge capacity of 158/50 mAhg−1 and MgH2 catalyzed with GO (MgH2-GO) anode exhibited excellent electrochemical performance with 427/289 mAhg−1 and the MgH2-GO anode shows a capacity retention of 240 mAhg−1 at a high current density of 200 mAg−1 after 100 cycles for LIBs. In the case of SIBs, the MgH2 anode shows the initial discharge/charge capacity of 126/40 mAhg−1 and capacity retention of 14 mAhg−1 at a high current density of 200 mAg−1 after 100 cycles, and the MgH2-GO anode shows the initial discharge/charge capacity of 272/142 mAhg−1 and capacity retention of 79 mAhg−1 at a high current density of 200 mAg−1 after 100 cycles.
Hexagonal Boron Nitride Decorated Polypropylene Separator for Dendritic Free Sodium Deposition and Stripping
Authors: Garg Shubham , Singh Ankush Kumar , Parmar Avanish Singh , Rosy
Published: November 2023

Sodium metal, with its impressive electrochemical properties, including a high specific capacity of 1166 mAhg−1 and a low redox potential of −2.71 V vs SHE, emerges as a compelling option for battery anodes. However, the dendrites formed during subsequent charging/discharging cycles severely limit its practical implementation. Here, we report the ability of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) coated polypropylene separator to suppress the dendritic deposition. The tailored separator manifests improved wettability and stable electrochemical performance under limited Na availability. The improved performance is ascribed to the sodiophilic character of hBN, which is expected to provide uniform Na+ flux and exhibit a guiding effect for uniform Na deposition. This study aims to report the use of a hBN coated separator for mitigating Na dendrites; however, comprehensive research is required to properly evaluate the pragmatic application of the proposed strategy in metal batteries.
Defining a timeline of colon pathologies after keratin 8 loss: rapid crypt elongation and diarrhea are followed by epithelial erosion and cell exfoliation
Authors: Ilomäki Maria A. , Polari Lauri , Stenvall Carl-Gustaf A. , Tayyab Mina , Kähärä Kirah , Ridge Karen M. , Toivola Diana M.
Published: November 2023

Understanding the order in which physiological and molecular events occur helps to recognize the onset of diseases and improve their preclinical models. We utilized Cre-Lox-based inducible keratin 8 deletion in mouse intestinal epithelium to characterize the earliest events after keratin 8 loss leading to colitis. These include diarrhea and crypt elongation, followed by erosion and neutrophil activity. Our results also support noninvasive methodology for monitoring colon diseases in preclinical models.
3-Group Divisible Designs with 3 Groups and Block Size 5
Authors: Tefera Zebene Girma , Sarvate Dinesh G. , Fufa Samuel Asefa
Published: November 2023

A

3

-GDD (

n

,

2

,

k

,

λ

1

,

λ

2

) was defined by combining the definitions of a group divisible design and a t-design. In this paper, we extend the definitions to 3 groups and block size 5, and we denote such GDD by

3

-GDD (

n

,

3

,

5

,

μ

1

,

μ

2

). Some necessary conditions for the existence of these GDDs are developed, and several new constructions and specific instances of nonexistence are given.
A (Discrete) Homotopy Theory for Geometric Spaces
Authors: Pourhaghani Asieh , Torabi Hamid
Published: November 2023

We define the concepts of homotopy and fundamental group for geometric spaces as a generalization of metric spaces, digital spaces, and graphs; then, we compare them with corresponding concepts in these spaces. Also, we state some properties of the fundamental group of geometric spaces and some theorems to calculate them.
Incidence Trends of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Medication-Induced Diabetes, and Monogenic Diabetes in Canadian Children, Then (2006–2008) and Now (2017–2019)
Authors: Patel Trisha J. , Ayub Aysha , Bone Jeffrey N. , Hadjiyannakis Stasia , Henderson Mélanie , Nour Munier A. , Pinto Teresa E. , Wicklow Brandy , Hamilton Jill K. , Sellers Elizabeth A. C. , Amed Shazhan
Published: November 2023

Introduction. The landscape of childhood diabetes has evolved and addressing the knowledge gaps in non-Type 1 diabetes mellitus are key to accurate diagnosis. Objectives. A national surveillance study was completed between 2006 and 2008 and then repeated between 2017 and 2019 to describe Canadian incidence trends and clinical characteristics of non-Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods. We prospectively tracked new cases of non-Type 1 diabetes mellitus in children <18 years of age between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2019. For each reported new case, a detailed questionnaire was completed, and cases were classified as Type 2 diabetes mellitus, medication-induced diabetes (MID), monogenic diabetes, or “indeterminate.” Minimum incidence rates and 10-year incidence trends of non-Type 1 diabetes mellitus and its subtypes were calculated. Results. 441 cases of non-Type 1 diabetes mellitus were included (Type 2 diabetes mellitus = 332; MID = 52; monogenic diabetes = 30; indeterminate = 27). Compared to 10 years ago, the incidence of MID and monogenic diabetes remained stable, while Type 2 diabetes mellitus increased by 60% (

p
<
0.001

) overall and by 37% (

p
=
0.005

) and 50% (

p
=
0.001

) in females and males, respectively. Type 2 diabetes mellitus incidence increased by 1.5 times in Indigenous (

p
<
0.001

) and doubled in Asian (

p
=
0.003

) children. Conclusions. Canadian incidence rates of childhood-onset Type 2 diabetes mellitus have significantly increased. Further research, policy, and prevention efforts are needed to curb rising rates of youth onset Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Iterative Construction of Fixed Points for Functional Equations and Fractional Differential Equations
Authors: Rahman Latif Ur , Arshad Muhammad , Thabet Sabri T. M. , Kedim Imed
Published: November 2023

This paper proposes some iterative constructions of fixed points for showing the existence and uniqueness of solutions for functional equations and fractional differential equations (FDEs) in the framework of CAT (0) spaces. Our new approach is based on theM∗-iterative scheme and the class of mappings with the KSC condition. We first obtain some∆and strong convergence theorems usingM∗-iterative scheme. Using one of our main results, we solve a FDE from a broad class of fractional calculus. Eventually, we support our main results with a numerical example. A comparative numerical experiment shows that theM∗-iterative scheme produces high accurate numerical results corresponding to the other schemes in the literature. Our results are new and generalize several comparable results in fixed point theory and applications.
Modeling Nonusers’ Behavioral Intention towards Mobile Chatbot Adoption: An Extension of the UTAUT2 Model with Mobile Service Quality Determinants
Authors: Paraskevi Gatzioufa , Saprikis Vaggelis , Avlogiaris Giorgos
Published: November 2023

Artificial intelligence agents (chatbots), which are programs to communicate with users primarily in customer service contexts, are an alternative interaction channel supporting businesses in the digital environment and vital components in customer service. The present empirical paper, which is aimed at identifying and discussing the factors motivating nonusers to adopt the specific technology in mobile contexts, proposes a comprehensive conceptual model, which combines the UTAUT 2 behavioral theory with variables of mobile service quality contexts, such as information quality, privacy concerns, interface, and equipment, as well as trust and mobility factors. Data analysis, based on the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) statistical method, revealed that performance expectancy, facilitating factors, hedonic motivation, mobility, trust, and service quality positively affect nonusers’ behavioral intention to adopt chatbots. In addition, equipment, interface, and trust have a significant impact on users’ trust in the context of mobile chatbots. Personal data privacy issues also have a negative effect on trust, in contrast to effort expectancy, which positively affects performance expectancy. As mobile service quality factors have not been investigated before in the context of chatbots, the findings of the present research are expected to provide useful insights both to academia and the business industry.
Economic, Technical, and Environmental Benefits of Occupants’ Thermal Comfort-Based Heat Loads Participation in Demand Response Program
Authors: Sedaghatzadeh Mohammadmehdi , Gitizadeh Mohsen , Lehtonen Matti
Published: November 2023

The electrification of heating and transportation systems is one of the objectives of developed countries to minimize CO2 emissions. This objective pushes distribution systems’ (DBs) operators to incorporate numerous high-power loads into low-voltage networks that were not designed for such loads. DBs’ reconfiguration and the loads’ flexible characteristics are two remedies exploited to overcome this issue. Heat pumps (HPs), as the most prevalent loads, can be managed by demand response programs (DRPs) to postpone the costly reconfiguration of distribution systems. HPs’ DRP participation affects indoor air temperature. If this is not accomplished reasonably, the occupants’ thermal comfort (OTC) will be compromised, and it will be impossible to convince them to continue contributing to DRPs. Based on the ASHRAE55 standard and an experimental building electrothermal model, this article presents a novel framework for determining the HPs’ DRPs participation. This framework ensures the OTC and optimizes the HPs’ DRP participation. The modified IEEE 33-bus network is employed as the test system to evaluate the proposed method. The simulation results confirm the usefulness of the proposed strategy to improve the technical and economic aspects of the network.
Study of the Stability Properties for a General Shape of Damped Euler–Bernoulli Beams under Linear Boundary Conditions
Authors: Kouakou Kra Isaac Teya , Gossrin Jean-Marc Bomisso , Kidjegbo Augustin Touré , Adama Coulibaly
Published: November 2023

We study in this paper a general shape of damped Euler–Bernoulli beams with variable coefficients. Our main goal is to generalize several works already done on damped Euler–Bernoulli beams. We start by studying the spectral properties of a particular case of the system, and then we determine asymptotic expressions that generalize those obtained by other authors. At last, by adopting well-known techniques, we establish the Riesz basis property of the system in the general case, and the exponential stability of the system is obtained under certain conditions relating to the feedback coefficients and the sign of the internal damping on the interval studied of length

1

.
The Chromatin Remodeler CHD4 Sustains Ewing Sarcoma Cell Survival by Controlling Global Chromatin Architecture
Authors: Graca Marques Joana , Pavlovic Blaz , Ngo Quy A. , Pedot Gloria , Roemmele Michaela , Volken Larissa , Kisele Samanta , Perbet Romain , Wachtel Marco , Schäfer Beat W.
Published: November 2023

Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive cancer with a defective response to DNA damage leading to an enhanced sensitivity to genotoxic agents. Mechanistically, Ewing sarcoma is driven by the fusion transcription factor EWS-FLI1, which reprograms the tumor cell epigenome. The nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex is an important regulator of chromatin function, controlling both gene expression and DNA damage repair, and has been associated with EWS-FLI1 activity. Here, a NuRD-focused CRISPR/Cas9 inactivation screen identified the helicase CHD4 as essential for Ewing sarcoma cell proliferation. CHD4 silencing induced tumor cell death by apoptosis and abolished colony formation. Although CHD4 and NuRD colocalized with EWS-FLI1 at enhancers and super-enhancers, CHD4 promoted Ewing sarcoma cell survival not by modulating EWS-FLI1 activity and its oncogenic gene expression program but by regulating chromatin structure. CHD4 depletion led to a global increase in DNA accessibility and induction of spontaneous DNA damage, resulting in an increased susceptibility to DNA-damaging agents. CHD4 loss delayed tumor growth in vivo, increased overall survival, and combination with PARP inhibition by olaparib treatment further suppressed tumor growth. Collectively, these findings highlight the NuRD subunit CHD4 as a therapeutic target in Ewing sarcoma that can potentiate the antitumor activity of genotoxic agents.

Significance:

CRISPR/Cas9 screening in Ewing sarcoma identifies a dependency on CHD4, which is crucial for the maintenance of chromatin architecture to suppress DNA damage and a promising therapeutic target for DNA damage repair-deficient malignancies.
Neuronal Activity Promotes Glioma Progression by Inducing Proneural-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Glioma Stem Cells
Authors: Guo Xiaofan , Qiu Wei , Wang Chaochao , Qi Yanhua , Li Boyan , Wang Shaobo , Zhao Rongrong , Cheng Bo , Han Xiao , Du Hao , Gao Zijie , Pan Ziwen , Zhao Shulin , Li Gang , Xue Hao
Published: November 2023

Neuronal activity can drive progression of high-grade glioma by mediating mitogen production and neuron-glioma synaptic communications. Glioma stem cells (GSC) also play a significant role in progression, therapy resistance, and recurrence in glioma, which implicates potential cross-talk between neuronal activity and GSC biology. Here, we manipulated neuronal activity using chemogenetics in vitro and in vivo to study how it influences GSCs. Neuronal activity supported glioblastoma (GBM) progression and radioresistance through exosome-induced proneural-to-mesenchymal transition (PMT) of GSCs. Molecularly, neuronal activation led to elevated miR-184–3p in neuron-derived exosomes that were taken up by GSCs and reduced the mRNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) levels by inhibiting RBM15 expression. RBM15 deficiency decreased m6A modification of DLG3 mRNA and subsequently induced GSC PMT by activating the STAT3 pathway. Loss of miR-184–3p in cortical neurons reduced GSC xenograft growth, even when neurons were activated. Levetiracetam, an antiepileptic drug, reduced the neuronal production of miR-184–3p-enriched exosomes, inhibited GSC PMT, and increased radiosensitivity of tumors to prolong survival in xenograft mouse models. Together, these findings indicate that exosomes derived from active neurons promote GBM progression and radioresistance by inducing PMT of GSCs.

Significance:

Active neurons secrete exosomes enriched with miR-184–3p that promote glioblastoma progression and radioresistance by driving the proneural-to-mesenchymal transition in glioma stem cells, which can be reversed by antiseizure medication levetiracetam.
Lineage Plasticity: The New Cancer Hallmark on the Block
Authors: Mehta Arnav , Stanger Ben Z.
Published: November 2023

Plasticity refers to the ability of cells to adopt a spectrum of states or phenotypes. In cancer, it is a critical contributor to tumor initiation, progression, invasiveness, and therapy resistance, and it has recently been recognized as an emerging cancer hallmark. Plasticity can occur as a result of cell-intrinsic factors (e.g., genetic, transcriptional, or epigenetic fluctuations), or through cell-extrinsic cues (e.g., signaling from components of the tumor microenvironment or selective pressure from therapy). Over the past decade, technological advances, analysis of patient samples, and studies in mouse model systems have led to a deeper understanding of how such plastic states come about. In this review, we discuss: (i) the definition of plasticity; (ii) methods to measure and quantify plasticity; (iii) the clinical relevance of plasticity; and (iv) therapeutic hypotheses to modulate plasticity in the clinic.
Data from Effective Reprogramming of Patient-Derived M2-Polarized Glioblastoma-Associated Microglia/Macrophages by Treatment with GW2580
Authors: Fermi Valentina , Warta Rolf , Wöllner Amélie , Lotsch Catharina , Jassowicz Lena , Rapp Carmen , Knoll Maximilian , Jungwirth Gerhard , Jungk Christine , Dao Trong Philip , von Deimling Andreas , Abdollahi Amir , Unterberg Andreas , Herold-Mende Christel
Published: November 2023

AbstractPurpose:
Targeting immunosuppressive and pro-tumorigenic glioblastoma (GBM)-associated macrophages and microglial cells (GAM) has great potential to improve patient outcomes. Colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) has emerged as a promising target for reprograming anti-inflammatory M2-like GAMs. However, treatment data on patient-derived, tumor-educated GAMs and their influence on the adaptive immunity are lacking.
Experimental Design:
CD11b+-GAMs freshly isolated from patient tumors were treated with CSF1R-targeting drugs PLX3397, BLZ945, and GW2580. Phenotypical changes upon treatment were assessed using RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, and cytokine quantification. Functional analyses included inducible nitric oxide synthase activity, phagocytosis, transmigration, and autologous tumor cell killing assays. Antitumor effects and changes in GAM activation were confirmed in a complex patient-derived 3D tumor organoid model serving as a tumor avatar.
Results:
The most effective reprogramming of GAMs was observed upon GW2580 treatment, which led to the downregulation of M2-related markers, IL6, IL10, ERK1/2, and MAPK signaling pathways, while M1-like markers, gene set enrichment indicating activated MHC-II presentation, phagocytosis, and T-cell killing were substantially increased. Moreover, treatment of patient-derived GBM organoids with GW2580 confirmed successful reprogramming, resulting in impaired tumor cell proliferation. In line with its failure in clinical trials, PLX3397 was ineffective in our analysis.
Conclusions:
This comparative analysis of CSF1R-targeting drugs on patient-derived GAMs and human GBM avatars identified GW2580 as the most powerful inhibitor with the ability to polarize immunosuppressive GAMs to a proinflammatory phenotype, supporting antitumor T-cell responses while also exerting a direct antitumor effect. These data indicate that GW2580 could be an important pillar in future therapies for GBM.
A Rare Case of Severe Hypokalemia and Hypomagnesemia due to Venetoclax and Polypharmacy Leading to Life-Threatening Cardiac Arrhythmias
Authors: Torres Cruz Laura , Pulipaka Sai Priyanka , Anthony Neenu , Liu James , Barkhodarian Maryam , Al Awwa Ahmad , Weissman Simcha
Published: November 2023

Venetoclax is a novel agent used in hematologic malignancies. Although no long-term studies have directly implicated venetoclax, few studies show possible association with electrolyte abnormalities. Severe derangements in serum electrolyte levels can cause cardiac dysrhythmias, which can be potentially fatal. We present a case of venetoclax in association with the other medications causing life-threatening arrhythmias. Hypothesized mechanisms include damage to the distal tubules causing loss of potassium and magnesium. Our patient required modification of his medications and aggressive repletion of electrolytes with good outcomes. For patients on venetoclax, especially those with polypharmacy, caution should be exercised to prevent severe electrolyte derangements, which can lead to life-threatening arrhythmias.
Improvements the direct torque control performance for an induction machine using fuzzy logic controller
Authors: Gouaamar Radouan , Bri Seddik , Mekrini Zineb
Published: November 2023

This article examines a solution to the major problems of induction machine control in order to achieve superior dynamic performance. Conventional direct torque control and indirect control with flux orientation have some drawbacks, such as current harmonics, torque ripples, flux ripples, and rise time. In this article, we propose a comparative analysis between previous approaches and the one using fuzzy logic. Results from the simulation show that the direct torque control method using fuzzy logic is more effective in providing a precise and fast response without overshooting, and it eliminates torque and flux fluctuations at low switching frequencies. The demonstrated improvements in dynamic performance contribute to increased operational efficiency and reliability in industrial applications.
Indonesian multilabel classification using IndoBERT embedding and MBERT classification
Authors: Nabiilah Ghinaa Zain , Alam Islam Nur , Purwanto Eko Setyo , Hidayat Muhammad Fadlan
Published: November 2023

The rapid increase in social media activity has triggered various discussion spaces and information exchanges on social media. Social media users can easily tell stories or comment on many things without limits. However, this often triggers open debates that lead to fights on social media. This is because many social media users use toxic comments that contain elements of racism, radicalism, pornography, or slander to argue and corner individuals or groups. These comments can easily spread and trigger users vulnerable to mental disorders due to unhealthy and unfair debates on social media. Thus, a model is needed to classify comments, especially toxic ones, in Indonesian. Transformer-based model development and natural language processing approaches can be applied to create classification models. Some previous research related to the classification of toxic comments has been done, but the classification results of the model still require exploration to get optimal results. So, this research uses the proposed model by using different pre-trained models at the embedding and classification stages, in the embedding stage using Indonesia bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (IndoBERT), and classification using multilingual bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (MBERT). The proposed model provides optimal results with an F1 value of 0.9032.
Financial revolution: a systemic analysis of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the banking sector
Authors: Jáuregui-Velarde Raúl , Andrade-Arenas Laberiano , Molina-Velarde Pedro , Yactayo-Arias Cesar
Published: November 2023

This paper reviews the advances, challenges, and approaches of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the banking sector. The use of these technologies is accelerating in various industries, including banking. However, the literature on banking is scattered, making a global understanding difficult. This study reviewed the main approaches in terms of applications and algorithmic models, as well as the benefits and challenges associated with their implementation in banking, in addition to a bibliometric analysis of variables related to the distribution of publications and the most productive countries, as well as an analysis of the co-occurrence and dynamics of keywords. Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework, forty articles were selected for review. The results indicate that these technologies are used in the banking sector for customer segmentation, credit risk analysis, recommendation, and fraud detection. It should be noted that credit analysis and fraud detection are the most implemented areas, using algorithms such as random forests (RF), decision trees (DT), support vector machines (SVM), and logistic regression (LR), among others. In addition, their use brings significant benefits for decision-making and optimizing banking operations. However, the handling of substantial amounts of data with these technologies poses ethical challenges.