bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fuentes de estrés por aculturación en la infancia y adolescencia. Propuesta del instrumento de medición FEAC-IA
Authors: Urzúa M. Alfonso , Caqueo-Urízar Alejandra , Flores Jerome
Published: March 2020

El estrés por aculturación ha sido asociado fuertemente al surgimiento de problemas en la salud de las personas, principalmente en la salud mental. Pese a su importancia como factor de riesgo, su estudio se ha realizado mayoritariamente en población adulta, siendo menor la investigación realizada al respecto en población infantil y adolescente. En esta investigación, se evalúan las propiedades psicométricas del FEAC-IA, cuestionario destinado a evaluar las fuentes de estrés por aculturación. Se recogieron datos de 401 escolares entre 8 a 18 años (M = 12.4; K = 2.5). Se realizaron análisis de confiabilidad y de los indicadores de bondad de ajuste para la evaluación de modelos de la estructura factorial, mediante análisis de ecuaciones estructurales exploratorias (MEEE) y análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC). El cuestionario presenta buenos indicadores de bondad de ajuste para un modelo trifactorial: añoranza y diferencias con el país de origen, adaptación en la escuela, familia y relación con los pares y experiencias de discriminación (CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.976; RMSEA = 0.052). La escala propuesta puede constituirse en un aporte importante para recoger insumos en población migrante infanto-juvenil sobre las fuentes de estrés, que permitan elaborar planes específicos de intervención.
ASPiH Conference 2019 keynote paper. Quality improvement through simulation: a missed opportunity?
Authors: O’Connor Paul
Published: March 2020

As the use of simulation has become more established in the delivery of healthcare education and training, there has been a corresponding increase in healthcare simulation research. Simulation-based research can be divided into research about simulation (answers research questions in which the focus is on simulation itself) and research through simulation (simulation as a method/tool for research). However, there are barriers, particularly for smaller less well-resourced simulation centres, that may prohibit participation in research. Therefore, it is suggested that quality improvement (QI) through simulation may be a pragmatic way in which simulation centres of all sizes can contribute to improving patient care beyond education and training. QI is defined as systematic, data-guided activities designed to bring about immediate, positive changes in the delivery of healthcare. Although not the case in healthcare, other industries routinely used simulation to support QI. For example, in aviation simulation is used to inform the design of the working environment, the appropriate use of technology, to exercise emergency procedures and to ‘re-fly’ flights following an adverse event as part of the mishap investigation. Integrating simulation within healthcare QI can support the development of novel interventions as well helping to address heretofore intractable issues.
Global analysis of a reaction–diffusion blood-stage malaria model with immune response
Authors: Elaiw A. M. , Al Agha A. D.
Published: March 2020

Malaria is one of the most dangerous diseases that threatens people’s lives around the world. In this paper, we study a reaction-diffusion model for the within-host dynamics of malaria infection with an antibody immune response. The model is given by a system of partial differential equations (PDEs) to describe the blood-stage of malaria life cycle. It addresses the interactions between uninfected red blood cells, antibodies, and three types of infected red blood cells, namely ring-infected red blood cells, trophozoite-infected red blood cells and schizont-infected red blood cells. Moreover, the model contains a parameter to measure the efficacy of isoleucine starvation and its effect on the growth of malaria parasites. We show the basic properties of the model. We compute all equilibria and derive the thresholds from the conditions of existence of malaria equilibrium points. We prove the global stability of all equilibrium points based on choosing suitable Lyapunov functionals. We use the characteristic equations to verify the local instability of equilibrium points. We finally execute numerical simulations to validate the theoretical results and highlight some important observations. The results indicate that isoleucine starvation can have a critical impact on the stability of equilibrium points. When the efficacy of isoleucine starvation is high, it switches the system from the infection state to the malaria-free state. The presence of an antibody immune response does not lead to the elimination of malaria infection, but it suppresses the growth of malaria parasites and increases the amount of healthy red blood cells.
Spatiotemporal patterns induced by cross-diffusion in predator–prey model with prey herd shape effect
Authors: Djilali Salih
Published: March 2020

In this paper, we investigate a predator–prey model with herd behavior and cross-diffusion subject to the zero flux boundary conditions. First, the temporal behavior of the model has been investigated, where Hopf bifurcation has been obtained. Then, by analyzing the characteristic equation it has been proved that the cross-diffusion generate a complex dynamics such as Hopf bifurcation, Turing instability, even Turing–Hopf bifurcation. Further, the impact of the prey herd shape on the spatiotemporal patterns has been discussed. Furthermore, by computing and analyzing the normal form associated with the Turing–Hopf bifurcation point, the spatiotemporal dynamics near the Turing–Hopf bifurcation point has been discussed and also justified by some numerical simulations.
Cloud Gaming with Foveated Video Encoding
Authors: Illahi Gazi Karam , Gemert Thomas Van , Siekkinen Matti , Masala Enrico , Oulasvirta Antti , Ylä-Jääski Antti
Published: March 2020

Cloud gaming enables playing high-end games, originally designed for PC or game console setups, on low-end devices such as netbooks and smartphones, by offloading graphics rendering to GPU-powered cloud servers. However, transmitting the high-resolution video requires a large amount of network bandwidth, even though it is a compressed video stream. Foveated video encoding (FVE) reduces the bandwidth requirement by taking advantage of the non-uniform acuity of human visual system and by knowing where the user is looking. Based on a consumer-grade real-time eye tracker and an open source cloud gaming platform, we provide a cloud gaming FVE prototype that is game-agnostic and requires no modifications to the underlying game engine. In this article, we describe the prototype and its evaluation through measurements with representative games from different genres to understand the effect of parametrization of the FVE scheme on bandwidth requirements and to understand its feasibility from the latency perspective. We also present results from a user study on first-person shooter games. The results suggest that it is possible to find a “sweet spot” for the encoding parameters so the users hardly notice the presence of foveated encoding but at the same time the scheme yields most of the achievable bandwidth savings.
Informed Prefetching for Indirect Memory Accesses
Authors: Cavus Mustafa , Sendag Resit , Yi Joshua J.
Published: March 2020

Indirect memory accesses have irregular access patterns that limit the performance of conventional software and hardware-based prefetchers. To address this problem, we propose the Array Tracking Prefetcher (ATP), which tracks array-based indirect memory accesses using a novel combination of software and hardware. ATP is first configured by special metadata instructions, which are inserted by programmer or compiler to pass data structure traversal knowledge. It then calculates and issues prefetches based on this information. ATP also employs a novel mechanism for dynamically adjusting prefetching distance to reduce early or late prefetches. ATP yields average speedup of 2.17 as compared to a single-core without prefetching. By contrast, the speedup for conventional software and hardware-based prefetching is 1.84 and 1.32, respectively. For four cores, the average speedup for ATP is 1.85, while the corresponding speedups for software and hardware-based prefetching are 1.60 and 1.25, respectively.
Enforcing Affinity Feature Learning through Self-attention for Person Re-identification
Authors: Ainam Jean-Paul , Qin Ke , Liu Guisong , Luo Guangchun , Agyemang Brighter
Published: March 2020

Person re-identification is the task of recognizing an individual across heterogeneous non-overlapping camera views. It has become a crucial capability needed by many applications in public space video surveillance. However, it remains a challenging task due to the subtle inter-class similarity and large intra-class variation found in person images. Current CNN-based approaches have focused and investigated traditional identification or verification frameworks. Such approaches typically use the whole input image including the background and fail to pay attention to specific body parts, deviating the feature representation learning from informative parts. In this article, we introduce a self-attention mechanism coupled with cross-resolution to improve the feature representation learning of person re-identification task. The proposed self-attention module reinforces the most informative parts from a high-resolution image using its internal representation at the low-resolution. In particular, the model is fed with a pair of images on a different scale and consists of two branches. The upper branch processes the high-resolution image and learns high dimensional feature representation while the lower branch processes the low-resolution image and learns a filtering attention heatmap. The feature maps on the lower branch are subsequently weighted to reflect the importance of each patch of the input image using a softmax operation; whereas, on the upper branch, we apply a max pooling operation to downsample the high-resolution feature map before element-wise multiplied with the attention heatmap. Our attention module helps the network learn the most discriminative visual features of multiple regions of the image and is specifically optimized to attend and enforce feature representation at different scales. Extensive experiments on three large-scale datasets show that network architectures augmented with our self-attention module systematically improve their accuracy and outperform various state-of-the-art models by a large margin.
Trends and Adaptive Optimal Set Points of CD4+ Count Clinical Covariates at Each Phase of the HIV Disease Progression
Authors: Tinarwo Partson , Zewotir Temesgen , North Delia
Published: March 2020

In response to invasion by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the self-regulatory immune system attempts to restore the CD4+ count fluctuations. Consequently, many clinical covariates are bound to adapt too, but little is known about their corresponding new optimal set points. It has been reported that there exist few strongest clinical covariates of the CD4+ count. The objective of this study is to harness them for a streamlined application of multidimensional viewing lens (statistical models) to zoom into the behavioural patterns of the adaptive optimal set points. We further postulated that the optimal set points of some of the strongest covariates are possibly controlled by dietary conditions or otherwise to enhance the CD4+ count. This study investigated post-HIV infection (acute to therapy phases) records of 237 patients involving repeated measurements of 17 CD4+ count clinical covariates that were found to be the strongest. The overall trends showed either downwards, upwards, or irregular behaviour. Phase-specific trends were mostly different and unimaginable, with LDH and red blood cells producing the most complex CD4+ count behaviour. The approximate optimal set points for dietary-related covariates were total protein 60–100 g/L (acute phase), <85 g/L (early phase), <75 g/L (established phase), and >85 g/L (ART phase), whilst albumin approx. 30–50 g/L (acute), >45 g/L (early and established), and <37 g/L (ART). Sodium was desirable at approx. <45 mEq/L (acute and early), <132 mEq/L (established), and >134 mEq/L (ART). Overall, desirable approximates were albumin >42 g/L, total protein <75 g/L, and sodium <137 mEq/L. We conclude that the optimal set points of the strongest CD4+ count clinical covariates tended to drift and adapt to either new ranges or overlapped with the known reference ranges to positively influence the CD4+ cell counts. Recommendation for phase-specific CD4+ cell count influence in adaptation to HIV invasion includes monitoring of the strongest covariates related to dietary conditions (sodium, albumin, and total protein), tissue oxygenation (red blood cells and its haematocrit), and hormonal control (LDH and ALP).
Effects of the Amount of Fly Ash Modified by Stearic Acid Compound on Mechanical Properties, Flame Retardant Ability, and Structure of the Composites
Authors: Nguyen Tuan Anh
Published: March 2020

Fly ash, a waste product from thermal power plants, is one of the good alternatives for use as a filler in polymers, especially in flame retardants. Fly ash is an environmentally friendly fire retardant additive for composites, used in place of conventional flame retardant additives such as halogenated organic compounds, thus promoting environmental safety. In this study, fly ash was modified with stearic acid to improve adhesion at the polymers interface and increase compatibility. Fly ash was studied at various volumes (5, 10, and 20 wt.% fly ash) used in this study to synthesize fly ash-epoxy composites. The results show that the tensile strength, flexural strength, compressive strength, and impact strength of these synthetic materials increase when fly ash is modified to the surface, compressive strength: 197.87 MPa, flexural strength: 75.20 MPa, impact resistance: 5.77 KJ/m2, and tensile strength: 47.89 MPa. Especially, the fire retardant properties are improved at a high level, with a modified 20% fly ash content: the burning rate of 16.78 mm/min, minimum oxygen index of 23.2%, and meet the fire protection standard according to UL 94HB with a burning rate of 8.09 mm/min. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy were used to analyze the morphological structure of fly ash after being modified and chemically bonded with epoxy resin background.
Are Intoxicated Trauma Patients at an Increased Risk for Intraoperative Anesthetic Complications? A Retrospective Study
Authors: Wolf Brian D. , Munnangi Swapna , Pesso Raymond , McCahery Charles , Oad Madhu
Published: March 2020

Background. The purpose of this study was to correlate intraoperative anesthetic complications of trauma patients with their respective urine toxicology results. Methods. This retrospective, single-center cohort study at a Level 1 trauma center included patients with the following criteria: (1) trauma admission between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2016, (2) required surgical intervention, (3) are age 18 and older, and (4) urine toxicology screening was completed. Anesthetic records were evaluated for intraoperative complications. Results. The final analysis included 847 patients. The mean anesthesia time, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification scores, change in body temperature, anesthetic complication rate, and mortality were not significantly different between urine toxicology positive and negative patients. Of note, a significantly lower proportion of the urine toxicology positive patients were extubated postoperatively in comparison to urine toxicology negative patients (57.32% vs 63.83%). Conclusions. Trauma patients who presented with a positive urine toxicology screening are not at an increased risk for intraoperative anesthetic complications compared to those with a negative urine toxicology screening. However, our results indicated that the need for postoperative mechanical ventilation increased in the acutely intoxicated trauma patients when compared to those without preinjury intoxication.
A Photovoltaic Array Fault Diagnosis Method Considering the Photovoltaic Output Deviation Characteristics
Authors: Zhao Jian , Sun Qian , Zhou Ning , Liu Hao , Wang Haizheng
Published: March 2020

There are a large number of photovoltaic (PV) arrays in large-scale PV power plants or regional distributed PV power plants, and the output of different arrays fluctuates with the external conditions. The deviation and evolution information of the array output are easily covered by the random fluctuations of the PV output, which makes the fault diagnosis of PV arrays difficult. In this paper, a fault diagnosis method based on the deviation characteristics of the PV array output is proposed. Based on the current of the PV array on the DC (direct current) side, the deviation characteristics of the PV array output under different arrays and time series are analyzed. Then, the deviation function is constructed to evaluate the output deviation of the PV array. Finally, the fault diagnosis of a PV array is realized by using the probabilistic neural network (PNN), and the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified. The main contributions of this paper are to propose the deviation function that can extract the fault characteristics of PV array and the fault diagnosis method just using the array current which can be easily applied in the PV plant.
A Novel Method for Recognizing Vietnamese Voice Commands on Smartphones with Support Vector Machine and Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Nguyen Quang H. , Cao Tuan-Dung
Published: March 2020

This paper will present a new method of identifying Vietnamese voice commands using Google speech recognition (GSR) service results. The problem is that the percentage of correct identifications of Vietnamese voice commands in the Google system is not high. We propose a supervised machine-learning approach to address cases in which Google incorrectly identifies voice commands. First, we build a voice command dataset that includes hypotheses of GSR for each corresponding voice command. Next, we propose a correction system using support vector machine (SVM) and convolutional neural network (CNN) models. The results show that the correction system reduces errors in recognizing Vietnamese voice commands from 35.06% to 7.08% using the SVM model and 5.15% using the CNN model.
Magnetohydrodynamics Free Convection Flow of Incompressible Fluids over Corrugated Vibrating Bottom Surface with Hall Currents and Heat and Mass Transfers
Authors: Bulinda Vincent M. , Kang’ethe Giterere P. , Kiogora Phineas R.
Published: March 2020

Magnetohydrodynamics free convection flow of incompressible fluids over corrugated vibrating bottom surface with Hall currents and heat and mass transfers considering heat flux is discussed. The corrugation patterns suggested are sinusoidal in nature. The governing equations are solved by the explicit finite difference numerical method of the forward-time backward-space scheme to obtain the analytical results for velocity, concentration, and temperature profiles. The unsteady resultant velocities, concentration, and temperature for various values of physical parameters are discussed in detail, and it is shown that they have significant effects on the fluid flow, and heat and mass transfers are shown graphically.
Physiological and Biochemical Vascular Reactivity Parameters of Angiotensin II and the Action of Biased Agonist TRV023
Authors: Leal Marcos André Soares , de Almeida Thanisia , Torres João Guilherme , Gastalho Campos Luciene Cristina , Vasquez Elisardo Corral , Barauna Valério Garrone
Published: March 2020

Vascular reactivity experiments using isolated aortic rings have been widely used as a model for physiological and pharmacological studies since the early sixties. Here, we suggest several parameters that the researcher should pay attention to when investigating angiotensin II in their experimental models. Angiotensin II is one of the active peptides of the renin-angiotensin system and exerts its effect through the AT1 and AT2 receptors. Some studies seek to understand the effects of angiotensin II receptors at the vascular level by using vascular reactivity experiments. However, because of the large number of variations, there are only a handful of reactivity studies that seek to use this method. Thus, the objective of this study was to standardize experimental methods with angiotensin II, through vascular reactivity protocols. For this, variables such as basal tension, concentration interval, single concentration, curve concentration response, and multiple experiments using the same aortic ring were developed using the technique of vascular reactivity in an organ bath. This is the first study that has standardized the vascular reactivity protocol. In addition, we demonstrated the effects of TRV023-biased ligand of the AT1R at vascular sites.
Theoretical Analysis of a Novel WDM Optical Long-Haul Network Using the Split-Step Fourier Method
Authors: Chakkour Mounia , Aghzout Otman , Chaoui Fahd
Published: March 2020

In this paper, a new optical transmission model was investigated and developed in order to improve the performance of Wavelength Division Multiplexing optical transmission systems. For this purpose, an efficient theoretical method combining a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) and Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) was implemented. Enhancements on the transmitted signal amplitudes with important compensation of the chromatic dispersions and large reduction on the nonlinear effects were obtained. The reflectivity peak, the full width at half maximum bandwidth, and the side lobe level have been studied in depth to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method. To apply the new method, we considered a complicated system of 16-channel wavelengths, where the split-step fourier method was used to solve the nonlinear Schrödinger equations, and the transfer matrix method was applied to describe the coupled mode equations. The wavelengths corresponding to different values of reflectivity peaks calculated previously in the FBG outputs section were injected as EDFA inputs to determine the output power and the gain of the new transmission system. All results are analyzed using Matlab program.
Determination of Energy Properties of Fuelwood from Five Selected Tree Species in Tropical Highlands of Southeast Ethiopia
Authors: Desta Hailu Manaye , Ambaye Cherinet Seboka
Published: March 2020

The aim of this study was to determine the energy properties of fuelwood samples which are preferred and used by local communities. The study used both cross-sectional survey of households and field survey. Systematic household sampling was used for household and random sampling for tree species. The chosen sample sizes for households in the study were 134. The cross-sectional survey of the local community on orderly preference of fuelwood consumption listed Acacia nilotica, Acacia etbaica, Olea africana, Acacia seyal, and Acokanthera schimperi. However, for the laboratory result and detail principal component analysis (PCA) of tree species in their density and moisture, ash, volatile, and fixed carbon contents, Olea africana was strongly recommended for fuelwood preference followed by Acacia nilotica, Acacia etbaica, Acacia seyal, and Acokanthera schimperi. The identification of community preference and scientific assessment on fuelwood consumption on different tree species will enhance the expansion of their plantation program in the region.
A Novel Method for Extraction of Galegine by Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MIP) Technique Reinforced with Graphene Oxide and Its Evaluation Using Polarography
Authors: Azimi M. , Ahmadi Golsefidi M. , Varasteh Moradi A. , Ebadii M. , Zafar Mehrabian R.
Published: March 2020

Galega officinalis products have been used for the control of diabetes (type 2) across the world. Experimental and clinical evaluations of galegine substance produced by a medicinal plant (Galega officinalis) provided the pharmacological and chemical basis for metformin discovery which was confirmed for diabetes therapy. In this paper, the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized for galegine, using galegine as a template molecule, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as a reaction initiator, and acetonitrile as a solvent. The assisted functional groups, morphology, topographic image of surface, and crystalline structure of synthesized MIP were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) images, and XRD diffraction pattern techniques, respectively. Also, the performance of the mentioned electrode was quantified and qualified by the differential pulse voltammetry technique (DPV). The galegine amount was determined with the polarographic technique. In this research, the galegine extraction conditions were optimized and graphene nanoparticles were used to increase the adsorption. In addition, different parameters affecting extraction were investigated such as MIP adsorbent amount, pH of solution, effect of the surfactant, and ionic compound to achieve high recovery percent. The recovery percent, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), and relative standard deviation (RSD %) were 4.101 μg·mL−1, 12.427 μg·mL−1, and 1.199% (n = 3), respectively. The results show that the prepared MIP can be used as an effective and inexpensive adsorbent for preconcentration and galegine extraction from a natural sample. It is noteworthy that this developed method was used successfully to determine galegine extracted from Galega officinalis L.
Generation of Otic Lineages from Integration-Free Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Reprogrammed by mRNAs
Authors: Boddy Sarah L. , Romero-Guevara Ricardo , Ji Ae-Ri , Unger Christian , Corns Laura , Marcotti Walter , Rivolta Marcelo N.
Published: March 2020

Damage to the sensory hair cells and the spiral ganglion neurons of the cochlea leads to deafness. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a promising tool to regenerate the cells in the inner ear that have been affected by pathology or have been lost. To facilitate the clinical application of iPSCs, the reprogramming process should minimize the risk of introducing undesired genetic alterations while conferring the cells the capacity to differentiate into the desired cell type. Currently, reprogramming induced by synthetic mRNAs is considered to be one of the safest ways of inducing pluripotency, as the transgenes are transiently delivered into the cells without integrating into the genome. In this study, we explore the ability of integration-free human-induced pluripotent cell lines that were reprogrammed by mRNAs, to differentiate into otic progenitors and, subsequently, into hair cell and neuronal lineages. hiPSC lines were induced to differentiate by culturing them in the presence of fibroblast growth factors 3 and 10 (FGF3 and FGF10). Progenitors were identified by quantitative microscopy, based on the coexpression of otic markers PAX8, PAX2, FOXG1, and SOX2. Otic epithelial progenitors (OEPs) and otic neuroprogenitors (ONPs) were purified and allowed to differentiate further into hair cell-like cells and neurons. Lineages were characterised by immunocytochemistry and electrophysiology. Neuronal cells showed inward Na+ (INa) currents and outward (Ik) and inward K+ (IK1) currents while hair cell-like cells had inward IK1 and outward delayed rectifier K+ currents, characteristic of developing hair cells. We conclude that human-induced pluripotent cell lines that have been reprogrammed using nonintegrating mRNAs are capable to differentiate into otic cell types.
Sociocultural and Ecological Dynamics of Green Spaces in Brazzaville (Congo)
Authors: Kimpouni Victor , Nzila Jean De Dieu , Watha-Ndoudy Noël , Kokolo Bilongo Elodie Charleine , Yallo Mouhamed Salisou , Kampe Jean-Pierre , Louembe Dieudonné
Published: March 2020

The study was conducted in Brazzaville, and data collection covers the period from May to June 2017. The methodology is based on literature review and floristic and equipment inventory. Nine green spaces spread over two out of nine townships in the capital city. Four are located in Bacongo and five in Poto-Poto. According to the classification standards, 5 squares and 4 gardens were studied. Except for one square, all the others, including the gardens, are planted with trees. The equipment inventory lists 183 benches, including 63.83% permanently and/or partially in the sun, 4 playgrounds, no games for children, and 3 cultural monuments. The flora and health of the trees stands shows 186 trees and 279 shrubs, all corresponding to 26 species. An examination of the health status reveals that 57% of trees show anthropogenic injuries. Floral analysis shows that exotic plants (76.92%) predominate over local plants (23.07%). The average basal area of trees in all green spaces is 1.95 m2·ha−1. The diametric structure is erratic within all green spaces, with a dominance of large diameter subjects. This leads to poor natural regeneration of woody plants. The green spaces in Brazzaville, which are very unevenly distributed within the urban fabric, do not meet the international standards disseminated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and do not fully play their biodiversity conservation and recreational and ecological functions. History of green spaces in Brazzaville states that no creation was born after independence. The existing land has been reduced in size, and the new land has been used for other purposes.
Effects of Climate Temperature and Water Stress on Plant Growth and Accumulation of Antioxidant Compounds in Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) Leafy Vegetable
Authors: Al-Huqail Asma , El-Dakak Rehab M. , Sanad Marwa Nme , Badr Reem H. , Ibrahim Mohamed M. , Soliman Dina , Khan Faheema
Published: March 2020

The effects of climate temperature and water stress on growth and several stress markers were investigated in sweet basil plants. Some growth parameters (shoot length and number of leaves) and photosynthetic chlorophyll contents were determined every two days during plant growth, and foliage leaf material was collected after 15 and 21 days of treatment. Both climate temperature and water stress inhibited sweet basil plant growth; especially, total chlorophyll levels were decreased significantly in response to high-temperature treatments. Under strong stresses, basil plants induced the synthesis and accumulation of glycine betaine (GB) as a secondary osmolyte, although at less content when compared with the proline content under the same stress conditions. Proline concentrations particularly increased in leaves of both basil stressed plants, accomplishing levels high enough to play a crucial role in cellular osmoregulation adjustment. Stress-induced accumulation of these antioxidant compounds was detected in sweet basil. Therefore, it appears that sweet basil-treated plants are able to synthesize antioxidant compounds under strong stress conditions. On the other hand, total sugar concentrations decreased in stress-treated basil plants. Both temperature and water stress treatments caused oxidative stress in the treated plants, as indicated by a significant increment in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations. An increase in total phenolic and flavonoid concentrations in response to water stress and a highly significant decrease in carotenoid concentrations in basil leaves were observed; flavonoids also increased under high climate temperature conditions.
Variations in Electrocortical Activity due to Surgical Incision in Anaesthetized Cardiac Patients: Electroencephalogram-Based Quantitative Analysis
Authors: Kaur Manpreet , Prakash Neelam Rup , Kalra Parveen , Puri Goverdhan Dutt , Samra Tanvir , Goyal Manoj
Published: March 2020

This study examines the alterations in scalp recorded cortical activity due to surgical incision in anaesthetized cardiac patients using electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. The primary aim was to compare the changes in electrocortical activity after surgical incision. The secondary aim was to compare the changes in time, frequency, and wavelet domain parameters after loss of consciousness (LoC) and after intubation. Real-time EEG data were recorded from 19 patients undergoing cardiac surgery and signals were quantified with time, frequency, and wavelet domain parameters. An increase in hjorth activity, hjorth complexity, rms value, total band power, relative delta band power, standard deviation and maxima of approximation coefficients (a5), minima of detail coefficients (d5, d4, and d3) and decrease in hjorth mobility; approximate entropy; relative theta, alpha, and beta band power; specentropy; median, spectral edge, and mean frequency; mean of detail coefficients (d4); standard deviation of detail coefficients (d5, d4, and d3); maxima of detail coefficients (d5); and minima of approximation coefficients (a5) were observed during LoC. Decrease in hjorth activity; hjorth mobility; rms value; total band power; relative theta band power; median frequency; standard deviation of coefficients (a5, d5, d4, and d3); and maxima of coefficients (a5, d5, d4, and d3) and increase in hjorth complexity; mean of detail coefficients (d5); and minima of coefficients (a5, d5, d4, and d3) were observed after intubation. Significant decrease in hjorth activity; hjorth mobility; total band power; relative alpha band power; specentropy; median and mean frequency; standard deviation and maxima of detail coefficients (d5, d4, and d3) and increase in rms value; relative delta band power; mean of coefficients (a5 and d5); and minima of coefficients (d5, d4, and d3) were observed due to surgical incision. It can be concluded that different spectral and temporal parameters of EEG signals are highly sensitive to induction, intubation, and surgical incision which are potentially informative for measuring the depth of anaesthesia or efficacy of anaesthetic agents.
Inhibition of Uncoupling Protein 2 Enhances the Radiosensitivity of Cervical Cancer Cells by Promoting the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species
Authors: Liu Cui Hua , Huang Zhe Hao , Dong Xin Yu , Zhang Xin Qiang , Li Yuan Hang , Zhao Gang , Sun Bao Sheng , Shen Yan Nan
Published: March 2020

Objective. The mechanism of enhanced radiosensitivity induced by mitochondrial uncoupling protein UCP2 was investigated in HeLa cells to provide a theoretical basis as a novel target for cervical cancer treatment. Methods. HeLa cells were irradiated with 4 Gy X-radiation at 1.0 Gy/min. The expression of UCP2 mRNA and protein was assayed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. UCP2 siRNA and negative control siRNA fragments were constructed and transfected into HeLa cells 24 h after irradiation. The effect of UCP2 silencing and irradiation on HeLa cells was determined by colony formation, CCK-8 cell viability, γH2AX immunofluorescence assay of DNA damage, Annexin V-FITC/PI apoptosis assay, and propidium iodide cell cycle assay. The effects on mitochondrial structure and function were investigated with fluorescent probes including dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay of reactive oxygen species (ROS), rhodamine 123, and MitoTracker Green assay of mitochondrial structure and function. Results. Irradiation upregulated UCP2 expression, and UCP2 knockdown decreased the survival of irradiated HeLa cells. UCP2 silencing sensitized HeLa cells to irradiation-induced DNA damage and led to increased apoptosis, cell cycle arrest in G2/M, and increased mitochondrial ROS. Increased radiosensitivity was associated with an activation of P53, decreased Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, cyclin B, CDC2, Ku70, and Rad51 expression, and increased Apaf-1, cytochrome c, caspase-3, and caspase-9 expression. Conclusions. UCP2 inhibition augmented the radiosensitivity of cervical cancer cells, and it may be a potential target of radiotherapy of advanced cervical cancer.
A New Hybrid Controller for Standalone Photovoltaic Power System with Unbalanced Loads
Authors: Pichan Mohammad , Rastegar Hasan
Published: March 2020

Due to several problems such as global concern about environmental pollution, renewable energy has become an alternative source of energy. In situations such as small local loads far from the main grid, standalone hybrid power system (HPS) with inevitable unbalanced loading condition is preferred for the global grid. The four-leg inverter with a simple as well as well-performance control method is a good solution to support this condition. In this paper, with respect to the average and discretized model of the inverter, a new digital controller is proposed in the abc reference frame to control the load voltages. The proposed controller offers several advantages such as simplicity, fast dynamic response, no need for transformation among different reference frames, and full compatibility with digital implementation which makes it as an excellent option to be employed in such systems. In addition, a new hybrid controller is also proposed which not only has the advantages of the proposed digital controller but also shows superior performance under nonlinear loads without imposing a high computational burden. To verify the effectiveness of the two proposed controllers, several simulation and experimental tests under different scenarios on a 3 kW setup are performed.
Prioritization of Economically Important Cattle Diseases Using Participatory Epidemiology Tools in Lalibela, Sekota, and Ziquala Districts of Amhara Region, Northern Ethiopia
Authors: Bahiru Adane , Assefa Ayalew
Published: March 2020

Ethiopia’s livestock resource is one of the largest globally. It is estimated at around 59.5 million cattle, about 30.5 million sheep, and 30.2 million goats. The sector is irreplaceable in the means of livelihood of the population as a source of meat, milk, drought power, and income. Yet, the country is unable to exploit the sector entirely because of highly prevalent infectious diseases and lack of appropriate disease control policy. These constraints are worse in districts of Lalibela, Sekota, and Ziquala, where this specific study was carried out. Despite the availability of scanty animal health services in these areas, information on animal health, especially cattle, was never a significant focus of research. This study was conducted with the objectives of identifying and prioritizing primary cattle disease with the aid of participatory epidemiology tools. Focus group discussions (FGD) and questionnaires were used in prioritizing the top economically important cattle diseases of the selected areas. Accordingly, the result of FGD indicated that ectoparasites, CBPP, FMD, blackleg, bloody diarrhea, and pasteurellosis were the major diseases affecting cattle production in the area. These areas can be representative of most of the countries where a mixed farming system is practiced. Therefore, this result can be used as a basis for broader planning of prevention and control strategies for these kinds of diseases. However, a laboratory-supported extensive investigation of these diseases is highly recommended to validate findings of such types of prioritization of diseases.
A Survey of Occupational Therapists on a New Tool for Sensory Processing
Authors: Mills Caroline J. , Michail Elisabeth , Bye Rosalind A.
Published: March 2020

Occupational therapy is the leading profession with regard to supporting children who experience difficulties with occupations as a result of sensory processing differences. However, there are mixed reports with regard to the efficacy of various sensory interventions and approaches, leaving little clear guidance for occupational therapists supporting children with these difficulties. The Sensory Form is a planning tool developed in 2017 to guide occupational therapists in their professional reasoning for assessment and intervention of sensory processing differences. To date, no research has been conducted on its use. Researchers introduced the tool to 20 occupational therapists with relevant experience and conducted an online survey of their perceptions about The Sensory Form. Findings were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Therapists reported that they found the tool acceptable for use, described key strengths and weaknesses of The Sensory Form, and outlined changes to improve the tool. The Sensory Form may have an application in guiding the practice of therapists supporting children with sensory processing differences. Further development of associated resources may be warranted.
Effect of Storage Time and Packing Method on the Freshness of Dried Lycium Fruit Using Electronic Nose and Chemometrics
Authors: Tian Xiaojing , Long Ming , Liu Yuanlin , Zhang Peng , Bai Xiaoqin , Wang Jun , Wei Zhenbo , Chen Shien , Ma Zhongren , Song Li , Luo Li
Published: March 2020

The effect of storage time and packing method on dried Lycium fruits was studied through an electronic olfactory system with the metal oxide sensor array that provides an overall perception of the volatile compounds presented in the sample headspace. Principle component analysis (PCA), canonical discriminant analysis (CDA), and cluster analysis (CA) were used for freshness and packing methods discrimination of dried Lycium fruits. The stale samples of 2015 and 2016 could be separated with those of 2017 by PCA, CDA, and CA analysis. Better discrimination results were obtained by CDA, with samples of 2015 and 2016 separated with each other. For samples of 2017, the unpackaged samples of 2017-4 were distinguished with the vacuumed samples, while samples of grade C were separated with B and D. For quantitative analysis, predictive models for prediction of the storage years of dried Lycium fruits were built with methods of partial least square (PLS) analysis, multiple linear regression (MLR), and back propagation neural network (BPNN). The model built by BPNN showed the best predict ability with R2 = 0.9994, while PLS and MLR were also effective in the prediction of storage years of dried Lycium fruits, with high determination coefficients of 0.9316 and 0.9330. These findings showed that E-nose can be used in the discrimination of the storage time and package method of dried Lycium fruits.
Optimal Reactive Power Flow for Large-Scale Power Systems Using an Effective Metaheuristic Algorithm
Authors: Duong Thanh Long , Duong Minh Quan , Phan Van-Duc , Nguyen Thang Trung
Published: March 2020

In this paper, stochastic fractal search method (SFS) is employed for solving the optimal reactive power flow (ORPF) problem with a target of optimizing total active power losses (TPL), voltage deviation (VD), and voltage stability index (VSI). SFS is an effective metaheuristic algorithm consisting of diffusion process and two update processes. ORPF is a complex problem giving challenges to applied algorithms by taking into account many complex constraints such as operating voltage from generators and loads, active and reactive power generation of generators, limit of capacitors, apparent power limit from branches, and tap setting of transformers. For verifying the performance, solutions of IEEE 30 and 118-bus system with TPL, VD, and VSI objectives are found by the SFS method with different control parameter settings. Result comparisons indicate that SFS is more favorable than other methods about finding effective solutions and having faster speed. As a result, it is suggested that SFS should be used for ORPF problem, and modifications performed on SFS are encouraged for better results.
Ifosfamide, Carboplatin, and Etoposide (ICE) in Combination with Regional Hyperthermia as Salvage Therapy in Patients with Locally Advanced Nonmetastatic and Metastatic Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
Authors: Bücklein Veit , Limmroth Christina , Kampmann Eric , Schuebbe Gesa , Issels Rolf , Roeder Falk , Angele Martin , Dürr Hans Roland , Knösel Thomas , Abdel-Rahman Sultan , Di Gioia Dorit , Lindner Lars H.
Published: March 2020

Patients with localized relapse of soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) after anthracycline-based chemotherapy have a dismal prognosis, particularly when surgery is not possible. To facilitate resection and improve long-term tumor control, we applied an intensified perioperative treatment consisting of ICE (ifosfamide 6 g/m2, carboplatin 400 mg/m2, and etoposide 600 mg/m2) in combination with regional hyperthermia (RHT) to maximize local control. Here, we retrospectively evaluate the safety and efficacy of this strategy. Patients aged ≥18 years with locally advanced high-risk STS, either with or without metastasis, treated with ICE + RHT after the failure of first-line anthracycline-based chemotherapy were included in this analysis. Radiographic response, toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were assessed. Between 1996 and 2018, 213 sarcoma patients received ICE at our centre. Of these, 110 patients met the selection criteria (progressive disease, suitable high-grade STS histology, anthracycline pretreatment, RHT treatment) for this analysis. Fifty-four patients had locally advanced disease without metastases (LA-STS), and 56 patients had additional metastatic disease (M-STS). Disease control was achieved in 59% of LA-STS patients and in 47% of M-STS patients. For LA-STS, 21% of the patients achieved radiographic response, facilitating resection in 4 patients (7%), compared with 11% of the M-STS patients, facilitating resection in 5 patients (9%). PFS was significantly longer in LA-STS than in M-STS (10 vs. 4 months, p<0.0001). Median OS was 26 months in LA-STS and 12 months in M-STS. Disease control was the only independent prognostic factor for improved OS in multivariate analysis. Toxicity was high with neutropenic fever occurring in 25% of the patients and three therapy-related deaths (3%). ICE + RHT demonstrated activity in high-risk STS and facilitated resection in selected patients after anthracycline failure. Disease control was associated with improved OS. Based on the observed toxicities, the dose should be reduced to 75%.
Effects of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors on Arterial Stiffness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Li Xiuli , Chang Peng , Wang Qiongying , Hu Hao , Bai Feng , Li Ningyin , Yu Jing
Published: March 2020

To determine the effects of ACEIs on arterial stiffness, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted. Relevant articles that investigated the effects of ACEIs on arterial stiffness from PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library from inception to September 2018 were systematically retrieved. The investigated outcomes included brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) and carotid-femoral PWV (cf-PWV) by using weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with the random-effects model. A total of 17 RCTs including 1,458 individuals were included. The summary results indicated no significant differences between ACEIs and control for ba-PWV and cf-PWV. Also, no significant differences between ACEI and control for ba-PWV and cf-PWV were observed in hypertensive patients, while the therapeutic effects of ACEI versus placebo showed statistically significant difference. Moreover, subgroup analysis indicated that the levels of ba-PWV were significantly associated if the study was conducted in Western countries, mean age <60.0 years, percentage male ≥60.0%, compared with ARBs, baseline PWV <10.0, and high-quality study. Furthermore, the significant levels of cf-PWV in patients who received ACEIs were observed when percentage male was ≥60.0% and the studies were of high-quality. Finally, no significant differences were observed between ACEIs and other antihypertensive drugs regarding the changes of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The overall analysis suggested no significant differences between ACEIs and other antihypertensive drugs for ba-PWV and cf-PWV levels, whereas ACEIs versus placebo showed lower levels of ba-PWV and cf-PWV.