bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Obstructive sleep apnoea and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction among first responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Iyengar-Kapuganti Rupa Lakshmi , Maceda Cynara S , Croft Lori B , Sawit Simonette T , Crowley Laura E , Woodward Mark , McLaughlin Mary Ann
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is often linked to cardiovascular disease. A limited number of studies have reported an association between OSA and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). However, prior studies were performed on small patient populations. Studies have shown a high prevalence of OSA among first responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attack. We investigated the relationship between OSA and LVDD in a large population of WTC responders.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

One-time screening programme as part of the WTC-CHEST Study (NCT10466218), performed at a quaternary medical centre in New York City, from November 2011 to June 2014.

Participants

A total of 1007 participants with mean age of 51 years of mostly non-Hispanic white men were evaluated. Patients from the WTC Health Program-Clinical Center of Excellence, who were over the age of 39 years, were eligible to participate.

Results

Evaluation of those without OSA diagnosis showed no significant association with LVDD when comparing those screened (Berlin Questionnaire) as OSA high risk versus OSA low risk (p=0.101). Among those diagnosed with LVDD, there was a significant association when comparing those with and without patient-reported OSA (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.00, p=0.005), but the significance was not maintained after adjusting for pertinent variables (OR 1.3, 0.94 to 1.75, p=0.119). Notably, comparing those with OSA diagnosis and those low risk of OSA, the OR for LVDD was significant (1.69, 1.24 to 2.31, p=0.001), and after adjusting for waist–hip ratio, diabetes and coronary artery calcium score percentile, the relationship remained significant (OR 1.45, 1.03 to 2.04, p=0.032).

Conclusion

The strong association of OSA with LVDD in this population may inform future guidelines to recommend screening for LVDD in high-risk asymptomatic patients with OSA.
Internet of things platform technology used in undergraduate nursing student education: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Jang A , Song CE
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Future nursing education needs to build a cutting-edge technology-based educational environment to provide a variety of consumer-oriented education. Thus, the sharing of information in nursing education needs to be considered, especially given the advancement of internet of things (IoT) technology. Before developing a horizontal platform, understanding previously developed IoT platforms is necessary to establish services and devices compatible with each other in different service areas. This scoping review aims to explore the technology used in the IoT platform for the education of nursing students in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.

Methods and analysis

A preliminary search was completed to find initial search terms, on which a full-search strategy was developed. Search results yielded from PubMed (NCBI) were screened to ensure articles were peer-reviewed, published in English from January 1999 to August 2021, and relevant to developing, applying and evaluating IoT platforms at educational institutions for students in undergraduate nursing programmes. A full-text review of relevant articles will be conducted, and data will be extracted using the developed extraction tool. The extracted qualitative data will be analysed using a modified grounded theory approach, informing a working definition of the IoT platform and related terms.

Ethics and dissemination

The study was exempted from ethical review by the Institutional Review Board of Nambu University, South Korea. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals.
Effect of different types of muscle activity on the gene and protein expression of ALDH family members in C57BL/6J mouse skeletal muscle
Authors: Jee Eunbin , Tamura Yuki , Kouzaki Karina , Kotani Takaya , Nakazato Koichi
Published: April 2022

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is an enzyme that detoxifies aldehydes and is primarily involved in alcohol metabolism. Recently, we have shown that ALDH also plays an important role in skeletal muscle homeostasis. To better understand the role of ALDH in skeletal muscle, it is necessary to clarify the adaptability of ALDH. In this study, we examined the effects of endurance training, compensatory hypertrophy by synergist ablation (SA), and denervation-induced atrophy on gene expression and protein levels of selected ALDH isoforms in skeletal muscle. Ten-week-old C57BL/6J mice were subjected to each intervention, and the plantaris muscle was collected. Gene expression levels of Aldh1a1 were decreased by SA and denervation, but ALDH1A1 protein levels were not affected. Protein levels of ALDH1B1 increased after chronic endurance training, SA, and denervation interventions. However, the increase in Aldh1b1 gene expression was observed only after SA. The gene expression of Aldh2 was decreased after SA, but ALDH2 protein levels remained unchanged. Denervation increased both the Aldh2 gene and ALDH2 protein levels. Taken together, each isoform of ALDH undergoes unique quantitative adaptations in skeletal muscle under different conditions.
Brane world creation from flat or almost flat space in dynamical tension string theories
Authors: Guendelman E. I. , Portnoy J.
Published: April 2022

There is great interest in the construction of brane worlds, where matter and gravity are forced to be effective only in a lower dimensional surface, the brane . How these could appear as a consequence of string theory is a crucial question and this has been widely discussed. Here we will examine a distinct scenario that appears in dynamical tension theories and where string tension is positive between two surfaces separated by a short distance and at the two surfaces themselves the string tensions become infinite, therefore producing an effective confinement of the strings and therefore of all matter and gravity to the space between these to surfaces, which is in fact a new type of stringy brane world scenario. The basic formulation for obtaining this scenario consist of assuming two types of strings characterized by a different constant of integration related to the spontaneous string tension generation. These string tension multiplied by the embedding metric define conformally related metrics that both satisfy Einsteins equation. The braneworlds appear very naturally when these two metrics are both flat spaces related by a special conformal transformation. The two types of string tensions are determined and they blow up at two close expanding surfaces. A puzzling aspect appears then: the construction is based on flat spaces, but then there are also strings with very large tension near the boundaries of the braneworld,so can the back reaction from the infinite tension strings destroy the flat space background? Fortunatelly that can be resolved using the mechanism Universe creation from almost flat (or empty) spaces, which incorporates a gas of very large string tensions in a membrane, studied before in 1+1 membranes in a 2+1 embedding space and now is generalized for a 1+(D-2) membrane moving in a 1+(D-1) space.
Implication of the swampland distance conjecture on the Cohen–Kaplan–Nelson bound in de Sitter space
Authors: Seo Min-Seok
Published: April 2022

The Cohen–Kaplan–Nelson (CKN) bound formulates the condition that black hole is not produced by the low energy effective field theory dynamics. In de Sitter space it also constrains the maximal size of the matter distribution to be smaller than the cosmological horizon determined by black hole. On the other hand, the swampland distance conjecture (SDC) predicts that de Sitter space becomes unstable by the descent of the low energy degrees of freedom from UV. This results in the rapid increase in the energy inside the cosmological horizon, the distribution of which can be constrained by the CKN bound. We study the CKN bound in de Sitter space in detail and point out that when compared with the slow-roll in the inflation, the bound on the slow-roll parameter which forbids the eternal inflation is obtained.
Consequences of Trade Regulations on International Trade in Remanufacturing
Authors: Fu Feng , Chen Shuangying , Yan Wei
Published: April 2022

The remanufacturing industry is experiencing a gradual increase in international trade. Accordingly, manufacturers are encountering a multitude of regulations in this cross-border trade of remanufactured products, such as import prohibitions/bans, environmental regulations, and tariff barriers. In this paper, we investigated the implications of exporting remanufactured products to the international market with or without trade regulations. Our analysis reveals that, although the international market for remanufacturing invariably benefits the manufacturer, trade regulations are a disadvantage to remanufactured exports. Thus, while the quality of remanufactured products increases, the adverse effect of trade regulations could be weakened. Additionally, we reveal that trade regulations may be detrimental to the environment with a higher rate of used core collection and disposal impact. Thus, policymakers should take care to regulate the international market for remanufactured goods rather than implementing a one-size-fits-all solution.
Friction and wear study on patterned bearing steel using a milling machine
Authors: Jang Tae Hwan , Gwon Jin Uk , Kim Min Su , Kim Tae Gyu , Bae Mun Ki
Published: April 2022

Bearings, which are widely used in the industry, require high-energy efficiency and durability, and research toward frictional wear improvement is in progress. In this study, micropatterns were fabricated on the surface of an STB2 bearing steel. Three types of line-shaped micropatterns with intervals of 40, 80, and 150 μm were processed using a milling machine. In addition, the friction efficiency was assessed by measuring the friction coefficient of a bare sample with a diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin film, which has excellent friction efficiency. The friction wear efficiency was further analyzed by comparing the change in friction coefficient and the wear area as a function of the pattern interval. As a result of the wear test, the STB2 specimen to which the pattern was applied showed a difference in the friction coefficient according to the pattern pitch, and the lowest coefficient of friction was shown at 40 μm with the smallest pattern pitch, which confirmed that the distance between the pattern pitches affected the friction characteristics.
Toughening mechanisms and morphology of composite cylinders interleaved with hybrid nanoparticles
Authors: Park Soo-Jeong , Park Ye-Rim , Kim Yun-Hae
Published: April 2022

Laminated carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs) have been applied to complex structures in various industries owing to their excellent physical and mechanical properties. However, the use of such plastics is limited because their through-thickness failure presents an important structural vulnerability. This study aimed to develop an epoxy characterized by excellent interlaminar toughness that could be applied to filament-wound CFRP cylinders. The epoxy was modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), and the toughening effect of these nanomaterials on the CFRP composite was examined. The combination of CNTs and HNTs remarkably enhanced the interlaminar toughness of the epoxy and structurally improved the cohesiveness of individual nanoparticles, resulting in the partial reinforcement of the laminated structure of the CFRP. The reinforcements of the epoxy and interfacial bonding force between the epoxy and carbon fibers were also improved by the hybridization of small amounts of the CNTs and HNTs. In particular, the HNTs significantly improved the through-thickness characteristics of the CFRP by providing strong bridging effects. The interleaved CNT/HNT design developed in this work was suitable for application to hybrid-reinforced laminated CFRPs and may be considered a potential nanomaterial technology that could ensure the stable performance of CFRP-based structures against failure.
Mg2+ pre-intercalated hydrated vanadium oxide as high-performance cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries
Authors: Du Yehong , Zhang Yan , Wang Xinyu , Sun Juncai
Published: April 2022

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have shown great potential in large-scale energy storage systems due to their economic efficiency and environmental friendliness. However, cathodes for aqueous ZIBs are affected by the slow Zn[Formula: see text] diffusion kinetics and limited capacity. Herein, Mg[Formula: see text]V2O[Formula: see text]H2O (MgVO) nanobelt cathode with a large interlayer spacing of 13.0 Å is prepared via a one-step hydrothermal approach. Furthermore, the pre-intercalated Mg[Formula: see text] can stabilize the crystal structure and prevent Zn[Formula: see text] from being trapped in the lattice. As a result, MgVO cathode delivers a high capacity of 386 mAh g[Formula: see text] at 0.1 A g[Formula: see text], and impressive long-term cycling stability with a capacity retention of 91% after 1500 cycles at 5 A g[Formula: see text]. Moreover, the Zn/[Formula: see text]/MgVO battery can provide a high-energy density of 269 W h kg[Formula: see text] at 0.1 A g[Formula: see text] and a high-power density of 2701 W kg[Formula: see text] at 5 A g[Formula: see text]. The simple preparation and low cost make this cathode show great potential in the applications of large-scale energy storage.
Release characteristics of a high-hardness DLC coating on an aspherical glass lens mold
Authors: Kim Jeong Wan , Kim Tae Gyu
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we investigated the changes in the shape precision of a diamond-like carbon (DLC)-coated surface of an aspherical glass lens mold. The press molding process of the experiment involved placing a bulk material made of glass in an ultra-precision mold and applying cylinder pressure at a high temperature. Thermally stable tungsten carbide was used as the mold material. DTM grinding with a resolution of 0.1 [Formula: see text]m was performed to precisely process the tungsten carbide aspherical lens mold. HiPIMS–DLC and ta-C DLC coatings having excellent anti-stiction and hardness were applied on the polished mold. The hardness of the thin film was measured using nanoindentation. For the composition of the DLC, the [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] peak values were detected through Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the friction coefficient of the DLC thin film was measured using a tribology tester, and the friction coefficients of HiPIMS–DLC and ta-C were 0.018 and 0.014. Using FTS measurements, we confirmed that the precision of the aspherical lens shape (Peak to Valley) of the aspherical lens was 1.5 [Formula: see text]m and 0.5 [Formula: see text]m, respectively.
Environment-friendly synthesis of tin encapsulated within cotton-like carbon as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries
Authors: Wang Qian , An Qingbin , Li Song , Wang Xinyu , Ji Shijun , Sun Juncai
Published: April 2022

In this work, we prepare Sn@NC (N-doped cotton-like carbon) materials using a fast method based on high-energy ball milling and subsequent heat treatments. The effects of milling time and heat treatment on the microstructural and electrochemical properties of the obtained powder are investigated. Compared with other electrodes, the sample milled for 90 min exhibited superior cycle stability, with a high capacity of 1207.9 mAh g[Formula: see text] over 100 cycles. In addition, at a current density of 500 mA g[Formula: see text], the electrode exhibited a capacity of 894.7 mAh g[Formula: see text] after 100 cycles.
Optimization of HNT nanoparticle distribution based on EPD process in epoxy–CFRP composites
Authors: Kim Se-Yoon , Park Soo-Jeong , Kim Yun-Hae
Published: April 2022

There are numerous methods for reinforcing laminate composites using nanoadditives. However, the random dispersion of nanoparticles in polymer resins leads to critical defects owing to excessive dispersion. This study investigated a method of depositing halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) on a carbon fabric surface via electrophoresis deposition (EPD) for reinforcing the through-thickness strength of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites. The voltage during the EPD process was set as 6–12 V, which is the working range for nanoparticles during EPD. In addition, CFRPs were fabricated from modified carbon fabrics using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding. The optimum voltage was determined as 6 V. At higher voltages, the mechanical properties deteriorated owing to the distribution of HNTs and damage to the fibers. The performance of the EPD-modified CFRPs was better than that of neat CFRPs. The highest strength was observed at 0.7 wt.% HNTs and 6 V, which indicated the feasibility of the EPD process and a well-dispersed morphology. The strong interaction of HNTs with carbon fabric influences the through-thickness mechanical properties of CFRP composites.
Vortex state in a superconducting mesoscopic irregular octagon
Authors: Aguirre C. A. , Faúndez Julián , Barba-Ortega J.
Published: April 2022

Our study sample is a superconducting bi-dimensional octagon with different boundary conditions immersed in a magnetic external field [Formula: see text]. The boundary conditions are simulated by considering different values of the de Gennes extrapolation length [Formula: see text] on different surfaces of the sample. Our investigation was carried out by solving the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations. We analyzed the superconducting electron density and the magnetization curves as functions of [Formula: see text] and temperature [Formula: see text] in field-cooling and in zero-field-cooling processes for different values of [Formula: see text] and size of the sample. We found a strong dependence of the critical fields on [Formula: see text] and size of the sample.
Flexibility of sections of nearly integrable Hamiltonian systems
Authors: Burago Dmitri , Chen Dong , Ivanov Sergei
Published: April 2022

Given any symplectomorphism on [Formula: see text] which is [Formula: see text] close to the identity, and any completely integrable Hamiltonian system [Formula: see text] in the proper dimension, we construct a [Formula: see text] perturbation of [Formula: see text] such that the resulting Hamiltonian flow contains a “local Poincaré section” that “realizes” the symplectomorphism. As a (motivating) application, we show that there are arbitrarily small perturbations of any completely integrable Hamiltonian system which are entropy non-expansive (and, in particular, exhibit hyperbolic behavior on a set of positive measure). We use some results in Berger–Turaev [On Herman’s positive entropy conjecture, Adv. Math. 349 (2019) 1234—1288], though in higher dimensions we could simply apply a construction from [D. Burago and S. Ivanov, Boundary distance, lens maps and entropy of geodesic ows of Finsler metrics, Geom. & Topol. 20 (2016) 469–490].
The zero mass problem for Klein–Gordon equations
Authors: Dong Shijie
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we are interested in the global existence result for a class of Klein–Gordon equations, particularly in the unified time decay result concerning a possibly vanishing mass parameter. We give for the first time a rigorous proof for this problem, which relies on both the flat foliation and the hyperboloidal foliation of the Minkowski spacetime. To take advantage of both foliations, an iteration procedure is used.
Integration in semirings
Authors: Chajda Ivan , Länger Helmut
Published: April 2022

The concept of integral as an inverse to a derivation was already introduced for rings and recently also for lattices. Since semirings generalize both rings and bounded distributive lattices, it is natural to investigate integration in semirings. This is our aim in the present paper. We show properties of such integrals from the point of view of semiring operations. Examples of semirings with derivation where integrals are introduced are presented in the paper. These illuminate rather specific properties of such integrals. We show when the set of all integrals on a given semiring forms a semiring again.
Chen-type inequality for sequential warped product submanifolds of nearly Kähler manifolds
Authors: Kumar Anuj , Sharma Anil
Published: April 2022

A generalized Chen-type inequality and corresponding equality consequences for sequential warped products are proved in this paper. These results, which are based on such warped products having factors holomorphic, totally real and pointwise slant, extend Chen-type inequality for various warped products on nearly Kähler manifolds. Moreover, we also examine the related special cases.
Left rays of groupoids
Authors: Rezaei A. , Kim H. S. , Neggers J. , Saeid A. Borumand
Published: April 2022

In this paper, we introduce and study the notion of a (positive implicative) left ray in groupoids, and we show that every normal subgroup of a group is a left ray of a group, and in every finite group, left rays are normal subgroups. Further, left absorptive subsets of groupoids are discussed and several examples for these definitions provided. The relationship between left rays and zero semigroups is discussed.
Maximum independent sets in a proper monograph determined through a signature
Authors: Hegde S. M. , Saumya Y. M.
Published: April 2022

Let [Formula: see text] be a non-empty, finite graph. If the vertices of G can be bijectively labeled by a set S of positive distinct real numbers with two vertices being adjacent if and only if the positive difference of the corresponding labels is in S, then G is called a proper monograph. The set S is called the signature of G and denoted as G(S). Not all proper monographs have the property that a set of idle vertices can be bijectively mapped to the maximum independent sets. As a result, in this paper, we present the proper monograph labelings of several classes of graphs that satisfy the property mentioned above. We present the proper monograph labelings of graphs such as cycles, [Formula: see text], cycles with paths attached to one or more vertices, and Cycles with an irreducible tree attached to one or more vertices.
Some results on majority bad number
Authors: Hamid I. Sahul , Prabhavathy S. Anandha
Published: April 2022

A two-valued function [Formula: see text] defined on the vertices of a graph [Formula: see text] is a majority bad dominating function (MBDF), if the sum of its function values over at least half the closed neighborhoods is at most one. That is, for at least half the vertices [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] consists of v and every vertex adjacent to v. The majority bad domination number of a graph G, is denoted by [Formula: see text], and is defined as [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we determine some results on majority bad number.
The restrained double geodetic number of a graph
Authors: Santhakumaran A. P. , Ganesamoorthy K.
Published: April 2022

For a connected graph G of order at least two, a double geodetic set S of a graph G is a restrained double geodetic set if either [Formula: see text] or the subgraph induced by [Formula: see text] has no isolated vertices. The minimum cardinality of a restrained double geodetic set of G is the restrained double geodetic number of G and is denoted by [Formula: see text]. The restrained double geodetic number of some standard graphs is determined. It is proved that for a nontrivial connected graph [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] if and only if [Formula: see text]. It is shown that for any three positive integers [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text], there is a connected graph [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the geodetic number and [Formula: see text] is the restrained geodetic number of a graph G. It is also shown that for every pair a, b of positive integers with [Formula: see text], there is a connected graph [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the double geodetic number of a graph G.
Mush ado about the Ratagain Complex, NW Scotland: insights into Caledonian granitic magmatism and emplacement from magnetic fabric analyses
Authors: Lawrence A. , Maffione M. , Stevenson C.T.E.
Published: April 2022

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is used to reveal subtle mineral alignment fabrics in apparently isotropic crystalline lithologies, including granites. Such petrofabrics can be produced by emplacement-related magma flow or post-emplacement tectonic strain. However, discriminating between flow-related and tectonic fabrics using field observations alone may be challenging and is usually a broad and arbitrary interpretation. In this contribution, we employ a range of magnetic analyses to characterize the origin of the petrofabric in the
c.
425 Ma Ratagain Complex, NW Scotland, a composite Late Caledonian granitic intrusion. Our detailed magnetic analyses reveal that whilst all intrusive units carry an ambient tectonic overprint, critically, this has not developed into an obvious tectonic fabric and contains a horizontal shortening component indicative of transpression. This appears at odds with the well-defined Silurian (Scandian phase) regional transtensional tectonic regime from
c.
420–415 Ma onwards. Accordingly, we suggest that either the complex is younger than previously thought or that it existed as a crystal-mush close to the magmatic solidus for a protracted period after its initial emplacement. This study lays the foundations for much-needed further investigations into the detailed emplacement mechanisms, timescales and petrogenesis of individual granitic intrusions, to aid understanding of Late Caledonian tectonics.

Supplementary material
: Supplementary data to this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5941375

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Early Career Research collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/SJG-early-career-research
Connecting to Congress During COVID-19: Political Representation and Two-Way Crisis Communication
Authors: Kielty Abigail , Lee Amy , Neblo Michael A.
Published: April 2022

In the wake of the rapid escalation of COVID-19 in the United States in 2020, Congress was charged with finding ways to effectively disseminate reliable information and encouraging compliance with public health measures in addition to designing policies that would be responsive to the unprecedented needs of those in their districts. Our team quickly transitioned and tailored the structure of our
Deliberative Town Halls (DTHs)
as to best facilitate the necessary conversations between members of Congress and their constituents: whereas pre-COVID-19 DTHs focused on a single issue with a single member of Congress, the COVID-19 events often featured a bipartisan pair of members, participating alongside subject matter experts. These two-way conversations allowed for members to gain the critical information pertaining to how to develop policies that were responsive to articulated constituents needs and allowed constituents to express their opinions and feelings on COVID-19 related policies, Congress's handling of the pandemic, and the personal struggles they had faced as the effects of the pandemic transpired.
Intelligent Video Ingestion for Real-time Traffic Monitoring
Authors: Zhang Xu , Zhao Yangchao , Min Geyong , Miao Wang , Huang Haojun , Ma Zhan
Published: April 2022

As an indispensable part of modern critical infrastructures, cameras deployed at strategic places and prime junctions in an intelligent transportation system can help operators in observing traffic flow, identifying any emergency situation, or making decisions regarding road congestion without arriving on the scene. However, these cameras are usually equipped with heterogeneous and turbulent networks, making the real-time smooth playback of traffic monitoring videos with high quality a grand challenge. In this article, we propose a lightweight Deep Reinforcement Learning-based approach, namely,
sRC-C
(smart bitRate Control with a Continuous action space)
, to enhance the quality of real-time traffic monitoring by adjusting the video bitrate adaptively. Distinguished from the existing bitrate adjusting approaches,
sRC-C
can overcome the bias incurred by deterministic discretization of candidate bitrates by adjusting the video bitrate with more fine-grained control from a continuous action space, thus significantly improving the Quality-of-Service (QoS). With carefully designed state space and neural network model,
sRC-C
can be implemented on cameras with scarce resources to support real-time live video streaming with low inference time. Extensive experiments show that
sRC-C
can reduce the frame loss counts and hold time by 24% and 15.5%, respectively, even with comparable bandwidth utilization. Meanwhile, compared to the-state-of-art approaches,
sRC-C
can improve the QoS by 30.4%.
A Leap among Quantum Computing and Quantum Neural Networks: A Survey
Authors: Massoli Fabio Valerio , Vadicamo Lucia , Amato Giuseppe , Falchi Fabrizio
Published: April 2022

In recent years, Quantum Computing witnessed massive improvements in terms of available resources and algorithms development. The ability to harness quantum phenomena to solve computational problems is a long-standing dream that has drawn the scientific community’s interest since the late ’80s. In such a context, we propose our contribution. First, we introduce basic concepts related to quantum computations, and then we explain the core functionalities of technologies that implement the Gate Model and Adiabatic Quantum Computing paradigms. Finally, we gather, compare, and analyze the current state-of-the-art concerning Quantum Perceptrons and Quantum Neural Networks implementations.
Machine Learning-Enabled IoT Security: Open Issues and Challenges Under Advanced Persistent Threats
Authors: Chen Zhiyan , Liu Jinxin , Shen Yu , Simsek Murat , Kantarci Burak , Mouftah Hussein T. , Djukic Petar
Published: April 2022

Despite its technological benefits, the Internet of Things (IoT) has cyber weaknesses due to vulnerabilities in the wireless medium. Machine Larning (ML)-based methods are widely used against cyber threats in IoT networks with promising performance. An Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is prominent for cybercriminals to compromise networks, and it is crucial to long-term and harmful characteristics. However, it is difficult to apply ML-based approaches to identify APT attacks to obtain a promising detection performance due to an extremely small percentage among normal traffic. There are limited surveys that fully investigate APT attacks in IoT networks due to the lack of public datasets with all types of APT attacks. It is worth bridging the state of the art in network attack detection with APT attack detection in a comprehensive review article. This survey article reviews the security challenges in IoT networks and presents well-known attacks, APT attacks, and threat models in IoT systems. Meanwhile, signature-based, anomaly-based, and hybrid intrusion detection systems are summarized for IoT networks. The article highlights statistical insights regarding frequently applied ML-based methods against network intrusion. Finally, open issues and challenges for common network intrusion and APT attacks are presented for future research.
Molecules involved in the development of Barrett’s esophagus phenotype in chronic eosinophilic esophagitis
Authors: Upparahalli Venkateshaiah Sathisha , Yadavalli Chandra Sekhar , Kandikattu Hemanth Kumar , Kumar Sandeep , Oruganti Lokanatha , Mishra Anil
Published: April 2022

Intermediate columnar-type epithelial cells are observed in biopsies of patients with EoE. Induced BE signature genes (CK8/18, CDX1 GATA4, SOX9, and Occludin) were observed in patients with chronic EoE. Induction of IL-9 and its correlation with eosinophils mucin-producing genes and proteins was observed in patients with EoE. Induced IL-9 may be responsible for the development of BE in patients with chronic EoE.
Bronchial epithelium epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity forms aberrant basaloid-like cells in vitro
Authors: Uthaya Kumar Dinesh Babu , Motakis Efthymios , Yurieva Marina , Kohar Vivek , Martinek Jan , Wu Te-Chia , Khoury Johad , Grassmann Jessica , Lu Mingyang , Palucka Karolina , Kaminski Naftali , Koff Jonathan L. , Williams Adam
Published: April 2022

Although epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a common feature of fibrotic lung disease, its role in fibrogenesis is controversial. Recently, aberrant basaloid cells were identified in fibrotic lung tissue as a novel epithelial cell type displaying a partial EMT phenotype. The developmental origin of these cells remains unknown. To elucidate the role of EMT in the development of aberrant basaloid cells from the bronchial epithelium, we mapped EMT-induced transcriptional changes at the population and single-cell levels. Human bronchial epithelial cells grown as submerged or air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures with or without EMT induction were analyzed by bulk and single-cell RNA-Sequencing. Comparison of submerged and ALI cultures revealed differential expression of 8,247 protein coding (PC) and 1,621 long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) genes and revealed epithelial cell-type-specific lncRNAs. Similarly, EMT induction in ALI cultures resulted in robust transcriptional reprogramming of 6,020 PC and 907 lncRNA genes. Although there was no evidence for fibroblast/myofibroblast conversion following EMT induction, cells displayed a partial EMT gene signature and an aberrant basaloid-like cell phenotype. The substantial transcriptional differences between submerged and ALI cultures highlight that care must be taken when interpreting data from submerged cultures. This work supports that lung epithelial EMT does not generate fibroblasts/myofibroblasts and confirms ALI cultures provide a physiologically relevant system to study aberrant basaloid-like cells and mechanisms of EMT. We provide a catalog of PC and lncRNA genes and an interactive browser ( https://bronc-epi-in-vitro.cells.ucsc.edu/ ) of single-cell RNA-Seq data for further exploration of potential roles in the lung epithelium in health and lung disease.
Tilapia prolactin cells are thermosensitive osmoreceptors
Authors: Woo Daniel W. , Malintha G. H. T , Celino-Brady Fritzie T. , Yamaguchi Yoko , Breves Jason P. , Seale Andre P.
Published: April 2022

Prolactin (PRL) cells within the rostral pars distalis (RPD) of euryhaline and eurythermal Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, rapidly respond to a hyposmotic stimulus by releasing two distinct PRL isoforms, PRL188 and PRL177. Here, we describe how environmentally relevant temperature changes affected mRNA levels of prl188 and prl177 and the release of immunoreactive prolactins from RPDs and dispersed PRL cells. When applied under isosmotic conditions (330 mosmol/kgH2O), a 6°C rise in temperature stimulated the release of PRL188 and PRL177 from both RPDs and dispersed PRL cells under perifusion. When exposed to this same change in temperature, ∼50% of dispersed PRL cells gradually increased in volume by ∼8%, a response partially inhibited by the water channel blocker, mercuric chloride. Following their response to increased temperature, PRL cells remained responsive to a hyposmotic stimulus (280 mosmol/kgH2O). The mRNA expression of transient potential vanilloid 4, a Ca2+-channel involved in hyposmotically induced PRL release, was elevated in response to a rise in temperature in dispersed PRL cells and RPDs at 6 and 24 h, respectively; prl188 and prl177 mRNAs were unaffected. Our findings indicate that thermosensitive PRL release is mediated, at least partially, through a cell-volume-dependent pathway similar to how osmoreceptive PRL release is achieved.
Well Interference Analysis of Shale Gas Wells Based on Embedded Discrete Fracture Model
Authors: Zhang Qing
Published: April 2022

Well interference is commonly observed in shale gas reservoirs due to the small well spacing, and it significantly affects the shale gas production. Effective evaluation of well interference is important to increase the gas production of shale gas wells. Previous researches mainly focus on the well interference phenomenon and production optimization using numerical simulation so that the quantitative analysis of shale gas well interference is rare. Therefore, this paper is aimed at analyzing the well interference of shale gas wells through production type curves. First, the complex fracture networks are described by using the embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM). Second, different cases are designed to characterize different types and degrees of well interference in shale gas reservoirs. Third, numerical modelling is conducted to simulate the well interference and its effect on gas production. Fourth, the type curves are obtained to quantitatively analyze and compare the impact of well interference on shale gas production. Results show that well interference caused by hydraulic fractures mainly reduce the gas production of the parent well while the gas production of child well can be increased owing to the larger equivalent stimulated area. The pressure depletion is obvious when the well communication degree becomes higher. Differences can be found from early to late periods by the combination of log-log and Blasingame type curves. This work provides a method for well interference evaluation, and it can be used to obtain well spacing and adjust fracturing parameter in shale gas reservoirs.
A Novel Semifragile Consensus Algorithm Based on Credit Space for Consortium Blockchain
Authors: Deng Xiaohong , Luo Zhiqiong , Zou Yijie , Li Kangting , Liu Huiwen
Published: April 2022

Nowadays, blockchain is known as a new generation of secure information technologies for realizing business and industrial sustainability, and consensus algorithm is the key technology of blockchain. In order to solve the problem of “oligarchy” nodes and excessive punishment for nodes in existing credit consensus algorithms, a novel semifragile consensus algorithm based on the credit space for consortium blockchain is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the accounting node selection mechanism based on credit space is proposed. The credit value of the node is calculated according to a novel credit evaluation model, and then the credit space of the node is allocated according to the size of the credit value. Afterward, a random algorithm is used to select the accounting node in the credit space. This mechanism effectively inhibits the generation of “oligarchy” nodes and maintains the enthusiasm of nodes. Secondly, this paper proposes a semifragile hierarchical punishment mechanism, which punishes the malicious nodes with severe measures and gives the nonmalicious nodes the opportunity to continue participating in the consensus. So, this semifragile punishment mechanism solves the problem of excessive punishment of nodes. Experimental simulation results demonstrate that the proposed consensus algorithm has randomness while maintaining the credit incentive among nodes. In addition, the node’s punishment mechanism is more reasonable. This algorithm has better security and can be well applied to consortium blockchain scenarios.
Evaluating 5% Healthier: An e-Service-Learning Teleexercise Program for Undergraduate and Graduate Students in Exercise Physiology
Authors: Leary Miriam P. , Leary Brian , Sherlock Lori A.
Published: April 2022

An e-service-learning teleexercise program, 5% Healthier, provided a remote experiential learning opportunity for students and a supervised exercise program for participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study retrospectively evaluated whether students achieved course learning outcomes and improved their ability to work in teleexercise and if the intervention was a successful exercise program for participants. Supervised by graduate students, undergraduate student coaches provided 10 weeks of personalized exercise coaching to participants. Pre- and postperformance assessments were collected on participants, and anonymous surveys were administered to students and participants. Twenty-two undergraduate students and nine graduate students participated. Students’ perceptions of the e-service-learning experience were generally positive, and almost all felt it allowed them to meet the course learning outcomes and improved their ability to work in teleexercise. Seventy-three participants completed the exercise program and showed improvements in all performance assessments (body composition (weight, BMI), shoulder and hamstring flexibility, upper and lower body muscular endurance, and overall function (

p
<
0.01

)). Participants rated the program highly and agreed that 5% Healthier helped them gain fitness (93%). The 5% Healthier e-service-learning program is a successful model for experiential learning in exercise physiology, and the teleexercise program improved participants’ performance outcomes.
Pilot Study of Trace Elements in the Infusion of Medicinal Plants Used for Diabetes Treatment
Authors: Brima Eid I. , Siddeeg Saifeldin M.
Published: April 2022

The purpose of this study was to evaluate trace element contents in different medicinal plants used for diabetes treatments by residents in Asir region. Five medicinal plants—Tut leaves (Mulberry), olive leaves (Olea europaea), clove (Syzygium aromaticum), Luban Dhakar (Boswellia carterii), and Karela or bitter melon (Momordica charantia)—were collected from two cities, Khamis Mushait and Abha, in the Asir region, Saudi Arabia. Infusions (hot water extracts) were obtained from each plant, and elemental analysis was conducted using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Fourteen elements (Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Cd, Ba, and Pb) were measured in all plants. The results revealed that the fourteen elements were present at different levels (µg/g) in all plants. Momordica charantia exhibited high levels of essential (Mn (251.4), Co (1.18), Cu (54.64), and Se (2.18)) and toxic elements (Al (39.20), As (0.57), Cd (0.33), and Pb (4.48)), followed by Syzygium aromaticum (Mn (736.36)) and Boswellia carterii (Pb (0.93)), which exceeded the PMTDI in traditional doses used for diabetes treatments. However, Mulberry and Olea europaea did not exceed the daily guideline values for all elements. Based on our findings, we cautiously recommend the latter two plants for the traditional treatment of diabetes, because they are not considered as source of harm based on their levels of elements. Their use should be restricted by comprehensive compound analysis to guarantee their safe use.
Ambient Assistive Living for Monitoring the Physical Activity of Diabetic Adults through Body Area Networks
Authors: Srinivasu P. Naga , JayaLakshmi G. , Jhaveri Rutvij H. , Praveen S. Phani
Published: April 2022

The adequate aging hypothesis seeks to help people live longer, healthy lives. Diabetic patients who stay remotely need an infrastructure to monitor them continuously and provide timely treatment. Ambient assisted living (AAL) encourages the establishment of solutions that may help optimize older people’s assistive environment while also reducing their impairments. The blood glucose levels of diabetic patients are continuously monitored by gold oxide sensors placed over the human body. The signals associated with the glucose levels in the human body are plotted over a spectrogram image using the short-time Fourier transform, which is further classified using the deep learning model based on finetuned AlexNet, which has employed random oversampling and batch normalization for better precision in the results. The model classifies the spectrogram images as low and high glucose levels and normal glucose levels. Thereby alarming the caretakers for effective treatment of the individuals. Body area networks (BANs) gather information from biosensors and send it to a domain controller to assist caretakers and physicians in recommending the physical exercises for their clients. Evaluation criteria such as sensitivity and specificity, precision, and Mathew’s correlation coefficient are used to assess the effectiveness of the proposed model in this current diabetes study. The cross-validation of the model at multiple folds is being evaluated to analyze the performance. It is evident from the obtained results that the proposed model has exhibited an acceptable performance in precisely sensing the individuals with abnormal glucose levels.
Defect Detection for Mechanical Design Products with Faster R-CNN Network
Authors: Liu Ping , Su Sheng , Gao Xiaobing , Zheng Hongfei , Ma Zilin
Published: April 2022

The emergence of machine vision has promoted the automation of defect detection (DD) in the industrial field. Therefore, scholars at home and abroad have carried out a lot of research and exploration on the traditional visual DD method of mechanical design products. At the same time, this method has been widely used in the field of modern manufacturing due to its noncontact and fast detection speed. The traditional visual detection method is to use cameras, computers, and other equipment instead of people to detect the detected objects, although this method improves the production efficiency to a certain extent. However, this detection method is greatly affected by light, has a certain false detection rate, and has poor adaptability. The intelligent detection method based on deep learning developed on the basis of traditional vision is a further optimization of traditional visual detection methods. The rapid development of deep learning makes the advantages of visual DD more obvious.
Efficacy of the Nourishing Yin and Clearing Heat Therapy Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Prevention and Treatment of Radiotherapy-Induced Oral Mucositis in Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Thirty Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Huang Jinsheng , Kan Jun , Fan Teng , Quan Qi , Li Xujia , Jiang Qi , Zhang Bei , Guo Guifang
Published: April 2022

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of nourishing Yin and clearing heat therapy (NYCH therapy) based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis (RTOM) in nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs). A total of eight online databases were searched from inception to September 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The control group was treated with Western medicine (WM) alone, whereas the experimental group was treated with a combined NYCH and WM therapy. A total of 30 RCTs involving 2562 participants were ultimately included. NYCH therapy combined with conventional WM delayed the onset time (days) of RTOM (MD = 10.80,p<0.001), and at that time, a higher cumulative radiotherapy dose (Gy) (MD = 5.72,p<0.001) was completed in the experimental group. The combination regimen also reduced the incidence of severe oral mucositis (Grade III–IV) (RR = 0.25,p<0.001). In addition, the treatment efficacy of the experimental group was significantly better than that of the control group (RR = 1.31,p<0.001). Compared with the patients in the control group, the experimental group had lower xerostomia scores (MD = -1.07,p<0.001) and more saliva (MD = 0.36,p<0.001). NYCH combined with WM improved the efficacy of treating RTOM in NPC. This study provides a sufficient basis for conducting further large RCTs to prove the efficacy of NYCH.