bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Paediatric Contacts of Adult COVID-19 Patients: Clinical Parameters, Risk Factors, and Outcome
Authors: Farooq Ammara , Sheikh Taimur Khalil , Syed Fibhaa , Mustafa Tehmina
Published: June 2021

Background. There is insufficient data in Pakistan and in South Asia regarding paediatric COVID-19 demographics and related parameters. The main aim of this study was to assess the paediatric population exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection, their clinical parameters, risk factors, and outcome. Methods. This was a descriptive retrospective study conducted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Federal General Hospital Islamabad from 23rd July 2020 to 22nd August 2020. All paediatric contacts (≤13 years) of one hundred adult COVID-19 patients were included. Data of the index cases was taken from the medical records. Paediatric data was collected on the phone using a predesigned proforma. Results. There were 137 paediatric contacts of 100 adult COVID-19 index cases. The index cases were predominantly males (67%) and belonged to the middle socioeconomic class (89%), and 14% succumbed to the disease. Females had more paediatric contacts. The mean age of contacts was 6.6 years, and the majority (80%) developed no symptoms. Among the symptomatic contacts, fever and cough were the most common symptoms. None of the contacts developed dyspnoea or required hospitalization. Majority of the contacts had been vaccinated with the BCG vaccine. Testing for COVID-19 was done in only 77 (56%) contacts, 25 (32%) by the government team, and 52 (67%) privately. A higher number of symptomatic contacts were positive (15/17 (88%)) as compared to that of the asymptomatic contacts (6/60 (10%)) (p=0.002). Development of symptoms in the contacts was associated with the history of respiratory illnesses, recurrent infections, use of hematinics, a positive COVID-test result, and health professionals being index cases (p≤0.01). Parents with higher education and in the health profession and the families of symptomatic contacts reported better compliance with quarantine regulations. Conclusion. A significant number of children were exposed to adult COVID-19 patients. Most paediatric contacts remained asymptomatic. Children with preexisting medical conditions and with parents in health profession were susceptible to infection.
HOSM Controller Using PI Sliding Manifold for an Integrated Active Control for Wheeled Vehicles
Authors: Guzmán Antonio Navarrete , Vaca García Claudia Carolina , Di Gennaro Stefano , Lúa Cuauhtémoc Acosta
Published: June 2021

This study considers the design of a modified high-order sliding mode (HOSM) controller using a PI sliding surface to the attitude control of a ground vehicle. A robust-modified HOSM controller is derived, so that the lateral velocity and yaw rate tracks the desired trajectory despite the environment actions acting on the ground vehicle and parameter variations. The stability is guaranteed with Lyapunov’s stability theorem function. The performance of the dynamic controllers is evaluated using the CarSim simulator considering a challenging double steer maneuver.
Spinal Syphilitic Gumma: A Rare Presentation of an Old Disease
Authors: Worku Dominic , Houston Angela , Cosgrove Catherine , Byrne Laura
Published: June 2021

Syphilis is an ancient condition which still is of global concern today. Despite better awareness amongst clinicians and improving diagnostics, it remains likely underdiagnosed in part because of its namesake the ‘great imitator.’ While many patients suffer primary or secondary disease, tertiary syphilis characterised by gumma is rare, especially in the context of neurosyphilis. Here, we report a rare case of a well-controlled human immunodeficiency virus- (HIV-) positive gentleman with a history of previous syphilis and epilepsy who presented with progressive left leg weakness leading to immobility and altered bowels and, on neurological examination, Brown-Sequard syndrome. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine revealed two peripherally enhancing cavitating lesions at T4-T5 with associated meningeal thickening and cord oedema. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis revealed high protein (3.07 g/dL) and white cell count (7 × 109/L) with negative cryptococcal antigen, tuberculosis molecular testing (GeneXpert), microscopy and culture, and viral polymerase chain reaction (PCR). CSF serology was positive for Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) 10240 and RPR 1 in 2 suggesting active disease. While TB treatment had been started prior to these investigations on day 11, 14-day high-dose benzylpenicillin therapy commenced. Repeat MRI of the spine at days 12 and 22 showed incremental improvements in all parameters which correlated with improving functionality and neurology. According to our literature search, this represents the 13th case recorded for spinal syphilitic gumma and the only case recorded in a HIV-positive individual and adds to the evidence that, in the absence of rapidly changing neurology, medical management can lead to good clinical outcomes.
Tumor Microenvironment Subtypes and Immune‐Related Signatures for the Prognosis of Breast Cancer
Authors: Han Yiqun , Wang Jiayu , Xu Binghe
Published: June 2021

Objective. To better understand the immune‐related heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment (TME) and establish a prognostic model for breast cancer in clinical practice. Methods. For the 2620 breast cancer cases obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium, the CIBERSORT algorithm was performed to identify the immunological pattern, which underwent consensus clustering to curate TME subtypes, and biological profiles were explored by enrichment analysis. Random forest analysis, least absolute shrinkage, and selection operator analysis, in addition to uni‐ and multivariate COX regression analyses, were successively employed to precisely select the significant genes with prediction values for the introduction of the prognostic model. Results. Three TME subtypes with distinct molecular and clinical features were identified by an unsupervised clustering approach, of which the molecular heterogeneity could be the result of cell cycle dysfunction and the variation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity. A total of 15 significant genes were proposed to construct the prognostic immune‐related score system, and a predictive model was established in combination with clinicopathological characteristics for the survival of breast cancer patients. For immunological signatures, proactivity of CD8 T lymphocytes and hyperangiogenesis could be attributed to heterogeneous survival profiles. Conclusions. We developed and validated a prognostic model based on immune‐related signatures for breast cancer. This promising model is justified for validation and optimized in future clinical practice.
Assessing the Effect of Laboratory Activities on Core Curricular Units of an Engineering Master’s Program: A Multivariate Analysis
Authors: Lopes António M. , da Silva Lucas , Seabra Jorge
Published: June 2021

This paper studies the effect of laboratory activities on the results obtained by the students on 7 core curricular units (CUs) of an Integrated Master in Mechanical Engineering. Each CU is characterized by means of 4 performance indices, over the 6-year period 2014/2015–2019/2020. Firstly, individual indices in a per semester basis are compared. Secondly, the CUs are regarded as objects defined in a 4-dimensional space of features, and the multidimensional scaling (MDS) technique is adopted for clustering and computer visualization. The MDS is powerful for analyzing the multivariate dataset, unveiling patterns not perceived by standard statistical methods.
Privacy-Preserving Two-Factor Key Agreement Protocol Based on Chebyshev Polynomials
Authors: Tan Zuowen
Published: June 2021

Two-factor authentication is one of the widely used approaches to allow a user to keep a weak password and establish a key shared with a server. Recently, a large number of chaotic maps-based authentication mechanisms have been proposed. However, since the Diffie–Hellman problem of the Chebyshev polynomials defined on the interval [−1,+1] can be solved by Bergamo et al.’s method, most of the secure chaotic maps-based key agreement protocols utilize the enhanced Chebyshev polynomials defined on the interval (−∞,+∞). Thus far, few authenticated key agreement protocols based on chaotic maps have been able to achieve user unlinkability. In this paper, we take the ﬁrst step in addressing this problem. More speciﬁcally, we propose the notions of privacy in authenticated key agreement protocols: anonymity-alone, weak unlinkability, medium unlinkability, and strong unlinkability. Then, we construct two two-factor authentication schemes with medium unlinkability based on Chebyshev polynomials defined on the interval [−1,1] and (−∞,+∞), respectively. We do the formal security analysis of the proposed schemes under the random oracle model. In addition, the proposed protocols satisfy all known security requirements in practical applications. By using Burrows-Abadi-Needham logic (BAN-logic) nonce verification, we demonstrate that the proposed schemes achieve secure authentication. In addition, the detailed comparative security and performance analysis shows that the proposed schemes enable the same functionality but improve the security level.
Adverse Events due to Lack of Precision in Total Hip Arthroplasty: The Potential of Provocation-Based CT for Diagnosis of Implant Loosening
Authors: Sandberg Olof , Olivecrona Henrik , Gustafson Pelle
Published: June 2021

Adverse events in total hip replacement (THR) may have several origins, one being lack of precision in diagnosis and/or during surgery. This study describes the pattern and frequency of avoidable injuries in THR and the potential value of a new tool for early diagnosis of implant loosening. This retrospective study was based on all (n = 1 456) settled claims regarding THR in the Swedish National Patient Insurance database from 2010 to 2017. The claims and medical records were analyzed for root causes, with special focus on adverse events where lack of precision could be the cause. In a second stage, we assessed in 10 patients (20 implants) the diagnostic precision of a new software tool based on provocation-CT. These were all patients where the implant loosening diagnosis was deemed as inconclusive after a first plain X-ray. The findings from the provocation-CT and plain X-ray were compared to the surgical findings at revision. While 3 of 20 implants were correctly diagnosed with plain X-ray, for dynamic CT, this number was 14 of 20 implants. The retrospective study showed that the most common types of injuries were infections (34%), nerve injury (29%), mechanical problems (14.5%), dislocation (6%), and miscellaneous complications (16.5%). Of the patients with mechanical complications, one-third had aseptic implant loosening. Statement of clinical significance: we estimated that almost 200 patients in our registry study had mechanical complications after THR, mainly implant loosening. A third of these could potentially have been diagnosed and treated if CT examination with a dedicated image analysis tool to assess implant loosening after THR had been available.
Convergence Theorems for the Variational Inequality Problems and Split Feasibility Problems in Hilbert Spaces
Authors: Lohawech Panisa , Kaewcharoen Anchalee , Farajzadeh Ali
Published: June 2021

In this paper, we establish an iterative algorithm by combining Yamada’s hybrid steepest descent method and Wang’s algorithm for finding the common solutions of variational inequality problems and split feasibility problems. The strong convergence of the sequence generated by our suggested iterative algorithm to such a common solution is proved in the setting of Hilbert spaces under some suitable assumptions imposed on the parameters. Moreover, we propose iterative algorithms for finding the common solutions of variational inequality problems and multiple-sets split feasibility problems. Finally, we also give numerical examples for illustrating our algorithms.
Prognostic Value and Relation with Adjuvant Treatment Duration of ctDNA in Stage III Colon Cancer: aPost HocAnalysis of the PRODIGE-GERCOR IDEA-France Trial
Authors: Taieb Julien , Taly Valérie , Henriques Julie , Bourreau Camille , Mineur Laurent , Bennouna Jaafar , Desrame Jérôme , Louvet Christophe , Lepere Céline , Mabro May , Egreteau Joëlle , Bouche Olivier , Mulot Claire , Hormigos Katia , Chaba Kariman , Mazard Thibault , de Gramont Aimery , Vernerey Dewi , André Thierry , Laurent-Puig Pierre
Published: June 2021

Purpose:

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has been suggested as a major prognostic factor in resected stage-III colon cancer. We analyzed ctDNA of patients randomized in the phase III IDEA-France trial.

Experimental Design:

ctDNA was tested for WIF1 and NPY by droplet digital PCR with method developed and validated for colorectal cancer. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed via multivariable analysis in patients with ctDNA samples and in sub-groups according to treatment duration (3/6 months) and disease stage (high/low-risk stage III).

Results:

Of 2,010 randomized patients, 1,345 had available ctDNA samples (1,017 collected both post-surgery and pre-chemotherapy). More Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0 (78% versus 69%) and T4 and/or N2 (40% versus 36%) were observed in patients studied (n = 1017) versus not analyzed (n = 993). There were 877 ctDNA-negative (86.2%) and 140 ctDNA-positive (13.8%) patients; their baseline characteristics were similar. With a median follow-up of 6.6 years, the 3-year DFS rate was 66.39% for ctDNA-positive patients and 76.71% for ctDNA-negative patients (P = 0.015). ctDNA was confirmed as an independent prognostic marker for DFS (adjusted HR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.13–2.12, P = 0.006) and OS (HR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.12–2.43, P = 0.011). ctDNA was prognostic in patients treated for 3 months and with T4 and/or N2 tumors, but not in those treated for 6 months and with T1–3/N1 tumors.

Conclusions:

In this first ctDNA assessment of a large series of patients with stage III colon cancer enrolled in phase III trial, post-surgery ctDNA was found in 13.8% of them and was confirmed as an independent prognostic marker.

See related commentary by Bent and Kopetz, p. 5449
Evolution of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer in ctDNA during Sequential Androgen Receptor Pathway Inhibition
Authors: Annala Matti , Taavitsainen Sinja , Khalaf Daniel J. , Vandekerkhove Gillian , Beja Kevin , Sipola Joonatan , Warner Evan W. , Herberts Cameron , Wong Amanda , Fu Simon , Finch Daygen L. , Oja Conrad D. , Vergidis Joanna , Zulfiqar Muhammad , Eigl Bernhard J. , Kollmansberger Christian K. , Nykter Matti , Gleave Martin E. , Chi Kim N. , Wyatt Alexander W.
Published: June 2021

Purpose:

Cross-resistance renders multiple lines of androgen receptor (AR) signaling inhibitors increasingly futile in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We sought to determine acquired genomic contributors to cross-resistance.

Experimental Design:

We collected 458 serial plasma cell-free DNA samples at baseline and progression timepoints from 202 patients with mCRPC receiving sequential AR signaling inhibitors (abiraterone and enzalutamide) in a randomized phase II clinical trial (NCT02125357). We utilized deep targeted and whole-exome sequencing to compare baseline and posttreatment somatic genomic profiles in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

Results:

Patient ctDNA abundance was correlated across plasma collections and independently prognostic for sequential therapy response and overall survival. Most driver alterations in established prostate cancer genes were consistently detected in ctDNA over time. However, shifts in somatic populations after treatment were identified in 53% of patients, particularly after strong treatment responses. Treatment-associated changes converged upon the AR gene, with an average 50% increase in AR copy number, changes in AR mutation frequencies, and a 2.5-fold increase in the proportion of patients carrying AR ligand binding domain truncating rearrangements.

Conclusions:

Our data show that the dominant AR genotype continues to evolve during sequential lines of AR inhibition and drives acquired resistance in patients with mCRPC.
A γδ T–cell Imprint in a Rare Skin Tumor
Authors: Jaeger Natalia , Colonna Marco
Published: June 2021

In-depth immune profiling can guide the development and targeting of cancer immunotherapies. In this issue, Gherardin and colleagues find a strong signature of γδ T cells in the immune infiltrate of Merkel cell carcinoma that correlates with a more favorable prognosis and heightened responsiveness to checkpoint inhibitors. This may lead to future γδ T cell–targeted immunotherapies.

See article by Gherardin et al., p. 612
Evaluation of Hypersensitivity Reactions in Pediatric Patients Using Biological Drugs
Authors: Yilmaz Topal Ozge , Kose Volkan , Acar Banu , Bayrakci Umut Selda , Ozyoruk Derya , Hizal Gulin , Karaatmaca Betul , Toyran Muge , Yarali Husniye Nese , Ozbek Namık Yasar , Dibek Misirlioğlu Emine
Published: June 2021

Introduction: Biological drugs are currently used for the treatment of chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. With their expanding indication spectrum and increasing use, hypersensitivity reactions to these drugs are also becoming more frequent. The present study aimed to report the incidence and the features of such reactions in pediatric patients using biologicals for the treatment of various diseases. Methods: The medical records of pediatric patients treated with biological agents between October 1, 2011 and August 31, 2019 were reviewed and adverse reactions were evaluated retrospectively. Results: During the study period, 211 patients (116 boys, 55%) used 21 different biological drugs for the treatment of various diseases. Their median age at the time of the first treatment was 139.9 (IQR: 92.2–187.8) months. Hematologic-oncologic diseases were the most common indication for biological therapy (97/211; 46.0%), followed by rheumatologic diseases (82/211; 38.9%). Of the 211 patients, 14 (6.64%) experienced reactions to biological drugs. The most common culprit agent was rituximab (57.1%). Most of the patients (85.7%) had a history of reactions either during the infusion or within 1 h after taking the drug. Five patients underwent desensitization to the culprit drug, while 7 other patients continued treatment with a reduced dose/infusion rate or premedication. Also 1 patient continued to take the drug without any additional treatment. Conclusion: It was reported that 6.64% of the patients who received biologic drug therapy for various reasons in our hospital had hypersensitivity. The most common culprit agent was rituximab, and most of the reactions were immediate reactions.
Cardiovascular Sequelae and Genetics of Familial Mediterranean Fever: A Literature Review
Authors: Malik Jahanzeb , Shabbir Asma , Nazir Atif
Published: June 2021

Introduction: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory fever syndrome distinguished by recurrent attacks of spontaneous peritonitis, pleuritis, fever, and arthritis. It is specifically seen in the ethnic groups of Mediterranean origin, but sporadic cases have been reported in Eastern Europe and America due to migrations. There is a number of cardiac manifestations associated with FMF. Methods: Using PubMed as the search engine, the literature search was done for articles published between 1958 and 2020. To summarize the body of available evidence, a scoping review was carried out to find relevant articles and case reports in patients of FMF with cardiovascular manifestations. Results: In the literature, there is a number of mechanisms explaining the cause of cardiac involvement in FMF, including the subclinical inflammation and secondary (AA) amyloid deposition in the vessels and the myocardium. There is a variable and often spurious course of these manifestations and it can be associated with a poor prognosis such as an acute myocardial infarction. In FMF patients, polyarteritis nodosa and Henoch-Schönlein purpura are seen more significantly as compared to the general population with increased frequency of mutations in Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene. Through unclear mechanisms, Behçet’s disease is associated with MEFV gene mutations and shares vascular manifestations with FMF. There is an interplay of IL-1 and MEFV gene, which impart an important role in inflammatory attacks of FMF. There is an intima-media thickening of blood vessels AA to persistent inflammation which can lead to atherosclerotic plaque formation resulting in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: FMF and its associated cardiovascular diseases are interlinked to 2 main mechanisms: subclinical atherosclerosis and amyloid deposition, and colchicine is the primary treatment of patients with FMF which shows the regression of amyloid deposits and prevents cardiovascular sequelae.
Software aging prediction and rejuvenation in cloud computing environment: a new approach
Authors: P Shruthi , Cholli Nagaraj G
Published: June 2021

Service availability is one of the major requirements for user satisfaction. Several researches were conducted in recent years to find suitable infrastructure to enhance the availability. Even though both hardware and software are to be in good condition, in recent years, software faults are the major concern for service availability. Software aging is a type of software fault. Software aging occurs as a result of errors accumulation in the internal environment of the system leading to performance degradation. To manage software aging, technique used is software rejuvenation. There exist two kinds of approaches for studying software aging and deriving optimal software rejuvenation schedules. The two approaches are measurement based and model based. In model based approach, analytic models are built for capturing system degradation and rejuvenation process. In measurement based approach, attributes are periodically monitored and that may indicate signs of software aging. In this work, a prototype of measurement based model has been developed. The model captures the aging indicator metrics from cloud environment and rejuvenates once the system reaches aged status. The proposed model uses platform independent, non-intrusive technique for capturing metrics. The rejuvenation carried out after analysing the captured metrics, increases the availability of the service.
Performance analysis of dual-branch selection combining technique over the generalized Alpha-Mu fading channels
Authors: Aldiabat Hasan , Alhubaishi Ahmed
Published: June 2021

Inspired by the low-difficulty of implementing a dual-branch selection combining (SC) technique, this research paper presents approximate closed form expressions for the bit error rate (BER) of M-ary phase shift keying (M-PSK) considering the SC technique. In particular, the BER expression is derived over independent and identically distributed (i.i.d) alpha - mu fading channels and is based on the use of Meijer’s G-function. The presented mathematical formulas can be modified to study the performance of different types of fading channels including Weibull, exponential, Nakagami-m, Gamma, and Rayleigh channels. This can be achieved by updating the parameters of the propagation medium nonlinearity (alpha) and the number of multipath clusters (mu). In addition, the paper provides numerical results that demonstrate a close match in the performance of the derived expressions and the simulation findings in terms of BER. Specifically, a very close to a total BER match is achieved using a range of signal to noise ratio (SNR) levels for various selections of the alpha and mu parameters. The obtained closed form BER expression of M-PSK considering the dual-branch SC technique is novel, new, and has never been published in the literature before.
A survey of distance learning in Morocco during COVID19
Authors: Ouahabi Sara , El Guemmat Kamal , Azouazi Mohamed , El Filali Sanaa
Published: June 2021

The face-to-face mode is always considered as the normal mode of teaching, and distance education is often understood as a remedy for the lack of material and human resources necessary to conduct training; but to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID19), the distance course system has been launched in different countries to ensure continuity of teaching during the period when courses are stopped. In order to shed light on the role of distance learning during the spread of the coronavirus and its effectiveness in successfully continuing the learning process, an investigation was carried out in the Moroccan context. This survey was launched as a questionnaire with 565 participants; they are students and teachers from primary, secondary, university and professional training. The objective is to answer several research questions concerning the current use of distance education during the COVID19 pandemic. The results of this survey are presented in this article as well as their analysis showing that solutions and alternatives must be adopted in order to improve the teaching and learning process in the event of a situation like COVID19.
Artificial intelligence based handover decision and network selection in heterogeneous internet of vehicles
Authors: Hussain Shaik Mazhar , Yusof Kamaludin Mohamad , Asuncion Rolito , Hussain Shaik Ashfaq
Published: June 2021

Internet of vehicles (IoV) is an emerging area that gives support for vehicles via internet assisted communication. IoV with 5G provides ubiquitous connectivity due to the participation of more than one radio access network. The mobility of vehicles demands to make handover in such heterogeneous network. The vehicles at short range uses dedicated short range communication (DSRC), while it has to use better technology for long range and any type of traffic. Usually, the previous work will directly select the network for handover or it connects with available radio access. Due to this, the occurrence of handover takes place frequently.  In this paper, the integration of DSRC, LTE and mmWave 5G on IoV is incorporated with novel handover decision making, network selection and routing. The handover decision is to ensure whether there is a need for vertical handover by using Dynamic Q-learning algorithm that uses entropy function for threshold prediction as per the current characteristics of the environment. Then the network selection is based on fuzzy-convolution neural network (F-CNN) that creates fuzzy rules from signal strength, distance, vehicle density, data type and line of sight. V2V chain routing is proposed to select V2V pairs using jellyfish optimization algorithm (JOA) that takes in account of channel, vehicle and transmission metrics. This system is developed in OMNeT++ simulator and the performances are evaluated in terms of success probability, handover failure, unnecessary handover, mean throughput, delay and packet loss.
Video mosaic watermarking using plasma key
Authors: Hassan Nidaa Flaih , Ali Akbas Ezaldeen , Wala Aldeen Teaba , Al-Adhami Ayad
Published: June 2021

Video watermarking is one of the most widespread techniques amongst the many watermarking techniques presently are used; this is because the extreme existences of copyright abuse and misappropriation occur for video content. In this paper, a new watermarking algorithm is proposed to embed logo in digital video for copyright protection. To make the watermarks more robust to attack, host frame and host embedding indices must be changeable. A new algorithm is proposed to determined host frames by plasma function, Host location indices in frames are also determined by another plasma function. Logo is divided using the mosaic principle, the size of mosaic blocks is determined initially according to the degree of protection, whenever the size of mosaic blocks is small, it leads to safe embedding, and vice versa. Digital watermarks are embedded easily without any degradation for video quality, In the other side, the watermarked is retrieved by applying the reverse of proposed embedding algorithm and extracted watermark is still recognizable. The experimental results confirm that watermark is robust against three types of attacks which are addition of Gaussian noise, JPEG compression, and rotation process.
Validation test on 3d heart phantom for mitral valve leaflet tracking
Authors: Mahadi Lina Farhana , Ibrahim Nabilah , Shanta Shahnoor , Hasegawa Hideyuki
Published: June 2021

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">Mitral valve movement is essential to be identified in order to monitor the abnormality of blood flow in right side of heart. The estimation and tracking of mitral valve has seldom been investigated since it required high temporal rate to scan the echocardiography images and it depends on the operator to capture the low-speckle and-noise images. This study presents the validation experiment performed on heart phantom made of t<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">hermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filament which the objective is to validate the previous <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">features tracking technique implemented in mitral valve locating in video frames using Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) algorithm. The outcome was able to automatically detect the edge of mitral valve and thus in future, it manages to predict the flowing of blood pattern. An in-vitro experiment was conducted which involved a valve phantom scanning in water tank that connected to water pump. It was found in this study that the technique capable to detect and visualize the mitral valve up to 59 frames in 2.36 secondsby tracking the features of minimum eigenvalue within the selected region. It was also produced a good agreement of valve distance between the true value and the measured one, which achieved the minimum of 88% similarity. This yielded the validation of the proposed technique to track and visualize the mitral valves.
Hybrid NRZ/RZ line coding scheme based hybrid FSO/FO dual channel communication systems
Authors: Eid Mahmoud M. A. , Rashed Ahmed Nabih Zaki
Published: June 2021

<span id="docs-internal-guid-52ae510c-7fff-0f9d-c23b-ec77d8fd1141" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This <span id="docs-internal-guid-22aadf85-7fff-c447-0533-2748148ff46b" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">study simulates the hybrid non return to zero (NRZ)/return to zero (RZ) line coding scheme based hybrid free space optics (FSO)/fiber optics (FO) dual channel communication systems. The max Q factor/Min BER are simulated after APD receiver based both erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and wide band traveling wave semiconductor optical amplifiers (WBTWSOAs) with 50 km fiber channel and 4 km FSO channel. Max SPAL/min noise SPAL, max signal power amplitude/min noise signal power variations with spectral frequency, and the total electrical power are demonstrated and clarified in this proposed study. This work emphasized that the fiber channel is reached up to 100 km reach and FSO channel can be also extended to 4 km reach with 40 Gbps.
The trends of supervisory control and data acquisition security challenges in heterogeneous networks
Authors: Syamsul Arifin M. Agus , Susanto Susanto , Stiawan Deris , Yazid Idris Mohd , Budiarto Rahmat
Published: June 2021

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) has an important role in communication between devices in strategic industries such as power plant grid/network. Besides, the SCADA system is now open to any external heterogeneous networks to facilitate monitoring of industrial equipment, but this causes a new vulnerability in the SCADA network system. Any disruption on the SCADA system will give rise to a dangerous impact on industrial devices. Therefore, deep research and development of reliable intrusion detection system (IDS) for SCADA system/network is required. Via a thorough literature review, this paper firstly discusses current security issues of SCADA system and look closely benchmark dataset and SCADA security holes, followed by SCADA traffic anomaly recognition using artificial intelligence techniques and visual traffic monitoring system. Then, touches on the encryption technique suitable for the SCADA network. In the end, this paper gives the trend of SCADA IDS in the future and provides a proposed model to generate a reliable IDS, this model is proposed based on the investigation of previous researches. This paper focuses on SCADA systems that use IEC 60870-5-104 (IEC 104) protocol and distributed network protocol version 3 (DNP3) protocol as many SCADA systems use these two protocols.
Frequency response analysis of dielectric materials in a parallel-plate transmission line
Authors: Africa Aaron Don Munsayac , Pe Gregory James , Quijano Robert Ianny Roy
Published: June 2021

A transmission line allows different frequencies to conduct alternating current (AC). They are a peculiar type of wire that allows signal transmission while making it resistant to external noises. A parallel-plate transmission line is a type of transmission line designed with two parallel plates with a dielectric sheet material in the center, as the name implies. The parallel-plate transmission lines are usually used for a miniature setup in which the line prevents the signal from losing power. However, the line's frequency response is a varying setup in which a change in a parameter can fully change the frequency response of the line, and in turn trigger inefficiency. With this, different factors such as the conductor, the size, and the dielectric material of the parallel-plate transmission line can affect its frequency response. Specifically, the analysis of the transmission would test the various frequency responses when the dielectric sheet content is varied. The researchers will carry out experiments on air, Teflon, plexiglass, and E type glass dielectrics.
The effect of the TF-IDF algorithm in times series in forecasting word on social media
Authors: Ridho Lubis Arif , M. Nasution Mahyuddin K. , Salim Sitompul Opim , Muisa Zamzami Elviawaty
Published: June 2021

Forecasting is one of the main topics in data mining or machine learning in which forecasting, a group of data used, has a label class or target. Thus, many algorithms for solving forecasting problems are categorized as supervised learning with the aim of conducting training. In this case, the things that were supervised were the label or target data playing a role as a 'supervisor' who supervise the training process in achieving a certain level of accuracy or precision. Time series is a method that is generally used to forecast based on time and can forecast words in social media. In this study had conducted the word forecasting on twitter with 1734 tweets which were interpreted as weighted documents using the TF-IDF algorithm with a frequency that often comes out in tweets so the TF-IDF value is getting smaller and vice versa. After getting the word weight value of the tweets, a time series forecast was performed with the test data of 1734 tweets that the results referred to 1203 categories of Slack words and 531 verb tweets as training data resulting in good accuracy. The division of word forecasting was classified into two groups i.e. inactive users and active users. The results obtained were processed with a MAPE calculation process of 50% for inactive users and 0.1980198% for active users.
Aristóteles e a Lógica da Contingência: uma interpretação tradicional do argumento da batalha naval
Authors: Santos Luiz Henrique Lopes dos
Published: June 2021

Since Antiquity, the meaning and purpose of Aristotle’s sea-battle argument have been highly controversial. On the so-called traditional interpretation of De Interpretatione 9, the argument is intended to prove that not every statement is always true or false on the assumption deemed evident that facts may occur contingently in our sublunar world. In this paper I argue that this interpretation is for many reasons much more plausible than any of its competitors, so that its correctness is worthy at least of moral certainty. In particular, I contend that it can coexist in perfect logical harmony with a moderately charitable reading of Aristotle’s texts that at first glance it seems to confute. As a matter of fact, I contend that it is faithful to Aristotle’s view of logical laws as consequent upon the metaphysical structure of reality.
A mulher de Corá e a mulher de Om
Authors: Hubner Manu Marcus
Published: June 2021

A omissão do nome de Om entre os condenados pela tentativa de destituir Moisés e Aarão de seus cargos de líderes, durante a rebelião de Corá, no livro de Números da Bíblia Hebraica, tem uma explicação midráshica que transforma os líderes rebeldes em homens passivos e submissos e transfere o protagonismo dos eventos para suas mulheres.
Age at Menopause and Risk of Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke
Authors: Welten Sabrina J.G.C. , Onland-Moret N. Charlotte , Boer Jolanda M.A. , Verschuren W.M. Monique , van der Schouw Yvonne T.
Published: June 2021

Background and Purpose:

The few epidemiological studies that addressed the association between age at menopause and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke risk in women had conflicting findings. We aimed to investigate whether age at (natural and surgical) menopause is a risk factor for total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke in women.

Methods:

We analyzed data from 16 244 postmenopausal women, aged 26 to 70 years at recruitment who were enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Netherlands cohort between 1993 and 1997. Participants were followed for the occurrence of stroke until January 1, 2011. At baseline, participants filled in questionnaires about health, reproductive history including age at menopause, diet, and lifestyle. Cox regression was used to investigate the association between age at menopause and stroke. All analyses were adjusted for age, smoking, systolic blood pressure, and body mass index.

Results:

Mean age of menopause was 46.4 (7.0) years. A total of 830 strokes (571 ischemic, 162 hemorrhagic, 97 unclassified) were identified. Earlier menopause was associated with an increased risk of total stroke. Compared with women who experienced menopause between 50 and 54 years old, women who underwent menopause before age 40 years had 1.48× higher risk (95% CI, 1.19–1.85) of total stroke. In continuous analyses, we observed a 2% lower total stroke risk for each year menopause was delayed (hazard ratio, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.97–0.99]). The risk between earlier menopause and stroke was confined to ischemic stroke, earlier menopause was not associated with hemorrhagic stroke. The association with age at menopause was stronger for natural menopause (hazard ratio <40 versus 50–54 years, 1.74 [95% CI, 1.12–2.70]) than for surgical menopause (hazard ratio <40 versus 50–54 years, 1.26 [95% CI, 0.84–1.89]).

Conclusions:

The risk of total and ischemic stroke decreased with an increase in age at menopause. Whether this should have clinical consequences such as intensified risk factor control should be subject of further studies.
Impact of Age and Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score 0 to 5 on Mechanical Thrombectomy Outcomes: Analysis From the STRATIS Registry
Authors: Zaidat Osama O. , Liebeskind David S. , Jadhav Ashutosh P. , Ortega-Gutierrez Santiago , Nguyen Thanh N. , Haussen Diogo C. , Yavagal Dileep R. , Froehler Michael T. , Jahan Reza , Nogueira Raul G. , Yao Tom L. , Alenzi Bader A. , Bushnaq Saif , Mueller-Kronast Nils H.
Published: June 2021

Background and Purpose:

This study investigates clinical outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy in adult patients with baseline Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) of 0 to 5.

Methods:

We included data from the STRATIS Registry (Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated With Neurothrombectomy Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke) from patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy within 8 hours of symptom onset and had available ASPECTS data adjudicated by an independent core laboratory. Angiographic and clinical outcomes were collected, including successful reperfusion (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction ≥2b), functional independence (modified Rankin Scale score 0–2), 90-day mortality, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage at 24 hours. Outcomes were stratified by ASPECTS scores and age.

Results:

Of the 984 patients enrolled, 763 had available ASPECTS data. Of these patients, 57 had ASPECTS of 0 to 5 with a median age of 63 years (interquartile range, 28–100), whereas 706 patients had ASPECTS of 6 to 10 with a median age of 70 years of age (interquartile range, 19–100). Ten patients had ASPECTS of 0 to 3 and 47 patients had ASPECTS of 4 to 5 at baseline. Successful reperfusion was achieved in 85.5% (47/55) in the ASPECTS of 0 to 5 group. Functional independence was achieved in 28.8% (15/52) in the ASPECTS of 0 to 5 versus 59.7% (388/650) in the 6 to 10 group (
P
<0.001). Mortality rates were 30.8% (16/52) in the ASPECTS of 0 to 5 and 13.4% (87/650) in the 6 to 10 group (
P
<0.001). sICH rates were 7.0% (4/57) in the ASPECTS of 0 to 5 and 0.9% (6/682) in the 6 to 10 group (
P
<0.001). No patients aged >75 years with ASPECTS of 0 to 5 (0/12) achieved functional independence versus 44.8% (13/29) of those age ≤65 (
P
=0.005).

Conclusions:

Patients <65 years of age with large core infarction (ASPECTS 0–5) have better rates of functional independence and lower rates of mortality compared with patients >75 years of age.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT02239640.
Mechanical Characterization of Thrombi Retrieved With Endovascular Thrombectomy in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Boodt Nikki , Snouckaert van Schauburg Philip R.W. , Hund Hajo M. , Fereidoonnezhad Behrooz , McGarry J. Patrick , Akyildiz Ali C. , van Es Adriaan C.G.M. , De Meyer Simon F. , Dippel Diederik W.J. , Lingsma Hester F. , van Beusekom Heleen M.M. , van der Lugt Aad , Gijsen Frank J.H.
Published: June 2021

Background and Purpose:

Mechanical properties of thromboemboli play an important role in the efficacy of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke. However, very limited data on mechanical properties of human stroke thrombi are available. We aimed to mechanically characterize thrombi retrieved with EVT, and to assess the relationship between thrombus composition and thrombus stiffness.

Methods:

Forty-one thrombi from 19 patients with acute stroke who underwent EVT between July and October 2019 were mechanically analyzed, directly after EVT. We performed unconfined compression experiments and determined tangent modulus at 75% strain (E
t75
) as a measure for thrombus stiffness. Thrombi were histologically analyzed for fibrin/platelets, erythrocytes, leukocytes, and platelets, and we assessed the relationship between histological components and E
t75
with univariable and multivariable linear mixed regression.

Results:

Median E
t75
was 560 (interquartile range, 393–1161) kPa. In the multivariable analysis, fibrin/platelets were associated with increased E
t75
(aβ, 9 [95% CI, 5 to 13]) kPa, erythrocytes were associated with decreased E
t75%
(aβ, −9 [95% CI, −5 to −13]) kPa. We found no association between leukocytes and E
t75
. High platelet values were strongly associated with increased E
t75
(aβ, 56 [95% CI, 38–73]).

Conclusions:

Fibrin/platelet content of thrombi retrieved with EVT for acute ischemic stroke is strongly associated with increased thrombus stiffness. For thrombi with high platelet values, there was a very strong relationship with thrombus stiffness. Our data provide a basis for future research on the development of next-generation EVT devices tailored to thrombus composition.
Adaptive foraging strategy of an insular snake (Lycodon semicarinatus, Colubridae) feeding on patchily distributed nests of sea turtles
Authors: Matsumoto Kazumasa , Mori Akira
Published: June 2021

Foraging tactics of predators generally include two major modes, active searching and ambushing. A colubrid snake, Lycodon semicarinatus, is a typical example of a predator, which uses both tactics to forage on sea turtles on islands of the Kerama Group in the Central Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. To investigate factors that determine the foraging mode of this snake, we conducted a four-year field survey on its foraging behaviour on sea turtles on another island, Okinawa Island. We found that the snake performs only active searching at our study site. Snakes visited a small area exactly above the nest of sea turtles and attempted to burrow a tunnel to feed on eggs and hatchlings in the sand. Tunnels leading from the surface of the beach to the inside of the nest were formed only by large snakes. Many other snakes used the already made tunnels to capture eggs and hatchlings in the nest. When the snakes caught a hatchling, they brought the hatchling away into the nearby bush area without swallowing it above the nest (taking-away behaviour). When snakes failed to find food on a nest, they terminated the intensive search above the nest in approximately 5 minutes irrespective of snake body size, season, and the condition of the nest. Subsequently, they left the nest and resumed extensive searching for other nests. Our findings showed that L. semicarinatus has a different foraging strategy depending on populations. Two environmental traits, diversity of available prey animals other than sea turtles and characteristics of sand that beaches consist of, were considered as factors that might cause the difference in the foraging strategy. The fine sand of our study site enables snakes to form a sturdy tunnel in nests. We presume that such an environment facilitates the use of active searching by the snakes to find the nest with tunnels suitable for exploitation. The taking-away behaviour may be effective to reduce excessive contact with other conspecifics under the situation that the nest with tunnels attracts many visitors. Furthermore, the observation that the snake left the nest site after a consistent duration of unprofitable searching supports the giving-up time rule, which has been predicted by a theoretical model concerning the optimal time for predators to leave a patch.
Maritime Autonomous Vehicles and Drug Trafficking by Sea: Some Legal Issues
Authors: McLaughlin Rob , Klein Natalie
Published: June 2021

Among the new technologies being deployed at sea, maritime autonomous vehicles (MAV) are of increasing interest to States to enhance their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to improve their maritime security. This article analyses the international law implications of this use of MAV to support maritime law enforcement efforts in response to drug trafficking and other crimes at sea. The use of MAV for criminal purposes, especially smuggling goods, also holds international law consequences. The article assesses how these different operations of MAV fit within existing legal regimes, highlighting emerging legal questions for resolution and setting out recommendations for law reform to enhance counter-smuggling operations at sea.