bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Early predictors of disability of paediatric-onset AQP4-IgG-seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders
Authors: Camera Valentina , Messina Silvia , Elhadd Kariem Tarek , Sanpera-Iglesias Julia , Mariano Romina , Hacohen Yael , Dobson Ruth , Meletti Stefano , Wassmer Evangeline , Lim Ming J , Huda Saif , Hemingway Cheryl , Leite Maria Isabel , Ramdas Sithara , Palace Jacqueline
Published: September 2021

Objective

To describe onset clinical features predicting time to first relapse and time to long-term visual, motor and cognitive disabilities in paediatric-onset aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-IgG) neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs).

Methods

In this retrospective UK multicentre cohort study, we recorded clinical data of paediatric-onset AQP4-IgG NMOSD. Univariate and exploratory multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify long-term predictors of permanent visual disability, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 4 and cognitive impairment.

Results

We included 49 paediatric-onset AQP4-IgG patients (38.8% white, 34.7% black, 20.4% Asians and 6.1% mixed), mean onset age of 12±4.1 years, and 87.7% were female. Multifocal onset presentation occurred in 26.5% of patients, and optic nerve (47%), area postrema/brainstem (48.9%) and encephalon (28.6%) were the most involved areas. Overall, 52.3% of children had their first relapse within 1 year from disease onset. Children with onset age <12 years were more likely to have an earlier first relapse (p=0.030), despite showing no difference in time to immunosuppression compared with those aged 12–18 years at onset. At the cohort median disease duration of 79 months, 34.3% had developed permanent visual disability, 20.7% EDSS score 4 and 25.8% cognitive impairment. Visual disability was associated with white race (p=0.032) and optic neuritis presentations (p=0.002). Cognitive impairment was predicted by cerebral syndrome presentations (p=0.048), particularly if resistant to steroids (p=0.034).

Conclusions

Age at onset, race, onset symptoms and resistance to acute therapy at onset attack predict first relapse and long-term disabilities. The recognition of these predictors may help to power future paediatric clinical trials and to direct early therapeutic decisions in AQP4-IgG NMOSD.
Anxiety and depression symptoms after COVID-19 infection: results from the COVID Symptom Study app
Authors: Klaser Kerstin , Thompson Ellen J , Nguyen Long H , Sudre Carole H , Antonelli Michela , Murray Benjamin , Canas Liane S , Molteni Erika , Graham Mark S , Kerfoot Eric , Chen Liyuan , Deng Jie , May Anna , Hu Christina , Guest Andy , Selvachandran Somesh , Drew David A , Modat Marc , Chan Andrew T , Wolf Jonathan , Spector Tim D , Hammers Alexander , Duncan Emma L , Ourselin Sebastien , Steves Claire J
Published: September 2021

Background

Mental health issues have been reported after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, comparison to prevalence in uninfected individuals and contribution from common risk factors (eg, obesity and comorbidities) have not been examined. We identified how COVID-19 relates to mental health in the large community-based COVID Symptom Study.

Methods

We assessed anxiety and depression symptoms using two validated questionnaires in 413148 individuals between February and April 2021; 26998 had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. We adjusted for physical and mental prepandemic comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), age and sex.

Findings

Overall, 26.4% of participants met screening criteria for general anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression were slightly more prevalent in previously SARS-CoV-2-positive (30.4%) vs SARS-CoV-2-negative (26.1%) individuals. This association was small compared with the effect of an unhealthy BMI and the presence of other comorbidities, and not evident in younger participants (≤40 years). Findings were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses. Association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression was stronger in individuals with recent (<30 days) versus more distant (>120 days) infection, suggesting a short-term effect.

Interpretation

A small association was identified between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression symptoms. The proportion meeting criteria for self-reported anxiety and depression disorders is only slightly higher than prepandemic.
Smoking and COVID-19 outcomes: an observational and Mendelian randomisation study using the UK Biobank cohort
Authors: Clift Ashley K , von Ende Adam , Tan Pui San , Sallis Hannah M , Lindson Nicola , Coupland Carol A C , Munafò Marcus R , Aveyard Paul , Hippisley-Cox Julia , Hopewell Jemma C
Published: September 2021

Background

Conflicting evidence has emerged regarding the relevance of smoking on risk of COVID-19 and its severity.

Methods

We undertook large-scale observational and Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses using UK Biobank. Most recent smoking status was determined from primary care records (70.8%) and UK Biobank questionnaire data (29.2%). COVID-19 outcomes were derived from Public Health England SARS-CoV-2 testing data, hospital admissions data, and death certificates (until 18 August 2020). Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between smoking status and confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19-related hospitalisation, and COVID-19-related death. Inverse variance-weighted MR analyses using established genetic instruments for smoking initiation and smoking heaviness were undertaken (reported per SD increase).

Results

There were 421 469 eligible participants, 1649 confirmed infections, 968 COVID-19-related hospitalisations and 444 COVID-19-related deaths. Compared with never-smokers, current smokers had higher risks of hospitalisation (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.26 to 2.29) and mortality (smoking 1–9/day: OR 2.14, 95% CI 0.87 to 5.24; 10–19/day: OR 5.91, 95% CI 3.66 to 9.54; 20+/day: OR 6.11, 95% CI 3.59 to 10.42). In MR analyses of 281 105 White British participants, genetically predicted propensity to initiate smoking was associated with higher risks of infection (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.91) and hospitalisation (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.27). Genetically predicted higher number of cigarettes smoked per day was associated with higher risks of all outcomes (infection OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.20 to 5.24; hospitalisation OR 5.08, 95% CI 2.04 to 12.66; and death OR 10.02, 95% CI 2.53 to 39.72).

Interpretation

Congruent results from two analytical approaches support a causal effect of smoking on risk of severe COVID-19.
New record of Golovinomyces ambrosiae on Solanum azureum (Solanaceae) in Mexico
Authors: Félix-Gastélum Rubén , Leyva-Madrigal Karla Yeriana , Quiroz-Figueroa Francisco Roberto , Mora-Carlón Bertha Alicia , Mora-Romero Guadalupe Arlene
Published: September 2021

We report the powdery mildew Golovinomyces ambrosiae (Schwein.) U. Braun & R.T.A. Cook for the first time on silverleaf nightshade (Solanum azureum Fernald), a host plant endemic to northern Sinaloa and southern Sonora, Mexico. No teleomorph was observed, requiring the fungal species to be identified based on morphological characteristics of the anamorph. Phylogenetic analyses of the ITS region and the partial sequence of the β-tubulin gene from four specimens confirmed the identity of the species. To our knowledge, this is the first report of G. ambrosiae on S. azureum in Mexico and worldwide.
A Research Journey from National Systems of Innovation to National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Introducing the Sextuple Helix
Authors: López-Rubio Pedro , Roig-Tierno Norat , Mas-Tur Alicia
Published: September 2021

National systems of innovation (NSI) have attracted substantial interest from public administrations, the scientific community and international organizations. Innovation is a key factor for countries to be competitive in the today’s global economy. Entrepreneurship is an innovation source that has gained importance in NSI research over the last few decades. This focus on entrepreneurship in the context of NSI has led scholars to propose novel concepts such as entrepreneurial ecosystems and the national system of entrepreneurship (NSE). This paper uses bibliometric methods and the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC) database to explore how entrepreneurship fits into NSI research and to study the increasing importance of entrepreneurship within this research field. The NSI conceptual framework is developed according to the most common keywords, and the most influential NSI studies are identified using the total number of citations and the ratio number of citations per year. Two sets of studies are analyzed: (1) older documents on traditional topics such as the origins and evolution of NSIs, the capacity of countries to innovate, and the relationships of institutions, different organizational forms, networking, production and competence building with innovation and (2) newer entrepreneurship research documents. Based on analysis of the most common keywords, the most influential studies and multiple entrepreneurship approaches, we propose a Sextuple Helix model as an analytical framework that brings together innovation and entrepreneurship.
IBRDM: An Intelligent Framework for Brain Tumor Classification Using Radiomics- and DWT-based Fusion of MRI Sequences
Authors: Kumar Rahul , Gupta Ankur , Arora Harkirat Singh , Raman Balasubramanian
Published: September 2021

Brain tumors are one of the critical malignant neurological cancers with the highest number of deaths and injuries worldwide. They are categorized into two major classes, high-grade glioma (HGG) and low-grade glioma (LGG), with HGG being more aggressive and malignant, whereas LGG tumors are less aggressive, but if left untreated, they get converted to HGG. Thus, the classification of brain tumors into the corresponding grade is a crucial task, especially for making decisions related to treatment. Motivated by the importance of such critical threats to humans, we propose a novel framework for brain tumor classification using discrete wavelet transform-based fusion of MRI sequences and Radiomics feature extraction. We utilized the Brain Tumor Segmentation 2018 challenge training dataset for the performance evaluation of our approach, and we extract features from three regions of interest derived using a combination of several tumor regions. We used wrapper method-based feature selection techniques for selecting a significant set of features and utilize various machine learning classifiers, Random Forest, Decision Tree, and Extra Randomized Tree for training the model. For proper validation of our approach, we adopt the five-fold cross-validation technique. We achieved state-of-the-art performance considering several performance metrics, 〈Acc,Sens,Spec,F1-score,MCC,AUC〉 ≡ 〈 98.60%, 99.05%, 97.33%, 99.05%, 96.42%, 98.19% 〉, whereAcc,Sens,Spec,F1-score,MCC, andAUCrepresents the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F1-score, Matthews correlation coefficient, and area-under-the-curve, respectively. We believe our proposed approach will play a crucial role in the planning of clinical treatment and guidelines before surgery.
Multi-criteria Web Services Selection: Balancing the Quality of Design and Quality of Service
Authors: Daaji Marwa , Ouni Ali , Gammoudi Mohamed Mohsen , Bouktif Salah , Mkaouer Mohamed Wiem
Published: September 2021

Web service composition allows developers to create applications via reusing available services that are interoperable to each other. The process of selecting relevant Web services for a composite service satisfying the developer requirements is commonly acknowledged to be hard and challenging, especially with the exponentially increasing number of available Web services on the Internet. The majority of existing approaches on Web Services Selection are merely based on the Quality of Service (QoS) as a basic criterion to guide the selection process. However, existing approaches tend to ignore the service design quality, which plays a crucial role in discovering, understanding, and reusing service functionalities. Indeed, poorly designed Web service interfaces result in service anti-patterns, which are symptoms of bad design and implementation practices. The existence of anti-pattern instances in Web service interfaces typically complicates their reuse in real-world service-based systems and may lead to several maintenance and evolution problems. To address this issue, we introduce a new approach based on the Multi-Objective and Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis method (MOORA) as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method to select Web services based on a combination of their (1) QoS attributes and (2) QoS design. The proposed approach aims to help developers to maintain the soundness and quality of their service composite development processes. We conduct a quantitative and qualitative empirical study to evaluate our approach on a Quality of Web Service dataset. We compare our MOORA-based approach against four commonly used MCDM methods as well as a recent state-of-the-art Web service selection approach. The obtained results show that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art approaches by significantly improving the service selection quality of top-
k
selected services while providing the best trade-off between both service design quality and desired QoS values. Furthermore, we conducted a qualitative evaluation with developers. The obtained results provide evidence that our approach generates a good trade-off for what developers need regarding both QoS and quality of design. Our selection approach was evaluated as “relevant” from developers point of view, in improving the service selection task with an average score of 3.93, compared to an average of 2.62 for the traditional QoS-based approach.
Corrigendum: Remark on Algorithm 723: Fresnel Integrals
Authors: Van Snyder W.
Published: September 2021

There are mistakes and typographical errors in
Remark on Algorithm 723: Fresnel Integrals
, which appeared in ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software 22, 4 (December 1996). This remark corrects those errors. The software provided to
Collected Algorithms of the ACM
was correct.
Exactly Computing the Tail of the Poisson-Binomial Distribution
Authors: Peres Noah , Lee Andrew Ray , Keich Uri
Published: September 2021

We present ShiftConvolvePoibin, a fast exact method to compute the tail of a Poisson-binomial distribution (PBD). Our method employs an exponential shift to retain its accuracy when computing a tail probability, and in practice we find that it is immune to the significant relative errors that other methods, exact or approximate, can suffer from when computing very small tail probabilities of the PBD. The accompanying R package is also competitive with the fastest implementations for computing the entire PBD.
SkinnerDB: Regret-bounded Query Evaluation via Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Trummer Immanuel , Wang Junxiong , Wei Ziyun , Maram Deepak , Moseley Samuel , Jo Saehan , Antonakakis Joseph , Rayabhari Ankush
Published: September 2021

SkinnerDB uses reinforcement learning for reliable join ordering, exploiting an adaptive processing engine with specialized join algorithms and data structures. It maintains no data statistics and uses no cost or cardinality models. Also, it uses no training workloads nor does it try to link the current query to seemingly similar queries in the past. Instead, it uses reinforcement learning to learn optimal join orders from scratch during the execution of the current query. To that purpose, it divides the execution of a query into many small time slices. Different join orders are tried in different time slices. SkinnerDB merges result tuples generated according to different join orders until a complete query result is obtained. By measuring execution progress per time slice, it identifies promising join orders as execution proceeds.

Along with SkinnerDB, we introduce a new quality criterion for query execution strategies. We upper-bound expected execution cost regret, i.e., the expected amount of execution cost wasted due to sub-optimal join order choices. SkinnerDB features multiple execution strategies that are optimized for that criterion. Some of them can be executed on top of existing database systems. For maximal performance, we introduce a customized execution engine, facilitating fast join order switching via specialized multi-way join algorithms and tuple representations.

We experimentally compare SkinnerDB’s performance against various baselines, including MonetDB, Postgres, and adaptive processing methods. We consider various benchmarks, including the join order benchmark, TPC-H, and JCC-H, as well as benchmark variants with user-defined functions. Overall, the overheads of reliable join ordering are negligible compared to the performance impact of the occasional, catastrophic join order choice.
Irksome: Automating Runge–Kutta Time-stepping for Finite Element Methods
Authors: Farrell Patrick E. , Kirby Robert C. , Marchena-Menéndez Jorge
Published: September 2021

While implicit Runge–Kutta (RK) methods possess high order accuracy and important stability properties, implementation difficulties and the high expense of solving the coupled algebraic system at each time step are frequently cited as impediments. We present
Irksome
, a high-level library for manipulating UFL (Unified Form Language) expressions of semidiscrete variational forms to obtain UFL expressions for the coupled Runge–Kutta stage equations at each time step.
Irksome
works with the Firedrake package to enable the efficient solution of the resulting coupled algebraic systems. Numerical examples confirm the efficacy of the software and our solver techniques for various problems.
Multi-Graph Heterogeneous Interaction Fusion for Social Recommendation
Authors: Zhang Chengyuan , Wang Yang , Zhu Lei , Song Jiayu , Yin Hongzhi
Published: September 2021

With the rapid development of online social recommendation system, substantial methods have been proposed. Unlike traditional recommendation system, social recommendation performs by integrating social relationship features, where there are two major challenges, i.e., early summarization and data sparsity. Thus far, they have not been solved effectively. In this article, we propose a novel social recommendation approach, namely Multi-Graph Heterogeneous Interaction Fusion (MG-HIF), to solve these two problems. Our basic idea is to fuse heterogeneous interaction features from multi-graphs, i.e., user–item bipartite graph and social relation network, to improve the vertex representation learning. A meta-path cross-fusion model is proposed to fuse multi-hop heterogeneous interaction features via discrete cross-correlations. Based on that, a social relation GAN is developed to explore latent friendships of each user. We further fuse representations from two graphs by a novel multi-graph information fusion strategy with attention mechanism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to combine meta-path with social relation representation. To evaluate the performance of MG-HIF, we compare MG-HIF with seven states of the art over four benchmark datasets. The experimental results show that MG-HIF achieves better performance.
Student Interactions in an Introductory Activity of an Online Course by Ethnicity and Gender
Authors: Ernstberger Jon , Fetner Justin , Gutowski Kyle , Riley Patrick J. , Stavrow Nick
Published: September 2021

In an online, general education course, for a course grade, students were to submit video posts to an introductory course activity. Student responses (by text) were also required for that activity. Initial posts and responses were cataloged by race and gender across multiple sections of the course through multiple semesters and years. Statistical tests were performed to analyze mean numbers of responses and determined that evidence supported that different numbers of responses occurred depending on the race or gender of the original poster, but not both the race and the gender.
Precision Medicine Approaches for Infantile-Onset Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies
Authors: Myers Kenneth A. , Scheffer Ingrid E.
Published: September 2021

Epilepsy is an etiologically heterogeneous condition; however, genetic factors are thought to play a role in most patients. For those with infantile-onset developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE), a genetic diagnosis is now obtained in more than 50% of patients. There is considerable motivation to utilize these molecular diagnostic data to help guide treatment, as children with DEEs often have drug-resistant seizures as well as developmental impairment related to cerebral epileptiform activity. Precision medicine approaches have the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for these children and their families. At present, treatment can be targeted for patients with diagnoses in many genetic causes of infantile-onset DEE, including genes encoding sodium or potassium channel subunits, tuberous sclerosis, and congenital metabolic diseases. Precision medicine may refer to more intelligent choices of conventional antiseizure medications, repurposed agents previously used for other indications, novel compounds, enzyme replacement, or gene therapy approaches.
On Credit Risk Contagion of Supply Chain Finance under COVID-19
Authors: Chen Wentao , Li Zhenlin , Xiao Zhuoxin
Published: September 2021

Existing research on credit risk contagion of supply chain finance pays more attention to the influence of network internal structure on the process of risk contagion. The spread of COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the supply chain, with a large number of enterprises experiencing difficulties in operation, resulting in increased credit risks in supply chain finance. Under the impact of the epidemic, this paper explores the transmission speed and steady state of credit risk when the supply chain finance network is affected by external impact so that we can have a more complete understanding of the ability of supply chain finance to resist risks. The simulation results show that external shocks of different degrees will increase the number of initial infected enterprises and lead to the increase in credit risk contagion speed but have no significant impact on network steady state; the speed of credit risk contagion is positively correlated with network complexity but not significantly affected by network size; core enterprises infected will increase the rate of credit risk contagion. The intensity of policy intervention has obvious curative effect on the risk caused by external shock. When the supply chain financial network is affected by external shocks, the intensity, time, and pertinence of policy response can effectively prevent the credit risk contagion.
Predictive Model of Air Transportation Management Based on Intelligent Algorithms of Wireless Network Communication
Authors: La Jiezhuoma , Bil Cees , Heiets Iryna , Lau Ken Anon
Published: September 2021

Due to the numerous factors that affect the air passenger traffic in the air transportation market and the randomness of various factors, in addition, the relationship between it and the air passenger traffic is very complicated, so the air passenger traffic forecast in the air transportation market has always been difficult to solve problem. This research mainly discusses the prediction model of air transportation management based on the intelligent algorithm of wireless network communication. This article uses the wireless network communication intelligent algorithm, comprehensively considers the influence of the GDP growth rate, population growth rate, total import and export volume, and other factors on the air transportation market, and draws a relatively complete forecasting model of aviation business volume. In this paper, we use an equal‐weight method, linear combination model method, and Bayesian combination model method when selecting the combination forecasting method (these three methods). Because of the parallelism, robustness, nonlinearity, and other characteristics of the Bayesian network method, it adapts to the complex and highly nonlinear characteristics between air passenger traffic and its influencing factors. In the comprehensive prediction of the single model, the different information contained in the single model is used to achieve different combined prediction effects. The economic information and forecasting angle of the system can reduce systematic forecasting errors and optimize the prognostic results, which can make us more intuitively understand the difference of forecasting results brought by different combination forecasting methods. The Theil inequality coefficient of the ARIMA model is 0.004874, and the average absolute percentage error is 0.005914. This research will play a certain guiding role in the development of China’s civil aviation industry.
A Compact Wideband Circularly Polarized Microstrip Slot Antenna with Parasitic Elements
Authors: Xia Chenhui , Diao Shuo , Yin Wenting , Huang Zhifang , Wang Lei , Lei Dengyun
Published: September 2021

A compact wideband circularly polarized (CP) microstrip slot antenna (MSA) with parasitic elements is designed in this letter. The CP MSA comprises a square-loop sequential-phase (SP) feeding configuration, four rotated rectangular patches, and four L-shaped slots embedded in the ground plane. The square-loop SP feeding structure comprises a square loop and an arc-shaped strip, which could provide a 270° phase difference. Four rotated rectangular patches are placed at the edge of the square-loop feeding configuration using a capacitively tightly coupled feeding method to stimulate the CP resonant mode. After selecting these elements and tuning proper dimensions, the broad operating bandwidths of 4.38–5.25 GHz (18%) for |S11| <–10 dB and 4.65–5.31 GHz (13.2%) for AR <3 dB could be realized. Hence, the designed CP MSA has a potential application value in wireless communication.
Image Hashing Algorithm Based on Mirror Flipping and a Three‐Dimensional Space Angle
Authors: Zhao Yan , Liu Shuai
Published: September 2021

In order to make full use of image flipping information to get comprehensive image features and improve the distinguishing performance of hash algorithm, this paper proposes a new image hashing algorithm based on mirror flipping and a three‐dimensional space angle. Firstly, the original image is preprocessed and then combined with mirror flipping image to obtain the new luminance component and opposite color components. Then, we combine new luminance component with the different sizes of structural elements to construct morphological features. The new opposite color components are used to construct a three‐dimensional space. The angle between vectors formed by the pixels in the three‐dimensional space is computed to construct the space angle features. Finally, the morphological features and space angle features are combined and disturbed to form the final hash sequence. Simulation results show that the algorithm has good security and tamper image recognition accuracy. Compared with some existing algorithms, it has better image classification performance and shorter computation time.
Exploiting Chirp Rate Estimation Methods to Improve Image Formation Quality of Synthetic Aperture Radar
Authors: Rabiee N. , Azad H. , Parhizgar N.
Published: September 2021

A common assumption in SAR image formation and processing algorithms is that the chirp rates of the transmitted and received radar signals are exactly the same. Dechirp processing is also done based on this common assumption. In real scenarios, the chirp rate of the received signal is different from that of the transmitted signal due to several reasons. In case the difference between the chirp rates of the transmitted and received signals is obvious, the demodulation and compression of the received pulse are not carried out precisely and defocusing the targets and the output images of the SAR processor results. In the present paper, a new technique is proposed to improve the image formation quality of SAR by exploiting chirp rate estimation methods. Based on the proposed technique, the chirp rate of the received signal is estimated, and then, dechirp is carried out by using a time-reversed complex conjugate filter constructed based on the estimated chirp rate. In this stage, the existing chirp rate estimation algorithms can be used. The quality of the output image is assessed using PSLR as a quantitative criterion and the average number of point target extension pixels along the azimuth direction. Simulation results indicated that the smaller the average number of point target extension pixels along with azimuth and the higher the PSLR average is, the better the output image quality would be. Therefore, output images obtained from the proposed method by exploiting chirp rate estimation algorithms would have a better quality with a higher PSLR average (14.1 and 13.6) and also the lower average number of point target extension pixels along the azimuth directions (2.1 and 4.9) than the common method with PSLR average (8.3) and an average number of point target extension pixels along the azimuth direction (7.1).
Failure to Thrive Revealing a Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma: An Uncommon Case Report with Literature Review
Authors: Benyakhlef Salma , Tahri Abir , Khlifi Asmaa , Abdelouahab Hajar , Imane Kamaoui , Moufid Fayçal , Rouf Siham , Latrech Hanane
Published: September 2021

Pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PMA) is a freshly described figure of low-grade neoplasms encountered in early childhood. Nevertheless, its precise classification by the World Health Organization (WHO) is still debatable. Making an exact diagnosis relies on histological and immunohistochemical pathognomonic features with specific radiological findings. PMA behaves aggressively with a shorter progression-free survival, and its management is unfortunately still arguable. We describe a rare case of PMA involving the suprasellar region who displays symptoms consistent with diencephalic syndrome. The diagnosis was made by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) focused on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and the patient underwent a subtotal tumor resection combined with chemotherapy. Diagnosis of brain tumors should be kept in mind in young children with generalized and severe unexplained loss of subcutaneous fat with failure to thrive after ruling out classical causes.
The Role of Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Balance in Pregnancy
Authors: Hussain Tarique , Murtaza Ghulam , Metwally Elsayed , Kalhoro Dildar Hussain , Kalhoro Muhammad Saleem , Rahu Baban Ali , Sahito Raja Ghazanfar Ali , Yin Yulong , Yang Huansheng , Chughtai Muhammad Ismail , Tan Bie
Published: September 2021

It has been widely known that oxidative stress disrupts the balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the antioxidant system in the body. During pregnancy, the physiological generation of ROS is involved in a variety of developmental processes ranging from oocyte maturation to luteolysis and embryo implantation. While abnormal overproduction of ROS disrupts these processes resulting in reproductive failure. In addition, excessive oxidative stress impairs maternal and placental functions and eventually results in fetal loss, IUGR, and gestational diabetes mellitus. Although some oxidative stress is inevitable during pregnancy, a balancing act between oxidant and antioxidant production is necessary at different stages of the pregnancy. The review aims to highlight the importance of maintaining oxidative and antioxidant balance throughout pregnancy. Furthermore, we highlight the role of oxidative stress in pregnancy-related diseases.
Food‐Origin Mycotoxin‐Induced Neurotoxicity: Intend to Break the Rules of Neuroglia Cells
Authors: Pei Xingyao , Zhang Wenjuan , Jiang Haiyang , Liu Dingkuo , Liu Xinyu , Li Liuan , Li Cun , Xiao Xilong , Tang Shusheng , Li Daowen
Published: September 2021

Mycotoxins are key risk factors in human food and animal feed. Most of food‐origin mycotoxins could easily enter the organism and evoke systemic toxic effects, such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), T‐2 toxin, deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisin B1 (FB1), and 3‐nitropropionic acid (3‐NPA). For the last decade, the researches have provided much evidences in vivo and in vitro that the brain is an important target organ on mycotoxin‐mediated neurotoxic phenomenon and neurodegenerative diseases. As is known to all, glial cells are the best regulator and defender of neurons, and a few evaluations about the effects of mycotoxins on glial cells such as astrocytes or microglia have been conducted. The fact that mycotoxin contamination may be a key factor in neurotoxicity and glial dysfunction is exactly the reason why we reviewed the activation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function changes of glial cells under mycotoxin infection and summarized the mycotoxin‐mediated glial cell proliferation disorders, death pathways, and inflammatory responses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze various pathways in which common food‐derived mycotoxins can induce glial toxicity and provide a novel perspective for future research on the neurodegenerative diseases.
The Effects of Cytokine Polymorphisms on Predisposition to Microvascular Complications of Diabetes Mellitus: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Shen Feng , Liu Dan
Published: September 2021

Background: It is plausible that gene polymorphisms in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-18 may affect predisposition to microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), but the results of the so far published studies remain controversial. Objectives: We conducted this meta-analysis to clarify relationships between TNF-α/IL-1/IL-4/IL-8/IL-18 polymorphisms and predisposition to microvascular complications of DM by pooling the findings of eligible studies. Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CNKI was endorsed by us to identify already published studies. Forty-nine studies were found to be eligible for the meta-analyses. Results: The pooled meta-analyses results showed that genotypic frequencies of TNF-α −238 G/A, TNF-α −308 G/A, TNF-α −1,031 T/C, IL-1A −889 C/T, IL-1B −511 C/T, IL-6 −572 G/C, and IL-18 −137 G/C polymorphisms among patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and controls differed significantly. Moreover, genotypic frequencies of TNF-α −238 G/A and IL-8 −251 A/T polymorphisms among patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and controls also differed significantly. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggested that TNF-α −238 G/A, TNF-α −308 G/A, TNF-α −1,031 T/C, IL-1A −889 C/T, IL-1B −511 C/T, IL-6 −572 G/C, and IL-18 −137 G/C polymorphisms may affect predisposition of DN. Moreover, TNF-α −238 G/A and IL-8 −251 A/T polymorphisms may affect predisposition of DR.
Spinal Cord Ischemia Secondary to Aortic Dissection: Case Report with Literature Review for Different Clinical Presentations, Risk Factors, Radiological Findings, Therapeutic Modalities, and Outcome
Authors: Elshony Hosna , Idris Abdelrahman , Ahmed Alaa , Almaghrabi Murouj , Ahmed Walaa , Fallatah Shouq
Published: September 2021

Aortic dissection (AD) is a serious condition that causes transient or permanent neurological problems that include spinal cord ischemia (SCI), which occurs when AD extends into the descending aorta resulting in insufficient perfusion of segmental arteries that supplies the spinal cord. We report a 64-year-old male, presented with severe back pain, asymmetrical paresthesia, and weakness of both limbs, more in the left lower limb with loss of pinprick, temperature, and fine touch sensation on the lower left lower limb below the level of T5 with preserved proprioception and vibration and urine hesitancy. Computed tomography showed AD, Stanford type A, and spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed hyperintense owl’s eye sign at T5. The patient was diagnosed as anterior spinal artery syndrome secondary to an AD and referred for aortic surgical repair with good functional outcome. In our review to cases of SCI due to AD, it was more common in males above 55 years, pain only found in 47.8% of patients, with anterior cord syndrome on top of the clinical presentations, and hypertension is the most common risk factor. MRI spine showed thoracic location predominance. Surgical or endovascular repair especially for type A and complicated type B should be considered to avoid complications, and cerebrospinal fluid drainage is a very useful tool in reversing SCI specially if done early with favorable outcome. Only the old age is associated with increased risk of mortality. Early diagnosis and appropriate management are crucial for better outcome.
Tempos de paz e guerra em Dili, capital do Timor português, no romance requiem para o navegador solitário (2007), de Luís Cardoso
Authors: Rocha Denise
Published: September 2021

O objetivo desse estudo é analisar as memórias da chinesa Catarina no romance Requiem para o navegador solitário (2005), do timorense Luís Cardoso, que refletem as distintas imagens de Díli, a capital multiétnica, multicultural e multilinguística do Timor Português, desde o final dos anos 1930 até 1945, no final da Segunda Guerra Mundial. As agridoces percepções e inusitadas atitudes da protagonista-narradora, a adolescente estrangeira proveniente da Batávia, que, sozinha, chegou em Dili, para se casar com o capitão do porto, Alberto, resultam de suas extremas vivências com portugueses, estrangeiros, mestiços e nativos. O entrelaçamento experiencial da pessoa (Catarina) imersa na geografia (Dili) será estudado, conforme as reflexões sobre o espaço físico, psicológico e social (Reis e Lopes; e Bachelard) e a teoria do espaço geográfico-cultural (Tuan), na colônia lusa no Pacífico Sul, em época de paz e guerra.
O Índico, uma promessa de horizonte - Entrevista com João Paulo Borges Coelho
Authors: Zanfelice Gabriela Beduschi , Brugioni Elena
Published: September 2021

João Paulo Borges Coelho é professor, historiador e escritor moçambicano de grande destaque no âmbito das Literaturas Africanas em língua portuguesa. A seguinte entrevista a João Paulo Borges Coelho foi realizada em Oxford, em novembro de 2019, e posteriormente revista e editada em colaboração com Elena Brugioni. Motivada pelos objetivos de propor o Oceano Índico e a Literatura-Mundial como possíveis paradigmas críticos para o estudo das Literaturas Africanas e de analisar os contos de Índicos Indícios (Borges Coelho, 2005) como narrativas emblemáticas de imaginários transnacionais da contemporaneidade moçambicana, a entrevista aborda, entre outras, questões referentes às relações entre literatura e crítica literária, África e o mar, Moçambique e o Índico, bem como algumas reflexões do autor sobre narrativas históricas.
Caminhos possíveis na pesquisa em língua portuguesa e suas literaturas
Authors: Elgebaly Maged Talaat Mohamed Ahmed
Published: September 2021

Neste artigo, busca-se revisar os possíveis caminhos na pesquisa luso-brasileira em língua portuguesa e suas literaturas entre os anos de 1970 até o ano de 2020. Partimos nesse recorte da nossa experiência no ensino e na pesquisa em língua portuguesa no contexto egípcio, ressaltando os sentidos linguístico, literário, tradutório, turístico e educativo da linguagem humana em três eixos: o significar, o comunicar e o interagir. A complexidade dessas experiências em língua portuguesa ganha relevância por meio da interdisciplinaridade e da interculturalidade, proporcionando um diálogo entre os diversos grupos culturais que se encontram nessa língua, sejam nos estudos e pesquisas do campo ou no aprendizado da língua.
Clinical characteristics of spinning-induced rhabdomyolysis and other causes of rhabdomyolysis: a comparative study
Authors: Shroff Kashyap , Gunasegaren Moganapriya d/o , Norbu Kunzang , Omar Eunizar
Published: September 2021

Introduction:

Spinning is an indoor stationary cycling programme that can cause severe rhabdomyolysis. We compared the clinical characteristics of spinning-induced exertional rhabdomyolysis (SER) with other exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER) and non-exertional rhabdomyolysis (NER).

Methods:

This was a retrospective observational study of adult patients presenting with rhabdomyolysis to an emergency department from August 2018 to August 2019. Patients were classified as SER, ER or NER based on chart review. We compared patient demographics, serum creatine kinase (CK), transaminase and creatinine levels, admission rates, duration of hospitalisation and treatment prescribed.

Results:

62 patients were analysed. SER patients were predominantly female (77% vs. 24% vs. 26%, P < 0.01), Chinese (100% vs. 47% vs. 79%, P < 0.01) and younger (mean age 27.7 vs. 34.6 vs. 59.4 years, P < 0.01) than those with ER and NER. The SER group had the highest CK level (20,000 vs. 10,465 vs. 6,007 U/L, P < 0.01) but the lowest mean serum creatinine level (53.5 vs. 80.9 vs. 143.5 mmol/L, P < 0.01) compared to the ER and NER groups. Admission rates were the highest in SER patients (100% vs. 57% vs. 90%, P < 0.01). SER mean inpatient length of stay was longer than ER but shorter than NER patients (4.3 vs. 1.9 vs. 6.0 days, P = 0.02).

Conclusion:

SER is a unique form of rhabdomyolysis. Predominantly seen in young, healthy women, it often presents with extremely high CK levels. However, the prognosis is good and the rate of complication is low with fluid treatment.
Efficacy of SG Shield in reducing droplet contamination during collection of oropharyngeal swab culture specimens
Authors: Au-Yong Phui-Sze Angie , Chen Xuanxuan , Low Wen Hao , Chau Keen Chong , Fook-Chong Stephanie , Khan Shariq Ali
Published: September 2021

Introduction:

Oropharyngeal swabs for diagnosis of COVID-19 often induce violent coughing, which can disperse infectious droplets onto providers. Incorrectly doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) increases the risk of transmission. A cheap, single-use variation of the face shield invented by a Singaporean team, SG Shield, aims to reduce this risk. This manikin study aimed to study the efficacy of the SG Shield in combination with standard PPE.

Methods:

A person attired in full PPE whose face and chest was lined with grid paper stood in front of an airway manikin in an enclosed room. A small latex balloon containing ultraviolet fluorescent dye was placed in the oral cavity of the manikin and inflated until explosion to simulate a cough. Three study groups were tested: (a) control (no shield), (b) face shield and (c) SG Shield. The primary outcome was droplet dispersion, determined quantitatively by calculating the proportion of grid paper wall squares stained with fluorescent dye. The secondary outcome was the severity of provider contamination.

Results:

The SG Shield significantly reduced droplet dispersion to 0% compared to the controls (99.0%, P = 0.001). The face shield also significantly reduced droplet contamination but to a lesser extent (80.0%) compared to the control group (P = 0.001). Although the qualitative severity of droplet contamination was significantly lower in both groups compared to the controls, the face shield group had more contamination of the provider’s head and neck.

Conclusion:

The manikin study showed that the SG Shield significantly reduces droplet dispersion to the swab provider’s face and chest.
Chromatin characteristics of spermatogenesis in the spider crab Lissa chiragra (Fabricius, 1775) (Majoidea, Epialtidae)
Authors: Gaber Ibrahim , Al-Mahasneh Abdallah
Published: September 2021

This article uses the male spider crab Lissa chiragra, collected from Ras el Tin beach on the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt between January and December 2017, as a model to isolate the histone variants, H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 from spermatozoal nuclei to detect the presence of their genes and the chromatin-associated proteins. The spermatozoal chromatin in Brachyura is electron dense. During spermiogenesis somatic histones and sperm nuclear basic proteins (SNBP’s) are replaced partially or totally by protamines or keratin proteins, which are rich in arginine and oxidized cysteine. Histones, which are part of the nucleosome, are classified according to their functional and structural criteria into H2A, H2B, H3 and H4. Amino acids of the purified chromatin associated proteins are analysed with high resolution liquid chromatography. The low condensation of the nucleus of the spermatozoa is due to a low proportion and modification of the chromatin-associated histones. The DNA is organized into nucleosomes but not in higher order structures due to acetylation of histone H4, but rather via regions of histone-free DNA.
Asplenium quangbinhense sp. nov. and three new records of Asplenium (Aspleniaceae) from Vietnam
Authors: XU KE-WANG , LU NGAN THI , ZHOU XIN-MAO , ZHANG LIANG , ZHANG LI-BING
Published: September 2021

We describe a new species of Asplenium (Aspleniaceae) from Vietnam as A. quangbinhense. Morphologically, it is most similar to A. oldhamii. The new species is closely related to A. pseudopraemorsum, and a morphological comparison is presented between the two species. Three species, A. cyrtosorum, A. maguanense, and A. pseudopraemorsum, are reported as new records for Vietnam based on newly collected specimens from Quang Binh, Ha Giang, and Khanh Hoa provinces, Vietnam, respectively.
A nomenclatural note on the name Xiquexique frewenii (Cactaceae)
Authors: VERSIEUX LEONARDO M. , CALVENTE ALICE
Published: September 2021

N/A
An integrated taxonomic revision of Diplotrichus (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) supports a Malagasy origin and single colonisation of South Africa
Authors: JORDAL BJARTE H.
Published: September 2021

The Afrotropical genus Diplotrichus Jordal, 2021 is revised. Altogether 21 species are included in the genus, with 10 species described as new to science: Diplotrichus pilifrons Jordal, sp. nov., Diplotrichus medius Jordal, sp. nov., and Diplotrichus calvifrons Jordal, sp. nov. from South Africa, and Diplotrichus acutior Jordal, sp. nov., Diplotrichus falcatus Jordal, sp. nov., Diplotrichus pulchellus Jordal, sp. nov., Diplotrichus granulatus Jordal, sp. nov., Diplotrichus tuberculatus Jordal, sp. nov., Diplotrichus robustus Jordal, sp. nov., and Diplotrichus plenus Jordal, sp. nov., all from Madagascar. A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on five gene fragments (COI, EF-1a, CAD, PABP1, 28S) resulted in four major clades, with South African species nested within a grade of Malagasy species, supporting a more recent colonisation of the African mainland around the early Miocene.
Longitudinal gradient in the Camptocercus lilljeborgi Schoedler, 1862 species group (Cladocera: Anomopoda: Chydoridae)
Authors: SINEV ARTEM Y. , GAVRILKO DMITRIY E.
Published: September 2021

A detailed study of morphology of the rare phytophilous cladoceran Camptocercus lilljeborgi Schoedler, 1862 revealed that populations from Eastern Siberia and Far East of Russia belong to a new species. C. smirnovi sp. nov. differs from C. lilljeborgi in body shape, morphology of ventral margin of valves, morphology of postabdomen, and length of IDL seta 1 of the thoracic limb I. C. lilljeborgi s. str. is distributed in Europe and Western Siberia, therefore, the lilljeborgi-group provides an example of the western-eastern differentiation in Northern Eurasia. Some characters of taxa from the lilljeborgi-group are convergently similar to the characters of the species of genus Graptoleberis Sars, 1862; both groups are adapted to a snail-like crawling on the surface of water macrophytes.