bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Place Generator & Place Interpreter: A new methodology to understand regular mobility patterns
Authors: Calvo Benjamin Gramsch , Axhausen Kay W.
Published: March 2023

When observing the temporal trajectory of an individual, there is a high probability of visiting a known place; this is due to the central component of habit and routine in human mobility behavior. To understand those routine activities, we propose a new survey method: the Place Generator & the Place Interpreter, based on the name generator and name interpreter survey methodology for ego-centric social networks. In the survey, we asked the participants to name the locations they regularly visit for leisure, by category. This methodology captures the characteristics of the locations and the reasons to be chosen. We tested the methodology in the Zurich Metropolitan Area in Switzerland, focusing on urban leisure activities and the social environment of the locations. Hence, we ask the individuals to describe the reasons for choosing that specific location and the socio-demographic characteristics of the other visitors. This methodology worked well when compared with earlier long-duration GPS tracking surveys. Respondents report, on average, 9.85 locations for nine types of locations, mainly supermarkets and restaurants or cafes, and respondents can describe their similarities with other visitors to that location. The survey is complemented with a survey of sociodemographic characteristics and the respondent's ego-centric social network to get information on social connections and their impact on leisure activity.
The Role of Malnutrition on Outocomes of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Due to Covid-19 in Children
Authors: Soyer Tutku , Aykaç Kübra , Özer Gözde , Özsürekçi Yasemin , Özcan H , Yorganci Kaya , Abbasoglu Osman
Published: March 2023

Background
Malnutrition increases the complications and mortality in critically-ill children. A retrospective study was performed to define the role malnutrition on outcomes of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) due to COVID-19 in children.
Methods
Patients with MIS-C due to COVID-19 were evaluated for demographic features, anthropometric parameters, clinical findings and outcomes. Patients with z scores of body mass index (> 5 years-of-age) and weight-for-age (< 5 years-of-age) < -2 were considered as malnourished. Sarcopenia was defined by total psoas muscle area (tPMA), calculated on abdominal computed tomography (CT) at the level of L3 and L4 vertebrae. The z scores <- 2 for tPMA were considered as sarcopenia. The results of patients with (M+) and without (M-) were compared.
Results
Twenty-seven patients were included. Forty-four percent (n = 12) of patients had malnutrition. Malnutrition was classified as mild to moderate (1/3), severe (1/3) and overweight (1/3). Eighty-two cases had acute malnutrition. Among MIS-C symptom criteria, rash was significantly higher in M + children (p<0.05). Laboratory investigations showed higher ferritin levels in M + patients (p<0.05). The median tPMA and sarcopenia is significantly higher in M + when compared to M- group (42% vs 7%, p<0.05). The oral feeding time, complication rates and length of hospital stay were similar in both groups (p>0.05).
Conclusion
Children with MIS-C due to COVID-19 already have mild to severe malnutrition at admission. Rash and higher ferritin levels are more common in patients with malnutrition. In addition to anthropometric parameters, sarcopenia calculated using tPMA can be used to predict malnutrition in critically-ill children.
Historical developments, hotspots and trends in tardive dyskinesia research: A scientometric review of 54 years of publications
Authors: Baminiwatta Anuradha , Correll Christoph U.
Published: March 2023

Background
Since being recognized as an important drug-induced clinical entity during the 1960s, tardive dyskinesia (TD) has generated an extensive body of research seeking to understand its clinical characteristics, epidemiology, pathophysiology and management. Modern scientometric approaches enable interactive visualizations of large bodies of literature to identify the trends and hotspots within knowledge domains. This study thus aimed to provide a comprehensive scientometric review of the TD literature.
Methods
Web of Science was searched for articles, reviews, editorials and letters with the term “tardive dyskinesia” in the title, abstract or keywords, up to 12/31/2021. Altogether, 5,228 publications and 182,052 citations were included. Annual research output, prominent research areas, authors, affiliations and countries were summarized. VOSViewer and CiteSpace were used for bibliometric mapping and co-citation analysis. Structural and temporal metrics were used to identify key publications in the network.
Results
TD-related publications peaked in the 1990s, declined gradually after 2004, and showed another small surge after 2015. The most prolific authors were Kane JM, Lieberman JA and Jeste DV overall (1968-2021), and Zhang XY, Correll CU and Remington G in the last decade (2012-2021). The most prolific journal was the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry overall, and the Journal of Psychopharmacology in the last decade. Knowledge clusters in the 1960-1970s dealt with clinical and pharmacological characterization of TD. In the 1980s, epidemiology, clinical TD assessment, cognitive dysfunction and animal models predominated. During the 1990s, research diverged into pathophysiological studies, especially oxidative stress, and clinical trials on atypical antipsychotics, with a focus on clozapine and bipolar disorder. In the 1990-2000s, pharmacogenetics emerged. More recent clusters include serotonergic receptors, dopamine-supersensitivity psychosis, primary motor abnormalities of schizophrenia, epidemiology/meta-analyses, and advances in TD treatment, particularly vesicular monoamine transporter-2 inhibitors since 2017.
Conclusions
This scientometric review visualized the evolution of scientific knowledge on TD over more than five decades. These findings will be useful for researchers to find relevant literature when writing scientific articles, choosing appropriate journals, finding collaborators or mentors for research, and to understand the historical developments and emerging trends in TD research.
Effect of a short-term glutamine supplementation in inflammation and oxidative stress post-resistance exercise in HIV women: a double-blind, randomized, crossover study
Authors: Nunhes Pollyana , Souza Dayane , Marchini Kauana , Silva Junior da , Bazotte Roberto , Deminice Rafael , Ramos Solange , Trindade Michele , Avelar Ademar
Published: March 2023

We evaluate the effect of a short-term supplementation with glutamine dipeptide (GluD) on the inflammatory and oxidative stress response to an acute session of resistance exercise in women living with HIV and using antiretroviral therapy (ART). Tenwomen diagnosed with HIV under ART were allocated in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over manner to receive 20 g/day of GluD or maltodextrin (placebo) supplementation for seven days with seven-days wash-out period. The participants performed an acute session of resistance training composed by seven exercises. Blood samples were taken before (pre), 1 hour and 2 hours after the exercise session for oxidative stress and inflammation markers determinations. Generalized estimating equations model, followed by the post-hoc Bonferroni test were used for statistical analysis. The resistance exercise session increased the concentrations of TNF-α, but the supplementation with GluD prevents this increase. Also, resistance exercise did not change plasma levels of IL-6.Regarding IL-10, there was a small reduction in both groups. For the oxidative stress markers, both conditions showed no change. A short period of GluD supplementation partially reduces the acute inflammatory response, caused by a session of resistance exercise, without altering the response of oxidative stress markers, in women living with HIV and using ART.
The experience and impact of COVID-19 on a newly formed university medical office: A comparative survey
Authors: Benton Mark
Published: March 2023

Background: COVID-19 had monumental effects on society and in particular medicine and medical education systems. Medical systems in the United States operate in multiple contexts with interrelated goals, and the context of work strongly influenced how organizations were able to respond to COVID-19 restrictions. This research examines the experience and impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of a Health Resources and Services Administration grant (HRSA) in a newly formed university medical office with the interrelated goals of health policy, health outreach, and health education.
Methods: We administered a survey about COVID-19 opportunities and challenges to work unit leaders and their key HRSA project collaborators, comparing responses from direct educational and non-direct educational work units.
Findings: While all units within the office were influenced by COVID-19 restrictions, medical education units had more experiences and challenges with statistical significance. In particular, while classroom-based learning is amenable to remoteness experiential learning may not be. COVID-19 restrictions increased the complexity of project work and presented challenges especially in terms of coordinating responses and access to locations.
Conclusions: While remoteness is appropriate for some medical education tasks it is less appropriate for others. Program administrators will have to integrate remoteness’ benefits and drawbacks into their organizing for the foreseeable future.
Development of a Deep Learning–Based Intracerebral Hemorrhage Segmentation Model and Glasgow Outcome Scale Prediction Model Using Brain CT Images
Authors: Park Wonjun , Kim Young-Jin , Kim Sumin , Yi Hyeong-Joong , Chun Hyoung-Joon , Na Minkyun , Choi Kyu-Sun , Lim Jongwoo
Published: March 2023

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is life-threatening. The intraventricular extension of ICH (IVH) also frequently occurs, thus increasing the risk of disability or death. The site and amount of bleeding are important predictors of prognosis. This study aimed to predict Glasgow Outcome Scores (GOSs) by automatically segmenting hemorrhage sites from brain computed tomography data combined with clinical information. Data of 192 patients from Hanyang University Hospital with IVH and ICH from March 2016 to September 2020 were analyzed. To perform automatic segmentation through deep learning, two neurosurgeons manually generated correct answer values. Preprocessing was performed to capture more pathological tissue. Hemorrhagic sites were robustly predicted by feeding high-quality generated data to the HTransUNet that hierarchically combined a Convolution Neural Network and transformer; the predicted mask was combined with clinical information to predict GOSs. This model showed high performance and competitive performance in segmenting IVH and ICH compared with other segmentation models. Additionally, when predicting GOS, it performed better than the ICH score system. The predicted mask with clinical information performed better than clinical information alone. Using the cerebral hemorrhage segmentation and GOS prediction models in clinical settings, as auxiliary indicators for rapid decision-making, can contribute significantly to patient management.
Did faculty training on item construction and peer review improve the quality of MCQs? An observational study in a medical school
Authors: Hassan Bahaeldin , Alamri Abdulaziz A. , Alzahrani Hassan A. , Ahmad Mohammad Tauheed , Shati Ayed A. , Patel Ayyub A. , Khan Muhammad , Elfaki Omer A
Published: March 2023

Background: multiple choice questions (MCQs) test is the most popular assessment tool that used in medical schools, faculty training on construction of MCQs and peer review are the main factors that contributing to have a good quality MCQs test. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of these two factors on the quality of MCQs test.
Methods: an extensive training program was conducted for the staff members who participated in teaching and assessment of undergraduate medical students of clinical biochemistry and psychiatric courses during the academic year 2020-2021. Post-test item analysis was used to compare pre-training with post-training item analysis parameters. The Chi-square test was applied, the level of significance was 5%.
Results: The difficulty index showed great improvement in the number of items which lie in the acceptable range of difficulty from 16% and 25% before the training program, to 61% and 42% after the training program for psychiatry and clinical biochemistry courses respectively. This is significantly different (P<0.05). In psychiatry course the number of questions with negative discrimination power decreased from 36% before training program to 10% after it (P value >0.05). No significant improvement was noticed in biochemistry course regarding this aspect.
The percentage of test items where all distracters were functioning was increased from 11% to 41% in psychiatry course (P value=0.0002), and from 12% to 46%, in biochemistry course (P value=0.0001). This is a significant improvement. Reliability after the training program and peer review processes also increased in both courses. However, this is not statistically significant.
Conclusions: A dramatic improvement was observed in the quality of MCQs after peer review and training program. We recommend adopting training program on construction of MCQs to be mandatory for all medical school staff members in Saudi Arabia.
Low-molecular-weight heparin for the prevention of preeclampsia in high- risk pregnancies without thrombophilia: a systematic review and meta- analysis
Authors: Chen Jiahui , Huai Jing , Yang Huixia
Published: March 2023

Objectives: To systematically evaluate the efficacy of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) to prevent preeclampsia in high risk pregnant women without thrombophilia.
Search strategy: PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane library were searched for articles published before 1st August 2022 using the combination keywords “preeclampsia”, “Low Molecular Weight Heparin”, “LMWH”, “Heparin, Low Molecular Weight”, “Dalteparin”, “Nadroparin”, and “Tinzaparin”. Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials evaluating the use of LMWH in pregnant women at high risk of preeclampsia without thrombophilia.
Data collection and analysis: Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis (1758 patients in total). Outcomes were expressed as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Results: LMWH reduced the incidence of PE (RR=0.67; 95% CI=0.50-0.90; P=0.009) in high risk pregnant women without thrombophilia. Subgroup analysis found that the prophylactic effect of LMWH was only significant in studies using low-dose aspirin (LDA) as the primary intervention. LMWH was also effective for the prevention of preterm birth and fetal growth restriction, but had no effect on the incidence of placenta abruption.
Conclusion: For women at high risk of developing preeclampsia without thrombophilia, the combination of LMWH and low‐dose aspirin is effective for the prevention of preeclampsia, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction and is superior to LDA alone.
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Staff at Selected Laboratories in Kampala
Authors: Nalunga Justine , Sekimpi Patrick , Kabanda Timothy Makumbi , Nakayaga Joanita Kalyango
Published: March 2023

Background
Laboratory (lab) personnel are a key component of the health care system whose daily tasks involve static and sustained awkward postures with repetitive motions that increase ergonomic risks to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This may be attributed to inadequate staff numbers, staff qualifications and workload for prolonged periods however, there is a knowledge gap as regards the MSDs experienced. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence and factors associated with work related MSDs (WMSDs) among staff at selected labs in Kampala.
Methods
A cross sectional study on 203 consecutively sampled lab personnel practicing at the selected labs in Kampala was conducted. A pretested modified standardized Nordic questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was entered in EpiData v4.6 and analyzed using STATA v14. The prevalence of WMSDs was estimated as a proportion of the entire sample size. Analysis for factors associated was done by modified Poisson regression reporting robust standard errors through the survey window to control for clustering at lab level and section level. Ethical approval was sought from School of medicine research and ethics committee.
Results
The prevalence of WMSDs among the laboratory personnel was 48.3% (95%CI: 33.2–63.3). At multivariate analysis, sex (aPR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.19–1.57), work involving repetitive motions (aPR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.16–0.73), taking rest breaks at work (aPR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.52–0.88) and physical exercise (aPR: 0.77 95% CI: 0.63–0.93) were significantly associated with WMSDs in this population.
Conclusions
Approximately 5 out of every 10 laboratory personnel in this study had experienced at least one or more WMSDs within the past 12 months. Sex, repetitious work, work rest breaks and physical exercise were significantly associated with WMSDs in this population. Increased awareness of injury prevention at the workplace and modification of the occupational safety and health policy to include details about the specifics of the interventions required to prevent WMSDs is encouraged.
Maternal Outcomes of Induced Versus ‎Spontaneous Labor among Admitted Women in Delivery Room at Maternity Teaching Hospital in Erbil City: A Comparative ‎Study
Authors: saeed Awaz , Noori Bewar Husamaaldin
Published: March 2023

Background and objectives: Induction of labor refers to the stimulation of contractions ‎before the labor starts spontaneously, with or without ruptured membranes. The aim of the present study was to compare the ‎maternal outcomes of induced versus spontaneous labor.‎
Methods: A comparative study was conducted in Maternity Teaching Hospital in Erbil ‎city from ‎February 2020 to February 2021. Using purposive (non-probability) ‎sampling techniques, ‎‎240 pregnant women (120 with induced labor and 120 with spontaneous ‎labor) were recruited into the study. Through direct interviews, a proper researcher-designed questionnaire ‎was ‎utilized to collect required data. ‎The collected data were ‎analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical approaches.‎
Results: There were significant to ‎highly significant differences between the two delivery methods in terms of maternal outcomes, ‎emergency cesarean section, postpartum blood loss, need for blood ‎transfusion, uterine ‎atony, perennial laceration, and postpartum hospital stay.‎
‎Conclusions: There were the significance to highly significance difference of the ‎maternal ‎outcomes between induced and spontaneous labor.
Transcriptome analysis in response to endurance exercise in non-elite marathon runners
Authors: Condeminas Pol Ezquerra , Antiga Laura G. , Ros Jan Borras , Cardenas Antonio , Sibila Oriol , Perera-LLuna Alexandre , Soria Jose Manuel
Published: March 2023

Given that endurance exercise can have a huge impact on nonelite athletes, this study set out to analyze the impact of running a marathon on nonelite athletes by identifying which systems may be differentially expressed during such activity. Blood samples were taken from 78 nonelite athletes participating in the Barcelona Marathon at three different time points: before the marathon at baseline levels (START), immediately upon completion (FINISH), and 24 hours after completion (24REST). Differential gene expression, GO term, and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were conducted performing three different comparisons obtaining 9534, 162, and 61 in START vs FINISH; 9454, 131, and 59 in FINISH vs 24REST; 454, 14, and 8 in START vs 24REST, respectively. Results showed that performing strenuous exercise significantly deregulated immune system function, which could increase the risk of infection during the period after the marathon. In addition, the study also found changes in inflammatory markers, mitochondrial function, the oxidative environment, and lipid metabolism. While gene expression did not fully recover 24 hours after the race, it was significantly closer to the baseline values than it was immediately after exercising. The results obtained suggest that endurance exercise has a substantial impact on nonelite athletes and highlights potential areas for further research.
Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Exercise for Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA): an overview of systematic reviews
Authors: TAO Tao , SHI Ming-peng , TAN Bo-yang , ZHANG Xian-shuai , SUN Feng-ling , LIU Bao-ren , LI Shao-jun , LI Zhen-Hua
Published: March 2023

Background
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) has become an issue of public health. Several Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (SRs/Mas) indicate that Traditional Chinese Exercise (TCE) may be an effective treatment for reducing pain, stiffness, and physical function in people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).
Objectives
To re-evaluate the literature quality and the evidence for the systematic evaluation of TCE for osteoarthritis of the knee and to offer evidence to support the clinical practice of TCE for osteoarthritis of the knee.
Methods
Eight electronic databases will be used to retrieve literature from their inception to January 3, 2023, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database (WF), Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP), China Biomedical database (CBM), PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library, without restrictions on the study date or language, a systematic evaluation/Meta-analysis of commonly used TCE for knee osteoarthritis was compiled, the methodological and reporting quality of the included literature was evaluated using the AMSTAR-2 scale and PRISMA 2020, and the quality of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE classification.
Results
A total of 18 papers were included, and the AMSTAR-2 review revealed that the literature's methodological quality could have been better. The study of RPISMA 2020 indicated that the overall reporting standards were deficient. The quality of Chinese and English literature differed, with English literature being superior in methodological quality and reporting quality. There were a total of 93 pieces of evidence obtained, 46 of which were of very low quality (49.46%, 46/93), 34 of low quality (36.56%, 34/93), 13 of medium level (13.98%, 13/93), and none of the high quality. TCE was supported by 76 pieces of evidence (81.72%, 76/93).
Conclusion
TCE is, therefore, advantageous and secure for KOA. However, clinicians should proceed from these findings with caution in their practice due to the relatively low methodological and evidentiary quality of the included SRs/MAs.
Pilot-scale ultrastable nitritation in municipal wastewater based on the loading rate switch strategy
Authors: Wang Zihao , Zhang Liang , Zeng Wei , Li Jialin , Zhang Qiong , Li Xiyao , Peng Yongzhen
Published: March 2023

In the present work, quick start-up ultrastable nitritation was successfully demonstrated in a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR; V = 6.5 m3) treating real municipal wastewater (5.9°C–29.8°C). The SBR was operated under a high influent loading rate by aggressively discharging surplus sludge and controlling a short aeration time, resulting in a significant decrease of both ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) abundances. Subsequently, the influent loading rate sharply dropped from 312 mg COD/(g VSS∙d) to 55 mg COD/(g VSS∙d) with the extension of aeration time. According to qPCR and batch test results, the AOB abundance increased 106-fold and 136% of its initial bioactivity level was recovered. The NOB abundance was maintained at a low level, resulting in incomplete nitrification and nitrite accumulation. Nitritation with an ultra-high nitrite accumulation ratio (NAR) of 97% started in seven days. Moreover, despite the decrease of temperature from 17.5°C to 5.9°C, a high NAR (98.1 ± 1.1%) was maintained for over 450 days. The NOB abundance was below the detection level, and a high AOB (Nitrosomonas; 0.95%) level was effectively maintained. Importantly, the average levels of ammonium and nitrite effluents were maintained at 8.3 mg N/L and 13.8 mg N/L, respectively, favoring the application of an anammox process. Therefore, the proposed nitritation start-up strategy provides a practical alternative for extending anammox into sewage treatments.
The Effect of Using Bispectral Index Monitoring on the Amount of Propofol Used During Transvaginal Oocyte Retrieval Procedure: a Prospective, Randomized, Controlled, Clinical Trial
Authors: Bilgen Sevgi , Erdogan Dilek , Sabri Berkem
Published: March 2023

Objective: To investigate whether the use of bispectral index (BIS) monitoring would decrease total propofol consumption during the transvaginal oocyte retrieval procedure
Design: Prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel-group clinical trial
Setting: Operating room, postoperative recovery room
Population: One hundred and thirty, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-II patients, over age 18, undergoing transvaginal oocyte retrieval
Methods: All patients were administered 2mg/kg fentanyl, and 2mg/kg propofol for the induction of anesthesia. The patients were divided into two groups. Patients in the group bolus were given 0.5 mg/kg of propofol when necessary, according to the observer's range of motion. Patients in the group BIS were given 10 mg/kg/hour propofol infusion adjusted to keep the BIS value between 40-60.
Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome was the total dose of propofol administered per patient. The secondary outcomes were the time to reach the value of 5 on the Modified Observer's Assessment of Alertness Sedation Scale (MOASs), the time to reach Post Anesthetic Discharge Scoring System (PADSS) ³9 of the patients, satisfaction of the patient, and the gynecologist.
Results: The amount of total propofol was higher in the group BIS than in the group bolus administered according to the patient's clinic. There was no difference in the time to reach the value of 5 on the MOASs between the groups. The time to reach PADSS ³9 was longer in the group BIS than in the group bolus. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of the satisfaction of the patient and the gynecologist.
Conclusion: Administration of propofol as an infusion with BIS monitoring did not reduce the amount of propofol administered to patients during transvaginal oocyte retrieval.
IRB number: The Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Acıbadem University, Istanbul, Turkey (No:2022/05-32).
Clinical trial registration number: NCT05631925 - 12/03/2022
Pioneering the Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease: Aβ Oligomers-Sensing Probe for Cerebrospinal Fluid Analysis in Patients
Authors: An Jusung , Kim Kyeonghwan , Lim Ho Jae , Shin Jinwoo , Park InWook , Cho Illhwan , Kim Hyeong Yun , Kim Sunghoon , Kim YoungSoo , Lee Kun Ho , Kim Jong Seung
Published: March 2023

Amyloid-β oligomers (oAβ) are implicated in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Herein, quinoline-derived half-curcumin-dioxaborine (Q-OB), a highly selective and sensitive fluorescent probe, was designed for detecting oAβ by finely tailoring the amphiphilicity of the biannulate donor motifs in D-π-A structure. Q-OB shows a great sensing potency in dynamically monitoring oAβ during amyloid fibrillogenesis in vitro and in vivo. For the first time, we applied this strategy to fluorometrically analyze Aβ self-assembly kinetics in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients. The fluorescence intensity of Q-OB in AD patients’ CSF revealed a marked change of log (I/I0) value of 0.34 ± 0.13 (cognitive normal), 0.15 ± 0.12 (mild cognitive impairment), and 0.14 ± 0.10 (AD dementia), guiding to distinguish a state of AD continuum. These studies demonstrate the potential of our approach can expand the currently available preclinical diagnostic platform for the early stages of AD, aiding in the disruption of pathological progression and the development of appropriate treatment strategies.
Mutltimodal MRI Brain Tumor Segmentation using 3D Attention UNet with Dense Encoder Blocks and Residual Decoder Blocks
Authors: Tassew Tewodros Megabiaw , Ashamo Betelihem Asfaw , Nie Xuan
Published: March 2023

Medical image segmentation is essential for disease diagnosis and for support- ing medical decision systems. Automatic segmentation of brain tumors from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is crucial for treatment planning and timely diagnosis. Due to the enormous amount of data that MRI provides as well as the variability in the location and size of the tumor, automatic seg- mentation is a difficult process. Consequently, a current outstanding problem in the field of deep learning-based medical image analysis is the development of an accurate and trustworthy way to separate the tumorous region from healthy tissues. In this paper, we propose a novel 3D Attention U-Net with dense encoder blocks and residual decoder blocks, which combines the bene- fits of both DenseNet and ResNet. Dense blocks with transition layers help to strengthen feature propagation, reduce vanishing gradient, and increase the receptive field. Because each layer receives feature maps from all previous layers, the network can be made thinner and more compact. To make predic- tions, it considers both low-level and high-level features at the same time. In addition, shortcut connections between the residual network are used to pre- serve low-level features at each level. As part of the proposed architecture, skip connections between dense and residual blocks are utilized along with an attention layer to speed up the training process. The proposed architecture was trained and validated using BraTS 2020 dataset, it showed promising results with dice scores of 0.866, 0.889, and 0.828 for the tumor core (TC), whole tumor (WT), and enhancing tumor (ET), respectively. In compar- ison to the original 3D U-Net, our approach performs better. According to the findings of our experiment, our approach is a competitive automatic brain tumor segmentation method when compared to some state-of-the-art techniques.
Analysis of physical and chemical characteristics of two sodium caseinates and evaluation of their application in ice cream
Authors: Liu Jingjing , Xiao Jing , Xu Xiaoyue , Zhu Mingyao , Wu Jintao
Published: March 2023

Sodium caseinate (CAS) is widely used in ice cream products due to its good foaming, emulsifying and thickening properties. However, in recent years, there are many sodium caseinate products with widely different functional properties, and their application in ice cream has been uneven. In this work, the physicochemical properties of two different sodium caseinate were studied and their application effects in ice cream were evaluated and analyzed. Compared to CAS L09, CAS L05 has a higher protein content and αs-CN and β-CN content, with smaller and more uniformly distributed particles. Therefore, CAS L05 achieves better foaming properties and solution viscosity. The application evaluation also showed that the ice cream products prepared with 0.2%～1.0% CAS L05 had better performance and had the highest overrun and lowest melting rate at 0.8% addition, 4.40% higher and 13.30% lower than L09 respectively. In addition, the reduction in particle size of the ball-milled CAS L05 improved the foaming properties, resulting in a 12.94% and 9.07% reduction in the melting rate of the ice cream, respectively, which improved the conformability of the ice cream product.
Direct numerical simulation of Vortex Breakdown in Evaporating Dilute Sprays
Authors: Liberatori Jacopo , Battista Francesco , Barba Federico Dalla , Ciottoli Pietro Paolo
Published: March 2023

The effects of different vortex breakdown states on the evaporation process characterizing air-acetone vapor swirling jets laden with liquid acetone droplets in the dilute regime are discussed based on results provided by direct numerical simulations. Adopting the point-droplet approximation, the carrier phase is solved using an Eulerian framework, whereas a Lagrangian tracking of the dispersed phase is used. Three test cases are investigated: one with fully-turbulent pipe inflow conditions and two with a laminar Maxworthy velocity profile at different swirl rates. Consequently, turbulent, bubble-type and regular conical vortex breakdown states are established. Following phenomenological and statistical analyses of both phases, a significant enhancement of the overall droplet evaporation process due to the onset of the conical vortex breakdown is observed due to the strongest centrifugal forces driving the entire liquid drops towards the low-saturation mixing layer of the jet. The effects of droplet inertia on evaporation are isolated through an additional set of simulations where liquid droplets are treated as Lagrangian tracers. While it is found that inertial effects contribute to enhanced vaporization near the mixing layer under bubble vortex breakdown conditions, droplet inertia plays a secondary role under both turbulent and conical vortex breakdown due to intense turbulent mixing and high centrifugal forces, respectively.
Coupling uncertain patterns of climatic variables in estimating evaporation from open water bodies
Authors: Nourani Vahid , Sayyah-Fard Mina , Zhang Yongqiang
Published: March 2023

Coupling patterns of climatic variables in the formation of evaporation from open water bodies still are not clear due to the uncertainty involved in the process. The main goal of this study was the detection of such patterns via second-order sensitivity analysis. The Partial Deviations method, based on the Artificial Neural Network, was utilized to reveal coupling patterns. The new method was tested at two neighboring sites (Ahvaz and Isfahan) in Iran. We found that at Ahvaz station coupling between one day-lagged evaporation with air temperature and humidity with magnitudes of 26.37% and 25.21%, respectively had a major effect on the evaporation gradient. Similarly, the major effects on the evaporation rate at Isfahan station belonged to the coupling one day-lagged evaporation with air temperature and wind speed with magnitudes of 36.97% and 18.98%, respectively. The interaction patterns showed that the rate of evaporation reversed for both stations in the warm seasons of the year mainly because of an increase in atmospheric humidity. The climatic variables on their own domain (mostly their high values), aroused the effect of other variables, such as temperature, one day-lagged evaporation, wind speed and radiation which in interaction with other variables caused inverse the rate of evaporation in some cases. Even though adjacent climates have the most impact on each other, their coupling patterns are significantly different. Our study highlights the importance to include the reversal of the evaporation rate in modeling evaporation from open water bodies.
A rare malignant tumor of branchial cleft carcinoma：A case report
Authors: Ma Yang , Liu Hangyu , Yang Lijing , Tang Shijie , Shi Lungang
Published: March 2023

The brachial cleft carcinoma is an extremely rare head and neck facial malignancy, and there is some disagreement about its differential diagnosis. In this paper, we report a 63-year-old male patient who had a mass on the left side of the neck and diagnosed as the brachial cleft carcinoma by intraoperative biopsy pathology. However, this patient was diagnosed with the carcinoma of the left soft palate more than 20 days after surgery and esophageal cancer 2 years later, and was treated accordingly. Therefore, it is hard to confirm whether the branchial cleft carcinoma is primary or metastatic. In fact, the diagnostic criteria for primary squamous cell carcinoma of branchial cleft cysts are very rigorous. Confirmation of the diagnosis is based on pathological examination of the branchial cleft cyst epithelium lined with squamous cells, meanwhile, a thorough examination should also be performed to exclude the presence of other primary cancers.
Gemcitabine and celecoxib synergistically promote antitumor efficacy of αPD-1 by triggering immunogenic cell death
Authors: Zhu Xiongjie , Yang Xia , Yu Zhongjian , Cai Rui , Li Ying , Zhou Min , Zheng Yanfang
Published: March 2023

There is emerging evidence that immunogenic chemotherapy is not only cytotoxic toward tumor cells but also ameliorates the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment by inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD) to achieve long-lasting antitumor efficacy. However, comprehensive analysis of ICD inducers is lacking in lung cancer. We investigated the ability of five chemotherapeutic agents to trigger ICD. And further study of how gemcitabine (GEM) activates antitumor immunity and synergistic enhancement of antitumor immunochemotherapy. Herein, we observed that GEM induced characteristics of ICD. Moreover, we demonstrated that celecoxib could enhance ICD by attenuation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO-1) expression and augmentation of ROS-based endoplasmic reticulum stress. In the present study, we found the combination of GEM, celecoxib and anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (aPD-1) exhibited potent antitumor activity and long-term antitumor efficacy in immunocompetent mice by synergistic anti-tumor activity and recruitment of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. These results support a combination of GEM, celecoxib and aPD-1 as a potential treatment regimen for patients with lung cancer.
Production, characterization and application in the saccharification of agro-industrial wastes of a thermostable and halotolerant endoglucanase
Authors: Gomes Marta Maria , Nicodemos Izadora Santos , Silva Monizy Costa , Santos Maria Ribeiro Cardoso dos , Costa Floriatan Santos , Franco Marcelo , Pereira Hugo Juarez Vieira
Published: March 2023

This study describes the production, characterization, and application of an endoglucanase from Penicillium roqueforti ATCC 10110 using lignocellulosic agro-industrial wastes as the substrate during solid-state fermentation. The endoglucanase was generated after culturing with different agro-industrial wastes for 96 h without any pretreatment. The enzyme was characterized by evaluating the effects of temperature and pH. The highest activity was obtained at 50 °C and pH 4.0. Additionally, the enzyme showed stability in the temperature and pH ranges of 40 °C to 80 °C and 4.0 to 5.0, respectively. The addition of metal ions Ca2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, and Cu2+ increased enzymatic activity, whereas on addition of organic solvents, the activity remained above 91%. Halotolerance as a characteristic of the enzyme was confirmed when its activity increased by 35% on addition of 2M NaCl. The endoglucanase saccharified sugarcane bagasse, coconut husk, wheat bran, cocoa pod husk, and cocoa seed husk. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the enzyme’s action in deconstructing all lignocellulosic materials. The Box–Behnken design was employed to optimize fermentable sugar production by evaluating the following parameters: time, substrate, and enzyme concentration. Under ideal conditions, 253.19 mg/g of fermentable sugars were obtained following the saccharification of wheat bran without any pretreatment, which is 41.5 times higher than that obtained without optimizing the three parameters. This study presents a thermostable, halotolerant endoglucanase that is resistant to metal ions and organic solvents with the potential to be applied in producing fermentable sugars for manufacturing biofuels from agro-industrial wastes.
Understanding the perceptions on the availability and accessibility of public health services for the poor and socially disadvantaged. A qualitative study in Hong Kong.
Authors: Tran Joshua Yeuk-Shun , Chan Dicken , Wong Samuel Yeung-Shan , Chung Roger Yat-Nork
Published: March 2023

Background
8% of the population reports inability to financially afford primary care despite the universal healthcare policy in Hong Kong. This study aims to understand the multifactorial causes that contribute to the healthcare accessibility barriers.
Methods
Individual telephone interviews were conducted in 2020 on a group of participants from a previous study that identified themselves as unable to financially afford primary care. A total of 13 participants were interviewed.
Results
A thematic analysis, through the socioecological model, revealed four levels of factors that contributed to the participant’s healthcare inaccessibility: intrapersonal and interpersonal, institutional, community, and policy. The first level relates to the (1a) limited choice of outpatient care due to wealth status, (1b) inadequate knowledge of types and number of services provided, (1c) high non-monetary opportunity costs in seeking public healthcare services, (1d) reluctance to seek medical care unless the situation becomes serious and acute, and (1e) consumerist attitude and perception of quality of care received. The second level relates to (2a) price increase of public A&E departments, (2b) high price of private healthcare providers, (2c) inadequate General Out-Patient Clinics, (2d) complex steps to access General Out-Patient Clinics, (2e) unmet medical needs received from public healthcare services, (2f) inadequate employer support for ill employees, and (2g) inadequate public support for patients struggling with dental issues. The third level relates to (3a) insufficient support for patients struggling with physically accessing General Out-Patient Clinics. The fourth level relates to (4a) inadequate Elderly Health Care Voucher and (4b) inadequate Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and its exclusive requirements.
Conclusion
These findings increase our understanding of the patients’ barriers when accessing primary care. The data highlights the need for a multifactorial approach when attempting to achieve primary health care and to eliminate financial barriers completely for patients living in and around the poverty line.
Solution of an algebraic linear system of equations using fixed point results in C∗−algebra valued extended Branciari Sb−metric spaces
Authors: Alam Khairul Habib , Rohen Yumnam
Published: March 2023

Two new types of metric spaces namely C∗−algebra valued Branciari Sb−metric space and C∗−algebra valued extended Branciari Sb−metric space are introduced in this work, which are a generalization of all known related metric spaces.We explained the generalizations with two examples respectively. There are examples of self-mappings having a unique fixed point, which are concluded using our main theorems. As an application, we used one of our main results to show the existence of a unique solution of an algebraic system of linear equations with a numerical example.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2010). Primary 54H25; Secondary 47H10.
Assessment of food safety knowledge, attitude and hygiene practices amongst food vendors on the University of Cape Coast Campus and its surrounding communities
Authors: Ankomah-Appiah Emmanuel , Elizabeth Kwofie , Darko Sophia Ohene , Abrokwah Francis
Published: March 2023

The primary goal of this study was to assess vendors' food safety knowledge, attitude, and hygiene practices at the University of Cape Coast. This study was carried out using a descriptive survey. Purposive sampling was used to choose eighty-four (84) food vendors from around the University of Cape Coast. To collect information from respondents, a series of well-structured and self-developed questionnaires were used. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data (frequencies and percentages). Generally, it was observed that the food vendors had positive attitudes towards safe food preparation as they gave positive responses to statements such as "I wash my hands with soap to prevent any contamination, "I wash and rinse cutting boards, knives and plates used for raw meat before using them for other foods". Similarly, food vendors' knowledge of food safety was found to be above average (85%). Finally, the analysis revealed that food vendors were very aware of hygienic practices during food vending and thus knowledgeable in hygiene practices issues. It is recommended among other things that more education should be given on food safety practices so that the few who are not doing things right can do so. A lack of knowledge militates against the appropriate practice.
LncRNA HOXA-AS2 is a Prognostic and Clinicopathological Predictor in Cancer Patients
Authors: Xiao Tijun , Yan An , Tan Lifang , Zhu Hongwei , Gao Wenzhe
Published: March 2023

Background: Many individual studies confirmed that the elevated expression of Long non-coding RNA HOXA-AS2 (HOXA-AS2) held prognostic value in various solid tumors. Thus, the aim of this meta-analysis is to assess its prognostic potential and functions in malignancies.
Methods: Multiple databases were carefully searched for articles published about HOXA-AS2 in the past 10 years. Hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to demonstrate prognostic value of HOXA-AS2 using Stata 15.0 software.
Results: 9 studies including 830 patients were ultimately enrolled in this meta-analysis. Pooled results showed that abnormal expression of HOXA-AS2 had a significantly correlation with unfavorable OS (pooled HR=1.58, 95% CI: 1.23-2.02) and in cancer patients. Additionally, high expression of HOXA-AS2 was also related to other clinicopathological factors, including advanced TNM staging (OR: 4.43, 95%CI: 2.98-6.58), lymph node metastasis (OR: 4.58, 95%CI: 2.85-7.35) and larger tumor size (OR: 3.26, 95%CI: 2.11-5.05).
Conclusion: Elevated expression of HOXA-AS2 was associated with poor clinical outcomes in multiple cancer types. More comprehensive and extensive studies are required to verify and strengthen the clinical value of HOXA-AS2 in human cancers.
The Ear Unwrapper: A Maize Ear Image Acquisition and Machine Learning Pipeline for Disease Severity Phenotyping
Authors: Hudson Owen , Hudson Dylan , Brahmstedt Colin , Brawner Jeremy
Published: March 2023

Background
To successfully breed any plant for disease resistance, an accurate method of phenotyping disease severity is crucial. Fusarium ear rot (FER) is a common disease of maize (Zea mays) caused by the pathogen Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) Nirenberg (synonym F. moniliforme Sheldon, teleomorph Gibberella moniliformis Wineland). Because of the quantitative nature of the disease, scoring disease severity is difficult and nuanced, relying on various ways to quantify damage caused by the pathogen. Towards the goal of designing a system with greater objectivity, reproducibility, and accuracy than subjective scores or estimations of area damaged, a system of semi-automated image acquisition and subsequent image analysis was designed.
Results
The tool created for image acquisition, “The Ear Unwrapper”, successfully obtains images of the full exterior of maize ears in roughly 10 seconds. To “unwrap” each ear of maize, the approach was to rotate the ear around its axis (the cob) and using a camera, take a continuous set of images of a single row of pixels and merge them to form one image. A set of images produced from The Ear Unwrapper were used to produce a probabilistic pixel classification model for predicting disease severity from unannotated images. The system was deliberately constructed using open-source software and off-the-shelf parts so that the image acquisition and analysis pipeline is adaptable for quantifying other maize ear pathogens, morphologies, and phenotypes. The data obtained from The Ear Unwrapper was correlated with two other phenotyping methods for validation and comparison and showed that the output from the system was reasonably accurate to determine lesion size.
Conclusions
This study provides an example of how a simplified image acquisition machine can be built and incorporated into a machine learning pipeline to measure phenotypes of interest. Here, The Ear Unwrapper was built to image ears of maize, but other cylindrical objects can also be “unwrapped” to obtain a single image of the object’s exterior. We also present how the use of machine learning in image analysis can be adapted from open-source software to estimate complex phenotypes, here, disease severity of Fusarium Ear Rot.