bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigation of MDRZ and DPSK modulation schemes employed in DWDM systems for smart city 5G access networks
Authors: Lubana Anurupa , Kaur Sanmukh
Published: March 2023

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is one of the emerging technologies for data transmission in 5G access network assembly between the antenna unit (AU) and the distribution unit (DU). Here, in this work, we evaluate and analyze a dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) — passive optical networks (PONs) employing erbium–ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier (EYDFA) [Formula: see text] Raman hybrid optical amplifier (HOA) using two modulation schemes — modified duobinary return to zero (MDRZ) and differential phase shift keying (DPSK) for alternate channels, where the channel count has been varied from 8 to 40. The system has been analyzed over the wavelength span of 1550–1558.8[Formula: see text]nm with a channel spacing, input power and data rate of 25[Formula: see text]GHz, 0[Formula: see text]dB and 40[Formula: see text]Gb/s, respectively. An average gain, gain ripple and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of 20.87, 0.95 and 30[Formula: see text]dB, respectively have been observed in the case of HOA along with the achievement of Q-factor of up to 9 at the receiving end of the system. The DPSK-modulated channels result in higher values of gain and OSNR along with lower gain ripple as compared to MDRZ channels making the proposed system a good option for 5G access network applications.
Dynamic Energy Dissipation Performance of Nonlinear Large-Deformation Viscoelastic Joint Damper under Strong Dynamic Load
Authors: Xu Jun-Hong , Zhu Zhe-Yu , Liu Hong-Jie , Sun Yi-Fei , Wang Hao , Li Ai-Qun
Published: March 2023

Large-displacement corner deformation often occurs at the joints of towering structures and long-span space structures subjected to strong earthquake. In order to improve the energy dissipation capacity of structural joints, the Nitrile Butadiene Rubber/High Abrasion Furnace Black (NBR/HAF) high damping composite was fabricated by formulation optimization in this paper, where a nonlinear large-deformation viscoelastic joint damper was proposed. The damper consists of five layers of restrained steel plates and four layers of shear energy dissipating material, which can reach 60[Formula: see text]mm shear displacement. In this paper, dynamic mechanical performance tests and static mechanical tests were firstly conducted on the core energy dissipating media of the damper. The loss factor of NBR/HAF composite reached a peak of 1.51 at about 8.2°C, while its wide damping temperature range was 27°C. Second, the accuracy of the simulation method was verified by comparing the simulated and experimental hysteresis curves. Then, the refined numerical simulation of this damper was carried out using ABAQUS finite element software with the high damping material as its core energy dissipating media. Finally, the magnitude and type of energy dissipation of each part of the viscoelastic joint damper under different loads were investigated. It was found that the large-deformation viscoelastic joint damper based on the composite had good damping capacity. Its dynamic characteristics were affected by the displacement amplitude and excitation frequency, which exhibited hardening nonlinear characteristics. As the frequency and load amplitude increased, the peak displacement in the loading direction gradually decreased, whereas the total energy input to the damper and the energy dissipated by the viscoelastic material increased monotonically. The input energy was only dissipated by the viscoelastic material, and no plastic loss occurred in the steel plate during the entire loading stage. Under high frequency and large loads, the damper can also have good energy dissipation characteristics. Because of the negative strain energy caused by plastic dilatancy, the energy dissipated by the material was gradually greater than the input energy with the load increasing.
Deviation and concentration inequalities for dynamical systems with subexponential decay of correlations
Authors: Cuny Christophe , Dedecker Jérôme , Merlevède Florence
Published: March 2023

We obtain large and moderate deviation estimates, as well as concentration inequalities, for a class of nonuniformly expanding maps with stretched exponential decay of correlations. In the large deviation regime, we also exhibit examples showing that the obtained upper bounds are essentially optimal.
Density of nonzero exponent of contraction for pinching cocycles in Hom(S1)
Authors: Freijo Catalina , Marin Karina
Published: March 2023

We consider pinching cocycles taking values in the space of homeomorphisms of the circle over an hyperbolic base. Using the invariance principle of Malicet, we prove that the cocycles having nonzero exponents of contraction are dense. In this paper, we generalize some common notions an results known of linear cocycles and cocycles of diffeomorphisms, to the nonlinear non-differentiable case.
Globalizations of partial group actions on non-associative algebras
Authors: Vilca Rodríguez José L. , Cortes Wagner
Published: March 2023

This paper is a contribution to the globalization problem for partial group actions on non-associative algebras. We principally focus on partial group actions on Lie algebras, Jordan algebras and Malcev algebras. We give sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of a globalization for partial group actions on the algebras already mentioned. As an application of this result, we show that in characteristic zero every partial group action on a semisimple Malcev algebra admits a globalization, unique up to isomorphism. We give a criterion for the existence and uniqueness of a globalization for a partial group action on a unital Jordan algebra in characteristic different from two, and on a sympathetic Lie algebra (a perfect Lie algebra without center and outer derivations).
Free pre-Lie algebras of finite posets
Authors: Ayadi M.
Published: March 2023

We first recall the construction of a twisted pre-Lie algebra structure on the species of finite connected topological spaces. Then, we construct a corresponding non-coassociative permutative (NAP) coproduct on the subspecies of finite connected [Formula: see text] topological spaces, i.e. finite connected posets, and we prove that the vector space generated by isomorphism classes of finite posets is a free pre-Lie algebra and also a cofree NAP coalgebra. Furthermore, we give an explicit duality between the non-associative permutative product and the proposed NAP coproduct. Finally, we prove that the results in this paper remain true for finite connected topological spaces.
An Entity Extraction and Categorization Technique on Twitter Streams
Authors: Narayanasamy Senthil Kumar , Chang Maiga
Published: March 2023

As social media platforms have gained huge momentum in recent years, the amount of information generated from the social media sites is growing exponentially and gives the information retrieval systems a great challenge to extract the potential named entities. Researchers have utilized the semantic annotation mechanism to retrieve the entities from the unstructured documents, but the mechanism returns with too many ambiguous entities. In this work, the DBpedia knowledge base is adopted for entity extraction and categorization. To achieve the entity extraction task precisely, a two-step process is proposed: (a) train the unstructured datasets with Word2Vec and classify the entities into their respective categories. (b) crawl the web pages, forums, and other web sources to identifying the entities that are not present in the DBpedia. The evaluation shows the results with more precision and promising F1 score.
Improved Meshless Finite Integration Method for Solving Time Fractional Diffusion Equations
Authors: Liu Pengyuan , Lei Min , Yue Junhong , Niu Ruiping
Published: March 2023

In this paper, a new method named Improved Finite Integration Method (IFIM) is proposed for solving Time Fractional Diffusion Equations (TFDEs). In the IFIM, the Extended Simpson’s Rule (ESR) is employed for numerical quadrature in spatial discretization. Besides, the Piecewise Quadratic Interpolation (PQI) in sense of the Hadamard finite-part integral is utilized for time discretization. Compared with the primary Finite Integration Method (FIM) with Trapezoidal rule which uses the finite difference scheme to address the time discretization, the combination of ESR and PQI in IFIM will lead to a better performance in solving TFDEs. Numerical examples are performed and compared to show the superiority of IFIM. It can also be found that the IFIM is able to obtain a higher accuracy without losing the stability and efficiency.
Traversable wormholes with electric charge and scalar field in f(R,T) gravity
Authors: Godani Nisha , Samanta Gauranga C.
Published: March 2023

Kim and Lee [Phys. Rev. D 63 (2001) 064014] studied charged wormholes and Morris–Thorne wormholes in the presence of scalar field using the concepts of general relativity. In this paper, we have also considered same wormholes affected with electric charge and scalar field and extended their study using the framework of [Formula: see text] gravity with [Formula: see text] gravity model, where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are constants. We have examined the possibility for minimization of the amount of exotic matter through energy conditions. Further, we have obtained the deflection angle, an important notion in gravitational lensing, by using strong field limit coefficients which may be helpful in the detection of wormholes.
Geometry of almost contact metrics as a ∗-conformal Ricci–Yamabe solitons and related results
Authors: Dey Santu , Roy Soumendu , Karaca Fatma
Published: March 2023

The goal of this paper is to study certain types of metric such as ∗-conformal Ricci–Yamabe soliton (RYS), whose potential vector field is torse-forming on Kenmotsu manifold. Here, we establish the conditions for solitons to be expanding, shrinking or steady and find the scalar curvature when the manifold admits ∗-conformal RYS on Kenmotsu manifold. Next, we developed the nature of the vector field when the manifold satisfies ∗-conformal RYS. Also, we have adorned some applications of torse-forming vector field in terms of ∗-conformal RYS on Kenmotsu manifold. We have also studied infinitesimal CL-transformation and Schouten–van Kampen connection on Kenmotsu manifold, whose metric is ∗-conformal RYS. We present an example of ∗-conformal RYS on three-dimensional Kenmotsu manifold, and verify some of our findings.
Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene, and its advanced electrochemical activity toward efficient lithium ion storage
Authors: Hao Zhongkai , Tian Miao
Published: March 2023

Nitrogen-doped graphene (N-Graphene) has been extensively researched as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries, as the nitrogen doping provides massive active sites and improves the electrical conductivity and the ion diffusion kinetics, thus, significantly enhancing the lithium storage performance with reversible capacity and cycling stability. However, the high-rate performance and cyclability of the N-Graphene-based anodes are still to be achieved for fast-charging applications. Here, a new N-Graphene was successfully fabricated by annealing the commercial few-layer graphene with dicyandiamide. Along with the plenty of defects in the pristine graphene sheets, the doping of nitrogen effectively reduces the resistance and increases pore volume and the diffusion coefficient. Consequently, the N-Graphene anode exhibits outstanding lithium storage performance with superior high-rate performance and remarkable long-term capability (up to 10,000 cycles at 15 A g[Formula: see text] with a reversible capacity of 133 mAh g[Formula: see text]). Further kinetic analysis reveals that this excellent electrochemical behavior during the rapid discharge/charge operations can be attributed to the enhanced diffusion-controlled and surface capacitive storages. Our process may lead to an alternative way for producing competitive N-Graphene anode materials for efficient lithium ion storage.
The effect of chaos circuits on the polymorphs of electrolytic manganese dioxide
Authors: Tao Shuhui , Ma Chi , Du Jun , Liu Zuohua , Tao Changyuan , Li Chunbiao
Published: March 2023

Electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) is the critical component of the cathode material in modern alkaline, lithium, and sodium batteries. Aimed at the remediation of EMD crystalline structures, this research explored the effect of external power-supplying models on EMD structure regulation. The chaos electro circuit was found to impact the characteristics of EMD such as the crystalline structure, also the nanostructure morphology, and the hysteresis behavior.
Synthesis of vanadium-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene for enhanced lithium storage
Authors: Tian Miao , Hao Zhongkai
Published: March 2023

Two-dimensional (2D) titanium carbide (MXene) is considered as a potential anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) by virtue of its unique structural and electronic properties. However, its performance for actual energy storage is seriously affected by the loss of transition metal elements during the preparation process of MXene. Herein, using a simple hydrothermal method, vanadium was successfully doped into the delaminated Ti3C2T[Formula: see text] (named as V-doped Ti3C2T[Formula: see text]). As-prepared V-doped Ti3C2T[Formula: see text] MXenes provide more active sites and lower Li[Formula: see text] diffusion resistance. As a result, their rate performance is significantly improved compared to that of pristine Ti3C2T[Formula: see text]. Additionally, its discharge capacity retains a value of 63.6 mAh g[Formula: see text] after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g[Formula: see text].
Facial synthesis of FeS2@Carbon nanotube composite as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction
Authors: Zhang Qing-Yu , Wu Xiu-Juan , Luo Yu-Hui , Zhang Dong-En
Published: March 2023

Iron disulfide (FeS2) has attracted extensive research interest due to its excellent catalytic efficiency. In this work, FeS2 was composited with carbon matrix to prepare a highly efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. Two uniformly composites, namely, FeS2 @carbon nanotube (FeS2@CNT) and FeS2@carbon particle (FeS2@CP), were successfully prepared by pyrolysis and sulfuration processes. The structures of the synthesized composites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the catalytic performances of the composites were obviously improved compared to pure FeS2. Moreover, compared to FeS2@CP, the FeS2@CNT nanotubes achieved a much lower overpotential and a smaller Tafel slope. The enhanced HER kinetics and hydrogen generation rate of FeS2@CNT may be due to its more efficient charge transport, uniform distribution of active sites, and higher surface areas. This work provides a new clue for the preparation of FeS2-based composite for hydrogen evolution.
On local antimagic chromatic number of cycle-related join graphs II
Authors: Lau Gee-Choon , Premalatha K. , Arumugam S. , Shiu Wai Chee
Published: March 2023

An edge labeling of a graph [Formula: see text] is said to be local antimagic if it is a bijection [Formula: see text] such that for any pair of adjacent vertices [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], where the induced vertex label of [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] is the set of edges incident to [Formula: see text]). The local antimagic chromatic number of [Formula: see text], denoted by [Formula: see text], is the minimum number of distinct induced vertex labels over all local antimagic labelings of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, several sufficient conditions to determine the local antimagic chromatic number of the join of graphs are obtained. We then determine the exact value of the local antimagic chromatic number of many join graphs.
A fuzzified model for soft tissue prediction using a knowledge-based deep learning approach
Authors: Koppireddy Chandra Sekhar , Rao G. Siva Nageswara
Published: March 2023

Medical image analysis gains huge advancements with deep learning approaches which boosts the computational capability and accurate prediction. An expert in the field analyzes the feature representation, and an intelligent model helps to categorize and forecast diseases. The MRI images from cancer imaging archives are used to give a novel learning approach for soft tissue diagnosis. This work suggests a Type-2 fuzzy model that chooses local and maximum absolute value to handle the data. According to the experimental investigation, the predicted model works better than several current strategies. Deep convolutional neural networks built on the VGG-16 architecture and the Adam optimizers are used to pre-train the proposed model. The classification accuracy is anticipated based on the experimentation, demonstrating the need for complementary information for learning systems. The goal is to forecast the depth of knowledge extraction by boosting pre-trained CNN’s ability to be fine-tuned by improving the accuracy of soft tissue classification. The proposed model improves performance and validates the significance of the network model by categorizing the tissues as benign or cancerous. The proposed model attains 96.8% accuracy and 9% for depths of 5 and 8 mm and 93% for 10 mm. Similarly, the model attains 96.8% without inclusion, 100% with inclusion and an average outcome of 99%.
Territoriality, Conflict and Citizenship in the India–Myanmar Borderlands
Authors: HAOKIP THONGKHOLAL
Published: March 2023

The question of citizenship in northeast India has become a highly contested one due to the persisting ethnic-territoriality and intermittent conflicts that has plagued the region, particularly in the borderlands, since the early decades of Indian independence. The borders between India and Myanmar are largely porous and border crossing is a quotidian experience for people who inhabited on both sides of the border. Conflicts in the region, which were mainly fuelled by the drive for exclusive ethnic homelands in a territory co-inhabited by different ethnic groups, have led to displacements not only within the national border but even beyond. The rehabilitation of such conflict-induced displacements has led to questioning of the citizenship of displaced people. Such claim in contested spaces is nothing but to question the indigeneity of the “other” and their rights to land and its ownership. This politics of indigeneity is pursued in the region today with continued rigour and intensity to mainly ensure ethnodomination or to achieve exclusive ethnic homeland in contested spaces. They are silent and disingenuous on the universal fundamental human rights to leave and return to one’s country.
Towards a Common Definition of Open Data Intermediaries
Authors: Shaharudin Ashraf , van Loenen Bastiaan , Janssen Marijn
Published: March 2023

The role of open data intermediaries is considered instrumental in the supply and use of open data. There are various definitions of open data intermediaries in the literature and some of them are quite different from each other. These definitions can benefit from harmonization so knowledge about open data intermediaries can be developed on top of a shared understanding of what open data intermediaries mean. The objective of this article is to propose a common definition of open data intermediaries. We first carried out a systematic literature review and compiled the definitions of open data intermediaries from the literature. We found that each definition can be broken down into four basic components: (i) Who are the actors of open data intermediaries? (ii) What do they do? (iii) Where are they located in the open data lifecycle? and (iv) Why are they needed? We then conducted another round of data gathering and analysis to substantiate the four basic components. We proposed the following common definition of open data intermediaries: Third-party actors who provide specialized resources and capabilities to (i) enhance the supply, flow, and/or use of open data and/or (ii) strengthen the relationships among various open data stakeholders.
Urdu Short Paraphrase Detection at Sentence Level
Authors: Hafeez Hamza , Muneer Iqra , Sharjeel Muhammad , Ashraf Muhammad Adnan , Adeel Nawab Rao Muhammad
Published: March 2023

Paraphrase detection systems uncover the relationship between two text fragments and classify them as paraphrased when they convey the same idea; otherwise non-paraphrased. Previously, the researchers have mainly focused on developing resources for the English language for paraphrase detection. There have been very few efforts for paraphrase detection in South Asian languages. However, no research has been conducted on sentence-level paraphrase detection in Urdu, a low-resourced language. It is mainly due to the unavailability of the corpora that focus on the sentence level. The available related studies on the Urdu language only focus on text reuse detection tasks at the passage and document levels. Therefore, this study aims to develop a large-scale manually annotated benchmark Urdu paraphrase detection corpus at the sentence level, based on real cases from journalism. The proposed Urdu Sentential Paraphrases (USP) corpus contains 4,900 sentences (2,941 paraphrased and 1,959 non-paraphrased), manually collected from the Urdu newspapers. Moreover, several techniques were proposed, developed, and compared as a secondary contribution, including Word Embedding (WE), Sentence Transformers (ST), and feature-fusion techniques. N-gram is treated as the baseline technique for our research. The experimental results indicate that our proposed feature-fusion technique is the most suitable for the Urdu paraphrase detection task. Furthermore, the performance increases when features of the proposed (ST) and baseline (N-gram) are combined for the classification task. In addition, The proposed techniques have also been applied to the UPPC corpus to check their performance at the document level. The best result we obtained using the feature fusion technique (
F
1
= 0.855). Our corpus is available and free to download for research purposes.
Taming Internet of Things Application Development with the IoTvar Middleware
Authors: Borges Pedro Victor , Taconet Chantal , Chabridon Sophie , Conan Denis , Cavalcante Everton , Batista Thais
Published: March 2023

In the last years, Internet of Things (IoT) platforms have been designed to provide IoT applications with various services such as device discovery, context management, and data filtering. The lack of standardization has led each IoT platform to propose its own abstractions, APIs, and data models. As a consequence, programming interactions between an IoT consuming application and an IoT platform is time-consuming, is error prone, and depends on the developers’ level of knowledge about the IoT platform. To address these issues, this article introduces
IoTvar
, a middleware library deployed on the IoT consumer application that manages all its interactions with IoT platforms. IoTvar relies on declaring variables automatically mapped to sensors whose values are transparently updated with sensor observations through proxies on the client side. This article presents the IoTvar architecture and shows how it has been integrated into the FIWARE, OM2M, and
muDEBS
platforms. We also report the results of experiments performed to evaluate IoTvar, showing that it reduces the effort required to declare and manage IoT variables and has no considerable impact on CPU, memory, and energy consumption.
Structural Damage Evolution of Mesoscale Representative Elementary Areas of Mudstones
Authors: Hu Qijun , Zeng Junsen , He Leping , Huang Chengyi , Feng Shiqing
Published: March 2023

The mechanical behavior of mudstones is significantly affected by their mesostructure. This study investigates the damage evolution of red mudstone mesostructures under uniaxial compression through U-Net image segmentation, mesoscopic representative elementary area (mREA), meso-element equivalent method, and linearly superimposed model. Results show that the mREAs can be simplified as a binary structure comprising nonclayey minerals and a porous matrix. The inclusion-matrix interfaces constituted by the dominant inclusions, such as large inclusions and a series of inclusions with specific arrangements, are the weakest regions at the postpeak stage. The shear failure of these interfaces leads to general shear failure with a penetrating principal fracture or local shear with several nonpenetrating local fractures in the mREAs. The damage evolution and failure mode are sensitive to the inclusion geometric features, e.g., inclination, grain size, and spacing. However, the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is mainly determined by the included angle between the dominant inclusion inclination and the loading direction. With consistent composition, an increase in the included angle from 0 to 90° results in an increase in the UCS of the muddy facies and a decrease in the sandy facies, with the UCS of the sandy facies being more sensitive to changes in the included angle. Our findings indicate that the structural failure of red mudstones from mesoscopic to macroscopic is driven by the accumulation and expansion of shear failure at multiple scales due to the presence of hard–soft interfaces. This study enhances our understanding of the structural failure mechanism of mudstones and serves as a practical reference for the mesomechanical testing of clay rocks.
Can Following Paleolithic and Mediterranean Diets Reduce the Risk of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study on Iranian Women
Authors: Zamani Behzad , Zeinalabedini Mobina , Nasli Esfahani Ensieh , Azadbakht Leila
Published: March 2023

Background. Psychiatric disorders have been a challenge for public health and will bring economic problems to individuals and healthcare systems in the future. One of the important factors that could affect these disorders is diet. Objective. In the current study with a cross-sectional design, we investigated the association of Paleolithic and Mediterranean diets with psychological disorders in a sample of adult women. Methods. Participants were 435 adult women between 20 and 50 years old that refer to healthcare centers in the south of Tehran, Iran. The diet scores were created by the response to a valid and reliable semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and the psychological profile was determined by response to the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was applied to compute the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results. After adjusted for potential confounders, it is evident that participants in the highest Paleolithic diet tertile had lower odds of depression (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.37:

P
<
0.001

), anxiety (OR = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.45:

P
<
0.001

), and stress (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.32;

P
<
0.001

) in comparison to the lowest tertile. Furthermore, those in the third tertile of the Mediterranean diet score were at lower risk of depression (OR = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.36;

P
<
0.001

), anxiety (OR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.38;

P
<
0.001

), and stress (OR = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.39;

P
<
0.001

) compared with those in the first tertile. Conclusion. The result of the current study suggests that greater adherence to Paleolithic and Mediterranean dietary patterns may be related with a decreased risk of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress.
Determinants of Child Stunting, Wasting, and Underweight: Evidence from 2017 to 2018 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey
Authors: Siddiqa Maryam , Shah Gulzar H. , Mayo-Gamble Tilicia L. , Zubair Amber
Published: March 2023

Child malnutrition persists in low-resource countries such as Pakistan, indicating an urgent need for interventions and policies aimed to address this critical population health issue. The World Health Organization Global Target 2025 includes the reduction of malnourishment in the form of stunting, wasting, and low weight. This study aims to examine the prevalence of factors associated with three measures of child malnutrition, i.e., stunting, wasting, and low weight in Pakistan. This study uses a secondary data analysis design based on data from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2017-18) that used a two-stage cluster sampling approach. National level data covering urban and rural areas were used for this study consisting of 4,226 children less than 5 years of age. Univariate and multivariable analyses using logistic regression models were conducted. Over 23% of the children were underweight, 8.0% suffered wasting, and 37.7% were stunted. Children with small size at birth (<45.7 cm), those who were average in size (45.7 to 60 cm) at birth were less likely to be stunted (AOR, 0.4890) and underweight (AOR, 0.538). Children with large size at birth (>60 cm) were also less likely to be stunted (AOR, 0.288) and underweight (AOR, 0.538). Children who consumed fresh milk were less likely to be classified as wasted (AOR, 0.524) than those children who did not consume fresh milk. The children in high- and middle-economic status families were less likely to be stunted, underweight, or wasted. Children of mothers who had secondary and higher education were less likely to be stunted (AOR, 0.584) and were less likely to be underweight (AOR, 0.668) than illiterate mothers’ children. Children of working mothers were less likely to be wasted compared to children of nonworking mothers (AOR, 0.287). Maternal BMI is also inversely associated with being underweight because overweight and obese mothers were less likely to have underweight children (AOR, 0.585). Our findings reflect a need to design targeted public health policies and community-based education that emphasize the mother’s education on nutrition health and provide socioeconomic resources that enable mothers to provide dietary needs that prevent malnutrition.
Symptom Experiences before Medical Help-Seeking and Psychosocial Responses of Patients with Esophageal Cancer: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Ge Hui , Zhang Liang , Ma Xuanxuan , Li Wen , Li Shuwen
Published: March 2023

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate patients with esophageal cancer symptom experiences before seeking medical help and psychosocial responses. Methods. Within one month of diagnosis, semistructured interviews were held with 14 adult patients with esophageal cancer. To fully comprehend the symptom experiences that patients with esophageal cancer had prior to seeking medical help and the psychosocial responses they had to these experiences, thematic analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis were used. Results. Patients with esophageal cancer recounted their symptom experiences, and psychosocial responses were categorized into three main themes: physical, psychological, and social. Three subthemes were included in the physiological aspect: early symptoms (warning signs), specific symptoms (the catalyst for seeking medical help), and concurrent symptoms (masked side effects). Four subthemes were associated with psychological aspects: unfairness, regret, worry, and acceptance. Two subthemes were related to the social element, namely, dragging down one’s family and societal self-isolation. Conclusion. Due to the self-remitting nature of early symptoms, the normalization of their interpretation, and concealment by other illnesses, patients with esophageal cancer may delay medical help-seeking. The findings could serve as a reference for healthcare professionals to implement tailored psychosocial interventions and help patients identify symptoms early in order to seek medical help.
Late Incidental Discovery of Compression of the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery by an Endocardial Defibrillator Lead
Authors: Scripcariu Alex , Gaty Denis , Maury Philippe
Published: March 2023

Coronary artery compression/damage by cardiac pacing/defibrillation leads is very rare and often an unknown complication of pacemaker implantation. Here, we present the case of a 71-year-old woman with late discovery of an asymptomatic compression of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery by a defibrillation lead implanted ten years before. This dissuaded us in removing this now malfunctioning lead with high threshold, and an additional right ventricular (RV) lead was implanted along with atrial and left ventricular (LV) leads for allowing resynchronization therapy. Based on the published data, a majority of RV leads are currently implanted in the “anteroseptal area,” which is neighboring the course of the LAD.
Queering Public Health: A Critical Examination of Healthcare Access and Gender Expression among Trans, Nonbinary, and Other Gender Nonconforming People during COVID-19
Authors: Grey Cornel , Sinno Jad , Zhang Haochuan , Daroya Emerich , Skakoon-Sparling Shayna , Klassen Ben , Lessard David , Hart Trevor A. , Cox Joseph , Stewart Mackenzie , Grace Daniel
Published: March 2023

Research documenting the impact of COVID-19 on Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2SLGBTQ+) populations in Canada is limited. Our objectives were to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on the lives of trans, nonbinary, and other gender nonconforming (TGNC) people. Engage COVID-19 is a mixed methods study examining the impact of COVID-19 on gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) living in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, Canada. Using purposive sampling, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews (between November 2020–February 2021 and June–October 2021) with 93 participants who discussed the impact of COVID-19 on their lives. Seventeen participants were identified as TGNC. TGNC participants reported barriers to trans healthcare during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several participants indicated that some public health interventions during COVID-19 (i.e., lockdowns) eased the pressure to “perform” gender due to fewer in-person interactions. During lockdowns, TGNC participants increasingly cultivated community networks online. Nevertheless, participants reported longing for the social support that was available to them during pre-COVID. Lack of access to community spaces during lockdowns had a negative impact on participants’ mental health, despite reduced pressure to perform gender and opportunities for social engagement in online spaces.
Change in Serum Uric Acid is a Useful Predictor of All-Cause Mortality among Community-Dwelling Persons
Authors: Kawamoto Ryuichi , Kikuchi Asuka , Ninomiya Daisuke , Kumagi Teru
Published: March 2023

There is limited research on the association between longitudinal variability in serum uric acid (SUA) and all-cause mortality in the general population, although recent studies have suggested that changes in SUA are associated with all-cause mortality in adults. This study aims to examine the association between percentage change in SUA (%dSUA = 100 × (cohort 2 SUA − cohort 1 SUA)/(time × cohort 1 SUA) and all-cause mortality. This study is based on 1,301 participants, of whom 543 were male (63 ± 11 years) and 758 were female (63 ± 9 years). We obtained adjusted relative risk estimates for all-cause mortality and used a Cox proportional hazards model, adjusted for possible confounders, to determine the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of %dSUA. Of all the participants, 79 (6.1%) were deceased, and of these, 45 were male (8.3%) and 34 were female (4.5%). The multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CI) for all-cause mortality for the first, second to fourth (reference), and fifth %dSUA quintiles were 3.79 (1.67–8.48), 1.00, and 0.87 (0.29–2.61) for male participants and 4.00 (1.43–11.2), 1.00, and 1.19 (0.46–3.05) for female participants, respectively. Participants with a body mass index of <22 kg/m2 had a significantly higher HR, forming a U-shaped curve for the first (HR, 7.59; 95% CI, 2.13–27.0) and fifth quintiles (HR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.05–8.18) relative to the reference. Percentage change in SUA is independently and significantly associated with future all-cause mortality among community-dwelling persons.
A Moving Target Online Location Algorithm Based on Factor Graph
Authors: Wang Chenxin , Fu Wenxing , Zhang Tong , Hui Rong
Published: March 2023

The superior performance of factor graphs compared to Kalman filtering in various fields and the use of factor graph algorithms instead of Kalman filtering algorithms in moving target localization tasks can reduce target localization error by more than 50%. However, the global factor graph algorithm may cause computational delays due to excessive computational effort. A moving target localization algorithm based on a combination of global and incremental optimization with improved factor graphs is proposed to improve localization accuracy and ensure that the computation time can be adapted to the requirements of online location. A reference point is introduced into the incremental calculation process, and it is first determined whether global or incremental calculation is used for this calculation by comparing the distance between the incremental localization results of the calculated reference point. The position of the UAV itself is then corrected by determining the position of the reference point, and this is used to finally locate the target. Simulation results show that the algorithm has good real-time performance compared to the time-consuming global algorithm. The online localization error of moving targets can be reduced by 17% compared to the incremental calculation results of the classical factor graph algorithm.
Discovery of Transacting Long Noncoding RNAs That Regulate Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype
Authors: Shi Huitong , Nguyen Trieu , Zhao Quanyi , Cheng Paul , Sharma Disha , Kim Hyun-Jung , Brian Kim Juyong , Wirka Robert , Weldy Chad S. , Monteiro João P. , Quertermous Thomas
Published: March 2023

Background:

Smooth muscle cells (SMC), the major cell type in atherosclerotic plaques, are vital in coronary artery diseases (CADs). SMC phenotypic transition, which leads to the formation of various cell types in atherosclerotic plaques, is regulated by a network of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and governs the risk of disease. The involvement of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been increasingly identified in cardiovascular disease. However, SMC lncRNAs have not been comprehensively characterized, and their regulatory role in SMC state transition remains unknown.

Methods:

A discovery pipeline was constructed and applied to deeply strand-specific RNA sequencing from perturbed human coronary artery SMC with different disease-related stimuli, to allow for the detection of novel lncRNAs. The functional relevance of a select few novel lncRNAs were verified in vitro.

Results:

We identified 4579 known and 13 655 de novo lncRNAs in human coronary artery SMC. Consistent with previous long noncoding RNA studies, these lncRNAs overall have fewer exons, are shorter in length than protein-coding genes (pcGenes), and have relatively low expression level. Genomic location of these long noncoding RNA is disproportionately enriched near CAD-related TFs (transcription factors), genetic loci, and gene regulators of SMC identity, suggesting the importance of their function in disease. Two de novo lncRNAs,
ZIPPOR
(ZEB-interacting suppressor) and
TNS1-AS2
(TNS1-antisense 2), were identified by our screen. Combining transcriptional data and in silico modeling along with in vitro validation, we identified CAD gene
ZEB2
as a target through which these lncRNAs exert their function in SMC phenotypic transition.

Conclusions:

Expression of a large and diverse set of lncRNAs in human coronary artery SMC are highly dynamic in response to CAD-related stimuli. The dynamic changes in expression of these lncRNAs correspond to alterations in transcriptional programs that are relevant to CAD, suggesting a critical role for lncRNAs in SMC phenotypic transition and human atherosclerotic disease.
Self-Management Support Using Advertising Principles for Older Adults With Low Income at High Cardiovascular Risk: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Campbell David J.T. , Tonelli Marcello , Hemmelgarn Brenda R. , Faris Peter , Zhang Jianguo , Au Flora , Tsuyuki Ross T. , Mitchell Chad , Pannu Raj , Campbell Tavis , Ivers Noah , Fletcher Jane , Exner Derek V. , Manns Braden J. ,   for the Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration
Published: March 2023

Background:

Self-management education and support (SMES) interventions have modest effects on intermediate outcomes for those at risk of cardiovascular disease, but few studies have measured or demonstrated an effect on clinical end points. Advertising for commercial products is known to influence behavior, but advertising principles are not typically incorporated into SMES design.

Methods:

This randomized trial studied the effect of a novel tailored SMES program designed by an advertising firm among a population of older adults with low income at high cardiovascular risk in Alberta, Canada. The intervention included health promotion messaging from a fictitious “peer” and facilitated relay of clinical information to patients’ primary care provider and pharmacist. The primary outcome was the composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization, and hospitalizations for cardiovascular-related ambulatory care–sensitive conditions. Rates of the primary outcome and its components were compared using negative binomial regression. Secondary outcomes included quality of life (EQ-5D [EuroQoL 5-dimension] index score), medication adherence, and overall health care costs.

Results:

We randomized 4761 individuals, with a mean age of 74.4 years, of whom 46.8% were female. There was no evidence of statistical interaction (
P
=0.99) or of a synergistic effect between the 2 interventions in the factorial trial with respect to the primary outcome, which allowed us to evaluate the effect of each intervention separately. Over a median follow-up time of 36 months, the rate of the primary outcome was lower in the group that received SMES compared with the control group (incidence rate ratio, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.61 to 1.00];
P
=0.047). No significant between-group changes in quality of life over time were observed (mean difference, 0.0001 [95% CI, −0.018 to 0.018];
P
=0.99). The proportion of participants who were adherent to medications was not different between the 2 groups (
P
=0.199 for statins and
P
=0.754 for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers). Overall adjusted health care costs did not differ between those receiving SMES and the control group ($2015 [95% CI, −$1953 to $5985];
P
=0.320).

Conclusions:

For older adults with low income, a tailored SMES program using advertising principles reduced the rate of clinical outcomes compared with usual care. The mechanisms of improvement are unclear and further studies are required.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT02579655.
Associations of Modified Healthy Aging Index With Major Adverse Cardiac Events, Major Coronary Events, and Ischemic Heart Disease
Authors: Huang Ninghao , Zhuang Zhenhuang , Song Zimin , Wang Wenxiu , Li Yueying , Zhao Yimin , Xiao Wendi , Dong Xue , Jia Jinzhu , Liu Zhonghua , Smith Caren E. , Huang Tao
Published: March 2023

Background

The Healthy Aging Index (HAI) has been regarded as useful in capturing the health status of multiple organ systems. However, to what extent the HAI is associated with major cardiovascular events remains largely unknown. The authors constructed a modified HAI (mHAI) to quantify the association of physiological aging with major vascular events and explored how the effects of a healthy lifestyle can modify this association.

Methods and Results

The participants with either missing values of any individual mHAI component or major illnesses such as heart attack, angina and stroke, and self‐reported cancer at baseline were excluded. The mHAI components include systolic blood pressure, reaction time, forced vital capacity, serum cystatin c, and serum glucose. The authors used Cox proportional hazard models to quantify the association of mHAI with major adverse cardiac events, major coronary events, and ischemic heart disease. Cumulative incidence at 5 and 10 years was estimated, and joint analyses were stratified by age group and 4 mHAI categories. The mHAI was significantly correlated with major cardiovascular events, which is a better reflection of the aging level of the body than chronological age. An mHAI was calculated in 338 044 participants aged 38 to 73 years in the UK Biobank. Each point increase in the mHAI was associated with a 44% higher risk of major adverse cardiac events (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.44 [95% CI, 1.40–1.49]), 44% higher risk of major coronary events (aHR, 1.44 [95% CI, 1.40–1.48]), and 36% higher risk of ischemic heart disease (aHR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.33–1.39]). The percentage of population‐attribution risk was 51% (95% CI, 47–55) for major adverse cardiac events, 49% (95% CI, 45–53) for major coronary events, and 47% (95% CI, 44–50) for ischemic heart disease, which means that a substantial portion of these events could be prevented. Systolic blood pressure was the factor most significantly associated with major adverse cardiac events (aHR, 1.94 [95% CI, 1.82–2.08]; percentage of population‐attribution risk, 36%), major coronary events (aHR, 2.01 [95% CI, 1.85–2.17]; percentage of population‐attribution risk, 38%), and ischemic heart disease (aHR, 1.80 [95% CI, 1.71–1.89]; percentage of population‐attribution risk, 32%). A healthy lifestyle significantly attenuated mHAI associations with incidence of vascular events.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that higher mHAI is associated with increased major vascular events. A healthy lifestyle may attenuate these associations.
Always Look on the Bright Side: Associations of Optimism With Functional Outcomes After Stroke
Authors: Sloane Kelly L. , Kasner Scott E. , Favilla Christopher G. , Rothstein Aaron , Witsch Jens , Hamilton Roy H. , Schneider Andrea L. C.
Published: March 2023

Background

Psychological health is as an important contributor to recovery after cardiovascular disease, but the roles of both optimism and depression in stroke recovery are not well characterized.

Methods and Results

A total of 879 participants in the SRUP (Stroke Recovery in Underserved Populations) 2005 to 2006 Study, aged ≥50 years, with incident stroke admitted to a rehabilitation facility were included. Optimism was assessed by the question: “Are you optimistic about the future?” Depression was defined by Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale score >16. Participants were categorized into 4 groups: optimistic/without depression (n=581), optimistic/with depression (n=197), nonoptimistic/without depression (n=36), and nonoptimistic/with depression (n=65). Functional Independence Measure scores were used to assess stroke outcomes at discharge, 3 months after discharge, and 1 year after discharge with adjusted linear mixed models to estimate score trajectories. Participants were a mean age of 68 years (SD, 13 years), 52% were women, and 74% were White race. The optimistic/without depression group experienced the most recovery of total Functional Independence Measure scores in the first 3 months, 24.0 (95% CI, 22.5–25.4), followed by no change in the following 9 months, −0.3 (95% CI, −2.3 to 1.7), similar to the optimistic/with depression group with rapid recovery in 0 to 3 months, 21.1 (95% CI, 18.6–23.6) followed by minimal change in 3 to 12 months, 0.7 (95% CI, −2.8 to 4.1). The nonoptimistic groups demonstrated slow but continued recovery throughout the 12‐month period, with overall change, 25.4 (95% CI, 17.6–33.2) in the nonoptimistic/without depression group and 17.6 (95% CI, 12.0–23.1) in the nonoptimistic/with depression group. There was robust effect modification between optimism and depression (
P
interaction
<0.001).

Conclusions

In this longitudinal cohort, optimism and depression are synergistically associated with functional recovery after stroke. Measuring optimism status may help identify individuals at risk for worse poststroke recovery.