bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The times, they are a-changin’: tracking shifts in mental health signals from early phase to later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
Authors: Wang Siqin , Huang Xiao , Hu Tao , Zhang Mengxi , Li Zhenlong , Ning Huan , Corcoran Jonathan , Khan Asaduzzaman , Liu Yan , Zhang Jiajia , Li Xiaoming
Published: January 2022

Introduction

Widespread problems of psychological distress have been observed in many countries following the outbreak of COVID-19, including Australia. What is lacking from current scholarship is a national-scale assessment that tracks the shifts in mental health during the pandemic timeline and across geographic contexts.

Methods

Drawing on 244 406 geotagged tweets in Australia from 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2021, we employed machine learning and spatial mapping techniques to classify, measure and map changes in the Australian public’s mental health signals, and track their change across the different phases of the pandemic in eight Australian capital cities.

Results

Australians’ mental health signals, quantified by sentiment scores, have a shift from pessimistic (early pandemic) to optimistic (middle pandemic), reflected by a 174.1% (95% CI 154.8 to 194.5) increase in sentiment scores. However, the signals progressively recessed towards a more pessimistic outlook (later pandemic) with a decrease in sentiment scores by 48.8% (95% CI 34.7 to 64.9). Such changes in mental health signals vary across capital cities.

Conclusion

We set out a novel empirical framework using social media to systematically classify, measure, map and track the mental health of a nation. Our approach is designed in a manner that can readily be augmented into an ongoing monitoring capacity and extended to other nations. Tracking locales where people are displaying elevated levels of pessimistic mental health signals provide important information for the smart deployment of finite mental health services. This is especially critical in a time of crisis during which resources are stretched beyond normal bounds.
Influence of drug safety advisories on drug utilisation: an international interrupted time series and meta-analysis
Authors: Morrow Richard L , Mintzes Barbara , Souverein Patrick C , De Bruin Marie L , Roughead Elizabeth Ellen , Lexchin Joel , Kemp-Casey Anna , Puil Lorri , Sketris Ingrid , Mangin Dee , Hallgreen Christine E , Pearson Sallie-Anne , Lopert Ruth , Bero Lisa , Ofori-Asenso Richard , Gnjidic Danijela , Sarpatwari Ameet , Perry Lucy T , Dormuth Colin R
Published: January 2022

Objective

To evaluate the association between regulatory drug safety advisories and changes in drug utilisation.

Design

We conducted controlled, interrupted times series analyses with administrative prescription claims data to estimate changes in drug utilisation following advisories. We used random-effects meta-analysis with inverse-variance weighting to estimate the average postadvisory change in drug utilisation across advisories.

Study population

We included advisories issued in Canada, Denmark, the UK and the USA during 2009–2015, mainly concerning drugs in common use in primary care. We excluded advisories related to over-the-counter drugs, drug-drug interactions, vaccines, drugs used primarily in hospital and advisories with co-interventions within ±6 months.

Main outcome measures

Change in drug utilisation, defined as actual versus predicted percentage change in the number of prescriptions (for advisories without dose-related advice), or in the number of defined daily doses (for dose-related advisories), per 100 000 population.

Results

Among advisories without dose-related advice (n=20), the average change in drug utilisation was −5.83% (95% CI −10.93 to –0.73; p=0.03). Advisories with dose-related advice (n=4) were not associated with a statistically significant change in drug utilisation (−1.93%; 95% CI −17.10 to 13.23; p=0.80). In a post hoc subgroup analysis of advisories without dose-related advice, we observed no statistically significant difference between the change in drug utilisation following advisories with explicit prescribing advice, such as a recommendation to consider the risk of a drug when prescribing, and the change in drug utilisation following advisories without such advice.

Conclusions

Among safety advisories issued on a wide range of drugs during 2009–2015 in 4 countries (Canada, Denmark, the UK and the USA), the association of advisories with changes in drug utilisation was variable, and the average association was modest.
Risk of infective endocarditis after surgical and transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Authors: Cahill Thomas J , Raby Jonathan , Jewell Paul D , Brennan Paul F , Banning Adrian P , Byrne Jonathan , Kharbanda Rajesh K , MacCarthy Philip A , Thornhill Martin H , Sandoe Jonathan A T , Spence Mark S , Ludman Peter , Hildick-Smith David J R , Redwood Simon R , Prendergast Bernard D
Published: January 2022

Objective

To define the incidence and risk factors for infective endocarditis (IE) following surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Methods

All patients who underwent first SAVR or TAVI in England between 2007 and 2016 were identified from the NICOR databases. Hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of IE were identified by linkage with the NHS Hospital Episode Statistics database. Approval was obtained from the NHS Research Ethics Committee.

Results

2057 of 91 962 patients undergoing SAVR developed IE over a median follow-up of 53.9 months—an overall incidence of 4.81 [95% CI 4.61 to 5.03] per 1000 person-years. Correspondingly, 140 of 14 195 patients undergoing TAVI developed IE over a median follow-up of 24.5 months—an overall incidence of 3.57 [95% CI 3.00 to 4.21] per 1000 person-years. The cumulative incidence of IE at 60 months was higher after SAVR than after TAVI (2.4% [95% CI 2.3 to 2.5] vs 1.5% [95% CI 1.3 to 1.8], HR 1.60, p<0.001). Across the entire cohort, SAVR remained an independent predictor of IE after multivariable adjustment. Risk factors for IE included younger age, male sex, atrial fibrillation, and dialysis.

Conclusions

IE is a rare complication of SAVR and TAVI. In our population, the incidence of IE was higher after SAVR than after TAVI.
Targeting CD38 and PD-1 with isatuximab plus cemiplimab in patients with advanced solid malignancies: results from a phase I/II open-label, multicenter study
Authors: Zucali Paolo Andrea , Lin Chia-Chi , Carthon Bradley C , Bauer Todd M , Tucci Marcello , Italiano Antoine , Iacovelli Roberto , Su Wu-Chou , Massard Christophe , Saleh Mansoor , Daniele Gennaro , Greystoke Alastair , Gutierrez Martin , Pant Shubham , Shen Ying-Chun , Perrino Matteo , Meng Robin , Abbadessa Giovanni , Lee Helen , Dong Yingwen , Chiron Marielle , Wang Rui , Loumagne Laure , Lépine Lucie , de Bono Johann
Published: January 2022

Background

Preclinical data suggest that concurrent treatment of anti-CD38 and antiprogrammed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibodies substantially reduce primary tumor growth by reversing T-cell exhaustion and thus enhancing anti-PD-1/PD-L1 efficacy.

Methods

This phase I/II study enrolled patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) or advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The primary objectives of phase I were to investigate the safety and tolerability of isatuximab (anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody)+cemiplimab (anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, Isa+Cemi) in patients with mCRPC (naïve to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy) or NSCLC (progressed on anti-PD-1/PD-L1-containing therapy). Phase II used Simon’s two-stage design with response rate as the primary endpoint. An interim analysis was planned after the first 24 (mCRPC) and 20 (NSCLC) patients receiving Isa+Cemi were enrolled in phase II. Safety, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and antitumor activity were assessed, including CD38, PD-L1, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the tumor microenvironment (TME), and peripheral immune cell phenotyping.

Results

Isa+Cemi demonstrated a manageable safety profile with no new safety signals. All patients experienced ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event. Grade≥3 events occurred in 13 (54.2%) patients with mCRPC and 12 (60.0%) patients with NSCLC. Based on PCWG3 criteria, assessment of best overall response with Isa+Cemi in mCRPC revealed no complete responses (CRs), one (4.2%) unconfirmed partial response (PR), and five (20.8%) patients with stable disease (SD). Per RECIST V.1.1, patients with NSCLC receiving Isa+Cemi achieved no CR or PR, and 13 (65%) achieved SD. In post-therapy biopsies obtained from patients with mCRPC or NSCLC, Isa+Cemi treatment resulted in a reduction in median CD38+ tumor-infiltrating immune cells from 40% to 3%, with no consistent modulation of PD-L1 on tumor cells or T regulatory cells in the TME. The combination triggered a significant increase in peripheral activated and cytolytic T cells but, interestingly, decreased natural killer cells.

Conclusions

The present study suggests that CD38 and PD-1 modulation by Isa+Cemi has a manageable safety profile, reduces CD38+ immune cells in the TME, and activates peripheral T cells; however, such CD38 inhibition was not associated with significant antitumor activity. A lack of efficacy was observed in these small cohorts of patients with mCRPC or NSCLC.

Trial registration numbers

NCT03367819.
Association of antibiotic treatment with immune-related adverse events in patients with cancer receiving immunotherapy
Authors: Jing Ying , Chen Xue , Li Kunyan , Liu Yaoming , Zhang Zhao , Chen Yiqing , Liu Yuan , Wang Yushu , Lin Steven H , Diao Lixia , Wang Jing , Lou Yanyan , Johnson Douglas B , Chen Xiang , Liu Hong , Han Leng
Published: January 2022

Background

To determine whether antibiotic treatment is a risk factor for immune-related adverse events (irAEs) across different patients with cancer receiving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies.

Methods

The retrospective analysis includes clinical information from 767 patients with cancer treated at Hunan Cancer Hospital from 2017 to 2020. The pharmacovigilance data analysis includes individual cases of 38,705 safety reports from the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 2014 to 2020, and 25,122 cases of safety reports from the World Health Organization database VigiBase from 2014 to 2019. All cases that received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment were included. Multiomics data from patients across 25 cancer types were download from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Logistic regression and propensity score algorithm was employed to calculate OR of irAEs.

Results

Retrospective analysis of in-house patients showed that irAE potential risks are higher in all cancer (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.38 to 3.22, false discovery rate (FDR) adjusted-p=1.93×10−3) and patients with lung cancer (OR 3.16, 95% CI 1.67 to 5.95, FDR adjusted-p=1.93×10−3) when using antibiotics. Potential risk of irAEs in patients with lung cancer with antibiotic treatment is significantly higher in FAERS (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.59; FDR adjusted-p=1.62×10−5) and VigiBase (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.59, FDR adjusted-p=0.05). Mechanistically, decreased microbial diversity caused by antibiotics use may increase the irAE risk through mediating the irAE-related factors.

Conclusions

Our study is the first to comprehensively demonstrate the associations of irAEs and antibiotic during anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy across a wide spectrum of cancers by analyzing multisource data. Administration of antibiotics should be carefully evaluated in patients with cancer treated by anti-PD-1/PD-L1 to avoid potentially increasing irAE risk.
Sex-specific muscle activation and oxygenation kinetics during a repetitive forward pointing task
Authors: Yoon SangHoon , Bailey Christopher A. , Côté Julie N.
Published: January 2022

We compared the minute-by-minute muscle activity and oxygenation responses to a repetitive arm motion-induced fatiguing task between the sexes in order to address the literature gap on these time-dependent fatigue responses. Twenty-six (13 females) healthy adults performed a repetitive pointing task (RPT) with the arm moving forward/backward at shoulder height until reaching 8/10 (Borg CR10) for neck/shoulder perceived exertion (RPE). Neck/shoulder RPE, oxygenation and electromyography were recorded every minute and compared between first and second half of the task and between the sexes. Greater changes in oxygen supply and activation amplitude occurred during the second half of the task. Despite similar time to fatigue-terminal (p > 0.05), females showed greater anterior deltoid activation amplitude at all time points than males, and only the males showed increases in anterior and posterior deltoid activation amplitudes. In females, middle (ρ = –0.34, p = 0.04) and posterior (ρ = –0.44, p = 0.01) deltoid amplitudes were negatively correlated with perceived exertion during the first half of the task. Results suggest that reduced modulation of anterior deltoid activation amplitude in females may reflect a sub-optimal fatigue-mitigation mechanism compared with males and may help explain their greater susceptibility to neck/shoulder musculoskeletal disorders.

Novelty: Despite similar fatigability and trapezius oxygenation, females showed greater deltoid activation throughout the task. Deltoid activation increased in males but not in females. The results support the important role of the deltoid in sex-specific neck/shoulder injury mechanisms.
Diversity of soil fungi in the vineyards of Changli region in China
Authors: Yan Hejing , Ge Chao , Zhou Jiefang , Li Jun
Published: January 2022

This study aimed to elucidate the fungal diversity of Changli vineyard soil in China. High-throughput sequencing technology was used to investigate the diversity and composition of soil fungi in five vineyards from different geographical locations in Changli. Although the five vineyards had similar fungal communities, the diversity, composition, and distribution of the high-abundance species differed. Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Mortierellomycota were dominant phyla. Among the 14 high-abundance genera of fungi, Odiodendron, Pleotrichocladium, and Plectosephalella have rarely been reported in other vineyards and are unique to the Changli region. In addition, Solicoccozyma aeria and Solicoccozyma terrea were the dominant species in the five vineyards and have rarely been reported in domestic vineyards. Additionally, Rhizophagus, Wardomyces, Mortierella, Volutella, and Cryptococcus were significantly different among the five vineyard soils. Among these species, Mortierella was highly abundant in each vineyard, but its contents were significantly different across vineyards. These findings enrich the information on the composition and diversity of soil fungi in the vineyard of the Changli region, which helps to explore the regional or distinctive sensorial attributes of wine from the perspective of microbial biogeography.
A Spatio-Temporal Method for Extracting Gamma-Band Features to Enhance Classification in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Task
Authors: Xie Ping , Hao Shencai , Zhao Jing , Liang Zhenhu , Li Xiaoli
Published: January 2022

Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) is a type of electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern commonly used for target recognition. Besides delta- and theta-band responses already used for classification, RSVP task also evokes gamma-band responses having low amplitude and large individual difference. This paper proposes a filter bank spatio-temporal component analysis (FBSCA) method, extracting spatio-temporal features of the gamma-band responses for the first time, to enhance the RSVP classification performance. Considering the individual difference in time latency and responsive frequency, the proposed FBSCA method decomposes the gamma-band EEG data into sub-components in different time–frequency-space domains and seeks the weight coefficients to optimize the combinations of electrodes, common spatial pattern (CSP) components, time windows and frequency bands. Two state-of-the-art methods, i.e. hierarchical discriminant principal component analysis (HDPCA) and discriminative canonical pattern matching (DCPM), were used for comparison. The performance was evaluated in [Formula: see text] cross validations using a public dataset. Study results showed that the FBSCA method outperformed the other methods regardless of number of training trials. These results suggest that the proposed FBSCA method can enhance the RSVP classification.
Impacts of transpiration of agricultural crops and seeding on rainfall: Implications from a mathematical model
Authors: Tripathi Amita , Tiwari Pankaj Kumar , Misra Arvind Kumar , Kang Yun
Published: January 2022

As the source of replenishment, rainfall has an extensive impact because its variability shapes biologically efficient pulses of soil moisture recharge across layers from rainfall events. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to explore the importance of transpiration from agricultural crops and aerosols on the pattern of rainfall. For the system without seeding, the simulation results show destabilizing roles of parameters related to formation of cloud drops due to transpiration of agricultural crops, formation of raindrops due to cloud drops and growth of agricultural crops due to rain. The model without seeding is extended to its stochastic counterpart to encapsulate the uncertainty observed in some important parameters. We observe the variability in the system’s variables and found their distributions at certain fixed times, which explore the importance of stochasticity in the system. Our findings show that transpiration through agricultural crops plays an important role in cloud formation, and thus, affects the effectiveness of different rainfall events. Moreover, the combined actions of transpiration and seeding are much more beneficial in producing rain. Finally, we see the behavior of system by considering seasonal variations of some rate parameters.
Reinforcement Learning for Datacenter Congestion Control
Authors: Tessler Chen , Shpigelman Yuval , Dalal Gal , Mandelbaum Amit , Haritan Kazakov Doron , Fuhrer Benjamin , Chechik Gal , Mannor Shie
Published: January 2022

We approach the task of network congestion control in datacenters using Reinforcement Learning (RL). Successful congestion control algorithms can dramatically improve latency and overall network throughput. Until today, no such learning-based algorithms have shown practical potential in this domain. Evidently, the most popular recent deployments rely on rule-based heuristics that are tested on a predetermined set of benchmarks. Consequently, these heuristics do not generalize well to newly-seen scenarios. Contrarily, we devise an RL-based algorithm with the aim of generalizing to different configurations of real-world datacenter networks. We overcome challenges such as partial-observability, nonstationarity, and multi-objectiveness. We further propose a policy gradient algorithm that leverages the analytical structure of the reward function to approximate its derivative and improve stability. We show that this scheme outperforms alternative popular RL approaches, and generalizes to scenarios that were not seen during training. Our experiments, conducted on a realistic simulator that emulates communication networks' behavior, exhibit improved performance concurrently on the multiple considered metrics compared to the popular algorithms deployed today in real datacenters. Our algorithm is being productized to replace heuristics in some of the largest datacenters in the world.
Sharp Zero-Queueing Bounds for Multi-Server Jobs
Authors: Hong Yige
Published: January 2022

Multi-server jobs, which are jobs that occupy multiple servers simultaneously during service, are prevalent in today's computing clusters. But little is known about the delay performance of systems with multi-server jobs. In this paper, we consider queueing models for multi-server jobs in a scaling regime where the number of servers in the system becomes large. Prior work has derived upper bounds on the queueing probability in this scaling regime. But without proper lower bounds, the results cannot be used to differentiate between policies. We focus on the mean queueing time of multi-server jobs, and establish both upper and lower bounds under various scheduling policies. Our results show that a Priority policy achieves order optimality for minimizing mean queueing time, and the Priority policy is strictly better than the First-Come-First-Serve policy.
Impaired pharyngeal reflex responses to negative pressure: a novel cause of sleep apnea in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Hensen Hanna A. , Carberry Jayne C. , Krishnan Arun V. , Osman Amal M. , Mosch Anne-Marie H. , Toson Barbara , Tay Kevin L. , Eckert Danny J.
Published: January 2022

This study investigated the function of an important reflex that helps protect the upper airway from closing during negative (suction) pressure in people with and without multiple sclerosis (MS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We found that ∼30% of people with MS had either no protective reflex or an abnormal reflex response. These findings indicate that impaired upper-airway reflex function may be an important contributor to OSA for a substantial proportion of people with MS.
Macrophage Depletion Reduces Disease Pathology in Factor H-Dependent Immune Complex-Mediated Glomerulonephritis
Authors: Jacob Alexander , Phelps Michael , Fraher Shane , Lopez Marcos , Chang Anthony , Quigg Richard J. , Alexander Jessy J.
Published: January 2022

Complement factor H (FH) is a key regulator of the alternative pathway of complement, in man and mouse. Earlier, our studies revealed that the absence of FH causes the C57BL6 mouse to become susceptible to chronic serum sickness (CSS) along with an increase in the renal infiltration of macrophages compared to controls. To understand if the increased recruitment of macrophages (Mϕs) to the kidney was driving inflammation and propagating injury, we examined the effect of Mϕ depletion with clodronate in FH knockout mice with CSS. Eight-week-old FHKO mice were treated with apoferritin (4 mg/mouse) for 5 wks and with either vehicle (PBS) or clodronate (50 mg/kg ip, 3 times/wk for the last 3 weeks). The administration of clodronate decreased monocytes and Mϕs in the kidneys by >80%. Kidney function assessed by BUN and albumin remained closer to normal on depletion of Mϕs. Clodronate treatment prevented the alteration in cytokines, TNFα and IL-6, and increase in gene expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), TGFβ-1, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), fibronectin, laminin, and collagen in FHKO mice with CSS (

P
<
0.05

). Clodronate treatment led to relative protection from immune complex- (IC-) mediated disease pathology during CSS as assessed by the significantly reduced glomerular pathology (GN) and extracellular matrix. Our results suggest that complement activation is one of the mechanism that regulates the macrophage landscape and thereby fibrosis. The exact mechanism remains to be deciphered. In brief, our data shows that Mϕs play a critical role in FH-dependent ICGN and Mϕ depletion reduces disease progression.
Approximation Properties andq-Statistical Convergence of Stancu-Type Generalized Baskakov-Szász Operators
Authors: Cai Qing-Bo , Kilicman Adem , Ayman Mursaleen Mohammad
Published: January 2022

In this article, we introduce Stancu-type modification of generalized Baskakov-Szász operators. We obtain recurrence relations to calculate moments for these new operators. We study several approximation properties andq-statistical approximation for these operators.
The Correlation between Functional Connectivity of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex and Cervical Spinal Cord Microstructural Injury in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy
Authors: Zhao Guoshu , Zhang Chenlei , Zhan Yaru , He Laichang
Published: January 2022

Objectives. To explore functional connectivity reorganization of the primary somatosensory cortex, the chronic microstructure damage of the cervical spinal cord, and their relationship in cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) patients. Methods. Thirty-three patients with CSM and 23 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for rs-fMRI and cervical spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans. Six subregions (including leg, back, chest, hand, finger and face) of bilateral primary somatosensory cortex (S1) were selected for seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity (FC). Then, we calculated the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values of the cervical spinal cord. Correlation analysis was conducted between FC values of brain regions and DTI parameters of cervical spinal cord (ADC, FA), and their relationship with each other and clinical parameters. Results. Compared with the HC group, the CSM group showed decreased FC between areas of the left S1hand, the left S1leg, the right S1chest, and the right S1leg with brain regions. The mean FA values of the cervical spinal cord in CSM patients were positively correlated with JOA scores. Especially, the FApos values of bilateral posterior funiculus were positively correlated with JOA scores. The ADC and FA values of bilateral posterior funiculus in the cervical spinal cord were also positively correlated with the FC values. Conclusions. There was synchronization between chronic cervical spinal cord microstructural injury and cerebral cortex sensory function compensatory recombination. DTI parameters of the posterior cervical spinal cord could objectively reflect the degree of cerebral cortex sensory function impairment to a certain extent.
Fabrication and Characterization of Alveolus-Like Scaffolds with Control of the Pore Architecture and Gas Permeability
Authors: Lü Lanxin , Shen Hongxian , Kasai Daichi , Yang Ying
Published: January 2022

The micrometer scale sac-like alveoli are the most important and essential unit for gas exchange in the lung. Thus, design and fabrication of scaffolds for alveoli regeneration by tissue engineering approach should meet a few topography and functional requests such as large surface area, flexibility, and high gas permeability to their native counterpart. Testing the gas permeability of scaffolds through a fast and simple technique is also highly demanded to assist new scaffold development. This study fabricated alveolus-like scaffolds with regular pore shape, high pore connectivity, and high porosity produced by inverse opal technique alongside randomly distrusted porous scaffolds by salt leaching technique from two different materials (polyurethane and poly(L-lactic acid)). The scaffold surface was modified by immobilization of VEGF. A facile and new technique based on the bubble meter principle enabling to measure the gas permeability of porous scaffolds conveniently has been developed specifically. The cellular response of the scaffolds was assessed by culturing with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and coculturing with lung epithelial NL20 and endothelial HUVECs. Our results showed that the newly designed gas permeability device provided rapid, nondestructive, reproducible, and accurate assessment of gas permeability of different scaffolds. The porous polyurethane scaffolds made by inverse opal method had much better gas permeability than other scaffolds used in this study. The cellular work indicated that with VEGF surface modification, polyurethane inverse opal scaffolds induced alveolus-like tissues and have promising application in lung tissue engineering.
On the Rejection of Random Perturbations and the Tracking of Random References in a Quadrotor
Authors: Meda-Campaña Jesus Alberto , Escobedo-Alva Jonathan Omega , Rubio José de Jesús , Aguilar-Ibañez Carlos , Perez-Cruz Jose Humberto , Obregon-Pulido Guillermo , Tapia-Herrera Ricardo , Orozco Eduardo , Cordova Daniel Andres , Islas Marco Antonio
Published: January 2022

In this note, the problem of tracking random references and rejecting random perturbations in a quadrotor, both generated by an auxiliary system named exosystem, is solved by extending the deterministic tracking problem to the area of stochastic processes. Besides, it is considered that only a part of the state vector of the quadrotor is available through measurements. As a consequence, the state vector of the plant must be estimated in order to close the control loop. On this basis, a controller to track random references and to reject random perturbations is developed by combining a Kalman filter to estimate the references and perturbations of an exosystem and an observer to estimate the states of a quadrotor. Besides, to obtain a more practical controller, the analysis is carried out in discrete time. Numerical simulations are used in a quadrotor to confirm the validity and effectiveness of the proposed control.
A Backstepping Controller with the RBF Neural Network for Folding‐Boom Aerial Work Platform
Authors: Hu Haidong , Song Yandong , Fan Pu , Diao Chen , Cai Ning
Published: January 2022

Aerial work platform is a kind of engineering vehicle which is used for hoisting personnel to the appointed place for maintenance or installation. Based on the dynamics model considering the flexible deformation existing in the arm system of folding‐boom aerial platform vehicle, this study presents a NN‐based backstepping controller used for trajectory tracking control of work platform. The proposed controller can reduce tracking error of work platform and suppress the vibration simultaneously by using the RBF neural network system to compensate model uncertainties and disturbances. Furthermore, we prove that the whole system is stable and convergent by Lyapunov stability theorem. In addition, we give the simulation results which show that the good control performance of the designed controller for trajectory tracking and vibration inhabiting of work platform in the case of model uncertainties.
Experimental Study on Dynamic Mechanical Characteristics and Energy Evolution of Sandstone under Cyclic Impact Loading
Authors: Gao Xicai , Xia Huan , Wang Xinyu , Zhao Cheng , Yin Jianhui
Published: January 2022

In order to study the dynamic mechanical properties of the surrounding rock of roadway in deep mines with rock burst, cyclic impact compression tests of sandstone under different impact velocities were carried out by using the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test system, and the dynamic stress-strain curves of the samples under cyclic impact loads and the relationship between energy dissipation and impact numbers were analyzed. The results show that, as the impact loading times increase, the initial elastic modulus of sandstone samples decreases, the peak stress decreases, and the peak strain increases; the average strain rate increases. The cumulative damage of sandstone samples under impact load is significantly affected by impact velocity and times. During the cyclic impact test, the reflected energy of sandstone increases with the increase of impact numbers, while the transmitted energy decreases and the absorbed energy increases; the cumulative specific energy absorption variable is introduced, and the cumulative specific energy absorption value of the samples increases with the increase of impact numbers, which can better characterize the variation of energy accumulation and dissipation of sandstone samples under cyclic impact.
Similarity Measures Based on q‐Rung Linear Diophantine Fuzzy Sets and Their Application in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Authors: Qiyas Muhammad , Naeem Muhammad , Abdullah Saleem , Khan Neelam , Ali Asad
Published: January 2022

With the frequent occurrence of emergency events, decision‐making (DM) plays an increasingly significant role in coping with them and has become an important and the challenging research focus recently. It is critical for decision makers to make accurate and reasonable emergency judgments in a short period as poor decisions can result in enormous economic losses and an unstable social order. As a consequence, this work offers a new DM approach based on novel distance and similarity measures using q‐rung linear Diophantine fuzzy (q‐RLDF) information to assure that DM problems may be addressed successfully and fast. One of the useful methods for determining the degree of similarity between the objects is the similarity measure. In this paper, we propose some new q‐rung linear Diophantine fuzzy (q‐ROLDF) distances and similarity measures. The Jaccard similarity measure, exponential similarity measure, and cosine and cotangent function‐based similarity measures are proposed for q‐LDFSs. The defined similarity measures are applied to the logistics and supply chain management problem, and the results are discussed. A comparison of new similarity measures is developed, and the proposed work’s advantages are discussed.
Citric Acid Promotes the Mobilization of Phosphorus under the Lower Concentration of Low Molecular Weight Organic Acids in Acidic Forest Soil
Authors: Zhu He , Bing Haijian , Wu Yanhong
Published: January 2022

Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) secreted by plant roots enhanced the release of inorganic P (Pi) and organic P (Po) into the soil solution and thereby increased plant-available Pi in soils. Not the effect of LMWOAs on inducing organic P (Po) released into soil solution through soil microorganisms at different temperatures was poorly understood, but the transform mechanism for P fraction was also not well explained. This study used three experiments to determine the release of P and the transformation mechanism of P fractions induced by oxalic acid, citric acid, and malic acid in acidic forest soils. The results showed that LMWOAs, as carbon sources for microorganisms, mobilize Po more effectively than glucose. Inorganic P and organic P were released by LMWOAs followed by [Formula: see text] if the substrates of P and LMWOAs were enough. There may be a critical threshold for the concentration of citric acid and oxalic acid between 10 mM and 25 mM to require for the solution of adsorbed and precipitated P, respectively. In all, LMWOAs increased the concentration of labile P by decreasing the concentration of stable P. The results indicated that LMWOAs can significantly promote P availability in acidic forests soils, and the effect of microorganisms on soil available P was more inclined to use LMWOAs than glucose.
The Prognostic Role of Metabolic and Endocrine Parameters for the Clinical Severity of COVID-19
Authors: Bonakdaran Shokoufeh , Layegh Parvin , Hasani Solmaz , Afkhamizadeh Mozhgan , Khorasani Zahra Mazloum , Mohebbi Masoud , Vojouhi Shohreh , Mousavi Zohreh , Aboutorabi Robab Beigom , Mehrad-Majd Hassan , Sahebkar Amirhossein , Yaghoubi Mohammad Ali
Published: January 2022

Objective. An outbreak of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) began in December 2019 and spread globally, overwhelming the entire world. COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international concern. Due to its high morbidity and mortality rate, recognition of its risk and prognostic factors is important. We aimed to understand the relationship between metabolic and endocrine parameters and the prognosis of COVID-19. Methods and Materials. This was a cross-sectional clinical study. A total of 70 patients with severe COVID-19 were enrolled. Laboratory results at the first admission time (including complete blood count, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, blood glucose, calcium, phosphate, albumin, creatinine, magnesium, lipid profiles, liver enzymes, thyroid hormones, cortisol, and vitamin D) and outcome data were recorded. We divided patients into (1) intensive care unit- (ICU-) admitted and non-ICU-admitted and (2) survivors and nonsurvivors for estimation of severity and prognosis. We determined the risk factors associated with critical illness and poor prognosis. Results. Patients with higher white blood cell (WBC) count and phosphate levels had significantly higher ICU admission rates. According to univariate analysis, serum levels of T3, phosphate, and WBC as well as the duration of hospitalization were associated with mortality. Multivariate analysis revealed that only WBC and duration of hospitalization were independent predictors for mortality rate in COVID-19 patients. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that longer duration of hospitalization and higher WBC count are associated with poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19.
An Auxiliary Decision-Making System for Electric Power Intelligent Customer Service Based on Hadoop
Authors: Wu Shisong , Dong Zhaojie
Published: January 2022

Aiming at the problems of low security, high occupancy rate, and long response time in the current power intelligent customer service assistant decision-making system, a power intelligent customer service assistant decision-making system based on the Hadoop big data framework is designed. By analyzing the Hadoop big data framework, according to the characteristics and core elements of the HDFS distributed file system, the MapReduce programming model, and the data mining algorithm, the basic process of power intelligent customer service assistance decision-making is established. We analyze the overall and functional requirements of the system, design the overall architecture and application architecture of the system, design the E-R diagram and table structure of the database according to the database design principle, and realize the design of power intelligent customer service auxiliary decision-making system based on Hadoop big data framework. The test results show that the proposed method has high system security and low system occupancy and can effectively shorten the system response time. The systems run more flawlessly as compared to the existing methods and give impressing results with lesser CPU utilization. The response time was recorded to be about 12.2 seconds for 1000 power intelligent customer servers, which is much lower than that of the competitors.
Antioxidant Activity, Microbiological Quality, and Acceptability of Spontaneously Fermented Shrimp Sausage (Litopenaeus vannamei)
Authors: Afifah Diana N. , Dewi Uchida T. S. , Anggraeni Rizka D. , Tsani A. Fahmy A. , Widyastuti Nurmasari , Fulyani Faizah , Anjani Gemala
Published: January 2022

Fermented shrimp sausages are prepared spontaneously with Litopenaeus vannamei as raw material. Shrimp is one of the marine sources with rich chitosan as bioactive compounds, antioxidants, vitamin E, and probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produced by fermentation processes. This study aimed to analyze the variations in antioxidant activity, vitamin E content, total LAB, total pathogenic bacteria, pH, and acceptability of shrimp sausage produced at different fermentation times. A completely randomized experimental design study was performed using four levels of exposure time, including control (0 days), 1, 2, and 3 days. The treatment was conducted spontaneously with 1.2% salt concentration, a drying temperature of 50°C for 3 h, and fermentation at 35°C. The evaluated parameters included the antioxidant activity measured with the radical 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) method, vitamin E levels by high-performance liquid chromatography, total LAB with total plate count, and Escherichia coli bacteria by the most probable number method. Salmonella sp. and Staphylococcus aureus were estimated by the identification method. A pH meter was used to assess acidity, and hedonic organoleptic testing was performed for taste, aroma, color, and texture. The results show significant differences in antioxidant activity, vitamin E, and shrimp sausage acceptability at varied fermentation timesp≤0.05. However, the best formulation was obtained with the first-day fermented shrimp sausage, as shown by its bioactive content and the level of acceptability.
Rule‐Based Information Extraction from Free‐Text Pathology Reports Reveals Trends in South African Female Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Ki67 Expression
Authors: Achilonu Okechinyere J. , Singh Elvira , Nimako Gideon , Eijkemans René M. J. C. , Musenge Eustasius
Published: January 2022

Clinical information on molecular subtypes and the Ki67 index is critical for breast cancer (BC) prognosis and personalised treatment plan. Extracting such information into structured data is essential for research, auditing, and cancer incidence reporting and underpins the potential for automated decision support. Herewith, we developed a rule‐based natural language processing algorithm that retrieved and extracted important BC parameters from free‐text pathology reports towards exploring molecular subtypes and Ki67‐proliferation trends. We considered malignant BC pathology reports with different free‐text narrative attributes from the South African National Health Laboratory Service. The reports were preprocessed and parsed through the algorithm. Parameters extracted by the algorithm were validated against manually extracted parameters. For all parameters extracted, we obtained accurate annotations of 83‐100%, 93‐100%, 91‐100%, and 92‐100% precision, recall, F1‐score, and kappa, respectively. There was a significant trend in the proportion of each molecular subtype by patient age, histologic type, grade, Ki67, and race. The findings also showed significant association in the Ki67 trend with hormone receptors, human epidermal growth factors, age, grade, and race. Our approach bridges the gap between data availability and actionable knowledge and provides a framework that could be adapted and reused in other cancers and beyond cancer studies. Information extracted from these reports showed interesting trends that may be exploited for BC screening and treatment resources in South Africa. Finally, this study strongly encourages the implementation of a synoptic style pathology report in South Africa.
Bank Credit Financing and Trade Credit Financing Based on Carbon Emission Trading
Authors: Sun Hao , Gao Guangkuo
Published: January 2022

Bank credit financing and trade credit financing are two basic ways for small- and medium-sized enterprises to solve financial difficulties. We studied a supply chain financing (SCF) system with one capital-constrained manufacturer and one capital-rich supplier, in which manufacturers can choose bank credit financing (BCF) or trade credit financing (TCF) to solve financial difficulties. Unlike the traditional SCF, we considered the influence of the carbon emission trading mechanism, and we designed BCF and TCF models and derived the equilibrium strategies of the supply chain members under a carbon-constrained environment. The research shows that the emission reduction level of manufacturers increases with the increase in carbon emission trading price, and the output of manufacturers increases with the increase in emission reduction level of manufacturers. When the manufacturer’s emission reduction level is low, the supplier’s benefits under BCF are higher than those under TCF. There is a threshold for the manufacturer’s emission reduction level. When the emission reduction level is higher than this threshold, the manufacturer chooses BCF mode with higher benefits; on the contrary, TCF mode is more profitable.
Jin-Wu-Jian-Gu Formulation Attenuates Rheumatoid Arthritis by Inhibiting the IL33-ST2 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Lu Daomin , Huang Ying , Ma Wukai , Chen Changming , Hou Lei
Published: January 2022

The present research attempted to investigate the molecular mechanism of Jin-Wu-Jian-Gu Formulation (JWJGF) in inhibiting rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a pharmacological approach for analysis and experimental validation. First, the potential targets and pathways of JWJGF for RA were predicted by network pharmacology. Second, the effect of JWJGF on RA was observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Further, we observed the effects of JWJGF on the IL33-ST2 signaling pathway by Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) experiments, and finally, we studied the effects of Liquiritigenin on rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblast (RASF) cells and the IL33-ST2 signaling pathway. Network pharmacology results showed that the key component of JWJGF was Liquiritigenin and the core target of JWJGF was IL-33. The results of HE and ELISA showed that JWJGF could alleviate RA. Western blot and qPCR findings indicated that JWJGF could inhibit the IL33-ST2 signaling pathway. Furthermore, JWJGF could inhibit the proliferation of RASF cells and the IL33-ST2 signaling pathway. In conclusion, this study revealed that JWJGF attenuated RA by inhibiting the IL33-ST2 signaling pathway.
Pricing and Coordination Decisions in a Low-Carbon Supply Chain with Risk Aversion under a Carbon Tax
Authors: Shi Song , Liu Guilin
Published: January 2022

Under a carbon tax, with the constraint of carbon emissions reduction, by establishing game theoretical models for a low-carbon supply chain, the article investigates how the carbon tax rate and risk aversion degree may affect retail price, product carbon emission degree, and profits of the manufacturer, the retailer, and the entire supply chain. The results show that product carbon emission degree and supply chain profit in a centralized supply chain are higher than those in a decentralized supply chain. With a risk-averse manufacturer, the product’s carbon emission degree and supply chain profit will further decrease. With increased risk aversion, the manufacturer's profit and total channel profit will decrease, but the retailer's profit will be affected by the carbon tax rate. Carbon reduction investment cost-sharing contracts can contribute to the implementation of increased demand for low-carbon products and decreased retail prices. Regardless of whether the manufacturer is risk-averse, a carbon reduction investment cost-sharing contract can increase the overall efficiency and profit of the supply chain. Finally, the results are verified by numerical examples.
The Reduction of Tau Hyperphosphorylation by Cornel Iridoid Glycosides Is Mediated by Their Influence on Calpain Activity
Authors: Guo Kaiwen , Yang Cuicui , Zhang Lan
Published: January 2022

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and the abnormal hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein is the main component of its pathogenesis. Calpain was found to be abnormally activated in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in a previous report. Cornel iridoid glycosides (CIG) have been reported to reduce the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein. Nevertheless, the role of calpain in the reduction tau hyperphosphorylation by CIG remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effect of CIG on calpain activity through in vitro and in vivo experiments. Western blotting results suggested that CIG decreased the phosphorylation of tau at Ser 404 and Ser 262 sites in P301S mice. Moreover, CIG inhibited the activity of calpain and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) and enhanced the activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) both in vivo and in vitro. CIG also inhibited the activation of PP2A and reduced the GSK-3β activity caused by the calpain activator dibucaine. In addition, the main components of CIG, morroniside and loganin, play an equivalent role in reducing calpain activity, as the effect of their combined use is equivalent to that of CIG. The abovementioned findings revealed that CIG improved PP2A activity and reduced GSK-3β activity by adjusting the activity of calpain 1, leading to a reduction in the phosphorylation of tau. This study highlights the remarkable therapeutic potential of CIG for managing AD.