bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Web-Scale Analysis of the Community Origins of Image Memes
Authors: Morina Durim , Bernstein Michael S.
Published: April 2022

Where do the most popular online cultural artifacts such as image memes originate? Media narratives suggest that cultural innovations often originate in peripheral communities and then diffuse to the mainstream core; behavioral science suggests that intermediate network positions that bridge between the periphery and the core are especially likely to originate many influential cultural innovations. Research has yet to fully adjudicate between these predictions because prior work focuses on individual platforms such as Twitter; however, any single platform is only a small, incomplete part of the larger online cultural ecosystem. In this paper, we perform the first analysis of the origins and diffusion of image memes at web scale, via a one-month crawl of all indexible online communities that principally share meme images with English text overlays. Our results suggest that communities at the core of the network originate the most highly diffused image memes: the top $10%$ of communities by network centrality originate the memes that generate $62%$ of the image meme diffusion events on the web. A zero-inflated negative binomial regression confirms that memes from core communities are more likely to diffuse than those from peripheral communities even when controlling for community size and activity level. However, a replication analysis that follows the traditional approach of testing the same question only within a single large community, Reddit, finds the regression coefficients reversed---underscoring the importance of engaging in web-scale, cross-community analyses. The ecosystem-level viewpoint of this work positions the web as a highly centralized generator of cultural artifacts such as image memes.
Towards Sustainable ICTD in Bangladesh: Understanding the Program and Policy Landscape and Its Implications for CSCW and HCI
Authors: Saha Manika , Varghese Delvin , Bartindale Tom , Thilsted Shakuntala Haraksingh , Ahmed Syed Ishtiaque , Olivier Patrick
Published: April 2022

Historically, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Human-Computer Interaction for Development (HCI4D) researchers in the Global South have advocated for a community-based approach to technology design and development. However, even with this "bottom-up" emphasis, the sustainability and scalability of the resulting innovations remain major challenges, and are poorly understood. To address this gap, we take the case of Bangladesh as a typical Global South context in which development work is carried out by a complex intertwined network of stakeholders across governments, NGOs, donors, and industries. To better understand the current development landscape and its priorities for digital technologies, we conducted interviews with 14 influential decision-makers in Bangladesh who play significant roles in the development of nutrition strategies. Our findings highlight a disconnect between the Bangladesh government's "digital mandate" and the reality of digital innovation practice within the nutrition development sector. Our paper contributes to the debate on factors that affect decision-making processes. We explore the dynamics of diverse actors and institutions who are intended to participate in, but can act as obstacles to sustained bottom-up innovations. Our findings expand understanding of institutional priorities, the dynamics of intermediaries, techno-solutionism, postcolonialism, bureaucracy, competition, and other important topics in CSCW scholarship. We suggest understanding the factors that guide the decision-making process of digital innovation practices in terms of four dimensions: internal, external, vertical, and horizontal. Consequently, we recommend CSCW and HCI researchers become mediators to connect decision-makers and communities and bring their voices in ICT innovations for global development. Finally, we offer recommendations for proactive engagement with decision-making stakeholders, enabling researchers to design community-centered sustainable digital innovations for development.
Technology to support independent navigation of people with visual impairments
Authors: Guerreiro João
Published: April 2022

Smart cities have the potential to improve mobility for people with disabilities, but only if their needs are considered up front and not as an afterthought. Prior research shows promising paths for real-world deployments and for new technological innovations.
Evaluating the Manufacturing Quality of Lithium Ion Pouch Batteries
Authors: Kong Lingxi , Aalund Ryan , Alipour Mohammad , Stoliarov Stanislav I. , Pecht Michael
Published: April 2022

Lithium-ion batteries must undergo a series of quality control tests before being approved for sale. In this study, quality control tests were carried out on two types of lithium-ion pouch batteries, here denoted as type A (with stacked electrode configuration) and type B (with a jelly-roll arrangement) to assess the effectiveness of the tests. Electrochemical tests, which included capacity and impedance measurements, found that both types of batteries met the specifications. However, computed tomography (CT) scan, disassembly, and material characterization revealed quality concerns in battery assembly and material composition. Results showed that, for an A cell, cathode extended past anode at the top and bottom of the roll, and a CT scan revealed inhomogeneities in the electrode near the corners. Similarly, analysis of a B cell revealed gaps in the winding structure and cathode material discrepancies. More specifically, the lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) material specified by the battery manufacturer turned out to be lithium cobalt oxide (LCO). The findings indicate that systematic quality control tests are needed to properly identify defects in batteries before they are used in products.
Model-Based Design of High Energy All-Solid-State Li Batteries with Hybrid Electrolytes
Authors: Toghyani Somayeh , Baakes Florian , Zhang Ningxin , Kühnelt Helmut , Cistjakov Walter , Krewer Ulrike
Published: April 2022

As the aircraft industry becomes more committed to sustainable aviation, hybrid-electric propulsion systems containing batteries with higher gravimetric energy density attract increasing attention to reduce fuel consumption. Future aircrafts could benefit from next-generation chemistries like oxide-based all-solid-state Li-battery (ASSB) technologies. However, producing and evaluating a wide range of design parameters for maximising the gravimetric energy density of ASSB experimentally is both time- and resource-intensive. Physics-based modelling promises to identify optimal designs for battery cells with respect to high gravimetric energy density more time and cost-efficient. In this regard, we applied a pseudo-two-dimensional model for the model-based evaluation of Li-ASSB with various hybrid electrolytes containing oxide and polymer electrolytes. This way we elucidate which electrolyte performs well with present technology and which has the potential to become an attractive alternative in the future. After identifying design variables to improve ASSB with the help of sensitivity analysis, a genetic algorithm is used to predict the optimal design parameters to achieve higher gravimetric energy density. The conducted study reveals that ASSB based on 12.7 vol% of garnet Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 (LLZTO) is the best option based on present manufacturing constraints. Hybrid electrolytes based on 10 wt% of Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP) could be promising for future aircrafts with further improvements in ASSB manufacturing process.
Research on the Electrochemical Properties of Al2−x
Zn
x
O3−α
Authors: Li Yang , Ruan Fei , Bao Jinxiao , Zhang Fenglong , Zhang Yonghe , Gao Xiong , Song Xiwen
Published: April 2022

To understand the electrochemical properties of the Al2O3 based proton conductor in more detail, a solid-state electrolyte Zn-doped Al2O3 was successfully prepared using the solid-state reaction method at the temperatures of 1873 K for 10 h. The phase structure and microscopic morphology of these materials are thoroughly investigated. The structural analysis results revealed that the electrolyte has a pure perovskite phase structure. The crystal grains are relatively uniform, the ceramic material is dense, and the relative density is greater than 97 percent, according to microscopic morphology analysis. The electrical conductivity of the specimen was measured using the two-terminal AC method to clarify the electrochemical properties of Zn-doped Al2O3. The H/D isotope effect of electrical conductivity was studied, and it was discovered that protons are the dominant charge carrier at temperatures ranging from 1073 to 1473 K in hydrogen-rich atmospheres. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test showed that in the temperature range of 1073K–1473 K, the conductivity of the sample increases with the increase of temperature, and the electrochemical performance of the sample is the best when the doping amount is x = 0.012. The conductance activation energy (

E

a

) is in the range of 1.01–1.62 eV in hydrogen-rich atmospheres. From the point of view of electromotive force measurement, the theoretical (computational) electrical potential matches the measured potential very well. In a hydrogen-rich atmosphere of 1073–1473 K, the proton mobility of Al2−x
Zn
x
O3−α
exceeds 0.90. In this work, we proved that Al2−x
Zn
x
O3−α
sample is a proton conductor.
Total Internal Reflection of Two Lasers in a Single Planar Optical Waveguide
Authors: Kocheril Philip A. , Lenz Kiersten D. , Mukundan Harshini
Published: April 2022

Multiplex biomarker quantitation is ideal for tracking the progression of a disease, but sensitive, specific, and quantitative multiplex biosensing remains challenging. We achieved total internal reflection with two lasers in a single planar optical waveguide by coupling 532 nm laser light into the diffraction grating of a waveguide and 635 nm laser light directly into the thin film of the same waveguide. We confirmed that the evanescent fields generated in the waveguide can excite two fluorescent dyes (Alexa Fluor 532 and Alexa Fluor 647) held to the surface of the waveguide through biotin-streptavidin chemistry. This sensing concept holds significant potential as a platform for multiplex biomarker detection.
Albumin, oral contraceptives, and venous thromboembolism risk in astronauts
Authors: Zwart Sara R. , Auñón-Chancellor Serena M. , Heer Martina , Melin M. Mark , Smith Scott M.
Published: April 2022

We report here evidence of an association between oral contraceptive use and serum albumin, among other factors which potentially increase the risk of venous thromboembolism in astronauts. These findings highlight potential risks to astronaut health while providing potential alternative countermeasures for decreasing VTE risk during spaceflight. These findings also highlight an underrecognized potential mechanism for hypoalbuminemia to increase VTE risk in terrestrial populations.
The cortical evoked potential corresponds with deep brain stimulation efficacy in rats
Authors: Cassar Isaac R. , Grill Warren M.
Published: April 2022

We characterize a new potential biomarker for deep brain stimulation (DBS), the cortical evoked potential (cEP), and demonstrate that it exhibits a robust correlation with motor behaviors as a function of stimulation frequency. The cEP may thus be a useful clinical biomarker for changes in motor behavior. This work also provides insight into the cortical mechanisms of DBS, suggesting that motor behaviors are strongly affected by the rate of antidromic spike failure during DBS.
A trade-off between kinematic and dynamic control of bimanual reaching in virtual reality
Authors: Brunfeldt Alexander T. , Dromerick Alexander W. , Bregman Barbara S. , Lum Peter S.
Published: April 2022

This study is the first to propose a trade-off between kinematic and dynamic control parameters governing goal-directed reaching. We propose a straightforward tool to assess this trade-off without the need for computational modeling. The technologies and techniques developed in this study are discussed in the context of upper extremity rehabilitation.
Structural Formation, Evolution, and Genetic Mechanisms of Fault in Controlling Hydrocarbon Migration of Unconventional Rocks: A Case Study of Zhuangnan Fault
Authors: Wang Jing , Guo Yongwei , Cui Youwei , Sun Ke , Chu Huili
Published: April 2022

Zhuangnan fault zone was affiliated with Gubei subsag of the Zhanhua sag in Jiyang Depression, Bohai gulf basin. Zhuangnan fault zone has two functions as the main east-west strike-slip accommodation structure. That is, on the one hand, Zhuangnan fault zone inherited the rules of development of regional tectonic. On the other hand, the present structure framework of Zhanhua sag was reconstructed by Zhuangnan fault zone. In the study, there are four main seismic reflectors: T0, T1, T2, and T6. They are the basis for researching the planar and vertical features of Zhuangnan fault zone. The structural formation, evolution, and genetic mechanisms of Zhuangnan fault zone are studied from three aspects of geometry, kinematics, and dynamics. In geometry, by the closure interpretation of 43 south-north interpretation sections and 24 east-west interpretation sections, the result indicates that Zhuangnan fault zone has its special regularity and characteristic which has three-piece planar characterization (eastern part, middle part, and western part). Three types of plane combination forms are determined: arched, linear, and “S” curved type. The plane combination structure styles of the Zhuangnan fault zone mainly include feather row, horsetail, grid, diagonal, and parallel style. These planar structural features play an important role in indicating the fault zoning of Zhuangnan fault zone. Based on the plane and section structural styles of Zhuangnan fault zone and the analysis of dynamic evolution, it is found that Zhuangnan fault zone has a succession relationship between deep and shallow fault systems. From tectonic evolution and regional dynamic point of view, this paper discusses the activity law of the Zhuangnan fault zone and the boundary faults on the east and west sides of Jiyang Depression, which are Changdi fault, Wuhaozhuang fault, and Chengnan fault, respectively. This study provides a new and more reasonable explanation for the unique structural characteristics of Zhuangnan fault zone and further confirms the important role and regulation mechanism of Zhuangnan fault zone.
Improved Real-Time Traffic Obstacle Detection and Classification Method Applied in Intelligent and Connected Vehicles in Mixed Traffic Environment
Authors: Du Luyao , Chen Xiongjie , Pei Zhonghui , Zhang Donghua , Liu Bo , Chen Wei
Published: April 2022

Mixed traffic is a common phenomenon in urban environment. For the mixed traffic situation, the detection of traffic obstacles, including motor vehicle, non-motor vehicle, and pedestrian, is an essential task for intelligent and connected vehicles (ICVs). In this paper, an improved YOLO model is proposed for traffic obstacle detection and classification. The YOLO network is used to accurately detect the traffic obstacles, while the Wasserstein distance-based loss is used to improve the misclassification in the detection that may cause serious consequences. A new established dataset containing four types of traffic obstacles including vehicles, bikes, riders, and pedestrians is collected under different time periods and different weather conditions in urban environment in Wuhan, China. Experiments are performed on the established dataset on Windows PC and NVIDIA TX2, respectively. From the experimental results, the improved YOLO model has higher mean average precision than the original YOLO model and can effectively reduce intolerable misclassifications. In addition, the improved YOLOv4-tiny model has a detection speed of 22.5928 fps on NVIDIA TX2, which can basically realize the real-time detection of traffic obstacles.
KAT6B May Be Applied as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Glioma
Authors: Liu Yingzi , Duan Xiaoyang , Zhang Chunyan , Yuan Jiangwei , Wen Junpeng , Zheng Cuihong , Shi Jian , Yuan Meng
Published: April 2022

Glioma is a prevalent malignancy among brain tumors with high modality and low prognosis. Ferroptosis has been identified to play a crucial role in the progression and treatment of cancers. KAT6B, as a histone acetyltransferase, is involved in multiple cancer development. However, the function of KAT6B in glioma is still elusive. Here, we aimed to evaluate the effect of KAT6B on ferroptosis in glioma cells and explored the potential mechanisms. We observed that the expression of KAT6B was enhanced in clinical glioma samples. The viability of glioma cells was repressed by erastin and the overexpression of KAT6B rescued the phenotype in the cells. Meanwhile, the apoptosis of glioma cells was induced by the treatment of erastin, while the overexpression of KAT6B blocked the effect in the cells. The levels of lipid ROS and iron were promoted by the treatment of erastin and the overexpression of KAT6B could reverse the effect in the cells. Mechanically, we identified that the expression of STAT3 was repressed by the KAT6B knockdown in glioma cells. The KAT6B was able to enrich on the promoter of STAT3 in glioma cells. Meanwhile, ChIP assay showed that the knockdown of KAT6B inhibited the enrichment of histone H3 lysine 23 acetylation (H3K23ac) and RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) on STAT3 promoter in the cells. Depletion of STAT3 reversed KAT6B-regulated viability, apoptosis, and ferroptosis of glioma cells. Thus, we concluded that KAT6B contributes to glioma progression by repressing ferroptosis via epigenetically inducing STAT3.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Calcium Deposit in the Surgically Transacted Transverse Carpal Ligament
Authors: Hashim Al-Musawi Ali Abbas , Jebril Nadia Mahmoud Tawfiq , AL-Auhaimid Amer Abbas. H. , Hammoodi Zaid Hadi. K.
Published: April 2022

A diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in a human often contains more than one test. Calcification of the traverse carpal ligament (TCL) is the common reason why patients seek CTS surgery. However, the determination of calcium (Ca) concentration in the TCL has not been studied. The results of environmental toxicity studies assessing the relationship between Ca and elemental deposition in the TCL are inconsistent. The purpose of this paper was to verify this hypothesis by conducting a chemical analysis of a portion of the released TCL to assess whether there is a relationship between CTS and Ca, measured as the total concentration of Ca, and to measure the precipitation of elements; the most closely related elements associated with Ca are cadmium and lead, which are also toxic. Surgical release of TCL was performed on forty patients. Total concentrations of Ca, Cd, and Pb in the extracted portion of TCL were digested and determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the possibility of using X-ray spectroscopy (XRF) for direct elemental analysis. Ca mineralisation was revealed in some TCLs. In assessing patients’ environmental pollution, it was observed that the Cd and Pb concentrations were significant with a higher Ca concentration, and XRF was useful for direct detection of the elements in samples of the human body. These results indicate that TCL mineralisation by Ca does not characterise CTS, which has important concerns in improving patients’ therapeutic strategies, and Cd and Pb concentrations varied due to different factors.
Topological Attributes of Silicon Carbide
Si

C

4

-
II

i
,
j

Based on Ve-Degree and Ev-Degree
Authors: Mahboob Abid , Alrowaili Dalal , Alam Sajid Mahboob , Ali Rifaqat , Rasheed Muhammad Waheed , Siddique Imran
Published: April 2022

The study of graphs containing edges and nodes is of great importance in science and in real life. Topological indices

TIs

are numerical parameters linked to chemical graphs used to estimate the biological, toxicological, and physical properties of chemical compounds. Recently, two terms, ev-degree- and ve-degree-based TIs, have been defined in chemical graph theory. In this paper, we have estimated degree-based TIs, namely, ev-degree Zagreb

M

type index, ev-degree Randic

R

index, ve-degree atom-bond connectivity

ABC

index, ve-degree geometric arithmetic index

GA

, ve-degree harmonic

H

index, and ve-degree sum-connectivity index for

Si

C

4

-

II

i
,
j

.
Respiratory Infectious Diseases and Adherence to Nonpharmacological Interventions for Overcoming COVID-19 Pandemic: A Self-Reported Study
Authors: Abuhammad Sawsan , Khabour Omar F , Alzoubi Karem H , El-zubi Farah , Hamaieh Shaher H
Published: April 2022

Background. The aim of the study was to examine changes in the frequency of respiratory diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic and to correlate the changes with nonpharmacological interventions for overcoming the pandemic. In addition, the study explored the predictors of adherence to nonpharmacological interventions among the Jordanian public. Method. The study is survey-based and self-reported, using convenient sampling. The study was conducted during October–November of 2021. Results. The study included 1714 participants. About one-quarter of participants reported decreases in the incidence of cold (21.9%), influenza (24.7%), respiratory infections other than cold and influenza (23.3%), tonsillitis (23.0%), and oral ulcers (23.5%). On the other hand, the majority reported no change in the incidence of the above infections (62.0–64.4%). Adherence of the sample to nonpharmacological interventions of COVID-19 was moderate. The percentages of people who always wear a mask, follow social distancing, and use sanitizing procedures were 47.1%, 37.8%, and 68.8% respectively. ANOVA test showed a significant correlation between the incidence of respiratory/oral infections and adherence to nonpharmacological interventions. The multiple regression test showed that people who followed COVID-19 news, have children, have a job, and being married were more adhered to nonpharmacological measures compared to others. Conclusion. Implementation of nonpharmacological interventions used to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic can be applied to reduce other respiratory infections during their peak seasons.
Textual Adversarial Training of Machine Learning Model for Resistance to Adversarial Examples
Authors: Kwon Hyun , Lee Sanghyun
Published: April 2022

Deep neural networks provide good performance for image recognition, speech recognition, text recognition, and pattern recognition. However, such networks are vulnerable to attack by adversarial examples. Adversarial examples are created by adding a small amount of noise to an original sample in such a way that no problem is perceptible to humans, yet the sample will be incorrectly recognized by a model. Adversarial examples have been studied mainly in the context of images, but research has expanded to include the text domain. In the textual context, an adversarial example is a sample of text in which certain important words have been changed so that the sample will be misclassified by a model even though to humans it is the same as the original text in terms of meaning and grammar. In the text domain, there have been relatively few studies on defenses against adversarial examples compared with the number of studies on adversarial example attacks. In this paper, we propose an adversarial training method to defend against adversarial examples that target the latest text model, bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT). In the proposed method, adversarial examples are generated using various parameters and then are applied in additional training of the target model to instill robustness against unknown adversarial examples. Experiments were conducted using five datasets (AG’s News, a movie review dataset, the IMDB Large Movie Review Dataset (IMDB), the Stanford Natural Language Inference (SNLI) corpus, and the Multi-Genre Natural Language Inference (MultiNLI) corpus), with TensorFlow as the machine learning library. According to the experimental results, the baseline model had an accuracy of 88.1% on the original sentences and an accuracy of 9.2% on the adversarial sentences, whereas the model that underwent the proposed training method maintained an average accuracy of 87.2% on the original sentences and had an average accuracy of 22.5% on the adversarial sentences.
Design of Sponsored Search Auction Mechanism for Federated Learning Advertising Platform
Authors: Jiang Hong , Cui Tianxu , Yang Kaiwen
Published: April 2022

Federated learning has demonstrated strong capabilities in terms of addressing concerns related to data islands and privacy protection. However, in real application scenarios, participants in federated learning have difficulty matching. For example, two companies distributed in different regions do not know that the other party also needs federated learning in the case of information asymmetry. Therefore, it is difficult to build alliances. To enable suppliers and consumers to find one or more federated learning objects that are relatively satisfactory in a short time, this paper considers the idea of establishing a federated learning advertising platform, where data transactions need to consider privacy protection. A sponsored search auction mechanism design method is introduced to solve the problem of ranking the presentation order of participant advertisements. Due to the potential malicious bidding problem, which occurs when using the classic sponsored search auction mechanism under the federated learning scenario, this paper proposes a novel federated sponsored search auction mechanism based on the Myerson theorem, improving upon the ranking index used in the classic sponsored search auction mechanism. A large number of experimental results on a simulation data set show that our proposed method can fairly select and rank the data providers participating in the bidding. Compared with other benchmark mechanisms, the malicious bidding rate is significantly decreased. In the long run, the proposed mechanism can encourage more data providers to participate in the federated learning platform, thus continuously promoting the establishment of a federated learning ecosystem.
Design and Numerical Analysis of a Single-Polarization Filter Based on PCF with Plasmonic Layers of Gold and Indium Tin Oxide
Authors: Owusu Mensah Isaac , Akowuah Emmanuel Kofi , Danlard Iddrisu , Amoah Alexander Kwasi
Published: April 2022

This paper presents a single-polarization filter based on PCF with plasmonic layers of gold and indium tin oxide (ITO). The plasmonic materials are metallic gold and ITO coated on the inner walls of two extra-large vertically arranged air holes. The resonance effect is triggered by guided modes propagating through the silica core and coupling to the coating areas. The finite element method is used to analyze the properties of the filter for the two fundamental orthogonal polarizations. A filtering effect is achieved in the communication window by optimizing the structural factors as well as gold film and ITO deposition thicknesses. When the filter is 1 mm long, the obtained filtering effect is 1319.689 dB/cm for the y-polarization and 31.881 dB/cm for the x-polarization, thus efficiently attenuating the y-component at a communication window of 1.15 μm. With a filtering bandwidth of 602 nm, the proposed filter shows superior characteristics compared with previously reported results. Applications of the proposed plasmonic PCF-based filter can be found in polarization-maintaining and polarization-suppressing systems for optical sensing and broadband transmission.
Influence of Vertical Downward Annulus Eccentricity on Steam-Water Two-Phase Flow Pressure Drop
Authors: Ma Chuan , Liu Xiaoyan , Zhao Haiqian , Cui Guangfu
Published: April 2022

Concentric dual-tubing steam injection technique is one of the main methods to improve heavy oil recovery efficiency. From field data, it was discovered that hot fluid at high temperature and pressure caused steam injection casing to have elongation strain and “necking” eccentric buckling, and the eccentricity change affected the accurate prediction of steam-water two-phase flow pressure drop in the steam injection casing. This paper established a coupling model for the steam-water two-phase flow pressure drop in vertical downward eccentric annulus and the wellbore heat transfer and developed a mathematical model calculation program, to validate the accuracy of calculating the liquid holdup and pressure gradient of fully eccentric annulus. This revealed the influential law of eccentricity on the annulus steam-water two-phase pressure, dryness, and enthalpy value. The results indicated that when the eccentricity e increased from 0 to 1, the saturation pressure of steam at annulus wellbore bottom increased by 0.265 MPa, and the dryness and enthalpy value decreased by 8.54 × 10−3 and 11.22 kJ kg−1, respectively. Compared to the concentric layout, the eccentrically arranged steam injection inner tube cannot promote the wet steam dryness at annulus wellbore bottom.
Effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Medicine in Neoplasms: A Systematic Review
Authors: Rezayi Sorayya , R Niakan Kalhori Sharareh , Saeedi Soheila
Published: April 2022

Purpose. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are used in precision medicine to explore novel genotypes and phenotypes data. The main aims of precision medicine include early diagnosis, screening, and personalized treatment regime for a patient based on genetic‐oriented features and characteristics. The main objective of this study was to review AI techniques and their effectiveness in neoplasm precision medicine. Materials and Methods. A comprehensive search was performed in Medline (through PubMed), Scopus, ISI Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, Embase, and Cochrane databases from inception to December 29, 2021, in order to identify the studies that used AI methods for cancer precision medicine and evaluate outcomes of the models. Results. Sixty‐three studies were included in this systematic review. The main AI approaches in 17 papers (26.9%) were linear and nonlinear categories (random forest or decision trees), and in 21 citations, rule‐based systems and deep learning models were used. Notably, 62% of the articles were done in the United States and China. R package was the most frequent software, and breast and lung cancer were the most selected neoplasms in the papers. Out of 63 papers, in 34 articles, genomic data like gene expression, somatic mutation data, phenotype data, and proteomics with drug‐response which is functional data was used as input in AI methods; in 16 papers’ (25.3%) drug response, functional data was utilized in personalization of treatment. The maximum values of the assessment indicators such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, recall, and area under the curve (AUC) in included studies were 0.99, 1.00, 0.96, 0.98, 0.99, and 0.9929, respectively. Conclusion. The findings showed that in many cases, the use of artificial intelligence methods had effective application in personalized medicine.
Dissemination of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Clinical Practice Guidelines among Clinical Practitioners: A Systematic Review of Quality Assessment Studies
Authors: Wang Ying , Wang Qin , Peng Yalan , Zhang Yonggang , Li Nian
Published: April 2022

Acupuncture clinical practice guidelines are authoritative medical recommendations developed by evaluating and integrating acupuncture-related evidence. However, their synthesis and dissemination are not integrated, and clinical practitioners require more credible effective evidence. The study aim was to systematically review problems disseminating acupuncture clinical practice guidelines to clinical practitioners, to facilitate evidence dissemination. This systematic review included searches of PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, and four major Chinese electronic databases (CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Database, and SinoMed) from inception to October 26, 2021. Two independent reviewers screened the literature, extracted information, and evaluated the quality of included studies. A systematic review was subsequently performed. Eleven studies were reviewed: nine (81.8%) cross-sectional surveys and two (18.2%) systematic reviews. The evaluated clinical practice guidelines differed across studies; seven studies (63.6%) evaluated guidelines for a specific disease, one (9.1%) evaluated guidelines for acupuncture therapies (e.g., moxibustion and fire acupuncture), one (9.1%) evaluated US acupuncture guidelines and recommendations, and two (18.2%) did not describe the guideline content. The included studies used different evaluation indicators. Guideline dissemination problems included lack of guideline standardization, unclear target population, mismatch between guidelines and application environment, lack of reliable health economics evaluation, poor quality content of the recommendations, lack of linkage between recommendations and evidence, and disassociation of recommendations from clinical practice et al. The development and publishing of credible acupuncture clinical practice guidelines is urgently needed to improve the usability of guidelines and standardize and disseminate tools for analysing information to clinical practitioners and to help the domestic and international acupuncture community to apply evidence to practice. Recommendations for promoting the dissemination of acupuncture clinical practice guidelines are to define clinical events suitable for the target population, to develop recommendations relevant to clinical practice, to improve the evidence evaluation index system, and to further standardize the method and process of formulating guidelines.
Comparative Experimental Study on Calcium Oxide, Calcium Hydroxide, and Calcium Carbonate Solidified Zinc-Contaminated Red Clay
Authors: Song Yu , Li Hui , Gan Xiaohui , Zhang Mingzhi , Xue Mingming , Li Jun
Published: April 2022

Calcium oxide is a common curing agent used for curing contaminated soils. It is often used with cement to adjust the pH value. Calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide are common products of calcium oxide. The effects of three kinds of binder in curing Zn2+-contaminated red clay are compared. The Zn2+ concentrations were selected as 0.1 and 0.5%, and the curing agent was added separately. The values of the unconfined strength of soil samples were compared after the three curing agents were added to the soil alone. It was found that the strength of the specimen with the addition of calcium carbonate was lower than the strength of the contaminated soil without the addition of the curing agent, while the strength of calcium hydroxide and calcium oxide was enhanced with the addition of calcium hydroxide, in general, and the strength of calcium oxide was higher. When CaO is added, the strength of the sample with a 0.1% concentration of zinc-contaminated soil is greater than the strength of the sample with a 0.5% concentration. But when Ca(OH)2 is added, the strength of the sample with 0.1% zinc-contaminated soil is less than the strength of the sample with a 0.5% concentration. Ca(OH)2 provides enough OH-, and there are enough zinc ions to react with it in the high-concentration Zn2+-contaminated soil to form CaZn2(OH)6·2H2O, which enhances the strength of the soil. By comparing the pH values of calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide, the pH of the soil is about 12, and the pH of calcium carbonate is about 8.
Numerical Simulation of Seepage-Heat-Solid Coupling of Gas Seepage in Prepumped Boreholes under Electrothermal High Temperature Field
Authors: Xie Xionggang , Yang Jin , Luo XiangYing , Ren Jianjun
Published: April 2022

In order to verify the law of coal bed gas desorption and permeability under electrothermal high-temperature field, by establishing the mathematical model of gas seepage-heat-solid coupling, and taking gas drainage working face in Guizhou as an engineering example, the characteristics of the high-temperature field of coal under different heating hole temperatures are simulated. The COMSOL software is used to simulate the high-temperature field characteristics, thermal damage, and permeability of coal under different heating hole temperatures. The numerical simulation results show the following:(1) the influence trend of a high-temperature field on coal thermal damage and permeability is consistent, when the heating temperature is higher than 600°C, the thermal damage and permeability of coal seam change suddenly and increase with the increase of temperature. (2) When the temperature of a heating hole is 200-800°C, the gas permeability in the damaged area increases with the increase of temperature. When the heating temperature is greater than 600°C, the radial and axial permeability around the heating hole will increase. (3) Compared with the experimental data obtained by the existing researchers, the simulation results of coal permeability under the electric heating high-temperature field have a high consistency with the experimental results of Junrong and others.
Recognition of Red-Bed Landslides over Eastern Sichuan through Remote Sensing and Field Investigations
Authors: Miao Zhao , Tang Panpan , Zhang Yong
Published: April 2022

Red-bed soft rock, characterized by the gentle slope, low intensity, and weak weathering resistance, is widely distributed over the Eastern Sichuan Province, China, threatening many lives of people, economy development, and urbanization progress. In this study, Multi-Temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry (MTInSAR) techniques and detailed field investigations were carried out to detect the potential red-bed landslides. The strategies of small baselines, phase optimization, and atmospheric delay removal were proved to be effective in improving the deformation results. Finally, dozens of slow-moving slopes were found and attributed to frequent human activities, and the applicability of various monitoring tools and the comparisons of their results were discussed. This research is aimed at proving the applicability of remote sensing measures in the monitoring of landslides, increasing the efficiency of this method, and helping the hazard prevention in Southwest China.
DOA Estimation for Non-Gaussian Signals: Three-Level Nested Array and a Successive SS-MUSIC Algorithm
Authors: Shi Sha , Zeng Haowei , Yue Heng , Ye Changbo , Li Jianfeng
Published: April 2022

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation for non-Gaussian signals using three-level nested array (THL-NA) is investigated in this paper. Motivation from larger consecutive degree of freedom (DOF) and array aperture, the THL-NA is proposed, which can take full advantages of the consecutive coarrays of TL-NA and has the closed-form expression of DOF. Specifically, firstly, the array aperture is expanded by the second order sum coarray (2-SC) of the proposed array, secondly, the nested relationship between subarrays is employed to obtain the difference coarray of 2-SC (2-DCSC), finally, a consecutive virtual array with large array aperture is obtained. Besides, a successive SS-MUSIC algorithm is proposed, which employs the spatial smoothing estimating signal parameter via rotational invariance techniques (SS-ESPRIT) algorithm and partial spectrum searching multiple signal classification (PSS-MUSIC) to obtain initial estimations and fine estimations, respectively, resulting in a better balance between computational complexity and estimation accuracy.
Searching for Synergy: Chemotherapy and Checkpoint Inhibitors
Authors: Tseng Diane , Gainor Justin F.
Published: April 2022

Continuation of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy did not improve clinical outcomes for patients with non–small cell lung cancer who progressed on prior PD-1/programmed death ligand 1 inhibitor monotherapy. This highlights the need to evaluate the precise mechanisms of resistance to PD-1 axis inhibitors and explore alternative therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance.

See related article by Jung et al., p. 2321
The Key Role of Upper Endoscopy in Diagnosing Gastric Herniation and Volvulus in Acute Gastrointestinal Obstruction
Authors: Sarwal Dhruv , Yu Na , Veeramachaneni Nirmal , Aslinia Florence
Published: April 2022

The diagnosis of gastric volvulus can be a clinical challenge as it is rare, and the symptoms are often nonspecific and intermittent. Upper endoscopy is a minimally invasive intervention that may be repeated more than once to provide key information and ultimately establish such a diagnosis. To emphasize the role of upper endoscopy in surgical cases with recurrent upper gastrointestinal obstructions, we present a case of intermittent gastric volvulus in a patient with a remote history of complex chest wall reconstruction for invasive breast cancer using an omental flap. She presented with substernal chest pain, belching, nausea, and vomiting. Although the initial imaging suggested duodenal obstruction, exploratory laparotomy and intraoperative upper endoscopy did not show any pathology in the stomach or duodenum. Repeat upper endoscopy due to recurrence of obstructive symptoms shortly after the initial exploratory laparotomy revealed a gastric volvulus. This resulted in abnormal duodenal orientation which caused intermittent duodenal obstruction while the pathology was in the stomach. Gastric volvulus may be spontaneously reducible, leading to discordance in findings during the clinical course. This could explain the absence of visible twisting on initial exploratory laparotomy in this patient and the subsequent findings of volvulus on upper endoscopy. Thus, it is important to consider gastric volvulus as a possible cause of symptoms despite initial negative findings as it is a dynamic process and may only be discovered through relook upper endoscopy and imaging.
Microbiome & Cancer
Authors: Couto Irving Susana  , Hug Adele
Published: April 2022

Host immunity plays a central role in the regulation of anti-tumour responses during checkpoint inhibitor therapy (CIT). The mechanisms involved in long lasting remission remain unclear. Animal studies have revealed that the microbiome influences the host immune response. This is supported by human studies linking a higher microbial richness and diversity with enhanced responses to CIT. This review focuses on the role of diet, the microbiome and the microbiome-derived metabolome in enhancing responses to current CIT in solid tissue cancers. The Western diet has been associated with dysbiosis, inflammation and numerous metabolic disorders. There is preliminary evidence that lifestyle factors including a high fibre diet are associated with improved responses to CIT via a potential effect on the microbiota. The mechanisms through which the microbiota may regulate long-term immunotherapy responses have yet to be determined, although bacterial-metabolites including short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are recognized to have an impact on T cell differentiation, and may affect T effector/regulatory T cell balance. SCFAs were also shown to enhance the memory potential of activated CD8 T cells. Many therapeutic approaches including dietary manipulation and fecal transplantation are currently being explored in order to enhance immunotherapy responses. The microbiome-derived metabolome may be one means through which bacterial metabolic products can be monitored from the start of treatment and could be used to identify patients at risk of poor immunotherapy responses. The current review will discuss recent ad­vances and bring together literature from related fields in nutrition, oncology and immunology to discuss possible means of modulating immunity to improve responses to current CIT.
Nontraditional Risk Factors for Residual Recurrence Risk in Patients with Ischemic Stroke of Different Etiologies
Authors: Xu Jie , Mo Jinglin , Zhang Xing , Chen Zimo , Pan Yuesong , Yan Hongyi , Meng Xia , Wang Yongjun
Published: April 2022

Background and Objective: With the popularization of guideline-based secondary prevention based on traditional risk factors, rates of stroke recurrence reduced greatly after ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA), but the residual risk still exists. We aim to evaluate which IS subtype benefits the most from the current secondary prevention and to evaluate nontraditional risk factors for residual recurrence risk of different IS etiologies. Methods: The study included IS/TIA patients who participated in both biomarker substudy and imaging substudy of the Third China National Stroke Registry. We used 5 guideline-recommended interventions (antiplatelet, statins, anticoagulant, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic therapies) to document the performance of secondary prevention care. Residual risk was defined as the risk of stroke recurrence despite adherence to these 5 guideline-based secondary prevention strategies. Risk factors associated with stroke recurrence were analyzed by using Cox regression models. Results: In total, 9,733 patients were included in this study. At 3 months, 4,186 (43.0%) patients adhered to 5 secondary prevention strategies, and the residual risk of recurrence was 5.1%. According to Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment subtypes, cardioembolism benefited the most from current secondary prevention (relative risk reduction: 65.2%), followed by large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA) (29.0%) and small-artery occlusion (SAO) (20.0%). Despite adhering to secondary prevention strategies, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, and impaired renal function were independent risk factors for the residual recurrence risk of LAA subtype, while IL-6 and trimethylamine N-oxide significantly contributed to the residual risk of SAO subtype. Conclusions: LAA and SAO subtypes own the specific nontraditional risk factors while inflammation is a common risk factor for residual recurrence risk of both.