bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MEASURING FINANCIAL WELLNESS OF THE MALAYSIAN EMPLOYEES
Authors: Ab Rahim Rossazana
Published: December 2020

The purpose of this paper is to assess the determinants of financial wellness among employees in Sarawak. Samples are selected using multi-stage sampling technique among employees work at Kuching City and regression analysis is applied to examine the impacts of financial literacy, financial stress, and financial behavior towards the financial wellness among employees. A total of 300 questionnaires was distributed to the public and private sector employees with a response rate at 71 per cent. Generally, the results suggest that all determinants significantly affect the financial wellness of the workers. Additionally, education level is found important to the financial wellness among employees in Kuching, Sarawak.
European Society of Cardiology / European Atherosclerosis Society 2019 Dyslipidemia Treatment Guideline: What Has Changed?
Authors: Doğrul Halil , Doganer Yusuf Cetin , Aydogan Umit
Published: December 2020

After 3 years, European Society of Cardiology and the European Atherosclerosis Society published the new guideline for the management of dyslipidemias on August 2019. Comparing with the 2016 version, based on the latest prospective studies, randomized trials and Mendelian randomization studies, there are major changes in the recommendations; especially in the areas of total cardiovascular risk estimation, treatment targets and management of treatment, focusing on the combination therapy. Aforementioned studies indicated that it is possible to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases by reducing low density lipoprotein cholesterol as early as and as much as possible since there is a correlation between the concentration of low density lipoprotein cholesterol in the blood and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. In the light of those information the recommendation for patients at very high risk was changed as a low density lipoprotein cholesterol goal of
Keywords: dyslipidemia, guidelines, risk assessment, LDL cholesterol
Resveratrol and Neuroprotection: Impact and Its Therapeutic Potential in Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Rahman Md. Habibur , Akter Rokeya , Bhattacharya Tanima , Abdel-Daim Mohamed M. , Alkahtani Saad , Arafah Mohammed W. , Al-Johani Norah S. , Alhoshani Norah M. , Alkeraishan Nora , Alhenaky Alhanof , Abd‐Elkader Omar H. , El-Seedi Hesham R , Kaushik Deepak , Mittal Vineet
Published: December 2020

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive cortex and hippocampal neurodegenerative disease which ultimately causes cognitively impaired decline in patients. The AD pathogen is a very complex process, including aggregation of Aβ (β-amyloid peptides), phosphorylation of tau-proteins, and chronic inflammation. Exactly, resveratrol, a polyphenol present in red wine, and many plants are indicated to show the neuroprotective effect on mechanisms mostly above. Resveratrol plays an important role in promotion of non-amyloidogenic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein. It also enhances the clearance of amyloid beta-peptides and reduces the damage of neurons. Most experimental research on AD and resveratrol has been performed in many species, both in vitro and in vivo, during the last few years. Nevertheless, resveratrol’s effects are restricted by its bioavailability in the reservoir. Therefore, scientists have tried to improve its efficiency by using different methods. This review focuses on recent work done on the cell and animal cultures and also focuses on the neuroprotective molecular mechanisms of resveratrol. It also discusses about the therapeutic potential onto the treatment of AD.
Screening of Phenolic Compounds in Australian Grown Berries by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS and Determination of Their Antioxidant Potential
Authors: Subbiah Vigasini , Zhong Biming , Nawaz Malik A. , Barrow Colin J. , Dunshea Frank R. , Suleria Hafiz A. R.
Published: December 2020

Berries are grown worldwide with the most consumed berries being blackberries (Rubus spp.), blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum), red raspberries (Rubus idaeus) and strawberries (Fragaria spp.). Berries are either consumed fresh, frozen, or processed into wines, juices, and jams. In recent times, researchers have focused their attention on berries due to their abundance in phenolic compounds. The current study aimed to evaluate the phenolic content and their antioxidant potential followed by characterization and quantification using LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS and HPLC-PDA. Blueberries were highest in TPC (2.93 ± 0.07 mg GAE/gf.w.) and TFC (70.31 ± 1.21 µg QE/gf.w.), whereas the blackberries had the highest content in TTC (11.32 ± 0.13 mg CE/gf.w.). Blueberries had the highest radical scavenging capacities for the DPPH (1.69 ± 0.09 mg AAE/gf.w.), FRAP (367.43 ± 3.09 µg AAE/gf.w.), TAC (1.47 ± 0.20 mg AAE/gf.w.) and ABTS was highest in strawberries (3.67 ± 0.14 mg AAE/gf.w.). LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS study identified a total of 65 compounds including 42 compounds in strawberries, 30 compounds in raspberries, 28 compounds in blueberries and 21 compounds in blackberries. The HPLC-PDA quantification observed phenolic acid (p-hydroxybenzoic) and flavonoid (quercetin-3-rhamnoside) higher in blueberries compared to other berries. Our study showed the presence of phenolic acids and provides information to be utilized as an ingredient in food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.
Peripheral Blood NRF2 Expression as a Biomarker in Human Health and Disease
Authors: Neilson Lee E. , Quinn Joseph F. , Gray Nora E.
Published: December 2020

Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), a transcription factor which plays a critical role in maintenance of cellular redox, has been identified as a therapeutic target in a number of human diseases. Several reports have demonstrated beneficial effects of NRF2 manipulation in animal models of disease, and one NRF2-activating drug, dimethyl fumarate, is already approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, drug discovery is slowed due to a dearth of biomarkers which can inform target engagement and magnitude and duration of action. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are an accessible, minimally-invasive source of biomarkers which can be readily assayed and objectively monitored as a surrogate endpoint of NRF2 activation in clinical trials. We undertook a review of the literature on PBMC NRF2 measurements in human studies to explore its role as a suitable biomarker in various contexts of health and disease. It is clear that NRF2 and its target genes can be readily assayed from PBMCs in multiple disease contexts and may track with disease progression. Further work needs to be undertaken to evaluate its stability but should be considered as an exploratory marker in clinical trials targeting NRF2 activation.
Differences in the Phenolic Profile by UPLC Coupled to High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Antioxidant Capacity of Two Diospyros kaki Varieties
Authors: Esteban-Muñoz Adelaida , Sánchez-Hernández Silvia , Samaniego-Sánchez Cristina , Giménez-Martínez Rafael , Olalla-Herrera Manuel
Published: December 2020

Background: phenolic compounds are bioactive chemical species derived from fruits and vegetables, with a plethora of healthy properties. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.f.) due to the presence of many different classes of phenolic compounds. However, the analysis of individual phenolic compounds is difficult due to matrix interferences. Methods: the aim of this research was the evaluation of individual phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of the pulp of two varieties of persimmon (Rojo Brillante and Triumph) by an improved extraction procedure together with a UPLC-Q-TOF-MS platform. Results: the phenolic compounds composition of persimmon was characterized by the presence of hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids, hydroxybenzaldehydes, dihydrochalcones, tyrosols, flavanols, flavanones, and flavonols. A total of 31 compounds were identified and 17 compounds were quantified. Gallic acid was the predominant phenolic compounds found in the Rojo Brillante variety (0.953 mg/100 g) whereas the concentration of p-hydroxybenzoic acid was higher in the Triumph option (0.119 mg/100 g). Conclusions: the results showed that the Rojo Brillante variety had higher quantities of phenolic compounds than the Triumph example. These data could be used as reference in future phenolic compound databases when individual health effects of phenolic compounds become available.
Developmental Origins of Kidney Disease: Why Oxidative Stress Matters?
Authors: Hsu Chien-Ning , Tain You-Lin
Published: December 2020

The “developmental origins of health and disease” theory indicates that many adult-onset diseases can originate in the earliest stages of life. The developing kidney has emerged as being particularly vulnerable to adverse in utero conditions leading to morphological and functional changes, namely renal programming. Emerging evidence indicates oxidative stress, an imbalance between reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) and antioxidant systems, plays a pathogenetic role in the developmental programming of kidney disease. Conversely, perinatal use of antioxidants has been implemented to reverse programming processes and prevent adult-onset diseases. We have termed this reprogramming. The focus of this review is twofold: (1) To summarize the current knowledge on oxidative stress implicated in renal programming and kidney disease of developmental origins; and (2) to provide an overview of reprogramming effects of perinatal antioxidant therapy on renal programming and how this may prevent adult-onset kidney disease. Although early-life oxidative stress is implicated in mediating renal programming and adverse offspring renal outcomes, and animal models provide promising results to allow perinatal antioxidants applied as potential reprogramming interventions, it is still awaiting clinical translation. This presents exciting new challenges and areas for future research.
The Impact of the Observation Data Assimilation on Atmospheric Reanalyses over Tibetan Plateau and Western Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau
Authors: Bao Xinghua , Zhang Fuqing , Zhao Yang , Chen Yueli
Published: December 2020

Three modern atmospheric reanalyses with different input observation data (NOAA–CIRES 20th Century Reanalysis (20CR), Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55), and JRA-55C) were compared against the independent radiosonde observations over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and the western Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau (YGP) from the China-Japan Meteorological Disaster Reduction Cooperation (JICA/Tibet) Center Project in the summer of 2018 to investigate the effects of the assimilation of the observation data on the quality and accuracy of the reanalyses in the troposphere. The results indicate that the mean biases and mean root-mean-square errors of horizontal wind, temperature, and specific humidity significantly decreased when comparing the 20CR reanalysis (assimilating only surface pressure) to the JRA-55C (assimilating conventional surface and upper-air observations) and the JRA-55 (assimilating conventional and satellite observations), and the bias spreads of these aboveground variables in JRA-55C and JRA-55 were cut to almost half of those observed in 20CR. However, the mean biases and uncertainties varied little from JRA-55C to JRA-55. This means that the assimilation of conventional observation data plays a vital role in the quality of reanalyses for the troposphere over these data-sparse plateaus. It was also found that the temperature and specific humidity near the ground over TP showed larger mean biases and bias spans than those over YGP, likely due to the sparser surface observation over TP.
The Acceleration of Diabetic Wound Healing by Low-Intensity Extracorporeal Shockwave Involves in the GSK-3β Pathway
Authors: Chen Rong-Fu , Lin Yun-Nan , Liu Keng-Fan , Wang Chun-Ting , Ramachandran Savitha , Wang Ching-Jen , Kuo Yur-Ren
Published: December 2020

Previous studies have demonstrated that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) could accelerate diabetic wound healing and that the inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is involved in epithelial differentiation during wound healing. This study investigated whether the enhancement of diabetic wound healing by ESWT is associated with the GSK-3β-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. A dorsal skin wounding defect model using streptozotocin-induced diabetic rodents was established. Rats were divided into 4 groups: group 1, normal controls without diabetes; group 2, diabetic controls without treatment; group 3, diabetic rats receiving ESWT; and group 4, rats receiving 6-bromoindirubin-3′oxime (BIO), a GSK-3β inhibitor, to trigger Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Tissue samples were collected and analyzed by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and quantitative RT-PCR. The ESWT and BIO-treated groups both exhibited significant promotion of wound healing compared to the healing in controls without treatment. RT-PCR analysis of Wnt-1, -3a, -4, -5a, and -10 and β-catenin expression showed significantly increased expression in the ESWT group. The IHC staining showed that Wnt-3a and -5a and β-catenin levels were significantly increased in the ESWT and BIO treatment groups compared to the control groups. ESWT enhancement of diabetic wound healing is associated with modulation of the GSK-3β-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.
The Ubiquitin Ligase SIAH2 Negatively Regulates Glucocorticoid Receptor Activity and Abundance
Authors: Burke Susan J. , Taylor Jessica L. , Batdorf Heidi M. , Noland Robert C. , Burk David H. , Yu Yongmei , Floyd Z. Elizabeth , Collier J. Jason
Published: December 2020

Glucocorticoids are clinically essential drugs used routinely to control inflammation. However, a host of metabolic side effects manifests upon usage beyond a few days. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that seven-in-absentia mammalian homolog-2 (SIAH2), a ubiquitin ligase that regulates adipogenesis, is important for controlling adipocyte size, inflammation, and the ability of adipose tissue to expand in response to a glucocorticoid challenge. Using mice with global deletion of SIAH2 exposed or not to corticosterone, we found that adipocytes are larger in response to glucocorticoids in the absence of SIAH2. In addition, SIAH2 regulates glucocorticoid receptor (GR) transcriptional activity and total GR protein abundance. Moreover, these studies reveal that there is an increased expression of genes involved in fibrosis and inflammatory signaling pathways found in white adipose tissue in response to glucocorticoids in the absence of SIAH2. In summary, this is the first study to identify a role for SIAH2 to regulate transcriptional activity and abundance of the GR, which leads to alterations in adipose tissue size and gene expression during in vivo exposure to glucocorticoids.
Genetic Variants in Immune Related Genes as Predictors of Responsiveness to BCG Immunotherapy in Metastatic Melanoma Patients
Authors: Ramos Romela Irene , Shaw Misa A. , Foshag Leland , Stern Stacey L. , Rahimzadeh Negin , Elashoff David , Hoon Dave S. B.
Published: December 2020

Adjuvant immunotherapy in melanoma patients improves clinical outcomes. However, success is unpredictable due to inherited heterogeneity of immune responses. Inherent immune genes associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may influence anti-tumor immune responses. We assessed the predictive ability of 26 immune-gene SNPs genomic panels for a clinical response to adjuvant BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) immunotherapy, using melanoma patient cohorts derived from three phase III multicenter clinical trials: AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) stage IV patients given adjuvant BCG (pilot cohort; n = 92), AJCC stage III patients given adjuvant BCG (verification cohort; n = 269), and AJCC stage III patients that are sentinel lymph node (SLN) positive receiving no immunotherapy (control cohort; n = 80). The SNP panel analysis demonstrated that the responder patient group had an improved disease-free survival (DFS) (hazard ratio [HR] 1.84, 95% CI 1.09–3.13, p = 0.021) in the pilot cohort. In the verification cohort, an improved overall survival (OS) (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.07–2.67, p = 0.025) was observed. No significant differences of SNPs were observed in DFS or OS in the control patient cohort. This study demonstrates that SNP immune genes can be utilized as a predictive tool for identifying melanoma patients that are inherently responsive to BCG and potentially other immunotherapies in the future.
Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and Characterization of Solar-Light-Active Copper–Vanadium Oxide: Evaluation of Antialgal and Dye Degradation Activity
Authors: Nandanwar Sondavid , Borkar Shweta , Cho Jeong Hyung , Kim Hak Jun
Published: December 2020

In this work, solar-light-active copper–vanadium oxide (Cu-VO) was synthesized by a simple microwave method and characterized by FESEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, UV–Vis/near-infrared (NIR), and FT-IR spectroscopy. Antialgal and dye degradation activities of Cu-VO were investigated against Microcystis aeruginosa and methylene blue dye (MB), respectively. The mechanism of action of Cu-VO was examined regarding the production of hydroxyl radical (·OH) in the medium and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in M. aeruginosa. FESEM and XRD analyses of Cu-VO disclosed the formation of monoclinic crystals with an average diameter of 132 nm. EDX and XPS analyses showed the presence of Cu, V, and O atoms on the surface of Cu-VO. Furthermore, FT-IR analysis of Cu-VO exposed the presence of tetrahedral VO4 and octahedral CuO6. Cu-VO effectively reduced the algal growth and degraded methylene blue under solar light. A total of 4 mg/L of Cu-VO was found to be effective for antialgal activity. Cu-VO degraded 93% of MB. The investigation of the mechanism of action of Cu-VO showed that ·OH mediated antialgal and dye degradation of M. aeruginosa and MB. Cu-VO also triggered the production of intracellular ROS in M. aeruginosa, leading to cell death. Thus, Cu-VO could be an effective catalyst for wastewater treatment.
Hierarchical Porous Carbon Cobalt Nanocomposites-Based Sensor for Fructose
Authors: Hammud Hassan H. , Alotaibi Nusaybah , Al Otaibi Nasreen , Aljaafari Abdullah , Ahmed Faheem , Azam Ameer , Prakasam Thirumurugan
Published: December 2020

3D hierarchical graphitic carbon nanowalls encapsulating cobalt nanoparticles HPC-Co were prepared in high yield from solid-state pyrolysis of cobalt 2,2′-bipyridine chloride complex. Annealing of HPC-Co in air gave HPC-CoO, which consists of a mixture of crystallite Co3O4 nanospheres and nanorods bursting out of mesoporous carbon. Both nanocomposites were fully characterized using SEM, TEM, BET, and powder X-ray diffraction. The elemental composition of both nanocomposites examined using SEM elemental mapping and TEM elemental mapping supports the successful doping of nitrogen. The powder X-ray diffraction studies supported the formation of hexagonal cobalt in HPC-Co, and cubic crystalline Co3O4 with cubic cobalt in HPC-CoO. HPC-Co and HPC-CoO can be used as a modified carbon electrode in cyclic voltammetry experiments for the detection of fructose with limit of detection LOD 0.5 mM. However, the single-frequency impedimetric method has a wider dynamic range of 8.0–53.0 mM and a sensitivity of 24.87 Ω mM−1 for the electrode modified with HPC-Co and 8.0–87.6 mM and a sensitivity of 1.988 Ω mM−1 for the electrode modified with HPC-CoO. The LOD values are 3 and 4 mM, respectively. The effect of interference increases in the following order: ascorbic acid, ethanol, urea, and glucose. A simple method was used with negligible interference from glucose to measure the percentage of fructose in a corn syrup sample with an HPC-CoO electrode. A specific capacitance of 47.0 F/g with 76.6% retentivity was achieved for HPC-Co and 28.2 F/g with 87.9% for HPC-CoO for 3000 charge–discharge cycles. Thus, (1) has better sensitivity and specific capacitance than (2), because (1) has a higher surface area and less agglomerated cobalt nanoparticles than (2).
Novel Convolutional Neural Network with Variational Information Bottleneck for P300 Detection
Authors: Liao Hongpeng , Xu Jianwu , Yu Zhuliang
Published: December 2020

In the area of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), the detection of P300 is a very important technique and has a lot of applications. Although this problem has been studied for decades, it is still a tough problem in electroencephalography (EEG) signal processing owing to its high dimension features and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Recently, neural networks, like conventional neural networks (CNN), has shown excellent performance on many applications. However, standard convolutional neural networks suffer from performance degradation on dealing with noisy data or data with too many redundant information. In this paper, we proposed a novel convolutional neural network with variational information bottleneck for P300 detection. Wiht the CNN architecture and information bottleneck, the proposed network termed P300-VIB-Net could remove the redundant information in data effectively. The experimental results on BCI competition data sets show that P300-VIB-Net achieves cutting-edge character recognition performance. Furthermore, the proposed model is capable of restricting the flow of irrelevant information adaptively in the network from perspective of information theory. The experimental results show that P300-VIB-Net is a promising tool for P300 detection.
Coupled Criticality Analysis of Inflation and Unemployment
Authors: Koohi Lai Zahra , Namaki Ali , Hosseiny Ali , Jafari Gholamreza , Ausloos Marcel
Published: December 2020

In this paper, we focus on the critical periods in the economy that are characterized by unusual and large fluctuations in macroeconomic indicators, like those measuring inflation and unemployment. We analyze U.S. data for 70 years from 1948 until 2018. To capture their fluctuation essence, we concentrate on the non-Gaussianity of their distributions. We investigate how the non-Gaussianity of these variables affects the coupling structure of them. We distinguish “regular” from “rare” events, in calculating the correlation coefficient, emphasizing that both cases might lead to a different response of the economy. Through the “multifractal random wall” model, one can see that the non-Gaussianity depends on time scales. The non-Gaussianity of unemployment is noticeable only for periods shorter than one year; for longer periods, the fluctuation distribution tends to a Gaussian behavior. In contrast, the non-Gaussianities of inflation fluctuations persist for all time scales. We observe through the “bivariate multifractal random walk” that despite the inflation features, the non-Gaussianity of the coupled structure is finite for scales less than one year, drops for periods larger than one year, and becomes small for scales greater than two years. This means that the footprint of the monetary policies intentionally influencing the inflation and unemployment couple is observed only for time horizons smaller than two years. Finally, to improve some understanding of the effect of rare events, we calculate high moments of the variables’ increments for various q orders and various time scales. The results show that coupling with high moments sharply increases during crises.
Computational Hardness of Collective Coin-Tossing Protocols
Authors: Maji Hemanta K.
Published: December 2020

Ben-Or and Linial, in a seminal work, introduced the full information model to study collective coin-tossing protocols. Collective coin-tossing is an elegant functionality providing uncluttered access to the primary bottlenecks to achieve security in a specific adversarial model. Additionally, the research outcomes for this versatile functionality has direct consequences on diverse topics in mathematics and computer science. This survey summarizes the current state-of-the-art of coin-tossing protocols in the full information model and recent advances in this field. In particular, it elaborates on a new proof technique that identifies the minimum insecurity incurred by any coin-tossing protocol and, simultaneously, constructs the coin-tossing protocol achieving that insecurity bound. The combinatorial perspective into this new proof-technique yields new coin-tossing protocols that are more secure than well-known existing coin-tossing protocols, leading to new isoperimetric inequalities over product spaces. Furthermore, this proof-technique’s algebraic reimagination resolves several long-standing fundamental hardness-of-computation problems in cryptography. This survey presents one representative application of each of these two perspectives.
The Bayesian Inference of Pareto Models Based on Information Geometry
Authors: Sun Fupeng , Cao Yueqi , Zhang Shiqiang , Sun Huafei
Published: December 2020

Bayesian methods have been rapidly developed due to the important role of explicable causality in practical problems. We develope geometric approaches to Bayesian inference of Pareto models, and give an application to the analysis of sea clutter. For Pareto two-parameter model, we show the non-existence of α-parallel prior in general, hence we adopt Jeffreys prior to deal with the Bayesian inference. Considering geodesic distance as the loss function, an estimation in the sense of minimal mean geodesic distance is obtained. Meanwhile, by involving Al-Bayyati’s loss function we gain a new class of Bayesian estimations. In the simulation, for sea clutter, we adopt Pareto model to acquire various types of parameter estimations and the posterior prediction results. Simulation results show the advantages of the Bayesian estimations proposed and the posterior prediction.
Performance and Exergy Analyses of a Solar Assisted Heat Pump with Seasonal Heat Storage and Grey Water Heat Recovery Unit
Authors: Poredoš Primož , Vidrih Boris , Poredoš Alojz
Published: December 2020

The main research objective of this paper was to compare exergy performance of three different heat pump (HP)-based systems and one natural gas (NG)-based system for the production of heating and cooling energy in a single-house dwelling. The study considered systems based on: 1. A NG and auxiliary cooling unit; 2. Solely HP, 3. HP with additional seasonal heat storage (SHS) and a solar thermal collector (STC); 4. HP with SHS, a STC and a grey water (GW) recovery unit. The assessment of exergy efficiencies for each case was based on the transient systems simulation program TRNSYS, which was used for the simulation of energy use for space heating and cooling of the building, sanitary hot water production, and the thermal response of the seasonal heat storage and solar thermal system. The results show that an enormous waste of exergy is observed by the system based on an NG boiler (with annual overall exergy efficiency of 0.11) in comparison to the most efficient systems, based on HP water–water with a seasonal heat storage and solar thermal collector with the efficiency of 0.47. The same system with an added GW unit exhibits lower water temperatures, resulting in the exergy efficiency of 0.43. The other three systems, based on air–, water–, and ground–water HPs, show significantly lower annual source water temperatures (10.9, 11.0, 11.0, respectively) compared to systems with SHS and SHS + GW, with temperatures of 28.8 and 19.3 K, respectively.
Ta2O5/SiO2 Multicomponent Dielectrics for Amorphous Oxide TFTs
Authors: Martins Jorge , Kiazadeh Asal , Pinto Joana V. , Rovisco Ana , Gonçalves Tiago , Deuermeier Jonas , Alves Eduardo , Martins Rodrigo , Fortunato Elvira , Barquinha Pedro
Published: December 2020

Co-sputtering of SiO2 and high-κ Ta2O5 was used to make multicomponent gate dielectric stacks for In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors (IGZO TFTs) under an overall low thermal budget (T = 150 °C). Characterization of the multicomponent layers and of the TFTs working characteristics (employing them) was performed in terms of static performance, reliability, and stability to understand the role of the incorporation of the high-κ material in the gate dielectric stack. It is shown that inherent disadvantages of the high-κ material, such as poorer interface properties and poor gate insulation, can be counterbalanced by inclusion of SiO2 both mixed with Ta2O5 and as thin interfacial layers. A stack comprising a (Ta2O5)x(SiO2)100 − x film with x = 69 and a thin SiO2 film at the interface with IGZO resulted in the best performing TFTs, with field-effect mobility (µFE) ≈ 16 cm2·V−1·s−1, subthreshold slope (SS) ≈ 0.15 V/dec and on/off ratio exceeding 107. Anomalous Vth shifts were observed during positive gate bias stress (PGBS), followed by very slow recoveries (time constant exceeding 8 × 105 s), and analysis of the stress and recovery processes for the different gate dielectric stacks showed that the relevant mechanism is not dominated by the interfaces but seems to be related to the migration of charged species in the dielectric. The incorporation of additional SiO2 layers into the gate dielectric stack is shown to effectively counterbalance this anomalous shift. This multilayered gate dielectric stack approach is in line with both the large area and the flexible electronics needs, yielding reliable devices with performance suitable for successful integration on new electronic applications.
Photovoltaic Panels Temperature Regulation Using Evaporative Cooling Principle: Detailed Theoretical and Real Operating Conditions Experimental Approaches
Authors: Haidar Zeyad A. , Orfi Jamel , Kaneesamkandi Zakariya
Published: December 2020

Solar photovoltaic (PV) applications are gaining a great interest worldwide and dominating the renewable energy sector. However, the solar PV panels’ performance is reduced significantly with the increase in their operating temperature, resulting in a substantial loss of energy production and poor economic scenarios. This research contributes to overcoming the PV performance degradation due to the temperature rise. This work involves experimental and theoretical studies on cooling of PV panels using the evaporative cooling (EC) principle. A new EC design to cool the bottom surface of a PV panel was proposed, fabricated, tested, and modeled. A series of experimentation readings under real conditions showed the effectiveness of the method. A steady state heat and mass transfer model was implemented and compared with the experimental data. Fair agreement between the results of the modelling and experimental work was observed. It was found that the temperature of the PV panel can be decreased by 10 °C and the power improvement achieved was 5%. Moreover, the EC helps to stabilize the panels’ temperature fluctuation, which results in a better regulation of electrical power output and reduces the uncertainty associated with solar PV systems.
Probabilistic Forecasting of Wind Turbine Icing Related Production Losses Using Quantile Regression Forests
Authors: Molinder Jennie , Scher Sebastian , Nilsson Erik , Körnich Heiner , Bergström Hans , Sjöblom Anna
Published: December 2020

A probabilistic machine learning method is applied to icing related production loss forecasts for wind energy in cold climates. The employed method, called quantile regression forests, is based on the random forest regression algorithm. Based on the performed tests on data from four Swedish wind parks available for two winter seasons, it has been shown to produce valuable probabilistic forecasts. Even with the limited amount of training and test data that were used in the study, the estimated forecast uncertainty adds more value to the forecast when compared to a deterministic forecast and a previously published probabilistic forecast method. It is also shown that the output from a physical icing model provides useful information to the machine learning method, as its usage results in an increased forecast skill when compared to only using Numerical Weather Prediction data. A potential additional benefit in machine learning for some stations was also found when using information in the training from other stations that are also affected by icing. This increases the amount of data, which is otherwise a challenge when developing forecasting methods for wind energy in cold climates.
New Insights into Impacts of Toxic Metals in Aquatic Environments
Authors: David Elise , Cosio Claudia
Published: December 2020

Chemical contamination of the aquatic environment, as a consequence of anthropogenic activities, remains of major worldwide concern [...]
Intercomparison of Three Open-Source Numerical Flumes for the Surface Dynamics of Steep Focused Wave Groups
Authors: Vyzikas Thomas , Stagonas Dimitris , Maisondieu Christophe , Greaves Deborah
Published: December 2020

NewWave-type focused wave groups are commonly used to simulate the design wave for a given sea state. These extreme wave events are challenging to reproduce numerically by the various Numerical Wave Tanks (NWTs), due to the high steepness of the wave group and the occurring wave-wave interactions. For such complex problems, the validation of NWTs against experimental results is vital for confirming the applicability of the models. Intercomparisons among different solvers are also important for selecting the most appropriate model in terms of balancing between accuracy and computational cost. The present study compares three open-source NWTs in OpenFOAM, SWASH and HOS-NWT, with experimental results for limiting breaking focused wave groups. The comparison is performed by analysing the propagation of steep wave groups and their extracted harmonics after employing an accurate focusing methodology. The scope is to investigate the capabilities of the solvers for simulating extreme NewWave-type groups, which can be used as the “design wave” for ocean and coastal engineering applications. The results demonstrate the very good performance of the numerical models and provide valuable insights to the design of the NWTs, while highlighting potential limitations in the reproduction of specific harmonics of the wave group.
Assessing Eulerian Indicators for Predicting Mixing in a Blinking Vortex System with Varying Degrees of Continuous Transition
Authors: Ryu Hyekyung , Cookson Andrew N.
Published: December 2020

A discontinuous change in sequential velocity fields is known to generate laminar flow mixing through the mechanism of streamline crossing. However, previous research has suggested that a small degree of continuous transition between velocity fields may not necessarily be detrimental. This study therefore used a modified blinking vortex system with varying degree of continuous transition to assess the precise effect that this continuous transition has on mixing performance. This system was studied for the parameters: blinking period, vortex spacing, and the fraction of time spent in transition. Continuous Eulerian indicators were computed to investigate their correspondence with Lagrangian-based metrics, such as Intensity of Segregation, under such conditions. The results showed that up to 30% transition time yielded improvements in mixing, most notably when vortex spacing was large, and this was consistent across different time periods. The mixing prediction by the Eulerian indicators, particularly mobility, showed good agreement with actual mixing quality, albeit not perfectly, suggesting room for refinement in these metrics. Overall, the findings imply that mixing systems, such as continuous pipe flow-based devices, which are designed assuming a discontinuous change in velocity fields, might benefit from the presence of a small degree of continuous transition between discrete states.
Research Advances on Health Effects of Edible Artemisia Species and Some Sesquiterpene Lactones Constituents
Authors: Trendafilova Antoaneta , Moujir Laila M. , Sousa Pedro M. C. , Seca Ana M. L.
Published: December 2020

The genus Artemisia, often known collectively as “wormwood”, has aroused great interest in the scientific community, pharmaceutical and food industries, generating many studies on the most varied aspects of these plants. In this review, the most recent evidence on health effects of edible Artemisia species and some of its constituents are presented and discussed, based on studies published until 2020, available in the Scopus, Web of Sciences and PubMed databases, related to food applications, nutritional and sesquiterpene lactones composition, and their therapeutic effects supported by in vivo and clinical studies. The analysis of more than 300 selected articles highlights the beneficial effect on health and the high clinical relevance of several Artemisia species besides some sesquiterpene lactones constituents and their derivatives. From an integrated perspective, as it includes therapeutic and nutritional properties, without ignoring some adverse effects described in the literature, this review shows the great potential of Artemisia plants and some of their constituents as dietary supplements, functional foods and as the source of new, more efficient, and safe medicines. Despite all the benefits demonstrated, some gaps need to be filled, mainly related to the use of raw Artemisia extracts, such as its standardization and clinical trials on adverse effects and its health care efficacy.
“Love and Prayer Sustain Our Work” Building Collective Power, Health, and Healing as the Community Health Board Coalition
Authors: Espinoza Damarys , Narruhn Robin
Published: December 2020

Over the course of the last few months, we have seen how structural racism has compounded the impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the United States, resulting in disparate rates of infection and death. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how the consequences of deeply entrenched inequities are fatal to BIPOC communities, whether death is a result of the novel coronavirus or the everyday violence of structural racism that manifests as poor health outcomes. We examine the formation of the Community Health Board Coalition (CHBC), a BIPOC-led organization in Washington state, to show how 15 communities have organized for health and healing amidst the collective trauma associated with COVID-19. We note that biopower—literally power over life, the unspeakable—and slow violence have been normalized and escalated in our communities. The use of an antiracist lens and decolonial practices have assisted us in our survivance (survival and resistance). We use autoethnography and testimonio as decolonial theory and method to give voice to individual and collective experiences that brought us to our roles as CHBC founding members and inaugural cochairs.
Hereditary Hearing Impairment with Cutaneous Abnormalities
Authors: Lee Tung-Lin , Lin Pei-Hsuan , Chen Pei-Lung , Hong Jin-Bon , Wu Chen-Chi
Published: December 2020

Syndromic hereditary hearing impairment (HHI) is a clinically and etiologically diverse condition that has a profound influence on affected individuals and their families. As cutaneous findings are more apparent than hearing-related symptoms to clinicians and, more importantly, to caregivers of affected infants and young individuals, establishing a correlation map of skin manifestations and their underlying genetic causes is key to early identification and diagnosis of syndromic HHI. In this article, we performed a comprehensive PubMed database search on syndromic HHI with cutaneous abnormalities, and reviewed a total of 260 relevant publications. Our in-depth analyses revealed that the cutaneous manifestations associated with HHI could be classified into three categories: pigment, hyperkeratosis/nail, and connective tissue disorders, with each category involving distinct molecular pathogenesis mechanisms. This outline could help clinicians and researchers build a clear atlas regarding the phenotypic features and pathogenetic mechanisms of syndromic HHI with cutaneous abnormalities, and facilitate clinical and molecular diagnoses of these conditions.
Designing a Randomized Trial with an Age Simulation Suit—Representing People with Health Impairments
Authors: Timm Ingo J. , Spaderna Heike , Rodermund Stephanie C. , Lohr Christian , Buettner Ricardo , Berndt Jan Ole
Published: December 2020

Due to demographic change, there is an increasing demand for professional care services, whereby this demand cannot be met by available caregivers. To enable adequate care by relieving informal and formal care, the independence of people with chronic diseases has to be preserved for as long as possible. Assistance approaches can be used that support promoting physical activity, which is a main predictor of independence. One challenge is to design and test such approaches without affecting the people in focus. In this paper, we propose a design for a randomized trial to enable the use of an age simulation suit to generate reference data of people with health impairments with young and healthy participants. Therefore, we focus on situations of increased physical activity.
Relationships of Symptom Groups and Functioning Domains in Patients with Advanced-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Undergoing Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Lee Myung Kyung
Published: December 2020

The purpose of this study was to describe the symptoms experienced by patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), examine whether different symptom groups significantly affected different functioning domains in these patients, and determine the effect of the “lack of energy” and “pain” symptom groups on the different functioning domains of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). From a single tertiary institution, this cross-sectional study enrolled 135 consecutive NSCLC patients who were mostly undergoing chemotherapy and were in the advanced stage (National University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea). Clinical and self-reported demographic information and data on different functioning domains (from the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30)), symptom experience (from the EORTC QLQ-LC13), and the Symptom Distress Scale (SDS) were examined. The four most common symptoms were fatigue (69%), pain (47%), dyspnea (38%), and lack of appetite (36%). The “pain” symptom group was negatively associated with physical, emotional, cognitive, and role functioning. The “lack of energy” symptom group was negatively associated with physical, role, emotional, social, and cognitive functioning. The “lack of energy” symptom group explained the most variance for physical and role functioning, and the “pain” symptom group explained the most variance for emotional functioning. Impaired concentration explained the most variance for cognitive functioning.
Feasibility of Using Floor Vibration to Detect Human Falls
Authors: Shao Yu , Wang Xinyue , Song Wenjie , Ilyas Sobia , Guo Haibo , Chang Wen-Shao
Published: December 2020

With the increasing aging population in modern society, falls as well as fall-induced injuries in elderly people become one of the major public health problems. This study proposes a classification framework that uses floor vibrations to detect fall events as well as distinguish different fall postures. A scaled 3D-printed model with twelve fully adjustable joints that can simulate human body movement was built to generate human fall data. The mass proportion of a human body takes was carefully studied and was reflected in the model. Object drops, human falling tests were carried out and the vibration signature generated in the floor was recorded for analyses. Machine learning algorithms including K-means algorithm and K nearest neighbor algorithm were introduced in the classification process. Three classifiers (human walking versus human fall, human fall versus object drop, human falls from different postures) were developed in this study. Results showed that the three proposed classifiers can achieve the accuracy of 100, 85, and 91%. This paper developed a framework of using floor vibration to build the pattern recognition system in detecting human falls based on a machine learning approach.
Effectiveness of the Validation Method in Work Satisfaction and Motivation of Nursing Home Care Professionals: A Literature Review
Authors: Sánchez-Martínez Iván , Vilar Raül , Irujo Javier , Ulsamer Duna , Cano Dolors , Casaca Soares Celia , Acevedo Ángel , Jerez-Roig Javier , Celdrán Montserrat
Published: December 2020

The purpose of this study was to carry out a literature review on the effectiveness of the validation method (VM) in job satisfaction and motivation of care professionals working with older people in nursing homes. The review was carried out in specialised databases: Scopus, PsychINFO, PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Google Scholar, Scielo, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 9046 results were obtained, out of which a total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria: five quantitative, four qualitative, one single case series, two quasi-experimental and two mixed methods studies. The results of the analysed studies report that the VM can be an effective tool that facilitates communication and interaction in care, reducing levels of stress and job dissatisfaction among care professionals. The VM facilitates communication between professionals and older people with dementia, and improves the management of complex situations that may arise in care, directly influencing a reduction in work stress and increasing job satisfaction.
Effects of El Niño/La Niña on the Number of Imported Shigellosis Cases in the Republic of Korea, 2004–2017
Authors: Kim Jong-Hun , Sung Jisun , Kwon Ho-Jang , Cheong Hae-Kwan
Published: December 2020

Shigellosis is a major diarrheal disease in low- and middle-income countries. Although the incidence of such diseases in South and Southeast Asia has been associated with climate fluctuations linked to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the impact of ENSO on shigellosis infections remains unknown. Data reported to being infected with shigellosis while traveling abroad from 2004 to 2017 were obtained from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We investigated the relationship between the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) and Indian Ocean Dipole Mode Index and the relative risk of shigellosis in outbound travelers using distributed lag linear and non-linear models. From 2004 to 2017, 87.1% of imported shigellosis was infected in South and Southeast Asian countries. The relative risk of imported shigellosis infection in outbound travelers increased as the ONI decreased. In the association with the five-month cumulative ONI, the relative risk of infection continuously increased as the La Niña index gained strength. Climate fluctuations associated with the La Niña phenomenon in South and Southeast Asian countries can lead to issues in sanitation and water safety. Our findings suggest that the decreasing trend in the ONI is associated with an increased incidence of shigellosis in these countries.
Types of Perception of Home Visiting Oral Health Care Services for Korean Older Persons: A Q Methodology Study
Authors: Lee Sue-Hyang , Bae Soo-Myoung , Shin Bo-Mi , Shin Sun-Jung
Published: December 2020

This study was conducted using the Q methodology to categorize Korean older persons’ subjective perceptions of home visiting oral health care services. Various opinions regarding home visiting oral health care services were collected based on related literature, and by conducting in-depth interviews with 12 people. Thirty-two statements were finally selected, and Q classification was applied. Based on data analysis with the PC-QUANL program, six factors (seven types) were derived, which accounted for 49.6% of the total variance. By comprehensive analysis of the types of subjective perceptions of home visiting oral health care services, the following two characteristics were identified. Korean older persons were expected to promote their own oral health activities, or improved access to expert health care services, through the home visiting oral health care services. Additionally, they had a need for social, economic, emotional, and informational support. Therefore, home visiting dental personnel should be able to provide customized visiting oral health care services based on evaluation of the need and type of perception of older persons. Thus, it is essential for visiting dental personnel to be trained in the knowledge of social welfare, and to develop diverse competencies.