bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical efficacy of one-finger meditation massage on IBS-C based on the"gut-brain axis" theory: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Zeng Xiayang , He Jingjing , Li Xiaoyu , Chen Peng , Zuo Jinhong , Cai Xinlei , Fan Zhenyu , Qu Jianpeng
Published: May 2023

Background As a common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can have negative effects on patients and society, with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation(IBS-C) accounting for a large proportion of these effects. The main clinical manifestations of IBS-C are constipation, abdominal pain, and abdominal distension, which seriously impact the quality of life of patients. The mechanisms of IBS are complex, and the gut-brain axis has been an emerging and recognized theoretical system in recent years. Based on the theory of the gut-brain axis and the theory of Chinese medicine, we designed this study to evaluate the efficacy of one-finger meditation massage in treating IBS-C. Methods/design Thisis a randomized controlled trial. Eligible patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) were randomized 1:1 to a test group (massage plus probiotics) and a control group (probiotics). Patients in the test group were treated once every 10 days for three consecutive courses of treatment (i.e., three months) and were given Bifidobacterium trifolium capsules 630 mg/dose three times daily 30 mins after meals every day during the treatment period, with follow-up observations at the end of the third and sixth months of thetreatment period. The control group were given Bifidobacterium trifolium capsules 630mg/dose, 3 times a day for 3 months, with follow-up observations at the end of the third and sixth months of the treatment period. The primary outcome indicators are the concentrations of 5-HT and substance P and the IBS Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) assessment. Secondary outcomes are the Bristol Rating Scale (BRSA) score, the IBS Quality of Life Questionnaire (IBS-QOL scale) score, and the assessment of the effectiveness of the evidence. The results were assessed at the pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up stages. Any side effects were subject to assessment.
Discussion The aim of this trial is to provide a new method of treatment based on pharmacological treatment that is easy to use, easy to promote and has proven efficacy and to establish the efficacy and safety of treating IBS-C through this trial.
Registration for Trial Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200066417 on 5 December 2022.
AI-Driven Cheminformatics Models of Chemical Mixtures for Sustainable Design of Drop-in Biofuel Blends
Authors: Bediaga Harbil , Moreno-Benítez Isabel , Arrasate Sonia , Vilas-Vilela José Luis , Orbe Lucía , Gómez-Martín Juan Pedro , Unzueta Elías , González-Díaz Humberto
Published: May 2023

Complex chemical mixtures (involving multiple chemical compounds) such as polymers mixtures, ionic liquids, azeotropes, metabolites, and drop-in biofuels, are present in almost all areas of chemical research and industry. Specifically, designing sustainable fuel blends and/or drop-in biofuels by adding eco-friendly pre-mixtures of chemical compounds (compounding) may help to reduce environmental impact. However, experimental testing of all possible pre-mixtures is time and resources consuming. In this context, Cheminformatics approach to complex fuel mixtures is an important challenge of the major relevance. Artificial intelligence/Machine learning (AI/ML) models may help to reduce experimentation cost but there are not publicly available datasets with detailed chemical composition of fuel blends. Consequently, in this work, we assembled a dataset of 1222 fuel blends previously reported with at least 20 compounds each one. After this, Information Fusion and Perturbation Theory Machine Learning (IFPTML) strategy was used to pre-process the data. Next, we seek multiple linear and non-linear AI/ML models able to predict the RON and MOM values of these mixtures. In so doing, Multivariate Linear Regression (MLR), Radial Basis Function (RBF), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), And Deep Neural Network (DNN) algorithms were tested for comparative purposes. The best models found predict the output values with r2 in the range 0.89–0.99 in training and validation series. Last, we run simulations with > 10000 and > 5000 data point of drop-in biofuels and eco-friendly fuel blends both made of a pre-mixture of eco-friendly components and a base blend of reference. We submitted the top scored fuel blends predicted to experimental testing. The experimental results were coincident with computational simulations. In fact, different blends of standard fuel (90%v/v) with different pre-mixtures (10%v/v) comply with specifications. In addition, the C + + code of all the ANN models was released online for public research purposes at the GitHub repository: https://github.com/glezdiazh/biofuels.ptml. The new model may be useful for eco-friendly fuel blends design with lower environmental impact.
Annular multi-focal-phase mask multiplexing based large depth of field imaging by interferenceless coded aperture correlation holography
Authors: Liu Chao , Wan Yuhong , Ma Teng , Ma Tian , Man Tianlong
Published: May 2023

Extending depth-of-field (DOF) of the imaging system without modifying the structure and sacrificing imaging performances of the optical system is of great significance to broaden the capability and application of the imaging system. In this paper, the interferenceless coded aperture correlation holography(I-COACH) is developed to be a large-depth incoherent imaging system by employing an annular multi-focal coded phase mask (AM-CPM). Based on the analyses of axial defocus characteristics in I-COACH, the defocus compensation function is defined and the AM-CPM is designed and multiplexed on the system optical pupil, which plays the role of a gradual lens. In AM-CPM, multi-annular zones with different focal lengths are used to compensate different axial defocus aberrations and adjacent annular zones have symmetric axial defocus aberration correction capability according to the imaging characteristics of the system. The simulations and experimental results fully demonstrate that the axial point spread function distribution of the system obtained by AM-CPM is continuous and the development method enables the extension of the DOF of the I-COACH system by only single exposure point spread hologram. This proposal is expected to provide great potential in synthetic aperture imaging and other fields of that based on I-COACH system.
Molecular detection of human adenovirus and bocavirus in wastewater and drain water in the western Nile Delta of Egypt
Authors: Badr Kareem Rady , Elmahdy Elmahdy M. , Shaheen Mohamed N.F.
Published: May 2023

Background:
Human Adenovirus (HAdV) and Human Bocavirus (HBoV) are frequently found in different water sources throughout the year. Due to their health impact on humans, especially children, continuous monitoring of these viruses is one of the important tools to evaluate their circulation within society. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HAdV and HBoV in different environmental samples collected from the western Nile Delta of Egypt.
Methods
A total of 264 samples were collected from treated and untreated sewage (48), sewage sludge (24), drainage water (96), and drainage sediment (96) from December 2019 to November 2021. Molecular detection by nested PCR was performed to detect both HAdV and HBoV in the collected samples.
Results
The results indicated that HAdV was more prevalent than HBoV in all types of sewage samples, with the highest detection rate in untreated sewage. Moreover, the detection rates of both viruses were relatively lower in sludge sewage samples. In drainage water and sediment samples, HAdV and HBoV were detected with similar frequencies, although the detection rates were generally lower than those observed in sewage samples.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that sewage and drainage water may serve as potential sources for the dissemination of these viruses in the environment. The results of this study emphasize the importance of monitoring the presence of these viruses in wastewater and other environmental samples to ensure public health and safety. Proper treatment and disposal of sewage should be done correctly to minimize their transmission and potential health risks.
An efficient proxy-based message authentication framework in vehicular ad- hoc networks
Authors: Asaar Maryam Rajabzadeh , Barjoei Pouya Derakhshan
Published: May 2023

In the recent research of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs), new practical goals are pursued. They provide real-world communications between vehicles and make them reliable and easy-used. The VANETs have a fundamental role in reducing traffic accidents and improving traffic on the roads. Authentication in VANETs is a critical security service, and vehicles should be protected from breaking their personal information. Vehicles can be traced and investigated in the event of an accident or liability arising out of non-repudiation when the vehicle is faced with a rush of incoming messages. Hence, the roadside units' (RSUs) efficiency is reduced and causes delays in checking messages. This study presents an authentication framework using proxy vehicles for VANETs. Reducing the computational cost and proficiency increment are the features of the proposed method on the RSUs side. The proposed framework supports managing the revocation list. The Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) authentication protocols are guaranteed and designed in this proposed framework, to show this, a merged V2I and V2V authentication is presented and embedded in the proposed framework. The designed protocol applies offline and online signatures to check messages and the revocation key to prevent malicious messages from being sent, and the time limit to use the network. The analysis shows that the suggested protocol is more feasible and reasonable for use in VANETs.
Real-time prediction of grinding surface roughness based on multi-sensor signal fusion
Authors: Pan Yuhang , Qiao Yajuan , Wang Yonghao , Liu Xubao , Zhou Ping
Published: May 2023

In this study, aiming at problems that the existing surface roughness prediction models fail to consider the time-varying characteristics of the rough grinding process and the difficulty in feature selection, a real-time surface roughness prediction model based on multi-sensor signal fusion is developed. Firstly, features are extracted from the time domain, frequency domain, and time-frequency domain of force and vibration signal, and then features that do not reflect the time-varying characteristics of the machining process are eliminated. Finally, a multi-sensor signal fusion method is proposed based on the principal component analysis (PCA). Results show that fused features are capable of retaining the physical meaning of original features, and achieving stable and high-precision prediction of surface roughness when they are input into the BP neural network (BPNN). In addition, it is found that the surface roughness at different stages of grinding processing is dominated by different factors. Specifically, during the first stage, the fourth principal component PC4 is the redundant information for the model. However, this feature significantly affects the performance of the model during the second stage. Overall, this paper lays the foundation for understanding mechanisms of time-varying surface roughness in an actual grinding process and realizing accurate monitoring.
Application of flow cytometry and measurement of water activity to evaluate the stability of probiotic products
Authors: Sielatycka Katarzyna , Śliwa-Dominiak Joanna , Radaczyńska Martyna , Juzwa Wojciech , Kaczmarczyk Mariusz , Marlicz Wojciech , Łoniewski Igor
Published: May 2023

The flow cytometry method (FCM) is a widely renown practice increasingly used to assess the microbial viability of the probiotic products. Also, water activity (aw) can be used to verify of viable cells in probiotic products throughout their shelf lives. The aim of this study was to analyze and demonstrate the effective, time-efficient and economical method of combining FCM and aw for assessing the shelf life of various probiotic products and guaranteeing their quality. We controlled the stability of probiotic products for bacterial counts (using flow cytometry, SYTO24 and PI dyes) and aw levels in commercially available capsules containing freeze-dried bacteria such as Lactobacillus sp. or combinations of Lactobacillus sp. and Bifidobacterium sp. in standard conditions (25°C ± 2°C and 60% relative humidity) over a period of 24 months. During this time, the bacterial contents decreased by 0.1 Log10 in the single-strain product, by 0.14 Log10 in the two-strain product and by 0.25 Log10 in the multi-strain product. The aw at the end point of the stability study did not exceed 0.15 in each of the three tested products. FCM in combination with aw is an innovative, valuable and prospective method for assessing the stability of probiotic products both for their ability to detect bacterial viability, but also for practical (analysis time) and economic reasons.
Developing Laser-Assisted Machining Process for Nickel based Superalloy IN625 Using Experimental and Statistical Analysis
Authors: Rao B. Amarendhar , Tak Manish , Rao R. Narasimha , Bathe Ravi
Published: May 2023

This study evaluated the optimization of process parameters in laser-assisted turning of IN625 nickel-based superalloy. IN625 is renowned for its high-temperature strength and work-hardening properties, making it challenging to machine using traditional techniques. In order to overcome this difficulty, a laser-assisted machining setup was employed that combined a conventional lathe with a 6 kW fibre-coupled diode laser and dynamometer. The Box-Behnken design of experiments strategy based on Response Surface Methodology was used to optimize the machining conditions. The interplay between various machining properties, such as cutting forces, flank wear, and surface roughness, and machining process parameters, such as laser power, spindle speed, feed rate, and depth of cut, was investigated. The optimal parameters for laser-assisted turning of IN625 alloy included a laser power of 625 W, speed of 45 m/min, and feed of 0.15 mm/rev. These parameters led to reductions in cutting forces of 20% (Fx), 17% (Fy), 30% (Fz), as well as maximum flank wear and surface roughness of 18% and 16%, respectively. This study provides an effective strategy for optimizing the machining of IN625 alloys, which is difficult to machine by traditional techniques due to its high-temperature strength and work-hardening properties.
Cell type specific polyploidization in the royal fat body of termite queens
Authors: Nozaki Tomonari , Tasaki Eisuke , Matsuura Kenji
Published: May 2023

Tissue-specific endopolyploidy is widespread among plants and animals and its role in organ development and function has long been investigated. In insects, the fat body cells of sexually mature females produce substantial amounts of egg yolk precursor proteins (vitellogenins) and exhibit high polyploid levels, which is considered crucial for boosting egg production. Termites are social insects with a reproductive division of labor, and the fat bodies of mature termite queens exhibit higher ploidy levels than those of other females. The fat bodies of mature termite queens are known to be histologically and cytologically specialized in protein synthesis. However, the relationship between such modifications and polyploidization remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the relationship among cell type, queen maturation, and ploidy levels in the fat body of the termite Reticulitermes speratus. We first confirmed that the termite fat body consists of two types of cells, that is, adipocytes, metabolically active cells, and urocytes, urate-storing cells. Our ploidy analysis using flow cytometry has shown that the fat bodies of actively reproducing queens had more polyploid cells than those of newly emerged and pre-reproductive queens, regardless of the queen phenotype (adult or neotenic type). Using image-based analysis, we found that adipocytes became polyploid during queen differentiation and subsequent sexual maturation. These results suggest that polyploidization in the termite queen fat body is associated with sexual maturation and is regulated in a cell type-specific manner. Our study findings have provided novel insights into the development of insect fat bodies and provide a basis for future studies to understand the functional importance of polyploidy in the fat bodies of termite queens.
Thinking and Enacting the Patient Medical Home under Pandemic Conditions: A qualitative study from primary care in Alberta, Canada
Authors: Leslie Myles , Hansen Brian , Abboud Rida , Claussen Caroline , Aghajafari Fariba
Published: May 2023

Background:The COVID-19 (C19) pandemic shocked primary care systems around the world. Those systems responded by supporting patients in the community, and acute care facilities in crisis. In Canada, the Patient Medical Home (PMH) is a widely adopted care model that aims to operationalize the tenets and principles of Primary Health Care (PHC) as developed since the Alma-Ata Declaration. This paper describes how personnel working in and with Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Alberta, Canada deployed the PMH model and its underlying PHC principles to frame and respond to the C19 shock.Methods: Using purposive and snowball sampling techniques, we interviewed 57participants who worked in public health and primary care, including community-based family physicians. We used interpretive description to analyze the interviews.Results:PCN staff and physicians described how the PMH model was foundational to normal operations, and how C19 responses were framed by the patient-centric, team-delivered, and continuous care principles the model shares with PHC. Specifically, participants described ensuring access to care, addressing the social determinants of health, being patient centered, and redeploying and expanding PHC teams to accomplish these goals.Discussion:Delivering PHC through the PMH allowed physicians and allied health staff to deliver patient-centered, team-based, holistic bio-medical services to Albertans. In tailoring services to meet the specific social and health needs of the populations served by each PCN, healthcare providers were able to ensure relevant support remained available and accessible.
Parallelized immunomagnetic nanopore sorting: modeling, scaling, and optimization of surface marker specific isolation of extracellular vesicles from complex media
Authors: Lin Andrew A. , Shen Hanfei , Spychalski Griffin , Carpenter Erica L. , Issadore David
Published: May 2023

The isolation of specific subpopulations of extracellular vesicles (EVs) based on their expression of surface markers poses a significant challenge due to their nanoscale size (< 800 nm), their heterogeneous surface marker expression, and the vast number of background EVs present in clinical specimens (1010-1012 EVs/mL in blood). Highly parallelized nanomagnetic sorting using track etched magnetic nanopore (TENPO) chips has achieved precise immunospecific sorting with high throughput and resilience to clogging. However, there has not yet been a systematic study of the design parameters that control the trade-offs in throughput, target EV recovery, and specificity in this approach. We combine finite-element simulation and experimental characterization of TENPO chips to elucidate design rules to isolate EV subpopulations from blood. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by increasing specificity > 10x relative to prior published designs without sacrificing recovery of the target EVs by selecting pore diameter, number of membranes placed in series, and flow rate. We compare TENPO-isolated EVs to those of gold-standard methods of EV isolation and demonstrate its utility for wide application and modularity by targeting subpopulations of EVs from multiple models of disease including lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and liver cancer.
A Requirements Management Approach to Ameliorate Regression Testing Cost Overruns and Deviations
Authors: Roncero Enrique , Silva Andrés
Published: May 2023

Testing and regression testing tasks can become very complex and highly expensive. Currently, studies in the software industry that testing activities may absorb more than 50% of the project cost. Of this cost, 40% may correspond to the cost of regression testing which, if not taken into account from the beginning, leads to a cost increase large enough to jeopardize the success of the project. To address this issue, an approach named “TeqReq+” is proposed. The main objective of TeqReq + is to provide an early integration of the cost of regression testing into the initial estimates of the project effort. From this, a reduction of the difference between the initial effort estimate and the final cost of the project will take place, after the regression testing has already been carried out. Additionally, in order to record valuable information for the testing process, TeqReq + will also record information related to the testing status and to the person responsible for the testing tasks associated to a requirement. The proposed approach was validated in an industrial case study involving several real-world projects. The analysis of the information gathered was performed under a mixed approach and, in turn, the results were validated via double triangulation. The findings lead to confirm that TeqReq + had a positive impact not only at the time of budgeting the cost of regression testing but in reducing the deviations due to a bad estimation of the regression testing costs, while also providing several other improvements regarding the testing process.
Low-dose copper and blue light increases the yield of value-added biomolecules in Kirchneriella contorta (Chlorophyceae)
Authors: Aoyagi Leonardo Murilo , Baracho Douglas Henrique , Lombardi Ana Teresa
Published: May 2023

Microalgae are a natural source of valuable compounds with a wide range of applications. Given their physiological plasticity, strategies aiming at increasing the content of biomolecules have been proposed. In this study, low-dose copper and blue/red lights were combined and used as a manipulative strategy to induce biomolecule accumulation in Kirchneriella contorta (Schmidle). Cultures were exposed to a 1.6x10− 9 to 1.7x10− 8 mol L− 1 free copper (Cu2+) concentration range under white light for 48 h. Afterwards, the white light was replaced with blue or red lights for up to 96 h. We evaluated population growth through growth rates, photosynthesis through pulse amplitude modulated fluorescence (PAM) and biomolecules by quantifying chlorophyll a, carotenoids, carbohydrates and proteins. The results showed that at 3.8x10− 9 mol L− 1 Cu2+ and blue light, 2x more carotenoids, 4x more carbohydrates and 3x extra proteins were accumulated in the cells compared to the control. Among the light colors, the blue light most significantly interfered with the alga metabolism compared to the other colors. Although growth rates and quantum yields were not affected, non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) increased under blue light, showing that its higher energy compared to red and white lights may have impacted the photosynthetic apparatus. This study contributes to the biotechnology of microalgae by proposing a manipulative strategy that triggered the build-up of biomolecules in K. contorta.
Affective temperaments show stronger impact on infertility treatment success compared to somatic factors, highlighting the role of personality focused interventions
Authors: Szabo Georgina , F Judit Szigeti , Sipos Miklos , Varbiro Szabolcs , Gonda Xenia
Published: May 2023

Infertility has a multifactorial background, where, besides somatic factors, psychological contributors also play a role in development and outcome. While affective temperaments have been associated with development, course, and outcome as well as treatment success in various somatic conditions, their association with infertility and its treatment has not been investigated so far. The purpose of our retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the influence of affective temperaments on fertility treatment outcomes. Among 578 women who underwent infertility treatment in an Assisted Reproduction Centre in Budapest, Hungary, treatment success, detailed medical history and demographic parameters were recorded, and the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A) was administered. Possible predictors of assisted reproduction outcome were analysed using multi-variate logistic regression models, followed by a receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis in order to define ideal affective temperament cut-off values for clinical applicability. Aside from age, BMI, and previous miscarriage, cyclothymic scores >4 (OR = 0.51 CI: 0.35–0.74, p < 0.001), depressive scores >9 (OR = 0.59 CI: 0.4–0.87, p = 0.009) and anxious scores >9 (OR = 0.45 CI: 0.31–0.66, p < 0.001) significantly decreased the odds of clinical pregnancy by 49%, 41% and 55%, respectively.Irritable and hyperthymic temperaments, as well as other somatic and socio-economic factors had no effect on infertility treatment outcomes. The results suggest that affective temperaments robustly influence the outcome of the infertility treatment. Thus, screening for affective temperaments may help identify high risk patient groups and offer patient tailored treatment, which may increase the chances of a successful pregnancy and live birth for women undergoing IVF treatment.
Bi-stage energy scheduling of residential energy hub with smart demand response programs
Authors: Darabi Mohammad
Published: May 2023

The scheduling of the energy generation is one of the main problems in the energy companies. The investigates to feed the demand are developing with new approaches such as demand side participation and onsite generation via storage systems. This paper proposed the optimal coordination framework of an energy scheduling in the storage-based residential energy hub (EH) system. This framework is performed as two-stage multi-criteria optimization approach using demand side participation. In the first stage, minimizing demand side’s bill is formulated using electrical demand load curtailment (ELDC) strategy, whereby energy demand is decreased. The optimized energy demand in first stage optimization is implemented in second stage to solve multi-criteria problem such as minimizing the generation costs and maximizing the consumers’ satisfaction level. In addition to ELDC participation in first stage, onsite generation is provided via storage systems include electrical storage system (ESS), heat energy storage (HES) and hydrogen storage system (HSS) in second stage by demand side. Also, impact of the ELDC strategy on the storage systems lifetime in order to reducing energy consumption in the charge state of the storage systems is assessment. The proposed optimization approach is solved using shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA). Since, in second stage optimization multi-criteria problem is considered. The desired optimal solution in Pareto frontier solutions is found by LINMAP and fuzzy procedures. Finally, numerical simulation is implemented based on two case studies to demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed approach.
ECMO PAL: Using Deep Neural Networks for Survival Prediction in Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Authors: Stephens Andrew , Šeman Michael , Diehl Arne , Pilcher David , Barbaro Ryan , Brodie Daniel , Pellegrino Vincent , Kaye David , Gregory Shaun , Hodgson Carol
Published: May 2023

Purpose: Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a complex and high-risk life support modality used in severe cardiorespiratory failure. ECMO survival scores are used clinically for patient prognostication and outcomes risk adjustment. This study aims to create the first artificial intelligence (AI)-driven ECMO survival score based on a large international patient cohort.
Methods: A Deep Neural Network: ECMO Predictive Algorithm (ECMO PAL) was trained on 18,167 patients from the international Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation (ELSO) registry (2017 to 2020), and performance was measured using five-fold cross-validation. External validation was performed on all adult registry patients from 2021 (N = 5,015) and compared against existing prognostication scores: SAVE, Modified SAVE, and ECMO ACCEPTS for predicting in-hospital mortality.
Results: Mean age was 56.8 ± 15.1 years, with 66.7% of patients being male and 50.2% having a pre-ECMO cardiac arrest. Cross-validation demonstrated an in-hospital mortality sensitivity and precision of 82.1 ± 0.2% and 77.6 ± 0.2%, respectively. Validation accuracy was only 2.8% lower than training accuracy, reducing from 75.5 to 72.7% [99% CI: 71.1 – 74.3%]. ECMO PAL accuracy outperformed the ECMO ACCEPTS (54.7%), SAVE (61.1%), and Modified SAVE (62.0%) scores.
Conclusions: ECMO PAL is the first AI-powered ECMO survival score trained and validated on large international patient cohorts. ECMO PAL demonstrated high generalisability across ECMO regions and outperformed existing, widely used scores. Beyond ECMO, this study highlights how large international registry data can be leveraged for AI prognostication for complex critical care therapies.
Different surgical treatment modalities for single-compartment knee osteoarthritis: A Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Liu Lun , Li Juebei , Wang Yunlu , Li Xiyong , Han Pengfei , Li Xiaodong
Published: May 2023

Background: The most prevalent chronic joint disease, knee osteoarthritis（KOA）, initially affects only the unilateral compartment and is characterized by secondary bone growth and degenerative changes in the articular cartilage. However, the surgical treatment of single-compartment knee osteoarthritis remains controversial, so we used a network meta-analysis based on Bayesian theory for total knee arthroplasty (TKA),Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty (UKA), and high tibia osteotomy（HTO）was evaluated for the efficacy of these three surgical techniques in the treatment of single-compartment knee osteoarthritis.
Methods: Pubmed, CNKI, The Cochrane Library databases were searched by computer. Retrieval of randomized controlled trials of TKA, UKA, and HTO for unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis, including studies comparing pairwise and three at the same time, were searched until 7 March 2023. Two independent authors were used for data extraction and literature quality evaluation, and the Knee Society Score(KSS), KSS(functional), revision rate, and complication rate were used as evaluation indicators. Stata, Revman, JAGS, and the gemtc package, which is based on R, were all used to carry out the Bayesian network meta-analysis.
Results:After screening, a total of 1438 patients from nine randomized controled trials were included in the analysis. The literature was retrieved from 2158 papers.the SUCRA value of KSS from high to low was: HTO, TKA, UKA, the SUCRA value of KSS(functional) from high to low was:HTO,UKA,TKA,the SUCRA value of the revision rate from low to high: HTO, UKA, TKA, and the SUCRA value of the complication rate from low to high was: HTO, TKA, UKA.
Conclusion: Between the three surgical approaches, there were no significant differences in postoperative KSS, KSS (functional), revision rates, or complication rates.
Systematic Review Registration:
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023420516 identifier: CRD42023420516
Assessing the sustainability of single versus multiple voucher-based family programs in Pakistan: a 24-months post-intervention evaluation
Authors: Azmat Syed Khurram , Ali Moazzam , Rahman Md. Mizanur
Published: May 2023

Introduction
Family planning vouchers have emerged as a promising approach to improve coverage of underserved groups or underutilized services. The current study was designed to measure the residual/longer term impact of FP voucher programs on the practices of women beyond the life of the programme.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey conducted, as part of the larger mixed-method study, approximately 24 months after the close-down of Marie Stopes Society and Greenstar Social Marketing family planning voucher intervention programmes in Punjab, Pakistan. Following necessary ethics approvals, a total of 338 voucher MSS clients & 324 voucher GSM clients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire at the household level.
Results
Compared with end-line data, a significant decrease in the modern contraceptive uptake in both MSS (90% at endline to current (or post-endline) 52%) and GSM (from 84% to current 56%) intervention sites among the voucher clients was noted. Among MSS voucher clients, the highest decline in use was observed in IUCD (54% at endline versus to current 13%); however no change between the surveys was noted among GSM clients. In both projects, following closure of voucher intervention 34% of the discontinued users in MSS and 29% in GSM sites adopted/switched to a new modern contraceptive again. In the post-intervention survey, wealth-based inequality in GSM data depicts more pro-rich utility for modern methods, indicating pro-rich inequality, in contrast, the post-intervention survey in MSS found mixed results such as pro-poor inequality for any method and modern method use.
Conclusions
The prevalence for contraception in study sites, following closure of voucher intervention remained high than national average. This study provides evidence that family planning vouchers can bring about an enduring positive change in clients’ behaviours in using modern contraceptive methods among poor populations. These results are useful to design family planning programs that will sustain when the donor funding terminates.
The Risk of Colorectal Cancer Associated with Lipid profile
Authors: Wu Jiali , Yao Zhenrong , Chen Yvrui , Lin Wenbin , Chen Dubo , Xv Hongxv , Feng Pinning , Gan Wenjia
Published: May 2023

Background The relationship between blood lipids and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. Methods In this study, we assessed the diagnostic performance of serum lipids in CRC patients. In this study, 206 CRC patients, 90 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 190 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled retrospectively. Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test were applied to compare continuous variables. Spearman analysis was used to test correlation. The independent variables for CRC were identified using univariate and multivariate logistic hazard models. Based on the results of the multivariate analysis, a prognostic nomogram was constructed. The ROC curves, calibration curves, and decision curves were used to evaluate the efficiency of the nomogram in prediction. Results The HDL-C level was significantly lower in CRC group than in HC group. The CRC group had a higher level of ApoB compared with UC group. The Lp(a) levels were significantly higher in CRC group than in HC group. Multivariate analysis results showed that ApoA1, HDL-C, ApoB and Lp(a) were independent risk factors for CRC. The nomogram created by ApoA1, HDL-C, ApoB and Lp(a) was more accurate for the prediction of CRC than each factor. The ROC curves, calibration curves and DCA curves of the nomogram showed good discriminative ability for CRC. The serum lipids were not related to TNM stage and tumor differentiation. Conclusions The risk of CRC significantly increased with decreased HDL-C and ApoA1 and increased ApoB and Lp(a). We established a nomogram for CRC prediction based on HDL-C, ApoA1, ApoB and Lp(a), which is beneficial for early diagnosis of CRC.
Cooperative Path Planning for Object Transportation with Fault Management
Authors: K Sindhuja , Sahu Bandita , Das Pardipta , Kumar Raghvendra
Published: May 2023

The current research intents on enhancing the service ability of mobile robot by cooperative path planning. The strategy is developed by fusion of sine cosine algorithm and particle swarm optimization approach for the transition of service robot in complex environment. To ensure the successful execution of the intended task it is essential to have a faultless and collision-less path for the mobile robot. This supposition can be achieved by producing an intelligent fault-managed approach. The proposed paper addresses the object transportation by a pair of robots from source to destination, this task can be accomplished in three step, such as fault identification, fault resolution using robot replacement and computation of a collision-less path. At each step of transition, path planning is carried out to reach the target location. Sine cosine algorithm improves the exploration capability of the robots in the multi robot environment. Particle swarm optimization being the simplest technique to exercise the path planning problem produces an optimal global position for each particle along each dimension. The fusion of both provides a balance exploration-exploitation ability of the mobile robot. Fault identification overcomes the faulty transition and unsuccessful transition of the robot by detecting the fault of any robot through its non-responding time. K- nearest neighbor approach identifies the nearest working robot to replace the faulty on. The algorithm has been exercised in C language to showcase its capability in terms of execution time, path traveled, path deviated etc. The comparative analysis proofs the supremacy of the proposed algorithm in terms of several metrics such as path planning, cooperation, fault management, etc.
Composite CYP3A (CYP3A4 and CYP3A5) phenotypes and influences on tacrolimus dose adjusted concentration in adult heart transplant recipients
Authors: Hernandez Savine , Aquilante Christina , Deininger Kimberly , Lindenfeld Joann , Schlendorf Kelly , Driest Sara Van , Liu Michelle
Published: May 2023

CYP3A5 genetic variants are associated with tacrolimus metabolism. Controversy remains on whether CYP3A4 increased [*1B (rs2740574), *1G (rs2242480)] and decreased function [*22 (rs35599367)] genetic variants provide additional information. This study aims to address whether tacrolimus dose-adjusted trough concentrations differ between combined CYP3A (CYP3A5 and CYP3A4) phenotype groups. Significant differences between CYP3A phenotype groups in tacrolimus dose-adjusted trough concentrations were found in the early postoperative period and continued to 6 months post-transplant. In CYP3A5 nonexpressers, carriers of CYP3A4*1B or *1G variants (Group 3) compared to CYP3A4*1/*1 (Group 2) patients were found to have lower tacrolimus dose-adjusted trough concentrations at 2 months. In addition, significant differences were found among CYP3A phenotype groups in the dose at discharge and time to therapeutic range while time in therapeutic range was not significantly different. A combined CYP3A phenotype interpretation may provide more nuanced genotype-guided TAC dosing in heart transplant recipients.
Electrohydrodynamic Convection Instabilities Observed in Suspensions of Cellulose Nanocrystals
Authors: Frka-Petesic Bruno , Jean Bruno , Heux Laurent
Published: May 2023

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are slender, negatively charged nanoparticles that spontaneously form a cholesteric liquid crystal in aqueous suspension above a critical concentration. When they are suspended in apolar solvents such as toluene using surfactants, the application of an AC electric field leads to the reorientation and then distortion of the cholesteric order until the cholesteric structure completely unwinds into a nematic-like order, typically above 0.4 to 0.6 kV/cm. In this work, we show that at much higher electric fields (\(\ge\)2.4 kV/cm) the sample develops a periodic pattern that varies with the field amplitude and frequency. We ascribed this pattern to electrohydrodynamic convection instabilities. These instabilities usually present complex regimes varying with the field, the voltage, the frequency and the geometry. However, the typical geometry where these instabilities were most documented across the literature differs from the geometry used in this work. This work concludes with possible future experimental investigations to clarify the exact regime of instability responsible for these observations.
Application of VR Head-Mounted Display Training System in Quantitative Evaluation of Trunk Control and Balance Function
Authors: Zhang Xu , Zhao Xueqiang , Wu Xiaoqing , Zhang Chi
Published: May 2023

Virtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly important in various fields, such as medicine, engineering, and science, and can be used for training and education, clinical assessment, and re- habilitation. VR is widely used in rehabilitation to evaluate and intervene in various diseases, with the potential to improve the balance and gait of patients with neurological disorders and provide additional benefits when combined with traditional rehabilitation methods. However, current VR training systems lack methods and technologies for functionally quantifying training performance. This study implemented VR head-mounted display technology and motion sensing recognition technology to achieve positioning and free movement in a virtual reality space, using motion inter- action functions in different movement modalities to achieve trunk control and balance training. Functional quantification evaluation of trunk control and balance was achieved through algorithms that include movement trajectory, trunk activity, and three-dimensional interval motion perfor- mance. The rehabilitation process of the trainees was digitally captured and updated in real-time to form a functional report, allowing medical staff and patients to understand the rehabilitation progress in real-time and promote rehabilitation effectiveness.
Unveiling the variability of Alpha Sextantis: Insights from TESS data analysis in Peranso
Authors: Hamedamen Aven M. , Murad Ismail Musa
Published: May 2023

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the variability of Alpha Sextantis, a non-eclipsing binary star located in the Sextans constellation. The discovery of the variability was made using data from the TESS space telescope, which captured observations over a period of several weeks. The data was then analyzed using the Peranso software, which allowed for the identification of periodic variations in the star's brightness.
The analysis revealed that the variability of Alpha Sextantis is likely due to a combination of factors, including pulsations and rotational modulation. The star's pulsation pattern was found to have a period of approximately 0.12 days, while the rotational modulation had a longer period of approximately 4.4 days.
In addition to providing new insights into the variability of Alpha Sextantis, these findings also have broader implications for our understanding of non-eclipsing binary stars more generally. By shedding light on the complex interplay between pulsations and rotational modulation, this research has the potential to inform future studies of stellar astrophysics and evolution.
A Bipartite Heterogeneous Graph Recommendation Model based on Graph Neural Network
Authors: Norton Matilda , Donovan Silas , Beckett John , Hawthorne Dashiell
Published: May 2023

Nowadays, big data and information technology have become mainstream, and the rapid growth of information volume has greatly met people's needs. However, the surge in data volume has also brought a negative impact on people, the most prominent problem being the influx of more and more invalid information into people's daily life. Graph data is one of the hot directions of current research in the field of data mining. A graph is an important information organization structure, which consists of nodes and edges. A large amount of data in daily life can be organized by graphs. This paper uses graphical neural network techniques to cope with the cold start problem and at the same time ensure that the model still has the ability to understand the content features of the nodes. In recommender systems, the prevalent user-item interaction graph is essentially a bifurcated heterogeneous graph, in which user nodes and item nodes belong to two different node domains, and nodes in different domains may have different initial feature dimensions. In this case, it is difficult to cope with the graph neural network for processing homogeneous graphs, so research on a bipartite heterogeneous graph inference network is needed. In this paper, we design a bipartite self-encoder based on the graph self-encoder and improve the performance of the target task through the dual-task collaborative optimization of node classification and connection prediction. In this paper, subgraph extraction is introduced to achieve diversity in training graph topology by sampling subgraphs in large graphs. Experiment results illustrate that the recommendation model in this paper achieves a performance that surpasses that of some mainstream baselines while coping with the cold start problem.
English and German pop song lyrics: Towards a contrastive textology
Authors: Werner Valentin
Published: May 2023

The present contribution offers a contrastive corpus-based analysis of English and German pop lyrics. It conceptualizes lyrics as a specific text type/register and tries to identify cross-linguistic commonalities and differences. As empirical base, it uses corpora that represent the lyrics of commercially highly successful pop songs in Anglophone and German contexts. Given the similar sociocultural functions and production circumstances of English and German lyrics, the study starts from the assumption that a large-scale linguistic overlap can be traced. While indeed cross-linguistic convergence is found especially for lexical patterns in terms of topic choice, the analysis also reveals a common property of conveying a conversational feel through lexicogrammatical means. However, given the differing typological make-up of the languages contrasted, fine-grained differences emerge as regards the ways conversationality/informality is established in pop lyrics as a performed text type.
Financial literacy skills level among small and medium scale businesses: lessons for entrepreneurial decision-making in Lagos, Nigeria
Authors: Adewumi Samson , Cele Simangele Constance
Published: May 2023

Remarking on the strategic significance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SMEs) as critical to any economy growth and employment creation opportunities, there are evidence that support the poor possession of the appropriate financial literacy skills and knowledge, required by SMEs to effectively make entrepreneurial decision, needed for business growth and the overall economic development. Previous studies on the leitmotif of financial literacy skills have largely been interrogated through the prism of financial institutions and as an indicator for gauging inclusion leaving sparse research attention to understand its implications on entrepreneurial decision making among SMEs. This research chasm provoked this study. The aim of this paper to dissect and understand the place of financial literacy skills and knowledge in entrepreneurial decision-making of SMEs. A total of 15 SMEs were recruited on purpose with the semi-structure interview type, used in eliciting qualitative data. A collection of different themes and sub-themes were identified with the application of the NVivo (v.12) qualitative software and analysed with the content qualitative analytical tool. Pattern and level of financial literacy include understanding of financial decision, management of money and implementation of financial decision. SMEs’ financial literacy, required for effective entrepreneurial decision, includes knowledge on profitability, cash management skills and knowledge on investment with accompanied challenges, such as bad financial behaviour, financial irresponsibility and lack of basic education. The study makes a genuine case for the prioritization of the importance of financial literacy skills and knowledge for clear cut entrepreneurial decisionmaking and growth.