bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of delivery catheter-based and stylet-based right ventricular lead placement at the right ventricular septum under fluoroscopic guidance judged by cardiac CT (Mt. FUJI): a study protocol for the Mt. FUJI randomised controlled trial
Authors: Naruse Yoshihisa , Miyajima Keisuke , Sugiura Ryo , Muto Masahiro , Ogano Michio , Kurebayashi Nobutake , Shiozawa Tomoyuki , Kiyama Yumi , Nagata Eiko , Odagiri Keiichi , Maekawa Yuichiro
Published: May 2021

Introduction

Pacing-induced cardiomyopathy occasionally occurs in patients undergoing pacemaker implantation. Although compared with right ventricular (RV) apical pacing, RV septal pacing can attenuate left ventricular dyssynchrony; the success rate of lead placement on the RV septum using the stylet system is low. Additionally, no randomised controlled trial has addressed the issue regarding the accuracy of RV lead placement on the RV septum using the stylet and delivery catheter systems. This study hypothesises that a newly available delivery catheter system can improve the accuracy of RV lead placement on the RV septum.

Methods and analysis

In a multicentre, prospective, randomised, single-blind, controlled trial, 70 patients with pacemaker indication owing to atrioventricular block will be randomised to either the delivery catheter or stylet group before the pacemaker implantation procedure. The position of the RV lead tip will be assessed using ECG-gated cardiac CT in all patients within 4 weeks after pacemaker implantation. Lead tip positions are classified into three groups: (1) RV septum, (2) anterior/posterior edge of the RV septal wall and (3) RV free wall. The primary endpoint will be the success rate of RV lead tip placement on the RV septum, which will be evaluated using cardiac CT.

Ethics and dissemination

This study will be conducted according to the stipulations of the Helsinki Declaration and the institutional review board of Hamamatsu University School of Medicine. The results of the study will be disseminated at several research conferences and will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration number

jRCTs042200014; Pre-results.
Implementation challenges to patient safety in Guatemala: a mixed methods evaluation
Authors: Hall Bria J , Puente Melany , Aguilar Angie , Sico Isabelle , Orozco Barrios Monica , Mendez Sindy , Baumgartner Joy Noel , Boyd David , Calgua Erwin , Lou-Meda Randall , Ramirez Carla C , Diez Ana , Tello Astrid , Sexton J Bryan , Rice Henry
Published: May 2021

Background

Little is known about factors affecting implementation of patient safety programmes in low and middle-income countries. The goal of our study was to evaluate the implementation of a patient safety programme for paediatric care in Guatemala.

Methods

We used a mixed methods design to examine the implementation of a patient safety programme across 11 paediatric units at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala. The safety programme included: (1) tools to measure and foster safety culture, (2) education of patient safety, (3) local leadership engagement, (4) safety event reporting systems, and (5) quality improvement interventions. Key informant staff (n=82) participated in qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to identify implementation challenges early during programme deployment from May to July 2018, with follow-up focus group discussions in two units 1 year later to identify opportunities for programme modification. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and integrated using triangulation, complementarity and expansion to identify emerging themes using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Salience levels were reported according to coding frequency, with valence levels measured to characterise the degree to which each construct impacted implementation.

Results

We found several facilitators to safety programme implementation, including high staff receptivity, orientation towards patient-centredness and a desire for protocols. Key barriers included competing clinical demands, lack of knowledge about patient safety, limited governance, human factors and poor organisational incentives. Modifications included use of tools for staff recognition, integration of education into error reporting mechanisms and designation of trained champions to lead unit-based safety interventions.

Conclusion

Implementation of safety programmes in low-resource settings requires recognition of facilitators such as staff receptivity and patient-centredness as well as barriers such as lack of training in patient safety and poor organisational incentives. Embedding an implementation analysis during programme deployment allows for programme modification to enhance successful implementation.
Current recommendations on the role of diet in the aetiology and management of IBD
Authors: Gerasimidis Konstantinos , Godny Lihi , Sigall-Boneh Rotem , Svolos Vaios , Wall Catherine , Halmos Emma
Published: May 2021

Diet is a key modifier of risk of inflammatory bowel disease development and potentially a treatment option in patients with established disease. International organisations in gastroenterology and inflammatory bowel disease have published guidelines for the role of diet in disease onset and its management. Here, we discuss the major overarching themes arising from these guidelines and appraise recent literature on the role of diet for inflammatory bowel disease prevention, treatment of active disease and maintenance of remission, considering these themes. Except for exclusive enteral nutrition in active Crohn’s disease, we currently possess very little evidence to make any further dietary recommendations for the management of inflammatory bowel disease. There is also currently uncertainty on the extrapolation of epidemiological dietary signals on risk of disease development and preclinical experiments in animal models to management, once disease is established. Until high-quality evidence from clinical research becomes available, the only specific recommendations for inflammatory bowel disease we might safely give are those of healthy eating which apply for the general population for overall health and well-being.
Leadership reflections a year on from the rapid roll-out of virtual clinics due to COVID-19: a commentary
Authors: Gilbert Anthony W , Davies Lucy , Doyle John , Patel Saroj , Martin Luke , Jagpal Deepak , Billany Joe C T , Bateson John
Published: May 2021

COVID-19 changed the way we delivered care to our patients at our Hospital. Prior to the pandemic, no patient facing video clinics and only a small number of telephone clinics were held. In this paper, we share our experience of rapidly implementing virtual clinics (VCs) due to COVID-19. This commentary is based on focused discussions between hospital leaders and provides a reflective account and commentary on leadership lessons learnt from our experience of deploying VCs. We outline success factors (being able to capitalise on existing strategy, having time and space to establish VCs, using an agreed improvement framework, empowering a diverse and expert implementation team with a flat hierarchy, using efficient decision pathways, communication and staff willingness to change), technical challenges (patient capability and skills to use technology, patient connectivity and platform capacity) and considerations for the future (sustaining new ways of working, platform selection, integration, business continuity and commissioning considerations, barriers regarding capability and communication, effectiveness and clinical outcomes). Finally, we provide an overview of the leadership lessons from this project and identify key areas of focus for delivering successful change projects in future (the vision, allocation of resources, methodology selection and managing the skills gap).
Comparative study of intracranial access in thrombectomy using next generation 0.088 inch guide catheter technology
Authors: Bageac Devin V , Gershon Blake S , Vargas Jan , Mokin Maxim , Ren Zeguang , Chada Deeksha , Turk Aquilla S , Chaudry M Imran , Turner Raymond D , Fifi Johanna T , Shigematsu Tomoyoshi , De Leacy Reade
Published: May 2021

Background

Most conventional 0.088 inch guide catheters cannot safely navigate intracranial vasculature. The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety of stroke thrombectomy using a novel 0.088 inch guide catheter designed for intracranial navigation.

Methods

This is a multicenter retrospective study, which included patients over 18 years old who underwent thrombectomy for anterior circulation large vessel occlusions. Technical outcomes for patients treated using the TracStar Large Distal Platform (TracStar LDP) or earlier generation TRX LDP were compared with a matched cohort of patients treated with other commonly used guide catheters. The primary outcome measure was device-related complications. Secondary outcome measures included guide catheter failure and time between groin puncture and clot engagement.

Results

Each study arm included 45 patients. The TracStar group was non-inferior to the control group with regard to device-related complications (6.8% vs 8.9%), and the average time to clot engagement was 8.89 min shorter (14.29 vs 23.18 min; p=0.0017). There were no statistically significant differences with regard to other technical outcomes, including time to recanalization (modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (mTICI) ≥2B). The TracStar was successfully advanced into the intracranial internal carotid artery in 33 cases (73.33%); in three cases (6.67%), it was swapped for an alternate catheter. Successful reperfusion (mTICI 2B-3) was achieved in 95.56% of cases. Ninety-day follow-up data were available for 86.67% of patients, among whom 46.15% had an modified Rankin Score of 0–2%, and 10.26% were deceased.

Conclusions

Tracstar LDP is safe for use during stroke thrombectomy and was associated with decreased time to clot engagement. Intracranial access was regularly achieved.
Exercise improves lipid metabolism disorders induced by high-fat diet in a SESN2/JNK-independent manner
Authors: Wang Tianyi , Hu Wenqing , Niu Yanmei , Liu Sujuan , Fu Li
Published: May 2021

SESN2 and JNK are emerging powerful stress-inducible proteins in regulating lipid metabolism. The aim of this study was to determine the underlying mechanism of SESN2/JNK signaling in exercise to improve lipid disorder induced by high-fat diet (HFD). Our data showed that HFD and SESN2 knockout resulted in abnormalities including elevated body weight, increased fat mass, serum total cholesterol, lipid biosynthesis related proteins, and a concomitant increase of pJNK-Thr183/Tyr185. The above changes were reversed by exercise training. SESN2 silencing or JNK inhibition in palmitate-treated C2C12 further confirmed that SESN2 and JNK play a vital role in lipid biosynthesis. Rescue experiment further demonstrated that SESN2 reduced lipid biosynthesis through inhibition of JNK. SESN2/JNK signaling axis regulates lipid biosynthesis in both animal and cell models with abnormalities of lipid metabolism induced by HFD or palmitate treatment. This study provided evidence that exercise ameliorated lipid metabolic disorder induced by HFD feeding or by SESN2 knockout. SESN2 may improve lipid metabolism through inhibition JNK expression in skeletal muscle cells, providing a molecular mechanism that may represent an attractive target for the treatment of lipid disorder.

Novelty: Exercise improved lipid disorder induced by HFD feeding and SESN2 knockout. SESN2 and JNK play a vital role in lipid biosynthesis in vivo and in vitro. SESN2 suppressed JNK to improve lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle cells.
Higher-order regularity in local and nonlocal quantum gravity
Authors: Burzillà Nicolò , Giacchini Breno L. , Netto Tibério de Paula , Modesto Leonardo
Published: May 2021

In the present work we investigate the Newtonian limit of higher-derivative gravity theories with more than four derivatives in the action, including the non-analytic logarithmic terms resulting from one-loop quantum corrections. The first part of the paper deals with the occurrence of curvature singularities of the metric in the classical models. It is shown that in the case of local theories, even though the curvature scalars of the metric are regular, invariants involving derivatives of curvatures can still diverge. Indeed, we prove that if the action contains $$2n+6$$

2
n
+
6

derivatives of the metric in both the scalar and the spin-2 sectors, then all the curvature-derivative invariants with at most 2n covariant derivatives of the curvatures are regular, while there exist scalars with $$2n+2$$

2
n
+
2

derivatives that are singular. The regularity of all these invariants can be achieved in some classes of nonlocal gravity theories. In the second part of the paper, we show that the leading logarithmic quantum corrections do not change the regularity of the Newtonian limit. Finally, we also consider the infrared limit of these solutions and verify the universality of the leading quantum correction to the potential in all the theories investigated in the paper.
Duality in elliptic Ruijsenaars system and elliptic symmetric functions
Authors: Mironov A. , Morozov A. , Zenkevich Y.
Published: May 2021

We demonstrate that the symmetric elliptic polynomials$$E_\lambda (x)$$Eλ(x)originally discovered in the study of generalized Noumi–Shiraishi functions are eigenfunctions of the elliptic Ruijsenaars–Schneider (eRS) Hamiltonians that act on the mother function variable$$y_i$$yi(substitute of the Young-diagram variable$$\lambda $$λ). This means they are eigenfunctions of the dual eRS system. At the same time, their orthogonal complements in the Schur scalar product,$$P_\lambda (x)$$Pλ(x)are eigenfunctions of the elliptic reduction of the Koroteev–Shakirov (KS) Hamiltonians. This means that these latter are related to the dual eRS Hamiltonians by a somewhat mysterious orthogonality transformation, which is well defined only on the full space of time variables, while the coordinates$$x_i$$xiappear only after the Miwa transform. This observation explains the difficulties with getting the apparently self-dual Hamiltonians from the double elliptic version of the KS Hamiltonians.
Confinement of $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ inside carbon nanotubes
Authors: Faginas-Lago Noelia , Apriliyanto Yusuf Bramastya , Lombardi Andrea
Published: May 2021

We propose a preliminary study based on molecular dynamics calculations to investigate the adsorption of pure $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$

CO
2

on flexible single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) of different sizes. The adsorption capacities of SWCNTs were simulated and the effect of chirality and diameter of SWCNTs was assessed, to check them as sizable carbon structured materials suitable for $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$

CO
2

confinement and storage. The potential energy surfaces, describing the intermolecular interactions involving $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$

CO
2

-SWCNT and $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$

CO
2

-$$\hbox {CO}_2$$

CO
2

pairs, have been described specifically by adopting the improved lennard jones model potential. The intramolecular interactions within the SWCNT were considered explicitly since they are responsible for out-of-plane movements of carbon atoms and the flexibility of nanotubes. These well-formulated potentials are well capable of defining $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$

CO
2

confinement through physisorption and guarantee a quantitative description and realistic results for the dynamics of the interactions. The flexible SWCNTs can adsorb up to 35 wt% at 273 K, a property that makes them potentially versatile materials competitive with other carbon-derived adsorbents to cope with $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$

CO
2

gas emission.

Graphic abstract
An Improved English-to-Mizo Neural Machine Translation
Authors: Lalrempuii Candy , Soni Badal , Pakray Partha
Published: May 2021

Machine Translation is an effort to bridge language barriers and misinterpretations, making communication more convenient through the automatic translation of languages. The quality of translations produced by corpus-based approaches predominantly depends on the availability of a large parallel corpus. Although machine translation of many Indian languages has progressively gained attention, there is very limited research on machine translation and the challenges of using various machine translation techniques for a low-resource language such as Mizo. In this article, we have implemented and compared statistical-based approaches with modern neural-based approaches for the English–Mizo language pair. We have experimented with different tokenization methods, architectures, and configurations. The performance of translations predicted by the trained models has been evaluated using automatic and human evaluation measures. Furthermore, we have analyzed the prediction errors of the models and the quality of predictions based on variations in sentence length and compared the model performance with the existing baselines.
Influence of Different Specific Gravity H2SO4 on Formation and Performance of Lead Acid Cell with Graphite Powder and Acetylene Carbon
Authors: Jagathisraj A. Stalin , Mohankumar N. , Sheenu A. , Sathishkumar L. , Vikneshvaran S. , Sugumaran N. , S. Ravi
Published: May 2021

A study on the influence of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) concentration on the electrochemical activity, phase composition, structure and morphology of the lead dioxide (PbO2) particle thereby its impact on performance of battery was carried out. For the formation process, cells made up of two positive and two negative plates with graphite powder/acetylene carbon and H2SO4 with different concentrations (1.05, 1.15 and 1.25 specific gravity (SG) are used. During the soaking period, lead oxide (PbO) and basic lead sulphate (PbO.PbSO4) react with H2SO4, and sulfation of the plate starts. These processes changes the structure and morphology of the crystals in the cured paste. The results showed that the concentration of H2SO4 decreases gradually during soaking indicating that H2SO4 is reacting with PbO present in the paste. After the formation process the phase composition and morphology of active material are characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) studies respectively. After formation, the concentration of H2SO4 is altered to 1.24 SG. The simulated 2 V lead-acid cells are subjected to capacity and service life measurement. The results proved indeed the acid SG in formation alters the structure of active material and life of battery.
A Study of Tb3+ → Eu3+ Energy Transfer in Tb3+/Eu3+ Codoped Y2Mg2Al2Si2O12 Phosphors
Authors: Gu Xuan , Sun Xiao-Yu , He Zheng , Xu Li-Dan , Shi Ming-Fang
Published: May 2021

The work shows the design, fabrication and luminescence performance of garnet-structure Tb3+/Eu3+ doped Y2Mg2Al2Si2O12 phosphors. Upon the excitation, the representative emission of doping ions was observed. The Tb3+ → Eu3+ energy transfer in Tb3+/Eu3+ codoped Y2Mg2Al2Si2O12 phosphors was verified and surveyed via the measurements of luminescence and decay characteristics. The reducing intensity and lifetime of Tb3+ emission following the growth of Eu3+ concentration affirm the existence of Tb3+ → Eu3+ energy transfer. This process influences the emission color obviously. The energy transfer efficiency reaches 80.64% when the Eu3+ concentration is 0.10. The energy transfer induces the changeable luminescence. The emitted lights move from green region to yellow-green, yellow, yellow-red and reddish regions gradually.
Movement preparation time determines movement variability
Authors: Sutter Katrin , Oostwoud Wijdenes Leonie , van Beers Robert J. , Medendorp W. Pieter
Published: May 2021

Fitts’ law describes the speed-accuracy trade-off in the execution of human movements. We examined whether there is also a trade-off between movement planning time and initial movement precision. We show that shorter reaction times result in higher initial movement variability. In other words, movement preparation time determines movement variability.
Clinical significance of mismatch negativity in predicting the awakening of comatose patients after severe brain injury
Authors: Zhou Liang , Wang Jian , Wu Yun , Liu Zi-Yuan , Yu Yang , Liu Jin-Fang , Chen Xin
Published: May 2021

Mismatch negativity (MMN) can assess the prognosis of comatose patients after severe brain injury, especially for MMN amplitude. In addition, MMN analysis at electrode Fz best predicts recovery of consciousness in patients with severe brain injury. Importantly, a quantitative approach (cutoff value of 1.08 μV) may improve the use of MMN for prognostication.
Increased excitation-inhibition balance and loss of GABAergic synapses in the serine racemase knockout model of NMDA receptor hypofunction
Authors: Jami Shekib A. , Cameron Scott , Wong Jonathan M. , Daly Emily R. , McAllister A. Kimberley , Gray John A.
Published: May 2021

Recently, disruption of excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance has become an area of considerable interest for psychiatric research. Here, we report a reduction in inhibition in the serine racemase KO mouse model of schizophrenia that increases E/I balance and enhances synaptically driven neuronal excitability. This reduced inhibition was driven cell-autonomously in pyramidal cells lacking serine racemase, suggesting a novel mechanism for how chronic NMDA receptor hypofunction can disrupt information processing in schizophrenia.
KV7 channels are potential regulators of the exercise pressor reflex
Authors: Wright Andrew B. , Sukhanova Khrystyna Yu. , Elmslie Keith S.
Published: May 2021

KV7 channels control neuronal excitability. We show that these channels are expressed in muscle afferents and generate currents that are blocked by XE991 and bradykinin (BK). The XE991 block suggests that KV7 current comprises KV7.2/3 and KV7.5 channels. The BK inhibition of KV7 channels may explain how BK activates the exercise pressor reflex (EPR). Retigabine can enhance KV7 current, which could help control the inappropriately activated EPR in patients with cardiovascular disease.
[Retracted] Review on Social Welfare Crowdfunding in China Based on PEST‐SWOT Model
Authors: Liang Jing , Chen Ao
Published: May 2021

Research shows that social welfare crowdfunding is in the rising stage of development in China, showing a vigorous development trend. Social welfare crowdfunding owns advantages such as accuracy and efficiency that traditional social welfare forms do not have, but problems including imperfect relevant policies and regulations, lack of supervision of social welfare crowdfunding platform, and low process transparency still exist. From the perspective of PEST‐SWOT model, this paper sums up the research trends and development status of social welfare crowdfunding, deconstructs the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by social welfare crowdfunding from the aspects of politics, economy, society, and technology, and puts forward a feasible analysis of relevant development strategies to provide a reference for its future sustainable development.
Optimization of Rider Scheduling for a Food Delivery Service in O2O Business
Authors: Xue Guiqin , Wang Zheng , Wang Guan
Published: May 2021

Services such as Meituan and Uber Eats have revolutionized the way the customer can find and order from restaurants. Numerous independent restaurants are competing for orders placed by customers via online food ordering platforms. Ordering takeout food on smartphone apps has become more and more prevalent in recent years. There are some operational challenges that takeout food service providers have to deal with, e.g., customer demand fluctuates over time and region. In this sense, the service providers sometimes ignore the fact that some riders may be idle in several periods in regions, while, in contrast, there may be a shortage of riders in other situations. In order to address this problem, we introduce a two-stage model to optimize scheduling of riders for instant food deliveries. A service provider platform expectantly schedules the least quantity of riders to deliver within expected arrival time to satisfy customer demand in different regions and time periods. We introduce a two-stage model that adopts the method of mixed-integer programming (MIP), characterize relevant aspects of the scenario, and propose an optimization algorithm for scheduling riders. We also divide the delivery service region and time into smaller parts in terms of granularity. The large neighborhood search algorithm is validated through numerical experiments and is shown to meet the design objectives. Furthermore, this study reveals that the optimization of rider resource is beneficial to reduce overall cost of the delivery. Takeout food service platforms decide scheduling shifts (start time and duration) of the riders to achieve a service level target at minimum cost. Additional sensitivity analyses, such as the tightness of the order time windows associated with the orders and riders’ familiarity with delivery regions, are also discussed
User Identification Based on Integrating Multiple User Information across Online Social Networks
Authors: Zeng Wenjing , Tang Rui , Wang Haizhou , Chen Xingshu , Wang Wenxian
Published: May 2021

User identification can help us build more comprehensive user information. It has been attracting much attention from academia. Most of the existing works are profile-based user identification and relationship-based user identification. Due to user privacy settings and social network restrictions on user data crawl, user data may be missing or incomplete in real social networks. User data include profiles, user-generated contents (UGCs), and relationships. The features extracted in previous research may be sparse. In order to reduce the impact of the above problems on user identification, we propose a multiple user information user identification framework (MUIUI). Firstly, we develop multiprocess crawlers to obtain the user data from two popular social networks, Twitter and Facebook. Secondly, we use named entity recognition and entity linking to obtain and integrate locations and organizations from profiles and UGCs. We also extract URLs from profiles and UGCs. We apply the locations jointly with the relationships and develop several algorithms to measure the similarity of the display name, all locations, all organizations, location in profile, all URLs, following organizations, and user ID, respectively. Afterward, we propose a fusion classifier machine learning-based user identification method. The results show that the F1 score of MUIUI reaches 86.46% on the dataset. It proves that MUIUI can reduce the impact of user data that are missing or incomplete.
Phenolic Compounds of Red Wine Aglianico del Vulture Modulate the Functional Activity of Macrophages via Inhibition of NF-κB and the Citrate Pathway
Authors: Santarsiero Anna , Convertini Paolo , Vassallo Antonio , Santoro Valentina , Todisco Simona , Iacobazzi Dominga , Fondufe-Mittendorf Yvonne , Martelli Giuseppe , de Oliveira Marcos R. , Montanaro Rosangela , Brancaleone Vincenzo , Stöckl Johannes , Infantino Vittoria
Published: May 2021

Phenolic compounds of red wine powder (RWP) extracted from the Italian red wine Aglianico del Vulture have been investigated for the potential immunomodulatory and anti‐inflammatory capacity on human macrophages. These compounds reduce the secretion of IL‐1β, IL‐6, and TNF‐α proinflammatory cytokines and increase the release of IL‐10 anti‐inflammatory cytokine induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In addition, RWP restores Annexin A1 levels, thus involving activation of proresolutive pathways. Noteworthy, RWP lowers NF‐κB protein levels, promoter activity, and nuclear translocation. As a consequence of NF‐κB inhibition, reduced promoter activities of SLC25A1—encoding the mitochondrial citrate carrier (CIC)—and ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) metabolic genes have been observed. CIC, ACLY, and citrate are components of the citrate pathway: in LPS‐activated macrophages, the mitochondrial citrate is exported by CIC into the cytosol where it is cleaved by ACLY in oxaloacetate and acetyl‐CoA, precursors for ROS, NO⋅, and PGE2 inflammatory mediators. We identify the citrate pathway as a RWP target in carrying out its anti‐inflammatory activity since RWP reduces CIC and ACLY protein levels, ACLY enzymatic activity, the cytosolic citrate concentration, and in turn ROS, NO⋅, PGE2, and histone acetylation levels. Overall findings suggest that RWP potentially restores macrophage homeostasis by suppressing inflammatory pathways and activating proresolutive processes.
Personal Doses of Cocaine and Coca Paste are Adulterated in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia)
Authors: Urzola-Ortega Jefferson , Mendoza-Goez Luis , Acevedo Diofanor
Published: May 2021

Knowledge of drug composition consumed on the streets and the identification and quantification of their adulterants is essential for understanding unexpected side effects, tracking routes, and drug profiling. Therefore, this work aimed to determine the purity and to identify and quantify the main adulterants found in personal doses of cocaine (perico) and coca paste (bazuco) in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia). The data collected in this study describe a first attempt to introduce the qualitative and quantitative analyses of adulterants present in street drugs in Cartagena de Indias to improve surveillance. Through gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the purity and adulterants were quantified in 45 personal doses of cocaine powder and coca paste. 100% of the personal doses in the city were adulterated; caffeine, phenacetin, and levamisole were the main adulterants identified in cocaine. Besides the above, lidocaine was also found in coca paste. The purity of cocaine varied from 8% to almost 70%, with caffeine ranging from 6% to 42%. In the case of coca paste, the maximum content of cocaine found was 60%, while some samples contained as little as 14%. The results are consistent with other research in terms of the widespread use of caffeine as an adulterant, but they also follow the growing trend of the use of levamisole and phenacetin. The wide range of cocaine content in samples sold in the illicit market could cause undesirable effects on cocaine users who do not know the exact intended dose for consumption; so, this study intends to make these results available not only to academic, public health, and national security agencies but also to tourists entering Cartagena de Indias, so that they are aware of what they are consuming and the risks to which they are exposed.
Collagenous Gastritis in Primary Selective IgM Deficiency: Transition to EBV+ Gastric Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Narsai Tejal , Su Houfen , Braxton David , Gupta Sudhir
Published: May 2021

Selective IgM deficiency (SIgMD) and isolated collagenous gastritis are two independent rare disorders. Our purpose is to report the 1st case of SIgMD and isolated collagenous gastritis and collagenous gastritis that has transitioned to EBV + gastric adenocarcinoma. Gastric biopsy tissue was analyzed by EBV-related encoded RNA in situ hybridization assay. Subsets of CD4, CD8, T follicular helper cells (TFH), and members of the “regulatory lymphocytes club” were measured with multiple panels of monoclonal antibodies and isotype controls by multicolor flow cytometry. The patient was diagnosed with SIgMD (extremely low serum IgM 9 mg/dl and normal IgG and IgA and exclusion of secondary causes of low IgM). Soon after SIgMD diagnosis, the patient developed collagenous gastritis and, 8 years later, developed gastric adenocarcinoma that was positive for EBV. An extensive immunological analysis revealed reduced naïve CD4 and CD8 effector memory T cells and increased naïve and central memory CD8 T cells. Among the circulating follicular helper T cells (cTFH), TFH1 and TFH2 were increased whereas TFH17 was decreased. CD4 Treg cells and TFR cells were increased, whereas Breg and CD8 Treg were comparable to control. In conclusion, SIgMD may be associated with isolated collagenous gastritis, and collagenous gastritis may transition to EBV + gastric adenocarcinoma. A role of regulatory lymphocytes in gastric cancer is discussed.
A Novel Interval Evidential Reasoning Approach to the Physical and Mechanical Property Assessment of Particleboards
Authors: Yang Cuiping , Sun Chao , Su Jilai , He Wei , Gao Zhenhua
Published: May 2021

In this paper, a new assessment method based on the interval evidential reasoning (IER) rule is proposed to solve the problem of physical and mechanical property assessment (PMPA) for particleboards. Because the detection data of the density and thickness swelling (TS) of particleboards are in an interval form, a model with precise values as input becomes inappropriate, so the PMPA of particleboards is not feasible. In the proposed method, expert knowledge and interval data are integrated to solve the assessment problem. First, the overall reliability of attributes is calculated, and the interval data are transformed into an interval belief structure. Then, the multiple interval belief structures are aggregated by ER nonlinear optimization models. Finally, the assessment results are obtained by utility theory. With the proposed method, the PMPA of particleboards with interval values can be assessed reasonably, and the combination interval belief degree of different grades of particleboard can be obtained, which has a certain guiding significance for the production and subsequent operation of enterprises. A case study for the PMPA of particleboards is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
RAMRSGL: A Robust Adaptive Multinomial Regression Model for Multicancer Classification
Authors: Wang Lei , Li Juntao , Liu Juanfang , Chang Mingming
Published: May 2021

In view of the challenges of the group Lasso penalty methods for multicancer microarray data analysis, e.g., dividing genes into groups in advance and biological interpretability, we propose a robust adaptive multinomial regression with sparse group Lasso penalty (RAMRSGL) model. By adopting the overlapping clustering strategy, affinity propagation clustering is employed to obtain each cancer gene subtype, which explores the group structure of each cancer subtype and merges the groups of all subtypes. In addition, the data-driven weights based on noise are added to the sparse group Lasso penalty, combining with the multinomial log-likelihood function to perform multiclassification and adaptive group gene selection simultaneously. The experimental results on acute leukemia data verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Consolidation Behavior and Compression Prediction Model of Coastal Cement Soil Modified by Nanoclay
Authors: Yu Wenjie , Li Na , Dai Mengdan , An Dongliang , Qian Biao , Wang Wei , Jiang Ping
Published: May 2021

Coastal cement soil modified by nanoclay (NCS) has particular research significance as a modification approach to improve the high compressibility of coastal cement soil (CCS). At curing ages of 7 days and 28 days, consolidation and SEM tests were performed on 6 groups of NCS samples with a nanoclay content between 0% and 10% and 6 groups of CCS samples with a cement content between 10 and 20%, and a compression prediction model was established based on the test results. Test results show that (1) there is a linear interval for the improvement effect of the increment of cement content on the compression of CCS samples. In this test, the cement content in this interval is between 12% and 18%. CCS with a cement content of 18% is preferred. (2) The improvement effect on the compression of the sample is better with a nanoclay content of 4% and 8%, but poor with a content of 2%. At a consolidation pressure between 100 kPa and 800 kPa, NCS with a nanoclay content of 4% is preferred. (3) Adhesion is better with a nanoclay content of 4%, and the filling effect is better with a content of 8%. (4) The cosine‐power function‐exponential model is established, and the measured data are fitted, and a prediction model for the compression amount of CCS and NCS is established.
Epigenetic Regulation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression through the mTOR Signaling Pathway
Authors: Guo Mengnan , Li Ning , Zheng Jianxia , Wang Wei , Wu Yan , Han Xu , Guo Jiapei , Chen Weixi , Bai Zekun , Bai Wen , Wu Jinghua
Published: May 2021

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of primary liver cancer, is an aggressive tumor with a high mortality rate because of the limited systemic and locoregional treatment modalities. The development and progression of HCC depend on epigenetic changes that result in the activation or inhibition of some signaling pathways. The mTOR signaling pathway is essential for many pathophysiological processes and is considered a major regulator of cancer. Increasing evidence has shown that epigenetics plays a key role in HCC biology by regulating the mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, epigenetic regulation through the mTOR signaling pathway to diagnose and treat HCC will become a very promising strategy.
ACEA: A Queueing Model‐Based Elastic Scaling Algorithm for Container Cluster
Authors: Li Kui , Ji Yi-mu , Liu Shang-dong , Yao Hai-chang , Li Hang , You Shuai , Shao Si-si
Published: May 2021

Elastic scaling is one of the techniques to deal with the sudden change of the number of tasks and the long average waiting time of tasks in the container cluster. The unreasonable resource supply may lead to the low comprehensive resource utilization rate of the cluster. Therefore, balancing the relationship between the average waiting time of tasks and the comprehensive resource utilization rate of the cluster based on the number of tasks is the key to elastic scaling. In this paper, an adaptive scaling algorithm based on the queuing model called ACEA is proposed. This algorithm uses the hybrid multiserver queuing model (M/M/s/K) to quantitatively describe the relationship among number of tasks, average waiting time of tasks, and comprehensive resource utilization rate of cluster and builds the cluster performance model, evaluation function, and quality of service (QoS) constraints. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is used to search feasible solution space determined by the constraint relation of ACEA quickly, so as to improve the dynamic optimization performance and convergence timeliness of ACEA. The experimental results show that the algorithm can ensure the comprehensive resource utilization rate of the cluster while the average waiting time of tasks meets the requirement.
Seroprevalence and Associated Factors of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Treponema pallidum, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus among Female Sex Workers in Dessie City, Northeast Ethiopia
Authors: Metaferia Yeshi , Ali Abdurahaman , Eshetu Solomon , Gebretsadik Daniel
Published: May 2021

Introduction. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are prevalent in Ethiopia and elsewhere among different population groups particularly among female sex workers (FSWs). Because of their work and their behavior, FSWs are at high risk to acquire STIs. The aim of the study was to assess the seroprevalence and associated factors of HIV, HBV, HCV, and T. pallidum among FSWs in Dessie City, Northeast Ethiopia. Methods. This cross‐sectional study was conducted in Dessie City, Amhara Region, Northeastern Ethiopia, from November 2017 to April 2018. A total of 360 FSWs whose age is greater than or equal to 18 years and who are willing to participate were recruited by simple random sampling technique. Interview‐based questionnaire was administered, and 5 ml of venous blood from each participant was drawn under aseptic conditions. The rapid test was performed to obtain the result of the four STIs (HIV, T. pallidum, HBV, and HCV). The collected data were entered and analyzed by SPSS version 20.0. From the bivariable analysis, variables having P value < 0.2 were retained into multivariable analysis. From the multivariable analysis, variables with P value < 0.05 were affirmed as statistically associated factors. Adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were used as indicators of the strength of association. Results. Majority of study participants were urban dwellers, 10 (2.8%) respondents were married, 61 (16.9%) have more than two children, and more than half of them were at the age range between 18 and 27 years. Any infection with STIs was 84 (23.3%), whereas 27 (7.5%), 47 (13.1%), 2 (0.6%), and 45 (12.5%) study participants were positive for laboratory test of HIV, HBV, HCV, and T. pallidum, respectively. Marital status, sharing of sharp materials, breakage of condom, number of customers per week, genital discharge, and pain had significant association with any STI. Conclusions. In comparison with different research works in Ethiopia and abroad, the prevalence of any STI, HIV, HBV, and T. pallidum was found to be relatively high. Preventive approach and appropriate treatment of STIs should be developed. Concerned body should work together to alleviate the problem by counseling and recruiting them on other productive job sectors in the country.
Recent Progress in Electrochemical Detection of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) via Graphene‐Based Nanosensors
Authors: Mousavi Seyyed Mojtaba , Behbudi Gity , Hashemi Seyyed Alireza , Babapoor Aziz , Chiang Wei-Hung , Ramakrishna Seeram , Rahman Mohammed Muzibur , Lai Chin Wei , Gholami Ahmad , Omidifar Navid , Yousefi Khadije
Published: May 2021

In the present study, applications of advanced nanomaterials such as graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as leading and potential candidates toward treating the human papillomaviruses (HPVs) were investigated. In this matter, a comprehensive summary of the formation of GO, rGO, and GQDs will be reported in detail. Continuous efforts have been exerted to develop high‐performance biosensors and electrochemical detection systems toward accurate detection of HPV using novel routes. This review paper showed that HPVs appeared in different types and species. These HPVs have many complications on humans, and thus, there are different ways that a person could be exposed to them. Meanwhile, several routes of transmitting the HPVs to human cells are discussed too. Indeed, sexually transmitted diseases could be easily infected by HPVs, although the human immune system can also be boosted to treat this dangerous virus effectively. Some of the HPVs such as HPV‐16 and HPV‐18 are so dangerous, and HPV DNA could be detected in several vertical cancers. Herein, we reported and summarized some recent progress in electrochemical detection of HPVs using graphene‐based nanosensors.
[Retracted] English Phrase Speech Recognition Based on Continuous Speech Recognition Algorithm and Word Tree Constraints
Authors: Du Haifan , Duan Haiwen
Published: May 2021

This paper combines domestic and international research results to analyze and study the difference between the attribute features of English phrase speech and noise to enhance the short‐time energy, which is used to improve the threshold judgment sensitivity; noise addition to the discrepancy data set is used to enhance the recognition robustness. The backpropagation algorithm is improved to constrain the range of weight variation, avoid oscillation phenomenon, and shorten the training time. In the real English phrase sound recognition system, there are problems such as massive training data and low training efficiency caused by the super large‐scale model parameters of the convolutional neural network. To address these problems, the NWBP algorithm is based on the oscillation phenomenon that tends to occur when searching for the minimum error value in the late training period of the network parameters, using the K‐MEANS algorithm to obtain the seed nodes that approach the minimal error value, and using the boundary value rule to reduce the range of weight change to reduce the oscillation phenomenon so that the network error converges as soon as possible and improve the training efficiency. Through simulation experiments, the NWBP algorithm improves the degree of fitting and convergence speed in the training of complex convolutional neural networks compared with other algorithms, reduces the redundant computation, and shortens the training time to a certain extent, and the algorithm has the advantage of accelerating the convergence of the network compared with simple networks. The word tree constraint and its efficient storage structure are introduced, which improves the storage efficiency of the word tree constraint and the retrieval efficiency in the English phrase recognition search.
Combustion of Low‐Concentration Gas in a Porous Media Burner: Reactor Design and Optimization
Authors: Chen Jinhua , Wen Guangcai , Li Yanqing , Lan Xiangyun , Yan Song , Wang Gang
Published: May 2021

In order to utilize the low‐concentration gas directly discharged into the atmosphere from 1.1% to 1.50% in coal mine production, the heat storage and oxidation equipment of gas was improved, and the heat storage and safety of gas under high‐temperature environment were tested. The experimental results show that the regenerative oxidation system could provide a high‐temperature oxidation environment of 1000°C for gas oxidation after changing the heating mode and enhancing the sealing property. The pressure curves of air and gas in the burner were similar. With the increase of gas concentration, the pressure difference between inlet and outlet tended to increase linearly with a minimum pressure differential of 4 kPa (air) and a maximum pressure differential of 11 kPa (1.50% gas). The internal pressure was relatively stable without an instantaneous pressure surge or explosion. The result of this study provides a reference for further research on the low‐concentration gas regeneration oxidation unit at high temperatures.
Bounded Odd Inverse Pareto Exponential Distribution: Properties, Estimation, and Regression
Authors: Nasiru Suleman , Abubakari Abdul Ghaniyyu , Angbing Irene Dekomwine
Published: May 2021

In this paper, we introduce a new three-parameter distribution defined on the unit interval. The density function of the distribution exhibits different kinds of shapes such as decreasing, increasing, left skewed, right skewed, and approximately symmetric. The failure rate function shows increasing, bathtub, and modified upside-down bathtub shapes. Six different frequentist estimation procedures were proposed for estimating the parameters of the distribution and their performance assessed via Monte Carlo simulations. Applications of the distribution were illustrated by analyzing two datasets and its fit compared to that of other distributions defined on the unit interval. Finally, we developed a regression model for a response variable that follows the new distribution.
Accuracy Improvement Method of a 3D Laser Scanner Based on the D‐H Model
Authors: Chen Kai , Zhan Kai , Yang Xiaocong , Zhang Da
Published: May 2021

A three‐dimensional (3D) laser scanner with characteristics such as acquiring huge point cloud data and noncontact measurement has revolutionized the surveying and mapping industry. Nonetheless, how to guarantee the 3D laser scanner precision remains the critical factor that determines the excellence of 3D laser scanners. Hence, this study proposes a 3D laser scanner error analysis and calibration‐method‐based D‐H model, applies the D‐H model method in the robot area to the 3D laser scanner coordinate for calculating the point cloud data and creatively derive the error model, comprehensively analyzes six external parameters and seven inner structure parameters that affect point cloud coordinator error, and designs two calibration platforms for inner structure parameters. To validate the proposed method, we used SOKKIA total station and BLSS‐PE 3D laser scanner to attain the center coordinate of the testing target sphere and then evaluate the external parameters and modify the point coordinate. Based on modifying the point coordinate, comparing the point coordinate that considered the inner structure parameters with the point coordinate that did not consider the inner structure parameters, the experiment revealed that the BLSS‐PE 3D laser scanner’s precision enhanced after considering the inner structure parameters, demonstrating that the error analysis and calibration method was correct and feasible.