bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional categories based on cognition and activities of daily living predict all‐cause mortality in older adults with diabetes mellitus: The Japanese Elderly Diabetes Intervention Trial
Authors: Omura Takuya , Tamura Yoshiaki , Sakurai Takashi , Umegaki Hiroyuki , Iimuro Satoshi , Ohashi Yasuo , Ito Hideki , Araki Atsushi ,   the Japanese Elderly Diabetes Intervention Trial Research Group
Published: April 2021

Aim

Although the glycemic target in older diabetes patients is based on cognition, activities of daily living and multimorbidity in the Japanese guideline, evidence of the relationships is limited. Thus, we aimed to assess the relationship between functional category and mortality in older people with diabetes.

Methods

We evaluated the data of 843 older diabetes patients in a 6‐year prospective study, and the association between functional categories and all‐cause mortality. The patients were divided into three functional categories based on cognition, instrumental activities of daily living and basic activities of daily living using the Mini‐Mental State Examination, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence and Barthel Index at baseline, respectively (model 1). Those with multimorbidity (≥4 of 8 morbidities) were classified into category III (model 2). The functional category assessed using eight items from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence and Barthel Index was also constructed (model 3). Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated in the Cox regression analysis using age, sex, body mass index, glycated hemoglobin level, total cholesterol level, estimated glomerular filtration rate and frequency of severe hypoglycemia as covariates.

Results

During the 6‐year follow up, 64 incident mortalities occurred. The hazard ratios for mortality in categories II and III (as the reference of category I) were 1.83 (95% confidence interval 1.06–3.14, P = 0.030) and 3.05 (95% confidence interval 1.12–8.26, P = 0.029) after adjustment for covariates, respectively (model 1). Models 2 and 3 showed similar associations between functional category and mortality.

Conclusions

The functional categories predicted all‐cause mortality in older adults with diabetes. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 512–518.
Combined chronic myeloid leukaemia and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in five patients, including one with 17p deletion
Authors: Armarego Michael , Gottlieb David , Dunlop Lindsay , Cooney Julian P.
Published: April 2021

We report a series of five Australian cases of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) occurring concurrently with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Patient management including therapies and response together with clinical progress was obtained from medical records and laboratory information systems. Prior to CML diagnosis, all five had a preceding diagnosis of CLL. Three had received prior fludarabine. All received tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). None required subsequent therapy for CLL. One patient had 17p deletion CLL and another patient had normal CLL cytogenetics. All currently have satisfactory blood counts with quantitative polymerase chain reaction for CML showing molecular response. All remain alive. Thus, such cases can be successfully managed by treating each haematological disorder in the usual manner. The control achieved in CML with the TKI enables satisfactory marrow function to recover in patients with concomitant CLL. The role for allograft in patients with dual malignancies is uncertain and needs to be individualised depending on control of each malignancy.
Estimation of genetic parameters for body areas in Nile tilapia measured by digital image analysis
Authors: Cardoso Alex Júnio da Silva , Oliveira Carlos Antonio Lopes de , Campos Eric Costa , Ribeiro Ricardo Pereira , Assis Gutierrez José de Freitas , Silva Fabyano Fonseca e
Published: April 2021

Digital image analysis is a practical, non‐invasive, and relatively low‐cost tool that may assist in the evaluation of body traits in Nile tilapia, being particularly useful for assessing difficult‐to‐measure variables, such as body areas. In this study, we aimed to estimate variance components and genetic parameters for body areas of Nile tilapia obtained by digital images. The data set comprised body weight (BW) records of 1,917 pond‐reared fish at 366 days of age. Of this total, 656 animals were photographed and subjected to image analysis of trunk area (TA), head area (HA), caudal fin area (CFA) and fillet area (FA). Heritabilities and genetic correlations were estimated through multiple‐trait models based on Bayesian inference. Heritability estimates for BW, TA, HA, CFA and FA were 0.25, 0.23, 0.26, 0.21 and 0.25, respectively. Genetic correlations between the traits were high and positive, ranging from 0.70 to 0.98. We highlight the genetic correlation between BW and TA (rG = 0.98) and FA (rG = 0.97). In view of the observed results, it can be concluded that trunk and fillet areas obtained by digital image analysis can lead to indirect genetic gains in weight and other body areas. In addition, the areas studied have potential as a selection criterion and may assist in studies on changes in the body shape in Nile tilapia.
Morphopathology and gill recovery of Atlantic salmon during the parasitic detachment of Margaritifera margaritifera
Authors: Castrillo Pedro A. , Varela‐Dopico Catuxa , Bermúdez Roberto , Ondina Paz , Quiroga María Isabel
Published: April 2021

During the conservation aquaculture of the freshwater mussel Margaritifera margaritifera, fish health has become a concern due to the need of mussel larvae (glochidia) to parasitize the salmonid gills and metamorphose into juveniles. However, there is a lack of information about the impact on fish during the juvenile detachment and the subsequent gill healing. To evaluate the morphopathological changes and gill recovery after the parasitism of M. margaritifera, 51 Atlantic salmon fry (Salmo salar), infested with around 22 larvae/fish g, were necropsied during the synchronized detachment of the mussel juveniles, and gills were assessed by stereomicroscopy and by light and scanning electron microscopy. Salmon showed no clinical signs during the trial and gills recovered their normal morphology almost completely in a short time, suggesting a minimal impact on fish health after glochidiosis. In this sense, the non‐erosive droplet detachment and the goblet cell hyperplasia favoured an effective gill remodelling mediated by apoptosis, polarization and cell shedding of the gill epithelia, providing insights to the defence, clearing and healing mechanisms of the gill. These morphopathological techniques could also be implemented to preserve fish welfare and to optimize the artificial breeding programmes of endangered freshwater mussels.
Family Business Restructuring: A Review and Research Agenda
Authors: King David R. , Meglio Olimpia , Gomez‐Mejia Luis , Bauer Florian , De Massis Alfredo
Published: April 2021

Although business restructuring occurs frequently and it is important for the prosperity of family firms across generations, research on family firms has largely evolved separately from research on business restructuring. This is a missed opportunity, since the two domains are complementary, and understanding the context, process, content, and outcome dimensions is relevant to both research streams. We address this by examining the intersection between research on business restructuring and family firms to improve our knowledge of each area and inform future research. To achieve this goal, we review and organize research across different dimensions to create an integrative framework. Building on current research, we focus on 88 studies at the intersection of family firm and business restructuring research to develop a model that identifies research needs and suggests directions for future research.
Evaluation of Venturia pyrina virulence on European pear (Pyrus communis) cultivars by an in vitro methodology
Authors: Sokolova Olga , Moročko‐Bičevska Inga
Published: April 2021

European pear scab caused by Venturia pyrina is a primary disease in pear‐growing areas worldwide. Growing of resistant cultivars is crucial for the long‐term control of the disease. Studies on pear resistance and virulence of the pathogen are still limited. The majority of available knowledge is based on the cultivar performance in the field. Inconsistency of cultivar resistance to V. pyrina in different regions indicates the possible presence of various biotypes of the pathogen. In this study, we assessed the virulence of seven monoconidial strains of V. pyrina originated from different regions and cultivars in Latvia and evaluated host reactions of 18 pear cultivars using artificial inoculations on detached leaves and immature fruits. All previously described interaction phenotypes ranging from immune to susceptible were recorded indicating divergent virulence of V. pyrina and different levels of resistance of the tested cultivars. Most of the pear cultivars were scored as partially resistant or susceptible. The fully compatible interactions without host tissue reactions were rare. Only cultivars ‘Conference’ and ‘Belorusskaya Pozdnaya’ were compatible with most of the strains and field populations. We used strains purposely selected from different regions, habitats and cultivars to get insight into the potential diversity of the local populations. Considerable differences in virulence among the strains and cultivar responses were detected, and each of the isolates was virulent on a different set of the cultivars, confirming the expected diversity.
Oracle Efficient Estimation of Structural Breaks in Cointegrating Regressions
Authors: Schweikert Karsten
Published: April 2021

In this article, we propose an adaptive group lasso procedure to efficiently estimate structural breaks in cointegrating regressions. It is well known that the group lasso estimator is not simultaneously estimation consistent and model selection consistent in structural break settings. Hence, we use a first step group lasso estimation of a diverging number of breakpoint candidates to produce weights for a second adaptive group lasso estimation. We prove that parameter changes are estimated consistently by group lasso and show that the number of estimated breaks is greater than the true number but still sufficiently close to it. Then, we use these results and prove that the adaptive group lasso has oracle properties if weights are obtained from our first step estimation. Simulation results show that the proposed estimator delivers the expected results. An economic application to the long‐run US money demand function demonstrates the practical importance of this methodology.
Widespread lateral gene transfer among grasses
Authors: Hibdige Samuel G. S. , Raimondeau Pauline , Christin Pascal‐Antoine , Dunning Luke T.
Published: April 2021

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) occurs in a broad range of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, occasionally promoting adaptation. LGT of functional nuclear genes has been reported among some plants, but systematic studies are needed to assess the frequency and facilitators of LGT.

We scanned the genomes of a diverse set of 17 grass species that span more than 50 Ma of divergence and include major crops to identify grass‐to‐grass protein‐coding LGT.

We identified LGTs in 13 species, with significant variation in the amount each received. Rhizomatous species acquired statistically more genes, probably because this growth habit boosts opportunities for transfer into the germline. In addition, the amount of LGT increases with phylogenetic relatedness, which might reflect genomic compatibility among close relatives facilitating successful transfers. However, genetic exchanges among highly divergent species indicates that transfers can occur across almost the entire family.

Overall, we showed that LGT is a widespread phenomenon in grasses that has moved functional genes across the grass family into domesticated and wild species alike. Successful LGTs appear to increase with both opportunity and compatibility.
Changing elemental cycles, stoichiometric mismatches, and consequences for pathogens of primary producers
Authors: Frenken Thijs , Paseka Rachel , González Angélica L. , Asik Lale , Seabloom Eric W. , White Lauren A. , Borer Elizabeth T. , Strauss Alex T. , Peace Angela , Van de Waal Dedmer B.
Published: April 2021

Human‐induced changes in biogeochemical cycles alter the availability of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the environment, leading to changes in the elemental stoichiometry of primary producers. These changes in elemental ratios may, in turn, alter the degree of stoichiometric mismatch between primary producer hosts and their pathogens. Here, we outline how ecological stoichiometry could be used as a framework to predict the effects of changing nutrient supply on stoichiometric mismatches in autotroph–pathogen interactions. We discuss empirical evidence linking pathogen performance to stoichiometric mismatches arising from shifts in elemental availability. Our synthesis indicates that fungi may be particularly sensitive to changes in N supply and viruses generally respond strongly to changes in the supply of either of these elements, but it also highlighted the need for additional data, especially for bacteria. Consequently, fungal pathogens may respond more strongly to changes in host C:N stoichiometry, whereas viruses may be highly sensitive to both changes in C:N and C:P of hosts. Additionally, our synthesis suggests that viruses may be more homeostatic than fungi, and therefore respond more strongly to changing elemental supplies. Revealing stoichiometric mismatches may greatly support our understanding of how host–pathogen interactions in primary producers will respond to changes in global biogeochemical cycles, controlling disease incidence in primary producers under scenarios of global change.
Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokine profile in hepatic cystic Echinococcosis patients with different cyst stages
Authors: Yasen Aimaiti , Li Wending , Aini Abudusalamu , Ran Bo , Jiang Tiemin , Shao Yingmei , Aji Tuerganaili , Wen Hao
Published: April 2021

Aims

The study aimed to investigate possible correlation between expression level of Th1/Th2/Th17‐type profile and cyst viability in the systemic and local immunity of hepatic cystic Echinococcosis (CE) patients.

Methods and results

Expression of Th1‐type interleukin (IL)‐2, interferon (IFN)‐γ, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, Th2‐type IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐10 and Th17‐type IL‐17A was examined in the serum and liver samples of hepatic CE patients with different cyst stages. Compared with healthy controls, Th1/Th2/Th17‐type cytokines were significantly increased in the serum of hepatic CE patients. Moreover, expression of these cytokines was also at higher level in the inflammatory cell band of peri‐lesion liver (PL) tissues than that in the adjacent normal (AN) liver tissues. Interestingly, elevation of Th1‐type and Th17‐type cytokines was more evident in PL tissues of patients with inactive cysts. Relatively, Th2‐type cytokines were predominant in PL tissues of patients with active cysts.

Conclusion

Our findings provide new insights that Th1/Th2/Th2‐type cytokine profile was associated with cyst stages. In hepatic CE patients with inactive cysts, Th1 and Th17‐type cytokines were predominant. Comparatively, Th2‐type cytokines were more evident in hepatic CE patients with active cysts, which may provide basis for the immune response diversity in hepatic CE patients with different cyst stages.
An improved acetic acid‐urea polyacrylamide electrophoresis method to evaluate bovine sperm protamines
Authors: Hamilton Thais Rose dos Santos , Simões Renata , Assumpção Mayra Elena Ortiz D´Ávila
Published: April 2021

The acetic acid‐urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system could separate very similar basic proteins on differences in size and effective charge. This system has been used for many years to analyse histones and their post‐translational modifications and widely used in the study of mammal protamines. Two types of protamine have been described, the protamine 1 (P1) and the protamine 2 (P2) family members, which are synthetized by PRM1 and PRM2 genes. The ratio of P1 and P2 is important for predicting fertility in humans and mice. Therefore, the quantification of protamines is a fundamental step in order to establish the ratio between P1 and P2 in these species. In other mammals, studies linking sperm protamination and the protamine ratio with fertility are increasing. So, the use of an effective technique to separate and quantify protamines is important to study sperm P1/P2 ratio. Therefore, this article describes in detail a feasible and useful procedure to isolate bovine sperm protamines, to perform pre‐electrophoresis with PEG solution and finally to carry out acid‐urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in reverse polarity. This technique allows a clear separation and efficient detection of bovine sperm protamines.
Inhibition of Suv39h1/2 expression improves the early development of Debao porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos
Authors: Cao Lihua , Dai Xiaoli , Huang Shihai , Shen Kaiyuan , Shi Deshun , Li Xiangping
Published: April 2021

Suppressor of variegation 3–9 homolog (Suv39h)1 and 2, Histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3)‐specific methyltransferases, are mainly involved in regulating the dynamic changes of H3K9me3. Regulating Suv39h expression influences the early development of mice somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos, there are few reports concerning their features in domestic animals. The aim of the present study was to characterize the Suv39h function in early development of Debao porcine SCNT embryos. The global level of H3K9me3 and the expression profiles of Suv39h1/2 in porcine early embryos were analysed by immunohistochemistry and qRT‐PCR methods, respectively. Their roles in cell proliferation and histone modification of Debao porcine foetal fibroblast cells (PFFs), and developmental competence of porcine SCNT embryos were investigated by shRNA technology. The methylation levels of H3K9me3 and the expression patterns of Suv39h1 and Suv39h2 were similar (p < .05), and both of them displayed higher levels in Debao porcine SCNT embryos compared with that in PA embryos. The global levels of H3K9me3 and the expressions of G9a, HDAC1 and DNMT1 were decreased by combined inhibition of Suv39h1 and Suv39h2 (p < .05), while the expression of HAT1 was increased (p < .05). Downregulation of Suv39h1/2 also promoted cell proliferation and resulted in a significant increase in the expression of CyclinA2, CyclinB and PCNA in PFFs (p < .05). Furthermore, the use of donor somatic nuclei which depleted H3K9me3 by inhibiting Suv39h1/2 expression markedly increased the cleavage rate, the blastocyst rate and the total cell number of blastocysts of Debao porcine SCNT embryos (p < .05). Altogether, the above results indicate that H3K9me3 levels and Suv39h1/2 expressions display similar patterns in porcine early embryo, and low levels of them are critical to cell proliferation of PFFs and early development of SCNT embryos.
Sharing knowledge to improve ecological restoration outcomes
Authors: Gornish Elise S. , McCormick Molly , Begay Marquel , Nsikani Mlungele M.
Published: April 2021

Ecological restoration efforts are likely to be more successful when project components are informed by relevant stakeholders. However, key stakeholders are often not included in restoration design and deployment. This is largely driven by a lack of practitioner knowledge of and experience with stakeholder relations. However, inclusion of stakeholders across the entire restoration process can be accomplished by practitioners with no formal social science training. Here, we describe several easy (and usually inexpensive) ways to formally cultivate relationships among restoration practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders to improve restoration outcomes. These include: how to identify and work with stakeholders; how to recognize the unique needs and contributions of stakeholder groups, and how to provide information back to stakeholders through outreach. Although how this practice occurs is dependent on restoration context, integrating these approaches more regularly into ecological restoration projects will likely result in more successful, relevant, and community‐supported management outcomes.
Identification of skin aging biomarkers correlated with the biomechanical properties
Authors: Kim Seo Hyeong , Kim Ji Hye , Suk Jang Mi , Lee Young In , Kim Jihee , Lee Ju Hee , Lee Kwang Hoon
Published: April 2021

Background

Skin aging can be described as a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic aging. Various parameters for evaluating skin characteristics have been proposed. However, an accurate biomarker for skin aging and the relationship between biomarkers and biomechanical parameters of the skin is yet to be explored.

Materials and Methods

This study included 20 subjects by age. Skin aging was measured using non‐invasive devices. Skin tissues were acquired through punch biopsy for immunohistochemistry and qRT‐PCR of skin aging biomarkers, and analyzed correlation both, validated their use.

Results

Biomechanical properties of skin aging decreased with age. Among the biomarkers previously reported, we found that the expression of Moesin, TXNDC5, RhoGDI, and RSU1 decreased, while that of Vimentin and FABP5 increased with age. Pearson correlation showed that the expression levels of TXNDC5, RhoGDI, RSU1, and Vimentin were significantly correlated with the results of non‐invasive measurements. In addition, the expression of TXNDC5, RhoGDI, and RSU1 increased, while that of Vimentin decreased, in skin explants upon treatment with one of the anti‐aging compounds, retinoic acid.

Conclusion

From this study, we identified practical molecular biomarkers of skin aging, TXNDC5, RhoGDI, RSU1, and Vimentin, which correlated with the skin biomechanical properties of skin aging.
LA ACCIÓN PÚBLICA DE INCONSTITUCIONALIDAD: A PROPÓSITO DE LOS 100 AÑOS DE SU VIGENCIA EN COLOMBIA
Authors: Mendieta González David
Published: April 2021

La acción pública de inconstitucionalidad está próxima a cumplir cien años de existencia ininterrumpida en Colombia, lo que significa que en nuestro país estábamos haciendo control de constitucionalidad abstracto diez años antes de que se creara el Tribunal Constitucional austríaco y diecinueve antes de que Kelsen propusiera su teoría del legislador negativo. De estos dos últimos hechos mucho se ha dicho a nivel internacional, pero no se ha reconocido al derecho constitucional colombiano como pionero de este tipo de control. Desde los inicios de nuestro constitucionalismo han existido mecanismos de par- ticipación directa de los ciudadanos frente a actos emanados de los poderes públi- cos, mecanismos que se han fortalecido o debilitado según el momento histórico por el que atravesemos. Algo diferente ocurrió en Europa, donde históricamente el control político no es realizado por los ciudadanos sino por sus representantes. La ortodoxia del viejo continente no acepta la acción pública de inconstitu- cionalidad como un mecanismo válido para evitar el abuso del poder, con el argumento de que esto significaría una gran congestión del tribunal constitu- cional. Pero en América esta figura se alza como una herramienta de protec- ción de las minorías e individuos frente a los poderes Ejecutivo y Legislativo.
Sport in the Age of Trump: An Analysis of Donald Trump’s Tweets
Authors: Frederick Evan , Pegoraro Ann , Sanderson Jimmy
Published: April 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Donald Trump used Twitter to position sport within the greater sociopolitical landscape. An inductive analysis of Trump’s sport-related tweets revealed four themes including (a) sport as self-promotion, (b) sport as fandom, (c) sport as battleground, and (d) sport as American identity. This study found that Trump positioned sport as a status symbol. In doing so, he leveraged his power, wealth, and connections to the industry to belittle and champion sport entities. Trump simultaneously leveraged Twitter to display how sport relationships can further one’s business ventures and build a personal brand. In addition, Trump’s discourse shifted sport away from fulfilling a central role in society, as a beacon where social inequities can be critiqued and perhaps elevated into the public consciousness.
How Soccer Becomes Politics: A Case Study on the Communication of a Transnational Popular Media Event
Authors: Kotthaus Jochem , Schäfer Matthias , Stankovic Nikola , Weitzel Gerrit
Published: April 2021

In this case study, the authors elaborate on the narrative structure oftransnational popular media events. Drawing from Dayan and Katz’s concept ofmedia eventsand Julia Sonnevend’s exceptional work oniconic global media events, they argue that fundamental changes in the way occurrences are being reported on and news is structured must be considered. Allowing for recent technological advancements, the role of the consumer and the compression of time in media use, the authors develop a methodological and theoretical framework fitting a more mundane and everyday life–based approach. They derive their results from the analysis of the “Podgorica Media Event,” a news cycle emerging from a racist incident during an international soccer game between England and Montenegro. Based on the body of 250 international news pieces, they identify aprimary mother narrationand adistinctive narrationas the typical ways of storytelling on a transnational level. While differing greatly in content, aspects of transnational popular media events serve to protect and reify the cultural background they are grounded in on a national level. Thus, we assume that sport, or, more specifically, soccer, may become political in media communication not by the impact of state government but by the consumers themselves choosing and developing a popular media event in the first place.
Manipulating Interactions between T4 Phage Long Tail Fibers and Escherichia coli Receptors
Authors: Suga Akiyo , Kawaguchi Marina , Yonesaki Tetsuro , Otsuka Yuichi
Published: April 2021

Understanding the host specificity of phages will lead to the development of phage therapy. The interaction between outer membrane protein C (OmpC), one of the
Escherichia coli
receptors, and the gp37 protein composing the digital tip (DT) region of the long tail fibers of bacteriophage T4 largely determines its host specificity.
Health of people experiencing co-occurring homelessness, imprisonment, substance use, sex work and/or severe mental illness in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Tweed Emily J. , Thomson Rachel M. , Lewer Dan , Sumpter Colin , Kirolos Amir , Southworth Paul M. , Purba Amrit Kaur , Aldridge Robert W. , Hayward Andrew , Story Alistair , Hwang Stephen W. , Katikireddi Srinivasa Vittal
Published: April 2021

Background

People affected by homelessness, imprisonment, substance use, sex work or severe mental illness experience substantial excess ill health and premature death. Though these experiences often co-occur, health outcomes associated with their overlap have not previously been reviewed. We synthesised existing evidence on mortality, morbidity, self-rated health and quality of life among people affected by more than one of these experiences.

Methods

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO for peer-reviewed English-language observational studies from high-income countries published between 1 January 1998 and 11 June 2018. Two authors undertook independent screening, with risk of bias assessed using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Findings were summarised by narrative synthesis and random-effect meta-analysis.

Results

From 15 976 citations, 2517 studies underwent full-text screening, and 444 were included. The most common exposure combinations were imprisonment/substance use (31% of data points) and severe mental illness/substance use (27%); only 1% reported outcomes associated with more than two exposures. Infections were the most common outcomes studied, with blood-borne viruses accounting for 31% of all data points. Multiple exposures were associated with poorer outcomes in 80% of data points included (sign test for effect direction, p<0.001). Meta-analysis suggested increased all-cause mortality among people with multiple versus fewer exposures (HR: 1.57 and 95% CI: 1.38 to 1.77), though heterogeneity was high.

Conclusion

People affected by multiple exclusionary processes experience profound health inequalities, though there are important gaps in the research landscape. Addressing the health needs of these populations is likely to require co-ordinated action across multiple sectors, such as healthcare, criminal justice, drug treatment, housing and social security.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42018097189.
Effects of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Status on Symptom Severity in Influenza-Like Illness in An Otherwise Healthy Adult Outpatient Cohort
Authors: Colombo Rhonda E , Schofield Christina , Richard Stephanie A , Fairchok Mary , Chen Wei-Ju , Danaher Patrick J , Lalani Tahaniyat N , Ridoré Michelande , Maves Ryan C , Arnold John C , Ganesan Anuradha , Agan Brian , Millar Eugene V , Coles Christian , Burgess Timothy H
Published: April 2021

The impact of HIV on influenza-like illness (ILI) has been incompletely described in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy, particularly in the post-H1N1 pandemic period. This analysis informs on ILI in an otherwise healthy, predominantly outpatient cohort of adults with HIV in the USA. From September 2010 to March 2015, this multisite observational cohort study enrolled otherwise healthy adults presenting to a participating US military medical center with ILI, a subset of whom were HIV positive. Demographics, clinical data, and self-reported symptom severity were ascertained, and enrollees completed a daily symptom diary for up to 10 days. 510 men were included in the analysis; 50 (9.8%) were HIV positive. Subjects with HIV were older and less likely to be on active duty. Rhinovirus and influenza A were the most commonly identified pathogens. Moderate-severe diarrhea (p<0.001) and fatigue (p=0.01) were more frequently reported by HIV-positive men. HIV positivity was associated with higher gastrointestinal scores, but not other measures of ILI symptom severity, after controlling for age, race, military status, and influenza season. Few were hospitalized. HIV-positive subjects had more influenza B (p=0.04) and were more likely to receive antivirals (32% vs 6%, p<0.01). Antiviral use was not significantly associated with symptom scores when accounting for potential confounders. In this predominantly outpatient cohort of adult men, HIV had minimal impact on ILI symptom severity. Despite similar illness severity, a higher percentage of subjects with HIV reported undergoing antiviral treatment for ILI, likely reflecting differences in prescribing practices. Trial registration number: NCT01021098.
Critical values in axisymmetric flow of magneto-Cross nanomaterial towards a radially shrinking disk
Authors: Hamid Aamir , Chu Yu-Ming , Khan M. Ijaz , Kumar R. Naveem , Gowd R. J. Punith , Prasannakumara B. C.
Published: April 2021

In this study, we investigated dual solutions for the influence of chemical reaction and radiation effect on axisymmetric flow of magneto-Cross nanomaterial towards a radially shrinking disk on taking account of stagnation point. The governing expressions which describe the assumed flow are reduced to ordinary differential equations by opting suitable similarity variables. The dual solutions on the performance of dimensionless velocity, thermal, concentration gradients, skin friction, rate of heat and mass transfer with the impact of relevant parameters are studied using suitable graphs. Result outcomes reveal that, upsurge in Brownian motion parameter improves the thermal gradient in case of both the solution but, converse trend is detected in concentration gradient. The uplift of thermophoresis parameter boosts up the concentration gradient in both branch solution but reverse trend is noticed in concentration profile for inclined values of Schmidt number. Further, dual nature of solutions exists only for certain range of shrinking parameter.
Static and dynamic buckling behavior of CNTS with S-W defects
Authors: Feng Jingjing , Ma Sai , Zhang Ke , Hao Shuying , Li Bin
Published: April 2021

The excellent performance of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) allows them to be widely employed in various micro- and nano-electromechanical devices. However, different imperfections such as Stone–Wales (S-W) defects often arise in these structures during the preparation process. In this paper, special attention is paid to the effects of the number and location of defects as well as the diameter and chiral angle of CNTs on the static and dynamic buckling of CNTs with S-W defects. First, LAMMPS software is used to simulate the molecular dynamics (MDs) of CNTs with S-W defects, and their static buckling performances are discussed. Then based on the static buckling data, the dynamic buckling vibration performance of CNTs with S-W defects is analyzed in the context of the nonlocal elastic theory. Finally, the effective range of nonlocal parameters is established via the MD modeling. The results show that the existence of S-W defects will reduce the buckling performance and vibration characteristics of CNTs, and an increase in the number of defects will aggravate the influence of diameter and chiral angle on the buckling performance as well as the natural frequency and amplitude of the nanotube’s axial vibration.
Theoretical and computational methods for accelerated materials discovery
Authors: Zarkevich Nikolai A.
Published: April 2021

Predicting properties of materials and phase transformation using theoretical and computational multi-scale methods involving artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) is important and highly rewarding. We review the relevant methods and mention a few applications and examples. We demonstrate that theoretical guidance narrows the search space and accelerates materials discovery.
Shear deformation mechanical performance of Ni–Co alloy nanoplate by molecular dynamics simulation
Authors: Gao Qing , Lu Xuefeng , Guo Xin , Ren Junqiang , Xue Hongtao , Tang Fuling , Ding Yutian
Published: April 2021

Ni–Co alloy has great advantages in the fields of micro-electromechanical systems and aerospace, however, the lack of micro-deformation mechanism restricts its industrial application. Herein, the deformation mechanism and microstructure evolution of Ni–Co alloy nanoplate under shear loading are investigated by MD. The yield strength increases gradually with the increase of the velocity, and the highest shear modulus is 111.43 GPa. The stress concentration leads to the nucleation and expansion of the dislocation, and the stacking fault expands with the dislocation motion, swallowing most of the disordered atoms. By Dislocation Extraction Algorithm (DXA), it is found that Shockley and Perfect dislocations make a major role, and the interactions between dislocations are responsible for the high mechanical properties. As the temperature increases, the yield strength decreases significantly, the stress fluctuations in the plastic phase at 100 K and 200 K are greater compared to other temperatures. Meanwhile, the coherence of the dislocations motion decreases, and the atoms in the stacking faults are scattered, leading to the decreasing of area. The above results are helpful for the design and control of nanoelectronic facilities and provide a significant guide for the industrial applications of Ni–Co alloy nanoplate.
Privatization Policies by National and Regional Governments
Authors: Martínez-Sánchez Francisco
Published: April 2021

In order to analyze the privatization policies undertaken by the national and regional governments, I consider a horizontal differentiation model with price competition in which a country consists of two regions of different sizes. I show that public-sector intervention by either the national or regional government is essential for achieving the social optimum. The preferences of consumers and firms about privatization policy are completely opposite: consumers prefer a regional public-sector intervention, while firms prefer a national public-sector intervention. Finally, I find that the preferences of the two regions about market structures are also opposite: the least populated region prefers the private duopoly, while the most populated region prefers a government intervention in the market.
A Dissipative Momentum-Conserving Time Integration Algorithm for Nonlinear Structural Dynamics
Authors: Lopez Salvatore
Published: April 2021

A second-order accurate single-step time integration method for nonlinear structural dynamics is developed. The method combines algorithmic dissipation of higher modes and conservation of linear and angular momentum and is composed of two phases. In the first phase, a solution point is computed by a basic integration scheme, the generalized-[Formula: see text] method being adopted due to its higher level of high-frequency dissipation. In the second phase, a correction is hypothesized as a linear combination of the solution in the basic step and the gradient of vector components of the incremental linear and angular momentum. By solving a system composed of six linear equations, the searched for corrected solution in the time step is then provided. The novelty in the presented integration scheme lies in the way of imposing the conservation of linear and angular momentum. In fact, this imposition is carried out as a correction of the computed solution point in the time step and not through an enlarged system of equations of motion. To perform tests on plane and spatial motion of three-dimensional structural models, a small strains — finite rotations corotational formulation is also described.
Human Activity Recognition Algorithm in Video Sequences Based on Integration of Magnitude and Orientation Information of Optical Flow
Authors: Kushwaha Arati , Khare Ashish , Khare Manish
Published: April 2021

Human activity recognition from video sequences has emerged recently as pivotal research area due to its importance in a large number of applications such as real-time surveillance monitoring, healthcare, smart homes, security, behavior analysis, and many more. However, lots of challenges also exist such as intra-class variations, object occlusion, varying illumination condition, complex background, camera motion, etc. In this work, we introduce a novel feature descriptor based on the integration of magnitude and orientation information of optical flow and histogram of oriented gradients which gives an efficient and robust feature vector for the recognition of human activities for real-world environment. In the proposed approach first we computed magnitude and orientation of the optical flow separately then a local-oriented histogram of magnitude and orientation of motion flow vectors are computed using histogram of oriented gradients followed by linear combination feature fusion strategy. The resultant features are then processed by a multiclass Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier for activity recognition. The experimental results are performed over different publically available benchmark video datasets such as UT interaction, CASIA, and HMDB51 datasets. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated in terms of six different performance parameters such as accuracy, precision, recall, specificity, [Formula: see text]-measure, and Matthew’s correlation coefficient (MCC). To show the significance of the proposed method, it is compared with the other state-of-the-art methods. The experimental result shows that the proposed method performs well in comparison to other state-of-the-art methods.
A Study on Darwinian Crow Search Algorithm for Multilevel Thresholding
Authors: Ehsaeyan Ehsan , Zolghadrasli Alireza
Published: April 2021

Multilevel thresholding is a basic method in image segmentation. The conventional image multilevel thresholding algorithms are computationally expensive when the number of decomposed segments is high. In this paper, a novel and powerful technique is suggested for Crow Search Algorithm (CSA) devoted to segmentation applications. The main contribution of our work is to adapt Darwinian evolutionary theory with heuristic CSA. First, the population is divided into specified groups and each group tries to find better location in the search space. A policy of encouragement and punishment is set on searching agents to avoid being trapped in the local optimum and premature solutions. Moreover, to increase the convergence rate of the proposed method, a gray-scale map is applied to out-boundary agents. Ten test images are selected to measure the ability of our algorithm, compared with the famous procedure, energy curve method. Two popular entropies i.e. Otsu and Kapur are employed to evaluate the capability of the introduced algorithm. Eight different search algorithms are implemented and compared to the introduced method. The obtained results show that our method, compared with the original CSA, and other heuristic search methods, can extract multi-level thresholding more efficiently.
An Adaptive Search Budget Allocation Approach for Search-Based Test Case Generation
Authors: Scalabrino Simone , Mastropaolo Antonio , Bavota Gabriele , Oliveto Rocco
Published: April 2021

Search-based techniques have been successfully used to automate test case generation. Such approaches allocate a fixed search budget to generate test cases aiming at maximizing code coverage. The search budget plays a crucial role; due to the hugeness of the search space, the higher the assigned budget, the higher the expected coverage. Code components have different structural properties that may affect the ability of search-based techniques to achieve a high coverage level. Thus, allocating a fixed search budget for all the components is not recommended and a component-specific search budget should be preferred. However, deciding the budget to assign to a given component is not a trivial task.

In this article, we introduce Budget Optimization for Testing (BOT), an approach to adaptively allocate the search budget to the classes under test. BOT requires information about the branch coverage that will be achieved on each class with a given search budget. Therefore, we also introduce BRANCHOS, an approach that predicts coverage in a budget-aware way. The results of our experiments show that (i) BRANCHOS can approximate the branch coverage in time with a low error, and (ii) BOT can significantly increase the coverage achieved by a test generation tool and the effectiveness of generated tests.
Ultrasound Medical Imaging Techniques
Authors: Avola Danilo , Cinque Luigi , Fagioli Alessio , Foresti Gianluca , Mecca Alessio
Published: April 2021

Ultrasound (US) imaging for medical purposes has been increasing in popularity over the years. The US technology has some valuable strengths, such as it is harmless, very cheap, and can provide real-time feedback. At the same time, it has also some drawbacks that the research in this field is trying to mitigate, such as the high level of noise and the low quality of the images. This survey aims at presenting the advances in the techniques used for US medical imaging. It describes the studies on the different organs that the US uses the most and tries to categorize the research in this field into three groups, i.e., segmentation, classification, and miscellaneous. This latter group includes the works that either provide aid during surgical operations or try to enhance the quality of the acquired US images/volumes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review that analyzes the different techniques exploited on a large selection of body locations (i.e., brain, thyroid, heart, breast, fetal, and prostate) in the three sub-fields of research.
Vibration Characteristics of Fully Enclosed Sound Barriers on Railway Bridges under the Movement of Trains
Authors: Li Hao , Li Xiao-Zhen , Zheng Jing
Published: April 2021

A field test was conducted to investigate the vibration of the fully enclosed sound barrier (FESB) of a railway bridge, and a numerical method was proposed and validated for evaluating the vibration of the bridge‐FESB system by combining the train‐track coupled theory and the motion equation. Additionally, a numerical analysis of the vibration distribution of the FESB was performed. The results indicated that the vibrations of the FESB were mainly caused by the vertical vibration of the bridge under the dynamic wheel‐rail interaction with the greatest vibration level from 1/4 to 1/2 part of the steel arch and were not affected by the train position but increased with an increase in the speed of the train.
A Refined Model for Analysis of Beams on Two-Parameter Foundations by Iterative Method
Authors: Yue Feng
Published: April 2021

It is of great significance to study the interactions between structures and supporting soils for both structural engineering and geotechnical engineering. In this paper, based on the refined two-parameter elastic foundation model, the bending problem for a finite-length beam on Gibson elastic soil is solved. The effects of axial force and soil heterogeneity on the bending behaviours and stress states of beams on elastic foundations are discussed, and the parameters of the physical model are determined reasonably. The beam and elastic foundation are treated as a single system, and the complete potential energy is obtained. Based on the principle of minimum potential energy, the governing differential equations for the beam bearing axial force on the Gibson foundation are derived, and the equations for attenuation parameters are also defined. The problem of the unknown parameters in foundation models being difficult to determine is solved by an iterative method. The results demonstrate that this calculation method is feasible and accurate, and that the applied theory is universal for the analysis of interactions between beams and elastic foundations. Both axial force and soil heterogeneity have a certain effect on the deformation and internal force of beams on elastic foundations, and the vertical elastic coefficient of foundations is mainly determined by the stiffness of the surface soil. Additionally, attenuation parameters can be obtained relatively accurately by an iterative method, and then the vertical elastic coefficient and shear coefficient can be further obtained. This research lays a foundation for the popularisation and application of the two-parameter elastic foundation model.