bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cross-modal Graph Contrastive Learning with Cellular Images
Authors: Rao Jiahua , Li Chengtao , Zhang Jixian , Yang Yuedong , Zhou Lianyu , Cohen Ethan , Lu Wei , Zheng Shuangjia
Published: June 2023

Constructing discriminative representations of molecules lies at the core of a number of domains such as drug discovery, chemistry and medicine. State-of-the-art methods employ graph neural networks (GNNs) and self-supervised learning (SSL) to learn the structural representations from unlabeled data, which can then be fine-tuned for downstream tasks. Albeit powerful, these methods that are pre-trained solely on molecular structures often struggle with the tasks involved in intricate biological processes. To cope with this challenge, we propose using high-content cell microscopy images to assist in learning molecular representation. The fundamental rationale of our method is to leverage the correspondence between molecular topological structures and the caused perturbations at the phenotypic level. By incorporating cross-modal pre-training with multiple types of contrastive loss functions within a unified framework, our model can efficiently learn generic and informative representations from cellular images, which are complementary to molecular structures. Extensive experiments demonstrated that the proposed model transfers non-trivially to a range of downstream tasks and is often competitive with the existing SSL baselines, e.g., a 15.4\% absolute Hit@10 gains in graph-image retrieval task and a 4.0% absolute AUC improvement in clinical outcome predictions. Further zero-shot experiments with cDNA-induced images suggest that our approach has significant potential in bridging small molecule therapeutic regimens with other therapeutic modalities through cellular embeddings
Sustainable rebuilding of forest cover in deforested agricultural landscapes in Côte d'Ivoire: Reconciling farmers' objectives with governance
Authors: Gnangoh Juvenal Zahoui , Kouamé Christophe , Minang Peter , Atangana Alain René
Published: June 2023

Commodity production in Côte d'Ivoire has led to significant forest loss, prompting interest in promoting forest restoration in agricultural landscapes. This study analyzed interviews with 1,752 cocoa farmers in 24 protected forests, representing 59.48% of the protected areas in the cocoa production zone. Farmers cited arable land scarcity, low soil fertility, and poor forest control as reasons for forest infiltration. They are willing to introduce 57 woody species, including 32 indigenous species, in and around the surveyed protected areas. Farmers assigned bequest values to preserved forest patches, and economic values to woodlands varied by farmers' origin. Actions to sustain woodland preservation were proposed, and the findings will aid decision-making on land use and forest regulation for restoration in Côte d'Ivoire.
Rock music improvisation shows increased activity in Broca’s area and its right hemisphere homologue related to spontaneous creativity
Authors: Tachibana Atsumichi , Noah J Adam , Ono Yumie , Irie Shun , Tatsumoto Muneto , Taguchi Daisuke , Tokuda Nobuko , Ueda Shuichi
Published: June 2023

Objective: The neural correlates of creativity are not well understood. We have previously shown that the subjective degree of creativity during improvisational guitar performance in rock music correlates with a degree of deactivation in the left Brodmann area 46 (BA46L) regardless of skill. Here, we tested additional hypotheses concerning prefrontal regions commonly activated during guitar improvisation.
Results: Twenty guitarists performed improvised and formulaic blues rock sequences while cerebral blood flow was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. We identified a new finding of significant hemodynamic response in Broca’s area (BA45L) and its right hemisphere homologue during improvised playing but not in formulaic playing. Our results indicated that bilateral BA45 activity is common during creative processes that involve improvisation, across all participants regardless of subjective feeling, skill, age, difficulty, history, or amount of practice. Contrary to previous results that have reported the contribution of subjective feelings of creativity to neural network modulation of BA46L, which is proposed to play a role in the creative process, our findings suggest that concurrent activity in BA45 is related to sustained execution of improvisation in motor control, analogous to motor planning with control of speech.
Low-dose Naltrexone (LDN) extends healthspan and lifespan through activation of the transcription factor SKN-1/NRF2 in C. elegans.
Authors: Li Weisha , McIntyre Rebecca , Schomakers Bauke , Kamble Rashmi , Luesink Anne , Weeghel Michel van , Houtkooper Riekelt , Gao Arwen , Janssens George
Published: June 2023

Aging is a topic of urgency and importance, particularly as the world's aging population continues to grow. Numerous studies have been conducted to identify potential interventions that can improve health and promote longevity, however few are close to implementation. One promising approach to accelerate the implementation is drug repurposing, or using existing drugs for new indications. Here, we selected naltrexone by repurposing existing drugs from the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) with several selection criteria. In recent decades, there has been increasing attention and use of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) as an adjunct treatment modality for cancers, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain and mental health issues. We found that a low, but not high dose of naltrexone extended both healthspan and lifespan in C. elegans worms. Further analysis revealed that LDN treatment-induced longevity was dependent on SKN-1 (NRF2 in mammals) signaling. Moreover, LDN treatment not only increased the expression of innate immune genes but also activated the oxidative stress response in worms, which could be abolished by inhibition of SKN-1/NRF2. Overall, paired with LDN’s low side effects profile, our study highlights the great potential of LDN to be repurposed as a geroprotector for promoting healthy aging and suggests further research in humans is warranted.
Demographic Influence on the Effectiveness of England's SARS-CoV-2 Policies
Authors: Dhada Maharshi , Montes Jazmin Labra
Published: June 2023

Health data is key for the development of medicinal drugs, treatments, and policy-planning to control the spread of infectious diseases. However, the collection, curation, and interpretation of health data is often biased. This paper discusses England-wide impact of public policies to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) infections, based on the recorded per-capita infection cases between July 2020 to January 2023. The analysis presented herewith highlights the disparities across the upper local tier authorities, in the number of Covid-19 cases recorded in response to the policies. This paper further presents the correlation between the Covid-19 cases count and demographic factors, thus identifying the key factors determining the effectiveness of the NHS policies. This in turn highlights the need for incorporating demographic imbalance in the policy planning process. It is concluded that the upper local tier authorities comprise of three clusters of low, mid, and high prevalence of Covid-19 infections. Where the regions with high prevalence of Covid-19 cases are associated with relatively higher proportions of Black/ Mixed racial groups, amongst a mid-range and low internal Migrations.
Serum Alanine Levels in Perinatal Asphyxia and Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy
Authors: Clifford Danielle , O'Boyle Darragh , Garvey Aisling , Dempsey Eugene , Costelloe Seán , Bierau Jörgen , Boylan Geraldine , Walsh Brian , Murray Deirdre
Published: June 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Retrospective diagnostic co-factors among Covid-19 cases sourced from Medicare, 1999-2021: an all-cause mortality review
Authors: Williams Nick
Published: June 2023

Introduction:
SARS-CoV-2 infections co-occurred with other diverse pre-existing clinical conditions in mortality cases. We use encounter level health data to evaluate the impact of non-Covid-19 diagnostic events on all-cause mortality observed among Covid-19 positive cases billing Medicare. We further investigate prior diagnostic codes which occur in pre-pandemic study years among cases presenting to Medicare clinically with Covid-19 and cases with Covid-19 who experience all-cause mortality to inform patient population management.
Methods:
We aggregated encounter level records sourced from all Medicare beneficiaries from 1999-2021. Odds ratios were constructed using diagnostic history, age decile, study year and survival status.
We used Generalized Linear Model (GLM) to predict the Decedent Observation Odds Ratio (DOOR) from study year, case observation odds ratio, age decile, non-covid conditions within counts of distinct covid-ever cases and their decedents. Odds ratios are relative to covid-never cases, or cases who didnot present with Covid-19 clinically.
Results:
High explanatory DOOR measures are observed for diagnostic codes commonly associated with inpatient Covid-19 mortality. High DOOR measures are also observed for individuals living with specific kinds of cancers, experiencing cardiac arrest or acute tubular necrosis.
Conclusion:
Covid-ever mortality is influenced by primary infection itself and exacerbations of pre-existing conditions. Consequences of primary infection are observable in GLM, as well as meaningful prior clinical risk factors such as cancer, diabetes, cardiac and respiratory disease. Long-covid conditions require surviving Covid-19 clinical presentation and are predictable from GLM models.
An abrupt shift in gross primary productivity over Eastern China-Mongolia
Authors: Lee Dan-bi , Kim Jin-Soo , Kug Jong-Seong , Park Sowon
Published: June 2023

The terrestrial ecosystem in East Asia exhibits significant variability in the gross primary productivity (GPP), especially in semi-arid regions that are vulnerable to climate change. This GPP variation significantly modulates the local carbon budget, but our understanding of this and the underlying mechanism is still lacking. Here, we examine the GPP variability in East Asia and its relationship with climate change over the last three decades. We identify an abrupt decrease in GPP over the Eastern China-Mongolia region around the year 2000. This is attributed to an abrupt decrease in precipitation associated with the phase shift of the Pacific decadal oscillation. Of the twelve offline land surface models, eight could simulate this abrupt response, while the others fail due to the combination of exaggerated CO2 fertilization effect and underrated climate impact. For accurate prediction, it is necessary to improve the sensitivity of the GPP to changes in CO2 concentrations and the climate system.
Boson and two-dimensional cluster model composed of quenching disorder eigenvalues and eigenvectors in the glass transition
Authors: Wu Jialin
Published: June 2023

Glass state problem stems from the failure of mean-field hard-sphere molecule (HSM) as quasi-independent particle. Starting from the absolute temperature, the collision satisfying de Gennes n = 0 second-order delta vector condition is a clustered collision, coupled electron-pair interface excited state emerges at the overlapping interface-plane of 0.27%, making the two HSMs suddenly become an Ising spin state, called the quenching disorder eigenvalue (QDE). Discover the space-time geometry of disordered systems: each HSM can make cluster-contact with the 16 sequentially spatial angle-line states of an adjacent HSM at constant intervals of 5.9987...° along 16 spatial angle-lines, constituting of the 16 eigenvectors of the disordered system. The vector formed by the 16 QDEs appearing sequentially is a cluster-interaction boson depicting the hopping mode of two positively charged particles in two overlapping HSMs, jumping 15 consecutive steps at tiny 0.01-step intervals. The 4 bosons that appear sequentially form the smallest 2D five-HSM cluster of dynamic equilateral hexahedron. This boson has five fundamental properties, including 20-fold symmetry and pinning, linked with various schools of thought such as cage, trap, mode-coupling, random first order transition, boson peak, Johari-Goldstein fast-slow-relaxations, heterogeneity and potential energy landscapes etc., and gives molecular cooperative motion modes as solitary waves.
The blood has something to say: A hematology-based clock to measure aging in mice
Authors: Martinez-Romero Jorge , Mueller William , Fernandez Maria , Price Nathan , Candia Julián , Bernier Michel , Camandola Simonetta , Ligo-Teixeira Camila Vieira , Palliyaguru Dushani , Meirelles Osorio , Hu Yi-Han , Li Zhiguang , Deighan Andrew , Serrano Carlos , Velasquez Nicolas Escobar , Launer Lenore , Ferrucci Luigi , Allison David , Shiroma Eric , Churchill Gary , de Cabo Rafael
Published: June 2023

Background: Chronological age alone does not sufficiently explain aging heterogeneity. Biological clocks and molecular biomarkers proposed to predict biological age can be difficult to implement in a clinical setting. Aim: In the framework of translational science, use of routinely collected hematological markers to develop a biological clock to predict biological age and estimate aging acceleration in mice.
Methods: Data from 2,562 mice of both sexes and three strains were drawn from the Study of Longitudinal Aging in Mice and from The Jackson Laboratory’s longitudinal study of aging. Fourteen hematological variables and two metabolic indices were collected longitudinally (11,998 observations). Biological age was predicted using a deep neural network. Aging acceleration (positive or negative) was calculated as residuals from a nonlinear regression of predicted age on chronological age and tested for association with all-cause mortality.
Results: Biological age was significantly correlated with chronological age (Mean Absolute Error [MAE] = 11.95 weeks, Root Mean Squared Error [RMSE] = 15.41 weeks, r = 0.87) and positive aging acceleration was associated with shorter lifespan.
Conclusion: An aging clock based on routinely collected blood measures has the potential to provide a practical clinical tool to better understand individual variability in the aging process.
Identification and Validation of Hub Genes in Children Asthma and Wheeze by Bioinformatics methods
Authors: Xie Yongfeng , Zhang Jinming , Cui Yunliang , Xu QinLiang
Published: June 2023

Background
The pathogenic mechanisms of children asthma and the relationship between children asthma and children wheeze are complex and not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to identify the pathways and hub genes along with common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between children asthma and children wheeze, and to explore the specific insights for the clinical asthma and wheeze therapies in children.
Methods
The GSE123750 dataset was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the children asthma and children wheeze groups were identified using the “Limma” package in the R language. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses, along with Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), were performed to explore potential signaling pathways associated with the DEGs. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) was conducted to identify gene network modules associated with children asthma using microarray data. Functional enrichment analysis was performed on the co-expression genes within specific highlighted modules.
Results
A total of 334 DEGs were identified in children with asthma compared to those with wheezing. Furthermore, five KEGG pathways, namely Ribosome, Oocyte meiosis, p53 signaling pathway, B cell receptor signaling pathway, and Cellular senescence, exhibited significant enrichment. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis in Cytoscape highlighted four hub genes: TOP2A, CDK1, CENPA, and KIF11. GSEA results indicated a positive correlation between asthma and down-regulation of early-stage progenitor T lymphocyte genes, up-regulation of plasma cell genes in bone marrow and blood, deadenylation-dependent mRNA decay, and down-regulation of genes in monocytes. The WGCNA analysis identified the pink module as being highly associated with asthma. Genes within this key module were primarily associated with organ or tissue-specific immune response, mucosal immune response, and the ribosome signaling pathway according to GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses. Furthermore, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis using STRING and Cytoscape revealed one hub gene, IMPA1, among the key genes.
Conclusions
In conclusion, our study not only advances the current understanding of childhood asthma but also provides valuable insights for identifying potential biomarkers to improve early diagnosis of asthma in preschool children with wheezing. These findings can assist clinicians in making informed decisions regarding early treatment interventions.
Intervertebral disc degeneration induced by lumbar instability followed by a maintained standing posture: An in vivo rabbit model
Authors: Chen Can , Zhao Yu , Liu Junning , Niu Susheng , Du Mengfan , Guo Shuang , Chen Yiren , Hu Binhan , Huang Maochang , Lin Jiaqiu , Zhang Yan
Published: June 2023

Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a major clinical cause of low back pain. The ideal animal model should induce a degenerative process and morphological properties similar to those that occur in human IVDD. We established an IVDD model by maintaining rabbits in an upright posture after inducing lumbar instability to better simulate human IVDD.
Methods: IVDD was induced in rabbits by severing the supraspinous and interspinous ligaments of the L5-6 and L6-7 segments and maintaining rabbits in an upright position for 12 weeks. After 8 and 12 weeks, X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were analysed. Disc pathological changes at 12 weeks were detected using haematoxylin and eosin staining, safranin-O-fast green staining, and immunohistochemistry.
Results: In the model group, L6-7 and L7-S1 segment disc degeneration was aggravated at 12 weeks. MRI analysis showed that at 12 weeks, the L6-7 and L7-S1 intervertebral disc nucleus pulposus (NP) signal intensity was significantly decreased compared with that of the control group. Compared with the control group, the model group had obvious histomorphological degeneration at 12 weeks, and significantly different histological scores. Model group immunohistochemistry results at 12 weeks showed that the NP type II collagen content was decreased and the type I collagen content was increased.
Conclusions: An animal model of early lumbar disc degeneration was successfully established by maintaining the rabbit lumbar spine in an upright position for an extended period after inducing lumbar instability. This model will be useful for studying the degenerative process of intervertebral discs under mechanical stimulation.
SPINDILOMETER: A novel model describing sleep spindles on EEG signals for polysomnography
Authors: Kayabekir Murat , Yağanoğlu Mete , Kayabekir Murat
Published: June 2023

This paper aims to present a novel model called SPINDILOMETER, which we propose to be integrated into polysomnography (PSG) devices for researchers focused on electrophysiological signals in PSG, physicians, and technicians practicing sleep in clinics, by examining the methods of the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) signal analysis in recent years. For this purpose, an assist diagnostic model for PSG has been developed that measures the number and density of sleep spindles by analyzing EEG signals in PSG. EEG signals of 72 volunteers, 51 males and 21 females (age; 51.7 ± 3.42 years and body mass index; 37.6 ± 4.21) diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing by PSG were analyzed by machine learning methods. The number and density of sleep spindles were compared between the classical method (EEG monitoring with the naked eye in PSG) ('EEG in PSG') and the novel model (SPINDILOMETER). A strong positive correlation was found between 'EEG in PSG' and SPINDILOMETER results (correlation coefficient: 0.987), and this correlation was statistically significant (p = 0.000). Confussion matrix (accuracy (94.61%), sensitivity (94.61%), specificity (96.60%)), and ROC analysis (AUC:0.95) were performed to prove the adequacy of SPINDILOMETER (p = 0.000). In coclusion SPINDILOMETER can be included in PSG analysis performed in sleep laboratories. At the same time, this novel model provides diagnostic convenience to the physician in understanding the neurological events associated with sleep spindles and sheds light on research for thalamocortical regions in the fields of neurophysiology and electrophysiology.
Development and validation of a circulating serum-based six- microRNA signature for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: xie Xiaohua , Chi Xiaobin , Jiang Zhelong , Lv Lizhi
Published: June 2023

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death, and early detection and treatment play an important role in improving prognosis..
Methods: The prediction model establishment and validation were conducted in GSE113740. Herein, we focused on the differentially expressed miRNAs, highly detected miRNAs and accurately diagnostic capability to identify miRNA candidates. Lasso regression, univariate, multivariate logistic analysis was used to construct a novel diagnostic model based on circulating miRNAs, hoslem.test was used to perform goodness of fit tests. The performance of the model was assessed with respect to its area under curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity. Finally, we added AFP to the model and applied AUC and the integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) to compare whether the new model had an improvement in two cohorts.
Results：The diagnostic model characterized by six miRNAs was established in the training set. hoslem.test p-value = 0.997. The AUC of the model in the training set was 0.995 (95%CI: 0.987-0.999), the sensitivity and specificity were 95.98% and 97.22%, respectively. In the validation set, the AUC was 0.977(95%CI: 0.964-0.987), the sensitivity was 94.74%, and the specificity was 93.29%. The new model with AFP showed an improvement in both the training and validation sets.
Conclusions：This study presents a diagnostic model that incorporates six-microRNA signature, which can be used to facilitate the prediction of patients with HCC.
Acid-base engineered strategy of HKUST-1 dopants for high electrical conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes films
Authors: Tian Gui-Sen , Xiong Ze-Miao , Wang Jing-Yi , Xia Zhi-Xiang , Fu Ping , Zhang Yun-Fei , Du Fei-Peng
Published: June 2023

The improvement of electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes is still a challenge via tuning the carrier concentration and mobility with organic or inorganic dopants due to low doping efficiency. In this paper, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been doped with Cu3(BTC)2‧(H2O)3 (HKUST-1) as metal organic frameworks via simple mixing and vacumm filtration method. With fine acid or base post-treatment, the crystal structure of HKUST-1 was broken into fragments with more active sites and provided plenty of carriers injecting into SWCNTs. The electrical conductivity of SWCNTs/ HKUST-1 films was increased by almost 2.5 times compared to pristine SWCNTs at room temperature. The defect tuning of dopants on SWCNTs surface is an effective carrier injection strategy, which provides a way to improve the electrical conductivity of SWCNTs.
Modulation on Electronic Doping of Graphene Nanoribbons Using Alkali and Oxygen Atoms Adsorption
Authors: Zhou jiaxu , Wang mopei , Luo jie , Wang weihua , Wang Yuxuan
Published: June 2023

Adopting the first-principles calculation method based on density functional theory, we investigate the electronic and optical properties of alkali atoms (Li, Na and K) and oxygen (O) atoms adsorption of doped graphene nanoribbons. We further inspected the differential charge density, energy band structure, partial state density, electron energy loss spectrum, as well as the valence electron state of impurity atoms. The results revealed the significant effect of Li, Na and K atoms on the graphene nanoribbons, presenting n-type direct band gap degenerate semiconductors with the band gap values of 0.438eV, 0.529eV and 0.494eV, respectively. An increase in the adsorption of O in turn changed the materials into p-type direct band gap degenerate semiconductors with the band gap values of 0.573eV, 1.011eV and 0.967eV, respectively. Partial charge density demonstrated a charge migration between the atoms, resulting in a certain change in the electronic properties of the materials. Additionally, the hybridization and local effects of the adsorbed atoms and C atoms resulted in the promotion of the electronic properties near the Fermi level to be significantly modulated.
PACS : 73.22.Pr ; 78.20. -e; 81.05.u e
Quercetin enhanced the sensitivity of colorectal cancer cells to 5- fluorouracil by induction of autophagy and Drp-1 mediated mitochondrial fission
Authors: Li Mei , Xu Junyu , Fan Jiaoxiu , Hu Min , Zeng Jun
Published: June 2023

Background: 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the main chemotherapeutic agent for colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment, while the emergence of drug resistance or insensitivity hindered the clinical benefit. Thus, it is impending to explore novel effective chemotherapeutic adjuvants to increase patients' survival rate. The anticancer activity of quercetin (Que) has been reported in various of cancer such as lung, gastric, breast and pancreatic cancer. Nevertheless, the underlying anti-cancer molecular mechanism of quercetin against colorectal cancer remains to be investigated.
Methods: MTT assay and colony formation assay were performed to explore the growth inhibition of quercetin alone or combine with 5-FU on colorectal cancer cells. GFP-LC3 and mRFP-GFP-LC3 plasmids were applied to detect autophagy and autophagy flux. Hoechst staining, DCFH-DA, JC-1, Mito-Tracker red were used to evaluate apoptosis, ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and mitochondria fission. The expression of proteins was assessed by western blotting.
Results: The results demonstrated that quercetin inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis and autophagy in CRC cells in vitro. Autophagy blockage enhanced quercetin-induced cytotoxicity, indicating that quercetin induced protective autophagy. Quercetin induced excessive ROS accumulation and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), which were associated with the imbalance of mitochondria dynamic. Quercetin promoted Drp-1 mediated mitochondria fission eventually caused mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. Moreover, Quercetin synergistically increased the sensitivity of colorectal cancer cells to 5-fluorouracil by induction of autophagy and Drp-1 mediated mitochondria fission. Conclusion: Our results revealed that Quercetin induced apoptosis through Drp-l mediated mitochondria fission and promoted autophagy. Furthermore, Quercetin synergistically enhanced the sensitivity of colorectal cancer cells SW480 and HCT116 to 5-FU.
Iatrogenic liver diseases: a new concept, with practices to be condemned
Authors: Elsabaawy Maha , Alhaddad Omkosoum
Published: June 2023

After years and years of practicing hepatology, one can had a panoramic view analysing objectively the performance of hepatologists and the most common misjudges which might lead to a more catastrophic insults to an already diseased liver. Iatrogenic liver insults in patients with liver diseases (either acute or chronic) extends extremely beyond what is known as drug induced liver injury. Lack of nutritional instructions according to the disease category, the incorrectly recommended hypomobility, and lack of screening of hepatocellular carcinoma, oesophageal varices, sarcopenia, and minimal hepatic encephalopathy, diabetes mellitus, added to fibrosis progression and cirrhosis decompensation, are all considered as an aggressive forms of iatrogenic liver diseases (ILD). Additionally, negligence of the bad impacts of obesity on provoking liver cirrhosis morbidities and mortality. The continuous improper use of proton pump inhibitors also represented a major challenge in those patients with a wide diversity of complications. These frequent forms of hepatologists’ malpractice had to be denounced and corrected. “Iatrogenic liver diseases” is a new terminology had to be indorsed deeply in most hepatologists’ ethos on dealing with chronic liver disease patients to alleviate the burden of unintentionally aggravated liver disorders.
Synthetic Agricultural Inputs and Its Impact on Foodgrains and Human Health
Authors:   Dr. M. S. Deshmukh1†, Ghagare Tanaji N. , Nanaware Dada. R. , Vadrale Kavita. S. , Sutar Santosh. S.
Published: June 2023

The objective of this paper is to investigate the use of chemical inputs (fertilizer and pesticides) in the agriculture sector and its impact on human health concerning the availability of food grains, the prevalence of under-nourishment people, and non-communicable diseases worldwide. Inadequate food, unhealthy and low-nutrient food are some of the major reasons for decreasing children's and adults' health wellness. The use of fertilisers can increase crop output and yields but also create environmental pollution. Worldwide, use of chemical fertilizer has increased from 137.18 million tonnes in 2001 to 200.57 million tonnes in 2020. Pesticide elements control and protect plants against visible and invisible pests, which can negatively impact biodiversity and farmers' and/or workers' health, excessive use of pesticides indirectly affects food, and food becomes poisonous. This study found that, in 2020 worldwide, the share of use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, bactericides, and other pesticides in total pesticide was found to be 17.57%, 57.28%, 24.8%, and 0.28% respectively. The average growth rate of fertilizer use (1.88%) was higher than pesticides use (1.68%) in the agriculture sector worldwide. The per capita net availability of food grain was 347.10 kg per annum and 0.95 kg per day in the world during 2001. The food grain per capita availability is 394.58 kg per annum and 1.08 kg per day in 2020. Worldwide, under-nourished people declined from 13.1% (815.7 million) in 2001 to 9.8% (767.9 million) in 2021, which indicates that one (1) in every nine (9) people still has insufficient food to survive an active and healthy life. Interestingly, this study came to the conclusion that the use of chemical inputs in agriculture has increased per capita net availability of foodgrain, and as a result, the number of undernourished individuals has decreased. On the contrary, the rate of non-communicable diseases and utilization of chemical inputs in agriculture is constantly increasing in the world during the study period.
Assessment of physico-chemical diversity of Phyllanthus emblica L. fruits collected from different populations of North-East region of India, a part of Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot
Authors: Rozar K. Pung , Kumar Suresh , Sharma Rajnish , Hegde Nagaraj , Kumar Kewat Sanjay , Kumari Neena
Published: June 2023

Fruits of Phyllanthus emblica L. are mostly collected from the wild in North-East Region (NER), India. For the present study, Aonla fruits were collected from twenty populations from Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura states of NER. Different physical [fruit length (mm), fruit diameter (mm), fruit weight (g), pulp weight (g), dry matter content (g), TSS (°Brix), titratable acidity (%), ascorbic acid (mg/100g), total sugar (%), protein (%) and phenol (mg GAE mg/100g)] and important mineral found in the fruits like Ca (mg/100g), Mg (mg/100g), Fe (mg mg/100g), K (%) and P (%) were estimated. Significant variation (P ≤ 0.05) in physical and chemical characteristics of fruits was recorded. Fruit length varied from 15.38 mm to 21.11 mm, fruit diameter from 16.54 mm to 23.56 mm, fruit weight from 3.28 g to 8.29 g, fruit pulp weight from 2.86 g to 7.53 g and fruit dry matter content from 16.61–20.39%. Significant variability (P ≤ 0.05) was also observed for TSS (7.69–14.12 °Brix), titratable acidity (2.12–3.81%), ascorbic acid (375.5–1255.8 mg/100g), total sugars (5.73–10.94%), protein (2.90% − 5.34%) and phenol (1443.6–3809.6 mg GAE mg/100g). Similarly, significant variation was observed for mineral content of the aonla fruits among different populations. Further, we studied the correlation between physico-chemical characters with elevation, latitude and longitude and among these chemical characters of the fruits. The results obtained in the present study provide new insights about the nutritional value of the P. emblica naturally growing in the Indo-Burma hotspot region of India.
Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Lime Treatment on the Soil Water Characteristics Curve of Expansive Soils
Authors: Seid Muna Mohammed , Azmatch Tezera Firew
Published: June 2023

The engineering behavior of natural untreated and compacted lime-treated expansive soils, which typically exist in a state of unsaturated condition, can be better-explained using concepts from unsaturated soil mechanics. The soil water characteristics curve (SWCC) is the key unsaturated soil property for obtaining unsaturated soil property functions (USPFs). However, there are limited studies on the effect of lime on the SWCC of lime-treated expansive soils. This study investigated the effect of lime on the SWCC of lime-treated expansive soils. The drying portion of SWCCs for untreated natural soil and lime - treated soil samples with three different lime contents (3%, 6% and 9%) with 7 days of curing were studied. The SWCCs were determined by using pressure plate apparatus in the suction range of 0–1400 kPa. The shrinkage curve (SC) was also determined to evaluate the change in volume of the different soil samples. The experimental results indicate that SWCC is affected by lime treatment and there is a change in the SWCC parameters and in the shape and position of SWCC as the percentage of lime is changed. The SWCC of the lime-treated soil samples show a higher rate of desaturation as the lime content increases. The Air Entry Value (AEV) and residual water content of lime-treated soil decreases with increase in percentage of lime and the SWCC shifts towards the left side as the AEV decreases. The differences in AEV obtained from gravimetric water content based SWCC (w-SWCC) and degree of saturation-based SWCC (S-SWCC) for the lime-treated soil samples are small when compared to the untreated natural soil sample.
Evaluation on the Large Scale Glycerol Production from Used Cooking Oil using SuperPro Designer Simulator
Authors: Pean Bubpha , Rashid Roslina , Zakaria Zainul Akmar , Alam Muhd Nazrul Hisham Zainal
Published: June 2023

Increasing demand in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly from China, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as new uses for the product such as a humectant in cosmetics and other personal care products, and advances in related technologies, have contributed to a thriving worldwide glycerol industry. Regarding this, glycerol manufacturing performance using SuperPro Designer® Simulator was studied. Enzymatic hydrolysis method was selected for glycerol manufacturing where waste cooking palm oil (PWCO) and waste cooking sunflower oil (SWCO) were used as feedstock. In this study, block flow diagram (BFD) and process flow diagram (PFD) for glycerol manufacturing were synthesized and economic potential of the production was evaluated. The operating conditions for the enzymatic hydrolysis process were carried out at pH of 5.5, temperature of 35.3 and 40℃, agitation speed of 300 rpm, input flow rate of 1000 kg/batch and reaction time of 2 hours. According to the simulation results, the glycerol yield from PWCO was higher than SWCO which were 95.71 kg/batch or 110,116.48 kg/year and 1.89 kg/batch or 2,179.27 kg/year, respectively. However, when the reactor temperature was changed from 35.3°C to 40°C, there were no changes in glycerol yield from either feedstock. For economical evaluation it was found that the capital investment for the glycerol production when using PWCO was lower compared to SWCO which were 8,962,000 USD and 37,900,000 USD, respectively. In addition, for glycerol production of 100 metric tonnes per year, using PWCO as the feedstock results in a lower operating cost of 1,212,000 USD per year when compared to SWCO, which has an operating cost of 17,525,000 USD.
Clustering Methods Over the Tropically Convex Sets
Authors: Barnhill David , Yoshida Ruriko
Published: June 2023

In this paper we propose clustering methods for use on data defined as tropically convex. Our approach is similar to clustering methods in Euclidean space where we identify groupings of similar observations using tropical analogues of K-means and hierarchical clustering in Euclidean space. We provide results from computational experiments on generic simulated data as well as an application to phylogeny using ultrametrics showing the efficacy of these methods.
Incomplete Multi-View Clustering with A Dual Fusion Strategy
Authors: Kan YaoZu , Lu Gui-Fu , Ji Guangyan
Published: June 2023

Incomplete multi-view clustering (IMVC) methods have attracted extensive attention in the field of data mining and pattern recognition due to their superior performance in processing incomplete multi-view data (IMVD). However, the existing IMVC methods can only obtain one consensus matrix by using only one fusion strategy, i.e., fusing the raw IMVD information, and then use k-means or spectral clustering to obtain final results. Although these methods achieve good performance, these algorithms have the following limitations. First, only one consensus matrix may not fully express the information of the IMVD. Second, the obtained consensus matrix may contain noise. Therefore, we propose an innovative method, i.e., incomplete multi-view clustering with a dual fusion strategy (IMVC/DFS) in this paper. In the first fuse process, IMVC/DFS considers how to fuse the raw IMVD information. Specifically, IMVC/DFS first converts the feature matrices into similarity graph matrices and uses an adaptive graph completion strategy to complete missing data. Different from the existing algorithms, IMVC/DFS does not obtain only one consensus matrix, but selects multiple parameters and uses tensor low-rank constraint and consensus representation term to obtain multiple consensus matrices. In the second fuse process, IMVC/DFS considers how to fuse the information contained in the different consensus matrices. Then, motivated by the self-expressiveness property of data, IMVC/DFS further obtain the self-representation matrices of all the consensus matrices and remove noise simultaneously. Finally, we fuse the self-representation matrices for clustering, which is the second fusion. According to our knowledge, IMVC/DFS is the first dual fusion method to solve the IMVC problem. We exploit Augmented Lagrange Multiplier (ALM) method to deal with IMVC/DFS, and the experimental results are very promising and fully demonstrate the validity and superiority of IMVC/DFS.
Characterization of Weyl functions in the class of regular generalized Nevanlinna functions
Authors: Borogovac Muhamed
Published: June 2023

We give necessary and sufficient conditions for a regular generalized Nevanlinna function $Q$ ($Q\in N_{\kappa }\left( \mathcal{H} \right)$) to be a Weyl (a.k.a. Weyl-Titchmarch) function. We also study an important subclass of $N_{\kappa }(\mathcal{H})$, the functions that have a boundedly invertible derivative at infinity $Q'\left( \infty \right):=\lim \limits_{z \to \infty}{zQ(z)}$. Those functions are regular and have the operator representation $Q\left( z \right)=\tilde{\Gamma}^{+}\left( A-z \right)^{-1}\tilde{\Gamma} ,z\in \rho \left( A \right)$, where $A$ is a bounded self-adjoint operator in a Pontryagin space $\mathcal{K}$. We prove that every strict such function $Q$ is a Weyl function associated with the symmetric operator $S:=A_{\vert (I-P)\mathcal{K}}$, where $P$ is the orthogonal projection, $P:=\tilde{\Gamma} \left( \tilde{\Gamma}^{+} \tilde{\Gamma} \right)^{-1} \tilde{\Gamma}^{+} $. We also give relation matrices of the adjoint relation $S^{+}$ and of $\hat{A}$, where $\hat{A}$ is the representing relation of $\hat{Q}:=-Q^{-1}$.
We apply our results in examples, where we start from a given function $Q\in N_{\kappa }\left( \mathcal{H} \right)$ and then we find the closed symmetric linear relation $S$ and the boundary triple $\Pi$ so that $Q$ is the Weyl function associated with $\Pi$.
MSC (2020) 34B20 47B50 47A06 47A56
Training items for trainee residents in community medicine in rural areas
Authors: Kumabe Ayako , Kenzaka Tsuneaki , Goda Ken , Yahata Shinsuke
Published: June 2023

Objective
To examine the significant events experienced by initial trainees during community medicine training, evaluate their impact on community medicine practice, and support improvements in rural community medicine training.
Results
Three faculty teachers independently evaluated significant event analysis reports from 25 trainee residents who had completed four weeks of community medicine training in a rural area. Reports were analyzed according to topics relating to rural community medicine derived from the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education. The most frequently reported items were identified as follows: Primary care: 9 (36.0%); integrated community care systems: 8 (32.0%); medical care in the local community: 7 (28.0%); home health care and systems, patient–physician relationship, and end-of-life medical treatment and care: 6 each (24.0%). Reports from residents describing events related to home health care and systems and end-of-life medical treatment and care related to more than one item.
Do Inequalities of Opportunity Influence Access to Financial Products in Cameroon? An Analysis Using the Shapley and Oaxaca-Blinder Decompositions
Authors: ONDOA Henri ATANGANA , TCHINDA Arnold Dilane MOMOU
Published: June 2023

The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of inequalities of opportunity in access to financial products in Cameroon. Based on the Finscope 2017 survey data, we use the "IOP" command to estimate inequalities of opportunity. Furthermore, we decompose the total inequality of opportunity obtained with the Shapley and Oaxaca-Blinder methods. We find that inequalities of opportunity are most pronounced in the possession of a formal bank account and the access to credit from a formal financial institution. However, their influence is relatively smaller for formal savings account and mobile money account ownership. The decomposition methods show that the circumstantial factors that contribute most to inequality of opportunity in access to financial products are parental education, the individual's place of residence and the social capital. Circumstances such as gender and age, contribute on average very little to the opportunity gaps observed in access to financial products in Cameroon.
JEL classification: D63, D140, G21.
Oxidation and cross-linking to improve stability and sizing properties of cassava starch with ammonium persulfate-assisted hexamethylenetetramine
Authors: Wang Miao , Qian Dechen , Wu Hailiang , Zhao Yahao , Shen Yanqin , Yao Yijun
Published: June 2023

An oxidation cross-linking modified cassava starch (AHS) with high thermal viscosity stability and good film-forming property was synthesized by oxidation cross-linking and amidation reaction，which used ammonium persulfate (APS) as the oxidant, hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) as the cross-linking agent and urea as an assistant. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) showed that compared with cassava starch, the strength of the hydroxyl peak on the AHS structure changed, and the strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bond decreased. The crosslinking agent HMT releases formaldehyde under heating conditions to crosslink oxidized starch. The auxiliary urea undergoes an amidation reaction to form amide bonds while adsorbing residual formaldehyde, improving the toughness of the AHS sizing film. When the APS usage is 0.4% (carboxyl content is 0.3024%), the HMT usage is 0.35% (sedimentation volume is 7.8mL), and urea usage exceeds 3%, the viscosity thermal stability of the AHS sizing agent is well (97.12%), and the elongation of the sizing film can reach 2.97%. Finally, The AHS sizing agent can improve the tensile properties and wear resistance of cotton yarn. This study overcomes the toxic substance emissions caused by traditional aldehyde crosslinking agents, improves the viscosity stability of the starch sizing agent, and provides a new approach to improving the viscosity thermal stability and film-forming properties of starch sizing agents.
strategi perencanaan investasi pada saham syariah di era pandemi covid-19
Authors: Chamidi Achmad Luthfi
Published: June 2023

Entering the digital age makes national boundaries biased, Where there is no longer an obstacle for all nations in the world to one another Communicating and transacting business are only minutes at that distance Very far though. Let alone the development of the Indonesian economy The year 2020 is full of fluctuations with covid-19 viruses yet Indonesia can look out for. The stock market with an islamic investment instrument It is an activity in the capital market that does not conflict with sharia principles. Sharia's own principle in the capital market is based on the decrees of the qur 'an and hadits That governs worship and human activities in your business (fiqh). stock Sharia is a valuable document presenting the inclusion of capital into At the stock exchange. The purpose of this research is; for Provides insight into prospective investors affected by covid - 19 in taking a decision to invest. This kind of research is Qualitative with a literature study approach with a data source that is secondary data That were generated from previous research, and other reference sources There are things that prospective investors need to know. especially Investors from socially affected covid-19 are involved With the planning and management of investments on sharia stock. It is Demands that investors know boundaries and rules.
ANALISIS PELUANG DAN TANTANGAN OBLIGASI SYARIAH (SUKUK) DI INDONESIA
Authors: Muawanah Muawanah , Sundari Sundari , Anggraeni Yuniar Nanda
Published: June 2023

Sukuk atau yang lebih dikenal dengan obligasi syariah pada saat ini sudah banyak digunakan sebagai salah satu instrumen keuangan. Sukuk menjadi salah instrumen investasi yang memberikan peluang bagi investor muslim maupun investor non-muslim, baik investor dari Indonesia maupun luar negeri untuk berinvestasi di Indonesia. Sukuk sendiri sudah mulai berkembang pesat di Timur Tengah, namun di Indonesia sendiri sukuk belum berkembang pesat dikarenakan beberapa kendala yang ada, selain itu kurangnya pemahaman masyarakat tentang sukuk juga menjadi salah satu hal yang sangat berpengaruh terhadap perkembangan sukuk di Indonesia. Perkembangan sukuk di Indonesia sangat diharapkan menjadi salah satu alternatif sumber potensial pendanaan negara. Sukuk memiliki beberapa keunggulan seperti: dapat diperjual belikan, dapat ditawarkan kepada siapa saja investor nasional maupun global, dan aman karena dijamin dengan underlying aset yang riil