bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors Associated to Dietary Diversity in Community-dwelling Brazilian Older Adults
Authors: Corona Ligiana Pires , Silva Graziele Maria , Freiria Carolina Neves
Published: July 2023

Older populations are in high risk of nutritional inadequacy and monotonous diet, and the assessment of dietary diversity can be a practical measure to indicate groups at nutritional risk. Our aim was to explore the dietary diversity of older adults enrolled in primary care services in Brazil, and to evaluate their associated factors. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the dietary diversity score (DDS) of 581 participants (≥ 60 years) registered in primary care services. All foods mentioned in a 24h-Food Recall were classified into 10 groups, and factors associated with the DDS were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression models in 2 blocks: 1) sociodemographic; 2) health conditions and lifestyle. The mean DDS was 5.07 (± 1.34) and 67.5% of the sample reached the minimum dietary diversity (≥ 5 groups). In the final model, income, previous diagnosis of cancer and sporadic intake of alcohol were positively associated with DDS, while cognitive decline, sedentary lifestyle and anorexia of aging were negatively associated with DDS. These findings show that entire structural, economic, and social system needs to facilitate access to quality food, adequate places and conditions for the practice of physical activity, and policies regarding tobacco and alcohol abuse, in addition to nutritional guidance.
Spatio-temporal dynamics of the liver shapes hepatocytes heterogeneity and impacts in vivo gene transfer and editing
Authors: Cantore Alessio , Starinieri Francesco , Milani Michela , Beretta Stefano , Canepari Cesare , Fabiano Anna , Simoni Chiara , Cammarota Eugenia , Volpin Monica , Bortolussi Giulia , Russo Fabio , Biffi Mauro , Muro Andrés , Montini Eugenio , Moalli Federica , Iannacone Matteo , Merelli Ivan
Published: July 2023

The liver is a central organ for metabolism and hepatocytes are the main cell type responsible for most of its functions. Several previous studies investigated the cell types involved in tissue homeostasis and regeneration1–4, however the mechanisms underlying post-natal liver growth and establishment of the mature hepatocyte phenotypes remain to be fully understood. Here we investigate liver tissue dynamics in mice during growth and adulthood, by spatial transcriptomics5, clonal analysis, and lineage tracing. We observe progressive establishment of metabolic zonation of hepatocytes following weaning, with specification of the centrilobular identity only in adults. We report that only a fraction of hepatocytes proliferates in the newborn liver, generating most of the adult tissue and that preferential genetic modification (either gene transfer or gene editing) of the more proliferating hepatocytes allows expansion of the genetically engineered liver area, stably maintained throughout tissue homeostasis. We also describe age-dependent differences in the efficiency and distribution of lentiviral in vivo gene delivery, with higher efficiency of gene transfer in young compared to adult animals and a skewed localization within the liver lobule. We identify high proteasome activity in the peri-central lobular area as the major determinant of the observed outcome and successfully revert it by proteasomal inhibition before gene transfer. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the spatio-temporal dynamics of the liver during post-natal growth and hepatocyte heterogeneity, which extends our understanding of liver biology and have important implications for therapeutic applications.
Research on Water Price and Quantity to Meet the Basic Living Needs of Urban Residents based on Water Conservation
Authors: zhang shujing , wang yanrong
Published: July 2023

Water price is an economic approach to effectively promote urban residents to save water. However, due to the excessively large water volume and low water price of each step in the stepped water pricing model, the water-saving effect of urban residents is not obvious. Determining the first-step water price and water volume for urban residents has become an urgent issue to be solved both in theory and practice. Based on the basic water demand characteristics of urban residents, this study employs the extended linear expenditure system model (ELES) and quadratic approximate ideal demand function model (QUAIDS) to formulate an improved water demand-price function. The improved function model can describe the nonlinear relationship between urban residents' water demand and water price. Then, based on the questionnaire survey data of Zhengzhou City, combined with the improved QUAIDS model and the Ramsey pricing method, a system of equations is built to calculate the first-step water price and water volume that meet the basic living needs of urban residents. This method not only focuses on water conservation for urban residents but also considers their basic water needs and the water supply costs of enterprises. This study provides a theoretical basis and practical guidance for reforming urban water prices and promoting resource conservation in China.
Multi-group biodiversity theory and an application to multi-species maximum sustainable yield
Authors: Sadykov Alexander , Farnsworth Keith D. , Sadykova Dinara , Stenseth Nils Christian
Published: July 2023

We introduce the group-based approach, use it to develop a multi-group biodiversity theory, and apply it find solutions to the multi-species maximum sustainable yield problem for a mixed species fishery. The group-based approach to community ecology is intermediate between classical species-centric and more recent trait-based (species-less) approaches. It describes ecological communities as composed of conspecific groups rather than species (as in classical models) or species-less individuals (as in trait-based models), and reconsiders community structure as results of inter-group resource competition. The approach respects species affiliation and recognises the importance of trait trade-offs at the conspecific group level. It offers an alternative to both classical and trait-based approaches and, remarkably, provides a complete analytical description of the community structure in the benchmark case of zero-sum resource redistribution.
Diffusion-Kinetically Dormant Ni-Rich Cathode at High Potentials
Authors: Cai Jiyu , Zhou Xinwei , Li Tianyi , Li Luxi , Li Jiantao , Sun Cheng-Jun , Suzana Ana , Bai Jianming , Gudavalli Ganesh , Zhang Tingting , Karami Niloofar , Chernova Natasha , Upreti Shailesh , Prevel Brad , Xu Gui-Liang , Liu Yuzi , Xu Wenqian , Chen Yanbin , Song Shunlin , Zhang Xuequan , Wang Li , He Xiangming , Wang Feng , Chen Zonghai
Published: July 2023

High energy-density Ni-rich layered cathodes suffer a long-standing challenge of severe performance deterioration at high potentials. Besides, it is of great challenge to develop a universal mitigation strategy to address numerous deterioration causes. Herein, to probe the dominant deterioration root for guiding rational development, we perform an in-depth investigation of LiNi0.83Mn0.1Co0.07O2 in full cells with graphite anode for 1000 cycles at different state-of-charges. Intriguingly, severe capacity retention of harvest cathodes (like 54% at 4.6 V) is inconsistent with insignificant material degradation via synchrotron-based X-ray characterizations. To unpuzzle this, we deconvolute the overall performance deterioration of cycled cathode into irreversible and reversible losses. Our evaluation unveils Ni-rich cathodes are mostly alive (like 88% at 4.6 V) but kinetically inhibited in long-term cycling at high potentials. The evolution of Li+ diffusion is of greater significance than that of electrical impedance. The exacerbated cathode-electrolyte interface, mainly rock-salt phase, is speculated experimentally and analytically as the predominant root for severe chemical diffusion and performance deterioration. Our findings highlight the upmost importance of stabilizing the cathode-electrolyte interface for deploying Ni-rich cathodes at higher potentials to awaken more energy and longer lifespan.
Diversity of harmful and beneficial insects on Faba bean, Vicia faba L. (Fabales: Fabaceae) crop in Assiut Governorate, Northern Upper Egypt
Authors: Mohamed Hend O. , Mahmoud Asmaa H.
Published: July 2023

BackgroundFaba bean,Vicia fabais one of the main popular legume crops in the world. Their seeds are the best source of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins for human food and animal consumption. For these reasons, improving and increasing the cultivated area of faba beans are essentially needed to achieve self-sufficiency. Therefore, this study is focused on the diversity of harmful and beneficial insects on this crop in Assiut Governorate.ResultsThe Survey of harmful and beneficial insects on faba bean crop registered 44 insect species divided into (21 pests, 4 parasitoids, 11 predators, and 8 pollinators and visitors) belonging to 10 orders and 27 families. The most common pest species were green leafhopper,Empoasca decipiens(42.28%), followed by bean fly,Ophiomyia phaseoli(17.16%); American serpentine leafminer,Liriomyza trifolii(16.45%); sugar beet fly,Pegomya mixta(9.20%); campyloma bug,Campylommasp. (7.61%); bean seed fly,Deliasp. (3.17%). Besides, 4 native parasitoid species were (Chelonussp.,Opius nitidulator,Dirhinus excavatus,Trichogrammasp.). The most abundant and predominant predators' species during the season were the eleven-spotted ladybird beetles,Coccinella undecimpunctata(44.27%) andScymnusnubilus(35.5%). While, minute pirate bug,Orius insidiosus(6.51%) and common green Lacewing,Chrysoperla carnea(5.52%) were found in a moderate dominant. Moreover, honeybees,Apis melliferawere the main pollinators of this vital crop that was observed in high numbers through the growing season.ConclusionsThe diversity of pests and beneficial insects on this vital crop will be essential for developing and improving the control technique of common insects in faba bean fields. This study is providing for the first time detailed information on the insect fauna.
The existence of Adrenal Insufficiency in Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia
Authors: Porntharukchareon Thachanun , Dechatech Bothamai , Sirisreetreerux Supamas , Therawit Phonthip , Tawinprai Kriangkrai
Published: July 2023

Introduction: Infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus may result in long COVID, a syndrome characterized by symptoms such as dyspnea, cardiac abnormalities, cognitive impairment, and fatigue. One potential explanation for these symptoms is adrenal insufficiency (AI).Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of AI in patients with a history of COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: Cross-sectional study of patients who were aged ≥ 18 years and had a 3-month history of radiography-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia. Exclusion criteria included current or previous treatment with glucocorticoids and use of an oral contraceptive. Adrenal function was evaluated using a low dose (1ug) corticotropin stimulation test (CST). Serum cortisol levels were measured at 0, 30, and 60 minutes, and baseline plasma ACTH was also measured.Results: Of the 41 patients enrolled, the median age was 62 years, 17 (42%) were female, and all 41 (100%) had severe pneumonia at baseline. Eleven patients (27%) had AI, as evidenced by hypocortisolism (mean serum cortisol 198.92 nmol/L, standard deviation 83.87, range 84.15–289.42). Of these 11 patients, 10 (91%) had secondary AI (median ACTH 6.27 pmol/L, range 4.98–9.95 pmol/L) and one had primary AI (mean ACTH 32.78 pmol/L). Six of the 11 patients with AI (54.5%) reported symptoms of persistent fatigue and 5 (45.5%) required regular glucocorticoid replacement.Conclusions: Our results suggest that AI, predominantly caused by pituitary disruption, may emerge after SARS-CoV-2 infection and should be considered in patients with a history of COVID-19 pneumonia with or without clinical hypocortisolism.
Endophytic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Mdgb15 is a potential biocontrol agent against tree peony gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea
Authors: Yang ruixian , Ye wenyu , Liu ping , Li juan , Lu mingmei , wang zuhua , Shao dengke
Published: July 2023

Botrytis cinerea is the causal agent of gray mold disease affecting Paeoniaceae plants. The present study focuses on the potential of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Mdgb15 as a promising biological control agent toward B.cinerea. The strain Mdgb15 showed the highest inhibition rate (55.56%) against B. cinerea growth and was effective in controlling tree peony gray mold in detached leaves. A conventional PCR with three specific primer pairs detected lipopetides substance synthesis genes of Mdgb15. The results revealed that Mdgb15 had srfAA, fenA and ituD genes, which resulted in the production of surfactin, fengycin and iturin. An accurate RT-PCR protocol with designed specific primers was further developed to expression characterize of lipopetides synthesis gene of Mdgb15.The RT-qPCR analysis revealed that the expression of ituD and fenA genes in Mdgb15 was remarkably up-regulated during the coculture with B. cinerea. Following the lipopeptides was extracted by acid precipitation of culture filtrate of Mdgb15 and was separated by using Sephadex Gel chromatography column. Three separated fractions exhibited strong antifungal activity against B. cinerea, and were identified as bacillomycin D by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. This study has demonstrated that B. amyloliquefaciens Mdgb15 is considered as a future potential new biocontrol agent for controlling tree peony gray mold disease. It suggests that the antifungal mechanisms of Mdgb15 may be at least partially associated with its ability to secret bacillomycin D.
Comparative effects of salt and alkali stress on photosynthesis and antioxidant system in tea plant (Camellia sinensis)
Authors: Wan Siqing , Zhang Yingao , Liu Lu , Xiao Yezi , He Jingyuan , Zhang Yongheng , Wang Weidong , Yu Youben
Published: July 2023

Salt and alkali stress are considered major abiotic stresses in agriculture. Tea plant (Camellia sinensis), an acidophilic economic crop, is seriously affected by salt and alkali stress, which severely restricts its widespread planting. However, the mechanisms underlying the response of tea plants to salt and alkali stress remain unclear. To understand the physiological and molecular responses of tea plants to salt and alkali stress, tea plants were treated with NaCl and NaHCO3 to study the effects of salt and alkali stresses, respectively. Tea plants exhibited different symptoms under the NaCl and NaHCO3 treatments. The leaves of tea plants suffered varying degrees of damage, and concentrations of the quality components epigallocatechin gallate, caffeine, and theanine in the leaves decreased significantly under the NaCl treatment. However, after NaHCO3 treatment, epigallocatechin and theanine levels were significantly reduced. Photosynthesis and antioxidant enzymes changed significantly to varying degrees under both the NaCl and NaHCO3 treatments. The stomata closed under both NaCl and NaHCO3 treatments. After the transcriptome analysis of tea samples treated for one, three, and seven days with NaCl or NaHCO3, a large number of differentially expressed genes related to photosynthesis and the antioxidant system were identified. Analysis of the promoters of key differentially expressed genes revealed many light-responsive, hormone-responsive, and stress-responsive elements, and many corresponding upstream transcription factors were also differentially expressed. These results provide a basis for understanding the physiological and molecular responses of tea plants to salt and alkali stress.
Kea (Nestor Notabilis) and the Ephemeral Reward Task: Success and Hurdles Explored
Authors: Seban Peter , Huber Ludwig , Schwing Raoul
Published: July 2023

The Ephemeral Reward Task, employed in animal cognition research, appears deceptively straightforward but is, in reality, highly counterintuitive. Our study delved into the performance of kea (Nestor notabilis) on this task as well as investigating their motivation to acquire two pieces of reward as opposed to one in a basic quantity discrimination task. Both experiments were conducted using setups that featured visible and non-visible rewards. The results unveiled that a greater proportion of kea successfully solved the Ephemeral Reward Task when the rewards were directly visible, compared to when they were non-visible. Likewise, in the Quantity discrimination task, the kea exhibited a preference for selecting two pieces of reward over one, with higher success rates observed in the setup with visible rewards. These findings indicate that kea possess the potential to meet the success criteria in both tasks and demonstrate the ability to discriminate between quantities of rewards. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that not all subjects successfully solved the Quantity discrimination task, and even those that did accomplish it, did not do so spontaneously from the first session. Additionally, the study emphasizes the necessity to reevaluate the standardized 100-trial limit imposed by previous studies and advocates for employing testing to a criterion and adapting methodologies to account for individual motivations, ecological relevance, and prior experiences.
Improved mechanical and wear properties of Al-7Si-0.4Mg/AlN composite produced using the ultrasonic assisted stir casting process
Authors: Kumar T. Satish , Kumar K. Krishna , Nampoothiri Jayakrishnan , Pon Selvan Chithirai
Published: July 2023

Al-7Si-0.4Mg /AlN composites were successfully prepared by ultrasonic-assisted stir casting process. It was noticed that the ultrasonic treatment and incorporation of AlN particles were found to significantly improve the mechanical and wear properties of the matrix by grain refinement. The grain refinement and improved distribution of AlN particles in the Al-7Si-0.4Mg matrix aided in improving the tensile strength of the composites by about 32 % without appreciable decrease in ductility. Wear rate and friction coefficient was observed to decrease with increase in vol.% of AlN particles.
A Data-Driven Framework for Designing Microstructure of Multifunctional Composites with Deep-Learned Diffusion-Based Generative Models
Authors: Lee Kang-Hyun , Lim Hyoung Jun , Yun Gun Jin
Published: July 2023

This paper puts forward a novel integrated microstructure design methodology that replaces the common existing design approaches for multifunctional composites: 1) reconstruction of microstructures, 2) analyzing and quantifying material properties, and 3) inverse design of materials using the diffusion-based generative model (DGM). The problem of microstructure reconstruction is addressed using DGM, which is a new state-of-the-art generative model formulated with a forward Markovian diffusion process and the reverse process. Then, the conditional formulation of DGM is introduced for guidance to the embedded desired material properties with a transformer-based attention mechanism, which enables the inverse design of multifunctional composites. A convolutional neural network (CNN)-based surrogate model is utilized to facilitate the prediction of nonlinear material properties for building microstructure-property linkages. Combined, the proposed artificial intelligence-based design framework enables large data processing and database construction that is often not affordable with resource-intensive finite element method (FEM)-based direct numerical simulation (DNS) and iterative reconstruction methods. What is important is that the proposed DGM-based methodology is not susceptible to unstable training or mode collapse, which are common issues in neural network models that are often difficult to address even with extensive hyperparameter tuning. An example case is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, which is designing mechanoluminescence (ML) particulate composites made of europium and dysprosium ions. The results show that the inversely-designed multiple ML microstructure candidates with the proposed generative and surrogate models meet the multiple design requirements (e.g., volume fraction, elastic constant, and light sensitivity). The evaluation of the generated samples' quality and the surrogate models' performance using appropriate metrics are also included. This assessment demonstrates that the proposed integrated methodology offers an end-to-end solution for practical material design applications.
Effects of introducing the WHO Labour Care Guide on Caesarean section: a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster randomized trial in India
Authors: Vogel Joshua , Pujar Yeshita , Vernekar Sunil , Armari Elizabeth , Pingray Veronica , Althabe Fernando , Gibbons Luz , Berrueta Mabel , Somannavar Manjunath , Ciganda Alvaro , Rodriguez Rocio , Bendigeri Savitri , Kumar Jayashree Ashok , Patil Shruti Bhavi , Karinagannanavar Aravind , Anteen Raveendra , R. Pavithra M. , Shetty Shukla , B Latha , M. Megha H. , Gaddi Suman , Chikkagowdra Shaila , Raghavendra Bellara , Homer Caroline , Lavender Tina , Kushtagi Pralhad , Hofmeyr Justus , Derman Richard , Goudar Shivaprasad
Published: July 2023

The World Health Organization’s Labour Care Guide (LCG) is the “next generation” partograph, designed to improve the quality of intrapartum care and enhance women’s experiences. However, the effects of the LCG on maternal and newborn outcomes have not been evaluated. We developed a novel strategy to introduce the LCG into routine intrapartum care, comprising a co-designed training program for labour ward clinicians, alongside monthly audit and feedback. We implemented the strategy and measured its effects using a stepped-wedge, randomised trial in four hospitals in India. We captured data from 26,331 women who gave birth at >=20 weeks’ gestation, over a 54-week period. Following implementation, a 5.5% crude absolute reduction in the Caesarean section rate amongst women in Robson Group 1 was observed (45.2% vs 39.7%; relative risk 0.85, 95% confidence interval 0.54-1.33). Maternal process-of-care measures were not significantly different, though labour augmentation with oxytocin was 18.0% lower with the LCG strategy. No differences were observed for maternal, fetal or newborn health outcomes, or women’s birth experiences. This “proof of concept” study provides important evidence on the effects of introducing LCG into routine practice, suggesting a 15% relative risk reduction in Caesarean section use amongst women in Robson Group 1. Larger trials are warranted, particularly in settings where urgent reversal of the Caesarean section epidemic is needed.
RETRACTED: Study of Embedded Gate Nano-Tube Tunnel Field-Effect Transistors for Extremely Low Power Application
Authors: KUMAR RAKESH , PANDAY DHARMENDRA KUMAR , Srivast Asutosh
Published: July 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Automated Lung and Colon Cancer Classification using Histopathological Images
Authors: Ji Jie , Zhang Weifeng , Geng Yiqun , Wang Heli , Wang Chuan , Dong Yuejiao , Lin Ruilin , Chen Zhuofeng , Huang Jiexiong , Hong Liangli , Gu Jiang
Published: July 2023

Background
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in the world. And among all cancers lung and colon cancers are two of the most common causes of death and morbidity. The aim of this study was to develop an automated lung and colon cancer classification system using histopathological images.
Methods
An automated lung and colon classification system was developed using histopathological images from the LC25000 dataset. The algorithm development included data splitting, deep neural network model selection, on the fly image augmentation, training and validation. The core of the algorithm was a Swin Transform V2 model. The model performance was evaluated using Accuracy, Kappa, confusion matrix, precision, recall, and F1. Extensive experiments were conducted to compare the performances of different neural networks including both mainstream convolutional neural networks and vision transformers.
Results
The Swin Transform V2 model achieved perfect results on all metrics, and it outperformed other models of this study and all models of previous studies.
Conclusions
The Swin Transformer V2 model has the potential to be used to assist pathologists in classifying lung and colon cancers using histopathology images. Moreover, the LC25000 dataset is too easy and should no longer be used independently.
Multivalent binding of the tardigrade Dsup protein to chromatin promotes yeast survival and longevity upon exposure to oxidative damage
Authors: Tyler Jessica , Aguilar Rhiannon , Arslanovic Nina , Birmingham Kaylah , Kaliwal kritika , chakraborty Ujani , Postnikoff spike , Hickman Allison , Kahn laiba , Watson Rachel , Ezell Ryan , Willis Hannah , Cowles Martis , Marunde Matthew , Keogh Michael-C. , gutierrez Ignacio , Shim abraham , Garner Richard
Published: July 2023

Tardigrades are remarkable in their ability to survive extreme environments. The damage suppressor (Dsup) protein is thought responsible for their extreme resistance to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by irradiation. Here we show that expression of Ramazzottius varieornatus Dsup in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reduces oxidative DNA damage and extends the lifespan of budding yeast exposed to chronic oxidative genotoxicity. This protection from ROS requires either the Dsup HMGN-like domain or sequences C-terminal to same. Dsup associates with no apparent bias across the yeast genome, using multiple modes of nucleosome binding; the HMGN-like region interacts with both the H2A/H2B acidic patch and H3/H4 histone tails, while the C-terminal region binds DNA. These findings give precedent for engineering an organism by physically shielding its genome to promote survival and longevity in the face of oxidative damage.
Enhancing the Thermal Properties of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene through the Addition of Carbon Nanotubes: A Promising Approach for Total Joint Replacement Applications
Authors: K Praveen Kumar , V Chittaranjan Das , A Surya Prakash , Unnam Sai Pranay
Published: July 2023

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UMWPE) is commonly utilized in orthopaedic applications, particularly joint arthroplasty, due to its exceptional qualities. However, the limitations of pure UHMWPE, such as inadequate wear resistance and potential joint issues, necessitate further advancements to enhance its longevity and reduce the need for revision procedures. This study investigates the integration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as reinforcements in the UHMWPE matrix. The mechanical properties of MWCNTs at varying concentrations were assessed following ASTM standards, while thermal characteristics were evaluated to gauge the impact of MWCNT incorporation. The results demonstrate that the addition of MWCNTs significantly enhances the thermal properties of UHMWPE. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reveal a reduction in weight loss from 4.3–1.3% and an increase in crystallinity from 52–64%. These findings underscore the potential of MWCNT-reinforced UHMWPE as a viable option for total joint replacement, as it improves thermal characteristics and material durability. This research contributes to the advancement of superior orthopaedic materials with enhanced thermal properties, consequently extending the lifespan of joint arthroplasty devices by addressing the challenges associated with pure UHMWPE.
Opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome due to Covid-19
Authors: Adamaszek Michael , Langner Soenke , Heinrich Alexander , Mehrholz Jan
Published: July 2023

Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a rare neurological encephalopathic entity associated with non-specific infections or cancer processes that has been occasionally described in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We report a case of a 53-year-old man with SARS-CoV-2 infection, who developed clinical features of opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome. Of particular note, cerebrospinal fluid analysis (CSF) analysis revealed the production of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies, suggesting an underlying neuroimmunological mechanism associated with infection with the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Correlation of Mental Health, Physical Activity, and Body Composition in American College Students After the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown
Authors: Caciula Manuela , Torres Luis , Tomoioaga Simion , Gugu-Gramadopol Carmen
Published: July 2023

Background: The restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic forced American college students to significantly reduce their daily energy expenditure and increase sedentary behavior. This presumably led to increased mental health symptoms, decreased physical activity levels, and the promotion of unhealthy eating habits.
Methods: American college students completed pre-existing, well-validated surveys for both mental health (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire Long Form). Body composition was assessed in-person with the use of an Inbody 570 device.
Results: Of the 90 American college students (M age = 22.52 ± 4.54, 50 females) who participated in this study, depressive and anxious symptom scores consistent with 58% (N = 52) heightened symptomatology, 17% (N = 15) moderate borderline symptomatology, and 25% (N = 23) asymptomatology were reported. In regard to physical activity, 79% (N = 71) of the students were highly physically active, 18% (N = 16) were moderately active, and 3% (N = 3) reported low levels of physical activity. Additionally, 46% (N = 41) of the students maintained an unhealthy body fat percentage based on World Health Organization recommendations. Strong, significant relationships were found between anxiety and depression symptomatology and body fat percentage (P = .003) and skeletal muscle mass (P = .015), with said symptomatology increasing with added body fat and decreasing with added skeletal muscle mass.
Conclusions: Future health interventions for American college students should be focused on strategies to reduce stress, anxiety, and depressive characteristics, as well as nutritional information on healthy eating, regardless of self-reported physical activity levels.
Using E-learning environments in relation to cognitive styles for developing college students' English vocabulary learning and motivation
Authors: Mekheimer Mohamed , Mahdi Eman
Published: July 2023

This study aimed to identify the effects of e-learning environment of Google Classroom in relation to cognitive styles (independence/dependence) on developing college students' English vocabulary learning and instrumental motivation as well as deciding on the correlations between students' vocabulary learning, instrumental motivation, and cognitive styles. Participants in this study comprised 117 randomly selected EFL juniors, assigned to two experimental groups classified according to their cognitive styles (independence vs dependence). Instruments of the study included the English Vocabulary Retention and Retrieval Test (EVRRT), a cognitive styles inventory (GEFT) for identifying participants’ cognitive styles, and the Instrumental Motivation for Achievement Scale (IMAS). The study revealed that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group with context-independent cognitive styles and the experimental group with context-dependent cognitive styles to the good of the former group on vocabulary retention on post-testing. In addition, statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group with context-independent cognitive styles and the experimental group with context-dependent cognitive styles to the good of the former group on post-testing of instrumental motivation. Overall, there was no correlation between vocabulary retention as a function of using the Google Classroom e-learning environment, and motivation mean responses on post-testing.
Analysis of the Arab Singer Shadia’s Lyrics
Authors: Khamis Mohamed A. , Gomaa Walid
Published: July 2023

In this work, we analyze the lyrics of one of the most famous and influential Arab artists in the twentieth century, namely, \<شادية> (Shadia). Lyrics analysis provides a deep insight into the artist's career evolution, her interactions with the surrounding environment including the social, political, and economic conditions. In order to perform such analysis we had to collect and compile the lyrics of Shadia accompanied with the necessary metadata into an organized and structured form. The data are preprocessed by removing stop words and doing some normalization operations over the songs prose. We did not perform any lemmatization or stemming as the original form of the tokens convey much more information than the source words.We performed a lexical analysis in order to study both the lexical density and diversity over the course of Shadia career life. We have as well studied the most significant words, idioms, and terms played in the songs using tools such as word clouds and more quantitative measures such as term frequency-inverse document frequency. We have divided the career life of Shadia into sub-decades of length \(5\) years and all analyses are done both in a yearly fashion and more coarsely over such sub-decades. We have found a strong correlation between our statistical analysis and the socio-political status in Egypt and the Arab world during that time.This is especially relevant knowing that Shadia is very much truly considered the daughter of the generation of the 1952 revolution in Egypt. The significance of Shadia and her lyrics stem essentially from being contemporaneous to radical changes in Egypt across all sectors including political (support of liberation movements across the world, and the conflict with Israel), and socio-economic (especially changing the social class structure in Egypt). We also investigated the potential effectiveness of PoS (Part of Speech) tagging in genre analysis and classification.
Discretely Observed Brownian Motion Goverened byTelegrapher's Process: Estimation and Applications to Finance
Authors: Eada Surya Teja , Pozdnyakov Vladimir , Yan Jun
Published: July 2023

Regime-switching models are commonly used in financial econometrics to capturechanges in market dynamics over time. However, classic Markov regime-switching models cannot handle irregularly spaced time series. To address this limitation,we propose a continuous-time regime-switching model with two states that can handle irregularly spaced time series. The model uses a Brownian motion with state-specific drift and volatility in each state, and a telegrapher's process with exponential holding times to characterize unobserved states. We develop inferences for model parameters using the hidden Markov model with discretely spaced time series, and facilitate exact likelihood evaluation with dynamicprogramming and occupation time results. Our simulation study validates the performance of the method, and in application to a collection of stock prices,we find that our model is competitive with the popular GARCH model.
Homogeneous multigrid method for hybridizable interior penalty method
Authors: Lu Peipei , Wang Juan
Published: July 2023

In this paper, we present a rigorous convergence analysis of a homogeneous multigrid method for the hybridizable interior penalty (IP-H) method. In particular,we use the injection operator developed in [1]. It is shown that when the penalization parameter is sufficiently large, our proposed multigrid method is optimal under the assumption of elliptic regularity. Numerical experiments are provided to confirm the theoretical results.
Trend constrained optimal predictor discretisation for insurance and banking using a network flow approach
Authors: Bodenstein Gerhardus J , Kruger Machiel F , Brydon Humphrey C , Blignaut Renette J
Published: July 2023

Discretising (or binning) continuous predictors forms part of the data preparation and exploration phase when building predictive models. Discretisation involves partitioning a predictor variable's support into a set of disjunct intervals separated by cut-points. Discretisation is a valuable tool in predictive modelling and preliminary variable selection methods. It eases the interpretability and assists researchers in gauging the relationship between a predictor and the response of interest while providing automatic protection against outliers and missing values. Some machine learning and data mining techniques work better with categorical or discretized continuous variables instead of raw quantitative values. In some instances, the discretisation process must consider business, operational, or best practice constraints concerning selected intervals and parameter trends across consecutive intervals of a predictor variable. Choosing cut-points while maintaining a specified relationship trend between the discretised predictor and the response variable while adhering to additional side constraints, is difficult. The aim is to provide a concise summary of a predictor variable with as little loss of predictive power as possible while satisfying side constraints. This optimal trade-off between predictive power and arity for a constrained solution space allows the discretisation problem to be formulated as a mathematical optimisation problem. This paper provides a flexible mixed-integer programming formulation for the constrained optimal supervised discretisation problem with automatic trend detection using a novel network flow approach. The flexibility of the proposed framework allows us to implement and compare different supervised discretisation predictive performance measures on a real-world dataset.
Multi-omics Analysis of the Prognostic and Biological role of Cuproptosis-Related Gene in Gastric Cancer
Authors: Zhang Ruopeng , Zhang Feiyang , Liu Zekun , Huang Yuqian , Liu Lei , Li Shatong , Li Yinghe , Zhao Baiwei , Chen Wanqi
Published: July 2023

Background
Gastric cancer (GC)remains the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Cuproptosis has a high correlation with cancer development and progression, while Cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) are rarely reported in GC. The aim of this multi-omics study was to investigate the prognostic value and biological functions of CRGs in GC, which may help guide precision medicine-based decision-making in GC patients.
Methods
RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data, Copy number variations (CNV) data, and Single nucleotide variant (SNV) data were obtained from The cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database. Chi-squared test was adopted to screen differentially expressed CRGs (DE-CRGs) between samples from 14 kinds of carcinoma and adjacent tissue samples. Then, gastric cancer (GC) samples were divided into high- and low-expressed groups based on DE-CRGs for further overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and disease-special survival (DSS) analysis. After single-gene Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, biomarkers of GC was obtained eventually. Besides, methylation sites related with biomarkers were acquired and survival analysis was performed based on those sites. Next, the correlation between immune cells and biomarkers was verified. Finally, we established miRNA-mRNA, TFs-mRNA, and co-expression networks to detect factors that have a regulating effect on biomarkers.
Results
Four DE-CRGs including CDKN2A, DLD, GLS, LIAS, and PDHB in most of the 14 cancers were screened out. Seven CRGs including GLS, LIAS, CDKN2A, DLD, LDAT, MTF1 and PDHA1 have a significant difference in the survival of GC patients. Next, single-gene ROC proved that PDHB, CDKN2A, LIAS, and GLS significantly correlate with GC prognosis. Three CRGs including LIAS, GLS, and CDKN2A were remain as biomarkers based on the results we got previously, and were used to generate a nomogram. After, 3 methylation sites with a significant survival relationship which include cg13601799, 07562918, and 07253264 were found. Then, we found that B cells native is significantly correlated with CDKN2A, 4 immune cells such as T cells regulatory (Tregs) are significantly correlated with GLS, and 2 immune cells such as T cells CD4 memory activated are significantly correlated with LIAS. Moreover, we found 10 miRNA in the miRNA-mRNA network and 3 TFs in the TFs-mRNA network have a significant correlation with OS. Finally, 20 enrichment functions were obtained such as cardiac septum development, collagen fibril organization, and sensory organ morphogenesis on the basis of the co-expression network.
Conclusions
3 biomarkers with a prognosis prediction value of GC were found, and multi-factor regulatory networks was constructed to screen out 13 factors with regulating influences of biomarkers.
Early carotid pulse waves are associated with an acceleration of 18 F-FDG PET hypometabolism in Alzheimer’s brain areas
Authors: Zimmermann Gaétan , Joly Laure , Schoepfer Pauline , Doyen Matthieu , Roch Veronique , Grignon Rachel , Salvi Paolo , Marie Pierre-Yves , Benetos Athanase , Verger Antoine
Published: July 2023

Background Arterial stiffening likely plays a role in Alzheimer disease (AD) pathogenesis and may also favour a potentially deleterious early return of reflected arterial pressure waves. The current study investigated whether inter-individual variations in arterial stiffness and pressure wave parameters were associated with 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) metabolism in AD-associated brain areas independently of age and before the onset of any neuropsychological disorders.Methods A prospective, large age-range population of 67 patients (17 young, 16 middle-aged, and 34 older adults; 37 women) with normal neuropsychological tests, underwent a: 1) brain 18F-FDG PET, 2) blood pressure recording and 3) carotid/femoral pulse wave-based measurements, including the time-to-peak of the reflected backward carotid pulse wave (bT), on the same day. Multivariate and quantitative voxel-to-voxel analyses (p-voxel < 0.005, corrected for cluster volumes) were conducted to assess associations between vascular parameters and 18F-FDG PET metabolism in AD-associated brain areas.Results In the multivariate analysis, only increased age and decreased bT were independently associated with the decline of metabolic activity in AD-associated brain areas (p < 0.001). In the voxel-to-voxel analysis with age as a covariate, bT was strongly associated with the metabolic activity of 40 clusters in AD-associated brain areas (clusters cumulative volume: 63 cm3; T score max: 5.7).Conclusion In patients, who are still unaffected by neuropsychological disorders, an early reflected arterial pressure wave, as evidenced by a decreased bT value, is strongly associated with an acceleration of the age-related decline in the metabolic activity of AD-associated brain areas.Trial registration : This research study was approved by the local ethics committee (CPP accreditation N°2018/26; date of registration : May,11th 2018).
A Study of Obesity and Financial Stress in Workers in the United States: Findings from the NHIS 2021
Authors: Weissman Judith D. , Rogol Naomi , Jay Melanie , Taylor John
Published: July 2023

Purpose This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between indicators of workplace financial stress and obesity among working adults.Methods Respondents were sampled from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey. Adults were included if they worked in the last week were between 18 to 65 years (n = 14, 976). A multivariable model predicted having obesity using the following the independent variables: working full time, defined as working 35 hours per week or more, working while sick, perceived likelihood of job loss, food insecurity and sociodemographic characteristics. The multivariable model was based on bivariate analyses comparing these variables, and serious psychological distress to having obesity and the number of chronic health conditions.Results At the bivariate level 6.5% of full-time workers had food insecurity, and 9.1% perceived they were fairly likely or somewhat likely to lose their job and 45% had serious psychological distress. In a multivariable model, there was a positive association between obesity and full-time employment (AOR = 1.5 CI = 1.3, 1.7), workers perceptions of being fairly or somewhat likely to lose their job (AOR = 1.2 CI = 1.0, 1.4), and obesity and food insecurity (AOR = 1.2 CI = 1.0, 1.4) after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics.Conclusions The relationship between having obesity and working full time, serious psychological distress, perceptions about job loss and food insecurity suggests that employment may be stressful. Despite working full time, many adults experienced food insecurity. Suggestions for increasing the safety net for workers to protect against financial and work instability are discussed.
DDT: A Reinforcement Learning Approach to Dynamic Flow Timeout Assignment in Software Defined Networks
Authors: Harris Nathan , Khorsandroo Sajad
Published: July 2023

OpenFlow-compliant commodity switches face challenges in efficiently managing flow rules due to the limited capacity of expensive high-speed memories used to store them. The accumulation of inactive flows can disrupt ongoing communication, necessitating an optimized approach to flow rule timeouts. This paper proposes Delayed Dynamic Timeout (DDT), a Reinforcement Learning-based approach to dynamically adjust flow rule timeouts and enhance the utilization of a switch's flow table(s) for improved efficiency. Despite the dynamic nature of network traffic, our DDT algorithm leverages advancements in Reinforcement Learning algorithms to adapt and achieve flow-specific optimization objectives.
The evaluation results demonstrate that DDT outperforms static timeout values in terms of both flow rule match rate and flow rule activity. By continuously adapting to changing network conditions, DDT showcases the potential of Reinforcement Learning algorithms to effectively optimize flow rule management. This research contributes to the advancement of flow rule optimization techniques and highlights the feasibility of applying Reinforcement Learning in the context of SDN.
Impact Assessment of Integrated-pathy on Cancer-Related Fatigue in Cancer Patients: An Observational study
Authors: Balkrishna Acharya , Katiyar Prashant , Singh Sumit Kumar , Ghosh Sourav , Arya Vedpriya
Published: July 2023

Background: Integrated-pathy aims to integrate modern medicine with traditional systems via applying the holistic approach of Ayurveda, Yoga, Yagya, Panchkarma and natural medicine. This is important for addressing the challenges surrounding the delivery of long-term palliative care for chronic ailments including cancer. The prime intent of this study was to substantiate the underlying hypothesis behind the differential and integrative approach having a positive impact on Quality of Life of cancer patients.
Study Design: Observational study
Methods: A standardized questionnaire was developed and used, after obtaining written informed consent from patients to assess the impact of Integrated-pathy on patients (n=103) diagnosed with cancer receiving care at Patanjali Yoggram. The research was carried out over an eight-month period (December-2021 to July-2022). For the significance of the pre- and post-treatment QoL ratings, Wilcoxon signed-rank pair test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and other descriptive statistics techniques were explored.
Results: A total of 103 patients seeking cancer special-healthcare were interviewed, out of which 39 (37.86%) were selected based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria with age (25-65 years), period of Integrated-pathy received (≥1 months), allopathic treatment received prior to opting for Integrated-pathy. Results revealed a significant increase in the QoL (17.91%) after receiving the integrated therapy over a course of at least one month. Further, a significant reduction in cancer related pain followed by an increase in QoL index was reported in the patients. Wilcoxon rank test revealed significant pairing (p<0.0001) with validation of the model using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.
Conclusions: In order to enhance evidence-based support to the Integrated-pathy, well-defined clinical indicators that can be assessed and monitored over time are required. Clinical researchers should add Integrated-pathy into their proposed interventions and undertake similar studies to provide long-term benefits.