bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Neural dynamic surface control for stochastic nonlinear systems with unknown control directions and unmodelled dynamics
Authors: Shu Yanjun
Published: March 2023

The control problem for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems with both unknown control directions and unmodelled dynamics is investigated here for the first time. The technique of dynamics signal is adopted to cope with the unmodelled dynamics in the considered system. The unknown control directions problem are addressed by Nussbaum function. RBF neural networks are employed to approximate the lumped unknown functions, and regardless of the number of neural networks used and the order of the system, only one adaptive parameter requires to be adjusted. Dynamic surface control(DSC) is utilized to cope with the complexity explosion of the backstepping design. Hence, a novel neural control scheme is proposed by means of dynamics signal method, DSC technique and Nussbaum function. Stability analysis proves all closed‐loop signals are SGUUB by choosing the parameters appropriately, and the simulation results demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Analysis of the influence of the grounding method on the measurement of direct current total electric field on a civil housing platform
Authors: Jilai Xu , Keli Gao , Baoquan Wan , Yao Lu , Liang Zhang
Published: March 2023

Buildings near direct current transmission lines are sensitive to the electromagnetic environment, and the measurement of the electric field above them is important in engineering design and environmental assessment in China. The models of buildings and probes in the ion flow field were established to explore the accurate measurement method of the electric field above the building. Based on the upstream finite element method and the predictor–corrector method, the influence of whether the probe was grounded or not above the building was studied. On this basis, simulation experiments and real‐type experiments were carried out. The results show that when the electrical conductivity of the building was greater than 10−10 S/m, being grounded or not would not change the results. When the building conductivity was between 10−11 and 10−12 S/m, the electric field measurement results would be increased by 30% to 120% after grounding. In the real‐type experiments on the platform with a plywood roof, the relative error in the electric field when grounded or not was only 2.6%. This proved the reliability of the calculated results. In this paper, the measuring method of the DC space charge‐modified electric field above buildings was analyzed first, and the conclusion that ground wire can be cancelled above buildings with general materials was presented. The research results can provide a technical basis for the accurate measurement of the electric field above the buildings near DC transmission lines.
A fuzzy rule‐based system with decision tree for breast cancer detection
Authors: Gupta Vedika , Gaur Harshit , Vashishtha Srishti , Das Uttirna , Singh Vivek Kumar , Hemanth D. Jude
Published: March 2023

Breast cancer is possibly the deadliest illness in the world and the risks are gradually increasing. One out of eight women has the chance to be detected with breast cancer in their lifetime. The utmost cause for the higher fatality rates is the prolonged prognosis for the detection of breast cancer. The focus of this study is therefore to develop a better fuzzy expert system for the detection of breast cancer using decision tree analysis for deriving the rule base. For this classification problem, the input features of the dataset are converted into human‐understandable terms‐linguistic variables. The Mamdani Fuzzy Rule‐Based system is deployed as the main inference engine and the centroid method for the defuzzification process to convert the final fuzzy score into class labels‐ benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). A decision tree algorithm is applied the creating a novel set of 27 fuzzy rules which are fed into FRBS. The investigation is performed on the publicly available Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset. The accuracy obtained by the proposed system is about 97%, recall is 99.58% and precision is about 93%. The experiments on this dataset yield higher performance as compared to the state‐of‐the‐art dataset.
Image encryption algorithm based on 2D‐CLICM chaotic system
Authors: Jiang Xiaoman , Jiang Guangyu , Wang Qingke , Shu DongDong
Published: March 2023

Image encryption algorithm based on a two‐dimensional Chebyshev‐Logistic‐Infinite Collapse Map (2D‐CLICM) is proposed. A new two‐dimensional chaotic map is designed, and numerical studies show that 2D‐CLICM has a larger chaotic region, better randomness and more complex chaotic behavior. An image encryption algorithm (CLICM‐IE) is developed based on the 2D‐CLICM. The randomly generated key is used to generate more random chaotic sequences and the security is greatly improved. To obtain lower computation and time complexity, the whole process performs row encryption for each image pixel. The Arnold transformation preprocesses the image and then the encryption of image pixels is accomplished by controlling the random confusion and diffusion parts with the sequence generated by 2D‐CLICM. The results show that the CLICM‐IE algorithm is deeply random and unpredictable, and resists a variety of attacks. These results can provide good basis and practical application for the chaos generation and image encryption.
Rotational abstractions for verification of quantum Fourier transform circuits
Authors: Govindankutty Arun , Srinivasan Sudarshan K. , Mathure Nimish
Published: March 2023

With the race to build large‐scale quantum computers and efforts to exploit quantum algorithms for efficient problem solving in science and engineering disciplines, the requirement to have efficient and scalable verification methods are of vital importance. A novel formal verification method that is targeted at Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) circuits is proposed. Quantum Fourier Transform is a fundamental quantum algorithm that forms the basis of many quantum computing applications. The verification method employs abstractions of quantum gates used in QFT that leads to a reduction of the verification problem from Hilbert space to the quantifier free logic of bit‐vectors. Very efficient decision procedures are available to reason about bit‐vectors. Therefore, this method is able to scale up to the verification of QFT circuits with 10,000 qubits and 50 million quantum gates, providing a meteoric advance in the size of QFT circuits thus far verified using formal verification methods.
Design of smart battery charging circuit via photovoltaic for hybrid electric vehicle
Authors: Pathak Pawan Kumar , Yadav Anil Kumar , Padmanaban Sanjeevikumar , Twala Bhekisipho , Kamwa Innocent
Published: March 2023

This paper proposes an intelligent battery charging scheme for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) with a fuel cell as the primary energy source and solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery as the auxiliary energy sources. While dealing with the PV, a minimized oscillation‐based improved perturb and observe (I‐P&O) maximum power point (MPP) tracking (MPPT) scheme is designed to mitigate the impact of oscillations around MPP and loss of tracking direction. The DC–DC boost and DC–DC buck power converters are connected in a cascade manner to harvest optimal power from PV and as a charging circuit for HEV, respectively. An intelligent fuzzy logic‐based proportional integral derivative (PID) (F‐PID) controller is employed for the buck converter to get the constant voltage and constant current for the effective charging of the battery. The two primary objectives of this work are (1) maximum utilization of the designed PV array via the I‐P&O MPPT scheme to enhance the system efficacy, reduce system cost, and reduce complexity. (2) To obtain minimum battery losses and an enhanced life cycle of HEV. The proposed MPPT scheme provides a maximum 99.80% tracking efficiency of the considered PV array at an insolation level of 1000 W/m2. Moreover, almost nominal voltage and current ripples have appeared in HEV's proposed intelligent battery charging circuit.
Direction of arrival estimation of unknown emitter by deep neural networks with array imperfections
Authors: Chen Min , Mao Xingpeng , Liu Libao
Published: March 2023

In array signal processing, high‐resolution direction‐of‐arrival (DOA) estimation by eigendecomposition method requires knowledge of the array covariance matrix and an exact characterisation of the array. The dependence of most such methods on the array manifold substantially degrades their array performance when the actual sensors deviate from their assumed nominal values. This article aims at formulating a deep neural network framework for DOA estimation with feasible computational complexity. The two‐stage algorithm is composed of a detection network and a series of parallel DOA estimation networks: the multilayer perceptron is trained to detect the presence of one or more sources in an angular sector at the first stage, the DOA estimation networks then estimate their respective DOAs at the second stage. When a single type of array imperfection is considered, numerical results reveal that the DNN‐based method can obtain DOA estimates with much higher precision than the existing techniques for significant location errors and gain/phase perturbations, they also illustrate the potential usefulness of the proposed algorithm towards better DOA estimation accuracy for mutual coupling as the mutual coupling matrix is not simplified. Moreover, the proposed method is finally extended to deal with the DOA estimation problem when multiple types of array perturbations coexist.
Imagerie des inclusions dentaires en CBCT
Authors: Felizardo Rufino
Published: March 2023

À la convergence de l’odontologie pédiatrique, de l’orthodontie et de la chirurgie orale la prise en charge des dents incluses est multidisciplinaire et nécessitera fréquemment le recours à un examen CBCT afin d’évaluer les options thérapeutiques (désinclusion chirurgico-orthodontique, avulsion, réimplantation, abstention), les atteintes des dents adjacentes, les voies d’abord chirurgicales et risques anatomiques associés dès lors que les limites des examens 2D sont atteintes.

Par une large iconographie clinique nous aborderons les différentes étiologies des inclusions ainsi qu’une méthodologie simple d’analyse des volumes CBCT permettant au clinicien d’exploiter pleinement tous les éléments pouvant être mis en évidence sur ce type d’examen.
Link between Blood Cell-Associated Inflammatory Indices and Chemotherapy-Induced Hyperglycemia in Women Affected with Breast Cancer: Clinical Studies
Authors: Prasad Krishna , Rao Suresh , Hegde Sanath Kumar , George Thomas , D'souza Rhea Katherine , Suresh Sucharitha , Baliga Manjeshwar Shrinath
Published: March 2023

Background Development of treatment-induced hyperglycemia/diabetes is a considerable problem in women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. In this study, baseline levels of blood cell-associated inflammatory indices (BCAII) were analyzed to understand their role in the development of treatment-induced hyperglycemia and diabetogenesis.

Materials and Methods This was a retrospective study, and information on women who were normoglycemic and nondiabetic and of women who were diabetic at the beginning of the treatment were collected from files. Demographic, pathology-related details, and complete blood profile were noted. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and systemic inflammatory index (SII) which indicate BCAII were calculated. Demographic details were subjected to frequency and percentage, while blood parameters were subjected to one-way analysis of variance followed by post hoc Bonferroni's multiple comparison tests. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.

Results The results indicated that a significant difference in levels of total count (p < 0.035), neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelets (p < 0.001) were observed. Regarding BCAII, when compared with women who were normoglycemic at the end of treatment, NLR, dNLR, PLR, and SII were significantly high for people who were known diabetics at the beginning of treatment (p < 0.001). The dNLR (p = 0.0008), PLR (p < 0.001), and SII (p < 0.001) were significant for people who developed secondary hyperglycemia/diabetes, while only dNLR was significant for people who progressed from normal to prediabetes stage (p = 0.049)

Conclusion To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that indicates difference in baseline BCAII and development of treatment-induced hyperglycemia/diabetes indicating that underlying low levels of inflammation may contribute to diabetogenesis in women affected with breast cancer.
Growth produces coordination trade-offs inTrichoplax adhaerens, an animal lacking a central nervous system
Authors: Davidescu Mircea R. , Romanczuk Pawel , Gregor Thomas , Couzin Iain D.
Published: March 2023

How collectives remain coordinated as they grow in size is a fundamental challenge affecting systems ranging from biofilms to governments. This challenge is particularly apparent in multicellular organisms, where coordination among a vast number of cells is vital for coherent animal behavior. However, the earliest multicellular organisms were decentralized, with indeterminate sizes and morphologies, as exemplified byTrichoplax adhaerens, arguably the earliest-diverged and simplest motile animal. We investigated coordination among cells inT. adhaerensby observing the degree of collective order in locomotion across animals of differing sizes and found that larger individuals exhibit increasingly disordered locomotion. We reproduced this effect of size on order through a simulation model of active elastic cellular sheets and demonstrate that this relationship is best recapitulated across all body sizes when the simulation parameters are tuned to a critical point in the parameter space. We quantify the trade-off between increasing size and coordination in a multicellular animal with a decentralized anatomy that shows evidence of criticality and hypothesize as to the implications of this on the evolution hierarchical structures such as nervous systems in larger organisms.
Electrochemical performance of one-pot hydrothermal-derived bismuth oxide/commercial activated carbon/graphite composite
Authors: Astuti Yayuk , Farihah Diana Nurul , Ekaningsih Aulia Zahra , Darmawan Adi
Published: March 2023

Bismuth oxide/commercial activated carbon/graphite composite was successfully synthesised using the hydrothermal method with time variations and characterisation using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray mapping, Gas Sorption Analyzer, and battery performance tests including analysis of electrical conductivity, charge–discharge, and cyclic voltammetry. The formation of bismuth oxide is indicated by the presence of Bi-O and Bi-O-Bi groups and the presence of α-Bi2O3 crystal structure. In addition, based on SEM mapping, bismuth oxide particle is well distributed on the composite having rod-like shape morphology. The best electrochemical behaviour is shown by composite synthesised longer that is 1.35 × 10−2 S.m−1, 285.882 mAhg-1, 131.745 mAhg−1 for electrical conductivity, charge specific capacity, and discharge specific capacity, respectively. These results open a way for the composite as Li-ion battery anode.
Fracture toughness and high-cycle fatigue behaviour of Al–Mg and Al–Mg–Sc–Zr alloys
Authors: Li Zhiliang , Jiang Feng , Liu Lele , Wang Ying
Published: March 2023

Tensile, fracture toughness and high-cycle fatigue tests were carried out on Al–Mg and Al–Mg–Sc–Zr alloys. Fracture morphology and the microstructure of the alloys were observed by SEM and TEM, etc. Al–Mg–Sc–Zr alloy with fibrous fine grain structure showed higher tensile strength and fracture toughness than Al–Mg alloy, which had a larger grain size and obvious recrystallisation. In high-cycle fatigue tests, Al–Mg–Sc–Zr alloy presented a higher fatigue limit owing to its finer grains and nanosized precipitates, which increased the difficulty of fatigue crack initiation. Al–Mg alloy presented a lower fatigue limit because crack initiation caused by slip is more likely to occur. However, its rougher fracture surfaces may be beneficial to hindering the propagation of macrocracks.
Sticky Raciolinguistics
Authors: Pak Vincent , Hiramoto Mie
Published: March 2023

Singapore’s postcolonial multiracialism is held together by state policies that categorize its citizens into four major race groups ordered according to their size: Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others. This postcolonial framework—with its colonial logics of statal race management and categorization—governs social life in Singapore. Recent race talk has birthed a contentious term—Chinese privilege—that has found its way into common parlance and is now deployed as an explanation for overt and covert racism. “Chinese privilege,” continuous from White privilege, may be understood as the belief that sociopolitical advantages are accorded to those racialized as Chinese. We take cues from Ahmed’s (2004b) notion of “stickiness” to consider how (1) Western ideas of racialized power rooted in Whiteness are reconfigured in postcolonial Singapore and (2) the processes of racialization and racial categorization are uncritically reproduced in invocations of Chinese privilege as censure and confessional. We interpret the notion of sticky raciolinguistics as the inextricability of race-language conaturalization from antecedent centers of White-settler colonial thought.
“Say a Sentence”: Drawing an Interactional Link between Organizations, Language Ideologies, and Coloniality
Authors: Henry Jacob
Published: March 2023

Previous critical work on language ideologies surrounding English in postcolonial spaces has shown how perduring colonial logics are repurposed into contemporary discourses of value and class (Reyes 2017; Tupas 2019). This article builds on this work by examining a language-policing incident in an urban Pakistani café in which the owners link modernity, wealth, and professionalism to Western English competency. I further interrogate this interaction using a lens informed by organizational studies and decolonial work on structural whiteness to show how linguistic hegemonies working at the intersections of race, class, and organizational hierarchy in so-called postcolonial spaces can still embody and promote Anglocentric ideologies. Finally, in understanding how language policing works as a scalar act, this article ends with a discussion of how actors in positions of power can appeal to conflicting notions of scale to mask their larger ideologies as part of standard organizational practices, divorced from any larger context.
Metrics of natural light in traditional rural housing in Ambato
Authors: Bustán-Gaona Darío , Jiménez-Sanchez Yomara , del Pozo Mateo , Armijos Sebastián
Published: March 2023

Traditional architecture has characteristics of the place of origin that have been inherited from generation to generation and maintains an identity in each context. Today, this type of vernacular building is the object of study due to its value and the need for an unavoidable energy transition as a result of the depletion of fossil fuels. Thus, with the research, we seek to identify the worth of natural light in the inside space of traditional rural housing. To achieve this objective, the planimetric survey of the homes selected for the study was carried out, the performance of natural light in them was analyzed, and the optimization of natural light in the inside spaces of the houses was simulated. With the gotten results, it is highlighted that there are shortages of natural light in the inside spaces with a range of 3 to 280 lux, this is as a result of several factors, among them the size of the openings, the orientation, and the applied constructive system. Therefore, it is concluded that to improve the levels of luxes in the inside spaces of the house, changes are required at the constructive and materiality level, as well as the spatial and thermal level. In this way, it would be possible to guarantee the maintenance of this type of housing as a historical heritage.
Structural, magnetic and antibacterial studies of gadolinium doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles synthesized at low temperature
Authors: Anitha Reddy R , Venkateswara Rao A , Rajesh Babu B , Rama Rao K , Raghavendra V
Published: March 2023

In this work structural, magnetic and antimicrobial studies of gadolinium (Gd) doped cobalt ferrite nanopowder samples were synthesised through facile auto-combustion route using citric acid as combustion agent. The pristine nanopowders were sintered at 600 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR) measurements indicated the formation of a single spinel phase. The lattice constant gradually increased from 8.3801 Å to 8.3915 Å with increasing Gd concentration. The average crystallite size varied from 54 nm to 42.7 nm. The correlation between the cation distribution from XRD and the magnetic properties is discussed. The substitution of Gd ions significantly reduced the magnetisation from 60.6 to 36.6 emu g−1 and increased the coercivity. Antimicrobial activities of pure and Gd substituted cobalt ferrite are carried out against Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and also against fungi strain (Aspergillus niger) pathogens, suggesting that Gd substitution significantly improves the activity of cobalt ferrite nanopowders.
Adsorption kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamics studies for the removal of cationic dyes from environmental wastewater by reduced graphene oxide adsorbent synthesized via greener way
Authors: Bairy Bapan , Das Piu , Tantubay Kartik , Baskey (Sen) Moni
Published: March 2023

Synthetic dyes emerging from wastewater effluents result in a hazardous environment to our society, hence removal of these dye molecules from the water bodies is necessary due to their toxic nature for living beings. In our study, a straightforward one pot synthetic process is conducted to synthesize reduced graphene oxide (RGO) usingAverrhoa carambolafruit extract. To confirm the formation of RGO, different characterization techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–Vis spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) are investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to understand the morphology of RGO. Adsorption kinetics for pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order has been carried out for both dyes. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models were confirmed to describe each of the adsorption ability responses with high correlation coefficients. Maximum adsorption capacities of methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) on RGO were 52.308 mg g−1and 31.466 mg g−1respectively. The adsorption ability of this adsorbent is monitored by recyclability in five subsequent cycles and it is observed that up to 5 cycles, there is no significant decrease in adsorption capability. The present study showed that RGO is highly efficient in removing MB and CV dyes from environmental water bodies. The thermodynamics study for the adsorption phenomena of MB and CV dyes on RGO sheet has been investigated.
Investigation of radiomics and deep convolutional neural networks approaches for glioma grading
Authors: Aouadi Souha , Torfeh Tarraf , Arunachalam Yoganathan , Paloor Satheesh , Riyas Mohamed , Hammoud Rabih , Al-Hammadi Noora
Published: March 2023

Purpose. To determine glioma grading by applying radiomic analysis or deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) and to benchmark both approaches on broader validation sets. Methods. Seven public datasets were considered: (1) low-grade glioma or high-grade glioma (369 patients, BraTS’20) (2) well-differentiated liposarcoma or lipoma (115, LIPO); (3) desmoid-type fibromatosis or extremity soft-tissue sarcomas (203, Desmoid); (4) primary solid liver tumors, either malignant or benign (186, LIVER); (5) gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) or intra-abdominal gastrointestinal tumors radiologically resembling GISTs (246, GIST); (6) colorectal liver metastases (77, CRLM); and (7) lung metastases of metastatic melanoma (103, Melanoma). Radiomic analysis was performed on 464 (2016) radiomic features for the BraTS’20 (others) datasets respectively. Random forests (RF), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBOOST) and a voting algorithm comprising both classifiers were tested. The parameters of the classifiers were optimized using a repeated nested stratified cross-validation process. The feature importance of each classifier was computed using the Gini index or permutation feature importance. DCNN was performed on 2D axial and sagittal slices encompassing the tumor. A balanced database was created, when necessary, using smart slices selection. ResNet50, Xception, EficientNetB0, and EfficientNetB3 were transferred from the ImageNet application to the tumor classification and were fine-tuned. Five-fold stratified cross-validation was performed to evaluate the models. The classification performance of the models was measured using multiple indices including area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results. The best radiomic approach was based on XGBOOST for all datasets; AUC was 0.934 (BraTS’20), 0.86 (LIPO), 0.73 (LIVER), (0.844) Desmoid, 0.76 (GIST), 0.664 (CRLM), and 0.577 (Melanoma) respectively. The best DCNN was based on EfficientNetB0; AUC was 0.99 (BraTS’20), 0.982 (LIPO), 0.977 (LIVER), (0.961) Desmoid, 0.926 (GIST), 0.901 (CRLM), and 0.89 (Melanoma) respectively. Conclusion. Tumor classification can be accurately determined by adapting state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to the medical context.
StonPy: a tool to parse and query collections of SBGN maps in a graph database
Authors: Rougny Adrien , Balaur Irina , Luna Augustin , Mazein Alexander
Published: March 2023

The systems biology graphical notation (SBGN) has become the de facto standard for the graphical representation of molecular maps. Having rapid and easy access to the content of large collections of maps is necessary to perform semantic or graph-based analysis of these resources. To this end, we propose StonPy, a new tool to store and query SBGN maps in a Neo4j graph database. StonPy notably includes a data model that takes into account all three SBGN languages and a completion module to automatically build valid SBGN maps from query results. StonPy is built as a library that can be integrated into other software and offers a command-line interface that allows users to easily perform all operations.

Availability and implementation

StonPy is implemented in Python 3 under a GPLv3 license. Its code and complete documentation are freely available from https://github.com/adrienrougny/stonpy.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
SLEMM: million-scale genomic predictions with window-based SNP weighting
Authors: Cheng Jian , Maltecca Christian , VanRaden Paul M , O'Connell Jeffrey R , Ma Li , Jiang Jicai
Published: March 2023

Motivation

The amount of genomic data is increasing exponentially. Using many genotyped and phenotyped individuals for genomic prediction is appealing yet challenging.

Results

We present SLEMM (short for Stochastic-Lanczos-Expedited Mixed Models), a new software tool, to address the computational challenge. SLEMM builds on an efficient implementation of the stochastic Lanczos algorithm for REML in a framework of mixed models. We further implement SNP weighting in SLEMM to improve its predictions. Extensive analyses on seven public datasets, covering 19 polygenic traits in three plant and three livestock species, showed that SLEMM with SNP weighting had overall the best predictive ability among a variety of genomic prediction methods including GCTA’s empirical BLUP, BayesR, KAML, and LDAK’s BOLT and BayesR models. We also compared the methods using nine dairy traits of ∼300k genotyped cows. All had overall similar prediction accuracies, except that KAML failed to process the data. Additional simulation analyses on up to 3 million individuals and 1 million SNPs showed that SLEMM was advantageous over counterparts as for computational performance. Overall, SLEMM can do million-scale genomic predictions with an accuracy comparable to BayesR.

Availability and implementation

The software is available at https://github.com/jiang18/slemm.
Recruitment-driven fish production in two regions where fish biomass has drastically declined
Authors: Liang Cui , Pauly Daniel , Christensen Villy , Xian Weiwei , Walters Carl
Published: March 2023

Catches have remained relatively high in the Gulf of Thailand and the Bohai Sea, China, despite severe biomass declines (around 95%) evidenced by fishery-independent surveys. Such high production at very low stock sizes is not predicted by simple-surplus production theory, but can be explained by age-structured models that predict high recruitment rates even when biomass per recruit (BPR) has been drastically reduced. Recruitment rates can be reconstructed by estimating changes over time in biomass and BPR, for alternative assumptions about survey catchability, growth, and mortality rates. These reconstructions indicate that likely severe decreases in BPR, due to high fishing mortality rates, imply that total recruitment rates have likely been relatively stable over time, with catch consisting largely of new recruits making up most of the low biomass. These considerations may apply to numerous areas in east and southeast Asia where most of the catch of coastal trawlers is used to produce animal feeds, notably for aquaculture.
Investigating Technology Concepts to Support Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia
Authors: Georgiou Theodoros , Baillie Lynne , Netto Gina , Paterson Sean
Published: March 2023

The Rohingya ethnic group is one of the most persecuted minorities, whose specific circumstances pose unique and interesting challenges. The digital revolution is transforming the world and is leaving refugees behind (UNHCR). In this paper, we present a multiphase user centred approach we used to explore how Rohingya refugees could access assistance by utilizing technology they already have or share; both early on and long after they arrived in a new country. The findings we present from phase 1, which was an early participatory design phase, were confirmed and endorsed by the Rohingya community, UNHCR and local charities during phase 3. These findings, suggest that concepts aiming to assist Rohingya refugees should primarily focus on: safety, social capital, upskilling, and language translation. Finally, we present the iterative user centred design, implementation, and evaluation of one of these concepts focusing on safety, before being deployed within the Rohingya community in Malaysia.
In utero exposure to antiemetic and risk of adult-onset colorectal cancer
Authors: Murphy Caitlin C , Cirillo Piera M , Krigbaum Nickilou Y , Singal Amit G , Cohn Barbara A
Published: March 2023

Background

Incidence rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) are increasing among adults born in and after the 1960s, implicating pregnancy-related exposures introduced at that time as risk factors. Dicyclomine, an antispasmodic used to treat irritable bowel syndrome, was initially included in Bendectin (comprising doxylamine, pyridoxine, and dicyclomine), an antiemetic prescribed during pregnancy in the 1960s.

Methods

We estimated the association between in utero exposure to Bendectin and risk of CRC in offspring of the Child Health and Development Studies, a multigenerational cohort that enrolled pregnant women in Oakland, CA, between 1959 and 1966 (n = 14 507 mothers and 18 751 liveborn offspring). We reviewed prescribed medications from mothers’ medical records to identify those who received Bendectin during pregnancy. Diagnoses of CRC in adult (aged ≥18 years) offspring were ascertained by linkage with the California Cancer Registry. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios, with follow-up accrued from birth through cancer diagnosis, death, or last contact.

Results

Approximately 5% of offspring (n = 1014) were exposed in utero to Bendectin. Risk of CRC was higher in offspring exposed in utero (adjusted hazard ratio = 3.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.69 to 6.77) compared with unexposed offspring. Incidence rates of CRC were 30.8 (95% CI = 15.9 to 53.7) and 10.1 (95% CI = 7.9 to 12.8) per 100 000 in offspring exposed to Bendectin and unexposed, respectively.

Conclusions

Higher risk of CRC in offspring exposed in utero may be driven by dicyclomine contained in the 3-part formulation of Bendectin used during the 1960s. Experimental studies are needed to clarify these findings and identify mechanisms of risk.
Adolescent immigrant youth: Creating spaces of belonging
Authors: Rodriguez Liliana V
Published: March 2023

Drawing on 24 months of participant observation and interviews with adolescent arrivals in the central coast region of California, this study examines how recently arrived immigrant teens create spaces of belonging. This immigrant population is simultaneously undergoing two life-changing transitions—adolescence and immigration. These two, life-altering transitions, greatly shape the trajectories of immigrant youth in the host country. Unfamiliar with US customs, the educational system, or the mainstream language, adolescent arrivals constantly struggle to belong in a place they hardly know. I advance the concept of immigrant youth vitality to conceptually analyze how shared experiences based on the age of migration and context of reception shape how immigrant youth create safe spaces for themselves. As recent immigrants and teenage newcomers, adolescent arrivals are experiencing for the first time the wrath of anti-immigrant politics directed at them. This study shows that adolescent arrivals often navigate life in the host country by relying on the familiar and their collective experiences including discrimination and exclusion to create spaces where they feel safe and welcomed. I find that by claiming safe spaces the youth actively engage in redefining what belonging means, looks, and feels like for newcomer teenagers.
Precarious Legal Patchworking: Detained Immigrants’ Access to Justice
Authors: Martinez-Aranda Mirian G
Published: March 2023

As immigration enforcement increases, so does the detention of immigrants facing the threat of deportation. Detained without the support of a public defender system—a feature of U.S. immigration law—immigrants face a complex immigration court that is adversarial and can produce dire consequences, including family and community exile, violence, or even death, if they are deported. This paper chronicles the experiences of formerly detained immigrants and how they sought to access justice through multiple means while detained. To win their freedom from detention, they engaged in “precarious legal patchworking” (PLP), during which they haphazardly cobbled together legal resources and assistance from multiple sources, including pro-bono aid, Jailhouse Lawyers, and social networks. PLP speaks to the person’s tenacity amidst precarity, but it also unveils the fragility of this strategy because patchworking can extend detention or complicate one’s case. The lack of access to counsel is a form of legal violence, and stratifying access to representation in this way creates an underclass of people who are systematically denied justice.
Association of a variant upstream of growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) on carcass traits in crossbred beef cattle
Authors: Spencer Rachel J , Ketel Crystal R , Penner Gregory B , Asai-Coakwell Mika
Published: March 2023

The mature peptide of growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) in Bos taurus breeds, shares 90% amino acid sequence similarity to myostatin (MSTN), where loss-of-function mutations result in muscular hyperplasia causing a phenotype known as double-muscling. Mutations in the MSTN coding sequence increase muscle mass and reduce fat and bone tissues, but also confer poor fertility, reduced stress tolerance, and increased calf mortality. GDF11 influences skeletal muscle development in mice, and muscular atrophy can be induced by exogenous GDF11 treatment. To date, there are no reports of GDF11’s role in bovine carcass traits. To determine associations between GDF11 and carcass quality in beef cattle, bovine GDF11 was examined in crossbred Canadian beef cattle populations during finishing. Few coding variants were found in this functionally important gene, but an upstream variant c.1-1951C > T (rs136619751) with a minor allele frequency of 0.31 was identified and further genotyped in two separate populations of crossbred steers (n = 415 and 450). CC animals had lower backfat thickness, marbling percentage, and yield score than CT or TT animals (P < 0.001 and < 0.05). These data suggest a role of GDF11 in carcass quality in beef cattle and may provide a selection tool to improve carcass traits in cattle.
Predictability of the vault after implantable collamer lens implantation using OCT and artificial intelligence in White patient eyes
Authors: Russo Andrea , Filini Ottavia , Savini Giacomo , Festa Giulia , Morescalchi Francesco , Boldini Alessandro , Semeraro Francesco
Published: March 2023

Purpose:

To compare the predicted vault using machine learning with the achieved vault using the online manufacturer's nomogram in patients undergoing posterior chamber implantation with an implantable collamer lens (ICL).

Setting:

Centro Oculistico Bresciano, Brescia, Italy, and I.R.C.C.S.—Bietti Foundation, Rome, Italy.

Design:

Retrospective multicenter comparison study.

Methods:

561 eyes from 300 consecutive patients who underwent ICL placement surgery were included in this study. All preoperative and postoperative measurements were obtained by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT; MS-39). The actual vault was quantitatively measured and compared with the predicted vault using machine learning of AS-OCT metrics.

Results:

A strong correlation between model predictions and achieved vaulting was detected by random forest regression (RF; R
2 = 0.36), extra tree regression (ET; R
2 = 0.50), and extreme gradient boosting regression (R
2 = 0.39). Conversely, a high residual difference was observed between achieved vaulting values and those predicted by the multilinear regression (R
2 = 0.33) and ridge regression (R
2 = 0.33). ET and RF regressions showed significantly lower mean absolute errors and higher percentages of eyes within ±250 μm of the intended ICL vault compared with the conventional nomogram (94%, 90%, and 72%, respectively; P < .001). ET classifiers achieved an accuracy (percentage of vault in the range of 250 to 750 μm) of up to 98%.

Conclusions:

Machine learning of preoperative AS-OCT metrics achieved excellent predictability of ICL vault and size, which was significantly higher than the accuracy of the online manufacturer's nomogram, providing the surgeon with a valuable aid for predicting the ICL vault.
Long-term results of hyperopic ablations using alcohol-assisted PRK and FS-LASIK: comparative study
Authors: Asroui Lara , Arba-Mosquera Samuel , Torbey Julien , Ahmed Mohamad A. , Fattah Maamoun A. , Koaik Mona , Awwad Shady T.
Published: March 2023

Purpose:

To evaluate the long-term visual and refractive outcomes of hyperopic excimer ablation using alcohol-assisted photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and femtosecond laser–assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK).

Setting:

American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.

Design:

Retrospective, matched comparative study.

Methods:

Eyes that underwent alcohol-assisted PRK were compared to matched eyes that underwent FS-LASIK. All patients were followed up for at least 3 years after surgery. The refractive and visual outcomes of each group were compared at different postoperative time points. The main outcome measures were spherical equivalent deviation from target (SEDT), manifest refraction, and visual acuity.

Results:

83 eyes underwent alcohol-assisted PRK and 83 matched eyes underwent FS-LASIK. Preoperative manifest refraction spherical equivalent was 2.44 ± 1.18 diopters (D) and 2.20 ± 0.87 D (P = .133) in the PRK and FS-LASIK groups, respectively. Preoperative manifest cylinder was −0.77 ± 0.89 D and −0.61 ± 0.59 D (P = .175) for the PRK and LASIK groups, respectively. 3 years postoperatively, SEDT was 0.28 ± 0.66 D and 0.40 ± 0.56 D for the PRK and LASIK groups, respectively (P = .222), whereas manifest cylinder was −0.55 ± 0.49 D and −0.30 ± 0.34 D for PRK and LASIK, respectively (P < .001). The mean difference vector was 0.59 ± 0.46 for PRK and 0.38 ± 0.32 for LASIK (P < .001). 13.3% of PRK eyes and 0% of LASIK eyes had >1 D of manifest cylinder (P = .003).

Conclusions:

Both alcohol-assisted PRK and FS-LASIK are safe and effective for the treatment of hyperopia. PRK induces slightly more postoperative astigmatism than LASIK. Larger optical zones and recently introduced ablation profiles that lead to a smoother ablation surface might improve the clinical results of hyperopic PRK.
Cigarette smoking, opioid consumption, and pain intensity after major surgery: An observational study
Authors: Wang Yi-Chien , Wang Chien-Wun , Wu Hsiang-Ling , Cata Juan P. , Huang Shih-Yu , Wu Yu-Ming , Chen Jui-Tai , Cherng Yih-Giun , Tai Ying-Hsuan
Published: March 2023

Background:

Chronic exposure to nicotine may change pain perception and promote opioid intake. This study aimed to evaluate the putative effect of cigarette smoking on opioid requirements and pain intensity after surgery.

Methods:

Patients who underwent major surgery and received intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) at a medical center between January 2020 and March 2022 were enrolled. Patients’ preoperative smoking status was assessed using a questionnaire by certified nurse anesthetists. The primary outcome was postoperative opioid consumption within 3 days after surgery. The secondary outcome was the mean daily maximum pain score, assessed using a self-report 11-point numeric rating scale, and the number of IV-PCA infusion requests within three postoperative days. Multivariable linear regression models were used to calculate the regression coefficient (beta) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between smoking status and outcomes of interest.

Results:

A total of 1162 consecutive patients were categorized into never smokers (n = 968), former smokers (n = 45), and current smokers (n = 149). Current smoking was significantly associated with greater postoperative opioid consumption (beta: 0.296; 95% CI, 0.068-0.523), higher pain scores (beta: 0.087; 95% CI, 0.009-0.166), and more infusion requests (beta: 0.391; 95% CI, 0.073-0.710) compared with never smokers. In a dose-dependent manner, smoking quantity (cigarette per day) was positively correlated with both intraoperative (Spearman’s rho: 0.2207, p = 0.007) and postoperative opioid consumption (Spearman’s rho: 0.1745, p = 0.033) among current smokers.

Conclusion:

Current cigarette smokers experienced higher acute pain, had more IV-PCA infusion requests, and consumed more opioids after surgery. Multimodal analgesia with nonopioid analgesics and opioid-sparing techniques, along with smoking cessation should be considered for this population.
Liver transplantation with donation after medical assistance in dying: Case series and systematic review of the literature
Authors: Glinka Juan , Sachar Yashasavi , Tang Ephraim , Brahmania Mayur , Hwang Jaehyun , Waugh Evelyn , Schmerk Crystal , Iansavitchene Alla , Quan Douglas , Skaro Anton
Published: March 2023

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has been a legally approved practice in Canada since 2016. Only recently have patients undergoing MAiD also been considered as donors for liver transplantation (LT). This study aimed to evaluate a case series of LT outcomes for recipients with MAiD donors and was paired with a systematic literature review of studies assessing the efficacy of MAiD-associated liver donation. A retrospective chart review of patients registered within the LT Registry at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) in London, Ontario, Canada, that had received MAiD donor LT was conducted to develop a case series. Descriptive statistics were produced based on available patient outcomes information. The systematic review included euthanasia due to MAiD being a term exclusive to Canada. Case series had a 100% 1-year graft survival rate, with 50% of patients experiencing early allograft dysfunction but having no significant clinical outcome. A single case of postoperative biliary complication was reported. Median warm ischemic time ranged from 7.8–13 minutes among case series and literature reviews. Utilization of donation after circulatory death allografts procured after MAiD appears to be promising. Mechanisms associated with potential impact in postoperative outcomes include relatively lower warm ischemic time relative to donation after circulatory death Maastricht III graft recipients.
Looking up Prescriptions to Treat Infectious Disease: Anti-epidemic Books of Medical Formularies and Epidemic Prevention and Control in the Qing Dynasty
Authors: Xiyang LIU
Published: March 2023

Copying, compiling, publishing, disseminating, and referencing anti-epidemic books of medical formularies were common activities during the outbreak of epidemics in the Qing dynasty. Its emergence, motivated by epidemic disease again and again, was important component parts of epidemic prevention and control. They played a unique role as media on affairs such as treating patients suffering from infectious diseases, mobilizing peoples to make contributions to anti-epidemic activities, integrating and popularizing knowledge of epidemic prevention. Anti-epidemic books of medical formularies were important to link peoples, things, and substances related with epidemic prevention and control, and were a kind of motivation to actively deal with the infectious disease, control the epidemic, and maintain health. Compared to other common measures, anti-epidemic books of medical formularies participated in many prevention and control practices deeply, which actually built a low cost, spontaneous, dispersed and non-institutional system to respond to epidemic, and the system had characteristics of stronger conductibility, bigger coverage area, and better external benefits.