bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting and analyzing of tribo-performance of NAO friction composites using Taguchi method
Authors: Yusubov Fikrat
Published: April 2021

The present study is aimed to investigate the dry sliding behavior of phenolic friction brake pad materials for industrial applications. Low metallic phenolic friction composites with addition copper-graphite (Cu-C) particles produced by traditional powder metallurgy methods. The friction test is carried out by pin-on-disc configuration on universal tribometer MMW-1 with hardened steel as a counterface material. The plan of experiments conducted by Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array on MINITAB 19.1.1 software using 3-level design model. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for predicting and analyzing the effect of design parameters like contact pressure (1.9, 5.75 and 9,6 MPa), sliding velocity (0.64, 1.57 and 2.5 m/s) and filler content (5, 10 and 15%) to tribological properties. Results of modeling and optimization of composites has showed that contact pressure has the greatest impact on the friction process following sliding distance and filler content. On the other hand, the most influential factor for the wear process was the sliding velocity, following contact pressure and finally filler content. It has also been determined that 5–10 Wt.% Cu-C filler content has an effective impact on tribological properties. The friction surface examination of the composites using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed that Cu-C content has a significant effect on improving heat resistance properties.
Ovarian Tissue Culture for Fertility Preservation in Male Transgender Patients After Hormonal Treatment
Authors: Bottini Alessandra Leal , Reis Vânia Marisia Fortes dos , Capp Edison , Silva Ilma Simoni Brum da , Kliemann Lúcia Maria Lúcia Maria , Corleta Helena von Eye
Published: April 2021

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproductive and histological characteristics of fresh cultured ovarian tissue from transgender male patients. Methods: In vitro experimental study. Samples were collected during sex reassignment surgery for male transgender patients. Ovarian cortex was cut into fragments of 2, 3 and 4 mm and placed in a 96-well plate suitable for cultivation at days zero, 2, 4, 6 and 8, when the histology was analyzed. Results: Stromal hyperplasia was observed in all samples. Presence of stromal hyperplasia was not associated with obtaining primordial or primary follicles. Peripheral reduction in cells number was also a recurrent finding. Primordial and primary follicles were identified with a heterogeneous pattern between fragments from the same patient and between different patients, and follicles in more advanced stages of development (secondary and antral) were not found. There was an association between the diameter of the ovarian fragments and the identification of primary follicles (p=0.036). The number of days in culture was associated with histological signs of tissue suffering in the fragments (p=0.002). The total number of follicles identified in the 2 mm diameter samples was significantly lower than in the 4 mm diameter samples (p=0.031). Conclusion: Even after prolonged exposure to testosterone, ovaries presented primordial and primary follicles, maintaining viability over the days exposed to the culture. Follicles at more advanced stages of development were not identified. These findings suggest that in female to male transgender patients reproductive potential may be preserved to the time of reassignment surgery.
Determinants of Elevated D-Dimer Levels and Long-Term Outcome in Elderly Patients With End-Stage Heart Failure
Authors: Tian Aiju , Yang Chengzhi , Weng Shengfeng , Chen Xiaoli , Liu Hong , Luo Zhi
Published: April 2021

Background

Previous studies have shown that heart failure is associated with hemostatic abnormalities and hypercoagulable state. Plasma D-dimer levels reflect both fibrin formation and degradation, and elevated D-dimer levels have been associated with poor prognosis in patients with heart failure. However, little is known about their roles in elderly patients with end-stage HF. In present study, we aimed to explore the clinical significance and determinants of plasma D-dimer in elderly patients with end-stage heart failure.
Methods

A total of 177 patients with heart failure at Beijing Geriatric Hospital from November 1, 2015 to December 30, 2018 were enrolled. All hospitalized patients were obtained D-dimer levels within the first 24 h following admission after obtaining informed consent. Primary endpoint was all-cause mortality.
Results

A total of 60 patients had elevated D-dimer levels. Blood urea nitrogen (β = 1.106, 95% CI: 1.029–1.190, p = 0.006), NYHA functional class (β = 2.179, 95% CI: 1.170–4.056, p = 0.014) and white blood cell counts (β = 1.188, 95% CI: 1.040–1.358, p = 0.011) were independent risk factors for elevated D-dimer in elderly patients with end-stage heart failure. Albumin (β = 0.803, 95% CI: 0.728–0.885, P ༜ 0.001) was negative risk factor for elevated D-dimer in elderly patients with end-stage heart failure. Elevated D-dimer level was independently associated with increased risk of long-term all-cause mortality (P = 0.048).
Conclusions

For elderly patients with end-stage heart failure, D-dimer levels were associated with white blood cell counts, blood urea nitrogen, albumin and NYHA functional class and elevated D-dimer level was independently associated with poor long-term outcome.
An Enhanced Support Vector Machine Model for Classification of Transit-Oriented Development
Authors: Khare Rupali , Villuri Vasanta Govind kumar , Chaurasia Devarshi
Published: April 2021

Transit-oriented development (TOD) can invigorate sustainable development by conveying a more coordinated transit and surrounding land use. Given the dynamic nature of urban community development, urban planners find it hard to precisely respond to questions such as where TOD planning around the transit hubs can succeed in the city. The present study proposes a framework utilizing a support vector machine (SVM) to enhance the TODness prediction of an area to address this issue. An SVM model has successfully applied to 16 bus rapid transit station areas in Bhopal city, India, using the tenfold cross-validation resampling methods and thirteen predictor variables. The models performance was in good agreement with 93.75% precision, utilizing the sigmoid kernel function and the regularization parameter esteem equivalent to 4. This methodology could be used at any scale, and the outcomes could offer recommendations for more accurate urban planning, fortifying the relationship between TOD and spatial association. The study provides the basis for predicting better future TODness classification, which will help the urban planner for sustainable urban planning and policy making.
The Potential of Ascophyllum Nodosum to Accelerate Green Waste Composting
Authors: Al-Dulaimi Omar , Rateb Mostafa E , Hursthouse Andrew S , Thomson Gary , Yaseen Mohammed
Published: April 2021

Millions of tonnes of green waste are produced annually in the UK. The process of composting usually extends to more than two months as well producing greenhouse gases which affect the environment. We proposed a potential approach to use algal extract from Ascophyllum nodosum as a compost accelerator. Seaweed-based treatments offer an economical and effective biological solution which activates and stabilises the decomposition of organic matter. Reducing both the cost and time associated with widely used composting approaches. The seaweed was collected from Scottish coastline, extracted, and formulated to enhance application. Its effects on the timeline of the composting process was systematically investigated through physical, biological, and observational quantification. The emission of gases, the pH, temperature, humidity, consistency, and microbial growth of the compost were studied.Interestingly, the results showed that the compost reached a stability status within 6 weeks, less ammonia and lower carbon dioxide produced. The use of this formulation has the potential to minimise expense, reduce resources used, and lower the levels of harmful volatile organics. This approach is economically beneficial and environmentally crucial in compost formulation, the control of contamination, and reduction of greenhouse gases.
Psychological effect of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals of Yemen and coping strategies
Authors: Mahmood Nagd Mohammed Ahmed , Saleem Mohammad , Khadka Sitaram , Alkamel Maroa Ahmed Ali Mohammed , Khudhiere Maged Mohammed Salem Seed Khudhiere , Adnan Muhammad Abdul Jabar Adnan
Published: April 2021

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has triggered psychological stress such as anxiety and depression among people around the globe. Due to the nature of the job, healthcare professionals are at high risk of infection and are facing social stigma as well. In such a scenarios, it has aggravated their mental health and they are applying various measures to cope with such adverse scenario. Therefore, this research is conducted with the objective to evaluate the psychological influence of the COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals of Yemen and the coping strategies adopted thereof.Methods: A web-based, as well as face-to-face cross-sectional study, was carried out from July 2020 to December 2020 among healthcare professionals currently working in different provinces of Yemen using a standard questionnaire. The generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7), patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), and Brief-COPE scales were applied for evaluation of anxiety, depression, and the coping strategies among them.Results: A total of 197 healthcare professionals (N=197) participated in the study where the majority were male 68.5% (n=135) in gender and physicians 42.13% (n=83) by profession. The prevalence of both anxiety (6.84±5.67 for male and 7.37±4.44 for female) and depression (8.06±6.51 for male and 9.56±6.46 for female) were found of mild category among the respondents. A significant statistical difference was observed between physician versus nurse regarding anxiety and depression based on the working area (p=0.017). Trained professionals demonstrated less anxiety (6.29±5.33) and depression (7.90±6.78) as compared to untrained ones. Source of stress varied in a different province where high fear of self-health and family members was found more in female (3.90±1.00) and such fear was found more in province Sanaa, Lahij, and Abyan (4.75±0.96), (4.57±1.27) (4.50±2.12) respectively. Religion was indicated as a highly adopted coping strategy meanwhile emotional support was found the least used.Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the psychological stress among healthcare professionals of Yemen. Our findings illustrate the requirement of efficient policies through administrative, clinical, and welfare perspectives from the regulatory body in preparedness and preventive measures towards such pandemic that aids healthcare professionals to provide service in a stress-free condition and thus better healthcare delivery are assured.
Radio over Fiber Based Spectrally Encoded OCDM To Support 5G & Beyond 5G Mobile Fronthaul Network Challenges
Authors: Saminathan Brindha , Ilavarasan T. , M Meenakshi , Sivasakthi T. , Blessy Maria Christina , Devibalan K. , Lakshmi G.
Published: April 2021

Multi-operator Multi-Service support over mobile fronthaul network would be an important requirement in the evolving 5G Wireless Communication architectures. This in turn dictates the need for high capacity and high connectivity fronthaul options. Optical Code Division Multiplexing over Wavelength Division Multiple Access could be one of the most promising system architectures to support last/first mile bottleneck of the Mobile Networks. This paper reports comparison impact of the energy efficiency and electromagnetic radiation effects for a multi-operator multi-service OCDM based Spectrally Amplitude Encoded Analog Radio over Fiber front-haul for a small cell configuration. The WDM multiplexed mm wave signals at 60GHz and 28GHz and Prime code based spectral amplitude patterns assigned for conventional services are analyzed and compared with Wavelength Division Multiple Access system of the same kind. The comparison results confirms that proposed architecture will be a suitable candidate to meet 5G challenges of Mobile fronthaul Networks.
Fetal Reduction in High Order Pregnancy; A Retrospective Observational Study
Authors: taha Manal shaker , Ibrahim Abdullah Al , Amu Olubusola , Al-Obaidly Sawsan , Chandra Prem , mansorri Zeena Al , Kenyab Najat , Al-Janahi Najah
Published: April 2021

Background:High order multiple pregnancy (HOMP), is considered a high-risk pregnancy as it has many complications on the mother and the fetuses, with a huge financial burden on the hospitals. Therefore avoiding HOMP is important, however, if this fails, fetal reduction is an acceptable alternative procedure to reduce maternal complications and improve fetal outcome.Our aim to study the impact of a fetal reduction on the risk of preterm labour and postpartum hemorrhage in HOMP (More than Triplet).Methods:This is a retrospective study of all HOMPs seen during the period from July 2007 to July 2017 at Women’s Hospital- Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar. We examined records of 50 women diagnosed with HOMP, incomplete records, and triplet pregnancies were excluded from the study. the data were collected from the ultrasound software as well as maternal files. Results:Of the 50 women diagnosed with HOMP, 39 quadruplets, 7 quintuplets.2 sextuplets and 2 septuplets. 56% had an ovulation induction, 26% had an IVF, 14% had an IUI, and 2 cases (4%) were spontaneous pregnancies.(28%) had a fetal reduction, with a mean gestation age of 12.64 ± 0.74 weeks of gestation, and with no immediate complications. Our study showed that there is no significant difference at time of delivery between reduced and non reduced group mean gestational age at the time of delivery for the reduced group was 30.26 ± 4.38, and 29.39 ± 4.78 weeks for the non-reduced group. P-value of 0.565 , 95% CI (-2.159-3.90). 44.9% had postpartum haemorrhage with a mean estimated blood loss of 1659.1 ± 958.5 mls. Our study showed that there is significant decrease in estimated blood loss in reduced group compared with non-reduced group with p-value of 0.047 ConclusionHigh order multiple pregnancies are a result of modern infertility treatments has significant serious adverse effects on the mother and the babies. Although fetal reduction reduced the rate of PPH but did not significantly improve the rate of preterm labour, hence prevention of HOMP is the primary goal.
Elimination of Oxidative Stress and Genotoxicity of Biosynthesized Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles in Rats via Supplementation with Whey Protein-Coated Thyme Essential Oil
Authors: Abdel-Wahhab Mosaad Attia , El-Nekeety Aziza A. , Mohammed Hagar E , Elshafey Ola I. , Abdel-Aziem Sekena H. , Hassan Nabila S.
Published: April 2021

The green synthesis of metal nanoparticles is growing dramatically; however, the toxicity of these biosynthesized particles against living organisms is not fully explored. Therefore, this study was designed to synthesize and characterize TiO2-NPs, encapsulation and characterization thyme essential oil (ETEO), determination of the bioactive constituents of ETEO using GC-MS and evaluate their protective role against TiO2-NPs-induced the oxidative damage and genotoxicity in rats. Six groups of rats were treated orally for 30 days including the control group, TiO2-NPs (300 mg/kg b.w)-treated group, ETEO at low (50 mg/kg b.w) or high dose (100 mg/kg b.w)-treated groups TiO2-NPs plus ETEO at the two doses-treated groups. Blood and tissues were collected for different assays. The GC-MS results indicated the presence of 21 compounds belongs to phenols, terpene derivatives, and heterocyclic compounds. The synthesized TiO2-NPs were 45 nm tetragonal particles with a zeta potential of -27.34 mV; however, ETEO were 119 nm round particles with a zeta potential of -28.33 mV. TiO2-NPs administration disturbs the liver and kidney markers, lipid profile, cytokines, oxidative stress parameters, the apoptotic and antioxidant hepatic mRNA expression and induced histological alterations in the liver and kidney tissues. ETEO could improve all these parameters in a dose-dependent manner. It could be concluded that ETEO is a promising candidate for the protection against TiO2-NPs and can be applied safely in food applications.
Entropy-Based Shear Stress Distribution in Open Channel for all types of Flow using Experimental Data
Authors: Jeon Hae Seong , Kim Ji Min , Choo Yeon Moon
Published: April 2021

Korea’s river design standards set general design standards for river and river-related projects in Korea, which systematize the technologies and methods involved in river-related projects. This includes measurement methods for parts necessary for river design, but do not include information on shear stress. Shear Stress is to one of the factors necessary for river design and operation. Shear stress is one of the most important hydraulic factors used in the fields of water especially for artificial channel design. Shear stress is calculated from the frictional force caused by viscosity and fluctuating fluid velocity. Current methods are based on past calculations, but factors such as boundary shear stress or energy gradient are difficult to actually measure or estimate. The point velocity throughout the entire cross section is needed to calculate the velocity gradient. In other words, the current Korea’s river design standards use tractive force, critical tractive force instead of shear stress because it is more difficult to calculate the shear stress in the current method. However, it is difficult to calculate the exact value due to the limitations of the formula to obtain the river factor called the tractive force. In addition, tractive force has limitations that use empirically identified base value for use in practice. This paper focuses on the modeling of shear stress distribution in open channel turbulent flow using entropy theory. In addition, this study suggests shear stress distribution formula, which can be easily used in practice after calculating the river-specific factor T. and that the part of the tractive force and critical tractive force in the Korea’s river design standards should be modified by the shear stress obtained by the proposed shear stress distribution method. The present study therefore focuses on the modeling of shear stress distribution in open channel turbulent flow using entropy theory. The shear stress distribution model is tested using a wide range of forty-two experimental runs collected from the literature. Then, an error analysis is performed to further evaluate the accuracy of the proposed model. The results revealed a correlation coefficient of approximately 0.95–0.99, indicating that the proposed method can estimate shear stress distribution accurately. Based on this, the results of the distribution of shear stress after calculating the river-specific factors show a correlation coefficient of about 0.86 to 0.98, which suggests that the equation can be applied in practice.
Concurrent Hearing and Genetic Screening of 18 001 Neonates with Hearing Diagnose in Nantong, China
Authors: Chen Jianhua , Zhu Qingwen , Li Jingyu , Wang Jing , Bian Wenjun , Lin Mengsi , Lei Wei
Published: April 2021

Objectives: Concurrent hearing and genetic screening of newborns is expected to play an important role in the early detection and diagnosis of congenital deafness, which triggers an intervention, as well as in predicting late-onset and progressive hearing loss and identifying individuals who are at risk of drug-induced hearing loss (HL).Methods: A Deafness Gene Variant Detection Array Kit covering fifteen variants in four genes was used to screen for deafness genes in 18001 infants.Results: A total of 108 neonates did not pass the second hearing screening. In addition, 912 (5.07%) screened positive for deafness-associated variants, including 78 (0.43%) genetically referred and 834 (4.63%) genetic deafness-associated variant carriers. Of the 912 screened positive cases, 880 passed the hearing screening, and 32 failed. A total of 62 (0.34%) cases carried the mtDNA 12S rRNA variants. A total of 108 cases did not pass the hearing screening and underwent a hearing diagnostic examination. An expanded DNA test identified 17 patients who possessed deafness gene mutations, increasing the detection rate to 5.16%.Conclusion: Early detection, diagnosis, and interventions are necessary for newborns who are susceptible to deafness. A good strategy is to use a small panel to quickly screen all subjects and then apply an extended panel to study the cause of deafness in affected patients.
A New ARDS Early Noninvasive Screening Protocol：Potential Value of SpO2 and FiO2 as a Diagnostic Tool
Authors: Xia Yan , Xu Qiancheng , Guo Zhiyuan , Zhang Huijuan , Cao Yingya , Qi Yupeng , Chen Qun , Lu Weihua
Published: April 2021

Background: A large number of recent studies have confirmed that the pulse oximetric saturation (SpO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) ratio (SFR) correlate well with PaO2/FiO2 ratio (PFR). However, whether SFR can replace PFR for the diagnosis and evaluate the severity of ARDS patients is unclearly. The purpose of this study is to explore potential value of SFR as a new diagnostic tool for ARDS, and establish a diagnostic process.Methods: 341 patients were included in this study, SFR and PFR values were recorded in the same time. 161 patients were used to establish the model, and 180 patients were used to verify the validity of the model. 161 groups of data were divide into hypoxic group (group H) and non-hypoxic group (group N) according to whether SpO2 was greater than 97%. For group H, the regression equation was established to describe the relationship between SFR and PFR. and calculated the value of SFR when PFR is 300. For group N, the correlation between each observation data and PFR were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the diagnostic value of the index. Finally, a new diagnostic process was established for ARDS based on these results, and the reliability was verified with Berlin definition set as the gold standard for diagnosis and classification.Results: For group H the diagnostic linear equation is PFR = 0.9162*SFR-21.39 ( R2=0.66 , P<0.0001 ). After calculation, when PFR is 300, SFR is 352. For group N, There is a significant negative correlation between FiO2 and PFR((R= -0.521,P<0.0001)). The AUC of using FiO2 to diagnose ARDS was 0.694 (95%CI 0.571~0.817, P＜0.005). When the cutoff value of FiO2 was 39%, the sensitivity was 0.838 and the specificity was 0.545. Therefore, in this new diagnosis progress, when SpO2≤97%, if SFR≤352, ARDS may exist; when SpO2>97%, if FiO2min>39%, there may be ARDS. The sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV, and accuracy of the new diagnosis progress for ARDS were 91.1%, 76.7%, 89.6%, 79.6%, and 83.9%, respectively. Conclusions: There are potential value of SpO2 and FiO2 as a noninvasive diagnostic tool for ARDS.
Heavy Metals Accumulations And Health Risk Assessment Of Faba Bean Grow On Soil Amended With Municipal Solid Waste Compost, Biochar And Co-Composted Biochar
Authors: Tessfaw Zewdu Abebe , Beyene Abebe , Nebiyu Amsalu , Pikon Krzysztof , Landrat Marcin
Published: April 2021

Health risk assessment of heavy metals is crucial before large scale applications of municipal solid waste (MSW) as organic fertilizer. This study aimed to estimate Pb, Cd and Cr accumulation and health risk in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) grow on soils amended with MSW compost, biochar and co-composted biochars (5%, 15% and 25% w/w). The heavy metal concentrations were measured by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Bioaccumulation Factor (BAF), Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) were calculated. Results showed that Pb, Cd and Cr concentrations in the amended soils and faba bean grain were lower than WHO permissible levels. The EDIs of Pb, Cd and Cr in grains for all amendments were much lower than the reference doses established by USEPA and FAO/WHO. HQs and HIs of heavy metals were < 1 for all amendments indicating that consumption of faba bean grow on MSW compost, khat biochar and co-composted biochar collected from Jimma city was safe related to human health risks. Low accumulation of heavy metals in faba bean indicating that the low fraction of e-waste in the MSW. Since faba bean grain is not accumulator, it’s potential of heavy metals excluder needs further explorations.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Ameliorates Hyperuricemic Nephropathy by Improving Oxidative Stress through Activating Akt/Nrf2 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Jiang Xinghao , Zou Yimeng , Opoku Yeboah Kwaku , Liu Shijie , Wang Dan , Kang Kai , Li Deshan , Ren Guiping
Published: April 2021

Epidemiological investigations have shown an elevated expression of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in the serum of patients with hyperuricemia. However, the effect of FGF21 on hyperuricemic nephropathy is still unknown. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore the effect and mechanism of action of FGF21 on hyperuricemic nephropathy. The level of FGF21 in PBMCs was determined in 10 patients with hyperuricemic nephropathy. Hyperuricemic mice models were induced in wild-type C57BL/6 and FGF21 knockout mice. Six mice in each group were treated with FGF21 at a dose of 1mg/kg and 5mg/kg for 30 days. For the in vitro studies, glomerular mesangial cells were exposed to lipopolysaccharide and monosodium uric acid to induce inflammation. This was followed by treatment with 100nM, 1000nM of FGF21 for 72 h to observe the therapeutic effect. The levels of FGF21 in patients with hyperuricemic nephropathy were elevated. Also, FGF21 knockout mice experienced more severe nephropathy compared to the WT mice. This was characterized by an increase in inflammatory factors and fibrosis in the kidney, which was reversed by exogenous FGF21 treatment. FGF21 recorded a significant therapeutic effect through the activation of Akt/Nrf2 signal pathway in both in vivo and in vitro studies. However, the effect increasing effect of FGF21 on Nrf2 was reduced by the addition of Akt inhibitor GSK690693. In conclusion, our study found for the first time that FGF21 can significantly improve hyperuricemic nephropathy through the promotion of the Akt/Nrf2 signalling pathway leading to improvement in oxidative stress.
Performance Analysis of Dual Metal Nitride Oxide GAAFET based Common Source Amplifier
Authors: Kumar Amit , Rajput Anil Kumar , Pattanaik Manisha , Srivast Pankaj
Published: April 2021

Gate all around FET (GAAFET) is a widely used device structure for designing analog and digital circuits. In this research paper, a common source amplifier is designed using a dual-metal nitride oxide gate all around FET (DM-NO GAAFET), and performance is investigated for gain, bandwidth, leakage power, and average power. Moreover, analytical expressions of potential, threshold voltage, and DIBL have also been given for DM-NO GAAFET. The DM-NO GAAFET based common source (CS) amplifier is compared with the MOSFET based CS amplifier to analyse the performance. First, RF performance parameters of total gate capacitance, unity gain frequency, and transit time are investigated for DM-NO GAAFET; consequently, look up table based Verilog A model is used to design CS amplifier. Since DM-NO GAAFET provides the very small value of miller capacitance which increases the maximum unity gain frequency of 2.340 THz at the gate voltage of 0.7V. The voltage gain of 2.51 at the frequency range of 10Hz to 50GHz for DM-NO GAAFET based CS amplifier, is observed which is 40.23 % higher as compared to MOSFET based CS amplifier. Furthermore, the higher bandwidth of 20GHz is also exhibited by DM-NO GAAFET based CS amplifier, which is advantageous for higher frequency applications. The leakage power and average power are reduced by 46.07% and 80.05%, respectively, for DM-NO GAAFET based CS amplifier, which makes it very much suitable for low power and higher frequency analog integrated circuits.
Catalytic effect of TMCmHm compounds on the reaction rate of " Hydrazin - Oxygen "fuel cell "TM = Cr, Sc, Ti, V and m= 4 or 5" A DFT Study ​
Authors: Mahmodi Zohreh Mohammadi Ahmad , Aghaie Mehran , Noei Maziar , Aghaie Hossein
Published: April 2021

Platinum and similar metals are suitable catalysts in response to fuel cells, however, because of being costly, their use is limited. So in this study, the catalytic efficiency of some organometallic compounds with the general formula TMCmHm on the reaction rate of "Hydrazine- Oxygen "fuel cell was studied via density Functional Theory (DFT). To perform the respect calculations, the PW91 method and 6-31 G(d) basis set were used. Bonds’ length of O=O and N-N increased in response to their adsorption onto TMCmHm and theoretical study of N2H4-O2 fuel cell the partial transfer of negative charge from organometallic compounds to their π * orbitals. Bond length of O=O increased by 24% due to its adsorption on ScC5H5 and N-N on ScC5H5 increased by 11%. The optimal structure of each studied organometallic compound was plotted by performing natural bond orbital calculations (NBO). The energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital (EHOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (ELUMO) were calculated. Besides, , the gap energies (Eg), chemical hardness (ɳ), chemical potential (µ), and electrophilicity (ω) were calculated in each case. Then, the optimal structure of O2/TMCmHm and N2H4/ TMCmHm pairs was plotted; the adsorption energy of O2 and N2H4 on each of TMCmHm was evaluated. The kinetic adsorption of O2 and N2H4 on the Sc C5H5 compound was investigated by the 6-31 G * method. The potential energy of O2/TMCmHm and N2H4/ TMCmHm pairs in the initial and final position and the transient state were estimated, and the respect kinetic parameters were calculated.
Selected components of the lifestyle of adolescent girls with idiopathic scoliosis – an observational study
Authors: Brzęk Anna , Strauss Markus , Sanchis-Gomar Fabian , Leischik Roman
Published: April 2021

Background: This research study is focused on factors affecting the level of physical activity in girls with scoliosis, looking for answers as to whether scoliosis itself is a predictive factor of motor passivity, which, as WHO indicates, is dangerous to health. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine selected components of the lifestyle of young women with diagnosed scoliosis in confrontation with a group of women who were not diagnosed with spinal deformities. Methods: The study consisted of a group of 82 young girls aged 16 – 18 years (x=16.9±0.81) with AIS (mean Cobb angle=17.37±4.05) who were who were the main group. The control group included 138 young health girls with the same ages. The girls were not diagnosed with idiopathic adolescent scoliosis and their body posture were not deviate from the norm in the sagittal, frontal and transverse planes. BMI was calculated in percentiles, and the physical activity level by IPAQ have been investigated. Results In the studied groups of girls the level of physical activity at the moderate level dominates (p>0.05). There are no differences between each IPAQ domain except for the domains “Leisure/Free time” (t=2.23; P=.02). Among the assessed factors, only BMI (A; p<0.003 and B; 0.0001), diet (A; 0.0006 and B; 0.0002) and the use of electronic devices (A; 0.00004 and B; 0.03) influence the physical activity in both groups. Place of residence, age, self acceptance, physical activity of parents and sedentary positions are not important (all p values in the range 0.17 – 0.94). Conclusion. The most important aspect of teenage girls' lifestyles is physical activity and the leisure and diet, as well as body weight. Scoliosis is not a determinant of physical activity and its level does not significantly differ between girls who are diagnosed with scoliosis and those with normal body posture, except for leisure time, which is more passive in girls with scoliosis. Overweight and abnormal eating habits affect physical activity regardless of the quality of posture. A reduction in physical activity predisposes to more frequent and increased use of electronic devices during the week.
Infiltrating Ductal Breast Carcinoma Metastasized to the Rectum: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature
Authors: Ban Bo , Yang Yong-Ping , Li Jian-Nan , Zhang Kai , Liu Tong-Jun , Shi Jian
Published: April 2021

BACKGROUND:Gastrointestinal (GI) metastasis in breast cancer (BC) is uncommon, although in the rare cases when it occurs, infiltrating lobular carcinoma is the most commonly reported pathological subtype. Nonetheless, gastrointestinal metastasis from infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma is extremely rare and usually occurs several years after the appearance of the primary tumor. The present study was, to the best of our knowledge, the first one to present a case of distal rectum metastasis originating from infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma. CASE PRESENTATION:The present report discusses the case of a Chinese female patient aged 37 years. The patient presented with diarrhea along with bloody stools and anal bearing-down pain. Earlier in 2015, she had undergone axillary lymph node dissection (LND) and right modified radical mastectomy in another hospital to treat the infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma pT1N1M0. The presented symptoms were investigated by performing colonoscopy, which indicated lower rectal swelling at 3 cm on the top of the anal verge. Further investigation with positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) revealed an uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) within the distal rectum as well as in the left acetabulum. The samples from laparoscopic exploration were biopsied, which revealed metastases of breast cancer. Therefore, the patient was intraoperatively diagnosed with the rectal metastasis of BC and was treated with laparoscopic radical abdominoperineal resection. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical analysis of the tumor confirmed that the patient had the rectal metastasis of infiltrating ductal BC. CONCLUSION:Rectal metastasis should be considered when breast cancer patients present with a complaint of changed bowel habits, even for those with a history of ductal breast cancer.
Biological Characteristics and Genomic Analysis of Aeromonas Hydrophila Phage BUCT551 Isolated From Aquatic Sewage
Authors: Qin Hongbo , He Shiting , Xu Xuling , An Xiaoping , Liu Ke , Lou Fuxing , Wang Shuqi , Song Lihua , Fan Huahao , Tong Yigang
Published: April 2021

Aeromonas hydrophila is a common opportunistic pathogen in aquaculture and is ubiquitous in aquatic environment. Whereby its accessibility, variety and host specificity, phage is increasingly considered as a promising complementary medicine for antibiotics. However, a small amount of A. hydrophila phages have been characterized, which suggests the significance to isolate and characterize novel A. hydrophila phages. In this study, we isolated a novel Aeromonas hydrophila phage using A. hydrophila strain A18 as an indicator and designated it as BUCT551, and it was identified as Myoviridae phage by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The whole genome sequencing of the phage BUCT551 revealed that it has a linear DNA genome of 613,82 bp. BLASTn analysis showed that phage BUCT551 shared 86.75% homology with A. hydrophila phage LAh_7 (Genebank ID: MK838113.1). The one-step growth curve demonstrated that phage BUCT551 had a latent period of 20 min and the burst size of 32 pfu/cell at its optimal MOI of 0.1. The phage BUCT551 had a survival pH range from 5 to 10 and tolerant temperature from 0℃ to 40℃. Host range analysis shown that the phage was able to lyse not only A. hydrophila, but also A. veronii.
Effects of novel bioorganic fertilizer application on soil enzymes and bacterial community in multi-site rice paddies in China
Authors: Li Zuren , Han Jingcai , Bai Haodong , Peng Di , Wang Lifeng , Bai Lianyang
Published: April 2021

Application of the novel bioorganic fertilizer (BIO) is effectively used to inhibit weeds in rice paddies. To identify changes in soil bacterial community and enzymes in response to BIO treatments, field experiments were carried out in five major rice-growing areas in China. The dominant phylogenetic groups recorded included Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Acidobacteria. Anaeromyxobacter, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Escgerichia- Shigella, Geobacter and Haliangium were significantly different and aided in general function (R), amino acid transport, metabolism (E) and transcription (K) clusters between BIO-treatment and untreated control. The soil chemical properties and enzyme activities were less affected by BIO at these study sites. RDA analysis showed that soil bacterial community had a significant positive correlations among northern latitude, eastern longitude, exchangeable K, total K, total P, soil pH, and total N, except for organic matter, hydrolytic N and extractable P. Overall, our work showed that application of BIO does not alter the main community structure and functional diversity of soil bacterial in rice paddies and should be encouraged for use as a sustainable weed management strategy.
Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization increases the uptake of soil heavy metal pollutants by plant community
Authors: Tang Guangmei , Zhang Xiaole , Qi Lanlan , Wang Chenjiao , Li Lei , Guo Jiahang , Dou Xiaolin , Lu Meng , Huang Jingxin
Published: April 2021

Background: Soil heavy metal pollution is widespread around the world. Heavy metal pollutants are easily absorbed by plants and enriched in food chain, which may harm human health, cause the loss of plant, animal and microbial diversity. Plants can generally absorb soil heavy metal pollutants. Compared with hyperaccumulation plants, non-hyperaccumulator plant communities have many advantages in the remediation of heavy metals pollution in soil. However, the amount of heavy metals absorbed could be less, and the biomass would be reduced under heavy metal pollution. The application of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) is inexpensive and convenient, which can increase the resistance of plants to adversity and promote the growth of plants of heavy metal polluted soils.Methods: We designed a comparative greenhouse experiment with heavy metal contaminated soils, and set up four treatments: CK treatment (soil without fertilizer), N treatment (soil with N addition), P treatment (soil with P addition), and N+P treatment (soil with N and P addition).Results: Our results showed that plant aboveground biomass were 231.17%, 14.84%, 269.86% greater than CK treatment, respectively. N and P fertilizer stimulated plants to allocate more biomass to the aboveground parts. In addition, N treatments significantly reduced the content of Cd in aboveground and belowground biomass of plants (P < 0.05); P fertilizer significantly decreased the content of Cu in aboveground biomass (P < 0.05). N+P treatments significantly reduced the content of Cd, Cu in aboveground and belowground biomass of plants (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, N and N+P significantly increased the accumulation (mg/m2) of Cd, Cu, and Pb in plant aboveground biomass (P < 0.05). N and N+P fertilizer increased aboveground-belowground heavy metals accumulation ratio (P < 0.05), promoting plants to uptake more heavy metal pollution out of soil.Conclusions: N and P fertilizer increased the accumulation of heavy metals in aboveground of the natural plant community and accelerated the absorption of heavy metals by plants, and N fertilizer had a better effect. Our results provide an inexpensive method for remediation of heavy metal pollution in low economic value soils, such as contaminated farmland, abandoned land and mine tailings, etc.
Correlation Between Cardiopulmonary Metabolic Energy Cost and Lower-limb Muscle Activity During Inclined Treadmill Gait in Older Adults
Authors: Kim Yun-Hee , Kim Jihye , Lee Hwang-Jae , Lee Su-Hyun , Lee Jungsoo , Chang Won Hyuk , Ryu Gyu-Ha
Published: April 2021

Background: Inclined walking requires more cardiopulmonary metabolic energy and muscle strength than flat-level walking. This study sought to investigate changes in lower-limb muscle activity and cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost during treadmill walking with different inclination grades and to discern any correlation between these two measures in older adults.Methods: Twenty-four healthy older adults (n = 11 males; mean age: 75.3 ± 4.0 years) participated. All participants walked on a treadmill that was randomly inclined at 0% (condition 1), 10% (condition 2), and 16% (condition 3) for five minutes each. Simultaneous measurements of lower-limb muscle activity and cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost during inclined treadmill walking were collected. Measured muscles included the rectus abdominis (RA), erector spinae (ES), rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF), vastus medialis (VM), tibialis anterior (TA), medial head of the gastrocnemius (GCM), and soleus (SOL) muscles on the right side. Results: As compared with 0% inclined treadmill gait, the 10% inclined treadmill gait increased the net cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost by 22.9%, while the 16% inclined treadmill gait increased the net cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost by 44.2%. In the stance phase, as the slope increased, activity was significantly increased in the RA, RF, VM, BF, GCM, and SOL muscles. In the swing phase, As the slope increased activity was significantly increased in the RA, RF, VM, BF, and TA muscles. SOL muscle activity was most relevant to the change in cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost in the stance phase of inclined treadmill walking. The relationship between the increase in cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost and changes in muscle activity was also significant in the VM, GCM, and RF.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that changes in SOL, VM, GCM, and RA muscle activity had a significant relationship with cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost increment during inclined treadmill walking. These results can be used as basic data for various gait-training programs and as an indicator in the development of assistive algorithms of wearable walking robots for older adults. Trial registration: Clinical trials registration information: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04614857 (05/11/2020).
Durable Response to Immunotherapy Plus Chemotherapy in a Patient With Untreated, Brain-metastatic, EGFR Exon 20 Insertion Mutation Lung Adenocarcinoma
Authors: nong jingying , Gu Yanfei , Yao Shuyang , Zhang Yi
Published: April 2021

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) 20 exon insertion is the second most common EGFR aberrations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite some novel EGFR inhibitors showing encouraging antitumor activity, clinically obtainable management for this subset of patients remains an unmet need. Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have led to unprecedented clinical benefit in metastatic NSCLC, clinical evidence suggests that EGFR mutant lung cancers rarely derive benefit from treatment with ICIs. We report that a lung adenocarcinoma patient harboring an actionable gene mutation of EGFR exon 20 insertion, high PD-L1 expression, high tumor mutational burden, as well as alterations in immune-related genes including CTNNB1 (Catenin β1) S37F and ARID2 (AT-rich interactive domain-containing protein 2) E1056X responded to upfront PD-1 inhibitor plus chemotherapy. As an advanced-stage lung cancer with brain metastases indicating poor prognosis, the patient achieved an unusual and durable response over 15 months. Upfront ICIs plus chemotherapy might be an option for some NSCLC patients harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation. Further study is needed to validate the predictor involved in responders to ICIs-based therapy with EGFR mutations.
Head CT Deep Learning Model for Early Stroke Identification Outperforms Human Experts
Authors: Bizzo Bernardo Canedo , Gauriau Romane , Comeau Donnella , Hillis James , Bridge Christopher , Chin John , Pawar Jayashri , Pourvaziri Ali , Sesic Ivana , Sharaf Elshaimaa , Cao Jinjin , Noro Flavia , Kitamura Felipe , Dreyer Keith , Kalafut John , Andriole Katherine , Pomerantz Stuart , Gonzalez Ramon , Lev Michael
Published: April 2021

Non-contrast head CT (NCCT) is extremely insensitive for early (< 3-6hrs) acute infarct identification. We developed a deep learning model that detects and delineates early acute infarcts on NCCT, using diffusion MRI as ground truth (3,566 NCCT/MRI training pairs). The model substantially outperformed 3 expert neuroradiologists on a test set of 150 CT scans (sensitivity 96% model versus 61–66% experts); infarct volume estimates strongly correlated with those of diffusion MRI (r2 > 0.98).
Prevalence and Antibacterial Susceptibility Pattern of Bacteria Contaminating the Wards and Operating Room of Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, Kenya
Authors: Amulioto Johnstone , Muturi Margaret , Mathenge Scholastica , Mutua Gideon M.
Published: April 2021

Background Nosocomial infections are of public health concern globally. These infections are frequently caused by microbes residing in the healthcare environment, including contaminated medical equipment, wards, and operating theaters. Objectives To determine the prevalence and susceptibility pattern of bacteria that contaminated the wards and operating rooms of Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital. MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was done from October - November 2018. Surface swabs taken from predefined areas within the wards and operating room were assessed for bacterial contamination. The samples were processed through gram reaction, culture, and an array of biochemical tests. Antibiotics susceptibility tests were done for each swab by the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique. Statistical work was done through a statistical package for the social sciences version 20. ResultsThe present work revealed an isolation rate of 64.7% (44/68) for culture-positive surface swabs while 35.3% (24/68) of the swabs failed to yield any organism. A total of 59 bacteria were isolated from the processed swabs. Of the isolates, gram-positive bacteria were more compared to gram-negative rods. Overall, Staphylococcus aureus 55.9% (n=33) was the prevalent bacteria followed by Bacillus species 30.5% (n=18), Citrobacter species 3.4% (n=2), Enterobacter species 3.4% (n=2), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1.7% (n=1), Acinetobacter species 1.7% (n=1), Escherichia coli 1.7% (n=1) and Coagulase-negative staphylococcus 1.7% (n=1). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) accounted for 61.8% of all staphylococci species. The bacteria were resistant to Ampicillin/Cloxacillin at 96.6% (n=57/59). Conclusion The infection of hospitalized patients by resident flora of the hospital environment may worsen the clinical condition of the patient. Therefore, it's paramount for all facilities to ensure that they assess periodically their healthcare environments to identify potential bacterial pathogens of nosocomial significance.