bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Suppression of Interferon Stimulated Genes Enhance Viral Replication of Seasonal Influenza A Virus through the JAK/STAT pathway
Authors: H Alfredo Jr. , Kakee Sosuke , Kageyama Seiji , Tsuneki-Tokunaga Akeno , Perdana Waldy , Akena Yui , Kanai Kyosuke
Published: June 2022

Background
In a previous study, we described the diverse growth capabilities of circulating seasonal influenza A virus (IAV) with low to high viral copies in vitro. In this study, we analyzed the cause of differences in growth capability by evaluating Interferon-β and antiviral interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) expression.
Methods
A549 cells (3.0x105 cells) were inoculated with circulating seasonal IAV strains for 6 and 24 h. In cells inoculated for 6 h, IAV production was assessed by IAV-RNA copies in culture supernatant and cell pellets for gene expression evaluation. At 24 hours post-infection, cells were collected for IFN-β and ISG-15 protein expression. JAK/STAT pathway inhibitor, pyridone 6 (P6) was used to evaluate the influence of ISGs on the growth capability of seasonal IAV.
Results
A549 cells inoculated with seasonal IAV strains with high growth capability expressed less IFN-β and ISGs, whereas low growth capability strains expressed more IFN-β and ISGs. The use of a P6, a JAK/STAT inhibitor, suppressed the expression of ISGs and enhanced the viral copies of seasonal IAV strains with low growth capability. This result suggests that growth capability is regulated by ISG-mediated IFN-β production.
Conclusion
In this study, we provide a new insight into the mechanism of circulating seasonal IAV replication. Our study showed that the difference in the growth capability of circulating seasonal IAV strains is due to the regulation of antiviral ISGs. Inhibition of the JAK/STAT pathway permits seasonal IAV strains with low growth capability to enhance their viral copies by suppressing antiviral ISGs. Our results may contribute in developing new effective therapeutic strategies and reduce the risk of developing severe influenza disease.
The weight distributions of several classes of few-weight linear codes
Authors: Sun Huan , Yue Qin , Jia Xue
Published: June 2022

In data storage systems, authentication codes, association schemes, and some other fields, linear codes with few weights play an important role.In this paper, we construct four classes of few weights linear codes over $\mathbb F_{q}$ and use Gauss periods in the semi-primitive case to determine their weight distributions.There are some linear codes with two weights whose duals are almost Maximum Distance Separable (AMDS) codes and a class of Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) codes.
Bone marrow dosimetry for mice: exposure from bone-seeking 89,90Sr
Authors: Shishkina Elena , Shuiskaya Alina , Sharagin Pavel
Published: June 2022

Studies of radiobiological effects in murine rodents exposed to internal radiation in the wild or in laboratory experiments require a dosimetric support. The main problem of bone marrow (BM) dosimetry for bone-seeking β-emitters is dosimetric modeling due to the fact that the bone is a heterogeneous structure with complex microarchitecture. To date, there are several approaches to calculating the absorbed dose in BM, which mostly use rough geometric approximations. Recently, in the framework of studies of people exposed to 90Sr in the Urals, a new approach (SPSD) has been developed. The aim of current study was to pilot test the possibility of extension of the SPSD-approach elaborated for humans to mice. The computational phantoms of femur bones of laboratory animals (C57BL/6, C57BL/6J, BALB/c, BALB/cJ) aged 5–8 weeks (growing) and > 8 weeks (adults) were created. The dose factors to convert the 89,90Sr activity concentrations in a bone tissue into units of the dose rate absorbed in the bone marrow were estimated as follows: DFSr−90(BM←TBV + CBV) is equal to 1.75 ± 0.42 and 2.57 ± 0.93 (µGy day− 1) per (Bq g− 1) for growing and adults, respectively; DFSr−89(BM←TBV + CBV) is equal to 1.08 ± 0.27 and 1.66 ± 0.67 (µGy day− 1) per (Bq g− 1) for growing and adults, respectively. These results are about 2.5 times lower than skeleton-average DF, calculated assuming the homogenous bone, where source and target coincide. The study demonstrates the possibility of application of the SPSD-approach elaborated for humans to non-human mammals.
Microbiota-mediated nitrogen fixation and homeostasis in aerial root-mucilage
Authors: Zhiqiang Pang , Xinyu Mao , Sheng Yu , Guizhou Liu , Lu Chengkai , Jinpeng Wan , Hu Lingfei , Zhou Shaoqun , Peng Xu
Published: June 2022

Plants sustain intimate relationships with diverse microbes. While it is well recognized that these plant-associated microbiota shape individual performance and fitness of host plants, how they exert their function and maintain their homeostasis are largely unexplored. Here, using the pink lady plant (Heterotis rotundifolia) as a model, we investigated the phenomenon of microbiota-mediated nitrogen fixa-tion as well as the proximal homeostasis mechanisms of this process in the aerial root mucilage. The aerial root mucilage is enriched in primary metabolites such as carbohydrates, and abundant diazo-trophic bacteria. Nitrogen-labeled experiments and gene expression analysis indicate that the aerial root-mucilage microhabitat fixes atmospheric nitrogen to support plant growth. The presence of a key "police" fungus in the mucilage helps the host plant to defend against environmental microbes rather than diazotrophs. The discovery of new biological function and “police” fungi in the aerial root-mucilage microhabitat provides insights into microbial homeostasis maintenance of microenvironmental function and rhizosphere ecology.
Scalable and Energy Efficient Cluster Based Anomaly Detection against Dos Attacks in WSN
Authors: M Premkumar , Ashokkumar  , V Jeevanantham , G Mohanbabu , S Anupallavi
Published: June 2022

Recently, with the meteoric evolution in the wireless communication technologies, countless real world applications which will reshape the way of seeking in robotic exploration, commercial, military, battlefield surveillance, border control and health-related areas. Due to its open nature, the network is easily prone to DoS attacks and can have significant influence on the behavior of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). Because of node energy capability the node verification using crypto analysis is a difficult one. In this paper, use of spatial information is used to detect and localize the multiple adversaries in both same and different node identity. This paper describes the scalable and energy efficient cluster based anomaly detection (SEECAD) mechanism to identify DoS attacks without the key management schemes to increase the lifetime of the network. Detection rate, false positive rate, packet delivery ratio, overhead, energy consumption and average delay of packets are various types of network parameters by which the performance can be measured. The result shows that the hit rate is achieved and high reliability in detecting and localizing multiple adversaries than previous systems is also achieved.
An urban drought categorization framework and the vulnerability of a lowland city to groundwater urban droughts
Authors: Machairas Ilias , de Ven Frans van
Published: June 2022

Due to climate change droughts will intensify in large parts of the world. Drought and its impacts on nature and agriculture have been studied thoroughly, but its effects on the urban environment is rather unexplored. But also the built environment is susceptible to droughts and estimation of its vulnerability is the first step to its protection. This article is focusing on assessing the vulnerability of a city to groundwater drought, using parts of the lowland city of Leiden, the Netherlands, as a case study.Using a new urban drought categorization framework, groundwater drought is separated from soil moisture drought, open water drought and water supply drought, as each has its own impacts. Vulnerability was estimated as the aggregation of exposure and damage sensitivity[1]. Drought deficit and duration were used as exposure indicators. Weights indicators to quantify the vulnerability and their values were assessed using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with a small number of experts.Based on these weights the spatial variation in vulnerability for groundwater drought follows sensitivity patterns - rather than exposure ones. A combination of Fixed and Variable threshold groundwater level analysis provided a profound insight into drought exposure for our case study. Besides, out of all sensitivity indicators used, ‘land use', ‘low income' and ‘monuments’ contributed the most to the spatial variation in vulnerability. Due to the fact that the convergence of drought experts’ opinions in the AHP was low these vulnerability results however remain uncertain.The proposed methodology however allows water managers to determine vulnerability of urbanized areas to groundwater drought, identify highly vulnerable areas and focus their mitigating actions.[1] Sensitivity to damage is often referred to as vulnerability. But Vulnerability is defined in literature in many different ways. That is why the term ‘damage sensitivity’ or ‘sensitivity’ is used in this article.
Synthesis, X-ray structure, DFT investigation and in silico molecular docking of 1,3,5-tricyclohexyl-1,3,5-triazinane-2,4,6- trione
Authors: Omrani Rania , Jebli Nejib , Arfaoui Youssef , Chevalier Yves , Akacha Azaîez Ben
Published: June 2022

1,3,5-tricyclohexyl-1,3,5-triazinane-2,4,6-trione (TCy-TAZTO) was obtained with high chemoselectivity and excellent yield, through an efficient and simple cyclotrimerization of isocyanatocyclohexane performed at room temperature and under mild reaction condition. The newly synthesized TCy-TAZTO was characterized with FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectra. Single crystal X-ray diffraction was used to investigate its molecular structure. The Hirshfeld surface, curvedness, shape index and 2D-fingerprint plots were used to evaluate various intermolecular interactions within the crystal structure. DFT calculations, intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC), Wiberg bond index and FOMs computational studies were performed to get more insights into the stability and the reaction mechanism. Furthermore, the molecular docking of the TCy-TAZTO was studied against different proteins to investigate the efficacy against selected drug targets of platelet aggregation, blood coagulation, antithrombotic and anti HIV-1disease.
Analysis of drought severity and vegetation condition prediction using satellite remote sensing indices in Kolar and Chikkaballapura Districts, Karnataka State
Authors: N Harishnaika , Ahmed S.A , M Arpitha
Published: June 2022

Drought is a natural hazard with far-reaching effects including economic losses, and soil damages, and threatens the health of residents and livelihood. The present research aimed to observe the vegetation health index across the semi-arid regions of Karnataka state in 2015–2019 using GIS and remote sensing techniques. Landsat-8 dataset images, with a 30 m spatial resolution and from various platforms were used to recognize the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Temperature Condition Index (TCI). The VCI is dependent on the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) datasets. The Temperature Condition Index used LST (land surface temperature datasets). As an outcome, the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) was generated and classified into 5 categories of drought: no drought, mild, moderate, severe, and extreme drought. The results indicate that the highest % of the extreme agricultural drought found in Chinthamani taluk is about 740.20 squares Km (20%) area. In the S-W monsoon showed Bagepalli is about 397.70 squares Km (18%), and Sidhlaghatta taluk is about 26% (338.55 squares Km). In the North-east Monsoon extreme drought severity was affected in Malur at 22% (704.05 squares Km), Mulubhagilu at 26% (909.99 squares Km), and Bangarapete at 21% (879.64 sq. km) of the area have severely affected the agriculture and vegetation from 2015–2019 respectively. Severe to moderate drought occurred in the north–east part of both areas of Kolar and Chikkaballapura districts. 2016 and 2017 experienced a less level of drought % with compared to the other study years. This study allows the monitoring of decision-makers, resolves drought conditions, and investigates more beneficially.
A Multi-stage Model for Rapid Identification of Geological Features in Shield Tunnelling
Authors: Hu Min , Lu Jing , Zhou WenBo , Xu Wei , Wu ZhaoYu
Published: June 2022

Decision-making on shield construction parameters depends on timely and accurate geological properties feedback. Real-time mastering of geological status around the shield during tunneling is necessary to achieve safe and efficient construction. However, balancing the model generalizability and the accuracy of geological identification remains a significant challenge. This paper proposes a Rapidly Geological Features Identification (RGFI) method that predicts the percentage of each stratum in the excavation face under different geological environments. The method consists of three stages: k-means-based geological type redefinition, eXtreme Gradient Boosting based geological type classification and convolutional neural network stratum distribution prediction with an attention mechanism. The method produces good generalization performance and achieves higher accuracy when simulating tunnel construction data for self-driving shield in the interval between Qian-Zhuang and Ke-Ning Road of Line 5 of Nanjing Metro in China. Furthermore, the method successfully provided more accurate geological information for the Hangzhou-Shaoxing intercity railroad tunnel project. It helped the ‘ZhiYu’ shield to adjust the construction parameters quickly and improve the safety and quality of the project.
A Novel PSO based Intelligence Link Prediction Algorithm in Real World Networks
Authors: Choudhury Deepjyoti , Acharjee Tapodhir
Published: June 2022

Link prediction is a critical challenge to analyse social networks with applications in areas such as information retrieval, bioinformatics, e-commerce etc. To overcome the challenges of either predicting the missing links or finding the future connections, a variety of approaches have been presented so far. Similarity-based approaches, which evaluate the network structure and use the number of shared neighbours between two nodes as a key criterion to determine structural similarity , are the most efficient among these methods. In this paper, we have proposed a novel link prediction algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and implemented it on different real world datasets. Our proposed approach achieved 72.75% accuracy in Zachary karate Club, 75.26% accuracy in Bottlenose Dolphin Network, 80.35% accuracy in College Football Network, and 78.36% accuracy in Kreb’s book Network which beat the performances of traditional algorithms.
Association Rule Mining for Genome-Wide Association Studies through Gibbs Sampling
Authors: Qian Guoqi , Sun Pei-Yun
Published: June 2022

Finding associations between genetic markers and a phenotypic trait such as coronary artery disease (CAD) is of primary interest in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). A major challenge in GWAS is the involved genomic data often contain large number of genetic markers and the underlying genotype-phenotype relationship is mostly complex. Current statistical and machine learning methods lack the power to tackle this challenge with effectiveness and efficiency. In this paper we develop a stochastic search method to mine the genotype-phenotype associations from GWAS data. The new method generalizes the well-established association rule mining (ARM) framework for searching for the most important genotype-phenotype association rules, where we develop a multinomial Gibbs sampling algorithm and use it together with the Apriori algorithm to overcome the overwhelming computing complexity in ARM in GWAS. Three simulation studies based on synthetic data are used to assess the performance of our developed method, delivering the anticipated results. Finally, we illustrate the use of the developed method through a case study of CAD GWAS.
A Deep Learning Ensemble Framework for Off-Nadir Geocentric Pose Prediction
Authors: Sun Christopher , Sharma Jai , Maiti Milind
Published: June 2022

Roughly 6,800 natural disasters occur worldwide annually, and this alarming number continues to grow due to the effects of climate change. Effective methods to improve natural disaster response include performing change detection, map alignment, and vision-aided navigation to allow for the time-efficient delivery of life-saving aid. Current software functions optimally only on nadir images taken ninety degrees above ground level. The inability to generalize to oblique images increases the need to compute an image's geocentric pose, which is its spatial orientation with respect to gravity. This Deep Learning investigation presents three convolutional models to predict geocentric pose using 5,923 nadir and oblique red, green, and blue (RGB) satellite images of cities worldwide. The first model is an autoencoder that condenses the 256x256x3 images to 32x32x16 latent space representations, demonstrating the ability to learn useful features from the data. The second model is a U-Net Fully Convolutional Network with skip connections used to predict each image's corresponding pixel-level elevation mask. This model achieves a median absolute deviation of 0.335 meters and an R2 of 0.865 on test data. Afterward, the elevation masks are concatenated with the RGB images to form four-channel inputs fed into the third model, which predicts each image's rotation angle and scale, the components of its geocentric pose. This Deep Convolutional Neural Network achieves an R2 of 0.943 on test data, significantly outperforming previous models designed by researchers. The high-accuracy software built in this study contributes to mapping and navigation procedures to accelerate disaster relief and save human lives.
Thalamus, Hippocampus, Amygdala in Patients With Chronic Subjective Tinnitus: Volume Analysis
Authors: Alagoz Sedat , Bal Kemal Koray , Delibas Vedat , Cakir Aykut , Dilek Okan , Soker Elif Banu , Yaldiz Fatih , Gorgulu Feride Fatma , Kuran Gokhan , Ozdas Talih
Published: June 2022

Background and Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the existence and degree of chronic subjective tinnitus of unknown origin and the volumetric size of thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala. Methods: 100 patients who complaint of chronic subjective tinnitus applied to …. Hospital between 01.01.2020 and 31.12.2021 were included in the study. With volBrain system, thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala was measured. THI was performed on all patients and scores and grades were recorded. According to THI, patients were divided into 5 groups as Slight, Mild, Moderate, Severe, and Catastrophic. Results: Of the 100 patients participating in the study, 56 (56%) were female and 44 (44%) were male. The ages of the patients ranged from 20 to 72, with a mean of 45.52. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) was performed and their scores and degrees were checked. Scores range from 12 to 88, with an average of 47.44. Catastrophic tinnitus is statistically significantly higher in patients whose hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala volume/total brain volume ratio is less than the normal range for their age group (p<0.001). When the amygdala, thalamus and hippocampus volumes of patients with tinnitus were compared with the data of healthy patients in the volbrain system, they were found to be statistically significantly lower (respectively p<0.001, p=0.039, p=0.001).Conclusion: There is a need to focus more on additional neuropsychiatric assessment scales and volumetric measurement methods in patients with chronic subjective tinnitus and to elucidate unknown points in the etiopathogenesis of tinnitus
Key Components in Assessing Mental Capacity of Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: A Study from Three Countries
Authors: Takimoto Yoshiyuki
Published: June 2022

Background: Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) often refuse treatment despite their extremely low nutritional status. This study investigates the assessment methods of mental capacity for patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) refusing treatment by physicians in Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) and identifies key points for assessment.Method: A questionnaire survey using vignette cases was conducted on physicians (Japan, n = 53; UK, n = 85; US, n = 85) who treated eating disorders.Results: A total of 23% of physicians in Japan, 32% in the UK, and 35% in the US rated the patients with AN as lack of decision-making capacity. Physicians who rated patients with AN as having impaired mental capacity placed significantly more emphasis on the “level of pathological values” when assessing their mental capacity. On the other hand, physicians who assessed patients with AN as having full mental capacity placed significantly more weight on “ability to express a choice or preference.”Conclusion: It may be necessary to add the “level of psychopathological values” to the assessment of mental capacity in relation to obesity fears and emotional disturbances in patients with AN, since emotions caused by psychopathological values strongly influence decision making. By considering the “level of psychopathological values”, it may be feasible to reflect the actual situation in the assessment of mental capacity when refusing treatment in AN, thus making it more likely to overcome ethical dilemmas.
Macula involving tractional retinal detachment after intravitreal ranibizumab – a case of crunch
Authors: Murali Arjune , Sharma Anil , Moloney Thomas P.
Published: June 2022

Background:Tractional retinal detachment (TRD) is a rare complication of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agent injection in the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Previous reports have described a ‘crunch’ phenomenon wherein the agents precipitate TRD due to accelerated neovascular regression, fibrosis and posterior hyaloid contraction. Case Presentation: We present the case of a 53-year-old male with bilateral metamorphopsia on a background of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. The right eye had a large frond of high-risk disc neovascularisation with associated supertemporal fibrosis and diabetic macula oedema. The left eye had a small frond of disc neovascularisation without haemorrhage. Bilateral panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) was commenced with additional intravitreal anti-VEGF injections on the right eye. His first procedures of PRP and anti-VEGF injection were uncomplicated. However, he presented 10 days later with hand movements vision in the right eye associated with localised posterior pole TRD with a tractional macular hole. He subsequently underwent right vitrectomy, delamination/segmentation, internal limiting membrane peel, photocoagulation and silicone oil tamponade. This was proceeded 3 months later with combined vitrectomy, removal of silicone oil, internal limiting membrane autograft, phacoemulsification/IOL with C3F8 gas. The final right eye visual acuity was hand movements due to a chronic macular hole however the left eye was subsequently successfully managed with PRP. Conclusions:Since anti-VEGF treatment is widespread in PDR management, ophthalmologists should consider the clinical timing of PRP and anti-VEGF injection procedures whilst also consenting the patient for the risk of TRD development and anticipating the need for timely surgery should it eventuate.
The structural and molecular mechanism of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)-induced toxicity on the rat myocardium's cytoarchitecture with the potential protective function of quercetin
Authors: Mandour Dalia A. , Morsy Manal M. , Fawzy Amal , Mohamed Noura Mostafa , Ahmad Marwa M.
Published: June 2022

Background: The fluorinated substance perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a man-made fluorinated compound. It is employed in a variety of industrial and civilian applications. Due to its long elimination half-life and promotion of oxidative stress and inflammation, it is one of the most abundant organic contaminants. The effect of PFOS exposure on the heart, on the other hand, is still quite limited. Aim of work: This study was designed to determine the cytotoxic effect of PFOS on adult male albino rat cardiac tissue and to assess the cardioprotective role of the flavonoid Quercetin (Que), which possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic characteristics. Material and methods: Twenty-four adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four equal groups; Group I (Control). Group II (Que). Group III (PFOS group): supplemented orally with PFOS (20 mg/kg for 4 weeks) and Group IV (PF OS/Que). The rat heart was processed for histological, immunohistochemical and gene expression studies Results: Compared with the control and Que groups, the PFOS group displayed histopathological changes in the myocardium involving disrupted cardiac muscle fibers, congested blood capillaries, inflammatory cellular infiltration and increased the mean area % of the intervening collagen fibers. In addition, this group displayed a weak immunoexpression of connexin 43 (CX43) with a strong immunoexpression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). PFOS increased the serum cardiac enzymes (LDH and CK-MB), lipid profile, TSH, MDA, and the inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β). Also, PFOS induced over expression of apoptotic and SERCA2a genes. On the other hand, PFOS decreased total T3, T4 and the antioxidant enzymes; CAT and SOD. Administration of Que with PFOS partially attenuated the PFOS-induced histological and bimolecular changes. Conclusion: PFOS had adverse effects on the cardiac muscle structure and these effects were alleviated by Que which is a promising cardioprotective flavenoid.
Analysis of Sampling using Data Augmentation on Imbalance Fake News Dataset
Authors: Agarwal Isha , Rana Dipti , Jariwala Aemie , Bondre Sahil
Published: June 2022

During this global pandemic of COVID-19, the proliferation of fake news had devastating effects on the economy and public health. From the origin of the virus, spread, self-medication to hoaxes on vaccination, it created more panic than the fatality of the virus. W.H.O. has coined the term Infodemic describing this state of society. It has raised fear and anxiety among people, which has indirectly provoked sharing and consuming of any and every information related to healthcare at disposal. Thus, the spread of health-related information over digital media has increased manifolds causing an imbalance in the media ecosystem. For better preparedness and control of the situation, it is necessary to mitigate fear among people, disperse fake news, and dispel misinformation. Many contributions were made to the research community to identify fake news without considering the imbalanced nature of the data. This work highlights the imbalanced nature of this data and analyzes approaches to sample fake news using clustering and data augmentation techniques. For data augmentation, an intuitive approach of partial back translation is proposed over direct duplication in oversampling. For this study, a dataset of healthcare news is compiled and published. This work further opens the direction of back translation application for handling imbalanced data experimentation with multiple languages and taking into account syntax and semantics of the language.
Efficacy and safety related factors of BTK inhibitors as a bridge to CAR-T therapy in R/R FL
Authors: ye xiupeng , Fan Xuemei , Cui Rui , Mu Juan , Liu Meijing , Lyu Cuicui , Li Yeqiong , Chen Lan , Zhang Jin , Li Xin , Wang Jia , Mou Nan , Deng Qi
Published: June 2022

Background: Although anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has achieved satisfactory results in relapsed/refractory (R/R) Follicular lymphoma (FL), R/R FL patients with high-risk disease characteristics, previous HSCT, bulky disease, and POD24 had a low complete response (CR).Patients and methods: Twenty-seven R/R FL patients with higher advanced disease stage, higher tumor burden or higher previous treatment lines had already received Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors prior to anti-CD19-CAR T-cell therapy, or received BTK inhibitors as combination/maintenance therapy in this study. The clinical response and adverse events (AEs) were observed in this study.Results: All R/R FL patients who received BTK inhibitors prior to the study had higher advanced disease stage, tumor burden, and previous treatment lines than those who did not receive BTK inhibitors. Patients who received combination/maintenance therapy with BTK inhibitors had higher advanced disease stage and tumor burden than those who did not receive BTK inhibitors. There was no difference of POD 24, TP53, tFL, IPI score in the three groups with or without BTK inhibitors. The clinical response was lower in POD 24 group than that of in no POD 24 group. But the other poor prognostic factors did not affect the clinical response with the methods of BTK inhibitors as a bridge to CAR-T cell therapy or a combination/maintenance treatment with CAR-T cell therapy. There was no difference of the mean peaks of anti-CD19-CAR T cells in three groups with or without BTK inhibitors. It was higher in no POD 24 group and in FL group. But it was no difference between the FLIPI 1 1-2 and FLIPI 1 3-5 group, the FLIPI 2 1-2 and FLIPI 2 3-5 group. The CRS grades were higher in BTK inhibitors before CAR-T cell therapy group, no POD 24 group, FL group, FLIPI 3-5 grade group. The ICANS grade was higher in BTK inhibitors before CAR-T cell therapy group.Conclusion: Other poor prognostic factors except POD 24 did not affect clinical response with the methods of BTK inhibitors as a bridge to anti-CD19-CAR T cell therapy or a combination/maintenance treatment with CAR-T cell therapy in R/R FL patients.Trial registration: The study was registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx as ChiCTR-ONN-16009862 and http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx as ChiCTR1800019622.
Device-to-Device communication in an uplink channel for a 5G mm-Wave cellular network
Authors: Sachan Atul , Sarma Subhra Sankha , Hazra Ranjay , Talukdar FA
Published: June 2022

The exponentially growing need for higher data rates and the ubiquitous usage of smartphones has led to unprecedented issues in providing seamless communication while satisfying bandwidth constraints. Enabling Device-to-Device (D2D) communication in the millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) network enhances throughput and bandwidth but at the cost of higher pathloss attenuation. Also, D2D communication introduces interference in the traditional cellular network (CN), leading to degradation in the system performance. Thus, the proposed scheme applies dynamic mode selection criteria for efficient D2D communication in a 5G mm-Wave CN. The radius of coverage of D2D users (D2Ds) is derived for switching of the modes, i.e. from inner to outer. The outer mode switching occurs when the D2Ds suffer from extensive pathloss attenuation or with increase in coverage radius. Furthermore, power optimization is done to obtain optimal D2D transmit power thereby, enhancing the data rate, which is solved using the Lagrangian dual optimization technique. The performance metric, coverage probability is also derived which depicts the capability of the proposed scheme at a higher pathloss attenuation maintaining the Quality-of-Service (QoS) constraint. Simulation results prove the efficacy of the proposed scheme. Finally, the proposed scheme is compared with the state-of-the-art schemes which further proves the superiority of the proposed scheme in terms of better efficiency.
Current Status of Pediatric Oncology Nursing in Africa: Perspective of African nurses of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP Africa)
Authors: Afungchwi Glenn Mbah , Kiteni Elianeth , Ndagire Mariam , Maliti Biemba , Kunkel Rachael , Challinor Julia , Hollis Rachel
Published: June 2022

As African countries adopt the global goal of improving childhood cancer survival to 60% by the year 2030, intentional actions are required to improve nursing. This paper provides the perspective and amplifies the voice of African pediatric oncology nurses. It illuminates the room for improvement and provides a reference point for future comparison. First, we document findings from a survey of the perceived strengths and weaknesses conducted in 2017. The main strength was the humanization of care, while the major weakness was lack of training follow up and insufficient evidence to guide practice. Next, we report on nursing-related aspects of a survey to map pediatric oncology services in Africa. Only 21% of respondents in the mapping survey reported having nurses who care for children with cancer at least 75% of their time. Many centres do not have allied health workers like dieticians, play therapists, and psychologists. Furthermore, we share African pediatric oncology nurses’ research priorities identified in a 2019 survey. The top research priorities focused on professional practice and psychosocial support. In a Delphi survey to identify topics for a foundational curriculum for nurses new to pediatric oncology, 57 topics areas were identified and grouped into 12 modules. Finally, we report a single-question survey from 2022 to obtain the perspective of African nurses about the state of pediatric oncology nursing across the continent. The African nurses affirm their dedication to providing compassionate care, however, noting their vulnerability to harm and calling for certified training and better specialization recognition and remuneration.
Stress testing on credit supply
Authors: Sedai Akash , Medda Francesca
Published: June 2022

This study shows how post-crisis stress tests have affected the supply of home equity business loans. Stress tested banks reduce their loan originations but in terms of purchased loans, this effect is much stronger among stress tested banks that failed the exercise compared to other groups of banks. The magnitude of these effects is inversely proportional to the size of the loans. Even though the aggregate level of credit supply is relatively unchanged, within each size category of loans adopted in this study, growth rates are directly proportional to its origination size. The loan distributions significantly differ among stresstested and non-stress-tested banks and there are significant geographical shifts in loan originations both by categories of banks and size of loans.
Detection and Classification of Alzheimer’s disease Stages using Deep Learning Approach
Authors: Rao Sudheesh Kannur Vasudeva , Krishna Chethan
Published: June 2022

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a continuously growing and irreversible degenerative brain disorder. Over 50 million people worldwide are affected by dementia and 10 million new cases are reported every year. Currently there are no treatments to cure dementia, but it can be treated only if it is identified in the early stages. Analysis of tissue structures of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) leads to more accurate classification of particular brain disorders. The main objective of this work is to develop a deep learning model to detect and classify AD stages. To develop this model 1.5T weighted MRI modality of ADNI dataset are used. After balancing the data of all the three categories AD (Alzheimer’s disease), MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment), CN (Cognitive Normal). In this work a total of 8379 samples are used. The collected MRI images are preprocessed using robust noise elimination and image enhancing algorithms i.e., CLAHE- (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization) and TV (Total Variation) denoising algorithms. The dataset is subjected to transfer learning and tested on five different transfer learning models. The transfer learning models have obtained the following results VGG16–82.75%, VGG19–83.76%, Xception − 85.08%, NasNetMobile − 84.07%, InceptionV3–83.76%. Then the dataset trained and tested on the proposed CNN model. It is observed that the proposed network achieved improved results and obtained the testing accuracy of about 91.17%. The experimental results of the proposed methodology proves that it provides better accuracy than existing systems.
Performance Improvement of Cell Free Massive MIMO System Using User Clustering and Access Point Selection Technique
Authors: Sheikh Tasher Ali
Published: June 2022

A Cell Free massive MIMO, comprising a very large number of distributed access points (APs) is a promising technology to provide high data rate, spectral efficiency (SE), and energy efficiency (EE). The system performance of cell free M-MIMO is optimal when selecting access points (AP) from a large number of APs. In this work, zero-forcing (ZF) and minimum means square error (MMSE) linear precoding are used since it is free from self-interference hence, improving the system sum-rate. Here, the maximum channel gain-based Access Point Selection (APS) algorithm is introduced for access point (AP) selection in the Cell free M-MIMO network to enhance the system data-rate. APS algorithm used to select those APs whose channel gain is highest therefore it improves the rate of the system. The same number of users is scheduled using a simple semi-orthogonal user scheduling (SUS) algorithm. We also used a user clustering algorithm for grouping the users around the AP to schedule the best users. It is observed from the results that the APS and SUS algorithm jointly improve the system rate significantly in cell free massive MIMO systems.
ANALYSIS OF THE PRECONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY NETWORKS IN UKRAINE
Authors: Kolosok S. , Yevdokymova A. , Kucherenko P. , Vodotyka D.
Published: June 2022

In many countries, the economy's energy sector is on the path of radical change and radical transformation. There are processes of mergers, acquisitions, changes in the structure of government, the boundaries of the sphere of activity, and territorial presence, forcing many former energy monopolies to use new models of value creation. In the EU, the USA, Japan, China, and other countries, smart energy networks and smart meters are positioned as priority areas for energy development shortly. Smart energy grids can empower consumers by making them more aware of energy consumption, forecasting, and demand management. Such networks contain tools to respond quickly to energy market price signals, flexibly increasing or decreasing energy consumption. According to the International Energy Agency forecast, a significant increase in global demand for energy resources (electricity, oil, and gas) is expected in the future. Under the pressure of this factor, a new sustainable business model of energy consumption is being formed, which is being scaled to consumers in all countries of the world.
For Ukraine, the benefits of smart grids are particularly relevant, as energy infrastructure and systems are severely worn out both physically and morally. Quickly and flexibly managing infrastructure is crucial for balancing energy flows. With this in mind, economic agents of the energy market are faced with the need to implement new standards ratified by Ukraine in the framework of energy packages to continuously improve the efficiency and reliability of energy supply to meet the requirements for greenhouse gas emissions. Such changes include an analysis of the development of networks in view of existing requirements and prerequisites: replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources; taking advantage of digital energy management technologies (e.g. IoT, blockchain); development of sustainable energy communities interested in improving the energy efficiency of both urban infrastructure as a whole and individual buildings; transition from centralized to decentralized energy generation.
ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY OF A MACHINE-BUILDING ENTERPRISE FOR FURTHER INTERNALIZATION OF NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Kozlov D.
Published: June 2022

Modern and current works and research on the subject of externalities are analysed. The problems of research of externalities by numerical analysis are determined. Some articles of the consolidated balance sheet and consolidated report on the financial results of the enterprise on the separation of externalities of economic activity of the machine-building enterprise are considered. For each balance sheet item and consolidated report, economic, social and environmental externalities are identified in accordance with the principles of sustainable development of the machine-building enterprise. Each item of the balance sheet and consolidated report is also considered by the nature of the impact of externalities, that is indicating negative and positive externalities. There are three groups of indicators of economic externalities. The coefficient of a separate item of expenditure, reflecting externalities, depending on the total amount of the balance sheet is determined. In order to calculate the effect of a separate external to net profit (loss), the weight estimate of each external is determined depending on the nature of the impact on the economic activity of the machine-building enterprise. To determine the impact of externalities on net profit (or loss) for each year, the sum of the coefficients depending on the total weight estimate was studied separately. The ratio of the change in the sum of the coefficients of externalities in comparison with the profit or loss of the machine-building enterprise is determined, and also the influence of externalities on the net profit is taken into account. The moments of transition of positive externalities to negative and on the contrary in relation to receiving profit or the task of loss are specified. The average value of the sum of the coefficients of externalities as a percentage of the balance sheet is given. Thus, the influence of the dependence of negative externalities on the final profit of the machine-building enterprise is determined. The need for further internalization of negative externalities for the development of social welfare and positive impact on the environment is identified.
The continuity of police brutality in post-apartheid South Africa
Authors: Yesufu Shaka
Published: June 2022

The objects of this research are: First, to highlight that police brutality is still ongoing in South Africa despite the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1994. Second, to explore the concept of police brutality and its definitional related concepts like excessive force, reasonable force, lethal force, and de-escalation. Third, to explore possible avenues of rebuilding citizens’ loss of trust and confidence in the police.

The researcher investigated the following problems: Police excessive use of force on citizens resulting in injuries or loss of lives, understanding of reasonable force, when can police officers make use of force, a lack of proper police accountability, and citizens’ lack of trust and confidence of the police.

The main results of the research are: first, police brutality is still ongoing in South Africa due to reported incidents of brutality in some instances resulting in loss of lives at the hands of the police. Second, a conceptualization of police/citizen partnership is needed in South Africa, benefits derived from community police need to be explored more for the understanding of all stakeholders. Third, the culture of promoting violence within and outside the police service needs to be addressed. Fourth, Police brutality is an abuse of power, it portrays police officers in a bad light seen by many as oppressive apparatus of the state designed to perpetuate immediate unlawful violence against citizens. The police service has a lot to do when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of citizens. Contemporary policing must respect the rights and dignity of citizens and enforce the law without fear or favour within the laid down the constitutional mandate.

The area of practical use of the research are all citizens affected by crime, police and safer communities, human rights organisations, university students and staff members of the criminal justice department
Odnos kompetentnosti, percipirane ozbiljnosti nasilne situacije i intervencija učitelja u slučajevima vršnjačkog nasilja
Authors: Bilić Vesna
Published: June 2022

U novije vrijeme smatra se da učitelji imaju ključnu ulogu u suočavanju s problemom vršnjačkog nasilja, a za kvalitetne intervencije važna je kompetentnost učitelja. Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitati odnos kompetentnosti i percipirane ozbiljnosti nasilne situacije u predviđanju intervencija učitelja u slučajevima vršnjačkog nasilja. Istraživanje je provedeno na nacionalno reprezentativnom uzorku (N=639) učitelja osnovnih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj, prosječne dobi 43 godine (sd=10,59). Za prikupljanje podataka, uz upitnik sociodemografskih karakteristika, korištene su Vinjete te Skala samoprocjene kompetentnosti za rad učitelja na problemima vršnjačkog nasilja. Uz analizu temeljnih odrednica kompetentnosti utvrđeno je da će učitelji koji su kompetentniji procjenjivati nasilje ozbiljnije od svojih manje kompetentnih kolega, a oni koji nasilje percipiraju ozbiljnije češće će i intervenirati. Rezultati pokazuju da kompetentnost ima značajnu prediktivnu ulogu u predviđanju intervencija, a u tom odnosu ozbiljnost nasilja ima moderatorski efekt. Najnižu vjerojatnost intervencije imaju učitelji s niskom kompetentnosti i niskom percepcijom ozbiljnosti nasilja, a najvišu vjerojatnost intervencije imaju učitelji koji imaju visoke razine kompetentnosti i procjenjuju nasilje ozbiljnim. Uz temeljno određenje kompetentnosti, ovaj rad nudi i relevantne smjernice za edukaciju učitelja.
Moralni individualizam i obrazovanje
Authors: Sadžakov Slobodan
Published: June 2022

U radu se razmatraju neki aspekti moralne individualnosti, posebno u kontekstu analize njene civilizacijske vrijednosti, kao i (potencijalne) uloge u kontekstu moderne društvenosti. Dio rada posvećen je analizi aktualnog obrazovnog sustava (s naglaskom na njegov univerzitetski segment), odnosno utjecaju koji on ima na izgradnju moralnog identiteta.
Nastava na daljinu u hrvatskim i srpskim glazbenim školama
Authors: Ristivojević Ana , Svalina Vesna
Published: June 2022

Ovaj rad predstavlja rezultate empirijskog istraživanja provedenog radi ispitivanja mišljenja učitelja vokalno-instrumentalne i teorijske nastave pri hrvatskim i srpskim glazbenim školama o učenju na daljinu. Istraživanje je provedeno tijekom svibnja 2020., u vrijeme kad su sve glazbene škole zbog pandemije COVID-19 u potpunosti prešle na sustav učenja na daljinu. Rezultati pokazuju da su se učitelji, usprkos brojnim problemima, osobito lošim internetskim vezama i lošom kvalitetom zvuka dobivenim elektroničkim uređajima, uspješno nosili s realizacijom nastave glazbe na daljinu. Pronađene su statistički značajne razlike u odgovorima nastavnika o učenju na daljinu s obzirom na vrstu nastave koju vode, pa su učitelji koji izvode instrumentalnu i vokalnu nastavu bili bolji u izvođenju učenja na daljinu u odnosu na one koji vode teorijsku nastavu. Usprkos vjerovanju nastavnika da je prijenos potpunog znanja nemoguć putem tehnologije, većina njih otvorena je za mogućnost smislene primjene IKT-a. Stoga se intenzivira pitanje profesionalnog usavršavanja i kontinuirane podrške učiteljima od strane nadležnih institucija Hrvatske i Srbije.