bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self‐administration of gender‐affirming hormones and supratherapeutic dosing are relatively common in Japanese transgender women
Authors: Baba Tsuyoshi , Endo Toshiaki , Ikeda Utako , Ikeda Hiroshi , Ichihara Koji , Masumori Naoya , Saito Tsuyoshi
Published: March 2022

Aim

This study was performed to determine the proportion of transgender women with self‐adjusted hormone administration and excess dosing.

Methods

The medical records of 87 transgender women who visited our gender clinic from 2010 through 2019 were reviewed. The complete blood count and serum concentrations of D‐dimer, gonadotropins, and sex steroids were compared between transgender women who were self‐administering gender‐affirming hormones and women not using such hormones.

Results

Fifty‐eight of 87 (66.7%) transgender women had contravened the guideline and self‐adjusted their hormone administration. The hormonal data of one woman with hypopituitarism were eliminated from the analyses. The serum gonadotropin and testosterone levels were significantly lower in the self‐administration group than in the hormone‐naïve group. Gonadotropin levels below the lower limit of normal were found in 32/86 (37.2%) transgender women. The testosterone levels in six transgender women were not analyzed because these women had undergone sex reassignment surgery before visiting our hospital. Testosterone levels below the lower limit of normal men were found in 36/80 (45.0%) transgender women. Unexpectedly, 29/36 (80.6%) transgender women who were classified as having suppressed serum testosterone levels had testosterone levels of <0.6 ng/mL, which corresponds to the levels in cisgender women. The white blood cell count and hemoglobin concentration were significantly different between the groups.

Conclusion

Self‐initiated hormonal treatments seem to affect the serum concentrations of gonadotropin and sex steroids and the complete blood count. The prevalence of transgender women with self‐adjusted use of gender‐affirming hormones is high, and an excess dose of hormones occasionally occurs.
Recruitment and work arrangements for employees with intellectual disability in competitive employment
Authors: Wendelborg Christian , Garrels Veerle , Sigstad Hanne Marie Høybråten , Dean Evan E.
Published: March 2022

Norwegian employment policy, the activation policy, states that life on social security should be the last resort after exhausting all available activation measures. Despite this, people with intellectual disability are almost entirely excluded from the competitive labour market in Norway. This article highlights the conditions that promote employment of people with intellectual disability and factors that stimulate recruitment. This study explores (1) How do companies recruit employees with intellectual disability, including (a) how do private companies differ from public companies regarding recruitment and (b) which role does The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and upper secondary education play in this; (2) Which working arrangements do employees with intellectual disability have? and (3) What types of support do companies receive? A quantitative survey mapped the experiences of employers who have hired people with intellectual disability and highlighted factors that may promote recruitment. Most companies recruited people with intellectual disability with support from NAV. For approximately, one in five recruitments of employees with intellectual disability, collaboration with upper secondary education played a role in the hiring process. Social networks were a way into employment only in the private sector, and a larger share of private companies employed people with intellectual disability in ordinary positions without subsidies. About 27% of the companies did not receive any support when hiring employees with intellectual disability. Due to more flexible hiring regulations, there may be more structural factors promoting the recruitment of people with intellectual disability in the private sector than in the public sector. Further, the employment of people with intellectual disability in competitive labour may depend on policies and how policies are adapted and enforced by NAV employees. More extensive collaboration between upper secondary education and workplaces could also be beneficial to recruiting employees with intellectual disability.
Estimation of the empirical risk‐return relation: A generalized‐risk‐in‐mean model
Authors: Yang Xuanling , Li Dong
Published: March 2022

The risk–return relation is an important topic in finance. To quantify such relation, the article introduces a new heteroscedastic volatility model, called the generalized‐risk‐in‐mean model (GRM), and considers its entire statistical inference procedure. To adapt potential heavy‐tailed phenomena in financial data or an over‐parametrization problem in modeling, the self‐weighted quasi‐maximum likelihood estimation (S‐QMLE) is studied and its asymptotics is established, which is non‐standard when null volatility coefficients exist. Compared with GARCH‐in‐mean models (GARCH‐M) in the literature, asymptotics of the S‐QMLE of our model is much easier to be established under some tractable yet simple conditions. It is very difficult to obtain asymptotics of the QMLE in the GARCH‐M, which requires many over‐complicated assumptions that are hard to verify in practice. Further, the Wald, Lagrange multiplier, and quasi‐likelihood ratio tests are proposed to test for coefficients, and their limiting distributions are derived. Simulation studies are conducted to assess the finite‐sample performance of the entire statistical inference procedure and a real example is analyzed to illustrate the usefulness of the GRM.
Changes in accommodation and behavioural performance with a contact lens for myopia management: A comparison between a dual‐focus and a single‐vision soft contact lens
Authors: Redondo Beatriz , Vera Jesús , Molina Rubén , Galán Tomás , Machado Pedro , Jiménez Raimundo
Published: March 2022

Introduction

Dual‐focus soft contact lenses for myopia management have demonstrated to be an effective strategy to reduce myopia progression. However, this optical design has been shown to alter visual quality and accommodative function. The aim of this study was to examine the accommodative and behavioural performance during the execution of a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) while wearing dual‐focus and single‐vision soft contact lenses.

Methods

The steady‐state accommodative response was recorded with the WAM‐5500 binocular open‐field autorefractor during the execution of a 10‐min PVT at 50 cm either with the dual‐focus (MiSight 1‐day) or single‐vision (Proclear 1‐day) soft contact lenses, using a sample of 23 healthy young adults. Each experimental session was performed on two different days in a counterbalanced order.

Results

A greater lag of accommodation, variability of accommodation and reaction time was found while wearing dual‐focus in comparison with single‐vision soft contact lenses (mean differences during the 10‐min PVT were 0.58 ± 0.81 D, p < 0.001; 0.31 ± 0.17 D, p < 0.001 and 15.22 ± 20.93 ms, p = 0.002, respectively). Also, a time‐on‐task effect was found for the variability of accommodation and reaction time (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively), observing higher values over time. However, the lag of accommodation did not change significantly as a function of time‐on‐task (p = 0.33).

Conclusion

Dual‐focus soft contact lens wear influences the steady‐state accommodative response and behavioural performance during the execution of a visual vigilance task in the short‐term. Eye care practitioners should be aware of these effects when prescribing these lenses for myopia management, and provide specific recommendations according to the individual visual needs.
Supply‐Side Versus Demand‐Side Unmet Need: Implications for Family Planning Programs
Authors: Senderowicz Leigh , Maloney Nicole
Published: March 2022

Despite its central importance to global family planning, the “unmet need for contraception” metric is frequently misinterpreted. Often conflated with a lack of access, misinterpretation of what unmet need means and how it is measured has important implications for family planning programs. We review previous examinations of unmet need, with a focus on the roles of access and demand for contraception, as well as the role of population control in shaping the indicator's priorities. We suggest that disaggregating unmet need into “demand‐side unmet need” (stemming from lack of demand) and “supply‐side unmet need” (stemming from lack of access) could allow current data to be leveraged into a more person‐centered understanding of contraceptive need. We use Demographic and Health Survey data from seven sub‐Saharan African countries to generate a proof‐of‐concept, dividing women into unmet need categories based on reason for contraceptive nonuse. We perform sensitivity analyses with varying conceptions of access and disaggregate by education and marital status. We find that demand‐side unmet need far exceeds supply‐side unmet need in all scenarios. Focusing on supply‐side rather than overall unmet need is an imperfect but productive step toward person‐centered measurement, while more sweeping changes to family planning measurement are still required.
Intraarterial papaverine for relief of catheter‐induced peripheral arterial vasospasm during pediatric cardiac surgery: A randomized double‐blind controlled trial
Authors: Gautam Nischal K. , Griffin Evelyn , Hubbard Richard , Pawelek Olga , Edmonds Kayla , Rydalch Eric , Zhang Xu , Sharma Sahithi , Hoffmann Cassandra
Published: March 2022

Background

Maintaining the patency of peripheral arterial lines in pediatric patients during surgery can be challenging due to multiple factors, and catheter‐related arterial vasospasm is a potentially modifiable cause. Papaverine, a potent vasodilator, improves arterial line patency when used as a continuous infusion in the pediatric intensive care setting, but this method is not convenient during surgery.

Aim

Extrapolating from the benefit seen in the intensive care unit, the authors hypothesize that a small‐volume intraarterial bolus of papaverine immediately after arterial line placement will reduce vasospasm‐related arterial line malfunction.

Methods

This was a prospective, randomized, double‐blind study. Patients less than 17 years of age undergoing cardiac surgery were enrolled. Patients were randomized into the heparin or papaverine groups. Immediately after arterial line insertion, an intraarterial bolus of heparin (2 units/ml, 1 ml) or papaverine (0.12 mg/ml, 1 ml) was administered (T1, Figure 1). An optimal waveform was defined as the ease of aspirating a standardized blood sample within 30 s, absence of cavitation when sampling, absence of color change at the catheter site during injection, and presence of a dicrotic notch. The primary outcome evaluated was the presence of an optimal arterial waveform at 5 min after the first randomized dose (T1 + 5 min). The secondary outcomes were the presence of optimal arterial waveform an hour after the first dose and the ability of papaverine to rescue suboptimal waveforms.

Results

A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study. Twelve patients were excluded from the analysis. Complete datasets after randomization were available in 88 patients (heparin group, n = 46; papaverine group, n = 42). At baseline, groups were similar for age, weight, arterial vessel size, and arterial line patency. At T1 + 5 min, an improvement in the waveform characteristics was observed in the papaverine group (heparin,39% [8/46] vs. papaverine, 64% [27/42]; p = .02; odds ratio, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2 to 6.6, Figure 3, Table 2). At the end of 1 h, both groups showed continued improvement in arterial line patency. After the second dose, a higher number of patients in the heparin group had suboptimal waveforms and were treated with papaverine (heparin,37% [17/46] vs. papaverine,17% [7/42], p = .05). Patients in the heparin group treated with papaverine showed significant improvement in patency (13/17 vs. 3/7, p = .01). No serious adverse events were reported.

Conclusions

In pediatric patients, papaverine injection immediately after peripheral arterial catheter placement was associated with relief of vasospasm and improved initial arterial line patency. Further, papaverine can be used as a rescue to improve and maintain arterial line patency.
Presentation and outcomes of post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder at a single institution pediatric transplant center
Authors: Ramos‐Gonzalez Gabriel , Crum Robert , Allain Alec , Agur Timna , O’Melia Laura , Staffa Steven , Burchett Sandra K. , Siegele Bradford , Weinberg Olga , Rodig Nancy M. , Fawaz Rima , Singh Tajinder P , Freiberger Dawn A. , Bae Kim Heung
Published: March 2022

Background

This study aimed to characterize features present at the time of diagnosis and describe outcomes in patients with post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) following pediatric solid organ transplantation.

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of solid organ transplant patients who developed pathologically confirmed PTLD at our center from 2006 to 2016.

Results

Of 594 patients included in this study, 41(6.9%) were diagnosed with PTLD. Median age at transplant was 5.6(IQR 1.7–16.1) years. Proportion of PTLD cases by organ transplanted and median time (IQR) to disease onset were: heart 11/144(7.6%) at 13.6(8.5–55.6) months, lung 7/52(13.5%) at 9.1(4.9–35) months, kidney 8/255(3.1%) at 39.5(13.9–57.1) months, liver 12/125(9.6%) at 7.7(5.5–22) months, intestine 0/4(0%), and multi‐visceral 3/14(21.4%) at 5.4(5.4–5.6) months. No significant correlation was seen between recipient EBV status at transplant and timing of development of PTLD. There were six early lesions, 15 polymorphic, 19 monomorphic, and one uncharacterizable PTLD. Following immunosuppression reduction, 30 patients received rituximab, and 14 required chemotherapy. At median 25(IQR 12–53) months follow‐up from the onset of PTLD, eight patients died secondary to transplant related complications, three are alive with active disease, and 30 have no evidence of disease.

Conclusion

PTLD is a significant complication following pediatric solid organ transplantation. EBV levels in conjunction with symptomatic presentation following transplant may assist in detection of PTLD. Most patients can achieve long‐term disease‐free survival through immunosuppression reduction, anti‐CD20 treatment, and chemotherapy in refractory cases.
The rationale and clinical potential of on‐line hemodiafiltration as renal replacement therapy
Authors: Canaud Bernard , Davenport Andrew
Published: March 2022

On‐line hemodiafiltration (ol‐HDF) was developed in the 1980s in response to the unmet medical needs observed with conventional low‐ and high‐flux hemodialysis. Firstly, the limited overall efficacy of conventional HD treatment programs as compared to native kidney function has been consistently documented over the broad MW spectrum of uremic toxins as well as fluid volume and hemodynamic control. Secondly, the unphysiological profile of intermittent treatment leading to repetitive dialysis‐induced hemodynamic stress is now a well‐recognized component of cardiovascular disease and end organ damage. Thirdly, the bioincompatibility of patient‐dialysis system leading to dialysis‐induced biological reactions also identified as contributing to dialytic morbidity and mortality. To overcome these limitations and pitfalls, alternative convective‐based therapies (hemofiltration and hemodiafiltration), using higher hemoincompatible membranes and ultrapure dialysis fluid, were proposed as a solution to enhance and enlarge MW spectrum of uremic compounds cleared and to reduce dialysis‐patient biological interactions. In this context, online HDF appeared soon as the best viable and efficient renal replacement modality to cover these needs. Clinical development and implementation of ol‐HDF showed also that dialytic convective dose matters with a threshold point (23 L/1.73 m2 in postdilution mode) to observe clinical benefits and outcomes improvements.
Competence Issue Ownership, Issue Positions and the Vote for the Greens and the Social Democrats
Authors: Petitpas Adrien , Sciarini Pascal
Published: March 2022

Applying a consideration set approach to panel data, we contribute to the literature on intra‐bloc voting by studying the vote for the Greens and the Social Democrats in the 2019 Swiss elections. Theoretically, because the two parties are ideologically and programmatically so similar, we argue that potential left‐wing voters have a hard time making a final choice based on issue positions, and rely instead on their evaluations of parties' issue competence. The empirical tests partly support our expectations. Maintaining or shifting the attribution of competence on the environment to the Greens during the election campaign prompts potential left‐wing voters to end up voting for the Greens; similar effects hold for the Social Democrats regarding social policy. Yet, this does not wipe out the impact of issue positions, which also help potential left‐wing voters decide between the Greens and the Social Democrats. These results have important theoretical and practical implications.
Autonomous Closed-Loop Experimental Characterization and Dynamic Model Validation of a Scaled Underwater Kite
Authors: Abney Andrew , Reed James , Naik Kartik , Bryant Samuel , Herbert Dillon , Leonard Zak , Vadlamannati Ashwin , Mook Mariah , Beknalkar Sumedh , Alvarez Miguel , Granlund Kenneth , Bryant Matthew , Mazzoleni Andre , Fathy Hosam , Vermillion Chris
Published: March 2022

This paper presents the closed-loop experimental framework and dynamic model validation for a 1/12-scale underwater kite design. The pool-based tow testing framework described herein, which involves a fully actuated, closed-loop controlled kite and flexible tether, significantly expands upon the capabilities of any previously developed open-source framework for experimental underwater kite characterization. Specifically, the framework has allowed for the validation of three closed-loop flight control strategies, along with a critical comparison between dynamic model predictions and experimental results. In this paper, we provide a detailed presentation of the experimental tow system and kite setup, describe the control algorithms implemented and tested, and quantify the level of agreement between our multi-degree-of-freedom kite dynamic model and experimental data. We also present a sensitivity analysis that helps to identify the most influential parameters to kite performance and further explain the remaining mismatches between the model and data.
Long dead winos
Authors: Goodsell Mark D. , Priya Lakshmi
Published: March 2022

We describe a new code and approach using particle-level information to recast the recent CMS disappearing track searches including all Run 2 data. Notably, the simulation relies on knowledge of the detector geometry, and we also include the simulation of pileup events directly rather than as an efficiency function. We validate it against provided acceptances and cutflows, and use it in combination with heavy stable charged particle searches to place limits on winos with any proper decay length above a centimetre. We also provide limits for a simple model of a charged scalar that is only produced in pairs, that decays to electrons plus an invisible fermion.
Market segmentation in the emoji era
Authors: Fresneda Jorge , Hui Jeremy , Hill Chelsey
Published: March 2022

A better understanding and use of unstructured data can improve customer loyalty and relationships for most organizations.
Federated learning and privacy
Authors: Bonawitz Kallista , Kairouz Peter , Mcmahan Brendan , Ramage Daniel
Published: March 2022

Building privacy-preserving systems for machine learning and data science on decentralized data.
Beating the house
Authors: Shasha Dennis
Published: March 2022

Ante up.
Encapsulins
Authors: Giessen Tobias W.
Published: March 2022

Subcellular compartmentalization is a defining feature of all cells. In prokaryotes, compartmentalization is generally achieved via protein-based strategies. The two main classes of microbial protein compartments are bacterial microcompartments and encapsulin nanocompartments. Encapsulins self-assemble into proteinaceous shells with diameters between 24 and 42 nm and are defined by the viral HK97-fold of their shell protein. Encapsulins have the ability to encapsulate dedicated cargo proteins, including ferritin-like proteins, peroxidases, and desulfurases. Encapsulation is mediated by targeting sequences present in all cargo proteins. Encapsulins are found in many bacterial and archaeal phyla and have been suggested to play roles in iron storage, stress resistance, sulfur metabolism, and natural product biosynthesis. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that they share a common ancestor with viral capsid proteins. Many pathogens encode encapsulins, and recent evidence suggests that they may contribute toward pathogenicity. The existing information on encapsulin structure, biochemistry, biological function, and biomedical relevance is reviewed here.
The Wnt Pathway: From Signaling Mechanisms to Synthetic Modulators
Authors: Rim Ellen Youngsoo , Clevers Hans , Nusse Roel
Published: March 2022

The Wnt pathway is central to a host of developmental and disease-related processes. The remarkable conservation of this intercellular signaling cascade throughout metazoan lineages indicates that it coevolved with multicellularity to regulate the generation and spatial arrangement of distinct cell types. By regulating cell fate specification, mitotic activity, and cell polarity, Wnt signaling orchestrates development and tissue homeostasis, and its dysregulation is implicated in developmental defects, cancer, and degenerative disorders. We review advances in our understanding of this key pathway, from Wnt protein production and secretion to relay of the signal in the cytoplasm of the receiving cell. We discuss the evolutionary history of this pathway as well as endogenous and synthetic modulators of its activity. Finally, we highlight remaining gaps in our knowledge of Wnt signal transduction and avenues for future research.
On the Studies of Dendrimers via Connection-Based Molecular Descriptors
Authors: Sattar Aqsa , Javaid Muhammad , Alam Md Nur
Published: March 2022

Topological indices (TIs) have been utilized widely to characterize and model the chemical structures of various molecular compounds such as dendrimers, neural networks, and nanotubes. Dendrimers are extraordinarily comprehensible, globular, artificially synthesized polymers with a structure of frequently branched units. A mathematical approach to characterize the molecular structures by manipulating the topological techniques, including numerical graphs invariants is the present-day line of research in chemistry. Among all the defined descriptors, the connection-based Zagreb indices are considered to be more effective than the other classical indices. In this manuscript, we find the general results to compute the Zagreb connection indices (ZCIs), namely, first ZCI (1st ZCI), second ZCI (2nd ZCI), modified 1st ZCI, modified 2nd ZCI, and modified 3rd ZCI. Furthermore, we compute the multiplicative ZCI (MZCI), namely, first MZCI (1st MZCI), second MZCI (2nd MZCI), third MZCI (3rd MZCI), fourth MZCI (4th MZCI), modified 1st MZCI, modified 2nd MZCI, and modified 3rd MZCI. In addition, we compare the calculated values with each other in order to check the superiority.
1,25(OH)2D3 Mitigates Oxidative Stress-Induced Damage to Nucleus Pulposus-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells through PI3K/Akt Pathway
Authors: Wang Jun-wu , Zhu Lei , Shi Peng-zhi , Wang Ping-chuan , Dai Yan , Wang Yong-xiang , Lu Xu-hua , Cheng Xiao-fei , Feng Xin-min , Zhang Liang
Published: March 2022

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is one of the main causes of low back pain. The local environment of the degenerated intervertebral disc (IVD) increases oxidative stress and apoptosis of endogenous nucleus pulposus-derived mesenchymal stem cells (NPMSCs) and weakens its ability of endogenous repair ability in degenerated IVDs. A suitable concentration of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) has been certified to reduce oxidative stress and cell apoptosis. The current study investigated the protective effect and potential mechanism of 1,25(OH)2D3 against oxidative stress-induced damage to NPMSCs. The present results showed that 1,25(OH)2D3 showed a significant protective effect on NPMSCs at a concentration of 10-10 M for 24 h. Protective effects of 1,25(OH)2D3 were also exhibited against H2O2-induced NPMSC senescence, mitochondrial dysfunction, and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. The Annexin V/PI apoptosis detection assay, TUNEL assay, immunofluorescence, western blot, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay showed that pretreatment with 1,25(OH)2D3 could alleviate H2O2-induced NPMSC apoptosis, including the apoptosis rate and the expression of proapoptotic-related (Caspase-3 and Bax) and antiapoptotic-related (Bcl-2) proteins. The intracellular expression of p-Akt increased after pretreatment with 1,25(OH)2D3. However, these protective effects of 1,25(OH)2D3 were significantly decreased after the PI3K/Akt pathway was inhibited by the LY294002 treatment. In vivo, X-ray, MRI, and histological analyses showed that 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment relieved the degree of IVDD in Sprague–Dawley rat disc puncture models. In summary, 1,25(OH)2D3 efficiently attenuated oxidative stress-induced NPMSC apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction via PI3K/Akt pathway and is a promising candidate treatment for the repair of IVDD.
IoT-DeepSense: Behavioral Security Detection of IoT Devices Based on Firmware Virtualization and Deep Learning
Authors: Wang Jin , Liu Chang , Xu Jiangpei , Wang Juan , Hao Shirong , Yi Wenzhe , Zhong Jing
Published: March 2022

Recently, IoT devices have become the targets of large-scale cyberattacks, and their security issues have been increasingly serious. However, due to the limited memory and battery power of IoT devices, it is hardly possible to install traditional security software, such as antivirus software for security defense. Meanwhile, network-based traffic detection is difficult to obtain the internal behavior states and conduct in-depth security analysis because more and more IoT devices use encrypted traffic. Therefore, how to obtain complex security behaviors and states inside IoT devices and perform security detection and defense is an issue that needs to be solved urgently. Aiming at this issue, we propose IoT-DeepSense, a behavioral security detection system of IoT devices based on firmware virtualization and deep learning. IoT-DeepSense constructs the real operating environment of the IoT device system to capture the fine-grained system behaviors and then leverages an LSTM-based IoT system behavior abnormality detection approach to effectively extract the hidden features of the system’s behavior sequence and enforce the security detection of the abnormal behavior of the IoT devices. The design and implementation of IoT-DeepSense are carried out on an independent Internet of things behavior detection server, without modifying the limited resources of IoT devices, and have strong scalability. The evaluation results show that IoT-DeepSense achieves a high behavioral detection rate of 92%, with negligible impact on the performance of IoT devices.
Hepatoprotective Effect of Actinidia deliciosa against Streptozotocin-Induced Oxidative Stress, Apoptosis, and Inflammations in Rats
Authors: El-Demerdash Fatma M. , Talaat Yousra , El-Sayed Raghda A. , Kang Wenyi , Ghanem Nora F.
Published: March 2022

The present research intended to assess the possible protective and hypoglycemic effect of Actinidia deliciosa fruit aqueous extract (ADAE) in diabetic rats. The scavenging antioxidant capabilities of ADAE were evaluated using GC-MS analysis. In addition, rats were divided into four groups: control, ADAE, streptozotocin-induced DM (STZ), and STZ-treated rats + ADAE in an in vivo investigation. GC-MS analysis of ADAE was shown to include major components with high total phenolic contents and high DPPH scavenging activity. In diabetic rats, significant elevation in blood glucose level, lipid peroxidation, bilirubin, and lactate dehydrogenase activity as well as a change in lipid profile was observed, while insulin, body and liver weights, enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants, liver function biomarkers, and protein content were significantly decreased. Furthermore, changes in the expression of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-γ), apoptotic, and inflammation-related genes were found. In addition, histological differences in rat liver tissue architecture were discovered, corroborating the biochemical modifications. However, consuming ADAE alone reduced lipid peroxidation and improved antioxidant status. Furthermore, diabetic rats given ADAE showed significant reductions in oxidative stress indicators and biochemical parameters, as well as improved tissue structure, when compared to the diabetic rats’ group. Also, ADAE supplementation protects diabetic rats’ hepatic tissue by upregulating PPAR-γ and downregulating apoptotic and inflammatory-related gene expression. In conclusion, A. deliciosa has beneficial protective effects so, it might be used as a complementary therapy in diabetes mellitus.
In-House Validated Map of Lymph Node Stations in a Prospective Cohort of Colorectal Cancer: A Tool for a Better Preoperative Staging
Authors: Simu Patricia , Jung Ioan , Banias Laura , Fulop Zsolt Zoltan , Bara Tivadar , Simu Iunius , Andone Sebastian , Staden Raluca Ioana Stefan-van , Satala Catalin Bogdan , Halmaciu Ioana , Gurzu Simona
Published: March 2022

Preoperative staging of colorectal cancer (CRC) based on imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial for identification and then removal of the positive lymph nodes (LNs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between preoperatively seen morphologic criteria (number, size, shape, structure, borders, or enhancement patterns) and histopathological features of LNs using an in-house validated map of nodal stations. A total of 112 patients with CRC that underwent surgery were preoperatively evaluated by CT scans. The locoregional, intermediate, and central LNs were CT-mapped and then removed during open laparotomy and examined under microscope. The analysis of correlations was interpreted using the suspicious-to-positive ratio (SPR) parameter. The greatest correlation was found in tumors located in the sigmoid colon, descending colon and middle rectum; SPR value was 1.12, 1.18, and 1.26, respectively. SPR proved to be 0.59 for cases of the transverse colon. Regarding the enhancement type, the dotted pattern was mostly correlated with metastatic LNs (OR: 7.84;

p
<
0.0001

), while the homogenous pattern proved a reliable indicator of nonmetastatic LNs (OR: 1.99;

p
<
0.05

). A total of 1809 LNs were harvested, with a median value of

15
±
1.34

LNs/case. Transdisciplinary approach of CRC focused on pre-, intra-, and postoperatively mapping of LNs might increase the accuracy of detecting metastasized nodes for tumors of the distal colon and middle rectum but not for those of the transverse colon. In addition to morphologic criteria, the enhancement pattern of LNs can be used as a predictor of nodal involvement improving the CT-based preoperative staging.
Deep Learning-Based Channel Reciprocity Learning for Physical Layer Secret Key Generation
Authors: He Haoyu , Chen Yanru , Huang Xinmao , Xing Minghai , Li Yang , Xing Bin , Chen Liangyin
Published: March 2022

Using the physical layer channel information of wireless devices to establish the highly consistent secret keys is a promising technology for improving the security of wireless networks. Nevertheless, in the time division duplex system, the reciprocity of the wireless channel that is the basic principle of key generation is impaired by nonsimultaneous sampling and noise factors. Existing physical layer key generation approaches rely on hand-crafted feature extraction algorithms, which have high overhead or security issues and are impractical in real-world situations. This paper presents a novel physical layer key generation method to extract highly consistent keys from imperfect channel responses, which exploits channel reciprocity through deep learning. Specifically, we first design the Channel Reciprocity Learning Net (CRLNet), a neural network for efficiently learning channel reciprocity features from the wireless channel in TDD OFDM systems. Later, a new key generation scheme based on CRLNet is developed that can achieve a high key agreement rate. Experiments indicate that the CRLNet-based key generation scheme performs excellently in terms of key generation rate, key error rate, and randomness, confirming that our method has better performance and lower overhead than existing methods.
Data-Driven Method for Predicting Soil Pressure of Foot Blades within a Large Underwater Caisson
Authors: Huang Can , Zhu Hao , Li Kunyao , Zheng Jianxin , Li Hao , Li Jiaming , Xiao Yao
Published: March 2022

The soil pressure on the bottom surface of the foot blades is an important monitoring point during the sinking process of large underwater caissons. Complex soil-structure interactions occur during the sinking process, making it difficult to accurately predict the soil pressure of foot blades. Accurate construction processes often rely on data from the soil pressure of foot blades in the field. In this study, a data-driven approach is used to establish the relationship between the amount of sinking of the caisson and the soil pressure of foot blades. Furthermore, by improving the splitting method of the original Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm, a single model’s numerical prediction of 80-foot blades soil pressures is realized. The improved CART model, multilayer perceptron (MLP), long short-term memory (LSTM), and a linear regression model are compared through a comprehensive multiparameter evaluation method. Finally, this article discusses the deployment scheme of the model by comparing and analyzing the data in the time period of 10 : 00 on July 29, 2020, and 23 : 00 on August 7, 2020. The experimental results can satisfy the engineering demands and provide a basis for further data-driven intelligent control of large caisson sinking.
Role of Molecular Hydrogen in Ageing and Ageing-Related Diseases
Authors: Fu Zhiling , Zhang Jin , Zhang Yan
Published: March 2022

Ageing is a physiological process of progressive decline in the organism function over time. It affects every organ in the body and is a significant risk for chronic diseases. Molecular hydrogen has therapeutic and preventive effects on various organs. It has antioxidative properties as it directly neutralizes hydroxyl radicals and reduces peroxynitrite level. It also activates Nrf2 and HO-1, which regulate many antioxidant enzymes and proteasomes. Through its antioxidative effect, hydrogen maintains genomic stability, mitigates cellular senescence, and takes part in histone modification, telomere maintenance, and proteostasis. In addition, hydrogen may prevent inflammation and regulate the nutrient-sensing mTOR system, autophagy, apoptosis, and mitochondria, which are all factors related to ageing. Hydrogen can also be used for prevention and treatment of various ageing-related diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, and cancer. This paper reviews the basic research and recent application of hydrogen in order to support hydrogen use in medicine for ageing prevention and ageing-related disease therapy.
Neural Network-Based Approach for Evaluating College English Teaching Methodology
Authors: Wang Yue , Zhang Ying , Dong Zhigui
Published: March 2022

A fair and scientific method of evaluating collegiate English instruction is currently lacking. Traditional methods are commonly used to evaluate the quality of college English education in terms of the standard statistical analysis evaluation model. As the evaluation of English teaching is a nonlinear issue, the above strategies have achieved some good results but have certain limitations. They are not scientific and objective in the selection of evaluation indicators, or in the setting of evaluation index weights, and there is a certain degree of subjectivity. Artificial neural network (ANN) is widely used in massive fields due to its characteristics of nonlinear processing, adaptive learning, and high fault tolerance. As a kind of neural network, BP neural network has strong nonlinear mapping ability, so it is feasible and scientific to solve the nonlinear relationship of college English teaching evaluation (ETE). Therefore, in this work, we first designed an ETE system index. Then, a strategy of college ETE with BP network is designed, which can carry out high-performance modeling for the designed teaching evaluation index. In order to alleviate the issue of slow convergence speed for BP network and fall into local optimum, this work also combines particle swarm algorithm with BP network to further improve network performance. Massive experiments have proved the reliability and effectiveness of this work.
Ketone Body β-Hydroxybutyrate Prevents Myocardial Oxidative Stress in Septic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Ji Liwei , He Qinqin , Liu Yinghai , Deng Yan , Xie Maodi , Luo Kaiteng , Cai Xintian , Zuo Yunxia , Wu Wei , Li Qian , Zhou Ronghua , Li Tao
Published: March 2022

Septic cardiomyopathy is a life-threatening complication of severe sepsis and septic shock. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction have been identified as significant abnormalities in septic cardiomyopathy. However, specific treatments are rare. This study aims to investigate the impact of β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB) on septic cardiomyopathy and explore the underlying mechanism(s). We found that pretreatment of D-β-hydroxybutyrate-(R)-1,3 butanediol monoester (ketone ester, 3 mg/g body weight, once daily) by gavage for three days elevated the levels of ketone bodies, especially that of β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB) in the circulation and mouse hearts, which exerted a protective effect against lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 20 mg/kg)-induced septic cardiomyopathy in mice. In addition, an LPS-stimulated macrophage-conditioned medium (MCM) was used to mimic the pathological process of septic cardiomyopathy. Mechanistically, β-OHB alleviated myocardial oxidative stress and improved mitochondrial respiratory function through the antioxidant FoxO3a/MT2 pathway activated via histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition, which ultimately enhanced heart performance in septic cardiomyopathy. Our results, therefore, suggested an unappreciated critical role of β-OHB in septic heart protection as well as highlighted the potential of β-OHB as a simple remedy for the septic cardiomyopathy population.
Intelligent Monitoring System for Prison Perimeter Based on Cloud Intelligence Technology
Authors: Pan Tiande
Published: March 2022

In order to realize the security of prison perimeter, a prison perimeter intelligent monitoring system based on cloud intelligence technology is designed. Based on the multisupply chain collaboration framework, the prison network interface submodule and sniffer monitoring structure are connected on demand to complete the hardware execution environment of the prison perimeter intelligent monitoring system. Analyze the specific service mode of the cloud smart technology host, set the necessary cloud smart technology service monitoring protocol, judge the processing information parameters, select the prison perimeter remote communication port number, set the prison perimeter network IP address and password program, complete the construction of the software execution environment of the monitoring system, and intelligently monitor and track the abnormal conditions around the prison; combined with the relevant hardware and software structure, the design of prison perimeter intelligent monitoring system based on cloud intelligence technology is realized. The experimental results show that the DPI index of the designed system has an obvious upward trend, and the processing results are close to the original image results to avoid the impact caused by the change of monitoring scene.
The Multifactor Quantitative Investment Model Based on Association Rule Mining and Machine Learning
Authors: Yi Kefu
Published: March 2022

The security information database has accumulated a large amount of historical data due to the continuing development of the securities market. People are concerned about how to fully utilize these data to investigate the securities market’s law. In the financial field, financial asset pricing is a major issue. To some extent, the size of the return is determined by the difference between asset prices and their intrinsic value. The total global investment scale of quantitative funds will surpass 20 billion yuan by the end of 2021. Global asset management firms have turned to quantitative funds as their most important investment tool. Quantitative investment applies a specific investment idea to a specific model by creating specific indicators and parameters and then executes the investment strategy, greatly increasing the breadth and depth of investment. The goal of investors is to understand risk and maximize returns on investment. Researchers and investors alike value quantitative investment because of its scientific and efficient operation. In quantitative stock selection, a multifactor stock selection model is a critical tool for building a portfolio. This paper builds a multifactor investment strategy based on the relevant factors of corporate finance and valuation, selects the portfolio, and calculates the excess return using a machine learning classification algorithm.
Intrauterine Growth Retardation Affects Intestinal Health of Suckling Piglets via Altering Intestinal Antioxidant Capacity, Glucose Uptake, Tight Junction, and Immune Responses
Authors: Tang Xiaopeng , Xiong Kangning
Published: March 2022

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) on the intestinal morphology, intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis, intestinal antioxidant capacity, intestinal glucose absorption capacity, and intestinal barrier function of piglets during the suckling period. A total of eight normal-birth-weight (NBW) piglets and eight IUGR newborn piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) were selected from eight litters, one NBW and one IUGR newborn piglet per litter. In each litter, piglets with birth weight of

1.54
±
0.04
 
kg

(within one SD of the mean birth weight) were selected as NBW piglets and piglets with birth weight of

0.82
±
0.03
 
kg

(two SD below the mean birth weight) were selected as IUGR piglets. At 21 days of age, all piglets were killed by exsanguinations for sampling. The results showed the body weight (BW) of IUGR piglets on day 0, day 7, day 14, and day 21, and the body weight gain (BWG) of IUGR piglets was significantly lower than that of NBW piglets. IUGR piglets exhibited impaired intestinal morphology, raised enterocyte apoptosis, and increased oxidative damage. It showed that IUGR leads to a lower antioxidant capacity and glucose absorption in the jejunum. In accordance, IUGR caused the intestinal barrier dysfunction by impairing tight junctions and increasing intestinal inflammatory injury. Collectively, these results add to our understanding that IUGR affects intestinal health of suckling piglets via altering intestinal antioxidant capacity, glucose uptake, tight junction, and immune responses, and the slow growth of piglets with IUGR may be associated with intestinal injury.
A Study of Different Existing Methods for the Stock Selection in the Field of Quantitative Investment
Authors: Li Pengfei , Xu Jungang
Published: March 2022

Due to the computer’s powerful data computing ability, more and more traditional investors pay attention to computer-based quantitative investment. Moreover, computer-based quantitative investment has gradually replaced some traditional investment methods which rely on subjective judgments. As a typical quantitative trading strategy, stock selection has attracted a lot of attention. And many researchers have put forward various methods and published a large number of research results. In particular, with the development of artificial intelligence technology, an increasing number of researchers try to apply different machine learning and deep learning methods to this field to obtain more stable and efficient stock selection models. Even though there is a growing interest in developing methods for stock selection, there is a lack of review papers that are solely focused on different types of methods for stock selection. Hence, our motivation in this paper is to provide a comprehensive literature review on different types of methods for stock selection in the field of quantitative investment. Firstly, we introduce the basic concept of stock selection. Secondly, according to the classification of traditional methods and machine learning methods, we introduce the widely used stock selection methods in detail. Then, we give a statistical analysis about the relevant literatures in this field. Finally, the stock selection methods are summarized. The main contribution of this paper is we analyse various quantitative analysis methods from the perspective of stock selection for the first time. And it has some guidance for researchers who engaged in quantitative trading or interested in quantitative investment, and they will benefit from it.
Analytical Fuzzy Analysis of a Fractional-Order Newell-Whitehead-Segel Model with Mittag-Leffler Kernel
Authors: Alkhezi Yousuf , Shah Nehad Ali , Ntwiga Davis Bundi
Published: March 2022

In this paper, the method for evaluating an analytical solution of fuzzy Newell-Whitehead-Segel equation with certain affecting terms of force has been given. The notions of an Atangana-Baleanu-Caputo derivative in the vague or uncertainty form are used to reach this type of result for the solution as mentioned earlier. The fuzzy Laplace transformation is implemented at the first attempt to achieve the series form result. Secondly, the iterative method is applied to investigate the suggested solution by inverse Laplace transform. Some new solutions on the Laplace transform of an arbitrary derivative under uncertainty are presented. The solution has been provided in terms of infinite series for the research, which reduces the problem to a few equations. The required results are then calculated in a series solution form that quickly leads to the analytical answer. The solution is divided into two sections, or fuzzy branches, the lower and upper branches. We proved certain test problems to demonstrate the effectiveness of the recommended approach.