bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Penanggulangan Nikah Sirri Di Kota Samarinda
Authors: Wardana Mohammad Syahrul
Published: March 2023

Pernikahan sirri merupakan pernikahan yang hanya memenuhi syarat dan rukun dalam agama Islam dan tidak dicatatkan dalam Kantor Urusan Agama (KUA) yang dapat menimbulkan dampak terabaikannya hak anak dan istri, sehingga berdasarkan Fatwa MUI Tahun 2008 menetapkan bahwa nikah sirri dinyatakan haram. Terlebih lagi, dengan melihat angka nikah sirri yang masih terbilang tinggi di Kota Samarinda dalam laporan tahunan Pengadilan Agama Samarinda pada tahun 2016-2020. Adapun penelitian ini merupakan penelitian yuridis empiris yang menggunakan fakta di lapangan, data nikah sirri di Pengadilan Agama Samarinda, fatwa MUI dan pendapat para ulama. Sehingga dapat diketahui bagaimana sikap serta perannya terhadap nikah sirri. Hasil penelitian ini adalah, Pertama, data nikah sirri yang didapatkan dari Pengadilan Agama Samarinda pada tahun 2016-2020 telah terdaftar sebanyak 944 perkara pengajuan isbat nikah. Para tokoh agama sebagian besar memaknai nikah sirri yang hukumnya hanya sah secara agama namun tidak sah secara negara. Kedua, para tokoh agama yang menyadari bahwa sejatinya tidak memiliki hak dan kewajiban yang diberikan pemimpin negara, sepakat untuk menolak menikahkan masyarakat secara sirri dan melakukan edukasi guna memberikan pengetahuan mengenai dampak nikah sirri yang dapat mendzolimi istri dan anaknya dikemudian hari.
MODERATE IMPACT OF GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ON FIRM VALUE
Authors: Pamungkas Imang Dapit
Published: March 2023

This research examines the effect of the firm value, managerial ownership and institutional ownership as moderating variables to moderate the relationship of financial performance to the firm value. This research population uses properties and real estate sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2017-2020 with a total sample of 193. This type of research is a quantitative research using secondary data. The study used Warp-PLS analysis tool version 7.0. Sampling techniques use purposive sampling that aims to obtain samples that fit the criteria set by the author. Financial performance has no effect on the value of properties and real estate sector companies for the period 2017-2020. The results of this study found that managerial ownership is not able to moderate the relationship between financial performance to the value of the company. However, institutional ownership can moderate financial performance against the firm value in the properties and real estate sectors for the period 2017-2020. Suggestions for further researchers to be able to add other variables that affect the value of the company, using other aspects such as profitability in measuring financial performance. Further researchers can also expand or use research objects other than the properties and real estate sectors to discover the results of different studies.
THE EFFECT OF OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION AND LEVERAGE AGAINST EARNINGS MANAGEMENT WITH FIRM SIZE AS A MODERATING VARIABLE
Authors: Septiana Elly , Fitrios Ruhul , Supriono Supriono
Published: March 2023

This research aims to assign the respective effects of ownership concentration, and leverage on earnings management with firm size as the moderating variable. There are 12 data on State-Owned Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2017 to 2020 which were used as research data samples so 48 samples were obtained using the purposive sampling method. This is study uses data analysis techniques use the Eviews.12 Student Lite program. The results of the partial test (t-test) show that ownership concentration and leverage have an effect on earnings management. The output of the MRA test prove that firm size is able to moderate the relationship between leverage and earnings management. However, this research does not prove that firm size is capable to moderate the respective intercourse between ownership concentration in earnings management.
Nocturnal Non-Invasive Ventilation for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Final Breakthrough?
Authors: Legg Ewen
Published: March 2023

Prof Windisch opened the symposium on the efficacy of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Dr Jean-Louis Pepin summarised the evidence for efficacy of NIV in subgroups of COPD patients. Dr Thomas Köhnlein focused on a recently-published randomised trial showing a major reduction in mortality following NIV aimed at a marked reduction in carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO2), while Dr Michael Dreher illustrated the place of NIV in patients with recent exacerbations.
Novel Insights Into Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): An Overview
Authors: Singh Sohal Sukhwinder , Eapen Mathew Suji , Dhar Shukla Shakti , Courtney Jo-Maree , Mahmood Malik Quasir , Haydn Walters Eugene
Published: March 2023

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is mainly caused by smoking and presents with shortness of breath that is progressive and irreversible. It is a worldwide health problem and the fourth most common cause of chronic disability and mortality, even in developed countries. It is a complex disease in which both the airway and lung parenchyma are involved. In this review we will be mainly focusing on the airway component of the disease. We have reviewed the current literature on airway inflammation and remodelling in smoking-related COPD. It is not only the tobacco smoking which can lead to chronic inflammation, but also the persistent presence of pathogenic microorganisms in the airways. Detailed data on these in COPD are sparse. One potential mechanism contributing to small airway fibrosis/obliteration and change in extracellular matrix is epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). When associated with angiogenesis (so called EMT-Type-3) it may well also be the link with the development of cancer, which is closely associated with COPD, predominantly in large airways. In this paper we focused on: 1) the role of inflammation in developing COPD; 2) recent observations on structural and cellular changes which might have relevance to a major feature of COPD that is poorly understood, namely, the striking vulnerability of patients with COPD to develop lung cancer; 3) the potential role of respiratory infections in COPD.
Neuroendocrine Tumour of the Prostate: A Rare Variant
Authors: Cakici Ozer Ural , Sungu Nuran , Cimen Haci Ibrahim , Canda Abdullah Erdem , Fuat Atmaca Ali Fuat
Published: March 2023

About 95% of prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas. Neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) is seen in virtually all cases of prostatic carcinoma, mostly in a focal pattern. Extensive NED is associated to aggressive disease with a poor prognosis and most cases are diagnosed in advanced stages.We present a 79-year- old male who was admitted to our department with severe lower urinary tract obstructive symptoms and weight loss. On digital rectal examination, the prostate was fixed to the rectum with irregular margins. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was 1.9 ng/ml.Transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies revealed small-cell carcinoma of the prostate. Multiple metastatic lesions in vertebral bones and iliac lymph nodes were detected by nuclear bone scan and abdominal computerised tomography CT. Thereafter, the patient was treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy and palliative radiotherapy.
EFEKTIVITAS PENGGUNAAN METODE DAMAGE AND LOSS ASSESSMENT (DaLA) DALAM MENINGKATKAN PELAYANAN PEMULIHAN PASCA BENCANA DI KABUPATEN BOGOR PROVINSI JAWA BARAT
Authors: Nugroho Farhan Mulyo , Ristiani Ida Yunari
Published: March 2023

Kabupaten Bogor yang juga memiliki potensi bencana yang termasuk sangat tinggi, yang dapat dilihat dari segi banyaknya jumlah kejadian bencana maupun dampak yang dihasilkan berupa kerusakan/kerugian yang ditimbulkan. Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah Kabupaten Bogor dalam mengkaji tingkat kerusakan dan kerugian akibat bencana menggunakan metode Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA). Tujuan penelitian untuk mengetahui efektivitas penggunaan metode Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) dalam meningkatkan pelayanan pemulihan pasca bencana di Kabupaten Bogor. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan secara observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Tahapan analisis data melalui reduksi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan Berdasarkan hasil penelitian didapatkan bahwa metode ini dinilai sudah efektif pada dimensi pemahaman program, ketepatan sasaran, tercapainya tujuan dan juga perubahan nyata. Tetapi masih ditemukan kekurangan dalam ketepatan waktu, yang mana pengkajian menggunakan metode ini sangat tergantung pada kondisiakibat bencana untuk mengetahui lamanya pengkajian.

Kata Kunci: efektivitas, metode Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA), pelayanan pemulihan pasca bencana
PERANAN SATUAN POLISI PAMONG PRAJA DALAM PENERTIBAN BANGUNAN LIAR DI KOTA TANGERANG
Authors: Salsabila Chika , Eviany Eva , Danial Lalu Muh. , Batubara Yusi Eva
Published: March 2023

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi karena pelanggaran Perda mengenai izin mendirikan bangunan masih marak terjadi akibat keterbatasan lahan kosong dan harga tanah yang semakin meningkat hingga kurangnya pemahaman masyarakat terhadap Perda yang berlaku. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana peranan Satpol PP dalam melakukan penertiban bangunan liar dan faktor-faktor yang menjadi penghambat dan pendukung serta upaya mengatasi hambatan tersebut dalam penertiban bangunan liar di Kota Tangerang. Metode yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif kualitatif dan menggunakan teknik pengumpulan data secara observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa, Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja Dalam Penertiban Bangunan Liar di Kota Tangerang sudah berperan dan berjalan namun belum maksimal. Hal tersebut disebabkan oleh faktor penghambat yaitu kurangnya personil, terbatasnya ketersediaan sarana dan prasarana, terbatasnya ketersediaan anggaran, kurangnya kesadaran masyarakat terhadap Perda yang berlaku. Serta faktor  pendukung yaitu kualitas Sumber Daya Manusia (SDM) yang baik, terjalinnya komunikasi dan koordinasi yang baik di lingkungan internal maupun eksternal Satpol PP Kota Tangerang. Oleh karena itu, direkomendasikan kepada Satpol PP Kota Tangerang agar dilakukan peningkatan sosialisasi Perda, peningkatan anggaran sarana dan prasarana, memberikan sanksi yang tegas terhadap pelanggar, serta dilakukan pendataan dan pelaporan yang akurat dan dibuat sistem untuk dinas- dinas terkait secara online agar setiap bangunan yang ada di Kota Tangerang dapat dipantau dengan mudah.

 

Kata Kunci: Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja, Penertiban, Bangunan Liar.
PENYELENGGARAAN FUNGSI PEMELIHARAAN KETENTERAMAN DAN KETERTIBAN UMUM OLEH SATUAN POLISI PAMONG PRAJA DI KOTA BOGOR
Authors: Rahmadanita Annisa , Nurrahman Agung
Published: March 2023

Kurangnya kesadaran masyarakat dalam menegakkan peraturan daerah berimplikasi pada terjadinya pelanggaran yang dilakukan oleh masyarakat di Kota Bogor. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan dan menganalisis penyelenggaraan fungsi pemeliharaan ketenteraman dan ketertiban umum oleh Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja di Kota Bogor. Metode penelitian adalah kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data melalui wawancara kepada 8 orang informan, dan dokumentasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penyelenggaraan fungsi pemeliharaan ketenteraman dan ketertiban umum oleh Satpol PP Kota Bogor meliputi kegiatan deteksi dan cegah dini, pembinaan, penyuluhan, patroli, pengamanan, pengawalan, penertiban dan penanganan unjuk rasa serta kerusuhan massa. Kesimpulan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penyelenggaraan fungsi pemeliharaan ketenteraman dan ketertiban umum masih dihadapkan pada permasalahan kurangnya kesadaran masyarakat terkait penegakkan peraturan daerah, dan terjadinya pelanggaran yang dilakukan oleh masyarakat. Di sisi lain, penyelenggaraan fungsi pemeliharaan ketenteraman dan ketertiban umum di Kota Bogor dilakukan dengan dukungan kekuatan personil Satpol PP, komunikasi dan koordinasi dengan berbagai pihak terkait, keterlibatan anggota masyarakat melalui inovasi kampung tertib. 

 

Kata Kunci: Fungsi Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja, Ketenteraman dan Ketertiban Umum,  Perlindungan Masyarakat.
Nucleotide detection mechanism and comparison based on low-dimensional materials: A review
Authors: Azeem M. Mustafa , Shafa Muhammad , Aamir Muhammad , Zubair Muhammad , Souayeh Basma , Alam Mir Waqas
Published: March 2023

The recent pandemic has led to the fabrication of new nucleic acid sensors that can detect infinitesimal limits immediately and effectively. Therefore, various techniques have been demonstrated using low-dimensional materials that exhibit ultrahigh detection and accuracy. Numerous detection approaches have been reported, and new methods for impulse sensing are being explored. All ongoing research converges at one unique point, that is, an impetus: the enhanced limit of detection of sensors. There are several reviews on the detection of viruses and other proteins related to disease control point of care; however, to the best of our knowledge, none summarizes the various nucleotide sensors and describes their limits of detection and mechanisms. To understand the far-reaching impact of this discipline, we briefly discussed conventional and nanomaterial-based sensors, and then proposed the feature prospects of these devices. Two types of sensing mechanisms were further divided into their sub-branches: polymerase chain reaction and photospectrometric-based sensors. The nanomaterial-based sensor was further subdivided into optical and electrical sensors. The optical sensors included fluorescence (FL), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), colorimetric, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), while electrical sensors included electrochemical luminescence (ECL), microfluidic chip, and field-effect transistor (FET). A synopsis of sensing materials, mechanisms, detection limits, and ranges has been provided. The sensing mechanism and materials used were discussed for each category in terms of length, collectively forming a fusing platform to highlight the ultrahigh detection technique of nucleotide sensors. We discussed potential trends in improving the fabrication of nucleotide nanosensors based on low-dimensional materials. In this area, particular aspects, including sensitivity, detection mechanism, stability, and challenges, were addressed. The optimization of the sensing performance and selection of the best sensor were concluded. Recent trends in the atomic-scale simulation of the development of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sensors using 2D materials were highlighted. A critical overview of the challenges and opportunities of deoxyribonucleic acid sensors was explored, and progress made in deoxyribonucleic acid detection over the past decade with a family of deoxyribonucleic acid sensors was described. Areas in which further research is needed were included in the future scope.
Medial-lateral translational malalignment of the prosthesis on tibial stress distribution in total knee arthroplasty: A finite element analysis
Authors: Zheng Zhiqian , Liu Yang , Zhang Aobo , Chen Hao , Wan Qian , Zhong Lei , Wang Xiaonan , Han Qing , Wang Jincheng
Published: March 2023

Background: Poor prosthesis alignment during total knee arthroplasty could cause problems such as polyethylene spacer wear, leading to surgical failure and revision surgery. The problems caused by the malalignment of the tibial plateau prosthesis in the medial and lateral planes are unclear. We aimed to investigate the stress distribution and micromotion of the tibia when the tibial plateau prosthesis is translated 1 and 2 mm medially and laterally, respectively, using finite element analysis (FEA).

Method: A non-homogeneous tibia model was created and load conditions when standing on two legs were applied using FEA to simulate the misaligned prosthesis. The stresses, stress distribution, and micromotion of the proximal tibia were analyzed in five positions of the tibial plateau prosthesis: Lateral-2 mm; Lateral-1 mm; Medium; Medial-2 mm; Medial-1 mm.

Result: The maximum stress in the five groups with different misalignments of the platform was 47.29 MPa (Lateral-2 mm). The maximum micromotion among the five groups in different positions was 7.215 μm (Lateral-2 mm).

Conclusion: When placing the tibial plateau prosthesis during total knee arthroplasty, an error of 2 mm or less is acceptable as long as it does not overhang.
Lessons learned and policy implications from climate-related planned relocation in Fiji and Australia
Authors: Piggott-McKellar Annah , Vella Karen
Published: March 2023

Planned Relocation is a form of mobility in response to climate-related shocks and slow onset change. While the primary focus of the seminal Foresight report on Migration and Environmental Change dealt with mobility processes of migration and displacement, planned relocation was discussed as a viable, yet fraught adaptation strategy. Since the publication of the Foresight report in 2011, considerable research into planned relocation has progressed understanding, in part due to the emerging case study examples globally over the last 10 years. The authors of this article have undertaken research in communities across Australia and Fiji who have initiated and undertaken planned relocation processes, to varying degrees of completion and success. As part of the Research Topic—Climate Migration Research and Policy Connections: Progress Since the Foresight Report—in this article we look back at the lessons that emerged from the Foresight report, and provide key insights from our experiences, as well as through drawing on the broader literature, and through doing so offer lessons learned, and policy insights for planned relocation across these regions, and beyond. This research is especially relevant given the context of planned relocation in these two nations: Australia, a country that has experienced severe fires and flooding events over the last few years, which have raised important questions around the role planned relocation may play in future national adaptation discussions and planning, with buy-back schemes occurring across the country; and Fiji, a country at the forefront of planned relocation globally, with 800 communities listed as in need of relocation by the Government of Fiji, and numerous cases of completed, initiated and planned relocation emerging. Primary findings indicate: there are examples of people choosing to remain in sites of exposure despite relocation plans, making the notion of “voluntariness” essential; relocation has the potential to be a successful adaptation option if planned well with strong participatory governance; a need to think broadly and holistically around the needs and livelihoods of effected communities in relocation planning; and the need for longitudinal studies to track the implications and impacts (both positive and negative) of relocation in the long term.
Tracking the emergence of a pitch hierarchy using an artificial grammar requires extended exposure
Authors: Sauvé Sarah A. , Satkunarajah Praveena , Zendel Benjamin Rich
Published: March 2023

Introduction

The tonal hierarchy is a perceived musical structure implicitly learned through exposure. Previous studies have demonstrated that new grammars, for example based on the Bohlen-Pierce scale, can be learned in as little as 20 minutes.

Methods

In this study, we created two grammars derived from the Bohlen-Pierce scale similar in complexity to the western tonal hierarchy. Participants rated the goodness-of-fit of all Bohlen-Pierce scale notes in a probe tone paradigm before and after 30 minutes of exposure to one of the two grammars. Participants were then asked about their experience in a short interview.

Results

Results do not support the learning of the artificial grammar: correlations between goodness-of-fit ratings and pitch frequency distribution of a grammar were no different before and after exposure to a grammar. Interviews suggest that participants are bad at identifying the strategy they used to complete the task. Testing the strategies reported on the data revealed that ratings decreased with increasing distance of the probe tone from the tonic.

Discussion

This is consistent with early brain responses to chromatic pitches of the tonal hierarchy. We suggest that longer exposure time is necessary to learn more complex grammars.
A multimodal approach for modeling engagement in conversation
Authors: Pellet-Rostaing Arthur , Bertrand Roxane , Boudin Auriane , Rauzy Stéphane , Blache Philippe
Published: March 2023

Recently, engagement has emerged as a key variable explaining the success of conversation. In the perspective of human-machine interaction, an automatic assessment of engagement becomes crucial to better understand the dynamics of an interaction and to design socially-aware robots. This paper presents a predictive model of the level of engagement in conversations. It shows in particular the interest of using a rich multimodal set of features, outperforming the existing models in this domain. In terms of methodology, study is based on two audio-visual corpora of naturalistic face-to-face interactions. These resources have been enriched with various annotations of verbal and nonverbal behaviors, such as smiles, head nods, and feedbacks. In addition, we manually annotated gestures intensity. Based on a review of previous works in psychology and human-machine interaction, we propose a new definition of the notion of engagement, adequate for the description of this phenomenon both in natural and mediated environments. This definition have been implemented in our annotation scheme. In our work, engagement is studied at the turn level, known to be crucial for the organization of the conversation. Even though there is still a lack of consensus around their precise definition, we have developed a turn detection tool. A multimodal characterization of engagement is performed using a multi-level classification of turns. We claim a set of multimodal cues, involving prosodic, mimo-gestural and morpho-syntactic information, is relevant to characterize the level of engagement of speakers in conversation. Our results significantly outperform the baseline and reach state-of-the-art level (0.76 weighted F-score). The most contributing modalities are identified by testing the performance of a two-layer perceptron when trained on unimodal feature sets and on combinations of two to four modalities. These results support our claim about multimodality: combining features related to the speech fundamental frequency and energy with mimo-gestural features leads to the best performance.
Identification of iron metabolism-related genes in the circulation and myocardium of patients with sepsis via applied bioinformatics analysis
Authors: Zhang Renlingzi , Di Chong , Gao Hanlu , Zhu Yunlou , Li Congye , Zhu Zhengfang , Wang Qixing , Wang Junjie , Zhou Feng , Wang Sheng
Published: March 2023

Background

Early diagnosis of septic cardiomyopathy is essential to reduce the mortality rate of sepsis. Previous studies indicated that iron metabolism plays a vital role in sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy. Here, we aimed to identify shared iron metabolism-related genes (IMRGs) in the myocardium and blood monocytes of patients with sepsis and to determine their prognostic signature.

Methods

First, an applied bioinformatics-based analysis was conducted to identify shared IMRGs differentially expressed in the myocardium and peripheral blood monocytes of patients with sepsis. Second, Cytoscape was used to construct a protein–protein interaction network, and immune infiltration of the septic myocardium was assessed using single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. In addition, a prognostic prediction model for IMRGs was established by Cox regression analysis. Finally, the expression of key mRNAs in the myocardium of mice with sepsis was verified using quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis.

Results

We screened common differentially expressed genes in septic myocardium and blood monocytes and identified 14 that were related to iron metabolism. We found that HBB, SLC25A37, SLC11A1, and HMOX1 strongly correlated with monocytes and neutrophils, whereas HMOX1 and SLC11A1 strongly correlated with macrophages. We then established a prognostic model (HIF1A and SLC25A37) using the common differentially expressed IMRGs. The prognostic model we established was expected to better aid in diagnosing septic cardiomyopathy. Moreover, we verified these genes using datasets and experiments and found a significant difference between the sepsis and control groups.

Conclusion

Common differential expression of IMRGs was identified in blood monocytes and myocardium between sepsis and control groups, among which HIF1A and SLC25A37 might predict prognosis in septic cardiomyopathy. The study may help us deeply understand the molecular mechanisms of iron metabolism and aid in the diagnosis and treatment of septic cardiomyopathy.
Association of healthy lifestyle with incident cardiovascular diseases among hypertensive and normotensive Chinese adults
Authors: Su Jian , Geng Houyue , Chen Lulu , Fan Xikang , Zhou Jinyi , Wu Ming , Lu Yan , Hua Yujie , Jin Jianrong , Guo Yu , Lv Jun , Pei Pei , Chen Zhengming , Tao Ran
Published: March 2023

Background

Whether lifestyle improvement benefits in reducing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) events extend to hypertensive patients and whether these benefits differ between hypertensive and normotensive individuals is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of an overall healthy lifestyle with the subsequent development of CVD among participants with hypertension and normotension.

Methods

Using data from the Suzhou subcohort of the China Kadoorie Biobank study of 51,929 participants, this study defined five healthy lifestyle factors as nonsmoking or quitting for reasons other than illness; nonexcessive alcohol intake; relatively higher physical activity level; a relatively healthy diet; and having a standard waist circumference and body mass index. We estimated the associations of these lifestyle factors with CVD, ischemic heart disease (IHD) and ischemic stroke (IS).

Results

During a follow-up of 10.1 years, this study documented 6,151 CVD incidence events, 1,304 IHD incidence events, and 2,243 IS incidence events. Compared to those with 0–1 healthy lifestyle factors, HRs for those with 4–5 healthy factors were 0.71 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.81) for CVD, 0.56 (95% CI: 0.42, 0.75) for IHD, and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.51, 0.79) for IS among hypertensive participants. However, we did not observe this association among normotensive participants. Stratified analyses showed that the association between a healthy lifestyle and IHD risk was stronger among younger participants, and the association with IS risk was stronger among hypertensive individuals with lower household incomes.

Conclusion

Adherence to a healthy lifestyle pattern is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases among hypertensive patients, but this benefit is not as pronounced among normotensive patients.
Feasibility and accuracy of coronary artery calcium score on virtual non-contrast images derived from a dual-layer spectral detector CT: A retrospective multicenter study
Authors: Yang Panpan , Zhao Ren , Deng Wei , An Shutian , Li Yuguo , Sheng Mao , Chen Xingbiao , Qian Yingfeng , Yu Yongqiang , Mu Dan , Wang Yining , Li Xiaohu
Published: March 2023

Rationale and objective

This retrospective study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) from virtual non-contrast (VNC) images in comparison with that from true non-contrast (TNC) images.

Materials and methods

A total of 540 patients with suspected of coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent a dual-layer spectral detector CT (SDCT) in three hospitals were eligible for this study and 233 patients were retrospectively enrolled for further analysis. The CACS was calculated from both TNC and VNC images and compared. Linear regression analysis of the CACS was performed between TNC and VNC images.

Results

The correlation of overall CACS from VNC and TNC images was very strong (r = 0.923, p < 0.001). The CACS from VNC images were lower than that from TNC images (221 versus. 69, p < 0.001). When the regression equation of the overall coronary artery was applied, the mean calibrated CACS-VNC was 221 which had a significant difference from the CACS-TNC (p = 0.017). When the regression equation of each coronary branch artery was applied, the mean calibrated CACS-VNC was 221, which had a significant difference from the CACS-TNC (p = 0.003). But the mean difference between the CACS-TNC and the calibrated CACS-VNC in either way was less than 1. The agreement on risk stratification with CACS-TNC and CCACS-VNC was almost perfect.

Conclusion

This multicenter study with dual-layer spectral detector CT showed that it was feasible to calculate CACS from the VNC images derived from the spectral coronary artery CT angiography scan, and the results were in good accordance with the TNC images after correction. Therefore, the TNC scan could be omitted, reducing the radiation dose to patients and saving examination time while using dual-layer spectral detector CT.
A new integrative approach to assess aortic stenosis burden and predict objective functional improvement after TAVR
Authors: de la Torre Hernandez Jose M. , Veiga Fernandez Gabriela , Ben-Assa Eyal , Sainz Laso Fermin , Lee Dae-Hyun , Ruisanchez Villar Cristina , Lerena Piedad , Garcia Camarero Tamara , Cuesta Cosgaya Jose M. , Fradejas-Sastre Victor , Benito Mercedes , Barrera Sergio , Garcia-Unzueta Maria T. , Brown Jonathan , Gil Ongay Aritz , Zueco Javier , Vazquez de Prada Jose A. , Edelman Elazer R.
Published: March 2023

Background

A non-negligible rate of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) do not report symptomatic improvement or even die in the short-midterm. We sought to assess the degree of objective functional recovery after TAVR and its prognostic implications and to develop a predictive model.

Methods

In a cohort of patients undergoing TAVR, a prospective evaluation of clinical, anatomical, and physiological parameters was conducted before and after the procedure. These parameters were derived from echocardiography, non-invasive analysis of arterial pulse waves, and cardiac tomography. Objective functional improvement 6 months after TAVR was assessed using a 6-min walk test and nitro-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels. The derived predictive model was prospectively validated in a different cohort. A clinical follow-up was conducted at 2 years.

Results

Among the 212 patients included, objective functional improvement was observed in 169 patients (80%) and subjective improvement in 187 (88%). Patients with objective functional improvement showed a much lower death rate at 2 years (9% vs. 31% p = 0.0002). Independent predictors of improvement were as follows: mean aortic gradient of ≥40 mmHg, augmentation index75 of ≥45%, the posterior wall thickness of ≤12 mm, and absence of atrial fibrillation. A simple integer-based point score was developed (GAPA score), which showed an area under the curve of 0.81 for the overall cohort and 0.78 for the low-gradient subgroup. In a validation cohort of 216 patients, these values were 0.75 and 0.76, respectively.

Conclusion

A total of 80% of patients experienced objective functional improvement after TAVR, showing a significantly lower 2-year mortality rate. A predictive score was built that showed a good discriminative performance in overall and low-gradient populations.
NuSegDA: Domain adaptation for nuclei segmentation
Authors: Haq Mohammad Minhazul , Ma Hehuan , Huang Junzhou
Published: March 2023

The accurate segmentation of nuclei is crucial for cancer diagnosis and further clinical treatments. To successfully train a nuclei segmentation network in a fully-supervised manner for a particular type of organ or cancer, we need the dataset with ground-truth annotations. However, such well-annotated nuclei segmentation datasets are highly rare, and manually labeling an unannotated dataset is an expensive, time-consuming, and tedious process. Consequently, we require to discover a way for training the nuclei segmentation network with unlabeled dataset. In this paper, we propose a model named NuSegUDA for nuclei segmentation on the unlabeled dataset (target domain). It is achieved by applying Unsupervised Domain Adaptation (UDA) technique with the help of another labeled dataset (source domain) that may come from different type of organ, cancer, or source. We apply UDA technique at both of feature space and output space. We additionally utilize a reconstruction network and incorporate adversarial learning into it so that the source-domain images can be accurately translated to the target-domain for further training of the segmentation network. We validate our proposed NuSegUDA on two public nuclei segmentation datasets, and obtain significant improvement as compared with the baseline methods. Extensive experiments also verify the contribution of newly proposed image reconstruction adversarial loss, and target-translated source supervised loss to the performance boost of NuSegUDA. Finally, considering the scenario when we have a small number of annotations available from the target domain, we extend our work and propose NuSegSSDA, a Semi-Supervised Domain Adaptation (SSDA) based approach.
Karst thermal reservoir tracer test and seepage characteristics analysis in Niutuozhen geothermal field in Xiong’an New Area
Authors: Qiao Yong , Li Shaohua , Yan Kangnan , Zuo Yinhui , Zhang Tao , Tian Lanxi , Sun Yigao
Published: March 2023

The carbonate rock karst thermal reservoir in the Niutuozhen geothermal field is a high-quality geothermal resource with significant development potential. However, due to the strong heterogeneity of karst thermal reservoirs, the connectivity between recharge and production wells is hard to determine, which seriously restricts the sustainable development of the Niutuozhen geothermal field. Therefore, this study revealed the hydraulic connection between the recharge and production well through the tracer test, quantitatively characterized the seepage characteristics of the reservoir combined with the numerical simulation, and proposed the deployment of the recharge well. The results show that the total recovery rate of the tracer is 0.42%, indicating that there are a small number of communication channels with a good hydraulic connection between the recharge and production well in the experimental area, and the recharge will not cause thermal breakthrough within a short time period. The velocity of recharge water can reach 359 m/d at the fastest, and the directions of dominant channels are concentrated in the NW, N, and E directions centered on the recharge well, this is consistent with the characteristics of regional fractures, recharge wells should be avoided to deployed in those directions. The results provide effective information for the prediction of the thermal breakthrough time and the accurate establishment of the thermal reservoir model in the Niutuozhen geothermal field, also provide a scientific basis for the sustainable utilization of the carbonate karst thermal reservoir geothermal resources.
Trends in anthropogenic ammonia emissions in China since 1980: A review of approaches and estimations
Authors: Chen Jianan , Cheng Miaomiao , Krol Maarten , de Vries Wim , Zhu Qichao , Liu Xuejun , Zhang Fusuo , Xu Wen
Published: March 2023

Ammonia (NH3) emissions from intensive anthropogenic activities is an important component in the global nitrogen cycle that has triggered large negative impacts on air quality and ecosystems worldwide. An accurate spatially explicit high resolution NH3 emission inventory is essential for modeling atmospheric aerosol pollution and nitrogen deposition. However, existing NH3 emission inventories in China are still subject to several uncertainties. In this review we firstly summarize the widely used methods for the estimate of NH3 emissions and discuss their advantages and major limitations. Secondly, we present aggregated data from ten NH3 emission inventories to assess the trends in total anthropogenic NH3 emissions in China over the period 1980–2019. Almost emission estimates reported that NH3 emissions in China have doubled in the last four decades. We find a substantial differences in annual total NH3 emissions, spatial distributions and seasonal variations among selected datasets. In 2012, the median emission (Tg yr−1) and associated minimum-maximum ranges are 12.4 (8.5_17.2) for total emission, 9.9 (8.1_13.8) for agriculture, 0.3 (0.2_1.0) for industry, 0.4 (0.2_1.1) for residential and 0.1 (0.1_0.3) for transport and other emission of 1.5 (0.3_2.6). In general, peak emissions occur in summer but in different months, the higher NH3 emission intensities are concentrated in the NCP area, and in eastern and south-central China but distinct regional discrepancy among selected datasets. Finally, we made an analysis of the reasons and levels of difference in NH3 emission estimates with recommendations for improvement of China’s NH3 emission inventory.
Impact of land property rights on the informal development of urban villages in China: The case of Guangzhou
Authors: Yang Jinkun , Ma Haitao , Fu Wenjie , He Yuanrong
Published: March 2023

Informal development, as a unique phenomenon that has become widespread in China’s urbanization process in recent years, has continued to attract the attention of both the government and academia. Existing studies focus on urban village redevelopment strategies, and little research has been conducted on informal development in urban villages under the land property approach. In particular, research needs to further explore what impact China’s collective land property rights have had on informality in urban villages. This study mainly adopts a qualitative research method, including field observation and in-depth interviews. The research was conducted in urban villages in Guangzhou. The study finds that land property rights have an important impact on urbanization and property rights arrangements have an important impact on resource allocation efficiency. Due to the ambiguity of collective land property rights in China, informal development in urban villages is the result of the collective action of villagers, government, and enterprises under the stimulation of economic development. The interaction of the stakeholders has promoted the rapid development of informal housing in urban villages.
Insects as bioindicator: A hidden gem for environmental monitoring
Authors: Chowdhury Sanhita , Dubey Vinod Kumar , Choudhury Srishti , Das Abhibandana , Jeengar Deepika , Sujatha B. , Kumar Anil , Kumar Nagendra , Semwal Anshuman , Kumar Vinod
Published: March 2023

Environmental contamination research has been quite interesting in bioindicators recently. The basic objective of bioindicator research is to find species that can reliably detect environmental disturbances and demonstrate how those disturbances affect other species or biodiversity as a whole. Since they frequently come into contact with the harmful substances found in soil, water, and air, insects are particularly valuable for evaluating how human activities affect the terrestrial ecosystem, the aquatic system, and the atmosphere. In this review article, we’ve emphasized the use of insects as a resource for assessing contaminants and monitoring environmental contamination. Insects have been our main focus since they are key indicators of changes in soil, water, and air quality. The majority of insects, including beetles, ants, honey bees, and butterflies are employed in this study as biological indicators since they are sensitive to even the slightest environmental changes and are also used to monitor different environmental toxins.
Sowing wildflower meadows in Mediterranean peri-urban green areas to promote grassland diversity
Authors: Fernandes Mariana P. , Matono Paula , Almeida Erika , Pinto-Cruz Carla , Belo Anabela D. F.
Published: March 2023

Introduction

The increase of urban areas and their infrastructure network is homogenizing the landscape and threatening biodiversity and ecosystems functions and services. Wildflower meadows have a high biodiversity value and can prosper in degraded areas dominated by nitrophilous species, making them suitable to be used in peri-urban and urban areas to promote local flora, create habitat for pollinators and other small fauna, and increase overall biodiversity. Moreover, the application of wildflowers seed mixes suitable for rehabilitating anthropized environments should be restricted to native species of regional origin, and the results properly monitored. However, thorough monitoring of seed mixes evolution is uncommon. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a seed mix of wild native species developed to promote grassland diversity in Mediterranean peri-urban areas.

Methods

The study was divided into two sequential phases. Firstly, a preparatory phase consisted in developing two seed mixes and sowing them (autumn 2016) in ex-situ plots (three plots of 5 × 2 m2 per mix) at an experimental field to choose the one with the best performance. The second phase consisted of the in-situ application (autumn 2018) of the chosen seed mix by sowing 14 plots (10 × 2 m2) in pocket parks distributed along pedestrian trails of South Portugal. All plots were monitored through floristic surveys for two springs (ex-situ trials: 2017 and 2018; in-situ trials: 2019 and 2020).

Results

All sowed species germinated in the in-situ plots over the first 2  years. The seed mix application positively contributed to the floristic community, generating a significant increase in the total species richness, diversity, evenness, and vegetation cover. The seed mix establishment did not require watering nor soil fertilizing and the mowing frequency was low (once in late spring), contributing to sustainable and low-cost management of these green areas.

Discussion

The tested seed mix promoted native flora diversity rapidly and seems suitable for use in peri-urban context under identical climate conditions. Given the small number of native seed mixes tested in the Mediterranean, this study represents a contribution toward improved management standards of native flora diversity in Mediterranean green urban and peri-urban areas.
Use of Streptococcus salivarius K12 in supporting the mucosal immune function of active young subjects: A randomised double-blind study
Authors: Bertuccioli Alexander , Gervasi Marco , Annibalini Giosuè , Binato Beatrice , Perroni Fabrizio , Rocchi Marco B. L. , Sisti Davide , Amatori Stefano
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) are the most common illnesses affecting athletes, causing absences from training and competition. Salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) is the main immune factor in saliva, and a consistent association between low concentrations of sIgA and an increased incidence of URTIs has been reported. The oral probiotic Streptococcus salivarius K12 has been suggested to have the potential to improve oral diseases and mucosal barrier function. However, the effects of this probiotic on active young subjects performing a high-intensity training (HIT) program have not been investigated.

Methods

Active young students were randomised into a treated group (S. salivarius K12) and a control (placebo) group and asked to take the product daily for 30 days. After this period, participants performed a graded exercise test and five HIT sessions, all within 3 days. They were also asked to complete the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey daily to monitor URTI’s presence. Before and after the 30 days, and at 0h, 24h and 72h after the last training session, saliva samples were collected to quantify sIgA level, secretion rate, and flow. The effect of S. salivarius K12 intake on these parameters was tested using an ANOVA for repeated measures.

Results

Twenty (M = 14, F = 6) young subjects (23.5 ± 2.3 years old) participated in the study. The total accumulated training load (sRPE) in the supplementation period was similar in the two groups (treated: 4345 ± 3441 AU; control: 4969 ± 4165 AU; p > 0.05). Considering both sIgA level and secretion rate, significant time (F(4,15) = 3.38; p = 0.037; F(4,15) = 6.00; p = 0.004) and time×group interactions (F(4,15) = 2.49; p = 0.049; F(4,15) = 5.01; p = 0.009) were reported, with the treated group showing higher sIgA levels at 72h post-exercise and increased secretion rate both at 0h and 72h. The number of URTI episodes was similar in the treated and control groups (χ² = 1.83; p > 0.05).

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that relatively short-term S. salivarius K12 supplementation increased sIgA level and secretion in healthy subjects performing a demanding exercise-training programme composed of HIT sessions.
Identification of genes related to immune enhancement caused by heterologous ChAdOx1–BNT162b2 vaccines in lymphocytes at single-cell resolution with machine learning methods
Authors: Li Jing , Huang FeiMing , Ma QingLan , Guo Wei , Feng KaiYan , Huang Tao , Cai Yu-Dong
Published: March 2023

The widely used ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (ChAd) vector and BNT162b2 (BNT) mRNA vaccines have been shown to induce robust immune responses. Recent studies demonstrated that the immune responses of people who received one dose of ChAdOx1 and one dose of BNT were better than those of people who received vaccines with two homologous ChAdOx1 or two BNT doses. However, how heterologous vaccines function has not been extensively investigated. In this study, single-cell RNA sequencing data from three classes of samples: volunteers vaccinated with heterologous ChAdOx1–BNT and volunteers vaccinated with homologous ChAd–ChAd and BNT–BNT vaccinations after 7 days were divided into three types of immune cells (3654 B, 8212 CD4+T, and 5608 CD8+T cells). To identify differences in gene expression in various cell types induced by vaccines administered through different vaccination strategies, multiple advanced feature selection methods (max-relevance and min-redundancy, Monte Carlo feature selection, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, light gradient boosting machine, and permutation feature importance) and classification algorithms (decision tree and random forest) were integrated into a computational framework. Feature selection methods were in charge of analyzing the importance of gene features, yielding multiple gene lists. These lists were fed into incremental feature selection, incorporating decision tree and random forest, to extract essential genes, classification rules and build efficient classifiers. Highly ranked genes includePLCG2, whose differential expression is important to the B cell immune pathway and is positively correlated with immune cells, such as CD8+T cells, andB2M, which is associated with thymic T cell differentiation. This study gave an important contribution to the mechanistic explanation of results showing the stronger immune response of a heterologous ChAdOx1–BNT vaccination schedule than two doses of either BNT or ChAdOx1, offering a theoretical foundation for vaccine modification.