bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Chinese and American subjects on the self‐administered Waterless Empirical Taste Test
Authors: Chen Jingguo , Ren Xiaoyong , Yan Huanhuan , Zhao Bingjie , Chen Jingyan , Zhu Kang , Lyu Hui , Li Zhihui , Doty Richard L.
Published: March 2022

Cultural differences have been reported between the taste sensitivity of persons of Asian and European ancestry, although findings have been mixed. This study sought to determine whether American and Chinese adults perform differently on a novel taste test that requires no water, can be self‐administered, and employs a representative of umami as one of its tastants. This 53‐trial test was administered to 113 Chinese and 214 Americans. The subjects orally sampled monomer cellulose pads containing one of four dried concentrations of sucrose, citric acid, NaCl, caffeine, and monosodium glutamate and indicated whether a sweet, sour, bitter, salty, brothy, or no taste sensation was perceived. Separate gender by culture analyses of covariance with age as the covariate were performed on the total score and the scores of each taste stimulus. For all taste qualities, women outperformed men and test scores declined with age. No difference between American and Chinese subjects was found for the total taste score (p = .129) or for the sucrose (p = .129) or NaCl (p = .368) scores. However, for monosodium glutamate, the scores were 28.40% higher for the Chinese than for the American subjects (p = .024), and for citric acid and caffeine, the scores were 24.12 and 21.79% higher for the American subjects (p's = .001 and .029). The basis for these differences is unclear, although both anatomical (e.g., differences in density or distribution of taste buds) and cultural factors may be involved. Future work is needed to determine the cause of these largely novel findings and whether they generalize to other Chinese and American samples.

Practical applicationsIn this study, a practical self‐administered quantitative taste test that requires no water was found to be sensitive to quality‐specific differences in test scores between Chinese and American subjects, as well as to age and gender. The Chinese subjects outperformed the American subjects in correctly identifying the quality of monosodium glutamate (umami), whereas the American subjects outperformed Chinese subjects in correctly identifying the bitter and sour qualities of caffeine and citric acid, respectively. Experiential factors related to culture‐specific cuisines may explain some of these differences. This research indicates that a relatively rapid taste test, which can be sent through the mail and which requires no test administrator or source of water, can be used in cross‐cultural studies to elucidate individual differences in taste perception.
Is intravenous magnesium sulphate safe to be administered outside the critical care setting?
Authors: de Havilland Amanda , Hariharan Gopakumar , Puvvadi Ramaa
Published: March 2022

Aim

To review current evidence regarding the safety of intravenous bolus magnesium sulphate for the treatment of children with acute severe asthma in the non‐critical care setting.

Methods

MEDLINE via Ovid, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles.

Results

Four hundred and eighteen articles were identified during the initial search after removal of duplicates. Eighty full‐text articles were selected for review and 16 included as relevant to the clinical question.

Conclusions

Current evidence suggests that bolus intravenous magnesium sulphate is safe to be administered in non‐critical care settings provided that line of sight nursing and cardiorespiratory monitoring are available.
Photoperiod in recirculation aquaculture systems and timing of seawater transfer affect seawater growth performance of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Authors: Ytrestøyl Trine , Hjelle Elise , Kolarevic Jelena , Takle Harald , Rebl Alexander , Afanasyev Sergey , Krasnov Aleksei , Brunsvik Per , Terjesen Bendik Fyhn
Published: March 2022

Production of Atlantic salmon smolts in recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) is growing, and novel production protocols using continuous light in RAS are being implemented in the industry. In the present study, Atlantic Salmon parr were exposed to either a traditional protocol (short‐day winter signal [12:12 L:D] for 6 weeks) or to continuous light. Both photoperiods were applied in freshwater (FW) and brackish water RAS. Salmon from all treatments were transferred to seawater pens at 200 and 600 g and grown until slaughter size. A control group was smoltified with a 6‐week short‐day winter signal and kept in FW until sea transfer at 100 g. Continuous light gave a higher growth rate in RAS but reduced feed intake and growth and increased feed conversion ratio during the first 8 weeks in seawater. However, at slaughter, fish exposed to continuous light was bigger than fish given a winter signal because of the higher growth rate in RAS. Slaughter weight was lowest in fish transferred to sea at 600 g, despite having the highest day‐degree sum during their life span. The best performing group was the control group transferred at 100 g. All treatments handled transfer to seawater and survival and maturation were not affected by the treatments in RAS. The immune status was examined with a multigene expression assay on BioMark HD platform from parr stage to 5–7 months after seawater transfer. Overall, there was no significant effect of photoperiod or salinity on the expression of the selected immune genes. In sum, the results from this study indicate that using continuous light in RAS may have negative effects on performance shortly after transfer in fish transferred to sea at 200 g, whereas at 600 g, all treatments had reduced growth after transfer irrespective of treatment in RAS.
Inter‐relationships among body mass, jaw musculature and bite force in birds
Authors: Deeming D. C. , Harrison S. L. , Sutton G. P.
Published: March 2022

Bite force can provide an insight into the feeding biomechanics and ecology of vertebrates. There has been an increasing interest in bite force in birds with data being collected using force transducers although bite forces have also been calculated from the mass of the jaw musculature. Studies have sought to find ecological correlates between bite force and diet or feeding style as well as with morphology. This study collated data reported in the literature for bite force and mass of the jaw musculature in birds and explored the relationships between these variables and their relationships with body mass to test two hypotheses. First, bite force and mass of the jaw musculature would scale with body mass irrespective of the phylogeny. Second, bite force and mass of the jaw musculature would be directly related to each other and be unrelated to phylogeny. Phylogenetically controlled analyses showed that in relation to body mass there were different relationships with bite force, and with the mass of the jaw musculature, for non‐passerine (isometry and negative allometry, respectively) and passerine species (both positive allometry). By contrast, a single significantly positively allometric relationship described the relationship between jaw muscle mass and bite force. These relationships were driven in part by the diet of the species concerned but also may reflect morphological differences in jaw musculature. The few studies that compare measured and calculated bite force for the same species show that values derived from muscles were higher. Detaching muscles from their points of origin and insertion to calculate physiological cross‐sectional area may be biasing bite force calculations.
The Famenin fall and other ordinary chondrites intermediate between H and L groups
Authors: Pourkhorsandi Hamed , Gattacceca Jérôme , Rochette Pierre , Smith Thomas , Bonal Lydie , D’Orazio Massimo , Devouard Bertrand , Sonzogni Corinne , Debaille Vinciane
Published: March 2022

The Famenin meteorite fell around 08:30 a.m. local time (GMT+4.5) on June 27, 2015 on the roof of a house in Famenin, a town in NW Iran. A single 640 g stone was recovered, shattered into several pieces upon impact. The shape of the impact hole and the relative position of the recovered meteorites indicate a N‐NW fall direction. Famenin is an ordinary chondrite (OC) with well‐preserved chondrules of various types, (Fe,Ni) metal, troilite, phosphate, and chromite. The organic matter systematics and the olivine and low‐Ca compositional distributions (percent mean deviations 18% and 31%, respectively) indicate it is a type 3.4/3.8 chondrite. Considering the average chemical compositions of olivine (Fa17.5±4.7) and low‐Ca pyroxene (Fs16.8±7.5), average Co content of the kamacite (5.6 mg g−1), and Cu/Ni and Ga/Ni ratios, Famenin should be classified as an H chondrite. However, saturation magnetization is 26.0 Am2 kg−1, indicating a bulk metal content similar to L chondrites. Similarly, the whole‐rock Ni and Co contents (13073 and 540 µg g−1, respectively), and average chondrule diameter (550 µm) are closer to typical values for L chondrites than H chondrites. The (Fe,Ni) metal modal abundance (5 vol%), magnetic susceptibility, and possibly whole‐rock oxygen isotopic composition indicate intermediate properties between H and L chondrites. Noble gas composition and cosmic‐ray exposure ages of Famenin and El Médano 195 (another intermediate OC) shows their gas‐rich character and an older ejection age from their parent body than those for the majority of H and L chondrites. Famenin, together with similar intermediate OCs, increases the diversity of this meteorite clan and suggests the existence of a separate OC group with a composition broadly intermediate between H and L groups for which a different designation (HL) is proposed. OCs likely originate from more than three parent bodies (H, L, and LL) as traditionally proposed.
MTA1‐mediated RNA m6A modification regulates autophagy and is required for infection of the rice blast fungus
Authors: Ren Zhiyong , Tang Bozeng , Xing Junjie , Liu Caiyun , Cai Xuan , Hendy Ahmed , Kamran Muhammad , Liu Hao , Zheng Lu , Huang Junbing , Chen Xiao‐Lin
Published: March 2022

In eukaryotes, N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) is abundant on mRNA, and plays key roles in the regulation of RNA function. However, the roles and regulatory mechanisms of m6A in phytopathogenic fungi are still largely unknown.

Combined with biochemical analysis, MeRIP‐seq and RNA‐seq methods, as well as biological analysis, we showed that Magnaporthe oryzae MTA1 gene is an orthologue of human METTL4, which is involved in m6A modification and plays a critical role in autophagy for fungal infection.

The Δmta1 mutant showed reduced virulence due to blockage of appressorial penetration and invasive growth. Moreover, the autophagy process was severely disordered in the mutant. MeRIP‐seq identified 659 hypomethylated m6A peaks covering 595 mRNAs in Δmta1 appressoria, 114 m6A peaks was negatively related to mRNA abundance, including several ATG gene transcripts. Typically, the mRNA abundance of MoATG8 was also increased in the single m6A site mutant ∆atg8/MoATG8A982C, leading to an autophagy disorder.

Our findings reveal the functional importance of the m6A methylation in infection of M. oryzae and provide novel insight into the regulatory mechanisms of plant pathogenic fungi.
Deciphering the role of specialist and generalist plant–microbial interactions as drivers of plant–soil feedback
Authors: Semchenko Marina , Barry Kathryn E. , de Vries Franciska T. , Mommer Liesje , Moora Mari , Maciá‐Vicente Jose G.
Published: March 2022

Feedback between plants and soil microbial communities can be a powerful driver of vegetation dynamics. Plants elicit changes in the soil microbiome that either promote or suppress conspecifics at the same location, thereby regulating population density‐dependence and species co‐existence. Such effects are often attributed to the accumulation of host‐specific antagonistic or beneficial microbiota in the rhizosphere. However, the identity and host‐specificity of the microbial taxa involved are rarely empirically assessed. Here we review the evidence for host‐specificity in plant‐associated microbes and propose that specific plant–soil feedbacks can also be driven by generalists. We outline the potential mechanisms by which generalist microbial pathogens, mutualists and decomposers can generate differential effects on plant hosts and synthesize existing evidence to predict these effects as a function of plant investments into defence, microbial mutualists and dispersal. Importantly, the capacity of generalist microbiota to drive plant–soil feedbacks depends not only on the traits of individual plants but also on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of plant communities. Identifying factors that promote specialization or generalism in plant–microbial interactions and thereby modulate the impact of microbiota on plant performance will advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant–soil feedback and the ways it contributes to plant co‐existence.
Comparison of the oropharyngeal leak pressure between three second generation supraglottic airway devices during laparoscopic surgery in pediatric patients
Authors: Kumar Abhyuday , Sinha Chandni , Kumar Neeraj , Kumar Ajeet , Kumar Bindey , Kumar Amarjeet , Kumar Rajnish
Published: March 2022

Background

Previous studies have shown Proseal LMA and I gel similar to endotracheal intubation in ventilatory ability in pediatric laparoscopic surgeries.

Aims

The primary aim of this study was to assess whether there is a significant difference in the oropharyngeal leak pressure between Ambu Auragrain, I‐gel, and Proseal LMA during pediatric laparoscopic surgery.

Methods

In this randomized controlled trial, 90 male patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I aged between 6 months and 10 years who were scheduled for laparoscopic single‐sided inguinal hernia repair were recruited and randomly allocated to three groups in which airway was secured with Ambu Auragain, I gel, or Proseal LMA. The primary outcome was oropharyngeal leak pressure. The secondary outcomes were peak pressures before and after pneumoperitoneum, fiberoptic view, insertion attempts, insertion time, manipulations, perioperative and postoperative anesthesia‐related problems. Continuous variables were compared using the one‐way analysis of variance or the Kruskal–Wallis test with post hoc Turkey analysis. Categorical and ordinal data were compared using the chi‐square test or Fisher's exact test.

Results

Oropharyngeal leak pressure before pneumoperitoneum was higher with I gel as compared to Ambu Auragain (27.36 ± 5.72 cm of H2O vs 23.56 ± 5.72 cm of H2O) (p = .021) and PLMA (27.36 ± 5.72 cm of H2O vs 23.24 ± 4.35 cm of H2O) (p = .011). Oropharyngeal leak pressure after pneumoperitoneum was also higher with I gel as compared to Ambu Auragain (31.58 ± 4.35 cm of H2O vs 26.83 ± 5.00 cm of H2O) (p = .001) and Proseal LMA (31.58 ± 4.35 cm of H2O vs 27.03 ± 3.80 cm of H2O) (p = .002). Oropharyngeal leak pressures of Ambu Auragain and Proseal LMA were comparable. Postoperative complications were similar in all the supraglottic airway devices. No regurgitation or aspiration‐related problem was observed in our study.

Conclusion

I gel had a higher oropharyngeal leak pressure than the other two supraglottic airway devices and therefore may represent a better choice in situations where higher ventilatory pressures may be necessary, for example, in extremes of weight trendelenburg position, etc.

Clinical Trial Identifier

Clinical trial registry of India (CTRI/2018/11/016445).
Novel utilization of strand‐specific reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in perioperative clinical decision making for SARS‐CoV‐2 polymerase chain reaction positive patients
Authors: Jette Christine G. , Wang Tammy , Wang Ellen , Man Janice Y. , Mireles Samuel , Maass Birgit , Mathew Roshni , Pinsky Benjamin A. , Claure Rebecca E. , D'Souza Genevieve
Published: March 2022

In order to prevent in‐hospital transmission and potential complications related to SARS‐CoV‐2 in the perioperative patient, most healthcare institutions require preoperative testing for SARS‐CoV‐2 prior to proceeding with elective surgery. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a time and symptom‐based duration of isolation for the presumed infectious period. The guidance to avoid retesting of asymptomatic patients in the 90 days following a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) test is because of the possibility of detection of non‐infectious viral shedding. When to reschedule asymptomatic patients who test RT‐PCR positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 preoperatively is of considerable debate, both from the perspective of ensuring a patient's full preoperative fitness, as well as reducing the risk of viral transmission within the hospital. We describe the novel perioperative use of a strand‐specific assay to detect minus strand ribonucleic acid (RNA) in a clinical decision‐making algorithm to determine optimal timing of elective surgery after a patient tests RT‐PCR positive for SARS‐CoV‐2. This is the first description in the literature of an attempt to further stratify patients who repeatedly test positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 into infectious versus non‐infectious for perioperative planning.
Bone lesions of Langerhans cell histiocytosis triggered by trauma in children
Authors: Morimoto Akira , Shioda Yoko , Sakamoto Kenichi , Imamura Toshihiko , Imashuku Shinsaku ,   the Japan LCH Study Group
Published: March 2022

Background

Bone lesions of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) may be triggered by trauma.

Methods

The characteristics of pediatric patients in the JLSG‐02 study cohort who developed a bone lesion at the trauma site at diagnosis of LCH were analyzed retrospectively.

Results

Of the 261 pediatric patients with LCH, 12 (4.6%), of median age 4.9 years, had trauma‐triggered bone LCH lesions at diagnosis, making them significantly older than the remaining patients (P = 0.006). Trauma sites included the craniofacial regions in 10 patients and the lumbar spine and pelvis in one patient each. At the time of trauma, six patients had a bump at the site, whereas none had extradural hematomas or bone fractures. The median time from trauma to onset was 4 weeks. Of these 12 patients, three had isolated bone (IB) disease; four had multifocal bone (MFB) disease, including the bone lesion at the trauma site; and five had multisystem disease, including four with lesions in neighboring tissue and one with polyuria (posterior pituitary lesion) more than 1 year before the trauma‐triggered bone lesion. Treatment responses were good in all 12 patients and none died, but relapses were observed in two patients, one each with IB and MFB disease.

Conclusions

About 5% of pediatric patients with LCH developed new trauma‐triggered bone lesions at a relatively old age. These lesions can manifest as IB, or, in patients with underlying LCH diseases, as MFB or multisystem. Good clinical outcomes were observed in these patients.
Arterial ischemic stroke in children with congenital heart diseases
Authors: Yeh Hye‐Ryun , Kim Eun‐Hee , Yu Jeong‐Jin , Yun Tae‐Jin , Ko Tae‐Sung , Yum Mi‐Sun
Published: March 2022

Background

We describe the prevalence, thromboembolic risk factors, and neurologic outcomes in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and arterial ischemic stroke (AIS).

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of children with CHD and AIS from 2000 to 2016. Demographics, procedural and postprocedural data, neuroimaging findings, details of antithrombotic treatment, and neurological status at last follow up were evaluated.

Results

Patients with cyanotic CHD accounted for 24 of 30 cases with AIS. The majority of AIS (70%) was procedure related, and the mean time from procedure to diagnosis of stroke was 9.7 (range, 1–30) days. At the time of AIS, 14 (46.7%) patients revealed coexistence of additional thromboembolic causes of AIS. Three patients (10.0%) experienced recurrent AIS and six patients (20.0%) were diagnosed with post‐stroke epilepsy. The unfavorable outcomes were found in 13 patients (43.3%), including four deaths. The unfavorable outcome was significantly associated with the main branch involvement of middle cerebral artery (OR = 10.296, 95% CI = 1.335–79.439) and hemorrhagic transformation (OR = 16.264, 95% CI = 1.359–194.690).

Conclusions

Additional thromboembolic risk factors such as systemic or cardiac thrombus, arrhythmia, and surgical procedures for cyanotic CHD were found in patients with CHD and AIS. The main branch involvement of middle cerebral artery and hemorrhagic transformation were significant predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Further studies are required to identify the target for stroke prevention and develop better prophylactic strategies to minimize AIS in patients with CHD.
An interdependent network interdiction model for disrupting sex trafficking networks
Authors: Xie Xiaodan , Aros‐Vera Felipe
Published: March 2022

We map the organized sex trafficking networks (STNs) into a network flow model and develop an interdependent network interdiction model (NIM) to disrupt such networks. Our model considers the interdependence between the information and physical victim networks and reformulates the problem using duality theory. Our NIM provides a clear strategy for interdicting STNs. Namely, it determines when to monitor (i.e., gather information) or arrest the criminals to maximize the impact of the interdiction operation and cripple the network. We tested our NIM using three federally prosecuted sex trafficking cases in the United States of different sizes and structural properties: hybrid, international transactional, and Tenancingo models. Our experiments show promising results regarding the effectiveness of our NIM in all network types. In addition to that, we tested our model with an increasingly higher fraction of missing information to account for the inherently hidden nature of illicit networks. Our study provides analytical insight regarding (1) the importance of building the case prior to the arrests of criminals in illicit networks and (2) deploying a holistic strategy to improve interdiction and enhance the fight against sex trafficking.
The distributional effects of government spending shocks in developing economies
Authors: Furceri Davide , Ge Jun , Loungani Prakash , Melina Giovanni
Published: March 2022

We construct unanticipated government spending shocks for 103 developing countries from 1990 to 2015 and study their effects on income distribution. We find that unanticipated fiscal consolidations lead to a long‐lasting increase in income inequality, while fiscal expansions lower inequality. The results are robust to several measures of income distribution and size of the fiscal shocks, to an alternative identification strategy, across expansions and recessions and across country groups (low‐income countries vs. emerging markets). An additional contribution of the paper is the computation of the medium‐terminequality multiplier. This is on average about 1 in our sample, meaning that a cumulative decrease in government spending of 1% of gross domestic product over 5 years is associated with a cumulative increase in the Gini coefficient over the same period of about 1 percentage point. The multiplier is larger for total government expenditure than for public investment and consumption (with the former having larger effect), likely due to the redistributive role of transfers. Finally, we find that (unanticipated) fiscal consolidations lead to an increase in poverty.
Reinfection with SARS‐CoV‐2 in solid‐organ transplant recipients: Incidence density and convalescent immunity prior to reinfection
Authors: Morris Stephen , Anjan Shweta , Pallikkuth Suresh , Frattaroli Paola , Courel Steve , Fernandez Anmary , Natori Akina , Abbo Lilian , Pahwa Savita , Guerra Giselle , Natori Yoichiro
Published: March 2022

Background

Long‐term protective immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) remains poorly characterized, particularly in solid organ transplant (SOT) patients.

Method

We determined the incidence density of SARS‐CoV‐2 reinfection in a cohort of adult SOT recipients initially infected between March 1st, 2020 and March 30th, 2021 and included those with initial infection before or after transplantation. Incidence density was the total cases divided by total days after initial diagnosis with active graft.

Results

Of 210 infected recipients, five (2.4%) developed reinfection, including two who had received full mRNA vaccination, but none developed hypoxia. The incidence density for reinfection was 9.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.9‐22.6) and for primary infection the density was 9.1 (95% CI 7.9–10.5) cases/100,000 patient days. Two recipients had immunity evaluated in the weeks prior to reinfection, by measuring immunoglobulin‐G (IgG) antibody titer to the SARS‐CoV‐2 receptor binding domain and virus‐specific CD4+ and CD8+ T‐cell reactivity following stimulation with SARS‐CoV‐2 peptide pools. Both mounted virus specific CD4 T‐cell responses prior to reinfection (1.19% and 0.28% of total CD4 T cells) and both had reactive IgG testing (1.30 and 4.99 signal/cut off ratio).

Conclusions

This suggests that SOT recipients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 remain at high risk for reinfection even after generating cellular and humoral immune responses.

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Efficacy of early transfusion of convalescent plasma with high‐titer SARS‐CoV‐2 neutralizing antibodies in hospitalized patients with COVID‐19
Authors: Sanz Cristina , Nomdedeu Meritxell , Pereira Arturo , Sauleda Silvia , Alonso Rodrigo , Bes Marta , Brillembourg Helena , García‐Vidal Carolina , Millan Anna , Martínez‐Llonch Nuria , Pirón María , Puerta‐Alcalde Pedro , Puig Lluis , Rico Veronica , Soriano Alex
Published: March 2022

Background

Despite most controlled trials have shown no measurable benefit of COVID‐19 convalescent plasma (CCP) in patients with COVID‐19, some studies suggest that early administration of CCP with high‐titer anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 can be beneficial in selected patients. We investigated the efficacy of early administration of high‐titer CCP to patients with COVID‐19 who required hospitalization,

Study design and methods

Observational, propensity score (PS) matched case–control study of COVID‐19 patients treated with CCP within 72 h of hospital admission and untreated controls from August 2020 to February 2021. All CCP donations had a Euroimmun anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 sample‐to‐cutoff ratio ≥3. PS matching was based on prognostic factors and presented features with high‐standardized differences between the treated and control groups. The primary endpoint was mortality within 30 days of diagnosis.

Results

A total of 1604 patients were analyzed, 261 of whom received CCP, most (82%) within 24 h after admission. Median age was 67 years (interquartile range: 56–79), and 953 (60%) were men. Presenting factors independently associated with higher 30‐day mortality were increased age, cardiac disease, hypoxemic respiratory failure, renal failure, and plasma d‐dimer >700 ng/ml.

After PS matching, transfusion of CCP was associated with a significant reduction in the 30‐day mortality rate (odds ratio [OR]; 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.91–0.98; p = .001) that extended to the 60th day after COVID‐19 diagnosis (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.92–0.99; p = .01).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that CCP can still be helpful in selected patients with COVID‐19 and call for further studies before withdrawing CCP from the COVID‐19 therapeutic armamentarium.
A retrospective study of 101 dogs with oral melanoma treated with a weekly or biweekly 6 Gy × 6 radiotherapy protocol
Authors: Baja Alexie J. , Kelsey Krista L. , Ruslander David M. , Gieger Tracy L. , Nolan Michael W.
Published: March 2022

One radiotherapy (RT) protocol used for canine oral melanoma (OM) gives 36 Gy total, in six weekly or biweekly fractions (6 Gy × 6). This retrospective study characterizes oncologic outcomes for a relatively large group of dogs treated with this protocol and determines whether radiation dose intensity (weekly vs. biweekly) affected either progression‐free or overall survival (PFS and OS). Dogs were included if 6 Gy × 6 was used to treat grossly evident OM, or if RT was used postoperatively in the subclinical disease setting. Kaplan–Meier statistics and Cox regression modelling were used to determine the predictive or prognostic value of mitotic count, bony lysis, World Health Organization (WHO) stage (I, II, III, or IV), using systemic anti‐cancer therapies, tumour burden at the time of RT (macroscopic vs. subclinical), radiation dose intensity (weekly vs. biweekly), and treatment planning type (manual vs. computerized). The median PFS and OS times for all dogs (n = 101) were 171 and 232 days, respectively. On univariate analysis PFS and OS were significantly longer (p = <.05) with subclinical tumour burden, WHO stages I or II, and weekly irradiation. On multivariable analysis, only tumour stage remained significant; therefore, cases were grouped by WHO stage (I/II vs. III/IV). With low WHO stage (I/II), PFS and OS were longer when irradiating subclinical disease (PFS: risk ratio = 0.449,p = .032; OS: risk ratio = 0.422,p = .022); this was not true for high WHO stage (III/IV). When accounting for other factors, radiation dose intensity had no measurable impact on survival in either staging group.
The effect of acute intermittent hypoxia on human limb motoneurone output
Authors: Finn Harrison T. , Bogdanovski Oliver , Hudson Anna L. , McCaughey Euan J. , Crawford Matthew R. , Taylor Janet L. , Butler Jane E. , Gandevia Simon C.
Published: March 2022

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

Does a single session of repeated bouts of acute intermittent hypoxic breathing enhance the motoneuronal output of the limb muscles of healthy able‐bodied participants?

What is the main finding and its importance?

Compared to breathing room air, there were some increases in motoneuronal output following acute intermittent hypoxia, but the increases were variable across participants and in time after the intervention and depended on which neurophysiological measure was checked.

Acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) induces persistent increases in output from rat phrenic motoneurones. Studies in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) suggest that AIH improves limb performance, perhaps via postsynaptic changes at cortico‐motoneuronal synapses. We assessed whether limb motoneurone output in response to reflex and descending synaptic activation is facilitated after one session of AIH in healthy able‐bodied volunteers. Fourteen participants completed two experimental days, with either AIH or a sham intervention (randomised crossover design). We measured H‐reflex recruitment curves and homosynaptic post‐activation depression (HPAD) of the H‐reflex in soleus, and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and their recruitment curves in first dorsal interosseous. All measurements were performed at rest and occurred at baseline, 0, 20, 40 and 60 min post‐intervention. The intervention was 30 min of either normoxia (sham,  ≈ 0.21) or AIH (alternate 1‐min hypoxia [ ≈ 0.09], 1‐min normoxia). After AIH, the H‐reflex recruitment curve shifted leftward. Lower stimulation intensities were needed to evoke 5%, 50% and 99% of the maximal H‐reflex at 40 and 60 min after AIH (P < 0.04). The maximal H‐reflex, recruitment slope and HPAD were unchanged after AIH. MEPs evoked by constant intensity TMS were larger 40 min after AIH (P = 0.027). There was no change in MEP recruitment or the maximal MEP. In conclusion, some measures of the evoked responses from limb motoneurones increased after a single AIH session, but only at discrete time points. It is unclear to what extent these changes alter functional performance.
The Impact of Media Globalization of English Football: The Kuwaiti Experience
Authors: Dashti Ali A. , Haynes Richard , Murad Husain A.
Published: March 2022

The new technologies of broadcasting, sports coverage, sports casters, and sports analysis, especially in Europe, have attracted many local sports players and fans to enjoy and imitate famed European players. The globalization of football (soccer) has affected sports culture in Kuwait. In-depth interviews with 17 interviewees including sports academics, experts, practitioners, coaches, sports players, fans, and sports reporters revealed that the English Premier League not only entertained the fans in Kuwait but also affected their popular culture behavior and local football league performance and attendance. The English Premier League also affected fandom lifestyle and expenditure through expensive sports subscriptions or even traveling to Europe to attend football matches.
Are “Tech-Savvy” Owners Better for Business? Evidence From Major League Baseball
Authors: Hayduk Ted
Published: March 2022

Business intelligence (BI) technologies can help firms optimize revenue and expenses if acquired and deployed proficiently. In parallel, the sport industry’s shift toward digitization is being driven by an influx of new, technology-savvy owners and managers. It follows that owners who are business intelligence experts could make their sport organizations more profitable. This paper models 14 years of Major League Baseball data to explore the degree to which owners with business intelligence career experience affect their organization’s operating margin through (a) optimizing revenue and (b) enhancing cost efficiency. It further explores owners’ knowledge accrual as a moderator in this process. Results suggest the effect of business intelligence expertise on margins is positive, but small. Margin increases were attained by spending more efficiently on labor, not by generating more revenue. These mediating effects were moderated by knowledge accrual, such that a longer tenure increased the early-tenure advantages of BI career experience.
Breaking Down Barriers in Sport Management Internships Using the Universal Design for Learning
Authors: Odio Michael A. , Pate Joshua R. , Aicher Thomas J.
Published: March 2022

Sitting at the intersection of the sport management workplace and educational setting, internships are both an important curricular component within undergraduate sport management programs and a common entry point for people beginning careers in sport. Drawing from the literature on diversity and inclusion pertaining to the sport industry, sport management education, and internships, we discuss existing pedagogical and systemic barriers to student learning and professional development within internships. In this paper, we demonstrate the utility of the Universal Design for Learning framework for addressing the pedagogical barriers and how it can help to improve sport management policies and practices.
A Brief Overview of Universal Sentence Representation Methods: A Linguistic View
Authors: Li Ruiqi , Zhao Xiang , Moens Marie-Francine
Published: March 2022

How to transfer the semantic information in a sentence to a computable numerical embedding form is a fundamental problem in natural language processing. An informative universal sentence embedding can greatly promote subsequent natural language processing tasks. However, unlike universal word embeddings, a widely accepted general-purpose sentence embedding technique has not been developed. This survey summarizes the current universal sentence-embedding methods, categorizes them into four groups from a linguistic view, and ultimately analyzes their reported performance. Sentence embeddings trained from words in a bottom-up manner are observed to have different, nearly opposite, performance patterns in downstream tasks compared to those trained from logical relationships between sentences. By comparing differences of training schemes in and between groups, we analyze possible essential reasons for different performance patterns. We additionally collect incentive strategies handling sentences from other models and propose potentially inspiring future research directions.
DyCo: Dynamic, Contextualized AI Models
Authors: Yang Yi , Sankaradas Murugan , Chakradhar Srimat
Published: March 2022

Devices with limited computing resources use smaller AI models to achieve low-latency inferencing. However, model accuracy is typically much lower than the accuracy of a bigger model that is trained and deployed in places where the computing resources are relatively abundant. We describe DyCo, a novel system that ensures privacy of stream data and dynamically improves the accuracy of small models used in devices. Unlike knowledge distillation or federated learning, DyCo treats AI models as black boxes. DyCo uses a semi-supervised approach to leverage existing training frameworks and network model architectures to periodically train contextualized, smaller models for resource-constrained devices. DyCo uses a bigger, highly accurate model in the edge-cloud to auto-label data received from each sensor stream. Training in the edge-cloud (as opposed to the public cloud) ensures data privacy, and bespoke models for thousands of live data streams can be designed in parallel by using multiple edge-clouds. DyCo uses the auto-labeled data to periodically re-train, stream-specific, bespoke small models. To reduce the periodic training costs, DyCo uses different policies that are based on stride, accuracy, and confidence information.

We evaluate our system, and the contextualized models, by using two object detection models for vehicles and people, and two datasets (a public benchmark and another real-world proprietary dataset). Our results show that DyCo increases the mAP accuracy measure of small models by an average of 16.3% (and up to 20%) for the public benchmark and an average of 19.0% (and up to 64.9%) for the real-world dataset. DyCo also decreases the training costs for contextualized models by more than an order of magnitude.
Beyond Just Safety: Delay-aware Security Monitoring for Real-time Control Systems
Authors: Hasan Monowar , Mohan Sibin , Bobba Rakesh B. , Pellizzoni Rodolfo
Published: March 2022

Modern embedded real-time systems (RTS) are increasingly facing more security threats than the past. A simplistic straightforward integration of security mechanisms might not be able to guarantee thesafetyand predictability of such systems. In this article, we focus on integrating security mechanisms into RTS (especiallylegacyRTS). We introduceContego-C, an analytical model to integrate security tasks into RTS that will allow system designers to improve the security posture without affecting temporal and control constraints of the existing real-time control tasks. We also define ametric(named tightness of periodic monitoring) to measure the effectiveness of such integration. We demonstrate our ideas using a proof-of-concept implementation on an ARM-based rover platform and show that Contego-C can improve security without degrading control performance.
Prediction Modeling for Application-Specific Communication Architecture Design of Optical NoC
Authors: Trajkovic Jelena , Karimi Sara , Hangsan Samantha , Zhang Wenlu
Published: March 2022

Multi-core systems-on-chip are becoming state-of-the-art. Therefore, there is a need for a fast and energy-efficient interconnect to take full advantage of the computational capabilities. Integration of silicon photonics with a traditional electrical interconnect in a Network-on-Chip (NoC) proposes a promising solution for overcoming the scalability issues of electrical interconnect. In this article, we derive and evaluate prediction modeling techniques for the design space exploration (DSE) of application-specific communication architectures for an Optical Network-on-Chip (ONoC). Our proposed model accurately predicts network packet latency, contention delay, and the static and dynamic energy consumption of the network. This work specifically addresses the challenge of accurately estimating performance metrics of the entire design space without having to perform time-consuming and computationally intensive exhaustive simulations. The proposed technique, based on machine learning (ML), can build accurate prediction models using only 10% to 50% (best case and worst case) of the entire design space. The accuracy, expressed as R
2
(Coefficient of Determination) is 0.99901, 0.99967, 0.99996, and 0.99999 for network packet latency, contention delay, static energy consumption, and dynamic energy consumption, respectively, in six different benchmarks from the Splash-2 benchmark suite, chosen among 6 different machine learning prediction models.
DeepExpress: Heterogeneous and Coupled Sequence Modeling for Express Delivery Prediction
Authors: Ren Siyuan , Guo Bin , Cao Longbing , Li Ke , Liu Jiaqi , Yu Zhiwen
Published: March 2022

The prediction of express delivery sequence, i.e., modeling and estimating the volumes of daily incoming and outgoing parcels for delivery, is critical for online business, logistics, and positive customer experience, and specifically for resource allocation optimization and promotional activity arrangement. A precise estimate of consumer delivery requests has to involve sequential factors such as shopping behaviors, weather conditions, events, business campaigns, and their couplings. Despite that various methods have integrated external features to enhance the effects, extant works fail to address complex feature-sequence couplings in the following aspects: weaken the inter-dependencies when processing heterogeneous data and ignore the cumulative and evolving situation of coupling relationships. To address these issues, we propose DeepExpress—a deep-learning-based express delivery sequence prediction model, which extends the classic seq2seq framework to learn feature-sequence couplings. DeepExpress leverages an express delivery seq2seq learning, a carefully designed heterogeneous feature representation, and a novel joint training attention mechanism to adaptively handle heterogeneity issues and capture feature-sequence couplings for accurate prediction. Experimental results on real-world data demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms both shallow and deep baseline models.
Response Generation via Structure-Aware Constraints
Authors: Guan Mengyu , Wang Zhongqing , Zhou Guodong
Published: March 2022

End-to-end neural modeling with the encoder-decoder architecture has shown great promise in response generation. However, it often generates dull and generic responses due to its failure to effectively perceive various kinds of act, sentiment, and topic information. To address these challenges, we propose a response-generation model withstructure-aware constraintsto capture the structure of dialog and generate a better response with various constraints of the act, sentiment, and topic. In particular, given an utterance sequence, we first learn the representation of each utterance in the encoding stage. We then learn the turn, speaker, and dialog representation from the utterance representations and construct the structure of dialog. Third, we employ an attention mechanism to extract the constraints of act, sentiment, and topic based on the structure of the dialog. Finally, we utilize these structure-aware constraints to control the response-generation process in decoding stage. Extensive experimental results validate the superiority of our proposed model against the state-of-the-art baselines. In addition, the results also show that the proposed model can generate responses with more appropriate content based on the structure-aware constraints.
Performance Modeling of Computer Vision-based CNN on Edge GPUs
Authors: Bouzidi Halima , Ouarnoughi Hamza , Niar Smail , Cadi Abdessamad Ait El
Published: March 2022

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are currently widely used in various fields, particularly for computer vision applications. Edge platforms have drawn tremendous attention from academia and industry due to their ability to improve execution time and preserve privacy. However, edge platforms struggle to satisfy CNNs’ needs due to their computation and energy constraints. Thus, it is challenging to find the most efficient CNN that respects accuracy, time, energy, and memory footprint constraints for a target edge platform. Furthermore, given the size of the design space of CNNs and hardware platforms, performance evaluation of CNNs entails several efforts. Consequently, designers need tools to quickly explore large design space and select the CNN that offers the best performance trade-off for a set of hardware platforms. This article proposes a Machine Learning (ML)–based modeling approach for CNN performances on edge GPU-based platforms for vision applications. We implement and compare five of the most successful ML algorithms for accurate and rapid CNN performance predictions on three different edge GPUs in image classification. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness and usefulness of our proposed methodology. For three of the five ML algorithms — XGBoost, Random Forest, and Ridge Polynomial regression — average errors of 11%, 6%, and 8% have been obtained for CNN inference execution time, power consumption, and memory usage, respectively.
Role and Function of Regulatory T Cell in Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyposis
Authors: Lei Chenyang , Jiang Juan , Zhang Yanyan , Xiong Gaoyun
Published: March 2022

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a subtype of chronic rhinosinusitis characterized by high edema in the stroma, albumin deposition, and formation of pseudocysts. The pathogenesis of CRSwNP is not yet fully understood. Regulatory T (Treg) cells are a subset of CD4+ T cells that play a suppressive immunoregulatory role in the process of CRSwNP. Recent studies have found that there was a significant reduction in Treg cells in polyp tissues, which leads to the onset of CRSwNP. An imbalance between Th17 and Treg cells can also aggravate inflammation toward the Th2 type. This review focuses on our understanding of the function and role of Treg cells and their regulatory factors and clinical significance in CRSwNP. We also summarize the current drug treatments for CRSwNP with Tregs as the potential therapeutic target, which will provide new ideas for the treatment of CRSwNP in the future.
Research on Image Feature Extraction Algorithm of the Egg and Egg White Protein Thermal Gelation Based on PCA/ICA
Authors: Liu XinCi , Zhao Chang
Published: March 2022

With the rapid development of the computer field in recent years, a series of major breakthroughs have been made in the field of computer vision. The key technologies in image feature recognition, face recognition, image understanding, pattern recognition, and machine learning have been rapidly applied and developed. The research and application of this field provide efficient and convenient means. However, for traditional physical and chemical experimental research, parameter adjustment is time-consuming and costly. In response to the phenomenon, this article starts with the study of the characteristics of the egg white protein thermal gelation image and explores the extraction of external features presented by the optimal parameters of the coagulation image under the thermal coagulation state of the egg white protein, based on the classic PCA and ICA—image feature extraction algorithm and its improved algorithm, respectively. Experiment and simulation research on several image feature extraction algorithms under different egg white solidification states are carried out, and the efficient recognition method and accuracy of the image under the optimal egg white protein thermal gelation state are discussed. It has important reference significance for the research of optimal image feature extraction in the future high-efficiency experimental research.