bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PENGEMBANGAN SENSOR-CLOUD PADA SMART CITY UNTUK MENGHADIRKAN KETERSEDIAAN DATA WAKTU NYATA
Authors: Murwantara I Made
Published: August 2022

Pengembangan dan operasional dari sebuah Smart-City bergantung sepenuhnya pada lebih dari satu kelompok sumber data waktu nyata. Bentuk integrasi data ini kemungkinan dapat terwujud melalui manajemen Sensor-Fusion. Sumber daya utama untuk mencapai tujuan ini adalah denga keberadaan suatu kelompok sensor virtual yang dapat dipercaya kinerjanya yang adaptif terhadap perubahan lingkungan seperti permasalahan pengiriman data. Kestabilan operasional dari jaringan sensor harus dikedepankan karena sistem ini bergantung pada kondisi stabil tersebut. Menanggapi hal tersebut, suatu sistem waktu nyata yang terintegrasi secara kompleks atau rumit, umumnya, mengalami ketidakstabilan pengaliran data yang berakibat pada munculnya faktor penyimpangan. Dalam artikel ini, suatu pemikiran mengenai Sensor-Cloud yang menyediakan layanan pengaliran data waktu nyata dengan dasar berpikir bentuk virtualisasi akan diutarakan. Suatu pendekatan dengan konsep utama kombinasi dari Komputasi Awan, Internet of Things dan Akusisi data diajukan. Suatu demonstrasi sederhana untuk memperlihatkan kemampuan dari hasil penelitian ini akan diperlihatkan.
Exploring the leadership behaviors of millennial community leaders during the pandemic: The Case of the Science City of Muñoz in the Philippines
Authors: Cuya-Antonio Olive Chester M. , Gabriel Arneil G. , Obispo Corinthian M. , Jacoba Feliciana P. , Claudio Sanjay P.
Published: August 2022

Millennials are those born between the late 1980s and late 1990s. They are individuals who are comfortable in the use of technology giving them competitive advantage in the global workforce. Surprisingly, despite their significant number in the workforce, there is a dearth of study on millennial leadership styles. This study examines the millennial community leaders in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. It employed exploratory descriptive-qualitative research method. Sixteen millennial community leaders in the Science City of Muñoz in the Philippines and twelve citizens and subordinates participated in the study. The basis of analysis is the Responsible Leadership for Performance framework. The findings showed that responsibility and accountability to their tasks and functions are common traits of millennial community leaders during pandemic. They are perceived to possess attributes such as: people-centered, honest, reliable, just, approachable, responsible, affirmative, pure-hearted, and hardworking during pandemic. The study confirmed that millennials’ technological inclination, their ideals and aspirations are shaped by their socio-historical background. Though lacking of experience and resources, they compensate it with strong mind and heart to lead the community in its response to pandemic emergencies.
Flypaper effects of Central Transfers on the spending behaviour of Ghana’s central region local governments: Does status matter?
Authors: Dick-Sagoe Christopher , Tingum Ernest Ngeh , Asare-Nuamah Peter
Published: August 2022

Fiscal system incentivises local government officials to depend on central government’s transfers to fund their budgets. This paper examines whether district and municipal status local government officials exhibit the same spending behaviour when presented with central government’s transfers. The paper uses the panel data model to estimate the flypaper effect on district and municipal status local governments in the Central Region of Ghana from 2008 to 2015. The result shows differences in spending behaviour between district and municipal status local governments, where the flypaper effect is more pronounced on municipal status local governments (52.6%) than district status local governments (44.8%). Though municipal local governments are financially better in raising own-source revenues compared to the district local governments, the design of the fiscal system tends to make municipal local governments more reliant on central transfers than on expenditure of own-source revenues. This reduces interest in raising own-source revenue and its expenditure, a situation which has an adverse long-term impact on decentralisation in terms of citizen empowerment and participation. The study recommends an optimal level of central transfers which will serve the purpose of correcting vertical and horizontal imbalances, as in theory, and at the same time promote the ideals of decentralisation (citizen empowerment and participation).
Peer to peer (P2P) and cloud computing on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) performance analysis
Authors: Ernawati Tati , Febiansyah Febi
Published: August 2022

The resources of information technology and the availability of services on non-cloud network systems are limited. This constitutes problems for companies, especially in the efficient management of information technology. The high investment in infrastructure procurement is an obstacle in building centralized systems, including the adoption of cloud computing through Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), as an elective solution. This research aims to analyze the performance of cloud servers on IaaS services using the parameters of cloud service availability, resource utilization, and throughput transfer which were implemented in companies engaged in the toll road concession sector. Furthermore, the results are expected to be a reference in supporting company decisions/policies related to cloud system adoption. The methodology involved the Network Development Life Cycle (NDLC), a system constituted by 6 (six) stages of management, namely user, proxy server, database, web service, monitoring service, and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The results of cloud service availability indicate that the cloud system provides service availability (system interface, broad network access, and resource pooling). Furthermore, cloud systems have a significant performance on resource utilization (CPU) and throughput transfer parameters, while non-cloud systems only excel in response time and resource utilization (Memory) parameters. The overall result analysis based on this research scenario showed that the cloud system provides services according to user needs and has a better speed in data transmission, but has shortcomings in response time.
Power control scheme using particle swarm optimization method in resource allocation process on D2D underlaying communication
Authors: Prabowo Vinsensius Sigit Widhi Widhi , Meylani Linda , Majid Ersa Rahma Aqila , Muayyadi Achmad Ali
Published: August 2022

Fast growing number of cellular telecommunication technology resulting on the increasing number of the user equipment. This condition increased the eNodeB load. To overcome this problem, the device-to-device (D2D) underlaying communication is introduced. In underlaying scheme, the D2D user equipment (DUE) will do the communication process using the same radio resources with the conventional cellular user equipment (CUE). To avoid a severe interference between these two types of user in the system, a good resource allocation is needed. In this work, a power control scheme using particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed, to manage the transmit power on each user on the system. The power control scheme take place after the greedy scheduling algorithm, after all user is given a resource block (RB) to do the communication process. The power transmit for each user is managed to reach a better system capacity, and to reduce the power consumed in one communication process. From the simulation, the PSO power control can improve the sumrate and spectral efficiency up to 12.97% and 3.38% respectively. The PSO power control also can reduce the power consumed by the system up to 8.84%. The fairness happens among the CUEs also can be maintained, despite of the decreasing fairness among DUEs.
Time complexity in rejang language stemming
Authors: Wibowo Sastya Hendri , Toyib Rozali , Muntahanah Muntahanah , Darnita Yulia
Published: August 2022

Stemming is the process of separating the root word from an affixed word in a sentence by separating the base word and affixes which can consist of prefixes (prefixes), insertions (infixes), and suffixes (suffixes). Between one language and another, there are differences in the algorithm, especially the stemming process, in morphology. The time complexity of the Rejang algorithm is determined based on the affix group. To find out the time complexity of the stemming algorithm in the Rejang language using the method of making a digital word dictionary of the Rejang language, studying and analyzing the morphology of the Rejang language, making the Rejang language stemming algorithm based on the results of the Rejang language morphology analysis, analyzing the algorithm's performance and calculating the time complexity of the stemming results. The result of this research is to produce an efficient and effective Rejang Language stemming algorithm, where efficiency is indicated by the algorithm's time complexity of O(log n), and the effectiveness is shown from the results of accuracy of 99% against the test of 9000 affixed words. This accuracy value indicates that the over stemming and under stemming processes are 1%. Test results on 15 text documents with an average stemming failure rate of 1%.
Classification of diabetic foot ulcer using convolutional neural network (CNN) in diabetic patients
Authors: Harahap Mawaddah , Anjelli Sai Kumarani , Sinaga Widy Anggun M. , Alward Ryan , Manawan Junio Fegri Wira , Husein Amir Mahmud
Published: August 2022

The image of chronic wounds on human skin tissue has the similar look in shape, color and size to each other even though they are caused by different diseases. Diabetic ulcer is a condition where peripheral arterial blood vessels are disrupted due to hyperglycemia in people with diabetes mellitus. This research was aimed to analyze the accuracy of the Convolutional Neural Network algorithm in classifying diabetic ulcer disease with a transfer learning approach based on the appearance of the image of the wound on the sole in people with diabetes mellitus. By applying the transfer learning approach, the results showed that the Resnet152V2 model achieved the best accuracy value of 0.993 (99%), precision of 1.00, recall of 0.986, F1-Score of 0.993 and Support of 72. Therefore, the ResNet152V2 model was highly considered for classifying diabetic ulcer in patients with diabetes melitus.
The Systematic Isolation of Key Parameters for Estimating Skeletal Maturity on Lateral Elbow Radiographs
Authors: Sinkler Margaret A. , Furdock Ryan J. , Chen Daniel B. , Sattar Abdus , Liu Raymond W.
Published: August 2022

Background:

Skeletal maturity estimation is central in the management of scoliosis and lower-limb deformity. Utilizing demographic characteristics and modern computing, we sought to create a reliable, rapid, and accurate method for measuring skeletal maturity on an elbow radiograph.

Methods:

Utilizing the Bolton-Brush Collection, 4 parameters from the modified Sauvegrain method and 7 novel parameters were screened. Ten parameters were evaluated on serial peripubertal elbow radiographs, using Greulich and Pyle (GP) skeletal age from corresponding hand radiographs as a comparison. Stepwise linear regression and generalized estimating equations were used to identify radiographic and demographic parameters for estimating skeletal maturity based on 90% of final height. The elbow system was compared with GP only; olecranon apophysis only; age, sex, and GP; age, sex, and olecranon apophysis; age, sex, and elbow system with anteroposterior and lateral parameters; age, sex, and elbow system with anteroposterior parameters; and age, sex, and elbow system with lateral parameters.

Results:

In this study, 367 radiographs from 77 patients (40 girls and 37 boys) were included. Following stepwise linear regression, 4 radiographic parameters were included in the anteroposterior and lateral elbow system; 3 were included in the anteroposterior elbow system; and 4 were included in the lateral elbow system. The lateral elbow system predicted skeletal maturity with a mean discrepancy of 0.41 year and produced similar mean discrepancies to GP with age and sex (0.42; p = 0.93), and it trended toward better performance than the olecranon apophysis system with age and sex (0.43; p = 0.06). The lateral elbow system had the lowest percent of outlier predictions >1 year discrepant from the skeletal maturity reference (4.6%), although it was only significantly better than the GP-only group (29.4%) and the olecranon apophysis-only group (21.0%) (p < 0.001 for both).

Conclusions:

We systematically developed a lateral elbow system that performed equivalently to GP using 4 simple parameters and trended toward outperforming the olecranon apophysis systems in skeletal maturity estimation. Future clinical validation will be necessary to understand the utility of this system.

Clinical Relevance:

The lateral elbow system may be a more accurate prediction of skeletal maturity compared with the previously described olecranon apophysis system and can be used to guide the management of many pediatric orthopaedic conditions.
Current Evidence for Spinopelvic Characteristics Influencing Total Hip Arthroplasty Dislocation Risk
Authors: van der Gronde B.A.T.D. , Schlösser T.P.C. , van Erp J.H.J. , Snijders T.E. , Castelein R.M. , Weinans H. , de Gast A.
Published: August 2022

Background:

Decreased pelvic mobility and pelvic retroversion may result from spinal degeneration and lead to changes in the orientation of the acetabular implant after total hip arthroplasty (THA). While multiple patient and surgery-related factors contribute to THA dislocations, there is increasing evidence that sagittal spinopelvic dynamics are relevant for THA stability. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the relationship between previously described sagittal spinopelvic characteristics and implant dislocations after primary THA.

Methods:

A comprehensive literature search in the PubMed and Embase databases was conducted for studies reporting on spinopelvic morphology, alignment, pathology, or surgery and THA dislocations. Risk of bias was assessed using the MINORS criteria. Because of high heterogeneity in study methodology, a synthesis of best evidence was performed. Odds ratios (ORs), relative risks (RRs), and effect sizes (g) were calculated.

Results:

Fifteen studies (1,007,900 THAs) with quality scores of 15 to 23 out of 24 were included. Nine different spinopelvic alignment parameters (8 studies, g = 0.14 to 2.02), spinal pathology (2 studies, OR = 1.9 to 29.2), and previous spinal fusion surgery (8 studies, OR = 1.59 to 23.7, RR = 3.0) were found to be related to THA dislocation. Conflicting results were found for another sagittal pelvic morphology parameter, pelvic incidence.

Conclusions:

Several sagittal spinopelvic patient characteristics were found to be related to THA dislocation, and the associated risks were greater than for other patient and surgery-related factors. Future research is needed to determine which of those characteristics and parameters should be taken into account in patients undergoing primary THA.

Level of Evidence:

Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Posterior Humeral Avulsion of the Glenohumeral Ligament
Authors: Knapik Derrick M. , Patel Harsh H. , Smith Matthew V. , Brophy Robert H. , Matava Matthew J. , Forsythe Brian
Published: August 2022

» Posterior humeral avulsions of the inferior glenohumeral ligament represent an increasingly recognized but likely underdiagnosed source of posterior shoulder instability and pain.

» Injuries are commonly reported in athletic individuals who have sustained injury by either traumatic or atraumatic mechanisms; the ligament is most susceptible to injury with the shoulder in flexion, adduction, and internal rotation.

» Posterior humeral avulsions of the glenohumeral ligament often occur in the setting of concurrent injuries to the posterior or inferior labrum.

» Diagnosis is often challenging due to nonspecific symptoms and physical examination findings; a magnetic resonance arthrogram generally is utilized to identify avulsion from the humeral attachment; however, a definitive diagnosis is often made at the time of arthroscopic evaluation.

» In patients with persistent discomfort and limitations following nonoperative management, operative fixation, primarily utilizing arthroscopic techniques, can be performed to restore motion and glenohumeral stability.
Establishing the Taxa with Phylogenetic Profile and in-silico Ayurvedic Remedy of Human Oropharynx Microbiome
Authors: Kumari B. Yeswanthi , IA Shylesh Murthy , Bagchi Preenon
Published: August 2022

Background: Fusobacterium, a Gram-negative bacteria, is the cause of oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer. The oropharyngeal cancer is cancer in the oropharynx, the middle part of throat also pharynx(hence the name of the disease). The cancer result in an incurable sore throat accompanied by a lump in the throat, mouth or neck. Further coughing up blood with white patch in the mouth with other symptoms doesn’t go ignored.Methodology: Metagenome sequence of Human Oropharynx Microbiome was taken and metagenomics performed was performed using Galaxy to understand the taxanomy and phylogenetic profile of the microbiome. Krona was used to view the taxonomy and phylogenetic profile of the microbiome. Further, gene family information of the microbiome was identified. Using this gene information, the gene receptors involved in Oropharynx disease was identified.Using homology modelling, the 3d structure of the Human Oropharynx gene receptor was modelled. Results: Virtual screening with Lipinski rule of five (ADME) studies was performed on selected phytocompounds to identify the best novel ligand for oropharyngeal cancer receptor.
A deep learning-based conditional system health index method to reduce the uncertainty of remaining useful life prediction
Authors: Jang Jaeyeon
Published: August 2022

Many recent data-driven studies have used sensor profile data for prognostics and health management (PHM). However, existing data-driven PHM techniques are vulnerable to three types of uncertainty: sensor noise inherent to the sensor profile data, uncertainty regarding the current health status diagnosis caused by monitoring a single health index (HI), and uncertainty in predicting the remaining useful life (RUL), which is affected by unpredictable changes in system operating conditions and the future external environment. This study proposes a deep conditional health index extraction network (DCHIEN) for PHM to effectively manage these three types of uncertainty. DCHIEN is a model that combines a stacked denoising autoencoder that extracts high-level features robust to sensor noise with a feed-forward neural network that produces an HI based on user-defined monitoring conditions. This approach supports system health monitoring using the conditional HI, as well as prognostics using RUL interval predictions. Extensive experiments were conducted using NASA's turbofan engine degradation dataset. The results show that the proposed method achieves a superior RUL prediction performance compared to state-of-the-art methods and that uncertainties can be effectively managed.
Machine Learning Computer Vision Applications for Spatial AI Object Recognition in Orange County, California
Authors: Alexandridis Kostas
Published: August 2022

We provide an integrated and systematic automation approach to spatial object recognition and positional detection using AI machine learning and computer vision algorithms for Orange County, California. We describe a comprehensive methodology for multi-sensor, high-resolution field data acquisition, along with post-field processing and pre-analysis processing tasks. We developed a series of algorithmic formulations and workflows that integrate convolutional deep neural network learning with detected object positioning estimation in 360° equirectancular photosphere imagery. We provide examples of application processing more than 800 thousand cardinal directions in photosphere images across two areas in Orange County, and present detection results for stop-sign and fire hydrant object recognition. We discuss the efficiency and effectiveness of our approach, along with broader inferences related to the performance and implications of this approach for future technological innovations, including automation of spatial data and public asset inventories, and near real-time AI field data systems.
An Effective Approach for Automatic COVID-19 Detection from Multiple Image Sources Using Shufflenet Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)
Authors: Ullah Naeem , Raza Asaf , Khan Javed Ali , Khan Arif Ali
Published: August 2022

Early and precise COVID-19 identification and analysis are pivotal in reducing the spread of COVID-19. Medical imaging techniques such as Chest X-ray or chest radiographs, Computed Tomography (CT) scan, and electrocardiogram (ECG) trace images are most widely known for early discovery and analysis of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Deep learning (DL) frameworks for identifying COVID-19 positive patients in the literature are limited to one data format, either ECG or chest radiograph images. Moreover, using several data types to recover abnormal patterns caused by COVID-19 could potentially provide more information and restrict the spread of the virus. This study presents an effective COVID-19 detection and classification approach using the Shufflenet CNN by employing three types of images, i.e., chest radiograph, CT-scan, and ECG-trace images. For this purpose, we performed extensive classification experiments with the proposed approach using each type of image. With the chest radiograph dataset, we performed three classification experiments at different levels of granularity, i-e, binary, three-class, and four-class classifications. Also, we performed a binary classification experiment with the proposed approach by classifying CT-scan images into COVID-positive and normal. Finally, utilizing the ECG-trace images, we conducted three experiments at different levels of granularity, i-e, binary, three-class, and five-class classifications. We evaluated the proposed approach with the baseline COVID-19 radiography database, SARS-CoV-2 CT-scan, and ECG images dataset of cardiac and COVID-19 patients. The average accuracy of 99.98% for COVID-19 detection in the three-class classification scheme using chest radiographs, optimal accuracy of 100% for COVID-19 detection using CT scans, and average accuracy of 99.37% for five-class classification scheme using ECG trace images have proved the efficacy of our proposed method over the contemporary methods. The optimal accuracy of 100% for COVID-19 detection using CT scans and the accuracy gain of 1.54% (in the case of five-class classification using ECG trace images) from the previous approach, which utilized ECG images for the first time, has a major contribution to improving the COVID-19 prediction rate in early stages. Experimental findings demonstrate that the proposed framework outperforms contemporary models. For example, the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art DL approaches such as Squeezenet, Alexnet, and Darknet19 by achieving the accuracy of 99.98 (proposed method), 98.29, 98.50, and 99.67, respectively.
Associations Between Glaucoma and All-cause Mortality in the Middle-Aged and Older Chinese Population: Results from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study
Authors: HUANG XIAOXU , XU MENGQIAO , Liu Wenjia , ZHAO XIAOHUAN , Sun Xiaodong
Published: August 2022

Objective: To investigate the association between glaucoma and mortality in the older population.Design: Population-based, prospective cohort study.Participants: Participants aged 45 years or older at baseline (47.9% male) were enrolled in 2011 for the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). All-cause mortality of the participants was observed during seven years of follow-up.Methods: The baseline data were collected in the 2011 CHARLS, and participants were followed up for seven years (until 2018). The risk of all-cause mortality was examined using Cox proportional hazards regression with age as the time scale, adjusting for significant risk factors and comorbid conditions.Main outcome measures: Mortality, resulting from all causes.Results: Among the 14,803 participants included, the risk of all-cause death was significantly higher among people with glaucoma than among those without glaucoma, after adjustment for other confounders (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.159, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.549-3.008). In a subgroup analysis based on the mean age of death, among those who were 75 years and older (n = 563), the risk of all-cause death was significantly higher in patients with glaucoma than in those without glaucoma (HR: 1.907, 95% CI: 1.249-2.911).Conclusions: Participants with glaucoma were at an increased risk for all-cause mortality, especially those participants aged 75 years and above. Our findings revealed possible underlying mechanisms creating the association between glaucoma and all-cause mortality, and they highlighted the importance of glaucoma management to prevent premature death in middle-aged and older adults.
Acquired Antibiotic Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae Exposed to Short-Term Simulated Microgravity and Background Antibiotic Exposure
Authors: Fang Tingzheng , Su Xiaolei , Wang Dapeng , Jiang Xuege , Li Yanjun , Wang Junfeng , Liu Changting
Published: August 2022

Space flight missions last for a long time so bacterial infection during missions is considered a potential risk for astronauts. Studies of bacterial antibiotic resistance under spaceflight and simulated microgravity (SMG) have shown lots of results. To better understand the antibiotic resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the microgravity environment, an original K. pneumoniae original strain was cultured under SMG conditions combined with background antibiotic exposure (SMGA) as the experimental strain, while the control strain was cultured in a normal gravity environment without antibiotic exposure. At the beginning of the treatment, the growth curves of the experimental and control strains were drawn. After 20 cycles of incubation, the antibiotic susceptibility, genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic tests were conducted on the experimental and control strains. After the treatment, the experimental and control strain was inoculated into shake flasks under normal gravity without antibiotic exposure as an eraser experiment. During and after 10 cycles of incubation in shake flasks, antibiotic susceptibility tests were repeatedly conducted. The results showed that SMG conditions still increased the growth rate of K. pneumoniae despite of the background antibiotic exposure. Sustained exposure to SMGA condition resulted in acquired antibiotic resistance, which persisted for a period even though the SMGA condition was removed. The mechanisms of acquired antibiotic resistance under SMGA condition might include the loss of porin OmpK35, overexpression of the efflux pump OqxAB and upregulation of the AcrAB-TolC multidrug efflux system.
Empirical data of plant-based ink properties for inkjet printing and its stability to the storage phase
Authors: Thakker Alka Madhukar , Sun Danmei
Published: August 2022

In this sustainability-oriented research, the properties of plant-based inks were evaluated denoting the viscosity range of 8.5 to 10 cP, the relative density of 1.06, conductivity value of 2.51 mS/cm, and the surface tension of 60 mN/m and pH of 4.9 to be most effective for inkjet printing. The changes in these properties to the one-month storage phase are detailed as determined with Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, viscometer, and tensiometer. The varied colours of herbal inks were stable to storage time except for the blue colour ink made from bio indigo herb that displayed agal-like sediments. After the storage phase, the herbal inks exhibited anti-thixotropic viscosity except for yellow colour herbal ink demonstrating thixotropic behaviour. High conductivity values of 18.5 and 15.6 mS/Cm were noted for blue and black colour herbal inks indicating their potential for constituting conducting inks, however, the conductivity values dropped to 7.5 and 9.5 respectively after one month. The pH and surface tension were found steady during the storage period. The study of life cycle analysis, plausible phytochemistry, print quality on digital printing with eco-friendly inks and the coffee-ring effect of herbal inks is suggested for future work.
Re-valorization of Electronic Waste - Moss as a Biosorber for Gold Recovery?
Authors: Becker Anna Maria , Böhm Benedikt , Karampatzis Christos , Blenk Patrik , Gabor Esther , Castiglione Kathrin
Published: August 2022

Electronic waste contains high amounts of gold and is therefore an important secondary source of this raw material. While conventional metal recovery processes are associated with environmental and health risks along with high energy demand, bio-based methods represent a sustainable alternative of growing importance. In our previous work, we discovered that the moss Physcomitrella patens not only selectively binds Rare Earth Elements (REEs) but can also bind gold with even higher efficiency. This prompted us to conduct a comparative study on the biosorption of gold by P. patens and two further moss species (Physcomitrium eurystomum and Physcomitrium sphaericum). Sorption capacities from model gold solutions reached 1.2 ± 0.4 mmol g-1, 1.1 ± 0.6 mmol g-1 and 0.8 ± 0.1 mmol g-1, respectively, and were up to 3.7-folds higher than these obtained for selected REEs. As expected, the efficiency of gold removal was affected by the pH of the metal solution. Furthermore, reduction of gold ions seems to play an important role in the gold recovery by mosses. Thus, although further studies on the mechanisms of gold recovery by moss species are needed, the work presented here provides important insights into the use of moss for the re-valorisation of e-waste as a secondary source of gold.
Comparing two advance care planning conversation activities to motivate advance directive completion in underserved communities across the United States: The Project Talk Trial study protocol for a cluster, randomized controlled trial
Authors: Scoy Lauren Van , Levi Benjamin , Bramble Cindy , Calo William , Chinchilli Vernon , Currin Lindsey , Grant Denise , Hollenbeak Christopher , Katsaros Maria , Marlin Sara , Scott Allison , Tucci Amy , VanDyke Erika , Waserman Emily , Witt Pamela , Green Michael
Published: August 2022

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is a process involving conversations between patients, loved ones, and healthcare providers that consider patient preferences for the types of medical therapies received at the end of life. Underserved populations, including Black, Hispanic, rural, and low-income communities are less likely to engage in ACP than other communities, a health inequity that results in lower quality care and reduced hospice utilization. The purpose of this trial is to compare efficacy of two interventions intended to motivate ACP (particularly advance directive completion) for those living in underserved communities. Methods: This 3-armed cluster, randomized controlled mixed methods design is being conducted in 75 community venues in underserved communities across the US. The goal of the trial is to compare the efficacy of two interventions at motivating ACP. Arm 1 uses an end-of-life conversation game (Hello); Arm 2 uses a nationally utilized workshop format for ACP conversations (The Conversation Project); and Arm 3 uses an attention control game (TableTopics). Events are held in partnership with 75 local community-based host organizations and will involve 1500 participants (n=20 per event). The primary outcome is completion of a visually-verified advance directive at 6 months post-event. Primary analyses compare efficacy of each intervention to each other and the control arm. Secondary mixed methods outcomes include: a) other ACP behaviors and engagement; b) communication quality; c) impact of sociocultural environment on ACP (via qualitative interviews); and d) implementation and sustainability. Subgroup analyses examine outcomes for Black, Hispanic, and rural groups in particular.Discussion: This trial will add to the evidence base behind various conversational ACP interventions, examine potential mechanisms of action for such interventions, and provide qualitative data to better understand the sociocultural environment of how community-based ACP interventions are experienced by underserved populations. Results will also provide important data for future researchers to learn whether visual verification of advance directives is necessary or whether reliance on self-reported outcomes is of comparable value. Data from this study will inform ways to effectively motivate underserved communities to participate in advance care planning.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04612738. Registered on October 12, 2020.
Application of Information Teaching in Vocal Music Assisted Practice in Mobile Internet Era
Authors: Liu Shengnan , Wang Xu
Published: August 2022

Vocal music practices using the internet and mobile computing rely on the distinguishable pitch, note, and musical library information for ease of understanding. For addressing this problem an Assisted Data Processing Model for Tutor Function (ADPM-TF) is projected in this article. The proposed model learns the user requirements and their improvements based on training hours. The learned inputs are validated for the mishandled tutor sessions for identifying errors. The tutor assistance based on independent and joint (fused) data is recommended by the neural network learning based on previous session user performance/ rating. This process is streamlined depending on the user preference and switching ability over various sessions. The performance is validated using the metrics assistance ratio, error, processing time, and fusion rate.
Quality of life, depressive symptoms and stress in patients with end-stage renal disease: a comparison of renal replacement therapy modalities
Authors: CHENG LU , Yang Zheng , Tong Jiayu , Lin Qian , Liu Yongguang , Ying Jiaoqian
Published: August 2022

Aims: Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) face various physical and mental limitations resulting from different renal replacement therapy (RRT) modalities. Renal transplantation (Tx) is considered as the treatment that impacts most on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study aimed to analyze and compare the HRQOL, depressive symptoms and stress in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD) and Tx.Methods: A single-center cross-sectional sample of 32 HD patients, 22 PD patients and 147 Tx patients participated in our questionnaire survey. Measurements for this study included the MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Perceived Stress Scale 14 (PSS-14). Multivariate regression models, including a linear regression model and an ordinal logistic regression model, were employed to analyze health differences among patients undergoing HD, PD and Tx.Results: Tx patients showed better results of PCS (P=0.002) and PSS-14 (P=0.046), compared to HD patients. There was no significant difference among three different RRT modalities regarding the scores of MCS, while the Tx group significantly suffered from milder depressive symptoms than the other two groups (P<0.001). The scores of PCS were associated with age, and the scores of PSS-14 were associated with RRT modality, education level and type of insurance. The variables associated with severity of depressive symptoms were occupation status and RRT modality.Conclusions: Tx patients had better HRQOL and psychological well-being. RRT modality, education level and type of insurance were significant factors of psychological well-being of ESRD patients. Multiple measures performed to examine the psychological well-being of ESRD patients need to be developed.
Clinical Application Analysis of Modified Thoracolumbar Spine Injury Classification Scoring System
Authors: Lu Wenjie , Deng Yuanguo , Zhang Jiaming , Jiang weiyu
Published: August 2022

Objective: To propose a modified TLISC system with reference to the Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity Score (TLICS) and prospectively study the feasibility of its guiding clinical treatment. Methods: The study cohort population was 120 patients with thoracolumbar segment fractures admitted to the Department of Spine Surgery of the Sixth Hospital of Ningbo from December 2019 to June 2021, all within one week after fracture, with fracture segments of T11-L2 segments, 68 males and 52 females, aged 22-65 (36.7±5.7) years. The fracture morphology, neurological status, posterior ligament complex (PLC) integrity and disc injury status were combined to assess the fracture severity and formulate clinical treatment strategies based on the total score (T, 0-12 points). The anterior height of the injured spine before and after treatment, the posterior convexity Cobb angle, the VAS score and the spinal nerve function classification and recovery were compared. Results: Based on the scores, 28 cases were finally treated conservatively and 92 cases were treated surgically. Of the 92 surgically treated patients, 8(8.7%) were treated with an anterior approach, 81 (88.0%) with a posterior approach, and 3 (3.3%) with a combined anterior-posterior approach. All patients were followed up for 11 to 27 months [(19.2 ± 4.6) months] after discharge from the hospital. The VAS score at the last follow-up after treatment was 1.94±0.52, the height ratio of the anterior margin of the injured spine was 87.10±7.17%, the sagittal index was 90.35±7.72%, and the Cobb angle was 3.05±0.97 degrees, which were not statistically different from 1 month after treatment (P>0.05) and statistically different from before treatment (P<0.05), and the neurological functional status also had The neurological functional status also improved to different degrees. At the last follow-up, there were 2 cases of broken pedicle screws and no case of broken rods, and 7 cases of pedicle screws with different degrees of wear and cut in the vertebral body, manifesting as mild or severe low back pain. Conclusion: The modified TLICS scoring system is practical in the assessment of thoracolumbar fracture staging and injury degree, and has certain guiding significance for clinical treatment.
Effect of three feed rations on lipid profile and productive parameters in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)
Authors: Collantes Henry Herrera , Ramos José Niño , Vargas-Rocha Luis , Pajares Severino Torrel
Published: August 2022

Background
The present investigation was carried out to evaluate productive variables (feed intake, feed conversion, and weight gain), cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood of guinea pigs fed different feed rations.
Methods
We worked with 45 male guinea pigs of the Peru breed, weaned at 21 days of age, randomly distributed in three groups of 15 guinea pigs and three replicates each, where the control treatment (T0) was fed only alfalfa, the first experimental treatment (T1) with alfalfa and balanced feed in proportions of 3:1, respectively, and the second experimental treatment (T2) with Ryegrass and balanced supplement, also in a 3:1 ratio.
Results
At the end of the study (nine weeks), average live weights of T0 = 917.67 g, T1 = 948.13 g, and T2 = 911.60 g were obtained; average feed intake on a dry matter basis (DM) per guinea pig/day was increasing (T0 = 59.3 g, T1 = 60.96 g, and T2 = 65.51 g), with a feed conversion of 6.89, 6.59 and 7.57 for T0, T1, and T2, respectively; likewise, guinea pig live weight gain/day was 8.54 g for T0, 9.13 g for T1 and 8.58 for T2. As for cholesterol, the lowest value was obtained in T0 (40.7 mg/dL), and triglycerides were lower in T2 (54.6 mg/dL).
Conclusions
The guinea pigs fed with alfalfa and concentrate supplement have a higher weight gain and feed conversion; however, they have high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, unlike guinea pigs fed with Rye Grass and alfalfa; the latter had the lowest values.
Initial Treatment Is Associated With Improved Survival and End- Of-Life Outcomes for Patients With Pancreatic Cancer: A Cohort Study
Authors: Khan Rishad , Salim Misbah , Tanuseputro Peter , Hsu Amy T. , Coburn Natalie , Hallet Julie , Talarico Robert , James Paul D.
Published: August 2022

Background
We describe the association between initial treatment and end-of-life (EOL) outcomes among patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
Methods
This population-based cohort study included patients with PDAC who died from April 2010-December 2017 in Ontario, Canada using administrative databases. We used multivariable models to explore the association between index cancer treatment (no cancer-directed therapy, radiation, chemotherapy, surgery alone, and surgery and chemotherapy), and primary (mortality, healthcare encounters and palliative care) and secondary outcomes (location of death, hospitalizations, and receipt of chemotherapy within the last 30 days of life).
Results
In our cohort (N = 9,950), 56% received no cancer-directed therapy, 5% underwent radiation, 27% underwent chemotherapy, 7% underwent surgery alone, and 6% underwent surgery and chemotherapy. Compared to no cancer-directed therapy, radiation therapy (HR = 0.63), chemotherapy (HR = 0.43) surgery alone (HR = 0.32), and surgery and chemotherapy (HR = 0.23) were all associated with decreased mortality. Radiation (AMD=-3.64), chemotherapy (AMD=-6.35), surgery alone (AMD=-6.91), and surgery and chemotherapy (AMD=-6.74) were all associated with fewer healthcare encounters per 30 days in the last 6 months of life. Chemotherapy (AMD=-1.57), surgery alone (AMD=-1.65), and surgery and chemotherapy (AMD=-1.67) were associated with fewer palliative care visits (all p-values for estimates above < 0.05). Treatment groups were associated with lower odds of institutional death and hospitalization at EOL, and higher odds of chemotherapy at EOL.
Conclusions
Receiving cancer-directed therapies was associated with higher survival, fewer healthcare visits, lower odds of dying in an institution and hospitalization at EOL, fewer palliative care visits, and higher odds of receiving chemotherapy at EOL.
Who will treat older patients? Should medical education focus more on activities aimed at displaying positive attitudes towards older people? The prevalence of ageism among students of medical and health sciences
Authors: Podhorecka Marta , Husejko Jakub , Woźniewicz Agnieszka , Pyszora Anna , Kędziora-Kornatowska Kornelia
Published: August 2022

In the conditions of an aging society, a justification is found to explain the issue of the attitude of future health care workers, who are to care for elderly people in the future, towards these people, which will make it possible to predict in advance what problems related to the care of seniors may soon arise. After clarifying this issue, it will be important to distinguish the individual factors influencing this attitude in order to determine which social phenomena will require special attention. 803 medical and health sciences students participated in the research from various fields of medical studies. A Survgo system was used, where an online questionnaire was placed and then posted in social media. Only students of medicine and healthcare facilities participated in the study. The first questionnaire contained socio-demographic questions. Then, the KOAP questionnaire and Welch's t-test were used, and finally the proprietary questionnaire on contact with seniors. Analyses were conducted using the R Statistical language. Scores on the KAOP questionnaire ranged from 122.4 to 134.57. The highest scores were shown for physiotherapy students and the lowest for pharmacy students. The highest level of attitude towards elderly was reported in students of 1st to 3rd year of study. For 4th-5th year or supplementary level students, attitude levels were decreasing. Welch's t-test showed that the level of attitude towards old people in men was significantly higher than in women. There was no significant correlation between the age factor on the quotient scale and the KOAP score. Married individuals had significantly higher KAOP scores compared to singles and those in an informal relationship. No significant differences between the study stage factor and KAOP score have been found. Those who live and/or have regular contact with the elderly were characterized by higher KAOP questionnaire scores. The attitude towards the elderly depends on many factors, such as the chosen field of study, stage of education, contact with the elderly, gender or marital status. In order to develop proper contact with seniors, the solution may be to influence modifiable factors, especially the correct education of future health care workers.
Elephant Herd Optimization Algorithm for Optimal power flow model incorporating with PV and Wind
Authors: M Manorajapaul , Moses M. Leeban , Kannan R
Published: August 2022

In the paper, an enhanced optimal technique is proposed for solving the optimal power flow (OPF) issues with uncertainties. An enhanced technique is the EHO calculation, which is roused bythe crowding conduct of elephant gathering. Originally, the OPF is examinedwith the (N-R) Newton-Raphson (N-R) approach after that, the wind and PV based power scheduling is performed. For the wind and PV analysis, the output power is determined from the Weibull PDF and Lognormal PDF. Initially, the objective functionis defined and analyzed the voltage deviation, power loss and generation cost. For the OPF analysis, multi-objective functions are considered under the uncertainty period. The activities are decided for various reasons depending on the variable costs of building photovoltaic and wind farms, radiation, discharge costs, transmission disturbances and voltage stability. The suggested procedure is tested with the IEEE 57 bus system and analyzed the corresponding emission coefficients, generation cost coefficients and etc.
Modeling and Optimization in turning of PA66-GF30% and PA66 using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (PSI, MABAC and MAIRCA) methods: a comparative study
Authors: Haoues Sabrina , Yallese Mohamed Athmane , Belhadi Salim , Chihaoui Salim , Uysal Alper
Published: August 2022

Semi-crystalline polymers are widely used in modern industry. Indeed, they are highly coveted because of their excellent compromise between advantageous mechanical properties, high lightness, good productivity and low cost. In this work, a modeling study of performance parameters such as; (Ra), (Fz), (Pc) and (MRR) was carried out using the surface response methodology (RSM). The machining operations were performed dry on two polyamides (PA66-GF30% and PA66) following the L9 (3 3 ) orthogonal array. The results were used to perform a mono-objective optimization based on the Taguchi signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). In addition, a comparative study between three multi-objective optimization methods MCDM (PSI, MABAC and MAIRCA) coupled with the Taguchi approach was realized. The target objective is to reduce (Ra, Fz and Pc) and maximize (MRR) simultaneously. The results found are original and can help researchers working in the field of machining polyamides with and without reinforcement.