bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Factors Affecting Heat Transfer in Furnaces
Authors: Greyson Murray , Mazie G. P. , Myers J. W. , Corey R. C. , Graf E. G.
Published: February 2022

The problem of correlating the heat-absorption efficiencies of coal-burning equipment has been studied for many years with little more than a modicum of success. It has been consistently pointed out that one of the major problems of correlating data such as these has been the lack of precise furnace data. This paper describes the attempt at using statistics to correlate more reliable furnace data by means of the Broido, Hudson-Orrok, a modified Hudson-Orrok, Wohlenberg, and Hurvich correlations. Results suggest that information about flame temperatures, flame volumes, and emissivities and temperatures of flames and slag-ash-covered boiler-tube walls are necessary before precise correlations can be made.
Differences in wood anatomy and chemistry of a Eucalyptus urophylla clone explained by site climate conditions
Authors: Almeida Maria Naruna Felix , Vidaurre Graziela Baptista , Louzada José Luis Penetra Cerveira , Pezzopane José Eduardo Macedo , Oliveira Jean Carlos Lopes , Câmara Ana Paula , Silva Maria Emilia Calvão Moreira , Barros Ana Isabel Ramos Novo Amorim , Matos Carlos da Costa , Alves Ana Maria Martins , Campoe Otávio Camargo , Alvares Clayton Alcarde
Published: February 2022

Environmental conditions can change both the quantity and quality of wood formation. This study aimed to evaluate anatomical and chemical changes in the wood of a Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake clone cultivated in four sites of wide climatic conditions in Brazil. Radial samples were used to evaluate xylem anatomy along the growth cycles. Samples with a quarter of a disk were used to perform chemical analyses of extractives, total lignin (LG), syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G), holocellulose, and elemental analysis of wood. The elements Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Mn, Fe, Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, Cd, F, and Cl were also quantified. Correlations using the mean values of the variables per site were higher than those using values per tree growth cycle (years). Mean annual air temperature showed the highest correlations with wood density (r = −0.89) and the anatomical characteristics (vessel area: r = −0.68; fiber wall thickness: r = −0.70; vessel frequency: r = 0.74; and fiber lumen diameter: r = 0.90). Only LG and S/G showed significant correlations with the meteorological variables, with drier sites presenting a higher S/G. The anatomical characteristics change with regionwide climate features, while wood chemical characteristics showed weaker relations with climatic variations.
Holographic entanglement negativity in flat space generalized minimal massive gravity
Authors: Setare Mohammad Reza , Koohgard Meisam
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we study the application of holographic entanglement negativity proposal for bipartite states in the 2D Galilean conformal field theory [Formula: see text] dual to bulk asymptotically flat space–times in the context of generalized minimal massive gravity (GMMG) model. [Formula: see text] is considered on the boundary side of the duality and the bulk gravity is described by GMMG that is asymptotically symmetric under the Galilean conformal transformations. In this paper, the replica technique, based on the two-point and the four-point twist correlators, is utilized and the entanglement entropy and the entanglement negativity are obtained in the bipartite configurations of the system in the boundary.
On conormal subgroups
Authors: Dixon Martyn R. , Kurdachenko Leonid A. , Subbotin Igor Ya.
Published: February 2022

We introduce the concept of a conormal subgroup: a subgroup is conormal if it is contranormal in its normal closure. This unifies the concepts of normal and contranormal subgroups. We obtain some important properties of conormal subgroups, describe their connections with transitivity of normality, and study groups in which all conormal subgroups are normal.
A Novel Photoelectrochemical Immunosensor for Sensitive Detection of Milk α-Lactalbumin Based on CdWO4 –CdS Heterojunction
Authors: Li Canguo , Zhu Qiying , Jiang Meng , Chang Huiqin , Zhao Liguo , Kong Ling , Chen Zhiwei , Wang Jun , Tian Hongyun
Published: February 2022

Cow milk is an important source of protein, but it is also a food that can cause allergies. In this research, a novel photoelectrochemical immunosensor based on CdWO4–CdS type-II heterojunction was constructed for the detection of allergen [Formula: see text]-lactalbumin ([Formula: see text]-Lac) in milk. CdWO4–CdS heterojunction was synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method. Compared with pure CdWO4, the CdWO4–CdS heterojunction significantly improved the photocurrent intensity. The polydopamine (PDA) was used as a crosslinking agent to couple basis materials and biomolecules. Ascorbic acid was used as an efficient electron donor to eliminate the photo-generated holes and inhibit the recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the photocurrent intensity reduced linearly with the logarithm of [Formula: see text]-Lac concentration ranging from 0.001 ng[Formula: see text]mL[Formula: see text] to 10 ng[Formula: see text]mL[Formula: see text] and the limit of detection was 0.17[Formula: see text]pg[Formula: see text]mL[Formula: see text]. The constructed photoelectrochemical immunosensor exhibited excellent stability, selectivity and reproducibility, which provided a novel ideal for sensitive detection of [Formula: see text]-Lac and shed light on monitoring of other allergenic proteins in foods.
A BOOTSTRAP ASSESSMENT OF THE SHADOW PRICES OF CO2 FOR THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR IN CHINA’S KEY CITIES
Authors: YANG MIAN , XU JIANGCHUAN , LI MENGHAN , DUAN HONGBO
Published: February 2022

This study constructs a modified assessment model based on the bootstrap method to estimate the CO2 shadow prices for 35 typical cities’ industrial sectors in China from 2005 to 2018. Based on data from China’s seven pilot regional carbon markets, we evaluate the current CO2 trading price distortions. The empirical results indicate that during the study period, the average CO2 shadow price for the target cities is 1915.86 yuan per tonne, decreasing to 1880.57 yuan per tonne when using the bootstrap method for bias correction. The overall trends of CO2 shadow prices in most key cities are increasing given the strengthening of environmental regulations following the 11th Five-Year Plan. In addition, compared with the CO2 shadow prices in this paper, carbon trading prices in pilot cities present significantly negative distortions, which may fail to reflect the real opportunity cost of carbon abatement. Based on the findings of this study, several policy recommendations are proposed.
Perceived Obstacles and Performance of Food and Agribusiness Enterprises: Implications for Urban and Rural Entrepreneurship Development
Authors: Khan Waseem , Ali Tabassum , Dhamija Aruna
Published: February 2022

This paper aims at examining the enterprises characteristic, business performance, and obstacles in doing business for food and agribusiness firms across rural and urban areas, based on World Bank’s Enterprises Survey data of 699 respondents. Chi-square test shows statistically significance difference in firms’ characteristics across the rural and urban regions. ANOVA reveals a significant difference in business performance. Similarly, perception about obstacles in doing business varies across the urban and rural firms. This study can be helpful for agribusiness managers and government policy makers in promoting region-based entrepreneurship in a focused manner.
An Evaluation of Graph Databases and Object-Graph Mappers in CIDOC CRM-Compliant Digital Archives
Authors: Costa Lázaro , Freitas Nuno , da Silva João Rocha
Published: February 2022

The Portuguese General Directorate for Book, Archives and Libraries (DGLAB) has selected CIDOC CRM as the basis for its next-generation digital archive management software. Given the ontological foundations of the Conceptual Reference Model (CRM), a graph database or a triplestore was seen as the best candidate to represent a CRM-based data model for the new software. We thus decided to compare several of these databases, based on their maturity, features, performance in standard tasks and, most importantly, the Object-Graph Mappers (OGM) available to interact with each database in an object-oriented way. Our conclusions are drawn not only from a systematic review of related works but from an experimental scenario. For our experiment, we designed a simple CRM-compliant graph designed to test the ability of each OGM/database combination to tackle the so-called “diamond-problem” in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) to ensure that property instances follow domain and range constraints.

  Our results show that (1) ontological consistency enforcement in graph databases and triplestores is much harder to achieve than in a relational database, making them more suited to an analytical rather than a transactional role; (2) OGMs are still rather immature solutions; and (3) neomodel, an OGM for the Neo4j graph database, is the most mature solution in the study as it satisfies all requirements, although it is also the least performing.
Digitisation of Traditional Craft Processes
Authors: Zabulis Xenophon , Meghini Carlo , Dubois Arnaud , Doulgeraki Paraskevi , Partarakis Nikolaos , Adami Ilia , Karuzaki Effie , Carre Anne-Laure , Patsiouras Nikolaos , Kaplanidi Danae , Metilli Daniele , Bartalesi Valentina , Ringas Chris , Tasiopoulou Eleana , Stefanidi Zinovia
Published: February 2022

An approach to the representation and documentation of craft processes is proposed. The proposed approach is a method for the systematic identification and digital representation of pertinent data, information, and knowledge. The outcome representation is compatible with contemporary digitisation practices and digital preservation standards. The implementation of the approach is provided within the context of an online platform that is accompanied by auxiliary tools for digital curation. This platform is a multiple user system, where craft representations can be collaboratively authored, shared, displayed, and digitally preserved in standardised formats. Basic uses of this scheme and presentational applications are provided, along with identification of future work and limitations.
When Did It Happen? Duration-informed Temporal Localization of Narrated Actions in Vlogs
Authors: Ignat Oana , Castro Santiago , Zhou Yuhang , Bao Jiajun , Shan Dandan , Mihalcea Rada
Published: February 2022

We consider the task of temporal human action localization in lifestyle vlogs. We introduce a novel dataset consisting of manual annotations of temporal localization for 13,000 narrated actions in 1,200 video clips. We present an extensive analysis of this data, which allows us to better understand how the language and visual modalities interact throughout the videos. We propose a simple yet effective method to localize the narrated actions based on their expected duration. Through several experiments and analyses, we show that our method brings complementary information with respect to previous methods, and leads to improvements over previous work for the task of temporal action localization.
Contrast-Enhanced Color Visual Cryptography for (k, n) Threshold Schemes
Authors: Liu Zuquan , Zhu Guopu , Ding Feng , Luo Xiangyang , Kwong Sam , Li Peng
Published: February 2022

In traditional visual cryptography schemes (VCSs), pixel expansion remains to be an unsolved challenge. To alleviate the impact of pixel expansion, several colored-black-and-white VCSs, called CBW-VCSs, were proposed in recent years. Although these methods could ease the effect of pixel expansion, the reconstructed image obtained by these methods may also suffer from low contrasts. To address this issue, we propose a contrast-enhanced
(k, n)
CBW-VCS based on random grids, named
(k,n)
RG-CBW-VCS, in this article. By applying color random grids, a binary secret image is encrypted into
n
color shares that have no pixel expansion. When any
k
1

(k
1
> k

) color shares are collected together, the stacked results of them can be identified as the secret image; whereas the superposition of any
k
2
(

k
2
< k

) color shares shows nothing. Through theoretical analysis and experimental results, we justify the effectiveness of the proposed
(k, n)
RG-CBW-VCS. Compared with related methods in feature, contrast, and pixel expansion, the results indicate that the proposed method generally achieves better performance.
Increasing the Fault Coverage of a Truncated Test Set
Authors: Pomeranz Irith
Published: February 2022

Defect-aware, cell-aware, and gate-exhaustive faults are described by input patterns of subcircuits or cells that are expected to activate defects. Even with single-cycle faults, an\( n \)-input subcircuit can have up to\( 2^n \)faults with unique fault detection conditions, resulting in a large test set. Such a test set may have to be truncated to fit in the tester memory or satisfy constraints on test application time. In this case, a loss of fault coverage is inevitable. This article considers the test set denoted by\( T_1 \)obtained after truncating a larger test set denoted by\( T_0 \). Suppose that the truncation reduces the set of detected faults from the set denoted by\( D_0 \)to the set denoted by\( D_1 \). The procedure described in this article modifies the tests in\( T_1 \)to gain the detection of faults from\( D_0 \)\( \setminus \)\( D_1 \), even at the cost of losing the detection of faults from\( D_1 \). The goal is to reduce the fault coverage loss by computing a test set denoted by\( T_2 \)that detects a set of faults denoted by\( D_2 \)such that\( |T_2| = |T_1| \)and\( |D_2| \gt |D_1| \). Experimental results for benchmark circuits demonstrate the ability of the procedure to increase the coverage of gate-exhaustive faults over several iterations.
Semantic Guided Single Image Reflection Removal
Authors: Liu Yunfei , Li Yu , You Shaodi , Lu Feng
Published: February 2022

Reflection is common when we see through a glass window, which not only is a visual disturbance but also influences the performance of computer vision algorithms. Removing the reflection from a single image, however, is highly ill-posed since the color at each pixel needs to be separated into two values belonging to the clear background and the reflection, respectively. To solve this, existing methods use additional priors such as reflection layer smoothness, double reflection effect, and color consistency to distinguish the two layers. However, these low-level priors may not be consistently valid in real cases. In this paper, inspired by the fact that human beings can separate the two layers easily by recognizing the objects and understanding the scene, we propose to use the object semantic cue, which is high-level information, as the guidance to help reflection removal. Based on the data analysis, we develop a multi-task end-to-end deep learning method with a semantic guidance component, to solve reflection removal and semantic segmentation jointly. Extensive experiments on different datasets show significant performance gain when using high-level object-oriented information. We also demonstrate the application of our method to other computer vision tasks.
Animating Still Natural Images Using Warping
Authors: Le Thi-Ngoc-Hanh , Yeh Chih-Kuo , Lin Ying-Chi , Lee Tong-Yee
Published: February 2022

From a single still image, a looping video could be generated by imparting subtle motion to objects in the image. The results are a hybrid of photography and video. They contain gentle motion in some objects, while the rest of the image remains still. Existing techniques are successful in animating such images. However, there are still some drawbacks that need to be investigated, such as too-large computation time necessary to retrieve the matched videos or the challenges of controlling the desired motion not only in terms of a single region but also in terms of consistency in regions. In this work, we address these issues by proposing an interactive system with a novel warping method. The key idea of our approach is to utilize user’s annotations to impart motion to certain objects. With two proposed phases in terms of preserve-curve-warping and cycle warping, a looping video is generated. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method via various experimental challenging results and evaluations. We show that with a simple and lightweight method, our system is able to deal with animating a still image’s problems and results in realistic motion and appealing videos. In addition, using our proposed system, it is easy to create plausible animation using simple user annotations without referencing the video database or machine learning models and allows ordinary users with minimal expertise to produce compelling results.
Quantum Circuit Transformation: A Monte Carlo Tree Search Framework
Authors: Zhou Xiangzhen , Feng Yuan , Li Sanjiang
Published: February 2022

In the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era, quantum processing units suffer from, among others, highly limited connectivity between physical qubits. To make a quantum circuit effectively executable, a circuit transformation process is necessary to transform it, with overhead cost the smaller the better, into a functionally equivalent one so that the connectivity constraints imposed by the quantum processing unit are satisfied. Although several algorithms have been proposed for this goal, the overhead costs are often very high, which degenerates the fidelity of the obtained circuits sharply. One major reason for this lies in that, due to the high branching factor and vast search space, almost all of these algorithms only search very shallowly, and thus, very often, only (at most) locally optimal solutions can be reached. In this article, we propose a Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) framework to tackle the circuit transformation problem, which enables the search process to go much deeper. The general framework supports implementations aiming to reduce either the size or depth of the output circuit through introducing SWAP or remote CNOT gates. The algorithms, called
MCTS-Size
and
MCTS-Depth
, are polynomial in all relevant parameters. Empirical results on extensive realistic circuits and IBM Q Tokyo show that the MCTS-based algorithms can reduce the size (respectively, depth) overhead by, on average, 66% (respectively, 84%) when compared with t

\( \left| {\mathrm{ket}} \right\rangle \)

, an industrial-level compiler.
Efficient Layout Hotspot Detection via Neural Architecture Search
Authors: Jiang Yiyang , Yang Fan , Yu Bei , Zhou Dian , Zeng Xuan
Published: February 2022

Layout hotspot detection is of great importance in the physical verification flow. Deep neural network models have been applied to hotspot detection and achieved great success. Despite their success, high-performance neural networks are still quite difficult to design. In this article, we propose a bayesian optimization-based neural architecture search scheme to automatically do this time-consuming and fiddly job. Experimental results on ICCAD 2012 and ICCAD 2019 Contest benchmarks show that the architectures designed by our proposed scheme achieve higher performance on hotspot detection task compared with state-of-the-art manually designed neural networks.
Boolean-based Two-in-One Secret Image Sharing by Adaptive Pixel Grouping
Authors: Wu Xiaotian , Yao Peng
Published: February 2022

The two-in-one secret image sharing (TiOSIS) technique is a hybrid scheme that protects a secret image by combining visual cryptography (VCS) and polynomial-based secret image sharing (PSIS). There are two decoding methods available in TiOSIS: stacking-to-see decryption and lossless image recovery. However, the majority of current TiOSIS methods use Lagrange interpolation to precisely reconstruct the secret, which would result in intense computations. In this article, an efficient TiOSIS scheme using Boolean XOR operation for lossless image recovery is proposed. The proposed scheme consists of three building blocks: shared data generation, shadow construction, and image decryption. In shared data generation, the grayscale secret image is processed by a Boolean-based SIS to derive the shared bits. In shadow construction, an adaptive pixel grouping (APG) strategy is utilized to determine a grouping pattern. The halftone image adjustment algorithm is adopted to generate a suitable halftone image. With the grouping pattern and halftone image, we construct the shadows via the group-pixel embedding and sharing approach. In image decryption, we can reveal the secret image by stacking-to-see decoding or Boolean-based lossless image recovery. Extensive experiments and comparisons are illustrated to show the effectiveness and benefits of the proposed scheme.
Blockchain-Based Digital Twins: Research Trends, Issues, and Future Challenges
Authors: Suhail Sabah , Hussain Rasheed , Jurdak Raja , Oracevic Alma , Salah Khaled , Hong Choong Seon , Matulevičius Raimundas
Published: February 2022

Industrial processes rely on sensory data for decision-making processes, risk assessment, and performance evaluation. Extracting actionable insights from the collected data calls for an infrastructure that can ensure the dissemination of trustworthy data. For the physical data to be trustworthy, it needs to be cross validated through multiple sensor sources with overlapping fields of view. Cross-validated data can then be stored on the blockchain, to maintain its integrity and trustworthiness. Once trustworthy data is recorded on the blockchain, product lifecycle events can be fed into data-driven systems for process monitoring, diagnostics, and optimized control. In this regard, digital twins (DTs) can be leveraged to draw intelligent conclusions from data by identifying the faults and recommending precautionary measures ahead of critical events. Empowering DTs with blockchain in industrial use cases targets key challenges of disparate data repositories, untrustworthy data dissemination, and the need for predictive maintenance. In this survey, while highlighting the key benefits of using blockchain-based DTs, we present a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research results for blockchain-based DTs. Based on the current research trends, we discuss a trustworthy blockchain-based DTs framework. We also highlight the role of artificial intelligence in blockchain-based DTs. Furthermore, we discuss the current and future research and deployment challenges of blockchain-supported DTs that require further investigation.
Review—Negative Thermal Quenching of Mn4+ Luminescence in Fluoride Phosphors: Effects of the 4A2g → 4T2g Excitation Transitions and Normal Thermal Quenching
Authors: Adachi Sadao
Published: February 2022

Thermal stability of the phosphor materials is of crucial importance and scientific interest. It is well known that various Mn4+-activated phosphors, especially Mn4+-activated fluoride and oxyfluoride phosphors, show an anomalous thermal quenching behavior, i.e., an increase in the integrated photoluminescence intensity I
PL with increasing temperature T, known as the negative thermal quenching (TQ) behavior. The negative TQ has been understood to be due to the electric dipole (parity) forbidden transitions of 2
E

g
→ 4
A
2g
gained by coupling with the odd-parity lattice vibrations, ν
3, ν
4, and ν
6. This article discusses the effects of the 4
A
2g
→ 4
T
2g
excitation transitions on a negative TQ phenomenon. Our previous study suggested that the 4
A
2g
→ 4
T
2g
excitation transitions in Mn4+-activated fluoride phosphors are strongly connected with the certain mode phonons, namely the gerade-mode ν
2 phonons, with an energy of ∼65 meV. Here, our analysis model considers this effect and is found to show good agreement with the experimental data. Discussion is also given of the temperature dependence of decay time τ(T) and quantum efficiency η(T), in comparison with I
PL(T), demonstrating a strong correlation among such important phosphor properties except for an occurrence of negative TQ only in I
PL(T).
Circulating lymphocyte trafficking to the bone marrow contributes to lymphopenia in myocardial infarction
Authors: Ma Yonggang , Yang Xiaoyuan , Villalba Nuria , Chatterjee Victor , Reynolds Amanda , Spence Sam , Wu Mack H. , Yuan Sarah Y.
Published: February 2022

Lymphopenia, a reduction in blood lymphocyte count, is known to inversely correlate with the prognosis for patients with myocardial infarction (MI). However, the underlying mechanisms by which cardiac ischemia induces lymphopenia remain elusive. This study provides the first evidence that MI activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to increase glucocorticoid secretion, and elevated circulating glucocorticoids induce blood lymphocytes trafficking to the bone marrow, leading to lymphopenia.
Effects of Undernutrition and Predictors on the Survival Status of HIV-Positive Children after Started Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Northwest Ethiopia
Authors: Molla Mulugeta , Kebede Fassikaw , Kebede Tsehay , Haile Assefa
Published: February 2022

Malnutrition and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome have complex and multidirectional relationships. Ethiopia is one of the countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic as well as malnutrition. This study was aimed at assessing the effects of undernutrition on the survival status of HIV-positive children who received HIV/AIDS care in Northwest Ethiopia. Materials and Methods. A facility-based retrospective follow-up was conducted from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2020. The data was entered into EpiData version 4.2.0. Then, the entered data was exported to STATA 14 software for further analysis, and the Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to estimate survival time after the initiation of ART. The Bivariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors of mortality associated with undernutrition. Results. The mean (±SD) age of participant children was found 118.4 (±38.24) months. The overall mortality rate in this study was determined as 5.4 per 100 child-years (95% CI: 3.6, 5.8). Children with CD4 cell counts below the threshold [

AHR
=
1.6

; 95% CI (1.19, 7.85)], advanced WHO clinical stages (III and IV) HIV [

AHR
=
4.5

; 95% CI (2.80, 8.40)], and being severe stunting at the beginning [

AHR
=
2.9

; 95% CI (1.80, 6.40)] were significantly associated with mortality of HIV-positive children. Conclusion. The findings of the current study indicated that HIV-positive children on ART had a high rate of mortality. Baseline undernutrition has the mortality of children who had CD4 counts below a threshold, advanced WHO HIV clinical staging (III and IV), and being severe stunting (

HAZ
≤
−
3

Z score) which were found to be independent predictors for mortality of undernourished HIV.
A Wave Texture Difference Method for Rainfall Detection Using X-Band Marine Radar
Authors: Sun Lei , Lu Zhizhong , Wang Hui , Liu Hong , Shang Xiuneng
Published: February 2022

To suppress the influence of rainfall when extracting sea surface wind and wave parameters using X-band marine radar and control the quality of the collected radar image, it is necessary to detect whether the radar image is contaminated by rainfall. Since the detection accuracy of the statistical characteristics methods (e.g., the zero pixel percentage method and the high-clutter direction method) is limited and the threshold is difficult to determine, the machine learning methods (e.g., the support vector machine-based method and the neural network algorithm) are difficult to select appropriate quality and quantity of data for model training. Therefore, based on the feature that rainfall can change the sea surface texture, a wave texture difference method for rainfall detection is proposed in this paper. Considering the spatial rainfall is uneven, the polar coordinates of the radar image are converted into Cartesian coordinates to detect rainfall. To express the maximum wave difference more accurately, the calculation method of the pixels in the radar texture difference map is redefined. Then, a consecutive pixel method is used to detect the calculated radar texture difference map, and this method can detect adaptively with the change of wind. The data collected from the shore of Haitan Island along the East China Sea are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with the zero pixel percentage method and the support vector machine-based method, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has better rainfall detection performance. In addition, the research on the applicability of the proposed method shows that the wave texture difference method can finish the task of rainfall detection in most marine environments.
BAR Score Performance in Predicting Survival after Living Donor Liver Transplantation: A Single-Center Retrospective Study
Authors: Zakareya Talaat , Taha Mohammad , Elzohry Hassan , Darwiesh Ehab , Aglan Reda , Elhelbawy Mostafa , Zakaria Hazem , Deif Mohamed , Abbasy Mohamed
Published: February 2022

Background/Objectives. Studying the predictors of survival after liver transplantation is essential to optimize the outcome. The balance of risk (BAR) score is a predictive model which incorporates six recipient and donor factors. It showed superiority over other predictive models. We aimed to evaluate its performance in the prediction of survival after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Methods. 146 adult liver transplant recipients were included. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the independent predictors of survival at 3 months, 1 year, and 5 years. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the BAR score was plotted, and the area under the ROC curve (AUROC) was calculated. Kaplan–Meier curve and log-rank test were used to compare survival above and below the best cutoff values. Results. The mean age was 52.45 ± 8.54 years, and 59.6% were males. The survival rates were 89, 78.8, and 72% at 3 months, 1 year, and 5 years, respectively. The BAR score demonstrated a clinically significant value in the prediction of 3-month (AUROC = 0.89), 1-year (AUROC = 0.76), and 5-year survival (AUROC = 0.71). Among the investigated factors associated with survival, BAR score <10 points was the only independent predictor of 3-month (OR 7.34,

p
<
0.0001

), 1-year (OR 3.37,

p
=
0.001

), and 5-year survival (OR 2.83,

p
=
0.044

). Conclusions. BAR is a simple and easily applicable scoring system that could significantly predict short- and long-term survival after LDLT. A large multicenter study is warranted to validate our results in the Egyptian population.
Study of Water- and Organic-Soluble Extracts from Trichosanthes on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Zhang Bo , Yuan Yanli , Xin Jie , Chen Min , Wang Zhen , Li Xinpeng , Xue Tao
Published: February 2022

This study investigates the effects of the water-soluble and organic-soluble Trichosanthes extracts on the hyperglycemic condition in streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats. The blood glucose levels, body weights, water intake, and urine volumes of rats in different experimental groups were monitored throughout the experiment, and the results obtained indicate that the two extracts can effectively reduce blood sugar levels, increase body weights, and improve water intake and urine volumes in diabetic rats. Based on blood biochemical analyses, the two extracts play an important role in regulating the diabetes-induced lipid metabolism disorder, increasing the levels of insulin and C-peptide, and alleviating the symptoms of diabetes. The variation in the liver glycogen contents of the water-soluble fraction and ethanol fraction groups suggests that the mechanisms underlying the hypoglycemic effects of the two extracts are different. Indeed, the water-soluble fraction alleviates diabetes symptoms in rats mainly by antioxidative activity, unlike the ethanol fraction.
Association of Sirtuin Gene Polymorphisms with Susceptibility to Coronary Artery Disease in a North Chinese Population
Authors: Song Xingfa , Wang Haidong , Wang Chao , Ji Guangquan , Jiang Pei , Liang Donglou , Wang Xiaojing
Published: February 2022

Aims. Coronary artery disease (CAD) represents the leading cause of death worldwide. Accumulating evidence also suggests that sirtuins (SIRTS) have been associated with CAD. The present study was aimed at investigating the association between 12 gene polymorphisms for SIRTs and the development of CAD in a Chinese population. Materials and Methods. 12 SNPs (rs12778366 (T > C), rs3758391 (T > C), rs3740051 (A > G), rs4746720 (C > T), rs7895833 (G > A), rs932658 (A > C) for SIRT1, rs2015 (G > T) for SIRT2, rs28365927 (G > A), rs11246020 (C > T) for SIRT3, rs350844 (G > A), rs350846 (G > C), and rs107251 (C > T) for SIRT6) were selected and assessed in a cohort of 509 CAD patients and 552 matched healthy controls for this study. Genomic DNA from whole blood was extracted, and the SNPs were assessed using MassARRAY method. Results. TT genotype for rs3758391 and GG genotype for rs7895833 of SIRT1 were at higher risk of CAD, whereas the CC genotype for rs4746720 of SIRT1 was associated with a significantly decreased risk of CAD. The A allele of the rs28365927 of SIRT3 showed a significant decreased risk association with CAD patient group (P = 0.014). Significant difference in genotypes rs350844 (G > A) (P = 0.004), rs350846 (G > C) (P = 0.002), and rs107251 (C > T) (P ≤ 0.01) for SIRT6 was also found between the CAD patients and the healthy controls. Haplotype CTA significantly increased the risk of CAD (P = 0.000118, OR = 1.497, 95%CI = 1.218–1.840), while haplotype GCG significantly decreases the risk of CAD (P = 0.000414, OR = 1.131, 95%CI = 0.791–1.619). Conclusions. The SNP rs28365927 in the SIRT3 gene and SNP rs350844, rs350846, and rs107251 in the SIRT6 gene present significant associations with CAD in a north Chinese population. Haplotype CTA and GCG generated by rs350846/rs107251/rs350844 in the SIRT6 might also increase and decrease the risk of CAD, respectively.
A Case of Neuromyelitis Optica: Puerto Rican Woman with an Increased Time Lag to Diagnosis and a High Response to Eculizumab Therapy
Authors: Vega Ramón , González Benjamín , Ortiz Kiara , Martínez Viviana , Carmona David , Vicente Ivonne , Chapa Javier , Chinea Ángel
Published: February 2022

A link between intractable hiccups, as the initial symptom, and a possible neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) diagnosis is confusing but vital and may not be made by health care providers (HCPs) if they are not aware of the 2015 NMOSD criteria. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment are essential to prevent disease progression. We report the case of a 46-year-old Puerto Rican female who presented intractable hiccups when she was 31 (in 2004). Almost 15 years passed since the initial symptom, and after two severe relapses, she received a formal NMOSD diagnosis in March 2019. Treatment started with rituximab 1000 mg IV in April 2019. However, a lack of response to treatment led to a switch to eculizumab therapy in August 2019. The patient had cervical and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) conducted in June 2020, which depicted a remarkable decrease in swelling and hyperintensity within the cervical spinal cord with no enhancing lesions when compared with the first MRI from February 2019. In addition, the patient suffered no new relapses, an improvement regarding disability, and a reduction of the cervical spinal cord lesion size. Nonetheless, this substantial decrease does not occur on all NMOSD patients, but more awareness of the disease is needed, especially in Puerto Rico. This case illustrates the efficacy of eculizumab therapy and the importance of differentiating the clinical, histopathological, and neuroimaging characteristics that separate demyelinating autoimmune inflammatory disorders, such as NMOSD and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Development of the Broadband Multilayer Absorption Materials with Genetic Algorithm up to 8 GHz Frequency
Authors: Krishna K. Murali , Jain Amit , Kang Hardeep Singh , Venkatesan Mithra , Shrivastava Anurag , Singh Sitesh Kumar
Published: February 2022

A widely used genetic algorithm (GA) is endorsed to improve the design of a multilayer microwave radar absorbing material (MMRAM) which shows good absorption of radar waves over a broad frequency range. In this research, the authors have used genetic algorithm based on MMRAM which plays an important role in defense and civil applications. The scope of multilayer microwave radar absorbing material (MMRAM) is that it can absorb radar signals and reduce or eliminate their reflection. Its primary use is in defense and certain commercial enterprises. The multilayer RAM design demands the superiority of suitable materials to be used in different layers, a decision about multiple layers, and the optimum breadth of an individual layer. The permeability and permittivity of the materials varying with frequency in a fictitious material are used. The effect of change in thickness and the number of layers of RAM on reflectivity is studied. Since the material characteristics are frequency-dependent, different restrained conditions are used for frequency bands to identify the RAM that has good electromagnetic absorption in the frequency range of 1 to 8 GHz.
Application of the PBL Model Based on Deep Learning in Physical Education Classroom Integrating Production and Education
Authors: Li Honghai , Deng Hongtao , Zhang Yi
Published: February 2022

This study aims to arouse students’ interest in physical education (PE) in response to President Xi Jinping’s call to strengthen students’ physical quality because cultural courses occupy PE classes. Problem-based learning (PBL) is introduced, and a new teaching method of PE is proposed based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) in deep learning (DL). This method is employed to teach the experimental subjects in solid ball throwing. The students’ interest, learning ability, and physical quality in the solid ball are investigated by a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey shows that the students’ academic performance in solid ball throwing is improved, and their problem-solving ability, group cooperation ability, and theory learning ability are improved. Their time on a 1000-meter long run is shortened, and their body flexibility is improved. Therefore, it is believed that this new teaching method based on DL plays a significant role in improving students’ physical quality.
TCMPR: TCM Prescription Recommendation Based on Subnetwork Term Mapping and Deep Learning
Authors: Dong Xin , Zheng Yi , Shu Zixin , Chang Kai , Xia Jianan , Zhu Qiang , Zhong Kunyu , Wang Xinyan , Yang Kuo , Zhou Xuezhong
Published: February 2022

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an indispensable role in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Based on a patient’s symptom phenotypes, computation‐based prescription recommendation methods can recommend personalized TCM prescription using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. However, owing to the complexity and individuation of a patient’s clinical phenotypes, current prescription recommendation methods cannot obtain good performance. Meanwhile, it is very difficult to conduct effective representation for unrecorded symptom terms in an existing knowledge base. In this study, we proposed a subnetwork‐based symptom term mapping method (SSTM) and constructed a SSTM‐based TCM prescription recommendation method (termed TCMPR). Our SSTM can extract the subnetwork structure between symptoms from a knowledge network to effectively represent the embedding features of clinical symptom terms (especially the unrecorded terms). The experimental results showed that our method performs better than state‐of‐the‐art methods. In addition, the comprehensive experiments of TCMPR with different hyperparameters (i.e., feature embedding, feature dimension, subnetwork filter threshold, and feature fusion) demonstrate that our method has high performance on TCM prescription recommendation and potentially promote clinical diagnosis and treatment of TCM precision medicine.
Microstrip Bandstop Filter for Preventing Conduction Electromagnetic Information Leakage of High-Power Transmission Line
Authors: Han Xueyun , Li Xiaosong , Zhou Yingping , Zheng Pengfei , Cui Haohua , Zhang Xiaonan
Published: February 2022

The research of transient electromagnetic pulse emission monitoring technology (TEMPEST) protection is essential. Based on microstrip bandstop filter (MSBSF), a method to prevent electromagnetic information leakage of high-power transmission lines is proposed in this paper. The MSBSF with a high insertion loss and carrying large current in the frequency of 2.40–2.49 GHz is designed, fabricated, and experimentally measured. The fabricated MSBSF with the insertion loss of 38 dB at 2.41–2.49 GHz can carry a current greater than 10A and withstand a voltage of 1.7 kV. Compared with the traditional electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter, the MSBSF has the advantages of preventing conducted electromagnetic information leakage in the high-frequency bands, carrying greater current subject to higher voltage, and possessing lighter weight. The MSBSF may be used to prevent the leakage of high-frequency electromagnetic information of high-power transmission lines.
RLMR: Reinforcement Learning Based Multipath Routing for SDN
Authors: Chen Chao , Xue Feifan , Lu Zhengyong , Tang Zhongyun , Li Chuanhuang
Published: February 2022

In recent years, as a new subject in the computer field, artificial intelligence has developed rapidly, especially in reinforcement learning (RL) and deep reinforcement learning. Combined with the characteristics of Software Defined Network (SDN) for centralized control and scheduling, resource scheduling based on artificial intelligence becomes possible. However, the current SDN routing algorithm has the problem of low link utilization and is unable to update and adjust according to the real-time network status. This paper aims to address these problems by proposing a reinforcement learning-based multipath routing for SDN (RLMR) scheme. RLMR uses Markov Decision Process (MDP) and Q-Learning for training. Based on the real-time information of network state and flow characteristics, RLMR performs routing for different flows. When there is no link that meets the bandwidth requirements, the remaining flows are redistributed according to the Quality of Service (QoS) priority to complete the multipath routing. In addition, this paper defines the forward efficiency (FE) to measure the link bandwidth utilization (LBU) under multipath routing. Simulation results show that compared with the current mainstream shortest path algorithm and ECMP algorithm, the routing algorithm in RLMR has advantages in FE, jitter, and packet loss rate. It can effectively improve the efficiency and quality of routing.
NR4A1 Promotes LPS-Induced Acute Lung Injury through Inhibition of Opa1-Mediated Mitochondrial Fusion and Activation of PGAM5-Related Necroptosis
Authors: Zhu Pingjun , Wang Junyan , Du Wenjuan , Ren Jun , Zhang Ying , Xie Fei , Xu Guogang
Published: February 2022

Mitochondrial dysfunction and necroptosis have been perceived as the primary molecular mechanisms underscoring acute lung injury. Meanwhile, nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (NR4A1) is considered a regulator of inflammation-related endothelial injury in lung tissue although the downstream molecular events remain elusive. In this study, we employed NR4A1-/- mice to decipher the role of NR4A1 in the onset and progression of acute lung injury with a focus on mitochondrial damage and necroptosis. Our results demonstrated that NR4A1 was significantly upregulated in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) treated lung tissues. Knockout of NR4A1 overtly improved lung tissue morphology, inhibited inflammation, and reduced oxidative stress in LPS-treated lung tissue. A cell signaling study suggested that NR4A1 deletion repressed levels of PGAM5 and attenuated LPS-mediated necroptosis in primary murine alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells, the effects of which were mitigated by PGAM5 overexpression. Moreover, LPS-mediated mitochondrial injury including mitochondrial membrane potential collapse and mitochondrial oxidative stress was drastically improved by NR4A1 deletion. Furthermore, NR4A1 deletion preserved mitochondrial homeostasis through activation of Opa1-related mitochondrial fusion. Silencing of Opa1 triggered mitochondrial dysfunction in NR4A1-deleted ATII cells. Taken together, our data identified NR4A1 as a novel regulator of LPS-related acute lung injury through regulation of mitochondrial fusion and necroptosis, indicating therapeutic promises of targeting NR4A1 in the treatment of acute lung injury in clinical practice.
Explore the Link between the Improvement of Metabolic Indicators in Diabetic Rats with Sleeve Gastrectomy and Changes in the Composition of Intestinal Flora
Authors: Zhang Jingjing , Li Tao , Yao Gang , Shadiker Apaer , Gu Shensen , Cao Xinling
Published: February 2022

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has become a major medical and health problem in my country and even the world. Doctors and patients have gradually realized that a new type of metabolic surgery is a way to treat diabetes. The operation is relatively simple, and the effect of the operation is no less than that of the gastric shunt. The initial hypothesis could not fully explain the blood pressure and blood sugar reduction mechanism in waist and abdominal surgery. According to requirements, they were divided into the sleeve gastrectomy group (SG group, n = 10) and sham operation group (SS group, n = 10), and corresponding measures were taken. Observe their weight changes; perform an oral glucose tolerance test (GB) before surgery and at 2, 8, and 16 weeks after surgery to evaluate the effect of surgery on improving the glucose metabolism. The postoperative GLP-1 specificity curve was detected in the two groups of patients; the immunohistochemical method was used to detect the postoperative changes of the digestive tract l cells in the two groups; RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA transcription level of the digestive tract GLP-1 receptor. The bodyweight was significantly different 4 weeks after the operation. Food intake and bodyweight were not significantly different between the SG and SS groups. FBG: one week after operation, the SG group was significantly smaller than the SS group. The SS group was significantly lower than the SG group at 12 weeks after operation, and the SS group was significantly lower than the SG group at 14 weeks after operation. The transcription levels of c-kit mRNA and SCF mRNA in jejunum and ileum tissues are significantly different: the transcription levels of c-kit mRNA and SCF mRNA in the SG group are higher than those in the SS group, jejunum and ileum in the SG group. The number of cell 1 was significantly greater than that of the SS group. Sleeve gastrectomy can improve the regulation of the glucose metabolism in diabetic rats. The increase in small bowel motility may be related to the increase in ICC cells, intestinal cells, and GLP after gastric sleeve resection. The increase is in -1R and faster insoluble CHM in bowel motility. It has better contact with cell 1 and GLP-1R and stimulates cell 1 to secrete GLP-1.