bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Klinefelter syndrome: going beyond the diagnosis
Authors: Butler Gary , Srirangalingam Umasuthan , Faithfull Jennie , Sangster Philippa , Senniappan Senthil , Mitchell Rod
Published: August 2022

Although Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is common, it is rarely recognised in childhood, sometimes being identified with speech or developmental delay or incidental antenatal diagnosis. The only regular feature is testicular dysfunction. Postnatal gonadotropin surge (mini-puberty) may be lower, but treatment with testosterone needs prospective studies. The onset of puberty is at the normal age and biochemical hypogonadism does not typically occur until late puberty. Testosterone supplementation can be considered then or earlier for clinical hypogonadism. The size at birth is normal, but growth acceleration is more rapid in early and mid-childhood, with adult height greater than mid-parental height. Extreme tall stature is unusual. The incidence of adolescent gynaecomastia (35.6%) is not increased compared with typically developing boys and can be reduced or resolved by testosterone supplementation, potentially preventing the need for surgery. Around two-thirds require speech and language therapy or developmental support and early institution of therapy is important. Provision of psychological support may be helpful in ameliorating these experiences and provide opportunities to develop strategies to recognise, process and express feelings and thoughts. Boys with KS are at increased risk of impairment in social cognition and less accurate perceptions of social emotional cues. The concept of likely fertility problems needs introduction alongside regular reviews of puberty and sexual function in adolescents. Although there is now greater success in harvesting sperm through techniques such as testicular sperm extraction, it is more successful in later than in early adolescence. In vitro maturation of germ cells is still experimental.
Recurrent episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea in a male child: a rare presentation of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy
Authors: Gupta Pranav , Keller Stephanie R , Patterson Briana
Published: August 2022

Recurrent episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea in a child can present as a diagnostic dilemma and be easily misdiagnosed as recurrent viral gastroenteritis episodes. Primary adrenal insufficiency can present with recurrent episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea with the presence of metabolic acidosis and can be life-threatening if left undiagnosed and untreated. A high index of suspicion should be kept for diagnosing primary adrenal insufficiency in a child presenting with recurrent episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea with laboratory evidence of metabolic acidosis and hypoglycaemia. Primary adrenal insufficiency, in a male child specifically, should raise alarm for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). Very-long-chain fatty acids and confirmatory genetic testing for anABCD1gene mutation can help confirm the diagnosis. Addison’s disease often presents prior to the onset of the cerebral form of X-ALD. Early diagnosis of X-ALD allows for MRI screening for the development of cerebral disease in its early stages when treatment with stem cell transplant can halt the disease and be lifesaving.
Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis as a complication of combination anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, and the outcome of rechallenge with single-agent anti-PD-1 immunotherapy
Authors: Holmes Zachary , Courtney Ashling , Hiong Alison
Published: August 2022

A woman with metastatic melanoma was treated with immunotherapy induction with ipilimumab and nivolumab and radiotherapy to liver metastases. The patient deteriorated shortly thereafter, becoming febrile and hypotensive and requiring admission to the intensie care unit (ICU) for inotrope support. Failure to respond to antibiotics and a negative septic screen prompted further investigation, which ultimately led to a diagnosis of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). The patient improved on high dose steroids and was discharged home. Months later, in the context of progressive melanoma, the patient was re-challenged with nivolumab monotherapy and subsequently experienced recurrence of HLH, confirming the aetiology as being immunotherapy related. This case serves as a reminder to consider HLH where there are fevers of unknown origin in an unwell patient receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and also highlights immunotherapy as a potential cause for HLH, which has rarely been reported in the literature to date.
Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy
Authors: Badell Martina L , Dude Carolynn M , Rasmussen Sonja A , Jamieson Denise J
Published: August 2022

Pregnancy is an independent risk factor for severe covid-19. Vaccination is the best way to reduce the risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and limit its morbidity and mortality. The current recommendations from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and professional organizations are for pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women to receive covid-19 vaccination. Pregnancy specific considerations involve potential effects of vaccination on fetal development, placental transfer of antibodies, and safety of maternal vaccination. Although pregnancy was an exclusion criterion in initial clinical trials of covid-19 vaccines, observational data have been rapidly accumulating and thus far confirm that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risks. This review examines the evidence supporting the effectiveness, immunogenicity, placental transfer, side effects, and perinatal outcomes of maternal covid-19 vaccination. Additionally, it describes factors associated with vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy. Overall, studies monitoring people who have received covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy have not identified any pregnancy specific safety concerns. Additional information on non-mRNA vaccines, vaccination early in pregnancy, and longer term outcomes in infants are needed. To collect this information, vaccination during pregnancy must be prioritized in vaccine research.
Machine-learning algorithm to non-invasively detect diabetes and pre-diabetes from electrocardiogram
Authors: Kulkarni Anoop R , Patel Ashwini A , Pipal Kanchan V , Jaiswal Sujeet G , Jaisinghani Manisha T , Thulkar Vidya , Gajbhiye Lumbini , Gondane Preeti , Patel Archana B , Mamtani Manju , Kulkarni Hemant
Published: August 2022

Objectives

Early detection is of crucial importance for prevention of type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes. Diagnosis of these conditions relies on the oral glucose tolerance test and haemoglobin A1c estimation which are invasive and challenging for large-scale screening. We aimed to combine the non-invasive nature of ECG with the power of machine learning to detect diabetes and pre-diabetes.

Methods

Data for this study come from Diabetes in Sindhi Families in Nagpur study of ethnically endogenous Sindhi population from central India. Final dataset included clinical data from 1262 individuals and 10 461 time-aligned heartbeats recorded digitally. The dataset was split into a training set, a validation set and independent test set (8892, 523 and 1046 beats, respectively). The ECG recordings were processed with median filtering, band-pass filtering and standard scaling. Minority oversampling was undertaken to balance the training dataset before initiation of training. Extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) was used to train the classifier that used the signal-processed ECG as input and predicted the membership to ‘no diabetes’, pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes classes (defined according to American Diabetes Association criteria).

Results

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes was ~30% and ~14%, respectively. Training was smooth and quick (convergence achieved within 40 epochs). In the independent test set, the DiaBeats algorithm predicted the classes with 97.1% precision, 96.2% recall, 96.8% accuracy and 96.6% F1 score. The calibrated model had a low calibration error (0.06). The feature importance maps indicated that leads III, augmented Vector Left (aVL), V4, V5 and V6 were most contributory to the classification performance. The predictions matched the clinical expectations based on the biological mechanisms of cardiac involvement in diabetes.

Conclusions

Machine-learning-based DiaBeats algorithm using ECG signal data accurately predicted diabetes-related classes. This algorithm can help in early detection of diabetes and pre-diabetes after robust validation in external datasets.
Different AT(N) profiles and clinical progression classified by two different N markers using total tau and neurofilament light chain in cerebrospinal fluid
Authors: Kasuga Kensaku , Kikuchi Masataka , Tsukie Tamao , Suzuki Kazushi , Ihara Ryoko , Iwata Atsushi , Hara Norikazu , Miyashita Akinori , Kuwano Ryozo , Iwatsubo Takeshi , Ikeuchi Takeshi
Published: August 2022

Background

The AT(N) classification was proposed for categorising individuals according to biomarkers. However, AT(N) profiles may vary depending on the markers chosen and the target population.

Methods

We stratified 177 individuals who participated in the Japanese Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative by AT(N) classification according to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. We compared the frequency of AT(N) profiles between the classification using total tau and neurofilament light chain (NfL) as N markers (AT(N)tauand AT(N)NfL). Baseline characteristics, and longitudinal biological and clinical changes were examined between AT(N) profiles.

Results

We found that 9% of cognitively unimpaired subjects, 49% of subjects with mild cognitive impairment, and 61% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia had the biological AD profile (ie, A+T+) in the cohort. The frequency of AT(N) profiles substantially differed between the AT(N)tauand AT(N)NfLclassifications. When we used t-tau as the N marker (AT(N)tau), those who had T− were more frequently assigned to (N)−, whereas those who had T+were more frequently assigned to (N)+ than when we used NfL as the N marker (AT(N)NfL). During a follow-up, the AD continuum group progressed clinically and biologically compared with the normal biomarker group in both the AT(N)tauand AT(N)NfLclassifications. More frequent conversion to dementia was observed in the non-AD pathological change group in the AT(N)tauclassification, but not in the AT(N)NfLclassification.

Conclusions

AT(N)tauand AT(N)NfLin CSF may capture different aspects of neurodegeneration and provide a different prognostic value. The AT(N) classification aids in understanding the AD continuum biology in various populations.
Proxy-reported experiences of palliative, non-operative management of geriatric patients after a hip fracture: a qualitative study
Authors: Nijdam Thomas Marcus Paulus , Laane Duco Willem Pieter Marie , Spierings Jelle Friso , Schuijt Henk Jan , Smeeing Diederik Pieter Johan , van der Velde Detlef
Published: August 2022

Objective

The objective of this study was to explore the experiences from the period after the choice was made for palliative, non-operative management for geriatric patients with a hip fracture, to the most important factors in the process, as reported by a proxy.

Design

Semistructured interviews were conducted between 1 August 2020 and 1 April 2021 to investigate by-proxy reported patient experiences of non-operative management after hip fracture. Interviews followed a topic guide, recorded and transcribed per word. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data.

Setting and participants

Patients were retrospectively identified from the electronic patient record. Relatives (proxies) of the patients who underwent palliative, non-operative management were contacted and were asked to participate in a semistructured interview and were named participants. The participants were proxies of the patients since patients were expected to be deceased during the timing of the interview.

Results

A total of 26 patients were considered eligible for inclusion in this study. The median age of the patients was 88 years (IQR 83–94). The 90-day mortality rate was 92.3%, with a median palliative care period of 11 days (IQR 4–26). A total of 19 participants were subjected to the interview. After thematic analysis, four recurring themes were identified: (1) the decision-making process, (2) pain experience, (3) patient–relative interaction and (4) the active dying.

Conclusions

With the introduction of shared decision-making in an acute setting for geriatric patients with hip fracture, proxies reported palliative, non-operative management as an acceptable and adequate option for patients with high risk of adverse outcomes after surgery. The emerged themes in palliative care for patients with hip fracture show great similarity with severe end-stage disease palliative care, with pain identified as the most important factor influencing comfort of the patient and their environment after hip fracture. Future research should focus on further improving targeted analgesia for these patients focusing on acute pain caused by the fracture.
Time-efficient physical activity intervention for older adolescents with disability: rationale and study protocol for the Burn 2 Learn adapted (B2La) cluster randomised controlled trial
Authors: Kable Toby J , Leahy Angus A , Smith Jordan J , Eather Narelle , Shields Nora , Noetel Michael , Lonsdale Chris , Hillman Charles H , Reeves Penny , Oldmeadow Christopher , Kennedy Sarah G , Boyer James , Stimpson Leisl , Comis Pierre , Roche Laura , Lubans David R
Published: August 2022

Introduction

Physical activity declines during adolescence, with the lowest levels of activity observed among those with disability. Schools are ideal settings to address this issue; however, few school-based interventions have been specifically designed for older adolescents with disability. Our aim is to investigate the effects of a school-based physical activity programme, involving high-intensity interval training (HIIT), on physical, mental and cognitive health in older adolescents with disability.

Methods and analysis

We will evaluate the Burn 2 Learn adapted (B2La) intervention using a two-arm, parallel group, cluster randomised controlled trial with allocation occurring at the school level (treatment or waitlist control). Secondary schools will be recruited in two cohorts from New South Wales, Australia. We will aim to recruit 300 older adolescents (aged 15–19 years) with disability from 30 secondary schools (10 in cohort 1 and 20 in cohort 2). Schools allocated to the intervention group will deliver two HIIT sessions per week during scheduled specialist support classes. The sessions will include foundational aerobic and muscle strengthening exercises tailored to meet student needs. We will provide teachers with training, resources, and support to facilitate the delivery of the B2La programme. Study outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 6 months (primary endpoint), and 9 months. Our primary outcome is functional capacity assessed using the 6 min walk/push test. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, muscular fitness, body composition, cognitive function, quality of life, physical literacy, and on-task behaviour in the classroom. We will also conduct economic and process evaluations to determine cost-effectiveness, programme acceptability, implementation, adaptability, and sustainability in schools.

Ethics and dissemination

This study has received approval from the University of Newcastle (H-2021–0262) and the New South Wales Department of Education (SERAP: 2021257) human research ethics committees. Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, and key stakeholders will be provided with a detailed report following the study.

Trial registration number

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Number: ACTRN12621000884808.
State of the art: multimodality imaging in dilated cardiomyopathy
Authors: Halliday Brian P
Published: August 2022

Dilated cardiomyopathy represents a common phenotype expressed in individuals with a family of overlapping myocardial diseases due to acquired and/or genetic susceptibility. Disease trajectory, response to therapy and outcomes vary widely; therefore, further refinement of the diagnosis can help guide therapy and inform prognosis. Multimodality imaging plays a key role in this process, as well as excluding alternative causes which may mimic a primary myocardial disease. The following article discusses the role of different imaging modalities as well as what the future may look like in the context of recent research innovations.
Angular coefficients in $$\hbox {W}+\hbox {j}$$ production at the LHC with high precision
Authors: Pellen Mathieu , Poncelet Rene , Popescu Andrei , Vitos Timea
Published: August 2022

The extraction of the W-boson mass, a fundamental parameter of the Standard Model, from hadron-hadron collision requires precise theory predictions. In this regard, angular coefficients are crucial to model the dynamics of W-boson production. In this work, we provide, for the first time, angular coefficients at NNLO QCD + NLO EW accuracy for finite transverse momentum W-boson at the LHC. The corrections can reach up to $$10\%$$

10
%

in certain regions of phase space. They are accompanied by a significant reduction of the scale uncertainty. This work should, besides providing reference values for theory-data comparison, provide state-of-the-art theory input for W-boson mass measurements.
Radiopurity of a kg-scale PbWO$$_4$$ cryogenic detector produced from archaeological Pb for the RES-NOVA experiment
Authors:   The RES-NOVA Group of Interest, Beeman J. W. , Benato G. , Bucci C. , Canonica L. , Carniti P. , Celi E. , Clemenza M. , D’Addabbo A. , Danevich F. A. , Di Domizio S. , DiLorenzo S. , Dubovik O. M. , Ferreiro Iachellini N. , Ferroni F. , Fiorini E. , Fu S. , Garai A. , Ghislandi S. , Gironi L. , Gorla P. , Gotti C. , Guillaumon P. V. , Helis D. L. , Kovtun G. P. , Mancuso M. , Marini L. , Olmi M. , Pagnanini L. , Pattavina L. , Pessina G. , Petricca F. , Pirro S. , Pozzi S. , Puiu A. , Quitadamo S. , Rothe J. , Scherban A. P. , Schönert S. , Solopikhin D. A. , Strauss R. , Tarabini E. , Tretyak V. I. , Tupitsyna I. A. , Wagner V.
Published: August 2022

RES-NOVA is a newly proposed experiment for detecting neutrinos from astrophysical sources, mainly Supernovae, using an array of cryogenic detectors made of PbWO$$_4$$

4

crystals produced from archaeological Pb. This unconventional material, characterized by intrinsic high radiopurity, enables low-background levels in the region of interest for the neutrino detection via Coherent Elastic neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE$$\nu $$
ν
NS). This signal lies at the detector energy threshold, O(1 keV), and it is expected to be hidden by naturally occurring radioactive contaminants of the crystal absorber. Here, we present the results of a radiopurity assay on a 0.84 kg PbWO$$_4$$

4

crystal produced from archaeological Pb operated as a cryogenic detector. The crystal internal radioactive contaminations are: $$^{232}$$

232

Th <40 $$\upmu $$
μ
Bq/kg, $$^{238}$$

238

U <30 $$\upmu $$
μ
Bq/kg, $$^{226}$$

226

Ra 1.3 mBq/kg and $$^{210}$$

210

Pb 22.5 mBq/kg. We also present a background projection for the final experiment and possible mitigation strategies for further background suppression. The achieved results demonstrate the feasibility of realizing this new class of detectors.
Criticality-related fundamental bases for new generations of gas–liquid, liquid–liquid, and liquid (LE) extraction technologies
Authors: Rzoska Sylwester J. , Drozd-Rzoska Aleksandra
Published: August 2022

The report presents experimental results, which can be considered as the reference for innovative generations of supercritical fluids (SCF), liquid–liquid (LL), and liquid (L) extraction technologies. They are related to implementations of Critical Phenomena Physics, for such applications not considered so far. For the gas–liquid critical point, the shift SuperCritical Fluids (SCF) ⇒ SubCritical Fluids, due to the additional exogenic impact of ultrasounds, is indicated. For LL technology, the possibility of increasing process effectiveness when operating near the critical consolute under pressure is indicated. Finally, the discovery of long-range precritical-type changes of dielectric constant in linseed oil, standing even 50 K above the melting temperature, is presented. It suggests that extraction processes linking ‘SCF’ and ‘L’ technologies features and exploring the natural carrier, such as linseed oil, are possible. The report recalls the fundamental base for extraction processes via Kirkwood and Noyes–Whitney relations and presents their implementations to ‘critical conditions,’ including pressure.

Graphical abstract
Semiconductor-based electron flying qubits: review on recent progress accelerated by numerical modelling
Authors: Edlbauer Hermann , Wang Junliang , Crozes Thierry , Perrier Pierre , Ouacel Seddik , Geffroy Clément , Georgiou Giorgos , Chatzikyriakou Eleni , Lacerda-Santos Antonio , Waintal Xavier , Glattli D. Christian , Roulleau Preden , Nath Jayshankar , Kataoka Masaya , Splettstoesser Janine , Acciai Matteo , da Silva Figueira Maria Cecilia , Öztas Kemal , Trellakis Alex , Grange Thomas , Yevtushenko Oleg M. , Birner Stefan , Bäuerle Christopher
Published: August 2022

The progress of charge manipulation in semiconductor-based nanoscale devices opened up a novel route to realise a flying qubit with a single electron. In the present review, we introduce the concept of these electron flying qubits, discuss their most promising realisations and show how numerical simulations are applicable to accelerate experimental development cycles. Addressing the technological challenges of flying qubits that are currently faced by academia and quantum enterprises, we underline the relevance of interdisciplinary cooperation to move emerging quantum industry forward. The review consists of two main sections:

Pathways towards the electron flying qubit:We address three routes of single-electron transport in GaAs-based devices focusing on surface acoustic waves, hot-electron emission from quantum dot pumps and Levitons. For each approach, we discuss latest experimental results and point out how numerical simulations facilitate engineering the electron flying qubit.

Numerical modelling of quantum devices:We review the full stack of numerical simulations needed for fabrication of the flying qubits. Choosing appropriate models, examples of basic quantum mechanical simulations are explained in detail. We discuss applications of open-source (KWANT) and the commercial (nextnano) platforms for modelling the flying qubits. The discussion points out the large relevance of software tools to design quantum devices tailored for efficient operation.
Relativistic frequency shifts in a rotating waveguide
Authors: Khorrami Mohammad , Fatollahi Amir H. , Shariati Ahmad
Published: August 2022

A photon source is located in a rotating waveguide. An absorber with a sharp absorbing frequency absorbs some of the emitted photons. This decreases the number of photons which are detected by a detector. The frequency (energy) spectrum measured in the absorber depends on the setup (the positions of the source and the detector), and this spectrum determines the amount of absorption. The shifts are calculated for different configurations. Among other things, it is seen that even if the source and the absorber are at rest (while the waveguide is rotating), there is a nonzero frequency shift.
Integration of FDOSM and FWZIC Under Homogeneous Fermatean Fuzzy Environment: A Prioritization of COVID-19 Patients for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transfusion
Authors: Alsattar H. A. , Qahtan Sara , Mohammed R. T. , Zaidan A. A. , Albahri O. S. , Kou Gang , Alamoodi A. H. , Albahri A. S. , Zaidan B. B. , Al-Samarraay Mohammed S. , Malik R. Q. , Jasim Ali Najm
Published: August 2022

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transfusion has shown promising results in treating COVID-19 cases despite the limited availability of these MSCs. The task of prioritizing COVID-19 patients for MSC transfusion based on multiple criteria is considered a multi-attribute decision-analysis (MADA) problem. Although literature reviews have assessed the prioritization of COVID-19 patients for MSCs, issues arising from imprecise, unclear and ambiguous information remain unresolved. Compared with the existing MADA methods, the robustness of the fuzzy decision by opinion score method (FDOSM) and fuzzy-weighted zero inconsistency (FWZIC) is proven. This study adopts and integrates FDOSM and FWZIC in a homogeneous Fermatean fuzzy environment for criterion weighting followed by the prioritization of the most eligible COVID-19 patients for MSC transfusion. The research methodology had two phases. The decision matrices of three COVID-19 emergency levels (moderate, severe, and critical) were adopted based on an augmented dataset of 60 patients and discussed in the first phase. The second phase was divided into two subsections. The first section developed Fermatean FWZIC (F-FWZIC) to weigh criteria across each emergency level of COVID-19 patients. These weights were fed to the second section on adopting Fermatean FDOSM (F-FDOSM) for the purpose of prioritizing COVID-19 patients who are the most eligible to receive MSCs. Three methods were used in evaluating the proposed works, and the results included systematic ranking, sensitivity analysis, and benchmarking checklist.
Finite Element Analysis of Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composite Link Slabs
Authors: Zhu Shiyao , Zhang Y. X. , Lee C. K.
Published: August 2022

Finite element (FE) analysis of hybrid fiber reinforced engineered cementitious composite (hybrid-ECC) link slabs is conducted under static loading. First, the material model of hybrid-ECC is developed and validated with standard material test results. Numerical analyses are then conductedto investigate the materials’ effects on the structural performances of link slabs built by using hybrid-ECCs with different volume fractions of polyethylene (PE) and steel (ST) fibers. The FE model of the link slab is validated against test results. Analysis results suggest the hybrid-ECC with volume fractions of 1.25% PE and 0.75% ST fiber is suitable for link slab applications.
Novel Nonprobabilistic Bayesian Uncertainty Quantification Method for Structures with Interval Parameters
Authors: Wu Peng , Hu Wenshuo , Li Yunlong , Liu Zhenchen , Liu Beibei
Published: August 2022

Structural reliability analysis is a crucial task in structural safety analysis. Owing to insufficient data information, traditional probabilistic methods do not accurately quantify input or output variables and the resultant assessment of structural reliability. Considering the development of engineering technology, a quantitative model of uncertainty based on improbability method is urgently needed. Herein, a novel nonprobabilistic Bayesian-inference-based interval uncertainty quantification model is developed with a user-specified credibility level. On the contrary, limited samples are introduced to update the bounds of the interval, and the conservativeness is decreased compared to the traditional unbiased interval estimation based on uniform distribution. Moreover, it can provide more conservative quantification than the extreme values-based interval model. Consequently, two examples are implemented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model.
Synthesis of TiO2thin films by a new low-temperature solid-phase pyrolysis technique
Authors: Volkova M. G. , Bayan E. M. , Petrov V. V. , Gulyaeva I. A. , Chernyshev A. V.
Published: August 2022

Thin TiO2-films were synthesized for the first time by solid-phase low-temperature pyrolysis technique onto quartz glasses or silicon substrates. The obtained films are nanoscale; crystallize in a mixed anatase-rutile modification, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron and atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods. The three-layer films’ thickness was 140 nm. The TiO2-films consist of crystallites 12–27 nm, depending on the temperature treatment and phase composition. In addition, all of the obtained TiO2-films are optically transparent regardless of synthesis conditions; the calculated band gap was 3.55 eV, which makes it possible to recommend TiO2-films for use in optical filters and gas sensors.
Hybrid model with optimization tactics for software defect prediction
Authors: Gollagi Shantappa G. , Balasubramaniam S
Published: August 2022

Defects are frequent in software systems, and they can cause a lot of issues for users. Despite the fact that many studies have been conducted on employing software product metrics to determine defect-prone modules, defect prediction techniques are still worth investigating. Hence, the aim of this work is to provide a unique Software Defect Prediction (SDP) approach that includes four steps like “(a) pre-processing, (b) feature extraction, (c) feature selection and (d) detection.” At first, the input data are given to the pre-processing step, as well as in the feature extraction step; the “statistical features, raw features, higher-order statistical features as well as proposed entropy features” are extracted from the pre-processed data. In addition, the retrieved features are sent into a feature selection step, wherein the appropriate features are selected utilizing a modified chi-square scheme. In the detection step, a hybrid Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Deep Belief Network (DBN) classifiers are used to predict the defects. To provide a more accurate detection, the weights of both DBN and LSTM are optimally tuned via a Self Improved Social Ski-Driver Optimization (SISSDO) algorithm. This proposed SDP model is a beneficial practice for enhancing software quality and reliability. Moreover, the results of the adopted technique are assessed to traditional techniques on the basis of various measures. In particular, the accuracy of the suggested approach for dataset 3 is 5.80%, 6.52%, 5.07%, 7.97%, 5.80%, 9.42%, 9.42%, 10.15%, 2.17%, and 3.62% better than the extant HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]ALO, HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]SMO, HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]CMBO, HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]SSD, RNN, CNN, NN, Bi-LSTM, HC+SPFCNN, and HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]CWAR approaches, correspondingly. Moreover, the computation time of the suggested approach is 17.05%, 5.78%, 1.31%, and 50.53% better than the existing HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]ALO, HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]SMO, HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]CMBO, and HC[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]SSD approaches, correspondingly.
Performance enhancement of ultrasonic transducer made of textured PNN-PZT ceramic
Authors: Bian Lang , Zhu Ke , Wang Qian , Ma Jinpeng , Fan Jinhui , Qi Xudong , Jiang Guicheng , Zhao Bo , Zhang Rui , Yang Bin , Cao Wenwu
Published: August 2022

In this paper, 0.36Pb(Ni[Formula: see text]Nb[Formula: see text])O3–0.24PbZrO3–0.40PbTiO3(PNN-PZT) ceramic was prepared, and texture engineering was performed on this PNN-PZT ceramic to improve its electromechanical properties and temperature stability. Single element ultrasonic transducers were prepared using PNN-PZT, PNN-PZT textured ceramics, and their performance were evaluated and compared using a PZT-5H ceramic based transducer as the benchmark. It is shown that the sensitivity and bandwidth of the PNN-PZT textured ceramic-based transducer are much superior to regular PNN-PZT ceramic and PZT-5H ceramic based transducers.
Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Sarcasm Detection in Indian Indigenous Language Using Word-Emoji Embeddings
Authors: Kumar Akshi , Sangwan Saurabh Raj , Singh Adarsh Kumar , Wadhwa Gandharv
Published: August 2022

Automated sarcasm detection is deemed as a complex natural language processing task and extending it to a morphologically-rich and free-order dominant indigenous Indian language Hindi is another challenge in itself. The scarcity of resources and tools such as annotated corpora, lexicons, dependency parser, Part-of-Speech tagger, and benchmark datasets engorge the linguistic challenges of sarcasm detection in low-resource languages like Hindi. Furthermore, as context incongruity is imperative to detect sarcasm, various linguistic, aural and visual cues can be used to predict target utterance as sarcastic. While pre-trained word embeddings capture the meanings, semantic relationships and different types of contexts in the form of word representations, emojis can also render useful contextual information, analogous to human facial expressions, for gauging sarcasm. Thus, the goal of this research is to demonstrate the use of a hybrid deep learning model trained using two embeddings, namely word and emoji embeddings to detect sarcasm. The model is validated on a Hindi tweets dataset, Sarc-H, manually annotated with sarcastic and non-sarcastic labels. The preliminary results clearly depict the importance of using emojis for sarcasm detection, with our model attaining an accuracy of 97.35% with an F-score of 0.9708. The research validates that automated feature engineering facilitates efficient and repeatable predictive model for detecting sarcasm in indigenous, low-resource languages.
Optimal Short-Circuit Resilient Formulas
Authors: Braverman Mark , Efremenko Klim , Gelles Ran , Yitayew Michael
Published: August 2022

We consider fault-tolerant boolean formulas in which the output of a faulty gate is short-circuited to one of the gate’s inputs. A recent result by Kalai et al. [FOCS 2012] converts any boolean formula into a resilient formula of polynomial size that works correctly if less than 1/6 of the gates (on every input-to-output path) are faulty. We improve the result of Kalai et al., and show how to efficiently fortify any boolean formula against a fraction of 1/5 of short-circuit gates per path, with only a polynomial blowup in size. We additionally show that it is impossible to obtain formulas with higher resilience and sub-exponential growth in size.

Towards our results, we consider interactive coding schemes when noiseless feedback is present; these produce resilient boolean formulas via a Karchmer-Wigderson relation. We develop a coding scheme that resists corruptions in up to a fraction of 1/5 of the transmissions
in each direction of the interactive channel
. We further show that such a level of noise is maximal for coding schemes whose communication blowup is sub-exponential. Our coding scheme has taken a surprising inspiration from Blockchain technology.
SPARKs: Succinct Parallelizable Arguments of Knowledge
Authors: Ephraim Naomi , Freitag Cody , Komargodski Ilan , Pass Rafael
Published: August 2022

We introduce the notion of aSuccinct Parallelizable Argument of Knowledge(SPARK). This is an argument of knowledge with the following three efficiency properties for computing and proving a (non-deterministic, polynomial time) parallel RAM computation that can be computed in parallel timeTwith at mostpprocessors:

—

The prover’s (parallel) running time is\( T + \mathrm{poly}\hspace{-2.0pt}\log (T \cdot p) \). (In other words, the prover’s running time is essentiallyTfor large computation times!)

—

The prover uses at most\( p \cdot \mathrm{poly}\hspace{-2.0pt}\log (T \cdot p) \)processors.

—

The communication and verifier complexity are both\( \mathrm{poly}\hspace{-2.0pt}\log (T \cdot p) \).

The combination of all three is desirable, as it gives a way to leverage a moderate increase in parallelism in favor of near-optimal running time. We emphasize that even a factor two overhead in the prover’s parallel running time is not allowed.

Our main contribution is a generic construction of SPARKs from any succinct argument of knowledge where the prover’s parallel running time is\( T \cdot \mathrm{poly}\hspace{-2.0pt}\log (T \cdot p) \)when usingpprocessors, assuming collision-resistant hash functions. When suitably instantiating our construction, we achieve a four-round SPARK foranyparallel RAM computation assuming only collision resistance. Additionally assuming the existence of a succinctnon-interactiveargument of knowledge (SNARK), we construct a non-interactive SPARK that also preserves the space complexity of the underlying computation up to\( \mathrm{poly}\hspace{-2.0pt}\log (T\cdot p) \)factors.

We also show the following applications of non-interactive SPARKs. First, they immediately imply delegation protocols with near optimal prover (parallel) running time. This, in turn, gives a way to construct verifiable delay functions (VDFs) from any sequential function. When the sequential function is also memory-hard, this yields the first construction of a memory-hard VDF.
A Type Discipline for Message Passing Parallel Programs
Authors: Vasconcelos Vasco T. , Martins Francisco , López Hugo-Andrés , Yoshida Nobuko
Published: August 2022

We presentParTypes, a type discipline for parallel programs. The model we have in mind comprises a fixed number of processes running in parallel and communicating via collective operations or point-to-point synchronous message exchanges. A type describes a protocol to be followed by each processes in a given program. We present the type theory, a core imperative programming language and its operational semantics, and prove that type checking is decidable (up to decidability of semantic entailment) and that well-typed programs do not deadlock and always terminate. The article is accompanied by a large number of examples drawn from the literature on parallel programming.
Nearly Optimal Pseudorandomness from Hardness
Authors: Doron Dean , Moshkovitz Dana , Oh Justin , Zuckerman David
Published: August 2022

Existing proofs that deduce BPP = P from circuit lower bounds convert randomized algorithms into deterministic algorithms with a large polynomial slowdown. We convert randomized algorithms into deterministic ones with
little slowdown
. Specifically, assuming exponential lower bounds against randomized NP ∩ coNP circuits, formally known as randomized SVN circuits, we convert any randomized algorithm over inputs of length
n
running in time
t
≥
n
into a deterministic one running in time
t
2+α
for an arbitrarily small constant α > 0. Such a slowdown is nearly optimal for
t
close to
n
, since under standard complexity-theoretic assumptions, there are problems with an inherent quadratic derandomization slowdown. We also convert any randomized algorithm that
errs rarely
into a deterministic algorithm having a similar running time (with pre-processing). The latter derandomization result holds under weaker assumptions, of exponential lower bounds against deterministic SVN circuits.

Our results follow from a new, nearly optimal, explicit pseudorandom generator fooling circuits of size
s
with seed length (1+α)log
s
, under the assumption that there exists a function
f
∈ E that requires randomized SVN circuits of size at least 2
(1-α′)
n
, where α =
O
(α)′. The construction uses, among other ideas, a new connection between pseudoentropy generators and locally list recoverable codes.
Awareness of Vaccination against Respiratory Tract Diseases, Including Pneumonia, Influenza, and COVID-19 in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Karagun Baris , Evran Mehtap , Odabas Fulya , Akkus Gamze , Kurtaran Behice , Sert Murat , Tetiker Tamer
Published: August 2022

Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of severe acute respiratory infections, and vaccination is their life-saving option. This study aimed to investigate the interest and knowledge of patients about influenza, pneumonia, and COVID-19(coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines. Materials. We handed out a questionnaire to patients with diabetes who were admitted to the endocrinology clinic between April and August 2021. The questionnaire collected information on demographic data, knowledge about respiratory tract disease vaccines, and hesitancy about vaccines. Results. Four hundred twenty-four patients (female = 256, male = 168) enrolled in the study. In this study, 148 (34.9%) participants were vaccinated against pneumonia, 155 (36.6%) against flu, and 312 (73.6%) against COVID-19. In addition, antivaccination sentiment was recorded in 8.7% of patients with diabetes. We found that participants in the study primarily rely on doctors as the source of information about vaccines (doctor (46.7%), nurse (1.2%), television (8.7%), friend/neighbour (8.7%), and others (2.6%)). The rate of vaccination was statistically higher than the presence of comorbid diseases. Conclusions. We examined the vaccine awareness of patients with diabetes and investigated factors affecting it. İt was determined that vaccination awareness is affected by many factors, especially comorbid diseases and educational status. The study showed that patients primarily relied on doctors as their source of information for vaccination. Doctor-centered vaccination promotion programmes can increase the rate of vaccination.
Safety Assessment of Microcatheter-Protected Rotational Atherectomy with the Double Guiding Catheter Technique for Severely Calcified Left Main Bifurcation
Authors: Yang Shijun , Dong Silai , Zhou Yanzhao , Wei Yumiao , Zhao Ning , Sun Chunhua , Cheng Xiang
Published: August 2022

Background. Rotational atherectomy (RA) is a tool for calcium modification, but there is a risk of losing the side branch in left main coronary artery (LM) bifurcation lesions, resulting in disastrous consequences. Microcatheter-protected RA with the double guiding catheter (GC) technique for severely calcified LM bifurcations has been described previously, but its safety warrants further investigation. Methods. Various sizes of coronary calcification vascular simulators were utilized to model calcified LM bifurcation lesions for RA in in vitro. The damage to the side branch protective microcatheters and guidewires was accessed after microcatheter-protected RA with the double GC technique. In clinical practice, microcatheter-protected RA with the double GC technique was carried out in two patients. Results. In vitro, none of the protective microcatheters or guidewires were completely fractured, although the majority of them were damaged to varying degrees. In clinical practice, we successfully carried out two cases of percutaneous coronary intervention for severely calcified LM bifurcation with microcatheter-protected RA using the double GC technique. Conclusion. RA of severely calcified LM bifurcation lesions may be successfully performed using microcatheter-protected RA with the double GC technique, potentially reducing the risk of side branch occlusion. Since majority of protective microcatheters or guidewires were damaged, there was still some risk, and it is recommended to use this technique only in highly selected patient population of severely calcified true (Medina 1, 1, 1) LM bifurcations.
Mesoscopic Mechanism of Permeability of Coal Rock Mass with Increasing Temperature in the Range of Room Temperature to 350°C
Authors: Xie Jianlin , Meng Tao , Jin Tingxu , Sun Xiaoyuan
Published: August 2022

Engineering research on geothermal development, underground gasification of coal, and heat-injection-enhanced coal bed gas extraction is gaining more and more attention from the international community, and therefore the study of permeability of coal rock bodies under the effect of temperature has become almost a hot spot in the research of rock mechanics and seepage mechanics. However, the relationship between temperature and permeability that has been seen in the literature is different, and the mechanism explanation varies greatly. In this paper, the following conclusions were obtained from an experimental study of the fine-scale structural evolution of coking coal and fine sandstone specimens, using an experimental research method of simultaneous image observation of the pore structure evolution of coal rock samples by online heating. (1) With the increase of temperature, the inner areas of coal and rock mass with both solid particles and pure pores are affected by temperature. The microscopic experiment shows that the gray level of the image changes greatly, that is, the changes in pores are also large. These pores are the roar pores in the coal and rock mass. (2) With the increase in temperature, the solid skeleton of the coal specimen will produce expansion deformation. On the one hand, this expansion deformation will increase the pores between some skeletons and increase the overall porosity of the specimen. On the other hand, it will also reduce the pore area and reduce the overall porosity of the specimen due to the intrusion of the solid skeleton into the adjacent pores. These two phenomena occur at the same time with the increase in temperature. The dominant mode is determined by the type of coal. The physical structure and temperature of the section are affected jointly. (3) When the temperature increases, the porosity of coking coal samples increases first and then decreases, and 180°C is the turning point. The fine sandstone sample shows the law of decreasing first and then increasing, and 210°C is the turning point. (4) When the temperature increases, the smaller the porosity of coal and rock samples, the specimen shows the intrusion of the solid skeleton into adjacent pores, that is, the porosity decreases. After the turning temperature, the porosity increases with the increase of temperature.
The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on Health Outcomes: A Mediating Effect Analysis Based on Cross‐National Panel Data
Authors: Shao Mingxing , Fan Jing , Huang Zishan , Chen Mingyang
Published: August 2022

When ICTs (Information and Communications Technologies) are combined with healthcare, they can make a key contribution to gradually improve national health outcomes. The global outbreak of COVID‐19 in 2020 further highlighted the important role of e‐Health and m‐Health service modes. This research structures a mediated effect model to explore dynamic relationships between ICT factors, ICT impacts, and national health outcomes, among which ICT factors are independent variables; ICT impacts are mediating variables, and national health outcome indicators selected from United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and World Development Indicators are dependent variables. The fixed effect model is used to process a set of 141 countries’ panel data from 2012 to 2016 from World Bank and World Economic Forum, while the classical three‐step test method and Sobel test combined with fixed effects are used to test the mediated effects of the panel data. The results show that there are significant associations between ICT factors and national health outcome indicators, while only some of the partial mediated effects are proved. ICT environment and ICT usage can influence both the under‐five mortality rate and adolescent fertility rate via ICT social impact. However, the mediated effect of ICT social impact on maternal mortality ratio and life expectancy at birth has not been confirmed. Meanwhile, the mediated effect of ICT economic impact has not been proven. This research is an interdisciplinary research in the field of information and communication technology and public health and reveals the path and mechanism whereby ICT factors improve national health outcomes, which can help global policymakers drive the next phase of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and continue to improve the overall health at the national level.