bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Treating Thalassemia Patients with Luspatercept: An Expert Opinion Based on Current Evidence
Authors: Longo Filomena , Motta Irene , Pinto Valeria , Piolatto Andrea , Ricchi Paolo , Tartaglione Immacolata , Origa Raffaella
Published: March 2023

Luspatercept has recently been approved for the treatment of beta-thalassemia and its use in clinical practice has been increasing. As it is the first erythroid maturation drug available for this diagnosis, the expertise about its use is still limited. To address this point, and to promote awareness and guide the clinical use of luspatercept in beta-thalassemia, this paper was developed as a consensus by experts from the Italian Society of Thalassemia and Hemoglobinopathies (SITE). After a brief presentation of the core features of luspatercept, a comprehensive set of questions is addressed, covering relevant aspects for the practical management of this new therapeutic option.
Global Longitudinal Strain Is Associated with Mortality in Patients with Multiple Myeloma
Authors: Cui Zhu , Castagna Francesco , Hanif Waqas , Apple Samuel J. , Zhang Lili , Tauras James M. , Braunschweig Ira , Kaur Gurbakhash , Janakiram Murali , Wang Yanhua , Fang Yanan , Diaz Juan C. , Hoyos Carolina , Marin Jorge , Pellikka Patricia A. , Romero Jorge E. , Garcia Mario J. , Verma Amit K. , Shah Nishi , Slipczuk Leandro
Published: March 2023

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are at a high risk for developing cardiovascular complications. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) can detect early functional impairment before structural abnormalities develop. It remains unknown if reduced GLS is associated with reduced survival in patients with MM. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of patients diagnosed with MM between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2017 at our institution. Patients with a 2D transthoracic echocardiogram completed within 1 year of MM diagnosis, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) greater than 40%, and no history of myocardial infarction prior to MM diagnosis were included. GLS was measured using an artificial-intelligence-powered software (EchoGo Core), with reduced GLS defined as an absolute value of <18%. The primary outcome of interest was overall survival since myeloma diagnosis. Our cohort included 242 patients with a median follow up of 4.28 years. Fifty-two (21.5%) patients had reduced average GLS. Patients with reduced GLS were more likely to have an IVSd ≥ 1.2cm, E/E’ > 9.6, LVEF/GLS > 4.1, higher LV mass index, and low-voltage ECG. A Total of 126 (52.1%) deaths occurred during follow-up. Overall survival was lower among patients with reduced GLS (adjusted HR: 1.81, CI: 1.07–3.05).
Prognostic Impact of Polypharmacy following Trans-Catheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Authors: Imamura Teruhiko , Narang Nikhil , Ushijima Ryuichi , Sobajima Mitsuo , Fukuda Nobuyuki , Ueno Hiroshi , Kinugawa Koichiro
Published: March 2023

Background: Polypharmacy in elderly patients with various comorbidities is associated with mortality and morbidity. However, the prognostic impact of polypharmacy in patients with severe aortic stenosis receiving trans-catheter aortic valve replacement remains unknown. Methods: Patients with severe aortic stenosis who received trans-catheter aortic valve replacement between 2015 and 2022 and were followed up at our institute following index discharge were included in this retrospective study. The impact of polypharmacy, which was defined as medication numbers ≥10 at index discharge, upon 2-year all-cause death was investigated. Results: A total of 345 patients (median age 85 [83, 89] years old, 99 (29%) men) were included. Median medication number was 9 (7, 10) at the index discharge and 88 (26%) were classified as receiving polypharmacy. Frailty index, including mini-mental state examination and CSHA score, were not significantly different between those with and without polypharmacy (p > 0.05 for both). Polypharmacy was associated with higher 2-year cumulative mortality with an adjusted hazard ratio of 21.4 (95% confidence interval, 6.06–74.8, p < 0.001). As a sub-analysis, the number of cardiovascular medications was not associated with 2-year mortality (hazard ratio 1.12, 95% confidence interval 0.86–1.48, p = 0.46), whereas a higher number of non-cardiovascular medications was associated with an incremental increase in 2-year mortality with a hazard ratio of 1.39 (95% confidence interval, 1.15–1.63, p < 0.001). Conclusions: In elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis, polypharmacy was associated with worse short-term survival following trans-catheter aortic valve replacement. Prognostic implication of aggressive intervention to decrease the amount of medication among those receiving TAVR requires further prospective studies.
Outcomes of Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients Who Presented with Cardiogenic Shock versus Patients Who Developed Cardiogenic Shock during Hospitalization
Authors: Abu Ghosh Zahi , Amir Offer , Carasso Shemy , Planer David , Alcalai Ronny , Golomb Mordechai , Dagan Gil , Kalmanovich Eran , Blatt Alex , Elbaz-Greener Gabby
Published: March 2023

Background: Cardiogenic shock (CS) continues to be a severe and fatal complication of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). CS patients have a high mortality rate despite significant progress in primary reperfusion, the management of heart failure and the expansion of mechanical circulatory support strategies. The present study addressed the clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of ACS patients complicated with CS. Methods: We performed an observational study, using the 2000–2013 Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Surveys (ACSIS) database and identified hospitalizations of ACS patients complicated with CS. Patients’ demographics and clinical characteristics, complications and outcomes were evaluated. We assessed the outcomes of ACS patients with CS at arrival (on the day of admission) compared with ACS patients who arrived without CS and developed CS during hospitalization. Results: The cohort included 13,434 patients with ACS diagnoses during the study period. Of these, 4.2% were complicated with CS; 224 patients were admitted with both ACS and CS; while 341 ACS patients developed CS only during the hospitalization period. The latter patients had significantly higher rates of MACEs compared with the group of ACS patients who presented with CS at arrival (73% vs. 51%; p < 0.0001). Similarly, the rates of in-hospital mortality (55% vs. 36%; p < 0.0001), 30-day mortality (64% vs. 50%; p = 0.0013) and 1-year mortality (73% vs. 59%; p = 0.0016) were higher in ACS patients who developed CS during hospitalization vs. ACS patients with CS at admission. There was a significant decrease in 1-year mortality trends during the 13 years of this study presented in ACS patients from both groups. Conclusions: Patients who developed CS during hospitalization had higher mortality and MACE rates compared with those who presented with CS at arrival. Further studies should focus on this subgroup of high-risk patients.
Study of the Effect of Anodic Oxidation on the Corrosion Properties of the Ti6Al4V Implant Produced from SLM
Authors: Orłowska Ada , Szewczenko Janusz , Kajzer Wojciech , Goldsztajn Karolina , Basiaga Marcin
Published: March 2023

Additive technologies allowed for the development of medicine and implantology, enabling the production of personalized and highly porous implants. Although implants of this type are used clinically, they are usually only heat treated. Surface modification using electrochemical methods can significantly improve the biocompatibility of biomaterials used for implants, including printed ones. The study examined the effect of anodizing oxidation on the biocompatibility of a porous implant made of Ti6Al4V by the SLM method. The study used a proprietary spinal implant intended for the treatment of discopathy in the c4–c5 section. As part of the work, the manufactured implant was assessed in terms of compliance with the requirements for implants (structure testing—metallography) and the accuracy of the pores produced (pore size and porosity). The samples were subjected to surface modification using anodic oxidation. The research was carried out for 6 weeks in in vitro conditions. Surface topographies and corrosion properties (corrosion potential, ion release) were compared for unmodified and anodically oxidized samples. The tests showed no effect of anodic oxidation on the surface topography and improved corrosion properties. Anodic oxidation stabilized the corrosion potential and limited the release of ions to the environment.
Development of a COX-2-Selective Fluorescent Probe for the Observation of Early Intervertebral Disc Degeneration
Authors: Heo Cheol Ho , Roh Eun Ji , Kim Jaehee , Choi Hyemin , Jang Ho Yeon , Lee Giseong , Lim Chang Su , Han Inbo
Published: March 2023

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a biomolecule known to be overexpressed in inflammation. Therefore, it has been considered a diagnostically useful marker in numerous studies. In this study, we attempted to assess the correlation between COX-2 expression and the severity of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration using a COX-2-targeting fluorescent molecular compound that had not been extensively studied. This compound, indomethacin-adopted benzothiazole-pyranocarbazole (IBPC1), was synthesized by introducing indomethacin—a compound with known selectivity for COX-2—into a phosphor with a benzothiazole-pyranocarbazole structure. IBPC1 exhibited relatively high fluorescence intensity in cells pretreated with lipopolysaccharide, which induces inflammation. Furthermore, we observed significantly higher fluorescence in tissues with artificially damaged discs (modeling IVD degeneration) compared to normal disc tissues. These findings indicate that IBPC1 can meaningfully contribute to the study of the mechanism of IVD degeneration in living cells and tissues and to the development of therapeutic agents.
Faster ≠ Smarter: Children with Higher Levels of Ability Take Longer to Give Incorrect Answers, Especially When the Task Matches Their Ability
Authors: Tancoš Martin , Chvojka Edita , Jabůrek Michal , Portešová Šárka
Published: March 2023

The stereotype that children who are more able solve tasks quicker than their less capable peers exists both in and outside education. The F > C phenomenon and the distance–difficulty hypothesis offer alternative explanations of the time needed to complete a task; the former by the response correctness and the latter by the relative difference between the difficulty of the task and the ability of the examinee. To test these alternative explanations, we extracted IRT-based ability estimates and task difficulties from a sample of 514 children, 53% girls, M(age) = 10.3 years; who answered 29 Piagetian balance beam tasks. We used the answer correctness and task difficulty as predictors in multilevel regression models when controlling for children’s ability levels. Our results challenge the ‘faster equals smarter’ stereotype. We show that ability levels predict the time needed to solve a task when the task is solved incorrectly, though only with moderately and highly difficult items. Moreover, children with higher ability levels take longer to answer items incorrectly, and tasks equal to children’s ability levels take more time than very easy or difficult tasks. We conclude that the relationship between ability, task difficulty, and answer correctness is complex, and warn education professionals against basing their professional judgment on students’ quickness.
The Relationship between Executive Functions, Working Memory, and Intelligence in Kindergarten Children
Authors: Ger Ebru , Roebers Claudia M.
Published: March 2023

Executive functions (EF), working memory (WM), and intelligence are closely associated, but distinct constructs. What underlies the associations between these constructs, especially in childhood, is not well understood. In this pre-registered study, along with the traditional aggregate accuracy and RT-based measures of EF, we investigated post-error slowing (PES) in EF as a manifestation of metacognitive processes (i.e., monitoring and cognitive control) in relation to WM and intelligence. Thereby, we aimed to elucidate whether these metacognitive processes may be one underlying component to explain the associations between these constructs. We tested kindergarten children (Mage = 6.4 years, SDage = 0.3) in an EF, WM (verbal and visuospatial), and fluid (non-verbal) intelligence task. We found significant associations of mainly the inhibition component of EF with fluid intelligence and verbal WM, and between verbal WM and intelligence. No significant associations emerged between the PES in EF and intelligence or WM. These results suggest that in the kindergarten age, inhibition rather than monitoring and cognitive control might be the underlying component that explains the associations between EF, WM, and intelligence.
Fuel Consumption Prediction Models Based on Machine Learning and Mathematical Methods
Authors: Xie Xianwei , Sun Baozhi , Li Xiaohe , Olsson Tobias , Maleki Neda , Ahlgren Fredrik
Published: March 2023

An accurate fuel consumption prediction model is the basis for ship navigation status analysis, energy conservation, and emission reduction. In this study, we develop a black-box model based on machine learning and a white-box model based on mathematical methods to predict ship fuel consumption rates. We also apply the Kwon formula as a data preprocessing cleaning method for the black-box model that can eliminate the data generated during the acceleration and deceleration process. The ship model test data and the regression methods are employed to evaluate the accuracy of the models. Furthermore, we use the predicted correlation between fuel consumption rates and speed under simulated conditions for model performance validation. We also discuss applying the data-cleaning method in the preprocessing of the black-box model. The results demonstrate that this method is feasible and can support the performance of the fuel consumption model in a broad and dense distribution of noise data in data collected from real ships. We improved the error to 4% of the white-box model and the R2 to 0.9977 and 0.9922 of the XGBoost and RF models, respectively. After applying the Kwon cleaning method, the value of R2 also can reach 0.9954, which can provide decision support for the operation of shipping companies.
Autonomous Heading Planning and Control Method of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles for Tunnel Detection
Authors: Xia Tianxing , Cui Dehao , Chu Zhenzhong , Yu Xing
Published: March 2023

To address the challenge of unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) autonomous navigation in long-distance underwater tunnel detection tasks and improve the control performance of its heading control system, a method of autonomous heading planning and control based on sonar-ranging feedback control was proposed. This method combines UUV’s autonomous heading planning technology with the heading proportion-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm, optimizing the acquisition method of controller input data, to impart specific adaptive characteristics to the controller. Using the ranging principle of ultrasonic spontaneous self-collection, it is possible to obtain the yaw direction and angle of the vehicle relative to the target heading in the tunnel and continuously adjust the control law to change the heading as the vehicle’s heading status changes during navigation. The effectiveness of the autonomous heading planning and control method is verified through pool experiments. The analysis and experimental results show that the proposed heading planning method achieves good control effect in UUV’s underwater tunnel detection heading control, and exhibits obvious advantages in long-distance closed tunnel environments. UUV can adaptively adjust the heading according to the tunnel environment and has a fast response and strong applicability in planning and controlling the heading.
The Role of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in Juvenile Fish Dispersal along the North-Western Coast of Sicily
Authors: Sinopoli Mauro , Badalamenti Fabio , Bottaro Massimiliano , D’Anna Giovanni
Published: March 2023

Fish aggregating devices (FADs) are used worldwide to attract fish. Previous studies revealed that FADs affect the distribution and dispersal patterns of juvenile fish species during their life stage under floating objects. In this study, we hypothesised that a system of FADs arranged along an inshore–offshore gradient could favour the approach of young fish associated with FADs towards coastal habitats, using individual FADs as stepping stones. Our findings suggest that FAD systems might exert two different effects on juvenile fish distribution: (a) offshore FADs tend to retain associated fish for longer periods of time compared with coastal FADs, (b) coastal FADs favour the transition of fishes from the pelagic to the benthic domain. Furthermore, in order to obtain more information on the dynamic and movement patterns of the young-of-the-year (YOY) Seriola dumerili and Caranx crysos associated with FADs, tagging experiments and underwater visual censuses were conducted. The two juvenile species tagged and released under FADs placed at different distances from the coast showed different movement patterns. S. dumerili exhibited low FAD fidelity and large movements, while C. crysos showed high fidelity to the site. The results of the two research approaches confirm that FADs affect the dispersal of species toward the coast and their correct use could help to improve the sustainable management of these coastal fish resources.
Study of Phytoplankton Biomass and Environmental Drivers in and around the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area
Authors: Song Yangjinan , Lv Xianqing
Published: March 2023

The Southern Ocean plays a vital role in the global climate system and the life cycle of high-latitude marine life. Phytoplankton is an important source of primary productivity in this ecosystem. Its future changes could affect Southern Ocean geochemistry, carbon export, and higher trophic organisms. To better protect Antarctica, three different marine protected areas (MPA) have been established in the Ross Sea region. Because time-continuous and regionally complete data are difficult to obtain in this region, we obtained data from ocean model outputs to understand the spatiotemporal variability of phytoplankton biomass in this region. This study explored the correlation between phytoplankton biomass and key environmental factors. Phytoplankton biomass peaks in February as temperatures rise and sea ice melts. Correlations also vary between different protected areas. The correlation between biomass, nitrate, and salinity in the Krill Research Zone (KRZ) area was significantly different from other protected areas. In addition, in the context of global warming, Antarctica lacks temperature perception. The model results show a downward trend in temperature and an increase in sea ice coverage in the western Ross Sea that other studies have also pointed to. How phytoplankton biomass will change in protected areas in the future is a question worth considering. Finally, the study simply simulates future regional trends by comparing the biomass distribution in hot years to average years. This will increase our knowledge of the polar system.
Fear of COVID-19, Resilience, and Future Anxiety: Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Dark Future Scale
Authors: Yıldırım Murat , Kaynar Ömer , Arslan Gökmen , Chirico Francesco
Published: March 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many disruptions to individuals’ everyday lives and caused wide-ranging, drastic effects on their well-being, mental health, and physical health. This study sought to validate the Dark Future Scale (DFS) and examine its reliability and validity in Turkish. The present study also examined the relationship between fear of COVID-19, dark future anxiety, and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Four hundred and eighty-nine Turkish athletes (mean age = 23.08 ± 6.64) completed measures on fear, anxiety, resilience, and demographic information. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the DFS had a one-factor solution with good reliability. Fear of COVID-19 significantly predicted resilience and future anxiety. Furthermore, resilience significantly predicted anxiety and mediated the effect of fear of COVID-19 on future anxiety. The findings have important implications for improving mental health and developing the resiliency of athletes during public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hepatic Venous Occlusion Type of Budd–Chiari Syndrome versus Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid-Induced Hepatic Sinusoidal Obstructive Syndrome: A Multi-Center Retrospective Study
Authors: Tong Yaru , Zhang Ming , Qi Zexue , Wu Wei , Chen Jinjun , He Fuliang , Han Hao , Ding Pengxu , Wang Guangchuan , Zhuge Yuzheng
Published: March 2023

(1) Background: Hepatic venous occlusion type of Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS-HV) and pyrrolizidine alkaloid-induced hepatic sinusoidal obstructive syndrome (PA-HSOS), share similar clinical features, and imaging findings, leading to misdiagnoses; (2) Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 139 patients with BCS-HV and 257 with PA-HSOS admitted to six university-affiliated hospitals. We contrasted the two groups by clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging features for the most valuable distinguishing indicators.; (3) Results: The mean patient age in BCS-HV is younger than that in PA-HSOS (p < 0.05). In BCS-HV, the prevalence of hepatic vein collateral circulation of hepatic veins, enlarged caudate lobe of the liver, and early liver enhancement nodules were 73.90%, 47.70%, and 8.46%, respectively; none of the PA-HSOS patients exhibited these features (p < 0.05). DUS showed that 86.29% (107/124) of patients with BCS-HV showed occlusion of the hepatic vein, while CT or MRI showed that only 4.55%(5/110) patients had this manifestation (p < 0.001). Collateral circulation of hepatic veins was visible in 70.97% (88/124) of BCS-HV patients on DUS, while only 4.55% (5/110) were visible on CT or MRI (p < 0.001); (4) Conclusions: In addition to an established history of PA-containing plant exposure, local hepatic vein stenosis and the presence of collateral circulation of hepatic veins are the most important differential imaging features of these two diseases. However, these important imaging features may be missed by enhanced CT or MRI, leading to an incorrect diagnosis.
Can Corporate Sustainability Drive Economic Value Added? Evidence from Larger European Firms
Authors: Gonçalves Tiago , Louro Diogo , Barros Victor
Published: March 2023

This study analyses the association between firms’ sustainability and economic performance in Europe, considering the channels of margin and turnover. The sample is composed of firms listed in the STOXX Europe 600 Index from 2012 to 2020. The sustainability performance is captured by the combined and individual ESG scores from Refinitiv, and dynamically tested with proxies of economic performance, including economic value added, return on firms’ assets and its components, margin and turnover. The methodological approach comprises different panel data specifications and tackles the potentially unobserved, time-invariant heterogeneity, endogeneity concerns, and reverse causality biases. Our findings point to a strong positive association between firms’ sustainability and economic performance in Europe, although the individual ESG forces are not at play with the same intensity. The environmental pillar is the one that is systematically associated with better economic performance across all estimations. The influence of sustainability performance on economic performance is also channeled by both profit margin and turnover. We find that a 1% improvement in the ESG score yields an increase in the economic value added of 0.08%, EVA over revenues. In general, our findings point to a shift from the conventional business model perspective to the incorporation of a core sustainability proposition and agenda that brings advantages and drives economic performance.
Urban Structure Changes in Three Areas of Detroit, Michigan (2014–2018) Utilizing Geographic Object-Based Classification
Authors: De Wit Vera , Forsythe K. Wayne
Published: March 2023

The following study utilized geographic object-based image analysis methods to detect pervious and impervious landcover with respect to residential structure changes. The datasets consist of freely available very high-resolution orthophotos acquired under the United States National Agriculture Imagery Program. Over the last several decades, cities in America’s Rust Belt region have experienced population and economic declines—most notably, the city of Detroit. With increased property vacancies, many residential structures are abandoned and left vulnerable to degradation. In many cases, one of the answers is to demolish the structure, leaving a physical, permanent change to the urban fabric. This study investigates the performance of object-based classification in segmenting and classifying orthophotos across three neighbourhoods (Crary/St. Mary, Core City, Pulaski) with different demolition rates within Detroit. The research successfully generated the distinction between pervious and impervious land cover and linked those to parcel lot administrative boundaries within the city of Detroit. Successful detection rates of residential parcels containing structures ranged from a low of 63.99% to a high of 92.64%. Overall, if there were more empty residential parcels, the detection method performed better. Pervious and impervious overall classification accuracy for the 2018 and 2014 imagery was 98.333% (kappa 0.966) with some slight variance in the producers and users statistics for each year.
Spatial-Temporal Evolution Patterns and Influencing Factors of Hotels in Yellow River Basin from 2012 to 2022
Authors: Zhang Ershen , Wang Zhipeng , Chen Guojun , Wang Guoen , Zhou Yajuan , Hu Pengliang , Zhao Haijuan
Published: March 2023

Governmental attention towards the high-quality development of the Yellow River basin has brought new development opportunities for the hotel industry. This study aims to reveal the spatial-temporal evolution patterns and influencing factors of hotels in the Yellow River Basin from 2012 to 2022, based on economic, social, and physical geographic data of 190,000 hotels in the Yellow River flowing. With the help of a GIS technology system, the spatial-temporal evolution patterns of all hotels, star hotels, and ordinary hotels were explored, respectively. Then, the significant influencing factors of these patterns were revealed by using geographic detector and Person correlation analysis. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) the overall scale of the hotel industry in the Yellow River Basin expanded year by year, achieving rapid growth from 2016, and fluctuating around 2020 due to the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic; the overall spatial distribution had significant regional differences, showing the structural characteristics of “southeast more, northwest less”; (2) there was a great difference in the degree of spatial autocorrelation agglomeration among prefecture-level cities, and the degree of agglomeration of both the hotel industry as a whole and general hotels decreased year by year, showing a random distribution in 2022; star hotels were always distributed randomly. Additionally, a strong synergistic correlation was shown between the number of ordinary hotels and the number of star hotels in local space; (3) overall, the development of the hotel industry was significantly affected by seven factors: structural force, macro force, ecological force, internal power, consumption power, intermediary power, and external power. There were differences in the forces acting on different types of hotels, which gives a pattern recognition in-depth.
Pathways to Greening Border Cities: A Policy Analysis for Green Infrastructure in Ambos Nogales
Authors: Schwartz Patricia , Zuniga-Teran Adriana A. , Lara-Valencia Francisco , García-Pérez Hilda , Díaz Montemayor Gabriel , Gil Anaya Claudia , Marruffo Joaquin , Rodriguez Ponce Oscar A. , Holtzman Zoe
Published: March 2023

Green infrastructure (GI) has been proposed as a decentralized solution to complex urban water management issues. However, public policy remains a critical challenge for the wide adoption of GI, which is exacerbated in transboundary settings. We draw from public policy theory to analyze GI policies at the US–Mexico border. We examine the case of Ambos Nogales—two sister cities grappling with complex water management challenges. We examined existing policies and evaluated their impact on the implementation of GI at multiple levels (local, state, national, and binational). We also conducted interviews and a focus group with stakeholders. Our analysis unveils a set of barriers to the adoption of GI and a suite of opportunities for the enactment of GI policies. We outline five pathways for greening border cities, including (i) creating market-based GI incentives, (ii) adopting the net-zero urban water approach, (iii) engaging with existing institutions for greening efforts, (iv) planning for a GI network at the watershed scale, and (v) supporting local champions. By addressing shortcomings of policy and regulatory frameworks hindering local capacity, border cities will be more likely to adopt and widely implement GI solutions for more sustainable urban water management.
Enhanced Tyre Pressure Monitoring System for Nitrogen Filled Tyres Using Deep Learning
Authors: Muturatnam Arun Balaji , Sridharan Naveen Venkatesh , Sreelatha Anoop Prabhakaranpillai , Vaithiyanathan Sugumaran
Published: March 2023

Tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are electronic devices that monitor tyre pressure in vehicles. Existing systems rely on wheel speed sensors or pressure sensors. They rely on batteries and radio transmitters, which add to the expense and complexity. There are two types of basic tyres: non-pneumatic and pneumatic tyres. Non-pneumatic tyres lack air and combine the tyre and wheel into a single unit. When it comes to noise reduction, durability, and shock absorption, pneumatic tyres are more valuable than non-pneumatic tyres. In this study, nitrogen-filled pneumatic tyres were considered due to the uniform pressure management property. Additionally, nitrogen has less of an effect on thermal expansion than regular air-filled tyres. This work aimed to offer a deep learning approach for TPMS. An accelerometer captured vertical vibrations from a moving vehicle’s wheel hub, which were then converted in the form of vibration plots and categorized using pretrained networks. The most popular pretrained networks such as AlexNet, GoogLeNet, ResNet-50 and VGG-16 were employed in this study. From these pretrained networks, the best-performing pretrained network was determined and suggested for TPMS by varying the hyperparameters such as learning rate (LR), batch size (BS), train-test split ratio (TR), and solver (SR). Findings: A higher classification accuracy of 97.20% was obtained while using ResNet-50.
Integrated Optimization Model for Maintenance Policies and Quality Control Parameters for Multi-Component System
Authors: Nasr Mustafa M. , Naji Fadia , Amrani Mokhtar , Ghaleb Mageed , Alqahtani Khaled N. , Othman Asem Majed , Abualsauod Emad Hashiem
Published: March 2023

The practical applications of integrated maintenance policies and quality for a multi-component system are more complicated, still rare, and incomplete to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0. Therefore, this work aims to extend the integration economic model for optimizing maintenance policies and quality control parameters by incorporating the Taguchi loss function for a multi-component system. An optimization model is developed based on preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance policies, and quality control parameters with the CUSUM (Cumulative Sum) chart, which is widely used for detecting small shifts in the process mean. The model was developed to minimize the expected total cost per unit of time and to obtain the optimal values of decision variables: the size of samples, sample frequency, decision interval, coefficient of the CUSUM chart, and preventive and corrective maintenance intervals. The solution steps were employed by selecting a case study in the Alahlia Mineral Water Company (AMWC). Then, the design of experiments based on one-factor-at-a-time was used to evaluate the effect of selected decision variables on the expected total cost. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed on the selected decision variables to demonstrate the robustness of the developed model. A predictive maintenance plan was developed based on the optimal value of preventive maintenance interval, and the results showed that the performance of the maintenance plan realizes the full potential of the integrated model. In addition, the case study results indicate that the extended integrated model for multicomponent is the new standard for the quality production of multi-component systems in future works.
Optimization Method of Speed Ratio for Power-Shift Transmission of Agricultural Tractor
Authors: Li Baogang , Pan Jinbo , Li Yuhuan , Ni Kun , Huang Wanyou , Jiang Hanjun , Liu Fuhao
Published: March 2023

The speed ratio parameters of transmission are crucial factors that affect a vehicle’s power, economy, and comfort. Due to the complex working conditions, multiple working modes, and wide range of speed ratios of agricultural tractors, designing and optimizing speed ratio parameters in power-shift transmissions is a challenging task. This paper proposes a transmission speed ratio optimization method based on the life cycle speed utilization rate of general-purpose agricultural tractors. The speed ratio parameters are optimized and solved using the genetic algorithm, with multi-gear power-shift transmissions in agricultural tractors as the research subject. The optimization results and simulation analysis show that the optimized speed ratio has more and denser gears in the common operating speed range while ensuring the general-purpose agricultural tractors’ use requirements. Compared to commonly used geometric series speed ratios, tractors using the optimized speed ratio parameters in this paper can significantly improve fuel economy. Most importantly, this provides a practical method reference for optimizing speed ratios in multi-gear gearboxes with complex structures.
Effect of Coated Composite Micro–Texture Tool on Cutting Shape and Cutting Force during Aluminum Alloy Cutting
Authors: Li Qinghua , Ma Chunlu , Xie Lintao , Wang Baizhong , Zhang Shihong
Published: March 2023

Aluminum alloy materials are very difficult to break in the processing process; chip accumulation leads to poor processing stability. In this paper, a coated composite micro–textured tool is presented. The influence of coated composite micro–textured tool on chip shape and cutting force under the same cutting parameters is studied. Firstly, the combination of cutting force and cutting temperature is optimized based on cutting test. Secondly, combined with the finite element simulation technology, three kinds of composite micro–texture tools are tested to determine the same cutting parameters, tools and workpiece materials, and optimize the composite micro–texture combination from the angle of chip shape, cutting temperature and cutting force. Finally, on the basis of optimizing the microstructure combination, the optimization of the cutting performance of aluminum alloy by coating material is studied. It was found that the chip was more easily broken in the composite microstructure when two tools were used. The cutting force decreased by 25% and the cutting temperature decreased by 9.09% compared with the non–micro–texture tools. The cutting temperature and cutting force decreased by 3% and 4.99% compared with those of uncoated composite microstructure.
A Wearable Upper Limb Exoskeleton for Intuitive Teleoperation of Anthropomorphic Manipulators
Authors: Zhao Liang , Yang Tie , Yang Yang , Yu Peng
Published: March 2023

Teleoperation technology combines the strength and accuracy of robots with the perception and cognition abilities of human experts, allowing the robots to work as an avatar of the operator in dangerous environments. The motion compatibility and intuitiveness of the human–machine interface directly affect the quality of teleoperation. However, many motion capture methods require special working environments or need bulky mechanisms. In this research, we proposed a wearable, lightweight, and passive upper limb exoskeleton, which takes intuitiveness and human-machine compatibility as a major concern. The upper limb pose estimation and teleoperation mapping control methods based on the exoskeleton are also discussed. Experimental results showed that by the help of the upper limb exoskeleton, people can achieve most areas of the normal range of motion. The proposed mapping control methods were verified on a 14-DOF anthropomorphic manipulator and showed good performance in teleoperation tasks.
Attention and Pixel Matching in RGB-T Object Tracking
Authors: Li Da , Zhang Yao , Chen Min , Chai Haoxiang
Published: March 2023

Visual object tracking using visible light images and thermal infrared images, named RGB-T tracking, has recently attracted increasing attention in the tracking community. Deep neural network-based methods becoming the most popular RGB-T trackers, still have to balance the robustness and the speed of calculation. A novel tracker with Siamese architecture is proposed to obtain the accurate object location and meet the real-time requirements. Firstly, a multi-modal weight penalty module is designed to assign different weights to the RGB and thermal infrared features. Secondly, a new pixel matching module is proposed to calculate the similarity between each pixel on the search and the template features, which can avoid bringing excessive background information versus the regular cross-correlation operation. Finally, an improved anchor-free bounding box prediction network is put forward to further reduce the interference of the background information. The experimental results on the standard RGB-T tracking benchmark datasets show that the proposed method achieves better precision and success rate with a speed of over 34 frames per second which satisfies the real-time tracking.
Heat and Mass Transfer Analysis for the Viscous Fluid Flow: Dual Approximate Solutions
Authors: Ene Remus-Daniel , Pop Nicolina , Badarau Rodica
Published: March 2023

The aim of this paper is to investigate effective and accurate dual analytic approximate solutions, while taking into account thermal effects. The heat and mass transfer problem in a viscous fluid flow are analytically explored by using the modified Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM). By using similarity transformations, the motion equations are reduced to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Based on the numerical results, it was revealed that there are dual analytic approximate solutions within the mass transfer problem. The variation of the physical parameters (the Prandtl number and the temperature distribution parameter) over the temperature profile is analytically explored and graphically depicted for the first approximate and the corresponding dual solution, respectively. The advantage of the proposed method arises from using only one iteration for obtaining the dual analytical solutions. The presented results are effective, accurate and in good agreement with the corresponding numerical results with relevance for further engineering applications of heat and mass transfer problems.
Meta-Learning for Zero-Shot Remote Sensing Image Super-Resolution
Authors: Cha Zhangzhao , Xu Dongmei , Tang Yi , Jiang Zuo
Published: March 2023

Zero-shot super-resolution (ZSSR) has generated a lot of interest due to its flexibility in various applications. However, the computational demands of ZSSR make it ineffective when dealing with large-scale low-resolution image sets. To address this issue, we propose a novel meta-learning model. We treat the set of low-resolution images as a collection of ZSSR tasks and learn meta-knowledge about ZSSR by leveraging these tasks. This approach reduces the computational burden of super-resolution for large-scale low-resolution images. Additionally, through multiple ZSSR task learning, we uncover a general super-resolution model that enhances the generalization capacity of ZSSR. Finally, using the learned meta-knowledge, our model achieves impressive results with just a few gradient updates when given a novel task. We evaluate our method using two remote sensing datasets with varying spatial resolutions. Our experimental results demonstrate that using multiple ZSSR tasks yields better outcomes than a single task, and our method outperforms other state-of-the-art super-resolution methods.
Low-Light Image Enhancement by Combining Transformer and Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Yuan Nianzeng , Zhao Xingyun , Sun Bangyong , Han Wenjia , Tan Jiahai , Duan Tao , Gao Xiaomei
Published: March 2023

Within low-light imaging environment, the insufficient reflected light from objects often results in unsatisfactory images with degradations of low contrast, noise artifacts, or color distortion. The captured low-light images usually lead to poor visual perception quality for color deficient or normal observers. To address the above problems, we propose an end-to-end low-light image enhancement network by combining transformer and CNN (convolutional neural network) to restore the normal light images. Specifically, the proposed enhancement network is designed into a U-shape structure with several functional fusion blocks. Each fusion block includes a transformer stem and a CNN stem, and those two stems collaborate to accurately extract the local and global features. In this way, the transformer stem is responsible for efficiently learning global semantic information and capturing long-term dependencies, while the CNN stem is good at learning local features and focusing on detailed features. Thus, the proposed enhancement network can accurately capture the comprehensive semantic information of low-light images, which significantly contribute to recover normal light images. The proposed method is compared with the current popular algorithms quantitatively and qualitatively. Subjectively, our method significantly improves the image brightness, suppresses the image noise, and maintains the texture details and color information. For objective metrics such as peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity (SSIM), image perceptual similarity (LPIPS), DeltaE, and NIQE, our method improves the optimal values by 1.73 dB, 0.05, 0.043, 0.7939, and 0.6906, respectively, compared with other methods. The experimental results show that our proposed method can effectively solve the problems of underexposure, noise interference, and color inconsistency in micro-optical images, and has certain application value.
Pseurotin A Validation as a Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Recurrence-Suppressing Lead via PCSK9-LDLR Axis Modulation
Authors: Abdelwahed Khaldoun S. , Siddique Abu Bakar , Ebrahim Hassan Y. , Qusa Mohammed H. , Mudhish Ethar A. , Rad Ashkan H. , Zerfaoui Mourad , Abd Elmageed Zakaria Y. , El Sayed Khalid A.
Published: March 2023

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) cells can de novo biosynthesize their own cholesterol and overexpress proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9). PCSK9 proved to contribute to mCRPC cell motility since PCSK9 knockdown (KD) in mCRPC CWR-R1ca cells led to notable reductions in cell migration and colony formation. Human tissue microarray results proved a higher immunohistoscore in patients ≥ 65 years old, and PCSK9 proved to be expressed higher at an early Gleason score of ≤7. The fermentation product pseurotin A (PS) suppressed PCSK9 expression, protein–protein interactions with LDLR, and breast and prostate cancer recurrences. PS suppressed migration and colony formation of the CWR-R1ca cells. The progression and metastasis of the CWR-R1ca-Luc cells subcutaneously (sc) xenografted into male nude mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD, 11% fat content) showed nearly 2-fold tumor volume, metastasis, serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and PCSK9 levels versus mice fed a regular chow diet. Daily oral PS 10 mg/kg treatments prevented the locoregional and distant tumor recurrence of CWR-R1ca-Luc engrafted into nude mice after primary tumor surgical excision. PS-treated mice showed a significant reduction in serum cholesterol, LDL-C, PCSK9, and PSA levels. These results comprehensively validate PS as an mCRPC recurrence-suppressive lead by modulating the PCSK9-LDLR axis.
Guided Endodontic Surgery: A Narrative Review
Authors: Iqbal Azhar , Sharari Thani Al , Khattak Osama , Chaudhry Farooq Ahmad , Bader Alzarea K. , Saleem Muhammad Mudassar , Issrani Rakhi , Almaktoom Ibrahem T. , Albalawi Raghad Fayez H. , Alserhani Ebtehal Dhyab M.
Published: March 2023

Background and objectives: Endodontic surgery has evolved over the last two decades. The use of state-of-the-art guided endodontic surgical procedures produces a predictable outcome in the healing of lesions of endodontic origin. The main objective of this review paper is to define and characterize guided surgical endodontics as well as its benefits and drawbacks by reviewing the most recent relevant scientific literature. Methods: A literature search was conducted using multiple databases comprising of MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, and Web of Science. The terms used for the search were ‘guided endodontics’, ‘surgical endodontics’, and ‘endodontic microsurgery’. Results: In total, 1152 articles were obtained from the analysis of the databases. Unrelated articles from the available full text of 388 articles were excluded. A total of 45 studies were finally included in the review. Conclusions: Surgical-guided endodontics is a relatively new area of study that is still maturing. It has many applications such as root canal access and localization, microsurgical endodontics, endodontic retreatment, and glass fiber post removal. Additionally, it does not matter how experienced the operator is; the procedure can be completed for the patient in less time and provides greater accuracy and safety than conventional endodontics.
Relationship between Chinese Herbal Medicine Use and Risk of Sjögren’s Syndrome in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Retrospective, Population-Based, Nested Case-Control Study
Authors: Liao Hou-Hsun , Livneh Hanoch , Lin Miao-Chiu , Lu Ming-Chi , Lai Ning-Sheng , Yen Hung-Rong , Tsai Tzung-Yi
Published: March 2023

Background and Objectives: Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS) is a common extra-articular feature among subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to treat symptoms of RA for many years, few studies have examined its efficacy in guarding against the SS onset. This study aimed to compare risk of SS for RA patients with and without use of CHM. Materials and Methods: Data obtained for this nested case-control study were retrieved from Taiwanese nationwide insurance database from 2000–2013. Cases with SS claims were defined and matched to two randomly selected controls without SS from the recruited RA cohorts. Risk of SS in relation to CHM use was estimated by fitting multiple conditional logistic regression. Results: Patients aged between 20 and 80 years were included and 916 patients with incident SS were matched to 1832 non-SS controls by age, sex and index year. Among them, 28.1% and 48.4% cases ever received CHM therapy, respectively. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, CHM use was found to be related to a lower risk of SS among them (adjusted odds ratio = 0.40, 95% confidence interval: 0.34–0.47). A dose-dependent, reverse association, was further detected between the cumulative duration of CHM use and SS risk. Those receiving CHM therapy for more than 730 days showed a significantly reduced risk of SS by 83%. Conclusions: Findings of this study indicated that the add-on CHM formula, as part of RA care, may be a beneficial treatment for prevention against the incident SS.