bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of conventional, doppler and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in differential diagnosis of ovarian masses: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Xun Lizhang , Zhai Lamei , Xu Hui
Published: December 2021

Objectives

To assess the value of conventional, Doppler and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) (conventional ultrasonography (US), Doppler US and CEUS) for diagnosing ovarian cancer.

Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources

PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library were conducted for studies published until October 2021.

Eligibility criteria

Studies assessed the diagnostic value of conventional US, Doppler US or CEUS for detecting ovarian cancer, with no restrictions placed on published language and status.

Data extraction and synthesis

The study selection and data extraction were performed by two independent authors. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio (PLR and NLR), diagnostic OR (DOR) and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were pooled using the bivariate generalised linear mixed model and random effects model.

Results

The meta-analysis included 72 studies and involved 9296 women who presented with ovarian masses. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR and AUC for conventional US were 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87 to 0.94) and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.82 to 0.91), 6.87 (95% CI: 4.98 to 9.49) and 0.10 (95% CI: 0.07 to 0.15), 57.52 (95% CI: 36.64 to 90.28) and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93 to 0.97), respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR and AUC for Doppler US were 0.93 (95% CI: 0.91 to 0.95) and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.80 to 0.89), 6.10 (95% CI: 4.59 to 8.11) and 0.08 (95% CI: 0.06 to 0.11), 61.76 (95% CI: 39.99 to 95.37) and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.94 to 0.97), respectively. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR and AUC for CEUS were 0.97 (95% CI: 0.92 to 0.99) and 0.92 (95% CI: 0.85 to 0.95), 11.47 (95% CI: 6.52 to 20.17) and 0.03 (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.09), 152.11 (95% CI: 77.77 to 297.51) and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.97 to 0.99), respectively. Moreover, the AUC values for conventional US (p=0.002) and Doppler US (p=0.005) were inferior to those of CEUS.

Conclusions

Conventional US, Doppler US and CEUS have a relatively high differential diagnostic value for differentiating between benign and malignant ovarian masses. The diagnostic performance of CEUS was superior to that of conventional US and Doppler US.
Estimating the burden of hypertension and its significant risk factors among male commercial drivers in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Ackah Martin , Ameyaw Louise , Salifu Mohammed Gazali , Yeboah Cynthia Osei
Published: December 2021

Objective

The study was designed to assess the burden and significant risk factors among male commercial drivers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources

Medline via PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane databases andAfrica Journal Onlinewere searched from January 2010 to December 2020.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies

The authors included observational studies reporting on the burden and/or risk factors for hypertension among commercial drivers in SSA. Male adult population ≥18 years working as a commercial driver in SSA as well articles published in English.

Data extraction and synthesis

Two independent coauthors used a prepared data extraction form to extract data from the eligible published papers and assessed the risk of bias. DerSimonian and Laird random effects model was used to pool the burden of hypertension and significant risk factors among male commercial drivers in SSA. The presence of heterogeneity among studies was quantified by estimating variance using both Cochrane’s Q statistics and the I2statistics. A subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed.

Results

Overall, 14 articles met the inclusion criteria involving a total of 4285 male commercial drivers in SSA. The estimated pooled burden of hypertension among the male commercial drivers in SSA was 32% (95% CI 24% to 39%). The risk factors identified were age OR=1.10 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.15), overweight/obese OR=3.38 (95% CI 2.46 to 4.29), alcohol consumption OR=3.00 (95% CI 2.05 to 3.95) and duration of driving (≥5 years) OR=1.83 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.63). Funnel plot inspection and Egger’s regression test of small effect (0.5838) showed no evidence of publication bias.

Conclusions

Our review showed that nearly one-third of male commercial drivers in SSA have hypertension. Reduction of modifiable risk factors such as overweight/obesity, alcohol consumption and long-term driving through multifaceted implementation strategies are recommended for prevention and control of hypertension among male commercial drivers in SSA.

Trial registration number

CRD42021250910.
Development of the Prevent for Work Questionnaire (P4Wq) for the assessment of musculoskeletal risk factors in the workplace: part 2—pilot study for questionnaire development and validation
Authors: Langella Francesco , Vanni Daniele , Høgh Morten , Palsson Thorvaldur Skuli , Christensen Steffan Wittrup McPhee , Bellosta-López Pablo , Villafañe Jorge Hugo , Jensen Palle Schlott , Silva Priscila de Brito , Herrero Pablo , Barletta Paolo , Domenéch-García Victor , Berjano Pedro
Published: December 2021

Objective

The aim of this study was to develop a multifactorial, self-report questionnaire: Prevent for Work Questionnaire (P4Wq). The questionnaire is intended for screening for risk factors in work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs).

Design

Data were collected from otherwise healthy workers employed in three service areas at a specialist hospital in Italy: healthcare, administration and ancillary services.

Setting and participants

In all, 115 participants were enrolled (67% women; average age 41.5±9.94 years). The content of the tool for WMSDs was derived from three participation rounds of analysis involving a select group of experts who identified the questionnaire domains and items. Participants responded to 89 items in addition to the EuroQol 5 Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L), Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABq) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). The proportion of missing data and the distribution of responses were analysed for each item. Items with a discrimination index >0.40 and an interitem correlation <0.80 were retained. Factor analysis was performed using the VARIMAX rotation method, factor extraction, and identification, assignment of items to subscales, and assignment of scores to items. Internal consistency, reliability, construct validity and face validity were also assessed.

Results

A total of 52 items were included in the factor analysis and four subscales identified: Physical Stress Subscore (six items); Mental Stress Subscore (six items); Job Satisfaction Subscore (four items) and Kinesiophobia/Catastrophizing Subscore (four items). The items in the final questionnaire version had a factor loading >0.7. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.81–0.91), reliability (weighted kappa coefficient 0.617–1.00), good construct validity (EQ-5D-5L, r=−0.549, p<0.001; ODI, r=0.549, p<0.001; FABq work, r=0.688, p<0.001) and satisfactory face validity (universal validity index 96.04%).

Conclusion

The P4Wq is a 20-item, multifactorial self-report risk assessment questionnaire. It may provide a useful tool for screening for WMSDs by specifically addressing back disorders. It investigates risks for individual workers and may inform educational programmes and preventive strategies tailored to a worker’s needs.

Trial registration number

NCT04192604
Shifts in preference for Natural American Spirit and associated belief that one’s own cigarette brand might be less harmful than other brands: results from Waves 1–4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study (2013–2018)
Authors: Pearson Jennifer , Ganz Ollie , Ohman-Strickland Pamela , Wackowski Olivia A
Published: December 2021

Introduction

People believe that cigarettes using ‘organic,’ ‘additive-free’ or similar descriptors are less harmful than other cigarettes. Natural American Spirit (NAS) is the most popular US cigarette brand using these descriptors. This cohort study describes changes in US smokers’ odds of preferring NAS and changes in NAS smokers’ odds of believing their brand might be less harmful than other brands.

Methods

Data come from four waves (2013–2018) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. Generalised estimating equations produced population-averaged estimates of relationships between (1) NAS brand preference and wave and (2) belief that one’s own brand might be less harmful than other brands, wave and NAS brand preference. Models tested interactions by age group and sexual minority status.

Results

The odds that smokers preferred NAS increased by 60% in W4 relative to W1. Disproportionate preference by younger adult and sexual minority smokers was observed. The odds that NAS smokers believed their own brand might be less harmful decreased by 50% between W1 and W4, but this perception was still 16 times higher for NAS compared with non-NAS smokers. Given the increasing preference for NAS, there was no significant change in the absolute number of NAS smokers who believed their own brand might be less harmful (W1: 562 122 (95% CI 435 190 to 689 055) vs W4: 580 378 (95% CI 441 069 to 719 689)).

Conclusions

Both brand popularity and concentration of brand-related harm perceptions are important for understanding population impact of changes in cigarette marketing.
Charged BTZ black holes cannot be destroyed via the new version of the gedanken experiment
Authors: Wang Xin-Yang , Jiang Jie
Published: December 2021

The singularity at the center of charged Bañados–Teitelboim–Zanelli (BTZ) black holes is called a conical singularity. Unlike the canonical singularity in typical black holes, a conical singularity does not destroy the causality of spacetime. Due to the special property of the conical singularity, we examine the weak cosmic censorship conjecture (WCCC) using the new version of the gedanken experiment proposed by Sorce and Wald. A perturbation process wherein the spherically symmetric matter fields pass through the event horizon and fall into the black holes is considered. Assuming that the cosmological constant is obtained by the matter fields, it therefore can be seen as a dynamical variable during the process. From this perspective, according to the stability condition and the null energy condition, the first- and second-order perturbation inequalities are derived. Based on the first-order optimal condition and the second-order perturbation inequality, we show that the nearly extremal charged BTZ black hole cannot be destroyed in the above perturbation process. The result also implies that even if the singularity at the center of the black hole is conical, it still should be surrounded by the event horizon and hidden inside the black hole.
On the dynamics of the torus around the kicked black hole
Authors: Donmez O. , Al-Kandari Anwar , Seedou Ahlam Abu
Published: December 2021

There is a special interest to understand the dynamical properties of the accretion disk created around the newly formed black hole due to the supermassive black hole binaries which merge inside the gaseous disk. The newly formed black hole would have a kick velocity up to thousands of km/s that drives a perturbation on a newly accreted torus around the black hole. Some of the observed supermassive black holes at the center of the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) move with a certain velocity relative to its broader accretion disk. In this paper, the effects of the kicked black holes onto the infinitesimally thin accreted torus are studied by using the general relativistic hydrodynamical code, focusing on changing the dynamics of the accretion disk during the accretion disk–black hole interaction. We have found that the non-axisymmetric global mode [Formula: see text] inhomogeneity, which causes a spiral-wave-structure, is excited on the torus due to kicked black hole. The higher the perturbation velocity produced by the kicked black hole, the longer the time the torus takes to reach the saturation point. The created spiral density waves which rapidly evolve into the spiral shocks are also observed from the numerical simulations. The spiral shock is responsible for accreting matter toward the black hole. First, the spiral-wave-structure is developed and the accretion through the spiral arms is stopped around the black hole. At the later time of simulation, the formed spiral shocks partly cause the angular momentum loss across the torus.
China’s Soft Power in Pakistan: The Representation of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor in Local Newspapers
Authors: AHMED Zahid Shahab , HANIF Ahsan , HE Baogang
Published: December 2021

This article conducts a case study of China’s influence on Pakistan by collecting and analysing news coverage from two prominent English and Urdu newspapers in Pakistan for a five-year period between 2013 and 2018. It compares the changes in newspaper reporting before and after the launch of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015. Analysis has shown a significant increase in positive reporting on the CPEC and China. The case of Pakistan is representative of its recognition of China’s soft power in a developing country, thus offering a new perspective on China’s goodwill vis-à-vis the Belt and Road Initiative.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Process
Authors: GUO Yanjun
Published: December 2021

As the first large-scale free trade arrangement in the Asia-Pacific region, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will play an important role in economic and trade cooperation, and regional governance in the region. Since the signing on 15 November 2020, RCEP has encountered internal and external risks and challenges. Effectively avoiding risks and coping with challenges are important for RCEP to play its due role. To China, RCEP presents a new opportunity and platform to expand its opening up.
Streamlining Non-tariff Measures for Agri-food Trade in ASEAN
Authors: SUVANNAPHAKDY Sithanonxay
Published: December 2021

Streamlining non-tariff measures (NTMs) plays an important role in improving market access for trade in goods among ASEAN-10 countries. An assessment of the impact of NTMs in ASEAN reveals that the agri-food trade has been constrained by contingent trade protective measures, quantity-control measures, technical barriers to trade (TBT), and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The proliferation of SPS and TBT measures, coupled with their severe effects, suggests the need to accelerate NTM reforms in ASEAN.
Japan–Indonesia Economic Cooperation: An Overview
Authors: SENIWATI  , RANTI Munif Arif , GUNTUR Oktaviano Nandito , BADIU Ibnu Aly
Published: December 2021

This article aims to deepen our knowledge of Japan’s foreign policy in the Southeast Asian region and its role in Indonesia’s economic development, focusing on their economic cooperation via the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) and Manufacturing Industry Development Centre (MIDEC) programme. The former has promoted cooperation via a tariff reduction scheme, while the latter facilitates the Indonesian government’s aid to micro, small and medium enterprises in the entrepreneurial sector.
The World of Uncertainty: Is America Losing Its Leverage Towards a Looming New China–Russia Alliance?
Authors: KOZYREV Vitaly
Published: December 2021

The recent deterioration of US–China and US–Russia relations has stumbled the formation of a better world order in the 21st century. Washington’s concerns of the “great power realignment”, as well as its Manichean battle against China’s and Russia’s “illiberal regimes” have resulted in the activated alliance-building efforts between Beijing and Moscow, prompting the Biden administration to consider some wedging strategies. Despite their coordinated preparation to deter the US power, the Chinese and Russian leaderships seek to avert a conflict with Washington by diplomatic means, and the characteristic of their partnership is still leaving a “window of opportunity” for the United States to lever against the establishment of a formal Sino–Russian alliance.
An Approach Based on Multilevel Convolution for Sentence‐Level Element Extraction of Legal Text
Authors: Chen Zhe , Zhang Hongli , Ye Lin , Li Shang
Published: December 2021

In the judicial field, with the increase of legal text data, the extraction of legal text elements plays a more and more important role. In this paper, we propose a sentence‐level model of legal text element extraction based on the structure of multilabel text classification. Our proposed model contains an encoder and an improved decoder. The encoder applies multilevel convolutional neural networks (CNN) and Long Short‐Term Memory (LSTM) as feature extraction networks to extract local neighborhood and context information from legal text, and a decoder applies LSTM with multiattention and full connection layer with an improved initialization method to decode and generate label sequences. To our best knowledge, it is one of the first attempts to apply a multilabel classification algorithm for element extraction of legal text. In order to verify the effectiveness of our model, we conduct experiments not only on three real legal text datasets but also on a general multilabel text classification dataset.The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed model outperforms baseline models on legal text datasets, and our model is competitive to baseline models on the general text multilabel classification dataset, which indicates that our proposed model is useful for multilabel classification tasks of ordinary texts and legal texts with an uncertain number of characters in words and short lengths.
Sports Parameter Acquisition Based on Internet of Things and Wavelet Analysis
Authors: Chen Hengming , Li Junyong
Published: December 2021

In this study, a sports parameter acquisition model based on the internet of things and wavelet analysis is studied to improve the accuracy and timeliness of human sports parameter acquisition. A motion parameter acquisition model including a sensing layer, transmission layer, and application layer is designed. The acceleration sensor and temperature sensor in the information acquisition node in the sensing layer are used to collect the motion parameter data, which are uploaded to the application layer by the network in the transmission layer. The received data are denoised by the wavelet analysis method through the data processing unit in this layer and then sent to the ZigBee coordinator for coordination. The results show that the model can achieve the effective acquisition of different sports parameters of different moving objects and analyze the actual movement of moving objects according to the acquisition results. In the acquisition process, the signal burr can be effectively removed, the signal noise can be reduced, the high signal-to-noise ratio signal can be output, and the accuracy of acquisition is improved. It has high timeliness, stable performance, and strong practical application, which can provide an effective guarantee for users to monitor sports parameter data in real time.
Determination and Application of Maximum Efficiency Curve of Crawler Electric Tractor Motors
Authors: Liu Jing , Xia Changgao , Jiang Donglin , Shang Gaogao , Han Jiangyi , Sun Yan
Published: December 2021

With the excessive use of fossil fuels such as oil, the energy crisis and environmental pollution have become important problems related to people’s livelihoods. In agriculture, as a new type of green agricultural machinery, the electric tractor has the advantages of high energy utilization and no exhaust emission. The motor is the core component of an electric tractor’s drive system. Its characteristics and control directly affect a tractor’s operating efficiency, operating quality, and energy consumption. A motor drive control scheme based on a characteristic curve at the maximum efficiency of an electric motor was adopted to address the problems of low motor power utilization and short continuous operation time on a full charge in electric tractors. By leveraging methods to obtain characteristic curves at the lowest fuel consumption for gasoline engines, we determined the characteristic curve at the maximum efficiency for a motor in a crawler-type electric tractor. Plowing is the most basic form of tractor operation, and it represents the agricultural work that accounts for most of a tractor’s use. A field test was conducted on the drive control in plowing operation based on the curve, and the energy consumed to plow each m2, continuous plowing operation time on a full charge, and operating efficiency were tested. The test results showed plowing power consumption per m2 of about 8.40 × 10−3 kWh and work efficiency of 707.07 m2/h. Compared with the traditional tractor, the cost of plowing 1 m2 by the crawler-type electric tractor was reduced by 20.3%–32.5%. Because the control improves operating efficiency, battery energy consumption is reduced and continuous operation time is extended; hence, the control achieves its purpose.
A Hierarchical Structure Control Strategy Based on MPC for a Six-DOF Flexible Joint Manipulator
Authors: Jing Ningbo , Bu Ming , Ni Qi , Pan Hongguang , Qin Xuebin , Ma Xianmin
Published: December 2021

The six-degree-of-freedom flexible joint manipulator is a complex system that suffers from the problem that the trajectory planning results are inconsistent with the control results. To keep the planned trajectory within the control range of the manipulator, a hierarchical structure control strategy is designed, which consists of a trajectory planning layer, a model predictive control layer, and a bottom control layer. Specifically, first, the target joint angles are obtained by a time-optimal trajectory planning algorithm based on a genetic algorithm in the trajectory planning layer. Second, in the model predictive control layer, considering the system physical constraints, the model predictive controller is adopted to provide the set points for the Proportion-Differentiation (PD) controllers. Finally, in the bottom control layer, the manipulator moves along the target trajectory under the PD controllers with the feedback control law. The simulation results show that, compared with the PD control strategy, the hierarchical structure control strategy can achieve better control performance and reduce the tracking error of the terminal trajectory by 33.70%.
A Survey of the Vitamin and Mineral Content in Milk from Yaks Raised at Different Altitudes
Authors: Yang Lin , Yang Chen , Chi Fumin , Gu Xuedong , Zhu Yahui
Published: December 2021

In this study, the content of vitamins and of toxic and beneficial (macro- and micro-) minerals in milk from yaks raised at different altitudes (3,215, 4,340, and 5,410 m) was investigated. For comparison, the components in cow’s milk were also measured. At higher altitudes, a significant (

P
<
0.05

) increase in vitamin A and vitamin E was observed in the yak’s milk, whereas the opposite was observed for vitamin B1 and vitamin B2. No significant statistical difference in vitamin C, Ca, P, Na, K, and Mg concentrations was observed in milk from yaks raised at different altitudes. The concentrations of Zn in milk from yaks raised at different altitudes showed no statistical difference, whereas the Mn and Fe concentrations in milk from yaks raised at 3,215 m were lower than those raised at higher altitudes. The concentrations of Pb and Cd in yak’s milk did not exceed the maximum permissible concentrations (Codex Alimentarius Commission), whereas their concentrations were higher in milk from yaks raised at 3,215 m than at higher altitudes. These findings indicated that the contents of vitamins and minerals in yak milk varied in different altitudes.
The Impact of Different Drying Techniques on the Physicochemical and Quality Characteristics of Oil Palm Fruit Mesocarp (Elaeis guineensis)
Authors: Boadu Vida Gyimah , Essuman Edward Ken , Otoo Gifty Serwaa , Bigson Kate
Published: December 2021

Drying is one of the traditional means of preserving food. However, various drying methods can influence the nutritional and bioactive constituents of the food product. This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of different drying methods on the proximate composition, physicochemical properties, and minor constituents of palm oil fruit mesocarp. Two varieties of fresh oil palm fruit (dura and tenera) were processed to separate the mesocarp from the other part of the fruit. The fresh fruit mesocarp was divided into five groups and subjected to different drying methods. Proximate and physicochemical characteristics of the oil palm fruit mesocarp were determined. The dried mesocarp had low moisture content (1.49-3.28%), high crude fat content (78.10-90.60%), carbohydrate (4.41-15.12%), crude protein (0.93-3.40%), and ash (0.53-1.15%). The free fatty acid (FFA) (1.06-3.54) and acid value (AV) (2.17 to 8.83 mgKOH/g) were lower because the samples were heated at 100°C for 30 min. The lower pH, FFA, AV, titratable acidity, moisture content, and high antioxidant activity of the oil palm fruit products could be an indication of shelf stability against microbial contamination and rancidity.
Analysis and Research on Human Movement in Sports Scene
Authors: Wang Yan , Zhang Yuchen , Shen LinJun , Wang ShuMing
Published: December 2021

As a whole‐body sport, skipping rope plays an increasingly important role in daily life. In rope‐skipping education, due to the lack of professional teachers, the training efficiency of students is low. The rope‐skipping monitoring device is heavy and expensive, and the cost of labor statistics and energy consumption are high. In order to quickly analyze the movement process of students and provide correct guidance, this article implements the movement analysis method of the human body movement process. The problem of limb posture analysis in rope skipping is transformed into a multilabel classification problem, a real‐time human motion analysis method based on mobile vision is proposed, and the algorithm model is verified in the rope‐skipping scene. The experimental results prove that this paper proposes the improved algorithm, which achieved the expected effect. In the analysis of rope‐skipping action, the choice of hyperparameters during the experiment is introduced, and it is verified that the proposed ALSTM‐LSTM can solve the problem of multilabel classification in the rope‐skipping process. The accuracy rate reaches 95.1%, and it can provide the best in all indicators and good performance. It is of great significance for movement analysis and movement quality evaluation during exercise.
[Retracted] Application of Multiobjective Particle Swarm Optimization in Rural Credit System
Authors: Xue Wuxia
Published: December 2021

In China’s rural credit system, the problem of credit constraints is prominent. Due to the imperfect credit market, a large number of rural residents have credit constraints. Rural credit constraint is a serious problem restricting China’s rural economic development. Aimed at solving the rural credit constraints, this paper makes an optimization analysis on the rural credit system and loan decision‐making. To more reasonably evaluate customers’ borrowing ability, the credit risk based on farmers’ data on the big data platform is evaluated in this paper. The stacked denoising autoencoder network is improved by adopting the deep learning framework to improve the accuracy of credit evaluation. For improving the loan decision‐making ability of rural credit system, a loan optimization strategy based on multiobjective particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed. The simulation results show that the optimization ability, speed, and stability of the proposed algorithm have achieved good results in dealing with the loan portfolio decision‐making problem.
Adsorption of Chromium (VI) by Cu (I)-MOF in Water: Optimization, Kinetics, and Thermodynamics
Authors: Qi Hongxue , Niu Xianjun , Wu Haipeng , Liu Xiuping , Chen Yongqiang
Published: December 2021

To investigate the adsorption behavior of Cu (I)-MOF material for chromium (VI) in water, the parameters of influencing adsorption were optimized and found as follows: the optimal pH was 6 for the adsorption of Cr (VI) by the Cu (I)-MOF, the optimal amount of adsorbent was 0.45 g·L−1, and the adsorption saturation time was within 180 min. Subsequently, the kinetics results were fitted by four models such as pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion models. Among them, the adsorption of chromium (VI) was more inclined to the pseudo-first-order model (Radj2 = 0.9230). Then, the isotherm data were fitted by Langmuir and Freundlich models. The results indicated that Langmuir isotherm was the excellent match model (Radj2 = 0.9827). It belongs to a monolayer adsorption, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 95.92 mg·g−1. Subsequently, the thermodynamic parameters of the adsorption were calculated as follows: enthalpy change (ΔHθ) was −8.583 kJ·mol−1, entropy change (ΔSθ) was −8.243 J·mol−1 K−1, and the Gibbs function change (ΔGθ) was less than zero in the temperature range of 288–328 K, indicating that the reaction was spontaneous. Finally, both the spectra of infrared and XPS supported the adsorption mechanism that belonged the ion exchange. The spectra of XRD and SEM images shown that the structure of Cu (I)-MOF remained stable for at least 3 cycles. In conclusion, Cu (I)-MOF material has a high adsorption capacity, good water stability, low cost, and easy to prepare in large quantities in practical application. It will be a promising adsorbent for the removal of Cr (VI) from water.
Mediating Effect of Motor Competence on the Relationship between Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Li Ru , Liang Xiao , Liu Fang , Zhou Ziwei , Zhang Zhenzhen , Lu Yongshen , Wang Peng , Yang Binrang
Published: December 2021

This study examined the mediating role of motor competence in the association between physical activity (PA) and quality of life (QoL) and the moderating role of age in the indirect relationship between PA and QoL in children with ADHD. Eighty‐six children aged 6‐12 years old (M age = 8.45, SD = 1.40, 17.4% girls) with the diagnosis of ADHD were recruited in this study. Participants wore a wGT3X‐BT accelerometer on their wrist for seven consecutive days to measure PA. Motor competence was measured by the Test of Gross Motor Development‐Third Edition (TGMD‐3). Quality of life (QoL) was assessed by the parent‐reported Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. MVPA was positively associated with object control skills but was not directly related to QoL. Using the bootstrapping method, the indirect effect of object control was found between MVPA and social functioning (0.10, 95%CI = [0.01, 0.21]), school functioning (0.09, 95%CI = [0.01, 0.18]), and overall QoL (0.07, 95%CI = [0.01, 0.16]), supporting the full mediation effect. Moderated mediation analysis further revealed that age strengthened the indirect effect from MVPA to social and school functioning via object control. Findings of this study indicated that MVPA is positively associated with object control skills, which in turn, is related to psychological aspects of QoL in children with ADHD. Age was found to moderate the indirect mediation paths. The findings may inform future expeditions on designing an effective intervention that helps to improve MC and QoL in children with ADHD.
Coheritability and Genetic Advances of Agromorphological and Oil Quality Traits in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Genotypes from Ethiopia
Authors: Yusuf Zekeria , Mohammed Wassu , Zeleke Habtamu , Hussein Shimelis , Arno Hugo
Published: December 2021

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important oils, food, confectionery, and feed crops due to its high oil quality and richness in all classes of nutrients. Coheritability helps in determining the pattern of coinheritance of two or more traits. This study was aimed at determining the coheritability of oil and yield traits to provide means of conducting improvement of oil traits through breeding for yield traits. The coheritabilities of the traits were estimated by a pooled analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for agromorphological and oil traits. The result indicated that all oil traits have shown medium to high coheritability with oil content, oil quality, and seed yield. The coheritability and genetic advance of the three agronomically important traits in oil crops including oil content, oleic to linoleic acid (O/L) ratio, and seed yield (SY) is greater than oil content, linoleic acid, and SY can be further evidence showing that both oil content and oil quality traits can be improved with seed yield, indicating that there is the possibility of making a selection for genotypes with high oil content, oil yield, and oil quality with high seed yield traits.
Acute Nonatherosclerotic Coronary Thromboembolism Presenting with an Inferior STEMI in a Patient on Oral Contraception
Authors: Braiteh Nabil , Chaudhry Raheel , Rehman Ibraheem , Breiteh Jowana , Yarkoni Alon
Published: December 2021

Background. Direct coronary embolism in the setting of oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use is a rare adverse effect. It is known for OCP to increase the risk of thrombosis; however, leading to an inferior ST elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) due to an acute occlusive embolism is a rare entity. Coronary embolism occurs in about 3% of patients with acute coronary syndrome. Case Report. We present a case of a young 41-year-old female with a past medical history significant for dysfunctional uterine bleeding on oral contraceptive pills, who presented to the hospital with chest pain. Her workup was significant for troponin elevation and an electrocardiogram showing inferior ST elevations. The patient was taken emergently to the cardiac catheterization lab. A coronary angiogram revealed a coronary thrombus involving the distal left main and proximal left anterior descending (LAD) with no evidence of atherosclerotic disease. The patient subsequently received anticoagulation therapy leading to complete resolution of symptoms and ST elevations. Conclusion. Coronary embolism is rare and often not considered in the differential of acute coronary syndrome. It is of utmost importance for clinicians to keep a wide differential of nonatherosclerotic causes of STEMI especially when the patient is young, without significant cardiac risk factors.
Trajectory Track for the Landing of Carrier Aircraft with the Forecast on the Aircraft Carrier Deck Motion
Authors: Li Hai-Xu , Gao Fei-Yun , Hu Chu-Jun , An Qiang-Lin , Peng Xiu-Quan , Gong Yan-Ming
Published: December 2021

The paper presents a prediction method of deck lateral-directional motion for the control of landing trajectory of aircraft. Firstly, through the analysis of the process of aircraft returning to the ship, the modeling of the motion has been built. Secondly, in view of the delay of trajectory tracking captured in the actual process of aircraft landing on the ship, the error caused by the carrier motion signal has been analyzed. Based on the simulation results, the recommended prediction time of carrier motion has been proposed.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Innovative Pedagogy and Lecture Method on Students Academic Achievement and Retention in Computer Programming
Authors: Omeh Christian Basil , Olelewe Chijioke Jonathan
Published: December 2021

Education prepares one for the world of work; hence, the adoption of the innovative instructional approach employed in the process of teaching and learning is key to the attainment of this goal. To mitigate students’ poor achievement in computer programming (CP), innovative pedagogy (IP) was adopted to make students become active learners in classroom learning. In this study, a quasi-experimental design was used and nonrandomized the subject with pretest and posttest. Students (N = 145) were nonrandomized to the treatment and control groups. The researchers conducted a repeated measure of analysis of variance to determine the change between the experimental and control groups. Students’ attributes were tested for differences by comparing categorical data with chi-square statistics. The interaction effect was determined using an analysis of covariance. The results revealed that the experimental group’s CP achievement test results outperformed those of the control group at posttest and retention tests. Furthermore, the findings of the study show that there is no significant difference in students’ academic achievement across ability levels and gender. Also, there is no interaction between the pretest and the IP. The study, therefore, recommends that computer educators should adopt innovative teaching practices in their day-to-day teaching since it is more creative, learner-centered, and improved student engagement.
Deep-Learning-Based Survival Prediction of Patients in Coronary Care Units
Authors: Yang Rui , Huang Tao , Wang Zichen , Huang Wei , Feng Aozi , Li Li , Lyu Jun
Published: December 2021

Background. A survival prediction model based on deep learning has higher accuracy than the CPH model in predicting the survival of CCU patients, and it also has a better discrimination ability. We collected information on patients with various diseases in coronary care units (CCUs) from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III) database. The purpose of this study was to use this information to construct a neural-network model based on deep learning to predict the survival probabilities of patients with conditions that are common in CCUs. Method. We collected information on patients in the United States with five common diseases in CCUs from 2001 to 2012. We randomly divided the patients into a training cohort and a testing cohort at a ratio of 7 : 3 and applied a survival prediction method based on deep learning to predict their survival probability. We compared our model with the Cox proportional-hazards regression (CPH) model and used the concordance indexes (C-indexes), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and calibration plots to evaluate the predictive performance of the model. Results. The 3,388 CCU patients included in the study were randomly divided into 2,371 in the training cohort and 1,017 in the testing cohort. The stepwise regression results showed that the important factors affecting patient survival were the type of disease, age, race, anion gap, glucose, neutrophils, white blood cells, potassium, creatine kinase, and blood urea nitrogen (

P
<
0.05

). We used the training cohort to construct a deep-learning model, for which the C-index was 0.833, or about 5% higher than that for the CPH model (0.786). The C-index of the deep-learning model for the test cohort was 0.822, which was also higher than that for the CPH model (0.782). The areas under the ROC curve for the 28-day, 90-day, and 1-year survival probabilities were 0.875, 0.865, and 0.874, respectively, in the deep-learning model, respectively, and 0.830, 0.843, and 0.806 in the CPH model. These values indicate that the survival analysis model based on deep learning is better than the traditional CPH model in predicting the survival of CCU patients. Conclusion. A survival prediction model based on deep learning has higher accuracy than the CPH model in predicting the survival of CCU patients, and it also has a better discrimination ability.
Double‐Fed Wind Power System Adaptive Sensing Control and Condition Monitoring
Authors: Peng Jing , Yang Peng , Liu Zhiqi
Published: December 2021

This paper presents an in‐depth study and analysis of improving the performance of doubly fed wind power systems using adaptive sensing control technology. The maximum wind energy tracking principle is analyzed in this paper with the wind turbine operation characteristics. Considering that the operation state and control strategy of a doubly fed wind power generation system is different before and after grid connection, the no‐load simulation model and power generation simulation model are established based on the idea of separate modeling and time‐sharing work. Combined with the respective control strategies and enabling modules, the overall simulation system is constituted for the continuous process from no‐load operation to power generation operation. To analyze the chaotic mechanism of ferromagnetic resonance of wind farm power system and suppress the problem, based on the ferromagnetic resonance model of wind farm power system, analyze the basic conditions of the system into the chaotic state, consider the resonance phenomenon when external excitation acts, adopt the multiscale method to calculate the approximate solution at the resonance of main parameters and determine the steady‐state solution and stability conditions, and explore the influence of external excitation on the dynamic characteristics of ferromagnetic resonance. In this paper, the inverse system approach, applied to the linearized decoupling of doubly fed wind power, a nonlinear, strongly coupled multivariable system, is derived for the no‐load inverse system model and the inverse system model for the power control scheme and the speed control scheme to achieve maximum wind energy tracking for grid‐connected power generation, respectively. The model further extended to fractional order to study the complex dynamical behavior of the system of different orders and flux chain subsquares. To suppress the system chaotic oscillation phenomenon, a fractional‐order finite‐time terminal sliding mode controller is proposed based on the frequency distribution model with time‐frequency domain conversion, which achieves the suppression of chaotic phenomena in resonant overvoltage infinite time and is compared with the conventional sliding mode to confirm the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed controller. This paper explores and discusses the impact of adaptive sensing control technology on the practice of doubly fed wind power systems, to provide theoretical possibilities for the adaptive sensing control technology to be more effective for the practice of doubly fed wind power systems.
Prediction of Mine Dust Concentration Based on Grey Markov Model
Authors: Xu Zhou , Liwen Guo , Jiuling Zhang , Sijia Qin , Yi Zhu
Published: December 2021

Accurate quantitative analysis and prediction of dust concentration in mines play a vital role in avoiding pneumoconiosis to a certain extent, improving industrial production efficiency, and protecting the ecological environment. The research has far‐reaching significance for the prediction of dust concentration in mines in the future. Aiming at the shortcomings of the grey GM (1, 1) model in forecasting the data sequence with large random fluctuation, a grey Markov chain forecasting model is established. Firstly, considering the timeliness of monitoring data, the new dust concentration data is supplemented by using the method of cubic spline interpolation in the original data sequence. Therefore, the GM (1, 1) model is established by the method of metabolism. Then, the GM (1, 1) model is optimized by the theory of the Markov chain model. According to the relative error range generated during the prediction, the state interval is divided. Subsequently, the corresponding state probability transition matrix is constructed to obtain the grey Markov prediction model. The model was applied to the prediction of mine dust concentration and compared with the prediction results of the BP neural network model, grey prediction model, and ARIMA (1, 2, 1) model. The results showed that the prediction accuracy of the grey Markov model was significantly improved compared with other traditional prediction models. Therefore, the rationality and accuracy of this model in the prediction of mine dust concentration were verified.
Khat Chewing and Lipid Profile in Human and Experimental Animals
Authors: Al-Duais Mohammed A. , Al-Awthan Yahya S.
Published: December 2021

Background. Catha edulis, also known as khat or qat, is a plant that grows in East Africa and southern Arabia. Several millions of people chew the leaves and twigs of khat plant for their central stimulating amphetamine‐like effects. Khat chewing is becoming more common in Europe and the United States, owing to worldwide migration. Objective. This review examines the khat ingredients, global prevalence, and legal status as well as its effects on lipid profile. Methodology. A literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to collect information within articles published up to April 2021 with the goal of identifying relevant studies. The proposed mechanisms of cathinone effects on total cholesterol and triglyceride were also discussed. Conclusion. The khat chewing habit is considered as a serious economic and health issue that needs specialized programs to assist those people to quit or reducing this habit.
A Nanogel with Effective Blood-Brain Barrier Penetration Ability through Passive and Active Dual-Targeting Function
Authors: Liu Jun , Li Meng , Huang Yong , Zhang Li , Li Wei , Cao Peng , Min Weijie , Li Jingyuan , Jing Wei
Published: December 2021

Clinically, surgery assisted by chemotherapy is the most effective treatment of cancer. But from our clinical observation, the median survival of patients with glioblastoma is still not so good with only 15-16 months. The low therapeutic index is mainly due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which significantly hindered the chemotherapeutic drug accumulation in tumor tissue. One main composition of the BBB is astrocyte, which contains a lipophilic cell membrane, which prevents more than 98% of small-molecule drugs from entering the brain. Previously, we found that the nanogel with passive targeting function can increase the BBB penetration ability, which indicates that it could be used to overcome the above mentioned in vivo obstacles which promoted drug accumulation in the tumor. In this study, thermosensitive targeted nanogel delivery systems (DPPC) with cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) are introduced onto the particle surface for active astrocyte breaking. The hydrodynamic radius of DPPC is around 300 nm, the potential is about 0-5 mV, and the TEM and DLS studies further confirm its well spherical morphology and uniform distribution. The DPPC is verified as the biocompatible carriers for further application by cell viability tests. The in vitro-constructed BBB model successfully proves that DPPC can efficiently penetrate the BBB, which is attributed to both the temperature-sensitive passive targeting and the active CPP penetration. Consequently, the intracellular doxorubicin (DOX) promotes such functional DPPC at the relatively high temperature inside tumor microenvironment (TME) (~42°C), which obviously improves intratumor drug accumulation and tumor cell-killing effects. The dual-targeted nanogel delivery systems designed in this study provides a more effective strategy for the treatment of glioma.