bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes in the behavioural determinants of health during the COVID-19 pandemic: gender, socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in five British cohort studies
Authors: Bann David , Villadsen Aase , Maddock Jane , Hughes Alun , Ploubidis George B. , Silverwood Richard , Patalay Praveetha
Published: May 2021

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have far-reaching consequences on population health. We investigated whether these consequences included changes in health-impacting behaviours which are important drivers of health inequalities.

Methods

Using data from five representative British cohorts (born 2000–2002, 1989–1990, 1970, 1958 and 1946), we investigated sleep, physical activity (exercise), diet and alcohol intake (N=14 297). We investigated change in each behaviour (pre/during the May 2020 lockdown), and differences by age/cohort, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic position (childhood social class, education attainment and adult financial difficulties). Logistic regression models were used, accounting for study design and non-response weights, and meta-analysis used to pool and test cohort differences in association.

Results

Change occurred in both directions—shifts from the middle part of the distribution to both declines and increases in sleep, exercise and alcohol use. Older cohorts were less likely to report changes in behaviours while the youngest reported more frequent increases in sleep, exercise, and fruit and vegetable intake, yet lower alcohol consumption. Widening inequalities in sleep during lockdown were more frequent among women, socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and ethnic minorities. For other outcomes, inequalities were largely unchanged, yet ethnic minorities were at higher risk of undertaking less exercise and consuming lower amounts of fruit and vegetables.

Conclusions

Our findings provide new evidence on the multiple changes to behavioural outcomes linked to lockdown, and the differential impacts across generation, gender, socioeconomic circumstances across life, and ethnicity. Lockdown appeared to widen some (but not all) forms of health inequality.
Microstructural plasticity in nociceptive pathways after spinal cord injury
Authors: Kyathanahally Sreenath P , Azzarito Michela , Rosner Jan , Calhoun Vince D , Blaiotta Claudia , Ashburner John , Weiskopf Nikolaus , Wiech Katja , Friston Karl , Ziegler Gabriel , Freund Patrick
Published: May 2021

Objective

To track the interplay between (micro-) structural changes along the trajectories of nociceptive pathways and its relation to the presence and intensity of neuropathic pain (NP) after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods

A quantitative neuroimaging approach employing a multiparametric mapping protocol was used, providing indirect measures of myelination (via contrasts such as magnetisation transfer (MT) saturation, longitudinal relaxation (R1)) and iron content (via effective transverse relaxation rate (R2*)) was used to track microstructural changes within nociceptive pathways. In order to characterise concurrent changes along the entire neuroaxis, a combined brain and spinal cord template embedded in the statistical parametric mapping framework was used. Multivariate source-based morphometry was performed to identify naturally grouped patterns of structural variation between individuals with and without NP after SCI.

Results

In individuals with NP, lower R1 and MT values are evident in the primary motor cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while increases in R2* are evident in the cervical cord, periaqueductal grey (PAG), thalamus and anterior cingulate cortex when compared with pain-free individuals. Lower R1 values in the PAG and greater R2* values in the cervical cord are associated with NP intensity.

Conclusions

The degree of microstructural changes across ascending and descending nociceptive pathways is critically implicated in the maintenance of NP. Tracking maladaptive plasticity unravels the intimate relationships between neurodegenerative and compensatory processes in NP states and may facilitate patient monitoring during therapeutic trials related to pain and neuroregeneration.
Circadian rhythm of ischaemic core progression in human stroke
Authors: Reidler Paul , Brehm Alex , Sporns Peter B. , Burbano Vanessa Granja , Stueckelschweiger Lena , Broocks Gabriel , Liebig Thomas , Psychogios Marios-Nikos , Ricke Jens , Dimitriadis Konstantinos , Dichgans Martin , Kunz Wolfgang G. , Tiedt Steffen
Published: May 2021

Introduction

Experimental stroke studies suggest an influence of the time of day of stroke onset on infarct progression. Whether this holds true after human stroke is unknown, but would have implications for the design of randomised controlled trials, especially those on neuroprotection.

Methods

We pooled data from 583 patients with anterior large-vessel occlusion stroke from three prospectively recruited cohorts. Ischaemic core and penumbra volumes were determined with CT perfusion using automated thresholds. Core growth was calculated as the ratio of core volume and onset-to-imaging time. To determine circadian rhythmicity, we applied multivariable linear and sinusoidal regression analysis adjusting for potential baseline confounders.

Results

Patients with symptom onset at night showed larger ischaemic core volumes on admission compared with patients with onset during the day (median, 40.2 mL vs 33.8 mL), also in adjusted analyses (p=0.008). Sinusoidal analysis indicated a peak of core volumes with onset at 11pm. Core growth was faster at night compared with day onset (adjusted p=0.01), especially for shorter onset-to-imaging times. In contrast, penumbra volumes did not change across the 24-hour cycle.

Discussion

These results suggest that human infarct progression varies across the 24-hour cycle with potential implications for the design and interpretation of neuroprotection trials.
Lacunar stroke: mechanisms and therapeutic implications
Authors: Yaghi Shadi , Raz Eytan , Yang Dixon , Cutting Shawna , Mac Grory Brian , Elkind Mitchell SV , de Havenon Adam
Published: May 2021

Lacunar stroke is a marker of cerebral small vessel disease and accounts for up to 25% of ischaemic stroke. In this narrative review, we provide an overview of potential lacunar stroke mechanisms and discuss therapeutic implications based on the underlying mechanism. For this paper, we reviewed the literature from important studies (randomised trials, exploratory comparative studies and case series) on lacunar stroke patients with a focus on more recent studies highlighting mechanisms and stroke prevention strategies in patients with lacunar stroke. These studies suggest that lacunar stroke is a heterogeneous disease with various mechanisms, including most commonly lipohyalinosis and less commonly atheromatous disease and cardioembolism, highlighting the importance of a careful review of brain and neurovascular imaging, a cardiac and systemic evaluation. A better understanding of pathomechanisms of neurological deterioration may lead to investigating the utility of novel treatment strategies and optimisation of short-term antithrombotic treatment strategies to reduce the risk of neurological deterioration and prevent long-term disability in patients with lacunar stroke.
Serological study of healthcare workers in four different hospitals in Madrid (Spain) with no previous history of COVID-19
Authors: Vázquez Rivas Fabián , Nieto Schwarz Sandra , Villarreal Carreño Jaime , Deschamps Perdomo Ámbar , Villanueva Ghino Patricio , Garrafa Mayra , del Campo M Teresa
Published: May 2021

Objectives

Healthcare workers (HCWs) have been one of the most severely affected groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, though few studies have sought to determine the rate of undiagnosed cases among this population. In this study, we aim to determine the rate of undetected infection in HCWs, a potential source of nosocomial infection.

Methods

Serological screening for IgG and IgM antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was carried out among HCWs from four different hospitals in Madrid, Spain, from 6 April to 25 April 2020; HCWs with a previous diagnosis of infection based on real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR assay performed after presenting compatible symptoms were excluded. Prevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies was calculated among HCWs to obtain the rate of COVID-19 presence of antibodies in each hospital.

Results

Of the 7121 HCWs studied, 6344 (89.09%) had not been previously diagnosed with COVID-19. A total of 5995 HCWs finally participated in the study, resulting in a participation rate of 94.49%. A positive IgM or IgG test against COVID-19 was revealed in 16.21% of the HCWs studied (n=972).

Conclusion

This study reveals the importance of early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs to prevent nosocomial infection and exposure of patients, visitors and workers and the spread of COVID-19 in the overall community.
Associations between workplace characteristics and ‘outness’ in LGBTI workers in Austria
Authors: Markovic Lovro , Schönherr Daniel , Zandonella Martina , Gil-Salmeron Alejandro , Smith Lee , McDermott Daragh , Yang Lin , Dorner Thomas E , Mües Hanna , Grabovac Igor
Published: May 2021

Objectives

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals are often subjected to negative attitudes in the workplace, which may lead to non-disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identities. We aimed to determine the prevalence of workplace disclosure of sexual or gender identity (ie, ‘outness’; being ‘out’) and to examine its associations with workplace characteristics in LGBTI workers in Austria.

Methods

This cross-sectional study analysed sociodemographic, work-related and well-being-related data from self-identifying gender and/or sexual minority participants elicited by an online questionnaire between February and June 2017. From the initial 1268 respondents, 1177 (93%) provided complete data and were included in the subsequent analyses.

Results

The largest proportion of the sample were 26–35 years old (39.1%), cisgender gay men (40.0%) in full-time employment (63.9%). Overall, 51.7% of the sample were ‘out’ at the workplace. Being bisexual (OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.81), the provision of antidiscrimination guidelines in the workplace (OR=0.53, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.90), living alone (OR=0.50, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.79) and in shared households (OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.96) were associated with a decreased likelihood of being ‘out’ at work.

Factors associated with being ‘out’ at work were being middle aged (36–45 years old; OR=1.74, 95% CI 1.07 to 2.85), having been in employment for >10 years (OR=2.03, 95% CI 1.08 to 3.81), an LGBTI-friendly work environment (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.36 to 1.91), labour-management antidiscrimination contract (OR=2.02, 95% CI 1.23 to 3.32) and work council protections (OR=1.56, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.36).

Conclusions

Instating antidiscrimination protections might facilitate ‘outness’ of LGBTI workers and lead to a better promotion of diversity in the workplace.
Occupational radiation exposure and cancer incidence in a cohort of diagnostic medical radiation workers in South Korea
Authors: Lee Won Jin , Ko Seulki , Bang Ye Jin , Choe Seung-Ah , Choi Yeongchull , Preston Dale L
Published: May 2021

Objectives

We investigated the association between protracted low-dose ionising radiation and the risk of cancer in medical radiation workers, the largest group of workers with occupational radiation exposures.

Methods

Data of all South Korean diagnostic medical radiation workers enrolled at the National Dose Registry during 1996–2011 were merged with the death and cancer incidence data until 31 December 2017. SIRs, relative risks and excess relative risks (ERRs) for cancer were calculated to quantify the radiation dose–response relationship using Poisson regression models.

Results

A total of 3392 first primary cancer cases were identified among 93 920 diagnostic medical radiation workers. The mean cumulative badge dose in the cohort was 7.20 mSv. The ERRs for solid cancer with a 5-year lag and haematopoietic cancers with a 2-year lag for all workers were 0.15 per 100 mGy (95% CI −0.20 to 0.51) and 0.09 per 100 mGy (95% CI −2.02 to 2.20), respectively. The ERRs for cancers did not significantly vary by job title, different lag years or after excluding thyroid and lung cancers. Sensitivity analyses restricted to workers employed for at least 1 year, or who were employed in or after 1996, or who had exposure to a cumulative badge dose of 1 mSv or more showed similar results.

Conclusions

Occupational radiation doses were not significantly associated with cancer incidence among South Korean diagnostic medical radiation workers. However, cautious interpretation of ERRs is needed due to the limitations of short follow-up and low cumulative radiation doses.
Elevated Alu retroelement copy number among workers exposed to diesel engine exhaust
Authors: Wong Jason Y.Y. , Cawthon Richard , Dai Yufei , Vermeulen Roel , Bassig Bryan A. , Hu Wei , Duan Huawei , Niu Yong , Downward George S. , Leng Shuguang , Ji Bu-Tian , Fu Wei , Xu Jun , Meliefste Kees , Zhou Baosen , Yang Jufang , Ren Dianzhi , Ye Meng , Jia Xiaowei , Meng Tao , Bin Ping , Hosgood, III H. Dean , Silverman Debra T. , Rothman Nathaniel , Zheng Yuxin , Lan Qing
Published: May 2021

Background

Millions of workers worldwide are exposed to diesel engine exhaust (DEE), a known genotoxic carcinogen. Alu retroelements are repetitive DNA sequences that can multiply and compromise genomic stability. There is some evidence linking altered Alu repeats to cancer and elevated mortality risks. However, whether Alu repeats are influenced by environmental pollutants is unexplored. In an occupational setting with high DEE exposure levels, we investigated associations with Alu repeat copy number.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 54 male DEE-exposed workers from an engine testing facility and a comparison group of 55 male unexposed controls was conducted in China. Personal air samples were assessed for elemental carbon, a DEE surrogate, using NIOSH Method 5040. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to measure Alu repeat copy number relative to albumin (Alb) single-gene copy number in leucocyte DNA. The unitless Alu/Alb ratio reflects the average quantity of Alu repeats per cell. Linear regression models adjusted for age and smoking status were used to estimate relations between DEE-exposed workers versus unexposed controls, DEE tertiles (6.1–39.0, 39.1–54.5 and 54.6–107.7 µg/m3) and Alu/Alb ratio.

Results

DEE-exposed workers had a higher average Alu/Alb ratio than the unexposed controls (p=0.03). Further, we found a positive exposure–response relationship (p=0.02). The Alu/Alb ratio was highest among workers exposed to the top tertile of DEE versus the unexposed controls (1.12±0.08 SD vs 1.06±0.07 SD, p=0.01).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that DEE exposure may contribute to genomic instability. Further investigations of environmental pollutants, Alu copy number and carcinogenesis are warranted.
How robust is the association between youth unemployment and later mental health? An analysis of longitudinal data from English schoolchildren
Authors: Wright Liam , Head Jenny A , Jivraj Stephen
Published: May 2021

Background

Several studies show that youth unemployment is associated with worse mental health later in life. However, existing studies report results for only one model, or a few models, and use regression adjustment to support causal claims. We use two novel methods to address these gaps in the literature.

Methods

We use data from Next Steps, a cohort study of English schoolchildren who entered the labour market in the aftermath of the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, and measure mental health using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) at age 25. We use specification curve analysis and a negative control outcome design (a form of placebo test) to test whether associations between youth unemployment and later GHQ-12 scores are sensitive to model specification or are likely to be confounded by unobserved factors.

Results

We find that the association between unemployment and later GHQ-12 is qualitatively similar across 99.96% of the 120 000 models we run. Statistically significant associations with two placebo outcomes, height and patience, are not present when regression adjustments are made.

Conclusions

There is clear evidence that youth unemployment is related to later mental health, and some evidence that this cannot be easily explained by unobserved confounding.
Foundation rotations in medical training: is it love at first sight?
Authors: Collins Hannah , Eley Catherine , Kohler George , Morgan Holly
Published: May 2021

Purpose of study

Factors influencing physician specialty choice is a prominent topic given the recruitment challenges faced by various specialties. We aimed to assess whether specialty exposure in the first foundation year was a positive predictive factor for permanent career choice.

Study design

A questionnaire-based study was distributed online using a survey tool. Questions recorded the foundation rotations of participants as well as their chosen medical specialty.

Results

1181 responses were included in the analysis. 23% of respondents had undertaken a Foundation Year 1 (F1) rotation in their career specialty. Having undertaken a foundation rotation in anaesthetics, cardiology, emergency medicine, endocrinology, gastroenterology, genito-urinary medicine, intensive care, obstetrics and gynaecology, oncology, paediatrics, palliative care, psychiatry, radiology, respiratory and rheumatology was found to be statistically significantly linked to choosing that specialty as a career (p<0.01). There was a significant correlation between the second foundation rotation and career choice (p=0.02).

Conclusions

For many specialties, direct experience within foundation training has a positive effect on later career choice.
2020 family medicine postgraduate examinations at The University of the West Indies: successes and challenges in the time of COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Motilal Shastri , Paul-Charles Joanne , Asnani Monika , Khan Raveed , Ricketts-Roomes Tana , Pinder-Butler Sabriquet , Herbert Joseph , Farquharson Carnille , Conliffe Catherine , Standard-Goldson Aileen , Smith Kristen , Morris Euclid , Maharaj Rohan G
Published: May 2021

Little has been published regarding postgraduate assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent need to graduate well-trained specialists including family physicians who play a key role in patient care. The successes and challenges encountered in mounting qualifying 2020 Family Medicine examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic at the University of the West Indies are described in this paper. Human resource, planning, use of technology and virtual environments are discussed, which enabled successful examinations at this multicampus regional site.
Management of pineal and colloid cysts
Authors: Jenkinson Michael D , Mills Samantha , Mallucci Conor L , Santarius Thomas
Published: May 2021

The widespread use of MRI has led to the increasingly frequent diagnosis of pineal and colloid cysts. While most are small and incidental, do not require long-term monitoring and will never need treatment, they are a cause of patient anxiety and clinician uncertainty regarding the optimal management—particularly for larger cysts or those with an atypical appearance. Occasionally pineal cysts, and more commonly colloid cysts, cause hydrocephalus that requires urgent neurosurgical treatment. More recently the non-hydrocephalic symptomatic pineal cyst has been described in the neurosurgical literature but there is controversy over this entity and its management. This review addresses the difficulties in managing pineal and colloid cysts and provides a pragmatic framework for the practising clinician.
Toluene-induced leukodystrophy from glue sniffing
Authors: Lau Yue Hui , Mawardi Ahmad Shahir , Zain Norzaini Rose , Viswanathan Shanthi
Published: May 2021

A 33-year-old man with a history of chronic toluene abuse through glue sniffing, developed tremors, cerebellar signs and cognitive decline. MR scan of the brain showed global cerebral and cerebellar atrophy with symmetrical T2-weighted hypointensities in the basal ganglia, thalami and midbrain. After stopping glue sniffing, his tremors, ataxia of gait, speech and cognition partially improved. Early recognition and intervention of toluene-induced leukodystrophy could prevent ongoing morbidity and premature mortality.
Combination of femoral triangle block and infiltration between the popliteal artery and the capsule of the posterior knee (iPACK) versus local infiltration analgesia for analgesia after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a randomized controlled triple-blinded trial
Authors: Martin Robin , Kirkham Kyle Robert , Ngo Trieu Hoai Nam , Gonvers Erin , Lambert Jean , Albrecht Eric
Published: May 2021

Background and objectives

Femoral triangle block and local infiltration analgesia are two effective analgesic techniques after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Recently, the iPACK block (infiltration between the popliteal artery and the capsule of the posterior knee) has been described to relieve posterior knee pain. This randomized controlled triple-blinded trial tested the hypothesis that the combination of femoral triangle block and iPACK provides superior analgesia to local infiltration analgesia after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Methods

Sixty patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction received general anesthesia and were randomly allocated to two groups: femoral triangle block and iPACK under ultrasound guidance or local infiltration analgesia. For each group, a total of 160 mg of ropivacaine was injected. Postoperative pain treatment followed a predefined protocol with intravenous morphine patient-controlled analgesia, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen. The primary outcome was cumulative intravenous morphine consumption at 24 hours postoperatively. Secondary pain-related outcomes included pain scores (Numeric Rating Scale out of 10) measured at 2 and 24 hours postoperatively. Functional outcomes, such as range of motion and quadriceps strength, were also recorded at 24 postoperative hours, and at 4 and 8 postoperative months.

Results

Cumulative intravenous morphine consumption at 24 hours postoperatively was significantly reduced in the femoral triangle block and iPACK group (femoral triangle block and iPACK: 9.7 mg (95% CI: 6.7 to 12.7); local infiltration analgesia: 17.0 mg (95% CI: 11.1 to 23.0), p=0.03). Other pain-related and functional-related outcomes were similar between groups.

Conclusions

The combination of femoral triangle block and iPACK reduces intravenous morphine consumption during the first 24 hours after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, when compared with local infiltration analgesia, without effect on other pain-related, early, or late functional-related outcomes.

Trial registration number

ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (
NCT03680716
).
Soil conditions in the “donga” soils in subhumid zone in West Africa
Authors: Avakoudjo Julien , Kouelo Alladassi Félix , Kindomihou Valentin , Akplo Tobi Moriaque , Agonvinon Mahugnon Socrate , Amadji Guillaume Lucien , Sinsin Brice
Published: May 2021

Water erosion threatens large areas around the world. “Donga” is one of the witnesses of gully erosion in northern Benin, which induces serious threats to the natural habitats. This study was conducted to evaluate soil moisture content in different donga types (“microdongas”, “mesodongas”, and “megadongas”) and its variation at different topographic levels. The thermogravimetric soil moisture measurement technique was used for moisture estimation on saturated and unsaturated soil. Data were analyzed through analysis of variance test and t test with SAS software. The results showed that soil moisture content varied according to donga types. On unsaturated soil, higher difference (2.75%, p = 0.0328) was obtained in mesodongas at the middle followed by megadongas at the middle (2.6%, p = 0.034). On saturated soil, higher difference was obtained in mesodongas at the upstream (6.51%, p < 0.0001) at downslope (4.55%, p = 0.0032) and in the middle (4.32%, p = 0.0328) followed by microdongas at the upstream (2.25%, p < 0.0001). The findings in this paper should be useful to researchers looking for soil moisture information in subarid and subhumid zone at different topographic levels to develop afforestation strategies based on species that can make the best use of soil water.
Yang–Mills black holes in quasitopological gravity
Authors: Naeimipour Fatemeh , Mirza Behrouz , Masoumi Jahromi Fatemeh
Published: May 2021

In this paper, we formulate two new classes of black hole solutions in higher curvature quartic quasitopological gravity with nonabelian Yang–Mills theory. At first step, we consider the SO(n) and $$SO(n-1,1)$$

S
O
(
n
-
1
,
1
)

semisimple gauge groups. We obtain the analytic quartic quasitopological Yang–Mills black hole solutions. Real solutions are only accessible for the positive value of the redefined quartic quasitopological gravity coefficient, $$\mu _{4}$$

μ
4

. These solutions have a finite value and an essential singularity at the origin, $$r=0$$

r
=
0

for space dimension higher than 8. We also probe the thermodynamic and critical behavior of the quasitopological Yang–Mills black hole. The obtained solutions may be thermally stable only in the canonical ensemble. They may also show a first order phase transition from a small to a large black hole. In the second step, we obtain the pure quasitopological Yang–Mills black hole solutions. For the positive cosmological constant and the space dimensions greater than eight, the pure quasitopological Yang–Mills solutions have the ability to produce both the asymptotically AdS and dS black holes for respectively the negative and positive constant curvatures, $$k=-1$$

k
=
-
1

and $$k=+1$$

k
=
+
1

. This is unlike the quasitopological Yang–Mills theory which can lead to just the asymptotically dS solutions for $$\Lambda >0$$

Λ
>
0

. The pure quasitopological Yang–Mills black hole is not thermally stable.
Pure Gauss–Bonnet NUT black hole with and without non-central singularity
Authors: Mukherjee Sajal , Dadhich Naresh
Published: May 2021

It is known that NUT solution has many interesting features and pathologies like being non-singular and having closed timelike curves. It turns out that in higher dimensions horizon topology cannot be spherical but it has instead to be product of 2-spheres so as to retain radial symmetry of spacetime. In this letter we wish to present a new solution of pure Gauss–Bonnet $$\Lambda $$
Λ
-vacuum equation describing a black hole with NUT charge. It has three interesting cases: (a) black hole with both event and cosmological horizons with singularity being hidden behind the former, (b) a regular spacetime free of both horizon and singularity, and (c) black hole with event horizon without singularity and cosmological horizon. Singularity here is always non-centric at $$r \ne 0$$

r
≠
0

.
Two New Large Corpora for Vietnamese Aspect-based Sentiment Analysis at Sentence Level
Authors: Van Thin Dang , Nguyen Ngan Luu-Thuy , Truong Tri Minh , Le Lac Si , Vo Duy Tin
Published: May 2021

Aspect-based sentiment analysis has been studied in both research and industrial communities over recent years. For the low-resource languages, the standard benchmark corpora play an important role in the development of methods. In this article, we introduce two benchmark corpora with the largest sizes at sentence-level for two tasks: Aspect Category Detection and Aspect Polarity Classification in Vietnamese. Our corpora are annotated with high inter-annotator agreements for the restaurant and hotel domains. The release of our corpora would push forward the low-resource language processing community. In addition, we deploy and compare the effectiveness of supervised learning methods with a single and multi-task approach based on deep learning architectures. Experimental results on our corpora show that the multi-task approach based on BERT architecture outperforms the neural network architectures and the single approach. Our corpora and source code are published on this footnoted site.
1
Eye Movements in Macular Degeneration
Authors: Verghese Preeti , Vullings Cécile , Shanidze Natela
Published: May 2021

In healthy vision, the fovea provides high acuity and serves as the locus for fixation achieved through saccadic eye movements. Bilateral loss of the foveal regions in both eyes causes individuals to adopt an eccentric locus for fixation. This review deals with the eye movement consequences of the loss of the foveal oculomotor reference and the ability of individuals to use an eccentric fixation locus as the new oculomotor reference. Eye movements are an integral part of everyday activities, such as reading, searching for an item of interest, eye–hand coordination, navigation, or tracking an approaching car. We consider how these tasks are impacted by the need to use an eccentric locus for fixation and as a reference for eye movements, specifically saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements.
Human adrenal glomerulosa cells express K2P and GIRK potassium channels that are inhibited by ANG II and ACTH
Authors: Enyeart John J. , Enyeart Judith A.
Published: May 2021

In whole cell patch clamp recordings, it was discovered that normal human adrenal zona glomerulosa (AZG) cells express members of the three major families of K+ channels. Among these are a two-pore (K2P) leak-type and a G protein-coupled, inwardly rectifying (GIRK) channel, both inhibited by peptide hormones that stimulate aldosterone secretion. The K2P current displayed properties identifying it as TREK-1 (KCNK2). This outwardly rectifying current was activated by arachidonic acid and inhibited by angiotensin II (ANG II), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), and forskolin. The activation and inhibition of TREK-1 was coupled to AZG cell hyperpolarization and depolarization, respectively. A second K2P channel, TASK-1 (KCNK3), was expressed at a lower density in AZG cells. Human AZG cells also express inwardly rectifying K+ current(s) (KIR) that include quasi-instantaneous and time-dependent components. This is the first report demonstrating the presence of KIR in whole cell recordings from AZG cells of any species. The time-dependent current was selectively inhibited by ANG II, and ACTH, identifying it as a G protein-coupled (GIRK) channel, most likely KIR3.4 (KCNJ5). The quasi-instantaneous KIR current was not inhibited by ANG II or ACTH and may be a separate non-GIRK current. Finally, AZG cells express a voltage-gated, rapidly inactivating K+ current whose properties identified as KV1.4 (KCNA4), a conclusion confirmed by Northern blot. These findings demonstrate that human AZG cells express K2P and GIRK channels whose inhibition by ANG II and ACTH is likely coupled to depolarization-dependent secretion. They further demonstrate that human AZG K+ channels differ fundamentally from the widely adopted rodent models for human aldosterone secretion.
Analysis of Visible Light Communication Link’s Performance in Fire Smoke Environment
Authors: Yang Yu-Feng , Chang Kang-Kang , Ci Ying
Published: May 2021

This paper mainly studies the communication performance of visible light communication link in fire smoke environment. Compared with the previous studies, this study no longer only considers a single wavelength and considers the influence of smoke and background light noise. Firstly, the variation of background light noise caused by sunlight during a day was analyzed, then signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and bit error rate (BER) of the visible light communication link in fire smoke environment with different visibility were calculated, and finally, the variation of received power with the angle β between the LED optical axis and the communication link (from LED to receiver) was analyzed. The results show that, during a day from 07:00 to 18:30, background light noise first increases and then decreases, BER changes in the same trend and reaches the maximum at about 13:00, while SNR changes in the opposite trend and reaches the minimum at about 13:00. When visibility is 100 m, the maximum difference of SNR between 7:00 and 13:00 is about 19 dB, and the maximum difference of BER is about 5.3E‐10. At 7:00, the maximum difference of SNR is about 13 dB between the visibility of 1 m and the visibility of 100 m, and the maximum difference of BER is about 1.44E − 11, and received power decreases with the increase of β. In addition, SNR increases with visibility of fire smoke environment, and BER changes in the opposite trend. Lastly, in order to enhance the performance of visible light communication in fire smoke environment, this paper gives the transmitting power scheme.
Music Feature Extraction and Classification Algorithm Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Zhang Jingwen
Published: May 2021

With the rapid development of information technology and communication, digital music has grown and exploded. Regarding how to quickly and accurately retrieve the music that users want from huge bulk of music repository, music feature extraction and classification are considered as an important part of music information retrieval and have become a research hotspot in recent years. Traditional music classification approaches use a large number of artificially designed acoustic features. The design of features requires knowledge and in-depth understanding in the domain of music. The features of different classification tasks are often not universal and comprehensive. The existing approach has two shortcomings as follows: ensuring the validity and accuracy of features by manually extracting features and the traditional machine learning classification approaches not performing well on multiclassification problems and not having the ability to be trained on large-scale data. Therefore, this paper converts the audio signal of music into a sound spectrum as a unified representation, avoiding the problem of manual feature selection. According to the characteristics of the sound spectrum, the research has combined 1D convolution, gating mechanism, residual connection, and attention mechanism and proposed a music feature extraction and classification model based on convolutional neural network, which can extract more relevant sound spectrum characteristics of the music category. Finally, this paper designs comparison and ablation experiments. The experimental results show that this approach is better than traditional manual models and machine learning-based approaches.
A Violation Information Recognition Method of Live‐Broadcasting Platform Based on Machine Learning Technology
Authors: Shen Xiaoying , Yuan Chao
Published: May 2021

With the development of the live broadcast industry, security issues in the live broadcast process have become increasingly apparent. At present, the supervision of various live broadcast platforms is basically in a state of human supervision. Manpower supervision is mainly through user reporting and platform supervision measures. However, there are a large number of live broadcast rooms at the same time, and only relying on human supervision can no longer meet the monitoring needs of live broadcasts. Based on this situation, this study proposes a violation information recognition method of a live‐broadcasting platform based on machine learning technology. By analyzing the similarities and differences between normal live broadcasts and violation live broadcasts, combined with the characteristics of violation image data, this study mainly detects human skin color and sensitive parts. A prominent feature of violation images is that they contain a large area of naked skin, and the ratio of the area of naked skin to the overall image area of the violation image will exceed the threshold. Skin color recognition plays a role in initial target positioning. The accuracy of skin color recognition is directly related to the recognition accuracy of the entire system, so skin color recognition is the most important part of violation information recognition. Although there are many effective skin color recognition technologies, the accuracy and stability of skin color recognition still need to be improved due to the influence of various external factors, such as light intensity, light source color, and physical equipment. When it is detected that the area of the skin color in the live screen exceeds the threshold, it is preliminarily determined to be a suspected violation video. In order to improve the recognition accuracy, it is necessary to detect sensitive parts of the suspected video. Naked female breasts are a very obvious feature in violation images. This study uses a chest feature extraction method to detect the chest in the image. When the recognition result is a violation image, it is determined that the live broadcast involves violation content. The machine learning algorithm is simple to implement, and the parameters are easy to adjust. The classifier training requires a short time and is suitable for live violation information recognition scenarios. The experimental results on the adopted data set show that the method used in this article can effectively detect videos with violation content. The recognition rate is as high as 85.98%, which is suitable for a real‐life environment and has good practical significance.
The Potential of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Treat and Model Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Schulz Joseph M.
Published: May 2021

An estimated 6.2 million Americans aged 65 or older are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disease that disrupts an individual’s ability to function independently through the degeneration of key regions in the brain, including but not limited to the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, and the motor cortex. The cause of this degeneration is not known, but research has found two proteins that undergo posttranslational modifications: tau, a protein concentrated in the axons of neurons, and amyloid precursor protein (APP), a protein concentrated near the synapse. Through mechanisms that have yet to be elucidated, the accumulation of these two proteins in their abnormal aggregate forms leads to the neurodegeneration that is characteristic of AD. Until the invention of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in 2006, the bulk of research was carried out using transgenic animal models that offered little promise in their ability to translate well from benchtop to bedside, creating a bottleneck in the development of therapeutics. However, with iPSC, patient-specific cell cultures can be utilized to create models based on human cells. These human cells have the potential to avoid issues in translatability that have plagued animal models by providing researchers with a model that closely resembles and mimics the neurons found in humans. By using human iPSC technology, researchers can create more accurate models of AD ex vivo while also focusing on regenerative medicine using iPSC in vivo. The following review focuses on the current uses of iPSC and how they have the potential to regenerate damaged neuronal tissue, in the hopes that these technologies can assist in getting through the bottleneck of AD therapeutic research.
CoCEC: An Automatic Combinational Circuit Equivalence Checker Based on the Interactive Theorem Prover
Authors: Khan Wilayat , Khan Farrukh Aslam , Derhab Abdelouahid , Alhudhaif Adi
Published: May 2021

Checking the equivalence of two Boolean functions, or combinational circuits modeled as Boolean functions, is often desired when reliable and correct hardware components are required. The most common approaches to equivalence checking are based on simulation and model checking, which are constrained due to the popular memory and state explosion problems. Furthermore, such tools are often not user‐friendly, thereby making it tedious to check the equivalence of large formulas or circuits. An alternative is to use mathematical tools, called interactive theorem provers, to prove the equivalence of two circuits; however, this requires human effort and expertise to write multiple output functions and carry out interactive proof of their equivalence. In this paper, we (1) define two simple, one formal and the other informal, gate‐level hardware description languages, (2) design and develop a formal automatic combinational circuit equivalence checker (CoCEC) tool, and (3) test and evaluate our tool. The tool CoCEC is based on human‐assisted theorem prover Coq, yet it checks the equivalence of circuit descriptions purely automatically through a human‐friendly user interface. It either returns a machine‐readable proof (term) of circuits’ equivalence or a counterexample of their inequality. The interface enables users to enter or load two circuit descriptions written in an easy and natural style. It automatically proves, in few seconds, the equivalence of circuits with as many as 45 variables (3.5  ×  1013 states). CoCEC has a mathematical foundation, and it is reliable, quick, and easy to use. The tool is intended to be used by digital logic circuit designers, logicians, students, and faculty during the digital logic design course.
Detecting Changes under Multivariate Normal Distributions via the Generalized Inference
Authors: Mu Weiyan , Wang Xin , Wu Xi , Xiong Shifeng
Published: May 2021

It is commonly encountered in many fields to detect whether a change occurs on a population after a special process. Based on observations for describing the population before and after the process, we formulate this problem as two statistical hypotheses testing problems within a framework of multivariate statistical analysis and then propose a generalized inference approach to solve them. The corresponding generalized

p

values and their calculation details are provided. The proposed method is also extended to multiple testing problems. Simulation studies show that the proposed

p

values have satisfactory frequentist performance. We illustrate our methods with a real application in manufacturing of bearings that are used in medical devices.
Nontargeted Metabolomic Analysis of Plasma Metabolite Changes in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Xiao Lige , Yang Guanteng , Zhang Hongqi , Liu Jinyang , Guo Chaofeng , Sun Yang
Published: May 2021

Objective. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a relatively common spinal rotation deformity, and the pathogenesis of AIS is accompanied by metabolic dysfunction and changes in biochemical factors. In this study, plasma metabolite changes in AIS patients were analyzed based on nontargeted metabolomics to provide new insights for clarifying functional metabolic abnormalities in AIS patients. Methods. Clinical indexes and blood samples were collected from 12 healthy subjects and 16 AIS patients. Metabolomics was used to analyze the changes in metabolites in plasma samples. The correlation between plasma metabolites and clinical indexes was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Results. Analysis of clinical data showed that the body weight, body mass index (BMI), and bone mineral density (BMD) index of the AIS group significantly decreased, while the blood phosphorus and Cobb angles increased significantly. Metabolomic analysis showed significant changes in 72 differential metabolites in the plasma of the AIS group, mainly including organooxygen compounds, carboxylic acids and derivatives, fatty acyls, steroids and steroid derivatives, and keto acids and derivatives. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway showed that arginine biosynthesis, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, and citrate cycle (TCA cycle) were significantly enriched in the AIS and healthy groups. Spearman rank correlation coefficient analysis showed that the plasma metabolites C00026 (oxoglutarate), C00062 (L-arginine, arginine), C01042 (N-acetylaspartate), and C00158 (citrate) were significantly correlated with clinical indexes in AIS patients. In the healthy group, the plasma metabolites C00122 (fumarate), C00025 (glutamate and L-glutamic acid) and C00149 (malate, L-malic acid) were significantly correlated with clinical indexes, while C00624 (N-acetylglutamate) was not significantly correlated with the clinical indexes. Conclusion. The occurrence of AIS led to changes in clinical indexes and plasma metabolites. Plasma biomarkers and functional metabolic pathways were correlated with clinical indexes, which might provide new insights for the diagnosis and treatment of AIS.
Estimating Gender and Age from Brain Structural MRI of Children and Adolescents: A 3D Convolutional Neural Network Multitask Learning Model
Authors: Mendes Sergio Leonardo , Pinaya Walter Hugo Lopez , Pan Pedro , Sato João Ricardo
Published: May 2021

Despite recent advances, assessing biological measurements for neuropsychiatric disorders is still a challenge, where confounding variables such as gender and age (as a proxy for neurodevelopment) play an important role. This study explores brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) from two public data sets (ABIDE‐II and ADHD‐200) with healthy control (HC, N = 894), autism spectrum disorder (ASD, N = 251), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, N = 357) individuals. We used gray and white matter preprocessed via voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) to train a 3D convolutional neural network with a multitask learning strategy to estimate gender, age, and mental health status from structural brain differences. Gradient‐based methods were employed to generate attention maps, providing clinically relevant identification of most representative brain regions for models’ decision‐making. This approach resulted in satisfactory predictions for gender and age. ADHD‐200‐trained models, evaluated in 10‐fold cross‐validation procedures on test set, obtained a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.43 years (±0.22 SD) for age prediction and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85 (±0.04 SD) for gender classification. In out‐of‐sample validation, the best‐performing ADHD‐200 models satisfactorily predicted age (MAE = 1.57 years) and gender (AUC = 0.89) in the ABIDE‐II data set. The models’ accuracy was in line with the current state‐of‐the‐art machine learning applications in neuroimaging. Key regions for models’ accuracy were presented as a meaningful graphical output. New implementations, such as the use of VBM along with a 3D convolutional neural network multitask learning model and a brain imaging graphical output, reinforce the relevance of the proposed workflow.
Optimization of Process Control Parameters for Fully Mechanized Mining Face Based on ANN and GA
Authors: Zhao Hongze , Xu Zhihai , Li Qi , Pan Tao
Published: May 2021

In the traditional optimization mathod, the process control parameters for fully mechanized mining face are determined by experts or technicians based on their own experience, which is lack of scientific basis, and need long production adjustment cycle. It is cause large loss, and not conducive to improving mine production efficiency. In order to solve this problem, the study proposes a process control parameter optimization method based on a mixed strategy of artificial neural network and genetic algorithm and uses a cross‐entropy cost function to optimize an artificial neural network, which improves the learning speed and fitting accuracy of the neural network. Using the historical production data of a fully mechanized coal mining face, taking the pulling speed of the shearer, hydraulic support moving speed, chain speed of scraper conveyor, chain speed of stage loader, emulsion pump outlet pressure, and spray pump outlet pressure as the optimization objects and taking the value range of each process control parameter as a constraint condition to establish a mixed strategy optimization model of process control parameters for a fully mechanized mining face, each process control parameter is optimized with the output of coal per minute as the optimization goal. The results show that the method has high accuracy and short optimization process time and can effectively improve the production efficiency of the working face.