bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effect of 5 years of team sport on elderly males' health and social capital—An interdisciplinary follow‐up study
Authors: Pedersen Mogens T. , Nørregaard Line B. , Jensen Tanja D. , Frederiksen Amalie S. , Ottesen Laila , Bangsbo Jens
Published: August 2022

Background and Aims

Floorball training induces positive effects on health among untrained older adults. However, the effect of long‐term participation (>2 years) in floorball training among elderly males has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of 5 years of floorball training on risk factors for lifestyle diseases, fitness, physical function, and social capital of elderly males and compare to a control group that continued their usual lifestyle.

Methods

Twenty‐nine recreationally active elderly men aged 75.1 ± 3.3 (mean ± SD; range: 69–81) years with a height, body mass, and body mass index of 1.78 ± 0.06 m, 79.8 ± 10.9 kg, and 25.8 ± 4.1 kg/m2, respectively, volunteered to take part in follow‐up investigations about 5 years after participating in a study on the effect of 12 weeks of floorball or petanque training. At the end of the parental study 15 subjects chose to participate in floorball training (floorball group [FG]) whereas 14 subjects (control group [CG]), resumed their usual lifestyle. FG participated in small‐sided floorball training 1 h ~1.75 times/week for 5 years in a local sports club.

Results

From baseline to 5 years, FG had reduced fat percentage, android, and visceral fat, increased total and leg bone mineral density, leg extension maximal voluntary contraction, maximal walk distance in 6 min and 30 s sit‐to‐stand repetitions, decreased time for 5 sit‐to‐stand repetitions and Timed Up and Go (p < 0.05). These changes were all different from less favorable changes in CG (p < 0.05). In FG there was a decline in maximum oxygen uptake which was smaller than the decline in CG (p < 0.05). In addition, FG had developed social capital through the 5 years strengthening their social connectedness and group cohesion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both from a sociological and physiological perspective, small‐sided floorball training can be considered a health‐promoting activity for older men.
Childhood obesity diagnosis and management remains a challenge despite the use of electronic health records: A retrospective study
Authors: Paquette Jean‐Sébastien , Théorêt Laurence , Veilleux Laurence , Graham Johann , Paradis Marie‐Pier , Chamberland Nathalie , Lanctôt Gabrielle , Breault Pascale , Pelletier Mathieu , Boudreault Samuel
Published: August 2022

Background

The use of electronic health records (EHR) has revolutionized medical practice by improving the quality of care. Childhood obesity (CO) increases the risk of developing other chronic diseases and has a serious psychosocial impact on children. Using EHR may improve this clinical condition since early diagnosis is a crucial means of preventing its negative impacts.

Objectives

The aim of the study was to assess the diagnosis and management of CO in a Canadian academic family medicine group unit (FMG‐U) that uses EHR with an integrated CO diagnosis tool.

Methods

This is a retrospective study conducted in an FMG‐U in the province of Quebec. The clinical practice guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO) were used to assess diagnosis and management of CO. EHR of every patient from 5 to 12 years old who had a medical appointment at the FMG‐U in 2017 (n = 618) were analyzed. EHR use by clinicians was assessed by a closed‐ended online survey sent to clinicians who provided pediatric care at that clinic in 2017.

Results

We identified 69 patients as obese according to the WHO, of whom 40 had been diagnosed by health professionals at the clinic. Of these, 33 received nutritional counseling; 33 received physical activity counseling; 13 received parent involvement counseling; 19 were referred to another health professional; and 12 were followed up within 6 months. Ten out of 15 clinicians responded to the survey. They all used the EHR integrated CO diagnosis tool but only 20% were truly familiar with it.

Conclusions

This study shows that CO is still underdiagnosed in primary care, notwithstanding the use of EHR with integrated tools. This affects the quality of care. Moreover, even if CO were correctly diagnosed, its management remains incomplete. Knowledge translation by medical organizations plays an important role in addressing this problem.
Developing a novel prediction model in opioid overdose using machine learning; a pilot analytical study
Authors: Sakhaee Ehsan , Amirahmadi Ali , Mahdiani Morteza , Shojaei Maziar , Hassanian‐Moghaddam Hossein , Bauer Roman , Zamani Nasim , Pakdaman Hossein , Gharagozli Kourosh
Published: August 2022

Background and Aims

The opioid epidemic has extended to many countries. Data regarding the accuracy of conventional prediction models including the Simplified Acute Physiologic Score (SAPS) II and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II are scarce in opioid overdose cases. We evaluate the efficacy of adding quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) data to clinical and paraclinical data in the prediction of opioid overdose mortality using machine learning.

Methods

In a prospective study, we collected clinical/paraclinical, and qEEG data of 32 opioid‐poisoned patients. After preprocessing and Fast Fourier Transform analysis, absolute power was computed. Also, SAPS II was calculated. Eventually, data analysis was performed using SAPS II as a benchmark at three levels to predict the patient's course in comparison with SAPS II. First, the qEEG data set was used alone, secondly, the combination of the clinical/paraclinical, SAPS II, qEEG datasets, and the SAPS II‐based model was included in the pool of classifier models.

Results

Seven out of 32 (22%) died. SAPS II (cut‐off of 50.5) had a sensitivity/specificity/positive/negative predictive values of 85.7%, 84.0%, 60.0%, and 95.5% in predicting mortality, respectively. Adding majority voting on random forest with qEEG and clinical data, improved the model sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values to 71.4%, 96%, 83.3%, and 92.3% (not significant). The model fusion level has 40% less prediction error.

Conclusion

Considering the higher specificity and negative predictive value in our proposed model, it could predict survival much better than mortality. The model would constitute an indicator for better care of opioid poisoned patients in low resources settings, where intensive care unit beds are limited.
MHD oscillatory flow of hybrid nanofluid along a vertical plate with ramped wall temperature, heat source, and thermal radiation: An exact solution
Authors: Kumbhakar Bidyasagar , Nandi Susmay
Published: August 2022

The study looks at the characteristics of an unsteady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) free convective hybrid nanofluid flow with heat transfer to an oscillating vertical plate. The impacts of thermal radiation and internal heat generation, as well as ramped wall temperature conditions at the boundary, are included in the study. The base fluid water is combined with alumina and copper nanoparticles to model fluid flow. A flow issue like this can occur in a variety of industrial and technical processes, such as aerodynamic heating, polymer manufacturing, and so on. The built dimensional controlling equations are transformed into the nondimensional form of equations using feasible similarity variables. The Laplace transform technique is used to solve the nondimensional equations analytically. Pictorial representations are used to investigate the sway of physical characteristics on velocity and temperature distributions. For all of the implanted parameters, the values of the local skin‐friction coefficient and local rate of heat transfer are determined at the boundary and displayed in tables. The velocity profile increases as the thermal Grashof number and time increase, but the magnetic parameter has the opposite effect on the ramping surface temperature and the isothermal plate. Similarly, the temperature profile of nanofluids has been discovered to have a direct relationship with characteristics such as thermal radiation, time, and internal heat generation.
The impact of career‐related parental behaviors on career decision‐making self‐efficacy and ambivalence—A latent growth model
Authors: Li Shengnan , Pan Qianqian , Nie Yangang
Published: August 2022

Introduction

The current study investigated the developmental trajectory of adolescents’ career decision‐making self‐efficacy (self‐efficacy) and ambivalence in career decision‐making (ambivalence) as well as the longitudinal impact of career‐related parental behaviors (parental behaviors) on self‐efficacy and self‐efficacy on ambivalence.

Methods

We recruited 588 students from two elementary schools and three middle schools from city of Guangzhou, Province Guangdong in China. Participants were from Grade 4 to Grade 9 with an average age of 11.88 (SD = 1.63), 321 (54.6%) were male, and 9 (1.53%) were missing for gender. We applied a latent growth model using data from all three waves.

Results and Conclusion

After applying a latent growth model using data from all three waves, the results have indicated that self‐efficacy decreased as these participants transitioned from childhood to early adolescence, and that their ambivalence fell on an increasing trajectory. Cross‐sectionally, it indicated that “support” of parental behaviors was positively associated with self‐efficacy, and “interference” of parental behaviors was positively associated with ambivalence. Longitudinally, “interference” of parental behaviors was negatively predicting the change rate of self‐efficacy. A predictive relation did not exist between self‐efficacy and ambivalence, such that a negative correlation was observed on a cross‐sectional level. Implications and limitations are discussed as well.
The impact of stay‐at‐home regulations on adolescents' feelings of loneliness and internalizing symptoms
Authors: Barbieri Marielena , Mercado Evelyn
Published: August 2022

Introduction

The COVID‐19 pandemic disrupted the daily social lives of adolescents by severely limiting social interactions which likely heightened levels of loneliness and a variety of internalizing symptoms. However, little is known about how social distancing adherence and subsequent stress caused by the novel social regulations impact adolescents' feelings of loneliness, and later mental health difficulties, including anxiety and depression.

Method

To close this gap, we examined the impact of social distancing regulations on adolescents' (N = 79; Mage = 16.16, SD = 1.15; 47 females; 23 males) depression and anxiety symptoms through loneliness by using data from a 5‐week longitudinal study conducted on adolescents in the United States during the initial phases of COVID‐19.

Results and Conclusions

Findings provided evidence that loneliness plays a unique mediating link between social distancing and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Overall, the present study highlights how social distancing during the COVID‐19 pandemic has impacted adolescents' mental health during a developmental period that is considered a turning point for psychopathology.
microRNA‐497‐mediated Smurf2/YY1/HIF2α axis in tumor growth and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Deng Weijun , Fan Wei , Li Peng , Yao Juan , Qi Jinyou , Chi Hao , Ji Guoxian , Zhao Jun
Published: August 2022

Aberrant expression of microRNA‐497 (miR‐497) is associated with tumor progression, but the molecular mechanisms in tumorigenesis remain largely unknown. Here, we report that miR‐497 expression is downregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) clinical samples. Consistently, upregulation of miR‐497 inhibits ESCC cell malignant properties and tumor growth in vivo. Importantly, we uncovered that miR‐497 upregulation suppressed ESCC cell growth and tumor growth by inhibiting Smurf2. Mechanistically, we showed that Smurf2 was a target of miR‐497, and mediated YY1 expression to elevate HIF2α expression, thereby enhancing the malignancy of ESCC cells. Together, our study uncovered the role of the miR‐497‐mediated Smurf2/YY1/HIF2α axis in tumor growth and metastasis, which might provide potential therapeutic targets for human ESCC.
Eating disorders and disordered eating in servicemen and women: A narrative review
Authors: Gaviria David , Ammerman Alice
Published: August 2022

Objective

Eating disorders (EDs) are mental illnesses impacting all aspects of an individual's life. Recent research has examined EDs and disordered‐eating behaviors in the military, a population subject to body composition standards, fitness requirements, and extreme stress. The purpose of this narrative review was to investigate ED and disordered‐eating prevalence and their risk factors in ROTC (reserve officers’ training corps), active‐duty, and veteran servicemembers. The secondary purpose was to provide policy recommendations to reduce the burden of these conditions in the military.

Methods

PubMed and PsycINFO were reviewed for relevant articles. All studies including data on EDs or disordered eating in U.S. active‐duty, ROTC, or veteran populations were considered.

Results

Results revealed a high burden of EDs and disordered eating with bulimic‐ and binge‐type behaviors being the most common. Servicemembers exposed to trauma, including military sexual assault, and those with comorbidities like PTSD showed a higher prevalence. Body composition and fitness testing were also associated with a higher risk. Qualitative studies suggest these conditions serve as coping mechanisms for aspects of military life.

Conclusions

The high prevalence of EDs and disordered eating in the military points toward the importance of identification, treatment, and prevention. Policy change is necessary to protect servicemembers.
Sex‐dependent role of Pannexin 1 in regulating skeletal muscle and satellite cell function
Authors: Freeman Emily , Langlois Stéphanie , Scott Kaylee , Ravel‐Chapuis Aymeric , Jasmin Bernard J. , Cowan Kyle N.
Published: August 2022

The development and regeneration of skeletal muscle are mediated by satellite cells (SCs), which ensure the efficient formation of myofibers while repopulating the niche that allows muscle repair following injuries. Pannexin 1 (Panx1) channels are expressed in SCs and their levels increase during differentiation in vitro, as well as during skeletal muscle development and regeneration in vivo. Panx1 has recently been shown to regulate muscle regeneration by promoting bleb‐based myoblast migration and fusion. While skeletal muscle is largely influenced in a sex‐specific way, the sex‐dependent roles of Panx1 in regulating skeletal muscle and SC function remain to be investigated. Here, using global Panx1 knockout (KO) mice, we demonstrate that Panx1 loss reduces muscle fiber size and strength, decreases SC number, and alters early SC differentiation and myoblast fusion in male, but not in female mice. Interestingly, while both male and female Panx1 KO mice display an increase in the number of regenerating fibers following acute injury, the newly formed fibers in male Panx1 KO mice are smaller. Overall, our results demonstrate that Panx1 plays a significant role in regulating muscle development, regeneration, and SC number and function in male mice and reveal distinct sex‐dependent functions of Panx1 in skeletal muscle.
The role of immune regulatory molecules in rheumatoid arthritis: Implication for etiopathogenesis and prospective for treatment
Authors: Hemmatzadeh Maryam , Ahangar Parvin Elham , Mohammadi Hamed , Azizi Gholamreza , Shomali Navid , Jadidi‐Niaragh Farhad
Published: August 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered an autoimmune chronic disorder and the most common inflammatory arthropathy. Disease progression in RA begins with asymptomatic autoimmune responses in cases with a genetic or environmental predisposition, that alters to arthralgia phase as autoantibodies reach the joints and subjects begin demonstrating nonspecific musculoskeletal presentations lacking any clinical symptoms of synovial inflammation. After that, patients' symptoms develop to undifferentiated arthritis (UA)/idiopathic arthritis (IA) whenever the subjects progress to clinical synovitis systemic comorbidities affecting the vasculature, metabolism, and bone, and eventually with augmented immune cell infiltration, IA/UA patients progress to clinically classifiable RA. RA is mainly correlated with different immune cells and each of them contributes variously to the pathogenesis of the disease. The pathogenesis of RA is altered by the contribution of both T and B cells in an autoimmune irregularity. Modulation of the immune responses occurs through regulatory and inhibitory molecules that control activation of the adaptive system as well as immune hemostasis. To confine the exorbitant T cell‐associated inflammatory reactions, the immune system provides a system of inhibitory feedbacks, collectively named immune checkpoints. In this review, we aimed to discuss about inhibitory members of immune checkpoint molecules, including programmed cell death 1 (PD‐1)/PD‐L1, cytotoxic‐T‐lymphocyte‐antigen‐4, lymphocyte activation gene‐3, T cell immunoglobulin‐3, V‐domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation, B‐ and T‐lymphocyte attenuator, and T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain and their role in RA.
Cranial shape variation in domestication: A pilot study on the case of rabbits
Authors: Geiger Madeleine , Sánchez‐Villagra Marcelo R. , Sherratt Emma
Published: August 2022

Domestication leads to phenotypic characteristics that have been described to be similar across species. However, this “domestication syndrome” has been subject to debate, related to a lack of evidence for certain characteristics in many species. Here we review diverse literature and provide new data on cranial shape changes due to domestication in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a preliminary case study, thus contributing novel evidence to the debate. We quantified cranial shape of 30 wild and domestic rabbits using micro‐computed tomography scans and three‐dimensional geometric morphometrics. The goal was to test (1) if the domesticates exhibit shorter and broader snouts, smaller teeth, and smaller braincases than their wild counterparts; (2) to what extent allometric scaling is responsible for cranial shape variation; (3) if there is evidence for more variation in the neural crest‐derived parts of the cranium compared with those derived of the mesoderm, in accordance with the “neural crest hypothesis.” Our own data are consistent with older literature records, suggesting that although there is evidence for some cranial characteristics of the “domestication syndrome” in rabbits, facial length is not reduced. In accordance with the “neural crest hypothesis,” we found more shape variation in neural crest versus mesoderm‐derived parts of the cranium. Within the domestic group, allometric scaling relationships of the snout, the braincase, and the teeth shed new light on ubiquitous patterns among related taxa. This study—albeit preliminary due to the limited sample size—adds to the growing evidence concerning nonuniform patterns associated with domestication.
Prospection of pyrochlore and microlite mineral groups through Raman spectroscopy coupled with artificial neural networks
Authors: Exposito De Queiroz Alfredo Antonio Alencar , Andrade Marcelo B.
Published: August 2022

Niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) concentrated in pyrochlore and microlite mineral groups, respectively, have attracted worldwide attention due to their importance to aerospace and electronics industries. This manuscript addresses the use of Raman spectroscopy coupled with artificial neural networks (ANNs) for improving the identification and characterization of mineral species belonging to pyrochlore and microlite mineral groups. Spectral data were collected in the 100–1400 cm−1 range and two baseline corrections, namely Asymmetric Least Squares (ALS) and Piecewise Linear Fitting (PLF) were performed and compared. In most cases, ALS achieved better performance in the removal of background noise with no elimination of important features of the original spectrum. The ANNs were fed with balanced datasets and based on different topologies with logistics, hyperbolic tangent, and rectified linear unit activation functions in the hidden layers.
Comparison of clinical features between patients with bone and soft tissue fibrosarcomas
Authors: Matsuoka Masatake , Onodera Tomohiro , Yokota Isao , Iwasaki Koji , Hishimura Ryosuke , Suzuki Yuki , Kondo Eiji , Iwasaki Norimasa
Published: August 2022

Background and Objectives

Fibrosarcomas predominantly arise in soft tissues, but can also develop in bone. Because of their rarity, whether bone development has an impact on clinical features has not been addressed.

Methods

We included fibrosarcoma patients diagnosed between 1983 and 2016 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Differences in clinical features between fibrosarcoma of bone (FS‐B) and fibrosarcoma of soft tissue (FS‐ST) were investigated.

Results

After excluding patients without information regarding cause of death, site of origin, distant tumor or survival, 1443 patients were included. Of those, 98 patients had FS‐B. Patients with FS‐B were younger, more frequently male, with fibrosarcomas that more often developed in an extremity and were histologically high‐grade. In contrast, no difference in potential to metastasize was observed. Survival was almost equal between FS‐B and FS‐ST (FS‐B/FS‐ST: cancer‐specific survival, hazard ratio [HR]: 1.2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.8–1.7; overall survival, HR: 1.3, 95% CI: 0.9–1.7).

Conclusions

Our results clearly indicated that patient backgrounds differed, such as younger age and greater tendencies to affect males, develop in an extremity and show high‐grade tumor in patients with FS‐B. In contrast, no differences were observed in distant metastatic potential or survival.
Multidisciplinary panel opinion on the management of bacterial skin infections
Authors: Bouza Emilio , De Rosa Francesco Giuseppe , Guzek Aneta , Dirschka Thomas , Pellacani Giovanni
Published: August 2022

Eight hot topics regarding the diagnosis and management of bacterial skin infections were selected and reviewed by five experts from different European countries, chosen based on their expertise in microbiology, infectious diseases, and dermatology. As noninfectious skin diseases/conditions such as atopic dermatitis can be complicated by infections, including Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections (ABSSSI), a collaboration between dermatologists and infectious disease specialists can promote a rational approach to diagnosis and a more functional treatment approach, especially for complicated infections. In addition, an important role would be played by microbiologists as they are crucial for the isolation and classification of the bacterial pathogen to guide clinicians toward the most effective antibiotic therapy. Although there are many therapeutic options for the treatment of bacterial skin infections, including those due to methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus, these drugs often require multiple daily administrations leading to patient noncompliance and are associated with gastrointestinal adverse events and drug resistance. With their characteristics of being long‐acting, safety and single‐dose regimens, long‐acting antibiotics, such as dalbavancin and oritavancin, represent an effective alternative that could change the management of these infections with a considerable reduction of hospitalisation costs and risks.
Optical Phase Contrast Microscopy with Incoherent Vortex Phase
Authors: Zhao Mengting , Liang Xinzhou , Li Jiasui , Xie Mengyuan , Zheng Huadan , Zhong Yongchun , Yu Jianhui , Zhang Jun , Chen Zhe , Zhu Wenguo
Published: August 2022

A novel, compact, and broadband optical phase contrast microscopy based on incoherent vortex topological quadrupole is theoretically proposed and experimentally realized. The topological quadrupole, generated in a thin uniaxial crystal, possesses four single‐charge optical vortexes, each of which can act as a two‐dimensional (2D) optical spatial differentiator. The incoherence of light‐emitting diode (LED) light will wash out the optical vortex and the spatial differentiation effect, which can be ingeniously overcome by choosing Kohler illumination and inserting a 1 mm‐thickness uniaxial crystal sandwiched with two polarizers before the camera. By adjusting the polarizers and the tilted angle of crystal to selectively utilize the geometric Berry phase and the angular gradient of Fresnel transmission coefficients of crystal, the 1D, 2D, and second‐order analog spatial differentiations with a spatial resolution better than 0.775 μm can be switched flexibly. A versatile phase contrast microscope is built, which is well compatible with the conventional microscopes. The uniformly incoherent illumination without laser speckle effects results in high‐quality spatial differentiation imaging. Biologically transparent living cells are thus imaged with high contrast.
Inverse‐Designed Integrated Nonlinear Optical Switches
Authors: Chen Hao , Li Jiatong , Shang Zhenyuan , Wang Guoqing , Zhang Ziming , Zhao Zexing , Zhang Mengyu , Yin Jinde , Wang Jinzhang , Guo Kai , Yang Junbo , Yan Peiguang
Published: August 2022

Due to the slowdown of Moore's law, the integrated photonic devices have provided a route to promote the development of large‐scale optical communications with high performance. As one of the essential components of optical routers, an optical switch can fast transmit or block the optical signal. However, most of the integrated optical switches reported to date rely on thermo‐, magneto‐, or electro‐optical effects, which limit applications due to slow response times, large footprint, and complexity fabrication. Here, an integrated nonlinear optical switch designed by the inverse‐design method and fabricated on the SiN platform is introduced. The integrated optical switch is demonstrated with significant intensity‐dependent transmission at 1.5 µm waveband. The polarization‐depended capability is explored by using fundamental polarized lights (transverse electric and transverse magnetic, respectively), which exhibits opposite transmission change trends during the whole power range and opens potential applications such as photonic quantum information processing. In order to address the saturation of Kerr‐nonlinearity in SiN materials at high power, a MoS2/SiN hybrid integrated optical switch is fabricated by uniformly cladding few‐layer MoS2on the surface of inverse‐designed region. That is demonstrated to enhance the nonlinear optical response of device efficiently and achieve more excellent switching capability at high power.
Noninterleaved Metasurface for Full‐Polarization Three‐Dimensional Vectorial Holography
Authors: Yang Hui , Jiang Yuting , Hu Yueqiang , Ou Kai , Duan Huigao
Published: August 2022

Metasurface‐enabled full‐polarization vectorial holography has attracted numerous attention due to the promising applications for multichannel displays, enhanced information capacity, and optical encryption. However, recently showcased design strategies suffer from undesirable cross‐talk resulting from interleaved meta‐atoms and are restricted to a two‐dimensional plane. This work presents a general approach for full‐polarization beam shaping in three‐dimensional space by completely exploiting the capacity of a noninterleaved metasurface. The noninterleaved metasurface is spin‐decoupled, which is capable of achieving independent phase control for the two orthogonal circular polarizations by combining both propagation and geometric phases. As a proof‐of‐concept, a three‐dimensional vectorial holography capable of converting the linear polarized light to holographic images with arbitrary spatial polarization distributions is experimentally demonstrated. Taking use of the extended dimension, the z‐axis distance, which provides a new degree of flexibility for boosting information capacity and security, a double‐level optical encryption scheme is implemented. This work provides a compact and general scheme for full‐polarization channel wavefront steering, unlocking a new door for designing planar polarization functionality devices.
Broadband and Fabrication Tolerant Power Coupling and Mode‐Order Conversion Using Thouless Pumping Mechanism
Authors: Sun Lu , Wang Hongwei , He Yu , Zhang Yong , Tang Guojing , He Xintao , Dong Jianwen , Su Yikai
Published: August 2022

Coupled‐waveguide devices are of central importance in on‐chip photonic circuits. However, their performance usually suffers from high wavelength and structure sensitivity, which makes it challenging to achieve broadband and fabrication tolerant optical functions. Topological pumping of edge states has emerged as a promising route for robust light transport in coupled waveguides. Here, the Thouless pumping process is explored in finite Rice‐Mele modeled silicon waveguide arrays and the robust power coupling and mode‐order conversion are experimentally demonstrated in this system. Thanks to the topological protection of light transport, the directional coupler and mode‐order converter based on the waveguide arrays show an ultrabroad bandwidth of 120 nm and are quite tolerant to significant structural deviations (−50–150 nm). As compared to the robust optical coupling in other topological waveguide arrays reported in recent works, the approach is more advantageous in terms of robustness against the variations in both waveguide width and gap distance, which is greatly favored in large‐scale photonic integration. This work could serve as a design principle for a new class of broadband and fabrication tolerant coupled‐waveguide devices, which can find applications in many fields including optical simulations of condensed matter physics, on‐chip optical communications, and quantum information processing.
Colonic Delivery of Nutrients for Sustained and Prolonged Release of Gut Peptides: A Novel Strategy for Appetite Management
Authors: Kamakura Remi , Raza Ghulam Shere , Sodum Nalini , Lehto Vesa‐Pekka , Kovalainen Miia , Herzig Karl‐Heinz
Published: August 2022

Obesity is one of the major global threats to human health and risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases and certain cancers. Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) plays a major role in appetite and glucose homeostasis and recently the USFDA approved GLP‐1 agonists for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. GLP‐1 is secreted from enteroendocrine L‐cells in the distal part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in response to nutrient ingestion. Endogenously released GLP‐1 has a very short half‐life of <2 min and most of the nutrients are absorbed before reaching the distal GI tract and colon, which hinders the use of nutritional compounds for appetite regulation. The review article focuses on nutrients that endogenously stimulate GLP‐1 and peptide YY (PYY) secretion via their receptors in order to decrease appetite as preventive action. In addition, various delivery technologies such as pH‐sensitive, mucoadhesive, time‐dependent, and enzyme‐sensitive systems for colonic targeting of nutrients delivery are described. Sustained colonic delivery of nutritional compounds could be one of the most promising approaches to prevent obesity and associated metabolic diseases by, e.g., sustained GLP‐1 release.
Fusion of CT images and clinical variables based on deep learning for predicting invasiveness risk of stage I lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Huang Haozhe , Zheng Dezhong , Chen Hong , Wang Ying , Chen Chao , Xu Lichao , Li Guodong , Wang Yaohui , He Xinhong , Li Wentao
Published: August 2022

Purpose: To develop a novel multimodal data fusion model by incorporating computed tomography (CT) images and clinical variables based on deep learning for predicting the invasiveness risk of stage I lung adenocarcinoma that manifests as ground‐glass nodules (GGNs) and compare the diagnostic performance of it with that of radiologists.

Methods: A total of 1946 patients with solitary and histopathologically confirmed GGNs with maximum diameter less than 3 cm were retrospectively enrolled. The training dataset containing 1704 GGNs was augmented by resampling, scaling, random cropping, and so forth, to generate new training data. A multimodal data fusion model based on residual learning architecture and two multilayer perceptron with attention mechanism combining CT images with patient general data and serum tumor markers was built. The distance‐based confidence scores (DCS) were calculated and compared among multimodal data models with different combinations. An observer study was conducted and the prediction performance of the fusion algorithms was compared with that of the two radiologists by an independent testing dataset with 242 GGNs.

Results: Among the whole GGNs, 606 GGNs are confirmed as invasive adenocarcinoma (IA) and 1340 are non‐IA. The proposed novel multimodal data fusion model combining CT images, patient general data, and serum tumor markers achieved the highest accuracy (88.5%), area under a ROC curve (0.957), F1 (81.5%), F1weighted (81.9%), and Matthews correlation coefficient (73.2%) for classifying between IA and non‐IA GGNs, which was even better than the senior radiologist's performance (accuracy, 86.1%). In addition, the DCSs for multimodal data suggested that CT image had a stronger influence (0.9540) quantitatively than general data (0.6726) or tumor marker (0.6971).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the feasibility of integrating different types of data including CT images and clinical variables, and the multimodal data fusion model yielded higher performance for distinguishing IA from non‐IA GGNs.
Defense and security planning under resource uncertainty and multi‐period commitments
Authors: Caballero William N. , Banks David , Wu Keru
Published: August 2022

The public sector is characterized by hierarchical and interdependent organizations. For defense and security applications in particular, a higher authority is generally responsible for allocating resources among subordinate organizations. These subordinate organizations conduct long‐term planning based on both uncertain resources and an uncertain operating environment. This article develops a modeling framework and multiple solution methodologies for subordinate organizations to use under such conditions. We extend the adversarial risk analysis approach to a stochastic game via a decomposition into a Markov decision process. This allows the subordinate organization to encode its beliefs in a Bayesian manner such that long‐term policies can be built to maximize its expected utility. The modeling framework we develop is illustrated in a realistic counter‐terrorism use case, and the efficacy of our solutions are evaluated via comparisons to alternatively constructed policies.
Diagnosis of fetal total anomalous pulmonary venous connection based on the post‐left atrium space ratio using artificial intelligence
Authors: Wang Xin , Yang Ting‐Yang , Zhang Ying‐Ying , Liu Xiao‐Wei , Zhang Ye , Sun Lin , Gu Xiao‐Yan , Chen Zhuo , Guo Yong , Xue Chao , Han Jian‐Cheng , Zhu Hao‐Gang , He Yi‐Hua
Published: August 2022

Objective

To explore whether the post‐left atrium space (PLAS) ratio would be useful for prenatal diagnosis of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) using echocardiography and artificial intelligence.

Methods

We retrospectively included 642 frames of four‐chamber views from 319 fetuses (32 with TAPVC and 287 without TAPVC) in end‐systolic and end‐diastolic periods with multiple apex directions. The average gestational age was 25.6 ± 2.7 weeks. No other cardiac or extracardiac malformations were observed. The dataset was divided into a training set (n = 540; 48 with TAPVC and 492 without TAPVC) and test set (n = 102; 20 with TAPVC and 82 without TAPVC). The PLAS ratio was defined as the ratio of the epicardium‐descending aortic distance to the center of the heart‐descending aortic distance. Supervised learning was used in DeepLabv3+, FastFCN, PSPNet, and DenseASPP segmentation models. The area under the curve (AUC) was used on the test set.

Results

Expert annotations showed that this ratio was not related to the period or apex direction. It was higher in the TAPVC group than in the control group detected by the expert and the four models. The AUC of expert annotations, DeepLabv3+, FastFCN, PSPNet, and DenseASPP were 0.977, 0.941, 0.925, 0.856, and 0.887, respectively.

Conclusion

Segmentation models achieve good diagnostic accuracy for TAPVC based on the PLAS ratio.
Simultaneous measurement of diaphragm activity, chest impedance, and ECG using three standard cardiorespiratory monitoring electrodes
Authors: Scholten Anouk W. J. , van Leuteren Ruud W. , de Jongh Frans H. , van Kaam Anton H. , Hutten Gerard J.
Published: August 2022

Introduction

Current cardiorespiratory monitoring in neonates with electrocardiogram (ECG) and chest impedance (CI) has limitations. Adding transcutaneous electromyography of the diaphragm (dEMG) may improve respiratory monitoring, but requires additional hardware. We aimed to determine the feasibility of measuring dEMG and ECG/CI simultaneously using the standard ECG/CI hardware, with its three electrodes repositioned to dEMG electrode locations.

Methods

Thirty infants (median postmenstrual age 30.4 weeks) were included. First, we assessed the feasibility of extracting dEMG from the ECG‐signal. If successful, the agreement between dEMG‐based respiratory rate (RR), using three different ECG‐leads, and a respiratory reference signal was assessed using the Bland‐Altman analysis and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Furthermore, we studied the agreement between CI‐based RR and the reference signal with the electrodes placed at the standard and dEMG position. Finally, we explored the quality of the ECG‐signal at the different electrode positions.

Results

In 15 infants, feasibility of measuring dEMG with the monitoring electrodes was confirmed. In the next 15 infants, comparing dEMG‐based RR to the reference signal resulted in a mean difference and limits of agreement for ECG‐lead I, II and III of 4.2 [−8.2 to 16.6], 4.3 [−10.7 to 19.3] and 5.0 [–14.2 to 24.2] breaths/min, respectively. ICC analysis showed a moderate agreement for all ECG‐leads. CI‐based RR agreement was similar at the standard and dEMG electrode position. An exploratory analysis suggested similar quality of the ECG‐signal at both electrode positions.

Conclusion

Measuring dEMG using the ECG/CI hardware with its electrodes on the diaphragm is feasible, leaving ECG/CI monitoring unaffected.
PSA provocation by bipolar androgen therapy may predict duration of response to first‐line androgen deprivation: Updated results from the BATMAN study
Authors: Denmeade Samuel , Lim Su J. , Isaaccson Velho Pedro , Wang Hao
Published: August 2022

Background

Previously, we reported results from the Phase II BATMAN study (Bipolar Androgen Therapy for Men with Androgen‐ablation Naïve prostate cancer). This study (NCT01750398) was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a treatment regimen consisting of a 6‐month lead in‐phase of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) followed by alternating 3‐month intervals of bipolar androgen therapy (BAT) and ADT alone. Here we report > 5‐year follow‐up related to the duration of subsequent ADT, response to first‐line androgen receptor inhibitors, safety, and survival in men with castration‐sensitive prostate cancer treated on the BATMAN study.

Methods

Univariate Cox regression was utilized to compare overall survival between Responders who achieved a prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level of <4 ng/ml and Non‐Responders who achieved a PSA level of ≥4 ng/ml after BAT/ADT. Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression were used to assess progression‐free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) on BAT and on subsequent abiraterone or enzalutamide and on the association between PSA peak during BAT and each time to event outcome.

Results

Over median follow‐up of 95 months, the median PFS on ADT for the entire cohort was 47.8. Median OS has not been reached (NR). Median OS for Non‐Responders is 43 months versus NR (not reached) for responders (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.176, p = 0.002). Post‐BAT, the PSA50 and PSA90 responses to abiraterone or enzalutamide were 94.4% and 66.7%, respectively and median PFS was 20.6 months. Patients with peak PSA level of ≥9 ng/ml after BAT had median PFS of 20.6 months versus NR for those having PSA < 9 ng/ml (HR: 0.122, p < 0.001). Median OS was 79.6 months for patients with PSA peak of ≥9 ng/ml versus NR for those having PSA peak of <9 ng/ml (HR: 0.409, p = 0.131).

Conclusion

The use of BAT as part of first‐line hormonal therapy strategy does not induce adversely affect long‐term survival or induce any significant long‐term adverse sequelae in patients with prostate cancer. Cycling BAT may extend the duration of ADT response and enhance response to subsequent androgen ablative therapies. The magnitude of BAT‐provoked increase in PSA may predict duration of ADT response and warrants further study.
Security of a High Dimensional Two‐Way Quantum Key Distribution Protocol
Authors: Krawec Walter O.
Published: August 2022

Two‐way quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols utilize bi‐directional quantum communication to establish a shared secret key. Due to the increased attack surface, security analyses remain challenging. Here a high‐dimensional variant of the Ping Pong protocol is investigated and an information theoretic security analysis in the finite‐key setting is performed. The main contribution in this work is to show a new proof methodology for two‐way quantum key distribution protocols based on the quantum sampling framework of Bouman and Fehr introduced in 2010 and also sampling‐based entropic uncertainty relations introduced by the authors in 2019. The Ping Pong protocol is only investigated here, but these methods may be broadly applicable to other QKD protocols, especially those relying on two‐way channels. Along the way, some fascinating benefits to high‐dimensional quantum states applied to two‐way quantum communication are also showed.
Reproductive health in Brazil and Europe: Commentary on an analytical parallel
Authors: Filho Agnaldo L. da Silva , Lino Lara M. C. , Ramires Yohanna , Bueno Ricardo L. P.
Published: August 2022

Brazil urgently needs to identify an adequate and quick solution to reduce the high rate of unplanned pregnancies in the country and its consequences in terms of maternal morbidity and mortality, as well as the high rate of unsafe abortions. Reproductive planning is one of the most successful interventions in public health and has been the subject of governmental discussions in all spheres. Brazil faces a long period of lack of population information regarding contraceptive behaviour, especially regarding the availability of a wider range of contraceptive methods. Faced with enormous social challenges and aiming to minimize the financial impacts, the Etonogestrel Subdermal Implant, can be considered a contraceptive option of clinical and socioeconomic interest to public and supplementary health. In Europe, the use of contraceptive options is widely used; however, there is room for greater provision of sexual health services, better formal sexual education and better training of providers, in addition to the possibility of increasing acceptance of the most effective and long‐lasting contraceptives, and improve the use of all methods. The commentary brings perspectives to understand the panorama.
Extra‐regional trade and consumption‐based carbon dioxide emissions in the European countries: Is there a carbon leakage?
Authors: Demiral Özge , Demiral Mehmet , Aktekin‐Gök Emine Dilara
Published: August 2022

The European countries are committed to making Europe the first carbon‐neutral continent by 2050 under the carbon leakage debates. Carbon leakage occurs when carbon‐intensive production relocates to environmentally unregulated countries. The trade channel of carbon leakage refers that the carbon‐loaded products finally come back through imports and increase consumption‐based carbon emissions in the decarbonization‐committed countries. This study probes the effects of extra‐imports (imports from non‐European countries) share on per capita consumption‐based carbon dioxide emissions (CCEpc) in the panel of 31 European countries from 1995 to 2018. After identifying cross‐country dependence, unit root, heterogeneity, and cointegration, the study applies the common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG) estimators, followed by the Emirmahmutoglu‐Kose causality test. The results reveal a carbon leakage pattern that extra‐imports share has both associative (positive) and causal (one‐way) effects on CCEpc. Other results unveil a strong decarbonization contribution from enhancing renewable energy supply against the carbonization forces of growing extra‐exports (exports to non‐European countries) share, real gross domestic product, and comparative advantage in high‐tech manufactures, while population density's influence is statistically insignificant. Some policy implications including carbon‐adjusting border taxes on trade are drawn for regional and global mitigation undertakings.
Rational Regulation of Electronic Structure in Layered Double Hydroxide Via Vanadium Incorporation to Trigger Highly Selective CO2 Photoreduction to CH4
Authors: Yu Sha , Tan Ling , Bai Sha , Ning Chenjun , Liu Guihao , Wang Huijuan , Liu Bin , Zhao Yufei , Song Yu‐Fei
Published: August 2022

To realize excellent selectivity of CH4 in CO2 photoreduction (CO2PR) is highly desirable, yet which is challenging due to the limited active sites for CH4 generation and severe electron‐hole recombination on photocatalysts. Herein, based on the theoretically calculated effects of vanadium incorporation into the laminate of layered double hydroxides (LDHs), V into NiAl‐LDH to synthesize a series of LDHs with various V contents is introduced. NiV‐LDH is revealed to afford a high CH4 selectivity (78.9%), and extremely low H2 selectivity (only 0.4%) under λ > 400 nm irradiation. By further tuning the molar ratio of Ni to V, a CH4 selectivity of as high as 90.1% is achieved on Ni4V‐LDH, and H2 is completely prohibited on Ni2V‐LDH. Fine structural characterizations and comprehensive optical and electrochemical studies uncover V incorporation creates the lower‐valence Ni species as active sites for generating CH4, and enhances the generation, separation, and transfer of photogenerated carriers.
Single Pixel Imaging Key for Holographic Encryption Based on Spatial Multiplexing Metasurface
Authors: Yan Jingxiao , Wei Qunshuo , Liu Yin , Geng Guangzhou , Li Junjie , Li Xiaowei , Li Xin , Wang Yongtian , Huang Lingling
Published: August 2022

Compared with the traditional holographic technology, metasurface holography is a promising technology due to the large field angle and high spatial resolution. Thanks to the precise control of phase, amplitude, polarization and so on, metasurface holography provides a flexible platform for light modulation, optical encryption and so on. Besides, the process of image reconstruction by single pixel imaging is similar to a form of encoding and decoding, which is realized by calculating the correlation between a series of modulation patterns and their corresponding intensity signals. In this work, an optical encryption scheme is proposed based on spatial multiplexing metasurface, which depends on the combination of holographic technology and single pixel imaging technology. In the encryption scheme, the image transmitted by single pixel imaging based on metasurface is used as the addressing key of holography. Besides, illuminating different positions of the metasurface can generate different holographic reconstructed images, and there is 50% information overlapped between adjacent sub‐holograms. This work makes use of the spatial multiplexing property of metasurface, which can complete different functions, paving the way for the application in the field of optical imaging encryption and information security.