bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cutaneous lupus concerns from the patient perspective: a qualitative study
Authors: Yan Daisy , Zamalin Danielle , Chakka Srita , Krain Rebecca , Concha Josef , Feng Rui , Ahmed Sarah , Okawa Joyce , Werth Victoria P
Published: August 2021

Objective

There is a need to identify concerns unique to patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), which may not be captured by current common-practice dermatological quality-of-life tools. This study formally characterises what bothers patients with CLE about their disease by conducting semistructured, qualitative interviews.

Methods

Sixteen patients with CLE were interviewed about how their cutaneous findings impact their daily life. Each interview was transcribed, coded and categorised for recurrent themes. Current CLE activity and damage were also assessed by the Cutaneous Lupus Activity and Severity Index tool.

Results

Responses were categorised into six themes, including Fear of Disease Progression, Unwanted Attention, Self-Consciousness, Physical Signs/Symptoms, Emotional Symptoms and Functional Decline. The most commonly reported themes were Self-Consciousness, mentioned by 13 of 16 (81.3%) patients, Physical Symptoms, mentioned by 12 of 16 (75%), and then Fear of Disease Progression, by 11 of 16 (68.8%). Frequently mentioned physical signs/symptoms included erythema, itch, dyspigmentation, scar and alopecia. The physical signs/symptoms were categorised as activity signs/symptoms, damage signs and other. For activity signs, erythema was mentioned most frequently (5 of 16), then scale (2 of 16). For activity symptoms, itch was mentioned most frequently (6 of 16), then pain (5 of 16). For damage signs, dyspigmentation was mentioned most frequently (4 of 16), followed by scarring (3 of 16). Patients less than 60 years old were more likely to report emotional symptoms than older patients (p<0.05), but there was no significant variation in frequency of reported themes between race, sex or subtype of CLE.

Conclusions

These patient experiences and resultant themes elucidated by this study are worth noting in future standardised estimations of the quality of life of patients with CLE. Additionally, the concerns shown by these interviews are important topics for providers to discuss when evaluating patient disease progression.
Flawed reasoning on two dilemmas: a commentary on Baron and Dierckxsens (2021)
Authors: Ashley Florence
Published: August 2021

A recent paper by Teresa Baron and Geoffrey Dierckxsens (2021) argues that puberty blockers and hormone therapy should be disallowed before adulthood on prudential and consent-related grounds. This response contends that their argument fails because it is predicated on unsupported premises and misinterpretations of the available evidence. There is no evidence that a large proportion of pubertal and postpubertal youths later discontinue medical transition. Meaningful assent is a viable and commonly accepted alternative to meaningful consent in paediatric bioethics. And finally, the primary purpose of transition-related interventions is to actualise youths’ gendered self-image, not treat an underlying mental illness.
Tobacco industry’s ‘behind the scenes’ tactics in Singapore
Authors: van der Eijk Yvette , Tan Grace Ping Ping
Published: August 2021

Background

Tobacco companies have maintained a profitable business in Singapore, despite its strong anti-tobacco climate and commitment to protect public health policymaking from tobacco industry interference in line with Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3. This study describes how tobacco companies influence policymaking in a highly regulated environment such as Singapore’s, where there is a strong government commitment to Article 5.3.

Methods

Analysis of internal tobacco industry documents detailing the industry’s lobbying activities in Singapore, retrieved via snowball searches in the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library. Subsequently, we conducted one-on-one interviews with key informants from sectors mentioned in the documents (academia, arts, government, public health, media, trade, education) to fill gaps in information and provide context to events described in the documents.

Results

In the 1980s and 1990s, tobacco companies observed that, to influence policy within Singapore’s ‘hostile’ environment, they needed to use ‘behind the scenes’ tactics, targeting influential individuals at social functions or industry-sponsored events. Tobacco companies used arts and education sponsorships primarily for political purposes, to gain visibility with policymakers. Tobacco companies cultivated relationships with academic researchers and the media to avoid smoke-free legislation in the 1990s and, in the 2010s, appear to have used similar tactics to challenge Singapore’s e-cigarette ban.

Conclusions

Countries with a strong commitment to Article 5.3 should consider the tobacco industry’s potential interference in policymaking beyond relationships in the government sector, particularly in academia, arts, education and the media, and the more subtle or indirect manners in which these relationships are built.
Revisiting interpretation of relative density from shallow depth CPTs in sand
Authors: Krogh Lone , Quinteros Santiago , Engin Harun Kursat , Lunne Tom
Published: August 2021

The relative density is an important state parameter in the determination of engineering properties of marine sands. Existing industry-acknowledged cone penetration test (CPT) correlations to relative density have been developed almost exclusively from the results of calibration chamber testing performed at stress levels higher than 50 kPa. A few studies suggest correlations for low stress levels as well, however, mainly for unaged normally consolidated soils. Existing formulations are often found to be challenged in the application for dense to very dense aged overconsolidated marine sands. This paper investigates the conditions and response of overconsolidated medium dense to very dense sand (as typically found in the North Sea) at shallow depths (less than 50 kPa) for a penetrating cone. It provides recommendations for a consistent set of parameters linking CPT parameters to the stress conditions, expressed by the apparent overconsolidation ratio and coefficient of earth pressure at rest, and the relative density. The recommendations are based on a comprehensive field-testing campaign at a sand site in Cuxhaven, Germany, supported by a suite of laboratory testing and numerical analyses.
Smart Home Privacy Protection Based on the Improved LSB Information Hiding
Authors: Yang Lina , Deng Haiyu , Liu Ren Ping , Wang Patrick , Dang Xiaocui , Tang Yuan Yan , Li Xichun
Published: August 2021

Smart home is an emerging form of the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling people to enjoy a convenient and intelligent life. The data generated by smart home devices are transmitted through the public channel, which is not secure enough, so the secret data in smart home are easily intercepted by malicious adversaries. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a smart home privacy protection method combining DES encryption and the improved Least Significant Bit (LSB) information hiding algorithm, changing the practice of directly exposing smart home secret information to the Internet, first, using Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption to encrypt the smart home information and second, the improved LSB information hiding algorithm is used to hide the ciphertext, so that the adversary cannot detect the smart home secret information. The goal of the scheme is to provide a double protection for the secure transmission of the smart home secret information. If an attacker wants to carry out an attack, it has to break through at least two defense lines, which seems impossible to do. Experiment results show that the improved LSB algorithm is more robust than the existing algorithms, and it is very safe. Therefore, the scheme proposed in this paper is very practical for protecting the smart home secret information.
The α2-isoform of the Na+/K+-ATPase protects against pathological remodeling and β-adrenergic desensitization after myocardial infarction
Authors: Cellini Antonella , Höfler Dorina , Arias-Loza Paula A. , Bandleon Sandra , Langsenlehner Tanja , Kohlhaas Michael , Maack Christoph , Bauer Wolfgang R. , Eder-Negrin Petra
Published: August 2021

Reduced systolic and diastolic calcium levels in cardiomyocytes from NKA-α2 transgenic mice minimize the desensitization of the β-adrenergic signaling system. These effects result in an improved β-adrenergic reserve and prevent functional deterioration and cardiac remodeling.
Infrahepatic Inferior Vena Cava Clamping Reduces Blood Loss during Liver Transection for Cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Leeratanakachorn Natwutpong , Luvira Vor , Tipwaratorn Theerawee , Theeragul Suapa , Jarearnrat Apiwat , Titapun Attapol , Srisuk Tharatip , Kamsa-ard Supot , Pugkhem Ake , Khuntikeo Narong , Pairojkul Chawalit , Bhudhisawasdi Vajarabhongsa
Published: August 2021

Background. Major hepatectomy is the mainstay of the treatment for cholangiocarcinoma. Infrahepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) clamping is an effective maneuver for reducing blood loss during liver transection. The impact of this procedure on major hepatectomy for cholangiocarcinoma is unknown. This study evaluated the effect of infrahepatic IVC clamping on blood loss during liver transection. Methods. Clinical and pathological data were collected retrospectively for 116 cholangiocarcinoma patients who underwent major hepatectomy between January 2015 and December 2016, to investigate the benefit of infrahepatic IVC clamping. Two of five surgeons adapted the policy performing infrahepatic IVC clamping during liver transection in all cases. Patients, therefore, were divided into those (

n
=
39

; 33.6%) who received infrahepatic IVC clamping during liver transection (C1) and those (

n
=
77

; 66.4%) who did not (C0). Results. The patients’ backgrounds, operative parameters, and extent of hepatectomy did not differ significantly between the 2 groups, except for gender. A significantly lower blood loss (

p
=
0.028

), blood transfusion (

p
=
0.011

), and rate of vascular inflow occlusion requirement (

p
<
0.001

) were observed in the C1 group. The respective blood losses in the C1 group and the C0 group were 498.9 (95% CI: 375.8-622.1) and 685.6 (95% CI: 571-800.2) millilitres. Conclusions. The current study found infrahepatic IVC clamping during liver transection for cholangiocarcinoma reduces blood loss, blood transfusion, and rate of vascular inflow occlusion requirement.
Methods to Test the Compressive Strength of Earth Blocks
Authors: Lan Guanqi , Chao Sisi , Wang Yihong , Cui Ying
Published: August 2021

The efficient design of new earth structures and the restoration of old structures both require a reliable assessment of the compressive strength of earth materials. However, there is still much debate on the best method to accurately measure the compressive strength of earth blocks. To solve the problem of measuring the compressive strength of the earth block, the cube specimen, the half‐block stacked specimen, and the full‐size block specimen are used to measure the compressive strength of the molded adobe and rammed adobe, respectively, considering the influence of the specimen preparation process, loading direction, capping, and other factors. By comparing and analyzing the stress state, failure mode, and compressive strength of the specimen under various test methods, a compressive strength test method of earth blocks is determined, which is simple to operate, easy to standardize, and as close as possible to the actual strength of the blocks. The results show that the full‐size block compression test method along the block thickness direction should be preferred to test the compressive strength of the earth block. The standard specimen obtained by cutting the full‐size block is not suitable for the test of the compressive strength of the earth block; it can effectively solve the problem that the compressive strength of the small‐thickness earth block cannot be directly measured by cutting the full‐size block in half and stacking it, but it is not recommended to use the binder to bond the two half‐blocks. When comparing the compressive strength of the earth blocks, the conversion coefficient related to the height‐to‐thickness ratio of the specimen cannot be used to convert the compressive strength. Still, the anisotropy of the material strength should be considered.
Research on a High‐Speed and Heavy‐Duty Closed‐Loop Drive System of a Two‐Phase Hybrid Stepping Motor Based on a Hybrid Controller
Authors: Yansuo Zhou , Yonggang Leng , Wenqi Lu , Yu Li , Qingmian Li , Di Wu
Published: August 2021

Low load capacity and poor positioning accuracy of stepper motors in high‐speed operation are currently two of the bottlenecks that limit their application in high‐speed and heavy‐duty drive applications. To solve this problem, a hybrid controller is proposed for the high‐speed heavy‐duty closed‐loop stepper motor driving system, which includes two core contents. First, for the position control, a hybrid controller based on position error for open‐loop/closed‐loop automatic switching‐combined spatial current given amplitude and angle automatic adjustment is proposed. Secondly, an advanced angle compensation strategy based on error‐integrated feedforward is adopted to compensate for the electrical angle of the combined space current vector. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, theoretical analysis and system development as well as testing are carried out. Compared with the traditional open‐loop drive system, results show that the maximum operating speed and maximum torque of the newly developed drive system based on the proposed method are improved by 50% and 81.25%, respectively. And at the same set speed and position, the response speed is faster and the accuracy of the steady‐state process is higher. In the case of setting higher running speed and load torque, the drive system also maintains high‐precision operation.
A Novel Megastable Oscillator with a Strange Structure of Coexisting Attractors: Design, Analysis, and FPGA Implementation
Authors: Zhang Kui , Vijayakumar M. D. , Jamal Sajjad Shaukat , Natiq Hayder , Rajagopal Karthikeyan , Jafari Sajad , Hussain Iqtadar
Published: August 2021

Megastable chaotic systems are somehow the newest in the family of special chaotic systems. In this paper, a new megastable two‐dimensional system is proposed. In this system, coexisting attractors are in some islands, interestingly covered by megalimit cycles. The introduced two‐dimensional system has no defined equilibrium point. However, it seems that the origin plays the role of an unstable equilibrium point. Therefore, the attractors are determined as hidden attractors. Adding a forcing term to the system, we can obtain chaotic solutions and coexisting strange attractors. Moreover, the effect of three different values of the forcing term’s amplitude is studied. The dynamical properties of the designed system are investigated using attractor plots, bifurcation diagrams, and Lyapunov Exponents diagram. Phase portraits of the novel megastable oscillator are presented by FPGA design. Xilinx system generator block diagrams of the proposed system and trigonometric functions are also presented.
Green Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles as Potent Antifungal Agent against Aspergillus terreus Thom
Authors: Anum Faiza , Jabeen Khajista , Javad Sumera , Iqbal Sumera , Tahir Arifa , Javed Zeeshan , Cruz-Martins Natália , Ayatollahi Seyed Abdulmajid , Sharifi-Rad Javad , Alshehri Mohammed M. , Cho William C.
Published: August 2021

Medicinal plants are composed of a rich pool of biomolecules and have been increasingly recognized for their antimicrobial properties; however, increasing concerns have been put on the bioavailability features. Thus, this study is aimed at exploring the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized by Chenopodium album L. leaf extract and assessing the antifungal activity against Aspergillus terreus Thom. Plant extract was prepared in methanol to synthetize silver nanoparticles, which were then characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy, and particle size analysis. UV-Visible analysis indicated maximum absorption at 378 nm, and an average particle size was observed as 25.6 nm. Oval to hexagonal shape was observed by SEM. Antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5%) was addressed against A. terreus biomass. At 3.5%, silver nanoparticles revealed to be highly effective, leading to 92% retardation in fungus growth. In next phase, various organic fractions, viz., chloroform, n-butanol, n-hexane, and ethyl acetate, were obtained from plant methanol extract, and the corresponding silver nanoparticles were prepared. These fractions were also assessed for antifungal activity, and n-hexane fraction led to 64% inhibition in A. terreus biomass. Following gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 18 compounds were identified, namely, 1,3-cyclopentadiene-5-(1 methylethylidene and o-xylene), ethyl benzene, octadecane, nonane, decane, 2-methylheptane, n-hexadecane, 2-methylheptane, and eicosane, along with carbonyl compounds (4,4-dimethyl-3-hexanone) and phenols, like stearic acid, propionic acid hydrazide, and 2,4-di-T-butylphenol. These findings proved that C. album silver nanoparticles are highly effective against A. terreus.
Parosmia, Dysgeusia, and Tongue Features Changes in a Patient with Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
Authors: Eita Aliaa Abdelmoniem Bedeir
Published: August 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the pandemic of major global concern that has been causing several tragic events ever since December 2019. Infection with COVID-19 varies from being asymptomatic or mild with general unwellness to severe with difficulty in breathing and even mortality. Recently, several reports signified the persistence of symptoms or the development of new ones for weeks or months after the virus has gone, the so-called “post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.” This article presents a 31-year-old female with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome showing parosmia, dysgeusia, and tongue feature changes as simultaneous newly developed manifestations after the viral clearance. Follow-up revealed complete remission of manifestations after one month. Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome can show oral manifestations. Despite the lack of evidence regarding the etiology, risk factors, and consequences of post-COVID-19 syndrome, it is important to monitor COVID-19 survivors to avoid complications during their recovery period.
Multitype Damage Detection of Container Using CNN Based on Transfer Learning
Authors: Wang Zixin , Gao Jing , Zeng Qingcheng , Sun Yuhui
Published: August 2021

Due to the repeated bearing of mechanical operations and natural factors, the container will suffer various types of damage during use. Adopting effective container damage detection methods plays a vital role in prolonging the service life and using function. This paper proposes a multitype damage detection model for containers based on transfer learning and MobileNetV2. In addition, a data set containing nine typical types of container damage is established. To ensure the validity and practicability of the model, we conducted tests and verifications in the actual port environment. The results show that the model can identify multiple types of container damage. Compared with the existing models, the damage detection model proposed in this paper can ensure the identification effect of various types of container damage, which is more suitable for the actual container detection situation. This method can provide a new idea of damage detection for container management in ports.
Proteomic Analysis of Hypoxia-Induced Senescence of Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Authors: Mai Liping , He Guodong , Chen Jing , Zhu Jiening , Chen Shaoxian , Hou Xinghua , Yang Hui , Zhang Mengzhen , Wu Yueheng , Lin Qiuxiong , Yang Min , Li Xiaohong
Published: August 2021

Background and Aim. The senescence of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) can be induced by oxidative stress, but the mechanism by which it occurs is not yet clear. Here, we performed an investigation on the pathogenesis of hypoxia-induced senescence through proteomic analyses and aimed to explore the mechanisms of stem cell senescence. Methods. Hypoxia in hBMSCs was induced for 0, 4, and 12 hours, and cellular senescence was evaluated by senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining. Tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling was combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for differential proteomic analysis of hypoxia in hBMSCs. Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) analysis was used to validate the candidate proteins. Verifications of signaling pathways were evaluated by western blotting. Cell apoptosis was evaluated using Annexin V/7-AAD staining by flow cytometry. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by the fluorescent probe 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA). Results. Cell senescence detected by SA-β-gal activity was higher in the 12-hour hypoxia-induced group. TMT analysis of 12-hour hypoxia-induced cells identified over 6000 proteins, including 686 differentially expressed proteins. Based on biological pathway analysis, we found that the senescence-associated proteins were predominantly enriched in the cancer pathways, PI3K-Akt pathway, and cellular senescence signaling pathways. CDK1, CDK2, and CCND1 were important nodes in PPI analyses. Moreover, the CCND1, UQCRH, and COX7C expressions were verified by PRM. Hypoxia induction for 12 hours in hBMSCs reduced CCND1 expression but promoted ROS production and cell apoptosis. Such effects were markedly reduced by the PI3K agonist, 740 Y-P, and attenuated by LY294002. Conclusions. Hypoxia of hBMSCs inhibited CCND1 expression but promoted ROS production and cell apoptosis through activating the PI3K-dependent signaling pathway. These findings provided a detailed characterization of the proteomic profiles related to hypoxia-induced senescence of hBMSCs and facilitated our understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to stem cell senescence.
Predicting Heavy Oil Production by Hybrid Data-Driven Intelligent Models
Authors: Qin Songhai , Liu Jianyi , Yang Xinping , Li Yiyang , Zhang Lifeng , Liu Zhibin
Published: August 2021

It is difficult to determine the main control factors owing to the complex geological conditions of heavy oil reservoirs, including high viscosity, a wide range of variation of crude oil, and the great difference in production between different recovery methods. In this context, main control factors of heavy oil production in different recovery methods are analyzed and obtained based on the Apriori algorithm. The prediction of heavy oil production is faced with problems such as low prediction precision and insufficient data usage. Therefore, a novel intelligent simulation and prediction model of data-driven heavy oil production with time-varying characteristics is established based on differential simulation, machine learning, and intelligent optimization theory, which overcomes the defects of nonlinear, multifactor, and low fitting precision of dynamic data of heavy oil development. The parameters of the heavy oil production time-varying simulation model are identified by the least square support vector machine (LSSVM) to realize the intelligent prediction of the production. Numerical experiments show that the prediction result of the novel intelligent simulation and prediction model is better than the BP neural network model and the GM (1, N) model. This study provides a novel feasible method for data-driven heavy oil production prediction, and it can be helpful in further study of data-driven heavy oil production.
Glycine‐Serine‐Threonine Metabolic Axis Delays Intervertebral Disc Degeneration through Antioxidant Effects: An Imaging and Metabonomics Study
Authors: Wu Xiaolin , Liu Chang , Yang Shuai , Shen Nana , Wang Yan , Zhu Youfu , Guo Zhaoyang , Yang Shang-you , Xing Dongming , Li Houxi , Guo Zhu , Chen Bohua , Xiang Hongfei
Published: August 2021

Although intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) can be described as different stages of change through biological methods, this long and complex process cannot be defined in stages by single or simple combination of biological techniques. Under the background of the development of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology and the emerging metabonomics, we based on animal models and expanded to the study of clinical human degeneration models. The characteristics of different stages of IDD were analyzed by omics. Omics imaging combined with histology, cytology, and proteomics was used for screening of the intervertebral disc (IVD) of research subjects. Furthermore, mass spectrometry nontargeted metabolomics was used to explore profile of metabolites at different stages of the IDD process, to determine differential metabolic pathways and metabolites. NMR spectroscopy was used to qualitatively and quantitatively identify markers of degeneration. NMR was combined with mass spectrometry metabolomics to explore metabolic pathways. Metabolic pathways were determined through protein molecular biology and histocytology of the different groups. Distinguishing advantages of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for analysis of metabolites and effective reflection of structural integrity and water molecule metabolism through diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were further used to verify the macrometabolism profile during degeneration. A corresponding model of in vitro metabolomics and in vivo omics imaging was established. The findings of this study show that a series of metabolic pathways associated with the glycine‐serine‐threonine (Gly‐Ser‐Thr) metabolic axis affects carbohydrate patterns and energy utilization efficiency and ultimately delays disc degeneration through antioxidant effects.
Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Activities of 4,5-Dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carboximidamide Hydrochloride against Salmonella spp.
Authors: Damim Andressa C. , de Albuquerque Danilo Y. , Dantas Fabiana G. S. , Galvão Fernanda , Negri Melyssa , Pizzuti Lucas , Casagrande Gleison A. , Saba Sumbal , Rafique Jamal , de Oliveira Kelly M. P.
Published: August 2021

In the present study, the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of two 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carboximidamide hydrochloride, (trifluoromethyl) phenyl-substituted (compound 1) and bromophenyl-substituted (compound 2), were evaluated against four Salmonella spp. serotypes through broth microdilution and biofilm-forming activity. Further, the cytotoxicity of the compounds was evaluated by cell viability assays using cultures of HeLa and Vero cell lines, and the mutagenic potential was assessed by the Ames test. In the broth microdilution test, compound 1 inhibited 90% of the strains tested at the minimum inhibitory concentration of 62.5 μg mL−1. Furthermore, both compounds prevented biofilm formation, with a reduction of up to 5.2 log10. HeLa and Vero cells exhibited 100% viability in the presence of compound 1. In contrast, low cell viability was observed in the presence of 15 µg mL−1 of compound 2. Furthermore, no mutagenic potential was detected at any of the tested concentrations of compound 1.
Effect of Cooking Oil on the Fatty Acid Profile of Beef Sausage Fortified with Edible Deboned Meat Waste
Authors: Alao Babatunde O. , Falowo Andrew B. , Aladejana Elizabeth Bosede
Published: August 2021

Application of cooking oil during thermal processing can influence the nutritional qualities of meat products during consumption. This study determined the effect of frying with sunflower and olive oil on the fatty acid profile of sausage fortified with edible meat waste (EMW) as a fat replacer was evaluated. Fresh beef sausages were formulated in ratios of 30% lean meat (LM) and 70% EMW, 50% LM and 50% EMW, and 90% LM and 10% fat (control) and designated as T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The proximate analysis results revealed significant differences (P<0.05) in fat, fat free dry matter (FFDM), and moisture contents across the treatment. Fresh beef sausage fortified with 70% EMW had the highest fat contents (25.7±0.83%) while those fortified with 10% fat (T3) had the highest FFDM (55.85±0.57%) and moisture content (69.15±0.62) compared to other treatments. In addition, among individual saturated fatty acids, beef sausage fortified with 50% meat wastes (T1) revealed significantly higher palmitic acid (31.06±0.13), stearic acid (22.52±0.29), myristic acid (3.84±0.05), and lauric acid (0.04±0.05) and the lowest margaric (0.98±0.02) contents as compared to treatments T2 and T3. Also, beef sausage containing 10% fat showed the lowest (P<0.05) saturated fatty acid (SFA) and higher monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), n-6, n-3, PUFA : SFA, PUFA/MUFA, n-6/n-3, and desaturase indexes (DI) compared to treatments T1 and T2. Frying with sunflower oil significantly increased PUFA, n-6, n-6/n-3, and desaturase indexes and lowered SFA, n-3, and PUFA/SFA compared to frying with olive oil. In relation to raw beef sausage, frying with oil substantially increased the amount of MUFA, PUFA, n-6, and PUFA/SFA but reduced SFA content across the treatments.
An Approach to Modeling and Analyzing Reliability for Microservice‐Oriented Cloud Applications
Authors: Liu Zheng , Fan Guisheng , Yu Huiqun , Chen Liqiong
Published: August 2021

Microservice architecture is a cloud‐native architectural style, which has attracted extensive attention from the scientific research and industry communities to benefit independent development and deployment. However, due to the complexity of cloud‐based platforms, the design of fault‐tolerant strategies for microservice‐oriented cloud applications becomes challenging. In order to improve the quality of service, it is essential to focus on the microservice with more criticality and maximize the reliability of the entire cloud application. This paper studies the modeling and analysis of service reliability in the cloud environment. Firstly, a formal description language is defined to model microservice, user request, and container accurately. Secondly, the reliability analysis is conducted to measure a critical microservice’s fluctuation and vibration attributes within a period, and the related properties of the constructed model are analyzed. Thirdly, a fault‐tolerant strategy with redundancy operation has been proposed to optimize cloud application reliability. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is verified by experiments. The simulation results show that the algorithm obtains the maximum benefits and has high performance through several experiments.
A New Class of Contact Pseudo Framed Manifolds with Applications
Authors: Duggal K. L.
Published: August 2021

In this paper, we introduce a new class of contact pseudo framed (CPF)-manifoldsM,g,f,λ,ξby a real tensor fieldfof type1,1, a real functionλsuch thatf3=λ2fwhereξis its characteristic vector field. We prove in our main Theorem 2 thatMadmits a closed 2-formΩifλis constant. In 1976, Blair proved that the vector fieldξof a normal contact manifold is Killing. Contrary to this, we have shown in Theorem 2 that, in general,ξof a normal CPF-manifold is non-Killing. We also have established a link of CPF-hypersurfaces with curvature, affine, conformal collineations symmetries, and almost Ricci soliton manifolds, supported by three applications. Contrary to the odd-dimensional contact manifolds, we construct several examples of even- and odd-dimensional semi-Riemannian and lightlike CPF-manifolds and propose two problems for further consideration.
Adaptive Spiral Flying Sparrow Search Algorithm
Authors: Ouyang Chengtian , Qiu Yaxian , Zhu Donglin
Published: August 2021

The sparrow search algorithm is a new type of swarm intelligence optimization algorithm with better effect, but it still has shortcomings such as easy to fall into local optimality and large randomness. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes an adaptive spiral flying sparrow search algorithm (ASFSSA), which reduces the probability of getting stuck into local optimum, has stronger optimization ability than other algorithms, and also finds the shortest and more stable path in robot path planning. First, the tent mapping based on random variables is used to initialize the population, which makes the individual position distribution more uniform, enlarges the workspace, and improves the diversity of the population. Then, in the discoverer stage, the adaptive weight strategy is integrated with Levy flight mechanism, and the fusion search method becomes extensive and flexible. Finally, in the follower stage, a variable spiral search strategy is used to make the search scope of the algorithm more detailed and increase the search accuracy. The effectiveness of the improved algorithm ASFSSA is verified by 18 standard test functions. At the same time, ASFSSA is applied to robot path planning. The feasibility and practicability of ASFSSA are verified by comparing the algorithms in the raster map planning routes of two models.
Development of a Mobile Application Platform for Self-Management of Obesity Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques
Authors: Sefa-Yeboah Sylvester M. , Osei Annor Kwabena , Koomson Valencia J. , Saalia Firibu K. , Steiner-Asiedu Matilda , Mills Godfrey A.
Published: August 2021

Obesity is a major global health challenge and a risk factor for the leading causes of death, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Attempts to manage and regulate obesity have led to the implementation of various dietary regulatory initiatives to provide information on the calorie contents of meals. Although knowledge of the calorie content is useful for meal planning, it is not sufficient as other factors, including health status (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) and level of physical activity, are essential in the decision process for obesity management. In this work, we present an artificial intelligence- (AI-) based application that is driven by a genetic algorithm (GA) as a potential tool for tracking a user’s energy balance and predicting possible calorie intake required to meet daily calorie needs for obesity management. The algorithm takes the users’ input information on desired foods which are selected from a database and extracted records of users on cholesterol level, diabetes status, and level of physical activity, to predict possible meals required to meet the users need. The micro- and macronutrients of food content are used for the computation and prediction of the potential foods required to meet the daily calorie needs. The functionality and performance of the model were tested using a sample of 30 volunteers from the University of Ghana. Results revealed that the model was able to predict both glycemic and non-glycemic foods based on the condition of the user as well as the macro- and micronutrients requirements. Moreover, the system is able to adequately track the progress of the user’s weight loss over time, daily nutritional needs, daily calorie intake, and predictions of meals that must be taken to avoid compromising their health. The proposed system can serve as a useful resource for individuals, dieticians, and other health management personnel for managing obesity, patients, and for training students in fields of dietetics and consumer science.
Recognition of Design Fixation via Body Language Using Computer Vision
Authors: Yang Zhongliang , Chen Yumiao , Zhang Song
Published: August 2021

The main objective of this study is to recognize design fixation accurately and effectively. First, we conducted an experiment to record the videos of design process and design sketches from 12 designers for 15 minutes. Then, we executed a video analysis of body language in designers, correlating body language to the presence of design fixation, as judged by a panel of six experts. We found that three body language types were significantly correlated to fixation. A two-step hybrid recognition model of design fixation based on body language was proposed. The first-step recognition model of body language using transfer learning based on a pretrained VGG-16 convolutional neural network was constructed. The average recognition rate achieved by the VGG-16 model was 92.03%. Then, the frames of recognized body language were used as input vectors to the second-step fixation classification model based on support vector machine (SVM). The average recognition rate for the fixation state achieved by the SVM model was 79.11%. The impact of the work could be that the fixation can be detected not only by the sketch outcomes but also by monitoring the movements, expressions, and gestures of designers, as it is happening by monitoring the movements, expressions, and gestures of designers.
[Retracted] Multimodal Emotion Recognition Model Based on a Deep Neural Network with Multiobjective Optimization
Authors: Li Mingyong , Qiu Xue , Peng Shuang , Tang Lirong , Li Qiqi , Yang Wenhui , Ma Yan
Published: August 2021

With the rapid development of deep learning and wireless communication technology, emotion recognition has received more and more attention from researchers. Computers can only be truly intelligent when they have human emotions, and emotion recognition is its primary consideration. This paper proposes a multimodal emotion recognition model based on a multiobjective optimization algorithm. The model combines voice information and facial information and can optimize the accuracy and uniformity of recognition at the same time. The speech modal is based on an improved deep convolutional neural network (DCNN); the video image modal is based on an improved deep separation convolution network (DSCNN). After single mode recognition, a multiobjective optimization algorithm is used to fuse the two modalities at the decision level. The experimental results show that the proposed model has a large improvement in each evaluation index, and the accuracy of emotion recognition is 2.88% higher than that of the ISMS_ALA model. The results show that the multiobjective optimization algorithm can effectively improve the performance of the multimodal emotion recognition model.
A Collusion-Resistant Blockchain-Enabled Data Sharing Scheme with Decryption Outsourcing under Time Restriction
Authors: Shen Xieyang , Huang Chuanhe , Shen Xiajiong , Shi Jiaoli , Wang Danxin
Published: August 2021

With the ever-increasing demands on decentralization and transparency of cloud storage, CP-ABE (Ciphertext Policy-Attribute-Based Encryption) has become a promising technology for blockchain-enabled data sharing methods due to its flexibility. However, real-world blockchain applications usually have some special requirements like time restrictions or power limitations. Thus, decryption outsourcing is widely used in data sharing scenarios and also causes concerns about data security. In this paper, we proposed a secure access control scheme based on CP-ABE, which could share contents during a particular time slot in blockchain-enabled data sharing systems. Specifically, we bind the time period with both ciphertexts and the keys to archive the goal of only users who have the required attributes in a particular time slot can decrypt the content. Besides, we use time slots as a token to protect the data and access control scheme when users want to outsource the decryption phase. The security analysis shows that our scheme can provide collusion resistance ability under a time restriction, and performance evaluations indicate that our scheme uses less time in decryption compared to other schemes while ensuring security.
Influence of Frying Methods on Quality Characteristics and Volatile Flavor Compounds of Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) Meatballs
Authors: Jin Wengang , Pei Jinjin , Chen Xiaohua , Geng Jingzhang , Chen Dejing , Gao Ruichang
Published: August 2021

Effects of deep fat frying and hot air frying on texture, color difference, sensory score, yield, fat content, and volatile flavor compounds of giant salamander meatballs before and after frying were investigated. The results showed that, compared with the deep fat frying group, hot air-fried giant salamander meatballs had higher hardness, elasticity, and L

∗

(

p
<
0.05

), but lower a

∗

, b

∗

value, fat content, and yield (

p
<
0.05

). There was little distinction in sensory score, cohesiveness, and chewiness between the two frying methods (

p
>
0.05

). Gas chromatography ion migration chromatography (GC-IMS) was used for flavor compound analysis, and 50 flavor compounds were analyzed, containing 22 aldehydes, 11 ketones, 6 olefins, 4 acids, 3 esters, 3 alcohols, and 1 phenol. Compared with the samples before frying, the relative contents of aldehydes and ketones of fried giant salamander meatballs increased significantly, while the relative contents of esters and alkenes decreased significantly. Principal component analysis showed that the GC-IMS spectra of volatile flavor compounds before and after deep fat frying and hot air frying varied greatly, and the cumulative contribution rate of the two principal components reached 86.1%, indicating that the GC-IMS technology might be used to distinguish giant salamander meatballs before and after frying, or with different frying methods. These results may offer a note for development and quality control of the precooked giant salamander meatballs in the future.
Normalized Combinations of Proportionate Affine Projection Sign Subband Adaptive Filter
Authors: An Tong , Zhang Tao , Geng Yanzhang , Jiao Haiquan
Published: August 2021

The proportionate affine projection sign subband adaptive filter (PAP-SSAF) has a better performance than the affine projection sign subband adaptive filter (AP-SSAF) when we eliminate the echoes. Still, the robustness of the PAP-SSAF algorithm is insufficient under unknown environmental conditions. Besides, the best balance remains to be found between low steady-state misalignment and fast convergence rate. In order to solve this problem, we propose a normalized combination of PAP-SSAF (NCPAP-SSAF) based on the normalized adaption schema. In this paper, a power normalization adaptive rule for mixing parameters is proposed to further improve the performance of the NCPAP-SSAF algorithm. By using Nesterov’s accelerated gradient (NAG) method, the mixing parameter of the control combination can be obtained with less time consumed when we take the l1-norm of the subband error as the cost function. We also test the algorithmic complexity and memory requirements to illustrate the rationality of our method. In brief, our study contributes a novel adaptive filter algorithm, accelerating the convergence speed, reducing the steady-state error, and improving the robustness. Thus, the proposed method can be utilized to improve the performance of echo cancellation. We will optimize the combination structure and simplify unnecessary calculations to reduce the algorithm’s computational complexity in future research.
Application of NRS2002 in Preoperative Nutritional Screening for Patients with Liver Cancer
Authors: Huang Suling , Wang Shijie , Xie Yuankang , He Xiao , Yi Xiuying , Zhang Jianhong , Deng Zuomei , Yin Ling
Published: August 2021

Objective. To explore the application of NRS2002 in preoperative nutritional screening of patients with liver cancer (LC). Methods. 60 LC patients treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University (January 2018–May 2021) were chosen as the research objects, and split into group J without nutritional risk and group Q with nutritional risk according to the results of NRS2002 to compare the preoperative situation, surgery-related indexes, hematological indexes, postoperative recovery, and incidence of complications between the two groups. Results. Group J (n = 28) and group Q (n = 32) showed no obvious difference in preoperative situation, and patients’ liver function indexes were within the normal range. The duration of surgery in group J was notably shorter compared with group Q (

P
<
0.05

). Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), direct bilirubin (DBIL), and albumin in group J were notably different from those of group Q (

P
<
0.001

) at 1 day after surgery. ALT and AST in group J were notably different from those of group Q at 3 days after surgery (

P
<
0.001

). No obvious differences were observed in the hematological indexes between the two groups at 5 days after surgery (

P
>
0.05

). The total amount of albumin infusion, postoperative hospitalization time, and hospitalization cost in group J were notably lower compared with group Q (

P
<
0.001

). The incidence of complications in group J was notably lower compared with group Q (

P
<
0.05

). Conclusion. Postoperative recovery of LC patients is closely related to their preoperative nutritional status, and those with poor nutritional status have a high incidence of postoperative complications and long recovery time. NRS2002 can effectively screen the nutritional status of patients and provide reference for prognosis evaluation.
Probabilistic Prediction of Unsafe Event in Air Traffic Control Department Based on the Improved Backpropagation Neural Network
Authors: Liao Yong , Miao Zhiyang , Yang Changqi
Published: August 2021

Air traffic control is an important tool to ensure the safety of civil aviation. For the departments that do the work of air traffic control, reducing the percentage of unsafe event is the core task of safety management. If the relationship between the percentage of unsafe event and their influencing factors can be effectively clarified, then the probability of unsafe event in some control department can be predicted. So, it is of great importance to improve the level of safety management. To quantitatively estimate the probability of unsafe event, a three-layer BP neural network model is introduced in this paper. First, a probabilistic representation of unsafe event related to air traffic control department is made, and then, the probability of different classes of unsafe events and safe events is taken as the outputs of the BP neural network, the factors influencing occurrence of unsafe event connected with air traffic control is taken as inputs, and the sigmoid function is chosen as activation function for the hidden layer. Based on the error function of neural network, it is proved that the general BP neural network has two drawbacks when used for the training of small probability events, which are as follows: the pattern does not ensure that the sum of probability of all events is equal to one and the relative error between the actual outputs and desired outputs is very large after the training of neural network. The reason proved in this paper is that the occurrence rate of the unsafe event is much smaller than that of the safe event, resulting in each weight in the hide layer being subjected to the desired outputs of the safe event when using the gradient descent method for network training. To address this issue, a new mapping method is put forward to reduce the large difference of the desired outputs between the safe event and unsafe event. It is theoretically proved that the mapping method proposed in this paper can not only improve the training accuracy but also ensure that the sum of probability is equal to one. Finally, a numeric example is given to demonstrate that the method proposed in this paper is effective and feasible.