bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of orofacial myofunctional therapy on the middle-mixed dentition patients with incompetent lips
Authors: Yang Xue , Lai Guangyun , Wang Jun
Published: July 2022

Background: Various pre-formed early orthodontic appliances for correcting bad oral habits and training orofacial muscles have emerged on the market. However, reports on the orofacial myofunctional training effects of the appliances are few. Methods: This retrospective study selected children with incompetent lips in the middle-mixed dentition from all the patients treated at the Pediatric Dentistry Department of Shanghai Ninth people’s Hospital from 2016 to 2018. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they had done the orofacial myofunctional exercises. For each subject of the two groups, initial (pre-treatment, T1) and final (post-treatment, T2) internal and external photos, dental casts, lateral cephalograms, and orthopantograms(OPG) were taken, and lip strength was measured. Dolphin Imaging Cephalometric Analysis Software measured SNA, SNB, ANB, APDI, FMA, U1SN, and IMPA before and after treatment. The hyoid bone position was also recorded. Significant between-group differences were tested with an independent sample t-test (P < 0.05). Results: A total of 109 children (54 males, 55 females; age range:7-10 years, mean age: 8.2 years) were selected from a parent sample of 870 patients. The first group consisted of 56 subjects (30 females; 26 males) with a mean age of 8.1 years (SD 1.1 years) treated with orofacial myofunctional treatment and preformed appliances. The second group consisted of 53 subjects (25 females; 28 males) with a mean age of 8.2 years (SD 1.0 years) treated with conventional early orthodontic treatment without orofacial myofunctional therapy. In the first group, statistically significant forward movement of the mandible was indicated by an increase of SNB by -1.06 degrees (P < 0.01) and an increase of APDI by -2.23 degrees (P < 0.01). The increase of IMPA (-3.21 degrees, P < 0.01) demonstrated a statistically significant proclination of the lower incisors. The increase in HC3 (-1 mm, P < 0.01) and HFH (-2.95 mm, P < 0.01) implied the forward and downward movement of the hyoid bone. The OMT resulted in a statistically significant increase in lip strength (-2.30, P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in LS, SNB and IMPA between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Orofacial myofunctional therapy was effective for middle-mixed dentition patients with incompetent lips. It can result in significant improvement of lip strength and forward movement of the mandible, which can perfect the jaw relationship.
A crack detection method for aero-engine blade based on air-flow thermography
Authors: Pan Xiaofeng , Xiang Tianle , He Yanjie , Wu Jianbo , Xia Hui , Lei Ting
Published: July 2022

Aero-engine blade is one of the core components of aero-engine and its safe service is crucial to the normal operation of aero-engine. Thus, it is very important to localize and quantify cracks of aero-engine blades to prevent safety accidents. To guarantee the structural health of aero-engine blades, the air-flow thermography (AFT) method which has advantages of non-contact, high performance, and sensitivity, was proposed for detection of the blade cracks. Firstly, the theoretical thermal response model was established and the crack simulation models with different depths were constructed. Then a detection system was established to detect the artificial cracks with different depths and orientations. Results showed that the proposed method can effectively quantify the cracks with different depths from 0.2 mm to1.0 mm and characterize the crack orientations. In addition, the natural crack on the blade was detected and the principal component analysis (PCA) method was used to enhance the crack contrast with the background.
Robustness under parameter and problem domain alterations of Bayesian optimisation methods for chemical reactions
Authors: Khondaker Rubaiyat Mohammad , Gow Stephen , Kanza Samantha , Frey Jeremy G , Niranjan Mahesan
Published: July 2022

Chemical reaction optimisation concerns the discovery of reaction conditions that provide the best percentage yield of the target product. The space of possible reaction conditions is too large to search in full, so identifying a globally optimal set of conditions must instead draw on mathematical methods to identify areas of the space that should be investigated. An intriguing contribution to this area of research is the recent development of the Experimental Design for Bayesian Optimisation (EDBO) optimiser. Bayesian optimisation works by building an approximation to the true function to be optimised based on a small set of simulations, and selecting the next point (or points) to be tested based on an acquisition function reflecting the value of different points within the input space. In this work, we evaluated the robustness of the EDBO optimiser under several changes to its specification. We investigated the effect on the performance of the optimiser of altering the acquisition function and batch size, applied the method to other existing reaction yield data sets, and considered its performance in the new problem domain of molecular power conversion efficiency in photovoltaic cells. Our results indicated that the EDBO optimiser broadly performs well under these changes; of particular note is the competitive performance of the computationally cheaper acquisition function Thompson sampling when compared to the original expected improvement function, and some concerns around the method's performance for "incomplete" input domains.
Design and analysis of MIMO system for THz communication using terahertz patch antenna array based on photonic crystals with graphene
Authors: Benlakehal Mohamed Elamine , Hocini Abdesselam , Khedrouche Djamel , Temmar Mohamed Nasr eddine , Denidni Tayeb Ahmed
Published: July 2022

In this paper, a novel multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) antenna system with a graphene-based patch antenna arrays for THz communications channel capacity enhancement has been proposed and investigated. Systematic analysis has been conducted on the graphene load conductivity by determining the operating modes related to its chemical potential. Further, the projected MIMO antenna arrays have been designed with three different approaches such as homogeneous, photonic crystals and optimized photonic crystals. The targeted MIMO antenna arrays have been compared with their radiation characteristics such as return loss, bandwidth and gain. The obtained results in CST simulations of the proposed graphene-based 1×2 patch antenna array using optimized photonic crystals substrate exhibited excellent performance improvement as compared to the homogeneous substrate and photonic crystals substrate around 0.65 THz, which achieved a peak gain of 11.80 dB and broad bandwidth greater than 614 GHz. Next, The 2x2 MIMO system scenario was studied and analyzed using the mentioned targeted MIMO antenna arrays by calculating the total path loss and the channel capacity. The obtained results showed that the proposed 2x2 MIMO system with MIMO antenna array based on the optimized photonic crystals substrate achieved the highest capacity and the lowest total loss compared to a simple MIMO antenna array based on a homogeneous substrate. The capacity was calculated as 23.64 bit/s/Hz, and this was a remarkable enhancement compared with previously reported studies. In addition, this capacity was investigated further for
different system configurations and different spacings between the transmission antennas and receiver antennas.
Enhancing the invasive traits of breast cancers by CYP1B1 via regulation of p53 to promote uPAR expression
Authors: Chun Young-Jin , Kwon Yeo-Jung , Shin Sangyun , Kwon Tae-Uk , Lee Boyoung , Kim Donghak , Moon Aree
Published: July 2022

Human cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) catalyzes estrogen metabolism to produce metabolites that promote the progression of breast cancer. Since the invasive properties of cancer cells cause cancer relapse, which dramatically reduces patient survival, we investigated the new pro-invasive mechanism involving CYP1B1 in breast cancer. Exploring clinical data from invasive breast cancer patients revealed that CYP1B1 exhibits a significant correlation with various key factors for cancer invasion. In particular, urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) was strongly overexpressed in invasive breast cancer patients, and CYP1B1 significantly increased uPAR expression. Interestingly, uPAR mRNA expression was elevated in invasive breast cancer patients carrying TP53 genes with driver mutations, and our results showed that CYP1B1 activates the uPAR pathway following regulation of p53 according to its mutant status. CYP1B1 suppressed wild-type p53 via transcriptional regulation, whereas it induced the oncogenic gain-of-function mutant p53R280K via protein stabilization and activation following phosphorylation on Ser15 residue of p53R280K. Collectively, our results demonstrate that CYP1B1 may reduce the relapse-free survival rate of breast cancer patients by inducing invasive traits in cancer cells via p53 regulation based on the mutation status of TP53 genes and further activation of the uPAR pathway. The elucidation of the previously unknown molecular mechanism of CYP1B1 may provide evidence for the development of effective anti-cancer therapeutic strategies that target the progression of cancer invasion.
Ground Water Management Studies Using RS & GIS Techniques for Gorakhpur City
Authors: Kasaudhan Pankaj , Rishita Kumari , Singh Isha , Nishad Omkar , Kumar Ankur
Published: July 2022

This study included advanced technology and tool combination applications such as remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) & electrical resistance, potential zones of MCDA Groundwater resources. Groundwater is the most valuable and widespread resource on Earth. It is an important water source for a variety of purposes such as household, industrial and agricultural needs. In the hydrological cycle, groundwater occurs when surface water (precipitation) penetrates deep and fills the spaces between cracks in soil or sediment particles or rocks. Geology, geomorphology, precipitation, Alignment, land use, land cover (LULC), drainage density, soil type, slope, and texture were mapped. It has a weight according to the effect on the groundwater potential. Affected normalization. In this study, we use the AHP method to apply relative contributions. Vertical electric sounding was performed at various points to find the aquatic layer / fracture zone. The areas of groundwater potential depicted using these methods were divided into five categories. Zone, low, medium, medium high, high, very high potential. groundwater potential zone the depiction shows that high potential regions exist in the western and northeast regions, while there are low regions. Intermediate groundwater potential located in central and eastern. The research work plans to develop a methodology based on fuzzy logic & AHP for mapping the groundwater potential of the study area.
Shape-aware Stochastic Neighbor Embedding for Robust Data Visualisations
Authors: Li Chun-Biu , Tyrcha Joanna , Wängberg Tobias
Published: July 2022

Background: The t-distributed Stochastic Neighbour Embedding (t-SNE) algorithm has emerged as one of the leading methods for visualising High Dimensional (HD) data in a wide variety of fields, especially for revealing cluster structure in HD single cell transcriptomics data. However, t-SNE often fails to correctly represent hierarchical relationships between clusters and creates spurious patterns in the embedding. In this work we generalized t-SNE using shape-aware graph distances to mitigate some of the limitations of the t-SNE. Although many methods have been recently proposed to circumvent the shortcomings of t-SNE, notably Uniform manifold approximation (UMAP) and Potential of heat diffusion for affinity-based transition embedding (PHATE), we see a clear advantage of the proposed graph based method. Results: The superior performance of the proposed method is first demonstrated on simulated data, where a significant improvement compared to t-SNE, UMAP and PHATE, based on quantitative validation indices, is observed when visualizing imbalanced, nonlinear, continuous and hierarchically structured data. Thereafter the ability of the proposed method compared to the competing methods to create faithfully low dimensional embeddings is shown on two real-world data sets, the single cell transcriptomics data and the MNIST image data. In addition, the only hyper-parameter of the method can be automatically chosen in a data-driven way, which is consistently optimal across all test cases in this study. Conclusions: In this work we show that the proposed shape-aware stochastic neighbor embedding method creates low dimensional visualisations that robustly and accurately reveal key structures of high dimensional data.
Comparison of oocyte vitrification using a semi-automated or a manual closed system in human siblings: survival and transcriptomic analyses
Authors: Barberet Julie , Ducreux Bastien , Bruno Céline , Guilleman Magali , Simonot Raymond , Lieury Nicolas , Guilloteau Adrien , Bourc'his Déborah , Fauque Patricia
Published: July 2022

Background : Indications of oocyte vitrification increased substantially over the last decades for clinical and ethical reasons. A semi-automated vitrification system was recently developed making each act of vitrification reproducible. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of the semi-automated technique of oocyte vitrification by survival rate, morphometric assessment and resistance to empty micro-injection gesture as compared with a manual method. Additionally, we intended to evaluate transcriptomic consequences of both techniques using single-cell RNA-seq technology.Results : Post-warming survival rate, oocyte surfaces and resistance to empty micro-injection were comparable between semi-automated and manual vitrification groups. Both oocyte vitrification techniques showed limited differences in the resulting transcriptomic profile of sibling oocytes since only 5 differentially expressed genes were identified. Additionally, there was no difference in median transcript integrity number or percentage of mitochondrial DNA between the two groups. However, a total of 108 genes were differentially expressed between fresh and vitrified oocytes (FDR<0.05) and showed over-represented of genes related to important cellular process.Conclusions : Our results provide reassurance about the influence of semi-automation as compared with the manual vitrification method. Concerning oocyte vitrification itself, no tight common transcriptomic signature associated has been observed across studies.
Protective Effect of High Body Mass Index in Elderly Critically Ill with Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia: Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Kurnik Marko , Božič Helena , Vindišar Anže , Kolar Petra , Podbregar Matej
Published: July 2022

Background
Obesity paradox for survival of critically ill is still conflicting, however it seems to be stronger in elderly. Mortality of elderly patients with COVID-19 is high. Aim of our study was to explore the prediction value of body weight on mortality of elderly critically ill with severe COVID-19.
Methods
Consecutive patients, ≥ 70 years old, were included in the final analysis. Body mass index (BMI) was recorded at admission. Classical statistics and logistic regression modelling were used.
Results
In total, 102 patients (26% female, average age 77 ± 5 years), were included. Average length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 11.4 ± 9.2 days. Average BMI was 29.3 ± 5.2 kg/m2. High-flow oxygenation, non-invasive ventilation and invasive mechanical ventilation were at some point used to support 33%, 38% and 68% of patients, respectively. ICU mortality was 50.0%. ICU stay was shorter in survivors (9.1 ± 8.5 vs 13.6 ± 9.4 days, p = 0.01). BMI was higher in survivors (30.5 ± 5.6 vs.28.1 ± 4.5 kg/m2, p = 0.02). 26 (51%) survivors and only 15 (29%) non-survivors had BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 (Chi-square p = 0.025). BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 measured at admission, adjusted for gender and chronic diseases, was related to lower ICU (odds ratio (OR): 0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12 to 0.95, p = 0.04) and hospital (OR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.82, p = 0.024) mortality.
Conclusion
Higher BMI is protective in elderly critically ill patients with severe COVID-19 that require ICU treatment. Survivors have higher BMI and shorter ICU stay.
Treatment of monogenic and digenic dominant genetic hearing loss by CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein delivery in vivo
Authors: Alvarez Veronica Lamas , Tao Yong , Li Yiran , Du Wan , Whittaker Madelynn , Zuris John , Thompson David , Zhu Wenliang , Rameshbabu Arun Prabhu , Shu Yilai , Gao Xue , Hu Johnny , Kong Wei-Jia , Liu Xueazhong , Wu Hao , Kleinstiver Benjamin , Liu David , Chen Zheng-Yi
Published: July 2022

Mutations in Atp2b2, an outer hair cell (OHC) gene, cause dominant hearing loss (HL) in humans. Using a mouse model Atp2b2Obl+, with a dominant HL mutation (Oblivion), we show that liposome-mediated in vivo delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes leads to specific editing of the Obl allele. Large deletions encompassing the Obl locus and indels were identified as the result of editing. In vivo genome editing promotes OHC survival and restores OHC function, leading to robust hearing rescue. We further show in a double-dominant mutant mouse model, in which the Tmc1 Beethoven mutation and the Atp2b2 Oblivion mutation cause di-genic genetic HL, RNP delivery targeting both mutations lead to hearing rescue. These findings suggest that liposome-RNP delivery can be used as a strategy to rescue hearing with dominant mutations in OHC genes and with di-genic mutations in the auditory hair cells, expanding therapeutics of gene editing to treat HL.
Thermal conductivity and diffusivity of human enamel and dentin measured by the light flash method
Authors: Soori Ahmad , Soori Faezeh , Kowsary Farshad , Kasraei Shahin
Published: July 2022

Precise information regarding the thermal properties of human tooth structure such as its thermal conductivity and diffusivity can increase the accuracy of heat transfer modeling, which has recently gained popularity. Moreover, such information is highly important in the designing and production of dental materials. Since the thermal conductivity and diffusivity of human enamel and dentin can be temperature-dependent, the light flash method was used in the present study to measure the diffusivity of human enamel, sound dentin, and carious dentin. Also, data obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to measure the specific heat, and then thermal conductivity was calculated. The results revealed that by an increase in temperature, the conductivity of enamel, sound, and carious dentin increased. The conductivity of enamel at 30, 40, and 50°C was 0.81, 1.20, and 1.53W/(m.K) , respectively. These values were 0.44, 0.91, and 1.15 W/(m.K) for sound dentin, and 0.78, 1.01, and 1.33 W/(m.K) for carious dentin, respectively.
Optimal Pilot and Data Power Allocation in the Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems
Authors: Jamshidi Safora , Mahdiyar Omid , taghizadeh Mehdi , Fatehi Mohammad h. , Ghaedi Amir
Published: July 2022

It is well known that joint pilot and data power control, often known as JPDPC, has a significant effect on cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CFmMIMO) system performance. In this paper, the uplink performance of the CFmMIMO system is evaluated under two conflicting optimization objectives (sum spectral efficiency and proportional fairness) by considering JPDPC as an optimization variable. In the CFmMIMO system with imperfect channel state information (CSI), we first formulate a multi-objective optimization (MOO) problem that can handle the fairness sum-SE trade-off problems. Then, taking into account a total energy budget for each access point, we propose a power control approach that optimally allocates power between data symbols and pilot symbols. Due to the fact that the problem is non-convex, new algorithms based on a combination of successive convex approximation and geometric programming are used to handle it. The numerical results demonstrate the benefit of optimizing the power control over both the pilot and data powers, as contrasted to the scenarios of employing full power and simply optimizing the data powers, as was done in prior studies. Furthermore, the advantage of optimal joint power control in the low SNR regime is confirmed and demonstrated to be significant.
Prognostic value of elastic lamina staining in patients with stage III colon cancer
Authors: Bi Feifei , Li Xiaoyan , Zhang Yong , Wang Zekun , Dong Qian , Zhang Jingdong , Sun Deyu
Published: July 2022

Objective: The objectives of this study were to explore the feasibility of elastic lamina invasion (ELI) as a marker to evaluate the prognosis of stage III colon cancer patients.Methods: A total of 105 consecutive patients underwent radical surgery (R0 resection) for stage III colon cancer at the Cancer Hospital of China Medical University from January 2015 to December 2017. Clinicopathological features, including radiological stage and elastic lamina staining, were analysed for prognostic significance in stage III colon cancer.Results: A total of 105 patients with stage III colon cancer who met the criteria and had complete materials available were included. The median follow-up period of survivors was 41 months. During the follow-up period, 33 (31.4%) patients experienced recurrence after radical resection, and the 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 64.8%. The DFS rate of T3 ELI+ patients was significantly lower than that of T3 ELI- patients (P=0.000). The DFS rate of T3 ELI+ patients was significantly lower than that of pT4a patients (P=0.013). The DFS rate of T3 ELI- patients was significantly higher than that of pT4b patients (P=0.018). In the multivariate analysis, T3 ELI+ ([hazard ratio, HR], 8.444 [95% CI, 1.736-41.067]; P =0.008), N2 stage (HR,10.629[95% CI,3.858-29.286]; P<0.001), stage IIIC (HR, 0.136 [95% CI, 0.31-0.589]; P=0.008) and PNI (HR, 8.393 [95% CI, 2.094-33.637]; P=0.003) were independent risk factors for postoperative recurrence of stage III colon cancer.Conclusions: Elastic lamina staining is expected to become a stratified indicator of recurrence risk for patients with stage III colon cancer and can guide individualized adjuvant chemotherapy, improving patient prognosis.
Study of effect of supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on the production performance of lactating Murrah buffalo under loose housing system
Authors: Dhillod Sandeep , Bidhan Devender Singh , Sihag Sajjan , Sharma Vishal , Singh Man , Singh Narender
Published: July 2022

The present investigation has been undertaken to study the effect of Moringa oleifera supplementation on performance of lactating Murrah buffalo under loose housing system. Eighteen lactating Murrah buffaloes were assigned to three dietary treatment groups (T1, T2 and T3) resulting in six lactating buffaloes per treatment based on parity following factorial completely randomized design. The experiment was conducted for a period for 150 days postpartum (days in milk) to find the effect of supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal in following treatments, namely, T1(control)- Feeding of lactating buffaloes as per Indian Council of Agricultural Research standards (2013), T2-75 g MOLM/animal/day in ration,T3- 150 g MOLM/animal/day in ration. Significantly (P < 0.05) higher milk yield (kg), 6% FCM (kg), and lactose (%) were reported in T3 treatment group as compared to T1. Significantly (P < 0.05) higher milk fat (%) and solid Not Fat (%) and total solids (%) were reported in T2 and T3 treatment group as compared to T1 while milk protein (%) remain unchanged. Peak milk yield was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in T3 treatment groups as compared to T1 (control) but Days taken to attain peak milk yield did not differ significantly among different dietary treatments. Persistency period of peak milk yield were significantly (P < 0.05) greater in T3 treatment groups as compared to T1 (control). It is inferred that MOLM supplementation in ration up to 150 grams increases milk production and production traits as well as improved milk composition.
Physical symptoms as psychiatric manifestation in medical spaces: a qualitative study
Authors: Spurrier Georgia Faith , Schulman Kai , Dibich Sofia , Benoit Laelia , Duckworth Kenneth , Martin Andrés
Published: July 2022

Background: Mental health and physical health issues frequently co-occur, but the impact of the psychological wellbeing on the body’s physical functioning remains poorly understood within medical spaces. Individuals living with psychiatric diagnoses in particular are at an increased risk for developing chronic health issues and may be especially disadvantaged by healthcare systems which treat the mind and body as separate entities. Methods: We analyzed 30 semi-structured interviews of individuals living with a serious mental illness or reflecting on a family member living with a serious mental illness. We deliberately sampled participants who reflected on salient experiences with co-occurring physical and mental health symptoms. All participants were associated with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. We coded interviews using qualitative thematic analysis with an interpretative phenomenological framework centered on participants’ subjective experiences. Results: Our analyses uncovered physical health challenges which often occur in individuals living with a psychiatric illness, emphasizing the bidirectionality of mental and physical symptoms. We identified three overarching domains: (i) manifestations, in which participants reflected on how their body responded physically to mental states; (ii) medical management, in which they discussed challenging experiences seeking medical treatment for physical symptoms while living with a mental health condition; and (iii) disjointedness, in which they reflected on challenges in navigating poorly coordinated mental and physical healthcare systems. Discussion: Participants and their medical providers struggled to incorporate mental wellbeing and its impact on physical health into overall healthcare. Given common experiences with misdiagnoses, difficulties navigating health care, and significantly delayed treatment, medical spaces may be able to improve patient experiences and satisfaction by accounting for psychological influences on health outcomes. Conclusions: Greater integration of physical and mental health care in medical spaces could improve health outcomes and reduce challenges for patients seeking treatment.
Asymmetric Dynamics of Inflation Inertia in Non-Eurozone European Countries
Authors: Özcan Mehmet
Published: July 2022

In the last twenty years, the European economy, which has faced two serious crises, nowadays tries to cope with the negative effects of the pandemic that has affected the whole world. Among all these negative effects, the one experienced by the society most is, without a doubt, high and permanent inflation. In this study, inflation inertia was analyzed with linear and non-linear unit root tests for the seven economies which are in non-Eurozone but are members of the European Union. The non-linear unit root tests used take both structural change and regime switching into account. Thanks to these tests, all none-linear dynamics that can be observed in the inflation series were included in the inflation inertia analysis. Moreover, the respective tests were aimed to obtain empirical data more sensitive to the shocks applied in time by Rolling Windows Sample approach. According to the obtained results, while inflation inertia was detected in Bulgaria, Croatia and Czechia, it was found out that Romania and Sweden economies are the ones with the least inflation inertia.
Epidemiology and Clinical Profile of Neurologic Patients Evaluated In the Emergency Department of Teaching Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Hassan Mohamed Sheikh , Sidow Nor Osman , GÖKGÜL Alper , Adam Bakar Ali , Osman Mohamed Farah , Mohamed Hussein Hassan , Ibrahim Ismail Gedi , Abdi Ishak Ahmed
Published: July 2022

Neurologic disorders are common reasons for emergency consultations. The majority of neurologic disease manifestations in the emergency room (ER) are life-threatening and require urgent treatment. The goal of this study is to investigate the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of different neurological disorders among emergency department admissions in Mogadishu.This is a cross sectional study conducted in the emergency department of Mogadishu Somali Turkish Training and Research Hospital from July 2021 to February 2022. The clinical and epidemiological characteristics of adult patients with neurologic manifestations in the emergency room were evaluated. Age, gender, distribution of neurological disease manifestations, neurological examination findings, and neurological diagnoses made by consultant neurologists were assessed. During the study period, 321 patients out of 8,500 were included in the study accounting for 3.7 percent of all emergency admissions. The majority of the patients in the study were 50 years of age or older (59%). The male subjects accounted for 56% of the total, while females accounted for 44%. Hypertension was the most common co-morbidity among subjects (38%), followed by diabetes mellitus and heart disease. The admission rate was high (78.2%) after neurological evaluation. The most common reason for a neurology consultation (43.9%) was altered mental status, followed by motor deficits and seizures. Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes were the most common diagnoses after neurological evaluation (38.9% and 20.2%, respectively). Among subjects evaluated due to altered mental status, stroke was the most common diagnosis, followed by encephalopathy and status epilepticus. Patients with neurological manifestations in the ER require a multidisciplinary approach. This study illustrates the pattern of neurological emergencies in Somalia’s largest referral hospital and also highlights the significance of neurological assessment by a neurologist in the ER. In our study, hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes were the most prevalent neurologic presentations in the ER, particularly among the elderly.
Active Multi-Target Search Using Distributed Thompson Sampling
Authors: Chen Jun , Dames Philip
Published: July 2022

Distributed search and track is a canonical task for multi-robot systems, encompassing applications from environmental monitoring to disaster response to surveillance. In many situations, the distribution of objects in a search area is irregular, with some areas having high object densities while other areas have low densities. In this paper, we formulate the search task as a multi-armed bandit problem and propose a novel distributed formulation of Bernoulli Thompson sampling that enables robots to share coarse global information across the team. We demonstrate that this new formulation significantly accelerates the speed at which robots find targets compared to previous distributed search approaches. This effect is even more pronounced when the distribution of targets is clustered within small subregions of the search space.
Geochemical properties of kaolin deposits in the Central Region, Ghana: A multivariate statistical approach
Authors: Obiri Samuel , Essumang David Kofi , Armah Frederick Ato , Ason Benjamin
Published: July 2022

The Central Region of Ghana is endowed with rich kaolin deposits with immense potential industrial application which largely remain untapped due to limited information on geochemical properties. This paper assessed the geological composition of kaolin deposits with the view of elucidating their use in the formulation of climate-smart Portland cement. Four kaolin deposits in the Central Region were randomly selected and 20g each of 90mm of the kaolin samples from the selected deposits were analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for the mineralogical composition and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for the elemental composition. The results from the XRF determination were used in the principal component analysis. It was also used to compute geochemical indices, such as chemical index of alteration (CIA), chemical index of weathering (CIW) and the index of compositional variability (ICV) to determine the intensity of weathering of the kaolin as well as identify the different rock types from which they originated. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) values ranges from 86.7% (kaolin deposits in Ekon) to 95.8% (kaolin deposits in Saltpond), which suggest an extreme silicate weathering of feldspars; the chemical index of weathering (CIW) values obtained also ranged from 96.6% to 98.6%, which indicate an increasing degree of weathering; index of compositional variability (ICV) varies from 0.19 to 0.66 as well as low K2O/Al2O3 ratios indicate that kaolin deposits in the study area is compositionally mature and are rich in kaolinite. The geochemical characteristics of studied kaolin suggest that, they can be used in the ceramic, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, paper and other industries. Also, the high concentration of titanium dioxide found as anatasse reduce the quality of the kaolin which needs to be removed. The removed titanium dioxide can then be used in the formulation of climate-smart cement.
The Effects of the HyFlex Learning Model on Undergraduate College Student Activity Levels
Authors: Naidoo M.Sc. Devin , Scozzafava DPT Jason , Steel Emma , Vangsness Rebecca , Woodburn Jacqueline , Etts Katrina , Feinn Richard
Published: July 2022

This study represents a new line of research focused on the potential effects of a hybrid learning model on established health predictors (sleep and activity level) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explored the correlation between the mode of education delivery (online vs. in-person classes) to the students’ sleep duration and activity level. Current literature supports the paradigm that lower physical activity leads to negative health outcomes. At the time of this writing, there was a lack of scientific knowledge on the pandemic-produced ratio of online courses taken per day and face-to-face classes taken per day and how those differences may affect sleep duration and activity levels of college students. The results of this study showed an inversely correlated relationship between the utilization of a HyFlex (online and in-person delivery mode) learning model and students’ activity level. For each additional online class a student took in a given day (when compared to the same student going to in-person classes) the amount of mild activity decreased by nearly 7 minutes (b = − .115, p < .001). This research also found that taking online classes had the same effect on vigorous activity levels, decreasing the time spent in activity by 2.1 minutes for each online course taken on any given day (b = − .035, p = .020). This relationship between online learning and activity level is important in understanding the potential negative effects on physical health for college students as educators try to deliver a robust learning experience via online education both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Food-energy-water nexus potential characterization over Ghanausing fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and GIS
Authors: Nsiah-Gyambibi Rapheal , Amponsah Theophilus Yaw , Ampomah-Benefo Kofi
Published: July 2022

Owing to huge benefits derived from understanding the complexity and association of the food, energy and water, delineation of prospective food-energy-water nexus has been carried out over the Ghana to provide insight into the existing relationship and correlation between the food-energy and water. To achieve this goal, researchers used the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) technique and geographic information systems (GIS) to create a foodenergy-water nexus potential map (FEWM) by combining nine (9) evidential layers that contribute to food, energy and water systems. Three decision makers (DMs) utilized their expertise in modeling food energy water interconnectedness to assigned weight to these 9 strata using the FAHP approach, focusing on their relative importance in terms of food-energy-water nexus characterization within Ghana. Using a fuzzy gamma operator value of 0.9 in GIS, the weights acquired for the various evidential layers were normalized and then merged to produce the FEWM which graphically depicts the food-energy-water nexus over the country.
Gestaltung der digitalen Transformation in Schulen
Authors: Seufert Sabine , Tarantini Eric
Published: July 2022

Die digitale Transformation hat weitreichende Auswirkungen auf Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Davon sind auch der Bildungssektor und Schulen betroffen, insbesondere berufsbildende Schulen, die derzeit einem starken Veränderungsdruck an der Schnittstelle von Beschäftigungs- und Bildungssystem ausgesetzt sind (Seufert et al. 2019). Im Gegensatz zu rein schulischen Ausbildungen bieten kombinierte schulische und betriebliche Bildungsgänge den Lernenden intensive Einblicke in die Arbeitswelt. Daher sind für berufsbildende Schulen zusätzliche Herausforderungen für eine gelingende Lernortkooperation zu berücksichtigen (Wenner 2018). Für eine systematische Schulentwicklung zur Gestaltung der digitalen Transformation haben sich mittlerweile einige konzeptionelle Ansätze entwickelt (Eickelmann und Gerick. 2017; Gräsel, Schledjewski, und Hartmann 2020), die auf die spezifischen Herausforderungen der Berufsbildung übertragen werden können. Darüber hinaus liefern Reifegradmodelle Entwicklungslinien der digitalen Transformation. Anhand einer umfassenden Literaturstudie sowie Experteninterviews mit Schulleitungen an 18 verschiedenen Berufsschulen im Rahmen des vom Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation (SBFI) in der Schweiz geförderten Projektes «Zukunftsmodelle der Lernortkooperation» wurde ein konzeptioneller Bezugsrahmen für die Gestaltung der digitalen Transformation entwickelt. Damit soll der digitale Reifegrad von berufsbildenden Schulen bestimmt werden können als Ausgangspunkt für eine Standortbestimmung sowie um Impulse für die Schulentwicklung aufzeigen zu können. Dieser Artikel fasst die zentralen Untersuchungsergebnisse zusammen und gibt Impulse für eine organisationspädagogische Handlungspraxis in der Berufsbildung.
Anti-hail Net in Korla Fragrant Pear Planting
Authors: Wang Hao , Su Yuan-hao , Bao Jian-ping
Published: July 2022

Korla fragrant pear is the main pear variety and one of the most famous fruits in Southern Xinjiang. The use of protective nets in fruit tree production is increasing; however, the cultivation of Korla fragrant pear in Xinjiang has yet to be developed. Therefore, we used the ground and underground microclimate anti-hail network and open-air conditions to determine the fruit quality and measure tree growth-related indicators. Additionally, we subsequently recorded the average yield of fragrant pear fruits to evaluate their economic value under the anti-hail net and open-air environments. Furthermore, we performed a correlation analysis to explore the correlation between environmental factors and fruit quality and growth under the two conditions. We found that the anti-hail net cover provided a conducive environment for the vegetative and reproductive growth of trees. Under similar fruit quality conditions, the average yield was markedly higher under the anti-hail net environment than under the open-air environment. Furthermore, the economic benefit under the anti-hail net was higher for all factors, except for the average facility cost during the previous year, than that under the open-air condition.
The importance of circular scleral buckling in the treatment of recurrent rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Part 1. The origin and development of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment extrascleral surgery
Authors: Shishkin M. M. , Kocheva E. A. , Fayzrakhmanov R. R.
Published: July 2022

Scleral buckling was gold standard of surgical treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment for more than half a century. This literary review is focused on the origin and development stages of scleral buckling surgery over the world.
Clinical and functional state of the retina after adequately performed laser coagulation of peripheral vitreochorioretinal dystrophies
Authors: Neroev V. V. , Zakharova G. Yu. , Okhotsimskaya T. D. , Tsapenko I. V. , Zueva M. V. , Arakelyan M. A. , Magamadov B. M.
Published: July 2022

Перенести в английский вариант

   Purpose.  To assess the effect of adequate laser coagulation (LC) of peripheral vitreochorioretinal dystrophy (PVCRD) on the clinical and functional state of the retina and the microcirculation of the macular region.  

   Material and methods.  Ganzfeld electroretinogram (ERG), multifocal ERG (mfERG), and optical coherent tomography with a function of angiography (OCTA) were performed for the retina of 22 patients (37 eyes), aged 20 to 62, who had been given an adequate volume of LC to treat dangerous types of PVCRD. The tests took place before LC and 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 months after it. To analyze the results, two groups were formed: (1) 27 eyes with LC volume of less than 200 coagulates and (2) 10 eyes with LC volume of more than 200 coagulates.

   Results.  After LC, we observed a moderate decrease in the amplitudes of scotopic ERGs and the a-wavepeak latency lengthening in the maximal ERG. In the 2 ndsubgroup, the amplitude of the second wave of oscillatory potentials (OP2) and the OP index decreased more significantly than in the 1st, subgroup (by 17 and 21 % from the initial values, respectively, p<0.05). The cone and flicker ERGs in the 1st subgroup did not change, while in the 2nd subgroup the amplitude showed a stable decrease by 10 to 20 % as compared to the data before LC. As shown by mfERG, in the 2nd subgroup the functional activity of the macular region was moderately and reversibly declining. OCTA showed a general decrease in blood flow density (by 6.6% against the initial data) after LC, which reached the minimum 6 months after the intervention, with subsequent recovery in another 6 months. The recovery of blood flow density was complete in the 1st subgroup and partial in the 2 nd subgroup.

   Conclusion.  LC of PVCRD in an adequate volume leads to a moderate general decrease in retinal activity with the restoration to the initial amplitudes of scotopic and photopic ERGs, and mfERG within 6 to 12 months. OCTA also showed that LC conducted in an adequate volume does not significantly impair the microcirculation in the fovea zone. A moderate depression of blood flow was more pronounced in the subgroup with the higher number of coagulates.
Macular thickness in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome after uneventful phacoemulsification
Authors: Potemkin V. V. , Astakhov S. Yu. , Van Siaoyuan , Potemkina À. R. , Anikina L. К.
Published: July 2022

To evaluate macular thickness in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXS) after phacoemulsification.

   Materials and methods. 30 patients with PXS (mean age 74.05 ± 5.21 years) and 31 age-matched patients (mean age 71.35 ± 7.51 years) without PXS (control group) were examined to assess macular thickness, which was measured by optical coherence tomography before phacoemulsification, 2 weeks, 2 and 6 months after it.

   Results. A significant increase in retinal thickness was noted in patients of both groups in parafovea 2 weeks after phacoemulsification, in parafovea and periphovea after 2 months, and in parafovea after 6 months. At 2 months after surgery, in patients with PXS, the thickness o f the retina in the fovea and perifovea was significantly higher than in the control group; at other times, no difference was observed between the groups.

   Conclusion. PXS does not affect macular thickness after phacoemulsification if no intraoperational or postoperational complications took place.
The amount of lactic acid bacteria in fermented natural lactic acid bacteria liquids prepared with varying sucrose inclusion at different incubation periods
Authors: AYDIN SADIK SERKAN , DENEK NIHAT
Published: July 2022

Characterization of lactic acid bacteria that naturally occurs during silage formation is important for determining the quality of silage feeds which are required in terms of meeting the need for high quality roughage in cattle breeding. In this study, the aim was to determine the total lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count and pH values of fermented natural LAB liquids as a result of different levels of sucrose addition as microbial silage additive (1%, 3%, 5% and 10%) and different incubation periods (5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 days). Considering the incubation periods of LAB liquids, while the highest LAB count was obtained from the 10% sucrose added groups (3.7x1011, 2.6x1011 and 2.53x1012 colony forming unit (cfu/ml) at the 7, 9 and 13 days of incubation periods, the highest LAB count was obtained from the 5% sucrose supplemented group (9.13x1011cfu/ml) at the end of the 15-day incubation period. In general, for each incubation period, the total LAB counts in the obtained fluids increased due to the increase in the sucrose level (P<0.05). Depending on the increase in the incubation period, there was an increase in the total LAB counts in the 10% sucrose supplemented group, while a decrease in the total LAB counts occurred after a 15-day incubation period. In general, pH values decreased depending on the increasing with sucrose levels in each incubation period. Considering the pH values of the LAB liquids, there were no differences of pH values depending on the increase the incubation period from the 1% and 3% sucrose added groups (P<0.05). The pH values obtained from the 10% sucrose added group decreased with the increasing incubation periods. The highest pH value was obtained from the 1% sucrose group (4.49) during the 15-day incubation period, whereas the lowest pH value (3.78) was obtained from the 10% sucrose group in the same incubation period. Considering the LAB counts (1011-12cfu/ml) in the study, it has been evaluated that the obtained LAB liquids can be used as silage additives and it has a high potential of commercialization.
Holistic management of renal nephroblastoma in a juvenile dog with severe cachexia: A case report
Authors: JAŚKIEWICZ ANNA , CHOLEWIAK-GÓRALCZYK AGNIESZKA , GRUDZIŃSKI PAWEŁ , FILIPEK ŁUKASZ , PAJĄK BEATA , PAŹDZIOR-CZAPULA KATARZYNA , OTROCKA-DOMAGAŁA IWONA
Published: July 2022

This report presents a case of a 2-month-old female German Shepherd dog with renal nephroblastoma and strong cachexia. The tumour was surgically removed and graded as a stage I with favourable histopathology, but due to its large size, adjuvant chemotherapy, including doxorubicin and vincristine, was recommended. Before, during and after chemotherapy, the body weight was gradually rebuilt with an appropriately balanced diet containing proper amounts of protein, fat and numerous supplements necessary for growth and development. Eighteen months after diagnosis, the dog was in good condition and had no metastases. In conclusion, this case study shows that close cooperation between oncologists and nutritionists is crucial for successful oncological therapy, especially in a cachectic patient.