bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A case of successful pregnancy managed in a patient living with Motor Neurone Disease for more than 3 years
Authors: Ali Abdisamad , Mowat Anna , Jones Naomi , Mustfa Naveed
Published: May 2022

A woman in her 20s presented with progressive weakness of her left arm and leg, slurred speech and swallowing difficulties. The clinical presentation and neurophysiological tests were consistent with motor neuron disease. She was referred to the regional ventilation unit for respiratory muscle function testing. This confirmed restrictive spirometry and borderline sniff nasal inspiratory pressure and cough peak expiratory flow. Three years later, she presented with an unplanned pregnancy and expressed the wish to continue the pregnancy to term. She was monitored throughout pregnancy with interval respiratory muscle testing and was reviewed in the high-risk pregnancy anaesthetic clinic. She was also closely monitored by the obstetrics and gynaecology team. A multidisciplinary team meeting between all stakeholders agreed on caesarean section delivery at 34 weeks. The pregnancy and the delivery were without complications; the baby was healthy and both mother and baby remain well to date.
ARFI elastography of the omentum: feasibility and diagnostic performance in differentiating benign from malignant omental masses
Authors: Alhyari Amjad , Görg Christian , Dietrich Christoph Frank , Trenker Corrina , Strauch Lena , Safai Zadeh Ehsan
Published: May 2022

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic performance of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography in different omental masses (OM).

Design

This was a retrospective analysis of 106 patients with OM defined as omental thickness ≥1 cm, who underwent abdominal B-mode ultrasound (US) and standardised ARFI examinations of the OM between September 2018 and June 2021 at our university hospital. A cytohistological confirmation was available in 91/106 (85.8%) of all OM, including all 65/65 (100%) malignant OM (mOM) and 26/41 (63.4%) of benign OM (bOM). In 15/41 (36.6%) of bOM; cross-sectional imaging and or US follow-up with a mean duration of 19.8±3.1 months was performed. To examine the mean ARFI velocities (MAV) for potential cut-off values between bOM and mOM a receiver operating characteristic analysis was implemented.

Results

The MAV in the mOM group (2.71±1.04 m/s) was significantly higher than that of bOM group (1.27±0.87 m/s) (p<0.001). Using 1.97 m/s as a cut-off yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 76.9% and 85.4%, respectively, in diagnosing mOM (area under the curve=0.851, 95% CI=0.774 to 0.928).

Conclusion

ARFI elastography is feasible in the omentum and may represent a good non-invasive additional tool in differentiating bOM from mOM.
Morally injurious events and post-traumatic embitterment disorder in UK health and social care professionals during COVID-19: a cross-sectional web survey
Authors: Brennan Chloe J , McKay Michael T , Cole Jon C
Published: May 2022

Objective

To estimate the prevalence and predictors of morally injurious events (MIEs) and post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) in UK health and social care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

September–October 2020 in the UK. Online survey hosted on Qualtrics, and recruited through Prolific.

Participants

400 health and social care workers, aged 18 or above and living and working in the UK during the pandemic.

Main outcome measures

MIEs were assessed using the Moral Injury Events Scale and PTED was assessed using the PTED self-rating scale. Potential predictors were measured using surveys of exposure to occupational stressors, optimism, self-esteem, resilient coping style, consideration of future consequences and personal belief in a just world.

Results

19% of participants displayed clinical levels of PTED, and 73% experienced at least one COVID-related MIE. Exposure to occupational stressors increased the risk of experiencing PTED and MIEs, whereas personal belief in a procedurally just world, which is the belief that they experienced fair processes, was a protective mechanism.

Conclusions

MIEs and PTED are being experienced by UK health and social care professionals, particularly in those exposed to work-related stressors.
Lessons from COVID-19 syndromic surveillance through emergency department activity: a prospective time series study from western Switzerland
Authors: Ageron Francois-Xavier , Hugli Olivier , Dami Fabrice , Caillet-Bois David , Pittet Valerie , Eckert Philippe , Beysard Nicolas , Carron Pierre-Nicolas
Published: May 2022

Objective

We aimed to assess if emergency department (ED) syndromic surveillance during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 outbreak could have improved our surveillance system.

Design and settings

We did an observational study using aggregated data from the ED of a university hospital and public health authorities in western Switzerland.

Participants

All patients admitted to the ED were included.

Primary outcome measure

The main outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy. We used time series methods for ED syndromic surveillance (influenza-like syndrome, droplet isolation) and usual indicators from public health authorities (new cases, proportion of positive tests in the population).

Results

Based on 37 319 ED visits during the COVID-19 outbreak, 1421 ED visits (3.8%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Patients with influenza-like syndrome or droplet isolation in the ED showed a similar correlation to ICU occupancy as confirmed cases in the general population, with a time lag of approximately 13 days (0.73, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.80; 0.79, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.86; and 0.76, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.83, respectively). The proportion of positive tests in the population showed the best correlation with ICU occupancy (0.95, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.96).

Conclusion

ED syndromic surveillance is an effective tool to detect and monitor a COVID-19 outbreak and to predict hospital resource needs. It would have allowed to anticipate ICU occupancy by 13 days, including significant aberration detection at the beginning of the second wave.
Remote COVID-19 patient monitoring system: a qualitative evaluation
Authors: Oliver Jane , Dutch Martin , Rojek Amanda , Putland Mark , Knott Jonathan C
Published: May 2022

Background

Many COVID-19 patients are discharged home from hospital with instructions to self-isolate. This reduces the burden on potentially overwhelmed hospitals. The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) Home Monitoring Programme (HMP) is a model of care for COVID-19 patients which chiefly tracks pulse oximetry and body temperature readings.

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the HMP from a patient perspective.

Design, settings and participants

Of 46 COVID-19 patients who used the HMP through RMH during April to August 2020, 16 were invited to participate in this qualitative evaluation study; all accepted, including 6 healthcare workers. Attempts were made to recruit a gender-balanced sample across a range of COVID-19 severities and comorbidities. Participants completed a brief semistructured phone interview discussing their experience of using the HMP.

Outcome measures and analysis

A thematic analysis of interview data was conducted. Feasibility was defined as the HMP’s reported ease of use. Acceptability was considered holistically by reviewing themes in the interview data.

Results

The HMP allowed clinical deterioration to be recognised as it occurred enabling prompt intervention. All participants reported a positive opinion of the HMP, stating it was highly acceptable and easy to use. Almost all participants said they found using it reassuring. Patients frequently mentioned the importance of the monitoring clinicians as an information conduit. The most suggested improvement was to monitor a broader set of symptoms.

Conclusions

The HMP is highly feasible and acceptable to patients. This model of care could potentially be implemented on a mass-scale to reduce the burden of COVID-19 on hospitals. A key benefit of the HMP is the ability to reassure patients they will receive suitable intervention should they deteriorate while isolating outside of hospital settings.
Deferred consent in emergency obstetric research: findings from qualitative interviews with women and recruiters in theACROBATpilot trial for severe postpartum haemorrhage
Authors: Sweeney Lorna , Lanz Doris , Daru Jahnavi , Rasijeff Annika M P , Khanom Farzana , Thomas Amy , Harden Angela , Green Laura
Published: May 2022

Objective

The ACROBAT pilot trial of early cryoprecipitate for severe postpartum haemorrhage used deferred consent procedures. Pretrial discussions with a patient and public involvement group found mixed views towards deferred consent. This study aimed to build an understanding of how the deferred consent procedures worked in practice, to inform plans for a full-scale trial.

Setting

Qualitative interview study within a cluster-randomised pilot trial, involving four London maternity services.

Participants

Individual interviews were conducted postnatally with 10 women who had received blood transfusion for severe postpartum haemorrhage and had consented to the trial. We also interviewed four ‘recruiters’—two research midwives and two clinical trials practitioners who conducted trial recruitment.

Results

Consent procedures in the ACROBAT pilot trial were generally acceptable and the intervention was viewed as low risk, but most women did not remember much about the consent conversation. As per trial protocol, recruiters sought to consent women before hospital discharge, but this time pressure had to be balanced against the need to ensure women were not approached when distressed or very unwell. Extra efforts had to be made to communicate trial information to women due to the exhaustion of their recovery and competing demands for their attention. Participant information was further complicated by explanations about the cluster design and change in transfusion process, even though the consent sought was for access to medical data.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that deferred consent procedures raise similar concerns as taking consent when emergency obstetric research is occurring—that is, the risk that participants may conflate research with clinical care, and that their ability to process trial information may be impacted by the stressful nature of recovery and newborn care. A future trial may support more meaningful informed consent by extending the window of consent discussion and ensuring trial information is minimal and easy to understand.

Trial registration number

ISRCTN12146519.
Assessment of whole school approach intervention to reduce violence affecting children in and around schools in Kenya and Tanzania: protocol for a before-and-after, mixed-methods pilot study
Authors: Wangamati Cynthia Khamala , Mdala Ibrahimu , Ogutu Beatrice , Sokoine Kudely , Ochieng Moureen , Majikata Sabrina , Ochieng Christian Bernard , Kelly Susan A.
Published: May 2022

Introduction

National violence against children (VAC) surveys in Tanzania and Kenya reported that approximately three-quarters of children in Tanzania experienced physical violence while 45.9% of women and 56.1% of men experienced childhood violence in Kenya. In response to VAC, Investing in Children and their Societies—Strengthening Families & Protecting Children (ICS-SP) developed the whole school approach (WSA) for reducing VAC in and around schools. Objectives of this evaluation are to: (1) determine intervention’s feasibility and (2) the extent to which the WSA reduces prevalence and incidence of VAC in and around schools in Kenya and Tanzania; (3) gain insights into changes in stakeholders’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to VAC following intervention implementation and (4) provide evidence-based recommendations for refining intervention content, delivery and theory of change (ToC).

Methods and analysis

The study is a mixed-methods, controlled before-and-after, quasi experimental pilot designed to assess the delivery and potential changes in knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and VAC prevalence and incidence in and around schools following the WSA intervention implementation in Kenya and Tanzania. The preintervention phase will entail stakeholder enhancement of the WSA ToC and baseline cross-sectional surveys of teaching and non-teaching staff and parents (knowledge, attitude and practices), pupils (VAC incidents and school climate) and school safety audits. The WSA intervention implementation phase will include an intervention delivery process assessment and random school visits. In the postintervention phase, end-line surveys will be conducted similarly to baseline. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews will be held with ICS-SP staff, training facilitators, teachers, parents and pupils to gain insights into acceptability, delivery and potential intervention effects. Quantitative and qualitative data will be analysed using SPSS V.25 and NVIVO V.12, respectively.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approvals were received from Amref Health Africa in Kenya (AMREF-ESRC P910/2020) and National Health Research Ethics Committee (NatHREC) in Tanzania (NIMR/HQ/R.8a/Vol.IX/3655). Dissemination will be through research reports.
Impact of financial barriers on health status, healthcare utilisation and economic burden among individuals with cognitive impairment: a national cross-sectional survey
Authors: Lu Kevin , Xiong Xiaomo , Horras Ashley , Jiang Bin , Li Minghui
Published: May 2022

Objective

To study the impact of financial barriers to healthcare on health status, healthcare utilisation and costs among patients with cognitive impairment.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Setting

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 2011–2017.

Participants

Patients with cognitive impairment aged 18 years or older.

Interventions

Financial barriers to healthcare were identified using a series of NHIS prompts asking about the affordability of healthcare services.

Primary outcome measures

Health status was based on a survey prompt about respondents’ general health. Healthcare utilisation included office visits, home healthcare visits, hospital stays and emergency department (ED) visits. Economic burden was based on the family spending on medical care. Logistic regression models were used to examine the impact of financial barriers to healthcare access on health status, home healthcare visits, office visits, hospital stays and ED visits, respectively.

Results

Compared with cognitively impaired respondents without financial barriers to healthcare access, those with financial barriers were more likely to be unhealthy (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.72). Cognitively impaired respondents with financial barriers were less likely to have home healthcare (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.99) and more likely to have hospital stays (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.48) and ED visits (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.67). In addition, compared with cognitively impaired respondents without financial barriers to healthcare access, those with the barriers were more likely to have an increased economic burden (OR=1.85, 95% CI 1.65 to 2.07).

Conclusion

Financial barriers to healthcare worsened health status and increased use of ED, hospitalisation and economic burden. Policy decision-makers, providers and individuals with cognitive impairment should be aware of the impact of financial barriers and take corresponding actions to reduce the impact.
Effects of 3 months of multi-nutrient supplementation on the immune system and muscle and respiratory function of older adults in aged care (The Pomerium Study): protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Al Saedi Ahmed , Kirk Ben , Iuliano Sandra , Zanker Jesse , Vogrin Sara , Jayaram Lata , Thomas Shane , Golding Christine , Navarro-Perez Diana , Marusic Petra , Leng Sean , Nanan Ralph , Duque Gustavo
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Immunosenescence leads to increased morbidity and mortality associated with viral infections and weaker vaccine responses. This has been well documented for seasonal influenza and the current pandemic with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), which disproportionately impact older adults, particularly those in residential aged care facilities. Inadequate nutrient intakes associated with impaired immunity, respiratory and muscle function are likely to augment the effects of immunosenescence. In this study, we test whether the impact of inadequate nutrition can be reversed using multi-nutrient supplementation, consequently enhancing vaccine responses, reducing the risk of viral infections and improving respiratory and muscle function.

Methods and analysis

The Pomerium Study is a 3-month, single-blind, randomised, controlled trial testing the effects of two daily servings of an oral multi-nutrient supplement (330 kcal, 20 g protein, 1.5 g calcium 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyrate monohydrate (CaHMB), 449 mg calcium, 500 IU vitamin D3 and 25 vitamins and minerals) on the immune system and muscle and respiratory function of older adults in aged care in Melbourne, Australia. 160 older adults (≥75 years old) will be recruited from aged care facilities and randomised to treatment (multi-nutrient supplement) or control (usual care). The primary outcome is a change in T-cell subsets CD8 + and CD28null counts at months 1 and 3. Secondary outcomes measured at baseline and month 3 are multiple markers of immunosenescence (also at 1 month), body composition (bioimpedance), handgrip strength (dynamometer), physical function (short physical performance battery), respiratory function (spirometry) and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L). Incidence and complications of COVID-19 and/or viral infections (ie, hospitalisation, complications or death) will be recorded throughout the trial, including 3 months after supplementation is ceased.

Ethics and dissemination

This study was approved by Melbourne Health Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref No. HREC/73985/MH-2021, ERM Ref No. RMH73985, Melbourne Health Site Ref No. 2021.115). Written informed consent will be obtained from participants. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and made available to key aged care stakeholders, including providers, residents, and government bodies.

Trial registration number

ACTRN12621000420842.
Health literacy and long-term health outcomes following myocardial infarction: protocol for a multicentre, prospective cohort study (ENHEARTEN study)
Authors: Beauchamp Alison , Talevski Jason , Nicholls Stephen J , Wong Shee Anna , Martin Catherine , Van Gaal William , Oqueli Ernesto , Ananthapavan Jaithri , Sharma Laveena , O’Neil Adrienne , Brennan-Olsen Sharon Lee , Jessup Rebecca Leigh
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Low health literacy is common in people with cardiovascular disease and may be one factor that affects an individual’s ability to maintain secondary prevention health behaviours following myocardial infarction (MI). However, little is known about the association between health literacy and longer-term health outcomes in people with MI. The ENhancing HEAlth literacy in secondary pRevenTion of cardiac evENts (ENHEARTEN) study aims to examine the relationship between health literacy and a number of health outcomes (including healthcare costs) in a cohort of patients following their first MI. Findings may provide evidence for the significance of health literacy as a predictor of long-term cardiac outcomes.

Methods and analysis

ENHEARTEN is a multicentre, prospective observational study in a convenience sample of adults (aged>18 years) with their first MI. A total of 450 patients will be recruited over 2 years across two metropolitan health services and one rural/regional health service in Victoria, Australia. The primary outcome of this study will be all-cause, unplanned hospital admissions within 6 months of index admission. Secondary outcomes include cardiac-related hospital admissions up to 24 months post-MI, emergency department presentations, health-related quality of life, mortality, cardiac rehabilitation attendance and healthcare costs. Health literacy will be observed as a predictor variable and will be determined using the 12-item version of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-Q12).

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval for this study has been received from the relevant human research ethics committee (HREC) at each of the participating health services (lead site Monash Health HREC; approval number: RES-21-0000-242A) and Services Australia HREC (reference number: RMS1672). Informed written consent will be sought from all participants. Study results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and collated in reports for participating health services and participants.

Trial registration number

ACTRN12621001224819.
Injury prevention in medical education: a Canadian medical school survey
Authors: El-Jebaoui Jina , Schmitz Erika , Figueira Sonshire , Lampron Jacinthe
Published: May 2022

Background

Injury has a major societal impact. In Canada, injury is the leading cause of death among those aged 1–44 years, the fifth-leading cause of death among those of all ages and is responsible for a burden of US$26.8 billion in 2010. It holds that most injuries are predictable and preventable, and therefore, such statistics represent a serious public health concern. Given that physicians play a vital role in the prevention and control of injuries, further information regarding the current state of injury prevention education in medical undergraduate programmes in Canada would be beneficial. We hypothesise that the results of an observational survey distribute to all Canadian medical schools will demonstrate a substantial gap in injury prevention education integration in the existing medical school curriculums.

Study objective

To evaluate the current status of Injury Prevention Education in Canadian Medical Schools preclerkship and clerkship medical curriculum.

Methods

Electronic surveys evaluating the current status of injury prevention education were sent via email to each of the 16 Canadian medical schools.

Results

Nine Canadian medical faculties (56%, n=9) responded. Eight of the nine medical schools (88.89%, n=8) offered at least five injury prevention related topics in their respective curricula. The most common injury-related courses were Role of physicians in the prevention of injuries (100%, n=9) and epidemiology of injury (88.89%, n=8). All respondent medical faculties (100%, n=9) offered at least a single injury prevention specific topic in their curricula. Most surveyed medical faculties (88.89%, n=8) offered nine injury-specific topics. The most common injury-specific topics included falls, suicide and self-harm, alcohol, burns and scalds, and concussion (100%, n=9)
Disparities in healthcare in psoriatic arthritis: an analysis of 439 patients from 13 countries
Authors: Lucasson Florian , Kiltz Uta , Kalyoncu Umut , Leung Ying Ying , Palominos Penélope , Cañete Juan D , Scrivo Rossana , Balanescu Andra , Dernis Emanuelle , Meisalu Sandra , Ryussen-Witrand Adeline , Soubrier Martin , Aydin Sibel Zehra , Eder Lihi , Gaydukova Inna , Lubrano Ennio , Richette Pascal , Husni Elaine , Coates Laura C , de Wit Maarten , Smolen Josef S , Orbai Ana-Maria , Gossec Laure
Published: May 2022

Objectives

Patient care can vary substantially by country. The objective was to explore differences in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) across countries for disease activity, impact and treatments.

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis of 13 countries from the Remission/Flare in PsA study (NCT03119805) of consecutive adult patients with definite PsA was performed. Countries were classified into tertiles by gross domestic product (GDP)/capita. Disease activity (Disease Activity in PsA, DAPSA and Minimal Disease Activity, MDA) and their components, disease impact (patient-reported outcomes) and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) were analysed per country and compared between the three tertiles of GDP/capita by parametric and non-parametric tests. We also explored the percentage of patients with significant disease activity (DAPSA >14) and no ongoing bDMARD prescription.

Results

In 439 patients (50.6% male, mean age 52.3 years, mean disease duration 10.1 years), disease activity and disease impact were higher in the lowest GDP/capita countries. DAPSA remission and MDA were attained in the lowest tertile in 7.0% and 18.4% patients, vs 29.1% and 49.5% in the middle tertile and 16.8% and 41.3% in the high tertile, respectively (all p<0.001). bDMARDs use was similar in the tertiles (overall mean 61%). The overall rate of patients with DAPSA >14 and no bDMARDs was 18.5%, and was higher in lower GDP/capita countries (p=0.004).

Conclusion

PsA patients from countries with the lowest GDP/capita, despite similar use of bDMARDs, were more likely to have high disease activity and worse disease impact. There is a need for more equity in healthcare.
Heterogeneity of axial spondyloarthritis: genetics, sex and structural damage matter
Authors: Li Zhixiu , van der Linden Sjef M , Khan Muhammad Asim , Baumberger Heinz , Zandwijk Hermine van , Khan Mohammad Kazim , Villiger Peter M , Brown Matthew A
Published: May 2022

Objective

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) comprises both radiographic and non-radiographic disease. However, the paucity of specific objective measures for the disease and current classification criteria showing suboptimal specificity contribute to disease heterogeneity observed in clinical practice and research. We used a historical cohort of patients with axSpA to assess sources of heterogeneity.

Methods

The study involved 363 axSpA probands recruited from membership of the Swiss Ankylosing Spondylitis Patient Society. Participants underwent examination by a rheumatologist, completed questionnaires and provided blood samples for HLA typing. Patients underwent radiography of sacroiliac joints and were categorised according to the New York (NY) criteria (ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or non-radiographic axSpA (nr-axSpA)) and HLA-B27 status. Genetic characterisation by single nucleotide polymorphism microarray was performed and AS polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated.

Results

Considerable heterogeneity was observed. The male to female ratio for AS (NY+) was 3:1, but 1:1 for nr-axSpA. For HLA-27(+) AS, the ratio was 2.5:1, but nearly 1:1 for HLA-B27(−) disease. Women with nr-axSpA had strikingly lower mean PRS and lower HLA-B27 prevalence than men with nr-axSpA or NY(+) male and female patients with AS. PRS was able to distinguish male but not female patients with nr-axSpA from related healthy first-degree relatives. Radiographic sacroiliitis was strongly associated with HLA-B27, especially in men.

Conclusion

Women clinically diagnosed with axSpA but without radiographic sacroiliitis as a group have a disease that is distinct from AS by the modified New York criteria overall and from nr-axSpA in men. Given the high degree of heterogeneity, stratified or adjusted analysis of effectiveness studies is indicated, taking genetics, sex and radiographic damage (sacroiliitis) into account.
Anatomy of the hinge region of the petiole of prostrate leaves of the wintergreen fern Polystichum acrostichoides (Dryopteridaceae)
Authors: Guo Jinyan
Published: May 2022

The reorientation of leaves of Polystichum acrostichoides (Michx.) Schott to a prostrate position is achieved by forming a hinge region near the base of the petiole. Anatomical details of the distal transition zone (DTZ), folding zone (FZ), and proximal transition zone (PTZ) of the hinge region were studied using light microscopy. Data showed that the vascular bundles (VBs) are intact throughout the hinge region. Towards the FZ, the DTZ and PTZ have an increasing number of cortical cells that underwent deformation and protoplast degeneration, and cell nuclei are apparent in strongly deformed cortical cells. In the FZ, the petiole is compressed, having a network of cell walls of dead cortical cells with patches of turgid cortical cells, and largely intact endodermis surrounding the VBs. The helical secondary wall thickenings of the protoxylem and scalariform thickenings of the metaxylem may contribute to the flexibility of the VBs. This study provided evidence for the deformation and degeneration of cortical cells, which is responsible for the loss of turgidity of the hinge region while their cell walls may provide cushioning during bending and insulation for the living tissues under the snowpack, illustrating a unique strategy of ferns to adapt to a cold environment.
Dark matter and dark energy from a Kaluza–Klein inspired Brans–Dicke gravity with barotropic fluid
Authors: Waeming Areef , Klangburam Tanech , Pongkitivanichkul Chakrit , Samart Daris
Published: May 2022

We study the Kaluza–Klein inspired Brans–Dicke model with barotropic matter. Following from our previous work, the traditional Kaluza–Klein gravity action is introduced with an additional scalar field and 2 gauge fields. The compactification process results in a Brans–Dicke model with a dilaton coupled to the tower of scalar fields whereas a gauge field from 5-dimensional metric forms a set of mutually orthogonal vectors with 2 additional gauge fields. The barotropic matter is then introduced to complete a realistic set up. To demonstrate the analytical solutions of the model, we consider the case in which only 2 lowest modes becoming relevant for physics at low scale. After derivation, equations of motion and Einstein field equations form a set of autonomous system. The dynamical system is analysed to obtain various critical points. Interestingly, by only inclusion of barotropic matter, the model provides us the critical points which capable of determining the presences of dark matter, dark energy and phantom dark energy.
Genuine N-partite entanglement and distributed relationships in the background of dilation black holes
Authors: Wu Shu-Min , Cai Yu-Tong , Peng Wen-Jing , Zeng Hao-Sheng
Published: May 2022

With the complexity of information tasks, the bipartite and tripartite entanglement can no longer meet our needs, and we need more entangled particles to process relativistic quantum information. In this paper, we study the genuine N-partite entanglement and distributed relationships for Dirac fields in the background of dilaton black holes. We present the general analytical expression including all physically accessible and inaccessible entanglement in curved spacetime. We find that the accessible N-partite entanglement exhibits irreversible decoherence as the increase of black hole’s dilaton, and on the other hand the inaccessible N-partite entanglement increases from zero monotonically or non-monotonically, depending on the relative numbers of the accessible to the inaccessible modes, which forms a sharp contrast with the cases of bipartite and tripartite entanglement where the inaccessible entanglement increase only monotonically. We also find two distributed relationships between accessible and inaccessible N-partite entanglement in curved spacetime. The results give us a new understanding of the Hawking radiation.
Consequences of Barrow entropy on thermodynamics of charged AdS black hole and heat engine
Authors: Jawad Abdul , Tasleem Misbah , Rani Shamaila
Published: May 2022

According to Barrow, the impact of quantum-gravitation changes the standard relation of entropy [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is actual area and [Formula: see text] represents the quantum-gravitational deformation effects. Keeping in mind the importance of entropy in the thermodynamics of BHs, we study the impact Barrow entropy on the thermodynamics of charged AdS BH with global monopole. We derive and plot many thermodynamical quantities of charged AdS BHs like temperature, entropy, pressure, Helmholtz free energy, Gibbs free energy, heat capacity of the system at constant pressure and volume. We study critical behavior, phase transition and thermal stability of the BH. We find out that more useful work can be extracted from the BH by using Barrow’s entropy. We also observe that Barrow entropy rapidly increases the Gibbs free energy of BH which leads to more stable behavior as compared to standard relation of entropy. We also discuss charged BH as heat engine and find out the efficiency of the BH.
Short-pulse method and trapped surface formation
Authors: An Xinliang
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we survey the short-pulse method invented by Christodoulou, with which he proved that focusing of gravitational waves would lead to trapped surface formation. We will also discuss some recent generalizations by the author and collaborators.
Phenomenology of one zero texture Yukawa matrix in a flavor symmetric scotogenic model
Authors: Sarma Lavina , Das Mrinal Kumar
Published: May 2022

The scotogenic model is well known for accommodating small neutrino mass and dark matter. Here, we have realized the scotogenic model with the help of discrete flavor symmetry [Formula: see text]. We have obtained three one zero textures of Yukawa coupling matrices from the model and have studied its impact on neutrino phenomenology and related aspects of cosmology. On the basis of [Formula: see text] symmetry, we have further discarded two structures of one zero texture Yukawa coupling matrix. We further analyze if the effective mass of active neutrinos obtained by the virtue of the Yukawa coupling matrix is consistent with the KamLAND-Zen limit for [Formula: see text]. Also different lepton flavor violating (LFV) processes such as [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are implemented and their influence on neutrino phenomenology is studied corresponding to the Yukawa coupling matrix. The entire work is carried out considering the dark matter mass [Formula: see text] in the region 450–750 GeV. We have also obtained some significant results for baryon asymmetry of the Universe in agreement with the one zero texture of the coupling matrices. Furthermore, interesting results for relic abundance on the basis of distinct mass splittings are between the inert scalars.
Mental Health Diagnosis: A Case for Explainable Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Antoniou Grigoris , Papadakis Emmanuel , Baryannis George
Published: May 2022

Mental illnesses are becoming increasingly prevalent, in turn leading to an increased interest in exploring artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to facilitate and enhance healthcare processes ranging from diagnosis to monitoring and treatment. In contrast to application areas where black box systems may be acceptable, explainability in healthcare applications is essential, especially in the case of diagnosing complex and sensitive mental health issues. In this paper, we first summarize recent developments in AI research for mental health, followed by an overview of approaches to explainable AI and their potential benefits in healthcare settings. We then present a recent case study of applying explainable AI for ADHD diagnosis which is used as a basis to identify challenges in realizing explainable AI solutions for mental health diagnosis and potential future research directions to address these challenges.
DEFINITE INTEGRAL OF α-FRACTAL FUNCTIONS
Authors: ISLAM MD NAZIMUL , KAISH IMRUL
Published: May 2022

A fractal interpolation function (FIF) is a special type of continuous function defined on a compact interval [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] which interpolates a certain data set and whose graph is of fractal nature. But an [Formula: see text]-fractal (interpolation) function is a special type of FIF which is a fractal analogue corresponding to any continuous function [Formula: see text] defined on the interval [Formula: see text]. In this paper, the definite integral of the [Formula: see text]-fractal function [Formula: see text] corresponding to any continuous function [Formula: see text] on the interval [Formula: see text] is estimated although there is no explicit form of [Formula: see text]-fractal function till now. Some results related to the definite integral of [Formula: see text] are established. Also, the flipped [Formula: see text]-fractal function [Formula: see text] corresponding to the continuous function [Formula: see text] is constructed and a result is proved that relates the definite integrals of the fractal functions [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text].
Research on Knowledge Navigation Model Based on Users’ Tolerance Zone During the Process of R&D Achievements Delivery
Authors: Tao Na
Published: May 2022

How to promote deep knowledge transfer and knowledge application during the process of R&D achievements delivery? This paper takes knowledge transfer as the research object. First of all, the path of knowledge transfer during the process of R&D achievements delivery is drawn. Next, the status of knowledge transfer is assessed by constructing users’ tolerance zone model by selecting key factors in the path of knowledge transfer. Empirical research finds the following conclusions: knowledge transfer experience[Formula: see text], knowledge transfer distance and knowledge transfer carrier have a positive influence on the actual service level of knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer experience[Formula: see text], continuous strengthening behavior and knowledge service commitment have a positive impact on the ideal service level of knowledge transfer. Then, based on knowledge transfer path and users’ tolerance zone model, this paper explores the knowledge navigation model from the environment, main structure and transmission mode. Finally, from the perspective of knowledge transfer environment, knowledge transfer subject, knowledge transfer object and knowledge transfer mode, the relevant strategies were put forward to reduce knowledge retention, and promote the deep knowledge absorption and transformation during the process of R&D achievements delivery.
Analysis of geochemical patterns in a soil profile over mineralized bedrock
Authors: Yang Jie , Yuan Zhaoxian , Grunsky Eric , Cheng Qiuming , Zhou Shubin
Published: May 2022

Transported soils cause difficulties in the identification of geochemical anomalies. It has been demonstrated that the joint application of local singularity analysis (LSA) and principal component analysis (PCA) can identify geochemical anomalies effectively, especially in regolith-covered areas. However, more convincing evidence is needed to explain the reasons for this. In this study, a soil profile overlying several mineralized veins cutting through bedrock was analysed
in situ
using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The patterns of two mineralization-related elements, Cu and Mo, were analysed. The results revealed that the element concentrations of the soil sharply decreased as the distance from the bedrock increased, and this relationship can be described by a power-law model. LSA enhanced several vein-like anomalies corresponding to the mineralization veins in the bedrock, and the presence of vertically elongated weak anomalies in the soil indicates the migration of ore elements originating from the underlying bedrock through the soil. The statistics show that the patterns of the local singularity index (LSI) are stable at different depths and in different media, whereas the concentration patterns are not. In addition, the mineralization-related elements have a higher correlation coefficient for the LSI than for the concentration. Since a previous simulation study determined that a mineralization-indicative first principal component prefers that the variables have a close relationship and that the variables have similar patterns in different geological objects, the patterns discovered in this study explain why LSA is effective in identifying geochemical anomalies, especially when combined with PCA.

Supplementary material:
the high-resolution photo, the element concentration data and the lithologic data of the profile are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5957122

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Applications of Innovations in Geochemical Data Analysis collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/applications-of-innovations-in-geochemical-data-analysis
Risk Prediction of IoT Devices Based on Vulnerability Analysis
Authors: Oser Pascal , van der Heijden Rens W. , Lüders Stefan , Kargl Frank
Published: May 2022

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are becoming more widespread not only in areas such as smart homes and smart cities but also in research and office environments. The sheer number, heterogeneity, and limited patch availability provide significant challenges for the security of both office networks and the Internet in general. The systematic estimation of device risks, which is essential for mitigation decisions, is currently a skill-intensive task that requires expertise in network vulnerability scanning, as well as manual effort in firmware binary analysis.

This article introduces SAFER,

1

the Security Assessment Framework for Embedded-device Risks, which enables a semi-automated risk assessment of IoT devices in any network. SAFER combines information from network device identification and automated firmware analysis to estimate the current risk associated with the device. Based on past vulnerability data and vendor patch intervals for device models, SAFER extrapolates those observations into the future using different automatically parameterized prediction models. Based on that, SAFER also estimates an indicator for future security risks. This enables users to be aware of devices exposing high risks in the future.

One major strength of SAFER over other approaches is its scalability, achieved through significant automation. To demonstrate this strength, we apply SAFER in the network of a large multinational organization, to systematically assess the security level of hundreds of IoT devices on large-scale networks.

Results indicate that SAFER successfully identified 531 out of 572 devices leading to a device identification rate of 92.83 %, analyzed 825 firmware images, and predicted the current and future security risk for 240 devices.
An FPGA Overlay for CNN Inference with Fine-grained Flexible Parallelism
Authors: Choudhury Ziaul , Shrivastava Shashwat , Ramapantulu Lavanya , Purini Suresh
Published: May 2022

Increasingly, pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are being deployed for inference in various computer vision applications, both on the server-side in the data centers and at the edge. CNN inference is a very compute-intensive task. It is a challenge to meet performance metrics such as latency and throughput while optimizing power. Special-purpose ASICs and FPGAs are suitable candidates to meet these power and performance budgets simultaneously. Rapidly evolving CNN architectures involve novel convolution operations such as point convolutions, depth separable convolutions, and so on. This leads to substantial variation in the computational structure across CNNs and layers within a CNN. Because of this, FPGA reconfigurability provides an attractive tradeoff compared to ASICs. FPGA-based hardware designers address the structural variability issue by generating a network-specific accelerator for a single network or a class of networks. However, homogeneous accelerators are network agnostic and often sacrifice throughput and FPGA LUTs for flexibility.

In this article, we propose an FPGA overlay for efficient processing of CNNs that can be scaled based on the available compute and memory resources of the FPGA. The overlay is configured on the fly through control words sent by the host on a per-layer basis. Unlike current overlays, our architecture exploits all forms of parallelism inside a convolution operation. A constraint system is employed at the host end to find out the per-layer configuration of the overlay that uses all forms of parallelism in the processing of the layer, resulting in the highest throughput for that layer.

We studied the effectiveness of our overlay by using it to process AlexNet, VGG16, YOLO, MobileNet, and ResNet-50 CNNs targeting a Virtex7 and a bigger Ultrascale+VU9P FPGAs. The chosen CNNs have a mix of different types of convolution layers and filter sizes, presenting a good variation in model size and structure. Our accelerator reported a maximum throughput of 1,200 GOps/second on the Virtex7, an improvement of 1.2

\( \times \)

to 5

\( \times \)

over the recent designs. Also, the reported performance density, measured in giga operations per second per KLUT, is 1.3

\( \times \)

to 4

\( \times \)

improvement over existing works. Similar speed-up and performance density is also observed for the Ultrascale+VU9P FPGA.
Joint Audio-Text Model for Expressive Speech-Driven 3D Facial Animation
Authors: Fan Yingruo , Lin Zhaojiang , Saito Jun , Wang Wenping , Komura Taku
Published: May 2022

Speech-driven 3D facial animation with accurate lip synchronization has been widely studied. However, synthesizing realistic motions for the entire face during speech has rarely been explored. In this work, we present a joint audio-text model to capture the contextual information for expressive speech-driven 3D facial animation. The existing datasets are collected to cover as many different phonemes as possible instead of sentences, thus limiting the capability of the audio-based model to learn more diverse contexts. To address this, we propose to leverage the contextual text embeddings extracted from the powerful pre-trained language model that has learned rich contextual representations from large-scale text data. Our hypothesis is that the text features can disambiguate the variations in upper face expressions, which are not strongly correlated with the audio. In contrast to prior approaches which learn phoneme-level features from the text, we investigate the high-level contextual text features for speech-driven 3D facial animation. We show that the combined acoustic and textual modalities can synthesize realistic facial expressions while maintaining audio-lip synchronization. We conduct the quantitative and qualitative evaluations as well as the perceptual user study. The results demonstrate the superior performance of our model against existing state-of-the-art approaches.
Investigating the Performance of Various Deep Neural Networks-based Approaches Designed to Identify Game Events in Gameplay Footage
Authors: Faria Matheus Prado Prandini , Julia Etienne Silva , Nascimento Marcelo Zanchetta do , Julia Rita Maria Silva
Published: May 2022

Video games, in addition to representing an extremely relevant field of entertainment and market, have been widely used as a case study in artificial intelligence for representing a problem with a high degree of complexity. In such studies, the investigation of approaches that endow player agents with the ability to retrieve relevant information from game scenes stands out, since such information can be very useful to improve their learning ability. This work proposes and analyses new deep learning-based models to identify game events occurring in Super Mario Bros gameplay footage. The architecture of each model is composed of a feature extractor convolutional neural network (CNN) and a classifier neural network (NN). The extracting CNN aims to produce a feature-based representation for game scenes and submit it to the classifier, so that the latter can identify the game event present in each scene. The models differ from each other according to the following elements: the type of the CNN; the type of the NN classifier; and the type of the game scene representation at the CNN input, being either single frames, or chunks, which are n-sequential frames (in this paper 6 frames were used per chunk) grouped into a single input. The main contribution of this article is to demonstrate the greater performance reached by the models which combines the chunk representation for the game scenes with the resources of the classifier recurrent neural networks (RNN).