bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epidemiological Trends of Head and Neck Cancer: A Population‐Based Study
Authors: Guo Kangwen , Xiao Weiliang , Chen Xinggui , Zhao Zhenying , Lin Yuanxiong , Chen Ge
Published: July 2021

Background. Over the past decades, lots of advance have occurred in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC). However, the contemporaneous incidence and survival trends, on the basis of population‐based registry, have not been reported. Methods. The HNC cancer cases were accessed from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The incidence trend was analyzed by joinpoint analysis, with the survival trend being analyzed by period analysis of relative survival rate (RSR) and Kaplan‐Meier analyses. Cox regression analysis was performed to identify the prognostic factors for overall survival. Results. The general incidence trend of HNC increases slightly, with an average annual percentage change of 0.6%, along with five fluctuating segments. The improvement of net survival over the past decades was showed by increasing 60‐month RSR, from 54.1% to 56.0% to 60.9% to 66.8%, which was further confirmed by Kaplan‐Meier analyses. Moreover, disparities in incidence and survival patterns can be observed in different subgroups. Conclusion. A fluctuating incidence pattern and an ever‐improving survival were observed in HNC over time.
Investigation on Supersonic Flow Control Using Nanosecond Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators
Authors: Shahrbabaki A. Nazarian , Bazazzadeh M. , Khoshkhoo R.
Published: July 2021

In this paper, the effects of streamwise Nanosecond Dielectric Barrier Discharge (NS-DBD) actuators on Shock Wave/Boundary Layer Interaction (SWBLI) are investigated in a Mach 2.5 supersonic flow. In this regard, the numerical investigation of NS-DBD plasma actuator effects on unsteady supersonic flow passing a 14° shock wave generator is performed using simulation of Navier-Stokes equations for 3D-flow, unsteady, compressible, and

k
‐
ω

SST turbulent model. In order to evaluate plasma discharge capabilities, the effects of plasma discharge length on the flow behavior are studied by investigating the flow friction factor, the region of separation bubble formation, velocity, and temperature distribution fields in the SWBLI region. The numerical results showed that plasma discharge increased the temperature of the discharge region and boundary layer temperature in the vicinity of flow separation and consequently reduced the Mach number in the plasma discharge region. Plasma excitation to the separation bubbles shifted the separation region to the upstream around 6 mm, increased SWBLI height, and increased the angle of the separation shock wave. Besides, the investigations on the variations of pressure recovery coefficient illustrated that plasma discharge to the separation bubbles had no impressive effect and decreased pressure recovery coefficient. The numerical results showed that although the NS-DBD plasma actuator was not effective in reducing the separation area in SWBLI, they were capable of shifting the separation shock position upstream. This feature can be used to modify the structure of the shock wave in supersonic intakes in off-design conditions.
Dynamic Recrystallization and Recovery Behaviors in Austenite of a Novel Fe-1.93Mn-0.07Ni-1.96Cr-0.35Mo Ultrahigh Strength Steel
Authors: Chen Yongli , Li Yuhua , Zhou Xuejiao , Jiang Yueyue , Tan Fei
Published: July 2021

Due to the complex composition and high proportion of alloys in traditional ultrahigh strength steel, the dilemma caused by ultrahigh strength and low toughness in casting and forging processes requiring subsequent heat treatment can be mitigated with an efficient and economical rolling process. In this work, the effect of deformation parameters on dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and dynamic recovery (DRV) is discussed through stress-strain analysis, the DRV mathematical model is obtained, and then the dynamic recrystallization activation energy, Zener–Hollomon equation, and hot working equation are obtained. The critical strain of DRX detected by the P-J method is

ε

c

/

ε

p

=
0.631

, which indicates that dynamic recrystallization of this novel steel is relatively easy to achieve by the rolling process. These models and conclusions have potential to be generalized for the formulation of process specification and process configuration without requiring extensive material testing.
Characterizing Flow and Structure of Diabetic Retinal Neovascularization after Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography: A Pilot Study
Authors: Haensli Christof , Fasler Katrin , Barthelmes Daniel , Zweifel Sandrine A.
Published: July 2021

Background/Aims. This study evaluates changes of flow and structure of diabetic retinal neovascularization (NV) treated with intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). With OCTA, retinal blood vessels are visualized at high resolution to separately look at flow and structure information without the need for dye injection. We introduce a new measurement method including and combining information of flow and structure. Methods. Retrospective observational case series. Patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) were treated with intravitreal antiVEGF injections. Retinal NV were repeatedly imaged using swept-source OCTA (Zeiss PlexElite 9000) at baseline, after initial treatment block with 3-4 monthly injections, and during a follow-up period of up to 51 weeks. Change of size and flow density of the structural and angio area of NV was assessed. Results. Nine NV in eight eyes of five patients were analyzed with a median follow-up time of 45 weeks. After the initial treatment block, en face structural area regressed, 18.7% ± 39.0% (95% CI 44.2–6.8%,

p
=
0.26

), and en face angio area regressed, 51.9% ± 29.5% (95% CI 32.6 to 71.2%,

p
=
0.007

). Flow density within the en face structural area decreased by 33% ± 19.2% (95% CI 20.5–45.5%,

p
=
0.0077

). Flow density within the en face angio area decreased by mean 17.9% ± 25.2% (95% CI 1.4–34.4%,

p
=
0.066

). In two fellow eyes, NV recurrence could be observed before the onset of vitreous bleeding in one. Conclusion. Our study introduces a new quantitative measurement for NV in PDR, combining structure and flow measurement. The structure area remained after treatment, while its flow density and angio area regressed. We propose this measurement method as a more physiological and possibly more comparable metrics.
Numerical Simulation Research on Hydraulic Fracturing Promoting Coalbed Methane Extraction
Authors: Yongpeng Fan , Longyong Shu , Zhonggang Huo , Jinwei Hao , Li Yang
Published: July 2021

Although hydraulic fracturing technology has been comprehensively investigated, few scholars have studied the influence of hydraulic fracturing on the effect of coalbed methane (CBM) extraction, and few considered the interaction between water and CBM in the research process, which is not conducive to guiding the engineering design of hydraulic fracturing wells. In this work, a hydraulic‐mechanical‐thermal coupled model for CBM extraction in hydraulic fracturing well is established; it combines gas‐liquid two‐phase infiltration, where nonisothermal adsorption is also considered. The COMSOL Multiphysics software is used to carry out the numerical simulation study of the CBM extraction process in hydraulic fracturing well and analyze the influence of coalbed permeability, initial methane pressure, and fracture length on CBM extraction in hydraulic fracturing well, and the results show that the hydraulic‐mechanical‐thermal coupled model for CBM extraction can be used for CBM extraction research in hydraulic fracturing well. The initial coalbed permeability, initial gas pressure, and fracture length all affect the migration speed of CBM to surface well in different ways and have a greater impact on the CBM production rate of hydraulic fracturing well. The greater the initial coalbed permeability and methane pressure are, the longer the fracture length is and the greater the CMB production rate of hydraulic fracturing well is. The change trend of coalbed permeability during the extraction process of surface fracturing well is directly related to the state of the reservoir. The factors of stress, temperature, and CBM desorption jointly determine the increase or decrease of coal seam permeability.
Modeling the Dependence of Losses of a Financial Portfolio Using Nested Archimedean Copulas
Authors: Yaméogo Wendkouni , Barro Diakarya
Published: July 2021

In financial analysis, stochastic models are more and more used to estimate potential outcomes in a risky framework. This paper proposes an approach of modeling the dependence of losses on securities, and the potential loss of the portfolio is divided into sectors each including two subsectors. The Weibull model is used to describe the stochastic behavior of the default time while a nested class of Archimedean copulas at three levels is used to model the maximum of the value at risk of the portfolio.
Study of Complex Helical Drill with a “S” Type Chisel Edge Tip Orient to Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics
Authors: He Yu , Zhou Xiaolong , Zou Ping , Liu Kun
Published: July 2021

In this paper, a complex helicoids’ drill tip of “S” type chisel edge grinded with a three‐parallel universal CNC grinding machine tool is carefully studied to obtain the optimum drill bit tip geometry parameters. The effects of experimental parameters, such as apex angle, chisel edge incline angle, and structure circumference rear angle, on the quality of the drilling hole and the machining force were studied from the orthogonal experiment compared with the ordinary drill bit. The range of technological parameters are confirmed which should be used during the drilling process of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) in order to realize the reduction of cutting defects such as cutting force and spurs. The effect of spindle speed and feed on the drilling behaviour of the experiment using optimum complex helicoids’ drill tip is also analyzed. It is found that the feed has a great influence on the drilling axial force and the spindle speed has little influence on axial force, but great influence on torque.
Deep Nearest Neighbor Website Fingerprinting Attack Technology
Authors: Guo Maohua , Fei Jinlong , Meng Yitong
Published: July 2021

By website fingerprinting (WF) technologies, local listeners are enabled to track the specific website visited by users through an investigation of the encrypted traffic between the users and the Tor network entry node. The current triplet fingerprinting (TF) technique proved the possibility of small sample WF attacks. Previous research methods only concentrate on extracting the overall features of website traffic while ignoring the importance of website local fingerprinting characteristics for small sample WF attacks. Thus, in the present paper, a deep nearest neighbor website fingerprinting (DNNF) attack technology is proposed. The deep local fingerprinting features of websites are extracted via the convolutional neural network (CNN), and then the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classifier is utilized to classify the prediction. When the website provides only 20 samples, the accuracy can reach 96.2%. We also found that the DNNF method acts well compared to the traditional methods in coping with transfer learning and concept drift problems. In comparison to the TF method, the classification accuracy of the proposed method is improved by 2%–5% and it is only dropped by 3% when classifying the data collected from the same website after two months. These experiments revealed that the DNNF is a more flexible, efficient, and robust website fingerprinting attack technology, and the local fingerprinting features of websites are particularly important for small sample WF attacks.
Characteristics of Organic Macerals and Their Influence on Hydrocarbon Generation and Storage: A Case Study of Continental Shale of the Yanchang Formation from the Ordos Basin, China
Authors: Xiao Lei , Li Zhuo , Hou Yufei , Xu Liang , Wang Liwei , Yang Youdong
Published: July 2021

Organic macerals are the basic components of organic matter and play an important role in determining the hydrocarbon generation capacity of source rock. In this paper, organic geochemical analysis of shale in the Chang 7 member of the Yanchang Formation was carried out to evaluate the availability of source rock. The different organic macerals were effectively identified, and the differences in hydrocarbon generation and pore-forming capacities were discussed from two perspectives: microscopic pore development and macroscopic hydrocarbon generation through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and energy-dispersive spectrum (EDS) analyses, methane isotherm adsorption, and on-site analysis of gas-bearing properties. The results show that the source rock of the Chang 7 member has a high abundance of organic matter and moderate thermal evolution and that the organic matter type is mainly type I. Based on the morphology of the organic matter and the element and pore development, four types of hydrogen-rich macerals, including sapropelite and exinite, and hydrogen-poor macerals, including vitrinite and inertinite, as well as the submacerals, algae, mineral asphalt matrix, sporophyte, resin, semifusinite, inertodetrinite, provitrinite, euvitrinite, and vitrodetrinite, can be identified through FE-SEM and EDS. A large number of honeycomb-shaped pores develop in sapropelite, and round-elliptical stomata develop in exinite, while vitrinite and inertinite do not develop organic matter pores. The hydrogen-rich maceral is the main component of organic macerals in the Chang 7 member of the Yanchang Formation. The weight percentage of carbon is low, so it has good hydrocarbon generation capacity, and the organic matter pores are developed and contribute 97% of the organic matter porosity, which is conducive to hydrocarbon generation and storage. The amount of hydrogen-poor maceral is low, and the weight percentage of carbon is low, and the organic matter pores are not developed, which is not conducive to hydrocarbon generation and storage.
Clinical Outcomes of Ileostomy Closure before Adjuvant Chemotherapy after Rectal Cancer Surgery: An Observational Study from a Chinese Center
Authors: Sun Zhen , Zhao Yufeng , Liu Lu , Qin Jichao
Published: July 2021

Background. The optimal timing of temporary ileostomy closure with respect to the time of adjuvant chemotherapy following sphincter-saving surgery for rectal cancer remains unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical and oncological outcomes of ileostomy closure before, during, and after adjuvant chemotherapy following curative rectal cancer resection. Methods. Patients diagnosed with rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent low anterior resection and temporary loop ileostomy during May 2015 and September 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients undergoing ileostomy closure before adjuvant chemotherapy (Group I) were compared to patients undergoing closure during (Group II) and after (Group III) adjuvant chemotherapy. Results. A total of 225 patients were evaluated for eligibility, and 132 were finally selected and divided into 3 groups (24 in Group I, 53 in Group II, and 55 in Group III). No significant differences were observed in operative time, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative complications, total adjuvant chemotherapy cycles, and low anterior resection syndrome scores among the three groups. There was no significant difference in disease-free survival (

p
=
0.834

) and overall survival (

p
=
0.462

) between the three groups. Conclusion. Temporary ileostomy closure before adjuvant chemotherapy following curative rectal cancer resection can achieve a clinical and oncological safety level equal to stoma closure during or after chemotherapy in selected patients.
Multiobjective Multistate System Preventive Maintenance Model with Human Reliability
Authors: Huang Chao-Hui , Wang Chun-Ho , Chen Guan-Liang
Published: July 2021

Modern equipment is designed to operate under deteriorating performance conditions resulting from internal ageing and/or external environmental impacts influencing downstream maintenance. This study focuses on the development of a multistate system (MSS) that considers a human reliability factor associated with maintenance personnel—a condition-based multiobjective MSS preventive maintenance model (MSSPMM). The study assumes that no more than one maintenance activity is performed to achieve the most appropriate preventive maintenance (PM) strategy and easy implementation and to reduce maintenance error due to human reliability. The MSS performance based on mean system unavailability and total maintenance cost is evaluated using a stochastic model approach, and then, the MSSPMM is used for optimisation. A customised version of the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm III is employed to ensure efficient solution of the PM model with human reliability—which is considered a constrained multiobjective combinatorial optimisation problem. The optimised solutions are determined from the nondominated Pareto frontier comprising the diversified PM alternatives. A helicopter power transmission system is used as an example to illustrate the efficacy and applicability of the proposed approach through sensitivity analyses with relevant parameters.
Relationship between Family and Myopia: Based on the Jiangsu School Student Myopia Study
Authors: Zhang Xiyan , Yang Wenyi , Yang Jie , Du Wei , Xiang Yao , Wang Xin , Huang Chao , Wang Yan , Zhang Fengyun
Published: July 2021

Purpose. This study aims to increase our understanding of the relationship between family and myopia in Chinese children. Methods. Students had a physical examination and were required to provide the necessary demographic information. Children and their guardians from different family types were required to fill in a questionnaire concerning myopia factors. Results. In this study, the prevalence of myopia in enrolled students aged 6–17 is 55.5%. The proportion of the nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, and left-behind family is 40.6%, 43.7%, 11.1%, and 4.6%, respectively. Myopia rates from different family types by the order (nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, and left-behind family) are 60.0%, 52.0%, 54.7%, and 50.9% taking on a decreasing trend, which shows an opposite trend comparing with elevated blood pressure, dental caries, and obesity. The interaction effect of the family type and region, physical examination, lifestyle (including diet habits, near work, outdoor activities, and sleep), and types of lamps and whether scolded by parents can have a significant impact on myopia. For primary school students (grade: 1–5), the prevalence of myopia in the nuclear family was a bit higher than that of myopia in the left-behind family, but for children in junior and senior high schools, both prevalences stayed similar. Conclusions. In this study, education pressure and time outdoors are still at play, and this kind of effect shows different phenomena in different families. Therefore, previous interventions would still work, and then the most critical challenge would be to ensure that left-behind children completed more schooling.
miR-142-3p Modulates Cell Invasion and Migration via PKM2-Mediated Aerobic Glycolysis in Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Ren JunYu , Li Wenliang , Pan Guoqing , Huang Fengchang , Yang Jun , Zhang Hongbin , Zhou Ruize , Xu Ning
Published: July 2021

Decreased expression of miR-142-3p was observed in human cancers. However, the function and mechanism of miR-142-3p in human colorectal cancer remain obscure. The expressions of miR-142-3p in human colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines were measured by RT-qPCR. The effects of miR-142-3p on cell invasion and migration were detected by transwell assays. The efficiency of aerobic glycolysis was determined by glucose consumption and lactate production. Dual-luciferase reporter assays were performed to confirm the correlation between miR-142-3p and pyruvate kinase isozyme M2 (PKM2). The level of PKM2 was assessed by western blotting. Our results showed that the expression of miR-142-3p was decreased both in human colorectal cancer tissues and in cells. Overexpression of miR-142-3p in cell line attenuated colorectal cancer cell invasion and migration. About the underlying mechanism, we found that miR-142-3p modulated aerobic glycolysis via targeting pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2). In addition, we demonstrated PKM2 and PKM2-mediated aerobic glycolysis contributes to miR-142-3p-mediated colorectal cancer cell invasion and migration. Hence, these data suggested that miR-142-3p was a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of human colorectal cancer.
Intrusion Detection Method Based on Adaptive Clonal Genetic Algorithm and Backpropagation Neural Network
Authors: Lu Yi , Liu Menghan , Zhou Jie , Li Zhigang
Published: July 2021

Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is an important part of ensuring network security. When the system faces network attacks, it can identify the source of threats in a timely and accurate manner and adjust strategies to prevent hackers from intruding. Efficient IDS can identify external threats well, but traditional IDS has poor performance and low recognition accuracy. To improve the detection rate and accuracy of IDS, this paper proposes a novel ACGA-BPNN method based on adaptive clonal genetic algorithm (ACGA) and backpropagation neural network (BPNN). ACGA-BPNN is simulated on the KDD-CUP’99 and UNSW-NB15 data sets. The simulation results indicate that, in contrast to the methods based on simulated annealing (SA) and genetic algorithm (GA), the detection rate and accuracy of ACGA-BPNN are much higher than of GA-BPNN and SA-BPNN. In the classification results of KDD-CUP’99, the classification accuracy of ACGA-BPNN is 11% higher than GA-BPNN and 24.2% higher than SA-BPNN, and F-score reaches 99.0%. In addition, ACGA-BPNN has good global searchability and its convergence speed is higher than that of GA-BPNN and SA-BPNN. Furthermore, ACGA-BPNN significantly improves the overall detection performance of IDS.
A Distributed Algorithm for Large-Scale Linearly Coupled Resource Allocation Problems with Selfish Agents
Authors: Yu Dian , Wang Tongyao
Published: July 2021

A decentralized randomized coordinate descent method is proposed to solve a large-scale linearly constrained, separable resource optimization problem with selfish agent. This method has a cheap computational cost and can guarantee an improvement of selected objective function without jeopardizing the others in each iteration. The convergence rate is obtained using an alternative gap benchmark of objective value. Numerical simulations suggest that the algorithm will converge to a random point on the Pareto front.
An Inexact Penalty Decomposition Method for Sparse Optimization
Authors: Dong Zhengshan , Lin Geng , Chen Niandong
Published: July 2021

The penalty decomposition method is an effective and versatile method for sparse optimization and has been successfully applied to solve compressed sensing, sparse logistic regression, sparse inverse covariance selection, low rank minimization, image restoration, and so on. With increase in the penalty parameters, a sequence of penalty subproblems required being solved by the penalty decomposition method may be time consuming. In this paper, an acceleration of the penalty decomposition method is proposed for the sparse optimization problem. For each penalty parameter, this method just finds some inexact solutions to those subproblems. Computational experiments on a number of test instances demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method in accurately generating sparse and redundant representations of one‐dimensional random signals.
The Effect of Cinnamaldehyde on iNOS Activity and NO-Induced Islet Insulin Secretion in High-Fat-Diet Rats
Authors: Ataie Zomorrod , Dastjerdi Mohammad , Farrokhfall Khadijeh , Ghiravani Zahra
Published: July 2021

Introduction. Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with alterations in nitric oxide level and insulin secretion. Previous studies demonstrated that cinnamaldehyde (CNMA) improved islet insulin secretion and restored nitric oxide (NO) level, but its underlying mechanisms have not been investigated. This study aimed to investigate the effect of CNMA on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity and NO-induced islet insulin secretion in high-fat-diet (HFD) treated rats. Materials and Methods. Forty male Wistar rats (12 weeks old) were randomly divided into four equal groups, namely, control, CNMA, HFD, and HFD + CNMA. Control and CNMA groups were treated with standard laboratory animals’ diet, while HFD and HDF + CNMA groups were fed with an HFD diet enriched with 25%W/Wtail fat for 16 weeks. CNMA was administrated orally (20 mg/kg body weight, daily) during the study period. Islet insulin secretion and the inducible NOS activity in the presence or absence of L-NAME (NO synthase inhibitor, 5 mmol/L) were evaluated. Results. L-NAME-suppressed insulin secretion in control, HFD, and HFD + CNMA groups; however, in the CNMA group, it could not exhibit such effect (P<0.01). Islets of HFD-treated animals showed significantly higher iNOS activity than controls. CNMA treatment significantly suppressed iNOS activities in CNMA and HFD + CNMA groups compared with control and HFD, respectively. Conclusion. These results suggest that the beneficial effect of CNMA on insulin secretion might be due to its inhibitory effect on iNOS activity.
Clinical Predictors of Nondiabetic Kidney Disease in Patients with Diabetes: A Single-Center Study
Authors: Fontana Francesco , Perrone Rossella , Giaroni Francesco , Alfano Gaetano , Giovanella Silvia , Ligabue Giulia , Magistroni Riccardo , Cappelli Gianni
Published: July 2021

Background. Although diabetic kidney disease (DKD) could affect up to one-third of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), these patients can develop kidney diseases different from DKD, or these conditions can superimpose on DKD. Several potential predictors of nondiabetic kidney disease (NDKD) have been proposed, but there are no definitive indications available for kidney biopsy in diabetic patients. Methods. We designed a single-center, cross-sectional, and retrospective cohort study to identify clinical and laboratory factors associated with a diagnosis of NDKD after native kidney biopsy in diabetic patients and to investigate differences in time to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in patients with a diagnosis of DKD and NDKD. Results. Of 142 patients included in our analysis, 89 (62.68%) had a histopathological diagnosis of NDKD or mixed NDKD + DKD. Patients in the NDKD group had significantly lower HbA1C, lower prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), and less severe proteinuria, and there was a lower proportion of patients with nephrotic syndrome; the DKD group had significantly lower proportion of patients with hematological conditions. In the multivariate binary logistic regression, only absence of DR and presence of a hematological condition significantly predicted NDKD after adjustment for age and sex. Time to ESKD was significantly higher in patients with NDKD or mixed forms than in those with DKD. Conclusions. After a careful selection, more than half of kidney biopsies performed in diabetic patients can identify NDKD (alone or with concomitant DKD). Absence of DR and coexistence of a hematological condition (especially MGUS) were strong predictors of NDKD in our cohort.
Impact of Incentive Management Strategies on Employee Performance among Telecommunication Firms in Kaduna Metroplis
Authors: Bagobiri Esther Yimi , Paul Gadi Dung
Published: July 2021

The study examined the impact of incentive management strategies on employee performance among telecommunication firms in Kaduna metropolis. The objectives of the study were to determine the impacts of monetary incentive management strategies and non-monetary incentive management strategies on employee performance among telecommunication firms in Kaduna metropolis. The study employed survey design method in which a specially designed questionnaire was used to collect primary data from respondents in the study. The target population of the study was employees from the head branches of four selected telecommunication firms in Kaduna metropolis; providing network reception service for calls and internet access data to residence in Kaduna metropolis. The firms include MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile and Glo. The population of employees in these firms’ head branches were; 66 in MTN, 49 in Airtel, 61 in 9Mobile and 54 in Glo; making a total of 230. The sample of the study was same as that of the population, as census sampling technique was used to decide the sample size. Self-administered questionnaire was designed and used to collect the primary data of the study. The collected data for the study was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis tools (mean scores and standard deviation) to summarize the responses and inferential statistical tool (Regression model) to determine whether incentive management strategies have impact on employee performance in the selected firms. The study’s findings showed that both monetary and non-monetary incentive management strategies have significant impact on employee performance among telecommunication firms in Kaduna metropolis. Based on the finding of the study, it was recommended that telecommunication firms continually review existing monetary and non-monetary incentive management strategies and design new incentive programs in order to encourage employee to perform better than their current performance level.
HR Analytics and Employee’s Performance Management: An Assessment Built on Existing Literature
Authors: Chaudhary Brijendra , Srivastava Shweta
Published: July 2021

This paper attempts to study how HR Analytics affects employee performance management based on existing research. The literature analysis has led to a clear understanding that many traditional HR functions are now transforming. However, the transition is slow and will take significant energy from HR and its management to keep the change momentum intact. This literature analysis has explored the increased use of HR Analytics in modern-day companies and analyses change speed.
The Development of an Online Database for Historical Archiving of Primary Sources
Authors: Mobo Froilan D.
Published: July 2021

Historical primary sources serve as an important historical facts specially for sociologist and historian it helps them to retrieve data easily. It is very difficult to do research, data gathering specially If the data has not been stored in a cabinet or any repository properly, especially if it is being a decade or a century ago. This study will help store all the primary sources in a central database using digital technology, this approach the sociologist and historian can retrieve it easily.
Avaliação da ação germicida da luz ultravioleta de cabine de segurança biológica frente às espécies bacterianas
Authors: Barbosa Adriana Sierra Assencio Almeida , Camargo Mariana Priscila , Moreira Julie Anne Corrêa de Magalhães Tavares , Diman Rafael Balan , Silveira Mônica da
Published: July 2021

Introdução: A cabine de segurança biológica (CBS) é um equipamento de proteção coletiva, utilizado para efetuar a contenção de aerossóis produzidos nos procedimentos laboratoriais. A CBS protege tanto os trabalhadores, quanto o material manipulado e o meio ambiente. Dispõe de lâmpadas de luz ultravioleta (UV) que possui ação germicida, alterando os ácidos nucleicos dos micro-organismos. Objetivo: O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a ação germicida da luz UV da CBS classe II, tipo A2, frente à cultura de duas espécies de bactérias com diferentes condições de exposição a luz UV. Material e Métodos: Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa foram utilizadas as bactérias Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 e Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 10031, na concentração de 1,5x108 Unidades Formadoras de Colônias/ml (UFC/ml), que após a semeadura em biplacas de Petri foram expostas à luz UV em diferentes condições e tempos. Resultados: Os resultados obtidos revelaram que as espécies de bactérias apresentaram igual perfil de crescimento ou inibição quando submetidas às diferentes condições de exposição. As biplacas de Petri com as tampas abertas e protegidas ou não com embalagem de esterilização apresentaram, nos tempos 15 e 20 minutos, inibição bacteriana. Nas biplacas protegidas pelo papel alumínio e nas biplacas com a tampa fechada, independentemente do tempo e da condição, os micro-organismos apresentaram crescimento bacteriano. Conclusão: Com os resultados obtidos, sugere-se que a ação germicida da luz UV foi eficaz, garantindo a descontaminação adequada e assegurando a qualidade na biossegurança laboratorial.
Repercussões cardiovasculares em usuários de cocaína: uma revisão integrativa
Authors: Pantaleão Sara Regina Pereira , Lins André da Silveira Ribeiro , Nóbrega Filho Manoel Marques de Souto
Published: July 2021

Introdução: O uso da cocaína é considerado um importante problema de saúde, sendo crescente o número de atendimentos nos serviços de emergência de pacientes que referem sintomas relacionados a alterações cardiovasculares após seu uso. Objetivo: Apresentar as repercussões cardiovasculares promovidas pela cocaína, associando o seu consumo a possíveis desfechos fatais, além de discutir as melhores maneiras de abordar o paciente na emergência. Método: Revisão integrativa da literatura nas bases de dados eletrônicas LILACS, MEDLINE, IBECS, SciELO, Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de São Paulo, Secretaria Estadual de Saúde de São Paulo, Coleciona SUS, disponíveis na BVS, bem como no PubMed. Resultados: Após análise criteriosa, 44 artigos atenderam aos critérios de inclusão. Foram estudos realizados na Europa (25%), Austrália (6,82%) e no continente americano (68,18%). Discussão: Abuso de cocaína é considerado um fator de risco isolado para doenças cardiovasculares, independente de outros. Por isso, pacientes jovens admitidos com dor torácica devem ser questionados sobre o consumo dessa droga. O tratamento do IAM associado ao uso de cocaína é semelhante ao realizado em paciente não usuário e, apesar da controvérsia existente sobre existir ou não contraindicação ao emprego de betabloqueador, diversos estudos indicam a utilização de drogas alfa e beta bloqueadores nesses pacientes. Conclusão: constatou-se que as principais repercussões cardiovasculares encontradas em pacientes usuários de cocaína que procuraram atendimento nas emergências hospitalares foram as emergências/urgências hipertensivas, taquicardia supraventricular, angina, infarto agudo do miocárdio, dissecção e aneurisma de aorta.
Predictors of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Among Patients With Post‐Myocardial Infarction Ejection Fraction Greater Than 35%
Authors: Adabag Selçuk , Zimmerman Patrick , Lexcen Daniel , Cheng Alan
Published: July 2021

Background

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) risk increases after myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with a reduced ejection fraction (EF). However, the risk factors for SCA among patients with a post‐MI EF >35% remain poorly understood.

Methods and Results

Using the Optum de‐identified electronic health record data set from 2008 to 2017, we identified patients with an incident MI diagnosis and troponin elevation who had a post‐MI EF >35% and underwent coronary angiography. Primary outcome was SCA within 1 year post‐MI. The database was divided into derivation (70%) and validation (30%) cohorts by random selection. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to generate and validate a risk prediction model. Among 31 286 patients with an MI (median age 64.1; 39% female; 87% White), 499 experienced SCA within 1 year post‐MI (estimated probability 1.8%). Lack of revascularization at MI, post‐MI EF <50%, Black race, renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, antiarrhythmic therapy, and absence of beta blocker therapy were independent predictors of SCA. A multivariable model consisting of these variables predicted SCA risk (C‐statistic 0.73). Based on this model, the estimated annual probability of SCA was 4.4% (95% CI, 3.9–4.9) in the highest quartile of risk versus 0.6% (95% CI, 0.4–0.8) in the lowest quartile.

Conclusions

Patients with a post‐MI EF >35% have a substantial annual risk of SCA. A risk model consisting of acute coronary revascularization, EF, race, renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, antiarrhythmic therapy, and beta blocker therapy can identify patients with higher risk of SCA, who may benefit from further risk stratification and closer monitoring.
Self-supervised Regularization for Text Classification
Authors: Zhou Meng , Li Zechen , Xie Pengtao
Published: July 2021

Text classification is a widely studied problem and has broad applications. In many real-world problems, the number of texts for training classification models is limited, which renders these models prone to overfitting. To address this problem, we propose SSL-Reg, a data-dependent regularization approach based on self-supervised learning (SSL). SSL (Devlin et al., 2019a) is an unsupervised learning approach that defines auxiliary tasks on input data without using any human-provided labels and learns data representations by solving these auxiliary tasks. In SSL-Reg, a supervised classification task and an unsupervised SSL task are performed simultaneously. The SSL task is unsupervised, which is defined purely on input texts without using any human- provided labels. Training a model using an SSL task can prevent the model from being overfitted to a limited number of class labels in the classification task. Experiments on 17 text classification datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method. Code is available at https://github.com/UCSD-AI4H/SSReg.
Changes in escape behaviour of black iguanas (Ctenosaura similis) over an anthropogenic disturbance gradient
Authors: Panwar Pooja , Gómez-Ruiz Pilar Angélica , Zipple Matthew N. , Sandoval Luis
Published: July 2021

Studies on the impact of human activity on animal behaviour are critical for understanding the extent to which humans affect ecological dynamics. Previous studies have found that human presence alters antipredator behaviours, which can be measured by flight initiation distance (FID). We investigated escape behaviour of 96 black iguanas (Ctenosaura similis) across a gradient of human disturbance in six sites inside a protected area in Costa Rica. We used a field experiment to test for effect of human disturbance on FID. We found that individuals from higher disturbance sites had shorter FIDs, meaning that black iguanas from disturbed areas allow closer approaches. This finding is consistent with the prediction that some animals become more habituated to human presence as the degree of human disturbance increases. We propose that black iguanas’ ability to alter their behaviour in response to humans’ presence could make them especially adept at invading new environments.
Japanese Buddhism in Germany
Authors: Brandt Laura , Prohl Inken
Published: July 2021

The following article describes the perceptions and practices of Japanese Buddhism in Germany, focusing on Zen and its local converts. We will give a short overview of the early reception of Buddhism in Germany, which shaped the foundation of its further development there. The article will then examine the relationship between the German reception of Japanese Buddhism and National Socialism and introduce Eugen Herrigel, who wrote the bestseller Zen in der Kunst des Bogenschießens, which led to increased interest in Buddhist practices. We will trace how institutionalization manifested in the Buddhist landscape in Germany, utilizing Deshimaru Taisen as an example. We will then briefly discuss the influence of Japanese Buddhism on philosophy, psychology, and popular culture. The conclusion will draw attention to the lack of attention to specific themes in previous discussions on Japanese Buddhism, especially on women’s activities in the field.
Description of a new water mite species of the genus Kongsbergia Thor, 1899 (Acari, Hydrachnidia: Aturidae) from Kazakhstan
Authors: TUZOVSKIJ PETR V.
Published: July 2021

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A revision of the genus Pachyrhinus Schӧnherr 1823 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Entiminae) in the Nearctic Region
Authors: BENZEL JOSEPH , BRIGHT DONALD E.
Published: July 2021

The North American species of the broad-nosed weevil genus Pachyrhinus Schönherr 1823 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Entiminae) are revised. Three species of Pachyrhinus are here recognized in North America: P. elegans (Couper 1865), P. californicus (Horn 1876), and P. cinereus (Casey 1888). Pachyrhinus lateralis (Casey 1888) and P. miscix (Fall 1901) are here designated as synonyms of P. elegans. Pachyrhinus crassicornis (Casey 1888) and P. albidus (Fall 1901) are here designated synonyms of P. cinereus (Casey 1888) The previously proposed synonymy of P. ferrugineus (Casey 1888) with P. californicus was confirmed. This revision includes detailed images of diagnostic characters as well as scanning electron micrographs of scale morphology for all species. A key to the Nearctic species of Pachyrhinus is provided. All Nearctic species of Pachyrhinus are considered minor pests of Pinus spp. [Pinaceae].
A new species of Wyeomyia (Diptera: Culicidae) from Heliconia flower bracts in northern South America
Authors: RIBEIRO PAULINO SIQUEIRA , PAVAN MÁRCIO GALVÃO , DA SILVA MARCOS BARBOSA , GALVÃO CLEBER , LOURENÇO-DE-OLIVEIRA RICARDO , MOTTA MONIQUE ALBUQUERQUE
Published: July 2021

A new species of the genus Wyeomyia, Wyeomyia (Decamyia) anthica sp. n., is described based on morphological and molecular analyses and is illustrated in larval, pupal and adult life stages. Among the four valid species of the subgenus Decamyia, the new species is closest to Wy. ulocoma (Theobald, 1903), from which it can be distinguished by morphological characters of the male genitalia, larval and pupal stages, and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene sequence. Wyeomyia ulocoma is recorded from Brazil for the first time.
Two new and rare genera of angle-winged katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae: Microcentrini) from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest
Authors: DE MELLO MENDES DIEGO MATHEUS , RAFAEL JOSÉ ALBERTINO
Published: July 2021

Angle-winged katydids belong to the Microcentrini Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878 (Phaneropterinae: Tettigoniidae). This tribe currently comprises 17 genera and 102 species with a Neotropical distribution. In this paper we described two new genera with two new species each: Capanema gen. nov. including Capanema pocanga sp. nov. (type species) and Capanema capara sp. nov.; Tukunha gen. nov., including Tukunha pinimauna sp. nov. (type species) and Tukunha minor sp. nov., comprising a total of four new species. Keys to the species of the described genera, maps and observations of natural history are provided.
First description of the advertisement call of the rare treefrog Aplastodiscus flumineus (Cruz and Peixoto, 1985) (Anura: Hylidae: Cophomantinae)
Authors: BEZERRA ANDRESSA M. , HEPP FÁBIO , LUNA-DIAS CYRO , CARVALHO-E-SILVA SERGIO P.
Published: July 2021

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Lipase-catalyzed selective esterification of catechin
Authors: Zhou Juntong , Tian Qingqing , Ma Yuezhu , Wang Yue , Huo Qing
Published: July 2021

Catechins show strong antioxidant, antitumoral, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory activities. The uses of catechins in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical formulations seem very attractive. Unfortunately, solubility and stability of catechins are poor in apolar media, which limits their
efficient uses. In order to improve the solubility of catechins in the oil phase and maintain their oxidation resistance, a regioselective enzymatic acylation was investigated. The effects of reaction medium, water content, carbon chain length of acyl donor and other factors on the acylation
reaction were studied, catechins were enzymatically esterified with an aliphatic acid (stearic acid) using an immobilized lipase Novozym 435 in n-butanol. The results show that when the ratio between catechins and stearic acid was 1:5, adding molecular sieves 4A after 11 h of reaction
and the temperature of 60 °C led to the maximum conversion yield of 60.36%. Studies have shown that catechin stearate has a higher antioxidant activity than vitamin E and dibutyl hydroxytoluene (BHT).
Optimization of protocols for generation of insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells using small molecules
Authors: He Jingjing , Li Jin , Sun Yi , Lu Guangxiu , Lin Ge
Published: July 2021

The differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into β-cells has potential uses for cell therapy in diabetes. There were massive reported protocols which can be used to generate insulin-producing cells (IPCs) from hESCs, and most of these methods were using recombinant
growth factors. However, small molecules can coax ES cells towards pancreatic fate, and could substitute recombinant proteins. To obtain an unbiased characterization, we performed a comparative study with the recombinant protein induction protocol and the small molecule induction protocol
and found that the small molecule induction protocol could better inhibit the differentiation of cells into hepatic lineage cells than the recombinant protein induction protocol. On this basis, we further optimized and established an efficient small molecule differentiation system, and the
optimized protocol could better inhibit the differentiation of pancreatic exocrine glands. The differentiated hESCs obtained by our optimized protocol comprised approximately 32% IPCs as assayed by flow cytometry analysis. Transmission electron micrograph demonstrated that IPCs obtained in
optimized small molecule induction protocol had more and larger secretory granules than those in induction protocol before optimization.
Preparation and characterization of NiO/HY catalyst
Authors: Dong Yingnan , Bai Hanyue , Li Shanshan , Tang Jian , Niu Wei
Published: July 2021

NiO/HY catalyst was prepared by impregnation method with the nickel acetate as the precursor and the HY as the carrier. The influences of impregnation solution acidity, the nickel species and the calcination process on the catalyst structure were studied by the nitrogen physical adsorption
and XRD. The hydrogenation reaction of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was selected to evaluate the catalytic performance of the prepared catalyst. Experiments showed that the structure of the catalyst is critical to its performance, and NiO/HY catalyst has a good application prospect.
Design and development of peptide-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles: Investigation of ultrasound imaging for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers
Authors: Mao Meijun , Zhang Minqing , Xu Wei , Zhao Bei
Published: July 2021

Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) with superparamagnetic characteristics were synthesized and coated with glypican-3 ligand peptide (GPC3), resulting in GPC3@Fe3O4 NPs. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and high resolution transmission
electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to characterize the fabricated GPC3@Fe3O4 NPs, and dynamic light scattering measurements were performed to determine the average particle surface charge. The morphology and size distributions of the uncoated Fe3O4
NPs were determined using HRTEM images, which revealed uniform-sized GPC3@Fe3O4 NPs with a particle size of approximately 10 nm. An in vitro cell proliferation assay was performed on non-cancerous HEK-293 cells to examine the cytotoxicity of free Fe3O4
NPs, free GPC3, and GPC3@Fe3O4 NPs. The potential of the engineered GPC3@Fe3O4 NPs to act as contrast agents for enhanced ultrasound imaging was also examined in vitro. The results showed that GPC3@Fe3O4 NPs significantly
improved the effective ultrasound contrast analysis for cancer detection and treatment.