bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy for Immunoglobulin E-Mediated Food Allergy
Authors: Chiera Fernanda , Viola Irene , Spinuzza Antonietta , Caminiti Lucia , Crisafulli Giuseppe , Panasiti Ilenia , Battista Pajno Giovanni
Published: October 2022

Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening condition and a significant public health concern worldwide. The current management includes food avoidance and use of emergency medications. The growing prevalence of food allergy drives research towards specific allergen immunotherapy (AIT), which represents a potential disease-modifying approach. AIT consists of the progressive administration of amounts of the offending allergen in order to induce food desensitisation, creating an increase in reaction threshold with regular exposure to the allergen. AIT can be performed through oral, sublingual, epicutaneous, and subcutaneous routes. The target is to achieve post desensitisation effectiveness: a long-lasting condition allowing patients to introduce food without reactions, even after a period of discontinuation of the offending food.
An Observational Study on Unique High Resolution Computed Tomography Pattern of Post-COVID Pulmonary Fibrosis
Authors: Kant Surya , Tyagi Richa , Bajaj Darshan Kumar , Parihar Anit
Published: October 2022

Background: As the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 era commenced, a new entity was added to the already hefty bulk of parenchymal lung diseases in post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis. A wide range of findings from mild ground glass opacities to exuberant fibrosis are seen on high resolution CT of the thorax. However, the authors came across a pattern that was frequently repeated, and therefore conducted an observational study on the radiological findings.

Method: The study was conducted for a period of 6 months in the departments of Respiratory Medicine and Radiodiagnosis at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India. The radiological findings on high resolution CT thorax of consecutive patients who reported to the Department of Respiratory Medicine after recovering from COVID-19, and were previously reverse transcriptase-PCR-positive or serologically confirmed, were studied.

Result: There were a total of 56 subjects (32 males; mean age: 56 years). The most common finding was ground glass opacities (89%). Reticulations were seen in 86% of patients, with a unique dome-shaped fibrosis parallel to pleural surface in 54%, patchy consolidation in 49%, and scattered cysts in 43%. The distribution was mostly bilateral with slight predominance of lower lobes (57%).

Conclusion: Ground glass opacities, reticulations, and consolidation are fairly common in patients with pulmonary sequelae of COVID-19. It has a peculiar predilection for involvement of subpleural space with cupola or band-shaped fibrosis.
Exhausted Senses: Between the Eye and the Ear in ‘Long Observation of the Ray’ and ‘The Voice/Verbatim’
Authors: Moore Brian Michael
Published: October 2022

Between October 1975 and November 1976, Samuel Beckett began, revised and abandoned a manuscript for a prose piece entitled ‘Long Observation of the Ray’ (at least) twice. After a period of writing for television, Beckett’s next foray into prose resulted in ‘The Voice/Verbatim’, a text that – due to its partial incorporation into Company – resists definition as either draft or abandoned work. This article parses Beckett’s motivations for abandoning (and reabandoning) these pieces and demonstrates that the ‘ray’ and the ‘voice’ partake in a broader conversation in Beckett’s work concerning the visual and the audible. The 1970s, a time of unprecedented modulation between media in Beckett’s writing, see Beckett almost capriciously tailoring images to fit media, or vice versa. His writing desk between 1975 and 1977 was home to ‘ends and odds’ in various media: two stage plays, two TV plays, a litany of poems and prose. Focusing on the writing that immediately preceded his first attempt at ‘Long Observation’, the works that come between its first and second abandonment, and the inception of Beckett’s late prose ‘trilogy’, this article argues that one can witness a negotiation between writing the ‘eye’ and the ‘ear’ as he wrangles with how to put the observations of the ‘ray’ and the overheard ‘voice’ in words. This article contextualises this dynamic within discourses surrounding modernism and the senses, philosophical responses to ‘ocularcentrism’ and the ways in which manuscript research can harmonize with Deleuze’s reading of Beckett’s ‘exhaustive’ language. Alongside this, investigations into Beckett’s late allusions to Dante’s description of Virgil’s hoarse voice or faint appearance and W. B. Yeats’s ‘deepening shades’ reveal this compositional struggle seeping into (or deriving from) Beckett’s reading habits; traversing the ‘ill-heard’ and the ‘ill-seen’, these references encapsulate Beckett’s ongoing struggle to isolate in words the senses of sight and hearing.
Caracterización fenotípica y resistencia antifúngica de cándidas aisladas de hemocultivos de un Hospital Nacional Nivel IV
Authors: Díaz-Tello José , Rojas-Jaimes Jesús
Published: October 2022

El hongo del genero Cándida es un patógeno oportunista que puede agregarse como un coinfección en los servicios hospitalarios causando altos porcentajes de morbimortalidad por la virulencia intrínseca del agente y por la resistencia a los antifúngicos(1,2). El objetivo de la investigación fue determinarlas especies de Cándida, y la resistencia de estas a los antifúngicos en el Hospital Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen entre los años 2014 al 2015.
La Atención Primaria o Atención Integral de la Salud en el Perú de 2021
Authors: López-Reyes Lucy
Published: October 2022

La realización del "Simposio sobre la Atención Primaria o Atención Integral de la Salud en el Perú de 2021" que nos presenta la revista "DIAGNÓSTICO" enéste número es una oportunidad para promover el diálogo sobre la Atención Primaria de la Salud, la cual sigue siendo una estrategia para ejercer el derecho a la salud aún elusivo en nuestro país, con la legítima participación de las personas y las comunidades.
La atenciòn primaria en servicio de salud urbanos
Authors: Meneses Giovanni
Published: October 2022

Se reseña la definición de la Atención Primaria de Salud, entendida como la atención esencial en salud basada enmétodos y tecnologías prácticas, científicamente bien soportadas y aceptables socialmente, accesible a los individuos y las familias en la comunidad, a través de su plena participación y a un costo que la comunidad y el país puedan asumir para mantenerla, parte integral del sistema de salud de un país, así como del desarrollo económico y social de la comunidad, acercando la atención en salud, tanto como sea posible, al lugar donde la gente vive y trabaja y constituyéndose en el primer elemento de un proceso continuo de salud. Se describen y deslindan algunas distorsiones del término, tales como la atención en el Primer Nivel, la Atención Primaria Selectiva y la Atención Primaria Primitiva/Salud Básica. Finalmente se postulan algunas propuestas para implementarla en establecimientos de salud en zonas urbanas, incluyendo un caso aplicativo.
Espina bífida
Authors: Calderón-Velasco Rolando
Published: October 2022

La espina bífida es una malformación de la médula espinal que lleva a complicaciones en varios órganos y da origen a una considerable discapacidad, aún después de décadas que se ha reparado la anormalidad.
A Theorem on Binomial Series
Authors: Annamalai Chinnaraji
Published: October 2022

This paper presents a theorem on binomial series. These ideas can enable the scientific researchers to solve the real life problems.
Bibliometric analysis of artificial intelligence for biotechnology and applied microbiology: Exploring research hotspots and frontiers
Authors: Xu Dongyu , Liu Bing , Wang Jian , Zhang Zhichang
Published: October 2022

Background: In the biotechnology and applied microbiology sectors, artificial intelligence (AI) has been extensively used in disease diagnostics, drug research and development, functional genomics, biomarker recognition, and medical imaging diagnostics. In our study, from 2000 to 2021, science publications focusing on AI in biotechnology were reviewed, and quantitative, qualitative, and modeling analyses were performed.

Methods: On 6 May 2022, the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was screened for AI applications in biotechnology and applied microbiology; 3,529 studies were identified between 2000 and 2022, and analyzed. The following information was collected: publication, country or region, references, knowledgebase, institution, keywords, journal name, and research hotspots, and examined using VOSviewer and CiteSpace V bibliometric platforms.

Results: We showed that 128 countries published articles related to AI in biotechnology and applied microbiology; the United States had the most publications. In addition, 584 global institutions contributed to publications, with the Chinese Academy of Science publishing the most. Reference clusters from studies were categorized into ten headings: deep learning, prediction, support vector machines (SVM), object detection, feature representation, synthetic biology, amyloid, human microRNA precursors, systems biology, and single cell RNA-Sequencing. Research frontier keywords were represented by microRNA (2012–2020) and protein-protein interactions (PPIs) (2012–2020).

Conclusion: We systematically, objectively, and comprehensively analyzed AI-related biotechnology and applied microbiology literature, and additionally, identified current hot spots and future trends in this area. Our review provides researchers with a comprehensive overview of the dynamic evolution of AI in biotechnology and applied microbiology and identifies future key research areas.
Unveiling a family of spiro-β-lactams with anti-HIV and antiplasmodial activity via phosphine-catalyzed [3+2] annulation of 6-alkylidene-penicillanates and allenoates
Authors: Alves Américo J. S. , Alves Nuno G. , Bártolo Inês , Fontinha Diana , Caetano Soraia , Prudêncio Miguel , Taveira Nuno , Pinho e Melo Teresa M. V. D.
Published: October 2022

The molecular architecture of spirocyclic compounds has been widely explored within the medicinal chemistry field to obtain new compounds with singular three-dimensional pharmacophoric features and improved bioactivity. Herein, the synthesis of 68 new spirocyclopentene-β-lactams is described, resulting from a rational drug design and structural modulation of a highly promising lead compound BSS-730A, previously identified as having dual antimicrobial activity associated with a novel mechanism of action. Among this diverse library of new compounds, 22 were identified as active against HIV-1, with eight displaying an IC50 lower than 50 nM. These eight compounds also showed nanomolar activity against HIV-2, and six of them displayed micromolar antiplasmodial activity against both the hepatic and the blood stages of infection by malaria parasites, in agreement with the lead molecule’s bioactivity profile. The spirocyclopentene-β-lactams screened also showed low cytotoxicity against TZM-bl and Huh7 human cell lines. Overall, a family of new spirocyclopentene penicillanates with potent activity against HIV and/or Plasmodium was identified. The present structure–activity relationship open avenues for further development of spirocyclopentene-β-lactams as multivalent, highly active broad spectrum antimicrobial agents.
Fuzzy spherical truncation-based multi-linear protein descriptors: From their definition to application in structural-related predictions
Authors: Contreras-Torres Ernesto , Marrero-Ponce Yovani , Terán Julio E. , Agüero-Chapin Guillermin , Antunes Agostinho , García-Jacas César R.
Published: October 2022

This study introduces a set of fuzzy spherically truncated three-dimensional (3D) multi-linear descriptors for proteins. These indices codify geometric structural information from kth spherically truncated spatial-(dis)similarity two-tuple and three-tuple tensors. The coefficients of these truncated tensors are calculated by applying a smoothing value to the 3D structural encoding based on the relationships between two and three amino acids of a protein embedded into a sphere. At considering, the geometrical center of the protein matches with center of the sphere, the distance between each amino acid involved in any specific interaction and the geometrical center of the protein can be computed. Then, the fuzzy membership degree of each amino acid from an spherical region of interest is computed by fuzzy membership functions (FMFs). The truncation value is finally a combination of the membership degrees from interacting amino acids, by applying the arithmetic mean as fusion rule. Several fuzzy membership functions with diverse biases on the calculation of amino acids memberships (e.g., Z-shaped (close to the center), PI-shaped (middle region), and A-Gaussian (far from the center)) were considered as well as traditional truncation functions (e.g., Switching). Such truncation functions were comparatively evaluated by exploring: 1) the frequency of membership degrees, 2) the variability and orthogonality analyses among them based on the Shannon Entropy’s and Principal Component’s methods, respectively, and 3) the prediction performance of alignment-free prediction of protein folding rates and structural classes. These analyses unraveled the singularity of the proposed fuzzy spherically truncated MDs with respect to the classical (non-truncated) ones and respect to the MDs truncated with traditional functions. They also showed an improved prediction power by attaining an external correlation coefficient of 95.82% in the folding rate modelling and an accuracy of 100% in distinguishing structural protein classes. These outcomes are better than the ones attained by existing approaches, justifying the theoretical contribution of this report. Thus, the fuzzy spherically truncated-based protein descriptors from MuLiMs-MCoMPAs (http://tomocomd.com/mulims-mcompas) are promising alignment-free predictors for modeling protein functions and properties.
Upregulation of hypothalamic POMC neurons after biliary diversion in GK rats
Authors: Zhou Shengnan , Chen Weijie , Bai Xuesong , Chen Jiemin , Xu Qiang , Dong Liangbo , Chen Wei , Qu Qiang , He Xiaodong
Published: October 2022

Background

Bile acids are important signaling molecules that might activate hypothalamic neurons. This study aimed to investigate possible changes in hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons after biliary diversion in diabetic rats.

Methods

Ten GK rats were randomly divided into the biliary diversion (BD) and sham groups. The glucose metabolism, hypothalamic POMC expression, serum bile acid profiles, and ileal bile acid-specific receptors of the two groups were analyzed.

Results

Biliary diversion improved blood glucose (P = 0.001) and glucose tolerance (P = 0.001). RNA-Seq of the hypothalamus showed significantly upregulated expression of the POMC gene (log2-fold change = 4.1, P < 0.001), which also showed increased expression at the protein (P = 0.030) and mRNA (P = 0.004) levels. The POMC-derived neuropeptide α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) was also increased in the hypothalamus (2.21 ± 0.11 ng/g, P = 0.006). In addition, increased taurocholic acid (TCA) (108.05 ± 20.62 ng/mL, P = 0.003) and taurodeoxycholic acid (TDCA) (45.58 ± 2.74 ng/mL, P < 0.001) were found in the BD group and induced the enhanced secretion of fibroblast growth factor-15 (FGF15, 74.28 ± 3.44 pg/ml, P = 0.001) by activating farnesoid X receptor (FXR) that was over-expressed in the ileum.

Conclusions

Hypothalamic POMC neurons were upregulated after BD, and the increased TCA, TDCA, and the downstream gut-derived hormone FGF15 might activate POMC neurons.
Multiport converters for incorporating solar photovoltaic system with battery storage: A pilot survey towards modern influences, challenges and future scenarios
Authors: Shanmugam S. , Sharmila A.
Published: October 2022

The increasing significance of renewable power systems with diverse sources has produced an unexpected demand for electronic converters to integrate and simultaneously control, various energy resources, and storage devices. The voltage-current characteristics and the voltage levels of storage, as well as energy generating systems, are naturally diverse from those of loads. Hence, converters are employed to transform the energy from the renewable power plants to meet the total power demand, to enable the renewable energy system to use Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm, to enhance the dynamic and static characteristics of the system, and to integrate the energy storage devices to resolve the issue of the irregularity of the load demand and unstable characteristics of the renewable sources. The implementation of a Multiport DC/DC converter (MDC) is a viable solution to increase the system efficiency and power density. The conventional MDC contains 1) DC unidirectional input ports to connect the renewable energy generating system; 2) two-way input ports to interface battery like storage devices; and 3) output ports to interface the load. Recently, numerous multiport converter configurations have been developed and described in the literature. Each of these reported MDCs has distinct architecture and working mechanism, which leads to a diverse level of intricacies, different component count, different performance, and reliability. This paper reviews various configurations of MDCs that have been introduced by different research communities to integrate solar energy with Battery Storage System (BSS). Different MDCs topologies such as partially-isolated, isolated, non-isolated configurations are discussed according to their physical structures and other aspects. This article can be employed as a guideline to select the appropriate configuration to match the certain condition of a system.
Agricultural resource and risk management with multiperiod stochastics: A case of the mixed crop-livestock production system in the drylands of Jordan
Authors: Boussios David , Preckel Paul V. , Yigezu Yigezu A. , Dixit Prakash , Rekik Mourad , Hilali Muhi El Dine , Wamatu Jane , Haile Aynalem , Shakhatreh Yahya
Published: October 2022

Generally, agricultural production involves several challenges. In the drylands, it is further complicated by weather-related risks and resource degradation. In this paper, we present a case study of the mixed crop-livestock production system in Jordan. To better capture the nature of response farming in the drylands, we develop a methodology for using crop simulation models to directly generate data for optimizing production practices of an integrated crop-livestock producing household in a dynamic stochastic context. The approach optimizes producer’s adaptations to random events, such as weather, which are realized throughout the planning horizon. To ensure the sustainability of the optimized production decisions, long-term valuations of end of horizon soil attributes are included in the objective function. This approach endogenizes the tradeoff between short-and long-run productivity. Model results show that due to the limited natural resource endowments and financial liquidity constraints of the typical farm households in the study area, we find these households have limited options. To optimally respond to weather conditions during the production season, better manage risk, and achieve improvements in soil attributes, a typical household would need larger farm size, larger flock, and better financial liquidity than it currently commands. Like all such models, the farm household model used in this paper is not suitable for drawing policy implications. Therefore, targeted analysis using appropriate sectoral or economy-wide models will be needed in the future to identify and test the efficacy of different policy and institutional interventions including land consolidation, establishment of producer and marketing cooperatives, access to financial services including agricultural credit, and crop insurance in expanding the resource base of farmers—thereby positioning them for higher earnings, ensuring soil conservation, and enhancing the sustainability of the production system.
LFRSNet: A robust light field semantic segmentation network combining contextual and geometric features
Authors: Yang Da , Zhu Tongyu , Wang Shuai , Wang Sizhe , Xiong Zhang
Published: October 2022

Light field (LF) semantic segmentation is a newly arisen technology and is widely used in many smart city applications such as remote sensing, virtual reality and 3D photogrammetry. Compared with RGB images, LF images contain multi-layer contextual information and rich geometric information of real-world scenes, which are challenging to be fully exploited because of the complex and highly inter-twined structure of LF. In this paper, LF Contextual Feature (LFCF) and LF Geometric Feature (LFGF) are proposed respectively for occluded area perception and segmentation edge refinement. With exploitation of all the views in LF, LFCF provides glimpse of some occluded areas from other angular positions besides the superficial color information of the target view. The multi-layer information of the occluded area enhances the classification of partly occluded objects. Whereas LFGF is extracted from Ray Epipolar-Plane Images (RayEPIs) in eight directions for geometric information embedding. The solid geometric information refines object edges, especially for occlusion boundaries with similar colors. At last, Light Field Robust Segmentation Network (LFRSNet) is designed to integrate LFCF and LFGF. Multi-layer contextual information and geometric information are effectively incorporated through LFRSNet, which brings significant improvement for segmentation of the occluded objects and the object edges. Experimental results on both realworld and synthetic datasets proves the state-of-the-art performance of our method. Compared with other methods, LFRSNet produces more accurate segmentation under occlusion, especially in the edge regions.
Gene set-based identification of two immune subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma for guiding immune checkpoint blocking therapy
Authors: Li Zhe , Duan Ying , Ke Qing , Wang Mingyue , Cen Hong , Zhu Xiaodong
Published: October 2022

Background: Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoma in adults. Tumour microenvironment is closely related to tumour prognosis and immune checkpoint blocking therapy (ICBT). This study aimed to investigate the immunological and prognostic characteristics of the tumour microenvironment (TME), as well as the regulatory mechanisms.

Methods: Gene expression profiles and clinical data of patients with DLBCL were obtained from GEO database. ESTIMATE, CIBERSORT, and ssGSEA analyses were used to explore microenvironment characteristics and regulatory mechanism of the immune subtypes, which were identified by consistent clustering. The differences in enriched pathways were showed by GSEA. Hub genes associated with CD8+ T cells, which were identified by WCGNA, were exhibited biological functions through GO and KEGG. Immune-related gene scores (IRGSs) based on hub genes were used to evaluate the prediction of immune subtypes and ICBT, and retrospective analysis was used for validation. Finally, prognostic genes were screened to construct risk models.

Results: Consensus clustering divided patients with DLBCL into two subtypes with significant heterogeneities in prognosis and immune microenvironment. Low immune infiltration was associated with poor prognosis. Subtype C1 with high immune infiltration was enriched in multiple immune pathways. We observed that two common mutated genes (B2M and EZH2) in DLBCL were closely related to MHC-I and microenvironment. Our further analysis manifested that MYD88L265P may be the main cause of TLR signalling pathway activation in subtype C1. Hub genes (SH2D1A, CD8A, GBP2, ITK, CD3D, RORA, IL1R2, CD28, CD247, CD3G, PRKCQ, CXCR6, and CD3E) in relation with CD8+ T cells were used to establish IRGS, which was proved an accurate predictor of immune subtypes, and patients in high-IRGS group were more likely to benefit from ICBT. Retrospective analysis showed that absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) was higher in the group that responded to the PD-1 inhibitor. Finally, the risk model was constructed based on two genes (CD3G and CD3D), and the low-risk group showed better prognosis.

Conclusion: DLBCL immune classifications with highly heterogeneity are a powerful predictor of prognosis and ICBT. The IRGS is proved to be a reliable tool to distinguish immune subtypes as a substitute for gene expression profile.
Four clinical phenotypes of cow’s milk protein allergy based on dairy product specific IgE antibody types in North China
Authors: Tang Rui , Lyu Xiaohong , Liu Yi , Zhu Mingzhi , Yang Xukai , Wu Zhoujie , Han Bingnan , Wu Shandong , Sun Jinlyu
Published: October 2022

Background

Cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) is a common allergy. Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated cow’s milk allergy is associated with a high mortality risk and poor prognosis. The study aims to investigate whether there are different clinically CMPA phenotypes in China and to explore the association between CMPA phenotypes and specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies against different dairy products.

Methods

Serum sIgE against different animal milk and cow’s milk products and different milk components was measured by an allergen array. Four CMPA classifications were identified by the presence of serum sIgE: boiled milk-positive, yogurt-positive, buttermilk-positive, and raw milk-positive.

Results

Among the 234 participants included in the study, 9 were boiled milk sIgE-positive, 50 were yogurt sIgE-positive, 17 were buttermilk sIgE-positive, and 158 were only raw milk sIgE-positive. The boiled milk-positive group had the highest levels of raw milk sIgE and casein sIgE antibodies, followed sequentially by the yogurt-positive, buttermilk-positive, and raw milk-positive groups. The boiled milk group observed the highest levels of sIgE against raw milk, casein, α-lactalbumin, and β-lactoglobulin. These levels differed significantly from those in the other three groups. Allergic symptoms were distributed differently among the four study groups. The percentages of allergic patients with gastrointestinal tract symptoms in the above mentioned four groups ranged from high to low, and the percentages of patients with skin symptoms in the four groups ranged from low to high, respectively.

Conclusion

Based on dairy product sIgE antibody levels associated with different milk components and various clinical allergic symptom tendencies, we could distinguish four CMPA phenotypes.
Identification of microsatellite instability and immune-related prognostic biomarkers in colon adenocarcinoma
Authors: Sun Ziquan , Li Guodong , Shang Desi , Zhang Jinning , Ai Lianjie , Liu Ming
Published: October 2022

Background

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is a prevalent malignancy that causes significant mortality. Microsatellite instability plays a pivotal function in COAD development and immunotherapy resistance. However, the detailed underlying mechanism requires further investigation. Consequently, identifying molecular biomarkers with prognostic significance and revealing the role of MSI in COAD is important for addressing key obstacles in the available treatments.

Methods

CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE analyses were performed to evaluate immune infiltration in COAD samples, followed by correlation analysis for MSI and immune infiltration. Then, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in MSI and microsatellite stability (MSS) samples were identified and subjected to weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). A prognostic model was established with univariate cox regression and LASSO analyses, then evaluated with Kaplan-Meier analysis. The correlation between the prognostic model and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) response was also analyzed.

Results

In total, 701 significant DEGs related to MSI status were identified, and WGCNA revealed two modules associated with the immune score. Then, a seven-gene prognostic model was constructed using LASSO and univariate cox regression analyses to predict survival and ICI response. The high-risk score patients in TCGA and GEO cohorts presented a poor prognosis, as well as a high immune checkpoint expression, so they are more likely to benefit from ICI treatment.

Conclusion

The seven-gene prognostic model constructed could predict the survival of COAD and ICI response and serve as a reference for immunotherapy decisions.
Heart disease detection based on internet of things data using linear quadratic discriminant analysis and a deep graph convolutional neural network
Authors: Saikumar K. , Rajesh V. , Srivastava Gautam , Lin Jerry Chun-Wei
Published: October 2022

Heart disease is an emerging health issue in the medical field, according to WHO every year around 10 billion people are affected with heart abnormalities. Arteries in the heart generate oxygenated blood to all body parts, however sometimes blood vessels become clogged or restrained due to cardiac issues. Past heart diagnosis applications are outdated and suffer from poor performance. Therefore, an intelligent heart disease diagnosis application design is required. In this research work, internet of things (IoT) sensor data with a deep learning-based heart diagnosis application is designed. The heart disease IoT sensor data is collected from the University of California Irvine machine learning repository free open-source dataset which is useful for training the deep graph convolutional network (DG_ConvoNet) deep learning network. The testing data has been collected from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; it is a collection of 350 real-time clinical instances from heart patients through IoT sensors. The K-means technique is employed to remove noise in sensor data and clustered the unstructured data. The features are extracted to employ Linear Quadratic Discriminant Analysis. DG_ConvoNet is a deep learning process to classify and predict heart diseases. The diagnostic application achieves an accuracy of 96%, sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 73%, precision of 90%, F-Score of 79%, and area under the ROC curve of 75% implementing the proposed model.
Fetal muscle extract improves muscle function and performance in aged mice
Authors: Jessica Lo Hiu Tung , Yiu Tsz Lam , Wang Yujia , Feng Lu , Li Gang , Lui May Pui-Man , Lee Wayne Yuk-Wai
Published: October 2022

Background: Loss of skeletal muscle mass and function is one of the major musculoskeletal health problems in the aging population. Recent studies have demonstrated differential proteomic profiles at different fetal stages, which might be associated with muscle growth and development. We hypothesized that extract derived from fetal muscle tissues at the stage of hypertrophy could ameliorate the loss of muscle mass and strength in aged mice.

Methods: To allow sufficient raw materials for investigation, skeletal muscle extract from fetal sheep at week 16 of gestation and maternal tissue were used in the present study. iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) and KEGG pathway analyses identified differentially expressed proteins in fetal sheep muscle extract vs. adult sheep muscle extract. Effects of FSME and ASME on human myoblast proliferation were studied. To examine the effect of FSME in vivo, C57BL/6 male mice at 20 months of age were subjected to intramuscular administration of FSME or vehicle control for 8 weeks. A grip strength test and ex vivo muscle force frequency test were conducted. Finally, serum samples were collected for multiplex analysis to determine potential changes in immunological cytokines upon FSME injection.

Results: Compared with ASME, 697 and 412 peptides were upregulated and downregulated, respectively, in FSME, as indicated by iTRAQ analysis. These peptides were highly related to muscle development, function, and differentiation from GO enrichment analysis. FSME promoted cell proliferation of myoblast cells (+300%, p < 0.01) without causing significant cytotoxicity at the tested concentration range compared with ASME. After 8 weeks of FSME treatment, the percentage of lean mass (+10%, p < 0.05), grip strength (+50%, p < 0.01), and ability in fatigue resistance were significantly higher than those of the control group. Isometric forces stimulated by different frequencies were higher in the control group. Histologically, the control group showed a larger cross-sectional area (+20%, p < 0.01) than the FSME group. The multiplex assay indicated that FSME treatment did not lead to an elevated circulatory level of inflammatory cytokines. Of note, after FSME treatment, we observed a significant drop in the circulating level of IL-12 (p40) from 90.8 ± 48.3 pg/ml to 82.65 ± 4.4 pg/ml, G-CSF from 23476 ± 8341.9 pg/ml to 28.35 ± 24.2 pg/ml, KC from 97.09 ± 21.2 pg/ml to 29.2 ± 7.2 pg/ml, and RANTES from 325.4 ± 17.3 pg/ml to 49.96 ± 32.1 pg/ml.

Conclusion: This is the first study demonstrating the beneficial effect of fetal muscle extract on muscle health in aged mice. Further analysis of the active ingredients of the extract will shed light on the development of a novel treatment for sarcopenia.
Comparative physiological and soil microbial community structural analysis revealed that selenium alleviates cadmium stress in Perilla frutescens
Authors: Yang Xiaohuan , Li Ying , Ma Jinhu , Wu Fei , Wang Liyin , Sun Liangliang , Zhang Ping , Wang Wenying , Xu Jin
Published: October 2022

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity not only affects plant growth and development, but also affects human health through the food chain. Several studies have demonstrated that Selenium (Se) alleviates Cd stress in plants; however, whether and how Se-alleviated Cd stress by regulating the structure of soil microbial community remain largely unclear. Here, we investigated the alleviating effects of exogenous applied Se (foliar spraying or root application) on plant growth under Cd stress in perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) by measuring the biomass, photosynthetic fluorescence parameters, root cell wall components and soil microbial community structure and diversity. Under Cd stress, perilla seedlings supplemented with Se increased chlorophyll content. Foliar spraying Se increased the levels of relative chlorophyll content (ΦII), photosynthetic system II (ΦPSII) and electron transport rate (ETR) in perilla leaves under Cd stress; while, root application of Se increased the levels of photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr), water use efficiency (WUE) and stomatal limitation value (Ls) under Cd stress. Compared with Cd toxicity alone, root application of Se increased the contents of hemicellulosic 1 and hemicellulosic 2 in the cell wall of perilla roots. Cd toxicity or root application of Se did not affect soil bacterial community diversity. Root application of Se increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Sphingomonas and Nitrosospira in Cd-contaminated soil, and thereby improving soil microbial community structure, finally promoting the growth of perilla seedlings.
International perspective on guidelines and policies for child custody and child maltreatment risk evaluations: A preliminary comparative analysis across selected countries in Europe and North America
Authors: Zumbach Jelena , Brubacher Sonja P. , Davis Frank , de Ruiter Corine , Ireland Jane L. , McNamara Kathleen , October Martta , Saini Michael , Volbert Renate , Laajasalo Taina
Published: October 2022

Little knowledge exists on how evaluators in child custody and child maltreatment cases are informed by guidelines, the kinds of qualifications required and the types of training provided in different countries. The purpose of this paper is to provide an international preliminary comparison on how child custody and child maltreatment risk assessments are conducted in selected Western countries, and how the assessments are informed by best practice guidelines. Another aim is to increase knowledge on how the guidelines and best-practice standards could be developed further to reflect recent research findings. A total number of 18 guidelines were included in the analyses: four from Canada, five from the United States, three from the United Kingdom, three from the Netherlands, two from Finland, and one from Germany. We conducted a content analysis of the included guidelines in the database, focusing on how the guidelines address the best interest of the child criteria, guidelines for conducting the assessments, considerations for evaluative criteria, and specific guidance for conducting specific assessment procedures (e.g., interviews and observations). Findings show that the qualifications of and training provided to evaluators in child custody and child maltreatment risk evaluations are largely heterogeneous across the countries represented. Guidelines differ in whether and how they highlight the importance of evidence-based practices and scientifically validated assessment measures. Implications are drawn from the review and contextualized by international expert authors in the fields of forensic psychology, and family law. After the content analysis, discussion sessions within the expert group were held. The authors provide both commentaries and suggestions to improve the development of standard methods for conducting both child custody and child maltreatment risk evaluations and to consider a more transparent and judicious use of social science research to guide methods and the recommendations offered within these assessments.
The use of complex structures with a word class change in Inuktitut child-directed speech
Authors: Johnson Olga Alice , Allen Shanley E. M.
Published: October 2022

Caregivers typically use a simplified mode of the language – child-directed speech (CDS) – when addressing young children. In this study, we investigate the use of complex morphological structures with a word class change within a single word in Inuktitut CDS. Inuktitut is a polysynthetic agglutinative language of the Inuit–Yupik–Unangan language family spoken in arctic Quebec, which allows more than 10 morphemes per word and in which the meaning of an entire sentence can be expressed in one word. Clearly, such a complex morphological system presents special challenges for young children, which raises the question of whether caregivers shape their CDS in ways that facilitate acquisition. Using the data from mothers addressing eight Inuktitut-speaking children aged 0;11 to 3;6, we investigated whether the frequency and complexity of polysynthetic structures in CDS are dependent on the stage of the children’s linguistic development. The results demonstrate that the number and morphological complexity of the structures with a word class change increased as the children developed linguistically. The variety of nominalizers and verbalizers – the key components of such structures – also increased through the stages and were used in variation sets, which help children acquire morphological items by providing examples of use of the same morpheme in morphologically contrasting environments. These results show the presence of morphological simplification in Inuktitut CDS and demonstrate that such simplification is fine-tuned, i.e., that mothers are sensitive to their children’s level of linguistic development.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of a community-based colorectal cancer screening program in Shanghai, China
Authors: Jiang Hongli , Zhang Peng , Gu Kai , Gong Yangming , Peng Peng , Shi Yan , Ai Dashan , Chen Wen , Fu Chen
Published: October 2022

Background

Since 2011, through the Community-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in Shanghai, China (SHcsp), residents aged >50 years were offered initial colorectal cancer screening using the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and risk assessment questionnaire (RAQ) for free. Colonoscopy was then recommended for positive results.

Objective

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the Community-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in Shanghai, China from the payer perspective.

Methods

This analysis estimated the long-term cost and effectiveness of the 2014–2016 SHcsp based on real-world follow-up data from the SHcsp database, Shanghai Cancer Registry System, vital statistics from Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention and inpatient CRC expense data from hospitals. A decision-tree model and Markov model were constructed to simulate the 25-year health outcomes. The screening branch was the cohort with a definite diagnosis of adenoma, advanced adenoma, and CRC. The other branch was residents who were neither screened nor treated until CRC symptoms appeared. A payer prospective was adopted to measure direct costs and effectiveness by life years (LYs) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained, and were discounted by 3%. Stimulation robustness was tested by one-way sensitivity analysis.

Results

Of 1,097,656 residents, 13,250 were diagnosed with adenoma, advanced adenoma, or CRC. Assuming those had not been found through screening, SHcsp resulted in 1,570.1 LYs and 13,984.3 QALYs gained at an extra cost of USD9.96 million. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was USD6,342.02 per LY and USD712.08 per QALY obtained, far below the threshold of USD59,598 of three-time GDP per capita in Shanghai.

Conclusion

The SHcsp was cost-effective than no screening strategy. The results were generalisable to the Chinese population for mass CRC screening.
Boosting NOMA systems through smart metasurfaces
Authors: Di Marco Piergiuseppe , Valentini Roberto , Santucci Fortunato , Pettanice Giuseppe , Antonini Giulio
Published: October 2022

Smart metasurfaces have recently emerged as a promising paradigm for next-generation wireless communication systems, providing a reconfigurable radio propagation environment for a wide range of services and applications. In this paper, we discuss how to include and exploit smart metasurfaces into a 6G environment employing non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) communications. We identify the key challenges in the characterization of NOMA systems assisted by metasurfaces, which encompass the mutual coupling between electromagnetic fields in the scattering surfaces and its impact on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio at the receiver. Furthermore, we describe opportunities and limitations for fully integrated systems: in this frame we envisage and outline a “deep” cross-layer approach, that encompasses full-wave electromagnetic analysis, circuit analysis, signal processing, and communication, then providing a model with affordable computational complexity for solving challenging configuration tasks in 6G wireless scenarios.
A Computational Approach to Overtaking Station Track Layout Design Using Graphs: An Extension That Supports Special Turnouts—An Improved Alternative Track Layout Proposal
Authors: Roanes-Lozano Eugenio
Published: October 2022

The author recently designed, developed and implemented in Maple a package based on the use of digraphs that analyses the connectivity of an overtaking station on a double-track line. It was used to propose an alternative track layout for this kind of station, with advantages over the track layouts usually adopted. However, that package could only deal with “standard” turnouts (but neither with crossings nor with “special” turnouts, such as “single slip turnouts” or “scissors crossings”). This new article presents an improved version of the package. It uses a trick consisting in including virtual vertices in the associated digraph that are dead ends. This way it is possible to include the “special” turnouts in the track layout. It makes it possible to evaluate different alternative track layouts, including “special” turnouts; and to finally find one track layout that has advantages over the standard one and over the one proposed in the previous article. Let us observe that the design of the track layout is key for the exploitation of the infrastructure. In fact, the Spanish infrastructure administrator is nowadays remodelling the track layout of some of its main railway stations, as well as other smaller facilities.
CYCLE OF CONDUCTORS AND CHOIR DISCIPLINES IN THE SYSTEM OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF THE FUTURE TEACHER-MUSICIAN
Authors: BAGRIY T.
Published: October 2022

The problem of training a future music teacher in the field of conducting and choral art is considered and the role of the cycle of conducting and choral disciplines in this process is highlighted. The views of scientists on the tasks in various aspects of music teacher training are analyzed: organizational, methodological, theoretical, practical.The components of conducting and choral training are indicated. The criteria are highlighted and the essence of the indicators of the state of conducting and choral training of higher education students is characterized. The key provisions of the theory and practice of professional activity of the future music teacher are highlighted. It was found that the conducting and choral training of the future music teacher at the present stage is the unity and complex relationship of pedagogical, organizational and artistic and creative processes.Structuring the content of conducting and choral disciplines is proposed in order to identify and eliminate shortcomings in the study of disciplines. It is noted that the main purpose of conducting and choral disciplines is to form qualities that provide the opportunity for professional and pedagogical activities (vocal and choral, performing) and in preparation for the most common type of children's art - singing.The teacher-musician must be able to operate with a certain baggage of theoretical knowledge, the basics of practical training to work with the choir, performing culture, conducting technique and pedagogical skills in future professional musical activities.The role of the disciplines of the conductor-choir cycle in the acquisition of knowledge and practical skills in professional activities is determined and the relationship between the disciplines of this cycle is indicated. The main tasks of each component and its significance in mastering the conducting and choral skills are highlighted. The priority of practical activity in comparison with mastering the theoretical material is emphasized. It was found that conducting and choral training is one of the important areas in the structure of professional training of future music teachers in music and pedagogical institutions.
ESSENCE AND STRUCTURE OF AESTHETIC CULTURE OF FUTURE MUSIC TEACHERS
Authors: VYSHNEVETSKA M.
Published: October 2022

In the article based on the analysis of scientific sources, characterizes the essence and structure of the aesthetic culture of future music teachers. Researchers single out the formation of the aesthetic culture of future music teachers as a complex, conceptually grounded, purposeful process. The scientific views of researchers on the structure of the aesthetic culture of future music teachers were analyzed through the prism of the main categories of aesthetics: consciousness, knowledge, activity, education, attitude, satisfaction, etc. The aesthetic culture of future music teachers is considered as a holistic personal education, which is manifested in the complexity of aesthetic consciousness, cognition, activity, ideas and attitudes, which is based on the principles of aesthetics. As a result of the analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization of scientific sources, we identified the following components of the aesthetic culture of future music teachers. We characterize them in detail, namely: aesthetic consciousness, cognition, activity, image and attitude. Personal qualities that significantly complement and specify the essence and structure of the aesthetic culture of future music teachers are indicated. The formation of the aesthetic culture of future music teachers is determined as a purposeful process of applying a special teaching method, the expected result of which is the holistic personal development of each student, which is manifested in the complexity of aesthetic consciousness, knowledge, activities, ideas and attitudes based on the principles of aesthetics.