bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultra-high frequency lung ultrasound in preterm neonates: a test validation study on interpretation agreement and reliability
Authors: Sartorius Victor , Loi Barbara , Vivalda Laura , Regiroli Giulia , de la Rubia Ortega Sofia , Centorrino Roberta , De Luca Daniele
Published: April 2023

Objective

To verify if increasing frequency, through the use of ultra-high frequency transducers, has an impact on lung ultrasound pattern recognition.

Design

Test validation study.

Setting

Tertiary academic referral neonatal intensive care unit.

Patients

Neonates admitted with respiratory distress signs.

Interventions

Lung ultrasound performed with four micro-linear probes (10, 15, 20 and 22 MHz), in random order. Anonymised images (600 dpi) were randomly included in a pictorial database: physicians with different lung ultrasound experience (beginners (n=7), competents (n=6), experts (n=5)) blindly assessed it. Conformity and reliability of interpretation were analysed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), area under the curve (AUC) of the multi-class ROC analysis, correlation and multivariate linear regressions (adjusting for frequency, expertise and their interaction).

Outcome measures

A (0–3) score based on classical lung ultrasound semiology was given to each image as done in the clinical routine.

Results

ICC (0.902 (95% CI: 0.862 to 0.936), p<0.001) and AUC (0.948, p<0.001) on the whole pictorial database (48 images acquired on 12 neonates), and irrespective of the frequency and physicians’ expertise, were excellent. Physicians detected more B-lines with increasing frequency: there was a positive correlation between score and frequency (ρ=0.117, p=0.001); multivariate analysis confirmed the score to be higher using 22 MHz-probes (β=0.36 (0.02–0.7), p=0.041).

Conclusion

Overall conformity and reliability of interpretations of lung ultrasound patterns were excellent. There were differences in the identification of the B-patterns and severe B-patterns as increasing probe frequency is associated with higher score given to these patterns.
Fibroblastic reticular cell tumour of the internal iliac lymph node presenting as a hypervascular lesion and mimicking a pseudoaneurysm: an extremely rare diagnosis
Authors: Medeiros Augusto Kreling , Barbisan Cinthia Callegari , de Carvalho Isaac Torres , Torres Ulysses dos Santos , Bacchi Carlos Eduardo
Published: April 2023

A woman in her 50s presented with a rounded and hypervascular lesion in the right internal iliac lymph node chain, contacting with small branches of the anterior division of the internal iliac artery. Since the lesion matched the blood arterial pool in CT and the patient exhibited multiple vascular abnormalities that suggested segmental arterial mediolysis, a pseudoaneurysm hypothesis was initially made. Arteriography was realised due to the intention for embolisation of the pseudoaneurysm, but the dynamic behaviour during the exam suggested a hypervascular tumour more. An MRI was conducted, bringing new evidence, favouring the possibility of a neoplasm. The lesion excision was performed and sent to pathology. Morphological and immunohistochemical findings suggested a rare case of a fibroblastic reticular cell tumour of the internal iliac lymph node.
Management of a fusiform brachial artery aneurysm associated with birth trauma
Authors: Betancor Campos Eduardo , Drack Felicia , Dave Hitendu , Neuhaus Kathrin
Published: April 2023

Brachial artery aneurysms in children are rare. Surgical treatment is generally recommended.

We present the case of a female toddler with a pulsatile swelling on the medial aspect of the right upper arm without history of recent trauma. Medical history revealed a traumatic birth with labour arrest. Postnatally diffuse trunk and arm haematomas as well as a temporary right arm discolouration were detected. Preoperative ultrasound revealed a true brachial artery aneurysm. A full-body MRI ruled out any accompanying lesions. Primary resection and end-to-end anastomosis were performed. Recovery was uneventful. 6-month and 12-month follow-up showed normal motor function and arterial patency; ultrasound also demonstrated harmonious growth of the anastomosed vessel segments.

No other publication has associated birth trauma with brachial artery aneurysm yet. Correct diagnosis and prompt curative surgery are key to prevent severe complications. Further reports and data on long-term outcome are needed to optimise clinical management.
Assessing the inclusion of children’s surgical care in National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans: a policy content analysis
Authors: Wimmer Sabrina , Truche Paul , Guadagno Elena , Ameh Emmanuel , Samad Lubna , Makasa Emmanuel Mwenda Malabo , Greenberg Sarah , Meara John G , van Dijk Tonnis H , Poenaru Dan
Published: April 2023

Objective

While National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) have emerged as a strategy to strengthen and scale up surgical healthcare systems in low/middle-income countries (LMICs), the degree to which children’s surgery is addressed is not well-known. This study aims to assess the inclusion of children’s surgical care among existing NSOAPs, identify practice examples and provide recommendations to guide inclusion of children’s surgical care in future policies.

Design

We performed two qualitative content analyses to assess the inclusion of children’s surgical care among NSOAPs. We applied a conventional (inductive) content analysis approach to identify themes and patterns, and developed a framework based on the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery’s Optimal Resources for Children’s Surgery document. We then used this framework to conduct a directed (deductive) content analysis of the NSOAPs of Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia.

Results

Our framework for the inclusion of children’s surgical care in NSOAPs included seven domains. We evaluated six NSOAPs with all addressing at least two of the domains. All six NSOAPs addressed ‘human resources and training’ and ‘infrastructure’, four addressed ‘service delivery’, three addressed ‘governance and financing’, two included ‘research, evaluation and quality improvement’, and one NSOAP addressed ‘equipment and supplies’ and ‘advocacy and awareness’.

Conclusions

Additional focus must be placed on the development of surgical healthcare systems for children in LMICs. This requires a focus on children’s surgical care separate from adult surgical care in the scaling up of surgical healthcare systems, including children-focused needs assessments and the inclusion of children’s surgery providers in the process. This study proposes a framework for evaluating NSOAPs, highlights practice examples and suggests recommendations for the development of future policies.
Comparison of tube shunt implantation and trabeculectomy for glaucoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Luo Nachuan , Liu Miaowen , Hao Meiqi , Xu Ruoxin , Wang Fei , Zhang Wenxiong
Published: April 2023

Objective

To compare the efficacy and safety of tube shunt implantation with trabeculectomy in the treatment of patients with glaucoma.

Methods

A systematic literature search was performed for studies comparing tube with trabeculectomy in patients with glaucoma (final search date: 27 February 2022). Comparisons between tube and trabeculectomy were grouped by the type of tube (Ahmed, Baerveldt, Ex-PRESS and XEN). The primary endpoints included intraocular pressure (IOP), IOP reduction (IOPR), IOPR percentage (IOPR%), complete success rate (CSR), qualified success rate (QSR) and adverse events (AEs).

Results

Forty-nine studies were included in this meta-analysis and presented data for 3795 eyes (Ahmed: 670, Baerveldt: 561, Ex-PRESS: 473, XEN: 199, trabeculectomy: 1892). Ahmed and Ex-PRESS were similar to trabeculectomy in terms of IOP outcomes and success rate (Ahmed vs trabeculectomy: IOPR%: mean difference (MD)=1.34 (–5.35, 8.02), p=0.69; Ex-PRESS vs trabeculectomy: IOPR%: MD=0.12 (–3.07, 3.31), p=0.94). The IOP outcomes for Baerveldt were worse than those for trabeculectomy (IOPR%: MD=−7.51 (–10.68, –4.35), p<0.00001), but the QSR was higher. No significant difference was shown for the CSR. XEN was worse than trabeculectomy in terms of IOP outcomes (IOPR%: MD=−7.87 (–13.55, –2.18), p=0.007), while the success rate was similar. Ahmed and Ex-PRESS had a lower incidence of AEs than trabeculectomy. Baerveldt had a lower incidence of bleb leakage/wound leakage, hyphaema and hypotonic maculopathy than trabeculectomy but a higher incidence of concurrent cataracts, diplopia/strabismus and tube erosion. The incidence of AEs was similar for the XEN and trabeculectomy procedures.

Conclusion

Compared with trabeculectomy, both Ahmed and Ex-PRESS appear to be associated with similar ocular hypotensive effects and lower incidences of AEs. However, Baerveldt and XEN cannot achieve sufficient reductions in IOP outcomes similar to those of trabeculectomy.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42021257852.
Long-term impact on cardiopulmonary function and quality of life among patients recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in a 6-month follow-up period in Lima, Peru: FUNCTION cohort study protocol
Authors: Cachay Rodrigo , Watanabe-Tejada Takashi , Cuno Katiuska , Gil-Zacarias Marcela , Coombes Carolina , Ballena Isabel , Mejia Fernando , Medina Felix , Gayoso Oscar , Seas Carlos , Otero Larissa , Gotuzzo Eduardo
Published: April 2023

Introduction

The sequelae of COVID-19 have been described as a multisystemic condition, with a great impact on the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems with abnormalities in pulmonary function tests, such as lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLco) levels and pathological patterns in spirometry; persistence of radiological lesions; cardiac involvement such as myocarditis and pericarditis; and an increase in mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Several factors, such as infection severity during the acute phase as well as vaccination status, have shown some variable effects on these post-COVID-19 conditions, mainly at a clinical level such as symptoms persistence. Longitudinal assessments and reversibility of changes across the spectrum of disease severity are required to understand the long-term impact of COVID-19.

Methods and analysis

A prospective cohort study aims to assess the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on cardiopulmonary function and quality of life after the acute phase of the disease over a 6-month follow-up period. Sample size was calculated to recruit 200 participants with confirmatory COVID-19 tests who will be subsequently classified according to infection severity. Four follow-up visits at baseline, month 1, month 3 and month 6 after discharge from the acute phase of the infection will be scheduled as well as procedures such as spirometry, DLco test, 6-minute walk test, chest CT scan, echocardiogram, ECG, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide measurement and RAND-36 scale. Primary outcomes are defined as abnormal pulmonary function test considered as DLco <80%, abnormal cardiovascular function considered as left ventricular ejection fraction <50% and abnormal quality of life considered as a <40 score for each sphere in the RAND-36-Item Short Form Health Survey.

Ethics and dissemination

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (SIDISI 203725) and the Ethics Committee of the Hospital Cayetano Heredia (042-2021). Protocol details were uploaded in ClinicalTrials.gov. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences and open-access social media platforms.

Trial registration number

NCT05386485.
Scoping review of methods for engaging long-term care residents living with dementia in research and guideline development
Authors: McArthur Caitlin , Alizadehsaravi Niousha , Quigley Adria , Affoo Rebecca , Earl Marie , Moody Elaine
Published: April 2023

Objectives

To describe: (1) methods used to engage long-term care (LTC) residents living with dementia in research and guideline development; (2) the outcomes of engagement; and (3) barriers and facilitators to engagement.

Design

Scoping review.

Search strategy

We conducted searches in Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), APA PsychInfo (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO), Medline (OVID), Embase (Elsevier), Web of Science and the Cochrane database, and a structured grey literature search in July 2021 and updated in March 2023. We included studies that described or evaluated resident engagement, defined as including residents living with dementia in the process of developing healthcare guidelines or research which could include collaborators or partners in planning, execution or dissemination of the guideline or research. Title, abstracts and full-texts were screened for eligibility by two team members using a pilot-tested process. Data were extracted from included studies independently and in duplicate by two team members using a pre-tested data extraction form. Results were narratively synthesised according to the research question they addressed.

Results

We identified three studies for inclusion. Residents were engaged at the beginning of the research projects through interviews, focus groups, and consultations. None of the included articles described the outcomes of engagement. Barriers to engagement were predominantly at the resident level, including impaired verbal communication limiting resident’s abilities to participate in discussions, while increased time to support engagement was reported as a barrier at the resident and research team levels.

Conclusions

We found a small body of literature describing the engagement of LTC residents in health research and guideline development. Future work should explore alternative methods to engage LTC residents living with dementia, including art-based methods, and the effect of including resident engagement. Guideline developers and researchers should ensure adequate time and human resources are allocated to support engagement.
Symptoms and signs of lung cancer prior to diagnosis: case–control study using electronic health records from ambulatory care within a large US-based tertiary care centre
Authors: Prado Maria G , Kessler Larry G , Au Margaret A , Burkhardt Hannah A , Zigman Suchsland Monica , Kowalski Lesleigh , Stephens Kari A , Yetisgen Meliha , Walter Fiona M , Neal Richard D , Lybarger Kevin , Thompson Caroline A , Al Achkar Morhaf , Sarma Elizabeth A , Turner Grace , Farjah Farhood , Thompson Matthew J
Published: April 2023

Objective

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the USA. While most patients are diagnosed following symptomatic presentation, no studies have compared symptoms and physical examination signs at or prior to diagnosis from electronic health records (EHRs) in the USA. We aimed to identify symptoms and signs in patients prior to diagnosis in EHR data.

Design

Case–control study.

Setting

Ambulatory care clinics at a large tertiary care academic health centre in the USA.

Participants, outcomes

We studied 698 primary lung cancer cases in adults diagnosed between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2019, and 6841 controls matched by age, sex, smoking status and type of clinic. Coded and free-text data from the EHR were extracted from 2 years prior to diagnosis date for cases and index date for controls. Univariate and multivariable conditional logistic regression were used to identify symptoms and signs associated with lung cancer at time of diagnosis, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months before the diagnosis/index dates.

Results

Eleven symptoms and signs recorded during the study period were associated with a significantly higher chance of being a lung cancer case in multivariable analyses. Of these, seven were significantly associated with lung cancer 6 months prior to diagnosis: haemoptysis (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.9 to 5.3), cough (OR 3.1, 95% CI 2.4 to 4.0), chest crackles or wheeze (OR 3.1, 95% CI 2.3 to 4.1), bone pain (OR 2.7, 95% CI 2.1 to 3.6), back pain (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.9 to 3.2), weight loss (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5 to 2.8) and fatigue (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3 to 2.1).

Conclusions

Patients diagnosed with lung cancer appear to have symptoms and signs recorded in the EHR that distinguish them from similar matched patients in ambulatory care, often 6 months or more before diagnosis. These findings suggest opportunities to improve the diagnostic process for lung cancer.
Impact of COVID-19 on delivery of oncology services in Northern Tanzania: a cross-sectional study of community health workers and patients undergoing cancer treatment at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre
Authors: Pumphrey India , Serventi Furaha , Kahakwa Atukuzwe , Massawe Anna , Henke Antje Annaliese , Henke Oliver
Published: April 2023

Objective

To ascertain how the COVID-19 pandemic was perceived by oncology patients and community health workers (CHWs) and whether this contributed to disruptions in cancer care.

Design

Cross-sectional study using (1) structured telephone interviews with patients and (2) structured questionnaires completed by CHWs.

Setting

Outpatient and community care at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre’s Cancer Care Centre (KCMCCCC), Northern Tanzania.

Participants

300 oncology patients (158 men and 142 women) who had attended KCMCCCC between January and April 2020 and 78 CHWs (16 men and 62 women) in the KCMC regional palliative care network who conducted home visits to patients with cancer during the period January to April 2020.

Primary outcome measures

For patients, missed appointments and fear of COVID-19 more than postponement of their treatment. For CHWs, no primary outcome (a broad range of questions on perception of the pandemic were asked).

Results

30% of patients said they missed appointments due to the pandemic, the most commonly cited reasons being financial problems (37%) and fear of acquiring COVID-19 infection during travel and/or in the hospital (37%). Only 12.7% of patients said they feared COVID-19 more than postponement of cancer treatment. 88% of CHWs noticed differences in delivering home care since the start of the pandemic, with 58% saying they had noticed more patients dying and 74% saying that more patients were relying on local healers. 31% of CHWs said they feared home visits because of COVID-19 and 46% perceived patients feared home visits due to COVID-19. However, 92% felt home visits should continue.

Conclusion

These results indicated that while there was a significant degree of disruption and fear around the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of patients and CHWs did not fear of COVID-19 more than disruption to cancer care. This highlights the importance to these groups of maintaining access to vital cancer services.
Applications to medical and surgical specialist training in the UK National Health Service, 2021–2022: a cross-sectional observational study to characterise the diversity of successful applicants
Authors: Aggarwal Dinesh , Roy-Chowdhury Meera , Xiang Nicola , Peacock Sharon J.
Published: April 2023

Objectives

To compare success of applicants to specialty training posts in the UK by gender, ethnicity and disability status.

Design

Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting

National Health Service, UK.

Participants

All specialty training post applications to Health Education England, UK, during the 2021–2022 recruitment cycle.

Intervention

Nil.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Comparison of success at application to specialty training posts by gender, ethnicity, country of qualification (UK vs non-UK) and disability. The influence of ethnicity on success was investigated using a logistic regression model, where country of qualification was included as a covariate.

Results

12 419/37 971 (32.7%) of applicants to specialty training posts were successful, representing 58 specialties. The difference in percentage of successful females (6480/17 523, 37.0%) and males (5625/19 340, 29.1%) was 7.9% (95% CI 6.93% to 8.86%), in favour of females. Segregation of applications to specialties by gender was observed; surgical specialties had the highest proportion of male applicants, while obstetrics and gynaecology had the highest proportion of female applicants. The proportion of successful recruits to specialties largely reflected the number of applications. 11/15 minority ethnic groups (excluding ‘not stated’) had significantly lower adjusted ORs for success compared with white-British applicants. ‘Mixed white and black African’ (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.61, p≤0.001) were the least successful minority group in our study, while non-UK graduates had an adjusted ORs for success of 0.43 (95% CI 0.41 to 0.46, p≤0.001) compared with UK graduates. The difference in percentage of success by disabled applicants (179/464, 38.6%) and non-disabled applicants (11 940/36 418, 32.8%) was 5.79% (95% CI 1.23% to 10.4%), in favour of disabled applicants. No disabled applicants were accepted to 21/58 (36.2%) of specialties.

Conclusions

Despite greater success by female applicants overall, there is an attraction issue to specialties by gender. Further, most ethnic minority groups are less successful at application when compared with white-British applicants. This requires continuous monitoring and evaluation of the reasons behind observed differences.

Trial Registration

Not applicable.
Systolic blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular risk
Authors: Rao Shishir , Nazarzadeh Milad , Li Yikuan , Canoy Dexter , Mamouei Mohammad , Salimi-Khorshidi Gholamreza , Rahimi Kazem
Published: April 2023

Objective

In individuals with complex underlying health problems, the association between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and cardiovascular disease is less well recognised. The association between SBP and risk of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was investigated.

Methods and analysis

In this cohort study, 39 602 individuals with a diagnosis of COPD aged 55–90 years between 1990 and 2009 were identified from validated electronic health records (EHR) in the UK. The association between SBP and risk of cardiovascular end points (composite of ischaemic heart disease, heart failure, stroke and cardiovascular death) was analysed using a deep learning approach.

Results

In the selected cohort (46.5% women, median age 69 years), 10 987 cardiovascular events were observed over a median follow-up period of 3.9 years. The association between SBP and risk of cardiovascular end points was found to be monotonic; the lowest SBP exposure group of <120 mm Hg presented nadir of risk. With respect to reference SBP (between 120 and 129 mm Hg), adjusted risk ratios for the primary outcome were 0.99 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.05) for SBP of <120 mm Hg, 1.02 (0.97 to 1.07) for SBP between 130 and 139 mm Hg, 1.07 (1.01 to 1.12) for SBP between 140 and 149 mm Hg, 1.11 (1.05 to 1.17) for SBP between 150 and 159 mm Hg and 1.16 (1.10 to 1.22) for SBP ≥160 mm Hg.

Conclusion

Using deep learning for modelling EHR, we identified a monotonic association between SBP and risk of cardiovascular events in patients with COPD.
Tumor and immune remodeling following radiotherapy in human renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Chow Jacky , Khan Adil , Gaudieri Madeline , Wasik Brianna J , Conway Alexis , Soh Kah Teong , Repasky Elizabeth A , Schwaab Thomas , Wallace Paul K , Abrams Scott I , Singh Anurag K , Muhitch Jason B
Published: April 2023

Background

Studies evaluating peripheral patient samples show radiation can modulate immune responses, yet the biological changes in human tumors particularly at the cellular level remain largely unknown. Here, we address how radiation treatment shapes the immune compartment and interactions with cancer cells within renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patient tumors.

Methods

To identify how radiation shaped the immune compartment and potential immune interactions with tumor cells we evaluated RCC tumors from patients treated only with nephrectomy or with radiation followed by nephrectomy. Spectral flow cytometry using a 35-marker panel was performed on cell suspensions to evaluate protein expression within immune subsets. To reveal how radiation alters programming of immune populations and interactions with tumor cells, we examined transcriptional changes by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq).

Results

Spectral flow cytometry analysis revealed increased levels of early-activated as well as effector programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1)+CD8 T-cell subsets within irradiated tumors. Following quality control, scRNAseq of tumor samples from nephrectomy-only or radiation followed by nephrectomy-treated patients generated an atlas containing 34,626 total cells. Transcriptional analysis revealed increased transition from stem-like T-cell populations to effector T cells in irradiated tumors. Interferon (IFN) pathways, that are central to radiation-induced immunogenicity, were enriched in irradiated lymphoid, myeloid, and cancer cell populations. Focused cancer cell analysis showed enhanced antigen presentation and increased predicted TRAIL-mediated and IFN-mediated interactions between tumor cells and the same effector T-cell subsets increased by radiation. TRAIL and IFN pathways enriched in irradiated tumors were associated with survival in patients treated with immunotherapy.

Conclusions

These findings identify the source of IFN enrichment within irradiated RCC and reveal heightened levels of PD-1+CD8+T-cell subsets and increased probability of interactions with tumor cells following standalone radiation treatment. This study provides a window into the irradiated tumor-immune microenvironment of patients and rationale for treatment combinations.
Computer-assisted microcatheter shaping for intracranial aneurysm embolization: evaluation of safety and efficacy in a multicenter randomized controlled trial
Authors: Yang Heng , Ni Wei , Xu Liquan , Geng Jiewen , He Xuying , Ba Huajun , Yu Jianjun , Qin Lan , Yin Yin , Huang Yufei , Zhang Hongqi , Gu Yuxiang
Published: April 2023

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy, stability, and safety of computer-assisted microcatheter shaping (CAMS) in patients with intracranial aneurysms.

Methods

A total of 201 patients with intracranial aneurysms receiving endovascular coiling therapy were continuously recruited and randomly assigned to the CAMS and manual microcatheter shaping (MMS) groups. The investigated outcomes included the first-trial success rate, time to position the microcatheter in aneurysms, rate of successful microcatheter placement within 5 min, delivery times, microcatheter stability, and delivery performance.

Results

The rates of first-trial success (96.0% vs 66.0%, P<0.001), successful microcatheter placement within 5 min (96.04% vs 72.00%, P<0.001), microcatheter stability (97.03% vs 84.00%, P=0.002), and ‘excellent’ delivery performance (45.54% vs 24.00%, P<0.001) in the CAMS group were significantly higher than those in the MMS group. Additionally, the total microcatheter delivery and positioning time (1.05 minutes (0.26) vs 1.53 minutes (1.00)) was significantly shorter in the CAMS group than in the MMS group (P<0.001). Computer assistance (OR 14.464; 95% CI 4.733 to 44.207; P<0.001) and inflow angle (OR 1.014; 95% CI 1.002 to 1.025; P=0.021) were independent predictors of the first-trial success rate. CAMS could decrease the time of microcatheter position compared with MMS, whether for junior or senior surgeons (P<0.001). Moreover, computer assistance technology may be more helpful in treating aneurysms with acute angles (p<0.001).

Conclusions

The use of computer-assisted procedures can enhance the efficacy, stability, and safety of surgical plans for coiling intracranial aneurysms.
New bis(thieno[2,3-b]pyridine) hybrids linked to arene units as potential bacterial biofilm and MRSA inhibitors
Authors: Sanad Sherif M.H. , Mekky Ahmed E.M.
Published: April 2023

Using sonication and mediated by piperazine, new arene-linked bis(thieno[2,3- b]pyridine) hybrids were efficiently prepared in this study. The target hybrids were prepared by reacting bis(α-haloketone) with two equivalents of the appropriate pyridine-2(1H)-thiones in the presence of 1.4 equivalents of piperazine. The reaction mixture was subjected to sonication at 60 °C for 30–40 min to produce the desired products in 88%–95% yields. When tested against six different ATCC bacterial strains, the new products demonstrated a wide range of antibacterial activity. The 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-linked hybrids 1i and 1j, attached to 6-(4-methoxyphenyl) and 6-( p-tolyl) units, respectively, had the best efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Both hybrids showed more effective potency than the reference ciprofloxacin with MIC and MBC values in the ranges from 2.0 to 2.1, and 4.1 to 4.2 µM, respectively. Additionally, hybrids 1i and 1j demonstrated stronger efficacy than linezolid with MIC values ranging from 2.0 to 4.2 µM, and MBC values ranging from 8.2 to 8.5 µM, respectively, against the MRSA ATCC:33 591 and ATCC:43 300 strains. Furthermore, hybrids 1i and 1j showed inhibitory antibacterial biofilm activity comparable to the standard ciprofloxacin. They had IC50 values ranging from 3.8 to 4.6 µM against S. aureus, E. faecalis, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa strains. The cytotoxicity of hybrids 1i and 1j against the human breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A lends credence to both hybrids’ potential as safe antibacterial agents.
The influence of sociodemographic and environmental factors on wildlife carcass submissions in urban areas: Opportunities for increasing equitable and representative wildlife health surveillance
Authors: Giacinti Jolene A. , Robinson Sarah J. , French Shannon K. , Pearl David L. , Jardine Claire M.
Published: April 2023

Wildlife health surveillance is important in rapidly expanding urban areas, where wildlife live in close association with humans and face unique health risks. Urban areas are not homogeneous, and social and environmental factors may affect the distribution of surveillance data we receive from these environments. The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) operates a national wildlife surveillance programme that receives carcass submissions for diagnostic evaluation. Our objective was to evaluate sociodemographic and environmental factors associated with CWHC submissions within two cities in Ontario, Canada. Submissions were mapped at two geographic scales and linked with census and environmental data. The results of mixed multivariable Poisson and negative binomial regression analyses suggest that natural (e.g., percent parkland) and anthropogenic environmental (e.g., presence of a zoo) and social variables (e.g., low income) are associated with submissions at both administratively relevant scales. Associations that are common across scales may represent robust intervention points and inform surveillance methodology/messaging. Surveillance data may influence public health policy, wildlife management, and other decision-making regarding the benefits/risks associated with coexistence with wildlife. This study highlights gaps in surveillance methodology that may prevent equal opportunity for participation in wildlife health surveillance and enable equal opportunity to benefit from the associated outputs.
Investigation of physical phenomena during solidification in existence of nanomaterial
Authors: Rothan Yahya Ali
Published: April 2023

With a numerical method, the discharging process within a container with a double complex cold surface has been scrutinized in this paper. The inherent process makes conduction as the main mechanism and the temperature equation includes three terms and two of them are time-dependent which was discretized by means of implicit technique. Adding nanoparticles within water can enhance the rate of heat release and concentration of powders and their shapes can affect the properties of nanomaterial. Single phases for estimating the features of nanomaterial were applied. The maximum period of process takes 326.95[Formula: see text]s which is 1.36 times lower than the case of pure water. Increasing the shape factor can enhance the speed of process and its impact is less than concentration of additives.
ADS Abelian groups
Authors: Tamer Koşan M. , Žemlička Jan
Published: April 2023

The subgroup [Formula: see text] is absolute direct summand (ADS) if, for every [Formula: see text]-high subgroup [Formula: see text] (i.e. maximal with respect to the property [Formula: see text]), we have [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] itself is an ADS group if all of its summands inherit this property. In this paper, we characterize the structure of ADS abelian groups, which can be defined as groups such that members of the decomposition into two direct summands are mutually injective. In particular, an ADS abelian group is either divisible, or a direct sum of an indecomposable torsion-free group and a divisible torsion group, or a torsion group such that each [Formula: see text]-component is a direct sum of cyclic [Formula: see text]-groups of the same length or of Prüfer groups.
Relaxed least square regression with ℓ2,1-norm for pattern classification
Authors: Jin Junwei , Qin Zhenhao , Yu Dengxiu , Yang Tiejun , Philip Chen C. L. , Li Yanting
Published: April 2023

This work aims to address two issues that often exist in least square regression (LSR) models for classification tasks, which are (1) learning a compact projection matrix for feature selection and (2) adopting relaxed regression targets. To this end, we first propose a sparse regularized LSR framework for feature selection by introducing the [Formula: see text] regularizer. Second, we utilize two different strategies to relax the strict regression targets based on the sparse framework. One way is to exploit the [Formula: see text]-dragging technique. Another strategy is to directly learn the labels from the inputs and constrain the distance between true and false classes simultaneously. Hence, more feasible regression schemes are constructed, and the models will be more flexible. Further, efficient iterative methods are derived to optimize the proposed models. Various experiments on image databases intend to manifest our proposed models have outstanding recognition capability compared with many state-of-the-art classifiers.
Dynamic Analysis of a Novel Mass Nanosensor Made From Piezo-Electro-Magnetic Sandwich Nanoplate
Authors: Lyu Zheng , Liu Hu
Published: April 2023

In this study, a novel nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) mass nanosensor made from a functionally graded porous (FGP) core bonded with piezo-electro-magnetic (PEM) layers is proposed to reveal the combined effect of FGP and PEM on the sensitivity performance of mass nanosensors. First, a theoretical model for this mass nanosensor attached with single/multiple nanoparticles is established via nonlocal strain gradient plate theory. Herein, the FGP core obeying the power-law and sigmoid-law gradient patterns is taken into account, and the inside porosity is considered as even and uneven distributions. Subsequently, the natural frequency shift (NFS) behavior of this mass nanosensor with different attached nanoparticles is investigated via Galerkin method. Finally, a comprehensive parametric analysis is performed to reveal the influence of inhomogeneity index, porosity distributed pattern and porosity volume fraction of core material, size-dependent parameters, as well as the external electric voltage and magnetic potential on the NFS performance of the NEMS mass nanosensor. The obtained results have illustrated that combining PEM surface and FGP core can present significant improvement on the sensitivity of the NEMS mass nanosensor for detecting nanoparticles. The sandwich design strategy for the mass nanosensor proposed in this work would be highly valuable for designing high-performance mass nanosensor in biomedical and industrial applications.
Analysis of the impact of groundwater-level decrease caused by drainage on tunnel water inflow
Authors: An Pengtao , Li Maoxiang , Fu Helin
Published: April 2023

Affected by excavation, the phenomenon of groundwater-level drop around mountain tunnels is widespread, resulting in poor accuracy of the existing water-inflow calculation formula derived when the groundwater level is fixed. Based on this, a simplified calculation model of tunnel water inflow is constructed that considers drainage; and the tunnel water inflow is calculated according to the Dupuit assumption and conformal transformation. The law of conservation of fluid mass is used to solve the equivalent water head around the tunnel after drainage and the Taylor formula is used for degradation analysis, and the rationality of the model construction and the correctness of the formula derivation are verified through the tunnel under construction and numerical simulation. Finally, the sensitivity of the characteristic parameters is studied, the evolution law of the equivalent head is revealed and the influence mechanism is discussed. The research shows that the error between the calculated value of tunnel water inflow and the field measured value can be reduced from 16.1 to 8.9%, which improves the prediction accuracy of tunnel water inflow to a certain extent.
About this title - Geological Mapping of Our World and Others
Authors: Butler R. W. H. , Torvela T. , Williams L.
Published: April 2023

From planetary surfaces to crystals and their boundaries, maps are fundamental tools for developing geological knowledge. This book spans not only these scales but also the history of earth science – exploring techniques and applications. It celebrates geological mapping in developing knowledge of Earth and planetary evolution and processes.
A Framework and Toolkit for Testing the Correctness of Recommendation Algorithms
Authors: Michiels Lien , Verachtert Robin , Ferraro Andres , Falk Kim , Goethals Bart
Published: April 2023

Evaluating recommender systems adequately and thoroughly is an important task. Significant efforts are dedicated to proposing metrics, methods, and protocols for doing so. However, there has been little discussion in the recommender systems’ literature on the topic of testing. In this work, we adopt and adapt concepts from the software testing domain, e.g., code coverage, metamorphic testing, or property-based testing, to help researchers to detect and correct faults in recommendation algorithms. We propose a test suite that can be used to validate the correctness of a recommendation algorithm, and thus identify and correct issues that can affect the performance and behavior of these algorithms. Our test suite contains both black box and white box tests at every level of abstraction, i.e., system, integration, and unit. To facilitate adoption, we release
RecPack Tests
, an open-source Python package containing template test implementations. We use it to test four popular Python packages for recommender systems:
RecPack
,
PyLensKit
,
Surprise
, and
Cornac
. Despite the high test coverage of each of these packages, we find that we are still able to uncover undocumented functional requirements and even some bugs. This validates our thesis that testing the correctness of recommendation algorithms can complement traditional methods for evaluating recommendation algorithms.
A Survey of Adversarial Defenses and Robustness in NLP
Authors: Goyal Shreya , Doddapaneni Sumanth , Khapra Mitesh M. , Ravindran Balaraman
Published: April 2023

In the past few years, it has become increasingly evident that deep neural networks are not resilient enough to withstand adversarial perturbations in input data, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Various authors have proposed strong adversarial attacks for computer vision and Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks. As a response, many defense mechanisms have also been proposed to prevent these networks from failing. The significance of defending neural networks against adversarial attacks lies in ensuring that the model’s predictions remain unchanged even if the input data is perturbed. Several methods for adversarial defense in NLP have been proposed, catering to different NLP tasks such as text classification, named entity recognition, and natural language inference. Some of these methods not only defend neural networks against adversarial attacks but also act as a regularization mechanism during training, saving the model from overfitting. This survey aims to review the various methods proposed for adversarial defenses in NLP over the past few years by introducing a novel taxonomy. The survey also highlights the fragility of advanced deep neural networks in NLP and the challenges involved in defending them.
INFRA-ART: An Open Access Spectral Library of Art-related Materials as a Digital Support Tool for Cultural Heritage Science
Authors: Cortea I. M. , Chiroşca A. , Angheluţă L. M. , Seriţan G.
Published: April 2023

Easily accessible characterization techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), or Raman spectroscopy, are at this moment the most commonly used analytical tools in heritage and conservation science. Materials identification in works of art is a fundamental step for understanding an object's history or an artist's technique. Comprehensive characterization and diagnosis of the various constituent materials in artworks can provide valuable information on the artist's working methods, as well as significant evidence for dating, provenance attribution, or forgery detection. The development of databases with high-quality data on the pure substances used as artists’ materials is of utmost importance for the identification and characterization of unknown samples. However, there are relatively few open access spectra libraries dedicated exclusively to the cultural heritage field. To address this need, within the frame of the postdoctoral project INFRA-ART, an open access spectral library of art-related materials has been developed. The database is an ongoing compilation of spectra that contains at this moment over 1,000 high-quality attenuated total reflection–FTIR, Raman, and XRF spectra associated with over 500 known reference materials. In this article, a summary of the database structure and design, functionality, and use is presented, in view of the dissemination of this new open access spectral library to the scientific community.
Identification of maximal steady-state metabolic rate by the change in muscle oxygen saturation
Authors: Matthews Ian R. , Heenan Logan J. , Fisher Kathleen G. , Flood Emma F. , Wehrman Logan W. , Kirby Brett S. , Wilkins Brad W.
Published: April 2023

Muscle O2 saturation (%SmO2) rate can be used to not only identify sustainable from unsustainable exercise intensities but also delineate the transition from heavy to severe exercise domains. This report is the first to identify, and then validate, that the highest steady-state metabolic rate is related to a zero-slope muscle O2 saturation and is therefore dependent on muscle oxygen supply-demand balance.
Two-Step Decoupling Design of a Microstrip Antenna Array by Using Waveguided Complementary Split-Ring Resonators and a Fully Connected Neural Network
Authors: Zhou Wen-Ying , Mei Zhong-Lei , Lu Mai , Zhu Ya-Bo
Published: April 2023

To suppress the mutual coupling between closely-spaced patches, we propose a two-step decoupling design approach for a microstrip antenna array with the dimensions of 44.9 × 30.495 mm2. The first step is designing a decoupling unit on the basis of waveguided complementary split-ring resonators (WCSRRs) to improve isolation. The second step is presenting an optimization method by using a fully connected neural network (FCNN) to enhance design efficiency. By inserting WCSRRs structure between two patches with the edge-to-edge distance of 0.24λ0 (port-to-port distance with 0.66λ0), where λ0 is the wavelength of free space at a resonant frequency of 9 GHz, the mutual coupling can be reduced to −29.38 dB, which is confirmed by the EM simulation. We use the simulation results of the array geometries and EM performances to train FCNN at first and then use the trained FCNN to predict the array geometric parameters for the optimal EM response when the edge-to-edge distance between patches is further reduced to 0.21λ0 and 0.18λ0 (port-to-port distance reduced to 0.60λ0 and 0.56λ0). The measured isolation of the predicted microstrip antenna array is increased to 41.05 dB and 52.33 dB, respectively. Compared to the EM simulation, our FCNN approach has a higher accuracy and lower computational complexity. Therefore, the proposed array predicted by FCNN has a better decoupling performance. All the simulated and predicted results are validated via the measurement to demonstrate the effectiveness of our design scheme. The advantages of our work include the good decoupling performance of the proposed WCSRRs and the convenient optimization of the FCNN from physical response to optimal antenna array geometry design.
Nondestructive Controllable Grouting: A Novel Method to Correct Deviation of Building Foundation
Authors: Cui Xuedong
Published: April 2023

Nondestructive controllable grouting is a novel method for the accurate, reliable, and nondestructive lifting of buildings. In this method, the grouting construction is divided into several stages. First, a shallow soil layer is gradually filled and compacted by grouting, and the deep soil is reinforced by grouting until a radial compression force is generated. Subsequently, fracture grouting is performed in the middle of the reinforcement area, which generates a lifting force and resulting in the uplift of the building. Surface deformation monitoring is used during the entire uplifting process to control the amount of uplift. This method has been verified through the construction of a residential building, and the results show that nondestructive controllable grouting can effectively solve the problem of building deflection. At the same time, it avoids the problem of excessive lifting or secondary settlement that may occur in traditional grouting reinforcement. This study is expected to have considerable value as a reference for the construction of similar projects.
Iridoid from Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. Exerts Antiarthritis Effects by Inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathway In Vivo and In Vitro
Authors: Tang Li-Dong , Wang Jian-Ying , Zhang Yan , Chen Xiao-Yun , Zhang Lei , Yuan Ying
Published: April 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti‐inflammatory effects of EU‐Idd both in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, we used the collagen‐induced arthritis (CIA) rat model to investigate the efficacy of EU‐Idd on rheumatoid arthritis. Hematoxylin‐eosin staining and Safranin O‐fast green staining were used to evaluate the pathological status of the ankle joints in CIA rats. Micro‐CT scanning was used to investigate bone erosion of the ankle joints. In vitro, the effect of EU‐Idd on Th17 cell differentiation was identified by flow cytometry. TRAP staining was used to detect osteoclast cells. HFLS‐RA model cells, induced by tumor necrosis factor‐α(TNF‐α), were used to evaluate the anti‐inflammatory effects of EU‐Idd while the levels of related inflammatory cytokines and JAK2/STAT3 proteins were detected by RT‐qPCR and western blotting. EU‐Idd alleviated joint inflammation in CIA rats and exerted protective effects on the ankle joints. EU‐Idd also prevented the differentiation of CD4+ T cells into Th17 cells, reduced the number of osteoclasts, and improved the expression levels of bone metabolism‐related proteins including OPG and RANKL. Moreover, EU‐Idd inhibited the invasion and migration of HFLS‐RA cells and downregulated the expression of related inflammatory cytokine genes and the protein expression levels of p‐JAK2 and p‐STAT3, both in vivo and in vitro. EU‐Idd exerts anti‐inflammatory and osteoprotective effects by regulating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in rheumatoid arthritis. These results are beneficial to excavate new pharmaceutical ingredients for rheumatoid arthritis from iridoid.