bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A 12-year follow-up of intestinal schistosomiasis in pre-school-aged children in Assoni Village, Eastern Senegal
Authors: N’Diaye Monique , Keita Boubacar Fodé , Danfakha Fodé , Keita Fili , Keita Gérald , Senghor Cheikh Sadibou , Diop Bocar , Diawara Lamine , Bessin François , Vernet Charlotte , Barbier Dominique , Dewavrin Patrick , Klotz Francis
Published: June 2021

Background

To monitor the prevalence of schistosomiasis in school-aged children (SAC), the National Bilharzia Control Program (PNLB) was set up by the Senegalese authorities; however, geographically isolated Bedik ethnic groups that did not benefit from this program were found to be heavily infected with Schistosoma mansoni. This observation led us to implement a new schistosomiasis control program in 2008 under the aegis of the non-governmental organization “Le Kaïcedrat” and in partnership with the PNLB/WHO to monitor the prevalence of schistosomiasis in this area. In the village of Assoni, where 100% of SAC were infected, analysis of the stools of pre-school-aged children (PSAC) showed that they were massively infected, so we decided to focus our program on them.

Methods

From 2008 to 2020, we (i) monitored the prevalence of S. mansoni in PSAC in Assoni using double-stool smear preparation, (ii) treated the infected PSAC with a standard dose of praziquantel 40 mg/kg, (iii) ran educational campaigns each year in the village, and (iv) built latrines to improve sanitation and reduce schistosomiasis transmission. Linear regression was used to examine the trend in the annual schistosomiasis prevalence and a two-sided of Chi-squared test was used to compare prevalence between the different age groups of PSAC.

Results

We observed an extremely high prevalence of schistosomiasis (78%) in PSAC before implementation of the program in 2008. Contamination occurred in very young children, as 64.3% of children under 2 years old were infected. Moreover, prevalence increased with age and reached 96.8% in children 4 to < 6 years old. Our annual interventions in Assoni Village raised awareness among villagers that water bodies were areas of significant infestation, allowed the building of 88 latrines and led to a decrease in prevalence in PSAC as only 11% of these children were infected in 2020.

Conclusion

Our study allowed Assoni to be the first village in Senegal to treat PSAC since 2014, but only on an individual basis. It also shows that schistosomiasis is difficult to eradicate and that multi-sectorial actions are required to keep its prevalence at a low level.

Graphic abstract
Dynamic mechanical and thermal properties of clear aligners after thermoforming and aging
Authors: Dalaie Kazem , Fatemi Seyyed Mostafa , Ghaffari Samin
Published: June 2021

Background

Based on the role of properties of aligner materials on their efficiency, we aimed to assess their thermomechanical properties after thermoforming and simulated aging.

Methods

In this experimental study, 96 samples of polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) aligners (Duran and Erkodur) were prepared and divided to three groups: control (C), after thermoforming (T), after thermoforming and aging (TA). Thermoforming was done through 3D-printed molds, and aging was exerted by 200 thermal cycles after immersion in 37°C distilled water for 24h. Flexural modulus, hardness, glass transition temperature (Tg), elastic and viscous modulus, and loss factor were evaluated. Two-way ANOVA, T-independent, and Tukey HSD tests were done for statistical analysis and significance level was set to 0.05.

Results

In both materials, flexural modulus decreased significantly after thermoforming, 88% in Duran and 70% in Erkodur, but did not change significantly after aging. After thermoforming, hardness decreased significantly in both materials (22% in Duran and 7.6% in Erkodur). Dynamic Tg was significantly lower in T and TA in both materials. At all temperatures (25, 37, 55°C) in Duran, the elastic modulus difference was only significant between C and TA, but in Erkodur, it decreased significantly in T, and there was no significant change after aging. Viscous modulus and loss factor showed the same change patterns at all temperatures. In both materials, they increased after thermoforming, but did not change significantly after aging.

Conclusion

Thermoforming had more prominent role than aging in diminishing of thermomechanical properties. In general, Duran had greater thermomechanical stability than Erkodur.
Can preoperative liver MRI with gadoxetic acid help reduce open-close laparotomies for curative intent pancreatic cancer surgery?
Authors: Jhaveri Kartik S. , Babaei Jandaghi Ali , Thipphavong Seng , Espin-Garcia Osvaldo , Dodd Anna , Hutchinson Shawn , Reichman Trevor W. , Moulton Carol-Anne , McGilvary Ian D. , Gallinger Steven
Published: June 2021

Objectives

To evaluate gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI (EOB-MRI) versus contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) for preoperative detection of liver metastasis (LM) and reduction of open-close laparotomies for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Methods

Sixty-six patients with PDAC had undergone preoperative EOB-MRI and CECT. LM detection by EOB-MRI and CECT and their impact on surgical planning, open-close laparotomies were compared by clinical and radiology reports and retrospective analysis of imaging by two blinded independent readers. Histopathology or imaging follow-up was the reference standard. Statistical analysis was performed at patient and lesion levels with two-sided McNemar tests.

Results

EOB-MRI showed higher sensitivity versus CECT (71.7% [62.1-80.0] vs. 34% [25.0-43.8]; p = 0.009), comparable specificity (98.6%, [96.9-99.5] vs. 100%, [99.1-100], and higher AUROC (85.1%, [80.4-89.9] vs. 66.9%, [60.9-73.1]) for LM detection. An incremental 7.6% of patients were excluded from surgery with a potential reduction of up to 13.6% in futile open-close laparotomies due to LM detected on EOB-MRI only.

Conclusions

Preoperative EOB-MRI has superior diagnostic performance in detecting LM from PDAC. This better informs surgical eligibility with potential reduction of futile open-close laparotomies from attempted curative intent pancreatic cancer surgery.
Institutional inertia, local leadership turnover, and changes in the structure of fiscal expenditure
Authors: Yao Dongmin , Zhu Yongyi , Yu Kai
Published: June 2021

Taking the perspective of local party and government leadership change and using L-kurtosis to analyze provincial panel data in China from 1996 to 2018, this article identifies the structural change pattern of fiscal expenditures. We find that economic construction, science, education, culture, and health expenditures conform to the punctuated equilibrium pattern, while public security expenditures conform to the gradualism pattern. For expenditures under the punctuated equilibrium pattern, the longer the current local leader’s tenure is, the greater the friction with institutional inertia, and the larger the deviation from the average expenditure structure during the previous local leader’s tenure; however, for expenditures under the gradualism pattern, the local leader factor does not have a significant effect. This article also discusses the motivations of new local leaders for adjusting their expenditure structure. In terms of the proportion of economic development expenditures, in targeting expenditures, new leaders are more likely to “strive for the upper ends of the country,” while the expenditures for science, education, culture, and health are targeted to “converge to the national average.”
Cerebral hemorrhage due to amyloid angiopathy that was difficult to differentiate from breast cancer metastasis: a case report
Authors: Uomori Toshitaka , Horimoto Yoshiya , Takanashi Masashi , Shikanai Ayana , Nakai Katsuya , Arakawa Astushi , Saito Mitsue
Published: June 2021

Background

Breast cancer patients are known to develop brain metastasis at a relatively high frequency. However, imaging findings of brain metastases vary, and it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish these from other tumorous lesions and non-neoplastic lesions, such as cerebral hemorrhage. Meanwhile, there are various causes of cerebral hemorrhage; a major one is cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). With the advancement of imaging technology, CAA-related cerebral hemorrhage can be more precisely diagnosed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but definitive diagnosis of CAA can only be made based on pathological assessment. Herein, we report a case of consciousness disorder appearing during adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. We initially considered that the patient’s cerebral hemorrhage was due to a metastatic tumor, but based on excisional biopsy, she was diagnosed with CAA.

Case presentation

A 73-year-old Japanese woman underwent curative surgery for left breast cancer. Her disease was hormone receptor-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive invasive ductal carcinoma (pStage IIB). While receiving adjuvant treatment, she developed disorientation, and emergent imaging revealed multiple cerebral hemorrhages. There was no apparent enhancement in the cerebral parenchyma on MRI, and differential diagnosis included hemorrhage due to a metastatic tumor, intravascular large B-cell lymphoma, CAA and thrombotic intracranial bleeding. After hospitalization, the bleeding lesion enlarged, resulting in cerebral hernia, and she needed emergency drainage surgery. The tissue surrounding the hemorrhage was pathologically assessed, and she was diagnosed with CAA. Although we initially suspected the lesion to be a metastatic tumor from breast cancer, there were no tumorous cells.

Conclusion

Atypical MRI findings made diagnosis difficult in this case, but it should be considered for differential diagnosis when multiple cerebral hemorrhages in elderly patients are observed, especially in cases with symptoms such as transient multifocal neurological deficits and dementia.
Techno-economic feasibility analysis of a 3-kW PV system installation in Nepal
Authors: Poudyal Ramhari , Loskot Pavel , Parajuli Ranjan
Published: June 2021

This study investigates the techno-economic feasibility of installing a 3-kilowatt-peak (kWp) photovoltaic (PV) system in Kathmandu, Nepal. The study also analyses the importance of scaling up the share of solar energy to contribute to the country's overall energy generation mix. The technical viability of the designed PV system is assessed using PVsyst and Meteonorm simulation software. The performance indicators adopted in our study are the electric energy output, performance ratio, and the economic returns including the levelised cost and the net present value of energy production. The key parameters used in simulations are site-specific meteorological data, solar irradiance, PV capacity factor, and the price of electricity. The achieved PV system efficiency and the performance ratio are 17% and 84%, respectively. The demand–supply gap has been estimated assuming the load profile of a typical household in Kathmandu under the enhanced use of electric appliances. Our results show that the 3-kWp PV system can generate 100% of electricity consumed by a typical residential household in Kathmandu. The calculated levelised cost of energy for the PV system considered is 0.06 $/kWh, and the corresponding rate of investment is 87%. The payback period is estimated to be 8.6 years. The installation of the designed solar PV system could save 10.33 tons of CO2 emission over its lifetime. Overall, the PV systems with 3 kWp capacity appear to be a viable solution to secure a sufficient amount of electricity for most households in Kathmandu city.
Effectiveness of two intramuscular combined vaccines for the control of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and porcine circovirus type 2 in growing pigs: a randomized field trial
Authors: Boulbria Gwenaël , Brilland Sophie , Teixeira-Costa Charlotte , Brissonnier Mathieu , Charles Mathieu , Capdevielle Nathalie , Normand Valérie , Bouchet Franck , Berton Pauline , Krejci Roman , Lebret Arnaud
Published: June 2021

Background

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniaeand Porcine circovirus type 2 are two economically important pathogens affecting growing pigs. Control and prevention of both diseases can be accomplished by vaccination, together with biosecurity and good management practices. Many commercial vaccines are available. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Hyogen® and Circovac® administered mixed at weaning and to compare this protocol with a competitor ready-to-use (RTU) vaccine.

Case presentation

A randomised field trial was designed in a commercial farrow-to-finish farm located in France. A total of 641 pigs born from 54 different sows were included in this study. Piglets at weaning were allocated into three groups: the first one vaccinated with Hyogen® and Circovac® combined (group A), the second one vaccinated with a competitor RTU vaccine (group B) and the last one unvaccinated. Only minor local reactions for both vaccination groups could be observed which revealed a good safety of both protocols. Both vaccination schemes in this trial didn’t improve wean-to-slaughter growth performances but significantly reduced lung lesions, lung fissures and pleurisy at slaughter, produced a seroconversion for bothM. hyopneumoniaeand PCV-2 and significantly reduced the PCV-2 viral load in blood. When we compared groups A and B, we observed no significant differences in growth performances, mortality, clinical signs, percentages of affected lungs at slaughter, lung fissures and pleurisy, and no difference in pathogens detection. However, two statistical differences were observed between both vaccines: the mean lung lesion score and the percentage of extensive lung lesions were lower in group A. This is consistent with lowerM. hyopneumoniaeloads in the lower respiratory tract in pigs from group A but this difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions

Results reported in this case study must be considered with caution since it was done in only one farm. In this trial, Hyogen® and Circovac® mixed together under field conditions offered a successful protection of growing pigs and significantly decreased the extension of lung lesions during a natural field challenge when compared with a competitor RTU vaccine.
Active status on phytochemistry and pharmacology of Pergularia daemia Forsk. (Trellis-vine): a review
Authors: Ananth Devanesan Arul , Deviram Garlapati , Mahalakshmi Vijayaraghavan , Bharathi V. Ratna
Published: June 2021

Background

Medicinal plants play a significant role in the progress of persuasive therapeutic agents. Earlier to the innovation of synthetic drugs, human beings completely relied on the plants for the treatment of various ailments. Natural product extracts, particularly those derived from different plant species, provided the main source of Siddha, Ayurveda and Folk medicines. P. daemia is a perennial climber, traditionally reported for the treatment in a variety of diseases. In present review, we focused on the present status of phytochemical and pharmacological activities P. daemia.

Methodology

With the support of electronic databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, Mendeley, Scirus and PubMed central. Traditional knowledge information collected by Indian taxonomical books, survey from local rural and tribal peoples. Pharmacological data’s obtained from scientific journals published from 2000 to 2020.

Results

P. daemia extract, contains several phytochemicals, especially rich in flavonoids. These secondary metabolites synthesized from P. daemia have been reported for the treatment of various chronic diseases. In recent years, P. daemia phytoconstituents set as a key role in natural drug development as it harbours many in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-fertility, anti-arthritic and antimicrobial etc.,

Conclusion

P. daemia was the less studied plant compared to other medicinal plants. In this context more emphasis has to be laid on studies that discuss on the secondary metabolite activities and molecular mechanisms that work against various chronic diseases.
CourseQ: the impact of visual and interactive course recommendation in university environments
Authors: Ma Boxuan , Lu Min , Taniguchi Yuta , Konomi Shin’ichi
Published: June 2021

The abundance of courses available in a university often overwhelms students as they must select courses that are relevant to their academic interests and satisfy their requirements. A large number of existing studies in course recommendation systems focus on the accuracy of prediction to show students the most relevant courses with little consideration on interactivity and user perception. However, recent work has highlighted the importance of user-perceived aspects of recommendation systems, such as transparency, controllability, and user satisfaction. This paper introduces CourseQ, an interactive course recommendation system that allows students to explore courses by using a novel visual interface so as to improve transparency and user satisfaction of course recommendations. We describe the design concepts, interactions, and algorithm of the proposed system. A within-subject user study (N=32) was conducted to evaluate our system compared to a baseline interface without the proposed interactive visualization. The evaluation results show that our system improves many user-centric metrics including user acceptance and understanding of the recommendation results. Furthermore, our analysis of user interaction behaviors in the system indicates that CourseQ could help different users with their course-seeking tasks. Our results and discussions highlight the impact of visual and interactive features in course recommendation systems and inform the design of future recommendation systems for higher education.
Utilization of deworming medication and its associated factors among pregnant married women in 26 sub-Saharan African countries: a multi-country analysis
Authors: Zegeye Betregiorgis , Keetile Mpho , Ahinkorah Bright Opoku , Ameyaw Edward Kwabena , Seidu Abdul-Aziz , Yaya Sanni
Published: June 2021

Background

Deworming is one of the strategies to reduce the burden of anemia among pregnant women. Globally, pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa are more affected by anemia. Therefore, this study examined both the coverage and demographic, socioeconomic, and women empowerment-related factors associated with the utilization of deworming medication among pregnant married women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods

We used data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa conducted between 2010 and 2019. Using Stata version-14 software, analysis was done on 168,910 pregnant married women. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the factors associated with the utilization of deworming medication. The results were presented using adjusted odds ratios (aORs) at 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

The pooled results showed that about 50.7% (95% CI 48.2–53.3%) of pregnant married women in the studied countries took deworming medications, and this varied from as high as 84.1% in Sierra Leone to as low as 2% in Angola. Regarding sub-regional coverage, the highest and lowest coverages were seen in East Africa (67.6%, 95% CI 66.0–69.1%) and West Africa (24.3%, 95% CI 22.4–26.4%) respectively. We found higher odds of utilization of deworming medication among older pregnant married women (aOR=1.93, 95% CI 1.32–2.84), women with educated husbands (aOR=1.40, 95% CI 1.11–1.77), wealthier women (aOR=3.12, 95% CI 1.95–4.99), women exposed to media (aOR=1.46, 95% CI 1.18–1.80), and those who had four or more antenatal care visits (aOR=1.51, 95% CI 1.24–1.83).

Conclusions

Enhancing women’s education, disseminating information about maternal healthcare services through mass media, and ensuring that women from economically disadvantaged households benefit from national economic growth can be considered as deworming medication improvement strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, providing more attention to adolescents or young pregnant women and increasing the number of antenatal care visits could be considered to increase deworming uptake among pregnant married women.
The effects of COVID-19 fear and anxiety on symptom severity, sleep quality, and mood in patients with fibromyalgia: a pilot study
Authors: Cankurtaran Damla , Tezel Nihal , Ercan Buse , Yildiz Sadik Yigit , Akyuz Ece Unlu
Published: June 2021

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals faced psychological stress caused by fear and anxiety due to the high transmission and mortality rate of the disease, the social isolation, economic problems, and difficulties in reaching health services. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic centralized pain sensitivity disorder. Psychological, physical and/or autoimmune stressors were found to increase FM symptoms. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the COVID-19 fear and anxiety level, and to examine their effect on disease severity, sleep quality, and mood in FM patients compared to control group.

Methods

This pilot study conducted as a cross-sectional study, and included 62 participants. Participants were divided into two groups: FM patient group (n = 31) and control group (n = 31). Symptom severity, sleep quality, and mood were determined using the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), Pitsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), respectively. In order to evaluate the level of COVID-19 fear and anxiety, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) were used compared to control group.

Results

FIQR, PSQI, HAD-A, HAD-D, FCV-19S and CAS scores were significantly higher in the FM group (p = 0.01). A positive significant correlation was found between FCV-19S and CAS results and FIQR, PSQI, and HAD-anx results in FM patients (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

This pilot study showed that, the individuals with FM can be more affected by psychological stress, and this situation negatively affects the symptom severity, sleep quality, and mood in FM patients, so these patients should be closely monitored in terms of psychological stressors and their effects during pandemics. More studies with more participants are necessary to describe the challenges lived by fibromyalgia population.
Pharmaceutical quality of antimalarial drugs: quinine sulfate and Artemether/Lumefantrine tablets sold on Bukavu Market
Authors: Mahano Aladin Ombeni , Mahano Aline Zawadi , Cubaka Nelson Hendwa , Kasali Félicien Mushagalusa , Zirirane Benjamin Bavurhe , Namegabe Lucien Murhula , Hamuli Pacifique Murhula , Kadima Ntokamunda Justin
Published: June 2021

Background

Generic antimalarial drugs sold in sub-Saharan Africa require tighter control as counterfeiting has grown more and more out of control. The study aimed to analyze the pharmaceutical quality of quinine sulfate (QS) and Artemether/Lumefantrine(AL) tablets marketed in Bukavu city compared to the current trends in other African cities.

Results

The samples were purchased in community pharmacies or from ambulatory street vendors and analyzed using a set of thirteen simple tests, including visual inspection, UV spectrometry, TLC, and conventional quality control procedures. More than 93% of AL samples had an acceptable global quality score of > 90%. Around 16.6% of QS batches did not satisfy the requirements about hardness, friability, and mass uniformity. Only 33.3% met the disintegration quality; 33.3% did not contain quinine; 8.33% had an active ingredient other than quinine.

Conclusion

The findings strongly alert the circulation of fake antimalarial medicines observed in many countries. Simple TLC procedures may help to detect any low-quality generics to avoid microbial resistance and guarantee the health of the population. Pharmacists and regulatory authorities are alerted to the circulation of low-quality generic quinine preparations in the country.
Anorexia and Fat Aversion Induced by Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Is Attenuated in Neurotensin Receptor 1–Deficient Mice
Authors: Ratner Cecilia , Shin Jae Hoon , Dwibedi Chinmay , Tremaroli Valentina , Bjerregaard Anette , Hartmann Bolette , Bäckhed Fredrik , Leinninger Gina , Seeley Randy J , Holst Birgitte
Published: June 2021

Neurotensin (NT) is an anorexic gut hormone and neuropeptide that increases in circulation following bariatric surgery in humans and rodents. We sought to determine the contribution of NT to the metabolic efficacy of vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). To explore a potential mechanistic role of NT in VSG, we performed sham or VSG surgeries in diet-induced obese NT receptor 1 (NTSR1) wild-type and knockout (ko) mice and compared their weight and fat mass loss, glucose tolerance, food intake, and food preference after surgery. NTSR1 ko mice had reduced initial anorexia and body fat loss. Additionally, NTSR1 ko mice had an attenuated reduction in fat preference following VSG. Results from this study suggest that NTSR1 signaling contributes to the potent effect of VSG to initially reduce food intake following VSG surgeries and potentially also on the effects on macronutrient selection induced by VSG. However, maintenance of long-term weight loss after VSG requires signals in addition to NT.
De novo distal terminal ileum adenocarcinoma mimicking Crohn’s disease and diagnostic challenges in imaging: a case series
Authors: Lim Dongwhee , Fernando Suresh , Hyder Syed , Malhotra Shalini , Miremadi Ahmad , Menon Mukil
Published: June 2021

De novo small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) in the terminal ileum is the least common of the SBA types. However, its highest prevalence is found in the presence of Crohn’s disease (CD). As patients with SBA and CD present with similar symptoms, there is a high chance of misdiagnosing SBA as CD. This can lead to delay in proper diagnosis and can affect prognosis. In this article, we discuss two cases of de novo SBA mimicking CD, in the absence of CD, on conventional CT, CT enteroclysis and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enteroclysis. Moreover, it underlines the importance of suspecting SBA in cases where there is a lack of response to long-term medical treatment.
They are Communities like You The Rationale for Animal Rights and Welfare in Islamic Civilization
Authors: Kızılkaya Necmettin
Published: June 2021

Animal treatment has a comprehensive connotation and far-reaching implications in Islamic civilization. The rationes leges for this broader meaning in human-animal relations are the principles laid out in the two foundational sources of Islam, i.e., the Qurʾān and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muḥammad. While dealing with the subject of animals, different disciplines carried the framework drawn in these two sources to a more abstract level,thereby becoming the very basis for practices in societies’ daily life. One of these disciplines, Islamic jurisprudence deals with how people are to preserve the God-given rights of animals while extracting benefit from in different chapters. In this article, I will first provide a brief introduction to animal welfare and protection in Islamic civilization. I will then focus on how scholars have interpreted the Qurʾānic concept of community (ummah, plural:umam) in exegetical literature. After that, I will show how the Prophet Muḥammad’s approach of gentleness (rifq) and excellence (iḥsān) manifested in his treatment of animals through several examples from the ḥadīth literature.Finally, I will attempt to demonstrate how Islamic jurisprudence embodies this theoretical framework through the concept of harm. In conclusion, I will show that there are important concepts and examples in Islamic thought that shed light on scholarship in the field of animal studies.
The Impact of Covid-19 On State-Religion Relations: A Study On Israel And Iran
Authors: Alkan Özcan Sevinç , Mercan Muhammed Hüzeyin
Published: June 2021

Regulations, measures and restrictions implemented by state authorities on public events and mass gatherings due to fear, anxiety, and panic caused by COVID-19 pandemic have made religious field more open to state intervention since the global pandemic started and religious practices underwent radical changes. Governments’ public health measures concerning the places of mass worship and religious gatherings to stop the spread of the pandemic and the reactions of religious groups against their orders and imposed restrictions emerged as a new dimension of the debates on state-religion and state-individual relations. In this regard, the main purpose of the study is to discuss the new global religious trends that emerged with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which reshapes state-religion relations through the regulations and measure for containing the virus, in light of the experiences in different regions and religious traditions, and to analyze the relationship between the religion and the state in the Middle East, specifically the cases of Israel and Iran as religious character is dominant and orthodox religious groups play a significant role within the social and political structure in both countries.
Case Report: Mosaicism of a novel nonsense variant in the neurofibromin gene underlies a mosaic generalized NF1 phenotype
Authors: Kwong Hui Li , Tay Yong-Kwang , Tan Ene-Choo
Published: June 2021

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by multiple café-au-lait macules, cutaneous neurofibromas or plexiform neurofibromas, iris Lisch nodules, axillary and inguinal freckling. Mosaicism in NF1 can either present as a generalized disease, or in a localized (segmental) manner. Mosaic generalized NF1 may have presentations that are similar to generalized NF1 or have a milder phenotype and hence may be under-recognised in clinical practice. We report a nonsense mutation in the NF1 gene in a 55-year old Chinese male with the mosaic generalized phenotype. He reported noticing increasing numbers of skin-colored papules over his face, neck, back and abdomen when he was about 40 years old. From both next-generation and Sanger sequencing data, the variant appeared to be mosaic and present at about 24%. It is in exon 39 and has not been reported in any database or published literature.
Numerical model for enhancing stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical microfibers
Authors: Yeap Soon Heng , Emami Siamak Dawazdah , Abdul-Rashid Hairul Azhar
Published: June 2021

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is useful, among others for generating slow light, sensing and amplification. SBS was previously viewed as a poor method due to the limitation on optical power in high-powered photonic applications. However, considering the many possible applications using SBS, it is now of interest to enhance SBS in areas of Brillouin frequency shift together with Brillouin Gain. A numerical model, using a fully vectorial approach, by employing the finite element method, was developed to investigate methods for enhancing SBS in optical fiber. This paper describes the method related to the numerical model and discusses the analysis between the interactions of horizontal, shear and hybrid acoustic modes; and optical modes in optical fiber. Two case studies were used to demonstrate this. Based on this numerical model, we report the influence of core radius, clad radius and effective refractive index on the Brillouin frequency shift and gain. We observe the difference of Brillouin shift frequency between a normal silica optical fiber and that of a tapered fiber where nonlinearities are higher. Also observed, the different core radii used and their respective Brillouin shift. For future work, the COMSOL model can also be used for the following areas of research, including simulating “surface Brillouin shift” and also to provide in-sights to the Brillouin shift frequency vB of various structures of waveguides, e.g circular, and triangular, and also to examine specialty fibers, e.g. Thulium and Chalcogenide doped fibers, and their effects on Brillouin shift frequency.
Study of Antibodies to Cytolethal Distending Toxin B (CdtB) and Antibodies to Vinculin in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Authors: Zaki Maysaa El Sayed , Elhammady Dina , Foda Salama Mona , Abdelsalam Mostafa , Osman Asmaa Osama Bakr
Published: June 2021

Background:Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder, categorized into various subtypes. Post-infection IBS may be attributed to the release of cytolethal distending toxin B (CdtB), which cross-reacts with the adhesion protein vinculin responsible for normal intestinal contractility.

Objective:This study aims to identify anti-CdtB and anti-vinculin levels in IBS patients compared to healthy control.

Subjects and methods:This retrospective case-control study was conducted on 100 subjects with IBS, as determined by a questionnaire based on Rome IV criteria, recruited from the outpatient clinics of the Tropical Medicine at Mansoura University Hospital from January 2019 to January 2020.

Results:Anti-vinculin and anti-CdtB levels were significantly elevated in patients with IBS (1.58±0.496ng/ml, 2.47±0.60ng/ml)  when compared to control subjects (1.13±0.249ng/ml, 2.1±0.24 ng/ml), respectively with P=0.001 for both.  Anti-vinculin level was significantly higher in the IBS-D subtype than the other subtypes (P=0.001) while, Anti-CdtB was significantly elevated in IBS-C, IBS-D subgroups compared to control subjects (P=0.001).

Conclusion:Findings of the present study support the hypothesis that IBS results from post-infectious disorders initiated by bacterial enteritis. A hypothesis could be applied to all IBS subgroups. On the other hand. These biomarkers might reflect the post-infectious state's severity. These findings need further extensive longitudinal studies in patients with IBS.
CHIPS: A Snakemake pipeline for quality control and reproducible processing of chromatin profiling data
Authors: Taing Len , Bai Gali , Cousins Clara , Cejas Paloma , Qiu Xintao , Herbert Zachary T. , Brown Myles , Meyer Clifford A. , Liu X. Shirley , Long Henry W. , Tang Ming
Published: June 2021

Motivation: The chromatin profile measured by ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, or DNase-seq experiments can identify genomic regions critical in regulating gene expression and provide insights on biological processes such as diseases and development. However, quality control and processing chromatin profiling data involves many steps, and different bioinformatics tools are used at each step. It can be challenging to manage the analysis.

Results: We developed a Snakemake pipeline called CHIPS (CHromatin enrIchment ProcesSor) to streamline the processing of ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, and DNase-seq data. The pipeline supports single- and paired-end data and is flexible to start with FASTQ or BAM files. It includes basic steps such as read trimming, mapping, and peak calling. In addition, it calculates quality control metrics such as contamination profiles, polymerase chain reaction bottleneck coefficient, the fraction of reads in peaks, percentage of peaks overlapping with the union of public DNaseI hypersensitivity sites, and conservation profile of the peaks. For downstream analysis, it carries out peak annotations, motif finding, and regulatory potential calculation for all genes. The pipeline ensures that the processing is robust and reproducible.

Availability: CHIPS is available at https://github.com/liulab-dfci/CHIPS.
Scientific and Methodological Approaches to Creating a System of Pedagogical Diagnostics of the Level of Training and Development of Primary School Graduates
Authors: Kuznetsova Marina , Vinogradova Natalya
Published: June 2021

The article discusses the problem of obtaining reliable information about the level of educational achievements of junior schoolchildren during

their transition to the next stage of school education. The implementation of the development goals of students at the initial stage of schooling, set by the Federal State Educational Standard of Primary General Education, requires pedagogical diagnostics, which makes it possible to establish the cause of the difficulties that children have in the course of studying various subjects. This ensures the timely intervention of the teacher in the learning process to provide each younger student with pedagogical assistance and support, which makes it possible to eliminate the individual difficulties that arise in him.
Space weather: risk factors for Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Authors: Demyanov Vladislav , Yasyukevich Yury
Published: June 2021

Extreme space weather events affect the stability and quality of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) of the second generation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou/Compass) and GNSS augmentation. We review the theory about mechanisms behind the impact of geomagnetic storms, ionospheric irregularities, and powerful solar radio bursts on the GNSS user segment. We also summarize experimental observations of the space weather effects on GNSS performance in 2000–2020 to confirm the theory. We analyze the probability of failures in measurements of radio navigation parameters, decrease in positioning accuracy of GNSS users in dual-frequency mode and differential navigation mode (RTK), and in precise point positioning (PPP). Additionally, the review includes data on the occurrence of dangerous and extreme space weather phenomena and the possibility for predicting their impact on the GNSS user segment.

The main conclusions of the review are as follows: 1) the positioning error in GNSS users may increase up to 10 times in various modes during extreme space weather events, as compared to the background level; 2) GNSS space and ground segments have been significantly modernized over the past decade, thus allowing a substantial increase in noise resistance of GNSS under powerful solar radio burst impacts; 3) there is a great possibility for increasing the tracking stability and accuracy of radio navigation parameters by introducing algorithms for adaptive lock loop tuning, taking into account the influence of space weather events; 4) at present, the urgent scientific and technical problem of modernizing GNSS by improving the scientific methodology, hardware and software for monitoring the system integrity and monitoring the availability of required navigation parameters, taking into account the impact of extreme space weather events, is still unresolved.
Brief intervention aimed at fetal alcohol syndrome prevention: effectiveness study
Authors: Isurina Galina , Burina Ekaterina , Grandilevskaya Irina
Published: June 2021

Aim of the study

This article represents the results of the study aimed at the research of psychological effects of a dual-focused brief intervention for prevention of fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-exposed pregnancy among childbearing age women in Russia.

Subject or material and methods

280 women took part in the research. The study used the following methods: screening, «Audit», Calendar method, baseline interview, follow-up interviews at 3, 6 and 12 months, the Big Five questionnaire, the method of motivational induction, the method of assessing the level of subjective control.

Results

The study measured women’s knowledge about FAS and FASD, their attitudes towards alcohol consumption and in particular alcohol use during pregnancy, their real alcohol consumption level, use of contraception, the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancy and possibly FAS or FASD, the socio-demographical characteristics and psychological features of women.

Discussion

The main factor that influences the formation of attitudes for the refusal of drinking alcohol during pregnancy and the decrease in the level of real alcohol consumption is awareness of the impact of alcohol on the fetus and the health of women, which determines the main content of the prevention program: informing and brief intervention, motivating a change in attitudes and behavior.

Conclusions

The results of the study showed the effectiveness of dual-focused brief intervention and passive informing that were designed and used for FAS prevention.
Comparing anxiety sensitivity and metacognition beliefs in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and coronary heart diseases; acase-control study
Authors: Zargar Fatemeh , Kavoosi Mina
Published: June 2021

Aim of the study

Two important diseases related to Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Condition (PFAMC) are Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD). Relation between PFAMC and new psychological factors is still unknown. The present study aimed to compare anxiety sensitivity (AS) and metacognition beliefs in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders, coronary heart diseases and healthy individuals in Isfahan, Iran.

Subject or material and methods

This case-control study was conducted on 50 patients with IBS and 50 patients with CHD who diagnosed by cardiologists and gastroenterologists and 50 healthy individuals were matched by the same demographic variables (Gender, Education level, Marital status, Occupational status). The data collection tools consisted of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and Metacognition Questionnaire- 30 items (MCQ-30). The data were analyzed using Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).

Results

The results showed CHD group has more significant physical concerns and mental incapacitation concerns compare to IBS and control groups. It means CHD patients have more fear of physical symptoms related to anxiety (such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, trembling and feeling faint) and physical symptoms related to anxiety (such as lack of concentration and nervousness). Also IBS group has significantly higher positive metacognitive beliefs than CHD and control groups.

Discussion

The results showed that AS and metacognitive beliefs about worry play a crucial role in PFAMC such as IBS and CHD. Hence, the management of AS and metacognitive beliefs by clinicians in the treatment of these disorders is recommended.

Conclusions

Management of AS and metacognitive beliefs by clinicians in the treatment of PFAMCdisorders is important.
Uncompleted extended suicide – discussion on the boundaries of psychosis based on a case study
Authors: Pudlo Robert , Florek Szymon , Błachut Michał , Leksowska Aleksandra , Piegza Magdalena
Published: June 2021

W niniejszym artykule omówiono przypadek samobójczyni, kobiety w wieku 40 lat, zdrowej somatycznie, nieleczonej dotychczas psychiatrycznie, która dokonała zabójstwa dwójki własnych dzieci. Była ona badana przez trzy niezależne zespoły biegłych psychiatrów i psychologów dla potrzeb opiniowania sądowego. Autorzy, którzy wchodzili w skład trzeciego zespołu biegłych, po przeprowadzeniu dwukrotnych badań opiniowanej, a także analizy dokumentów z akt sprawy, w tym przebiegu obserwacji sądowo-psychiatrycznej, rozpoznali objawy osobowości zależnej i ostrą reakcję na stres, które to były przyczyną całkowitej utraty zdolności opiniowanej do rozpoznania znaczenia dokonanego czynu i pokierowania swoim postępowaniem. W pracy omawiany jest proces diagnostyczny, a także analiza zaburzeń psychotycznych w odniesieniu do konkretnych rozpoznań klinicznych zgodnych z obowiązującą klasyfikacją chorób i zaburzeń psychicznych. Zwrócono również uwagę na problem w różnicowaniu poszczególnych zaburzeń i sposób definiowania zaburzeń psychotycznych. Podkreśla się istnienie znacznych trudności w zakreśleniu konkretnej granicy między zaburzeniami psychotycznymi a niepsychotycznymi, co jest niezwykle ważne w kontekście opiniowania sądowo-psychiatrycznego.
Big data e inteligencia artificial: una aproximación a los desafíos éticos y jurídicos de su implementación en las administraciones tributaria.
Authors: Rodríguez Peña Nora Libertad
Published: June 2021

La generalización del uso de tecnologías basadas en sistemas de inteligencia artificial en manos de la administración pública –un destinatario más de las potencialidades que ofrece y los desafíos que deparan estas tecnologías aplicadas al servicio público– plantea la necesidad de reflexionar sobre los riesgos que supone la interacción entre la inteligencia artificial y los derechos de los ciudadanos. Principalmente en lo que respecta a la automatización de la administración, el tratamiento de datos personales y el perfilamiento de ciudadanos en sectores sensibles de la administración como es la hacienda pública. El presente estudio tiene como finalidad, identificar y analizar los desafíos éticos y jurídicos que se derivan de la utilización de las tecnologías disruptivas asociadas a la inteligencia artificial en manos de la administración pública en general y la tributaria en particular, sobre todo cuando se destina a la persecución del fraude fiscal; los daños “accidentales” que se pueden causar a los derechos y garantías del contribuyente, principalmente aquellos relacionados con el tratamiento de datos personales, y los sesgos y discriminaciones que puede ocasionar el uso de algoritmos entrenados en sistemas de big data; y la necesaria transparencia y rendición de cuentas asociada a la toma de decisiones automatizada por parte de la administración tributaria.
Personalized Dynamic Pricing with Machine Learning: High-Dimensional Features and Heterogeneous Elasticity
Authors: Ban Gah-Yi , Keskin N. Bora
Published: June 2021

We consider a seller who can dynamically adjust the price of a product at the individual customer level, by utilizing information about customers’ characteristics encoded as a d-dimensional feature vector. We assume a personalized demand model, parameters of which depend on s out of the d features. The seller initially does not know the relationship between the customer features and the product demand but learns this through sales observations over a selling horizon of T periods. We prove that the seller’s expected regret, that is, the revenue loss against a clairvoyant who knows the underlying demand relationship, is at least of order [Formula: see text] under any admissible policy. We then design a near-optimal pricing policy for a semiclairvoyant seller (who knows which s of the d features are in the demand model) who achieves an expected regret of order [Formula: see text]. We extend this policy to a more realistic setting, where the seller does not know the true demand predictors, and show that this policy has an expected regret of order [Formula: see text], which is also near-optimal. Finally, we test our theory on simulated data and on a data set from an online auto loan company in the United States. On both data sets, our experimentation-based pricing policy is superior to intuitive and/or widely-practiced customized pricing methods, such as myopic pricing and segment-then-optimize policies. Furthermore, our policy improves upon the loan company’s historical pricing decisions by 47% in expected revenue over a six-month period.

This paper was accepted by Noah Gans, stochastic models and simulation.
A Fast and Scalable Heuristic for the Solution of Large-Scale Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problems
Authors: Accorsi Luca , Vigo Daniele
Published: June 2021

In this paper, we propose a fast and scalable, yet effective, metaheuristic called FILO to solve large-scale instances of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem. Our approach consists of a main iterative part, based on the Iterated Local Search paradigm, which employs a carefully designed combination of existing acceleration techniques, as well as novel strategies to keep the optimization localized, controlled, and tailored to the current instance and solution. A Simulated Annealing-based neighbor acceptance criterion is used to obtain a continuous diversification, to ensure the exploration of different regions of the search space. Results on extensively studied benchmark instances from the literature, supported by a thorough analysis of the algorithm’s main components, show the effectiveness of the proposed design choices, making FILO highly competitive with existing state-of-the-art algorithms, both in terms of computing time and solution quality. Finally, guidelines for possible efficient implementations, algorithm source code, and a library of reusable components are open-sourced to allow reproduction of our results and promote further investigations.