bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The cost-effectiveness of conducting three versus two reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests for diagnosing and discharging people with COVID-19: evidence from the epidemic in Wuhan, China
Authors: Jiang Yawen , Cai Dan , Chen Daqin , Jiang Shan
Published: July 2020

Objectives

The objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of conducting three versus two reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) tests for diagnosing and discharging people with COVID-19 with regard to public health and clinical impacts by incorporating asymptomatic and presymptomatic infection and to compare the medical costs associated with the two strategies.

Methods

A model that consisted of six compartments was built. The compartments were the susceptible (S), the asymptomatic infective (A), the presymptomatic infective (L), the symptomatic infective (I), the recovered (R), and the deceased (D). The A, L and I classes were infective states. To construct the model, several parameters were set as fixed using existing evidence and the rest of the parameters were estimated by fitting the model to a smoothed curve of the cumulative confirmed cases in Wuhan from 24 January 2020 to 6 March 2020. Input data about the cost-effectiveness analysis were retrieved from the literature.

Results

Conducting RT-PCR tests three times for diagnosing and discharging people with COVID-19 reduced the estimated total number of symptomatic cases to 45‌ 013 from 51 144 in the two-test strategy over 43 days. The former strategy also led to 850.1 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) of health gain and a net healthcare expenditure saving of CN¥49.1 million. About 100.7 QALYs of the health gain were attributable to quality-adjusted life day difference between the strategies during the analytic period and 749.4 QALYs were attributable to years of life saved.

Conclusions

More accurate strategies and methods of testing for the control of COVID-19 may reduce both the number of infections and the total medical costs. Increasing the number of tests should be considered in regions with relatively severe epidemics when existing tests have moderate sensitivity.
Homecare for sick family members while waiting for medical help during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone: a mixed methods study
Authors: Schmidt-Hellerau Kirsten , Winters Maike , Lyons Padraig , Leigh Bailah , Jalloh Mohammad B , Sengeh Paul , Sawaneh Alhaji Babah , Zeebari Zangin , Salazar Mariano , Jalloh Mohamed F , Nordenstedt Helena
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Caring for an Ebola patient is a known risk factor for disease transmission. In Sierra Leone during the outbreak in 2014/2015, isolation of patients in specialised facilities was not always immediately available and caring for a relative at home was sometimes the only alternative. This study sought to assess population-level protective caregiving intentions, to understand how families cared for their sick and to explore perceived barriers and facilitators influencing caregiving behaviours.

Methods

Data from a nationwide household survey conducted in December 2014 were used to assess intended protective behaviours if caring for a family member with suspected Ebola. Their association with socio-demographic variables, Ebola-specific knowledge and risk perception was analysed using multilevel logistic regression. To put the results into context, semi-structured interviews with caregivers were conducted in Freetown.

Results

Ebola-specific knowledge was positively associated with the intention to avoid touching a sick person and their bodily fluids (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.29; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.54) and the intention to take multiple protective measures (AOR 1.38; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.63). Compared with residing in the mostly urban Western Area, respondents from the initial epicentre of the outbreak (Eastern Province) had increased odds to avoid touching a sick person or their body fluids (AOR 4.74; 95% CI 2.55 to 8.81) and to take more than one protective measure (AOR 2.94; 95% CI 1.37 to 6.34). However, interviews revealed that caregivers, who were mostly aware of the risk of transmission and general protective measures, felt constrained by different contextual factors. Withholding care was not seen as an option and there was a perceived lack of practical advice.

Conclusions

Ebola outbreak responses need to take the sociocultural reality of caregiving and the availability of resources into account, offering adapted and acceptable practical advice. The necessity to care for a loved one when no alternatives exist should not be underestimated.
Auditory electrophysiological assessments of Alzheimer’s disease and preclinical stages: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Tarawneh Hadeel Y , Mulders Wilhelmina H A M , Sohrabi Hamid R , Martins Ralph N , Jayakody Dona M P
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Investigating auditory functions in populations at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using auditory neurophysiological measurements can potentially identify a crucial and sensitive diagnostic window of opportunity in preclinical AD. Auditory electrophysiological assessments have gained interest as possible tools for early diagnosis of AD. This paper outlines the protocol that will be used to systematically review the published literature currently available on auditory electrophysiological assessments that have been used to assess the auditory functions of adults over the age of 60 years diagnosed with AD or its preclinical stages.

Methods and analysis

All full-length peer-reviewed publications of original data that use auditory electrophysiological assessments in AD and its preclinical stages (subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)) will be considered in this review. The search will be performed on major electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL Plus) using keywords alone or in combination with Medical Subject Headings divided into two domains; (i) auditory tests and (ii) AD. The database search will be conducted on the 7th of May 2019. Data analysis will be completed and reported in the full review. A random effects meta-analysis will also be conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software, V.3. This review will describe which auditory electrophysiological tests have been found to be useful in assessing the auditory function in cognitively impaired adults (MCI and AD) or adults with serious complaints about their cognition (SCD). This review will also identify and describe which auditory electrophysiological test demonstrates the most sensitivity in differentiating people at different stages of cognitive decline.

Ethics and dissemination

This systematic review focusses on analysing already available literature. Therefore, there will be no requirement for ethical approval. The systematic review findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication as well as relevant media platforms, for example, conferences.

Systematic review registration

PROSPERO CRD42019133553.
Prospective, multicentre, single-arm phase II trial of pembrolizumab combined with carboplatin and pemetrexed in elderly patients with advanced, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Ozawa Yuichi , Sugimoto Takeya , Azuma Yuichiro , Harutani Yuhei , Yoshikawa Takanori , Yamamoto Nobuyuki , Kanai Kuninobu
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Triplet regimen of carboplatin or cisplatin with pemetrexed and pembrolizumab is a standard treatment for patients with advanced, chemo-naïve, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. However, subgroup analysis for patients aged ≥75 years indicated that elderly patients who received the triplet regimen may have had shorter survival times than if they had chemotherapy alone (HR of 2.09). Treatments in the elderly are not always as effective or safe as for non-elderly patients, so there remains concern over whether the triplet regimen can be widely used in the elderly.

Methods and analysis

This is a single-arm, prospective, multicentre phase II study. The primary endpoint is set as the overall response rate according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors V.1.1. Secondary endpoints are progression-free survival, disease control rate and safety. This trial will enrol 22 patients.

Ethics and dissemination

This study was approved by the Wakayama Medical University Central Review Board on 2 December 2019 (approval number: W-32). Patients have been enrolled since February 2020. As the study will complete accrual in January 2022, results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed medical journals within 2023 and international scientific meetings. This study will provide significant information on whether the triplet regimens are clinically beneficial to elderly patients.

Trial registration number

Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCTs051190095).
Potential adverse effects of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline on ARPE-19 cell lines
Authors: Salimiaghdam Nasim , Singh Lata , Schneider Kevin , Nalbandian Angele , Chwa Marilyn , Atilano Shari R , Bao Andrea , Kenney M Cristina
Published: July 2020

Background

We aim to determine the possible adverse effects of ciprofloxacin (CPFX) and tetracycline (TETRA), as examples of bactericidal and bacteriostatic agents, respectively, on cultured human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19).

Methods

Cells were treated with 30, 60 and 120 µg/mL of CPFX and TETRA. Cell metabolism was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. JC-1 dye (5′,6,6′-tetrachloro-1,1′,3,3′-tetraethylbenzimidazolylcarbocyanine iodide) assay was conducted to measure the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured using the -2’,7’-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate assay (H2DCFDA). Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to analyse the gene expression levels associated with apoptosis (BAX, BCL2-L13, BCL2, Caspase 3, Caspase 7andCaspase 9), inflammatory (interleukin-1β(IL-1β), IL-6, IL-33,transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), TGF-β1andTGF-β2) and antioxidant pathways (SOD2, SOD3, GPX3andNOX4), along with the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy numbers.

Results

Results illustrated that while all three concentrations of CPFX decreased cellular viability of ARPE-19 during all incubation periods, the 120 µg/mL TETRA resulted in increased cellular viability. At 48 and 72 hours, levels of MMP and ROS decreased significantly with each antibiotic.BAX, BCL2-L13, CASP-7, CASP-9, SOD2andGPX3genes overexpressed by either antibiotics. There was higher expression ofIL-6andIL-1Bwith TETRA treatment. The level of mtDNA decreased using both treatments.

Conclusions

Clinically relevant concentrations of CPFX and TETRA have detrimental impacts on ARPE-19 cell lines in vitro, including upregulation of genes related to apoptosis, inflammation and antioxidant pathways. Additional studies are warranted to investigate if these harmful effects might be seen in retinal degeneration models in vivo.
Alzheimer's Disease: Many Failed Trials, So Where Do We Go from Here?
Authors: Reiss Allison Bethanne , Glass Amy D , Wisniewski Thomas , Wolozin Benjamin , Gomolin Irving H , Pinkhasov Aaron , De Leon Joshua , Stecker Mark M
Published: July 2020

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder associated with relentlessly progressive cognitive impairment and memory loss. AD pathology proceeds for decades before cognitive deficits become clinically apparent, opening a window for preventative therapy. Imbalance of clearance and buildup of amyloid β and phosphorylated tau proteins in the central nervous system is believed to contribute to AD pathogenesis. However, multiple clinical trials of treatments aimed at averting accumulation of these proteins have yielded little success, and there is still no disease-modifying intervention. Here, we discuss current knowledge of AD pathology and treatment with an emphasis on emerging biomarkers and treatment strategies.
Measurement of instant flow reserve to quantify functional flow limitation across stenosis in intracranial atherosclerotic disease
Authors: Dossani Rimal H , Waqas Muhammad , Rai Hamid H , Tso Michael K , Rajah Gary B , Safdar Aleeza , Siddiqui Adnan H
Published: July 2020

Angiographic stenosis may not be an accurate reflection of physiological flow limitation. Measurement of instant flow reserve (IFR) to quantify functional flow limitation across stenosis may be valuable in identifying lesions causing significant flow limitation. A case of left middle cerebral artery atherosclerotic disease is presented. Because medical therapy had failed, endovascular revascularization was chosen. In this video 1, IFR measurement to guide submaximal balloon angioplasty with a 1.5×9 mm non-compliant Mini-Trek balloon (Abbott) is demonstrated. Pressure gradient across the middle cerebral artery-M1 stenosis was measured with a Volcano pressure wire (Philips) before and after submaximal balloon angioplasty. An excellent radiographic result and flow improvement into the severely stenosed segment were achieved, with an IFR increase from 0.23 to 0.89. The degree of corresponding stenosis changed from 85% to 30%. No periprocedural complication was observed. IFR can help to identify lesions requiring treatment in select patients and prevent the tendency to overtreat a lesion that is not physiologically significant.
Cognitive outcomes after unruptured intracranial aneurysm treatment with endovascular coiling
Authors: Srivatsan Aditya , Mohanty Alina , Saleem Yasir , Srinivasan Visish M , Wagner Kathryn , Seeley Jill , Burkhardt Jan-Karl , Chen Stephen R , Johnnson Jeremiah N , Kan Peter
Published: July 2020

Background

We aimed to determine the effects of endovascular coiling of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) on cognition to inform treatment decisions. We present the first study using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to determine neurocognitive changes after endovascular coiling.

Methods

We prospectively collected data on all patients with UIAs undergoing endovascular coiling, primary or assisted. Patients completed the MoCA prior to intervention and 1 month and 6 months' post-procedure. A repeated measures linear mixed effects model was used to compare pre-procedure and post-procedure cognition.

Results

Thirty-three patients with 33 aneurysms who underwent coiling from April 2017 to May 2020 were included (mean age 55.5, 81.8% female). All procedures used general anesthesia. There was no difference between baseline and post-procedure MoCA scores at any time interval (P>0.05). Mean MoCA scores at baseline, 1 month post-procedure, and 6 months' post-procedure were 25.4, 26.8, and 26.3 respectively. There was also no difference between pre- and post-procedure scores on any individual MoCA domain (visuospatial, naming, memory, attention, language, abstraction, delayed recall, and orientation) at any time interval (P>0.05). Seventeen patients had follow-up MRI or CT imaging, of which 11.8% showed radiographic changes or ischemia. 77.8% of patients with 6-month angiographic follow-up achieved class I, and 22.2% achieved class II Raymond–Roy Occlusion. Thirty-two out of 33 patients had follow-up mRS ≤2.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that endovascular coiling does not diminish neurocognitive function. Patients with UIAs in our cohort also had baseline MoCA scores below the cut-off for mild cognitive impairment despite pre-procedure mRS and NIHSS of 0.
Management of lupus nephritis: a systematic literature review informing the 2019 update of the joint EULAR and European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association (EULAR/ERA-EDTA) recommendations
Authors: Kostopoulou Myrto , Fanouriakis Antonis , Cheema Kim , Boletis John , Bertsias George , Jayne David , Boumpas Dimitrios T
Published: July 2020

Objectives

To analyse the current evidence for the management of lupus nephritis (LN) informing the 2019 update of the EULAR/European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association recommendations.

Methods

According to the EULAR standardised operating procedures, a PubMed systematic literature review was performed, from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2018. Since this was an update of the 2012 recommendations, the final level of evidence (LoE) and grading of recommendations considered the total body of evidence, including literature prior to 2012.

Results

We identified 387 relevant articles. High-quality randomised evidence supports the use of immunosuppressive treatment for class III and class IV LN (LoE 1a), and moderate-level evidence supports the use of immunosuppressive treatment for pure class V LN with nephrotic-range proteinuria (LoE 2b). Treatment should aim for at least 25% reduction in proteinuria at 3 months, 50% at 6 months and complete renal response (<500–700 mg/day) at 12 months (LoE 2a-2b). High-quality evidence supports the use of mycophenolate mofetil/mycophenolic acid (MMF/MPA) or low-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide (CY) as initial treatment of active class III/IV LN (LoE 1a). Combination of tacrolimus with MMF/MPA and high-dose CY are alternatives in specific circumstances (LoE 1a). There is low-quality level evidence to guide optimal duration of immunosuppression in LN (LoE 3). In end-stage kidney disease, all methods of kidney replacement treatment can be used, with transplantation having the most favourable outcomes (LoE 2b).

Conclusions

There is high-quality evidence to guide the initial and subsequent phases of class III/IV LN treatment, but low-to-moderate quality evidence to guide treatment of class V LN, monitoring and optimal duration of immunosuppression.
Spinal stabilisation using a polyvinilidine (Lubra) plate in a pot‐bellied pig
Authors: Castel Aude , Doré Vincent , Fazio Connie
Published: July 2020

A three‐month‐old pot‐bellied pig presented for acute paraplegia following a presumptive fall. CT examination identified a vertebral subluxation of L1–L2 with a comminuted fracture of the L1 vertebra. Spinal stabilisation was performed with polyvinilidine (Lubra) plates. The pig improved neurologically and regained the ability to walk. Spinal radiographs six weeks following surgery revealed partial failure of the plates in the caudal aspect of the vertebral column and suspected pressure atrophy of spinous processes. Eighteen months later, the plates were piercing through the skin, so they were removed surgically and the pig did well from then on. This case report describes the feasibility of spinal stabilisation in a pot‐bellied pig associated with a good outcome, but also reveals potential complications and spinal changes that can be observed after use of polyvinilidine plates in this species.
Variability in moisture sorption isotherms of plywood and oriented strand board with accelerated ageing
Authors: Zhang Kevin , Richman Russell
Published: July 2020

Simulation of heat and mass transfer in buildings can be a powerful tool in analyzing overall durability but is dependent on accurate input data. This study is a part of a larger study on the effects of moisture storage in a commercially available hygrothermal modelling software. Moisture storage has not been well measured historically due to time requirements and necessity, and the effects of moisture storage on modelling have not been studied extensively. This study measures sorption isotherms in plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing that has undergone accelerated ageing. Results have shown that ageing samples may not have a significant effect on sorption isotherms, however, this may be due to the accelerated ageing method. Common methods used in accelerated ageing of wood products were primarily designed for testing mechanical properties and were too destructive for measuring hygrothermal properties. Further refinement of the accelerated ageing methodology may yield improved data.
Dynamisms of activation energy and convective Nield’s conditions on bidirectional flow of radiative Eyring–Powell nanofluid
Authors: Javed Tariq , Faisal Muhammad , Ahmad Iftikhar
Published: July 2020

Current continuation describes the computational study concerning with the unsteady flow of Eyring–Powell magneto nanoliquid over a bidirectionally deformable surface. Transference of activation energy is used in the improvement of binary chemical reaction. Nonlinear significance of thermal radiation is also incorporated in the energy equation. Investigation has been carried out through convective Nield’s boundary restrictions. Firstly, useful combination of variables has been implemented to alter the governing PDEs into ODEs. Later on, Keller-Box approach has been adopted to obtain the numerical solution of the physical problem. Physical interpretations of obtained results are also described for temperature and mass concentration distributions through various graphs. Rate of heat transportation has been explained through tabular data for acceptable ranges of involved engineering parameters. It is detected that escalating amount of Brownian constraint provides a constant temperature distribution. It is also inspected through present investigation that escalating amounts of activation energy factor, thermophoresis parameter, radiation parameter, Biot number and temperature ratio parameter improve the concentration field. Moreover, the amount of heat transport has considerably improved by increasing the amounts of temperature controlling indices and Biot number. Convergence analysis and error estimations of the numerical solution are also presented through various mesh refinement levels of the computational domain. Finally, comparison benchmarks with the restricted cases have been presented for the validation of the results obtained through the present parametric investigation.
Final fate of charged anisotropic fluid collapse in f(R) gravity
Authors: Khan Suhail , Khan Muhammad Shoaib , Ali Amjad
Published: July 2020

In this paper, the spherically symmetric gravitational collapse of anisotropic fluid in the presence of charge in metric [Formula: see text] theory is analyzed. We consider the static and non static spherically symmetric spacetimes for outer and inner regions of collapsing object respectively. For the smooth matching of inner and outer regions, the Senovilla as well as Darmois matching conditions are utilized. The closed form solutions are obtained from field equations. Moreover, we examine the apparent horizons and their physical significance. The effect of cosmological constant and [Formula: see text] term is same and the collapsing rate speeds up as compared to that of anisotropic fluid case when the electromagnetic field is introduced. Electromagnetic charge also affects the time interval of singularities and cosmological horizons.
Automated Health Condition Diagnosis of in situ Wood Utility Poles Using an Intelligent Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Framework
Authors: Yu Yang , Subhani Mahbube , Hoshyar Azadeh Noori , Li Jianchun , Li Huan
Published: July 2020

Wood utility poles are widely applied in power transmission and telecommunication systems in Australia. Because of a variety of external influence factors, such as fungi, termite and environmental conditions, failure of poles due to the wood degradation with time is of common occurrence with high degree uncertainty. The pole failure may result in serious consequences including both economic and public safety. Therefore, accurately and timely identifying the health condition of the utility poles is of great significance for economic and safe operation of electricity and communication networks. In this paper, a novel non-destructive evaluation (NDE) framework with advanced signal processing and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques is developed to diagnose the condition of utility pole in field. To begin with, the guided waves (GWs) generated within the pole is measured using multi-sensing technique, avoiding difficult interpretation of various wave modes which cannot be detected by only one sensor. Then, empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and principal component analysis (PCA) are employed to extract and select damage-sensitive features from the captured GW signals. Additionally, the up-to-date machine learning (ML) techniques are adopted to diagnose the health condition of the pole based on selected signal patterns. Eventually, the performance of the developed NDE framework is evaluated using the field testing data from 15 new and 24 decommissioned utility poles at the pole yard in Sydney.
Concurrent Identification of Impact Location and Force Magnitude on a Composite Panel
Authors: Kalhori Hamed , Alamdari Mehrisadat Makki , Li Bing , Halkon Ben , Hosseini Seyedeh Marzieh , Ye Lin , Li Zheng
Published: July 2020

Simultaneous estimation of both the location and force history of an impact applied on a lattice truss core sandwich panel is inversely carried out utilizing velocity signals collected by means of a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer. The algorithm assumes that several impact forces are exerted concurrently on a number of specified locations on a panel, provided that the magnitude of all impact forces but one is actually equal to zero. This condition equates to a scenario where an impact occurs at only one location. The purpose is therefore to detect the actual impact location among all potential locations, together with its force history, through minimizing error functions. Two algorithms, the one-to-one (even-determined) approach and the superposition approach, are considered. The one-to-one approach solves the reconstruction problem independently for each pair of impact and measurement points. However, in the superposition approach, the impact forces at all potential locations are concurrently reconstructed through a single matrix equation. It is shown that the one-to-one approach fails to detect the true impact location while the superposition approach recognizes the actual impact location based on some qualitative evaluating criteria. Adopting the superposition approach, for a problem with four possible impact locations, two scenarios one with four and one with 12 measurement points, are investigated. It is observed that the additional measurement points do not necessarily enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method. It is found that different arrangements of measuring points lead to identification of the location and the magnitude of the impact force, though the use of four evenly distributed measurement points seems to be most effective in simultaneous identification of the location and magnitude of the impact force. Further, a quantitative index based on the concept of similarity search for time-series using wavelet transformation is proposed and it is demonstrated that the index can successfully identify the true impact force location in a fully automated way.
Locating and Quantifying Damage in Deck Type Arch Bridges Using Frequency Response Functions and Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Jayasundara N. , Thambiratnam D. P. , Chan T. H. T. , Nguyen A.
Published: July 2020

Vibration-based methods can be used to detect damage in a structure as its vibration characteristics change with physical changes in the structure. Arch bridge is a popular type of bridge with rather complex vibration characteristics which pose a challenge for using existing vibration-based methods to detect damage in the bridge. Further, its particular geometry with a curved arch rib and vertical members (either in compression or tension) to support the horizontal deck makes the process of damage quantification using vibration-based methods harder and challenging. This paper develops and presents a vibration-based method that utilizes damage pattern changes in frequency response functions (FRFs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to locate and quantify damage in the rib of deck-type arch bridge, which is the most important load bearing component in the bridge. Principal component analysis, which is performed to reduce the dimension of original FRF data series and to obtain limited principal component analysis (PCA)-compressed FRF data is used in the development of the proposed method. FRF change, which is the difference in the FRF data between the intact and the damaged structure, is compressed to a few principal components and fed to ANNs to predict the location and severity of structural damage. The process and the hierarchy of developed ANN systems are presented, including the “fusion network” concept, which individually analyses FRF-based damage indicators separated by sensor locations. Finally, results obtained for many tested damage cases (inverse problems) are presented, which demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method for locating and quantifying damage in the rib of deck type arch bridge.
Matrix representation of formal polynomials over max-plus algebra
Authors: Wang Cailu , Tao Yuegang
Published: July 2020

This paper proposes the matrix representation of formal polynomials over max-plus algebra and obtains the maximum and minimum canonical forms of a polynomial function by standardizing this representation into a canonical form. A necessary and sufficient condition for two formal polynomials corresponding to the same polynomial function is derived. Such a matrix method is constructive and intuitive, and leads to a polynomial algorithm for factorization of polynomial functions. Some illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the results.
Electronic transport induced by doping on the electrodes in molecular devices
Authors: Yang Jingjuan , Wei Jinlei , Liao Bin , Bian Baoan , Wang Guoliang , Zhang Xu , Wu Xianying , Luo Jun , Chen Lin
Published: July 2020

The electronic transport properties of molecular device based on photochromic diarylethene with carbon nanotube electrode are investigated by density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s function. The devices with open and closed configurations show a switching effect. It is found that doping of different amounts of nitrogen atoms on left electrodes results in different electronic transport properties. In addition, we discuss the observed oscillation of current in the devices induced by doping using transmission eigenstates and transmission spectra of the device. The local density of states of the device is calculated to analyze the observed rectifying behavior. The results suggest that doping of nitrogen atoms on the left electrode can be considered as a factor to modulate the electronic transport properties of molecular device.
Determining dependency and redundancy for identifying gene–gene interaction associated with complex disease
Authors: Zhou Xiangdong , Chan Keith C. C. , Huang Zhihua , Wang Jingbin
Published: July 2020

As interactions among genetic variants in different genes can be an important factor for predicting complex diseases, many computational methods have been proposed to detect if a particular set of genes has interaction with a particular complex disease. However, even though many such methods have been shown to be useful, they can be made more effective if the properties of gene–gene interactions can be better understood. Towards this goal, we have attempted to uncover patterns in gene–gene interactions and the patterns reveal an interesting property that can be reflected in an inequality that describes the relationship between two genotype variables and a disease-status variable. We show, in this paper, that this inequality can be generalized to [Formula: see text] genotype variables. Based on this inequality, we establish a conditional independence and redundancy (CIR)-based definition of gene–gene interaction and the concept of an interaction group. From these new definitions, a novel measure of gene–gene interaction is then derived. We discuss the properties of these concepts and explain how they can be used in a novel algorithm to detect high-order gene–gene interactions. Experimental results using both simulated and real datasets show that the proposed method can be very promising.
Synthesis and characterization of ZnO-TiO2/CoFe2O4 hollow photocatalyst: Magnetic recovery and highly efficient photocatalytic performance
Authors: Jing Hong-Xia , Li Long-Xiang , Huang Jing , Li Na , Pei Wang-Jun , Yang Xiao-Feng
Published: July 2020

TiO2 has been known as an excellent semiconductor photocatalyst for wastewater treatment purposes. But, its visible light efficiency is low and cannot be easily recovered from the reaction mixture. In order to overcome these major disadvantages, a novel hollow magnetically recoverable ZnO-TiO2/CoFe2O4 photocatalyst is synthesized by the sol–gel and layer self-assembly methods. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by means of X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Fluorescence spectrometer (FL), and UV-Vis/DRS techniques. Complete degradation of rhodamine B is attained in the presence of ZnO-TiO2/CoFe2O4 photocatalyst under the irradiation of ultraviolet and sunlight within 90[Formula: see text]min. The photocatalyst can be repeatedly reused for five times without significantly diminishing of its photocatalytic performance.
On enhanced power graphs of certain groups
Authors: Dalal Sandeep , Kumar Jitender
Published: July 2020

The enhanced power graph [Formula: see text] of a group [Formula: see text] is a simple undirected graph with vertex set [Formula: see text] and two distinct vertices [Formula: see text] are adjacent if both [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] belongs to same cyclic subgroup of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we obtain various graph invariants viz. independence number, minimum degree and matching number of [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the dicyclic group or a class of groups of order [Formula: see text]. If [Formula: see text] is any of these groups, we prove that [Formula: see text] is perfect and then obtain its strong metric dimension.
A novel method for extracting skeleton of fruit tree from 3D point clouds
Authors: Lu Shenglian , Li Guo , Wang Jian
Published: July 2020

Tree skeleton could be useful to agronomy researchers because the skeleton describes the shape and topological structure of a tree. The phenomenon of organs’ mutual occlusion in fruit tree canopy is usually very serious, this should result in a large amount of data missing in directed laser scanning 3D point clouds from a fruit tree. However, traditional approaches can be ineffective and problematic in extracting the tree skeleton correctly when the tree point clouds contain occlusions and missing points. To overcome this limitation, we present a method for accurate and fast extracting the skeleton of fruit tree from laser scanner measured 3D point clouds. The proposed method selects the start point and endpoint of a branch from the point clouds by user’s manual interaction, then a backward searching is used to find a path from the 3D point cloud with a radius parameter as a restriction. The experimental results in several kinds of fruit trees demonstrate that our method can extract the skeleton of a leafy fruit tree with highly accuracy.
Vapor transport deposition of Sb2Se3 thin films for photodetector application
Authors: Wen Sen , Yin Xingtian , Xie Haixia , Guo Yuxiao , Liu Jie , Liu Dan , Que Wenxiu , Liu Huan , Liu Weiguo
Published: July 2020

Antimony selenide is a promising semiconductor with great application potential in the fields of optoelectronic devices. In this work, the vapor transport deposition (VTD) method is employed to prepare Sb2Se3 films on substrates. The influence of deposition temperature, distance between the Sb2Se3 sources and substrate, and the deposition holding time on the film morphology is investigated in detail. The deposited Sb2Se3 thin film is employed to fabricate photodetector with a structure of ITO/SnO2/Sb2Se3/Au, where the spin-coated SnO2 film is used as the buffer layer. The device demonstrates relative high responsivity in the range of 300–1000[Formula: see text]nm with a maximum value of 312[Formula: see text]mA W[Formula: see text] at 750[Formula: see text]nm.
Is the Distribution of Ecosystem Service Benefits Pro-Poor? Evidence from Water Purification by Forests in Thailand
Authors: Vincent Jeffrey R. , Nabangchang Orapan , Shi Congjie
Published: July 2020

Forests are widely believed to provide a water purification service that reduces the cost of treating drinking water, but few empirical economic studies have investigated this service in developing countries, where deforestation rates and thus threats to the service tend to be higher than in developed countries. Even fewer studies have investigated the distribution of the benefits of this service, or any other regulating ecosystem service for that matter, in either developing or developed countries. Using quarterly panel data for 158 water utilities in Thailand during 2004–2014, we find robust evidence that forests significantly reduced the material cost of water treatment, but we find no evidence that the cost reductions were progressive in the sense of being larger in provinces with higher poverty rates. The economic justification for source water protection in Thailand appears to hinge purely on considerations of efficiency — does source water protection provide net benefits? — not on the distribution of those benefits between poorer and richer locations. Research in other countries is needed to determine if the absence of pro-poor distributional impacts of forest water purification is unique to Thailand or the norm and if interventions that enhance forest water purification significantly reduce poverty in locations served by treated drinking water systems.
Comparison of Hysterosalpingography and Laparoscopy as Diagnostic Tool for Tubal Infertility in Bangladesh
Authors: Chowdhury T. S. , Shume M. M. , Chowdhury T. A.
Published: July 2020

Background: Tubal evaluation is an integral part of the evaluation of female infertility. Hysterosalpingography (HSG) is the radiographic evaluation of the uterus and fallopian tubes, which has been used as a first-line test for tubal assessment since 1920s. Laparoscopy is considered to be the gold standard for the diagnosis and management of tubo-peritoneal pathology. The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the diagnostic value of both HSG and laparoscopy for assessment of tubal occlusion.

Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study. Laparoscopic chromopertubation was conducted on 125 consecutive infertile women who attended the “Infertility Management Center” from October 2018 to September 2019. All patients had HSG performed in the radiology department of different hospitals. Laparoscopic findings were used as a reference standard to analyze the findings of HSG for tubal occlusion. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 16).

Results: Normal HSG findings were seen in 53 patients (42.4%). Unilateral tubal occlusion was present in 38 (30.7%), and bilateral occlusion in 34 (27.2%) patients. Laparoscopy showed normal findings in 85 (68.0%) patients. Unilateral tubal occlusion was demonstrated in laparoscopy in 27 (21.6%) and bilateral tubal occlusion in 13 (10.4%) patients. HSG findings for diagnosis of tubal occlusion was true positive in 30 (24%) cases, false positive in 42 (33.6%) cases, false negative in 10 (8%) cases, and true negative in 43 (34.4%) cases in comparison to laparoscopy findings. Sensitivity of HSG was found to be 75.0%, specificity 50.6%, and accuracy 58.4%. Positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 41.7% and 81.1%, respectively.

Conclusion: HSG is widely used for tubal assessment in Bangladesh as it is a relatively inexpensive, low-risk office procedure. But it has a low specificity and positive predictive value with a relatively high negative predictive value. Laparoscopy, on the other hand, is preferable when there is high suspicion of tubal pathology.
OMSCS
Authors: Galil Zvi
Published: July 2020

Lessons learned from the first five years of Georgia Tech's Online Master of Science in Computer Science program.
Power to the people
Authors: Frazelle Jessie
Published: July 2020

Reducing datacenter carbon footprints.
How WWII was won, and why CS students feel unappreciated
Authors: Arquilla John , Roschelle Jeremy
Published: July 2020

The
Communications
Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of
Communications
, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.

twitter

Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM

http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm

John Arquilla considers how code-breaking helped end a war, while Jeremy Roschelle ponders the use of music in data science education.
Scalable linear algebra on a relational database system
Authors: Luo Shangyu , Gao Zekai J. , Gubanov Michael , Perez Luis L. , Jankov Dimitrije , Jermaine Christopher
Published: July 2020

As data analytics has become an important application for modern data management systems, a new category of data management system has appeared recently: the scalable linear algebra system. We argue that a parallel or distributed database system is actually an excellent platform upon which to build such functionality. Most relational systems already have support for cost-based optimization---which is vital to scaling linear algebra computations---and it is well known how to make relational systems scalable.

We show that by making just a few changes to a parallel/distributed relational database system, such a system can become a competitive platform for scalable linear algebra. Taken together, our results should at least raise the possibility that brand new systems designed from the ground up to support scalable linear algebra are not absolutely necessary, and that such systems could instead be built on top of existing relational technology.
Broken hearts and coffee mugs
Authors: Neville-Neil George V.
Published: July 2020

The ordeal of security reviews.
A study of
pClust
settings
Authors: Khaledian Ehdieh , Broschat Shira L.
Published: July 2020

Recently, high-throughput approaches to DNA sequencing such as massive parallel sequencing have resulted in the availability of a vast number of whole genome sequences. This availability has presented scientists with an unprecedented opportunity to gain knowledge by means of datamining and data analysis. A number of our datamining and data analysis strategies are based on the use of a fast and accurate software tool,
pClust
, to group protein sequences into homologous clusters. However,
pClust
has a number of parameters with values that must be chosen, and the choice of these values affects the accuracy of the clustering results. In this paper, we present a study of the most significant parameters: alignment length, match similarity, and optimal score. In addition, we study both local and semi-global alignments.
Hydrothermal Synthesis of Hierarchical Flower-Like Sn3O4 Nanomaterial for High-Photocatalytic Properties
Authors: Liao Lei , Huang Weigang , Cai Fanggong , Lv Chenghang , Qin Ba , Zhang Qinyong
Published: July 2020

Nanostructured tin oxide has drawn extensive attention from researchers as a semiconductor, owing to its unique physicochemical properties. In this study, a mixed-valence tin oxide, hierarchical flower-like Sn3O4 self-assembled with numerous nanosheets was successfully synthesized using a simple hydrothermal process. The structure, morphology, and specific surface area were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and an automatic surface area analyzer, respectively. The obtained Sn3O4 products had hierarchical nanostructures and uniform flower-like morphology. The diameter of this flower ranged from 300 nm to 2.6 μm. The flower-like Sn3O4 was self-assembled by nanosheets with a thickness of 8 ∼25 nm. By controlling the temperature of hydrothermal reaction and the concentration of surfactant, the as-synthesized hierarchical flower-like Sn3O4 (Sn3O4−25SC) can obtain the largest specific surface area of approximately 66 m2∙g−1, and thus exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity while degrading the methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution under UV light irradiation. Results show that the degradation rate of dye MB can reach 97% within 60 min. Moreover, a possible growth mechanism of the flower-like architectures was proposed. Sodium citrate promotes the growth of Sn3O4 nanosheets and accelerates the self-assembling of nanosheets into flower-like architecture.
Neonatal therapy with PF543, a sphingosine kinase 1 inhibitor, ameliorates hyperoxia-induced airway remodeling in a murine model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Authors: Ha Alison W. , Sudhadevi Tara , Ebenezer David L. , Fu Panfeng , Berdyshev Evgeny V. , Ackerman Steven J. , Natarajan Viswanathan , Harijith Anantha
Published: July 2020

Hyperoxia (HO)-induced lung injury contributes to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm newborns. Intractable wheezing seen in BPD survivors is associated with airway remodeling (AWRM). Sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1)/sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) signaling promotes HO-mediated neonatal BPD; however, its role in the sequela of AWRM is not known. We noted an increased concentration of S1P in tracheal aspirates of neonatal infants with severe BPD, and earlier, demonstrated that Sphk1−/− mice showed protection against HO-induced BPD. The role of SPHK1/S1P in promoting AWRM following exposure of neonates to HO was investigated in a murine model. Therapy using PF543, the specific SPHK1 inhibitor, during neonatal HO reduced alveolar simplification followed by reduced AWRM in adult mice. This was associated with reduced airway hyperreactivity to intravenous methacholine. Neonatal HO exposure was associated with increased expression of SPHK1 in lung tissue of adult mice, which was reduced with PF543 therapy in the neonatal stage. This was accompanied by amelioration of HO-induced reduction of E-cadherin in airway epithelium. This may be suggestive of arrested partial epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by HO. In vitro studies using human primary airway epithelial cells (HAEpCs) showed that SPHK1 inhibition or deletion restored HO-induced reduction in E-cadherin and reduced formation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS). Blocking mtROS with MitoTempo attenuated HO-induced partial EMT of HAEpCs. These results collectively support a therapeutic role for PF543 in preventing HO-induced BPD in neonates and the long-term sequela of AWRM, thus conferring a long-term protection resulting in improved lung development and function.
Age-related changes in isolated mouse skeletal muscle function are dependent on sex, muscle, and contractility mode
Authors: Hill Cameron , James Rob S. , Cox Val. M. , Seebacher Frank , Tallis Jason
Published: July 2020

The present study aimed to simultaneously examine the age-related, muscle-specific, sex-specific, and contractile mode-specific changes in isolated mouse skeletal muscle function and morphology across multiple ages. Measurements of mammalian muscle morphology, isometric force and stress (force/cross-sectional area), absolute and normalized (power/muscle mass) work-loop power across a range of contractile velocities, fatigue resistance, and myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform concentration were measured in 232 isolated mouse (CD-1) soleus, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), and diaphragm from male and female animals aged 3, 10, 30, 52, and 78 wk. Aging resulted in increased body mass and increased soleus and EDL muscle mass, with atrophy only present for female EDL by 78 wk despite no change in MHC isoform concentration. Absolute force and power output increased up to 52 wk and to a higher level for males. A 23–36% loss of isometric stress exceeded the 14–27% loss of power normalized to muscle mass between 10 wk and 52 wk, although the loss of normalized power between 52 and 78 wk continued without further changes in stress ( P > 0.23). Males had lower power normalized to muscle mass than females by 78 wk, with the greatest decline observed for male soleus. Aging did not cause a shift toward slower contractile characteristics, with reduced fatigue resistance observed in male EDL and female diaphragm. Our findings show that the loss of muscle quality precedes the loss of absolute performance as CD-1 mice age, with the greatest effect seen in male soleus, and in most instances without muscle atrophy or an alteration in MHC isoforms.