bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High Capacity 64-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation Based Optical Coherent Transceiver for 60 GHz Radio Over Fiber System
Authors: Chack Devendra , THOOL SUNIL NARAYAN
Published: July 2021

Today’s world demands for maximum bandwidth utilization in the area of optical fiber network to achieve serious progress due to data consumption has been grown by > 25% as compared to last year. 5G system is one of the promising technology cater for high bandwidth utilization between multiple transceivers and have the advantages to operate in the milli-meter wave (mm-wave) of 60 GHz. There is much interest of photonic technique such as optical heterodyne coherent detection to produce mm-wave frequencies. We propose a 60 GHz radio over fiber (RoF) link using 168 Gb/s high capacity input data rate based 64-Quadrature amplitude modulation (64-QAM), coherent detection using optical heterodyning and advanced digital signal processing (ADSP) based system. An optimized version of optical heterodyne technique is used to derive 60 GHz radio frequency (RF) signal for connecting radio nodes over wireless link. In order to compensate the irregularities effect of standard signal mode fiber (SSMF), a novel ADSP technique is used which allows good improvement in the spectral signal efficiency and achieved longer distance communication. The ADSP technique plays a key role to achieve high capacity data rate requirements for forthcoming 5G technologies. The proposed RoF system shows that an error free transmission is accomplished over 170 km SSMF and achieved BER is 2.7×10-3 against 7.015 % error vector magnitude (EVM) with 30 dB Signal to Noise ratio (SNR).
Temporal Variation in Leachate Composition of A Newly Constructed Landfill Site in Lahore in Context To Human and Environmental Risks
Authors: Ashraf Mahsoon , Zeshan Muhammad , Hafeez Sadia , Hussain Rahib , Qadir Abdul , Majid Muzaffar , Ahmad Farman , Ahmad Sajid Rashid
Published: July 2021

The present study was aimed to explore the seasonal and temporal variation in the extent and sources of physiochemical and trace elements in the Lakhodair solid waste Landfill site in Lahore, Pakistan. For the seasonal and temporal study of leachates, systematic composite samples were collected monthly (for one year) and analyzed for physiochemical and trace elements. The concentration of TDS, TSS, COD, NH3-N, BOD5, sulfate, sulfides, phenolic compounds, oil and grease were higher than the National Environmental Quality standard (NEQs). The trace elements, namely Mn (1.7 mg/L), and Cd (0.05 mg/L), while in a few samples Fe (14 mg/L), Ni (1.6 mg/L), and Zn (6.7 mg/L) were higher than the NEQs. In Lakhodair leachates, TDS, COD, NH3-N, BOD5, sulfides, and Cl have a high concentration coefficient (i.e., CC 3 to > 6), which may cause considerable to high contamination, while remaining parameters may cause low to moderate contamination (CC 1 to ≤ 3). The lower BOD5/COD ratio (< 0.1) in the Spring and Autumn seasons, represents the active methanogenesis and anaerobic activities in the Lakhodair landfill site. The anaerobic and methanogenesis enhance the redox reaction as a result CO2 is emitted and alternatively increases pH, TDS, COD, Cl, BOD5, NH3-N, sulfides, phenolic compounds in leachates. However, the lower concentration of some trace elements may be because of an anaerobic process that may immobilize the trace elements. It is presumed that the trace elements in the Lakhodair landfill may be in a metastable state, which is not easy to leach out. It’s hereby recommended that Leachate produced in the Lakhodair landfill site need to handle carefully so as to limit the environmental and health implication.
Clinical Outcomes of Genotype-Matched Therapy For Recurrent Gynecological Cancers
Authors: Sawada Kiyoka , Nakayama Kentaro , Nakamura Kohei , Yoshimura Yuki , Razia Sultana , Ishikawa Masako , Yamashita Hitomi , Ishibashi Tomoka , Sato Seiya , Kyo Satoru
Published: July 2021

Background: Recent advances in next-generation sequencing and genome medicine has contributed to treatment decisions in patients with cancer. Most advanced gynecological cancers develop resistance to chemotherapy and have a poor prognosis. Therefore, we conducted genomic tests in gynecological tumors to examine the efficacy and clinical feasibility of genotype-matched therapy. Methods: Target sequencing was performed in 20 cases of gynecological cancers (cervical cancer, 6; endometrial cancer, 6; and ovarian cancer, 6).Results: Both actionable and druggable genes were identified in 95% (19/20) of the cases. Among them, seven patients (35%) received genotype-matched therapy, which was effective in three patients. Of the three patients, one patient with a PTEN mutation received everolimus, another patient with a TSC2 mutation received everolimus and letrozole, and the patient with a BRIP1 mutation received olaparib. Subsequently, disease control in these three patients lasted for more than half a year. However, all patients relapsed between 9 and 13 months after the initiation of genotype-matched therapy. In this study, the response rate of genotype-matched therapy was 43% (3/7), which may have contributed to improved prognoses.Conclusions: Therefore, genotype-matched therapies may help patients with refractory gynecological cancers achieve better outcomes.
COVID19 Outcome Prediction: Differences Between Raw Laboratory and Human Pre-Processed Data
Authors: Principe Alessandro , Gómez-Zorrilla Silvia , López-Montesinos Inmaculada , Pérez-Almengor Eva , Pomés-Arnau Pau , Sorli María , Güerri-Fernández Robert , Grau Santiago , Márquez Albert , Martínez-Roldán Jordi , Horcajada Juan
Published: July 2021

Beyond health consequences, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) has shown inadequacies and limitations of healthcare systems all over the world. Predictions of good and bad outcomes might improve lockdown and curfew policies and reduce the COVID19 health impact. We describe a multimodal machine learning (ML) approach through which we predict early hospital discharge and other key clinical outcomes as respiratory worsening, intensive care unit admission or the need of rescue therapy. Using this model, our hospital occupation might have decreased around 50% during the first wave of the pandemic. Our model used both, raw laboratory results (LR) and electronic health records (EHR), which allow a better anticipation of worsening through selective reporting of LRs. Thus, EHR models can be considered as a human preprocessing enhancing ML classification. Our approach may be a useful, customizable, and adaptable hospital resource management tool, especially to help interventions targeted at lowering COVID19 infection rates.
Association of MMP9 Polymorphism With Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Iqbal Riffat , Zafar Aneeqa , Habib Arslan , Mukhtar Maryam , Liaqat Iram , Aftab Kiran , Aslam Shaista , Jaffar Ghulam , Shehzad Muhammad
Published: July 2021

Myocardial Infarction (MI) is the most common type of coronary heart disease characterized by pain, nausea, sweating, shortness of breath and abnormal heartbeat. Current study was conducted to identify the susceptibility of the MMP-9 gene among families affected with myocardial infarction in the Pakistani population. A family clustering study based on 5 families having MI patients was conducted. Blood samples from MI patients and their family members were collected for further genetic analysis. Patients were with a mean BMI of ±30.2 kg/m2 which indicates that obese were at high risk of disease development. The mean age for diagnosis of disease was ±50 years, in which all patients had a positive family history. Most patients were diabetic with hypertension, most of them were smokers and their exposure to air pollution was higher. Genomic DNA was isolated from the blood through manual extraction. Primers were optimized and genotyping was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which was followed by DNA sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). As a result of polymorphism, A into G and C into T conversions were identified on rs17576 and rs3918242 polymorphic sites on the MMP-9 gene respectively. In conclusion smoking, hypertension, diabetes, exposure to air pollution and polymorphism of rs17576 and rs3918242 were significantly associated with the onset of MI in the Pakistani population and males were at higher risk. Further studies should be conducted on large scale to evaluate the association of MMP-9 polymorphism with MI.
Spatial Prediction of Highway Slope Disasters Based on Convolution Neural Networks
Authors: Yin Chao , Wang Zhanghua , Zhao Xingkui
Published: July 2021

In order to clarify the spatial differentiations of highway slope disasters (HSDs) in Boshan District, spatial prediction was carried out based on ECG-CNN with the support of GIS. Spatial prediction factors of HSDs were selected, the stabilities of the 147 highway slopes in Boshan District were determined. The spatial prediction model of HSDs was established by ECG-CNN, and the spatial susceptibility map of HSDs in Boshan District was drawn. Influences of the prediction factor combinations and the drill sample & verification sample combinations on the prediction success rates were verified. The results showed that low susceptible areas, medium susceptible areas and high susceptible areas account for 56.92%, 28.46% and 14.62% of the total areas of Boshan District respectively. Some sections of Binlai Expressway, G205, G309, S210 and S307 pass through high susceptible areas. The surface cutting depth has a small impact on the prediction success rate, while the elevation and gradient have great impacts on the prediction success rate. When the drill samples are small, network drill’s maturity has a great impact on the prediction success rate, while when there are many drill samples, the model’s logical structure itself has a large impact on the prediction success rate.
Robotic Obstacle Avoidance: A Virtual Modeling And Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Chen Ming-Fei , Tsai Han-Hsien , Hsiao Wen-Tse
Published: July 2021

This study developed a robotic arm self-learning system based on virtual modeling and reinforcement learning. Using the model of a robotic arm, information concerning obstacles in the environment, initial coordinates of the robotic arm, and the target position, this system automatically generated a set of rotational angles to enable a robotic arm to be positioned such that it can avoid all obstacles and reach a target. The developed program was divided into three parts. The first part involves robotic arm simulation and collision detection; specifically, images of a six-axis robotic arm and obstacles were input to the Visualization ToolKit library to visualize the movements and surrounding environment of the robotic arm. Subsequently, an oriented bounding box algorithm was used to determine whether collisions had occurred. The second part concerned machine-learning–based route planning. The TensorFlow was used to establish a deep deterministic policy gradient model, and reinforcement learning was employed for the response to environmental variables. Different reward functions were designed for tests and discussions, and the program’s practicality was verified through actual machine operations. Finally, the application of reinforcement learning in route planning for a robotic arm was proved feasible by the experiment. Such an application facilitated automatic route planning and achieved an error of less than 10 mm from the target position.
Accurate Training of The Cox Proportional Hazards Model on Vertically-Partitioned Data While Preserving Privacy
Authors: Kamphorst Bart , Rooijakkers Thomas , Veugen Thijs , Cellamare Matteo , Knoors Daan
Published: July 2021

Background: Analysing distributed medical data is challenging because of data sensitivity and various regulations to access and combine data. Some privacy-preserving methods are known for analyzing horizontally-partitioned data, where different organisations have similar data on disjoint sets of people. Technically more challenging is the case of vertically-partitioned data, dealing with data on overlapping sets of people. We use an emerging technology based on cryptographic techniques called secure multi-party computation (MPC), and apply it to perform privacy-preserving survival analysis on vertically-distributed data by means of the Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model. Both MPC and CPH are explained. Methods: We use a Newton-Raphson solver to securely train the CPH model with MPC, jointly with all data holders, without revealing any sensitive data. In order to securely compute the log-partial likelihood in each iteration, we run into several technical challenges to preserve the efficiency and security of our solution. To tackle these technical challenges, we generalize a cryptographic protocol for securely computing the inverse of the Hessian matrix and develop a new method for securely computing exponentiations. A theoretical complexity estimate is given to get insight into the computational and communication effort that is needed. Results: Our secure solution is implemented in a setting with three different machines, each presenting a different data holder, which can communicate through the internet. The MPyC platform is used for implementing this privacy-preserving solution to obtain the CPH model. We test the accuracy and computation time of our methods on three standard benchmark survival datasets. We identify future work to make our solution more efficient. Conclusions: Our secure solution is comparable with the standard, non-secure solver in terms of accuracy and convergence speed. The computation time is considerably larger, although the theoretical complexity is still cubic in the number of covariates and quadratic in the number of subjects. We conclude that this is a promising way of performing parametric survival analysis on vertically-distributed medical data, while realising high level of security and privacy.
Identification of Quantitative Trait Nucleotides and Candidate Genes for Tuber Yield and Mosaic Virus Tolerance in an Elite Population of White Guinea Yam (Dioscorea Rotundata) Using Genome-Wide Association Scan
Authors: AGRE Paterne , Norman Prince E. , Asiedu Robert , Asfaw Asrat
Published: July 2021

Background
Improvement of tuber yield and tolerance to viruses are priority objectives in white Guinea yam breeding programs. However, phenotypic selection for these traits is quite challenging due to phenotypic plasticity and cumbersome screening of phenotypic-induced variations. This study assessed quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) and the underlying candidate genes related to tuber yield per plant (TYP) and yam mosaic virus (YMV) tolerance in a panel of 406 white Guinea yam (Dioscorea rotundata) breeding lines using a genome-wide association study (GWAS).
Results
Population structure analysis using 5,581 SNPs differentiated the 406 genotypes into four distinct sub-groups (K = 4). Marker-trait association (MTA) analysis using the generalized linear model identified ten QTN regions significant for TYP and five for YMV. We identified variants responsible for predicting higher yield and low virus severity scores in the breeding panel through the marker-effect prediction. Gene annotation for the significant SNP loci identified several essential putative genes associated with the growth and development of tuber yield and those that code for tolerance to mosaic virus.
Conclusion
Our results provide valuable insight for marker validation and deployment for tuber yield and mosaic virus tolerance in white yam breeding. The information on SNP variants and genes from the present study would fast-track the application of genomics-informed selection decisions in breeding white Guinea yam for rapid introgression of the targeted traits.
Modified Bladder Outlet Obstruction Index for Powerful Efficacy Prediction of Transurethral Resection of Prostate with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Authors: Liu Hongming , Tian Ye , Luo Guangheng , Su Zhiyong , Ban Yong , Wang Zhen , Sun Zhaolin
Published: July 2021

Background：The correlation between modified bladder outlet obstruction index (MBOOI) and surgical efficacy still remains unknown. The purpose of the study was to investigate the clinical value of the MBOOI and its use in predicting surgical efficacy in men receiving transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).Methods ：A total of 403 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) were included in this study. The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL) index, transrectal ultrasonography, and pressure flow study (PFS) were conducted for all patients. The bladder outlet obstruction index (BOOI) (PdetQmax -2Qmax) and MBOOI (Pves-2Qmax) were calculated. All patients underwent TURP, and surgical efficacy was accessed by the improvements in IPSS, QoL, and Qmax 6 months after surgery. The association between surgical efficacy and baseline factors was statistically analyzed.Results：A comparison of effective and ineffective groups based on the overall efficacy showed that significant differences were observed in PSA, Pves, PdetQmax, Pabd, BOOI, MBOOI, TZV, TZI, IPSS-t, IPSS-v, IPSS-s, Qmax, and PVR at baseline (P<0.05). Compared with BOOI, the results of Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that there was a more optimal correlation of MBOOI with preoperative variables, as well as with the changes postoperative(P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis suggested that MBOOI was the only baseline parameter correlated with the improvements in IPSS, QoL, Qmax, and the overall efficacy. Additionally, the ROC analysis further verified that MBOOI was more optimal than BOOI, TZV and TZI in predicting the surgical efficacy.Conclusion：Compared to BOOI, MBOOI may be a more useful factor that can be used to predict the surgical efficacy of TURP.Trial registration: retrospectively registered.
Dissipation And Residue of Fosthiazate In Tomato And Cherry Tomato And A Risk Assessment of Dietary Intake
Authors: Lin Sukun , Zhou Yi , Wu Jiyingzi , Zhang Zhixiang , Cheng Dongmei
Published: July 2021

In this study, the safety and risk of fosthiazate as a nematicide against root-knot nematode in tomato and cherry tomato were evaluated. The dissipation and residue of fosthiazate for 28 days in tomato and cherry tomato were determined and studied by HPLC after simple, rapid pre-treatment. The mean recovery was 83.79 ~ 94.18%, and the relative standard deviation was 3.97 ~ 7.40%. Results showed that the half-lives of fosthiazate in tomato (4.81 ~ 5.37 days) were significantly lower than that in cherry tomato (5.25 ~ 5.73 days). At the pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 21 days, the residues of tomatoes and cherry tomatoes were 0.032 ~ 0.046 mg/kg, which were lower than the maximum residue level established in China. The potential risks of fosthiazate exposure through the dietary intake of tomatoes and cherry tomatoes to different populations were also studied. According to the results of dietary risk assessment, the residual levels of fosthiazate were within the acceptable range of long-term dietary risk in different populations in China within the sampling interval of 21 days after the application of pesticide. Our results show that fosthiazate as a nematicide in the field control of root-knot nematode has high safety and low risk, and can provide a reference for the safe and reasonable use of fosthiazate as a nematicidein in the field.
Quantitative Assessment of the Immune Microenvironment in African American Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Case Control Study
Authors: Yaghoobi Vesal , Moutafi Myrto , Aung Thazin Nwe , Pelekanou Vasiliki , Yaghoubi Sanam , Blenman Kim , Ibrahim Eiman , Vathiotis Ioannis A. , Shafi Saba , Sharma Anup , O’Meara Tess , Fernandez Aileen I , Pusztai Lajos , Rimm David
Published: July 2021

PURPOSETriple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is more common in African American (AA) than Non-AA (NAA) population. We hypothesize that Tumor Microenvironment (TME) contributes to this disparity. Here we use multiplex quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) to characterize the expression of immunologic biomarkers in the TME in both populations.PATIENTS AND METHODSTNBC tumor resection specimen tissues from a 100-patient case: control cohort including 49 AA and 51 NAA were collected. TME markers including CD45, CD14, CD68, CD206, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD3, Ki67, GzB, Thy1, FAP, aSMA, CD34, Col4, VWF and PD-L1 we quantitatively assessed in every field of view. Mean expression levels were compared between cases and controlsRESULTSAlthough no significant differences were detected in individual lymphoid and myeloid markers, we found that infiltration with CD45+ immune cells (p=0.0102) was higher in TNBC in AA population. AA TNBC tumors also had significantly higher level of lymphocytic infiltration defined as CD45+CD14- cells (p=0.0081). CD3+T-cells in AA tumors expressed significantly higher levels of Ki67 (0.0066) compared to NAAs, indicating that a higher percentage of AA tumors contained activated T-cells. All other biomarkers showed no significant differences between the AA and NAA group.CONCLUSIONSWhile the TME in TNBC is rich in immune cells in both racial groups, there is a numerical increase in lymphoid infiltration in AA compared to NAA TNBC. Significantly higher activated T cells seen in AA patients raises the possibility that there may be a subset of AA patients with improved response to immunotherapy.
Professional Chess Expertise Modulates Whole Brain Functional Connectivity Pattern Homogeneity and Couplings
Authors: Song Limei , Yang Huadong , Yang Mingdong , Liu Dianmei , Ge Yanming , Long Jinfeng , Dong Peng
Published: July 2021

Previous studies have revealed changed functional connectivity patterns between brain areas in chess players using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). However, how to exactly characterize the voxel-wise whole brain functional connectivity pattern changes in chess players remains unclear, which could provide more convincing evidence for establishing the relationship between long-term chess practice and brain function changes. In this study, we employed newly developed whole brain functional connectivity pattern homogeneity (FcHo) method to identify the voxel-wise changes of functional connectivity patterns in 28 chess master players and 27 healthy novices. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis was used to identify the alteration of corresponding functional couplings. FcHo analysis revealed significantly increased whole brain functional connectivity pattern similarity in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior middle temporal gyrus (aMTG), primary visual cortex (V1), and decreased FcHo in thalamus and precentral gyrus in chess players. Resting-state functional connectivity analyses identified chess players showed decreased functional connections between V1 and precentral gyrus. Besides, a linear support vector machine (SVM) based classification achieved an accuracy of 85.45%, a sensitivity of 85.71% and a specificity of 85.19% to differentiate chess players from novices by leave-one-out cross-validation. Finally, correlation analyses revealed that the mean FcHo values of thalamus were significantly negatively correlated with the training time. Our findings provide new evidences for the important roles of ACC, aMTG, V1, thalamus and precentral gyrus in chess players and indicate that long-term professional chess training may enhance the semantic and episodic processing, efficiency of visual-motor transformation, and cognitive ability.
Evaluation of Health-related Quality of Life in Patients With Diabetes in Different Care Settings a Cross Sectional Study in Alain, UAE
Authors: Alkaabi Mariam salem Khamis , kaabi Bushra Khamis Obaid Al , marzooqi Fatima Mohammed Ahmed Al , Murri Shaima Ghazi Al , Alketbi Latifa Mohammad Baynouna
Published: July 2021

Purpose This study aims to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in type 2 diabetic patients across four domains—physical, psychological, social, and environmental—and explore the possible determinants of these domains. MethodsUsing a cross-sectional study design, 397 type 2 diabetic patients in Alain city were interviewed using validated questionnaires in three different care settings: primary, secondary and private health care facilities. The WHO Quality of Life instrument, generalized anxiety disorder score, and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) were employed. ResultsThe participants comprised 270 females (68%) and 127 males (32%), with 68.9% in the 41–65 years age group; 49.6% were married. The most common comorbidities were dyslipidemia (69.3%), hypertension (61%), and osteoarthritis (24.7%). On a scale of 0 to 100, the highest QOL mean score was reported in the social relationship domain (78.3), followed by the environmental (77.7), psychological health (74.2), and physical health (70.7) domains. The risk of depression was a strong determinant of poor physical health. Social factors have great impact on a patient’s health and well-being. We noticed no difference in HRQOL outcome between primary, secondary, and private health care facilities.ConclusionThe social and mental health domains were the most influential in HRQOL among the participants. This finding supports targeting QOL assessments of patients with type 2 diabetes at the regular chronic diseases clinics and in the planning of population health management programs to ensure the best outcomes.
NK cell spatial dynamics and IgA responses in gut-associated lymphoid tissues during SIV infections
Authors: Rascle Philippe , PLANCHAIS Cyril , JACQUELIN Beatrice , LAZZERINI Marie , CONTRERAS Vanessa , PASSAES Caroline , Saez-Cirion Asier , MOUQUET Hugo , HUOT Nicolas , MULLER-TRUTWIN Michaela
Published: July 2021

HIV infection induces tissue damage including lymph node (LN) fibrosis and intestinal epithelial barrier disruption leading to bacterial translocation and systemic inflammation. Natural hosts of SIV, such as African Green Monkeys (AGM), do not display tissue damage despite high viral load in blood and intestinal mucosa. AGM mount a NK cell-mediated control of SIVagm replication in peripheral LN. We analyzed if NK cells also control SIVagm in mesenteric (mes) LN and if this has an impact on gut humoral responses, in particular on the production of IgA known for their anti-inflammatory role in the gut. We show that NK cells migrate into and control viral replication in B cell follicles (BCF) of mesLN during SIVagm infection. IgA+ memory B cells were increased in mesLN during SIVagm infection in contrast to SIVmac infection and correlated positively with CXCR5+ NK cell levels. Total IgA levels in gut remained normal during SIVagm infection, while strongly decreased in intestinal of chronically SIVmac-infected macaques. Systemic IgA titers correlated negatively with sCD14 levels in SIVmac infection. Our data suggest an indirect impact of NK cell-mediated viral control in mesLN during SIVagm infection on preserved BCF function and IgA production in intestinal tissues.
Recurrent parent phenome recovery analysis in six different populations with the introgression of genetic male sterile gene ms10 from hot pepper to heat tolerant bell pepper
Authors: Rani Menisha , Jindal Salesh Kumar , Meena Om Prakash
Published: July 2021

Backcrossing is one of the most commonly used breeding methods to transfer target trait(s) into a bell pepper inbreds. We attempted for the first time to transfer genetic male sterile (GMS) ms10 gene from the donor parent MS-12, popular GMS line in India, into the genetic background of six heat tolerant bell pepper inbreds, in restricted generations through the marker-assisted selection (MAS) and backcross breeding method, to develop new GMS lines in bell pepper. In this project, the recurrent parent phenome (RPP) recovery was analyzed in each generations of backcrossing using economic phenotypic markers. Phenotypic background analysis revealed that the extent of RPP recovery ranged from 43.59% (MSSM-1) to 66.26% (MSSM-21) and 70.89% (MSSM-17) to 92.09% (MSSM-21) for fruit weight, from 19.0% (MSSM-21) to 55.14% (MSSM-3) and 61.0% (MSSM-21) to 98.75% (MSSM-1) for number of lobes fruit− 1, from 55.77% (MSSM-17) to 94.25% (MSSM-2) and 69.83% (MSSM-17) to 98.26% (MSSM-3) for total fruit yield plant− 1 in BC1F1 and BC2F1 populations, respectively. Based on a paired 't' test analysis in BC2F1 population, out of six, the MSSM-1 and MSSM-2 generation was shown to be non-significant for all 19 studied traits followed by MSSM-3 (18), indicating a successful recovery of the recipient genome through marker-assisted backcross breeding after successful introgression of the ms10 gene. The GMS lines developed from this project will be utilized in bell pepper breeding programs aimed to identify the best cross-combination for their cultivation under north-Indian plains.
Modeling and Statistical Analysis of Complexity in Manufacturing Systems Under Flow Shop and Hybrid Environments
Authors: Vidal Germán Herrera , Hernandez Jairo Rafael Coronado , Minnaard Claudia
Published: July 2021

In manufacturing systems, there are environments where the elaboration of a product requires a series of sequential operations, involving the configuration of machines by stages, intermediate buffer capacities, definition of assembly lines and routing of parts. The objective of this research is to develop a modeling and statistical analysis of complexity in manufacturing systems under flow shop and hybrid environments. The methodological approach starts with the structural modeling, then the measurement of the complexity in the systems is developed, the hypotheses are proposed and finally an experimental and factorial statistical analysis is developed. The results obtained corroborate the hypotheses proposed, where statistically the structural design factors and the variation of production time per stage have a significant influence on the response variable associated to the total complexity. Similarly, there is evidence of correlation between the performance indicators and the variable studied, in which the incidence with production costs stands out.
Positioning Error Compensation of a Flexible Track Hybrid Robot for Aircraft Assembly Based on Response Surface Methodology and Experimental Study
Authors: Li Zhihao , Tian Wei , Wang Min , Li Bo , Liao Wenhe
Published: July 2021

With the development of aviation industry, more stringent demands are put forward for the performance and manufacturing level of aircraft. Moreover, the automation and precision of aircraft assembly determine the efficiency and quality of aircraft production. In order to improve the positioning precision of the flexible track hybrid robots which are applied to the flexible automatic assembly of aircraft, a precision compensation method based on response surface methodology was proposed in this paper. Firstly, the global positioning error model, optimized by characteristics of error data, was constructed to predict the positioning errors of the flexible track hybrid robot. Secondly, the predicted errors are utilized to realize the compensation of the target points at drilling workspace on nose and front fuselage assembly areas. Finally, a series of experiments of the flexible track hybrid robot with no-load and drilling scenarios are implemented to validate the proposed precision compensation method. The experiment of a hybrid robot for aircraft assembly shows that the mean value of the absolute positioning precision of the end-effector was promoted from 0.081 mm to 0.025 mm, maximum error reduced from 0.143 mm to 0.039 mm., respectively, which means that the position accuracy of the robot is increased by 69.1% and 72.7% for two experimental conditions.
Differential Evolution-based Optimization of Corn Stalks Black Liquor Decolorization with Active Carbon Adsorption and TiO2 Promoted Photochemical Degradation
Authors: Teodor Nechita , Dan Suditu , Cătălin Puițel , Dragoi Elena Niculina
Published: July 2021

In this work, the active carbon adsorption and TiO2 promoted photochemical degradation of black liquor decolorization were studied through experimental analysis (planned using Design of Experiments), modelling and optimization (with Response Surface Method and Differential Evolution). The aim is to highlight the importance of optimization methods for increasing process efficiency. For active carbon adsorption the considered process parameters were: quantity of active carbon, dilution, and contact time; for TiO2 promoted photochemical degradation the process parameters were: TiO2 concentration, UV path length and irradiation time. The determined models had an R squared of 93.82% for active carbon adsorption and of 92.82% for TiO2 based degradation. In the optimization phase, for active carbon, an improvement from 81.27–100% and for TiO2-based degradation from 36.63–46.83% was obtained. These results show that the experiments and the subsequent standard RSM optimization data can be further improved, leading to better performance.
Novel Application of Selfish Herd Optimisation Based Fractional Order Cascaded Controllers for AGC Study
Authors: Sahoo Subhadra , Jena Narendra Kumar , Ray Prakash Kumar , Sahu Binod Kumar
Published: July 2021

This article deals with Automatic Generation Control (AGC) of a three-area power system having five diversified sources of generation like thermal unit, hydro unit, wind unit, diesel unit and a gas unit are interconnected together. Area-1 of the power system consists of a thermal, a hydro and a wind unit, area-2 has a thermal, a hydro and a diesel unit and area-3 consists of a thermal, a hydro and a gas unit. To make system more realistic different nonlinear components like governor dead band (GDB), generation rate constraint (GRC), Boiler dynamics and communication delay are taken into account. A novel two degree of freedom fractional order PID with derivative filter and fractional order PD with derivative filter (2-DOF-FOPIDN-FOPDN) cascaded control strategy is adopted to improve the dynamic performance of the power system. Results obtained with the proposed cascaded controller are compared with that of PID, FOPID and 2-DOF-PIDN-PDN cascaded controller to prove its superiority. To enumerate the gains of different controllers optimally, a recently developed bio-inspired optimisation algorithm named Selfish Herd Optimisation (SHO) is capitalised. Further, the work is extended by taking a two area hydro thermal system to compare the result of the SHO tuned PID controller with that of modern hybrid firefly algorithm-pattern search (hFA-PS) technique. Transient analysis is carried out by applying a sudden load disturbance of 0.01 p.u in area-1 and the robustness of the controller is examined by varying both system parameters and applying a randomly varying load in area-1. From the investigation it is concluded that the 2-DOF-FOPIDN-FOPDN controller gives a flawless and a distinct performance.
Quantifying the Cell Morphology and Predicting Biological Behavior of Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma using Deep Learning
Authors: Da Qian , Deng Shijie , Li Jiahui , Yi Hongmei , Huang Xiaodi , Yang Xiaoqun , Yu Teng , Wang Xuan , Liu Jiangshu , Duan Qi , Metaxas Dimitris , Wang Chaofu
Published: July 2021

Signet ring cell carcinoma(SRCC) is a malignant tumor of the digestive system. This tumor has long been considered to be poorly differentiated and highly invasive because it has a higher rate of metastasis than well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. But some studies in recent years have shown that the prognosis of some SRCC is more favorable than other poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, which suggests that SRCC has different degrees of biological behavior.
Therefore, we need to find a histological stratification that can predict the biological behavior of SRCC. Some studies indicate that the morphological status of cells can be linked to the invasiveness potential of cells, however, the traditional histopathological examination can not objectively define and evaluate them. Recent improvements in biomedical image analysis using deep learning(DL) based neural networks could be exploited to identify and analyze SRCC. In this study, we used DL to identify each cancer cell of SRCC in whole slide images(WSIs) and quantify their morphological characteristics and atypia. Our results show that the biological behavior of SRCC can be predicted by quantifying the morphology of cancer cells by DL. This technique could be used to predict the biological behavior and may change the stratified treatment of SRCC.
Copy-Number Variants in The Contactin-5 Gene Are a Potential Risk Factor for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Schmilovich Zoe , Huguet Guillaume , He Qin , Musa-Johnson Amélie , Douard Elise , Loum Mor Absa , Liao Calwing , Ross Jay P. , Dionne-Laporte Alexandre , Spiegelman Dan , Hayward Caroline , Banaschewski Tobias , Bokde Arun , Desrivieres Sylvane , Lemaitre Herve , Schumann Gunter , Xiong Lan , Dion Patrick A. , Jacquemont Sébastien , Chaumette Boris , Rouleau Guy A.
Published: July 2021

BackgroundContactin-5 (CNTN5) is a candidate risk gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet previous attempts to associate copy-number variants (CNVs) encompassing CNTN5 with ASD-susceptibility were limited by insufficient statistical power. Here, we aim to clarify the putative association between CNTN5 CNVs and ASD-risk using large samples. MethodsFirst, we calculated the prevalence and transmission of CNTN5 CNVs in ASD across three ASD cohorts (SSC, MSSNG, and SPARK), the cases reported in the Mercati et al. study, and the BBGRE database (n = 16,607). Second, we modelled their transmission in children with ASD compared to their unaffected siblings. Third, we assessed their frequency in cases with ASD compared to unselected population controls (n = 24,898) and replicated the findings in UK Biobank (UKBB), an independent general population cohort (n = 459,855). Finally, we evaluated the clinical impact of CNTN5 CNVs by assessing their enrichment in a broad neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) cohort, and the clinical profile of CNTN5 CNV carriers in the DECIPHER database.ResultsThe prevalence of CNTN5 exonic deletions and duplications was stable across ASD and across unselected cohorts (0.042% and 0.020%, respectively). We found a significant enrichment of intronic CNTN5 deletions CNVs in ASD compared to unselected controls (0.175% and 0.004%, respectively). CNVs in most cases with ASD (29 out of 30, 96.7%) were inherited. Parents transmitted the variants to their affected and unaffected children with the same frequency. No differences in exonic CNTN5 CNVs enrichment between cases with ASD compared to individuals with NDDs was observed. LimitationsThe lack of phenotypic data available for unaffected family members of probands with ASD limits the potential to assess whether CNTN5 CNVs segregate with other neuropsychiatric or sub-threshold autistic traits. Different genotyping or sequencing technologies may affect the differences in CNTN5 CNV prevalence across cohorts.ConclusionCNTN5 CNVs are rare inherited ASD susceptibility variants. They may also confer risk for other neuropsychiatric disorders. We offer a powerful framework to investigate candidate susceptibility variants that may not be detected through small-scale approaches. This approach may reveal more intermediate effect-size variants that are implicated in the etiology of ASD.
Genome-based taxonomic reclassification of Acinetobacter species using type and reference strains
Authors: Suzuki Masato , Maehana Shotaro , Kitasato Hidero
Published: July 2021

Acinetobacter species are widely distributed in the environment and clinical settings worldwide and serve as natural reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes and occasional human pathogens responsible for nosocomial infections. In this study, we performed genomic analysis of Acinetobacter seohaensis DSM 16313, a type strain of the proposed Acinetobacter species. This species was estimated to be evolutionary close to Acinetobacter towneri but the genome sequence of A. seohaensis was not publicly available. Pangenome analysis of the genome sequence of A. seohaensis along with those of genome-available type and reference strains of 82 Acinetobacter species including A. towneri suggested that three groups of Acinetobacter species, A. seohaensis and A. towneri; Acinetobacter pullorum and Acinetobacter portensis; and Acinetobacter idrijaensis, Acinetobacter mesopotamicus, and Acinetobacter lwoffii, were phylogenetically very similar to each other. Genome comparisons based on in silico DNA-DNA hybridization and the average nucleotide identity confirmed that these three groups of Acinetobacter species are conspecific. Based on the rules of priority, A. seohaensis, A. pullorum, and A. idrijaensis/A. mesopotamicus should be reclassified as later heterotypic synonyms of A. towneri, A. portensis, and A. lwoffii, respectively.
Complete Z-intuitionistic Fuzzy MULTIMOORA Method with AHP and its Application to COVID-19
Authors: Zhang Yijin , Huang Jie , Lin Zongbing
Published: July 2021

For emergencies, the reliability of information can not be guaranteed. At the same time, due to the lack of information and knowledge, neither the criteria itself nor the credibility can be given a precise evaluation by decision-makers(DMs). Therefore, we combine intuitionistic fuzzy set and Z-number to get a new class of fuzzy set, complete Z-intuitionistic fuzzy set(CZIFS), and its degenerate form, A-type Z-intuitionistic fuzzy set(AZIFS) and B-type Z-intuitionistic fuzzy set(BZIFS). CZIFS can serve as a reliable tool to depict the hesitant degree both on the ambiguity and reliability of uncertain information. In addition, we introduce the score and accuracy functions and distance measure of complete Z-intuitionistic fuzzy number(CZIFN), with which we have considered both reliability information and DMs' preference on it. Then, we improve traditional MULTIMOORA by developing reference point(RP) model to consider both the risk and profile of alternatives and integrating analytic hierarchy process(AHP) in the process of ranking aggregation method to take into account the preference of DMs on three subordinate rankings. Besides, to solve multicriteria group decision making(MCGDM) problem, we develop improved MULTIMOORA method to the environment of CZIFN. Finally, to illustrate the proposed method, we give a numerical example, solving site selecting of Fangcang shelter hospital for COVID-19.
Pandemic Preparedness of Countries to Cope With COVID-19
Authors: Coccia Mario
Published: July 2021

One of the problems hardly clarified in COVID-19 pandemic crisis is the effective of the pandemic preparedness of countries to cope with COVID-19 and reduce negative effects in society. The study here confronts this problem by proponing the Index of resilience that detects which countries have had the best performance to reduce the negative impact of mortality related to COVID-19 pandemic and the Index of preparedness that assesses performance of countries to support COVID-19 vaccinations and prevent future waves of COVID-19. The application of these indexes on selected European countries suggests that, in average, best-performer countries to cope with COVID-19 pandemic crisis have a smaller size of population and high level of health expenditures. However, lessons learned from this study are that manifold countries have several biological security weaknesses and low pandemic preparedness. The policy implications are that governments should revise and reinforce, planning, institutions and overall organization devoted to face pandemic threats.
Determinants of firm's innovation: increasing the transparency of financial statements
Authors: Zadorozhnyi Zenovii-Mykhaylo , Ometsinska Iryna , Muravskyi Volodymyr
Published: July 2021

In terms of economic globalization and digitalization, the enterprise's financial reporting is a communication channel for transferring accounting information to stakeholders. The full and effective perception of user credentials is threatened by communication barriers that could lead to erroneous management decisions. Thus, it is necessary to improve financial reporting through feedback mechanisms to minimize the negative impact of communication threats to the accounting system. The purpose of this article is to identify basic communication of financial reporting, their minimization through ensuring the transparency of accounting information and calculation of analytical indicators. The article highlights the basic communication barriers to the perception of accounting information, which include unclear financial reporting indicators due to different interpretations of accounting concepts; the inadequate level of knowledge of the subjects of the communication process (communicator and recipient); the inaccuracy of information due to intentional or unintentional actions; lack of clarity in accounting regulations on the interpretation and structure of individual objects of accounting; information oversaturation; availability of non-target communications; availability of informal communications; inefficiency of the communication channel. The influence of communication threats to the accounting system on the example of forming the Ukrainian form of financial reporting Balance (Financial Statement) is substantiated. It is proposed to transform the form of financial statements Balance Sheet (Financial Statement) in Ukraine by separating two sections in assets «Non-current assets» and «Current assets») and three in liabilities («Equity», «Long-term liabilities» and «Current liabilities») to optimize the analysis of the financial condition, which will contribute to the effective perception of accounting and analytical data by stakeholders. The criterion of minimizing the impact of communication risks should be used to transform other forms of financial and integrated reporting. The proposals could be useful in reformatting financial reporting forms in other countries to ensure transparency and maximize the perception of accounting information.
The interdependency between a family company's name and a family name
Authors: Tomaskova Andrea , Smietanski Roman , Halouzka Miroslav
Published: July 2021

A company's name often personifies the company. In the case of family companies, the name is mainly connected with that of the owning family. This paper aims to identify and substantiate the context of the perception of any possible risks from the association of a family name with that of a family company during the generational exchange with the participation of several generations in the family company's management. The hypotheses have been verified based on the evaluation of data acquired from a sample of 245 respondents from the Czech Republic. The research period is 2017-2019. The qualitative research is based on round discussion tables with family business owners. The data has been processed using correlation and regression analysis. The authors have shown that owners consider the association of the family name with that of a family company to be a potential risk. Any negative regard for the family company and the family could lead to losing the family's good name and the company and losing customers and employees. Moreover, it could damage the process of intergenerational transition. The connection between the intensity of the risk perception and the generational exchange process with the participation of several members in the management of a family company has been statistically demonstrated. The degree of perception of the risk is high in family companies where the generational exchange is still ongoing. The exclusion of the variable of the connection of a family company name with the owning family due to collinearity suggests a possibility for a different type of research that would demonstrate the statistical significance. The unique article nature lies in the fact that it involves research into the current, real process of generational exchange taking place in Czech family companies with mainly two generations and up to three generations in the family company management.