bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plastic film mulching with ridge planting alters soil chemical and biological properties to increase potato yields in semiarid Northwest China
Authors: Shi Mingfu , Kang Yichen , Zhang Weina , Yang Xinyu , Fan Yanling , Yu Huifang , Zhang Ruyan , Guo Aixia , Qin Shuhao
Published: January 2022

Background

The growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is severely affected by the complex and variable soil environment, and film mulching has been widely used for potato growth in semiarid areas of western China. However, there are few studies on the effects of film mulching on soil quality and tuber yield in potato fields.

Methods

The effects of four mulching patterns (flat plot without film mulching, FP; flat plot with film mulching, FPM; ridge planting with half mulch, RPHM; ridge planting with full mulch, RPFM) on soil chemical and biological properties and potato tuber yield were investigated during two growing seasons (2018 and 2019) in the field.

Results

The results showed that compared with FP, the mulching treatments significantly increased the tuber yield of potato, with an increase of 3.7–20.77% and 7.89–26.35% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and the yield of RPFM was higher than that of other treatments. In both growing seasons, RPFM significantly increased the contents of alkali-hydrolyzed N and available P, and the activities of soil urease, catalase, alkaline phosphatase, and sucrase. Bacterial and actinomycete counts were significantly higher in RPFM than those in the other treatments. Furthermore, RPFM significantly increased large potatoes and decreased small potatoes. Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed that soil alkaline dissolved nitrogen and actinomycete populations were the main factors affecting potato yield formation.

Conclusions

These results indicate that RPFM can improve the soil environment and further increase potato tuber yield, which is a viable option for potato production in semiarid areas.

Graphical Abstract
Nevertheless, the importance of coagulation abnormalities should be emphasized in international sepsis guidelines
Authors: Iba Toshiaki , Nishida Osamu , Levy Jerrold H. , Levi Marcel
Published: January 2022

It is generally accepted that a coagulation/fibrinolysis disorder is involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis, and the association of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and poor outcomes have been reported. Based on these findings, recently released “Japanese Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines 2020” recommend the diagnosis of DIC and the application of anticoagulants for sepsis-associated DIC. Meanwhile, the updated “International Guidelines for the Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2021” did not mention coagulation abnormalities or DIC. Because management strategies continue to evolve to provide improved outcomes in sepsis, the role of adjunctive anticoagulant treatment should be included in subsequent international guidelines.
Salvage surgery following immuno-chemo-radiotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Nawashiro Ayako , Tanaka Fumihiro , Taira Akihiro , Shinohara Shinji , Takenaka Masaru , Kuroda Koji , Shimajiri Shohei
Published: January 2022

Background

Salvage surgery following definitive radiotherapy or systemic treatment has become a feasible treatment option in selected patients with advanced initially unresectable non-small cell lung cancer. Recent clinical trials of neoadjuvant treatment have showed that surgery following immuno-chemotherapy is safely performed. Here, we present the first case of salvage surgery following immuno-chemotherapy with concurrent definitive radiotherapy for advanced lung large cell carcinoma.

Case presentation

A 44-year male was admitted to our hospital for salvage surgery. Ten months prior to this administration, he had been diagnosed with unresectable large cell carcinoma with malignant pericardial effusion (clinical stage IVA/T3N2M1A; no driver-gene alteration) originating from the right upper lobe (RUL). Due to rapid intrabronchial tumor growth causing severe dyspnea, emergency bronchial stenting in the right main bronchus using an expandable metallic stent had been performed. Thereafter, he had received immuno-chemotherapy with concurrent definitive radiotherapy. Despite dramatic radiographic response, he had suffered from persistent and refractory Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection associated with bronchial stent placement. As pericardial effusion had disappeared and no distant metastasis had developed, he was diagnosed with a potentially curable disease and was referred to our hospital. An extended sleeve resection was successfully performed, and pathological sections revealed that pathologic complete response was achieved with immuno-chemo-radiotherapy. The patient received no subsequent treatment, and is alive without tumor recurrence at 8 months after surgery.

Conclusions

Salvage surgery following immuno-chemotherapy with concurrent definitive radiotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer may be feasible in selected patients, and may be considered as a treatment option to control local disease.
Development and Validation of a Predictive Model of Severe Fatigue After Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Toward a Personalized Framework in Survivorship Care
Authors: Di Meglio Antonio , Havas Julie , Soldato Davide , Presti Daniele , Martin Elise , Pistilli Barbara , Menvielle Gwenn , Dumas Agnes , Charles Cecile , Everhard Sibille , Martin Anne-Laure , Coutant Charles , Tarpin Carole , Vanlemmens Laurence , Levy Christelle , Rigal Olivier , Delaloge Suzette , Lin Nancy U. , Ganz Patricia A. , Partridge Ann H. , André Fabrice , Michiels Stefan , Vaz-Luis Ines
Published: January 2022

PURPOSE

Fatigue is common and troublesome among breast cancer survivors; however, limited tools exist to predict its risk.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Participants with stage I-III breast cancer were prospectively included from CANTO (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01993498 ), collecting longitudinal data at diagnosis (before the initiation of any cancer treatment) and 1 (T1), 2 (T2), and 4 (T3) years after diagnosis. The main outcome was severe global fatigue at T2 (score ≥ 40/100, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30). Analyses at T3 were exploratory. Secondary outcomes included physical, emotional, and cognitive fatigue (EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-FA12). Multivariable logistic regression models retained associations with severe fatigue by bootstrapped Augmented Backward Elimination. Validation methods included 10-fold internal cross-validation, overoptimism-corrected area under the receiver operating characteristic curves, and external validation.

RESULTS

Among 5,640, 5,000, and 3,400 patients at T1, T2, and T3, respectively, the prevalence of post-treatment severe global fatigue was 35.6%, 34.0%, and 31.5% in the development cohort. Retained risk factors for severe global fatigue at T2 were severe pretreatment fatigue (adjusted odds ratio v no 3.191 [95% CI, 2.704 to 3.767]); younger age (for 1-year decrement 1.015 [1.009 to 1.022]), higher body mass index (for unit increment 1.025 [1.012 to 1.038]), current smoking behavior ( v never 1.552 [1.291 to 1.866]), worse anxiety ( v noncase 1.265 [1.073 to 1.492]), insomnia (for unit increment 1.005 [1.003 to 1.007]), and pain at diagnosis (for unit increment 1.014 [1.010 to 1.017]), with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.72 to 0.75). Receipt of hormonal therapy was a risk factor for severe fatigue at T3 ( v no 1.448 [1.165 to 1.799]). Dimension-specific risk factors included body mass index for physical fatigue and emotional distress for emotional and cognitive fatigue.

CONCLUSION

We propose a predictive model to assess fatigue among breast cancer survivors, within a personalized survivorship care framework. This may help clinicians to provide early management interventions or to correct modifiable risk factors and offer more tailored monitoring and education to patients at risk of severe post-treatment fatigue.
Locally measured USLE K factor expands sustainable agricultural land in Palau
Authors: Oda Masato , Nwe Yin Yin , Omae Hide
Published: January 2022

From the viewpoint of sustainability, annual soil erosion should be controlled below an erosion level. Palau is an island in the Micronesia region of the western Pacific Ocean. The island receives heavy rainfall and has steep slopes, so 80% of the land is categorized within the most fragile rank (T factor = 1) in soil erosion. We tested several methods of preventing soil erosion on the land, with a slope of 15.4° (13.4°–17.3°), cultivated the land, planted sweet potatoes, and compared the amount of soil erosion. Surprisingly, there was no erosion at all in all plots (including control plots), although 24 rainfall events occurred and the USLE equation predicted 32 tons per ha of soil erosion in the cropping period. For the parameters of the USLE equation used in this study, only the K factor was not measured (cited from a USDA report). Namely, the K factor estimated by soil texture was larger than the actual value. Measuring the K factor in the fields can expand Palau's sustainable agricultural land.
Global stability analysis of hepatitis B virus dynamics
Authors: Oludoun Olajumoke , Adebimpe Olukayode , Ndako James , Abiodun Oluwakemi E. , Gbadamosi Babatunde , Aladeitan Benedicta B.
Published: January 2022

This paper considers the impact of an acute individual's spontaneous clearance, recovery of a chronic individual with full immunity, and risk factor reduction on a hepatitis B virus (HBV) model. The existence and the positivity solution of the model are established. The model threshold quantity is defined and sensitivity analysis is analyzed to demonstrate the effect of various parameters on the spread of the virus. The global stability analysis of the equilibrium is shown using Lyapunov and comparison theorem methods. Finally, computational simulation is presented to validate the analytical solution. The results show that treatment, spontaneous clearance and reduction of the risk factor are highly successful in transmitting and regulating HBV transmission. The effective measure of these parameters as substantiated by our simulations, providing an excellent control method of the transmissible infection of HBV.
The Correlation between Enjoying Fictional Narratives and Empathy in Japanese Hikikomori
Authors: Panto Francesco , Saito Tamaki , Morita Nobuaki , Ogai Yasukazu
Published: January 2022

Background: Hikikomori is a Japanese social withdrawal phenomenon which, in recent years, is spreading in western developed countries as well. Spending a lot of time secluded indoors, watching and playing with fictional narratives may be relatively common for Hikikomori people and may represent a protective factor for their psychological well-being. 

 Method: We evaluated the role of enjoying fictional narratives on empathy, relaxation, depression, and anxiety in people with Hikikomori experience, in relation to their daily consumption of fictional narratives and their emotional transportation toward fictional narratives. Hikikomori from one psychiatric clinic and three different support facilities were enrolled in this study. Multidimensional empathy scale, CES-D, STAI questionnaire, and relaxation inventory self-report scale were used as outcome measures.      

 Results: We found a significant correlation between empathy and emotional transportation toward fictional narratives and between relaxation during watching and reading fictional narratives and consumption frequency of fictional narratives.  We failed, however, to find any significant correlation with depression and anxiety.  

Conclusions: These findings suggest a possible correlation between fiction and empathy/relaxation response; however, any causal relationship is not proven, consequently we deem that further investigations with a larger sample size are required for a better understanding.
Mitigating unbalanced and overlapped classes in credit card fraud data with enhanced stacking classifiers system
Authors: Ishak Nur Amirah , Ng Keng-Hoong , Tong Gee-Kok , Kalid Suraya Nurain , Khor Kok-Chin
Published: January 2022

Background: Credit cards remain the preferred payment method by many people nowadays. If not handled carefully, people may face severe consequences such as credit card frauds. Credit card frauds involve the illegal use of credit cards without the owner’s knowledge. Credit card fraud was estimated to exceed a $35.5 billion loss globally in 2020, and results in direct or indirect financial loss to the owners. Hence, a detection system capable of analysing and identifying fraudulent behaviour in credit card activities is highly desirable.

Credit card data are not easy to handle due to their inherited problems: (i) unbalanced class distributions and (ii) overlapping classes. General learning algorithms may not be able to address and handle the problems well.

Methods: This study addresses these problems using an Enhanced Stacking Classifiers System (ESCS) that comprises two sequential levels. The first level is an excellent classifier for detecting normal credit card transactions (the majority class), while the second level contains stacking classifiers that distinguish credit card frauds (the minority class). The ESCS can improve the fraud detection via the second level, which contains sensitive classifiers to identify the misclassified fraud transactions as normal transactions from the first classifier. The meta-classifier then combines the decisions of the base classifiers from the levels to produce the final detections.

Results: We evaluated the ESCS using the benchmark credit card fraud dataset (CCFD) that exhibits the two problems. The highest true positive rate (TPR) for detecting credit card frauds was 0.8841, which outperformed the single classifiers, bagging, boosting, and other researchers’ works.

Conclusions: This study proves that the ESCS, with an additional level added to the stacking classifiers, can improve fraud detection on credit card data.
Strengthening laboratory capacity for HIV vaccine clinical trials and epidemiological studies in Eastern and Southern Africa
Authors: Farah Bashir , Maraka Moureen , Mshai Mercy , Chetty Paramesh , Murungi Linda , Ochiel Daniel , Gilmour Jill
Published: January 2022

Background: Conducting successful HIV vaccine clinical trials in resource-limited settings is hampered by lack of adequate laboratory capacity at trial sites, poor infrastructure, lack of well-trained technical personnel, and inadequate laboratory quality management Systems. We describe our approach to establishing sustainable laboratory capacity for clinical trials in Africa.

Methods: IAVI identified 9 CRCs where a capacity building program that supports immunology and clinical testing was established. Information from the 9 CRCs was collected retrospectively and compiled in Microsoft excel for descriptive statistics. Mapping was done in Quantum Geographic information system.

Results: Newly built and refurbished laboratories have been equipped with the required testing laboratory equipment. All CRC laboratories (n=10, 100%) received Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) accreditation between 2004 and 2016, and accreditation maintained annually. A total of 89 audits were done between 2005-2019. KAVI and KEMRI had the highest number of audits (n=11, 12.4%). IAVI successfully trained a total of 1811 individual, of which (n=1130, 62.7%) trained on GCLP, (n=330, 18.3%) Quality Management Systems, (n=311, 17,2%) laboratory techniques and (n=32,1.8%) between 2004 and 2021. All the 13 Assays were registered in either College of American pathologist (CAP) or Royal college of pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) for Proficiency testing.

Conclusion: The establishment of GCLP accredited laboratories and well-trained personnel has created centers of excellence and it has enabled them to attract independent competitive research funding. The GCLP accreditation and standardized testing procedures ensured reliable and accurate data, especially important for multi-country and multi-center studies.
Two new species of Scaptotrigona Moure, 1942 from the Amazon forest (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)
Authors: Nogueira David Silva , Santos-Silva José Augusto dos , Carvalho Matheus Mourão , Carvalho-Zilse Gislene Almeida , De Oliveira Alves Rogério Marcos , Oliveira Marcio Luiz
Published: January 2022

The aim of this study was to describe Scaptotrigona nigrohirta sp. nov. and Scaptotrigona hylaeana sp. nov., in order to make their names valid, since at least one of these species has already been widely studied and cited, however, never been formally validated. Also, we have added some comparative notes among some species.
A valorização da terra ou extração de riquezas: o discurso sobre o Brasil na primeira metade do século XVII.
Authors: Ricupero Rodrigo
Published: January 2022

: A partir da análise das obras de Diogo de Campos Moreno, Ambrósio Fernandes Brandão (provável autor dos Diálogos das Grandezas do Brasil) e Frei Vicente do Salvador e de outras fontes, o artigo procura captar a percepção da época, primeiras décadas do século XVII, sobre a dinâmica colonial e caracterizar uma primeira tomada de consciência, expressa na contraposição entre a valorização da terra ou na defesa do Brasil, por um lado, e na ambição de extrair riquezas a serem usufruídas em Portugal, por outro. Tais comportamentos que com o tempo seriam associados, com mais ou menos razão, aos proprietários rurais e aos mercadores reinóis, acabariam conformando, nas palavras de Evaldo Cabral de Mello, o antagonismo fundamental da sociedade colonial.
Onde fragmentos da áfrica se cruzam: o tráfico de africanos e o porto de Salvador no século XVIII.
Authors: Santos de Souza Daniele
Published: January 2022

Salvador foi o segundo maior porto das Américas em volume de escravizados desembarcados durante o tráfico transatlântico de africanos. Este artigo pretende analisar como este porto se organizava de modo a estruturar o comércio negreiro, atendendo a logística das armações, a construção e a manutenção dos navios, bem como a oferta de mão de obra especializada para as tripulações formadas, sobretudo, por africanos escravizados e libertos.
Inquisição lusa em terras da Bahia de Todos os Santos: documentação da primeira visitação a primeira década do século XVII.
Authors: Bonfim Souza Grayce Mayre
Published: January 2022

A documentação sobre o tema inquisição tem sido cada vez mais utilizada por pesquisadores que trabalham com a história colonial, pois é um acervo volumoso, muito bem conservado e extremamente rico de informações não apenas relacionado às ações do Santo Ofício Português, mas pelos testemunhos relacionados à vida cotidiana, as relações pessoais e familiares, como também os aspectos políticos, econômicos, culturais e religiosos. Pretendemos com o presente artigo mostrar a importância das fontes inquisitoriais para a compreensão do primeiro século de colonização na Bahia, sobretudo em relação aos primeiros processos inquisitoriais, a primeira visitação na América portuguesa e os registros das correspondências trocadas entre inquisidores do Tribunal de Lisboa e autoridades na Bahia na passagem do século XVI para o XVII.
“Muy diminuta do que em sy he, muito menos importante do que todos Conhecem”: Capitanias, governos e elites locais no norte do estado Do Brasil (Pernambuco e Paraíba, 1730-1756).
Authors: Chaves Júnior José Inaldo
Published: January 2022

Este artigo analisa o conteúdo das falas de capitães-mores, generais governadores, negociantes e da câmara da cidade da Paraíba de Nossa Senhora das Neves com o interesse de compreender detalhes do processo histórico que resultou na subordinação da Paraíba em janeiro de 1756. O objetivo é que este estudo de caso possa contribuir com os esforços historiográficos recentes que buscaram explicar o funcionamento das dinâmicas espaciais no ultramar português, notadamente quanto aos mecanismos de constituição de hierarquias e jurisdições envolvendo capitanias e governos coloniais.
A Traveler Incentive Program for Promoting Community-Based Ridesharing
Authors: Tafreshian Amirmahdi , Masoud Neda
Published: January 2022

Traffic congestion has become a serious issue around the globe, partly owing to single-occupancy commuter trips. Ridesharing can present a suitable alternative for serving commuter trips. However, there are several important obstacles that impede ridesharing systems from becoming a viable mode of transportation, including the lack of a guarantee for a ride back home as well as the difficulty of obtaining a critical mass of participants. This paper addresses these obstacles by introducing a traveler incentive program (TIP) to promote community-based ridesharing with a ride back home guarantee among commuters. The TIP program allocates incentives to (1) directly subsidize a select set of ridesharing rides and (2) encourage a small, carefully selected set of travelers to change their travel behavior (i.e., departure or arrival times). We formulate the underlying ride-matching problem as a budget-constrained min-cost flow problem and present a Lagrangian relaxation-based algorithm with a worst-case optimality bound to solve large-scale instances of this problem in polynomial time. We further propose a polynomial-time, budget-balanced version of the problem. Numerical experiments suggest that allocating subsidies to change travel behavior is significantly more beneficial than directly subsidizing rides. Furthermore, using a flat tax rate as low as 1% can double the system’s social welfare in the budget-balanced variant of the incentive program.
Localised light delivery on melanoma cells using optical microneedles
Authors: Wu Xiaobin , Park Jongho , Chow Siu Yu A. , Kasuya Maria Carmelita Z. , Ikeuchi Yoshiho , Kim Beomjoon
Published: January 2022

Light-based therapy is an emerging treatment for skin cancer, which has received increased attention due to its drug-free and non-invasive approach. However, the limitation of current light therapy methods is the inability for light to penetrate the skin and reach deep lesions. As such, we have developed a polylactic acid (PLA) microneedles array as a novel light transmission platform to perform in vitro evaluation regarding the effect of light therapy on skin cancer. For the first time, we designed and fabricated a microneedle array system with a height fixation device that can be installed in a cell culture dish and an LED array for blue light irradiation. The effect of the blue light combined with the microneedles on cell apoptosis was evaluated using B16F10 melanoma cells and analyzed by Hoechst staining. Our results demonstrate that blue light can be transmitted by microneedles to skin cells and effectively affect cell viability.
Fast and robust phase retrieval for masked coherent diffractive imaging
Authors: Song Li , Lam Edmund Y.
Published: January 2022

Conventional phase retrieval algorithms for coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) require many iterations to deliver reasonable results, even using a known mask as a strong constraint in the imaging setup, an approach known as masked CDI. This paper proposes a fast and robust phase retrieval method for masked CDI based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). We propose a plug-and-play ADMM to incorporate the prior knowledge of the mask, but note that commonly used denoisers are not suitable as regularizers for complex-valued latent images directly. Therefore, we develop a regularizer based on the structure tensor and Harris corner detector. Compared with conventional phase retrieval methods, our technique can achieve comparable reconstruction results with less time for the masked CDI. Moreover, validation experiments on real in situ CDI data for both intensity and phase objects show that our approach is more than 100 times faster than the baseline method to reconstruct one complex-valued image, making it possible to be used in challenging situations, such as imaging dynamic objects. Furthermore, phase retrieval results for single diffraction patterns show the robustness of the proposed ADMM.
A mutually-exclusive binary cross tagging framework for joint extraction of entities and relations
Authors: Liu Xuan , Du Wanru , Wang Xiaoyin , Li Ruiqun , Sun Pengcheng , Jing Xiaochuan
Published: January 2022

Joint extraction from unstructured text aims to extract relational triples composed of entity pairs and their relations. However, most existing works fail to process the overlapping issues that occur when the same entities are utilized to generate different relational triples in a sentence. In this work, we propose a mutually exclusive Binary Cross Tagging (BCT) scheme and develop the end-to-end BCT framework to jointly extract overlapping entities and triples. Each token of entities is assigned a mutually exclusive binary tag, and then these tags are cross-matched in all tag sequences to form triples. Our method is compared with other state-of-the-art models in two English public datasets and a large-scale Chinese dataset. Experiments show that our proposed framework achieves encouraging performance in F1 scores for the three datasets investigated. Further detailed analysis demonstrates that our method achieves strong performance overall with three overlapping patterns, especially when the overlapping problem becomes complex.
Pro-active monitoring and social interventions at community level mitigate the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on older adults’ mortality in Italy: A retrospective cohort analysis
Authors: Liotta Giuseppe , Emberti Gialloreti Leonardo , Marazzi Maria Cristina , Madaro Olga , Inzerilli Maria Chiara , D’Amico Margherita , Orlando Stefano , Scarcella Paola , Terracciano Elisa , Gentili Susanna , Palombi Leonardo
Published: January 2022

Background

The COVID-19 epidemic in Italy has severely affected people aged more than 80, especially socially isolated. Aim of this paper is to assess whether a social and health program reduced mortality associated to the epidemic.

Methods

An observational retrospective cohort analysis of deaths recorded among >80 years in three Italian cities has been carried out to compare death rate of the general population and “Long Live the Elderly!” (LLE) program. Parametric and non-parametric tests have been performed to assess differences of means between the two populations. A multivariable analysis to assess the impact of covariates on weekly mortality has been carried out by setting up a linear mixed model.

Results

The total number of services delivered to the LLE population (including phone calls and home visits) was 34,528, 1 every 20 day per person on average, one every 15 days during March and April. From January to April 2019, the same population received one service every 41 days on average, without differences between January-February and March-April. The January-April 2020 cumulative crude death rate was 34.8‰ (9,718 deaths out of 279,249 individuals; CI95%: 34.1–35.5) and 28.9‰ (166 deaths out of 5,727 individuals; CI95%:24.7–33.7) for the general population and the LLE sample respectively. The general population weekly death rate increased after the 11th calendar week that was not the case among the LLE program participants (p<0.001). The Standardized Mortality Ratio was 0.83; (CI95%: 0.71–0.97). Mortality adjusted for age, gender, COVID-19 weekly incidence and prevalence of people living in nursing homes was lower in the LLE program than in the general population (p<0.001).

Conclusions

LLE program is likely to limit mortality associated with COVID-19. Further studies are needed to establish whether it is due to the impact of social care that allows a better clients’ adherence to the recommendations of physical distancing or to an improved surveillance of older adults that prevents negative outcomes associated with COVID-19.
Virtual screening, molecular dynamics and binding energy-MM-PBSA studies of natural compounds to identify potential EcR inhibitors against Bemisia tabaci Gennadius
Authors: Mangat Harmilan Kaur , Rani Manisha , Pathak Rajesh Kumar , Yadav Inderjit Singh , Utreja Divya , Chhuneja Pardeep Kumar , Chhuneja Parveen
Published: January 2022

Whitefly (Bemisia tabaciGennadius) is a hemipteran phyto polyphagous sucking insect pest which is an important pest of cotton that causes economic losses to the crop by reducing its yield and quality. Ecdysteroids such as 20-hydroxy ecdysone (20-E), play a significant role in larval moulting, development, and reproduction in pterygota insects. Receptor of 20-E, that is Ecdysone Receptor (BtEcR) ofBemisia tabacihas been targeted to prevent fundamental developmental processes. To identify potent inhibitors of BtEcr, 98,072 natural compounds were retrieved from ZINC database. A structure-based virtual screening of these compounds was performed for evaluating their binding affinity to BtEcR, and top two compounds (ZINC08952607 and ZINC04264850) selected based on lowest binding energy. Molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) study was performed for analyzing the dynamics and stability of BtEcR and top-scoring ligand-BtEcR complexes at 50 ns. Besides, g_mmpbsa tool was also used to calculate and analyse the binding free energy of BtEcR-ligand complexes. Compounds ZINC08952607 and ZINC04264850 had shown a binding free energy of −170.156 kJ mol-1and −200.349 kJ mol-1in complex with BtEcR respectively. Thus, these compounds can be utilized as lead for the development of environmentally safe insecticides against the whitefly.
Coordination games in cancer
Authors: Bayer Péter , Gatenby Robert A. , McDonald Patricia H. , Duckett Derek R. , Staňková Kateřina , Brown Joel S.
Published: January 2022

We propose a model of cancer initiation and progression where tumor growth is modulated by an evolutionary coordination game. Evolutionary games of cancer are widely used to model frequency-dependent cell interactions with the most studied games being the Prisoner’s Dilemma and public goods games. Coordination games, by their more obscure and less evocative nature, are left understudied, despite the fact that, as we argue, they offer great potential in understanding and treating cancer. In this paper we present the conditions under which coordination games between cancer cells evolve, we propose aspects of cancer that can be modeled as results of coordination games, and explore the ways through which coordination games of cancer can be exploited for therapy.
Intermediate-term outcome of cryoballoon ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation and improvements in quality of life of patients
Authors: Mol Daniel , Boersma Anchee M. , Berger Wouter R. , Khan Muchtiar , de Ruiter Gijsbert S. , Kimman Geert-Jan P. , de Groot Joris R. , de Jong Jonas S. S. G.
Published: January 2022

Background

Clinical outcome of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has been predominantly focused on the reoccurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and the maintenance of sinus rhythm. However, there has been a limited intermediate follow-up on health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) of patients. Given the relatively high recurrence rate of persistent AF after PVI treatment, it is important to follow up with clinical outcomes on symptom improvement as well as health-related quality-of-life. This study was designed to investigate the recurrence rate of atrial tachyarrhythmia (ATa), AF-related symptoms and HRQoL after PVI in patients with persistent AF who were treated with the second generation cryoballoon.

Methods

Total 148 patients participated in the study who were treated by PVI between 2013 and 2017 for persistent AF. All patients visited the out-patient clinic 2–5 years after PVI. During this visit all patients filled-out an AF Effect on Quality-of-life (AFEQT) questionnaire and a seven-day Holter was applied. All rhythm recordings acquired post ablation were collected and analysed, and the modified European Heart Rhythm Association score (mEHRA) scores were calculated before and after the ablation.

Results

The average age of patients was 63±9 year old and 44 (27.9%) were female. Mean CHA2DS2VASc score was 1.9±1.4, and moderate and severe left atrial (LA) dilation was present in 53 (36.1%) and 15 (10.2%) patients, respectively. After a follow-up of 3.7±1.0 years, 81 (54.7%) patients had an ATa recurrence and 35 (23.6%) patients underwent a repeat LA ablation. However, the mEHRA score significantly improved in 80.4% of the patients (p<0.001), with the median overall AFEQT score of 88.9 [70.4–97.2].

Conclusions

There is a considerable ATa recurrence rate after PVI of persistent AF at intermediate-term follow-up. However, our data indicate that PVI significantly improved AF-related symptoms and resulted in a high HRQoL for 2–5 years in patients with persistent AF.
Automated detection of COVID-19 through convolutional neural network using chest x-ray images
Authors: Sarki Rubina , Ahmed Khandakar , Wang Hua , Zhang Yanchun , Wang Kate
Published: January 2022

The COVID-19 epidemic has a catastrophic impact on global well-being and public health. More than 27 million confirmed cases have been reported worldwide until now. Due to the growing number of confirmed cases, and challenges to the variations of the COVID-19, timely and accurate classification of healthy and infected patients is essential to control and treat COVID-19. We aim to develop a deep learning-based system for the persuasive classification and reliable detection of COVID-19 using chest radiography. Firstly, we evaluate the performance of various state-of-the-art convolutional neural networks (CNNs) proposed over recent years for medical image classification. Secondly, we develop and train CNN from scratch. In both cases, we use a public X-Ray dataset for training and validation purposes. For transfer learning, we obtain 100% accuracy for binary classification (i.e., Normal/COVID-19) and 87.50% accuracy for tertiary classification (Normal/COVID-19/Pneumonia). With the CNN trained from scratch, we achieve 93.75% accuracy for tertiary classification. In the case of transfer learning, the classification accuracy drops with the increased number of classes. The results are demonstrated by comprehensive receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and confusion metric analysis with 10-fold cross-validation.
Policy and behavioral response to shock events: An agent-based model of the effectiveness and equity of policy design features
Authors: Shastry Vivek , Reeves D. Cale , Willems Nicholas , Rai Varun
Published: January 2022

In the aftermath of shock events, policy responses tend to be crafted under significant time constraints and high levels of uncertainty. The extent to which individuals comply with different policy designs can further influence how effective the policy responses are and how equitably their impacts are distributed in the population. Tools which allow policymakers to model different crisis trajectories, policy responses, and behavioral scenariosex antecan provide crucial timely support in the decision-making process. Set in the context of COVID-19 shelter in place policies, in this paper we present the COVID-19 Policy Evaluation (CoPE) tool, which is an agent-based modeling framework that enables researchers and policymakers to anticipate the relative impacts of policy decisions. Specifically, this framework illuminates the extent to which policy design features and behavioral responsiveness influence the efficacy and equity of policy responses to shock events. We show that while an early policy response can be highly effective, the impact of the timing is moderated by other aspects of policy design such as duration and targeting of the policy, as well as societal aspects such as trust and compliance among the population. More importantly, we show that even policies that are more effective overall can have disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations. By disaggregating the impact of different policy design elements on different population groups, we provide an additional tool for policymakers to use in the design of targeted strategies for disproportionately affected populations.
Airborne particle dispersion by high flow nasal oxygen: An experimental and CFD analysis
Authors: Crowley Caroline , Murphy Brian , McCaul Conan , Cahill Ronan , Nolan Kevin Patrick
Published: January 2022

High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) therapy offers a proven means of delivering respiratory support to critically ill patients suffering from viral illness such as COVID-19. However, the therapy has the potential to modify aerosol generation and dispersion patterns during exhalation and thereby put healthcare workers at increased risk of disease transmission. Fundamentally, a gap exists in the literature with regards to the effect of the therapy on the fluid dynamics of the exhalation jet which is essential in understanding the dispersion of aerosols and hence quantifying the disease transmission risk posed by the therapy. In this paper, a multi-faceted approach was taken to studying the aerosol-laden exhalation jet. Schlieren imaging was used to visualise the flow field for a range of expiratory activities for three healthy human volunteers receiving HFNO therapy at flow rates of 0—60 L/min. A RANS turbulence model was implemented using the CFD software OpenFOAM and used to perform a parametric study on the influence of exhalation velocity and duration on the dispersion patterns of non-evaporating droplets in a room environment. A dramatic increase in the turbulence of the exhalation jet was observed when HFNO was applied. Quantitative analysis indicated that the mean exhalation velocity was increased by 2.2—3.9 and 2.3—3 times that for unassisted breathing and coughing, respectively. A 1—2 second increase was found in the exhalation duration. The CFD model showed that small droplets (10—40 μm) were most greatly affected, where a 1 m/s increase in velocity and 1 s increase in duration caused an 80% increase in axial travel distance.
Anxiety among urban, semi-urban and rural school adolescents in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Investigating prevalence and associated factors
Authors: Anjum Afifa , Hossain Sahadat , Hasan M. Tasdik , Uddin Md. Elias , Sikder Md. Tajuddin
Published: January 2022

Background

Anxiety disorder is one of the emerging public health problems in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Likewise, in Bangladesh, a growing number of adolescents are experiencing such symptoms though we have very limited research evidence available. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and the factors associated with this condition among urban, semi-urban, and rural school adolescents in Bangladesh.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used a two-stage cluster sampling procedure. A self-administered questionnaire was conveyed to 2355 adolescents from nine secondary schools of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Of the respondents, 2313 completed the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). Besides, sociodemographic information, self-reported body image as well as modification of Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) and WHO Global PA Questionnaire (GPAQ) were used to determine the sociodemographic and lifestyle factors associated with anxiety among adolescents.

Results

A total of 20.1% of adolescents were experiencing moderate to severe anxiety; of them, a significantly higher proportion (49.9%) of female adolescents were suffering more than males (40.1%). Furthermore, age, student’s grade, father’s educational level, number of family members, and residential setting were found to be significantly associated with anxiety among adolescents. In terms of lifestyle factors, irregular physical activity (AOR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.05–1.63), high screen time (AOR: 1.51; 95% CI:1.21–1.88), sleep dissatisfaction (AOR: 3.79; 95% CI: 3.02–4.76), and underweight body image (AOR: 2.37; 95% CI:1.70–3.28) were found to be significantly associated with anxiety among school adolescents of urban, semi-urban, and rural residential settings.

Conclusions

Anxiety is prevalent among urban, semi-urban, and rural school adolescents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. To lessen this prevalence of anxiety among Bangladeshi adolescents, evidence-based health programs- healthy school trials—and policies should therefore be taken based on the findings of this study.
Investigating public support for biosecurity measures to mitigate pathogen transmission through the herpetological trade
Authors: Pienaar Elizabeth F. , Episcopio-Sturgeon Diane J. , Steele Zachary T.
Published: January 2022

The expanding global trade in herpetofauna has contributed to new infectious disease dynamics and pathways that allow for the rapid spread of pathogens geographically. Improved biosecurity is needed to mitigate adverse biodiversity, economic and human health impacts associated with pathogen transmission through the herpetological trade. However, general lack of knowledge of the pathogen transmission risks associated with the global trade in herpetofauna and public opposition to biosecurity measures are critical obstacles to successfully preventing pathogen transmission. In 2019 we administered a survey to 2,007 members of the public in the United States of America to ascertain their support for interventions to prevent the spread of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), ranaviruses, and Salmonella through the herpetological trade. We presented survey respondents with different potential hazards associated with pathogen transmission through this trade, namely ecological, economic, and human health impacts. We used structural equation models to determine how these different hazards and respondents’ characteristics influenced respondents’ support for quarantine and veterinary observation of herpetofauna imported into the United States, mandatory tests for diseases of concern, and best practices to reduce stress and improve the care of live herpetofauna during transport to the United States. Respondents’ values and their perceived susceptibility and sensitivity to different hazards associated with pathogen transmission were key determinants of their support for biosecurity. Respondents with strong biospheric and altruistic values demonstrated sensitivity to ecological and human health impacts associated with pathogen transmission, whereas respondents with strong egoistic values demonstrated sensitivity to economic impacts. Respondents had limited knowledge of Bd, Bsal or ranaviruses, the size of the herpetological trade, or how this trade may contribute to pathogen transmission. Improved outreach and education on pathogen transmission through the herpetological trade is required, but it is important that messages are tailored to people with different values to elicit their support for biosecurity.
Translation and psychometric evaluation of chronic illness anticipated stigma scale (CIASS) among patients in Ethiopia
Authors: Salih Mohammed Hassen , Wettergren Lena , Lindgren Helena , Erlandsson Kerstin , Mekonen Hussen , Derseh Lemma
Published: January 2022

Background

Stigma is common among patients with chronic illnesses. It affects the delivery of healthcare for not addressing the psychological components and may interfere with the patient’s attendance to necessary health care services. Therefore, a valid and reliable instrument to measure anticipated stigma related to chronic illness is vital to inform possible interventions. This study aimed to translate the Chronic Illness Anticipated Stigma Scale (CIASS) into the Amharic language and evaluate its psychometric properties in Ethiopia.

Methods

The CIASS was translated into Amharic language using standard procedures. The Amharic version was completed by 173 patients (response rate 96%) with chronic illness from three referral hospitals in the Amhara region. Internal consistency was examined through Cronbach’s alpha. Construct validity was evaluated by confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity by using a Pearson correlation of P-value less than or equal to 0.05.

Results

The internal consistency was estimated at Cronbach alpha of 0.92. By using a structural equation model, and modification indices a model fitness testing was run and shows a root mean squared error of approximation 0.049 (90% CI, 0.012–0.075). The structural validity results in 78.8% of confirmatory factor analysis showed from the extraction of the three-dimension (components). Validity tests for convergent by using Pearson correlation positively correlated with common mental distress and negatively correlated with quality of life–BREF, and the construct validity shows a good valid tool to CIASS.

Conclusion

The Amharic language version of the chronic illness anticipated stigma scale shows a satisfactory level of reliability and validity on different psychometric measures of assessment. The tool may be useful for future researchers and patients with chronic illness in the Amharic-speaking population. Moreover, it will be used to see the psychological burden related to chronic illness and for comparison among international population groups.
Normalização dos geossintéticos
Authors: Isabel Moita Pinto Maria , Lurdes Lopes Maria , Pinho Lopes Margarida
Published: January 2022

Este artigo tem por objectivo informar a comunidade geotécnica de aspectos ligados à normali- zação dos geossintéticos a nível Europeu e, em particular, a nível Nacional. Grandes avanços se deram na área de normalização dos geossintéticos nestes últimos anos que, por dificuldades várias, nem sempre foram acompanhados por todos aqueles que trabalham com estes materiais, nomeadamente donos de obra, projectis- tas, construtores e responsáveis pela fiscalização. Com este trabalho procura-se ultrapassar este problema, permitindo a actualização dos conhecimentos nesta área, e, consequentemente, uma melhoria na qualidade téc- nica dos trabalhos que envolvam os geossintéticos.
Avaliação laboratorial da danificação durante a instalação de geossintéticos. Influência do material de confinamento
Authors: Paula António , Lopes Margarida , Lopes M. Lurdes
Published: January 2022

O material confinante tem influência relevante na danificação durante a instalação dos geossinté ticos. A avaliação da conformidade destes materiais a essa danificação deve seguir as indicações da ENV ISO 10772-1 (1997). O material granular confinante exigido nesta norma é sintético e os resultados obtidos têm se revelado, em grande parte das situações, muito conservativos. Com o objectivo de contribuir para a defini ção de uma alternativa a esse material foi desenvolvido um programa de ensaios em que se utilizou dois mate riais naturais de confinamento, com características granulométricas idênticas à do actualmente exigido, e dife rentes tipos de geossintéticos. Os resultados do estudo são apresentados e analisados, sendo de seguida com parados com os obtidos utilizando o material previsto na ENV ISO 10722-1(1997). Finalmente, são referidas as principais conclusões do estudo.
Influência da precipitação na ocorrência de deslizamentos em Coimbra, nos últimos 139 anos
Authors: Ferreira Mário , Lemos Luís , Pereira Luís
Published: January 2022

Neste estudo são analisados os dados da precipitação em conjunto com os registos de desliza mentos ocorridos na zona de Coimbra, procurando definir a relação entre a precipitação e a ocorrência de des lizamentos. Os dados relativos aos deslizamentos foram obtidos essencialmente a partir de artigos em jornais da região. Os dados relativos à precipitação provêm dos registos do Instituto Geofísico da Universidade de Coimbra, situado na cidade de Coimbra, e abrangem o intervalo de tempo desde 1864 a 2003. 

Os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que os deslizamentos ocorrem quando a precipitação é consi deravelmente superior aos valores médios. Foi também possível demonstrar que os picos de precipitação são de extrema importância como mecanismo iniciador de instabilizações. Determinou-se o intervalo médio de re corrência para os anos com precipitação acumulada mais elevada, geralmente associada a um maior número de casos de instabilizações. Foi também possível definir um limiar inferior de precipitação capaz de provocar deslizamentos, de acordo com a metodologia de Chleborad (2000).