bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antibiotic Resistance via Bacterial Cell Shape-Shifting
Authors: Ojkic Nikola , Serbanescu Diana , Banerjee Shiladitya
Published: May 2022

Bacteria have evolved to develop multiple strategies for antibiotic resistance by effectively reducing intracellular antibiotic concentrations or antibiotic binding affinities, but the role of cell morphology in antibiotic resistance remains poorly understood. By analyzing cell morphological data for different bacterial species under antibiotic stress, we find that bacteria increase or decrease the cell surface-to-volume ratio depending on the antibiotic target.
Effect of active vitamin D treatment on development of type 2 diabetes: DPVD randomised controlled trial in Japanese population
Authors: Kawahara Tetsuya , Suzuki Gen , Mizuno Shoichi , Inazu Tetsuya , Kasagi Fumiyoshi , Kawahara Chie , Okada Yosuke , Tanaka Yoshiya
Published: May 2022

Objective

To assess whether eldecalcitol, an active vitamin D analogue2, can reduce the development of type 2 diabetes among adults with impaired glucose tolerance.

Design

Double blinded, multicentre, randomised, placebo controlled trial.

Setting

Three hospitals in Japan, between June 2013 and August 2019.

Participants

People aged 30 years and older who had impaired glucose tolerance defined by using a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test and glycated haemoglobin level.

Interventions

Participants were randomised to receive active vitamin D (eldecalcitol 0.75 μg per day; n=630) or matching placebo (n=626) for three years.

Main outcomes

The primary endpoint was incidence of diabetes. Prespecified secondary endpoints were regression to normoglycaemia and incidence of type 2 diabetes after adjustment for confounding factors at baseline. In addition, bone densities and bone and glucose metabolism markers were assessed.

Results

Of the 1256 participants, 571 (45.5%) were women and 742 (59.1%) had a family history of type 2 diabetes. The mean age of participants was 61.3 years. The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration at baseline was 20.9 ng/mL (52.2 nmol/L); 548 (43.6%) participants had concentrations below 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L). During a median follow-up of 2.9 years, 79 (12.5%) of 630 participants in the eldecalcitol group and 89 (14.2%) of 626 in the placebo group developed type 2 diabetes (hazard ratio 0.87, 95% confidence interval 0.67 to 1.17; P=0.39). Regression to normoglycaemia was achieved in 145 (23.0%) of 630 participants in the eldecalcitol group and 126 (20.1%) of 626 in the placebo group (hazard ratio 1.15, 0.93 to 1.41; P=0.21). After adjustment for confounding factors by multivariable fractional polynomial Cox regression analysis, eldecalcitol significantly lowered the development of diabetes (hazard ratio 0.69, 0.51 to 0.95; P=0.020). In addition, eldecalcitol showed its beneficial effect among the participants with the lower level of basal insulin secretion (hazard ratio 0.41, 0.23 to 0.71; P=0.001). During follow-up, bone mineral densities of the lumbar spine and femoral neck and serum osteocalcin concentrations significantly increased with eldecalcitol compared with placebo (all P<0.001). No significant difference in serious adverse events was observed.

Conclusions

Although treatment with eldecalcitol did not significantly reduce the incidence of diabetes among people with pre-diabetes, the results suggested the potential for a beneficial effect of eldecalcitol on people with insufficient insulin secretion.

Trial registration

UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000010758.
The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy: why mandates, passports and restrictions may cause more harm than good
Authors: Bardosh Kevin , de Figueiredo Alex , Gur-Arie Rachel , Jamrozik Euzebiusz , Doidge James , Lemmens Trudo , Keshavjee Salmaan , Graham Janice E , Baral Stefan
Published: May 2022

Vaccination policies have shifted dramatically during COVID-19 with the rapid emergence of population-wide vaccine mandates, domestic vaccine passports and differential restrictions based on vaccination status. While these policies have prompted ethical, scientific, practical, legal and political debate, there has been limited evaluation of their potential unintended consequences. Here, we outline a comprehensive set of hypotheses for why these policies may ultimately be counterproductive and harmful. Our framework considers four domains: (1) behavioural psychology, (2) politics and law, (3) socioeconomics, and (4) the integrity of science and public health. While current vaccines appear to have had a significant impact on decreasing COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality burdens, we argue that current mandatory vaccine policies are scientifically questionable and are likely to cause more societal harm than good. Restricting people’s access to work, education, public transport and social life based on COVID-19 vaccination status impinges on human rights, promotes stigma and social polarisation, and adversely affects health and well-being. Current policies may lead to a widening of health and economic inequalities, detrimental long-term impacts on trust in government and scientific institutions, and reduce the uptake of future public health measures, including COVID-19 vaccines as well as routine immunisations. Mandating vaccination is one of the most powerful interventions in public health and should be used sparingly and carefully to uphold ethical norms and trust in institutions. We argue that current COVID-19 vaccine policies should be re-evaluated in light of the negative consequences that we outline. Leveraging empowering strategies based on trust and public consultation, and improving healthcare services and infrastructure, represent a more sustainable approach to optimising COVID-19 vaccination programmes and, more broadly, the health and well-being of the public.
Spatial transcriptomics of macrophage infiltration in non-small cell lung cancer reveals determinants of sensitivity and resistance to anti-PD1/PD-L1 antibodies
Authors: Larroquette Mathieu , Guegan Jean-Philippe , Besse Benjamin , Cousin Sophie , Brunet Maxime , Le Moulec Sylvestre , Le Loarer François , Rey Christophe , Soria Jean-Charles , Barlesi Fabrice , Bessede Alban , Scoazec Jean-Yves , Soubeyran Isabelle , Italiano Antoine
Published: May 2022

Background

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) having immunosuppressive properties are one of the most abundant immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Preclinical studies have highlighted the potential role of TAMs in resistance to immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs). Here, we investigated the predictive value of TAM infiltration in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with ICBs and characterized their transcriptomic profiles.

Methods

Tumor samples were collected from 152 patients with NSCLC before ICB treatment onset. After immunohistochemical staining and image analysis, the correlation between CD163+ cell infiltration and survival was analyzed. Spatial transcriptomic analyses were performed using the NanoString GeoMx Immune Pathways assay to compare the gene expression profile of tumors with high or low levels of CD163+ cell infiltration and to identify determinants of response to ICBs in tumors with high CD163+ infiltration.

Results

Low intratumoral CD163+ cell infiltration was associated with longer progression-free survival (PFS; HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.94, p=0.023) and overall survival (OS; HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.80, p=0.004) under ICB treatment. Spatial transcriptomic profiles of 16 tumors revealed the upregulation of ITGAM, CD27, and CCL5 in tumors with high CD163+ cell infiltration. Moreover, in tumors with high macrophage infiltration, the upregulation of genes associated with the interferon-γ signaling pathway and the M1 phenotype was associated with better responses under immunotherapy. Surprisingly, we found also a significantly higher expression of CSF1R in the tumors of responders. Analysis of three independent data sets confirmed that high CSF1R expression was associated with an increased durable clinical benefit rate (47% vs 6%, p=0.004), PFS (median 10.89 months vs 1.67 months, p=0.001), and OS (median 23.11 months vs 2.66 months, p<0.001) under ICB treatment.

Conclusions

Enrichment of TAMs in the TME of NSCLC is associated with resistance to immunotherapy regardless of the programmed death ligand 1 status and is driven by upregulation of CD27, ITGAM, and CCL5 gene expression within the tumor compartment. Our transcriptomic analyses identify new potential targets to alter TAM recruitment/polarization and highlight the complexity of the CSF1R pathway, which may not be a suitable target to improve ICB efficacy.
United through leadership: survey results from the Medic Mentor scholarship programme for medical, dental and veterinary students
Authors: Smith Lucy Elizabeth , Pham Alisa , Bowyer Lauren-Jane
Published: May 2022

Background

Effective leadership is essential for practising within increasingly complex healthcare systems. It is recognised that early leadership training is key for medical and other healthcare students; however, integration into curricula and providing ‘hands-on’ opportunities can be challenging.

Objective

Our study aimed to assess their perspectives and achievements while undertaking a national scholarship programme designed to develop leadership skills for medical, dental and veterinary students.

Methods

An online questionnaire was designed based on the clinical leadership framework competencies and distributed to students currently enrolled on the programme. Data were collected on student perspectives and achievements gained during the programme.

Results

The survey was distributed to 78 enrolled students. 39 responses were received. The majority of students either agreed or strongly agreed that the programme improved leadership skills across three domains of ‘personal qualities’, ‘working with others’ and ‘managing services’, and over 80% reported that the scheme had enhanced their professional development. Several students reported an academic achievement, including presentation of project work at a national level.

Conclusion

Responses indicate that this programme is an effective adjunct to traditional university leadership training. We suggest that extracurricular schemes provide additional educational and practical opportunities to help shape the healthcare leaders of tomorrow.
Examining the cognitive benefits of probiotic supplementation in physically active older adults: A randomized clinical trial
Authors: Sanborn Victoria , Aljumaah Mashael , Azcarate-Peril M. Andrea , Gunstad John
Published: May 2022

The prevalence of dementia is projected to increase with the growing older adult population and prevention strategies are urgently needed. Two promising interventions include physical activity (PA) and probiotic supplementation, with initial findings suggesting their combined use may confer greater cognitive benefits than either intervention alone. However, no study has yet examined the effects of probiotic supplementation on cognitive function in healthy, physically active older adults. The present study used archival data from a randomized clinical trial including 127 physically active, middle-aged to older adults (average age 64.3 years) with self-reported PA levels meeting or exceeding recommendations to investigate the effects of probiotic supplementation ( Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG; L.GG) on cognitive outcomes. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed no significant changes in cognitive performance from baseline to follow up as an effect of L.GG consumption. These results suggest that probiotic supplementation may not improve cognitive function in persons already engaged in high levels of PA. Future research should include prospective studies to determine whether long-term use of probiotic supplementation may help prevent cognitive decline. Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov; study # NCT03080818.

Novelty:

Initial research shows promising cognitive benefits of combined PA and probiotics consumption. L.GG did not lead to acute cognitive improvements for older adults already meeting PA guidelines. Prospective studies examining prevention of cognitive decline with probiotics in healthy and clinical samples are much needed.
Analysis of the effect of unbound granular base characteristics on the performance of flexible pavements
Authors: Bilodeau Jean-Pascal , Gonzalez Erdrick Leandro Perez
Published: May 2022

The influence of aggregate properties on the mechanical behaviour of granular materials is widely recognized in the literature, but default values are considered most of the time for pavement design. This limits their consideration to accepting materials that show values in defined ranges of indicative properties. It is expected that materials with similar particle size distributions but different characteristics will perform differently. This work evaluated the influence of considering the characteristics of the aggregate base and its effect on stiffness and damage. Two approaches were used to modify the adjustment coefficients in stress-dependent resilient modulus models to consider the characteristics of the granular materials. The results showed that thin pavements were particularly sensitive to these characteristics, with pavement capacity expected to be higher than in default models when considering crushed aggregates. In contrast, the capacity may be as low as 40% of the conventional estimate for partially crushed aggregates.
Association of CLOCK gene variants with obesity and adiposity-related anthropometric, metabolic, and behavioral parameters
Authors: Rana Sobia , Fatima Narjis , Bhatti Adil Anwar
Published: May 2022

The CLOCK gene is a core component of the circadian clock and regulates various aspects of metabolism. Therefore, any variation that affects the function/expression of the CLOCK gene may contribute to the manifestation of metabolic disorders such as obesity. This study investigated whether the CLOCK variants rs4864548 and rs6843722 are associated with obesity and related traits in Pakistanis. A total of 306 overweight/obese cases and 306 age- and gender-matched control subjects were recruited (males 336 and females 276, age range 12–63 years). Anthropometric and metabolic parameters were taken by standard procedures and biochemical analyses, respectively. Behavior-related information was collected with a questionnaire. The genotypes of the variants were determined by allelic discrimination Taqman assays. Both variants were found to have a significant association with overweight/obesity according to the over-dominant model. The rs4864548 and rs6843722 were observed to escalate the risk of overweight/obesity by 1.611 ( p = 0.004) and 1.657 ( p = 0.002) times, respectively. These variants were also seen to be significantly associated with various other adiposity-related anthropometric parameters ( p < 0.05). However, no association of both variants with metabolic and behavioral parameters was observed ( p > 0.05). Thus, these variants may contribute to increasing the risk of overweight/obesity and related anthropometric traits in Pakistanis.
Providing valid evidence for decision-making: the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network Methods and Applications Group in Indirect Comparisons (DSEN MAGIC)
Authors: Straus Sharon E. , Hutton Brian , Moher David , Kelly Shannon E. , Wells George A. , Tricco Andrea C.
Published: May 2022

In 2009, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Canada, and other stakeholders established the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network (DSEN) to address the paucity of information on drug safety and effectiveness in real-world settings. This unique network invited knowledge users (e.g., policy makers) to submit queries to be answered by relevant research teams. The research teams were launched via open calls for team grants focused in relevant methodologic areas. We describe the development and implementation of one of these collaborating centres, the Methods and Application Group for Indirect Comparisons (MAGIC). MAGIC was created to provide high-quality knowledge synthesis including network meta-analysis to meet knowledge user needs. Since 2011, MAGIC responded to 54% of queries submitted to DSEN. In the past 5 years, MAGIC produced 26 reports and 49 publications. It led to 15 trainees who entered industry, academia, and government. More than 10 000 people participated in courses delivered by MAGIC team members. Most importantly, MAGIC knowledge syntheses influenced practice and policy (e.g., use of biosimilars for patients with diabetes and use of smallpox vaccinations in people with contraindications) provincially, nationally, and internationally.
Automatic Analysis of Available Source Code of Top Artificial Intelligence Conference Papers
Authors: Lin Jialiang , Wang Yingmin , Yu Yao , Zhou Yu , Chen Yidong , Shi Xiaodong
Published: May 2022

Source code is essential for researchers to reproduce the methods and replicate the results of artificial intelligence (AI) papers. Some organizations and researchers manually collect AI papers with available source code to contribute to the AI community. However, manual collection is a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. To address this issue, we propose a method to automatically identify papers with available source code and extract their source code repository URLs. With this method, we find that 20.5% of regular papers of 10 top AI conferences published from 2010 to 2019 are identified as papers with available source code and that 8.1% of these source code repositories are no longer accessible. We also create the XMU NLP Lab README Dataset, the largest dataset of labeled README files for source code document research. Through this dataset, we have discovered that quite a few README files have no installation instructions or usage tutorials provided. Further, a large-scale comprehensive statistical analysis is made for a general picture of the source code of AI conference papers. The proposed solution can also go beyond AI conference papers to analyze other scientific papers from both journals and conferences to shed light on more domains.
The non-orientable 4-genus for knots with 10 crossings
Authors: Ghanbarian Nakisa
Published: May 2022

Given a knot in the 3-sphere, the non-orientable 4-genus or 4-dimensional crosscap number of a knot is the minimal first Betti number of non-orientable surfaces, smoothly and properly embedded in the 4-ball, with boundary the knot. In this paper, we calculate the non-orientable 4-genus of knots with crossing number 10.
WATER-BASED ACRYLIC POLYMER/ZnO–Ag NANOCOMPOSITE COATING FOR ANTIBACTERIAL APPLICATION
Authors: VU TIEN VIET , TABISH MOHAMMAD , IBRAHIM SEHRISH , THI MAI HUONG PHAM , NGUYEN THE HUU , VAN CUONG BUI , NGUYEN THIEN VUONG , THI LAN PHAM , TRAN DAI LAM , NGUYEN TUAN ANH , YASIN GHULAM
Published: May 2022

The goal of this work is to study the antibacterial activity of acrylic polymer/ZnO–Ag nanocomposite coating. First, in the presence of UV light ([Formula: see text] nm), Ag nanoparticles (NPs; derived from AgNO3precursor) were photoreduced and deposited on the surface of nano-ZnO. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images indicated that the AgNPs (5–15 nm) were deposited on the surface of nano-ZnO (20–40 nm). These ZnO–Ag nanohybrids (0.1–0.2 wt.%) were incorporated into the acrylic polymer matrix using ultrasonication to form the nanocomposite coating ([Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]m thick). Nano-ZnO hybridized with AgNPs resulted in a decrease in the energy gap ([Formula: see text] of ZnO from 3.2 eV to 2.7 eV, as observed by diffused reflectance UV–Vis spectrum analysis. The abrasion resistance test indicated that the incorporation of hybrid NPs enhanced the abrasion resistance of the polymer coating (from 81 to 125 l/mil). Moreover, the polymer nanocomposite coating showed high antibacterial efficacy against [Formula: see text]. coli and [Formula: see text]. aureus in antibacterial tests and achieved 1.8 and 1.2 log after 24 h, respectively. These findings endorse that the ZnO–Ag nanohybrid-based water-borne nanocomposite coatings offer exceptional antibacterial efficiency and would be promising in this application.
STUDY OF A MEASURE OF EFFICIENCY AS A TOOL FOR APPLYING THE PRINCIPLE OF LEAST EFFORT TO THE DERIVATION OF THE ZIPF AND THE PARETO LAWS
Authors: EL KAABOUCHI A. , MACHU F. X. , COCKS J. , WANG R. , ZHU Y. Y. , WANG Q. A.
Published: May 2022

The principle of least effort (PLE) is believed to be a universal rule for living systems. Its application to the derivation of the power law probability distributions of living systems has long been challenging. Recently, a measure of efficiency was proposed as a tool of deriving Zipf’s and Pareto’s laws directly from the PLE. This work is a further investigation of this efficiency measure from a mathematical point of view. The aim is to get further insight into its properties and usefulness as a metric of performance. We address some key mathematical properties of this efficiency such as its sign, uniqueness and robustness. We also look at the relationship between this measure and other properties of the system of interest such as inequality and uncertainty, by introducing a new method for calculating nonnegative continuous entropy.
Pb-Free Metal Halide Double Perovskite, Cs2 InAgCl6, in the Solar Cells Application
Authors: Khalaph Kawther A. , Jafar Aqel Mashot , Abdalameer Nisreen Kh.
Published: May 2022

Perovskite-based solar cells include Pb, which is both poisonous and unstable, and resolving this problem will involve discovering other materials that do not contain lead. This study synthesizes a novel series of inorganic lead-free perovskite solar cell sensors using Cs2InAgCl6 as the main visible light absorption component. Studies have been done on the structural and optical characteristics of these materials and their performance has been verified in the photovoltaic (PV) device. These materials were successfully prepared and deposited as thin films to prepare perovskite solar cells. Structural examinations of the prepared materials were performed by XRD analysis, and the optical properties were studied using UV-Vis spectroscopy of the prepared materials. The performance of the PV device shows the energy conversion efficiency (PCE [Formula: see text]%) in the light intensity (100[Formula: see text]W/m2).
Optics in anisotropic inhomogeneous media and Lagrange geometry
Authors: Neagu Mircea , Krylova Nina , Ovsiyuk Elena , Red’kov Viktor
Published: May 2022

In this paper, the equations of motion associated with a Lagrangian inspired by relativistic optics in inhomogeneous moving medium are considered. The model describes optical effects in the inhomogeneous moving medium with special optical properties given by the self-consistent system. When using the metric restricted to the Minkowski manifold, we have established the Euler–Lagrange equations for corresponding geodesics. We have specified the general model to the special case when the metric coefficient [Formula: see text] linearly increases along the direction [Formula: see text]. The exact analytical solutions of the Euler–Lagrange equations have been constructed. The study of the obtained solutions shows that the light ray bends to the axis [Formula: see text] along which the effective refractive index increases.
Analysis of an SQEIAR stochastic epidemic model with media coverage and asymptomatic infection
Authors: Zhou Xueyong , Gao Xiwen , Shi Xiangyun
Published: May 2022

In this paper, the dynamical behavior of a stochastic SQEIAR epidemic model is investigated. First of all, we establish sufficient conditions for extinction of the diseases. Then the sufficient conditions for the existence of an ergodic stationary distribution of the positive solutions to the model are obtained by constructing a suitable stochastic Lyapunov function. The existence of stationary distribution implies stochastic weak stability. Furthermore, the optimal control problem is considered to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of the disease. Finally, the theoretical results are verified by numerical simulations.
Computational solution of an acid-mediated tumor-growth radial model under logistic growth regimes for normal and cancer cells
Authors: Khan Farhan , Abbas Mudassar , Macías-Díaz Jorge E. , Khan Muhammad Bilal , Alghamdi Safar M.
Published: May 2022

Tumor invasion follows a complex mechanism which involves cell migration and proliferation. To study the processes in which primary and secondary metastases invade and damage the normal cells, mathematical models are often extremely useful. In this paper, we present a mathematical model of acid-mediated tumor growth consisting of radially symmetric reaction–diffusion equations. The assumption on the radial symmetry of the solutions is imposed here in view that tumors present spherical symmetry at the microscopic level. Moreover, we consider various empirical mechanisms which describe the propagation of tumors by considering cancer cells, normal cells, and the concentration of H[Formula: see text] ions. Among other assumptions, we suppose that these components follow logistic-type growth rates. Evidently, this is an important difference with respect to various other mathematical models for tumor growth available in the literature. Moreover, we also add competition terms of normal and tumor cells growth. We carry out a balancing study of the equations of the model, and a numerical model is proposed to produce simulations. Various practical remarks derived from our assumptions are provided in the discussion of our simulations.
Stochastic bifurcation and density function analysis of a stochastic logistic equation with distributed delay and strong kernel
Authors: Zhang Xiaofeng , Yuan Rong
Published: May 2022

Since the stochastic bifurcation theory is still in its infancy, we try to analyze some stochastic bifurcation phenomenon from a simple mathematical model. Thus, this paper mainly focuses on studying the stochastic bifurcation of a stochastic logistic model with distributed delay in the strong kernel case, which is affected by noise. Therefore, we use the intrinsic growth rate as a bifurcation parameter. First, we study the stochastic D-bifurcation and stochastic P-bifurcation for stochastic logistic model. Furthermore, by deriving the corresponding Fokker–Planck equation, we obtain the expression of the joint density function of the stochastic logistic system near the positive equilibrium point. Finally, some conclusions are given.
On equivariant Lie–Yamaguti algebras and related structures
Authors: Guo Shuangjian , Mondal Bibhash , Saha Ripan
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we first discuss cohomology and a one-parameter formal deformation theory of Lie–Yamaguti algebras. Next, we study finite group actions on Lie–Yamaguti algebras and introduce equivariant cohomology for Lie–Yamaguti algebras equipped with group actions. Finally, we study an equivariant one-parameter formal deformation theory and show that our equivariant cohomology is the suitable deformation cohomology.
Effect of TiO2 layer thickness on the energy conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells
Authors: Nam Sang-Hun , Boo Jin-Hyo
Published: May 2022

The past two decades have seen the unprecedentedly rapid emergence of dye-sensitized solar cells that are efficient, inexpensive, and eco-friendly. However, a systematic study of the dependence on active layer thickness into energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of solar cells has not been reported often. In this study, we synthesized the TiO2 nanoparticles with various particle sizes and fabricated TiO2 nanoparticle-based dye-sensitized solar cells with different thickness of the TiO2 active layers. Then, a systematic study was carried out to enhance the ECE and found that as the thickness of TiO2 active layers increases, the ECE could improve from 3.77% to 5.10%. This is an enhancement of as much as 26%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the optimal TiO2 layer thickness in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) depends on the particle size due to back scattering and charge transport properties.
Estimation of Needle Puncturing Form during Slight Needle Movement Based on Force Data for Robotic Automated Puncturing Function
Authors: Matsuno Takayuki , Murakami Hikaru , Kamegawa Tetsushi , Sakai Nanako , Hiraki Takao , Toda Yuichiro
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we focused on the medical procedure to insert needles under computer tomography (CT) guidance as a target for the robotization of medical surgery, which is one of Interventional Radiology (IR). IR is a general term for treatments that use devices to visualize patients’ bodies. During surgery, our developed robot, known as Zerobot, specializes in inserting a needle into the patient under CT guidance. Its surgery is less invasive and more effective in treating small cancer tumors because the temperature of the inserted needle tip is controlled. Zerobot was originally designed to be remotely controlled by doctors, and first-in-human feasibility trials in 2018 confirmed its surgical capability. We are currently focusing on the automatic insertion function to reduce the workload of doctors. In an animal experiment, Zerobot was unable to insert the needle into the animal during IR surgery if the needle was bent. As a result, the goal of this research is to have the robot function automatically so that the needle does not bend during surgery. We propose a method for estimating the form of the needle using a force sensor. There are three different types of needle forms. Next, the proposed method distinguishes between these needle forms by measuring the difference in force sensor data when the needle root is moved slightly. In addition, we conducted tests to confirm the efficacy of the proposed method.
Retrieval Augmented Convolutional Encoder-decoder Networks for Video Captioning
Authors: Chen Jingwen , Pan Yingwei , Li Yehao , Yao Ting , Chao Hongyang , Mei Tao
Published: May 2022

Video captioning has been an emerging research topic in computer vision, which aims to generate a natural sentence to correctly reflect the visual content of a video. The well-established way of doing so is to rely on encoder-decoder paradigm by learning to encode the input video and decode the variable-length output sentence in a sequence-to-sequence manner. Nevertheless, these approaches often fail to produce complex and descriptive sentences as natural as those from human being, since the models are incapable of memorizing all visual contents and syntactic structures in the human-annotated video-sentence pairs. In this article, we uniquely introduce a Retrieval Augmentation Mechanism (RAM) that enables the explicit reference to existing video-sentence pairs within any encoder-decoder captioning model. Specifically, for each query video, a video-sentence retrieval model is first utilized to fetch semantically relevant sentences from the training sentence pool, coupled with the corresponding training videos. RAM then writes the relevant video-sentence pairs into memory and reads the memorized visual contents/syntactic structures in video-sentence pairs from memory to facilitate the word prediction at each timestep. Furthermore, we present Retrieval Augmented Convolutional Encoder-Decoder Network (R-ConvED), which novelly integrates RAM into convolutional encoder-decoder structure to boost video captioning. Extensive experiments on MSVD, MSR-VTT, Activity Net Captions, and VATEX datasets validate the superiority of our proposals and demonstrate quantitatively compelling results.
AIMCU-MESO: An In-Memory Computing Unit Constructed by MESO Device
Authors: Zeng Junwei , Xu Nuo , Chen Yabo , Huang Chenglong , Li Zhiwei , Fang Liang
Published: May 2022

Traditional CMOS-based von-Neumann computer architecture faces the issue of memory wall that the limitation of bus-bandwidth and the speed mismatch between processor and memory restrict the efficiency of data processing along with an irreducible energy consumption conducted by data movement, especially in some data-intensive applications. Recently, some novel in-memory computing (IMC) paradigms developed by utilizing the characteristics of different non-volatile memories provide promising ways to overcome the bottleneck of memory wall. Here, we propose a new IMC unit based on a memory array with the core element of magnetoelectric spin-orbit logic (MESO) device (AIMCU-MESO), in which the characteristics of the MESO device are exploited to achieve several in-memory logic operations with the functions of NAND, NOR, and XOR in the MESO-based memory array. With the aid of some transistor-based switches, these logic operations can be achieved between any two MESOs in the array. Furthermore, the computing process of a 1-bit full adder (FA) is achieved in AIMCU-MESO by the in-memory logic manner to demonstrate the ability of logic cascading. The result of SPICE simulation for achieving the 1-bit FA using MESO devices is demonstrated, and the performances are compared with other designs of spintronics-based devices. Compared to multilevel voltage-controlled spin-orbit torque–based magnetic memory, the proposed design demonstrates 71.4% and 49.2% reductions in terms of storage delay and logic delay, respectively.
New Oxygen-Evolving Inert Anode Made of Nickel Metal Applicable to Electrolytic Reduction of UO2 in LiCl–Li2O Melt
Authors: Sakamura Yoshiharu , Murakami Tsuyoshi , Iizuka Masatoshi , Kofuji Hirohide
Published: May 2022

The development of an O2-evolving inert anode is of crucial importance for the electrolytic reduction process of oxide nuclear fuels using LiCl–Li2O melts at 923 K. As scaled-up anodes for practical use, metallic anodes are preferable. In this study, Fe, Ni, and Fe–Ni metals were electrochemically examined and the results indicate that Ni metal coated with NiO is a promising anode material. Ni metal is easily dissolved in LiCl in the form of Ni2+ ions over the potential range >2.3 V (vs Li+/Li). However, in LiCl–Li2O, after NiO was formed at the surface of Ni metal, the dissolution of Ni2+ ions was inhibited and O2 evolution occurred over the potential range >2.6 V at a high current density. Oxygen gas was stably evolved during current-controlled electrolysis at currents up to 0.6 A (0.94 A cm−2) performed using a Ni rod anode of 3 mm diameter, which was heat-treated in air and covered with a MgO protective tube at around the interface between the melt and the cover gas. Moreover, it was demonstrated that about 100 g of UO2 was completely reduced to the metallic form in 8.7 h using a Ni plate anode.
Effect of Green Tea Powder on Physicochemical Properties and Glycemic Potential of Sponge Cake
Authors: Mashkour Mana , Azari Abdolkhalil , Hashemi Shahraki Masoud , Raeisi Mojtaba , Ebrahimi Maryam
Published: May 2022

Green tea powder (GTP) is rich in polyphenolic compounds, most particularly catechins. The effects of partial replacement of flour with GTP (10, 20, and 30%) on physicochemical properties, glycemic potential, and sensory attributes were investigated. Results showed a significant reduction in the moisture content, volume, and porosity of sample cakes with the increase in the GTP levels (P≤0.05). The utilization of GTP led to a harder texture and also darker color of sponge cake. The study showed that sponge cakes with good sensory attributes can be produced by the replacement of flour with 10% of GTP. Moreover, the glycemic potential and free radical scavenging activity of sample cakes improved as the GTP replacement increased (P≤0.05). GTP at 10% replacement level is recommended as it is very effective in improving the antioxidant properties, sensory attributes, and also glycemic potential.
Data Optimization Analysis of Integrated Energy System Based on
K
-Means Algorithm
Authors: Guo Haifeng , Li Jianan , Sun Zhenlong , Du Zhongbo , Cheng Xueting
Published: May 2022

To learn about the practical application of

K

-environment algorithms in electronic data analysis. To increase the thermal efficiency of boiler combustion and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, the paper uses a 300 MW circulating liquid bed boiler for a thermal power plant as a research product. The studied and improved optimization methods have been successfully used to optimize the combustion of circulating liquefied boilers. Based on the advantages and disadvantages of biogeographic optimization algorithm and

K

-means clustering algorithm, this paper combines the two algorithms into a new improved clustering algorithm

k

-bbo-cluster. According to the operation mode of circulating fluidized bed boiler, the calculation method of boiler combustion thermal efficiency and the generation mechanism of nitrogen oxides, the boiler thermal efficiency model, nitrogen oxide emission concentration model and its comprehensive model are established by using the least square support vector machine method based on Bayesian structure framework. The learning outcomes of the vector machines that support the minimum squares of the Bayesian structure are less than 0.05 by the difference between MSE, MAE, and MAPE. The study of optimizing the combustion of circulating liquefied bed furnaces in this article can effectively improve the thermal efficiency of circulating liquefied bed furnaces and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. Protection is important.
Downregulation of CIRP Prone Cells to Oxidative Injury via Regulating Nrf2 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Liu Jing , Shen Caijie , Chen Minxiao , Zhang Jingjing , Chen Meng , Zhong Peng
Published: May 2022

Cold‐inducible RNA‐binding protein (CIRP) is a cellular stress‐response protein, whose expression can be induced by a variety of stress conditions. Our previous study showed that intracellular CIRP is a protective factor against cellular oxidative stress and silencing of CIRP gene prone cells to apoptosis. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. The present study was aimed at investigating the possible mechanisms underlying the protective role of CIRP in oxidative stress injury. Herein, we used HEK293T cells as our cell model to investigate the relation between CIRP and the possible antioxidant pathways by using the latest genetic silencing technologies. Our results showed that silencing CIRP by using SaiRNA‐based genetic silencing tool leads to the downregulation of Nrf2 and Nrf2‐regulated antioxidant genes in HEK293T cells. Taken together, our study identified the antioxidant Nrf2 signaling pathway as a downstream target of CIRP, and silencing CIRP may prone cells to apoptosis by downregulating the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway in response to oxidative injury.
Clinical Efficacy of Osimertinib in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Its Effect on Serum CEA and VEGF Expression
Authors: Wang Huanyuan , Zhou Xiangwu , Wang Zhaozhen , Lu Tianzhu , Li Baoliang , Jiang Sicong
Published: May 2022

Objective. To assess the clinical efficacy of osimertinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and its effect on serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Methods. Between July 2018 and January 2020, 80 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were assessed for eligibility and recruited. The patients were assigned at a ratio of 1 : 1 to receive either the PC regimen (pemetrexed + cisplatin) (conventional group) or osimertinib (experimental group). The primary endpoint was the clinical efficacy, and the secondary endpoints were the adverse events, expression of serum CEA and VEGF, and 2-year survival. Results. Osimertinib was associated with a significantly higher response rate and disease control rate versus pemetrexed plus cisplatin (

P
<
0.05

). Osimertinib resulted in a significantly lower incidence of adverse events versus the PC regimen (

P
<
0.05

). Patients given osimertinib had significantly lower levels of CEA and VEGF versus those given pemetrexed plus cisplatin (

P
<
0.05

). Osimertinib was associated with a significantly higher 1-year and 2-year survival rate versus pemetrexed plus cisplatin Conclusion. Osimertinib could inhibit the expression of serum CEA and VEGF in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and reduce the adverse events with significant efficacy, so it is worthy of clinical promotion and application.
A Study on the Optimization and Improvement of the Construction of the Campus Football Development Model by a Factor Analysis Method under the Background of “Healthy China”
Authors: Wang Zhen , Tan Bin , Yi Binquan
Published: May 2022

In order to enrich campus sport life and promote the development of campus ball game, this paper uses the analysis method to analyze the development mode of campus football and evaluates the relevant factors combined with the development status, characteristics, and future trend of campus football. Factor analysis is a comprehensive analysis method, which can realize multifactor comprehensive analysis and qualitative and quantitative analysis of campus football. At the same time, analyze the relationship between various factors and find a scheme conducive to the development of campus football. The results show that both comprehensive method factors and single method factors are positive, indicating that the two models have a significant positive impact on the development model of students’ football. However, the influence degree of the comprehensive method (0.314) is the largest, followed by the single method factor (0.128), and the sig. values of the two variable factors are <0.05, so the comprehensive method is the main mode of campus football development. Therefore, the factor analysis method proposed in this paper is conducive to the selection of campus football development model and provides support for the development of campus football.
The Research of Key Indicators of Performance to Predict to Advance the Knock Out Stage in the International Football Tournament
Authors: Chen Chih-Cheng , Yang Tsung-Cheng , Chiu Wen-Sheng , Wang Jung-Chang , Chow Tong-Hsien , Chen Ming-Yao
Published: May 2022

The aim of this research was to analyse football tournaments, UEFA Euro 2021 and Copa America 2021, to provide statistical measurement to predict which teams were likely to be qualified to the next round in the knockout stage. The research method used to collect six key variables statistics including total attempts, on target, possession, passes attempted, passing accuracy, and corners taken from 79 matches in UEFA Euro 2021 and Copa America 2021. The data were analysed by the grey relational analysis (GRA). The results were as follows: first, this study presented variables related to goals scored and offense correlated on goals scored. Second, this study proposed a GRA model that provides an efficient way to predict match outcomes. Third, the GRA model will perform better than the FIFA world ranking when more teams participated and the world ranking were tight.
Long-Term GAD-alum Treatment Effect on Different T-Cell Subpopulations in Healthy Children Positive for Multiple Beta Cell Autoantibodies
Authors: Salami Falastin , Spiliopoulos Lampros , Maziarz Marlena , Lundgren Markus , Brundin Charlotte , Bennet Rasmus , Hillman Magnus , Törn Carina , Elding Larsson Helena
Published: May 2022

Objective. The objective of this study was to explore whether recombinant GAD65 conjugated hydroxide (GAD-alum) treatment affected peripheral blood T-cell subpopulations in healthy children with multiple beta cell autoantibodies. Method. The Diabetes Prevention–Immune Tolerance 2 (DiAPREV-IT 2) clinical trial enrolled 26 children between 4 and 13 years of age, positive for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody (GADA) and at least one other autoantibody (insulin, insulinoma antigen-2, or zinc transporter 8 autoantibody (IAA, IA-2A, or ZnT8A)) at baseline. The children were randomized to two doses of subcutaneously administered GAD-alum treatment or placebo, 30 days apart. Complete blood count (CBC) and immunophenotyping of T-cell subpopulations by flow cytometry were performed regularly during the 24 months of follow-up posttreatment. Cross-sectional analyses were performed comparing lymphocyte and T-cell subpopulations between GAD-alum and placebo-treated subjects. Results. GAD-alum-treated children had lower levels of lymphocytes (109 cells/L) (

p
=
0.006

), T-cells (103 cells/μL) (

p
=
0.008

), T-helper cells (103 cells/μL) (

p
=
0.014

), and cytotoxic T-cells (103 cells/μL) (

p
=
0.023

) compared to the placebo-treated children 18 months from first GAD-alum injection. This difference remained 24 months after the first treatment for lymphocytes (

p
=
0.027

), T-cells (

p
=
0.022

), T-helper cells (

p
=
0.048

), and cytotoxic T-cells (

p
=
0.018

). Conclusion. Our findings suggest that levels of total T-cells and T-cell subpopulations declined 18 and 24 months after GAD-alum treatment in healthy children with multiple beta-cell autoantibodies including GADA.
Study of CT-Guided Localization in Pulmonary Nodule Resection
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Min Ke , Zhao Hailong , Zheng Fengchang
Published: May 2022

Objective. In recent years, with the attention of the general people to health, the surgical treatment of small nodules has become necessary. However, some nodules are too small, too deep, or difficult to reach, and it is difficult to accurately locate small nodules in the process of routine resection. In order to solve this problem and increase the success rate of puncture surgery, this study analyzed the application value of zoning localization method guided by CT in patients with pulmonary nodules. Methods. The clinical history of patients with pulmonary nodules treated in Anhui Third Affiliated Hospital was retrospectively studied and analyzed. 97 patients with solitary pulmonary nodules treated in Anhui Third Affiliated Hospital from June 2021 to August 2021 were divided into observation group and reference group according to whether CT-guided localization method was used during operation. The operation rate, 1-year survival rate, recurrence rate, and pulmonary nodule metastasis rate of the two groups were compared; the results showed that the CT-guided zonal localization method was long and short, accurate, safe, and reliable. Comprehensive comparison through market survey on postoperative recovery compares the variability of patient data by using the statistical bivariate

t

-calibration method and using sensitivity specificity to analyze whether the CT-guided positioning method has advantages.Results. The data underlying the results presented in the study are available within the manuscript. The results showed that there were 37 cases of pulmonary nodules, accounting for 38.14%; there were 8 patients with lung cancer, accounting for 8.24%; the proportion of diagnosis and analysis results of pulmonary nodules in hospitalized patients was significant; the medical history and clinical diagnosis information of 37 patients with pulmonary nodules were tracked and analyzed in detail. The diagnostic results were as follows: 8 patients (21.62%) with stage I, 11 patients (29.72%) with stage II, and 18 patients (48.64%) with stage III. The proportion of severe patients in the third stage was significantly higher than that in the first two stages; the results of CT-guided localization and conventional surgical resection were

T
<
10.000

and

P
<
0.05

; the observation of prognosis and quality of life in the later stage of resection treatment showed that the observation group had obvious advantages over the reference group in terms of postoperative survival rate, recurrence rate, and nodule deterioration rate. The results show that the CT-guided zoning positioning operation is accurate, safe, and reliable.Conclusion. The application of the CT-guided localization in the surgical treatment of pulmonary nodules is more safe and reliable. It can not only reduce the trauma but also improve the success rate of operation and reduce postoperative complications. It has the value of clinical promotion.