bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gamified Antimicrobial Decision Support App (GADSA) changes antibiotics prescription behaviour in surgeons in Nigeria: A hospital-based pilot study
Authors: Luedtke Susanne , Wood Caroline , Olufemi Olajumoke , Okonji Patrick , Kpokiri Eneyi E , Musah Anwar , Bammeke Funmi , Mutiu Bamidele , Ojewola Rufus , Bankole Olufemi , Ademuyiwa Adesoji , Ekumankama Chibuzo , Theophilus Ayibanoah , Aworabhi-Oki Neni , Shallcross Laura , Molnar Andreea , Wiseman Sue , Hayward Andrew , Birjovanu Georgiana , Lefevre Carmen , Petrou Stylianos , Ogunsola Folasade , Kostkova Patty
Published: September 2023

Aims:
Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis (SAP) in Nigeria is often not evidence based. The aim of this study is to test if the GADSA application can change prescription behaviour of surgeons in Nigeria. In addition, the study aims to identify AMS strategies and policies for the future.
Methods:
The GADSA gamified decision support app uses WHO and Sanford prescribing guidelines to deliver real-time persuasive technology feedback to surgeons through an interactive mentor. The app can advise on whether clinician’s decisions align with SAP recommendations and provides the opportunity for clinicians to make adjustments. Twenty surgeons actively participated in a 6-month pilot study in three hospitals in Nigeria. Surgeons determined the risk, need, type and duration of SAP for a surgical procedure. The study used a longitudinal approach to test whether the GADSA app significantly changed prescribing behaviour of participating surgeons by analysing the reported prescription decisions within the app.
Results:
321 SAP prescriptions were recorded. Concerning the surgical risk decision, 12% of surgeons changed their decision to be in line with guidelines after app feedback (p < 0.001) and 10% of surgeons changed their decision about the need for SAP (p = 0.0035) to align with guidelines. The change in decision making for SAP use in terms of “type” and “duration” to align with guidelines was similar with 6% and 5% respectively (both p-values < 0.001).
Conclusion:
This study demonstrates that the GADSA app, with its game based and feedback feature, could significantly change prescribing behaviour at the point of care in an African setting, which could lead to tackling the global challenge of antibiotic resistance.
Concomitant Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination and HPV Screening for Rapid Elimination of HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer
Authors: Dillner Joakim , Muhr Laila Sara Arroyo , Gini Andrea , Yilmaz Emel , Hassan Sadaf , Lagheden Camilla , Hultin Emilie , Serrano Ainhoa Garcia , Ure Agustin , Andersson Helena , Merino Roxana Martinez , Elfström K. , Baussano Iacopo
Published: September 2023

We describe a nationwide implementation trial of concomitant Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and HPV screening of young women to reduce the incidence of HPV and provide HPV screening-mediated protection against cervical cancer. All 89,547 women born 1994-1999 resident in the capital region of Sweden were personally invited to concomitant vaccination and screening with 26,125 women (29,2%) enrolling. HPV genotyping found a strong decline of HPV16 and 18 in birth cohorts previously offered vaccination, but no decline for HPV types not targeted by vaccines. Our dynamic transmission modelling predicted that the trial could reduce the incidence of high-risk HPV infections among the 1994-1998 cohorts by 64-69% in 3 years. At baseline, we demonstrated feasibility, validated transmission model projections, and obtained power estimates. At follow-up, the trial can estimate HPV incidence reductions of +/-0.1% with 99.9% confidence.
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04910802.
Clinical Efficacy of the Mulligan Maneuver for Cervicogenic Headache: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Jin Xin , Du Hong-Gen , Kong Ning , Shen Jian-Liang , chen Wen-Jun
Published: September 2023

Background
Cervicogenic headache is an often observed secondary headache in clinical settings, with patients who endure prolonged and persistent pain being particularly susceptible to mood changes.Currently, the Mulligan is one of the effective methods for CEH. However, there is a lack of evaluation about the strength and frequency of headaches, as well as the assessment of pain-induced emotions, in individuals with CEH using this particular procedure. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mulligan maneuver from a multidimensional perspective of pain intensity and mood.
Methods༚
A total of forty patients diagnosed with CEH who satisfied the specified inclusion criteria were recruited and allocated randomly into two groups: the control group and the treatment group, with each group consisting of twenty cases. The control group received health education, while the treatment group received the Mulligan maneuver once daily over a course of 10 treatment sessions.The clinical outcome of patients with CEH in two groups was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to examine variations in brain function activities between the two CEH groups. Brain regions showing differences were identified as regions of interest (ROI) and subsequently correlated with clinical behavioral measures using Pearson's correlation analysis.
Results
The differences in VAS, HAMA and HAMD between the two groups of CEH patients were also statistically significant (P < 0.05). The brain regions that showed differences in the ReHo scores between the two groups of CEH patients included the left cerebellum, the frontal gyrus, and the middle temporal gyrus. There was a positive correlation between the left frontal gyrus and VAS, HAMA and HAMD. (R2 = 0.48, P < 0.05; R2 = 0.28, P < 0.05; R2 = 0.26, P < 0.05); the left middle temporal gyrus had a negative correlation with VAS, HAMA, and HAMD. (R2 = 0.44, P < 0.05; R2 = 0.43, P < 0.05; R2 = 0.25, P < 0.05); and the left cerebellum had a positive correlation with VAS correlation (R2 = 0.27, P < 0.05).
Conclusion
The Mulligan maneuver may improve pain levels and have a moderating effect on pain-related negative emotions by regulating the function of relevant brain regions in CEH patients.
The Role of Cervical Elastography in the Differential Diagnosis of Preinvasive and invasive Lesions of the Cervix
Authors: yücel ecem , Yıldırım Hande Esra Koca , çakır caner , korkmaz vakkas
Published: September 2023

Study Objective

This study aims to evaluate the role of cervical elastography in the differential diagnosis of preinvasive and invasive lesions of the cervix.

Materials and Methods

A total of 95 women participated in this prospective study and were divided into the following groups: 19 healthy subjects (group 1) with normal cervicovaginal smear (CVS) and negative human papillomavirus test (HPV DNA), 19 women with normal cervical biopsy and normal final pathological result of cervical biopsy (group 2), 19 women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) (group 3), 19 women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) (group 4), 19 women with cervical cancer (group 5). Clinical, demographic, histopathological, and elastographic results were compared between these groups.

Results

Comparing groups, age (40.42±8.31 vs. 39.53±8.96 vs. 38.79±9.53 vs. 40.74±7.42 vs. 54.63±12.93, p<0.001 respectively), gravida (1.74±1.33 vs. 2.16±1.68 vs. 2.21±1.96 vs. 2.53±1.93 vs. 4.63±2.17 p<0.001 respectively), parity (1.37±0.68 vs. 1.68±1.20 vs. 1.58±1.30 vs. 2.00±1.67 vs. 3.37±1.61, p<0.001 respectively) and the proportion of patients at menopause (10.5% vs., 15.8% vs, 10.5% vs, 5.3% vs, 57.9%, p<0.01 respectively) a statistically significant difference was found (Table 1). However, no statistically significant difference was found in the number of abortions, BMI, mode of delivery, smoking, additional disease status, history of surgery, and family history (p> 0.05) (Table 2). As a result of the applied roc analysis, mean cervical elastographic stiffness degree (ESD) was found to be an influential factor in predicting cervical cancer (p<0.05). The mean cut-off value was 44.65%, with a sensitivity of 94.7% and a specificity of 96.1% (Table 7)

Conclusıon

Measurement of ESD by elastography is a low-cost, easily applicable, and non-invasive indicator that can distinguish cervical cancer from normal cervical and preinvasive lesions. However, it is unsuitable for determining preinvasive cervical lesions from normal cervix.
Effect of silicon on the synthesis of iron aluminides from elemental powders
Authors: Khoshhal Razieh , Abad Seyed Vahid Alavi Nezhad Khalil
Published: September 2023

Iron aluminides have been receiving much attention due to their excellent properties such as light weight, high strength, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance. These types of materials are made in a variety of methods. Various types of additives such as Si, Cr, Ta, and Nb have been added to iron aluminides to improve their properties. Silicon is one of the most effective additives. There are no comprehensive studies that can prove the final product of the Fe-Al powder system reactions in the presence of silicon. Therefore, equal molar ratios of Fe and Al powders were mixed with different amounts of Si to investigate the effect of silicon on the reactions of Fe-Al/Si powder system. The obtained samples were heat-treated at 950°C in an argon atmosphere. It has been found that the presence of silicon affects not only the type of iron aluminides and iron silicides produced but also the final morphology.
Impact of enriched environment on motor performance and learning in mice
Authors: Dijkhuizen S. , Ginneken L.M.C. Van , Ijpelaar A.H.C. , Koekkoek S.K.E. , de Zeeuw C.I. , Boele H.J.
Published: September 2023

Neuroscience heavily relies on animal welfare in laboratory rodents as it can significantly affect brain development, cognitive function, and memory formation. Unfortunately, laboratory animals are often raised in artificial environments devoid of physical and social stimuli, potentially leading to biased outcomes in behavioural assays. To assess this effect, we examined the impact of social and physical cage enrichment on various forms of motor coordination. Our findings indicate that while enriched-housed animals did not exhibit faster learning in eyeblink conditioning, the timing of their conditioned responses was slightly, but significantly, improved. Additionally, enriched-housed animals outperformed animals that were housed in standard conditions in the accelerating rotarod and ErasmusLadder test. In contrast, we found no significant effect of enrichment on the balance beam and grip strength test. Overall, our data suggest that an enriched environment can improve motor performance and motor learning under challenging and/or novel circumstances, possibly reflecting an altered state of anxiety.
Adaptive Weighted Feature Fusion for Multiscale Atrous Convolution based 1DCNN with Dilated LSTM-aided Fake News Detection using Regional
Authors: Vasu Rathinapriya , Kalaivani J.
Published: September 2023

The people present in the world rely on social media for gathering news, and it is mainly because of the development of technologies. The approaches employed in natural language processing are still deficient in judgment factors, and these techniques frequently rely upon political or social circumstances. Numerous low-level communities in the area are curious after experiencing the negative effects caused by the spread of false information in different sectors. Low-resource languages are still distracted, considering the fact that these techniques are extensively employed in the English language. This work aims to provide an analysis of regional language fake news and develop a referral system with advanced techniques to identify fake news in Hindi and Tamil. This proposed model includes (a) Regional Language Text Collection, (b) Text pre-processing, (c) Feature Extraction, (d) Weighted Stacked Feature Fusion, and (e) Fake News Detection. The text data is collected from the standard datasets. The collected text data is pre-processed and given into the feature extraction using Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), Transformer networks, and seq2seq network for extracting the three sets of language text features. These extracted feature sets are inserted into the weighted stacked feature fusion model, where the three sets of extracted features are integrated with the optimized weights that are acquired through the Enhanced Osprey Optimization Algorithm (EOOA). Here, weighted fused features are accomplished and passed toward the fake news detection phase. Fake news detection is performed with Multi-scale Atrous Convolution-based One-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network with Dilated Long Short Term Memory (MACNN-DLSTM). The fake news in the regional language is detected finally. The experimental analysis is carried out by comparing with the conventional algorithms and detection techniques to showcase the efficiency of the developed regional language-based fake news detection model.
Nutrient traits of deadwood driving wood-inhabiting fungal distribution during wood decaying in a temperate natural forest
Authors: Wei Yulian , Li Qiushi , Wu Qinxue , Li Tong , Yuan Haisheng , Xu Zhihong
Published: September 2023

Background
Deadwood is an important structural component of forest ecosystem and its decaying process is crucial for nutrient cycles. Wood-inhabiting fungi play the vital function in the decomposition of deadwood. The composition of wood-inhabiting fungal communities change over the course of the deadwood decaying process. As the typical forest, the temperate broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest of Changbaishan Nature Reserve (CBS) has been the studying focus area. Since the wood-inhabiting fungal communities of deadwood would still be litter known, we need to reveal wood properties, differences between wood-inhabiting fungal communities of different tree species during process of the wood decomposition and the main influencing factors. To achieve this goal, we exposed deadwood logs of 7 dominant tree species in CBS, covering gymnosperm and angiosperm with three decaying levels.
Results
We found the distinct varieties of wood properties, including total C, total N and total P etc. between different tree species and decaying levels. These factors caused the different wood-inhabiting fungal community composition of deadwood between whether tree species or decaying levels. The 50 dominant fungal species showed the clear nutrient preference. In general, most Basidiomycota tend to use woody substrate with high N content while most Ascomycota prefer high P content. Some of them may like high C content more.
Conclusions
The composition of wood-inhabiting fungal communities changed both over the course of the deadwood decaying process and between the different host tree species. The results of NMDS analysis of wood-inhabiting fungal community of seven tree species logs with three decay levels showed that the nutrients of deadwood, etc total C, total N and total P content, were the main driving factor. The preference of dominant fungal species represent the community it is located in a certain.
Experimental Study on Failure Mode and Fracture Evolution Characteristics of Red Shale in Kaiyang Phosphorus Mining Area
Authors: MA Zhenqian , ZHOU Lang , ZUO Shaojie , ZHANG Jimin
Published: September 2023

In order to study the failure mode and fracture evolution characteristics of red shale in Kaiyang Phosphorus mining area, conventional triaxial compression mechanical tests of red shale with different bedding dip angles were carried out by using DSTD-1000 electro-hydraulic servo rock mechanics experiment system. Based on the laboratory test results, the conventional triaxial particle flow simulation of red shale samples with different bedding dip angles was carried out using discrete element PFC2D. The results show that: (1) the failure mode of red shale is controlled by bedrock when the bedding dip angle is 0° and 60°~ 90°. When the bedding dip angle is 15°~ 45°, the rock failure mode is controlled by bedding. The compressive strength of rock is the minimum when the bedding dip angle is 30°and the maximum at 0°, which is about 2 times of the minimum. (2)In the failure process of red shale, the cracks with different bedding dip angles show slow growth stage, accelerated growth stage and stable stage with axial strain. The whole failure process is dominated by tensile cracks, accompanied by a few shear cracks. (3)The type of displacement field varies with the bedding dip angle: tensile failure and shear failure are the main displacement field types at 15°~ 45°, and mixed failure is often the main mode at 60°~ 90°and 0°. The research results provide the basis and reference for the safety control of red shale roadway.
Analysis of control impact on the HIV reproductive cycle in a cross infection epidemic model
Authors: GIAMBERARDINO Paolo DI , Iacoviello Daniela
Published: September 2023

Despite the great advances in HIV treatment, there are still several processes in the dynamics of the infection that are not yet fully understood. Some evidences show that when the therapy HAART is suspended, infection resumes, suggesting the existence of virus reservoirs; these have been identified in the lungs, brain and guts. In this paper, following the compartmental approach, a recently proposed model is addressed, considering in particular the brain as reservoir and distinguishing the cells depending on whether they are inside or outside the brain, both infected and non infected. Controls mimicking the drug action are introduced and the model is analysed in terms of equilibrium points and stability, also determining the reproduction number. Numerical results are used to put in evidence the main dynamics characteristics.
The Simon Effect Under Reversed Visual Feedbacks
Authors: Sabek Hamza , Heurley Loïc P. , Guerineau Ronan , DRU Vincent
Published: September 2023

Our aim was to study the processes involved in the spatial coding of the body during actions eliciting multiple effects simultaneously. We specifically aim to challenge the intentional-based account, which proposes that the effects used to code responses are those deemed relevant to the agent's goal. Accordingly, we used a Simon task, which is widely recognized as a suitable method for investigating the spatial coding of responses, combined with a setup inducing a multimodal discrepancy between visual and tactile/proprioceptive effects, known to be crucial for body schema construction and action control. To be more precise, the setup allowed to horizontally reverse the visual effects of the hands compared to the tactile/proprioceptive effects (e.g., the right hand was seen as being on the left). In Experiment 1, the participants' task emphasizing the relevance of visual effects, whereas in Experiment 2 it emphasized the tactile/proprioceptive effects. In Experiment 3, the visual effects were no longer reversed. We observed a Simon effect based on the location of the tactile/proprioceptive effects in Experiments 2 and 3. However, in Experiment 1 the Simon effect was partially driven by the location of the visual effects. Altogether, these findings provide support for the notion that the intention of the agent plays a prominent role in the representation of the body during action. This work also opens a promising avenue of research linking action and body representations.
On-surface synthesis of a radical 2D supramolecular organic framework
Authors: Sanchez-Grande Ana , Frezza Federico , Matěj Adam , Carrera Manuel , Mutombo Pingo , Kumar Manish , Curiel David , Jelinek Pavel
Published: September 2023

The design of supramolecular organic radical cages and frameworks is one of the main challenges in supramolecular chemistry. Their interesting material properties and wide applications make them very promising for (photo)redox catalysis, sensors, or host-guest spin-spin interactions. However, the high reactivity of radical organic systems makes the design of such supramolecular radical assemblies challenging. Here, we report the on-surface synthesis of a purely organic supramolecular radical framework on Au(111). We combine supramolecular and on-surface chemistry to obtain a two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded organic radical framework on Au(111). We employ a tripodal precursor, functionalized with 7-azaindole groups that, catalyzed by a single gold atom on the surface, forms a radical molecular product constituted by a π-extended fluoradene-based radical core. The radical products self-assemble through hydrogen bonding, leading to extended 2D domains ordered in a Kagome lattice. This approach demonstrates the potential of on-surface synthesis for developing 2D-supramolecular radical organic chemistry.
Barriers and facilitators of optimal HIV care among prisoners in South Ethiopia: an exploratory study
Authors: Fuge Terefe Gone , Tsourtos George , Miller Emma R
Published: September 2023

Background
Optimal care is crucial for ensuring both therapeutic and preventative benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Sub-optimal care use is common in prisoners and little information is available about its predisposing circumstances in resource-limited settings. We explored barriers to and facilitators of HIV care use amongst inmates living with HIV (ILWH) in South Ethiopia with the aim of suggesting contextually tailored solutions that help ensure universal access to care.
Methods
We conducted qualitative in-depth interviewing with eleven ILWH and eleven service providers. Audio recorded interview data were transcribed verbatim in Amharic language, translated into English and coded based on emerging themes. A phenomenological approach was employed to abstract meaning attributed to the prisoners’ lived experiences in relation to HIV care use and service providers’ experiential account regarding care provision.
Findings
Several themes emerged as barriers to HIV care use amongst ILWH in South Ethiopia including: limited access to standard care, insufficient health staff support, uncooperative security system, loss of patient privacy, a lack of status disclosure due to social stigma, and food supply insufficiency. In addition to a unique opportunity offered by an imprisonment for some ILWH to refrain from health damaging behaviours, the presence of social support in the prison system facilitated care use.
Conclusions
This study identified important structural, social and personal contexts that can both hinder and enhance HIV care use amongst ILWH in South Ethiopia. Given the disproportionate burden of HIV in prisoners and the potential of transmission to others during and after incarceration, development of contextually responsive strategies is required to address the barriers and to also strengthen the enablers.
Efficient Modeling of Quasi-Periodic Data with Seasonal Gaussian Process
Authors: Zhang Ziang , Brown Patrick , Stafford James
Published: September 2023

Quasi-periodicity refers to a pattern in a function where it appears periodic but has evolving amplitudes over time. This is often the case in practical settings such as the modeling of case counts of infectious disease or the population dynamics of species over time. In this paper, we introduce a class of Gaussian processes, called seasonal Gaussian Processes (sGP), for model-based inference of such quasi-periodic behavior. We illustrate that the exact sGP can be efficiently fit in O(n) time using its state space representation for equally spaced locations. However, for large datasets with irregular spacing, the exact approach becomes computationally inefficient and unstable. To address this, we develop a continuous finite dimensional approximation for sGP using the seasonal B-spline (sB-spline) basis constructed by damping B-splines with sinusoidal functions. We prove that the proposed approximation converges in distribution to the true sGP as the number of basis functions increases, and show its superior approximation quality through numerical studies. We also provide a unified and interpretable way to define priors for the sGP, based on the notion of predictive standard deviation (PSD). Finally, we implement the proposed inference method on several real data examples to illustrate its practical usage.
Impact Of Anakinra Use On Clinical Outcomes In Children With Moderate Or Severe Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children: A Propensity Score Matched Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Akkoyun Esra Betul , Most Zachary , Katragadda Harita , Yu Andrew , Nassi Lorien , Oakman Nicole , Ginsburg Sarah , Maamari Mia
Published: September 2023

Background
The treatment of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) related to SARS-CoV-2 infection involves immunomodulatory therapies such as IVIG and steroids. Anakinra, an interleukin-1 receptor inhibitor, has also been used, but its effectiveness is not established yet. As optimal regimens for MIS-C remain unknown, we aimed to assess the effect of anakinra in reducing hospital stay in patients with MIS-C.
Methods
We included children admitted from May 2020 to May 2021 diagnosed with MIS-C based on CDC criteria. The exposure of interest was anakinra use at any point during admission. The anakinra exposed group and the anakinra unexposed group were propensity score matched based on demographic and clinical severity indicators at initial presentation. Our primary outcome was length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes were duration of vasoactive support, vasoactive inotropic score (VIS), level of respiratory support, time to fever resolution, reduction of CRP levels, and length of ICU stay. We used Wilcoxon rank sum, t-test, Chi square and Fisher’s exact tests.
Results
Of 138 children diagnosed with MIS-C, 79% had moderate or severe illness and 52% received anakinra. Of those, 31 patients who received anakinra were propensity score matched to 31 who did not. Length of stay in the hospital but not in the ICU was longer in the anakinra group. There were no differences in median duration of vasoactive support, fever resolution, CRP reduction, or VIS.
Conclusions
In patients with MIS-C, use of anakinra was associated with longer duration of hospital stay.
Ensemble Learning for Addressing Class Imbalance in Cardiology Appointment Scheduling and Overbooking
Authors: Aghaeifar Roya , Servis Greg , Khasawneh Mohammad
Published: September 2023

Purpose
Outpatient appointment scheduling is a critical aspect of healthcare services; however, the unpredictable nature of patient behavior poses challenges. This study focuses on predicting patient behavior in cardiology appointment scheduling in an outpatient cardiology practice within the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) to optimize overbooking strategies.
Methods
By reviewing the literature and conducting exploratory data analysis, significant features influencing patient behavior were identified. An ensemble learning model for an imbalanced class was developed to accurately predict the likelihood of no-show appointments and enable strategic overbooking decisions.
Results
The findings demonstrate that an increased lead time is associated with a greater probability of appointment no-shows. Patient-initiated rescheduling and cancellations were identified as the primary reasons for appointment changes. Moreover, while average wait time increases with age, younger individuals tend to have longer appointments. A stacking ensemble model for imbalanced classes and three machine-learning approaches were evaluated. The stacking ensemble model outperformed traditional techniques with an impressive F1 score of 92.3% and an AUC of 91%.
Conclusion
The proposed model enables allocating appointments based on patient preferences and characteristics, optimizing resource use, and reducing the number of cancellations and no-shows.
The Delayed Growth of China’s Health Impact Assessment: Disentangling Causes from Different Disciplines
Authors: Zhao Junteng , Lei Yining
Published: September 2023

Background
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a practical tool used to judge the potential health effects of a policy, program, or project on a population. In 2016, China started implementing HIA to promote its nationwide “Health First” political campaign. The central government developed a succession of laws and plans to shape HIA’s political-administrative framework, yet they are too broad to advise how to undertake an HIA at a local level. Since 2017, China has tested HIA pilots in several jurisdictions to institutionalize HIA. However, all HIA pilots are far from completion as of September 2023, moving at a much slower rate than other policy pilots. This raises the question of why HIA has been so slow to grow in the Chinese context. What can China do to further its HIA development? By seeking answers to these questions, this article aims to inform Chinese policymakers and planning researchers whose scholarly interests vary from health impact assessment to governance and institution building in a volatile global economy that now places a high value on planning for public health.
Methods
In this qualitative study, we conducted 17, one-off, semi-structured, online interviews with Chinese scholars and officials from various disciplines who had direct or indirect experience with HIA. The disciplines include urban planning, public policy, public health, etc. We identified four major themes through a codebook thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti 22.
Results
Four themes have emerged concerning the delayed growth of HIA in China. They are conceptual differences between EIA and HIA; technical issues associated with environmental hazards and individual health; legislative issues; and cross-sector collaboration issues.
Conclusions
The delayed growth of China’s HIA prevents the country from widely refining its policies, programs, and projects to achieve public health goals. To address this, the paper offers several recommendations, including emphasizing policies that enact changes and de-emphasizing scientific uncertainty; developing the HIA implementation law, supporting policies, and a practical guideline; and promoting multidisciplinary professional development. We believe that these recommendations will eventually speed up the HIA development in China. We also hope that the recommendations can offer policy guidance to other developing countries as they navigate their public health policies.
Whole process of standardization of diffusion-weighted imaging: Phantom validation and clinical application according to the QIBA profile
Authors: Choi Se Jin , Kim Kyung Won , Ko Yousun , Cho Young Chul , Jang Ji Sung , Ahn Hyemin , Kim Dong Wook
Published: September 2023

Objectives: To use the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) as reliable biomarkers, validation of MRI equipment performance and acquisition protocols should be performed prior to application in patients. This study aims to perform validation for various MRI equipment and clinical protocols for diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) using commercially available phantom, and the validated protocols were confirmed in patients’ images.
Materials and Methods: The MRI equipment performance of four different scanners and clinical brain protocols were validated using a Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance (QIBA) diffusion phantom and cloud-based analysis tool. We evaluated performance metrics regarding accuracy and repeatability of ADC using QIBA profile. The validated clinical protocols were applied to 17 patients, and image quality and repeatability of ADC were assessed.
Results: The MRI equipment performance of all four MRI scanners demonstrated high accuracy in ADC measurement (ADC bias, -2.3% to -0.4%), excellent linear correlation to the reference ADC value (slope, 0.9–1.0; R2, 0.999–1.000), and high short-term repeatability [within-subject-coefficient-of-variation (wCV), 0%–0.3%]. The clinical protocols were also validated by fulfilling the QIBA claims with high accuracy of ADC measurement (ADC bias, -3.1-0.7%) and robust repeatability (wCV, 0%–0.1%). DWI acquired using the validated clinical brain protocols showed ideal image quality (mean score≥2.9) and good repeatability (wCV, 1.8–2.2 for white matter, 2.0–2.1 for cerebrospinal fluid).
Conclusion: The whole process of standardization of DWI demonstrated the robustness of DWI with high accuracy and repeatability across diverse MRI equipment and clinically optimized protocols, which is in accordance with the QIBA claims.
Performance-driven scheduling for malleable workloads
Authors: ALMAAITAH NJOUD OMAR , Singh David E. , Özden Taylan , Carretero Jesus
Published: September 2023

The development of adaptive scheduling algorithms that take advantage of malleability has become a crucial area of research in many large-scale projects. Malleable workloads can improve the system's performance but at the same time provide an extra dimension to the scheduling problem. This paper proposes an adaptive, performance-based job scheduling method that emphasizes the backfilling concept with malleability. The proposed method performs the malleability operations only when the estimated execution time of the involved applications is better than or equal to the execution time on the allocated resources without reconfiguration. The reconfiguration feasibility is determined by performance models considering the application scalability and reconfiguration overheads. Different policies for implementing malleability are presented, each targeting a specific workload in terms of job size and scalability. The comprehensive evaluation shows an improvement in the slowdown up to 49\% compared to the non-adaptive baseline scheduling algorithm.
Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Based Four-channel Demultiplexer in Graphene for Applications DWDM
Authors: Tavares Simone Cristina Costa , de Sousa Fabio Barros , de Oliveira Lelis Araujo , de Sousa Fiterlinge Martins , Miranda Igor Ramon Sinimbú , Costa Marcos B. C.
Published: September 2023

This work presents a 4-channel demultiplexer totally based on a two-dimensional photonic crystal (2 DPHC) with silicon rods and defects with the advent of a graphene sheet, in multiplexing systems that use DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) [1]. In these projects, methods that incorporate plane wave expansion (PWE) and finite difference time domain (FDTD) are used, as they have significant efficiency to generate the photonic hollow modes of the demultiplexer and analyze the global distribution and transmission, respectively. Parameters of transmission overall performance, Q factor, spectral width and channel spacing of the demultiplexer are very important statistics to confirm the general overall performance of the device, whose values are about 100%, 1722.22, 0.9 nm and 10 nm, respectively [2], whose consequences are problem to the validation of the requirements of the DWDM device (ITU.G.694.1) [3]. The proposed demultiplexer includes a bus or linear waveguide with graphene to guide the slight wave and 4 resonant cavities wherein graphene is placed withinside the center to select out the wavelength in a hexagonal lattice form (RCH) of dielectric rods in air. The bus waveguide transmits slight into the resonant hole area and exits thru the respective falling waveguide. The proposed device is nanometer and can be used for the implementation of photonic protected circuits [4].
Construction of myostatin gene knockout C2C12 cell line and expression of related microRNA
Authors: Weng Shaoting , Zhang Wenhui , Ma Zanyang , Shi Senlin , Zhao Mengran , Ji Xinying , Wang Yao
Published: September 2023

The strategy of blocking MSTN signal transduction has always been regarded as an entry point and breakthrough in the treatment of patients with muscle loss. However, blocking agents often face problems such as lacking strength, fatigue and poor muscle proliferation due to muscle hypertrophy and multi-receptors. To shed light on these matters a serous of experiments were carried out on a C2C12 cell line in this study. Firstly, the pX601-SaCas9-sgRNA/puro vector carrying a Cas9 encoded gene was constructed, and subsequently used to produce MSTN-knockout (MSTN-KO) C2C12 cell lines. The expression level of MSTN protein and the growth characteristics of the cell lines were verified. Moreover, the expression of muscle-growth-related miRNAs in the cell lines were analyzed by RT-PCR. These results indicate that we successfully established a method for constructing MSTN-KO cell lines with stable passage. No expression of MSTN protein and strong cell proliferation were observed in the cell lines. Moreover, RT-PCR experiments showed that the expression levels of miR-1, miR-431, miR-206 and miR-133a were extremely significant increased(p < 0.01), the expression levels of miR-23a was significant increased༈p < 0.05༉, while the expression level of miR-486 was significant decreased༈p < 0.05༉, indicating that multiple miRNAs are closely associated with MSTN’s regulation. This study lays a foundation for further study of the effect of Mstn gene on the physiological function of myoblasts and the development of drugs that block MSTN signal pathway.
Investigating the Genetic Contribution of Effective Traits in Grain Yield of Durum Wheat under the Normal Irrigation and Drought Stress Conditions at the Terminal Drought
Authors: Taheri Rashin , Khodarahmpour Zahra , Khodarahmi Manoochehr , Moradi Mohammad
Published: September 2023

The current research has been conducted with 64 F7 recombinant inbred lines durum wheat resulting from crossing of the Shotordandan and Dena along with two parents in an alpha lattice design with two replications in two years (2016–2018) to investigate the genetic contribution of effective traits in grain yield and the relationship between traits and evaluation the susceptibility and tolerance to drought stress. Drought stress led to the decreased grain yield and its components but remobilization and efficiency of remobilization increased. Phenological traits and spike length had the lowest heritability value but the thousand kernel weight had the highest heritability. Frequency distribution of spike length, number of spikes per m2, number of seeds per plant, biological yield and harvest index was normal under two desired conditions and for grain yield under drought stress, indicating quantitative inheritance of these traits. Significant transgressive segregation in the positive direction was observed for yield components such as the number of spikes per square meter, the number of seeds per plant and the thousand kernel weight, as well as remobilization and remobilization efficiency in drought conditions. Grain yield under normal conditions had a positive and significant correlation with the number of spikes per plant and under stress conditions there was a positive and significant correlation with the number of spikes per plant, biological yield and harvest index. Based on drought tolerance and Susceptibility indices, 16 lines from among the recombinant inbred lines along with the Shotordandan parent were determined as tolerant genotypes.
Effects of Atorvastatin combined with Gefitinib on proliferation, metastatic and autophagy of Colorectal cancer cells
Authors: Sui Ziqi , Cheng Hefei , Yang Lianlei , Zhou Minjian , Wu Kejia , Shi Ruiping , Wang Shuqiu
Published: September 2023

Background: : Colorectal cancer is one of the common malignant tumors with high incidence. At present, compared with traditional chemotherapy drugs with large adverse reactions and new drugs that are difficult to develop, reusing existing drugs and finding new applications has become a major new research direction in cancer treatment.
Methods:CCK8 method was used to detect the change of the inhibitory proliferation activity of Atorvastatin, Gefitinib and their combination on SW480 and HCT116 cells, the invasive activity of SW480 and HCT116 cells was detected by Transwell assay, the expression of autophagy signal pathway related proteins in SW480 cells was detected by Western blotting, and the effect of Atorvastatin, Gefitinib and their combination on tumor formation in mice was detected by in vivo xenograft.
Results: Atorvastatin and Gefitinib inhibit the proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells. They can promote the autophagy of colorectal cancer cells by affecting autophagy-related proteins. The combined inhibitory effect of both drugs is enhanced compared to a single drug. In vivo tumorigenesis experiments also support these results.
Conclusions:The combined of atorvastatin and gefitinib can inhibit the proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer cancer cells by promoting autophagy. Its mechanism of action is the synergistic inhibition of autophagy-related signaling pathways. It provides new research ideas for the treatment of cancer.
A Lightweight and Efficient Raw Data Collection Scheme for IoT Systems
Authors: Huang Yixuan , Song Jingcheng , Meng Weizhi , Liu Yining , Zhou Fei
Published: September 2023

With the prevalence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, data collection has the potential to improve people's lives and create a significant value. However, it also exposes sensitive information, which leads to privacy risks. An approach called N-source anonymity has been used for privacy preservation in raw data collection, but most of the existing schemes do not have a balanced efficiency and robustness. In this work, we propose a new secure arrangement scheme for a lightweight and efficient raw data collection process. The proposed scheme can not only collect data from the original users but also protect their privacy. Besides, the proposed scheme can resist user poisoning attacks, and the use of the reward method can motivate users to actively provide data. Analysis and simulation indicate that the proposed scheme is safe from resist poison attacks. Additionally, the proposed scheme has better performance in terms of computation and communication overhead compared to recent methods. High efficiency and appropriate incentive mechanisms indicate that the scheme is practical for IoT systems.
Simulation Design of Compensation Technique in FSO Communication System for PSK and ASK Modulation using Phase Shift and Filter of Delay under Atmospheric Turbulences
Authors: Gazzi Esraa k. Al – , Ali Ekbal H. Ali , Mohammed Assel J.
Published: September 2023

It's essential to communicate quickly. Recent issues include increased data consumption and a crowded radio frequency spectrum, where free-space optical communication (FSOC) has changed the way people share information in a big way. In place of wired communication systems, it makes it possible to transport voice, video, and data effectively through a medium like air. FSOC on greatly impacts our daily lives because of its large bandwidth and variety of applications. High speed, cost savings, small buildings, low power consumption, energy economy, maximum transfer capacity, and adaptability are some of the main advantages of FSOC. Repair downtime can be reduced because of the quick advancement of high-speed connection technology. It is also now possible to quickly establish a backup network in an emergency and crisis. The design of FSO systems for two types of digital modulation techniques is the primary focus of this work. By adjusting attenuation ranges for a variety of atmospheric turbulence, such as rain, fog, and dust, the performance of PSK and ASK modulations in the FSO system is investigated to get an improved Q-factor, maximum SNR, and power received, which are needed for better communication. PSK has been shown to be an efficient modulation approach for all types of weather, followed by ASK.
On the Interpretation of Large Datasets by a New Method of Regression Analysis Based on Reverse Discretization
Authors: Fafitis Apostolos
Published: September 2023

The discrete data points of a Dataset are replaced by continuous functions. These functions have finite derivatives and their integration from minus to plus infinity is equal to unity. The employment of these functions renders the Sum-Square-Error (SSE) a continuous function of x and y. The optimization of this SSE yields a Regression Line called in this article Dynamic Regression Line. The proposed algorithm yields a regression line that does not simply indicate the trend but also provides an interpretation of the data by revealing the underline law that generated them. In two examples given in this article the data points are distributed randomly around the segments of a broken line, which was the generating law. Only the x and y coordinates and the intensity of the information carried by each point were used in the Analysis. The regression line obtained by this method revealed, with acceptable accuracy, the line that generated the data points. It is suggested that the interpretive potential of this method can have applications in several disciplines like Engineering, Statistics, Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Marketing, Polling, and others.
A Comparison Study of M-CuBTC MOFs (M: Fe, Zr) for Electrochemical Detection of Glyphosate
Authors: Anh Nguyen Thi Ngoc , Nguyen Manh B. , Hoat Dinh Trong , Tu Vu Cam , Yen Pham Thi Hai , Phong Pham Hong , Tien Nguyen Ngoc , Hai Tran Quang , Thuong Nguyen Thi Kim , Ha Vu Thi Thu
Published: September 2023

In this study, hierarchically CuBTC, Fe-CuBTC and Zr-CuBTC MOFs for investigation of non-electroactive glyphosate compound (Gly) has been tested towards the best material for its detection by electrochemical sensors. The novel metallic/bimetallic Fe-Cu/Zr-Cu metal-organic framework (MOF) combined with 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC) are synthesized using hydrothermal reaction and used as modifiers. These MOFs were separately dropcasted on a glassy carbon electrode and non-electroactive Gly signals in the water environment were tested by cyclic voltammetry (CV), impedance measurement (EIS), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Gly presences in water were recognized by the differences of currents in spiked and non-spiked Gly samples. Data showed the bimetallic Zr-CuBTC MOF is the most promising material for the detection of Gly using an electrochemical sensor. Morphological and structural studies showed the coordination of Cu2+ with the presence of Zr4+ ions with BTC ligands being highly porous framework with active surface area up to 1337 m2 g− 1, the pore diameter and pore volume increased to 1.75 nm and 0.687 cm3 g− 1, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the Zr-CuBTC/GCE sensor is able to indirectly detect Gly in a water environment at a detection limit as low as 9.10− 12 M. The developed sensor was employed to determine Gly in the real surface water samples collected from the Red River, North Vietnam. The results showed good recoveries (94.6–107.1%) which were in agreement with data obtained by liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) measurements. These results demonstrate the possibility of using such MOF material in sensor applications for accessing the residues of trace pesticides contaminated in the natural water environment.
Assessment of Fluttering Derivatives of Bridge Deck Using CFD Simulation
Authors: Chauhan Nitin , Roy Amrit Kumar , Yadav Himanshu
Published: September 2023

In this paper, the dynamic analysis of wind effects on the bridge deck section is determined with the help of CFD simulation. As the wind tunnel testing approach is high-priced and time-consuming, there is a need for an alternative approach. The investigation on the bridge deck is carried out using ANSYS software. In this bridge deck design, with the help of numerical models like Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) to find flutter derivatives of the piece of the bridge deck. The forces, moments, and coefficients are calculated using different wind speeds. For this steady and unsteady procedures have been taken. For calculations of mean force coefficients, the K-ω SST turbulence models are taken into consideration. The bridge deck section’s flutter derivatives require spatial histories, stable simulations, and static aerodynamic coefficients. With the help of ICEM CFD, the meshing of the deck is carried out. In this, the dynamic behavior of wind all over the section of the bridge deck is investigated with different wind speeds.