bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bibliometric Analysis on Port and Shipping Researches in Scope of Management Science
Authors: Xu Xiang , Wang Huiwen , Wu Yiwei , Yi Wen
Published: June 2021

With the economic growth and prosperity, ports and shipping play an increasingly important role in the national economy and international trade. Numerous studies related to the field of port and shipping were conducted to propose some managerial insights. This paper uses the bibliometric method to analyze the research papers published from 2000 to 2019 on port and shipping in the field of management science. The number of published papers, impact score and cite score are identified as evaluation criteria to analyze the research contributions of researchers, affiliated institutions and countries/regions in the port and shipping field. At the same time, the importance of each keyword can be obtained by the bibliometric method, which may help new researchers grasp research hotspots and trends in related fields.
Soliton molecules in the (2+1)-dimensional Nizhnik–Novikov–Veselov equation
Authors: Wu Huiling , Fei Jinxi , Ma Zhengyi
Published: June 2021

The [Formula: see text]-soliton solution of the (2+1)-dimensional Nizhnik–Novikov–Veselov equation is constructed. The line soliton molecule, the breather and the lump soliton are presented successively for [Formula: see text]. The three-soliton molecule structure, interaction of one-soliton molecule and a line soliton, the soliton molecules consisting of a line soliton and the breather/lump soliton of the solution [Formula: see text] are constructed for [Formula: see text]. Moreover, the four-soliton molecule structure, interaction of the soliton molecule and a line soliton, the soliton molecule consisting of the line soliton molecule and a lump soliton, the elastic interaction between the line soliton molecule and a lump soliton, the soliton molecules consisting of the line soliton molecule and the breather, two breather solitons, the breather soliton and a lump of the variable [Formula: see text] for this equation are also derived for [Formula: see text] by applying the velocity resonance, the module resonance of wave number and the long-wave limit ideas. To illustrate these phenomena, the analysis explicit solutions are all given and their dynamics features are all displayed through figures.
Perturbation-Based Stochastic Meshless Method for Buckling Analysis of Plates
Authors: Aswathy M. , Arun C. O.
Published: June 2021

The current paper presents a perturbation-based stochastic eigenvalue buckling analysis of thin plates using element free Galerkin method. Spatial variation in Young’s modulus is modeled as a homogeneous random field and moving least square-based shape function method is employed for discretizing the random field. Perturbation method is used to evaluate the statistics of buckling loads. Numerical examples wherein rectangular plates with different boundary conditions are solved and the statistics obtained are compared with those calculated using Monte Carlo simulation. Different parametric studies are also conducted. The results obtained from perturbation method are found to be reasonably accurate for coefficient of variation (CV) values less than 20% for random fields with normal distribution. Further it is observed that for random fields with lognormal distribution, the proposed method produces reasonably accurate results up to a CV of 30%.
The Role of Polymer Carrier and Process Parameters for Small Molecule Drug Delivery via Blended Electrospinning
Authors: Hamedani Yasaman , Balan Murugabaskar , Pal Soumitro , Bhowmick Sankha
Published: June 2021

Delivery of therapeutic compounds to the diseased area in the body with minimized adverse effects is the underlying objective behind development of advanced drug delivery systems. Providing disease-specific release patterns is the ultimate goal of any drug delivery system. Electrospinning has been widely used for nanofiber fabrication. Having high aspect ratio and similarity to the extracellular matrix in the body make electrospun nanofibers a great candidate to be used as drug delivery implants. In this study, we report electrospinning to be a tunable technique capable of providing engineered, disease-specific drug release patterns. Using “one factor at a time” and “central composite design” techniques, we respectively demonstrate flow rate and applied voltage to be the two most significant parameters (with [Formula: see text]-values of 512.48 and 42.31) affecting the final fiber diameter, and capillary-to-collector distance as the least important one, by evaluating their influence, individually and combined, on the morphology of electrospun Poly (Lactide-co-Glycolide acid) nanofibers. Using the same two techniques, we also show that hydrophobicity of the polymeric fibrous scaffold, measured by water contact angle (WCA) with the [Formula: see text]-value of 376.44, is the main factor to consider when designing an electrospun fibrous drug delivery system for a specific disease, while fiber diameter can further modulate the release pattern of the drug from hydrophobic polymeric nanofibers. We finally support our hypothesis by comparing our findings with analysis of data derived from the literature. Taken together, our findings suggest electrospinning to be a tunable technique capable of providing various release patterns for any small molecular weight drug on the basis of the requirements of the diseases to be treated.
Building Arabic Paraphrasing Benchmark based on Transformation Rules
Authors: Alian Marwah , Awajan Arafat , Al-Hasan Ahmad , Akuzhia Raeda
Published: June 2021

Measuring semantic similarity between short texts is an important task in many applications of natural language processing, such as paraphrasing identification. This process requires a benchmark of sentence pairs that are labeled by Arab linguists and considered a standard that can be used by researchers when evaluating their results. This research describes an Arabic paraphrasing benchmark to be a good standard for evaluation algorithms that are developed to measure semantic similarity for Arabic sentences to detect paraphrasing in the same language. The transformed sentences are in accordance with a set of rules for Arabic paraphrasing. These sentences are constructed from the words in the Arabic word semantic similarity dataset and from different Arabic books, educational texts, and lexicons. The proposed benchmark consists of 1,010 sentence pairs wherein each pair is tagged with scores determining semantic similarity and paraphrasing. The quality of the data is assessed using statistical analysis for the distribution of the sentences over the Arabic transformation rules and exploration through hierarchical clustering (HCL). Our exploration using HCL shows that the sentences in the proposed benchmark are grouped into 27 clusters representing different subjects. The inter-annotator agreement measures show a moderate agreement for the annotations of the graduate students and a poor reliability for the annotations of the undergraduate students.
Effect of rapamycin on mitochondria and lysosomes in fibroblasts from patients with mtDNA mutations
Authors: Cheema Nashwa J. , Cameron Jessie M. , Hood David A.
Published: June 2021

Maintaining mitochondrial function and dynamics is crucial for cellular health. In muscle, defects in mitochondria result in severe myopathies where accumulation of damaged mitochondria causes deterioration and dysfunction. Importantly, understanding the role of mitochondria in disease is a necessity to determine future therapeutics. One of the most common myopathies is mitochondrial encephalopathy lactic acidosis stroke-like episodes (MELAS), which has no current treatment. Recently, patients with MELAS treated with rapamycin exhibited improved clinical outcomes. However, the cellular mechanisms of rapamycin effects in patients with MELAS are currently unknown. In this study, we used cultured skin fibroblasts as a window into the mitochondrial dysfunction evident in MELAS cells, as well as to study the mechanisms of rapamycin action, compared with control, healthy individuals. We observed that mitochondria from patients were fragmented, had a threefold decline in the average speed of motility, a twofold reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, and a 1.5- to 2-fold decline in basal respiration. Despite the reduction in mitochondrial function, mitochondrial import protein Tim23 was elevated in patient cell lines. MELAS fibroblasts exhibited increased MnSOD levels and lysosomal function when compared with healthy controls. Treatment of MELAS fibroblasts with rapamycin for 24 h resulted in increased mitochondrial respiration compared with control cells, a higher lysosome content, and a greater localization of mitochondria to lysosomes. Our studies suggest that rapamycin has the potential to improve cellular health even in the presence of mtDNA defects, primarily via an increase in lysosomal content.
Heparin-based blood purification attenuates organ injury in baboons with Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia
Authors: Chen Lingye , Kraft Bryan D. , Roggli Victor L. , Healy Zachary R. , Woods Christopher W. , Tsalik Ephraim L. , Ginsburg Geoffrey S. , Murdoch David M. , Suliman Hagir B. , Piantadosi Claude A. , Welty-Wolf Karen E.
Published: June 2021

Bacterial pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide despite the use of antibiotics, and novel therapies are urgently needed. Building on previous work, we aimed to 1) develop a baboon model of severe pneumococcal pneumonia and sepsis with organ dysfunction and 2) test the safety and efficacy of a novel extracorporeal blood filter to remove proinflammatory molecules and improve organ function. After a dose-finding pilot study, 12 animals were inoculated with Streptococcus pneumoniae [5 × 109 colony-forming units (CFU)], given ceftriaxone at 24 h after inoculation, and randomized to extracorporeal blood purification using a filter coated with surface-immobilized heparin sulfate ( n = 6) or sham treatment ( n = 6) for 4 h at 30 h after inoculation. For safety analysis, four uninfected animals also underwent purification. At 48 h, necropsy was performed. Inoculated animals developed severe pneumonia and septic shock. Compared with sham-treated animals, septic animals treated with purification displayed significantly less kidney injury, metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, and shock ( P < 0.05). Purification blocked the rise in peripheral blood S. pneumoniae DNA, attenuated bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) CCL4, CCL2, and IL-18 levels, and reduced renal oxidative injury and classical NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Purification was safe in both uninfected and infected animals and produced no adverse effects. We demonstrate that heparin-based blood purification significantly attenuates levels of circulating S. pneumoniae DNA and BAL cytokines and is renal protective in baboons with severe pneumococcal pneumonia and septic shock. Purification was associated with less severe acute kidney injury, metabolic derangements, and shock. These results support future clinical studies in critically ill septic patients.
Alpha Ideals and the Space of Prime Alpha Ideals in Universal Algebras
Authors: Addis Gezahagne Mulat
Published: June 2021

The purpose of this paper is to study

α

-ideals in a more general context, in universal algebras having a constant

0

. Several characterizations are obtained for an ideal

I

of an algebra

A

to be an

α

-ideal. It is shown that the class of all

α

-ideals of an algebra

A

forms an algebraic lattice. Prime

α

-ideals and several related properties are investigated. Some properties of the spectral space of prime

α

-ideals equipped with the hull-kernel topology are derived.
Impact of Moriamin Forte on Testicular and Epididymal Damage in Rats with Oligoasthenospermia
Authors: Zhou Xing , Zhang Guo-Wei , Liang Wei-Ning , Li Yi-Ze , Xu Song , Yan Ling-Ling , Li Hong-Jun , Shang Xue-Jun
Published: June 2021

To investigate the effect and mechanism of action of Moriamin Forte (MF) on oligoasthenospermia (OA) in rats exposed to multiglycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii (GTW), forty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups. Rats in the control group were treated with 0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The remaining rats were administered GTW (30 mg/kg/d) for 40 d to establish an OA model. Concurrently, the groups were treated with normal saline and low-dose (100 mg/kg/d) and high-dose (200 mg/kg/d) MF, respectively. After treatment, the number and motility of sperm cells were examined. Testicular and epididymal histomorphology changes were observed. Antioxidant indicators (SOD, CAT, MDA, TAC, and Nrf2) in testicular and epididymal tissues were detected. Apoptotic and antiapoptotic indicators (Bax and Bcl2 expression) in the testicular tissue were measured by immunohistochemistry. GTW decreased sperm count and motility, damaged testicular and epididymis tissues, impaired antioxidase activity, and increased tissue MDA levels. Meanwhile, GTW upregulated the expression of Bax and downregulated the expression of Bcl2. Western blot analysis demonstrated a decrease in the Nrf2 expression in the model group. Treatment with MF improved sperm count and motility, as well as inhibited the rate of apoptosis in the rat reproductive system. Moreover, MF improved the activity of antioxidants and increased the relative expression of the antioxidant pathway-related protein Nrf2. In conclusion, MF may reverse the GTW-induced OA by modulating the expression of apoptotic and antioxidant pathway-related proteins. This study may provide a pharmacological foundation for the use of MF in OA treatment.
Anti‐Inflammatory Activity and Quality Control of Erysimum cheiri (L.) Crantz
Authors: Mosleh Ghazaleh , Azadi Amir , Khademian Sedigheh , Heidari Reza , Mohagheghzadeh Abdolali
Published: June 2021

Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri) is employed as a popular herbal drug in traditional Persian medicine. Topical formulations including cerates, lotions, sitz baths, and poultices for inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, anal fissure, endometriosis, and mastitis are known. However, there is no monograph in current pharmacopoeia for the wallflower drug. The present study is aimed to screen in vitro anti‐inflammatory activity of wallflower and perform quality control and characterization tests for different organs of the herb. In this regard, albumin denaturation activity, macroscopic and microscopic, phytochemical, HPTLC, and FT‐IR characteristics were investigated. Wallflower showed strong anti‐inflammatory activity compared to diclofenac sodium. The root (1.25, 2.5, and 5 mg/mL) and flower (10 mg/mL) extract exhibited higher anti‐inflammatory activities than that of other plant organs at the same concentrations. Moreover, total ash was found higher in aerial parts (21.52 ± 0.06%) than flower (11.01 ± 0.03%), root (5.03 ± 0.03%), and seed (6.95 ± 0.06%), while water‐soluble ash was higher in seed (34.89 ± 0.26%) than flower (5.00 ± 0.03%), aerial parts (7.16 ± 0.06%), and root (5.04 ± 0.01%). Acid‐insoluble ash and sulphated ash were higher in root (9.50 ± 0.04%) and aerial part (28.37 ± 0.57%), respectively. In addition, loss on drying was ranged from 2.20 ± 0.20% in flowers to 6.00 ± 0.10% in aerial parts. On the other hand, HPTLC analysis verified cardenolide compounds in all organs of the herb, and quercetin was detected in the flavonoid fingerprint of acid hydrolysed flowers. According to FT‐IR results, the observed spectral region at ~3500 cm-1 attributed to ‐OH stretching vibration. Also, C–H (~2900‐2950 cm-1), isothiocyanate (~2340 cm-1), ‐C=O (~1740 cm-1), conjugated C=C of the aromatic ring (~1650 cm-1), and structure of the aromatic group (~1200‐1000 cm-1) were monitored. This work is the first study to the best of our knowledge, suggesting wallflower as a potential drug candidate with the basis for a monograph in addition to initial in vitro anti‐inflammatory data.
Sliding Mode Control of the Vehicle Speed System Based on LMIs
Authors: Gao Hong-Liang , Zhang Hong-Cong , Li Xiao-Ling
Published: June 2021

Due to the nonlinear characteristics of the vehicle speed system, its stability is difficult to control. This paper analyzes the stability and traceability of the vehicle speed system under nonlinear characteristics. A sliding mode control method of the nonlinear system state observation based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) is proposed. In the proposed control method, Lyapunov function is used as the control function to track the position and speed of the vehicle speed system in real time. In the design process of the controller, the successive scaling method (SSM) is designed to improve the tracking accuracy. The simulation results demonstrate that the sliding mode control can effectively track the position of the vehicle speed system, which has better stability and traceability for the nonlinear vehicle speed system.
Study on the Synergies of Nanoclay and MWCNTs to the Flame Retardant and Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites
Authors: Nguyen Tuan Anh
Published: June 2021

Modern flame retardants are organic compounds containing halogen or phosphorus groups and are not always well dispersed in polymers. Thus, by using a small amount of nanoclay and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), they can significantly reduce the number of conventional flame retardant additives, making the material with optimal flame retardant properties. Conventional flame retardants always have some negative effects on the mechanical properties of the polymer substrate, so by using nanoclay and MWCNTs, those adverse effects can be minimized and overcome. In this work, in order to improve the mechanical properties and flame retardant of nanocomposite materials, nanoclay I.30E and MWCNTs are mixed into epoxy, with the selected percentage of 2% and 0.02% by weight, respectively, stirring mechanically for 7, 8, and 9 hours at 3000 rpm at 80°C, then performing ultrasonic vibration for 6 hours at 65°C.
Bioactive Compounds of Raspberry Oil Emulsions Induced Oxidative Stress via Stimulating the Accumulation of Reactive Oxygen Species and NO in Cancer Cells
Authors: Grajzer Magdalena , Wiatrak Benita , Gębarowski Tomasz , Boba Aleksandra , Rój Edward , Gorczyca Daiva , Prescha Anna
Published: June 2021

There are growing interests in the complex combinations of natural compounds that may advance the therapy of cancer. Such combinations already exist in foods, and a good representative is seed oils. Two raspberry oils: cold pressed (ROCOP) and one extracted by supercritical CO2 (ROSCO2) were evaluated for their chemical characteristics and oil emulsions for cell suppression potential against colon adenocarcinoma (LoVo), doxorubicin‐resistant colon adenocarcinoma (LoVo/DX), breast cancer (MCF7), doxorubicin‐resistant breast cancer (MCF7/DX), and lung cancer (A549) cell lines. The cytotoxicity was also assessed on normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). With increasing concentration of raspberry oil emulsions (0.5–10%), increasing inhibition of cancer cell viability and proliferation in all of the lines was observed, with different degrees of potency between cancer types and oil tested. ROSCO2 strongly induced free radical production and DNA strand damage in LoVo and MCF7 cells especially doxorubicin‐resistant lines. This suggests that ROSCO2 engages and effectively targets the vulnerabilities of the cancer cell. Generally, both ROSCO2 and ROCOP could be a nontoxic support in therapy of selected human cancers.
New-Onset Bullous Pemphigoid in a COVID-19 Patient
Authors: Olson Natalie , Eckhardt David , Delano Angela
Published: June 2021

This manuscript presents a report of bullous pemphigoid rash associated with COVID-19 for the first time. The objective of this manuscript is to present a unique dermatological case in the setting of a COVID-19-positive infection to further recognize the virus symptomatology. A 37-year-old female with a past medical history of class III obesity, type II diabetes mellitus, and hypertension presented to the emergency department in September 2020 with inpatient and outpatient follow-up through to November 2020. The patient denied any personal or family history of skin disorders. The patient tested positive for COVID-19 prior to hospitalization and presented to the hospital with severe, persistent, pruritic rash meeting dermatopathological, serologic, and clinical criteria for bullous pemphigoid diagnosis. Histopathology H&E punch biopsy from her left flexor wrist demonstrated epidermal keratinocyte necrosis, subepidermal vesiculation with eosinophils, gossamer stranding of the papillary dermis, and subepidermal edema. Direct immunofluorescence punch biopsy from her left flexor wrist demonstrated strong linear IgG staining at the dermoepidermal junction, with weaker and focal linear C3 staining. Antigen-specific serology was consistent with bullous pemphigoid. There was no previously reported cutaneous association of COVID-19 infection with bullous pemphigoid making this case an important addition to the body of evidence helping to identify bullous pemphigoid in the setting of viral infection.
An Optimal Finite Element Method with Uzawa Iteration for Stokes Equations including Corner Singularities
Authors: Pyo Jae-Hong , Jang Deok-Kyu
Published: June 2021

The Uzawa method is an iterative approach to find approximated solutions to the Stokes equations. This method solves velocity variables involving augmented Lagrangian operator and then updates pressure variable by Richardson update. In this paper, we construct a new version of the Uzawa method to find optimal numerical solutions of the Stokes equations including corner singularities. The proposed method is based on the dual singular function method which was developed for elliptic boundary value problems. We estimate the solvability of the proposed formulation and special orthogonality form for two singular functions. Numerical convergence tests are presented to verify our assertion.
Minimally Invasive Embedding of Saturated MSU Induces Persistent Gouty Arthritis in Modified Rat Model
Authors: Xu Han-Lin , Li Sheng-Kun , Xue Xiao-Ao , Chen Zi-Yi , Hua Ying-Hui
Published: June 2021

Introduction. Animal models are valid for in vivo research on the pathophysiological process and drug screening of gout arthritis. Intra‐articular injection of monosodium urate (MSU) is the most common method, while stable MSU deposition enveloped by inflammatory cells was rarely reported. Objective. To develop a modified gouty arthritis rat model characterized by intra‐articular MSU deposition and continuous joint pain with a minimally invasive method. Method. A total of twenty‐four rats were randomly allocated into six groups. Three intervention groups of rats received intra‐articular MSU embedment. Sham groups received pseudosurgeries with equal normal saline (NS). Gross parameters and pathological features of synovium harvested from anterior capsule were estimated. Mechanical pain threshold tests were conducted over a 96‐hour period postoperatively. Moreover, quantitative immunofluorescence was conducted to assess tissue inflammation. Result. After MSU embedding, rats got more persistent arthritic symptoms as well as tissue MSU deposition. More significant synovial swelling was detected in the MSU group compared to sham groups (P < 0.025). Behavioral tests showed that the embedding of MSU resulted in prolonged mechanical hyperalgesia during 2 hours to 96 hours postoperatively (P < 0.05). MSU depositions enveloped by inflammatory cells that express IL‐1β and TNF‐α were detected in embedding groups. Quantitative immunofluorescence suggested that the frequencies of MSU interventions upregulated expression of proinflammatory factors including IL‐1β and TNF‐α (P < 0.05). Conclusion. A minimally invasive method was developed to establish modified rat model of intra‐articular MSU deposition. This model was proved to be a simple reproducible method to mimic the pathological characteristics of persistent gouty arthritis.
A Comparative Analyses of the Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Fungal Endosymbionts in Sogatella furcifera, White-Backed Planthoppers
Authors: Choi Nak Jung , Xi Hong , Park Jongsun
Published: June 2021

Sogatella furcifera Horvath, commonly known as the white-backed planthoppers (WBPH), is an important pest in East Asian rice fields. Fungal endosymbiosis is widespread among planthoppers in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha and suborder Auchenorrhyncha. We successfully obtained complete mitogenome of five WBPH fungal endosymbionts, belonging to the Ophiocordycipitaceae family, from next-generation sequencing (NGS) reads obtained from S. furcifera samples. These five mitogenomes range in length from 55,390 bp to 55,406 bp, which is shorter than the mitogenome of the fungal endosymbiont found in Ricania speculum, black planthoppers. Twenty-eight protein-coding genes (PCGs), 12 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs were found in the mitogenomes. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms, two insertions, and three deletions were identified among the five mitogenomes, which were fewer in number than those of four species of Ophiocordycipitaceae, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Hirsutella thompsonii, Hirsutella rhossiliensis, and Tolypocladium inflatum. Noticeably short lengths (up to 18 bp) of simple sequence repeats were identified in the five WBPH fungal endosymbiont mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analysis based on conserved PCGs across 25 Ophiocordycipitaceae mitogenomes revealed that the five mitogenomes were clustered with that of R. speculum, forming an independent clade. In addition to providing the full mitogenome sequences, obtaining complete mitogenomes of WBPH endosymbionts can provide insights into their phylogenetic positions without needing to isolate the mtDNA from the host. This advantage is of value to future studies involving fungal endosymbiont mitogenomes.
Postweaning Performance of the Agouti (Dasyprocta leporina): A Neotropical Rodent with Potential for Domestication
Authors: Singh Hannah-Marie Samantha , Jones Kegan Romelle
Published: June 2021

This project aimed to observe the effect of different weaning times on the weight gain in agouti (Dasyprocta leporina). The goal was to acquire an appropriate weaning time for offsprings. The experiment was performed at the University of the West Indies Field Station Farm (UFS) where animals were divided into four treatment groups, with each treatment group consisted of four animals. Treatment 1 offsprings were weaned at four weeks, treatment 2 offsprings were weaned at three weeks, treatment 3 offsprings were weaned at two weeks, and treatment 4 offsprings were weaned at one week. The offsprings were raised experimentally for their first seven weeks. There was no significant difference (

p
>
0.05

) recorded in offsprings live weight and average daily gain (ADG) for treatments 1, 2, and 3. However, offsprings reared in treatment 4 had significantly (

p
<
0.05

) less live weight and weight gain in comparison to the other groups at seven weeks. Offsprings in treatment 4 also experienced 50% mortality (2/4 animals died), one animal removed from the experiment due to progressive weight loss, and one offspring remained in the experiment for its duration. The other treatment experienced no loss (0% mortality). Based on the results of the experiment, agouti offsprings should not be weaned at one week due to high mortality and low live weight at the end of seven weeks. Animals can be weaned between 2 and 4 weeks of age with no detrimental effects. Dependent on the level of production, animals can be weaned at 2 or 4 weeks depending on the operators desired litters per year.
Relaxation or Regulation: The Acute Effect of Mind-Body Exercise on Heart Rate Variability and Subjective State in Experienced Qi Gong Practitioners
Authors: Goldbeck Florens , Xie Ye Lei , Hautzinger Martin , Fallgatter Andreas J. , Sudeck Gorden , Ehlis Ann-Christine
Published: June 2021

Mind-body exercises such as Yoga or Qi Gong have demonstrated a wide range of health benefits and hold great promise for employment in clinical practice. However, the psychophysiological mechanism underlying these effects remains unclear. Theoretical frameworks highlight regulation as a characteristic and specific mechanism of mind-body exercise for which empirical evidence is scarce. To investigate the exact nature of this mechanism, we tracked acute changes in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and subjective state over a common form of mind-body exercise (Qi Gong). Heart rate variability (HRV) and subjective state were assessed in 42 Qi Gong practitioners from China and Germany during a standard moving Qi Gong exercise (Baduanjin). Relaxation in supine position prior and after the exercise served as a control condition to Qi Gong and to assess changes before and after the exercise. Following Qi Gong, all practitioners reported significantly increased subjective calmness and perceived body activation, attentional focus, and subjective vitality. On the physiological level, a significant decrease of parasympathetic modulation and increase in heart rate indicated a pattern of moderate general physiological activation during Qi Gong. A significant increase in overall RR-interval modulation and cardiac coherence during Qi Gong were indicative of a mechanism of active regulation. Examination of the RR-interval trajectories revealed a rhythmic pattern of ANS activation and deactivation in sync with activating and relaxing segments of the exercise. Significant changes in subjective state, not on the physiological level, before and after the exercise were observed. Significant associations between Qi-Gong-specific beliefs, age, cultural background, and experiential and physiological measures demonstrated the complexity of mind-body exercises as multicomponent interventions. Overall, this study highlights moderate general physiological activation, exercise-dependent rhythmic ANS modulation, and induction of a characteristic state of eutonic calmness as potential psychophysiological mechanisms underlying the health benefits of mind-body exercise.
Impact of Neck and Shoulder Pain on Health‐Related Quality of Life in a Middle‐Aged Community‐Living Population
Authors: Machino Masaaki , Ando Kei , Kobayashi Kazuyoshi , Nakashima Hiroaki , Morozumi Masayoshi , Kanbara Shunsuke , Ito Sadayuki , Inoue Taro , Koshimizu Hiroyuki , Seki Taisuke , Ishizuka Shinya , Takegami Yasuhiko , Hasegawa Yukiharu , Imagama Shiro
Published: June 2021

Purpose. Neck and shoulder pain (NSP) is very common in the general population. However, scarce information exists on the relationship between NSP and health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes in this population. The present study described NSP prevalence and its impact on the HRQOL of middle‐aged and older persons undergoing a routine medical checkup. Methods. This study recruited 318 subjects (125 males and 193 females; average age, 63.4 years) in good health, collected underwent anthropometric measurements, physical function examinations, and blood testing. This study defined NSP as the presence of muscle tension, stiffness, pressure, or dull pain in areas between the neck and the arch of the scapular. Study subjects were divided into two groups (NSP (+) and NSP (−) groups). The subjects completed questions on the Medical Outcomes Study 36‐item short‐form health survey (SF‐36) and the EuroQol 5‐dimension, 5‐level version (EQ‐5D‐5L) tool. Results. Of the patients, 150 and 168 were NSP (+) and NSP (−), respectively. The NSP complaint rate was 47.2%. The NSP (+) group had younger and more female participants than the NSP (−) group. In the multivariate regression analysis, the NSP (+) group had lower physical QOL based on the SF‐36 physical component summary (odds ratio (OR), 2.45) and lower mental QOL based on the SF‐36 mental component summary (OR, 2.05). Overall, the NSP (+) group had a higher risk of having low QOL scores (EQ‐5D‐5L index; OR, 1.76). Conclusions. The NSP (+) rate in healthy middle‐aged and older persons was 47.2%. Furthermore, NSP (+) status was directly related poor HRQOL. NSP is a predictor of suboptimal physical and mental QOL. Therefore, NSP prevention or intervention for NSP may improve middle‐aged and older adults’ QOL.
A Computational Model for the Radiated Kinetic Molecular Postulate of Fluid-Originated Nanomaterial Liquid Flow in the Induced Magnetic Flux Regime
Authors: Hussain Azad , Rehman Aysha , Nadeem Sohail , Khan M. Riaz , Issakhov Alibek
Published: June 2021

The performance of mass transfer rate, friction drag, and heat transfer rate is illustrated in the boundary layer flow region via induced magnetic flux. In this recent analysis, the Buongiorno model is introduced to inspect the induced magnetic flux and radiative and convective kinetic molecular theory of liquid-initiated nanoliquid flow near the stagnant point. The energy equation is modified by radiation efficacy using the application of the Rosseland approximation. Through similarity variables, the available formulated partial differential equations are promoted into the nondimensional structure. The variation of the induced magnetic field near the wall goes up, and very far away, it decays when the size of the radiation characteristic ascends. The velocity amplitude expands by enlargement in the amount of the magnetic parameter, mixed convection, thermophoresis parameter, and fluid characteristic. The nanoparticle concentration reduces if the reciprocal of the magnetic Prandtl number expands. The temperature spectrum declines by enhancing the amount of the magnetic parameter. Drag friction decreases by the increment in the values of radiation and thermophoresis parameters. Heat transport rate increases when there is an increase in the values of Brownian and magnetic parameters. Mass transfer rate increases when there is incline in the values of the magnetic Prandtl and fluid parameter.
Prevalence of Hepatic Encephalopathy from a Commercial Medical Claims Database in the United States
Authors: Potnis Aniruddha , VanMeter Susan , Stange Jan
Published: June 2021

Introduction. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a complication of cirrhosis, is associated with increased healthcare resource utilization and mortality, and impaired quality of life. Information on the prevalence of HE in the US general population is limited. Methods. Prevalence of HE was estimated by sequential stepwise data analysis of the Symphony Health anonymized patient-level data (APLD) claims database. First,

patients
≥
18

years with International Classification of Diseases ninth/tenth edition, clinical modification (ICD-9/10-CM), and codes for cirrhosis from 2018 medical and hospital claims were used to estimate prevalence of cirrhosis within the data set and number of patients with cirrhosis in the US general population. Second, patients diagnosed with cirrhosis in the APLD data set from 2015–2016 with an HE ICD-9/10-CM code within 1 year of cirrhosis diagnosis were used to deduce the prevalence of HE within the data set and estimate the number of patients with HE in the US general population. Last, US DiagnosticSource data on serum ammonia level laboratory results measured within ±2 days of a confirmed HE event were merged with the APLD HE data set, then applied to the US general population. Results. Medical and hospital claims data were available for 272,256 patients with cirrhosis in 2018. An estimated 536,856 US adults had a diagnosis of cirrhosis (prevalence of 0.21%) in 2018. This proportion applied to the estimated number of patients with cirrhosis in the United States resulted in a prevalence estimate of 201,858 cirrhosis patients with HE in 2018. When factoring in serum ammonia data, prevalence was conservatively estimated as approximately 196,000 cirrhosis patients with HE and serum ammonia

levels
>
21
 
μ
mol
/
L

. Conclusions. In this longitudinal cohort–based study, it was estimated that ≈202,000 patients had HE in the United States in 2018, representing a considerable burden to society and payers.
Can Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Drive the Interdependence of Agricultural Commodity Prices? Evidence from Partial Wavelet Coherence Analysis
Authors: Frimpong Siaw , Gyamfi Emmanuel N. , Ishaq Zangina , Kwaku Agyei Samuel , Agyapong Daniel , Adam Anokye M.
Published: June 2021

This paper employed wavelet coherence and partial wavelet coherence to investigate the time‐frequency effect of global economic policy uncertainty on the comovement of five agricultural commodities such as maize, oat, rice, soybean, and wheat using monthly data from January 1997 to December 2019. In general, we observed heterogeneity in comovement structures of the agricultural commodities market at different time‐frequency scales which are profound at high frequencies from the bivariate wavelet coherence. The partial wavelet coherence analysis shows that global economic policy uncertainty is a driver of agricultural commodity market connectedness. This implies that extreme changes in economic policy uncertainty have the tendency to influence commodity price comovement. This poses risk to the stability of the agricultural commodities market, which requires the policymaker’s intervention to protect against the spillover risk contagion effect in uncertain times.
A Novel Machine Learning-Based Systolic Blood Pressure Predicting Model
Authors: Zheng Jiao , Yu Zhengyu
Published: June 2021

Blood pressure (BP) is a vital biomedical feature for diagnosing hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Traditionally, it is measured by cuff-based equipment, e.g., sphygmomanometer; the measurement is discontinued and uncomfortable. A cuff-less method based on different signals, electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmography (PPG), is proposed recently. However, this method is costly and inconvenient due to the collections of multisensors. In this paper, a novel machine learning-based systolic blood pressure (SBP) predicting model is proposed. The model was evaluated by clinical and lifestyle features (gender, marital status, smoking status, age, weight, etc.). Different machine learning algorithms and different percentage of training, validation, and testing were evaluated to optimize the model accuracy. Results were validated to increase the accuracy and robustness of the model. The performance of our model met both the level of grade A (British Hypertension Society (BHS) standard) and the American National Standard from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) for SBP estimation.
Prevalence of CTX‐M β‐Lactamases Producing Multidrug Resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae among Patients Attending Bir Hospital, Nepal
Authors: Koirala Sushma , Khadka Sujan , Sapkota Sanjeep , Sharma Suprina , Khanal Santosh , Thapa Alina , Khadka Dhruba Kumar , Poudel Pramod
Published: June 2021

The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria which is attributable to extended spectrum β‐lactamases (ESBLs) production of CTX‐M types is an obvious problem worldwide. This study is aimed at determining the prevalence of CTX‐M β‐lactamases producing multidrug resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae among patients attending Bir Hospital. A cross‐sectional study was conducted between April and September 2019 at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, and Department of Microbiology, National College, Kathmandu, Nepal. A total of 5,690 different clinical specimens were subjected to cultural, microscopic, and biochemical analyses for the identification of the isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was done, and MDR isolates were selected and processed for further ESBL confirmation by the combination disks method. All confirmed ESBL isolates were screened for CTX‐M type β‐lactamases (blaCTX-M) by PCR. Of the total 345 isolates (227 Escherichia coli and 118 Klebsiella pneumoniae), 232 were MDR. All 232 (67.24%) MDR isolates were suspected as ESBL producers on the screening test. However, on the phenotypic test, 135 (58.18%) of total MDR bacteria were confirmed as ESBL producers with the highest proportion in K. pneumoniae (59.37%). The major source of ESBL producers was urine. ESBL producing isolates were mostly identified from outpatients and patients belonging to age group 41‐60. Gentamicin was found to be effective against ESBL producers. The prevalence of blaCTX-M was (89.62%) with the highest frequency for E. coli (93.81%). High prevalence of ESBL of CTX‐M types among MDR E. coli and K. pneumoniae was detected from clinical specimens of patients in Bir Hospital. This study warrants the need for the judicious use of antibiotics as well as emphasize the use of modern diagnostic tools for the early detection of MDR and ESBL producers to curb the emergence and spread of MDR and ESBL producing bacteria in the clinical settings of Nepal.
Machine Learning of Schizophrenia Detection with Structural and Functional Neuroimaging
Authors: Shi Dafa , Li Yanfei , Zhang Haoran , Yao Xiang , Wang Siyuan , Wang Guangsong , Ren Ke
Published: June 2021

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe psychiatric illness, and it affects around 1% of the general population; however, its reliable diagnosis is challenging. Functional MRI (fMRI) and structural MRI (sMRI) are useful techniques for investigating the functional and structural abnormalities of the human brain, and a growing number of studies have reported that multimodal brain data can improve diagnostic accuracy. Machine learning (ML) is widely used in the diagnosis of neuroscience and neuropsychiatry diseases, and it can obtain high accuracy. However, the conventional ML which concatenated the features into a longer feature vector could not be sufficiently effective to combine different features from different modalities. There are considerable controversies over the use of global signal regression (GSR), and few studies have explored the role of GSR in ML in diagnosing neurological diseases. The current study utilized fMRI and sMRI data to implement a new method named multimodal imaging and multilevel characterization with multiclassifier (M3) to classify SZs and healthy controls (HCs) and investigate the influence of GSR in SZ classification. We found that when we used Brainnetome 246 atlas and without performed GSR, our method obtained a classification accuracy of 83.49%, with a sensitivity of 68.69%, a specificity of 93.75%, and an AUC of 0.8491, respectively. We also got great classification performances with different processing methods (with/without GSR and different brain parcellation schemes). We found that the accuracy and specificity of the models without GSR were higher than that of the models with GSR. Our findings indicate that the M3 method is an effective tool to distinguish SZs from HCs, and it can identify discriminative regions to detect SZ to explore the neural mechanisms underlying SZ. The global signal may contain important neuronal information; it can improve the accuracy and specificity of SZ detection.
Some Qualitative Analyses of Neutral Functional Delay Differential Equation with Generalized Caputo Operator
Authors: Boutiara Abdellatif , Matar Mohammed M. , Kaabar Mohammed K. A. , Martínez Francisco , Etemad Sina , Rezapour Shahram
Published: June 2021

In this paper, a new class of a neutral functional delay differential equation involving the generalized

ψ

-Caputo derivative is investigated on a partially ordered Banach space. The existence and uniqueness results to the given boundary value problem are established with the help of the Dhage’s technique and Banach contraction principle. Also, we prove other existence criteria by means of the topological degree method. Finally, Ulam-Hyers type stability and its generalized version are studied. Two illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the validity of our obtained results.
Metabolic and Epigenetics Action Mechanisms of Antiobesity Medicinal Plants and Phytochemicals
Authors: Saad Bashar , Ghareeb Bilal , Kmail Abdalsalam
Published: June 2021

Ever-growing research efforts are demonstrating the potential of medicinal plants and their phytochemicals to prevent and manage obesity, either individually or synergistically. Multiple combinations of phytochemicals can result in a synergistic activity that increases their beneficial effects at molecular, cellular, metabolic, and temporal levels, offering advantages over chemically synthesized drug-based treatments. Herbs and their derived compounds have the potential for controlling appetite, inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity, stimulating thermogenesis and lipid metabolism, increasing satiety, promoting lipolysis, regulating adipogenesis, and inducing apoptosis in adipocytes. Furthermore, targeting adipocyte life cycle using various dietary bioactives that affect different stages of adipocyte life cycle represents also an important target in the development of new antiobesity drugs. In this regard, different stages of adipocyte development that are targeted by antiobesity drugs can include preadipocytes, maturing preadipocytes, and mature adipocytes. Various herbal-derived active compounds, such as capsaicin, genistein, apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, docosahexaenoic acid, quercetin, resveratrol, and ajoene, affect adipocytes during specific stages of development, resulting in either inhibition of adipogenesis or induction of apoptosis. Although numerous molecular targets that can be used for both treatment and prevention of obesity have been identified, targeted single cellular receptor or pathway has resulted in limited success. In this review, we discuss the state-of-the-art knowledge about antiobesity medicinal plants and their active compounds and their effects on several cellular, molecular, and metabolic pathways simultaneously with multiple phytochemicals through synergistic functioning which might be an appropriate approach to better management of obesity. In addition, epigenetic mechanisms (acetylation, methylation, miRNAs, ubiquitylation, phosphorylation, and chromatin packaging) of phytochemicals and their preventive and therapeutic perspective are explored in this review.
Prediagnostic White Blood Cell DNA Methylation and Risk of Breast Cancer in the Prostate Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) Cohort
Authors: Sturgeon Susan R. , Sela David A. , Browne Eva P. , Einson Jonah , Rani Asha , Halabi Mohamed , Kania Thomas , Keezer Andrew , Balasubramanian Raji , Ziegler Regina G. , Schairer Catherine , Kelsey Karl T. , Arcaro Kathleen F.
Published: June 2021

Background:

White blood cell (WBC) DNA may contain methylation patterns that are associated with subsequent breast cancer risk. Using a high-throughput array and samples collected, on average, 1.3 years prior to diagnosis, a case–cohort analysis nested in the prospective Sister Study identified 250 individual CpG sites that were differentially methylated between breast cancer cases and noncases. We examined five of the top 40 CpG sites in a case–control study nested in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) Cohort.

Methods:

We investigated the associations between prediagnostic WBC DNA methylation in 297 breast cancer cases and 297 frequency-matched controls. Two WBC DNA specimens from each participant were used: a proximate sample collected 1 to 2.9 years and a distant sample collected 4.2–7.3 years prior to diagnosis in cases or the comparable timepoints in controls. WBC DNA methylation level was measured using targeted bisulfite amplification sequencing. We used logistic regression to obtain ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results:

A one-unit increase in percent methylation in ERCC1 in proximate WBC DNA was associated with increased breast cancer risk (adjusted OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.06–1.57). However, a one-unit increase in percent methylation in ERCC1 in distant WBC DNA was inversely associated with breast cancer risk (adjusted OR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.69–0.98). None of the other ORs met the threshold for statistical significance.

Conclusions:

There was no convincing pattern between percent methylation in the five CpG sites and breast cancer risk.

Impact:

The link between prediagnostic WBC DNA methylation marks and breast cancer, if any, is poorly understood.