bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic accuracy of ASQ for screening of neurodevelopmental delays in low resource countries
Authors: Manasyan Albert , Salas Ariel A , Nolen Tracy , Chomba Elwyn , Mazariegos Manolo , Tshefu Kitoto Antoinette , Saleem Sarah , Naqvi Farnaz , Hambidge K Michael , Goco Norman , McClure Elizabeth M , Wallander Jan L , Biasini Fred J , Goldenberg Robert L , Bose Carl L , Koso-Thomas Marion , Krebs Nancy F , Carlo Waldemar A
Published: May 2023

Objective

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) is the most used diagnostic tool to identify neurodevelopmental disorders in children under age 3 but is challenging to use in low-resource countries. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) is an easy-to-use, low-cost clinical tool completed by parents/caregivers that screens children for developmental delay. The objective was to determine the performance of ASQ as a screening tool for neurodevelopmental impairment when compared with BSID second edition (BSID-II) for the diagnosis of moderate-to-severe neurodevelopmental impairment among infants at 12 and 18 months of age in low-resource countries.

Methods

Study participants were recruited as part of the First Bites Complementary Feeding trial from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Guatemala and Pakistan between October 2008 and January 2011. Study participants underwent neurodevelopmental assessment by trained personnel using the ASQ and BSID-II at 12 and 18 months of age.

Results

Data on both ASQ and BSID-II assessments of 1034 infants were analysed. Four of five ASQ domains had specificities greater than 90% for severe neurodevelopmental delay at 18 months of age. Sensitivities ranged from 23% to 62%. The correlations between ASQ communications subscale and BSID-II Mental Development Index (MDI) (r=0.38) and between ASQ gross motor subscale and BSID-II Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) (r=0.33) were the strongest correlations found.

Conclusion

At 18 months, ASQ had high specificity but moderate-to-low sensitivity for BSID-II MDI and/or PDI <70. ASQ, when administered by trained healthcare workers, may be a useful screening tool to detect severe disability in infants from rural low-income to middle-income settings.

Trial registration number

NCT01084109.
Pregnant women’s attitudes to and experiences with a smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia: a qualitative descriptive study
Authors: Püschl Ida Catharina , de Wolff Mie Gaarskjaer , Broberg Lotte , Macklon Nick , Hegaard Hanne Kristine
Published: May 2023

Objectives

To explore attitudes to and experiences using a smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia among pregnant women.

Design

A qualitative, descriptive study.

Setting

An obstetrical care unit at a university hospital in Denmark.

Participants

Twenty women who had participated in the Salurate trial, a clinical trial testing the efficacy of a smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia, were purposefully chosen for the study, using maximum variation sampling.

Data collection and analysis

Data were collected by semistructured, individual, face-to-face interviews conducted from 4 October 2018 to 8 November 2018. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of thematic analysis.

Results

Qualitative thematic analysis resulted in the identification of three main themes: Raising awareness, self-testing has the potential to be an integrated part of pregnancy and trusting in technology. Two subthemes were identified under each main theme.

Conclusions

The smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia has potential to be integrated into antenatal care, and women found it feasible to use. However, testing affected the participating women psychologically, leading to feelings of worry as well as safety. Therefore, if self-testing is implemented, it is important to take actions to handle adverse psychological side effects, including increasing knowledge on pre-eclampsia and having healthcare professionals ongoingly address the psychological state of women throughout pregnancy. In addition, it is essential to emphasise the importance of subjective bodily sensations during pregnancy, including fetal movements. Further studies on the experience of being labelled low risk versus high risk for pre-eclampsia are warranted since this was not investigated in this trial.
Achieving a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040: a qualitative analysis of the tobacco advertising environment and prohibitions in Bangladesh
Authors: Tselengidis Arsenios , Adams Sally , Freeman Becky , Alam Syed Mahbubul , Astuti Putu Ayu Swandewi , Cranwell Jo
Published: May 2023

Objectives

This paper explores the Bangladeshi tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) legislative environment, to highlight any potential policy loopholes and to facilitate the identification of additional provisions for inclusion. The study also aimed to identify valuable lessons applicable to other low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods

We conducted a qualitative health policy analysis using the health policy triangle model to frame the collection and extraction of publicly available information from academic literature search engines, news media databases and websites of national and international organisations, published up until December 2020. We coded and analysed textual data using the thematic framework approach to identify themes, relationships and connections.

Results

Four themes underpin the Bangladesh legislative environment on TAPS: (1) engaging international actor interest in TAPS policies, (2) the incremental approach to TAPS policy-making, (3) time-sensitive TAPS monitoring data and (4) innovative TAPS monitoring and policy enforcement system. The findings highlight the role of international actors (such as multinational organisations and donors), tobacco control advocates and the tobacco industry in the policy-making process and the competing agendas they bring. We also outline the chronology of TAPS policy-making in Bangladesh and the existing loopholes and policy changes over time. Lastly, we describe the innovative approaches to TAPS monitoring and policy enforcement in Bangladesh to combat the tobacco industry marketing strategies.

Conclusion

This study highlights the role of tobacco control advocates as crucial in TAPS policy-making, monitoring and enforcement in LMICs, and identifies good practices for the sustainability of tobacco control programmes. However, it also points out that tobacco industry interference, coupled with increasing pressure on advocates and legislators, may block progress in tobacco endgame approaches.
Associations between lumbar bone mineral density, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and history of kidney stones in adults aged 30–69 years in the USA (NHANES 2011–2018)
Authors: Li Zeyu , Li Lei , Zheng Jianyi , Li Mingyang , Wu Siyu , Xin Kerong , Li Rong , Bai Song , Chen Xiaonan
Published: May 2023

Objectives

Most kidney stones contain calcium, which is closely associated with human bone health. Therefore, we aimed to determine the relationship between the history of kidney stones and human bone health. This study examined the associations between lumbar bone mineral density (BMD), serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) and a history of kidney stones in individuals aged between 30 years and 69 years.

Design and data analysis

A multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship between lumbar BMD, serum 25-OHD levels and kidney stones in this cross-sectional study. All models incorporated survey sample weights and were adjusted for covariates.

Setting

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2018. The exposure and outcomes of this study included the lumbar BMD and presence of kidney stones.

Participants

All the 7500 participants for this cross-sectional survey were selected from the NHANES between 2011 and 2018.

Main outcome measures

The main outcome of this study was the presence of kidney stones. The interviewers asked the questions on kidney stones while the respondents were at home, using a computer-assisted personal interview system.

Results

Lumbar BMD was negatively correlated with a history of kidney stones in all three multivariate linear regression models; the negative association existed in all genders after adjusting for all confounding factors. In the multiple regression analysis, there was an interaction between serum 25-OHD and lumbar BMD (p<0.05) regarding the influence on kidney stones; the negative association between lumbar BMD and kidney stones was more obvious in the higher 25-OHD group (≥50 nmol/L).

Conclusion

The study results suggest that maintaining a high lumbar BMD may reduce the incidence of kidney stone formation. Simultaneously, maintaining a high serum 25-OHD level may be more beneficial in preventing the occurrence or recurrence of stones while ensuring a high lumbar BMD.
Improving skin health of community-dwelling older people: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Kottner Jan , Fastner Alexandra , Lintzeri Dimitra-Aikaterini , Griffiths Christopher E. M. , Blume-Peytavi Ulrike
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Ageing is accompanied by an age-related decrease in mobility or cognitive and sensory functions; in addition, physiological changes in the skin occur with age. Therefore, the skin requires appropriate care and observation in order to prevent or manage a variety of dermatological diseases and conditions, and to prevent or minimise effects on the quality of life.

Globally, most older people live at home, and the need to establish sustainable structures and processes to support and to care for people at home for as long as possible has been emphasised. The body of evidence supporting screening, diagnosis and management of skin conditions in older people living at home has not been collated and summarised to date. The aim of this scoping review is to describe and summarise the extent and nature of the available body of evidence in this regard.

Methods and analysis

This scoping review will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Eligibility criteria were developed using the Population, Concept and Context framework, and the search will focus on systematic and scoping reviews as well as clinical practice guidelines. Two reviewers will conduct systematic searches, screen and select identified evidence as well as extract and chart data, independently. Finally, data will be systematically analysed and summarised descriptively to map existing evidence and identify gaps.

Ethics and dissemination

Due to the nature of research, not involving humans or unpublished secondary data, approval of an ethics committee is not required. The dissemination of findings is planned via professional networks and publication in scientific open access journals.
Improving patient experience by implementing an organisational culture model
Authors: Almohaisen Noha A , Alsayari Nayif M , Abid Muhammad Hasan , Al Subhi Nada Foud , Al Masoudi Aqeel , AlGhazali Ohood Saad , Woodman Alexander
Published: May 2023

A satisfactory patient care culture model can help improve most patients’ quality of care in a hospital. This study aims to improve patients’ experiences (PX) by implementing a culture model at King Abdul-Aziz Armed Forces Hospital in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. To achieve the research aim, a set of interventions were implemented that included a patient and family advisory council, empathy training, recognition of the PX, leadership–patient interviews, PX champions and quality improvement. These interventions were further measured using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey in the inpatient, outpatient and emergency departments. The improvement project was conducted in 2020, focusing mainly on transforming the culture and launching activities targeting specific touchpoints identified as priority areas. After making these changes, the hospital saw improvements in all patient relationships, with an average score across all dimensions collectively increasing by more than 4%. The quality improvement project using the PX culture model approach demonstrated significant improvements. In addition, employee involvement in patient care has become a significant factor in improving the quality of care. The critical elements for improving the PX and culture included recognising staff and creating networks across the system through effective leadership, employee engagement and engagement of patients and their families.
Impact of clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction in patients with elevated cardiac troponin
Authors: Gard Anton , Lindahl Bertil , Baron Tomasz
Published: May 2023

Objective

Type 2 myocardial infarction (MI) and myocardial injury are common conditions associated with an adverse prognosis. Physicians experience uncertainty how to distinguish these conditions, as well as how to manage and treat them. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare treatment and prognosis in patients with an adjudicated diagnosis of type 2 MI and myocardial injury, who were discharged with and without a clinical diagnosis of MI.

Design

The study consisted of two cohorts, 964 and 281 consecutive patients with elevated cardiac troponin, discharged with and without a clinical diagnosis of MI, respectively. All cases were adjudicated into MI type 1–5 or myocardial injury and followed regarding all-cause death.

Results

The adjudication identified 138 and 37 cases of type 2 MI, and 86 and 185 of myocardial injury, with and without a clinical MI diagnosis, respectively. In patients with type 2 MI, a clinical MI diagnosis was associated with more coronary angiography investigations (39.1% vs 5.4%, p<0.001) and an increased use of secondary prevention medications (all p<0.001). However, no difference was observed in adjusted 5-year mortality between patients with and without a clinical MI diagnosis (HR: 0.77 with 95% CI 0.43 to 1.38). The results were similar for adjudicated myocardial injury.

Conclusion

In both type 2 MI and myocardial injury, a clinical diagnosis of MI at discharge was associated with more investigations and treatments. However, no prognostic effect of receiving a clinical MI diagnosis was observed.
Induced position-dependent spin–orbit coupling in atomic Bose–Einstein condensate
Authors: Xu Qinzheng , Liu Tengyang , Zhang Yicai , Song Shuwei
Published: May 2023

In this paper, we study-induced spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in one-dimensional ultracold quantum gases composed of atoms of different species. One species is subjected to an equal combination of Rashba and Dresselhaus SOC generated by Raman transition. The two species interact with each other through spin-independent and spin-exchange contact interactions. The spin-exchange interaction introduces a locking pattern of the momentum and spin degrees of freedom for the species without direct SOC. For small spin-independent interactions, the two species overlap and the induced SOC is effective. For large spin-independent interactions, however, the two species keep separate from each other and the induced SOC is negligible. We propose to generate inhomogeneous SOC by exploiting density engineering technique applied to the directly spin–orbit coupled Bose–Einstein condensate. When the effective potential is of Gaussian type, the single-particle eigenenergies and eigenstates are calculated by exact diagonalization method. For general cases, mean-field ground states are obtained by numerically searching for the minimum of energy functional. With the density engineering technique, it is possible to produce hybrid structures of plane wave, stripe and/or zero-momentum phases.
An Approach for Automated Kannada Subtitle Generation from Kannada Video
Authors: Santosh  , Jenila Livingston L. M.
Published: May 2023

This paper presents an automated Kannada subtitle generator from Kannada video which is implemented to assist people with auditory problems for watching videos. Henceforth the subtitle generation has become an important task for supporting such special people and it integrates an audio extraction and a speech recognition module. Three phases of the proposed technique were implemented, such as extracting audio from video, Recognition of Speech and Generation of Subtitle. An adaptive speech recognition module is implemented AMFCC for feature extraction which was an alternative to the most commonly used FFT. Hankel transform which was similar to FFT, but includes no elementary particles such as FFT. In addition to it, in the decoder acoustic module, such as Adaptive Hidden Markov Model using the Baum-Welch algorithm is utilized instead of a Viterbi algorithm to reduce the computational time and memory usage. The text file from the speech recognition module is rendered to synchronize the missing offset with the video using parallel processing by defining the start time, the end time, the delay time. Best outcomes are demonstrated by the experimental results of the proposed technique with 98.4% of accuracy compare with existing techniques. The proposed technique which gives 3.8% better accuracy performance compare with existing technique i.e. MFCC, DNN and CNN.
Predicting Level Measurements by Supervised Learning Based on Gabor and Smote Filters: An Industrial Non-Interacting Tanks Scenario
Authors: Kalaiselvi B. , Karthik B. , Kumaravel A. , Vijayan T.
Published: May 2023

Fluid - Level measurement is required in recognizing the state variable of a Level processing plant for monitoring the level deviations in most the industrial plants. This issue has mostly been addressed by conventional methods using level sensors and level transmitters. However, the cost associated with these mechanisms can be reduced. It has been identified the chances with the applications machine learning approach in this scenario. Such a solution first of its kind is proposed and tried in this article. Gabor feature selection is established with SMOTE (Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique) to overcome the imbalanced data set to improve the accuracy performance using Weka software. This paper aims to construct a level predictor based on machine learning algorithms and to demonstrate the training and testing performance validated with more accuracy. At this juncture, we consider the fluid level images for analyzing and predicting the level measurement by building supervised models with selected classifiers like IBk, JRip, J48, and Random Forest machine learning algorithms. The java-implemented tool Weka is subjected to get the maximum accuracy of 76.4286% and weighted average ROC (Receiver Operator Characteristics) values of 0.903. Hence such smart measurements using Machine learning algorithms, part of Artificial intelligence provide us a vital role in measuring the level parameter in less time using image processing filters.
Vibration Control of a Continuous Beam Under Moving Load Using a Nonlinear Energy Sink
Authors: Ran Yisong , Guo Tieding , Qiao Wanzhi , Chen Hao , Kang Houjun
Published: May 2023

Vibration suppression of a simply supported beam under moving loads is investigated by employing a nonlinear energy sink (NES), which is an essential nonlinear (cubic) oscillator with a vanishing linear stiffness. Dynamic equations of the beam-NES coupled system are established and Galerkin method is applied to discretize the equations. By focusing on an energy dissipation index, an optimization procedure is employed and the optimal parameters of the NES are found. The results demonstrate that beam responses with a NES are reduced significantly compared to the case without NES. In particular, the NES can irreversibly transfer and dissipate vibration energy in a wide frequency range, which thus performs better than the classical linear tuned mass damper (TMD) through a further comparison study.
Detection and recognition of dim and small targets in sea clutter background based on polarization decomposition
Authors: Wang Rui , Li Xiangyang , Wang Bei , Ma Hongguang , Zhang Zhili
Published: May 2023

The consideration of the polarization scattering characteristics of radar echo in the detection of small and dim targets in a sea clutter background leads to high detection probability and high recognition accuracy. In this study, a target detection method based on canonical polar decomposition (CPD) was developed. In particular, a polarization matrix T was constructed for the radar echo of each range bin; the absolute value A and phase [Formula: see text] of T were extracted; the diagonal elements of the characteristic matrix H were extracted and converted into the singular spectrum form; and the negative entropies [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of the singular spectrum were calculated. We set [Formula: see text]; then, the negative entropy value [Formula: see text] of each range bin was obtained, and the range bin of the minimum value was identified, which was the target position. Thereafter, a seven-component scattering power decomposition (7SD) was performed on T. The basic scattering structure of the target was analyzed, and a polar feature description word (PFDW) was formed to recognize the target characteristics. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified by using the sea clutter dataset obtained with the IPIX radar. The comparison with the statistical model-based method is also made for indicating the advantage of the proposed method.
Application of Intelligent Image Recognition and Digital Media Art in the Inheritance of Black Pottery Intangible Cultural Heritage
Authors: Yin Jie
Published: May 2023

With the development of science and technology, intelligent image recognition and digital media art are gradually applied to the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. In the inheritance of black pottery, intelligent image recognition can help identify the authenticity and age of black pottery, and digital media art can inject new vitality into black pottery culture. Digital media, which combines digitalization and mediaization, breaks down the limitations of traditional media and provides ideological and technical guarantees for the reconstruction, dissemination, and promotion of intangible cultural heritage protection. Image recognition technology is no longer limited to the auxiliary detection of images; on the contrary, it has become a recording and collection tool. With the promotion and development of science and technology, it can be more widely shared and disseminated in time and space. In this article, the traditional machine learning algorithm and the intelligent learning algorithm are compared in image recognition, and the image information recognition rate, the number of iterations, the training time, and the information loss rate are compared in four aspects. The results have found that, compared with the traditional learning algorithm, the number of iterations of the intelligent learning algorithm is reduced by 20%, the training time is reduced by 40%, the information loss rate is reduced by 6.3%, and the recognition accuracy rate is improved by 6.1%, which showed that under the current technology, intangible cultural heritage can be better inherited, and Chinese culture can be better promoted, so that more people can understand and join in the protection of intangible cultural heritage.
Construction of English Speech Recognition Model by Fusing CNN and Random Deep Factorization TDNN
Authors: Qiu Shi
Published: May 2023

In current society, speech recognition can perform a variety of functions, such as completing voice commands, enabling speech processing, spoken language translation and facilitating communication. Therefore, the study of speech recognition technology is of high value. However, current speech recognition techniques focus on among clearly expressed spoken words, which poses great challenges for recognition with spoken pronunciation or dialect pronunciation. Some scholars currently use a model combining time-delay neural networks and long and short-term memory networks to build speech recognition systems, but the performance in acoustic recognition is poor. Therefore, the study proposes a convolutional neural network (CNN), time-delay neural network (TDNN) and output-gate projected Gated recurrent by analyzing the deep neural network unit (OPGRU) combined with a composite English speech recognition model. The model can optimize the acoustic model after the introduction of CNN, and the model can accurately recognize pronunciation features and make the model have a wider recognition range. The proposed composite model is compared with the Word error rate (Wer) and runtime metrics in the Mozilla Common Voice dataset. The Wer result of the composite model is 23.42% and the running time is 1418 s. The Wer result of the composite model is 24.61% and the running time is 1385 s. Compared with the TDNN-OPGRU model, the Wer of the composite model decreases by 1.19% but the running time increases by 33 s. The accuracy of the composite model is higher than that of the TDNN-OPGRU model. From a comprehensive consideration, the speech recognition model accuracy has higher priority, so the composite model proposed in the study has better performance.
Obfuscating the Dataset: Impacts and Applications
Authors: Yu Guangsheng , Wang Xu , Sun Caijun , Yu Ping , Ni Wei , Liu Ren Ping
Published: May 2023

Obfuscating a dataset by adding random noises to protect the privacy of sensitive samples in the training dataset is crucial to prevent data leakage to untrusted parties when dataset sharing is essential. We conduct comprehensive experiments to investigate how the dataset obfuscation can affect the resultant model weights —in terms of the model accuracy, ℓ
2
-distance-based model distance, and level of data privacy—and discuss the potential applications with the proposed Privacy, Utility, and Distinguishability (PUD)-triangle diagram to visualize the requirement preferences. Our experiments are based on the popular MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets under both independent and identically distributed (IID) and non-IID settings. Significant results include a tradeoff between the model accuracy and privacy level and a tradeoff between the model difference and privacy level. The results indicate broad application prospects for training outsourcing and guarding against attacks in federated learning both of which have been increasingly attractive in many areas, particularly learning in edge computing.
ICT Interactions and COVID-19 – A Theorization Across Two Pandemic Waves
Authors: Killoran Jayson Andrew , Jenkin Tracy A. , Manseau Jasmin
Published: May 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic instigated the rapid shift to remote work and virtual interactions, constituting a new normal of professional interaction over information and communication technologies (ICT), such as videoconferencing platforms, email, and mobile devices. While ICT may provide many benefits for remote work, such as flexibility, reductions in travel time, and geographical interaction, ICT may also contribute to increases in job strain, reductions in social interactions, and the decline of mental health. While reliance on ICT for remote work interactions is becoming the new normal of organizational activity, scholarly appreciation of the stages in which employees, particularly educators, enact interactions over ICT is limited. Further, the intensity of the pandemic is unlike anything management scholars have studied before, and previous research into ICT use offers little insight into how ICT behaviors evolve over time. Our research explores how educators enact ICT interactions with students throughout the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted 24 open-ended interviews with educators to learn about their experiences shifting to ICT for virtual classes. We found that ICT interactions between educators and students are enacted through two sequential, interrelated stages:divergent interaction behaviorsandconvergent interaction behaviors, with each stage corresponding to the first and second waves of the pandemic. We delineate the phases within each enacting stage of ICT interaction and conjecture that future use of ICT may include iterative cycles of divergent and convergent interaction behaviors, particularly if educators explore how to leverage ICT in more creative ways. Our research presents a theorization of ICT interaction as an increasingly prevalent form of IT-enabled educational interactions and communication. We provide insight into how educators successfully shifted to ICT use for remote work, and we offer implications for the facilitation of hybrid work arrangements in educational settings using ICT.
Data-driven Energy-efficient Adaptive Sampling Using Deep Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Demirel Berken Utku , Chen Luke , Al Faruque Mohammad Abdullah
Published: May 2023

This article presents a resource-efficient adaptive sampling methodology for classifying electrocardiogram (ECG) signals into different heart rhythms. We present our methodology in two folds: (
i
) the design of a novel real-time adaptive neural network architecture capable of classifying ECG signals with different sampling rates and (
ii
) a runtime implementation of sampling rate control using deep reinforcement learning (DRL). By using essential morphological details contained in the heartbeat waveform, the DRL agent can control the sampling rate and effectively reduce energy consumption at runtime. To evaluate our adaptive classifier, we use the MIT-BIH database and the recommendation of the AAMI to train the classifiers. The classifier is designed to recognize three major types of arrhythmias, which are supraventricular ectopic beats (SVEB), ventricular ectopic beats (VEB), and normal beats (N). The performance of the arrhythmia classification reaches an accuracy of 97.2% for SVEB and 97.6% for VEB beats. Moreover, the designed system is 7.3× more energy-efficient compared to the baseline architecture, where the adaptive sampling rate is not utilized. The proposed methodology can provide reliable and accurate real-time ECG signal analysis with performances comparable to state-of-the-art methods. Given its time-efficient, low-complexity, and low-memory-usage characteristics, the proposed methodology is also suitable for practical ECG applications, in our case for arrhythmia classification, using resource-constrained devices, especially wearable healthcare devices and implanted medical devices.
Recent Developments in Ultralarge and Structure-Based Virtual Screening Approaches
Authors: Gorgulla Christoph
Published: May 2023

Drug development is a wide scientific field that faces many challenges these days. Among them are extremely high development costs, long development times, and a small number of new drugs that are approved each year. New and innovative technologies are needed to solve these problems that make the drug discovery process of small molecules more time and cost efficient, and that allow previously undruggable receptor classes to be targeted, such as protein–protein interactions. Structure-based virtual screenings (SBVSs) have become a leading contender in this context. In this review, we give an introduction to the foundations of SBVSs and survey their progress in the past few years with a focus on ultralarge virtual screenings (ULVSs). We outline key principles of SBVSs, recent success stories, new screening techniques, available deep learning–based docking methods, and promising future research directions. ULVSs have an enormous potential for the development of new small-molecule drugs and are already starting to transform early-stage drug discovery.
Two Sides of the Same Coin: Efficient and Predictive Neural Coding
Authors: Manookin Michael B. , Rieke Fred
Published: May 2023

Some visual properties are consistent across a wide range of environments, while other properties are more labile. The efficient coding hypothesis states that many of these regularities in the environment can be discarded from neural representations, thus allocating more of the brain's dynamic range to properties that are likely to vary. This paradigm is less clear about how the visual system prioritizes different pieces of information that vary across visual environments. One solution is to prioritize information that can be used to predict future events, particularly those that guide behavior. The relationship between the efficient coding and future prediction paradigms is an area of active investigation. In this review, we argue that these paradigms are complementary and often act on distinct components of the visual input. We also discuss how normative approaches to efficient coding and future prediction can be integrated.
Orbital Hybridization and Hypersensitivity of Eu3+ in YXO4 (X=P, As, V)
Authors: Srivastava A. M. , Brik M. G. , Beers W. W. , Lou B. , Ma C.-G. , Piasecki M. , Cohen W. E.
Published: May 2023

A comparative study of Eu3+ ion luminescence in YXO4 (X=P, As, V) with the tetragonal zircon structure is conducted in relation to the intensity of the hypersensitivity 5D0 → 7F2

Δ
J
=
2

transition. Both the asymmetry ratio,

R
=

I

5

D

0

−

7

F

2

I

5

D

0

−

7

F

1

,

and the Judd-Ofelt Ω2 intensity parameter increases in the order YPO4 < YAsO4 < YVO4. This correlation is interpreted qualitatively in terms of the covalency and polarizability of (XO4)3−, which increases in the order (PO4)3− < (AsO4)3− < (VO4)3−. The trend is supported by the results of electronic band structure calculations of the three compounds which establish the strength of hybridization between the X cation and the oxygen 2p states. The electronic structure of YAsO4 is calculated to probe the covalence of As–O bonding. The increasing oscillator strength of the Eu3+5D0 → 7F2 transition in going from YPO4 to YAsO4 to YVO4 is consistent with the expectation of ligand dipolar polarization model for hypersensitivity which states that the oscillator strength of the 5D0 → 7F2 transition is proportional to the square of the ligand dipolar polarizability. The connection between the mechanism of hypersensitivity and second harmonic generation (SHG) is presented.
A K-Band Series-Fed WR42 Waveguide Horn Array with Beam Squint Reduction through Shunt Delay Sections
Authors: Simonovic Alexander , Stander Tinus
Published: May 2023

Series feeds are commonly used in antenna arrays because of their compact size and low loss compared to corporate feeds but typically feature beam squint over wide bandwidths. This work proposes a series-fed waveguide horn array with reduced beam squint by introducing synthesized time delay sections between the horns and the feed line. The array, implemented in a WR42 waveguide, achieves 1.53° beam squint over a 4 GHz operating band, compared to 10.52° for a reference design without time delay compensation.
Study on the Mechanism of Jiaotai Pill Intervention on Insomnia Animal Model Based on Gut Microbiome and Metabolomics
Authors: Yang Yang , Liu Jiao , Ou Haosong , Ma Xin , Li Jia , Shao Binghao , Jin Ruyi , Zhao Junyun
Published: May 2023

Background. With the continuous advancement of clinical application and experimental research of JTP, the application prospect of JTP in nervous system diseases and metabolic diseases is becoming increasingly clear. Jiaotai Pill (JTP) is a traditional Chinese medicine formula for insomnia, consisting of Coptidis rhizoma and Cinnamomi cortex, which dates back to Han Shi Yi Tong in the Ming Dynasty of China. Objective. Based on the brain‐gut axis theory, this paper aims to explore the potential mechanism of JTP in the intervention of insomnia by using intestinal microbiome and metabolomics technology, taking the animal model of insomnia as the research object, so as to provide experimental basis for its further application and research. Methods. The insomnia mouse model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of para‐chlorophenylalanine (PCPA). The clinical equivalent dose of JTP was administered by gavage for one week. The efficacy of JTP was evaluated by behavioral tests, serum biochemical detection, and brain histomorphological observation. The contents of cecum were analyzed by microbiomics and metabolomics. Results. The results show that insomnia caused by PCPA led to daytime dysfunction, higher HPA axis hormone levels, and morphologically impaired hippocampus. JTP reversed these anomalies. Omics research indicates that JTP significantly reduced gut α diversity; at the phylum level, JTP reduced the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Deferribacterota, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteriota and increased the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobiota, Proteobacteria, and Desulfobacterota. At the genus level, JTP reduced the relative abundance of Muribaculaceae, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Alistipes, Colidextribacter, Muribaculum, and Mucispirillum and increased the relative abundance of Bacteroides and Akkermansia. JTP also reversed the activation of the linoleic acid metabolism pathway induced by insomnia. The combined analysis of omics suggests that JTP may play a role by regulating the inflammatory state of the body. Further gene expression analysis of brain tissue confirmed this. Conclusions. We hypothesize that JTP may achieve insomnia relief by eliminating inflammation‐causing bacteria in the gut and reducing inflammation levels through the brain‐gut axis, pointing to potential targets and pathways for future research on JTP.
Exploring the Clinical Benefits of Mixed‐Reality Technology for Breast Lumpectomy
Authors: Zhang Yongfeng , Lu Yuanyuan , Li Junlai , Huang Bangjun , He Xuan , Xiao Ruoxiu
Published: May 2023

This study determined the value of mixed‐reality (MR) technology for doctor‐patient communication, preoperative planning, intraoperative navigation, and tumor localization in treating patients with breast cancer. Fifty‐eight patients with breast space‐occupying lesions (16 benign and 42 malignant) who underwent breast lumpectomy at the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital of China were included in this study. The patients were randomly divided into the MR group and the computed tomography (CT) group. In the MR group, a 3D reconstruction of whole‐breast ultrasound was used to localize the spatial position of the breast lesion and was combined with the 3D reconstruction of breast MRI to determine the lesion boundaries. To improve the preciseness of surgery, a postoperative survey was conducted. The MR group exhibited a higher level of patient knowledge regarding the disease, treatment, and diagnosis (26.207 ± 1.698 points) than the CT group (19.228 ± 4.889 points) (T = 7.033; P < 0.01), and patient satisfaction with surgical results, treatment confidence, and communication methods (4.448 ± 0.572) was also higher than that of the CT group (3.172 4.448 ± 0.572) 0.602) (P < 0.05). In addition, doctors were significantly more satisfied with surgical planning and intraoperative localization when the MR technique was used (T = 8.273; P < 0.01). The use of MR technology in lumpectomy has improved patients’ understanding of surgical procedures and surgical results and has achieved positive results. This technique may provide clinical benefits.
Evaluation of the Awareness, Beliefs, and Psychological Impact of Patients with Alopecia Areata in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alzubaidy Basant A. , Banjar Tasneem A. , Almaghrabi Murouj A. , Alkidaiwi Shahad S. , Basfar Lena M. , Alzubaidy Khlood A. , Dhafar Safaa K. , Alharbi Aymen
Published: May 2023

Background and Aim. Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune hair disorder characterized by unpredictable noncicatricial patches of hair loss on the scalp or any hair-bearing area of the body. Patients’ understanding and perception of AA influence how they cope with hair loss. The current study aims to evaluate the awareness, beliefs, and psychological impact of patients with AA in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients diagnosed with AA at different hospitals. A total of 211 patients were included in the investigation between November 2021 and June 2022. The participants were subjected to a well-structured, Arabic-based, validated questionnaire. Results. More than half of the patients were men (54.0%) and single (50.7%). The most common age groups were 30 to 44 years (46.9%) and 18 to 29 years (36.0%). More than two-thirds of the participants (67.8%) had heard of AA before their diagnosis. Of these, the level of knowledge was low among 36.4%, medium among 42.0%, and high among 21.7%. Most of the patients believed that AA may be caused by genetic, nutritional, or health factors (77.3%) and that it is a serious health problem that necessitates treatment (64.0%). The most common psychological attributes caused by AA are feeling ashamed in front of other individuals (63.0%), anxiety (47.9%), and depression (36.0%). Conclusion. Our results show more than two-thirds of the participants were knowledgeable about AA. Most believed that the cause of AA is genetic, nutritional, or health factors and suffered negative psychological effects. According to our study, high levels of anxiety and depression are closely associated with AA patients, which affect their quality of life.
Diagenetic Facies and Their Controls on the Quality of Tight Sandstone Reservoirs: A Case Study from the Upper Paleozoic Gas Reservoir in the Eastern Ordos Basin, North China
Authors: Qin Xiaoli , Li Rongxi , Chen Lei , Jiao Kun , Cheng Jinghua , Khaled Ahmed , Yao Limiao , Chen Junnian
Published: May 2023

Diagenetic facies play a significant role in the evaluation and prediction of reservoirs as they comprehensively reflect the spatial distribution characteristics of deposition, diagenesis, and petrophysical properties. Based on the petrographic observation and considering pores, lithology, and diagenesis types, the diagenetic facies types were identified, and the pore evolution process and its influence on the quality of low permeability tight gas reservoirs were analyzed. The results show that six types of diagenetic facies were identified, including siliceous cementation intergranular pore facies (A), carbonate dissolution pore facies (B), matrix dissolution pore facies (C), clastic dissolution pore facies (D), matrix filling and strong compaction tight facies (E), and carbonate cementation and metasomatism tight facies (F). The evolution process of porosity shows that the restored original porosity is indicated to be between 34.2% and 36.0%. The average porosity loss caused by compaction was 17.1%, while the average porosity loss caused by cementation is 14.1%. The average porosity increased by 2.5% on diagenetic facies B, C, and D due to dissolution. Consequently, diagenetic facies A with weak compaction and diagenetic facies B, C, and D with strong dissolution are effective reservoirs with porosity greater than 6.6% and permeability greater than

0.25
−
0.6

×

10

−
3

 μm2. The distribution areas of A, B, C, and D are favorable areas for tight gas exploration and are important indicators for the prediction of tight gas in the Upper Paleozoic Shanxi Formation in the eastern Ordos Basin. This study provides a new petrographic method for reservoir prediction and exploration of natural gas, which has practical value and economic significance.
Investigation of Underlying Biological Association and Targets between Rejection of Renal Transplant and Renal Cancer
Authors: Chen Yinwei , Liu Zhanpeng , Yu Qian , Sun Xu , Wang Shuai , Zhu Qingyi , Yang Jian , Jiang Rongjiang
Published: May 2023

Background. Post-renal transplant patients have a high likelihood of developing renal cancer. However, the underlying biological mechanisms behind the development of renal cancer in post-kidney transplant patients remain to be elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the underlying biological mechanism behind the development of renal cell carcinoma in post-renal transplant patients. Methods. Next-generation sequencing data and corresponding clinical information of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA) database. The microarray data of kidney transplant patients with or without rejection response was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. In addition, statistical analysis was conducted in R software. Results. We identified 55 upregulated genes in the transplant patients with rejection from the GEO datasets (GSE48581, GSE36059, and GSE98320). Furthermore, we conducted bioinformatics analyses, which showed that all of these genes were upregulated in ccRCC tissue. Moreover, a prognosis model was constructed based on four rejection-related genes, including PLAC8, CSTA, AIM2, and LYZ. The prognosis model showed excellent performance in prognosis prediction in a ccRCC cohort. In addition, the machine learning algorithms identified 19 rejection-related genes, including PLAC8, involved in ccRCC occurrence. Finally, the PLAC8 was selected for further research, including its clinical and biological role. Conclusion. In all, our study provides novel insight into the transition from the rejection of renal transplant to renal cancer. Meanwhile, PLAC8 could be a potential biomarker for ccRCC diagnosis and prognosis in post-kidney transplant patients.
The Increasing Level of DKK-1 as a New Bone Formation Factor in Patients with Early Spondyloarthritis
Authors: Yuliasih Yuliasih , Permatasari Aghnia , Rahmawati Lita Diah , Wahyudi Mohammad Imam , Nisa’ Nabilatun
Published: May 2023

The role of dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK-1) in radiographic development may become a robust marker for early spondyloarthritis (SpA) diagnosis. This study aimed at determining the serum DKK-1 profile in patients with SpA and investigating its relationship with SpA progression. Supported by analyzing the BMD data which aims to affirm the potential of DKK-1 as a biomarker for early diagnosis of SpA, this research may become the early study to produce a robust tool to diminish the fatal impacts in SpA. This cross-sectional study included patients with SpA using ASAS 2010 criteria from Dr. Soetomo General Hospital, Indonesia. Collected data included patients’ general characteristics, disease duration, disease activity using ASDAS-CRP and ASDAS-ESR, serum DKK-1 levels, and BMD. The patients were classified as early SpA if the disease duration was ≤5 years and established SpA if the disease duration was >5 years, while the low BMD was indicated by Z score ≤ −2.00. The correlation was tested using the Spearman or Pearson test. The differences in patients’ characteristics among early and established SpA and also between low and normal BMD were tested using the unpaired T-test or the Mann–Whitney test. The serum DKK-1 levels in early SpA (7365 ± 2067 pg/dL) were significantly higher than those in established SpA (5360 ± 1054 pg/dL). Serum DKK-1 levels were also associated with disease duration (r = −0.370,

p
=
0.040

) and BMD at the total hip (r = 0.467,

p
=
0.028

). The differences in all patients’ clinical parameters were not found between patients with low BMD at any site and patients with normal BMD unless in the BMI (

p
=
0.019

). Our findings found DKK-1 as a potential diagnostic marker for early SpA. Early diagnosis may lead to rapid treatment to delay disease progression and prevent future impairment.