bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Increase in Lateral Length on Production Performance of Horizontal Thermal Wells
Authors: Izadi Hossein , Roostaei Morteza , Mahmoudi Mahdi , Hosseini Seyed Abolhassan , Soroush Mohammad , Rosi Giuseppe , Stevenson Jesse , Tuttle Aubrey , Sutton Colby , Leung Juliana , Fattahpour Vahidoddin
Published: March 2022

Drilling the horizontal wells was the beginning of unlocking the enormous potential of Western Canada oil-sands. However, several technical and operational challenges avoid the so-called extended reach Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) wells. The last few years drive to reduce Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) encouraged the development of key innovative tools to make long thermal wells a reality. SAGD pad development using maximum possible well-length has taken significant leaps in economical assessment of SAGD projects. The goal of this paper is investigating the impact of Flow Control Devices (FCDs) on the overall performance of the long wells in SAGD projects.

In this paper, seven major thermal projects in Western Canada were investigated. Production history of all the wells is normalized by the variation of the geological condition, operational parameters, and well length. Following a convention in the industry, the wells with lateral length longer than 850 meters are labeled as "long" and those shorter than 850 meters are labeled as "short". Eventually, normalized oil production by long wells completed or retrofitted with FCDs is compared with those without FCDs to supply insight on the role of completion design on relative performance of drilling long wells. The comparison has been conducted with respect to different completion types such as Liner or Tubing Deployed FCDs (LDFCD or TDFCDs).

On average, long wells produced 2% more normalized oil compared to short wells for all projects, while they produced on average 16% more normalized oil in the projects 1, 2, 6, and 7 in which long wells successfully drilled. The historical production performances show that FCDs are the key enablers and innovative strategy to drill longer wells. For successful long wells with FCDs, the normalized oil production is improved as high as 81%, and the improvement rate is 108% and 10% for LD and TD FCDs, respectively. Furthermore, the completion strategy of combining long wells with FCDs improved the normalized oil production about 33% compared to short wells. This study shows that switching from short wells to long wells in SAGD projects and completing them with FCDs is a synergic approach to increase the oil production (33%).

The results of this paper confirmed that drilling long wells with FCDs is a win-win strategy resulted in more oil production compared to long/ short wells without FCDs; since CAPEX is reduced by long wells and oil production is increased by FCDs. The results also help completion and production engineers to get a better understanding of the contribution of FCDs in long lateral wells.
Natural Mathematical Derivation of the Gibbs-Duhem Equation
Authors: Liu Ying , Liu Yue , Drew Michael GB.
Published: March 2022

A long-standing scientific problem about ΔG and ∂G/∂ξ, involving the Gibbs-Duhem equation, demonstrates that wrong concepts are sometimes dominant in the literature even though corrections are readily available. This fact shows that the Gibbs-Duhem equation and especially its applications are among the most difficult topics in thermodynamics. Moreover, it demonstrates that there are often weak points in existing methods which necessitate new perspectives. There exist several different derivations of the Gibbs-Duhem equation. A novel mathematical derivation of the equation is developed here and is demonstrated to be more natural, direct, and intuitive than its thermodynamics counterpart. Different perspectives of mathematical and thermodynamic derivations are illustrated along with discussions concerning methods for solving specific scientific problems. The introduction of different self-consistent methods to solve a specific problem is vital in providing researchers with a variety of perspectives, thus, Legendre transformations are used here to introduce thermodynamic functions since the method is unfamiliar to many researchers in this field, also because it is a good method
A Longitudinal Study on Digital Filtering in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alharbi Fatemah , Faloutsos Michalis , Abu-Ghazaleh Nael
Published: March 2022

In the space of Internet filtering, we make a rare positive observation: Saudi Arabia has been opening its digital borders since 2017 in a deliberate new era towards openness. Internet filtering is routinely used by institutions to restrict access to websites and services that promote content that is deemed inappropriate with respect to governing laws, values, or policies. Here, we present a comprehensive longitudinal study of digital filtering, which we define to include both mobile apps and website access, in Saudi Arabia over a period of three years. Our results show that Saudi Arabia has indeed made significant progress towards opening its digital borders: (a) the use of mobile applications has been significantly permitted; and (b) web access has become more open. Specifically, we monitor access to: (a) 18 social media and communications mobile apps such as WhatsApp, Facetime, and Skype; and (b) Alexa’s top 500 websites in 18 different categories. First, we find that our mobile app group was completely blocked in 2017, but access was permitted to 67% in 2018, 93% in 2019, and all, except WeChat, in 2020. Second, we conduct measurements from multiple vantage points covering the three largest telecommunications companies in Saudi Arabia: Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Mobily (owned by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates), and Zain (from Kuwait), and four major cities in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, and Al-Khobar. Our results show that Internet filtering decreased by 3.4% and 2.2% in Adult and Shopping respectively, which are the most two blocked categories. Finally, we find that changes in the filtering policy reflect the wider geopolitical dynamics of the region. For instance, we find that filtering rules emerge for: (a) ISIS-friendly sites in 2020, and (b) news sites from Qatar in 2017, Iran in 2018, and Turkey in 2020, in response to diplomatic tensions. Finally, we investigate and characterize the technical mechanisms and the network topology used in the implementation of the filtering.
Performance Analysis of Multi-hop Token Relay Strategy in HF Networks
Authors: Madani Mohammad Hossein , Gholipoor Pooriya , Poursajadi Sajad
Published: March 2022

High Frequency (HF) tactical link is one of the most widely used types of long-range telecommunication. Media Access Control (MAC) protocols play a pivotal role in HF network management by affecting data transmission. STANAG 5066 in its 3rd edition recommends HF Wireless Token Ring Protocol (HFWTRP) as a MAC protocol with some features dedicated to HF networks. To deal with temporary link interruption as a natural specification in the HF channel, Relay strategy in HFWTRP is proposed to provide better throughput under this situation. Even though one-hop relay is considered in STANAG, multi-hop relay can retain throughput in more link outages when there are mobile nodes or variable environment like weather changes. Based on the algorithm of the relay in STANAG, a loop in multi-hop relay should be found which can be a detrimental effect on the network and can be solved by adding some bits as relay controller in management frame of HFWTRP. This paper presents a proper evaluation on effect of one-hope relay in the Quality of Service (QoS) of HF networks. Additionally, two-hope relay as a multi-hop relay in the HFWTRP based on the proposed solution for loop creation are simulated and analysed too. The results obtained by NS3 simulator show that two-hop relay in long duration of link outages like 90% probability of disconnection gives 700 bps more throughput with acceptable mean delay vs one-hop relay.
Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Probio-M9 Extends the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Sun Tian , zhang Jun , Zhao Yan , Sun Zhihong
Published: March 2022

Probiotics have been characterized as useful for maintaining the balance of host gut flora and conferring health effects, but few studies have focused on their potential for delaying aging in the host. Here we show that Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Probio-M9 (Probio-M9), a healthy breast milk probiotic, enhances the locomotor ability and slows the decline in muscle function of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Through attachment to the intestines, Probio-M9 significantly extends the lifespan of C. elegans in a dietary restriction-independent manner. By screening various aging-related mutants of C. elegans, we find that Probio-M9 activates the p38 cascade and daf-2 signaling pathways. Probio-M9 protects and repairs damaged the mitochondria by activating mitochondrial unfolded protein response. We also find that the metabolism of amino acids, sphingolipid, galactose and fatty acids were significantly increased. These changes in metabolites might be involved in extending the lifespan of C. elegans. We reveal Probio-M9 as a dietary supplementation had the potential to delay aging in C. elegans. Similar beneficial effects of Probio-M9 on the human healthspan, such as delaying the occurrence of age-related chronic diseases, might be expected.
Mycotic Keratitis in Eastern India: Report of a Decade
Authors: Majumder Ashis , DUTTA JAYANTA , Jain Sneha , Ghosh Asim Kumar
Published: March 2022

PurposeThis study aimed to identify the spectrum of the causative organisms of fungal keratitis and to estimate the disease burden in Eastern India for last 10 years.MethodPatients with microbial keratitis attended the cornea service of the tertiary care hospital in West Bengal were screened for Mycotic Keratitis by 10%KOH and culture in Dextrose Sabouraud’s Agar from 2010 till 2019. Data were collected from electronic data set, Outpatient and Inpatient department tickets and analysed for epidemiological features in retrospective fashionResultsWithin 3307 clinically suspected fungal keratitis cases, 1287 (38.92 %) cases were direct microscopy confirmed. Out of 1287 microscopic positive cases 811 (63.01%) were culture positive. In culture positive cases highest was Aspergillus (n = 371, 45.75%) followed by Fusarium (n = 171, 21.09%), Candida (n = 127, 15.86%), and Curvularia (n = 80, 9.86%). Male predominance (62.15%) reported. Peak of infection noted in post-monsoon season. Prominent geographical variation found in this study. Trauma with vegetative matter found to be most common cause in case of Aspergillus (P = 0.009). Candida infection was significantly seen in immuno-compromised patient (P = 0.002). Curvularia found to have highest time to heal (40.83 ± 19.59 days). In all 404 (49.81%) required therapeutic keratoplasty.ConclusionFungal keratitis is a very common cause of corneal blindness in Eastern India, in which Aspergillus is the most common organism and trauma by vegetative matter is the most common risk factor. The spectrum of the causative organisms is very broad due to diverse climatic condition of West Bengal.Trial registration number and date: CTRI/2020/12/029767, REGISTERED ON 14/12/2020, CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY -INDIA.
Perspectives of health service providers in delivering best-practice care for mothers and their Aboriginal babies during the postnatal period.
Authors: Jones Jocelyn , Durey Angela , Strobel Natalie , McAuley Kimberley , Edmond Karen , Coffin Juli , McAullay Daniel
Published: March 2022

Background Evidence suggests that Aboriginal babies in Western Australia are not receiving adequate primary health care in their first three months of life, leading to questions about enablers and constraints to delivering such care. This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project investigating health providers’ perceptions and experiences of best and current practice in discharge planning, postnatal care and health education for mothers and their Aboriginal newborn babies.Methods Constructivist grounded theory guided this research involving 58 semi-structured interviews conducted with health providers who deliver care to Aboriginal mothers and infants. Participants were recruited from hospital-based and primary health sites in metropolitan Perth, and regional and remote locations in Western Australia. Results Structural factors enabling best practice in discharge planning, postnatal care, and health education for mothers included health providers following best practice guidelines and adequate staffing levels. Organisational enablers included continuity of care throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatally. In particular, good communication between services around discharge planning, birth notifications, and training in culturally respectful care. Structural and organisational constraints to delivering best practice and compromising continuity of care were identified as beyond individual control. These included early discharge, poor communication between different health and social services, inadequate hospital staffing levels and cultural training, delayed receipt of birth notifications and discharge summaries received by Aboriginal primary health services. Conclusion. Findings highlight the importance of examining current policies and practices to promote best practice in postnatal care to improve health outcomes for mothers and their Aboriginal babies.
A catalytic mechanism for Renilla-type bioluminescence
Authors: Marek Martin
Published: March 2022

The widely used coelenterazine-powered Renilla luciferase was discovered over 40 years ago but the oxidative mechanism by which it generates blue photons remains unclear. Here we decipher Renilla-type bioluminescence through crystallographic, spectroscopic, and computational experiments. Structures of ancestral and extant luciferases complexed with the substrate-like analogue azacoelenterazine or a reaction product were obtained, providing unprecedented snapshots of coelenterazine-to-coelenteramide oxidation. Bound coelenterazine adopts a Y-shaped conformation, enabling the deprotonated imidazopyrazinone component to attack O2 via a radical charge-transfer mechanism. A high emission intensity is secured by an aspartate from a conserved proton-relay system, which protonates the excited coelenteramide product. Another aspartate on the rim of the catalytic pocket fine-tunes the electronic state of coelenteramide and promotes the formation of the blue light-emitting phenolate anion. The results obtained also reveal structural features distinguishing flash-type from glow-type bioluminescence, providing insights that will guide the engineering of next-generation luciferase‒luciferin pairs for ultrasensitive optical bioassays.
Benefit and risk of prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation in patients with chronic kidney disease: a nationwide cohort study
Authors: Hong Myeong-Ki , Kim Choongki , Choi Dong-Woo , Lee Seung-Jun , Suh Yongsung , Hong Sung-Jin , Ahn Chul-Min , Kim Jung-Sun , Kim Byeong-Keuk , Ko Young-Guk , Choi Donghoon , Park Eun-Cheol , Jang Yangsoo , Nam Chung-Mo
Published: March 2022

Purpose: The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not clearly established. This study purposed to compare clinical outcomes of patients with 6-12 (standard) versus 12-24 months (prolonged) DAPT according to CKD.Methods: Using a nationwide, claim-based database, we retrospectively evaluated association between DAPT duration and clinical outcomes including death, composite ischemic event, and composite bleeding event between 1 and 3 years after PCI. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73m2. Of 73,941 eligible patients, 13,425 (18.2%) had CKD and 49,019 (66%) were prescribed prolonged DAPT. Prolonged DAPT had no significant impact on the risk of clinical outcomes in patients with normal renal function.Results: In patients with CKD, prolonged DAPT was associated with a lower risk of all-cause death (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.76–0.95) and composite ischemic events (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.78–0.96) and a higher risk of composite bleeding events (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.02–1.37). Benefit of prolonged DAPT on reducing composite ischemic event increased significantly in patients with worsened renal dysfunction (Pinteraction=0.02) while there was no significant interaction between its bleeding risk and renal dysfunction (Pinteraction=0.22).Conclusion: While standard DAPT would be recommended in patients with normal renal function, tailored decision for DAPT duration would be considered in those with CKD to balance between ischemic and bleeding risks. Trial registration: ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT04715594).
Assessment of caries activity by using ORATEST among 4-12 years old children”: An observational study
Authors: Jawaid Umeed , Asghar Shama , Gul Meisha , Zafar Ayesha
Published: March 2022

Objective: To evaluate caries activity using simple chairside oral rinse test (Oratest) among school going children.Methodology: A total of 50 children aged between 4-12yrs meeting the inclusion criteria were selected and allocated into control group (25 children) and test group (25 children). The test group consisted of 25 children, which were further divided on the basis of no of carious teeth into three subgroups I (1-2 carious teeth), II (3-5 carious teeth) and III (7-9 carious teeth). Oratest was performed to check the existing caries status. The time taken to change Colour depicts the caries activity was recorded in structured proforma. Independent sample T-test and One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.Result: Out of total 50 children, 26 were female and 24 were male with a mean age of 6.74 ±2.20 yrs. The result reported significant difference in mean time for Colour change between control and test group. The Oratest time was highest in patients with less carious activity depicting an inverse relation exist between Oratest and caries activityConclusion: Oratest can be used to assess caries activity as a simple, inexpensive, chairside and less time consuming method. It can be of great help in paediatric dental setups for caries activity assessment as it is readily accepted by children.
HPV conversion rates after LEEP, cold-knife conization, and laser and drug therapy: A 4-year follow-up study
Authors: Yi Huan , Chen Fulian , Liu Shihuang , Chen Jingjing , Pan Diling , Lin Yanying , Zhang Shupei , Chen Yusha , Chen Jiancui , Zhang Yulong , Zhang Shaoyu , Zheng Xiangqin
Published: March 2022

Objective: To assess the clinical outcomes of women with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and cervical lesions after treatment with the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), cold-knife conization, laser and drug therapies.Methods: This retrospective study reviewed medical data from 215 women with HPV infection and cervical lesions, treated with LEEP [n=122 (56.74%)], cold-knife conization [n=24 (11.16%)], laser therapy [n=10 (4.66%)], or pharmacotherapy [n=59 (27.44%)], respectively, between October 2016 and August 2017 at Fujian Provincial Maternal and Children’s Health Hospital. The risk factors and clinical outcomes of HPV infection and cervical lesions were follow-up for at least 4 years. Furthermore, the Kaplan-Meier method was utilized to analyze the time to HPV regression after treatment.Results: Overall, 145 patients (67.44%) showed improvement after treatment. The efficacy of conization and LEEP in achieving short-term HPV conversion was significantly better than that of laser and drug treatment (26.43% vs. 5.01%, P=0.04). The study revealed that menopause[odds ratio (OR), 2.61, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.41-4.81, P=0.01];, high-risk HPV infection (OR, 3.6, 95% CI, 0.69-2.71, P=0.02) and a short follow-up (<6 months) (OR, 4.2, 95% CI, 0.31-8.09, P=0.02) were risk factors for poor treatment outcomes ;and OR, 3.25, 95% CI, 1.24-5.17, 2 P=0.01, respectively).Conclusions: Menopause affected outcomes in women with HPV infection. Conization was beneficial for short-term HPV conversion and may be indicated in individuals who were older than 50 years and had high-level cervical lesions and persistent HPV infection. The treatment of HPV infection with laser and pharmacological therapies needs more time.
Role of septoplasty as a stressor in p53 and dark neurons formation when septoplasty simulation in rats.
Authors: Khamidulin G. V. , Dyachenko Y. E. , Kostyaeva M. G. , Tsymbal A. A. , Kastyro I. V. , Startseva E. O. , Shilin S. S. , Shalamov K. P. , Popadyuk V. I. , Torshin V. I. , Mikhalskaia P. V.
Published: March 2022

The aim of this study was to determine the role of surgical stress on the formation of p53-positive and dark neurons (DN) in the hippocampus, and to examine the parallelism of their formation in the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus.Simulated septoplasty was performed on 20 Wistar rats. The hippocampus and dentate gyrus (DG) were examined, in which the number of DN and p53-positive neurons was determined at 2, 4 and 6 days after surgery.Compared with the control group (n = 5), the number of DN and p53-positive neurons increased in experimental animals at all periods. A direct relationship was obtained between the increase in the number of DN and p53-positive neurons in the hippocampal formation.Septoplasty simulation in rats results in the pathogenetic cascades onset, which, in its turn, changes the morpho-functional properties of neurons of the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus and contributes to their neuroplasticity. Activation of NMDS receptors of neurons during stress apparently, initiates two ways of neuron life – the beginning of p53 protein expression and the DN formation. Both ways can finally lead to apoptosis. The formation of dark neurons and the expression of the p53 protein in them are most likely to be interconnected and can probably provide neuroprotective mechanisms.
The Relationship Between Covid-19 Fear and Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Authors: Dehghani Maryam , Mousazadeh Noushin , Almasi Saeideh , Ahmadinia Hassan , Rezaee Hanie , Talebi Maryam , Hakimi Hamideh
Published: March 2022

Background: The coronavirus pandemic and health measures related to it have led to an increase in psychological crises. The relatively high incidence of the disease and its mortality has caused concern in society. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its relationship with obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients who attended the outpatient clinic of Besat Hospital in Hamadan.Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 320 patients who attended the outpatient clinic of Besat Hospital in Hamadan were selected by random sampling method in 2021. Data were collected using the Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19) questionnaire and obsessive-compulsive disorder scale and analyzed using Spss20 software. They were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient and independent t-test).Results: The mean ± SD age of the subjects was 34.14 ± 9.30 years and 65% of study subjects were women. The mean ± SD score of obsessive-compulsive disorder scale was 32.90 ± 19.87 and the mean ± SD score of fear of coronavirus was 16.82 ± 5.79. The contamination dimension of OCD had the highest score 9.04 ± 5.46 and stealing had the lowest score of 0.10 ± 0.49. The mean fear of corona in people who had a history of obsessive-compulsive disorder before the quarantine was significantly higher than those who did not have it (P = 0.002). Along with increasing fear of coronavirus score, the rate of obsessive-compulsive disorders increased except for stealing dimension (p <0.001).Conclusions: The results of the study showed that there was a moderate level of fear of corona among the study population. Also, a relatively high proportion of study subjects had a weak manifestation of OCD. It seems that two years after the beginning of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, people have adapted to the conditions, and their fear of the disease is reduced.
The Study Of Carbonyls Emissions And Ozone Removal On Green Recycled Building Materials
Authors: Cheng Yu-Hsiang , Lin Chi-Chi , Ke Kai-Jyun , Hsiao Chun Chan , Tsai Jheng Fong
Published: March 2022

Green recycled building materials (GRBMs) have potential to reduce carbon footprint but with insufficient emission information. The increasing application of GRBMs may affect human health due to potential primary and/or secondary emissions. This study center on the assessment of carbonyls emissions and ozone removal on Green Recycled Building Materials under ozone exposure circumstances. Tested materials include gypsum board (GB), waterproof gypsum board (WGB), fiber cement board (FCB), and calcium silicate board (CSB). Among all the observed carbonyls, methacrolein and formaldehyde were the only two that could be found on all four recycled building materials. All carbonyls compounds had relatively high emission factors at the beginning of the experiment and decreased to a relatively lower level one month later. Carbonyls emissions were about 33.3%、27.0%、59.2% and 7.0% of their original values for WGB, FCB, CSB, and GB, respectively. The ozone removal efficiencies at the beginning and one month later were 63.26±6.11% and 61.59±5.46% on CSB, 55.74±4.94% and 47.16±7.97% on FCB, 54.59±6.50% and 34.93±6.77% on GB, and 53.63±8.40% and 23.49±6.63% on WGB, respectively. CSB seems to be a healthier recycled building material compared with WGB, GB and FCB in terms of low carbonyls emissions and high ozone removal efficiency.
Model-driven understanding of CLIMP-63 structure and S-acylation
reveals fine tuning of ER morphology
Authors: Sandoz Patrick , Denhardt-Eriksson Robin , Abrami Laurence , Abriata Luciano , Spreemann Gard , Maclachlan Catherine , Ho Sylvia , Kunz Béatrice , Hess Kathryn , Knott Graham , Mesquita Francisco , Hatzimanikatis Vassily , Goot F. van der
Published: March 2022

The complex architecture of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) comprises distinct dynamic features, many at the nanoscale, that enable the coexistence of the nuclear envelope, regions of dense sheets and a branched tubular network that spans the cytoplasm. A key player in the formation of ER sheets is cytoskeleton-linking membrane protein 63 (CLIMP-63). The mechanisms by which CLIMP-63 coordinates ER structure remain elusive. Here, we addressed the impact of S-acylation, a reversible post-translational lipid modification, on CLIMP-63 cellular distribution and function. Combining native mass-spectrometry, with kinetic analysis of acylation and deacylation, and data-driven mathematical modelling, we obtained in depth understanding of the CLIMP-63 life-cycle. In the ER, it assembles into trimeric units. These occasionally exit the ER to reach the plasma membrane. However, the majority undergoes S-acylation by ZDHHC6 in the ER where they further assemble into highly stable super-complexes. Using super resolution microscopy and focused ion beam electron microscopy, we show that CLIMP-63 acylation-deacylation controls the abundance and fenestration of ER sheets. Overall, this study led to the discovery that dynamic lipid post-translational modifications can regulate ER architecture.
Acid-Base Buffering Feature of Camel Versus Cow’s Milk
Authors: Nozari Ali , Asadi Meisam , Farahmand Farzane , Mirsoleimani Seyed Hossein , Koraei Paria
Published: March 2022

Background: Dental caries is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases in the world. Buffering feature of saliva plays a significant role in preventing tooth decay. One of the most remarkable physicochemical features of milk is its buffering capacity. Due to the high incidence of cow’s milk allergy in infants and young children, camel milk can safely be used as an alternative; however, data about camel milk’s cariogenicity in children is lacking. This study aimed to investigate and compare the laboratory fermentation (pH reduction) of camel milk in contact with microbial plaque and saliva.Methods: Microbial plaque and saliva sampled from twenty-five 3-5 years old children were collected. Laboratory fermentation (PH reduction) of camel milk in contact with microbial plaque and saliva compared with cow’s milk after 4, 20, 30, and 60 minutes of incubation was investigated. Results: The present study showed that after incubation of both types of milk with sampled saliva and plaques, the pH started to gradually reduce with a linear incline pattern in camel milk but a faster cycloid-shaped reduction pattern in cow’s milk.Conclusion: The present study results showed that camel milk provides better oral health conditions than cow’s milk for children based on its resistance to the increase of acidity.
Risk Factors for Campylobacteriosis in Australia: Outcomes of a 2018–2019 Case-Control Study
Authors: Cribb D. M. , Varrone L. , Wallace R. L. , McLure A. T. , Smith J. J. , Stafford R. J. , Bulach D. M. , Selvey L. A. , Firestone S. M. , French N. P. , Valcanis M. , Fearnley E. J. , Sloan-Gardner T. , Graham T. , Glass K. , Kirk Martyn D.
Published: March 2022

Background
We aimed to identify risk factors for sporadic campylobacteriosis in Australia, and to compare these for Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli infections.
Methods
In a multi-jurisdictional case-control study, we recruited culture-confirmed cases of campylobacteriosis reported to state and territory health departments from February 2018 through October 2019. We recruited controls from notified influenza cases in the previous 12 months that were frequency matched to cases by age group, sex, and location. Campylobacter isolates were confirmed to species level by public health laboratories using molecular methods. We conducted backward stepwise multivariable logistic regression to identify significant risk factors.
Results
We recruited 571 cases of campylobacteriosis (422 C. jejuni and 84 C. coli) and 586 controls. Important risk factors for campylobacteriosis included eating undercooked chicken (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 70, 95% CI 13–1296) or cooked chicken (aOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1–2.8), owning a pet dog aged < 6 months (aOR 6.4, 95% CI 3.4–12), and the regular use of proton-pump inhibitors in the four weeks prior to illness (aOR 2.8, 95% CI 1.9–4.3). Risk factors remained similar when analysed specifically for C. jejuni infection. Unique risks for C. coli infection included eating chicken pâté (aOR 6.1, 95% CI 1.5–25) and delicatessen meats (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.0–3.3). Eating any chicken carried a high population attributable fraction for campylobacteriosis of 42% (95% CI 13–68), while the attributable fraction for proton-pump inhibitors was 13% (95% CI 8.3–18) and owning a pet dog aged < 6 months was 9.6% (95% CI 6.5–13). The population attributable fractions for these variables were similar when analysed by campylobacter species. Eating delicatessen meats was attributed to 31% (95% CI 0.0–54) of cases for C. coli and eating chicken pâté was attributed to 6.0% (95% CI 0.0–11).
Conclusions
The main risk factor for campylobacteriosis in Australia is consumption of chicken meat. However, contact with young pet dogs may also be an important source of infection. Proton-pump inhibitors are likely to increase vulnerability to infection.
Surface sulfation of crab chitin for anisotropic swelling and nanodispersion No. (will be inserted by the editor)
Authors: Nishiyama Yoshiharu , Wang Xijun , Chen Pan , Feng Xiao , Dang Chao , Lin Baofeng , Qi Haisong
Published: March 2022

Crab chitin was sulfated under heterogeneous conditions using sulfamic acid in N'N-dimethylformamide to selectively sulfate the microfibril surface. The degree of sulfation followed a first order kinetics assuming a limited available reaction sites on the surface, and leveled off at a bulk degree-of-substitution of 0.4, corresponding to 2 mol/kg of sulfate groups. The reaction rate was proportional to the square of sulfamic acid concentration, suggesting involvement of two sulfamic acid molecules in a reaction. When washed with water after sulfation, the crab shell chitin fragments swelled anisotropically in the helicoidal axis direction, revealing regular alternating birefringence under optical microscope. Further mechanical treatment with high-pressure homogenizer lead to slender nanofibrils, whose diameters were of the order of 6 nm according to turbidimetric analysis, in agreement with the Scherrer size estimated from X-ray diffraction line broadening. Both AFM and TEM measurement showed presence of further smaller fragments with diameter of 3-4 nm and length of ~300 nm. The current approach presents a rapid and efficient modification to chitin, and a strategy for the preparation of stable nanochitins suspension.
Integration Stability Analysis Of Nonlinear Model Predictive Motion Control For Autonomous Vehicles
Authors: Ge Linhe , Zhao Yang , Zhong Shouren , Shan Zitong , Ma Fangwu , Han Zhiwu , Guo Konghui
Published: March 2022

There has been a growing interest in nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for the motion control of autonomous driving. However, it is odd that integration stability has not been considered enough when developing these applications for autonomous driving. The stabilized explicit RungeKutta (RK) integration method is proposed in this paper to solve the integration stability problem in motion control of autonomous vehicles (AVs). In comparison with other explicit integration methods, this method provides a wider stable region and is more efficient than implicit integration methods. This integration method is integrated into the framework of offset free nonlinear MPC solver based on GRAMPC by us. As a result, the problem of computational stability at low speeds of motion control can be resolved. At the same time, a larger integration step size can be adopted, and nonlinear MPC becomes more computationally efficient. The results of simulation and real vehicle experiment results show that the problem of low-speed integration stability when using non-linear dynamic model as a prediction model is successfully solved, which has been ignored in many previous studies.
Does Environmental Information Disclosure Affect the Financial Performance of Commercial Banks? Evidence from China
Authors: Xi Bin , Dai Jiali , Liu Yun
Published: March 2022

The article uses hand-collected data regarding environmental information disclosure for Chinese 30 listed banks to investigate whether and how environmental information disclosure of banks affects the financial performance. We find that a more high-quality environmental information results in high financial performance and this effect is intertemporal, which means that the effect is more significant in the current period and one lagged period, while the effect is not significant in two lagged periods. The second major finding is that national banks have a more significant effect of environmental information disclosure on their financial performance compared to regional banks. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the regional green development environment moderates the relationship between environmental information disclosure and banks' financial performance.
DisiMiR: Predicting Pathogenic miRNAs Using Network Influence and miRNA Conservation
Authors: Wang Kevin , McGeachie Michael
Published: March 2022

Deadly diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer’s, are complex conditions with elusive cures that consistently form the leading causes of death globally every year. MiRNAs have been shown to play a powerful regulatory role in the progression of these diseases, forming promising novel drug targets. Current experimental methods, like differential expression analysis, can discover disease-associated miRNAs, yet many of these miRNAs play no functional role in disease progression. Interventional experiments used to discover disease-causing miRNAs can be time consuming and costly. We present DisiMiR: a novel computational method that predicts pathogenic miRNAs by inferring biological characteristics of pathogenicity including network influence and gene conservation. DisiMiR separates disease-causal miRNAs from merely disease-associated miRNAs and was accurate in four diseases: breast cancer (0.817 AUC), Alzheimer's (0.727 AUC), gastric cancer (0.843 AUC) and hepatocellular cancer (0.949 AUC). Additionally, DisiMiR can generate hypotheses effectively: 41.2% of its false positives that are mentioned in the literature have been confirmed to be causal. In this work, we show that DisiMiR is a powerful tool that can be used to efficiently and flexibly predict pathogenic miRNAs in an expression dataset, for the further elucidation of disease mechanisms and the potential identification of novel drug targets.
Evaluation of Sinapic acid to ameliorate ionizing radiation induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell death.
Authors: Mondol Prasenjit , Bose Adity , Chanda Sarmishtha
Published: March 2022

Abstract

The UV radiation is known as a potential environmental carcinogen which causes damages of macromolecules like DNA, RNA, lipid, and protein inside the cell and eventually causes cell death. Persons who chronically exposed to UV radiation due to occupational or environmental exposure have a potential risk to develop cancer of the skin and internal organs. Polyphenols have a promising role in scavenging reactive oxygen species developed in our body due to a variety of exposure including radiation. In the present study, we are therefore evaluating the role of sinapic acid (SA), a polyphenol, in scavenging UV radiation-induced generation of reactive oxygen species and eventual cell death. We have studied the biological activity of SA as a potential antioxidant on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells taken from human volunteers.

Methods

Graded concentration of SA in different solvent mediums was applied to UV exposed peripheral blood mononuclear cells for evaluating the best effective delivery system and concentration against UV radiation.

Result

After series of experiments, we have observed that even at 10 µM concentration, SA is effective against UV induced cellular death.

Conclusion

Finally, from this work we are inviting lots of works in this field to establish this molecule as a medicine to reduce radiation-induced cellular death.
Classification of Multi-Differentiated Liver Cancer Pathological Images Based on Deep Learning Attention Mechanism
Authors: Chen Chen , Chen Cheng , Ma Mingrui , Ma Xiaojian , Lv Xiaoyi , Dong Xiaogang , Yan Ziwei , Zhu Min , Chen Jiajia
Published: March 2022

Purpose
Liver cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, ranking fifth in malignant tumors. The degree of differentiation can reflect the degree of malignancy. The degree of malignancy of liver cancer can be divided into three types: poorly differentiated, moderately differentiated, and well differentiated. Diagnosis and treatment of different levels of differentiation are crucial to the survival rate and survival time of patients. As the gold standard for liver cancer diagnosis, histopathological images can accurately distinguish liver cancers of different levels of differentiation. Therefore, the study of intelligent classification of histopathological images is of great significance to patients with liver cancer. At present, the classification of histopathological images of liver cancer with different degrees of differentiation has disadvantages such as time-consuming, labor-intensive, and large manual investment. In this context, the importance of intelligent classification of histopathological images is obvious.
Methods
Based on the development of a complete data acquisition scheme, this paper applies the SENet deep learning model to the intelligent classification of all types of differentiated liver cancer histopathological images for the first time, and compares it with the four deep learning models of VGG16, ResNet50, ResNet_CBAM, and SKNet. The evaluation indexes adopted in this paper include confusion matrix, Precision, recall, F1 Score, etc. These evaluation indexes can be used to evaluate the model in a very comprehensive and accurate way.
Results
Five different deep learning classification models are applied to collect the data set and evaluate model. The experimental results show that the SENet model has achieved the best classification effect with an accuracy of 95.27%. The model also has good reliability and generalization ability. The experiment proves that the SENet deep learning model has a good application prospect in the intelligent classification of histopathological images,
Conclusions
This study also proves that deep learning has great application value in solving the time-consuming and laborious problems existing in traditional manual film reading, and it has certain practical significance for the intelligent classification research of other cancer histopathological images.
Reducing food’s resource and climate footprints via food waste upcycling
Authors: Dou Zhengxia , Wang Yingcheng , Ying Hao , Darko Stefanovski , Chen Ting , Tian Xingshuai , Zheng Huifang , Li Yuhao , Fan Siyu , Cui Zhenling
Published: March 2022

The global food system is a major driver of most-pressing sustainability challenges such as climate change, unsustainable resource extraction, and altered biogeochemical cycles of N and P1-5. Food loss and waste is at the heart of the problem6,7. With 1/3 of food uneaten but lost/wasted, not only do resources consumed in producing the food ‘go down the drain’ but also the wasted food continues to brew health and pollution problems8,9. Here we show that food waste recovery and upcycling can effectively mitigate food’s unintended consequences. Using global primary data, we estimated that recovering and treating food waste via composting, anaerobic digestion, or feed-making technologies could reduce carbon footprints by 614–1041 Mt CO2-eq, compared to landfill baseline, potentially offsetting global food system’s climate burden by 4.5–7.6%. Up to 6.6 Mt nutrients could be re-captured for soil-crop-based upcycling. The feed-making option could generate up to 155.6 Mt novel feeds for animal-based upcycling, potentially replacing 41% and 9% of maize and soy in global livestock feeding. Feed grain replacement can bring an array of cascading benefits such as land and fertilizer spared and pollutions avoided, which are evaluated for the U.S. and China as case-study countries.
Critical brain wave physics of neuronal avalanches without sandpiles of self organized criticality
Authors: Galinsky Vitaly , Frank Lawrence
Published: March 2022

Analytical expressions for scaling of brain wave spectra derived from the general nonlinear wave Hamiltonian form show excellent agreement with experimental ''neuronal avalanche'' data. The theory of the weakly evanescent nonlinear brain wave dynamics reveals the underlying collective processes hidden behind the phenomenological statistical description of the neuronal avalanches and connects together the whole range of brain activity states, from oscillatory wave-like modes, to neuronal avalanches, to incoherent spiking, showing that the neuronal avalanches are just the manifestation of the different nonlinear side of wave processes abundant in cortical tissue. In a more broad way these results show that a system of wave modes interacting through all
possible combinations of the third order nonlinear terms described by a general wave Hamiltonian necessarily produces anharmonic wave modes with temporal and spatial scaling properties that follow scale free power laws. To the best of our knowledge this was never reported in the physical literature and may be applicable to many physical systems that involve wave processes and not just to neuronal avalanches.
Factors associated with poor social support among Persons Living with HIV/AIDS at the Infectious Disease Institute HIV/AIDS clinic in Uganda, 2019: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Kitibwakye Sharon Nakamanya , Kitutu Freddy Eric , Kigongo Angella Nabakooza , Olum Ronald , Katana Elizabeth , Laker Eva
Published: March 2022

BackgroundSocial support is known to influence desired health outcomes resulting in decrease in morbidity and mortality. HIV patients with poor social support are at risk of worse health outcomes. Little is known about the determinants of social support in the HIV population in Uganda. This study examined the determinants of social support among HIV patients on Atazanavir-based regimen at the Infectious Disease Institute HIV/AIDS clinic in Uganda.MethodsWe carried out a secondary analysis of data nested in a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of clinical jaundice among patients on Atazanavir-based second-line therapy, which was conducted at a specialist HIV center, Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) in Kampala, Uganda from April to May 2019. IDI is a specialist HIV center in Kampala, Uganda with over 7000 patients in care. The primary study consecutively sampled patients on an Atazanavir- based regimen. Social support was assessed by using a 3-item Oslo social scale. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between social support and its correlates.Results Data from 236 participants with the mean age of 40 years ±11 was analyzed. The majority were females (66.5%) and 34% were married. Up to 16.5% (39/236) had other comorbidities and less than 1% (2/236) were depressed. There was a high level of disclosure of status to either a family member, friend, spouse, or children (94%; 221/236). The prevalence of internalized stigma (4%; 9/236) and depression (2/236; 1%) was low. Only disclosure of HIV status was associated with social support (OR= 4.9, 95% CI 1.1 – 21.3, p-value= 0.038). There was no significant association of age, sex, marital status, education status, religion, other chronic comorbidities, depression, drug fatigue, and stigma with social support. Conclusion We found that good/ moderate social support was associated with disclosure of HIV status. However, the relationship between social support and disclosure of HIV status warrants further exploration using qualitative research methods.
Comparison of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography and Indocyanine Green Angiography in Uveitis
Authors: Kodati Shilpa , Kumar Aman , Kongwattananon Wijak , Vitale Susan , Sen Hatice Nida
Published: March 2022

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) has emerged as a useful modality for the diagnosis and management of uveitic diseases, but comparisons with other imaging modalities in uveitis are limited. The purpose of this study is to compare hypocyanescent lesions on Indocyanine Green Angiography (ICGA) to choriocapillaris flow deficits on OCTA in eyes with posterior and panuveitis. En-face 6x6 OCTA images of the choriocapillaris and mid-phase ICGA images from patients with posterior and panuveitis were reviewed and images were quantitatively compared. Lesion(s) on ICGA and OCTA images were outlined, binarized and then overlapped to determine the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). Measurements of lesion morphology were compared using Bland-Altman analysis contrasting four primary features: lesion number (LN), lesion density (LD%), lesion circularity (LCi) and mean lesion size (MLS). A total of 36 eyes from 26 patients were analyzed. The overall agreement in spatial overlap between lesions from ICG and OCTA was classified as “good” [DSC ≥ 0.7] (mean DSC = 0.744; 95% confidence interval [0.679, 0.809]). No significant differences were noted between the LN, LD%, LCi, and MLS. Overall, OCTA appears to be comparable measure of choriocapillaris flow deficits in patients with posterior and panuveitis compared with hypocyanescent lesions on ICGA.