bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare leaders: a cross-sectional survey in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Authors: Scarpis Enrico , Bravo Giulia , Cocconi Roberto , Brunelli Laura
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Although several studies highlighted the psychological burden of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, no data are available regarding professionals leading healthcare organisations. This study aims to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare leaders (HeLs), along with the leadership skills and coping strategies needed for successful leadership.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy) between October and November 2020. We assessed the presence of depressive symptoms (DS), anxiety symptoms (AS), perceived stress (PS) and insomnia using internationally validated tools. Coping strategies and skills needed to overcome the crisis were examined, along with the most challenging phases.

Results

A total of 48 HeLs participated. The prevalence of DS and AS was 14.6% and 12.5%, respectively. Moderate and severe insomnia was found in 12.5% and 6.3% of them, respectively. Leaders showed moderate (45.8%) and high 4,2%) level of PS. The two most challenging phases were recognised in early recognition (45.2%) and peak phase (31.0%). Concerning healthcare leaders’ skills required to manage with pandemic, the most reported were communication (35.1%) and decision-making (25.5%).

Conclusion

The high level of PS, insomnia, DS and AS experienced by healthcare leaders shows the COVID-19 pandemic’s psychological impact. The two most challenging phases identified enhances the importance of public health surveillance and monitoring systems, and communication appeared a critical success skill for healthcare leaders. Given the key role these professional play in addressing the current crisis in healthcare organisations, their mental health and well-being deserve greater attention.
High proportions of rectal and pharyngeal chlamydia and gonorrhoea cases among cisgender men are missed using current CDC screening recommendations
Authors: Assaf Ryan D , Cunningham Nicole J , Adamson Paul C , Jann Jamieson Trevor , Bolan Robert K
Published: February 2022

Objectives

Pharyngeal and rectalChlamydia trachomatis(CT) andNeisseria gonorrhoeae(NG) infections are often undiagnosed due to their asymptomatic nature. This study aims to determine (1) the prevalence of CT/NG infections by anatomical site among cisgender men; (2) the proportion of missed CT/NG rectal/pharyngeal infections if urogenital testing alone was performed or screening depended on self-reported behaviour alone; and (3) the predictive probability of self-reported behaviours for rectal CT/NG.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used electronic health records collected at a sexual health clinic in Los Angeles from 18 November 2018 until 28 February 2020. The included patients were ≥18 years of age cisgender men who received CT/NG testing at least once during the study period. We calculated the proportion of missed pharyngeal/rectal CT/NG infections if only urogenital testing had been done and if testing was based only on self-reported anal sex. Separately, we ran logistic regressions for predictive probability of self-reported anal sex on CT/NG rectal infections.

Results

Overall, there were 13 476 unique patients with 26 579 visits. The prevalence of any extragenital CT/NG infection was 37.28%. Over 80% rectal/pharyngeal CT cases and over 65% rectal/pharyngeal NG cases would be missed if urogenital testing alone was performed. Likewise, over 35% rectal CT/NG cases would be missed had testing relied on self-reported sexual behaviours alone.

Conclusions

The proportion of missed rectal and pharyngeal CT/NG infections is high. Our data from a sexual health clinic lend support to three-site opt-out testing for cisgender men attending a sexual health/Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) specialty clinic regardless of their sexual orientation or reported sexual behaviours.
Universal lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) testing of rectal chlamydia in men who have sex with men and detection of asymptomatic LGV
Authors: Hughes Yasmin , Chen Marcus Y , Fairley Christopher K , Hocking Jane S , Williamson Deborah , Ong Jason J , De Petra Vesna , Chow Eric P F
Published: February 2022

Background

Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is caused byChlamydia trachomatisserovars L1-L3. This study determined the positivity for LGV testing before and after introduction of universal LGV testing of positive rectalChlamydia trachomatissamples in men who have sex with men (MSM).

Methods

From March 2015 to February 2018, MSM with rectalC. trachomatiswere not routinely tested for LGV at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre unless they had HIV or symptoms of proctitis. From February 2018, universal testing for LGV of all positive rectalC. trachomatisspecimens in men over the age of 25 years, regardless of symptoms was undertaken. LGV positivity was defined as the detection of LGV-associatedC. trachomatisserovars.

Results

There were 3429 and 4020 MSM who tested positive for rectal chlamydia in the selective and universal LGV-testing periods, respectively. Of the total 3027 assessable specimens in both periods, 97 (3.2%; 95% CI 2.6% to 3.9%) specimens tested positive for LGV. LGV positivity in the selective testing period was higher than in the universal testing period (6.6% (33/502) vs 2.5% (64/2525), p<0.001). The proportion of LGV cases that were asymptomatic increased from 15.2% (5/33) in the selective testing period to 34.4% (22/64) in the universal testing period (p=0.045). Of the 70 symptomatic LGV cases symptoms included rectal discharge (71.4%, n=45) and rectal pain (60.0%, n=42).

Conclusion

Universal LGV testing of all positive rectal chlamydia samples in MSM compared with selective testing led to the detection of asymptomatic rectal LGV, which constituted 34% of rectal LGV cases.
Imposing multi-physics constraints at different densities on the neutron Star Equation of State
Authors: Ghosh Suprovo , Chatterjee Debarati , Schaffner-Bielich Jürgen
Published: February 2022

Neutron star matter spans a wide range of densities, from that of nuclei at the surface to exceeding several times normal nuclear matter density in the core. While terrestrial experiments, such as nuclear or heavy-ion collision experiments, provide clues about the behaviour of dense nuclear matter, one must resort to theoretical models of neutron star matter to extrapolate to higher density and finite neutron/proton asymmetry relevant for neutron stars. In this work, we explore the parameter space within the framework of the Relativistic Mean Field model allowed by present uncertainties compatible with state-of-the-art experimental data. We apply a cut-off filter scheme to constrain the parameter space using multi-physics constraints at different density regimes: chiral effective field theory, nuclear and heavy-ion collision data as well as multi-messenger astrophysical observations of neutron stars. Using the results of the study, we investigate possible correlations between nuclear and astrophysical observables.
Collapsing dust thin shells in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity
Authors: Huang Yong-Ming , Tian Yu , Wu Xiao-Ning
Published: February 2022

We investigate gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric thin shell in the Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet (EGB) gravity. Under the recently proposed 4D limit, we find that the collapsing shell will be bounced back at a small radius, without forming a singularity. This bouncing behavior is similar to those of a test particle and a homogeneous spherical dust star, in accordance with the expectation that the Gauss–Bonnet term will modify the small scale behavior of the Einstein gravity. We analyze the causal structure of the dynamic spacetime that represents the bouncing process, finding that the thin shell has an oscillation behavior on the Penrose diagram, which means that the thin shell results in a novel type of black hole with respect to observers outside the event horizon that the collapse forms. We also find that the weak cosmic censorship conjecture holds in this model. Further implications of such a regular gravitational collapse are discussed.
Shining light into the Higgs portal with $$\gamma \gamma $$ colliders
Authors: Garcia-Abenza A. , No J. M.
Published: February 2022

High-energy$$\gamma \gamma $$γγcolliders constitute a potential running mode of future lepton colliders such as the ILC and CLIC. We study the sensitivity of a high-energy$$\gamma \gamma $$γγcollider to the Higgs portal scenario to a hidden sector above the invisible Higgs decay threshold. We show that such$$\gamma \gamma $$γγcollisions could allow to probe the existence of dark sectors through the Higgs portal with precision competitive with other planned collider facilities, profiting from the unique combination of sizable cross-section with clean final state and collider environment. In addition, this search could cover the singlet Higgs portal parameter space yielding a first-order electroweak phase transition in the early Universe.
Uncertainty-Guided Voxel-Level Supervised Contrastive Learning for Semi-Supervised Medical Image Segmentation
Authors: Hua Yu , Shu Xin , Wang Zizhou , Zhang Lei
Published: February 2022

Semi-supervised learning reduces overfitting and facilitates medical image segmentation by regularizing the learning of limited well-annotated data with the knowledge provided by a large amount of unlabeled data. However, there are many misuses and underutilization of data in conventional semi-supervised methods. On the one hand, the model will deviate from the empirical distribution under the training of numerous unlabeled data. On the other hand, the model treats labeled and unlabeled data differently and does not consider inter-data information. In this paper, a semi-supervised method is proposed to exploit unlabeled data to further narrow the gap between the semi-supervised model and its fully-supervised counterpart. Specifically, the architecture of the proposed method is based on the mean-teacher framework, and the uncertainty estimation module is improved to impose constraints of consistency and guide the selection of feature representation vectors. Notably, a voxel-level supervised contrastive learning module is devised to establish a contrastive relationship between feature representation vectors, whether from labeled or unlabeled data. The supervised manner ensures that the network learns the correct knowledge, and the dense contrastive relationship further extracts information from unlabeled data. The above overcomes data misuse and underutilization in semi-supervised frameworks. Moreover, it favors the feature representation with intra-class compactness and inter-class separability and gains extra performance. Extensive experimental results on the left atrium dataset from Atrial Segmentation Challenge demonstrate that the proposed method has superior performance over the state-of-the-art methods.
Large Amplitude Axisymmetric Free Vibration of a Closed Two-Dimensional Spherical Pressure Vessel with a Constrained Volume
Authors: Jiammeepreecha Weeraphan , Chaidachatorn Komkorn , Chucheepsakul Somchai
Published: February 2022

The nonlinear axisymmetric vibrational modes of a closed two-dimensional spherical pressure vessel with a constrained volume are presented using the fundamental forms of surfaces. The strain energy of the spherical pressure vessel is derived as a quadratic function of the initial Eulerian, added, and total Lagrangian strains. Two-dimensional bilinear elements described in spherical polar coordinates with the symmetric boundary condition along both sides of the meridian line are used for investigating the nonlinear axisymmetric mode shapes of a spherical pressure vessel. Numerical results were obtained by a nonlinear finite element approach and verified in the case of an empty spherical shell for both lower and upper branches. This study showed that the spherical pressure vessel gave a higher nonlinear axisymmetric natural frequency than the empty spherical shell. The elastic modulus has a large effect on the nonlinear axisymmetric frequencies of both the lower and upper branches for the spherical pressure vessel. Changing the thickness and initial internal pressure significantly affects only the lower branch of the spherical pressure vessel at high mode numbers. The results also indicate that the ratios of the nonlinear natural frequencies of the lower to upper branches decrease when the vibrational modes increase.
Statistical Random Number Generator Attack Against the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) Secure Key Exchange Protocol
Authors: Chamon Christiana , Ferdous Shahriar , Kish Laszlo B.
Published: February 2022

This paper introduces and demonstrates four new statistical attacks against the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) secure key exchange scheme. The attacks utilize compromised random number generators (RNGs) at Alice’s/Bob’s site(s). The case of partial correlations between Alice’s/Bob’s and Eve’s probing noises is explored, that is, Eve’s knowledge of Alice’s and Bob’s noises is limited but not zero. We explore the bilateral situation where Eve has partial knowledge of Alice’s and Bob’s RNGs. It is shown that in this situation Eve can crack the secure key bit by taking the highest cross-correlation between her probing noises and the measured voltage noise in the wire. She can also crack the secure key bit by taking the highest cross-correlation between her noise voltages and her evaluation of Alice’s/Bob’s noise voltages. We then explore the unilateral situation in which Eve has partial knowledge of only Alice’s RNG thus only those noises (of Alice and Eve) are correlated. In this situation, Eve can still crack the secure key bit, but for sufficiently low error probability, she needs to use the whole bit exchange period for the attack. The security of the KLJN key exchange scheme, similarly to other protocols, necessitates that the RNG outputs are truly random for Eve.
Nanomaterials for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Applications: A Review
Authors: Tiwari Alavya , Tiwari Arushi , Bhatia Arpit , Chadha Utkarsh , Kandregula Satvik , Selvaraj Senthil Kumaran , Bhardwaj Preetam
Published: February 2022

Two-dimensional nanomaterials hold the most promising future, even surpassing conventional electromagnetic interference shields of heavy and corrosion-prone metallic materials. Among the materials discussed in this review, graphene and MXene prove to be the most promising materials owing to their flexibility, affordability and numerous attractive properties. Advancement in electromagnetic interference shielding materials has been a center of interest in research since the discovery of unwanted radiations emitted from the electromagnetic waves which cause severe damage to the environment, human beings and unshielded electronic devices. This review discusses some of the most recent preparation methodologies using the most effective nanomaterials, creating electromagnetic interference shielding materials at par in performance compared to conventional shielding methods.
Evaluation of Controllers and Development of a New In-House Controller for the Teledyne HxRG Focal Plane Array for the IRSIS Satellite Payload
Authors: Naik M. B. , Ojha D. K. , Ghosh S. K. , Manoj P. , Ninan J. P. , Ghosh S. , D’Costa S. L. A. , Poojary S. S. , Bhagat S. B. , Sandimani P. R. , Shah H. , Jadhav R. B. , Gharat S. M. , Meshram G. S. , Bagade B. G.
Published: February 2022

The Infrared Astronomy Group (Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics) at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is presently developing controllers for the Teledyne HxRG Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) to be used on board the Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging Survey (IRSIS) satellite payload. In this paper, we discuss the results of our tests with different FPA controllers such as the Astronomical Research Cameras (ARC) controller, Teledyne’s SIDECAR ASIC as well as our new in-house designed Array controller. As part of the development phase of the IRSIS instrument, which is an optical fiber-based Integral Field Unit (IFU) Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectrometer, a laboratory model with limited NIR bandwidth was built which consisted of various subsystems like a Ritchey–Chretien (RC) 30[Formula: see text]cm telescope, optical fiber IFU, spectrometer optics, and the Teledyne H2RG detector module. We discuss the various developments during the building and testing of the IRSIS laboratory model and the technical aspects of the prototype in-house H2RG controller.
The megatracksite phenomenon: implications for tetrapod palaeobiology across terrestrial-shallow-marine transitional zones
Authors: Lockley Martin G. , Meyer Christian A.
Published: February 2022

Megatracksites, popularly known as ‘dinosaur Freeways’ are regionally extensive, stratigraphically restricted track-bearing sequences mainly associated with coastal plain facies, but in rarer cases with fluvio-lacustrine palaeoenvironments. Nine convincing, dinosaur-dominated examples are reported from the Mesozoic of North America, Europe, Africa and Central Asia, with a tenth tetrapod-dominated example reported from the Permian. Some, like the Moab Megatracksite (Utah) are labelled as Type 1 and restricted to ‘single surfaces’ or units only
c
. <1.0 m thick. Others (Type 2) represent relatively thin track-bearing packages (
c.
1.0–
c.
10.0 m in thickness). Type 3 megatracksites represent imprecisely correlated, laterally extensive track-bearing facies. Most Type 1 and 2 examples including a Permian, four Jurassic and three Cretaceous examples display genetic sequence stratigraphic similarities, mainly associated with transgressive marginal marine facies. A Triassic megatracksite from Colorado and Utah is associated with a terrestrial fluvio-lacustrine system, and another from Spain is a lacustrine example. Type 1 megatracksites are defined by correlating multiple tracksites (assemblages) in stratigraphically restricted zones, across distances of
c.
10 km–
c.
100 km or more. Tetrapod megatracksites, ichnocoenoses and ichnofacies are all large-scale ichnological phenomena, which despite variability and different definitions can be integrated to various degrees. Because sequence stratigraphic, sedimentological and ichnological studies often proceed along separate, specialist lines a more integrated approach to the study of sedimentary geology and tetrapod ichnology is advocated in areas where megatracksites have been reported.
Automatic Inference of BGP Location Communities
Authors: Silva Brivaldo A. , Mol Paulo , Fonseca Osvaldo , Cunha Italo , Ferreira Ronaldo A. , Katz-Bassett Ethan
Published: February 2022

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) orchestrates Internet communications between and inside Autonomous Systems. BGP's flexibility allows operators to express complex policies and deploy advanced traffic engineering systems. A key mechanism to provide this flexibility is tagging route announcements with BGP communities, which have arbitrary, operator-defined semantics, to pass information or requests from router to router. Typical uses of BGP communities include attaching metadata to route announcements, such as where a route was learned or whether it was received from a customer, and controlling route propagation, for example to steer traffic to preferred paths or blackhole DDoS traffic. However, there is no standard for specifying the semantics nor a centralized repository that catalogs the meaning of BGP communities. The lack of standards and central repositories complicates the use of communities by the operator and research communities. In this paper, we present a set of techniques to infer the semantics of BGP communities from public BGP data. Our techniques infer communities related to the entities or locations traversed by a route by correlating communities with AS paths. We also propose a set of heuristics to filter incorrect inferences introduced by misbehaving networks, sharing of BGP communities among sibling autonomous systems, and inconsistent BGP dumps. We apply our techniques to billions of routing records from public BGP collectors and make available a public database with more than 15 thousand location communities. Our comparison with manually-built databases shows our techniques provide high precision (up to 93%), better coverage (up to 81% recall), and dynamic updates, complementing operators' and researchers' abilities to reason about BGP community semantics.
A Comprehensive Empirical Study of Query Performance Across GPU DBMSes
Authors: Suh Young-Kyoon , An Junyoung , Tak Byungchul , Na Gap-Joo
Published: February 2022

In recent years, GPU database management systems (DBMSes) have rapidly become popular largely due to their remarkable acceleration capability obtained through extreme parallelism in query evaluations. However, there has been relatively little study on the characteristics of these GPU DBMSes for a better understanding of their query performance in various contexts. Also, little has been known about what the potential factors could be that affect the query processing jobs within the GPU DBMSes. To fill this gap, we have conducted a study to identify such factors and to propose a structural causal model, including key factors and their relationships, to explicate the variances of the query execution times on the GPU DBMSes. We have also established a set of hypotheses drawn from the model that explained the performance characteristics. To test the model, we have designed and run comprehensive experiments and conducted in-depth statistical analyses on the obtained empirical data. As a result, our model achieves about 77% amount of variance explained on the query time and indicates that reducing kernel time and data transfer time are the key factors to improve the query time. Also, our results show that the studied systems should resolve several concerns such as bounded processing within GPU memory, lack of rich query evaluation operators, limited scalability, and GPU under-utilization.
Toward a worker-centered analysis in fighting disinformation
Authors: Ong Jonathan Corpus
Published: February 2022

This forum focuses on the conditions and futures of the labor underpinning technology production and maintenance. We welcome standalone articles as well as interviews and conversations about all tech labor within the global supply chain of digital technologies.
--- Seyram Avle and Sarah Fox, Editors
Geodetic and Geological Deformation of the Island Arc in Northeast Japan Revealed by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake
Authors: Sagiya Takeshi , Meneses-Gutierrez Angela
Published: February 2022

Northeast Japan is a typical island arc related to the Pacific plate subduction. The 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake provided a unique opportunity to analyze crustal deformation with different boundary conditions, similar to a gigantic rock deformation experiment. We review findings obtained through various observations and data analyses in Northeast Japan, focusing on the crustal deformation in different timescales. The occurrence of the M9 earthquake solved the ongoing paradox that the geodetic strain rate is an order of magnitude larger than the geologic estimate, showing that the centennial geodetic observation had mainly captured the elastic strain accumulation. Along the localized contraction zone along the Japan Sea coast, a comparison of postseismic and interseismic deformation patterns revealed a significant contribution of inelastic deformation, which plays an essential role in long-term deformation. Along the Pacific coast, rapid interseismic subsidence and unexpected coseismic subsidence were followed by a rapid postseismic uplift, indicating that viscous relaxation in the mantle is of essential importance. These findings advance our understanding of plate interactions and the tectonic evolution of the island arc. ▪ The 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake provided the most complete crustal deformation data set ever for interseismic, coseismic, and postseismic periods. ▪ The discrepancy between the geologic and geodetic deformation rates in Northeast Japan is attributed to an elastic strain due to interplate locking. ▪ A significant contribution of inelastic deformation in the island arc crust is identified through a comparison of interseismic and postseismic deformations.
Melding Synthetic Molecules and Genetically Encoded Proteins to Forge New Tools for Neuroscience
Authors: Kumar Pratik , Lavis Luke D.
Published: February 2022

Unraveling the complexity of the brain requires sophisticated methods to probe and perturb neurobiological processes with high spatiotemporal control. The field of chemical biology has produced general strategies to combine the molecular specificity of small-molecule tools with the cellular specificity of genetically encoded reagents. Here, we survey the application, refinement, and extension of these hybrid small-molecule:protein methods to problems in neuroscience, which yields powerful reagents to precisely measure and manipulate neural systems.
Clearing Your Mind: Mechanisms of Debris Clearance After Cell Death During Neural Development
Authors: Liu Kendra E. , Raymond Michael H. , Ravichandran Kodi S. , Kucenas Sarah
Published: February 2022

Neurodevelopment and efferocytosis have fascinated scientists for decades. How an organism builds a nervous system that is precisely tuned for efficient behaviors and survival and how it simultaneously manages constant somatic cell turnover are complex questions that have resulted in distinct fields of study. Although neurodevelopment requires the overproduction of cells that are subsequently pruned back, very few studies marry these fields to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive nervous system development through the lens of cell clearance. In this review, we discuss these fields to highlight exciting areas of future synergy. We first review neurodevelopment from the perspective of overproduction and subsequent refinement and then discuss who clears this developmental debris and the mechanisms that control these events. We then end with how a more deliberate merger ofneurodevelopment and efferocytosis could reframe our understanding of homeostasis and disease and discuss areas of future study.
Physiological basis for longitudinal motion of the arterial wall
Authors: Athaide Chloe E. , Spronck Bart , Au Jason S.
Published: February 2022

As opposed to arterial distension in the radial plane, longitudinal wall motion (LWM) is a multiphasic and bidirectional displacement of the arterial wall in the anterograde (i.e., in the direction of blood flow) and retrograde (i.e., opposing direction of blood flow) directions. Although initially disregarded as imaging artifact, LWM has been consistently reported in ultrasound investigations in the past decade and is reproducible beat-to-beat, albeit with large interindividual variability across healthy and diseased populations. Emerging literature has sought to examine the mechanistic control of LWM to explain the shape and variability of the motion pattern but lacks considerations for key foundational vascular principles at the level of the arterial wall ultrastructure. The purpose of this review is to summarize the potential factors that underpin the causes and control of arterial LWM, spanning considerations from the arterial extracellular matrix to systems-level integrative theories. First, an overview of LWM and relevant aspects wall composition will be discussed, including major features of the multiphasic pattern, arterial wall extracellular components, tunica fiber orientations, and arterial longitudinal prestretch. Second, current theories on the systems-level physiological mechanisms driving LWM will be discussed in the context of available evidence including experimental human research, porcine studies, and mathematical models. Throughout, we discuss implications of these observations with suggestions for future priority research areas.
Pendrin-null mice develop severe hypokalemia following dietary Na+ and K+ restriction: role of ENaC
Authors: Pham Truyen D. , Elengickal Anthony J. , Verlander Jill W. , Al-Qusairi Lama , Chen Chao , Abood Delaney C. , King Spencer A. , Loffing Johannes , Welling Paul A. , Wall Susan M.
Published: February 2022

Pendrin is an apical Cl−/[Formula: see text] exchanger that provides renal K+-sparing NaCl absorption. The pendrin-null kidney has an inability to fully conserve K+ and limits renal K+ loss by downregulating the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC). However, with Na+ restriction, the need to reduce ENaC for K+ balance conflicts with the need to stimulate ENaC for intravascular volume. Therefore, NaCl restriction stimulates ENaC less in pendrin-null mice than in wild-type mice, which mitigates their kaliuresis and hypokalemia but exacerbates volume contraction.
Associations between circulating microRNAs and coronary plaque characteristics: potential impact from physical exercise
Authors: Taraldsen Maria Dalen , Wiseth Rune , Videm Vibeke , Bye Anja , Madssen Erik
Published: February 2022

microRNAs (miRs) are involved in different steps in the development of atherosclerosis and are proposed as promising biomarkers of coronary artery disease (CAD). We hypothesized that circulating levels of miRs were associated with coronary plaque components assessed by radiofrequency intravascular ultrasound (RF-IVUS) before and after aerobic exercise intervention. Thirty-one patients with CAD treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) previously included in a randomized trial with aerobic interval training (AIT) or moderate continuous training (MCT) as post-PCI intervention were included. Coronary plaque characteristics by grayscale and RF-IVUS and predefined circulating candidate miRs in plasma were analyzed at baseline and follow-up. Associations between miRs and coronary plaque composition, and the potential effect from exercise, were analyzed using linear regression. Circulating levels of miR-15a-5p, miR-30e-5p, miR-92a-3p, miR-199a-3p, miR-221-3p, and miR-222-3p were associated with baseline coronary necrotic core volume. Following exercise intervention, decreased levels of miR-15a-5p, miR-93-5p, and miR-451a, and increased levels of miR-146a-5p were associated with an observed regression of coronary plaque burden. A mirPath prediction tool identified that genes regulated by miR-15a-5p, miR-199a-3p, and miR-30e-5p were significantly overrepresented in pathways related to fatty acid biosynthesis and fatty acid metabolism. This exploratory study demonstrated six miRs associated with coronary necrotic core, a marker of plaque vulnerability. In addition, changes in four miRs were associated with a regression of coronary plaque burden following exercise intervention. These novel findings may identify potential future biomarkers of CAD and coronary plaque composition.
Wind Field Characteristics of Butte and the Influence on the Wind-Induced Responses of Transmission Towers
Authors: Zhang Yan , Huang Wenfeng , Wang Lisha
Published: February 2022

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation on the butte was carried out to obtain the wind field characteristics for a specific mountain in the hilly area of eastern China. Then, the speed-up ratios of butte at each location distributed by height were calculated. The simulation results were compared with the specified value of mountain wind field acceleration ratio in various codes. The finite element model of the transmission tower line system is established by ANSYS, and the wind-induced vibration response of the structural system under the single mountain wind field is calculated, which is compared with the results of flat ground. The results show that the mountain will hinder the fluid passing through it. There is a deceleration zone in front of the mountain and a flow separation phenomenon behind the mountain. The speed-up ratios at the butte top where accelerating effect are the biggest among all positions of the butte. As the height increases, they approach 1. The speed-up ratios calculated by the Chinese code and the Australian code are linearly changing along the ridge of the butte and are symmetric at the windward side and leeward side. The biggest speed-up ratios are calculated by the Chinese code, and the smallest ratios are calculated by CFD. The wind-induced vibration response of the transmission tower line system is influenced by the wind speed-up ratios and reaches the maximum at the top of the butte. The simulation results at the windward side are close to the values calculated by the Australia code and the Euro code, but at the top and leeward side, they are far smaller than others.
Inhibition of the NADPH Oxidase Pathway Reduces Ferroptosis during Septic Renal Injury in Diabetic Mice
Authors: Yao Weifeng , Liao Haofeng , Pang Mengya , Pan Lijie , Guan Yu , Huang Xiaolei , Hei Ziqing , Luo Chenfang , Ge Mian
Published: February 2022

Background. Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) contribute to a higher mortality rate in patients with septic acute kidney injury (AKI) during sepsis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the major injury factor for sepsis. This study was aimed at exploring the potential therapeutic drug for septic AKI targeting on ROS. Methods. A murine septic AKI model was established in both wild-type and high-fat diet-fed (HFD) mice. NADPH oxidase inhibitor Vas2870 was used in vivo to explore the role of NADPH oxidase in ROS release in septic AKI in diabetic mice. Ferrostatin-1 was administered to investigate the role of ferroptosis in ROS accumulation during NADPH oxidase activating in septic AKI in diabetic mice. Results. Compared to chow diet-fed mice, HFD diabetic mice which were subjected to LPS exhibited aggravated renal function (blood urea nitrogen, creatinine clearance, and serum cystatin C) and oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, 4-HNE, ROS, 8-OHdG, and NADPH oxidase), thus resulting in a higher mortality rate. Septic renal injury was significantly attenuated by the ferroptosis inhibitor Fer-1 in HFD-challenged mice. Furthermore, ferroptosis accumulation and related protein expression (ASCL4, FTH1, and GPX4) were altered by LPS stimulation in HFD-challenged mice and suppressed by NADPH oxidase inhibition via Vas2870 in vivo. In summary, NADPH inhibition restored septic renal function from injury by suppressing ferroptosis accumulation in HFD-challenged mice. Conclusion. These results suggest that targeting NADPH-mediated ROS release and ferroptosis accumulation is a novel therapeutic strategy to protect the kidney from septic injury in patients with obesity and type 2 DM.
MicroRNA-34a Promotes Ischemia-Induced Cardiomyocytes Apoptosis through Targeting Notch1
Authors: Pan Jialin , Zhou Lili , Lin Cong , Xue Weihao , Chen Peng , Lin Jiafeng
Published: February 2022

Myocardial apoptosis occurs during myocardial ischemia. This study aimed to determine the effect of microRNA-34a (miR-34a) in ischemia-induced myocardial apoptosis. Mainly, SD rats were subjected to myocardial ischemia by ligaturing the left anterior descending branch of coronary artery. After rats had myocardial infarction, HE staining and TUNEL staining confirmed a significant increase in apoptosis. The expression of miR-34a was noticeably upregulated, while the expression of Notch1 was downregulated. An increase in caspase-3 and a decrease in Bcl-2/Bax ratio were observed in myocardium. Similar results were observed in the in vitro model of cardiomyocyte ischemia and anoxia of this study. When rat cardiomyocytes were administered with serum starvation and microaerophilic system, apoptosis-related proteins were significantly increased. However, transfecting the miR-34a inhibitor into the cardiomyocyte before the serum starvation and hypoxia treatment could increase the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and downregulate the expression of caspase-3, as well as prevent cardiomyocytes from apoptosis. As opposed to the abovementioned points, the upregulation of miR-34a expression by transfecting miR-34a mimics induced Notch1 reduce and apoptosis-related proteins increase apparently, while upregulation of Notch1 could stimulate apoptosis attributed to miR-34a. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that Notch1 is a direct target of miR-34a. In conclusion, our current results suggested that miR-34a significantly stimulates ischemia-induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis by targeting Notch1.
Investigation of Various Coating Resins for Optimal Anticorrosion and Mechanical Properties of Mild Steel Surface in NaCl Solution
Authors: Gujjar Sandeep V. , Nadar Nandini , Choudhary Kanaram , Hunashyal Anand M. , Shahapurkar Kiran , Mujtaba M. A. , Asadullah Mohammed , Soudagar Manzoore Elahi M. , Khan T. M. Yunus , Ismail Khadiga Ahmed , Elfasakhany Ashraf
Published: February 2022

The primary objective of the research was to investigate the ideal resin coating on the mild steel surface among various resin coatings which are in use. These resin coatings are used as an anti-corrosive material for mild steel surfaces with enhanced mechanical properties. The resins (epoxy, polyurethane, polyester, and phenolic) on mild steel surface were applied by the pneumatic spray coating method. In addition, immersion test and salt spray test methods were followed using sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. Furthermore, the rate of corrosion and mechanical properties of mild steel coated with different resins was evaluated by conducting various experiments (immersion test, salt spray test, tensile strength test, and scratch hardness test) and was compared with a bare mild steel surface. The results of the current research showed that the mild steel surface coated with epoxy resin was found to be the most effective corrosion resistance material with better mechanical properties compared to other tested mild steel resin-coated surfaces.
Chaos Adaptive Particle Swarm for Physical Exercise Health Assessment
Authors: He Zheyu , He Xi
Published: February 2022

Particle crowd algorithmic rule is a mayor examination hotspot in the authentic optimization algorithmic rule respond. Based on the PSO algorithmic rule to make optimal the RBFNN example, an amended order of nonlinear adaptable laziness power supported on the contest of population variegation is intended to extend the fixedness of population unlikeness performance and hunt capabilities to preclude the algorithmic rule from dripping into a topical extreme point prematurely, thereby further improving the prophecy correctness. Simulation experience shows that the amended PSO-RBFNN standard has open advantageous in the fixedness and sharp convergency of the prognosis proceed. In fashion to reprove the justness of reverse kinematics of robots with composite make and supercilious degrees of liberty, an amended adaptative suffix abound optimization (IAPSO) is spoken. First, the motoric equality of the 6-DOF strength-example avaricious robot design is established by the amended DH (Denavit-Hartenberg) argument course; second, on the base of the existent morsel abound algorithmic rule, the population Manhattan ceremoniousness is interested to lead the maneuver condition of the population in aqiqiy measure. And bound the adaptative lore substitute accordingly to the dissimilar maneuver possession and then adopt distinct site and hurry update modes; lastly, the fitness province with handicap substitute is present to trial the honest-prick and extended course transposition of the robot mold, and the delusion is not joint product major than 0.005 rad. The feint inference shows that the established kinematics shape is chasten, and the amended algorithmic program captures into recital the nicety, uniqueness, and velocity of the inverted resolution of the existent PSO algorithmic program, as well as higher deliverance truths. We conduct an experiment on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The results have clearly shown the advantage of our method.
Antioxidant Molecules Isolated from Edible Prostrate Knotweed: Rational Derivatization to Produce More Potent Molecules
Authors: Mahnashi Mater H. , Alyami Bandar A. , Alqahtani Yahya S. , Alqarni Ali O. , Jan Muhammad Saeed , Hussain Fida , Zafar Rehman , Rashid Umer , Abbas Muhammad , Tariq Muhammad , Sadiq Abdul
Published: February 2022

Prostrate knotweed also called Polygonum aviculare is an important edible plant. The polygonum is majorly known for the phenolics and antioxidants. The antioxidants combat the excessive free radicals within the body. The excessive free radicals are implicated in various other diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and inflammation. This study was aimed at exploring the antioxidant bioactives and their derivatizations to produce new molecules with advanced pharmacological features. We have isolated six compounds (1–6) from Polygonum aviculare. Furthermore, rational-based chemical derivatives for compound 5 have been formed for the management of diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and inflammation. In preliminary antioxidant studies, all the isolated compounds (1–6) showed potential results against DPPH and ABTS free radicals. Based on the IC50 and chemical nature of the compounds, compound 5 was subjected to derivatization. Keeping the phenolic part of compound 5 unaffected, hydroxy succinimide (5A) and thiazolidinedione (5B) were synthesized. The compound 5A was found to be a potent inhibitor of AChE, BChE, COX-1, COX-2, 5-LOX, and DPPH giving IC50 values of 10.60, 15.10, 13.91, 1.08, 0.71, and 1.05 μM, respectively. The COX-2 selectivity of compound 5A was found at 12.9. The compound 5B was found to be a potent multitarget antidiabetic agent giving IC50 values of 15.34, 21.83, 53.28, and 1.94 μM against α-glucosidase, α-amylase, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, and DPPH. Docking studies were performed to manipulate the binding interactions. The docking pose of all the tested compounds was found to have increased binding affinity against all tested targets that supported the in vitro results. Our results showed that Polygonum aviculare is a rich source of antioxidant compounds. The two new derivatives have enhanced pharmacological features to treat diabetes, inflammation, and Alzheimer’s disease.
A Combined Prediction Model for Hog Futures Prices Based on WOA‐LightGBM‐CEEMDAN
Authors: Wang Xiang , Gao Shen , Guo Yibin , Zhou Shiyu , Duan Yonghui , Wu Daqing
Published: February 2022

An integrated hog futures price forecasting model based on whale optimization algorithm (WOA), LightGBM, and Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN) is proposed to overcome the limitations of a single machine learning model with low prediction accuracy and insufficient model stability. The simulation process begins with a grey correlation analysis of the hog futures price index system in order to identify influencing factors; after that, the WOA‐LightGBM model is developed, and the WOA algorithm is used to optimize the LightGBM model parameters; and, finally, the residual sequence is decomposed and corrected by using the CEEMDAN method to build a combined WOA‐LightGBM‐CEEMDAN model. Furthermore, it is used for comparison experiments to check the validity of the model by using data from CSI 300 stock index futures. Based on all experimental results, the proposed combined model shows the highest prediction accuracy, surpassing the comparative model. The model proposed in this study is accurate enough to meet the forecasting accuracy requirements and provides an effective method for forecasting future prices.
Long Noncoding RNA LOC554202 Predicts a Poor Prognosis and Correlates with Immune Infiltration in Thyroid Cancer
Authors: Chen Cheng , Qin Lu , Xiao Mei-Fang
Published: February 2022

Thyroid cancer (TC) is one of the widely diagnosed carcinomas in women before the age of 30. Nevertheless, there is currently a lack of specific biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of TC. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were important regulators in human cancer progression as previously described. Unfortunately, there is little known on these lncRNAs’ functions and molecular mechanisms in TC. In our literature, we found that LOC554202 (MIR31HG) was upregulated in TC samples and correlated with clinicopathological features, including M stage, N stage, and lymph nodes examined status in TC. In addition, we found that LOC554202 overexpression was evidently correlated with high immune infiltrate levels of CD8+ T cells, macrophage, neutrophil, myeloid dendritic cells, and B cells in TC. Knockdown of LOC554202 impeded TC cell proliferation and cycle progression. We found that LOC554202 had an association with metabolic pathways, vesicle-mediated transport, tricarboxylic acid cycle, Hedgehog signaling pathway, and Hippo signaling pathway in TC. Reducing LOC554202 hindered TC cell proliferation and cycle progression. Finally, we found that LOC554202 participated in modulating the expression of the regulators of Hippo signaling and TCA pathway, such as CCND2, CCND3, SDHC, SDHD, SUCLA2, and SUCLG1. We thought that this study would largely enhance our understanding of LOC554202’s functional roles in human TC progression and immune response.
Research on Intelligent Predictive Analysis System Based on Embedded Wireless Communication Network
Authors: Sun Jingwei
Published: February 2022

In order to improve the practical effect of intelligent prediction system, by analyzing and studying the characteristics of the traffic carried on the network, it can provide an effective way to explore the internal operating mechanism of the network. This paper takes the embedded wireless communication network as the research object to construct an intelligent predictive analysis system and applies the intelligent regression algorithm to the intelligent predictive analysis to construct an intelligent predictive analysis system. Finally, this paper verifies the system model of this paper through experimental research. The research results show that the intelligent predictive analysis system based on the embedded wireless communication network proposed in this paper is very effective and has a positive effect on the construction and development of the embedded wireless communication network.
An Extended Cosine Generalized Family of Distributions for Reliability Modeling: Characteristics and Applications with Simulation Study
Authors: Mahmood Zafar , M Jawa Taghreed , Sayed-Ahmed Neveen , Khalil E M , Muse Abdisalam Hassan , Tolba Ahlam H.
Published: February 2022

An extension of the cosine generalized family is presented in this paper by using the cosine trigonometric function and method of parameter induction concurrently. Prominent characteristics of the proposed family along with useful results are extracted. Moreover, two new subfamilies and several special models are also deduced. A four-parameter model called an Extended Cosine Weibull (ECW) with its mathematical properties is studied deeply. Graphical study reveals that the new model adopts right- and left-skewed, symmetrical, and reversed-J density shapes, while all possible monotone and nonmonotone shapes are exhibited by the hazard rate function. The maximum likelihood technique is exercised for parametric estimation, while estimation performance is accessed via Monte Carlo simulation study graphically and numerically. The superiority of the presented model over several outstanding and competing models is confirmed via three reliability and survival dataset applications.
Distributed Coordination for a Class of High‐Order Multiagent Systems Subject to Actuator Saturations by Iterative Learning Control
Authors: Yang Nana , Li Suoping
Published: February 2022

This paper investigates a distributed coordination control for a class of high‐order uncertain multiagent systems. Under the framework of iterative learning control, a novel fully distributed learning protocol is devised for the coordination problem of MASs including time‐varying parameter uncertainties as well as actuator saturations. Meanwhile, the learning updating laws of various parameters are proposed. Utilizing Lyapunov theory and combining with Graph theory, the proposed algorithm can make each follower track a leader completely over a limited time interval even though each follower is without knowing the dynamics of the leader. Moreover, the extension to formation control is made. The validity and feasibility of the algorithm are verified conclusively by two examples.