bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of rainfall on groundwater hydrogeochemistry and chemical weathering
Authors: He Xinhui , Zhou Hong , Wan Junwei , Guo Yuan , Zhao Heng
Published: May 2022

Due to the special hydrogeological conditions in karst areas, groundwater responds quickly to rainfall. The covariation of ion concentrations and spring discharge during rainfall can help us better understand the hydrogeochemical process of groundwater occurring in the heterogeneous karst aquifers. In this study, high-resolution monitoring of groundwater runoff, hydrochemistry, and stable isotopes were conducted at the Qingjiangyuan (QJY), the source of the Qingjiang River catchment in Hubei, China. The purpose is to investigate the changes in hydrogeochemical processes and chemical weathering under the influence of rainfall. The dynamics of spring discharge indicates the presence of multiple medium such as pipelines and fissures in the aquifer. Pearson correlation analysis shows that the main sources of the solute in the QJY are carbonate minerals (mainly calcite and dolomite), evaporites (mainly gypsum and sylvite), celestite and strontianite. Anthropogenic activities have less impact on groundwater solutes. Although carbonate minerals dominate the hydrochemistry, the changes in hydrogeochemical behavior caused by rainfall may come from gypsum, which is supported by the ion concentrations. The results suggest that both carbonate rocks and evaporites have important roles in hydrochemistry. Therefore, we assume that the dissolved cations in groundwater come from rain, carbonate rock and evaporite weathering. The contributions of these three end-members were quantified based on the law of mass conservation. The proportions of carbonate weathering and evaporite weathering were 83.4% (85.2%-80.3%) and 11.6% (6.9%-18.0%), respectively, and rain was 5.0% (0.1%-10.4%). These results were integrated into a hydrogeological conceptual model that explain the observed hydrogeochemical processes, including rock weathering, piston and dilution effects caused by rainfall. The proposed conceptual model helps to improve the understanding of hydrogeochemical processes and chemical weathering in karst areas.
Insider knowledge as a double-edged sword: an integrative review of midwives’ personal childbearing experiences.
Authors: Stoliar Sharon Coulton , Dahlen Hannah , Sheehan Athena
Published: May 2022

Background
The majority of maternity care is provided by female midwives who have either become mothers or are of childbearing age, but there is limited research exploring midwives’ own personal childbearing experiences. This integrative review aims to explore the published literature and research on midwives’ own experiences of pregnancy and childbirth.
Method
An integrative review of the literature. Similar and contrasting patterns and relations were identified and grouped into themes and subthemes.
Results
Twenty articles were included in the review and four overarching themes were identified. Insider knowledge plays a role in decision making encompassed the way midwives used their knowledge to choose; a preferred mode of birth, maternity care provider, model of care, and place of birth. Navigating the childbirth journey demonstrated how some midwives were able to use their insider knowledge to achieve agency, while others had difficulty achieving agency. This theme also revealed the ‘midwife brain’ that midwives need to manage during their childbearing journey. The theme impact of care on the birth experience described how the type of care the midwives received from maternity care providers affected their overall birth experience. The fourth theme from midwife to mother explains their preparedness for childbirth and their transition to motherhood.
Conclusion
For childbearing midwives, there is a potential conflict between their position as knowledgeable experts in maternity care, and their experience as mothers. Whilst they can use their insider knowledge to their advantage, they also experience heightened fear and anxiety through their pregnancy. It is important for maternity care providers to acknowledge and support them and provide balanced and tailored care that acknowledges the woman within the professional midwife and the professional midwife within the woman.
Process Parameter Optimization for 3D Printed Investment Casting Wax Pattern and Its Post-processing Technique
Authors: Mukhtarkhanov Muslim , Shehab Essam , ALI MD Hazrat
Published: May 2022

This research paper aims to improve the quality of 3D printed parts made of the wax filament by implementing the Taguchi orthogonal array process optimization method. The manufactured parts can be used as cost-effective investment casting patterns. With the Taguchi method, it was concluded that the nozzle temperature has the most effect on the dimensional accuracy of printed parts. In addition, thermal, mechanical, and rheological characterization were performed on the wax filament revealing several important findings. For instance, the rheological studies identified the low viscosity of melted wax at printing temperatures. This resulted in the rough surface of the printed parts. To improve the surface roughness, a post-processing procedure was implemented using a white spirit as a surface smoothing agent.
Periodicity and Stochastic Impact on COVID-19 Pandemic Mathematical Model
Authors: Das Kalyan , Kumar Ranjit , Das Prasenjit
Published: May 2022

We analyzed the features of the COVID-19 outbreak with temporal delay and stochastic influence using the SIRS epidemic model in this study. We investigate the local stability of each equilibrium point in terms of basic reproduction numbers. Hopf bifurcation is detected in the system, and a time delay is inserted in the transmission terms to represent the virus's incubation period. The spread of the novel COVID-19 strain to humans is influenced by environmental conditions such as mugginess, precipitation, and temperature. To explore the impact of environmental oscillations on the coronavirus, we employ white noise perturbations in the system. Finally, we examine the mathematical reenactments using MATLAB.
Remittances and Formal Entrepreneurship Development: The Role of Local Financial Development
Authors: Alhassan Usman , Maswana Jean-Claude , Inaba Kazuo
Published: May 2022

Low savings rates in developing countries limit the effectiveness of the local financial sector in providing funding for entrepreneurship development. However, the sheer size and the relative stability of migrants’ remittances to developing countries could be essential in filling this savings gap and fostering formal entrepreneurship development. This paper investigates how local financial sector development serves as a mechanism for positioning a country to take advantage of increasing remittances inflow and channeling them towards formal entrepreneurship development. The paper deviates from the previous studies that assess the combined impact of remittances and financial development on the general economic growth by focusing on formal entrepreneurship development while excluding the informal sector that accounts for large portions of GDP in developing countries. We use a new dataset on new business density in 79 remittance-receiving countries to measure formal entrepreneurship from 2006 to 2020 alongside the panel Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS), Driscoll-Kraay standard errors fixed effect and a two-step system GMM techniques for our analysis. Our findings indicate that remittances and financial development are complementary in fostering formal entrepreneurship development in developing countries. Furthermore, we find that remittances positively influence entrepreneurship when domestic credit to the private sector, deposit money bank assets, and liquid liability reach 101.5%, 80%, and 89% of GDP, respectively. The implication is that remittances adequately fill the savings gap in developing countries, allowing local financial institutions to channel credits towards entrepreneurship development.JEL Classification: F24; L26; O16; M13
Novel Method for an Optimised Calculation of Modal Analysis of Girder Bridge Decks
Authors: Alonso Alvaro Gaute , Garcia-Sanchez David , Ramos-Gutierrez Óscar Ramón
Published: May 2022

A correct modal analysis of girder bridge decks requires a correct characterisation of the deformation of their cross-section, governed by the longitudinal bending of the girders and the transverse bending of the slab. This paper presents a novel method that allows the modal analysis of girder bridge decks by applying a matrix formulation that reduces the structural problem to one degree of freedom for each girder: the deflection at the centre of the beam span. A parametric study is presented that analyses the structural response of 64 girder bridge decks. The study compares the dynamic structural response obtained by the proposed method with that obtained by traditional grillage calculation methods. The method is experimentally contrasted by a dynamic load test of a full-scale girder bridge. As a result of the analysis, the proposed method reflects adequate convergence with the experimental dynamic structural response. The use of the proposed novel analysis method contributes to the intelligent modelling process for the analysis of the dynamic behaviour of bridges opening the way to easily feed a Digital Twin (DT) accelerating the demands of the Decision Support System (DSS) in real time.
Low BMI is associated with poor IUI outcomes: a retrospective study in 13,745 cycles
Authors: Zheng Juan , Cai Jiali , Liu Lanlan , Guo Yanwen , Sun Jingxue , Ren Jianzhi
Published: May 2022

Background: Although the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been extensively studied, its correlation with intrauterine insemination (IUI) has rarely been reported. Therefore, we aimed to examine the impact of BMI on IUI outcomes．Methods: Six thousand four hundred and seven women undergoing 13,745 IUI cycles stratified by BMI were included in the study. Cox regression was used to analyze the association between BMI and cumulative live birth across multiple IUI cycles. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to analyze the live birth rate per cycle.Results: Compared with normal weight women (n = 4,563), underweight women (n = 990) had a lower cumulative pregnancy and live birth rate (20.71% vs 25.93%, 17.17% vs 21.61%, respectively), while overweight women (n = 854) had a higher cumulative pregnancy and live birth rate (31.97%, 26.58%). Adjusted for confounders, hazard Ratio (HR) for achieving live birth following up to a maximal of 4 IUI cycles was 0.80 (95%CI: 0.67-0.95) comparing underweight with normal weight. In GEE analyses, low BMI was also associated with a lower per-cycle live birth rate 0.77 (95%CI: 0.64-0.92) with adjustment for cycle-specific parameters, including ovarian stimulation, endometrial thickness and follicular diameter.Conclusion: Underweight is associated with poor IUI outcomes.
A constraint on the carbon-climate feedback factor over the northern high latitude forests
Authors: Liu Junjie , Wennbert Paul
Published: May 2022

The high latitude land (>50°N) is warming at more than twice the rate of the rest of globe. In spite of a broad consensus that the warming over the high latitudes northern forests (HLNF) has enhanced photosynthesis and contributed to the greening trend1,2, quantifying what the impact of temperature increase on photosynthesis and greenness has been difficult due to the concurring influence of the CO2 fertilization effect3. Here, using an ensemble of biogeochemical models from the Trends in Net Land Atmosphere Carbon Exchange project (TRENDY), we identified an emergent relationship between the spatial sensitivity of both gross primary productivity (GPP) and greenness (Leaf Area Index, LAI) to temperature and their corresponding temporal changes due to warming - the so-called carbon-climate feedback factor γ. Using spatially-resolved observations of GPP and LAI, we estimated the sensitivity of GPP and LAI increase due to temperature to be - 18.3 ± 2.6%/°C and 27.8 ± 4.3%/°C respectively. These observationally-derived sensitivities are ~50% and ~100% larger, respectively, than those diagnosed from the ensemble of TRENDY models. We estimated that the regional mean GPP increased 24 ± 3.7% between 2006-2015 and 1983-1992, much larger than the 5 ± 1.3 % increase from the CO2 fertilization effect implied by Wenzel et al.4. Taken together with the CO2 fertilization effect estimated by4, our results help resolve the partition of the competing effect between CO2 fertilization and warming on plants growth over the HLNF, and help reduce the uncertainties in predictions. Our results also highlight the dramatic changes of terrestrial biosphere caused by historical warming over the region. An important implication of this work is that uptake of carbon as temperatures continue to warm is likely to continue providing significant buffering of atmospheric CO2 increase
Effect of process parameters on arc behavior and weld formation in weaving gas tungsten arc welding
Authors: Xie Weifeng , Zhou Yuyang , Nian Keyu , Huang Te , Li Yu
Published: May 2022

The arc welding with weaving has been used widely to obtain better weld quality by avoiding lack of side wall fusion and improve the weld efficiency by obtaining the wide weld bead. But the effect of weaving process parameter change on the weld is not clear. The aim of this work is to study the effect of process parameters on arc behavior and weld formation in Weaving Gas Tungsten Arc Welding(W-GTAW), those parameters include welding currents, tungsten electrode heights from the electrode tip to upper surface of workpiece, weave angles, weave speeds, and weave stop time on the left and right sides. The instantaneous arc shape and electrical signal data were collected by high-speed camera and electrical signal acquisition system respectively. Furthermore, the weld morphology was also systematically analyzed. This result shows that the bottom surface radius of the arc changed with weaving in the W-GTAW. When the weave speed increased to 0.40 × 10-1 rad/s, the change of the radius was the least, with only 0.10 mm drift, and the difference between the arc forces in the middle and the two sides of the molten pool was smallest. Compared with the stability of each welding process, decreasing the tungsten electrode heights, weave angle and speed could significantly enhance the stability of welding. The forming coefficient of weld with a weave angle of 1.9° was 3.11, which might help reduce stress concentration and hot crack tendency of the weld. This shows that increasing reasonable the weave angle and speed can increase the weld penetration from another point of view. Furthermore, the W-GTAW technology shows great application potential in weld forming control by adjusting process parameters.
Ultraviolet-induced inflammation: Validation of the PI-MED erythema measure and its associations with anhedonia
Authors: Sullivan-Toole Holly , Feng Shengchuang , Carlton Corinne , Ghane Merage , Olino Thomas , Allen Irving , Richey John
Published: May 2022

Affective immunology of the skin is a growing area; however, investigations are limited by the lack of an established protocol for measuring individual differences in cutaneous inflammation. To address this gap, we present a preliminary validation of Precision Implementation of Minimal Erythema Dose (PI-MED) testing as a method for measuring cutaneous inflammation. PI-MED is a recently adapted protocol, optimized for reproducibility and individual differences research, that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to evoke cutaneous erythema, or inflammatory skin reddening. PI-MED’s novel UV dosage schedule produced reasonably standardized erythema responses across different skin pigmentation types, showed strong internal consistency within person, and good test-retest reliability across 8–10 weeks. In line with predictions, increased PI-MED erythema was associated with heightened anhedonia, across several anhedonia measures, beyond the influence of non-affective covariates. While future work should further refine the PI-MED dosage schedule for the lightest and darkest skin types, overall, evidence supports PI-MED as a protocol for inducing and measuring individual differences in cutaneous inflammation and PI-MED evoked erythema shows potential for expanding psychoneuroimmunology research to better understand immunological and affective processes in the skin. Further, this work adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating a distinct relationship between inflammation and anhedonia.
The use of neurodynamic mobilization in patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: in mild pain or pain-free range? A randomized controlled trial
Authors: You Mingke , Wang Zhuo , Yang Haolun , Chen Baoyu , Yang Lin , Li Jian
Published: May 2022

Background Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy is commonly seen nowadays, and neurodynamic mobilization is believed to be effective in treating this condition. However, the ideal degree of neurodynamic mobilization is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different neurodynamic mobilization intensity in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.Methods Forty patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were included and randomly allocated into pain-free mobilization group or the mild pain mobilization group. Interventions included conventional rehabilitation therapy plus pain-free or mild pain neurodynamic mobilization, with two sessions/day for five days. The outcome measurements included VAS pain scale, neck range of motion, and Vernon-Mior neck disability index, at baseline before, immediate after treatment, and 1-, 2-, and 4-weeks post treatment as follow-ups. Results Baseline comparison showed no group differences (P > 0.05). Significant differences were found before the intervention and 4 weeks after the treatment in all outcome measures (p <0.05) in both groups. While there were no significant differences between groups after treatment, the outcome measures in the mild pain group were slightly better than the pain-free group. Conclusions This was the first study to evaluate neurodynamic mobilization based on pain intensity rather than different ranges of motion. A new classification of neurodynamic mobilization was proposed in this study. Clinicians can use this classification as reference, combining their own clinical reasoning, clinical experiences and patient’s responses to guide the decisions when choosing neurodynamic mobilization technique. Trial registrationThis study was registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, with the number of ChiCTR2000031842 on 12/04/2020.
Progression of IgA vasculitis with severe hematochezia during IFX treatment for pediatric Ulcerative Colitis: a case report and literature review
Authors: lv jiajia , Xiao Yuan , Li Jia , Xu Chundi , Yu Yi
Published: May 2022

Background: Anti-TNF-α antibody has been an efficient therapy for managing ulcerative colitis (UC). However, IgA vasculitis may be a rare complication that occurs during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or after TNF blocker treatment.Case presentation: We report a 14-year-old female patient with a history of purpuric skin lesions and UC. Two months prior to the current admission, she developed canker sores with fever, which was alleviated after the application of clindamycin hydrochloride. One month prior to the current admission, she was diagnosed with UC because of her abdominal pain and severe bloody diarrhoea. Ten days before admission, she developed a bilateral lower extremity purpuric rash. After admission, her abdominal symptoms mildly improved with glucocorticoids and infliximab. However, soon after, she developed two episodes of severe haematochezia and markedly aggravated purpura on the extensor side of both lower extremities. Following colonoscopy examination and intestinal IgA staining, she was diagnosed with IgA vasculitis, which induced severe haematochezia. We decided to continue the original treatment. After the fifth dose of infliximab, the gastrointestinal symptoms disappeared, and the purpuric rash resolved after 1 month.Discussion and conclusion: IgA vasculitis is a rare adverse effect of extraintestinal manifestations of UC, appearing at any age. IgA vasculitis is triggered by infections, specific drugs (infliximab, adalimumab, etanercept) and malignancy. The abdominal and intestinal manifestations of UC and IgA vasculitis may overlap, making it difficult to diagnose IgA vasculitis. Therefore, colonoscopy and intestinal biopsy with IgA staining are useful to detect intestinal involvement of IgA vasculitis.
Aging reduces calreticulin expression and alters spontaneous calcium signals in astrocytic endfeet of the mouse dorsolateral striatum
Authors: SRINIVA RAHUL , Zarate Sara , Huntington Taylor , Bagher Pooneh
Published: May 2022

Aging-related impairment of the blood brain barrier (BBB) and neurovascular unit (NVU) increases the risk for neurodegeneration. Among various cells that participate in BBB and NVU function, calcium signals in astrocytic endfeet are crucial for BBB and NVU integrity. To assess if aging is associated with altered calcium signals within astrocytic endfeet of the dorsolateral striatum (DLS), we expressed a genetically encoded calcium indicator, GCaMP6f in DLS astrocytes of young (3-4 month) and aging (20-24 month) mice. Compared to young mice, DLS endfeet in aging mice demonstrated decreases in calreticulin expression, and significant alterations in membrane-associated and mitochondrial calcium signals. While young mice required both extracellular and endoplasmic reticulum calcium sources for endfoot signals, aging mice showed heavy dependence on endoplasmic reticulum calcium. Thus, aging astrocytic endfeet possess significant changes in calcium buffering and sources, which is important for understanding mechanisms by which aging can impair the BBB and NVU.
Interpolation of dispersion relations and group index in photonic crystal waveguides using artificial neural network
Authors: Pavan Vadapalli Durga Rama , Nikhil Vangety , Dey Koustav , B Umamaheswara Sharma , Roy Sourabh
Published: May 2022

Artificial neural networks in machine learning are popular in solving complex data problems. This article proposes a neural network for predicting the dispersion relations and group indices of a dispersion engineered photonic crystal waveguide mainly designed for slow light applications. The model is trained by the data sets generated from MPB programming. A supervised feed-forward multilayer perceptron neural network is used for predicting the data. Three hidden layers are used with 500 nodes in each layer. One hundred epochs are used to achieve the lowest mean squared error. For generating the training data sets, waveguide structures with lattice shifts in the range of 0.00a to 0.25a are used. After the training, the model can predict the dispersion and group indices values within the trained data range. The model is effective in reducing the computational time.
The use of autologous skeletal muscle - derived cells as a sling in the treatment of stress-induced urinary incontinence : an experimental study in dogs
Authors: Wadie Bassem S , Amer Haytham G , Khater Sheryy M , Gabr Mahmoud M
Published: May 2022

Purpose:This is an experimental preclinical study testing the applicability of autologous skeletal muscle-derived cells as a treatment of SUI in a canine model.Methods:Ten mongrel dogs were included in this study. Skeletal muscle was harvested for biopsy in 4 dogs. One month later, incontinence was induced in 8 dogs through urethrolysis. Biopsied muscle cells were incubated and expanded for 8 weeks. Muscle-derived cells were collected and covered with a polyglycolic acid (PGA) scaffold immersed in culture medium and coated with Matrigel to be used as a sling, which was placed suburethrally in 8 dogs; 4 had cell seeding, and 4 had scaffolds only. Urethral pressure (UP) measurements were performed at baseline and 2 & 6 weeks after sling insertion. The urethra was harvested 4 weeks after sling insertion for histopathology.Results:UP showed an increase in maximum urethral pressure during static measurement in all dogs with a scaffold inserted. The increase ranged from 5–40 cmH2O. Histopathology showed significant periurethral proliferation of skeletal muscles in 4 dogs with cell-seeded scaffolds. These levels were the maximum levels in dogs # 1 & 2. This was not the case in the 4 dogs that had slings only.Conclusion:The use of skeletal muscle-seeded PGA scaffolds is a practical technique with preserved histological differentiation integrity in a canine model.
An automated and stable LED array illumination system for multiwell plate cell culture photodynamic therapy experiments
Authors: Zhang Kai , Timilsina Sudip , Waguespack Matthew , Kercher Eric M. , Spring Bryan Q.
Published: May 2022

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) research would benefit from an automated, low-cost, and easy-to-use cell culture light treatment setup capable of illuminating multiple well replicates within standard multiwell plate formats. We present an LED-array suitable for performing high-throughput cell culture PDT experiments. The setup features a water-cooling loop to keep the LED-array temperature nearly constant, thus stabilizing the output power and spectrum. The setup also features two custom-made actuator arms, in combination with a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) technique, to achieve programmable and automatic light exposures for PDT. The setup operates at ~690 nm (676–702 nm, spectral output full-width half-maximum) and the array module can be readily adapted to other LED wavelengths. This system provides an illumination field with adjustable irradiance up to 400 mW/cm2 with relatively high spectral and power stability comparing with previously reported LED-based setups. The light doses provided by the LED array were validated with comparison to traditional laser PDT. This open-source illumination platform (including the detailed technical description, fabrication protocols, and parts list provided here) helps to make custom light sources more accessible and of practical use for photomedicine research.
Dynamics of Human Milk Oligosaccharides in early lactation and relation with growth and appetitive traits of Filipino breastfed infants
Authors: Samuel Tinu M. , Hartweg Mickaël , Lebumfacil Jowena D. , Buluran Katherine. B. , Lawenko Rachel. B. , Estorninos Elvira M. , Binia Aristea , Sprenger Norbert
Published: May 2022

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) play a key role in the maturation of the infant gut microbiome and immune system and are hypothesized to affect growth. This study examined the temporal changes of 24 HMOs and their associations to infant growth and appetitive traits in an exploratory, prospective, observational, study of 41 Filipino mother-infant dyads. Exclusively breastfed, healthy, term infants were enrolled at 21–26 days of age (≈ 0.75 mo) and followed for 6 months. Infant growth measures and appetitive traits were collected at visit 1 (V1) (≈ 0.75 mo), V2 (≈ 1.5 mo), V3 (2.5 mo), V4 (2.75 mo), V5 (4 mo), and V6 (6 mo), while HMOs were measured at V1, V2, V4 and V6. Overall exposure to each HMO was summarized as area under the curve from baseline to 4 months of age and examined in association with each measure of growth at 6 months using linear regression adjusted for maternal age at birth, infant sex, birth weight, and mode of delivery. We saw modest associations between several HMOs and infant growth parameters. Our results suggest that specific HMOs, partly as proxy for milk groups (defined by Secretor and Lewis status), may be associated with head circumference and length, increasing their relevance especially in populations at the lower end of the WHO growth curve. We did not identify the same HMOs associated with infant appetitive traits, indicating that at least in our cohort, changes in appetite were not driving the observed associations between HMOs and growth.Clinical trial registration: NCT03387124
Percutaneous full endoscopic lumbar discectomy for adjacent segment disease after lumbar fusion in elderly patients
Authors: Feng， Pin , Kong， Qingquan , Zhang Bin , Liu Junlin , Ma Junsong , Hu Yuan
Published: May 2022

Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of percutaneous full endoscopic lumbar discectomy（PELD）in the treatment of adjacent segment disease（ASD）after lumbar fusion in elderly patients.Methods Between October 2017 and January 2020, 32 patients with symptomatic ASD were accepted the PELD. All patients used the transforaminal approach and recorded the operation time and intraoperative conditions. Preoperative, 3, 12, 24 months of postoperative and at the last follow-up, the pain of back and leg of visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI) and Japanese Orthopedic Association Assessment Treatment Score (JOA) were performed, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated according to MacNab standards. The lumbar MRI was performed to evaluate the decompression of the nerve roots, and the lumbar lateral and dynamic X-rays were performed to evaluate the stability of the surgical segment.Results 32 patients were included in the study, including 17 males and 15 females. The follow-up time ranged from 24 to 50 months, with an average of (33.2±8.1) months and an average operation time of (62.7±28.1) minutes. Compared with preoperatively, the VAS score of the back and leg pain (P<0.05), ODI (P<0.05) and JOA (P<0.05) of postoperative were significantly improved. At the last follow-up, according to the modified MacNab standard assessment, 24 cases were excellent, 5 cases were good, and 3 cases were fair, the excellent and good rate was 90.65%. As for complications, 1 case had a small rupture of the dural sac during the operation, which was found but not repaired during the operation, and 1 case recurred after the operation. At the last follow-up, 3 cases of intervertebral instability.Conclusion PELD showed satisfactory short-term efficacy and safety in the management of ASD after lumbar fusion in elderly patients. Therefore, PELD might be an alternative choice for elderly patients with symptomatic ASD after lumbar fusion, but surgical indications must be strictly controlled.
D-dimer/albumin ratio is a prognostic marker for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage-retrospective research
Authors: Wu* Wei , Liu* Xun-Zhi , Chen Xiang-Xin , Sheng Bin , Zhang Jia-Tong , Li Wei , Zhang# Ding-Ding , Hang# Chun-Hua
Published: May 2022

Background: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a serious neurological disorder with limited treatment options and very little is known about its pathophysiology. And there are few available objective tools for predicting the clinical prognosis of aSAH patients and further aiding in directing clinical therapeutic programs. This study aimed to evaluate whether the raised serum D-dimer/albumin ratio (DAR) could reflect disease severity and predict clinical outcomes after aSAH.Methods: A total of 178 patients with aSAH were included in this retrospective study. Collected data included demographics; clinical severity of aSAH (WFNS scale and Hunt-Hess scale), levels of D-dimer, albumin, c-reactive protein (CRP), leukocyte counts, mRS on admission; and three-month prognosis. Clinical prognosis was dichotomized into favorable outcome (mRS ≤ 2) and unfavorable outcome (mRS ≥ 3). And the predictive ability of DAR for aSAH prognosis was determined by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve analysis.Results: The serum DAR showed a strong positive correlation with disease severity. Univariate analysis revealed that DAR, WFNS grade, Hunt-Hess grade, delayed cerebral infarction (DCI), age, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and c-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) were associated with unfavorable clinical outcome. Multivariate regression analysis further revealed that elevated DAR could predict poor prognosis after correcting for WFNS grade, Hunt-Hess grade, DCI, age, NLR, and CRP/albumin ratio. The receiver operating characteristic curve result demonstrated that DAR was a comparable predictor for clinical outcome of aSAH in comparison with NLR and CAR.Conclusion: DAR was d promising objective tool for aSAH patients. Hight content DAR was associate with disease severity and unfavorable short-term prognosis.
Enhanced Conditional Random Field-Long Short-Term Memory for Name Entity Recognition in English Texts
Authors: VeeraSekharReddy B. , Srinivas Koppula , Koppula Neeraja
Published: May 2022

Named Entity recognition (NER) is the essential topic in the real world during the advanced development of technologies. Hence, in this paper, to develop Enhanced Conditional Random Field-Long Short-Term Memory (ECRF-LSTM) for NER in English language. The proposed ECRF-LSTM is combination of Conditional Random Field-Long Short-Term Memory (ECRF-LSTM) and Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm (AOA). This proposed method is utilizing to NER from the English texts. The proposed method is working with three phases such as pre-processing phase, feature extraction phase, and NER phase. Initially, the datasets are collected from the online system. In the pre-processing phase, removal of URL, removal of special symbol, username removal, tokenization and stop word removal are done. After that, the essential features such as domain weight, event weight, textual similarity, spatial similarity, temporal similarity, and Relative Document-Term Frequency Difference (RDTFD) are extracted and then applied for training the proposed model. To empower the training phase of CRF-LSTM method, AOA is utilized to select optimal weight parameter coefficients of CRF-LSTM for training the model parameters. The proposed method is validated by statistical measurements and compared with the conventional methods such as Convolutional Neural Network- Particle Swarm Optimization (CNN-PSO) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) respectively.
Primary gastric lymphoma and spontaneous remission associated with co-infection of COVID-19 and undefined typical bacterial agent.
Authors: Kurmanova Gaukhar , Bossatbekov Yerkebulan , Alimanova Zhanna , Tankayeva Sholpan , Bugibaeva Akbota , Sarawata Abhishek , Singh Kajal , Abbas Fuza Adhur Manhuvalappa , Singh Neetu
Published: May 2022

Background: A case report is viewed as a clinical experience of a patient with primary gastric lymphoma. The article demonstrates reduction of the lymphoproliferative disorder condition to the spontaneous remission state, after community-acquired pneumonia with co-infection of COVID-19, and undefined typical bacterial agent. A positive response has gone through a period of COVID-19 and appeared of ongoing the standard antibacterial and basic symptomatically treatment. Case presentation: A 65-years-old woman was admitted by an ambulance to the emergency department with severe condition. In time of hospitalization, the patient has diagnosed first appearance of primary gastric lymphoma ulcer form with signs of ongoing capillary bleeding, normochromic anaemia, thrombocytopenia, diabetes mellites type 2 in hypoglycaemic state owing to metformin, and chronic bronchitis. Laboratory and instrumental data investigations confirms the severity of condition. Conclusion: The article underlines extremely positive response up to disappearing ulcer form of primary gastric lymphoma and stabilization in laboratory and instrumental investigations data. It associates with anti-tumor effect of highly cytokines production in view of COVID-19 and undefined typical bacterial agent.
LMix:Regularization Strategy for Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Yan Linyu , Zheng Kunpeng , Xia Jinyao , Li Ke , Ling Hefei
Published: May 2022

Convolutional neural network models, as well as the training samples necessary, have grown in size in recent years. Mixed Sample Data Augmentation is provided to further improve the model's performance, and it has yielded good results.Mixed Sample Data Augmentation allows the network to generalize more effectively and improves the baseline performance of the model. The mixed sample strategies proposed so far can be broadly classified into interpolation and masking. However, interpolation-based strategies distort the data distribution, while masking-based strategies can obscure too much information. Although Mixed Sample Data Augmentation has been proven to be a viable technique for boosting deep convolutional model baseline performance, generalization ability, and robustness, there is still room for improvement in terms of image local consistency and data distribution.In this research, we present a new Mixed Sample Data Augmentation that uses random masking to increase the number of image masks while retaining the data distribution and high-frequency filtering to sharpen the images in order to emphasize recognition regions. Our experiments on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, Fashion-MNIST, SVHN, and Tiny-ImageNet datasets show that the LMix improves the generalization ability of state-of-the-art neural network architectures. And our method enhances the robustness of adversarial samples.
A Novel Immune‑Related Gene-Based Model: Prognosis and Immunotherapy Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Ren Junkai , Yuan Chao , Zeng Fanxin , Zeng Kaining , Zhang Tong
Published: May 2022

Background: Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains a significant global health challenge. Immunotherapy for LIHC is a very promising treatment modality. However, some patients with LIHC have a poor response to tumor immunotherapy. Thus, it is imperative to fully understand liver cancer immune subtypes, by which individualized and optimized immunotherapy would be developed. Methods: We downloaded transcriptome and clinical data of TCGA-LIHC from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, GSE52018 and GSE72467 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The immune cell infiltration of the tumor microenvironment was calculated. Based on the results of CIBERSORT, the LIHC patients were clustered into three subtypes. To establish the prognostic model, we employed LASSO-COX regression analysis. The differences in immune cell infiltration, tumor stemness, somatic mutations, and sensitivity to the immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with different risk groups were systematically assessed.Results: According to the results of CIBERSORT, LIHC samples were divided into three individual subtypes: Cluster-A, B, and C. These three subtypes have distinct characteristics with regard to immune cell infiltration, prognosis, and response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chemotherapy drugs. Cluster-B belongs to hot tumors, and Cluster-A and Cluster-C belong to cold tumors. We trained a prognostic model based on differential genes between cold and hot tumors. We then attempted to explore the differences among different risk groups in the immune microenvironment, oncogenic biology, genetic variation, and prognosis. The characteristics of immune activation, enhanced immunotherapy response, and prolonged survival was observed in the low-risk group. Finally, we combined Riskscore and other clinicopathological features to build a nomogram to predict the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of LIHC patients.Conclusion: In this study, an immune‑related gene-based model of predicting the prognosis and immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma was established.
Potential of indigenous low-cost lures for monitoring and as a component of integrated management of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda
Authors: Tanyi Clovis Bessong , Njock Thomas Eku , Ntonifor Nelson Neba
Published: May 2022

Background: Considering the increasing voracious feeding impact of the invasive fall armyworm; Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) in major corn-growing belts of Africa, indigenous low-cost lures were compared with the commercial pheromone for monitoring and control of this pest via mass capture of the adults.Methods: Four sets of trials were conducted during two cropping (rainy and dry) seasons in two agro-ecological zones of Cameroon. The experiments were setup in randomised complete block designs with 5 lure treatments; palm wine, honeygar, commercial pheromone, Maize chyme, and a water control each replicated five times. Results: The Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) showed that the maize chyme low-cost lure attracted significantly higher numbers of the moths compared to the commercial pheromone (p<0.001). The maize chyme attracted more moths in the Western Highland savanna with a mean of 61.75 significantly different from the Humid rainforest with 30.50 moths (p<0.001). This was followed by Honeygar with 53.25 and 28.12 moths in the Highland savanna and Humid rainforest zones respectively. These were both significantly different from Palm wine (p<0.001). The highest numbers of adult fall armyworms were recorded in the Dry season, which were significantly different from the rainy season (p<0.001).Conclusion: The indigenous low-cost lures are effective tools in monitoring and control of fall armyworm as components of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy for resource-constrained smallholder farmers.
Morphology of the external sense organs on the adult Lycosoides coarctata (Araneae: Agelenidae) inhabiting Assiut Governorate, Egypt.
Authors: Abdel-Mageed Marwa A. , Obuidallah Ahmed H. , Elshimy Nasser A. , Hussien Elamier H.M.
Published: May 2022

Spiders are equipped with a large number of sense organs, which respond to various sensory stimuli. The spider's body hair and spines are high sensitive to touch and to vibrations. Spiders can feel a puff of air so gentle that it only stirs one hair. Spiders do not have ears, but have an excellent hearing. They pick up sound vibrations with tiny hairs on their legs and bodies. A spider can "hear" the vibrations of an insect walking along the ground or onto a web. They can tastes and smells with its feet. Scanning electron microscopic studies illustrate the presence of different types of hairs and sensilla on different parts of adult males and females of Lycosoides coarctata. There are two stimuli affected to spiders, mechanical and chemical stimuli. Here we focus on the different types of sensilla: the mechanosensory setae, trichobothria, slit sensilla, lyriform organs, trichoid sensilla, sensilla placodea, sensilla styloconica and chemosensory setae. Trichobothria have a cup-like socket and a long hair-like projection. Trichobothria present on all walking legs, pedipalps, chelicerae and are the air movement sensors of spiders.
GOLPH3 promotes cell proliferation and malignancy in Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma via AKT-mTOR axis activation
Authors: Liu Jianmin , Zhou Tao , Wang Yongkuan , Cao Shuwei , Zhang Meng
Published: May 2022

Background Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) is a type of the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and it tends to have malignant transformation and result in poor prognosis effected by oncogene. Studies have shown that Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) is highly expressed in HNSCC, which can activate AKT-mTOR signaling pathway. However, the functions of GOLPH3 in HSCC was unclear. Methods Based on the analysis of 520 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we employed GOLPH3 stable knockdown and overexpression of FaDu cell lines to investigated that function and impact of GOLPH3 on HSCC in vitro and vivo. In addition, we verifying the functions and pathway of genes that positively related to GOLPH3 via enrichment analysis and western blot. Results GOLPH3 promotes HSCC cells proliferation, migration and subcutaneous tumor in vivo. We confirmed the positive correlation between GOLPH3 and AKT-mTOR signal activation in vitro. Enrichment analysis indicated that GOLPH3 is critical for HSCC development.Conclusion GOLPH3 promotes tumor cells proliferation and malignancy via AKT-mTOR signal activation, and this mechanism may be a key factor for HSCC tumor malignancy. Highlight GOLPH and it activating the mTOR pathway is important mechanism for the tumorigenesis and development of HSCC, which may provide an important target for clinical treatment of HSCC.
Effect of pH on the Antimicrobial Activity of Wood Vinegar (Pyroligneous Extract) From Eucalyptus
Authors: Gama Gil Sander Próspero , Pimenta Alexandre Santos , Feijó Francisco Marlon Carneiro , Santos Caio Sérgio dos , Castro Renato Vinicius Oliveira , de Azevedo Tatiane Kelly Barbosa , de Medeiros Lúcio César Dantas
Published: May 2022

The study aimed to assess the effect of progressive neutralization on the antimicrobial properties against bacteria and yeasts of wood vinegar obtained from the pyrolysis of Eucalyptus urograndis wood. Wood samples were carbonized at a heating rate of 0.7°C min1 until a final temperature of 450°C. The raw pyrolysis liquids were left to settle and the aqueous fraction was separated. Then, the aqueous fraction (raw wood vinegar – WV) was purified to yield the WV. WV samples were collected and neutralized in steps with a solution of 2-mol L− 1 NaOH from pH 2.5 until 7.5 (2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, and 7.5. Through the broth microdilution method, the antimicrobial effect of the neutralized samples at each pH was assessed on Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and Salmonella enteritidis (ATCC 13076), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Streptococcus agalactiae (CEPA CLINICA), and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal (and fungicidal) concentrations were determined. Results were submitted to regression analysis, and statistical models were fitted. A progressive decrease in the antimicrobial activity was determined as pH increased. Nevertheless, even when neutral and slightly alkaline pH values are reached, the inhibitory activity remained at a certain level. Higher pH values of the WV were associated with lower antimicrobial activity. However, its activity remained even at neutral and slightly alkaline pH values. The results demonstrated the effect of pH on the antimicrobial effect of WV, a product with applications in veterinary medicine and zootechnics.
2022 Hunga-Tonga eruption: stratospheric aerosol evolution in a water-rich plume
Authors: Zhu Yunqian , Bardeen Charles , Tilmes Simone , Mills Michael , Harvey V. , Taha Ghassan , Kinnison Douglas , Yu Pengfei , Rosenlof Karen , Wang Xinyue , Avery Melody , Kloss Corinna , Li Can , Glanville Anne , Millán Luis , Deshler T , Portmann Robert , Krotkov Nickolay , Toon Owen
Published: May 2022

The January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) volcanic eruption injected a relatively small amount of SO2, but significantly more water into the stratosphere than previously seen in the modern satellite record. Here we show that the large amount of water resulted in large perturbations to stratospheric aerosol evolution. Our Community Earth System Model simulation reproduces the enhanced water vapor observed by the Microwave Limb Sounder at pressure levels between 10 and 50 hPa for three months. Compared with a simulation without a water injection, this additional source of water vapor increases OH, which halves the SO2 lifetime. Subsequent coagulation creates larger sulfate particles that double the stratospheric aerosol optical depth. A seasonal forecast of volcanic plume transport in the southern hemisphere indicates this eruption will greatly enhance the aerosol surface area and water vapor near the polar vortex until at least October 2022, suggesting that there will continue to be an impact of the HTHH eruption on the climate system.