bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Climatic and Anthropogenic Drivers of Forest Succession in the Iberian Pyrenees during the Last 500 Years: A Statistical Approach
Authors: Rull Valentí , Vegas-Vilarrúbia Teresa
Published: March 2022

Anticipating future successional forest trends in the face of ongoing global change is an essential conservation target. Mountain forests are especially sensitive to environmental shifts, and their past responses to climatic and anthropogenic (external) drivers may provide a basis for improving predictions of future developments. This paper uses independent high-resolution palynological and paleoclimatic reconstructions to statistically analyze the long-term effects of external drivers on regional forest succession in the central Iberian Pyrenees during the last 500 years. The dominant taxa of these forests (Quercus, Betula, Pinus) showed significant relationships with summer temperature, summer drought and autumn precipitation. Immediate and delayed (by two or more decades) responses of these trees to climatic drivers were identified. Regional succession showed a closed path, starting at the end points around the attraction domain of pine-dominated forests. This trajectory was determined by a trend toward anthropogenic forest clearing (16th to 18th centuries) and a reverse trend of natural forest recovery (18th to 20th centuries). Forest clearing was due to burning, facilitated by drought, and was followed by the expansion of cropping and grazing lands. Forest recovery was fostered by reduced human pressure and rising temperatures. The statistical approach used in this work has unraveled ecological relationships that remained unnoticed in previous works and would be important for predicting future successional trends under changing climates. The reported response lags of individual taxa to climatic drivers may complicate the establishment of reliable ecological relationships and should be addressed in future studies.
Ensemble Machine Learning Approach for Evaluating the Material Characterization of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Cementitious Composites
Authors: Bagherzadeh Faramarz , Shafighfard Torkan
Published: March 2022

Time and cost-efficient techniques are essential to avoid extra conventional experimental studies with large date-set to characterize the mechanical properties of composite materials. Correlation between the structural performance and mechanical properties could be captured through the efficient predictive models. Several ensembled Machine Learning (ML) methods were implemented in this study, to materially characterize carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced cement-based composites. Proposed models were compared with each other to represent the accuracy of each method. The Flexural and Compressive Strength (target values) of CNT reinforced composites were predicted based on the data-rich framework provided in previous experimental investigations. These data were utilized for training of the proposed models by employing SciKit-Learn library in Python, followed by hyper-parameter tuning and k-fold cross-validation method for obtaining an efficient model to predict the target values. Random Forest (RF) and Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) were developed for this purpose. The findings of this study would be useful for prospective composite designers in case of sufficient experimental data availability for ML model training.
The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of a Neglected Breed, the Peruvian Creole Cattle (Bos taurus), and Its Phylogenetic Analysis
Authors: Arbizu Carlos I. , Ferro-Mauricio Rubén D. , Chávez-Galarza Julio C. , Vásquez Héctor V. , Maicelo Jorge L. , Poemape Carlos , Gonzales Jhony , Quilcate Carlos , Corredor Flor-Anita
Published: March 2022

Cattle spread throughout the American continent during the colonization years, originating creole breeds that adapted to a wide range of climate conditions. Population of creole cattle in Peru is decreasing mainly due to the introduction of more productive breeds in recent years. During the last 15 years, there have been a significant progress on cattle genomics. However, little is known about the genetics of the Peruvian creole cattle (PCC) even though its importance to (i) improve productivity in the Andean region, (ii) agricultural labor, and (iii) cultural traditions. In addition, the origin and phylogenetic relationship of the PCC is still unclear. In order to promote the conservation of the PCC, we sequenced for the first time the mitochondrial genome of a creole bull from the highlands of Arequipa, which also possessed exceptional fighting skills and was employed for agricultural tasks. The total mitochondrial genome sequence is 16,339 bp in length with the base composition of 31.43 % for A, 28.64 % for T, 26.81 % for C, and 13.12 % for G. It contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and a control region. Among the 37 genes, 28 were positioned on the H-strand and nine were positioned on the L-strand. The most frequently used codons were CUA (Leucine), AUA (Isoleucine), AUU (Isoleucine), AUC (Isoleucine), y ACA (Threonine). Maximum likelihood reconstruction using complete mitochondrial genome sequences clearly demonstrated that the PCC is strongly related to native African breeds, giving insights into the ancestry of PCC. The annotated mitochondrial genome of PCC would serve as an important genetic data set for further breeding work and conservation strategies.
On Arabic Language Maintenance Among Arabs Living in Western Countries: A Review of Literature
Authors: Bouhdima Mohamed Elhedi
Published: March 2022

Arabic is present in the Arab world and beyond. It is used as an official (or co-official) language in the Arab World (this refers to the twenty-two member states of the Arab League). Also, Arabic has the status of a national language in Mali, Niger, and Senegal. Besides, it is spoken in linguistic enclaves in Nigeria, Cyprus, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. In addition, it is employed as the liturgical language in Muslim countries and countries with a Muslim minority all over Africa and Asia. As a result of the migration to Western countries since the end of the nineteenth century, Arabs and Arabic has been present in such countries. The presence of Arabs in Western countries raises the following question: Are these Arabs language maintainers or language shifters? The present article is an attempt to answer this question through reviewing a number of studies that have dealt with Arabic language maintenance among the Arabs living in Western countries (namely the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Greece, and France), deducing from these studies the major trends in Arabic language maintenance among these Arabs, and providing a critique of the studies.
The system for assessing the quality of education in the universities of the leading countries of the world
Authors: Klochek Lilia , Snitsarchuk Lidiya , Ohar Emiliya
Published: March 2022

The main purpose of the article is to study the most successful experience in the implementation of the education quality assessment system in the leading countries of the world. The world is constantly changing and developing. Together with it, we are changing, our ideas about the natural and anthropogenic environment, about our capabilities and needs are changing. We strive to know more, be able to do better, learn faster. And on this path, education is a powerful tool capable of changing the world. As a socio-cultural institution, education is acquiring new properties and characteristics. But the desire of people to form or receive education of the highest quality remains unchanged, especially in the context of systemic transformations. Universities have always been the main producers and providers of knowledge in society, but today they are recognized as the main generators of knowledge. In the context of global competition, a complex of interrelationships between high-quality higher education, scientific research both in the academic environment and outside it is becoming more important for ensuring the innovative and productive development of the state. As a result of the study, the most effective mechanisms for the implementation of the education quality assessment system in the leading countries of the world, as well as the most optimal methods for their adaptation, were analyzed.
Determination of the Best Model to Predict Milk Dry Matter in High Milk Yielding Dairy Cattle
Authors:   Ondokuz Mayıs University, Agricultural Faculty, Department of Animal Science, 55139, Samsun, Turkey, Kurnaz Burcu , Önder Hasan ,   Ondokuz Mayıs University, Agricultural Faculty, Department of Animal Science, 55139, Samsun, Turkey, Piwczyński Dariusz ,   Department of Animal Biotechnology and Genetics, Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 85-084 Bydgoszcz, Poland, Kolenda Magdalena ,   Department of Animal Biotechnology and Genetics, Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 85-084 Bydgoszcz, Poland, Sitkowska Beata ,   Department of Animal Biotechnology and Genetics, Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 85-084 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Published: March 2022

This study was aimed to determinate the best model to predict milk dry matter in high milk yielding dairy cattle. Level of milk dry matter (MDM) (%) is of great importance. The material of this study consisted of 2208 milking records of dairy cattle yielding more than 40 l per day from Polish Holstein Friesian population. In this study to estimate the milk dry matter, regression of daily milk yield (MY) (l), milk urea (MU), milk protein (MP) (%) and milk fat (MF) (%) as explanatory variables were used. To estimate the best fitting, curve estimation was used. Estimation of the curves showed that milk urea was cubic, milk yield, milk protein and milk fat were quadratic. To avoid multicollinearity where VIF value greater than 10, stepwise variable selection procedure was used. After variable selection the regression equation was obtained as MDM=2.879+1.290*MF+2.395*MP-0.039*MF^2–0.225*MP^2 with 0.946 coefficient of determination. Our results showed that milk fat (%) and milk protein (%) can be used to estimate the milk dry matter (%) with a great achievement in high milk yielding dairy cattle.
Milk production and challenges in transition from conventional to robotic milking in Croatia
Authors:   University of J.J. Strossmayer in Osijek, Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Department for animal production and biotechnology Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia, Mijić Pero , Bobić Tina ,   University of J.J. Strossmayer in Osijek, Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Department for animal production and biotechnology Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
Published: March 2022

Milk production in the Republic of Croatia is facing a great challenge. Over the years, there has been a decline in the number of farms, cattle and the amount of milk production. Data for 2019 show a decrease in the number of cows for milk production of 4.4% compared to the previous year, or 14.4% over the last 5 years. Consequently, during the mentioned period, there was a drop in milk production by 15.5%. There are several reasons for this situation: high fragmentation of parcelled land, rural population moving to cities and other richer EU countries, negative population demographics, strong pressure of cheap milk imported by retail chains from western and northern EU member states, insufficiently modernized farms. All this makes it difficult for the survival of the Croatian farmer. Self-sufficiency in milk production in 2019 in Croatia was only 48.4%. In order to somewhat stop these negative trends, the Government of the Republic of Croatia is trying to encourage farmers to modernize dairy farms. One way of modernization is the introduction of milking robots. Farmers increasingly accept the proposed idea. Currently, 40 robots were installed in Croatia, distributed on 27 farms. Preliminary production results show that on robotic farms there has been an increase in milk production at the lactation level of about 528 kg. In addition to the production effect, the robotization of farms also leads to a financial effect on the entire Croatian economy.
Characteristics of milk from different species of farm animals with special emphasis on health-promoting ingredients
Authors:   Department of Quality Assessment and Processing of Animal Products, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland, Stobiecka Magdalena , Król Jolanta ,   Department of Quality Assessment and Processing of Animal Products, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland, Brodziak Aneta ,   Department of Quality Assessment and Processing of Animal Products, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland, Wajs Joanna ,   Department of Quality Assessment and Processing of Animal Products, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Published: March 2022

Nowadays, consumers choose food products, pay attention not only to their nutritional value and taste, but also to health-promoting properties. Milk from various animal species is a rich source of health-enhancing components present in the fat, protein and water fractions. They exert a multidirectional impact on the human organism and limit the risk of development of many lifestyle diseases. There are differences in the content of bioactive ingredients in milk from various animal species. In comparison with cow milk, which is of key importance in the world production, sheep and donkey milk contains higher amounts of whey proteins (mainly β-Lg) and polyunsaturated acids. Camel milk deserves special attention as well due to its high content of antibacterial substances, i.e. lactoferrin and lysozyme, as well as vitamins C and E. Importantly, milk and dairy products are a rich source of essential amino acids and minerals (mainly calcium), indispensable for normal functioning of the human organism. Due to the presence of antioxidants, i.e. β-Lg, lactoferrin, CLA, and vitamins E and C, they are classified as natural antioxidants.
Farm animal breeding of genetic resources for young farmers in Taiwan
Authors:   Taiwan Livestock Research Institute, Tainan, Taiwan, Wu Mingche
Published: March 2022

The agricultural employed population of the year 2020 in Taiwan were 548,000 persons with 74.1% male and 24.9% female. Only 10.9% of those were young farmers with age of 15 to 34 years old. According to the survey of animal industry in 2020, there were about 10,300 livestock farms and 9,900 poultry farms in Taiwan. For those of producing milk, meat and egg in different sectors, the average annual incomes per farm is more than 20 million Taiwan dollar in dairy cattle farms and broiler chicken farms with number of rearing animals per farm were 210 cows and 27,618 birds, respectively. Farm animal genetic resources of 117 breeds in Taiwan updated to 2021, including 20 native breeds, 43 imported breeds, 39 registered new breeds, and 15 ongoing selection breeds, serve as a gene bank for the study of genetic diversity. In Taiwan experience, mule duck production with two species crossbreeding via artificial insemination of laying duck sired with mixed semen from Muscovy duck, it is an essential application of multiple-sires instrumental breeding. In free range production, females of native chicken and laying duck can be multiple-sire natural mating to ensure a higher fertility rate of ovulated eggs. Application of frozen semen and embryo may perform sire-daughter mating, brother-sister mating, or son-dam mating for increasing genetic homogeneity without inbreeding depression of reproduction performance. Inbreeding quickly brings to the surface any detrimental genes that are in a population. With the facility of paternal DNA test, single-sire breeding can be used with extended semen and intra-uterine insemination to test the allele effect of sire genome on their economic traits of pig, cattle, goat, and poultry breeds in a small-scale farming system. Advanced breeding efforts are undertaken to broaden the genetic base of conserved animals and create new breeds that meet the manifold demands in relation to quality, resilience, and sustainability in small-scale farms.
RESPON PERTUMBUHAN KELAPA DALAM (Cocos nucifera) TERHADAP LAMA KEKERINGAN DI PEMBIBITAN ; RESPONSE TO TALL COCONUT (Cocos nucifera) PLANT GROWTH AT LONG DROUGHT IN THE NURSERY
Authors: Manambangtua Alfred P. , Mahayu Weda M. , Hidayat Toni S.
Published: March 2022

Hal yang harus diperhatikan dalam penyedian bahan tanam untuk tanaman perkebunan adalah pembibitan. Salah satu masalah utama bagi pertumbuhan dan perkembangan tanaman kelapa di pembibitan adalah kekurangan air atau  kekeringan. Semua aspek pertumbuhan tanaman meliputi proses fiologis, biokimia, anatomi dan morfologi terpengaruh akibat kekurangan air. Bencana kekeringan atau kemarau panjang sering terjadi di Indonesia. Sehingga penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui respon pertumbuhan tanaman kelapa  terhadap lama kekeringan di pembibitan. Penelitian dilaksanakan selama 5 bulan, dimulai bulan Oktober 2019 hingga bulan Maret 2020. Lokasi pelaksanaan penilitian di lakukan di Rumah Kaca Balai Penelitian Tanaman Palma. Jl. Raya Mapanget, Manado. Penelitian menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap (RAL)  dengan lima perlakuaan dan lima ulangan. Sehingga didapat dua puluh lima satuan percobaan. Perlakuan yang diuji adalah periode kekeringan yang terdiri atas: Kontrol (Disiram dari awal), 1 bulan kering, 2 bulan kering, 3 bulan kering, 4 bulan kering, 5 bulan kering. Tanaman yang mengalami periode kekeringan selama satu dan dua bulan untuk tinggi dan lingkar batang tidak berbeda nyata terhadap tanaman yang disiram (kontrol). Pada persen tanaman yang hidup terdapat tanaman yang mati pada perlakuan A4 dan A5. Untuk berat basah dan berat kering tajung perlakuan tanaman yang disiram tidak berbeda nyata pada perlakuan A1, namun berbeda nyata pada perlakuan lainnya. Pada kondisi perakaran, perlakuan A0 memiliki perakaran yang lebih banyak.
Robust Value Quantification of Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods Using Ensemble-Based Optimization
Authors: Oguntola Micheal , Lorentzen Rolf
Published: March 2022

Over the last decades, the development of different oil reservoirs with gas or chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods have been studied, and the EOR effects of the recovery methods are found to be sensitive to fluid and rock properties in the reservoirs. The use of a single reservoir model with the assumption of known reservoir parameters is not enough to guarantee an accurate prediction of EOR effects. The best decision related to the injection strategies of EOR methods can be appropriately found using an optimization setup that accounts for the uncertainty quantification in the reservoir. In this paper, we present mathematical tools for optimizing and ranking the value of the commonly used EOR methods. The methodology is demonstrated with Smartwater, carbon dioxide (CO2), and polymer EOR methods on synthetic 2D and 3D oil reservoirs. To capture the uncertainties in the reservoirs, we use an ensemble of geological realizations obtained by engineering upscaling of the initial model. The usefulness of this study is to improve the understanding of the actual benefit of EOR methods and to provide a methodology that quickly allows users to appropriately predict EOR injection strategies that maximize the annually discounted economic values of the injected and production data. The control variables of optimization problems include EOR gas rate or chemical concentration, water rates, oil rate, or bottomhole pressures. An ensemble-based optimization method with covariance adaptation is used to solve the optimization problem. For the different reservoirs considered, we find the optimal well controls for EOR methods. A comparative study of the economic benefits of the optimal solutions of EOR methods using optimized waterflooding as a reference point is presented. CO2 is found to rank high compared with other EOR methods in both cases. Finally, we investigate the effect of different injection costs of CO2 on the optimization results of CO2 EOR methods for the 3D reservoir field.
Nonlinear Dynamic Modeling of Drillstring-Bit-Rock Coupling System Based on Bit/Rock Interaction Simulation
Authors: Han Yiwei , Kuang Yuchun , Yang Bo , Ai Zhijiu
Published: March 2022

In this paper, based on the dynamic model of the geometrically exact drillstring in horizontal well, a nonlinear dynamic model of drillstring-bit-rock coupling system is established. First, the contact model of drillstring and borehole wall in vertical well is extended to the contact model of drillstring and borehole wall in 3D well. Then a new numerical rock model is proposed, in which rock is discretized to spherical particles and each particle behaved in three states including undeformed state, elastic deformation, and crushing state. Equivalent stiffness is used to describe the mechanical properties of rock particles. The relationship between the equivalent stiffness of rock particles and mechanical specific energy (MSE) of rock is established. Finally, the coupling dynamic model of drillstring-bit-rock is established by coupling the dynamic model of drillstring, the contact model between drillstring and borehole wall, and the bit/rock interaction model. The coupling model is spatially discretized by quadrature element method; a mixed explicit-implicit numerical integration method is used for time integration; the nonlinear equations are solved by Newton’s method; and the solving efficiency is improved by using sparse matrix and parallel computing techniques. The numerical model is verified by laboratory experiments. By the above methods, the drilling process of an actual well is simulated. The results show that the mechanical model and numerical calculation method can capture the coupling vibration phenomenon of the drillstring-bit coupling system in real-time. The innovation of this paper is to propose a new drillstring-bit-rock coupling dynamic system model, including a new bit-rock model, so that the dynamic excitation of the drillstring system in the bit section is closer to the actual situation. It provides a new idea for the research of drill string-bit coupling system and lays a theoretical foundation for drilling optimization.
Effect of Pore Structure and Capillary Number on Gas-Water Flow Patterns in Carbonate Rocks
Authors: Li Yingwen , Yang Yongfei , Dong Mingzhe , Liu Changfu , Iglauer Stefan , Kang Lixin , Yao Jun , Zhang Kai , Sun Hai , Zhang Lei
Published: March 2022

Rock pore structure and capillary number determine gas-water flow through limestone. Limestone is of key importance for natural gas production and gas storage; however, there is still limited direct evidence on the precise influence of the pore space morphology (vugs, fractures, and homogeneous pore matrix) and capillary number. Here, we thus studied gas-water flow patterns in various limestones via in-situ X-ray microtomography combined with numerical flow simulations. Pore structure heterogeneity significantly affected the fluid migration path. Gas flowed rapidly through large pores and vugs but flowed slowly through microfractures. In contrast, water flowed through microfractures and small pores but did not enter large pores at low capillary number conditions. Water flow simulations [performed for different capillary numbers directly on microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) images] demonstrated that snap-off and dead-end corners controlled the distribution of residual gas, consistent with the experiments. In addition, the simulations showed that less residual gas distributed around dead-end corners at a low capillary number, and a part of the residual gas can be displaced by increasing viscous forces. Moreover, a power-low relationship between gas cluster volume and surface area was observed, and the gas cluster size distribution could also be fitted with a power-law correlation. In all types of tested limestones, the power-law exponents (p ≈ 0.77, τ ≈ 0.86) were lower than that predicted by simple percolation theory (which predicts p ≈ 1, τ ≈ 2.189). There was evidence that a simple percolation model was unlikely to provide reliable predictions in homogeneous porous media, and we further extended the application scope of this conclusion to heterogeneous porous media. This work therefore provides fundamental data and improves fundamental understanding of gas-water flow through limestones and aids in the further advancements of improved hydrocarbon recovery and gas storage in limestone reservoirs.
Polyvinyl Chloride Degradation by Intestinal Klebsiella of Pest larvae
Authors: Zhang Zhe , Peng Haoran , Yang Dongchen , Zhang Guoqing , Zhang Jinlin , Ju Feng
Published: March 2022

Microbial degradation of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is eco-friendly and economically attractive but extremely challenging due to the lack of a molecular understanding of the degrading strains and enzymes. Motivated by the serendipitous discovery that the larva of an agricultural invasive insect pest, Spodoptera frugiperda, effectively survived PVC film alone, we profiled the intestinal microbiota of S. frugiperda larva and screened for PVC-degrading strains. Feeding on PVC film significantly changed the larval intestinal microbiota through selective enrichment of Enterococcus, Ochrobactrum, Falsochrobactrum, Microbaterium, Sphingobacterium and Klebsiella. From the larval intestine, we isolated the biofilm-forming Klebsiella sp. EMBL-1 and experimentally verified it as the first Klebsiella bacterium known to actively degrade and utilize PVC by various classic physicochemical and morphological analyses. We further used multiomic analyses, complementarily integrating genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic insights, to identify enzyme-coding genes responsible for PVC degradation and proposed a biodegradation pathway for the bacterial strain. Overall, both S. frugiperda and strain EMBL-1 are first found to survive effectively on PVC film by using the polymer as the sole energy source. Moreover, this work exemplifying PVC biodegradation provides a reference for discovering more microbes and enzymatic resources for degrading other recalcitrant plastics.
Timing of the Miocene-Quaternary magmatic intrusions in the Tanga offshore basin: correlation to age equivalent deposits in the Eyasi-Wembere basin and their implications for petroleum potential
Authors: MVILE BENATUS NORBERT , Kiswaka Emily Barnabas , Osinowo Olawale Olakunle , Marobhe Isaac Muneji , Olayinka Abel Idowu , Mshiu Elisante Elisaimon
Published: March 2022

Detailed 2D qualitative seismic interpretation, coupled with core logging and analysis of elemental proxies, has been used to assess petroleum potential of the Miocene-Quaternary successions of the Tanga offshore basin. These successions have been intruded by magmatic sills and dykes. Based on seismic well tie and correlation with age equivalent onshore successions in the Eyasi-Wembere basin, the timing of these intrusions are linked to periods of tectonic episodes that influenced development of the East African Rift basins. Seismic interpretation has shown that these tectonic episodes occurred during the Miocene-Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene periods. The magmatic bodies are thought to have promoted source rock maturation and facilitate formation of structural elements for petroleum trapping in the basin.
Direct Costs of Myopia in India
Authors: Singh Sachin , Gopalakrishanan Aparna , Jothibalaji Janarthanam , Narayanan Anuradha , Sivaraman Viswanathan
Published: March 2022

PURPOSE This study aimed to estimate the direct costs of myopia among subjects from India. METHODS An observational study on direct costs of myopia among subjects aged between 6 and 40 years with spherical equivalent (SEQ) refraction of at least -0.50 D was conducted. Subjects were recruited from the five units of myopia management in the country, namely, regular chains, institutions, individual practitioners, wholesalers and online. A semi-structured questionnaire comprising the cost of spectacles, consultation, transportation, and frequency of visits to eye care professionals and changes in spectacles was used. Data were analysed to report the median annual cost of myopia and comparison between different degrees of myopia. RESULTS A total of 335 subjects participated across the five units. The median age was 25.0 years (IQR: 19.0 years, 31.0 years) and the median SEQ was -3.25 D (IQR: -1.75 D, -5.50 D). The median annual direct cost of myopia was INR 4,600.00 (IQR: INR 2,300.00, INR 9,395.00) [US$ 62.16 (IQR: US$ 31.08, US$ 126.95)] with median cost of spectacles contributing to 72.8% of the total cost. There was a statistically significant difference in the annual direct costs with varying degrees of myopia (p <0.001) and units of myopia management (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS The study reports the annual direct costs of myopia which is more than 5% of an average per capita income in India. Strategies are needed to reduce burden of myopia correction on individuals.
Stimulation of dysregulated IFN-β responses by aberrant SARS-CoV-2 small viral RNAs
Authors: Arai Yasuha , Yamanaka Itaru , Okamoto Toru , Isobe Ayana , Nakai Naomi , Kamimura Naoko , Suzuki Tatsuya , Daidoji Tomo , Ono Takao , Nakaya Takaaki , Matsumoto Kazuhiko , Okuzaki Daisuke , Watanabe Yohei
Published: March 2022

Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibit a cytokine storm characterized by greatly elevated levels of cytokines during worsening disease. Despite this, the interferon (IFN) response is delayed, contributing to disease progression. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 generates excessive amounts of small viral RNAs (svRNAs) encoding exact 5′ ends of positive-sense genes in human cells, whereas significantly fewer similar svRNAs are produced by endemic human coronaviruses (OC43 and 229E). SARS-CoV-2 5′ end svRNAs are RIG-I agonists associated with IFN-beta expression in later stages of infection. The first 60-nt ends bearing duplex structures and 5′-triphosphates are responsible for immune-stimulation. The 5′ end svRNAs were also produced during infection ex vivo and in vivo. The delta variant retains the robust 5′ end svRNA production of the parental strain, whereas omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) produces little of these erroneous svRNAs. We propose that RIG-I activation by accumulated 5′ end svRNAs overcomes the initial IFN antagonistic ability of viral proteins and contributes to drive late over-exuberant IFN production leading to the development of severe COVID-19 and suggest that evolutionary modification of SARS-CoV-2 5′ end svRNA production may correlate with the reduced disease severity likely seen with omicron (BA.1 and BA.2).
Feasibility and Efficiency of Rigid-angle Bronchial Blockers for Uniportal Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery
Authors: Li Ying-Tzu , Chiu Hsin-Chan , Lin Pei-Ching , Lin Wen-Ting , Hsieh Yi-Chu , Tai Ju-Ling , Tai Yu-Hsi , Hsiao Yueh-Chen , Hsu Hsao-Hsun , Chen Jin-Shing , Cheng Ya-Jung
Published: March 2022

Background: Rigid-angle bronchial blockers (BBs) have been routinely applied in thoracic operations for less invasiveness on airways. However, few reports exist regarding the application of BBs in uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which is more difficult to be performed without satisfactory lung collapse. BBs may associate with necessity of readjustment to achieve satisfactory operation fields for ipsilateral location with intraoperative manipulations especially for anatomical resections. In this investigation, we hypothesized that the efficiency will be reduced if BBs prolong the operation time. We compared the operation time of either wedge or anatomical resections (involving hilar manipulations such as segmentectomy or lobectomy) by employing uniportal VATS with BBs or double-lumen tubes (DLTs). Operation sides (right and left) were further analyzed, especially for operations involving the right upper lobes. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients receiving intubated uniportal VATS from March to May 2019. Patient factors (including sex, body weight, and BMI), anesthetic factors (BBs or DLTs), and surgical factors (including wedge or anatomical resection, tumor size, number of lymph nodes sampled, pathological results and whether the right upper lobe involved) were collected. Univariate and backward multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to determine the effect of various factors on surgical time. Results: A total of 317 patients who received uniportal VATS (right-side, 52.4%; left-side, 47.6%) were included. Wedge resections accounted for 70.7% and anatomical resections accounted for 29.3%. BBs were applied for left- and right-side (85.6% and 78.7%, respectively) wedge resections and left- and right-side (74.1% and 56.4%, respectively) anatomical resections. After univariate and multivariate analysis on factors affecting operation time in either-side VATS, surgical factors such as operation procedures (P < .01), number of lymph nodes sampled (P < .001), and size of tumors (P < .01) were found to significantly affect operation time, but patient factors (e.g., body weight, sex, BMI), operation sides, and involvement of the right upper lobes, BBs, or DLTs did not significantly affecting operation time.Conclusions: Despite less preference for right-side uniportal anatomical resections, BBs are feasible for more than half of uniportal VATSs. Application of BBs is not inferior in efficiency for both wedge and anatomical uniport resections for right and left side operations.Clinical Registration Number: Approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 201906015RINB.
Multivariate Statistics Applied on Groundwater Geochemical Data to Identify Arsenic Release Mechanism and Related Microenvironments - A Case Study from Nakashipara, Tahatta-I and II Blocks of Nadia District, West Bengal, India.
Authors: Sengupta Diptansu , Mukherjee Pradip Kumar , Mukhopadhyay Basab , Toppo Sudeep Manish , Patel Jimmykumar Mahendrakumar
Published: March 2022

The distribution of arsenic content and other variables in groundwater data of 302 tube-wells in Nakashipara and Tehatta I and II blocks of Nadia district, West Bengal, India are analysed. The arsenic content of 255 tube-wells out of 302 are above permissible limit of 10 ppb and thus contaminated. As per the spatial buffer analysis, the contaminated tube-wells are found to be within 500m distance from waterbody/abandoned/meander/palaeo channels; interior of which, in presence of fresh organic carbon and arsenic bearing fines, the reductive dissolution and desorption processes operate. From the identified three types of aquifers (1, 2, 2A), the semi to leaky-confined aquifer of Type-2 is presumably more susceptible to create arsenic release environment from sediment to groundwater due to elevated organic carbon content in clay layer that boosts bacteriogenic reductive dissolution process. The Principal Component Analysis performed on 23 variables of 302 water samples has identified five physico-chemical factors responsible for arsenic release in aqueous system from sediment. The Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster Analysis on these five factors using ‘Euclidean distances’ as a measure of similarity has classified the tube-wells into three distinct clusters (I, II, III). With careful analysis, it is concluded that they actually represent the different stages of reductive dissolution process of arsenic release in an order of cluster II ◊ cluster I ◊ cluster III (initial to advance state). We propose that these stages mimic probable microenvironments within a broad realm of reducing environment of arsenic release, microenvironments alter rapidly within small areal distance.
Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health, daily and occupational activities among health professionals in Colombia: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Peñaranda Augusto , Garcia Elizabeth , Pérez-Herrera Lucia C. , Trojan Annabelle , Peñaranda Daniel , Molina Juan , Moreno-López Sergio
Published: March 2022

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented physical and mental burden on healthcare workers who are frequently at high risk of infection, particularly in low-income countries. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as changes in daily and occupational activities among healthcare professionals due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia.Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted between February and June 2021. The survey incorporated validated mental health tools such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Perceived Stress Scale-10. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with severe mental health outcomes.Results: Among 1345 healthcare workers the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress were 75.61%, 59.18%, and 53.09%, respectively. Anxiety (OR:1.44; 95%CI:1.16-1.8), depression (OR:1.74; 95%CI:1.27-2.37), and stress (OR:1.51; 95%CI:1.18-1.94) were more frequent in women, and individuals who expressed fear of a negative outcome (death, sequelae) (OR:2.25; 95%CI:1.60-3.25), (OR:1.49; 95%CI:1.03-2.16) and (OR:2.36; 95%CI:1.69-3.29) respectively. Age was negatively associated with anxiety (OR:0.98; 95%CI:0.98-0.99), stress (OR:0.98; 95%CI:0.97-0.99), and depression (OR:0.97; 95% CI:0.96-0.98). Reduction in consultations and surgeries (OR:1.01; 95%CI:1.0-1.01) was positively associated with anxiety. Due to the pandemic, most specialists expected to incorporate drastic long-term (>1 year) changes in their clinical setting and daily activities.Conclusions: The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress is higher among Colombian healthcare workers compared to previous reports. Further research regarding these psychological outcomes is needed to achieve early mental health intervention strategies.Trial Registration: Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe, Ethical Committee Registration ID: CCEI-12992-2021.
Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI of Pulmonary Adenocarcinomas for early risk stratification: higher contrast uptake associated with response and better prognosis.
Authors: Rheinheimer Stephan , Christopoulos Petros , Erdmann Stella , Saupe Julia , Golpon Heiko , Vogel-Claussen Jens , Dinkel Julien , Thomas Michael , Heussel Claus Peter , Kauczor Hans-Ulrich , Heussel Gudula
Published: March 2022

Background:
To explore the prognostic value of serial dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI in patients with advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma undergoing first-line therapy with either tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI) or platinum-based chemotherapy (PBC).
Methods:
Patients underwent baseline (day 0, n = 98), and post-therapeutic DCE MRI (PBC: day + 1, n = 52); TKI: day + 7, n = 46) at 1.5T. Perfusion curves were acquired at 10, 40, and 70s after contrast application and analysed semiquantitatively. Treatment response was evaluated at 6 weeks by CT (RECIST 1.1); progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analysed with respect to clinical and perfusion parameters. Relative uptake was defined as signal difference between contrast and non-contrast images, divided by the non-contrast signal. Predictors of survival were selected using Cox regression analysis. Median follow-up was 825 days.
Results:
In pre-therapeutic and early post-therapeutic MRI, responders for PBC (n = 4) and TKI (n = 23) treatment (PR by RECIST 1.1 at 6 weeks) showed significantly higher relative contrast uptake within the tumor at 70 s after application as compared to non-responders (n = 71, p ≤ 0.02). There was no significant change of perfusion at early MRI after treatment. Independent parameters showing the strongest association with PFS were relative uptake at 40 s in the early post-treatment MRI and pre-treatment clinical data (presence of liver metastases, ECOG performance status).
Conclusion:
Higher contrast uptake within the tumor at pre-treatment and early post-treatment MRI was associated with treatment response and better prognosis. DCE MRI of pulmonary adenocarcinoma may provide independent prognostic information.
Impact of Oceanic Oscillations in Annual Trends of Precipitation Extremes in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin Assessed Based on the PSL Daily Gridded Precipitation Dataset
Authors: Senna Mônica Carneiro Alves , França Gutemberg Borges , Pereira Matheus Francisco , Silva Mauricio Soares da , de Souza Enio Pereira , Dragaud Ian Cunha D'Amato Viana , de Souza Lucio Silva , Moraes Nilton Oliveira , de Almeida Vinicius Albuquerque , de Almeida Manoel Valdonel , Frota Maurício Nogueira , de Araujo Afonso Augusto Magalhães , Cardozo Karine do Nascimento , Viana Lude Quieto
Published: March 2022

The waters of the Paraíba do Sul River supply around 15 million people, most of whom live in metropolitan regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Climate change alters its precipitation regime and can cause an increase in the occurrence of extreme hydrological events. The variability of precipitation results from the combined effects of the surface conditions of the oceans and the variations in the dynamics of atmospheric systems. This work aims to detect possible changes in the climatic extremes of precipitation in the Paraíba do Sul hydrographic basin and to investigate evidences of correlation of these indices with the oceanic oscillations associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Results indicate that the eastern and northeastern sectors of the basin present trends of increase in the total annual precipitation, in the number of very humid days and in the occurrence of extreme events, in a space of time up to five days. The west and southwest sectors, on the other hand, show decreasing trends in total annual precipitation, in the number of very humid days, but with an increase trend in the maximum amount of rainfall on five consecutive days. The central sector has characteristics of a transition zone. The correlation analyzes show that the majority of the oceanic oscillation indices have a very weak correlation with the extreme precipitation indices, while the wavelet transform does not indicate significant power at the low frequencies.
Social memory deficit gated by dysregulation of the cerebellar vermis
Authors: Chao Owen Y , Pathak Salil Saurav , Zhang Hao , Augustine George , Christie Jason , Kikuchi Chikako , Taniguchi Hiroki , Yang Yi-Mei
Published: March 2022

Social recognition memory (SRM) is a key determinant of social behavior because it integrates past experiences into social interactions to distinguish familiar from novel conspecifics. The cerebellum is an important region for social functions; dysregulated cerebellar output is a common phenotype in various mouse models of autism. However, how the abnormal local activity in the cerebellum leads to social behavior deficits remains unknown. To this end, we selectively increased the excitability of molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) to suppress Purkinje cell (PC) firing with chemo- and optogenetic approaches in the mouse cerebellar vermis. Chemogenetic perturbation of MLIs impaired SRM without affecting sociability, anxiety levels, motor coordination or object recognition. Optogenetic interference of MLIs during distinct phases of a social recognition test highlighted cerebellar engagement in retrieval, but not encoding, of social information. Functional mapping with an immediate early gene product (c-Fos) following the social recognition test revealed that cerebellar manipulation significantly reduced brain-wide interregional correlations and shifted network structure from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus- to amygdala-centered modules. Transsynaptic tracing showed hierarchical projections from the central cerebellum to the social brain network. Collectively, our results suggest that the cerebellum organizes the neural matrix required for SRM, providing a circuitry basis for social impairments in autism and other psychiatric disorders.
Dolutegravir-Associated Hyperglycemia in People Living with Human Immune-Deficiency Virus: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Abera Merhawit Atsbha , Tequare Mengistu Hagazi , Berhe Ephrem , Wolderufael Abadi Leul , Abraha Hiluf Ebuy , Ebrahim Mohamedawel Mohamedniguss
Published: March 2022

Background
Diabetes mellitus is being related with developing communicable and non-communicable diseases. Patients on highly active anti-retroviral therapy are at increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus than those who are treatment naïve. Hyperglycemia has been mentioned as the side effect of Some ART regimens. We assessed the incidence of hyperglycemia among patients taking Dolutegravir-based regimen in ACSH.
Method
A Hospital-based prospective cohort study was conducted. The total sample size was 423. A simple random sampling technique was employed using excel function to select study participants. Four categories of data were collected, namely socio-economic, clinical and immunological, regimen type and outcome variables.
Results
A total of 421 HIV patients were included in the study. More than one-third (36.1%) of the subjects had an exposure to TDF + 3TC + DTG drug therapy, either as a first therapy or a change to the first line triple therapy. Sixty two (14.7%) had hyperglycemia from the study participants. Our finding showed that taking Dolutegravir-based ART has no effect on the blood sugar level of patients, while adjusting for age, sex, and weight at HAART initiation (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.55–1.95, p = 0.896)
Conclusion
Dolutegravir-based ART regimen has no effect on the blood sugar level of patients.
A Mathematical Model For The Dynamical Behavior Of Ebola Virus Transmission In Human-Bat Population: Implication Of Immediate Discharge Of Recovered Individuals
Authors: Agbomola Joshua , Loyinmi Adedapo
Published: March 2022

Ebola virus is zoonotic. Earlier research has paid less attention to vector–host transmission dynamics of the virus. In this study, we, therefore, proposed an unprecedented coupled SEIR-SEI epidemic model of the type ShEhIhRh-SbEbIb which predicts the prevalence and virulence of the Ebola virus from bats to humans. More so, since remnants of the virus can still last for days in the fluidic parts of the body after recovery, the recovery class Rh is subdivided into two ( Rhis & Rhni). The sensitivity analysis investigation reveals parameters that have profound effects on the reproduction number. The system is proven to be positive and bounded at all times and the fundamental parameters for invasion, R0h and R0b for both human and bat populations respectively were established to be less than unity. Also, persistence (Endemic) and Disease Free Equilibrium points of the model were ascertained to be asymptotically stable both locally and globally.