bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Migration and tectonic implications of Late Jurassic mafic magmatism in South China
Authors: Liu Zi , Qian Xin , Gan Chengshi , Cui Xiang , Zhang Yuzhi , Wang Yang , Wang Yuejun
Published: July 2022

The Jurassic magmatism in the southeastern South China Block has been interpreted as extension-related, yet its tectonic drivers remain unclear. Tectonic models vary between two end-members: (1) Palaeopacific subduction-related; and (2) intracontinental extension-related. This study presents new geochronological and geochemical data for the Late Jurassic mafic rocks in the southeastern South China Block that allow us to differentiate between these tectonic models. The Late Jurassic mafic rocks yielded crystallization ages of 162–157 Ma. Our new geochemical data, together with previously published data, can be divided into three groups: group A with variable

ε

Nd
(
t
) (+0.1 to +3.4) and zircon

ε

Hf
(
t
) (−4.1 to +15.9) values has slightly negative Nb–Ta anomalies; group B is characterized by negative Nb–Ta anomalies with varying

ε

Nd
(
t
) (+1.4 to +1.5) and

ε

Hf
(
t
) (–3.0 to +2.6) values; and group C displays significant Nb–Ta anomalies with high

ε

Nd
(
t
) (+4.5 to +6.6) and

ε

Hf
(
t
) (+6.4 to +14.4) values. The geochemical characteristics suggest that groups A and B are mainly the products of asthenosphere–lithosphere interactions and group C was derived from the asthenosphere. Our new data, together with geological observations, suggest that the Late Jurassic magmatism in the southeastern South China Block probably resulted from asthenospheric upwelling in an intracontinental extension setting due to the far-field effects of the subduction of the Palaeopacific Ocean.

Supplementary material:
Tables of geochronological data, geochemical data, and additional figures are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6080871
A Weak-Region Enhanced Bayesian Classification for Spam Content-Based Filtering
Authors: Nosrati Vahid , Rahmani Mohsen , Jolfaei Alireza , Seifollahi Sattar
Published: July 2022

This article proposes an improved Bayesian scheme by focusing on the region in which Bayesian may fail to correctly identify labels and improve classification performance by handling those errors. Bayesian method, as a probabilistic classifier, uses Bayes’ theorem to calculate the probability of an instance belonging to a class, where the class label with a maximum probability is assigned to the instance. In a spam detection problem, it can be considered that the prediction of the Bayesian classifier is weak when the probability obtained for classes spam and non-spam are close to each other. Therefore, we define a threshold to determine weak prediction against strong prediction. A hybrid strategy using a two-layer Bayesian approach is presented: basic Bayesian (BBayes) and corrected weak region Bayesian (CWRBayes), which are concerned with strong and weak predictions, respectively. Both techniques, BBayes and CWRBayes, have the same classification mechanism, but they use different feature selection mechanisms. The proposed methods are implemented and evaluated over two datasets of spam e-mails, and the results show that the proposed method has better performance than the baseline of the naïve Bayesian and some other Bayesian variants.
Buffered Streaming Graph Partitioning
Authors: Faraj Marcelo Fonseca , Schulz Christian
Published: July 2022

Partitioning graphs into blocks of roughly equal size is a widely used tool when processing large graphs. Currently, there is a gap observed in the space of available partitioning algorithms. On the one hand, there are streaming algorithms that have been adopted to partition massive graph data on small machines. In the streaming model, vertices arrive one at a time including their neighborhood, and then have to be assigned directly to a block. These algorithms can partition huge graphs quickly with little memory, but they produce partitions with low solution quality. On the other hand, there are offline (shared-memory) multilevel algorithms that produce partitions with high-quality but also need a machine with enough memory to partition huge networks. In this work, we make a first step to close this gap by presenting an algorithm that computes significantly improved partitions of huge graphs using a single machine with little memory in a streaming setting. First, we adopt the buffered streaming model which is a more reasonable approach in practice. In this model, a processing element can store a buffer of nodes alongside with their edges before making assignment decisions. When our algorithm receives a batch of nodes, we build a model graph that represents the nodes of the batch and the already present partition structure. This model enables us to apply multilevel algorithms and in turn, on cheap machines, compute much higher quality solutions of huge graphs than previously possible. To partition the model graph, we develop a multilevel algorithm that optimizes an objective function that has previously been shown to be effective for the streaming setting. Surprisingly, this also removes the dependency on the number of blocks
k
from the running time compared to the previous state-of-the-art. Overall, our algorithm computes, on average, 75.9% better solutions than
Fennel
 [
35
] using a very small buffer size. In addition, for large values of
k
our algorithm becomes faster than
Fennel
.
Combining Human and Machine Confidence in Truthfulness Assessment
Authors: Qu Yunke , Roitero Kevin , Barbera David La , Spina Damiano , Mizzaro Stefano , Demartini Gianluca
Published: July 2022

Automatically detecting online misinformation at scale is a challenging and interdisciplinary problem. Deciding what is to be considered truthful information is sometimes controversial and also difficult for educated experts. As the scale of the problem increases, human-in-the-loop approaches to truthfulness that combine both the scalability of machine learning (ML) and the accuracy of human contributions have been considered.

In this work, we look at the potential to automatically combine machine-based systems with human-based systems. The former exploit superviseds ML approaches; the latter involve either crowd workers (i.e., human non-experts) or human experts. Since both ML and crowdsourcing approaches can produce a score indicating the level of confidence on their truthfulness judgments (either algorithmic or self-reported, respectively), we address the question of whether it is feasible to make use of such confidence scores to effectively and efficiently combine three approaches: (i) machine-based methods, (ii) crowd workers, and (iii) human experts. The three approaches differ significantly, as they range from available, cheap, fast, scalable, but less accurate to scarce, expensive, slow, not scalable, but highly accurate.
Nondeterministic Evaluation Mechanism for User Recruitment in Mobile Crowd-Sensing
Authors: Xie Ying , Liu Xiaohui , Obaidat Mohammad S. , Li Xiong , Vijayakumar Pandi
Published: July 2022

Based on the Internet of Behavior (IoB), mobile crowd-sensing (MCS) utilizes the Internet of Things (IoT) to recruit users by analyzing behavioral patterns. MCS is widely used in numerous large-scale and complex monitoring services, but it cannot provide stable and high-quality services due to nondeterministic user mobility and behaviors, which has a vital impact on recruiting high-quality users. In this article, a stochastic semi-algebraic hybrid system (SSAHS) model is constructed to characterize the user mobility and behaviors of the MCS systems. Based on the definition of probabilistic path and task execution rate, a nondeterministic evaluation mechanism is proposed to measure nondeterministic user mobility and behaviors and to give the probability of the user completing the MCS task under the specified time bound and space conditions. The greater the probability is, the higher the quality of the user. Furthermore, a user recruitment scheme based on a nondeterministic evaluation mechanism (NUR) is developed. The NUR employs historical user data to predict user mobility and behaviors; high-quality users are recruited to quickly upload reliable sensing data. We conduct simulation experiments based on a real-world user trace dataset, Geolife.The results show that compared with competing recruitment strategies, NUR achieves a higher quality of service for the same MCS sensing tasks.
Adaptive Contention Management for Fine-Grained Synchronization on Commodity GPUs
Authors: Gao Lan , Wang Jing , Zhang Weigong
Published: July 2022

As more emerging applications are moving to GPUs, fine-grained synchronization has become imperative. However, their performance can be severely impaired in case of frequent synchronization failures caused by high data contention. Differently from CPUs, GPUs own thousands of hardware threads and adopt single instruction multiple threads paradigm, making it impractical to deploy the CPU contention management mechanisms directly on GPUs. In this article, we design a Software Warp Controlling Framework (SWCF), which employs producer-consumer execution model and leverages GPU hardware barriers to dynamically control the execution of warps at runtime. On the basis of SWCF, we propose a contention management strategy to decrease frequent synchronization failures while avoiding the over-reducing of parallelism. We evaluate SWCF and the proposed strategy on commodity GPUs using a set of applications with fine-grained synchronization. The results show that on V100 GPU our contention management achieves a 4.7X speedup and outperforms the conventional GPU software backoff solution by 42% on average.
Dynamic System Diversification for Securing Cloud-based IoT Subnetworks
Authors: Almohri Hussain , Watson Layne , Evans David , Billups Stephen
Published: July 2022

Remote exploitation attacks use software vulnerabilities to penetrate through a network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This work addresses defending against remote exploitation attacks on vulnerable IoT devices. As an attack mitigation strategy, we assume it is not possible to fix all the vulnerabilities and propose to diversify the open-source software used to manage IoT devices. Our approach is to deploy dynamic cloud-based virtual machine proxies for physical IoT devices. Our architecture leverages virtual machine proxies with diverse software configurations to mitigate vulnerable and static software configurations on physical devices. We develop an algorithm for selecting new configurations based on network anomaly detection signals to learn vulnerable software configurations on IoT devices, automatically shifting towards more secure configurations. Cloud-based proxy machines mediate requests between application clients and vulnerable IoT devices, facilitating a dynamic diversification system. We report on simulation experiments to evaluate the dynamic system. Two models of powerful adversaries are introduced and simulated against the diversified defense strategy. Our experiments show that a dynamically diversified IoT architecture can be invulnerable to large classes of attacks that would succeed against a static architecture.
A Survey on Cross-domain Recommendation: Taxonomies, Methods, and Future Directions
Authors: Zang Tianzi , Zhu Yanmin , Liu Haobing , Zhang Ruohan , Yu Jiadi
Published: July 2022

Traditional recommendation systems are faced with two long-standing obstacles, namely data sparsity and cold-start problems, which promote the emergence and development of Cross-Domain Recommendation (CDR). The core idea of CDR is to leverage information collected from other domains to alleviate the two problems in one domain. Since the early 2010s, many efforts have been engaged for cross-domain recommendation. Recently, with the development of deep learning and neural networks, a large number of methods have emerged. However, there is a limited number of systematic surveys on CDR, especially regarding the latest proposed methods as well as the recommendation scenarios and recommendation tasks they address. In this survey article, we first proposed a two-level taxonomy of cross-domain recommendation that classifies different recommendation scenarios and recommendation tasks. We then introduce and summarize existing cross-domain recommendation approaches under different recommendation scenarios in a structured manner. We also organize datasets commonly used. We conclude this survey by providing several potential research directions about this field.
VQEG column: Recent contributions to ITU recommendations
Authors: Gutiérrez Jesüs , Brunnström Kjell
Published: July 2022

Welcome to the second column on the ACM SIGMM Records from the Video Quality Experts Group (VQEG).

VQEG plays a major role in research and the development of standards on video quality and this column presents examples of recent contributions to International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendations, as well as ongoing contributions to recommendations to come in the near future. In addition, the formation of a new group within VQEG addressing Quality Assessment for Health Applications (QAH) has been announced.
Study of GaN/InGaN Light-Emitting Diodes with Specific Zirconium Oxide (ZrO2) Layers
Authors: Niu Jing-Shiuan , Hsu Ching-Chuan , Tsai Jung-Hui , Hsu Wei-Chou , Liu Wen-Chau
Published: July 2022

An interesting device design including a zirconium oxide (ZrO2) current blocking layer (CBL) and a ZrO2 surface passivation layer (SPL) is employed to manufacture a GaN/InGaN light-emitting diode (LED). Based on the inherently good performance of ZrO2, the current spreading effect and the undesired surface leakage are efficiently enhanced and suppressed, respectively. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to study the relevant properties. It is found that by series calibration, 50 nm is the proper thickness of the ZrO2 CBL and SPL. The peak emission wavelength of the proposed LEDs is around 452 nm. Experimentally, at the operating condition of 110 A cm−2, the proposed Device L3 with a 50 nm-thick ZrO2 CBL and a 50 nm-thick ZrO2 SPL demonstrates improvements of 66.1% in light output power (LOP) and 64.5% in wall plug efficiency (WPE) as compared to a traditional Device L1 without the specific design. Furthermore, the proposed Device L3 presents a notable enhancement in the light emission mapping image in comparison to the traditional LED. So, the proposed device design which incorporates a proper ZrO2 CBL and ZrO2 SPL, is beneficial for manufacturing GaN/InGaN LEDs.
G protein-coupled receptor signaling: transducers and effectors
Authors: Jiang Haoran , Galtes Daniella , Wang Jialu , Rockman Howard A.
Published: July 2022

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are of considerable interest due to their importance in a wide range of physiological functions and in a large number of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs as therapeutic entities. With continued study of their function and mechanism of action, there is a greater understanding of how effector molecules interact with a receptor to initiate downstream effector signaling. This review aims to explore the signaling pathways, dynamic structures, and physiological relevance in the cardiovascular system of the three most important GPCR signaling effectors: heterotrimeric G proteins, GPCR kinases (GRKs), and β-arrestins. We will first summarize their prominent roles in GPCR pharmacology before transitioning into less well-explored areas. As new technologies are developed and applied to studying GPCR structure and their downstream effectors, there is increasing appreciation for the elegance of the regulatory mechanisms that mediate intracellular signaling and function.
Emerging mechanisms of elastin transcriptional regulation
Authors: Procknow Sara S. , Kozel Beth A.
Published: July 2022

Elastin provides recoil to tissues that stretch such as the lung, blood vessels, and skin. It is deposited in a brief window starting in the prenatal period and extending to adolescence in vertebrates, and then slowly turns over. Elastin insufficiency is seen in conditions such as Williams–Beuren syndrome and elastin-related supravalvar aortic stenosis, which are associated with a range of vascular and connective tissue manifestations. Regulation of the elastin ( ELN) gene occurs at multiple levels including promoter activation/inhibition, mRNA stability, interaction with microRNAs, and alternative splicing. However, these mechanisms are incompletely understood. Better understanding of the processes controlling ELN gene expression may improve medicine’s ability to intervene in these rare conditions, as well as to replace age-associated losses by re-initiating elastin production. This review describes what is known about the ELN gene promoter structure, transcriptional regulation by cytokines and transcription factors, and posttranscriptional regulation via mRNA stability and micro-RNA and highlights new approaches that may influence regenerative medicine.
Recent progress in assays for GPCR drug discovery
Authors: Guo Shimeng , Zhao Tingting , Yun Ying , Xie Xin
Published: July 2022

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), also known as seven transmembrane receptors, are the largest family of cell surface receptors in eukaryotes. There are ∼800 GPCRs in human, regulating diverse physiological processes. The GPCRs are the most intensively studied drug targets. Drugs that target GPCRs account for about a quarter of the global market share of therapeutic drugs. Therefore, to develop physiologically relevant and robust assays to search new GPCR ligands or modulators remain the major focus of drug discovery research worldwide. Early functional GPCR assays mainly depend on the measurement of G-protein-mediated second messenger generation. Recent developments in GPCR biology indicate that the signaling of these receptors is much more complex than the oversimplified classical view. The GPCRs have been found to activate multiple G proteins simultaneously and induce β-arrestin-mediated signaling. They have also been found to interact with other cytosolic scaffolding proteins and form dimer or heteromer with GPCRs or other transmembrane proteins. Here, we mainly discuss technologies focused on detecting protein–protein interactions, such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer/bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (FRET/BRET), NanoLuc binary technology (NanoBiT), Tango, etc., and their applications in measuring GPCRs interacting with various signaling partners. In the final part, we also discuss the species differences in GPCRs when using animal models to study the in vivo functions of GPCR ligands, and possible ways to solve this problem with modern genetic tools.
Insufficient reporting of experimental variables as a cause for nonreproducibility in animal physiology? A case study
Authors: Göpel Torben , Burggren Warren W.
Published: July 2022

Nonreproducibility in scientific investigations has been explained by inadequately reporting methodology, honest error, and even misconduct. We hypothesized that, within the field of animal physiology, the most parsimonious explanation for nonreproducibility is inadequate reporting of key methodological details. We further hypothesized that implementation of relatively recently released reporting guidelines has positively impacted journal article quality, as measured by completeness of the methodology descriptions. We analyzed 84 research articles published in five primarily organismal animal physiology journals in 2008–2010 (generally before current guidelines) and 2018–2020. Compliance for reporting 34 variables referring to biology, experiments, and data collection was assessed. Reporting compliance was just ∼61% in 2008–2010, rising only slightly to 67.5% for 2018–2020. Only 21% of the reported variables showed significant differences across the period from 2008–2020. We conclude that, despite attempts by societies and journals to promote greater reporting compliance, such efforts have so far been relatively unsuccessful in the field of animal physiology.
Acute dietary nitrate supplementation does not change venous volume and compliance in healthy young adults
Authors: Oue Anna , Iimura Yasuhiro , Shinagawa Akiho , Miyakoshi Yuichi , Ota Masako
Published: July 2022

In this crossover study, we investigated the influence of inorganic nitrate ([Formula: see text]) supplementation on venous volume and compliance in the resting forearm and calf. Twenty healthy young adults were assigned to receive an [Formula: see text]-rich beverage [beetroot juice (BRJ): 140 mL; ∼8 mmol [Formula: see text]] or an [Formula: see text]-depleted control beverage [prune juice (CON): 166 mL; < 0.01 mmol [Formula: see text]). Two hours after consuming the allocated beverage, each participant rested in the supine position for 20 min. Cuffs were then placed around the right upper arm and right thigh, inflated to 60 mmHg for 8 min, and then decreased to 0 mmHg at a rate of 1 mmHg/s. During inflation and deflation of cuff pressure, changes in venous volume in the forearm and calf were measured by venous occlusion plethysmography. Venous compliance was calculated as the numerical derivative of the cuff pressure-venous volume curve in the limbs. The plasma [Formula: see text] concentration was elevated by intake of BRJ (before, 15.5 ± 5.8 µM; after, 572.0 ± 116.1 µM, P < 0.05) but not by CON (before, 14.8 ± 7.2 µM; after, 15.3 ± 7.4 µM, P > 0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in venous volume or compliance in the forearm or calf between BRJ and CON. These findings suggest that although acute inorganic NO3− supplementation may enhance the activity of nitric oxide (NO) via nitrite → NO pathway, it does not influence venous volume or compliance in the limbs in healthy young adults.
Chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of angiotensin II causes dose- and sex-dependent effects on intake behaviors and energy homeostasis in C57BL/6J mice
Authors: Oliveira Vanessa , Reho John J. , Balapattabi Kirthikaa , Ritter McKenzie L. , Mathieu Natalia M. , Opichka Megan A. , Lu Ko-Ting , Grobe Connie C. , Silva Sebastião D. , Wackman Kelsey K. , Nakagawa Pablo , Segar Jeffrey L. , Sigmund Curt D. , Grobe Justin L.
Published: July 2022

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) within the brain is implicated in the control of fluid and electrolyte balance, autonomic functions, blood pressure, and energy expenditure. Mouse models are increasingly used to explore these mechanisms; however, sex and dose dependencies of effects elicited by chronic intracerebroventricular (ICV) angiotensin II (ANG II) infusion have not been carefully established in this species. To examine the interactions among sex, body mass, and ICV ANG II on ingestive behaviors and energy balance, young adult C57BL/6J mice of both sexes were studied in a multiplexed metabolic phenotyping system (Promethion) during chronic infusion of ANG II (0, 5, 20, or 50 ng/h). At these infusion rates, ANG II caused accelerating dose-dependent increases in drinking and total energy expenditure in male mice, but female mice exhibited a complex biphasic response with maximum responses at 5 ng/h. Body mass differences did not account for sex-dependent differences in drinking behavior or total energy expenditure. In contrast, resting metabolic rate was similarly increased by ICV ANG II in a dose-dependent manner in both sexes after correction for body mass. We conclude that chronic ICV ANG II stimulates water intake, resting, and total energy expenditure in male C57BL/6J mice following straightforward accelerating dose-dependent kinetics, but female C57BL/6J mice exhibit complex biphasic responses to ICV ANG II. Furthermore, control of resting metabolic rate by ANG II is dissociable from mechanisms controlling fluid intake and total energy expenditure. Future studies of the sex dependency of ANG II within the brain of mice must be designed to carefully consider the biphasic responses that occur in females.
Resistance exercise differentially alters extracellular vesicle size and subpopulation characteristics in healthy men and women: an observational cohort study
Authors: Conkright William R. , Beckner Meaghan E. , Sterczala Adam J. , Mi Qi , Lovalekar Mita , Sahu Amrita , Krajewski Kellen T. , Martin Brian J. , Flanagan Shawn D. , Greeves Julie P. , O’Leary Thomas J. , Wardle Sophie L. , Ambrosio Fabrisia , Nindl Bradley C.
Published: July 2022

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are established mediators of adaptation to exercise. Currently, there are no published data comparing changes in EVs between men and women after resistance exercise. We tested the hypothesis that EV profiles would demonstrate a sex-specific signature following resistance exercise. Ten men and 10 women completed an acute heavy resistance exercise test for back squats using 75% of their one-repetition maximum. Blood was drawn before and immediately after exercise. EVs were isolated from plasma using size exclusion chromatography and stained with antibodies associated with exosomes (CD63), microvesicles (VAMP3), apoptotic bodies (THSD1), and a marker for skeletal muscle EVs (SGCA). CD63+ EV concentration and proportion of total EVs increased 23% ( P = 0.006) and 113% ( P = 0.005) in both sexes. EV mean size declined in men ( P = 0.020), but not in women, suggesting a relative increase in small EVs in men. VAMP3+ EV concentration and proportion of total EVs increased by 93% ( P = 0.025) and 61% ( P = 0.030) in men and women, respectively. SGCA+ EV concentration was 69% higher in women compared with men independent of time ( P = 0.007). Differences were also observed for CD63, VAMP3, and SGCA median fluorescence intensity, suggesting altered surface protein density according to sex and time. There were no significant effects of time or sex on THSD1+ EVs or fluorescence intensity. EV profiles, particularly among exosome-associated and muscle-derived EVs, exhibit sex-specific differences in response to resistance exercise which should be further studied to understand their relationship to training adaptations.
Evolution and Recent Scenario of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Industries
Authors: Vijayakumar M. D. , Surendhar G. J. , Natrayan L. , Patil Pravin P. , Ram P. M. Bupathi , Paramasivam Prabhu
Published: July 2022

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology in the field of food and agriculture; every individual molecule and atom can be modified or controlled by this technology. Everything that exists on the earth is made up of atoms and molecules. Problems in all the fields can easily be overcome by modifying or altering their nanosize. Similarly, nanotechnology could address many issues in the agriculture and food industries. Nanomaterials play a keen role in the place of pesticides, fertilizers, and biosensors. Nutrition enhancement, safe delivery of bioactive components and micronutrients, and food preservations were facilitated by the applications of nanotechnologies. Efforts have to be taken to create awareness among the public in this nanotechnology field. Future research directions were identified in this review to improve the nanoembedded agriculture system. This article reviews the recent development in the agriculture and food industries through nanotechnology, application of nanotechnology in the food and agricultural sectors, and research backlogs in such sectors.
The Outcomes of Organizational Fairness among Precarious Workers: The Critical Role of Anomie at the Work
Authors: Afshar Jahanshahi Asghar , Rivas Milagros Isabel Mendoza , Castillo Alberto Yony Quiroz
Published: July 2022

Precarious workers usually have some of the most unstable working conditions in any country. In this research, we firstly investigated the influence of organizational fairness on the emotional exhaustion and leave intentions of Peruvian precarious workers. Then, we tested the mediating role of anomie at work in the relationship between organizational fairness and the emotional exhaustion and leave intentions of precarious workers. To identify the impact of organizational fairness on these workers, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among 206 precarious workers in Peru. Our results showed that treating precarious workers fairly reduced their emotional exhaustion and leave intentions. Furthermore, we found that anomie at work mediate the relationship between organizational fairness and the emotional exhaustion and the relationship between organizational fairness and leave intentions of precarious workers. We provide empirical evidence of the critical role of organizational fairness in the reduction of emotional exhaustion and leave intentions among precarious workers. Examining the consequences of precarious workers’ perceptions of organizational fairness is needed for owners and managers of companies to have a clear understanding of how precarious workers’ working environments may shape their attitudes and work behaviors.
A Coupled System of Caputo–Hadamard Fractional Hybrid Differential Equations with Three-Point Boundary Conditions
Authors: Arab Meraa , Awadalla Muath
Published: July 2022

This article presents a study of the existence and uniqueness of solutions for a system of hybrid fractional differential equations involving fractional derivatives of the Caputo-Hadamard type with three-point hybrid boundary conditions. In addition to this, the “Hyres–Ulam” stability of the solutions for this type of equation is verified, and finally a numerical example was presented to support our theoretical results.
Gastrointestinal Bleeding Secondary to High-Dose Melphalan Pretreatment in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Was Associated with the Mode of Melphalan Administration
Authors: Ge Qunfang , Wang Yi , Zhu Huiling , Xu Kaihong , Sheng Lixia , Yan Xiaoyan , Ouyang Guifang
Published: July 2022

Objective. To analyze the characteristics of gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to high-dose melphalan pretreatment in patients with multiple myeloma. Methods. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 October 2021, 26 patients with multiple myeloma after autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with high-dose melphalan pretreatment were recruited. They were assigned to either the oral administration group or the intravenous administration group according to the administration modes, or to either the gastrointestinal bleeding group or the nongastrointestinal bleeding group. Analyses were performed based on the differences in general gastrointestinal symptoms and hemorrhage between different administration modes and on the differences in the general gastrointestinal symptoms, platelet alterations, and the intestinal microecology before pretreatment between patients with and without gastrointestinal bleeding. Results. Of the 26 included patients, heavy secondary gastrointestinal bleeding was found in 6 patients with intravenous pretreatment. In patients given intravenous melphalan, those with gastrointestinal bleeding showed more pronounced general symptoms such as nausea and vomiting versus those without. There was no significant difference in platelet alterations between the two groups. Gastrointestinal bleeding was associated with more significant microecological disturbances than no bleeding. Conclusion. Gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to high-dose melphalan pretreatment in patients with multiple myeloma was associated with the mode of melphalan administration, adverse symptoms at pretreatment, and the intestinal microecology prior to pretreatment. Thus, improvement of the intestinal microecology prior to pretreatment and mitigation of adverse gastrointestinal symptoms during pretreatment may contribute to a lower incidence of secondary gastrointestinal bleeding and enhanced transplantation safety.
Cantharidin Inhibits Proliferation of Liver Cancer by Inducing DNA Damage via KDM4A-Dependent Histone H3K36 Demethylation
Authors: Wei Chao , Deng Xiangui , Gao Shudi , Wan Xuemei , Chen Jing
Published: July 2022

Objective. To investigate the effect of cantharidin on DNA damage in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and its possible mechanism. Methods. Cell proliferation assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay were used to analyze the effects of cantharidin on cell proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The expression levels of DNA damage markers H2AX and P21 were analyzed by qRT-PCR. The expression of KDM4A and H3K36me3 was observed by western blot. The expression of KDM4A was regulated by siRNA or plasmid transfection. The effect of KDM4A on DNA damage induced by cantharidin in liver cancer was observed after overexpression and addiction of KDM4A. Results. Cantharidin can significantly inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and induce apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Cantharidin enhances the chemotherapy sensitivity of liver cancer by targeting the upregulation of KDM4A and the regulation of DNA damage induced by H3K36me3. Overexpression of KDM4A enhances DNA damage induced by cantharidin in HCC. KDM4A silencing attenuated the damage of cantharidin to the DNA of HCC cells. Conclusion. Cantharidin can inhibit the growth and promote apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Meanwhile, cantharidin can induce DNA damage in HCC cells. Mechanism studies have shown that cantharidin induces DNA damage through the demethylation of KDM4A-dependent histone H3K36.
Effects of Shenling Chengqi Decoction on Gastrointestinal Function and Immune Status of Patients with Gastrointestinal Injury in Severe Sepsis
Authors: Tie Minghui , Chen Bin , Lv Ruiping , Xie Qing , Pang Yongcheng , Gong Ruiying
Published: July 2022

Objective. To investigate the effects of Shenling Chengqi decoction combined with routine treatment on gastrointestinal function and immune status of patients with gastrointestinal injury in severe sepsis. Methods. 160 patients with sepsis were randomly divided into a control group (

n
=
80

) and observation group (

n
=
80

). The control group was given routine treatment such as anti-infection and vasoactive drugs. The observation group was treated with Shenling Chengqi decoction on the basis of routine treatment for 7 days. The improvement of gastrointestinal symptoms, nutritional status, gastrointestinal dynamics, inflammatory response, and immune function was observed before and after treatment. The outcome indicators were evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms, evaluation of disease severity, nutritional status, gastrointestinal dynamic indexes, inflammatory indexes, and immune function indexes. SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used for data processing. The paired

t

-test was used for comparison before and after treatment. Results. Compared with the control group, the disappearance time of reflux, vomiting, and recovery time of bowel sounds in the observation group were significantly shorter (

P
<
0.05

), and the number of defecation per day was significantly higher than that in the control group (

P
<
0.05

). After 3 and 7 days of treatment, the APACHE II score, SIRS score, serum gas, IgA, IgM, serum hs-CRP, TNF, and PCT of the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (

P
<
0.05

), and the scores of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group (

P
<
0.05

). The levels of SS and MOT were significantly higher than those before treatment (

P
<
0.05

). After 7 days of treatment, the levels of serum Hb, ALB, and PA in the two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (

P
<
0.05

), and the nutritional status in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (

P
<
0.05

). Conclusion. Shenling Chengqi decoction can effectively improve gastrointestinal symptoms, nutritional status, and gastrointestinal dynamics in patients with sepsis. It has high safety and is worthy of clinical promotion.
The Effectiveness of Physiotherapy Interventions for Mobility in Severe Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Binshalan Tarub , Nair Krishnan Padmakumari Sivaraman , McNeill Alisdair
Published: July 2022

Background. People with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) prioritise gait as the most valuable function to be affected by MS. Physiotherapy plays a key role in managing gait impairment in MS. There is little evidence on the effectiveness of physiotherapy for severe MS. Objective. To undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to identify evidence for the effectiveness of physiotherapy for gait impairment in severe MS. Methods. The available literature was systematically searched, using a predetermined protocol, to identify research studies investigating a physiotherapy intervention for mobility in people with severe MS (EDSS≥6.0). Data on mobility related endpoints was extracted. Meta-analysis was performed where a given mobility end point was reported in at least 3 studies. Results. 37 relevant papers were identified, which included 788 pwMS. Seven mobility-related endpoints were meta-analysed. Robot-Assisted Gait Training (RAGT) was found to improve performance on the 6-minute walk test, 10-metre walk test, fatigue severity scale, and Berg Balance Scale. Neither body weight supported training nor conventional walking training significantly improved any mobility-related outcomes. Conclusion. Physiotherapy interventions are feasible for mobility in severe MS. There is some evidence for the effectiveness of RAGT.
Security-Reliability Tradeoff Analysis of Untrusted Full-Duplex Relay Networks
Authors: Zhang Xingang , Chen Dechuan , Li Jin , Wang Zhipeng , Li Xiaotan
Published: July 2022

In this work, we investigate the physical layer security problem of wireless cooperative network, where the communication from a source to a destination is assisted by an untrusted full-duplex amplify-and-forward (AF) relay. In order to realize a positive secrecy rate, cooperative jamming is exploited at the destination. The secrecy outage probability (SOP), connection outage probability (COP), and effective secrecy throughput (EST) are, respectively, derived in closed-form expressions for the fixed gain relaying (FGR) scheme and the variable gain relaying (VGR) scheme. Subsequently, we conduct an asymptotic analysis for both the relaying schemes in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region to offer valuable insights into practical design. Theory and simulation results demonstrate that the self-interference caused by full-duplex transmission is harmful for the reliability performance, while it is beneficial to the security performance. Moreover, the EST of the considered system increases as the self-interference level decreases, which implies that the self-interference deteriorates an overall performance in terms of the security-reliability tradeoff.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Tobacco Treatment in Cancer Patients: A Preliminary Report of a One-Week Treatment
Authors: Li Xingbao , Toll Benjamin A. , Carpenter Matthew J. , Nietert Paul J. , Dancy Morgan , George Mark S. , Bittoun Renee
Published: July 2022

Background. Smoking cessation represents a significant opportunity to improve cancer survival rates, reduces the risk of cancer treatment complications, and improves quality of life. However, about half of cancer patients who smoke continue to smoke despite the availability of several treatments. Previous studies demonstrate that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) decreases cue craving, reduces cigarette consumption, and increases the quit rate in tobacco use disorder. We investigated whether 5 sessions of rTMS can be safely and efficaciously used for smoking cessation in cancer patients. Methods. We enrolled 11 treatment-seeking smokers with cancer (>5 cigarettes per day) in a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled proof-of-concept study. Participants received 5 daily sessions of active 10 Hz rTMS of the left DLPFC (3000 pulses per session) or sham rTMS and were followed up for 1 month via phone assessments. Main outcomes included reductions in the number of smoked-cigarettes per day (primary) and craving (secondary). Adverse effects were reported daily by participants. Results. Seven of 11 participants completed 5 sessions of rTMS over one week. Compared to sham treatment (n = 4), the active rTMS (n = 3) exhibited modest effects overtime on smoking (Cohen’s f2 effect size of 0.16) and large effects on cue craving (Cohen’s f2 = 0.40). No serious side effects related to rTMS were reported in the treatment. Conclusions. Five sessions of daily rTMS over the left DLPFC might benefit cancer patients who smoke cigarettes. However, further evidence is needed to determine with more certainty its therapeutic effect and adverse effects for cancer patients who smoke cigarettes.
Paper-Cutting Pattern Design Based on Image Restoration Technology
Authors: Yu Jianjun
Published: July 2022

Paper-cutting is one of the valuable intangible cultural heritages of China, with distinctive features such as “round as the autumn moon, sharp as the wheat mane, square as the green brick, missing as the serrated teeth, and thread as the beard,” and is a widely spread folk art. The art of paper-cutting brings new inspiration to the design of structures, and by changing the topology of the raw material, the material/structure can undergo significant changes in physical properties, such as optical, thermal, acoustic, and mechanical aspects. The protection of intangible cultural heritage is a process of cultural self-awareness and a kind of cultural reflection and enlightenment. In the history of promoting socialist cultural development, the protection of “intangible heritage” paper-cutting is undoubtedly of great significance. The purpose of digital image repair is to restore the integrity of the broken image, and the process is to fill in the specified area of the digital image with information, requiring a natural transition between the filled area and the original area of the image and minimizing artificial traces, so that the image looks as if it has never been broken. In this paper, the paper-cutting pattern design method based on image restoration technology is investigated, starting from the preprocessing of paper-cutting images by acquiring the edges of the images and using the Criminisi image restoration algorithm with image broken edge reconstruction to realize the image broken edge reconstruction design of paper-cutting graphics. Therefore, the paper-cut graphics generated by the method in this paper are concise and coherent as a whole, which reduces the difficulty of paper-cut design while satisfying individual design requirements.
Collaborative Operation Model with Selling Profit Sharing Strategy for Direct Online Retailing
Authors: Lu Qihui , Xing Axun , Sun Qi , Xiao Di
Published: July 2022

This study focuses on the operation mode choice issue on whether brand owners should use the autonomous or the collaborative operation mode in direct online retailing. Results demonstrate that when the service provider’s investment is relatively effective and the selling profit sharing ratio of the service provider is high, the brand owner should choose the collaborative operation mode. Surprisedly, we find that brand owners in a dual-channel scenario have more motivation to use the collaborative operation mode than those in a single e-commerce channel scenario. The e-commerce service market may have much potential in the future.
The Efficacy of Twin‐Block Appliances for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Duan Jun , Xia Wanyuan , Yang Kai , Li Xuelei , Zhang Feng , Xu Jie , Jiang Ying , Liang Jia , Li Bing
Published: July 2022

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of twin‐block appliance in the treatment of children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods. Two independent reviewers conducted a systematic review of seven databases from database establishment until October 16, 2021. There were no language restrictions. The outcomes were changes in apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI), oxyhemoglobin desaturation index (ODI), and lowest arterial oxygen saturation (lowest SaO2). National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) tool was used to assess the quality of the studies included. Results. A total of 207 articles were screened for relevance, and 6 of them met the inclusion criteria for our meta‐analysis. Four of the studies were case series, 1 was nonrandomized control trial, and 1 was a randomized crossover clinical trial. After twin‐block therapy, there was a significant decrease in AHI (4.35 events/hour, 95% CI: 4.04, 4.66, p ≤ 0.001). The lowest SaO2 significantly increased by 9.17% (95% CI: 12.05, 6.28, p ≤ 0.001). Sensitivity analysis by excluding studies one by one showed stable and favorable results in lowest SaO2 and AHI. Conclusions. Results from the meta‐analysis showed that the use of twin‐block appliance significantly decreased AHI and significantly increased lowest SaO2. Hence, twin‐block appliance therapy may be an effective method for the treatment of pediatric OSA. Further large sample size randomized controlled trials are needed to assess this treatment efficacy in children with obstructive sleep apnea.
The Innovation Ecological Model of Chinese Automotive Industry Based on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Technology
Authors: Lv Xiaojing , Zhang Gui , Liu Jiqing , Li Jiayu
Published: July 2022

The digitalization of the automobile industry must depend on the information technology industry. The coupling development of the two creates conditions for the realization of industry 4.0 and intelligent manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to make an empirical study on the possibility of coupling and the coupling degree, correlation degree, and innovation ability of China’s automobile industry and information technology industry. This paper takes the intelligent manufacturing of the automobile industry as the research object. According to the current situation of China’s automobile industry, this paper uses data to analyze and predict the development level of China’s automobile industry and the gap with the foreign automobile industry. Firstly, it summarizes and analyzes the development of China’s automobile industry and information technology industry. Then, the gray correlation analysis method is used to explore the factors affecting the innovation of China’s automobile industry. It is found that the relationship between capital investment and innovation is the most significant in “industrial innovation investment.” Finally, the coupling development model of the automobile industry and information technology industry is established, and the coupling degree of the two is analyzed by using the analytic hierarchy process and the Delphi method. The research of this paper mainly focuses on the automobile industry. Under the wave of internet, other industries such as the commerce and service industry also have a strong coupling relationship with the information technology industry, which will provide a new research direction for the follow-up research of experts and scholars.