bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Le confort hors réseau. Se chauffer au bois, au charbon et au pétrole dans les villes françaises au XX e siècle
Authors: Viguié Renan
Published: March 2023

Au XX e  siècle, en France, le chauffage des logements fut profondément bouleversé par les énergies de réseau (gaz et électricité), mais aussi par l’élaboration d’autres technologies qui permirent une centralisation de la chaleur et sa diffusion dans les habitations. Dans les discours, le confort domestique devait nécessairement emprunter ces réseaux techniques et les chauffages au gaz, à l’électricité tout comme le chauffage urbain étaient présentés comme les symboles du progrès destinés à remplacer les modes de chauffage individuels. Pourtant, ces réseaux énergétiques et de chaleur ne remplacèrent pas les autres modes de chauffage : la cheminée, la cuisinière, le poêle, les radiateurs et les appareils individuels de chauffage central persistèrent durant tout le siècle incarnant, tout autant que les dispositifs connectés au réseau, le confort thermique. Cet article s’intéresse à la manière dont se maintinrent ces appareils dans les villes françaises. Il insiste sur le rôle des pratiques quotidiennes et des entreprises qui ralentirent le développement du chauffage en réseau, nuançant les représentations de la modernité des réseaux.
Only Disconnect: The Problem of Stormwater in Providence, Rhode Island
Authors: Coren Sam
Published: March 2023

Après avoir servi pendant deux siècles de déversoir pour des effluents toxiques, la rivière Providence (Providence, Rhode Island, États-Unis) redevient à nouveau propice à la pêche et à la baignade. Cela est dû en grande partie au Combined Sewage Overflow Abatement Project (CSOAP), un réseau de tunnels situé à environ 90 mètres sous la ville qui capte les eaux chargées des égouts après de fortes pluies. Parallèlement, une infrastructure d’espaces verts répartis dans toute la ville complète le travail du CSOAP, en détournant les eaux de ruissellement des rivières et des ruisseaux locaux tout en fournissant un habitat aux plantes de zones humides et aux pollinisateurs. Il s’agit d’une transformation remarquable, mais provisoire et, à tous égards, loin d’être achevée. En effet, on ne sait pas comment les infrastructures actuelles résisteront à des tempêtes plus fréquentes et à la montée des eaux. Et il reste à voir si la planification de la résilience donnera du pouvoir aux communautés en première ligne, comme le promet le Plan de justice climatique de la ville, ou si elle ne fera qu’accentuer le fossé béant qui sépare les riches de la ville des autres communautés. La restauration des bassins versants jette-t-elle les bases d’une ville plus juste et plus habitable, ou est-ce simplement un moyen, pour citer Erik Swyngedouw, de « soutenir l’urbanité capitaliste afin que rien ne change vraiment » ? Les constructions de zones humides, de « jardins de pluie », de sites de biodégradations et les toutes les autres propositions similaires sont-elles « triviales », comme me l’a fait remarquer un analyste, ou offrent-elles une ouverture pour réimaginer la vie urbaine ? Quels types d’avenir ce « virage vert » prépare-t-il ? Dans cet article, je vise à situer la récente émergence de l’infrastructure verte dans le contexte de l’héritage sanitaire de la gouvernance hydraulique de Providence. J’examine ensuite comment la combinaison en cours (et encore en évolution) des systèmes verts et gris de la ville permet de réassembler l’ordre hydrosocial, et avec quel effet.
Teletrabajo y agotamiento emocional en el sector eléctrico colombiano. El rol mediador del compromiso afectivo y el moderador de la creatividad.
Authors: Santiago Torner Carlos
Published: March 2023

Purpose: After two years during which teleworking has been a temporary obligation, the Colombian electricity sector needs to analyze the effect of this type of work on the well-being of employees.Design/Methodology/Approach: Therefore, this research aims to consider whether teleworking (independent variable) and its intensity, together with an implicit extension of the workday, emotionally exhaust (dependent variable) the members of the different organizations studied. Likewise, it is critical to know if affective commitment acts as a causal mediating process and if creativity influences and moderates the relationship between the variables studied. Consequently, a quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational-causal design is used with a sample of 448 teleworkers.Findings: Regarding the results, teleworking and its intensity reduce emotional exhaustion and increase affective commitment. Furthermore, affective commitment acts as a mediating mechanism that tends to reduce exhaustion. However, teleworking when accompanied by an excess of creative demands and a lack of assessment of employees’ resources, gradually contributes to exhaustion. Finally, the extension of the workday reduces affective commitment and increases emotional exhaustion.Research Limitations/Implications: A sector study reduces the generalization of results. Alongside, transversality restricts the accuracy of the temporal relationship between variables.Practical Implications: Developing time management skills is key in teleworking. Also, setting reasonable learning deadlines will reduce possible emotional exhaustion. Finally, leadership has a basic role in digital disconnection policies.Social implications: The perception that teleworking consolidates the work-family axis and equalizes genders is essential for companies to provide well-being in addition to being sustainable.Originality/value: This research will have an impact on immediate decision-making that the Colombian electricity sector may have. Additionally, it can be useful for other industrial segments.
A review of molecular biology detection methods for human adenovirus
Authors: Datta Neelabh
Published: March 2023

In humans particularly in children, adenovirus is one of the most common viruses that cause respiratory illnesses. Knowing how to detect adenovirus proficiently and rapidly will help reinforce surveillance of adenovirus infections, detect epidemic situations in real-time, and understand the trend of virus epidemics, which will allow effective actions to be taken quickly. The rapid detection of antiviral antibodies or viral antigens in clinical samples can be achieved by molecular diagnostic techniques like PCR, Real-Time PCR, LAMP, mPCR-RLB, PCR-ELISA, Tem-PCR, Gene Chip, and so on. Some of the molecular diagnostic methods are relatively economical, exceedingly sensitive and explicit. There are several commercially accessible molecular diagnostic techniques that enable their use in clinical laboratories all over the world. In this review, the principles, characteristics, and applications of molecular biology surveillance methods commonly used in labs and clinics for the detection of human adenoviruses are examined and highlighted.
Application of subordination and superordination for multivalent analytic functions associated with differintegral operator
Authors: Ali Ekram E. , El-Ashwah Rabha M. , Sidaoui R.
Published: March 2023

The results from this paper are related to the geometric function theory. In order to obtain them, we use the technique based on the properties of the differential subordination and superordination one of the newest techniques used in this field, we obtain some differential subordination and superordination results for multivalent functions defined by differintegral operator with $ j $-derivatives $ \Im _{p}(\nu, \rho; \ell)f(z) $ for $ \ell > 0, \ \nu, \rho \in \mathbb{R}, \ $such that $ (\rho -j)\geq 0, \nu > -\ell p\, (p\in \mathbb{N}) $ in the open unit disk $ U $. Differential sandwich result is also obtained. Also, the results are followed by some special cases and counter examples.
Combine EfficientNet and CNN for 3D model classification
Authors: Gao Xue-Yao , Yang Bo-Yu , Zhang Chun-Xiang
Published: March 2023

With the development of multimedia technology, the number of 3D models on the web or in databases is becoming increasingly larger and larger. It becomes more and more important to classify and retrieve 3D models. 3D model classification plays important roles in the mechanical design field, education field, medicine field and so on. Due to the 3D model's complexity and irregularity, it is difficult to classify 3D model correctly. Many methods of 3D model classification pay attention to local features from 2D views and neglect the 3D model's contour information, which cannot express it better. So, accuracy the of 3D model classification is poor. In order to improve the accuracy of 3D model classification, this paper proposes a method based on EfficientNet and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to classify 3D models, in which view feature and shape feature are used. The 3D model is projected into 2D views from different angles. EfficientNet is used to extract view feature from 2D views. Shape descriptors D1, D2, D3, Zernike moment and Fourier descriptors of 2D views are adopted to describe the 3D model and CNN is applied to extract shape feature. The view feature and shape feature are combined as discriminative features. Then, the softmax function is used to determine the 3D model's category. Experiments are conducted on ModelNet 10 dataset. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves better than other methods.
Interaction between spatial perception and temporal perception enables preservation of cause-effect relationship: Visual psychophysics and neuronal dynamics
Authors: Purohit Pratik , Roy Prasun K.
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Visual perception of moving objects is integral to our day-to-day life, integrating visual spatial and temporal perception. Most research studies have focused on finding the brain regions activated during motion perception. However, an empirically validated general mathematical model is required to understand the modulation of the motion perception. Here, we develop a mathematical formulation of the modulation of the perception of a moving object due to a change in speed, under the formulation of the invariance of causality.

Methods

We formulated the perception of a moving object as the coordinate transformation from a retinotopic space onto perceptual space and derived a quantitative relationship between spatiotemporal coordinates. To validate our model, we undertook the analysis of two experiments: (i) the perceived length of the moving arc, and (ii) the perceived time while observing moving stimuli. We performed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tractography investigation of subjects to demarcate the anatomical correlation of the modulation of the perception of moving objects.

Results

Our theoretical model shows that the interaction between visual-spatial and temporal perception, during the perception of moving object is described by coupled linear equations; and experimental observations validate our model. We observed that cerebral area V5 may be an anatomical correlate for this interaction. The physiological basis of interaction is shown by a Lotka-Volterra system delineating interplay between acetylcholine and dopamine neurotransmitters, whose concentrations vary periodically with the orthogonal phase shift between them, occurring at the axodendritic synapse of complex cells at area V5.

Conclusion

Under the invariance of causality in the representation of events in retinotopic space and perceptual space, the speed modulates the perception of a moving object. This modulation may be due to variations of the tuning properties of complex cells at area V5 due to the dynamic interaction between acetylcholine and dopamine. Our analysis is the first significant study, to our knowledge, that establishes a mathematical linkage between motion perception and causality invariance.
The Performance Analysis of Machine Learning Algorithms for Credit Card Fraud Detection
Authors: Khan Muhammad Zohaib , Shaikh Sarmad Ahmed , Shaikh Muneer Ahmed , Khatri Kamlesh Kumar , Mahira Abdul Rauf  , Kalhoro Ayesha , Muhammad Adnan
Published: March 2023

This paper studies the performance analysis of machine learning (ML) and data mining techniques for anomaly detection in credit cards. As the usage of digital money or plastic money grows in developing nations, so does the risk of fraud. To counter these scams, we need a sophisticated fraud detection method that not only identifies the fraud but also detects it before it occurs efficiently. We have introduced the notion of credit card fraud and its many variants in this research. Numerous ML fraud detection approaches are studied in this paper including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) data mining and the Fuzzy C-Means methodologies, as well as the Logistic Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), and Naive Bayes (NB) algorithms. The existing and proposed models for credit card fraud detection have been thoroughly reviewed, and these strategies have been compared using quantitative metrics including accuracy rate and characteristics curves. This paper discusses the shortcomings of existing models and proposes an efficient technique to analyze the fraud detection.
Effect of Changing Targeted Layers of the Deep Dream Technique Using VGG-16 Model
Authors: Al-Khazraji Lafta R. , Abbas Ayad R. , Jamil Abeer S.
Published: March 2023

The deep dream is one of the most recent techniques in deep learning. It is used in many applications, such as decorating and modifying images with motifs and simulating the patients' hallucinations. This study presents a deep dream model that generates deep dream images using a convolutional neural network (CNN). Firstly, we survey the layers of each block in the network, then choose the required layers, and extract their features to maximize it. This process repeats several iterations as needed, computes the total loss, and extracts the final deep dream images. We apply this operation on different layers two times; the former is on the low-level layers, and the latter is on the high-level layers. The results of applying this operation are different, where the resulting image from applying deep dream on the high-level layers are clearer than those resulting from low-level layers. Also, the loss of the images of low-level layers ranges between 31.1435 and 31.1435, while the loss of the images of upper layers ranges between 20.0704 and 32.1625.
Le fait urbain en Sicile hellénistique
Authors: Mège Frédéric
Published: March 2023

Le fait urbain en Sicile hellénistique s’insère entre les grandes cités siciliennes d’époque classique, elles-mêmes héritières des expériences coloniales archaïques, et la mainmise de Rome, avènement d’un gouvernement centralisé de l’île. Son étude a souvent été l’objet de vives polémiques dans la communauté scientifique à propos de la chronologie et des implications socioculturelles de certains éléments marquants du paysage urbain : édifices, plans d’urbanisme et aménagements privés. Le but de ce livre est d’en proposer une synthèse en le considérant dans son ensemble et en versant au débat des données inédites provenant de la Mégara Hyblaea hellénistique.

L’enquête montre notamment comment les populations de Sicile hellénistique ont amélioré leur confort et leur bien-être domestiques, au regard d’autres endroits de la Méditerranée. Cette tendance de fond se perçoit avec l’apparition dans les habitations siciliennes des premières latrines et salles de bains ainsi que par une ornementation croissante des salles dites « de réception ». Les plans des habitations ont évolué de pair avec ces nouveaux aménagements : ainsi voit-on apparaître à côté des habitats traditionnels « à cour centrale » de nouvelles planimétries telles que les cours à péristyle et les plans « à deux cours ». L’urbanisme des villes de Sicile hellénistique, c’est-à-dire l’organisation planifiée de l’espace urbain, a moins connu ces innovations et présente le plus souvent une nette continuité avec des principes édictés à l’époque classique, voire archaïque.

L’ensemble des données archéologiques ainsi revues et remises en perspectives permet de réfléchir à une nouvelle approche de la Sicile aux IVe et IIIe siècles av. J.-C. C’est par cet état des connaissances et ces réflexions que le présent livre entend proposer sa contribution à l’étude du fait urbain en Sicile hellénistique.
Matrix Metalloproteinases in Oral Cancer
Authors: Doddawad Vidya G , Shivananda S , Kalabharathi HL , Shetty Aditya , Sowmya S , Sowmya HK
Published: March 2023

Zinc-dependent proteolytic enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a class of structurally related enzymes that are known to be crucial in the catabolic turnover of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. MMPs are thought to control the activity of a number of non-ECM bioactive substrates, such as growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, and cell receptors, which control the tissue microenvironment. The interaction between cells and ECM plays a key role in normal development and differentiation of organism and many pathological states as well. The primary class of controlling proteases in the ECM is known as MMPs. Aspects of normal physiology and pathology depend on the ability of MMPs to change the structural integrity of tissues. Uncontrolled ECM turnover, tissue remodeling, inflammatory response, cell proliferation, and migration are pathogenic alterations that can result from an imbalance between the concentration of active metalloproteinases and their inhibitors (tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases [TIMPs]). This detailed review provides some information on the function of MMPs in inflammatory, caries and periapical, cancer, and other oral diseases. Blood and saliva are the two biological fluids that are most frequently used to diagnose oral disorders. Most of the ECM components in patients undergo digestion to lower molecular weight forms, resulting in much higher amounts of MMPs in their saliva/blood than in healthy individuals. Conventional treatment successfully reduces the levels of MMPs which inhibits the progressive breakdown of collagens in ECM components.
Changes in the Level of Zinc and Copper and Some Biochemical Parameters in Patients with Chronic Kidney Failure
Authors: Hameed Omar Mohamed , Rashed Sukayna Hussain , Al-Helaly Luay Abed
Published: March 2023

Background:

Chronic kidney failure (CRF) is characterized by a progressive loss of functional status over weeks or months, which may result in one of the illness's recognized consequences, such as cardiovascular disease, chest pain, or anemia. CRF has been generally understood as a worldwide public health problem and a big factor to death and morbidity during the previous decade.

Methods:

Determination of zinc and copper, urea, creatinine, total protein, globulin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in (CRF) Iraqi patients. This study included (40) patients and (38) healthy subjects as control. Samples were collected from January to April (2022). The biochemical parameters were determined using spectrophotometrically, but zinc and copper were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

Results:

Copper, urea, creatinine, ALP, AST, ALT, and LDH were significantly higher in CRF patients, whereas zinc, total protein, albumin, and globulin were lower in CRF patients as compared with control. The research also concerned study the relation between sex (male and female) and biochemical parameters which showed significant differences in comparison male of patients with males of control, yet globulin showed nonsignificant differences. While patients and control females showed nonsignificant differences.

Conclusions:

LDH in CRF patients might be used as a biomarker to detect renal dysfunction in dialysis patients at an early point, and blood serum Zn deficit in CRF. Furthermore, a relationship among Zn and albumin amounts was discovered. As a result, Zn and copper in CRF, particularly hypoalbuminemia, must be frequently evaluated and adjusted.
Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase 2 Interaction with Growth Factor Receptor Bound Protein 7 Acts as a Molecular Switch to Activate Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Chauhan Anita , Kalra Seema
Published: March 2023

Background:

The progression and metastasis of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are considered a very complex process as it involves aberrations of multiple genes and cellular pathways. Genes which are differentially expressed in NSCLC have multi interactions with other genes, which can promote the carcinogenesis. To improve diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC, it is vitally important to study these interactions and understand their roles in the molecular mechanism of NSCLC. As the need to find more potential targets for NSCLC is very paramount we have predicted very important interactions for NSCLC.

Methods:

In our study, some NSCLC specific genes were differentially identified from microarray datasets and text mining of SCLC and NSCLC abstracts. The expression of these genes has been seen in 8 different cancer types and NSCLC stages. A network of genes specific to NSCLC has been identified and interactions of these NSCLC specific genes have been studied.

Results:

We found two network modules joined through erb b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2) in NSCLC i.e. network of genes growth factor receptor bound protein 7 (GRB7), StAR related lipid transfer domain containing 3, post GPI attachment to proteins 3 and migration and invasion enhancer 1 ERBB2 interacting with GRB7 and PAK1 using GIANT. In normal lungs, ERBB2 is strongly interacting with PAK1 and in NSCLC it has strong interaction with GRB7.

Conclusion:

We have found that ERBB2 and GRB7 interaction is a transforming connection between normal lung and NSCLC.
Constant Romantic Feelings and Experiences Can Protect Against Neurodegeneration
Authors: Gholami Mina , Emanuele Enzo , Motaghinejad Majid
Published: March 2023

Neurodegeneration – defined as a progressive cell loss in specific neuronal populations – has devastating clinical consequences with significant societal and economic implications. Although effective preventive measures are still lacking, features of positive mental health and emotional resilience have the potential to reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Romantic experiences – which are characterized by intense emotional intimacy – have complex biological underpinnings including an increased production and release of oxytocin and nerve growth factor (NGF). Because both oxytocin and NGF can protect against neurodegeneration, we propose our hypothesis that being constantly engaged in romantic feelings and experiences may delay or even prevent the onset of NDDs. We also propose that this could occur at the molecular level through the NGF/protein kinase B (Akt)/cyclic-adenosine monophosphate response element-binding protein and NGF/Akt/phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-γ) signaling pathways. In this article, we describe this conceptual framework and delineate potential avenues for future research in the field.
An Observational Comparative Study of Clinicoepidemiological Profile of COVID-19 Patients Admitted in the Tertiary Care Hospital During First and Second Wave on Pandemic
Authors: Darivemula Surendra Babu , Dara Chennakesavulu , Sagar Triveni , Bala Sudha , Animalla Venkatesham
Published: March 2023

Background:

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. India confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 30 January and within 8 weeks the total number of cases had crossed the 1000 mark.

Methods:

An Observational comparative study was done to see the clinic epidemiological profile, and identify the determinants of COVID 19 patients admitted in the hospital in the last 1 year in both the first and second waves with respect to. All individuals testing positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were included.

Results:

A total of 1710 was hospitalized, 701 (40.9%) and 1009 (59.1%) were involved in first and second wave. The mean age was 42.58 ± 13.99 and 45.32 ± 14.18 and majority of them were belong to the 20–60 years and the comparison was showing statistically significant (P = 0.004). The participants affected with the risk factors like smoking 276 (27.3) and alcohol 237 (23.5) with P < 0.0001. The duration of stay was (median 6 [inter quartile range (IQR) 3–7] days in the first wave vs. median 7 [IQR 3–9] days in the second wave; P < 0.001).

Conclusion:

The second wave had shown more aggressive nature in spreading the COVID-19 infection than the first wave. Besides the steep rise of the cases, there has been more among the patients with commodities and risk factors in the second wave.
Transfer Learning-Based Electrocardiogram Classification Using Wavelet Scattered Features
Authors: Sabeenian R. S. , Sree Janani K. K.
Published: March 2023

Background:

The abnormalities in the heart rhythm result in various cardiac issues affecting the normal functioning of the heart. Early diagnosis helps prevent serious outcomes and to treat them effectively. This work focuses on classifying the various abnormalities with the changes in the heart rhythm and demographic data. The pretrained convolution neural network models classify the wavelet scattered data of different arrhythmic electrocardiograms (ECGs).

Methods:

The ECG signals of different anomalies from the PhysioNet database are re-sampled and segmented. The sampling is done using the linear interpolation method, which estimates values between the sample points based on nearby data points. The inter-dependence variances among the data points were extracted using wavelet scattering. The one-dimensional (1D) signal data are converted into 2D scalogram images using continuous wavelet transform. Pretrained deep learning models are used to extract features from the scalogram images and classify using a support vector machine classifier. The classification results are analyzed using various performance metrics such as precision, specificity, recall, F-measure, and accuracy. The relationship between the model performance and network depth and learnables is analyzed.

Results:

The classification results show that the ResNet18 achieves higher accuracy of 98.81% for raw data and 97.05% for wavelet scattered data. No dependency exists between the model depth, network parameters, and performance. The ResNet18 model achieves higher precision, recall, specificity, and F-measure values of 96.49%, 96.42%, 98.24%, and 96.45%, respectively, for wavelet scattered data.

Conclusions:

The ResNet18 achieves generalized results in classifying dimensionality-reduced data with reduced computational cost and high accuracy. The DenseNet model achieves higher performance metrics for raw data, whereas the ResNet18 model achieves higher performance metrics for wavelet scattered data.
The Consequences of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 on Acute Kidney Injury Among Iraqi Patients
Authors: Al-Khero Zahraa Faris , Yousif Zahra'a Abd Al-Aziz , Salman Hamzah Abdulrahman , Thanoon Allaa Hatim
Published: March 2023

Background:

COVID-19 is considered one of the most infectious diseases that can spread by air droplets and can cause serious complications in the respiratory tract, also could affect many organs like the kidney and causing acute kidney injury (AKI). The study aimed to evaluate the status of the kidney function of patients who are infected with COVID-19 and how the virus is involved in AKI.

Methods:

The research was conducted from 15 January to 25 February 2021. One hundred patients (56% of males and 44% of females) were involved in the present study. All the samples were tested for COVID-19 using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Kidney function tests such as serum creatinine and blood urea, as well as COVID-19 infection severity measurements such as level of ferritin, D-dimer, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were tested for all patients.

Results:

All enrolled patients were positive for COVID-19. All the patients (100%) were positive for AKI (the mean of urea and creatinine were 78.87 mg/dl, and 2.16 μg/ml, respectively) and the mean age was 66.9 years. The infection severity was high as the level of ferritin (729.19 ng/ml), D-dimer (3.84 μg/ml), and CRP (71.87 mg/L) were high compared to normal values. The study revealed that AKI is probably worsened by COVID-19 infection, which is also connected to the greater severity of the disease.

Conclusion:

According to the results, we found a direct link between COVID-19 infection and the development of AKI. The study recommended giving critical care and attention with respect to kidney function to those who had COVID-19 infection.
Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology Versus Open Biopsy for the Diagnosis of Chronic Cervical Lymphadenopathy
Authors: Arshad Shafia , Arif Amina , Shakeel Maria , Zahra Memoona , Mehwish Romana , Riaz Amna , Hadi Faheem
Published: March 2023

Background:

For the diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy, an open biopsy is recommended. When compared to open biopsy, fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is considered safe, less invasive, and cost-effective. However, its diagnostic efficacy remains in debates. This study was conducted to know that how accurately FNAC can detect the pathology as compared to an open biopsy. The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic efficacy of FNAC versus open biopsy in the diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy.

Methods:

It is a comparative study at Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, for 6 months. The study comprised 100 patients who had been diagnosed with chronic cervical lymphoma. All of the patients underwent FNAC, which was followed by an open biopsy. Calculating the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of each technique was used to determine the diagnostic efficacy of the both techniques.

Results:

FNAC had a sensitivity and specificity of 92% overall. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, tuberculosis, Hodgkin's lymphoma, metastatic carcinoma, reactive hyperplasia, and chronic nonspecific lymphadenopathy had a diagnostic accuracy of 96.2%, 85.7%, 100%, 87.5%, 100%, and 100%, respectively.

Conclusions:

In the management of cervical lymphadenopathy, FNAC is a reliable and safe procedure with a high diagnostic efficacy. It should be used as the first line of examination.
Insight Into Biosorption of Hexavalent Chromium Using Isolated Species Aspergillus Proliferans LA
Authors: Shukla Abhimati , Singh Lalit Kumar
Published: March 2023

Background:

The wastewater disposal into the water bodies without removing the toxic heavy metals and other industrial impurities is a major issue these days. These heavy metals cause serious health issues to the human and animal life and also harm the environment and reduce the productivity of crops. A potent microorganism resistant to hexavalent chromium was isolated. The activity of this isolated strain was analyzed using in silico studies.

Methods:

In this study, a chromium-resistant fungus was isolated from the soil of the dumping sites of the tanneries in Kanpur, UP, India, followed by isolation by serial dilution, plating method, and finally, genome sequencing. It was identified as Aspergillus proliferans LA that is submitted to the National Collection for Industrial Microorganisms (NCIM) database with accession no. NCIM-1473. In the current study, the comparative analysis of the protein sequence of A. proliferans (NCIM-1473) was done against the known 53 protein sequences of the fungus and bacterial strains already reported for their chromium-resistant nature. The physical and chemical parameters of the known and isolated chromium-resistant proteins were analyzed using the ProtParam tool. The comparative study on the sequence and structural alignment of known and isolated chromium-resistant protein was done using EMBOSS-NEEDLE and FATCAT, respectively.

Results:

In this analysis, the top 10 strains showing similarity with A. proliferans (NCIM-1473) were reported and among which ChrI, chromium regulatory protein Cupriavidus metallidurans
CH34 was showing maximum similarity with isolated chromium resistant protein for all the analysis, namely ProtParam, sequence, and FATCAT analysis. This strain, Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34, has been reported resistant against eight heavy metals, one of which is chromate, and was first identified in the heavy-metal contaminated sludge in a settling tank of Belgium.

Conclusion:

These studies conclude that the strain isolated in our laboratory (accession no. NCIM-1473) is potentially chromium resistant and a unique strain.
Healthcare-Associated Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Endocarditis Following Coronary Artery Angiography
Authors: Bhatt Kalpak , Toshniwal Harsh , Shah Vipul , Patel Dhruv
Published: March 2023

Infective endocarditis in a patient with structural heart disease following coronary artery angiography is a rare complication. We report a rare case of Mycobacterium chelonae infective endocarditis following coronary artery angiography in a young male with congenital heart disease. This case illustrates the diagnostic as well as therapeutic challenges we faced when managing this rare infectious entity.
Flexor Tenosynovitis of the Wrist with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Authors: Kumar Ravi , Lakkireddy Maheshwar , Maley Deepak , Eppakayala Srikanth , Sathu Sreedhar , Kashyap Adinarayana
Published: March 2023

Tubercular tenosynovitis of the wrist with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a rare occurrence. The authors present a case of tubercular flexor tenosynovitis of the wrist with CTS. A 60-year-old female presented with complaints of swelling in the volar aspect of the right wrist with numbness of the first three fingers for the past 6 months. Clinical and radiological diagnosis of chronic flexor tenosynovitis with median nerve compression neuropathy was made. The patient was operated with carpal tunnel release and total tenosynovectomy. Histopathology showed features suggestive of Koch’s etiology. The patient was started with antitubercular therapy (ATT) and followed up regularly. Carpal tunnel symptoms subsided immediately after surgery and there was no recurrence of swelling at the last follow-up. Carpal tunnel release and tenosynovectomy should be performed at the earliest possible and followed up with ATT for better outcomes in tubercular tenosynovitis of the wrist with CTS.
Epidemiology of the Koch Phenomenon of Infants after Bacillus Calmette–Guerin Vaccination by Interferon-γ Release Assay Status, Japan, 2013–2019
Authors: Ota Masaki , Furuichi Yoshiyuki , Hirao Susumu
Published: March 2023

Background:

The epidemiology of infants who exhibited the Koch-like phenomenon after Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination and who subsequently tested positive in interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) was compared to that of those who tested negative. The reports of pediatricians on the phenomenon to the health authorities of Japan were retrieved and analyzed.

Methods:

In 2013–2019, 790 infants with such events were reported with IGRA test results available, of whom 81 (10.3%) tested positive and 709 (89.7%) negative.

Results:

The infants who were IGRA positive did not show an increasing trend (Ρ = 0.06, P = 0.60), whereas those who were IGRA negative showed a significantly increasing trend (Ρ = 0.42, P = 0.0002). The infants who were IGRA positive did not exhibit seasonality, whereas those who were IGRA negative had a higher number of cases in winter than in summer. The rates of infants who were IGRA positive per 10 million live births showed a significant correlation with the tuberculosis (TB) notification rates by prefecture (Ρ = 0.41, P = 0.004), whereas those who were IGRA negative did not (Ρ = 0.04, P = 0.78).

Conclusion:

The IGRA-positive infants were distributed quite differently from those who were IGRA negative and appeared more likely to be infected with TB. Reports of pediatricians on the Koch-like phenomenon should continuously be collected as the reports reflect a risk of TB infection including TB outbreaks among infants in Japan. The reports should include IGRA test results as IGRA is more specific than tuberculin skin testing. Infants with IGRA-positive results should be followed up for 2–3 years to determine their final outcomes.
Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Pulmonary and Extrapulmonary Specimens of Iranian Hospitalized Patients During 2017–2021
Authors: Salehi Mohammadreza , Shahsiah Reza , Khorasani Kiarash Mohammad , Hasannezhad Malihe , Rahimi Arian , Yousefi Bahare , Aliramezani Amir
Published: March 2023

Background:

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most serious public health problems worldwide which is a chronic infectious disease and is still one of the major challenges for developing countries. This study was undertaken to identify Mycobacterium TB (MTB) in clinical specimens in hospitalized patients.

Methods:

The study was carried out on specimens from pulmonary and extrapulmonary suspected TB patients that were admitted to one of the largest tertiary hospitals located in Tehran, Iran from 2017 to 2021. The GeneXpert MTB/rifampin (RIF) method was applied to detect MTB and RIF resistance. Characteristics of demography, clinical features, and lifestyle were obtained from medical case records registered in the hospital.

Results:

Of 957 specimens, 92 (9.61%) were found positive for TB by GeneXpert assay. Of positive samples, 72 (78.26%) were considered pulmonary TB, and 20 (21.73%) of them are associated with extrapulmonary involvement. Four (4.3%) positive TB cases were categorized as rifampicin-resistant.

Conclusion:

This study showed a relatively high incidence rate of TB in distinct types of specimens in Iranian hospitalized patients but a low level of RIF resistance.
Evaluation of Possibility of Cultivation of Acid Resistant Bacteria on Solid Egg-Based and Agar Cultural Media
Authors: Lyamin Artem , Ereshchenko Alena , Antipov Vladimir , Kozlov Andrey , Ismatullin Danir , Nikitina Tatyana
Published: March 2023

Background:

The increase in the number of patients at risk for opportunistic infections caused by rare bacteria, which include individual representatives of acid-resistant bacteria (ARB), is a serious problem in modern health care. Significant difficulties in the etiological diagnosis of mycobacteriosis, nocardiosis, and actinomycosis are associated not only with the problem of identifying the main pathogens but also with certain difficulties in isolating pathogens from biological material.

Methods:

The research provides data on 402 strains of ARB, which were isolated from various biological materials obtained from patients during examination for tuberculosis. All samples of biological material were negative on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. The isolates were identified on the MALDI-ToF mass spectrometer. The cultural characteristics of ARB were evaluated on the solid Löwenstein–Jensen egg-based culture media, universal chromogenic media, and 5% blood agar with lamb blood.

Results:

The studies carried out indicate the possibility of culturing ARB representatives on agar media. At the same time, based on the comparison of the growth properties of ARB, it was found that the universal chromogenic media provides more acceptable conditions for the isolation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) compared to blood agar. The comparison of the growth rate of bacteria did not reveal significant differences for fastly growing NTM. For slowly growing species, the growth rate on blood agar was lower than on chromogenic media and on the Löwenstein–Jensen media.

Conclusion:

Thus, the use of a universal chromogenic media during incubation makes it possible to isolate and preidentify representatives of the ARB under the conditions of standard operating procedures of the microbiological laboratory.
Application of Chromogenic Media for Preliminary Identification of Acid-Resistant Bacteria
Authors: Lyamin Artem Viktorovich , Ereshchenko Alena Anatolyevna , Gusyakova Oksana Anatolyevna , Antipov Vladimir Alexandrovich , Kozlov Andrey Vladimirovich , Ismatullin Danir Damirovich
Published: March 2023

Background:

The variety of morphological and cultural characteristics of acid-resistant bacteria (ARB) makes it possible to use microscopy and estimate the growth rate and pigment formation when cultivating on solid egg media for preliminary identification only as additional indicative methods. It is necessary to develop new approaches for the cultivation and primary identification of ARB isolated from the biological material. It will allow to obtain data on the prevalence, structure, epidemiological, and clinical features of infectious processes caused by opportunistic ARB.

Methods:

Three hundred and sixty strains of ARB were isolated from the various biological materials obtained from the patients during the examination for tuberculosis. All biological material samples were negative on Mycobacteria tuberculosis complex. Species identification of all bacteria was performed by matrix-assisted lazer desorption/ion-ization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The cultural characteristics of ARB were evaluated on a universal chromogenic media. As a selective additive, a mixture of bacitracin and polymyxin sulfate which had no effect on ARB was tested to suppress concomitant Gram-positive and Gram-negative microflora.

Results:

Cultural characteristics were identified and described for all tested representatives of fast-growing nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), as well as for all types of nocardia, gordonia, and streptomycetes. Representatives of other genera of ARB on a universal chromogenic media gave meager growth or did not show it at all. When inoculated on a universal chromogenic media with a selective addition, 100% of the strains from the ARB group showed abundant or moderate growth. Incubation time for fast-growing species was up to 7 days; for slow-growing species, it was up to 28 days. Concomitant control strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria on universal chromogenic media with selective growth additive did not show the growth.

Conclusions:

The use of a universal chromogenic media allows to preliminarily identify NTM and other ARB by cultural characteristics. The addition of bacitracin and polymyxin sulfate does not reduce the growth properties of ARB, which can be used when working with both biological materials and for the isolation of pure ARB cultures from mixtures with other bacteria.
Changes in mental health of Korean adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a special report using the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Authors: Park Bomi , Kim Jihee , Yang Jieun , Choi Sunhye , Oh Kyungwon
Published: March 2023

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on adolescents’ mental health in Korea.METHODS: We used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2018-2021 with 227,139 students aged 12-18 years. We estimated the differences in depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and stress perception before (2018-2019) and during (2020-2021) the pandemic, as well as before (2019), the first year (2020) of, and the second year (2021) of the pandemic. We also examined whether COVID-19 is statistically associated with mental health.RESULTS: In both male and female adolescents, the prevalence of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and stress perception was higher in the “not living with family,” “low household economic status,” and “self-rated unhealthy status” subgroups. The prevalence of depressive symptoms and stress perception was higher in middle school students. Adolescents were less likely to experience depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 0.89), suicidal ideation (aOR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.83), and stress perception (aOR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.79) in 2020 than in 2019. However, there were more depressive symptoms (aOR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.09), suicidal ideation (aOR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.21), and stress perception (aOR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.23) in 2021 than in 2020.CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had positive impacts on mental health of adolescents in its early stages but has had negative impacts as the pandemic continues. Attention should be paid to adolescents who are particularly vulnerable to the mental health effects of the pandemic.
Modularity and Combination of Associative Commutative Congruence Closure Algorithms enriched with Semantic Properties
Authors: Kapur Deepak
Published: March 2023

Algorithms for computing congruence closure of ground equations over
uninterpreted symbols and interpreted symbols satisfying associativity and
commutativity (AC) properties are proposed. The algorithms are based on a
framework for computing a congruence closure by abstracting nonflat terms by
constants as proposed first in Kapur's congruence closure algorithm (RTA97).
The framework is general, flexible, and has been extended also to develop
congruence closure algorithms for the cases when associative-commutative
function symbols can have additional properties including idempotency,
nilpotency, identities, cancellativity and group properties as well as their
various combinations. Algorithms are modular; their correctness and termination
proofs are simple, exploiting modularity. Unlike earlier algorithms, the
proposed algorithms neither rely on complex AC compatible well-founded
orderings on nonvariable terms nor need to use the associative-commutative
unification and extension rules in completion for generating canonical rewrite
systems for congruence closures. They are particularly suited for integrating
into the Satisfiability modulo Theories (SMT) solvers. A new way to view
Groebner basis algorithm for polynomial ideals with integer coefficients as a
combination of the congruence closures over the AC symbol * with the identity 1
and the congruence closure over an Abelian group with + is outlined.
SAT-aided Automatic Search of Boomerang Distinguishers for ARX Ciphers
Authors: Wang Dachao , Wang Baocang , Sun Siwei
Published: March 2023

In Addition-Rotation-Xor (ARX) ciphers, the large domain size obstructs the application of the boomerang connectivity table. In this paper, we explore the problem of computing this table for a modular addition and the automatic search of boomerang characteristics for ARX ciphers. We provide dynamic programming algorithms to efficiently compute this table and its variants. These algorithms are the most efficient up to now. For the boomerang connectivity table, the execution time is 42(n − 1) simple operations while the previous algorithm costs 82(n − 1) simple operations, which generates a smaller model in the searching phase. After rewriting these algorithms with boolean expressions, we construct the corresponding Boolean Satisfiability Problem models. Two automatic search frameworks are also proposed based on these models. This is the first time bringing the SAT-aided automatic search techniques into finding boomerang attacks on ARX ciphers. Finally, under these frameworks, we find out the first verifiable 10-round boomerang trail for SPECK32/64 with probability 2−29.15 and a 12-round trail for SPECK48/72 with probability 2−44.15. These are the best distinguishers for them so far. We also perceive that the previous boomerang attacks on LEA are constructed with an incorrect computation of the boomerang connection probability. The result is then fixed by our frameworks.