bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Real-time Assistive Reader Pen for Arabic Language
Authors: Alzubaidi Mohammad A. , Otoom Mwaffaq , Ahmad Nouran S.
Published: March 2021

Disability is an impairment affecting an individual's livelihood and independence. Assistive technology enables the disabled cohort of the community to break the barriers to learning, access information, contribute to the community, and live independently. This article proposes an assistive device to enable people with visual disabilities and learning disabilities to access printed Arabic material in real-time, and to help them participate in the education system and the professional workforce.

This proposed assistive device employs Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Text To Speech (TTS) conversion, using concatenation synthesis. OCR is achieved using image processing, character extraction, and classification, while Arabic speech synthesis is achieved through concatenation synthesis, followed by Multi Band Re-synthesis Overlap-Add (MBROLA). Waveform generation in the second phase produces vocal output for the disabled user to hear. OCR character and word accuracy tests were conducted for nine Arabic fonts. The results show that six fonts were recognized with over 60% character accuracy and two fonts were recognized with over 88% accuracy. A Mean Opinion Score (MOS) test for speech quality was conducted. The results showed an overall MOS score of 3.53/5 and indicated that users were able to understand the speech. A real-time usability testing was conducted with 10 subjects. The results showed an overall average of agreements scores of 3.9/5 and indicated that the proposed Arabic reader pen meets the real-time constraints and is pleasant and satisfying to use and can contribute to make printed Arabic material accessible to visually impaired persons and people with learning disabilities.
A Cascaded Unsupervised Model for PoS Tagging
Authors: Bölücü Necva , Can Burcu
Published: March 2021

Part of speech (PoS) tagging is one of the fundamental syntactic tasks in Natural Language Processing, as it assigns a syntactic category to each word within a given sentence or context (such as noun, verb, adjective, etc.). Those syntactic categories could be used to further analyze the sentence-level syntax (e.g., dependency parsing) and thereby extract the meaning of the sentence (e.g., semantic parsing). Various methods have been proposed for learning PoS tags in an unsupervised setting without using any annotated corpora. One of the widely used methods for the tagging problem is log-linear models. Initialization of the parameters in a log-linear model is very crucial for the inference. Different initialization techniques have been used so far. In this work, we present a log-linear model for PoS tagging that uses another fully unsupervised Bayesian model to initialize the parameters of the model in a cascaded framework. Therefore, we transfer some knowledge between two different unsupervised models to leverage the PoS tagging results, where a log-linear model benefits from a Bayesian model’s expertise. We present results for Turkish as a morphologically rich language and for English as a comparably morphologically poor language in a fully unsupervised framework. The results show that our framework outperforms other unsupervised models proposed for PoS tagging.
Engineering for Chaos
Authors: Fraser Steven , Mancl Dennis
Published: March 2021

The global COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we live, learn, and teach - impacting both "how we learn" and "what we learn." Software system resilience has emerged as a critical concept, a departure from historical system objectives obsessed with high performance. In practice, there are many situations when development focused on efficiency, creates a system that is not very resilient. Fortunately, some technology companies have prioritized stability and availability over efficiency in order to deliver to customers a more consistent experience. Governments also value resilience to reliably serve their communities in the face of crises like cyber hacking and COVID-19. System resilience is a topic often neglected in computer science curricula. This paper reports on a recent virtual ACM SPLASH-E Education Symposium panel session held in November 2020 that discussed resilience, efficiency, and the impact of COVID-19 on computer science education. The panel featured Steven Fraser (panel impresario) and panelists Rebecca Mercuri, Landon Noll, Ales Plsek, and Moshe Vardi.
First International Workshop on Quantum Software Engineering (Q-SE 2020)
Authors: Abreu Rui , Ali Shaukat , Yue Tao
Published: March 2021

The First International Workshop on Quantum Software Engineering (Q-SE 2020), co-located with the 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2020), was held between July 2 and July 3, 2020. The workshop was originally scheduled to be a physical event in May 2020. Due to the SARS-CoV-2, aligned with the main conference, the workshop was held virtually instead. This report summarizes the keynote speeches, the paper presentations in the workshop, and the ensuing discussions. IEEE and ACM publish the proceedings of the workshop as part of the ICSE 2020 Workshops Companion.
Music, industry, and researching your own hidden curriculum
Authors: Cramer Henriette , Epps-Darling Avriel
Published: March 2021

Whether working in academia, industry, or entertainment building a career means navigating a variety of challenges. The authors revisit a number of lessons learned while building systems (or records), how to transfer those lessons to new domains, how to turn your research skills on what you haven't learned yet, and build an extra curriculum for yourself.
Digital development in a remote paradise
Authors: Luna Jimena
Published: March 2021

International exposure impacts your views on technology, design, consumption, and adoption, and sometimes technology is not even the direct solution. Building a digital ecosystem entails the right policy mix to support the expansion of mobile broadband coupled with complementary policies to boost affordability and digital skills for underserved groups.
Tuber and Tuberous Root Development
Authors: Zierer Wolfgang , Rüscher David , Sonnewald Uwe , Sonnewald Sophia
Published: March 2021

Root and tuber crops have been an important part of human nutrition since the early days of humanity, providing us with essential carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins. Today, they are especially important in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, where they help to feed an ever-growing population. Early induction and storage organ size are important agricultural traits, as they determine yield over time. During potato tuberization, environmental and metabolic status are sensed, ensuring proper timing of tuberization mediated by phloem-mobile signals. Coordinated cellular restructuring and expansion growth, as well as controlled storage metabolism in the tuber, are executed. This review summarizes our current understanding of potato tuber development and highlights similarities and differences to important tuberous root crop species like sweetpotato and cassava. Finally, we point out knowledge gaps that need to be filled before a complete picture of storage organ development can emerge.
Generalized Theory for Diffusion-Induced Stress
Authors: Yang Fuqian
Published: March 2021

The charging/discharging rate plays an important role in determining the structural integrity of metal-ion batteries, such as lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. In this work, we follow the approach by Green and Lindsay [Journal of Elasticity 2, 1 (1972)] and incorporate the contribution of the time derivative of the concentration of solute atoms to strain energy in Helmholtz and Gibbs free energies. Using the free energies, we obtain the chemical potential of the solute atoms and a generalized constitutive relation with the contribution of the concentration of the solute atoms and the time derivative of the concentration of the solute atoms. We use the generalized constitutive relation to analyze the stress evolution in an infinite, elastic cylinder under the condition that the stress-limited diffusion is negligible. The numerical results reveal that the term of the time derivative of the concentration of the solute atoms in the constitutive relation contributes to tensile hoop stress on the surface of the cylinder, which can initiate surface cracks and cause structural damage during the influx of the solute atoms. The generalized constitutive relation provides an approach to investigate the effect of charging/discharging rate on the structural integrity of electrodes in metal-ion batteries during electrochemical cycling.
From the Editor: Here Comes the Sun King
Authors: Rajeshwar Krishnan
Published: March 2021

“Everybody is laughing …everybody is happy … here comes the Sun King.” Remember this Lennon-McCartney composition in the Beatles’ 1969 album, Abbey Road? Well, it does appear that solar power is poised to become king again from among the available options for renewable energy.
Chemical Microsensors
Authors: Liu Chung-Chiun , Hesketh Peter , Hunter G. W.
Published: March 2021

The need for chemical sensor technology in applications such as industrial processing, aerospace, and security has increased in recent years. In practice, the sensing elements must be relatively small in size, robust, and should not require a large sensing sample volume.
Hydrogen Economy Based on Renewable Energy Sources
Authors: Turner John A. , Williams Mark C. , Rajeshwar Krishnan
Published: March 2021

Petroleum supplies will be in increasingly higher demand as heavily populated developing countries expand their economies and become more energy intensive. This problem is exacerbated because the U.S. alone consumes a disproportionately higher fraction (more than the next five highest consuming nations) of the petroleum supply.
Chiral Electrodeposition
Authors: Switzer Jay A.
Published: March 2021

Chirality is ubiquitous in Nature. One enantiomer of a molecule is often physiologically active, while the other enantiomer may be either inactive or toxic.
Biosensor Systems for Homeland Security
Authors: Bruckner-Lea Cindy
Published: March 2021

The detection of biological agents is important for minimizing the effects of pathogens that can harm people, livestock, or plants. In addition to pathogens distributed by man, there is a need to detect natural outbreaks.
Hydrogen Storage and Its Limitations
Authors: Sandi Giselle
Published: March 2021

Hydrogen storage is a crucial step for providing a ready supply of hydrogen fuel to an end use, such as a car, as it is considered by many to be the most technically challenging aspect of achieving a hydrogen-based economy. Current hydrogen storage materials or systems are still far short of meeting target goals set for either 2010 or 2015.
Superfilling and the Curvature Enhanced Accelerator Coverage Mechanism
Authors: Moffat T. P. , Wheeler D. , Josell D.
Published: March 2021

State-of-the-art manufacturing of semiconductor devices involves the electrodeposition of copper for on-chip wiring of integrated circuits.
Redox-Modulated Molecular Recognition: From Solution to the Solid State
Authors: Carroll Joseph B.
Published: March 2021

A Summary Report to The Electrochemical Society for the 2004 Joseph W. Richards Summer Research Fellowship.
Reductions in motoneuron excitability during sustained isometric contractions are dependent on stimulus and contraction intensity
Authors: Brownstein Callum G. , Espeit Loïc , Royer Nicolas , Ansdell Paul , Škarabot Jakob , Souron Robin , Lapole Thomas , Millet Guillaume Y.
Published: March 2021

This study measured motoneuron excitability using cervicomedullary evoked potentials conditioned using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS-CMEPs) of both small and large amplitudes during sustained low- and high-intensity contractions of the elbow flexors. During the low-intensity task, only the small TMS-CMEP was reduced. During the high-intensity task, both small and large TMS-CMEPs were substantially reduced. These results indicate that repetitively active motoneurons are specifically reduced in excitability compared with less active motoneurons in the same pool.
Congenital Anomalies and Associated Factors among Newborns in Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Gedamu Samuel , Sendo Endalew Gemechu , Daba Workinesh
Published: March 2021

Background. Congenital anomalies affect millions of babies worldwide with prevalence of 3%, and it is estimated that, globally, 303,000 newborns die within the first 4 weeks of life due to this problem. Objective. This study aimed to assess congenital anomalies and their associated factors among newborns in Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Setting. Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia. Study Design . A retrospective cross-sectional study was employed. Participants. All birth records from September 14, 2018, to March 14, 2019, were reviewed. A census method was applied for this study. The data were collected from birth registration books through structured checklist. We used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 for data analysis. Crude and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was computed. Statistical significance was set atP < 0.05. Result. Out of 2,218 live births, 23 newborns were diagnosed with congenital malformations, making the prevalence rate of 1% (i.e., 10/1000 live births in the specified time period). Maternal age above 35 years (AOR = 6.5; 95% CI = 2.4–18), birth order above 3 (AOR = 8.4; 95% CI = 3.4–20.7), birth weight less than 2.5 kg (AOR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.1–0.9), and singleton pregnancy (AOR = 6.4; 95% CI = 2–18.9) had a significant association with the incident of congenital anomalies, while iron folate use before and/or during early pregnancy and urban residence (AOR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.1–1) had a protective effect against congenital anomalies (AOR = 0.036; 95% CI = 0.008–0.15). Conclusion. The findings of this study showed that there is a burden of congenital anomalies in the study area. Sustainable surveillance and registry systems are thus required for intervention programs and it is crucial to include them under Ethiopian demographic health survey (EDHS) report.
Usefulness of the Hybrid RFR-FFR Approach: Results of a Prospective and Multicenter Analysis of Diagnostic Agreement between RFR and FFR—The RECOPA (REsting Full-Cycle Ratio Comparation versus Fractional Flow Reserve (A Prospective Validation)) Study
Authors: Casanova-Sandoval Juan , Fernández-Rodríguez Diego , Otaegui Imanol , Gil Jiménez Teresa , Rodríguez-Esteban Marcos , Rivera Kristian , Torres-Saura Francisco , Jiménez Díaz Víctor , Ocaranza-Sánchez Raymundo , Peral Disdier Vicente , Sánchez-Elvira Guillermo , Worner Fernando
Published: March 2021

Background. The resting full‐cycle ratio (RFR) is a novel resting index which in contrast to the gold standard (fractional flow reserve (FFR)) does not require maximum hyperemia induction. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the agreement between RFR and FFR with the currently recommended thresholds and to design a hybrid RFR-FFR ischemia detection strategy, allowing a reduction of coronary vasodilator use. Materials and Methods. Patients subjected to invasive physiological study in 9 Spanish centers were prospectively recruited between April 2019 and March 2020. Sensitivity and specificity studies were made to assess diagnostic accuracy between the recommended levels of RFR ≤0.89 and FFR ≤0.80 (primary objective) and to determine the RFR “grey zone” in order to define a hybrid strategy with FFR affording 95% global agreement compared with FFR alone (secondary objective). Results. A total of 380 lesions were evaluated in 311 patients. Significant correlation was observed (R2 = 0.81;

P
<
0.001

) between the two techniques, with 79% agreement between RFR ≤ 0.89 and FFR ≤ 0.80 (positive predictive value, 68%, and negative predictive value, 80%). The hybrid RFR-FFR strategy, administering only adenosine in the “grey zone” (RFR: 0.86 to 0.92), exhibited an agreement of over 95% with FFR, with high predictive values (positive predictive value, 91%, and negative predictive value, 92%), reducing the need for vasodilators by 58%. Conclusions. Dichotomous agreement between RFR and FFR with the recommended thresholds is significant but limited. The adoption of a hybrid RFR-FFR strategy affords very high agreement, with minimization of vasodilator use.
Solitary Wave Solutions to the Multidimensional Landau–Lifshitz Equation
Authors: Neirameh Ahmad
Published: March 2021

In this paper, we study the different types of new soliton solutions to the Landau–Lifshitz equation with the aid of the auxiliary equation method. Then, we get some special soliton solutions for this equation. Without the Gilbert damping term, we present a travelling wave solution with a finite energy in the initial time. The parameters of the soliton envelope are obtained as a function of the dependent model coefficients.
Transcriptome Classification Reveals Molecular Subgroups in Patients with Hepatitis B Virus
Authors: Zhang Conghui , Li Jie , Yang Lan , Xu Fengxia , She Huiyuan , Liu Xinghui
Published: March 2021

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) specifically infects hepatocytes, which can cause progressive liver fibrosis and a significantly increased risk of liver cancer. Multiple studies indicated host genetic, virological, and immunological factors could affect the HBV infection. However, the underlying mechanism involved in HBV infection remained unclear. Based on the analysis of gene expression data of 124 HBV patients (GEO accession: GSE84044), molecular subgroups of patients infected with hepatitis B virus were identified in this study, including C1, C2, and C3 groups. The age, fiber, degree of chemical and inflammation, and gene expression difference were also compared among the three sampling groups. Furthermore, the liver index was calculated using 93 liver-specific genes. The liver-specific gene expression in different molecular subgroups of HBV patients was thoroughly analyzed and then was compared with fibrosis and inflammation levels. Results showed that the C2 group was the youngest and the C3 group had the highest degree of fibrosis and inflammation. Enrichment analysis showed that metabolism-related pathways were mainly expressed in the C1 and C2 groups, and inflammation-related pathways and proteoglycans in cancer were highly expressed in the C1 and C3 groups. The liver index was higher in the C2 group than in the C1 and C3 groups, and it was the lowest in the C3 group. Macrophage M1/M2 and neutrophils were significantly different in the three groups. M1 was mainly abundant in the C3 group, and M2 and neutrophils were mainly abundant in the C2 group. This study provides novel information to understand the mechanisms of HBV infection in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.
Performance Evaluation and Optimization of Waterproof Adhesive Layer for Concrete Bridge Deck in Seasonal Frozen Region Using AHP
Authors: Jin Weidong , Zhao Yu , Wang Wensheng , He Feng
Published: March 2021

The weak connection performances between the waterproof adhesive layer, the bridge deck, and asphalt pavement are important factors that cause the bridge deck slippage and upheaval and affect the safety and durability of the bridge. In this paper, styrene‐butadiene‐styrene‐ (SBS‐) modified asphalt, SBS‐emulsified asphalt, rubber‐modified asphalt, and AMP‐100 waterproof materials are selected to study the performance of the bridge deck waterproof adhesive layer in the seasonal frozen region. The shear strength and bond strength of the four waterproof adhesive materials were obtained through the shear test and pull‐out test of the composite specimens composed of four kinds of adhesive materials, diatomite rubber‐particle asphalt mixture, and concrete bridge deck at different dosages and temperatures. According to the priority analysis of the factors including cost, construction difficulty, and environmental protection for the four kinds of materials by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP), SBS‐modified asphalt is obtained as the most suitable waterproof adhesive layer of diatomite rubber particle asphalt mixture bridge deck in seasonal frozen region.
Flexural Behavior of Unbonded Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders
Authors: Tang Chenhao , Zhang Gang , Song Chaojie , Li Xuyang , Hou Yonggang
Published: March 2021

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the flexural behavior of unbonded prestressed concrete (PC) T bridge girders. Three unbonded PC T bridge girders with different prestress degrees spanning 3 m were selected to perform four‐point bending tests and then determine the flexural performance. Flexural capacity, crack development and failure mode, load‐deflection curves, strain in longitudinal rebars, and stress in prestressing strands of unbonded PC T bridge girders are experimentally analyzed. Subsequently, three‐dimensional finite element (FE) models are built and validated by experiments to investigate the effect of different design parameters on flexural behavior of bridge girders. Results generated from experiment and numerical studies show that the flexural destruction behavior in unbonded PC T bridge girders experiences elastic, elastic‐plastic, and ductility stages, similar to that of PC T bridge girders. The prestress degree and load location have significant influence on the destruction process in unbonded PC T bridge girders. A lower effective prestress degree can reduce the distribution range in cracks and also increase the width of cracks. Stress in prestressing strands under anchor increases rapidly after concrete presents obvious cracks, and the fracture area within prestressing strands increases with the elevation of prestress degree. The aim of this study is to provide a reference for the design and practical application of unbonded PC T bridge girders.
Single-Vehicle Transportation Security System of Radioactive Materials Based on Group Relationship to Prevent Loss and Theft
Authors: Zeng Tiejun , Yang Xiaohua , Wan Yaping , Liu Zhenghai , Jiang Panpan
Published: March 2021

For loss and theft in the transport of radioactive materials by a single vehicle, this article summarizes the characteristics of “illegal movement” and establishes a security system that senses its inter-relationship and responds though the group network relationship. The security system reminds the vehicle crew through on-site response and linkage response. A failure detection method for on-site response is proposed, that is, the push model is used first, and when the measurement results are suspected, the pull model is used to further confirm the failure. The failure detection for linkage response adopts the push model. According to the different security requirements of the basic and enhanced transportation, the principle of setting the timeout threshold in the failure detection algorithm is proposed. In the enhanced type, the value is smaller, otherwise the value is larger. A specific timeout threshold quantification scheme is proposed. Experiments show that the method proposed in this article is effective.
Increase in Blood‐Brain Barrier (BBB) Permeability Is Regulated by MMP3 via the ERK Signaling Pathway
Authors: Zhang Qin , Zheng Mei , Betancourt Cristian E. , Liu Lifeng , Sitikov Albert , Sladojevic Nikola , Zhao Qiong , Zhang John H. , Liao James K. , Wu Rongxue
Published: March 2021

Background. The blood‐brain barrier (BBB) regulates the exchange of molecules between the brain and peripheral blood and is composed primarily of microvascular endothelial cells (BMVECs), which form the lining of cerebral blood vessels and are linked via tight junctions (TJs). The BBB is regulated by components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) remodels the ECM’s basal lamina, which forms part of the BBB. Oxidative stress is implicated in activation of MMPs and impaired BBB. Thus, we investigated whether MMP3 modulates BBB permeability. Methods. Experiments included in vivo assessments of isoflurane anesthesia and dye extravasation from brain in wild‐type (WT) and MMP3‐deficient (MMP3‐KO) mice, as well as in vitro assessments of the integrity of monolayers of WT and MMP3‐KO BMVECs and the expression of junction proteins. Results. Compared to WT mice, measurements of isoflurane usage and anesthesia induction time were higher in MMP3‐KO mice and lower in WT that had been treated with MMP3 (WT+MMP3), while anesthesia emergence times were shorter in MMP3‐KO mice and longer in WT+MMP3 mice than in WT. Extravasation of systemically administered dyes was also lower in MMP3‐KO mouse brains and higher in WT+MMP3 mouse brains, than in the brains of WT mice. The results from both TEER and Transwell assays indicated that MMP3 deficiency (or inhibition) increased, while MMP3 upregulation reduced barrier integrity in either BMVEC or the coculture. MMP3 deficiency also increased the abundance of TJs and VE‐cadherin proteins in BMVECs, and the protein abundance declined when MMP3 activity was upregulated in BMVECs, but not when the cells were treated with an inhibitor of extracellular signal related‐kinase (ERK). Conclusion. MMP3 increases BBB permeability following the administration of isoflurane by upregulating the ERK signaling pathway, which subsequently reduces TJ and VE‐cadherin proteins in BMVECs.
Zoledronic Acid Enhanced the Antitumor Effect of Cisplatin on Orthotopic Osteosarcoma by ROS‐PI3K/AKT Signaling and Attenuated Osteolysis
Authors: Liu Liang , Geng Huan , Mei Chengjie , Chen Liaobin
Published: March 2021

Osteoclasts can interact with osteosarcoma to promote the growth of osteosarcoma. Cisplatin is common in adjuvant chemotherapy of osteosarcoma. However, due to chemoresistance, the efficacy is profoundly limited. Previous studies have found that zoledronic acid (ZA) has osteoclast activation inhibition and antitumor effect. However, the combined effect of ZA and cisplatin on osteosarcoma remains unclear. In vitro, the effects of ZA and cisplatin alone or in combination on 143B cell activity, proliferation, apoptosis, and ROS‐PI3K/AKT signaling were detected. At the same time, the effect of ZA and cisplatin on osteoclast formation, survival, and activity was detected by TRAP staining and bone plate absorption test. These were further verified in mice. The results showed that in vitro, compared with the single treatment and control, the combination of ZA and cisplatin could significantly inhibit the activity and proliferation of 143B cells and induced their apoptosis and further promoted the generation of ROS and inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT. ROS scavenger and the agonist of the PI3K/AKT pathway could reverse these results. In addition, cisplatin in synergy with ZA could significantly inhibit osteoclast formation and survival to reduce bone plate absorption. In vivo, compared with the single group, the tumor volume and cell proliferation were significantly reduced, apoptosis and necrosis of tumor cells increased, and TRAP+ osteoclasts and osteolysis destruction decreased in the combined group. In conclusion, ZA enhanced the antitumor effect of cisplatin on osteosarcoma by ROS‐PI3K/AKT signaling, reducing the chemoresistance and osteoclast activation to enhance chemotherapy and inhibit osteolysis. And this present study raised the possibility that combining ZA and cisplatin may represent a novel strategy against osteosarcoma.
Risk Aversion of Public Service Marketization Based on Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process
Authors: Qi Shoubin , Feng Junwen
Published: March 2021

With the development of China’s economy, people’s demand for public services is increasing. While meeting the public better through marketization, it is also easy to lead to some risks. The purpose of this study is to use the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to evaluate the risk of public service marketization and make effective measures to avoid it. This study selects the Public Gymnasiums in different districts of our city as the research object and selects one as the nationalized public service place and the other as the market-oriented public service place. In this study, the amount of service, service equipment, service supervision status, and people’s score under the situation of nationalization and marketization is used as the evaluation indexes of public service marketization. At the same time, combined with the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), the risks to the normal operation of the place after marketization are summarized. The results show that the turnover of the nationalized public service places is about 40 million yuan in the past five years, and the capital flow rate gradually decreases from 1.5%; while the market-oriented turnover reaches the maximum of 90 million yuan, the capital flow rate also rises to 2.21%. However, with the marketization, the scores are high and low. This shows that the marketization of public services leads to the improvement of service items and the increase of service charges. The conclusion is that the marketization of public services will have certain risks, but with the control and fine adjustment of enterprises, it is gradually supported by the public.
Prevalence of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Kiros Teklehaimanot , Workineh Lema , Tiruneh Tegenaw , Eyayu Tahir , Damtie Shewaneh , Belete Debaka
Published: March 2021

Background. Antimicrobial resistance especially caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) has become a global public health concern. Globally, these isolates have remained the most important causes of several infections and associated mortality. Their rapid spread in Ethiopia is associated with a lack of regular surveillance and antibiotic stewardship programs. Isolates of ESBL-PE from different regions of Ethiopia were searched exhaustively. However, published data regarding the pooled estimate of ESBL-PE are not conducted in Ethiopia. For this reason, we systematically reviewed laboratory-based studies to summarize the overall pooled prevalence of the isolates recovered from various human specimens. Methods. An exhaustive literature search was carried out using the major electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Wiley Online Library to identify potentially relevant studies without date restriction. Original articles which address the research question were identified, screened, and included using the PRISMA follow diagram. Data extraction form was prepared in Microsoft Excel, and data quality was assessed by using 9-point Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. Then, data were exported to STATA 16.0 software for analyses of pooled estimation of outcome measures. Estimation of outcome measures at 95% confidence interval was performed using Der-Simonian-Laird’s random-effects model. Finally, results were presented via text, figures, and tables. Results. A comprehensive electronic database literature search has yielded a total of 86 articles. Among the total, 68 original articles were excluded after the review process. A total of 18 studies with 1191 bacterial isolates recovered from 7919 various clinical samples sizes were included for systematic review and meta-analysis. In this study, the pooled prevalence of ESBL-PE was 18% (95% CI: 9–26). Nine out of the total (50%) reviewed articles were studied using the combination disk test. Likewise, E. coli and K. pneumoniae (50% both) were the predominant isolates of ESBL-PE in addition to other isolates such as Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. Conclusion. This meta-analysis has shown a low pooled estimate of ESBL-PE in Ethiopia.
A Data-Driven Urban Metro Management Approach for Crowd Density Control
Authors: Zhou Hui , Zheng Zhihao , Cen Xuekai , Huang Zhiren , Wang Pu
Published: March 2021

Large crowding events in big cities pose great challenges to local governments since crowd disasters may occur when crowd density exceeds the safety threshold. We develop an optimization model to generate the emergent train stop-skipping schemes during large crowding events, which can postpone the arrival of crowds. A two-layer transportation network, which includes a pedestrian network and the urban metro network, is proposed to better simulate the crowd gathering process. Urban smartcard data is used to obtain actual passenger travel demand. The objective function of the developed model minimizes the passengers’ total waiting time cost and travel time cost under the pedestrian density constraint and the crowd density constraint. The developed model is tested in an actual case of large crowding events occurred in Shenzhen, a major southern city of China. The obtained train stop-skipping schemes can effectively maintain crowd density in its safety range.
Vehicle‐to‐Vehicle Channel Characterization Based on Ray‐Tracing for Urban Road Scenarios
Authors: Xiong Lei , Yao Zhiyi , Miao Haiyang , Ai Bo
Published: March 2021

In this paper, the vehicle‐to‐vehicle (V2V) channel characteristics in peak hours at the 5.9 GHz band in two typical urban road scenarios, the urban straight road and the intersection, are investigated. The channel characteristics, such as path loss, root mean square (RMS) delay spread, and angular spread, are derived from the ray‐tracing (RT) simulations. Due to the low height of antennas at both the transmitter (Tx) and the receiver (Rx), the line of sight (LOS) between the Tx and the Rx will often be obstructed by other vehicles. Based on the RT simulation results, the shadowing loss is modelled by the multimodal Gaussian distribution, and path loss models in both LOS and non‐LOS (NLOS) conditions are obtained. And the RMS delay spread in two scenarios can be modelled by the Weibull distribution. In addition, the deployment of an antenna array is discussed based on the statistics distribution of the angular spread.
Homocysteine Level and Risk of Hemorrhage in Brain Arteriovenous Malformations
Authors: Zeng Chaofan , Lin Fa , Ge Peicong , Zhang Dong , Wang Shuo , Zhao Jizong
Published: March 2021

Objective. We aimed to investigate the risk factors associated with hemorrhage and clarify the relation of homocysteine (Hcy) with brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs). Method. We retrospectively reviewed bAVM patients from Beijing Tiantan Hospital between January 2019 and December 2019. Clinical and laboratory variables were analyzed in enrolled patients with bAVMs. Potential predictors associated with hemorrhage were evaluated by logistic regression analysis. Results. A total of 143 bAVM patients were identified in the study, including 69 unruptured and 74 ruptured cases. Patients with hemorrhage were less likely to have hyperhomocysteinemia (

P
=
0.023

). Logistic regression analysis showed that increased maximum diameter of bAVM lesions (odds ratio (OR) 0.634, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.479-0.839;

P
=
0.001

) and serum Hcy level (OR 0.956, 95% CI 0.920-0.993;

P
=
0.021

) were associated with lower risk of hemorrhage in bAVMs. Conclusion. The present study provided evidence regarding the association between serum Hcy and hemorrhage in patients with bAVMs. Higher Hcy level was correlated with a lower risk of rupture. Detection of factors for subsequent hemorrhage is necessary to develop therapeutic strategies for bAVMs preferably.
A Role of Glucose Overload in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy in Nonhuman Primates
Authors: Wang Xiu , Jin Shi , Hu Weina
Published: March 2021

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) plays a major role in the development of heart failure. Patients with T2D have an increased risk to develop HF than healthy subjects, and they always have very poor outcomes and survival rates. However, the underlying mechanisms for this are still unclear. To help develop new therapeutic interventions, well-characterized animal models for preclinical and translational investigations in T2D and HF are urgently needed. Although studies in rodents are more often used, the research findings in rodents have often failed to be translated into humans due to the significant metabolic differences between rodents and humans. Nonhuman primates (NHPs) serve as valuable translational models between basic studies in rodent models and clinical studies in humans. NHPs can recapitulate the natural progress of these diseases in humans and study the underlying mechanism due to their genetic similarity and comparable spontaneous T2D rates to humans. In this review, we discuss the importance of using NHPs models in understanding diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) in humans with aspects of correlations between hyperglycemia and cardiac dysfunction progression, glucose overload, and altered glucose metabolism promoting cardiac oxidative stress and mitochondria dysfunction, glucose, and its effect on cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-d), the currently available diabetic NHPs models and the limitations involved in the use of NHP models.
Síndrome de pseudo-Duane secundario a Schwannoma de nervio abducens: Reporte de caso y revisión
Authors: Bustos Orellana Juan Carlos , Salgado Alarcón Cristian , Bravo Grau Sebastián
Published: March 2021

Reporte de caso de síndrome de pseudo-Duane asociado a schwannoma de nervio abducens y neurofibromatosis tipo 2 (NF2). Este síndrome es raro, caracterizado por limitación en abducción, retracción ocular, disminución de hendidura palpebral en abducción y restricción del recto medial ipsilateral en test de ducción forzada. La NF2 es también una enfermedad infrecuente caracterizada por tumores de sistema nervioso central y periférico. Los schwannomas de nervio abducens son también poco frecuentes, y se presentan comúnmente con diplopia. Se revisan brevemente estas enfermedades. Es el primer caso reportado de pseudo-Duane secundario a schwannoma de nervio abducens y NF2 según nuestro conocimiento.
enfermedad neurológica de Leonardo da Vinci
Authors: Sandoval Patricio
Published: March 2021

Introducción: el año 2019 se conmemoraron los 500 años de la muerte de Leonardo da Vinci en el Chateux du Cloux, Francia. Según registros históricos, Leonardo vivió los últimos años de su vida con una parálisis en su mano derecha, atribuida a un probable accidente cerebrovascular (ACV), lo cual afectó a su capacidad para emprender nuevos proyectos pictóricos. Este trabajo describe como fueron los últimos años de vida de Leonardo, revisa los antecedentes sobre salud y su probable enfermedad neurológica, sus eventuales etiologías y sus consecuencias. Desarrollo: Leonardo llegó a Francia en 1516 por invitación del rey Francisco I para llevar el Renacimiento y completar su formación personal. En 1517 es visitado por el cardenal Luis de Aragón, y su secretario registra en su diario que Leonardo se encuentra afectado de una parálisis de la mano derecha. Algunos autores sugieren un ACV como causa probable, sobretodo porque según el historiador Vasari, Leonardo vivió sus últimos años en condición de discapacidad. Se llega a plantear que su condición de vegetariano habría podido influir como factor de riesgo de ACV. Sin embargo, un dibujo no fechado de Figino muestra a Leonardo con una parálisis de tipo periférica de la mano derecha, abriendo el diagnóstico diferencial. Conclusiones: no hay información suficiente para valorar el tipo y la causa de enfermedad neurológica de Leonardo da Vinci, no obstante, está influyó significativamente en su interacción con su discípulo Francisco Melzi y su mecenas Francisco I, hecho que contribuyó a que su legado perdure hasta hoy.
Ileal neuroendocrine tumor: diagnosis by endoscopic capsule
Authors: Dos Santos Vitorino Modesto , Dantas Gomes Gonçalves Matheus , Grigolli Vinicius , Almeida Silva Nataliê , Arruda Modesto dos Santos Lister , Sonja Villela Lucimara
Published: March 2021

The diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumors of the small intestine is usually challenging. They are infrequent, and the clinical course is insidious with nonspecific manifestations. Routine endoscopic and abdominal imaging studies are more often unremarkable. Therefore, distant metastases are frequently detected at the time of diagnosis. The tumor markers chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and neuron-specific enolase, and capsule endoscopy, and device-assisted enteroscopy are useful resources to establish a diagnosis. The aim was to present a case of neuroendocrine tumor of small intestine diagnosed with base in findings of the capsule endoscopy and further open surgery.
El riesgo que estamos dispuestos a tomar
Authors: Perticará Marcela
Published: March 2021

De acuerdo con cifras de la UNESCO, a un año del inicio de la pandemia, más de la mitad de los niños del planeta aún enfrentan dificultades para reintegrarse a la vida escolar. Más del 15% de los países aún tienen sus colegios totalmente cerrados, mientras que un 25% han optado por jornadas parciales. Mientras naciones como Francia, Islandia y Suiza, mantuvieron cerrados sus colegios por menos de 10 semanas, países de América Latina tuvieron un promedio de cierre de más de 7 meses. Continuar leyendo...
Intravenous Chemotherapy for Retinoblastoma in the Era of Intravitreal Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review
Authors: Raval Vishal , Bowen Randy Christopher , Soto Hansell , Singh Arun
Published: March 2021

Purpose: The published data on ocular survival following intravenous chemotherapy of retinoblastoma (RB) seems to be skewed by evolving practice patterns induced by use of intravitreal chemotherapy (iVitc). We aimed to explore potential role of iVitc for vitreous seeding for patients treated with intravenous chemotherapy (IVC). Methods: A literature search was performed to identify cases of RB treated with primary IVC prior to advent of iVitc by various search engines (PubMed, Medline, and Google) from 1992 to 2018. Studies were excluded if number of cases were less than 40 or lacked data related to type of recurrence and its treatment. Rates and patterns of recurrence and its management were categorized. Results: Out of 15 studies identified, only 10 studies (797 eyes) met the inclusion criteria. The mean age at presentation was 15.3 months (range 0–192.8 months). Unilateral cases represented 25% of the cohort. The ocular survival rate with primary IVC was 63% (500/797 eyes). Of the 297 eyes (37%) that failed IVC therapy, additional 99 eyes could be salvaged with EBRT (599/797 eyes, 75%). Remaining 198 eyes were enucleated (198/797 eyes 25%). K-M survival analysis could not be done due lack of sufficient data. Recurrences that occurred (mean 12.2 months) after completion of primary IVC included relapse of retinal tumor (143 eyes [48%]), vitreous seeding (73 eyes [25%]), subretinal seeding (49 eyes [16%]), or any combination (103 eyes [35%]). Out of 73 eyes with vitreous seeding, additional 66 eyes (90%) would have been salvaged with iVitc, potentially improving ocular survival rates to 71% (500 + 66/797). Conclusions: Evolving practice patterns of RB treatment have unfavorably skewed published ocular survival rates following IVC. With incorporation of iVitc, the ocular survival rates with IVC can be potentially improved to be non-inferior to those achieved with intra-arterial chemotherapy.
Left Hemisphere Lateralization of Epileptic Focus Can Be More Frequent in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgical Patients with No Consensus Associated with Depression Lateralization
Authors: Radaelli Graciane , Majolo Fernanda , Leal-Conceição Eduardo , de Souza Santos Francisco , Escobar Vinícius , Zanirati Gabriele Goulart , Portuguez Mirna Wetters , Scorza Fulvio Alexandre , da Costa Jaderson Costa
Published: March 2021

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is considered to be the most common form of epilepsy, and it has been seen that most patients are refractory to antiepileptic drugs. A strong association of this ailment has been established with psychiatric comorbidities, primarily mood and anxiety disorders. The side of epileptogenic may contribute to depressive and anxiety symptoms; thus, in this study, we performed a systematic review to evaluate the prevalence of depression in TLE in surgical patients. The literature search was performed using PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and PsycNet to gather data from inception until January 2019. The search strategy was related to TLE, depressive disorder, and anxiety. After reading full texts, 14 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were screened. The main method utilized for psychiatric diagnosis was Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders/Structured Clinical Interview for DSM. However, most studies failed to perform the neuropsychological evaluation. For those with lateralization of epilepsy, focus mostly occurred in the left hemisphere. For individual depressive diagnosis, 9 studies were evaluated, and 5 for anxiety. Therefore, from the data analyzed in both situations, no diagnosis was representative in preoperative and postoperative cases. In order to estimate the efficacy of surgery in the psychiatry episodes and its relation to seizure control, the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms in epileptic patients need to be determined before surgical procedures. Rigorous preoperative and postoperative evaluation is essential for psychiatry conditions in patients with refractory epilepsy candidates for surgery.
Placental Growth Factor and Adverse Obstetric Outcomes in a Mixed-Risk Cohort of Women Screened for Preeclampsia in the First Trimester of Pregnancy
Authors: Ekelund Charlotte Kvist , Rode Line , Tabor Ann , Hyett Jon , McLennan Andrew
Published: March 2021

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the association between placental growth factor (PlGF) and adverse obstetric outcomes in a mixed-risk cohort of pregnant women screened for preeclampsia (PE) in the first trimester. Methods: We included women with singleton pregnancies screened for PE between April 2014 and September 2016. Outcome data were retrieved from the New South Wales Perinatal Data Collection (NSW PDC) by linkage to the prenatal cohort. Adverse outcomes were defined as spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) before 37-week gestation, birth weight (BW) below the 3rd centile, PE, gestational hypertension (GH), stillbirth, and neonatal death. Results: The cohort consisted of 11,758 women. PlGF multiple of the median (MoM) was significantly associated with maternal sociodemographic characteristics (particularly smoking status and parity) and all biomarkers used in the PE first trimester screening model (notably pregnancy-associated plasma protein A MoM and uterine artery pulsatility index [PI] MoM). Low levels of PlGF (<0.3 MoM and <0.5 MoM) were independently associated with sPTB, low BW, PE, GH, and a composite adverse pregnancy outcome score, with odds ratios between 1.81 and 4.44 on multivariable logistic regression analyses. Conclusions: Low PlGF MoM levels are independently associated with PE and a range of other adverse pregnancy outcomes. Inclusion of PlGF should be considered in future models screening for adverse pregnancy outcomes in the first trimester.
Novel Use of Bromelain and Acetylcysteine (BromAc®) for Pleural Involvement in Pseudomyxoma Peritonei
Authors: Lam Anthony R. , Bazzi Khalil , Valle Sarah J. , Morris David L.
Published: March 2021

Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare mucinous disease most commonly arising from the appendix. Pleural involvement arising from established PMP is seen in a small number of cases. Combined cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy is the treatment of choice when managing intra-thoracic PMP. In cases of recurrence, surgical intervention may be technically challenging and carry higher rates of complications, morbidity, and mortality. Bromelain and acetylcysteine (BromAc®) is a novel treatment modality that has demonstrated mucolytic properties. When injected directly into mucinous disease, it facilitates tumour dissolution and allows it to be aspirated. It has recently been tested in the treatment of inoperable peritoneal mucinous disease, with an acceptable safety profile and positive objective response. Here we describe the first two cases of BromAc® administered directly into pleural adenomucinosis, with striking differences in response between the two patients likely due to differences in tumour hardness.