bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reimagining the Path of an Unmatched Orthopaedic Residency Application
Authors: Bryant Stewart A. , Jardaly Achraf H. , Ponce Brent A. , Guthrie S. Trent , Slone Harris , Bruce Jeremy R. ,   on behalf of the Collaborative Orthopaedic Educational Research Group (COERG)
Published: August 2023

Background:

Few evidence-based suggestions are available to help applicants and mentors improve reapplication outcomes. We sought to provide program directors' (PDs) perspectives on actionable steps to improve reapplicants' chances for a match.

Methods:

The PDs were asked to rank positions unmatched applicants can pursue, steps these applicants can take for the next application cycle, and reasons why reapplicants do not match.

Results:

Responses from 66 of 123 PDs were received (53.6% response rate). Obtaining new recommendation letters and rotating with orthopaedics were the highest 20 ranked steps unmatched applicants can take. No curriculum vitae (CV) improvement, poor interview, and poor letters of recommendation were the most important reasons hindering applicants from matching when reapplying.

Conclusions:

Steps reapplicants could prioritize include obtaining new recommendation letters, rotating in orthopaedics, and producing new research items. CV strengthening and improving interview skills address the 2 main reasons why unmatched applicants failed in subsequent attempts.

Level of Evidence:

Level IV
The Effect Of Steeping Grated Turmeric On Blood Pressure In Hypertensive Menopausal Women
Authors: Kusmiati Lena , Dinengsih Sri , Choirunnisa Risza
Published: August 2023

Menopause is an important phase in a womans reproductive cycle. Menopause or the cessation of menstrual periods is defined as the process of transition from productive to non-productive periods caused by decreased levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. This study will look at the factors that influence the effect of steeping grated turmeric on blood pressure in postmenopausal women with hypertension in Cipariuk Village,Tegal Village, Cikedal District, Pandeglang Regency, Banten.Researchers used a pre and post test design with a control group. The population in this study were all menopausal women who experienced hypertension as many as 30 people. It was carried out in March 2021. The sampling technique was total sampling divided into 2 groups, namely 15 experimental groups who were given grated turmeric 2x a day 250 cc for 7 days and 15 people in the experimental group control. Blood pressure can be lowered by steeping grated turmeric. between the control and experimental groups in postmenopausal women in Cipariuk Village, Tegal Village, Cikedal District, Pandeglang Regency, Banten in 2021 with a significance value of 0.000.There is an effect of steeping grated turmeric on blood pressure between the control and experimental groups in menopausal women. It is expected that postmenopausal women, before using blood pressure lowering drugs with chemicals, should use treatment with herbal ingredients, one of which is turmeric regularly with various processing, one of which is in the form of turmeric drinks because the ingredients are cheap and easy to obtain, especially if you have the plant.
UWB Wireless Positioning Method Based on LightGBM
Authors: Cui Xuerong , Li Yuanxu , Li Juan , Jiang Bin , Li Shibao , Liu Jianhang
Published: August 2023

In the ultra-wideband indoor positioning sceneraio, the non-line of sight (NLOS) propagation may be caused by obstacles, which may lead to the deviation of ranging value and affect the positioning precision. Therefore, we propose a NLOS identification and error regression positioning algorithm based on light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM). Firstly, ReliefF algorithm combined with Spearman correlation coefficient is used to analyze the feature correlation, and eight channel features such as total channel impulse response power and standard deviation of noise are selected as NLOS identification features. Then, we adopt genetic algorithm to optimize the hyperparameters of LightGBM for NLOS identification. On this basis, the proposed error regression model based on convolutional neural network (CNN) combined with LightGBM is used to correct the ranging results, so as to achieve highprecision positioning. Through the verification on the public dataset, the NLOS identification accuracy reached 91.8%, and the positioning precision is improved by 45cm after correcting the ranging results.
The local variation of the Gaussian modulus enables different pathways for fluid lipid vesicle fusion
Authors: Casciola Carlo , Bottacchiari Matteo , Gallo Mirko , Bussoletti Marco
Published: August 2023

Viral infections, fertilization, neurotransmission, and many other fundamental biological processes rely on membrane fusion. Straightforward calculations based on the celebrated Canham-Helfrich elastic model predict a large topological energy barrier that prevents the fusion process from being thermally activated. On the one hand, such high energy is in accordance with the physical barrier function of lipid membranes, but, on the other hand, it is difficult to reconcile with the biological mechanisms involved in fusion processes.In this work, we use a Ginzburg-Landau type of free energy that recovers the Canham-Helfrich model in the limit of small width-to-vesicle-extension ratio, with the additional ability to handle topological transitions. We show that a local modification of the Gaussian modulus in the merging region both dramatically lowers the elastic energy barrier and substantially changes the minimal energy pathway for fusion, in accordance with experimental evidence. Therefore, we discuss biological examples in which such a modification might play a crucial role.
Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis of proximal humerus fractures through a modified anterior subacromial approach
Authors: Ye Youyou , Yu Zhangjian , Lin Yanbin , Wu Chunling
Published: August 2023

Purpose
Proximal humeral fractures are usually treated through the deltopectoral approach and direct lateral deltoid-split approach. ​The direct lateral deltoid-split technique has a minor incisional injury but restricted exposure, whereas the deltopectoral approach has a somewhat significant incisional injury but greater exposure is possible. ​To combine the advantages of a less invasive incision with enough exposure, this study's objectives was to propose a modified anterior subacromial (MAS) approach for treating proximal humerus fractures and to assess its radiological and clinical results.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was performed on 35 patients with proximal humerus fractures treated with a MAS approach, including 15 males and 20 females, with an average age of 61.7 years. According to the Neer classification, seven patients had 2-part fractures, 10 patients had 3-part fractures, and 18 patients had 4-part fractures. Quantitative variables including operative time, incision length, follow-up time, and Constant-Murley score for shoulder function, fracture union time, and neck-shaft angle (NSA) were recorded. Qualitative variables including intraoperative and postoperative complications were assessed.
Results
All cases achieved bony union, and the average healing time was 11.8±1.4 weeks (range, 10–15 weeks). During a mean follow-up of 22.1±5.8 months (range, 14-31 months), the mean incision length was 80.7±2.5 mm (range, 76–90 mm). The pain score at the last follow-up was 1.63±0.7 (range, 1–3). The Constant-Murley score of shoulder joint function at the last follow-up was 89.6±2.9 (range, 84–95). The complications such as ischemic necrosis of the humeral head and varus collapse at the fracture site, as well as sensory deficits in the distribution of the axillary nerve or anterior deltoid paralysis, were not observed. The mean NSA at the last follow-up was 133.4±3.1° (range, 128°-138°). In terms of statistical significance, there was no difference between fractures of Neer types 2, 3, and 4.
Conclusion
The MAS approach has the properties of minimally invasive incision and effective exposure, which has advantages in reduction, plate placement, and inferomedial calcar screw (IMCS) placement of proximal humeral fractures. This approach is a useful alternative to the deltopectoral approach or direct lateral deltoid-split approach in the treatment of proximal humeral fractures.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Assessing the Correlation of Components and Prognosis in Myxoid Liposarcoma
Authors: Hua Jianjun , Yang Wenting , Li Angcheng , Ying Mingliang , Wang Sisi
Published: August 2023

Objective: To analyse the components of Myxoid liposarcoma(MLS) by Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) features and explore the correlation with prognosis.
Methods: Twenty MLS patients who underwent MRI were retrospectively enrolled. Tumor components was analysed by MRI features and the diagnostic efficacy of prognosis was presented as sensitivity and specificity. Patients were categorized into good and poor prognosis according to the postoperative follow-up.
Results: The proportion (mean±SD) of non-fatty/non-myxoid components in the good and poor prognosis groups were （18.18±11.68）% and （66.67±15.00）% respectively(P<0.001). The proportion of mucus composition also had significantly different between the two groups((73.64±13.62)% vs (30.56±16.09)%, P<0.001). Good prognosis group has higher ADC value (mean±SD: (1.66±0.23)mm2/s) and lower ADC low signal ratio(median±interquartile range: (5.00±10.00)%) in non-fat/non-mucinous areas than poor((1.21±0.41)mm2/s, (20.00±39.00)%; P=0.006，P=0.001). The prognosis between the component ratio <25% and> 50% of both non-fat/non-mucinous and mucus composition were statistically significant(P=0.001，P=0.008). The proportion of non-fat/non-mucus component had the highest diagnostic efficacy, with a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of >90%(100%，90.09%，90%), AUC=0.99.
Conclusion: Imaging features were closely related to the histological components of MLS. Diffusion-restricted areas in non-fatty/non-mucinous components may suggest dense areas of round cell. Using MRI features to assess the components of MSL have certain implications for prognostic prediction，especially before preoperative puncture biopsy.
A Retrospective Study of Unilateral Biportal Endoscopic Discectomy and Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy for Single Level Calcified Lumbar Disc Herniation
Authors: Wang Weijian , Li Jiaqi , Xu Yafei , Luo Yun , Sun Yapeng , Zhang Wei
Published: August 2023

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical effects of unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) discectomy and percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy (PETD) in the treatment of single level calcified lumbar disc herniation.
Methods We reviewed all the cases of calcified lumbar disc herniation treated with UBE discectomy or PETD in our hospital from July 2020 to May 2022. The medical records and imaging data of cases with a follow-up period of more than 1 year were collected. The clinical effects of the two surgical methods were evaluated according to the visual analogue scale (VAS) of low back pain and Oswestry disability index (ODI) at preoperative, postoperative and postoperative follow-up time points.
Results There was no difference in age, sex, BMI, surgical segment and type of calcification between the UBE group and PETD group. Compared with the UBE group, the PETD group has obvious advantages in operation time, blood loss, incision length and hospital stay, but needs more fluoroscopy times. The postoperative VAS and ODI scores were significantly improved in both groups. The VAS score of low back pain in the UBE group was higher on the 3rd day after operation, and there was no significant difference in follow-up between the two groups. Two patients in UBE group had dural tear, and one patient in PETD group had transient ipsilateral nerve root paralysis and limb numbness.
Conclusions Both PETD and UBE discectomy can achieve satisfactory results in the treatment of calcified disc herniation. However, the operation time, injury and hospitalization time of PETD are less, but it requires special surgical tools and more fluoroscopy times.
Enhancing Iot Security in cryptocurrency with Smart model-based Blockchain integration: KAFKAIOT - A Distributed Access Control System
Authors: Shukla Piyush Kumar , Pamucar Dragan , Alqahtani Omar , Dwivedi Ashish , Aleryani Aliya , Alouane M. Turki-Hadj
Published: August 2023

Internet of Things (IoT) has rapidly expanded with the interconnection of various devices through wireless networks. However, this widespread deployment of IoT devices has posed challenges in managing access to device resources due to their vast quantity and scale. As these IoT devices generate and share sensitive data, ensuring secure access becomes paramount. Traditional access control systems like Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Intelligent Dynamic Bandwidth Access Control (IBAC), and Mandatory Access Control (MAC) have limitations such as centralization, single-point failure, and low throughput, making them less suitable for dynamic and diverse IoT environment. To address these challenges, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) emerges as a promising solution as it provides fine-grained and dynamic access control based on user attributes, resource attributes, action attributes, environmental attributes, permissions, and environmental context. In parallel, Blockchain Technology (BCT) has gained attention as a distributed data management system, ensuring data integrity through decentralization, immutability, and consensus mechanisms. Kafka-based Hyperledger Fabric, an open-source blockchain platform, offers more efficient consensus mechanisms, higher throughputs, and support for multiple organizations and ledgers. This study proposes to develop a novel "KafkaIoT" system, which integrates Kafka-based Hyperledger Fabric with RBAC to create a distributed access control system for IoT. By leveraging blockchain's distributed architecture, KafkaIoT addresses the challenges of record tracking, dynamic access control management, and access control in the IoT landscape. The seamless integration of BCT with IoT can enhance security and enable the development of distributed IoT-based cryptocurrency services, contributing to a safer and more reliable IoT ecosystem.
Spatio-temporal density of the demersal Chondrichthyes assemblage in an upper bathyal of the eastern Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Deval Mehmet Cengiz , Mutlu Erhan
Published: August 2023

Chondrichthyans are a very important taxon that plays a role at the top of the trophic level of the food chain and are vulnerable species in the marine ecosystem. The deep waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea have been less studied than the continental shelf, especially for the chondrichthyans. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the spatio-temporal distribution of chondrichthyans collected monthly in different depth strata (200–900 m) during different periods (2010–2011 and 2019–2021) using an otter bottom trawl. A total of 17 species were identified, consisting composed of 6 batoids, 10 sharks and 1 chiemaers was identified. The constant species (dominance: DO%> 50) in the study area were Galeus melastomus, Scyliorhinus canicula, Etmopterus spinax and Raja clavata. The most abundant species was E. spinax, followed by G. melastomus. There were 14 species in the first survey and 15 species in the second survey. Faunistic characteristics (number of species, abundance, diversity indices) varied only with bottom depth. Two different depthwise assemblages were estimated along the bottom depth gradient; ≤ 500 m and > 500 m. The discriminator species were R.clavata, S.canicula, G. melastomus, D. oxyrinchus and S. blainvillei found on the upper slope and E. spinax, G. melastomus and Centrophorus granulosus found on the lower slope. We estimated a total number of 26 species found in Antalya Bay, which was higher than the number reported in the previous studies.
BioEGRE: A Linguistic Topology Enhanced Method for Biomedical Relation Extraction based on BioELECTRA and Graph Pointer Neural Network
Authors: Zheng Xiangwen , Wang Xuanze , Luo Xiaowei , Tong Fan , Zhao Dongsheng
Published: August 2023

Background: Automatic and accurate extraction of various biomedical relations from literature is a crucial subtask of bio-medical text mining. Currently, stacking various classification networks on pre-trained language models to perform fine-tuning is a common framework to end-to-end solve the biomedical relation extraction (BioRE) problem. However, the sequence-based pre-trained language models underutilize the graphical topology of language to some extent. In addition, sequence-oriented deep neural networks have limitations in processing graphical features.
Results: In this paper, we propose a novel method for sentence-level BioRE task, BioEGRE (BioELECTRA & Graph pointer neural net-work for Relation Extraction), which can capitalize the topological features of language. First, biomedical literature is preprocessed, which preserves sentences containing pre-fetched entity pair. Second, SciSpaCy is used to perform dependency parsing; sentences are modeled as graphs based on the parsing results; BioELECTRA is used to generate token-level representation, which is modeled as the attribute of nodes in sentence graphs; a graph pointer neural network layer is utilized to select the most relevant multi-hop neighbors to optimize the representation; a full-connected neural network layer is used to generate the sentence-level representation. Finally, a Softmax function is utilized to calculate probabilities. Our method is evaluated on a multi-type (CHEMPROT) and 2 binary (GAD and EU-ADR) BioRE tasks respectively, and achieves 79.97% (CHEMPROT), 83.31% (GAD) and 83.51% (EU-ADR) of F1-score, which outperforms existing state-of-the-art models.
Conclusion: The experimental results on 3 biomedical benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and generalization of BioEGRE, which indicates that linguistic topology and a graph pointer neural network layer explicitly improve performance for BioRE tasks.
A multi-element identification system based on deep learning for the visual field of percutaneous endoscopic spine surgery
Authors: Bu Jinhui , Wang Yari , Zhao Jiaqi , Liang Jun , Wang Zhenfei , Xu Long , Lei Yan , Huang Sen , He Bo , Dong Minghui , Liu Guangpu , Niu Ru , Ma Chao , Liu Guangwang
Published: August 2023

Background Context:Lumbar disc herniation is a common degenerative lumbar disease with an increasing incidence.Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy can treat lumbar disc herniation safely and effectively with a minimally invasive procedure.However, it must be noted that the learning curve of this technology is steep,which means that initial learners are often not sufficiently proficient in endoscopic operations, which can easily lead to iatrogenic damage.At present, the application of computer deep learning technology to clinical diagnosis, treatment, and surgical navigation has achieved satisfactory results.
Purpose:The objective of our team is to develop a multi-element identification system for the visual field of endoscopic spine surgery using deep learning algorithms and to evaluate the feasibility of this system. Study Design: Retrospective study.
Patient Sample:62 patients.
Outcome Measure:To determine the effectiveness of the model, the precision, recall, specificity, and mean average precision were used.
Method:We established an image database by collecting surgical videos of 62 patients diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation, which was labeled by two spinal surgeons.We selected 4,840 images of the visual field of percutaneous endoscopic spine surgery (including various tissue structures and surgical instruments), divided into the training data, validation data, and test data according to 2:1:2,and trained the model based on Mask -RCNN.
Result：After 108 epochs of training, the precision, recall, specificity, and mean average precision of the ResNet101 model were 76.7%、75.9%、97.9%、67.9% respectively;the precision, recall, specificity, and mean average precision of the ResNet50 model were 77.2%、76.1%、97.9%、64.8% respectively.Compared to the two convolutional neural networks, ResNet101 was found to be the most stable backbone network, with the highest convergence effect. Conclusion:Our team have developed a multi-element identification system based on Mask R-CNN for percutaneous endoscopic spine surgery ,which identifies and tracks tissues (nerve, ligamentum flavum, nucleus pulposus, etc.) and surgical instruments (endoscopic forceps, a high-speed diamond burr, etc.) in real time.It can help navigate intraoperative spinal endoscopic surgery safely in real-time.
The nematic susceptibility of the ferroquadrupolar metal TmAg2 measured via the elastocaloric effect
Authors: Rosenberg Elliott , Ikeda Matthias , Fisher Ian
Published: August 2023

Elastocaloric measurements of the ferroquadrupolar/nematic rare-earth intermetallic TmAg$_2$ are presented. TmAg$_2$ undergoes a cooperative Jahn-Teller-like ferroquadrupolar phase transition at 5K, in which the Tm$^{3+}$ ion's local $4f$ electronic ground state doublet spontaneously splits and develops an electric quadrupole moment which breaks the rotational symmetry of the tetragonal lattice. The elastocaloric effect, which is the temperature change in the sample induced by adiabatic strains the sample experiences, is sensitive to quadrupolar fluctuations in the paranematic phase which couple to the induced strain. We show that elastocaloric measurements of this material reveal a Curie-Weiss like nematic susceptibility with a Weiss temperature of $\approx 2.7K$, in agreement with previous elastic constant measurements. Furthermore, we establish that a magnetic field along the c-axis acts as an effective transverse field for the quadrupole moments
Machine learning electron-phonon interactions in 2D materials
Authors: Haldar Anubhab , Clark Quentin , Zacharias Marios , Giustino Feliciano , Sharifzadeh Sahar
Published: August 2023

We utilize first-principles theory to investigate the role of electron-phonon interactions within a dataset of monolayer materials. Using density functional theory to describe excited state transitions and the special displacement method to describe the role of phonons, we analyze the relationship between simple physical oberservables and electron-phonon coupling strength. For over 100 materials, we compute the band gap renormalization due to zero-point vibrational motion as a measure of electron-phonon interactions and train a machine learning model based on physical parameters. We demonstrate that the strength of electron-phonon interactions is highly dependent on the band gap, dielectric constant, and degree of ionicity, all of which can be physically justified. We then apply this model to 1302 materials within the C2DB database, predicting the band gap zero-point renormalization (ZPR), which for five randomly selected materials tested agree well with first-principles predictions. This work provides an approach for quantitatively predicting the ZPR as a measure of electron-phonon interactions in 2D materials.
RAMA: A risk assessment solution for healthcare organizations
Authors: Smyrlis Michail , Floros Evangelos , Basdekis Ioannis , Prelipcean Dimitru-Bogdan , Sotiropoulos Aristeidis , Debar Herve , Zarras Apostolis , Spanoudakis George
Published: August 2023

Recent cyber attacks targeting healthcare organizations underscore the growing prevalence of the sector as a prime target for malicious activities. As healthcare systems manage and store sensitive personal health information, the imperative for robust cyber security and privacy protocols becomes increasingly evident. Consequently, healthcare institutions are compelled to actively address the intricate cyber security risks inherent in their digital ecosystems. In response, we present RAMA, a risk assessment mechanism designed to evaluate the security status of healthcare cyber systems. By leveraging RAMA, both local stakeholders, such as the hospital's IT personnel, and global actors, including external parties, can assess their organization's cyber risk profile. Notably, RAMA goes beyond risk quantification; it facilitates a comparative analysis by enabling organizations to measure their performance against average aggregated mean scores, fostering a culture of continuous improvement in cyber security practices. The practical efficacy of RAMA is demonstrated through its deployment across four real-world healthcare IT infrastructures. This study not only underscores the significance of addressing cyber security risks within healthcare but also highlights the value of innovative solutions like RAMA in safeguarding sensitive health information and enhancing the sector's overall cyber resilience.
Effect of radioprotective curtain length on the scattered dose rate distribution and endoscopist eye lens dose with an over-couch X-ray fluoroscopic system
Authors: Matsubara Kosuke , Nakajima Asuka , Hirosawa Ayaka , Yoshikawa Ryo , Ichikawa Nao , Fukushima Kotaro , Fukuda Atsushi
Published: August 2023

Sufficient dose reduction may not be achieved if radioprotective curtains are folded. This study aimed to evaluate the scattered dose rate distribution and physician eye lens dose at different curtain lengths. Using an over-couch X-ray tube fluoroscopic system, dH*(10)/dt was measured using a survey meter 150 cm from the floor at 29 positions in the examination room when the curtain lengths were 0% (no curtain), 50%, 75%, and 100%. The absorbed dose rates in the air at the positions of endoscopist and assistant positions were calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation by varying the curtain length from 0–100%. The air kerma was measured by 10 min fluoroscopy using optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters at the eye surfaces of the endoscopist phantom and the outside and inside of the radioprotective goggles. At curtain lengths of 50%, 75%, and 100%, the ratios of dH*(10)/dt relative to 0% ranged from 80.8–104.1%, 10.5–61.0%, and 11.8–24.8%, respectively. In the simulation, the absorbed dose rates at the endoscopist’s and assistant’s positions changed rapidly between 55% and 75% and 65% and 80% of the curtain length, respectively. At the 0%, 50%, 75%, and 100% curtain lengths, the air kerma at the left eye surface of the endoscopist phantom was 237 ± 29, 271 ± 30, 37.7 ± 7.5, and 33.5 ± 6.1 µGy, respectively. Therefore, a curtain length of 75% or greater is required to achieve a sufficient eye lens dose reduction effect at the position of the endoscopist.
JmjC Domain-containing Histone Demethylase Gene Family in Chinese Cabbage: Genome-wide Identification and Expressional Profiling
Authors: YIN Fengrui , HU Yuanfeng , CAO Xiaoqun , XIAO Xufeng , ZHANG Ming , XIANG Yan , WANG Liangdeng , YAO Yuekeng , SUI Meilan
Published: August 2023

The Jumonji C (JmjC) structural domain-containing gene family, an important family of histone demethylases in plants, has an essential role in plant growth and development, flowering transformation, and stress responses. Here, we aimed to elucidate its role in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis). At the genome level, we identified 29 members of this family that have remained highly conserved. For these genes, the promoter cis-acting elements were enriched in responses to stress related to light and cold, anaerobic conditions, and phytohormone treatment. BrJMJs were highly expressed in the siliques and flowers, suggesting that histone demethylation might play a crucial role in reproductive organ growth. Stress associated with cadmium (Cd) exposure, drought, salinity, cold, and heat induced their expression. The expression of some of the genes (BrJMJ1/2/5/13/21/24) increased gradually with increasing Cd concentration. BrJMJ4 and BrJMJ29 were induced by drought, salt, cold, and heat stress. This work supports future analysis of the biological functions of JmjC family genes and elucidates the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress responses in Chinese cabbage.
Education and corruption: the case of public hospitals in Africa
Authors: Andela Berthe Nyebe , Ondoa Henri Atangana
Published: August 2023

The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of education on the probability to pay bribes in public hospitals. The study used data from the Afrobarometer network in 36 African countries. The data were collected in 2019. Econometric results from a probit model with instrumental variables show that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between the probability of paying bribes and education. The probability of accepting bribes in public hospitals is particularly high among those who have studied at the undergraduate level. Therefore, African governments need to educate patients about the negative consequences of corruption in public hospitals.
I10, I21, O55, D73
Stochastic data envelopment analysis with reducible outputs and expandable inputs: An application in power plants
Authors: Amirteimoori Alireza , Allahviranloo Tofigh , Cezar Asunur
Published: August 2023

Clean production of electricity is not only cost-effective but also effective in reducing pollutants. Toward this end, the use of clean fuels is strongly recommended by environmentalists. Benchmarking techniques, especially data envelopment analysis, are an appropriate tool for measuring the relative efficiency of firms with environmental pollutants. In classic data envelopment analysis models, decision-makers are faced with production processes in which reducible inputs are used to produce expandable outputs. In this contribution, we consider production processes in which some throughputs are reducible and some others are expandable. This paper focuses on the efficiency evaluation of power plants when the input and output data are given in stochastic form and some inputs and outputs need to be reduced and some others must be increased. A stochastic directional distance function model is proposed to calculate the relative technical efficiency of firms. To demonstrate the applicability of the procedure, we present an empirical application wherein we employ Iranian power plants. An interesting finding in this analysis is that the direction we choose significantly affects the prioritization of the plants.
Physician Assistant program admission pre-requisite exams and their impact on applicants
Authors: Falls Chasity , Alexandar Jeffrey
Published: August 2023

Purpose
While Physician Assistant (PA) programs have the autonomy to select admission requirements, certain requirements, including the number and cost of pre-requisite examinations, may be determining factors for applicants’ when deciding what programs to apply to. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the potential influence the number and cost of pre-requisite examinations have on PA school applicants’ decision to apply to specific programs.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, PA applicants throughout the United States were invited to complete an anonymous electronic survey to assess the influence of the number and cost of pre-requisite examinations on intent to apply for PA programs. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) were conducted and responses were stratified by geographical location.
Results
One-hundred seventy-five participants (21.6 ± 22.9 years old) completed the survey. Most were female (89.1%), Caucasian (57.1%), residing throughout the United States, and applying to the 2022–2023 application cycle (56.0%). Respondents reported being influenced by the cost and number of required exams with over half reporting they strongly agreed/agreed that the number (n = 93; 53.1%) and cost (n = 98; 56%) of pre-requisite examinations negatively influenced their decision to apply to specific PA programs; however, this did not deter them from applying to programs. Additionally, students in the Southeast region may not be as influenced as students in other regions.
Conclusions
Further research is warranted to determine if PA school applicants apply to programs within their region or to programs in other regions based on pre-requisite examination requirements.
Maxwell's equations with continuously distributed currents clarify the nature of energy and momentum transfer in electromagnetic interactions
Authors: Akimov Yuriy , Ostrikov Kostya (Ken)
Published: August 2023

Transfer of energy and momentum by electromagnetic fields is among the most fundamental processes in the universe that is unequivocally described by microscopic Maxwell's equations. Here we show that commonly used models of harmonic or point-like currents necessitate the assumption of passive, non-influencing measurement devices (detectors) thereby systematically affecting the interpretation and quantification of the measured signals. Instead, by using mathematically complete definition of continuously distributed currents, we reveal that the measured signals are attributed to the intensity of the emitter-detector interactions, while the inherent energy and momentum radiated out by the emitter in a vacuum are zero. This systematic treatment provides physically broader insights into generation of electromagnetic fields and the associated transfer of energy and momentum, thereby opening new perspectives for the measurements and interpretations of electromagnetic interactions that underpin diverse physical phenomena.
Fault diagnosis of anti-friction bearings based on Bi-dimensional ensemble local mean decomposition and ODLSSVM
Authors: Xiong Zhengqiang , Han Chang , Zhang Guorong
Published: August 2023

In order to ensure the normal operation of rotating equipment, it is very important to quickly and efficiently diagnose the faults of anti-friction bearings. Hereto, fault diagnosis of anti-friction bearings based on Bi-dimensional ensemble local mean decomposition and optimized dynamic least square support vector machine (LSSVM) is presented in this paper. Bi-dimensional ensemble local mean decomposition, an extension of ensemble local mean decomposition from one-dimensional signal processing to Bi-dimensional signal processing, is used to extract the features of anti-friction bearings. Moreover, an optimized dynamic LSSVM is used to fault diagnosis of anti-friction bearings. The experimental results show that Bi-dimensional ensemble local mean decomposition is superior to Bi-dimensional local mean decomposition, optimized dynamic LSSVM is superior to traditional LSSVM, and the proposed Bi-dimensional ensemble local mean decomposition and optimized dynamic LSSVM method is effective for fault diagnosis of anti-friction bearings.
Bioinformatics-Based Discovery of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Biomarkers and Immune- Inflammatory Infiltrates
Authors: Song Chao , zhou Daqian , Cheng Kang , Liu Fei , Cai Weiye , Mei Yongliang , Chen Jingwen , Huang Chenyi , Liu Zongchao
Published: August 2023

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a common chronic disease in orthopedics, and its molecular mechanisms are still not well explained. This study's objective was to bioinformatics-based discovery of IVDD biomarkers and immune- inflammatory infiltrates. The IVDD illness gene collection was gathered from GeneCards, DisGeNet, and gene expression profiles were chosen from the extensive gene expression omnibus database (GSE124272, GSE150408, and GSE153761). The STRING database was used to create network of protein-protein interactions, while the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) databases were used for functional enrichment analysis. Using hub genes, the immune cell infiltration between IVDD patient samples and control tissues was examined. Finally, qPCR and western blot experiments were used to verify the expression of hub genes. A total of 27 differentially expressed hub genes were identified by bioinformatics. According to GO and KEGG analyses, hub genes were prominent in immunological responses, chemokine-mediated signaling pathways, and inflammatory responses, with the key signaling pathways engaged in Cellular Senescence, Apoptosis, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation. Immune cell infiltration research revealed that T cells, lymphocytes, B cells, and NK cells were decreased in IVDD patients while monocytes, neutrophils, and CD8 T cells were increased. The expression levels of the senescence hub genes SP1, VEGFA, IL-6, and the apoptosis key gene CASP3 were considerably greater in the IVDD model group than in the control group, according to in vitro validation. In conclusion, the cellular senescence signaling pathway, the apoptosis signaling pathway, and associated hub genes all play significant roles in the development and progression of IVDD, this finding may help direct future research on the senescence signaling route in IVDD.
Assessing the Impact of Hurricane Ivan on Aboveground Carbon of Coastal Forests in Perdido Bay, Florida
Authors: Alam Asiful , Kadam Parag , Brandeis Thomas , Baeza-Castro Andres , Dwivedi Puneet
Published: August 2023

Hurricanes can physically transform forestry ecosystems, leading to immediate and potentially long-lasting impacts on carbon dynamics. We compared the average carbon in trees (saplings, bole, stump, tops) and foliage pre (2001-2003) and post (2005-2007) Hurricane Ivan for different types of tree categories in the Perdido Bay watershed, Florida. We estimated a decrease of 74.51 and 17.82 metric tons/ha of aboveground carbon in hardwood and mixed plots after Hurricane Ivan, respectively. Softwoods gained 18.22 metric ton/ha of aboveground carbon in the post-hurricane period due to post-hurricane regrowth. Aboveground carbon decreased in stands with large (≥ 0.15m) and medium (≥ 0.12m) diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) by 22.74 and 30.22 metric tons/ha, respectively. Aboveground carbon in young (< 25y) taller trees (> 15m) decreased by 121.55 metric ton/ha of carbon immediately after the hurricane. The results of our log-linear regression model indicate that stand type (softwood/mixed/hardwood), height, physiographic class (deep sands/flatwoods/rolling uplands/small drains/swaps/bottomlands) along with the hurricane-affected status of the FIA plots were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) determinants of the carbon loss from the forest stands. Over the study period, there was a decrease of approximately 28.64% of aboveground carbon in trees and 62.15% of aboveground carbon in foliage. Softwood plots had 51.30% less aboveground carbon compared to hardwood plots, while plots in flatwoods and rolling uplands had 66.27% and 52.73% less carbon than bay and wet pocosins, respectively. Post-hurricane, the carbon in the trees and foliage starts to recover gradually, taking about 15 years to come back to the original status at the landscape level. Our study provides a framework for researchers and policymakers to assess the vulnerability of coastal forests in light of extreme weather events.
Earthworm diversity is regulated by soil properties in land use systems of Eastern Ghats, India
Authors: NAIK AYUSMITA , MAHATA ANIRBAN , PALITA SHARAT KUMAR
Published: August 2023

To understand the impact of soil properties and land use systems on earthworm diversity in the biodiversity-rich Eastern Ghats Highlands of India, the present study was carried out in six land use systems i.e., moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forest, fallow land, cropland, compost pit, and, sewage soil. The study area has been divided into 10 × 10 km2 grids and 25% grids were randomly selected for sampling from May to December 2022. A total of 16 species of earthworms under 14 genera and 8 families were recorded in this study, out of which 15 species are new records for the region. The most taxonomically rich family was the Megascolecidae. The most abundant species are endogeic followed by epigeic and anecic. Based on Hill numbers, the highest values of Shannon index (1D= 9.89) and Simpson diversity (2D= 9.14) were found for the fallow land. Earthworm abundance showed a significant difference among six land use systems [F (5,84) = 3.25, p = 0.01]. Furthermore, earthworms showed a significant positive relationship with moisture (r = 0.22, p < 0.05), organic Carbon (r = 0.25, p < 0.05), available Nitrogen (r = 0.22, p < 0.05), and clay content (r = 0.43, p < 0.01), whereas negatively correlate with sand content (r = 0.32, p < 0.01) of soil. High species richness was observed in cropland due to the high moisture, pH, organic Carbon, Potassium, and, Phosphorus content of the soil. The presence of a high number of native species urges their conservation in this region through land management.
The long-term evolution model of metallic contamination of Monastir-Sayada Coast as deduced from the geochemical and statistical analysis
Authors: Khiari Nouha , Charef Abdelkrim , Khadhar Samia , Zahi Faouzi
Published: August 2023

Coastal regions are especially susceptible to both natural and human-induced pressures, and it is crucial to evaluate these pressures. This research aims to investigate the monitoring of human activities through river discharges in order to identify potential ecological risks and examine the long-term changes in metallic contamination in Monastir-Sayada. To accomplish this, four sediment samples were collected from various locations along the Monastir coast, specifically near the source of pollution, to analyse the concentrations of heavy metals like Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), and Iron (Fe). The findings indicate that the average concentrations of these metals in the sediment cores followed a descending order of Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cd in front of the Monastir effluent, Fe > Mn > Zn > Pb > Cd > Cu > Ni in the effluent at Frina region, Fe > Mn > Zn > Cd > Ni > Pb > Cu in the Melah stream, and Fe > Mn > Cd > Zn > Cu in front of the Essouk stream at Lamta. Based on the enrichment factor (EF) and contamination factor (CF), the long-term evolution of the Monastir-Sayada coast is considered highly polluted for Pb and Cd, posing a relatively high potential ecological risk. The heavy metals are believed to originate from similar human activities, as indicated by the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Pollution from heavy metals can have long-lasting effects on coastal sediments, emphasizing the importance of preventing such pollution in the first place.
Modification in the structural, optical, thermal, electrical, and dielectric properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) blend through the incorporation of Ni/ZnO nanohybrid for optoelectronic and energy storage devices
Authors: Rajeh A. , Althobaiti Hanan A. , Alsalmah Hessa A. , Masmali N. A. , Al-Sulami Ahlam I. , Al-Ejji Maryam
Published: August 2023

In order to produce suitable poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PMMA/PVDF) films for optoelectronic and power storage uses, Ni-doped ZnO nanoparticles were added to PMMA/PVDF films. This was done in order to generate a synergistic interaction between the superior electrical characteristics of Ni and the remarkable optical characteristics of ZnO NPs. The production of Ni/ZnO in wurtzite hexagonal phase with a normal grain size of 19 nm was verified by the findings of the selected-area diffraction of electrons and X-ray diffraction techniques. By using FTIR measurements, the interaction of polymers with Ni/ZnO has been studied. The raising of the Ni/ZnO content steadily redshifted the optical band gap, although the Urbach energy demonstrated a contrary trend. With various nanoparticle concentrations, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results revealed an enhancement in the temperature of melting of the PMMA/PVDF-Ni/ZnO nanocomposites films as well as an decrease in the level of crystallinity. At room temperature, an AC impedance study was carried out to check the electrical conductivity. All samples' ac conductivity spectra confirmed Jonscher's power law (JPL) behavior. The PMMA/PVDF-1.5%Ni/ZnO nanocomposites were discovered to have a greater ionic conductivity (σac) of 1.10 10− 5 S/cm at ambient temperature. Research on dielectric permittivity has additionally been carried out in order to comprehend the charge storage characteristics. The findings of the experiments showed that these PMMA/PVDF-Ni/ZnO films would provide excellent options for thermal insulators, cutting-edge microelectronics, capacitive storage of energy, optoelectronic technology and other applications.
Biomimetic Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles Using Tinospora Cordifolia Plant Leaf Extract for Photo Catalytic Activity Applications
Authors: K Parvathalu , K Rajitha , B Chandrashekar , K Sathvik , K Pranay Bhaskar. , B Sreenivas , M Pritam , P Pushpalatha , K Moses , P Bala Bhaskar
Published: August 2023

The copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs), through a novel green synthesis method utilizing Tinospora Cordifolia (TC) aqueous leaf extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent, were synthesized, and investigated for their dye degradation potential. The bio-synthesis process, which is operationally simple, non-toxic, and cost-effective, involves using cupric oxide (CuO) as precursor materials. The degradation of dyes in water bodies is challenging research due to their stable nature; therefore, It is essential to develop potential catalyst materials with desirable properties to degrade dyes in water bodies. The CuNPs were characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis Spectrometer, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transformed Infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The FTIR results confirmed the presence of phytochemicals involved in the reduction, capping and stabilization of CuNPs, which was corroborated by the XRD data. The photo-catalytic activity of biosynthetic CuNPs was studied using methylene blue (MB) dye upon exposure to visible light source irradiation. The results showed that bio-synthesized CuNPs exhibited a high potential of dye degradation for the methylene blue dye in the presence of a visible light source and a dye degradation rate of 81% was achieved. The green synthesized CuNPs have proved to be a potential candidate for efficiently removing dyes from water bodies and provide a sustainable, environmentally friendly method for producing metal nanoparticles with excellent photo-catalytic properties.
Material Selection for Genetic Restoration of Abies koreana on Mt. Jirisan in the Republic of Korea
Authors: Seo Han-Na , Lim Hyo-In
Published: August 2023

A strategy is required for selecting appropriate materials for the restoration of Abies koreana on Mt. Jirisan, where the habitat of A. koreana is continuously shrinking. The current study aimed to analyze the genetic characteristics of A. koreana in three subpopulations (Banyabong, Byeoksoryeng, and Cheonwangbong) on Mt. Jirisan using 10 nuclear simple sequence repeat (nSSR) markers and calculate the sampling distance for each subpopulation for avoiding genetically similar samples. Based on the calculated sampling distance, we proposed the size of a sample containing more than 95% of the alleles at a frequency greater than 0.05. AMOVA showed that the difference in genetic variation across subpopulations of A. koreana on Mt. Jirisan was small, approximately 3% of the total. Spatial genetic structure analysis results suggested that it would be appropriate to collect samples of the Banyabong subpopulation at intervals of 10 m or more, when sampling A. koreana, whereas for the Byeoksoryeong and Cheonwangbong subpopulations, samples should be collected at intervals of 20 m or more. Results of random sampling of 5 to 30 individuals indicated that, by applying a 10 m distance within the Banyabong subpopulation, more than 95% of the total alleles with a frequency ≥ 0.05 were secured when more than 25 individuals were extracted. Therefore, as a restoration strategy for A. koreana on Mt. Jirisan, we proposed the collection of more than 25 samples, keeping 10 m distance within the Banyabong subpopulation, which has a relatively high genetic diversity.