bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and predictors of long COVID among non-hospitalised adolescents and young adults: a prospective controlled cohort study
Authors: Wyller Vegard , Selvakumar Joel , Havdal Lise , Drevvatne Martin , Brodwall Elias , Berven Lise , Stiansen-Sonerud Tonje , Einvik Gunnar , Leegaard Truls , Tjade Trygve , Michelsen Annika , Mollnes Tom , Lund-Johansen Fridtjof , Holmøy Trygve , Zetterberg Henrik , Blennow Kaj , Sandler Carolina , Cvejic Erin , Lloyd Andrew
Published: September 2022

The prevalence and predictors of long COVID in young people remain unresolved. We aimed to determine the point prevalence of long COVID in non-hospitalised adolescents and young adults six months after the acute infection, to determine the risk of developing long COVID adjusted for possible confounders, and to explore a broad range of potential risk factors (prespecified outcomes). We conducted a prospective controlled cohort study of 404 SARS-CoV-2-positive and 105 SARS-CoV-2-negative non-hospitalised individuals aged 12–25 years (ClinicalTrial ID: NCT04686734). Data acquisition was completed February 2022. Assessments included pulmonary, cardiac and cognitive functional testing, biomarker analyses, and completion of a questionnaire, and were performed at inclusion (early convalescent stage) and six months follow-up. The WHO case definition of long COVID was applied. The point prevalence of long COVID at six months was 49% and 47% in the SARS-CoV-2-positive and negative group, respectively. SARS-CoV-2-positivity did not predict development of long COVID (relative risk 1.06, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.37). The main predictor was symptom severity at inclusion, which correlated strongly to personality traits. Low physical activity and loneliness were also predictive, while biological markers were not. In conlusion, our study aims were met, and the findings suggest that persistent symptoms were not driven by the infection, but were associated with psychosocial factors.
Knowledge and Practice of Healthcare Workers about Hand Hygiene in Khartoum Oncology Hospital, 2021
Authors: Magbol Mustafa Altayeb Ibrahim , Mohammed Saja Gariballa Ahmed , Hamad Nuha Mohamed Ahmed , Adam Alaa Salah Mohammed , Yagoub Elzubier Mohammed , Abdullah Ahmad Izzoddeen
Published: September 2022

Background: Hand hygiene is widely recognized as a simple way to prevent infection transmission to patients or among health care providers and adherence to its measures is associated with a significant reduction in mortality and morbidity. Despite this, many studies conclude that hand hygiene compliance is suboptimal. This study aims to assess compliance of healthcare workers to hand hygiene measures in Khartoum oncology hospital.
Method: A cross-sectional hospital-based descriptive study was conducted during the period from December 2021 to July 2022 on a sample of 109 health care workers [doctors and nurses]. Hand hygiene knowledge and practice of health care workers were measured using a structured, pretested, administered questionnaire, modified from the WHO standardized questionnaire for HH knowledge and observation technique with a checklist was used to collect data on the practice. The data is analyzed by frequency tables. The Chi-square test is used to determine associations among categorized variables. All statistical tests were considered significant when the p value was 0.005.
Result: Of the 109 participants, 56% had not received formal hand hygiene training in the last three years. 18.3% did not use alcohol for hand hygiene in their practice. Regarding participants' knowledge of the importance of hand hygiene, 97.2% considered it an important tool for infection prevention. Practice wise, 60% of participants did not wash their hands before touching the patients, while 20% of them used the same glove for more than one patient. A significant statistical association was found between the routine use of alcohol and receiving formal training in hand hygiene in the last three years (p-value 0.004).
Conclusion: The overall use of alcohol-based hand rub for hand hygiene was high, in spite of low training programs in the last three years. There is a huge shortage of soap and alcohol in working places. Developing a training program will help magnify the use of alcohol for hand hygiene.
Research on Multi-Scale Mechanical Properties of Paleosol Based on Freeze-Thaw Cycle
Authors: Bai Yang , Song Jia , Tian Jinyang , Zhou Zihao
Published: September 2022

In order to study the failure mechanism of palaeosoil landslide, taking a landslide body palaeosol in Yan'an as an example, scanning electron microscope (SEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and conventional triaxial tests were performed on the palaeosol, which can get the particle composition and structure scanning results under cycle times, T2 spectrum distribution curve and stress-strain curve and can explore the correlation between the microstructure and macromechanical properties of palaeosols in landslides, and reveal the failure mechanism of palaeosoil landslides from multiple scales. The results show that with the increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles, the micropores in the paleosol increased to 70.5% and then stabilized, while the small pores decreased to 18.4% and stabilized, the mesopores decreased to 7.5% and stabilized, and the large pores decreased to 3.6% and then tends to be stable, and the fractal dimension of pore shape distribution in paleosol gradually increases to 1.42 along the convex curve;The T2 spectrum distribution curve presents three small peaks in a stepped shape. The peak spectrum area with a relaxation time of 0.01ms-3.16ms is the largest, indicating that the proportion of small pores in the ancient soil is the largest; With the increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles, the peak spectrum area corresponding to the smaller relaxation time continues to expand, indicating that the freeze-thaw cycle will damage the ancient soil structure and produce a large number of tiny pores. The confining pressure is higher, the lower the moisture content, the number of freeze-thaw cycles is fewer, and the greater the stress corresponding to its strain; the freeze-thaw cycle changes the stress-strain curve of paleosoil from a softened type to a hardened type, indicating that the original structure of the ancient soil is damaged due to the freeze-thaw cycle, and the new structure tends to become disordered and granular.
A Zero-watermarking Algorithm for Vector Geographic Data Based on Feature Invariants
Authors: Wang Shuai , Zhang Li-Ming , Zhang Qi-Hang , Li Yu
Published: September 2022

Most researches on zero-watermarking algorithms for vector geographic data focus on improving the robustness against geometrical attacks, compression attacks and object attacks. However, there are few zero-watermarking algorithms against projection transformation. We proposed a zero-watermarking algorithm for vector geographic data based on feature invariants. After any projection transformation of vector geographic data, the number of vertices and relative storage order of objects does not change. Therefore, the number of vertices and relative storage order of objects can be considered as the feature invariants. Firstly, according to relative storage order of objects, the watermark bit is determined by comparing the number of vertices between any two objects. Secondly, the watermark index is calculated by the number of vertices of two objects. Then, a feature matrix is constructed combining the watermark bit and the watermark index. Finally, the XOR operation is performed between the feature matrix and the scrambled watermark image to generate the zero-watermark image. The experiments show that the watermark can be detected from the vector geographic data after any projection transformation. And this algorithm can effectively against geometrical attacks, object attacks and precision reduction attacks, showing superior performance compared with previous algorithms.
Resilience of Digitalized Power Systems – Challenges and Solutions
Authors: Brand Michael , Stark Sanja , Holly Stefanie , Kamsamrong Jirapa , Mayer Christoph , Lehnhoff Sebastian
Published: September 2022

Power systems are undergoing a transition from centralized generation to distributed renewable generation. That calls for more flexibility in balancing generation and consumption because distributed energy resources in most cases rely on weather-dependent resources and can, therefore, only be controlled to a certain degree. The necessary flexibility can be achieved by introducing digitalization into the energy system. However, digitalization also leads to new vulnerabilities of the power system and increases its complexity. Additionally, the often rapid and unforeseeable development of information and communication technology introduces a new level of uncertainty in the system design. These circumstances make it necessary to shift from a classical design of robust to the design of resilient power systems that are able to anticipate, react to, and recover from them.
In this paper, these real-time attributes of a resilient digitalized power system are analyzed with respect to potential measures: an enhanced situational awareness, virtualization, flexibilization, and a distributed blackstart. The measures tackle different challenges for resilient digitalized power systems and cover different phases of the resilience process, visualized in the so-called resilience bathtub curve. The implementation of these measures can increase the resilience of a digitalized power system and are meant to be combined with further, also non-real-time measures.
The Dual Role of ZEB2 in COAD Metastasis and Immunology
Authors: Wang Jingjing , Lu Bin , Zeng Simin , Kong Fandong , Li Liqing , Zhuo Huiyan , Li Youqiang
Published: September 2022

Background: The zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB2), which can accelerate the nuclear DNA replication by inducing the activation of upstream transcription promoters, was widely considered as an oncogene. Recent study has found that the overexpression of ZEB2 is associated with a better prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, its roles in tumor growth, metastasis, and immunology are yet to be elucidated in COAD.
Methods: The pan-cancer sequencing data was acquired from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-Pan cancer cohort, normal human tissue data was acquired from the Genotype-tissue expression (GTEx) database, and Broad Institute Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) were downloaded from UCSC Xena. We used the cBioPortal webtool to analyze and visualize the ZEB2 pan-cancer genomic alteration rate. GEO Expression Datasets were used to explore ZEB2 expression levels in COAD patients. UCSC Xena database was used to download prognostic information of COAD patients. The Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier analyses were used to assess the prognostic role of ZEB2 in COAD. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) was performed to determine the biological pathways. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed to determine the biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components that were altered in a ZEB2-dependent manner in COAD. The module analysis of PPI interaction network was performed using the MCODE tool of Cytoscape software, and the characteristic molecules were selected by cytohHubba tool. CIBERSORTx database was used to analyze the ZEB2 expression in the presence of 22 types of immune infiltrating cells.
Results: This study found that ZEB2 was aberrantly expressed in most cancer types, and it was significantly downregulated in COAD compared with normal tissue. In addition, our findings also show that overexpression of ZEB2 was associated with a better prognosis in COAD. Mechanistic analysis revealed that overexpression of ZEB2 was associated with the neutrophil extracellular trap formation in COAD. And the results show that ZEB2 expression was significantly correlated with several kinds of immune cell infiltration.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that overexpression of ZEB2 was associated with better prognoses in patients with COAD. ZEB2 has close relationship with ACTB, which was highly related to NETs. These findings suggest a dual role of ZEB2 in COAD growth, metastasis, and immunology.
Comparison of the effect of double-lumen endotracheal tubes and bronchial blockers on lung collapse in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Xiang Ying-ying , Chen Qi , Tang Xi-xi , Cao Lei
Published: September 2022

Objective: This meta-analysis compared the quality of lung collapse and the resultant adverse reactions between the use of double-lumen endotracheal tubes (DLT) and bronchial blockers (BB) in minimally invasive thoracic surgery.
Methods: A search was performed in five bibliographic databases, namely PubMed, Springer, Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library ignoring the original language, which identified five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published on or before December 31, 2021. These studies were subsequently analyzed. All included studies compared the efficacy and safety of DLT and BB as a lung isolation technique in surgery. The methodological quality of each study was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool. The quality of lung collapse and the malposition rate were adopted as the main outcome indicators. Alternatively, the intubation time and the incidence of postoperative sore throat were adopted as secondary indicators.
Results: When either DLT or BB were utilized in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, no differences were observed in the quality of lung collapse (odds ratio [OR], 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63 to 1.58), the intubation time (mean difference [MD], 0.06; 95% CI, -1.02 to 1.14), or the malposition rate (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.37 to 2.06). However, the incidence of postoperative sore throat among patients treated with BB was significantly lower than that among patients treated with DLT (OR, 5.25; 95% CI, 2.55 to 10.75).
Conclusion: When utilized in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, the quality of lung collapse with DLT was identical to that with BB. However, patients treated with the latter demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of postoperative sore throat.
The Effect of an Integrated Care Intervention of Multidisciplinary Mental Health Treatment and Employment Services for Trauma-affected Refugees; Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial
Authors: Bruhn Maja , Laugesen Henriette , Kromann-Larsen Matilde , Trevino Cathrine Selnes , Eplov Lene , Hjorthøj Carsten , Carlsson Jessica
Published: September 2022

Background

The complexity of past trauma and ongoing post-migration stressors challenges the existing mental health treatment for trauma-affected refugees. Therefore, interventions are needed to accommodate these complex challenges in mental health treatment. This study examines the effect of an add-on integrated care intervention compared to treatment as usual (TAU) for trauma-affected refugees in a randomised controlled trial (RCT).

Methods

The study is carried out at a Danish outpatient clinic and will include 197 treatment-seeking refugees with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who are unemployed and affiliated with municipal employment services. Mental health TAU comprises 10 sessions with a medical doctor (pharmacological treatment and psychoeducation) and 16–20 sessions with a psychologist (manual-based cognitive behavioural therapy) for a period of eight to 12 months. The add-on intervention strengthens coordination between mental health treatment and employment interventions with three cross-sectoral collaborative meetings during the mental health treatment. The integrated care intervention draws attention to the bidirectional impact of mental health problems and post-migration stressors and focuses on cross-sectoral shared plans. The primary outcome is functioning, measured by WHODAS 2.0, the interviewer-administered 12-item version, with secondary outcomes measuring quality of life, mental health symptoms, and post-migration stressors.

Discussion

The RCT is novel in intervention design for trauma-affected refugees and will bring forward new perspectives and knowledge of integrated care interventions for trauma-affected refugees. The integrated care intervention is expected to reduce post-migration stressors that negatively affect the treatment of trauma-related mental health problems, thereby improving preconditions for enhanced treatment outcomes. The intervention builds on existing practices in the Danish healthcare and employment sectors, which ensures high scalability and sustainability for future practices.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04244864, registered 28 January 2020, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04244864.
Protocol version: 30 August 2022, version 1.
A non-iterative parameter identification procedure for the non-local Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman model based on standardized experiments
Authors: Khatib Omar El , Hütter Geralf , Pham Rinh-Dinh , Seupel Andreas , Kuna Meinhard , Kiefer Bjoern
Published: September 2022

Damage mechanics models exhibit favorable properties such as the intrinsic influence of stress triaxiality on damage evolution and the prediction of crack initiation as well as propagation leading to structural failure. However, their application requires advanced expertise hindering the transfer of these models into industrial practice. Especially the parameter calibration can be identified as a key obstacle. In this paper, a simplified procedure is proposed for a non-local extension of the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman model (GTN), which is a highly accepted model for ductile failure of metals. The procedure is iteration free and finally requires experimental input data from only two standardized tests. The parameters are determined using look-up diagrams created on the basis of systematic simulations and made available for different material behavior covering the majority of ductile metals. Benchmark tests for three different steels are conducted to evaluate the robustness of the proposed procedure. The reliability of the GTN model is validated for all investigated materials.
The Nexus between Long-term Care Insurance, Formal Care, Informal Care, and Bequests: The Case of Japan
Authors: Horioka Charles Yuji , Gahramanov Emin , Tang Xueli
Published: September 2022

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nexus between long-term care insurance (LTCI), formal care, informal care, and bequests using micro data from Japan, where a public LTCI system was introduced in 2000. In particular, we use data from the Japan Household Panel Survey on Consumer Preferences and Satisfaction (JHPS-CPS), formerly known as the Preference Parameter Study, conducted by Osaka University, to analyze the impact of LTCI eligibility on informal care children provide to their parents and through this channel on bequests. To summarize the main findings of this paper, we find that, if parents are eligible for public LTCI benefits, their children will be less likely to be their primary caregiver and that this, in turn, will reduce their children’s perceived likelihood of receiving a bequest from them. This result implies that bequests are selfishly or strategically motivated (i.e., that parents leave bequests to their children in order to elicit care from them) and that the introduction of a public LTCI system will reduce the likelihood of children providing care to their parents and through this channel reduce their perceived likelihood of receiving a bequest from them.
JEL classification codes: D11, D12, D15, D64, E21, I13, J14
A case weighted similarity deep measurement method based on a self-attention Siamese neural network
Authors: Cheng Zijun , Yan Aijun
Published: September 2022

To improve the accuracy of similarity measures in case-based reasoning, in this paper, we propose a deep metric learning method based on a self-attention mechanism and a Siamese neural network to realize the weighted similarity measure between cases. The method maps the original case features to the new feature space through the Siamese neural network and then assigns the feature weights through the scoring function in the self-attention mechanism. Finally, a metric function is added to the contrastive loss to measure the case similarity. Experiments show that the accuracy of this method is better than other algorithms in the similarity measure and can improve the accuracy of case retrieval.
Generation and Prediction of Water Waves Induced by Rigid Piston-like Landslide
Authors: Li Pengfeng , Jing Haixiao , Li Guodong
Published: September 2022

Accurate prediction of water waves generated by landslides is of significant importance in the early warning and risk assessment of landslide disasters. And previous studies shown that landslide-induced waves are of various types, which indicates that there are different generation regimes for landslide induced waves. In the present study, the generation of water waves by a rigid landslide is studied numerically and theoretically. According to the motion characteristics of a landslide, three types of landslide motions, including piston-like, plunger-like, and transition landslide motions are detected. The performed analyses demonstrate that the solitary-like wave and dissipative transient bore are generated by piston-like landslides. Moreover, nonlinear oscillatory and transition waves are generated by plunger-like and transition landslides, respectively. It is also found that the wave height generated by piston-like landslide depends on the effective velocity of fluid translated by the landslide. For piston-like landslide motion, the correlation between the wave height, wavelength, and the effective velocity of a rigid landslide are established theoretically, and then it is verified using numerical results. The present study is expected to provide a reference to investigate early warning of landslide-induced waves.
Track Initiation Based on Adaptive gates and Fuzzy Hough Transform
Authors: Zeng Liu , Xiao Gang , Ding Chunshan , He Yangguang
Published: September 2022

In order to select reliable tracks from the limited measurement cycles, the track initiation has been studied, which affects all subsequent stages of target tracking. Numerous false target tracks were produced by traditional logic algorithms, and the Hough transform method was sensitive to noise. Based on adaptive gates and fuzzy Hough transform, a track initiation algorithm is proposed in this paper, which combines the advantages of the two types of methods to reduce the amount of false alarm, and completes the high-quality track initiation. Firstly, an adaptive gate is designed to filter the detection clutter. And then the fuzzy theory is used to obtain the accumulated matrix in the Hough transform process. Finally, the tracks are determined by the threshold method, and the track initiation is completed. The proposed method can reduce the false track occupancy rate, and complete higher quality track initiation in short detection cycles in simulation experiments. It is more suitable for multi-target track initiation under the surroundings of intensive clutter.
Ureaplasma parvum infection induces inflammatory changes in vaginal epithelial cells independent of sialidase
Authors: Amabebe Emmanuel , Richardson Lauren S. , Bento Giovana Fernanda Cosi , Radnaa Enkhtuya , Kechichian Talar , Menon Ramkumar , Anumba Dilly OC
Published: September 2022

Background
Ureaplasma, a subspecies of genital Mycoplasma is one of the most common microbes isolated from women with infection/inflammation-associated preterm labor (PTL). Mycoplasma spp. produce sialidase that cleaves sialic acid from glycans of vaginal mucous membranes and facilitates adherence and invasion of the epithelium by pathobionts, and dysregulated immune response. However, whether Ureaplasma species can induce the production of sialidase is yet to be demonstrated. We examined U. parvum-infected vaginal epithelial cells (VECs) for the production of sialidase and pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Methods
Immortalized VECs were cultured in appropriate media and treated with U. parvum in a concentration of 1 x 105 DNA copies/ml. After 24 hours of treatment, cells and media were harvested. To confirm infection and cell uptake, immunocytochemistry for multi-banded antigen (MBA) was performed. Pro-inflammatory cytokine production and protein analysis for sialidase confirmed pro-labor pathways.
Results
Infection of VECs was confirmed by the presence of intracellular MBA. Western blot analysis showed no significant increase in sialidase expression from U. parvum-treated VECs compared to uninfected cells. However, U. parvum infection induced increased production of GM-CSF, IL-6, and IL-8 in VECs compared to controls.
Conclusions
U. parvum infection of VECs induced inflammatory imbalance associated with vaginal dysbiosis but did not alter sialidase expression at the cellular level. These data suggest that U. parvum’s pathogenic effect could be propagated by locally produced pro-inflammatory cytokines and, unlike other genital mycoplasmas, may be independent of sialidase.
Risk factors associated to Streptococcus suis cases in swine farms in Spain
Authors: Neila-Ibáñez Carlos , Napp Sebastián , Pailler-García Lola , Franco-Martínez Lorena , Cerón José Joaquín , Aragon Virginia , Casal Jordi
Published: September 2022

Background:Streptococcus suis, an early colonizer of the upper respiratory tract, can cause theS. suis-associated disease, a major infection characterized by meningitis, polyarthritis, and acute death, in piglets mainly around weaning age. However, little is known about the factors responsible for triggering the disease. Therefore, a longitudinal study was carried out, in which a total of six batches from two Spanish swine farms withS. suisproblems were repeatedly examined, once in the farrowing unit and twice in the weaning unit.Results: Potential risk factors evaluated included: a) concomitant pathogens such as porcine reproductive respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), porcine circovirus type 2, swine influenza virus, andGlaesserellaparasuis; b) biomarkers associated to stress (cortisol), inflammation (haptoglobin), and oxidative status (hydrogen peroxide); c) farm environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, CO2, and temperature-humidity index; and d) parity andS. suispresence in sows. Three models were built to study the effect of these variables, including two to assess the risk factors involved in the subsequent development of the disease. Presence ofS. suisproblems during the study was confirmed by its isolation in lesions in both farms. Risk factors forS. suisdisease included PRRSV coinfection at weaning (Odds ratio (OR) = 6.69), sow parity (OR = 0.71), haptoglobin before weaning (OR = 1.01), and relative humidity in the farrowing unit as well as temperature at weaning (OR = 1.11 and 0.13, respectively).Conclusions: This study confirms the multifactorial nature ofS. suis-associated disease, for which both environmental factors and factors related to the host seem to be involved in the development of the disease.
Development of an automated structural design system for progressive dies based on the integrated design methodology of process and structure
Authors: kong haijiao , zhang zhibing , wei yang , liu yuqi
Published: September 2022

The process of designing progressive dies can be complex, tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone, which can significantly impact the development period and design quality. This paper presents a systematic methodology that includes the planning design and automated design of die structure. A super process model (SPM) is presented as the output of the planning design of die structure and the input of the automated design of die structure. Subsequently, parametric template methodology based on deformation feature process geometry (DFPG) is proposed to automate the design of punches and dies. Lastly, a layout method based on layout space for standard parts is proposed to perform the automated layout of standard parts for die-sets, punches, and dies; additionally, a robust calculation method of layout space is introduced. This system is then implemented in two home appliance enterprises. Case studies and industrial applications have demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed system, which can improve the design efficiency by a minimum of 85% and reduce design error by an average of 50%.
Effect of honey and lemon juice on the physicochemical, nutritional, minerals, color, bioactive compounds, antibacterial and antioxidant properties of guava-pineapple jelly
Authors: Molla Mohammad Mainuddin , Sabuz Ashfak Ahmed , Khan Md. Hafizul Haque , Chowdhury Md. Golam Ferdous , Miaruddin Md. , Alam Mahfujul , Khatun Anjumanara
Published: September 2022

Background
Jellies are usually preserved by artificial preservatives where they have harmful side effects and health hazards especially to infants. Honey and fresh lemon juice work as natural preservative due to their hygroscopic, high sugar, low pH and antibacterial properties. Hence, the honey and fresh lemon juice were undertaken to formulate the synthetic preservative free guava-pineapple jelly for extended shelf life with higher retention of nutrients and antioxidants.
Results
Best formulation found using honey and fresh lemon juice treated jelly (T2 and T3) by the sensory evaluation, nutrients, bioactive compounds, phenolics, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Storage study was conducted at ambient condition and the shelf life of the jelly was remained upto 8 months without any quality deterioration. All the physicochemical, nutritional, minerals, bioactive compounds, antioxidants activities and phenolic acids were decreased with progression of storage periods. The highest vitamin-C, energy, total phenolic, flavonoid, carotenoid, ß-carotene, and anthocyanin, were recorded by the combination of guava-pineapple jelly formulated using honey and fresh lemon (T3) juice; values were 42.94-41.00 mg/100 g, 406.35-406.94 cal/g, 4.15–4.01 mg GAE/100g, 0.91 − 0.84 mg QE/g, 0.94 − 0.84 mg/100g, 12.44–12.20 mg/100g, and 4.06–4.01 mg/100g, respectively. Phenolic acids, i.e. gallic acid, vanilic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, catechin acid and syringic acids were identified and quantified higher in sample T3; values ranged 5.41–5.30 mg/100 g, 4.66–4.54 mg/100 g, 9.07–8.93 mg/100 g, 0.46 − 0.35 mg/100 g, 81.70-81.43 mg/100g, 3.23–3.10 mg/100 respectively. Microbial study confirmed that the jelly was free from microbes upto 6 months of storage. After 8 months, the Aspergillus, Shigella and E-coli were detected but they were within acceptable limit. Initial color was retained upto 8 months of storage but after 8 months, the color faded out and turned into dark.
Conclusion
Honey and fresh lemon juice are valuable source of natural preservative for formulation of fruit jelly with extended shelf life upto 8 months by preventing microbial activities. The processors could process and preserve the fruit jelly with decent aroma by applying this technology as an alternative to artificial food additives.
The divergent impacts on gut microbiome and host metabolism by Traditional Chinese Medicine with Cold or Hot property in mice
Authors: Li Bingbing , Tao Xin , Sheng Lili , Li Yan , Zheng Ningning , Houkai Li
Published: September 2022

Background
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been practiced and developed in China over thousands of years under the guidance of a series of complicated traditional theories. Herbs within TCM usually are classified into different properties ranging from cold, cool, warm to hot, which are simplified as Cold and Hot properties. TCMs with either Cold or Hot property are differently used in formulae for the purpose of overcoming the imbalance of patients. Emerging evidence has highlighted that altered gut microbiota or host metabolism are critically involved in affecting TCM properties. However, the exact influences and crosstalk on gut microbiota and host metabolism remain poorly understood.
Methods
In current study, we investigated the divergent impacts of six TCMs with either Cold or Hot properties on gut microbiome and host metabolism during short- or long-term intervention in mice. Six typical TCMs with Hot or Cold properties including Cinnamomum cassia (L.)J.Presl (rougui, RG), Zingiber officinale Rosc. (ganjiang, GJ), Aconitum carmichaeli Debx. (fuzi, FZ), Rheum palmatum L. (dahuang, DH), Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (huangqin, HQ), and Coptis chinensis Franch. (huanglian, HL) were selected and orally administrated on male C57BL/6J mice for a short- or long-term (7 or 35 days). At the end of experiments, serum and cecal contents were collected for metabolomic and gut microbiome analysis with GC-MS or 16S rDNA sequencing.
Results
The results showed that gut microbiome experienced divergent changes both in composition and function by short-term intervention of TCM with either Cold or Hot properties, whereas long-term intervention of Hot TCM reduced the number of changed genus and functional pathways of bacteria, but were increased by Cold TCM, especially in HL group. The serum metabolic profile showed the Glycolipid metabolism related pathways were specifically regulated by Cold TCM, and the influence of TCM on host metabolism minimized with time. Further correlation analysis indicated the altered gut microbiota was closely correlated with serum metabolites as well.
Conclusion
Our results indicated that the TCM properties could be, at least partially, characterized by the alteration of gut microbiota and metabolic profile, implying that the divergent responses of gut microbiome and host metabolism are involved in different natures of TCM.
Implication of m6A methylation regulators for the immune microenvironment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Authors: Bao Tianping , Zhu Haiyan , Ma Mengmeng , Sun Tingting , Hu Jingjing , Li JingYan , Cao Linxia , Cheng Huaiping , Tian Zhaofang
Published: September 2022

Objective: to evaluate the effect of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation regulators on the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).
Methods: Transcriptome data related BPD was downloaded from the GEO. Differentially expressed m6A methylation regulators between BPD and control group were identified. Consensus clustering was conducted for the classification of BPD and its association with the phenotypes were conducted. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and immune related DEGs (DEMGs) analysis was performed. The GSEA, GO and KEGG were applied to interpret the functional enrichments. The composition of immune cell subtypes in BPD subsets was predicted by CIBERSORT analysis.
Results: Compared with control group, the alteration of most m6A regulators expression were detected, especially for IGF2BP1/2/3. The BPD was classified into 2 subsets, of which cluster 1 was correlated with severe BPD. Furthermore, the functional enrichment results showed a disturbed immune-related signaling pathway. The CIBERSORT analysis found that the proportion of immune cell subsets changed between cluster1 and cluster 2.
Conclusions: Our study revealed an implication of m6A methylation regulators for the development of BPD, which might provide a novel insight for the diagnosis and treatment for BPD.
Sohlh1 and Lhx8 are prominent biomarkers to estimate the primordial follicle pool in mice
Authors: Liu Li , Liu Biting , Wang Lian , Li Caixia , Zhou Yang , Zhu Jihui , Ding Jinye , Cheng Zhongping , Liu Shupeng
Published: September 2022

Efficient evaluation of the primordial follicle pool (PFP) of mammalian models is an essential subject in biomedical research relating to ovarian physiology and pathogenesis. Our recent study has identified a gene signature including Sohlh1, Nobox, Lhx8, Tbpl2, Stk31, Padi6, and Vrtn strongly correlated with ovarian reserve by using bioinformatics analysis. Aimed to investigate the validity of these candidate biomarkers for evaluating the PFP, we utilized an OR comparison model to decode the relationship between the numbers of PFP and candidate biomarkers in the present study. Our results suggest that these biomarkers Sohlh1, Nobox, Lhx8, Tbpl2, Stk31, Padi6, and Vrtn possess independent potential to evaluate the number of the PFP. And the combination of Sohlh1and Lhx8 can be used as the optimal biomarkers for rapid assessment of the PFP in the murine ovary. Our findings provide a new perspective for evaluating the PFP of the ovary in animal studies and the clinic.
Cytosolic DNA sensing combined with differentiation therapy induces irreversible differentiation and cell growth arrest in myeloid leukemia cells
Authors: Baba Tomohisa , Tomaru Utano , Hirao Atsushi , Mukaida Naofumi , Johmura Yoshikazu
Published: September 2022

Accumulating evidence indicates that various oncogenic mutations interfere with normal myeloid differentiation of leukemogenic cells during the early process of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development. Differentiation therapy is an ideal therapeutic strategy capable of terminating leukemic expansion by reactivating the differentiation potential; however, the plasticity and instability of leukemia cells counteract the establishment of curative treatment for AML. Thus, the viable strategy for irreversible differentiation is urgently required. Based on our previous observation that autophagy inhibitor treatment induces the accumulation of cytosolic DNA and activation of cytosolic DNA-sensor signaling selectively in leukemia cells, we herein examined the synergistic effect of cytosolic DNA-sensor signaling activation with conventional differentiation therapy on AML. The combined treatment with autophagy inhibitors and conventional differentiation therapy succeeded in inducing irreversible differentiation in AML cells. Mechanistically, cytosolic DNA was sensed by absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), a cytosolic DNA sensor. Activation of the AIM2 inflammasome resulted in the accumulation of p21 through the inhibition of its proteasomal degradation, thereby facilitating the myeloid differentiation. Moreover, p21 shRNA treatment abrogated the combined treatment-induced irreversible differentiation of leukemia cells. Importantly, short-term treatment with the combined therapy was sufficient to induce irreversible differentiation and dramatically reduced the total leukemia cell counts and proportion of blast cells in the spleens of AML mice. Collectively, these findings indicate that the activation of cytosolic DNA-sensor signaling in combination with conventional differentiation therapy can be an effective approach to drive the irreversible differentiation of leukemia cells.
Gut bacteria promotes host fitness to special ecological niche by regulating sugar metabolism in Drosophila suzukii
Authors: Gao Huan-Huan , Zhao Shan , Wang Rui-Juan , Zhou Xian-Hong , Qin Dong-Yun , Zhai Yi-Fan
Published: September 2022

As an important fruit pest of global significance, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931) has the special ecological niche with high sugar and low protein, which is different from other Drosophila species in fruits. Gut bacteria have a substantial impact on insect physiology and ecology. However, the contribution of gut microbes to host fitness to special ecological niche is still unclear. This study examined the role of K. oxytoca in development of D. suzukii at physiological and molecular levels. The results showed that, after being removed gut microbiota, the survival rate and the longevity was significantly decreased in D. suzukii (NB strain), while the recolonization of K. oxytoca mainly in D. suzukii midgut (KO strain) helped NB strain promote the development level. The differentially expressed genes and metabolites between NB strain and KO strain could be enriched in carbohydrate metabolism pathways. qPCR analysis and sugar inducing experiment confirmed that, K. oxytoca could promote the development and sugar metabolism of D. suzukii through increasing glycolysis rate and regulating the transcript level of genes HK, PK, PFK, G6Pc, PEPCK in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathway. It was suggested that K. oxytoca plays an important role in promoting the host fitness to high-sugar ecological niche by stimulating its glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathway. Our result may provide a new target for controlling D. suzukii, that is, to inhibit sugar metabolism in D. suzukii by disturbing the regulated role of K. oxytoca and the balance of gut microbial communities.
Multi-objective graph partitioning for the MFD-based perimeter control of an urban network
Authors: Banchero Sergio , Sun Yuchao , Stemler Thomas
Published: September 2022

The Macroscopic Fundamental Diagrams (MFDs) can be applied to guide perimeter control strategies where the network is divided into several manageable regions. Although there has been a large body of literature on the MFD theory, more research is needed on how the network should be best partitioned to suit this purpose. We argue that multiple objectives should be considered, which are (i) each region should have a well-defined MFD so its behaviour can be modelled with reasonable accuracy; (ii) the MFDs should show a clear indication of where the critical density lies; (iii) neighbouring regions should have low time correlation of traffic density to avoid peaking at the same time; (iv) the regions should have a similar size so they have enough capacity to act as the buffer for their neighbours. We developed metrics to quantify these properties and proposed a greedy multi-objective k-way spectral graph partitioning algorithm, in combination with a local search agglomerative process, to search for partitions that optimize these metrics. Pareto-efficiency based criteria were adopted in candidate selection. The case study using the real traffic data from Perth (Western Australia) showed that our method consistently outperforms the benchmarks generated by random partitioning and the traffic density similarity spectral clustering algorithm.
The Effect of Area Characteristics on the Wind in Urban Planning and Design; A Case Study of Düzce City
Authors: ÖZDEDE Sinem , AK Mehmet Kıvanç
Published: September 2022

The understanding of the long-term, nature-friendly planning and design of the environment is seen as an important factor in sustainable environmental studies. This study was influenced by the idea of ​​how wind, which is one of the important climatic elements, can be used and directed effectively to shape the landscape planning and design studies in cities by examining it in terms of direction and speed. In this study, Düzce City was chosen as a material, local wind measurements were used in the city and it was statistically compared with the simultaneous data obtained from the Provincial Directorate of Meteorology. The hypothesis of "the landscape characteristics (Open area/Corridor/Building) affect the wind circulation" was questioned. Wind measurements obtained from various sampling locations across the city as well as the meteorological data and urban plans were used as main study materials; Vantage Pro2 meteorological stations and ArcGIS software were also included as auxiliary materials.
As a result, it has been determined which areas and axes are convenient for the planning and design criteria in terms of wind direction and speed, and in which seasons they have the densest and least circulation characteristics in Düzce City. The results of the study are important in terms of containing information on how the wind affects the planning and design decisions in the process of creating cities.
Strategies to parallelize a finite element mesh truncation technique on multi- and manycore architectures
Authors: Badia Jose M. , Amor-Martin Adrian , Belloch Jose A. , García-Castillo Luis Emilio
Published: September 2022

Achieving maximum parallel performance on multi-core CPUs and many-core GPUs is a challenging task depending on multiple factors. These include, for example, the number and granularity of the computations or the use of the memories of the devices. In this paper, we assess those factors by evaluating and comparing different parallelizations of the same problem on a multiprocessor containing a CPU with 40 cores and four P100 GPUs with Pascal architecture. We use as study case the convolutional operation behind a non-standard finite element mesh truncation technique in the context of open region electromagnetic wave propagation problems. A total of six parallel algorithms implemented using OpenMP and CUDA have been used to carry out the comparison by leveraging the same levels of parallelism on both types of platforms. Three of the algorithms are presented for the first time in this paper, including a multi-GPU method, and two others are improved versions of algorithms previously developed by some of the authors.This paper presents a thorough experimental evaluation of the parallel algorithms on a Radar Cross Section prediction problem. Results show that performance obtained on the GPU clearly overcomes those obtained in the CPU, much more so if we use multiple GPUs to distribute both data and computations. Accelerations close to 30 have been obtained on the CPU, while with the multi-GPU version acceleration larger than 250 have been achieved.
Polytrauma patients with severe cervical spine injuries are different than with severe TBI even though they have similar AIS scores
Authors: Wessem Karlijn J.P. , Niemeyer Menco J.S. , Leenen Luke P.H.
Published: September 2022

Introduction
Traumatic cervical spine injuries (TCSI) are rare injuries. With increasing age the incidence of TCSI is on the rise. TCSI and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are often associated. In calculating Injury Severity Score (ISS) TCSI and TBI are both included in the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS)head. However, outcome of TCSI and TBI might be different through the nature of the injuries. In this retrospective monocenter study the incidence and outcome of TCSI in polytrauma was investigated and compared to TBI.
Methods
Consecutive polytrauma patients aged > 15 years with AIShead > 3 who were admitted to a level-1 trauma center Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from 2015–2021 were included. Demographics, treatment, and outcome parameters were analyzed for patients who had AIShead ≥ 3 based on TCSI and compared to patients with AIShead ≥ 3 based on proper TBI. Data on follow-up were collected for TCSI patients.
Results
Two hundred eighty-seven polytrauma patients (68% male, Injury Severity Score (ISS) 33) with AIS head ≥ 3 were included; Thirty-four patients (12%) had AIShead ≥ 3 based on TCSI whereas 253( 88%) had AIShead ≥ 3 based on TBI. TCSI patients were slightly older, had lower systolic blood pressure in the Emergency Department (ED) and stayed longer in ICU than TBI patients. There was no difference in morbidity and mortality rates. The majority of TCSI patients died of respiratory insufficiency, whereas TBI patients died primarily of TBI. TCSI was mainly located at C2, 59% had associated spinal cord injury, and 9% had associated severe TBI. Median follow-up time was 24 months. Twenty percent had improvement of the spinal cord injury, and 15% died during follow-up.
Discussion
In this study the incidence of severe TCSI in polytrauma was much lower than TBI. Cause of death in TCSI was different compared to TBI demonstrating that AIShead based on TCSI is a different entity than based on TBI. In order to avoid data misinterpretation injuries to the cervical spine should be distinguished from TBI in morbidity and mortality analysis.
Simple rules outperform machine learning for personnel selection: insights from the 3rd annual SIOP machine learning competition
Authors: Harman Jason L. , Scheuerman Jaelle
Published: September 2022

Machine learning (ML) algorithms are often assumed to be the most accurate way of producing pre-dictive models despite problems with explainability and adverse impact. The 3rd annual Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Machine Learning Competition sought to find ML models for personnel selection that could balance the best of ML prediction with the constraint of minimizing selection bias based on race and gender. To test the possible advantages of simple rules over ML algorithms, we entered a simple and explainable rule-based model inspired by recent advances in model comparison. This simple model outperformed most ML models entered and was comparable to the top performers while retaining positive qualities such as explainability and transparency.