bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Co-development and piloting of a menstrual, sexual and reproductive health intervention to improve social and psychological outcomes among secondary schoolgirls in Northern Tanzania: the PASS MHW study protocol
Authors: Okello Elialilia , Rubli Jennifer , Torondel Belen , Makata Kenneth , Ayieko Philip , Kapiga Saidi , Greco Giulia , Renju Jenny
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Poor menstrual health negatively impacts psychosocial and physical health, and subsequently leads to poor school outcomes, but the effort to improve adolescent girls’ menstrual health in Tanzania remains fragmented. This study aimed to develop and pilot a scalable, comprehensive menstrual, sexual and reproductive health (MSRH) intervention within Tanzanian government structures to improve MSRH practices and perceptions and the overall school climate to ensure the psychosocial well-being and optimal school participation and performance among secondary schoolgirls.

Methods and analysis

This study will be conducted in three phases. Phase I will be a formative research to iteratively refine an existing puberty and menstrual health intervention, and to collaboratively design strategies to embed the intervention into government structures thereby promoting scalability. In Phase II, we will pilot and evaluate the refined intervention and implementation strategies using a mixed-methods design to assess (1) feasibility, acceptability and sustainability; and (2) effect on MSRH practices and perceptions and the overall school climate. In Phase III, we will synthesise the research findings in collaboration with the national, regional and district government and non-government stakeholders.

Ethics and dissemination

This pilot study will provide evidence-based recommendations for a comprehensive, complex menstrual and puberty intervention within secondary schools in Tanzania that can be further tested for broader effectiveness across a larger population. Papers, policy briefs and both regional/international conference presentations are planned to reach academic and non-academic groups. Protocol, tools and consent have been reviewed and approved by the independent Tanzanian national ethics committee (NIMR/HQ/R.8a/Vol.IX/3647) and the LSHTM Observational/Interventions Research Ethics Committee (LSHTM Ethics Ref: 22854). The project will involve adolescents, and procedures will be followed to ensure that we obtain permission and consent of parents and guardians and assent from all adolescents below 18 years of age that will be enrolled in the study.
Effects of actual and imagined music-cued gait training on motor functioning and brain activity in people with multiple sclerosis: protocol of a randomised parallel multicentre trial
Authors: Seebacher Barbara , Helmlinger Birgit , Pinter Daniela , Ehling Rainer , Hegen Harald , Ropele Stefan , Reishofer Gernot , Enzinger Christian , Brenneis Christian , Deisenhammer Florian
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Motor imagery (MI) refers to the mental rehearsal of a physical action without muscular activity. Our previous studies showed that MI combined with rhythmic-auditory cues improved walking, fatigue and quality of life (QoL) in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Largest improvements were seen after music and verbally cued MI. It is unclear whether actual cued gait training achieves similar effects on walking as cued MI in pwMS. Furthermore, in pwMS it is unknown whether any of these interventions leads to changes in brain activation. The purpose of this study is therefore to compare the effects of imagined and actual cued gait training and a combination thereof on walking, brain activation patterns, fatigue, cognitive and emotional functioning in pwMS.

Methods and analysis

A prospective double-blind randomised parallel multicentre trial will be conducted in 132 pwMS with mild to moderate disability. Randomised into three groups, participants will receive music, metronome and verbal cueing, plus MI of walking (1), MI combined with actual gait training (2) or actual gait training (3) for 30 min, 4× per week for 4 weeks. Supported by weekly phone calls, participants will practise at home, guided by recorded instructions. Primary endpoints will be walking speed (Timed 25-Foot Walk) and distance (2 min Walk Test). Secondary endpoints will be brain activation patterns, fatigue, QoL, MI ability, anxiety, depression, cognitive functioning, music-induced motivation-to-move, pleasure, arousal and self-efficacy. Data will be collected at baseline, postintervention and 3-month follow-up. MRI reference values will be generated using 15 matched healthy controls.

Ethics and dissemination

This study follows the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials-PRO Extension. Ethical approval was received from the Ethics Committees of the Medical Universities of Innsbruck (1347/2020) and Graz (33-056 ex 20/21), Austria. Results will be disseminated via national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration number

DRKS00023978.
Feasibility of implementing the advanced HIV disease care package as part of community-based HIV/TB activities: a mixed-methods study protocol
Authors: Gils Tinne , Lynen Lutgarde , Muhairwe Josephine , Mashaete Kamele , Lejone Thabo Ishmael , Joseph Philip , Ngubane Thulani , Keter Alfred Kipyegon , Reither Klaus , van Heerden Alastair
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Although the advanced HIV disease (AHD) care package reduces morbidity and mortality in people with AHD (defined in people living with HIV as WHO stage 3 or 4, CD4 count <200 cells/µL or age <5 years), it is barely implemented in many countries. A novel point-of-care CD4 test rapidly identifies AHD. We evaluate the feasibility of implementing the AHD care package as part of community-based HIV/tuberculosis services.

Methods and analysis

This two-phased study is guided by the Medical Research Council framework for evaluation of complex interventions. Stage 1 is a stakeholder consultation to define tools and indicators to assess feasibility of the AHD care package. Stage 2 is the implementation of the AHD care package during a facility-based tuberculosis diagnostic accuracy study in high-burden HIV/tuberculosis settings. Consenting adults with tuberculosis symptoms in two sites in Lesotho and South Africa are eligible for inclusion. HIV-positive participants are included in the feasibility study and are offered a CD4 test, a tuberculosis-lipoarabinomannan assay and those with CD4 count of ≤200 cells/µL a cryptococcal antigen lateral flow assay. Participants are referred for clinical management following national guidelines. The evaluation includes group discussions, participant observation (qualitative strand) and a semistructured questionnaire to assess acceptability among implementers. The quantitative strand also evaluates process compliance (process rating and process cascade) and early outcomes (vital and treatment status after twelve weeks). Thematic content analysis, descriptive statistics and data triangulation will be performed.

Ethics and dissemination

The National Health Research and Ethics Committee, Lesotho, the Human Sciences Research Council Research Ethics Committee and Provincial Department of Health, South Africa and the Ethikkommission Nordwest- und Zentralschweiz, Switzerland, approved the protocol. Dissemination will happen locally and internationally at scientific conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration number

NCT04666311.
Applying Lean principles to create a high throughput mass COVID-19 vaccination site
Authors: Froman Meghan N , Walser Matthew P , Lauzardo Michael , Graban Mark , Southwick Frederick S
Published: February 2022

A high throughput COVID-19 vaccination site was created using Lean principles and tools. Mass-vaccination sites can achieve high output by creating a standard physical design for workspaces and standardised work protocols, and by timing each step in the vaccination process to create a value stream map that can identify and remove all wasteful steps. Reliability of the vaccination process can be assured by creating a visual checklist that monitors the individual steps as well as by building in second checks by downstream personnel. Finally, productivity can be closely monitored by recording the start and completion time for each vaccination and plotting run charts. With 78 personnel working efficiently and effectively together, a maximum throughput of 5024 injections over 10 hours was achieved. As compared with other published COVID-19 mass-vaccination sites, our site attained threefold–fourfold higher productivity. We share our approach to encourage others to reproduce our vaccination system.
Strategies to improve the survival of probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus R0011 during the production and storage of granola bars
Authors: Champagne Claude P. , Guertin Nancy , Raymond Yves
Published: February 2022

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two approaches to protect the viability of probiotic cells during granola bar manufacturing and storage: microencapsulation (ME) and inclusion in chocolate chips. In the process used, hot honey (138 °C) was blended with cereal ingredients, resulting in an initial blend temperature of 52 °C. Chocolate chips carrying probiotics were added; however, when the blend was cooled to 42 °C. The viability of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus R0011 probiotic was assessed by flow cytometry (FC) and plating (CFU). There was an uneven distribution of inoculated probiotic bacteria throughout the cereal bars, resulting in variability in the CFU data. By providing total and viable counts, FC assessed the correct number of inoculated cells in the sample, which enabled the accurate calculation of survival levels. Spray coating with ME increased survival during manufacturing, but ME in alginate particles was detrimental. Including the cultures in chocolate improved the stability of the probiotics during storage at 25 °C, but only in the first 4 weeks. FC analyses showed that viability losses during bar manufacturing could be linked to damage to the cell membrane, but less so during storage.
Dynamic peculiarities of interphase boundaries and domain walls for non-spin domains
Authors: Bakaleinikov L.A. , Gordon A.
Published: February 2022

The analysis of magnetization oscillations (de Haas – van Alphen effect; dHvA effect) and features of the Fermi surface shape in three (3D)- and two-dimensional (2D) metals shows that the dynamic phenomena — the dynamics of domain walls and interphase boundaries during diamagnetic phase transitions — are described by a new nonlinear partial differential equation. The equation is a result of the inclusion of the case of multiple extremal cross sections of the Fermi surface in these metals. Our consideration indicates the possibility of the appearance of metastable non-spin domains (Condon domains) and first-order phase transitions to the ordered phase in the regime of dHvA oscillations for the two-frequency case. Sine–Gordon, Klein–Gordon, double sine–Gordon, time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations, and the telegraph equation are limiting cases of the derived equation. We show that particular moving kink-soliton solutions of the equation describe traveling wave fronts being moving domain walls and interphase boundaries in the Condon domain phase.
Finite-temperature infinite matter with effective-field-theory-inspired energy-density functionals
Authors: Burrello Stefano , Grasso Marcella
Published: February 2022

Finite-temperature infinite matter is analyzed with the recently introduced effective-field-theory(EFT)-inspired YGLO (Yang–Grasso–Lacroix–Orsay) and ELYO (extended Lee–Yang, Orsay) functionals, which are designed to describe very low-density regimes in symmetric (YGLO) and in pure neutron (YGLO and ELYO) matter. The article deals with neutron matter and aims to verify whether the use of these functionals allows us to correctly incorporate finite-temperature effects. We compare our results for some relevant thermodynamical quantities with the corresponding ones computed with a chosen reference ab-initio model, namely the many-body-perturbation-theory scheme. We validate the reliability of both EFT-inspired functionals at least at rather low densities and not too high temperatures and we discuss the effects related to the effective mass. We conclude that, at the present stage, the ELYO functional, having a higher neutron effective mass around saturation (closer to ab-initio values), allows us to describe finite-temperature properties more satisfactorily, in better agreement with ab-initio predictions up to higher densities and temperatures, compared to YGLO.
Design and Evaluation of a Self Write-Terminated Hybrid MTJ/CMOS Full Adder Based on LIM Structure
Authors: Barla Prashanth , Joshi Vinod Kumar , Bhat Somashekara
Published: February 2022

In this paper, a power-efficient self write-terminated hybrid full-adder (SWTHFA) has been developed using the self write-terminated write driver and an improved version of the sense amplifier already reported in the literature. The SWTHFA is designed using hybrid spin transfer torque-magnetic tunnel junction (STT-MTJ)/CMOS circuit based on logic-in-memory architecture. The use of a modified sense amplifier improves the power dissipation and output response on one hand, whereas, on the other hand, self-write-terminated write driver cuts off the unnecessary flow of write current in the driver circuit, thereby eliminates power wastage in SWTHFA. Proposed SWTHFA shows improvement in power saving, output response, read and write power delay product by 38.87%, 26.45%, 40.86% and 36.53%, respectively, compared to conventional write hybrid full-adder (CWHFA). Further, we performed Monte-Carlo simulations by incorporating process and mismatch variations for CMOS and extracted parameters of MTJ to demonstrate the feasibility of SWTHFA in low-power VLSI circuits.
STATIONARY AND ULTRASONIC NANOPARTICLE ASSEMBLY ON NOTABLE SURFACES
Authors: AHMAD IMTIAZ , JAN RAHIM , RIAZ ANMOL , NAYAB GUL E
Published: February 2022

Frequently used wettable (SiO[Formula: see text] and nonwettable highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces have been investigated for the deposition and shape separation of gold nanorods and rod–sphere mixture using the droplet evaporation method. In this paper, we explore and compare the resulting assembly using immovable and ultrasonic systems. On HOPG, stable evaporation produces monolayer arrays of gold nanorods on the terraces whereas aligned arrays of nanorods at the step-edges of HOPG. However, isolated large islands of nanorods on the terraces of HOPG and aligned nanorods at the step-edges become chaotic under the ultrasonic deposition. Also besides gold nanorods, excess cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) molecules in suspension are deposited on the terraces in the form of mono- and multilayers revealed by an atomic force microscope (AFM). Both stable as well as ultrasonic vibration techniques were employed on the rod–sphere mixture over the SiO2 substrate. Stable drying of a droplet showed order arrays of gold nanorods separated from nanospheres everywhere in the coffee-stain ring. The fascinating assembly has been observed for such suspension deposits obtained under ultrasonic vibrations. Aligned arrays of nanorods covered with CTAB surfactants have been sterically as well as osmotically depleted first nearly all CTAB-coated nanospheres and then self-assembled them with the similar geometries within the coffee-stain ring on the SiO2 surface. The same separation effect has been observed within the initial pinning as well as everywhere over the terraces of the HOPG.
Content-Based Collaborative Filtering with Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering Using User/ Item based Ratings
Authors: Murty Chakka S. V. V. S. N. , Saradhi Varma G. P. , Satyanarayana Ch.
Published: February 2022

The recommender system (RS) plays the major role in online networks, online shopping, and online services etc. The conventional RSs are suffering with the inaccurate quality of experience to the users, so the improper content is recommending to customers. The content based collaborative filtering (CBCF) method is introduced to solve the issues presented in the RSs. However, the CBCF method is suffering with the cold start problem for new users and suffering with data accuracy, data sparsity, and scalable data in clustering process. Thus, to solve these problems, this article proposes hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) based collaborative filtering (HAC-CF) for RSs. The proposed HAC-CF based RS functions by utilizing the incentivized/ penalized user (IPU) model with user-based and item-based ratings. To this end, users are divided into several clusters through single link graph partitioning through minimum distance criteria. Then, the final item ranking is computed using Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) similarity of users. Hence, recommendation efficiency and accuracy are increased at the end user by combining user, item models. The simulation results show the performance enhancement of proposed method with respect to F1-score, recall, and precision as compared to the conventional approaches.
Model Research of Vehicle Intelligent Scheduling Problem in Distribution Center Based on Improved Differential Evolution Algorithm
Authors: Cui Wei , Xu XiaoLing
Published: February 2022

With the continuous expansion of the city scale and the increasing population, people have put forward higher requirements for the speed, reliability and economy of logistics distribution. Although there have been many achievements in the research on the vehicle optimal scheduling decision model and its solution algorithm, there are some problems such as low solution efficiency, long time consumption, and easy to fall into the local optimal solution. The purpose of this paper is to study the model of vehicle scheduling problem in distribution center based on improved differential evolution algorithm. This paper firstly makes a simple analysis of the vehicle distribution route optimization problem, and points out the main factors that constitute the route optimization problem; then analyzes the principle of the differential evolution algorithm, and on this basis, the differential evolution algorithm is improved. In the experimental part, this paper takes a distribution center as the research object, and proposes the implementation steps of the algorithm of the vehicle scheduling problem based on the improved differential evolution algorithm. And test the running cost of the improved differential evolution algorithm and differential evolution algorithm. Experimental results show that applying the improved differential evolution algorithm to vehicle scheduling problems has certain practicality. When the number of iterations reaches 60, the running cost of the improved differential evolution algorithm is 1,200 yuan, and the running cost of the differential evolution algorithm is 1,300 yuan.
Mapping the State of the Art to Envision the Future of Large-Scale Citizen Science Projects: An Interpretive Review
Authors: Palumbo Rocco , Manesh Mohammad Fakhar , Sorrentino Maddalena
Published: February 2022

Citizen science, i.e. citizens’ involvement in research activities, is achieving an increasing re-levance across disparate scientific domains. However, literature is not consistent in arguing citizen science’s attributes and implications when large-scale projects are concerned. The paper systematizes extant scientific knowledge in this field and identifies avenues for further deve-lopments through a bibliometric analysis and an interpretive review. Various approaches to citizen science are implemented to engage citizens in scientific research. They can be located in a continuum composed of two extremes: a contributory approach, which serves research institutions’ needs, and an open science approach, which focuses on citizens’ active participation in knowledge co-creation. Although contributory citizen science paves the way for participatory science, it falls short in empowering citizens, which is central in the open science approach. Interventions aimed at enabling citizens to have an active role in co-creating knowledge in a perspective of science democratization are key to overcoming the understanding of citizen science as a low-cost model of scientific research and to boost the transition towards an open science approach.
Phase transition and luminescent properties of the Eu3+ ions-doped NaYF4:Yb, Er nanoparticles
Authors: Wang Zhe , Li Xueshuang , Yin Shengyan , Guo Xingyuan , Qin Weiping
Published: February 2022

Monodisperse cubic NaYF4: 20%Yb, 2%Er nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized using the high-temperature thermal decomposition method. It is found that the crystal structure of NaYF4: 20%Yb, 2%Er, [Formula: see text]%Eu ([Formula: see text] 0, 2, 4) NPs changes from cubic to hexagonal phase with the increase in Eu[Formula: see text] concentration, and the upconversion (UC) luminescent intensities of green and red emissions were decreasing. The emission peaks of Eu[Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] 1, 2)) ions and the extra peaks of Er[Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] ions at 450 nm are found, which suggests that the energy transfer between Er[Formula: see text] ions and Eu[Formula: see text] ions occurred with the near infrared light excitation. The probable mechanism related to the cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition of NaYF4 and energy transfer between Eu[Formula: see text] and Er[Formula: see text] ions or Yb[Formula: see text] ions are discussed.
ASSESSING STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS IN CHINA UNDER THE SHARED SOCIOECONOMIC PATHWAYS FRAMEWORK
Authors: PENG SI-YU , LIU JING-YU , GENG YONG
Published: February 2022

To realize China’s target of carbon neutrality by 2060, the country’s domestic textile industry faces tremendous pressure to reduce emissions. We assessed the potential of socioeconomic conditions and climate policies for reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of textile products in China up to 2050 using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach and integrated assessment model (IAM) within the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) framework. The results showed that a combination of socioeconomic conditions and climate policies can reduce annual carbon emissions by 89.0% and reduce accumulate emissions by 34.3% by 2050. Among the strategies examined in this study, energy decarbonization and power conservation exhibited the highest potential for reducing emissions. We also demonstrated the importance of improving industry interconnectivity, developing textile recycling frameworks, and promoting sustainable consumption.
Spatial Features and Functional Implications of Plant 3D Genome Organization
Authors: Domb Katherine , Wang Nan , Hummel Guillaume , Liu Chang
Published: February 2022

The advent of high-throughput sequencing-based methods for chromatin conformation, accessibility, and immunoprecipitation assays has been a turning point in 3D genomics. Altogether, these new tools have been pushing upward the interpretation of pioneer cytogenetic evidence for a higher order in chromatin packing. Here, we review the latest development in our understanding of plant spatial genome structures and different levels of organization and discuss their functional implications. Then, we spotlight the complexity of organellar (i.e., mitochondria and plastids) genomes and discuss their 3D packing into nucleoids. Finally, we propose unaddressed research axes to investigate functional links between chromatin-like dynamics and transcriptional regulation within organellar nucleoids.
Tectonics of the Colorado Plateau and Its Margins
Authors: Karlstrom Karl E. , Wilgus Justin , Thacker Jacob O. , Schmandt Brandon , Coblentz David , Albonico Micael
Published: February 2022

The Cenozoic Colorado Plateau physiographic province overlies multiple Precambrian provinces. Its ∼2-km elevation rim surrounds an ∼1.6-km elevation core that is underlain by thicker crust and lithospheric mantle, with a sharp structural transition ∼100 km concentrically inboard of the physiographic boundary on all but its northeastern margin. The region was uplifted in three episodes: ∼70–50 Ma uplift above sea level driven by flat-slab subduction; ∼38–23 Ma uplift associated with voluminous regional magmatism and slab removal, and less than 20 Ma uplift associated with inboard propagation of basaltic magmatism that tracked convective erosion of the lithospheric core. Neogene uplift helped integrate the Colorado River from the Rockies at 11 Ma to the Gulf of California by ∼5 Ma. The sharp rim-to-core transition defined by geological and geophysical data sets suggests a young transient plateau that is uplifting as it shrinks to merge with surrounding regions of postorogenic extension. ▪ The Colorado Plateau's iconic landscapes were shaped during its 70-million-year, still-enigmatic, tectonic evolution characterized by uplift and erosion. ▪ Uplift of the Colorado Plateau from sea level took place in three episodes, the youngest of which has been ongoing for the past 20 million years. ▪ Tectonism across the Colorado Plateau's nearest plate margin (the base of the plate!) is driving uplift and volcanism and enhancing its rugged landscapes. ▪ The bowl-shaped Colorado Plateau province is defined by ongoing uplift and an inboard sweep of magmatism around its margins. ▪ The keel of the Colorado Plateau is being thinned as the North American plate moves southwest through the underlying asthenosphere.
Spatiotemporal Adaptations of Macrophage and Dendritic Cell Development and Function
Authors: Roquilly Antoine , Mintern Justine D. , Villadangos Jose A.
Published: February 2022

Macrophages and conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are distributed throughout the body, maintaining tissue homeostasis and tolerance to self and orchestrating innate and adaptive immunity against infection and cancer. As they complement each other, it is important to understand how they cooperate and the mechanisms that integrate their functions. Both are exposed to commensal microbes, pathogens, and other environmental challenges that differ widely among anatomical locations and over time. To adjust to these varying conditions, macrophages and cDCs acquire spatiotemporal adaptations (STAs) at different stages of their life cycle that determine how they respond to infection. The STAs acquired in response to previous infections can result in increased responsiveness to infection, termed training, or in reduced responses, termed paralysis, which in extreme cases can cause immunosuppression. Understanding the developmental stage and location where macrophages and cDCs acquire their STAs, and the molecular and cellular players involved in their induction, may afford opportunities to harness their beneficial outcomes and avoid or reverse their deleterious effects. Here we review our current understanding of macrophage and cDC development, life cycle, function, and STA acquisition before, during, and after infection.We propose a unified framework to explain how these two cell types adjust their activities to changing conditions over space and time to coordinate their immunosurveillance functions.
Recovery and Reuse of Spent ITO Targets through Electrochemical Techniques
Authors: Su Xianwei , Li Shaolong , Che Yusi , Song Jianxun , Yang Bin , He Jilin
Published: February 2022

Indium is a strategically scarce metal with excellent conductivity and light transmittance that is widely used to prepare ITO targets. In this work, an electrolysis method was exploited to recover and reuse spent ITO (s-ITO) targets to provide a novel way to recycle valuable resources. The electrochemical behaviors of indium tin oxide were studied first by cyclic voltammetry in CaCl2 at 850 °C. A reduction peak corresponding to the simultaneous reduction of indium tin oxide was found at −0.5 V vs Pt. Then, indium-tin alloy was recovered by electrolysis of s-ITO particles in CaCl2 at −2.8 V and 850 °C. The mass ratio of In and Sn in the alloy obtained by electrolysis is almost the same as that in the initial s-ITO before electrolysis. In addition, oxide composite powders were obtained by electrolysis of the alloy in NH4Cl aqueous solution, which can be used to synthesize ITO targets. The particle size of the composite powders was between 20 nm and 60 nm, and the distribution of each element was uniform.
Metformin prevents endothelial oxidative stress and microvascular insulin resistance during obesity development in male rats
Authors: Liu Jia , Aylor Kevin W. , Chai Weidong , Barrett Eugene J. , Liu Zhenqi
Published: February 2022

Muscle microvascular insulin action contributes to insulin-mediated glucose use. Microvascular insulin resistance is an early event in diet-induced obesity and is associated with vascular inflammation. Metformin effectively reduces endothelial oxidative stress, improves endothelial function, and prevents microvascular insulin resistance during obesity development. These may contribute to metformin’s salutary diabetes prevention and cardiovascular protective actions.
Molecular Assessment of Scutellaria barbata D. Don in the Treatment of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification
Authors: Shi Hongjian , Liu Jie , Fan Jingying , He Lan , Wang Xianwen , Tang Faqing , Tian Daofa , He Yingchun
Published: February 2022

Objective. To predict the molecular mechanisms behind the benefits of Scutellaria barbata D. Don (S. barbata) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by network pharmacology and experimental verification. Methods. The active ingredients and targets of S. barbata were searched in the traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology database and analysis platform, and the disease targets of NPC were obtained by searching the GeneCards database. A common target protein-protein interaction network was constructed by STRING, and then, an active ingredients-NPC-target interaction network map was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.2 software. The functional enrichment analyses of Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway data were carried out by R software programming. Finally, cell proliferation was assessed by CCK8, apoptosis was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI double fluorescence staining, and protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting. Results. In this study, 29 active ingredients were found in S. barbata. Among these, the main targets for NPC were baicalein, wogonin, luteolin, and quercetin. The main molecular targets of S. barbata on NPC were EGFR, MYC, CASP3, CCND1, and ESR1. The main biological processes involved the binding of DNA-binding transcription factors, RNA polymerase II-specific DNA-binding transcription factors, ubiquitin-like protein ligases, and ubiquitin-protein ligases. S. barbata mainly affects NPC through the PI3K-Akt, p53, and MAPK signaling pathways. The experimental results showed that baicalein and wogonin could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of NPC cells and downregulate the expression of PI3K, AKT, and p53, the key proteins of the PI3K/AKT and p53 signaling pathway in CNE2 cells. Conclusion. Baicalein and wogonin, the main active ingredients of S. barbata, inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis of NPC cells through the PI3K/AKT and p53 signaling pathways.
Convolutional Neural Network Architectures to Solve a Problem of Tuberculosis Classification Using X‐Ray Images of the Lungs
Authors: Alshudukhi Jalawi , Aljaloud Saud , Alharbi Talal Saad , Abebaw Solomon
Published: February 2022

Disease detection, diagnosis, and treatment can all be done with the help of digitalized medical images. Macroscopic medical images are images obtained using ionizing radiation or magnetism that identify organs and body structures. In recent years, various computational tools such as databases, distributed processing, digital image processing, and pattern recognition in digital medical images have contributed to the development of Computer‐Aided Diagnosis (CAD), which serves as an auxiliary tool in health care. The use of various architectures based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the automatic detection of diseases in medical images is proposed in this work. Different types of medical images are used in this work, such as chest tomography for identifying types of tuberculosis and chest X‐rays for detecting pneumonia to solve the same number of classification problems or detect patterns associated with diseases. Finally, an algorithm for automatic registration of thoracic regions is proposed, which intrinsically identifies the translation, scale, and rotation that align the thoracic regions in X‐ray images.
Characterizations and Entropy Measures of the Exponentiated Generalized Frechet Geometric Distribution
Authors: Saud Naz , Rafique Aqsa , Ijaz Muhammad , Amjad Naila , El-Morshedy Mahmoud , Shah Syed Habib
Published: February 2022

Some characterizations and entropy measures of the Exponentiated Generalized Fréchet Geometric (EGFG) distribution are studied in this paper. Firstly, characterizations of the EGFG distribution based on five different approaches are discussed. The submodels for the EGFG distribution with their characterization expressions formed on the ratio of two truncated moments are also presented. Secondly, four different entropy measures are considered and expressed analytically via the incomplete gamma function. The behavior of all these entropy measures is discussed by performing a numerical study.
Quark-Antiquark Effective Potential in Symplectic Quantum Mechanics
Authors: Luz Renato , Petronilo Gustavo , de Santana Ademir , Costa Caroline , Amorim Ronni , Paiva Rendisley
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we study within the structure of Symplectic Quantum Mechanics a bidimensional nonrelativistic strong interaction system which represent the bound state of heavy quark-antiquark, where we consider a Cornell potential which consists of Coulomb-type plus linear potentials. First, we solve the Schrödinger equation in the phase space with the linear potential. The solution (ground state) is obtained and analyzed by means of the Wigner function related to Airy function for the

c

c

¯

meson. In the second case, to treat the Schrödinger-like equation in the phase space, a procedure based on the Bohlin transformation is presented and applied to the Cornell potential. In this case, the system is separated into two parts, one analogous to the oscillator and the other we treat using perturbation method. Then, we quantized the Hamiltonian with the aid of stars operators in the phase space representation so that we can determine through the algebraic method the eigenfunctions of the undisturbed Hamiltonian (oscillator solution), and the other part of the Hamiltonian was the perturbation method. The eigenfunctions found (undisturbed plus disturbed) are associated with the Wigner function via Weyl product using the representation theory of Galilei group in the phase space. The Wigner function is analyzed, and the nonclassicality of ground state and first excited state is studied by the nonclassicality indicator or negativity parameter of the Wigner function for this system. In some aspects, we observe that the Wigner function offers an easier way to visualize the nonclassic nature of meson system than the wavefunction does phase space.
Target Mining and Recognition of Product Form Innovation Design Based on Image Word Similarity Model
Authors: Zhang Qinwei , Liu Zhifeng , Zhang Xinxin , Mu Chunyang , Lv Shuo
Published: February 2022

Product Kansei image design is one of the research hotspot of product emotional design. Due to the subjectivity, low efficiency, and low level of intelligence in the existing product form innovation design methods in the mining of design goals. This study combines the semantic dictionary of Tongyici Cilin with Kansei engineering theory and uses clustering analysis algorithm, semantic difference method, and word similarity calculation method to realize product Kansei image design. Tongyici Cilin is a computable Chinese semantic dictionary. In this study, we innovatively introduced Tongyici Cilin into the image word similarity calculation in product image design. First, the product image design process based on Tongyici Cilin is proposed. Then, we establish a model of image word similarity calculation using the common distance, difference distance, common adjustment parameter, and differential adjustment parameter. By comparing with international standard data, it is confirmed that the image word similarity calculation model proposed in this article is effective and efficient. Using the sedan image design of middle-aged, middle-income men as an example, the sedan form style of each target image was successfully derived from the Internet-based questionnaire. Based on the case studies, we determined that it is effective to use the Tongyici Cilin semantic dictionary to determine the target image and improve the efficiency of product image design.
Construction of Sports and Health Data Resources and Transformation of Teachers’ Orientation Based on Web Database
Authors: Yang Jiawen , Chen Min
Published: February 2022

In the intelligent era, emerging information technology helps to transform the information society into an intelligent society and the educational system into a new educational ecology. Teachers must change their roles to be competent for future education and teaching as a result of social transformation, technology application, and education development. Simultaneously, figuring out how to sort sports health data and analyze students’ physical health information with a low error rate is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. Data management skills are an unavoidable requirement of the current state of school physical education. Sports health information management will become easier as computer technology advances and the country places a greater emphasis on computer networks. This paper proposes a Web database-based sports health data management system. This paper can help schools understand the relationship between important factors and indicators that affect students’ health in order to guide them in making timely changes to their physical education programs. Provide a reasonable sports health plan based on scientific analysis and evaluation to achieve the goal of improving students’ physical quality and reducing workload.
Application of Two‐Stage Network Super‐Efficiency DEA to Efficiency Analysis of Chinese Commercial Banks
Authors: Li Qingquan , Chen Shiqi , He Lu , Huang Guohui , Li Rong , Pan Wentsao
Published: February 2022

Commercial banks occupy an important leading position in China’s banking industry, and their efficiency is of great reference value to the economy of China’s financial system, reflecting the current state of China’s economy. In this paper, the super‐efficiency DEA values of 19 commercial banks from 2016 to 2020 are calculated by employing the super‐efficiency method into the two‐stage network DEA model with constant returns to scale. Compared with the traditional two‐stage network DEA model, this method is better. The results show that the calculated values are more accurate than the DEA values measured directly by the two‐stage network, and the banks with an efficiency value of 1 can be further distinguished. According to the analysis of table data, the operating efficiency of ICBC is the highest, the operating efficiency of the entire banking sector is at a medium level, the second stage has a greater impact on the overall efficiency, and the loan side business needs to be improved.
Optimization of Agricultural Machinery Task Scheduling Algorithm Based on Multiobjective Optimization
Authors: Zheng Liang
Published: February 2022

In order to improve the effect of agricultural machinery task scheduling, this paper starts from the perspective of multiobjective optimization to achieve task scheduling based on multiobjective particle swarm optimization algorithm. The position of each particle is a combination of resource options for each construction activity, and the displacement range and speed range of the particles are determined. Moreover, this paper uses the method of introducing an external storage library to store the current noninferior solutions and uses the adaptive grid method and the roulette selection method to select the global optimal solution of the particles. In addition, this paper proposes a task scheduling algorithm suitable for modern agricultural machinery based on the actual needs of current agricultural machinery task scheduling. The experimental results show that the agricultural machinery task scheduling algorithm based on multiobjective optimization proposed in this paper has a good agricultural machinery task scheduling effect and meets the basic purpose of optimizing the algorithm in this paper.
An Association Rule-Based Multiresource Mining Method for MOOC Teaching
Authors: Jia Nan , Madina Zamira
Published: February 2022

The selection of MOOC teaching resources is influenced by diversified resource positioning methods, which leads to low index efficiency of resource mining. Therefore, this paper proposes a multiresource mining method based on association rules to collect the learning behavior data of MOOC users and establish the MOOC teaching resource warehouse. Aiming at the attribute set of information association positioning, the association rules of teaching resources are designed. In addition, the association rules are combined with the shortest path scheduling scheme of teaching resources to establish the location and mining of diversified MOOC teaching-associated resources. Finally, the clustering method is used to process the results of teaching resource mining and complete the clustering of diversified teaching resources. Experimental results show that the index time required by the proposed mining method is 0.1 s, which is only 1/6 of other resource mining methods.
Thyme Oil and Thymol Counter Doxorubicin-Induced Hepatotoxicity via Modulation of Inflammation, Apoptosis, and Oxidative Stress
Authors: Ahmed Osama M. , Galaly Sanaa R. , Mostafa Mennah-Allah M. A. , Eed Emad M. , Ali Tarek M. , Fahmy Alzhraa M. , Zaky Mohamed Y.
Published: February 2022

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an effective anticancer agent with a wide spectrum of activities. However, it has many adverse effects on various organs especially on the liver. Thymol, one of the major components of thyme oil, has biological properties that include anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Thus, this study was designed to examine thyme oil and thymol for their ability to prevent doxorubicin-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Hepatotoxicity was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of doxorubicin, at a dose of 2 mg/kg bw/week, for seven weeks. Doxorubicin-injected rats were supplemented with thyme oil and thymol at doses 250 and 100 mg/kg bw, respectively, four times/week by oral gavage for the same period. Treatment of rats with thyme oil and thymol reversed the high serum activities of AST, ALT, and ALP and total bilirubin, AFP, and CA19.9 levels, caused by doxorubicin. Thyme oil and thymol also reduced the high levels of TNF-α and the decreased levels of both albumin and IL-4. These agents ameliorated doxorubicin-induced elevation in hepatic lipid peroxidation and associated reduction in GSH content and GST and GPx activities. Further, the supplementation with thyme oil and thymol significantly augmented mRNA expression of the level of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and significantly downregulated nuclear and cytoplasmic levels of the hepatic apoptotic mediator p53. Thus, thyme oil and thymol successfully counteracted doxorubicin-induced experimental hepatotoxicity via their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiapoptotic properties.
Therapeutic Values of Earthworm Species Extract from Azad Kashmir as Anticoagulant, Antibacterial, and Antioxidant Agents
Authors: Mustafa Rozina Ghulam , Dr Saiqa Andleeb , Domínguez Jorge , Jamil Madiha , Manzoor Saira , Wazir Samna , Shaheen Bushra , Parveen Asma , Khan Rida , Ali Shaukat , Ali Nazish Mazhar , Jalal Fatima , Raja Sadaf Azad
Published: February 2022

Aims. Current research aimed to explore the therapeutic values of different earthworms as antibacterial, anticoagulant, and antioxidant agents. Methods. Ten different earthworms, i.e., Amynthas corticis, Amynthas gracilis, Pheretima posthuma, Eisenia fetida, Aporrectodea rosea, Allolobophora chlorotica, Aporrectodea trapezoides, Polypheretima elongata, Aporrectodea caliginosa, and Pheretima hawayana, were collected and screened for biological activities. Antibacterial effect analysis of earthworm species was done against fourteen bacterial pathogens, i.e., Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1), Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella flexneri, Enterobacter amnigenus, Serratia odorifera, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2), Staphylococcus warneri, and Lactobacillus curvatus, via agar well diffusion, crystal violet, MTT, agar disc diffusion, and direct bioautography assays. Antioxidant potential was evaluated through ABTS and DPPH assays. Lipolytic, proteolytic, and amylolytic assays were done for lipase, protease, and amylase enzymes confirmation. In vitro anticoagulant effects were examined in the blood samples by measuring prothrombin time. Results. Results revealed that all earthworm extracts showed the inhibition of all tested bacterial pathogens except P. aeruginosa (1), P. aeruginosa (2), S. warneri, and L. curvatus. The maximum zone of inhibition of E. coli was recorded as 14.66 ± 0.57 mm by A. corticis, 25.0 ± 0.0 mm by P. posthuma, 20.0 ± 0.0 mm by E. fetida, and 20.0 ± 0.0 mm by A. trapezoid. Cell proliferation, biofilm inhibition, the synergistic effect of extracts along with antibiotics, and direct bioautography supported the results of agar well diffusion assay. Similarly, P. hawayana, A. corticis, A. caliginosa, and A. trapezoids increase the prothrombin time more efficiently compared to other earthworms. A. corticis, A. gracilis, A. rosea, A. chlorotica, P. elongata, and A. trapezoides showed maximum DPPH scavenging potential effect. Conclusions. The coelomic fluid of earthworms possessed several bioactive compounds/enzymes/antioxidants that play an important role in the bacterial inhibition and act as anticoagulant agents. Therefore, the development of new therapeutic drugs from invertebrates could be effective and potential for the prevention of the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Construction and Analysis of Macroeconomic Forecasting Model Based on Biclustering Algorithm
Authors: Pang Chao
Published: February 2022

In recent years, with the globalization of information and Internetization, the phenomenon of information overload has appeared in the production of large amounts of data, and data mining has emerged as the times require. Clustering technology is a representative data mining technology. Cluster analysis has been applied to data mining and has achieved significant results. However, with the deepening of people’s understanding, it has been found that this either/or classification is increasingly not suitable for fuzzy classification problems. Therefore, fuzzy clustering technology, which combines the strengths of machine learning and fuzzy mathematics, has become the new darling of clustering technology and has achieved outstanding results in clustering accuracy. How to obtain a more accurate division from the vast economic statistics of the Statistical Yearbook has become a difficult problem, especially when there is no prior information. Based on China’s macroeconomic statistics, this paper applies the biclustering method to the field of economic zoning for the first time, researches and predicts the economic region division plan of China’s provinces and the economic growth model of each province, and combines the results with traditional levels. The results of the class methods are compared. The research results show that the hierarchical clustering algorithm is relatively intuitive and easy to apply to the overall analysis of the national economic divisions. The result of the biclustering algorithm has its unique advantages in mining the commonalities of various provinces under certain attribute sets.