bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Building Trust in Deep Learning-based Immune Response Predictors with Interpretable Explanations
Authors: Borole Piyush , Rajan Ajitha
Published: May 2023

The ability to predict whether a peptide will get presented on Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I molecules has profound implications in designing vaccines. Numerous deep learning-based predictors for peptide presentation on MHC class I molecules exist with high levels of accuracy. However, these MHC class I predictors are treated as black-box functions, providing little insight into their decision making. To build trust in these predictors, it is crucial to understand the rationale behind their decisions with human-interpretable explanations. We present MHCXAI, eXplainable AI (XAI) techniques to help interpret the outputs from MHC class I predictors in terms of input peptide features. In our experiments, we explain the outputs of four state-of-the-art MHC class I predictors over a large dataset of peptides and MHC alleles. Additionally, we evaluate the reliability of the explanations by comparing against ground truth and checking their robustness. MHCXAI seeks to increase understanding of deep learning-based predictors in the immune response domain and build trust with validated explanations
Evaluation of the role of Computed tomography in detection of complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy
Authors: Mousa Ahmed Hafez , Tarabay Ahmed , Mehana Elsayed Mohamed , Alajmi Moudhi Mohammed , Maghrebi Tasneem Khalid , Bondogji Raghad , Almonaye Haleema Sami , Radwan Hanin , Khaled Islam
Published: May 2023

Aim Obesity is a significant global health care issue with a huge impact on individuals' well being. Sleeve gastrectomy is a surgical procedure involving the resection of part the stomach leading to reduction in its volume resulting in reduced food intake and weight loss. The objective of our study is to ascertain whether a routine postoperative CT scan is an effective tool for early detection of complications post LSG or notMethods A retrospective descriptive study conducted in a single tertiary center hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia through a period of three months from January to March 2022. Only those patients who had done a sleeve-gastrectomy plus post-operative computed tomography scan were included.Results A total of 112 patients were a part of this study. Among the included patients, 73 (65.2%) were females, and 39 (34.8%) were males, with a mean age of 36.2 [14–70] years; furthermore, the mean body mass index of those patients was shown to be 46.3 [29–77] kg/m2. For surgical complications, 18 (16.1%) cases of anastomotic leaks were radiologically diagnosed making it the most frequent type of surgical complications. Morbidity according to non-surgical complications includes atelectasis, which was diagnosed in 33.9% (38) (of the patients in contrast to cases of pleural effusions which were less occurring in 23.2% (26) of the patients.Conclusion In summary, among our studied cohort, we found that the most commonly detected surgical complication using CT post sleeve gastrectomy was anastomotic leaks, whereas the most non-surgical complication was found to be atelectasis
Effect of repeated tensile load damage on chloride-ion transport properties in concrete
Authors: Zhang Qingzhang , Fang Yan , Wang Feng , Song Li , Jiang Heng
Published: May 2023

Concrete structures in marine environments often face durability problems owing to the coupled action of external loads and chloride-ion erosion. Therefore, in this study, we conducted chloride ion tests on damaged concrete at four tensile stress levels and three varying number of load cycles. The test results indicate that an increase in the tensile stress and number of load cycles results in a gradual increase in the concrete damage coefficient. At fewer cycles, 50% tensile stress was the critical threshold point of damage; the damage was evident beyond this range. As the number of cycles increased, the damage increased gradually up to the critical threshold and thereafter increased rapidly. With an increase in the tensile stress level, the diffusion coefficient of chloride ions increased gradually; the loading degree improved the permeability of chloride ions. In addition, based on the theory of linear fatigue cumulative damage to concrete, a mathematical model of the relationship between the load factor and concrete damage coefficient was established. Using this model, a prediction model for the chloride ion diffusion coefficient was proposed considering the tensile stress level, load cycle number, and other load factors.
Investigating Proliferation and Differentiation Capacities of Hanwoo Myosatellite Cells at Different Passages for Developing Cell-Cultured Meat
Authors: Park Sanghun , Park Gyutae , Oh Sehyuk , Park Yunhwan , Kim Yuna , Kim Jaeyoung , Choi Jungseok
Published: May 2023

The aim of study was to investigate proliferation and differentiation capacities of Hanwoo myosatellite cells for the development of Hanwoo cell cultures. From P1 to P19, the number of live cells decreased and the cell size increased. It was confirmed that the PAX7 mRNA was higher in P3 than P6 and P9 (p < 0.05). The maximum differentiation score was measured from P1 to P12. The maximum differentiation score maintained high from P1 to P10. Immunostaining was performed for both P1 and P10 cells to investigate differentiation characteristics. And there were no significant differences in differentiation characteristics between P1 and P10 cells. MYOG mRNA was low, whereas C-FOSmRNA was high (p < 0.05) in the late passage. Myosin and Tom20 protein also showed low values in the late passage (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that it is appropriate to use P1 to P10 for the production of cultured meat using Hanwoo muscle cells. If cell culture meat production is performed without differentiation, the passage range may increase further. These results provide basic essential data required for further development of Hanwoo cell cultures, which could provide a valuable source of protein for human populations in the future.
SZC and SPS, which is Better on Hyperkalemia in Dialysis Patients: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Yang Juan , Guo Yanchao , Chen Shibo , Yang Ping , Ning Yong , Yao Ying , Xu Gang , Zhang Meng
Published: May 2023

Purpose
Patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) lose the capacity of renal potassium excretion and often suffer from persistent hyperkalemia, especially for those requiring maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC) is the most recently approved K + binding agent in China. It is reported SZC is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for pre-dialysis hyperkalemia in patients with ESRD undergoing adequate hemodialysis. We thus conducted a retrospective study to compare the therapeutic efficiency of SZC and sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS, another classic K + binding agent) on hyperkalemia in HD patients. Methods: 38 patients with persistent pre-dialysis hyperkalemia were included, and 18 patients were treated by SZC while 20 patients were treated by SPS. The changes of serum potassium level were followed up for 7 months. Results: We observed that the potassium reducing capacity of SZC and SPS were comparable at the first 3 months, but SZC displayed better long-term therapeutic effect. Conclusion: Our results supported that SZC is a good option for treatment of hard-controlled pre-dialysis hyperkalemia.
Neighborhood characteristics around schools and around students’ homes: Which one affects academic performance the most?
Authors: Requia Weeberb J. , Silva Luciano Moura
Published: May 2023

Access to high-quality education is essential for achieving social and economic development, yet academic performance remains a challenge in many low- and middle-income countries, such as Brazil. The neighborhood environment is increasingly recognized as an important factor that can influence academic performance. The existing literature on this topic is limited. Most studies have focused either on the exposure surrounding a student's school or their home. To address this gap, this study aimed to evaluate the association between neighborhood characteristics around both the student's school and home in the Federal District (FD), Brazil, focusing on green spaces (NDVI and quantity of green spaces), roads (length of roads), and wildfires as potential predictors of academic performance. We analyzed 344,175 students who were enrolled in the public schools (256 schools) of the FD from 2017 to 2020. We employed a mixed-effects regression model to investigate the relationship between individual-level academic performance and the neighborhood characteristics, while controlling for temporal, socioeconomic, and school-specific variables. Our results suggest that neighborhood characteristics represented by green spaces, roads, and wildfires, can have a significant impact on academic performance. We found that some neighborhood characteristics had a stronger association with academic performance when they were located around schools, compared to when they were located around students' homes. For example, the coefficient for NDVI within the buffer of 250m and 500m surrounding schools was estimated to be 2.48 (95%CI: 2.33; 2.63) and 0.59 (95%CI: 0.47; 0.71), respectively, while for NDVI surrounding homes, it was 0.23 (95%CI: 0.15; 0.30) and 0.25 (95%CI: 0.17; 0.33) for the buffer of 250m and 500m, respectively. Our study provides valuable insights into the potential role of neighborhood characteristics in promoting academic performance, which could inform urban planning and public policy aimed at improving educational outcomes.
Aflatoxin M1 causes cytotoxicity and intestinal epithelial cell integrity damage in differentiated human Caco-2 cells
Authors: Kumar Lal Krishan , Verma Surya Kant , Chandel Rajeev , Thumar Meet , Singh Dheer , Onteru Suneel Kumar
Published: May 2023

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a mycotoxin that is commonly found as a milk contaminant, and its presence in milk has been linked to cytotoxicity. The present study aimed to evaluate the acute cytotoxic effects of AFM1 on intestinal CaCo2 cells. Initially, we checked the morphology and viability of CaCo2 cells after treatment with different concentrations of AFM1 (5ng/L, 50ng/L, 250ng/L, 500ng/L, 1000ng/L, and 2000ng/L) for different time intervals (6hrs, 12hrs, and 24hrs). It was found that AFM1 didn’t show any effect on cell morphology and viability. Further, DCFDA assay showed increased ROS production after 6hrs treatments. qPCR analysis showed an increased expression of epithelial specific cytoskeleton markers Cytokeratin, Villin, Vimentin, and JAM1, and a decreased expression of tight junction proteins, Claudin, Occludin, and ZO1. Similarly, we found an increased expression of Cyp1a1 transcript with an increasing AFM1 concentration and incubation time. This gene expression analysis showed AFM1 can causes disruption of gap junctions between intestinal cells, which was further confirmed by a transwell experiment. In conclusion, consumption of AFM1-contaminated milk doesn’t show any effect on cells morphology and viability but decreases the expression of intestinal barrier transcripts that may leads to the disruption of intestinal barrier function and leaky gut.
Exposing the molecular heterogeneity of glycosylated biotherapeutics
Authors: Schachner Luis , Mullen Christopher , Phung Wilson , Hinkle Joshua , Beardsley Michelle Irwin , Bentley Tracy , Day Peter , Tsai Christina , Sukumaran Siddharth , Baginski Tomasz , DiCara Danielle , Agard Nicholas , Masureel Matthieu , Gober Joshua , ElSohly Adel , Syka John , Huguet Romain , Marty Michael , Sandoval Wendy
Published: May 2023

Glycosylated biotherapeutics are an emerging class of drugs with high molecular heterogeneity, which can affect their safety and efficacy. Characterizing this heterogeneity is crucial for drug development and quality assessment, but existing methods are limited in their ability to analyze intact glycoproteins. Here, we present a new approach to glycoform fingerprinting that uses proton-transfer charge-reduction with gas-phase fractionation to analyze intact glycoproteins by mass spectrometry. The method provides a detailed landscape of the intact molecular weights present in biotherapeutic protein preparations in a single experiment and offers insights into glycoform composition when coupled with a suitable bioinformatic strategy. We tested the approach on various biotherapeutic molecules, including Fc-fusion, VHH-fusion, and peptide-bound MHC class II complexes to demonstrate efficacy in measuring the proteoform-level diversity of biotherapeutics. Notably, we inferred the glycoform distribution for hundreds of molecular weights for the eight-times glycosylated fusion drug IL22-Fc, enabling correlations between glycoform sub-populations and the drug’s pharmacological properties. Our method is broadly applicable and provides a powerful tool to assess the molecular heterogeneity of emerging biotherapeutics.
Research on Trusted Security Protection Method for Edge Computing Environment
Authors: Wang Jie , Xu Jiangpei , Li Jing , Xu Chao , Xie Huihui
Published: May 2023

With the continuous development of mobile communication technology, edge computing technology has been gradually applied to some special business scenarios, such as disaster area rescue and forest fire warning. These application scenarios have certain requirements on the delay of task processing, and need enough network connection and computing resources. Due to the lack of ground network infrastructure, the traditional edge computing scheme can no longer fully meet the needs of users. However, the virtualized environment in cloud computing not only brings convenient services to users, but also faces security threats from different levels. The increasingly rich attack means and the widening of attack surface caused by virtualization have brought new challenges to the security protection of edge computing environment. How to build a secure and credible virtualization environment for cloud computing and alleviate users' concerns about cloud computing security has become an urgent problem to be solved in the further development of cloud computing technology. Based on the analysis of security risks and users' security requirements, this paper puts forward the combination of trusted computing and trust model in cloud computing, to build a safe and credible virtualization environment for users. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm not only guarantees the validity of the trust model, but also reduces the resource overhead of edge devices in the process of trust evaluation.
Developing Classifiers by Considering Sentiment Analysis of Reported Bugs for Priority Prediction
Authors: Singh Anisha , Kapur P.K. , Singh V.B
Published: May 2023

Software systems behave abnormally due to bugs when it comes into the operational phase. Lack of proper understanding of customer requirements, implementation, knowledge, wrong algorithmic designing, and other issue is also the reason for bug production. To fix those flaws, developers request to the users for feedback. Users have had issues with the software systems that have been released. Users are encouraged to submit their issues to issue-tracking systems such as Bugzilla, Mantis, Google Code Issue Tracker, GitHub Issue Tracker, and Jira to improve the next version of the product and meet user needs. Manual prioritization is time-consuming and inconvenient. In this research paper, we propose using sentiment analysis to anticipate the report's priority. This is the first time the sentiment-based approach used for a bug report to prioritize prediction on open-source projects. First, we take the bug report summary and use natural language pre-processing techniques to clean the text and pre-process the bug report. Second, sentiment analysis is applied to clean texts that contain sentiments of terms. Third, we use TF-IDF to construct a feature vector for bug reports, fourth, we used resampling techniques to balance the dataset, and then we used different machine learning classifiers to train historical data namely Bugzilla open-source projects to forecast their priority. The proposed method improves the performance of the classifier in comparison with the methods available in the literature.
Patients' perspectives on informational needs surrounding gender affirming vaginoplasty
Authors: Millman Alexandra , Gabela Armin , Acar Omer , Morgantini Luca
Published: May 2023

Purpose: Gender-affirming vaginoplasty lacks universally adopted guidelines for perioperative management. With this study, we sought to determine what information patients seek through their surgical journey, as well as the methods by which they prefer to receive this information.
Methods: An anonymous survey was emailed to 30 patients who underwent gender-affirming vaginoplasty between September 2018 and September 2020. The survey was composed of Likert-scale items that explored the importance of various topics. Patients were also asked from whom and how they received information on specific topics, as well as where they would prefer to get it from. Descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analyses were used to analyse responses.
Results: Seventeen individuals completed the questionnaire (56.6% response rate). All topics received an average rating of moderately important or higher (≧ 3 out of 5 on the Likert scale). Of 30 pre-operative topics queried, participants preferred to receive information in written form for 29 topics (97%), and from the surgeon for 27 topics (90%). Thematic analysis revealed five main themes: recovery process, satisfaction, trust in healthcare providers, information delivery, and neovaginal dilation and depth.
Conclusion: Individuals undergoing gender-affirming vaginoplasty have extensive informational needs and seek this information from their surgical team directly with a combination of written resources and verbal discussion. Participants were especially interested in the importance of neovaginal dilation and being aware of possible complications. Additionally, the importance of cultural competence and building trust with healthcare professionals were key findings in this study, echoing a call for more inclusive providers.
Study on the storage performance of MG30/NRL co-blended latexes
Authors: Chen Fanfan , Xiao Yao , Yan Sitong , Fang Lin , wang zhifen , Liao Jianhe
Published: May 2023

Modifying natural rubber latex (NRL) and blending it with NRL can improve NRL performance and expand application fields. The performance of co-blended latex will change due to changes in non-rubber components during storage. Therefore, it is important to study the change of properties during the storage of co-blended latexes. In this paper, 30% methyl methacrylate grafted natural rubber (MG30) was synthesized by cumene hydroperoxide/ tetraethylenepentamine (CHPO/TEPA) initiating system, MG30 and NRL were mixed in different proportions to study the morphology and physical and mechanical properties, and the colloidal properties and emulsion properties of co-blended latexes were studied during storage. The results showed that the mechanical stability of NRL and co-blended latexes were high and the viscosity gradually increased during storage. The study of the vulcanization characteristics of the co-blended latexes films and the physical and mechanical properties of the vulcanized latex films showed that the vulcanization time of the co-blended films increased and the torque value increased in comparison to NRL. With the increase of MG30 content, the tensile strength and tear strength of the co-blended latexes vulcanized films showed a trend of increasing and then decreasing, and the co-blended film with 10% MG30 showed the best mechanical properties.
Fisher’s resilience: preparedness, coping capacity, and adaptation capacity in Surigao del Sur, Philippines
Authors: Macusi Edison D. , Laya-og Manilyn E. , Maynawang Imee S. , Macusi Erna S.
Published: May 2023

Fishing communities depend on natural resources to fulfill their livelihood needs, making them more vulnerable during climatic events. However, despite the impacts brought by climate hazards, fishing communities have adaptation strategies and the capacity to be resilient. The study assessed fishing communities' exposure and capacity to adapt to various climatic events by determining their resilience to natural hazards. A focus group discussion (N = 80) and stakeholder meetings (N = 100) were conducted to assess the resilience of fishers in selected fishing villages in Surigao del Sur. A total of six fishing villages with 10–15 fisher participants attended the focus groups. Twelve behavioral indicators were used for the three components of resilience: preparedness, coping, and adaptive capacity. The finding shows that Habag and Nurcia were most exposed to climate hazards among fishing villages in Surigao del Sur, with an average of 3.14. However, Nurcia village had the highest average of 3.33 in preparedness capacity, such as conducting training and seminars on climate hazard awareness. In addition, Nurcia also had the highest average of 4.00 in coping capacity, such as having communication connectedness through an active organization. Overall, Nurcia was the most resilient to climate hazards. Despite their exposure to natural hazards and stressors, fishers in the communities have common connectedness that helps them recover easily and take necessary actions to mitigate the impacts of natural hazards. The local government units should be more active in providing relevant policies, regulations, and assistance to help affected areas during natural hazards.
Finding the missing many: improving Tuberculosis care in Kajiado county through active case finding and community approaches
Authors: Morino Gianfranco , Mulongo Caleb Mike , Cattaneo Paolo , De Vita Maria Vittoria , Paone Gabriele , Scarlata Simone , Gobbi Federico , Kinyita Salome , Odhiambo Hillary
Published: May 2023

Background

Tuberculosis leads among infectious disease killers globally. Despite advancements in TB care, access to quality care remains inequitable to the disadvantage of those in rural and urban informal settlements. The Awareness, Traditions, and Innovation in combating Tuberculosis (ATI TB) project incorporated active case finding (ACF), use of GeneXpert technology and decentralized services to improve TB care in Kajiado County. This study sought to establish the impact of the project as well as implementation lessons learnt during its tenure in Kajiado County, Kenya.
Methods
This evaluation adopted a mixed-methods approach with retrospective cohort analysis for the quantitative data and qualitative data sought through key informant interviews with 28 purposively sampled respondents. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically using Taguette while quantitative data was analyzed using R Software yielding descriptive statistics and measures of association.
Results
While the males were a minority among the presumptive cases (623; 46%), they were the majority (59.3%) among the confirmed TB cases. 70% of the confirmed cases were aged between 15 and 44 years; with those aged between 25- and 34-years being majority (30% of the cases). Majority of the confirmed cases within the project were from rural Kajiado West (79; 66.9%). Though 61% of the presumptive cases were through ACF, only 7% of these tested positive. Conversely, 13% of the self-referrals tested positive. 53% (66) of the positive cases with valid data were self-referrals while ACF accounted for 47% (58) of the positives. Pulmonary TB relapses declined from 95% to 88%, while extrapulmonary TB relapses more than doubled from 2% to 5%.
Conclusion
Continued capacity development among health workers, sustained and targeted sensitization and screening among vulnerable groups, strategic collaborations, alongside increased budgetary prioritization of health and TB care by government and partners, and government investments in Social Determinants of Health can ensure gains in TB care are sustained.
Trend Analysis of Sanitation Service Users in Urban Areas of India: Examining Access, Quality, and Sustainability
Authors: Singh Rajat , Das Vinay Mohan
Published: May 2023

This research paper examines the growing trend of sanitation service users in urban areas of India and how it compares to the rate of urbanization. In India, the provision of basic urban sanitation services is the responsibility of the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). However, these ULBs have often been unable to provide these services in all parts of the city, leading to the development of unsustainable alternative options by local communities. An examination of the existing service users in urban areas revealed valuable information on how the growth of service users has changed over the past 20 years, with a decrease in unhygienic sanitation practices being observed. The major areas of focus were access to urban sanitation service quality, type of service delivery, and wastewater discharge systems. The literature reviewed provided insight into the sustainability aspects of services by highlighting several factors that affect access to sanitation services, including distance, settlement size, population density, economic condition, production/resource location, service charge, improper planning, and people's acceptance of infrastructure. Data collected on these areas were used for comparative growth trend analysis of the sustainable services with the growth rate of other alternative infrastructures developed by people. The study also examines the impact of the Swachh Bharath (Clean India) Mission on urban sanitation service users and finds that the growth rate of unhygienic sanitation services decreased more rapidly following the launch of the Swachh Bharath Mission. The study aims to identify the current practices of sanitation services in urban areas of India and forecast the number of users for these services in the next 20 years. This projection is based on the mathematical calculation of the Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR). Additionally, the study identifies environmentally harmful service delivery systems in the field of sanitation, examines their growth trends, optimistically predicts the year in which these services will no longer exist, and prescribes the growth rate of services needed to achieve this situation along with the associated cost.
Adversarial Attack-Resilient Perception Module for Traffic Sign Classification
Authors: Majumder Reek , Chowdhury Mashrur , Khan Sakib Mahmud , Khan Zadid , Ahmed Fahim , Ngeni Frank , Comert Gurcan , Mwakalonge Judith , Michalaka Dimitra
Published: May 2023

Deep Learning (DL)-based image classification models are essential for autonomous vehicle (AV) perception modules since incorrect categorization might have severe repercussions. Adversarial attacks are widely studied cyberattacks that can lead DL models to predict inaccurate output, such as incorrectly classified traffic signs by the perception module of an autonomous vehicle. In this study, we create and compare Hybrid Classical-Quantum Deep Learning (HCQ-DL) models with Classical Deep Learning (C-DL) models to demonstrate robustness against adversarial attacks for perception modules. Before feeding them into the quantum system, we used transfer learning models like AlexNet and VGG-16 as feature extractors. We tested over 1000 quantum circuits in our HCQ-DL models for Projected Gradient Descent (PGD), Fast Gradient Sign Attack (FGSA), and Gradient Attack (GA), which are three well-known untargeted adversarial approaches. We evaluated the performance of all models during adversarial attack and no-attack scenarios. Our HCQ-DL models maintain accuracy above 95% during a no-attack scenario and above 91% for GA and FGSA attacks, which is higher than C-DL models. During the PGD attack, our AlexNet-based HCQ-DL model maintained an accuracy of 85% compared to C-DL models that achieved accuracies below 21%.
Cloning of the broad-spectrum wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr47 introgressed from Aegilops speltoides
Authors: Li Hongna , Hua Lei , Zhao Shuqing , Hao Ming , Song Rui , Pang Shuyong , Liu Yanna , Chen Hong , Zhang Wenjun , Shen Tao , Gou Jin-Ying , Mao Hailiang , Wang Guiping , Hao Xiaohua , Li Jian , Song Baoxing , Lan Caixia , Li Zaifeng , Deng Xing Wang , Dubcovsky Jorge , Wang Xiaodong , Chen Shisheng
Published: May 2023

Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticinaEriksson (Pt), is one of the most severe foliar diseases of wheat. Breeding for leaf rust resistance is a practical and sustainable method to control this devastating disease. Here, we report the identification of Lr47, a broad-spectrum leaf rust resistance gene introgressed into wheat fromAegilops speltoides. The Lr47 gene encodes a coiled-coil nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat protein that is both necessary and sufficient to confer Pt resistance, as demonstrated by loss-of-function mutations and transgenic complementation. New Lr47 introgression lines with no or reduced linkage dragwere generated using the ph1b mutation, and a diagnostic molecular marker for Lr47 was developed. The CC domain of the Lr47 protein was not able to induce cell death, nor did it have self-protein interaction. The cloning of Lr47 expands the number of Pt-resistance genes that can be incorporated into multigene transgenic cassettes to control this devastating disease.
Disparities in access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene by ethnicity in Bangladesh: Is it a result of structural racism?
Authors: Alam Md. Zakiul , Sheoti Isna Haque
Published: May 2023

Introduction: Safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are crucial to human health. It is essential to reduce inequalities and ensure universal access to WASH to achieve the agenda of sustainable development. We aimed to measure access to WASH, understand the situation and factors affecting WASH practices among the ethnic minority population in Bangladesh, and whether it is related to structural racism towards them.
Methodology: We utilized data from the multiple indicator cluster survey-2019. We used the chi-square test for bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analyses to identify the effect of ethnicity on WASH in Bangladesh after controlling education, wealth, religion, region, and place of residence. Furthermore, we systematically reviewed the WASH-related policies and programs of Bangladesh to identify structural racism.
Findings: While 98.5% of Bengali had access to basic drinking water services, the percentage is 60.6% for the ethnic minority population. For improved sanitation facilities not shared with others, the difference between Bengali and ethnic populations was 22.3% (64.6% vs. 42.3%). On the other hand, 75% of the Bengali population had a handwashing facility with water and soap, and 50% of the ethnic population had them. Ethnicity appeared to be a statistically significant predictor of every component of WASH. Compared to Bengali, the ethnic population had 92%, 39%, 44%, and 18% less access to water (aOR=0.08, p≤0.001), sanitation (aOR=0.61, p≤0.001), and handwashing (aOR=0.56, p≤0.001), and WASH facilities aOR=0.82, p≤0.001), respectively. Among the policies of Bangladesh, only one identified actions for WASH rights of the ethnic, indicating structural inequality.
Conclusion: Government should identify the issues of WASH among the ethnic minorities and represent them adequately in the policies for achieving the aim of ‘leaving none behind’ of sustainable development goals.
A New Aerodynamic Endonasal filtration technology for protection against pollutants and respiratory infectious agents: Evaluation of the Particle Filtration Efficacy
Authors: Broccolo Francesco , Saravanan Padmanabhan , Ali Nurshahidah , Toh Alden , Mulyana Sakinah , Goh Lay Beng , Imperi Enrico , Picano Alfredo
Published: May 2023

An innovative nasal filter was tested, based on aerodynamic air filtration and not on conventional air filtration by means of fibrous filters. A custom testing system has been designed and three sizes of the filter have been tested vs. monodispersed SiO2 particles sized 5 µm, 1 µm and 0.5 µm, under cycling flow of 6 litres per minute, provided by an artificial lung breather simulating spontaneous breathing. Accelerated testing was implemented, challenging filters with a maximum load of 200 mg per cubic meter. All three filters’ sizes showed initial filtration efficiencies above 90% vs. all particles’ sizes, decreased to not less than 80% after 30 minutes of accelerated testing, corresponding to 4.5 days of continuous use at 2 mg challenge, this value being associated with hazardous air conditions in the PSI scale. Results in this study indicate that nasal filters based on aerodynamic air filtration can provide fine and ultrafine filtration protecting population in day-to-day life from risks associated to pollens, mites, PM, pollutants and respiratory infectious agents.
Research on permanent magnet synchronous motor algorithm based on linear nonlinear switching self-disturbance rejection control
Authors: Liu Xiangde , li Yu , Xia Liang , Tan Xianfeng , Cao Xiang
Published: May 2023

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) has been widely used in servo drive systems because of its advantages of simple structure, convenient operation, high reliability and easy control. However, PMSM is a nonlinear, strongly coupled and multivariate system, and improving system stability and robustness is one of the hot spots in research. Disturbance rejection control was born based on the improvement of PID control, which mainly consists of three parts, namely: tracking differentiator, nonlinear error feedback rate, and extended observer. It can not rely on the accurate model of the controlled object, and its internal expansion state observer can realize online disturbance estimation, with excellent anti-disturbance ability, which has been widely concerned by scholars at home and abroad. Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) After a long period of development and evolution, ADRC can be divided into linear automatic disturbance rejection (LADRC) and nonlinear automatic disturbance rejection (NLADRC), both of which have their own characteristics in control. LADRC is used more in engineering practice because of its small parameters, convenient parameter adjustment, and good control effect in the case of large error. NLADRC has the characteristics of "small error, large gain, large error, small gain", and the control effect is better in the case of small error, but there are shortcomings in parameter adjustment and stability analysis. Therefore, a switch is designed to use NLADRC in the case of small error and LADRC in the case of large error, and combines the advantages of the two to design a linear nonlinear switching automatic disturbance rejection control (SADRC) controller.
Information transparency, collateral problem and bank credit accessibility of small and medium enterprises in ASEAN countries
Authors: THEIN EI EI , Niigata Atsushi , Inaba Kazuo
Published: May 2023

Financial constraints can harm the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), ultimately impacting a country’s economy and industrialization. Information asymmetry leads banks to rely on collateralized lending which hinders SMEs from accessing bank loans. However, information and communication technology (ICT) and audited financial statements (FSs) can enhance SMEs’ information provision for banks. Despite this, previous studies have paid little attention to the relationship between ICT, FSs and SME financing. This study investigates the impact of FSs and ICT on SME financing, as well as their influence on SMEs’ collateral payments in accessing bank loans in eight ASEAN countries. We use the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Surveys (BEEPS) provided by the World Bank to analyze the data. The results reveal that FSs and ICT can promote SMEs’ bank credit accessibility and reduce collateral issues in accessing bank loans by making SMEs’ information more transparent. SMEs in countries with more developed financial infrastructure can benefit more from FSs and ICT. Furthermore, larger economies enable SMEs to access cheaper finance and mitigate collateral problems. Information transparency is crucial for banks in easing bad debt issues. Therefore, encouraging and supporting SMEs to adopt FSs and ICT can benefit both SMEs and banks.
Study of the pulicat lagoon on the basis of deprived vegetation and water area against increased land surface temperature
Authors: S RAJAKUMARI , Sethu Sundari , Manickam Meenambikai , Murugan Malathi , Jayadevan Sarunjith Kaladevi
Published: May 2023

The Pulicat located on the east coast is one of the 17 coastal lagoons of India. It is the second largest brackish water lagoon of India. The lagoon is rich in biodiversity and support nearly 50000 population for their livelihood. The lagoon faces acute threats by natural and anthropogenic activities in the recent years. The present study is attempted to quantify the influence of these natural and anthropogenic activities on the lagoon environment. The study is carried out for a period of 21 years from 2000 to 2021. Land use/cover (LULC), Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Modified Water Index (NDMWI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) are some of the key parameters determined and assessed in the study to indicate the level of degradation of the lagoon using directional mapping. Prediction of LULC features of the lagoon for the next decade is attempted to understand the future status of the lagoon based on the past and present scenarios. The outcome of the study is found as evidence of the various stress factors threatening the sustainability of the lagoon. Assessment of the vulnerability and adaptation capability of the lagoon environment indicated that the lagoon is inclined more towards vulnerability than adaptation scenario. The study is attempted with the aid of Remote Sensing, GIS and modeling tools.
Crosslinked Polyethylene-based Nanocomposites containing Hybrid Layered Double Hydroxide/Aluminium Oxide: Partial Discharge and AC Breakdown Strength Characteristics
Authors: Iman Nurul , Saman Norhafezaidi Mat , Afendi Mohamed , Ahmad Mohd Hafizi , Wahit Mat Uzir
Published: May 2023

Crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) was mixed with layered double hydroxide-aluminum oxide (LDHs-Al2O3) hybrid nanofillers to enhance the dielectric characteristics. The incorporation of hybrid nanofillers and the interfacial contact between the nanofillers and matrix to improve dielectric performance are essential to the effectiveness of the nanocomposite. In order to determine the ideal hybrid nanofillers loading, the hybrid nanofiller has been added at 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 weight percent with a constant ratio of 1:1 throughout the experiment. With sodium dodecyl sulphate for LDHs and trimethoxy(octyl) silane Al2O3, both nanofillers underwent surface treatment to improve their interfacial interaction with the XLPE matrix. The finding indicates that the LDHs-Al2O3and the XLPE exhibit better interface bonding at 1.0 weight percent, yielding the lowest value of the maximum partial discharge magnitude and the highest dielectric breakdown strength. LDHs-Al2O3at 3.0 and 5.0 weight percent cause crowding, which lowers the dielectric performance of XLPE nanocomposites.
DeepBiomarker2: Prediction of alcohol and substance use disorder risk in post-traumatic stress disorder patients using electronic medical records and multiple social determinants of health
Authors: Miranda Oshin , Fan Peihao , Qi Xiguang , Wang Haohan , Brannock M Daniel , Kosten Thomas , Ryan Neal David , Kirisci Levent , Wang LiRong
Published: May 2023

Introduction:
Prediction of high-risk events amongst patients with mental disorders is critical for personalized interventions. In our previous study, we developed a deep learning-based model, DeepBiomarker by utilizing electronic medical records (EMR) to predict the outcomes of patients with suicide-related events in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients.
Methods
We improved our deep learning model to develop DeepBiomarker2 through data integration of multimodal information: lab tests, medication use, diagnosis, and social determinants of health (SDoH) parameters (both individual and neighborhood level) from EMR data for outcome prediction. We further refined our contribution analysis for identifying key factors. We applied DeepBiomarker2 to analyze EMR data of 38,807 patients from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center diagnosed with PTSD to determine their risk of developing alcohol and substance use disorder (ASUD).
Results
DeepBiomarker2 predicted whether a PTSD patient will have a diagnosis of ASUD within the following 3 months with a c-statistic (receiver operating characteristic AUC) of 0·93. We used contribution analysis technology to identify key lab tests, medication use and diagnosis for ASUD prediction. These identified factors imply that the regulation of the energy metabolism, blood circulation, inflammation, and microbiome is involved in shaping the pathophysiological pathways promoting ASUD risks in PTSD patients. Our study found protective medications such as oxybutynin, magnesium oxide, clindamycin, cetirizine, montelukast and venlafaxine all have a potential to reduce risk of ASUDs.
Discussion
DeepBiomarker2 can predict ASUD risk with high accuracy and can further identify potential risk factors along with medications with beneficial effects. We believe that our approach will help in personalized interventions of PTSD for a variety of clinical scenarios.
A Study on Multi-factor Geometry-Physical Modeling and Simulation in Machine Tool Cutting Processes
Authors: Liu Wei , Ma Hengyuan , Zhou Xionghui , Niu Qiang
Published: May 2023

Geometric-physical modelling and simulation of tool machining processes is a reasonable realization for manufacturing prediction and verification. An effectual simulation system is based on the correct cutting mechanism and accurate geometric calculation. By integrating the scheme of CNC code analysis, process planning and optimization, cutting mechanism model and other related aspects, micro cutting details are expected to be simulated in advance, detected and monitored in the process and analysed afterwards, to achieve the purpose of "Verification IS Production". Based on this vision, this paper proposes a research framework of micro geometric modelling and physical simulation for machine tool cutting. On the basis of continuous improvements in 3D modules for cutting geometry simulation, the physical simulation research and verification is carried out with several typical scenes, in which the mappings between real occasions and simulation system are established. With the cutting physical models, this paper deeply investigated the simulation calculation and correction for various factors affecting the cutting performance and indicators, and finally verifies, analyses and optimizes them through actual machining environments. The purpose of this paper is to explore a feasible way for richer scenes and further research through the multi-element modelling of several comprehensive cutting cases and in-depth micro geometry and physics investigation. Later experiments indicate that the framework performs well and bring good references to similar researches and applications.
The presence of a humanoid robot can be detrimental to human performance in an attentional task
Authors: Ghiglino Davide , De Tommaso Davide , Lukomski Adam Wojciech , Wykowska Agnieszka
Published: May 2023

Being surrounded by others has enabled humans to optimize everyday life tasks, as the mere presence of others can improve performance in some daily tasks. At the same time, the presence of an audience can also be detrimental to an individual's performance. Still, it is unclear what happens when these “others” include artificial agents, such as robots. Literature has shown mixed results in understanding whether robots can be facilitators or distractors in joint tasks. To understand the impact that the presence of a robot might have on human attentional mechanisms, we designed a visual-search-based game that participants could play alone, under the surveillance of a humanoid robot, or in collaboration with it. Thirty-six participants completed this experiment (age = 26.44 ± 6.35, 10 males). Attentional processes were assessed using metrics of performance (i.e. search times), and eye-tracking (i.e. fixation duration and time to first fixation). Results showed that the presence of the robot negatively affected participants' performance in-game, with longer search times and time to first fixation when the robot was observing them. We hypothesize that the robot acted as a distractor, delaying the allocation of attentional resources to the task, potentially exerting monitoring pressure.
On catching the preparatory phase of damaging earthquakes: an example from central Italy
Authors: Picozzi Matteo , Iaccarino Antonio G. , Spallarossa Daniele , Bindi Dino
Published: May 2023

How, when and where large earthquakes are generated remain fundamental unsolved scientific questions.Here, we demonstrate that intercepting when a fault system starts deviating from its steady behavior by monitoring the spatio-temporal evolution and dynamic source properties of micro-to-small earthquakescan have high potential as tool for identifying the preparatory phase of large earthquakes.
We re-analyzed the seismic activity that preceded the Mw 6.3 earthquake that hit L’Aquila on 6 April 2009 in central Italy. We show that the seismic catalog information can be transformed into features allowing us to track in a statistical framework the evolution of seismicity. Features associated to foreshocks show different patterns from the background seismicity that occurred in the previous years. While foreshocks share similar clustering properties of previous seismic sequences not culminating in large earthquakes, we show that their ensemble allows to clearly capture the activation phase of the main event.
Determinants of Poor Glycemic Control among Type 2 Diabetes in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia: a multi-centered case-control study
Authors: Tekalign Alemayehu Molla , Lambero Hanna , Semahegn Agumasie , Motuma Aboma , Roba Kedir Teji
Published: May 2023

Poor glycemic control is a public health problem that cause a serious health issues among chronic follow up clinic in diabetes patients. In Ethiopia, scarcity of evidence exist using HbA1c testing to monitor and control blood glucose levels. Therefore, this study is aimed to identify determinants of poor glycemic control by using HbAc1 among diabetes patients in Ethiopia. A case-control study was conducted among type 2 diabetes patients in follow-up clinic at private and public hospitals in Dire Dawa town. We selected a total of 190 participants (95 cases and 95 controls) by using systematic random sampling technique. Structured questionnaire interviews and data extraction check list were used to collect the data. The collected data was entered into EpiData and exported to STATA version 16.1 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was applied to determine predictors of glycemic control using an adjusted odd ratio (AOR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI). Finally, p-value <0.05 was considered the cut-off point for declaring a significant association. The study show that being a female (AOR= 2.73; 95% CI=1.10-6.79), smokers (AOR= 14.85;95% CI=5.25-42.88), blood glucose monitoring three or less per week (AOR=4.87;95% CI=1.42-16.71), overweight (AOR=4.96; 95% CI=1.82-13.52) and obese (AOR=5.19; 95% CI=1.76-15.56), ten years or above the treatment (AOR= 3.56; 95% CI: 1.17-10.82), and patients who have coronary artery disease (AOR=2.47; 95% CI: 1.01, 6.03) were independent predictors of poor glycemic control. On the other hand, adherence to diabetic medication five or more days per week was negatively independent predictor of poor glycemic control (AOR= 0.24; 95% CI: 0.10-0.63). Being a female, smoking, overweight or obese, medication adherence, poor blood glucose monitoring, coronary artery diseases were found the predictors of poor glycemic control. As a result, emphasis on modifiable factors intervention that targets to improving glycemic control is required.