bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ocean acidification induces distinct transcriptomic responses across life history stages of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma
Authors: Devens Hannah R. , Davidson Phillip L. , Deaker Dione J. , Smith Kathryn E. , Wray Gregory A. , Byrne Maria
Published: October 2020

Ocean acidification (OA) from seawater uptake of rising carbon dioxide emissions impairs development in marine invertebrates, particularly in calcifying species. Plasticity in gene expression is thought to mediate many of these physiological effects, but how these responses change across life history stages remains unclear. The abbreviated lecithotrophic development of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma provides a valuable opportunity to analyse gene expression responses across a wide range of life history stages, including the benthic, post‐metamorphic juvenile. We measured the transcriptional response to OA in H. erythrogramma at three stages of the life cycle (embryo, larva, and juvenile) in a controlled breeding design. The results reveal a broad range of strikingly stage‐specific impacts of OA on transcription, including changes in the number and identity of affected genes; the magnitude, sign, and variance of their expression response; and the developmental trajectory of expression. The impact of OA on transcription was notably modest in relation to gene expression changes during unperturbed development and much smaller than genetic contributions from parentage. The latter result suggests that natural populations may provide an extensive genetic reservoir of resilience to OA. Taken together, these results highlight the complexity of the molecular response to OA, its substantial life history stage specificity, and the importance of contextualizing the transcriptional response to pH stress in light of normal development and standing genetic variation to better understand the capacity for marine invertebrates to adapt to OA.
Expanding our understanding and use of the ecological systems theory model for the prevention of maternal obesity: A new socioecological framework
Authors: Hill Briony
Published: October 2020

The reproductive life phase, most notably the preconception, pregnancy and postpartum periods, is a key driver of weight gain in women and therefore substantially increases the risk of noncommunicable diseases for mothers and their offspring. The ecological systems theory (EST) model for maternal obesity prevention positions the woman and her behaviour as interacting with surrounding layers of influences, including proximal interpersonal relationships embedded within social, environmental, and policy contexts. However, current thinking and use of the EST model for maternal obesity prevention are limited by a focus on women as being responsible for lifestyle change, with the associated blame and weight stigma, and by a lack of understanding of the interactions between EST layers. This paper presents a new socioecological framework for maternal obesity prevention, which aims to address these issues and offer potential strategies to assist researchers to generate new knowledge and understanding of the myriad ways we can approach maternal obesity prevention.
One‐stop hybrid procedure combining catheter ablation and left atrial appendage closure increases long‐term risk for adverse events in patients with atrial fibrillation
Authors: Li Xue‐Xun , Tian Ying , Shi Liang , Wang Yan‐Jiang , Zeng Li‐Jun , Huang Li‐Hong , He Shu‐Nan , Li Jian‐Ping , Liu Xing‐Peng
Published: October 2020

Introduction

Combined catheter ablation (CA) and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) have proven to be a feasible and safe strategy in treating patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the interactions between CA and LAAC have not been systematically explored. We analyzed the impact of CA on long‐term outcomes of LAAC in patients with AF treated with the hybrid procedure.

Methods

A total of 107 consecutive patients with AF who underwent LAAC were divided into two groups: group A (n = 61) included patients who underwent CA followed by LAAC during the same procedure and group B (n = 46) included patients who underwent LAAC only. All patients underwent systematic transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) follow‐up.

Results

In group A, CA resulted in severe edema of the left atrial ridge (LAR), which manifested as an increase in LAR thickness from 4.6 ± 0.4 mm before CA to 6.8 ± 0.6 mm (P < .01) after CA. TEE at 45 days showed that the incidence of peri‐device leakage was significantly higher in group A than in group B (45.9% vs 4.3%, P < .001). At the 12‐month follow‐up, the peri‐device leakage rate remained higher in group A than in group B (14.8% vs 2.2%, P < .01). Three (4.9%) patients in group A experienced transient ischemia attacks; no events were reported in group B during the 1‐year follow‐up.

Conclusion

Edema of LAR with the single‐stage procedure that consists of CA followed by LAAC could result in increased peri‐device leakage and decreased compression rate over time, which may be also associated with elevated risk profiles when compared with an LAAC‐only procedure.
Effects of Ulva spp. and seasonal disturbances on the recovery of a temperate rocky intertidal community
Authors: Yang Kwon Mo , Kim Jeong Ha
Published: October 2020

The inhibitory effects of ulvoid algae and their seasonality on the recovery and succession of an intertidal algal community were investigated under field conditions using a two‐factorial design. The experiment was conducted in the mid‐low intertidal zone on the Southern coast of Korea. In spring and fall, each of the ten 50 × 50 cm plots was disturbed artificially, and Ulva spp. were continuously excluded from five plots of the seasonal plots. The succession of spring plots was nearly twice as fast as that of the fall plots (spring, 4–6 months; fall, 10–15 months), indicating that the seasonal effects contributed significantly to the speed of the succession. The inhibition by Ulva species delayed the succession; however, the strength of this delay was limited largely by the duration and persistence of Ulva mass, which was also highly seasonal. The presence of Ulva spp. did not alter the final assemblage at the climax stage; instead, it caused a delay in community resilience. This study provides a few analytical factors for community‐wise comparison during the evaluation of the status of successional stages.
Grounding transnational business governance: A political‐strategic perspective on government responses in the Global South
Authors: Marques José Carlos , Eberlein Burkard
Published: October 2020

Recent scholarship on transnational business governance has begun to examine public‐private interactions and the active role of governments. We make two key contributions that integrate and expand this literature. First, in juxtaposition to functionalist accounts, we foreground the fundamentally political and often contentious character of these interactions. As private transnational governance schemes and standards “hit the ground,” private‐public interactions, we argue, are embedded in national political arenas and tied to domestic distributional struggles among competing regulatory coalitions. Building upon multiple empirical streams of research, we develop a political‐strategic framework that maps the diversity of Southern government responses (substitute, adopt, repurpose, replace, or reject) to transnational private governance. Our framework shows that government responses are a function of both strategic fit with domestic industrial capabilities and structures, and strength of developmental state capacity. Second, our proposed framework adopts the vantage point of Global South governments and industries, particularly how development challenges and strategic options within global value chains affect their understanding of, and responses to, transnational schemes and standards. This is an important corrective to a Northern bias in the private governance literature.
Psychological flexibility: What we know, what we do not know, and what we think we know
Authors: Doorley James D. , Goodman Fallon R. , Kelso Kerry C. , Kashdan Todd B.
Published: October 2020

Psychological flexibility is the tendency to respond to situations in ways that facilitate valued goal pursuit. Psychological flexibility is particularly useful when challenges arise during goal pursuit that produce distress. In acceptance and commitment therapy, psychological flexibility is considered the pinnacle of emotional health and well‐being. A growing body of research demonstrates that psychological flexibility leads to psychological benefits and adaptive behavior change. Yet, much of what we know, or think we know, about psychological flexibility hinges on a single measurement approach using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ and AAQ‐II). Research suggests the AAQ‐II is highly correlated with distress itself rather than flexible responses to distress. Existing approaches that assess psychological flexibility ignore the context in which flexibility matters most: the pursuit of valued goals. Below, we review theory and research on psychological flexibility, including its associations with healthy functioning, its measurement, and its overlap with related constructs. We discuss how gaps between theory and measurement impede our understanding and review promising evidence for a new measure of psychological flexibility. We provide new research directions in an effort to create a more generalizable foundation of knowledge.
The novel allele HLA‐A*11:362 identified in two unrelated bone marrow donors from Russia
Authors: Ananeva Anastasiia , Sergeeva Iuliia , Gaifullina Raushania , Shagimardanova Elena
Published: October 2020

HLA‐A*11:362 has single nucleotide substitution at position 53G > C when compared to HLA‐A*11:01:01:01.
DNA-nanoparticle interactions: Formation of a DNA corona and its effects on a protein corona
Authors: Griffith Darbi M. , Jayaram Dhanya T. , Spencer Diane M. , Pisetsky David S. , Payne Christine K.
Published: October 2020

There has been much recent interest in the protein “corona,” the nonspecific adsorption of proteins on the surface of nanoparticles used in biological applications. This research investigates an analogous DNA corona. We find that particles (200 nm and 1 μm) incubated with DNA form a DNA corona, with a higher concentration of DNA adsorbed on the surface of cationic nanoparticles. With protein present, a combined DNA and protein corona is formed although DNA in solution displaces protein from the nanoparticle surface. Displacement of protein from the nanoparticle surface is dependent on the concentration of DNA in solution and was also observed for planar surfaces. Overall, we expect this investigation of the DNA corona to be important for nanomedicine applications, as well as disease states, especially systemic lupus erythematosus, in which biological particles with bound DNA are important mediators of inflammation and thrombosis.
Words matter
Authors: Thorp H. Holden
Published: October 2020

For more than 200 years, U.S. presidents have strived to deliver words of inspiration and humility that will stand the test of time. Even in a contentious debate in which the Oval Office is at stake, we expect a standing president to inspire and unite the country. Not surprisingly, President Donald Trump used the occasion of the first presidential debate of 2020 to deny reality, insult his opponent, and praise himself—all with his customary lean vocabulary.
Chikungunya Virus Strains from Each Genetic Clade Bind Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans as Attachment Factors
Authors: McAllister Nicole , Liu Yan , Silva Lisete M. , Lentscher Anthony J. , Chai Wengang , Wu Nian , Griswold Kira A. , Raghunathan Krishnan , Vang Lo , Alexander Jeff , Warfield Kelly L. , Diamond Michael S. , Feizi Ten , Silva Laurie A. , Dermody Terence S.
Published: October 2020

Alphavirus infections are a global health threat, contributing to outbreaks of disease in many parts of the world. Recent epidemics caused by CHIKV, an arthritogenic alphavirus, resulted in more than 8.5 million cases as the virus has spread into new geographic regions, including the Western Hemisphere. CHIKV causes disease in the majority of people infected, leading to severe and debilitating arthritis. Despite the severity of CHIKV disease, there are no licensed therapeutics. Since attachment factors and receptors are determinants of viral tropism and pathogenesis, understanding these virus-host interactions can enhance our knowledge of CHIKV infection. We analyzed over 670 glycans and identified GAGs as the main glycan bound by CHIKV. We defined specific GAG components required for CHIKV binding and assessed strain-specific differences in GAG binding capacity. These studies provide insight about cell surface molecules that CHIKV binds, which could facilitate the development of antiviral therapeutics targeting the CHIKV attachment step.
Betamethasone induces potent immunosuppression and reduces HIV infection in a PBMC in vitro model
Authors: Cromarty Ross , Sigal Alexander , Liebenberg Lenine Julie , Mckinnon Lyle Robert , Abdool Karim Salim Safurdeen , Passmore Jo-Ann Shelly , Archary Derseree
Published: October 2020

Genital inflammation is an established risk factor for increased HIV acquisition risk. Certain HIV-exposed seronegative populations, who are naturally resistant to HIV infection, have an immune quiescent phenotype defined by reduced immune activation and inflammatory cytokines at the genital tract. Therefore, the aim of this study was to create an immune quiescent environment using immunomodulatory drugs to mitigate HIV infection. Using an in vitro peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) model, we found that inflammation was induced using phytohemagglutinin and Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists Pam3CSK4 (TLR1/2), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (TLR4) and R848 (TLR7/8). After treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, ibuprofen (IBF) and betamethasone (BMS), PBMCs were exposed to HIV NL4-3 AD8. Multiplexed ELISA was used to measure 28 cytokines to assess inflammation. Flow cytometry was used to measure immune activation (CD38, HLA-DR and CCR5) and HIV infection (p24 production) of CD4+ T cells. BMS potently suppressed inflammation (soluble cytokines, p<0.05) and immune activation (CD4+ T cells, p<0.05). BMS significantly reduced HIV infection of CD4+ T cells only in the LPS (0.98%) and unstimulated (1.7%) conditions (p<0.02). In contrast, IBF had minimal anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive but no anti-HIV effects. BMS demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory effects, regardless of stimulation condition. Despite uniform immunosuppression, BMS differentially affected HIV infection according to the stimulation conditions, highlighting the complex nature of these interactions. Together, these data underscore the importance of interrogating inflammatory signaling pathways to identify novel drug targets to mitigate HIV infection.
Dose–response relationship between local anesthetic volume and hemidiaphragmatic paresis following ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus blockade
Authors: Tedore Tiffany R , Lin Hannah X , Pryor Kane O , Tangel Virginia E , Pak Daniel J , Akerman Michael , Wellman David S , Oden-Brunson Hannah
Published: October 2020

Background

There is no consensus regarding what volume of local anesthetic should be used to achieve successful supraclavicular block while minimizing hemidiaphragmatic paresis (HDP). This study investigated the dose–response relationship between local anesthetic volume and HDP after ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block.

Methods

A dose escalation design was used to define the dose response curve for local anesthetic volume and incidence of HDP in subjects undergoing upper extremity surgery with supraclavicular block as the primary anesthetic. Dosing levels of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 mL of local anesthetic were administered in cohorts of three subjects per dose. Diaphragm function was assessed with M-mode ultrasound before and after block. Secondary objectives included assessment of negative inspiratory force (NIF), oxygen saturation, subjective dyspnea and extent of sensory and motor blockade.

Results

Twenty-one subjects completed the study. HDP was present at all doses, with an incidence of 33% at 5 mL to 100% at 30–35 mL. There was a significant decrease in NIF (7.5 cmH
2
O, IQR (22,0); p=0.01) and oxygen saturation on room air (1%, IQR (2,0); p=0.01) 30 min postblock in subjects experiencing HDP but not in those without HDP. There was no increase in dyspnea in subjects with or without HDP. No subject required respiratory intervention. Motor and sensory block improved with increasing dose, and subjects with HDP exhibited denser blocks than those without (p<0.01).

Conclusions

There is no clinically relevant volume of local anesthetic at which HDP can be avoided when performing a supraclavicular block. In our subject population free of respiratory disease, HDP was well tolerated.

Trial registration number

NCT03138577
.
Spinal anesthesia in a designated block bay for total joint arthroplasty: improving operating room efficiency
Authors: Kagan Ryland , Zhao Stephanie , Stone Andrew , Johnson Alicia J , Huff Thomas , Schabel Kathryn , Woodworth Glenn E , Ivie Ryan MJ
Published: October 2020

Background

Creating highly efficient operating room (OR) protocols for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is a challenging and multifactorial process. We evaluated whether spinal anesthesia in a designated block bay (BBSA) would reduce time to incision, improve first case start time and decrease conversion to general anesthesia (GA).

Methods

Retrospective cohort study on the first 86 TJA cases with BBSA from April to December 2018, compared with 344 TJA cases with spinal anesthesia performed in the OR (ORSA) during the same period. All TJA cases were included if the anesthetic plan was for spinal anesthesia. Patients were excluded if circumstances delayed start time or time to incision (advanced vascular access, pacemaker interrogation, surgeon availability). Data were extracted and analyzed via a linear mixed effects model to compare time to incision, via a Wilcoxon rank-sum test to compare first case start time, and via a Fisher’s exact test to compare conversion to GA between the groups.

Results

In the mixed effect model, the BBSA group time to incision was 5.37 min less than the ORSA group (p=0.018). The BBSA group had improved median first case start time (30.0 min) versus the ORSA group (40.5 min, p<0.0001). There was lower conversion to GA 2/86 (2.33%) in the BBSA group versus 36/344 (10.47%) in the ORSA group (p=0.018). No serious adverse events were noted in either group.

Conclusions

BBSA had limited impact on time to incision for TJA, with a small decrease for single OR days and no improvement on OR days with two rooms. BBSA was associated with improved first case start time and decreased rate of conversion to GA. Further research is needed to identify how BBSA affects the efficiency of TJA.
Interhemispheric inhibition to the biceps brachii during arm cycling
Authors: Benson Ryan J. , Lockyer Evan J. , Compton Chris T. , Power Kevin E.
Published: October 2020

This is the first demonstration of interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) during a locomotor output, arm cycling. IHI was quantified by assessing the depth of the ipsilateral silent period (iSP) evoked via transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex. There was a significant reduction in electromyography (EMG) amplitude of the iSP during cycling compared with the control EMG (16.8% ± 17.1%; p < 0.001). Depth and area for measuring the iSP during arm cycling are discussed.

Novelty: This is the first study to demonstrate activation of the cortical circuit, interhemispheric inhibition, during a locomotor output.
Two-current correlations in the pion in the Nambu and Jona-Lasinio model
Authors: Courtoy Aurore , Noguera Santiago , Scopetta Sergio
Published: October 2020

We present an analysis of two-current correlations for the pion in the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model, with Pauli–Villars regularization. We provide explicit expressions in momentum space for two-current correlations corresponding to the zeroth component of the vector Dirac bilinear in the quark vertices, which has been evaluated on the lattice, thinking to applications in a high energy framework, as a step towards the calculation of pion double parton distributions. The numerical results show a remarkable qualitative agreement with recent lattice data. The factorization approximation into one-body currents is discussed based on previous evaluation of the relevant low energy matrix elements in the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model, confirming the lattice result.
The weakness of the pigeonhole principle under hyperarithmetical reductions
Authors: Monin Benoit , Patey Ludovic
Published: October 2020

The infinite pigeonhole principle for 2-partitions ([Formula: see text]) asserts the existence, for every set [Formula: see text], of an infinite subset of [Formula: see text] or of its complement. In this paper, we study the infinite pigeonhole principle from a computability-theoretic viewpoint. We prove in particular that [Formula: see text] admits strong cone avoidance for arithmetical and hyperarithmetical reductions. We also prove the existence, for every [Formula: see text] set, of an infinite low[Formula: see text] subset of it or its complement. This answers a question of Wang. For this, we design a new notion of forcing which generalizes the first and second-jump control of Cholak et al.
Reproducing fractional monomials: Weakening of the Strang–Fix conditions
Authors: Zakharov Victor G.
Published: October 2020

A method to reproduce causal and symmetric monomials of fractional degree by integer shifts of the corresponding fractional B-splines, introduced by Unser and Blue, is presented. Thus, the traditional relation between the degree of reproduced monomials and the order of approximation holds. Bivariate, obtained by tensor product, fractional B-splines are introduced, and reproducing of bivariate causal and symmetric monomials is shown. Demonstration that the method is based on a weakening of the Strang–Fix conditions is presented.
Effects of entanglement on vortex dynamics in the hydrodynamic representation of quantum mechanics
Authors: Imai Satoya
Published: October 2020

The hydrodynamic representation of quantum mechanics describes virtual flow as if a quantum system were fluid in motion. This formulation illustrates pointlike vortices when the phase of a wavefunction becomes nonintegrable at nodal points. We study the dynamics of such pointlike vortices in the hydrodynamic representation for a two-particle wavefunction. In particular, we discuss how quantum entanglement influences vortex–vortex dynamics. For this purpose, we employ the time-dependent quantum variational principle combined with the Rayleigh–Ritz method. We analyze the vortex dynamics and establish connections with Dirac’s generalized Hamiltonian formalism.
Solving Engineering Optimization Problems Without Penalty
Authors: Zaoui Sihem , Belmadani Abderrahim
Published: October 2020

This paper presents a constraint handling approach without the need to use a penalty function, namely Optimization Without Penalty (OWP). This approach is used on a recent optimization algorithm based on morphological filters, called Optimization by Morphological Filters (OMF). This work consists of providing a simple and effective constraint-handling approach without the necessity of the penalty for any considered optimization problem. The proposed approach is applied to 03 hard mathematical functions, 18 benchmark constraint functions presented in CEC 2010 competition on constrained real-parameter optimization, and 7 constrained engineering design problems reported in the specialized literature. According to the statistical comparison results, the performance of the OMF algorithm with OWP-based approach is better or highly competitive on most of the studied problems.
Diffuse transmitted spectroscopy in conjunction with spectral peak averaging as a potential tool for noninvasive creatinine screening
Authors: Barnea (Burbea) Zvi Hai , Zimlichman Shmuel , Abookasis David
Published: October 2020

Creatinine (Cr) is a biochemical waste molecule generated from muscle metabolism and primarily cleared from the bloodstream by the kidneys. If kidney function declines, Cr levels in the blood tend to increase. Therefore, Cr serves as an indicator of kidney function. In this work, we present a simple method for the rapid screening for impaired renal function based on the subject’s Cr concentration. In our setup, broadband white light is delivered to a finger clamp through a fiber-optic cable to illuminate the patient’s finger. The light is transmitted through the finger and collected by a second optical fiber coupled to a visible–near-infrared (VisNIR) spectrometer which covers the spectral range from 400[Formula: see text]nm to 1100[Formula: see text]nm. During the calibration process, the transmitted spectra acquired from 60 patients were measured. An average was calculated using the peak level of the transmitted, diffused intensity at three different wavelengths to create a “Cr intensity index”. Patients were divided into five groups according to their Cr concentration levels, ranging from 1[Formula: see text]mg/dL to 13[Formula: see text]mg/dL. Our observations indicated that each group featured a unique spectral fingerprint. Next, we tested the index on 20 patients not included in the calibration procedure (unknown samples). We were able to classify patients into groups according to their Cr level with moderate prediction accuracy ([Formula: see text]) and mean screening error of up to 16%. Future efforts will evaluate the accuracy of this approach with larger patient populations representing a broad range of Cr concentration. Still, this preliminary work is an essential step toward developing this useful noninvasive Cr screening platform using NIR light spectroscopy.
On the triangles in certain types of line arrangements
Authors: Anil Kumar C. P.
Published: October 2020

In this paper, we combinatorially describe the triangles that are present in two types of line arrangements, those which have global cyclicity and those which are infinity type line arrangements. A combinatorial nomenclature has been described for both the types and some properties of the nomenclature have been proved. Later, using the nomenclature, we describe the triangles present in both types of line arrangements in main Theorems A and B. We also prove that the set of triangles uniquely determines, in a certain precise sense, the line arrangements with global cyclicity and not the infinity type line arrangements, where counter examples have been provided. In Theorem 9.1, given a nomenclature, we characterize when a particular line symbol in the nomenclature is a line at infinity for the arrangement determined by the nomenclature.
Investigation of Orientation Estimation of Multiple IMUs
Authors: Ludwig Simone A.
Published: October 2020

Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) were first applied to aircraft navigation and large devices in the 1930s. At that time their application was restricted because of constraints such as size, cost, and power consumption. In recent years, however, Micro-electromechanical (MEMS) IMUs were introduced with very favorable features such as low cost, compactness, and low processing power. One of the disadvantages of these low cost IMU sensors is that the accuracy is lower compared to high-end sensors. However, past experimental results have shown that redundant Magnetic and Inertial Measurement Units (MIMUs) improve navigation performance such as for unmanned air vehicles. Even though past simulation and experimental results demonstrated that redundant sensors improve the navigation performance, however, none of the current research work offers information as to how many sensors are required in order to meet a certain accuracy. This paper evaluates different numbers of sensor configurations of an MIMU sensor array using a simulation environment. Differently rotated MIMU sensors are incrementally added and the Madgwick filter is used to estimate the Euler angles of foot mounted MIMU data. The evaluation measure used is the root mean square error (RMSE) based on the Euler angles as compared to the ground truth. During the experiments it was noticed that the execution time with increasing number of sensors increases exponentially, and thus, the parallelization of the code was designed and implemented, and run on a multi-core machine. Thus, the speedup of the parallel implementation was evaluated. The findings using the parallel version with 16 sensors are that the execution time is less than twice the execution time of having only 1 sensor and 24 times less than using the sequential version with the added benefit of a 26% increase in accuracy.
China and the United States in Africa
Authors: Wang Lei
Published: October 2020

China and the United States are among the most important external stakeholders in Africa’s peace, security, and prosperity. The African continent, with some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, an expanding consumer base, and an exploding youth population, has recently witnessed intensifying China-U.S. competition. In economic and trade terms, the United States is playing catch-up as Beijing has long ago overtaken Washington as the continent’s largest trading partner and investor. While China regards Africa’s adherence to the “One China” principle as the only political prerequisite for its engagement with the continent, the United States views greater democracy and rule of law in Africa as in the best interests of both. China’s security presence in Africa pales in comparison with that of the United States, as Washington boasts an extensive network of military bases on the continent while Beijing’s peace and security engagement mainly involves multilateral UN peacekeeping operations and bilateral security cooperation, such as arms sales and training programs. However, growing China-U.S. competition does not necessarily crowd out shared interests or preclude closer coordination in specific areas, for example, market development, infrastructure building, anti-piracy, health capacity-building, and so on. By fending off a senseless ideological contest, respecting each other’s core interests in Africa, accommodating Africans’ development aspirations and security concerns, Beijing and Washington can find more common ground than many believe.
Exploring Smart Material Applications for COVID-19 Pandemic Using 4D Printing Technology
Authors: Javaid Mohd , Haleem Abid
Published: October 2020

Today, in the medical field, innovative technological advancements support healthcare systems and improve patients’ lives. 4D printing is one of the innovative technologies that creates notable innovations in the medical field. For the COVID-19 pandemic, this technology proves to be useful in the manufacturing of smart medical parts, which helps treat infected patients. As compared to 3D printing, 4D printing adds time as an additional element in the manufactured part. 4D printing uses smart materials with the same printing processes as being used in 3D printing technology, but here the part printed with smart materials change their shape with time or by the change of environmental temperature, which further creates innovation for patient treatments. 4D printing manufactures a given part, layer by layer, by taking input of a virtual (CAD) model and uses smart material. This paper studies the capability of smart materials and their advancements when used in 4D printing. We have diagrammatically presented the significant parts of 4D printing technology. This paper identifies 11 significant applications of 4D printing and then studies which one provides innovative solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Industry 5.0: Potential Applications in COVID-19
Authors: Javaid Mohd , Haleem Abid , Singh Ravi Pratap , Haq Mir Irfan Ul , Raina Ankush , Suman Rajiv
Published: October 2020

Industry 5.0, the fifth industrial revolution, consists of smart digital information and manufacturing technologies. This industrial revolution generates effective processes and makes rapid improvement in industries and healthcare. Solutions to challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic can be identified with the deployment of Industry 5.0-based technologies. It helps to provide personalized therapy and treatment processes to the COVID-19 patients if a detailed patient’s information is available. The aim of Industry 5.0 technologies is to create a smart healthcare environment with real-time capabilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these technologies can provide a remote monitoring system in healthcare. This paper identifies and studies major technologies of Industry 5.0 helpful for the COVID-19 pandemic. The supportive features of Industry 5.0 for the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed diagrammatically. Finally, we identified and studied significant challenges faced in the context of Industry 5.0 technologies for the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature revealed that this technological innovation allows a high personalization level to fulfill personal specific demands of the patient and doctors. These technologies play a significant role in making the life of doctors better. Further, doctors can use this technology to focus on critically infected patients and provide proper appropriate information regarding their better treatment. Moreover, Industry 5.0 technologies can help doctors and medical students for required medical training during this COVID-19 outbreak.
Strongly Exponential Separation between Monotone VP and Monotone VNP
Authors: Srinivasan Srikanth
Published: October 2020

We show that there is a sequence of explicit multilinear polynomials

P
n

(x
1
, … ,x
n
) ϵ R [x
1
, … ,x
n
] with non-negative coefficients that lies in monotone VNP such that any monotone algebraic circuit for

P
n

must have size exp (Ω (
n
)) This builds on (and strengthens) a result of Yehudayoff (STOC 2019) who showed a lower bound of exp (Ω(√n)).
Solution of Singular Integral Equations via Riemann–Liouville Fractional Integrals
Authors: Alqudah Manar A. , Mohammed Pshtiwan Othman , Abdeljawad Thabet
Published: October 2020

In this attempt, we introduce a new technique to solve main generalized Abel’s integral equations and generalized weakly singular Volterra integral equations analytically. This technique is based on the Adomian decomposition method, Laplace transform method, andΨ-Riemann–Liouville fractional integrals. Finally, some examples are proposed and they illustrate the rapidness of our new technical method.
A New Metaheuristic-Based Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm for Software Modularization
Authors: Aghdasifam Masoud , Izadkhah Habib , Isazadeh Ayaz
Published: October 2020

Software refactoring is a software maintenance action to improve the software internal quality without changing its external behavior. During the maintenance process, structural refactoring is performed by remodularizing the source code. Software clustering is a modularization technique to remodularize artifacts of source code aiming to improve readability and reusability. Due to the NP hardness of the clustering problem, evolutionary approaches such as the genetic algorithm have been used to solve this problem. In the structural refactoring literature, there exists no search-based algorithm that employs a hierarchical approach for modularization. Utilizing global and local search strategies, in this paper, a new search-based top-down hierarchical clustering approach, named TDHC, is proposed that can be used to modularize the system. The output of the algorithm is a tree in which each node is an artifact composed of all artifacts in its subtrees and is a candidate to be a software module (i.e., cluster). This tree helps a software maintainer to have better vision on source code structure to decide appropriate composition points of artifacts aiming to create modules (i.e., files, packages, and components). Experimental results on seven folders of Mozilla Firefox with different functionalities and five other software systems show that the TDHC produces modularization closer to the human expert’s decomposition (i.e., directory structure) than the other existing algorithms. The proposed algorithm is expected to help a software maintainer for better remodularization of a source code. The source codes and dataset related to this paper can be accessed at https://github.com/SoftwareMaintenanceLab.
Spatiotemporal Evolution Pattern and Driving Factors of Higher-Education Population in China
Authors: Zhao Qiudi , Huang Yaohuan , Liu Yesen
Published: October 2020

The spatial and temporal distribution of the higher-education population (HEP) is a fundamental characteristic of the development level of higher education in a region or a country. Based on the annual population sampling statistics from 2000 to 2015, the spatiotemporal evolution pattern of the HEP in China is systematically analyzed. Meanwhile, 9 driving factors related to natural conditions and socioeconomic conditions of average slope, average elevation, the city location, the city size, high-speed railways, highways, gross domestic product (GDP) density, nonagricultural population, and population density of 2000 and 2010 at the municipal level are constructed. Then, the factors driving the distribution of the HEP are quantitatively analyzed using the geodetector model. The results show that the centroid of the HEP, shifting from the northeast to the southwest from 2000 to 2010, is markedly different from that of the total population from 2000 to 2015 in China. Despite their different moving directions, the distance between the two centroids is decreasing, indicating both significant regional differences of the HEP in China and a narrowing gap between the HEP and the total population in recent years. The results of the factor detector of 2000 and 2010 suggest that the proportion of the nonagricultural population and the city location are the main driving factors of the distribution of the HEP, with driving forces between 0.494 and 0.627, followed by the city size, highways, and GDP density, with driving forces are between 0.199 and 0.302. It indicates that urbanization levels and urban locations are the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of the HEP. The results of the interaction detection reveal that the interaction of the nonagricultural population and the GDP density can explain 92.7% of the spatial variety of the HEP in 2000, while that of the nonagricultural population and the population density can explain 97.6% of the spatial variety of the HEP in 2010, which reflects a more balanced development of the HEP. In addition, a large proportion of the HEP transfers from economically developed areas to densely populated areas.
Finite Element Analysis of Surrounding Rock with a Thermal Insulation Layer in a Deep Mine
Authors: Wang Hao , Zhou Qianyu
Published: October 2020

As the main heat source, surrounding rock heat dissipation is a very important factor in the prediction of mine climate conditions, especially in deep high-temperature mines. To reveal the heat control mechanism of surrounding rocks due to the thermal insulation of deep roadways, a mathematical model of the surrounding rocks around deep roadways with heat insulation was established with the finite element method, and a corresponding calculation program was developed. A series of results were determined to show how setting an insulation layer could affect the distribution law of the temperature field within and around tunnels. Therefore, rules of the variation in wall temperature and temperature gradient with thermal conductivity coefficients were obtained within and around tunnels. The heat release capacity of the surrounding rocks of the roadways is significantly reduced after introducing a thermal insulation layer into the roadway design under different schemes; these design schemes were determined by further engineering example analysis. It was found that the heat insulation layer design can cool the surrounding rocks of deep mine roadways.
KRAS Mutation in Serous Borderline Tumor of the Testis: Report of a Case and Review of the Literature
Authors: Bouri Sarah , Noël Jean-Christophe , Catteau Xavier , Al Hajj Obeid Walid , Svistakov Ilyas , Roumeguère Thierry , D’Haene Nicky , Rorive Sandrine
Published: October 2020

Ovarian-like epithelial tumors of the testis, including serous borderline tumors, are rare entities. We report the case of a 60-year-old man with a left intratesticular mass who had a radical orchidectomy. Histologically, the tumor was identical to the ovarian counterpart showing a well-delineated cystic lesion characterized by intraluminal papillae. The papillae are lined by atypical cuboidal or ciliated cells and are associated with psammoma bodies. The tumor cells express cytokeratin 7 (CK7), cytokeratin 5-6 (CK5-6), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), Wilm’s tumor gene (WT1), paired box gene 8 (PAX8), Ber-EP4, and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). The diagnosis of a serous borderline tumor of the testis was proposed. Mutation testing using next-generation sequencing showed a Q61K KRAS gene mutation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second case report of a serous borderline tumor of the testis with a Q61K KRAS gene mutation.
Some New Bounds of Weighted Graph Entropies with GA and Gaurava Indices Edge Weights
Authors: Wu Tiejun , Mutee Ur Rehman Hafiz , Chu Yu-Ming , Afzal Deeba , Yu Jianfeng
Published: October 2020

Motivated by the concept of Shannon’s entropy, the degree-dependent weighted graph entropy was defined which is now become a tool for measurement of structural information of complex graph networks. The aim of this paper is to study weighted graph entropy. We used GA and Gaurava indices as edge weights to define weighted graph entropy and establish some bounds for different families of graphs. Moreover, we compute the defined weighted entropies for molecular graphs of some dendrimer structures.
A Marine Object Detection Algorithm Based on SSD and Feature Enhancement
Authors: Hu Kai , Lu Feiyu , Lu Meixia , Deng Zhiliang , Liu Yunping
Published: October 2020

Autonomous detection and fishing by underwater robots will be the main way to obtain aquatic products in the future; sea urchins are the main research object of aquatic product detection. When the classical Single-Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) algorithm is applied to the detection of sea urchins, it also has disadvantages of being inaccurate to small targets and insensitive to the direction of the sea urchin. Based on the classic SSD algorithm, this paper proposes a feature-enhanced sea urchin detection algorithm. Firstly, according to the spiny-edge characteristics of a sea urchin, a multidirectional edge detection algorithm is proposed to enhance the feature, which is taken as the 4th channel of image and the original 3 channels of underwater image together as the input for the further deep learning. Then, in order to improve the shortcomings of SSD algorithm’s poor ability to detect small targets, resnet 50 is used as the basic framework of the network, and the idea of feature cross-level fusion is adopted to improve the feature expression ability and strengthen semantic information. The open data set provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China underwater Robot Competition will be used as the test set and training set. Under the same training and test conditions, the AP value of the algorithm in this paper reaches 81.0%, 7.6% higher than the classic SSD algorithm, and the confidence of small target analysis is also improved. Experimental results show that the algorithm in this paper can effectively improve the accuracy of sea urchin detection.
A Benign and Malignant Breast Tumor Classification Method via Efficiently Combining Texture and Morphological Features on Ultrasound Images
Authors: Wei Mengwan , Du Yongzhao , Wu Xiuming , Su Qichen , Zhu Jianqing , Zheng Lixin , Lv Guorong , Zhuang Jiafu
Published: October 2020

The classification of benign and malignant based on ultrasound images is of great value because breast cancer is an enormous threat to women’s health worldwide. Although both texture and morphological features are crucial representations of ultrasound breast tumor images, their straightforward combination brings little effect for improving the classification of benign and malignant since high-dimensional texture features are too aggressive so that drown out the effect of low-dimensional morphological features. For that, an efficient texture and morphological feature combing method is proposed to improve the classification of benign and malignant. Firstly, both texture (i.e., local binary patterns (LBP), histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), and gray-level co-occurrence matrixes (GLCM)) and morphological (i.e., shape complexities) features of breast ultrasound images are extracted. Secondly, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier working on texture features is trained, and a naive Bayes (NB) classifier acting on morphological features is designed, in order to exert the discriminative power of texture features and morphological features, respectively. Thirdly, the classification scores of the two classifiers (i.e., SVM and NB) are weighted fused to obtain the final classification result. The low-dimensional nonparameterized NB classifier is effectively control the parameter complexity of the entire classification system combine with the high-dimensional parametric SVM classifier. Consequently, texture and morphological features are efficiently combined. Comprehensive experimental analyses are presented, and the proposed method obtains a 91.11% accuracy, a 94.34% sensitivity, and an 86.49% specificity, which outperforms many related benign and malignant breast tumor classification methods.
Comprehensive Analysis of Immunoinhibitors Identifies LGALS9 and TGFBR1 as Potential Prognostic Biomarkers for Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Fan Yue , Li Tianyu , Xu Lili , Kuang Tiantao
Published: October 2020

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most deadly cancers worldwide. To uncover the unknown novel biomarker used to indicate early diagnosis and prognosis in the molecular therapeutic field of PC is extremely of importance. Accumulative evidences indicated that aberrant expression or activation of immunoinhibitors is a common phenomenon in malignances, and significant associations have been noted between immunoinhibitors and tumorigenesis or progression in a wide range of cancers. However, the expression patterns and exact roles of immunoinhibitors contributing to tumorigenesis and progression of pancreatic cancer (PC) have not yet been elucidated clearly. In this study, we investigated the distinct expression and prognostic value of immunoinhibitors in patients with PC by analyzing a series of databases, including TISIDB, GEPIA, cBioPortal, and Kaplan-Meier plotter database. The mRNA expression levels of IDO1, CSF1R, VTCN1, KDR, LGALS9, TGFBR1, TGFB1, IL10RB, and PVRL2 were found to be significantly upregulated in patients with PC. Aberrant expression of TGFBR1, VTCN1, and LGALS9 was found to be associated with the worse outcomes of patients with PC. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that LGALS9 was involved in regulating the type I interferon signaling pathway, interferon-gamma-mediated signaling pathway, RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, NF-kappa B signaling pathway, cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway, and TNF signaling pathway. And TGFB1 was related to mesoderm formation, cell matrix adhesion, TGF-beta signaling pathway, and Hippo signaling pathway. These results suggested that LGALS9 and TGFBR1 might serve as potential prognostic biomarkers and targets for PC.