bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is female genital mutilation/cutting associated with adverse mental health consequences? A systematic review of the evidence
Authors: Abdalla Salma M , Galea Sandro
Published: July 2019

Introduction

The adverse physical consequences of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) have been thoroughly investigated and documented. Yet, we know little about the adverse mental health consequences of the practice. To fill this research gap, we systematically reviewed studies that assessed any adverse mental health consequences related to FGM/C.

Methods

We searched four databases from inception to 21 December 2018. We then reviewed all titles and abstracts for relevant studies. We used the National Institutes of Health quality assessment tool to appraise the quality of each study and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to rate the risk of bias within studies.

Results

We included 16 studies in this review; only six studies examined the association between FGM/C and adverse mental health outcomes as the sole research question. Among the included studies, 10 were conducted at the participants’ country of origin. The sample size of the populations studied ranged from 3 to 4800 participants. Only one study received a rating of ‘good’ methodological quality.

Fourteen of the 16 studies reported an association between FGM/C and at least adverse mental health outcome. These included eight studies that reported a higher burden of adverse mental health outcomes among women who underwent FGM compared with women who did not undergo FGM/C. Four studies reported a correlation between the severity of FGM/C and the severity of adverse mental health outcomes.

Conclusion

This systematic review documents an association between FGM/C and adverse mental health outcomes. Importantly, our review demonstrates the need for more rigorous research on the topic.
Responding to epidemics in large-scale humanitarian crises: a case study of the cholera response in Yemen, 2016–2018
Authors: Spiegel Paul , Ratnayake Ruwan , Hellman Nora , Ververs Mija , Ngwa Moise , Wise Paul H , Lantagne Daniele
Published: July 2019

Background

Large epidemics frequently emerge in conflict-affected states. We examined the cholera response during the humanitarian crisis in Yemen to inform control strategies.

Methods

We conducted interviews with practitioners and advisors on preparedness; surveillance; laboratory; case management; malnutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); vaccination; coordination and insecurity. We undertook a literature review of global and Yemen-specific cholera guidance, examined surveillance data from the first and second waves (28 September 2016–12 March 2018) and reviewed reports on airstrikes on water systems and health facilities (April 2015–December 2017). We used the Global Task Force on Cholera Control’s framework to examine intervention strategies and thematic analysis to understand decision making.

Results

Yemen is water scarce, and repeated airstrikes damaged water systems, risking widespread infection. Since a cholera preparedness and response plan was absent, on detection, the humanitarian cluster system rapidly developed response plans. The initial plans did not prioritise key actions including community-directed WASH to reduce transmission, epidemiological analysis and laboratory monitoring. Coordination was not harmonised across the crisis-focused clusters and epidemic-focused incident management system. The health strategy was crisis focused and was centralised on functional health facilities, underemphasising less accessible areas. As vaccination was not incorporated into preparedness, consensus on its use remained slow. At the second wave peak, key actions including data management, community-directed WASH and oral rehydration and vaccination were scaled-up.

Conclusion

Despite endemicity and conflict, Yemen was not prepared for the epidemic. To contain outbreaks, conflict-affected states, humanitarian agencies, and donors must emphasise preparedness planning and community-directed responses.
Why are people increasingly attending the emergency department? A study of the French healthcare system
Authors: Colineaux Helene , Pelissier Fanny , Pourcel Laure , Lang Thierry , Kelly-Irving Michelle , Azema Olivier , Charpentier Sandrine , Lamy Sebastien
Published: July 2019

Objective

It is often asserted that the crowding phenomenon in emergency departments (ED) can be explained by an increase in visits considered as non-urgent. The aim of our study was to quantify the increase in ED visit rates and to determine whether this increase was explained by non-severe visit types.

Methods

This observational study covers all ED visits between 2002 and 2015 by adult inhabitants of the Midi-Pyrénées region in France. Their characteristics were collected from the emergency visit summaries. We modelled the visit rates per year using linear regression models, and an increase was considered significant when the 95% CIs did not include zero. The severity of the patients’ condition during ED visit was determined through the ‘Clinical Classification of Emergency’ score. Non-severe visits were those where the patient was stable, and the physician deemed no intervention necessary. Intermediate-severity visits concerned patients who were stable but requiring diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.

Results

The 37 studied EDs managed >7 million visits between 2002 and 2015. There was an average increase of +4.83 (95% CI 4.33 to 5.32) visits per 1000 inhabitants each year. The increase in non-severe visit types was +0.88 (95% CI 0.42 to 1.34) per 1000 inhabitants, while the increase in intermediate-severity visit types was +3.26 (95% CI 2.62 to 3.91) per 1000 inhabitants. This increase affected all age groups and all sexes.

Discussion

It appears that the increase in ED use is not based on an increase in non-severe visit types, with a greater impact of intermediate-severity visit types requiring diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in ED.
Gravitational collapse of dust fluid and dark energy in the presence of curvature: Black hole formation
Authors: Abbas Syed Zaheer , Shah Hasrat Hussain , Sun Huafei , Rahaman Farook , Ahmed Faizuddin
Published: July 2019

Study of gravitational collapse and black hole formation has got much interest in recent years after gravitational waves detection from mergers of black hole binaries. Here, we studied the gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric clump of matter, constituted of dust fluid, [Formula: see text], in a background of dark energy, [Formula: see text]. We investigate the curvature effect [Formula: see text] on the gravitational collapsing process. Gravitational collapsing process for two different cases is discussed i.e. collapse of dust cloud only and collapse of dark energy. We used equation of state [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. For dark energy case, we discuss the collapsing process and curvature effect for different parameter values of equation of state.
A generalized statistical complexity based on Rényi entropy of a noncommutative anisotropic oscillator in a homogeneous magnetic field
Authors: Nath Debraj , Ghosh Piu
Published: July 2019

We calculate the shape Rényi and generalized Rényi complexity of a noncommutative anisotropic harmonic oscillator in a homogeneous magnetic field. To do so, we first obtain the Rényi entropy in position and momentum spaces of the exact normalized wave functions. We observe that shape Rényi and generalized Rényi complexities are monotone functions of noncommutative parameter ([Formula: see text]) in some short range in position space. We analyze the effect of the noncommutative parameter, the magnetic field and the anisotropy on shape Rényi and generalized Rényi complexities.
Infrared Small Target Detection Based on Morphology and SUSAN Algorithm
Authors: Hu Zhiwei , Su Yixin
Published: July 2019

Infrared small target detection is one of the key techniques in infrared imaging guidance system. The technology of infrared small target detection still needs to be further studied to improve the detection performance. This paper combines the high-pass filtering characteristics of morphological top-hat transform with SUSAN algorithm, and proposes a small infrared target detection method based on morphology and SUSAN algorithm. This method uses top-hat transform to detect the high-frequency region in infrared image, and filters out the low-frequency region in the image to implement the preliminary background suppression of infrared image. Then the SUSAN algorithm is used to detect small targets in the image after background suppression. The proposed method is applied to the single infrared image which is acquired by the infrared guidance system in the process of detecting and tracking the target under specific conditions. The experimental results show that the method is effective and can detect infrared small targets under different background.
Research on Remote Sensing Image Target Recognition Based on Deep Convolution Neural Network
Authors: Han Xiaofeng , Jiang Tao , Zhao Zifei , Lei Zhongteng
Published: July 2019

Target recognition is an important application in the time of high-resolution remote sensing images. However, the traditional target recognition method has the characteristics of artificial design, and the generalization ability is not strong, which makes it difficult to meet the requirement of the current mass data. Therefore, it is urgent to explore new methods for feature extraction and target recognition and location in remote sensing images. Convolutional neural network in deep learning can extract representative and discriminative multi-level features of typical features from images, so it can be used for multi-target recognition of remote sensing big data in complex scenes. In this study, NWPU VHR-10 data was selected, 50% was used for training, and the remainder was used for verification. The target recognition effects of two kinds of convolutional neural network models, Faster R-CNN and SSD, were studied and compared, and the mean average precision (mAP) was used for evaluation. The evaluation results show that the Faster R-CNN has three categories with an accuracy of more than 80%, and the SSD has seven categories with an accuracy of more than 80%, all of which show good results. The SSD model is particularly prominent in running time and recognition results, which proves convolutional neural networks have broad application prospects in the target recognition of remote sensing image data.
A look into the cosmological consequences of a dark energy model with higher derivatives of H in the framework of Chameleon Brans–Dicke cosmology
Authors: Pasqua Antonio , Chattopadhyay Surajit , Beesham Aroonkumar
Published: July 2019

In this paper, we study some relevant cosmological features of a Dark Energy (DE) model with Granda–Oliveros cut-off, which is just a specific case of Nojiri–Odintsov holographic DE [S. Nojiri and S. D. Odintsov, Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 38 (2006) 1285] unifying phantom inflation with late-time acceleration, in the framework of Chameleon Brans–Dicke (BD) cosmology. Choosing a particular ansatz for some of the quantities involved, we derive the expressions of some important cosmological quantities, like the Equation of State (EoS) parameter of DE [Formula: see text], the effective EoS parameter [Formula: see text], the pressure of DE [Formula: see text] and the deceleration parameter [Formula: see text]. Moreover, we study the behavior of statefinder parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], of the cosmographic parameters [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] and of the squared speed of the sound [Formula: see text] for both case corresponding to noninteracting and interacting Dark sectors. We also plot the quantities we have derived and we calculate their values for [Formula: see text] (i.e. for the beginning of the universe history), for [Formula: see text] (i.e. for far future) and for the present time, indicated with [Formula: see text]. The EoS parameters have been tested against various observational values available in the literature.
Forecasting cosmological bias due to local gravitational redshift
Authors: Xu Haoting , Huang Zhiqi , Zhang Na , Jiang Yundong
Published: July 2019

When photons from distant galaxies and stars pass through our neighboring environment, the wavelengths of the photons would be shifted by our local gravitational potential. This local gravitational redshift effect can potentially have an impact on the measurement of cosmological distance–redshift relation. Using available supernovae data, Wojtak, Davis and Wiis [J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 2015 (2015) 025] found seemingly large biases of cosmological parameters for some extended models (nonflat [Formula: see text]CDM, [Formula: see text]CDM, etc.). Huang [Phys. Rev. D 91 (2015) 121301] pointed out that, however, the biases can be reduced to a negligible level if cosmic microwave background (CMB) data are added to break the strong degeneracy between parameters in the extended models. In this paper, we forecast the cosmological bias due to local gravitational redshifts for a future WFIRST-like supernovae survey. We find that the local gravitational redshift effect remains negligible, provided that CMB data or some future redshift survey data are added to break the degeneracy between parameters.
Accounting for SNR in an Algorithm Using Wavelet Transform to Remove ECG Interference from EMG Signals
Authors: Oo Thandar , Phukpattaranont Pornchai
Published: July 2019

When the electromyography (EMG) signal is acquired from muscles in the torso, the electrocardiography (ECG) signal coming from heart activity can interfere. As a result, the EMG signal can be contaminated during data collection. In this paper, a technique based on discrete stationary wavelet transform (DSWT) is proposed to remove ECG interference from the EMG signal while taking into account the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The contaminated EMG signal is decomposed using 5-level DSWT with the Symlet wavelet function. The coefficients for levels 4 and 5, which are contaminated by ECG, are set to zero when their absolute values are less than or equal to a threshold determined for each SNR level. A clean EMG signal can then be obtained by inverse DSWT mapping of the new thresholded coefficients. We evaluated the performance of the proposed algorithm using simulated EMG contaminated with both simulated and real ECG signals, at 9 SNR levels from [Formula: see text]20 to 20[Formula: see text]dB with 5[Formula: see text]dB increments. The performance based on mean absolute error, correlation coefficient and relative error shows that the DSWT method is better than a high-pass filter.
Using Time Series Analysis to Estimate Complex Regular Cycles in Daily High School Attendance
Authors: Koopmans Matthijs
Published: July 2019

The Trigonometric Box-Cox ARMA Trend Seasonal (TBATS) model has been designed to estimate complex cyclical patterns (e.g., weeks within years) in time series data. This paper seeks to evaluate its applicability to educational data, daily school attendance in particular. Attendance rates in four high schools are analyzed over a ten year period using TBATS to illustrate the presence of both weekly and annual patterns in three of the schools and only weekly patterns in the fourth. The model features are explicated and it is shown how the estimation of weekly and annual cycles enhances the description of the data and improves our understanding of how the assessment of endogenous variability contributes to our understanding of daily high school attendance behavior. R script is provided in an appendix.
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF URINARY BLADDER WALL THICKNESS AT DIFFERENT PRESSURE CONDITION
Authors: KENI LAXMIKANT G. , KALBURGI SAGAR , HAMEED B. M. ZEESHAN , ZUBER MOHAMMAD , TAMAGAWA MASAAKI , SHENOY B. SATISH
Published: July 2019

In this work, a 3D urinary bladder was subjected to various pressure loading conditions mimicking the bladder filling volume. The bladder layer consisting of adventitia, detrusor and mucosa layer having different mechanical properties produced different deformation and stresses when subjected to the varying loads. The volume of the bladder changed to 231.34[Formula: see text]ml which was 128.91% higher than the assumed initial volume of 50[Formula: see text]ml on application of 18[Formula: see text]kPa of pressure. The detrusor layer which is thickest of the bladder wall reduced to 1.312[Formula: see text]mm from 4.4[Formula: see text]mm, recording a 108% change in its thickness at 18[Formula: see text]kPa pressure. The maximum von-Mises stress obtained were significantly higher in case of the Mucosa layer when compared to the detrusor and adventia layer. The unique layup of the bladder wall having different properties plays a major role in sustaining adverse pressure gradients and absorbing high stresses.
RATIONALIZATION OF SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR HEMORRHAGIC MOYAMOYA DISEASE: FROM LABORATORY BENCH RESEARCH, BIOMECHANICS TO META-ANALYSIS
Authors: JIANG ZHI-QUN , CHEN YAN , ZENG CHUN-HUI , FENG JIU-GENG , WAN YI-LV , WEI MIN-JUN
Published: July 2019

Background and purpose: Surgery is recommended as the treatment of choice for hemorrhagic Moyamoya disease (MMD). The rationale of surgery and the choice of procedure are poorly understood. The aim of this paper is to present latest evidence, from cellular, biomechanical and population data, surgical treatment options and their effect on the outcome of hemorrhagic MMD.

Methods: We systematically reviewed the latest evidence from cellular, biomechanical and populational studies including our own meta-analysis for rationalization of management of MMD. We searched major databases from inception to latest articles available till October 2018. All major breakthroughs including basic research to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and human case–control studies related to hemorrhagic MMD were included. Our meta-analysis was performed in accordance to the standard Cochrane.

Result: Evidence at cellular, biomechanical and RCT levels was presented. For our meta-analysis, we included eight studies, totaling at 632 patients. Our results rationalized the use of surgical methods in support of surgical management of MMD. We showed that surgery in MMD resulted in a significant lower risk of future stroke ([Formula: see text], 95% [Formula: see text]–0.38). Among different surgical methods, the indirect bypass group had a lower risk for sedentary stroke risk reduction compared with the direct bypass group (RR[Formula: see text]=[Formula: see text]3.36, 95% CI[Formula: see text]=[Formula: see text]1.53–7.36). No significant differences were observed in perioperative complications between the two methods.

Conclusion: Surgery remains a mainstay for the management of MMD. We concluded that current evidence in biomechanical and our own meta-analysis is in support of surgery being an effective management of hemorrhagic MMD. We deduced insights into research for early detection, characterization and follow up of patients with MMD.
INFLUENCE OF CUSTOMIZED FOOT ORTHOTICS ON GAIT BALANCE FOR PELVIC ASYMMETRY PATIENTS
Authors: JUNG JI-YONG , KIM JUNG-JA
Published: July 2019

Gait is one of the most common and important factor of human movements in daily life. Pelvis is closely connected with the gait due to it allows maintain stable posture by supporting the spine and lower extremities against the gravity. Therefore, pelvic asymmetry, which is caused by biomechanical stress and muscle imbalance, has been associated with postural imbalance and abnormal walking pattern. The purpose of this study was to manufacture customized foot orthotics for improving gait balance and evaluate the effectiveness of customized foot orthotics during walking by measuring lower extremity muscle activity and plantar pressure distribution. All subjects with pelvic asymmetry were asked to walk on a treadmill under three conditions: walking without foot orthotics, walking with customized foot orthotics and walking with non-customized foot orthotics. Root mean square (RMS) value of the electromyography signals, force and peak pressure of the plantar pressure distribution was analyzed based on the gait cycle. The results showed that excessive tension of the muscles and high pressure of the foot that was induced by pelvic asymmetry were more reduced when walking with custom-made foot orthotics than walking without foot orthotics and walking with non-customized foot orthotics. This paper suggest that custom-made orthotics for patients with pelvic asymmetry could be helpful to relieve the excessive loading of the foot and maintain balanced gait pattern.
1-Safe Petri Nets and Special Cube Complexes
Authors: Chalopin Jérémie , Chepoi Victor
Published: July 2019

Nielsen et al. [35] proved that every 1-safe Petri net
N
unfolds into an event structure E

N

. By a result of Thiagarajan [46], these unfoldings are exactly the trace-regular event structures. Thiagarajan [46] conjectured that regular event structures correspond exactly to trace-regular event structures. In a recent paper (Chalopin and Chepoi [12]), we disproved this conjecture, based on the striking bijection between domains of event structures, median graphs, and CAT(0) cube complexes. However, we proved that Thiagarajan’s conjecture is true for regular event structures whose domains are principal filters of universal covers of finite special cube complexes.

In the current article, we prove the converse: To any finite 1-safe Petri net
N
, one can associate a finite special cube complex X

N

such that the domain of the event structure E

N

(obtained as the unfolding of
N
) is a principal filter of the universal cover X̃

N

of X

N

. This establishes a bijection between 1-safe Petri nets and finite special cube complexes and provides a combinatorial characterization of trace-regular event structures.

Using this bijection and techniques from graph theory and geometry (MSO theory of graphs, bounded treewidth, and bounded hyperbolicity), we disprove yet another conjecture by Thiagarajan (from the paper with Yang [48]) that the monadic second-order logic of a 1-safe Petri net (i.e., of its event structure unfolding) is decidable if and only if its unfolding is grid-free. It was proven by Thiagarajan and Yang [48] that the MSO logic is undecidable if the unfolding is not grid-free. Our counterexample is the trace-regular event structure that arises from a virtually special square complex Z. The domain of this event structure
Ė

Z

is the principal filter of the universal cover Z̃ of Z in which to each vertex we added a pendant edge. The graph of the domain of
Ė

Z

has bounded hyperbolicity (and, thus, the event structure
Ė

Z

is grid-free) but has infinite treewidth. Using results of Seese, Courcelle, and Müller and Schupp, we show that this implies that the MSO theory of the event structure
Ė

Z

is undecidable.
Pedagogy that Supports Computer Science for
All
Authors: Ryoo Jean J.
Published: July 2019

The Computer Science (CS) for All movement has taken hold of the United States and CS education is rapidly expanding across nations throughout the world. Yet, as curricula and professional development opportunities are developed, key questions remain about what “works” for engaging youth in CS education, especially those who are historically underrepresented in the field (including young women, students of color, low-income students). In response, this study answers the questions: What teaching practices do students—who are historically underrepresented in CS—believe are most effective for engaging their interest in CS learning? What pedagogical actions do CS teachers identify as most effective for engaging students? And what do these engaging teaching practices look like in the classroom? Through a qualitative study following three different urban high school Exploring Computer Science classrooms over an entire school year (n = 70 students, 3 teachers; >105h of observation data; >50 interviews with students and teachers), key pedagogical practices that had greatest impact on youth's interest and engagement with CS included: (1) demystifying CS by showing its connections to everyday life; (2) addressing social issues impacting both CS and students’ communities; and (3) valuing students’ voices and perspectives. This article shares testimonies from students and teachers, as well as examples of these teaching practices in the classroom.
Metabolic control via nutrient-sensing mechanisms: role of taste receptors and the gut-brain neuroendocrine axis
Authors: Raka Fitore , Farr Sarah , Kelly Jacalyn , Stoianov Alexandra , Adeli Khosrow
Published: July 2019

Nutrient sensing plays an important role in ensuring that appropriate digestive or hormonal responses are elicited following the ingestion of fuel substrates. Mechanisms of nutrient sensing in the oral cavity have been fairly well characterized and involve lingual taste receptors. These include heterodimers of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) of the taste receptor type 1 (T1R) family for sensing sweet (T1R2-T1R3) and umami (T1R1-T1R3) stimuli, the T2R family for sensing bitter stimuli, and ion channels for conferring sour and salty tastes. In recent years, several studies have revealed the existence of additional nutrient-sensing mechanisms along the gastrointestinal tract. Glucose sensing is achieved by the T1R2-T1R3 heterodimer on enteroendocrine cells, which plays a role in triggering the secretion of incretin hormones for improved glycemic and lipemic control. Protein hydrolysates are detected by Ca2+-sensing receptor, the T1R1-T1R3 heterodimer, and G protein-coupled receptor 92/93 (GPR92/93), which leads to the release of the gut-derived satiety factor cholecystokinin. Furthermore, several GPCRs have been implicated in fatty acid sensing: GPR40 and GPR120 respond to medium- and long-chain fatty acids, GPR41 and GPR43 to short-chain fatty acids, and GPR119 to endogenous lipid derivatives. Aside from the recognition of fuel substrates, both the oral cavity and the gastrointestinal tract also possess T2R-mediated mechanisms of recognizing nonnutrients such as environmental contaminants, bacterial toxins, and secondary plant metabolites that evoke a bitter taste. These gastrointestinal sensing mechanisms result in the transmission of neuronal signals to the brain through the release of gastrointestinal hormones that act on vagal and enteric afferents to modulate the physiological response to nutrients, particularly satiety and energy homeostasis. Modulating these orally accessible nutrient-sensing pathways using particular foods, dietary supplements, or pharmaceutical compounds may have therapeutic potential for treating obesity and metabolic diseases.
Overproduction of endothelin-1 impairs glucose tolerance but does not promote visceral adipose tissue inflammation or limit metabolic adaptations to exercise
Authors: Jurrissen Thomas J. , Grunewald Zachary I. , Woodford Makenzie L. , Winn Nathan C. , Ball James R. , Smith Thomas N. , Wheeler Andrew A. , Rawlings Arthur L. , Staveley-O’Carroll Kevin F. , Ji Yan , Fay William P. , Paradis Pierre , Schiffrin Ernesto L. , Vieira-Potter Victoria J. , Fadel Paul J. , Martinez-Lemus Luis A. , Padilla Jaume
Published: July 2019

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor and proinflammatory peptide that is upregulated in obesity. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that ET-1 signaling promotes visceral adipose tissue (AT) inflammation and disrupts glucose homeostasis. We also tested if reduced ET-1 is a required mechanism by which exercise ameliorates AT inflammation and improves glycemic control in obesity. We found that 1) diet-induced obesity, AT inflammation, and glycemic dysregulation were not accompanied by significantly increased levels of ET-1 in AT or circulation in wild-type mice and that endothelial overexpression of ET-1 and consequently increased ET-1 levels did not cause AT inflammation yet impaired glucose tolerance; 2) reduced AT inflammation and improved glucose tolerance with voluntary wheel running was not associated with decreased levels of ET-1 in AT or circulation in obese mice nor did endothelial overexpression of ET-1 impede such exercise-induced metabolic adaptations; 3) chronic pharmacological blockade of ET-1 receptors did not suppress AT inflammation in obese mice but improved glucose tolerance; and 4) in a cohort of human subjects with a wide range of body mass indexes, ET-1 levels in AT, or circulation were not correlated with markers of inflammation in AT. In aggregate, we conclude that ET-1 signaling is not implicated in the development of visceral AT inflammation but promotes glucose intolerance, thus representing an important therapeutic target for glycemic dysregulation in conditions characterized by hyperendothelinemia. Furthermore, we show that the salutary effects of exercise on AT and systemic metabolic function are not contingent on the suppression of ET-1 signaling.
Tracking adiponectin biodistribution via fluorescence molecular tomography indicates increased vascular permeability after streptozotocin-induced diabetes
Authors: Yoon Nanyoung , Dadson Keith , Dang Thanh , Chu Teresa , Noskovicova Nina , Hinz Boris , Raignault Adeline , Thorin Eric , Kim Seunggyu , Jeon Jessie S. , Jonkman James , McKee Trevor D. , Grant Justin , Peterson Jeffrey D. , Kelly Scott P. , Sweeney Gary
Published: July 2019

Adiponectin, a highly abundant polypeptide hormone in plasma, plays an important role in the regulation of energy metabolism in a wide variety of tissues, as well as providing important beneficial effects in diabetes, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease. To act on target tissues, adiponectin must move from the circulation to the interstitial space, suggesting that vascular permeability plays an important role in regulating adiponectin action. To test this hypothesis, fluorescently labeled adiponectin was used to monitor its biodistribution in mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetes (STZD). Adiponectin was, indeed, found to have increased sequestration in the highly fenestrated liver and other tissues within 90 min in STZD mice. In addition, increased myocardial adiponectin was detected and confirmed using computed tomography (CT) coregistration. This provided support of adiponectin delivery to affected cardiac tissue as a cardioprotective mechanism. Higher adiponectin content in the STZD heart tissues was further examined by ex vivo fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) imaging, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot analysis. In vitro mechanistic studies using an endothelial monolayer on inserts and three-dimensional microvascular networks on microfluidic chips further confirmed that adiponectin flux was increased by high glucose. However, in the in vitro model and mouse heart tissue, high glucose levels did not change adiponectin receptor levels. An examination of the tight junction (TJ) complex revealed a decrease in the TJ protein claudin (CLDN)-7 in high glucose-treated endothelial cells, and the functional significance of this change was underscored by increased endothelium permeability upon siRNA-mediated knockdown of CLDN-7. Our data support the idea that glucose-induced effects on permeability of the vascular endothelium contribute to the actions of adiponectin by regulating its transendothelial movement from blood to the interstitial space. These observations are physiologically significant and critical when considering ways to harness the therapeutic potential of adiponectin for diabetes.
On Darboux‐Type Differential Inclusions with Uncertainty
Authors: Mehmood Nayyar , Al-Rawashdeh Ahmed , Azam Akbar
Published: July 2019

In this article we prove the existence results for solutions of the Darboux‐type problems in fuzzy partial differential inclusions with local conditions of integral types. We present two problems involving open and closed level sets of a given fuzzy mapping. In the first case fuzzy differential inclusion has been transformed into an equivalent Darboux‐type problem for partial differential equations and then using the Tychonoff fixed point theorem we prove the existence result for this crisp case. For the second case we use Nadler’s fixed point theorem and selection theorem of Kuratowski‐Ryll‐Nardzewski to find the solution of given differential inclusions problem. We furnish an example to validate our results.
Data‐Driven Approximated Optimal Control of Sulfur Flotation Process
Authors: He Mingfang
Published: July 2019

Sulfur flotation process is a typical industry process with complex dynamics. For a sulfur flotation cell, the structure of the system model could be derived using first‐principles and reaction kinetics. However, the model parameters cannot be obtained under certain working conditions. In this paper, by using adaptive dynamic programming (ADP), we establish a data‐driven optimal control approach for the operation of a sulfur flotation cell without knowing the model parameters. By learning from the online production data, an initial admissible control policy iteratively converges to an approximated optimal control law, and the dependence of optimal control design on the full model knowledge is eliminated. A simulation environment of sulfur flotation process is constructed based on phenomenological model and industrial data. Some practical problems in the implementation of ADP, i.e., selection of basis functions, how to use the model structural information in the ADP‐based control design, are investigated. The feasibility and performance of the proposed data‐driven optimal control are tested in the simulation environment. The results indicate the potential of applying bioinspired control methods in flotation process.
Parameter Identification and State of Charge Estimation of NMC Cells Based on Improved Ant Lion Optimizer
Authors: Zhang Kai , Ma Jian , Zhao Xuan , Liu Xiaodong , Zhang Yixi
Published: July 2019

For lithium battery, which is widely utilized as energy storage system in electric vehicles (EVs), accurate estimating of the battery parameters and state of charge (SOC) has a significant effect on the prediction of energy power, the estimation of remaining mileage, and the extension of usage life. This paper develops an improved ant lion optimizer (IALO) which introduces the chaotic mapping theory into the initialization and random walk processes to improve the population homogeneity and ergodicity. After the elite (best) individual is obtained, the individual mutant operator is conducted on the elite individual to further exploit the area around elite and avoid local optimum. Then the battery model parameters are optimized by IALO algorithm. As for the SOC estimation, unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is a common algorithm for SOC estimation. However, a disadvantage of UKF is that the noise information is always unknown, and it is usually tuned manually by “trial‐and‐error” method which is irregular and time‐consuming. In this paper, noise information is optimized by IALO algorithm. The singular value decomposition (SVD) which is utilized in the process of unscented transformation to solve the problem of the covariance matrix may lose positive definiteness. The experiment results verify that the developed IALO algorithm has superior performance of battery model parameters estimation. After the noise information is optimized by IALO, the UKF can estimate the SOC accurately and the maximum errors rate is less than 1%.
Maternal Serum Angiogenic Factor sFlt-1 to PlGF Ratio in Preeclampsia: A Useful Marker for Differential Diagnosis and Prognosis Evaluation in Chinese Women
Authors: Lou Wei-zhen , Jiang Fang , Hu Jing , Chen Xiao-xu , Song Ying-na , Zhou Xi-ya , Liu Jun-tao , Bian Xu-ming , Gao Jin-song
Published: July 2019

The ratio of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 to placental growth factor (sFlt-1/PlGF) is elevated and proved to be useful in preeclampsia (PE) diagnosis. Its value in differential diagnosis with other pregnancy complications and prediction of pregnancy duration has yet to be clarified in Chinese population. We retrospectively analyzed 118 singleton pregnancies with suspected or diagnosed PE at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) in China. Among these, 62 pregnancies were diagnosed as PE (48 early onsets and 14 late onsets, with 39 and 5 severe PE, respectively), 12 gestational hypertension (GH), 15 chronic hypertension (chrHTN), 16 autoimmune diseases, and 13 pregnancies with uncomplicated proteinuria. And 76 normal pregnancies were included as control. The results showed (1) the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio in early onset PE subgroup was significantly higher than that in GH, chrHTN, and control groups; the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio in late onset PE subgroup was significantly higher than that in chrHTN and control groups, but similar as GH group; the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio was similar among GH, chrHTN, and control groups. (2) The sFlt-1/PlGF ratio was significantly increased in the PE group compared with autoimmune disease and uncomplicated proteinuria pregnancies. (3) By ROC curve analysis, the cutoff value of the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio was less than 21.5 to rule out PE and higher than 97.2 to confirm the diagnosis of PE. (4) The sFlt-1/PlGF ratio was higher in PE pregnancies delivering within 7 days than those more than 7 days, either in early onset PE or severe PE. In conclusion, we show that maternal sFlt-1/PlGF ratio is an efficient biomarker in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of PE. This ratio can be used to predict the timing of delivery for PE pregnancies.
Renal Replacement Therapy in the Critical Care Setting
Authors: Ahmed Adeel Rafi , Obilana Ayanfeoluwa , Lappin David
Published: July 2019

Renal replacement therapy (RRT) is frequently required to manage critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). There is limited evidence to support the current practice of RRT in intensive care units (ICUs). Recently published randomized control trials (RCTs) have further questioned our understanding of RRT in critical care. The optimal timing and dosing continues to be debatable; however, current evidence suggests delayed strategy with less intensive dosing when utilising RRT. Various modes of RRT are complementary to each other with no definite benefits to mortality or renal function preservation. Choice of anticoagulation remains regional citrate anticoagulation in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with lower bleeding risk when compared with heparin. RRT can be used to support resistant cardiac failure, but evolving therapies such as haemoperfusion are currently not recommended in sepsis.
Estimation of Jointly Normally Distributed Demand for Cross‐Selling Items in Inventory Systems with Lost Sales
Authors: Zhang Ren-Qian , Wang Qi-Qi , Zhang Yi-Ye , Zheng Hai-Tao , Hu Jie
Published: July 2019

Demand estimation is often confronted with incomplete information of censored demand because of lost sales. Many estimators have been proposed to deal with lost sales when estimating the parameters of demand distribution. This study introduces the cross‐selling effect into estimations, where two items are cross‐sold because of the positive externality in a newsvendor‐type inventory system. We propose an approach to estimate the parameters of a jointly normally distributed demand for two cross‐selling items based on an iterative framework considering lost sales. Computational results based on more than two million numerical examples show that our estimator achieves high precision. Compared with the point estimations without lost sales, all the relative errors of the estimations of demand expectation, standard deviation, and correlation coefficient are no larger than 2% on average if the sample size is no smaller than 800. In particular, for demand expectation, the error is smaller than 1% if the comprehensive censoring level is no larger than four standard deviations (implying a 2σ‐level of safety stock for each item), even if the sample size decreases to 50. This implies that the demand estimator should be competent in modern inventory systems that are rich in data.
A New Solution Approach for Maritime Surveillance Operation: The Case of Aegean Sea
Authors: İşleyen Selçuk K. , Uçar Ukbe , Balo Figen
Published: July 2019

Nowadays, many people illegally migrate to other countries by sea because of warfare or internal conflict in their countries, and thousands of people lose their lives for this reason. Besides, illegal trafficking of drugs or historical artifacts, illegal fishing, and various terrorist activities are conducted through the seas. Maritime surveillance operations are of great importance to prevent all these threats and maintain national security. In this study, the problem of surveillance and exploration which is performed by helicopters on the seas is discussed. A solution approach based on simulated annealing is proposed for the solution of the problem and the proposed algorithm has been tested on various scenarios. This methodology, at least to our knowledge, is used for the first time in the Moving Target Traveling Salesman Problem‐Time Window. The proposed solution approach was tested on 50 different scenarios where the target number ranged from 20 to 100. As a result, in all of these scenarios, it has been determined that all of the targets have been destroyed with minimum operation time within the acceptable solution period. Thanks to this method, it is aimed at intervening quickly to illegal activities on the seas and contributing to the prevention of deaths due to refugee boats.
Increased Circulating Chemerin in Relation to Chronic Microvascular Complications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Gu Ping , Wang Wei , Yao Yue , Xu Yixin , Wang Liping , Zang Pu , Ma Jian , Yang Cuihua , Liang Junya , Lu Bin , Shao Jiaqing
Published: July 2019

Objective. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a global epidemic and increases mortality due to its vascular complications. Chemerin has been found to exert a major role in glucose and lipid metabolism. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation between plasma chemerin levels and microangiopathy in patients with T2DM. Methods. A total of 598 T2DM patients were classified into two groups: with and without microvascular complications. Anthropometric parameters and blood pressure were taken. The amounts of glycosylated hemoglobin, glucose, lipid profiles, creatinine, and chemerin concentrations in the blood were determined. The presence and severity of nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy were also evaluated by specific tests. Results. Plasma levels of chemerin in diabetic subjects with microvascular complications were markedly elevated compared to those without. The number of microvascular complications increased with high plasma chemerin levels. Patients with high chemerin levels had an increased incidence of nephropathy and retinopathy. Furthermore, the chemerin plasma concentrations increased with the progression of diabetic nephropathy with highest values in macroalbuminuria groups. In contrast, no significant difference was observed in plasma chemerin levels between subjects with and without peripheral neuropathy. Pearson correlation analysis showed that plasma chemerin levels were positively related to duration of diabetes, serum creatinine, and 24-hour urine albumin excretion, even after multiple adjustments. Using logistic regression analysis, plasma chemerin concentrations were independently associated with the presence of nephropathy and retinopathy, not neuropathy. Conclusion. This study elucidated a positive correlation between increased chemerin levels and the development of some subtypes of diabetic microangiopathy.
Screening and Bioinformatics Analysis of IgA Nephropathy Gene Based on GEO Databases
Authors: Qian Wang , Xiaoyi Wang , Zi Ye
Published: July 2019

Purpose. To identify novel biomarkers of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) through bioinformatics analysis and elucidate the possible molecular mechanism. Methods. The GSE93798 and GSE73953 datasets containing microarray data from IgAN patients and healthy controls were downloaded from the GEO database and analyzed by the GEO2R web tool to obtain different expressed genes (DEGs). Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI), and Biological Networks Gene Oncology tool (BiNGO) were then performed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of IgAN. Results. A total of 223 DEGs were identified, of which 21 were hub genes, and involved in inflammatory response, cellular response to lipopolysaccharide, transcription factor activity, extracellular exosome, TNF signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway. Conclusions. TNF and MAPK pathways likely form the basis of IgAN progression, and JUN/JUNB, FOS, NR4A1/2, EGR1, and FOSL1/2 are novel prognostic biomarkers of IgAN.
Spontaneous Abdominal Bleeding from an Infundibulopelvic Ligament Tear in a Patient with Large Ovarian Fibroma
Authors: To Justin , Li Cui-lan
Published: July 2019

Ovarian fibromas are rare benign solid tumors of the ovary which are often difficult to differentiate from uterine leiomyomas preoperatively. The symptoms usually include abdominal discomfort and may have ascites and/or an elevation in CA-125 levels. There have been no publications of associated abdominal bleeding to date. The treatment is surgical removal via a laparoscopic or laparotomic approach. We present a case of a 19 cm unilateral ovarian fibroma with abdominal bleeding from a spontaneous right infundibulopelvic ligament (IPL) tear who underwent a laparoscopic and mini-laparotomic right salpingo-oophorectomy. Patients with large ovarian fibromas should be cautioned that abdominal bleeding and/or acute abdominal pain can occur and that a minimally invasive surgical approach is feasible.
A Near-Infrared Phosphorescent Nanoprobe Enables Quantitative, Longitudinal Imaging of Tumor Hypoxia Dynamics during Radiotherapy
Authors: Zheng Xianchuang , Cui Liyang , Chen Min , Soto Luis A. , Graves Edward E. , Rao Jianghong
Published: July 2019

Hypoxia plays a key role in tumor resistance to radiotherapy. It is important to study hypoxia dynamics during radiotherapy to improve treatment planning and prognosis. Here, we describe a luminescent nanoprobe, composed of a fluorescent semiconducting polymer and palladium complex, for quantitative longitudinal imaging of tumor hypoxia dynamics during radiotherapy. The nanoprobe was designed to provide high sensitivity and reversible response for the subtle change in hypoxia over a narrow range (0–30 mmHg O2), which spans the oxygen range where tumors have limited radiosensitivity. Following intravenous administration, the nanoprobe efficiently accumulated in and distributed across the tumor, including the hypoxic region. The ratio between emissions at 700 and 800 nm provided quantitative mapping of hypoxia across the entire tumor. The nanoprobe was used to image tumor hypoxia dynamics over 7 days during fractionated radiotherapy and revealed that high fractional dose (10 Gy) was more effective in improving tumor reoxygenation than low dose (2 Gy), and the effect tended to persist longer in smaller or more radiosensitive tumors. Our results also indicated the importance of the reoxygenation efficiency of the first fraction in the prediction of the radiation treatment outcome. In summary, this work has established a new nanoprobe for highly sensitive, quantitative, and longitudinal imaging of tumor hypoxia dynamics following radiotherapy, and demonstrated its value for assessing the efficacy of radiotherapy and radiation treatment planning.

Significance:

This study presents a novel nanoagent for the visualization and quantification of tumor hypoxia.