bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of adiposity on differences in carotid plaque burden in studies conducted in Norway and Russia: a cross-sectional analysis of two populations at very different risk of cardiovascular mortality
Authors: Imahori Yume , Frost Chris , Mathiesen Ellisiv B , Ryabikov Andrey , Kudryavtsev Alexander V , Malyutina Sofia , Kornev Michael , Hughes Alun D , Hopstock Laila A , Leon David A
Published: May 2020

Objectives

Large differences exist in the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) between Russia and Western European countries including Norway. Obesity prevalence may contribute to the differences. We investigated whether difference in the level of adiposity, assessed using body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio(WHR), could explain intercountry differences in the burden of carotid plaque, a measure of atherosclerosis, in the populations.

Design

Cross-sectional analysis. Logistic and linear regression models were used.

Setting

We used population-based cross-sectional Know Your Heart (KYH) study in Russia and the Tromsø 7 study (Tromsø 7) in Norway.

Participants

3262 and 1800 men and women aged 40–69 years in KYH and Tromsø 7, respectively.

Primary and secondary outcome

The presence of carotid plaques and plaque score assessed using ultrasound.

Results

The presence of carotid plaques and plaque score were higher in KYH than Tromsø 7 regardless of age group and sex. A positive association between carotid plaque burden and adiposity was found (OR of having at least one plaque per SD in WHR 1.18 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.31) for men; 1.15 (1.06 to 1.25) for women)) adjusted for age, smoking and education in a pooled analysis of the two studies. There was little evidence of the interaction between study and adiposity. These effects did not differ between the two studies. However, neither adiposity nor CVD risk factors (smoking, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, glycosylated haemoglobin) explained the higher carotid plaque burden in KYH compared with Tromsø 7.

Conclusion

Adiposity, especially abdominal adiposity, is a risk factor for carotid plaque in Russia and Norway, although neither adiposity nor established CVD risk factors explained the higher plaque burden in Russia. To reduce the CVD burden in Russia, beyond prevention and treatment of adiposity, further research is required to understand why Russia has a high burden of atherosclerosis.
Thefeasibility, appropriateness, and applicability of trauma scoring systems in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review
Authors: Feldhaus Isabelle , Carvalho Melissa , Waiz Ghazel , Igu Joel , Matthay Zachary , Dicker Rochelle , Juillard Catherine
Published: May 2020

Background

About 5.8 million people die each year as a result of injuries, and nearly 90% of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Trauma scoring is a cornerstone of trauma quality improvement (QI) efforts, and is key to organizing and evaluating trauma services. The objective of this review was to assess the appropriateness, feasibility, and QI applicability of traditional trauma scoring systems in LMIC settings.

Materials and methods

This systematic review searched PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and trauma-focused journals for articles describing the use of a standardized trauma scoring system to characterize holistic health status. Studies conducted in high-income countries (HIC) or describing scores for isolated anatomic locations were excluded. Data reporting a score’s capacity to discriminate mortality, feasibility of implementation, or use for QI were extracted and synthesized.

Results

Of the 896 articles screened, 336 were included. Over half of studies (56%) reported Glasgow Coma Scale, followed by Injury Severity Score (ISS; 51%), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS; 24%), Revised Trauma Score (RTS; 19%), Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS; 14%), and Kampala Trauma Score (7%). While ISS was overwhelmingly predictive of mortality, 12 articles reported limited feasibility of ISS and/or AIS. RTS consistently underestimated injury severity. Over a third of articles (37%) reporting TRISS assessmentsobserved mortality that was greater than that predicted by TRISS. Several articles cited limited human resources as the key challenge to feasibility.

Conclusions

The findings of this review reveal that implementing systems designed for HICs may not be relevant to the burden and resources available in LMICs. Adaptations or alternative scoring systems may be more effective.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42017064600.
Biological characteristics and whole-genome analysis of the Enterococcus faecalis phage PEf771
Authors: Xiang Yingying , Li Wenyu , Song Fei , Yang Xianghong , Zhou Jing , Yu Hongbin , Ji Xiuling , Wei Yunlin
Published: May 2020

Enterococcus faecalis is a common pathogen causing refractory periapical periodontitis and secondary intraradicular infections. In this study, E. faecalis YN771 isolated from a re-treated root canal at a stomatology department was used as the host bacterium and was co-cultured with wastewater from the same department and patient samples to isolate a phage that lyses E. faecalis. We studied the biological and genomic characteristics of this phage. Transmission electron microscopy showed that this phage’s head is icosahedral in structure, with a head diameter of around 98.4 nm, and a contractile tail of around 228.5 nm in length and a diameter of 17.3 nm. The phage was identified as a member of the Myoviridae family and named PEf771. It is sensitive to proteinase K but resistant to chloroform and Triton X-100. Its lytic cycle is 45 min, burst size is 78, optimal multiplicity of infection is 0.1, lysis spectrum is narrow, and host strain specificity is strong. Its optimal growth temperature is 37 °C, most suitable pH is 6.0, and is sensitive to ultraviolet radiation. Whole-genome sequencing of PEf771 indicated it has a genome size of 151 052 bp, with a GC content of 36.97%, and encodes 197 proteins plus 26 tRNAs. PEf771 is most closely related to E. faecalis phage EFDG1. Phage PEf771 has strong host specificity and lytic ability, so it is important to further characterize this phage and its interaction with E. faecalis.
Reply to the comment by K.M. Aggarwal on “Collision strength and effective collision strength for Ba XLVIII”
Authors: Mohan Man , Goyal Arun , Khatri Indu
Published: May 2020

We show that the comment of K.M. Aggarwal (2018, Can. J. Phys. 96(10), doi: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjp-2017-0842 ), although being only marginally relevant to the content of the original paper (2017, Can. J. Phys. 95(2), doi: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjp-2016-0513 ), misinterprets our results and leads to an incorrect conclusion.
Motion of massive particles around a charged Weyl black hole and the geodetic precession of orbiting gyroscopes
Authors: Fathi Mohsen , Kariminezhaddahka Mona , Olivares Marco , Villanueva J. R.
Published: May 2020

The advanced state of cosmological observations constantly tests the alternative theories of gravity that originate from Einstein’s theory. However, this is not restricted to modifications to general relativity. In this sense, we work in the context of Weyl’s theory, more specifically, on a particular black hole solution for a charged massive source, which is confronted with the classical test of the geodetic precession, to obtain information about the parameters associated with this theory. To fully assess this spacetime, the complete geodesic structure for massive test particles is presented.
Flag-dipole spinors: On the dual structure derivation and $${\mathcal {C}}$$, $${\mathcal {P}}$$ and $${\mathcal {T}}$$ symmetries
Authors: Rogerio R. J. Bueno , Aguirre A. R. , Villalobos C. H. Coronado
Published: May 2020

In this manuscript we report the flag-dipole spinors dual structure direct definition and analyze the properties behind the corresponding operator which generates such structure. This particular construction may be interesting for cosmological, phenomenological and mathematical physics applications. In addition, we analyse the behaviour of the flag-dipole spinors under action of discrete symmetries, facing an unconventional property encoded on $$(\mathcal {CPT})^2$$

(
CPT
)

2

.
Tensor mesons, AdS/QCD and information
Authors: Ferreira Luiz F. , da Rocha R.
Published: May 2020

The Kaluza–Klein tower of higher spin-S tensor meson resonances is here scrutinized in the AdS/QCD hard wall model, encompassing the already established resonances $$\rho (770)$$ρ(770), $$f_2(1270)$$f2(1270), $$\omega _3(1670)$$ω3(1670), $$f_4(2050)$$f4(2050), $$\rho _5(2350)$$ρ5(2350), $$f_6(2510)$$f6(2510) in PDG. A hybrid model employs both information theory and AdS/QCD, where configurational-entropic Regge trajectories, relating the configurational entropy of the tensor mesons family to their S spin, and also to their experimental mass spectra, are derived and analyzed. Therefore, the mass spectra of higher spin-S tensor meson resonances is obtained and compared to the existing data in PDG.
Raychaudhuri-based reconstruction of anisotropic Einstein–Maxwell equation in 1+3 covariant formalism of f(R)-gravity
Authors: Tajahmad Behzad
Published: May 2020

Recently, a new strategy to the reconstruction of $$f(R)$$f(R)-gravity models based on the Raychaudhuri equation has been suggested by Choudhury et al. (MNRAS 485:5693, 2019). In this paper, utilizing this method, the reconstruction of anisotropic Einstein–Maxwell equation in the $$1+3$$1+3 covariant formalism of $$f(R)$$f(R)-gravity is investigated in four modes: (i) Reconstruction from a negative constant deceleration parameter refereeing to an ever-accelerating universe; (ii) Reconstruction from a constant jerk parameter $$j=1$$j=1 which recovers celebrated $$\varLambda \text {CDM}$$ΛCDM mode of evolution; (iii) Reconstruction from a variable jerk parameter $$j=Q(t)$$j=Q(t); and (iv) Reconstruction from a slowly varying jerk parameter. Furthermore, two suggestions for enhancing the method are proposed.
FRACTAL DIMENSION OF FRACTIONAL BROWNIAN MOTION BASED ON RANDOM SETS
Authors: CHAI RUISHUAI
Published: May 2020

The fractal dimension of fractional Brownian motion can effectively describe random sets, reflecting the regularity implicit in complex random sets. Data mining algorithms based on fractal theory usually follow the calculation of the fractal dimension of fractional Brownian motion. However, the existing fractal dimension calculation methods of fractal Brownian motion have high time complexity and space complexity, which greatly reduces the efficiency of the algorithm and makes it difficult for the algorithm to adapt to high-speed and massive data flow environments. Therefore, several existing fractal dimension calculation methods of fractional Brownian motion are summarized and analyzed, and a random method is proposed, which uses a fixed memory space to quickly estimate the associated dimension of the data stream. Finally, a comparison experiment with existing algorithms proves the effectiveness of this random algorithm. Second, in the sense of two different measures, based on the principle of stochastic comparison, the stability of the stochastic fuzzy differential equations is derived using the stability of the comparison equations, and the practical stability criterion of two measures according to probability is obtained. Then, the stochastic fuzzy differential equations are discussed. The definition of stochastic exponential stability is given and the stochastic exponential stability criterion is proved.
Opportunities and Challenges for Machine Learning in Materials Science
Authors: Morgan Dane , Jacobs Ryan
Published: May 2020

Advances in machine learning have impacted myriad areas of materials science, such as the discovery of novel materials and the improvement of molecular simulations, with likely many more important developments to come. Given the rapid changes in this field, it is challenging to understand both the breadth of opportunities and the best practices for their use. In this review, we address aspects of both problems by providing an overview of the areas in which machine learning has recently had significant impact in materials science, and then we provide a more detailed discussion on determining the accuracy and domain of applicability of some common types of machine learning models. Finally, we discuss some opportunities and challenges for the materials community to fully utilize the capabilities of machine learning.
Quantitative Relationships Between Pore Tortuosity, Pore Topology, and Solid Particle Morphology Using a Novel Discrete Particle Size Algorithm
Authors: Usseglio-Viretta Francois L. E. , Finegan Donal P. , Colclasure Andrew , Heenan Thomas M. M. , Abraham Daniel , Shearing Paul , Smith Kandler
Published: May 2020

To sustain the continuous high-rate charge current required for fast charging of electric vehicle batteries, the ionic effective diffusion coefficient of the electrodes must be high enough to avoid the electrode being transport limited. Tortuosity factor and porosity are the two microstructure parameters that control this effective diffusion coefficient. While different methods exist to experimentally measure or calculate the tortuosity factor, no generic relationship between tortuosity and microstructure presently exists that is applicable across a large variety of electrode microstructures and porosities. Indeed, most relationships are microstructure specific. In this work, generic relationships are established using only geometrically defined metrics that can thus be used to design thick electrodes suitable for fast charging. To achieve this objective, an original, discrete particle-size algorithm is introduced and used to identify and segment particles across a set of 19 various electrode microstructures (nickel-manganese-cobalt [NMC] and graphite) obtained from X-ray computed tomography (CT) to quantify parameters such as porosity, particle elongation, sinuosity, and constriction, which influence the effective diffusion coefficient. Compared to the widely used watershed method, the new algorithm shows less over-segmentation. Particle size obtained with different numerical methods is also compared. Lastly, microstructure-tortuosity relationship and particle size and morphology analysis methods are reviewed.
Engineering Application and Prediction of the Influence Area of the Rockfall Hazards
Authors: Liao Xiaohui , Wang Xueliang , Li Lihui , Liu Haiyang , Yang Zhifa , Chen Zigan
Published: May 2020

The identification of potential rockfall and the accurate prediction of its trajectory are critical in prevention and mitigation of rockfall hazard. It is an important precondition to assess the uncertainty of rockfall motion, study the effective identification technology of potential rockfall, predict the rockfall trajectory, and calculate the threatened area by rockfall hazards. In this study, field investigations and numerical simulations were carried out to identify potential rockfall on a weathered rock slope. As a case study, our calculations results show that the area of tensile stress concentration and plastic failure is the potential area where the rockmass will fall off the surface of the weathered rock slope. A mathematical model for calculating the rockfall influence area of the weathered rock slope was established based on the optimization theory, neural network technology, and genetic optimization algorithm. The rockfall influence area of the weathered rock slope was determined using maximum horizontal distance of rockfall in the specified slope cross sections and described on the topographic map using spline curves to form a closed possibly vulnerable area. As a case study, our calculations confirm that the distributions of the plastic failure and tensile stress areas obtained from the numerical simulations are consistent with the dangerous rock masses identified by field investigations at Guanyindong Slope that is a popular tourist scenic spot in Zhejiang Province, China. In this study, it has been indicated that the influence area can be used as the basis for the design of passive protection methods for rock slopes vulnerable to rockfall hazards.
Impact of a Novel Oblique-Tip Papillotome for Biliary Cannulation during ERCP: A Nonrandomized Coarsened Exact Matching Study
Authors: Imazu Hiroo , Ho Shiaw-Hooi , Hino Shoryoku , Goh Khean-Lee , Moriyama Mitsuhiko , Sumiyama Kazuki , Tajiri Hisao
Published: May 2020

Background. We developed a novel oblique-tip papillotome (OT-papillotome) to facilitate biliary cannulation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). This study was performed to evaluate the utility of the OT-papillotome for contrast-guided cannulation (CGC) and wire-guided cannulation (WGC) during ERCP, compared with standard cannulation by WGC using a standard-tip papillotome (ST-papillotome). Methods. A prospective study was performed at two centers. CGC with the OT-papillotome (OT-CGC group) was performed at Jikei University Hospital, while WGC was done with the OT-papillotome and ST-papillotome (OT-WGC and ST-WGC groups, respectively) at the University of Malaya Medical Centre. The results of the OT-CGC and OT-WGC groups were compared with those of the ST-WGC group after performing coarsened exact matching (CEM) to reduce bias due to nonrandomized and center-based patient allocation. Results. Eighty patients were enrolled in each of the OT-CGC, OT-WGC, and ST-WGC groups. After CEM, the successful biliary cannulation rate was significantly higher in the OT-CGC and OT-WGC groups than in the ST-WGC group, while rescue cannulation was reduced. The mean number of unintended pancreatic access events in the OT-WGC and OT-CGC groups was similar to the ST-WGC group. However, it was significantly lower in the OT-WGC group than in the OT-CGC group. Multivariate analysis revealed that the OT-papillotome was independently associated with less frequent rescue cannulation and a higher successful biliary cannulation rate. Conclusions. Although use of the OT-papillotome in biliary cannulation did not reduce unintended pancreatic access events or PEP compared to the ST-papillotome, the OT-papillotome increased the successful biliary cannulation rate, while reducing the frequency of rescue cannulation procedures. Combining the OT-papillotome with WGC might be the best cannulation technique for minimizing unintended pancreatic access.
Hybrid (2D/3D) Dosimetry of Radiolabeled Gold Nanoparticles for Sentinel Lymph Node Detection in Patients with Breast Cancer
Authors: Ramírez-Nava Gerardo , Santos-Cuevas Clara , Ferro-Flores Guillermina , Ocampo-García Blanca , Chairez Isaac , Gómez-Argumosa Edgar , Abundiz-López Lucero , García-Pérez Francisco O.
Published: May 2020

Previously, we reported the preparation and preclinical studies of 99mTc-labeled gold nanoparticles-mannose (99mTc-AuNP-mannose) with potential for sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection by using nuclear medicine procedures. This study aimed to evaluate the biokinetics and hybrid (2D/3D) dosimetry of 99mTc-AuNP-mannose in five patients with breast cancer under a sentinel lymph node detection protocol. Anterior and posterior whole-body planar images (2D, at 0.5, 2, 6, and 24 h) and single-photon emission computed tomography (3D at 6.5 h)/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) images were acquired after 99mTc-AuNP-mannose administration (37 MBq). Through a hybrid quantification method, activity in tissues of interest at the different acquisition times was determined and integrated over time to obtain the total nuclear transformations (N), as well as the mean residence time, in each tissue. N values and the OLINDA code were used for estimating the internal radiation absorbed doses. Results demonstrated that 99mTc-AuNP-mannose successfully accumulates and remains up to 24 h in the sentinel lymph node without detectable migration to other lymph nodes and no side effects on patients. Negligible absorption of the radiolabeled nanoparticles into the circulatory system was observed, from which the radio-nanosystem is rapidly eliminated by kidneys. Hybrid (2D/3D) dosimetry evaluations showed equivalent doses to SLN, breast, and kidneys of 172.34, 5.32, and 0.08 mSv/37 MBq, respectively, with an effective dose of 2.05E − 03 mSv/MBq. The mean effective residence time in SLN was 0.92 h. This preliminary study indicates that the use of 99mTc-AuNP-mannose for successful SLN detection in patients is safe, producing an effective dose at the level recommended for diagnostic studies (<10 mSv).
Ten‐Year Surgical Outcomes and Prognostic Factors for French‐Door Laminoplasty in the Treatment of Multilevel Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy
Authors: Chen Guoliang , Liu Xizhe , Chen Ningning , Chen Bailing , Zou Xuenong , Wei Fuxin , Liu Shaoyu
Published: May 2020

Objective. To analyze the ten‐year surgical outcomes and postoperative complications of French‐Door laminoplasty (FDL) in the management of multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy (MCSM) and analyze the prognostic factors for FDL in treating MCSM. Methods. 64 patients with MCSM, who were operated by FDL, were included in this study and followed up for at least 10 years. Clinical assessments including modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score, age at surgery, preoperative symptom duration, operative time, blood loss and postoperative complications, radiological assessments including Cobb angle, cervical range of motion (ROM), intramedullary signal intensity on T2W MRI, canal narrowing ratio (CNR), and maximum spinal cord compression (MSCC). mJOA score, Cobb angle, cervical ROM, intramedullary signal intensity on T2W MRI, and CNR were assessed before surgery and at the final follow‐up. Results. The average mJOA score was significantly improved from preoperative 10.32 ± 1.63 points to 15.10 ± 0.62 points at the final follow‐up (p < 0.05). The average RR of the mJOA score at the final follow‐up was 69.10 ± 7.32%. The cervical Cobb angle and ROM decreased significantly at the final follow‐up. Patients with high intramedullary signal intensity of T2W MRI or CNR more than 50% showed a lower RR of the mJOA score. Correlation analysis revealed that preoperative symptom duration and intramedullary signal intensity of T2W MRI, CNR, MSCC, and blood loss were significantly correlated with the RR of the mJOA score. Gender, operative method, and age at surgery were significantly correlated with the preservation rate of ROM. Operative time was significantly correlated with the incidence of axial symptoms. Conclusions. The ten‐year clinical outcomes of FDL were satisfactory. Higher intramedullary signal intensity of T2W MRI and a greater CNR predicted poorer prognoses.
Communication Needs of Cancer Patients and/or Caregivers: A Critical Literature Review
Authors: Li Jieyu , Luo Xingjuan , Cao Qian , Lin Yi , Xu Yinghua , Li Qiuping
Published: May 2020

Objective. Effective communication for cancer patients and/or caregivers can meet information needs, reduce caregiver burden, improve physical and mental health, and promote intimacy. The aim of this review was to identify the communication needs of cancer patients and/or caregivers and to explore their specific communication needs to guide the development of future communication interventions. Methods. Chinese and English databases were systematically searched from January 2010 to October 2019, including MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, and the China Academic Journal Full-text Database. The key search terms used were “cancer” or “carcinoma” or “oncology” AND “patient” or “caregiver” or “carer” AND “communication” or “discussion” or “talk” AND “need” or “needs” or “desire.”. Results. A total of 26 articles was identified and included in this review. The findings revealed the needs of cancer patients and/or caregivers in terms of communication target, content, style, timing, and preferences. Communication targets included health professionals, peers, caregivers, and patients. Communication content included illness-related, emotional support, daily life, sexuality, death, and a way to communicate with health professionals. Communication style needed to be expressed through such things as language and communication atmosphere. Communication timing mainly referred to before treatment and approaching death. Communication preferences were related to factors such as demographics and ethnic origin. Conclusions. Cancer patients and/or caregivers have different communication needs in terms of target, content, style, and communication timing. A better understanding of the unique communication needs of patients and/or caregivers will offer health professionals detailed information on designing appropriate interventions to support cancer patients and caregivers.
Development and Functions of the Infant Gut Microflora: Westernvs. Indian Infants
Authors: Bharadia Lalit , Agrawal Neha , Joshi Nandan
Published: May 2020

The human gut is colonized by trillions of bacteria as well as other microorganisms, collectively referred to as the “gut microflora.” This microflora plays an important role in metabolism as well as immunity, and alterations in its normal composition and pattern of colonization can disturb the development and functioning of the immune system, predisposing the individual to several diseases. Neonates acquire their gut microflora from the mother as well as the surroundings, and as the infant grows, the gut microflora undergoes several changes, ultimately acquiring an adult-like composition. Characterization of the gut microflora of healthy infants is important to protect infants from infectious diseases. Furthermore, formulation of prebiotics and probiotics for boosting infant immunity in a specific population also requires prior knowledge of the normal gut microflora in a healthy infant in that population. To this end, several studies have been performed on Western infants; however, the gut microflora of Indian infants is as yet insufficiently studied. Moreover, there has been no comparative analysis of the development and characteristics of the infant gut microflora between the two populations. In this review, we discuss the development and maturation of the infant gut microflora and its effect on immunity, as well as the factors affecting the patterns of colonization. In addition, we compare the patterns of colonization of gut microflora between Western and Indian infants based on the available literature in an attempt to identify the extent of similarity or difference between the two populations.
A Nitrogen-Rich Covalent Triazine Framework as a Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production
Authors: Gong Ruizhi , Yang Liuliu , Qiu Shuo , Chen Wan-Ting , Wang Qing , Xie Jiazhuo , Waterhouse Geoffrey I. N. , Xu Jing
Published: May 2020

Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) have emerged as new candidate materials in various research areas such as catalysis, gas separation storage, and energy-related organic devices due to their easy functionalization, high thermal and chemical stability, and permanent porosity. Herein, we report the successful synthesis of a CTF rich in cyano groups (CTF-CN) by the solvothermal condensation of 2,3,6,7-tetrabromonapthalene (TBNDA), Na2(1,1-dicyanoethene-2,2-dithiolate), and 1,3,5-tris-(4-aminophenyl)-triazine (TAPT) at 120°C. XRD, SEM, and TEM characterization studies revealed CTF-CN to be amorphous and composed of ultrathin 2D sheets. CTF-CN possessed strong absorption at visible wavelengths, with UV-vis measurements suggesting a band gap energy in the range 2.7-2.9 eV. A 5 wt.% Pt/CTF-CN was found to be a promising photocatalyst for hydrogen production, affording a rate of 487.6 μmol g-1 h-1 in a H2O/TEOA/CH3OH solution under visible light. The photocatalytic activity of CTF-CN was benchmarked against g-C3N4 for meaningful assessment of performance. Importantly, the 5 wt.% Pt/CTF-CN photocatalyst exhibited excellent thermal and photocatalytic stability. Further, as a nitrogen-rich porous 2D material, CTF-CN represents a potential platform for the development of novel electrode material for fuel cells and metal ion batteries.
Degenerate Analogues of Euler Zeta, Digamma, and Polygamma Functions
Authors: He Fuli , Bakhet Ahmed , Akel Mohamed , Abdalla Mohamed
Published: May 2020

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the role of degenerate versions of special functions and polynomials in mathematical physics and engineering. In the present paper, we introduce a degenerate Euler zeta function, a degenerate digamma function, and a degenerate polygamma function. We present several properties, recurrence relations, infinite series, and integral representations for these functions. Furthermore, we establish identities involving hypergeometric functions in terms of degenerate digamma function.
Challenges in Cancer Biomarker Discovery Exemplified by the Identification of Diagnostic MicroRNAs in Prostate Tissues
Authors: Ambrozkiewicz Filip , Karczmarski Jakub , Kulecka Maria , Paziewska Agnieszka , Cybulska Magdalena , Szymanski Michal , Dobruch Jakub , Antoniewicz Artur , Mikula Michal , Ostrowski Jerzy
Published: May 2020

Identification and clinical translation of routinely tested biomarkers require a complex and multistep workflow. Here, we described a confirmatory process estimating the utility of previously identified candidate tissue miRNAs for diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). RNA was isolated from formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded (FFPE) prostate tissue surgically resected from 44 patients with PCa and 24 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Of the 92 RNA samples obtained, 68 represented 42 malignant (PCa) areas and 26 represented nonmalignant (PCa 0%) areas of the prostate tissue sections. The levels of miR‐32‐5p, miR‐183‐5p, miR‐141‐5p, miR‐187‐3p, miR‐375, miR‐663b, miR‐615‐3p, miR‐205‐5p, miR‐221‐3p, and miR‐222‐3p were evaluated using Exiqon chemistry. Five (miR‐32‐5p, miR‐141‐5p, miR‐187‐3p, miR‐375, and miR‐615‐3p), one (miR‐32‐5p), and two (miR‐32‐5p and miR‐141‐5p) miRNAs discriminated between BPH and areas of cancer‐bearing prostate tissue harboring different numbers of cancer cells (PCa 15–70%, PCa 2–10%, and PCA 0%, respectively), with an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC‐ROC) > 0.9. Only miRNA 32‐5p discriminated BPH specimens from sections of cancer‐bearing prostate tissue with a low percentage, a high percentage, or no dysplastic cells. miR‐32‐5p could be considered as potential diagnostic biomarker discriminating BPH from noncancerous areas within cancer‐bearing prostate tissue. However, further clinical studies are warranted to confirm its diagnostic utility.
Musculoskeletal Disorders and Associated Factors among Vehicle Repair Workers in Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Tamene Aiggan , Mulugeta Hailemichael , Ashenafi Tesfaye , Thygerson Steven M.
Published: May 2020

Background. Vehicle repair work is one of the highest risk professions for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Globally, only a few published studies have examined the prevalence and determinants of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among vehicle repair workers. Related studies in Ethiopia are even fewer. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders and associated factors among vehicle repair workers in Hawassa city, South Ethiopia, 2019. Methods. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 344 vehicle repair workers in the Hawassa city. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire-Extended (NMQ-E) was used to assess work-related musculoskeletal disorders on nine body regions. Descriptive statistics and multivariable analyses were used to characterize the data and identify factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Result. The twelve-month prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among this working group was 47.7% with 95% CI (42.7–53.2). Jobs continuously requiring repetitive motions (AOR: 4.29, 95% CI (1.78–10.2)), not having professional training (AOR: 2.04, 95% CI (1.09–3.81)), force exertion when using tools (AOR: 2.40, 95% CI (1.24–4.62)), job stress (AOR:4.54, 95% CI (2.44–8.46)), and regularly lifting, pushing, and pulling loads greater than 20 kg (AOR:4.85, 95% CI (2.65–8.87)) were identified as associated factors. Conclusion. This study showed a 47.7% prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Force exertion, repetitive tasks, manual handling of heavy loads, stress, and lack of training were the identified factors. Ergonomic awareness among workers should be increased through training. In addition, owners should investigate methods to reduce or eliminate risk factors leading to musculoskeletal disorders found among these workers. Automation of high-risk tasks should also be investigated.
Docetaxel Rechallenge in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Assi Tarek , Rassy Elie , Farhat Fadi , Kattan Clarisse , Kattan Joseph
Published: May 2020

Background: Recent years have witnessed a huge shift in the management and prognosis of metastatic prostate cancer with the advent of new-generation anti-hormonal treatments. Docetaxel, which was initially approved in the castrate-resistant prostate cancer setting, has been approved in the earlier course of the disease as it is still castrate sensitive. Summary: Apart from cabazitaxel and in the absence of other effective chemotherapies, docetaxel rechallenge (DR) in patients with proved sensitivity to docetaxel in the earlier stage of the disease remains a possible option. Unfortunately, the pivotal trials rarely reported on the outcomes of docetaxel retreatment which seems a plausible option in patients initially responding to docetaxel and maintaining a minimum progression-free interval of 3–6 months. In this review, a summary of the clinical evidence and potential concerns for the use of DR in patients with metastatic prostate cancer will be presented. Key Messages: Pivotal trials of docetaxel in metastatic castrate-sensitive prostate cancer as well as metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer have not reported on the outcomes of DR except in the GETUG-AFU 15 trial where the outcomes were disappointing. Based on the published retrospective data, DR may be effective in patients who initially responded to docetaxel and maintained a progression-free interval exceeding 6 months.
Fatal Spontaneous Tumor Lysis Syndrome in a Patient with Metastatic Colon Cancer: A Clinical Case of Rare Oncological Emergency
Authors: Shaforostova Inna , Fiedler Robert , Zander Martina , Pflumm Johannes , März Wolfgang Josef
Published: May 2020

Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of chemotherapy. It usually occurs in rapidly proliferating hematological malignancies. TLS is deemed spontaneous (STLS) when it occurs prior to any cytotoxic or definite treatment. STLS is extremely rare in solid tumors. Here, we report a rare case of fatal STLS in a 47-year-old woman diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. The patient developed acute renal failure with anuria, electrolyte disturbances, and metabolic acidosis before initiating chemotherapy. Despite appropriate management of TLS, including renal replacement therapy, she died within a few days from multiorgan failure. Only few other case reports of STLS associated with colon cancer have been reported in the literature.
Mortality rates and life expectancy improvements among malaysian elderlies
Authors: Mohamad Ibrahim Nur Shatikah , Niza Shair Syazreen , Yuzi Yusof Aida
Published: May 2020

This paper presents a study on mortality rates and life expectancy improvements among elderly people in Malaysia. The central age-specific mortality rates will be analyzed according to genders. The expectation of future lifetime of these old age people will be estimated using the actuarial life table approach. Two different types of life table will be developed, including life table for males and females--- to compare the results of mortality rates and life expectancies between genders. Results show that, mortality rates of Malaysian elderly, for both males and females are increasing almost in linear pattern by age, and this trend is consistent from 1950 to 2015. Comparison between genders shows that mortality of elderly females is generally lower than males at almost all ages. Nonetheless, mortality rates of Malaysian elderly males are declining faster than Malaysian elderly females. Life expentancies of females are higher than males for age groups 60 to 70, and lower than males for age 75 and above. Results also indicate that Malaysian elderly popultion is aging faster from previous generation in which elderly males age 85+ in 2010-2015 can live longer by 123% than thise in 1950-1955.
Dynamic feature for an effective elbow-joint angle estimation based on electromyography signals
Authors: Triwiyanto Triwiyanto , Rahmawati Triana , Yulianto Endro , Mak'ruf Muhammad Ridha , Nugraha Priyambada Cahya
Published: May 2020

Some physical parameters influence the electromyography signal (EMG). when the EMG signal is used to estimate the position of the elbow. An adaptable feature was important to reduce a variation on the parameters. The aim of this paper is to estimate the joint position of the elbow using EMG signal based on a dynamic function. The major contribution of this work is that the method proposed is capable of determining the elbow position using the non-pattern (NPR) recognition (PR) method. A Wilson amplitude (WAMP) which used a dynamic threshold was used to reduce the EMG signal. The dynamic threshold was generated from the root mean square (RMS) processor. With the dynamic threshold, the model could adapt to any variations on the independent variables. In order to confirm this opportunity, this work involved ten healthy male subjects to perform an experimental protocol. After a tuning and calibration process, the mean of RMS error and correlation coefficient are 9.83º±1.69º and 0.98±0.01 for a single cycle of motion, 10.39º±1.82º and 0.97±0.01 for a continuous cycle of motion and 15.19º±1.92º and 0.94±0.02 for the arbitrary gesture. For conclusion, the performance of the prediction did not significantly depend on the varying cycle of gesture (p-value>0.05). This study has confirmed that the success of the non-pattern recognition-based prediction of elbow position is adaptable to any different subjects, loads, and speed of motion.
Speaker ethnic identification for continuous speech in malay language using pitch and MFCC
Authors: Mohd Hanifa Rafizah , Isa Khalid , Mohamad Shamsul
Published: May 2020

Voice recognition has evolved exponentially over the years. The purpose of voice recognition or sometimes called speaker identification, is to identify the person who is speaking. This can be done by extracting features of speech that differ between individuals due to physiology (shape and size of the mouth and throat) and also behavioral patterns (pitch, accent and style of speaking). This paper explains an approach of voice recognition to identify the ethnicity of Malaysian people. Pitch and 13 Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCCs) are extracted from 52 recorded continuous speech in Malay for use as features to train the classifiers using Tree, Naïve Bayes, Nearest Neighbors and Support Vector Machine (SVM) and another 10 recorded speeches are used for testing. The results reveal that the use of a combination of pitch and 13 coefficients for features extraction and training the data using SVM provide better accuracy (57.7%) than the use of only 13 coefficients (53.8%).
A survey: the role of the internet of things in the development of education
Authors: Abd-Ali Ridhab Sami , Radhi Sarah Abbas , Rasool Zaid Ibrahim
Published: May 2020

There is a demand to change the contents and activities, and adapt the methods for higher education institutions, especially, universities to let researchers and educational to act more efficiently in a digital context. A well-designed campus, finally combining technology, is basic for developing digital university by facilities for learning, teaching, and research, enhancing the student trials, and supplying the convenient settings. Within digital universities, technology can improve security, reduce costs, and offer devices for faculty, scholars, academics, and students. These advantages give more attention to university processes and evolutions, the experience of researchers, and students. In this research, we have done a study on the Internet of things and what its role in the development of education through the review for a group of previous research. In addition, we have studied the smart class and its components and the difference from the traditional class, and then we have displayed the smart laboratories and its applications. At the end of the research, the great importance of Internet things in universities and its importance to the teacher and the student was concluded by learning faster and developing and improving the educational process.
Spectrum allocation model for cognitive wireless networks based on the artificial bee colony algorithm
Authors: Hernandez Cesar , Rodriguez Jorge , Giral Diego
Published: May 2020

Cognitive radio through dynamic spectrum allocation allows an efficient use of the radio-electric spectrum. It is a key subject for the performance of cognitive radio networks. The purpose of the present article is to develop a spectrum allocation model for cognitive wireless networks based on the Artificial Bee Colony algorithm and assess its performance in spectrum occupancy traces obtained from monitoring the spectrum using the energy detection technique. Results show a reduction in the number of spectral handoff with no excessive execution times.
A comparative review on deep learning models for text classification
Authors: Zulqarnain Muhammad , Ghazali Rozaida , Hassim Yana Mazwin Mohmad , Rehan Muhammad
Published: May 2020

Text classification is a fundamental task in several areas of natural language processing (NLP), including words semantic classification, sentiment analysis, question answering, or dialog management. This paper investigates three basic architectures of deep learning models for the tasks of text classification: Deep Belief Neural (DBN), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), these three main types of deep learning architectures, are largely explored to handled various classification tasks. DBN have excellent learning capabilities to extracts highly distinguishable features and good for general purpose. CNN have supposed to be better at extracting the position of various related features while RNN is modeling in sequential of long-term dependencies. This paper work shows the systematic comparison of DBN, CNN, and RNN on text classification tasks. Finally, we show the results of deep models by research experiment. The aim of this paper to provides basic guidance about the deep learning models that which models are best for the task of text classification.
LSA & LDA topic modeling classification: comparison study on e-books
Authors: Mohammed Shaymaa H. , Al-augby Salam
Published: May 2020

With the rapid growth of information technology, the amount of unstructured text data in digital libraries is rapidly increased and has become a big challenge in analyzing, organizing and how to classify text automatically in E-research repository to get the benefit from them is the cornerstone. The manual categorization of text documents requires a lot of financial, human resources for management. In order to get so, topic modeling are used to classify documents. This paper addresses a comparison study on scientific unstructured text document classification (e-books) based on the full text where applying the most popular topic modeling approach (LDA, LSA) to cluster the words into a set of topics as important keywords for classification. Our dataset consists of (300) books contain about 23 million words based on full text. In the used topic models (LSA, LDA) each word in the corpus of vocabulary is connected with one or more topics with a probability, as estimated by the model. Many (LDA, LSA) models were built with different values of coherence and pick the one that produces the highest coherence value. The result of this paper showed that LDA has better results than LSA and the best results obtained from the LDA method was (0.592179) of coherence value when the number of topics was 20 while the LSA coherence value was (0.5773026) when the number of topics was 10.
The effectiveness of using deep learning algorithms in predicting students achievements
Authors: Akour Mohammed , Sghaier Hiba Al , Al Qasem Osama
Published: May 2020

Educational Data Mining (EDM)  research has taking an important place as it helps in exposing useful knowledge from educational data sets to be employed and serve several purposes such as predicting students’ achievements. Predicting student’s achievements might be useful for building and adopting several changes in the educational environments as a re-action in the current educational systems. Most of the existing research have used machine learning to predict students’ achievements by using diverse attributes such as family income, students gender, students absence and level etc.  In this paper, the effort is made to explore the effectiveness of using the deep learning algorithm more precisely CNN to predict students’ achievements which could hlp in predicting if student will be able to finish their degree or not.  The experimental results reveal how the proposed model outperformed the existing approaches in terms of prediction accuracy.
Performance evaluation of wireless sensor networks using LEACH protocol
Authors: Hussien Anas Ali , Al-Shammari Shaymaa Waleed , Marie Mehdi J.
Published: May 2020

Recent days witnessed considerable developments in the field of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The applications of these networks can be seen in the simple consumer electronic devices as well as in the advanced space technology. The communication protocols are of prior importance and interest; the low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) protocol is used to enhance the performance of power consumption for the WSNs nodes. The efficiency of a wireless network can be affected by different factors, such as the size of the WSN and the initial energy of the sensor node. This can inspire the researchers to develop the optimum structure of the WSNs to get its desired functionality. In this paper, the performance of the low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) protocol is investigated using MATLAB to study the effect of the initial energy of the sensor node and the WSN size on the number of the running nodes. It is found that increasing the initial energy of a sensor node increases the life time of the node and hence the number of the running nodes. It has been also approved that the WSN size has an inverse proportion with the number of running sensor nodes during the use of LEACH protocol.
Evaluation of wind park tax incentives in Colombia by means of real options
Authors: Jiménez-Gomez Miguel , Acevedo-Prins Natalia
Published: May 2020

The objective of this study is to assess tax incentives in Colombia to foster investment in wind parks. Fiscal incentives seek to diversify energy consumption with non-conventional renewable energy sources, since power is mostly generated by hydraulic force and since its price is impacted during dry seasons. The price of energy is modeled according to a regression toward the mean. This stochastic process was chosen because during droughts in Colombia there are price increases, which then return to their average value. This is an upward and downward spike behavior, as well as a regression toward the mean. Given price uncertainty and its impact on cashflow, wind parks were valued with real options to flatten the reversal for five years. The real option of flattening as an American call option was considered. Results show that, according to traditional valuation methods, wind parks in Colombia are not profitable even with tax incentives. However, according to the real options method, tax incentives do make these projects economically viable.