bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Machine learning-based D2D communication for a cloud-secure e-health system and data analysis by feature selection with classification
Authors: Awasthi Aishwary , R Suchithra , CHAKRAVARTY AJAY , Shah Jaymeel , Ghosh Debanjan , Kumar Avneesh
Published: March 2023

Numerous aspects of healthcare have been altered by cloud-based computing. Scalability of required service as well as ability to upscale or downsize data storage, as well as the collaboration between AI and machine learning, are main benefits of cloud computing in healthcare. Current paper looked at a number of different research studies to find out how intelligent techniques can be used in health systems. The main focus was on security and privacy concerns with the current technologies. This study proposes a novel method for cloud service device-to-device communication using feature selection and classification for data analysis in an e-health system. Through a comprehensive requirement analysis as well as user study, the purpose of this research is to investigate viability of incorporating cloud as well as distributed computing into e-healthcare. After that, the smart healthcare system and conventional database-centric healthcare methods will be compared, and a prototype system will be created as well as put into use based on results. Convolutional adversarial neural networks with transfer perceptron are used to analyze the cloud-based e-health data that has been collected. Proposed technique attained training accuracy 98%, validation accuracy 93%, PSNR 66%, MSE 68%, precision 72%, QoS 63%, Latency 58%.
The commons dilemma: Strategic common pool resource extraction behavior
Authors: Berhe Haile Tewele
Published: March 2023

The paper presents the strategic decision of common pool resource users at local level. Common pool resources typically characterized by the difficulty to exclude appropriation by others and the high level of rivalry (subtract ability). In this study, an application of game theory has been adopted to show individual resource use behavior. A game that better captures this underlying mechanism is the common pool resource game. Common pool resources with unlimited access are generally characterized by the existence of negative externality. Assuming a symmetric users’ payoff function, static analysis for a simple mathematical model using solution method for strategic common pool game come up with extraction effort levels exceed the socially optimal level at equilibrium. This implies that unregulated common pool resource game poses social dilemma; when players interact only once or finitely repeated. On the contrary, the infinitely repeated framework shows cooperation (socially optimal level of extraction) may sustain by a self-enforcing agreement provided individuals are sufficiently patient. This frame work indicates that cooperation may sustain for a long period of time, if the initial gain from deviation is small or losses from counter threat after deviation is large.
A Nomogram to Predict Conversion of Laparoscopic Surgery to Laparotomy for Choledocholithiasis
Authors: Zheng Yitao , Lv Haoyang , Lin Zhuoqun , Shi Hongqi , Huang Xiaming
Published: March 2023

Background: Laparoscopic surgery is effective for treating common bile duct (CBD) stones. However, it has high requirements for surgeons and the risk of conversion to laparotomy cannot be ignored. Our study aimed to establish a nomogram model for predicting conversion of laparoscopic to laparotomy for choledocholithiasis.
Materials and methods: A total of 867 patients who were diagnosed with choledocholithiasis and underwent laparoscopic surgery were randomly divided into a training group (70%, n = 607) and a validation group (30 %, n = 260). A nomogram was constructed based on the results of logistic regression analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to assess the predictive performance of the nomogram.
Results: Previous upper abdominal surgery, maximum diameter of stone ≥ 12mm, medial wall of the duodenum stone, thickening of the gallbladder wall, thickening of CBD wall, stone size/CBD size ≥ 0.75, and simultaneous laparoscopic hepatectomy were included in the nomogram. The AUC values were 0.813 (95% CI: 0.766-0.861) and 0.804 (95% CI: 0.737-0.871) in the training and validation groups, respectively. The calibration curve showed excellent consistency between the nomogram predictions and actual observations. DCA showed a positive net benefit for the nomogram.
Conclusions: We constructed a nomogram with a good ability to predict conversion to open surgery in laparoscopic surgery for choledocholithiasis, which can help surgeons to make a reasonable operation plan before surgery and timely convert to laparotomy during operation to reduce potential harm to the patient.
High-grade soft tissue sarcomas of the buttock: a case series and surgical technique
Authors: Sacco Riccardo , Piana Raimondo , Pellegrino Pietro , Ferro Andrea , Gilleron Matthieu , Hamza Amine , Dujardin Franck , Lalevee Matthieu
Published: March 2023

Objective
Soft tissue sarcomas of the buttock (BSTS) are historically associated with a poor prognosis. The literature concerning BSTS includes outdated single-center retrospective case series, and case reports. We aimed to analyze the oncologic outcomes of high-grade BSTS according to current treatment modalities, and to present a detailed surgical technique of buttectomy,.
Methods
Consecutive patients diagnosed with BSTS from 2016 to 2021, were retrospectively evaluated for the rate of local control, distant metastases, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Inclusion criteria: (1) high-grade STS confirmed by pathological biopsy, (2) tumors localized to the buttock, (3) surgical treatment, (4) age > 18 years. All patients underwent surgical resection. Chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy was administered according to a standardized protocol. Functional outcome was assessed with the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score (MSTS 1993).
Results
Nine high-grade, G2/3 BSTS were included; mean age 60.1 years (range, 30–86), and mean follow-up 4,5 years (range, 1–7). There were 7 undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, 1 fibrosarcoma, and 1 myxoid liposarcoma. Three patients were referred after whoops surgeries, 33% (3/9). Overall, the deep gluteal space was invaded in three out of nine patients, and the subcutaneous fat in another three out of nine patients; wide margins were achieved only in two patients. At the last follow-up, two patients developed distant metastasis and died, in one case with invasion of the deep gluteal space, and in another of the subcutaneous fat; 7/9 patients were alive and disease-free. The LR rate was 33% (2/6), the 5-year OS and DFS were 66% (5/7). The MSTS 1987 scores averaged 89.0 (range 76–100).
Conclusion
BSTS are still associated with high rates of whoops surgeries and local recurrence in agreement with previous evidence from 1948 to 2002. Buttectomy for high-grade BSTS provided acceptable oncological outcomes when performed by a trained team using a precise surgical technique, in association to a multimodal therapy.
Comparative assessment of projection and clustering method combinations in the analysis of biomedical data
Authors: Lötsch Jörn , Ultsch Alfred
Published: March 2023

Background Clustering on projected data is a common component of the analysis of biomedical research datasets. Among projection methods, principal component analysis (PCA) is the most commonly used. It focuses on the dispersion (variance) of the data, whereas clustering attempts to identify concentrations (neighborhoods) within the data. These may be conflicting aims. This report re-evaluates combinations of PCA and other common projection methods with common clustering algorithms. Methods PCA, independent component analysis (ICA), isomap, multidimensional scaling (MDS), and t-distributed stochastic neighborhood embedding (t-SNE) were combined with common clustering algorithms (partitioning: k-means, k-medoids, and hierarchical: single, Ward's, average linkage). Projections and clusterings were assessed visually by tessellating the two-dimensional projection plane with Voronoi cells and calculating common measures of cluster quality. Clustering on projected data was evaluated on nine artificial and five real biomedical datasets. Results None of the combinations always gave correct results in terms of capturing the prior classifications in the projections and clusters. Visual inspection of the results is therefore essential. PCA was never ranked first, but was consistently outperformed or equaled by neighborhood-based methods such as t-SNE or manifold learning techniques such as isomap. Conclusions The results do not support PCA as the standard projection method prior to clustering. Instead, several alternatives with visualization of the projection and clustering results should be compared. A visualization is proposed that uses a combination of Voronoi tessellation of the projection plane according to the clustering with a color coding of the projected data points according to the prior classes. This can be used to find the best combination of data projection and clustering in a given in a given data set.
Enforcing ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’ in the EU: What would it take?
Authors: DE POLI SILVIA , MAIER SOFIA
Published: March 2023

The European Parliament has approved new binding pay transparency measures to reinforce European Union´s commitment to the 1957 founding principle of `Equal Pay for Equal Work' at the workplace between women and men. In this paper, we shed new light on the prevalence of unequal pay for equal work, and its influence on the gender pay gap and the distribution of household income. We do so with harmonised microdata from the 27 EU countries, a novel estimation approach based on blocking with regression adjustments, and microsimulations to account for the interplay of tax-benefits. Our results suggest that, on average, women receive lower gross hourly wages than men performing similar work, with substantial cross-country variation. We also show that unequal pay is the main driver of the gender pay gap in most EU countries. Finally, we simulate a hypothetical upward shift of women's wages that would enforce this equal pay principle. This leads, ceteris paribus, to a substantial increase in household disposable income and government revenues (particularly strong in countries with low gender gaps at the extensive and intensive margin of labour market participation). We further discuss the implications of these distributional effects for income poverty and inequality.
JEL Classification: J16, J31, J38, J78
Colorectal Metastases with Intrabiliary Growth: incidence, treatment and outcomes
Authors: Langella Serena , Armentano Serena , Russolillo Nadia , Luzzi Andrea-Pierre , Fontana Andrea Pierluigi , Ferrero Alessandro
Published: March 2023

Purpose: intrabiliary growth (IG) is an unusual modality for colorectal metastases to spread. Relatively little is known about this condition because large series are lacking. The aim of the study was to compare the surgical and oncological outcomes of patients with or without IG.
Methods: From 01/2010 to 12/2020, 999 patients underwent hepatectomy for colorectal metastases. Clinicopathological variables were retrospectively analysed from a prospective-collected database of patients with or without IG.
Results: At first hepatectomy, 29 patients (2.9%) had IG: 7 isolated IG and 22 mixed-type (mass-forming lesion with IG). 4 patients presented IG at repeat hepatectomy for recurrence, of whom 3 had no biliary invasion at initial surgery. IG resulted to be more common in older patients (median age 70 in IG vs 60 years of no-IG, p=0.004). Mean time from colorectal tumour was longer in IG (20.4 months) than no-IG (12.9 months), p=0.038. Major hepatectomies (55.2% IG vs 29.7% no-IG, p=0.003) and anatomic resections (89.7% vs 58.2%, p=0.001) were more frequently required to treat IG. In 5 (17%) of IG a resection of main bile duct was performed. Overall postoperative mortality and complications were similar in the two groups, while bile leak was 17.2% IG vs 5.6% no-IG (p=0.024). Median margin width was comparable in IG (1.4mm) and no-IG (2mm). Five years-Overall Survival(IG 45.9% vs no-IG 44.5%) and Disease-Free Survival (IG 35.9% vs no-IG 36.6%) were similar in the two groups.
Conclusion: IG has similar oncological outcomes of resected colorectal metastases without IG, although it affects surgical management.
‘United We Stand”: A Rare Case of Non-Incorporation of the Common Pulmonary Vein into Left Atrium
Authors: Chandrupatala Mrudula , Geetha S G
Published: March 2023

Purpose: Anatomic variations of left atrium that are commonly observed and reported are the occurrence of a common Right or Left pulmonary venous ostia though a solitary ostium for a common pulmonary vein on the left atrial wall in an adult cadaveric heart has hardly been reported before.
Method: A heart with a single ostium for PV was observed in the specimen collection of the gross anatomy lab. The organ was studied for identifying all external and internal features.
Results: A very rare case of a Solitary Pulmonary ostium on the posterior aspect of Left Atrium in an otherwise normal heart was observed.
Conclusion:This abnormal situation occurs when the solitary pulmonary vein which develops from an out-pouching of the primitive atrial chamber develops and its primary divisions fail to get incorporated into the left atrial wall as expected during development. Variant pulmonary veins have been reported as ectopic trigger spots for atrial fibrillation. This knowledge would benefit the radiologists and cardiovascular surgeons in this regard.
Identification, morphometry and volumetric analysis of the genial tubercles in radiographic and tomographic examinations
Authors: Oliveira Wallace , Melo Natalia , Silva Fernanda , Miranda Diogo A , Lima Izabella L A , Fernandino Lucas S , Manzi Flavio R
Published: March 2023

Purpose: To determine the identification, morphometry and volumetric analysis of genital tubercles in radiographic and tomographic examinations.
Methods: 15 dry human jaws were exposed to four stages. At first, they were exposed to two-dimensional radiographic and three-dimensional image examinations. In the second stage, the same image exams were performed on the mandibles with the genial tubers accentuated with barium sulphate. In the third stage, a gingival needle was inserted in the lingual foramen to perform the imaging exams. In the last stage, the genial tubercles were removed for imaging. The radiographs were evaluated by two radiologist dentists trained for morphological analysis. For the morphometric evaluation, the software ITK-snap® Version 3.6.0 was used.
Results: As a result of the periapical radiographs, no changes were observed in the initial or final images. In addition, with the highlight of barium sulphate, it is noticed that the genial tubers increase the radiopacity of the symphysis region. In the occlusal radiographic images, changes were observed in each of the stages, since the position of the mandible during the examination shows the projections of the genial tubercles, and the two-dimensional examination is indicated for the evaluation of these anatomical structures.
Conclusion: Cone beam computed tomography has, in a different way, the property of providing three-dimensional images rich in detail. Thus, it can be concluded that the periapical radiography of the lower incisors highlights the lingual canal, the occlusal radiography highlights the genial tubercles and tomography is the exam that presents the conditions to differentiate these structures.
Assessment on Heavy metals contamination of Ponnai River Sand in Tamil Nadu – A statistical approach using pollution indices
Authors: Kumar C. K. Senthil , Chandrasekaran A. , Gurumoorthy C.
Published: March 2023

Anthropogenic activities such as wastewater discharge by industries, mining, and electricity generation cause an increase in the concentration of some toxic heavy metals in the river environment. In addition, agricultural activities in the vicinity of the river environment may cause the enrichment of heavy metals. In the present study, heavy metal concentrations of Pb, As, Hg, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Mn along the Ponnai river, Tamil Nadu are considered to assess the role of industrial and agricultural activities. Emanating from the Paradarami hill ranges, the Ponnai River is seasonal and remains generally dry and sandy throughout the year, and does not contribute much to sustained irrigation. However, the river area has the benefit of receiving rainfall during both southwest and northeast monsoon periods. Statistical approach to assess the distribution of heavy metals by means of quantitative pollution parameters like the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), and pollution load index (PLI) indicate the sand samples are not polluted by measured heavy metals and hence there is no influence of anthropogenic activities are in the study area. In this analysis, PLI accounted for 25.34% of the total variance and was positive with loadings of As, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, and Mn; PC2 accounted for 11.25% of the total variance and was significant loadings with Cu, Cr, and Ni. These results suggest that the heavy metals represented by PLI were predominantly derived from natural sources, except for As and Cr.
A Hybrid Arabic text summarization Approach based on Seq-to-seq and Transformer
Authors: Elsaid asmaa , mohamed ammar , Fattouh lamiaa , sakre mohamed
Published: March 2023

Text summarization is essential in natural language processing as the data volume increases quickly. Therefore, the user needs to summarize that data into a meaningful text in a short time. There are two common methods of text summarization: extractive and abstractive. There are many efforts to summarize Latin texts. However, summarizing Arabic texts is challenging for many reasons, including the language’s complexity, structure, and morphology. Also, there is a need for benchmark data sources and a gold standard Arabic evaluation metrics summary. Thus, the contribution of this paper is multi-fold: First, the paper proposes a hybrid approach consisting of a Modified Sequence-To-Sequence (MSTS) model and a transformer-based model. The seq-to-seq-based model is modified by adding multi-layer encoders and a one-layer decoder to its structure. The output of the MSTS model is the extractive summarization. To generate the abstractive summarization, the extractive summarization is manipulated by a transformer-based model. Second, it introduces a new Arabic benchmark dataset, called the HASD, which includes 43k articles with their extractive and abstractive summaries. Third, this work modifies the well-known extractive EASC benchmarks by adding to each text its abstractive summarization. Finally, this paper proposes a new measure called the Arabic-rouge measure for the abstractive summary depending on structure and similarity between words. The proposed method is tested using the proposed HASD and Modified EASC benchmarks and evaluated using Rouge, Bleu, and Arabic Rouge. The experimental results show satisfactory results compared to state-of-the-art methods.
Structural, Mechanical and Morphological Analysis of Treated Sisal Fibers and Cellulose Extracted from Sisal and it effect on Improving the Plaster-based Composites Mechanical Properties
Authors: Zidi Samir , miraoui Imed , Jaballi Sebti
Published: March 2023

In the context of attempts to protect the environment and the ongoing exhaustion of fossil resources, using biomass raises significant environmental concerns. From this approach, sisal fibers and the cellulose extracted from them are used as bio-reinforcement in the production of composite materials. The first part of this paper will examine the effects of sodium hydroxide treatment on the mechanical characteristics of natural sisal fibers. Then, the morphological properties of the surface of the fibers were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction was performed on the treated and untreated fibers. The results showed that the cellulose and the treated fibers had a greater crystallinity index than the untreated fibers. The results of the FTIR spectroscopic examination were strongly congruent with the results of the XRD and SEM analyses. The ATG, which was performed on both natural sisal fibers, treated sisal fibers, and cellulose fibers, also showed that treatment of the fibers increased their thermal resistance and stability. According to research on composite materials made of plaster reinforced by fibers, increasing the sisal treated fibers content in plaster molasses to 1.25% led to a greater improvement in the mechanical and physical characteristics with a rise of 35% in resistance to bending. Additionally, when applying the cellulose fibers extracted from sisal as a reinforcement to the plaster-based composite material, we obtain an incensement in the resistance bending by 48%.
Gray Wolf Optimizer with Communication Strategy Based on DV-Hopfor Nodes Location ofWireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Yu Dan , Yuan Ting , Qing Haiyin , Xie Wenwu , Zhu Peng
Published: March 2023

Node localization has been one of the critical and significant research problems in wireless sensornetworks (WSN). The DV-Hop method determines the location of an unknown node based onthe anchor node location and the multi-hop forwarding principle, but the method falls far shortof satisfactory localization accuracy. Therefore, an improved Gray Wolf Optimizer (GWO) withcommunication strategy (IGWO-CS) is proposed in this paper. A convergence function based onthe sine function is proposed to eliminate the limitation of the convergence factor 𝑎 on the searchability of the GWO algorithm. A communication strategy based on Lévy flight is designed, which canimprove the efficiency of information interaction between wolves 𝛼, 𝛽 and 𝛿 while also improving thesearch accuracy and convergence speed. Extensive experimental results on 23 well-known benchmarkfunctions and unknown nodes location in WSN demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed IGWO-CS method and also show sufficient competitiveness compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms,while the proposed IGWO-CS algorithm can achieve satisfactory performance in a short time.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus ameliorates the arsenic induced toxicity in the gut microbiome and embryonic development of zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Authors: Jain Abhishek , Jain Roshni , Jain Subodh
Published: March 2023

Arsenic contamination related human health is an ongoing global problem. Thus, extremely efficient bioremediation methods is need of the day. By incorporating specific probiotic species as dietary supplements, gut bioremediation may be possible, it is a simple, affordable, and effective method of purging the human body of arsenic pollutants. It has been established that probiotic strains play significant roles in various biological processes, including gut homeostasis, growth, and development. However, no study have been conducted on the relationship among arsenic toxicity, probiotics, parental gut microbiome and the ability to modulate maternal transcripts. In this study, the effects of arsenic trioxide and Lactobacillus rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus) supplement on fish and changes in the gut microbiome and embryonic development were assessed using qPCR in zebrafish exposed to 10 (low), 250 (medium) and 500(high) ppb arsenic trioxide for 2, 6 and 12 weeks. Our results show that arsenic toxicity induce significant changes in gut microbiome composition and embryonic development and probiotic L. rhamnosus cause ameliorative effects. Two predominant phyla of gut microbiome herein investigated- Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes proportions were significantly increased in arsenic exposed groups, while no significant changes observed in L. rhamnosus exposed groups as compared to control. Also, expression of key genes involved in defence against xenobiotic and embryo development- DVR1 and ABCC5, respectively decreased significantly in arsenic exposed groups and ameliorative effects observed in L. rhamnosus exposed groups. The results suggested that the L. rhamnosus supplement can overcome arsenic induced toxicity.
The critical points of entire fractions and B.Shapiro's 12th conjecture of entire functions
Authors: Ma Lande , Ma Zhaokun
Published: March 2023

For any real polynomial p(x) of even degree k. B. Shapiro propose the 12th conjecture saying that the sum of the number of real zeros of two polynomials ((k - 1)(p'(x))2 - kp(x)p''(x) and p(x)) is larger than 0. We comprehensively prove the original B.Shapiro's 12th conjecture and B.Shapiro's 12th conjecture of entire functions by showing all cases that the conjecture are true, and the case that it is not true.
Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 30C15 Secondary 30D20, 26C10
Personalized brachytherapy for a Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome patient with endometrial cancer: A case report
Authors: Zeng Zheng , Lu Yuanyuan , Zhang Fuquan , Zhang Jie , Zhang Wenjun , Luo Chunli , Guo Yuping , Yan Junfang , Yu Lang
Published: March 2023

Background: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is a common gynecological malignancy. Vaginal cuff brachytherapy (VBT) is an adjuvant treatment ​for EC. Because a single-channel cylinder sometimes delivers inadequate dose coverage to the vaginal apex, three-dimensional (3D)-printing technology can be used to achieve satisfactory dose
distribution. Here, we report the first case of an EC patient with Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome (HWWS) treated with VBT using 3D-printed applicators.
Case presentation: Here, we present a case study of endometrial cancer patient with Herlyn‑Werner‑Wunderlich syndrome who underwent surgery. During adjuvant radiotherapy, 3D-printed applicators were used in vaginal cuff brachytherapy. To accomplish the reconstruction of the source pathways on MRI, catheters with copper sulfate were placed in two 3D-printed applicators. The early tolerance of this treatment was positive. During the 6-month follow-up, locoregional recurrence was not detected.
Conclusions: Our findings strongly indicate that VBT with 3D-printed applicators may be a reasonable treatment option for EC with HWWS.
Physiological genetic identification of wild cornelian cherry genotypes in terms of phenolic compounds, organic acids and antioxidants
Authors: Taş Akgul , Gundogdu Muttalip
Published: March 2023

In this study, antioxidant, total monomeric anthocyanin (3-rutinoside), phenolic compounds, organic acids and vitamin C contents of fruits belonging to cornelian cherry genotypes were determined. Principal component and cluster analyzes were performed to determine the correlation between compounds. In the study, when the organic acid content of the fruits was examined, it was seen that tartaric acid and citric acid followed this acid with the highest malic acid content. It was determined that ellagic acid, catechin and chlorogenic acid, which are specific phenolics, are generally higher than other phenolic compounds. Total anthocyanin content showed great variation between genotypes and ranged from 3.79 µg cy-3-glu/g (14BL06) to 77.65 µg cy-3-glu/g. TEAC values were determined between 4.14 µmol TE/g − 11.03 µmol TE/g and FRAP values are between 3.37 µmol TE/g − 10.50 µmol TE/g. According to principal component analysis, the correlation between total antioxidant, total phenolic and total anthocyanins was 94.70%. While the correlation between phenolic compounds was determined as 42.40%, it was determined that the correlation between organic acids was 59%. As a result, it has been revealed that cornelian cherry gene sources are rich in biochemical contents and can be used effectively in functional foods.
NiZnFe2O4: An eco-compatible and magnetically separable catalyst for multicomponent synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromenes
Authors: Patil Sandip P. , Shinde Sachinkumar K. , Desai Vikram M. , Pawar Arvind A. , Patil Suresh S.
Published: March 2023

The magnetically separable heterogeneous Nickel-Zinc ferrite (NiZnFe2O4) catalyst was synthesized and used for the first time as an environmentally friendly reusable catalyst for the synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromene derivatives via a one-pot three-component condensation reaction of various salicylaldehydes and malononitrile or ethyl cyanoacetate with nitromethane or nitroethane in an ethanol at room temperature. There have been no reports of nickel zinc ferrite being used as a catalyst. The catalyst was specified by using several techniques, including DSC-TGA, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), BET, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The present protocol suggests some benefits, which include green reaction conditions, simple reaction work-up, short reaction time, excellent product yields, chromatography-free purification, and high efficiency of the heterogeneous catalyst. More importantly, this catalyst was recovered from the reaction mixture using a simple external magnet, and it was reused successively at least seven times without any significant loss of catalytic activity.
Relative Timing Information and Orthology inEvolutionary Scenarios
Authors: Schaller David , Hartmann Tom , Lafond Manuel , Stadler Peter F. , Wieseke Nicolas , Hellmuth Marc
Published: March 2023

Background: Evolutionary scenarios describing the evolution of a family of genes within a collection of species comprise the mapping of the vertices of a gene tree T to vertices and edges of a species tree S. The relative timing of the last common ancestors of two extant genes (leaves of T) and the last common ancestors of the two species (leaves of S) in which they reside is indicative of horizontal gene transfers (HGT) and ancient duplications. Orthologous gene pairs, on the other hand, require that their last common ancestors coincides with a corresponding speciation event. The relative timing information of gene and species divergences is captured by three colored graphs that have the extant genes as vertices and the species in which the genes are found as vertex colors: the equal-divergence-time (EDT) graph, the later-divergence-time (LDT) graph and the prior-divergence-time (PDT) graph, which together form an edge partition of the complete graph.
Results: Here we give a complete characterization in terms of informative and forbidden triples that can be read off the three graphs and provide a polynomial time algorithm for constructing an evolutionary scenario that explains the graphs, provided such a scenario exists. While both LDT and PDT graphs are cographs, this is not true for the EDT graph in general. We show that every EDT graph is perfect. While the information about LDT and PDT graphs is necessary to recognize EDT graphs in polynomial-time for general scenarios, this extra information can be dropped in the HGT-free case. However, recognition of EDT graphs without knowledge of putative LDT and PDT graphs is NP-complete for general scenarios. In contrast, PDT graphs can be recognized in polynomial-time. We finally connect the EDT graph to the alternative definitions of orthology that have been proposed for scenarios with horizontal gene transfer. With one exception, the corresponding graphs are shown to be colored cographs.
Diagnostic and prognostic value of cerebrospinal fluid SNAP-25 and neurogranin in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a clinical setting cohort of rapidly progressive dementias
Authors: Bentivenga Giuseppe Mario , Baiardi Simone , Mastrangelo Andrea , Zenesini Corrado , Mammana Angela , Polischi Barbara , Capellari Sabina , Parchi Piero
Published: March 2023

Background
The levels of synaptic markers synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) and neurogranin (Ng) have been shown to increase early in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and to have prognostic potential. However, no validation studies assessed these biomarkers' diagnostic and prognostic value in a large clinical setting cohort of rapidly progressive dementia.
Methods
In this retrospective study, using commercially available immunoassays, we measured the levels of SNAP-25, Ng, 14-3-3, total-tau (t-tau), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and phospho-tau181 (p-tau) in CSF samples from consecutive patients with CJD (n = 220) or non-prion rapidly progressive dementia (np-RPD) (n = 213). We evaluated and compared the diagnostic accuracy of each CSF biomarker and biomarker combination by receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analyses, studied SNAP-25 and Ng CSF concentrations distribution across CJD subtypes, and estimated their association with survival using multivariate Cox regression analyses.
Results
CSF SNAP-25 and Ng levels were higher in CJD than in np-RPD (SNAP-25: 582, 95% CI 240–1250 vs. 115, 95% CI 78–157 pg/ml, p < 0.0001; Ng: 841, 95% CI 411–1473 vs. 390, 95% CI 260–766 pg/ml, p < 0.001). SNAP-25 diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.902, 95% CI 0.873–0.931) exceeded that of 14-3-3 (AUC 0.853, 95% CI 0.816–0.889), t-tau (AUC 0.878, 95% CI 0.845–0.901), and the t-tau/p-tau ratio (AUC 0.884, 95% CI 0.851–0.916). In contrast, Ng performed worse (AUC 0.697, 95% CI 0.626–0.767) than all other surrogate biomarkers, except for NfL (AUC 0.649, 95% CI 0.593–0.705). SNAP-25 maintained a relatively high diagnostic value even for atypical CJD subtypes (AUC 0.792, 95% CI 0.729–0.854). In Cox regression analyses, SNAP-25 levels were significantly associated with survival in CJD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.71 95% CI 1.40–2.09). Conversely, Ng was associated with survival only in the most rapidly progressive CJD subtypes (sCJD MM(V)1 and gCJD M1) (HR 1.81 95% CI 1.21–2.93).
Conclusions
In the clinical setting, CSF SNAP-25 is a viable alternative to t-tau, 14-3-3, and the t-tau/p-tau ratio in discriminating the CJD subtypes from other RPDs. Additionally, both CSF SNAP-25 and Ng predict survival in CJD, with the former showing a higher prognostic value.
Battle royale optimizer with ring neighborhood topology
Authors: Akan Taymaz , Zálabský Tomáš , Shirini Kimiya , Bhuiyan Mohammad A. N
Published: March 2023

Recently, battle royale optimizer (BRO), a game-based metaheuristic search algorithm, has been proposed for use in continuous optimization, inspired by a genre of digital games known as “battle royale.” In BRO, each individual chooses the nearest opponent as a competitor. For this purpose, the Euclidean distance between individuals is calculated. This interaction corresponds to an increase in computational complexity by a factor of \(n\). For the purpose of improving the computational complexity of BRO, a modified methodology is proposed using a ring topology, namely, BRO-RT. In the modified version, a set of individuals is arranged in a ring such that each has a neighborhood comprising a number of individuals to its left and right. Instead of a pairwise comparison with all individuals in the population, the best individual among the left and right neighborhoods is selected as the competitor. The proposed scheme has been compared with the original BRO and six popular optimization algorithms. All algorithms are evaluated by applying them to thirteen unimodal and multimodal benchmark optimization functions from CEC2008 and CEC2010. Experimental results show that the BRO-RT algorithm is competitive with or superior to the other seven methods. In addition, the compression spring design problem was used to estimate the ability of the proposed method to solve real-world engineering problems. These results demonstrate that BRO-RT yields promising results when applied to real-world engineering problems. Finally, while BRO is ranked first, and BRO-RT second, they achieved competitive results; BRO-RT has the advantages of lower computational complexity and faster run times than the original BRO algorithm.
Increase in atmospheric carbonyl sulphide since the last glacial period
Authors: Aydin Murat
Published: March 2023

Carbonyl sulphide (COS) is the most abundant atmospheric sulphur gas with links to terrestrial and oceanic productivity1. A 52,000-year COS record was recovered from a South Pole ice core. We find evidence for COS production in the ice sheet that alters the atmospheric signal in the ice but can be corrected for using sea salt sodium as a proxy. There was substantially less COS in the glacial atmosphere than the Holocene and the deglaciation is marked by a 2-4 fold rise, which is primarily source driven. Oceanic emissions in the form of COS, carbon disulphide (CS2), and dimethylsulphide (DMS) are collectively the largest natural source of atmospheric COS1-7. In the ocean, COS and CS2 are produced primarily by photochemical reactions involving organosulphur compounds3-7, and DMS is a byproduct of phytoplanktonic activity8-12. The large increase in ocean COS emissions during the deglaciation suggests enhancements in emissions of all three sulphur gases and associated climate feedbacks via processes that involve ocean productivity. DMS is a major source of marine sulphate aerosol, inducing negative direct and indirect climate feedbacks8-14. COS is a precursor for background stratospheric sulphate aerosol with impacts on stratospheric chemistry and a net negative radiative impact15-18.
Glucose test strips
Authors: Surborg Helmut
Published: March 2023

Severe enteritis in neonatal calves can very quickly lead to the exitus of the animal. Besides infectious causes dietary mistakes play an important role. The pathogenesis of diarrhea is basically understood: The body loses fluid with the electrolytes provided with the nutrition due to malabsorbtion. This reason and the hematodyscrasia resulting from the inflammatory process lead to disturbance of the circulation together with recognizable clinical symptoms like cold distal parts of the extremities, lower skin turgor, sunken eyes and apathetic bedding down.
Serologic testing in the diagnosis of virus diseases of cattle
Authors: Kahrs Robert F.
Published: March 2023

Serologic tests for IBR, BVD-MD and BPI-3 sometimes aid in the differential diagnosis and sometimes only mislead the person who submitted the specimens. When negative, these tests can be useful in the diagnostic “process of elimination.” Efforts to obtain a positive etiologic diagnosis are frequently frustrating. The relationship between the time of infection and the time of serum collection is a critical factor in the interpretation of test results. Because the time of infection is usually unknown, paired samples are essential. The aseptic specimens needed for virus serology should be collected in B-D Vacutainers. Antibodies induced by natural infection cannot be distinguished from antibodies induced by vaccination or from colostrally acquired maternal antibodies.
Control of bovine leptospirosis
Authors: Hanson L. E.
Published: March 2023

Paper presented in part at the meeting of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, February JO, 1971, Las Vegas, Nevada on Leptospirosis.
Blood porphyrin determination
Authors: Green R. A. , Monlux A. W. , Randolph T. C.
Published: March 2023

Blood porphyrin increased during experimental lead intoxication in cattle, and appeared to reflect the intensity of lead intoxication, as judged by blood lead determination. Certain anaemic states were also associated with high blood porphyrin. In these instances blood lead determination, decreased aminolevulinic avid dehydrase activity or examination of erythrocyte morphology may be necessary for accurate laboratory diagnosis. The test also proved to be an invaluable screening test in a herd with several cases of acute lead poisoning.
Epidemiologic observations on bovine winter dysentery
Authors: Kahrs R. F. , Scott F. W. , Hillman R. B.
Published: March 2023

In two herds undergoing 'winter dysentery' outbreaks, the distribution of onset of diarrhoea suggested an infectious and contagious disease with cow to cow spread. Age and breed appeared inconsequential in diarrhoea and fever. Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and bovine viral diarrhoea viruses are evidently not involved. No currently available vaccine is effective in its control.
Bovine malignant catarrhal fever in Colorado
Authors: Pierson Robert E. , Arango Marcelo , McChesney A. E.
Published: March 2023

Records kept in Colorado showed that there were 364 cases of malignant catarrh between 1962 and July 1972, usually sporadic involving between 4 and 9% of cattle in a herd. However, in 1972 an outbreak resulted in the death of 87 beef cattle (37%) in one feedlot. There was no evidence of a particular sex or breed incidence; most cases were 1-2 years old and 74% of cases occurred during the winter. The most frequent signs were fever, photophobia, lacrimation, scleral injection and corneal opacity. In two major outbreaks the cattle were in close contact with sheep.
Convention of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (6th : 1973). Program
Authors: American Association of Bovine Practitioners
Published: March 2023

Program information for the Convention of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (6th : 1973). Program
Preventive medicine program for dairy cattle in Southern Ontario
Authors: Cote J. F.
Published: March 2023

The principles of the herd health programme at the Ontario Veterinary College are discussed with particular emphasis on the veterinarian-dairyman relationship. The importance of: selection of herds (checking health indices before allowing enrolment into the programme); procedures and contracts to avoid misunderstanding, records for identification and up-to-date reports, and cost benefit analysis are all stressed. Analysis of data provided conclusive evidence that return on investment improved significantly (95 to 502%) when the dairyman participated in the programme.
Bovine Practitioner No. 10 (1975 November). Front Matter
Authors: Bovine Practitioners American Association of
Published: March 2023

Cover, Masthead, Table of Contents, and other editorial information.
Influence of Using a Neomycin and Chlorobutanol Compound in Dry Cow Treatment on the Control of Mastitis
Authors: Weinland K. M. , Kirkham W. W. , Morrow M. E. , Ranck F. M. , Ewbank T. A. , Dillon W. M. , Parmelee C. E.
Published: March 2023

Dry treatment of about one-half of a 60-cow herd with a neomycin and chlorobutanol compound over a three-year period reduced the number of positive California Mastitis Test (CMT) scores. This effect was greatest during the first ten days after calving. Streptococcal infections were reduced but not staphylococcal infections. Dry treatment with the antibiotic compound reduced the risk that a cow would be culled because of mastitis.
Bovine leukosis and A.I.
Authors: Bartlett D. E.
Published: March 2023

There appears to be no evidence of public risk from bovine leukosis and no evidence to suggest that it is transmitted by artificial insemination. Transmission within herds is principally by close contact, blood sucking insects and possibly by blood contaminated instruments. Immunological methods of diagnosing leukosis are more reliable than "key" methods. Infection that does not progress to lymphosarcoma appears to have no effect on milk production or reproduction. Surveys indicate that bovine oncovirus is present in more than 50% of dairy herds and 10% of beef herds in the USA. Incidence of infection increases with age.
Diagnosis and management of bovine chemical toxicoses
Authors: Osweiler G. D.
Published: March 2023

Many bovine toxicologic problems considered in the past have been acutely fatal or disabling syndromes. They have been hard to ignore when they occur. Thus acute arsenic poisoning, insecticide induced seizures, and herd outbreaks of nitrate or cyanide poisoning have been well-known examples of problems for veterinary toxicology. Problems like these still exist and may cause devastating losses for individual producers. However, these problems are, for the clinician, generally easily recognized and there are sound recommendations for their control. With the introduction of more complex and numerous chemicals in agriculture and industry as well as changing procedures in livestock production, the classical veterinary poisons are no longer sufficient subject matter for livestock health professionals. Clinical problems induced by newer chemicals may be vague and hard to difine. Death may be less important than an economic effect such as poor performance or increased susceptibility to infectious disease after exposure to toxicants. Presence of illegal residues either from improper use of approved drugs or inadvertent exposure to chemicals continues to be of concern to practitioners, producers and regulators. This paper will deal, not in the entire range of bovine toxicology, but with well- known examples of toxicants which are still real~or potential problems. Some are highly toxic, others are cumulative and cause residues. The reader is urged to consult one or more of the supplemental readings for more complete discussions of classical toxicologic problems.The situations to be discussed are as follows: 1) those problems arising when animals are contacted by chemical products or by-products of industry or commerce 2) toxicologic effects and residues associated with use (misuse) of pesticides or economic poisons, and 3) toxicosis or loss from exposure to metallic poisons.
Major poisonous plant problems in cattle
Authors: Bailey E. Murl
Published: March 2023

Animal agriculture plays an important role in the economic well being of the United States. Harvesting of the rangelands by ruminants is one of the main stays of this aspect of agriculture. As a result the occurrence of toxic plants in pastures causes a tremendous economic loss to livestock owners in the form of animal deaths, loss of production of meat and milk, and reproduction problems. In some years it has been estimated in Texas alone that the loss due to cattle deaths may be as high as 24 to 30 million dollars, annually. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to attempt to describe some of the more common plants toxic to cattle in the United States.
Mycotoxicoses of the bovine with reference to fungi and toxins associated with disease
Authors: Morehouse L. G.
Published: March 2023

The mycotoxicoses are a group of diseases caused by toxins produced by a number of different fungi. In many instances, the toxins represent secondary metabolites produced by fungi following a growth phase of the fungus. There are approximately 50 different genera of fungi in four major toxonomic groups capable of producing over 100 different toxins. We are concerned, however, only with those that may become involved with animal health because they (1) produce toxins orally active or potentially poisonous by other exposure routes for animals and man, (2) can be isolated from food and feedstuffs or (3) (toxins) are found naturally occurring in food and feedstuffs in amounts sufficient to be responsible for disease.
Systemic antibacterial drug selection and dosage
Authors: Burrows George E.
Published: March 2023

Four tables are presented. One lists oral absorption, lipid solubility, milk/serum ratio, urine levels and drug concentration in tissues as a percentage of serum concentration, of penicillins, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, spectinomycin, macrolides, lincomycin, tetracyclines, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim and sulfonamides. Two give the in vitro sensitivity of 29 important pathogenic bacteria to the same antibiotics. The fourth tabulates dosage and serum levels in cattle.
Digestive disorders following obstruction of flow of ingesta through the abomasum and small intestine
Authors: Breukink H. J. , Kuiper R.
Published: March 2023

It has been known for quite a while that several forms of indigestion in the ruminant are associated with dehydration, depression, an overvilled rumen fluctuating upon punching and a decreased or absent faeces production. In the blood of these cows there is a hypochloremic, hypokalemic, metabolic alkalosis, an increased hematocrit and a more or less severe uremia. In the well advanced cases, the diagnosis posterior functional gastric stenosis or functional pyloric stenosis is made, but when a thorough clinical examination is performed the same syndrome or part of it can be recognized in cows with other lesions of the gastro-intestinal tract. It is important to recognize the syndrome because the disturbances of water and electrolyte balance as a consequence of this stenosis may be seriously complicating the condition and treatment, although the primary cause can be treated without problems.