bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular-related deaths at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak: a prospective analysis based on the UK Biobank
Authors: Wang Junren , Zhu Jianwei , Yang Huazhen , Hu Yao , Sun Yajing , Ying Zhiye , Qu Yuanyuan , Valdimarsdottir Unnur , Fang Fang , Song Huan
Published: June 2021

Objective

To assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on cardiovascular disease (CVD) related mortality and hospitalisation.

Design

Community-based prospective cohort study.

Setting

The UK Biobank.

Participants

421 372 UK Biobank participants who were registered in England and alive as of 1 January 2020.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary outcome of interest was CVD-related death, which was defined as death with CVD as a cause in the death register. We retrieved information on hospitalisations with CVD as the primary diagnosis from the UK Biobank hospital inpatient data. The study period was 1 January 2020 to June 30 2020, and we used the same calendar period of the three preceding years as the reference period. In order to control for seasonal variations and ageing of the study population, standardised mortality/incidence ratios (SMRs/SIRs) with 95% CIs were used to estimate the relative risk of CVD outcomes during the study period, compared with the reference period.

Results

We observed a distinct increase in CVD-related deaths in March and April 2020, compared with the corresponding months of the three preceding years. The observed number of CVD-related deaths (n=218) was almost double in April, compared with the expected number (n=120) (SMR=1.82, 95% CI 1.58 to 2.07). In addition, we observed a significant decline in CVD-related hospitalisations from March onwards, with the lowest SIR observed in April (0.45, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.49).

Conclusions

There was a distinct increase in the number of CVD-related deaths in the UK Biobank population at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The shortage of medical resources for hospital care and stress reactions to the pandemic might have partially contributed to the excess CVD-related mortality, underscoring the need of sufficient healthcare resources and improved instructions to the public about seeking healthcare in a timely way.
Optimising the measurement of blood glucose and cholesterol in patients who had an acute stroke: a quality improvement project
Authors: Khan Ayesha Rehan , Dorai Shruti , Serry Yaseen
Published: June 2021

Hypercholesterolaemia and diabetes are established modifiable risk factors for cerebrovascular disease. A baseline audit carried out on an acute stroke ward at a District General Hospital in East Kent showed variability in blood tests being requested on admission for patients who had a suspected stroke, in particular serum glucose and cholesterol levels. Our aim was to ensure that at least 80% of patients admitted to the stroke ward with a suspected stroke had blood glucose and cholesterol levels measured on admission, over an 18-week period.

The percentage of patients admitted with a suspected stroke on the ward who had the appropriate investigations requested on admission was measured weekly. Quality improvement methodology was used to formulate three interventions in the form of Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles: (1) an educational email sent to doctors regarding the assessment of patients who had a stroke and admission blood tests required; (2) adaptation of the ‘Stroke Admission Clerking Proforma’ to include a list of bloods to be requested; (3) production of an all-inclusive ‘Stroke Bloods Panel’ on the online system for requesting bloods.

At baseline, an average of 30% and 34% of patients had glucose and cholesterol levels requested on admission, respectively. These results increased to 43% and 40% after the first intervention; 71% and 61% after the second intervention; and after the final intervention, on average, 82% and 85% of patients had glucose and cholesterol levels requested, respectively. We therefore achieved our aim of ensuring that more than 80% of patients who had an acute stroke had the appropriate blood tests requested on admission.

The modified stroke proforma and the blood panel were the most effective interventions. The changes were implemented in an additional hospital within the same Trust. We anticipate greater compliance with Royal College of Physicians (RCP), National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) and Trust guidelines regarding appropriate and timely prescription of antidiabetic and cholesterol-lowering medications for secondary preventative measures.
Update and harmonisation of guidance for the management of diabetic ketoacidosis in children and young people in the UK
Authors: Rugg-Gunn Charlotte EM , Deakin Mark , Hawcutt Daniel B
Published: June 2021

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Careful and timely intervention is required to optimise glycaemic control and reduce the risk of mortality and devastating complications. Of these, cerebral oedema is the leading cause of death, with a mortality rate of approximately 25%. This article highlights the recent updates to UK fluid therapy guidelines for DKA and provides clinical context for the benefit of paediatricians and junior doctors in light of this new guidance.
Effectiveness of angiotensin-neprilysin inhibitor treatment versus renin-angiotensin system blockade in older adults with heart failure in clinical care
Authors: Desai Rishi J , Patorno Elisabetta , Vaduganathan Muthiah , Mahesri Mufaddal , Chin Kristyn , Levin Raisa , Solomon Scott D , Schneeweiss Sebastian
Published: June 2021

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) versus renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade alone in older adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Methods

We conducted a cohort study using US Medicare fee-for-service claims data (2014–2017). Patients with HFrEF ≥65 years were identified in two cohorts: (1) initiators of ARNI or RAS blockade alone (ACE inhibitor, ACEI; or angiotensin receptor blocker, ARB) and (2) switchers from an ACEI to either ARNI or ARB. HR with 95% CI from Cox proportional hazard regression and 1-year restricted mean survival time (RMST) difference with 95% CI were calculated for a composite outcome of time to first worsening heart failure event or all-cause mortality after adjustment for 71 pre-exposure characteristics through propensity score fine-stratification weighting. All analyses of initiator and switcher cohorts were conducted separately and then combined using fixed effects.

Results

51 208 patients with a mean age of 76 years were included, with 16 193 in the ARNI group. Adjusted HRs comparing ARNI with RAS blockade alone were 0.92 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.00) among initiators and 0.79 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.85) among switchers, with a combined estimate of 0.84 (95% CI 0.80 to 0.89). Adjusted 1-year RMST difference (95% CI) was 4 days in the initiator cohort (−1 to 9) and 12 days (8 to 17) in the switcher cohort, resulting in a pooled estimate of 9 days (6 to 12) favouring ARNI.

Conclusion

ARNI treatment was associated with lower risk of a composite effectiveness endpoint compared with RAS blockade alone in older adults with HFrEF.
Neurology and neuropsychiatry of COVID-19: a systematic review and
meta-analysis of the early literature reveals frequent CNS manifestations
and key emerging narratives
Authors: Rogers Jonathan P , Watson Cameron J , Badenoch James , Cross Benjamin , Butler Matthew , Song Jia , Hafeez Danish , Morrin Hamilton , Rengasamy Emma Rachel , Thomas Lucretia , Ralovska Silviya , Smakowski Abigail , Sundaram Ritika Dilip , Hunt Camille Kaitlyn , Lim Mao Fong , Aniwattanapong Daruj , Singh Vanshika , Hussain Zain , Chakraborty Stuti , Burchill Ella , Jansen Katrin , Holling Heinz , Walton Dean , Pollak Thomas A , Ellul Mark , Koychev Ivan , Solomon Tom , Michael Benedict Daniel , Nicholson Timothy R , Rooney Alasdair G
Published: June 2021

There is accumulating evidence of the neurological and neuropsychiatric
features of infection with SARS-CoV-2. In this systematic review and
meta-analysis, we aimed to describe the characteristics of the early
literature and estimate point prevalences for neurological and
neuropsychiatric manifestations.

We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL up to 18 July 2020 for
randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies,
cross-sectional studies and case series. Studies reporting prevalences of
neurological or neuropsychiatric symptoms were synthesised into
meta-analyses to estimate pooled prevalence.

13 292 records were screened by at least two authors to identify 215
included studies, of which there were 37 cohort studies, 15 case-control
studies, 80 cross-sectional studies and 83 case series from 30 countries.
147 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The symptoms with the
highest prevalence were anosmia (43.1% (95% CI 35.2% to 51.3%), n=15 975, 63
studies), weakness (40.0% (95% CI 27.9% to 53.5%), n=221, 3 studies),
fatigue (37.8% (95% CI 31.6% to 44.4%), n=21 101, 67 studies), dysgeusia
(37.2% (95% CI 29.8% to 45.3%), n=13 686, 52 studies), myalgia (25.1% (95%
CI 19.8% to 31.3%), n=66 268, 76 studies), depression (23.0% (95% CI 11.8%
to 40.2%), n=43 128, 10 studies), headache (20.7% (95% CI 16.1% to 26.1%),
n=64 613, 84 studies), anxiety (15.9% (5.6% to 37.7%), n=42 566, 9 studies)
and altered mental status (8.2% (95% CI 4.4% to 14.8%), n=49 326, 19
studies). Heterogeneity for most clinical manifestations was high.

Neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms of COVID-19 in the pandemic’s
early phase are varied and common. The neurological and psychiatric academic
communities should develop systems to facilitate high-quality methodologies,
including more rapid examination of the longitudinal course of
neuropsychiatric complications of newly emerging diseases and their
relationship to neuroimaging and inflammatory biomarkers.
Disability, relationship, and the negotiation of loss
Authors: Watermeyer Brian , Mckinney Victor
Published: June 2021

Oppressive stereotypes of invalidity and tragedy have positioned loss and grieving as contested issues in the field of disability studies. Ascriptions of ‘denial’ are rejected by many disabled people, as a reductive medicalisation of their lived reality. For these and other reasons, this paper asserts that disabled people are afforded limited or awkward social spaces for grief, be it to do with social positioning, embodiment, or any other aspect of human experience. This is significant because grieving may have an important relationship with political mobilisation, both personal and collective. The paper presents autoethnographic material from the life of the second author, who has lived with quadriplegia for more than three decades. Using ideas from critical psychoanalysis it traces how political, relational and intrapsychic mechanisms constrain and sanction his expression of feelings of loss, contributing to a relational predicament ofmelancholic suspension, analogous to that attributed to subordinated racial groups. Here, one is forced to strive for assimilation into an unattainable, ideal social role, while simultaneously being alienated from one’s inner experience, with implications for both creativity and personal power. The paper concludes that, paradoxically, stereotypes are countered not by dissociation from grief, but rather the claiming of it.
Frailty and incident heart failure in older men: the British Regional Heart Study
Authors: McKechnie Douglas GJ , Papacosta A Olia , Lennon Lucy T , Ramsay Sheena E , Whincup Peter H , Wannamethee S Goya
Published: June 2021

Objective

Frailty and heart failure (HF) are cross-sectionally associated. Published longitudinal data are very limited. We sought to investigate associations between frailty and incident HF.

Methods

Prospective study of 1722 men, examined at age 72–91 years. Scores based on the Fried phenotype, Gill index and a novel frailty score, based on the Health Ageing and Body Composition Battery, incorporating slow walking speed, low chair-stand time and subjective difficulty with balance, were calculated. Associations between these scores and incident HF were analysed with Cox proportional hazard modelling.

Results

1445 men with frailty data and without prevalent HF were included. 99 developed HF (mean follow-up 6.1 years). Men scoring 3/3 on our novel frailty score had elevated risk of incident HF (HR 2.77, 95% CI 1.25 to 6.15), which persisted after adjustment for established risk factors and interleukin-6 (HR 3.14, 95% CI 1.35 to 7.31). This risk remained increased, although attenuated, after excluding HF events within 2 years of baseline (HR 2.05, 95% CI 0.61 to 6.92). The frailty phenotype showed a non-significant association with HF (age-adjusted HR 1.92, 95% CI 0.99 to 3.73), which was further attenuated after adjustment for prevalent coronary heart disease and Body mass index (HR 1.60, 95% CI 0.81 to 3.15). Gill-type scores were weakly associated with HF risk after these adjustments (HR 1.31, 95% CI 0.47 to 3.70).

Conclusion

In these older men, the combination of slow walk speed, low sit-stand time and balance problems were associated with high risk of incident HF, independent of established risk factors and inflammatory markers. However, undiagnosed HF at baseline may still be a confounder. There is a differential association between aspects of the frailty phenotype and incident HF.
Detection of markers predictive of macrolide and fluoroquinolone resistance in Mycoplasma genitalium from patients attending sexual health services
Authors: Day Michaela Joanne , Cole Michelle Jayne , Fifer Helen , Woodford Neil , Pitt Rachel
Published: June 2021

Objectives

This study sought to provide data on the prevalence of macrolide (23S rRNA) and fluoroquinolone (parC) resistance-associated mutations seen in Mycoplasma genitalium-positive specimens received in the UK national reference laboratory.

Methods

In total, 2580 clinical specimens from patients with suspected or confirmed M. genitalium infection were received at the national reference laboratory between September 2017 and November 2018. M. genitalium-positive clinical specimens were identified using a reverse transcription-PCR targeting two M. genitalium genes: MgPa and gap. Resistance-associated single nucleotide poylmorphisms were sought in all positive specimens by sequence analysis of the 23S rRNA and parC genes.

Results

Eighteen per cent (458 of 2580) of clinical specimens were positive for M. genitalium and 389 had sequence data for both macrolide and fluoroquinolone resistance markers. Of these, 71% (275 of 389) had macrolide resistance-associated mutations, 8% (31 of 389) had fluoroquinolone resistance-associated mutations (S83I/R and D87Y/N) and 7% (26 of 389) had mutations associated with resistance to both antimicrobials. Only 28% (108 of 389) had no mutations associated with resistance to either class of antibiotic. Five specimens had mutations of unknown clinical significance in the parC gene (eg, G81C and S83N).

Conclusions

Mutations associated with resistance to macrolides were very frequent. By contrast, susceptibility to the second-line treatment, moxifloxacin (a fluoroquinolone), was estimated at 92% based on the absence of resistance-associated mutations. The few specimens with mutations of unknown clinical significance in the parC gene were excluded from the analysis and so the actual level of fluoroquinolone susceptibility may be slightly lower than that reported here. Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in M. genitalium is imperative for this to remain a treatable infection.
Performance of phytoncide (Pinus koraiensis extract) as an alternative to zinc oxide supplementation in weaning pig diet
Authors: Seok Woo Jeong , Hoque Md Raihanul , Serpunja Subin , Kim In Ho
Published: June 2021

This study was implemented to assess the effect of Pinus koraiensis extract (PKE) compared with zinc oxide on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, fecal bacterial count, and fecal gas emission of post-weaned pigs. This 6 wk experiment was divided into phase 1 (days 1–7), phase 2 (days 8–21), and phase 3 (days 22–42). A total of 150 crossbred weaning pigs (body weight; 10.14 ± 0.78 kg) were randomly sorted in five treatment diets (six replications per treatment; five pigs per pen) presented as CON, basal diet; ZnO, CON + 0.30% zinc oxide; PKE1, CON + 0.05% PKE; PKE2, CON + 0.10% PKE; and PKE3, CON + 0.15% PKE. Pinus koraiensis extract supplementation linearly reduced gain to feed ratio in all phases except phase 3. It also linearly increased average daily gain in the overall experiment compared with the CON group. The increasing level of PKE supplementation brought linear improvement in aspartate aminotransferase of blood profile. Escherichia coli bacterial count and NH3 gas emission were decreased linearly by PKE supplementation in comparison to the CON diet. Though PKE supplementation did not show similar influence as ZnO, it showed beneficial results in weaning pigs’ growth, nutrient digestibility, fecal bacterial count, and reduction of fecal gas emission.
Speeding up MadGraph5_aMC@NLO
Authors: Mattelaer O. , Ostrolenk K.
Published: June 2021

In this paper we will describe two new optimisations implemented in MadGraph5_aMC@NLO, both of which are designed to speed-up the computation of leading-order processes (for any model). First we implement a new method to evaluate the squared matrix element, dubbed helicity recycling, which results in factor of two speed-up. Second, we have modified the multi-channel handling of the phase-space integrator providing tremendous speed-up for VBF-like processes (up to thousands times faster).
Observational constraints in metric-affine gravity
Authors: Bahamonde Sebastian , Valcarcel Jorge Gigante
Published: June 2021

We derive the main classical gravitational tests for a recently found vacuum solution with spin and dilation charges in the framework of Metric-Affine gauge theory of gravity. Using the results of the perihelion precession of the star S2 by the GRAVITY collaboration and the gravitational redshift of Sirius B white dwarf we constrain the corrections provided by the torsion and nonmetricity fields for these effects.
Estimating the impact of the QCD dynamics on the determination of the high energy astrophysical neutrino flux
Authors: Gonçalves Victor P. , Gratieri Diego R. , Quadros Alex S. C.
Published: June 2021

The number of ultra-high energy neutrinos arriving at IceCube depends on the energy dependence of the astrophysical neutrino flux and neutrino cross-section. In this paper, we investigate the impact of different assumptions for the description of the QCD dynamics at high energies on the determination of the normalization $$\Phi _{Astro}$$

Φ

Astro

and spectral index $$\gamma $$
γ
of the astrophysical neutrino flux. The distribution of neutrino events at the IceCube is estimated considering the DGLAP, BFKL, CGC and BBMT approaches and the best estimates for $$\Phi _{Astro}$$

Φ

Astro

and $$\gamma $$
γ
are determined using a maximum likelihood fit comparing the predictions with the distribution of observed events at IceCube. Moreover, we also investigate if the increase in the effective exposure time expected in IceCube-Gen2 will to allow us to disentangle the QCD dynamical effects from the description of the astrophysical neutrino flux.
Electromagnetic resonance of nonlinear vacuum in one-dimensional cavity
Authors: Shibata Kazunori
Published: June 2021

Nonlinear corrections on electromagnetic fields in vacuum have been expected. In this study, we have theoretically considered nonlinear Maxwell’s equations in a one-dimensional cavity for a classical light and external static electromagnetic fields. A general solution for the electromagnetic corrective components including that of a longitudinal standing wave was derived after a linearization. The main purpose is to give a detailed feature of the previously reported resonant behavior [Shibata, Euro. Phys. J. D 74:215 (2020)], such as the effect of external static fields and the polarization fluctuation. These results favor the development of new and effective method for experiment.

Graphic abstract
Effect of Gold Nanoparticles on Optoelectronic Properties of Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide
Authors: Abdullah Mohd Faizol
Published: June 2021

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is a compelling material from both aspects of processing and functionality. This paper presents an alternative method to prepare and alter the optoelectronic properties of the AuNPs-rGO hybrid film. Au was sputtered for a duration of 0–60 s on graphene oxide (GO) film before subjected to thermal reduction at 700∘C. The surface of rGO was decorated by spherical AuNPs with a mean particle size of around 10[Formula: see text]nm due to the solid-state dewetting process. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AuNPs around 550[Formula: see text]nm was intense when the Au sputter duration exceeded 20[Formula: see text]s. Remarkably, the AuNPs layer retarded the de-oxygenation of GO during thermal annealing. The AuNPs-rGO hybrid film with long-duration Au sputtering exhibited low optical constants and thicker rGO film. The AuNPs also played the role in lowering the bandgap, increasing the lattice disorder and assisting the high-energy photon absorption in the thermally reduced rGO film. The sample of 30[Formula: see text]s and 40[Formula: see text]s Au sputtering was optimum to obtain the lowest sheet resistance of 59[Formula: see text]k[Formula: see text]/sq and 56[Formula: see text]k[Formula: see text]/sq, respectively. The sheet resistance was bargained between de-oxygenation retardation and doping by the AuNPs. Both samples of 30 s and 40 s Au sputtering were having a unique and satisfyingly strong absorption band around 260[Formula: see text]nm, 350[Formula: see text]nm and 555[Formula: see text]nm corresponding to [Formula: see text]* transition, [Formula: see text]* transition and SPR of AuNPs, respectively. Such properties are desirable in several applications such as a transparent electrode and optoelectronic sensor.
Deep- versus shallow-marine sandstone provenance in the mid-Carboniferous Clare Basin, western Ireland
Authors: Nauton-Fourteu Martin , Tyrrell Shane , Chew David M. , Drakou Foteini , Pfaff Katharina , Jobe Zane
Published: June 2021

In a source-to-sink sedimentary system, multiple processes have the potential to modify the sediment composition during sediment generation at the source, through transport, deposition and burial. To investigate these issues, a multi-proxy provenance study of deep-water and shallow-marine sandstones from the mid-Carboniferous Clare Basin was undertaken, utilizing zircon and apatite U–Pb geochronology, heavy mineral analysis (including apatite trace element data) and petrography. Data from the deep-water submarine fans show a similar provenance signal to the shallow-marine sandstones. Data from across the Clare Basin stratigraphy indicate that sands were probably and consistently derived from the south and SW, with a portion of the detritus being recycled from Old Red Sandstone basins to the south. The provenance signal, however, shows spatial and temporal variations across the basin that are explained by fluctuations in the amount of recycled sediments and are linked with the evolving Variscan Orogenic Belt. Heavy mineral data from both shallow-marine and deep-water sandstones suggest a basin configuration with a delta system feeding directly into the deep basin.

Supplementary material: Figures S1–S4 and Tables S1–S8 are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5446739
On a Theorem of Lovász that (&sdot,
H
) Determines the Isomorphism Type of
H
Authors: Cai Jin-yi , Govorov Artem
Published: June 2021

Graph homomorphism has been an important research topic since its introduction [20]. Stated in the language of binary relational structures in that paper [20], Lovász proved a fundamental theorem that, for a graph
H
given by its 0-1 valued adjacency matrix, the graph homomorphism function
G
↦ hom(
G
,
H
) determines the isomorphism type of
H
. In the past 50 years, various extensions have been proved by many researchers [1, 15, 21, 24, 26]. These extend the basic 0-1 case to admit vertex and edge weights; but these extensions all have some restrictions such as all vertex weights must be positive. In this article, we prove a general form of this theorem where
H
can have arbitrary vertex and edge weights. A noteworthy aspect is that we prove this by a surprisingly simple and unified argument. This bypasses various technical obstacles and unifies and extends all previous known versions of this theorem on graphs. The constructive proof of our theorem can be used to make various complexity dichotomy theorems for graph homomorphism
effective
in the following sense: it provides an algorithm that for any
H
either outputs a P-time algorithm solving hom(&sdot,
H
) or a P-time reduction from a canonical #P-hard problem to hom(&sdot,
H
).
Write Like a Pro or an Amateur? Effect of Medical Language Formality
Authors: Xie Jiaheng , Zhang Bin , Brown Susan , Zeng Daniel
Published: June 2021

Past years have seen rising engagement among caregivers in online health communities. Although studies indicate that this caregiver-generated online health information benefits patients, how such information can be perceived easily and correctly remains unclear. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring mechanisms to improve the perceived helpfulness of online health information. We propose a multi-method framework, including a novel Medical-Enriched DEep Learning (MEDEL) feature extraction method, econometric analyses, and a randomized experiment. The results show that when the medical language of health information is informal, the senior care information is more helpful. Our findings provide a theoretical foundation to understand the influence of language formality on many other business communications. Our proposed multi-method approach can also be generalized to investigate research questions involving complex textual features. Forum sites could leverage our proposed approach to improve the helpfulness of online health information and user satisfaction.
A Measurement Study of Wechat Mini-Apps
Authors: Zhang Yue , Turkistani Bayan , Yang Allen Yuqing , Zuo Chaoshun , Lin Zhiqiang
Published: June 2021

A new mobile computing paradigm, dubbed mini-app, has been growing rapidly over the past few years since being introduced by WeChat in 2017. In this paradigm, a host app allows its end-users to install and run mini-apps inside itself, enabling the host app to build an ecosystem around (much like Google Play and Apple AppStore), enrich the host's functionalities, and offer mobile users elevated convenience without leaving the host app. It has been reported that there are over millions of mini-apps in WeChat. However, little information is known about these mini-apps at an aggregated level. In this paper, we present MiniCrawler, the first scalable and open source WeChat mini-app crawler that has indexed over 1,333,308 mini-apps. It leverages a number of reverse engineering techniques to uncover the interfaces and APIs in WeChat for crawling the mini-apps. With the crawled mini-apps, we then measure their resource consumption, API usage, library usage, obfuscation rate, app categorization, and app ratings at an aggregated level. The details of how we develop MiniCrawler and our measurement results are reported in this paper.
Mean Waiting Time in Large-Scale and Critically Loaded Power of d Load Balancing Systems
Authors: Hellemans Tim , Van Houdt Benny
Published: June 2021

Mean field models are a popular tool used to analyse load balancing policies. In some exceptional cases the waiting time distribution of the mean field limit has an explicit form. In other cases it can be computed as the solution of a set of differential equations. In this paper we study the limit of the mean waiting time E[Wλ] as the arrival rate λ approaches 1 for a number of load balancing policies in a large-scale system of homogeneous servers which finish work at a constant rate equal to one and exponential job sizes with mean 1 (i.e. when the system gets close to instability). As E[Wλ] diverges to infinity, we scale with -log(1-λ) and present a method to compute the limit limλ-> 1- -E[Wλ]/l(1-λ). We show that this limit has a surprisingly simple form for the load balancing algorithms considered. More specifically, we present a general result that holds for any policy for which the associated differential equation satisfies a list of assumptions. For the well-known LL(d) policy which assigns an incoming job to a server with the least work left among d randomly selected servers these assumptions are trivially verified. For this policy we prove the limit is given by 1/d-1. We further show that the LL(d,K) policy, which assigns batches of K jobs to the K least loaded servers among d randomly selected servers, satisfies the assumptions and the limit is equal to K/d-K. For a policy which applies LL(di) with probability pi, we show that the limit is given by 1/ ∑i pi di - 1. We further indicate that our main result can also be used for load balancers with redundancy or memory. In addition, we propose an alternate scaling -l(pλ) instead of -l(1-λ), where pλ is adapted to the policy at hand, such that limλ-> 1- -E[Wλ]/l(1-λ)=limλ-> 1- -E[Wλ]/l(pλ), where the limit limλ-> 0+ -E[Wλ]/l(pλ) is well defined and non-zero (contrary to limλ-> 0+ -E[Wλ]/l(1-λ)). This allows to obtain relatively flat curves for -E[Wλ]/l(pλ) for λ ∈ [0,1] which indicates that the low and high load limits can be used as an approximation when λ is close to one or zero. Our results rely on the earlier proven ansatz which asserts that for certain load balancing policies the workload distribution of any finite set of queues becomes independent of one another as the number of servers tends to infinity.
Refining Mean-field Approximations by Dynamic State Truncation
Authors: Randone Francesca , Bortolussi Luca , Tribastone Mirco
Published: June 2021

Mean-field models are an established method to analyze large stochastic systems with N interacting objects by means of simple deterministic equations that are asymptotically correct when N tends to infinity. For finite N, mean-field equations provide an approximation whose accuracy is model- and parameter-dependent. Recent research has focused on refining the approximation by computing suitable quantities associated with expansions of order $1/N$ and $1/N^2$ to the mean-field equation. In this paper we present a new method for refining mean-field approximations. It couples the master equation governing the evolution of the probability distribution of a truncation of the original state space with a mean-field approximation of a time-inhomogeneous population process that dynamically shifts the truncation across the whole state space. We provide a result of asymptotic correctness in the limit when the truncation covers the state space; for finite truncations, the equations give a correction of the mean-field approximation. We apply our method to examples from the literature to show that, even with modest truncations, it is effective in models that cannot be refined using existing techniques due to non-differentiable drifts, and that it can outperform the state of the art in challenging models that cause instability due orbit cycles in their mean-field equations.
Predicting the Success of Mediation Requests Using Case Properties and Textual Information for Reducing the Burden on the Court
Authors: Hsieh Hsun-Ping , Jiang Jiawei , Yang Tzu-Hsin , Hu Renfen , Wu Cheng-Lin
Published: June 2021

The success of mediation is affected by many factors, such as the context of the quarrel, the personality of both parties, and the negotiation skill of the mediator, which lead to uncertainty for the work of prediction. This article takes a different approach from that of previous legal prediction research. It analyzes and predicts whether two parties in a dispute can reach an agreement peacefully through the conciliation of mediation. With the inference result, we can know whether mediation is a more practical and time-saving method to solve the dispute. Existing works about legal case prediction mostly focus on prosecution or criminal cases. In this work, we propose a long short-term memory (LSTM)–based framework, called LSTMEnsembler, to predict mediation results by assembling multiple classifiers. Among these classifiers, some are powerful for modeling the numerical and categorical features of case information, for example, XGBoost and LightGBM. Some are effective for dealing with textual data, for example, TextCNN and BERT. The proposed LSTMEnsembler aims to not only combine the effectiveness of different classifiers intelligently but also to capture temporal dependencies from previous cases to boost the performance of mediation prediction. Our experimental results show that our proposed LSTMEnsembler can achieve 85.6% for F-measure on real-world mediation data.
Coming of Age in Science: Just Look?
Authors: Nakayama Ken
Published: June 2021

With Professor Patrick Cavanagh, I started the Harvard Vision Sciences Laboratory in 1990. Blessed with the largesse of a wealthy university, we occupied a very large common space. Here, students pursued their own projects in a uniquely cooperative and exciting scientific environment. The times were just right in the emerging and expanding field of vision science. With good thesis projects under their belt, most of the students went on to successful careers. However, my own coming of age in science did not have such a promising start. It only started well into my thirties when I joined the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. Providentially, it was there that I had the rare and unique opportunity to work closely and essentially only with peers (not students). Through these intense collaborations, I found my way as a scientist. Most of this account describes these formative years.
Metalloproteinases and their inhibitors are associated with pulmonary arterial stiffness and ventricular function in pediatric pulmonary hypertension
Authors: Schäfer Michal , Ivy D. Dunbar , Nguyen Kathleen , Boncella Katie , Frank Benjamin S. , Morgan Gareth J. , Miller-Reed Kathleen , Truong Uyen , Colvin Kelley , Yeager Michael E.
Published: June 2021

Metalloproteinases have been associated with clinical outcomes in pulmonary hypertension and with specific pathological features of ventricular dysfunction and pulmonary arterial remodeling. In this study, we demonstrated that plasma circulating levels of metalloproteinases and their inhibitors are associated with standard cardiac MRI hemodynamic indices and with the markers of proximal pulmonary arterial stiffness. Particularly, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 were associated with several different markers of pulmonary arterial stiffness. These findings suggest the interplay between the extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and overall hemodynamic status in children with PAH might be assessed using the peripheral circulating MMP and TIMP levels.
IFFO: An Improved Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm for Multiple Workflow Scheduling Minimizing Cost and Makespan in Cloud Computing Environments
Authors: Aggarwal Ambika , Dimri Priti , Agarwal Amit , Verma Madhushi , Alhumyani Hesham A. , Masud Mehedi
Published: June 2021

Cloud computing platforms have been extensively using scientific workflows to execute large-scale applications. However, multiobjective workflow scheduling with scientific standards to optimize QoS parameters is a challenging task. Various metaheuristic scheduling techniques have been proposed to satisfy the QoS parameters like makespan, cost, and resource utilization. Still, traditional metaheuristic approaches are incompetent to maintain agreeable equilibrium between exploration and exploitation of the search space because of their limitations like getting trapped in local optimum value at later evolution stages and higher-dimensional nonlinear optimization problem. This paper proposes an improved Fruit Fly Optimization (IFFO) algorithm to minimize makespan and cost for scheduling multiple workflows in the cloud computing environment. The proposed algorithm is evaluated using CloudSim for scheduling multiple workflows. The comparative results depict that the proposed algorithm IFFO outperforms FFO, PSO, and GA.
Optimal Design of Intracranial Hematoma Puncture Drainage Tube Based on Adaptive Bifurcation Algorithm
Authors: Chang Jincai , Jia Liyan , Yu Fei , Hao Xinghui , Lu Ze , Li Zhuoyang
Published: June 2021

Aiming at the puncture and drainage of clinical intracranial hematoma, we proposed an adaptive bifurcation algorithm based on the hematoma point cloud and optimized the design of the drainage tube. Firstly, based on the CT data of intracranial hematoma patients, a three-dimensional hematoma model was established, the point cloud on the surface of the hematoma was extracted and simplified, and the location of the main drainage tube was located by using the long-axis extraction algorithm. Secondly, the Eight Diagrams algorithm was used to identify the internal point cloud of hematoma, and the positions of multiple absorption points were determined by the K-means clustering algorithm. The locations of the bifurcation points of the main drainage tubes were calculated by the numerical method, and the telescopic lengths and directions of multiple subdrainage tubes were obtained. Finally, connect the main tube and the subtube, design an adaptive bifurcation drainage tube model, and apply it to intracranial hematoma puncture and drainage surgery. The algorithm can accurately determine the puncture point, puncture path, number, and location of subdrainage tubes according to the geometric characteristics of hematoma, achieve a uniform and accurate dose adjustment and drainage of intracranial hematoma, and accelerate the dissolution and drainage speed. The application of an adaptive bifurcation drainage tube can significantly reduce the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, intracranial infection, and other complications, which has certain guiding significance and application value in clinical practice.
Selection of an Effective Hand Sanitizer to Reduce COVID‐19 Effects and Extension of TOPSIS Technique Based on Correlation Coefficient under Neutrosophic Hypersoft Set
Authors: Samad Abdul , Zulqarnain Rana Muhammad , Sermutlu Emre , Ali Rifaqat , Siddique Imran , Jarad Fahd , Abdeljawad Thabet
Published: June 2021

Correlation coefficients are used to tackle many issues that include indistinct as well as blurred information excluding is not able to deal with the general fuzziness along with obscurity of the problems that have various information. The correlation coefficient (CC) between two variables plays an important role in statistics. Likewise, the accuracy of relevance assessment depends on the information in a set of discourses. The data collected for numerous statistical studies is full of exceptions. The concept of the neutrosophic hypersoft set (NHSS) is a parameterized family that deals with the subattributes of the parameters and is a proper extension of the neutrosophic soft set to accurately assess the deficiencies, anxiety, and uncertainty in decision‐making. Compared with existing research, NHSS can accommodate more uncertainty, which is the most significant technique for describing fuzzy information in the decision‐making process. The core objective of follow‐up research is to develop the concept and characteristics of CC and the weighted correlation coefficient (WCC) of NHSS. We also introduced some aggregation operators in the considered environment, which can help us establish a prioritization technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) based on CC and WCC under NHSS. A decision‐making strategy is established to solve multicriteria group decision‐making (MCGDM) problems utilizing developed methodology. Moreover, the proposed method is utilized for the selection of an effective hand sanitizer during the COVID‐19 pandemic to ensure the validity of the proposed approach. The practicality, effectivity, and flexibility of the current approach are proved through comparative analysis with the assistance of some existing studies.
Comprehensive Analysis of Prognostic Value of MEX3A and Its Relationship with Immune Infiltrates in Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Zhang Panpan , Su Tong , Zhang Shu
Published: June 2021

MEX3A is a critical RNA-binding ubiquitin ligase that is upregulated in various types of cancer. However, the correlations of MEX3A with prognosis and its molecular mechanism in ovarian cancer (OC) remain unclear. The expression level, prognostic values, and the genetic variations of MEX3A were analyzed via Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) Oncomine, Kaplan–Meier plotter, and cBioPortal. We used the LinkedOmics database to investigate the functions of MEX3A coexpressed genes and performed visualizing gene interaction network analysis on the GeneMANIA website. The correlations between MEX3A and cancer immune infiltration were analyzed by the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) site and the TISIDB database. Furthermore, in vitro analysis was performed to evaluate the biological functions of MEX3A in OC cells. Our study showed that the expression of the MEX3A in OC was higher than in normal tissues; it had the greatest prognostic value in OC, and strong physical interaction with PABPC1, LAMTOR2, KHDRBS2, and IGF2BP2, which indicated the association between MEX3A and immune infiltration. We also found that MEX3A was negatively related to infiltrating levels of several types of immune cells, including macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells (DCs), B cells, and CD8+ T cells. Additionally, in vitro experiments demonstrated that MEX3A promotes proliferation and migration in OC cells. Taken together, MEX3A might influence the biological functions of OC cells by regulating the immune infiltration in the microenvironment as a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target.
Evaluation of the Effect of Inhibiting Lipid Oxidation of Natural Plant Sources in a Meat Model System
Authors: Jin Sang-Keun , Kim Gap-Don , Jeong Jin-Yeon
Published: June 2021

In this study, we assessed the antioxidative ability of 23 natural sources in a meat model system at the same addition level (1.0%). We evaluated the free radical (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH) scavenging ability of natural plant sources and their peroxides, as well as their aldehyde-inhibiting ability in pork patties, over 10 days of cold storage. It was found that blueberries, cherries, onions, black tea, and clove buds (20.6–25.0 mg AA/g) have a higher DPPH scavenging ability than that of other natural sources (10.80–16.7 mg AA/g) (

P
<
0.05

). Moreover, it was found that peroxides in pork patties are largely inhibited by red wine, lettuce, and red ginseng (

P
<
0.05

), whereas aldehydes are significantly inhibited by blueberries, chokeberries (aronia), blackcurrant, clove buds, elderberries, ginger, and cinnamon (

P
<
0.05

). These inconsistencies detected in the antioxidative ability of these 23 natural sources indicate that it is important to perform comprehensive and practical assessments of the potential antioxidative ability of natural sources. In addition, it is assumed that the interactions between natural plant sources and meat components affect the inhibition of lipid oxidation in meat and meat products.
Recognition of Fetal Facial Ultrasound Standard Plane Based on Texture Feature Fusion
Authors: Wang Xiaoli , Liu Zhonghua , Du Yongzhao , Diao Yong , Liu Peizhong , Lv Guorong , Zhang Haojun
Published: June 2021

In the process of prenatal ultrasound diagnosis, accurate identification of fetal facial ultrasound standard plane (FFUSP) is essential for accurate facial deformity detection and disease screening, such as cleft lip and palate detection and Down syndrome screening check. However, the traditional method of obtaining standard planes is manual screening by doctors. Due to different levels of doctors, this method often leads to large errors in the results. Therefore, in this study, we propose a texture feature fusion method (LH-SVM) for automatic recognition and classification of FFUSP. First, extract image’s texture features, including Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG), then perform feature fusion, and finally adopt Support Vector Machine (SVM) for predictive classification. In our study, we used fetal facial ultrasound images from 20 to 24 weeks of gestation as experimental data for a total of 943 standard plane images (221 ocular axial planes, 298 median sagittal planes, 424 nasolabial coronal planes, and 350 nonstandard planes, OAP, MSP, NCP, N-SP). Based on this data set, we performed five-fold cross-validation. The final test results show that the accuracy rate of the proposed method for FFUSP classification is 94.67%, the average precision rate is 94.27%, the average recall rate is 93.88%, and the average

F
1

score is 94.08%. The experimental results indicate that the texture feature fusion method can effectively predict and classify FFUSP, which provides an essential basis for clinical research on the automatic detection method of FFUSP.
Teleophthalmology Service: Organization, Management, Actual Current Applications, and Future Prospects
Authors: Nuzzi Raffaele , Bovone Davide , Maradei Fabio , Caselgrandi Paolo , Rossi Alessandro
Published: June 2021

Teleophthalmology (TO) consists of the clinical and therapeutic approach to the patient (e-Health) using informatic and telecommunication systems. Already widespread worldwide, it aims to improve patient care, expand the healthcare offer, and access to medical care by reducing overall costs. Despite the organizational, legal, and management difficulties, the substantial economic investments necessary for the start-up of equipped structures and efficient territorial services are amply rewarded by economic results and optimal services for professionals and patients. This review specifically analyses the current scenario of teleophthalmology, the points for and against its application in different sociodemographic realities, and in particular, the current and future fields of use.
Optimization of Human Resource File Information Decision Support System Based on Cloud Computing
Authors: Cai Chunling , Chen Chuanyi
Published: June 2021

With the rapid development of science and technology era, human resources and knowledge resources have become an important part of the development of enterprises. Therefore, it is very necessary to establish human resources data pool and carry out data mining based on it, so as to extract high quality and high quantity information to provide support for managers’ decision‐making. In this study, the human resource archive information decision support system (DSS) is developed for various management and decision‐making works by taking advantage of the characteristics of cloud computing, such as large scale, high reliability, versatility, and high expansibility. Based on the analysis of “cloud computing” advantages in resources integration and sharing and so on, on the basis of this system is designed by using the basis of the data acquisition layer, support layer of network services, cloud computing support layer, data standardization conversion layer, system application layer, system layer, decision support layer and so on 7 layer architecture, discusses the features and functions of each layer structure, the working mode and working mode of the Decision Support System (DSS) are introduced in detail. The system makes up for the defects of the traditional archive management, such as the lack of data resources, the inability to realize the isomorphism, and standardized processing of the data from multiple data sources.