bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Postoperative intestinal fistula in Chinese patients with Crohn’s disease: a multicenter case-control study
Authors: Liu Zhongcheng , Yang Qingfan , Fu Xiuling , Long Meichun , Peng Bo , Xiao Zhiming , Guo Qin
Published: April 2023

Background This study aimed to 1) assess the independent factors affecting patients with postoperative intestinal fistula from Crohn’s disease by analyzing preoperative clinical data, 2) establish a nomogram prediction model for this condition based on these factors, and 3) validate this model and evaluate its accuracy.Methods In this retrospective multicenter case-control study, the clinical data of 240 patients with Crohn’s disease admitted for surgical treatment between September 2017 and September 2019 at three centers were collected. Patients were randomly divided into a training set (168 patients) and a validation set (72 patients). Univariate analysis was performed for relevant factors, and statistically significant factors were then analyzed by multivariate logistic regression to determine the independent influencing factors. A nomogram model for predicting postoperative intestinal fistula in patients with Crohn’s disease was constructed and its accuracy of the model evaluated using calibration curves.Results Univariate analysis showed that disease behavior, abdominal abscess, intestinal perforation, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, systemic immunoinflammatory index, and prognostic nutrition index were factors affecting postoperative intestinal fistula in patients with Crohn’s disease. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, prognostic nutrition index, disease behavior, and Crohn's disease activity index score were independent influencing factors. After assessing the validation set, the area under the curve was 0.899, indicating good predictive accuracy of the nomogram model.Conclusions The prediction model developed in this study can effectively predict the risk of postoperative intestinal fistula.
A new GNSS-acoustic positioning software implementing multiple positioning functions considering nadir total delays
Authors: Tomita Fumiaki , Kido Motoyuki
Published: April 2023

Global Navigation Satellite System–acoustic (GNSS-A) positioning is an important geodetic observation technique for detecting seafloor crustal deformation. After the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake, GNSS-A observational networks were extended along various subduction zones, and observational systems have been improved, especially for sea-surface platforms, such as the introduction of an unmanned vehicle, the Wave Glider. The aforementioned development of GNSS-A observations has provided a large amount of observational data. Furthermore, GNSS-A positioning methods were recently developed considering the lateral heterogeneity of the sound speed structure. Thus, it is important to develop a software that makes it easy for widespread use of the latest GNSS-A positioning methods. However, there is currently only one open-source GNSS-A positioning software, which may hinder the entry of various researchers into GNSS-A positioning analyses. Here, we developed a new GNSS-A positioning software, henceforth called “SeaGap” (Software of enhanced analyses for GNSS-acoustic positioning), that executes various positioning methods from the conventional kinematic positioning technique to the latest Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)-based static positioning technique. We introduce their methodology and demonstrate its application to actual observational data. The software newly added optional prior distributions to the unknown parameters expressing the heterogeneity of a sound speed structure into the MCMC-based static positioning method, and we also applied the new method to actual observational data. In addition to the positioning functions, the software contains various auxiliary functions, including drawing. The developed software is written using the “Julia” language and is distributed as an open-source software.
Robust immobilized enzyme reactor based on hybrid monolithic chip incorporated with mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15
Authors: Wei Qin , Fan Pei-Ru , Sun Xuan , Huang Yan-Ping , Liu Zhao-Sheng
Published: April 2023

A robust microfluidic immobilized enzyme reactor (IMER) based on organic monolithic matrix incorporated with mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 was developed. poly(glycidyl methacrylate-ethylene dimethacrylate) (GMA-EDMA) copolymer was prepared as supported matrix with the doping of SBA-15 and the trypsin was immobilized on amino-modified SBA-15 by using glutaraldehyde as coupling reagent. The preparation conditions including SBA-15 content and immobilization mode of enzyme were optimized. The digestion of BSA on the IMERs can be achieved in 5 minutes with sequence coverage rates of 73.8%. The chip-IMER was fabricated on a microchip which contained two serpentine channels that used for online denaturation and digestion of proteins. By digestion of the proteins extracted from mouse livers with the microfluidic platform, 734 proteins and 3,067 peptides were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The hybrid chip-IMER based on SBA-15 incorporated organic monolith withstands remarkably high pressures near 500 bar and retains its activity for several weeks, and has great potential in a platform for further development into a fully contained micro total analysis system for proteomics.
Neutrophils and pregnancy-associated malaria
Authors: Djimde Moussa , Kayentao Kassoum , Arama Charles , Dicko Alassane , Mens Petra F. , Schallig H. D.F. Henk
Published: April 2023

Purpose: Pregnant women living in Sub-Sahara Africa (sSA) are exposed to malaria and its harmful consequences on pregnancy outcomes. Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells (WBC) in the bloodstream and are innate immune key effectors against infections. Substantial work has been done to study the role of neutrophils in malaria, but little on pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM). This review focuses on neutrophil responses to malaria during pregnancy that may help us to understand their dynamics and effects on pregnancy outcomes.
Source: A literature review covering the topic of PAM and neutrophils were accessed via PubMedâ and Embaseâ databases. In total, 20 unique publications were found in PubMed while 99 in Embaseâ. After excluding 113 irrelevant titles and abstracts, 6 original articles full texts were assessed and included in this review.
Results: Due to oestrogen stimulation, the number of neutrophils is higher in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women. This increase in neutrophil numbers reaches a plateau in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. However, the number of circulating neutrophils in peripheral blood is lower in pregnant women with Plasmodium falciparummalaria than in pregnant women without malaria. The decrease in circulating neutrophils in the context of PAM may reflect the accumulation of neutrophils in the infected placenta. Data showed that the prevalence of children with low birth weight (LBW) was higher in pregnant women with high number of pigmented peripheral neutrophils compared to malaria-infected pregnant women with low number of pigmented peripheral neutrophils. A case of Plasmodium vivaxexflagellated microgametes was described for the first time in pregnant woman neutrophils.
Conclusions: This review aids our understanding of the dynamics of neutrophils during a malaria infection in in pregnant women by providing scientific evidence that suggests that neutrophil dynamics decrease in pregnant women with malaria infection. A negative association between the number of pigmented neutrophils in women with malaria and the birth weight of children points towards prioritizing future research in pregnant women with malaria on these cells involved in the first line of innate immunity.
Impact of agrochemical pollutant mixtures on the selection of insecticide resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. Insights from experimental evolution and transcriptomics
Authors: Sadia Christabelle G. , Bonneville Jean-Marc , Zoh Marius G. , Behi Fodjo K. , Kouadio France-Paraudie A. , Oyou Sebastien K. , Koudou Benjamin G. , Adepo-Gourene Beatrice A. , Reynaud Stephane , David Jean-Philippe , Mouhamadou Chouaibou S.
Published: April 2023

Context: There are several indications that pesticides used in agriculture contribute to the emergence and spread of resistance of mosquitoes to vector control insecticides. However, the impact of such indirect selection pressure has rarely been quantified and the molecular mechanisms involved are still poorly characterised. In this context, experimental selection with different agrochemical mixtures was conducted in An. gambiae and the impact on insecticide resistance was evaluated by phenotypic and molecular approaches.
Methods: Mosquito larvae were selected for 30 generations with three different mixtures of agrochemicals containing i) insecticides, ii) non-insecticides compounds and iii) both agrochemical types. Each five generations, the resistance of adults to deltamethrin and bendiocarb was monitored using bioassays. The frequencies of the kdr west (L1014F) and Ace1 (G119S) target-site mutations were evaluated every 10 generations. Gene expression and polymorphism variations associated with each selection regime were investigated after 30 generations by RNA-seq.
Results: Larval selection with agrochemical mixtures did not affect bendiocarb resistance and did not select for Ace1 mutation. Contrastingly, an increased deltamethrin resistance was observed in the three selected lines as compared to the non-selected line. Such increased resistance was associated with an increased frequency of the Kdr west mutation in the insecticide and non-insecticide selected lines. RNA-seq identified 63 candidate resistance genes over-transcribed in at least one selected line as compared to the non-selected line. These include genes coding for detoxification enzymes or cuticular proteins previously associated with insecticide resistance, and other genes potentially associated with chemical stress response. Polymorphism analyses identified several genes under selection in each line across multiple genomic loci supporting a multigenic adaptive response to agrochemical mixtures.
Conclusion: This study supports the role of agrochemical contaminants as a significant larval selection pressure favouring insecticide resistance in malaria vectors. Such selection pressures impact Kdr mutations, detoxification enzymes but also other more generalist resistance mechanisms which could potentially lead to cross-tolerance to unrelated insecticide compounds. Such indirect effect of global landscape pollution on mosquito resistance to public health insecticides deserves further attention since it can affect the nature and dynamics of resistance alleles circulating in malaria vectors and impact the efficacy of control vector strategies.
Impact of armed conflicts on public health infrastructure in Oromia, Ethiopia
Authors: Gutema Girma , Kaba Mirgissa , Birhanu Zewdie , Diribi Jilcha , Elemo Ibrahim
Published: April 2023

Background Oromia is the largest national regional state in the Ethiopian federation. It covers over a third of the country’s landmass. In terms of shear geography, Oromia is about the size of the sovereign European state of Germany. Demographically, Oromia closely matches with Poland among other European countries. Since early 2019, there are actively ongoing armed conflicts in Oromia damaging the public health infrastructure.Objective The objective of this study is to assess and document the impacts of armed conflicts in Oromia on the public health infrastructure.Method The study is a quantitative review of administrative records and reports employing a qualitative analytical prism.Results Oromia has 22 administrative zones of which 11 (50%) host 142 sites sheltering about 1.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). A total of 1072 public healthcare facilities sustained attacks in areas of armed conflicts across Oromia. Among the 159 motor vehicles attacked (ambulances, district health office cars and motorbikes), 44% were Ambulances. Only for the first two weeks of January 2023, 25580 Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) cases were reported by healthcare facilities from the areas affected by armed conflicts in Oromia. In these areas, 11740 patients with malnutrition were enrolled into the Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP), 1050 were put on Subcutaneous infusion (SC) and 7 died due to SAM only in the first two weeks of January 2023. Severe droughts that happened for five consecutive rainy seasons over the last three years have hit hard ten administrative zones in Oromia, thereby compounding the impacts of the armed conflicts.Conclusions Armed conflicts are damaging the public health infrastructure in Oromia. Such conflicts are evicting people from their residential places thereby forcing them to live in poorly thatched out temporary shelters with clear implication for serious health crises. When compounded with natural calamities such as climate-change-driven-drought, the impacts of such conflicts on public health infrastructure and the resultant constraints on provision of vital public healthcare services would be paramount. The authors recommend for further detailed studies on the sustained impacts that these armed conflicts can possibly bring on the provision of vital public health services in Oromia.
Macro- and microstates of resting-state EEG in children with low-functioning autism
Authors: Portnova Galina , Martynova Olga
Published: April 2023

The resting-state EEG (rsEEG) is advantageous for the study of brain activity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to their difficulties with following instruction and sensory hypersensitivity. We applied two methods with different time resolutions (macrostate and microstate analysis) to study the transient states of brain electrical activity. 158 children with low-functioning ASD and 177 typically developing children from 2 to 14 years participated in the study. The groups were equalized by age, gender and IQ. The results showed that in the control group, micro- and macrostates exhibited higher age dynamics during maturation. We revealed the micro- and macrostates corresponding to salient, sensory processing and the default mode network (DMN). The coverage of macro- and microstates associated with sensory processing and DMN were significantly higher in children with ASD. Children with ASD had a shorter coverage of macro- and microstates with interhemispheric asymmetry compared to the TD group.
Geographic distribution of C 4 species and its phylogenetic structure across China
Authors: Zhang Aiying , Zhang Hanyu , Ma Liang
Published: April 2023

Context Over the past fifty years, the distribution patterns of C4 species, across large spatial scales are largely ignored.Objectives Here, we endeavored to examine patterns in the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of species with C4 photosynthetic pathways across the broad spatial extent of China, and relate those to climatic gradients.Methods We built a database of all plants with the C4 photosynthetic pathway in China. We analyzed the geographic distributions, taxonomic diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic structure of all C4 species, as well as the three families with the most C4 species (Poaceae, Amaranthaceae and Cyperaceae), and compared their values along temperature and precipitation gradients at two scales—the level of the province and at the 100 x 100 km grid cell.Results We found 644 C4 plants (belonging to 23 families 165 genera) in China, with Poaceae (57%), Amaranthaceae (17%), Cyperaceae (13%) accounting for the majority of species. Standardized effect size values of phylogenetic distances were negative overall, indicating that C4 species showed a phylogenetic clustering pattern. Southern China had the highest species richness and the highest degree of phylogenetic clustering. C4 tended to be more phylogenetically over-dispersed in regions with colder and/or drier climates, but more clustered in warmer and/or wetter climates. Patterns within individual families were more nuanced.Conclusions The distribution of C4 species and its phylogenetic structure across China was constrained by temperature and precipitation. C4 species showed a phylogenetic clustering pattern across China, while different families showed more nuanced responses to climate variation, suggesting a role for evolutionary history.
Periodicity in the rotation of solar transition region and sunspot numbers
Authors: Sharma Jaidev , Singh Nitin Kumar , Banerjee Shyamal Kumar , Vats Hari Om
Published: April 2023

The long term study on the temporal variation of the rotation period of the solar photosphere, chromosphere and corona has been widely known. To date it is unclear whether the temporal variation of rotation period of the solar transition region has a systematic periodicity. In this paper we perform a first study on the temporal variation of the rotation period of the solar transition region. For this purpose, we used Lyman – α line emission at wavelength 121.56 nm corresponding to the solar transition region from the years 1965 to 2019. Autocorrelation analysis depicts that the average sidereal rotation period of transition region (from 1965 to 2019) is 24.8 days. Furthermore we found that a significant periodicity of about 12 years exist in the temporal variation of sidereal rotation period of solar transition region. The results indicate that this periodicity is nearly linked to the 11 year Schwabe cycle. Cross-correlation analysis between the time series of sidereal rotation period and sunspot numbers (as a function of lag in years) exhibits a strong correlation between these aforementioned parameters. From this we can state that sidereal rotation period of solar transition region leads the solar activity by about six months. This strong correlation again approves the periodicity of about 11 years in the rotation period of transition region which is nearly linked to the 11 year Schwabe cycle. From this long term study it seems that solar activity is largely derived by solar rotation.
Non-oxidative ethane dehydrogenation in a packed-bed DBD plasma reactor
Authors: Cameli Fabio , Dimitrakellis Panagiotis , Vlachos Dionisios G.
Published: April 2023

Plasma-assisted conversion of ethane (C2H6) can produce value-added chemical building blocks using green electricity. Here we employ a simple packed-bed coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor to convert C2H6 at mild operating conditions unattainable by conventional thermocatalysis. Ethylene (C2H4), acetylene (C2H2), and methane (CH4) are the main products along with small fractions of C3 and C4 hydrocarbons. Interestingly, the C2H4 selectivity is primarily correlated to C2H6 conversion dominated by electron dissociation and recombination reactions irrespective of the dielectric properties of the packed bed material (SiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2, TiO2, and BaTiO3), packing material size, supplied power, and C2H6 concentration. While a distortion of the electric field and discharge propagation results in varying dissipated power as materials change, the C2H4 energy yield remains constant. The particle size appears to affect conversion mainly due to pressure alterations. Pd/SiO2 catalyst can change the selectivity, favoring saturated species by expending hydrogen.
REGULARITY AND UNIMODALITY OF $h-$POLYNOMIAL OFCORONA GRAPHS
Authors: Do Trong Hoang , Pham My Hanh , Tran Nam Trung
Published: April 2023

Let H = {Hv : v ∈ V (G)} be a family of nonempty graphs indexed by the vertex set of a graph G. The corona graph G ◦ H of G and H is the disjoint union of G and Hv, v ∈ V (G), with additional edges joining each vertex v ∈ V (G) to all the vertices of Hv. In this paper, we are deeply concerned in investigating the (induced) matching number of the graph G ◦ H. It gives a formula for the Castelnuovo–Mumford regularity of edge ideal of this graph. Additionally, we propose a close relationship between independence polynomial of corona graph G ◦ H and h-polynomial of its independence simplicial complexes. Thereby, the formula of h-polynomial of G◦H is established and some properties of its unimodality and real-rootedness are presented.
The effects of S-ketamine on postoperative sleep quality in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery: a randomized study
Authors: Luo Yuanyi , Li Jianli , Zhang Yu , Han Shuang , Rong Junfang , Liu Meinv
Published: April 2023

Background: Postoperative sleep disturbance (PSD) is a common and uncomfortable experience for patients, which induces various negative clinical outcomes and increases the perioperative mortality. Thus, it is necessary to seek efficient methods to improve PSD. This study was designed to explore whether perioperative intravenous S-ketamine could improve sleep quality.
Methods: Patients undergoing elective thoracoscopic surgery were recruited and assigned into two groups randomly. 0.5 mg/kg of S-ketamine was given to the individuals in the experimental group during the period of anesthesia induction followed by 0.1mg/kg/h intravenous infusion until 15 minutes before the completion of the procedure, while normal saline in the same protocol was performed in the control group. The primary outcomes included the salivary melatonin (MT) concentration on the first day after surgery, and the Richard Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RSCQ) scores on the first three days postoperatively. The secondary outcomes were the rest and movement Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score at 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively, the level of serum IL-6 and IL-10 on the first day postoperatively, and the incidence of postoperative negative complications.
Results: In the experimental group, the RSCQ scores on the first three days postoperatively and the level of MT on the first day after the procedure were significantly higher, and the rest and movement pain intensity at postoperative 6, 12 and 24 hours were statistically lower when compared with the control group, while the results at 48 hours postoperatively were comparable in both groups. In addition, the higher level of IL-6 and lower level of IL-10 postoperatively were noticed in the experimental group. In both groups, the incidence of negative outcomes was similar.
Conclusion: S-ketaminecan effectively improve postoperative sleep quality, and reduce pain intensity and inflammation in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery.
Mottling in Septic shock: Ethnicity and skin colour matter.
Authors: Jog Sameer , L Vikram , Rajhans Prasad , Akole Prasad , Pawar Balasaheb , Bhurke Bhagyashri , Mahale Nilesh , Chavan Shailaja , Dalvi Pradip , Marudwar Prasanna , Diwane Dnyaneshwar , Pawar Harshwardhan , Shahane Manasi , Gugale Shraddha
Published: April 2023

Background:
Skin mottling as a clinical perfusion marker in septic shock is correlated well with severity and outcome in white skinned population and its validity as a clinical sign in dark skinned population is not known. Objectives of this study were to evaluate mottling in septic shock in the Indian ethnic population who has different skin colour as compared to white skinned population and compare mottling as an outcome predictor with Capillary Refill Time(CRT) and other biochemical parameters which are the established clinical markers of perfusion in septic shock.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective observational study of patients with skin colour category 21 to 34 on von Luschan scale or Fitzpatrick type IV and V who had septic shock needing high dose of norepinephrine ≥ 0.2 mcg/kg/min after fluid optimisation. The study was conducted in a mixed medical - surgical ICU over a period of 12 months. Two blinded experts (Dermatologist and a Cosmetic surgeon) independently classified the skin type, validated the occurrence of mottling and scored mottling in our patients. We recorded the demographics, hemodynamic variables, mottling score and observed for the incidence of mottling and its correlation with predictors of severity of septic shock. We also compared CRT, Arterial lactate, central venous oxygen saturation and venoarterial PCO2 gap with mottling as predictor of outcome in septic shock patients.
Results:
We included 108 patients with age 61±16 years. Mean SOFA and APACHE II scores at enrolment were 10.3 and 21.9 respectively. Incidence of mottling was 20.3 % (22/ 108). CRT > 3 seconds was observed in 50.9% (55/108) Development of mottling significantly correlated with mortality; 20/22(90.9%) patients died in mottling group versus 58/86(65.1%) in non-mottling group (p=0.028). Independent t test of mottling score vs death showed that higher the mottling score, ( score> 3) (p=0.008) more the certainty of death . (p=0.008. CRT > 3 seconds did not corelate with mortality; 40/55(72.7%) patients with CRT > 3 seconds died versus 32/53(74.4%) patients died in CRT≤ 3seconds group. Occurrence of mottling could independently predict mortality ; Positive predictive value of 90.9 % which was comparable to positive predictive value of lactate levels > 4mmol/lit, i.e. 94.1% . CRT > 3 seconds did not corelate with mortality; positive predictive value was 72.7 %
Conclusion:
Incidence of mottling in septic shock is much less in patients of Indian ethnicity with brown skin colour as compared to that in White skinned population. Occurrence of mottling and not ­­­delayed CRT, is a better predictor of outcome in this setting.
HMGB1 induces macrophage pyroptosis and serves as a promising diagnostic marker for chronic endometritis
Authors: Yang Guoxia , Zhang Qingyan , Tan Jinfeng , Xiong Yujing , Liang Yanchun , Yan Jiacong , Gu Fang , Xu Yanwen
Published: April 2023

Background Chronic endometritis (CE) reflects the local imbalance of endometrial immune microenvironment after inflammation. High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is highly involved in both immunity and inflammation. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of HMGB1 on the endometrium of CE.Methods In the pilot study, the expression level of pyroptosis-associated marker GSDMD-NT and its co-localization with macrophages in endometrial tissues collected from CEs and controls were detected by qRT-PCR, western blot (WB), immunohistochemical (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining. Next, the roles of HMGB1 as a driver of macrophage pyroptosis was investigated in vitro using human THP-1 cells. To evaluate whether HMGB1 could be served as a target for treatment of CE, CE mouse model was established by LPS intrauterine perfusion, and treatment with glycyrrhizic acid, an inhibitor of HMGB1, was given. Lastly, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of endometrium and uterine fluid HMGB1 were constructed to assess the predictive values in a cohort study including 154 patients.Results In the pilot study, we found that pyroptosis-associated marker GSDMD-NT was significantly increased in the CE endometrium(P < 0.05), and co-localization of GSDMD-NT and macrophages were detected by IF staining. In vitro experiments demonstrated that HMGB1 induced pyroptosis in human THP-1 derived macrophage. HMGB1 expression was induced in a dose-dependent manner under LPS stimulation in both cytoplasm and cell supernatant of HESCs. Treatment with HMGB1 inhibitor (glycyrrhizic acid) significantly suppressed endometrium inflammation in LPS-induced CE mouse model. In the cohort study, we confirmed that HMGB1 mRNA level dramatically increased in the CE group (n = 83) compared with those of control (n = 71, 21.04 ± 14.92 vs. 8.89 ± 6.91, P < 0.001). Correspondingly, the expression of HMGB1 in uterine fluid of CE (n = 19) was significantly higher than control [n = 46, 1415pg/ml (616–3656) vs. 638.2pg/ml (318.9–1124), P < 0.001]. Positive correlation was observed between HMGB1 and the number of CD138 (rs = 0.592, P < 0.011). Area under the curve (AUC) for the prediction of CE by HMGB1 levels of the endometrium or uterine fluid were 0.830 (95%CI 0.769 to 0.892) and 0.756 (95%CI 0.614 to 0.898) respectively.Conclusions HMGB1 effectively induces macrophages pyroptosis in human endometrium, and HMGB1 level of endometrium or uterine fluid can be served as a promising diagnostic marker for CE.
A Real-time Detector of Chicken Healthy Status Based on Modified YOLO
Authors: Tong Qing , Zhang Enming , Wu Songtao , Xu Kuanhong , Sun Chen
Published: April 2023

In modern times, the development of an intelligent system that can automatically detect and recognize poultry diseases is vital for efficient poultry farming and reducing human workloads. This paper presents a real-time detector that can analyze frames captured by monitoring cameras and simultaneously detect chickens and identify their healthy status. To overcome the challenge of chickens appearing small and having variant scales in monitoring camera frames, we propose integrating a scale-aware receptive field enhancement module into the YOLOv5 algorithm to enhance the receptive filed of chicken in the frames thus improving detection accuracy. In addition, we utilize a slide weighting loss function to calculate the classification loss. This helps the network to concentrate on classifying hard classified samples, leading to an improved ability to recognize the healthy status of chickens with greater precision. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed detector outperforms the original YOLOv5 and other one-stage object detectors, thus meeting the requirements for automated poultry health monitoring.
Mathematical Modeling of Groundwater Flow – Foundation Piles in the Vicinity of Danube River Case Study
Authors: Milić Marijana , Jeftenić Goran , Stipić Danilo , Budinski Ljubomir
Published: April 2023

The study investigates an interaction of groundwater flow and foundation piles located in the vicinity of the Danube River. The piles represent an obstacle to the groundwater flow, causing the backwater effect upstream, whilst increasing the local flow velocity. On the other hand, high flow velocity around the piles can cause the suffusion of the surrounding soil in the long term, thus significantly reducing the shaft resistance of the piles. A 3D model of groundwater flow and its impact on the piles was developed in the software package GMS.9.2 based on MODFLOW 2005. It was calibrated by comparing the water level values obtained as a result of the simulations with varying filtration coefficient inputs with the observed values in the monitoring well. After the calibration process, piles were implemented into the model and the underground flow was simulated at the study area location for the calibrated year 2006. The impact analysis was carried out by comparing the groundwater level change over time in the pile zone in three control points, in cases with and without the piles, along with the flow net analysis at the location of the piles themselves. The obtained results indicate an absence of the influence of piles on the groundwater flow at the study area location, both in terms of critical flow velocities and in terms of a possible backwater effect upstream.
CapsANet: Medical image segmentation network based on convolution capsule encoder and attention mechanism
Authors: Qin Chendong , Wang Yongxiong , Zhang Jiapeng
Published: April 2023

Medical images have low contrast and blurred boundaries between different tissues or between tissues and lesions. Because labeling medical images is laborious and requires expert knowledge, the labeled data are expensive or simply unavailable. UNet has achieved great success in the field of medical image segmentation. However, the pooling layer in downsampling tends to discard important information such as location information. It is difficult to learn global and long-range semantic interactive information well due to the locality of convolution operation. The usual solution is increasing the number of datasets or enhancing the training data though augmentation methods. However, to obtain a large number of medical datasets is tough, and the augmentation methods may increase the training burden. In this work, we propose a 2D medical image segmentation network with a convolutional capsule encoder and an attention mechanism block. To extract more local detail and contextual information, the capsule encoder is introduced to learn the information about the target location and the relationship between the part and the whole. Multi-scale features can be fused by a new attention mechanism, which can then selectively emphasize salient features useful for a specific task by capturing global information and suppress background noise. The proposed attention mechanism is used to preserve the information that is discarded by pooling layers of the network. To solve the problem of vanishing/exploding gradients, a novel skip connection structure is added to the last layer of the encoder. Experimental results on the dataset of Liver and ISIC show that our network is superior to the UNet and other previous medical image segmentation networks under the same experimental conditions.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum strain analysis in cattle from Great Britain
Authors: Apaa Ternenge , McFadzean Harriet , Gandy Sara , Hansford Kayleigh , Medlock Jolyon M. , Johnson Nicholas
Published: April 2023

Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum) is the aetiological organism of tick-borne fever in cattle and sheep, and granulocytic anaplasmosis in dogs and human. Reports of livestock and wildlife infection and associated zoonotic risk of human infection with A. phagocytophilum have been reported across the world. A previous study has reported two strains, also called ecotypes, in ticks collected from across England and Wales. This study examined A. phagocytophilum strains present in livestock and wildlife in Great Britain (GBR), with a particular focus on cattle. Clinical submissions (EDTA blood) from livestock were received by APHA for tick-borne disease testing. Of these 24 (cattle: n = 21; sheep: n = 3) were confirmed to be infected with A. phagocytophilum using a PCR targeting the msp2 gene. Further submissions from roe deer (n = 2), red deer (n = 2) and Ixodes ricinus ticks (n = 22) were also shown to be infected with A. phagocytophilum. Subsequent analysis using a nested PCR targeting the groEL gene and sequencing, confirmed the presence of ecotype I in cattle, sheep, red deer and Ixodes ricinus, and ecotype II in roe deer and I. ricinus ticks removed from the deer carcass. Despite the presence of two ecotypes, widely distributed in ticks from England and Wales, only ecotype I was detected in cattle in this study.
FT-MIR combined with 3DCOS-ResNet model for rapid identification of wild and cultivated Gastrodia elata
Authors: Shuai Liu , Liu Honggao , Li Jieqing , Wang Yuanzhong
Published: April 2023

Wild Gastrodia elata resources are in short supply and the market is dominated by cultivated Gastrodia elata resources and the medicinal value of both is very different. It is significant to find a highly accurate and stable technique to identify wild and cultivated Gastrodia elata. It could prevent market fraud and protect the rights of consumers. In this context, this study is the first to combine three-dimensional correlated spectral (3DCOS) images with deep learning to identify wild and cultivated Gastrodia elata. Also, partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) and support vector machine (SVM) models are compared with this model. The PLS-DA and SVM models are built based on Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectral data after nine different preprocessing. The PLS-DA model with second-order derivatives (2D) gives the best results when comparing the effects of the models with different preprocessing. the SVM model with parameters c, g in a reasonable range also gives satisfactory model results. The advantage of the deep learning model over them is that no processing of the original spectral data is required. With only 46 iterations, the accuracy of the model is stable at 100% for the training set, test set and external validation set. The excellent performance of the model allows it to be used as a technical reference to solve studies on the qualitative aspects of Gastrodia elata.
Identification of a novel Human Milk Oligosaccharides utilization cluster in the infant gut commensal Bacteroides dorei
Authors: Yassour Moran , Kijner Sivan , Ennis Dena , Shmorak Shimrit , Florentin Anat
Published: April 2023

The infant gut microbiome is impacted by early-life feeding, as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) found in breastmilk, cannot be digested by infants, and serve as nutrients for their gut bacteria. While the vast majority of HMO-utilization research has focused on Bifidobacterium species, recent studies have suggested additional HMO-utilizers, mostly Bacteroides, yet their utilization mechanism is completely unknown.
Here, we investigated Bacteroides dorei isolates from breastfed-infants and identified that polysaccharide utilization locus (PUL) 32 enables B. dorei to utilize sialylated HMOs. We performed transcriptional profiling and identified upregulated genes when growing on sialylated HMOs. Using CRISPR-Cas12 to knock-out four PUL32 genes, with combined complementation assays, we identified GH33 as the critical gene in PUL32 for sialylated HMO-utilization.
This is the first demonstration of an HMO-utilization system by a Bacteroides species isolated from infants, opening the way to further characterization of additional such systems, to better understand HMO-utilization in the infant gut.
Analysis of Hemodynamics During Blood Transfusion Utilizing High-Fidelity Realtime Telemetry After the Arterial Switch Operation
Authors: Mikulski Matthew F. , Linero Antonio , Stromberg Daniel , Affolter Jeremy T. , Fraser Charles D. , Mery Carlos M. , Lion Richard P.
Published: April 2023

Background Red blood cell transfusions (pRBCTx) are given to many patients after congenital heart surgery to augment hemodynamics, but our current understanding is limited by hourly vital sign recordings. The goal of this study was to analyze hemodynamic parameters surrounding pRBCTx with high-fidelity, real-time telemetry monitoring.Methods This is a retrospective review of patients after the arterial switch operation receiving post-operative pRBCTx from 07/15/2020-07/15/2021. Continuous, 1-Hz vital sign data were analyzed in five-minute intervals up to six hours before, four hours during, and six hours after pRBCTx—up to 57,600 data points per pRBCTx. Oxygen delivery was assessed using pre- and post-pRBCTx laboratory data, hourly renal and cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy, sedation medication doses, and vasoactive-inotropic scores.Results Six patients, median age 8.5[IQR:5–22] days and weight 3.1[IQR:2.8–3.2]kg, underwent the arterial switch operation. There were 10 pRBCTx administered with a median dose of 10[IQR:10–15]mL/kg over 169[IQR:110–190]min; at median post-operative hour 36[IQR:10–40]. There was an increase in systolic and mean arterial blood pressures by 5-12.5% at three hours after pRBCTx, but returned to baseline at six hours. There were no changes in heart rate or oxygen saturations. Renal spectroscopy increased by 6.2% after pRBCTx. There were no changes in ventilation, sedation, vasoactive support, or laboratory variables related to oxygen delivery.Conclusions pRBCTx given to arterial switch operation patients increases arterial blood pressures three hours post-pRBCTx without evidence of sustained effects at six hours. High-fidelity real-time data can be used to better assess hemodynamic parameters after congenital heart surgery and provide nuanced, patient-specific care.
Design Devanagari script online digital Handwritten Dataset of 44,000 images with its Recognition using Deep Learning
Authors: Pate Sanjay E.Pate S.E. , Ramteke Prof .Rakesh J. Ramteke Dr. Rakesh
Published: April 2023

The offline technique was used to build the datasets of Devanagari alphabets and numerals. In the offline character dataset, the writer writes on the pages, which are then optically or digitally scanned, requiring an image processing technique to remove noise. In this paper, we designed, I. an online digital handwritten Devanagari dataset, II. To recognize the dataset by using the deep learning technique CNN. Dataset design-i. Devanagari alphabets, 34 (4 vowels and 30 consonants), and 10 numerals total of 44 characters are selected. ii. Designed a Canvas using Python Jupiter to draw an image, the writer uses an input tool, like a mouse, and the data is recorded in digital form.iii. One hundred individuals of varied ages are chosen, and the total number of characters produced by each person is 440. A dataset of 44,000-character images is produced.Each image has a grayscale data type and is in the (dot).JPEG format. The image requires 2 kb of storage and had a resolution of 65 by 65 pixels. Converted images dataset into Comma Separated Values (CSV) files/ dataset, the dataset is divided into 70 % for training and 30 % for testing. Published the same on the IEEE data port and Mendeley repository Now the objective is to recognize our dataset using the deep learning concept Convolution Neural Network is applied to extract features and classify the input images, recognizing digital Devanagari characters. There are 44 classes, image size is (65,65,1). In this model, two Conv2D, a MaxPooling2D, a Flatten, a Dropout, and a Dense (fully connected) layers are used. The CNN-trained model achieved recognition accuracy of 95.00 %,95.45 %, and 96.00 % using 10,20, and 30 epochs. The model with 30 epochs has higher recognition accuracy, tested 100 images on trained 1000 images, of each class and designed a confusion matrix resulting in the accuracy rating ranging from 0.994 to 1.0. However, a multi-class accuracy score of above 0.99 is regarded as outstanding, and a high accuracy score is generally desired in any classification task.
Energy and Security Aware Clustering in Internet of Things with Improved SandPiper Optimization Model
Authors: Gorikapudi Sateesh , Kondaveeti Hari Kishan
Published: April 2023

Internet of Things (IoT) is a networking paradigm shift that aims to link almost everything on the world. Due to the limited form of smart devices, energy-efficient routing would be critical to their effective implementation. Clustering techniques divide a network's nodes into groups or clusters, each of which is led by a specified node known as the cluster head. Clustering methods have been presented in the area of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), while their application in IoT might solve comparable problems. By transferring a major portion of communication overhead to the cluster head, clustering would promote topology maintenance and energy efficient routing. Therefore, this article aims to establish a novel clustering model in IoT, in which the cluster head selection is performed via a proposed Sandpiper Optimization with Cycle Crossover Process (SOCCP) model. Moreover, this cluster head selection includes certain constraints including (i) Distance (ii) Energy (iii) security (based on the risk levels), and (iv) Cluster Radius, respectively. At first, the clustering is done by the Optimized Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm. Here, the determination of the cluster head and cluster radius is tuned optimally via an adopted SOCCP model. At the end, the results of the adopted technique are computed to extant based on various metrics including alive node analysis, risk analysis, distance analysis, cluster radius analysis, as well as normalized energy analysis, respectively.
Chronic viral infection compromises the quality of circulating mucosal-invariant T cells and follicular T helper cells via expression of both activating and inhibitory receptors
Authors: Vimali Jaisheela , Yong Yean Kong , Murugesan Amudhan , Tan Hong Yien , Zhang Ying , Ashwin Rajeev , Raju Sivadoss , Balakrishnan Pachamuthu , Larsson Marie , Velu Vijayakumar , Shankar Esaki M
Published: April 2023

Chronic viral infection results in impaired immune responses rendering viral persistence. Here, we investigated the role of immune activation and compared the quality of T-cell responses in chronic HBV, HCV, and HIV infections. Cytokines were measured using a commercial Bio-plex Pro Human Cytokine Grp I Panel 17-plex kit (BioRad, Hercules, CA, USA). Inflammation was assessed by measuring an array of plasma cytokines, and peripheral CD4+ T cells including circulating Tfh cells, CD8+ T cells, and TCR iVα7.2+ MAIT cells in chronic HBV, HCV, and HIV-infected patients and healthy controls. The cells were characterized based markers pertaining to immune activation (CD69, ICOS, and CD27) proliferation (Ki67), cytokine production (TNF-α, IFN-γ) and exhaustion (PD-1). The cytokine levels and T cell phenotypes together with cell markers were correlated with surrogate markers of disease progression. The activation marker CD69 was significantly increased in CD4+ hi T cells, while CD8+ MAIT cells expressing IFN-γ were significantly increased in chronic HBV, HCV and HIV infections. Six cell phenotypes, viz., TNF-α+CD4+ lo T cells, CD69+CD8+ T cells, CD69+CD4+ MAIT cells, PD-1+CD4+ hi T cells, PD-1+CD8+ T cells, Ki67+CD4+ MAIT cells were independently associated with decelerating the plasma viral load (PVL). TNF-α levels showed a positive correlation with increase in cytokine levels and decrease in PVL. Chronic viral infection negatively impacts the quality of peripheral MAIT cells and TFH cells via expression of both activating and inhibitory receptors.
Prevalence, effectiveness, and usefulness of using YouTube among medical students in clinical years /physical examination
Authors: Sharayah Mohammad , Hadidi Fadi Al , AlSamhori Jehad Feras , Ebdah Abdulsalam , Diwan Ola Abbas , Alna'san Ali Wa'el , Sharayah Abdallah , Quba Qutaiba Abu , alsabi’ Abdel rahman ahmad
Published: April 2023

Introduction:
A recent study aimed to investigate the usefulness of YouTube as an educational resource for medical students studying physical examination in Jordanian universities. The questionnaire aimed to determine the prevalence, effectiveness, and usefulness of YouTube in learning physical examination and to identify which medical topics were studied more through YouTube.
Methods
The study used a Google Forms questionnaire to survey 413 medical students in their 4th, 5th, and 6th clinical years.
Results
The study found that the majority (91%) of the students used YouTube as a learning tool, and most (96.4%) found it useful in their studies. Nearly all students (93.7%) reported learning additional information they did not previously have access to. Most students (88.4%) used YouTube to learn physical examination, and a vast majority (90.1%) found it useful for practicing before OSCE exams. Almost 80% of the students who used YouTube received higher marks in OSCE exams. Furthermore, the study also found that YouTube usage varied among students, with the majority using it in their 4th year. The two medical topics that students found most useful in YouTube videos were internal medicine and general surgery, with 82.8% and 69.5% of students finding them useful, respectively.
Conclusion
the study suggests that YouTube is a valuable educational tool for medical students studying physical examination and medical topics in Jordanian universities. The study recommends that educators encourage students to use YouTube and create updated physical examination videos and general clinical themes to supplement medical education.