bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Spatial Variation of Street Landscape Greening and Influencing Factors - An Example from Fuzhou City, China
Authors: Jin Bowen , Geng Jianwei , Ke Shan , Pan Hui
Published: August 2023

Urban street greening is an important part of urban green infrastructure, and Green View Index (GVI) is widely used to assess urban street quality and ecosystem service value as an important indicator to quantify the perception of green street landscape from a pedestrian perspective. However, the distribution of street greenery is imbalanced. Therefore, to explore the differences in street greening levels within urban cities, we crawled streetscape data using the Internet to assess the spatial distribution patterns of urban street GVI using deep learning and spatial autocorrelation, and combined 11 surrounding environmental features with multi-source geographic data to further analyze the key factors influencing the spatial variation of block GVI using ordinary least squares (OLS), geographically weighted regression (GWR) models, and multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) models. The results show that the mean value of GVI in Fuzhou City is low (23.08%), with large differences among neighborhoods and a significant spatial autocorrelation. Among the regression models, MGWR has the best fit with an R2 of 0.702, where the variables of NDVI, house price, accessibility of water bodies and parks, and the proportion of built-up land have a greater impact on GVI, and the factors do not have the same spatial effect size. The results can provide a scientific basis for promoting green visual equity in different blocks.
Leucobacter edaphi sp. nov., isolated from chromium containing chemical plant soil
Authors: Zheng Bijun , Xu Zhe , Yang Li , Jiang Guangyang , Chen Jia , Yang Yichen , Tian Yongqiang
Published: August 2023

A Gram-positive, aerobic, rod-shaped non-motile, non-sporulating bacterium, designated CSA2T, was isolated from chromium-containing soils collected from a chemical plant. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain CSA2T showed the highest homology with Leucobacter chromiireducens subsp. solipictus (97.85%), Leucobacter chromiireducens subsp. chromiireducens (97.85%). The digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values among strains CSA2T and the selected Leucobacter species were 20.6-23.4% (dDDH) and 72.67-78.03% (ANI), falling below the recommended thresholds for species delimitation. The principal fatty acids were anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0 and anteiso-C17:0. The polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unknown glycolipid. The major menaquinones detected were MK-10 and MK-11. The cell-wall amino acids included 2,4-diaminobutyric acid, threonine, glutamic acid，alanine and glycine. Based on molecular feature， phenotypic and chemotaxonomic, strain CSA2T was considered to be a novel species of the genus Leucobacter., and the name Leucobacter edaphi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CSA2T (=JCM 34360T=CGMCC 1.18747T)
Employing Bayesian Analysis to Establish a Cut-off Point and Assess Stigma Prevalence in Substance Use Disorder: A Comprehensive Study of the Chinese Version of the Substance Use Stigma Mechanism Scale
Authors: Wang Dongfang , Zhou Yanan , Chen Shubao , Wu Qiuxia , He Li , Wang Qianjin , Hao Yuzhu , Liu Yueheng , Peng Pu , Li Manyun , Liu Tieqiao , Ma Yuejiao
Published: August 2023

Purpose: Due to the lack of reliable stigma assessment tools and the stigma faced by people with substance use disorders (SUDs), especially in China. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the Substance Use Stigma Mechanism Scale (SU-SMS-C) and set its cut-off point.
Methods: We recruited 1005 individuals with SUDs from Chinese rehabilitation centers. These participants completed a battery of questionnaires that included the SU-SMS-C, MSPSS, CES-D, GSES, and PDD. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the scale. Additionally, the Naive Bayes Classifier was used to establish the cut-off point for the SU-SMS-C. We additionally explored the correlation between patient demographic characteristics and stigma.
Results: A confirmatory factor analysis was utilized, revealing a second-order five-factor model. Based on the Naive Bayes Classifier, the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUCROC) of 0.746, the cut-off point for the SU-SMS-C was established at 44.5. The prevalence of stigma observed in the study population was 49.05%. Significant disparities were observed in the distribution of stigma across genders, with males experiencing more pronounced stigma than females. Moreover, patients consuming different primary substances reported diverse levels of stigma. Notably, those primarily using heroin endured a higher degree of stigma than users of other substances.
Conclusion: The study is the first to identify a cut-off point for the SU-SMS-C by Naive Bayes Classifier, bridging a major gap in stigma measurement research. SU-SMS-C may help treat and manage SUDs by reducing stigma.
Digital Justice in the Smart City Developing a Framework for Participatory Digitalisation Strategies at the Local Level
Authors: Schüle Ralf , Pollok Michael , Güleş Orhan
Published: August 2023

An integrated consideration of digital inequalities in smart cities is relatively new to most discussions of the subject, and an applicable research framework for the assessment and management of digital inequalities in the smart city is still lacking. This paper proposes a framework for an action-oriented approach to analyse and strategically reduce digital injustices in smart cities. There are five requirements for creating digital justice: the availability of a concept with sufficiently allocated resources, the availability of digital infrastructures and technologies, programmes for learning digital competencies, offerings for citizen participation and a holistic perspective on the global dimensions of digital justice. For different case studies, we assess the coverage, integration and impact of these features. The analysis confirms that the proposed methodological approach can record and evaluate strategies for digital participation in smart cities.
A novel pyrazoline-based turn-on ﬂuorescent probe for highly sensitive detection of Al3+ in aqueous solution and its applications
Authors: Shang Yajing , Li Yuanyuan , Wu Xinghu , Li Jin
Published: August 2023

A new efficient fluorescent sensor (E)-3-(1-acetyl-5-styryl-4,5-dihydro-1H -pyrazol-3-yl)-4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one (DRS) for Al3+ detection was developed, and the optical properties of DRS were measured in H2O/DMSO (pH = 5.5, 99:1, V/V) solution. DRS showed notable fluorescence enhancement in the presence of Al3+ and had good selectivity and sensitivity to Al3+. Compared to the probes designed by other previous research groups, a lower detection limit (9.13×10-9M) and a shorter response time (14 s) were found. Furthermore, the Job’s plot showed that the stoichiometric ratio among DRS and Al3+ was 1:1, and 1H NMR, IR and DFT calculations showed that the sensing mechanism of the probe DRS for detecting Al3+ was chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF). DRS has also been applied to Al3+ detection in actual water samples, drugs, and HeLa cells, indicating that it has potential application value in the biological process of detecting Al3+ ion.
Structural Changes of the Floats in Kakunodate-Matsuri: Ingenuity for Winning the Festival Bumping Game
Authors: Kubo Mitsunori , Tsubogou Hidehiko
Published: August 2023

The Kakunodate-Matsuri, held in Akita, Japan, is one of the most game-like festivals in which the festival floats are repeatedly 'bumped' against each other in order to win the right of the way. We hypothesised that the accumulation of serious ingenuity by each community that has preserved and operated the floats to win in the 'bumping' might be reflected in the structural form of the floats themselves. To test this hypothesis, we constructed structural models of two floats, one new and one old and carried out collision simulations. As a result, it was confirmed that the floats, which tended to concentrate the impact force at the front of the structure during a collision, were modified to distribute the impact over the entire structure, preventing axle damage due to stress concentration and at the same time reducing the impact on the musicians on board in the middle of the float.
Short-Term and Long-Term Outcomes and Quality of Life Comparison of Total Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy Reconstruction: Roux-en-Y versus Billroth II+Braun
Authors: Chen Yan-xin , Huang Qiao-zhen , Wang Peng-cheng , Zhu Yue-jia , Chen Li-quan , Wu Chu-ying , Wang Jin-tian , Chen Jun-xing , Ye Kai
Published: August 2023

BACKGROUND: The controversy surrounding Roux-en-Y and Billroth II with Braun anastomosis as an anti-bile reflux procedure after distal gastrectomy has persisted. Recent studies have demonstrated their efficacy, but the long-term outcomes and postoperative quality of life (QoL) among patients have yet to be evaluated. Therefore, we compared the short-term and long-term outcomes of the two procedures as well as QoL.METHODS The clinical data of 151 patients who underwent total laparoscopic distal gastrectomy at the Second Hospital of Fujian Medical University from January 2016 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Of these, 57 cases with Roux-en-Y anastomosis (R-Y group) and 94 cases with Billroth II with Braun anastomosis were included (BII + B group). Operative and postoperative conditions, early and late complications, endoscopic outcomes at year 1 and year 3 after surgery, nutritional indicators, and quality of life scores at year 3 postoperatively were compared between the two groups.RESULTS The R-Y group recorded a significantly longer operative time (194.65 ± 21.52 min vs. 183.88 ± 18.02 min) and anastomotic time (36.96 ± 2.43 min vs. 27.97 ± 3.74 min) compared to the BII + B group (P < 0.05). However, no other significant differences were observed in terms of blood loss or postoperative conditions (P > 0.05). Both groups showed comparable rates of early and late complications. Endoscopic findings indicated similar food residuals at years 1 and 3 postsurgery for both groups. The R-Y group had a lower occurrence of residual gastritis and bile reflux at year 1 and year 3 after surgery, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). Reflux esophagitis was not significantly different between the R-Y and BII + B groups in year 1 after surgery, but the R-Y group had a lower incidence than the BII + B group in year 3 after surgery (P = 0.023). Nutritional outcomes at 3 years after surgery did not differ significantly between the two groups (P > 0.05). Quality of life scores measured by the QLQ-C30 scale were not significantly different between the two groups. However, on the QLQ-STO22 scale, the reflux score was significantly lower in the R-Y group than in the BII + B group (0 [0, 0] vs. 5.56 [0, 11.11]) (P = 0.003). The rest of the scores were not significantly different (P > 0.05).CONCLUSION Both R-Y and B II + B are equally safe and efficient for TLDG. Nevertheless, R-Y reduces the incidence of residual gastritis, bile reflux, and reflux esophagitis, as well as postoperative reflux symptoms, and provides a better quality of life for patients.
Comprehensive investigation of factor structure and gender equivalence of the Beck Depression Inventory-II among nonclinical adolescents
Authors: Ferreira-Maia Ana Paula , Gorenstein Clarice , Wang Yuan-Pang
Published: August 2023

The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a tool widely used to rate the severity of depressive symptoms. Regarding the factor validity of the BDI-II in adolescents, the two-factor solution describing “cognitive” and “somatic-affective” dimensions has been shown to be the most reported. Recently, bifactor model analysis has become popular to describe psychological constructs such as depression. Furthermore, data related to measurement invariance across gender is limited. This study aimed to examine plausible factor structures and gender equivalence of the BDI-II in a Brazilian sample of nonclinical adolescents (N = 1,184, aged 13–18 years, 59.1% females). Cross-validation of the BDI-II was performed through exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Measurement invariance was evaluated using multigroup-CFA (MG-CFA). EFA suggested an oblique two-factor model depicting “affective-cognitive” and “somatic" dimensions. Simple structure and bifactor models from literature, as well as the estimated EFA model and its corresponding bifactor model were examined. All factor models revealed adequate and similar fitness, well-defined factors, and good reliability. The goodness-of-fit of bifactor models was slightly superior when compared to simple structure models. Bifactor analyses indicated a robust general factor with low reliable variance in total scores attributed to multidimensionality caused by the group factors in bifactor models. MG-CFA supported invariance across gender, confirming that the same BDI-II construct could be applied to both female and male adolescents. This study provides evidence that the BDI-II could be used by researchers and clinicians as a unidimensional measure of depressive symptoms in the adolescent population.
Identifying the Threshold Discrepancy of Rear-End Conflicts under Clear and Rainy Weather Conditions Using Trajectory Data
Authors: Jin Qianqian , Abdel-Aty Mohamed , Ugan Jorge , Islam Zubayer , Zheng Ou
Published: August 2023

The appropriate threshold selection is pivotal in near-crashes detections. Nevertheless, most cutting-edge warning systems utilize thresholds that are directly derived from general traffic scenarios. There is no evidence support that thresholds acquired from general scenarios can be applied to specific scenarios. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether thresholds of three surrogate measures of safety (SMoS) differ between the general clear scenario and the special rainy scenario. A total of 1048 rear-end events (724 in clear conditions and 324 in light rain conditions) were obtained from the CitySim dataset. Two threshold selection methods were used to recommend appropriate thresholds. The findings indicated that only MTTC had a statistical difference in two weather scenarios, hence, a threshold was recommended under each of two weather conditions. Furthermore, the MTTC threshold for rainy conditions was three times higher than for clear conditions. Contrarily, the threshold was statistically insignificant for the SPDRF and DRAC under two conditions, so only one integration threshold per SMoS was recommended, even in two scenarios. These findings could help safety-system designers set more targeted and appropriate thresholds when encounter specific characteristics (e.g., weather) for active safety systems or safety warning infrastructures in future smart cities.
Evaluation inhibitory effect of glycine on Helicobacter pylori in experimental condition
Authors: javanbakhat Parisa , Arzanlou Mohsen , yazdanbod Abbas , nemati rasool , teimourpour roghayeh
Published: August 2023

Glycine is a simple amino acid that in high concentration induces morphological transformation, L-form formation and lysis of some microorganism. Glycine interferes in transpeptidation reaction leading to inhibiting the biosynthesis of the bacterial cell wall. Due to bactericidal effect of glycine, in the present work, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of glycine on Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) was measured. It could be a promising alternative agent against H.pylori in infected patients.
The Complexities of Trans Women’s Access to Healthcare in South Africa: Moving Health Systems Beyond the Gender Binary Towards Equity
Authors: Shabalala Siyanda B. , Campbell Megan M
Published: August 2023

Background: Research in healthcare inequity has shown that health systems are shaped by broader socio-political contexts and biases that shape the institutionalization of healthcare, often leading to significant barriers to inclusive and equitable healthcare access. Health research has, however, overlooked how health systems marginalize gender-diverse persons and sustain health inequities among this population. Trans women, for instance, face multiple layers of exclusion due to their gender identity in health systems that could be considered patriarchal, binary, and cisnormative. Intersectionality-informed research can help challenge these gender structures within healthcare by acknowledging the diversity of identity experiences.
Methods:This study adopts a critical trans politics (CTP) perspective to explore the socio-cultural and political dynamics limiting South African trans women's access to healthcare. Using a critical narrative approach, the research asks:
1) What narratives do South African trans women share about their experiences in health systems?
2) What gendered societal structures, practices, and norms enable or hinder their inclusion in health systems?
Five South African adult trans women between the ages of 22 and 30 participated in semi-structured individual, telephonic interviews that focused on participants' subjective experiences within the healthcare sector.
Results:Trans women are often stigmatized and positioned as outsiders in ciscentric health systems, which uphold traditional gender norms and favour cisgender individuals, while excluding and marginalizing trans positions. Three dominant thematic narratives emerged. First, the denial of trans women’s self-determination reflected in institutional policies and practices that misgender trans women, limited their access to dignified healthcare. Second, the lack of knowledge about gender-affirming healthcare held by healthcare professionals and healthcare institutions led to informational erasure. Third, barriers to accessible and equitable healthcare faced by trans women were compounded by gender, race, and class structural dynamics.
Conclusions:This study sheds light on the challenges faced by South African trans women in accessing appropriate and respectful healthcare, highlighting the need for more inclusive and informed practices in local health systems. In response, a trans-inclusive health equity framework is proposed and its implications for theory, policy, research, and practice are outlined.
Corneal Epithelium Thickness Profile in Normal Adults
Authors: Salman Abdelrahman , Kailani Obeda , Omran Rana , Kubaisi Buraa , Ghabra Marwan , Shaaban Rafea , Darwish Taym , Baradi Zein , Darraj Farah , Ibrahim Hussein , Hussein Tala
Published: August 2023

Aim
To characterize the corneal epithelial thickness (ET) and corneal thickness (CT) profiles in normal eyes of Syrian adults, and to investigate associated factors with central epithelial thickness (CET).
Method
ET and CT were measured by Cirrus high-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) device in 208 eyes of 104 healthy adults aged 18 to 40 years. The average ET and CT were calculated in 25 (9 mm circle) zones and 17 (7 mm circle) zones, respectively. Correlations of CET with age, refractive errors, keratometry, and central corneal thickness (CCT) were calculated.
Results
The average ET was thicker in the central 2 mm than the paracentral, midperipheral and peripheral zones (50.42 ± 3.51 µm, 49.29 ± 3.61 µm, 47.80 ± 3.54 µm, and 46.74 ± 3.47 µm, respectively), whereas the average CT was thinnest in the centre. While Males have thicker ET than females in all zones (p < 0.05, all), CT did not significantly differ (p > 0.05, all). ET was thinner in the superior area than in the inferior, with the highest difference registered in the peripheral zone (-6 ± 5 µm). We found a positive significant correlation between CET and sphere (r = 0.25, p = 0.0022), and a negative significant correlation between CET and flat keratometry (r = -0.148, p = 0.043). CET was not correlated with age, cylinder or steep keratometry.
Conclusion
We present a comprehensive study in healthy, normal eyes using Cirrus HD-OCT to map the corneal epithelium with a 9 mm diameter. The epithelium was thinner centrally than peripherally and superiorly than inferiorly. Myopic eyes tend to have thinner corneal epithelium than hyperopic eyes. This may help in refractive procedures and in the prediction of corneal diseases.
IGFBP2 drives epithelial-mesenchymal transition in Hepatocellular carcinoma via activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway
Authors: Zhang Yu , Chen Xiu , Zhang Pingping , Wei Mengzhu , Tian Tian , Guan Yanling , Han Chenchen , Wei Wei , Ma Yang
Published: August 2023

Metastasis has emerged as a major impediment to achieving successful therapeutic outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nonetheless, the intricate molecular mechanisms governing the progression of HCC remain elusive. Herein, we present evidence highlighting the influence exerted by insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) as a potent oncogene driving the malignant phenotype. Our investigation reveals a marked elevation of IGFBP2 expression in primary tumors, concomitant with the presence of mesenchymal biomarkers in HCC patients. Through in vitro and in vivo experimentation, we demonstrate that the overexpression of IGFBP2 expedites the progression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and facilitates the metastatic potential of HCC cells, chiefly mediated by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Notably, the specific activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling using CHIR-99021 induces heightened nuclear β-catenin accumulation, thereby instigating a mesenchymal phenotype in HCC cells with depleted IGFBP2 expression. Collectively, our findings identify IGFBP2 as a pivotal regulator within the HCC EMT axis, whereby its overexpression confers the distinctly aggressive clinical features characteristic of the disease.
Position as an independent variable and the emergence of the 1/2-time fractional derivative in quantum mechanics
Authors: Beims Marcus Werner , de Lara Arlans JS
Published: August 2023

Using the position as an independent variable, and time as the dependent variable, we derive the function ${\cal P}^{(\pm)}=\pm\sqrt{2m({\cal H}-{\cal V}(q))}$, which generates the space evolution under the potential ${\cal V}(q)$ and Hamiltonian ${\cal H}$. No parametrization is used. Canonically conjugated variables are the time and minus the Hamiltonian ($-{\cal H}$). While the classical dynamics do not change, the corresponding quantum operator ${\cal \hat P}^{(\pm)}$ naturally leads to a $1/2-$fractional time evolution, consistent with a recent proposed spacetime symmetric formalism of the quantum mechanics. Using Dirac's procedure, separation of variables is possible, and while the two-coupled position-independent Dirac equations depend on the $1/2$-fractional derivative, the two-coupled time-independent Dirac equations (TIDE) lead to positive and negative shifts in the potential, proportional to the force. Both equations couple the ($\pm$) solutions of ${\cal \hat P}^{(\pm)}$ and the kinetic energy ${\cal K}_0$ (separation constant) is the coupling strength. Thus, we obtain a pair of coupled states for systems with finite forces, not necessarily stationary states. The potential shifts for the harmonic oscillator (HO) are $\pm\hbar\omega/2$, and the corresponding pair of states are coupled for ${\cal K}_0\ne 0$. No time evolution is present for ${\cal K}_0=0$, and the ground state with energy $\hbar\omega/2$ is stable. For ${\cal K}_0>0$, the ground state becomes coupled to the state with energy $-\hbar\omega/2$, and \textit{this coupling} allows to describe higher excited states in the HO. Energy quantization of the HO leads to the quantization of ${\cal K}_0=k\hbar\omega$ ($k=1,2,\ldots$). For the one-dimensional Hydrogen atom, the potential shifts become imaginary and position-dependent. Decoupled case ${\cal K}_0=0$ leads to plane-waves-like solutions at the threshold. Above the threshold (${\cal K}_0>0$), we obtain a plane-wave-like solution, and for the bounded states (${\cal K}_0<0$), the wave-function becomes similar to the exact solutions but squeezed closer to the nucleus.
A qualitative study of infection prevention and control practices in the maternal units of two Ghanaian hospitals
Authors: Sunkwa-Mills Gifty , Senah Kodjo , Breinholdt Mette , Aberese-Ako Matilda , Tersbøl Britt Pinkowski
Published: August 2023

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a common challenge in healthcare delivery, with a significant burden in low- and middle-income countries. Preventing HAIs has gained enormous attention from policy makers and providers of healthcare services in resource-limited settings including Ghana. Despite policies to position health facilities to enforce infection prevention and control (IPC) measures as a means for improving patient experience of care and preventing HAIs, evidence points to poor IPC practices in hospitals in Ghana. In this study we explore the experiences of healthcare providers and post-natal women, and assess facilitators and barriers to IPC practice in two hospitals in Ghana. Methods: The study used a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and observations from January 2019 to June 2019. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis. The data sets were uploaded into the qualitative software NVivo 12 to facilitate coding and analysis. Observation notes were incorporated into the data analysis. Findings: Healthcare providers’ responsibility to care for patients and establish professional identity, influenced their approach to care. Hygiene behaviour and IPC compliance were driven by the desire to care for and protect oneself from infections. Other IPC facilitators include leadership commitment and support, training and education for IPC. Postnatal women were informed about IPC during antenatal care visits, and their practices were also shaped by their background and their communities. IPC barriers include the poor documentation or ‘invisibility’ of HAIs, low prioritization of IPC tasks, lack of clear IPC goals, inadequate deference to guidelines, and communication-related challenges. The results of this study demonstrate the need for a comprehensive understanding of the individual and collective perceptions of HAIs, and what constitutes ‘care’, to drive hygiene behaviour to improve IPC in hospital wards. Hospital managers need to position themselves as key drivers of IPC and develop clear goals and define roles to stimulate IPC while engaging postnatal mothers and communities.
Semantic Similarity Loss for Neural Source CodeSummarization
Authors: Su Chia-Yi , McMillan Collin
Published: August 2023

This paper presents an improved loss function for neural source code summariza-tion. Code summarization is the task of writing natural language descriptions ofsource code. Neural code summarization refers to automated techniques for gen-erating these descriptions using neural networks. Almost all current approachesinvolve neural networks as either standalone models or as part of a pretrainedlarge language models e.g., GPT, Codex, LLaMA. Yet almost all also use acategorical cross-entropy (CCE) loss function for network optimization. Twoproblems with CCE are that 1) it computes loss over each word prediction one-at-a-time, rather than evaluating a whole sentence, and 2) it requires a perfectprediction, leaving no room for partial credit for synonyms. We propose and eval-uate a loss function to alleviate this problem. In essence, we propose to use asemantic similarity metric to calculate loss over the whole output sentence pre-diction per training batch, rather than just loss for each word. We also proposeto combine our loss with traditional CCE for each word, which streamlines thetraining process compared to baselines. We evaluate our approach over severalbaselines and report an improvement in the vast majority of conditions.
Identifying Critical Success Factors to Adopt Circular Economy in Healthcare Sector for Sustainable Waste Management
Authors: Dixit Anuj , Dutta Pankaj
Published: August 2023

The rapid growth of healthcare sector especially after Covid-19 pandemic has augmented the emission of healthcare waste (HW) globally. It is a major concern for developing countries like India rather developed. Thus, this study has recognized, estimated the importance, prioritized the criticality of critical success factors (CSFs) for the adoption of circular economy (CE) in HW management (called as healthcare circular economy i.e., ‘HCE’) to minimise the HW generation in Indian perspective. Initially, descriptive statistics followed by questionnaire surveys is accomplished for data analysis based on the organization’s size and domain of expertise. Then, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) is executed to identify the substantial differences in the adoption of HCE having different sizes or domains of expertise. Finally, the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) embedded fuzzy-decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (F-DEMATEL) method is used to identify the most significant CSFs for adoption of HCE. Among 17 finalised CSFs, 12 CSFs are identified in a causal group, while rest 5 is in effect group. The government responsibility and stakeholders’ participations are having highest driving potential, whereas the segregation and collection of HW is highly dependent on other causal-CSFs. This is an original and unique study of its kind to recognize and evaluate the CSFs for the adoption of HCE in general and India in specific. This study also shows the suitable extents for assigning the resources and efforts to enhance the adoption of HCE in Indian perspective. However, the results obtained are India specific, but this can be a platform to understand and analyse CSFs for adoption of HCE for other developing economies. This study will also help to Indian policymakers to develop the strategies for adoption of HCE practices.
RETRACTED: Comparative analysis of economic and socio-cultural factors influencing reproductive behaviour in the Northern and Southern regions of Kazakhstan
Authors: Bodaukhan Kairat , Zhanerke Kochyigit , Darima Zhenskhan , Amerkhanova Indira , Nurmukhametov Nurbakhyt
Published: August 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Sound analysis and extraction of data from Smart Contract
Authors: Ayub Maha , Khan Waiz , Janjua Muhammad Umar
Published: August 2023

With the addition of multiple blockchain platforms in the ecosystem, the Dapp owners need to migrate their smart contracts from one platform to another to remain competitive , cost-effective, and secure. A smart contract is a piece of code that contain logic and data. To migrate a smart contract, whether it’s on the same blockchain platform or a different one, we need both its source code that represents the logic and data which indicate the state of the contract. The source code can be easily set up, but to complete the migration, we have to extract the current state of the contract. In this paper, we have developed an advanced state extraction technique that uses static analysis to analyze the smart contract’s call graph and events, and extracts the entire storage state from the storage trie, along with the proper associations across function calls, enabling users to visualize, manage, and transform the state as desired for migration. The soundness of the extracted state was confirmed using the method of abstract interpretation. Further, the migration adapter is designed that transform extracted state into slot-value pair and migrated it to the target blockchain. Our new approach has allowed us to analyze 14% more smart contracts with the extraction of 15% more data from 67,993 contracts, and migrate some of them to the Polygon test-net.
Fast defect detection of image sensor based on lightweight network
Authors: Zhang Hui , Yu Mingqi , Yue Hongwei , Kou Kit Ian , Lin Qinyong , Chen Huazhou , Chen Chuangquan , Cai Ken
Published: August 2023

Image sensor is the main device in camera production and its quality influences the imaging quality directly. Existing detection methods can not accurately detect the defects of image sensors. To address these problems, a two-branch network based on transfer learning is proposed to solve the problem of image sensor defect detection. Firstly, model parameters and detection speed were improved by replacing the backbone feature extraction network of YOLOV with a lightweight network. Secondly, anchor box optimization and focal loss were used to solve the problem of accurate positioning and unbalanced sample classification. Finally, with the cosine annealing scheduler and fixed learning rate, the network's convergence rate and overall performance are improved. The proposed lightweight network algorithm achieves a better effect than the original algorithm. The proposed algorithm has higher detection speed and smaller parameter size than other detection methods under the same size.
Smoking cessation interventions and implementations across multiple settings in Japan: A scoping review and supplemental survey
Authors: Nagasawa Tomomi , Saito Junko , Odawara Miyuki , kaji Yuki , Yuwaki Keiichi , Imamura Haruhiko , Nogi Kazuya , Nakamura Masakazu , Shimazu Taichi
Published: August 2023

Background: Smoking is the leading risk factor for death worldwide. In Japan, although several evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for smoking cessation have been disseminated or adopted, there is a gap between scientific evidence and the actual implementation. This scoping review aimed to describe the knowledge gaps in local-level smoking cessation interventions in Japan, their implementation outcomes, implementation barriers and facilitators, and the use of implementation strategies.Methods: This study comprised two approaches: (1) a comprehensive scoping review of primary and grey literature, and (2) a supplemental survey of organizations in the grey literature. For the scoping review, we included original studies or reports on smoking cessation interventions targeting adults aged 18 years and older, or providers of cessation support at various settings (community, workplace, school, and clinical settings) in Japan. The extracted data included basic characteristics, intervention categories, implementation outcomes, factors influencing implementation, and implementation strategies for each intervention. Responses to the supplemental survey were extracted same used for the scoping review. To gain a deeper understanding, semi-structured interviews were conducted with some of the organizations in the survey.Results: A total of 600 interventions with 691 intervention components, based on EBIs in the 2020 U.S. Surgeon General Report, from 498 articles were included in the data extraction; 32 of the 88 organizations responded to the survey. Regarding the overall knowledge about smoking cessation intervention components, behavioral counseling and cessation medication in clinical settings were mostly reported (34.7%). Implementation outcomes were measured in 18 articles (3.0%) and penetration was mostly reported. Regarding influential factors, “available resources,” and “knowledge and beliefs about the intervention” for barriers, and “relative priority” for facilitators were mostly reported. Implementation strategies were measured in 29 articles (4.8%), and “Train and educate stakeholders” was mostly reported.Conclusions: Most EBIs reported in the Japanese literature included smoking cessation treatments in clinical settings. While a few articles focused on the implementation indicators in Japan, significant knowledge and experience were extracted from the grey literature, especially in the workplace and community settings. Future research should focus more on implementation to reduce the knowledge gap regarding smoking cessation interventions.
A Hybrid Recurrent Neural Network Approach for Detecting Abnormal User Behavior in Social Networks
Authors: Ebrahimzadeh Fereshteh , Nazari Amin , Feizi-derakhshi Mohammad Reza , Mansoorizadeh Muharram
Published: August 2023

With the recent advances in Internet technology, various aspects of the human lifestyle are influenced by the digital world. Users join social networks to communicate and perform their social activities. In addition to the vast benefits, social networks may also negatively affect different dimensions of user activities. One of the major challenges in social networks is the security issues of the individual user activities since usually there is no mechanism to detect abnormal behavior of the users. On the other hand, due to the continuous expansion and dynamic nature of social networks, identifying anomalies and abnormal behaviors of users in such networks is of particular importance. The literature offers several methods to manage the challenge of the security breach of user activities in social networks. A thorough inspection of these methods shows that most of them focus on two important factors: selecting the appropriate feature and increasing the accuracy of detecting abnormal behaviors. The main innovation of this paper is the proposal of a new hybrid method based on recurrent neural networks to analyze the abnormal behavior of users and manage the two challenges mentioned above. Our motivation for using recurrent neural networks as the basis of the proposed method is the temporal nature of user activities in social networks and the reasonable performance of these methods in identifying abnormal behaviors, processing time-series data, and the ability to analyze relationships between them. In the proposed method, statistical methods are used for the initial labeling of data. In the next step, the CNN-BiLSTM hybrid method is applied to the data in order to re-label them, establish order between the features and thus reduce the error. Then the abnormal batches are identified using the K-means clustering algorithm. The experiments show that the proposed method provides more accurate results compared to other statistical and learning-based methods. The efficiency of the proposed method is also reported on the VAST Challenge 2008 and Enron-Email datasets for the F-score benchmark, 0.82 and 0.88, respectively.
Cancer treatment closer to the patient, reduces travel burden, time toxicity and improve patients satisfaction. Results on 546 consecutive patients in a North Italy district
Authors: Cavanna Luigi , Citterio Chiara , Mordenti Patrizia , Proietto Manuela , Bosi Costanza , Vecchia Stefano
Published: August 2023

Purpose
The distance to cancer facilities may cause disparities by creating barriers to oncologic diagnosis and treatment, and travel burden may cause time and financial toxicity.
Methods
To relieve travel burden, a program to deliver oncologic treatment closer to the patient was initiated in our district some years ago. The oncologic activities are performed by oncologists and by nurses who travel from the oncologic ward of the city hospital, to territorial centers for delivering cancer patients management. This model is called Territorial Oncology Care (TOC): patients are managed near their home, in three territorial hospitals and in a health center, named “Casa della Salute” (CDS). We performed a retrospective study and we analyzed electronic records of patients with cancer managed in the TOC program. The primary endpoints are the kms and time saved, the secondary endpoints: reduction of caregiver need for transport and patient’s satisfaction.
Results
546 cancer patients managed in the TOC program from January 2, 2021 to June 30, 2022 were included in this study. Primary endpoints: median kms to reach the city hospital: 26(range 11-79 kms) median time: 44 minutes ( range 32-116); median kms in the TOC program: 7(range 1-35 kms), median time: 16 minutes (range 6-54), p<0,001. Secondary endpoints: 64.8% of patients who needed a caregiver for the city hospital could travel alone in the TOC program and 99,63% of patients were satisfied.
Conclusions
The results of our retrospective study highlight the possibility of treating cancer patients near their residence, reducing travel burden and time saving.
A feasibility study of systematic symptom assessment in palliative care using the PERS2ON score
Authors: Tscherny Katharina , Grafeneder Jürgen , Wandl Bettina , Niederer Maximilian , Haider Martina , Masel Eva Katharina , Roth Dominik , Egger Alexander
Published: August 2023

PURPOSE
A comprehensive and standardized assessment of symptoms is fundamental for individualized palliative care (PC). Numerous scoring systems are available, but they are often cumbersome and hence unsuitable for routine use. The PERS2ON score has been developed to provide a short, and feasible score to evaluate symptom burden. We performed an external evaluation of the feasibility of this score in a rural hospital.
METHODS
Patients admitted to the palliative care unit (PCU) of a rural hospital were rated according to the seven criteria of the PERS2ON score, pain, eating, rehabilitation, social situation, O2 and nausea/emesis, on a scale ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater symptom load. The assessments were performed on admission, seven days after admission, and on the day of discharge. We calculated symptom intensity scores and evaluated the change over time for each patient.
RESULTS
40 patients met inclusion criteria, nine died, a re-assessment after seven days was therefore possible for 35 patients, and an assessment at discharge for 31 patients. The mean PERS2ON Score declined from 28 (SD 12) on admission to 21 (SD 11) after seven days (absolute difference 7, 95% CI: 3–11, p = 0.002) and further to 17 (SD 10) at discharge (absolute difference 11, 95% CI: 6–15, p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Assessment of the PERS2ON score was feasible in all patients during their stay. The implementation of the PERS2ON score might be useful to direct clinical practice and targeted symptom management even at smaller PCUs.
Performance interference of co-allocated applications: a systematic literature review
Authors: Urzua-Barrientos Diego Salvador , Duran-Limon Hector Alejandro , Mora Manuel
Published: August 2023

Several efforts have been made to study the nature of performance interference in co-allocated applications running in different environments. Such performance interference degrades the performance of co-allocated applications. Many researchers propose techniques, methods and approaches that use mathematical equations, machine learning algorithms or other kind of techniques to predict/analyze performance degradation. Hardware counters, virtual machine monitor metrics and third-party tools are commonly used to provide the input data for prediction techniques. Performance prediction/analysis is useful for understanding, preventing, and minimizing performance degradation. This paper presents a systematic literature review of methods for the prediction/analysis of performance degradation due to performance interference of co-allocated applications, which were published in the open literature during the period 2006-2023. We classified and categorized each analyzed article depending on the method used and the environment employed, among others features. In addition, we identify some directions and trends in performance interference, as well as some unresolved issues.
Optimization of trans-4-hydroxyproline synthesis pathway by rearrangement center carbon metabolism in Escherichia coli
Authors: gong yu , wang ruiqi , Ma Ling , wang shuo , li changgeng , xu qingyang
Published: August 2023

Background
Trans-4-hydroxyproline (T-4-HYP) is a promising intermediate in the synthesis of antibiotic drugs. However, its industrial production remains challenging due to the low production efficiency of T-4-Hyp.This study focused on designing the key nodes of anabolic pathway to enhance carbon flux and minimize carbon loss, thereby maximizing the production potential of microbial cell factories.
Results
First, a basic strain, HYP-1, was developed by releasing feedback inhibitors and expressing heterologous genes for the production of trans-4-hydroxyproline. Subsequently, the biosynthetic pathway was strengthened while inhibitory pathways were disrupted, resulting in increased metabolic flow of α-ketoglutarate in the Tricarboxylic acid cycle. The introduction of the NOG pathway rearranged the central carbon metabolism, redirecting glucose towards acetyl-CoA. Furthermore, the supply of NADH-reducing power was enhanced to improve the acid production capacity of the strain. Finally, the fermentation process of T-4-HYP was optimized using a continuous feeding method. The rate of sugar supplementation controlled the dissolved oxygen concentrations during fermentation, and Fe2+ was continuously fed to supplement the reduced iron for hydroxylation. These modifications ensured an effective supply of proline hydroxylase cofactors (O2 and Fe2+), enabling efficient production of T-4-HYP in the microbial cell factory system. The strain HYP-10 produced 89.4 g/L of T-4-HYP e in a 5L fermenter, with a total yield of 0.34 g/g, which is the highest reported T-4-HYP production so far.
Conclusion
This study presents a strategy for establishing a microbial cell factory capable of producing T-4-HYP at high levels, making it suitable for large-scale industrial production. Additionally, this study provides valuable insights into regulating Synthesis of other compounds with α-ketoglutaric acid as precursor.
Iron status and sarcopenia-related traits: A bi-directional Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Chen Honggu , Zhang Ziyi , Wang Yizhe , Ma Anpei , Li Lingbo , Zhao Guoyang
Published: August 2023

Background
Although there is a strong correlation between serum iron status and sarcopenia, there is insufficient comprehensive evidence to establish a definitive causal relationship between the two factors. Hence, the aim of this study is to employ Mendelian randomization techniques to elucidate the association between serum iron status and sarcopenia.
Methods
we conducted a bi-directional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. The analysis involved utilizing the inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median methods. Additionally, sensitivity analyses were performed to ensure the reliability of the obtained causal association results. Furthermore, an integrated proxy for iron status, derived from a combination of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), was employed in the MVMR analysis.
Results
The UVMR analyses demonstrated a significant causal effect of ferritin on appendicular lean mass (β= -0.051, 95%CI: -0.072~-0.031, p = 7.325×10− 07). Sensitivity analyses did not reveal any heterogeneity, pleiotropic effects, or fluctuations in the results due to outlying SNPs for the four iron status variables related to sarcopenia traits. Furthermore, the MVMR analyses indicated that ferritin (β= -0.068, 95%CI: -0.12~-0.017, p = 9.658×10− 03) plays a predominant role in the associations between iron status and appendicular lean mass.
Conclusion
Our study revealed a causal association between serum iron status and sarcopenia, with ferritin playing a key role in this relationship. These findings contribute to our understanding of the complex interplay between iron metabolism and muscle health.