bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Markov chain Monte Carlo model of mechanical-feedback-driven progressive apical constrictions captures the fluctuating collective cell dynamics in the Drosophila embryo
Authors: Gao Guo–Jie J. , Holcomb Michael C. , Thomas Jeffrey H. , Blawzdziewicz Jerzy
Published: October 2022

Communication via mechanical stress feedback is believed to play an important role in the intercellular coordination of collective cellular movements. One such movement is ventral furrow formation (VFF) in the Drosophila melanogaster embryo. We previously introduced an active granular fluid (AGF) model, which demonstrated that cellular constriction chains observed during the initial phase of VFF are likely the result of intercellular coordination by tensile-stress feedback. Further observation of individual cellular dynamics motivated us to introduce progressive constrictions and Markov chain Monte Carlo based fluctuation of particle radii to our AGF model. We use a novel stress-based Voronoi tessellation method to translate the anisotropic network of highly polydisperse, axisymmetric force centers into a confluent cellular layer. This allows us to apply a similar means of analysis to both live and simulated embryos. We find that our enhanced AGF model, which combines tensile mechanical stress feedback and individual cellular fluctuations, successfully captures collective cell dynamics.
RANKL confers protection against cell death in precision-cut lung slices
Authors: Ruigrok M. J. R. , Roest M. A. P. , Frijlink H. W. , Olinga P. , Hinrichs W. L. J. , Melgert B. N.
Published: October 2022

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death globally and constitutes a major health problem. The disease is characterized by airflow obstructions due to chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. Emerging evidence suggests that COPD is the result of impaired epithelial repair. Motivated by the need for more effective treatments, we studied whether receptor activator of nuclear factor κ-Β ligand (RANKL) contributed to epithelial repair, as this protein has been implicated in epithelial regeneration of breast and thymus. To do so, we used precision-cut lung slices prepared from mouse tissue—viable explants that can be cultured ex vivo for up to a few days while retaining features of lung tissue. Slices were cultured with 10, 100, or 500 ng/ml of mouse RANKL for 24 h. We first found RANKL activated nuclear factor κ-Β signaling, which is involved in cellular stress responses, without affecting the general viability of slices. Cell proliferation, however, was not altered by RANKL treatment. Interestingly, RANKL did reduce cell death, as revealed by TUNEL stainings and profiling of apoptosis-related proteins, indicating that it contributes to repair by conferring protection against cell death. This study improves our understanding of lung repair and could create new opportunities for developing COPD treatments.
New insights for the regulatory feedback loop between type 1 crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH-1) and insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (IAG) in the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis)
Authors: Zhu Dandan , Feng Tianyi , Mo Nan , Han Rui , Lu Wentao , Shao Shucheng , Cui Zhaoxia
Published: October 2022

To clarify the hormone control on sex determination and differentiation, we studied the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis (Henri Milne Edwards, 1854), a species with importantly economic and ecological significance. The crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH) and the insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (IAG) have been found to be related to the sex determination and/or differentiation. CFSH-1 of E. sinensis (EsCFSH-1) encoded a 227 amino-acid protein including a signal peptide, a CFSH-precursor-related peptide, and a mature CFSH peptide. Normally, EsCFSH-1 was highly expressed in the eyestalk ganglion of adult female crabs, while the expression was declined in the intersex crabs (genetic females). The intersex crabs had the androgenic glands, and the expression level of EsIAG was close to that of male crabs. During the embryogenesis and larval development, the changes of EsCFSH-1 and EsIAG genes expression in male and female individuals were shown after the zoea IV stage. Next, we confirmed the existence of the regulatory feedback loop between EsCFSH-1 and EsIAG by RNA interference experiment. The feminization function of EsCFSH-1 was further verified by examining the morphological change of external reproductive organs after EsCFSH-1 knockdown. The findings of this study reveal that the regulatory interplay between CFSH and IAG might play a pivotal role in the process of sex determination and/or differentiation in decapod crustaceans.
Berry flavonoids are differently modulated by timing and intensities of water deficit in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sangiovese
Authors: Palai Giacomo , Caruso Giovanni , Gucci Riccardo , D’Onofrio Claudio
Published: October 2022

In this work, we tested the effect of different regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) regimes on berry flavonoid content and its relative biosynthetic pathways. Vines were subjected to six irrigation regimes over two consecutive years: a) full irrigation during the entire irrigation period (FI); b) moderate (RDI-1M) or c) severe (RDI-1S) water deficit between berry pea-size and veraison; d) severe water deficit during the lag-phase (RDI-LS); and e) moderate (RDI-2M) or f) severe (RDI-2S) water deficit from veraison through harvest. Berries from both RDI-1 treatments showed the highest accumulation of anthocyanins, upregulating the expression of many genes of the flavonoid pathway since the beginning of veraison until harvest, far after the water deficit was released. Although to a lesser degree than RDI-1, both post-veraison water deficit treatments increased anthocyanin concentration, particularly those of the tri-substituted forms, overexpressing theF3′5′Hhydroxylases. The moderate deficit irrigation treatments enhanced anthocyanin accumulation with respect to the severe ones regardless of the period when they were applied (pre- or post-veraison). The water deficit imposed during the lag-phase downregulated many genes throughout the flavonoid pathway, showing a slight reduction in anthocyanin accumulation. The measurements of cluster temperature and light exposure highlighted that under deficit irrigation conditions, the effects induced by water stress prevailed over that of light and temperature in regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis. Flavonol concentration was higher in RDI-1S berries due to the upregulation of the flavonol synthases and the flavonol-3-O-glycosyltransferases. In this case, the higher cluster light exposure induced by water deficit in RDI-1S berries had a major role in flavonol accumulation. We conclude that the timing and intensity of water stress strongly regulate the berry flavonoid accumulation and that proper management of deficit irrigation can modulate the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways.
Functional analysis of Rehmannia glutinosa key LRR-RLKs during interaction of root exudates with Fusarium oxysporum reveals the roles of immune proteins in formation of replant disease
Authors: Yang Chuyun , Xie Zhuomi , Qian Sheng , Zhang Junyi , Yu Zhijian , Li Mingjie , Gu Li , Qin Shuangshuang , Zhang Zhongyi
Published: October 2022

Previous studies have indicated that some Rehmannia glutinosa Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinases (LRR-RLKs) are involved in the formation of replant disease. However, it remains unclear how the interaction of LRR-RLKs with a key factor, the interaction between root exudates and Fusarium oxysporum, results in formation of replant disease. In this study, the influences of root exudates, F. oxysporum and the interaction of these two factors on expression of nine R. glutinosa LRR-RLKs (RgLRRs) were analyzed. The resulting eight RgLRRs of them were highly expressed at the early stage, and rapidly declined at later stages under mixed treatment of root exudates and F. oxysporum. The functions of nine RgLRRs under root exudates, F. oxysporum and mixed treatment of root exudates and F. oxysporum were preliminarily analyzed using transient overexpression and RNAi experiments. The results showed that high expression of RgLRR19, RgLRR21, RgLRR23 and RgLRR29 could decrease the damage to root cells from the mixed treatment of root exudates and F. oxysporum, but the interference of these genes enhanced the damage levels of root cells. Based on this, stable transgenic R. glutinosa seedlings were acquired. Overexpression of RgLRR29 conferred resistance of R. glutinosa seedlings to root exudates, F. oxysporum and mixed treatment. These results indicated that the continuous proliferation of F. oxysporum supported by root exudates altered the expression patterns of RgLRRs in R. glutinosa, then disordered the growth and development of R. glutinosa, finally leading to the formation of replant disease.
Hydraulic trade-off and coordination strategies mediated by leaf functional traits of desert shrubs
Authors: Huo Jianqiang , Shi Yafei , Chen Jiajia , Zhang Hongxia , Feng Li , Zhao Yang , Zhang Zhishan
Published: October 2022

Desert shrubs play important roles in desertification control and vegetation restoration, which are particularly affected by droughts caused by climate change. However, the hydraulic strategies associated with hydraulic functional traits of desert shrubs remain unclear. Here, eight desert shrub species with different life forms and morphologies were selected for a common garden experiment at the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert in northern China to study the hydraulic strategies mediated by leaf hydraulic functional traits. Diurnal leaf water potential change, leaf hydraulic efficiency and safety, hydraulic safety margin, hydraulic capacitance, and water potential and relative water content at the turgor loss point were observed to significantly differ among species, suggesting that leaf hydraulic functional traits were strongly associated with species even when living in the same environment. Additionally, shrubs with greater leaf hydraulic efficiency had lower midday leaf water potential and leaf hydraulic safety, suggesting that leaf hydraulic efficiency had a strong trade-off with hydraulic safety and minimum leaf water potential, whereas there was also a coordination between leaf hydraulic safety and the leaf minimal water potential. Moreover, shrubs with higher leaf hydraulic capacitance had greater hydraulic safety margins, indicating coordination between leaf hydraulic capacitance and hydraulic safety margin. Overall, this study indicated that minimal daily leaf water potential, as an easily measured parameter, may be used preliminarily to predict leaf hydraulic conductivity and the resistance to embolism of desert shrubs, providing critical insights into hydraulic trade-off and coordination strategies for native shrubs as priority species in desert vegetation restoration and reconstruction.
Research on Papua, a digital tool with artificial intelligence in favor of learning and linguistic attitudes towards the learning of the English language in students of Spanish language as L1
Authors: Peña-Acuña Beatriz , Crismán-Pérez Rafael
Published: October 2022

This study examines learners’ perceptions of the linguistic and learning potential of an AI-based English language learning app called Papua. The study took a quasi-experimental approach in which 128 students of the degree in Primary Education at the University of Huelva, Spain, gained experience of using the app over a six-week period, and then answered a questionnaire. This was of a quantitative design, and included the following components: attitudes towards learning English; attitudes towards learning oral and written skills, and towards opportunities for interacting in English; and attitudes towards the motivation provided by the app. These attitudes were contrasted according to the variables memory and self-evaluation. The results of the study showed that oral skills were perceived as the most improved skill. Participants also foregrounded the enhancement of memorization of vocabulary, and positively evaluated the self-evaluation feature included in the app.
Identifying the factors affecting strategic decision-making ability to boost the entrepreneurial performance: A hybrid structural equation modeling – artificial neural network approach
Authors: Feng Jiaying , Han Ping , Zheng Wei , Kamran Asif
Published: October 2022

This study builds a conceptual model of strategic decision-making ability that leads to entrepreneurial performance (EP) based on the two-system decision-making theory and logical analysis. An empirical approach using structural equation modeling – artificial neural network (SEM-ANN) was performed to describe the linear and nonlinear relationships in the proposed model. The empirical results reveal that strategic decision-making abilities are affected by five factors: attention, memory, thinking, emotion, and sentiment, and whose influence mechanisms and degrees are varied. Results also describe that these abilities have a positive effect on overall EP. Therefore, results suggest that businesses’ strategic decision-making is usually strengthened when entrepreneurs have a clear understanding of these influencing elements, and the interaction between them leads to improved performance.
Exploring the therapeutic mechanism of Baduanjin in the treatment of elderly stable angina pectoris based on the gut microbiota–lipid metabolism spectrum: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Jin Xiao , Yang Shengjie , Lu Jing , Li Yujuan , Zhao Yixi , Li Dan , Wang Xinyue , Liu Longtao , Wu Min
Published: October 2022

Importance

Stable angina pectoris (SAP) often occurs in the elderly and is relatively stable for 1–3 months; however, if patients do not receive effective treatment, life-threatening acute myocardial infarction could occur. Patients with different clinical types of coronary heart disease have different intestinal flora. Baduanjin, a traditional Chinese Qigong, has been used as adjuvant therapy to improve the symptoms of patients with SAP.

Objective

To determine the effect of Baduanjin exercise on the symptoms of patients with SAP and the intestinal flora, explore the action links and targets of Baduanjin intervention in elderly patients with SAP, and explain its mechanism.

Design

A single-center, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Patients and outcome assessors were blinded to group allocation.

Setting

The trial will be conducted at Guang'anmen Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

Participants

One hundred and eighty patients aged 60 to 80 years with stable angina pectoris (I–III) were intervened for 8 weeks and followed up for half a year.

Interventions

Among the screened patients, 180 patients will be randomly assigned to either the Baduanjin or the control group at a 1:1 ratio (exercise duration: for 3–5 times a week, for 8 weeks) of moderate-intensity Baduanjin or free activities.

Main and secondary results

The main result is the total effective rate for angina pectoris symptoms; secondary results include the duration of angina pectoris, number of angina pectoris episodes per week, nitroglycerin consumption, nitroglycerin reduction rate, Seattle angina score (SAQ), quality of life (SF-36),Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome scores, electrocardiogram (ECG) changes, blood lipid serum hypersensitive C-reactive protein levels, intestinal flora changes, serum changes in the intestinal flora metabolite Trimetlylamine oxide (TMAO), and non-targeted liposome detection. Adverse events will be recorded throughout the experiment, and the data will be analyzed by researchers who did not know about the assignment.

Discussion

This study provides compelling evidence for at-home use of Baduanjin exercise to relieve SAP-associated symptoms.

Trial registration

This study was approved by the ethics committee of Guang'anmen Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (2022-121-KY). The trial has been registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR2200062450).
Distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis ompA genotypes and its association with abnormal cervical cytology among women of reproductive age in Shenzhen, China
Authors: Liu Lan-lan , Sun Si , Zhang Li , Wu Qiu-hong , Tian Li-shan , Li Bo , Chen Xiang-sheng , Luo Zhen-zhou
Published: October 2022

Background

Many studies have focused on the distribution and specific clinical symptoms caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Still, relatively few studies have focused on the associations between Chlamydia trachomatis genotypes and cervical intraepithelial lesions.

Objectives

This study was conducted to determine the distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis genotypes and its associations with cervical intraepithelial lesions among women of reproductive age. The presence of other STIs coinfection was also evaluated.

Method

375 Chlamydia trachomatis positive cervical swabs collected from women of reproductive age were analyzed though molecular assay. Multivariate logistic regression analyses (covariates include contraception, gravidity (≥1), abnormal vaginal discharge, adverse pregnancy outcomes, reproductive tract symptoms and abnormal cervical cytology) were performed to evaluate the associations between Chlamydia trachomatis genotypes and cervical intraepithelial lesions and genital clinical symptoms.

Results

Among 375 Chlamydia trachomatis positive cervical swabs, the prevalence of coinfection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Candida albicans, Trichomonas vaginitis, Vulvovaginal candidiasis, and HPV were 0.8%, 2.7%, 2.4%, 10.1% and 15.5%, respectively. 306 were genotyped successfully, and nine genotypes were identified. The most common genovar was E (25.16%, 77/306), followed by J (22.55%, 69/306), F (17%, 52/306), D (14.4%, 44/306), K (7.2%, 22/306), G (6.9%, 21/306), H (5.2%, 16/306), B (1.0%, 3/306), Ia (0.7%, 2/306). Genotype H was associated with abnormal cervical cytology [p = 0.006, aOR = 8.16 (1.86–36.6)]. However, this study observed no association between Chlamydia trachomatis genotypes and any genital clinical symptoms.

Conclusions

Chlamydia trachomatis genotype H may be a high risk factor for cervical intraepithelial lesions, which is useful for treatment and management measures for patients with cervical intraepithelial lesions.
Early life environmental antibiotic exposure and preschool allergic diseases: A biomonitoring-based prospective study in eastern China
Authors: Zheng Hang , Zeng Xinxin , Xie Qiuling , Wu Yuhang , Liu Quanhua , Chen Qian , Huang Lisu , Zhang Weixi
Published: October 2022

Background

Globally, the prevalence of allergic diseases remains high, as does the level of environmental antibiotics. It has been found that clinical antibiotic application may increase preschool allergy risk. However, few biomonitoring studies have been conducted about the association between early life environmental trace dose antibiotic exposure and preschool allergy.

Objective

To analyze the association between prenatal environmental antibiotic levels and allergic diseases using logistic regression models.

Methods

A total of 743 pregnant women and their offspring from the Shanghai Allergy Birth Cohort completed five years follow-up, and 251 mother-infant pairs were finally included. Maternal urine samples were collected for 15 antibiotic quantitative measurements using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The high-antibiotic group was defined as having at least half of antibiotics exceeding the median concentration. Allergic diseases were assessed by clinicians through clinical history, standardized questionnaires, and annual physical examinations until the age of five. Skin-prick-test (SPT) was performed at 5 years old.

Results

The incidence of allergic diseases was generally higher in the high-antibiotic than that in the low-antibiotic group. Compared to the low-comprehensive antibiotic group, children in the high-antibiotic group were weakly associated with allergic diseases but had a 6-fold increased risk of food allergens sensitivity (OR: 7.09, 95% CI: 1.59, 31.74). Association of above-median single prenatal antibiotic concentration exposure and allergic diseases was also observed (azithromycin and asthma, OR: 2.72, 95% CI: 1.15, 6.42; enrofloxacin and wheeze, OR: 2.22, 95% CI: 1.22, 4.05; trimethoprim and atopic dermatitis, OR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.08, 3.71). Moreover, children with higher prenatal norfloxacin levels were more sensitive to food allergens (OR: 5.52, 95%CI: 1.54, 19.71).

Conclusion

Early-life environmental antibiotic exposure may be correlated with an increased risk of asthma, wheeze, atopic dermatitis, and SPT positivity for food allergens in 5-year-old children.
Heart diseases, hypertension and effects of antihypertensive medications: Is hypertension a true risk factor of heart diseases?
Authors: Nawata Kazumitsu
Published: October 2022

Background

Heart diseases (HD) are the leading cause of deaths in the world. Many studies have been done on the relationships among hypertension, HD and antihypertensive medications. Most of the studies find that hypertension is a significant risk factor of HD, but there are some studies in which hypertension is not a risk factor. As antihypertensive medications are routinely prescribed to prevent HD, it is necessary to evaluate the effects of these and other risk factors of HD.

Data and methods

The relationship between hypertension and HD was analyzed using 6,773,464 medical checkups obtained from the JMDC Claims Database obtained from January 2005 to September 2019. Factors potentially affecting HD, including blood pressures (BP) and usage of antihypertensive medications, were evaluated using 2,861,769 observations. To avoid the causality problem, probit models were used to analyze the probability of an individual who had no history of HD at year t developing HD by year t + 1.

Results

A positive relation between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and HD was found in the equation without any other covariates. However, the significant relation between HD and BP disappeared when the models contained various other factors as covariates. When a 10-year age or longer interval was used in the model, a positive relation between the two variables was found, suggesting that SBP works as a proxy variable. Taking antihypertensive medications greatly increases the probability of developing HD in the next year. Higher levels of cholesterols decrease the probability of developing HD.

Conclusion

Unlike many previous studies, no significant relationship between HD and hypertension was found in the models containing multiple covariates. The accepted relation might actually be spurious, and it is important to select covariates carefully. Taking antihypertensive medications appears to increase the probability of developing HD in the next year, suggesting the need for further research and greater caution in the use of antihypertensive medications.
A cross-sectional study on the knowledge of and interest in Planetary Health in health-related study programmes in Germany
Authors: Klünder Vera , Schwenke Paula , Hertig Elke , Jochem Carmen , Kaspar-Ott Irena , Schwienhorst-Stich Eva-Maria , Stauch Lisa , Coenen Michaela
Published: October 2022

Planetary Health connects human health with the natural and anthropogenic systems on which it depends. Planetary Health education has been growing in a wide range of health-related disciplines, yet not been widely implemented in health-related university curricula. This cross-sectional study focused on students' knowledge of and interest in Planetary Health education in order to assess the relevance of Planetary Health and Planetary Health topics for university students and their fields of study. We surveyed 1,303 students enrolled in health-related programmes in Bavaria, Germany. Data was collected on students' previous knowledge of and interest in Planetary Health, as well as the relevance of different Planetary Health topics and students' willingness to select a Planetary Health elective within their study programmes. Descriptive statistics were calculated. The majority of participants (73.8%) had not yet heard of Planetary Health but were interested in learning more about this field (90.7%). Most participants considered Planetary Health as relevant to their field (81.6%) and would likely choose a Planetary Health elective (81.9%). Participants were most interested in topics about general associations between climate and health as well as its connections with mental health and (micro) plastics. There is an urgent need and high student interest to implement a Planetary Health module in health-related study programmes in order to move this topic more into focus for the next generation of students.
Conditional survival nomogram predicting real-time prognosis of locally advanced breast cancer: Analysis of population-based cohort with external validation
Authors: Meng Xiangdi , Hao Furong , Ju Zhuojun , Chang Xiaolong , Guo Yinghua
Published: October 2022

Background

Locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) is generally considered to have a relatively poor prognosis. However, with years of follow-up, what is its real-time survival and how to dynamically estimate an individualized prognosis? This study aimed to determine the conditional survival (CS) of LABC and develop a CS-nomogram to estimate overall survival (OS) in real-time.

Methods

LABC patients were recruited from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (training and validation groups, n = 32,493) and our institution (testing group, n = 119). The Kaplan–Meier method estimated OS and calculated the CS at year (x+y) after giving x years of survival according to the formula CS(y|x) = OS(y+x)/OS(x). y represented the number of years of continued survival under the condition that the patient was determined to have survived for x years. Cox regression, best subset regression, and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression were used to screen predictors, respectively, to determine the best model to develop the CS-nomogram and its network version. Risk stratification was constructed based on this model.

Results

CS analysis revealed a dynamic improvement in survival occurred with increasing follow-up time (7 year survival was adjusted from 63.0% at the time of initial diagnosis to 66.4, 72.0, 77.7, 83.5, 89.0, and 94.7% year by year [after surviving for 1–6 years, respectively]). In addition, this improvement was non-linear, with a relatively slow increase in the second year after diagnosis. The predictors identified were age, T and N status, grade, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER 2), surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. A CS-nomogram developed by these predictors and the CS formula was used to predict OS in real-time. The model's concordance indexes (C-indexes) in the training, validation and testing groups were 0.761, 0.768 and 0.810, which were well-calibrated according to the reality. In addition, the web version was easy to use and risk stratification facilitated the identification of high-risk patients.

Conclusions

The real-time prognosis of LABC improves dynamically and non-linearly over time, and the novel CS-nomogram can provide real-time and personalized prognostic information with satisfactory clinical utility.
A hybrid model of complexity estimation: Evidence from Russian legal texts
Authors: Blinova Olga , Tarasov Nikita
Published: October 2022

This article proposes a hybrid model for the estimation of the complexity of legal documents in Russian. The model consists of two main modules: linguistic feature extractor and a transformer-based neural encoder. The set of linguistic metrics includes both non-specific metrics traditionally used to predict complexity, as well as style-specific metrics developed in order to deal with the peculiarities of official texts. The model was trained on a dataset constructed from text sequences from Russian textbooks. Training data were collected on either subjects related to the topic of legal documents such as Jurisprudence, Economics, Social Sciences, or subjects characterized by the use of general languages such as Literature, History, and Culturology. The final set of materials used contain 48 thousand selected text blocks having various subjects and level-of-complexity identifiers. We have tested the baseline fine-tuned BERT model, models trained on linguistic features, and models trained on features in combination with BERT predictions. The scores show that a hybrid approach to complexity estimation can provide high-quality results in terms of different metrics. The model has been tested on three sets of legal documents.
On trust management in vehicular ad hoc networks: A comprehensive review
Authors: Che Haoyang , Duan Yucong , Li Chen , Yu Lei
Published: October 2022

Security issues have always posed a major threat and challenge to the Internet of Things (IoTs), especially the vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs), a subcategory of IoTs in the automotive field. The traditional methods to solve these ever-growing security issues in VANETs are mainly cryptography-based. As an effective and efficient complement to those solutions, trust management solutions and reputation models have been widely explored to deal with malicious or selfish vehicle intrusion and forged data spoofing, with the aim of enhancing the overall security, reliability, trustworthiness, and impartiality of VANETs. For the integrity of the article, this survey begins with providing the background information of VANETs, including the basic components and general architecture. Then, many attacks in VANETs are investigated, analyzed, and compared to understand the functional relevance of the following trust and reputation methods. Various approaches offer various countermeasures against these types of attacks. At the same time, the latest development of emerging technologies such as blockchain, software-defined network, and cloud computing opens up new possibilities for more and more promising trust and reputation management models and systems in VANETs. After that, the survey reviews the most important trust and reputation models and schemes which are widely mentioned in the literature based on our developed technique-based taxonomy, in contrast to the popular “entity-centric, data-centric, hybrid” taxonomy in the field, to adapt to the recent technological development of these management schemes in VANETs. Finally, discussions and speculations on the future direction of research into the trust and reputation management in VANETs are presented.
Infection of the oral cavity with SARS-CoV-2 variants: Scope of salivary diagnostics
Authors: Iyer Parvati , Chino Takahiro , Ojcius David M.
Published: October 2022

Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, have caused pandemics in the past two decades. The most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern can re-infect individuals who have been previously infected with other variants or had protection from vaccines targeting the original SARS-CoV-2 variant. Given the high risk of transmission of coronavirus via aerosols produced during dental procedures, it is important to understand the future risk of coronavirus infection for oral health professionals and to diagnose quickly early stages of outbreaks. Testing of saliva for coronavirus may be the least invasive and most convenient method for following the outbreak at the individual and community level. This review will describe strategies for diagnosis of coronavirus in saliva.
Evaluating bone quality and asymmetrical aplasia of the thoracic vertebral body in Lenke 1A adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using hounsfield units
Authors: Chen Taiqiu , Hu Wenjun , Peng Yan , Li Yong , Qiu Jincheng , Qiu Xianjian , Li Pengfei , Li Shaoguang , Liang Anjing , Gao Wenjie , Huang Dongsheng
Published: October 2022

Study Design

Retrospective analysis.

Objective

To evaluate bone quality and investigate asymmetrical development of the thoracic vertebral body in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) based on Hounsfield unit (HU) measurements obtained from computed-tomography (CT) scans.

Summary of Background Data

HU value demonstrated higher reliability and accuracy than the traditional method, indicating that they could be used to individually evaluate and effectively assess the bone quality of every vertebra in the CT films.

Methods

Total 30 AIS patients classified as Lenke Type 1A and 30 paired controls were included in this study. Regions of interest for HU value were measured on three horizontal images of the thoracic vertebrae. HU measurements of the whole vertebral body in each vertebra were obtained. Using HU value, we separately measured the concave and convex sides of each vertebral body in patients' group, as well as within the left and right sides in controls.

Results

In controls, the mean HU value of T1–T12 thoracic vertebral bodies was 240.03 ± 39.77, with no statistical differences among different levels. As for AIS patients, in the structural curve, the apical region had a significantly lower HU compared with the other regions, and asymmetrical change was found between the concave and convex sides, most significantly in the apical region. In the non-structural curve, the average HU value was 254.99 ± 44.48, and no significant difference was found either among the different levels of vertebrae or between the concave and convex sides.

Conclusions

Abnormal and asymmetrical changes in bone quality of the thoracic vertebral body in patients with Lenke 1A AIS were indicated. Low bone quality in the convex side of the structural curve indicated stronger internal fixation in surgery to correct the deformity.
Effect of maternal lactoferrin supplementation on iron contents and anti-oxidant capacity in Dahe black Pig neonates
Authors: Zhang Chunyong , Li Cenxi , Xing Xiaokun , Ji Peng , Li Meiquan , Pan Hongbin , Guo Rongfu , An Qingcong
Published: October 2022

Iron levels are closely related to animals' growth performance and anti-oxidant function. Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding glycoprotein, which can promote the absorption of iron and regulate immune function. This study aimed to clarify the effect of maternal LF supplementation on the iron metabolism of Dahe piglets. Sixty sows (Dahe black, parity 3-4, no significant differences in body weight) were randomly assigned to five groups: control (basal diet with no iron supplementation), supplemented 100 (LF1 group), 200 (LF2 group), or 300 (LF3 group) mg LF/kg in the basal diet, and the basal diet supplemented with 100 (Fe-Gly group) mg Fe/kg as ferrous glycine (Fe-Gly). The serum anti-oxidant parameters of the sows and neonatal piglets were determined. The iron contents, anti-oxidant gene expression levels, and Fe-acquisition genes were detected in the liver, heart, spleen, and other neonatal organs. The results indicated that (1) the LF3 group of sows had the highest serum and colostrum iron contents (P< 0.05). The maternal LF significantly promoted the iron stores in the heart, liver, spleen, and lung of piglets compared with Fe-Gly. (2) The maternal LF increased serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activities of sows. Compared with other groups, the total anti-oxidant capacity (T-AOC) activity of LF2 groups increased significantly (P< 0.05). (3) LF significantly increased piglet serum GSH-Px, T-SOD, and T-AOC activities (P< 0.05). (4) Gene expression levels of GSH-Px, and SOD in the duodenum and jejunum of the LF2 group were significantly higher than in the Fe-Gly group (P< 0.05), while the expression levels in the liver and heart were lower (P< 0.05). (5) The expression levels of hepcidin and LF in the liver and duodenum of the LF2 group were significantly higher than in the Fe-Gly group (P< 0.05). In conclusion, maternal LF supplementation showed remarkable effects on iron storage in neonatal piglets, and exhibited strong antioxidant activities, it is helpful to prevent the occurrence of iron deficiency, and improves the immune function of animals.
La importancia de la gestión ecoeficiente de los residuos en las organizaciones y sus factores de influencia
Authors: Vasquez-Reino Edgar Walter
Published: October 2022

El consumo no controlado y poco eficiente de los recursos naturales ha llevado, en los últimos años a la degradación constante del ambiente, hoy en día, la preocupación por este tema se ha convertido en tendencia mundial, es por esta razón, que las organizaciones se han visto en la necesidad de incluir en su planificación y objetivos estratégicos organizacionales, políticas que contribuyan al cuidado ambiental, de esta manera, se considera a la ecoeficiencia como una estrategia administrativa que lleva a las organizaciones hacia la sostenibilidad. El presente trabajo comprende una revisión bibliográfica sistemática de los diferentes artículos dentro de la temática de la ecoeficiencia, el objetivo de este documento es demostrar la importancia de la implementación de este concepto en las organizaciones, así en este contexto, se pretende también evidenciar lo trascendental de la gestión ecoeficiente de residuos, para este cometido se incluye varias herramientas utilizadas para su estimación, como es el caso de la metodología DEA y algunas de sus variaciones, los factores claves de influencia, sean estos organizacionales internos o del entorno, en diversos tipos de organizaciones y sectores regionales, empresariales, industriales y municipales, para todo esto, se utilizó publicaciones académicas en inglés y español obtenidas de bases de datos de Journal, EBSCO y de libre acceso como Google académico. De la revisión bibliográfica se obtuvo que: Environmental Science and Pollution Research, contiene el 16% de las publicaciones, Business Strategy and the Environment, con una media de 11,28, es la revista de mayor impacto, China es el país con mayor número de publicaciones con un 38%. Algunas regiones de varios países, municipios y diversos tipos de industria fueron los sectores organizacionales cubiertos por este estudio.
Análisis de la minería informal en la economía peruana periodo 2018 al 2022
Authors: Munsibay-Muñoa Manuel Alberto , Cavero-Egúsquiza-Vargas Lauralinda Leonor
Published: October 2022

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el impacto que causa la minería informal en lo económico, social y ambiental en el Perú del 2018 al 2022, la metodología utilizada es de tipo descriptivo con enfoque cualitativo, la técnica aplicada fue el análisis documental y el instrumento empleado fue la matriz de triangulación, que permitió recolectar y analizar los datos de artículos y documentos seleccionados obtenidos de la base de datos como Scopus, Web of science, Scielo, Redalyc y Proquest, abarcando temas relevantes sobre minería informal. Después de analizar la documentación se obtuvo como primer resultado que la minería informal impactó en la actividad económica, la recaudación tributaria y el nivel de empleo debido al proceso lento de formalización por parte del estado y como segundo resultado para inicios del 2022 se obtuvo que la expansión minera, como la minera artesanal, informal y la abiertamente ilegal cobró mayor importancia, sobre todo, la minería aurífera ocupando territorios e identificándose cuatro zonas con presencia de minería informal, como Puno, Madre de Dios, La libertad y el sur medio (Ica, Arequipa, y Ayacucho). Concluyéndose así, que el tema minero juega un rol importante en la economía peruana  contribuyendo así con un 12% al PBI, un 60% de las exportaciones y 21% del stock de inversión extranjera directa, generando negocios y mayor empleo en la actividad comercial y por otro lado, los mercados financieros peruanos estuvieron dispuestos a respaldar grandes inversiones y reformas estructurales en la minería, haciendo que, la economía tenga un crecimiento económico sostenido durante las últimas décadas.
Results of a Series of Epidemiological Investigations on Health Effects in Toner-Manufacturing Workers
Authors: Ogami Akira , Higashi Toshiaki
Published: October 2022

A cohort study spanning ten years was conducted to assess the health effects on toner manufacturing workers. A survey consisting of questions investigating subjective respiratory symptoms, current medical history, disease occurrence, dust exposure concentrations at the workplace, respiratory function tests, biochemical and immunological items in blood and urine, and a chest radiograph or chest computed tomography survey was conducted. The results of these surveys have been published in academic journals, and none of the surveys showed any findings suggesting significant health problems in the toner-worker group compared to the non-toner-worker group. The results suggest that the health risks associated with toner handling are not high when the work environment at the toner handling site is well controlled.
Near Real-Time Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Traffic Emissions in Bangkok Using Google Maps Application Program Interface
Authors: Naiudomthum Supiya , Winijkul Ekbordin , Sirisubtawee Sunicha
Published: October 2022

Traffic information from the distance matrix application program interface (API), which is a part of the Google Maps API service, was used to develop a near real-time traffic emissions inventory in Bangkok. The information provided includes distance and traveling time, which can be used to develop an Underwood traffic model for traffic volume estimation. The speed-dependent emission factors, road distance and traffic volume, which were estimated based on the distance matrix API, and fleet composition, were used to estimate carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions from eight types of vehicles, including passenger cars, motorcycles, pick-ups, taxis, vans, buses, tuk-tuks and trucks. On the weekend, in Bangkok, the traffic released 190 tons/day of CO, 34 tons/day of HC, 55 tons/day of NOx and 3 tons/day of PM. The traffic emissions on a weekday in Bangkok were 209 tons/day of CO, 39 tons/day of HC, 61 tons/day of NOx and 4 tons/day of PM. The spatial and temporal distribution of traffic emissions demonstrate that the area of highest traffic emissions was the center of Bangkok. Therefore, the Google Map API service can be used to develop near real-time traffic emission inventories.
Chemotherapy-Induced Toxicities and Their Associations with Clinical and Non-Clinical Factors among Breast Cancer Patients in Vietnam
Authors: Nguyen Sang M. , Pham Anh T. , Nguyen Lan M. , Cai Hui , Tran Thuan V. , Shu Xiao-Ou , Tran Huong T. T.
Published: October 2022

Understanding the burden and factors related to chemotherapy-induced toxicity is important in treatment planning for breast cancer patients. We conducted a prospective study among 396 newly diagnosed and chemotherapy-treated breast cancer patients recruited in two major cancer hospitals in northern Vietnam. Toxicities were captured through medical chart reviews and patient self-reports and graded using NCI CTCAE classification. Associations for sociodemographic and clinical factors with chemotherapy-induced toxicities during first-line chemotherapy were evaluated via multivariable logistic regression. Severe (i.e., grade ≥ 3) hematological (38.6%), and gastrointestinal (12.9%) toxicities were common. A pre-existing nephrological condition was significantly associated with the risk of severe hematological toxicity with adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of 2.30 (1.32–4.01). Patients living in rural areas had a lower risk of severe hematological toxicity (OR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.30–0.77). Patients diagnosed with stage II and stage III–IV had a lower risk of severe gastrointestinal toxicity with ORs and 95% CIs of 0.26 (0.12–0.59) and 0.47 (0.20–1.10), respectively. Triple-negative/basal-like subtype was associated with a higher risk of severe hematological (OR = 3.15; 95% CI, 1.56–6.34) and gastrointestinal toxicities (OR = 3.60; 95% CI, 1.45–8.95) comparing to hormone receptor (HR)-positive HER2-negative subtype. Further research investigating underlying mechanisms would facilitate the development and delivery of personalized treatment and care plans.
Non-Terrestrial Networks with UAVs: A Projection on Flying Ad-Hoc Networks
Authors: Nemati Mahyar , Al Homssi Bassel , Krishnan Sivaram , Park Jihong , Loke Seng W. , Choi Jinho
Published: October 2022

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) have recently attracted elevated levels of interest in large-scale and ever-growing wireless communication networks through the utilization of flying objects, e.g., satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles/drones (UAVs). Interestingly, the applications of UAV-assisted networks are rapidly becoming an integral part of future communication services. This paper first overviews the key components of NTN while highlighting the significance of emerging UAV networks where for example, a group of UAVs can be used as nodes to exchange data packets and form a flying ad hoc network (FANET). In addition, both existing and emerging applications of the FANET are explored. Next, it provides key recent findings and the state-of-the-art of FANETs while examining various routing protocols based on cross-layer modeling. Moreover, a modeling perspective of FANETs is provided considering delay-tolerant networks (DTN) because of the intermittent nature of connectivity in low-density FANETs, where each node (or UAV) can perform store-carry-and-forward (SCF) operations. Indeed, we provide a case study of a UAV network as a DTN, referred to as DTN-assisted FANET. Furthermore, applications of machine learning (ML) in FANET are discussed. This paper ultimately foresees future research paths and problems for allowing FANET in forthcoming wireless communication networks.
MFVT: Multilevel Feature Fusion Vision Transformer and RAMix Data Augmentation for Fine-Grained Visual Categorization
Authors: Lv Xinyao , Xia Hao , Li Na , Li Xudong , Lan Ruoming
Published: October 2022

The introduction and application of the Vision Transformer (ViT) has promoted the development of fine-grained visual categorization (FGVC). However, there are some problems when directly applying ViT to FGVC tasks. ViT only classifies using the class token in the last layer, ignoring the local and low-level features necessary for FGVC. We propose a ViT-based multilevel feature fusion transformer (MFVT) for FGVC tasks. In this framework, with reference to ViT, the backbone network adopts 12 layers of Transformer blocks, divides it into four stages, and adds multilevel feature fusion (MFF) between Transformer layers. We also design RAMix, a CutMix-based data augmentation strategy that uses the resize strategy for crop-paste images and label assignment based on attention. Experiments on the CUB-200-2011, Stanford Dogs, and iNaturalist 2017 datasets gave competitive results, especially on the challenging iNaturalist 2017, with an accuracy rate of 72.6%.