bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of physical activity on coronary heart disease risk factors among firefighters: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Achmat Ghaleelullah , Erasmus Charlene , Kanaley Jill , Leach Lloyd
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Physical activity interventions have been used for various health conditions, including cardiovascular disease. However, the literature is still limited regarding the effect of physical activity on coronary heart disease among firefighters.

Methods and analysis

The review will be conducted according to recommendations from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and PRISMA Protocol guidelines. This scoping review will provide a synthesis of current evidence on the effects of physical activity on coronary heart disease among firefighters. Search strategies will be performed in the following databases: Cochrane database, PubMed, Medline, (EbscoHost), Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL (EBSCO), SAGE journals, ScienceDirect and Scopus. We will include literature in the English language that are full-text peer-reviewed articles from inception to November 2021. Screening of (titles, abstracts and full text of potential articles) will be done by two independent authors using EndNote V.9 software tool. A standardised data extraction form will be designed for the extraction. Two authors will independently extract the data from the selected articles and all differences will be discussed by an invited third reviewer if a consensus cannot be reached. The primary outcomes will be the impact of physical fitness on firefighters experiencing coronary artery disease. This information can assist policy-makers in decision-making related to the use of physical activity in firefighters experiencing coronary heart disease.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical clearance has been obtained from the University ethics committee and the City of Cape Town. The findings will be disseminated through publications and the physical activity guidelines will be submitted to the Fire Departments within the City of Cape Town. Data analysis will start on 1 April 2023.
Preoperative hypoalbuminaemia in liver surgery: an observational study at a university medical centre
Authors: Kuhlmann Anna Dorothea , Spies Claudia , Schulte Erika , Jara Maximilian , von Haefen Clarissa , Mertens Mandy , Süß Laura Anouk , Winkler Nathalie , Lachmann Gunnar , Lachmann Cornelia
Published: May 2023

Objectives

Preoperative hypoalbuminaemia is associated with adverse outcome, including increased postoperative mortality in cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery, trauma and orthopaedic surgery. However, much less is known about the association between preoperative serum albumin and clinical outcomes after liver surgery. In this study, we sought to determine whether hypoalbuminaemia before partial hepatectomy is associated with a worse postoperative outcome.

Design

Observational study.

Setting

University Medical Centre in Germany.

Participants

We analysed 154 patients enrolled in the perioperative PHYsostigmine prophylaxis for liver resection patients at risk for DELIrium and postOperative cognitive dysfunction (PHYDELIO) trial with a preoperative serum albumin assessment. Hypoalbuminaemia was defined as serum albumin <35 g/L. Subgroups classified as hypoalbuminaemia and non-hypoalbuminaemia consisted of 32 (20.8%) and 122 (79.2%) patients, respectively.

Outcome measures

The outcome parameters of interest were postoperative complications according to Clavien (moderate: I, II; major: ≥III), length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, length of hospital stay and survival rates 1 year after surgery.

Results

Preoperative hypoalbuminaemia was associated with the occurrence of major postoperative complications (OR 3.051 (95% CI 1.197 to 7.775); p=0.019) after adjusting for age, sex, randomisation, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, preoperative diagnosis and Child-Pugh class. Both ICU and hospital lengths of stay were significantly prolonged in patients with preoperative hypoalbuminaemia (OR 2.573 (95% CI 1.015 to 6.524); p=0.047 and OR 1.296 (95% CI 0.254 to 3.009); p=0.012, respectively). One-year survival was comparable between patients with and without hypoalbuminaemia.

Conclusions

We found that low serum albumin before surgery was associated with a worse short-term outcome after partial hepatectomy, which strengthens the prognostic value of serum albumin in the setting of liver surgery.

Trial registration numbers

ISRCTN18978802and EudraCT 2008-007237-47.
Development and validation of a novel nomogram of 1-year mortality in the elderly with hip fracture: a study of the MIMIC-III database
Authors: Chen Qian , Hao Peng , Wong Chipiu , Zhong Xiaoxin , He Qing , Chen Yantao
Published: May 2023

Objective

Hip fracture is a prevalent condition with a significant death rate among the elderly. We sought to develop a nomogram-based survival prediction model for older patients with hip fracture.

Design

A retrospective case–control study.

Setting

The data from Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III V.1.4).

Participants

The clinical features of elderly patients with hip fracture, including basic information, comorbidities, severity score, laboratory tests and therapy, were filtered out based on the MIMIC-III V.1.4.

Methods and main outcome measures

All patients included in the study were from critical care and randomly divided into training and validation sets (7:3). On the basis of retrieved data, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to identify independent predictive variables of 1-year mortality, and then constructed a risk prediction nomogram. The predictive values of the nomogram model were evaluated by the concordance indexes (C-indexes), receiver operating characteristic curve, decision curve analysis (DCA) and calibration curve.

Results

A total of 341 elderly patients with hip fracture were included in this study; 121 cases died within 1 year. After LASSO regression and multiple logistic regression analysis, a novel nomogram contained the predictive variables of age, weight, the proportion of lymphocyte count, liver disease, malignant tumour and congestive heart failure. The constructed model proved satisfactory discrimination with C-indexes of 0.738 (95% CI 0.674 to 0.802) in the training set and 0.713 (95% CI 0.608 to 0.819) in the validation set. The calibration curve shows a good degree of fitting between the predicted and observed probabilities and the DCA confirms the model’s clinical practicability.

Conclusions

The novel prediction model provides personalised predictions for 1-year mortality in elderly patients with hip fractures. Compared with other hip fracture models, our nomogram is particularly suitable for predicting long-term mortality in critical patients.
Barriers to, and facilitators of, eHealth utilisation by parents of high-risk newborn infants in the NICU: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Zhang Yao , Johnston Linda
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Parental presence in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been demonstrated to enhance infant growth and development, reduce parental anxiety and stress and strengthen parent–infant bonding. Since eHealth technology emerged, research on its utilisation in NICUs has risen substantially. There is some evidence that incorporating such technologies in the NICU can reduce parental stress and enhance parent confidence in caring for their infant.

Several countries, including China, restrict parental attendance in NICUs, citing infection control challenges, issues of privacy and confidentiality and perceived additional workload for healthcare professionals. Due to COVID-19 pandemic-related shortages of personal protective equipment and uncertain mode of transmission, many NICUs around the world closed to parental visiting and engagement in neonatal care.

There is anecdotal evidence that, given pandemic-related restrictions, eHealth technologies, have increasingly been used in NICUs as a potential substitute for in-person parental presence.

However, the constraints and enablers of technologies in these situations have not been exhaustively examined. This scoping review aims to update the literature on eHealth technology utilisation in the NICU and to explore the literature on the challenges and facilitators of eHealth technology implementation to inform future research.

Methods and analysis

The five-stage Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology will serve as the foundation for this scoping review. Eight databases will be searched for the relevant literature published between January 2000 and August 2022 in either English or Chinese. Grey literature will be manually searched. Data extraction and eligibility screening will be carried out by two impartial reviewers. There will be periods of both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Ethics and dissemination

Since all data and information will be taken from publicly accessible literature, ethical approval would not be necessary. A peer-reviewed publication will be published with the results of this scoping review.

Trial registration number

This scoping review protocol was registered in Open Science Framework and can be found here:https://osf.io/AQV5P/.
Anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women in low-income and middle-income countries: a comparative cross-sectional study
Authors: Chilot Dagmawi , Aragaw Fantu Mamo , Belay Daniel Gashaneh , Asratie Melaku Hunie , Bicha Mequanint Melesse , Alem Adugnaw Zeleke
Published: May 2023

Objective

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Design

Comparative cross-sectional study.

Setting

LMICs.

Participants

Reproductive-age women.

Primary outcome

Anaemia.

Methods

Data for the study were drawn from the recent 46 LMICs Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). A total of 185 330 lactating and 827 501 non-lactating women (both are non-pregnant) who gave birth in the last 5 years preceding the survey were included. STATA V.16 was used to clean, code and analyse the data. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with anaemia. In the adjusted model, the adjusted OR with 95% CI and a p value <0.05 was reported to indicate statistical association.

Result

The prevalence of anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women was found at 50.95% (95% CI 50.72, 51.17) and 49.33% (95% CI 49.23%, 49.44%), respectively. Maternal age, mother’s educational status, wealth index, family size, media exposure, residence, pregnancy termination, source of drinking water and contraceptive usage were significantly associated determinants of anaemia in both lactating and non-lactating women. Additionally, the type of toilet facility, antenatal care visit, postnatal care visit, iron supplementation and place of delivery were factors significantly associated with anaemia in lactating women. Besides, smoking was significantly associated with anaemia in non-lactating women.

Conclusions and recommendations

The prevalence of anaemia was higher in lactating women compared with non-lactating. Almost half of the lactating and non-lactating women were anaemic. Both individual-level and community-level factors were significantly associated with anaemia. Governments, non-governmental organisations, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders are recommended to primarily focus on disadvantageous communities where their knowledge, purchasing power, access to healthcare facilities, access to clean drinking water and clean toilet facilities are minimal.
Effectiveness and costs of a low-threshold hearing screening programme (HörGeist) for individuals with intellectual disabilities: protocol for a screening study
Authors: Schwarze Katharina , Mathmann Philipp , Schäfer Karolin , Brannath Werner , Höhne Phillip-Hendrik , Altin Sibel , Prein Lukas , Naghipour Awa , Zielonkowski Susanna Marie , Wasmuth Susanne , Kanaan Oliver , am Zehnhoff-Dinnesen Antoinette , Schwalen Anna Sophia , Schotenröhr Anna , Scharpenberg Martin , Schlierenkamp Sarah , Stuhrmann Nicole , Lang-Roth Ruth , Demir Muhittin , Diekmann Sandra , Neumann Anja , Gietmann Corinna , Neumann Katrin
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) often suffer from hearing loss, in most cases undiagnosed or inappropriately treated. The implementation of a programme of systematic hearing screening, diagnostics, therapy initiation or allocation and long-term monitoring within the living environments of individuals with ID (nurseries, schools, workshops, homes), therefore, seems beneficial.

Methods and analysis

The study aims to assess the effectiveness and costs of a low-threshold screening programme for individuals with ID. Within this programme 1050 individuals with ID of all ages will undergo hearing screening and an immediate reference diagnosis in their living environment (outreach cohort). The recruitment of participants in the outreach group will take place within 158 institutions, for example, schools, kindergartens and places of living or work. If an individual fails the screening assessment, subsequent full audiometric diagnostics will follow and, if hearing loss is confirmed, initiation of therapy or referral to and monitoring of such therapy. A control cohort of 141 participants will receive an invitation from their health insurance provider via their family for the same procedure but within a clinic (clinical cohort). A second screening measurement will be performed with both cohorts 1 year later and the previous therapy outcome will be checked. It is hypothesised that this programme leads to a relevant reduction in the number of untreated or inadequately treated cases of hearing loss and strengthens the communication skills of the newly or better-treated individuals. Secondary outcomes include the age-dependent prevalence of hearing loss in individuals with ID, the costs associated with this programme, cost of illness before-and-after enrolment and modelling of the programme’s cost-effectiveness compared with regular care.

Ethics and dissemination

The study has been approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board of the Medical Association of Westphalia-Lippe and the University of Münster (No. 2020-843 f-S). Participants or guardians will provide written informed consent. Findings will be disseminated through presentations, peer-reviewed journals and conferences.

Trial registration number

DRKS00024804.
Protocol for a prospective, longitudinal study of cognitive impairment in young patients with cancer: a multidisciplinary neuroscience approach (MyBrain)
Authors: Nordhjem Barbara Johanne Thomas , Tjørnlund Morten , Thomsen Birthe Lykke , Hjerming Maiken , Kjær Troels Wesenberg , Pappot Helle , Hjalgrim Lisa Lyngsie
Published: May 2023

Introduction

The aim of this research is to investigate young cancer patients’ cognitive functioning and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms when cognitive functions are impaired. The MyBrain protocol is a multidisciplinary study that investigates cancer-related cognitive impairment in children, adolescents and young adults, combining neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience and cellular neuroscience. The study is exploratory with a wide focus on trajectories of cognitive functions from diagnosis to the end of treatment and into survivorship.

Methods and analysis

Prospective longitudinal study including patients diagnosed with non-brain cancers at age 7–29 years. Each patient is paired with a control matched on age and social circle.

Primary objective

Evaluation of neurocognitive function over time.

Secondary objectives

Evaluation of self-perceived quality of life and fatigue, P300 in an electroencephalography (EEG) oddball paradigm, power spectrum in resting state EEG, serum and cerebrospinal fluid levels of biomarkers of neuronal damage, neuroplasticity, proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers and their association with cognitive function.

Ethics and dissemination

The study is approved by the Regional Ethics Committee for the Capital Region of Denmark (no. H-21028495), and the Danish Data Protection Agency (no. P-2021-473). Results are expected to guide future interventions to prevent brain damage and support patients with cognitive difficulties.

Trial registration number

The article is registered at clinicaltrials.govNCT05840575(https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05840575)
Vaccine Preventable Disease Seroprevalence in a Nationwide Assessment of Timor-Leste (VASINA-TL): study protocol for a population-representative cross-sectional serosurvey
Authors: Arkell Paul , Sheridan Sarah L , Martins Nelson , Tanesi Maria Y , Gomes Nelia , Amaral Salvador , Oakley Tessa , Solano Vanessa , David Michael , Draper Anthony D K , Sarmento Nevio , da Silva Endang , Alves Lucsendar , Freitas Carlito , Machado Filipe de Neri , Gusmão Celia , da Costa Barreto Ismael , Fancourt Nicholas S S , Macartney Kristine , Yan Jennifer , Francis Joshua R
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Historic disruption in health infrastructure combined with data from a recent vaccine coverage survey suggests there are likely significant immunity gaps to vaccine preventable diseases and high risk of outbreaks in Timor-Leste. Community-based serological surveillance is an important tool to augment understanding of population-level immunity achieved through vaccine coverage and/or derived from prior infection.

Methods and analysis

This national population-representative serosurvey will take a three-stage cluster sample and aims to include 5600 individuals above 1 year of age. Serum samples will be collected by phlebotomy and analysed for measles IgG, rubella IgG, SARS-CoV-2 antispike protein IgG, hepatitis B surface antibody and hepatitis B core antigen using commercially available chemiluminescent immunoassays or ELISA. In addition to crude prevalence estimates and to account for differences in Timor-Leste’s age structure, stratified age-standardised prevalence estimates will be calculated, using Asia in 2013 as the standard population. Additionally, this survey will derive a national asset of serum and dried blood spot samples which can be used for further investigation of infectious disease seroepidemiology and/or validation of existing and novel serological assays for infectious diseases.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval has been obtained from the Research Ethics and Technical Committee of the Instituto Nacional da Saúde, Timor-Leste and the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research, Australia. Co-designing this study with Timor-Leste’s Ministry-of-Health and other relevant partner organisations will allow immediate translation of findings into public health policy, which may include changes to routine immunisation service delivery and/or plans for supplementary immunisation activities.
Self-medication with over-the-counter drugs among consumers: a cross-sectional survey in a Southwestern State in Nigeria
Authors: Akande-Sholabi Wuraola , Akinyemi Olamide Olubodunde
Published: May 2023

Objectives

This study set out to assess the knowledge, perception and practices of consumers regarding self-medication with over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, the prevalence of risky practices and their associated factors in pharmacy outlets in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.

Setting

A cross-sectional study was conducted using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis were performed by using SPSS V.23 with statistical significance set at p<0.05.

Participants

658 adult consumers aged 18 years and above.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary outcome was self-medication, measured using the following question: A positive answer indicates a self-medicated participant. Do you practise self-medication?

Results

Respondents who had practised self-medication with OTC drugs were 562 (85.4%), of which over 95% were involved in risky practice. Consumers agreed (73.4%) that OTC drugs can be recommended by pharmacists and perceived (60.4%) that OTC drugs are harmless regardless of how they are used. Reasons for practising self-medication with OTC drugs include: if it is a minor condition, I can take the initiative (90.9%), visiting a hospital wastes my time (75.5%) and ease accessibility of the pharmacy (88.9%). Overall, (83.7%) respondents had good practices of handling and use of OTC drugs, while (56.1%) had good knowledge of OTC drugs and identification of OTC drugs. Factors associated with consumer handling and use of OTC drugs in self-medication were older participants (p=0.01), those with postsecondary education (p=0.02), and who possessed good knowledge (0.02), were more likely to practise self-medication with OTC drugs.

Conclusion

The study revealed a high prevalence of self-medication, good practices towards handling and use of OTC drugs, and moderate knowledge of OTC drugs by the consumers. This underscores the need for policy-makers to introduce measures to enforce consumer education by community pharmacists to minimise the risks of inappropriate self-medication with OTC drugs.
B lymphocytes in treatment-naive paediatric patients with lupus are epigenetically distinct from healthy children
Authors: Hui-Yuen Joyce , Jiang Kaiyu , Malkiel Susan , Eberhard Barbara Anne , Walters Heather , Diamond Betty , Jarvis James
Published: May 2023

Background

SLE is likely triggered by gene–environment interactions. We have shown that most SLE-associated haplotypes encompass genomic regions enriched for epigenetic marks associated with enhancer function in lymphocytes, suggesting genetic risk is exerted through altered gene regulation. Data remain scarce on how epigenetic variance contributes to disease risk in paediatric SLE (pSLE). We aim to identify differences in epigenetically regulated chromatin architecture in treatment-naive patients with pSLE compared with healthy children.

Methods

Using the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATACseq), we surveyed open chromatin in 10 treatment-naive patients with pSLE, with at least moderate disease severity, and 5 healthy children. We investigated whether regions of open chromatin unique to patients with pSLE demonstrate enrichment for specific transcriptional regulators, using standard computational approaches to identify unique peaks and a false discovery rate of <0.05. Further analyses for histone modification enrichment and variant calling were performed using bioinformatics packages in R and Linux.

Results

We identified 30 139 differentially accessible regions (DAR) unique to pSLE B cells; 64.3% are more accessible in pSLE than healthy children. Many DAR are found in distal, intergenic regions and enriched for enhancer histone marks (p=0.027). B cells from adult patients with SLE contain more regions of inaccessible chromatin than those in pSLE. In pSLE B cells, 65.2% of the DAR are located within or near known SLE haplotypes. Further analysis revealed enrichment of transcription factor binding motifs within these DAR that may regulate genes involved in pro-inflammatory responses and cellular adhesion.

Conclusions

We demonstrate an epigenetically distinct profile in pSLE B cells when compared with healthy children and adults with lupus, indicating that pSLE B cells are predisposed for disease onset/development. Increased chromatin accessibility in non-coding genomic regions controlling activation of inflammation suggest that transcriptional dysregulation by regulatory elements controlling B cell activation plays an important role in pSLE pathogenesis.
Fire blight susceptibility of select cider apple cultivars
Authors: Cline John A. , Beneff Amanda
Published: May 2023

There is increasing interest in growing apple cultivars ( Malus domestica Borkh.) of European origin for the production of hard cider in Canada; however, little is known about their susceptibility to fire blight (FB). FB can spread rapidly through apple (and pear) orchards causing extensive tree mortality and economic loss. Twenty-eight promising cider cultivars were evaluated over a 7 year period, and in their seventh year of production they were severely naturally infected by an Erwinia amylovora outbreak causing FB. Herein, we report the bloom and harvest dates and tree mortality that developed largely as secondary shoot blight in the summer of 2021. Overall, the cultivars could be classified according to relative susceptibility to FB, based on percentage tree mortality after 7 years: Enterprise (0%); GoldRush and Porter’s Perfection (<20%); Binet Rouge, Kingston Black, Cline Russet, Dabinett, Grimes Golden, Frequin Rouge, Crimson Crisp®, Cox Orange Pippin, and Muscadet De Dieppe (20%–40%); Calville Blanc d’Hiver, Bramley’s Seedling, Yarlington Mill, Michelin, Bulmers Norman, Stoke Red, Golden Russet, Breakwell, Esopus Spitzenberg (50%–90%); Brown Snout, Medaille d’Or, Michelin, Brown’s Apple, Sweet Alford, Tydeman Late, Ashmead’s Kernel, and Tolman (90%–100%). This study highlights the importance of selecting FB tolerant cider cultivars and following best management orchard practices to reduce the spread and prevent infection, which can be achieved by using FB-resistant rootstock, controlling rootstock suckers, FB prediction models, and limited use of antibiotics, biologicals, and careful nitrogen application to regulate tree vigor.
Laws matter: a foundational approach to biodiversity conservation in Canada
Authors: Swerdfager Trevor , Olive Andrea
Published: May 2023

This perspective essay examines the role of conservation law in contributing to biodiversity decline by exploring how current conservation laws exacerbate the challenges Canada faces. We contend that there are three intertwined foundation-setting functions of conservation law: they codify priorities and values, define and influence acceptable conservation behaviour, and drive the establishment of the institutions, programs, and governance arrangements of today’s conservation regime. We describe these functions and then assess whether conservation laws in Canada are adequately fulfilling the functions. We find that the federal conservation law regime is sub-optimal and likely incapable of halting and reversing the negative biodiversity trends. Based on this, we suggest a set of conservation legislative principles capable of catalyzing change and supporting the transition to a more sustainable conservation future.
Identifying latent activity behaviors and lifestyles using mobility data to describe urban dynamics
Authors: Yang Yanni , Pentland Alex , Moro Esteban
Published: May 2023

Urbanization and its problems require an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of urban dynamics, especially the complex and diversified lifestyles in modern cities. Digitally acquired data can accurately capture complex human activity, but it lacks the interpretability of demographic data. In this paper, we study a privacy-enhanced dataset of the mobility visitation patterns of 1.2 million people to 1.1 million places in 11 metro areas in the U.S. to detect the latent mobility behaviors and lifestyles in the largest American cities. Despite the considerable complexity of mobility visitations, we found that lifestyles can be automatically decomposed into only 12 latent interpretable activity behaviors on how people combine shopping, eating, working, or using their free time. Rather than describing individuals with a single lifestyle, we find that city dwellers’ behavior is a mixture of those behaviors. Those detected latent activity behaviors are equally present across cities and cannot be fully explained by main demographic features. Finally, we find those latent behaviors are associated with dynamics like experienced income segregation, transportation, or healthy behaviors in cities, even after controlling for demographic features. Our results signal the importance of complementing traditional census data with activity behaviors to understand urban dynamics.
Curvature-adapted submanifolds of semi-Riemannian groups
Authors: Camarinha Margarida , Raffaelli Matteo
Published: May 2023

We study semi-Riemannian submanifolds of arbitrary codimension in a Lie group [Formula: see text] equipped with a bi-invariant metric. In particular, we show that, if the normal bundle of [Formula: see text] is closed under the Lie bracket, then any normal Jacobi operator [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] equals the square of the associated invariant shape operator [Formula: see text]. This permits to understand curvature adaptedness to [Formula: see text] geometrically, in terms of left translations. For example, in the case where [Formula: see text] is a Riemannian hypersurface, our main result states that the normal Jacobi operator commutes with the ordinary shape operator precisely when the left-invariant extension of each of its eigenspaces has first-order tangency with [Formula: see text] along all the others. As a further consequence of the equality [Formula: see text], we obtain a new case-independent proof of a well-known fact: Every three-dimensional Lie group equipped with a bi-invariant semi-Riemannian metric has constant curvature.
A Novel Model Based on Deep Learning Approach Combining Data Decomposition Technique and Grouping Distribution Strategy for Water Demand Forecasting of Urban Users
Authors: Cao Zhang , Yan Hua , Wu Zhengping , Li Dong , Wen Bin
Published: May 2023

Urban user water demand prediction (WDP) is of significant importance for smart water supply system, which can provide a strong decision-making basis for the dispatching and management of smart water supply system. However, owing to the fluctuation, intermittence and nonstationarity of the user’s water consumption in urban buildings, it is extremely difficult to predict accurately. Therefore, a novel short-term WDP model (Singular Spectrum Analysis Convolutional Neural Network Bidirectional Gate Recurrent Unit, SSA-CNN-BiGRU) is proposed to promote the stability and accuracy of WDP, which successfully introduces organic combinations including deep learning, decomposition technique, and data partitioning policies into the domain of WDP. First, raw data are decomposed into components that carry distinct frequency signals for weakening its nonstationarity and complexity. Then, all the components are automatically divided into several groups using clustering algorithm based on their entropy, after which deep learning method is adopted to predict by groups. Finally, the predicted result of each group is summed up to be fused as the final value. To validate the predictive performance of SSA-CNN-BiGRU, real data have been selected for this study. In experiments, SSA-CNN-BiGRU achieved a fitting of 94.73%. Comparison by relevant evaluation metrics demonstrates that the proposed model exhibits superior performance, thus providing a more accurate basis for WDP.
Dynamical analysis of the Tsallis holographic dark energy models with event horizon as cut-off and interaction with matter
Authors: Astashenok A. V. , Tepliakov A. S.
Published: May 2023

The model of generalized Tsallis holographic dark energy (which is known to be particular representative of Nojiri–Odintsov HDE) with event horizon as cut-off is investigated using methods of dynamical analysis. We take into consideration possible interaction with dark energy and matter in various forms. Critical points are determined. Cosmological evolution of the universe depends from interaction parameters. If we use event horizon scale as cut-off quasi-de Sitter expansion is possible only for interaction of type [Formula: see text] (where [Formula: see text] is the Hubble parameter). For interactions [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] universe eventually stops ([Formula: see text]) or ends its existence in final singularity ([Formula: see text]). In the first case, fraction of dark energy tends to [Formula: see text] or constant value lesser than 1 because dynamical equilibrium between matter and dark energy is established on late times.
Cohen–Macaulayness of Nagata idealization
Authors: Ahmadi Maryam , Rahimi Ahad
Published: May 2023

Let [Formula: see text] be a commutative ring, [Formula: see text] an ideal of [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] a finitely generated [Formula: see text]-module. We consider the idealization [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] over [Formula: see text]. The goal of this paper is to investigate algebraic properties of [Formula: see text] that are related to those of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Specifically, we provide characterizations for the Cohen–Macaulayness, sequentially Cohen–Macaulayness, generalized Cohen–Macaulayness, and graded maximal depth property of [Formula: see text] with respect to [Formula: see text], in terms of the corresponding properties for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] with respect to [Formula: see text].
Epitaxial Growth of Semiconductor Quantum Dots: An Overview
Authors: Liu Hongfei
Published: May 2023

Quantum dots (QDs) play an important role in fabricating electronic, photonic, and optoelectronic devices with enhanced functions and performance. There are two typical epitaxial methods for growing semiconductor QDs, one is stress-driven self-assembly, i.e., Stranski–Krastanov (S–K), and the other is droplet epitaxy (DE). The former was developed faster in earlier years and usually referred to as conventional method while the latter has attracted increasing interest in recent years driven by increasing requirement for high quality QDs towards quantum computing applications. Physically, the nucleation of QDs in both methods are self-assembly surface reactions, which have limited site-control for nucleation on flattened substrate. Pre-patterning of substrate was developed to regularly locate the nucleation sites but may also cause undesired contaminations. Laser-interference-assisted growth has emerged in the past few years, which provides a non-contact in-situ patterning for the nucleation of QDs arrays. This overview provides a glimpse of recent advances in epitaxial growth of QDs towards their advanced photonic and optoelectronic applications.
Exploring Gaze-assisted and Hand-based Region Selection in Augmented Reality
Authors: Shi Rongkai , Wei Yushi , Qin Xueying , Hui Pan , Liang Hai-Ning
Published: May 2023

Region selection is a fundamental task in interactive systems. In 2D user interfaces, users typically use a rectangle selection tool to formulate a region using a mouse or touchpad. Region selection in 3D spaces, especially in Augmented Reality (AR) Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) is different and challenging because users need to select an intended region via freehand mid-air gestures or eye-based actions that are touchless interactions. In this work, we aim to fill in the gap in the design of region selection techniques in AR HMDs. We first analyzed and discretized the interaction procedure of region selection and explored design possibilities for each step. We then developed four techniques for region selection in AR HMDs, which leveraged users' hand and gaze for unimodal or multimodal interaction. The techniques were evaluated via a user study with a controlled region selection task. The findings led to three design recommendations and two proof-of-concept application examples.
Eyettention: An Attention-based Dual-Sequence Model for Predicting Human Scanpaths during Reading
Authors: Deng Shuwen , Reich David R. , Prasse Paul , Haller Patrick , Scheffer Tobias , Jäger Lena A.
Published: May 2023

Eye movements during reading offer insights into both the reader's cognitive processes and the characteristics of the text that is being read. Hence, the analysis of scanpaths in reading have attracted increasing attention across fields, ranging from cognitive science over linguistics to computer science. In particular, eye-tracking-while-reading data has been argued to bear the potential to make machine-learning-based language models exhibit a more human-like linguistic behavior. However, one of the main challenges in modeling human scanpaths in reading is their dual-sequence nature: the words are ordered following the grammatical rules of the language, whereas the fixations are chronologically ordered. As humans do not strictly read from left-to-right, but rather skip or refixate words and regress to previous words, the alignment of the linguistic and the temporal sequence is non-trivial. In this paper, we develop Eyettention, the first dual-sequence model that simultaneously processes the sequence of words and the chronological sequence of fixations. The alignment of the two sequences is achieved by a cross-sequence attention mechanism. We show that Eyettention outperforms state-of-the-art models in predicting scanpaths. We provide an extensive within- and across-data set evaluation on different languages. An ablation study and qualitative analysis support an in-depth understanding of the model's behavior.
Low-resource Multilingual Neural Translation Using Linguistic Feature-based Relevance Mechanisms
Authors: Chakrabarty Abhisek , Dabre Raj , Ding Chenchen , Utiyama Masao , Sumita Eiichiro
Published: May 2023

This article investigates approaches to effectively harness source-side linguistic features for low-resource multilingual neural machine translation (MNMT). Previous works focus on using various features of a word such as lemma, part-of-speech tag, dependency label, and so on, to improve translation quality in a low-resource scenario. However, these studies deal with bilingual translation and do not focus on using features in multilingual training setups. Our work focuses on this particular point and experiments with low-resource multilingual models incorporating source-side linguistic features. Although techniques for integrating features into an NMT model such as concatenation and feature relevance perform quite well in bilingual settings, they do not work well in multilingual settings. To remedy this, we propose the use of dummy features and language indicator features in MNMT models. Experiments are conducted on English to Asian language translation on a multilingual, multi-parallel corpus spanning English and eight Asian languages where for each language pair, the training data size does not exceed 20,000 parallel sentences. After establishing strong bilingual baselines using feature relevance mechanisms and multilingual baselines without any features, we show that our proposed dummy features and language indicator features, in combination with feature relevance mechanisms, yield significant improvements in BLEU points for all language pairs. We then analyze our models from the perspectives of model sizes, the impact of individual linguistic features, validation perplexity computed during training, visualization of the activations of the relevance mechanisms, and exhaustive tuning of hyperparameters. We also report preliminary results for multilingual multi-way models using linguistic features.
Attention-based Stacked Bidirectional Long Short-term Memory Model for Word Sense Disambiguation
Authors: Sun Yujia , Platoš Jan
Published: May 2023

Word sense disambiguation is a basic task in Natural Language Processing which aims to identify the most appropriate sense of ambiguous words in different contexts by applying algorithm models. In this work, we propose a model that uses a stacked bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory neural network and attention mechanism to determine the sense of ambiguous words. First, the stacked bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory is employed for deep embedding-based representation of sentences containing ambiguous words. Then, we utilize the self-attention mechanism to highlight the contextual features of ambiguous words, and then construct the overall semantic representation of sentences. Finally, the sentence semantic representation is applied to the multilayer perception classifier to generate the appropriate category of the ambiguous word sense items. This model is tested on the Semeval-2007 task-17: English lexical samples dataset and using examples of ambiguous words sourced from Oxford, Cambridge, and Collins dictionaries as extra test datasets. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated via comparison with existing word sense disambiguation approaches. Our experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms other word sense disambiguation methods in terms of the evaluation metrics (Average Accuracy, Micro F1-Score, Kappa, and Matthews Correlation Coefficient), and exhibits strong interpretability.
“Often People Don't Understand the Complex World”: How Local Governments Respond to Political Contestation About the Smart City
Authors: van Twist Anouk
Published: May 2023

Governments introducing smart city technologies increasingly encounter political contestation. The deliberative perspective aims to overcome contestation by seeking consensus through deliberation. The agonistic perspective critiques this deliberative perspective, arguing that emphasizing consensus-building in response to contestation can lead to a ‘post-political’ debate excluding certain citizens and opinions. This article presents an empirical assessment of this critique by analyzing governments responses to contestation about the smart city and its potentially depoliticizing implications. Therefore, 17 vignette interviews were conducted with civil servants working at major local governments in the Netherlands. The results reveal three depoliticizing responses in the smart city debate: (1) local governments aim to include everyone, but only if citizens act and behave in a way that they perceive as rational and reasonable; (2) local governments welcome a variety of viewpoints, but only if these views do not contradict what they see as the natural order and common sense; and (3) local governments allow for contestation, but only if it is perceived as being provided at the right time and in the right context. Two tentative explanations for depoliticizing responses are presented: a silent ideology within the government and a lack of practical methods to organize agonistic channels for engagement.
Investigation of the Amplified Spontaneous Emission Threshold of Cesium Lead Bromide Perovskite Quantum Dots at Different Excitation Wavelengths
Authors: Qaid Saif M. H. , Ghaithan Hamid M. , Aldwayyan Abdullah S.
Published: May 2023

The goal of this research is to see how excitation wavelength affects steady-state photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL), and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in CsPbBr3perovskite quantum dots (PQD). At PL and ASE, a plausible mechanism for explaining the excitation wavelength-dependent phenomena was proposed. The PL and ASE properties of CsPbBr3PQD as optical materials were examined experimentally at excitation wavelengths of 355–450 nm. An optical parametric amplifier system was used to accomplish optical pumping utilizing a laser pulse with a pulse duration of 70 ps. The ASE threshold was explored and compared the ratio of photons in the pump pulse to band gap energies. The excitation wavelength (λex) has a considerable influence on the ASE behavior, with high optical densities correlating to optimal excitation, as evidenced by the absorption spectrum, which has a larger absorption coefficient. Furthermore, the energy density at the ASE threshold was closely correlated with theλexfollowing the absorption spectrum. Also, it has been demonstrated that changing the excitation wavelength reduces the PQD PL lifetime. Finally, electron-hole pairs can be produced at a reasonable depth from the film’s surface using the appropriate excitation wavelength.
Introducing virtual classrooms for undergraduate physiology teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: acceptance by students and subjective impact on learning
Authors: Akhtar Nasreen , Kumar Aasheesh , Mattoo Bhawna , Deepak Kishore Kumar , Bhatia Renu
Published: May 2023

In the present qualitative study, we have conducted and validated an online physiology teaching platform at a medical college to continue medical education during the peak times of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged lockdowns. Furthermore, we have evaluated the effectiveness of online physiology teaching through multidimensional feedback from undergraduate MBBS students. It is experimental evidence of inadequate sustainability, moderate efficacy, limited application, and poor first-hand experience gained by the students in virtual physiology teaching in a preclinical and clinical setting.
The mast cell stimulator compound 48/80 causes urothelium-dependent increases in murine urinary bladder contractility
Authors: Jones B. Malique , Mingin Gerald C. , Tykocki Nathan R.
Published: May 2023

Urothelial cells are first responders to noxious contents of the urine. Our study demonstrates that the urothelium is not only a barrier but also a modulator of urinary bladder smooth muscle phasic activity and contractility independent of immune cell recruitment in response to an inflammatory insult.
Beating the heat: military training and operations in the era of global warming
Authors: Moran Daniel S. , DeGroot David W. , Potter Adam W. , Charkoudian Nisha
Published: May 2023

Global climate change has resulted in an increase in the number and intensity of environmental heat waves, both in areas traditionally associated with hot temperatures and in areas where heat waves did not previously occur. For military communities around the world, these changes pose progressively increasing risks of heat-related illnesses and interference with training sessions. This is a significant and persistent “noncombat threat” to both training and operational activities of military personnel. In addition to these important health and safety concerns, there are broader implications in terms of the ability of worldwide security forces to effectively do their job (particularly in areas that historically already have high ambient temperatures). In the present review, we attempt to quantify the impact of climate change on various aspects of military training and performance. We also summarize ongoing research efforts designed to minimize and/or prevent heat injuries and illness. In terms of future approaches, we propose the need to “think outside the box” for a more effective training/schedule paradigm. One approach may be to investigate potential impacts of a reversal of sleep-wake cycles during basic training during the hot months of the year, to minimize the usual increase in heat-related injuries, and to enhance the capacity for physical training and combat performance. Regardless of which approaches are taken, a central feature of successful present and future interventions will be that they are rigorously tested using integrative physiological approaches.
Reduced basal macrovascular and microvascular cerebral blood flow in young adults with metabolic syndrome: potential mechanisms
Authors: Carter Katrina J. , Ward Aaron T. , Kellawan J. Mikhail , Harrell John W. , Peltonen Garrett L. , Roberts Grant S. , Al-Subu Awni , Hagen Scott A. , Serlin Ronald C. , Eldridge Marlowe W. , Wieben Oliver , Schrage William G.
Published: May 2023

We tested the impact of insulin resistance (IR) on resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) in adults with metabolic syndrome (MetSyn). Using MRI and research pharmaceuticals to study the role of NOS, ET-1, or COX signaling, we found that adults with MetSyn exhibit substantially lower CBF that is not explained by changes in NOS or ET-1 signaling. Interestingly, adults with MetSyn show a loss of COX-mediated vasodilation in the anterior but not posterior circulation.