bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Machine learning model for predicting late recurrence of atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation
Authors: Budzianowski Jan , Kaczmerek-Majer Katarzyna , Rzeźniczak Janusz , Słomczyński Marek , Wichrowski Filip , Hiczkiewicz Dariusz , Musielak Bogdan , Grydz Łukasz , Hiczkiewicz Jarosław , Burchardt Paweł
Published: May 2023

Late recurrence of atrial fibrillation (LRAF) during the first year after catheter ablation is a common and significant clinical problem. Our study aimed to create a machine-learning model for predicting 1-year arrhythmic recurrence after catheter ablation. The study comprised 201 consecutive patients (age: 61.8±8.1; women 36%) with paroxysmal, persistent, and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) who underwent cryoballoon (61%) and radiofrequency ablation (39%). Five different supervised machine-learning models (decision tree, logistic regression, random forest, XGBoost, support vector machines) were developed for predicting 1-year AF recurrence after catheter ablation. Next, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were derived to explain the predictions using 82 parameters from clinical, laboratory, and procedural variables collected from each patient. The models were trained and validated using stratified 5-fold cross-validation, and feature selection was performed with permutation importance. The XGBoost model with 12 variables showed the best performance on the testing cohort, with the highest AUC of 0.75 [95% confidence interval 0.7395, 0.7653]. The machine-learned model, based on the easily available 12 clinical and laboratory data, predicted the late recurrence of AF up to 1 year after catheter ablation with good performance, which may provide a valuable tool in clinical practice for better patient selection and personalized atrial fibrillation strategy after the procedure.
Childbirth self-efficacy among pregnant women attending antenatal care in public health facilities in Arbaminch town, Southern Ethiopia 2023: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Simon Tesfahun , Fikadu Kassahun , Afework Bezawit , Alemu Habtamu , Kussia Begetayinoral
Published: May 2023

Background: Childbirth self-efficacy is pregnant women's perception of their ability to cope with labor stress. Low childbirth self-efficacy is linked to pain intolerance and poor labor progression, which increase the possibility of operative deliveries. However, Ethiopia has limited data. So, the aim of this study was to assess childbirth self-efficacy and its factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in public health facilities in Arbaminch town, Southern Ethiopia, in 2023.
Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 422 women from January 1 and January 30, 2023. A systematic random sampling technique was employed. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Modified short form childbirth self-efficacy inventory was used to score self-efficacy. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 27, was used for data management and analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each variable, and logistic model was used. Statistical significance was determined at a p-value of less than 0.05 and 95% confidence level.
Results: A total of 416 pregnant women participated in the study. Two hundred twenty eight (54.8%) of the pregnant women had a low childbirth self-efficacy. Age group in ≤24 years (AOR=3.80,95% CI:1.82-8), being primigravida(AOR=1.51,95% CI:1.10-2.86), unplanned pregnancy(AOR=1.67, 95% CI:1.02-2.70), poor social support(AOR=2.17,95%CI:1.09-4.30), having anxiety(AOR=1.30, 95% CI:1.10-3.64), having poor knowledge of childbirth (AOR=2.21, 95% CI:2.09-5.39), and sever fear of childbirth(AOR=6.40,95% CI:2.60-9.80) were statistically significant with low childbirth self-efficacy. Conclusions: The magnitude of low childbirth self-efficacy was high in the study area. Being primigravida, unplanned pregnancy, age ≤24 year, sever fear of childbirth, anxiety, never support from husband, poor social support, and poor knowledge were significantly associated to low childbirth self-efficacy. Therefore, giving special attention to these factors during antenatal care would be important.
The effect of health-related hardiness education in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders
Authors: XU Yafang , YUAN Li , ZHAO Yan , MA Yue , QUAN Chao , CAO Yanpei
Published: May 2023

BackgroundNeuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with both a long course and high disability rate. It can cause different degrees of neurological impairment, resulting in the increased perception of stress in the patient. Health-related hardiness is psychological defense against stressors in cases of illness. The study was to investigate the role of health-related hardiness between disability and perceived stress in NMOSD patients and conduct health-related hardiness education for NMOSD patients to observe changes in health-related hardiness and perceived stress.MethodsThe study investigated disability status, health-related hardiness, and perceived stress in NMOSD patients. The mediating effect of health-related hardiness between disability status and perceived stress was verified. Additionally, health-related hardiness education was used as an intervention to improve the health-related hardiess. The Extended Disability Status Score (EDSS), Health-Related Hardiness Scale (HRHS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to assess patient disability status, health-related hardiness, and perceived stress.Results128 patients were completed the investigation of HRHS, EDSS and PSS. 69 patients were enrolled in the health-related hardiness education study. NMOSD patients exhibited high levels of perceived stress. Health-related hardiness played a mediating role between disability and perceived stress, with mediating effect accounting for 12.7% of the total effect. After patients received health-related hardiness education, the score of health-related hardiness were significantly elevated and perceived stress scores were significantly lower.ConclusionHealth-related hardiness had a partial mediating effect between disability and perceived stress in NMOSD patients. Health-related hardiness education could effectively increase health-related hardiness, as well reducing perceived stress caused by NMOSD.
Ensuring the Accuracy of FE-based Nonlinear Dynamic Reduced-order Models
Authors: Xiao Xiao , Hill Thomas L , Neild Simon A
Published: May 2023

Numerous powerful methods exist for developing Reduced-order Models (ROMs) using Finite Element (FE) models. Ensuring the accuracy of these ROMs is essential; however, the validation using dynamic responses is expensive. In this work, we propose a method to ensure the accuracy of ROMs without extra dynamic FE simulations. It has been shown that the well-established Implicit Condensation and Expansion (ICE) method can produce an accurate ROM when the FE model's static behaviours are captured accurately. However, this is achieved via a fitting procedure, which may be sensitive to the selection of load cases and ROM's order, especially in the multi-mode case. To alleviate this difficulty, we define an error metric that can evaluate the ROM's fitting error efficiently within the displacement range, specified by a given energy level. Based on the fitting result, the proposed method provides a strategy to enrich the static dataset, i.e. additional load cases are found until the ROM's accuracy reaches the required level. Extending this to the higher-order and multi-mode cases, some extra constraints are incorporated into the standard fitting procedure to make the proposed method more robust. A clamped-clamped beam is utilised to validate the proposed method, and the results show that the method can robustly ensure the accuracy of the static fitting of ROMs.
Breast cancer survival and incidence of second primary cancers after 30 years in a randomized study of two versus five years of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy
Authors: Nordenskjöld Anna , Fohlin Helena , Rosell Johan , Bengtsson Nils-Olof , Fornander Tommy , Hatschek Thomas , Lindman Henrik , Malmström Per , Rydén Lisa , Wallgren Arne , Stål Olle , Nordenskjöld Bo
Published: May 2023

Background:
Tamoxifen is an established treatment for breast cancer, but its long-term effects on survival and on secondary cancers are not fully evaluated.
Material and methods:
We studied 30 years outcome of 4124 postmenopausal patients who were randomized to receive (totally) two or five years of adjuvant tamoxifen.
Results:
After 5 years of follow-up, when tamoxifen treatment was finished in both groups, until 15 years of follow-up, overall mortality (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.72 – 0.90, p< 0.001), breast cancer mortality for all patients (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68 – 0.94, p= 0.006) and breast cancer mortality for patients with estrogen receptor positive disease (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.55 – 0.83, p< 0.001) were significantly reduced in the five-year group as compared to the two-year group. After 15 years, the difference remained but did not further increase.
In the five-year group, the incidence of contralateral breast cancer was gradually reduced during the entire period of observation. The incidence of lung cancer was also reduced in the five-year group. In contrast there was an increased endometrial cancer incidence in the five-year group and for those receiving 40 mg of tamoxifen this incidence was further increased.
Conclusion:
Three more years of tamoxifen therapy reduced the risk of breast cancer mortality. The difference was established during the first 15 years after randomization. Moreover, the incidence of contralateral breast cancer gradually decreased for 30 years. The incidence of lung cancer was reduced in the five-year group. In contrast the incidence of endometrial cancer was increased.
Identifying potential compounds from Bacopa monnieri (brahmi) against Coxsackievirus A16 RdRp targeting HFM disease (tomato flu)
Authors: Punia Parveen , Prajapati Arun , Maitra Priyasha , Mishra Avinash
Published: May 2023

The most promising drug target to treat hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by coxsackievirus (CVA16) is RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). This study offered an in-silico pipeline to identify possible RdRp inhibitors against CVA16 RdRp. Here, 91 natural compounds derived from Bacopa monnieri (brahmi) were virtually screened against the RdRp of CVA16. Bacobitacin D, a hit screened in this study, exhibited eight hydrogen bonds with RdRp targeting catalytic site residues (Asp238 and Asp329). Later, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and MM/GBSA binding free energy calculations were performed with the top three hits selected on the exhaustive docking score (≤ -9.55 kcal/mole). Bacobitacin D showed the minimum fluctuation (< RMSD > = 0.75 nm, standard deviation = 0.02) over the 100 ns MD simulation time. However, the ΔGTOTAL binding free energy of Bacopaside IV was the lowest with − 23.70 kcal/mole while Bacobitacin D showed comparable ΔGTOTAL with − 19.14 kcal/mole. Later, the middle structures of the most populated cluster obtained from MD simulation were studied for the interaction. Bacobitacin D showed direct interaction with the catalytic residues (Asp238 and Ser289). This study proposed Bacobitacin D as active inhibitor against RdRp of CVA16 that need to be validated in an experiment to ascertain its inhibitory action.
The Effect of Modifying the Sitting and Getting up Method on Pain Intensity in Patients with Pes anserine tendinitis bursitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial Study
Authors: Farsad Faraneh , Moghimi Jamileh , Mirmohammadkhani Majid , Gholami Emad , Moazeni Marjan
Published: May 2023

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of modifying the sitting and getting up method on pain intensity in patients with Pes anserine tendinitis bursitis (PATB).
Methods: This randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 60 patients with PATB who referred to the rheumatology clinic of Semnan city (Iran) in 2020. The sampling method was convenience and eligible patients divided into two groups using a random number table (intervention group, n=30; control group, n=30). First, both groups were advised to lose weight and not to sit on two knees and cross-legged and strengthen the quadriceps muscle by lying on the flat surface for 3 seconds, repeating 30 times and 3 times a day. Then, the rheumatologist taught the intervention group to modify the sitting and getting up method in such a way that the leg is placed in a position where the tibia is in a neutral position and does not rotate outward. However, for the control group, only periodic examinations were performed. Finally, the severity of the knee pain based on visual analog scale (VAS) was measured 8 weeks after intervention for two groups. The data were analyzed using SPSS 24 software and P-Value <0.05 was considered as a significant level.
Results: There were no significant statistical difference between the two groups in terms of baseline variables (age, BMI, pain intensity, duration of osteoarthritis and duration of Pes anserine bursitis) before intervention (P-Value>0.05). However, Repeated Measure ANOVA test showed the mean of pain intensity in the intervention group is lower than the control group after intervention (P-Value<0.001).
Conclusions: This study suggests that modifying the sitting and getting up method can reduce pain intensity in patients with PATB. However, studies with a larger sample size are recommended.
Synthesis, solvatochromism and estimation of ground and excited state dipole moments of silylated benzothiazole dyes
Authors: Paczkowski Ingrid Maliszewski , Pluczinski Lidiane , Campo Leandra Franciscato
Published: May 2023

Dyes derived from benzothiazoles are an important class of heterocycles that have remarkable photophysical properties. New photoluminescent 2-phenylbenzothiazole derivatives containing different functional groups were synthesized in high yields and used for the synthesis of silylated derivatives. New photoactive structures were fully characterized and their photophysical properties were investigated. The absorption and fluorescence spectra of benzothiazoles in a series of organic solvents were evaluated. The results showed that benzothiazoles are strongly fluorescent showing absorption in the UV region and emission in the blue region with moderate quantum yields and high Stokes shift. The solvatochromism of benzothiazoles was investigated by Lippert and ET(30) Dimroth-Reichardt empirical solvent polarity scales for organic solvents. The dipole moments obtained by Bakshiev and Kawaski-Chamma-Viallet equations revealed that the excited states are more polar than the ground states.
Comparison of the dried properties of Ganoderma lucidum produced by the convective dryer and infrared dryer
Authors: Naseri Maryam , Movagharnejad Kamyar , Nanvakenari Sara
Published: May 2023

The Ganoderma Lucidum is known as a promising medicine that contains a high amount of antioxidants and calcium. The selection of appropriate drying process methods in food science has a chief role to reach the best final characteristics. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of air velocity and temperature in the convective dryer, sample distance, and infrared power in infrared dryers on the drying kinetics and quality of Ganoderma lucidum slices. In addition, Response Surface Methodology based on central composition design was used to optimize and analyze drying conditions. The ranges of temperature and air velocity were 40 to 60 C° and 0.5 to 1.5 m/s, respectively in the convective drying process while the range of distance and infrared power was 4 to 16 cm and 500 to 1500 W, respectively in the infrared drying process. It is worth mentioning that antioxidant and calcium contents were greatly enhanced during the drying procedures. Moreover, the values of the total color difference ranged between 8.21 and 19.66 for convective dryer and 8.14 and 28.85 for infrared dryer. A kinetic study indicated that dried samples by infrared dryer could rapidly reach equilibrium moisture content due to exposure to IR radiation. Consequently, the results indicated that the infrared dryer has better performance than the convective dryer regarding drying time, energy consumption, and amount of calcium and antioxidant.
An automatic control of robotic polishing for a compound surface composed of a plane and curved parts
Authors: Mahamed Hosham , Duan Jinjun , Dai Zhendong
Published: May 2023

The presented paper proposes a robotic polishing method for compound surface composed of plane and curved parts to increase quality, reducing cost, time and effort compared to manual polishing. The polishing approach is adopted based on the smooth trajectory planning, constant force algorithm, and modeling the removal profile depth. In order to generate a smooth polishing path that helps in stability and accuracy of motion during the polishing operation, a cubic B-spline interpolation curve with the harmonic model approach and Squad method were used. An online stiffness and reverse damping force (OSRDF) impedance controller supported by gravity compensation algorithm is used to to achieving a constant polishing force. Consequently, to evaluate the quality of a polishing results, the removal depth model is determined for plane and curved surfaces before and after polishing. The experimental studies were conducted to polish the manufactured box composed of resin material using the UR robot manipulator for validating the proposed method. The results of experiments proved the constancy of polishing force thanks to the OSRDF impedance controller with a small fluctuation directly proportional to the value of applied force. It also showed accurate equality of removal depth at the applied force of 20 N. The overall results explained that a presented polishing approach has a good capability to polish a compound surface with shiny appearance after painting.
Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Colonization in Simulated Vertical Root Fractures of Root Canals Filled with Various Obturation Materials using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy
Authors: Shlomo Elbahary , Dabaja-Shamiya Areej , Haj-Yahya Sohad , Kravchenko Elizabeth Priffer , Tsesis Igor , Rosen Eyal
Published: May 2023

Objectives: Vertical root fractures (VRF) can be a major challenge in root canal treatment due to bacterial biofilms' colonization of the fractures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the histological bacterial penetration and proliferation after sealing the simulated VRF with different intracanal sealing materials using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM).
Materials and methods: Sixty extracted human single-rooted premolars were used, and VRFs were created after root canal preparation. The canals were filled with either mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), gutta-percha (GP) with AH plus sealer, or GP with bioceramic (BC) sealer. Enterococcus faecalis bacterial infection was induced, and bacterial colonization was assessed in the dentinal tubules and simulated VRF.
Results: In the MTA group, there were significantly more dead bacteria in the dentinal tubules than live bacteria. The AH group had significantly more live bacteria than dead bacteria, and there were significantly more bacteria in the AH group compared to the BC and MTA groups. The study also revealed that bacteria can colonize the simulated VRF, from the part of the fracture to the outer surface.
Clinical relevance:
Understanding the pathological process following VRF and evaluating the ability of the VRF filling to prevent bacterial migration through the filled root end is crucial. Furthermore, quantifying the exact routes of microbial colonization, at the filling-dentine interfaces, and into the dentinal tubules, can provide valuable information to clinicians for selecting the appropriate root canal filling material to minimize bacterial colonization and improve treatment outcomes.
The Psychometric Properties of the Physical Resilience Instrument for Older Adults (PRIFOR): A Rasch Analysis
Authors: Fan Chia-Wei , Li Yueh-Ping , Chang Chia-Ming , Hu Fang-Wen , Lin Chung-Ying
Published: May 2023

This study aimed at testing the psychometric properties of the Physical Resilience Instrument for Older Adults (PRIFOR) scores among different treatment diagnoses of older patients. We recruited 413 hospitalized older patients with a medical diagnosis and 207 with a surgical diagnosis in a tertiary-care medical center. The Rasch analyses showed that all PRIFOR items were embedded within their belonged constructs, reflecting good construct validity and unidimensionality. Person and item separation reliability support the internal consistency of the studied samples and PRIFOR items. However, six PRIFOR items were found to have meaningful differential item functioning (DIF) problems among treatment diagnoses. The PRIFOR is a solid measurement and can be used for monitoring the status of older adults’ physical resilience. However, because six items were found to have meaningful DIF among treatment diagnosis groups, future studies should consider designing specific items for different patient populations to assess their needs in physical resilience.
The impact of number of steps on gastrointestinal activity-related artifacts in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy
Authors: Strok Anja , Novak Maja Dolenc , Salobir Barbara Guzic , Zaletel Katja , Stalc Monika
Published: May 2023

Objective. Various techniques have been used to reduce interfering extracardiac activity in myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of previously not specifically addressed monitored walking on the reduction of infracardial artifacts in the pharmacological stress Tc-99m tetrofosmin MPI with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to improve image quality.
Methods. The study was performed in 199 patients who were referred for routine 2-day stress/rest MPI and underwent pharmacological stress test. Patients were randomized into group A (n=95) and group B (n=104). Both groups were provided with a step-counter immediately after the radiotracer injection, but only group A was instructed to take at least 1000 steps before the imaging. Study participants received intervention only on stress day. Images were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively for the interfering extracardiac artifacts. Myocardial and abdominal activity were quantitatively assessed on raw planar images, and the mean myocardium-to-abdomen count ratios were calculated. In addition, the presence of interfering activity was assessed visually on reconstructed SPECT images. The amount of extracardiac tracer activity was scored from “no tracer activity” to “severe.” Moderate and severe subdiaphragmatic tracer activity was considered relevant for the interpretation of the myocardial perfusion scan.
Results. There were no differences in clinical characteristics between the two groups. Patients in group A walked more steps than those in group B, but there were no differences in acceptance rate between the two groups. There were also no differences in proportion of subdiaphragmatic activity with a score 2 or 3 between the groups. Number of steps had no effect on acceptance rate.
Conclusions. Walking at least 1000 steps while waiting on acquisition has no impact on the gastrointestinal activity related artifacts and acceptance rate of the scans after pharmacological stress in comparison to walking on own discretion. However, the use of pedometers encourages patients to walk while waiting for imaging. Further larger studies, which would compare a group with a higher number of steps (at least 3000 steps) and a sedentary control group, are needed, to address the impact of walking on gastrointestinal artifacts in MPI.
Trained immunity is not universal: oral heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis confers no protection against the non-enveloped Porcine Circovirus 2
Authors: Ferreras-Colino Elisa , Barasona Jose A. , Sibila Marina , Mazariegos María , Vaz-Rodrigues Rita , Cruz Fátima , Contreras Marinela , Garrido Joseba M. , Segalés Joaquim , Fuente José , Domínguez Lucas , Gortázar Christian , Risalde Maria A.
Published: May 2023

Background Trained immunity, the enhanced response of innate cells leading to an improved innate immune response, and antibodies against the glycan galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal), produced by animals unable to synthesize α-Gal epitopes, have been suggested to provide the host certain advantage in infections with enveloped viruses. Conversely, the evidence of protection against non-enveloped viruses attributed to the referred mechanisms remains scarce. Aiming to evaluate whether a heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis (HIMB) immunostimulant, which had proven to protect against related and non-related pathogens, confers an advantage against non-enveloped viruses, we performed an immunization and challenge experiment with porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) in swine. Sixteen piglets were randomly assigned to the immunized group (n = 8), which received two oral doses of HIMB with an interval of three weeks, or to the control group (n = 8). All animals were infected by intranasal inoculation with PCV-2 21 days later and euthanized at day 21 post-challenge.Results No differences in body weight and body temperature, viremia and viral burden in target tissues, antibody production and histopathological changes in target tissues were observed between the immunized and the control group. Overall, oral immunization with HIMB did not protect pigs against PCV-2 infection.Conclusions Our study suggests that HIMB confers no advantage against pathogens lacking α-Gal, mainly non-enveloped viruses such as PCV-2, in α-Gal-producing hosts, such as the swine.
Aortic Stiffness Effectively Risk Stratifies Diabetic Patients With Suspected Myocardial Ischemia Undergoing Vasodilatory Stress Perfusion Cardiac Magnetic Resonance
Authors: Pengyos Sukanda , Boonyasirinant Thananya , Kaolawanich Yodying
Published: May 2023

Background and aims Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) comprehensively assesses aortic stiffness and myocardial ischemia in a single examination. Aortic stiffness represents a subclinical marker of cardiovascular risk in the general population, including patients with diabetes mellitus. However, there is no prognostic data regarding aortic stiffness in patients with diabetes mellitus undergoing stress perfusion CMR.Methods Consecutive patients with diabetes mellitus with suspected myocardial ischemia referred for adenosine stress perfusion CMR with aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) during 2010–2013 were studied. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as the composite of cardiac mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), hospitalization for heart failure, coronary revascularization (> 90 days post-CMR), and ischemic stroke. The secondary outcome was hard cardiac events defined as the composite of cardiac mortality and nonfatal MI.Results A total of 424 patients (median follow-up: 7.2 years) were included. The mean PWV was 12.16 ± 6.28 m/s. MACE and hard cardiac events occurred in 26.9% and 9.4% of patients, respectively. Patients with elevated PWV (> 12.16 ms) had a significantly higher incidence of MACE (HR: 2.14, p < 0.001) and hard cardiac events (HR: 2.69, p = 0.002) compared to non-elevated patients. Multivariate analysis showed that PWV independently predicts MACE (p = 0.002) and hard cardiac events (p = 0.01). The addition of PWV conferred significantly increased incremental prognostic value over clinical data, left ventricular ejection fraction, myocardial ischemia, and late gadolinium enhancement for predicting MACE (incremental χ²: 10.29, p = 0.001) and hard cardiac events (incremental χ²: 7.32, p = 0.007).Conclusions Aortic stiffness by CMR independently predicts MACE and hard cardiac events and confers significant incremental prognostic value in patients with diabetes mellitus with suspected myocardial ischemia. Aortic stiffness measurement could be incorporated into a stress perfusion CMR protocol to improve risk prediction in this group.
Synthesis, spectra, crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, DFT calculations and molecular docking evaluation on novel mononuclearZn(II), Mn(III) and Co(III) Schiff base complexes derived from 2- hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde
Authors: parvarinezhad sakineh , Ramezanipoor Sahar , Kubicki Maciej , Salehi Mehdi
Published: May 2023

four novel complexes of bidentate Schiff base ligand derived from 2-hydroxy-1-(2-methoxyethylimino)-naphthalen (HL) were synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, FTIR, and UV–Vis spectroscopies. X-ray single crystal structures of Zn(II), Mn(III) and Co(III) complexes (1–4) have also been determined, and it was indicated that these Zn(II) and Co(III) complexes (1, 4) are in an octahedral geometry. Whereas, it was found that the Zn complex (2) in quite a regular tetrahedral environment. Also, Mn center in complex (3), is ligated by two azomethine nitrogen atom, two ligand oxygen atoms and one Cl atom of metal salt forming five coordinated tetragonal pyramid geometry around of the Mn atoms. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) of the complexes specifies an irreversible redox behavior for all complexes (1–4). Next, the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) was studied for all complexes to better understand and predict the reaction sites of electrophilic and nucleophilic attacks. Also, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to determine the optimal geometrical configurations, and comparison between experimental and theoretical data, and non-covalent interactions were determined by Hirshfeld surface analysis (HSA) using CrystalExplorer program. Also, finding binding affinity of complexes with protein (PDB ID: 4LXD) was also done using molecular docking.
Optimizing Diabetes Classification with a Machine Learning-Based Framework
Authors: Feng Xin , Cai Yihuai , Xin Ruihao
Published: May 2023

Background Diabetes is a metabolic disorder usually caused by insufficient secretion of insulin from the pancreas or insensitivity of cells to insulin, resulting in long-term elevated blood sugar levels in patients. Patients usually present with frequent urination, thirst, and hunger. If left untreated, it can lead to various complications that can affect essential organs and even endanger life. Therefore, developing an intelligent diagnosis framework for diabetes is necessary.Result This paper proposes a machine learning-based diabetes classification framework MOG. The framework includes using the mean, median joint filling method to handle missing values, using the cap method for outlier processing, and then proposing a diabetes classification model based on the Generative Adversarial Network for Diabetes Classification (DCSGAN), and finally using logistic regression to analyze the features in detail. The model was tested using the PIMA dataset and the diabetes dataset in the GEO database, achieving an accuracy rate of 98.37% for binary classification and 96.75% for ternary classification in the PIMA dataset, and better performance than traditional models in the data from the GEO database.Conclusion The experimental results show that the framework proposed in this paper can accurately classify diabetes and provide new ideas for intelligent diagnosis of diabetes.
Effect of vertical stress difference on hydraulic fracture characteristics of deep volcanic reservoirs
Authors: Qiu Guozhou , Chang Xin , Li Jing , Guo Yintong , Wang Lei , Guo Wuhao , Bi Zhenhui
Published: May 2023

A deep volcanic reservoir has high geostress, and the rock in the reservoir exhibits strong heterogeneity. Moreover, extensive natural fractures are distributed in the reservoir, and the hydraulic fracture propagation mode is unclear. A high-stress true triaxial hydraulic fracturing test was carried out on volcanic rock to study the influence of vertical stress difference under different maximum horizontal principal stresses on the fracture propagation characteristics. We studied the fracture characteristics using image processing and fracture characterization methods. The high-stress hydraulic fracturing test showed that the vertical stress difference mainly affected the direction of fracture propagation and fracture roughness. Less vertical stress difference implied chaotic fracture propagation, complex fracture network, and rough fracture surface. Hydraulic fracture interface characteristics indicated that the peak pump pressure linearly increased with an increase in the vertical stress difference. Moreover, the overall fractal dimension and crack width decreased and increased, respectively, with the increase of vertical stress difference, which were verified from the decreased fractal dimension of cracks and increased crack width at different positions, respectively.
The DoDo Experience: An Alternative Antiretroviral 2-Drug Regimen of Doravirine and Dolutegravir
Authors: Sammet Stefanie , Touzeau-Römer Veronique , Wolf Eva , Schenk-Westkamp Pia , Romano Birgit , Gersbacher Elke , Kastenbauer Ulrich , Boesecke Christoph , Rockstroh Jürgen , Scholten Stefan , Schneeweiss Stephan , Roider Julia , Seybold Ulrich
Published: May 2023

Background: Currently available antiretroviral 2-drug regimen (2DR) fixed dose combinations may not be suitable for specific situations including the presence of resistance associated mutations (RAM) or drug-drug interactions. Data on the use of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor doravirine (DOR) and the integrase inhibitor dolutegravir (DTG) as an alternative 2DR remain scarce.
Methods: People living with HIV with DOR+DTG as a 2DR are being followed in a prospective observational study.
Results: This analysis describes 85 participants with a median age of 57 years. Median CD4-nadir was 173/µl and a majority (66%) had a history of HIV-associated or AIDS-defining conditions. Antiretroviral history was mostly extensive, and documentation of RAM was frequent. Main reasons for choosing DOR+DTG were DDI (29%), tolerability (25%), and cardiovascular risk reduction (21%). Plasma viral load at switch was <50 cp/ml in all but 3 instances, median CD4 count was 600/µl. DOR+DTG was later changed to another regimen in 10 participants after a median of 265 days, the other 75 participants have remained on DOR+DTG for a median of 947 days.
Conclusion: DOR+DTG as a 2DR proved to be a durable treatment option even in extensively pre-treated individuals.
A scoping review to explore the materialisation of health system resilience across three Caribbean countries, Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Haiti: A protocol
Authors: St Louis Patricia , Wautié Alice , Makali Samuel Lwamushi , Radix Carlene , Paul Elisabeth
Published: May 2023

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic offers a window of opportunity for building resilient health systems. As such, it is important to use this opportunity to redesign, strengthen, and adapt health systems to meet current population needs. Health system resilience (HSR) is even more critical in Caribbean countries, which face health, environmental, and economic shocks and,in certain cases, political and social upheavals. This study aims to explore the extent to which Haiti, Dominica, and Saint Lucia have developed HSR into their respective contexts.
Methods: This study will consist of a scoping review of the available literature on HSR and/or health systemstrengthening (HSS) covering Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Haiti from 2010 to 2023. It will follow the five-point methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) and will answer the following question. What approaches, strategies or interventions contribute to building or strengthening HSR in dealing with shocks across these three countries? The perspectives, concepts, dimensions, and definitions from relevant scientific literature will be combined to generate the research equations. The papers identified via PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Google Scholar and OpenGrey will then be processed on EndNote and independently filtered by two researchers, reinforced by a third researcher in case of disagreement, according to the PRISMA method adjusted to scoping reviews. Following a deductive-inductive method, the material will be analysed thematically to identify the key approaches, strategies and interventions outlined in the retained materials.
Results: This scoping review intends to produce a preliminary assessment of how HSR is implemented in the three participating countries. It holds the potential to shed new light on the experiences of these three countries in their efforts to attain resilience in their health systems.
Conclusions: This study might offer insight into the role of stakeholders and processes activated for the achievement of HSR in the Caribbean. In addition, it provides the starting point for the development of a tool to understand and realise HSR tailored to the three countries.
Efficacy of Hydrotherapy on Arterial Blood Pressure in patients with peripheral artery disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Khushhal Alaa , Abdelaal Ashraf , Alayat Mohamed , Khaled Osama Ahmed
Published: May 2023

Background Hydrotherapy is an effective therapeutic modality in controlling pain and increasing blood flow, but its effect on Peripheral arterial diseases (PAD) is still unclear.Aim The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of hydrotherapy on the arterial blood pressure in patients with PAD.Method A systematic review searches were conducted on the PubMed, Scopus, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and EBSCO databases from 2015 till 2022. Studies were eligible if randomized controlled trails (RCTs) investigating the effect of hydrotherapy on arterial blood pressure in patients with PAD. Qualitative data was extracted from six studies. Methodological quality was used to assess the risk of bias using the PEDro scale.Results A Meta-analysis was conducted on 6 RCTs (214 patients: 204 patients with PAD and 10 healthy subjects) to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI), and overall effect size (ES) of the ankle brachial index (ABI), Systolic blood pressure (SBP), Diastolic blood pressure (DBP), 6-min-walk test (6MWT) distance, resting heart rate (RHR). The Meta-analysis showed that hydrotherapy had non-significant effects on the SBP (SMD 0.01 [95% CI -0.26-0.27]), the DBP (SMD − 0.18 [95% CI -0.58-0.22]), the ABI (SMD 0.08 [95% CI -0.57-0.73], 6MWT (SMD 0.45 [95% CI -0.19-1.08]), RHR (SMD − 0.19 [95% CI -0.52-0.14]).Conclusion The results of this review could not conclude the non-significant effects of the hydrotherapy in improving the SBP, ABI, DBP, RHR, and the 6MWT distance in patients with PAD.
Prediction of cutting performance using artificial neural network during buffered impact damper-assisted boring process
Authors: G Lawrance , P Sam Paul , Mohammed Jazeel , Gunasegeran Muthukumaran , Sudhagar P Edwin
Published: May 2023

In manufacturing industry tool vibration, tool wear and surface finish which considerably affects production and its costs. During boring process, overhanging length of the tool holder generates tool vibration which affects the quality of surface finish, hastened tool life, and further reduction in machine tool life. In order to enhance the cutting performance, buffered impact dampers were designed, developed and tested in this research work. A set of 27-run cutting experiment were conducted by varying particle size, material and filling. From the results it was observed that the performance of buffered impact damper shows a significant improvement in cutting efficiency when compared with standard tool holder. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to predict the impact of buffered damper on surface roughness, tool wear, tool vibration and cutting force. Results obtained in ANN model was compared with the experimental results for MSE, AAD, MAPE & R and it was observed that the experimental results concurred more with predicted results by using ANN.
Potentialities of Cellulose Nanofibers (CNF) in Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) Composites
Authors: Agnes Erick Afonso , Hillig Everton , Zattera Ademir José , Beltrami Lilian Rossa , Covas José António , Hilliou Loic , Sousa João Duarte , Pequeneza Maria Leonor Calado , Pinto Mário
Published: May 2023

The growing demand for polymeric materials makes them significant in both industry and the environment, and the task of making them sustainable is becoming increasingly challenging. Cellulose presents an opportunity to minimize the effect of non-degradable materials. Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is part of a class of cellulose fibers with superior performance due to its high strength and stiffness combined with low weight and biodegradability. This work aimed to produce composites using Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) as matrix and CNF from Pinus sp. (Pinus) and Eucalyptus sp. (Eucalyptus) as reinforcement. The CNF were obtained by mechanical defibrillation of the cellulose, subsequently the water was removed by centrifugation to then produce a master with CNF and LDPE using a thermokinetic homogenizer. The master was milled and blended with LDPE to obtain booster concentrations of 1, 2 and 3 percent by weight (wt. %). To characterize the composite, tensile and flexural tests, thermal and rheological analysis were performed. As a result, an increase of between 3 and 4% in the crystallinity of the composite was evidenced with the addition of Pinus CNF and a reduction of 2 to 3% in the crystallinity index with the addition of Eucalyptus CNF. Thermal stability increased for all compositions. For mechanical properties, increasing the CNF content increased the stiffness and tensile strength. In general, it was found that the process is an effective alternative to produce composites of LDPE with cellulose nanofibers.
Hierarchical Existential Prior Based on Expanded Pseudo Label for Crack Detection
Authors: Fang Jie
Published: May 2023

Road crack detection approaches based on Image processing technique (IPT) have attracted much attention during the last decade for convenience and efficiency, but most of them can not achieve the expected performances due to the complex background interference and severe category imbalance of road images. This paper presents a hierarchical existential prior based on an expanded pseudo label for crack detection. Specifically, the framework contains three variants of UNet, and each sub-network is trained by pseudo labels generated by transforming semantic categories of non-crack pixels distributed in the neighborhoods of crack ones. Notably, the expansion degrees of labels for three sub-networks are set in hierarchical descending order. In other words, crack samples of the pseudo label for the latter sub-network are a subset of ones for the former one, and we define it as existential prior, which can optimize the network in a coarse-to-fine fashion and refine the detection result gradually. Besides, we utilize a hybrid loss consisting of IoU, SSIM, and Focal loss to optimize the network in different aspects, including image-aspect, patch-aspect, and pixel aspect in the training phase, which can improve the structural representation capability of the model. Additionally, we present a dynamic hyper-parameter adjustment strategy to balance the weight coefficients of different loss terms, which can enhance the robustness of the model for various practical scenes. Finally, the results on various datasets have demonstrated the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.
WITHDRAWN: Evolutionary Game Analysis of Civil Aviation Dangerous Goods Transportation Training Supervision and Management with the Participation of the Trainee's Unit
Authors: 沈 海滨 , 赵 胜男 , 袁 铭怿 , 王 悦颐
Published: May 2023

In order to ensure the safety of dangerous goods transportation in civil aviation and to improve the professional ability of practitioners, the supervision of such goods in transportation training has become a major concern for the industry in recent years. First, evolutionary game theory is used to construct a trilateral evolutionary game model of dangerous goods transportation training institutions, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), and the trainee's unit. Then, the stability of the three parties, under different strategies, is analyzed, and finally MATLAB software is used to conduct numerical simulation to analyze the influence of important parameters on the strategy selection, and to put forward targeted suggestions and measures. The results show that the system evolution is influenced by various factors, the CAAC and the trainee's unit improving the success rate of supervision and the reward-penalty intensity have positive effects on relevant subjects, and reducing the cost of supervision and the false reporting rate of the trainee's unit can improve the enthusiasm of participating in supervision.The findings of the study provide a theoretical basis for strengthening the supervision and the management of dangerous goods transportation training institutions.
Electrophysiological Activity Associated With a Cross-Modal Anapaest Rhythm: Evidence for the Vestibular Syncopation Hypothesis
Authors: Todd Neil P M , Keller Peter E , Govender Sendhil , Colebatch James G
Published: May 2023

We report an experiment that tested the vestibular syncopation rhythm hypothesis, which holds that the rhythmic effect of syncopation is a form of vestibular reflexive/automated response to a postural perturbation, for example during locomotion. Electrophysiological signals were recorded from the cerebral cortex and cerebellum during processing of rhythmic sequences in a sample of experienced participants. Recordings were made using four different stimulus modalities, auditory, axial, vestibular and visual, under different rhythmic timing conditions, irregular, regular and syncopated/uncertain. Brain current activity was measured using a 10 dipole source regions of interest model in each of the participants, each modality, each timing condition, and for each beat within the bar of the rhythm. The cross-modal spectral power in frontal EEG and cerebellar ECeG was also analysed. The results show that the brain activity increases from the irregular to the regular and then from the regular to the uncertain timing conditions. However, the vestibular modality induces the greatest total brain activity across the regions of interest, and exhibits the highest sensitivity to the interaction of beat structure with the timing conditions in both source currents and spectral power. These data provide further evidence to support the primal role of the vestibular system in rhythm perception.
Integer and fractional Chern insulators in twisted bilayer MoTe2
Authors: Mak Kin Fai , Zeng Yihang , Xia Zhengchao , Kang Kaifei , Zhu Jiacheng , Knuppel Patrick , Vaswani Chirag , Watanabe Kenji , Taniguchi Takashi , Shan Jie
Published: May 2023

Chern insulators, which are the lattice analogs of the quantum Hall states, can potentially manifest high-temperature topological orders at zero magnetic field to enable next-generation topological quantum devices 1-4. To date, integer Chern insulators have been experimentally demonstrated in several systems at zero magnetic field 3, 5-11, but fractional Chern insulators have been reported only in graphene-based systems under a finite magnetic field 12, 13. The emergence of semiconductor moiré materials 14, 15, which support tunable topological flat bands 16, 17, opens a new opportunity to realize fractional Chern insulators 18-20. Here, we report the observation of both integer and fractional Chern insulators at zero magnetic field in small-angle twisted bilayer MoTe2 by combining the local electronic compressibility and magneto-optical measurements. At hole filling factor v= 1 and 2/3, the system is incompressible and spontaneously breaks time reversal symmetry. We determine the Chern number to be 1 and 2/3 for the v=1 and v=2/3 gaps, respectively, from their dispersion in filling factor with applied magnetic field using the Streda formula. We further demonstrate electric-field-tuned topological phase transitions involving the Chern insulators. Our findings pave the way for demonstration of quantized fractional Hall conductance and anyonic excitation and braiding 21 in semiconductor moiré materials.