bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Surface Properties of Stainless Steel Coated by the HVOF Process
Authors: özbek yıldız , ipek ahmet
Published: June 2024

This study aims to investigate the microstructural and wear properties of WC-Co coating deposited by High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel Spraying (HVOF) by optimising powders with different content ratios. Stainless steel, which is widely used in the industry, was selected as the substrate for testing. The study looked into the parameters of the HVOF process, such as powder type, nozzle distance, and the number of passes. Two different powders were used as coating powder, one containing 50wt.% Sulzer Metco 5810 (WC, wt.%12 Cobalt powder) and 50wt.% Amdry 960 (Ni, Cr, Al), and the other containing 50 wt.% Woka 3653 and 50 wt.% Amdry 960. The coating layer was examined using SEM-EDS, and XRD analyses were applied to the coated surface. The hard phases occurred after the HVOF process, and the hardness values were measured on the cross-section of the coating layer. The coated surface's hardness was found to be increased by five times. The CSM wear tests machine examined the changes in the wear properties of stainless steel according to ASTM G133 standard. Both coatings positively affected wear, and the wear resistance of the coated surface was increased after the HVOF process. The friction coefficients of samples decreased after the coating process. SEM-EDS analyses of worn surfaces were conducted, and a 3D surface topography test was applied to worn surfaces.
Neuropsychological profile in a child with Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome: A case report
Authors: Covuccia Marilina , Spinelli Eleonora , Caravale Barbara
Published: June 2024

Introduction:
Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome (BOS) is a rare autosomal dominant genodermatosis caused by a mutation in the LEMD3 gene. While it primarily affects the skin with the development of connective tissue nevi, it can be associated with other conditions such as intellectual disability or developmental delay. These co-occurring conditions add complexity to the clinical picture and necessitate comprehensive evaluation and management strategies.
Case report:
We describe the clinical history of a 7-year-old male child diagnosed with BOS, exploring his neuropsychological profile and finding the presence of mild intellectual disability, impaired attentional abilities, and difficulties in language, motor coordination, and learning.
Discussion
Our findings support the hypothesis of the presence of neurodevelopmental disorders in children with BOS. However, further studies are needed to determine the existence and understand the nature of the possible link between these conditions.
Effect of metabolic bariatric surgery in patients with obesity aged 55 years or older
Authors: Lee Yoontaek , kim Sang Hyun , Park Young Suk , Lee Han Hong , Seo Ho Seok , Son Sang-Yong , Lee Chang Min
Published: June 2024

Many studies have reported the safety and efficacy of metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) in older patients. However, there are no such studies targeting East Asians. This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of MBS in older and younger populations with obesity by comparing and analyzing their postoperative outcomes. We reviewed the electronic medical records of 410 patients who underwent MBS in 2019, categorizing them into two age groups: ≥ 55 years and < 55 years. Older patients had lower mean body weight and higher rates of comorbidities such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus compared to younger patients. Despite these differences, there was no significant disparity in operative time, postoperative hospital stay, or post-operative complications between the groups. The one-year follow-up showed a significant difference in percent total weight loss, favoring younger patients, but no significant difference in percent excess BMI loss. Our findings indicate that MBS is safe for older patients in East Asia, offering acceptable weight loss outcomes and suggesting that age alone should not be a barrier to surgery.
How cytology and cytology-based HPV testing could assist clinicians in the diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Yang Xin , Cui Ying , Zhao Huan , Zhang Zhihui , Zhao Linlin , Yu Jing , Ni Xiaoguang , Guo Huiqin
Published: June 2024

Introduction:
Given the limitations of biopsy in the diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), we explored the diagnostic efficiency of cytology at the primary tumor site of HNSCC. In addition, p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC) can yield a false positive result in the detection of HPV status in HNSCC, so we sought to perform APTIMA HPV testing to improve the diagnostic accuracy for HPV status in HNSCC patients.
Methods
We categorized 151 enrolled HNSCC patients into two groups. The first cohort comprised 78 patients who underwent cytology examination at the primary tumor sites of HNSCC. The other cohort consisted of 132 patients whose HPV status was evaluated and whose cytology specimens underwent HPV APTIMA testing while their histologic biopsy specimens underwent p16 IHC. Patients with discordant Aptima HPV and p16 IHC results were reexamined with RNAscope assays.
Results
Among the 78 patients whose samples from the primary site of HNSCC underwent cytological examination, 71 underwent simultaneous pathological biopsy; due to sampling difficulties, the biopsy failed for the remaining 7 patients. There were 13 cases of HNSCC that could not be definitively diagnosed as SCC with preoperative biopsy. Of these 13 histologically underdiagnosed cases, SCC was ultimately diagnosed cytologically in six cases. Of the 7 patients whose preoperative biopsy failed, five were cytologically diagnosed with SCC. For all 132 HNSCC patients whose cytology specimens underwent HPV APTIMA testing, compared to p16 IHC, the APTIMA HPV test had greater specificity and positive predictive values (98.8% and 98.0% vs. 89.2% and 84.5%, p2 = 0.018, p3 = 0.020) and similar sensitivity and negative predictive values (98.0% and 98.8% vs. 100% and 100%, p1 = 1.000, p4 = 1.000).
Conclusion
Cytological examination can complement preoperative pathological biopsy in the diagnosis of HNSCC at the primary tumor site. Furthermore, cytology specimens could be utilized for HPV testing using the APTIMA HPV test to uncover potential errors in p16 IHC results on biopsy samples, allowing a more precise diagnosis and treatment of HNSCC.
Mechanism of Transplanted Novel Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells with High Cytokine Secretion for the Treatment of Vaginitis
Authors: Cheng Yanwen , He Zi , Zhou Hui , Han Xinye , An Yihua
Published: June 2024

Objective: Vaginitis, characterised by inflammation of the vagina, is commonly caused by bacterial, fungal or parasitic infections and has a significant physical and psychological impact on patients. Stem cell therapy, particularly using cells with robust cytokine secretion, is a promising treatment approach. This study aims to investigate the mechanism by which umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSC) can be induced to secrete elevated levels of cytokines for the treatment of vaginitis.
Methods: We developed a method to stimulate significant cytokine secretion in UCMSC. The optimal cell induction programme was identified through a comprehensive assessment of cytokine secretion capacity, secretion characteristics, cell phenotype, lipid formation capacity and safety profile of the cells before and after induction. We then applied the UCMSC induced to secrete increased levels of neurotrophic and immunomodulatory factors (UCMSC-NTF) in the treatment of a vaginitis disease model.
Results: Flow cytometric analysis revealed no significant differences in the expression of UCMSC phenotypic markers before and after induction. AAH-BLG-1 antibody microarray results showed a significantly higher level of cytokines secreted by the UCMSC-NTF group compared to the UCMSC group. In addition, the lipid-forming ability and cell proliferation activity of UCMSC-NTF showed improvement compared to the UCMSC group. The induced UCMSC-NTF was then used to treat the vaginitis model. Western blot analysis after cell transplantation showed a significant reduction in the expression levels of inflammatory factors in the UCMSC-NTF group. Immunofluorescence results showed significantly increased expression levels of COL I, CD31 and cytokeratin CK in the UCMSC-NTF group compared to both the UCMSC and sham groups. Regeneration and repair observed in the UCMSC-NTF group were significantly superior to the other control groups.
Conclusion: Induced UCMSC-NTF exhibit enhanced cytokine secretion and proliferative capacity. Transplantation of UCMSC-NTF not only reduced inflammation levels at the lesion site, but also facilitated vascular regeneration, epithelial tissue keratosis and type I collagen restoration. These combined effects contributed significantly to the improved regeneration and repair of the lesion site.
Efficacy of Bacillus subtilis BMT4i/Activated carbon composite for removal of diclofenac and carbamazepine from aqueous solution
Authors: Tiwari Chhaya , RAYCHOUDHURY TRISHIKHI , Bag Ramakrishna
Published: June 2024

Pharmaceutical contaminants (PhACs) have become a worldwide concern in the present scenario. It is considered a group of emerging contaminants and is ubiquitously found in different water bodies in higher concentrations, leading to the deterioration of the water quality and causing ecotoxicity to several non-target organisms. This study extensively evaluates the efficacy of the bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis BMT4i for removing two emerging PhACs, diclofenac (DCF) and carbamazepine (CBZ), from an aqueous solution. A series of batch experiments were conducted by keeping parameters similar to wastewater effluent to investigate the biodegradation of B. subtilis BMT4i in removing PhACs in real scenarios. The study showed that around 67% and 50% of DCF and CBZ were removed within 72 hours when PhACs were supplied as the sole carbon source. Moreover, in co-metabolism with other carbon and nitrogen sources, the percentage removal was enhanced by 20-30%. Further, B. subtilis BMT4i were immobilized on two activated carbons (ACs) i.e., ACEco, and ACDarco prepared from coconut shells and coal so that the composite could directly be used as a bioreactor. The biofilm formation over ACs was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results obtained with batch experiment showed over 85-100% removal of both PhACs in a short duration of 2 hours. Moreover, the column studies revealed that around 60-77% of 1 mg/l PhACs were removed by passing over 2 liters of PhACs contaminated water. Overall, the current study confirms that the B. subtilis BMT4i/ACs composite shows promising performance for removing selected PhACs from water.
High speed short electric arc deep hole drilling experimental study based on tube electrode
Authors: Hu Guoyu , Fu Fei , Zhang Shengsheng , Gao Wei , Zhang Junfeng , Wang Jiahao
Published: June 2024

To improve the machining efficiency and dimensional accuracy of deep hole drilling, a novel and efficient method of short electric arc drilling (SEAD) by tube electrode is proposed. However, due to the mismatch between excessive arc discharge energy and feed rate, efficient and high dimensional accuracy deep hole machining is fraught with difficulties. This paper reveals the SEAD mechanism based on pulsed power supply, and analyzes the voltage-current waveform and cross-section topography. In addition, the effects of different electrode polarity, voltage, pulse frequency, duty cycle and electrode feed rate on the material removal rate (MRR), relative electrode wear ratio (REWR), average diameter, taper and thickness of the recast layer are also investigated. Finally, an optimum parameters combination was obtained through process parameters optimization experiments, which confirmed the SEAD machining performance. The experimental results show that the SEAD achieved the highest MRR of 369.02 µm/s and the machining time was only 121.91 s with the optimal process parameters. The average diameter of the machined deep hole was 1264.56 µm, the depth was 44.99 mm, and the depth-to-diameter ratio was 35.57.
Microstructure, Magnetism and Electrical Transport Properties of Mn-Ni-Sn based Heusler Alloy Thin Films Grown Using RF Magnetron Sputtering: Consequences of Annealing Conditions
Authors: Verma Annu , Bhatt Komal , Tanwar Jai Dev , Kushwaha Pallavi , Tawale Jai Shankar , Siwach Praveen Kumar , Singh Hari Krishna
Published: June 2024

The study investigates the effects of annealing on the structural, morphological, magnetic, and transport properties of Mn-Ni-Sn-based Heusler alloy thin films grown by UHV RF Magnetron sputtering. A commercial target with the nominal composition Mn2
Ni1.6Sn0.4 was used, and the films were deposited on (001) oriented SrTiO3
substrates. Thin films were deposited at 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C and in situ annealing was done at the respective deposition temperatures for 6 hours. X-ray reflectivity indicated a deposition rate of »4 nm/min. The films exhibited B2 or L21-type structures, or a mixture of both, depending on the annealing temperature. At the highest growth temperature (800 °C), additional diffraction maxima between 40-45° were likely due to Ni3Sn or Mn3
Sn impurity phases, suggesting thermally activated decomposition. Surface microstructures consisting of dark and bright regions evolved from continuous to discontinuous morphology with the increase of the growth temperature. The bifurcation between zero field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled warming (FCW) curves decreased, and the magnetic moment increased with deposition temperatures up to 700 °C. The Curie temperature for all films was above room temperature. Films grown at 500 °C, 600 °C, and 700 °C followed the Bloch law below 143 K. However, the film grown at 800 °C, followed this law between 14 K and 75 K. Films grown up to 700 °C behaved like a local magnetic moment system, which is crucial for spin polarization in Heusler systems. Phase degeneration at 800 °C destroyed the half-metallic behavior. All films showed metallic behavior with different resistivity and temperature dependence. Residual Resistivity Ratio (RRR) values were 1.17, 1.51, and 1.64 for films grown at 500 °C, 600 °C, and 700 °C, respectively. The phase degenerated film showed the steepest decline in resistivity, with an exceptionally high RRR of approximately 956.59.
Do the children born after in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection have a poor intellectual performance? A prospective cohort study.
Authors: Zhou Wei , Song Zhiyi , Xue Xinyi , Li Fuxia , Hu Kuona , Hu Jingmei , Zhang Yang , Cui Linlin , Chen Zijiang
Published: June 2024

Background Assisted reproductive technologies have been proven to be associated with the increased risk of pregnancy complications such as gestational hypertension and neonatal disorders, which may have negative effects on offspring’s health. However, there is insufficient evidence to evaluate the intellectual performance of children born after ART.Research aim: To evaluate the intellectual performance of children born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).Methods This was a prospective cohort study performed at at the Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University. Children conceived by artificial insemination with donor sperm (AID) were enrolled as controls. Age and sex of children, maternal age, family income and education of parent and caregiver were used for propensity score matching in a ratio of 2:1. The total population consisted of 639 singletons aged 6–14 years old (426 in IVF/ICSI group, and 213 in AID group). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) Questionnaire was used for the evaluation of intellectual performance. Generalized estimating equation was performed to compare the WISC-IV scores between two groups.Results The total IQ scores, the verbal comprehension Index (VCI) and the perceptual reasoning Index (PRI) were all comparable between IVF/ICSI and AID group. But scores of the block design and digit span were both lower in IVF/ICSI group [block design: 12.6 ± 4.4 vs. 13.6 ± 6.5, adjustedβ(95%CI): -1.13 (-2.17, -0.08); digit span: 11.2 ± 3.5 vs. 12.2 ± 4.2, adjustedβ(95%CI): -1.07 (-1.75, -0.39)]. The results of subgroup analysis showed that the score of digit span were lower in both fresh embryo transfer(fresh ET) and frozen embryo transfer(frozen ET) group compared with AID group[fresh ET: adjustedβ(95%CI): -0.97 (-1.69, -0.24); frozen ET: -1.30 (-2.12, -0.49)], and the score of block design, matrix reasoning, coding were significantly lower in frozen ET group. The score of digit span were lower in both IVF and ICSI group[IVF: adjustedβ(95%CI): -1.15 (-1.87, -0.43); ICSI: -0.97 (-1.83, -0.11)], and the score of block design, matrix reasoning were significantly lower in IVF group.Conclusions Children born after IVF/ICSI have similar FSIQ scores compared with offsprings conceived by AID, but had a poor performance on block design and digit span. These conclusions still need to be confirmed in naturally conceived children.Trial registration N/A.
Generative AI in Assessment: AI Detectors and Implications for Practice
Authors: Liu Jingyi , Nie Youyan , Chua Bee Leng
Published: June 2024

Generative AI has garnered attention as a valuable tool in the field of education. However, educators have expressed concerns about the originality of texts submitted by students as assignments due to the potential use of generative AI in writing tasks. Texts in writing assignments can be categorized into three types: AI-generated, human-written, and mixed texts (a combination of AI-generated and human-written texts). The purpose of the current study is to address some concerns from educators on the detection of the texts submitted by students, i.e., the consistency in detection results and accuracy of the detection results. The subject of the current study was the texts submitted by students as assignments for a graduate course. Four detectors were used to analyze the texts. Our findings provided useful information for educators: 1) Within the same detector, the consistency of the detection results for three types of texts were all above 90%. 2) Among different detectors, the detection results of human-written texts exhibited the highest consistency, whereas mixed texts demonstrated the lowest consistency.3) For accuracy, AI-generated and human-written texts were higher than mixed texts. Implications for educational practice were discussed.
Health Catch-UP!: a realist evaluation of an innovative multi-disease screening and vaccination tool in UK primary care for at-risk migrant patients
Authors: Carter Jessica , Goldsmith Lucy P , Knights Felicity , Deal Anna , Jayakumar Subash , Crawshaw Alison F , Hargreaves Sally
Published: June 2024

Background
Migrants to the UK face disproportionate risk of infections, non-communicable diseases, and under-immunisation compounded by healthcare access barriers. Current UK migrant screening strategies are unstandardised with poor implementation and low uptake. Health Catch-UP! is a collaboratively produced digital clinical decision support system that applies current guidelines (UKHSA and NICE) to provide primary care professionals with individualised multi-disease screening (7 infectious diseases/blood-borne viruses, 3 chronic parasitic infections, 3 non-communicable disease or risk factors) and catch-up vaccination prompts for migrant patients, which needs evaluating as part of a complex intervention to explore effectiveness and acceptability.
Methods
We carried out a mixed-methods process evaluation of Health Catch-UP! in two urban primary healthcare practices to integrate Health Catch-UP! into the electronic health record system of primary care, using the Medical Research Council framework for complex intervention evaluation. We collected quantitative data (demographics, patients screened, disease detection and catch-up vaccination rates) and qualitative participant interviews to explore acceptability and feasibility.
Results
99 migrants were assessed by Health Catch-UP! across two sites (S1, S2). 96.0 % (n=97) had complete demographics coding with Asia 31.3 % (n= 31) and Africa 25.2% (n=25) the most common continents of birth (S1 n=92 [48.9% female (n=44); mean age 60.6 years (SD 14.26)]; and S2 n=7 [85.7% male (n=6); mean age 39.4 years (SD16.97)]. 61.6% (n=61) of participants were eligible for screening for at least one condition and uptake of screening was high 86.9% (n= 53). Twelve new conditions were identified (12.1% of study population) including hepatitis C (n=1), hypercholesteraemia (n= 6), pre-diabetes (n=4) and diabetes (n=1). Health Catch-UP! identified that 100% (n=99) of patients had no immunisations recorded; however, subsequent catch-up vaccination uptake was poor (2.0%, n=1). Qualitative data supported acceptability and feasibility of Health Catch-UP! from staff and patient perspectives, and recommended Health Catch-UP! integration into routine care (e.g. NHS health checks) but required an implementation package including staff and patient support materials, standardised care pathways (screening and catch-up vaccination, laboratory, and management), and financial incentivisation.
Conclusions
Clinical Decision Support Systems like Health Catch-UP! can improve disease detection and implementation of screening guidance for migrant patients but require robust testing, resourcing, and an effective implementation package to support both patients and staff.
Neonatal Amygdala Volumes, Procedural Pain and the Association with Social-Emotional Development in Children Born Very Preterm
Authors: Mueller Megan E. , Graz Myriam Bickle , Truttmann Anita C. , Schneider Juliane , Duerden Emma G.
Published: June 2024

Very preterm birth is associated with later social-emotional impairments, which may result from enhanced vulnerability of the limbic system during this period of heightened susceptibility in early life. In a prospective cohort study, neonates born very preterm (< 30 weeks’ gestation) underwent MRI scanning at term-equivalent age (TEA) and clinical data were collected. Procedural pain was operationalized as the number of skin breaking procedures. Amygdala volumes were automatically extracted. The Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire was used to assess social-emotional outcomes at 5 years of age. General Linear Models were employed to examine the association between neonatal amygdala volumes and social-emotional outcomes, with the timing of procedural pain exposure employed as a moderator in subsequent models. 42 preterm infants were recruited. Larger right amygdala volumes at TEA were associated with impaired prosocial behaviour. Procedural pain was found to moderate the relationship between right amygdala volumes and conduct problems, such that early or late skin breaking procedures experienced within the first few weeks of life strengthened this association. Examination of sensitive windows when the developing brain may be most vulnerable to the adverse effects of procedural pain may inform pain management practices to improve social-emotional outcomes in this population.
Conducting Technology Research in Long-Term Care Homes: Critical Reflections from Pan-Canadian Researchers
Authors: Hung Lillian , Wong Joey , Bharucha Haniya , Ren Lily Haopu , Chu Charlene
Published: June 2024

BackgroundThe global population of older adults is growing, presenting opportunities to enhance care in long-term care homes (LTCHs). Technological advancements offer the potential to address healthcare challenges, such as improving residents' quality of life and social connectedness. However, there is often a mismatch between developed technologies and the actual needs of residents and staff, leading to poor adoption and sustainability. This gap underscores the need for research on developing and implementing technology in LTCHs. Researchers conducting these studies face unique challenges which need to be better explored in the existing literature. Understanding these challenges is crucial for enhancing technology adoption and ensuring its sustainability in LTCHs.MethodsThis study reflects on two technology implementation projects in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. Researchers from the Telepresence Robot and Mouvmat projects participated in four reflection sessions. The discussions were transcribed and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Our analysis by graduate students and nursing researchers in the team, identified themes and gained useful insight into their experiences, learnings, and recommendations.ResultsBoth projects aimed to enhance the quality of life for LTC residents. The Telepresence Robot project facilitated virtual communication between residents and their families, facing challenges such as training, staff shortages, and infrastructural limitations. Strategies included frequent check-ins with families, creating appropriate training materials, building trust with staff, and co-building solutions to infrastructural issues. Similarly, the Mouvmat project, a co-designed exergaming technology, dealt with recruitment challenges, staff shortages, and demographic changes in LTCH residents. The team used flexible recruitment strategies, virtual orientations, staff engagement tactics and personalized support. The lessons learnt highlighted the need for flexible and adaptive strategies in conducting research LTCHs.ConclusionThe two projects underscore the complex challenges of technology research in LTCHs. The study calls for structural support, partnerships between academics and practice, and efforts to combat ageism in technology use. Researchers need support for knowledge translation and sharing findings to highlight the value of staff participation and showcase research benefits. This reinforces the essential role of research in improving care quality in LTCHs.
A hierarchical roof control and pressure relief method for Gob-side Entry Retaining with Compound Roof
Authors: Dong Yu
Published: June 2024

Gob-side entry retaining is effective for preventing gas accumulation, extracting pressure relief gas, and removing gas from the goaf. This study, based on the No. 312 mining area of Longtan coal mine, aims to clarify roof cutting and pressure relief foundations, calculate key parameters, and propose a roof control method. Using field detection, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation, the dynamic response of roof drilling and fracture mechanics of hard rock strata were examined. Results indicate that the hard rock stratum dictates the pressure relief mode and difficulty. The failure zone distribution in the hard rock stratum is directly influenced by roof cutting borehole density. Consequently, pressure relief methods, key parameters, and roof control measures under different roof conditions were identified. Engineering applications and monitoring show that the hierarchical roof control and pressure relief method ensures rock stability and significantly enhances pressure relief and roadway retention efficiency.
Thiamine metabolism dysfunction syndrome type IV without encephalopathy: an atypical presentation
Authors: Malmurugan Yathwin Kanagavel , Immanni Ganga Pujitha , Pasupathy Umapathy , Rangasami Rajeswaran , Jayapalan Dinesh Kumar , Manokaran Ranjith Kumar
Published: June 2024

Background
Thiamine metabolism dysfunction syndrome type-4 (THMD-4) is an exceptionally rare autosomal recessive neuro-metabolic disorder characterized by febrile illness-associated episodic encephalopathy, bilateral striatal necrosis, and progressive polyneuropathy. It is caused by bi-allelic pathogenic variations in the SLC25A19 gene encoding the mitochondrial thiamine pyrophosphate carrier. THMD-4 typically presents with recurrent episodes of encephalopathy and weakness triggered by febrile illness, posing diagnostic challenges due to its rarity and variable clinical manifestations.
Case Presentation
: We report the case of an 8-year-old boy, developmentally normal, presenting with weakness in all four limbs following a febrile episode. Notably, the patient lacked altered sensorium. Clinical examination revealed distal muscle weakness, abnormal gait, and absent deep tendon reflexes. Neuroimaging demonstrated characteristic bilateral basal ganglia lesions. Genetic testing identified bi-allelic pathogenic variants in SLC25A19, confirming the diagnosis of THMD-4. Treatment with high-dose biotin and thiamine resulted in gradual improvement of weakness.
Conclusion
This case highlights an unusual presentation of THMD-4 characterized by the absence of typical encephalopathic features. Despite the atypical clinical manifestation, characteristic imaging findings and genetic testing enabled definitive diagnosis. Early recognition of diverse presentations of THMD-4 is crucial for timely intervention and prevention of neurological sequelae. Increased awareness among clinicians about the variable clinical spectrum of THMD-4 can facilitate prompt diagnosis and optimize patient outcomes.
A block upper triangular preconditioner for block three-by-three linear systems arising form the large indefinite least squares problem
Authors: Li Jun , Xin Kailiang , Meng Lingsheng
Published: June 2024

In this paper, to solve the large indefinite least squares problem, we first rewrite the normal equation of it as the sparse block three-by-three linear systems with non-singular diagonal blocks, then GMRES method is used to solve the linear systems. In order to make GMRES method converge quickly, a block upper triangular preconditioner is deduced. Theoretically, the iteration method under the preconditioner is unconditional convergent. Furthermore, the all eigenvalues of the preconditioned matrix are real number and located in a positive interval. Numerical results are provided to support the validity of the theoretical results and demonstrate the effectiveness of the studied precondition.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2010) 65F10 · 65F20
The host behaviour of two compounds, bearing tricyclic fused ring systems, in mixtures of cyclohexanone and its three isomeric methylcyclohexanones
Authors: Barnardo Brandon , Barton Benita , Hosten Eric C
Published: June 2024

Compounds N,N’-bis(9-phenyl-9-xanthenyl)propane-1,3-diamine (H1) and N,N’-bis(9-phenyl-9-xanthenyl)butane-1,4-diamine (H2) were assessed for their host behaviour in cyclohexanone (CYC) and 2-, 3- and 4-methylcyclohexanone (2MeCYC, 3MeCYC and 4MeCYC) through crystallization experiments from these potential guest solvents. It was thus shown that H1 possessed the ability to enclathrate CYC (only), while all four cyclohexanones formed complexes with H2. Thermal analyses and SCXRD revealed that those guest species residing in discrete cavities required more heat in order to be released from their crystals compared with those guests in channels. Furthermore, the thermally most stable complex of H2 was H2·4MeCYC, whilst the least stable one was H2·3MeCYC, as observed from the guest release onset temperatures through thermal analyses. The conformations of the host molecules were also investigated and compared. In H1·CYC, the nitrogen atoms of the diamino linker were involved in an intramolecular (host)N‒H···N(host) hydrogen bond which was absent in the complexes with H2. However, H2·2(CYC), H2·2(3MeCYC) and H2·4MeCYC all experienced strong intermolecular (host)N‒H···O(guest) hydrogen bonds which assisted in retention of the guests in the complexes; this interaction type was absent in both H1·CYC and H2·2(2MeCYC). Guest competition experiments showed that H2 possessed an affinity for, more usually, 3MeCYC, despite the complex of this guest with H2 being the least thermally stable one. Hirshfeld surface analyses, however, were not useful in understanding the host selectivity behaviour in these mixed guest solvents. Finally, it was concluded that, unfortunately, H2 would not be an appropriate host compound for these mixed guest separations through supramolecular chemistry strategies (the more usual fractional distillations are extremely challenging owing to similar boiling points) due to lower than required selectivities in these guest mixtures. (Note that H1 was not employed in analogous guest competition experiments due to its extremely slow crystal growth from these mixtures.)
g-C3N4@COF heterojunction filler for polymer electrolytes enables fast Li+ transport and high mechanical strength
Authors: Liu Yongbiao , Song Yang , Zhang Yongshang , Liu Jiande , Li Lin , Zhang Linsen , Du Lulu
Published: June 2024

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) show great promise for high-energy and high-safety lithium metal batteries. However, current SPEs suffer from low ionic conductivity and poor mechanical strength. Herein, the g-C3N4@COF heterojunction filler is constructed for SPEs for fast Li+ transport and high Li+ transference number. In addition, a robust 3D network is fabricated by using g-C3N4@COF heterojunction filler in order to further improve the mechanical robustness and electrochemical stability. As a consequence, the g-C3N4@COF-3D network/polymer electrolyte displays an ionic conductivity of 1.25×10− 4 S cm− 1 at 30℃, an electrochemical window of 5.0 V and the tensile strength of 8.613 MPa. Furthermore, assembled LiFePO4//Li battery with the g-C3N4@COF-3D network/polymer electrolyte presents remarkable cycling stability with capacity retention of 99.71% after 600 cycles. Above results indicate the great potential of the g-C3N4@COF-3D network/polymer electrolyte for advanced energy storage devices.
Quantum Visual Feature Encoding Revisited
Authors: Nguyen Xuan-Bac , Nguyen Hoang-Quan , Churchill Hugh , Khan Samee U. , Luu Khoa
Published: June 2024

Although quantum machine learning has been introduced for a while, its applications in computer vision are still limited. This paper, therefore, revisits the quantum visual encoding strategies, the initial step in quantum machine learning. Investigating the root cause, we uncover that the existing quantum encoding design fails to ensure information preservation of the visual features after the encoding process, thus complicating the learning process of the quantum machine learning models. In particular, the problem, termed ”Quantum Information Gap” (QIG), leads to a gap of information between classical and corresponding quantum features. We provide theoretical proof and practical examples with visualization for that found and underscore the significance of QIG, as it directly impacts the performance of quantum machine learning algorithms. To tackle this challenge, we introduce a simple but efficient new loss function named Quantum Information Preserving (QIP) to minimize this gap, resulting in enhanced performance of quantum machine learning algorithms. Extensive experiments validate the effectiveness of our approach, showcasing superior performance compared to current methodologies and consistently achieving state-of-the-art results in quantum modeling.
Environmental and socio-economic impact comparison of solar and hydroelectric systems: A case of a real investment
Authors: Aytac Ayca
Published: June 2024

Most of the energy produced from renewable energy sources in the world is generated from hydraulic and solar energy sources. This study compares the socio-economic and environmental impacts of hydroelectric power plants, which have the largest share in total energy production, and solar power plants, which have recently increased their installed capacity rapidly and will soon have the largest energy potential in the world. For this purpose, Cardakli Hydroelectric Power Plant (HEPP) and Ekinozu Solar Power Plant (SPP) projects, which have same installed capacity in Turkey, were analyzed in terms of (i) initial investment cost, (ii) energy production values, (iii) operating costs and (iv) socioeconomic and environmental impacts. As a result, it is concluded that solar power plants in Turkey are more advantageous than hydroelectric power plants due to ease of construction and operation, low environmental impacts, more secure energy income, low initial investment costs, high electricity sales prices, and short payback period.
Mineral Dissociation and Enrichment Characteristics of Apatite Pulverized by High-pressure Gas Rapid Unloading and High-Speed Impact Combined Effect
Authors: yongbo fan , Genghao Zhang , Shihai Li , Li Zhang , Jianqiang Guo , Chun Feng
Published: June 2024

Mineral dissociation and enrichment have always been the core issues in ore processing. The goal of multi-stage crushing and ball milling is dissociation because mineral dissociation is the foundation of beneficiation. High energy consumption and environmental pollution have always been unavoidable topics. We propose a novel method involving continuously graded apatite particles produced by high-pressure gas rapid unloading and high-speed impact. Particle size follows MR-R distribution. The scanning electron microscopy data shows that the apatite particles smaller than 4 mm produced by rapid unloading of high-pressure gas have completely dissociated, and high-grade apatite enriched in the particle size range of 0.5 to 4 mm. The average grade of the preferred particle size interval is 3–5% higher than the original ore because most impurity minerals become fine particles and separate from apatite. The quality proportion of particle size range of 0.5 to 4 mm is higher than that of particle size less than 0.5 mm. Dissociation degrees of apatite less than 4 mm are above 88%, which is beneficial for mineral processing.
Factors associated with anemia among pregnant and lactating women during the COVID-19 pandemic in the targeted municipalities of five selected provinces in Nepal: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Niraula Pratik , Upadhyay Atul , Karn Sanjeev Kumar , Karki Roman
Published: June 2024

Background: Anemia poses significant health risks, especially affecting women and children, leading to increased morbidity, mortality, and adverse birth outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated economic challenges and food insecurity, and weakened immune systems affecting vulnerable populations like pregnant, and lactating women, and children. This study aimed to assess factors associated with anemia among pregnant and lactating women during the covid-19 pandemic in the targeted municipalities of five provinces of Nepal.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from August, 2022-April, 2023 among 844 pregnant and lactating women (mean age 26.8±4.96 years) from five provinces of Nepal selected through cluster sampling. A semi-structured electronic questionnaire, a paper-based 24-hour dietary recall, and hemoglobin concentration in the blood were recorded. Bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regressions were used to estimate the crude odds ratios (cOR), and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results: The overall anemia prevalence was determined to be 41.2% with a mean hemoglobin level of 11.58 ± 1.59 g/dl. In the multivariate model, women aged 30-39 years (aOR = 0.667, 95% CI: 0.172-2.59) and pregnant women had lower anemia odds (aOR = 0.866, 95% CI: 0.645-1.162). Unskilled manual workers (aOR = 1.666, 95% CI: 0.708-3.924) and those with no formal education were more likely to be anemic (aOR = 3.251, 95% CI: 1.728-6.115). Anemia odds were higher for low-income (aOR = 1.601, 95% CI: 0.933-2.749, Muslim (aOR = 1.051, 95% CI: 0.577-1.916), Madhesi (aOR = 1.051, 95% CI: 0.577-1.916), Christian (aOR = 1.645, 95% CI: 0.683-3.960), and Buddhist (aOR = 1.497, 95% CI: 0.810-2.674) women. Women with low dietary diversity (aOR = 3.054, 95% CI: 2.248-4.15), not consuming fortified foods (aOR = 1.192, 95% CI: 0.689-2.065) and not consuming eggs (aOR = 1.23, 95% CI: 0.841-1.799) had higher likelihood of anemia. The study also revealed that the consumption of cereals and legumes remained unchanged, but a majority reported having a reduced intake of fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, and eggs during the pandemic.
Conclusions: A high prevalence of anemia, a severe public health problem, among the low-income pregnant and lactating women, with limited access to education and dietary diversity pointed out the urgent need for intervention to alleviate their nutritional and health status in targeted municipalities.
Entropy Based Blending of Policies for Multi-Agent Coexistence
Authors: David Rother , Franziska Herbert , Fabian Kalter , Dorothea Koert , Joni Pajarinen , Jan Peters , Thomas H. Weisswange
Published: June 2024

Research on multi-agent interaction involving humans is still in its infancy. Most approaches have focused on environments with collaborative human behavior or a small, defined set of situations. When deploying robots in human-inhabited environments in the future, the diversity of interactions surpasses the capabilities of pre-trained collaboration models. "Coexistence" environments, characterized by agents with varying or partially aligned objectives, present a unique challenge for robotic collaboration. Traditional reinforcement learning methods fall short in these settings. These approaches lack the flexibility to adapt to changing agent counts or task requirements without undergoing retraining. Moreover, existing models do not adequatelysupport scenarios where robots should exhibit helpful behavior toward others without compromising their primary goals.To tackle this issue, we introduce a novel framework that decomposes interaction and task-solving into separate learning problems and blends the resulting policies at inference time using a theory of mind model for task estimation. We create impact-aware agents and linearly scale the cost of training agents with the number of agents and available tasks. To this end, a weighting function blending action distributions for individual interactions with the original task action distribution is proposed. To support our claims we demonstrate that our framework scales in task and agent count across several environments and considers collaboration opportunities when present.The new learning paradigm opens the path to more complex multi-robot, multi-human interactions.
Evaluation of standard precaution training for healthcare trainees
Authors: Zhang Xing , Li Hongwei , Li Ning , Li Yusen , Kong Li , Wang Peng , Ma Yonghui , Ni Leiping , Liu Lili , Meng Xiujuan
Published: June 2024

Introduction: Blood-borne occupational exposure (OBE) has become a major public health problem for healthcare workers globally. Effective education and training on post-exposure management and standard precautions for healthcare trainees, are important measures for reducing OBE and infection rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of OBE and standard precaution training for healthcare trainees.
Methods: This study is designed as a randomized controlled study. Healthcare trainees who were undergoing training at the hospital from July 2020 to July 2023 were selected as the research subjects. They were randomized into theoretical teaching group and situational simulation group. The two groups taught the same knowledge using different methods. Both groups were tested the same content before and after the training.
Results: The accuracy rates before and after training in different groups were 71.71% and 78.08%, respectively (P<0.001). The lowest accuracy rate before training was for standard precaution knowledge (70.66%), while the highest accuracy rate after training was for OBE follow-up knowledge (82.39%) (P<0.001). The accuracy rate for trainees who experienced OBE was 69.87% before training and 77.11% after training. For trainees who had not experienced OBE, the accuracy rates were 71.38% before training and 77.25% after training. The accuracy rates were higher after training compared to before training, with statistically significant differences (P<0.001).
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the self-protection awareness, knowledge on OBE management, and standard precaution among healthcare trainees were enhanced through the training, and operational content can achieve better results through scenario simulation training.
Predicting Alzheimer's disease in imbalanced datasets focusing on cardiovascular risk scales with machine learning models
Authors: García-Lluch Gemma , Mora Angélica Resendiz , Royo Lucrecia Moreno , Cháfer-Pericás Consuelo , Baquero Miquel , Pardo Juan
Published: June 2024

Purpose
Considering the aging population, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is on the rise. As there is currently no cure for AD, it is crucial to identify the key factors contributing to its progression. Cardiovascular risk is believed to play a significant role in the advancement of AD, potentially leading to neurodegenerative changes in the brain. Therefore, this project seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of using machine learning models (ML) to develop non-invasive and cost-effective screening tools incorporating various cardiovascular risk scores.
Methods
We gathered data from the electronic health records (EHR) of a hospital of reference in Spain. This process yielded a highly imbalanced dataset of 177 diagnosed subjects and 48 controls aged 50 to 75. To address this common issue, we employed a range of ML models, along with balancing techniques and metrics, to overcome such a typical problem, leading to the development of highly accurate models.
Results
Several bagging, boosting, linear, and stacked models resulted in better F1-Score, and cardiovascular risk scales, such as SCORE2, were essential for such prediction algorithms. Glucose levels seemed important in AD prediction, and drugs such as anticholinergics, antidepressants, or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were positively related to AD prediction. In contrast, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and angiotensin receptor blockers had the opposite effect.
Conclusion
Our research demonstrates the potential of machine learning techniques to improve the screening of AD patients before they undergo invasive and costly diagnosis tests, allowing personalized rationalization of healthcare costs and improving patient care.
Enhancing Multiple-Style Image Colorization through Context-Aware Codebook and Multi-Stage Learning
Authors: Liu Zheyuan , Xu Hanning , Mu Pan
Published: June 2024

Single image colorization is an inherently ill-posed problem that has attracted more research interest recently. It challenges to learn a luminance-chroma mapping and manage multi-modal uncertainty. However, directly learning a luminance-chroma mapping often results in issues such as semantic mismatch and color bleeding while reconstructing the chroma channels. Furthermore, the problem of output diversity remains unaddressed. To this end, we propose CodeColorist, a novel multi-stage network that effectively tackles the colorization process. To enhance the reconstruction of the chroma channels and overcome issues like semantic mismatch and color bleeding, in the first stage, we focus on learning a sophisticated and context-aware codebook by leveraging the interplay between the features extracted from luminance and chroma channels. In the second stage, we reframe the colorization problem as a code prediction task and learn to predict the code sequence for accurate codebook lookup. In addition, we address the issue of stochastic diverse output in colorization by navigating through an expanded hidden representation space in the final stage. This allows us to produce a wide range of diverse and visually appealing colorized images. Thanks to our tailored feature extraction architecture, expressive codebook, and designed lookup scheme, we are able to achieve vibrant and realistic colorized images that outperform previous works. Source code will be released in https://github.com/OHaiYo-lzy/CodeColorist.