bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Does Body Mass Index Affect Embryonic Mosaicism?
Authors: Abittan Baruch , Frankel Robyn , Gamma Amber , Goldman Randi
Published: April 2022

Purpose: To examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and embryonic aneuploidy and mosaicism by trophectoderm biopsy with preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A). Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study evaluating 602 women who underwent undergoing their first fresh autologous stimulation cycles wherein all embryos were biopsied for PGT-A analysis from January 2016 through December 2019 in a multicenter academic fertility practice. Associations between BMI (kg/m2) and rates of euploidy (2016-2019) and mosaicism (2018-2019), including low-level (LL), high-level (HL), whole chromosome, and segmental mosaicism, were determined using forward stepwise multivariable Poisson regression.Results: 3,020 embryos from 602 cycles were available for analysis. Most patients were of normal weight (N=323) or overweight (N=143), or had class I obesity (N=80). Overall, 21% of patients in the cohort had obesity (BMI >30). There was no difference in overall euploid or mosaicism rate stratified by BMI. Compared with normal BMI, underweight (adjusted relative risk, aRR: 3.57 [1.31-9.78]), overweight (1.57 [1.01-2.43]), and obesity (1.55[1.03-2.35]) were each associated with significantly increased risks of LL mosaicism (6.6% vs. 20.8%, 10.0%, and 9.1%, respectively). Overweight BMI was associated with lower rates of HL (8.3% vs 3.7%, aRR: 0.39 [0.21-0.75]) and whole chromosome mosaicism (3.7% vs. 7.3%, aRR: 0.48 [0.26-0.91]) compared to normal BMI.Conclusions: While the overall rate of mosaicism was similar among BMI categories, both low and high BMI were associated with increased rates of LL mosaicism, and overweight was associated with decreased rates of HL and whole chromosome mosaicism compared to normal BMI.
Changes of choroidal thickness after orthokeratology lens in myopic children: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: xiao jie , Pan Xinghui , Hou Chenting , Peng Hui , Li Jinjian , Yi Wendan , Wang Qing
Published: April 2022

Aims: This article aimed to assess the changes of subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in different follow-up durations for myopic children under the treatment of orthokeratology and give a reference for further studies.Method: Relevant publications were comprehensively retrieved through different databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Chinese database of Wan Fang and Wei Pu. Retrieval time was from the inception to February 2022. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were selected as the effect for calculating and analyzing the changes of choroidal thickness in myopic children with orthokeratology.Result: A total of eight articles of 371 Patients (371 eyes) met our inclusion criteria. During the first month of wearing orthokeratology, choroidal thickness dramatically increased by 21.09 μ m (95%CI: 25.64, 16.7; P<0.00001). After the first month, it rose slightly, even became stable in next eleven months’ treatment (increased by 4.20 μm from the first month to the third month, 95%CI: 9.37, 0.9; P=0.11; increased by 3.99μm from the first month to the sixth month, 95%CI: 8.67, 0.6; P=0.09; increased by 2.99μm from the first month to the twelfth month, 95%CI: 7.76, 1.7; P=0.02).Conclusion: This meta-analysis demonstrated that in the first month with orthokeratology, choroidal thickness presented an obvious increase, after that it became stable or got a slightly rise for the longer following-up treatment.
Detecting Diseases in Medical Prescriptions Using Data Mining Methods
Authors: Nazarinezhad Sana , Zahedi Mohammad Hadi , Farahani Elham
Published: April 2022

Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis of diseases is currently at the forefront of medical errors. These errors not only lead to the death or disability of a significant number of patients around the world each year [1], but also have an indirect impact on the professional life of doctors and the quality of services provided by them. Furthermore, the complaints raised as a result of such errors have always been one of the most important stressors for doctors [2].
Data mining in the medical industry to diagnose and predict diseases has become one of the fields of interest for researchers in recent years [3]. Our aim in this paper is to use data mining methods to find knowledge in a dataset of medical prescriptions provided by the www.Drugs.com site. By analyzing the drugs prescribed for each disease, our proposed method aims to predict the category of each disease and the type of disease that the patient suffers from.
In general, the results of this research can be used by, for example, the medical staff of a hospital, including the specialists and general practitioners to reduce the misdiagnosis error rate and also have more confidence in the correctness of the disease diagnosis and the prescribed medication. At the same time, the patients can have more trust in the correct diagnosis of their disease and the prescribed drugs. In addition, it can reduce the cost of compensating for medical errors which could, in turn, lead to lowering the expenses of medical insurance companies. Finally, these results can be used as a basis for future research in this field.
Our collected dataset includes details such as the name of the disease, the category of the disease, and the names of the drugs prescribed for each patient. To label the cases, a team of doctors has identified each patient’s disease. A number of experiments have been conducted to compare the performance of different data mining techniques for disease prediction, and the results show that the proposed stacking model is more accurate than other data mining techniques such as Nave Bayes.
Monolithic photonic integrated circuit based on silicon nitride and lithium niobate on insulator hybrid platform
Authors: Jiang Yongheng , Han Xu , Huang Haijin , Zhang Pu , Dubey Aditya , Xiao Huifu , Yuan Mingrui , Frigg Andreas , Nguyen Thach , Boes Andy , Li Yingtao , Ren Guanghui , Su Yikai , Mitchell Arnan , Tian Yonghui
Published: April 2022

Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) has been demonstrated as a promising platform for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), thanks to its excellent properties such as strong electro-optic effect, low material loss and wide transparency window. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a monolithic PIC for high-speed data communication application on a lithium-niobate-etchless platform with silicon nitride (Si3N4) as a loading material. The fabricated PIC consists of four racetrack resonator modulators and a pair of four-channel mode (de)multiplexers, which shows high data modulation rate of 70 Gbps for single channel and the total data throughput reaches up to 280 Gbps. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of PIC consisting of high-speed electro-optical modulators and (de)multiplexers with such high data capacity on Si3N4-LNOI hybrid platform, which opens up new avenues for achieving large-scale monolithic integration on LNOI platform in future.
When climate skeptics turn vaccine enthusiasts: An analysis of audience segments on climate change and COVID-19 in Australia
Authors: Richardson Lucy M. , Thaker Jagadish , Holmes David C.
Published: April 2022

Denialism and spreading of misinformation have occurred regarding both climate change and COVID-19, delaying uptake of critical actions. Audience segmentation analysis identifies audience subgroups likely to have similar responses to messaging, and is a valuable tool for effective campaigns encouraging critical behaviors in both contexts. This study compared audience segmentations based on a representative sample of 1054 Australians. One segmentation was based on ‘Global Warming’s Six Americas’ online SASSY tool. The second segmentation applied the Theory of Planned Behavior and found five distinct COVID-19 vaccine segments. Results show both those most concerned and those most skeptical in the climate change segmentation continuum tended to be in more enthusiastic COVID-19 vaccine segments, while those in the center on climate change were more skeptical on COVID-19 vaccines. Differences identified relating to age, gender, religion, and political views may be explained by a combination of the specific nature and histories of these issues. These findings have implications for effective communication on science and health issues across diverse disciplines.
Optical tweezers based on nonlinear focusing
Authors: Haddadi S. , Ait-Ameur K.
Published: April 2022

Recently, some authors have proposed to add an optical Kerr effect (OKE) while focusing the Gaussian beam (GB) enlightening an optical trap. These authors conclude that the introduction of a nonlinear lensing (NL) is benefit to the optical trapping capacity. The proposed modelling was based on the Gaussian approximation (GA) which assimilates the Kerr lensing effect to a pure lensing effect free from any aberration. In this paper, we evaluate the longitudinal and radial figures of merit of the optical trap based on NL by using a diffraction integral taking into account the aberration associated with the OKE. The conclusion is that the GA modelling underestimates (overestimates) the improving of the longitudinal (radial) trapping ability of the optical trap. In summary, what is gained in the longitudinal efficiency of the nonlinear trap is lost in the radial force which decreases thereby reducing the possibility to keep trapped the particle.
Clinical utility of combined assessments of 4D volumetric perfusion CT, diffusion- weighted MRI and 18 F-FDG PET-CT for the prediction of outcomes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy
Authors: Matoba Munetaka , Tsuchiya Hirokazu , Nishino Yuka , Ota Kiyotaka , Doai Mariko , Nagata Hiroji , Tuji Hiroyuki
Published: April 2022

Background: Multiparametric imaging has been seen as a route to improved prediction of chemoradiotherapy treatment outcomes. Four-dimensional volumetric perfusion CT (4D PCT) is useful for whole-organ perfusion measurement, as it reflects the heterogeneity of the tumor and its perfusion parameters. However, there has been no study using multiparametric imaging including 4D PCT for the prognostic prediction of chemoradiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to determine whether combining assessments of 4D PCT with diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET-CT could enhance prognostic accuracy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Methods: We examined 53 patients with HNSCC who underwent 4D PCT, DWI and PET-CT before chemoradiotherapy. The imaging and clinical parameters were assessed the relations to locoregional control (LRC) and progression-free survival (PFS) by logistic regression analyses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess the accuracy of the significant parameters identified by the multivariate analysis for the prediction of LRC and PFS. We additionally assessed using the scoring system whether these independent parameters could have a complementary role for the prognostic prediction. Results: The median follow-up was 30 months. In multivariate analysis, blood flow (BF; p=0.02) and blood volume (BV; p=0.04) were significant prognostic factors for LRC, and BF (p=0.03) and skewness of the ADC histogram (p=0.02) were significant prognostic factors for PFS. A significant positive correlation was found between BF and BV (ρ= 0.6, p<0.001) and between BF and skewness (ρ= 0.46, p<0.01). The ROC analysis showed that prognostic accuracy for LRC of BF, BV, and combination of BF and BV were 77.8%, 70%, and 92.9%, and that for PFS of BF, skewness, and combination of BF and skewness were 55.6%, 63.2%, and 77.5%, respectively. The scoring system demonstrated that the combination of higher BF and higher BV was significantly associated with better LRC (p=0.04), and the combination of lower BF and lower skewness was significantly associated with worse PFS (p=0.004). Conclusion: A combination of parameters derived from 4DPCT and ADC histograms may enhance prognostic accuracy in HNSCC patients treated with chemoradiotherapy.
Smart capacitive e-skin takes soft robots beyond proprioception
Authors: Hu Delin , Giorgio-Serchi Francesco , Zhang Shiming , Yang Yunjie
Published: April 2022

Proprioception, the ability to perceive posture, position, and movement, is a prerequisite for accurate body control in animals and robots. The lack of three-dimensional full-body proprioceptive sense has become a key constraint for fundamental breakthroughs in bioinspired soft robots. Here, we report a type of flexible capacitive e-skins to endow soft robots with high-resolution, full-geometry bodily awareness beyond existing proprioception systems. We demonstrate that our intrinsically-stretchable e-skin can capture complex three-dimensional deformations across the entire soft body through recursive, multi-position capacitance measurements. The e-skin signals can be directly translated to high-density point clouds portraying the complete geometry via the deep net. This augmented proprioception system providing millimeter-scale, global sensory-motor awareness can offer a crucial solution to fundamental problems in soft robotics, such as enabling precise closed-loop control and developing digital twins of soft robots.
Antifungal compound from marine Serratia marcescens BKACT and its potential activity against Fusarium sp.
Authors: Kharat Bharat A , Said Madhukar S , Dastager Syed G. G
Published: April 2022

Ecofriendly biocontrol agents to control of pathogenic fungi are in demand globally. The present study was evaluated the antifungal potentials of marine bacteria Serratia marcescens BKACT against eight different Fusarium species. A highest 75.5 ± 0.80% of mycelial inhibition was observed against Fusarium foetens NCIM 1330. Structural characterization of the purified compound was analyzed by GC-MS and NMR techniques, based on the analysis it is confirmed as 2, 4- di-tert butyl phenol (2, 4-DTBP) with chemical structure C14H22O. at 0.53mM concentration purified compound inhibited complete spore germination of F. foetens NCIM 1330. In vitro assay showed complete inhibition of F. foetens NCIM 1330 on the wheat seeds. Tested concentration doesn’t show any toxic effect on germination of the seeds. By this study we conclude that, 2, 4- DTBP a suitable candidate to be used as biocontrol agent against Fusarium infection.
The combination of early biopsy diagnosis, chemotherapy, and autologous stem cell transplantation has achieved good results in unilateral primary adrenal lymphoma: A case report
Authors: Huang Lu , Shuai Xiao , Zhang Tingting , Kuang Pu , Zhang Dan , Chen Tao , Tian Haoming , Xiang Bing , Ren Yan
Published: April 2022

Primary adrenal lymphoma (PAL) is a sporadic malignant disease characterized by a high level of invasiveness and a poor prognosis. Symptoms are atypical, making it difficult to obtain an accurate early diagnosis. Some patients may have fever, night sweats, weight loss, lumbar and abdominal pain, and adrenal insufficiency. Certain clinical signs and biochemical characteristics can help clinicians make an early and rapid diagnosis to prevent a delay in treatment. Here, we report a case of a female patient with unilateral PAL and low back pain. After rapid diagnosis, R-CHOP chemotherapy combined with autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation was administered; the patient's condition improved significantly, and her prognosis was good. There was no recurrence during a follow-up period of more than two years.
In-sensor image memorization and encoding via optical neurons for bio-stimulus domain reduction towards visual cognitive processing
Authors: Lee Doeon , Park Minseong , Baek Yongmin , Bae Byungjoon , Heo Junseok , Lee Kyusang
Published: April 2022

As machine vision technology generates large amounts of data from sensors, it requires efficient computational systems for visual cognitive processing. However, the spatially separated sensor/processor architecture suffers from data transportation bottleneck issues due to repeated and redundant data exchange between them. Recently, in-sensor computing systems have emerged as a potential solution for reducing unnecessary data transfer and realizing fast and energy-efficient visual cognitive processing. However, they still lack the capability to process stored images directly within the sensor. Here, we demonstrate an advanced machine vision system for in-sensor visual cognitive processing, emulating a mammalian image encoding process to extract features from the input images, to achieve a domain reduction from the sensor. Heterogeneous integration of a compound semiconductor-based 1-photodiode and oxide-based 1-memristor array enables to memorize images in pixels, and directly conducts a multiply–accumulate operation within the sensor. Since trained weight values are applied as an input to the image-saved crossbar array instead of storing the weight value in it as using the vectorized image as an input for multiply–accumulate operations in our system. Therefore, the input data towards the artificial neural network (ANN) is significantly reduced, and vectorization of the image is no longer needed, thereby minimizing data transportation bottlenecks. We believe the heterogeneously integrated in-sensor computing platform provides an advanced architecture for real-time and data-intensive machine-vision applications via bio-stimulus domain reduction.
The interaction between rs 3807992 genotypes with the dietary inflammatory index on Leptin, leptin resistance, and Galectin 3 in obese and overweight women
Authors: Shiraseb Farideh , Farazi Mena , Rasaei Niloufar , Mirzaei Khadijeh
Published: April 2022

Objective: Obesity is related to increasing leptin and some inflammatory factors that are related to low-grade inflammation. Several studies have shown Caveolin-1 (CAV1) genetic variations may correlate with dietary intake. The current study aimed to evaluate the interaction of CAV1 rs3807992 with types of the energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index (EDII) in leptin, leptin resistance, and Galectin 3 as inflammatory factors.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 363 overweight and obese females. Dietary intake and DII were obtained from a 147-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The CAV-1 genotype was measured using the PCR-RFLP method. Anthropometric values and serum levels of leptin and Galectin 3 were measured by standard methods.Results: Increased adherence to EDII in the interaction with CAV1 genotypes containing risk alleles (AA+AG) leads to an increase in leptin level 79.15 ng/ml (β= 79.15, CI= -1.23,163.94, P= 0.04) in model 3 after controlling for further potential confounders. By contrast, adherence to EDII in the interaction with that genotype include risk alleles showed no significant interaction even after adjustment in model 3 (β=0.55, CI= -0.99, 2.09, P=0.48). Although marginal positive significant interaction was found between EDII and CAV1 genotypes on Galectin 3 after adjustment in model 3 (β=31.35, CI=0.13, 77.13, P= 0.05).Conclusions: A positive interaction between EDII and CAV1 genotypes on leptin and Galectin3, while no interaction was found on leptin resistance
Systemic inflammation score as a preoperative prognostic factor for patients with pT2-T4 resectable gastric cancer: a retrospective study
Authors: Matsumoto Takuro , Ohki Shinji , Yamada Leo , Tada Takeshi , Hanayama Hiroyuki , Watanabe Yohei , Hayase Suguru , Okayama Hirokazu , Sakamoto Wataru , Momma Tomoyuki , Saze Zenichiro , Kono Koji
Published: April 2022

BackgroundSystemic inflammation has been reported to be associated with cancer progression and metastasis. Systemic inflammation score (SIS), calculated from preoperative serum albumin level and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, has been shown to be a novel prognostic factor for several types of tumors. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of the SIS in patients with pT2-4 resectable gastric cancer (GC).MethodsTotal 97 patients with pT2-4 GC who underwent curative surgery between 2009 and 2015 in Fukushima Medical University Hospital were included. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to evaluate the usefulness of preoperative SIS and other prognostic factors for relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).ResultsThe higher SIS score was associated with undifferentiated cancer and recurrence. Univariate analysis of RFS identified deeper tumor invasion and higher SIS were significant risk factors and multivariate analysis revealed that both of them were independent prognostic factors for RFS. As for OS, age, tumor invasion, SIS and LNR were significantly correlated with RFS. In multivariate analysis, tumor invasion, SIS and LNR were independent prognostic factors for OS.ConclusionsSIS was an independent prognostic factor for RFS and OS in pT2-4 resectable gastric cancer patients who underwent curative gastrectomy.
Dabigatran increases thrombin generation by inhibiting protein S and FVa degradation
Authors: Zhang Chi , Li Mianxia , Chen Weixiang , Zhang Yue , Jiang Bin
Published: April 2022

Background: Low dose of dabigatran paradoxically increased thrombin generation (TG) through inhibition of protein C (PC) activation. Protein S (PS) is a co-factor in the activation of PC. However, the role of PS in the enhancement of TG has not been addressed. Methods: Firstly, we measured TG by calibrated automated thrombinography (CAT) and prothrombin fragments 1+2 (F1+2) assays. Secondly, we assessed the coagulation and anticoagulation factors activity in normal plasma spiking with dabigatran. Then, free PS and PC activation were measured. Finally, heavy chain of FVa and its degradation products were detected by WB. Results: CAT assay showed that 70-141ng/mL dabigatran paradoxically increased TG in normal plasma. However, dabigatran suppressed TG in a concentration-dependent manner. F1+2 assay showed the similar results. ELISA assay was not affected by clot methods. Interestingly, results from ELISA showed that dabigatran (2-566ng/mL) suppressed free PS level in normal plasma. Combined with WB results, dabigatran inhibited PS and subsequently suppressed FVa degradation. Conclusions: PS participated in the paradoxical enhancement of TG in normal plasma spiking with low concentrations of dabigatran.
PEGylated Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanocrystal as MRI T 1 -T 2 Dual- Modal Contrast Agent for Rat Liver Fibrosis Stage
Authors: Lu Fulin , Du Liang , Chen Wei , Jiang Hai , Yang Chenwu , Pu Yu , Wu Jun , Zhu Jiang , Chen Tianwu , Zhang Xiaoming , Wu Changqiang
Published: April 2022

Background
The development of an effective method for staging liver fibrosis has always been a hot topic of research in the field of liver fibrosis diagnosis and therapy. T1-T2 dual-modal contrast-enhanced MRI can provide complementary information with fault-free and self-confirm, and could be more objective and reliable for allowing quantitative evaluation of the liver parenchyma varieties at the progression of liver fibrosis.
Results
This study developed PEGylated small size superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocrystal (SPIO@PEG) for rat liver fibrosis magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnosis and staging as a T1-T2 dual-mode MRI contrast agent. SPIO@PEG was proved to have satisfactory biosafety and T1-T2 dual-mode contrast effect under a 3.0 T MR scanner. In the following MR imaging of liver fibrosis rats in vivo, conventional T1 and T2 weighted imaging, T1 and T2 mapping of liver per- and post-intravenous administration of SPIO@PEG were systematically collected and analyzed. The results demonstrate that the combination of reduction rate of T1 value (ΔT1%) and T2 value (ΔT2%) could diagnose and distinguish the different stages of liver fibrosis. Furthermore, we creatively designed to fuse the T1 and T2 mapping images by Matrix laboratory (MATLAB) and quantitively measured each rat’s hepatic fibrosis positive pixel ratio (PPR). The results demonstrated that SPIO@PEG contrast-enhanced PPR could be used as a non-invasive biomarker to diagnose and discriminate the severity stages of biliary liver fibrosis.
Conclusion
The combination of T1-T2 dual-modal contrast agent SPIO@PEG and MATLAB-based image fusion technology could be a promising method for diagnosing and staging liver fibrosis in the rat model.
Association between serum hCG level and persistent trophoblasts after laparoscopic surgery for tubal ectopic pregnancy: A retrospective study.
Authors: Honda Michiko , Isono Wataru , Tsuchiya Akira , Okamura Asuka , Saito Ako , Tsuchiya Hiroko , Matsuyama Reiko , Fujimoto Akihisa , Nishii Osamu
Published: April 2022

Background: Laparoscopic salpingostomy to treat tubal ectopic pregnancy (TEP) is increasing due to patient preference for subsequent spontaneous pregnancy. However, the incidence of persistent trophoblasts (PT) ranges from 5–29%, though PT rarely occurs after laparoscopic salpingectomy. For this reason, the selection of laparoscopic salpingostomy should be performed carefully. Here, we aimed to identify the risk factors for PT, focusing on serum hCG levels.Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 128 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgeries for TEP from 2015/1/1 to 2021/12/31, including 62 with laparoscopic salpingostomy and 66 with laparoscopic salpingectomy. Among these cases, we identified 13 with PT detected during the postoperative follow-up period. We performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess the influence of each representative factor, especially serum hCG levels, on the occurrence of PT. We first performed this analysis for 62 cases with laparoscopic salpingostomy and then for all 128 cases. Additionally, we focused on the reduction rates of serum hCG levels after surgery. Based on the scatter plot of the association between the reduction rates and elapsed time after surgery, we tried to create linear regression lines for estimating the appropriate postoperative follow-up period.Results: In the multivariate analyses of the 62 cases with laparoscopic salpingostomy, “high hCG”, including serum hCG levels of over 2000 and 4000 mIU/mL, showed significance. These results were also detected in the analysis of all 128 cases. Next, we obtained the regression lines based on the scatter plots of the association between reduction rates of serum hCG levels and elapsed time after surgery. By referring to the slopes of the regression lines, we could predict 37 and 30 days as necessary for serum hCG levels to be reduced to one-thousandth in the cases with laparoscopic salpingostomy and salpingectomy.Conclusions: Our evaluation of the association between serum hCG level and PT allows us to provide the selection criteria, namely, serum hCG level over 2000 and 4000 mIU/mL, for laparoscopic salpingostomy. Additionally, our analysis of the association between the reduction rates of serum hCG levels and the elapsed time after surgery allows us to predict the appropriate length for the postoperative follow-up period.
DPCL: Constrative Representation Learning with Differential Privacy
Authors: Li Wenjun , Yan Anli , Wu Di , Zhu Taoyu , Huang Teng , Luo Xuandi , Wang Shaowei
Published: April 2022

With the proliferation of unlabeled data, increasing efforts have been devoted to unsupervised learning. As one of the most representative branches of unsupervised learning, contrastive learning has made great progress with its high efficiency. Unfortunately, privacy threats on con-trastive learning have become sophisticated, making it imperative to develop effective technologies that are able to deal with such threats. To alleviate the privacy issue in contrastive learning, we propose some novel techniques based on differential privacy, which aim at reducing the high sensitivity of gradient in the private training caused by interactive contrastive learning. Specifically, we add differentially private protection to the connection point related to different per-example gradients, which decreases the sensitivity of the gradients significantly. Our experiments on SimCLR and Barlow Twins demonstrate the superiority of our approach with higher accuracy under the same privacy protection.
Seasonal and spatial variability of PM2.5 concentration, and associated metal(loid) content in the Toluca Valley, Mexico.
Authors: Barbosa-Sánchez Ana , Márquez-Herrera Ciro , Sosa-Echeverria Rodolfo , Díaz-Godoy Raul , Gutiérrez-Castillo Maria E. , Rule Ana , Sierra-Vargas Martha P. , Aztatzi-Aguilar Octavio Gamaliel
Published: April 2022

The Toluca Valley Metropolitan Area (TVMA) is the fifth largest urban center in Mexico, located at high altitude, 2660 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) surrounded by mountain ranges. It is composed of heterogenous residential and industrial areas with dense vehicular traffic. This combination of geography and urbanization create a metropolitan area with high levels of air pollutants. The objective of this study was to provide evidence of the seasonal and spatial variation of metal(lloid)s in particulate matter minor to 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in Toluca Valley. Four sites were sampled between 2013-2014, that include urban and industrial areas, in the dry-cold (November-February) and hot-dry (March-May) season; PM2.5 were collected using high and medium volume samplers. Metal and metalloids concentrations in PM2.5 were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Our results show the highest 24-hour PM2.5 concentration in the northern area, followed by the southern industrial area, and the lowest concentrations was observed in the southwest area independent of the season. Metals and metalloids with a recovery percentage above 80% were Cobalt (Co), Chrome (Cr), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), and Antimony (Sb). The maximum concentrations of them were observed during the dry-cold season, in the urban-industrial sites found in the north and southern areas. Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, and Sb concentrations were up to one hundred or thousand folded in the dry-cold season compared to dry-hot season due to weather and geographical features of TVMA. The 24-hour PM2.5 and metal(lloid)s concentrations exceed national and international guidelines to protect population health.
RNA Sequencing and Bioinformatics Analysis of CircRNAs in Asphyxial Newborns with Acute Kidney Injury
Authors: Zhou Xiao-guang , pan Jing-jing , yang yang , chen xiao-qing , shao jie , wang lei , Tong Mei-ling
Published: April 2022

Objective: As one kind of novel non-coding RNA with high stability and conservatism, circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in different biological processes. Although growing evidence has supported the important role of circRNAs in renal diseases, the specific mechanism still remains unknown in neonatal acute kidney injury (AKI).Methods: High throughput sequencing analysis was applied to investigate the expression patterns of circRNAs in the comparison between hypoxia induced AKI neonates and controls. Then, bioinformatics analysis was conducted to predict the function of differentially expressed circRNAs and construct the network of circRNA-miRNA interaction. Finally, the differentially expressed circRNAs were further screened and determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: (1) We identified 296 differentially expressed circRNAs (circRNAs with Fold change > 2 and P value < 0.05). Of them, 184 circRNAs were markedly up-regulated and 112 were significantly down-regulated in the AKI group. (2) Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the parental genes of the differentially expressed circRNAs were predominantly implicated in the cell and cell part, cellular process and cancer pathways. (3) Top five up-regulated and down-regulated circRNAs with higher fold change were selected for qPCR validation. hsa_circ_0008898, hsa_circ_0005519 were found significantly up-regulated and hsa_circ_0132279, hsa_circ_0017647, hsa_circ_0112327 were down-regulated in neonate with asphyxia-induced AKI group compared to control group. Conclusion: This study could contribute to future research of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of neonatal AKI and facilitate the identification of novel therapeutic targets of circRNAs.
Neuroadaptive Fixed-time Command Filtered Control for Nonstrict-feedback Nonlinear Systems under Event-triggered Mechanism
Authors: Sun Wei , Wu Jing , Su Shun-Feng
Published: April 2022

This paper is concerned with establishing an adaptive fixed-time control strategy for nonstrict-feedback nonlinear systems with event-triggered mechanism, which makes sure that the upper bound of the convergence time can be known in advance and is independent of the initial states. Firstly, the piecewise functions and the command filtered technique are separately utilized to avoid the emergence of singularity problem and computational complexity problem. Secondly, neural networks are not only exploited to approximate unknown nonlinear functions and further deal with nonstrict-feedback structures but also assisted in achieving fixed-time stability with the application of command filter. Then, the construction of event-triggered control signal by applying relative threshold strategy is effectual means of saving communication resources, and the design of an estimator that identifies the adaptive parameter can effectively dodge the occurrence of over-parametrization. Furthermore, the proposed control algorithm enables that: (1) the tracking error converges near the origin in a fixed time; (2) all signals of the closed-loop system remain bounded; (3) Zeno behavior will not occur. Finally, the validity of the proposed control strategy is verified via a practical example of the electromechanical system and a comparative simulation.
Coral co-culture alters bacterial community structure by altering rare bacterial species
Authors: Ide Keigo , Nakano Yoshikatsu , Ito Michihiro , Nishikawa Yohei , Fujimura Hiroyuki , Takeyama Haruko
Published: April 2022

Coral symbionts are important members of the coral holobiont, and the coral bacterial flora is essential in host health maintenance and coral conservation. Coral symbionts are affected by various environmental factors, such as seawater temperature, pH, and salinity. However, the effect of communication between different coral species and water flow against coral bacterial flora on its community structure is not well understood. In this study, we designed an artificial rearing environment to examine the impact of environmental and biological factors on Acropora tenuis, one of the major coral species in Okinawa, and Montipora digitata, from their co-culture. We intervened with the water flow to reveal that the movement of the rearing environment alters the bacterial flora of A. tenuis. During the bacterial community reconstruction, the alpha diversity of the coral microbiota increased, suggesting the establishment of rare bacteria from the ocean. No differences in the bacterial composition between the control and water flow groups were observed under the rearing conditions. However, the structure of the bacterial flora was significantly different in the co-culture group. Comparison among each bacterial community succession strongly suggest that the difference was due to the suppressed transmission of bacteria from the ocean in the co-culture group. These results contribute to the understanding of communication between corals and shed light on the importance of regional differences and bacterial composition of coral flora.
Exploring Association between Food Law and Double Burden of Malnutrition: A case study of Afghanistan
Authors: Zubair Abdullah
Published: April 2022

Theoretical framework: For all forms of malnutrition with their related diseases a unique term of double burden of malnutrition is used (DBM). DBM is the greatest risk for all globe which has both social and economic costs.Objective: To investigate impacts of food law on DBM in Afghanistan.Model/methodology: We introduce new model under PLS-SEM in which we employ Smart PLS 3.2.9 software package for statistical analysis.Data: Through, purposive sampling we have online interviews with 400 residents of Afghanistan.Findings: Our study findings indicate that all forms of food law have significant impact to protect population form DBM. Similarly, balanced diet has significant role to control DBM.Policy implications: Our investigations suggest that government should adopt objective food law to control all harms from supply/production side of food.Practical implications: This research will help government to reshape their food law and will encourage people to have balanced diet regime.
Exploring the cognitions of Iranian university TEFL teachers and students of the efficacy of online assessment practices in the wake of Covid 19
Authors: Rajabi Yusef , Farahian Majid , Gholami Hamid
Published: April 2022

As a deadly pandemic, COVID 19 has not only presented public health challenges, it has also disrupted education all over the world. To prevent the spread of the virus, like many other countries, the Iranian universities were closed and converted their system into distance education. Since the educational centers have already delivered two years of on-line education, there is a need to address the quality of online assessment as part of the attempt to gauge the accountability of online pedagogical practices. Thus the current study aimed to explore the perceptions of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university teachers and students on the implementation of online assessment (OLA) during the pandemic. As such, 212 Teaching English as a Foreign Language teachers and 325 postgraduate students completed the Teachers’ Views Towards Implementing Online Assessment Survey developed by the researchers. The findings of the current study suggest that on the whole, both Iranian EFL teachers and students favor the web-based form of assessment. In addition, there were similarities in perceptions of the teachers and students regarding familiarity with OLA and its feasibility, OLA contribution in improving learning and feedback processes, the worth and value of implementing OLA. However, the findings also highlighted differences in the inadequacies of OLA.
Geometric frustration of Jahn-Teller order and ice rules in the infinite-layer lattice
Authors: Kim Woo Jin , Smeaton Michelle , Jia Chunjing , Goodge Berit , Cho Byeong-Gwan , Lee Kyuho , Osada Motoki , Ievlev Anton , Moritz Brian , Kourkoutis Lena , Devereaux Thomas , Hwang Harold
Published: April 2022

The Jahn-Teller effect, in which electronic configurations with energetically degenerate orbitals induce lattice distortions to lift this degeneracy, plays a key role in many symmetry-lowering crystal deformations1. Lattices of Jahn-Teller ions can induce a cooperative distortion, as exemplified by LaMnO3 (refs.2–4). While many examples occur in octahedrally5 or tetrahedrally6 coordinated transition metal oxides due to their high orbital degeneracy, this effect has yet to be manifested for square-planar coordination, as found in infinite-layer Cu (refs.7-9), Ni (refs.10–12), Fe (refs.13–15), and Mn oxides16. Here we synthesize single-crystal CaCoO2 thin films by topotactic reduction of the Brownmillerite CaCoO2.5 phase. We observe a dramatically distorted infinite-layer structure, with Angstrom-scale displacements of the cations from their high-symmetry positions. This can be understood to originate from the Jahn-Teller degeneracy of the dxz and dyz-orbitals in the d7 electronic configuration along with substantial ligand-transition metal mixing. A complex pattern of distortions arises in a 2√2× 2√2×1 tetragonal supercell, reflecting the competition between an ordered Jahn-Teller effect of the CoO2 sublattice, and geometric frustration of the associated displacements of the Ca sublattice. As a result of this competition, the CaCoO2 structure forms an extended two-in/two-out type of Co distortion following “ice rules”17.
Assessment of Liver Enzyme Abnormality Among HIV-Infected Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Asmara, Eritrea
Authors: Achila Oliver Okoth , Kesete Yafet , Abrhaley Feven , Tesfaldet Feven , Alazar Filmon , Fisshaye Lidya , Gebremeskel Lidya , Andemichael Danait , Mehari Rodas
Published: April 2022

Background
- Liver disease are predominant in HIV/AIDS patients and a wide range of the population have been affected. However, studies that have assessed the burden and risks of liver enzyme alterations among antiretroviral therapy experienced patients are hardly available in Eritrea. Thus, the present study targets to determine the prevalence and the risks related with abnormal liver enzymes among HIV-infected individuals.
Methodology
- a cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in two national referral hospitals, in Asmara, Eritrea. A structured predesigned questionnaire was employed to capture sociodemographic data of patients and blood sample was taken for analyses of liver enzyme profile tests. Data was analyzed using chi-square test and logistic regressions in SPSS software.
Result
- The study included 329 participants of whom majority were females. Participants’ age ranges from 18 to 83 years with the mean age of 44.63(± 10.48). Patients had a history of taking first line regimen as either AZT, TDF, ABC or D4T based drug combinations with mean duration on drugs of 7.09(± 3.32) years. 88(26.7%) HAART experienced patients had significant alterations in their liver enzyme parameters. This abnormality was significantly associated with age (p-value = 0.022). HIV-1 patients with history of stavudine use as first line HAART medication had about three (AOR = 2.95; 95% CI = 1.19–7.27) times more elevated liver enzymes. Generally, liver enzymes were found to be higher in minority ethnic groups and rural areas (p value = 0.002).
Conclusion
-The results suggest that liver enzymes (ALT, AST) were significantly elevated in patients taking HAART medication. The finding of this study illustrates that HIV patients on antiretroviral medication are at increased risk of hepatotoxicity which necessitate for continuous and periodical clinical monitoring to reduce severe effects of liver injury.
Protective effect of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf extract against oxidative stress, inflammation, depression, and apoptosis in a mouse model of hepatic encephalopathy
Authors: Mahmoud Mohammed S. , El-kott Attalla F. , AlGwaiz Hussah I.M. , Fathy Samah M.
Published: April 2022

The present study aimed to assess the antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and anti-depression impacts of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf ethanolic extract (MOLE) in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of CCl4-induced mouse model of hepatic encephalopathy. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to detect marker compounds; rutin and β-sitosterol. Animals were divided into four groups; vehicle group, CCl4 treated group, MOLE treated group, and (CCl4+ MOLE) group treated with MOLE for 14 days before CCl4-induced neurotoxicity. MOLE decreased alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, corticosterone, and ammonia levels in serum and improved the antioxidant status of CCl4 treated mice in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. It reduced the expression of toll-like receptor (TLR)4, TLR2, myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MYD88), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) genes and the protein levels of the pro-inﬂammatory cytokines. MOLE also attenuated apoptosis, as revealed by the reduced expression of caspase3, and prevented histological deterioration. Furthermore, MOLE attenuated CCl4-induced anxiety and depression-like behavioral changes. Collectively, MOLE modulates neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, TLR4/2-MyD88/NF-κB signaling, and apoptosis in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of the hepatic encephalopathy experimental model.
Fractionation of reward processing into independent neural representations by novel decoding principle
Authors: Jia Tianye , Xiang Shitong , Xie Chao , Zhu Zhichao , Kang Jujiao , Cheng Wei , Schumann Gunter , Robbins Trevor , Feng Jianfeng
Published: April 2022

How to retrieve latent neurobehavioural processes from complex human neurobiological signals is an important yet unresolved challenge. Processing value and salience information are fundamental yet mutually confounded pathways of reward reinforcement. Here, we develop a novel analytical approach, orthogonal-Decoding multi-Cognitive Processes (DeCoP), to decode brain-wide responses into spatially overlapping, yet functionally independent, evaluation and readiness networks during the anticipation of reward or punishment. Our findings indicate that this functional independence is modulated differentially by those neural systems innervated by the cortico-mesolimbic and nigro-striatal dopamine projections. The segregation of evaluation and readiness neural responses from a unified input signal was also achievable using a theoretical neuronal population-coding model, hence further advancing our understanding of the neural basis involved in motivational processing. Furthermore, our novel theoretical approach could potentially be applied more generally to decode multiple latent neurobehavioral processes and thus advance both the design and hypothesis testing in cognitive task paradigms.
Effect of Feeding Rate on Growth Performance and Waste Reduction Efficiency of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)
Authors:   School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, Moo Chee Yuan , Abu Hasan Hadura ,   School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia,   Vector Control Research Unit, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Published: April 2022

Malaysia like many other developing countries is facing the challenge of poor waste management. This research was conducted to determine the effect of black soldier fly (BSF) in decomposing food waste, palm oil waste, fish waste and yard waste. The development time and waste reduction efficiency of four different organic materials were evaluated. In this study, BSF larvae were fed with all four types of waste at five feeding rates of 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00 g larva−1 day−1 with three replicates per feeding rate until the larvae reached the pre-pupae stage. During the study, larval development time, larval mortality, pre-pupae weight and waste reduction indexes (WRI) were determined. Food waste and yard waste achieved the highest WRI of 4.43 ± 0.06 and 0.71 ± 0.01, respectively at the feeding rate of 0.50 g larva−1 day−1 while palm oil waste and fish waste attained the highest WRI values at feeding rates of 1.00 g larva−1 day−1 (1.89 ± 0.02) and 0.25 g larva−1 day−1 (3.75 ± 0.24), respectively. The results showed that both variables significantly influenced the bioconversion process, but waste reduction efficiency was the most influential element.
Trade openness and economic growth: Evidence from Azerbaijan
Authors: Seyfullayev İlgar
Published: April 2022

A review of modern economic literature shows the lack of consensus on the relationship between the trade openness policy and the economic growth of countries. There is also an opinion that the policy of openness in emerging and resource-rich countries presents more opportunities for growth and development. Is this true, and under what conditions does openness lead to growth? Exploring the nature of trade openness and economic growth relationship in resource-rich emerging countries is the purpose of this paper. Therefore, the economy of Azerbaijan, rich in hydrocarbon resources, has been chosen as the object of this study. Next, the VAR model using ADF tests and Johansen’s cointegration was chosen to analyze and evaluate the causal nature of the relationship between openness and growth. Trade openness ratio and GDP per capita growth are model variables. The study covers annual data from 1995 to 2020. It was found that there are no cointegration relationships between variables in the long run. However, there is a unidirectional causal relationship from openness to growth in the short run, and the effect of growth to openness is not statistically significant. The results show that Azerbaijan receives economic benefits from openness by selling oil to the world market. Yet, the short-run nature of such benefits and the lack of feedback from growth to openness suggest specific problems in the diversification and quality of the country’s exports.