bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The sustainability of lean implementations at the hospitals of Ministry of Health Malaysia: a study protocol
Authors: Lum Kah Yee , Putera Ku Anis Shazura binti Indera , Krishnan Muniamal , Libasin Zalina binti , Abdullah Nur Nadia Renu binti , Saman@Saimy Intan Syafinaz binti
Published: January 2023

Background
In Malaysia, lean was initiated in 2012 as part of an effort to reduce waiting time at the Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals. As of now, there are 52 public hospitals that have officially implemented lean however these hospitals have demonstrated difficulties in sustaining it. In addition, monitoring on the progress and maintenance of lean within the MOH are based on performance indicators that prove inadequate in indicating whether lean is sustaining. Therefore, this study protocol aims to fill the gap by (i) identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) for lean sustainability in the MOH and using it to (ii) develop a validated framework to support hospitals in sustaining lean (iii) the framework will be adapted into a measurement tool in the form of checklist to measure the level of lean sustainability (iv) interview hospitals with the lowest and highest level of lean sustainability to further explore the barriers and boosters in sustaining lean
Methods
This study will employ a mixed-method approach and will be conducted in three phases. The first phase involves a combination of scoping review and interviews with key informants to identify the CSFs known to affect lean sustainability at the MOH hospitals and the findings will be presented in a validated framework. In the second phase, the framework will then be converted into a checklist to measure the level of lean sustainability in the MOH hospitals. Results from the second phase will subsequently be used to select the hospital with the lowest and highest level of lean sustainability for a further interview in the third phase.
Discussion
The findings from this study will benefit policymakers and lean practitioners involved in evidence-based lean implementations in the MOH. The developed lean sustainability framework will be able to provide more relevant guidance on how to increase the likelihood of lean sustainability and serves as a validated measurement tool for MOH hospitals. In addition, this study will be able to outline the differences in the contributing factors between health organizations that showed a high level of lean sustainability compared to those struggling to sustain.
A Framework for Energy-saving Selection and Scheduling of Equipment Resources in a Networked Manufacturing Environment
Authors: Zhou Lirong , Wang Yue , Liu Peiji , Deng Wei , Kong Ling , Wang Guangcun , Xie Xun
Published: January 2023

Improving the energy efficiency of manufacturing industry is a globally common choice to pursue sustainable development and achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Networked manufacturing is a new business model formed under enterprise informatization. Networked manufacturing mode has some environmental characteristics that affect its energy saving potential, for example machining devices are numerous and scattered, manufacturing services are driven by customer orders, and significant random uncertainty occurs in manufacturing processes. This paper proposes a framework for equipment resource energy-saving selection and scheduling in networked manufacturing environment, mainly including: 1) Developing a fuzzy multi-objective decision-making model that takes into account economy, energy consumption, technology, and inter-enterprise collaboration, in pursuit of the selection of machining devices and logistics equipment to increase energy efficiency during the customer orders demand stage; 2) Establishing an energy-saving scheduling model for equipment resources based on non-cooperative game theory to meet the diverse needs of customers, that can balance the competitive interests between customer orders, and reduce manufacturing energy consumption, costs, and delivery dates in manufacturing tasks implementation stage; 3) In order to deal with random disturbance in the networked manufacturing, a scheduling model for equipment resources based on random chance constraint programming is built to optimize energy, economy, and production efficiency at the preventive stage of manufacturing tasks change; 4) A cloud platform implementation method of the proposed framework is briefly summarized. The framework plays common theoretical analysis that is significant to energy-saving allocation of the equipment resources in networked manufacturing.
Piezo1/ERK signaling pathway is activated in aortic VSMCs of patients with aortic dissection or aneurysm
Authors: Zhang Hong , Cao Wenxuan , Zhuang Yingzhu , Zhang Hui , Hu Haoyu , Shi Chunying , Yang Sumin
Published: January 2023

Background
Piezo1 in vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) is sensitive to the change of hemodynamic pressure and play the specific biological roles. ERK may be the key potential downstream signal of Piezo1. However, it remains unknown whether Piezo1/ERK signaling can be activated in aortic VSMCs of patients with aortic dissection(AD) or aneurysm(AA).
Methods
Piezo1 and p-ERK protein expressions were compared between AD/AA human aortic samples and normal samples by western blotting analysis and Immunohistochemistry. In addition, the rat thoracic VSMCs were divided into control, Yoda1( Piezo1 agonist), sch772984(ERK inhibitor) and Yoda1 + sch772984 groups. The cell life activities, including cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, autophagy and phenotypical switch were measured.
Results
The patients with AD/AA had higher blood pressure than that of donors. We found that the expressions of Piezo1 and p-ERK in aortic media of AD/AA were higher than normal samples. In vitro experiments showed that Piezo1 could induce cell proliferation and migration by evoking ERK signaling, and this effect can be blocked by sch772984.
Conclusions
Piezo1/ERK signaling pathway is significantly activated in aortic VSMCs of patients with AD/AA, which might participate in AD/AA via promoting VSMCs proliferation and migration. This study provides a new insight into the biological action of Piezo1/ERK signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of AD/AA.
Nurses’ Humanistic Care Behaviour in China: A Cross-sectional Survey
Authors: Zhang Yi , Chen Xing , Chen Xi , Luo Jiang , Chen Zhangqun , Gan Ting , Zeng Liting , Wang Jianjian , Zhao Liping
Published: January 2023

Background
More attention has been focused on the development of nurses' humanistic care behavior during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. However, its level is unknown.
Method
A cross-sectional study was conducted with an online questionnaire administered in August 2020. Descriptive statistics and binary logistics regression analyses were conducted using the SPSS 26.0.
Results
The total score of nurses' humanistic care behaviour is 117.59 ± 22.434. Different genders, age, marital status, nursing ages, professional titles, and attention degrees of hospital humanities have a varied impact on the nurses' humanistic care behaviour (p < 0.05). The binary logistic regression model was statistically significant (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
This study reported the level and influencing factors of caring behavior among Chinese nurses and provided evidence-based strategies to improve its level.
Toxicity Study of a New Scale Inhibitor for Seawater Desalination
Authors: Duan Lian , Li Yimin , Gu Wen , Wang Chao , Shi Ying , Yang Hongbin , Wang Mengmeng , Long Yuehan , Tang Song , Kong Jian , Zhang Shaoping , Zhang Lixia , Wei Lei , Wang Chong , Lu Kai
Published: January 2023

Maleic acid polymer scale inhibitor is a new domestic seawater desalination scale inhibitor. Guided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development method, this study tested the acute oral toxicity, sub-chronic toxicity and genotoxicity of this new inhibitor. The LD50 obtained from the acute oral toxicity test was 6810 and 9260 mg/kg·BW for male and female rats, as well as 1/5, 1/10 and 1/20 LD50 were as the dose for sub-chronic toxicity test. It showed the weight of male rats with high dose was significantly lower than the control group during the exposure period (p<0.05), and the food consumption in the first 4 weeks was lower than the control group (p_week1 = 0.0261, p_week4 = 0.00222). The blood biochemical results showed the UREA in the medium- and high-dose groups were significantly higher than the control group (p_ female medium = 0.0047, p_high = 0.0037; p_male medium= 0.0026, p_ high<0.001), and increased as a dose dependence. Based on UREA results, the NOAEL and LOAEL were 1/20 LD50 and 1/10 LD50, respectively (males: 340.5 and 170.25 mg/kg·BW, females: 436 and 231.5 mg/kg·BW). Comet assay in vitro and Mammalian Erythrocyte Micronucleus Test were jointly to judge genotoxicity. This inhibitor did not cause chromosome aberrations in mouse bone marrow cells. However, the tail moment of CHO cell in all groups (p<0.01) and the DNA% in tail in the 1/4 IC50 and IC50 groups were higher than the negative control (p<0.001) in comet assay, suggesting the potential DNA damage in CHO cell. The oral LD50 and the NOAEL and LOAEL obtained in this study provides a theoretical basis for further toxicity research and risk assessment.
Integrated analyses of single-cell and bulk transcriptome reveal cell type-specific metastasis- and prognosis-related genes in breast cancer
Authors: Dong Jiahan , Li Congjun
Published: January 2023

Background
Single-cell technologies raise the possibility of providing type-specific insights into tumor microenvironment and facilitate the development of personalized medicine. The object of this research was to afford a novel means to explore the cell type-specific differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between primary cancer and metastatic lymph nodes which were also utilized to investigate the potentials of clinical practice.
Methods
We collected single-cell and bulk transcriptome sequencing data from two public databases. With single-cell data, we explored the cell type-specific DEGs between primary cancer and metastatic lymph nodes. Also, the cell type-specific DEGs among different states through single-cell pseudotime analysis were identified as the potential genes cardinal for cell differentiation. With the intersection DEGs and bulk transcriptome sequencing data, we further delineated the therapeutic potentials of these DEGs through identification of a prognostic signature which could be used to facilitate the stratification of patients with different outcomes. We also investigated the different cell communication patterns between primary cancer and metastatic lymph nodes.
Results
We identified 2177 cell type-specific DEGs between primary cancer and metastatic lymph nodes. We further identified 2330 cell type-specific DEGs among different states through single-cell pseudotime analysis. The intersection DEGs were incorporated into bulk transcriptome sequencing data, with which we constructed a signature comprising of eight genes and validated it using an independent cohort. The samples with high-risk also exhibited low levels of immune infiltration compared to high-risk samples. The cell interactions in metastatic lymph nodes were mainly downregulated except macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) signal pathway.
Conclusion
The cell type-specific DEGs identified though single-cell data might be the potential therapeutic targets. The robust signature could be used to predict outcomes of patients especially in combination with conventional TNM stages. We also demonstrated the benefits of immune infiltration in breast cancer. The exclusive MIF signal pathway in metastatic lymph nodes might be correlated with the metastasis and deserved more studies.
Title: Healthcare center wastewaters in Burkina Faso: sources of ESBL, AmpC-β-lactamase and carbapenemase producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Garba Zakaria , Bonkoungou Isidore O.J. , Millogo Nadège O. , Natama H. Magloire , Vokouma Patrick P. A. , Bonko Massa dit A. , Karama Ibrahima , Tiendrebeogo Alix L. W. , Haukka Kaisa , Tinto Halidou , Sangaré Lassana , Barro Nicolas
Published: January 2023

Background
Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL), plasmid-mediated AmpC-β-lactamase and carbapenemase producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have spread into environment worldwide posing a possible public health threat. However, the prevalence data in low- and middle-income countries are still scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of ESBL, AmpC-β-lactamase and carbapenemase producing and multidrug-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae in wastewater collected from healthcare centers in Burkina Faso.
Methodology
Eighty-four (84) wastewater samples were collected from 5 healthcare centers and bacterial counts on ESBL ChromAgar were performed. E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were identified using API20E. ESBL production was confirmed using the double disc synergy test (DDST). AmpC-β-lactamase detection was performed on Muller Hinton (MH) agar supplemented with cloxacillin (4µg/l). Carbapenemase testing was carried out using O.K.N.V.I. RESIST-5 immunochromatography test.
Result
E. coli and/ or K. pneumoniae strains were isolated from 82 wastewater samples (97.6%). In total, 170 strains were isolated, E. coli more commonly (64%). Average concentrations of ESBL producing bacteria per hospital varied from 1.10x105 to 5.23x106 CFU/ml. Out of 170 presumptive ESBL producing isolates and 51 presumptive AmpC-β-lactamase producing isolates, 95% and 45% were confirmed, respectively. Carbapenemase production was detected in 10 isolates, 6 were NDM producers, 3 were OXA-48 producers and 1 was NDM and OXA-48 producer. All isolates were multidrug resistant and, furthermore, all of them were resistant to all β-lactams tested. Also, resistance to ESBL inhibitors was common, up to 66% E. coli and 62% in K. pneumoniae. Amikacin, fosfomycin and nitrofurantoin were the antibiotics for which least resistance was detected.
Conclusion
This study showed that wastewater from healthcare centers constitutes a reservoir of multidrug-resistant bacteria in Burkina Faso, including those capable of producing carbapenemases, which may disseminate into environment and further back to humans. Therefore, following the microbiological quality of the wastewaters released from healthcare centers is important to include in the future national AMR surveillance program.
Transport in non-Hermitian quantum systems
Authors: Lima L. S.
Published: January 2023

Transport in non-Hermitian quantum systems is studied. The goal is a better understanding of transport in non-Hermitian systems like the Lieb lattice due to its flat bands and the integrability of the Ising chain which allows transport in that model to be computed analytically. This is a very special feature that is not present in a generic non-Hermitian system. We obtain the behaviour of the spin conductivity as a function of the non-Hermitian parameters of each system with aim to verify the influence of variation them on conductivity. For all models analyzed: Ising model as well as noninteracting fermion models, we obtain a little influence of the non-Hermitian parameters on conductivity and thus, a small effect over transport coefficients. Furthermore, we obtain an influence of opening of the gap in the spectrum in these models on longitudinal conductivity as well.
PACS numbers: 75.10.Pq, 75.40.Mg
Design of a Compact Dual-band Antenna for 2.4/5.8 GHz WLAN/WiFi Applications using Signal Interference Technique
Authors: Kumari Sadhana , Maurya Naveen Kumar
Published: January 2023

This manuscript presents a compact dual-band monopole antenna for WLAN/WiFi. The proposed antenna is comprised of a wideband monopole antenna integrated with a wideband bandstop filter (BSF). Within the proposed frequency band of operation, the proposed antenna exhibits good selectivity and low reflection loss. The measured results show that the proposed antenna can provide two separate impedance bandwidths; 290 MHz (about 12% centered at 2.4 GHz) and 500 MHz (about 9% centered at 5.5 GHz), making it suitable for WLAN operation in the 2.26-to-2.55GHz band and 5.3-to-5.8GHz. The observed VSWR is less than 2.2 and the peak antenna gain is 1.5 dBi within the frequency range. Performance analysis of the ultrawideband monopole antenna, BSF and their integrated counterpart has been carried out methodically in this paper. A consistency has been found between simulated and experimental results. Furthermore, the size of the proposed antenna is 35 x 27 x 1.6 mm3, which is quite compact and suitable for the WLAN/WiFi application.
Novel M-PCR assay for simultaneous detection of gastroenteritis associated viruses
Authors: Brar Basanti , Minakshi Prasad , Ikbal Ikbal , Ranjan Koushlesh , Misri Jyoti
Published: January 2023

Bovine Viral diarrheal virus (BVDV), bovine corona virus (BCV), and bovine picobirnavirus (BPBV) group I and II are most common viral infections in cattle that cause a huge economic loss across the world. A rapid and novel multiplex-PCR assay (M-PCR) was developed for simultaneous detection of BVDV, BCV and BPBV. Three primer pairs specific for each virus were used in the assay. Out of these three primer pairs, two pairs from M and 5’ UTR gene specific primer for BCV and BVDV respectively were self designed and .used for amplification. To evaluate the reliability of the multiplex assay, 300 buffalo faecal samples were tested by multiplex PCR assay. The results showed that 54(18%) samples were detected positive with multiple viruses including 50 samples were infected with BVDV, twenty eight samples were infected with BCoV and thirty nine samples were found infected with BPBV by M-PCR assay. In conclusion the developed assay is found highly specific, sensitive, high throughput and quick method for the detection of three viruses in a single reaction tube. This multiplex assay is successful tool that can be used for quick detection of these three viral infections for epidemiological investigation and in screening of clinical samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time reported multiplex assay for the detection of BVDV, BCoV and BPBV throughout the world. This novel assay will be helpful for detecting mixed infections of GITs.
Classification of objects in Thermal Videos using a Dynamic STP and TTP based FCNN
Authors: D Sasireka , Juliet Ebenezer , D Jeyabharathi , D Kesavaraja
Published: January 2023

In today’s modern technology the thermal camera plays a major role in all security applications, surveillance applications, etc. And, in pandemic situations the thermal camera plays a major role, because of its nature of picture the scene based on the thermal radiation emitted by the objects in a scene. Hence, regardless of any weather conditions and lighting conditions, an object can be visualized. So, in general, there is huge demand for effective object classification system in thermal videos. The proposed system uses Dynamic STP (Spatial-Temperature Pattern) & TTP (Temporal-Temperature Pattern) based FCNN (Fully Convolutional Neural Network) for object classification in thermal videos. There are two novel methods used in the proposed system. First one is Temperature histogram-based object detection and another one is Dynamic STP & TTP based FCNN for object classification. The nature of FCNN cannot be fully utilized in thermal videos due to the lack of texture information. The dynamic STP & TTP is designed for each object as a kernel to extract the STP, TTP feature map of thermal videos. The fully connected layer with soft max classification is used for classification of objects. The experimental result shows that the proposed system outperforms the state of art methods.
Identification of small molecule inhibitors of CXCR4 – an important drug target in renal fibrosis
Authors: Kumar Senthil , E Elakkiya , Gupta Krishna Kant
Published: January 2023

The final stage of almost all chronic kidney diseases is renal fibrosis (CKD). Following tissue inflammation, the healing process leads to fibrosis. Simple wounds or persistent inflammation can cause tissue inflammation, which, in the case of the kidney, results in scarring. Vascular sclerosis, tubulointerstitial fibrosis, and glomerular fibrosis are all types of kidney fibrosis. Tubular atrophy, tubular dilatation, interstitial leukocyte infiltration, fibroblast accumulation, vascular rarefaction, and persistent matrix protein deposition make up the tubulointerstitial fibrosis histological appearance. Renal damage will therefore be exacerbated and fibrosis will be encouraged by persistently elevated Cxcr4 expression (on tubules or immune cells like macrophages). Since various effector cells, including tubular and infiltrating lymphoid cells, are involved in fibrosis, blocking this pathway should reduce it. This study aimed to identify possible pharmacological agents which could bind to and inhibit isoform I of CXCR4 and determine their strength of interactions. The I-TASSER, Phyre and Robetta were used to predict and refine the structure of the CXCR4 protein. ModBase was used to improve the loops, and then the quality was evaluated using the ERRAT value. The improved 3D structure was subjected to small molecule database docking using Maestro (from Schrodinger) and the glide module. GROMACS was used to simulate molecules with the lowest glide scores and the best ADME properties. For docking studies, we employed the CXCR4 refined structure, which had an ERRAT score of 92.15.%. The maximum glide score was achieved by the ligand 1-[(4-ETHYLPHENYL)METHYL]-4-[(3-NITROPHENYL)METHYL]PIPERAZINE, which was followed by 1-CYCLOHEXYL-4-[(2-NITROPHENYL)METHYL]PIPERAZINE. GROMACS simulation simulations revealed that 1-[(4-ETHYLPHENYL)METHYL]-4-[(3-NITROPHENYL)METHYL]PIPERAZINE and CIITA-I interacted in a more stable manner.
A Common Fixed Points Results for Multi-Valued Mappings in Hausdorff Modular Fuzzy b-Metric Spaces with Application Volterra-Type Integral Inclusion
Authors: MAKRAN Noreddine
Published: January 2023

The modular fuzzy b-metric space is defined in this study, and we are interested in proving a general common fixed point theorem for a pair multi-valued mappings in Hausdorff modular fuzzy b-metric spaces. The findings in this work generalize the findings in [15] and produce additional specific findings that are supported by examples. An application toprove the existence of an integral inclusion equation’s solution is shown to demonstrate theimportance of our result.
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 47H10; Secondary 54H25.
“The Peripheral Perfusion Index Discriminates Haemodynamic Responses to Induction of General Anaesthesia”
Authors: Højlund Jakob , Petersen David René , Agerskov Marianne , Foss Nicolai Bang
Published: January 2023

Purpose: Induction of general anaesthesia is often accompanied by hypotension. Standard haemodynamic monitoring during anaesthesia relies on intermittent blood pressure and heart rate. Continuous monitoring systemic blood pressure requires invasive or advanced modalities creating a barrier for obtaining important information of the circulation. The Peripheral Perfusion Index (PPI) is obtained non-invasively and continuously by standard photoplethysmography. We hypothesized that different patterns of changes in systemic haemodynamics during induction of general anaesthesia would be reflected in the PPI.
Methods: PPI, stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) was evaluated in 107 patients by either minimally invasive or non-invasive means in a mixed population of surgical patients. 2 minutes after induction of general anaesthesia relative changes of SV, CO and MAP was compared to the relative changes of PPI.
Results: After induction total cohort mean(±st.dev.) MAP, SV, and CO decreased to 65(±16)%, 74(±18)%, and 63(±16)% of baseline values. In the 38 patients where PPI decreased MAP was 57(±14)% , SV was 63(±18)%, and CO was 55(±18)% of baseline values 2 minutes after induction. In the 69 patients where PPI increased the corresponding values were MAP 70(±15)%, SV 80(±16)%, and CO 68(±17)% (all differences: p < 0,001).
Conclusion: During induction of general anaesthesia changes in PPI discriminated between the degrees of reduction in cardiac stroke volume and -output, and blood pressure. As such, the PPI has potential to be a simple and non-invasive indicator of the degree of post-induction haemodynamic changes.
Phylogenetic relationship among species of Rubus L. (Rosaceae) from southern Western Ghats of India: Morphological data aligns with the combined dataset of plastid and nuclear markers
Authors: Narayanan Bhavadas , Thara Umesh B. , Ramanujan Rahul P.
Published: January 2023

The present study explores the taxonomic delineation of Rubus taxa within south Western Ghats of India. Most of the species are aligned in two major subgenera, Idaeobatus and Malachobatus but were lacking systematic botany. The external morphological study developed fine dichotomous key characters for the discrimination of Rubus under study, but it was inadequate for the closely allied species. Therefore, the delineation of the taxa was studied by using the alignment of molecular sequences from three barcode regions (matK, rbcL, and nrITS) and phylogenetic tree of plastid (matK + rbcL), nuclear (nrITS), and combined (plastid + nuclear) genome was constructed for taxa discrimination. Fifteen Rubus collections were comparatively analyzed for the phylogenetic analysis including the inter-specific distance of eleven taxa and the intra-specific distance of four species. It was observed that the nuclear ITS marker had much higher sequence variations compared to the other loci. Phylogenetic relationship within Rubus is well resolved in combined datasets than nuclear and plastid data separately and in this study, the analyzed samples included in both Idaeobatus and Malachobatus formed a polyphyletic clade in all datasets except plastid phylogeny. Wherein the plastid genome, subgenus Malachobatus have shown more conserved sequences than subgenus Idaeobatus. Whereas, subgenus Malachobatus had shown limited species resolution than Idaeobatus in all barcode markers because a group of species belonging to subgenus Malachobatus has shown inadequate genetic variations within species similar to its limited morphological variability. Hence we considered this group a complex species among southern Western Ghats Rubus and it is recommended further clarification.
Quantum interference effects in graphene based side-coupled quantum ring: A non-equilibrium Green's function approach
Authors: Seyfizadeh P. , Phirouznia A.
Published: January 2023

The present study investigates the I-V and spin-transport characteristics of a side-coupled graphene nano-ring. Where, non-equilibrium Green's function approach has been employed as computational framework. Meanwhile the effect of substrate induced Rashba interaction has been considered as a source of spin-dependent processes in the transport phenomena. Calculations have been performed within the coherent regime in which the electric and spin currents of the system are given as a function of bias voltage and Rashba coupling strength. Results show that Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and Fano factor could be changed by the Rashba coupling strength. The Rashba interaction can change the Fano factor from the Poisson to sub-Poisson regime in the case of armchair leads.
Microbial detoxification of Pyrethroid insecticide Bifenthrin by selected Fungal strains and Optimizing conditions using Response Surface Methodology
Authors: Majid Sara , Ahmad Khuram , Ali Daoud
Published: January 2023

Bifenthrin is broad spectrum type I pyrethroid insecticide, used broadly for agricultural and urban purposes, yet very little is reported about its biodegradation. Five fungal strains named Aspergillus niger (Asp-N), Aspergillus flavus (Asp-F), Aspergillus fumigatus (Asp-Fu), Penicillium chrysogenum (PC) and Lasiodiplodia theobromae (LD) were utilized to degrade bifenthrin for 35 days incubation time. PC is found to be extremely effective in degrading Bifenthrin up to 85%. Furthermore, response surface methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design is applied to optimize the degradation conditions with varying pH, temperature (℃) and incubation time (days). The response surface design and analysis of variance depicted the p-value below 0.05 indicating the significance of reaction parameters. The optimal ranges for degrading BF (10 mg/L) by PC were determined to be 30 oC, pH-7 and 24-days incubation period. This fungal strain co-metabolized BF in eutrophic condition within glucose rich medium. The PC degrade BF by hydrolytic cleavage of carboxyl-ester linkage as chromatogram obtained by GCMS with four metabolites. This research provides new insights into the biodegradation of BF by strain Penicillium chrysogenum (PC).
Micromechanical based model for predicting aged rubber fracture properties
Authors: Kadri R. , Abdelaziz M. Nait , Fayolle B. , Ayoub G. , Hassine M. Ben , Nziakou Y.
Published: January 2023

Environmental aging induces a slow and irreversible alteration of the rubber material’s macromolecular network. This alteration is triggered by two mechanisms which act at the microscale: crosslinking and chain scission. While crosslinking induces an early hardening of the material, chain scission leads to the occurrence of dangling chains responsible of the damage at the macromolecular scale. Consequently, the mechanical behavior as well as the fracture properties are affected. In this work, the effect of aging on the mechanical behavior up to fracture of elastomeric materials, and the evolution of their fracture properties are first experimentally investigated. Further, a modeling attempt using an approach based upon a micro-mechanical but physical description of the aging mechanisms is proposed to predict the mechanical and fracture properties evolution of aged elastomeric materials. The proposed micro-mechanical model incorporates the concepts of residual stretch associated with the crosslinking mechanism and a so-called “healthy” elastic active chain (EAC) density associated with chain scission mechanism. The validity of the proposed approach is assessed using a wide set of experimental data either generated by the authors or available in the literature.
Pseudoaneurysm after aortopulmonary window repair and bilateral lung transplantation for Eisenmenger syndrome: a case report
Authors: Nagashima Toshiaki , Taira Masaki , Hasegawa Moyu , Kugo Yosuke , Watanabe Takuji , Yoshioka Daisuke , Shimamura Kazuo , Ueno Takayoshi , Miyagawa Shigeru
Published: January 2023

Background
Aortopulmonary window (APW) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly characterized by communication between the main pulmonary artery and ascending aorta.
There are various surgical techniques, and the short- and long-term results are excellent if the surgical repair is performed early in life. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports of pseudoanuerysm after APW repair. Herein, we present a case of a 30-year-old woman with an ascending aortic pseudoanuerysm found at the site of APW repair nine months after the APW repair and bilateral lung transplantation.
Case presentations
A 30-year-old woman presented with APW and Eisenmenger syndorome. The patient underwent APW repair and bilateral lung transplantation. We transected the communication between the aorta and pulmonary artery and closed the aortic side directly with strips of felts.
Nine months after the surgery, the patient complained of chest pain. Cardiac computed tomography revealed an ascending aortic pseudoanyeurysm at the anastomotic site.
Emergent graft replacement of the ascending aorta was performed and the postoperative course was uneventful.
Conclusions
We have experienced a case of a pseudoaneurysm at the anastomotic site after APW repair and bilateral lung transplantation.
The choice of surgical technique should be based on the patient’s background requiring lung transplantation, and close postoperative follow-up is required.
Design and evaluation of performance dashboard for paramedical faculty of Army University of Medical Sciences: Protocol for a mixed method study
Authors: Almasi Sohrab , Mehrabi Nahid , Ghorbani Mahdi
Published: January 2023

Background
Faculty, as an educational system, comprises a combination of various educational groups, faculty members, researchers, students, and administrative staff. Each group of faculty members contributes to different fields. The management of data records related to the performance and activities of the faculty and its members leads to better monitoring, identification of weaknesses and strengths, and, ultimately, promotion of the performance of the faculty. In fact, the dashboard is a data management tool that can be used for monitoring and evaluating a faculty’s performance.
Objectives
Therefore, the aim of this study was to design a functional dashboard for the faculty of paramedical sciences and evaluate its functionality using the approach of sequential mixed methods.
Methods
This is a mixed methods study with sequential mixed designs that will be conducted in four main phases. In the first phase, all the resources related to the functional dashboard are reviewed in order to identify its operational requirements. In the second phase, the requirements and necessities of the software are determined by both qualitative (interview) and quantitative (Delphi) methods. In this phase, eight people will be interviewed during the qualitative phase, and thematic analysis will be used to analyze the data. For the quantitative step, the two- round Delphi technique will be conducted by the purposeful selection of 21 individuals. In the third phase, code writing of the software is performed using C-Sharp programming language in the Visual Studio environment. Finally, 15 people among faculty members and managers, who are users of the dashboard software, are selected to evaluate the software. Users’ satisfaction with the dashboard software is assessed using the Dashboard Assessment Usability Model. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS version 21 software.
Conclusion
The final product of this study is a dashboard for monitoring, evaluating performance, and managing resources at the faculty level. The steps of designing this dashboard can be a basis for developing better dashboards for evaluating other faculties or universities.
Natural inhibitors of DYRK1A as drug candidates against Alzheimer Disease: QSAR, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation and drug evaluation assessment
Authors: Abduljelil Ajala , Uzairu Adamu , Shallangwa Gideon A. , Abechi Stephen E. , Ramu Ramith , Kumar Naveen
Published: January 2023

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a dementia neurodegenerative disorder with complex mechanisms and no cure that gradually leads to loss of learning, remembering, imagining, and recalling past events. It is most commonly found in adults aged 65 and up. The research scientists are interested in producing new drugs and new drug targets that can cure or inhibit this incurable disease. TheIn-silicotechnique was used to investigate the inhibitory activities of Natural inhibitors of DYRK1A against AD. All the ligands, including the reference drug, were docked using molecular docking. The docked complex was validated experimentally with the aid of molecular dynamics simulation. Trajectory plots of compound 19 were evaluated using RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, and Ligand hydrogen bonds. This stability of compound 19 was further confirmed by the RMSF, Rg, SASA, and ligand hydrogen bond. Evidently, compound 19 may have undergone alteration and formed more H-bonds with macromolecules during the 100 ns simulation than harmine (the reference drug), therefore, compound 19 has been more stable. The three ligands emerged with better docking values than the reference drug, which shows that the compounds have therapeutic ability to hinder or cure the damage caused by this disease. Also, the ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity) proved that the ligands have good pharmacokinetic abilities. It is obvious from the aforementioned results that the generated model is good and are highly potent, non-toxic, and penetrate the BBB (blood-brain barrier) so as to circumvent the effect of the AD.
The Brenham impact event, 693-552 years ago (1329-1470 CE)
Authors: Tankersley Kenneth Barnett , Meyers Stephanie A. , Stimpson Don I. , Knepper Sheila M.
Published: January 2023

More than 10,000 kg of pallasites, micrometeorites (< 4 mm), positive Ir and Pt anomalies, and ~ 80 ha of impact craters have been found across an ~ 800 ha strewn field on the late Holocene surface of Kiowa County, Kansas. A suite of six AMS radiocarbon ages demonstrate that a cosmic impact event occurred sometime between 693 and 552 years ago, 1329–1470 CE. This event is recorded in Native American oral histories and petroglyphs located near the strewn field. Hopewell artifacts in the Ohio River valley postdate the impact event by more than 1,000 years. The Brenham impact event increases our understanding of the occurrence and effect of cosmic events on humans.
An approximate solution of differential inclusion with prox-regular set
Authors: Beddani A. , Sahraoui R.
Published: January 2023

The aim of this paper is to calculate the approximate solution of differential inclusion with prox-regular set, the question is how to calculate this solution? We use the discrete approximation property of a new variant of nonconvex sweeping processes involving normal cone and a finite element method. Knowing that the majority of mathematicians have proved only the existence and uniqueness of the solution for this type of inclusions, like: Mordukhovich, Thibault, Aubin, Messaoud,...etc.
MSC Classification: 34A60 , 49J52 , 37B25.
Inclusive landscape governance: Forest welfare services and forest value orientation in the National Luxury Forest, South Korea
Authors: Kim Lankyung , Li Ching
Published: January 2023

This study explores a case of inclusive landscape governance by employing forest welfare services and forest value orientation in the National Luxury Forest, South Korea. Among the multifaceted attributes of landscape approaches, forest recreation as a cultural ecosystem service focuses on opening a discourse about forest welfare approaches. Forest value orientation from end-user perspectives in inclusive governance is measured semi-quantitatively using web-content-based text data. Three level dimensions of forest recreation services – basic, expanded, and special – are confirmed through official documentaries; bifurcated value orientation – ecology and sentiment – is elicited from text data analysis. Canonical correlation from the text data manipulation indicates that forest recreation services and forest value orientation are related to the association of forest cultural ecosystems promoted by inclusive landscape governance. This study satisfies the future criteria of integrated landscape approaches in which assessing inclusive governance under empiricism is required. Moreover, the study can provide insights into building an ideal link between policy and management in the state forests.
Waning vaccine response to severe COVID-19 outcomes during omicron predominance in Thailand
Authors: Intawong Kannikar , Chariyalertsak Suwat , Chalom Kittipan , Wonghirundecha Thanachol , Kowatcharakul Woravut , Thongprachum Aksara , Chotirosniramit Narain , Noppakun Kajohnsak , Khwanngern Krit , Teacharak Worachet , Piamanant Prapon , Chantaklang Pannawich , khammawan Pimpinan
Published: January 2023

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved quickly, with different variants of concern resulting in the need to offer continued protection through booster vaccinations. The duration of enhanced protection with booster doses against severe COVID-19 is still unclear and understanding this is critical to recommendations on frequency of future booster doses.
Methods: Utilising a Hospital Information System for COVID-19 established in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we conducted a cohort study by linking patient-level data of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases to the national immunization records, during omicron predominant period (1 February – 31 July 2022).
Results: Out of 261,103 adults with COVID-19 included in the study, there were 333 (0.13%) severe COVID-19 cases and 190 (0.07%) deaths. Protection against severe COVID-19 was highest with boosters received >14-60 days prior to positive test (93%) and persisted at >60-120 days (91%) but started to wane at >120-180 days (77%) and further at >180 days (68%). The rate of waning differed with age. Those ≥70 years showed waning of booster vaccine response as early as >60 days as compared to those aged 18-49 years, who retained good response up to 180 days. Equivalent risk reduction against severe COVID-19 was seen with all the vaccine types used as boosters in Thailand.
Conclusions:Booster doses provided high level of protection against severe COVID-19 with omicron, up to 4 months. Repeat boosters will be required to continue protection beyond 4 months, particularly in elderly. mRNA and viral vector vaccines can be used flexibly to improve booster coverage.
Understanding Glacial Lake Evolution and the Associated GLOF Hazard in Shyok Catchment of Upper Indus Basin
Authors: Rather Abid Farooq , Ahmed Rayees , Bateni Sayed M. , Ahmed Pervez , Mir Riyaz Ahmad
Published: January 2023

As glaciers recede in response to global climate change, a significant growth of glacial lakes is being witnessed in the Himalayan region. Owing to their high elevations, rapid growth and mostly unstable dams constituting of loosely consolidated glacial moraine deposits, these lakes pose a significant threat in the form of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). This study focused on studying the evolution of glacial lakes in Shyok catchment of Upper Indus basin, over a period of 30 years (1992 to 2022) and assessing their GLOF hazard levels. The Inventorization and Spatio-temporal change detection of the glacial lakes (A≥0.001 km2) was done using multi-temporal medium and high-resolution satellite imagery from the years 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022. Besides, we have used Google Earth and Planet imagery, to validate the glacier and glacial lakes outlines. The GLOF hazard level assessment was carried out through a multi-criteria approach using Analytical Hierarchy Process AHP to classify the lakes into very-low, low, medium, high and very-high hazard categories. The results reveal a significant increase in the total number of glacial lakes from 143 in 1992 to 240 in 2022 as well as the total glacial lake area that increased from 8.45 km2 (± 0.02 km2) in 1992 to 13.26 km2 (± 0.04 km2) in 2022. Furthermore, out of 63 glacial lakes (A>0.05 km2) selected for the hazard assessment, 7 lakes were identified as very-high hazard lakes with GLOF susceptibility indices greater than 7.0 while 19 more lakes were classified as High-hazard lakes with GLOF susceptibilities in the range of 0.6 to 0.7. Most of these lakes are proglacial lakes and are close to their mother glaciers. The majority of these hazardous lakes have witnessed a high growth rate, which suggests that the GLOF hazard of these lakes is going to increase further in the future owing to the warming climatic trends. This study will act as a precursor to a more detailed and in-depth GLOF risk assessment of highly hazardous glacial lakes in the region and will help in developing mitigation strategies for any potential disasters in future.
Determination of levofloxacin, norfloxacin, and moxifloxacin in pharmaceutical dosage form or individually using derivative Uv spectrophotometry
Authors: Osman Alsayed Fadel
Published: January 2023

The first, second, third, and fourth-order derivative spectrophotometric methods by using the peak—zero (P - O) and peak-peak (P - P) techniques of measurement have been developed for the determination of levofloxacin, norfloxacin, and moxifloxacin in their combined pharmaceutical dosage form or individually for levofloxacin, norfloxacin, and moxifloxacin. Linearity was achieved in 2–20 µg/ml. The procedure is simple, quick, and precise. The developed method has been shown to be sensitive and precise. Simple, accurate, and cost-effective, and exhibited good correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9998) and excellent mean recovery (99.20–100.08%), indicating a high degree of precision of the methods. This approach was successfully used to determine the levofloxacin, norfloxacin, and moxifloxacin content in marketed pharmaceutical dosage. The method's linearity, accuracy, were confirmed statistically and through recovery tests. The obtained findings demonstrated that the approach may be used for routine analysis in bulk and commercial formulations.
The Mirror Reversal Mechanism on Black Hole Collapse and Singularity Eruption in Cosmic Continuum
Authors: Wang Xijia
Published: January 2023

In the Big Bang Theory and the Black Hole Theory, the existing laws of physics all fail at the singularity, and the singularity has become a blind spot in the existing scientific theories. In the axioms system of Cosmic continuum, the universe was not created by an instantaneous explosion, but by the continuous eruption of singularities. As long as the singularity is still erupting, the total amount of the universe will continue to increase. The so-called dark energy is actually the gravitational field energy erupted by the singularity. The expansion force of dark energy is generated by the outward eruption of singularity. The cosmic system collapse into a Schwarzschild black hole under the action of a strong gravitational field, and the Planck spheres at the center of the black hole continues to collapse into dark mass bodies, forming dark celestial body and singularity. The Schwarzschild radius is the upper limit of a black hole, and the Planck sphere is the lower limit of a black hole. The singularity is the conversion point between the old and new cosmic systems. The singularity erupts the Planck spheres under the action of a strong gravitational field, and the Planck spheres expands outward to form a new cosmic system. The Planck sphere is both the end of the old cosmic system and the starting point of the new cosmic system. The black hole collapse and the singularity eruption are mirror images of each other.
Analysis projectile performance in ballistic tests using compressed air gun
Authors: Purwanto Helmy , Tauviqirrahman Mohammad , Sugiarto Sugiarto , Dzulfikar Muhammad
Published: January 2023

Ballistic resistance is affected by the projectile and armor material used. The character and behavior of the projectile affects its ability to damage and penetrate armor. The velocity, mass and shape of the projectile are the main factors in determining the ability of the projectile to penetrate armor in this case the target plate. Therefore, this study aims to determine and analyze the effect of projectile mass and shape on the velocity with which it penetrates the armor material using a compressed air gun. Armor material as a ballistic test target using carbon steel plate with a thickness of 0.8 mm; 1.2 mm and 1.8 mm. Projectiles of lead materials with different masses and shapes are fired from the air gun under controlled air pressure, set at 2000 Psi, 3000 Psi, and 4000 Psi to provide thrust in the barrel. The plat target is placed at a distance of 5 m from the air gun. Speed gauges are placed after the air gun and after the target plate to determine the projectile's rate before and after passing through the target plate. The test results concluded that the velocity of the projectile ejected from the compressed air gun was influenced by the magnitude of the pressure and the mass of the projectile. The mass of the projectile has a more dominant effect on the velocity of the projectile compared to the amount of pressure applied. Different projectile shapes with the same mass have no significant effect on the velocity. However, the heavier mass projectile outperforms the lighter mass projectile through the target plate. It is required the right combination of velocity and mass of the projectile to be able to penetrate the target plate