bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of public health interventions on COVID-19 cases: an observational study
Authors: Qiu Weihong , He Heng , Zhang Peng , Yang Wenwen , Shi Tingming , Wang Xing , Chen Ailian , Xie Li , Yang Meng , Wang Dongming , Li Mingyan , Chen Weihong
Published: February 2021

Background

As the epidemic of COVID-19 is gradually controlled in China, a summary of epidemiological characteristics and interventions may help control its global spread.

Methods

Data for COVID-19 cases in Hubei Province (capital, Wuhan) was extracted until 7 March 2020. The spatiotemporal distribution of the epidemic in four periods (before 10 January, 10–22 January, 23 January–6 February and 7 February–7 March) was evaluated, and the impacts of interventions were observed.

Results

Among 67 706 COVID-19 cases, 52 111 (76.97%) were aged 30–69 years old, and 34 680 (51.22%) were women. The average daily attack rates (95% CI) were 0.5 (0.3 to 0.7), 14.2 (13.2 to 15.1), 45.7 (44.0 to 47.5) and 8.6 (7.8 to 9.3) cases per 106people in four periods, and the harmonic means (95% CI) of doubling times were 4.28 (4.01 to 4.55), 3.87 (3.78 to 3.98), 5.40 (4.83 to 6.05) and 45.56 (39.70 to 52.80) days. Compared with the first period, daily attack rates rose rapidly in the second period. In the third period, 14 days after 23 January, the daily average attack rate in and outside Wuhan declined by 33.8% and 48.0%; the doubling times increased by 95.0% and 133.2%. In the four periods, 14 days after 7 February, the daily average attack rate in and outside Wuhan decreased by 79.1% and 95.2%; the doubling times increased by 79.2% and 152.0%.

Conclusions

The public health interventions were associated with a reduction in COVID-19 cases in Hubei Province, especially in districts outside of Wuhan.
Comparing functional decline and distress from symptoms in people with thoracic life-limiting illnesses: lung cancers and non-malignant end-stage respiratory diseases
Authors: Barnes-Harris Matilda , Allingham Samuel , Morgan Deidre , Ferreira Diana , Johnson Miriam J , Eagar Kathy , Currow David
Published: February 2021

Background

Malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases account for >4.6 million deaths annually worldwide. Despite similar symptom burdens, serious inequities in access to palliative care persists for people with non-malignant respiratory diseases.

Aim

To compare functional decline and symptom distress in advanced malignant and non-malignant lung diseases using consecutive, routinely collected, point-of-care national data.

Setting/participants

The Australian national Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration collects functional status (Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Status (AKPS)) and symptom distress (patient-reported 0–10 numerical rating scale) in inpatient and community settings. Five years of data used Joinpoint and weighted scatterplot smoothing.

Results

In lung cancers (89 904 observations; 18 586 patients) and non-malignant end-stage respiratory diseases (14 827 observations; 4279 patients), age at death was significantly lower in people with lung cancer (73 years; IQR 65–81) than non-malignant end-stage respiratory diseases (81 years; IQR 73–87 years; p<0.001). Four months before death, median AKPS was 40 in lung cancers and 30 in non-malignant end-stage respiratory diseases (p<0.001). Functional decline was similar in the two groups and accelerated in the last month of life. People with non-malignant diseases accessed palliative care later.

Pain-related distress was greater with cancer and breathing-related distress with non-malignant disease. Breathing-related distress increased towards death in malignant, but decreased in non-malignant disease. Distress from fatigue and poor sleep were similar for both.

Conclusions

In this large dataset unlike previous datasets, the pattern of functional decline was similar as was overall symptom burden. Timely access to palliative care should be based on needs not diagnoses.
The making of a genetic cline: introgression of oceanic genes into coastal cod populations in the Northeast Atlantic
Authors: Jorde Per Erik , Huserbråten Mats B.O. , Seliussen Bjørghild B. , Myksvoll Mari S. , Vikebø Frode B. , Dahle Geir , Aglen Asgeir , Johansen Torild
Published: February 2021

Coastal Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the Northeast Atlantic has seen a continuous decline since the industrialization of the coastal fishery, and management needs to address the spatial and temporal complexities of coexisting cod stocks. Toward that end, genetic analyses and oceanographic modelling of coastal and oceanic cod larval drift patterns were combined to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for an observed genetic cline over a >1500 km stretch along the coast of Norway. The results indicate that the north–south cline in coastal cod represents an extended contact zone between genetically divergent North Sea and Northeast Arctic cod and is maintained by two-way gene flow: by northward drift of pelagic eggs and larvae and by southward spawning migrations of Northeast Arctic cod. Computer simulations verify that the genetic cline can be established rapidly if gene flow into coastal populations is substantial. The shape of the cline, on the other hand, was found to be largely insensitive to the total amount of gene flow and therefore carries little information on extent of gene flow into and among coastal populations.
Phonon polaritons in magnetoelectric multiferroics film: the possibility to drive surface modes using magnetic field
Authors: Gunawan V. , Umiati N.A.K.
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we report our numerical study of transverse mode phonon polaritons generated on magnetoelectric multiferroic films. The mathematical models of the dispersion relation for both surface and guided-wave modes were derived by solving the Maxwell equations. Then, numerical calculations were performed for various thicknesses using parameters suitable for illustrating magnetoelectric multiferroic BaMnF4. It was found that around the thicknesses of 0.1 mm–1 mm, the guided-wave modes were discreet. The surface phonon polaritons were obtained at the region between ferroelectric resonant frequency ω e and intercept frequency ω i. These surface modes were reciprocal, i.e., ω( k ) = ω(− k ). These results were in good agreement with the calculated attenuated total reflection spectra. It was also found numerically that the application of a magnetic field was able to shift the frequency of the surface phonon polaritons.
α-Amyrin induces GLUT4 translocation mediated by AMPK and PPARδ/γ in C2C12 myoblasts
Authors: Giacoman-Martínez Abraham , Alarcón-Aguilar Francisco Javier , Zamilpa Alejandro , Huang Fengyang , Romero-Nava Rodrigo , Román-Ramos Rubén , Almanza-Pérez Julio César
Published: February 2021

α-Amyrin, a natural pentacyclic triterpene, has an antihyperglycemic effect in mice and dual PPARδ/γ action in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and potential in the control of type 2 diabetes (T2D). About 80% of glucose uptake occurs in skeletal muscle cells, playing a significant role in insulin resistance (IR) and T2D. Peroxisome-proliferator activated receptors (PPARs), in particular PPARδ and PPARγ, are involved in the regulation of lipids and carbohydrates and, along with adenosine-monophosphate (AMP) – activated protein kinase (AMPK) and protein kinase B (Akt), are implicated in translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4); however, it is still unknown whether α-amyrin can affect these pathways in skeletal muscle cells. Our objective was to determine the action of α-amyrin in PPARδ, PPARγ, AMPK, and Akt in C2C12 myoblasts. The expression of PPARδ, PPARγ, fatty acid transporter protein (FATP), and GLUT4 was quantified using reverse transcription quantitative PCR and Western blot. α-Amyrin increased these markers along with phospho-AMPK (p-AMPK) but not p-Akt. Molecular docking showed that α-amyrin acts as an AMPK-allosteric activator, and may be related to GLUT4 translocation, as evidenced by confocal microscopy. These data support that α-amyrin could have an insulin-mimetic action in C2C12 myoblasts and should be considered as a bioactive molecule for new multitarget drugs with utility in T2D and other metabolic diseases.
Silvertop in perennial grass seed production: effects of type and timing of biotic stresses
Authors: Soroka J.J. , Gossen B.D.
Published: February 2021

Seed production of perennial grasses is an important industry in Canada, but many fields exhibit high proportions of sterile heads with characteristic symptoms in a condition known as silvertop. In a 3-yr field study, biotic stress treatments were applied to caged plots of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) and meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius) to assess their effects on silvertop incidence. Treatments were (1) control, (2) addition of grass-feeding insects, primarily grass plant bugs (Miridae), (3) inoculation with Fusarium poae spores, (4) both insects and spores, and (5) mechanical piercing of seed heads above the last node (in a single year). Additionally, cores of the two grass species were potted and removed from the field in spring in each of 2 years. After 2, 4, and 6 wk intervals in a cold room at 4 °C to stagger plant development stage, the five treatments were applied to caged plants of both grasses, which were maintained in a greenhouse until seed harvest. In both studies, the numbers of healthy seed heads, percentage of heads with silvertop, and seed weights were determined. In the field, stress treatments infrequently and inconsistently affected silvertop levels. Regression showed that the relationship between silvertop and seed yield, although significant, explained little of the variability in yield. Silvertop developed in all treatments in the greenhouse; treatments had no effect on silvertop levels, which were highest in plants treated at the R1 (spikelets visible) growth stage. This suggests that this stage of the two grass species is most vulnerable to silvertop occurrence.
Weak nuclear force
Authors: Robson B. A.
Published: February 2021

This paper presents a critical historical review of the two main approaches to providing an understanding of the nature of the weak nuclear force via the Standard Model and the Generation Model of particle physics. The Standard Model is generally considered to be incomplete in the sense that it provides little understanding of several empirical observations: the Generation Model was developed to overcome several dubious assumptions made during the development of the Standard Model. This paper indicates that the Generation Model provides a more consistent understanding of the weak nuclear force than the earlier Standard Model.
Efficient text feature extraction by integrating the average linkage and K-medoids clustering
Authors: Sun Dasong
Published: February 2021

By clustering feature words, we can not only simplify the dimension of feature subsets, but also eliminate the redundancy of the feature. However, for a feature set with very large dimensions, the traditional [Formula: see text]-medoids algorithm is difficult to accurately estimate the value of [Formula: see text]. Moreover, the clustering results of the average linkage (AL) algorithm cannot be divided again, and the AL algorithm cannot be directly used for text classification. In order to overcome the limitations of AL and [Formula: see text]-medoids, in this paper, we combine the two algorithms together so as to be mutually complementary to each other. In particular, in order to meet the purpose of text classification, we improve the AL algorithm and propose the [Formula: see text] testing statistics to obtain the approximate number of clusters. Finally, the central feature words are preserved, and the other feature words are deleted. The experimental results show that the new algorithm largely eliminates the redundancy of the feature. Compared with the traditional TF-IDF algorithms, the performance of the text classification of the new algorithm is improved.
An Improved Approach for Eliminating the Loop in Hybrid Software Defined Network (SDN) Using Modified Bellman-Ford Algorithm
Authors: MOHAN J. , DEVANAGAONKAR SHWETA M. , GARUR VINEETA V. , KARTHIK A. , ROHITAKSHA K. , RAJENDRA A. B.
Published: February 2021

SDN is approaching its own structure of acceptance. Therefore, the increasing deployment of SDNs is being discussed as a possible approach, appearing in the development of the hybrid SDN networks. An foremost work in the hybrid SDN networks is bandwidth allocation, taking into account the integration of both SDN-enabled and conventional switches. The network loop in layer 2 switches is skipped in Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) by ceaselessly watching the network to trace all links and block the unwanted ones. Bridge loops will occur anytime there’s a redundant Layer2 way between ends. By default, switches forward broadcast/multicast out all ports, other than the port from that the broadcast/multicast was delivered. Once a switch loop is brought in the network, broadcast messages are going to be broadcasted more often leading to broadcast storms. The Spanning-tree algorithm enforces a distributed divergent of the Bellman-Ford iterative algorithm that always looks for the optimal solution and selects an optimal influential switch anytime. In this paper we use controller’s global network view for resolving loop problem in layer 2 network. SDN controller acts on broadcast packets received from switch-ports and host-ports differently that is if the broadcast packets received from host ports, the SDN controller broadcasts these packets to all ports and if broadcast packets is received from switch ports, only some switches broadcasts these packets on all ports instead of all switches.
The Machine Learning Embedded Method of Parameters Determination in the Constitutive Models and Potential Applications for Hydrogels
Authors: Zheng Shoujing , Liu Zishun
Published: February 2021

We propose a machine learning embedded method of parameters determination in the constitutional models of hydrogels. It is found that the developed logistic regression-like algorithm for hydrogel swelling allows us to determine the fitting parameters based on known swelling ratio and chemical potential. We also put forward the neural networks-like algorithm, which, by its own property, can converge faster as the layer deepens. We then develop neural networks-like algorithm for hydrogel under uniaxial load for experimental application purpose. Finally, we propose several machine learning embedded potential applications for hydrogels, which would provide directions for machine learning-based hydrogel research.
Disease-specific platelet signaling defects in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
Authors: Aulak Kulwant S. , Al Abdi Sami , Li Ling , Crabb Jack S. , Ghosh Arnab , Willard Belinda , Stuehr Dennis J. , Crabb John W. , Dweik Raed A. , Tonelli Adriano R.
Published: February 2021

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a rapidly progressive disease with several treatment options. Long-term mortality remains high with great heterogeneity in treatment response. Even though most of the pathology of IPAH is observed in the lung, there is systemic involvement. Platelets from patients with IPAH have characteristic metabolic shifts and defects in activation; therefore, we investigated whether they could be used to identify other disease-specific abnormalities. We used proteomics to investigate protein expression changes in platelets from patients with IPAH compared with healthy controls. Key abnormalities of nitric oxide pathway were tested in platelets from a larger cohort of unique patients with IPAH. Platelets showed abnormalities in the prostacyclin and nitric oxide pathways, which are dysregulated in IPAH and hence targets of therapy. We detected reduced expression of G protein αs and increased expression of the regulatory subunits of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) type II isoforms, supporting an overall decrease in the activation of the prostacyclin pathway. We noted reduced levels of the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) subunits and increased expression of the phosphodiesterase type 5 A (PDE5A), conditions that affect the response to nitric oxide. Ensuing analysis of 38 unique patients with IPAH demonstrated considerable variation in the levels and specific activity of sGC, a finding with novel implications for personalized therapy. Platelets have some of the characteristic vasoactive signal abnormalities seen in IPAH and may provide comprehensive ex vivo mechanistic information to direct therapeutic decisions.
Minor Change of Plasma Renin Activity during the Saline Infusion Test Provide an Auxiliary Diagnostic Value for Primary Aldosteronism
Authors: Adilijiang Munire , Luo Qin , Wang Menghui , Zhang Delian , Yao Xiaoguang , Wang Guoliang , Zhou Keming , Li Nanfang
Published: February 2021

Context. Failure of plasma aldosterone suppression during the saline infusion test (SIT) confirms primary aldosteronism (PA); recommendations for diagnostic strategies are currently controversial in the case of an inconclusive test result with a post-SIT PAC 5–10 ng/dl, while the renin change during SIT is not focused by the previous study. Objective. To clarify whether it has some hidden diagnostic values for PA, especially in the case of an inconclusive SIT result, we investigated the difference in changes of plasma renin activity (PRA) during SIT between patients with PA and non-PA. Methods. We measured and compared the SIT parameters of 159 PA patients, 368 non-PA patients, and 43 inconclusive patients who were included in this study. Results. The PA group showed a minor change of PRA during the SIT (ΔPRA, defined as (pre-SIT PRA–post-SIT PRA)) compared with the non-PA group (0.17 ng/ml/h vs. 1.07 ng/ml/h,

P
<
0.001

). According to ROC analysis, ΔPRA showed a greater AUC than post-SIT PRA (0.897 vs. 0.855,

P
<
0.001

). The cutoff value was 0.5 ng/ml/h, with 90.3% sensitivity and 78.6% specificity. When combined with ARR post-SIT, it showed 81.6% sensitivity and 97.0% specificity for PA diagnosis. Further analysis of 43 patients with an inconclusive SIT result who completed AVS found that ΔPRA was smaller in the confirmed PA group compared with the unconfirmed PA group (0.19 ng/ml/h vs. 0.29 ng/ml/h,

P
<
0.05

); there was no significant difference in PAC post-SIT between two groups. ΔPRA ≤ 0.21 ng/ml/h provides 71.4% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity, and 87.0% PPV for their PA diagnosis. Conclusions. PA patients show minor PRA change during SIT; the change of PRA during SIT provides an auxiliary diagnostic value for PA, especially in patients with an inconclusive SIT result.
Dot1l Aggravates Keratitis Induced by Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in Mice via p38 MAPK‐Mediated Oxidative Stress
Authors: Wan Shanshan , Zhou Yiwen , Huang Qiong , Yang Yanning
Published: February 2021

Background. Disruptor of telomeric silencing 1‐like (Dot1l) plays a vital role in biological processes as a well‐known methyltransferase. However, its role in herpes simplex virus type 1‐ (HSV‐1‐) infected keratitis remains unclear. Methods. In vitro and in vivo models were assessed to investigate the role of Dot1l in HSV‐1 induced keratitis. C57BL/6 mice corneas were infected with HSV‐1 for different days, with or without Dot1l inhibitor, to demonstrate the regulation of Dot1l in herpes simplex keratitis (HSK). Human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells were cultured and infected with HSV‐1 to identify the molecular mechanisms involved. Results. In this study, we found that Dot1l was positively related to HSK. Inhibition of Dot1l with EPZ004777 (EPZ) alleviated corneal injury, including oxidative stress and inflammation in vivo. Similarly, the inhibition of Dot1l with either EPZ or small interfering RNA (siRNA) showed an inhibitory effect on HSV‐1‐induced oxidative stress and inflammation in HCE cells. Moreover, our study revealed that the expression of p38 MAPK was elevated after HSV‐1 infection in HCE cells, and the inhibition of Dot1l could reduce the increased expression of p38 MAPK induced by HSV‐1 infection in vivo and in vitro. Conclusion. Our results demonstrated that the inhibition of Dot1l alleviated corneal oxidative stress and inflammation by inhibiting ROS production through the p38 MAPK pathway in HSK. These findings indicated that Dot1l might be a valuable therapeutic target for HSK.
Clustering and Fuzzy Logic-Based Demand-Side Management for Solar Microgrid Operation: Case Study of Ngurudoto Microgrid, Arusha, Tanzania
Authors: Philipo Godiana Hagile , Chande Jande Yusufu Abeid , Kivevele Thomas
Published: February 2021

Permanent electricity availability should not be taken for granted since grid sustainability and reliability are at stake when there is no balance between supply and demand. This paper employs a load balancing demand-side management (DSM) approach based on fuzzy logic, considering the low energy users who have insignificant influence on system peaks. Through the K-means clustering algorithm, suitable candidates for DSM are identified, and the control mechanism is based on energy utilization and load priority. The results reveal that about 3.7 kW in power saving was achieved per month. This result indicates that, with a proper energy management strategy for an individual customer, almost a flatter load profile and power saving can be achieved.
First-Principles Study of Structure, Elastic Properties, and Thermal Conductivity of Monolayer Calcium Hydrobromide
Authors: Li Si-Hua , Hu Cui-E , Wang Xiao-Lu , Cheng Yan
Published: February 2021

In recent years, some laboratories have been able to prepare calcium hydrobromide (CaHBr) by melting hydride and anhydrous bromide or metal and bromide in a hydrogen atmosphere at 900°C and have studied some of its properties. But there are few theoretical studies, especially the theoretical studies of monolayer CaHBr. We use the first-principles method to calculate the structure, elastic properties, and lattice thermal conductivity of the monolayer CaHBr based on the Boltzmann transport equation. We obtain a stable crystal structure by the optimization of monolayer CaHBr. By calculating the elastic constant of monolayer CaHBr, its mechanical stability is proved, and the elastic limit of monolayer CaHBr is obtained by biaxial tensile strain on monolayer CaHBr. And the corresponding phonon spectra show no imaginary frequency, indicating the dynamic stability of the monolayer CaHBr. By the ShengBTE code, we calculate the lattice thermal conductivity of the monolayer CaHBr, the iterative solution of BTE and RTA at 300 K–1200 K is obtained, and the lattice thermal conductivity at room temperature is

κ
ι

BTE

=

2.469
 
W

/

m
⋅
K

and

κ
ι

RTA

=

2.201
 
W

/

m
⋅
K

, respectively. It can be seen that the lattice thermal conductivity of monolayer CaHBr is low. And by analyzing the phonon spectrum, the scattering rate, and the mean free path of the phonons, the lattice thermal conductivity of monolayer CaHBr mainly depends on the acoustic modes. We hope this study can provide theoretical guidance for the experiments and practical application of monolayer CaHBr.
A Nonpenalty Neurodynamic Model for Complex-Variable Optimization
Authors: Liu Bao , Mei Xuehui , Jiang Haijun , Wu Lijun
Published: February 2021

In this paper, a complex-variable neural network model is obtained for solving complex-variable optimization problems described by differential inclusion. Based on the nonpenalty idea, the constructed algorithm does not need to design penalty parameters, that is, it is easier to be designed in practical applications. And some theorems for the convergence of the proposed model are given under suitable conditions. Finally, two numerical examples are shown to illustrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed optimization model.
Occurrence and Determination of Antimicrobial Resistant Escherichia coli Isolates in Fish and Vegetables as Indicator Organism of Faecal Contamination in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Authors: Mwanza Francis , Komba Erick Vitus Gabriel , Kambarage Dominic Mukama
Published: February 2021

Escherichia coli such as E. coli O157:H7, a non-sorbitol-fermenting (NSF) E. coli, is an essential human pathogen among other common zoonotic pathogens carried by animals especially cattle. They are discharged through cattle faeces into the environment. With the increasing practice of urban farming, livestock manure is used as organic fertiliser in either fish ponds or vegetable gardens. This practice increases the risk of transmission of such pathogens to humans. This study aimed at determining the occurrence, antimicrobial resistance profiles, and genetic relatedness of E. coli isolates from manure, vegetables, and fish. Microbiological standard methods were used to isolate and identify E. coli isolates from manure, vegetable, and fish samples. Confirmed isolates on biochemical tests were tested for resistance against six antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) typing method was used to generate fingerprints and determine the genetic relatedness of the E. coli isolates. Of 156 samples including 89 manure, 53 vegetables, and 16 fish, 36 (23.1%) samples were positive for E. coli from where a total of 48 E. coli different isolates were recovered that were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and genetic relatedness. Of these isolates, 25 (52.1%) were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent and 12 (48.0%) showed multidrug resistance. ERIC-PCR profiles of E. coli isolates from manure, vegetables, and fish showed genetic diversity with genetic relatedness ranging from 74.5% to 100%. Nine phylogenetic clusters (I–IX) determined at 90% threshold level of genetic relatedness were identified among the isolates. This study determined the occurrence, antimicrobial resistant patterns, and genetic diversity of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli isolates from different sources. This study showed the potential of microbial health risk to humans through contamination, and hence, it is necessary to monitor and improve husbandry practices in urban farming.
Low Rank Correlation Representation and Clustering
Authors: Gao Wenyun , Dai Sheng , Abhadiomhen Stanley Ebhohimhen , He Wei , Yin Xinghui
Published: February 2021

Correlation learning is a technique utilized to find a common representation in cross-domain and multiview datasets. However, most existing methods are not robust enough to handle noisy data. As such, the common representation matrix learned could be influenced easily by noisy samples inherent in different instances of the data. In this paper, we propose a novel correlation learning method based on a low-rank representation, which learns a common representation between two instances of data in a latent subspace. Specifically, we begin by learning a low-rank representation matrix and an orthogonal rotation matrix to handle the noisy samples in one instance of the data so that a second instance of the data can linearly reconstruct the low-rank representation. Our method then finds a similarity matrix that approximates the common low-rank representation matrix much better such that a rank constraint on the Laplacian matrix would reveal the clustering structure explicitly without any spectral postprocessing. Extensive experimental results on ORL, Yale, Coil-20, Caltech 101-20, and UCI digits datasets demonstrate that our method has superior performance than other state-of-the-art compared methods in six evaluation metrics.
Radiation Can Regulate the Expression of miRNAs Associated with Osteogenesis and Oxidation in Exosomes from Peripheral Blood Plasma
Authors: Du Yu , Tang Haiyang , Gu Xia , Shi Yixin , Gong Ping , Yao Yang
Published: February 2021

Objectives. Radiotherapy is a common therapy in head and neck tumors, which may cause a side effect radiation bone injury (RBI). Furthermore, it has been investigated that microRNA (miRNA) expression levels were altered after radiotherapy. Exosomes play a role in bone formation as miRNA containers, while radiation affects exosomes composition, secretion, and function. So, our objective is to explore changes in miRNA levels during bone formation after radiotherapy and identify the differentially expressed miRNAs (DE‐miRs) in plasma exosomes during the process of osteogenesis related to irradiation. Materials and Methods. In this study, we analyzed nine samples from three rabbits exposed twice to radiation (15 Gy each) and detected DE‐miRs from irradiated plasma exosomes during the process of osteogenesis by RNA sequencing. Further, we identified DE‐miRs with significant differences and predicted their target genes via the bioinformatics analysis tools Targetscan v7.2 and miRPathDB v2.0. Finally, we identified radiation‐responsive miRNAs and predicted their target genes during osteogenesis. Results. Taken together, we have identified some DE‐miRs in irradiated plasma exosomes, which were involved in several vital signaling pathways related to bone physiology, such as the Wnt pathway, MAPK cascade, and calcium modulating pathway. Conclusions. We have found that plasma exosomes are one of the ways by which radiation can affect bone metabolism and regeneration. However, the specific mechanisms of how these plasma exosomal miRNAs mediate the osteogenesis pathways must be further investigated. Clinical Relevance. Radiotherapy may cause radiation bone injury, and miRNA expression levels in rabbit plasma exosomes are altered after radiotherapy. High‐throughput RNA sequencing can identify the differentially expressed miRNAs in irradiated plasma exosomes during the process of osteogenesis. These findings make sense to develop novel therapeutic strategies for treating radiation‐induced bone injury disorders.
Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index Is a Prognostic Predictor in Patients with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Undergoing Liver Transplantation
Authors: Ren Ao , Li Zhongqiu , Cheng Pengrui , Zhang Xuzhi , Deng Ronghai , Ma Yi
Published: February 2021

Background. It was reported that systemic immune inflammation index (SII) was related to poor prognosis in a variety of cancers. We aimed to investigate the ability of the prognostic predictors of SII in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) undergoing liver transplantation (LT). Methods. The 28 iCCA patients who underwent LT at our hospital between 2013 and 2018 were reviewed. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of SII. Patients were divided into the high and low SII groups according to the cut-off value. Results. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were significantly lower in the high SII group (85.7%, 28.6%, and 21.4%, respectively) than in the low SII group (92.9%, 71.4%, and 57.2%, respectively;P=0.009). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS rates were, respectively, 57.1%, 32.7%, and 21.8% in the high SII group and 85.7%, 61.1%, and 61.1% in the low SII group (P=0.021).SII≥447.48×109/L (HR 0.273, 95% CI 0.082–0.908;P=0.034) was an independent prognostic factor for OS. Conclusions. Our results showed that SII can be used to predict the survival of patients with iCCA who undergo LT.
Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Cytotoxic Properties and Chemical Compositions of Filipendula palmata (Pall.) Maxim.
Authors: Zhang Hongyin , Li Guangzhe , Han Rongxin , Zhang Rongrong , Ma Xintong , Wang Miao , Shao Shuai , Yan Mingming , Zhao Daqing
Published: February 2021

Filipendula palmata (Pall.) Maxim. remains unexplored and underutilized resources with a high potential to improve human health. In this study, a new ursane-type triterpenoid, namely, 2α, 3β-dihydroxyurs-12-en-28-aldehyde (compound 10), and other 23 known compounds were isolated. 5 triterpenoids (compounds 6, 8, and 10–12), 11 flavonoids (compounds 13–15 and 17–24), 6 phenolic compounds (compounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, and 16), 2 sterols (compounds 3 and 7) were isolated from the aqueous solution extract of the aerial parts of F. palmata. The structures of all compounds were elucidated by the use of extensive spectroscopic methods such as infrared spectroscopy (IR), high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS), 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. The solvent extractions of ethyl acetate fraction were evaluated for antioxidant activities using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS+ (2, 2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) methods. The anti-inflammatory effects of the compounds were evaluated in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. The extract cytotoxicity on the cancer cell lines MCF-7, HeLa, 4T1, and A549 was determined by MTT assay. As a result, compounds 10, 11, and 12 exhibited better antioxidant activity compared to the other compounds. Compounds 8–24 had different inhibitory effects on the release of NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The new compound has shown a significant inhibiting effect on cancer cells, and the cell inhibition rate increased in a dose-dependent manner. Further research to elucidate the chemical compositions and pharmacological effects of F. palmata is of major importance towards the development and foundation of clinical application of the species.
A Crowd Counting Framework Combining with Crowd Location
Authors: Zhang Jin , Chen Sheng , Tian Sen , Gong Wenan , Cai Guoshan , Wang Ying
Published: February 2021

In the past ten years, crowd detection and counting have been applied in many fields such as station crowd statistics, urban safety prevention, and people flow statistics. However, obtaining accurate positions and improving the performance of crowd counting in dense scenes still face challenges, and it is worthwhile devoting much effort to this. In this paper, a new framework is proposed to resolve the problem. The proposed framework includes two parts. The first part is a fully convolutional neural network (CNN) consisting of backend and upsampling. In the first part, backend uses the residual network (ResNet) to encode the features of the input picture, and upsampling uses the deconvolution layer to decode the feature information. The first part processes the input image, and the processed image is input to the second part. The second part is a peak confidence map (PCM), which is proposed based on an improvement over the density map (DM). Compared with DM, PCM can not only solve the problem of crowd counting but also accurately predict the location of the person. The experimental results on several datasets (Beijing-BRT, Mall, Shanghai Tech, and UCF_CC_50 datasets) show that the proposed framework can achieve higher crowd counting performance in dense scenarios and can accurately predict the location of crowds.
Increasing Lignification in Translucent Disorder Aril of Mangosteen Related to the ROS Defensive Function
Authors: Wongs-Aree Chalermchai , Siripirom Patchayapon , Satitpongchai Apinya , Bodhipadma Kitti , Noichinda Sompoch
Published: February 2021

Mangosteen fruit has a high potential on the global fruit market, but some disorders, including translucent flesh, are major problems of fruit quality, limiting the marketability. The present study was conducted to compare physiological changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS), cellular lignification between translucent and normal aril, and elucidate the relation. Mangosteen fruits at purple peel color were collected from eastern Thailand during the middle of the rainy season of 2019. Translucent aril accumulated higher lignin content in the tissues, expressing firmer texture ten times higher than normal aril. Lignification was increased in translucent aril by 740% and 25% higher coniferyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and peroxidase (POD) activity, respectively, induced by high H2O2. Healthy aril performed higher activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) (8.5 times) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (1.3 times) to those in translucent aril. Furthermore, the higher flavonoid content, ascorbic acid content, and antioxidant capacities detected in normal aril could significantly reduce oxidative stress. Although containing high antioxidant systems, healthy aril was found to accumulate higher malonaldehyde content (MDA). This study provides intensive evidence of oxidative stress and the defensive systems between normal and translucent tissues.
Yield and Nutritional Quality of Sweet Lupine (Lupinus angustifolius) Grown in Midaltitudes of Lemo District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Riga Fikadu T. , Retta Kassa S. , Derseh Melkamu B.
Published: February 2021

The study was conducted to determine the yield and nutritional quality of sweet lupine (Lupinus angustifolius.) grown in midaltitude of Lemo District, Southern Ethiopia. The yield and nutritive value of sweet lupine in terms of quantity and quality was conducted using a factorial experiment arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments for the study were two sweet lupine varieties (Vitabore and Sanabore), two locations (Upper Gana and Jewe Kebeles, and six levels of planting spacing: 30 cm × 7 cm (S1), 40 cm × 7 cm (S2), 30 cm × 15 cm (S3), 40 cm × 15 cm (S4), 30 cm × 20 cm (S5), and 40 cm × 20 cm (S6)). The yield, chemical composition, and digestibility among parameters were studied. Sweet lupine varieties in Upper Gana Kebele gave the highest green forage yield (39.58 t/ha) and forage dry matter (4.84 t/ha) at 30 cm × 7 cm planting spacing, respectively. Seed yield (SYD) (t/ha) was highly affected (

P
<
0.01

) by location. The maximum seed (2.98 t/ha) yield was observed in Upper Gana Kebele with the minimum (2.15 t/ha) at Jewe Kebele. The forage in Jewe Kebele gave the highest organic matter (OM) (87.01%) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (37.50%) content at a stage of 100% flowering. Sweet lupine forage in Upper Gana Kebele gave the highest crude protein (CP) content (23.11%) while the highest forage CP content was recorded at a planting space of 40 cm × 20 cm (23.67%). Sweet lupine forage gave the maximum in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) (69.10%) at a spacing of 40 cm × 20 cm in Upper Gana. The highest CP (29.11%) content and IVOMD (80.49%) of seed were recorded in Upper Gana Kebele. The overall result of this study suggested that green forage yield and forage dry matter yield are affected by location, planting spacing, and stage of flowering, whereas the chemical composition of sweet lupine forage was affected by location and variety interaction (dry matter and acid detergent fiber), location and stage of flowering interaction (OM, ADF and total ash), location (CP, metabolizable energy (ME), and IVOMD), planting spacing (CP and IVOMD), and stage of flowering (CP and ME). On the other hand, sweet lupine seed yield, seed CP, and IVOMD were affected by location. The large differences in yield and nutritive values observed among sweet lupine varieties, growth environment, planting spacing, and their interactions entail consideration of these factors for appropriate utilization of sweet lupine as a feed resource for livestock.
A Joint Model for Macular Edema Analysis in Optical Coherence Tomography Images Based on Image Enhancement and Segmentation
Authors: Tao Zhifu , Zhang Wenping , Yao Mudi , Zhong Yuanfu , Sun Yanan , Li Xiu-Miao , Yao Jin , Jiang Qin , Lu Peirong , Wang Zhenhua
Published: February 2021

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides the visualization of macular edema which can assist ophthalmologists in the diagnosis of ocular diseases. Macular edema is a major cause of vision loss in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO). However, manual delineation of macular edema is a laborious and time‐consuming task. This study proposes a joint model for automatic delineation of macular edema in OCT images. This model consists of two steps: image enhancement using a bioinspired algorithm and macular edema segmentation using a Gaussian‐filtering regularized level set (SBGFRLS) algorithm. We then evaluated the delineation efficiency using the following parameters: accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, Dice’s similarity coefficient, IOU, and kappa coefficient. Compared with the traditional level set algorithms, including C‐V and GAC, the proposed model had higher efficiency in macular edema delineation as shown by reduced processing time and iteration times. Moreover, the accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, Dice’s similarity coefficient, IOU, and kappa coefficient for macular edema delineation could reach 99.7%, 97.8%, 96.0%, 99.0%, 96.9%, 94.0%, and 96.8%, respectively. More importantly, the proposed model had comparable precision but shorter processing time compared with manual delineation. Collectively, this study provides a novel model for the delineation of macular edema in OCT images, which can assist the ophthalmologists for the screening and diagnosis of retinal diseases.
Transfer Learning and Semisupervised Adversarial Detection and Classification of COVID‐19 in CT Images
Authors: Oluwasanmi Ariyo , Aftab Muhammad Umar , Qin Zhiguang , Ngo Son Tung , Doan Thang Van , Nguyen Son Ba , Nguyen Son Hoang
Published: February 2021

The ongoing coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has resulted in a severe ramification on the global healthcare system, principally because of its easy transmission and the extended period of the virus survival on contaminated surfaces. With the advances in computer‐aided diagnosis and artificial intelligence, this paper presents the application of deep learning and adversarial network for the automatic identification of COVID‐19 pneumonia in computed tomography (CT) scans of the lungs. The complexity and time limitation of the reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) swab test makes it disadvantageous to depend solely on as COVID‐19’s central diagnostic mechanism. Since CT imaging systems are of low cost and widely available, we demonstrate that the drawback of the RT‐PCR can be alleviated with a faster, automated, and reduced contact diagnostic process via the use of a neural network model for the classification of infected and noninfected CT scans. In our proposed model, we explore the benefit of transfer learning as a means of resolving the problem of inadequate dataset and the importance of semisupervised generative adversarial network for the extraction of well‐mapped features and generation of image data. Our experimental evaluation indicates that the proposed semisupervised model achieves reliable classification, taking advantage of the reflective loss distance between the real data sample space and the generated data.
Research on Characteristics of Wireless Power Transfer System Based on U-Type Coupling Mechanism
Authors: Jinliang Jia , Xiaoqiang Yan
Published: February 2021

Aiming at the power supply problem of high-speed rotating equipment, a wireless power transfer system based on U-shaped core coupling mechanism with a primary coil is proposed. Firstly, the transfer model of the U-type coupling mechanism wireless power transfer system is established. The expressions of transfer power and transfer efficiency are obtained by theoretical calculation, and the factors affecting the transfer characteristics of the system are analyzed. At the same time, the magnetic field distribution of the system and the coupling parameters change when the relative position of the primary and secondary coils changes through simulation analysis. Finally, an experimental platform is established for experimental verification. The results show that the system can obtain 1.72 w output power with 51.19% transfer efficiency when the distance between the secondary coil and U-core is 15 mm and 30 mm, respectively. The transmission efficiency and power of the primary coil and secondary coil under different misalignments are tested and compared. It is proved that the wireless power transfer system based on U-type coupling mechanism can effectively realize the stable power supply of the rotating equipment monitoring system.
Aggregation-Based Tag Deduplication for Cloud Storage with Resistance against Side Channel Attack
Authors: Tang Xin , Zhou Linna , Hu Bingwei , Wu Haowen
Published: February 2021

Tag deduplication is an emerging technique to eliminate redundancy in cloud storage, which works by signing integrity tags with a content-associated key instead of user-associated secret key. To achieve public auditability in this scenario, the linkage between cloud users and their integrity tags is firstly re-established in current solutions, which provides a potential side channel to malicious third-party auditor to steal the existence privacy of a certain target file. Such kind of attack, which is also possible among classic public auditing schemes, still cannot be well resisted and is now becoming a big obstacle in using this technique. In this paper, we propose a secure aggregation-based tag deduplication scheme (ATDS), which takes the lead to consider resistance against side channel attack during the process of public verification. To deal with this problem, we define a user-associated integrity tag based on the defined content-associated polynomial and devise a Lagrangian interpolation-based aggregation strategy to achieve tag deduplication. With the help of this technique, content-associated public key is able to be utilized instead of a user-associated one to achieve auditing. Once the verification is passed, the TPA is just only able to make sure that the verified data are correctly corresponding to at least a group of users in cloud storage, rather than determining specific owners. The security analysis and experiment results show that the proposed scheme is able to resist side channel attack and is more efficient compared with the state of the art.
Maximum Norm Estimates of the Solution of the Navier-Stokes Equations in the Halfspace with Bounded Initial Data
Authors: Pathak Santosh
Published: February 2021

In this paper, I consider the Cauchy problem for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in

ℝ

+

n

for

n
≥
3

with bounded initial data and derive a priori estimates of the maximum norm of all derivatives of the solution in terms of the maximum norm of the initial data. This paper is a continuation of my work in my previous papers, where the initial data are considered in

T

n

and

ℝ

n

respectively. In this paper, because of the nonempty boundary in our domain of interest, the details in obtaining the desired result are significantly different and more challenging than the work of my previous papers. This challenges arise due to the possible noncommutativity nature of the Leray projector with the derivatives in the direction of normal to the boundary of the domain of interest. Therefore, we only consider one derivative of the velocity field in that direction.