bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multi-omics analysis of the effects of soil amendment on rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) photosynthesis under drip irrigation with brackish water
Authors: Li Ziwei , Fan Hua , Yang Le , Wang Shuai , Hong Dashuang , Sun Bozheng , Zhang Miao , Dong Wen , Wang Kaiyong , Liu Yantao , Li Suocheng
Published: July 2023

Drip irrigation with brackish water increases the risk of soil salinization while alleviating water shortage in arid areas. In order to alleviate soil salinity stress on crops, polymer soil amendments are increasingly used. But the regulation mechanism of polymer soil amendment composed of polyacrylamide polyvinyl alcohol, and manganese sulfate (PPM) on rapeseed photosynthesis under drip irrigation with different types of brackish water is still unclear. In this field study, PPM was applied to study the responses of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) phenotype, photosynthetic physiology, transcriptomics, and metabolomics at the peak flowering stage under drip irrigation with water containing 6 g · L− 1 NaCl (S) and Na2CO3 (A). The results showed that the inhibitory effect of A treatment on rapeseed photosynthesis was greater than that of S treatment, which was reflected in higher Na+ content (73.30%) and lower photosynthetic-fluorescence parameters (6.30-61.54%) and antioxidant enzyme activity (53.13–77.10%) of A-treat plants. The application of PPM increased the biomass (63.03–75.91%), photosynthetic parameters (10.55%-34.06%), chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (33.83–62.52%), leaf pigment content (10.30-187.73%), and antioxidant enzyme activity (28.37-198.57%) under S and A treatments. However, the difference is that under S treatment, PPM regulated sulfur metabolism, carbon fixation and carbon metabolism pathways in rapeseed leaves. And it regulated the photosynthesis-, oxidative phosphorylation-, and TCA cycle-related metabolic pathways in rapeseed leaves under A treatment. This study will provide new insights for the application of polymer materials to tackle the salinity stress on crops caused by drip irrigation with brackish water, and solve the difficulty in brackish water utilization.
Cat-paw-inspired Tree Climbing Robot Gripper
Authors: Wang Renjie , Cheng Chia Loon
Published: July 2023

In this paper, we present a bioinspired design for a cat-paw-inspired tree-climbing robot gripper using a combination of soft and hard design. We draw lessons from the cat's tree-climbing action and the structural function of the cat's paw and extract and focus on the key features: the structure of the paw's skeleton, the unique structure of the end claw provides the grip ability, and the stability and friction provided by the soft tissues of the meat pad. In view of the excellent tree-climbing ability of cats, the cat-paw robot gripper in this paper is different from the traditional tree-climbing robot, which is suitable for the complex tree environment. This is also an inspiration for the paw design of the quadruped robot to complete the climbing action. In this paper, the design mainly focuses on the analysis of principle, mechanical structural design, simple motion demonstration and general control system.
“If I've got to walk up that hill, I don't struggle…, I go harder”: A qualitative study exploring perceptions of the role of personality in weight management among adults with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Geerling Ralph , Holmes-Truscott Elizabeth , Kothe Emily , Speight Jane
Published: July 2023

Background
Personality is a well-established associate of health behaviors in chronic health conditions but has not been explored qualitatively in diabetes. This study aimed to explore how adults with type 2 diabetes understand the role their personality plays in their weight management.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone with N = 22 Australian adults with type 2 diabetes (50% women; age: 62 ± 9 years). Participants were purposively sampled, following completion of an online cross-sectional survey examining personality and weight management (n = 270), to achieve gender balance and diversity in physical activity and dietary practices. Open-ended questions elicited barriers to, and enablers of, weight management, with a final direct question: “how have your personal qualities or traits affected the way you manage your weight?”. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Thematic template analysis was conducted, with a deductive (using the HEXACO and Big Five personality frameworks) and inductive (where data did not fit either framework) approach.
Results
All participants described personal characteristics and strategies that they perceived as barriers/enablers to weight management, which were largely coded deductively. Traits most commonly identified as facilitating weight management were openness and conscientiousness, while emotionality (neuroticism) was mostly a barrier, and extraversion and agreeableness were identified as both barriers and enablers. While not represented in either applied framework, ‘disordered eating behaviors’ was identified as a barrier to healthful behaviors. Upon explicit questioning, 55% of participants directly linked their personality to their weight management.
Conclusions
Findings suggest adults with type 2 diabetes may have limited understanding or self-awareness regarding the role of personality in their weight management that warrants further investigation.
Evolutionary analysis of SLC10 family members and insights into function and expression regulation of lamprey NTCP
Authors: Zhu Yingying , Zhang Qipeng , Pan Jilong , Li Tiesong , Wang Hao , Liu Jindi , Qian Lei , Zhu Ting , Pang Yue , Li Qingwei , Chi Yan
Published: July 2023

The Na (+)-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) is a member of the solute carrier family 10 (SLC10), which consists of 7 members (SLC10a1-SLC10a7). NTCP is a transporter localized to the basolateral membrane of hepatocytes and is primarily responsible for the absorption of bile acids. Although mammalian NTCP has been extensively studied, little is known about the lamprey NTCP (L-NTCP). Here we show that L-NTCP follows the biological evolutionary history of vertebrates, with conserved domain, motif and similar tertiary structure to higher vertebrates. L-NTCP is localized to the cell surface of lamprey primary hepatocytes by immunofluorescence analysis. HepG2 cells overexpressing L-NTCP also showed the distribution of L-NTCP on the cell surface. The expression profile of L-NTCP showed that the expression of NTCP is highest in lamprey liver tissue. L-NTCP also has the ability to transport bile acids, consistent with its higher vertebrate paralogs. Finally, using a farnesoid X receptor (FXR) antagonist, RT-qPCR and flow cytometry results showed that L-NTCP is negatively regulated by the nuclear receptor FXR. This study is important for understanding the adaptive mechanisms of bile acid metabolism after lamprey biliary atresia based on understanding the origin, evolution, expression profile, biological function and expression regulation of L-NTCP.
Facile fabrication of actively bonded Dye-Zeolite nanocomposites for the hash mineralizaion of tendinitis antibiotic drug
Authors: Gayathri M. , Arunpandian M. , Moorthy Santhameenakshi , Swaminathan Karuthapandian
Published: July 2023

Heterostructured Dye Sensitized Zeolite nanocomposites (Dye sens ZEO) were successfully prepared by an ultrasonication method. The structural analyses of the heterogeneous catalyst were confirmed using various characterization techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, SEM, UV-DRS, PL, EDX, and Mapping. From the studies of FT-IR, EDX and SEM, the good binding between dye molecule and zeolite was confirmed. The SEM studies revealed that the prepared material in cubic morphology. The Dye sens ZEO nanocomposite participated to photodegradation process of levofloxacin (LVF) drug which was examined by UV visible spectroscopy. It shows that greatest photocatalytic activity within 60 mins under visible light irradiation. The identification of degradation intermediates of LVF using GC-MS spectroscopy. The dye molecules contain azo group and zeolite consist absorption properties were very useful for the transformation of electron which were enhanced the photocatalytic activity. In scavenger studies, hydroxide radical play a superior role in the photodegradation mechanism. Finally, the photocatalyst pick up from the degraded solution using centrifugation method and used to further cycle.
Development of a point-of-care colour reaction-based multiplex diagnostic technology for detection of HIV and TB co-infection
Authors: Malatji Kanyane , Singh Advaita , Thobakgale Christina , Alexandre Kabamba
Published: July 2023

Currently, there are point-of-care (POC) tests for the detection of HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), however none can detect these pathogens simultaneously. We developed a colorimetric multiplex HIV and active TB diagnostic technology, using HIV-1 p24 and M.tb CFP10, ESAT6 and pstS1 antigens immobilized in high-binding 96 well plates or on epoxy-coated microarray slides. These antigens were used to bind corresponding antibodies in human serum at concentrations commonly found in infected individuals. This was followed by the addition of HRP conjugated secondary antibodies using either 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonicacid) (ABTS) or 3,3',5,5'-tetramethyl Benzidine (TMB) substrates. The sensitivity of the assay in the plates was compared to epoxy-coated slides and the latter had a better limit of detection, averaging 815-fold lower than the plates. Also, the TMB substrate produced better sensitivity than ABTS. Furthermore, we studied the specificity of the antigen-antibody reactions for this technology and determined that it was highly specific. Lastly, we investigated the stability of our technology at different pH, temperature, and storage conditions and found that it was optimal at pH 7.4, 25 ˚C, and dry storage for 1 to 90 days. Thus, the developed diagnostic technology has potential for the detection of HIV and TB co-infection at POC.
An efficient and accurate 2D human pose estimation method using VTTransPose network
Authors: Li Rui , Li Qi , Yang Shiqiang , Zeng Xin , Yan An
Published: July 2023

Human pose estimation is an important research direction in the field of computer vision, and transformer-based pose estimation algorithms have been favored for their excellent performance and low parametric number. Nonetheless, the algorithms suffer from computational complexity and insensitivity to local details. To address these problems, the transpose model introduces the twin attention module to improve the model efficiency and reduce resource consumption. Additionally, to solve the drawback of insufficiently high-quality joint feature representation resulting in poor network recognition, the intra-level feature fusion module V block was used to replace the basic block in the third subnet of the CNN backbone in the TransPose model. Then, the improved TransPose pose estimation network named VTTransPose was set up. The VTTranspose network achieves AP evaluation index scores of 76.5 and 73.6 on COCO val2017 and COCO test-dev2017, which shows an improvement of 0.4 and 0.2 compared to the original TransPose network. Moreover, the FLOPs of VTTransPose are reduced by 4.8G, the number of parameters is decreased by 2M, and the memory usage during training is reduced by about 40%. All the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed VTTransPose is more accurate, efficient, and lightweight compared with the original TransPose model.
Preparation of Jute Waste-Based Activated Carbon Supported Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Hydrogen Storage in MgH2
Authors: Rahman Md. Wasikur , Ali Md. Yousuf , Khan Md. Maksudur Rahman , Enzo Stefano
Published: July 2023

The generation of hydrogen fuel cars is a burning issue worldwide due to the rapid growth of energy demand and depletion of fossil energy resources, together with the need for a successful strategy to reduce the successive increase of greenhouse gas emissions requires sustainable, renewable, and clean energy resources. Hydrogen is an ideal energy carrier in comprehensive zero-emission vehicles. Metal hydrides are a safe alternative for hydrogen storage due to their long-term stability and low hydrogen equilibrium pressures. Magnesium hydride (MgH2), for instance, has been considered as one of the most interesting materials for hydrogen storage due to its high hydrogen storage capacity of 7.6 wt% and 102 gl-1 and non-toxic properties. However, it cannot be used on-board due to two main reasons are hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reaction for pure MgH2 is very slow and occurs only at high temperatures (> 600 K) under an equilibrium pressure of hydrogen much higher than 1 bar (> 3 MPa). However, the operation condition can be improved by using metal oxide as an additive that creates channels through the MgH2 surface. In our current research, copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-nano) were employed as catalysts supported by high surface area activated carbon (AC) with MgH2 which has opened a new window for hydrogen adsorption and desorption at standard temperature and pressure. Currently, AC was successfully prepared from jute waste which has been applied in the present issue to promote reversible H2 uptake and release behavior of MgH2.
Impact of vaccination on the association of COVID-19 with arterial and venous thrombotic diseases: an OpenSAFELY cohort study using linked electronic health records
Authors: Cezard Genevieve , Denholm Rachel , Knight Rochelle , Wei Yinghui , Teece Lucy , Toms Renin , Forbes Harriet , Walker Alex , Fisher Louis , Massey Jon , Hopcroft Lisa , Horne Elsie , Taylor Kurt , Palmer Tom , Arab Marwa Al , Coronado Jose Cuitun , Ip Samantha , Davy Simon , Dillingham Iain , Bacon Sebastian , Mehrkar Amir , Morton Caroline , Greaves Felix , Hyams Catherine , Smith George Davey , MacLeod John , Chaturvedi Nishi , Goldacre Ben , Whiteley William , Wood Angela , Sterne Jonathan , Walker Venexia
Published: July 2023

With the approval of NHS England, we quantified associations between COVID-19 diagnosis and cardiovascular diseases in different vaccination and variant eras using linked electronic health records for ~40% of the English population. We defined a ‘pre-vaccination’ cohort (18,210,937 people) in the wild-type/Alpha variant eras (January 2020-June 2021), and ‘vaccinated’ and ‘unvaccinated’ cohorts (13,572,399 and 3,161,485 people respectively) in the Delta variant era (June-December 2021). The incidence of each arterial thrombotic, venous thrombotic and other cardiovascular outcomes was substantially elevated during weeks 1-4 after COVID-19, compared with before or without COVID-19, but less markedly elevated in time periods beyond week 4. Hazard ratios were higher after hospitalized than non-hospitalized COVID-19 and higher in the pre-vaccination and unvaccinated than the vaccinated cohort. COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of cardiovascular events after COVID-19 infection. People who had COVID-19 before being vaccinated are at higher risk of cardiovascular events for at least two years.
Lapse rate adjusted bias correction for GCMs precipitation data: An Application to the Monsoon Asia Region
Authors: Mohanasundaram S. , Lim Sokneth , Hosan Md. Latif , Shrestha Sangam , Babel Mukand S , Virdis Salvatore G.P.
Published: July 2023

Bias correcting General Circulation Models (GCM’s) data is necessary before it is used in the climate change impact assessment studies at regional scales. Most of the bias correction methods consider raw GCM’s and locally observed data for correcting the systematic bias in the GCM’s data. However, highly varying topographic conditions and associated lapse rate properties perhaps impact on the bias correction process. Therefore, we have introduced a novel bias correction method where raw GCM data was first adjusted for local lapse rates and later was bias corrected with a simple linear regression coefficient. Monsoon Asia region was used as the study region to evaluate the proposed lapse rate regression (LR-Reg) based bias correction along with linear scaling (LS) and quantile mapping (QMap) bias correction methods. Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE) precipitation data was used as reference data to evaluate LS, QMap and LR-Reg bias correction methods. The comparison results show that the LR-Reg bias correction method was more promising and reduced significant bias from GCM’s precipitation data. The relative reduction in the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values by LR-Reg over LS method was upto 30% while the relative reduction in MAE and RMSE values by LR-Reg over QMap was upto 50%. Future projected precipitation under shared socio-economic pathways (SSP245 and SSP585) scenarios showed that the increase in precipitation was upto 50% mostly in the northern and central parts of China and in the Himalayan belts.
Supplementation of palmitoleic acid improved piglet growth and reduced body temperature drop upon a cold exposure
Authors: Feyera Takele , Lashkari Saman , Johannsen Jakob Christoffer , Llauradó-Calero Eudald , Zhe Li , Theil Peter Kappel , Jensen Søren Krogh
Published: July 2023

Background Survival of piglets poses a significant challenge in the initial days after birth because piglets are lacking readily oxidizable brown adipose tissue and born with limited amount of body reserves, which in turn limited theirthermogenic capacity. This study investigated the effects of palmitoleic acid (PA) supplementation on growth performance, maintenance of body temperature, muscle fatty acid (FA) compositions, and energy metabolism in milk replacer fed piglets. Forty-eight piglets were stratified by body weight and randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments (0%, 1%, 2%, and 3% PA supplementation as percent of milk replacer). Piglets were weighed daily, and half in each dietary treatment groups were exposed daily to low temperature for 2 h. Plasma and tissue samples were collected at the end of the experiment for further analyses.
Results Contents of C16:1n-7 and C18:1n-7 in both plasma and liver (P < 0.001), and C16:1n-7 (P < 0.001) in semimembranosus increased linearly as PA levels increased. Most plasma FA levels (except C16:1n-7, C16:1n-9 and C22:5n-3) were lower in piglets exposed to low temperature than those that were not. Plasma glucose, triglycerides and lactate dehydrogenase levels increased linearly with PA supplementation (P< 0.001). Piglets’ average daily gain, liver weight, liver glycogen pools, and gallbladder increased linearly with PA supplementation (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.05, and P < 0.001, respectively), but lung weight, liver nitrogen content, and body temperature drop at cold exposure decreased linearly with PA supplementation (P < 0.01, P < 0.001, and P < 0.05, respectively). Piglets exposed to low temperature had greater liver nitrogen (P < 0.05) and lactate dehydrogenase (P < 0.001) contents, but had lower liver weight (P < 0.01) and plasma lactate concentration (P< 0.05) than those that were not.
Conclusion Dietary supplementation of PA increased C16:1n-7 concentrations in plasma, liver, and semimembranosus as well as average daily gain of the piglets. The drop in body temperature of the piglet upon cold exposure decreased linearly with increasing PA supplementation.
Contrast-induced encephalopathy after cerebral DSA using iodixanol: a case report and literature review
Authors: Huang Li-gang , Deng# Jiang-shan , Bai# Xiao-lin
Published: July 2023

Contrast-induced encephalopathy (CIE) is an uncommon and self-limited complication which has been mostly reported to be associated with coronary angiography, but the recent literature shows its association with cerebral endovascular therapy as well. It can mimic seizure, confusion, focal motor and sensory deficits, mental aberrations, cortical blindness and ophthalmoplegia. Here, we present a CIE after digital subtraction angiography (DSA) using iodixanol (non-ionic, low-osmolar). A 74-year-old man presents with slurred speech, facial weakness, right limb numbness and weakness is admitted. Brain MRI detects a subacute infarction of posterior limb of left internal capsule. Given a history of asymptomatic stenosis of vertebral artery bilaterally, he is conducted DSA for further diagnosis. A total of 100 ml of iodixanol is used during DSA. The patient experiences restlessness, confused, and hematemesis after the procedure, followed by generalized tonic-clonic seizure, right eye gaze, and coma. The radiological signs and clinical status are gradually recovery after symptomatic treatment. This case indicates the potential for contrast to induce encephalopathy.
Management of Amyand's Hernia: A Case Report
Authors: Siddiqui Abdullah Mohammed Shabee Ahmed , More Rajesh , Kamble Amar , More Shermeen
Published: July 2023

Introduction: Amyand’s hernia is a rare condition that involves the presence of the appendix in the inguinal hernia sac, accounting for around 1% of all inguinal hernias. There are no standardized protocols available for managing this condition, and diagnosis is usually made intraoperatively as presentation and workup may give no indication of the presence of the appendix in the sac. Due to the rarity of the disease and non-availability of standardized treatment protocols, decisions may be taken that might lead to increased patient mortality. Presentation of the Case: A 60-year-old male patient presented with a recent onset of right inguinoscrotal swelling. The diagnosis of right irreducible hernia was made, and an elective open inguinal hernioplasty was decided. Intraoperatively, a long tubular vermiform appendix was identified in the sac along with the caecum. The appendix and the caecum were reduced, and hernia repair with mesh was done with excellent outcome and good healing was seen on follow-up. Discussion: The management of Amyand’s hernia is dependent on the classification put forward by Losanoff and Basson based on the different conditions of the appendix and presence or absence of sepsis. The definitive diagnostic test of Amyand’s hernia pre-operatively is still a heavily debated topic. CT scan and sonography are the investigations that can most closely identify the appendix in the sac. Conclusion: This case report presents Amyand’s hernia which presented as an unremarkable irreducible right inguinal hernia which was diagnosed intraoperatively, classified as Type 1 Amyand’s hernia.
Medical Image Classification with On-Premise AutoML: Unveiling Insights through Comparative Analysis
Authors: Elangovan Kabilan , Lim Gilbert , Ting Daniel
Published: July 2023

Automated machine learning (AutoML) allows for the simplified application of machine learning to real-world problems, by the implicit handling of necessary steps such as data pre-processing, feature engineering, model selection and hyperparameter optimization. This has encouraged its use in medical applications such as imaging. However, the impact of common parameter choices such as the number of trials allowed, and the resolution of the input images, has not been comprehensively explored in existing literature. We therefore benchmark AutoKeras (AK), an open-source AutoML framework, against several bespoke deep learning architectures, on five public medical datasets representing a wide range of imaging modalities. It was found that AK could outperform the bespoke models in general, although at the cost of increased training time. Moreover, our experiments suggest that a large number of trials and higher resolutions may not be necessary for optimal performance to be achieved.
Prevalence, diversity, and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus among patients with diabetic foot infections in a referral hospital in Tehran, Iran
Authors: Rahimi Fateh , Khashei Sanaz , Katouli Mohammad
Published: July 2023

The increasing incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major problem in the treatment of diabetic foot infections (DFIs). Due to the evolution of MRSA clones, and thereby inappropriate antibiotic therapy, typing of these strains in DFIs is needed to reduce their clonal dissemination in different regions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, diversity, and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of MRSA isolated from patients with DFIs attending a referral hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2019–2020. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, ccr typing, PhP typing, and detection of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (pvl) gene were done to explore the diversity of the strains. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the strains were also determined using the disk diffusion method and broth microdilution assay. Of the 238 S. aureus strains isolated, 73 were identified as MRSA. The highest antibiotic resistance was seen against ciprofloxacin (86%), followed by kanamycin and tobramycin (84%). Overall, MRSA strains were categorized into 29 antibiotypes. Also, 49.3% of strains were known as high-level oxacillin-resistant strains (MIC ≥ 256 µg/ml). SCCmec type III and type 3 ccr were detected in 86.3% of strains and they were classified as hospital-acquired (HA)-MRSA. PhP typing revealed the presence of 8 common types (CTs) and 11 single types (STs), with CT2 comprising 41.1% of the strains. Our data suggest that MRSA strains isolated from DFIs in this country could be diverse and resistant to clinically important antibiotics. In this context diabetic patients can serve as a reservoir for dissemination of these bacteria between community and clinical environments.
Predatory efficiency of Danio rerio (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) and Poecilia reticulata (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) as a biocontrol agent of Aedes larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) under the laboratory condition in Bangladesh
Authors: Akter Tanjina , Begum Shefali , Akter Tangin
Published: July 2023

Background Several viral infections are transmitted by members of the genusAedes(Diptera: Culicidae). This study was conducted to evaluate the predatory potential ofDanio rerioZebrafish (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) andPoecilia reticulataGuppy (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) to controlAedesmosquito larvae and thereby manage dengue epidemics in a sustainable, and eco-friendly manner. Methods Under laboratory conditions, size-matched fish of each species were introduced into separate plastic containers containing 2 liters of tap water and 100 third instar larvae ofAedes. In addition, different prey combinations were used to assess the comparative predation potential of fish. Mosquito prey preferences were assessed using Manly’s preference index. Results Over 24-hours of laboratory conditions, a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the predatory efficiency of the studied fish species was reported where the predatory efficiency ofD. reriowas higher than that ofPo. reticulata. D. rerioshowed significantly (p < 0.05) higher predation efficiency and prey preference for 2nd instar larvae and pupae ofAedesthanPo. reticulataon the presence of alternative prey. Conclusions Based on predation efficiency and prey preference, this study suggests thatD. reriocan be evaluated as an alternative species toPo. reticulatain biological control as a more eco-friendly, low cost, and sustainable method for the management ofAedesmosquitoes.
Flexing your muscles with the exchange rate
The influence of trade openness and financial development
Authors: Mwinaayelle Seth
Published: July 2023

The paper investigates the impacts of exchange rate regimes on economic growth and productivity in Africa using the Generalized Method of Moments, which caters for country-specific and non-linear effects. The study divided African countries into two broad categories, thus countries that adopted the fixed exchange rate regimes and those that adopted the floating regimes. Countries that adopted the fixed exchange have no significant effect on GDP growth per capita. However, after the interaction of financial development with the exchange rate, it was found to have a positive significant effect on growth and productivity. Unfortunately, there was no significant effect between exchange and total factor productivity in countries that adopted floating due to the instability and predictability of the domestic currency. Trade openness also exhibited a significant effect on rigid exchange rate countries. The study recommends that African countries fix their domestic currency vis-à-vis the U.S. dollars. This will boost investment in domestic countries due to the certainty and predictability of the currency movement.
Left Atrial Volume Index, Other Systolic and Diastolic Transthoracic Echocardiographic Parameters as Early Predictors for Asymptomatic Trastuzumab Target Cancer Therapy-Related Cardiac Dysfunction among HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients at a Tertiary Medical Center in Metro Manila – a Single-Center Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Ong Renato , Ozaeta-Lorilla Maria Kristina Cecilia , Cuaresma Joseph Raymond , Parra Joseph , Lapitan Raul , Javier Saturnino
Published: July 2023

Background:A quarter of breast cancer (BrCA) patients overexpress human epidermal growth factor receptors II (HER2); associated with aggressive tumor growth and adverse prognosis. Those undergoing cancer treatment with or without radiation therapy are at higher risk for developing cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD).Methods:This was a prospective cohort study with a computed sample size of 42 (margin of error set at 10% with confidence interval at 99%). The general objective was to determine the association of left atrial volume index (LAVI) with early asymptomatic CTRCD among HER2-positive BrCA patients receiving trastuzumab.Results:A total 45 patients were included in this study, 49% had LAVI > 27 ml/m2. More patients with LAVI > 27 ml/m2developed CTRCD. At baseline 2Decho, those who developed CTRCD had significantly higher median LV-GLS and median mitral EA ratio (all p < 0.05). On follow-up study, those with CTRCD had significantly lower median LV-GLS and median septal E (all p < 0.05). Consequently, those who developed CTRCD had significantly higher median relative reduction in LV-GLS and significantly higher decline in median mitral EA ratio (all p < 0.05). Asymptomatic CTRCD was significantly five times more likely among those stratified medium risk and higher [95% CI (1.109, 21.538)]. The odds of initiating cardioprotective strategy (CPS) before cancer therapy was significantly 70% less likely among those stratified low risk [95% CI (0.100, 0.998)], whereas the odds of initiating CPS during cancer therapy was significantly 15 times more likely among those stratified medium risk or higher [95% CI (1.622, 134.649)]. Adjusting for age and hypertension, the odds of developing asymptomatic CTRCD and initiating cardioprotective strategy during cancer therapy was significantly decreased by three per cent among those who have normal mitral EA ratio on baseline 2Decho [95% CI (0.952, 0.994) and 95% CI (0.957, 0.998), respectively]. Whereas initiating cardioprotective strategy before cancer therapy was significantly five per cent more likely when the mitral EA ratio was increased [95% CI (1.007, 1.063)].Conclusion:In this small study of 45 randomly selected HER2-positive breast cancer patients, left atrial volume index was not associated with development of asymptomatic cardiotoxicity. Mitral EA ratio was significantly associated with development of asymptomatic trastuzumab target cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction and significantly influence the decision in initiating cardioprotective strategy prior to and during cancer therapy among cancer patients.
A hybrid method for cross lingual semantic textual similarity
Authors: Bidgoli Behrouz Minaei , Abdous Mohammad , Piroozfar Poorya
Published: July 2023

Today, it is particularly important to recognize the semantic similarity between texts in different languages due to the emergence of new natural language processing models like ChatGPT and Bard. These models can provide more accurate and comprehensive answers to users' questions by identifying semantic similarity between two texts in different languages. Cross-lingual semantic similarity refers to the process of calculating similarity between two pieces of text in different languages. This paper aims to present an improved method for finding similarities between sentences in different languages. Some of the current methods create the same vector space to achieve this, while others use machine translation to translate the text into another language and then determine similarity between the two sentences using monolingual sentence similarity methods. The degree of similarity is expressed as a number between 0 and 5. Over the past few years, the progress in language models based on transformers has paved the way for improvements in detecting text similarity. This article discusses the utilization of hybrid models with transformers to determine the semantic similarity of sentences in Persian and English languages utilizing the Persian-English corpus. According to our findings, this hybrid approach has a correlation rate of 95.28% in detecting the extent of semantic similarity between cross-lingual sentences. These results indicate that our method surpasses previous techniques for discovering similarities between sentences in different languages.
Inflammation and reduced hemoglobin levels are differentially associated with coronary artery disease in non-albuminuric subjects with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Donate-Correa Javier , Martín-Núñez Ernesto , González-Luis Ainhoa , Martín-Olivera Alberto , Navarro-González Juan F. , Mora-Fernández Carmen
Published: July 2023

Aims
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of inflammation and hemoglobin in relation to the risk of coronary artery disease in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and preserved kidney function.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 638 participants − 254 with T2DM- with no known cardiovascular disease, normal glomerular filtration rates and without albuminuria that were subjected to coronary angiography. Hemoglobin and serum levels of inflammatory markers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α and interleukin (IL) 6, were measured.
Results
Patients with diabetes and significant CAD presented increased levels of hs-CRP (46% increase, P = 0.02). However, neither the hs-CRP levels nor the cytokines were related to the severity of the stenosis in the group of subjects with diabetes in a multivariable analysis. Conversely, both inflammatory cytokines and albuminuria were directly related to the percentage of stenosis in subjects without T2DM (R2 = 0.038, P < 0.001). Patients with diabetes presented lower hemoglobin levels, particularly in those who also had significant CAD (14.4 [13.6–15.1] vs. 13.6 [12.2–14.8] g/dL, P = 0.03). Thus, subjects with diabetes and anemia presented increased coronary stenosis when compared with those without anemia (45% increase, P < 0.01). Similarly, hemoglobin levels and albuminuria were inversely related with the severity of stenosis exclusively in subjects with diabetes, even after adjusting for multiple confounding factors (R2 = 0.081, P < 0.001).
Conclusions
The results suggest that reductions in hemoglobin levels in subjects with T2DM and normoalbuminuria may constitute a more relevant risk factor for CAD than inflammation.
WITHDRAWN: “Stepwise or Concerted or a Hybrid Mechanism for Berberine Bridge Enzyme?”: A Computational Mechanistic Study by QM-MM and QM Methods
Authors: Yildiz Ibrahim
Published: July 2023

Berberine bridge enzyme (BBE) is a plant-based amine oxidase that catalyzes conversion of (S)-reticuline into (S)-scoulerine using flavin as cofactor in a stereospecific way in an alkaloid biosynthesis pathway. Based on active site enzyme variants, a concerted mechanism was proposed involving hydride transfer, proton transfer, and substrate cyclization processes in a single step. In this mechanism, Glu417 residue acts as the catalytic base which deprotonates the phenolic proton of the substrate while a hydride ion transfers from the substrate to flavin and the substrate cyclizes. However, based on solvent and substrate deuterium kinetic isotope effect studies, it was proposed that the oxidation process occurs in a stepwise fashion in which a hydride ion transfer from substrate to flavin first, then cyclization of the substrate occurs together with the proton transfer process. In this study, we formulated computational models to elucidate the oxidation mechanism of (S)-reticuline into (S)-scoulerine using the crystal structure of enzyme complexed with (S)-reticuline. Both QM and QM-MM calculations revealed that a hybrid of concerted and stepwise mechanisms might be operative during the catalysis. It was found that a concerted hydride-proton transfer processes occurs forming a reactive intermediate which subsequently cyclize without an energy barrier as a decoupled step.
Ascophyllum nodosum extract treatment maintains the growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants during temporary drought stress
Authors: Ali Omar , Farrell Aidan D. , Ramsubhag Adesh , Jayaraman Jayaraj
Published: July 2023

Abiotic stress, especially drought stress, is one of the principal constraints of crop productivity and is expected to worsen with climate change in the near future. This warrants the development of new technologies to decrease the impact of drought on crop productivity. Biostimulants made from seaweed extracts are one of the relatively new biological based inputs that can help mitigate the negative effects of abiotic stress on plants by enhancing growth, development, and stress tolerance. The current study evaluates the impact of Ascophyllum nodosum extract on tomato plants grown under different levels of water stress. Greenhouse studies were conducted to assess the effect of foliar spray (0.5%) of the extract on stomatal conductance, photosynthetic health, chlorophyll content, and biomass, for plants grown at moisture levels viz. 100%, 50%, and 25% of field capacity. A field study was also conducted with irrigation maintained at 100% and 25%. Additionally, the expression levels of marker genes associated with drought tolerance were evaluated using qPCR studies for Metacaspase 1 (LeMCA1), Non-specific lipid-transfer protein 2 (Itpg2), Late embryogenesis abundant protein (LEA) and Delta 1-pyrroline-5- carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) genes. Assays were also conducted for the osmolytes including proline and glycine betaine. Furthermore, the activities of antioxidant defense enzymes were evaluated for superoxide dismutase- SOD, catalase- CAT, peroxidase- POX, ascorbate peroxidase- APX and guaiacol peroxidase- GPX. The results of the greenhouse study indicated higher stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, and Fv/Fm in stressed plants that were foliar sprayed with the A. nodosum extract. Seaweed extract-treated plants under water-stress conditions also had significantly greater shoot and root dry weights compared to control plants. The relative expression levels of the marker genes were also significantly increased in sprayed plants compared to control plants along with increased antioxidant enzymes activities and osmolyte contents. The field experiments revealed that seaweed extract-treated plants had significantly higher plant height and total yield under reduced irrigation compared to control plants, although both parameters remained lower than those seen under full irrigation. This study has produced encouraging findings on the application of Ascophyllum nodosum extract in crop systems, indicating that it may have a positive role in mitigating the effects of drought stress.
Adapting to Climate Risk? Local Population Dynamics in the United States
Authors: Indaco Agustín , Ortega Francesc
Published: July 2023

Using a new composite climate-risk index, we show that population in high-risk counties has grown disproportionately over the last few decades, even relative to the corresponding commuting zone. We also find that the agglomeration is largely driven by increases in the (white) working-age population. In addition, we show that high-risk tracts have typically grown more than low-risk tracts within the same county, suggesting the presence of highly localized amenities in high-risk areas. We also document heterogeneous population dynamics along a number of dimensions. Specifically, population has been retreating from high-risk, low-urbanization locations, but continues to grow in high-risk areas with high residential capital. The findings above hold for the main climate hazards separately. However, we document that tracts with high risk of coastal flooding have grown significantly less than other tracts in the same county.
JEL Classifications: J3, J7
ABO blood group and the risk of CHB patients with decompensated cirrhosis: a case-control study
Authors: Yuan Huiming , Yang Donglei , Huang Yandi , Yang Rong , Gui Genyong , Cheng Xiaoming , Cui Dawei , Fan Jun
Published: July 2023

Objective: ABO blood group, a genetic marker of blood, has been shown to be associated with risk of cardiovascular disease and several malignancies. The study aimed to assess whether there was associated with hepatitis B decompensated cirrhosis.
Results After adjusting for age, hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA nucleic acid (HBV-DNA), blood group A was an independent risk factor for decompensated cirrhosis compared to patients with type O. Age after multivariate stratified analysis showed that the risk of decompensated cirrhosis was also significantly higher in patients with aged 55 years or older with blood group A compared to blood group O. No significant differences were found in the severity of laboratory indicators in patients with decompensated cirrhosis among different ABO blood groups. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the survival rate of decompensated cirrhosis during the 12-month observation period among different ABO blood groups. Taken together, these findings indicated that the independent risk factor of developing decompensated cirrhosis was associated with A blood group, age and HBV-DNA levels in CHB patients.
Cloud Computing Load Prediction in Double-channel Residual Self-attention Temporal Convolutional Network with Weight Adaptive Updating
Authors: Lin Jiang , Guan Yepeng
Published: July 2023

Resource load prediction is a prominent challenge issue with the widespread adoption of cloud computing. A novel cloud computing load prediction method has been proposed in Double-channel residual Self-attention Temporal convolutional Network with Weight adaptive updating (DSTNW). A Double-channel Temporal convolution Network model (DTN) has been developed. The double-channel dilated causal convolution has been adopted to replace a single channel dilated causal convolution in the DTN. A residual temporal self-attention mechanism has been proposed to improve the performance of network and focus on features with significant contributions from the DTN. Some errors for single and stacked Double-channel residual Self-attention Temporal convolutional Network (DSTN) have been evaluated. An adaptive weight strategy has been proposed to assign corresponding weights for the single and stacked DSTNs, respectively. Experimental results highlight that the developed method has outstanding prediction performance for cloud computing in comparison with some state-of-the-arts.
Developmental patterns of extracellular matrix molecules in the embryonic and postnatal mouse hindbrain
Authors: Wéber Ildikó , Dakos Adél , Mészár Zoltán , Matesz Clara , Birinyi András
Published: July 2023

Normal brain development requires continuous communication between developing neurons and their environment filled by a complex network referred to as extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is divided into distinct families of molecules including hyaluronic acid, proteoglycans, and glycoproteins such as tenascins, and link proteins. In this study, we characterize the temporal and spatial distribution of the extracellular matrix molecules in the embryonic and postnatal mouse hindbrain by using antibodies and lectin histochemistry. In the embryo, hyaluronan and neurocan were found in high amounts until the time of birth whereas versican and tenascin-R were detected in lower intensities during the whole embryonic period. After birth, both hyaluronic acid and neurocan still produced intense staining in almost all areas of the hindbrain, while tenascin-R labeling showed a continuous increase during postnatal development. The reaction with WFA and aggrecan was revealed first at P4 with low staining intensities, while HAPLN was detected at P14. The perineuronal net appeared first around the facial and vestibular neurons at P4 with hyaluronic acid cytochemistry. One week after birth aggrecan, neurocan, tenascin-R, and WFA were also accumulated around the neurons located in several hindbrain nuclei, but HAPLN1 was detected on the second postnatal week. Our results provide further evidence that many extracellular macromolecules that will be incorporated into the perineuronal net are already expressed at embryonic and early postnatal stages of development to control differentiation, migration, and synaptogenesis of neurons. In late postnatal period, the experience-driven neuronal activity induces formation of perineuronal net to stabilize synaptic connections.
Hydrothermally Grown SnO 2 and SnO 2 /rGO Nanocomposite and Its Physio-Electrochemical Studies for Pseudocapacitor Electrode Applications
Authors: Osora Helen , Kolkoma David , Anduwan Gabriel , Waimbo Mathew , Velusamy Senthilkumar
Published: July 2023

In this present work, the transition metal oxides of SnO2 and SnO2/rGO nanocomposite were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal method for supercapacitor electrode material applications. The structural, morphological and elemental analysis of the synthesised samples were characterised by X-ray diffractometer technique (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The morphology of SnO2 was agglomeration of quasi-spherical shape particles with a diameter range of 12–19 nm as observed using the HR-TEM technique. The optical properties were characterised by UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy. The electrochemical performance of SnO2 and SnO2/rGO nanocomposite electrode was studied in a 3M KOH electrolyte. A specific capacitance of 346 F g− 1 at the current density of 0.95 A g− 1 for SnO2/rGO nanocomposite electrode was recorded, which was significantly higher than that of as-synthesised SnO2 electrode (267 F g− 1). The obtained higher capacitance resulted due to the synergistic effect of excellent conductivity and high surface area of rGO within the composite electrode. The exceptional electrochemical properties clearly indicate that the SnO2/rGO nanocomposites are the best for highly efficient pseudocapacitor electrodes in future energy storage devices applications.