bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prehospital delay is an important risk factor for mortality in community-acquired bloodstream infection (CA-BSI): a matched case–control study
Authors: Holmbom Martin , Andersson Maria , Berg Sören , Eklund Dan , Sobczynski Pernilla , Wilhelms Daniel , Moberg Anna , Fredrikson Mats , Balkhed Åse Östholm , Hanberger Håkan
Published: November 2021

Objectives

The aim of this study was to identify prehospital and early hospital risk factors associated with 30-day mortality in patients with blood culture-confirmed community-acquired bloodstream infection (CA-BSI) in Sweden.

Methods

A retrospective case–control study of 1624 patients with CA-BSI (2015–2016), 195 non-survivors satisfying the inclusion criteria were matched 1:1 with 195 survivors for age, gender and microorganism. All forms of contact with a healthcare provider for symptoms of infection within 7 days prior CA-BSI episode were registered. Logistic regression was used to analyse risk factors for 30-day all-cause mortality.

Results

Of the 390 patients, 61% (115 non-survivors and 121 survivors) sought prehospital contact. The median time from first prehospital contact till hospital admission was 13 hours (6–52) for non-survivors and 7 hours (3–24) for survivors (p<0.01). Several risk factors for 30-day all-cause mortality were identified: prehospital delay OR=1.26 (95% CI: 1.07 to 1.47), p<0.01; severity of illness (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score) OR=1.60 (95% CI: 1.40 to 1.83), p<0.01; comorbidity score (updated Charlson Index) OR=1.13 (95% CI: 1.05 to 1.22), p<0.01 and inadequate empirical antimicrobial therapy OR=3.92 (95% CI: 1.64 to 9.33), p<0.01. In a multivariable model, prehospital delay >24 hours from first contact remained an important risk factor for 30-day all-cause mortality due to CA-BSI OR=6.17 (95% CI: 2.19 to 17.38), p<0.01.

Conclusion

Prehospital delay and inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy were found to be important risk factors for 30-day all-cause mortality associated with CA-BSI. Increased awareness and earlier detection of BSI in prehospital and early hospital care is critical for rapid initiation of adequate management and antibiotic treatment.
Investigating the impact of patient-centred labels on comprehension of medication dosing: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Saleem Ahsan , Woodruff Gemma , Steadman Kathryn , La Caze Adam
Published: November 2021

Objective

This study aims to implement a version of patient-centred labels (PCL) consistent with current labelling practice in Australia; assess the effectiveness of PCL in relation to the proportion of participants that correctly comprehend dosing instructions, and explore the proportion of correct comprehension of PCL in participants with both low and high health literacy.

Design

Randomised controlled trial.

Setting

A large tertiary care hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Participants

121 participants with a majority born in Australia (65.3%), New Zealand (14.0%), the UK (6.6%) and Ireland (2.5%).

Intervention

Participants were randomly assigned to either a panel of three PCL (n=61) or three standard labels (n=60) and asked to comprehend their assigned panel of labels.

Outcome measures

Difference in the proportion of participants that correctly comprehend dosing instructions provided on PCL compared with standard labels. The two-proportion test was used to measure the impact of PCL on the proportion of participants correctly comprehending dosing instructions.

Results

A greater proportion of participants were able to accurately comprehend PCL compared with standard labels. The proportion of participants who were able to correctly comprehend dose instructions provided on all three labels was significantly higher in the group that received PCL; 23.3% standard vs 83.6% PCL, p<0.001. The effect was observed in both low and high health literacy participants. The proportion of participants with accurate label comprehension was higher in participants with low Newest Vital Signs scores (8.3% standard vs 85.7% PCL, p<0.001) and low Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine scores (10.5% standard vs 96.0% PCL, p<0.001) who received PCL.

Conclusion

This study supports the use of PCL in Australian pharmacy practice. PCL provide simple, clear and explicit dosing instructions to patients. Implementing PCL may reduce the risk of misinterpreting dosing instructions by patients and improve quality use of medicines.

Trial registration number

ACTRN12621000083897; Results.
Association between the number of visual fields and the accuracy of future prediction in eyes with retinitis pigmentosa
Authors: Asaoka Ryo , Oishi Akio , Fujino Yuri , Murata Hiroshi , Azuma Keiko , Miyata Manabu , Obata Ryo , Inoue Tatsuya
Published: November 2021

Purpose

To evaluate the minimum number of visual fields (VFs) required to precisely predict future VFs in eyes with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Methods

A series of 12 VFs (Humphrey Field Analyzer 10–2 test (8.9 years in average) were analysed from 102 eyes of 52 patients with RP. The absolute error to predict the 12th VF using the prior 11 VFs was calculated in a pointwise manner, using the linear regression, and the 95% CI range was determined. Then, using 3–10 initial VFs, next VFs (4th to 11th VFs, respectively) were also predicted. The minimum number of VFs required for the mean absolute prediction error to reach the 95% CI was identified. Similar analyses were iterated for the second and third next VF predictions. Similar analyses were conducted using mean deviation (MD).

Results

In the pointwise analysis, the minimum number of VFs required to reach the 95% CI for the 12th VF was five (first and second next VF predictions) and six (third next VF prediction). For the MD analysis, three (first and second next VF predictions) and four (third next VF prediction) VFs were required to reach 95% CI for the 12th VF.

Conclusions

The minimum number of VFs required to obtain accurate predictions of the future VF was five or six in the pointwise analysis and three or four in the analysis with MD.
Factors associated with potentially inappropriate prescriptions and barriers to medicines optimisation among older adults in primary care settings: a systematic review
Authors: Xu Zhijie , Liang Xujian , Zhu Yue , Lu Yiting , Ye Yuanqu , Fang Lizheng , Qian Yi
Published: November 2021

Objective

To identify factors that likely contribute to potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) among older adults in primary care settings, as well as barriers to medicines optimisation and recommended potential solutions.

Design

Systematic review.

Eligibility criteria

Quantitative studies that analysed the factors associated with PIPs among older adults (≥65 years) in primary care settings, and qualitative studies that explored perceived barriers and potential solutions to medicines optimisation for this population.

Information sources

PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang.

Results

Of the 13 167 studies identified, 50 were included (14 qualitative, 34 cross-sectional and 2 cohort). Nearly all quantitative studies examined patient-related non-clinical factors (eg, age) and clinical factors (eg, number of medications) and nine studies examined prescriber-related factors (eg, physician age). A greater number of medications were identified as positively associated with PIPs in 25 quantitative studies, and a higher number of comorbidities, physical comorbidities and psychiatric comorbidities were identified as patient-related clinical risk factors for PIPs. However, other factors showed inconsistent associations with the PIPs. Barriers to medicines optimisation emerged within four analytical themes: prescriber related (eg, inadequate knowledge, concerns of adverse consequences, clinical inertia, lack of communication), patient related (eg, limited understanding, patient non-adherence, drug dependency), environment related (eg, lack of integrated care, insufficient investment, time constraints) and technology related (eg, complexity of implementation and inapplicable guidance). Recommended potential solutions were based on each theme of the barriers identified accordingly (eg, prescriber-related factors: incorporating training courses into continuing medical education).

Conclusions

Older adults with more drugs prescribed and comorbidities may have a greater risk of receiving PIPs in the primary care setting, but it remains unclear whether other factors are related. Barriers to medicines optimisation among primary care older adults comprise multiple factors, and evidence-based and targeted interventions are needed to address these difficulties.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42020216258.
Genomic alterations in biliary tract cancer predict prognosis and immunotherapy outcomes
Authors: Chen Xiaofeng , Wang Deqiang , Liu Jing , Qiu Jingrong , Zhou Jun , Ying Jieer , Shi Yan , Wang Zhaoxia , Lou Haizhou , Cui Jiuwei , Zhang Jingdong , Liu Yunpeng , Zhao Fengjiao , Pan Lanlan , Zhao Jianyi , Zhu Dongqin , Chen Shiqing , Li Xiangcheng , Li Xue , Zhu Liuqing , Shao Yang , Shu Yongqian
Published: November 2021

Background

Recently, immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has shown promising efficacy in biliary tract cancer (BTC), which includes gallbladder cancer (GBC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL). Understanding the association between immunotherapy outcomes and the genomic profile of advanced BTC may further improve the clinical benefits from immunotherapy.

Methods

Genomic tumor DNA was isolated from 98 Chinese patients with advanced BTC and used for targeted next-generation sequencing of 416 cancer-related genes to identify the genomic alterations common to advanced BTC. Thirty-four patients had received ICI camrelizumab plus gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (from theNCT03486678trial) as a first-line treatment. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells were evaluated using immunofluorescence staining.

Results

KRAS and TP53 mutations were much more frequent in the advanced-stage BTC cohort than in other cohorts with mostly early stage disease. Specifically, KRAS-TP53 co-mutations were favored in advanced CHOL, with a favorable response to immunotherapy, while single KRAS mutations predicted poor prognosis and immunotherapy outcomes for CHOL. Compared with GBC, CHOL had more mutations in genes involved in KRAS signaling; a high mutation load in these genes correlated with poor immunotherapy outcomes and may subsequently cause inferior immunotherapy outcomes for CHOL relative to GBC. Furthermore, a genomic signature including 11 genes was developed; their mutated subtype was associated with poor prognosis and immunotherapy outcomes in both CHOL and GBC. Transcriptome analyses suggested immune dysfunction in the signature mutated subtype, which was validated by tumor microenvironment (TME) evaluation based on detection of immune cell infiltration. Importantly, the signature wild-type subtype with favorable TME may be an advantageous population of immunotherapy.

Conclusions

Genomic alterations in advanced BTC were associated with specific prognosis and immunotherapy outcomes. Combining genomic classification with TME evaluation further improved the stratification of immunotherapy outcomes.
Prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus-related symptoms assessed by using the Connective Tissue Disease Screening Questionnaire in a large population-based cohort
Authors: Lambers Wietske , Arends Suzanne , Roozendaal Caroline , Brouwer Elisabeth , Bootsma Hendrika , Westra Johanna , de Leeuw Karina
Published: November 2021

Background

To assess the prevalence of self-reported SLE-related symptoms associated with demographic and biochemical data and connective tissue disease (CTD)-related autoantibodies in a large population-based cohort.

Methods

Participants of the Dutch Lifelines population cohort filled out the Connective Tissue Disease Screening Questionnaire (CSQ), including 11 questions focusing on SLE-related symptoms (SLE-CSQ) based on the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. CTD autoantibody screen was performed in 25% of participants.

Results

Of 85 295 participants with complete SLE-CSQ data, after excluding patients with SLE and other CTDs (n=126), 41 781 (49.1%) had no positively answered questions and 2210 (2.6% of total) had ≥4 positive answers. Participants with ≥4 answers on the SLE-CSQ were significantly younger, more frequently female, had lower body mass index (BMI) and were more often smokers than those with negative scores. Furthermore, counts of leucocytes, neutrophils and monocytes were significantly higher in these participants, while the levels of haemoglobin and creatinine were lower. CTD autoantibodies were present in 2.2% of participants with SLE-CSQ score of 0, compared with 3.5% with SLE-CSQ score ≥4 (p=0.001). Multivariate analysis showed, after adjusting for age, gender, BMI and smoking, that haemoglobin levels remained significantly lower in participants with SLE-CSQ score ≥4.

Conclusions

In this large population-based cohort, 2.6% of participants without diagnosed CTD reported ≥4 positive answers on the SLE-CSQ, indicating high suspicion for SLE. These individuals had demographic and haematological characteristics that differed from the remaining population. Potentially, this questionnaire, in combination with autoantibody determination, can be used as a starting point of a screening cascade in order to detect SLE at an early stage.
Clinically relevant patient clusters identified by machine learning from the clinical development programme of secukinumab in psoriatic arthritis
Authors: Pournara Effie , Kormaksson Matthias , Nash Peter , Ritchlin Christopher T , Kirkham Bruce W , Ligozio Gregory , Pricop Luminita , Ogdie Alexis , Coates Laura C , Schett Georg , McInnes Iain B
Published: November 2021

Objectives

Identify distinct clusters of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients based on their baseline articular, entheseal and cutaneous disease manifestations and explore their clinical and therapeutic value.

Methods

Pooled baseline data in PsA patients (n=1894) treated with secukinumab across four phase 3 studies (FUTURE 2–5) were analysed to determine phenotypes based on clusters of clinical indicators. Finite mixture models methodology was applied to generate clinical clusters and mean longitudinal responses were compared between secukinumab doses (300 vs 150 mg) across identified clusters and clinical indicators through week 52 using machine learning (ML) techniques.

Results

Seven distinct patient clusters were identified. Cluster 1 (very-high (VH) – SWO/TEN (swollen/tender); n=187) was characterised by VH polyarticular burden for both tenderness and swelling of joints, while cluster 2 (H (high) – TEN; n=251) was marked by high polyarticular burden in tender joints and cluster 3 (H – Feet – Dactylitis; n=175) by high burden in joints of feet and dactylitis. For cluster 4 (L (Low) – Nails – Skin; n=209), cluster 5 (L – skin; n=283), cluster 6 (L – Nails; n=294) and cluster 7 (L; n=495) articular burden was low but nail and skin involvement was variable, with cluster 7 marked by mild disease activity across all domains. Greater improvements in the longitudinal responses for enthesitis in cluster 2, enthesitis and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) in cluster 4 and PASI in cluster 6 were shown for secukinumab 300 mg compared with 150 mg.

Conclusions

PsA clusters identified by ML follow variable response trajectories indicating their potential to predict precise impact on patients’ outcomes.

Trial registration numbers

NCT01752634, NCT01989468, NCT02294227, NCT02404350
Ammonia volatilization from manure mixed with biochar
Authors: Hung Chih-Yu , Hussain Naseer , Husk Barry R. , Whalen Joann K.
Published: November 2021

Ammonia (NH3) volatilization from NH3-based fertilizer and animal manure reduces their nitrogen (N) fertilizer value and is a source of environmental pollution. Mixing manure with biochar may lower NH3 volatilization from manure by adding H+, adsorbing mineral N, or increasing N immobilization in microbial biomass. The objective of this study was to determine whether wood-based biochar could lower NH3 volatilization from vented pails containing manure (liquid swine, dairy slurry, and solid poultry manure) or a urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN). Two types of wood-based biochar (BlueLeaf and Dynamotive) were mixed with three types of manure and UAN fertilizer solution at 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 25% biochar by volume in vented pails. After 21 d storage in an outdoor shaded area, the greatest NH3 volatilization was from poultry manure, which had pH 9.4 on average and low water content regardless of the biochar source and application rate. There was less NH3 volatilization from UAN fertilizer solution when mixed with 25% (v/v) of Dynamotive biochar compared with NH3 volatilization from UAN fertilizer solution mixed with 0%–10% (%) of Dynamotive biochar, probably because pH decreased from 7.0 to 6.4 after 21 d contact. Mixing wood-based biochar with manure had no impact on NH3 volatilization, suggesting that these biochar sources did not appreciably change the pH and N dynamics in stored manure after 21 d.
Neutron stars in $$f(\mathtt {R,L_m})$$ gravity with realistic equations of state: joint-constrains with GW170817, massive pulsars, and the PSR J0030+0451 mass-radius from NICER data
Authors: Lobato R. V. , Carvalho G. A. , Bertulani C. A.
Published: November 2021

In this work, we investigate neutron stars (NS) in$$f(\mathtt {R,L_m})$$f(R,Lm)theory of gravity for the case$$f(\mathtt {R,L_m})= \mathtt {R}+ \mathtt {L_m}+ \sigma \mathtt {R}\mathtt {L_m}$$f(R,Lm)=R+Lm+σRLm, where$$\mathtt {R}$$Ris the Ricci scalar and$$\mathtt {L_m}$$Lmthe Lagrangian matter density. In the term$$\sigma \mathtt {R}\mathtt {L_m}$$σRLm,$$\sigma $$σrepresents the coupling between the gravitational and particles fields. For the first time the hydrostatic equilibrium equations in the theory are solved considering realistic equations of state and NS masses and radii obtained are subject to joint constrains from massive pulsars, the gravitational wave event GW170817 and from the PSR J0030+0451 mass-radius from NASA’sNeutron Star Interior Composition Explorer(NICER) data. We show that in this theory of gravity, the mass-radius results can accommodate massive pulsars, while the general theory of relativity can hardly do it. The theory also can explain the observed NS within the radius region constrained by the GW170817 and PSR J0030+0451 observations for masses around$$1.4~M_{\odot }$$1.4M⊙.
An Improved PMU Data Manipulation Attack Model
Authors: Li Yuancheng , Hou Haiyan
Published: November 2021

The importance of Phasor Manipulation Unit (PMU) in the smart grid makes it a target for attackers who can create PMU Data Manipulation Attacks (PDMA) by adding a small constant to change the magnitude and angle of the voltage and current captured by the PMU. To prevent the attack result from being detected by PDMA detection based on the properties of equivalent impedance, this paper proposes a collaborative step attack. In this attack, the equivalent impedance’s value on the end of the transmission line is equal whether before or after been attack, which is taken as the constraint condition. The objective function of it is to minimize the number of the elements which is not 0 in attack vector but this number is not 0. Turn a vector construction problem into an optimization problem by building objective functions and constraints and then we use the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) and Convex Relaxation (CR) to solve. The experiment verifies the feasibility of using the CR-ADMM algorithm to construct attack vectors from two aspects of attack vector construction time and vector sparsity. Further, it uses the constructed attack vectors to carry out attacks on PMU. The experimental results show that the measurement value of PMU will change after the attack, but the equivalent impedance value at both ends of the transmission line remains the same. The attack vector successfully bypasses the PDMA detection method based on the property of equivalent impedance and the attack model constructed based on this method was more covert than the original model.
Inductive graph invariants and approximation algorithms
Authors: Subramanian C. R.
Published: November 2021

We introduce and study an inductively defined analogue [Formula: see text] of any increasing graph invariant [Formula: see text]. An invariant [Formula: see text] is increasing if [Formula: see text] whenever [Formula: see text] is an induced subgraph of [Formula: see text]. This inductive analogue simultaneously generalizes and unifies known notions like degeneracy, inductive independence number, etc., into a single generic notion. For any given increasing [Formula: see text], this gets us several new invariants and many of which are also increasing. It is also shown that [Formula: see text] is the minimum (over all orderings) of a value associated with each ordering.

We also explore the possibility of computing [Formula: see text] (and a corresponding optimal vertex ordering) and identify some pairs [Formula: see text] for which [Formula: see text] can be computed efficiently for members of [Formula: see text]. In particular, it includes graphs of bounded [Formula: see text] values. Some specific examples (like the class of chordal graphs) have already been studied extensively.

We further extend this new notion by (i) allowing vertex weighted graphs, (ii) allowing [Formula: see text] to take values from a totally ordered universe with a minimum and (iii) allowing the consideration of [Formula: see text]-neighborhoods for arbitrary but fixed [Formula: see text]. Such a generalization is employed in designing efficient approximations of some graph optimization problems. Precisely, we obtain efficient algorithms (by generalizing the known algorithm of Ye and Borodin [Y. Ye and A. Borodin, Elimination graphs, ACM Trans. Algorithms  8(2) (2012) 1–23] for special cases) for approximating optimal weighted induced [Formula: see text]-subgraphs and optimal [Formula: see text]-colorings (for hereditary [Formula: see text]’s) within multiplicative factors of (essentially) [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively, where [Formula: see text] denotes the inductive analogue (as defined in this work) of optimal size of an unweighted induced [Formula: see text]-subgraph of the input and [Formula: see text] is the minimum size of a forbidden induced subgraph of [Formula: see text]. Our results generalize the previous result on efficiently approximating maximum independent sets and minimum colorings on graphs of bounded inductive independence number to optimal [Formula: see text]-subgraphs and [Formula: see text]-colorings for arbitrary hereditary classes [Formula: see text]. As a corollary, it is also shown that any maximal [Formula: see text]-subgraph approximates an optimal solution within a factor of [Formula: see text] for unweighted graphs, where [Formula: see text] is maximum size of any induced [Formula: see text]-subgraph in any local neighborhood [Formula: see text].
Resolving Roman domination in graphs
Authors: Roushini Leely Pushpam P. , Mahavir B. , Kamalam M.
Published: November 2021

Let [Formula: see text] be a graph and [Formula: see text] be a Roman dominating function defined on [Formula: see text]. Let [Formula: see text] be some ordering of the vertices of [Formula: see text]. For any [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] is defined by [Formula: see text]. If for all [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], we have [Formula: see text], that is [Formula: see text], for some [Formula: see text], then [Formula: see text] is called a resolving Roman dominating function (RDF) on [Formula: see text]. The weight of a resolving RDF [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]. The minimum weight of a resolving RDF on [Formula: see text] is called the resolving Roman domination number of [Formula: see text] and is denoted by [Formula: see text]. A resolving RDF on [Formula: see text] with weight [Formula: see text] is called a [Formula: see text]-function on [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we find the resolving Roman domination number of certain well-known classes of graphs. We also categorize the class of graphs whose resolving Roman domination number equals their order.
In Your Face: Person Identification Through Ratios and Distances Between Facial Features
Authors: Alsawwaf Mohammad , Chaczko Zenon , Kulbacki Marek , Sarathy Nikhil
Published: November 2021

These days identification of a person is an integral part of many computer-based solutions. It is a key characteristic for access control, customized services, and a proof of identity. Over the last couple of decades, many new techniques were introduced for how to identify human faces. This approach investigates the human face identification based on frontal images by producing ratios from distances between the different features and their locations. Moreover, this extended version includes an investigation of identification based on side profile by extracting and diagnosing the feature sets with geometric ratio expressions which are calculated into feature vectors. The last stage involves using weighted means to calculate the resemblance. The approach considers an explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) approach. Findings, based on a small dataset, achieve that the used approach offers promising results. Further research could have a great influence on how faces and face-profiles can be identified. Performance of the proposed system is validated using metrics such as Precision, False Acceptance Rate, False Rejection Rate, and True Positive Rate. Multiple simulations indicate an Equal Error Rate of 0.89. This work is an extended version of the paper submitted in ACIIDS 2020.
Development of Automatic Rule-based Semantic Tagger and Karaka Analyzer for Hindi
Authors: Katyayan Pragya , Joshi Nisheeth
Published: November 2021

Hindi is the third most-spoken language in the world (615 million speakers) and has the fourth highest native speakers (341 million). It is an inflectionally rich and relatively free word-order language with an immense vocabulary set. Despite being such a celebrated language across the globe, very few Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications and tools have been developed to support it computationally. Moreover, most of the existing ones are not efficient enough due to the lack of semantic information (or contextual knowledge). Hindi grammar is based on Paninian grammar and derives most of its rules from it. Paninian grammar very aggressively highlights the role of karaka theory in free-word order languages. In this article, we present an application that extracts all possible karakas from simple Hindi sentences with an accuracy of 84.2% and an F1 score of 88.5%. We consider features such as Parts of Speech tags, post-position markers (vibhaktis), semantic tags for nouns and syntactic structure to grab the context in different-sized word windows within a sentence. With the help of these features, we built a rule-based inference engine to extract karakas from a sentence. The application takes in a text file with clean (without punctuation) simple Hindi sentences and gives back karaka tagged sentences in a separate text file as output.
Stimuli-Responsive Polymers for Soft Robotics
Authors: Zhao Yusen , Hua Mutian , Yan Yichen , Wu Shuwang , Alsaid Yousif , He Ximin
Published: November 2021

This article reviews recent progress in the use of stimuli-responsive polymers for soft robotics. First, we introduce different types of representative stimuli-responsive polymers, which include liquid crystal polymers and elastomers, hydrogels, shape memory polymers, magnetic elastomers, electroactive polymers, and thermal expansion actuators. We focus on the mechanisms of actuation and the evaluation of performance and discuss strategies for improvements. We then present examples of soft robotic applications based on stimuli-responsive polymers for bending, grasping, walking, swimming, flying, and sensing control. Finally, we discuss current opportunities and challenges of stimuli-responsive soft robots for future study.
Granger Causality: A Review and Recent Advances
Authors: Shojaie Ali , Fox Emily B.
Published: November 2021

Introduced more than a half-century ago, Granger causality has become a popular tool for analyzing time series data in many application domains, from economics and finance to genomics and neuroscience. Despite this popularity, the validity of this framework for inferring causal relationships among time series has remained the topic of continuous debate. Moreover, while the original definition was general, limitations in computational tools have constrained the applications of Granger causality to primarily simple bivariate vector autoregressive processes. Starting with a review of early developments and debates, this article discusses recent advances that address various shortcomings of the earlier approaches, from models for high-dimensional time series to more recent developments that account for nonlinear and non-Gaussian observations and allow for subsampled and mixed-frequency time series.
Theoretical and Experimental Study of Current from Non-Disintegrable Suspended Particles at a Rotating Disk Electrode
Authors: Tang Christopher R. , Housel Lisa M. , Huang Cynthia , Li Wenzao , Wang Lei , Yan Shan , Takeuchi Esther S. , Marschilok Amy C. , Colosqui Carlos E. , Takeuchi Kenneth J.
Published: November 2021

Understanding the current response at an electrode from suspended solid particles in an electrolyte is crucial for developing materials to be used in semi-solid electrodes for energy storage applications. Here, an analytical model is proposed to predict and understand the current response from non-disintegrable solid particles at a rotating disk electrode. The current is shown to be limited by a combination of ion diffusion within the solid particle and the mean residence time of the particle at the rotating disk electrode. This results in a relationship between current and angular frequency of

I
∝

ω

3
/
4

,

instead of the classical

I
∝

ω

1
/
2

predicted by Levich theory. Specifically, the current response of Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) microparticles suspended in a non-aqueous electrolyte of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) in ethylene carbonate: diethyl carbonate (EC:DEC) was determined experimentally and compared favorably with predictions from the proposed analytical model using fitting parameters consistent with the experimental conditions.
NaOH Pretreated Molybdate-Carbon Paste Electrode for the Determination of Phosphate in Seawater by Square Wave Voltammetry with Impedimetric Evaluation
Authors: Altahan Mahmoud Fatehy , Achterberg Eric P. , Ali Asmaa Galal , Abdel-Azzem Magdi
Published: November 2021

Phosphate (PO43−) is an important nutrient for phytoplankton growth and at high loadings can result in water quality deteriorations. Autonomous PO43−measurements are required for monitoring purposes, and are best achieved using sensitive, portable and low-cost techniques. Here we describe a new electrochemical sensor for PO43−detection in seawater. The electrochemical quantification of PO43−typically depends on the reaction between molybdate and PO43−under acidic conditions to form a phosphomolybdic complex, which is electrochemically active. In this work, we prepared a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with molybdate and pretreated in 0.1 M NaOH using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The modified CPE was employed for the determination of PO43−in artificial seawater (35 g l−1NaCl) acidified with sulfuric acid to pH 0.8. The analytical conditions, including pH, waiting time for complexation, square wave amplitude and frequency, were optimized. An additional cleaning step (cyclic voltammetry (CV)) of 10 cycles in 0.1 M NaOH at −0.5 to 0.5 V was required between PO43−determinations to dissolve the phosphomolybdic complex formed on the surface of the working electrode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results confirmed that the molybdate-modified CPE (molybdate/CPE) exhibited a low charge-transfer resistance (Rct) toward PO43−, and showed an improved analytical performance for different concentrations of PO43−. A calibration plot in the range of 0.01–5μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.003μM was obtained. The proposed electrode demonstrated good precision (4.3% and 5.8%) for concentrations of 5μM and 0.2μM, respectively. The proposed method was employed to analyze PO43−in seawater samples on a research cruise in the North Sea, with results in close agreement to those obtained using conventional colorimetric measurements.
Enhancing Breakdown Voltage of a Ga2O3 Schottky Barrier Diode with Small-Angle Beveled and High-k Oxide Field Plate
Authors: Liu Dinghe , Huang Yuwen , Zhang Zeyulin , Chen Dazheng , Feng Qian , You Hailong , Zhang Jincheng , Zhang Chunfu , Hao Yue
Published: November 2021

To increase their breakdown voltage, Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with a beveled field plate were designed based on TCAD platform simulations. The small-angle beveled field plate can effectively alleviate the electric field concentration effect. The breakdown voltage of Ga2O3 SBDs can reach 1217 V with the SiO2 dielectric and a small-angle (1°) beveled field plate. However, the breakdown mechanism is the early breakdown of the dielectric layer. TO further increase the breakdown voltage, the replacement of SiO2 with a high-k dielectric (Al2O3 and HfO2) can transfer the breakdown location into the Ga2O3 drift layer. By combining the beveled small-angle design and the high-k dielectric, the device demonstrates a Baliga’s figure of merit of 2.94 GW cm−2 and breakdown voltage of 3108 V.
Clinical Outcomes of Accelerated Corneal Cross-Linking for Pediatric Keratoconus
Authors: Salman Abdelrahman , Darwish Taym , Ghabra Marwan , Kailani Obeda , Khalil Hussam , Shaaban Rafea
Published: November 2021

Aim. To assess the efficacy and safety of accelerated corneal cross-linking in the treatment of pediatric keratoconus. Method. In this retrospective case series, 29 eyes of 20 pediatric patients with keratoconus underwent accelerated corneal cross-linking. Treatment was delivered at 10 mW/cm2 for 9 minutes with a total dose of 5.4 J/cm2. Clinical evaluation included visual acuities and refractive and Scheimpflug corneal tomography assessments. All patients with a minimum follow-up duration of 24 months were included in the study. Results. Mean ± standard deviation age was 15.41 ± 2.13 years (range: 8 to 18 years). Uncorrected distance visual acuity improved significantly from 0.56 ± 0.28 to 0.42 ± 0.29 logMAR

P
=
0.0003

, and corrected distance visual acuity improved significantly from 0.34 ± 0.23 to 0.28 ± 0.22 logMAR

P
=
0.014

. The mean manifest refraction spherical equivalent value was significantly reduced (−0.59 ± 0.95 D,

P
=
0.0024

). While mean flat keratometry and steep keratometry values were not significantly altered (

P
>
0.05

for both), the mean maximum keratometry value was significantly decreased from 56.97 ± 5.24 D preoperatively to 55.84 ± 5.37 D at 24 months postoperatively

P
=
0.003

. Maximum keratometry had progressed by >1 D in two eyes (6.89%). Permanent corneal haze was reported in one case (3.44%). Conclusion. Our 24-month follow-up demonstrated that accelerated corneal cross-linking appears to halt the progression of keratoconus in pediatric patients without apparent complications. Uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuities were also improved.
Fetal Gallstones in a Newborn after Maternal COVID-19 Infection
Authors: Kahlon Gurleen Kaur , Zylak Anna , Leblanc Patrick , Kondamudi Noah
Published: November 2021

Fetal gallstones are rare incidental findings on ultrasound during pregnancy. We describe a newborn girl with gallstones that was born to a mother who had COVID-19 infection during her last trimester. The baby remained asymptomatic, and the stones resolved spontaneously without any treatment or complications within six weeks of birth. Several conditions predispose to fetal gallstones, and it is unclear if the recent maternal COVID-19 infection had any role in the occurrence of these abnormalities or was merely coincidental. This is the first case describing an association of fetal gallstones with a COVID-19 infection in pregnancy.
Obesity Paradox of All-Cause Mortality in 4,133 Patients Treated with Coronary Revascularization
Authors: Li Chengzhuo , Han Didi , Xu Fengshuo , Zheng Shuai , Zhang Luming , Wang Zichen , Yang Rui , Yin Haiyan , Lyu Jun
Published: November 2021

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a dose-response relationship between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality in patients after coronary revascularization. Methods. The MIMIC-III database (version 1.4) was used as the sample population. For variables with less than 10% of values missing, we used the mice package of R software for multiple imputations. Cox regression was used to determine the risk factors of all-cause mortality in patients. RCSs were used to observe the relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality. Additional subgroup and sensitivity analyses were also performed to explore whether the conclusion can be applied to specific groups. Results. Both univariate and multivariate Cox models indicated that the mortality risk was lower for overweight patients than for normal-weight patients (

P
<
0.05

). In RCS models, BMI had a U-shaped relationship with all-cause mortality of patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (

P

for nonlinearity = 0.0028). There was a weak U-shaped relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but the nonlinear relationship between these two parameters was not significant (

P

for nonlinearity = 0.1756). Conclusions. The obesity paradox does exist in patients treated with CABG and PCI. RCS analysis indicated that there was a U-shaped relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality in patients after CABG. After sex stratification, the relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality in male patients who received PCI was L-shaped, while the nonlinear relationship among females was not significant.
Towards Region Queries with Strong Location Privacy in Mobile Network
Authors: Yang Songtao , Jiang Qingfeng
Published: November 2021

With the interaction of geographic data and social data, the inference attack has been mounting up, calling for new technologies for privacy protection. Although there are many tangible contributions of spatial-temporal cloaking technologies, traditional technologies are not enough to resist privacy intrusion. Malicious attackers still steal user-sensitive information by analyzing the relationship between location and query semantics. Reacting to many interesting issues, oblivious transfer (OT) protocols are introduced to guarantee location privacy. To our knowledge, OT is a cryptographic primitive between two parties and can be used as a building block for any arbitrary multiparty computation protocol. Armed with previous privacy-preserving technologies, for example, OT, in this work, we first develop a novel region queries framework that can provide robust privacy for location-dependent queries. We then design an OT-assist privacy-aware protocol (or OTPA) for location-based service with rigorous security analysis. In short, the common query of the client in our solution can be divided into two parts, the region query

R

q

and the content query

C

q

, to achieve location

k

-anonymity, location

m

-diversity, and query

r

-diversity, which ensure the privacy of two parties (i.e., client and server). Lastly, we instantiate our OTPA protocol, and experiments show that the proposed OTPA protocol is reasonable and effective.
INI1-Intact Sinonasal Carcinoma with Rhabdoid Features
Authors: Mulry Erin , Blake Danielle M. , Hegde Poornima , Falcone Todd E.
Published: November 2021

Sinonasal malignancies are known for their associated poor prognosis and diversity of histologic features. While poor prognosis is largely due to advanced disease at presentation, histologic features also play a significant role. Therefore, accurate pathologic diagnosis is of utmost importance. Here, we describe a 63-year-old male with chronic left-sided nasal obstruction and left-sided epistaxis who was found to have a large mass occupying most of the nasal cavity extending through the nasopharynx to just below the nasopharyngeal surface of the soft palate. During surgical excision, the mass was noted to originate from the floor of the maxillary sinus with erosion of the medial wall of the maxillary sinus. Pathology revealed a diagnosis of INI1-intact poorly differentiated composite carcinoma with rhabdoid phenotype and sarcomatoid and squamous cell carcinoma foci arising within an inverted papilloma. Included in this report is a detailed description of both the patient’s medical course and this pathologically novel sinonasal neoplasm. We aim to elucidate this rare tumor’s complex features in order to improve future diagnosis and stimulate prospective research on sinonasal malignancies with complex histology.
Analysis and Optimization of Cutting Tool Coating Effects on Surface Roughness and Cutting Forces on Turning of AA 6061 Alloy
Authors: Akgün Mahir , Kara Fuat
Published: November 2021

The present work has been focused on cutting force (Fc) and analysis of machined surface in turning of AA 6061 alloy with uncoated and PVD‐TiB2 coated cutting inserts. Turning tests have been conducted on a CNC turning under dry cutting conditions based on Taguchi L18 (21 × 33) array. Kistler 9257A type dynamometer and equipment have been used in measuring the main cutting force (Fc) in turning experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been applied to define the effect levels of the turning parameters on Fc and Ra. Moreover, the mathematical models for Fc and Ra have been developed via linear and quadratic regression models. The results indicated that the best performance in terms of Fc and Ra was obtained at an uncoated insert, cutting speed of 350 m/min, feed rate of 0.1 mm/rev, and depth of cut of 1 mm. Moreover, the feed rate is the most influential parameter on Ra and Fc, with 64.28% and 54.9%, respectively. The developed mathematical models for cutting force (Fc) and surface roughness (Ra) present reliable results with coefficients of determination (R2) of 96.04% and 92.15%, respectively.
Influence of Obesity on Heart Rate Variability in Nurses with Age and Shift Type as Moderators
Authors: Chang Wen-Pei , Wang Chia-Hui , Lin Yen-Kuang
Published: November 2021

Obesity is a risk factor of cardiovascular disease‐related mortality and may be associated with changes in the autonomic nerve activity. Nurses working shifts and caring for patients are under great mental and physical pressure, and research has proven that these can negatively affect the body. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of obesity in nurses on their heart rate variability (HRV) and determine whether age or shift type moderates this influence. A questionnaire survey and HRV measurements were conducted on nurses at a hospital in Taiwan during a routine employee health checkup. HRV analysis was conducted using a noninvasive HRV monitor for five minutes. A total of 242 nurses with a mean age of 28.98 ± 6.56 years were enrolled in this study. An overly large waist circumference (WC) had a negative impact on high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF), and standard deviation of normal‐to‐normal interval (SDNN), while an overly high body mass index (BMI) had a negative impact on very low frequency (VLF) and SDNN. The interaction term “overly large WC × age” had a negative impact on HF (β = −0.21, p = 0.010) and LF (β = −0.18, p = 0.030), whereas the interaction term “overly high BMI×age” had a negative impact on HF (β = −0.27, p = 0.001), LF (β = −0.19, p = 0.023), and VLF (β = −0.17, p = 0.045). The interaction terms “overly large WC × shift type” and “overly high BMI × shift type” did not influence any HRV parameters. As age increased, so did the degree to which the HF and LF of nurses with an overly large WC were lower than normal, and so did the degree to which the HF, LF, and VLF of nurses with an overly high BMI were lower than normal.
Anticancer Activity of New Na(I) Complex on Retinoblastoma Cells via Inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway
Authors: Zhang Jun , Liu Zhi-Nan , Deng Guo-Hua
Published: November 2021

Here, through applying 2,6-bis(4′-carboxyl-phenyl)pyridine (H2L), a rigid ligand featuring both carboxylic acid and pyridine groups, a new coordination polymer containing Na(I) has been generated with the reaction between H2L ligand and NaNO3 in a water and DMF mixed solvent, and its chemical composition is [Na2L]n. Furthermore, the antiproliferative activity of Na(I) complex against the HXO-Rb44 retinoblastoma cells was detected with CCK-8 assay. Hoechst staining along with Annexin V-FITC/PI revealed that Na(I) complex induces the HXO-Rb44 retinoblastoma cells apoptosis. Flow cytometry analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) showed that Na(I) complex significantly increases the level of intracellular ROS. Importantly, western blot analysis revealed that Na(I) complex might induce apoptosis through inactivation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.
Analysis of Clinical Characteristics of Hepatitis B and Alcohol-Related Liver Cancer
Authors: Pan Yuefei , Han Guiliang
Published: November 2021

In order to analyze the clinical characteristics of hepatitis B and alcohol-related liver cancer, this paper combines the investigation and analysis methods to analyze the clinical characteristics of hepatitis B and alcohol-related liver cancer, studies them in combination with the actual situation, and studies multiple parameters with statistical methods. Different causes of liver cancer have different pathogenic mechanisms, which may make the clinical characteristics of liver cancer different. This study mainly explores the difference in clinical characteristics between hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma and alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma. Through comparative analysis and analysis of the clinical characteristics of hepatitis B and alcohol-related liver cancer, the study found that hepatitis B and alcohol-related liver cancer have obvious differences in their impact mechanisms. Therefore, targeted prevention and diagnosis and treatment measures can be put forward on this basis to provide a theoretical reference for subsequent clinical treatment analysis of liver cancer.