bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Taking global leadership in banning menthol and other flavours in tobacco: Canada’s experience
Authors: Chaiton Michael O , Cunningham Rob , Hagen Les , Dubray Jolene , Borland Tracey
Published: March 2022

Measures to ban or restrict menthol and other flavours in tobacco products are under consideration or newly implemented in an increasing number of jurisdictions across the world. As one of the world leaders, Canada’s experience in successfully developing and implementing such measures can be instructive for other jurisdictions. This paper explores the history of how Canada was able to implement tobacco flavour bans including menthol, examines some of the challenges and presents lessons learnt for other jurisdictions. The crucial motivation for these bans emerged from surveillance data showing high rates of flavoured tobacco use by youth, including menthol cigarette smoking, that was publicised by non-governmental organisations. Further data showed that early legislation in 2009 contained loopholes (cigar size exemptions and menthol exemptions) that limited the benefits of the legislation. Leadership by the provinces created an environment in which the federal ban on menthol ingredients in 2017 was a clear and obvious step to ensure implementation across the country. The Canadian measures have been successful at reducing the use of flavoured tobacco including menthol cigarettes and facilitating smoking cessation. Lessons learnt include the downsides of exemptions, the lack of a contraband issue (despite an existing supply in Canada), the benefits of availability of youth flavour prevalence data and the success of subnational regulations to advance national regulation.
Smoke-free spaces: a decade of progress, a need for more?
Authors: Semple Sean , Dobson Ruaraidh , O'Donnell Rachel , Zainal Abidin Emilia , Tigova Olena , Okello Gabriel , Fernández Esteve
Published: March 2022

Adoption of smoke-free measures has been one of the central elements of tobacco control activity over the past 30 years. The past decade has seen an increasing number of countries and proportion of the global population covered by smoke-free policies to some extent. Despite reductions in global smoking prevalence, population growth means that the number of non-smokers exposed to the harms caused by secondhand smoke remains high. Smoke-free policy measures have been shown to be useful in protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke, and can additionally increase cessation and reduce smoking initiation. Policies tend to be aimed primarily at enclosed public or workplace settings with very few countries attempting to control exposure in private or semiprivate spaces such as homes and cars, and, as a result, children may be benefiting less from smoke-free measures than adults. Compliance with legislation also varies by country and there is a need for education and empowerment together with guidance and changing social norms to help deliver the full benefits that smoke-free spaces can bring. Restrictions and policies on use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in smoke-free settings require more research to determine the benefits and implications of bystanders’ exposure to secondhand e-cigarette aerosol, dual use and smoking cessation.
Optimising tobacco control campaigns within a changing media landscape and among priority populations
Authors: Durkin Sarah J , Brennan Emily , Wakefield Melanie A
Published: March 2022

Reviews published over the past decade confirm tobacco control campaigns can be effective for influencing adult and youth tobacco use behaviours, with strengthening evidence for high cost-effectiveness. Evidence is also accumulating for positive campaign effects on interpersonal discussions, social norms and policy support that can help motivate and sustain quitting and reduce uptake. Research needs over the next decade centre on the rapidly changing media environment and the equity of campaign effects among high smoking prevalence communities. The field needs specific evidence on: how to measure total campaign reach and frequency across the diverse range of media platforms and channels; the optimum mix of traditional, digital and social media to achieve behaviour change, especially among high smoking prevalence communities; the relative reach and impact of the wide variety of integrated, digital and social media message delivery methods; the relative effectiveness of messages that aim to build capacity to quit and optimum methods for combining motivational and capacity-building messages, especially for high prevalence groups who face additional barriers to staying quit; the ongoing effectiveness of traditional versus new versions of messages highlighting tobacco industry practices; the influence of e-cigarette use on tobacco control campaign effects; and the effectiveness of different types of campaigns aiming to prevent e-cigarette uptake and motivate e-cigarette cessation. Research is also needed to investigate the potential for campaigns to influence the public’s understanding and support for endgame tobacco control policies and for campaign elements that may influence the social and environmental contexts surrounding smokers that support and maintain behaviour change.
Plain tobacco packaging: progress, challenges, learning and opportunities
Authors: Moodie Crawford , Hoek Janet , Hammond David , Gallopel-Morvan Karine , Sendoya Diego , Rosen Laura , Mucan Özcan Burcu , van der Eijk Yvette
Published: March 2022

The aim of this paper is to overview progress made with respect to the adoption of plain (or standardised) packaging, key challenges faced, evaluative evidence and opportunities for extending this policy. It has been a decade since Australia became the first country to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging; after slow initial uptake, 16 countries have now fully implemented this policy. Since 2020, plain packaging laws have become more comprehensive in some countries, expanding coverage beyond traditional tobacco products to include heated tobacco, tobacco accessories (rolling papers) and other nicotine-containing products (e-cigarettes). Laws have also become more innovative: some now ban non-biodegradable filters, include provision for a periodic change of the pack colour or require both plain packaging and health-promoting pack inserts. The tobacco industry has and will continue to use multi-jurisdictional strategies to oppose this policy. Evaluations suggest that plain packaging has improved health outcomes and has not burdened retailers, although research is limited to early policy adopters and important gaps in the literature remain. While the power of packaging as a sales tool has diminished in markets with plain packaging, tobacco companies have exploited loopholes to continue to promote their products and have increasingly focused on filter innovations. Opportunities exist for governments to strengthen plain packaging laws.
Litigation in tobacco control: past, present and future
Authors: Zhou Suzanne , Ricafort Evita , Bressler Davi , Devotsu Rachel Kitonyo
Published: March 2022

This paper reviews progress in tobacco litigation sinceTobacco Control’s founding 30 years ago, with a focus on cases which are ongoing or recently decided. Litigation in tobacco control falls into several classes: legal challenges brought by the tobacco industry to block implementation of tobacco control measures, public interest litigation brought by civil society to push for higher standards of implementation of tobacco control measures and liability litigation by governments and individuals to hold the tobacco industry accountable for the harm it causes. In each class of cases, there are a number of major case studies which show the importance of international frameworks, including most significantly the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to tobacco litigation.
What facilitates policy audacity in tobacco control? An analysis of approaches and supportive factors for innovation in seven countries
Authors: Hefler Marita , Bianco Eduardo , Bradbrook Shane , Arnold Daniëlle , Dorotheo E Ulysses
Published: March 2022

Background

Tobacco control policy audacity can make radical ideas seem possible, and set in motion a ‘domino’ effect, where precedents in one jurisdiction are followed by others. This review examines tobacco control policy audacity from seven countries to identify and compare factors that facilitated it.

Methods

A targeted search strategy and purposive sampling approach was used to identify information from a range of sources and analyse key supportive factors for policy audacity. Each case was summarised, then key themes identified and compared across jurisdictions to identify similarities and differences.

Results

Included cases were Mauritius’ ban on tobacco industry corporate social responsibility, Uruguay’s tobacco single brand presentation regulations, New Zealand’s Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan proposals and 2010 parliamentary Māori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into the Tobacco Industry, Australia’s plain packaging legislation, Balanga City’s (Philippines) tobacco-free generation ordinance, Beverly Hills City Council’s (USA) ordinance to ban tobacco sales and the Netherlands’ policy plan to phase out online and supermarket tobacco sales. Each case was one strategy within a well-established comprehensive tobacco control and public health approach. Intersectoral and multijurisdiction collaboration, community engagement and public support, a strong theoretical evidence base and lessons learnt from previous tobacco control policies were important supportive factors, as was public support to ensure low political risk for policy makers.

Conclusions

Tobacco control policy audacity is usually an extension of existing measures and typically appears as ‘the next logical step’ and therefore within the risk appetite of policy makers in settings where it occurs.
Prohibition no, abolition yes! Rethinking how we talk about ending the cigarette epidemic
Authors: Malone Ruth E , Proctor Robert N
Published: March 2022

As public health advocates struggle over how best to end the cigarette epidemic, one persistent obstacle to developing appropriate policies has been the lingering spectre of ‘prohibition’. A misunderstanding of the USA’s experience with the national ban on sales of alcohol more than a century ago has led even public health advocates to claim that we cannot end the sale of cigarettes because ‘prohibition does not work’: a ban on sales, we hear, would lead to crime and to black markets, among many other negatives. In this Special Communication, we show how the tobacco industry has carefully constructed and reinforced this imagined impossibility, creating a false analogy between cigarettes and alcohol. This improper analogy, with its multiple negative associations, continues to block intelligent thinking about how to end cigarette sales. Instead of prohibition, we propose abolition as a term that better captures what ending sales of the single most deadly consumer product in history will actually do: enhance human health and freedom.
Evaluating tobacco industry ‘transformation’: a proposed rubric and analysis
Authors: Edwards Richard , Hoek Janet , Karreman Nancy , Gilmore Anna
Published: March 2022

Some tobacco companies claim they are ‘transforming’ by adopting harm reduction goals or even seeking to achieve a ‘smokefree’ world. What characterises transformation and whether companies can or are transforming is unclear. Nevertheless, such claims are gaining traction. We critically investigated tobacco industry transformation by exploring the definition and criteria for evaluating transformation, and assessed whether transformation is occurring and feasible.

Companies’ transformation claims centre on increasing sales of new tobacco and nicotine products like e-cigarettes (‘new products’) with little attention to reducing sales of more hazardous smoked and oral products (‘conventional products’).

We define a transforming tobacco company as one demonstrating substantial, rapid and verifiable progress towards eliminating the production and sale of conventional tobacco products within 5 years in all markets where it operates.

We found no evidence any tobacco company is meeting the three essential criteria of rapidly progressing towards eliminating conventional products, ceasing to obstruct effective tobacco control measures and taking action to minimise smoking uptake and disparities. While some companies are developing new product portfolios, their actions are more consistent with profit maximisation than eliminating conventional product use. This approach is best described as ‘pseudo-transformation’, designed to delay implementation of effective tobacco control policies. In addition, our analysis suggests replacing conventional products with new nicotine products is unlikely to be a viable long-term business model.

Public health practitioners should not rely on tobacco industry claims but should lead the transformation debate, establish credible definitions and criteria, and monitor and assess whether transformation is occurring.
Tobacco control in Europe: progress and key challenges
Authors: Willemsen Marc C , Mons Ute , Fernández Esteve
Published: March 2022

We discuss progress made with respect to reducing the burden of disease caused by tobacco use within the WHO European Region and outline major issues and challenges regarding ongoing implementation of tobacco control policy. Although 50 of 53 countries in the WHO European Region are parties to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), smoking prevalence varies tremendously between European countries. While smoking rates are decreasing slowly, faster declines among smokers with a higher socioeconomic status are leading to growing inequalities in tobacco use. Governments in Europe increasingly formulate visions of ‘tobacco-free’ societies and it is encouraging that the European Commission aims to achieve a tobacco-free Europe in 2040 as part of its Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. While core WHO FCTC measures still have to be fully implemented in many European countries, some countries are implementing more advanced measures such as plain packaging, banning of characterising flavours from tobacco products, tobacco retailer licensing and extensions of smoking bans into spaces such as cars, outdoor areas and public streets. Remaining challenges include protecting tobacco control policymaking from tobacco industry interference, insufficient dedicated budget for scientific research and the need for Europe-wide monitoring data on use of tobacco and nicotine products.
Success from failure: US federal commercial tobacco regulation
Authors: Jenson Desmond
Published: March 2022

The history of the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of tobacco products is fraught with failures. A first effort to regulate tobacco products was completely dismantled. Despite robust authority to act, the current iteration of the FDA has also struggled to succeed. While the public health community may be frustrated by the lack of progress to date, recent developments have potentially shown advocates a pathway for success.
Flavours and flavourings in waterpipe products: a comparison between tobacco, herbal molasses and steam stones
Authors: Bakker-'t Hart Ingrid M E , Bakker Frank , Pennings Jeroen L A , Weibolt Naömi , Eising Selma , Talhout Reinskje
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Flavoured products are especially appealing to youth and contribute to the onset of waterpipe smoking and continued use of waterpipe tobacco. The goal of database and chemical analysis was to provide a clear overview of commonly used flavours and flavourings in tobacco and related waterpipe products, that is, herbal molasses and steam stones.

Methods

In 2019, 249 waterpipe tobacco products were registered in the European Common Entry Gate by manufacturers to be marketed in The Netherlands. Flavour categories were assigned to the registered products based on their brand names and product descriptions. Nicotine and eleven 1111 flavourings were identified and quantified in waterpipe tobacco (n=8), herbal molasses (n=7) and steam stones (n=4) by extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis.

Results

Flavour categories could be assigned to 237 of 249 registered waterpipe tobacco products. Eight flavour main categories and 48 unique subcategories were identified and presented in a flavour wheel. All registered waterpipe tobacco products were flavoured, and the majority (78%) was fruit flavoured. Herbal molasses contained similar median flavouring levels, and steam stones contained lower median levels compared with waterpipe tobacco. Flavourings in waterpipe products were almost exclusively fruity and sweet, often in combination with menthol/mint flavourings.

Conclusions

This study is the first to present a waterpipe tobacco flavour wheel, providing a quick overview of waterpipe tobacco flavours and thereby aiding communication among experts around the globe. GC–MS analysis revealed that the most prevalent flavourings are present in similar levels in herbal and tobacco waterpipe products. Banning flavourings in all waterpipe products would be a good strategy to reduce waterpipe smoking among youth.
From silos to policy coherence: tobacco control, unhealthy commodity industries and the commercial determinants of health
Authors: Hill Sarah E , Johns Paula , Nakkash Rima T , Collin Jeff
Published: March 2022

Tobacco control has achieved remarkable successes, underpinned by the distinctive norms codified in Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Tobacco control’s experience in managing conflicts of interest is increasingly recognised as relevant for addressing other non-communicable disease epidemics. At the same time, the wider environmental and social harms of tobacco—and other unhealthy commodity industries—underline the potential for enhanced strategic collaboration across health, development and environmental agendas. Such collaboration is increasingly necessary to address key challenges shared across tobacco control and related policy spheres, including the extent to which the harms of tobacco (and other unhealthy commodities) are underpinned by economic and social inequities. Here we demonstrate the relevance of a commercial determinants of health perspective, both for advancing tobacco control and for linking it with health and development more broadly. This perspective is already evident in many areas of research, policy and advocacy, where innovative approaches support the development of closer links with actors in related fields. We draw on the concepts of policy coordination, coherence and integration to show how tobacco control can advance key strategic goals via information sharing, complementary approaches to common problems and collective action with other related movements. Embrace of a commercial determinants perspective will help in building on tobacco control’s successes and reorienting strategies in other sectors to more effectively manage health risks and promote sustainable development.
Potassium chloride wells used as quick-clay landslide mitigation: installation procedures, cost–benefit analysis, and recommendations for design
Authors: Helle Tonje Eide , Kvennås Marianne , Hamel Bob , Strand Stein-Are , Svanø Geir , Bache Bjørn Kristian Fiskvik , Gylland Anders Samstad , Haugen Eigil , Sætre Christian , Wiig Toril , Horn Atle
Published: March 2022

Retrogressive development of landslides in highly sensitive clays (quick clays) may extend several hundred metres upslope from an initial landslide, and liquified slide-debris may impact buildings or infrastructure in the run-out zone. By installing wells filled with potassium chloride (KCl) in quick clays, the salt migrates into the surrounding clay and increases its remolded shear strength, reducing its sensitivity. The salt-stabilized, nonquick clay volume may act as a barrier preventing backward retrogression, thereby contributing to reducing both the area susceptible for being involved in a quick-clay landslide, and the area of the run-out zone. Installation procedures and design guidelines for salt stabilization are examined herein. Installation procedures generating temporary, very small excess pore-water pressures were tested at National Geo-Test Site Tiller–Flotten. Although the benefit-to-cost ratios related to these procedures are small compared to conventional landslide mitigation measures, reducing the installation costs to less than 30 USD per m well and increasing the center distance between the wells may justify salt-stabilization as a landslide mitigation measure. This paper describes experience from testing safe installation procedures, evaluations of cost–benefit and environmental impact, and proposed design guidelines, introducing KCl as an alternative to conventional landslide mitigation-measures in slopes with highly sensitive quick-clay deposits.
Enhancement of constant normal stiffness direct shear testing protocols for determining geomechanical properties of fractures
Authors: Packulak Timothy R.M. , Day Jennifer J. , Diederichs Mark S.
Published: March 2022

Discontinuity behaviour can have a large impact on geotechnical engineering design; therefore, it is essential to determine their geomechanical properties to predict rockmass behaviour and mitigate any potential failure that may affect personnel safety or damage property. Geotechnical numerical software programmes that discretely simulate discontinuities rely on direct shear laboratory tests to provide the properties needed as inputs to these tools. This study presents valuable direct shear laboratory test results for the mechanical properties and behaviours of fresh, unweathered, rough fractures in the Pointe du Bois granite. The testing programme considers three separate boundary conditions: constant normal stress (CNL*) and two variations of constant normal stiffness (CNS). A new machine stiffness model is proposed to estimate the machine stiffness for tunnelling applications. Measurements of shear strength and a proposed secant dilation angle are assessed and critically evaluated. It is found in this study that there is no significant difference between shear strength parameters determined from direct shear data from CNL* and CNS boundary conditions when comparing maximum strength and residual strength. In addition, it is found that the proposed secant dilation angle, critical shear displacement, and total dilation potential all have a negative relationship with increasing normal stress.
Position-space representation of charged particles’ propagators in a constant magnetic field as an expansion over Landau levels
Authors: Iablokov S. N. , Kuznetsov A. V.
Published: March 2022

We have obtained propagators in the position space as an expansion over Landau levels for the charged scalar particle, fermion, and massive vector boson in a constant external magnetic field. The summation terms in the resulting expressions consisted of two factors, one being rotationally invariant in the 2-dimensional Euclidean space perpendicular to the direction of the field, and the other being Lorentz-invariant in the 1+1-dimensional space-time. The obtained representations are unique in the sense that they allow for the simultaneous study of the propagator from both space-time and energetic perspectives which are implicitly connected. These results contribute to the development of position-space techniques in QFT and are expected to be of use in the calculations of loop diagrams.
Constructing and analyzing the causation chain network for ship collision accidents
Authors: Chai Tian , Zhu Huaiwei , Peng Liyang , Wang Junya , Fan Zhengping , Xiao Shixiao , Xie Jiarong , Hu Yanqing
Published: March 2022

Many factors can lead to ship collision accidents, and identifying the importance of these factors is crucial for marine safety management and risk assessment. Are there rooted factors that are responsible for the presence of other factors? Notably, it is hard to analyze the causal relationship between these factors, due to the diversity and the interwoven of factors, especially when the size of the accident sample is small. To address this problem, an accident-cause network and a cause-inducing chain network are constructed in this paper by extracting 98 causes from 300 ship collision accidents. Our results show that there are six hidden rooted causes, i.e. the captain did not give any orders of night, the navigation alarm on the bridge was not on, communication failure between the officer on duty and the sailor on duty, no vessel traffic service was established, the shipping company does not fully grasp the navigation management regulations which is important to ship safety, and defects in bridge resource management, responsible for the presence of others among 98 causes. Our findings may shed some new lights on how to avoid ship collision accidents.
Nonclassicality dynamics of a dissipative cavity field containing two qubits with Kerr medium: Linear and Wehrl phase entropies
Authors: Mohamed A.-B. A. , Maiz F. , Almalki Fadhel , Khalil E. M. , Abdel-Khalek S.
Published: March 2022

An analytical solution for a dissipative cavity field interacting with two qubits (TQs) in presence of Kerr-like medium is obtained. The super-operator method is used to obtaining the field density matrix elements under the dispersive approximation. Linear entropy is calculated to determine the entanglement between the cavity field and the TQs. Moreover, the Wehrl entropy and Wehrl phase distribution are discussed to discover the nonclassicality dynamics of a dissipative cavity field. It is found that the Kerr medium and the dissipation reduce the generated quantum coherence due to the qubit–cavity interactions. It is possible to control the ability of cavity–qubit interactions to generate quantum coherence by the mean photon number of the initial coherent cavity state. Moreover, the nonclassicality of the initial coherent state reduces the dissipative and the Kerr medium effects.
Quasi-periodic oscillation around regular Bardeen black holes in 4D Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity
Authors: Rayimbaev Javlon , Bardiev Dilshodbek , Abdujabbarov Ahmadjon , Turaev Yunus , Stuchlík Zdeněk
Published: March 2022

In this paper, we explore the dynamics of test particles in spacetime around regular Bardeen black holes (BHs) in the novel four-dimensional Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet (4D EGB) theory. First, we analyze properties of the spacetime around the Bardeen BH with respect to the Gauss–Bonnet (GB) coupling parameter [Formula: see text], and we show the range of values of the BH charge and the parameter [Formula: see text] that horizon exists as [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. We also investigate the effects of the magnetic charge of the regular BH on innermost stable circular orbits (ISCOs) radius and efficiency of energy release from infalling test particles to the regular Bardeen BH in 4D EGB gravity. Moreover, fundamental frequencies such as Keplerian and harmonic oscillations are also studied with the applications of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) where we proposed a method to test gravity theories through data from astrophysical observations of twin-peak QPOs in relativistic precession (RP) model. Finally, we show the dependence of the distance from the central BH to the orbit where twin-peak QPOs shine from the spin of Kerr BH, magnetic charge of Bardeen and Reissner–Nordström (RN) BHs, and GB coupling parameter.
Automatic Brain Tumor Detection and Classification Based on IoT and Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Sundarasekar Revathi , Appathurai Ahilan
Published: March 2022

Brain tumor detection, segmentation, and classification are essential in clinical diagnosis and efficient treatment. Researchers have recently shown a greater interest in attaining accurate brain tumor categorization using the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning. The rigidity of tumor classification and segmentation in magnetic resonance imaging is due to large data and indistinct boundaries. Hence, in this study, Machine Learning assisted Automatic Brain Tumor Detection Framework (MLABTDF) has been proposed using IoT. Our study includes establishing a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) for spotting brain tumors from magnetic resonance imageries. This article accommodated technologies of the IoT for helping brain treatment specialists in identifying the need to make surgeries contingent on MR images. The standard medical image dataset has been gathered and experimentally examined to validate the accuracy, efficiency, specificity, sensitivity, optimum automatic recognition for non-tumor and tumor regions, and the model’s error rate utilizing statistical construction. This study pays its ability in brain irregularity recognition and analysis in the healthcare sector without humanoid intermediation. Compared to other systems, the experimental results show that the recommended MLABTDF model improves efficiency by 95.7%, segmentation and classification accuracy by 99.9%, specificity by 97.3%, sensitivity by 96.4%, optimal automatic detection by 93.4%, Matthews correlation coefficient ratio by 97.1% and error rate by 10.2%.
Weak Jordan *-derivations of prime rings
Authors: Siddeeque Mohammad Aslam , Khan Nazim , Abdullah Ali Ahmed
Published: March 2022

Let * be an involution of a non-commutative prime ring [Formula: see text] with the maximal symmetric ring of quotients and the extended centroid of [Formula: see text] denoted by [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. Consider [Formula: see text] be an additive map, if [Formula: see text] for all [Formula: see text], then such a map [Formula: see text] is termed as a weak Jordan *-derivation. With the smart handling of the FI-theory and facing the challenging case of low dimensions, we prove that every weak Jordan *-derivation of [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]-inner unless [Formula: see text]. Moreover, if * is of the first kind, then every weak Jordan *-derivation [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]-inner if and only if [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]-linear.
A geometric view on local Lorentz transformations in teleparallel gravity
Authors: Hohmann Manuel
Published: March 2022

Local Lorentz transformations play an important role in teleparallel gravity theories, in which a tetrad is conventionally employed as a fundamental field variable describing the gravitational field. It is commonly understood that modifications of general relativity in the teleparallel framework break a certain notion of local Lorentz invariance, which is present in the pure tetrad formulation of such theories, while another notion present in the covariant formulation is preserved. We illuminate these different notions from a geometric perspective, and distinguish them from what is commonly understood as breaking of local Lorentz invariance in the context of gravity phenomenology. Based on physical arguments, we present a geometric interpretation of the dynamical fields in teleparallel gravity, which unifies and refines the conventional approaches.
Embedding Temporal Convolutional Networks for Energy-efficient PPG-based Heart Rate Monitoring
Authors: Burrello Alessio , Pagliari Daniele Jahier , Rapa Pierangelo Maria , Semilia Matilde , Risso Matteo , Polonelli Tommaso , Poncino Massimo , Benini Luca , Benatti Simone
Published: March 2022

Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors allow for non-invasive and comfortable heart rate (HR) monitoring, suitable for compact wrist-worn devices. Unfortunately, motion artifacts (MAs) severely impact the monitoring accuracy, causing high variability in the skin-to-sensor interface. Several data fusion techniques have been introduced to cope with this problem, based on combining PPG signals with inertial sensor data. Until now, both commercial and reasearch solutions are computationally efficient but not very robust, or strongly dependent on hand-tuned parameters, which leads to poor generalization performance. In this work, we tackle these limitations by proposing a computationally lightweight yet robust deep learning-based approach for PPG-based HR estimation. Specifically, we derive a diverse set of Temporal Convolutional Networks for HR estimation, leveraging Neural Architecture Search. Moreover, we also introduce ActPPG, an adaptive algorithm that selects among multiple HR estimators depending on the amount of MAs, to improve energy efficiency. We validate our approaches on two benchmark datasets, achieving as low as 3.84 beats per minute of Mean Absolute Error on PPG-Dalia, which outperforms the previous state of the art. Moreover, we deploy our models on a low-power commercial microcontroller (STM32L4), obtaining a rich set of Pareto optimal solutions in the complexity vs. accuracy space.
Procedural Urban Forestry
Authors: Niese Till , Pirk Sören , Albrecht Matthias , Benes Bedrich , Deussen Oliver
Published: March 2022

The placement of vegetation plays a central role in the realism of virtual scenes. We introduce procedural placement models (PPMs) for vegetation in urban layouts. PPMs are environmentally sensitive to city geometry and allow identifying plausible plant positions based on structural and functional zones in an urban layout. PPMs can either be directly used by defining their parameters or learned from satellite images and land register data. This allows us to populate urban landscapes with complex 3D vegetation and enhance existing approaches for generating urban landscapes. Our framework’s effectiveness is shown through examples of large-scale city scenes and close-ups of individually grown tree models. We validate the results generated with our framework with a perceptual user study and its usability based on urban scene design sessions with expert users.
Biosynthesis of Isonitrile- and Alkyne-Containing Natural Products
Authors: Del Rio Flores Antonio , Barber Colin C. , Narayanamoorthy Maanasa , Gu Di , Shen Yuanbo , Zhang Wenjun
Published: March 2022

Natural products are a diverse class of biologically produced compounds that participate in fundamental biological processes such as cell signaling, nutrient acquisition, and interference competition. Unique triple-bond functionalities like isonitriles and alkynes often drive bioactivity and may serve as indicators of novel chemical logic and enzymatic machinery. Yet, the biosynthetic underpinnings of these groups remain only partially understood, constraining the opportunity to rationally engineer biomolecules with these functionalities for applications in pharmaceuticals, bioorthogonal chemistry, and other value-added chemical processes. Here, we focus our review on characterized biosynthetic pathways for isonitrile and alkyne functionalities, their bioorthogonal transformations, and prospects for engineering their biosynthetic machinery for biotechnological applications.
BRScS Approach for Resolving Heterogeneity of Data from Multiple Resources at Semantic Level
Authors: Ramzan Muhammad Farhan , Mushtaq Zaigham , Ali Sikandar , Samad Ali , Husnain Mujtaba , Khan Mukhtaj
Published: March 2022

Data have multiplied at an exponential rate in the age of the Internet. Large amounts of data can be combined at this science hotspot. Making sense of big data has become increasingly difficult due to its volume, velocity, precision, and variety (sometimes referred to as heterogeneity). Many data sources are employed to create data heterogeneity. Big data fusion has both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to integrating data from a variety of sources. The focus of this work is on large data fusion using deep learning approaches to combine datasets from a variety of different sources. It is also possible to combine data from many sources. People are increasingly turning to the Internet and web-based services to meet their daily demands. Storage media can hold data in a variety of formats. Managing the vast volume of data is quite tough for an organization (referred to as “big data”). These data are rationally combined and incorporated into the system. Data fusion will be the subject of this paper. The process of collecting data and making judgments based on that data has become much more challenging as a result of technological advancements. The heterogeneity of data is made possible by the great volume, precision, and, most critically, variety of big data. A wide range of data sources can both help and hinder big-data converging. This study was created to introduce several methods and techniques for semantically merging huge datasets.
Adorno’s Cultural Industry Theory in the Environment of Internet Development
Authors: Gao Fang
Published: March 2022

Traditional cultural industry theory is confined to a specific historical context, and the theoretical level of simple denial and criticism of cultural industry phenomena has lost its historical significance. The development of the cultural industry is the inevitable result of the development of the market economy. It enables people to recover from their values in the spirit of humanism. This article was aimed at studying and evaluating Adorno’s cultural industry theory based on the development environment of the Internet and using literature review techniques to obtain, collect, and summarize research related to Adorno’s cultural industry and its subject critical theory, analyze, summarize, and classify their views and opinions, as well as data on gender significance and limitations, and compare and extract. In the research stage of the thesis, firstly, the background and conditions of Adorno’s critical theory of cultural industry were systematically investigated with a complete historical and logical method. Then, it combines theory with practice and uses Adorno’s critical theory of contemporary Chinese cultural industry to find problems and defects. Finally, based on the difference between Adorno’s living environment and the current environment, it is logical to compare Adorno’s theory with comparative research methods in modern China, but it needs to be improved and perfected.
Effects of Thymosin β4 on Myocardial Apoptosis in Burned Rats
Authors: Wu Xiaoming , Li Shusong , Feng Xinshu , Wen Hailing , Meng Xiangxi , Sun Kui
Published: March 2022

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of thymosin β4 on myocardial apoptosis following burns. Fifty healthy Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the normal control group, resuscitation group the low-dose Tβ4 (thymosin β4) group (2g), the medium-dose Tβ4 group (6g), and the high-dose Tβ4 group (18g). The rats were immersed in 95°C hot water for 18 seconds, and then the model of 30% body surface area (TBSA) III° scald was established. The resuscated rats were injected with lactate Ringer’s solution for antishock rehydration, while the Tβ4 treatment group was injected with lactate Ringer’s solution for antishock rehydration, and the animals were sacrificed 6 h after scald. The degree of histopathological damage was observed by HE (hematoxylin and eosin) staining. Western blot was used to detect STAT1 and STAT3 protein expression levels. Real-time PCR was used to detect mRNA expressions of STAT1 and STAT3. The results showed that the apoptosis rate of the resuscitation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (

P

 < 0.01). Compared with the resuscitation group, the apoptosis rate of thymosin β4 in the treatment group was significantly reduced (

P

 < 0.01). Compared with the normal control group, the expression of STAT1 protein was increased and the expression of STAT3 protein was decreased in model group rats after ischemia and reperfusion. Compared with the model group, the expression of STAT1 protein decreased and the expression of STAT3 protein increased after ischemia-reperfusion in the thymosin β4 treatment group. Thymosin β4 may protect the myocardium by downregulating STAT1 and upregulating STAT3 expression and inhibiting myocardial apoptosis induced by ischemia and reperfusion after severe scald injury.
miRNA-448 Regulates the Development of Glioblastoma (GBM) by Regulating Rho-Associated Protein Kinase 1
Authors: Liu Chang , Zhu Bin , Zhong Meng , Bao Jinsuo
Published: March 2022

Background. Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive adult brain tumor that poses a huge threat to people’s health. Previous studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators in the progression of GBM. However, the role of miR-448 in GBM remains largely unknown. Therefore, the regulatory mechanism of miR-448 in the development of GBM is elucidated in this study. Methods. The protein and mRNA expressions of miR-448 and ROCK1 were measured by Western blot analysis and RT-qPCR. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were detected by CCK-8 assay and Transwell assay. The relationship between miR-448 and ROCK1 was probed by luciferase reporter assay. Results. miR-448 expression was downregulated in GBM tissues and cells. And poor clinical outcomes of GBM patients were related to miR-448 downregulation. Functionally, overexpression of miR-448 restrained cell viability, migration, and invasion in GBM. Additionally, miR-448 reduced ROCK1 expression by binding to its 3

′

-UTR. Moreover, knockdown of ROCK1 inhibited the progression of GBM. Furthermore, overexpression of ROCK1 abolished the antitumor effect of miR-448 in GBM. Conclusion. miR-448 restrained cell viability, invasion, and migration in GBM by inhibiting ROCK1 expression.
Distribution Law of In Situ Stress and Its Engineering Application in Gateroad Maintenance: A Case Study
Authors: Zhang Guangchao , Li You , Tao Guangzhe , Chen Miao , Xu Ruihua , Guo Hanqing , Bidit Devkota , Zhou Guanglei , Qu Zhi , Zuo Hao
Published: March 2022

In this study, the stress relief method of hollow inclusion and mathematical-statistical analysis are used to study the in situ stress distribution law of the Guotun coal mine, and the optimization strategy of roadway support is put forward. The test site is located in the city of Heze, Shandong Province, China. The main conclusions included the following: (1) among the three large-scale tectonic movements experienced by the Guotun coal mine, the middle Yanshan period has the strongest impact on it. According to the geological evolution process, it is preliminarily inferred that the maximum principal stress direction of the Guotun coal mine is northwest by west to southeast by east (NWW∼SEE). (2) Compared with the surrounding mines, the average value of the maximum principal stress in the Guotun coal mine is slightly higher, and there is a significant difference in the direction of in situ stress. The arc structure within the mine is the main reason for the deflection of the stress direction. (3) The lateral pressure coefficients KH, Kh, and Kav show a nonlinear distribution with increased depth, and the three coefficients have a decreasing trend. The value of the stress gradient in the Guotun coal mine is greater when it is compared with the surrounding mines. (4) Field tests show that the new strategy proposed in this study is effective, which provides a good reference for engineering practice under similar geological conditions.
A Study on Vague Graph Structures with an Application
Authors: Kou Zheng , Akhoundi Maryam , Chen Xiang , Omidi Saber
Published: March 2022

Fuzzy graph (FG) models take on the presence being ubiquitous in environmental and fabricated structures by human, specifically the vibrant processes in physical, biological, and social systems. Owing to the unpredictable and indiscriminate data which are intrinsic in real-life, problems being often ambiguous, so it is very challenging for an expert to exemplify those problems through applying an FG. Vague graph structure (VGS), belonging to FGs family, has good capabilities when facing with problems that cannot be expressed by FGs. VGSs have a wide range of applications in the field of psychological sciences as well as the identification of individuals based on oncological behaviors. Therefore, in this paper, we apply the concept of vague sets (VSs) to GS. We define certain notions, VGS, strong vague graph structure (SVGS), and vague

β

i

-cycle and describe these notions by several examples. Likewise, we introduce

ψ

-complement, self-complement (SC), strong self-complement (SSC), and totally strong self-complement (TSSC) in VGS and investigate some of their properties. Finally, an application of VGS is presented.
Orthostatic Hypotension and Concurrent Autonomic Dysfunction: A Novel Complication of Lung Transplantation
Authors: Razia Deepika , Tokman Sofya , Israr Sharjeel , Mohamed Hesham , Abdelrazek Hesham , Buddhdev Bhuvin , Arjuna Ashwini , McAnally Kendra , Hashimi Samad , Smith Michael A. , Bremner Ross M. , Walia Rajat , Omar Ashraf
Published: March 2022

Background. Persistent orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a lesser-known complication of lung transplantation (LTx). In this retrospective case series, we describe the clinical manifestations, complications, and treatment of persistent OH in 13 LTx recipients. Methods. We identified LTx recipients who underwent transplantation between March 1, 2018, and March 31, 2020, with persistent symptomatic OH and retrospectively queried the records for clinical information. Results. Thirteen patients were included in the analysis, 9 (69%) had underlying pulmonary fibrosis, and 12 (92%) were male. The median age, height, and body mass index at LTx were 68 years, 70 inches, and 27 kg/m2, respectively. Six (46%) patients were deceased at the time of chart abstraction with a median (IQR) posttransplant survival of 12.6 months (6, 21); the 7 remaining living patients were a median of 19.6 months (18, 32) posttransplant. Signs and symptoms of OH developed a median of 60 (7, 75) days after transplant. Patients were treated with pharmacological agents and underwent extensive physical therapy. Most patients required inpatient rehabilitation (n = 10, 77%), and patients commonly developed comorbid conditions including weight loss, renal insufficiency with eGFR <50 (n = 13, 100%), gastroparesis (n = 7, 54%), and tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome (n = 2, 15%). Falls were common (n = 10, 77%). The incidence of OH in LTx recipients at our center during the study period was 5.6% (13/234). Conclusions. Persistent OH is a lesser-known complication of LTx that impacts posttransplant rehabilitation and may lead to comorbidities and shortened survival. In addition, most LTx recipients with OH at our center were tall, thin men with underlying pulmonary fibrosis, which may offer an opportunity to instate pretransplant OH screening of at-risk patients.
Visual Object Tracking Algorithm Based on Biological Visual Information Features and Few-Shot Learning
Authors: Zhang Dawei , Yang Tingting
Published: March 2022

Eye tracking is currently a research hotspot in the territory of service robotics. There is an urgent need for machine vision technique in the territory of video surveillance, and biological visual object following is one of the important basic research problems. By tracking the object of interest and recording the tracking trajectory, we can extract a structure from a video. It can also analyze the abnormal behavior of groups or individuals in the video or assist the public security organs in inquiring and searching for evidence of criminal suspects, etc. Moving object following has always been one of the frontier topics in the territory of machine vision, and it has very important appliances in mobile robot positioning and navigation, multirobot formation, lunar exploration, and intelligent monitoring. Moving object following has always been one of the frontier topics in the territory of machine vision, and it has very important appliances in mobile robot positioning and navigation, multirobot formation, lunar exploration, and intelligent monitoring. Moving object following in visual surveillance is easily affected by factors such as occlusion, rapid object movement, and appearance changes, and it is difficult to solve these problems effectively with single-layer features. This paper adopts a visual object following algorithm based on visual information features and few-shot learning, which effectively improves the accuracy and robustness of tracking.