bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pediatric Urachal Anomalies: Monocentric Experience and Mini-Review of Literature
Authors: Nissen Matthias , Rogge Phillip , Sander Volker , Alrefai Mohamad , Romanova Anna , Tröbs Ralf-Bodo
Published: January 2022

Background: Surgery is the current mainstay for the treatment of urachal anomalies (UA). Recent literature data support the theory of a spontaneous resolution within the first year of life. The aim of this study, comprising solely surgically treated children, was to identify age specific patterns regarding symptoms and outcomes that may support the non-surgical treatment of UA. Methods: Retrospective review on the clinico-laboratory characteristics of 52 children aged < 17 years undergoing resection of symptomatic UA at our pediatric surgical unit during 2006–2017. Data was dichotomized into age > 1 (n = 17) versus < 1 year (n = 35), and complicated (pre-/post-surgical abscess formation or peritonitis, n = 10) versus non-complicated course (n = 42). Results: Children aged < 1 year comprised majority (67%) of cohort and had lower complication rates (p = 0.062). Complicated course at surgery exclusively occurred in patients aged > 1 year (p = 0.003). Additionally, complicated group was older (p = 0.018), displayed leukocytosis (p < 0.001) and higher frequencies regarding presence of abdominal pain (p = 0.008) and abdominal mass (p = 0.034) on admission. Regression analysis identified present abdominal pain (OR (95% CI), 11.121 (1.152–107.337); p = 0.037) and leukocytosis (1.435 (1.070–1.925); p = 0.016) being associated with complicated course. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that symptomatic disease course follows an age-dependent complication pattern with lower complication rates at age < 1 year. Larger, studies have to clarify, if waiting for spontaneous urachal obliteration during the first year of life comprises a reasonable alternative to surgery.
Fracture Resistance of Primary Zirconia Crowns: An In Vitro Study
Authors: Abushanan AlWaleed , Sharanesha Rajashekhara B. , Aljuaid Bader , Alfaifi Tariq , Aldurayhim Abdullah
Published: January 2022

In this study, we evaluated the fracture resistance of three commercially available prefabricated primary zirconia crowns and their correlation with dimensional variance. Methods: a total of 42 zirconia crowns were selected from three companies, (1) NuSmile primary zirconia crowns, (2) Cheng Crowns zirconia, and (3) Sprig EZ crowns. The crowns were divided into two groups based on their location in the oral cavity and further divided into subgroups based on the brand. All of the samples were subjected to fracture tests using a universal testing machine. Results: the mean load observed was highest with Cheng Crowns zirconia anterior crowns (1355 ± 484) and the least load was seen with Sprig EZ anterior crowns with a mean load of 339 ± 94. The mean load observed was highest with Cheng Crowns zirconia posterior crowns (1990 ± 485) followed by NuSmile posterior crowns and the least load was seen with Sprig EZ posterior crowns with a mean load of 661 ± 184. Conclusion: the Cheng crowns showed the highest fracture resistance amongst all three groups. Overall, the zirconia crowns (anterior and posterior) tested showed optimum mechanical properties to withstand the masticatory forces.
The Impact of Vitamin K2 (Menaquionones) in Children’s Health and Diseases: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Kozioł-Kozakowska Agnieszka , Maresz Katarzyna
Published: January 2022

Vitamin K2 activates vitamin K-dependent proteins that support many biological functions, such as bone mineralization, the inhibition of vascular stiffness, the improvement of endothelial function, the maintenance of strong teeth, brain development, joint health, and optimal body weight. Due to the transformation of food habits in developed countries over the last five decades, vitamin K and, specifically, vitamin K2 intakes among parents and their offspring have decreased significantly, resulting in serious health implications. The therapeutics used in pediatric practice (antibiotics and glucocorticoids) are also to blame for this situation. Low vitamin K status is much more frequent in newborns, due to both endogenous and exogenous insufficiencies. Just after birth vitamin K stores are low, and since human milk is relatively poor in this nutrient, breast-fed infants are at particular risk of a bleeding disorder called vitamin K deficiency bleeding. A pilot study showed that better vitamin K status is associated with lower rate of low-energy fracture incidence. An ongoing clinical trial is intended to address whether vitamin K2 and D3 supplementation might positively impact the biological process of bone healing. Vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7 (MK-7) has a documented history of safe and effective use. The lack of adverse effects of MK-7 makes it the ideal choice for supplementation by pregnant and nursing women and children, both healthy and suffering from various malabsorptions and health disorders, such as dyslipidemia, diabetes, thalassemia major (TM), cystic fibrosis (CF), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), and chronic liver diseases. Additionally, worthy of consideration is the use of vitamin K2 in obesity-related health outcomes.
Development of Physical Activity Competence Test Battery and Evaluation Standards for Korean Children
Authors: Han Yeon-Oh , Lee Byung-Sun
Published: January 2022

The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive and systematic method and standard for evaluating children’s physical activity competency as a solution to the problem of increasing child obesity rates due to a decrease in physical activity among children. This study was used a cross-sectional study design. A literature review and Delphi survey were conducted to develop children’s physical activity competency evaluation. The evaluation criteria were presented based on the measurement data of metropolitan area kindergarten students (228 subjects) on the 2016 winter vacation. Items in the evaluation of children’s physical activity competency test battery include health physical strength, basic movement skills, physical activity habits, and physical activity attitudes. Physical fitness for health consisted of muscle strength and endurance (sit-up), flexibility (sit and reach, trunk lift) and body composition (BMI). Fundamental movement skills consisted of mobility (run, hop, jump), stability (static balance, dynamic balance), and control (throw kick). Physical activity habits consisted of the amount of daily steps (steps), exercise time, screen time, and sleep time. Physical activity attitudes consisted of preference, enjoyment, and confidence. The evaluation criteria for child physical activity competency test battery were presented in five stages, divided by age and gender. With the developed evaluation of children’s physical activity competency, the overall level of physical fitness for health, fundamental movement skills, physical activity habits, and physical activity attitudes of kindergarteners in the metropolitan area could be confirmed, and standards were presented.
Compounds: New Challenges
Authors: Mejuto Juan C.
Published: January 2022

One year ago, we began the adventure of editing Compounds (ISSN 2673-6918), a journal devoted to the synthesis, characterization, and properties of compounds, as well as their reactivity from both a theoretical and experimental point of view [...]
Electrophilic Iodination of Organic Compounds Using Elemental Iodine or Iodides: Recent Advances 2008–2021: Part I
Authors: Ajvazi Njomza , Stavber Stojan
Published: January 2022

The iodination of organic compounds is of great importance in synthetic organic chemistry. It opens comprehensive approaches for the synthesis of various biologically active compounds. The recent advances in iodination of organic compounds using elemental iodine or iodides, covering the last thirteen years, are the objective of the present review.
Numerical Study on the Thermal Field and Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Hexagonal-Close-Packed Pebble Bed
Authors: Chen Leisheng , Zhao Jiahao , Yuan Yuejin , Lee Jaeyoung
Published: January 2022

Fuel elements in a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) core may be stacked with a hexagonal close-packed (HCP) structure; therefore, analyzing the temperature distribution and heat transfer efficiency in the HCP pebble bed is of great significance to the design and safety of HTGR cores. In this study, the heat transfer characteristics of an HCP pebble bed are studied using CFD. The thermal fields and convective heat transfer coefficients under different coolant inlet velocities are obtained, and the velocity fields in the gap areas are also analyzed in different planes. It is found that the strongest heat transfer is shown near the right vertices of the top and bottom spheres, while the weakest heat transfer takes place in areas near the contact points where no fluid flows over; in addition, the correlation of the overall heat transfer coefficient with the Reynolds number is proposed as havg = 0.1545(k/L)Re0.8 (Pr = 0.712, 1.6 × 104 ≤ Re ≤ 4 × 104). It is also found that the heat transfer intensity of the HCP structure is weaker than that of the face-centered-cubic structure. These findings provide a reference for reactor designers and will contribute to the development of safer pebble-bed cores.
Cosmetic Potential of a Recombinant 50 kDa Protein
Authors: Aly Nesma , Benoit Emilie , Chaubard Jean-Luc , Chintalapudi Kavyasree , Choung Soojin , de Leeuw Monique , Diaz Matthew , Dueppen Dan , Ferraro Bryce , Fischetti Valerie , Gassaway Evan , Hansenne-Cervantes Isabelle , Heeres Arjan , Karas Christina , Khan Mohamed , Kral Jonathan M. , Lam Srujana , Lartey Richel , Leonard Mencius , Lue Stanley W. , McDaniel Joshua , Ramirez Kevin , Rauw Brenna , Raymond Kelly A. , Roggero-Lovisi Catherine , Rubin Scott , Ruebling-Jass Kristin , Spiegelhoff Zoë , Stewart Monica Celise , Vajpeyi Shashwat , Vicente Alejandro , Vincent Kathleen E. , Wang Jing , Williamson David , Yu Zhihao , Dai Lixin
Published: January 2022

Collagen and its derivative proteins have been widely used as a major component for cosmetic formulations as a natural ingredient and moisturizer. Most commercially available collagens are animal-derived collagen type I and other forms of collagen, such as type III collagen, are far less prevalent in animals, making extraction and purification extremely difficult and expensive. Here, we report the production of a 50 kDa protein produced in yeast that is 100% identical to the N-terminus of the human type III collagen. This recombinant protein has a larger molecular weight than most incumbent recombinant collagen proteins available for personal care applications. We report the industrialization of both the fermentation and purification processes to produce a final recombinant protein product. This final protein product was shown to be safe for general applications to human skin and compatible with common formulation protocols, including ethanol-based formulations. This recombinant collagen type III protein was also shown to uniquely stimulate both collagen type I and type III production and secretion by primary human dermal fibroblasts. The unique combination of biostimulation, compatibility with beauty product formulations and demonstrated commercial production, make this novel recombinant type III collagen a good candidate for broad application in the cosmetics industry.
A CCA-PKE Secure-Cryptosystem Resilient to Randomness Reset and Secret-Key Leakage
Authors: Labao Alfonso , Adorna Henry
Published: January 2022

In recent years, several new notions of security have begun receiving consideration for public-key cryptosystems, beyond the standard of security against adaptive chosen ciphertext attack (CCA2). Among these are security against randomness reset attacks, in which the randomness used in encryption is forcibly set to some previous value, and against constant secret-key leakage attacks, wherein the constant factor of a secret key’s bits is leaked. In terms of formal security definitions, cast as attack games between a challenger and an adversary, a joint combination of these attacks means that the adversary has access to additional encryption queries under a randomness of his own choosing along with secret-key leakage queries. This implies that both the encryption and decryption processes of a cryptosystem are being tampered under this security notion. In this paper, we attempt to address this problem of a joint combination of randomness and secret-key leakage attacks through two cryptosystems that incorporate hash proof system and randomness extractor primitives. The first cryptosystem relies on the random oracle model and is secure against a class of adversaries, called non-reversing adversaries. We remove the random oracle oracle assumption and the non-reversing adversary requirement in our second cryptosystem, which is a standard model that relies on a proposed primitive called LM lossy functions. These functions allow up to M lossy branches in the collection to substantially lose information, allowing the cryptosystem to use this loss of information for several encryption and challenge queries. For each cryptosystem, we present detailed security proofs using the game-hopping procedure. In addition, we present a concrete instantation of LM lossy functions in the end of the paper—which relies on the DDH assumption.
The Rational Control of Precursor Concentration in Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes
Authors: Song Keke , Zou Xiaoping , Zhang Huiyin , Cheng Jin , Zhang Chunqian , Liu Baoyu , Wang Xiaolan , Li Xiaotong , Wang Yifei , Ren Baokai , Li Junming
Published: January 2022

Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their ideal optoelectronic properties, such as high color purity, high fluorescence quantum yield, and tunable light color. The perovskite layer plays a decisive role in the performance of PeLEDs and the solvent engineering of the perovskite layer is the key technological breakthrough in preparing high quality films. In this study, we have proposed the strategy of adding different amounts of solvents to the perovskite precursor solution to optimize the morphology of perovskite films and device performance. As a result, with the decreasing concentration of perovskite precursor solution, the perovskite film morphology is smoother and more favorable for carrier injection and combing, which induces an enhanced external quantum efficiency. The maximum luminance of PeLEDs was increased from 1667 cd/m2 to 9857 cd/m2 and the maximum current efficiency was increased from 6.7 cd/A to 19 cd/A. This work provides a trend to achieve improved film morphology and device performance for perovskite optoelectronic devices.
Single-Step Fabrication and Characterization of Nanoscale Cu Thinfilms for Optoelectronic Applications
Authors: Alrobei Hussein , Maqbool Adnan , Hussain Muhammad Asif , Malik Rizwan Ahmed , Karim Muhammad Ramzan Abdul , AlBaijan Ibrahim , Hafiz Azeem , Latif Muhammad
Published: January 2022

Nanostructured materials with optical transmittance with sufficient electrical conductivity are feasible for the transparent electrical devices and optoelectronic applications. Copper (Cu) possesses inherent superior electrical conductivity. Cu thin films on glass substrates provide the basic design understanding of the transparent electrodes for humidity sensors and solar cells applications. To understand the fundamental fabrication and electrical properties, a single-step facile fabrication approach was applied for Cu nanofilms through the DC sputtering method. Correlation of thickness of Cu nanofilms with optical and electrical properties was established. Parameters such as current, voltage, vacuum pressure, and time of coating were varied to develop different thickness of metal coating. Under optimized conditions of 10−1 torr vacuum, 1.45 KV voltage, and 4–6 min coating time, a conductive path is successfully established. A 1 min coated sample demonstrated resistance of 4000 ohm and conductance of a 6 min coated sample was raised to 56 m-mho. A higher surge of voltage assisted the production of relatively thick and uniform coatings with the crystallite size of 12 nm. The average coating thickness of 19.8 nm and roughness of 4.5 nm was obtained for a 5 min coated sample through AFM analysis. Further, it was observed that uniform nanostructured coating is essential to establish a mean free path of coated particles.
A Triangle Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide with Long Propagation Length for Ultradeep Subwavelength Confinement
Authors: Zhang Qian , Pan Jinbin , Wang Shulong , Du Yongqian , Wu Jieyu
Published: January 2022

Facing the problems of ohmic loss and short propagation length, the application of plasmonic waveguides is limited. Here, a triangle hybrid plasmonic waveguide is introduced, where a cylinder silicon waveguide is separated from the triangle prism silver waveguide by a nanoscale silica gap. The process of constant optimization of waveguide structure is completed and simulation results indicate that the propagation length could reach a length of 510 μm, and the normalized mode area could reach 0.03 along with a high figure of merit 3150. This implies that longer propagation length could be simultaneously achieved along with relatively ultra-deep subwavelength mode confinement due to the hybridization between metallic plasmon polarization mode and silicon waveguide mode, compared with previous study. By an analysis of fabrication errors, it is confirmed that this waveguide is fairly stable over a wide error range. Additionally, the excellent performance of this is further proved by the comparison with other hybrid plasmonic waveguides. Our work is significant to manipulate light waves at sub-wavelength dimensions and enlarge the application fields, such as light detection and photoelectric sensors, which also benefit the improvement of the integration of optical devices.
Heterogeneous Ice Growth in Micron-Sized Water Droplets Due to Spontaneous Freezing
Authors: Esmaeildoost Niloofar , Jönsson Olof , McQueen Trevor A. , Ladd-Parada Marjorie , Laksmono Hartawan , Loh Ne-Te Duane , Sellberg Jonas A.
Published: January 2022

Understanding how ice nucleates and grows into larger crystals is of crucial importance for many research fields. The purpose of this study was to shed light on the phase and structure of ice once a nucleus is formed inside a metastable water droplet. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) was performed on micron-sized droplets evaporatively cooled to temperatures where homogeneous nucleation occurs. We found that for our weak hits ice grows more cubic compared to the strong hits that are completely hexagonal. Due to efficient heat removal caused by evaporation, we propose that the cubicity of ice at the vicinity of the droplet’s surface is higher than for ice formed within the bulk of the droplet. Moreover, the Bragg peaks were classified based on their geometrical shapes and positions in reciprocal space, which showed that ice grows heterogeneously with a significant population of peaks indicative of truncation rods and crystal defects. Frequent occurrences of the (100) reflection with extended in-planar structure suggested that large planar ice crystals form at the droplet surface, then fracture into smaller domains to accommodate to the curvature of the droplets. Planar faulting due to misaligned domains would explain the increased cubicity close to the droplet surface.
The Effect of Energy Level of Transport Layer on the Performance of Ambient Air Prepared Perovskite Solar Cell: A SCAPS-1D Simulation Study
Authors: Chen Qinmiao , Ni Yi , Dou Xiaoming , Yoshinori Yamaguchi
Published: January 2022

The perovskite solar cell (PSC) as an emerging and promising type has been extensively studied. In this study, a model for a PSC prepared in ambient air was established by using SCAPS-1D. After that, it was further analyzed through varying the defect density of the perovskite absorber layer (Nt), the thin film thickness and energy-level matching between the electron transport layer (ETL), the perovskite absorber layer and the hole transport layer (HTL), for a better understanding of the carrier features. The Nt varied from 1.000 × 1011 to 1.000 × 1017 cm−3. The performance of the solar cell is promoted with improved Nt. When Nt is at 1.000 × 1015 cm−3, the carrier diffusion length reaches μm, and the carrier lifetime comes to 200 nm. The thickness of the absorber layer was changed from 200 to 600 nm. It is shown that the absorber layer could be prepared thinner for reducing carrier recombination when at high Nt. The thickness effect of ETL and HTL is weakened, since Nt dominates the solar cell performance. The effect of the affinity of ETL (3.4–4.3 eV) and HTL (2.0–2.7 eV), together with three energy-level matching situations “ETL(4.2)+HTL(2.5)”, “ETL(4.0)+HTL(2.2)” and “ETL(4.0)+HTL(2.5)” on the performance of the solar cell were analyzed. It was found that the HTL with valence band 0.05 eV lower than that of the perovskite absorber layer could have a blocking effect that reduced carrier recombination. The effect of energy-level matching becomes more important with improved Nt. Energy-level matching between the ETL and perovskite absorber layer turns out counterbalance characteristic on Jsc and Voc, and the “ETL(4.0)+HTL(2.5)” case can result in solar cell with Jsc of 27.58 mA/cm2, Voc of 1.0713 V, FF of 66.02% and efficiency of 19.51%. The findings would be very useful for fabricating high-efficiency and low-cost PSC by a large-scale ambient air route.
Open Government Data Use in the Brazilian States and Federal District Public Administrations
Authors: Kawashita Ilka , Baptista Ana Alice , Soares Delfina
Published: January 2022

This research investigates whether, why, and how open government data (OGD) is used and reused by Brazilian state and district public administrations. A new online questionnaire was developed and collected data from 26 of the 27 federation units between June and July 2021. The resulting dataset was cleaned and anonymized. It contains an insight on 158 parameters for 26 federation units explored. This article describes the questionnaire metadata and the methods applied to collect and treat data. The data file was divided into four sections: respondent profile (identify the respondent and his workplace), OGD use/consumption, what OGD is used for by public administrations, and why OGD is used by public administrations (benefits, barriers, drivers, and barriers to OGD use/reuse). Results provide the state of the play of OGD use/reuse in the federation units administrations. Therefore, they could be used to inform open data policy and decision-making processes. Furthermore, they could be the starting point for discussing how OGD could better support the digital transformation in the public sector.
Use of Physical Accessibility Modelling in Diagnostic Network Optimization: A Review
Authors: Chênes Camille , Albert Heidi , Kao Kekeletso , Ray Nicolas
Published: January 2022

Diagnostic networks are complex systems that include both laboratory-tested and community-based diagnostics, as well as a specimen referral system that links health tiers. Since diagnostics are the first step before accessing appropriate care, diagnostic network optimization (DNO) is crucial to improving the overall healthcare system. The aim of our review was to understand whether the field of DNO, and especially route optimization, has benefited from the recent advances in geospatial modeling, and notably physical accessibility modeling, that have been used in numerous health systems assessment and strengthening studies. All publications published in English between the journal’s inception and 12 August 2021 that dealt with DNO, geographical accessibility and optimization, were systematically searched for in Web of Science and PubMed, this search was complemented by a snowball search. Studies from any country were considered. Seven relevant publications were selected and charted, with a variety of geospatial approaches used for optimization. This paucity of publications calls for exploring the linkage of DNO procedures with realistic accessibility modeling framework. The potential benefits could be notably better-informed travel times of either the specimens or population, better estimates of the demand for diagnostics through realistic population catchments, and innovative ways of considering disease epidemiology to inform DNO.
Performance of Rapid Antigen Tests for COVID-19 Diagnosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Khalid Muhammad Fazli , Selvam Kasturi , Jeffry Alfeq Jazree Nashru , Salmi Mohamad Fazrul , Najib Mohamad Ahmad , Norhayati Mohd Noor , Aziah Ismail
Published: January 2022

The identification of viral RNA using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the gold standard for identifying an infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. The limitations of RT-qPCR such as requirement of expensive instruments, trained staff and laboratory facilities led to development of rapid antigen tests (RATs). The performance of RATs has been widely evaluated and found to be varied in different settings. The present systematic review aims to evaluate the pooled sensitivity and specificity of the commercially available RATs. This review was registered on PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42021278105). Literature search was performed through PubMed, Embase and Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register to search studies published up to 26 August 2021. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of RATs and subgroup analyses were calculated. Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2) was used to assess the risk of bias in each study. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of RATs were 70% (95% CI: 69–71) and 98% (95% CI: 98–98), respectively. In subgroup analyses, nasal swabs showed the highest sensitivity of 83% (95% CI: 80–86) followed by nasopharyngeal swabs 71% (95% CI: 70–72), throat swabs 69% (95% CI: 63–75) and saliva 68% (95% CI: 59–77). Samples from symptomatic patients showed a higher sensitivity of 82% (95% CI: 82–82) as compared to asymptomatic patients at 68% (95% CI: 65–71), while a cycle threshold (Ct) value ≤25 showed a higher sensitivity of 96% (95% CI: 95–97) as compared to higher Ct value. Although the sensitivity of RATs needs to be enhanced, it may still be a viable option in places where laboratory facilities are lacking for diagnostic purposes in the early phase of disease.
A Deep Neural Network for Early Detection and Prediction of Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Singh Vijendra , Asari Vijayan K. , Rajasekaran Rajkumar
Published: January 2022

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the primary causes of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and kidney damage markers are used by researchers around the world to identify CKD as a condition that leads to reduced renal function over time. A person with CKD has a higher chance of dying young. Doctors face a difficult task in diagnosing the different diseases linked to CKD at an early stage in order to prevent the disease. This research presents a novel deep learning model for the early detection and prediction of CKD. This research objectives to create a deep neural network and compare its performance to that of other contemporary machine learning techniques. In tests, the average of the associated features was used to replace all missing values in the database. After that, the neural network’s optimum parameters were fixed by establishing the parameters and running multiple trials. The foremost important features were selected by Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE). Hemoglobin, Specific Gravity, Serum Creatinine, Red Blood Cell Count, Albumin, Packed Cell Volume, and Hypertension were found as key features in the RFE. Selected features were passed to machine learning models for classification purposes. The proposed Deep neural model outperformed the other four classifiers (Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Logistic regression, Random Forest, and Naive Bayes classifier) by achieving 100% accuracy. The proposed approach could be a useful tool for nephrologists in detecting CKD.
Salivary IL-6 Concentration Is Associated with Frailty Syndrome in Older Individuals
Authors: Gómez-Rubio Pablo , Trapero Isabel , Cauli Omar , Buigues Cristina
Published: January 2022

Background: One of the physiological changes that is most closely associated with frailty is the increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, and IL-6 in particular. Most studies have demonstrated this association using blood samples. We analyzed the relationship between frailty syndrome, individual frailty criteria, and IL-6 levels obtained by saliva tests. Methods: A cross-sectional pilot study was performed among women institutionalized in nursing homes. Frailty was defined as having three or more of the following components: low lean mass, weakness, self-reported exhaustion, low activity level, and slow walking speed; prefrailty was defined as having one or two of those components. Results: There was a significant and positive correlation between the frailty score and salivary IL-6 concentration. Regarding the associations between IL-6 and individual dichotomized frailty criteria, there were significant differences in salivary IL-6 concentration in two frailty criteria: weight loss (p = 0.002) and low physical activity (p = 0.007). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that IL-6 concentration significantly (p < 0.05) (although moderately) discriminated patients that progressed in the frailty syndrome (the area under the curve value was 0.697 with 95% CI 0.566–0.827). Conclusions: Salivary IL-6 concentration can be used as potential biomarker of frailty syndrome and as a tool to monitor the effects of interventions in frail individuals.
Mesonephric Adenocarcinoma of the Vagina Harboring TP53 Mutation
Authors: Lee Hyunjee , Kim Hyunjin , Kim Hyun-Soo
Published: January 2022

Mesonephric adenocarcinoma (MA) of the female genital tract is a rare but distinct entity, exhibiting unique morphological, immunophenotypical, and molecular characteristics. Vaginal MA is hypothesized to arise from the mesonephric remnants located in the lateral vaginal wall. A 52-year-old woman presented with vaginal bleeding. Physical examination revealed a protruding mass in the left vaginal wall. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 2.5-cm mass arising from the left upper vagina and extending posterolaterally to the extravaginal tissue. The punch biopsy was diagnosed as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. She received radical surgical resection. Histologically, the tumor displayed various architectural patterns, including compactly aggregated small tubules, solid cellular sheets, endometrioid-like glands and ducts, intraluminal micropapillae, cribriform structure, and small angulated glands accompanied by prominent desmoplastic stroma. The tubules and ducts possessed hyaline-like, densely eosinophilic intraluminal secretions. The tumor extended to the subvaginal soft tissue and had substantial perineural invasion. Immunostaining revealed positivity for the mesonephric markers, including GATA3, TTF1, and PAX2, while showing very focal and weak positivity for estrogen receptor and negativity for progesterone receptor. Additionally, we observed a complete absence of p53 immunoreactivity. Targeted sequencing analysis revealed that the tumor harbored both activating KRAS p.G12D mutation and truncating TP53 p.E286* mutation. A thorough review of the previous literature revealed that 4.5% (3/67) of vaginal/cervical MAs and 0.9% (1/112) of uterine/ovarian mesonephric-like adenocarcinomas harbor TP53 mutations, indicating that this is very uncommon in malignant mesonephric lesions. In summary, we presented a rare case of vaginal MA uniquely harboring pathogenic TP53 mutation, resulting in p53 aberration.
Electromyography of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Ear Muscles in Healthy Probands and Patients with Unilateral Postparalytic Facial Synkinesis
Authors: Rüschenschmidt Hanna , Volk Gerd Fabian , Anders Christoph , Guntinas-Lichius Orlando
Published: January 2022

There are currently no data on the electromyography (EMG) of all intrinsic and extrinsic ear muscles. The aim of this work was to develop a standardized protocol for a reliable surface EMG examination of all nine ear muscles in twelve healthy participants. The protocol was then applied in seven patients with unilateral postparalytic facial synkinesis. Based on anatomic preparations of all ear muscles on two cadavers, hot spots for the needle EMG of each individual muscle were defined. Needle and surface EMG were performed in one healthy participant; facial movements could be defined for the reliable activation of individual ear muscles’ surface EMG. In healthy participants, most tasks led to the activation of several ear muscles without any side difference. The greatest EMG activity was seen when smiling. Ipsilateral and contralateral gaze were the only movements resulting in very distinct activation of the transversus auriculae and obliquus auriculae muscles. In patients with facial synkinesis, ear muscles’ EMG activation was stronger on the postparalytic compared to the contralateral side for most tasks. Additionally, synkinetic activation was verifiable in the ear muscles. The surface EMG of all ear muscles is reliably feasible during distinct facial tasks, and ear muscle EMG enriches facial electrodiagnostics.
Fully Automatic Knee Bone Detection and Segmentation on Three-Dimensional MRI
Authors: Almajalid Rania , Zhang Ming , Shan Juan
Published: January 2022

In the medical sector, three-dimensional (3D) images are commonly used like computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The 3D MRI is a non-invasive method of studying the soft-tissue structures in a knee joint for osteoarthritis studies. It can greatly improve the accuracy of segmenting structures such as cartilage, bone marrow lesion, and meniscus by identifying the bone structure first. U-net is a convolutional neural network that was originally designed to segment the biological images with limited training data. The input of the original U-net is a single 2D image and the output is a binary 2D image. In this study, we modified the U-net model to identify the knee bone structures using 3D MRI, which is a sequence of 2D slices. A fully automatic model has been proposed to detect and segment knee bones. The proposed model was trained, tested, and validated using 99 knee MRI cases where each case consists of 160 2D slices for a single knee scan. To evaluate the model’s performance, the similarity, dice coefficient (DICE), and area error metrics were calculated. Separate models were trained using different knee bone components including tibia, femur, patella, as well as a combined model for segmenting all the knee bones. Using the whole MRI sequence (160 slices), the method was able to detect the beginning and ending bone slices first, and then segment the bone structures for all the slices in between. On the testing set, the detection model accomplished 98.79% accuracy and the segmentation model achieved DICE 96.94% and similarity 93.98%. The proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art methods, i.e., it outperforms U-net by 3.68%, SegNet by 14.45%, and FCN-8 by 2.34%, in terms of DICE score using the same dataset.
The Effects of Physical Exercise on Saliva Composition: A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Ntovas Panagiotis , Loumprinis Nikolaos , Maniatakos Panagiotis , Margaritidi Loukia , Rahiotis Christos
Published: January 2022

Saliva consists of organic and inorganic constituents. During exercise, analysis of the saliva can provide valuable information regarding training stress, adaptation and exercise performance. The objective of the present article was to review the effect of physical exercise on saliva composition. The shift in the composition of the saliva, during and after a workout, reflects the benefits of exercise, its potential risks and the capability of the saliva to serve as a health indicator. The type and the frequency of training, the physical condition and the athletes’ general health influence the hormones, immunoglobulins and saliva enzymes. The correlation between saliva and physical exercise has to be further investigated and the available knowledge to be applied for the benefit of the athletes during sports activities.
Interpersonal Competences and Attitude to Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) among Future Pedagogues and Educators—A Polish and Portuguese Perspective
Authors: Frania Monika , Correia Fernando Luís de Sousa
Published: January 2022

Interpersonal competences in relationship building, collaboration and teamwork are essential both in F2F education and in distance or hybrid styles of education. In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as previous trends, some or all of the higher education didactics were transferred to the online environment. In this context, the Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) model, now known as collaborativism, is gaining importance. This research aims to diagnose and compare the level of interpersonal competences and attitude in the OCL model among students preparing for the profession of an educator, pedagogue or teacher in the autonomous region of Madeira and in Poland. Quantitative studies were conducted using the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire by D. Buhrmester, W. Furman, M.T. Wittenberg and H.T. Reis—as adapted by Poland and Portugal. In addition, the respondents expressed their views on OCL in the self-written questionnaire. According to the research findings, the highest level of competence in the Portuguese group was achieved by the respondents in terms of: Emotional Support (EW), Conflict Management and Resolution (RK) and Negative Assertion—Asserting Influence (AO). In the Polish group, EW was the lowest. The highest level of interpersonal competences was observed for Conflict Management and Resolution (RK), Disclosure (US) and Initiation (IR). The largest group of the surveyed students in both countries expressed a positive attitude towards implementing OCL in their courses of study and declared their willingness to be a member of a group that learns online together.
Distance Education for Supporting “Day One Competences” in Meat Inspection: An E-Learning Platform for the Compulsory Practical Training of Veterinarians
Authors: Tinacci Lara , Guardone Lisa , Giusti Alice , Pardini Stefano , Benedetti Claudio , Di Iacovo Francesco , Armani Andrea
Published: January 2022

Obtaining a Veterinary Surgeon degree relies on the acquisition of “Day One Competences” (DOCs), among which professional skills related to meat inspection are acquired during visits to abattoirs. In 2020, lockdown measures due to COVID-19 pandemic limited on-site practical training. The present study describes the creation of an e-learning course on bovine and swine slaughtering as an alternative tool for compulsory DOCs achievement within the course “Inspection and control of food of animal origin” during the fourth year of the Veterinary Medicine degree program (Department of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Pisa). Academics and external professionals took part on the planning and development of the learning material. Video pills, consisting of shooting of the slaughtering coupled with trainers’ descriptive explanations, were produced. The perceived effectiveness of course contents, trainers’ communication skills and technical quality were assessed with a questionnaire. The developed e-learning platform consisted of four main sections (Introduction, Swine slaughtering, Bovine slaughtering and Additional topics), integrated by multiple-choice questions for the student’s self-assessment. According to students’ assessment, the platform, of high technical quality, effectively condensed contents on meat inspection. Despite the unique and irreplaceable role of practical training in the achievement of the professional skills included in the veterinary curriculum, the e-learning course may concur in providing DOCs and is in line with the adoption of a modern teaching model where e-learning resources engage students in deeper learning approaches.
“This Is the End.” A Case Study of a Japanese Learner’s Experience and Regulation of Anxiety
Authors: Sano Nakao Naoko , Reinders Hayo
Published: January 2022

This study investigates the role of emotions in second language learning, in particular, that of anxiety. Research has shown that positive and negative emotions are interrelated and that negative emotions are negatively correlated with motivation. It is, therefore, important to investigate how learners regulate their emotions. In this case study, one learner was closely observed over a period of 13 years. This learner claims that he has been feeling strong anxiety while learning English, but also that his negative emotion was the source of motivation to proactively study the language. The research used three types of data: (a) language learning historical records, (b) in-depth interviews, and (c) two questionnaires: the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning questionnaire. The results reveal the intense experience of the learner’s emotions, as well as the significant shifts therein. It also unearths some of the sources of his emotional experiences and how he regulated these experiences. An important observation was the positive contribution that negative emotions had on some aspects of the participant’s learning.
Flipped Classroom: A Good Way for Lower Secondary Physical Education Students to Learn Volleyball
Authors: Ferriz-Valero Alberto , Østerlie Ove , García-Martínez Salvador , Baena-Morales Salvador
Published: January 2022

The ubiquity of digital technology in society and school demands that teachers and students explore various pedagogical approaches to make use of those technologies in a fruitful way in order to enhance students’ educational outcomes. One approach emerging in the field of physical education (PE) is the pedagogical approach called flipped classroom (FC). The first purpose of this study was to assess the effects of the application of an FC approach on 284 Spanish secondary PE students regarding learning of the conceptual content of the activity itself, in this case volleyball. The second purpose was to assess how this intervention affected their motivation from an SDT perspective. Through a quantitative approach, positive results were found regarding the positive development of autonomous motivation and cognitive learning among students following an FC approach. These results were compared to a control group following a traditional approach to PE, highlighting the relevance of the methodology applied. The findings of the present study would be valuable for policymakers and stakeholders looking to promote the integration of digital technology into PE as part of enhancing the outcomes of PE for all students and thus contributing to quality and sustainable education.
An Evidence-Based Study on Teaching Computer Aided Design in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Dagman Andreas , Wärmefjord Kristina
Published: January 2022

The pandemic has had a major effect on engineering education, transforming both current and future teaching practice. The physical meetings between student and teacher have during the pandemic been replaced by online contact and recordings of lectures and demonstrations. In this paper, the focus is on computer aided design (CAD) teaching for first-year engineering students. CAD is a topic usually characterized by a close contact by student and teacher, with hands-on instruction at the computer using the CAD software. In the paper, the experiences and learnings from the rapid shift to on-line teaching in CAD are summarized and discussed, and learnings and takeaways for a redesign of future CAD teaching are discussed. Both the students’ learning and their mental wellbeing are evaluated. It is found that on a general level, the students were satisfied with the online teaching and rated it as better or equal to traditional teaching. However, there is still room for improvement, since some students found the situation stressful and pointed out the difficulty to ask questions online. The findings are based on a student survey, existing literature, and the authors own teaching practices during the pandemic.
Modelling of the Ability of a Mixed Renewable Generation Electricity System with Storage to Meet Consumer Demand
Authors: Crozier Constance , Quarton Christopher , Mansor Noramalina , Pagnano Dario , Llewellyn Ian
Published: January 2022

In this paper, we explore how effectively renewable generation can be used to meet a country’s electricity demands. We consider a range of different generation mixes and capacities, as well as the use of energy storage. First, we introduce a new open-source model that uses hourly wind speed and solar irradiance data to estimate the output of a renewable electricity generator at a specific location. Then, we construct a case study of the Great Britain (GB) electricity system as an example using historic hourly demand and weather data. Three specific sources of renewable generation are considered: offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar PV. Li-ion batteries are considered as the form of electricity storage. We demonstrate that the ability of a renewables-based electricity system to meet expected demand profiles can be increased by optimising the ratio of onshore wind, offshore wind and solar PV. Additionally, we show how including Li-ion battery storage can reduce overall generation needs, therefore lowering system costs. For the GB system, we explore how the residual load that would need to be met with other forms of flexibility, such as dispatchable generation sources or demand-side response, varies for different ratios of renewable generation and storage.
Attaining Low Lattice Thermal Conductivity in Half-Heusler Sublattice Solid Solutions: Which Substitution Site Is Most Effective?
Authors: Tranås Rasmus , Løvvik Ole Martin , Berland Kristian
Published: January 2022

Low thermal conductivity is an important materials property for thermoelectricity. The lattice thermal conductivity (LTC) can be reduced by introducing sublattice disorder through partial isovalent substitution. Yet, large-scale screening of materials has seldom taken this opportunity into account. The present study aims to investigate the effect of partial sublattice substitution on the LTC. The study relies on the temperature-dependent effective potential method based on forces obtained from density functional theory. Solid solutions are simulated within a virtual crystal approximation, and the effect of grain-boundary scattering is also included. This is done to systematically probe the effect of sublattice substitution on the LTC of 122 half-Heusler compounds. It is found that substitution on the three different crystallographic sites leads to a reduction of the LTC that varies significantly both between the sites and between the different compounds. Nevertheless, some common criteria are identified as most efficient for reduction of the LTC: The mass contrast should be large within the parent compound, and substitution should be performed on the heaviest atoms. It is also found that the combined effect of sublattice substitution and grain-boundary scattering can lead to a drastic reduction of the LTC. The lowest LTC of the current set of half-Heusler compounds is around 2 W/Km at 300 K for two of the parent compounds. Four additional compounds can reach similarly low LTC with the combined effect of sublattice disorder and grain boundaries. Two of these four compounds have an intrinsic LTC above ∼15 W/Km, underlining that materials with high intrinsic LTC could still be viable for thermoelectric applications.