bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Noise-robust range alignment method for inverse synthetic aperture radar based on aperture segmentation and average range profile correlation
Authors: Lu Yue , Yang Jian , Zhang Yue , Xu Shiyou 
Published: January 2021

AbstractRange alignment is an essential procedure in the translation motion compensation of inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging. Global optimization or maximum-correlation-based algorithms have been used to realize range alignment. However, it is still challenging to achieve range alignment in low signal-to-noise ratio scenarios, which are common in inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging. In this paper, a novel anti-noise range alignment approach is proposed. In this new method, the target motion is modeled as a uniformly accelerated motion during a short sub-aperture time. Minimum entropy optimization is implemented to estimate the motion parameters in each sub-aperture. These estimated parameters can be used to align the profiles of the current sub-aperture. Once the range profiles of each sub-aperture are aligned, the non-coherent accumulation gain is obtained by averaging all profiles in each sub-aperture, which can be used as valuable information. The accumulation and correlation method is applied to align the average range profiles of each sub-aperture because the former step focuses mainly on alignment within the sub-apertures. Experimental results based on simulated and real measured data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in low signal-to-noise ratio scenarios.
Human activity prediction using saliency-aware motion enhancement and weighted LSTM network
Authors: Weng Zhengkui , Li Wuzhao , Jin Zhipeng 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn recent years, great progress has been made in recognizing human activities in complete image sequences. However, predicting human activity earlier in a video is still a challenging task. In this paper, a novel framework named weighted long short-term memory network (WLSTM) with saliency-aware motion enhancement (SME) is proposed for video activity prediction. First, a boundary-prior based motion segmentation method is introduced to use shortest geodesic distance in an undirected weighted graph. Next, a dynamic contrast segmentation strategy is proposed to segment the moving object in a complex environment. Then, the SME is constructed to enhance the moving object by suppressing irrelevant background in each frame. Moreover, an effective long-range attention mechanism is designed to further deal with the long-term dependency of complex non-periodic activities by automatically focusing more on the semantic critical frames instead of processing all sampled frames equally. Thus, the learned weights can highlight the discriminative frames and reduce the temporal redundancy. Finally, we evaluate our framework on the UT-Interaction and sub-JHMDB datasets. The experimental results show that WLSTM with SME statistically outperforms a number of state-of-the-art methods on both datasets.
Expanding enhanced recovery protocols for cardiac surgery to include the patient voice: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Oravec Nebojša , Arora Rakesh C. , Bjorklund Brian , Gregora April , Monnin Caroline , Duhamel Todd A. , Kent David E. , Schultz Annette S. H. , Chudyk Anna M. 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background
Cardiac surgery is becoming increasingly common in older, more vulnerable adults. A focus on timely and complete medical and functional recovery has led to the development of enhanced recovery protocols (ERPs) for a number of surgical procedures and subspecialties, including cardiac surgery (ERAS® Cardiac). An element that is often overlooked in the development and implementation of ERPs is the involvement of key stakeholder groups, including surgery patients and caregivers (e.g., family and/or friends). The aim of this study is to describe a protocol for a scoping review of cardiac patient and caregiver preferences and outcomes relevant to cardiac surgery ERPs.

Methods
Using Arksey and O’Malley’s et al six-stage framework for scoping review methodologies with adaptions from Levac et al. (Represent Interv: 1–18, 2012), a scoping review of existing literature describing patient- and caregiver-identified preferences and outcomes as they relate to care received in the perioperative period of cardiac surgery will be undertaken. The search for relevant articles will be conducted using electronic databases (i.e., the Cochrane Library, Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Embase), as well as through a search of the grey literature (e.g., CPG Infobase, Heart and Stroke Foundation, ProQuest Theses and Dissertations, Google Advanced, and Prospero). Published and unpublished full-text articles written in English, published after the year 2000, and that relate to the research question will be included. Central to the design of this scoping review is our collaboration with two patient partners who possess lived experience as cardiac surgery patients.

Discussion
This review will identify strategies that can be integrated into ERPs for cardiac surgery which align with patient- and caregiver-defined values. Broadly, it is our goal to demonstrate the added value of patient engagement in research to aid in the success of system change processes.
Min-max exclusive virtual machine placement in cloud computing for scientific data environment
Authors: Kim Moon-Hyun , Lee Jun-Yeong , Raza Shah Syed Asif , Kim Tae-Hyung , Noh Seo-Young 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn cloud computing, there is a trade-off between SLAV (Service Level Agreement Violation) and system operating cost. Violation rates can be decreased when using more hosts, which increases system operating costs. Therefore, to manage the resources of those hosts efficiently, finding an optimal balancing point between SLAV and system operating cost is critical. In addition, a cost-effective load balancing approach based on the proper migration of VMs (Virtual Machines) in the hosts is needed. For this purpose, some indicators are also necessary to identify the abnormal hosts that violate SLA. One of the primary indicators, CPU usage, is closely related to energy consumption and can be used to reduce SLAV and energy consumption effectively. Our approach focuses on the special environment such as the cloud environment for the scientific data. Here, most of the jobs are data-intensive and a large amount of disk operations is required. Owing to disk operations are likely to affect the performance degradation of the host, disk bandwidth usage as well as CPU usage should be also considered. In this study, we propose the Min-Max Exclusive VM Placement (MMEVMP) strategy to minimize both SLAV and energy consumption. The current working system called KIAF (KISTI Analysis Facility), the CERN ALICE experimental cloud environment for scientific data analysis, is used to analyze the characteristics of data-intensive jobs within it. In this experiment, a lightweight version of the CloudSim simulator was developed and the results were compared to the other methods of different policies. Our evaluation showed that our proposed strategy can reduce SLA violation reasonably as well as the system operating cost-effectively.
Predictors of institutional delivery service utilization among women of reproductive age in Senegal: a population-based study
Authors: Zegeye Betregiorgis , Ahinkorah Bright Opoku , Idriss-Wheelr Dina , Oladimeji Olanrewaju , Olorunsaiye Comfort Z. , Yaya Sanni 
Published: January 2021

AbstractBackgroundIn Senegal, sub-Saharan Africa, many women continue to die from pregnancy and childbirth complications. Even though health facility delivery is a key intervention to reducing maternal death, utilization is low. There is a dearth of evidence on determinants of health facility delivery in Senegal. Therefore, this study investigated the predictors of health facility-based delivery utilization in Senegal.MethodsData from the 2017 Senegal Continuous Survey were extracted for this study, and approximately 11,487 ever-married women aged 15–49 years participated. Chi-square test was used to select significant variables and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify statistically significant predictors at a 95% confidence interval with a 0.05p-value using Stata version 14 software.ResultsFacility-based delivery utilization was 77.7% and the main predictors were maternal educational status (primary school Adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 1.44, 95% CI; 1.14–1.83; secondary school aOR = 1.62, 95% CI; 1.17–2.25), husband’s educational status (primary school aOR = 1.65, 95% CI; 1.24–2.20, secondary school aOR = 2.17, 95% CI; 1.52–3.10), maternal occupation (agricultural-self-employed aOR = 0.77, 95% CI; 0.62–0.96), ethnicity (Poular aOR = 0.74, 95% CI; 0.56–0.97), place of residence (rural aOR = 0.57, 95% CI; 0.43, 0.74), media exposure (yes aOR = 1.26, 95% CI; 1.02–1.57), economic status (richest aOR = 5.27, 95% CI; 2.85–9.73), parity (seven and above aOR =0.46, 95% CI; 0.34–0.62), wife beating attitude (refuse aOR =1.23, 95% CI; 1.05–1.44) and skilled antenatal care (ANC) (yes aOR = 4.34, 95% CI; 3.10–6.08).ConclusionUptake of health facility delivery services was seen among women who were educated, exposed to media, wealthy, against wife-beating, attended ANC by skilled attendants and had educated husbands. On the other hand, women from ethnic groups like Poular, those working in agricultural activities, living in rural setting, and those who had more delivery history were less likely to deliver at a health facility. Therefore, there is the need to empower women by encouraging them to use skilled ANC services in order for them to gain the requisite knowledge they need to enhance their utilization of health facility delivery, whiles at the same time, removing socio-economic barriers to access to health facility delivery that occur from low education, poverty and rural dwelling.
Exploring beyond the conjunctural rhetoric: sociocultural drivers for the “cassava crisis” in Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: Mobio Aubin Jacob , Fokou Gilbert , Aka Solange , Kouassi Kouadio Benal , Kreppel Katharina Sophia , Kouakou Kouakou Philipps , Amanzou Nogbou Andecthi Aubin , Dao Daouda , Bonfoh Bassirou 
Published: January 2021

AbstractDespite considerable improvement of food security in low- and middle-income countries over the last decades, food shortages remain persistent in sub-Saharan Africa. The driving forces are often related not only to climate change and other environmental hazards but also to socioeconomic and political factors. In Africa, food security has also assumed a strong urban dimension, raising new issues of physical and financial access to food. However, beyond the conjunctural rhetoric around unregulated food policies, social unrest, socio-economic difficulties, and environmental stresses, an emphasis should be put on socio-cultural aspects of food security. This would be possible through an analysis of “connectivities” between various stages and actors, i.e., food exchange practices between various socio-ecological spaces, and governance coordination in food security strategies. Based on a study on cassava shortage in Cote d’Ivoire in 2015-2016, this paper explores socio-cultural factors associated with food shortage in urban settings. Findings from a qualitative research approach comprising key-informant interviews and focus group discussion with various stakeholders in the cassava value chain revealed that food shortage cannot always be explained by supply/demand narratives. The study shows that cassava supply mechanisms in the Abidjan area are not sustainable as the main producers of cassava for sale are migrant workers employed in rubber plantations and whose stability in the region depends on prices of this cash crop on the international market. Regions at the vicinity of Abidjan are supplying the city with cassava but the offer does not meet the requirements of cassava-based food processors who need specific types of the product. Moreover, strategies from the municipal and government authorities to circumvent the shortage often face resistance of populations if local norms and values are not considered. In food strategies, sociocultural dynamics should be considered alongside the complex socioeconomic and environmental factors shaping the social geography of food supply in African cities.
In vitro performance and in vivo fertility of antibiotic-free preserved boar semen stored at 5 °C
Authors: Jäkel Helen , Scheinpflug Kathi , Mühldorfer Kristin , Gianluppi Rafael , Lucca Matheus Schardong , Mellagi Ana Paula Gonçalves , Bortolozzo Fernando Pandolfo , Waberski Dagmar 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background
Hypothermic preservation of boar semen is considered a potential method for omitting antibiotics from insemination doses, thereby contributing to the global antibiotic resistance defence strategy. The main challenges are chilling injury to spermatozoa and bacterial growth during semen storage leading to reduced fertility.

Objectives
To examine chilling injury and the number and type of bacteria in boar semen stored at 5 °C in the absence of antibiotics, and to assess the applicability of hypothermic semen storage under field conditions.

Material and methods
Boar ejaculates were extended with AndroStar® Premium, stored at 17 °C with and at 5 °C without antibiotics and tested for functional sperm parameters by flow cytometry. Raw semen and extended samples were investigated bacteriologically. Fertility was evaluated after once-daily inseminations of 194 sows in a field study.

Results
Lethal sperm damage assessed by motility and membrane integrity was low throughout storage in both experimental groups. Sublethal chilling effects based on the decrease of viable spermatozoa with low membrane fluidity were higher (P < 0.05) up until 72 h in sperm stored at 5 °C compared to 17 °C but did not differ after 144 h. After 72 h, incubation in capacitating medium for 60 min induced a similar decrease in viable sperm with high mitochondria membrane potential and low cytosolic calcium in both groups. In semen stored at 5 °C, bacteria counts were below 103 CFU/mL and the bacteria spectrum was similar to that of raw semen. In 88% of 34 boars, cooled semen fulfilled the requirements for insemination. Fertility was high and did not differ (P > 0.05) between sow groups inseminated with semen stored antibiotic-free at 5 °C and semen stored at 17 °C with antibiotics.

Conclusion
Despite subtle chilling effects and low bacterial numbers, antibiotic-free hypothermic storage of boar semen offers the possibility to reduce the use of antibiotics in pig insemination. However, strict sanitary guidelines must be maintained and further evidence of efficiency under field conditions is considered desirable.
Digestibility and metabolism of copper in diets for pigs and influence of dietary copper on growth performance, intestinal health, and overall immune status: a review
Authors: Espinosa Charmaine D. , Stein Hans H. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe current contribution reviews absorption and metabolism of copper (Cu), Cu deficiency, Cu toxicity, Cu bioavailability, and effects of pharmacological levels of Cu on growth performance and intestinal health of pigs. Copper is a micro mineral involved in metabolic reactions including cellular respiration, tissue pigmentation, hemoglobin formation, and connective tissue development. Copper is mostly absorbed in the upper gastrointestinal tract, particularly in the duodenum, but some Cu is absorbed in the stomach. One way to evaluate the efficacy of sources of Cu is to measure relative bioavailability where responses include tissue concentrations of Cu, concentrations of metalloproteins, and enzymatic activity of animals fed test diets containing graded levels of Cu. The requirement for Cu by pigs is 5 to 10 mg/kg diet, however, Cu can be included at growth-promoting levels (i.e., 75 to 250 mg/kg diet) in diets for weanling and growing pigs to reduce post-weaning diarrhea and improve growth performance. The consistently observed improvement in growth performance upon Cu supplementation is likely a result of increases in lipase activity, growth hormone secretion, and expression of genes involved in post-absorptive metabolism of lipids. The growth-promoting effects of dietary Cu have also been attributed to its bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties because Cu may change bacterial populations in the intestine, and thereby reduce inflammation caused by pathogens. However, further research is needed to determine potential interactions between Cu and non-nutritive feed additives (e.g., enzymes, probiotics, phytobiotics), and the optimum quantity of Cu as well as the optimum duration of feeding supplemental Cu in diets for pigs should be further investigated. These gaps needs to be addressed to maximize inclusion of Cu in diets to improve growth performance while minimizing diseases and mortality.
Discovery of natural products capable of inducing porcine host defense peptide gene expression using cell-based high throughput screening
Authors: Wang Jing , Lyu Wentao , Zhang Wei , Chen Yonghong , Luo Fang , Wang Yamin , Ji Haifeng , Zhang Guolong 
Published: January 2021

AbstractBackgroundIn-feed antibiotics are being phased out in livestock production worldwide. Alternatives to antibiotics are urgently needed to maintain animal health and production performance. Host defense peptides (HDPs) are known for their broad-spectrum antimicrobial and immunomodulatory capabilities. Enhancing the synthesis of endogenous HDPs represents a promising antibiotic alternative strategy to disease control and prevention.MethodsTo identify natural products with an ability to stimulate the synthesis of endogenous HDPs, we performed a high-throughput screening of 1261 natural products using a newly-established stable luciferase reporter cell line known as IPEC-J2/pBD3-luc. The ability of the hit compounds to induce HDP genes in porcine IPEC-J2 intestinal epithelial cells, 3D4/31 macrophages, and jejunal explants were verified using RT-qPCR. Augmentation of the antibacterial activity of porcine 3D4/31 macrophages against a Gram-negative bacterium (enterotoxigenicE. coli) and a Gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus) were further confirmed with four selected HDP-inducing compounds.ResultsA total of 48 natural products with a minimum Z-score of 2.0 were identified after high-throughput screening, with 21 compounds giving at least 2-fold increase in luciferase activity in a follow-up dose-response experiment. Xanthohumol and deoxyshikonin were further found to be the most potent in inducingpBD3mRNA expression, showing a minimum 10-fold increase in IPEC-J2, 3D4/31 cells, and jejunal explants. Other compounds such as isorhapontigenin and calycosin also enhancedpBD3mRNA expression by at least 10-fold in both IPEC-J2 cells and jejunal explants, but not 3D4/31 cells. In addition topBD3, other porcine HDP genes such aspBD2, PG1-5, andpEP2Cwere induced to different magnitudes by xanthohumol, deoxyshikonin, isorhapontigenin, and calycosin, although clear gene- and cell type-specific patterns of regulation were observed. Desirably, these four compounds had a minimum effect on the expression of several representative inflammatory cytokine genes. Furthermore, when used at HDP-inducing concentrations, these compounds showed no obvious direct antibacterial activity, but significantly augmented the antibacterial activity of 3D4/31 macrophages (P < 0.05) against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.ConclusionsOur results indicate that these newly-identified natural HDP-inducing compounds have the potential to be developed as novel alternatives to antibiotics for prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of infectious diseases in livestock production.
Sequential data assimilation for mechanical systems with complex image data: application to tagged-MRI in cardiac mechanics
Authors: Imperiale Alexandre , Chapelle Dominique , Moireau Philippe 
Published: January 2021

AbstractTagged Magnetic Resonance images (tagged-MRI) are generally considered to be the gold standard of medical imaging in cardiology. By imaging spatially-modulated magnetizations of the deforming tissue, indeed, this modality enables an assessment of intra-myocardial deformations over the heart cycle. The objective of the present work is to incorporate the most valuable information contained in tagged-MRI in a data assimilation framework, in order to perform joint state-parameter estimation for a complete biomechanical model of the heart. This type of estimation is the second major step, after initial anatomical personalization, for obtaining a genuinely patient-specific model that integrates the individual characteristics of the patient, an essential prerequisite for benefitting from the model predictive capabilities. Here, we focus our attention on proposing adequate means of quantitatively comparing the cardiac model with various types of data that can be extracted from tagged-MRI after an initial image processing step, namely, 3D displacements fields, deforming tag planes or grids, or apparent 2D displacements. This quantitative comparison—called discrepancy measure—is then used to feed a sequential data assimilation procedure. In the state estimation stage of this procedure, we also propose a new algorithm based on the prediction–correction paradigm, which provides increased flexibility and effectiveness in the solution process. The complete estimation chain is eventually assessed with synthetic data, produced by running a realistic model simulation representing an infarcted heart characterized by increased stiffness and reduced contractility in a given region of the myocardium. From this simulation we extract the 3D displacements, tag planes and grids, and apparent 2D displacements, and we assess the estimation with each corresponding discrepancy measure. We demonstrate that—via regional estimation of the above parameters—the data assimilation procedure allows to quantitatively estimate the biophysical parameters with good accuracy, thus simultaneously providing the location of the infarct and characterizing its seriousness. This shows great potential for combining a biomechanical heart model with tagged-MRI in order to extract valuable new indices in clinical diagnosis.