bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm with Deep Learning Method to EnhanceBreast Cancer Detection using Digital Mammography
Authors: D Banumathy , D Karthikeyan , G Mohanraj , R Sarathkumar 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

This study focuses on improving the detection of breast cancer at an early stage. The standard approach for diagnosing breast cancer is mammography, but it is pretty tedious as it is subject to subjective analysis. The study will examine how deep learning-based techniques are used in mammography analysis to improve the screening process in order to overcome these obstacles. Various computer vision models, including Visual Geometry Group (VGG) 19, inceptionV3, and custom 20 Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture, are investigated using the Digital Database for Screening Mammography (DDSM) mammogram dataset. The DDSM is widely used for mammographic image analysis in the research community. In the domain of CNNs, the models have demonstrated considerable promise due to their efficacy in various tasks, such as image recog- nition and classification. It is also seen that the CNN model’s performance is enhanced using hyperparameter optimization. However, manually tuning hyper- parameters is laborious and time-consuming. To overcome this challenge, CNN’s automatic hyperparameter optimization uses metaheuristic approaches based on the population. This automation mitigates the time required for finding optimal hyperparameters and boosts the CNN model’s efficacy. The proposed approach uses the Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO) algorithm to optimize CNN to enhance breast cancer detection. BFO is utilized to optimize various hyperparam- eters, such as filter size, number of filters, and hidden layers in the CNN model. It is demonstrated through experiments that the proposed BFO-CNN method achieves better performance than other state-of-the-art methods by 7.62% for the VGG 19, by 9.16% for the inceptionV3, and by 1.78% for the custom CNN- 20 layers. In conclusion, this work aims to leverage deep learning techniques and automatic hyperparameter optimization to enhance breast cancer detec- tion through mammogram analysis. The BFO-CNN model has much potential to improve breast cancer diagnosis accuracy compared to conventional CNN architecture.
Rethinking water resources: Harnessing The Gambia River with pressure-driven membrane processes for sustainable supply
Authors: Boussouga Youssef-Amine , Lin Zhi-Fu , Schmidt Matthias , Schaefer Andrea 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

The Gambia River is a tidal and tropical river that covers 12% of the area of The Gambia and is to date not harnessed for drinking water supply purposes. While the freshwater region of the river is mainly used for irrigation, groundwater wells are predominantly used for drinking water. Salinity intrusion and wastewater treatment requirements are challenging current practices. Previous investigation on water quality indicated that the upper regions, with permanent and pristine freshwater, would be well suited for drinking water supply after ultrafiltration (UF) treatment. At 120 km from the river mouth to the coast, where the water becomes saline, desalination is required. With sea level rise, this saline region is expanding further inland, requiring increasingly energy-intensive treatments such as nanofiltration/reverse osmosis (NF/RO), while also affecting groundwater quality. In the urban area near the river mouth, there is potential for water reuse to increase water availability, while addressing the increasing load of micropollutants from the discharged wastewater effluents.
UF could decrease the turbidity to ≤0.5 NTU with partial removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). During UF operation at controlled flux, an increase in transmembrane pressure was observed, attributed to fouling caused by the high turbidity (up to 140 NTU) of the water samples from the freshwater region. Dense NF/RO membranes removed salinity and achieved the WHO recommended guideline for drinking water (< 1 g/L as TDS) in the tidal regions with salinities up to 4 g/L during the beginning of the dry season between Tendaba and Jasobo at 100-120 km from the river mouth. The more open NF membrane could treat salinities in the tidal regions below 2 g/L at 100-110 km from the river mouth.
Micropollutants (MP), with a total concentration of up to 26.3 µg/L for pesticides, 38.4 µg/L for pharmaceuticals, and 2.1 µg/L for hormones, were found in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharged 500 m near the ocean. This led to water quality degradation of the nearby stream, connected to The Gambia River, in which most of the MP concentrations were surpassing surface water quality standards. NF/RO membranes were able to remove most of the MP to concentrations below the surface water guidelines. With an appropriate pretreatment to mitigate fouling, and thus reduce energy consumption and process overall cost, NF/RO technology is well suited for water supply from desalination of the tidal region of The Gambia River and municipal water reuse for non-potable purposes, such as irrigation. The quality requirements will depend on membrane selection and water salinity. The findings of this research on desalination and water reuse can be extended beyond the local context and can contribute to addressing similar challenges in other countries worldwide
Oscillatory mechanoluminescence of SrZnOS: Mn2+ in dynamic response to rapid compression
Authors: Lin Chuanlong , Wang Hao , Zhao Tingting , Li Mei , Li Junlong , Liu Ke , Peng Shang , Liu Xuqiang , Zhao Bohao , Chen Yanlong , An Jiao , Chen XiaoHui , Jiang Sheng , Yang Wenge 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Photon emission may be continuously produced from mechanical work through the piezoelectrically-induced excitation (PIE) and self-recovery mechanoluminescence (ML) process. Significant progress has been made in high-performance ML materials in last decades, but the rate-dependent ML kinetics remains poorly understood. Here, we have conducted systematic studies on the self-recoverable ML of SrZnOS: Mn2+ under rapid compression up to ~10 GPa. A rate-dependent distinct kinetics is revealed: a diffuse-like ML behavior below ~1.2 GPa/s, oscillatory emission with a series of ML peaks at critical rate of ~1.2-1.5 GPa/s, and suppression above 1.5 GPa/s. Analysis from the rate-independent structural evolution and photoluminescence under high pressures show that the oscillatory ML emission at the critical rate corresponds to multi-cyclic PIE and self-recoverable processes. Both characteristic time (τ) for the PIE and self-recovery processes are minimized at the critical rate, indicating the time limit of ML in the dynamic response to rapid compression. The temperature is slightly favorable for PIE, but is unfavorable for the self-recovery process. The present work uncovers the temporal characteristics of self-recoverable ML, which provides a new insight into understanding the rate-dependent ML kinetics in the mechanical-photon energy conversion, conducive to the design of optoelectronic devices.
Switching off Competing Hydrogen Formation in CO2 Electroreduction via Substrate Defect Engineering
Authors: Wang Lei , Yang Haozhou , Guo Na , Xi Shibo , Zou Haiyuan , Chen Jiayi , Fan Lei , Xiao Yukun , He Qian , Duan Lele , Wei Pengfei , Wang Guoxiong , Zhang Chun 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as effective substrates for immobilizing molecular catalysts towards many electrocatalytic reactions, such as CO2 reduction (CO2R). However, despite the prevailing notion of strong π-π stackings between the molecular catalyst and CNTs, our understanding of their interactions remains inadequate. Here, we employ functionalized nickel phthalocyanines (NiPc), established CO2R catalysts, immobilized on CNTs as a model system to investigate the catalyst/substrate interactions. Firstly, we find that NiPc-catalysts preferentially anchor on the defects on CNTs rather than adhering via π-π interaction with the ideal graphene-like CNT surface, a finding further validated by theoretical simulations. Consequently, we observe the least uniform NiPc-catalysts distributions on CNTs when the defect-content is the lowest. Notably, this combination exhibits the highest CO2R selectivity and activity despite the non-uniform catalyst distributions. Through operando X-ray adsorption spectroscopy and theoretical simulations, we reveal that high CNT defect-contents tend to induce substantial D4h symmetry breaking of the NiPc plane under cathodic potential, consequently resulting in reduced CO2R selectivity and activity. Therefore, maintaining a low to moderate defect level on CNTs is critical. Guided by this understanding, we fine-tune the defect-level of CNTs through graphitization, achieving an unprecedently high selectivity for CO2 to CO conversion (CO to H2 molar ratio exceeding 16100:1, a remarkable suppression of hydrogen evolution by three orders of magnitude) and improved intrinsic-activity (turnover frequency of 1072 s−1 at −0.60 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) on an optimized Ni-Pc/CNTs composite. Furthermore, we achieved practical relevant CO production in a zero-gap electrolyzer (electrode size of 100 cm-2), reaching high current (up to 50 A), with high CO selectivity (> 95%) and reasonably low cell voltage (approximately 3.5 V), substantially outperforming the state-of-the-art silver catalyst. Moreover, we extend this knowledge to a Co-based molecular catalyst, achieving a high Faradaic efficiency (over 50%) towards methanol production with a high partial current density over 150 mA cm−2. Overall, our findings underscore the significance of tuning defect levels on CNT substrates for achieving desired performance for immobilized molecular catalysts.
Sulfate as an Alternative Electron Acceptor: A Potential Strategy to Mitigate N2O Emissions in Upland Arable Soils
Authors: LEE HYUN HO , HONG CHANG OH , KIM HANBEEN , PARK YELIM , YUN JEONGEUN , Lee Jaehyun , Kang Hojeong , KIM JEONGEUN , Ahn Jinho , Toyoda Sakae , KIM SANG YOON , Horn Marcus 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Denitrification remains widely recognized as a significant contributor to N2O emissions in upland arable soils. This study evaluated metal sulfates (MSs) and zero-valent metals (ZVMs) as potential alternative electron acceptors (EAs) to reduce N2O emissions through microcosm experiments, functional gene analyses, microbial profiling, isotope mapping, and field-based manipulation experiments. ZVMs increased N2O emissions, whereas MSs significantly reduced them mainly by inhibiting denitrification rather than affecting nitrification. Isotopic mapping and NH4+ and NO3- concentration trends strongly supported these findings. Additionally, changes in microbial communities were noted, with a more general presence capable of using both NO3- and SO42-. SO42- could act as an EA alongside NO3- in anaerobic respiration, effectively reducing N2O emissions. Field experiments demonstrated the feasibility of MS applications, reducing yield-scaled N2O emissions by 7.6% to 21.5% compared to conventional practice without negatively impacting crop yields, highlighting the potential of SO42- materials as soil amendments in sustainable agriculture.
Estimation of Safe Operating Area for EV Battery
Authors: Kamboj Rahul Kumar , Singh Mukesh , Singh Ashima , Bala Anju 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

In recent times, electric vehicles (EVs) have experienced battery pack failures due to various factors such as short circuits, thermal imbalances, fires, and explosions. This research paper employs a machine-learning approach to estimate lithiumion batteries safe operating area (SOA). It explores the factors that influence battery safety levels and discusses the safe operating area for charging and discharging based on real-time data. The SOA concept is a critical consideration in the design, operation, and management of EV batteries, as it defines the limits within which the battery can operate safely without compromising performance or endangering the vehicle. The significance of SOA analysis for EV batteries and its implications on battery design, thermal management, charging strategies, and overall vehicle safety. This paper pecifically addresses the estimation of the safe operation of a battery using ML in relation to voltage and temperature with respect to time. It emphasises the importance of understanding the interplay between these parameters to establish safe operational limits.
Speaking Up: A qualitative review of residents’ perceptions of training
Authors: Obrien Katherine , Schwartzberg Joanne , Yaghmour Nicholas A , Sardo Peyman Adeli , McKoy June M. 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Introduction: In 2013, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) invited all trainees at ACGME approved programs to complete an optional, anonymous well-being survey; 22, 476 trainees responded, with 1,782 respondents detailing more personal experiences in the open comments section of the survey. We believe this to be the largest sample ever subjected to systematic analysis aimed at identifying both known and unknown sources of issues unique to the training environment of US residents.
Methods: We performed a retrospective, qualitative review of 1,200 of the 1,782 comments written by trainees; the comments were analyzed independently by three coders. Each coder reviewed all entries and separately characterized concepts. These three coders then met periodically and used an iterative process to reach consensus and content reliability on over-reaching concepts and themes; individual raters identified various quotes that exemplified each of the themes.
Results: Overall, the comments analyzed encompassed all medical specialties and some subspecialties. Respondents who provided comments had a similar demographic profile to the larger residency population as a whole. Six major concepts were identified: children at home, satisfaction with the program, unprofessional behaviors/mistreatment, slavery, financial pressures, and duty hours. The overarching theme of all the comments was disconnect between expectation and reality.
Conclusion: Our analysis highlights six major concepts and one overarching theme related to medical training from the perspective of medical residents. These valuable insights can potentially be a focus for creating more innovative, supportive graduate training programs in the future. Moving forward, the novel concepts discovered from analysis of these comments should be recognized as essential components of well-being and should become a focus for future research.
Exploring Sleep Hygiene Practices and Their Relation to Sleep Quality among Medical Students at Nishtar Medical University Multan
Authors: Ijaz Bushra , Bukhari Mehreen , Kareem Owais 
Published: July 2024

Abstract:
Background: Sleep quality is particularly important for medical students who often face demanding schedules, high stress levels and an atypical sleep pattern.
Objective: To evaluate subjective sleep quality among medical students and its association with sleep hygiene practices.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study design was carried out on 385 undergraduate medical students enrolled through simple random sampling. The questionnaire had three sections. The first part covered demographic information; the second part evaluated subjective sleep quality by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; and the third part was related to a 13-item sleep hygiene questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Pearson chi-square test was employed to identify the factors linked to deprived sleep quality. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: This study revealed that 55.3% of medical students experienced poor sleep quality with a mean PSQI score of 5.17+3.71, which was mostly influenced by subjective sleep quality. 45.19% of the study participants reported poor sleep hygiene practices. The analysis revealed that students with habits of watching television, a lack of exercise and taking daytime naps slept worse. A significant association was observed between poor sleep quality and deficient sleep hygiene practices (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Insufficient sleep hygiene practices are prevalent among students with poor sleep quality. Sleep hygiene education programs must be given due consideration because these will ultimately improve future doctors’ health and enhance their performance in the long term
The The Development of Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for University Students
Authors: Sajjad Zainab , Jabeen Ayesha 
Published: July 2024

Intolerance of uncertainty is a dispositional characteristic, which arises from negative beliefs about uncertainty and shows negative reactionary inclination to uncertain situations.
Objective
To develop an indigenous valid and reliable scale in order to explore intolerance of uncertainty among the university students in cultural context of Pakistan.
Method
A cross sectional study design was applied and it was conducted in public as well as private sector universities situated in Lahore city. The data was collected from November, 2020 to January 2021. A standardized three step model was used to develop a reliable scale to measure Intolerance of Uncertainty in university students. The interviews were conducted with 10 university students and initially 108 items were generated. The dubious items were eliminated and a list of 56 items was generated. Moreover, a panel comprising experts had reviewed these items for validating empirically and finalized 41 items were given to a group of 14 undergraduate students as pilot project. Hence, IUSS scale with an annotated performa acquiring the age, gender, class, parental educational status etc was provided to 310 students (44.80% male and 55.20% female) through a stratified sampling technique.
Result
A four (04) factor structure of Intolerance of Uncertainty scale was finalized through Exploratory Factor Analysis and the factors were named as apprehension (9 items), lack of Decisiveness (9 items), lack of Stability (11 items) and lack of Acceptance (7 items). Results showed that the indigenously developed self-report measure has good internal consistency (Chronbach’s Alpha=.81), test re-test reliability r= .88 (P <.001), concurrent validity r= .63 (P <.001). Results also showed that 55.2% of participants have mild, 28.4% have moderate and 15.8% have severe level of intolerance of uncertainty.
ConclusionAn indigenous measuring tool containing 36 items with self-reporting features for ascertaining Intolerance of uncertainty in students enrolled in Universities was developed which possess sound psychometric properties.
Prevalence of Anatomical Variant Renal arterial diameter, Early Prehilar Branching and Multiplicity on Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography Scans
Authors: Arshad Jarral Shaista , Tehreem Fatima  , Tariq Mahmood Mirza  , Umar Farooq  
Published: July 2024

Background: Chronic kidney disease is a widespread condition that significantly contributes to the global disease burden, especially in South Asia and particularly in Pakistan.
Objective: To find out the prevalence of anatomical variations of renal arteries in terms of vessel luminal diameter, early pre-hilar branching, multiple renal arteries, their laterality, and any potential correlation with gender within our population.
Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study using non-probability consecutive sampling of contrast-enhanced computed tomography scans of male and female subjects in age range from 18 to 80 years, with no known renal or vascular disease, conducted at the Radiology Department of Combined Military Hospital, Lahore.
Results: The study analyzed 300 contrast-enhanced computed tomography scans, including 167 (55.7%) male and 133 (44.3%) female subjects. The mean value of luminal diameter of renal artery was 6.44±1.41 on right and 6.54±1.54 on left, but not significant association with laterality or gender. Pre-hilar branching was noted in 89 (29.8%) of subjects on the right renal artery and 144 (48%) subjects on the left renal artery. Prehilar branching in males was 58(34%) for right and 92(55%) for left side, while in the females it was 31(23%), for the right and 52(39%), for the left side. A statistically significant correlation between gender and pre-hilar branching on both the right (p = .035) and left (p = .006) sides. Bilateral prehilar branching in 61(20%) of total patients, 37(60.6%) being male and 24(39.3%) females. A supernumerary renal artery was present in 35(11.6%) of total with 17 (5.6%) in right renal and 18 (6%) in the left renal vasculature, and 22(7.3%) in males and 13(4.3%) in females (p=0.788).
Conclusion: The study showed variations in the renal artery caliber, branching pattern and the existence of accessory renal arteries within our local population. The most common variation was Presence of prehilar branching with statistically significant association with left renal artery and male gender in our study population.
Efficient functioning of a sewer system: application of novel hybrid machine learning methods for the prediction of particle Froude number
Authors: Kumar Sanjit , Kirar Bablu , Agarwal Mayank , Deshpande Vishal , Rathnayake Upaka 
Published: July 2024

ABSTRACT
Sewer systems are usually built with a self-cleaning system that keeps the bottom of the channel free of sediment to lessen the effects of the constant buildup of sediment particles. Because of this, it is important to accurately predict the particle Froude number (Fr) when making sewer systems. For the prediction of Fr, five different sets of input variables were looked at. For the training and testing of the machine learning (ML) model, we used 10-fold cross-validation methodologies to prevent overfitting. M5Prime (M5P) model as a standalone and Bagging-M5P as a hybrid model were utilized, and the results were compared with the empirical equations proposed in the literature. Models perform best when all input variables are used for training and testing of models. The hybrid BA-M5P model performed better than the M5P model and empirical equations. We performed sensitivity analysis and compared the result based on MAE and MSE value, and we found sediment concentration (Svc) is the most important variable to predict the particle Froude number under non-deposition with deposited bed by best performing model BA-M5P. Hence, for the self-cleaning system, we prefer the BA-M5P ML model with Svc the most required variable.
Possibilidades e limites das práticas de projetos de Turismo Pedagógico nos Anos Iniciais do Ensino Fundamental
Authors: Saidelles Rossi Andréia , Maris Giordani Estela 
Published: July 2024

RESUMO

O turismo pedagógico (TP) teórico e prático contempla aulas-passeio nos espaços que acolhem escolas e universidades. O principal objetivo da pesquisa é refletir acerca das possibilidades e limites das práticas de projetos de TP nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental do município de Santa Maria - RS. A metodologia utilizada é de abordagem qualitativa, do tipo estudo de caso e foi realizada em uma escola municipal de ensino fundamental do campo. A coleta de dados foi com entrevistas semiestruturadas, realizada com dez professores. Os dados foram analisados através da técnica de análise de conteúdo. Os resultados alcançados com esta pesquisa tratam-se do trabalho de TP, um dispositivo educativo que vem para qualificar os processos formativos docentes e discentes, além de desenvolver valores humanos. Nota-se por meio deste estudo que TP põe em vista facilidades e dificuldades no desenvolvimento de visitas escolares e extraescolares, bem como no aperfeiçoamento de aulas-passeio com as turmas. Os conselhos dos professores para os futuros docentes que irão trabalhar com projetos de TP focam em aulas simples e complexas que levem mais vida e que aproxime os saberes teóricos com os fazeres práticos no ambiente escolar e universitário.