bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Phototherapeutic Keratectomy Results for the Treatment of Corneal Scarring After Pterygium Excision
Authors: Uzunovalı Berrin , Mutlu Demet , Atas Mustafa 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the post-treatment corneal changes by corneal topography in patients who underwent phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) to reduce anterior corneal irregularity and corneal scarring after pterygium excision. Materials and
Methods: Before and after PTK, K1 (flattest central keratometry), K2 (steepest central keratometry), Kmax (maximum keratometry), corneal astigmatism, ISV (index of surface variance), IVA (index of vertical asymmetry), IHA (index of height asymmetry) and IHD (index of height decantration) values were compared.
Results
Of the 23 patients included in the study, 16 were male (69.6%) and 7 were female (30.4%), with a mean age of 57.09 ± 11.96 years (23–81 years). After PTK surgery patients were asked to come for check-ups at 1., 3., 6. months and at 1 year.The mean time to PTK after pterygium excision was 5.93 ± 1.39 months (4–9 months) and the PTK values taken at the end of the first year were included in the study. The corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) significantly improved from 0.55 ± 0.28 logMAR (0.10-1.00 logMAR) to 0.46 ± 0.32 logMAR (0.1-1.00 logMAR) after PTK. While the postoperative K1, K2, Kmax and corneal astigmatism values were lower than preoperative values, there was no statistically significant difference compared to preoperative values (respectively p = 0.301, p = 0.060, p = 0.075, p = 0.570). Although ISV, IHA and IHD values were higher than before surgery, the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). In 17 patients, the postoperative IVA value was higher than before the operation, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.014).
Conclusions
PTK can reduce the corneal surface irregularity and the astigmatism in a way that can be corrected with glasses and CDVA will be better. Patients who underwent PTK had a more transparent and more regular cornea.
Prognostic significance and value of further classification of lymphovascular invasion in invasive breast cancer: a retrospective observational study
Authors: Zhang Yuyang , Wang Huali , Zhao Huahui , He Xueming , Wang Ya , Wang Hongjiang 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Purpose
To investigate the prognostic significance of lymphovascular invasion in invasive breast cancer and the value of using specific vascular endothelial markers to further classify lymphovascular invasion.
Methods
We collected 2124 patients with invasive breast cancer who were hospitalized at the First Hospital of Dalian Medical University from 2012 to 2020. Statistical methods were used to investigate the relationship between lymphovascular invasion and clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer, and the correlation between lymphovascular invasion on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of various categories of breast cancers. Immunohistochemical staining of breast cancer samples containing lymphovascular invasion using specific vascular endothelial markers D2-40 and CD34 was used to classify lymphovascular invasion and to investigate the relationship between lymphovascular invasion and breast cancer progression.
Results
There was a high correlation between lymphovascular invasion and T-stage, N-stage and nerve invasion. Survival analyses showed that patients with lymphovascular invasion, especially luminal B, triple-negative, and Her-2 overexpression breast cancer patients, had poorer OS and DFS prognosis, and that lymphovascular invasion was an independent prognostic factor affecting OS and DFS in breast cancer. The immunohistochemical staining results showed that positive D2-40 staining of lymphovascular invasion was linked to the N stage and localized recurrence of breast cancer.
Conclusion
Lymphovascular invasion is associated with aggressive clinicopathological features and is an independent poor prognostic factor in invasive breast cancer. Breast cancer localized recurrence rate and lymph node metastases are influenced by lymphatic vessel invasion. Immunohistochemical techniques should be added to the routine diagnosis of lymphovascular invasion.
STOPS study: total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis versus subtotal colectomy with cecal-rectal anastomosis for slow transit constipation: a study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial
Authors: Tian Yue , Guo Man , Fu Tao , Gao Feng , Jiang Jun , Zhang Lin , Wang Yongbing , Huang Bin , Bu Fan , Liu Weicheng , Xu Dongbo , Ni Ling , Zheng Jianyong , Li Fan , Jiang Congqing , Cui Zhe , Gong Wenjing , Tong Weidong 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background: Constipation is a common and frustrating gastrointestinal disorder with a prevalence of 10%–15% of adults in the United States and around 8.2% of the general population in China. Slow transit constipation (STC), representing 15%-42% of constipated patients, is characterized by a loss of colonic motor activity. While the patients with no response to any medicine suffering from long-term intractable symptoms and poor quality of life, the surgical approach is ultimately recommended. Currently, the main surgical procedures for STC are total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis (TC-IRA) and subtotal colectomy with cecorectal anastomosis (SC-CRA). This study aims to compare TC-IRA with SC-CRA regarding efficacy and safety for refractory STC.
Methods and analysis: The STOPS trial is a randomized controlled trial comparing TC-IRA with SC-CRA in patients with STC. After screening for eligibility and obtaining informed consent, a total of 202 adult patients are included in the trial and randomized to the trial groups in a 1:1 ratio after assuring that none of exclusion criteria is present. The primary outcome parameter is the scores of Wexner Constipation as a measure of efficacy. The secondary outcomes include operative time, conversion rates, blood loss, short- and long-term complications, bowel movements, abdominal pain, bloating, straining, enema use, laxative, the scores of Wexner incontinence, the gastrointestinal QOL index, the 36-item short form and satisfaction. Both the primary and secondary outcome measures will be collected at pre-operation, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after surgery.
Discussion: To our knowledge, the STOPS trial is the first multicenter randomized controlled trial of surgical procedure for STC. Results of this study may be helpful to choose reasonable procedure for STC and provide further evidence for developing consensus for STC treatment.
Ethics and dissemination: The STOPS trial has been reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Army Medical Center (reference number 2021-248).
Trial registration: current controlled trials NCT05352074 (Registered on 28 April 2022).
Secure Communication in Multi-Subnetwork by QKD Protocol with Entanglement and Decoy States
Authors: Sihare Shyam R. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
This research focuses on enhancing secure quantum communication in multi-subnetwork environments, specifically focusing on vulnerabilities associated with quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols. The study uses an in-depth analysis of the decoy state strategy within the QKD protocol, quantifying security parameters and proposing dynamic recalibration strategies based on quantum channel parameters. Sensitivity analyses are used to assess the impact of variations in attenuation coefficient, detector efficiency, and the fraction of rounds with eavesdropping attempts. A dynamic adaptation mechanism is introduced to optimize the choice between entangled and decoy states over time. The research reveals modest disclosures into the vulnerabilities of quantum communication channels and offers dynamic recalibration strategies to ensure ongoing security against quantum threats. Quantitative metrics, such as the quantum key rate (QKR) and information leakage (SKR), are presented, providing a comparative analysis between entangled and decoy states. The findings highlight the efficacy of the proposed multi-subnetwork QKD protocol in mitigating external threats and adapting to evolving quantum environments. The research contributes to the field by providing a comprehensive understanding of security parameters influencing QKD protocols and paving the way for improved quantum communication protocols with applications in secure information transfer.
Folate mediates cognitive impairment of aged people with periodontitis
Authors: Liu Fei , Mei Jian-Song , Zhao Jia-Shuo , Feng Yu-Heng , Zhang Yan-Yan , Pan Qing , Shen Jie-Fei 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Aims
To examine the mediation of folate on the periodontitis-promoted cognitive impairment (CI) in the elderly population.
Materials and Methods
Data for this cross-sectional population-based study was obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2011–2014 database. Associations between periodontitis and cognitive scores, exogenous and endogenous folate levels were estimated by propensity score weighted regression models. Natural effect models were applied to estimate the mediation effect of folate for the periodontitis-cognition relationship.
Results
Out of the 1966 participants, 869 (44.2%) had periodontitis. The periodontitis group has lower cognitive scores and dietary supplement, serum total, and RBC folate levels. The mediation effect of dietary supplement folate for periodontitis-general cognition score association was significant with mediation proportions of 8.4%. The mediation effects of serum total folate and RBC folate for periodontitis-general cognition score were both significant with mediation proportions of 9.1%. Notably, periodontitis cases with dietary supplement folate or high dietary intake folate had significantly higher general cognition scores than those of periodontitis cases without dietary supplement folate or with low dietary intake folate.
Conclusions
Exogenous folate supplementation can alleviate periodontitis-related CI in the elderly population. Serum and RBC folate are key markers for alleviating periodontitis-related CI.
A protocol for estimating health burden posed by early life exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and its heavy metal composition: A mother-child birth (ELitE) cohort from central India
Authors: Trushna Tanwi , Yadav Vikas , Mandal Uday Kumar , Diwan Vishal , Tiwari Rajnarayan R , Ahirwar Rajesh , Raj Dharma , Rana Sindhuprava , Surve Suchitra Vishwambhar , Dey Sagnik , Sabde Yogesh Damodar 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
Pregnant women and children are vulnerable to air pollution-related adverse health effects, especially those residing in low-resource and high-exposure settings like India. However, evidence regarding the effects of early-life exposure to air particulate matter (PM) on childhood growth/developmental trajectory is contradictory; evidence about specific constituents of PM like heavy metals is limited. Similarly, there are few Indian cohorts investigating PM exposure and the incidence of acute respiratory infection during infancy. This study protocol aims to fill these critical gaps in knowledge.
Methods
We aim to establish a mother-child birth cohort through the enrolment of 1566 pregnant women residing in two urban areas of central India. Antenatally we will collect socioeconomic, demographic, and clinical information, and details of confounding variables from these mothers, who will then be followed up till delivery to assess their exposure to air PM. Biomonitoring to assess heavy metal exposure will be limited to the top five heavy metals found in the air of their residential city. At delivery, pregnancy outcomes will be noted followed by postnatal follow-up of live-born children till the first year of life to assess their achievement of growth/development milestones and exposure to pollutants. We will also estimate the incidence of ARI during infancy.
Discussion
This manuscript describes the protocol for an Indian mother-child air pollution birth cohort study which aims to generate comprehensive evidence regarding the adverse effects of early-life exposure to air PM and its constituent heavy metals among Indian children. This study will provide an epidemiological basis for further understanding in this context. Finally, by reporting our carefully planned study methods/outcome measures, which are at par with published and ongoing birth cohorts, we aim to serve as the starting point for similar cohorts in the future which when considered together would generate enough evidence to facilitate context-specific policy-making and development of appropriate prevention and mitigation strategies.
A fault diagnosis method for railway turnout systems based on Convolution Transformer through data augmentation
Authors: Fu Yingguo , Yang Zhongqun , li linfeng , Si Guixing , Li Hao , Zhang Sizhong , Liu Jianyang 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In this work, we tackle the challenge of improving fault diagnosis in railway turnout systems (RTS), a critical component of railway infrastructure. Addressing limitations in existing fault-diagnosis techniques, especially their efficacy with small training datasets, we focus on meticulous identification of RTS failure modes. The limited availability of fault samples and the issue of dataset imbalance further compound this challenge. To this end, we propose an innovative fault-diagnosis approach leveraging the Convolution Transformer (ConvTran) combined with advanced data augmentation techniques. This method is uniquely designed to ensure precise fault detection in situations characterized by restricted and skewed data. Existing augmentation techniques often inadequately capitalize on the specific features of time series data. To counteract this, our study proposes an innovative pseudo-synthetic data generation algorithm, utilizing feature combination to effectively overcome the challenges of sample imbalance and small sample sizes. The effectiveness of our model is rigorously tested and validated through comprehensive experiments using an actual dataset from a railway station monitoring system in China. The experimental outcomes decisively demonstrate that our proposed data augmentation method significantly improves the precision of turnout fault diagnosis, especially in contexts with limited sample sizes and imbalanced data. Impressively, our approach achieves a 92% accuracy rate in fault classification on small datasets, which further escalates to 99.7% following data augmentation. This exceptional performance not only outstrips that of other benchmark models but also underscores the superior efficiency and practical applicability of our proposed methodology in the field of RTS fault diagnosis.
Pre-Earthquake Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) &amp; Earthquake Safety Assessment of RCC and Masonry buildings located in Chandigarh Area (India)
Authors: Poonam Poonam , Kumar Anil , Kumar Rajesh 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
The northern part of India, situated along the Himalayan fault line, faces heightened earthquake risk due to the convergent boundary between the Indian and Eurasian Plates, resulting in frequent seismic activity and potential large earthquakes. Rapid urbanization of this region called for rampant construction and a quick seismic assessment of these buildings may save human sufferings and economic losses. Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) of buildings is such a method which can be used to quickly assess the seismic vulnerability of buildings based on their visual characteristics. In the work presented here, RVS of 179 reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and 120 masonry buildings located in the Chandigarh (India) region was carried out. It is found 102 (57.3%) are deemed unusable for earthquake safety, while 40 (22.5%) are tagged as yellow, indicating that they can be made usable through temporary interventions or seismic retrofitting techniques. Additionally, 36 (20.2%) buildings have been classified as green and are deemed safe for use. Moreover, among the 120 masonry buildings, 91 (75.8%) have received a red tag or are deemed unusable, 14 (11.7%) require temporary intervention, and 15 (12.5%) are usable. These findings are pivotal for making critical decisions, such as determining whether buildings require further investigation, retrofitting, or reconstruction. This risk and vulnerability assessment holds the potential to safeguard human lives and mitigate the economic losses stemming from future earthquake events. As only a few (12 to 20%) of the assessed buildings are found usable, urgent steps are needed for seismic intervention to prevent the occurrence of cascading disasters and damage thereof.
Tomographic characteristics of thick corneas
Authors: Yu Junjie , Xu Ye , Wang Xiaoying , Qian Yishan 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the tomographic characteristics of corneas with excessive thickness and to explore their potential impact on the assessment of candidates for refractive surgery.
Methods: One hundred and two eyes from 102 patients with the thinnest pachymetry (TP) < 500 μm, 100 eyes from 100 patients with TP ranging from 500 to 580 μm, and 102 eyes from 102 subjects with TP ≥ 580 μm were included. Pentacam ectasia indices were compared among these different groups.
Results: When compared to eyes with TP between 500 and 580 μm, significantly higher values in anterior radius of curvature (ARC), anterior corneal astigmatism (KAp), back elevation at the thinnest pachymetry (BE), deviation ofnormality of the back elevation (Db), and a more negative Q value for the back surface (Qback) were observed in eyes with TP ≥ 580 μm (Mann-Whitney U test: P<0.001). No significant differences were observed in the indices for the anterior cornea (Mann-Whitney U test: index of height decentration, P=0.348; inferior-superior value, P=0.334; keratoconus percentage index, P=0.077; deviation of normality of the front elevation, P=0.891). The proportion of abnormalities was highest in eyes with TP ≥ 580 μm for BE (16.7%, Chi-square test: P<0.001) and Db (20.6%, Chi-square test: P=0.001).
Conclusions: The tomography of thick corneas reveals greater BE and Db,as well as a more negative Qback while no significant disparities emerged in the anterior corneal indices.
Improved software program for finding the series and parallel resistances of the photovoltaic cell single diode equivalent circuit model based on the Newton-Raphson method
Authors: Adak Suleyman , Cangi Hasan , Arifoglu Ugur 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
The search for high efficiency and accurate modeling in the analysis of photovoltaic (PV) cells has necessitated the development of special software programs. This software focuses on determining series and parallel resistances in the equivalent circuit of photovoltaic cells. Accurate modeling of these resistors is of great importance to understand and optimize the performance of PV cells under different operating conditions. Software programs use advanced algorithms and simulation techniques to extract and measure the series and parallel resistances associated with the equivalent circuit of the PV cell. It provides a comprehensive and realistic representation of cell behavior, taking into account factors such as temperature changes, irradiance levels and material properties. Researchers and engineers can use this software program to analyze the impact of series and parallel resistances on the overall performance of PV cells, making the analysis of solar panels easier. This software program can contribute to ongoing efforts in improving the accuracy of PV cell modeling and analyzing the efficiency of solar energy conversion systems. Newton-Raphson, Genetic Algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) etc. are used to predict and analyze the series and parallel resistances in the PV cell single diode equivalent circuit. methods are used. In this study, the Newton-Raphson method was used in the analysis process. The software program prepared in MATLAB and given in Appendix –A- was used to find the PV cell equivalent circuit series and parallel resistances.
Resource allocation with consideration for modulation order for multiuser systems via integer optimizations
Authors: Ding Yanwu , Tu Yirong 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In multiuser communication systems, it is required to support high data rate applications with guaranteed quality of service~(QoS) which is generally characterized by the channel capacity or target data rate. It is desirable to characterize the QoS requirement by both the target data rate and error tolerance for each user. Given the QoS requirements, the optimal resource allocations for the power and bandwidth are related to the modulation orders for the transmitted symbols. In this paper, various optimization problems are formulated to maximum the number of users or to minimize the power/bandwidth/montary cost, subject to different constrains on user priorities and QoS requirements. The modulation order aware solutions are obtained for each user by solving constrained integer optimization problems.
Whole genome sequence analysis and characterization of lytic bacteriophages against antimicrobial-resistant diarrheagenic Escherichia coli strains isolated from various sources in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Authors: Sada Tamirat Salile , Alemayehu Dawit Hailu , Tafese Kalkidan Melaku , Tessema Tesfaye Sisay 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
The emergence of antibiotic resistance in E. coli strains has sparked a fervent investigation of alternative therapies such as the use of lytic bacteriophages. Phage whole genome sequencing is a novel method for learning more about proteins and other biomolecules encoded by phages, particularly phage lytic enzymes that are crucial to the lysis of bacterial cells. Seven potential lytic E. coli phages; EH-B-A (A1), EP-M-A, EP-B-K (E2), EI-SP-GF, ET-SD-TH, and ST-TK isolated from activated dairy farm sludges, Rivers, and hospital liquid waste were described. For sequencing, an Illumina NextSeq 550 sequencer was used. The virus nucleotide collection (nr/nt) (taxid:10239) was used to evaluate the whole genome sequences. Phylogenetic analysis was done using MEGA11 software. Genome sequencing revealed that each bacteriophage contains a linear double-stranded DNA genome. Phage isolates were taxonomically identified as 4 (57%) Myoviridae and 3 (43%) Siphoviridae phages. Phage genome length varied from 24264 to 143,710 bp, and their GC contents ranged from 43 to 54%. 33–218 CDSs (coding sequences) in total were predicted, with 19–77% of CDSs encoding functional proteins. All phages lacked tRNA in their genomes, except for EI-SP-GF, which possessed five tRNAs. Based on phylogenetic tree analysis, the phage isolates were related to Enterobacteria and E. coli phage sequences in the database. Screening did not show any genes encoding for a CRISPR-like system, virulence, antibiotic resistance, or lysogeny. Because of their stringent lytic nature, these phage isolates may be applied in the future to treat E. coli infections. This study may provide some primary data for the development of phage control techniques and advance our understanding of the genetic composition of E. coli phages.