bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of Gravitational Field of a Topological Defect on Heavy Quarkonia Spectra in a Non-Relativistic Quark Model
Authors: Likéné André Aimé Atangana , Ongodo Dieudonne Nga , Ema'a Jean Marie Ema'a , Abiama Patrice Ele , Ben-Bolie Germain Hubert 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
In this paper, we analyze the properties of heavy quarkonia in a curved space-time with conical geometry induced by a topological defect, namely a cosmic string. The particles moving within the latter space are under the influence of an extended version of the Cornell potential. Assuming that the cosmic string space-time is torsion free, the full spectrum of each particle is obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation using the extended Nikiforov-Uvarov method; the wave functions and the radial probability densities of charmonium and bottomonium mesons are derived using the bi-confluent Heun functions. It it observed that the presence of the topological defect, produces a splitting between nP and nD states. The latter states are separated into 2l + 1 components, implying that the gravitational field of a topological defect acts on energy levels like in a way similar to the Zeeman effect due to the magnetic field. However, inthe limit α → 1, which correspond to the usual flat Minkowski space-time, we recover the classical mass spectrum of heavy quarkonia for the extended Cornell potential. The numerical results obtained in this study are overall found in good agreement with experimental data and other relevant theoretical works.Thus, to illustrate the effect of the topological defect graphically, mass spectra, wave functions and radial probability densities are plotted for P−states at different values of α. It is found that, at large values of the quantum number n, the mass spectra of heavy quarkonia exhibit saturation effect governed by the topological parameter.
PACS numbers: 21.60.Fw, 21.10.Re, 70.25.+k, 04.10.Mn
Optimal strategy and system performance ina feedback queue with customer-intensiveservices and boundedly rational customers
Authors: Liu Xinying , Song Yang 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a feedback queue with one server providing customerintensive services. The service reward increases with service time, while longer service time also leads to longer waiting time for customers. Customers are boundedly rational and decide whether to join the system based on a logit model upon their arrival. From the perspective of revenue maximization and social welfare maximization, this paper considers the trade-off between speed and quality of service and studies the optimal service rate, service price and some system performances. Under different strategies, we study the ratio of the corresponding welfare, called the “price of anarchy” (PoA), which measures the harm of service providers’ selfish behavior, and we obtain the interval of PoA and its characteristics. In addition, we conduct some numerical simulations to show the quantitative results of system operation.
Incidental thyroid nodules on Covid 19-related thoracic tomography scans: A giant cohort
Authors: Helvacı Burcak Cavnar , Ozdemir Didem , Turan Kubra , Keskin Caglar , İmga Narin Nasiroglu , Dirikoc Ahmet , Topaloglu Oya , Ersoy Reyhan , Cakir Bekir 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Introduction: Computerized thoracic tomography (CT) imaging was extensively employed, especially in the early era of the Coronavirus pandemic. An incidental thyroid nodule (ITN) is defined as a nodule not previously detected or suspected clinically but identified by an imaging study. This study aimed to determine the incidence of thyroid nodules incidentally detected in thoracic CTs for the suspicion of Covid-19 pneumonia.Materials and methods Adult patients who underwent thoracic CT in our hospital for Covid-19 management between March 2020 and September 2020 were retrospectively identified. Medical information registered in the hospital and national health system were reviewed. The prevalence of incidental thyroid nodules at CT, thyroid function test results of patients with incidental lesions, correlation of CT findings with ultrasonography (US) findings, and fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) results were evaluated.Results We determined 36.939 adult patients that had a CT scan. Among these, 624 had a previous history of thyroid operation, and 1201 had already been diagnosed with a thyroid pathology. The final analysis included 35.113 patients. There was information about the thyroid gland in CT reports of 3049 patients. The prevalence of ITN was 3.82% (1343/35113 patients), and thyroid heterogeneity was 1.11% (388/35113 patients). While it was explicitly stated that no pathology was found in the thyroid gland in 3.75% (1318/35113) of the patients, no information was given about the thyroid gland in 91.32% (32064/35113) of the patient. Thus, the number of patients informed about the thyroid was 3049 (8.68%), and the number of patients with thyroid pathology was 1731 (4.93%). It was observed that 308 of 1731 (17.80%) patients had follow-up thyroid US. An FNAB was indicated in 238 (87.50%) patients. Of the 238 patients with biopsy indication, only 115 (48.31%) underwent a thyroid FNAB. The cytological diagnosis was benign in 59 (51.30%), non-diagnostic in 30 (26.08%), atypia of uncertain significance in 22 (19.13%), suspected follicular neoplasia/follicular neoplasia in 4 (3.46%) patients. Thyroidectomy was performed in six more patients due to giant nodules, and the final diagnosis was benign in 2 and papillary thyroid cancer in 3 patients.Conclusion In conclusion, increased use of thoracic CT during Covid 19 pandemic probably caused increased detection of ITNs. In this large-scale study, the prevalence of thyroid nodules reported in thoracic CT was 3.82%, and thyroid cancer was detected in 1.30% of patients evaluated in the US. Therefore, Thoracic CT scans taken for different reasons might provide the opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancers.
Enhancing the elasticity of Silicate Cement Stone with anionic styrene-butadiene latex particles
Authors: Zheng Yong , Liao Guoli , Peng Zhigang , Feng Qian 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
To address the problems of brittleness and poor elastic deformation ability of Silicate Cement stone, anionic styrene-butadiene latex particles were prepared using emulsion polymerization with styrene, liquid polybutadiene, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, and fumaric acid as raw materials. The dispersion properties of anionic styrene-butadiene latex particles in water were investigated, as well as the elastic enhancement effect of the particles in cement. The test results show that anionic styrene-butadiene latex particles have good dispersion performance in water, is not easy to agglomerate, and can improve the fluidity of cement slurry. The elastic modulus of anionic styrene-butadiene latex particles cement stone is 43.1% and 27.8% lower than that of blank cement stone and commercially available latex particles cement stone, respectively. The finding of the mechanism analysis demonstrate that the anionic styrene-butadiene latex particles can be filled in cement stones to increase the silicate cement’s elasticity, compactness, and resistance to external stress.
Partitioned Trees
Authors: Meguellati Fahd Mustapha , Zegour Djamel Eddine , Zouana Seyfeddine 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
We introduce the Partitioned Trees, a form of Partitioned Binary Search Tree parameterized to represent both Red-Black trees and a family of partially balanced Binary Search Trees. Partitioned Tree is interesting not only because it provides the same time and space complexity as Balanced Binary Search trees O(logn), but also because it’s simple to implement, easily understandable, and highly adaptable in different fields where rebalancing is costly. We outline the various maintenance operations and insertion and deletion algorithms employed by the proposed data structure. Additionally, we conduct an in-depth analysis on the worst-case height of Partitioned Trees followed by a comparison of Partitioned Trees and Red-Black Trees. Our simulations confirm that Partitioned Trees exhibit superior performance compared to Red-Black Trees.
A New Methodology for SVC Modeling in the Power Flow Problem Based on Sigmoid Functions
Authors: Barbosa João Pedro Peters , Filho João Alberto Passos 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
This paper presents a new methodology for static VAr compensator (SVC) modeling in the power flow problem. The proposed formulation applies sigmoid functions to model the control equations that describe SVCs' steady-state behavior, including their limits consideration. In addition, an improvement to the SVC firing angle model is also proposed to include the droop characteristic in the linear region. The main objective is to develop a power flow formulation considering the full Newton approach. One of the main advantages of the proposed method is that no alternating adjustments are required, even in dealing with boundaries and backoffs procedures. The implementation of a power flow program has been tested using both small-scale tutorial systems and the medium-scale IEEE Nordic system. The results presented validate and indicate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Metformin mitigates early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage primarily by Sirt1 mediated inflammation and neuroapoptosis
Authors: Zhang Zhong-hua , Zhou Xiao-ming , Zhang Xin 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background Clinically, early brain injury (EBI) which refers to the acute injuries to the whole brain in the phase of the first 72 h following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), is intensely investigated to improve neurological and psychological function. Apoptosis and inflammation factors are crucial pathophysiological processes in EBI. It had been revealed that metformin (Met) possesses extensive functions, all can be shown in anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and anti-tumor activities. However, the effect has not been clarified in EBI after SAH. Here, the study was performed to evaluate the neuroprotective effects and mechanisms of Met in EBI after SAH.Methods and results Firstly, we reviewed a clinical retrospective analysis to predict the effect of Met. Secondly, we explored the anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects of Met in vivo. A total of 165 male C57BL/6 were randomly divided into seven groups. SAH grade, Neurological function, Brain edema, and Blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability were evaluated using a grading system. The apoptosis was observed using the TUNEL assay. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and c reaction protein (CRP) as well as the expressions of Bax, Bcl, and Cleaved-Caspase 3 were performed. The results showed that Met reduced brain edema, attenuated BBB permeability, and inhibited apoptosis and inflammation.Conclusions These results indicate that Met reduces the inflammatory response and alleviates early brain injury after SAH, primarily by increasing SIRT1 levels and inhibiting inflammation factors.
Restricted partition functions and the r-log-concavity of quasi-polynomial-like functions
Authors: Gajdzica Krystian 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Let A = (ai)∞ i=1 be a weakly increasing sequence of positive integers and let k be a fixed positive integer. For an arbitrary integer n, the restricted partition pA(n, k) enumerates all the partitions of n whose parts belong to the multiset {a1, a2, . . . , ak}. In this paper we investigate some generalizations of the log-concavity of pA(n, k). We deal with both some basic extensions like, for instance, the strong log-concavity and a more intriguing challenge that is the r-log-concavity of both quasi-polynomial-like functions in general, and the restricted partition function in particular. For each of the problems, we present an efficient solution.
Video question answering via traffic knowledge base and question classification
Authors: Sun Xiaoyong , Dai Yu , Wang Yuchen , Ma Weifeng , Lin Xuefen 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Video Question Answering (VideoQA) is a task that involves answering questions related to videos. The main idea is to understand the content of the video and combine it with the relevant semantic context to answer different types of questions. Existing methods typically analyze the spatio-temporal correlations of the entire video to answer questions. However, for some simple questions, the answer is only related to a specific frame of the video, and analyzing the entire video undoubtedly increases the learning cost. For some complex questions, the information contained in the video is limited, and these methods are not sufficient to fully answer such questions. Therefore, this paper proposes a VideoQA model based on question classification and a traffic knowledge base.The model starts from the perspective of the question and classifies the questions into general scene questions and causal questions, using different methods to process these two types of questions. For general scene questions, we first extract the key frames of the video to convert it into a simpler image question-answering task, and then use top-down and bottom-up attention mechanisms to process it. For causal questions, we design a lightweight traffic knowledge base that provides relevant traffic knowledge not originally present in VideoQA datasets, to help the model reason. We then use a question and knowledge-guided aggregation graph attention network to process causal questions.Experiments show that our model performs better on the TrafficQA dataset than models using millions of external data for pre-training, while greatly reducing resource costs.
Pharmacokinetic Analysis of [18F]-FES PET in the Human Brain and Pituitary Gland
Authors: Ghanzafari Nafiseh , Doorduin Janine , Weijden Chris van der , Willemsen Antoon , Glaudemans Andor , Waarde Aren van , Dierckx Rudi , de Vries Erik 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Purpose Estrogen receptors (ER) are implicated in psychiatric disorders. We assessed if ER availability in the human brain could be quantified using 16α-[18F]-fluoro-17β-estradiol ([18F]-FES) positron emission tomography (PET).
Procedures Seven post‑menopausal women underwent a dynamic [18F]-FES PET scan with arterial blood sampling. A T1-weighted MRI was acquired for anatomical information. After one week, four subjects received a selective ER degrader (SERD), four hours before the PET scan. Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using a metabolite-corrected plasma curve as the input function. The optimal kinetic model was selected based on the Akaike information criterion and standard error of estimated parameters. Accuracy of Logan graphical analysis and standardized uptake value (SUV) was determined via correlational analyses.
Results The reversible two-tissue compartment model (2T4k) model with fixed K1/k2 was preferred. The total volume of distribution (VT) could be more reliably estimated than the binding potential (BPND). A high correlation of VT with Logan graphical analysis was observed, but only a moderate correlation with SUV. SERD administration resulted in a reduced VT in the pituitary gland, but not in other regions.
Conclusions The optimal quantification method for [18F]-FES was the 2T4k with fixed K1/k2 or Logan graphical analysis, but specific binding was only observed in the pituitary gland.
High rate of loss to follow-up among patients undergoing treatment for premalignant cervical lesions at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, South Western Uganda; a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Kajabwangu Rogers , Ssedyabane Frank , Tusubira Deusdedit , Maling Samuel , Kakongi Nathan , Turyakira Eleanor , Namuli Alexcer , Galiwango Martin , Randall Thomas C 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background For a cervical cancer control program to be effective in reducing incidence of the disease, there should be a high compliance to treatment and follow-up of the women diagnosed with precursor lesions. Screening programs in low-resource countries like Uganda are challenged by poor adherence to follow-up following treatment for premalignant cervical lesions. This study sought to describe the burden and factors associated with loss to follow-up among women undergoing treatment for premalignant cervical lesions at a tertiary hospital in south-western UgandaMethods This was a retrospective cohort study. We reviewed the registers at the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital cervical cancer clinic for a period of four years from January 2017 to December 2020. Data was collected on; age, district of residence, diagnosis, date of diagnosis, date and type of initial treatment as well as date of follow up visit. We also captured data on whether patients returned on the scheduled follow up date or within three months after the scheduled follow up date. We defined loss to follow-up as failure to return for follow up either on the scheduled date or within three months after the scheduled date.Results Out of the 298 patients who underwent treatment for premalignant cervical lesions in the study period, 227(76.2%) did not return for follow-up at one year. At bivariate analysis, failure to attend the review visit at 6weeks predicted the loss to follow up at one year following treatment for premalignant lesions almost perfectly (RR = 2.84, 95% CI: 2.18–3.71, p-value < 0.001). Negative HIV serostatus and receiving thermocoagulation, slightly increased the risk of getting lost to follow-up while being more than 45years old reduced the odds. At multi-variate analysis, treatment with thermocoagulation (ARR = 1.21, 95% CI:1.07,1.36, p-value-0.03) was associated with loss to follow-up at one year.Conclusion The proportion of women who don’t return for follow-up at one year following treatment for premalignant cervical lesions at Mbarara regional referral hospital is very high. There is need to implement strategies that prompt patients to return for follow-up following treatment for premalignant cervical lesions.
Protocol for a Formative Study to Develop a Self-rehabilitation Intervention for Functional Mobility Among Community- Dwelling Stroke Survivors in Lmics
Authors: Ibrahim Rabi’u , Lawal Isa Usman , Joseph Conran 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background
Stroke is a significant source of acquired adult neurological disability. The increased burden of stroke in Low and Lower-middle Income Countries is currently approaching epidemic level. The consequences of stroke have long-standing effects and require long-term management of the resultant limitations. However, lack of resources, inadequate number of professionals, poor awareness, and lack of technical capacity have made the accessibility and availability of stroke rehabilitation services difficult in Low and Lower-middle Income Countries. Moreover, the effect of the COVID 19 pandemic has worsened the already existing challenges faced by stroke rehabilitation in these regions.
The development of specific and appropriate stroke rehabilitation approaches that can be self-administered, targeting community-dwelling stroke survivors in Low and Lower-middle Income Countries settings, is highly important.
Methods
A formative research design is proposed to support the development of a culturally-adaptable Task-Specific Training programme to be delivered through tele-rehabilitation that can be self-administered by community-dwelling stroke survivors.
Focus group discussions with community-dwelling stroke survivors will be conducted to gather information regarding challenges they faced in carrying out daily activities. The gathered information will be used to inform the development of a Task-specific self-rehabilitation Training model. A Delphi technique will be employed to refine the items in the initial model and come up with a Task-specific, self-rehabilitation programme target at improving functional ability among community-dwelling stroke survivors.
Discussion
Stroke rehabilitation services are grossly inadequate in countries categorized as Low and Lower-middle Income, particularly for community-dwelling stroke survivors in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper presents the methods for the development of a culturally-suitable intervention model for improving functional mobility among community-dwelling stroke survivors in Low and Lower-middle Income Countries.
Numerical Analysis and Design Recommendation for Linear Anodes in above Ground Storage Tank Cathodic Protection Systems: Mesh Grid system vs. Concentric Rings
Authors: Shirshahi Mohammad Javad , Chini Seyed Farshid , Taheri Peyman , Mansouri Abraham 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Cathodic protection as a complementary method is one of the most effective ways to prevent corrosion, along with coating and choosing the suitable material. There are different ways to protect the storage tank bottom. Due to the presence of the geo membrane layer and its effective and pivotal role, the use of mixed metal oxide (MMO) anodes is highly recommended. In the current study, the protection process of the above-ground storage tank bottom is simulated using MMO backfilled wire (Concentric Rings) and ribbon anodes (Mesh Grid System). In this regard, several parameters must be considered in reaching the protection criteria. The simulation results show that the effect of the spacing between the anodes, the limiting oxygen current density and the anodic current have the greatest role. Anode depth and soil resistance are also critical factors. Due to the importance of the number of conductor bars and feeding cables, two configurations have been presented for ribbon anodes. These configurations have a direct impact on grid resistance, rectifier size, and related costs. Finally, an economic comparison has been made regarding the use of sacrificial and MMO anodes in the form of ribbon next to wire anodes. The results show that, in the use of ribbon anodes, MMO anodes have better performance than magnesium and zinc sacrificial anodes, and the cost required for MMO linear anodes is far lower than the method of sacrificial ribbon anodes. In the present study, the linear anode system has an estimated cost of approximately 20% less than the ribbon sacrificial anodes made of magnesium and zinc.
Study on the configuration scheme of urban reclaimed water in China based on multi-factor influence
Authors: Guo Hongcong , Wang Liquan , Dong He , Teng Yun , Li Hui 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Reclaimed water is a stable unconventional water resource, improving the utilization rate of reclaimed water and strengthening the allocation of reclaimed water resources are the current important work of cities in China.In this paper, the research on reclaimed water in China is relatively backward, and a perfect allocation scheme of reclaimed water has not yet been formed. According to China 's development pattern and industrial economy, with the goal of most in line with urban development planning and maximizing economic benefits, a set of algorithms for the allocation of reclaimed water in three major water consumption items of municipal miscellaneous, primary industry and secondary industry are set up, and then three representative cities in South China and North China are selected for calculation.Finally, some suggestions are put forward for the development of reclaimed water in China according to the results.