bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics analysis for preoperative Lauren classification in gastric cancer
Authors: Wang Xiao-Xiao , Ding Yi , Wang Si-Wen , Dong Di , Li Hai-Lin , Chen Jian , Hu Hui , Lu Chao , Tian Jie , Shan Xiu-Hong
Published: November 2020

Background

Preoperative prediction of the Lauren classification in gastric cancer (GC) is very important to the choice of therapy, the evaluation of prognosis, and the improvement of quality of life. However, there is not yet radiomics analysis concerning the prediction of Lauren classification straightly. In this study, a radiomic nomogram was developed to preoperatively differentiate Lauren diffuse type from intestinal type in GC.

Methods

A total of 539 GC patients were enrolled in this study and later randomly allocated to two cohorts at a 7:3 ratio for training and validation. Two sets of radiomic features were derived from tumor regions and peritumor regions on venous phase computed tomography (CT) images, respectively. With the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator logistic regression, a combined radiomic signature was constructed. Also, a tumor-based model and a peripheral ring-based model were built for comparison. Afterwards, a radiomic nomogram integrating the combined radiomic signature and clinical characteristics was developed. All the models were evaluated regarding classification ability and clinical usefulness.

Results

The combined radiomic signature achieved an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.715 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.663–0.767) in the training cohort and 0.714 (95% CI, 0.636–0.792) in the validation cohort. The radiomic nomogram incorporating the combined radiomic signature, age, CT T stage, and CT N stage outperformed the other models with a training AUC of 0.745 (95% CI, 0.696–0.795) and a validation AUC of 0.758 (95% CI, 0.685–0.831). The significantly improved sensitivity of radiomic nomogram (0.765 and 0.793) indicated better identification of diffuse type GC patients. Further, calibration curves and decision curves demonstrated its great model fitness and clinical usefulness.

Conclusions

The radiomic nomogram involving the combined radiomic signature and clinical characteristics holds potential in differentiating Lauren diffuse type from intestinal type for reasonable clinical treatment strategy.
Actin filaments mediated root growth inhibition by changing their distribution under UV-B and hydrogen peroxide exposure in Arabidopsis
Authors: Du Meiting , Wang Yanhong , Chen Huize , Han Rong
Published: November 2020

Background

UV-B signaling in plants is mediated by UVR8, which interacts with transcriptional factors to induce root morphogenesis. However, research on the downstream molecules of UVR8 signaling in roots is still scarce. As a wide range of functional cytoskeletons, how actin filaments respond to UV-B-induced root morphogenesis has not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of actin filaments on root morphogenesis under UV-B and hydrogen peroxide exposure in Arabidopsis.

Results

A Lifeact-Venus fusion protein was used to stain actin filaments in Arabidopsis. The results showed that UV-B inhibited hypocotyl and root elongation and caused an increase in H2O2 content only in the root but not in the hypocotyl. Additionally, the actin filaments in hypocotyls diffused under UV-B exposure but were gathered in a bundle under the control conditions in either Lifeact-Venus or uvr8 plants. Exogenous H2O2 inhibited root elongation in a dose-dependent manner. The actin filaments changed their distribution from filamentous to punctate in the root tips and mature regions at a lower concentration of H2O2 but aggregated into thick bundles with an abnormal orientation at H2O2 concentrations up to 2 mM. In the root elongation zone, the actin filament arrangement changed from lateral to longitudinal after exposure to H2O2. Actin filaments in the root tip and elongation zone were depolymerized into puncta under UV-B exposure, which showed the same tendency as the low-concentration treatments. The actin filaments were hardly filamentous in the maturation zone. The dynamics of actin filaments in the uvr8 group under UV-B exposure were close to those of the control group.

Conclusions

The results indicate that UV-B inhibited Arabidopsis hypocotyl elongation by reorganizing actin filaments from bundles to a loose arrangement, which was not related to H2O2. UV-B disrupted the dynamics of actin filaments by changing the H2O2 level in Arabidopsis roots. All these results provide an experimental basis for investigating the interaction of UV-B signaling with the cytoskeleton.
GIS-based gully erosion susceptibility modeling, adapting bivariate statistical method and AHP approach in Gombe town and environs Northeast Nigeria
Authors: Igwe Ogbonnaya , John Ugwuoke Ikechukwu , Solomon Onwuka , Obinna Ozioko
Published: November 2020

Gully erosion is a major environmental problem in Gombe town, a large area of land is becoming unsuitable for human settlement, hence the need for a gully erosion susceptibility map of the study area. To generate a gully inventory map, a detailed field exercise was carried out, during this investigation one hundred gullies were identified and studied extensively within the study area of about 550 km2. In addition to the mapped gullies, Google EarthPro with high-resolution imagery was used to locate the spatial extents of fifty (50) more gullies. Ten gully erosion predisposing factors were carefully selected considering the information obtained from literature, and multiple field survey of the study area, the factors include elevation, slope angle, curvature, aspect, topographic wetness index (TWI), soil texture, geology, drainage buffer, road buffer and landuse. In this study, a GIS-based Frequency Ratio (FR) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) models were employed to predict areas prone to gully erosion in Gombe town and environs. The result obtained from FR shows that drainage, soil texture, and slope have the highest correlation with gully occurrence, while the AHP model revealed that drainage buffer, soil texture, geology have a high correlation with the formation of a gully. Gully erosion susceptibility maps (GESM) were produced and reclassified into very high, high, moderate, and low zones. The overall accuracies of both models were tested utilizing area under the curve (AUC) values and gully density distribution.FR and AHP model have AUC values of 0.73 and 0.72 respectively, the outcome indicates that both models have high prediction accuracy. The gully erosion density distribution values revealed that gullies are concentrated in the very high susceptibility class and it decreases towards the low class, therefore the GESM produced using these models in this study area is reliable and can be used for land management and future planning.
An event based topic learning pipeline for neuroimaging literature mining
Authors: Chen Lihong , Yan Jianzhuo , Chen Jianhui , Sheng Ying , Xu Zhe , Mahmud Mufti
Published: November 2020

Neuroimaging text mining extracts knowledge from neuroimaging texts and has received widespread attention. Topic learning is an important research focus of neuroimaging text mining. However, current neuroimaging topic learning researches mainly used traditional probability topic models to extract topics from literature and cannot obtain high-quality neuroimaging topics. The existing topic learning methods also cannot meet the requirements of topic learning oriented to full-text neuroimaging literature. In this paper, three types of neuroimaging research topic events are defined to describe the process and result of neuroimaging researches. An event based topic learning pipeline, called neuroimaging Event-BTM, is proposed to realize topic learning from full-text neuroimaging literature. The experimental results on the PLoS One data set show that the accuracy and completeness of the proposed method are significantly better than the existing main topic learning methods.
Characteristics of cytokines in the sciatic nerve stumps and DRGs after rat sciatic nerve crush injury
Authors: Zhang Rui-Rui , Chen Sai-Ling , Cheng Zhang-Chun , Shen Yin-Ying , Yi Sheng , Xu Hui
Published: November 2020

Background

Cytokines are essential cellular modulators of various physiological and pathological activities, including peripheral nerve repair and regeneration. However, the molecular changes of these cellular mediators after peripheral nerve injury are still unclear. This study aimed to identify cytokines critical for the regenerative process of injured peripheral nerves.

Methods

The sequencing data of the injured nerve stumps and the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats subjected to sciatic nerve (SN) crush injury were analyzed to determine the expression patterns of genes coding for cytokines. PCR was used to validate the accuracy of the sequencing data.

Results

A total of 46, 52, and 54 upstream cytokines were differentially expressed in the SNs at 1 day, 4 days, and 7 days after nerve injury. A total of 25, 28, and 34 upstream cytokines were differentially expressed in the DRGs at these time points. The expression patterns of some essential upstream cytokines are displayed in a heatmap and were validated by PCR. Bioinformatic analysis of these differentially expressed upstream cytokines after nerve injury demonstrated that inflammatory and immune responses were significantly involved.

Conclusions

In summary, these findings provide an overview of the dynamic changes in cytokines in the SNs and DRGs at different time points after nerve crush injury in rats, elucidate the biological processes of differentially expressed cytokines, especially the important roles in inflammatory and immune responses after peripheral nerve injury, and thus might contribute to the identification of potential treatments for peripheral nerve repair and regeneration.
Innovative use of magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound surgery for non-invasive breast cancer: a report of two cases
Authors: Matsutani Akiko , Ide Yoshimi , Miura Sakiko , Takimoto Masafumi , Amano Sadao , Nakamura Seigo
Published: November 2020

Objective

This report describes the first clinical experience with magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) using the ExAblate 2100 system for non-invasive breast cancer.

Methods

Two women with non-invasive breast cancer underwent MRgFUS treatment. One week after the MRgFUS treatment, US-guided vacuum-assisted biopsy was performed for the ablated lesions at the same time as breast-conserving surgery.

Results

The patients experienced good cosmetic outcomes and did not experience any severe adverse events, such as skin burns. Pathological examination of the surgical specimens revealed a few degenerated intraductal lesions around the breast biopsy markers.

Conclusion

Performing MRgFUS with the new ExAblate 2100 system appears to be safe and feasible. The histopathological results revealed that adequate ultrasound energy in the appropriate location can induce tumor necrosis.
Evaluation of in vivo wound healing activity of Moroccan Citrus reticulata peel extract
Authors: Dahmani Sanae , Chabir Rachida , Errachidi Faouzi , Berrada Wiam , Lansari Hafsa , Benidir Meryem , El Ghadraoui Lahsen , Bour Abdellatif
Published: November 2020

Background

Citrus reticulata is one of the most cultivated fruit with great benefits for humans in the world. Citrus reticulata peel has several biological activities within them hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial and antioxidant. The present study emphasizes on the in vivo wound healing and in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Citrus reticulata peel extract.

Methods

Forty albino mice (23–29 g) of either sex were divided into four groups. The test groups were treated with experimental ointment (0.5% and 10% of methanolic extract), negative control were treated with Vaseline and the positive control were treated with silver sulfadiazine. Burn wounds were induced on dorsal area of mice bodies. Wound area measurement was carried out every day during 22 days. Biochemical screening was performed to identify possible compounds. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were also determined.

Results

Significant wound healing activity was observed with topical application of Citrus reticulata peel extract. Wound area reduction at day 16 of treatment was 100% for both treated groups (0.5% and 10%) when compared to positive and negative control it was 100% and 98.32% respectively at day 22. Furthermore higher rate of wound contraction (100% on 16th day) was observed for both treated groups.

The result of biochemical screening showed that C. reticulata peel is characterized by highest amount of total polyphenols (13.19 mg/g), flavonoids (4.07 mg/g), vitamin C (13.20 mg/g), carotenoids (0.032 mg/g) and lowest content of macronutrients (Proteins: 0.40%, reducing sugars: 7.21%; lipids: 1.5%). Additionally C. reticulata peel exhibited remarkable antioxidant activity using DPPH and phosphomolybdate methods as well as the extract possess antimicrobial effect against pathogen bactria.

Conclusion

The findings from this research indicated that Citrus reticulata peel extract is effective in inhibiting the growth of pathogen bacteria and could be of therapeutic potentials for wound healing.
Treatment of intramuscular lipoma of tongue with enveloped mucosal flap design: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Hur Sung-Hwi , Lim Jae-Seok , Choi Sun-Gyu , Kang Ji-Yeon , Jung Ji-Hye , Lee Eun-Young
Published: November 2020

Background

Lipomas are benign soft tissue neoplasms of mature adipose tissue commonly occurring in the trunk or extremities. But, intraoral lipomas are rare entities which may be only noticed during routine dental examinations. Especially intramuscular lipomas on the tongue have been reported very rarely. In this study, we report a case of intramuscular lipoma on tongue, with a review of the literature from 1978 to 2019, providing data on age, gender, location, presenting symptoms, size, surgical methods, and recurrence.

Case presentation

A case of intramuscular lipoma occurring in tongue region in a 65-year-old male is reported. Surgical excision is the mainstay of treatment for the lesion. In order to decrease the deformity and discomfort after the excision, we tried to modify surgical technique using enveloped mucosal flap. This technique provided more comfortable healing procedure on the operative site without recurrence.

Conclusion

This is a rare case of large intramuscular lipoma on tongue. Surgical excision with enveloped mucosal flap design was performed to diminish postoperative raw surface and discomfort and a 24-month follow-up showed excellent healing without any recurrence. A case of intramuscular lipoma on tongue and relevant literature reviews are presented in this study.
Application of artificial neural networks to predict the COVID-19 outbreak
Authors: Niazkar Hamid Reza , Niazkar Majid
Published: November 2020

Background

Millions of people have been infected worldwide in the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we aim to propose fourteen prediction models based on artificial neural networks (ANN) to predict the COVID-19 outbreak for policy makers.

Methods

The ANN-based models were utilized to estimate the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China, Japan, Singapore, Iran, Italy, South Africa and United States of America. These models exploit historical records of confirmed cases, while their main difference is the number of days that they assume to have impact on the estimation process. The COVID-19 data were divided into a train part and a test part. The former was used to train the ANN models, while the latter was utilized to compare the purposes. The data analysis shows not only significant fluctuations in the daily confirmed cases but also different ranges of total confirmed cases observed in the time interval considered.

Results

Based on the obtained results, the ANN-based model that takes into account the previous 14 days outperforms the other ones. This comparison reveals the importance of considering the maximum incubation period in predicting the COVID-19 outbreak. Comparing the ranges of determination coefficients indicates that the estimated results for Italy are the best one. Moreover, the predicted results for Iran achieved the ranges of [0.09, 0.15] and [0.21, 0.36] for the mean absolute relative errors and normalized root mean square errors, respectively, which were the best ranges obtained for these criteria among different countries.

Conclusion

Based on the achieved results, the ANN-based model that takes into account the previous fourteen days for prediction is suggested to predict daily confirmed cases, particularly in countries that have experienced the first peak of the COVID-19 outbreak. This study has not only proved the applicability of ANN-based model for prediction of the COVID-19 outbreak, but also showed that considering incubation period of SARS-COV-2 in prediction models may generate more accurate estimations.
An automatic estimation of the rest-interval for MotionWatch8© using uniaxial movement and lux data
Authors: Backhouse Daniel , Falck Ryan Stanley , Liu-Ambrose Teresa
Published: November 2020

Background

Poor sleep is linked with chronic conditions common in older adults, including diabetes, heart disease, and dementia. Valid and reliable field methods to objectively measure sleep are thus greatly needed to examine how poor sleep impacts older adults. Wrist-worn actigraphy (WWA) is a common objective measure of sleep that uses motion and illuminance data to estimate sleep. The rest-interval marks the time interval between when an individual attempts to sleep and the time they get out of bed to start their day. Traditionally, the rest-interval is scored manually by trained technicians, however algorithms currently exist which automatically score WWA data, saving time and providing consistency from user-to-user. However, these algorithms ignore illuminance data and only considered motion in their estimation of the rest-interval. This study therefore examines a novel algorithm that uses illuminance data to supplement the approximation of the rest-interval from motion data.

Methods

We examined a total of 1086 days of data of 129 participants who wore the MotionWatch8© WWA for ≥14 nights of observation. Resultant sleep measures from three different parameter settings were compared to sleep measures derived following a standard scoring protocol and self-report times.

Results

The algorithm showed the strongest correlation to the standard protocol (r = 0.92 for sleep duration). There were no significant differences in sleep duration, sleep efficiency and fragmentation index estimates compared to the standard scoring protocol.

Conclusion

These results suggest that an automated rest-interval scoring method using both light exposure and acceleration data provides comparable accuracy to the standard scoring method.
Compositional MRI of the anterior cruciate ligament of professional alpine ski racers: preliminary report on seasonal changes and load sensitivity
Authors: Csapo Robert , Juras Vladimir , Heinzle Bernhard , Trattnig Siegfried , Fink Christian
Published: November 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate potential changes in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) structure of alpine ski racers over the course of an entire season using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (T2* mapping). The dominant legs of three alpine ski racers were examined on a 3-T MR scanner four times at 3-month intervals. Multi-echo sequences for T2* maps, which were coregistered with high-resolution morphological sequences for reproducible definition of ACL regions of interest, were acquired. Means and standard deviations of T2* values from the central and femoral portion of the ACL were extracted and presented in a descriptive manner. T2* values were subject to seasonal changes, which were most pronounced in the ligament central region. Substantial increases (+ 41%) occurred between the measurements taken in January and April. A partial recovery of T2* (-19%) was observed in the July follow-up. The increased T2* times may reflect decreased stress tolerance and increased susceptibility for fatigue tears at the end of the competitive season. Further research in larger samples is required. The likeliness of ACL tears may depend on the precedent history of mechanical loading and vary in professional athletes over the course of the competitive season.
Global crop waste burning – micro-biochar; how a small community development organization learned experientially to address a huge problem one tiny field at a time
Authors: Shafer Michael
Published: November 2020

The world’s 2.5 billion poorest people - small farmers living at the far fringe of the developing world – and their billion or so slightly better off neighbors burn 10.5 billion metric tonnes (tonnes) of crop waste annually. Smoke from their fires reddens the sun, closes airports, shuts schools and governments – and kills millions of people (World Health Organization (WHO). who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1). Their fires release 16.6 billion tonnes of CO2, and emit 9.8 billion tonnes CO2e, 1.1 billion tonnes of smog precursors and 66 million tonnes of PM2.5. (Akagi et al., Atmospheric Chem Physics 4039-4071, 2011; Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials; Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOSTAT, http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data) [See Attachments 1–3. For details of the Attachments, please see the section below entitled “Availability of data and materials.”]. No one yet has stopped the burning. Seminars, health warnings, bans, threats, jailings, shootings – nothing has worked, because not one has offered farmers a better alternative. This is the story of how Warm Heart, a small, community development NGO, learned enough about small farmers’ plight to collaborate with them to develop the technology, training and social organization to mobilize villages to form biochar social enterprises. These make it profitable for farmers to convert crop waste into biochar, reducing CO2e, smog precursor and PM2.5 emissions, improving health and generating new local income – in short, to address the big three SDGs (1, 2 and 3) from the bottom.

Warm Heart, however, wanted more; it wanted a system so appealing that it would spread by imitation and not require outside intervention. Based on what it has learned, Warm Heart wants to teach others that the knowledge to stop the smoke and improve the quality of one’s life does not require outside experts and lots of money. It wants to teach that anyone can learn to create a more sustainable world by themselves.

This article traces the experiential learning process by which Warm Heart and its partners achieved their goals and shares Warm Heart’s open source solution. It serves four purposes. The article closely explores an experiential learning process. It details the underlying logic, workings and consequences of crop waste burning in the developing world. It demonstrates the application of this knowledge to the development of a sustainable – even profitable – solution to this global problem that does not require costly outside intervention but can be undertaken by local communities and small NGOs anywhere. Finally, it models how local communities, small NGOs and social investors can turn this global problem into a profitable business opportunity.
How successful Bangladesh is in controlling the coronavirus pandemic?
Authors: Akanda Ayatullah Al Musabi , Ahmed Redwan
Published: November 2020

Background

The reported number of COVID-19 patients increases on average along with the increased laboratory tests in Bangladesh implying a possibility of the spread of deadly coronavirus being out of control. Contrary to that, the government claims that it controls the spread of coronavirus through undertaking stringent policy measures. This different scenario leads this study on whether these measures have any positive impact on controlling the pandemic.

Results

The results show that simulated number of patients (without policy measures) surpassed the actual number of patients (with policy measures) from the first week of July 2020 which may provide a signal about the positive impact of policy measures taken by the government.

Conclusion

This study concludes that policy measures taken by the government are useful to some extent in controlling the coronavirus pandemic. As this pandemic lingers, people may lose their patience to stay at home. Consequently, some of the policies need further correction and change.
Impact of the COVID-19-pandemic on thrombectomy services in Germany
Authors:   for the GSR-ET investigators, Tiedt Steffen , Bode Felix J. , Uphaus Timo , Alegiani Anna , Gröschel Klaus , Petzold Gabor C.
Published: November 2020

Background

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have altered emergency workflows established to optimize the outcome of patients with large-vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke.

Aims

We here analyzed workflow time intervals and functional outcomes of LVO patients treated with endovascular thrombectomy (ET) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

Methods

We compared the frequency, pre- and intrahospital workflow time intervals, rates of reperfusion, and functional outcome of patients admitted from March 1st to May 31st 2020 with patients admitted during the same time interval in 2019 to 12 university and municipal hospitals across Germany (N = 795).

Results

The number of LVO patients treated with ET between March to May 2020 was similar when compared to the same interval in 2019. Direct-to-center patients and patients admitted through interhospital transfer in 2020 showed similar pre- and intrahospital workflow time intervals compared to patients admitted in 2019, except for a longer door-to-groin time in patients admitted through interhospital transfer in 2020 (47 min vs 38 min, p = 0.005). Rates of reperfusion were not significantly different between 2020 and 2019. Functional outcome at discharge of LVO patients treated in 2020 was not significantly different compared to patients treated in 2019.

Conclusion

Pre- and intrahospital workflows, ET efficacy, and functional outcome of LVO patients treated with ET were not affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in our large cohort from centers across Germany.
Emission factor, relative ozone formation potential and relative carcinogenic risk assessment of VOCs emitted from manufacturing industries
Authors: Yang Hsi-Hsien , Gupta Sunil Kumar , Dhital Narayan Babu
Published: November 2020

Manufacturing industries are one of the important emission sectors of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this study, VOC emission factors, relative ozone formation potential (ROFP) and relative carcinogenic risk (RCR) were estimated for manufacturing industries (n = 13) located in central Taiwan. Emission samples were collected in stainless steel canisters and were analyzed with a system of gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Higher emission factors of total VOCs (∑VOCs) were observed for stencil printing (423 mg-VOC kg− 1) compared to other emission industries. Alkanes constituted the most prominent group of VOCs for steel foundry (42%), aluminum foundry (25%) and synthetic resin industries (25%). Oxygenated VOCs were the most abundant group in the organic solvent (80%), polyester resin (80%) and polyurethane (75%) industries. Moreover, emissions from acrylic resin manufacturing had a major contribution from aromatic compounds (> 95%). Toluene was the topmost compound in terms of its contribution to ∑VOCs in plastic tape manufacturing (44%), aluminum foundry (40%), steel foundry (12%), plastic coating (64%) and stencil printing (35%). Analysis of ozone formation potentials showed that the metal product and machinery acrylic resin manufacturing and stencil printing had a higher normalized relative ozone formation potential (ROFP) index and belonged to Level-I emission sources. However, in terms of the relative carcinogenic risk (RCR), integrated iron and steel manufacturing had the highest normalized RCR index that belonged to level-I emission sources. Level-I represents the most important VOC emission sources. This study provides a reactivity- and carcinogenicity-based approach to identify high-priority VOC emission sources. The results of this study would help formulate emission reduction policies and strategies for manufacturing industries.
A novel strategy for processing, production and quality control of an iron-free nutraceutical supplement that rapidly restores iron-dependent hemoglobin in red blood cells
Authors: Bagchi Debasis , Downs Bernard W. , Bagchi Manashi , Kushner Steve
Published: November 2020

We hypothesize that Iron-Deficiency Anemia (IDA) has been misconceptualized. In the body, low blood iron is not caused by a deficiency. The primary cause of low iron, appearing to be IDA, is the expenditure of alkalinizing histidine, from heme protein, which requires the cleavage of iron and its repartitioning to other storage depots. As an alkaline buffer, histidine is released to counterbalance the increase in an anaerobic hypoxic (i.e. increased acidic) blood pH, thereby maintaining a pH of 7.4. Our research team coined the more accurate term for this pathogenic condition, “Chronic Anemia Syndrome” (CAS).
An alternative integer recovery clock method for precise point positioning with ambiguity resolution
Authors: Chen Xingyu
Published: November 2020

When using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements, Precise Point Positioning with Ambiguity Resolution (PPP-AR) has been a popular substitute for relative positioning in geoscience applications. Compared with the Fractional Cycle Biases (FCB) method, the processing of Integer Recovery Clocks (IRC) products estimate, especially for ambiguity datum fixing, is so complex that its application has been greatly limited. Based on the concept of “carrier range”, we introduce an efficient way to implement the IRC method, termed as the alternative IRC method in this paper. In this method, the fixed ambiguities derived from PPP-AR using the FCB method, and not a fixed-ambiguity datum, are fixed in the IRC products estimate. This greatly reduces the complexity of implementing the IRC method and does not influence the accuracy of positioning. The alternative IRC method outperforms the FCB method by corroborating the consistency of daily positions in nature with international GNSS service weekly solution. To confirm this improvement, global positioning system measurements acquired over a year (2016) from approximately 500 globally distributed stations were processed. The accuracy of IRC products is approximately 20 ps and is highly stable for this year. Moreover, comparing the positioning accuracy of the FCB method to the alternative IRC method, we find that the mean root mean square over the year falls evidently from 2.03 to 1.65 mm at the east component. Therefore, we suggest that the alternative IRC method should be implemented when estimate IRC products.
The optimal diagnostic strategies for patient with coronary artery diseases and stable chest pain syndrome: a cost-effectiveness analysis
Authors: Jafari Parvin , Goudarzi Reza , Amiresmaeili Mohammadreza , Rashidinejad Hamidreza
Published: November 2020

Background

Numerous invasive and noninvasive diagnostic tests with different cost and effectiveness exist for detection of coronary artery disease. This diversity leads to unnecessary utilization of health services. For this reason, this study focused on the cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostic strategies for coronary artery disease from the perspective of the health care system with 1-year time horizon.

Results

Incremental cost effectiveness ratios of all strategies were less than the threshold except for the electrocardiography-computed tomography angiography-coronary angiography strategy, and cost of the cardiac magnetic resonance imaging-based strategy was higher than the cost of other strategies. Also, the number of correct diagnosis in the electrocardiography-coronary angiography strategy was higher than the other strategies, and its ICER was 15.197 dollars per additional correct diagnosis. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis found that the probability of doing MRI and sensitivity of the
exercise electrocardiography had impact on the results.

Conclusion

The most cost-effective strategy for acute patient is ECG-CA strategy, and for chronic patient, the most cost-effective strategies are electrocardiography-single photon emission computed tomography-coronary angiography and electrocardiography-exercise electrocardiography-coronary angiography. Applying these strategies in the same clinical settings may lead to a better utilization of resources.
Clinical manifestation, laboratory findings, and outcome of children with cystic fibrosis over a 10-year period in South Iran
Authors: Ziyaee Fateme , Dehghani Seyed Mohsen , Hosseini Sima , Zohalinezhad Mohammad Ebrahim , Aleyasin Soheyla , Javaherizadeh Hazhir
Published: November 2020

Background

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a monogenic hereditary disease with diverse complications, which substantially reduce the quality of life and longevity of patients. With regard to the scarcity of information on epidemiological aspects of this disease in Iran, we aimed to examine the current status of pediatric CF patients in a tertiary referral center in south Iran.

Results

Medical records of 105 patients (51% female) with the mean age of 16.3 ± 34.4 months were reviewed. Twelve patients (13.3%) had siblings with CF. Failure to thrive and respiratory symptoms were the most common presentations. Elevated liver enzymes and steatorrhea were detected in over half of tested patients, while abnormal serum albumin level, urinalysis, positive urine cultures, and positive acute phase reactants were noticed in less than half of the patients. Mild increase in pulmonary artery blood pressure was the most common finding of echocardiography. Increased liver echogenicity was the top finding of abdominopelvic sonography. Out of 42 available patients, 19 (45.2%) died with the mean age of 54.4 ± 101.8 months. The highest rate of mortality was observed in the 2–6 years old age group (42.9%).

Conclusion

Increased liver echogenicity was the most common finding in hepatobiliary evaluation. Mild increase in pulmonary artery blood pressure was the most common finding of echocardiography.
Synthesis and antioxidant properties of 2-(3-(hydroxyimino)methyl)-1H-indol-1-yl)acetamide derivatives
Authors: Gopi Chandravadivelu , Dhanaraju Magharla Dasaratha
Published: November 2020

Background

The main aim of this work was to synthesise a novel N-(substituted phenyl)-2-(3-(hydroxyimino) methyl)-1H-indol-1-yl) acetamide derivatives and evaluate their antioxidant activity. These compounds were prepared by a condensation reaction between 1H-indole carbaldehyde oxime and 2-chloro acetamide derivatives. The newly synthesised compound structures were characterised by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, mass spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Furthermore, the above-mentioned compounds were screened for antioxidant activity by using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods.

Result

The antioxidant activity result reveals that most of the compounds were exhibiting considerable activity in both methods and the values are very closer to the standards. Among the synthesised compounds, compound 3j, 3a and 3k were shown remarkable activity at low concentration.

Conclusion

Compounds 3j, 3a and 3k were shown highest activity among the prepared analogues due to the attachment of halogens connected at the appropriate place in the phenyl ring. Hence, these substituted phenyl rings considered as a perfect side chain for the indole nucleus for the development of the new antioxidant agents.
Standardization construction and development trend of bridge health monitoring systems in China
Authors: Zhou Guang-Dong , Yi Ting-Hua , Li Wen-Jie , Zhong Ji-Wei , Zhang Guan-Hua
Published: November 2020

Bridge health monitoring (BHM) technology has been widely accepted as a powerful tool to assess structural performance and has moved from research to practice. Driven by the enormous demand of ensuring bridge safety, the application of BHM technology is particularly active in China and has become an emerging industry in the civil engineering community. It is a common belief among civil engineers that the development and implementation of industry standards will be of paramount importance in guiding the healthy development of BHM and increasing the transfer of professional knowledge and techniques to practical applications. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the standardization construction and development trend for BHM in China. The achievements, characteristics, and challenges of China’s bridge construction are first introduced. Then, the existing problems of BHM and the necessity of constructing the standardization system for the BHM industry are discussed. Following that, these standards published for guiding BHM system design, construction, management, and maintenance, especially sensor selection, sensor placement, sensor installation, data transmission, data storage, data processing, and early warning, are outlined. Finally, work requiring further efforts in the near future is drawn.
Faster and cheaper: How graphics processing units on spot-market instances minimize turnaround time and budget
Authors: Okita Nicholas T. , Coimbra Tiago A.
Published: November 2020

Cloud computing is enabling users to instantiate and access high-performance computing clusters quickly. However, without proper knowledge of the type of application and the nature of the instances, it can become quite expensive. Our objective is to indicate that adequately choosing the instances provides a fast execution, which, in turn, leads to a low execution price, using the pay-as-you-go model on cloud computing. We have used graphics processing unit instances on the spot market to execute a seismic-data set interpolation job and compared their performance with regular on-demand central processing unit (CPU) instances. Furthermore, we explored how scaling could also improve the execution times at small price differences. The experiments have shown that, by using an instance with eight accelerators on the spot market, we obtain up to a 300 times speed-up compared with the on-demand CPU options, while being 100 times cheaper. Finally, our results have shown that seismic-imaging processing can be sped up by an order of magnitude with a low budget, resulting in faster and cheaper processing turnaround time and enabling new possible imaging techniques.
After All
Authors: Wasserstrom Nell
Published: November 2020

Through a close reading of Freud’s last major work, Moses and Monotheism (1939), this article considers the socio-political and literary stakes of a central element of Freud’s oeuvre, which reaches its fullest elaboration in the Moses text: belatedness. Belatedness, or deferred action (Nachträglichkeit), which structures the movement of repression and return in the individual psychology of Freud’s earlier work, is aggravated and intensified in this late modernist text. Now, it is an entire people (the Jews) and (Judeo-Christian) civilization founded upon the temporal predicament of trauma, latency, and the return of the repressed. What is most innovative about Moses—its fragmentary style, its rewriting of biblical origins, its daring conjectures and methods of recording history—gestures back, after all, to the singular problem that both Freudian psychoanalysis and modernism are destined to repeat: the constitutive belatedness of all experience.
Which instruments are used to measure shared, supported and assisted healthcare decision-making between patients who have limited, impaired or fluctuating capacity, their family carers and healthcare professionals? A systematic review protocol
Authors: Fattori Francesco , O'Donnell Deirdre , Rodríguez-Martín Beatriz , Kroll Thilo
Published: November 2020

Background: Shared decision-making (SDM) is a dialogical relationship where the physician and the patient define the problem, discuss the available options according to the patient’s values and preferences, and co-construct the treatment plan. Undertaking SDM in a clinical setting with patients who have limited, impaired or fluctuating cognitive capacity may prove challenging. Supported (defined “Assisted” in the Irish context) decision-making describes how people with impaired or fluctuating capacity remain in control of their healthcare-related choices through mechanisms which build and maximise capacity.

Supported and assisted decision-making (ADM) within healthcare settings is theoretically and practically novel. Therefore, there is a knowledge gap about the validity of psychometric instruments used to assess ADM and its components within clinical settings. This systematic review aims to identify and characterise instruments currently used to assess shared, supported and assisted healthcare decision-making between patients with limited, impaired or fluctuating capacity, their family carers and healthcare professionals.

Methods: A systematic review and narrative synthesis will be performed using a search strategy involving the following databases (PubMed, Cinahl, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and PsycINFO). Quantitative studies published in the last decade and describing psychometric instruments measuring SDM, supported decision-making and ADM with people having limited or fluctuating capacity will be considered eligible for inclusion. Title and abstract screening will be followed by full-text eligibility screening, data extraction, synthesis and analysis. This review will be structured and reported according to the PRISMA checklist. The COSMIN Risk of bias checklist will be used to assess the quality of the instruments.

Discussion: The results will inform and be useful to HCPs and policymakers interested in having updated knowledge of the available instruments to assess SDM, supported and assisted healthcare decision-making between patients who have impaired or fluctuating capacity, their family carers and healthcare professionals.

Registration: PROSPERO CRD42018105360; registered on 10/08/2018.
Mentoring in Professional Education
Authors: Pahnevskaya O. , Romanchenko A. , Romanchenko M.
Published: November 2020

The article reveals the main problems of organizing mentoring in a secondary vocational educational institution, suggests ways to solve these shortcomings on the example of the Novosibirsk College of Food Industry and Processing. The situation of staffing of regional enterprises is highlighted, mentoring is analyzed as the activity of educational institutions and enterprises in solving problematic issues related to providing enterprises with in-demand specialists. The promising areas of activity and efforts of employers and educational institutions in terms of introducing the institution of mentoring are determined and evaluated. The potential for improving the efficiency of the educational process as a priority task of modern society is analyzed.
Lifestyle and Educational Environment of Modern Confessional Educational Organizations
Authors: Horin Dmitrii
Published: November 2020

The article deals with the phenomena of lifestyle and educational environment of confessional educational organizations. The methodological basis of the research is based on general scientific methodological approaches (system, comparative, historical, ontological) and special scientific methodological approaches: a system-activity approach, which assumes a motivated solution of problems in the educational process determined by problem situations; a cultural approach that allows us to correlate general, individual and special cultural phenomena, in particular religion and education; an anthropological approach that allowed the interpretation of knowledge from various spheres of life from the point of view of pedagogy. The article contains definitions of the following concepts: «Lifestyle of a confessional educational organization» and «Educational environment of a confessional educational organization». The role of religious worship in the development and functioning of the confessional educational environment is noted. The main factors of the external environment that have a determining influence on the confessional educational environment are highlighted. The author emphasizes the open nature of the modern confessional educational process, which unfolds in the context of a dialogue between all its parties: the religious denomination, the state and the individual.
Jeden istnieje tylko model...
Authors: Urbanek Dorota
Published: November 2020

There is only one model… The article seeks to explore factors behind the diversification and contradictory nature of existing approaches to translation. We also attempt to establish a research perspective which would be instrumental in unravelling some universal mechanisms underlying the development of theories of translation and would help to look through the multifaceted spectrum of translation theories in order to find traits that they all seem to share. As an interpretive instrument we used the dialectics, with her typical “duality of orientation: towards unity and towards division”. Such a point of reference for our explorations is a result of fact, that the answers of the fundamental questions that theories of translation (or particular tendencies therein) ask are contradictory. From our point of view this situation is connected with the dialectic nature of translation itself and with the oppositions between elements of translation chain and between such factors as langue and culture. We discussed several dialectical moments and oppositions.
Strategie opisu kulturemów w audiodeskrypcji
Authors: Jankowska Anna , Szarkowska Agnieszka
Published: November 2020

Strategies for describing culture-bound elements in audio description The article presents the issue of using strategies developed in Translation Studies to describe culture-bound elements in audio description. In the first part, the authors discuss the place of audio description in Translation Studies and especially within the field of audiovisual translation and Jakobson’s categories of intersemiotic, intralingual and interlingual translation. Then research on audio description carried out within the framework of Translation Studies and research on culture-bound referencesin audio description is presented. Finally, the authors present how translation strategies can be applied in audio description of culturebound elements.