bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Drug interactions in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis
Authors: Pflugbeil Stephan , Böckl Karin , Pongratz Reinhold , Leitner Marianne , Graninger Winfried , Ortner Astrid
Published: February 2020

Background

Treating patients with inflammatory joint diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis) according to established treatment algorithms often requires the simultaneous use of three or more medications to relieve symptoms and prevent long-term joint damage as well as disability.

Objective

To assess and give an overview on drug-drug interactions in the pharmacotherapy of inflammatory joint diseases with regards to their clinical relevance.

Methods

All possible drug combinations were evaluated using three commercially available drug interaction programs. In those cases where only limited/no data were found, a comprehensive hand search of Pubmed was carried out. Finally, the drug–drug interactions of all possible combinations were classified according to evidence-based medicine and a specifically generated relevance-based system.

Results

All three interaction software programs showed consistent results. All detected interactions were combined in clearly structured tables.

Conclusion

A concise overview on drug-drug interactions is given. Especially in more sophisticated cases extensive knowledge of drug interactions supports optimisation of therapy and results in improved patient safety.
Unsteady boundary-layer transition measurements and computations on a rotating blade under cyclic pitch conditions
Authors: Weiss Armin , Wolf C. Christian , Kaufmann Kurt , Braukmann Johannes N. , Heineck James T. , Raffel Markus
Published: February 2020

The presented work tackles the lack of experimental investigations of unsteady laminar-turbulent boundary-layer transition on rotor blades at cyclic pitch actuation, which are important for accurate performance predictions of helicopters in forward flight. Unsteady transition positions were measured on the blade suction side of a four-bladed subscale rotor by means of non-intrusive differential infrared thermography (DIT). Experiments were conducted at different rotation rates corresponding to Mach and Reynolds numbers at 75% rotor radius of up to$${M}_{75} = 0.21$$M75=0.21and$${\mathrm {Re}}_{75} = 3.3 \times 10^5$$Re75=3.3×105and with varying cyclic blade pitch settings. The setup allowed transition to be measured across the outer 54% of the rotor radius. For comparison, transition was also measured using conventional infrared thermography for steady cases with collective pitch settings only. The study is complemented by numerical simulations including boundary-layer transition modeling based on semi-empirical criteria. DIT results reveal the upstream and downstream motion of boundary-layer transition during upstroke and downstroke, a reasonable comparison to experimental results obtained using the already established$$\sigma c_p$$σcpmethod, and noticeable agreement with numerical simulations. The result is the first systematic study of unsteady boundary-layer transition on a rotor suction side by means of DIT including a comparison to numerical computations.
Utilizing the ball lens effect for astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry
Authors: Brockmann Philipp , Kazerooni Hamid Tabaei , Brandt Luca , Hussong Jeanette
Published: February 2020

In the present study, a simple method is developed to apply astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry (APTV) to transparent particles utilizing backlight illumination. Here, a particle acts as ball lens and bundles the light to a focal point, which is used to determine the particle’s out-of-plane position. Due to the distance between focal point and particle, additional features have to be considered in ball lens astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry (BLAPTV) compared to conventional APTV. We describe required calibration steps and perform parameter studies to show how the autocorrelation coefficient and the light exposure affect the accuracy of the method. It is found that the accuracy and robustness of the Euclidean calibration approach as also used in conventional APTV (Cierpka et al. in Meas Sci Technol 22(1):015401, 2010a) can be increased if an additional calibration curve for the light intensity of the particle’s focal point is considered. In addition, we study the influence of the particle diameter and the refractive index jump between liquid and particles on the calibration curves and the accuracy. In this way, particles of the same size, but different material, can be distinguished by their calibration curve. Furthermore, an approach is presented to account for shape changes of the calibration curve along the depth of the measurement volume. Overall, BLAPTV provides high out-of-plane particle reconstruction accuracies with respect to the particle diameter. In test cases, position uncertainties down to 1.8% of the particle diameter are achieved for particles of $$d_{\mathrm{p}}={124}\,{\upmu \hbox {m}}$$dp=124μm. The measurement technique is validated for a laminar flow in a straight rectangular channel with a cross-sectional area of $$2.3 \times 30$$2.3×30 $$\hbox {mm}^2$$mm2. Uncertainties of 0.75% for the in-plane and 2.29% for out-of-plane velocity with respect to the maximum streamwise velocity are achieved.

Graphic abstract
An inter-comparison of Arctic synoptic scale storms between four global reanalysis datasets
Authors: Vessey Alexander F. , Hodges Kevin I. , Shaffrey Len C. , Day Jonathan J.
Published: February 2020

The Arctic is becoming more accessible as sea ice extent continues to decline, resulting in higher human exposure to Arctic storms. This study compares Arctic storm characteristics between the ECMWF-Interim Reanalysis, 55-year Japanese Reanalysis, NASA-Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 and National Centre for Environmental Prediction-Climate Forecast System Reanalysis datasets between 1980 and 2017, in winter (DJF) and summer (JJA). It is shown that Arctic storm characteristics are sensitive to the variable used for storm tracking. Arctic storm frequency is found to be similar in summer and winter when using sea level pressure minima to track Arctic storms, whereas, the storm frequency is found to be higher in winter than summer when using 850 hPa relative vorticity to track storms, based on using the same storm tracking algorithm. It is also found that there are no significant trends in Arctic storm characteristics between 1980 and 2017. Given the sparsity of observations in the Arctic, it might be expected that there are large differences in Arctic storm characteristics between the reanalysis datasets. Though, some similar Arctic storm characteristics are found between the reanalysis datasets, it is found that the differences in Arctic storm characteristics between the reanalysis datasets are generally higher in winter than in summer. Overall, the results show that there are differences in Arctic storm characteristics between reanalysis datasets, but even larger differences can arise between using 850 hPa relative vorticity or mean sea level pressure as the storm tracking variable, which adds to the uncertainty associated with current Arctic storm characteristics.
A tropical cyclone removal technique based on potential vorticity inversion to better quantify tropical cyclone contribution to the background circulation
Authors: Arakane Sho , Hsu Huang-Hsiung
Published: February 2020

An effective way of investigating the effects of tropical cyclones (TCs) on different spatial/temporal-scale environmental fields is to contrast the original circulation with the circulation from which the TCs have been removed. Although dynamical balance is required for analyzing TC contributions, the dynamic balance of TC-removed fields obtained by the existing TC removal method (which is widely used in the TC bogus procedure) is often ignored. In this paper, a TC removal method incorporating the potential vorticity (PV) inversion technique is proposed and its application to climate study is demonstrated. This method objectively detects the TCs’ positive PV disturbance, which is strong with a deep structure and overwhelmingly dominates the relatively weak and thin negative PV disturbance. The TC-removed field is well-balanced due to the dynamic balance consideration in the PV inversion framework. This approach isolates TC vortices, which are stronger and have a wider range of impacts compared with the TC components derived by the existing removal methods. The TC-removed fields obtained by the existing and the proposed methods are profoundly different, especially in dynamic balance. The TC contribution to intraseasonal variance and seasonal mean circulation in the tropical western North Pacific is examined. The existence of TCs enhances the amplitude and propagation of intraseasonal oscillation and strengthens the seasonal mean circulations such as the low-level monsoon trough and upper-level anticyclone in the region. Whereas the existing and the proposed TC removal techniques yield consistent results, the proposed technique yields larger TC contributions to the seasonal-mean circulation and the amplitude and northward propagation tendency of intraseasonal oscillation.
The benefits of carbon black, gold and magnetic nanomaterials for point-of-harvest electrochemical quantification of domoic acid
Authors: Nelis Joost L.D. , Migliorelli Davide , Jafari Safiye , Generelli Silvia , Lou-Franco Javier , Salvador J. Pablo , Marco M. Pilar , Cao Cuong , Elliott Christopher T. , Campbell Katrina
Published: February 2020

Gold nanostars (GNST), gold nanospheres (GNP) and carbon black (CB) are chosen as alternative nanomaterials to modify carbon screen-printed electrodes (c-SPEs). The resulting three kinds of modified c-SPEs (GNP-SPE, CB-SPE and GNSP-SPE) were electrochemically and microscopically characterized and compared with standardized c-SPEs after pretreatment with phosphate buffer by pre-anodization (pre-SPE). The results show outstanding electrochemical performance of the carbon black-modified SPEs which show low transient current, low capacitance and good porosity. A competitive chronoamperometric immunoassay for the shellfish toxin domoic acid (DA) is described. The performances of the CB-SPE, GNP-SPE and pre-SPE were compared. Hapten-functionalized magnetic beads were used to avoid individual c-SPE functionalization with antibody while enhancing the signal by creating optimum surface proximity for electron transfer reactions. This comparison shows that the CB-SPE biosensor operated best at a potential near − 50 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl) and enables DA to be determined with a detection limit that is tenfold lower compared to pre-SPE (4 vs. 0.4 ng mL−1). These results show very good agreement with HPLC data when analysing contaminated scallops, and the LOD is 0.7 mg DA kg−1 of shellfish.
Ätiologie und Pathogenese der Migräne
Authors: Ganser Bernhard , Leis Stefan
Published: February 2020

Migräne ist eine weltweit sehr häufige Erkrankung, die zu einer erheblichen Beeinträchtigung der Lebensqualität Betroffener führen kann. Bereits zu Beginn der Migräneattacke konnte eine Aktivierung des Hypothalamus gezeigt werden. Ein wesentlicher Aspekt ist dann die nachfolgende Aktivierung des trigeminovaskulären Systems. Hier spielt das Neuropeptid Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) eine tragende Rolle. Durch die Aktivierung nozizeptiver Fasern kommt es zur Reizweiterleitung nach zentral in den Hirnstamm und über periphere und zentrale Sensibilisierung zu den typischen migräneartigen Kopfschmerzen. Durch besseres Verständnis der Pathophysiologie der Migräne ist es zuletzt gelungen, eine medikamentöse Prophylaxe zu entwickeln, die spezifisch in die komplexe Abfolge der Migränekaskade eingreift, indem das CGRP bzw. sein Rezeptor durch spezifische monoklonale Antikörper blockiert werden.
Re-establishment of efficacy of tofacitinib, an oral JAK inhibitor, after temporary discontinuation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Kaine Jeffrey , Tesser John , Takiya Liza , DeMasi Ryan , Wang Lisy , Snyder Mark , Soma Koshika , Fan Haiyun , Bandi Vara , Wollenhaupt Jürgen
Published: February 2020

Introduction/objective

Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This post-hoc analysis evaluated the effect of temporary discontinuation and reinitiation of tofacitinib on disease control in patients with RA in the vaccine sub-study of the long-term extension (LTE) study ORAL Sequel (NCT00413699).

Methods

The sub-study of ORAL Sequel was a randomized, parallel-group, open-label study. Patients who received tofacitinib 10 mg twice daily for ≥ 3 months in ORAL Sequel were randomized to receive continuous (tofacitinib monotherapy/with methotrexate) or interrupted (tofacitinib withdrawn for 2 weeks post-randomization then reinitiated as monotherapy/with methotrexate) treatment. Efficacy assessments included ACR20/50/70 response rates, change from baseline (∆) in C-reactive protein (CRP), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Disease Activity Score in 28 joints, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-4 [ESR]), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Patient Global Assessment of arthritis (PtGA), Pain (Visual Analog Scale [VAS]), and Physician Global Assessment of arthritis (PGA). Safety was assessed throughout.

Results

The sub-study included 99 patients each in the continuous and interrupted treatment groups. ACR20/50 response rates, ∆CRP, ∆HAQ-DI (day 15), ∆DAS28-4 (ESR), ∆CDAI, ∆PtGA, ∆Pain (VAS), and ∆PGA were significantly worse in interrupted vs continuous patients during dose interruption, but were generally similar to pre-interruption/continuous treatment levels 28 days post-reinitiation. A numerically higher proportion of interrupted patients reported adverse events (49.5%) vs continuous patients (35.4%).

Conclusions

Tofacitinib efficacy can be re-established after temporary withdrawal and reinitiation. The safety profile of patients who temporarily discontinued tofacitinib in the sub-study was consistent with previous tofacitinib LTE studies over 9 years.

Clinical trial registration number

NCT00413699

Key Points• In this sub-study of the long-term extension (LTE) study, ORAL Sequel, the efficacy of tofacitinib was re-established after temporary withdrawal (2 weeks) and reinitation of treatment in patients with RA.• Patients with RA who temporarily discontinued tofacitinib had similar safety events to those reported in previous LTE studies.• The results of this sub-study were consistent with a post-hoc analysis of pooled data from two LTE studies, ORAL Sequel and A3921041, which assessed the efficacy of tofacitinib following a treatment discontinuation period of 14–30 days.
Baroreflex activation therapy reduces frequency and duration of hypertension-related hospitalizations in patients with resistant hypertension
Authors: Halbach Marcel , Grothaus David , Hoffmann Fabian , Madershahian Navid , Kuhr Kathrin , Reuter Hannes
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) has been shown to lower blood pressure in patients with resistant hypertension. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether this translates into a reduction of more relevant clinical endpoints.

Methods

Patients with resistant hypertension were treated with the second-generation BAT system. Records on hospitalization (dates of admission and discharge, main diagnosis) were obtained from medical insurance companies.

Results

Records on hospitalization were available for a period of 1 year before BAT in two patients and 2 years in 22 patients. The total number of hospitalizations per patient was 3.3 ± 3.5/year before BAT and 2.2 ± 2.7/year after BAT (p = 0.03). Hospitalizations related to hypertension were significantly decreased from 1.5 ± 1.6/year before BAT to 0.5 ± 0.9/year after BAT (p < 0.01). The cumulative duration of hypertension-related hospital stays was significantly reduced from 8.0 ± 8.7 days/year before BAT to 1.8 ± 4.8 days/year after BAT (p < 0.01). Office cuff blood pressure was 183 ± 27 mmHg over 102 ± 17 mmHg under 6.6 ± 2.0 antihypertensive drugs before BAT and 157 ± 32 mmHg over 91 ± 20 mmHg (both p < 0.01) under 5.9 ± 1.9 antihypertensive drugs (p = 0.09 for number of drugs) at latest follow-up. Daytime ambulatory blood pressure was 164 ± 21 mmHg over 91 ± 14 mmHg before BAT and 153 ± 21 mmHg (p = 0.03) over 89 ± 15 mmHg (p = 0.56) at latest follow-up. Heart rate was 75 ± 16 bpm before BAT and 72 ± 12 bpm at latest follow-up (p = 0.35).

Conclusions

Rate and duration of hypertension-related hospitalizations in patients with severe resistant hypertension were lowered after BAT. Whether the response is mediated through improvements in blood pressure control requires further studies.
Factors modifying the structural configuration of oxyanions and organic acids adsorbed on iron (hydr)oxides in soils. A review
Authors: Han Junho , Kim Minhee , Ro Hee-Myong
Published: February 2020

Oxyanions are ubiquitous in soils, organisms and the environment. Due to their unique chemical structure, oxyanions can be easily transferred into other systems. Carbonate (CO32−), nitrate (NO3−), phosphate (PO43−), silicate (SiO42−) and sulfate (SO42−) are the major oxyanions in organisms and the soil environment, whereas arsenate (AsO43−), antimonate (SbO43−), borate (BO33−), selenate (SeO42−), and tellurate (TeO42−) are generally reported as toxic chemicals found at trace levels. Excessive oxyanions leached from soils into water have caused severe environmental problems. Here, we review the factors affecting the structural configuration of oxyanions and organic acids adsorbed on iron oxides and hydroxides. The configuration of oxyanions on iron (hydr)oxides is controlled by surface loading, pH, sample phase, competing ions and organic acids. Under conditions of low surface loading and low pH at the interface in the absence of competing ions, oxyanions with high affinity possibly form a complex with higher denticity. But an increase in pH decreases the number of sorption sites; thus, a transition from a tri- or bidentate complex to monodentate and outer-sphere complexes occurs.
Frequency of stressful life events and associations with mental health and general subjective health in the general population
Authors: Tibubos Ana Nanette , Burghardt Juliane , Klein Eva M. , Brähler Elmar , Jünger Claus , Michal Matthias , Wiltink Jörg , Wild Philipp S. , Münzel Thomas , Singer Susanne , Pfeiffer Norbert , Beutel Manfred E.
Published: February 2020

Aim

We aim to determine the frequency of stressful life events (SLEs) and investigate the association of single and aggregated SLEs with mental health and general subjective health, which has not been reported for an aging representative sample to date.

Subjects and methods

A total of 12,947 participants (35–74 years old) of the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) in Germany were analyzed. SLEs were analyzed at the item and aggregated level with unweighted and weighted sum scores. Additionally, the survey included measures of mental health, general subjective health and demographics. Descriptive analyses were stratified by sex, age and socioeconomic status.

Results

Multivariate analyses of variance with SLE at the item level revealed large main effects for sex (ηp2 = 0.30) and age (ηp2 = 0.30); a moderate effect was found for socioeconomic status (ηp2 = 0.08). Interaction effects of sex with age and SES were also significant, but with negligible effect sizes. Regression analyses revealed similar results for unweighted and weighted SLE sum scores controlling for sociodemographic variables, supporting the detrimental relations among cumulated SLEs, depression (β = 0.18/0.19) and anxiety (β =0.17/0.17), but not general health. Mental health indicators showed the highest correlations with single SLEs such as change of sleep habits or personal finances. Severe SLEs according to proposed weight scores showed no or only weak associations with mental health.

Conclusion

Representative data support a more distinct impact of SLEs on mental health than on general health. Single SLEs show strong associations with mental health outcome (e.g., change of sleep habits). The low associations between severe single SLEs and mental health merit further attention.
The influence of atmospheric circulation conditions on Betula and Alnus pollen concentrations in Wrocław, Poland
Authors: Ojrzyńska Hanna , Bilińska Daria , Werner Małgorzata , Kryza Maciej , Malkiewicz Małgorzata
Published: February 2020

The influence of atmospheric circulation conditions on pollen concentrations of two taxons (Betula and Alnus) in Wroclaw, Poland, for the years 2005–2014 was analysed. Pollen concentration was analysed separately for twenty circulation types that were determined using objective classification. The results indicate the atmospheric circulation conditions favourable for both low and high pollen concentrations over Central Europe. Pollen concentrations vary significantly according to circulation types. The highest pollen concentrations for both taxons are typical for warm, sunny, and dry anticyclonic circulation types with anticyclone in the lower and upper troposphere, especially for types with advection from the SW. The lowest pollen concentrations are observed for cold, wet, and cloudy cyclonic types with advection from the northern sectors. There is also a positive and statistically significant trend in the frequency of circulation types favourable for high concentrations of Betula and Alnus.
Acceptability of Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir (CAB LA) in HIV-Uninfected Individuals: HPTN 077
Authors: Tolley Elizabeth E. , Zangeneh Sahar Z. , Chau Gordon , Eron Joe , Grinsztejn Beatriz , Humphries Hilton , Liu Albert , Siegel Marc , Bertha Maseko , Panchia Ravindre , Li Sue , Cottle Leslie , Rinehart Alex , Margolis David , Jennings Andrea , McCauley Marybeth , Landovitz Raphael J.
Published: February 2020

Long-acting injectable PrEP could offer an alternative to daily oral PrEP, improve adherence and protection, if found acceptable, safe and effective. HPTN 077 evaluated injectable cabotegravir safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics among HIV-uninfected males and females in sequentially-enrolled cohorts of two dosing strategies. We compared acceptability of product attributes, prevention preferences and future interest in injectable PrEP (FIIP) by region, sex-at-birth, arm and cohort and used multivariable analysis to identify FIIP determinants. Baseline injectable PrEP preferences were higher in non-U.S. sites and increased in both regions over time. In multivariable models, FIIP was most strongly associated with acceptability of product attributes, was higher in non-U.S. sites and more altruistic participants. Treatment arm and report of pain were not associated with FIIP. Injectable acceptability was highest in non-U.S. sites. Preferences for injectable versus other PrEP methods were higher among U.S. males than females, but higher among males and females in non-U.S. settings.
Problems with using stability, specificity, and proportionality as criteria for evaluating strength of scientific causal explanations: commentary on Lynch et al. (2019)
Authors: Oftedal Gry
Published: February 2020

Lynch et al. (Biol Philos 34:62, 2019) employ stability, specificity, and proportionality as criteria for evaluating microbiome causal explanations. Although these causal characteristics signify relevant differences between causal roles, I suggest that they should not be used as general criteria for strong or good causal explanations.
Association Between Psychosocial Problems and Unhealthy Health Behavior Patterns Among Finnish Adolescents
Authors: Marttila-Tornio Kaisa , Ruotsalainen Heidi , Miettunen Jouko , Männikkö Niko , Kääriäinen Maria
Published: February 2020

The aim of the study was to investigate how psychosocial problems in childhood and adolescence associate with an unhealthy health behavior pattern among adolescents in Northern Finland. The study population consisted of 4350 participants, drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 Study. Health behavior patterns were assessed in adolescence and psychosocial problems in childhood and adolescence. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the associations. Several psychosocial problems predicted greater likelihood of engaging in unhealthy health behavior pattern. Externalizing problems in childhood predicted greater likelihood of engaging in unhealthy behavior patterns for girls. For both genders, externalizing problems and inattention in adolescence were associated with unhealthy health behavior patterns. Boys and girls with externalizing problems both in childhood and adolescence had an increased risk of unhealthy patterns. Psychosocial problems contribute to unhealthy lifestyles and should therefore be acknowledged when designing and targeting health promotion strategies aimed at adolescents.
Adult Manifestation of Milder Forms of Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic and Non-autistic Psychopathology
Authors: Horwitz E. H. , Schoevers R. A. , Greaves-Lord K. , de Bildt A. , Hartman C. A.
Published: February 2020

We compared the presence of autistic and comorbid psychopathology and functional impairments in young adults who received a clinical diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorders Not Otherwise Specified or Asperger’s Disorder during childhood to that of a referred comparison group. While the Autism Spectrum Disorder group on average scored higher on a dimensional ASD self- and other-report measure than clinical controls, the majority did not exceed the ASD cutoff according to the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Part of the individuals with an ASD diagnosis in their youth no longer show behaviors that underscribe a clinical ASD diagnosis in adulthood, but have subtle difficulties in social functioning and a vulnerability for a range of other psychiatric disorders.
The effect of grazing on the microbiome of two commercially important agarophytes, Gracilaria firma and G. salicornia (Gracilariaceae, Rhodophyta)
Authors: Tan Teck-Toh , Song Sze-Looi , Poong Sze-Wan , Ward Georgia M. , Brodie Juliet , Lim Phaik-Eem
Published: February 2020

Grazing, which leads to losses in biomass and drastic declines in total crop production, is one of the main concerns in seaweed aquaculture. This is also thought to affect the composition of the associated bacterial communities which are believed to play a crucial role in determining the host’s health and development. Apart from morphological impairment, studying changes in the prokaryotic microbiome composition and predicted functional responses to grazing will allow us to understand the underlying effects of grazing on the seaweed host. This study is the first report of the effect of grazing on the prokaryotic microbiome of two economically important agarophytes,Gracilaria firmaandGracilaria salicornia, by high-throughput sequencing targeting the V3-V4 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene. The results indicated that forG. firma, the microbiome composition of tissues grazed by marine herbivores had significantly more agarolytic bacteriaMarinagarivoranssp. andAlgisphaerasp. than in ungrazed tissues. The predictive functional metagenomics for this species revealed that grazing escalated the pathway activities related to nucleotide degradation, aromatic compound degradation and aerobic sugar metabolism, while pathways associated with cell wall synthesis, aerobic respiration, vitamin biosynthesis and amino acid biosynthesis were reduced. However, forG. salicornia, the bacterial communities were not significantly affected by grazing. Nevertheless, pathways relating to anaerobic respiration and amino acid, coenzyme and vitamin B-6 biosynthesis in this species were predicted to be more active in grazed tissues, whereas the microbiome of ungrazed tissues had higher activities in bacteriochlorophylla, fatty acid, secondary metabolite and heme biosynthesis.
Generalized Visual Information Analysis Via Tensorial Algebra
Authors: Liao Liang , Maybank Stephen John
Published: February 2020

High-order data are modeled using matrices whose entries are numerical arrays of a fixed size. These arrays, called t-scalars, form a commutative ring under the convolution product. Matrices with elements in the ring of t-scalars are referred to as t-matrices. The t-matrices can be scaled, added and multiplied in the usual way. There are t-matrix generalizations of positive matrices, orthogonal matrices and Hermitian symmetric matrices. With the t-matrix model, it is possible to generalize many well-known matrix algorithms. In particular, the t-matrices are used to generalize the singular value decomposition (SVD), high-order SVD (HOSVD), principal component analysis (PCA), two-dimensional PCA (2DPCA) and Grassmannian component analysis (GCA). The generalized t-matrix algorithms, namely TSVD, THOSVD, TPCA, T2DPCA and TGCA, are applied to low-rank approximation, reconstruction and supervised classification of images. Experiments show that the t-matrix algorithms compare favorably with standard matrix algorithms.
Olfactory Receptor Neurons for Plant Volatiles and Pheromone Compounds in the Lucerne Weevil, Sitona discoideus
Authors: Park Kye Chung , McNeill Mark R. , Suckling David M. , Unelius C. Rikard
Published: February 2020

Antennal olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) for pheromone-related and plant volatile compounds were identified and characterized in the lucerne weevil, Sitona discoideus (Gyllenhal), using the single sensillum recording technique. Our study using five pheromone-related compounds and 42 plant volatile compounds indicates that S. discoideus have highly specialized ORNs for pheromone and plant volatile compounds. Different groups of ORNs present in both males and females of S. discoideus were highly sensitive to 4-methylheptane-3,5-dione (diketone) and four isomers (RR, RS, SR and SS) of 5-hydroxy-4-methylheptan-3-one, respectively. Our results also indicate that male S. discoideus, using the sensory input from antennal ORNs, can distinguish both diketone and the RR-isomer from others, and RS- and SS-isomers from others, although it was unclear if they can distinguish between RS-isomer and SS-isomer, or between diketone and the SR-isomer. It also appeared that female S. discoideus could distinguish between RS-isomer and SS-isomers. The antennae of S. discoideus thus contain sex-specific sets of ORNs for host- and non-host plant volatile compounds. Both sexes of S. discoideus have highly sensitive and selective ORNs for some green-leaf volatiles, such as (Z)-3-hexenol and (E)-2-hexenal. In contrast, male antennae of S. discoideus house three distinct groups of ORNs specialized for myrcene and (E)-β-ocimene, 2-phenylethanol, and phenylacetaldehyde, respectively, whereas female antennae contain three groups of ORNs specialized for (±)-linalool and (±)-α-terpineol, myrcene and (E)-β-ocimene, (±)-1-octen-3-ol, and 3-octanone. Our results suggest that S. discoideus use a multi-component pheromone communication system, and a sex-specific set of ORNs with a narrow range of response spectra for host-plant location.
Influence of modified biopolymers on thermal properties and biodegradation processes of carboxylated nitrile-butadiene (XNBR) nanocomposities
Authors: Prochon M.
Published: February 2020

The presented study includes a comparison of the effect of fillers used in carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber XNBR on the properties of the obtained polymer materials. Fillers used in this study originated from the tanning industry waste: cattle hair keratin, enzymatic hydrolyzate of cattle hair keratin and condensate of enzymatic hydrolyzate of cattle hair keratin. The use of commonly found in nature phyllosilicates allows to obtain nanocomposites. That is why in the presented study we used different mass fraction of layered silicate—montmorillonite. The dispersion of silicates in polymer matrices can be influenced by their physical and chemical modifications that lead to changes in the properties of the polymer matrices themselves. In the presented study the kinetics of vulcanization of elastomer blends was investigated, and the obtained XNBR rubber vulcanizates were analyzed for mechanical, optical, rheological, thermal analysis and their resistance to accelerated thermo-oxidative aging (S) and susceptibility to biodegrade were tested. The produced elastomer composites may be used in the rubber industry in the assortment of various types of washers, elastomer seals or conveyor belts—materials that often work under elevated temperature conditions. Therefore, it seems advisable to understand the thermal properties of this type of materials, eg for suitability in real conditions. Therefore, Thermogravimetry (TG), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Oxygen Index (IO) analyzes have been carried out, showing that different mechanisms of decomposition occur in layers of fiber-enriched polymer composites than unrecoverable ones. The modified keratin also slightly decreases the glass transition temperature. In addition, the presence of a modified keratin in the XNBR elastomer structure increases the composites compliance with the biodegradation process.
Some New Characterizations of Intrinsic Transversality in Hilbert Spaces
Authors: Thao Nguyen Hieu , Bui Hoa T. , Cuong Nguyen Duy , Verhaegen Michel
Published: February 2020

Motivated by a number of questions concerning transversality-type properties of pairs of sets recently raised by Ioffe and Kruger, this paper reports several new characterizations of the intrinsic transversality property in Hilbert spaces. New results in terms of normal vectors clarify the picture of intrinsic transversality, its variants and sufficient conditions for subtransversality, and unify several of them. For the first time, intrinsic transversality is characterized by an equivalent condition which does not involve normal vectors. This characterization offers another perspective on intrinsic transversality. As a consequence, the obtained results allow us to answer a number of important questions about transversality-type properties.
Targeted metabolomics of CSF in healthy individuals and patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis using high-resolution mass spectrometry
Authors: Carlsson Henrik , Abujrais Sandy , Herman Stephanie , Khoonsari Payam Emami , Åkerfeldt Torbjörn , Svenningsson Anders , Burman Joachim , Kultima Kim
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Standardized commercial kits enable targeted metabolomics analysis and may thus provide an attractive complement to the more explorative approaches. The kits are typically developed for triple quadrupole mass spectrometers using serum and plasma.

Objectives

Here we measure the concentrations of preselected metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using a kit developed for high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Secondarily, the study aimed to investigate metabolite alterations in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) compared to controls.

Methods

We performed targeted metabolomics in human CSF on twelve SPMS patients and twelve age and sex-matched healthy controls using the Absolute IDQ-p400 kit (Biocrates Life Sciences AG) developed for HRMS. The extracts were analysed using two methods; liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and flow injection analysis-MS (FIA-HRMS).

Results

Out of 408 targeted metabolites, 196 (48%) were detected above limit of detection and 35 were absolutely quantified. Metabolites analyzed using LC-HRMS had a median coefficient of variation (CV) of 3% and 2.5% between reinjections the same day and after prolonged storage, respectively. The corresponding results for the FIA-HRMS were a median CV of 27% and 21%, respectively. We found significantly (p < 0.05) elevated levels of glycine, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), glycerophospholipid PC-O (34:0) and sum of hexoses in SPMS patients compared to controls.

Conclusion

The Absolute IDQ-p400 kit could successfully be used for quantifying targeted metabolites in the CSF. Metabolites quantified using LC-HRMS showed superior reproducibility compared to FIA-HRMS.
A condom’s footprint - life cycle assessment of a natural rubber condom
Authors: Birnbach Maik , Lehmann Annekatrin , Naranjo Elisa , Finkbeiner Matthias
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Worldwide, billions of condoms are used each year, and many brands popped up that are working on sustainable solutions. However, none has published an analysis of a condom’s life using a standardized and quantitative approach such as the life cycle assessment (LCA). This study presents the first LCA of a natural rubber condom from einhorn products GmbH. It has been conducted to identify environmental hotspots, future research needs along the entire life of a condom and to open up a discussion among interested stakeholder.

Methods

The assessed environmental impacts are climate change, water depletion, eutrophication, ecotoxicity, acidification, human toxicity, and photochemical oxidant formation. The data were obtained by intensive literature research and consultation of customers and suppliers.

Results and discussion

The hotspot assessment showed that, on average, more than 90% of impacts are contributed by the production and downstream phases. Activities contributing most are energy consumption and packaging material used during condom production, production of tissue paper used to discard condoms, international transport, and business travels. The upstream life cycle phases do show minor contributions to most of the categories except for ecotoxicity, where the plantation activities are responsible for around 50% of the emissions. However, the impact of plantation might be underestimated because of missing analysis of biodiversity and especially for countries where rubber is responsible for deforestation the contribution of the plantation could increase.

Conclusions

The results highlight the importance of the condom's production, packaging, and the end-of-life stage. Future research should address the sensitivity of the results regarding further impact categories and should verify assumptions made and fill data gaps within the inventory.
Monitoring Patient Recovery after THA or TKA using Mobile Technology
Authors: Lyman Stephen , Hidaka Chisa , Fields Kara , Islam Wasif , Mayman David
Published: February 2020

Background

Smartphones offer the possibility of assessing recovery of mobility after total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA or TKA) passively and reliably, as well as facilitating the collection of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) with greater frequency.

Questions/Purposes

We investigated the feasibility of using mobile technology to collect daily step data and biweekly PROMs to track recovery after total joint arthroplasty.

Methods

Pre- and post-operative daily steps were recorded in prospectively enrolled patients (128 THA and 139 TKA) via an app, which uses the phone's accelerometer. During 6-month follow-up, patients also completed PROMs (the pain numeric rating scale, the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Joint Replacement [HOOS JR] and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Joint Replacement [KOOS JR]), and HOOS or KOOS JR quality of life domain via a mobile-enabled web link.

Results

At least 6 months of follow-up was completed by 65% for THA and 68% for TKA patients. Reasons for non-completion included time commitment, phone battery, app issues, and health complications. Responses from 78% of requested PROMs were returned with 96% of patients returning at least one post-operative PROM. Step data were available from 92% of days from male patients and 86% of days from female patients. The most robust recovery occurred early, within the first 2 months. The groups with higher pre-operative steps were more likely to recover their maximum daily steps at an earlier time point. Correlations between step counts and PROMs scores were modest.

Conclusion

Assessing large amounts of post-TKA and post-THA step data using mobile technology is feasible. Completion rates were good, making the technology very useful for collecting frequent PROMs. Being unable to ensure that patients always carried their phones limited our analysis of the step counts.
Continuous modelling of machine tool failure durations for improved production scheduling
Authors: Denkena B. , Dittrich M.-A. , Keunecke L. , Wilmsmeier S.
Published: February 2020

Unforeseen machine tool failures due to technical issues can cause downtimes leading to delays during production. To reduce delays, rescheduling of the production is, in most cases, necessary. However, warranting such a change requires reliable knowledge about the duration of the failure. This article presents a method to provide this knowledge by estimating the duration of a machine tool failure based on previous failure durations. Using the cross-industry standard process for data mining (CRISP-DM) and statistical methods, the embedded model for failure classification and duration is continuously improved. The method is thoroughly tested using multiple distributions, parameters and a practical use case. The results show high potential for predicting the duration of machine tool failures, which consequently could lead to improved quality of rescheduling.
How Do PET Myocardial Blood Flow Reserve and FFR Differ?
Authors: Johnson Nils P. , Gould K. Lance
Published: February 2020

Purpose of Review

This review discusses similarities and differences between cardiac positron emission tomography (PET), absolute myocardial blood flow, and flow reserve with invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR).

Recent Findings

Fundamentally, cardiac PET measures absolute myocardial blood flow whereas FFR provides a relative flow reserve. Cardiac PET offers a non-invasive and therefore lower risk alternative, able to image the entire left ventricle regardless of coronary anatomy. While cardiac PET can provide unique information about the subendocardium, FFR pullbacks offer unparalleled spatial resolution. Both diagnostic tests provide a highly repeatable and technically successful index of coronary hemodynamics that accounts for the amount of distal myocardial mass, albeit only indirectly with FFR. The randomized evidence base for FFR and its associated cost effectiveness remains unsurpassed.

Cardiac PET and FFR have been intertwined since the very development of FFR over 25 years ago. Recent work has emphasized the ability of both techniques to guide revascularization decisions by high-quality physiology. In the past few years, cardiac PET has expanded its evidence base regarding clinical outcomes, whereas FFR has solidified its position in randomized studies as the invasive reference standard.
Photodegradation activity of yttrium-doped SnO2 nanoparticles against methylene blue dye and antibacterial effects
Authors: Ali Baig Ameer Baig , Rathinam Vadamalar , Palaninathan Jayanthi
Published: February 2020

This review reports the effects of yttrium (Y) on the physicochemical characteristics of tin(II) dioxide (SnO2) nanoparticles (NPs), which were efficiently synthesized via a simple hydrothermal chemical route with different doping concentrations (0, 2 and 4 at%) of Y. The structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of the as-prepared Y-doped SnO2 (Y:SnO2) NPs were investigated, and the results are described. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies showed that the undoped and Y:SnO2 NPs had a fine crystalline texture with a tetragonal structure and particle size range of 27–15 nm, although the size decreased with Y doping. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) morphological analysis revealed spherical NPs forming agglomerates. Optical absorption was investigated by UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and showed a redshift in bandgap energy for Y3+-doped SnO2 NPs, and photoluminescence spectroscopy revealed the most intense emission peaks in the visible light region. Enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed for the doped samples, and the 4% Y:SnO2 NPs exhibited excellent photodegradation of methylene blue aqueous (MB) dye in visible light, demonstrating 92.34% degradation in 180 min. The other photocatalysts also demonstrated greater than 85% photodegradation efficiency and high stability, with no significant reduction in activity observed after five cycles. The results indicate that the superoxide (·O2−) radical, a key reactive species, played a vital role in the degradation of aqueous MB dye. The probable photocatalytic mechanism of the Y:SnO2 NPs was thoroughly investigated.
Deposit Formation from Urea Injection: a Comprehensive Modeling Approach
Authors: Budziankou U. , Börnhorst M. , Kuntz C. , Deutschmann O. , Lauer T.
Published: February 2020

Long-term reliability is one of the major requirements for automotive exhaust aftertreatment systems with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) using urea water solution (UWS) as NH3 carrier fluid. A high injection rate of UWS or unfavorable operating conditions may lead to formation of solid deposits, which decrease system efficiency by increasing backpressure and impairing ammonia uniformity. A reliable numerical prediction of deposit formation in urea SCR systems is desired for optimization of system design. However, comprehensive modeling of physical and chemical processes in the tailpipe as well as different time scale phenomena represents a challenging task. This study presents a comprehensive approach for modeling UWS injection, droplet impingement, liquid film and deposit formation based on CFD-simulation. An existing kinetic model for urea decomposition is integrated into the CFD code to predict solid by-product formation from wall films. Physical simulation time is extensively increased by substituting the Lagrange-particles with source terms of mass, momentum and energy reducing simulation time by a factor of 20. The comparison of measured and simulated results shows the capability of the presented modeling approach to predict position and chemical composition of solid deposits.
Positive Psychological Interventions for Teachers: a Randomised Placebo-Controlled Field Experiment Investigating the Effects of Workplace-Related Positive Activities
Authors: Dreer Benjamin
Published: February 2020

A realistic-positive attitude has repeatedly been identified as an important protective factor against school teachers’ stress and strain. However, effective programmes fostering teachers’ positive emotions, thoughts, and behaviours are still lacking to date. Despite mounting evidence showing their effectiveness, positive psychological interventions have seldom been applied and studied in the work environment of teachers. While initial evidence highlights the potential value of positive interventions for teachers, existing studies have significant shortcomings due to small sample sizes, and limitations in study and intervention designs. This paper documents a placebo-controlled field experiment testing the effects of an online-based positive intervention programme. In total, 309 German school teachers were surveyed at three intervals (pre-intervention, post-intervention, follow-up). The results show an increase in job satisfaction and teacher engagement that lasts for two weeks post-intervention. Furthermore, long-term decreases in emotional exhaustion were observed. The effects were of a small size. In contrast, significant mean changes were not observed under the placebo condition. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.