bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Late functional improvement and 5-year poststroke outcomes: a population-based cohort study
Authors: Ganesh Aravind , Luengo-Fernandez Ramon , Rothwell Peter Malcolm
Published: June 2020

Background

Late functional improvement between 3 and 12 months poststroke occurs in about one in four patients with ischaemic stroke, more commonly in lacunar strokes. It is unknown whether this late improvement is associated with better long-term clinical or health economic outcomes.

Methods

In a prospective, population-based cohort of 1-year ischaemic stroke survivors (Oxford Vascular Study; 2002–2014), we examined changes in functional status (modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI), Barthel Index (BI)) from 3 to 12 months poststroke. We used Cox regressions adjusted for age, sex, 3-month disability and stroke subtype (lacunar vs non-lacunar) to examine the association of late improvement (by ≥1 mRS grades, ≥1 RMI points and/or ≥2 BI points between 3 and 12 months) with 5-year mortality and institutionalisation. We used similarly adjusted generalised linear models to examine association with 5-year healthcare/social-care costs.

Results

Among 1288 one-year survivors, 1135 (88.1%) had 3-month mRS >0, of whom 319 (28.1%) demonstrated late functional improvement between 3 and 12 months poststroke. Late improvers had lower 5-year mortality (aHR per mRS=0.68, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.91, p=0.009), institutionalisation (aHR 0.48, 0.33 to 0.72, p<0.001) and healthcare/social care costs (margin US$17 524, –24 763 to −10 284, p<0.001). These associations remained on excluding patients with recurrent strokes during follow-up (eg, 5-year mortality/institutionalisation: aHR 0.59, 0.44 to 0.79, p<0.001) and on examining late improvement per RMI and/or BI (eg, 5-year mortality/institutionalisation with RMI/BI: aHR 0.73, 0.58 to 0.92, p=0.008).

Conclusion

Late functional improvement poststroke is associated with lower 5-year mortality, institutionalisation rates and healthcare/social care costs. These findings should motivate patients and clinicians to maximise late recovery in routine practice, and to consider extending access to proven rehabilitative therapies during the first year poststroke.
Effects ofTPH2gene variation and childhood trauma on the clinical and circuit-level phenotype of functional movement disorders
Authors: Spagnolo Primavera A , Norato Gina , Maurer Carine W , Goldman David , Hodgkinson Colin , Horovitz Silvina , Hallett Mark
Published: June 2020

Background

Functional movement disorders (FMDs), part of the wide spectrum of functional neurological disorders (conversion disorders), are common and often associated with a poor prognosis. Nevertheless, little is known about their neurobiological underpinnings, particularly with regard to the contribution of genetic factors. Because FMD and stress-related disorders share a common core of biobehavioural manifestations, we investigated whether variants in stress-related genes also contributed, directly and interactively with childhood trauma, to the clinical and circuit-level phenotypes of FMD.

Methods

Sixty-nine patients with a ‘clinically defined’ diagnosis of FMD were genotyped for 18 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 14 candidate genes. FMD clinical characteristics, psychiatric comorbidity and symptomatology, and childhood trauma exposure were assessed. Resting-state functional connectivity data were obtained in a subgroup of 38 patients with FMD and 38 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls. Amygdala–frontal connectivity was analysed using a whole-brain seed-based approach.

Results

Among the SNPs analysed, a tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) gene polymorphism—G703T—significantly predicted clinical and neurocircuitry manifestations of FMD. Relative to GG homozygotes, T carriers were characterised by earlier FMD age of onset and decreased connectivity between the right amygdala and the middle frontal gyrus. Furthermore, theTPH2genotype showed a significant interaction with childhood trauma in predicting worse symptom severity.

Conclusions

This is, to our knowledge, the first study showing that theTPH2genotype may modulate FMD both directly and interactively with childhood trauma. Because both this polymorphism and early-life stress alter serotonin levels, our findings support a potential molecular mechanism modulating FMD phenotype.
Inclusion body myositis in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia types 3 and 6
Authors: Rietveld Anke , van Gaalen Judith , Saris Christiaan , Okkersen Kees , Küsters Benno , van de Warrenburg Bart , van Engelen Baziel , Sacconi Sabrina , Raaphorst Joost
Published: June 2020

Objectives

To describe the combination of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) types 3 and 6 and sporadic inclusion body myositis (IBM).

Methods

A description of five patients with SCA type 3 and 6 who were diagnosed with IBM. We explore possible mechanisms explaining the coexistence of both diseases.

Results

The patients with SCA-3 (n=4) and SCA-6 (n=1) developed asymmetric muscle weakness in a pattern suggestive of IBM in the course of their disease. Based on findings of neurological examination and additional investigations (muscle ultrasound, muscle biopsy), the diagnosis of IBM was made in all patients.

Conclusion

We report on five patients with concomitant SCA and IBM. Our cases may merely illustrate coincidental co-occurrence of IBM and SCA-3/SCA-6. However, the presence of SCA mutations could predispose to the development of IBM in some SCA patients, or, the presence of toxic aggregates and malfunctioning of cellular quality control processes in both diseases could indicate a convergence of disease mechanisms.
Prospective study of job stress and risk of infections in Swedish adults
Authors: Ghilotti Francesca , Åkerstedt Torbjörn , Bellocco Rino , Adami Hans-Olov , Trolle Lagerros Ylva
Published: June 2020

Objectives

Psychological stress may influence both susceptibility and severity of infections. Although work-related stress is a widespread concern among many employees, few studies have been conducted with the focus on work stressors and infections. We therefore aimed to investigate this association in a prospective cohort study.

Methods

Our study included 25 029 employed individuals who filled-out a questionnaire in September 1997 and were followed through record linkages until retirement or December 2016. Work stress was assessed at baseline using a Swedish version of the Demand-Control Questionnaire, whereas hospital contacts related to infections were identified from the National Patient Register. We fitted extensions of the standard Cox model to account for recurrent infections.

Results

In total, we observed 8257 infections. Individuals in the third tertile of job demand had a 13% higher hazard of infections (HR=1.13; 95% CI=1.03 to 1.24) compared with individuals in the first tertile, specifically an increased incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (HR=1.15; 95% CI=1.00 to 1.33) and urinary tract infections (HR=1.31; 95% CI=1.09 to 1.57) was found. Employees with the highest job control (third tertile) had no lower risk of infections than individuals in the lowest tertile (HR=1.02; 95% CI=0.92 to 1.13). When combining the demand and control dimensions into job strain scale, no association between high job strain and infections was observed (HR=1.08; 95% CI=0.97 to 1.21).

Conclusion

High job demand, but not low job control, is associated with an increased occurrence of infections. No difference was observed in workers with high strain jobs compared with those with low strain jobs.
Management characteristics and prognosis after stroke in China: findings from a large nationwide stroke registry
Authors: Qin Haiqiang , Chen Yiping , Liu Gaifen , Turnbull Iain , Zhang Runhua , Li Zixiao , Wang Yilong , Liu Liping , Zhao Xingquan , Chen Zhengming , Wang Yongjun
Published: June 2020

Background and purpose

There is limited nationwide evidence about the standard management characteristics of stroke types and prognosis in China. This study aimed to assess clinical characteristics, in-hospital and after-discharge management characteristics and prognosis for stroke types in China.

Methods

A nationwide registry recruited 14 244 imaging-confirmed first-ever incident strokes from 132 hospitals across 31 provinces of China during 2007–2008, recording presenting characteristics, diagnostic procedures and in-hospital treatment. After hospital discharge, patients were followed up for 6 months. Conventional statistical methods were used to examine the patterns of management and prognosis.

Results

Overall, 68.7%, 26.9% and 4.4% were ischaemic stroke (IS), intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), and subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), respectively. Only 20% were managed in a dedicated stroke unit. Among IS, 1.3% received thrombolysis within 3 hours after symptom onset, whereas the proportions of receiving in-hospital antiplatelet therapy, neuroprotective agents and traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) were 88.4%, 69.7% and 70.6%, respectively. For ICH, 63.3% and 36.3% received neuroprotective agents and TCM in hospital, respectively. At discharge, 70.7% and 38.0% of the patients with IS were given antiplatelet and statin therapies, respectively, decreasing to 64.8% and 23.9%, respectively, at 6 months. In-hospital mortality was 3.2%, 9.3% and 10.1% for IS, ICH and SAH, respectively, with a further 8.6%, 18.2% and 22.0%, respectively, died by 6 month. Meanwhile, in-hospital recurrence rate was 2.6%, 1.9% and 7.2% for IS, ICH and SAH, respectively, with a further 8.0%, 5.1% and 7.5%, respectively, recurred by 6 month.

Conclusions

In China, the mortality rate of stroke is lower than that reported from west populations, though most strokes are not managed in specialised stroke unit. There is widespread use of some unproven therapies but limited proven treatments, especially after discharge, leading to unnecessary recurrent risks.
Identifying groundwater discharge zones in the Central Mackenzie Valley using remotely sensed optical and thermal imagery
Authors: Glass Brittney K. , Rudolph David L. , Duguay Claude , Wicke Andrew
Published: June 2020

Landsat 4–5 Thematic Mapper, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager, and RapidEye-3 data sets were used to identify potential groundwater discharge zones, via icings, in the Central Mackenzie Valley (CMV) of the Northwest Territories. Given that this area is undergoing active shale oil exploration and climatic changes, identification of groundwater discharge zones is of great importance both for pinpointing potential contaminant transport pathways and for characterizing the hydrologic system. Following the work of Morse and Wolfe (2015), a series of image algorithms were applied to imagery for the entire CMV and for the Bogg Creek watershed (a sub watershed of the CMV) for selected years between 2004 and 2017. Icings were statistically examined for all of the selected years to determine whether a significant difference in their spatial occurrence existed. It was concluded that there was a significant difference in the spatial distribution of icings from year to year (α = 0.05), but that there were several places where icings were recurring. During the summer of 2018, these recurrent icings, which are expected to be spring sourced, were verified using a thermal camera aboard a helicopter, as well as in situ measurements of hydraulic gradient, groundwater geochemistry, and electroconductivity. Strong agreement was found between the mapped icings and summer field data, making them ideal field monitoring locations. Furthermore, identifying these discharge points remotely is expected to have drastically reduced the field efforts that would have been required to find them in situ. This work demonstrates the value of remote sensing methods for hydrogeological applications, particularly in remote northern locations.
Bioprospection of native psychrotolerant plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria from Peruvian Andean Plateau soils associated with Chenopodium quinoa
Authors: Chumpitaz-Segovia Carolina , Alvarado Débora , Ogata-Gutiérrez Katty , Zúñiga-Dávila Doris
Published: June 2020

The Peruvian Andean Plateau, one of the main production areas of native varieties of Chenopodium quinoa, is exposed to abrupt decreases in environmental temperature, affecting crop production. Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria that tolerate low temperatures could be used as organic biofertilizers in this region. We aimed to bioprospect the native psychrotolerant bacteria of the quinoa rhizosphere in this region that show plant-growth-promoting traits. Fifty-one strains belonging to the quinoa rhizosphere were characterised; 73% of the total could grow at low temperatures (4, 6, and 15 °C), whose genetic diversity based on DNA amplification of interspersed repetitive elements (BOX) showed 12 different profiles. According to the 16S rRNA sequence, bacterial species belonging to the classes Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria were identified. Only three (6%) isolates identified as nonpathogenic bacteria exhibited plant-growth-promoting activities, like IAA production, phosphate solubilization, growth in a nitrogen-free medium, and ACC deaminase production at 6 and 15 °C. ILQ215 (Pseudomonas silesiensis) and JUQ307 (Pseudomonas plecoglossicida) strains showed significantly positive plant growth effects in aerial length (about 50%), radicular length (112% and 79%, respectively), and aerial and radicular mass (above 170% and 210%, respectively) of quinoa plants compared with the control without bacteria. These results indicate the potential of both psychrotolerant strains to be used as potential organic biofertilizers for quinoa in this region.
Peduncle breaking resistance: a potential selection criterion to improve lodging tolerance in oat
Authors: Nakhforoosh A. , Kumar S. , Fetch T. , Mitchell Fetch J.
Published: June 2020

Breeding for tolerance to lodging is an objective, but also a challenge, in oat (Avena sativa L.) breeding programs. A widely adopted method to assess breeding lines for tolerance to lodging is based on visual scoring of plant standability (1 = standing upright; 9 = completely lodged). The lack of sufficient lodging pressure due to weather or growing conditions often renders the visual scoring method ineffective. We present an alternative approach that allows selection for tolerance to stem lodging by screening for peduncle strength in the absence of lodging pressure. This approach also provides objective selection of lodging tolerance using a quantitatively measurable plant trait rather than subjective scoring of the lodged plants. Stem structural and mechanical properties of six oat cultivars with varying levels of lodging tolerance were tested at field experiments over 3 site-years under three nitrogen rates. Results suggested peduncle breaking resistance (PBR), measured below the panicle, as a potential selection criterion for stem strength and therefore lodging tolerance. Significant genetic variation among oat cultivars (p < 0.01) was observed for PBR, which was significantly correlated with the strength of all lower internodes in all environments (R2 > 0.73, p ≤ 0.05). This suggests that PBR provides a good estimation of the whole culm strength. Phenotyping of PBR can be easily integrated into breeding programs because of the ease of sampling and rapid measurement.
Levi-Civita connections and vector fields for noncommutative differential calculi
Authors: Bhowmick Jyotishman , Goswami Debashish , Landi Giovanni
Published: June 2020

We study covariant derivatives on a class of centered bimodules [Formula: see text] over an algebra [Formula: see text] We begin by identifying a [Formula: see text]-submodule [Formula: see text] which can be viewed as the analogue of vector fields in this context; [Formula: see text] is proven to be a Lie algebra. Connections on [Formula: see text] are in one-to-one correspondence with covariant derivatives on [Formula: see text]. We recover the classical formulas of torsion and metric compatibility of a connection in the covariant derivative form. As a result, a Koszul formula for the Levi-Civita connection is also derived.
Exploiting Energy–Quality (E–Q) Tradeoffs: A Case Study on Color-to-Grayscale Converters with Approximate Design on FPGA
Authors: Yang Xiaokun , Sha Shi
Published: June 2020

Today, field programmable gate array (FPGA) is becoming widely used as computational accelerators in many application domains such as image/video processing, machine learning, and data mining. The inherent tolerance to the imprecise computation in such domains potentially provides an opportunity to trade quality of the results for higher energy efficiency. Therefore, this paper proposes a systematic methodology aiming to find the optimal energy saving corresponding to different quality bound, by approximating register-transfer level (RTL) designs on FPGA. As a case study, first, we investigate imprecise design on two submodules — adders and multipliers. By integrating the two combinational submodules with finite state machines (FSMs), several designs on a sequential circuit — color-to-grayscale converter — are further presented to offer a diverse range of energy consumption related to different quality constrains. Through this, we are able to set energy–quality (E–Q) parameters of our proposed methodology and configure the approximation knobs, capable of maximizing energy savings within different application-based quality margins. Experimental result demonstrates that leveraging E–Q leads to an average [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] savings in energy for modest loss in application output quality ([Formula: see text]), and [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] energy savings for impact on relaxed quality constraints (3–7.5%).
Mappings that preserve helices in the n-dimensional Minkowski spaces
Authors: Altunkaya Bülent
Published: June 2020

We introduce two types of mappings that preserve nonnull helices in Minkowski spaces. The first type constructs helices in the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Minkowski space from helices in the same Minkowski space. The second type constructs helices in the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Minkowski space from helices in the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Minkowski space. Furthermore, we study invariants of these mappings and present examples.
Conformal vector fields of static spherically symmetric space-times in f(R, G) gravity
Authors: Hussain Fiaz , Shabbir Ghulam , Ramzan M. , Hussain S. F. , Qazi Sabiha
Published: June 2020

Assuming the most general form of static spherically symmetric space-times, we search for the conformal vector fields in [Formula: see text] gravity by means of algebraic and direct integration approaches. In this study, there exist six cases which on account of further study yield conformal vector fields of dimension four, six and fifteen. During this study, we also recovered some well-known static spherically symmetric metrics announced in the current literature.
Decision Making Under Acute Stress Modeled by an Adaptive Temporal–Causal Network Model
Authors: Ziabari S. Sahand Mohammadi , Treur Jan
Published: June 2020

The influence of acute severe stress or extreme emotion based on a Network-Oriented modeling methodology has been addressed here. Adaptive temporal causal network model is an approach to address the phenomena with complexity which cannot be or hard to be explained in a real-world experiment. In the first phase, the suppression of the existing network connections as a consequence of the acute stress modeled and in the second phase relaxing the suppression by giving some time and starting a new learning of the decision making in accordance to presence of stress starts again.
On Providing OS Support to Allow Transparent Use of Traditional Programming Models for Persistent Memory
Authors: Kim J. Hyun , Moon Young Je , Song Hyunsub , Park Jay H. , Noh Sam H.
Published: June 2020

The advent of persistent memory (PM) into our everyday computing environment is now imminent. New programming models and algorithms based on these models are being developed for such systems. However, current models require programs to be rewritten with persistence related primitives such as clflush and clwb or at least recompiled so that persistent mechanisms can be automatically inserted. This is a burden to program developers. Furthermore, executing legacy programs as-is can lead to application and system inconsistencies as unexpected faults occur. In this article, we propose µSnap, an operating system support that is based on checkpointing that allows legacy applications to be executed as-is without compromising consistency in systems that deploy PM. We implement a prototype of µSnap in the Linux kernel version 4.3.3, and measure and quantify the effect of µSnap for a wide range of applications. We find that µSnap incurs overhead for application execution compared to applications run without any notion of persistency, but that the overhead can be controlled to be minimal by appropriately setting the checkpointing interval. We argue that the benefit for paying this small cost can be tremendous in the sense that one can transparently guarantee the consistency of all legacy software written under the traditional programming model.
Deep Vein Thrombosis in the Uninjured Limb in Patients with Lower Extremity Fractures: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Wang Peng-Fei , Li Jia-Hao , Fei Chen , Li Zhi , Ke Chao , Shang Kun , Cong Yu-Xuan , Qu Shuang-Wei , Zhang Bin-Fei , Zhuang Yan , Zhang Kun
Published: June 2020

Objective. This study is aimed at investigating the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the uninjured limb during hospitalization and 1 month after surgery in patients with lower extremity fractures. Methods. We collected the clinical data of patients with lower extremity fractures in Xi’an Honghui Hospital. Doppler ultrasonography was used to diagnose DVT. According to the results of ultrasonography, the patients were divided into two groups: uninjured limb with DVT group and uninjured limb without DVT group. Results. A total of 494 patients who met all inclusion criteria were included in this study. The incidence rate of DVT in the uninjured limb was 19.84% and 18.83% during hospitalization and 1 month after surgery, respectively. Age (OR = 1.035, 95% CI: 1.013–1.059; P = 0.002) and D‐dimer level 1 day after surgery (OR = 1.065, 95% CI: 1.030–1.102; P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for DVT during hospitalization. Similarly, age (OR = 1.045, 95% CI: 1.021–1.070; P < 0.001) and D‐dimer level 1 day after surgery (OR = 1.048, 95% CI: 1.014–1.083; P = 0.006) were independent risk factors for DVT 1 month after surgery. During hospitalization and 1 month after surgery, 15.79% and 12.35% of patients had double lower limb thrombosis and 4.04% and 6.48% of patients had DVT in the uninjured limb only, respectively. Conclusion. The actual incidence of DVT in the uninjured limb in patients with lower extremity fractures cannot be ignored despite the use of anticoagulants for prevention or treatment during hospitalization. We should also be aware of DVT in the uninjured limb while focusing on DVT in the injured limb.
Sport Biomechanics Applications Using Inertial, Force, and EMG Sensors: A Literature Overview
Authors: Taborri Juri , Keogh Justin , Kos Anton , Santuz Alessandro , Umek Anton , Urbanczyk Caryn , van der Kruk Eline , Rossi Stefano
Published: June 2020

In the last few decades, a number of technological developments have advanced the spread of wearable sensors for the assessment of human motion. These sensors have been also developed to assess athletes’ performance, providing useful guidelines for coaching, as well as for injury prevention. The data from these sensors provides key performance outcomes as well as more detailed kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic data that provides insight into how the performance was obtained. From this perspective, inertial sensors, force sensors, and electromyography appear to be the most appropriate wearable sensors to use. Several studies were conducted to verify the feasibility of using wearable sensors for sport applications by using both commercially available and customized sensors. The present study seeks to provide an overview of sport biomechanics applications found from recent literature using wearable sensors, highlighting some information related to the used sensors and analysis methods. From the literature review results, it appears that inertial sensors are the most widespread sensors for assessing athletes’ performance; however, there still exist applications for force sensors and electromyography in this context. The main sport assessed in the studies was running, even though the range of sports examined was quite high. The provided overview can be useful for researchers, athletes, and coaches to understand the technologies currently available for sport performance assessment.
Case Report of Presumed (In)voluntary Capsaicin Intoxication Mimicking an Acute Abdomen
Authors: Koprdova Simona , Schürmann Christine , Peetz Dirk , Dürbye Thomas , Kolligs Frank , Koop Herbert
Published: June 2020

Background. The clinical features of a presumed capsaicin intoxication have not been reported so far. Case Presentation. A 27-year-old man took part in a qualifying for a competition in spicy food tolerance. During this qualifying, he swallowed 4 chili peppers type Bhut jolokia (about 1 million Scoville units) and other extremely spicy foods; the total amount of capsaicin ingested (roughly calculated retrospectively) accounted for at least 600 mg. After 2½ hours, the patient developed severe abdominal pain, which led to hospital admission. In contrast to the severe symptoms, clinical, laboratory, and imaging examinations (ultrasound and plain X-ray of the abdomen) did not reveal any significant abnormalities. Treatment with analgesics resulted in complete regression of the abdominal pain within 30 hours. Conclusions. The clinical picture in the view of pharmacological investigations on intestinal capsaicin infusions suggests that excessive doses of capsaicin can induce severe abdominal pain; the prolonged symptoms were probably due to the failure to vomit. Thus, a capsaicin intoxication must be considered in the differential diagnosis of an acute abdomen.
Assessment of Striga gesnerioides (Willd.) Resistance and Genetic Characterization of Forty-Six Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) Genotypes in Ghana
Authors: Haruna Peter , Asare Aaron T. , Kusi Francis
Published: June 2020

The parasitic weed, Striga gesnerioides, imposes physiological stress on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) resulting in significant yield loss in the regions of northern Ghana. This warranted identification of resistant cowpeas for sustainable production. The current work aim was to identify Striga-resistant cowpea genotypes and assess their genetic relatedness. Forty-six (46) cowpea genotypes were screened in pots for their reaction to Striga samples obtained from the upper east, upper west, and northern regions of Ghana and validated with C42-2B and 61R-M2 markers involving DNA amplification by PCR assay. Sixteen polymorphic SSR primer pairs were used to assess genetic relatedness among 46 cowpea genotypes. Data were analyzed with PowerMarker V. 3.25 and a dendrogram was generated with MEGA 4. On the whole, 65.2% of the cowpea genotypes had stable resistance to S. gesnerioides from the regions of northern Ghana and 34.8% were susceptible. The C42-2B marker resolved as a single DNA band of 280 bp with segregation efficiency of 80% and 61R-M2 marker as double DNA bands of 320 bp and 380 bp with segregation efficiency of 60% associated with Striga resistance. Sixteen (16) polymorphic SSR primers distinguished all 46 cowpea genotypes into three clusters. Gene diversity ranged from 0.04 to 0.49 with an average of 0.29. The average allele frequency is 0.78, with a mean genetic diversity of 0.29. Polymorphism information content (PIC) varied from 0.08 to 1.00 with an average of 0.55. Therefore, cowpeas with Striga resistance and other desirable traits can be evaluated and released as varieties for farmers to cultivate.
Strength Properties of High‐Strength Concrete Containing Coal Bottom Ash as a Replacement of Aggregates
Authors: Yang In-Hwan , Park Jihun , Dinh Le Nhien , Jung Sanghwa
Published: June 2020

Most previous studies on the strength properties of coal bottom ash (CBA) concrete have focused on concrete with a normal compressive strength, and thus, studies on the strength properties of high‐strength concrete (HSC) containing CBA are limited. Therefore, the effects of replacing fine aggregates with CBA and variations in the curing age on the strength properties of HSC with a compressive strength of greater than 60 MPa were investigated in this study. The different CBA contents included 25, 50, 75, and 100%, and the different curing ages were 28 and 56 days. The mechanical properties of the HSC with CBA incorporated as fine aggregates were examined. The experimental results revealed that CBA could be partially or totally substituted for fine aggregates during HSC production. The test results also showed that the compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strengths of the HSC containing CBA fine aggregates slightly decreased as the CBA content increased. Moreover, useful relationships between the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength were suggested, and the predictions reasonably agreed with the measurements. Compared to those of the control specimen, the pulse velocities of the HSC specimens at various CBA contents decreased by less than 3%. In addition, equations for predicting the strength values of CBA concrete by using the ultrasonic pulse velocity were suggested.
Rituximab for Autoimmune Encephalitis with Epilepsy
Authors: Kurukumbi Mohankumar , Dave Rahul H. , Castillo Jose , Shah Tulsi , Lau Joanne
Published: June 2020

Intractable epilepsy remains a significant medical challenge, resulting in recurrent and prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. Autoimmune encephalitis is emerging as a treatable cause of intractable epilepsy. It is characterized by antibodies against cerebral antigens, such as potassium channels such as leucine-rich, glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) and contactin-associated protein 2 (CASPR2), calcium channels such as the voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC), or neurotransmitter receptors such as the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR), gamma aminobutyric acid receptor (GABAR), and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). Diagnosis requires a syndrome consistent with an antibody identified in serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using methods that minimize risk of false-positives. Although there is no officially approved therapy for these disorders, typical approaches involve chronic high-dose steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), or plasma exchange. Rituximab is effective for antibody-associated disorders such as lupus, myasthenia gravis, and neuromyelitis optica. Here, we present three patients who were admitted with recalcitrant status epilepticus and demonstrated serum antibodies against NMDAR, LGI1, or VGCC using a cell-based assay. All patients demonstrated complete, long-term epilepsy control and improvement in symptoms with rituximab.
Privacy Protection Method for Vehicle Trajectory Based on VLPR Data
Authors: Chen Hua , Xiong Chen , Xie Jia-meng , Cai Ming
Published: June 2020

With the rapid development of data acquisition technology, data acquisition departments can collect increasingly more data. Various data from government agencies are gradually becoming available to the public, including license plate recognition (VLPR) data. As a result, privacy protection is becoming increasingly significant. In this paper, an adversary model based on passing time, color, type, and brand of VLPR data is proposed. Through experimental analysis, the tracking probability of a vehicle’s trajectory can be more than 94% if utilizing the original data. To decrease the tracking probability, a novel approach called the (m, n)-bucket model based on time series is proposed since previous works, such as those using generalization and bucketization models, cannot deal with data with multiple sensitive attributes (SAs) or data with time correlations. Meanwhile, a mathematical model is established to expound the privacy protection principle of the (m, n)-bucket model. By comparing the average calculated linking probability of all individuals and the actual linking probability, it is shown that the mathematical model that is proposed can well expound the privacy protection principle of the (m, n)-bucket model. Extensive experiments confirm that our technique can effectively prevent trajectory privacy disclosures.
An Empirical Study on Sales Performance Effect and Pricing Strategy for E-Commerce: From the Perspective of Mobile Information
Authors: Wu Chia-Huei , Yan Zichun , Tsai Sang-Bing , Wang Weinan , Cao Boshu , Li Xin
Published: June 2020

The emergence of Internet product sales platform has not only greatly enriched consumers’ choices and facilitated their purchasing behavior but also provided space for counterfeit products and relevant fraudulent signal strategies in China, which damage the consumer’s rights and interests and further disrupt the normal order of the e-commerce market. However, effective empirical study on the long-term and dynamic influence mechanism of fraudulent signals of counterfeit products and the seller incentive mechanism is still unavailable in academic circles, especially in the Chinese market, where government regulation is deemed to be lacking. For the purpose of this paper, an empirical study has been conducted by virtue of Internet e-commerce platform data based on data capture technology to analyze the dynamic performance effect mechanism of e-commerce fraudulent signals of counterfeit products under multiple game conditions. The study results show that selling of counterfeit products by using fraudulent signals can improve the current sales performance, but it will cause a long-term performance decline consequently. Additionally, from the perspective of the pricing mechanism, this paper analyzes the said seller incentive mechanism of counterfeit products. Finally, this paper puts forward relevant management suggestions based on the empirical study findings.
Modal Mass and Length of Mode Shapes in Structural Dynamics
Authors: Aenlle M. , Juul Martin , Brincker R.
Published: June 2020

The literature about the mass associated with a certain mode, usually denoted as the modal mass, is sparse. Moreover, the units of the modal mass depend on the technique which is used to normalize the mode shapes, and its magnitude depends on the number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) which is used to discretize the model. This has led to a situation where the meaning of the modal mass and the length of the associated mode shape is not well understood. As a result, normally, both the modal mass and the length measure have no meaning as individual quantities but only when they are combined in the frequency response function. In this paper, the problems of defining the modal mass and mode shape length are discussed, and solutions are found to define the quantities in such a way that they have individual physical meaning and can be estimated in an objective way.
Bacillus cereus Subacute Native Valve Infective Endocarditis and Its Multiple Complications
Authors: Nallarajah Jemimah , Mujahieth M. I.
Published: June 2020

Bacillus cereus causing infective endocarditis (IE) in a native valve is an extremely rare event, but it is reported mostly in intravenous drug abusers and other risk factors as immunosuppression, malignancy, and valvular heart disease including prosthetic heart valves. We report a case of B.cereus native mitral valve infective endocarditis in a 58-year-old Sri Lankan male who is not a drug abuser who presented with painless hematuria with reduced urine output. During hospital stay, he developed frequent episodes of brief focal seizures. He had undergone multiple investigations that revealed splenic abscesses, cerebral vasculitis, and glomerular nephritis with positive rheumatoid factor, cytoplasmic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (C-ANCA), and cryoglobulin. The appropriate antibiotic was the prime therapeutic intervention which carried an excellent prognosis. This case highlights an unusual organism in the blood culture that caused IE warranting thorough physical examination and investigations.
Prediction of Pore Size Characteristics of Needle‐Punched Nonwoven Geotextiles Subjected to Uniaxial Tensile Strains
Authors: Tang Lin , Tang Qiang , Zhong Aolai , Li Hanjie
Published: June 2020

A modified theoretical model has been proposed to predict the pore size characteristics of nonwoven geotextiles under certain uniaxial tensile strains, considering the difference between the out‐of‐plane Poisson’s ratio and the in‐plane Poisson’s ratio of geotextiles. The pore size distributions (PSDs) and O95 subjected to different levels of uniaxial tensile strains in two needle‐punched nonwoven geotextiles have been investigated by the dry sieving test. The variation of the fibre orientation with tensile strains and the corresponding effect on pore sizes has been evaluated by image analysis. The out‐of‐plane Poisson’s ratio and the in‐plane Poisson’s ratio of geotextiles have been examined. A comparison has been made between the predictions of the original and the modified models. It is shown that the modified model can more accurately predict the decreasing rate of the PSDs, O95, and O98 than the original one. The corrected theoretical O95 and O98 under certain strains can provide a reference for the filtration design under engineering strains. The fibres reorientating to the loading direction result in the increase of the directional parameter with increasing tensile strains, which leads to the decrease of pore sizes. The theoretical PSDs are sensitive to the variation of directional parameter.
Integration of Marine Macroalgae (Chaetomorpha maxima) with a Moving Bed Bioreactor for Nutrient Removal from Maricultural Wastewater
Authors: Li Xian , Deng Yale , Li Xueying , Ma Xiaona , Wang Jinxia , Li Jun
Published: June 2020

Rather than direct nutrient removal from wastewaters, an alternative approach aimed at nutrient recovery from aquacultural wastewaters could enable sustainable management for aquaculture production. This study demonstrated the feasibility of cultivating marine macroalgae (Chaetomorpha maxima) with a moving bed bioreactor (MBBR-MA), to remove nitrogen and phosphorus in aquaculture wastewater as well as to produce macroalgae biomass. MBBR-MA significantly increased the simultaneous removal of nitrate and phosphate in comparison with only MBBR, resulting in an average total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiency of 42.8±5.5% and 83.7±7.7%, respectively, in MBBR-MA while MBBR had no capacity for TN and TP removal. No chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was detected in both reactors. Phosphorus could be a limiting factor for nitrogen uptake when N : P ratio increased. The recovered nitrogen and phosphorus resulted in a specific growth rate of 3.86%–10.35%/day for C. maxima with an uptake N : P ratio of 6. The presence of macroalgae changed the microbial community in both the biofilter and water by decreasing the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Nitrospirae and increasing the abundance of Bacteroidetes. These findings indicate that the integration of the macroalgae C. maxima with MBBR could represent an effective wastewater treatment option, especially for marine recirculating aquaculture systems.
Mapping Urban Heat Vulnerability of Extreme Heat in Hangzhou via Comparing Two Approaches
Authors: Liu Xue , Yue Wenze , Yang Xuchao , Hu Kejia , Zhang Wei , Huang Muyi
Published: June 2020

Extreme heat is the leading cause of heat-related mortality around the world. Extracting heat vulnerability information from the urban complexity system is crucial for urban health studies. Using heat vulnerability index (HVI) is the most common approach for urban planners to locate the places with high vulnerability for intervention and protection. Previous studies have demonstrated that HVI can play a vital role in determining which areas are at risk of heat-related deaths. Both equal weight approach (EWA) and principal component analysis (PCA) are the conventional methods to aggregate indicators to HVI. However, seldom studies have compared the differences between these two approaches in estimating HVI. In this paper, we evaluated the HVIs in Hangzhou in 2013, employing EWA and PCA, and assessed the accuracies of these two HVIs by using heat-related deaths. Our results show that both HVI maps showed that areas with high vulnerability are located in the central area while those with low vulnerability are located in the suburban area. The comparison between HVIEWA and HVIPCA shows significantly different spatial distributions, which is caused by the various weight factors in EWA and PCA. The relationship between HVIEWA and heat-related deaths performs better than the relationship between HVIPCA and deaths, implying EWA could be a better method to evaluate heat vulnerability than PCA. The HVIEWA can provide a spatial distribution of heat vulnerability at intracity to direct heat adaptation and emergency capacity planning.
Integrating Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy in Cancer Treatment: Mechanistic Insights and Clinical Implications
Authors: Bergholz Johann S. , Wang Qiwei , Kabraji Sheheryar , Zhao Jean J.
Published: June 2020

Small-molecule targeted therapies have demonstrated outstanding potential in the clinic. These drugs are designed to minimize adverse effects by selectively attacking cancer cells while exerting minimal damage to normal cells. Although initial response to targeted therapies may be high, yielding positive response rates and often improving survival for an important percentage of patients, resistance often limits long-term effectiveness. On the other hand, immunotherapy has demonstrated durable results, yet for a limited number of patients. Growing evidence indicates that some targeted agents can modulate different components of the antitumor immune response. These include immune sensitization by inhibiting tumor cell–intrinsic immune evasion programs or enhancing antigenicity, as well as direct effects on immune effector and immunosuppressive cells. The combination of these two approaches, therefore, has the potential to result in synergistic and durable outcomes for patients. In this review, we focus on the latest advances on integrating immunotherapy with small-molecule targeted inhibitors. In particular, we discuss how specific oncogenic events differentially affect immune response, and the implications of these findings on the rational design of effective combinations of immunotherapy and targeted therapies.
HERBART AND HERBARTIANISM IN EUROPEAN PEDAGOGY: HISTORY AND MODERNITY
Authors: Fedchyshyn N. O. , Protner Edvard
Published: June 2020

The proposed article offers an assessment of J.-F. Herbart and Herbartians in the history of pedagogy of Germany, pre-revolutionary Russia, and Ukraine; the influence of the doctrine of J.-F. Herbart and Herbartians on the development of pedagogical science; borrowing ideas of these representatives in school education, namely the processes of formation, changes in directions, ideas, principles and tasks of the educational process; structural and substantive features of Herbartian pedagogy are revealed. It has been outlined the ways of popularizing Herbartianism in European countries and the significance of the theoretical heritage of Herbartians in the modern history of pedagogy.
FORMATION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE OF FUTURE MEDICAL SPECIALISTS THROUGH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (FOREIGN EXPERIENCE)
Authors: Kotsyuba R. B. , Prokop I. A.
Published: June 2020

The paper considers the ways of forming foreign language communication competence of future medical specialists through ICT on the basis of foreign experience. It focuses on five most popular medical universities that, in particular, show high results in terms of medical research, carried out by the students directly: Medical School at Harvard University, School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine at New York University, Langone, School of Medicine at Stanford University, School of Medicine at University of California – San Francisco.  The paper analyses training programs aimed at the formation of foreign language communication competence of future medical specialists at the above-mentioned Universities: program on the general communication language, “Medical English” distance online courses, professional language for medical students, a  particular attention being paid to Michael Mitchel’s online distance course in the framework of the Swedish project. Besides, the paper considers the use of ICT means: Moodle, SpeakApps, PowerPoint, and other programs for presentations; online simulators, programs for making tests, questionnaires and games; cloud based services for the organization of foreign language online clubs, etc.
DISTANCE LEARNING OF “UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE (BY PROFESSIONAL DIRECTION)” OF STUDENTS OF MEDICAL SPECIALTIES
Authors: Zalipska I. Ya.
Published: June 2020

The article considers the features and benefits of using distance learning in the educational process. The content of the concept of “distance learning” and the views of scientists on its interpretation are presented. It reveals the teaching experience of the discipline “Ukrainian language (by professional direction)” by means of distance learning at the Ukrainian Language Department of I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University. The materials for checking the level of medical specialties students’ knowledge in the aforementioned discipline are offered for the following themes: “Language standard. Orthoepic norms, norms of emphasis”, “Lexical aspect of medical professional language. Phraseological units in professional language”, “Terminology in professional communication. Lexical-semantic relations in scientific terminology. Features of Ukrainian medical terminology”, “Dictionaries in professional communication. Types of dictionaries, their function and role in enhancing language culture”, “Morphological aspect of Medical Professional Language”, “Syntactic aspect of Medical Professional Language”, “Features of Ukrainian language etiquette. Communicative qualities of language culture. Doctor’s Language Etiquette”, “Public speech and its genres”.

It emphasizes the usage of detailed instructions for practical tasks and for submitting samples to each task. The research demonstrates that the teacher must take into account the goal, the age of the students, the professional orientation of the tasks. It underscores that the given tasks have a practical orientation and cannot comprehensively assess the student’s knowledge level in the study of a specific topic, but they aim to diversify distance learning, make it interesting. Undoubtedly, the usage of computer-based distance learning provides a learning process, so it needs to be refined and developed. This type of training encourages the specialist to look for new forms and methods of teaching the discipline, and the student to work independently, to work with different sources of information. It should be noted that the development of distance learning in the Ukrainian education system is perspective.
Implantação das novas diretrizes no Curso de Relações Públicas da FabicoUFRGS
Authors: Pereira Ana Cristina Cypriano , Alves Denise Avancini , Sgorla Fabiane , Müller Karla Maria
Published: June 2020

O presente texto promove uma breve reflexão sobre a experiência de implantação do novo currículo do Curso de Relações Públicas da Faculdade de Biblioteconomia e Comunicação (Fabico) da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), baseado nas diretrizes curriculares do Ministério da Educação (MEC). O relato está fundamentado na análise documental de atas produzidas pelo Núcleo Docente Estruturante (NDE) e na Comissão de Graduação (ComGrad), além de resoluções, pareceres e outros documentos oficiais, conforme sugere Sônia V.Moreira (2009). Por fim, são trazidas as experiências específicas do estágio obrigatório no curso de relações públicas, e sua contribuição para a avaliação do currículo e a formação dos estudantes.