bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Medical and cardio-vascular emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: is there a collateral damage? A retrospective routine data analysis
Authors: Slagman Anna , Pigorsch Mareen , Greiner Felix , Behringer Wilhelm , Bernhard Michael , Bienzeisler Jonas , Blaschke Sabine , Burst Volker , Dechant Katharina , Dommasch Michael , Ewen Sebastian , Gries André , Hans Felix Patricius , Kanz Karl-Georg , Klein Matthias , Kümpers Philipp , Napp Matthias , Plata Christopher , Ramshorn-Zimmer Alexandra , Risse Joachim , Röhrig Rainer , Somasundaram Rajan , Schunk Domagoj , Walcher Felix , Walter Thomas , Weismann Dirk , Wolfrum Sebastian , Wörnle Markus , Wu Yves Noel , Möckel Martin
Published: August 2022

Background

In this retrospective routine data analysis, we investigate the number of emergency department (ED) consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 in Germany compared to the previous year with a special focus on numbers of myocardial infarction and acute heart failure.

Methods

Aggregated case numbers for the two consecutive years 2019 and 2020 were obtained from 24 university hospitals and 9 non-university hospitals in Germany and assessed by age, gender, triage scores, disposition, care level and by ICD-10 codes including the tracer diagnoses myocardial infarction (I21) and heart failure (I50).

Results

A total of 2,216,627 ED consultations were analyzed, of which 1,178,470 occurred in 2019 and 1,038,157 in 2020. The median deviation in case numbers between 2019 and 2020 was − 14% [CI (− 11)–(− 16)]. After a marked drop in all cases in the first COVID-19 wave in spring 2020, case numbers normalized during the summer. Thereafter starting in calendar week 39 case numbers constantly declined until the end of the year 2020. The decline in case numbers predominantly concerned younger [− 16%; CI (− 13)–(− 19)], less urgent [− 18%; CI (− 12)–(− 22)] and non-admitted cases [− 17%; CI (− 13)–(− 20)] in particular during the second wave. During the entire observation period admissions for chest pain [− 13%; CI (− 21)–2], myocardial infarction [− 2%; CI (− 9)–11] and heart failure [− 2%; CI (− 10)–6] were less affected and remained comparable to the previous year.

Conclusions

ED visits were noticeably reduced during both SARS-CoV-2 pandemic waves in Germany but cardiovascular diagnoses were less affected and no refractory increase was noted. However, long-term effects cannot be ruled out and need to be analysed in future studies.

Graphical abstract
Haemaphysalis hoodi (Acari: Ixodidae) on a human from Yaoundé, Cameroon, and its molecular characterization
Authors: Paguem Archile , Mans Ben J. , Kingsley Manchang , Renz Alfons , Apanaskevich Dmitry A. , Chitimia-Dobler Lidia
Published: August 2022

The genus Haemaphysalis Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) is the second-largest genus, with more than 170 described species that primarily parasitize mammals and birds (Guglielmone et al. 2014, Guglielmone et al. 2020). Haemaphysalis species are three-host ticks, mainly distributed in southern and southeastern Asia and tropical Africa (Guglielmone et al. 2014). The present study identified a tick, Haemaphysalis hoodi Warburton & Nuttall, 1909, collected from a human in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This tick species feed on birds in sub-Saharan Africa. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second record of H. hoodi from humans. In addition, 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase I sequences were generated for this species for the first time. Screening pan-Rickettsia-PCR infection gave a negative result.
“Don’t let me be misunderstood”: communication with patients from a different cultural background
Authors: Taylan Christina , Weber Lutz T.
Published: August 2022

In recent years, migration and the social changes associated with it have increasingly become the focus of scientific interest. The diversity of cultures in hospitals poses a major challenge. Medical teams are often confronted with language barriers and different concepts of illness, health, and healing. The field is wide, and in addition to foreign language skills, primarily human skills such as self-awareness, communication, and empathy are demanded. Religion also plays a role in medical care for patients with a foreign cultural background. This work is intended to provide an overview of the scientifically based necessary skills in dealing with this patient clientele and to give an insight into the personal experiences of the authors. After many years of dealing with intercultural care of patients, this experience has shown one thing above all: Sometimes, it is beyond language and just needs humanity.
Known and unknown event detection in OTDR traces by deep learning networks
Authors: Rizzo Antonino Maria , Magri Luca , Rutigliano Davide , Invernizzi Pietro , Sozio Enrico , Alippi Cesare , Binetti Stefano , Boracchi Giacomo
Published: August 2022

Optical fiber links are customarily monitored by Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR), an optoelectronic instrument that measures the scattered or reflected light along the fiber and returns a signal, namely the OTDR trace. OTDR traces are typically analyzed by experts in laboratories or by hand-crafted algorithms running in embedded systems to localize critical events occurring along the fiber. In this work, we address the problem of automatically detecting optical events in OTDR traces through a deep learning model that can be deployed in embedded systems. In particular, we take inspiration from Faster R-CNN and present the first 1D object-detection neural network for OTDR traces. Thanks to an ad-hoc preprocessing pipeline for OTDR traces, we can also identify unknown events, namely events that are not represented in training data but that might indicate rare and unforeseen situations that need to be reported. The resulting network brings several advantages with respect to existing solutions, as these typically classify fixed-size windows of OTDR traces, thus are less accurate in the localization. Moreover, existing solutions do not report events that cannot be safely associated to any label in the training set. Our experiments, performed on real OTDR traces, show very promising performance, and can be directly executed on embedded OTDR devices.
The association between preoperative MRI findings and clinical improvement in patients included in the NORDSTEN spinal stenosis trial
Authors: Aaen Jørn , Banitalebi Hasan , Austevoll Ivar Magne , Hellum Christian , Storheim Kjersti , Myklebust Tor Åge , Anvar Masoud , Weber Clemens , Solberg Tore , Grundnes Oliver , Brisby Helena , Indrekvam Kari , Hermansen Erland
Published: August 2022

Purpose

To investigate potential associations between preoperative MRI findings and patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) after surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).

Methods

The NORDSTEN trial included 437 patients. We investigated the association between preoperative MRI findings such as morphological grade of stenosis (Schizas grade), quantitative grade of stenosis (dural sac cross-sectional area), disc degeneration (Pfirrmann score), facet joint tropism and fatty infiltration of the multifidus muscle, and improvement in patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) 2 years after surgery. We dichotomized each radiological parameter into a moderate or severe category. PROMs i.e., Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Zurich Claudication Questionnaire (ZCQ) and Numeric rating scale (NRS) for back and leg pain were collected before surgery and at 2 year follow-up. In the primary analysis, we investigated the association between MRI findings and ODI score (dichotomized to ≥ 30% improvement or not). In the secondary analysis, we investigated the association between MRI findings and the mean improvement on the ODI-, ZCQ- and NRS scores. We used multivariable regression models adjusted for patients’ gender, age, smoking status and BMI.

Results

The primary analysis showed that severe disc degeneration (Pfirrmann score 4–5) was significantly associated with less chance of achieving a 30% improvement on the ODI score (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34, 0.88). In the secondary analysis, we detected no clinical relevant associations.

Conclusion

Severe disc degeneration preoperatively suggest lesser chance of achieving 30% improvement in ODI score after surgery for LSS. Other preoperative MRI findings were not associated with patient reported outcome.
Near-critical turbulent free-surface flow over a wavy bottom
Authors: Schneider Wilhelm , Murschenhofer Dominik
Published: August 2022

Steady plane turbulent free-surface flow over a slightly wavy bottom is considered for very large Reynolds numbers, very small bottom slopes, and Froude numbers close to the critical value 1. As in previous works, the slope and the deviation from the critical Froude number are assumed to be coupled such that turbulence modeling is not required. The amplitudes of the periodic bottom elevations, however, are assumed to be half an order of magnitude larger than in the previous case of bumps or ramps of finite length. Asymptotic expansions give a steady-state version of an extended Korteweg–deVries (KdV) equation for the surface elevation. The extension consists of a forcing term due to the unevenness of the bottom and a damping term due to friction at the bottom. Other flow quantities, such as pressure, flow velocity components, local Froude number and bottom friction force, can be expressed in terms of the surface elevation. Exact solutions of the extended KdV equation, describing stationary cnoidal waves, are obtained for bottoms of particular periodic shapes. As a limiting case, the solitary waves over a bottom ramp are re-obtained in accord with previous results.
A comparison of personality traits of gifted word learner and typical border collies
Authors: Fugazza C. , Turcsan B. , Sommese A. , Dror S. , Temesi A. , Miklósi A.
Published: August 2022

While personality and cognition are distinct domains, some personality traits may affect the capacity for problem-solving. It was suggested that there is a positive association between the Playfulness trait and problem-solving performance in humans. Studies on giftedness (extremely good capacity in the case of a specific skill), typically aimed to reveal the genetic, experiential, and mental origins of such extreme inter-individual variation. We exploited recent findings on giftedness in a specific cognitive skill, object label learning, in dogs to explore the potential association between this exceptional skill and personality traits. We administered the Dog Personality Questionnaire to 21 gifted dog owners and compared the personality traits of their dogs to those of matched samples of 43 Hungarian and 101 Austrian typical dogs, i.e., dogs lacking this exceptional capacity. Since most Gifted Word Learner dogs are Border collies, we restricted our analysis to dogs of this breed. We hypothesized that the Gifted Word Learner dogs may show higher levels of Playfulness. As expected, we found that the gifted Border collies were rated as more playful than both the Hungarian and Austrian typical ones. Our results suggest that an extremely high level of Playfulness is associated with giftedness in a specific cognitive trait in dogs: the capacity to learn object verbal labels, thus opening new possibilities for comparative research on the relationship between giftedness and personality.
Improving the robustness of machine reading comprehension via contrastive learning
Authors: Feng Jianzhou , Sun Jiawei , Shao Di , Cui Jinman
Published: August 2022

Pre-trained language models achieve high performance on machine reading comprehension task, but these models lack robustness and are vulnerable to adversarial samples. Most of the current methods for improving model robustness are based on data enrichment. However, these methods do not solve the problem of poor context representation of the machine reading comprehension model. We find that context representation plays a key role in the robustness of the machine reading comprehension model, dense context representation space results in poor model robustness. To deal with this, we propose a Multi-task machine Reading Comprehension learning framework via Contrastive Learning. Its main idea is to improve the context representation space encoded by the machine reading comprehension models through contrastive learning. This special contrastive learning we proposed called Contrastive Learning in Context Representation Space(CLCRS). CLCRS samples sentences containing context information from the context as positive and negative samples, expanding the distance between the answer sentence and other sentences in the context. Therefore, the context representation space of the machine reading comprehension model has been expanded. The model can better distinguish between sentence containing correct answers and misleading sentence. Thus, the robustness of the model is improved. Experiment results on adversarial datasets show that our method exceeds the comparison models and achieves state-of-the-art performance.
Self-sealing MEMS spray-nozzles to prevent bacterial contamination of portable inhalers for aqueous drug delivery
Authors: Last Torben S. , Winkler Thomas E. , Stemme Göran , Roxhed Niclas
Published: August 2022

Pulmonary drug delivery by portable inhalers is the gold standard in lung disease therapy. An increasing focus on environmentally friendly inhalation currently spurs the development of propellant-free devices. However, the absence of propellants in the drug creates a need for suitable sealing systems that can ensure the pathogenic safety of devices. Traditionally, liquid drug inhalers incorporate a spray nozzle and a separate check valve. Here we show a fully integrated MEMS-based spray system for aqueous drug solutions and demonstrate its bacterial safety. The device comprises a thin silicon membrane with spray orifices, which self-seal against a compliant parylene valve seat underneath. This sealing system prevents bacterial ingrowth in its default closed state, while actuation lifts the membrane from the valve seat upon pressurization and sprays an inhalable aerosol from the nozzles. To seal against bacterial contamination effectively, we found that a contact force between the valve seat and the membrane (featuring the spray nozzles) is needed. In our testing, both self-sealing and an otherwise identical unvalved version of the spray chip can be bacterially safe in continued use when thoroughly cleaned of excess fluids and subjected to low bacterial loads for brief periods. However, when directly exposed to $$10^{7}$$

10
7

 CFU/ml of our test organism Citrobacter rodentium for 24 h, unvalved systems become contaminated in nearly 90% of cases. In contrast, self-sealing spray chips reduced contamination probability by 70%. This development may enable preservative-free drug formulations in portable inhalers that use propellant-free aqueous drug solutions.
Evaluating the sustainability of scenarios for port city development with Boussole21 method
Authors: Ghennaï Amira , Madani Said , Hein Carola
Published: August 2022

This research aims to evaluate the sustainability of urban strategies in Skikda, a prehistoric, ancient, and Mediterranean port city of northeastern Algeria, known as by the Punic name Russicade. The port city of Skikda shows a diverse landscape of heritage sites and the industrial reality of a city, rich by its under-exploited cultural and tourist capacities. Nevertheless, the industrial port activities of the petrochemical refinery impose a state of urban vulnerability for the inhabitants and built, landscape, and natural heritage. The use of the open software Boussole21 of the "Smart" trend as a qualitative method allows assessment of decisions by the actors. The sustainability assessment (findings) shows that smart thinking contributes to the development of port performance and competitiveness in the international context.
Structural determination of the lipid A from the deep-sea bacterium Zunongwangia profunda SM-A87: a small-scale approach
Authors: Pither Molly Dorothy , Sun Mei-Ling , Speciale Immacolata , Silipo Alba , Zhang Yu-Zhong , Molinaro Antonio , Di Lorenzo Flaviana
Published: August 2022

Zunongwangia profundaSM-A87 is a deep-sea sedimentary bacterium from the phylum Bacteroidetes, representing a new genus ofFlavobacteriaceae. It was previously investigated for its capability of yielding high quantities of capsular polysaccharides (CPS) with interesting rheological properties, including high viscosity and tolerance to high salinities and temperatures. However, as a Gram-negative,Z. profundaSM-A87 also expresses lipopolysaccharides (LPS) as the main components of the external leaflet of its outer membrane. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of the glycolipid part of this LPS, i.e. the lipid A, which was achieved by-passing the extraction procedure of the full LPS and by working on the ethanol precipitation product, which contained both the CPS fraction and bacterial cells. To this aim a dual approach was adopted and all analyses confirmed the isolation ofZ. profundaSM-A87 lipid A that turned out to be a blend of species with high levels of heterogeneity both in the acylation and phosphorylation pattern, as well as in the hydrophilic backbone composition.Mono-phosphorylated tetra- and penta-acylated lipid A species were identified and characterized by a high content of branched, odd-numbered, and unsaturated fatty acid chains as well as, for some species, by the presence of a hybrid disaccharide backbone.
A Reevaluation of the Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity of the Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ)
Authors: Gomez Rapson , Watson Shaun
Published: August 2022

The 20-item Gomez and Fisher (Personal Individ Differ 35:1975–1991, 2003) Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ) is a widely used measure of spiritual well-being. Its theoretical model is a higher-order model with primary factors for personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental well-being, and a secondary global spiritual well-being factor. The current study, conducted in Australia, reevaluated the factor structure of the SWBQ. Unlike previous studies, the current study also used exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to examine the factor structure of the SWBQ and selected the preferred model using not only global model fit values, but also the clarity, reliabilities, and validities of the factors in the models. A total of 227 adults (males = 63; females = 164; M age = 26.1 years; SD = 5.2 years) completed the SWBQ. Based on the model selection criteria applied in the study, the ESEM model with four group factors was selected as the preferred model. However, there was also adequate support for the proposed theoretical higher-order model and the first-order oblique model with the four well-being factors. Concerning our preferred model, its factors showed reasonable clarity for factor loadings and (omega) reliabilities. However, only the communal domain scale was supported empirically for external validity. The implications of the findings for the theoretical model, the use of the SWBQ, and future studies are discussed. In this respect, there are three potential models (theorized higher-order model, 4-factor first-order oblique model, and the ESEM model proposed in this study) that warrant further detailed investigation with a larger, more representative population and additional validation measures.
A review on the nonlinear dynamics of hyperelastic structures
Authors: Khaniki Hossein B. , Ghayesh Mergen H. , Chin Rey , Amabili Marco
Published: August 2022

This paper presents a critical review of the nonlinear dynamics of hyperelastic structures. Hyperelastic structures often undergo large strains when subjected to external time-dependent forces. Hyperelasticity requires specific constitutive laws to describe the mechanical properties of different materials, which are characterised by a nonlinear relationship between stress and strain. Due to recent recognition of the high potential of hyperelastic structures in soft robots and other applications, and the capability of hyperelasticity to model soft biological tissues, the number of studies on hyperelastic structures and materials has grown significantly. Thus, a comprehensive explanation of hyperelastic constitutive laws is presented, and different techniques of continuum mechanics, which are suitable to model these materials, are discussed in this literature review. Furthermore, the sensitivity of each hyperelastic strain energy density function to coefficient variation is shown for some well-known hyperelastic models. Alongside this, the application of hyperelasticity to model the nonlinear dynamics of polymeric structures (e.g., beams, plates, shells, membranes and balloons) is discussed in detail with the assistance of previous studies in this field. The advantages and disadvantages of hyperelastic models are discussed in detail. This present review can stimulate the development of more accurate and reliable models.
Sudden Stops, Productivity and the Optimal Level of International Reserves for Small Open Economies
Authors: Mihailov Alexander , Nasir Harun
Published: August 2022

This paper contributes to the theory of optimal international reserves by extending the Jeanne-Rancière (Econ J 121:905-930, 2011) endowment small open economy (SOE) model to a SOE with production that accounts for the main sources of economic growth. We, first, derive a richer analytical version of the optimal reserves formula in our set-up, essentially driven by labour-augmenting productivity and the saving rate. Then, under a plausible calibration based on 1975-2020 data averages for typical emerging market countries facing the risk of sudden stops in capital inflows, we find that the optimal reserves-to-output ratio is 7.5%, i.e., the mid-point in the range between that in Jeanne and Rancière (Econ J 121:905-930, 2011), of 9.1%, calibrated to the same sample of 34 middle-income countries, and that in Bianchi et al. (Am Econ Rev 108(9):2629-2670, 2018), of 6.0%, obtained in a different, sovereign debt model without capital and production. We explain the lower optimal reserves-to-output ratio relative to the endowment SOE by the role of capital accumulation as precautionary saving: the accumulated capital stock can potentially be used as a pledge to external creditors in obtaining borrowing, thereby insuring better a SOE against sudden stops. As the countries in our sample appear quite heterogeneous, we also compute the optimal reserves-to-output ratio by region. It turns out that our extended to production insurance SOE model matches well the average reserves-to-output ratio in the data for Latin America, represented by nearly half of our sample, 16 countries, at just above 10%. Yet, for Asia, Africa and Europe our regional model-based ratios understate considerably the respective data averages, suggesting the need to explore alternative modelling approaches.
Utilizing multi-temporal thermal data to assess environmental land degradation impacts: example from Suez Canal region, Egypt
Authors: Arnous Mohamed O. , Mansour Basma M. H.
Published: August 2022

Land surface temperature (LST) analysis of satellite data is critical for studying the environmental land degradation impacts. However, challenges arise to correlate the LST and field data due to the constant development in land use and land cover (LULC). This study aims to monitor, analyze, assess, and map the environmental land degradation impacts utilizing image processing and GIS tools of satellite data and fieldwork. Two thermal and optical sets of Landsat TM + 5 and TIRS + 8 data dated 1984 and 2018 were used to map the thermal and LULC changes in the Suez Canal region (SCR). The LULC classification was categorized into water bodies, urban areas, vegetation, baren areas, wetland, clay, and salt. LULC and LST change detection results revealed that vegetation and urban areas increased in their areas in 34 years. Moreover, 97% of the SCR witnessed LST rise during this period with an average rise rate of 0.352 °C per year. The most effective LULC class changes on LST were the conversions from or to baren areas, where baren areas were converted to 630.5 km2 vegetation and 104 km2 urban areas rising the LST to 43.57 °C and 45 °C, respectively. The spectral reflectance (LSR), LST profiles, and statistical analyses examined the association between LST and LULC deriving factors. In combination with field observations, five hotspots were chosen to detect and monitor natural and human land degradation impacts on LST of the SCR environment. Land degradations detected include water pollution, groundwater rising, salinity increase, sand dune migration, and seismic activity.
Why the Spectral Radius? An intuition-building introduction to the basic reproduction number
Authors: Brouwer Andrew F.
Published: August 2022

The basic reproduction number $${\mathscr {R}}_0$$

R
0

is a fundamental concept in mathematical epidemiology and infectious disease modeling. Loosely speaking, it describes the number of people that an infectious person is expected to infect. The basic reproduction number has profound implications for epidemic trajectories and disease control strategies. It is well known that the basic reproduction number can be calculated as the spectral radius of the next generation matrix, but why this is the case may not be intuitively obvious. Here, we walk through how the discrete, next generation process connects to the ordinary differential equation disease system of interest, linearized at the disease-free equilibrium. Then, we use linear algebra to develop a geometric explanation of why the spectral radius of the next generation matrix is an epidemic threshold. Finally, we work through a series of examples that help to build familiarity with the kinds of patterns that arise in parameter combinations produced by the next generation method. This article is intended to help new infectious disease modelers develop intuition for the form and interpretation of the basic reproduction number in their disease systems of interest.
Hospitals That Serve Many Black Patients Have Lower Revenues and Profits: Structural Racism in Hospital Financing
Authors: Himmelstein Gracie , Ceasar Joniqua N , Himmelstein Kathryn EW
Published: August 2022

Background

Care for Black patients is concentrated at a relatively small proportion of all US hospitals. Some previous studies have documented quality deficits at Black-serving hospitals, which may be due to inequities in financial resources for care.

Objective

To assess disparities in funding between hospitals associated with the proportion of Black patients that they serve.

Participants

All Medicare-participating hospitals, 2016–2018.

Main Measures

Patient care revenues and profits per patient day at Black-serving hospitals (the top 10% of hospitals ranked by the share of Black patients among all Medicare inpatients) and at other hospitals, unadjusted and adjusted for differences in case mix and hospital characteristics.

Key Results

Among the 574 Black-serving hospitals, an average of 43.7% of Medicare inpatients were Black, vs. 5.2% at the 5,166 other hospitals. Black-serving hospitals were slightly larger, and were more often urban, teaching, and for-profit or government (vs. non-profit) owned. Patient care revenues and profits averaged $1,736 and $−17 per patient day respectively at Black-serving hospitals vs. $2,213 and $126 per patient day at other hospitals (p<.001 for both comparisons). Adjusted for patient case mix and hospital characteristics, mean revenues were $283 lower/patient day (p<.001) and mean profits were $111/patient day lower (p<.001) at Black-serving hospitals. Equalizing reimbursement levels would have required $14 billion in additional payments to Black-serving hospitals in 2018, a mean of approximately $26 million per Black-serving hospital.

Conclusions

US hospital financing effectively assigns a lower dollar value to the care of Black patients. To reduce disparities in care, health financing reforms should eliminate the underpayment of hospitals serving a large share of Black patients.
Participatie, systeemdenken en nog een crisis
Authors: Crutzen Rik
Published: August 2022

Samenvatting

Uitdaging en ontwikkelingen in het veld van gezondheidsbevordering worden in dit artikel beschreven aan de hand van drie perspectieven die ten grondslag liggen aan Intervention Mapping: 1) participatie incorporeren in werkprocessen; 2) systeemdenken een plaats geven binnen de mantra van evidence-based werken; en 3) definities van constructen en hun operationalisaties expliciet maken om theorie en bewijskracht te verbeteren.
Sensitivity and specificity of high frequency ultrasound score (DCEC) in diabetic peripheral neuropathy
Authors: Huang Hailun , Tang Chao , Li Mi , Huang Jing , Li Yan , Wu Shan
Published: August 2022

Objectives

To summarize the ultrasonic characteristics of peripheral nerve damage in type 2 diabetes and to verify the diagnostic value of DCEC score for DPN.

Methods

A total of 289 patients with type 2 diabetes evaluated peripheral neuropathy with neuroultrasound and nerve conduction at the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University from June 2016 to June 2020. According to the diagnostic criteria from 2017 guidelines of China, 289 patients with type 2 diabetes were divided into three groups: DPN group: 203 cases; subclinical group: 48 cases; and non-DPN group: 38 cases. Kruskal Wallis test was used to identify the differences and characteristics of ultrasound scores between the all groups. The best cut-off value, sensitivity and specificity of DCEC score were obtained by receiver operator characteristic curve. Taking the diagnostic standard of diabetes peripheral neuropathy as the “gold standard”, the best diagnostic threshold, sensitivity and specificity were obtained by drawing the ROC curve of DCEC score, and then the diagnostic value of DCEC score for DPN was verified

Results

Compared with non-DPN group, DCEC score in DPN group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). Otherwise,according to the ROC curve, the best cut-off value of DCEC score for DPN diagnosis was 12.5 (sensitivity 69.7%, specificity 71.1%).

Conclusions

The DCEC score system can effectively diagnose DPN with length-dependence,mainly including the increase of definition score.
Loop space decompositions of $$(2n-2)$$-connected $$(4n-1)$$-dimensional Poincaré Duality complexes
Authors: Huang Ruizhi , Theriault Stephen
Published: August 2022

Beben and Wu showed that ifMis a$$(2n-2)$$(2n-2)-connected$$(4n-1)$$(4n-1)-dimensional Poincaré Duality complex such that$$n\ge 3$$n≥3and$$H^{2n}(M;{{\mathbb {Z}}})$$H2n(M;Z)consists only of odd torsion, then$$\Omega M$$ΩMcan be decomposed up to homotopy as a product of simpler, well-studied spaces. We use a result from Beben and Theriault (Doc Math 27:183-211, 2022) to greatly simplify and enhance Beben and Wu’s work and to extend it in various directions.
GRAN: graph recurrent attention network for pedestrian orientation classification
Authors: Li Xiao , Ma Shexiang , Shan Liqing , Liu Sheng , Chai Song , Li Xiao
Published: August 2022

In complex traffic scenes, accurate identification of pedestrian orientations can help drivers determine pedestrian trajectories and help reduce traffic accidents. However, there are still many challenges in pedestrian orientation recognition. First, due to the irregular appearance of pedestrians, it is difficult for general Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to extract discriminative features. In addition, more features of body parts help to judge the orientation of pedestrians. For example, head, arms and legs. However, they are usually small and not conducive to feature extraction. Therefore, in this work, we use several discrete values to define the orientation of pedestrians, and propose a Gated Graph Neural Network (GGNN)-based Graph Recurrent Attention Network (GRAN) to classify the orientation of pedestrians. The contributions are as follows: (1) We construct a body parts graph consisting of head, arms and legs on the feature maps output by the CNN backbone. (2) Mining the dependencies between body parts on the graph via the proposed GRAN, and utilizing the encoder–decoder to propagate features among graph nodes. (3) In this process, we propose an adjacency matrix with attention edge weights to dynamically represent graph node relationships, and the edge weights are learned during network training. To evaluate the proposed method, we conduct experiments on three different benchmarks (PDC, PDRD, and Cityscapes) with 8, 3, and 4 orientations, respectively. Note that the orientation labels for PDRD and Cityscapes are annotated by our hand. The proposed method achieves 97%, 91% and 90% classification accuracy on the three data sets, respectively. The results are all higher than current state-of-the-art methods, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Frontoparietal connectivity, Sensory Features, and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Sarmukadam Kimaya , Bitsika Vicki , Sharpley Christopher F.
Published: August 2022

Objectives

Because atypical global neural connectivity has been documented in autistic youth, but only limited data are available regarding the association between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), sensory features (SF), and neural connectivity between frontal and parietal brain regions, these links were investigated in a sample of male autistic children and adolescents.

Methods

Forty-one autistic males aged between 6 and 18 years and their mothers were recruited as volunteer participants from Queensland, Australia. Participants underwent 3 min of eyes-closed and 3 min of eyes-opened electroencephalography (EEG) under resting conditions. EEG connectivity was investigated using Granger causality between frontal and parietal regions in alpha (8–13 Hz) and beta (13–30 Hz) bands.

Results

There was a significant (p < .01) positive correlation between SF and GAD. GAD was associated with some characteristics of SF in the sample population. Additionally, there was a significant (p < .01) inverse correlation between directional frontoparietal connectivity and SF during the eyes-closed condition, specifically in relation to avoiding stimuli and sensitivity to the environment.

Conclusions

Reduced frontoparietal connectivity in association with higher anxiety and SF may demonstrate reduced relaxation due to greater sensitivity to sensory input.
Evaluation of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of purine-2,6-dione-based TRPA1 antagonists with PDE4/7 inhibitory activity
Authors: Zygmunt Małgorzata , Ślusarczyk Marietta , Jankowska Agnieszka , Świerczek Artur , Bryła Adrian , Mogilski Szczepan , Kazek Grzegorz , Sapa Jacek , Wyska Elżbieta , Chłoń-Rzepa Grażyna
Published: August 2022

Background

To verify the validity of the proposed pain treatment approach, which is based on concomitant blocking of the Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel and phosphodiesterases (PDEs) 4B/7A activity, we continued our pharmacological studies on 8-alkoxypurine-2,6-diones selected based on previous in vitro screening.

Methods

Derivatives17,31, and36were pharmacologically evaluated in vivo using the formalin test and oxaliplatin-induced neuropathic pain: the von Frey and the cold plate tests, and in the carrageenan-induced edema model. Compound36, which turned out to be the most promising, was further evaluated in the collagen-induced arthritis model. The pharmacokinetic parameters of this compound were also estimated.

Results

All the tested compounds exhibited significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. Compound36was additionally characterized by an antiarthritic effect and showed a favorable pharmacokinetic profile in rats.

Conclusion

The compounds evaluated in this study represent a new class of derivatives with analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities that involve TRPA1 antagonism and PDE4/7 inhibition.

Graphical abstract
(Hidden) potentials for African languages in curriculum reforms: examples from Kenya and South Africa
Authors: Kretzer Michael M. , Oluoch-Suleh Everlyn
Published: August 2022

Education systems are globally reformed to focus more on competencies and be more pupil-centred. Post-colonial countries like Kenya and South Africa face severe educational challenges regarding access, language policy and the quality of education. Both countries share a colonial history under the British Empire. South Africa rolled out its Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) curriculum, but soon reformed and later changed it substantially to the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Kenya implemented their Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BECF) only recently in 2017, which represents a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). Both curricula do not have language policy as a priority, although many children in both countries have very limited exposure and competencies in English, the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in Kenya and South Africa. They can read English words in lessons, but quite often cannot explain their meaning. A semi-systematic literature review was conducted to analyse common or similar and different patterns in both countries as well as the academic representation of it. Together with own previous research, the study revealed that ideally language policy and curricular reforms need to be addressed simultaneously.
Gamma Generalized Logistic Distribution: Properties and Applications
Authors: Kumar C. Satheesh , Manju L.
Published: August 2022

In this paper we consider a new class of asymmetric logistic distribution that contains both the type I and type II generalized logistic distributions of Balakrishnan and Leung (Commun Stat Simul Comput 17(1):25–50, 1988) as its special cases. We investigate some important properties of the distribution such as expressions for its mean, variance, characteristic function, measure of skewness and kurtosis, entropy etc. along with the distribution of its order statistics. A location-scale extension of the distribution is defined and discussed the maximum likelihood estimation of its parameters. Further, two real life medical data sets are utilized for illustrating the usefulness of the model and a simulation study is conducted for examining the performance of the maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters of the distribution.
Effect of chemotherapy and tumor clearance in hepatic resections for colorectal liver metastases. A single-centre cohort study.
Authors: Perdomo Mauro , Botto German , Reid Jessica , Clarke Jessie , Gonzalez Daniel , Maddern Guy
Published: August 2022

ABSTRACT

Background:

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer and accounts for the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Up to 50% of CRC patients develop synchronous (10–20%) or metachronous liver deposits (20–30%). Hepatic resection is the gold standard and only curative treatment for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). While excision significantly improves survival outcomes, more than 50% of patients experience recurrence after primary hepatic resection and usually, within the first 24 months after surgery.

Objective:

To determine rates and patterns of recurrence following liver resections for CRLM at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Adelaide, Australia), and concurrently, characterise clinical, pathological, and treatment-related factors that could function as predictors of recurrence or survival, particularly neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and tumour clearance.

Methods:

Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of 170 patients between 2004 and 2020, who underwent liver resections for CRLM at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Results:

The prevalence of recurrence following liver resection for CRLM was 53.5% (84/157), with recurrence most likely to occur during the first 12 months post-surgery (median 209 days). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a higher recurrence (X2 = 10.587, p-value = 0.001) rate in the univariate and multivariate analysis while resection margins greater than 1 mm showed to decrease the recurrence rate (X2 3.898, p = 0.047). Recurrence was significantly associated with a decreased overall survival (HR 2.58 [1.73; 3.85], p < 0.001), while neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed a negative non-significant marginal effect.

Conclusion:

Despite the development of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for CRC and CRLM, the recurrence incidence remains high, and survival low. The role and impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and resection margins should continue to be reviewed to improve therapeutic outcomes for CRLM.

Highlights
Has the COVID-19 pandemic widened the gender gap in paid work hours in Spain?
Authors: Blázquez Maite , Herrarte Ainhoa , Moro-Egido Ana I.
Published: August 2022

This paper analyzes the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the within-household gender gap in relation to paid work hours in full-time employed heterosexual couples in Spain. Using the Spanish Labor Force Survey (2019–2020) and a difference-in-differences method, we analyze three stages of the pandemic: strict lockdown, de-escalation, and partial closures to study the short-term effects and potential medium-term effects on gender inequality in terms of paid work hours. Our results suggest that during the strict lockdown period there was a tendency to fall back on traditional family gendered patterns to manage the work–life balance, especially when young children are present in male-headed households. However, this phenomenon seems to be a short-term consequence of the pandemic. The sector of activity (essential or non-essential) has also played a key role, the gender gap increased in male-headed households with female partners employed in non-essential sectors.
Making Space to Save Lives: A Critical Role for the Hospitalist During Mass Casualty Incidents
Authors: DeLuca Michael A. , Greenwald Jeffrey L. , Manners Philip B. , Knuesel Steven , Biddinger Paul D.
Published: August 2022

Objective:

An effective hospital response to mass casualty incidents (MCIs) requires rapid mobilization of personnel capable of caring for critically ill trauma patients and availability of resuscitation resources.

Methods:

Hospitals facing an MCI wrestle with the challenge of immediately adjusting their overextended clinical operations to resuscitate a large number of rapidly arriving patients without compromising the care of existing patients.

Results:

Hospitalists are well positioned to add significant value by off-loading the emergency department (ED) given their broad clinical expertise. We describe our institution’s protocol to generate immediate and sustained surge capacity by integrating our hospitalist service into MCI response.

Conclusions:

Our protocol details the safe and rapid transfer of care of existing ED patients to hospitalist teams to make ED staff and space available to care for incoming MCI patients.
Public Perception About Pandemic Situation and Preparedness Towards a Probable Lockdown in an Affected Indian State Amidst the Second Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Authors: Gupta Shibaji , De Abhishek , Banerjee Rudradeep , Sinha Gupta Sharmistha , Chakraborty Arup
Published: August 2022

Objective:

The COVID-19 second wave badly affected India. This study assessed public preparedness and attitude towards a new lockdown in the state of West Bengal (WB) along with perception about the COVID pandemic situation.

Methods:

An anonymous questionnaire was administered to all willing adult attendees of a COVID vaccination centre in Kolkata, capital city of WB. Logistic regression was applied to find the relationship between attitude towards lockdown and other selected independent variables.

Results:

Of the 839 persons analyzed, 72.0% were non-health workers; and 55.4% thought that available vaccines reduce COVID-19 risk. Among them, 54.4% wanted stricter guidelines imposed. For preparedness, 42.6% and 28.8% said they would stock additional food and medicines respectively. On multiple logistic regression, being female, having elderly family members, perceiving the second wave as worse, and favouring stricter restrictions, all had odds of favourable attitude towards the new, proposed lockdown.

Conclusions:

A new lockdown was favoured by the majority. However, a well-planned and phased approach for this is needed in the light of many concerns about the previous lockdown. Mental health issues, financial security, medical help at hand, and ease of travel to workplaces are important issues that need to be addressed in case of future lockdown(s).
Belonging and Identity: Past and Present - Discussed: Kinship, Law and Politics: An Anatomy of Belonging. By Joseph E. David. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. 156. $110.00 (cloth); $88.00 (digital). ISBN: 9781108499682.
Authors: David Joseph E.
Published: August 2022

Like many others, I believe that the information revolution is a constitutive moment in human history, and not only because of the development of technologies that change our habits and improve the quality of our lives. More than anything else, it is because the information revolution profoundly and dramatically changes our self-concept. That revolution is changing our understanding of the place we occupy in the universe (the erosion of anthropocentrism), forcing us to rethink our uniqueness as human beings and our human essence. I believe that the preconditions of our existence are changing dramatically nowadays, and consequently, our notions of belonging and identity require revision.
Race, Equality, Citizenship, and Belonging: Reading James Baldwin andWong Kim Ark
Authors: Green M. Christian , True David , Allard Silas W. , Lloyd Vincent
Published: August 2022

The following essays are part of a collaboration between theJournal of Law and ReligionandPolitical Theology.Editors from both journals selected the two texts interrogated and interpreted here—James Baldwin’s essay “Equal in Paris” and the United States Supreme Court decision in the caseUnited States v. Wong Kim Ark(1898). The purpose of the collaboration was twofold. The first purpose was to see what new interpretations arise when scholars working primarily in law read the essay by Baldwin, who has been a touchstone in much contemporary Black theology, and when scholars working in religious studies read the legal decision inWong Kim Ark, a case in which the Supreme Court extended citizenship to the child of Chinese immigrants who conceived and bore him on American soil. The second purpose was to divide publication between the journals, with each journal publishing three of the six essays, with a view to building bridges between readers of each journal over a topic at the intersection of both law and political theology.
Conversational implicatures cannot save divine command theory from the counterpossible terrible commands objection
Authors: Choo Frederick
Published: August 2022

Critics of Divine Command Theory (DCT) have advanced the counterpossible terrible commands objection. They argue that DCT implies the counterpossible ‘If a necessarily morally perfect God commanded us to perform a terrible act, then the terrible act would be morally obligatory.’ However, this counterpossible is false. Hence, DCT is false. Philipp Kremers has proposed that the intuition that the counterpossible above is false is due to conversational implicatures. By providing a pragmatic explanation for the intuition, he thinks that DCT proponents can then maintain that the counterpossible is actually true. In this article, I argue that Kremers's conversational implicature response fails because (a) there is good reason to think that no conversational implicature arises given what critics of DCT have expressed, (b) a competent reader would not understand the critics' utterance that TCC is false as implicating that TCC* is false, and (c) the counterpossible terrible commands objection can be easily modified to be immune to the conversational implicature response by cancelling any potential implicature. Thus, an appeal to conversational implicatures cannot save DCT from the counterpossible terrible commands objection.