bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome: rare presentation in an elderly man
Authors: Shah Darshil Sunilbhai , Shah Utsav Shailesh , Kumaresan Natarajan
Published: July 2020

Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome has been described as a disease of internal male pseudohermaphroditism, a rare autosomal recessive disease, characterised by persistent Mullerian derivatives in patients with male pattern 46, XY karyotype and normal pattern virilisation. We present a case of an elderly man, who on evaluation for bilateral undescended testes was found to have a pelvic mass suggestive of malignant transformation of an undescended testis on imaging. On surgical exploration, uterus with multiple fibroids, bilateral fallopian tubes, cervix and bilateral atrophic testes were identified. Interestingly, in this case, imaging (contrastCT and MRI) had missed Mullerian structures due to varied presentation, but exploration and excision of the structures followed by their histopathology revealed uterine leiomyomas and confirmed other Mullerian structures (bilateral fallopian tubes, cervix) with bilateral testes.
Müllerianosis of the urinary bladder with unilateral complete renal agenesis: a rare coincidental finding causing delayed presentation
Authors: Rajaian Shanmugasundaram , Murugasen Lakshman , Jain Deepti , Chakravarthy Narasimhachar Srinivas
Published: July 2020

Müllerianosis is a rare benign lesion of the urinary bladder, which is constituted by two or more of the Müllerian-duct-derived tissues. We report a 45-year-old perimenopausal multiparous woman presenting with occasional episodes of dysuria and lower abdominal discomfort of recent duration. Ultrasound examination revealed a well-defined lesion in urinary bladder and the absence of left kidney. Contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen confirmed the findings. During diagnostic cystoscopy, haemorrhagic polypoidal lesions were noted in the left side of the posterolateral wall and dome of urinary bladder along with the absence of left ureteric orifice. Transurethral resection of the bladder lesions was done and histology examination confirmed the diagnosis of Müllerianosis. She was administered Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist monthly. At 1 year of follow-up, cystoscopy showed only scar tissue. The case was reported for the rarity of Müllerianosis noted in a patient with unilateral agenesis of kidney, a possible cause of delayed presentation.
Lingual compression for acute macroglossia in a COVID-19 positive patient
Authors: Andrews Erickson , Lezotte Jonathan , Ackerman Adam M
Published: July 2020

We describe a 40-year-old woman with severe, persistent macroglossia following prone positioning as part of treatment for COVID-19. We used the treatment method of lingual compression with satisfactory results.
Is kinesiophobia and pain catastrophising at baseline associated with chronic pain and disability in whiplash-associated disorders? A systematic review
Authors: Luque-Suarez Alejandro , Falla Deborah , Morales-Asencio Jose Miguel , Martinez-Calderon Javier
Published: July 2020

Background

Kinesiophobia and pain catastrophising may be associated with patients’ transition from having acute to chronic pain following a whiplash injury.

Objective

To systematically review and critically appraise the literature to determine whether kinesiophobia and pain catastrophising are associated with greater likelihood of patients developing chronic pain and disability following a whiplash injury.

Design

A systematic review of the literature

Data sources

Electronic searches of PubMed, AMED, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and PubPsych, and grey literature were undertaken from inception to September 2017.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies

Study selection was based on longitudinal studies evaluating how kinesiophobia and/or pain catastrophising at baseline are associated with pain intensity, disability or both after a whiplash injury.

Results

We included 14 longitudinal studies that described 12 independent cohorts with a total sample of 2733 participants with whiplash-associated disorder. Kinesiophobia at baseline was not associated with pain intensity over time (three studies). Whether kinesiophobia at baseline was associated with disability was unclear as results were conflicting (six studies). There were also conflicting results when we examined the association between pain catastrophising and both pain intensity (five studies) and disability (eight studies).

Summary/conclusions

Kinesiophobia at baseline was not associated with pain intensity over time. There were conflicting results for the remaining analyses. The size of the associations was small. The overall quality of the evidence was very low.

Trial registration number

CRD42016053864.
Improvements to postprandial glucose control in subjects with type 2 diabetes: a multicenter, double blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial of a novel probiotic formulation
Authors: Perraudeau Fanny , McMurdie Paul , Bullard James , Cheng Andrew , Cutcliffe Colleen , Deo Achal , Eid John , Gines Jessica , Iyer Mohan , Justice Nicholas , Loo Wesley T , Nemchek Madeleine , Schicklberger Marcus , Souza Michael , Stoneburner Brendon , Tyagi Surabhi , Kolterman Orville
Published: July 2020

Introduction

A growing body of evidence suggests that specific, naturally occurring gut bacteria are under-represented in the intestinal tracts of subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and that their functions, like gut barrier stability and butyrate production, are important to glucose and insulin homeostasis. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that enteral exposure to microbes with these proposed functions can safely improve clinical measures of glycemic control and thereby play a role in the overall dietary management of diabetes.

Research design and methods

We evaluated whether a probiotic comprised of these anaerobic bacteria would enhance dietary management by (1) manufacturing two novel probiotic formulations containing three (WBF-010) or five (WBF-011) distinct strains in a Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility, (2) establishing consistent live-cell concentrations, (3) confirming safety at target concentrations dispensed in both animal and human studies and (4) conducting a 12-week parallel, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof-of-concept study in which subjects previously diagnosed with T2D (n=76) were randomly assigned to a two times a day regimen of placebo, WBF-010 or WBF-011.

Results

No safety or tolerability issues were observed. Compared with the placebo group, subjects administered WBF-011 (which contains inulin,Akkermansia muciniphila, Clostridium beijerinckii, Clostridium butyricum, Bifidobacterium infantisandAnaerobutyricum hallii) significantly improved in the primary outcome, glucose total area under the curve (AUC): −36.1 mg/dL/180 min, p=0.0500 and also improved in secondary outcomes, glycated hemoglobin (A1c): −0.6, glucose incremental-AUC: −28.6 mg/dL/180 min.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial to administer four of the five strains to human subjects with T2D. This proof-of-concept study (clinical trial numberNCT03893422) shows that the intervention was safe and well tolerated and that supplementation with WBF-011 improves postprandial glucose control. The limited sample size and intersubject variability justifies future studies designed to confirm and expand on these observations.
Safety decision-making and planning mobile app for intimate partner violence prevention and response: randomised controlled trial in Kenya
Authors: Decker Michele R , Wood Shannon N , Hameeduddin Zaynab , Kennedy S Rachel , Perrin Nancy , Tallam Catherine , Akumu Irene , Wanjiru Irene , Asira Ben , Frankel Ariel , Omondi Benjamin , Case James , Clough Amber , Otieno Richard , Mwiti Morris , Glass Nancy
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Intimate partner violence (IPV) threatens women’s health and safety globally, yet services remain underdeveloped and inaccessible. Technology-based resources exist, however, few have been adapted and tested in low-resource settings. We evaluate the efficacy of a community-partnered technology solution: culturally and linguistically adapted version of the myPlan app, a tailored safety decision-making and planning intervention, administrated by trained lay professionals.

Methods

This randomised, controlled, participant-blinded superiority trial compares safety-related outcomes at baseline, immediate post intervention and 3-month follow-up among women at risk of and experiencing IPV in Nairobi, Kenya. Women were randomised (1:1 ratio) to: (1) myPlan Kenya (intervention); or (2) standard IPV referrals (control). Primary outcomes were safety preparedness, safety behaviour and IPV; secondary outcomes include resilience, mental health, service utilisation and self-blame.

Results

Between April 2018 and October 2018, 352 participants (n=177 intervention, n=175 control) were enrolled and randomly assigned; 312 (88.6%, n=157 intervention, n=155 control) were retained at 3 months. Intervention participants demonstrated immediate postintervention improvement in safety preparedness relative to control participants (p=0.001). At 3 months, intervention participants reported increased helpfulness of safety strategies used relative to control participants (p=0.004); IPV reduced in both groups. Among women reporting the highest level of IPV severity, intervention participants had significant increase in resilience (p<0.01) compared with controls, and significantly decreased risk for lethal violence (p<0.01).

Conclusions

Facilitated delivery of a technology-based safety intervention appropriately adapted to the context demonstrates promise in improving women’s IPV-related health and safety in a low-resource, urban setting.

Trial registration number

Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR201804003321122).
Herpes simplex virus type 1 in Europe: systematic review, meta-analyses and meta-regressions
Authors: Yousuf Wajiha , Ibrahim Hania , Harfouche Manale , Abu Hijleh Farah , Abu-Raddad Laith
Published: July 2020

Objective

To describe the epidemiology of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in Europe.

Methods

We systematically reviewed HSV-1 related publications, conducted various meta-analyses and meta-regressions, assessed pooled mean seroprevalence, and estimated pooled mean proportions of HSV-1 viral detection in clinically diagnosed genital ulcer disease (GUD) and in genital herpes.

Results

We extracted, from 142 relevant records, 179 overall (622 stratified) seroprevalence measures, 4 overall proportions of HSV-1 in GUD and 64 overall (162 stratified) proportions of HSV-1 in genital herpes. Pooled mean seroprevalence was 67.4% (95% CI 65.5% to 69.3%) with 32.5% (95% CI 29.4% to 35.7%) of children and 74.4% (95% CI 72.8% to 76.0%) of adults infected. Pooled seroprevalence increased steadily with age, being lowest in those aged <20 years (39.3%, 95% CI 35.9% to 42.7%) and highest in those aged >50 years (82.9%, 95% CI 78.8% to 86.6%). Pooled seroprevalence decreased yearly by 0.99-fold (95% CI 0.99 to 1.00). Pooled mean proportion of HSV-1 detection was 13.6% (95% CI 4.1% to 27.1%) in GUD, 34.1% (95% CI 31.7% to 36.5%) in genital herpes and 49.3% (95% CI 42.2% to 56.4%) in first episode genital herpes. Pooled proportion of HSV-1 detection in genital herpes increased yearly by 1.01-fold (95% CI 1.00 to 1.02), with higher detection in women (42.0%, 95% CI 37.4% to 46.7%) than men (24.1%, 95% CI 19.8% to 28.6%).

Conclusions

HSV-1 epidemiology is transitioning away from its historical pattern of oral acquisition in childhood. Every year, seroprevalence is declining by 1% and the proportion of HSV-1 in genital herpes is increasing by 1%. As many as two-thirds of children are reaching sexual debut unexposed, and at risk of HSV-1 genital acquisition in adulthood.
Assessing the utility of cardiorespiratory fitness, visceral fat, and liver fat in predicting changes in insulin sensitivity beyond simple changes in body weight after exercise training in adolescents
Authors: Kuk Jennifer L. , Lee SoJung
Published: July 2020

To examine the utility of changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body composition in response to exercise training in adolescents with obesity beyond simple measures of body weight change. This is a secondary analysis of our previously published randomized trials of aerobic, resistance, and combined training. We included 104 adolescents (body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile) who had complete baseline and post-intervention data for CRF, regional body fat, insulin sensitivity, and oral glucose tolerance. Associations between changes in body composition and CRF with cardiometabolic variables were examined adjusted for age, sex, Tanner stage, race, exercise group, and weight loss. At baseline, CRF, visceral fat and liver fat were correlated with insulin sensitivity with and without adjustment for BMI percentile. Training-associated changes in CRF, visceral fat, and liver fat were also correlated with insulin sensitivity changes, but not independent of body weight change. After accounting for body weight change, none of the body composition or CRF were associated with changes in insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, systolic blood pressure, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Although CRF and body composition were strong independent correlates of insulin sensitivity at baseline, changes in CRF and visceral fat were not associated with changes in insulin sensitivity after accounting for body weight change. Clinicaltrials.gov registration nos.: NCT00739180, NCT01323088, NCT01938950.

Novelty With exercise training, changes in body weight, CRF, visceral fat, and liver fat were correlated with changes in insulin sensitivity. Changes in body composition or CRF generally did not remain significant correlates of changes in insulin sensitivity after adjusting for body weight changes.
Pile driveability in low- to medium-density chalk
Authors: Buckley R.M. , Kontoe S. , Jardine R.J. , Barbosa P. , Schroeder F.C.
Published: July 2020

Pile driving in low- to medium-density chalk is subject to significant uncertainty. Predictions of “chalk resistance to driving” (CRD) often vary considerably from field driving behaviour, with both pile refusals and free falls under zero load being reported. However, recent field studies have led to better understanding of the processes that control the wide range of behaviour seen in the field. This paper describes the primary outcomes of the analysis of dynamic tests at an onshore and an offshore site and uses the results to propose a new method to predict CRD. The method is based on phenomena identified experimentally: the relationship between cone penetration resistance and CRD, the attenuation of local stresses as driving advances, and the operational effective stress interface shear failure characteristics. The proposed method is evaluated through back-analyses of driving records from independent pile installation cases that were not included in developing the method, but involved known ground conditions, hammer characteristics, and applied energies. The proposed method is shown to lead to more reliable predictions of CRD than the approaches currently applied by industry.
Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of threadfin breams (Nemipterus spp.) from the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Ogwang Joel , Bariche Michel , Bos Arthur R.
Published: July 2020

The present work utilized partial sequences of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) to study Red Sea populations of threadfin breams (Nemipteridae), and compare their genetic diversity to that of Mediterranean Sea (Nemipterus randalli only) and Indo-Pacific populations. A Maximum Likelihood tree separated four fish species — N. randalli, N. japonicus, N. bipunctatus, and N. zysron — into four clades. Haplotype analyses revealed a strong case of the founder effect for the Lessepsian migrant N. randalli: Three haplotypes represented all sampled geographical ranges in the Mediterranean Sea and only one haplotype was shared with a Red Sea individual, presenting evidence that the colonizing population was founded by a small number of migrants. The Red Sea population of N. japonicus shared haplotypes with Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean populations, but South China Sea populations remained fully isolated. The haplotype networks of N. randalli and N. bipunctatus also revealed haplotype sharing between Red Sea and Indian Ocean populations. For N. zysron, one haplotype was shared between Indonesia and the Persian Gulf. We discuss the impact of continued usage of public database sequences of initially misidentified organisms and provide recommendations for avoiding distribution of sequences with incorrect scientific names.
Electronically Tunable Memcapacitor Emulator Based on Operational Transconductance Amplifiers
Authors: Konal Mustafa , Kacar Firat
Published: July 2020

Memory circuit elements are of interest due to their use in different fields of science and technology. In this research, a new multi-outputs operational transconductance amplifiers (MO-OTA)-based memcapacitor emulator is proposed. The proposed emulator employs two OTAs, two capacitors, two resistors and an analog multiplier. The memcapacitor emulator circuit has electronically tunability property. Charge value of the memcapacitor can be adjusted by changing the transconductance [Formula: see text] value with the biasing current of the MO-OTA or frequency value of the input signal. In order to analyze the performance of the proposed circuit, memcapacitor emulator is simulated in 0.18[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m TSMC CMOS process using LTSPICE and the simulation results are demonstrated.
Distributive laws between the operads Lie and Com
Authors: Bremner Murray , Dotsenko Vladimir
Published: July 2020

Using methods of computer algebra, especially, Gröbner bases for submodules of free modules over polynomial rings, we solve a classification problem in theory of algebraic operads: we show that the only nontrivial (possibly inhomogeneous) distributive law between the operad of Lie algebras and the operad of commutative associative algebras is given by the Livernet–Loday formula deforming the Poisson operad into the associative operad.
State-of-the-Art of Vehicle-Based Methods for Detecting Various Properties of Highway Bridges and Railway Tracks
Authors: Yang Y. B. , Wang Zhi-Lu , Shi Kang , Xu Hao , Wu Y. T.
Published: July 2020

The vehicle scanning method (VSM), an indirect approach for bridge measurement, has attracted intensive attention since it was proposed. By this method, a moving test vehicle is employed to detect the “mechanical” properties of the bridge, e.g. frequencies, mode shapes, damages, etc., utilizing the interaction between the two substructures. Compared with the conventional direct approach that requires quite a few sensors and data loggers to be fitted on the bridge, the advantage of the VSM is obvious: mobility, economy, and efficiency. As for railways, the broader vehicle-based techniques have long been used to detect the “geometrical” properties of the track, such as track profiles and rail conditions. Relatively little use has been made of the interaction between the moving vehicle/train and the track/bridge. This paper is a state-of-the-art report of the VSM’s applications to highway bridges and the vehicle-based techniques to railway tracks. It starts with a summary of the pioneering works by Yang and co-workers on the VSM. Then, the applications of the techniques to highway bridges and railway tracks will be separately reviewed. Conclusions will be made, along with future research directions, at the end of the paper.
The Link Between Transformational Leadership and Knowledge Sharing: Mediating Role of Distributive, Procedural and Interactional Justice
Authors: Phong Le Ba , Son Than Thanh
Published: July 2020

Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study investigates the influences of transformational leadership (TL) and specific aspects of justice on employee knowledge sharing (KS) behaviours, namely, knowledge collecting (KC) and knowledge donating (KD). Structural equations modelling (SEM) is applied to examine the correlation among the latent factors using data collected from 365 participants at 85 large manufacturing and service firms. The findings indicated that distributive justice (DJ), procedural justice (PJ) and interactional justice (IJ) act as mediating roles in the relationship between TL and KS processes. Specifically, TL and DJ have more significant effects on KD, whereas PJ and IJ have more significant effects on KC. From a practical perspective, the study brings more deep understanding for directors/managers about the effective pathway to improve KC and KD. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis, which can be used to analyze relationships TL, aspects of justice and KS behaviours. The paper, therefore, significantly extends and refines theories of leadership and social exchange.
Mindful and Mindless Anthropomorphism: How to Facilitate Consumer Comprehension Towards New Products
Authors: Esfahani Mona Seyed , Reynolds Nina , Ashleigh Melanie
Published: July 2020

Individual’s perception of anthropomorphic platforms in promotion of really new products or novel innovations has not been examined fully. There are contradictions in the academic literature on how various presentations of social cues are perceived by audience mindlessly or mindfully. Perceived mindful and mindless anthropomorphism are explored in this study in order to understand its effect on individuals’ attitude, purchase intention and comprehension of new products. A single factor between-subject design using two innovative products and websites with four levels of social cues (voice, language, interactivity and social role) was used. Five hundred participants took part in the main experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to each experimental group. The analysis indicated that a human-like avatar is preferred by individuals over static avatar and perceived higher mindlessly. Interactive content didn’t improve individuals’ perceived mindless anthropomorphism. There was no significant increase in individuals’ mindful anthropomorphism in any condition. The study indicated perceived mindless anthropomorphism results into better comprehension, attitude and purchase intention towards really new products.
Spatial Relational Attention Using Fully Convolutional Networks for Image Caption Generation
Authors: Jiang Teng , Gong Liang , Yang Yupu
Published: July 2020

Attention-based encoder–decoder framework has greatly improved image caption generation tasks. The attention mechanism plays a transitional role by transforming static image features into sequential captions. To generate reasonable captions, it is of great significance to detect spatial characteristics of images. In this paper, we propose a spatial relational attention approach to consider spatial positions and attributes. Image features are firstly weighted by the attention mechanism. Then they are concatenated with contextual features to form a spatial–visual tensor. The tensor is feature extracted by a fully convolutional network to produce visual concepts for the decoder network. The fully convolutional layers maintain spatial topology of images. Experiments conducted on the three benchmark datasets, namely Flickr8k, Flickr30k and MSCOCO, demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach. Captions generated by the spatial relational attention method precisely capture spatial relations of objects.
Completely monotonicity of class functions involving the polygamma and related functions
Authors: Ravi B. , Venakata Lakshmi A.
Published: July 2020

In this paper, the authors prove some inequalities and completely monotonic properties of polygamma functions. As an application, we give lower bound for the zeta function on natural numbers. Partially, we answer the fifth and sixth open problems listed in [F. Qi and R. P. Agarwal, On complete monotonicity for several classes of functions related to ratios of gamma functions, J. Inequalities Appl. 2019(36) (2019) 42]. We propose two open problems on completely monotonic functions related to polygamma functions.
An elementary proof of Peng’s central limit theorem under sub-linear expectations
Authors: Chen Zengjing , Zhang Ziwu
Published: July 2020

Motivated by studies in mathematical finance, S. Peng established a central limit theorem (CLT) under sub-linear expectations by using partial differential equations (PDEs). In this paper, we provide a novel proof of Peng’s CLT in the frame of sub-linear expectation. Our method is not only elementary in the sense that it does not use PDEs, but also more applicable because we only require the random variables to satisfy a reasonable condition which coincides with the classical Lindeberg’s condition when the sub-linear expectation reduces to a linear expectation.
Attenuating loss of cardiac conduction during no-flow ischemia through changes in perfusate sodium and calcium
Authors: Hoeker Gregory S. , James Carissa C. , Tegge Allison N. , Gourdie Robert G. , Smyth James W. , Poelzing Steven
Published: July 2020

Conduction slowing during acute ischemia creates an arrhythmogenic substrate. We have shown that extracellular ionic concentrations can alter conduction by modulating ephaptic coupling. Here, we demonstrate increased extracellular sodium and calcium significantly attenuate conduction slowing during no-flow ischemia. This effect was associated with selective widening of the perinexus, an intercalated disc nanodomain and putative cardiac ephapse. These findings suggest that acute changes in ephaptic coupling may serve as an adaptive response to ischemic stress.
Association of Uric Acid in Serum and Urine with Arterial Stiffness: Hanzhong Adolescent Hypertension Study
Authors: Wang Yang , Zhang Xiao-Yu , Gao Wei-Hua , Du Ming-Fei , Chu Chao , Wang Dan , Chen Chen , Yuan Yue , Ma Qiong , Liao Yue-Yuan , Yan Yu , Wang Ke-Ke , Zhang Jie , Gao Ke , Li Chun-Hua , Li Hao , Ma Qiong , Hu Jia-Wen , Zou Ting , Sun Yue , Li Min , Zhou Hao-Wei , Jia Hao , Mu Jian-Jun
Published: July 2020

Background. Hyperuricemia has long been associated with increased cardiovascular risk, and arterial stiffness is proposed as a mediator. The present study is aimed at examining the associations of uric acid (UA) in blood and urine with arterial stiffness in a Chinese cohort. Methods. A total of 2296 participants (mean age: 43.0 years) from our previously established cohort of Hanzhong Adolescent Hypertension Study were included. The participants were classified as subjects with or without arterial stiffness, which was defined as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity baPWV≥1400 cm/s and/or carotid intima-media thickness CIMT≥0.9 mm. Multivariate regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between serum and urinary UA and the risk of arterial stiffness after adjusting for age, gender, systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, BMI, heart rate, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Results. baPWV was positively correlated with urinary uric acid/creatinine ratio (uUA/Cre) (β=0.061, P<0.001), while CIMT was correlated with uUA/Cre (β=0.085, P<0.001) and fractional excretion of uric acid (FEUA) (β=0.044, P=0.033) in all subjects. In addition, uUA/Cre was significantly associated with the risk of high baPWV [1.032 (1.019-1.045)] and arterial stiffness [1.028 (1.016-1.040)]. Conclusion. Our study showed that urinary UA excretion was significantly associated with the risk of arterial stiffness in Chinese adults. These findings suggest that UA, especially urinary UA, may be used as a simple, noninvasive marker for early detection of arterial stiffness in otherwise healthy subjects.
The Singularity Formation on the Coupled Burgers–Constantin–Lax–Majda System with the Nonlocal Term
Authors: Li Linrui , Wang Shu
Published: July 2020

In this paper, we study the finite-time singularity formation on the coupled Burgers–Constantin–Lax–Majda system with the nonlocal term, which is one nonlinear nonlocal system of combining Burgers equations with Constantin–Lax–Majda equations. We discuss whether the finite-time blow-up singularity mechanism of the system depends upon the domination between the CLM type’s vortex-stretching term and the Burgers type’s convection term in some sense. We give two kinds of different finite-time blow-up results and prove the local smooth solution of the nonlocal system blows up in finite time for two classes of large initial data.
MDU-Net: A Convolutional Network for Clavicle and Rib Segmentation from a Chest Radiograph
Authors: Wang Wenjing , Feng Hongwei , Bu Qirong , Cui Lei , Xie Yilin , Zhang Aoqi , Feng Jun , Zhu Zhaohui , Chen Zhongyuanlong
Published: July 2020

Automatic bone segmentation from a chest radiograph is an important and challenging task in medical image analysis. However, a chest radiograph contains numerous artifacts and tissue shadows, such as trachea, blood vessels, and lung veins, which limit the accuracy of traditional segmentation methods, such as thresholding and contour-related techniques. Deep learning has recently achieved excellent segmentation of some organs, such as the pancreas and the hippocampus. However, the insufficiency of annotated datasets impedes clavicle and rib segmentation from chest X-rays. We have constructed a dataset of chest X-rays with a raw chest radiograph and four annotated images showing the clavicles, anterior ribs, posterior ribs, and all bones (the complete set of ribs and clavicle). On the basis of a sufficient dataset, a multitask dense connection U-Net (MDU-Net) is proposed to address the challenge of bone segmentation from a chest radiograph. We first combine the U-Net multiscale feature fusion method, DenseNet dense connection, and multitasking mechanism to construct the proposed network referred to as MDU-Net. We then present a mask encoding mechanism that can force the network to learn the background features. Transfer learning is ultimately introduced to help the network extract sufficient features. We evaluate the proposed network by fourfold cross validation on 88 chest radiography images. The proposed method achieves the average DSC (Dice similarity coefficient) values of 93.78%, 80.95%, 89.06%, and 88.38% in clavicle segmentation, anterior rib segmentation, posterior rib segmentation, and segmentation of all bones, respectively.
Simulation of a Submarine Landslide Using the Coupled Material Point Method
Authors: Shi Jia-jie , Zhang Wei , Wang Bin , Li Cheng-yang , Pan Bo
Published: July 2020

Exploring the submarine landslide is challenging due to the invisibility nature and the complex soil-water interaction and large deformation throughout its runout process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ability of the coupled material point method (MPM) in modeling the soil flows under water. A sand-column collapse experiment is performed fully under water initially, with the results used to benchmark the MPM analysis. Thereafter, the whole failure process of a real submarine landslide in the South Mediterranean sea is simulated using MPM. The results show that MPM can be a reliable tool in capturing the postfailure behaviors of the submarine landslide. The failure mode of the landslide is flow-type, with an initial translational slide moving to a diffusive one eventually.
A Research on the Control System of High-Speed Homopolar Motor with Solid Rotor Based on Flywheel Energy Storage
Authors: Jing Lili , Yu Yandong , Xue Xiaochuan
Published: July 2020

In view of the defects of the motors used for flywheel energy storage such as great iron loss in rotation, poor rotor strength, and robustness, a new type of motor called electrically excited homopolar motor is adopted in this paper for flywheel energy storage. Compared to general motors, this motor has the advantages of simple structure, high rotor strength, and low iron loss in rotation. A double closed-loop PI governing system of the new motor was designed, modeled, and simulated with this motor as the controlled object on simulation platform. The simulation result shows that the PI-controlled electrically excited homopolar motor system realized fast speed governing and good system performance, achieved the purpose of quick charge by flywheel energy storage, verified the correctness and effectiveness of the design scheme, and provided data reference and theoretical basis for the practice of future flywheel energy storage experiments.
Prevalence of Geriatric Syndromes and the Need for Hospice Care in Older Patients of the Emergency Department: A Study in an Asian Medical Center
Authors: Ke Ya-Ting , Peng An-Chi , Shu Yi-Min , Chung Min-Hsien , Tsai Kang-Ting , Chen Ping-Jen , Weng Tzu-Chieh , Hsu Chien-Chin , Lin Hung-Jung , Huang Chien-Cheng
Published: July 2020

Background. The prevalence of geriatric syndromes and the need for hospice care in the emergency department (ED) in Asian populations remain unclear. This study was conducted to fill the data gap. Methods. Using a newly developed emergency geriatric assessment (EGA), we investigated the prevalence of geriatric syndromes and the need for hospice care in older ED patients of a tertiary medical center between September 1, 2016, and January 31, 2017. Results. We recruited a total of 693 patients with a mean age of 78.0 years (standard deviation 8.2 years), comprising 46.6% of females. According to age subgroups, 37.4% of patients were aged 65–74 years, 37.4% were aged 75–84 years, and 25.2% were aged ≥85 years. The prevalence rates of geriatric syndromes were as follows: delirium (11.4%), depression (23.4%), dementia (43.1%), deterioration of activities of daily living (ADL) for <1 year (29.4%), vision impairment (22.2%), hearing impairment (23.8%), sleep disturbance (13.1%), any fall in <1 year (21.8%), polypharmacy (28.7%), pain (35.1%), pressure ulcer (5.6%), incontinence or retention (29.6%), indwelling device or physical restrain (21.6%), nutrition problem (35.7%), frequent use of medical resources (50.1%), lack of advance care planning (84.0%), caregiver problem (4.6%), socioeconomic problem (5.5%), and need for family meeting (6.2%). The need for hospice care was 11.9%. Most geriatric syndromes increased with advancing age except depression, sleep disturbance, polypharmacy, pain, nutrition problem, lack of advance care planning, caregiver problem, and socioeconomic problem. Conclusion. Geriatric syndromes and the need for hospice care were common in the older ED patients. Further studies about subsequent intervention for improving geriatric care are needed.
Development of Ecofriendly Snail Shell Particulate-Reinforced Recycled Waste Plastic Composites for Automobile Application
Authors: Oladele I. O. , Adediran A. A. , Akinwekomi A. D. , Adegun M. H. , Olumakinde O. O. , Daramola O. O.
Published: July 2020

The increase in demand for thermoplastics as a light-weight material for automobile application and other commercial purposes prompts more research into the available polymer resources. In this research, the possibility of enhancing the performance of recycled waste plastics (RWP) as polymer-based composites was examined. Particulate snail shell was obtained by grounding and sieving snail shells to obtain 53–63 μm passing which was used as reinforcement in the recycled waste plastics. The composites were developed by adding varying proportions of the snail shell particulate (SSP) to RWP using a randomly dispersed process in a hot compression moulding machine maintained at 190°C for 7 min. Selected properties of SSP-reinforced RWP composites were examined. The results showed an appreciable enhancement in the properties of composites developed compared to an unreinforced RWP matrix that serves as control. The ultimate tensile strength was enhanced by about 64%, while Young’s Modulus and impact strength were enhanced by 37% and 29%, respectively. Wear and water repellant potentials were highly enhanced with the addition of 15 wt% of SSP with values of about 52% and 91%, respectively. This revealed that high content of the SSP contributes to the improvement of the strain-hardening potentials of the developed composites. The results showed that this composite material can be suitably adapted for use in the interior of automobiles as door sills or the floor panel.
An Evolutionary Game Analysis of Internet Public Opinion Events at Universities: A Case from China
Authors: Wen Hongying , Liang Kairong , Li Yiquan
Published: July 2020

Internet public opinion events at universities in China occurred frequently, creating painful repercussions for reputation and stability of colleges and universities. To better cope with the problem, this paper explores an evolutionary mechanism of the university Internet public opinion events. Firstly, we discuss the interactions and behavior of three key participants: an Internet medium, university students as a whole, and administration. Secondly, we construct a tripartite evolutionary game model consisting of an Internet medium, student group, and university administration and then analyze and obtain the differential dynamic equations and equilibrium points. Subsequently, the evolutionary stable equilibrium is further analyzed. Finally, we employ numerical studies to examine how the tripartite behavior choices affect evolutionary paths and evolutionary equilibrium strategies. Results are derived as follows: under certain conditions, there exists an asymptotically stable equilibrium point for the tripartite evolutionary game. On the one hand, appropriate penalties and rewards should be provided to foster objectives and fair behaviors of the network medium. On the other hand, university students should be educated and guided to deal rationally with negative effects of Internet public opinion events. Moreover, online real-name authentication is an important and necessary measure. Finally, the university administration should release truthful, timely, and comprehensive information of Internet public opinion events to mitigate potential negative impacts.
Multistep-Ahead Prediction of Urban Traffic Flow UsingGaTS Model
Authors: Wang Benchao , Qin Pan , Gu Hong
Published: July 2020

The mathematical models for traffic flow have been widely investigated for a lot of application, like planning transportation and easing traffic pressure by using statistics and machine learning methods. However, there remains a lot of challenging problems for various reasons. In this research, we mainly focused on three issues: (a) the data of traffic flow are nonnegative, and hereby, finding a proper probability distribution is essential; (b) the complex stochastic property of the traffic flow leads to the nonstationary variance, i.e., heteroscedasticity; and (c) the multistep-ahead prediction of the traffic flow is often of poor performance. To this end, we developed a Gamma distribution-based time series (GaTS) model. First, we transformed the original traffic flow observations into nonnegative real-valued data by using the Box-Cox transformation. Then, by specifying the generalized linear model with the Gamma distribution, the mean and variance of the distribution are regressed by the past data and homochronous terms, respectively. A Bayesian information criterion is used to select the proper Box-Cox transformation coefficients and the optimal model structures. Finally, the proposed model is applied to the urban traffic flow data achieved from Dalian city in China. The results show that the proposedGaTS has an excellent prediction performance and can represent the nonstationary stochastic property well.
Priority Analysis of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Information Techniques to Water-Related Disaster Damage Reduction for Inter-Korean Cooperation
Authors: Lee Sunmin , Park Sung-Hwan , Lee Moung-Jin , Song Taejung
Published: July 2020

The social and economic harm to North Korea caused by water-related disasters is increasing with the increase in the disasters worldwide. Despite the improvement of inter-Korean relations in recent years, the issue of water-related disasters, which can directly affect the lives of people, has not been discussed. With consideration of inter-Korean relations, a government-wide technical plan should be established to reduce the damage caused by water-related disasters. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify remote sensing and GIS techniques that could be useful in reducing the damage caused by water-related disasters while considering inter-Korean relations and the disasters that occur in North Korea. To this end, based on the definitions of disasters in South and North Korea, water-related disasters that occurred during a 17-year period from 2001 to 2017 in North Korea were first summarized and reclassified into six types: typhoons, downpours, floods, landslides, heavy snowfalls, and droughts. In addition, remote sensing- and GIS-based techniques in South Korea that could be applied to water-related disasters in North Korea were investigated and reclassified according to applicability to the six disaster types. The results showed that remote sensing and other monitoring techniques using spatial information, GIS-based database construction, and integrated water-related disaster management have high priorities. Especially, the use of radar images, such as C band images, has proven essential. Moreover, case studies were analyzed within remote sensing- and GIS-based techniques that could be applicable to the water-related disasters that occur frequently in North Korea. Water disaster satellites with high-resolution C band synthetic aperture radar are scheduled to be launched by South Korea. These results provide basic data to support techniques and establish countermeasures to reduce the damage from water-related disasters in North Korea in the medium to long term.
Stocking Density Induced Stress on Plasma Cortisol and Whole Blood Glucose Concentration in Nile Tilapia Fish (Oreochromis niloticus) of Lake Victoria, Kenya
Authors: Odhiambo Elija , Angienda Paul O. , Okoth Patrick , Onyango David
Published: July 2020

Effects of high stocking densities (HSDs) were evaluated for Nile tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) under culture to determine its influence on plasma cortisol and whole blood glucose concentration. Plasma cortisol levels (ng/ml) were assayed byEnzyme-LinkedImmunosorbentAssay (ELISA). Whole blood glucose levels were determined using a hand-held one touch ultraglucose meter (MD-300) and test strips. Plasma cortisol and whole blood glucose level determinations were replicated three times forO. niloticusreared under both low stocking densities (LSD) and HSD. One way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed on the data collected, and comparison of significant differences in means was carried out between LSD and HSD at 0.01%. Plasma cortisol levels revealed statistically (P≤0.01) significant values of HSD at 6.32  ± 1.06 ng/ml than in LSD at 4.62 ± 1.58 ng/ml for theO. niloticusgroups studied. Whole blood glucose analysis revealed a statistical (P<0.05) difference in the means in HSD and LSDO. niloticusgroups (F(df,1; 8) = 7.946 > Fcrit = 4.414;P=0.01). Mean plasma glucose concentration was statistically (P≤0.01) higher for HSD than LSDO. niloticusgroups at mean ± SD, 96.84 ± 5.28 and 76.82 ± 5.92, respectively. The findings of this study demonstrate that high stocking densities increase both cortisol and whole blood glucose concentration in tilapia fish, indicating a marked increase in stress levels. Elevated plasma cortisol and whole blood glucose concentration can be used as biomarkers for acute stress inO. niloticusproduced under aquaculture systems. The findings of this study can help inform policy on the management of stress caused by overstocking ofO. niloticusand other related Cichlids under industrial aquaculture production.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Polyphenols from Vietnamese Callisia fragrans Leaves and Antioxidant Activity of the Extract
Authors: Phan Le Thao My , Nguyen Kim Thien Phuc , Vuong Hoai Thanh , Tran Do Dat , Nguyen Tran Xuan Phuong , Hoang Minh Nam , Mai Thanh Phong , Nguyen Huu Hieu
Published: July 2020

Vietnamese Callisia fragrans (C. fragrans) has been considered as a valuable traditional plant with various medicinal properties. In this study, polyphenols were extracted from Vietnamese C. fragrans leaves by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction method using ethanol as a cosolvent. The investigation of four factors influencing the total polyphenol content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of the extracts obtained from each single-factor experiment was conducted including ethanol concentration, CO2 flow rate, extraction temperature, and pressure. Besides, the extraction efficiency of the SC-CO2 method under the best extraction conditions, namely ethanol concentration of 14%, CO2 flow rate of 20 g/min, extraction temperature of 45°C, and pressure of 200 bar was compared to that of the Soxhlet extraction (SE) method in terms of the TPC and antioxidant activity of the extracts. The results showed that using SC-CO2 method, the TPC and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration value obtained were of 87.42 ± 1.33 mg/g and 243.83 ± 5.30 μM TE/g, respectively, with much less time and solvent amount required while that obtained using SE method were of 85.34 ± 4.27 mg/g and 236.33 ± 7.66 μM TE/g, respectively. This indicated that SC-CO2 would be suitable for the industrial production of polyphenols with high antioxidant activity of the extracts obtained due to the restrictions of using the SE method and advantages of applying SC-CO2 method. Therefore, SC-CO2 method could be regarded as a potentially upcoming extraction technique which might be employed to replace the conventional SE method.
Effects of Vehicle Restriction Policies on Urban Travel Demand Change from a Built Environment Perspective
Authors: Cheng Xiaoyun , Huang Kun , Qu Lei , Zhang Tianbao , Li Li
Published: July 2020

License plate restriction (LPR) policy presents the most straightforward way to reduce road traffic and emissions worldwide. However, in practice, it has aroused great controversy. This policy broke the original structure of the urban transportation mode, which needed some matching strategies to adapt to this change. Investigating this travel demand change is a challenging task because it is greatly influenced by features of the local built environment. Fourteen variables from four dimensions, location, land-use diversity, distance to transit, and street design, are used to depict the built environment; moreover, the severe collinearity underlies these feature variables. To solve the multicollinearity among the variables and high-dimensional problem, this study utilizes two different penalization-based regression models, the LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) and Elastic Net regression algorithms, to achieve the variable selection and explore the impacts of the built environment on the change of travel demand triggered by the LPR policy. Travel demand changes are assessed by the relative variation in taxi ridership in each traffic analysis zone based on the taxi GPS data. Built environment variables are measured using the transportation network data and the Baidu Map Service points of interest (POI) data. The results show that regions with a higher level of public transportation service and a higher degree of the land mix have a stronger resilience to the vehicle restriction policy. Besides, the contribution rate of public transportation is stable as a whole, while the contribution rate of richness depends on specific types of land use. The conclusions in this study can provide in-depth insights into the influence of the LPR policy and underpin traffic complementary policies to ensure the effectiveness of LPR.