bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Numerical study of a concept for major repair and replacement of offshore wind turbine blades
Authors: Guachamin‐Acero Wilson , Jiang Zhiyu , Li Lin
Published: April 2020

Repair and replacement of offshore wind turbine blades are necessary for current and future offshore wind turbines. To date, repair activities are often conducted using huge jack‐up crane vessels and by applying a reverse installation procedure. Because of the high costs associated with installation and removal of offshore wind turbine components and the low profit margin of the offshore wind industry, alternative methods for installation and removal are needed. This paper introduces a novel concept for replacement or installation of offshore wind turbine blades. The concept involves a medium‐sized jack‐up crane vessel and a tower climbing mechanism. This mechanism provides a stable platform for clamping, lowering, and lifting of a blade. A case study of a 5‐MW offshore wind turbine is shown, where common engineering practices were applied and numerical simulations of the marine operations were carried out using finite element and multibody simulation tools. Operational limits for wave and wind actions were established to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the proposed concept.
A Benchmarking Measurement Campaign to Support Ubiquitous Localization in GNSS Denied and Indoor Environments
Authors: Retscher Guenther , Kealy Allison , Gikas Vassilis , Gabela Jelena , Goel Salil , Li Yan , Masiero Andrea , Toth Charles K. , Perakis Harris , Błaszczak-Bąk Wioleta , Koppanyi Zoltan , Grejner-Brzezinska Dorota
Published: April 2020

Localization in GNSS-denied/challenged indoor/outdoor and transitional environments represents a challenging research problem. As part of the joint IAG/FIG Working Groups 4.1.1 and 5.5 on Multi-sensor Systems, a benchmarking measurement campaign was conducted at The Ohio State University. Initial experiments have demonstrated that Cooperative Localization (CL) is extremely useful for positioning and navigation of platforms navigating in swarms or networks. In the data acquisition campaign, multiple sensor platforms, including vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians were equipped with combinations of GNSS, Ultra-wide Band (UWB), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Raspberry Pi units, cameras, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and inertial sensors for CL. Pedestrians wore a specially designed helmet equipped with some of these sensors. An overview of the experimental configurations, test scenarios, characteristics and sensor specifications is given. It has been demonstrated that all involved sensor platforms in the different test scenarios have gained a significant increase in positioning accuracy by using ubiquitous user localization. For example, in the indoor environment, success rates of approximately 97% were obtained using Wi-Fi fingerprinting for correctly detecting the room-level location of the user. Using UWB, decimeter-level positioning accuracy is demonstrable achievable under certain conditions. The full sets of data is being made available to the wider research community through the WG on request.
Curriculum Reform in Brazil to Develop Skills for the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Costin Claudia , Pontual Teresa
Published: April 2020

This chapter describes a national curricular reform process underway in Brazil. A civil society movement led by education NGOs has had a major role in ensuring the continuity of this reform through political turmoil from 2013 on. The complete Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) covering all of Basic Education from early childhood through upper secondary education was approved by the federal government in December 2018. The 600-page document lists the learning objectives, skills and competencies all students in Brazil must achieve. The most ambitious part of the BNCC, however, are the ten general competencies that set the north for all the grades and subject matter specific objectives, skills and competencies. These competencies are firmly aligned with the twenty-first Century skills all students must develop to lead fulfilling and productive lives as global citizens. The theory of change behind the BNCC is to align the main education policies in Brazil’s highly decentralized education system to these higher standards: local curricula (state and city levels), classroom materials, student evaluations as well as initial and ongoing teacher training; thereby improving student outcomes. This chapter chronicles this reform effort and gives an overview of where this theory of change currently stands.
Japanese Education Reform Towards Twenty-First Century Education
Authors: Yamanaka Shinichi , Suzuki Kan Hiroshi
Published: April 2020

This chapter describes an education reform towards twenty-first century education in Japan. The Ad Hoc Council on Education which was established in 1984 by Prime Minister was the starting point of the reform. Japanese society was also undertaking a transition from twentieth century industry to twenty-first century industry. Education reform was a part of it. That was the reason this education reform involved national wide debate including industry people, union people, mass media people, politicians as well as education people. This education reform covers all aspects of education, that is contents, teachers, facilities, school management system, education administration system and fundamental laws. At first this chapter focuses on reform of national standard curriculum from 1990 until 2020. The basic stance of this reform was that the teaching style must take the transition from cramming to help students acquiring the ability to learn and think on their own. And then other reforms such as introduction of national academic ability test, reform of teacher training system, reform of university entrance examination and reform of school management system are also described. This chapter describes the continuous efforts and challenges during this education reform.
Reforming Education in Poland
Authors: Wiśniewski Jerzy , Zahorska Marta
Published: April 2020

This chapter presents a history of the successes and challenges of education reforms in Poland from 1999 to the present in the context of political and social changes.

The goals of 1999 school system reform were to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the education system, ensure equal opportunities and raise the number of graduates of secondary and tertiary programs. The reform encompassed modernisation of core curriculum and the introduction of external exams. The crucial aspect of the reform was the reduction of primary education from 8 to 6 grades and creation of a new 3-year general lower secondary school level, what extended comprehensive general education by 1 year and postponed tracking to general and vocational secondary schools. The reform efforts were continued with the further changes in the curriculum aimed at the development of cognitive and analytical abilities and problem-solving skills. The positive outcomes of the reforms were seen in the progress of Polish students in consecutive (2000–2018) cycles of the PISA study. However, despite strong student performance, the new lower secondary schools developed a poor public reputation. In the 2015 election campaign, the then opposition party appealed to a general nostalgia for the “good old times” and, among other populist proposals, promised to reverse the education reform by eliminating lower secondary schools. When the party won the election, they quickly reversed the earlier reforms, disregarding negative opinions of researchers and local authorities as well as the protests of parents and teachers. Teachers’ frustration because of the chaos caused by the reform, poor working conditions and low salaries culminated in the 2019 strike in which almost 80% of schools participated. The protest, although not successful, was a beginning of civic society informal activities like citizens debates on education (NOoE).
What Is Our Purpose?
Authors: Willison John
Published: April 2020

This chapter asks and then answers ‘What is our purpose?’ for student learning, for teaching and for the book itself. It elaborates the need for, and the possibility of, a coherent solution to the problems associated with an education in which all the parts are not well connected.
What Do We Trust?
Authors: Willison John
Published: April 2020

In the Information Age, students, teachers and learning communities are at risk. The question of what to trust is central throughout formal and informal education. From stranger danger to fake news, from misleading websites to scam journals, questions of trust are tangible. This partially accounts for the frequency of use of the term ‘critical thinking’ in education and evaluative processes are central to this chapter.
How Much Guidance?
Authors: Willison John
Published: April 2020

This Chapter, ‘How much guidance?’ addresses the scaffolding of student learning, using the MELT consideration of learning autonomy. The chapter further considers teacher autonomy and the amount of guidance that may be needed to make the MELT work in various settings, including broader issues around policy settings.
Introduction
Authors: Miyaji Atsuko , Kiyomoto Shinsaku , Tanaka Katsuya , Nishida Yoshifumi , Kitamura Koji
Published: April 2020

Recently, big data analysis results are expected to be used in various situations such as medical or industrial fields for new medicine or product development. For this reason, it is important to establish a secure infrastructure of the collection, analysis, and use of big data. We need to consider mainly three entities for the infrastructure: data owner, analysis institutions, and users. This research pays attention to a balance between privacy and utilization and also realizes appropriate reduction and feedback of the data analysis results to the data owners.
Secure Primitive for Big Data Utilization
Authors: Kawachi Akinori , Miyaji Atsuko , Nakasho Kazuhisa , Qi Yiying , Takano Yuuki
Published: April 2020

In this chapter, we describe two security primitives for big data utilization. One is a privacy-preserving data integration among databases distributed in different organizations. This primitive integrates the same data among databases kept in different organizations while keeping any different data in an organization secret to other organizations. Another is a privacy-preserving classification. This primitive executes a procedure for server’s classification rule to client’s input database and outputs only the result to the client while keeping the client’s input database secret to the server and server’s classification rule to the client. These primitives can be executed not only independently but also jointly. That is, after we integrate databases from distributed organization by executing the privacy-preserving data integration, we can execute a privacy-preserving classification.
Health Test Bed Group
Authors: Tanaka Katsuya , Yamamoto Ryuichi
Published: April 2020

Under the new law for the secondary use of medical information, which was activated in May 2018, the future expected secondary use with information anonymization may contribute to research and development in the medical field of integrated medical research and public health. On the other hand, under the revised Personal Information Protection Law and the revised ethical guidelines in medical research, privacy protection and patient consent management is a crucial issue for the management of researches. Our JST CREST project, which started in March 2014, has issued the development of technological elements and synthesized the developed methods for real-world system for the secondary use and privacy protection of big data on cloud infrastructure, including safe clinical information management, commercial cloud utilization, and privacy risk evaluation. In this paper, assuming the utilization of the Standardized Structured Medical Record Information Exchange version 2 storage, the following target issues are described: (1) effective utilization of existing standardized storage, (2) secure data collection across medical institutions, (3) privacy risk evaluation in analysis, and (4) traceability while secondary use.
Improved constraints on parton distributions using LHCb, ALICE and HERA heavy-flavour measurements and implications for the predictions for prompt atmospheric-neutrino fluxes
Authors:   The PROSA collaboration, Zenaiev O. , Garzelli M. V. , Lipka K. , Moch S.-O. , Cooper-Sarkar A. , Olness F. , Geiser A. , Sigl G.
Published: April 2020

Abstract

The impact of measurements of heavy-flavour production in deep inelastic ep scattering and in pp collisions on parton distribution functions is studied in a QCD analysis at next-to-leading order. Recent combined results of inclusive and heavy-flavour produc- tion cross sections in deep inelastic scattering at HERA are investigated together with heavy-flavour production measurements at the LHC. Differential cross sections of charm- and beauty-hadron production measured by the LHCb collaboration at the centre-of-mass energies of 5, 7 and 13 TeV as well as the recent measurements of the ALICE experiment at the centre-of-mass energies of 5 and 7 TeV are explored. These data impose additional constraints on the gluon and the sea-quark distributions at low partonic fractions x of the proton momentum, down to x ≈ 10
−6. The impact of the resulting parton distribution function in the predictions for the prompt atmospheric-neutrino fluxes is studied.
Lorentz and CPT violation in partons
Authors: Kostelecký V. Alan , Lunghi Enrico , Sherrill Nathan , Vieira A.R.
Published: April 2020

Abstract

A framework is presented for the factorization of high-energy hadronic processes in the presence of Lorentz and CPT violation. The comprehensive effective field theory describing Lorentz and CPT violation, the Standard-Model Extension, is used to demonstrate factorization of the hadronic tensor at leading order in electroweak interactions for deep inelastic scattering and for the Drell-Yan process. Effects controlled by both minimal and nonminimal coefficients for Lorentz violation are explored, and the equivalent parton-model description is derived. The methodology is illustrated by determining cross sections and studying estimated attainable sensitivities to Lorentz violation using real data collected at the Hadronen-Elektronen Ring Anlage and the Large Hadron Collider and simulated data for the future US-based electron-ion collider.
Expanding the parameter space of natural supersymmetry
Authors: Aboubrahim Amin , Feng Wan-Zhe , Nath Pran
Published: April 2020

Abstract

SUSY/SUGRA models with naturalness defined via small μ are constrained due to experiment on the relic density and the experimental limits on the WIMP-proton cross-section and WIMP annihilation cross-section from indirect detection experiments. Specifically models with small μ where the neutralino is higgsino-like lead to dark matter relic density below the observed value. In several works this problem is overcome by assuming dark matter to be constituted of more than one component and the neutralino relic density deficit is made up from contributions from other components. In this work we propose that the dark matter consists of just one component, i.e., the lightest neutralino and the relic density of the higgsino-like neutralino receives contributions from the usual freeze-out mechanism along with contributions arising from the decay of hidden sector neutralinos. The model we propose is an extended MSSM model where the hidden sector is constituted of a U(1)
X
gauge sector along with matter charged under U(1)
X
which produce two neutralinos in the hidden sector. The U(1)
X
and the hypercharge U(1)
Y
of the MSSM have kinetic and Stueckelberg mass mixing where the mixings are ultraweak. In this case the hidden sector neutralinos have ultraweak interactions with the visible sector. Because of their ultraweak interactions the hidden sector neutralinos are not thermally produced and we assume their initial relic density to be negligible. However, they can be produced via interactions of MSSM particles in the early universe, and once produced they decay to the neutralino. For a range of mixings the decays occur before the BBN producing additional relic density for the neutralino. Models of this type are testable in dark matter direct and indirect detection experiments and at the high luminosity and high energy LHC.
Vector perturbations of Kerr-AdS5 and the Painlevé VI transcendent
Authors: Amado Julián Barragán , da Cunha Bruno Carneiro , Pallante Elisabetta
Published: April 2020

Abstract

We analyze the Ansatz of separability for Maxwell equations in generically spinning, five-dimensional Kerr-AdS black holes. We find that the parameter μ introduced in [1] can be interpreted as apparent singularities of the resulting radial and angular equations. Using isomonodromy deformations, we describe a non-linear symmetry of the system, under which μ is tied to the Painlevé VI transcendent. By translating the boundary conditions imposed on the solutions of the equations for quasinormal modes in terms of monodromy data, we find a procedure to fix μ and study the behavior of the quasinormal modes in the limit of fast spinning small black holes.
Increasing the efficiency of material removal using dual laser micromachining
Authors: Alkhawaldeh Osama , Coupland Jeremy , Jones Lewis C. R.
Published: April 2020

A continuous wave melting laser combined with a nanosecond ejection laser has been shown to improve the material removal efficiency by a factor of 2 to 8 compared with laser ablation processes reported in the literature. The decrease in the energy required for the combined lasers is primarily due to the optimisation of the irradiation time in the melting process, which is responsible for the majority of the total energy. For the laser used in this study, the optimal interaction time corresponding to the highest melting efficiency was found at 9-ms melting time, and this value is compared with results derived from a one-dimensional heating model. Metallurgical images of only melting and the produced hole after introducing the ejection pulse for the most efficient melting were presented as evidence of melt ejection. The results show that approximately 90% of the melt pool is ejected with little redeposited material at the periphery of the hole.
Reliable quantification of 18F-GE-180 PET neuroinflammation studies using an individually scaled population-based input function or late tissue-to-blood ratio
Authors: Buchert Ralph , Dirks Meike , Schütze Christian , Wilke Florian , Mamach Martin , Wirries Ann-Katrin , Pflugrad Henning , Hamann Linda , Langer Laura B.N. , Wetzel Christian , Lukacevic Mario , Polyak Andras , Kessler Mariella , Petrusch Carlotta , Bengel Frank M. , Geworski Lilli , Rupprecht Rainer , Weissenborn Karin , Ross Tobias L. , Berding Georg
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Tracer kinetic modeling of tissue time activity curves and the individual input function based on arterial blood sampling and metabolite correction is the gold standard for quantitative characterization of microglia activation by PET with the translocator protein (TSPO) ligand 18F-GE-180. This study tested simplified methods for quantification of 18F-GE-180 PET.

Methods

Dynamic 18F-GE-180 PET with arterial blood sampling and metabolite correction was performed in five healthy volunteers and 20 liver-transplanted patients. Population-based input function templates were generated by averaging individual input functions normalized to the total area under the input function using a leave-one-out approach. Individual population-based input functions were obtained by scaling the input function template with the individual parent activity concentration of 18F-GE-180 in arterial plasma in a blood sample drawn at 27.5 min or by the individual administered tracer activity, respectively. The total 18F-GE-180 distribution volume (VT) was estimated in 12 regions-of-interest (ROIs) by the invasive Logan plot using the measured or the population-based input functions. Late ROI-to-whole-blood and ROI-to-cerebellum ratio were also computed.

Results

Correlation with the reference VT (with individually measured input function) was very high for VT with the population-based input function scaled with the blood sample and for the ROI-to-whole-blood ratio (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.989 ± 0.006 and 0.970 ± 0.005). The correlation was only moderate for VT with the population-based input function scaled with tracer activity dose and for the ROI-to-cerebellum ratio (0.653 ± 0.074 and 0.384 ± 0.177). Reference VT, population-based VT with scaling by the blood sample, and ROI-to-whole-blood ratio were sensitive to the TSPO gene polymorphism. Population-based VT with scaling to the administered tracer activity and the ROI-to-cerebellum ratio failed to detect a polymorphism effect.

Conclusion

These results support the use of a population-based input function scaled with a single blood sample or the ROI-to-whole-blood ratio at a late time point for simplified quantitative analysis of 18F-GE-180 PET.
Early and Midterm Outcomes of Open and Endovascular Revascularization of Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia
Authors: Menges Anna‐Leonie , Reutersberg Benedikt , Busch Albert , Salvermoser Michael , Feith Marcus , Trenner Matthias , Kallmayer Michael , Zimmermann Alexander , Eckstein Hans‐Henning
Published: April 2020

Background

Revascularization strategies for chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI) include open (OR) and endovascular (ER) modalities. The primary objective of this study was to analyze the safety and effectiveness of OR and ER and the impact of clinical and morphological variables on early and midterm outcomes in a consecutive series of CMI patients in a tertiary referral center.

Patients and methods

From 2004 to 2017, all CMI patients treated with OR and ER were retrospectively identified. Patient records, preoperative imaging, as well as peri‐ and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Univariable and multivariable analysis was performed to identify clinical or morphological variables affecting reintervention rates within 2 years.

Results

In total, 63 patients (33% male; mean age 71, range 60–76 years) were treated by ER (41 patients) or OR (22 patients) for CMI. Mean follow‐up was 26 (10–71) months. 30‐day mortality was 0.0% after ER and 4.5% after OR (p = 0.069); 30‐day morbidity was 9.8% vs. 31.8%, respectively (p = 0.030). Length of stay was significantly longer after OR (14 vs. 4 days; p < 0.001). Freedom from reintervention rate after 2 years was 82% after OR and 73% after ER (p = 0.14). Overall survival did not differ after 2 years (OR 85% vs. ER 86%; p = 0.35). Multivariable analysis revealed that smoking was associated with higher risk of reintervention (hazard ratio, HR: 4.14; 95% confidence interval, CI 1.11–15.53; p = 0.03). Additionally, a nonsignificant trend of lower reintervention rates after OR was detected (HR 0.23 95% CI 0.05–1.08; p = 0.06).

Conclusion

Due to a lower invasiveness, despite the higher reintervention rate, an “endovascular first” strategy is justified and recommended.
Quadrigeminal arachnoid cyst with perinatal encephalocele
Authors: Akutagawa Kazuki , Tamura Goichiro , Tsurubuchi Takao , Ishikawa Eiichi , Matsumura Akira , Inagaki Takayuki
Published: April 2020

Introduction

Quadrigeminal arachnoid cyst (QAC) associated with encephalocele is rare; and while some treatments have been developed in recent years, no definite therapeutic approach for QAC has been established. Endoscopic treatment for arachnoid cyst is gaining popularity because it is relatively less invasive to the normal brain tissues.

Case presentation

The patient, a 4-year-old girl, presented with QAC associated with congenital occipital encephalocele. At the age of 1 month, repair of the perinatal encephalocele had been performed at another institute. An asymptomatic arachnoid cyst remained in the posterior fossa, which was closely monitored with follow up. At age 4 years, the patient started to complain of headache, which gradually increased in both strength and frequency. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed cerebellar compression due to cyst enlargement. We performed neuroendoscopic cyst fenestration with an occipital bone approach. Post-operative MRI showed reduced size of the cyst, and the headache dramatically improved and resolved.

Discussion

The standard treatment of QAC is still controversial; however, our successful use of endoscopic fenestration toward the third ventricle indicates its efficacy and safety. QACs have been classified into 3 types based on their expansion mechanisms; our case might suggest another possible mechanism of QAC development.

Conclusion

In our case, endoscopic cyst fenestration was successful for QAC with perinatal encephalocele. However, long-term follow-up and analysis of similar cases are needed to determine its effectiveness.
On the impact of atmospheric vs oceanic resolutions on the representation of the sea surface temperature in the South Eastern Tropical Atlantic
Authors: de la Vara Alba , Cabos William , Sein Dmitry V. , Sidorenko Dmitry , Koldunov Nikolay V. , Koseki Shunya , Soares Pedro M. M. , Danilov Sergey
Published: April 2020

Despite the efforts of the modelling community to improve the representation of the sea surface temperature (SST) over the South Eastern Tropical Atlantic, warm biases still persist. In this work we use four different configurations of the fully-coupled AWI Climate Model (AWI-CM) which allow us to gain physics-based insight into the role of the oceanic and atmospheric resolutions of the model in the regional distribution of the SST. Our results show that a sole refinement of the oceanic resolution reduces warm biases further than a single increase of the atmospheric component. An increased oceanic resolution is required (i) to simulate properly the Agulhas Current and its associated rings; (ii) to reinforce the northward-flowing Benguela Current and (iii) to intensify coastal upwelling. The best results are obtained when both resolutions are refined. However, even in that case, warm biases persist, reflecting that some processes and feedbacks are still not optimally resolved. Our results indicate that overheating is not due to insufficient upwelling, but rather due to upwelling of waters which are warmer than observations as a result of an erroneous representation of the vertical distribution of temperature. Errors in the representation of the vertical temperature profile are the consequence of a warm bias in the simulated climate state.
Long-term outcomes after different types of Horne and Tanzer olecranon fractures
Authors: Hasserius Ralph , Hertervig Fredrik , Josefsson Per-Olof , Besjakov Jack , von Schewelov Thord
Published: April 2020

Background

It is unclear whether the outcomes differ after different Horne and Tanzer types of olecranon fractures.

Materials and methods

We evaluated 40 men and 55 women with isolated olecranon fractures, journals and radiographs from fracture event. The fractures were classified according to Horne and Tanzer. After a mean 19 years after the fracture events, we evaluated subjective, clinical and radiographic outcomes, using the uninjured arms as controls.

Results

95% of patients with type I fractures reported, at follow-up, no differences between the elbows, 80% with type II fractures and 95% with type III fractures (p = 0.43). The three types of fractures had no differences in elbow range of motion or hand grip strength (when comparing injured and uninjured arms) and the proportions of individuals with radiographic elbow degenerative changes or joint space reduction were no different (all p > 0.05). Individuals with elbow degenerative changes had no inferior subjective elbow function compared to individuals with normal radiographs (p = 0.66), in contrast to those with joint space reduction compared to individuals with normal radiographs (p < 0.001).

Interpretation

All types of Horne and Tanzer olecranon fractures have favourable long-term outcome. Elbow joint space reduction is associated with inferior subjective elbow function while degenerative changes are not.
Cognitive impairment in early MS: contribution of white matter lesions, deep grey matter atrophy, and cortical atrophy
Authors: Engl Christina , Tiemann Laura , Grahl Sophia , Bussas Matthias , Schmidt Paul , Pongratz Viola , Berthele Achim , Beer Annkathrin , Gaser Christian , Kirschke Jan S. , Zimmer Claus , Hemmer Bernhard , Mühlau Mark
Published: April 2020

Background

Cognitive impairment (CI) is a frequent and debilitating symptom in MS. To better understand the neural bases of CI in MS, this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study aimed to identify and quantify related structural brain changes and to investigate their relation to each other.

Methods

We studied 51 patients with CI and 391 patients with cognitive preservation (CP). We analyzed three-dimensional T1-weighted and FLAIR scans at 3 Tesla. We determined mean cortical thickness as well as volumes of cortical grey matter (GM), deep GM including thalamus, cerebellar cortex, white matter, corpus callosum, and white matter lesions (WML). We also analyzed GM across the whole brain by voxel-wise and surface-based techniques.

Results

Mean disease duration was 5 years. Comparing MS patients with CI and CP, we found higher volumes of WML, lower volumes of deep and cortical GM structures, and lower volumes of the corpus callosum (all corrected p values < 0.05). Effect sizes were largest for WML and thalamic volume (standardized ß values 0.25 and − 0.25). By logistic regression analysis including both WML and thalamic volume, we found a significant effect only for WML volume. Inclusion of the interaction term of WML and thalamic volume increased the model fit and revealed a highly significant interaction of WML and thalamic volume. Moreover, voxel-wise and surface-based comparisons of MS patients with CI and CP showed regional atrophy of both deep and cortical GM independent of WML volume and overall disability, but effect sizes were lower.

Conclusion

Although several mechanisms contribute to CI already in the early stage of MS, WML seem to be the main driver with thalamic atrophy primarily intensifying this effect.
The association of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy clinical phenotypes with previously reported genetic markers
Authors: Luo Mingyue , Zhao Xinyu , Yang Jingyuan , Chen Youxin
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Genetic studies have identified the association of some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), but little is known about whether these SNPs are related to PCV clinical features as well. We performed this study to examine the association of 12 SNPs with PCV clinical phenotypes.

Methods

Sixty-nine PCV eyes of 69 patients were included. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. Agilent SureSelect Human ALL Exon V6 was used to sequence the 12 SNPs previously reported to associate with PCV. Baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), sub-foveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), choroid maximum vascular diameter (MVD), choroidal vascular hyperpermeability (CVH), and greatest linear dimension (GLD) of entire lesion were measured and compared between patients of different genotypes. Fisher’s exact test and Mann-Whitney U test were mainly used to compare categorical variables and continuous variables respectively.

Results

HTRA1 rs2293870 was a protective factor of PCV or AMD in the fellow eye (P = 0.040) and was related with greater SFCT in PCV eye after multiple linear regression (P = 0.043). C3 rs17030 was associated with smaller GLD (P = 0.033). CFH rs2274700 was related to lower MVD (P = 0.043) and was a protective factor for CVH (P = 0.034).

Conclusion

Multiple PCV-associated SNPs are associated with PCV clinical phenotypes. The involvement of several synonymous SNPs calls for further research on the role of transcriptional alterations and trans-regulation of distant signaling pathways in PCV pathogenesis.
Hot and cold weather based on the spatial synoptic classification and cause-specific mortality in Sweden: a time-stratified case-crossover study
Authors: Fonseca-Rodríguez Osvaldo , Sheridan Scott C. , Lundevaller Erling Häggström , Schumann Barbara
Published: April 2020

The spatial synoptic classification (SSC) is a holistic categorical assessment of the daily weather conditions at specific locations; it is a useful tool for assessing weather effects on health. In this study, we assessed (a) the effect of hot weather types and the duration of heat events on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in summer and (b) the effect of cold weather types and the duration of cold events on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in winter. A time-stratified case-crossover design combined with a distributed lag nonlinear model was carried out to investigate the association of weather types with cause-specific mortality in two southern (Skåne and Stockholm) and two northern (Jämtland and Västerbotten) locations in Sweden. During summer, in the southern locations, the Moist Tropical (MT) and Dry Tropical (DT) weather types increased cardiovascular and respiratory mortality at shorter lags; both hot weather types substantially increased respiratory mortality mainly in Skåne. The impact of heat events on mortality by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases was more important in the southern than in the northern locations at lag 0. The cumulative effect of MT, DT and heat events lagged over 14 days was particularly high for respiratory mortality in all locations except in Jämtland, though these did not show a clear effect on cardiovascular mortality. During winter, the dry polar and moist polar weather types and cold events showed a negligible effect on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality. This study provides valuable information about the relationship between hot oppressive weather types with cause-specific mortality; however, the cold weather types may not capture sufficiently effects on cause-specific mortality in this sub-Arctic region.
Rainfall and dry spell occurrence in Ghana: trends and seasonal predictions with a dynamical and a statistical model
Authors: Gbangou Talardia , Ludwig Fulco , van Slobbe Erik , Greuell Wouter , Kranjac-Berisavljevic Gordana
Published: April 2020

Improved information on the distribution of seasonal rainfall is important for crop production in Ghana. The predictability of key agro-meteorological indices, namely, seasonal rainfall, maximum dry spell length (MDSL) and dry spell frequency (DSF) was investigated across Ghana (with an interest on the coastal savannah agro-ecological zone). These three variables are relevant for local agricultural water management. A dynamical model (i.e. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) System 4 seasonal forecasts) and a statistical model (i.e. response to sea surface temperatures (SSTs)) were used and analysed using correlation and other discrimination skill metrics. ECMWF-System 4 was bias-corrected and verified with 14 local stations’ observations. Results show that differences in variability and skills of the agro-meteorological indices are small between agro-ecological zones as compared to the differences between stations. The dynamic model System 4 explains up to 31% of the variability of the MDSL and seasonal rainfall indices. Coastal savannah exhibits the highest level of discrimination skills. However, these skills are generally higher for the below and above normal MDSL and seasonal rainfall categories at lead time 0. Similarity in skills for the agro-meteorological indices over the same zones and stations is found both for the dynamical and statistical models. Although System 4 performs slightly better than the statistical model, especially, for dry spell length and seasonal rainfall. For dry spell frequency and longer lead time dry spell length, the statistical model tends to perform better. These results suggest that the agro-meteorological indices derived from System 4′ updated versions, corrected with local observations, together with the response to SST information, can potentially support decision-making of local smallholder farmers in Ghana.
Tell me something my friends do not know: diversity maximization in social networks
Authors: Matakos Antonis , Tu Sijing , Gionis Aristides
Published: April 2020

Social media have a great potential to improve information dissemination in our society, yet they have been held accountable for a number of undesirable effects, such as polarization and filter bubbles. It is thus important to understand these negative phenomena and develop methods to combat them. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to address the problem of breaking filter bubbles in social media. We do so by aiming to maximize the diversity of the information exposed to connected social-media users. We formulate the problem of maximizing the diversity of exposure as a quadratic-knapsack problem. We show that the proposed diversity-maximization problem is inapproximable, and thus, we resort to polynomial nonapproximable algorithms, inspired by solutions developed for the quadratic-knapsack problem, as well as scalable greedy heuristics. We complement our algorithms with instance-specific upper bounds, which are used to provide empirical approximation guarantees for the given problem instances. Our experimental evaluation shows that a proposed greedy algorithm followed by randomized local search is the algorithm of choice given its quality-vs.-efficiency trade-off.
Budget impact of sequential treatment with first-line afatinib versus first-line osimertinib in non-small-cell lung cancer patients with common EGFR mutations
Authors: Westerink Lotte , Nicolai Jelmer L. J. , Samuelsen Carl , Smit Hans J. M. , Postmus Pieter E. , Griebsch Ingolf , Postma Maarten J.
Published: April 2020

Background

The therapeutic landscape for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients that have common epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations has changed radically in the last decade. The availability of these treatment options has an economic impact, therefore a budget impact analysis was performed.

Methods

A budget impact analysis was conducted from a Dutch healthcare perspective over a 5-year time horizon in EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients receiving first-line afatinib (Gilotrif®) versus first-line osimertinib (Tagrisso®), followed by subsequent treatments. A decision analysis model was constructed in Excel. Scenario analyses and one-way sensitivity analysis were used to test the models’ robustness.

Results

Sequential treatment with afatinib versus first-line treatment with osimertinib showed mean total time on treatment (ToT) of 29.1 months versus 24.7 months, quality-adjusted life months (QALMs) of 20.2 versus 17.4 with mean cost of €108,166 per patient versus €143,251 per patient, respectively. The 5-year total budget impact was €110.4 million for the afatinib sequence versus €158.6 million for the osimertinib sequence, leading to total incremental cost savings of €48.15 million.

Conclusions

First-line afatinib treatment in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC had a lower financial impact on the Dutch healthcare budget with a higher mean ToT and QALM compared to osimertinib sequential treatment.
The Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) Data Portal
Authors: Bauermeister Sarah , Orton Christopher , Thompson Simon , Barker Roger A. , Bauermeister Joshua R. , Ben-Shlomo Yoav , Brayne Carol , Burn David , Campbell Archie , Calvin Catherine , Chandran Siddharthan , Chaturvedi Nishi , Chêne Geneviève , Chessell Iain P. , Corbett Anne , Davis Daniel H. J. , Denis Mike , Dufouil Carole , Elliott Paul , Fox Nick , Hill Derek , Hofer Scott M. , Hu Michele T. , Jindra Christoph , Kee Frank , Kim Chi-Hun , Kim Changsoo , Kivimaki Mika , Koychev Ivan , Lawson Rachael A. , Linden Gerry J. , Lyons Ronan A. , Mackay Clare , Matthews Paul M. , McGuiness Bernadette , Middleton Lefkos , Moody Catherine , Moore Katrina , Na Duk L. , O’Brien John T. , Ourselin Sebastien , Paranjothy Shantini , Park Ki-Soo , Porteous David J. , Richards Marcus , Ritchie Craig W. , Rohrer Jonathan D. , Rossor Martin N. , Rowe James B. , Scahill Rachael , Schnier Christian , Schott Jonathan M. , Seo Sang W. , South Matthew , Steptoe Matthew , Tabrizi Sarah J. , Tales Andrea , Tillin Therese , Timpson Nicholas J. , Toga Arthur W. , Visser Pieter-Jelle , Wade-Martins Richard , Wilkinson Tim , Williams Julie , Wong Andrew , Gallacher John E. J.
Published: April 2020

The Dementias Platform UK Data Portal is a data repository facilitating access to data for 3 370 929 individuals in 42 cohorts. The Data Portal is an end-to-end data management solution providing a secure, fully auditable, remote access environment for the analysis of cohort data. All projects utilising the data are by default collaborations with the cohort research teams generating the data. The Data Portal uses UK Secure eResearch Platform infrastructure to provide three core utilities: data discovery, access, and analysis. These are delivered using a 7 layered architecture comprising: data ingestion, data curation, platform interoperability, data discovery, access brokerage, data analysis and knowledge preservation. Automated, streamlined, and standardised procedures reduce the administrative burden for all stakeholders, particularly for requests involving multiple independent datasets, where a single request may be forwarded to multiple data controllers. Researchers are provided with their own secure ‘lab’ using VMware which is accessed using two factor authentication. Over the last 2 years, 160 project proposals involving 579 individual cohort data access requests were received. These were received from 268 applicants spanning 72 institutions (56 academic, 13 commercial, 3 government) in 16 countries with 84 requests involving multiple cohorts. Projects are varied including multi-modal, machine learning, and Mendelian randomisation analyses. Data access is usually free at point of use although a small number of cohorts require a data access fee.
Importance of Hydration and Surface Structure for Friction of Acrylamide Hydrogels
Authors: Simič Rok , Yetkin Melis , Zhang Kaihuan , Spencer Nicholas D.
Published: April 2020

To understand the dissipative mechanisms in soft hydrogel lubrication, polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogels with two distinct surface structures were examined under various contact conditions. The characteristic speed-dependent friction of the self-mated, crosslinked hydrogel surfaces could be explained by hydrodynamic shearing of a thin water layer between two rather impermeable bodies. On the other hand, the frictional response of brushy hydrogel surfaces is dependent on the contact conditions and the level of surface hydration. In a migrating contact, brushy hydrogels showed low, speed-independent friction (µ ~ 0.01) likely due to a thick layer of shearing liquid trapped within the sparse surface network. In stationary contact, however, brushy hydrogel surfaces can partially exude water from the near-surface region over time, as shown by time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. This is assumed to be reflected in a friction increase over time. Interfacial shearing appears to shorten the characteristic exudation times compared to those observed under static loading. Once fluid has been exuded, brushy surfaces were shown to reach similar friction values as their crosslinked analogs. The results thus indicate that the dominating dissipation mechanism during sliding at low contact pressures is shearing of the interfacial liquid film, rather than poro-elastic dissipation within the bulk. Maintenance of surface hydration is therefore crucial, in order to take advantage of the low friction of such systems.
Forecasting PM2.5-induced lung cancer mortality and morbidity at county level in China using satellite-derived PM2.5 data from 1998 to 2016: a modeling study
Authors: Liao Wei-Bin , Ju Ke , Zhou Qian , Gao Ya-Min , Pan Jay
Published: April 2020

The serious ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is one of the key risk factors for lung cancer. However, existing studies on the health effects of PM2.5in China were less considered the regional transport of PM2.5concentration. In this study, we aim to explore the association between lung cancer and PM2.5and then forecast the PM2.5-induced lung cancer morbidity and mortality in China. Ridge regression (RR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), model tree-based (MT) regression, regression tree (RT) approach, and the combined forecasting model (CFM) were alternative forecasting models. The result of the Pearson correlation analysis showed that both local and regional scale PM2.5concentration had a significant association with lung cancer mortality and morbidity and compared with the local lag and regional lag exposure to ambient PM2.5; the regional lag effect (0.172~0.235 for mortality; 0.146~0.249 for morbidity) was not stronger than the local lag PM2.5exposure (0.249~0.294 for mortality; 0.215~0.301 for morbidity). The overall forecasting lung cancer morbidity and mortality were 47.63, 47.86, 39.38, and 39.76 per 100,000 population. The spatial distributions of lung cancer morbidity and mortality share a similar spatial pattern in 2015 and 2016, with high lung cancer morbidity and mortality areas mainly located in the central to east coast areas in China. The stakeholders would like to implement a cross-regional PM2.5control strategy for the areas characterized as a high risk of lung cancer.
Process stability of a novel roughing-finishing end mill
Authors: Denkena B. , Grabowski R. , Krödel A. , Ellersiek L.
Published: April 2020

In this paper, stability investigations of a novel roughing-finishing end mill are carried out. This tool possesses two sharp finishing teeth and two radially recessed, chamfered roughing teeth. By applying the same tool for roughing and finishing operations, tool changes and process time can be reduced. For the stability investigations, the semi-discretization method for calculating stability charts was extended and made applicable for the novel tool concept by taking into account the radial recession of the chamfered cutting teeth. This is necessary because the radial recession leads to varying time-delays during the tooth engagement. Stability charts were then calculated for roughing-finishing tools with different radial recession as well as for conventional finishing and roughing tools. Furthermore, experimental stability charts were created. The results show a good agreement between calculated and experimental stability charts for the finishing tool. However, the calculated stability limits of the roughing-finishing tool and the roughing tool do not met with the experimental stability limits, which is attributed to inaccuracies in the modelling of process damping. Nevertheless, calculated as well as experimental stability charts indicate a significant increase of the stability limit of the roughing-finishing tool compared to the finishing tool.