bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Los Coloquios Latinoamericanos de Fotografía: hacia una definición de la fotografía hecha en Latinoamérica
Authors: Rigat Leticia
Published: January 2021

En el presente artículo nos proponemos reflexionar sobre los Coloquios Latinoamericanos de Fotografía que tuvieron lugar entre los años 1978 y 1996, en los que se buscó definir y categorizar a la fotografía latinoamericana. Dichos Coloquios se propusieron situar a la fotografía latinoamericana en el contexto de las actividades de la fotografía internacional, y propiciar una reflexión crítica sobre la identidad visual de las prácticas fotográficas de la región. En este sentido, buscamos indagar los documentos y actas de los coloquios a fin de proporcionar una lectura sobre el pensamiento sobre la fotografía latinoamericana en aquel contexto, partiendo del Primer Coloquio Latinoamericano de Fotografía realizado en México en 1978 y su evolución entre los encuentros posteriores: Segundo Coloquio Latinoamericano de Fotografía (México, 1981); Tercer Coloquio Latinoamericano de Fotografía (Cuba, 1984); Encuentro de Fotografía Latinoamericana (Venezuela, 1993); y Quinto coloquio Latinoamericano de Fotografía (México, 1996), intentando identificar los conceptos teóricos y visuales centrales.
Espectros, espectros y ... más espectros
Authors: Martinez Comorera Aleix
Published: January 2021

Reseña de "La desaparición de los rituales" de Chul Han.
Buenas Prácticas de la Agencia de Desarrollo Local de Alicante en materia de emprendimiento
Authors: González Herreros Ester
Published: January 2021

Resumen: La mayoría de las empresas necesita algún tipo de apoyo en algún momento de su desarrollo. Un ejemplo de estos lugares en nuestro país, desde el año 2006, son los Puntos de Atención al Emprendedor (PAE). En el municipio de Alicante, a través de la Agencia de Desarrollo Local, se comenzó a dar el servicio PAE en 2013. Por otro lado, la formación en materia de creación de empresas es otro servicio que da la Agencia de Desarrollo Local, impartiendo cursos y talleres orientados a la ayuda de la creación de negocios.
 
Palabras clave: emprendimiento, formación, emprendedores, asesoramiento.
Wideband and high efficiency orbital angular momentum generator based on bi-layer metasurface
Authors: Gao Xi , Tang Li-Guang ,   School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, China
Published: January 2021

A broadband and high-efficieny bi-layer metasurface is proposed in this paper. The unit cell of the metasurface is formed by symmetrically etching two cross-type metal patches on both sides of a dielectric plate. Furthermore, the two metal patches have a displacement of half a period along the y-axis. By employing the displacement, the transmission bandwidth of the bi-layer metasurface is significantly expanded. In order to obtain a physical insight into bandwidth broadening, a π-type equivalent circuit that presents the electromagnetic coupling between within the bi-layer metasurfaces is successfully extracted to investigate the influence of electromagnetic coupling on transmission performance. The results show that by shifting the metal patches along the y-axis by half a period, the coupling impedance (Z12 or Z21) of bi-layer metasurface can be significantly modified, which further changes the electromagnetic coupling of the bi-layer metasurface. Correspondingly, the impedances Zp and Zs in the π-type circuit are changed to approximately meet the resonant condition of circuit in broadband, resulting in the bandwidth expansion of the proposed device. By using Pancharatnam-Berry phase theory, we redesign the proposed metasurface unit cell into a broadband orbital angular momentum generator. The simulation and measurement results verify that the bi-layer metasurface can convert a left-hand circularly polarized wave into a right-hand circularly polarized wave carrying orbital angular momentum in a frequency range between 11 GHz and 12.8 GHz, demonstrating the performance of device.
A method of rapidly designing graphene-based terahertz diffusion surface
Authors: Wang Jian , Zhang Chao-Yue , Yao Zhao-Yu , Zhang Chi , Xu Feng , Yang Yuan ,   National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of RF Integration and Micro-Assembly Technology, College of Electronic and Optical Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China,   College of Instrumental Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Published: January 2021

Electromagnetic diffusion surface can reduce the radar cross section, thus profiting stealth of targets. Terahertz diffusion surface has a wide prospect in the field of next-generation radar and communication, promising to act as a kind of intelligent smart skin. In this paper, utilizing the excellent tunable properties of graphene in the terahertz band, a hybrid structure of graphene and metal which has inverse phase response of reflecting waves is proposed. The reflection phase switches in the mechanism of resonant modes and can be controlled efficiently by the bias voltage. Meanwhile, unlike metal materials, graphene has a non-negligible loss characteristic, which leads the response amplitudes corresponding to the two different switching states to be inconsistent with each other. According to the interference and superposition principle of electromagnetic field, it is not conducive to eliminating the coherent far-field, leading to an unsatisfactory diffusion result. In this paper, we present a “molecular” structure by secondary combination of the above-mentioned reverse phase element states, and take it as the basic element of the diffusion surface. Finally, we use particle swarm optimization to optimize the arrangement of “molecular” structures. The final diffusion surface consists of a combinatorial design of “molecules” rather than randomly distributed reflection units. In addition, molecules designed artificially have similar amplitude responses but different phase responses, which improves the convergence speed and reduces the computation quantity during algorithm evolution. The method of designing molecular structure, described in this paper, is simple, rapid and widely applicable, which effectively improves the amplitude-to-phase modulation ability of graphene metasurface against electromagnetic waves. When diffuse reflection optimization is applied to most of graphene metasurfaces, the method described in this paper can achieve the results that are the same as or even better than the results after a large number of iterations of traditional particle swarm optimization in the most computation-efficient manner. The results show that the dynamic diffusion surface designed by this method has the advantages of fast convergence speed and small far-field peak.
Drosophila serotonin 2A receptor signaling coordinates central metabolic processes to modulate aging in response to nutrient choice
Authors: Lyu Yang , Weaver Kristina J , Shaukat Humza A , Plumoff Marta L , Tjilos Maria , Promislow Daniel EL , Pletcher Scott D
Published: January 2021

It has been recognized for nearly a century that diet modulates aging. Despite early experiments suggesting that reduced caloric intake augmented lifespan, accumulating evidence indicates that other characteristics of the diet may be equally or more influential in modulating aging. We demonstrate that behavior, metabolism, and lifespan inDrosophilaare affected by whether flies are provided a choice of different nutrients or a single, complete medium, largely independent of the amount of nutrients that are consumed. Meal choice elicits a rapid metabolic reprogramming that indicates a potentiation of TCA cycle and amino acid metabolism, which requires serotonin 2A receptor. Knockdown ofglutamate dehydrogenase, a key TCA pathway component, abrogates the effect of dietary choice on lifespan. Our results reveal a mechanism of aging that applies in natural conditions, including our own, in which organisms continuously perceive and evaluate nutrient availability to promote fitness and well-being.
Evidence for adaptive evolution in the receptor-binding domain of seasonal coronaviruses OC43 and 229e
Authors: Kistler Kathryn E , Bedford Trevor
Published: January 2021

Seasonal coronaviruses (OC43, 229E, NL63, and HKU1) are endemic to the human population, regularly infecting and reinfecting humans while typically causing asymptomatic to mild respiratory infections. It is not known to what extent reinfection by these viruses is due to waning immune memory or antigenic drift of the viruses. Here we address the influence of antigenic drift on immune evasion of seasonal coronaviruses. We provide evidence that at least two of these viruses, OC43 and 229E, are undergoing adaptive evolution in regions of the viral spike protein that are exposed to human humoral immunity. This suggests that reinfection may be due, in part, to positively selected genetic changes in these viruses that enable them to escape recognition by the immune system. It is possible that, as with seasonal influenza, these adaptive changes in antigenic regions of the virus would necessitate continual reformulation of a vaccine made against them.
High sensitive triangular photonic crystal fiber sensor design applicable for gas detection
Authors: Abbaszadeh A. , Makouei S. , Meshgini S.
Published: January 2021

A new triangular photonic crystal fiber with a based microstructure core gas sensor has been proposed for the wavelength range from 1.1μm to 1.7μm. The guiding trait of the proposed structure depends on geometric parameters and wavelength, which are numerically studied by the finite element method. According to the results, the relative sensitivity obtained as high as 75.14% at 1.33μm wavelength. high birefringence and effective area are also obtained by order of 3.75×10-3 and 14.07 μm2 finally, low confinement loss of 1.41×10-2 dB/m is acquired at the same wavelength. The variation of the diameters in the cladding and core region is investigated and the results show that this structure has good stability for manufacturing goals. Since the results show the highest sensitivity at wavelengths around 1.2μm to 1.7μm, which is the absorption line of many gases such as methane (CH4), hydrogen fluoride (HF), ammonia (NH3), this gas sensor can be used for medical and industrial applications.
Comparison of response to Chinese and Western videos of mental-health-related emotions in a representative Chinese sample
Authors: Wang Ting , Zhao Yitong , Xu Yifeng , Zhu Zhuoying
Published: January 2021

Background

Emotion plays an important role in mental health. Studying the relationship between emotion and mental health requires effective emotion-eliciting materials. Most standardized emotional stimuli, however, were based on Western contents and have not been validated in other cultures. The present study compared the emotional response to standard Western videos with videos of Chinese contents in a large representative Chinese sample. The effects of content source (film vs. real-life) and delivery medium (online vs. offline), as well as the effects of demographic factors were investigated. Participants’ depression level was assessed to test the potential use of the videos in mental health research.

Methods

Top-ranked videos of basic emotions commonly implicated in mental health (happiness, sadness, anger, and fear) were chosen from a widely used Western video database. Twelve corresponding Chinese videos (film or real-life) were selected, with three clips for each emotion. In addition, three Chinese videos of the emotion “awe” were included because of the growing research attention to its role in promoting mental health. A large representative sample were recruited (N = 348) either online or offline and each participant viewed and rated his/her emotional reaction to all videos.

Results

All Chinese and Western videos effectively elicited target emotions. The intensity of emotional response was generally higher for Chinese videos than for Western videos. Film and real-life videos provided mixed results in terms of the intensity of elicited emotions. There was a small difference in the delivery medium in which one video watched online were rated more intense than being watched in the laboratory. Older adults were more emotional reactive than young people in general, but the latter showed more differentiated response to Chinese versus Western videos. People with higher education levels responded less to happy videos. Finally, emotional reactivity of anger and awe were negatively related to depression level, which was partially consistent with the emotional-context-insensitivity (ECI) hypothesis of depression.

Conclusions

The results suggest that both Western and Chinese videos could reliably elicit emotion in Chinese people, but videos with local contents were generally more effective. The set of videos can be a useful tool for studying emotion and mental health in the Chinese cultural context.
Trends in the incidence, prevalence and years lived with disability of facial fracture at global, regional and national levels from 1990 to 2017
Authors: Wu Jin , Min Anjie , Wang Weiming , Su Tong
Published: January 2021

Background

Facial fracture is one of the most common injuries globally. Some types of facial fractures may cause irreversible damage and can be life-threatening. This study aimed to investigate the health burden of facial fractures at the global, regional, and national levels from 1990 to 2017.

Methods

Facial fracture data, including the incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) from 1990 to 2017, were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease study. We calculated the estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) to assess the changes of facial fractures in 195 countries or territories and 21 regions.

Results

From 1990 to 2017, the change in cases of facial fracture incidence was 39% globally, while the age-standardized incidence rate showed a downtrend with an EAPC of 0.00. Syria experienced a ten-fold increase in incidence cases with an EAPC of 9.2, and this condition is largely responsible for the global health burden of facial fractures. The prevalence and YLDs showed a similar trend worldwide as the incidence. Additionally, we found that the incidence, prevalence, and YLDs showed a discrepancy among various age groups with a gradual change of proportion over the past 28 years. The age-standardized rates (ASRs) of facial fractures were nearly twice for male than those for female from 1990 to 2017.

Conclusions

EAPC showed a correlation with the ASRs of facial fractures and had no relationship with socio-demographic index. The proportion of children and elderly suffering from facial fractures slightly changed with time. The ratio of facial fractures between males and females was 2:1. These findings suggest that more targeted and specific strategies based on age and gender should be established in various countries and regions.
Genome-wide analysis of growth-regulating factors (GRFs) inTriticum aestivum
Authors: Huang Wendi , He Yiqin , Yang Lei , Lu Chen , Zhu Yongxing , Sun Cai , Ma Dongfang , Yin Junliang
Published: January 2021

The Growth-Regulating Factor (GRF) family encodes a type of plant-specific transcription factor (TF). GRF members play vital roles in plant development and stress response. Although GRF family genes have been investigated in a variety of plants, they remain largely unstudied in bread wheat (Triticum aestivumL.). The present study was conducted to comprehensively identify and characterize theT. aestivumGRF (TaGRF) gene family members. We identified 30TaGRFgenes, which were divided into four groups based on phylogenetic relationship. TaGRF members within the same subgroup shared similar motif composition and gene structure. Synteny analysis suggested that duplication was the dominant reason for family member expansion. Expression pattern profiling showed that mostTaGRFgenes were highly expressed in growing tissues, including shoot tip meristems, stigmas and ovaries, suggesting their key roles in wheat growth and development. Further qRT-PCR analysis revealed that all 14 testedTaGRFswere significantly differentially expressed in responding to drought or salt stresses, implying their additional involvement in stress tolerance of wheat. Our research lays a foundation for functional determination of TaGRFs, and will help to promote further scrutiny of their regulatory network in wheat development and stress response.
Hazard Assessment and Classification of Hand Sanitizers including Ethyl Alcohol
Authors: Kim Joo-Seok
Published: January 2021

The use of hand sanitizers for personal hygiene and the prevention of infectious diseases is increasing due to coronavirus (COVID-19) infections. Most hand sanitizers contain a significant amount of ethyl alcohol. This study analyzed 14 types of hand sanitizers suspected of being dangerous and showed that seven of them contained more than 60 wt% of ethyl alcohol and had a flash point of 22.0 ℃ or less. The Hazardous Substances Safety Control Act classifies hazardous substances by the content, flashpoint, and fire point of ethyl alcohol. However, international standards classify hazardous substances by the ignition point, initial boiling point, and combustion persistence. Both the United Nation Global Hamonized System of Classification and Labelling Chemical (UN GHS) and United Nation Recommendation on the Transport Dangerous Goods (UN TRDG) classify hand sanitizers as flammable liquids. In addition, the UN RTDG classifies 40 wt% ethyl alcohol receptors as flammable liquids, according to sustained combustibility experiments. Meanwhile, the 60 wt% ethyl alcohol solution is found to have a flash point of 22 ℃ and a fire point of 33 ℃ for combustion.
Infected Non Union of Tibia Managed by Limb Reconstruction System- A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Kushwaha Narendra Singh , Mahendra Mayank , Kumar Sanjiv , Sinha Saurabh , Singh Arpit , Sharma Vineet
Published: January 2021

Introduction: Infected non union of Tibia is one of the most commonly faced problem in both compound as well as closed fractures of Tibia, treated surgically. Few patients also present with gap at the fracture site which may be either due to bone loss during trauma or due to debridement of dead bone during previous surgeries. Treatment of infected non union is always challenging with unpredictable outcomes. Limb Reconstruction System (LRS) is one of the systems available to treat this complex situation. Aim: To evaluate the role of LRS in treatment of infected non union of Tibia in terms of union time, total duration of fixator applied and Visual Analouge Score (VAS). Materials and Methods: Twenty one patients of infected gap, non union of tibia were included in the study and were treated with debridement, resection of dead bone and application of LRS and segment transport. The results were evaluated in terms of union time, total duration of fixator applied and VAS. Bony and functional assessment was done by Association for the Study and Application of the Methods of Illizarov (ASAMI) criteria. SPSS statistics 24.0 was used for analysis. Mean, median and mode were used to describe continuous variable. Results: Out of 21 patients, 19 were males and two were females. The mean age of patients was 29.43±14.07 years. The mean limb length discrepancy was 23.3 mm (range, 15-40 mm). The mean duration from injury to LRS application was 7.9 months (range, 6-12 months). Mean duration of follow-up was 29.5 months (range, 16-50 months). Average union time was 44 weeks and average fixator time was 11.2 months. Bony and function results were good and excellent in 90% cases. Conclusion: The use of monolateral rail external fixator LRS is an effective method for the treatment of infected non union of tibia augmented with a fibular strut graft. This provides good results in terms of bony union, subsidence of infection and functional results.
Self-gratification Habits among Children Under Five Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Biswas Biswajit , Konar Mithun , Sil Archan , Das Mousumi , Mondal Shibnath , Kumar Raveesh
Published: January 2021

Introduction: Self-gratification or masturbation is a normal sexual behaviour; however, masturbation in childhood is less commonly addressed in literature. Aim: To describe the clinical profile of the children diagnosed with self-gratification condition. Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study recruited all cases diagnosed to have the self-gratification condition presenting to the outpatient clinic in the Department of Paediatric Medicine, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India during the period- January 2014 to December 2019. Diagnosis was made from history, home videotapes and sometimes by direct observation of the act during hospital stay. All relevant data pertaining to demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, investigations and treatment were collected in case sheets and were analysed by simple descriptive statistics. Results: Fifty-four patients were diagnosed to have the condition. Among them, 29 (53.70%) were girls and 25 (46.30%) were boys. The mean age at first symptoms was 20.98±9.31 months (range 3 months to 3 years 4 months). The average age at diagnosis was 26.16±11.35 months (varied from 4 months to 3 years 11 months). The mean frequency of events was 10.31±5.10 times per week, and the mean duration was 9.83±5.98 minutes. Events occurred mostly when children were left alone and bored (n=34, 62.97%). Usual presentations were: rocking in prone position (n=24, 44.44%), intermittent dystonic posturing of the crossed legs (n=23, 42.59%), direct genital manipulation (n=3, 5.56%) and others (n=4, 7.40%)). Two children had been previously misdiagnosed as having definite epilepsy. In 51 cases (94.44%) home videos were available which served as invaluable tools allowing confident diagnosis. Results of urine and stool examination were normal. MRI and EEG performed on two children with suspected epilepsy were reported normal, and antiepileptic drugs were stopped in both. Sixteen children (29.63%) were sent for behavioural therapy and all of them responded well in next one year. Conclusion: Gratification habits are not uncommon in children and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of epilepsy and other paroxysmal events in early childhood. Home video recording of these actions can be a very influential mean to help in diagnosis and to avoid needless investigations and treatments.
Review on IoT Based Precision Irrigation System in Agriculture
Authors: Kumar S. Vinod , Singh C. D. , Upendar K.
Published: January 2021

Precise irrigation plays an essential role in agricultural production and its management. Based on current conditions and historical records, profitability in the farming sector depends on making the right and timely operational decision. For the last two decades, especially in India, climate change, groundwater depletion, and erratic variation in rainfall have affected crop production significantly.  Due to advancements in technologies and reduction in size, sensors are becoming involved in almost every field of life. Agriculture is one such domain where sensors and their networks are successfully used to get numerous benefits from them. In this paper, a review of the scope of smart irrigation using IoT has been discussed. The scarcity of agricultural workers in irrigation can be compensated by the Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The various parameters, such as soil moisture, soil temperature, humidity, and pH, have been collected using the Internet of Things (IoT) platform, equipped with sensors and wireless communication systems (WSN).
Effect of Formulation, Binder and Compaction Pressure of Rice Husk-Bagasse Briquettes on Thermal and Physical Properties
Authors: Daniel Kerich K. , Siagi Zachary O. , Ogola Julius O.
Published: January 2021

Aims: This study investigated the use of agro-wastes for the production of briquettes. It was carried out to investigate the effect of formulation, binder and compaction pressure of rice husk-Bagasse briquettes on thermal and physical properties.

Study Design: The experimental design for this study was 6x5x2 Randomized Complete Block Design

Place and Duration of the Study: Rice husks and bagasse were collected from Lake Basin Development Authority’s rice mill and Kibos sugar and Allied company respectively. The binders were sourced locally in Kisumu. The study was conducted between March 2019 and February 2020. The fabrication and laboratory analysis were carried out in the engineering and laboratory departments of Kenya Industrial Research and Development institute, Kisumu.

Methodology: The experimental design for this study was 6x5x2 Randomized Complete Block Design. This study involved six formulations ratios (0:100, 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20, 100:0), five compaction pressure levels (108kPa, 180kPa, 253kPa, 325kPa, 397kPa) and two binders (clay, cassava) They were arranged in Randomize Complete Block Design with three replications per experiment.

Results: The briquettes bulk density was in the range of 849 to 1001 kg.m−3, while the calorific value ranged from 5.541 kcal/g for 100% Rice husk clay binder to 7.345 kcal/g 20% Rice Husk cassava binder. Briquettes with blend ratio of 40-60% Rice Husk took longer time to burn. Briquette formulations with clay binder had burning rates ranging from 0.28 g/min to 0.15 g/min while with cassava binder from 0.52 g/min to 0.37 g/min. The ignition time of the briquettes ranged from 62 sec to 95 sec with cassava binder and 110 sec to 191sec with clay binder. The shatter index ranged from 0.94 to 0.99 with cassava and 0.9 to 0.98 with clay binder.

Conclusion: Higher compaction pressures and use of cassava binder produced stronger briquettes with higher calorific values. Briquettes with higher percentage of bagasse had low ignition time and low bulk densities. The bulk densities and ignition time showed significant rise with increase in the compaction pressure but inversely affected the burning rate. The binder used significantly affected both the thermal and physical properties of all the formulations.
Emergency physician attitudes towards illness verification (sick notes)
Authors: Hayman Kate , McLaren Jesse , Ahuja Dezi , Vanegas Carolina Jimenez , Sheikh Hasan
Published: January 2021

Introduction

Emergency physicians frequently provide care for patients who are experiencing viral illnesses and may be asked to provide verification of the patient’s illness (a sick note) for time missed from work. Exclusion from work can be a powerful public health measure during epidemics; both legislation and physician advice contribute to patients’ decisions to recover at home.

Methods

We surveyed Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians members to determine what impacts sick notes have on patients and the system, the duration of time off work that physicians recommend, and what training and policies are in place to help providers. Descriptive statistics from the survey are reported.

Results

A total of 182 of 1524 physicians responded to the survey; 51.1% practice in Ontario. 76.4% of physicians write at least one sick note per day, with 4.2% writing 5 or more sick notes per day. Thirteen percentage of physicians charge for a sick note (mean cost $22.50). Patients advised to stay home for a median of 4 days with influenza and 2 days with gastroenteritis and upper respiratory tract infections. 82.8% of physicians believe that most of the time, patients can determine when to return to work. Advice varied widely between respondents. 61% of respondents were unfamiliar with sick leave legislation in their province and only 2% had received formal training about illness verification.

Conclusions

Providing sick notes is a common practice of Canadian Emergency Physicians; return-to-work guidance is variable. Improved physician education about public health recommendations and provincial legislation may strengthen physician advice to patients.
Application of Heterogeneity of Treatment‐Effects Methods: Exploratory Analyses of a Trial of Exercise‐Based Interventions for Knee Osteoarthritis
Authors: Coffman Cynthia J. , Arbeeva Liubov , Schwartz Todd A. , Callahan Leigh F. , Golightly Yvonne M. , Goode Adam P. , Huffman Kim M. , Allen Kelli D.
Published: January 2021

Objective

To evaluate heterogeneity of treatment effects in a trial of exercise‐based interventions for knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods

Participants (n = 350) were randomized to standard physical therapy (PT; n = 140), internet‐based exercise training (IBET; n = 142), or wait list (WL; n = 68) control. We applied qualitative interaction trees (QUINT), a sequential partitioning method, and generalized unbiased interaction detection and estimation (GUIDE), a regression tree approach, to identify subgroups with greater improvements in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score over 4 months. Predictors included 24 demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics. We conducted internal validation to estimate optimism (bias) in the range of mean outcome differences among arms.

Results

Both QUINT and GUIDE indicated that for participants with lower body mass index (BMI), IBET was better than PT (improvements of WOMAC ranged from 6.3 to 9.1 points lower), and for those with higher BMI and a longer duration of knee OA, PT was better than IBET (WOMAC improvement was 6.3 points). In GUIDE analyses comparing PT or IBET to WL, participants not employed had improvements in WOMAC ranging from 1.8 to 6.8 points lower with PT or IBT versus WL. From internal validation, there were large corrections to the mean outcome differences among arms; however, after correction, some differences remained in the clinically meaningful range.

Conclusion

Results suggest there may be subgroups who experience greater improvement in symptoms from PT or IBET, and this finding could guide referrals and future trials. However, uncertainty persists for specific treatment‐effects size estimates and how they apply beyond this study sample.
Corn and soybean yields and returns are greater in rotations with wheat
Authors: Janovicek Ken , Hooker Dave , Weersink Alfons , Vyn Richard , Deen Bill
Published: January 2021

Simple rotations containing only corn (Zea mays L.) and/or soybean (Glycine max L.) dominate landscapes despite agronomic, soil health, and environmental benefits associated with diversification. We hypothesize that inclusion of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in corn–soybean (CS) rotations increases yield and net returns and that this benefit is becoming larger over time. Yields from rotation–tillage trials located near Elora and Ridgetown, ON, Canada, respectively, were used to investigate the yield and return effects of diversifying CS rotation using wheat with/without red clover (Trifolium pratense L). At Elora, wheat inclusion increased rate of yield increase in corn and soybean over 36 yr. During the latter 16 yr, adding wheat to CS rotation increased conventional tillage (CT) 1st and 2nd‐year corn yields (with red clover) by 0.43 Mg ha−1 (4.2%) and 0.98 Mg ha−1 (11.8%), respectively, no‐till 1st and 2nd‐year corn yields (no red clover) by 0.78 Mg ha−1 (9.9%) and 0.45 Mg ha−1 (5.3%), respectively, and 1st‐year soybean yield by 0.34 Mg ha−1 (11.8%). At Elora, net returns in the 4‐yr wheat‐containing rotations were 10% greater compared to the CS rotation. Similar corn and soybean yield responses including wheat in 2 or 3 yr rotations also occurred at the greater‐yielding Ridgetown trial, however net returns were not increased relative to the CS rotation. Inclusion of wheat in CS rotation once every 4–5 yr may provide the optimal balance between accruing higher net returns from corn and soybean while minimizing direct net revenue reductions associated with wheat.
Emergency abdominal surgeries remain unchanged in the COVID‐19 affected environment: A single‐center experience at a community hospital in Japan
Authors: Nishida Yasunori , Otagiri Noriaki , Tauchi Katsunori
Published: January 2021

Aim

This study assessed whether emergency abdominal surgeries were changed in the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19)‐affected environment at a community hospital in Japan, with the goal of planning and preparing hospital resources against the further spread of COVID‐19.

Methods

A total of 179 patients who underwent emergency abdominal surgery over 4 months during the pandemic (1 March, 2020 to 30 June, 2020) and a control period (1 March, 2019 to 30 June, 2019) were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patient demographics, hospital visiting patterns (visit time, ambulance transport, and duration of symptom onset to hospital visit), severity of patients’ condition, and surgical characteristics were compared between the two periods.

Results

The number of patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery during the pandemic did not decrease in comparison to the control period (89 patients versus 90 patients). The duration of symptom onset to hospital visit during the pandemic was not prolonged compared to the control period. Other hospital visiting patterns, severity of patients’ condition, and surgical characteristics were also similar in both periods.

Conclusion

Although the situation of the pandemic was different between countries and regions, the number of emergency surgeries in our hospital remained unchanged, and those patients visited the emergency room no later than usual.
Übergangsmetallkomplexe als Katalysatoren für die elektrische Umwandlung von CO2 – eine metallorganische Perspektive
Authors: Kinzel Niklas W. , Werlé Christophe , Leitner Walter
Published: January 2021

Die elektrokatalytische Umwandlung von Kohlendioxid ist in der CO2‐Nutzung seit langem von Interesse. Während sich viele Studien auf den direkten Elektronentransfer vom Elektrodenmaterial auf das CO2‐Molekül konzentrieren, bieten molekulare Übergangsmetallkomplexe in Lösung die Möglichkeit, als Katalysatoren für den Elektronentransfer zu wirken. C1‐Verbindungen wie Kohlenmonoxid, Formiat oder Methanol werden oft als Hauptprodukte angestrebt, aber auch kompliziertere Umwandlungen sind innerhalb der Koordinationssphäre des Metallzentrums möglich. Dieser Perspektivartikel behandelt ausgewählte Beispiele, um die gegenwärtig favorisierten Mechanismen für die elektrochemisch induzierten und durch homogene Übergangsmetallkomplexe geförderten Umwandlungspfade von CO2 zu illustrieren und zu kategorisieren. Diese Erkenntnisse werden mit den Konzepten und Elementarschritten der metallorganischen Katalyse untermauert, um mögliche Strategien zur Erweiterung der molekularen Produktvielfalt als Zukunftsperspektive abzuleiten.
Vapochromic Behaviors of A Solid‐State Supramolecular Polymer Based on Exo‐Wall Complexation of Perethylated Pillar[5]arene with 1,2,4,5‐Tetracyanobenzene
Authors: Wang Mengbin , Li Qing , Li Errui , Liu Jiyong , Zhou Jiong , Huang Feihe
Published: January 2021

The research for the solid‐state supramolecular polymers with specific functions accelerates the development of supramolecular and materials sciences. Herein, we discover the different complexation modes of perethylated pillar[5]arene (EtP5) with 1,2,4,5‐tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) in various solvents. Driven by charge‐transfer interaction, TCNB is enclosed in the cavity of EtP5 in CHCl3, while TCNB complexes with EtP5 at the exo‐wall of EtP5 in CH2Cl2. This is because the size of CH2Cl2 matches the cavity of EtP5, forcing TCNB to complex with the exo‐wall of EtP5. Furthermore, we fabricate a vapochromic solid‐state supramolecular polymer by exploiting the exo‐wall complexation, which turns from brown to reddish brown or black after adsorption of alkyl aldehyde vapors. The adsorptive nature for alkyl aldehyde vapors comes from the unoccupied cavity of EtP5 based on C−H⋅⋅⋅π interactions. The vapochromic property is attributed to the change of the charge‐transfer interaction caused by molecular rearrangement induced by vapor‐capture in the solid‐state supramolecular polymer.
Iron‐Catalyzed Radical Activation Mechanism for Denitrogenative Rearrangement Over C(sp3)–H Amination
Authors: Roy Satyajit , Das Sandip Kumar , Khatua Hillol , Das Subrata , Singh Krishna Nand , Chattopadhyay Buddhadeb
Published: January 2021

An iron‐catalyzed denitrogenative rearrangement of 1,2,3,4‐tetrazole is developed over the competitive C(sp3)–H amination. This catalytic rearrangement reaction follows an unprecedented metalloradical activation mechanism. Employing the developed method, a wide number of complex‐N‐heterocyclic product classes have been accessed. The synthetic utility of this radical activation method is showcased with the short synthesis of a bioactive molecule. Collectively, this discovery underlines the progress of radical activation strategy that should find wide application in the perspective of medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and natural product synthesis research.
Highly Enantioselective Cobalt‐Catalyzed (3+2) Cycloadditions of Alkynylidenecyclopropanes
Authors: Da Concepción Eduardo , Fernández Israel , Mascareñas José L. , López Fernando
Published: January 2021

Low‐valent cobalt complexes equipped with chiral ligands can efficiently promote highly enantioselective (3+2) cycloadditions of alkyne‐tethered alkylidenecyclopropanes. The annulation allows to assemble bicyclic systems containing five‐membered rings in good yields and with excellent enantiomeric ratios. We also present a mechanistic discussion based on experimental and computational data, which support the involvement of CoI/CoIII catalytic cycles.
Warpage control method during surface forming process of plastic film‐reinforced flexible decorative veneer
Authors: Peng Xiaorui , Zhao Liyuan , Zhang Zhankuan , Wang Chao
Published: January 2021

The plastic film of the new plastic film reinforced pliable decorative veneer (PRPDSV) is used as a flexible reinforcement material and an adhesive material. It has good water resistance, impermeability, simple preparation and finishing processes, and no formaldehyde release. However, warpage phenomenon during hot pressing has been a bottleneck problem restricting its industrial development. In order to solve this problem solve, the study proposed a concave, and convex molds method, established an elastic–plastic FEA model of hot pressing processes of the PRPDSV using concave and convex molds with static/general static solution module in the nonlinear ABAQUS, and researched the effect on the performances of the PRPDSV from the parameters of temperature, pressure, and mold curvature radius theoretically and verified experimentally. Analysis results showed that the surface forming temperature had a great effect on warpage control for PRPDSV. The higher the temperature is, the smaller the curvature radius of the corresponding mold will be and the better the warpage will be. The curvature radius of the molds had a significant effect on the warpage control. Under the conditions with the same hot pressing parameters, the smaller the curvature radius is, and the better control on the warpage for the PRPDSV will be.
Chitosan microcapsules: Methods of the production and use in the textile finishing
Authors: Valle José Alexandre Borges , Valle Rita de Cássia Siqueira Curto , Bierhalz Andrea Cristiane Krause , Bezerra Fabricio Maestá , Hernandez Arianne Lopez , Lis Arias Manuel José
Published: January 2021

Biopolymeric chitosan is considered a promising encapsulating agent for textile applications due to its biocompatibility, lack of toxicity, antibacterial activity, high availability, and low cost. After cellulose, it is nature's most important organic compound. Also, chitosan has unique chemical properties due to its cationic charge in solution. Microencapsulation technologies play an important role in protecting the trapped material and in the durability of the effect, controlling the release rate. The application of chitosan microcapsules in textiles follows the current interest of industries in functionalization technologies that give different properties to products, such as aroma finish, insect repellency, antimicrobial activity, and thermal comfort. In this sense, methods of coacervation, ionic gelation, and LBL are presented for the production of chitosan‐based microcapsules and methods of textile finishing that incorporate them are presented, bath exhaustion, filling, dry drying cure, spraying, immersion, and grafting chemical. Finally, current trends in the textile market are identified and guidance on future developments.
Effect of chain extrender on the compatibility, mechanical and gas barrier properties of poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate)/poly(propylene carbonate) bio‐composites
Authors: Zhao Yang , Li Yuan , Xie Dong , Chen Junjia
Published: January 2021

Bio‐composites consisting of poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT), poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) and epoxy chain extender ADR 4468 were fabricated via melt blending using a torque rheometer. The relationship of the torque, melt viscosity, and molecular weight of the bio‐composites was established via polymeric liquid theory to estimate the real‐time chain extension reaction rate under different ADR contents. At the meantime, rheological behavior, thermal and mechanical properties, morphologies, gas barrier properties of the PBAT/PPC/ADR bio‐composites were systematically characterized. The corresponding results revealed that the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) reduced by 50% under 30 phr (parts per hundreds of resin) PPC content. The addition of ADR is beneficial to improve the mechanical properties, thermal stability and phase dispersion of PBAT/PPC without affecting the water barrier property. With 3 phr ADR, the tensile stress and elongation at break were increased from 19.5 MPa and 1184% to 26.9 MPa and 1443%, respectively. In addition, the data of the torque rheometer revealed that the chain extension reaction rate and the melt viscosity was increased with the increasing ADR content, but the reaction rate was reduced with the excessive viscosity.
Innovationen bei Betonbrücken
Authors: Haveresch Karlheinz
Published: January 2021

Neue Anforderungen beim Ersatzneubau von Brücken haben starke Innovationen bei der Gestaltung, Bemessung und Bautechnik von Betonbrücken ausgelöst. Es ergeben sich sehr interessante neue Lösungsmöglichkeiten. Im Beitrag wird über den Bearbeitungsstand dieser Entwicklungen berichtet, insbesondere für den erweiterten Einsatz von Fertigteilen aus Beton, die Verwendung von Hochleistungsbeton, die Rahmenbedingungen für Spannglieder in Stegen von Überbauten mit Kastenquerschnitt und für Quervorspannung von Fahrbahnplatten sowie für die Bemessungsregeln bei Dekompressionsnachweis und Mindestbewehrung für beschleunigtes Bauen.
Prenatal exposure to atrazine induces cryptorchidism and hypospadias in F1 male mouse offspring
Authors: Tan Hongli , Wu Guohui , Wang Shanshan , Lawless John , Sinn Austin , Chen Da , Zheng Zhengui
Published: January 2021

The main objective of the present study was to determine whether prenatal exposure to atrazine could affect testicle descent and penile masculinization. Atrazine has been demonstrated with a variety of endocrine disrupting activities and reproductive toxicities. However, the effects of prenatal atrazine exposure on male offspring's genital malformation, such as hypospadias and cryptorchidism, remain poorly understood. In this study, pregnant ICR mice were gavaged from gestational day 12.5–16.5 with different doses of atrazine. Although no sign of systemic toxicity was observed in F1 male pups, prenatal exposure to 100 mg/kg/day atrazine affected penile morphology, urethral meatus position and descent of testis, and reduced anogenital distance and penile size in postnatal day 21 F1 male pups. The comparative study with an androgen receptor (AR) antagonist vinclozolin suggested that these effects of atrazine on male genital development may not be through antagonism of AR. The results also revealed that atrazine exposure significantly reduced maternal serum testosterone levels, decreased AR nuclear translocation, and altered the expression levels of developmental gene networks in developing penis of mice. Atrazine exposure also affected the expression of insulin‐like 3 (Insl3) and steroidogenic gene expression in developing reproductive tract. Therefore, our data indicate that prenatal atrazine exposure can induce hypospadias in F1 mice, likely through disruption of testosterone production, decreasing genomic androgen action, and then altering expression of developmental genes during sexual differentiation. Our data also suggest that prenatal atrazine exposure can induce cryptorchidism in F1 mice, possibly through down regulation of Insl3.
A high‐throughput predictive method for sequence‐similar fold switchers
Authors: Kim Allen K. , Looger Loren L. , Porter Lauren L.
Published: January 2021

Although most experimentally characterized proteins with similar sequences assume the same folds and perform similar functions, an increasing number of exceptions is emerging. One class of exceptions comprises sequence‐similar fold switchers, whose secondary structures shift from α‐helix <‐> β‐sheet through a small number of mutations, a sequence insertion, or a deletion. Predictive methods for identifying sequence‐similar fold switchers are desirable because some are associated with disease and/or can perform different functions in cells. Here, we use homology‐based secondary structure predictions to identify sequence‐similar fold switchers from their amino acid sequences alone. To do this, we predicted the secondary structures of sequence‐similar fold switchers using three different homology‐based secondary structure predictors: PSIPRED, JPred4, and SPIDER3. We found that α‐helix <‐> β‐strand prediction discrepancies from JPred4 discriminated between the different conformations of sequence‐similar fold switchers with high statistical significance (P < 1.8*10−19). Thus, we used these discrepancies as a classifier and found that they can often robustly discriminate between sequence‐similar fold switchers and sequence‐similar proteins that maintain the same folds (Matthews Correlation Coefficient of 0.82). We found that JPred4 is a more robust predictor of sequence‐similar fold switchers because of (a) the curated sequence database it uses to produce multiple sequence alignments and (b) its use of sequence profiles based on Hidden Markov Models. Our results indicate that inconsistencies between JPred4 secondary structure predictions can be used to identify some sequence‐similar fold switchers from their sequences alone. Thus, the negative information from inconsistent secondary structure predictions can potentially be leveraged to identify sequence‐similar fold switchers from the broad base of genomic sequences.
Metabolic engineering of HEK293 cells to improve transient transfection and cell budding of HIV‐1 virus‐like particles
Authors: Lavado‐García Jesús , Díaz‐Maneh Andy , Canal‐Paulí Núria , Pérez‐Rubio Pol , Gòdia Francesc , Cervera Laura
Published: January 2021

HIV‐1 Gag virus‐like particles (VLPs) are promising candidates for the development of future vaccines. Recent viral outbreaks have manifested the need of robust vaccine production platforms able to adapt to new challenges while achieving mass production capacity. For the rapid production of VLPs, the method of transient gene expression (TGE) have proved highly efficient. Based on a previous characterization of the HEK293 cell line upon transient transfection using multiplexed quantitative proteomics, molecular production bottlenecks and metabolic pathways likely to be optimized were identified. In this study, these molecular components and metabolic pathways have been explored and modulated via transient metabolic engineering using approaches like design of experiments to fully exploit and optimize VLP production, transfection and budding efficiency. Upon overexpression of endosomal sorting complex required for transport accessory proteins like NEDD4L and CIT, VLP production increased 3.3 and 2.9‐fold, respectively. Overexpression of glycosphingolipid precursor enzyme UGCG improved transfection efficiency by 17% and knocking‐down the Gag‐binding protein CNP improved 2.5‐fold VLP specific productivity. Combining CNP inhibition and UGCG overexpression further improved budding efficiency by 37.3%. Modulating VLP production and accessory pathways like intracellular budding, demonstrated the potential of metabolic engineering to optimize and intensify the development of robust production platforms for future vaccines.