bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diapocynin, an NADPH oxidase inhibitor, counteracts diisopropylfluorophosphate‐induced long‐term neurotoxicity in the rat model
Authors: Putra Marson , Gage Meghan , Sharma Shaunik , Gardner Cara , Gasser Grace , Anantharam Vellareddy , Thippeswamy Thimmasettappa
Published: February 2020

Organophosphate (OP) nerve agents are a threat to both the military and civilians. OP exposure causes cholinergic crisis and status epilepticus (SE) because of irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase that can be life‐threatening if left untreated. OP survivors develop long‐term morbidity, such as cognitive impairment and motor dysfunction, because of oxidative stress and progressive neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, which act as disease promoters. Current medical countermeasures (MCMs) do not mitigate these pathologies. Therefore, our goal was to target these disease promoters using diapocynin (DPO), an NADPH oxidase inhibitor, in addition to MCMs, in a rat diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) model. The DFP‐intoxicated rats were treated with DPO (300 mg/kg, oral, six doses, 12‐h intervals) or vehicle 2 h following behavioral SE termination with diazepam. The DPO treatment significantly rescued DFP‐induced motor impairment and attenuated epileptiform spiking during the first 72 h after DFP exposure in severely seizing rats despite no difference in epileptiform spike rate between the vehicle and DPO groups in mild SE rats. DPO significantly reduced DFP‐induced reactive astrogliosis, neurodegeneration, GP91phox, glutathiolated protein, serum nitrite, and proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, such as interleukins (ILs) IL‐1α, IL‐6, IL‐2, IL‐17A, leptin, and IP‐10, in the hippocampus. Collectively, these data support a neuroprotective role of DPO in an OP‐induced neurotoxicity model.
Flexibly Serving A Finite Number of Heterogeneous Jobs in A Tandem System
Authors: Lim Yun Fong , Lu Bingnan , Wang Rowan , Zhang Wenjia
Published: February 2020

Many manufacturing and service systems require a finite number of heterogeneous jobs to be processed by two stations in tandem. Each station serves at most one job at a time and there is a finite buffer between the two stations. We consider two flexible servers that are cross‐trained to work at both stations. The duration for a server to finish a job at a station is exponentially distributed with a rate that depends on the server, the station, and the job. Our goal is to identify an efficient policy to dynamically assign the servers to the stations such that the expected makespan (duration to complete all the jobs) is minimized. Given that an optimal policy is non‐idling, we focus on non‐idling policies. We first derive the expected makespan of a general non‐idling policy. We then analyze three simple non‐idling policies: the summation‐myopic, the product‐myopic, and the teamwork policies. We prove that (i) the product‐myopic policy is optimal if the servers maintain the same service‐rate ratio at each station for all the jobs, (ii) the teamwork policy is optimal if the servers maintain the same service‐rate ratio at different stations for jobs that are sequenced near each other, and (iii) the summation‐myopic policy is no worse than the teamwork policy. Our numerical study based on general service rates suggests that the summation‐myopic policy can be better or worse than the product‐myopic policy. We also extend the model to incorporate moving costs and service defects.
Uses and Abuses of Ideology in Political Psychology
Authors: Kalmoe Nathan P.
Published: February 2020

Ideology is a central construct in political psychology. Even so, the field's strong claims about an ideological public rarely engage evidence of enormous individual differences: a minority with real ideological coherence and weak to nonexistent political belief organization for everyone else. Here, I bridge disciplinary gaps by showing the limits of mass political ideology with several popular measures and components—self‐identification, core political values (egalitarian and traditionalism's resistance to change), and policy indices—in representative U.S. surveys across four decades (Ns ~ 13 k–37 k), plus panel data testing stability. Results show polar, coherent, stable, and potent ideological orientations only among the most knowledgeable 20–30% of citizens. That heterogeneity means full‐sample tests overstate ideology for most people but understate it for knowledgeable citizens. Whether through top‐down opinion leadership or bottom‐up ideological reasoning, organized political belief systems require political attention and understanding to form. Finally, I show that convenience samples make trouble for ideology generalizations. I conclude by proposing analytic best practices to help avoid overclaiming ideology in the public. Taken together, what first looks like strong and broad ideology is actually ideological innocence for most and meaningful ideology for a few.
Effect of yoga‐based physical activity on perceived stress, anxiety, and quality of life in young adults
Authors: Erdoğan Yüce Gülyeter , Muz Gamze
Published: February 2020

Purpose

This study, conducted at a public university in Turkey, sought to determine the effects of yoga‐based physical activity on perceived stress, anxiety, and quality of life in young adults.

Design and Methods

This study was planned as a semiexperimental nonrandomized study with a control group.

Findings

Yoga‐based physical activity decreased the perceived stress and state anxiety levels, but had no effect on trait anxiety levels and quality of life.

Practical Implications

It is recommended that yoga‐based treatment can be included in nursing interventions for reducing stress and anxiety levels in young adults.
Clustering with statistical error control
Authors: Vogt Michael , Schmid Matthias
Published: February 2020

This article presents a clustering approach that allows for rigorous statistical error control similar to a statistical test. We develop estimators for both the unknown number of clusters and the clusters themselves. The estimators depend on a tuning parameter α which is similar to the significance level of a statistical hypothesis test. By choosing α, one can control the probability of overestimating the true number of clusters, while the probability of underestimation is asymptotically negligible. In addition, the probability that the estimated clusters differ from the true ones is controlled. In the theoretical part of the article, formal versions of these statements on statistical error control are derived in a baseline model with convex clusters. A simulation study and two applications to temperature and gene expression microarray data complement the theoretical analysis.
The effect of border barriers to services trade on goods trade
Authors: Dincer Nazire Nergiz , Tekin‐Koru Ayça
Published: February 2020

This paper has two objectives (a) to introduce border policy‐induced barriers (PIBs) to services trade and (b) analyse the impact of border PIBs in services sectors on goods trade. The World Input‐Output Database covering 43 countries is used over the period 2000–14. A three‐stage analysis is employed. The measures of bilateral services trade barriers calculated in each services sector in the first stage are decomposed into its cultural/geographic and policy‐induced parts in the second stage. Border PIBs to services trade are used in the structural gravity estimations of bilateral goods trade in the final stage. The results demonstrate significant and robust adverse effects of barriers to services trade on goods trade. When the level of development is taken into consideration, there are marked differences in the impact of these barriers on goods trade.
Norovirus outbreak in a natural playground: A One Health approach
Authors: Sips Gregorius J. , Dirven Mariëlle J. G. , Donkervoort Joke T. , van Kolfschoten Francien M. , Schapendonk Claudia M. E. , Phan My V. T. , Bloem Annemieke , van Leeuwen Anna F. , Trompenaars Mariechristine E. , Koopmans Marion P. G. , van der Eijk Annemiek A. , de Graaf Miranda , Fanoy Ewout B.
Published: February 2020

Norovirus constitutes the most frequently identified infectious cause of disease outbreaks associated with untreated recreational water. When investigating outbreaks related to surface water, a One Health approach is insightful. Historically, there has been a focus on potential contamination of recreational water by bird droppings and a recent publication demonstrating human noroviruses in bird faeces suggested this should be investigated in future water‐related norovirus outbreaks. Here, we describe a One Health approach investigating a norovirus outbreak in a natural playground. On social media, a large amount of waterfowl were reported to defecate near these playground premises leading to speculations about their potential involvement. Surface water, as well as human and bird faecal specimens, was tested for human noroviruses. Norovirus was found to be the most likely cause of the outbreak but there was no evidence for transmission via waterfowl. Cases had become known on social media prior to notification to the public health service underscoring the potential of online media as an early warning system. In view of known risk factors, advice was given for future outbreak investigations and natural playground design.
Muysc ty, quycac ty aguene: tejidos entre música, cosmogonía y naturaleza en cantos muiscas reterritorializados
Authors: Durán Velasco Alejandro
Published: February 2020

A partir de una perspectiva no dicotómica entre cultura y naturaleza, se estudia un repertorio de ocho cantos presuntamente muiscas provenientes de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Estos cantos se encuentran en procesos diversos de apropiación y reterritorialización por parte de comunidades muiscas actuales, que son apoyados directamente por el autor. La manera de abordar este repertorio parte de un análisis musicológico sistemático que genera enlaces con la cosmogonía muisca y el mundo natural al que hacen referencia los cantos, para explorar algunas correlaciones entre estas dimensiones. Según este análisis, se exponen algunas similitudes entre elementos sonoros de los cantos y aspectos del comportamiento etológico de los animales a los que se canta. Estas correlaciones expresan formas de movimiento circulares, en espiral y ondulatorias recurrentes. A su vez, las similitudes motívicas musicales entre los cantos corresponden a la lógica muisca de organización del entorno y dan cuenta de aspectos fundamentales de la lingüística y la cosmogonía muisca. Se concluye con la evidencia de un alto nivel de coherencia entre diferentes dimensiones de la cultura, como lo musical, lo cosmogónico y lo ecológico, y con la exploración de las posibles funcionalidades de estas relaciones desde el pensamiento mítico, la ritualidad y la memoria del territorio.
Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Phase-Focused Breaking and Non-Breaking Wave Impact on a Fixed Offshore Platform Deck
Authors: Moideen Rameeza , Behera Manasa Ranjan , Kamath Arun , Bihs Hans
Published: February 2020

Extreme wave impact due to tsunamis and storm surge create large wave heights that cause destruction to coastal and offshore structures. Focused waves have been used to represent such extreme waves, and in the present study, its impact on offshore deck has been studied numerically. Numerical modeling has been carried out using open-source software reef3d, with the level set method to capture the air–water interface. Focused waves are generated by phase focusing a group of waves at a particular position and time. The nonlinearity of focused waves and its effect on the vertical impact force has been quantified for different airgaps and increasing wave heights. The wave steepness was increased to initiate phase-focused breaking in the numerical wave tank, which was then validated with the experimental results. This breaking-focused wave impact on offshore deck is then studied at different breaking locations. The results for different positionings of the deck with respect to breaker location show that the maximum horizontal impact force on the deck occurs when the plunging crest hits the deck side.
On the Erosive Wear of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Composite in the Olive Oil Extraction Process
Authors: Sakka M. M. , Bahri A. , Kaçar E. , Elleuch K. , Urgen M.
Published: February 2020

The olive pomace erosion wear behavior of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composite (epoxy/CF) has been analyzed. A tribological test was carried out using an in house centrifugal testing setup in order to simulate the environment in olive oil extraction procedure. The environment is composed from a pomace-to-water ratio 70/30. The erosion wear-rate of this composite has been studied at different impact angles (45 deg and 90 deg) and at different impact velocities (200, 1200, 1500, and 2000 rpm). It was demonstrated that both the impact angle and the impact velocity have a significant effect on the carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composite erosive wear-rate. The main findings reveal an erosive wear characterized by brittle damage; in fact, micro-cracks at the surfaces and sub-surfaces were found. The damage surfaces were marked by fragmented fibers.
Ray-based blind deconvolution of shipping sources using single-snapshot adaptive beamforming
Authors: Zhang Xuedong , Yang Juan , Sabra Karim
Published: February 2020

The original ray-based blind deconvolution (RBD) algorithm estimates the phase of a source of opportunity—e.g., a shipping vessel—using conventional wideband beamforming (CWBF) along a well-resolved ray-path to estimate the channel impulse response (CIR). However, for the case of an anisotropic radiator and when using a short-aperture receiving array, CWBF is unable to accurately beamform on weak multipath arrivals. Instead, a higher-resolution RBD algorithm based on single snapshot adaptive beamforming is introduced by using space-frequency smoothing of the array covariance matrix; and its performance is demonstrated using experimental recordings of a container vessel to estimate the bottom-bounce arrival of the CIR.
Acute Subdural Hematoma in a High School Football Player Requiring Emergent Decompressive Craniectomy
Authors: Center Christine C. , Wilkins Samuel J. , Mathiasen Ross , Rosen Adam B.
Published: February 2020

The purpose of this report is to present the case of a high school football player who sustained an injury during a game, resulting in an acute subdural hematoma (SDH). The patient underwent an emergent decompressive craniectomy. The uniqueness of the case is due to both rare pathology and treatment. The athlete had a positive outcome due to prompt on-field assessment and advanced surgical treatments. Athletic trainers should know how to recognize symptoms of emergent traumatic brain injuries and be prepared to implement an emergency action plan when necessary.
Emergence of Fluoroquinolone-Resistant
Campylobacter jejuni
and
Campylobacter coli
among Australian Chickens in the Absence of Fluoroquinolone Use
Authors: Abraham Sam , Sahibzada Shafi , Hewson Kylie , Laird Tanya , Abraham Rebecca , Pavic Anthony , Truswell Alec , Lee Terence , O’Dea Mark , Jordan David
Published: February 2020

Campylobacter
is one of the most common causes of gastroenteritis in humans, with infections frequently resulting from exposure to undercooked poultry products. Although human illness is typically self-limiting, a minority of cases do require antimicrobial therapy. Ensuring that
Campylobacter
originating from meat chickens does not acquire resistance to fluoroquinolones is therefore a valuable outcome for public health. Australia has never legalized the use of fluoroquinolones in commercial chickens and until now fluoroquinolone-resistant
Campylobacter
has not been detected in the Australian poultry. This structured survey of meat chickens derived from all major Australian producers describes the unexpected emergence of fluoroquinolone resistance in
Campylobacter jejuni
and
C. coli
. Genetic characterization suggests that these isolates may have evolved outside the Australian poultry sector and were introduced into poultry by humans, pest species, or wild birds. The findings dramatically underline the critical role of biosecurity in the overall fight against antimicrobial resistance.
A Disulfide Oxidoreductase (CHU_1165) Is Essential for Cellulose Degradation by Affecting Outer Membrane Proteins in Cytophaga hutchinsonii
Authors: Zhao Dong , Wang Ying , Wang Sen , Zhang Weican , Qi Qingsheng , Lu Xuemei
Published: February 2020

Cytophaga hutchinsonii
can rapidly digest cellulose in a contact-dependent manner, in which the outer membrane proteins may play important roles. In this study, a hypothetical protein, CHU_1165, characterized as a disulfide oxidoreductase, is essential for cellulose degradation by affecting the cellulose binding ability of many outer membrane proteins in
C. hutchinsonii
. Disulfide oxidoreductases are involved in disulfide bond formation. However, our studies show that many of the decreased outer membrane proteins that were essential for cellulose degradation contained no or one cysteine, and mutation of cysteine did not affect their function, indicating that CHU_1165 did not facilitate the formation of a disulfide bond in these proteins. It may have an indirect or pleiotropic effect on the function of these outer membrane proteins. Our study provides an orientation for exploring the proteins that assist in the appropriate conformation of many outer membrane proteins essential for cellulose degradation, which is important for exploring the novel mechanism of cellulose degradation in
C. hutchinsonii
.
Distinct Roles for Sialoside and Protein Receptors in Coronavirus Infection
Authors: Qing Enya , Hantak Michael , Perlman Stanley , Gallagher Tom
Published: February 2020

CoVs can transmit from animals to humans to cause serious disease. This zoonotic transmission uses spike proteins, which bind CoVs to cells with two receptor-binding domains. Here, we identified the roles for the two binding processes in the CoV infection process. Binding to sialic acids promoted infection and also supported the intercellular expansion of CoV infections through syncytial development. Adaptive mutations in the sialic acid-binding spike domains increased the intercellular expansion process. These findings raise the possibility that the lectin-like properties of many CoVs contribute to facile zoonotic transmission and intercellular spread within infected organisms.
Hijacking the Fusion Complex of Human Parainfluenza Virus as an Antiviral Strategy
Authors: Marcink T. C. , Yariv E. , Rybkina K. , Más V. , Bovier F. T. , des Georges A. , Greninger A. L. , Alabi C. A. , Porotto M. , Ben-Tal N. , Moscona A.
Published: February 2020

Paramyxoviruses, including human parainfluenza virus type 3, are internalized into host cells by fusion between viral and target cell membranes. The receptor binding protein, hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN), upon binding to its cell receptor, triggers conformational changes in the fusion protein (F). This action of HN activates F to reach its fusion-competent state. Using small molecules that interact with HN, we can induce the premature activation of F and inactivate the virus. To obtain highly active pretriggering compounds, we carried out a virtual modeling screen for molecules that interact with a sialic acid binding site on HN that we propose to be the site involved in activating F. We use cryo-electron tomography of authentic intact viral particles for the first time to directly assess the mechanism of action of this treatment on the conformation of the viral F protein and present the first direct observation of the induced conformational rearrangement in the viral F protein.
Toward Standards in Clinical Microbiota Studies: Comparison of Three DNA Extraction Methods and Two Bioinformatic Pipelines
Authors: Ducarmon Q. R. , Hornung B. V. H. , Geelen A. R. , Kuijper E. J. , Zwittink R. D.
Published: February 2020

Method choice throughout the workflow of a microbiome study, from sample collection to DNA extraction and sequencing procedures, can greatly affect results. This study evaluated three different DNA extraction methods and two bioinformatic pipelines by including positive and negative controls and various biological specimens. By identifying an optimal combination of DNA extraction method and bioinformatic pipeline use, we hope to contribute to increased methodological consistency in microbiota studies. Our methods were applied not only to commonly studied samples for microbiota analysis, e.g., feces, but also to more rarely studied, low-biomass samples. Microbiota composition profiles of low-biomass samples (e.g., urine and tumor biopsy specimens) were not always distinguishable from negative controls, or showed partial overlap, confirming the importance of including negative controls in microbiota studies, especially when low bacterial biomass is expected.
A High-Fat/High-Protein, Atkins-Type Diet Exacerbates
Clostridioides
(
Clostridium
)
difficile
Infection in Mice, whereas a High-Carbohydrate Diet Protects
Authors: Mefferd Chrisabelle C. , Bhute Shrikant S. , Phan Jacqueline R. , Villarama Jacob V. , Do Dung M. , Alarcia Stephanie , Abel-Santos Ernesto , Hedlund Brian P.
Published: February 2020

The role of Western and weight-loss diets with extreme macronutrient composition in the risk and progression of CDI is poorly understood. In a longitudinal study, we showed that a high-fat/high-protein, Atkins-type diet greatly exacerbated antibiotic-induced CDI, whereas a high-carbohydrate diet protected, despite the high monosaccharide and starch content. Our study results, therefore, suggest that popular high-fat/high-protein weight-loss diets may enhance CDI risk during antibiotic treatment, possibly due to the synergistic effects of a loss of the microorganisms that normally inhibit
C. difficile
overgrowth and an abundance of amino acids that promote
C. difficile
overgrowth. In contrast, a high-carbohydrate diet might be protective, despite reports on the recent evolution of enhanced carbohydrate metabolism in
C. difficile
.
Oropharyngeal rhabdomyoma: the cause of severe sleep apnoea?
Authors: Münch Henrik Jonathan , O'Leary Padraig , Bille Jesper , Kjaergaard Thomas
Published: February 2020

This case report presents an elderly male patient who on diagnosis with a large oropharyngeal tumour had no specific symptomatology apart from severe obstructive sleep apnoea. Histopathology revealed the tumour to be an adult rhabdomyoma, a rare but benign tumour arising from striated muscle cells. The tumour obstructed most of the oropharyngeal space and almost occluded the patient’s airway when lying in a supine position. The patient was deemed operable, and the tumour was excised in toto using a transoral robotic surgery system. On follow-up, the patient had a severe reduction of apnoeas/hypopnoeas and felt subjectively ‘reborn’. This is to our knowledge the first case where an adult rhabdomyoma is removed using a robot-assisted approach, thus presenting a new and viable option when considering removal of benign tumours of the pharynx leading to a very minor degree of morbidity for the patients.
Atypical biceps-related complication of proximal humerus fracture leading to internal shoulder impingement due to tendon stump dislocation
Authors: Ramos Poroes Fabio , Desmarchelier Romain , Bauer Stefan
Published: February 2020

Non-displaced proximal humerus fractures are usually managed non-operatively despite of minor malalignment. Biceps tendon rupture due to attrition after malunion is rare around the proximal humerus. Rupture of the long head of biceps (LHB) tendon usually occurs inside the joint close to the origin at the labrum. Treatment is usually non-operative with good outcomes. We report a rare case of a 48-year-old female patient with persistent locking and internal impingement 8 months after a proximal humerus fracture with anterior angulation leading to extra-articular reversed LHB tendon rupture with intra-articular dislocation of the proximal stump. Interposition of the tendon (3.5 cm) between the glenoid and the humeral head was confirmed on MRI arthrogram. Arthroscopic proximal tenotomy and stump removal resulted in immediate relief with improved function (subjective shoulder value 95%; Constant Score: 96). False interpretation of symptoms as posttraumatic stiffness should be avoided by a thorough examination and complementary MRI arthrogram investigation.
Retained intraorbital wooden foreign body presenting with combined anterior and posterior scleritis
Authors: Kapoor Anasua Ganguly , Vijitha Vempuluru Sai , Fernandes Merle
Published: February 2020

Penetrating injury of the orbit with a wooden stick is not an uncommon finding in ocular emergencies. A 36-year-old man presented with redness, pain in the left eye following fall from a motorcycle 3 days ago. Ocular examination showed features of combined anterior and posterior scleritis in the form of an anterior scleral nodule, retinal folds and T sign on ultrasonography. There was worsening of symptoms along with new onset diplopia following scleral deroofing which led to the suspicion of an intraorbital wooden foreign body (IOWFB). CT scan of orbit showed a well-defined hypodensity between the medial rectus and optic nerve resembling a pocket of air surrounded by a rim of hyperdensity. IOWFB was removed under direct visualisation via transconjunctival orbitotomy. This is the case of a missed retained IOWFB presenting with features of combined anterior and posterior scleritis.
Acute popliteal thrombus workup leads to discovery of primary peritoneal mesothelioma in the absence of any known asbestos exposure
Authors: Ahmed Syed Tausif , Barvo Matthew , Kamath Nayana , Alweis Richard
Published: February 2020

A 75-year-old man presented to the emergency department with 1-day history of right lower limb pain and 3-month history of vague abdominal pain. In the emergency department a thrombus was discovered in the right popliteal artery. CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis revealed high-density material in the pelvis, multiple hypodensities on the liver, ascites with omental nodularity, and high-density material along the stomach wall. He underwent thrombectomy and was started on anticoagulation therapy. The core needle biopsy revealed primary omental mesothelioma. There was no history of any known asbestos exposure. He also had to undergo therapeutic paracentesis twice due to abdominal distension. Mesothelioma treatment of carboplatin and pemetrexed was started, and the patient is currently receiving this chemotherapy treatment regimen.
Coping strategies used by families in Indonesia when caring for patients with mental disorders post-pasung, based on a case study approach
Authors: Yunita Fildzah Cindra , Yusuf Ah , Nihayati Hanik Endang , Hilfida Nurullia Hanum
Published: February 2020

Background

Treatment of post-pasung(physical restraint) patients with mental disorders has become a new problem in Indonesia in its effort to free the country from the physical restraint programme. Problems emerge when the patient returns to the family and society at large, and families that refuse to allow the patient to come back home risk the possibility that the patient may eventually become a psychotic vagrant.

Aims

To determine the appearance of families taking care of patients with mental disorders post-pasung.

Method

This study was qualitative research using a case study approach. The number of participants from six families was selected by purposive sampling. Collecting data was done by in-depth interview, and analysed thematically using Colaizzi steps.

Results

The results showed that families coping when taking care of patients with mental disorders post-pasungcomprise seven themes. The seven themes are formed by four categories, 19 sub-themes and 32 sections.

Discussion

The appearance of coping was the overall description of coping in the form of strategic process stages, the support of coping and meaning for what the families feel when they are taking care of a patient with a mental disorder post-pasung. The appearance of coping showed how the family chooses the mechanisms of coping to deal with stress and crisis.

Conclusion

The coping mechanisms that families use when taking care of a patient with a mental disorder post-pasungwere formed through stages of a strategic process. Families need coping strengthening interventions to provide optimal care for patients with mental disorders post-pasung.
Improvement Science is a Partner in Basic and Clinical Research
Authors: Kline Jaclyn N , Payne Asha S
Published: February 2020

A breadth of time, effort, and resources are put into research. Improvement science is an applied science emphasizing rapid-cycle testing to learn about change and produce improvement. Its foundations lie in understanding your system, its parts and their relationships, and the psychology of change, yet the framework of improvement science is analogous to basic research. In basic research you first ask a question, then form a hypothesis based on background research. After testing this hypothesis, a researcher then draws conclusions and shares the results. In improvement science, researchers start the same, with asking a question, and then defining what is considered an improvement. Rapid-cycle tests of change are guided by subject matter experts and the people and processes involved. The data provided from these tests of change allow researchers to show improvement and share results. The success of improvement science is showcased through statistical process control charts, which inform when significant change has occurred. Improvement science can be applied across all fields of medicine; is a natural partner to basic and clinical research, as it plays a vital role in the implementation and adoption of the best evidence.
Prognosis of pneumonia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: the role of medication and disease activity prior to admission a population-based cohort study
Authors: Holland-Fischer Mette , Thomsen Reimar W , Tarp Ulrik , Nørgaard Mette
Published: February 2020

Objective

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience an increased risk of infections, but the prognosis of infections is unclear. We examined if patients with RA have worse outcomes from pneumonia than non-RA individuals.

Methods

In a population-based cohort study, we computed 90-day mortality rates and crude and adjusted HRs comparing pneumonia patients with and without RA. Among patients with RA, we evaluated prognostic effects of RA medications including prednisolone and disease activity as assessed by C reactive protein (CRP) or platelet levels measured 30–180 days before admission to avoid any influence from the subsequent infection.

Results

Among 52 577 patients hospitalised for the first time with pneumonia, 1220 (2.3%) had RA. The 90-day mortality was 19.9% for patients with RA and 18.9% for non-RA patients (adjusted 90-day HR of 1.05 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.19)). Compared with CRP levels <8 mg/L, CRP levels ≥20 mg/L predicted increased mortality in patients with RA with adjusted 90-day HRs of 4.98 (95% CI 2.19 to 11.36). Compared with methotrexate monotherapy, both prednisolone (HR 1.43 (95% CI 0.91 to 2.22)) and no RA therapy (HR 1.35 (95% CI 0.85 to 2.14)) tended to increase 90-day mortality. Compared with patients who used prednisolone and had low CRP levels, high CRP predicted increased mortality both in patients who used prednisolone (HR 3.09, 95% CI 1.25 to 7.65) and those who did not (HR 2.35, 95% CI 0.94 to 5.87).

Conclusions

Overall, RA does not increase mortality following hospitalisation for pneumonia. However, high RA disease activity prior to admission predicts increased pneumonia mortality in patients regardless of prednisolone use.
Effects of ustekinumab on spondylitis-associated endpoints in TNFi-naïve active psoriatic arthritis patients with physician-reported spondylitis: pooled results from two phase 3, randomised, controlled trials
Authors: Helliwell Philip S , Gladman Dafna D , Chakravarty Soumya D , Kafka Shelly , Karyekar Chetan S , You Yin , Campbell Kim , Sweet Kristen , Kavanaugh Arthur , Gensler Lianne S
Published: February 2020

Background

The interleukin-12/23p40-subunit-inhibitor ustekinumab significantly improved spondylitis-related symptoms through Week 24 in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with peripheral arthritis and physician-reported spondylitis (PA-PRS) in PSUMMIT-1&2. We further evaluated ustekinumab’s effect on spondylitis-related endpoints in PSUMMIT-1&2 tumour necrosis factor-inhibitor (TNFi)-naïve patients with PA-PRS.

Methods

Patients with active PsA (≥5 swollen and ≥5 tender joints, C-reactive-protein ≥ 3.0 mg/L) despite conventional (PSUMMIT-1&2) and/or prior TNFi (PSUMMIT-2) therapy received subcutaneous ustekinumab 45 mg, 90 mg or placebo (Week 0, Week 4, Week 16). Changes in Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) neck/back/hip pain question (#2) and modified BASDAI (mBASDAI, excluding PA) scores and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) responses were assessed at Weeks 12 and 24.

Results

The pooled PSUMMIT-1&2, TNFi-naïve (n=747), PA-PRS (n=223) subset (158 with human-leucocyte-antigen (HLA)-B27results) presented with moderate-to-severe spondylitis-related symptoms (mean BASDAI-neck/back/hip pain-6.51, mBASDAI-6.54, BASDAI-6.51, ASDAS-3.81). Mean Week 24 changes were larger among ustekinumab than placebo-treated patients for both neck/back/hip pain (−1.99 vs −0.18) and mBASDAI (−2.09 vs −0.59). Improvements in neck/back/hip pain and fatigue appeared numerically greater inHLA-B27+thanHLA-B27–patients; those for other domains were generally consistent. Greater proportions of ustekinumab versus placebo-treated patients achieved ASDAS clinically important improvement at Week 24 (decrease ≥ 1.1; 49.6% vs 12.7%; nominal p<0.05).

Conclusions

Improvements in BASDAI neck/back/hip pain and mBASDAI among ustekinumab-treated, TNFi-naïve, PsA patients with PA-PRS were clinically meaningful and consistent across assessment tools. Numerically greater improvements in neck/back/hip pain inHLA-B27+thanHLA-B27–patients, noted in the context of similar overall mBASDAI improvements between the subgroups, suggest ustekinumab may improve disease activity in TNFi-naïve PsA patients likely to exhibit axial disease.

Clinical trial registration numbers

PSUMMIT 1,NCT01009086; PSUMMIT 2,NCT01077362.
Canine cauda equina neuritis secondary to neospora
Authors: Lye Gordon , Mathis Karl , Hill Sarah , Hardy Lorna , Cattin Ryan
Published: February 2020

A five‐year‐old, female spayed, crossbreed dog was presented for lethargy, fever, hyporexia and right hindlimb lameness of two weeks’ duration. Examination revealed an intermittent weightbearing right hindlimb lameness with delayed proprioceptive reflexes. When the right hindlimb was placed, weightbearing was through the dorsal pes. The other limbs were neurologically normal. The neurological deficits localised to L6–S2. CT and myelogram revealed focal nerve root enlargement with contrast enhancement of L7–S1 nerve roots.Neospora caninumneuritis was diagnosed by rising serum titres, along with a neutrophilic pleocytosis on cerebrospinal fluid. The dog showed clinical improvement with prednisone, clindamycin and trimethoprim/sulfadiazine but relapsed six months after cessation of treatment with similar presentation. The same treatment was initiated, and a positive response was seen again. There is only one other case of focal cauda equina neuritis secondary toNeosporareported in the literature and the response to treatment is not well documented.
Generalizing Long Short-Term Memory Network for Deep Learning from Generic Data
Authors: Han Huimei , Zhu Xingquan , Li Ying
Published: February 2020

Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, a popular deep-learning model, is particularly useful for data with temporal correlation, such as texts, sequences, or time series data, thanks to its well-sought after recurrent network structures designed to capture temporal correlation. In this article, we propose to generalize LSTM to generic machine-learning tasks where data used for training do not have explicit temporal or sequential correlation. Our theme is to explore feature correlation in the original data and convert each instance into a synthetic sentence format by using a two-gram probabilistic language model. More specifically, for each instance represented in the original feature space, our conversion first seeks to horizontally align original features into a sequentially correlated feature vector, resembling to the letter coherence within a word. In addition, a vertical alignment is also carried out to create multiple time points and simulate word sequential order in a sentence (i.e.,word correlation). The two dimensional horizontal-and-vertical alignments not only ensure feature correlations are maximally utilized, but also preserve the original feature values in the new representation. As a result, LSTM model can be utilized to achieve good classification accuracy, even if the underlying data do not have temporal or sequential dependency. Experiments on 20 generic datasets show that applying LSTM to generic data can improve the classification accuracy, compared to conventional machine-learning methods. This research opens a new opportunity for LSTM deep learning to be broadly applied to generic machine-learning tasks.
Real-time Transportation Prediction Correction using Reconstruction Error in Deep Learning
Authors: Liu Shuai , Song Guojie , Huang Wenhao
Published: February 2020

In online complex systems such as transportation system, an important work is real-time traffic prediction. Due to the data shift, data model inconsistency, and sudden change of traffic patterns (like transportation accident), the prediction result derived from an offline-built model would be unreliable. Retraining the model is usually not time affordable for online prediction, especially when the prediction model is very complex and costs a lot of training time (for example, deep neural networks). A real-time prediction correction strategy would be of great value under this situation. Traditionally, the prediction correction usually relies on the prediction error in several previous time intervals. They assume that the error pattern is similar in the current time interval, so that it is time-delayed to some extent. In this article, we propose the prediction correction strategy using the reconstruction error in the deep neural network. The reconstruction error can reflect the model’s ability on feature representation and then determine the fitness of an input data to the model. We first build the relationship between reconstruction error and prediction error. From the perspective of the prediction interval, we demonstrate that the reconstruction error is in positive relation with the prediction interval. Thus the prediction result is more reliable when the reconstruction error is smaller. Then we propose two mechanisms of real-time prediction correction using the reconstruction error. The data driven prediction correction approach selects several training instances with similar reconstruction errors to the current instance and using their average prediction error in correcting the prediction result. The model-driven approach builds several component deep neural networks in training. The component training set for each network is selected according to the reconstruction error of training instances. For a predicting instance, it first computes the reconstruction error of the sample in each component network and then averages the results by the reconstruction error and prediction interval. The model-driven approach is actually a reconstruction error-based deep neural network ensemble approach. Finally, a series of experiments demonstrated that reconstruction error based prediction correction approaches are effective in several prediction problems in transportation including traffic flow prediction on road, traffic flow prediction in entrance and exit station and travel time prediction. Besides the high overall accuracy, our approach can also provide many observations of using the reconstruction error in transportation prediction.
Ranking from Crowdsourced Pairwise Comparisons via Smoothed Riemannian Optimization
Authors: Dong Jialin , Yang Kai , Shi Yuanming
Published: February 2020

Social Internet of Things has recently become a promising paradigm for augmenting the capability of humans and devices connected in the networks to provide services. In social Internet of Things network, crowdsourcing that collects the intelligence of the human crowd has served as a powerful tool for data acquisition and distributed computing. To support critical applications (e.g., a recommendation system and assessing the inequality of urban perception), in this article, we shall focus on the collaborative ranking problems for user preference prediction from crowdsourced pairwise comparisons. Based on the Bradley--Terry--Luce (BTL) model, a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is proposed via low-rank approach in order to estimate the underlying weight/score matrix, thereby predicting the ranking list for each user. A novel regularized formulation with the smoothed surrogate of elementwise infinity norm is proposed in order to address the unique challenge of the coupled the non-smooth elementwise infinity norm constraint and non-convex low-rank constraint in the MLE problem. We solve the resulting smoothed rank-constrained optimization problem via developing the Riemannian trust-region algorithm on quotient manifolds of fixed-rank matrices, which enjoys the superlinear convergence rate. The admirable performance and algorithmic advantages of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art algorithms are demonstrated via numerical results. Moreover, the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms on large collaborative filtering datasets in both success rate of inferring preference and normalized discounted cumulative gain.
Quality Estimation and Optimization of Adaptive Stereo Matching Algorithms for Smart Vehicles
Authors: Chen Fupeng , Yu Heng , Ha Yajun
Published: February 2020

Stereo matching is a promising approach for smart vehicles to find the depth of nearby objects. Transforming a traditional stereo matching algorithm to its adaptive version has potential advantages to achieve the maximum quality (depth accuracy) in a best-effort manner. However, it is very challenging to support this adaptive feature, since (1) the internal mechanism of adaptive stereo matching (ASM) has to be accurately modeled, and (2) scheduling ASM tasks on multiprocessors to generate the maximum quality is difficult under strict real-time constraints of smart vehicles. In this article, we propose a framework for constructing an ASM application and optimizing its output quality on smart vehicles. First, we empirically convert stereo matching into ASM by exploiting its inherent characteristics of disparity–cycle correspondence and introduce an exponential quality model that accurately represents the quality–cycle relationship. Second, with the explicit quality model, we propose an efficient quadratic programming-based dynamic voltage/frequency scaling (DVFS) algorithm to decide the optimal operating strategy, which maximizes the output quality under timing, energy, and temperature constraints. Third, we propose two novel methods to efficiently estimate the parameters of the quality model, namely location similarity-based feature point thresholding and street scenario-confined CNN prediction. Results show that our DVFS algorithm achieves at least 1.61 times quality improvement compared to the state-of-the-art techniques, and average parameter estimation for the quality model achieves 96.35% accuracy on the straight road.
Stress Allostasis in Substance Use Disorders: Promise, Progress, and Emerging Priorities in Clinical Research
Authors: Fronk Gaylen E. , Sant'Ana Sarah J. , Kaye Jesse T. , Curtin John J.
Published: February 2020

Clinicians and researchers alike have long believed that stressors play a pivotal etiologic role in risk, maintenance, and/or relapse of alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUDs). Numerous seminal and contemporary theories on SUD etiology posit that stressors may motivate drug use and that individuals who use drugs chronically may display altered responses to stressors. We use foundational basic stress biology research as a lens through which to evaluate critically the available evidence to support these key stress–SUD theses in humans. Additionally, we examine the field's success to date in targeting stressors and stress allostasis in treatments for SUDs. We conclude with our recommendations for how best to advance our understanding of the relationship between stressors and drug use, and we discuss clinical implications for treatment development.
Of Modernity and Public Sociology: Reflections on a Career So Far
Authors: Fischer Claude S.
Published: February 2020

My research so far has followed an interest in the classic concern about the social consequences of modernization, which led me to study urbanism, personal networks, the history of technology, and most extensively, American social history. A commitment to public sociology led me to a book on inequality, Contexts magazine, contributions to general media, a blog, and badgering sociologists about their writing. Some consistent themes include trying to address big questions with middle-range empirical work, focusing on ordinary lives and living, insisting on rigorous evidence whatever the method, and communicating with as wide an audience as lucidly as possible. The article closes with a few lessons learned.
Characterization of the promoter region of the bovine IRX3 gene: roles of SREBF2 and PPARG
Authors: Wei Dawei , Raza Sayed Haidar Abbas , Zhang Jiupan , Wang Xingping , Khan Rajwali , Ma Yun , Zhang Guijie , Luoreng Zhuoma , Zan Linsen
Published: February 2020

As a member of the Iroquois homeobox gene family, the IRX3 gene plays an important role in regulating the growth, development and fat deposition of chordates. In the present study, we found, using real-time PCR, that the bovine IRX3 gene was highly expressed in lung, kidney, heart, subcutaneous fat and longissimus dorsi muscle. We cloned the full-length sequence of the bovine IRX3 gene promoter and constructed eight series of 5′ deletion promoter plasmid luciferase reporter assays and then transfected them to 3T3-L1 and C2C12 cell lines to detect its core promoter regions. The results showed that the core promoter of bovine IRX3 was located within a −292/−42 bp region relative to the transcriptional start site. Furthermore, sequence analysis identified eight CpG islands in the promoter region. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay in combination with site-directed mutation and siRNA interference demonstrated that SREBF2 and PPARG binding occurs in region −292/−42 and is essential in bovine IRX3 transcription. These results lay an important theoretical foundation for exploring the molecular regulation mechanism of the IRX3 gene in bovine fat deposition.