bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis on Deformation Control Technology for Large-Span Subway Tunnels from High-Narrow Channel
Authors: Yang Lin , Wang Wei , Jiang Hong
Published: March 2020

The construction process of the transverse channel to the large-span tunnel is complicated, the mechanics change frequently, and the construction safety risk is high. Relying on the Huangshan Street Station project of Wulumuqi subway tunnel, combined with the key technology in the construction of the transverse channel to the large-span tunnel, this paper aims to analysis the deformation during the construction of subway tunnel from transverse channel by numerical simulation method. The results demonstrate that the the bearing system of “frame beam plus middle diaphragm” is adopted in the construction of the main tunnel with large cross-section, and the deformation can be effectively controlled by “double-layer support structure” in the sand gravel layer. Therefore, the surface settlement has passed through three stages of “rapid growth—slow growth—stable”, and the maximum value of 13.32mm, which ensures the construction safety in the breaking process of transverse channel. Moreover, when the temporary middle partition wall is removed, the displacement of the measuring point will be greatly deformed during the construction of the positive hole. So the length of the support removed should be shortened, no more than 6m and on-site monitoring should be strengthened in this process.
Numerical simulation of the time-history of longitudinal displacement of railway shield tunnel in soft soil area during operation period
Authors: Chen Shuyang , Wang Zhe , Zhang Xiaochun
Published: March 2020

In this study, the finite element simulation method was used to establish the finite element model of the soft soil base-shield tunnel-track structure, and the time history of the longitudinal displacement of the shield tunnel section under the train load in a coastal area in operation was analyzed and studied. Based on the mechanical background of creep in soft soil, the evolution and recovery of tunnel longitudinal displacement during operation period and night maintenance period, the change of tunnel longitudinal displacement during one year of railway operation, and the influence of railway acceleration on tunnel longitudinal displacement were studied. The conclusions are as follows: (1) the recovery of tunnel geometry during night maintenance time is small and negligible;(2) after the tunnel was put into operation, it showed a slight upward floating trend, and the upward floating in about 100 days had reached more than 90% of the one-year upward floating volume;(3) if the railway is accelerated to 200km/h for operation, the impact on the tunnel geometry is relatively small. At the same time, based on the above data, this paper puts forward a suggestion on the operation safety of the tunnel section near the station.
Construction Method of Deep - Buried Long - Length Tunnel
Authors: Li Ping , Lu Qingrui , Chen Shijun , Dai Renhui , Gao Jinhe , Jiang Xiaoyi
Published: March 2020

Grew up to solve the deep buried tunnels in the process of large diameter TBM excavation overexcavation problems and obstacles in a complex geological environment problems such as TBM, through the combination of drilling and blasting method and TBM at home and abroad were elaborated the expansion digging method of construction application, show that the drilling and blasting method and TBM method combined with the construction to prevent deep grew up section tunnel overbreak problems and improve resource utilization and avoid TBM card machine under complicated geological problems effectively.
Distribution and Pollution Assessment by Index of Geoaccumulation about the Heavy Metals in Sediments of Dexing Copper Mine Rainwater Network
Authors: Huang Xueping , Fu Qiang , Wang Jianhua
Published: March 2020

The sediment in the rainwater pipe network in Dexing copper mine area was selected as the research object. Using ICP-MS to determinate the 6 kinds of heavy metals content in sediments at 16 samplings, the measured data were analyzed in comparison with the national standard for soil environmental quality, and the geological accumulation exponential method was used for evaluating the heavy metals in sediments. The results showed that the content of Cu and as exceeded the national grade III soil quality standard in many areas, but the regional difference was not obvious. The content of Cd exceeds the national grade III soil quality standard in some regional samples, and its spatial distribution features were very prominent. The total amount of Cr, Zn and Pb was lower than the national grade III soil quality standard. It was found that the pollution degree of Cd was the most serious, followed by Cu and As, Cr, Zn and Pb with the assessment by Index of geoaccumulation.
Design and Application of the Safety Monitoring System of a Hydropower Station in Myanmar
Authors: Rao Zhenbin , Liu You-ping , Song Aili
Published: March 2020

The Safety Monitoring System of the Hydropower Station in Myanmar are composed of the gravity dam monitoring, slope monitoring, the diversion and power generation system monitoring, etc. The Design of safety monitoring project includes the perambulation and inspection, deformation monitoring benchmark network of head works, environmental capacity, concrete gravity dam, slope, water diversion and power generation system, etc. The Safety monitoring automation system mainly consists of sensor, data acquisition device, power supply and communication lines, the first station equipment, etc. The software of the safety automatic monitoring system includes data collection, information management and information analysis. With the completion of safety monitoring system, it successfully realized that the optical fiber Ethernet network communicate as a whole between the scene monitoring stations and the field monitoring station. Because of the change of the engineering geology, the monitoring system in the construction and operation stage should be redesigned and rearranged. At last, the operation of the system is stable and reliable, and it rapidly and timely provide a large number of accurate and reliable data of security monitoring.
Evaluation for Village Development Based on GRA-TOPSIS Method
Authors: Shi Huan , Gan Lu
Published: March 2020

This paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation indication system of village development, Furthermore, the grey relation analysis (GRA) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) model were combined to assess village with combinational weights. Then, 12 villages in Tibetan Region of Northwest Sichuan was verified to the validity of the model. Finally, the paper chooses central, basic and weak villages and proposes the suggestions for village development in the future. The results show that the evaluation indication system, as well as evaluation method are valid and reasonable, and it also have guiding significance for in-situ urbanization in ethnic regions.
Treatment of Main Geological Defects during Excavation Construction of Wudongde Underground Powerhouse Caverns
Authors: Zhang Cunhui , Zhou Shuda , Du Shenwei
Published: March 2020

Underground powerhouse is adopted by Wudongde hydropower plant on both left and right bank. The excavation scale of the main powerhouse is 333.0×32.5×89.8m (length×width×height ) that ranks top on the world. The underground powerhouse caverns are hosted in the fold basement of the Presinian system that belongs to the layered epimetamorphic rock. Geological condition is complicated and rock stratum is steep towards the downstream and characterizes in “thin, hard and crisp”. During excavation construction of the underground powerhouse, geological defects such as small angle between surfaces, B type breccia, carbon film attached on surface, blocks, large and long discontinuities with small angle are exposed. The targeted treatments for the geological defects are proposed and implemented based on numerical feedback analysis and references of similar finished projects. Excavation and supports of the main powerhouse are all constructed completely at present and monitoring displacements tend to be convergent. The proposed treatments are verified to be reasonable and effective and provide reference for subsequent similar projects.
Investigation and Analysis of Earthquake Resistance of Rural Buildings in Northeast China
Authors: Liang Yongduo , Yi Lujun
Published: March 2020

In this paper, the authors investigated 200 typical rural houses in northeast China, and the seismic performance of this rural houses was analysed from foundation form, construction materials, component connection, and seismic structural measures, and so on. In general, over 80 percent samples lack enough seismic capacity is manifested in the lacking of seismic structural measures and the problem of component connections. In the end, some countermeasures and suggestions were put forward to improve the seismic performance of the rural houses, and these may provide some references for the work of earthquake prevention and disaster reduction in northeast China.
Study on Landslide Monitoring Experiment of Underground Chambers Spoil Area
Authors: Qiao Nan , Duan Yunling , Wei Xuefei , Shi Xiaomeng
Published: March 2020

The spoil area for wastes of underground engineering is featured with large scale, loose accumulations, high and steep slopes, and no roads. Traditional contact monitoring methods are difficult to operate, and representative points are difficult to choose to characterize the overall deformation of the slope. In this case, this paper attempts to apply the GB-InSAR system to carry out on-site monitoring and experimental research based on China’s first large-scale groundwater storage and storage waste rock yard. The research results show that: (1) GB-InSAR full-field scanning can effectively solve the problem in selecting representative points on the side slope surface to present the overall deformation of the slope; (2) 4 different modes of the slope’s -0.5mm equal displacement cross-sectional area are shown over time; (3) The final maximum landslide area of type B1 are 0.56 times at most of the cross-sectional area of -0.5mm equal displacement before the landslide, and type B2 are at most 0.96 times.
Interface chemistry and thermoelectric characterization of Ti and TiOx contacts to MBE-grown WSe2
Authors: Freedy Keren M , Zhu Tianhui , Olson David H , Litwin Peter M , Hopkins Patrick E , Zebarjadi Mona , McDonnell Stephen J
Published: March 2020

WSe2 has demonstrated potential for applications in thermoelectric energy conversion. Optimization of such devices requires control over interfacial thermal and electrical transport properties. Ti, TiOx, and Ti/TiOx contacts to the MBE-grown WSe2 are characterized by XPS and transport measurements. The deposition of Ti is found to result in W-Se bond scission yielding metallic W and Ti-Se chemical states. The deposition of Ti on WSe2 in the presence of a partial pressure of O2, which yields a TiOx overlayer, results in the formation of substoichiometric WSex (x < 2) as well as WOx. The thermal boundary conductance at Ti/WSe2 contacts is found to be reduced for greater WSe2 film thickness or when Au/TiOx interface is present at the contact. Electrical resistance of Au/Ti contacts is found to be higher than that of Au/TiOx contacts with no significant difference in the Seebeck coefficient between the two types of contact structures. This report documents the first experimental study of Ti/WSe2 interface chemistry and thermoelectric properties.
Polynomial fitting techniques applied to opto-mechanical properties of PDMS Sylgard 184 for given curing parameters
Authors: Santiago-Alvarado A , Cruz-Félix A S , González-García J , Sánchez-López O , Mendoza-Jasso A J , Hernández-Castillo I
Published: March 2020

Mechanical and optical properties of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have been measured and reported for different applications, however, a full analysis and a compendium of its tension and compression moduli behaviour have not been carried out, nor of its refractive index, for several mixture ratios, temperature and curing time. In this work, samples of PDMS were manufactured and tested to know tension and compression moduli and refractive index as a function of fabrication parameters; Minitab®, Matlab®’s Least-squares fitting in Curve Fitting Toolbox™ and genetic algorithms were employed to yield functional dependencies to describe PDMS’s behavior. The obtained fitting polynomials are shown to have large agreement with experimental data. Finally, a potential application in the design of a gradient index lens for use in artificial vision is presented.
Soliton molecules and asymmetric solitons in three fifth order systems via velocity resonance
Authors: Lou S Y
Published: March 2020

Soliton molecules can be formed in some possible mechanisms both theoretically and experimentally. In this paper, we introduce a new mechanism, namely the velocity resonant, to find soliton molecules. Under the velocity resonance mechanism, two solitons can form a kink-antikink molecule, an asymmetric soliton, a two-peak soliton and/or a far away bounded molecule depended on the selections of the wave numbers and the distance between two solitons of a molecule. The results are exhibited via three well known fifth order integrable systems which serve as a general fluid model, as well as models many other physical fields.
Novel water-based nanolubricant with superior tribological performance in hot steel rolling
Authors: Wu Hui , Jia Fanghui , Li Zhou , Lin Fei , Huo Mingshuai , Huang Shuiquan , Sayyar Sepidar , Jiao Sihai , Huang Han , Jiang Zhengyi
Published: March 2020

Novel water-based nanolubricants using TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesised by adding sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and glycerol, which exhibited excellent dispersion stability and wettability. The tribological performance of the synthesised nanolubricants was investigated using an Rtec ball-on-disk tribometer, and their application in hot steel rolling was evaluated on a 2-high Hille 100 experimental rolling mill, in comparison to those without SDBS. The water-based nanolubricant containing 4 wt% TiO2 and 0.4 wt% SDBS demonstrated superior tribological performance by decreasing coefficient of friction and ball wear up to 70.5% and 84.3%, respectively, compared to those of pure water. In addition to the lubrication effect, the suspensions also had significant effect on polishing of the work roll surface. The resultant surface improvement thus enabled the decrease in rolling force up to 8.3% under a workpiece reduction of 30% at a rolling temperature of 850 °C. The lubrication mechanisms were primarily ascribed to the formation of lubricating film and ball-bearing effect of the TiO2 NPs.
KPZ formulas for the Liouville quantum gravity metric
Authors: Gwynne Ewain , Pfeffer Joshua
Published: March 2020

Let

γ
∈
(
0
,
2
)

\gamma \in (0,2)

, let

h
h

be the planar Gaussian free field, and let

D
h

D_h

be the associated

γ
\gamma

-Liouville quantum gravity (LQG) metric. We prove that for any random Borel set

X
⊂

C

X \subset \mathbb {C}

which is independent from

h
h

, the Hausdorff dimensions of

X
X

with respect to the Euclidean metric and with respect to the

γ
\gamma

-LQG metric

D
h

D_h

are a.s. related by the (geometric) KPZ formula. As a corollary, we deduce that the Hausdorff dimension of the continuum

γ
\gamma

-LQG metric is equal to the exponent

d
γ

>
2

d_\gamma > 2

studied by Ding and Gwynne (2018), which describes distances in discrete approximations of

γ
\gamma

-LQG such as random planar maps.

We also derive “worst-case” bounds relating the Euclidean and

γ
\gamma

-LQG dimensions of

X
X

when

X
X

and

h
h

are not necessarily independent, which answers a question posed by Aru (2015). Using these bounds, we obtain an upper bound for the Euclidean Hausdorff dimension of a

γ
\gamma

-LQG geodesic which equals

1.312
…

1.312\dots

when

γ
=

8

/

3

\gamma = \sqrt {8/3}

; and an upper bound of

1.9428
…

1.9428\dots

for the Euclidean Hausdorff dimension of a connected component of the boundary of a

8

/

3

\sqrt {8/3}

-LQG metric ball.

We use the axiomatic definition of the

γ
\gamma

-LQG metric, so the paper can be understood by readers with minimal background knowledge beyond a basic level of familiarity with the Gaussian free field.
Explanatory Model for Asthma Disparities in Latino Children: Results from the Latino Childhood Asthma Project
Authors: Arcoleo Kimberly , Marsiglia Flavio , Serebrisky Denise , Rodriguez Juliana , Mcgovern Colleen , Feldman Jonathan
Published: March 2020

Background

Little research has been conducted that integrates, in one explanatory model, the multitude of factors potentially leading to disparities among Latino children.

Purpose

A longitudinal, observational study tested an explanatory model for disparities in asthma control between Mexican and Puerto Rican children with persistent asthma requiring daily controller medication use.

Methods

Mexican and Puerto Rican children aged 5–12 years (n = 267) and their caregivers (n = 267) were enrolled and completed interviews and child spirometry at baseline and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postenrollment. A 12 month retrospective children’s medical record review was completed. Participants were recruited from two school-based health clinics and the Breathmobile in Phoenix, AZ, and two inner-city hospital asthma clinics in the Bronx, NY.

Results

Statistically significant differences in the social/contextual predictors of asthma illness representations (IRs) were noted between Mexican and Puerto Rican caregivers. The structural equation model results revealed differences in asthma control over time by ethnicity. This model accounted for 40%-48% of the variance in asthma control test scores over 12 months. Caregivers’ IRs aligned with the professional model of asthma management were associated with better children’s asthma control across 1 year. These results also supported the theoretical notion that IRs change over time impacting caregivers’ treatment decisions and children’s asthma control.

Conclusions

These findings extend a previous cross-sectional model test using a more comprehensive model and longitudinal data and highlight the importance of considering within-group differences for diagnosis and treatment of children coming from the vastly heterogeneous Latino umbrella group.

Trial Registration

Trial number NCT 01099800
Political Judging and Judicial Restraint: The Case of Learned and Augustus Hand
Authors: Allen Jak
Published: March 2020

In recent decades, accusations of partisanship by the U.S. judiciary have intensified. A consequence has been the erroneous framing of judges within the conventional, and sometimes epithetical, political binary of liberalism and conservatism. This article argues that the application of such labels has distorted the full thrust of the complex individuals who have constituted the American judiciary and proposes reframing our perception of judges, both past and present, by seeking more viable standards for measuring judicial performance. To do so, it draws on the early twentieth-century examples of Learned and Augustus Hand of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite being praised as symbols of judicial independence, scholars have often framed the judges in political terms. This article draws on the Hands’ public speeches, publications, and private correspondence to argue that they adopted a non-partisan view of judging that transcended political affiliations and displayed a much deeper consideration about their roles as judges than conventional political labels suggest. By inserting greater nuance into our historical understanding of the delicate relationship between politics and law, we can yet save courts from the threat that politically charged language poses to their legitimacy.
Dual-dropout graph convolutional network for predicting synthetic lethality in human cancers
Authors: Cai Ruichu , Chen Xuexin , Fang Yuan , Wu Min , Hao Yuexing
Published: March 2020

Motivation

Synthetic lethality (SL) is a promising form of gene interaction for cancer therapy, as it is able to identify specific genes to target at cancer cells without disrupting normal cells. As high-throughput wet-lab settings are often costly and face various challenges, computational approaches have become a practical complement. In particular, predicting SLs can be formulated as a link prediction task on a graph of interacting genes. Although matrix factorization techniques have been widely adopted in link prediction, they focus on mapping genes to latent representations in isolation, without aggregating information from neighboring genes. Graph convolutional networks (GCN) can capture such neighborhood dependency in a graph. However, it is still challenging to apply GCN for SL prediction as SL interactions are extremely sparse, which is more likely to cause overfitting.

Results

In this article, we propose a novel dual-dropout GCN (DDGCN) for learning more robust gene representations for SL prediction. We employ both coarse-grained node dropout and fine-grained edge dropout to address the issue that standard dropout in vanilla GCN is often inadequate in reducing overfitting on sparse graphs. In particular, coarse-grained node dropout can efficiently and systematically enforce dropout at the node (gene) level, while fine-grained edge dropout can further fine-tune the dropout at the interaction (edge) level. We further present a theoretical framework to justify our model architecture. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments on human SL datasets and the results demonstrate the superior performance of our model in comparison with state-of-the-art methods.

Availability and implementation

DDGCN is implemented in Python 3.7, open-source and freely available at https://github.com/CXX1113/Dual-DropoutGCN.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A phylogenetic C interpreter for TNT
Authors: Goloboff Pablo A , Morales Martín E
Published: March 2020

Motivation

TNT (a widely used program for phylogenetic analysis) includes an interpreter for a scripting language, but that implementation is nonstandard and uses several conventions of its own. This article describes the implementation and basic usage of a C interpreter (with all the ISO essentials) now included in TNT. A phylogenetic library includes functions that can be used for manipulating trees and data, as well as other phylogeny-specific tasks. This greatly extends the capabilities of TNT.

Availability and implementation

Versions of TNT including the C interpreter for scripts can be downloaded from http://www.lillo.org.ar/phylogeny/tnt/.
A parallelized strategy for epistasis analysis based on Empirical Bayesian Elastic Net models
Authors: Wen Jia , Ford Colby T , Janies Daniel , Shi Xinghua
Published: March 2020

Motivation

Epistasis reflects the distortion on a particular trait or phenotype resulting from the combinatorial effect of two or more genes or genetic variants. Epistasis is an important genetic foundation underlying quantitative traits in many organisms as well as in complex human diseases. However, there are two major barriers in identifying epistasis using large genomic datasets. One is that epistasis analysis will induce over-fitting of an over-saturated model with the high-dimensionality of a genomic dataset. Therefore, the problem of identifying epistasis demands efficient statistical methods. The second barrier comes from the intensive computing time for epistasis analysis, even when the appropriate model and data are specified.

Results

In this study, we combine statistical techniques and computational techniques to scale up epistasis analysis using Empirical Bayesian Elastic Net (EBEN) models. Specifically, we first apply a matrix manipulation strategy for pre-computing the correlation matrix and pre-filter to narrow down the search space for epistasis analysis. We then develop a parallelized approach to further accelerate the modeling process. Our experiments on synthetic and empirical genomic data demonstrate that our parallelized methods offer tens of fold speed up in comparison with the classical EBEN method which runs in a sequential manner. We applied our parallelized approach to a yeast dataset, and we were able to identify both main and epistatic effects of genetic variants associated with traits such as fitness.

Availability and implementation

The software is available at github.com/shilab/parEBEN.
Plant 3D (P3D): a plant phenotyping toolkit for 3D point clouds
Authors: Ziamtsov Illia , Navlakha Saket
Published: March 2020

Motivation

Developing methods to efficiently analyze 3D point cloud data of plant architectures remain challenging for many phenotyping applications. Here, we describe a tool that tackles four core phenotyping tasks: classification of cloud points into stem and lamina points, graph skeletonization of the stem points, segmentation of individual lamina and whole leaf labeling. These four tasks are critical for numerous downstream phenotyping goals, such as quantifying plant biomass, performing morphological analyses of plant shapes and uncovering genotype to phenotype relationships. The Plant 3D tool provides an intuitive graphical user interface, a fast 3D rendering engine for visualizing plants with millions of cloud points, and several graph-theoretic and machine-learning algorithms for 3D architecture analyses.

Availability and implementation

P3D is open-source and implemented in C++. Source code and Windows installer are freely available at https://github.com/iziamtso/P3D/.

Contact

iziamtso@ucsd.edu or navlakha@cshl.edu

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Potential covalent drugs targeting the main protease of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
Authors: Liu Sen , Zheng Qiang , Wang Zhiying
Published: March 2020

Motivation

Since December 2019, the newly identified coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused a massive health crisis worldwide and resulted in over 70 000 COVID-19 infections so far. Clinical drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 are urgently needed to decrease the high fatality rate of confirmed COVID-19 patients. Traditional de novo drug discovery needs more than 10 years, so drug repurposing seems the best option currently to find potential drugs for treating COVID-19.

Results

Compared with traditional non-covalent drugs, covalent drugs have attracted escalating attention recent years due to their advantages in potential specificity upon careful design, efficiency and patient burden. We recently developed a computational protocol named as SCAR (steric-clashes alleviating receptors) for discovering covalent drugs. In this work, we used the SCAR protocol to identify possible covalent drugs (approved or clinically tested) targeting the main protease (3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2. We identified 11 potential hits, among which at least six hits were exclusively enriched by the SCAR protocol. Since the preclinical or clinical information of these identified drugs is already available, they might be ready for being clinically tested in the treatment of COVID-19.

Contact

senliu.ctgu@gmail.com
A peacock bass (Cichla) functional novelty relaxes a constraint imposed by the classic cichlid pharyngeal jaw innovation
Authors: Burress Edward D , Wainwright Peter C
Published: March 2020

Innovations may provide access to new resources but often result in significant trade-offs. Pharyngognathy is a classic pharyngeal jaw innovation in which the left and right lower pharyngeal jaw (LPJ) bones are united into a single structure, producing a strong bite but reduced gape. Throughout cichlids, pharyngeal suturing occurs along the entire medial border between LPJ bones, except in peacock bass (Cichla), where these bones are connected by ligaments only in their anterior region. We show that this limited attachment permits the jaw bones to spread apart and we link this feature to an increase in pharyngeal gape that is comparable to non-pharyngognathous species. The capacity of the LPJ bones to spread apart is strongest in juveniles and is mostly lost during development. Juvenile Cichla exhibit size-specific pharyngeal gape similar to non-pharyngognathous percomorphs; however, adults exhibit pharyngeal gape on par with other predatory cichlids. Relaxation of pharyngeal suturing offsets a major deleterious consequence of pharyngognathy by reducing gape limitation and we propose this may accelerate the ontogenetic transition to piscivory. Partial reversal of the classic cichlid pharyngeal jaw innovation highlights the functional trade-offs that often accompany innovations and may be a major cause of variation in their macroevolutionary consequences.
Posterior shoulder instability: a systematic review
Authors: Longo Umile Giuseppe , Ciuffreda Mauro , Locher Joel , Casciaro Carlo , Mannering Nicholas , Maffulli Nicola , Denaro Vincenzo
Published: March 2020

Introduction

This review aims to provide information on outcomes of surgical procedures for soft tissue or bony glenoid and/or humeral abnormalities in case of posterior shoulder instability.

Source of data

A systematic review of the literature according to the PRISMA guidelines was performed. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, Ovid and Google Scholar databases using various combinations of the keywords ‘shoulder’, ‘posterior instability’, ‘dislocation’, ‘reversed bony bankart’, ‘reversed Hill Sachs’, and ‘capsulolabral’ was performed.

Areas of agreement

A total of 847 shoulders in 810 patients were included. A redislocation event occurred in 33 (8.7%) of 411 shoulders with soft tissue abnormalities and in 12 (9.1%) of 132 shoulders with bony abnormalities of the glenoid, humeral head or both.

Areas of controversy

The optimal treatment modalities for posterior shoulder dislocation remain to be defined.

Growing points

Operative stabilization for posterior shoulder instability should be lesion-specific and should correct all components of the posterior instability.

Areas timely for developing research

Future prospective studies should aim to establish the optimal treatment modalities for posterior shoulder instability.
MicroRNA-135a-induced formation of CD133+ subpopulation with cancer stem cell properties in cervical cancer
Authors: Leung Carmen O N , Deng Wen , Ye Tian-Min , Ngan Hextan Y S , Tsao Sai Wah , Cheung Annie N Y , Ziru Niu , Yuen Dominic C K , Pang Ronald T K , Yeung William S B
Published: March 2020

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play significant roles in tumor initiation. MicroRNA-135a (miR-135a) induced the formation of a CD133+ subpopulation from a human papillomavirus-immortalized cervical epithelial cell line. Compared with the CD133− cells, the CD133+ cells expressed higher levels of miR-135a and OCT4, exhibited significantly higher tumorsphere forming capacity and the time required for tumorsphere formation was shortened in the second generation. Serum induction suppressed the expression of CD133, OCT4 and miR-135a, but increased expression of involucrin in the miR-135a-induced CD133+ cells. The miR-135a-induced CD133+ cells were tumorigenic in a limiting dilution approach in vivo. The cells expressed significantly higher level of active β-catenin and OCT4 than the CD133− counterpart. Wnt3a enhanced the expression of OCT4 and CD133 in cervical cancer cells but failed to enhance CD133 transcription in normal cervical cells. Wnt3a stimulation also increased tumorsphere size and self-renewal of miR-135a-induced CD133+ subpopulation. Wnt/β-catenin inhibition suppressed tumorsphere formation while Wnt3a partially nullified the inhibitory effect. Taken together, miR-135a induced the formation of a subpopulation of cells with CSC properties both in vitro and in vivo and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is essential to maintain its tumorigenicity.
Calcium and phosphate levels after kidney transplantation and long-term patient and allograft survival
Authors: Chevarria Julio , Sexton Donal J , Murray Susan L , Adeel Chaudhry E , O’Kelly Patrick , Williams Yvonne E , O’Seaghdha Conall M , Little Dilly M , Conlon Peter J
Published: March 2020

Background

Non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including calcium and phosphate derangement, may play a role in mortality in renal transplant. The data regarding this effect are conflicting. Our aim was to assess the impact of calcium and phosphate derangements in the first 90 days post-transplant on allograft and recipient outcomes.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort review of all-adult, first renal transplants in the Republic of Ireland between 1999 and 2015. We divided patients into tertiles based on serum phosphate and calcium levels post-transplant. We assessed their effect on death-censored graft survival and all-cause mortality. We used Stata for statistical analysis and did survival analysis and spline curves to assess the association.

Results

We included 1525 renal transplant recipients. Of the total, 86.3% had hypophosphataemia and 36.1% hypercalcaemia. Patients in the lowest phosphate tertile were younger, more likely female, had lower weight, more time on dialysis, received a kidney from a younger donor, had less delayed graft function and better transplant function compared with other tertiles. Patients in the highest calcium tertile were younger, more likely male, had higher body mass index, more time on dialysis and better transplant function. Adjusting for differences between groups, we were unable to show any difference in death-censored graft failure [phosphate = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92–1.41; calcium = 0.98, 95% CI 0.80–1.20] or all-cause mortality (phosphate = 1.10, 95% CI 0.91–1.32; calcium = 0.96, 95% CI 0.81–1.13) based on tertiles of calcium or phosphate in the initial 90 days.

Conclusions

Hypophosphataemia and hypercalcaemia are common occurrences post-kidney transplant. We have identified different risk factors for these metabolic derangements. The calcium and phosphate levels exhibit no independent association with death-censored graft failure and mortality.
Effect of bicuspid aortic valve phenotype on progression of aortic stenosis
Authors: Shen Mylène , Tastet Lionel , Capoulade Romain , Arsenault Marie , Bédard Élisabeth , Clavel Marie-Annick , Pibarot Philippe
Published: March 2020

Aims

To compare the progression of aortic stenosis (AS) in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) or tricuspid aortic valve (TAV).

Methods and results

One hundred and forty-one patients with mild-to-moderate AS, recruited prospectively in the PROGRESSA study, were included in this sub-analysis. Baseline clinical, Doppler echocardiography and multidetector computed tomography characteristics were compared between BAV (n = 32) and TAV (n = 109) patients. The 2-year haemodynamic [i.e. peak aortic jet velocity (Vpeak) and mean transvalvular gradient (MG)] and anatomic [i.e. aortic valve calcification density (AVCd) and aortic valve calcification density ratio (AVCd ratio)] progression of AS were compared between the two valve phenotypes. The 2-year progression rate of Vpeak was: 16 (−0 to 40) vs. 17 (3–35) cm/s, P = 0.95; of MG was: 1.8 (−0.7 to 5.8) vs. 2.6 (0.4–4.8) mmHg, P = 0.56; of AVCd was 32 (2–109) vs. 52 (25–85) AU/cm2, P = 0.15; and of AVCd ratio was: 0.08 (0.01–0.23) vs. 0.12 (0.06–0.18), P = 0.16 in patients with BAV vs. TAV. In univariable analyses, BAV was not associated with AS progression (all, P ≥ 0.26). However, with further adjustment for age, AS baseline severity, and several risk factors (i.e. sex, history of hypertension, creatinine level, diabetes, metabolic syndrome), BAV was independently associated with faster haemodynamic (Vpeak: β = 0.31, P = 0.02) and anatomic (AVCd: β = 0.26, P = 0.03 and AVCd ratio: β = 0.26, P = 0.03) progression of AS.

Conclusion

In patients with mild-to-moderate AS, patients with BAV have faster haemodynamic and anatomic progression of AS when compared to TAV patients with similar age and risk profile. This study highlights the importance and necessity to closely monitor patients with BAV and to adequately control and treat their risk factors.

Clinical trial registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov Unique identifier: NCT01679431.
Incremental value of diastolic stress test in identifying subclinical heart failure in patients with diabetes mellitus
Authors: Nishi Tomoko , Kobayashi Yukari , Christle Jeffrey W , Cauwenberghs Nicholas , Boralkar Kalyani , Moneghetti Kegan , Amsallem Myriam , Hedman Kristofer , Contrepois Kévin , Myers Jonathan , Mahaffey Kenneth W , Schnittger Ingela , Kuznetsova Tatiana , Palaniappan Latha , Haddad Francois
Published: March 2020

Aims

Resting echocardiography is a valuable method for detecting subclinical heart failure (HF) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). However, few studies have assessed the incremental value of diastolic stress for detecting subclinical HF in this population.

Methods and results

Asymptomatic patients with Type 2 DM were prospectively enrolled. Subclinical HF was assessed using systolic dysfunction (left ventricular longitudinal strain <16% at rest and <19% after exercise in absolute value), abnormal cardiac morphology, or diastolic dysfunction (E/e′ > 10). Metabolic equivalents (METs) were calculated using treadmill speed and grade, and functional capacity was assessed by percent-predicted METs (ppMETs). Among 161 patients studied (mean age of 59 ± 11 years and 57% male sex), subclinical HF was observed in 68% at rest and in 79% with exercise. Among characteristics, diastolic stress had the highest yield in improving detection of HF with 57% of abnormal cases after exercise and 45% at rest. Patients with revealed diastolic dysfunction during stress had significantly lower exercise capacity than patients with normal diastolic stress (7.3 ± 2.1 vs. 8.8 ± 2.5, P < 0.001 for peak METs and 91 ± 30% vs. 105 ± 30%, P = 0.04 for ppMETs). On multivariable modelling found that age (beta = −0.33), male sex (beta = 0.21), body mass index (beta = −0.49), and exercise E/e′ >10 (beta = −0.17) were independently associated with peak METs (combined R2 = 0.46). A network correlation map revealed the connectivity of peak METs and diastolic properties as central features in patients with DM.

Conclusion

Diastolic stress test improves the detection of subclinical HF in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Implementation of appropriate use criteria for cardiology tests and procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Winchester David E , Merritt Justin , Waheed Nida , Norton Hannah , Manja Veena , Shah Nishant R , Helfrich Christian D
Published: March 2020

Aims

The American College of Cardiology appropriate use criteria (AUC) provide clinicians with evidence-informed recommendations for cardiac care. Adopting AUC into clinical workflows may present challenges, and there may be specific implementation strategies that are effective in promoting effective use of AUC. We sought to assess the effect of implementing AUC in clinical practice.

Methods and results

We conducted a meta-analysis of studies found through a systematic search of the MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, or CINAHL databases. Peer-reviewed manuscripts published after 2005 that reported on the implementation of AUC for a cardiovascular test or procedure were included. The main outcome was to determine if AUC implementation was associated with a reduction in inappropriate/rarely appropriate care. Of the 18 included studies, the majority used pre/post-cohort designs; few (n = 3) were randomized trials. Most studies used multiple strategies (n = 12, 66.7%). Education was the most common individual intervention strategy (n = 13, 72.2%), followed by audit and feedback (n = 8, 44.4%) and computerized physician order entry (n = 6, 33.3%). No studies reported on formal use of stakeholder engagement or ‘nudges’. In meta-analysis, AUC implementation was associated with a reduction in inappropriate/rarely appropriate care (odds ratio 0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.49–0.78). Funnel plot suggests the possibility of publication bias.

Conclusion

We found most published efforts to implement AUC observed reductions in inappropriate/rarely appropriate care. Studies rarely explored how or why the implementation strategy was effective. Because interventions were infrequently tested in isolation, it is difficult to make observations about their effectiveness as stand-alone strategies.

Study registration

PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018091602. Available from https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42018091602.
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Prescription Opioid–Related Outcomes in the United States
Authors: Puac-Polanco Victor , Chihuri Stanford , Fink David S , Cerdá Magdalena , Keyes Katherine M , Li Guohua
Published: March 2020

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are a crucial component of federal and state governments’ response to the opioid epidemic. Evidence about the effectiveness of PDMPs in reducing prescription opioid–related adverse outcomes is mixed. We conducted a systematic review to examine whether PDMP implementation within the United States is associated with changes in 4 prescription opioid–related outcome domains: opioid prescribing behaviors, opioid diversion and supply, opioid-related morbidity and substance-use disorders, and opioid-related deaths. We searched for eligible publications in Embase, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. A total of 29 studies, published between 2009 and 2019, met the inclusion criteria. Of the 16 studies examining PDMPs and prescribing behaviors, 11 found that implementing PDMPs reduced prescribing behaviors. All 3 studies on opioid diversion and supply reported reductions in the examined outcomes. In the opioid-related morbidity and substance-use disorders domain, 7 of 8 studies found associations with prescription opioid–related outcomes. Four of 8 studies in the opioid-related deaths domain reported reduced mortality rates. Despite the mixed findings, emerging evidence supports that the implementation of state PDMPs reduces opioid prescriptions, opioid diversion and supply, and opioid-related morbidity and substance-use disorder outcomes. When PDMP characteristics were examined, mandatory access provisions were associated with reductions in prescribing behaviors, diversion outcomes, hospital admissions, substance-use disorders, and mortality rates. Inconsistencies in the evidence base across outcome domains are due to analytical approaches across studies and, to some extent, heterogeneities in PDMP policies implemented across states and over time.
Association of the global activity limitation indicator with specific measures of disability in adults aged below 65
Authors: Cabrero-García Julio , Juliá-Sanchis Rocío , Richart-Martínez Miguel
Published: March 2020

Background

Summary health measures as the global activity limitation indicator (GALI) or self-rated health (SRH) allow to quantify and monitor the health of the population. The GALI is widely used in the European Union; however, evidence of its construct validity is still limited. We examine whether the GALI reflects disability in specific living contexts such as self-care, domestic life and work activity, whether it does so consistently across gender and age and its added value concerning SRH.

Methods

We used the subsample of adults aged 16–64 years (N = 15 934) from the 2009 European Health Interview Survey in Spain and analyzed the data with logistic regression models using the GALI and SRH as response variables.

Results

The GALI was strongly and significantly associated with the three measures of disability: self-care (OR = 22.8, 95% CI: 15.9–32.7), domestic life (OR = 16.3, 95% CI: 13.6–19.5) and work activity (e.g. impossibility to work: OR = 41.9, 95% CI: 30.3–57.8; prolonged sick leave: OR = 10.7, 95% CI: 9–12.7). There were significant interactions with age on all three disability measures and with the gender on one (domestic life), although they were small. SRH was also strongly associated with all three disability measures, but to a lesser extent than the GALI.

Conclusions

The GALI reflects well and better than SRH, disability in self-care, domestic life and work activity. It is unknown whether the GALI performs equally in other living contexts such as social relations and community life.
An Annotated Chromosome-Level Reference Genome of the Red-Eared Slider Turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Authors: Brian Simison Warren , Parham James F , Papenfuss Theodore J , Lam Athena W , Henderson James B
Published: March 2020

Among vertebrates, turtles have many unique characteristics providing biologists with opportunities to study novel evolutionary innovations and processes. We present here a high-quality, partially phased, and chromosome-level Red-Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans, TSE) genome as a reference for future research on turtle and tetrapod evolution. This TSE assembly is 2.269 Gb in length, has one of the highest scaffold N50 and N90 values of any published turtle genome to date (N50 = 129.68 Mb and N90 = 19 Mb), and has a total of 28,415 annotated genes. We introduce synteny analyses using BUSCO single-copy orthologs, which reveal two chromosome fusion events accounting for differences in chromosome counts between emydids and other cryptodire turtles and reveal many fission/fusion events for birds, crocodiles, and snakes relative to TSE. This annotated chromosome-level genome will provide an important reference genome for future studies on turtle, vertebrate, and chromosome evolution.
Wavefield reconstruction for velocity–stress elastodynamic full-waveform inversion
Authors: Aaker Ole Edvard , Raknes Espen Birger , Pedersen Ørjan , Arntsen Børge
Published: March 2020

Gradient computations in full-waveform inversion (FWI) require calculating zero-lag cross-correlations of two wavefields propagating in opposite temporal directions. Lossless media permit accurate and efficient reconstruction of the incident field from recordings along a closed boundary, such that both wavefields propagate backwards in time. Reconstruction avoids storing wavefield states of the incident field to secondary storage, which is not feasible for many realistic inversion problems. We give particular attention to velocity–stress modelling schemes and propose a novel modification of a conventional reconstruction method derived from the elastodynamic Kirchhoff–Helmholtz integral. In contrast to the original formulation (in a previous related work), the proposed approach is well-suited for velocity–stress schemes. Numerical examples demonstrate accurate wavefield reconstruction in heterogeneous, elastic media. A practical example using 3-D elastic FWI demonstrates agreement with the reference solution.