bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Imbalanced cellular metabolism compromises cartilage homeostasis and joint function in a mouse model of mucolipidosis type III gamma
Authors: Westermann Lena Marie , Fleischhauer Lutz , Vogel Jonas , Jenei-Lanzl Zsuzsa , Ludwig Nataniel Floriano , Schau Lynn , Morellini Fabio , Baranowsky Anke , Yorgan Timur A. , Di Lorenzo Giorgia , Schweizer Michaela , de Souza Pinheiro Bruna , Guarany Nicole Ruas , Sperb-Ludwig Fernanda , Visioli Fernanda , Oliveira Silva Thiago , Soul Jamie , Hendrickx Gretl , Wiegert J. Simon , Schwartz Ida V. D. , Clausen-Schaumann Hauke , Zaucke Frank , Schinke Thorsten , Pohl Sandra , Danyukova Tatyana
Published: October 2020

Mucolipidosis type III (MLIII) gamma is a rare inherited lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in GNPTG encoding the γ-subunit of GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase, the key enzyme ensuring proper intracellular location of multiple lysosomal enzymes. Patients with MLIII gamma typically present with osteoarthritis and joint stiffness, suggesting cartilage involvement. Using Gnptg knockout (Gnptgko) mice as a model of the human disease, we showed that missorting of a number of lysosomal enzymes is associated with intracellular accumulation of chondroitin sulfate in Gnptgko chondrocytes and their impaired differentiation, as well as with altered microstructure of the cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM). We also demonstrated distinct functional and structural properties of the Achilles tendons isolated from Gnptgko and Gnptab knock-in (Gnptabki) mice, the latter displaying a more severe phenotype resembling mucolipidosis type II (MLII) in humans. Together with comparative analyses of joint mobility in MLII and MLIII patients, these findings provide a basis for better understanding of the molecular reasons leading to joint pathology in these patients. Our data suggest that lack of GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase activity due to defects in the γ-subunit causes structural changes within the ECM of connective and mechanosensitive tissues, such as cartilage and tendon, and eventually results in functional joint abnormalities typically observed in MLIII gamma patients. This idea was supported by a deficit of the limb motor function in Gnptgko mice challenged on a rotarod under fatigue-associated conditions, suggesting that the impaired motor performance of Gnptgko mice was caused by fatigue and/or pain at the joint.

This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Increase in public interest concerning alternative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: a Google Trends study
Authors: Rokhmah Dewi , Ali Khaidar , Putri Serius Miliyani Dwi , Khoiron Khoiron
Published: October 2020

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered individuals to increase their healthy behaviour in order to prevent transmission, including improving their immunity potentially through the use of alternative medicines. This study aimed to examine public interest on alternative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic using Google Trends in Indonesia.

Methods: Employing a quantitative study, the Spearman rank test was used to analyze the correlation between Google Relative Search Volume (RSV) of various search terms, within the categories of alternative medicine, herbal medicine and practical activity, with COVID-19 cases. In addition, time lag correlation was also investigated.

Results: Public interest toward alternative medicine during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia is dramatically escalating. All search term categories (alternative medicine, medical herbal, and alternative medicine activities) were positively associated with COVID-19 cases (p<0.05). The terms ‘ginger’ (r=0.6376), ‘curcumin’ (r=0.6550) and ‘planting ginger’ (0.6713) had the strongest correlation. Furthermore, time lag correlation between COVID-19 and Google RSV was also positively significant (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Public interest concerning alternative medicine related terms dramatically increased after the first COVID-19 confirmed case was reported in Indonesia. Time lag correlation showed good performance using weekly data. The Indonesian Government will play an important role to provide and monitor information related to alternative medicine in order for the population to receive the maximum benefit.
Could malaria explain the global distribution of the angiotensin converting enzyme I/D polymorphism? A systematic review and ecological study
Authors: Kenyon Chris , Rosanas Anna
Published: October 2020

Background: The D-allele of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE1) has been linked to an increased risk of certain diseases including hypertension and COVID-19 but a decreased risk of cerebral malaria. We hypothesized that malaria played a role in determining variations in the global distribution of ACE1 I/D polymorphism.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to summarize the frequency of ID/DD genotypes in all countries with available data.

Results: The ID/DD genotype frequency was found to be highest in Africa (86.4%, IQR 83.6-94.7%) and Eastern Mediterranean (median 84.5%, IQR 78.3-89.8%) and lowest in South East Asia (55%, 49.5-67.8%) and Western Pacific (61.1%, IQR 55.0-67.2%). Linear regression revealed positive associations between ID/DD genotype frequency and the incidence of malaria, malaria mortality as well as hemoglobin S allele frequency (all P<0.05).

Conclusions: Our findings are compatible with the hypothesis that malaria played a role in establishing the differential frequency of the D-allele.
Bioinformatic study to discover natural molecules with activity against COVID-19
Authors: Singh Sweta , Florez Hector
Published: October 2020

Background: In 2020, the world has struggled to deal with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which started in 2019 in China and has spread throughout the globe, affecting at least 31,175,835 humans globally and claiming 962,634 lives reported till 22nd September, 2020 by the World Health Organization. The main causative agent for this disease is known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2). So far, there is no cure or proven therapeutics available till date. Therefore, we undertook this study to ﬁnd the most probable drug candidate through a bioinformatics study.

Methods: Thus, we virtually screened the Zinc natural database using HTVS tool through molecular docking studies to analyze molecules recommended for the treatment of COVID-19.

Results: Ramipril benzyl ester, propafenone dimer and Lariciresinol are three important drugs found from the present study due to their medicinal application which could be helpful in treating the disease. Stylopine, quillaic acid, cinobufagin, vitisinol C, segetalin A, scopolamine, 3-oxo glycyrrhetinic acid, conchinone B, lactimidomycin and cardinalins 4 are the other lead molecules that could be used as therapeutics against COVID-19 disease.

Conclusions: The studied molecules could act as an effective inhibitory drug against COVID-19.
Military-political strategies of the United States and Canada in the Arctic
Authors: Sevost'yanov P. , Davydova Yu. , Matyuhin A.
Published: October 2020

The purpose of this study is to identify the military and political specifics of the Arctic zone, which is part of the United States and Canada. The authors used such research methods as system analysis, problem analysis, logical analysis, and historical analysis. The authors draw attention to the fact that issues of strategic stability and security appeared in US developments in the 1950s and the first researcher to officially propose this concept was Robert McNamara, us Secretary of defense in 1961-1967. Despite the fact that in 1972 the first Treaty on the limitation of missile DEFENSE systems and OSV-1 was signed. the cold war during the Soviet-US rivalry made the Arctic a zone of strategic confrontation with the routes of nuclear strikes. The authors note that although the cold war ended long ago, the Arctic region has not lost its strategic importance. The authors consider the main directions of military-strategic activities of the two countries, the dynamics of development and key elements of the strategy. In conclusion, the authors conclude that the military strategy of both the United States and Canada in the Arctic does not provide for military threats and the primary risks are environmental and social. The practical and theoretical significance of the work is that the Arctic is strategically important for all countries of the Arctic zone, so the military and political strategies of these States are of considerable interest both for scientific discourse and for determining Russia's foreign and domestic policy in this region.
Reducing Simulation Input-Model Risk via Input Model Averaging
Authors: Nelson Barry L. , Wan Alan T. K. , Zou Guohua , Zhang Xinyu , Jiang Xi
Published: October 2020

Input uncertainty is an aspect of simulation model risk that arises when the driving input distributions are derived or “fit” to real-world, historical data. Although there has been significant progress on quantifying and hedging against input uncertainty, there has been no direct attempt to reduce it via better input modeling. The meaning of “better” depends on the context and the objective: Our context is when (a) there are one or more families of parametric distributions that are plausible choices; (b) the real-world historical data are not expected to perfectly conform to any of them; and (c) our primary goal is to obtain higher-fidelity simulation output rather than to discover the “true” distribution. In this paper, we show that frequentist model averaging can be an effective way to create input models that better represent the true, unknown input distribution, thereby reducing model risk. Input model averaging builds from standard input modeling practice, is not computationally burdensome, requires no change in how the simulation is executed nor any follow-up experiments, and is available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). We provide theoretical and empirical support for our approach.
“We’ll Always Have Paris”: Out-of-Country Buyers in the Housing Market
Authors: Cvijanović Dragana , Spaenjers Christophe
Published: October 2020

Previous research has shown that nonlocal household investors make suboptimal asset selection and market timing decisions. However, in real estate markets, heterogeneity in returns can exist even with identical ex ante investment (timing) choices, given that transaction prices are the outcome of a complex search-and-bargaining process. Analyzing notarial data for the Paris housing market, we find that “out-of-country” buyers indeed buy at higher prices and resell at substantially lower prices than do local investors, ceteris paribus. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that this pattern is not due to higher search costs and information asymmetries but instead stems from wealth-related differences in bargaining intensity. Finally, we estimate the causal effect of out-of-country demand shocks on property prices in Paris to be positive but small.

This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance.
The Price of the Smile and Variance Risk Premia
Authors: Gruber Peter H. , Tebaldi Claudio , Trojani Fabio
Published: October 2020

Using a new specification of multifactor volatility, we estimate the hidden risk factors spanning S&P 500 index (SPX) implied volatility surfaces and the risk premia of volatility-sensitive payoffs. SPX implied volatility surfaces are well-explained by three dependent state variables reflecting (i) short- and long-term implied volatility risks and (ii) short-term implied skewness risk. The more persistent volatility factor and the skewness factor support a downward sloping term structure of variance risk premia in normal times, whereas the most transient volatility factor accounts for an upward sloping term structure in periods of distress. Our volatility specification based on a matrix state process is instrumental to obtaining a tractable and flexible model for the joint dynamics of returns and volatilities, which improves pricing performance and risk premium modeling with respect to recent three-factor specifications based on standard state spaces.

This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.
Do First Impressions Last? The Impact of Initial Assessments and Subsequent Performance on Promotion Decisions
Authors: Black Dirk E. , Vance Marshall D.
Published: October 2020

This paper examines whether and for how long managers’ initial assessments of employee ability influence promotion decisions. Using archival data from minor league professional baseball, we find that, controlling for performance, initial assessments are associated with promotion decisions for at least six years after the initial assessments were made. We also find that initial assessments are positively associated with future performance at the outset of a player’s career, but the association becomes insignificant after a player accumulates on-the-job experience. We show that the weight on initial assessments for promotion decisions declines as additional on-the-job performance signals are observed, reflecting the declining relative informativeness of initial assessments about future ability. We construct a proxy for relative informativeness based on coefficients from regressions of future performance on initial assessments and observed performance. When we compare the implied relative weight on initial assessments for promotion decisions to our proxy for relative informativeness, we find initial assessments receive greater relative weight than implied by informativeness overall and across experience and job-level partitions. Our results suggest managers update initial beliefs about worker ability slowly given available performance measures.

This paper was accepted by Shiva Rajgopal, accounting.
Information in the Term Structure: A Forecasting Perspective
Authors: Doshi Hitesh , Jacobs Kris , Liu Rui
Published: October 2020

The existing literature finds that information not captured by traditional term structure factors helps predict excess bond returns. When estimating no-arbitrage affine term structure models, aligning in-sample and out-of-sample objective functions results in term structure factors that capture information that remains hidden from existing approaches. Specifically, the estimates of the third term structure factor radically differ and are related to the fourth principal component, which helps forecast bond returns. The new objective function leads to substantial improvements in forecasting performance. It also results in higher model term premiums and lower expected future short rates.

This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, finance.
How Pervasive Is Earnings Management? Evidence from a Structural Model
Authors: Bertomeu Jeremy , Cheynel Edwige , Li Edward Xuejun , Liang Ying
Published: October 2020

Although researchers often view earnings management as being widespread, measuring the cost and level of earnings management is a nontrivial task. We derive a measure of earnings management cost and the associated equilibrium level of earnings management from the cross-sectional properties of earnings and prices. This approach enables us to separate economic shocks from reporting discretion by modeling the economic tradeoff faced by management. The tradeoff can be easily estimated from a closed-form likelihood function. Consistent with prior studies, the measure suggests more earnings management during seasoned equity offerings, for smaller and growing firms, as well as in industries with more irregularities.

This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.
Big Jobs Arrive Early: From Critical Queues to Random Graphs
Authors: Bet Gianmarco , van der Hofstad Remco , van Leeuwaarden Johan S. H.
Published: October 2020

We consider a queue to which only a finite pool of n customers can arrive, at times depending on their service requirement. A customer with stochastic service requirement S arrives to the queue after an exponentially distributed time with mean S-αfor some [Formula: see text]; therefore, larger service requirements trigger customers to join earlier. This finite-pool queue interpolates between two previously studied cases: α = 0 gives the so-called [Formula: see text] queue and α = 1 is closely related to the exploration process for inhomogeneous random graphs. We consider the asymptotic regime in which the pool size n grows to infinity and establish that the scaled queue-length process converges to a diffusion process with a negative quadratic drift. We leverage this asymptotic result to characterize the head start that is needed to create a long period of activity. We also describe how this first busy period of the queue gives rise to a critically connected random forest.
O que a cidade de Ipásia tem a nos dizer sobre pixação? Leituras possíveis de As Cidade Invisíveis, de Ítalo Calvino, e São Paulo/SP
Authors: Domingos Bianca Siqueira Martins , Silva Fabiana Felix do Amaral e , Zanetti Valéria Regina
Published: October 2020

O tecido urbano da cidade de São Paulo nos fornece um espectro de possibilidades de leituras conceituais, simbólicas e interdisciplinares, em que a pixação se constitui como um importante elemento visual na urbe. Ao circularmos pela cidade observamos nos prédios, paredes e espaços construídos, frases e símbolos monocromáticos que se mesclam com a paisagem urbana. O objetivo deste artigo é construir articulações entre Ipásia, uma das cidades do livro AsCidades Invisíveis, de Ítalo Calvino, e as pixações da cidade de São Paulo, a partir dos nexos entre as simbologias impressas nos territórios e práticas urbanas das duas cidades. A perspectiva teórico-metodológica é amparada por referencial vinculado à interpretação dos símbolos, do imaginário, das subjetividades, estruturada na semiótica do ambiente simbólico e na fenomenologia. Os símbolos na forma de pixação são, de certo modo, parte da experiência de se visitar/viver em São Paulo, cujas representações imagéticas, memórias e ressignificações dialogam com o urbano real e com o imaginado mundo das cidades invisíveis de Calvino.
Tráfico de escravos e escravidão na trajetória do Barão de Nova Friburgo – século XIX
Authors: Marretto Rodrigo Marins
Published: October 2020

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a construção e as características do enorme plantel de escravos do Barão de Nova Friburgo ao longo do século XIX. Localizado entre as vilas de Cantagalo e Nova Friburgo, o conjunto de cativos do Barão começou a se formar com a participação do personagem no tráfico transatlântico de escravos. Tal atividade se desenvolveu exclusivamente durante o período de legalidade e nossa hipótese central aponta que o comércio de escravos foi o responsável pela formação de um plantel de 2180 cativos divididos entre quinze propriedades rurais. Após a análise do tráfico de escravos, passamos a analisar as características demográficas do império escravista angariado pelo Barão. Os principais aspectos analisados foram as relações entre os sexos nas escravarias, a produtividade das fazendas cafeeiras e a possibilidade de reprodução natural dos cativos. Os dois aspectos abordados, o tráfico de escravos e a demografia das fazendas, nos permite expandir a compreensão da formação e das características inerentes aos vastos plantéis de escravos do Vale do Paraíba.
Império português, poderes locais e a administração do Hospital de São João de Deus da Vila de Cachoeira (Bahia, século XVIII)
Authors: Santana Tânia Maria Pinto de
Published: October 2020

Neste artigo analisaremos as práticas administrativas do Hospital de São João de Deus da Vila de Nossa Senhora do Rosário do Porto da Cachoeira no período em que esteve subordinado à autoridade dos juízes de fora da vila, a partir de 1771, buscando compreender a sua importância enquanto espaço de representação das elites locais. A compreensão dos rumos dado ao Hospital de São João de Deus da Vila de Nossa Senhora do Rosário do Porto da Cachoeira nas últimas décadas do século XVIII somente é possível se considerarmos a sua inserção num contexto mais amplo, da organização administrativa e política da vila. Neste sentido, a análise da trajetória do hospital e dos sujeitos envolvidos em sua administração nos revela aspectos significativos das relações políticas e sociais locais, nos permitindo compreender as estratégias e conflitos que envolveram os diferentes sujeitos vinculados aos poderes imperial e local dentro desta sociedade. As fontes prioritárias desta pesquisa foram os documentos, preservados no Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, em Lisboa, e na Biblioteca Nacional do Rio de Janeiro – requerimentos, cartas, ofícios, representações, pareceres e decreto –, relativos à administração da vila e do hospital.
Overview of microscopic colitis
Authors: Ahmad Omer F , Akbar Ayesha
Published: October 2020

Microscopic colitis encompasses both collagenous and lymphocytic colitis and is a relatively common condition with rising incidence. Diagnosis is by colonoscopy (which is usually normal but may show some mild changes) and biopsies which reveal characteristic histological findings. Symptoms include non-bloody diarrhoea with urgency which may be associated with faecal incontinence and abdominal pain. Microscopic colitis is associated with a reduced health-related quality of life, and treatment is aimed at symptom control. Medications linked with the development of microscopic colitis, including proton pump inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, should be discontinued. If symptoms persist, budesonide is a licensed treatment for microscopic colitis which has been shown to be effective in clinical trials and real-world practice.
The impact of COVID-19 on holiday entitlements
Authors: Bernstein Adam
Published: October 2020

The massive impact of COVID-19 has had a resounding effect on the way we live and work, and will continue to do so. The way employers manage employee leave is no exception. Adam Bernstein supplies the latest guidance
The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on orthopaedic emergency presentations in a remote and rural population
Authors: Elhalawany Ahmed S. , Beastall James , Cousins Gerard
Published: October 2020

Aims

COVID-19 remains the major focus of healthcare provision. Managing orthopaedic emergencies effectively, while at the same time protecting patients and staff, remains a challenge. We explore how the UK lockdown affected the rate, distribution, and type of orthopaedic emergency department (ED) presentations, using the same period in 2019 as reference. This article discusses considerations for the ED and trauma wards to help to maintain the safety of patients and healthcare providers with an emphasis on more remote geography.

Methods

The study was conducted from 23 March 2020 to 5 May 2020 during the full lockdown period (2020 group) and compared to the same time frame in 2019 (2019 group). Included are all patients who attended the ED at Raigmore Hospital during this period from both the local area and tertiary referral from throughout the UK Highlands. Data was collected and analyzed through the ED Information System (EDIS) as well as ward and theatre records.

Results

A total of 1,978 patients presented to the ED during the lockdown period, compared to 4,777 patients in the same timeframe in 2019; a reduction of 58.6%. Orthopaedic presentations in 2020 and 2019 were 736 (37.2%) and 1,729 (36.2%) respectively, representing a 57.4% reduction. During the lockdown, 43.6% of operations were major procedures (n = 48) and 56.4% were minor procedures (n = 62), representing a significant proportional shift.

Conclusion

During the COVID- 19 lockdown period there was a significant reduction in ED attendances and orthopaedic presentations compared to 2019. We also observed that there was a proportional increase in fractures in elderly patients and in minor injuries requiring surgery. These represented the majority of the orthopaedic workload during the lockdown period of 2020. Given this shift towards smaller surgical procedures, we suggest that access to a minor operating theatre in or close to ED would be desirable in the event of a second wave or future crisis.
The cytotoxicity of brazilin and derivatives might be due to an inhibition of the c-Src-kinase
Authors: Kramell Annemarie E , Siewert Bianka , Wiese Jana , Temml Veronika , Deigner Hans-Peter , Al-Harrasi Ahmed , Csuk René
Published: October 2020

In this study, several derivatives of brazilin with different lipophilicity were synthesized. The cytotoxic potential of these substances was evaluated in S.R.B. assays. A triacetylated brazilin reaction with PBr3 or PCl3 and a subsequent aqueous workup led to the formation of a phosphorous ester containing two triacetylated brazilin subunits. This compound held unexpected high cytotoxicity. In this study, Brazilin-derived triacetate showed good cytotoxic activity (EC50 = 5.2 M) concerning A2780 carcinoma cells. The results from docking studies suggest that brazilin's cytotoxicity might be due to an inhibition of a tyrosine kinase in an ATP-competitive manner.
Characterising attrition from childhood to adulthood in a 20-year cohort: which baseline factors are influential, and can bias be corrected?
Authors: Otahal Petr , Blizzard Leigh , Hosmer David W. , Stankovich Jim , Venn Alison
Published: October 2020

Attrition is common in longitudinal studies and can lead to bias when the missingness pattern affects the distributions of analysed variables. Characterisation of factors predictive of attrition is vital to longitudinal research. Few studies have investigated the factors predictive of attrition from childhood cohorts with large-scale loss to follow-up. Methods to remove potential bias are available and have been well studied in scenarios of short intervening periods between contact and follow-up. Less is known about the performance of such techniques when there is a large initial loss of participants after a long intervening period. The Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey (ASHFS) was conducted in 1985 when participants were school children aged 7–15 years. The first follow-up occurred 20 years later with substantial loss of participants: 80% were traced, 61% enrolled and provided brief questionnaire information, 47% provided more extensive questionnaire information and 28% attended clinics. Factors associated with attrition were examined and two common techniques, multiple imputation (MI) and inverse probability weighting (IPW) were used to determine the potential for correcting the bias in the estimate of the association between self-rated fitness and BMI in childhood. Attrition from childhood to adulthood was found to be influenced by the same factors that operate in adult cohorts: lower education, lower socio-economic position and male sex. Attrition patterns varied by the stage of follow-up. Estimated childhood associations biased by adulthood attrition were able to be corrected using MI, but IPW was unsuccessful due to a lack of completely observed informative variables.
Fairness, generosity and conditionality in the welfare system: the case of UK disability benefits
Authors: Johnson Elliott , Nettle Daniel
Published: October 2020

This paper represents a collaboration between a policy researcher and a behavioural scientist who studies cooperation. Our goal was to develop a shared understanding of one particular policy topic, the reforms to the UK system of disability benefits initiated during the last term of the New Labour Government and accelerated under the Conservative-led administrations since 2010. These reforms introduced much stronger focus on conditionality and assessment, aiming to reduce the cost of the benefit by identifying and removing ‘cheaters’ or ‘undeserving’ recipients from the system. The reforms have failed by even their own stated goals. Here, we seek to understand why they seemed appealing and intuitively likely to succeed. We argue that humans are vigilant cooperators, sensitive to cues of need in others, but also highly susceptible to the idea that others are cheating. This vigilance is particularly marked where they lack a reassuring stream of direct personal evidence to the contrary. The vigilance of human cooperative psychology makes ideas of greater conditionality and punishment easy for politicians to conceive of and sell. However, set against this, there are principles that can be used and successfully appealed to in advocating greater generosity in welfare systems. These include the fundamental social similarity of recipients and non-recipients, and the idea that resources are not generated individually but represent the common windfall of a whole group.
Autofluorescence guided welding of heart tissue by laser pulse bursts at 1550 nm
Authors: Litvinova Karina , Chernysheva Maria , Stegemann Berthold , Leyva Francisco
Published: October 2020

Wound healing and other surgical technologies traditionally solved by suturing and stapling have recently been enhanced by the application of laser tissue welding. The usage of high energy laser radiation to anastomose tissues eliminates a foreign body reaction, reduces scar formation, and allows for the creation of watertight closure. In the current work, we show that an ultrafast pulsed fibre laser beam with 183 µJ·cm−2 energy fluence at 1550 nm provides successful welding of dissected chicken heart walls with the tensile strength of 1.03±0.12 kg·cm−2 equal to that of native tissue. The welding process was monitored employing fluorescence spectroscopy that detects the biochemical composition of tissues. We believe that fluorescence spectroscopy guided laser tissue welding is a promising approach for decreasing wound healing times and the avoiding risks of postoperative complications.
Hybrid deep learning network for vascular segmentation in photoacoustic imaging
Authors: Yuan Alan Yilun , Gao Yang , Peng Liangliang , Zhou Lingxiao , Liu Jun , Zhu Siwei , Song Wei
Published: October 2020

Photoacoustic (PA) technology has been used extensively on vessel imaging due to its capability of identifying molecular specificities and achieving high optical-diffraction-limited lateral resolution down to the cellular level. Vessel images carry essential medical information that provides guidelines for a professional diagnosis. Modern image processing techniques provide a decent contribution to vessel segmentation. However, these methods suffer from under or over-segmentation. Thus, we demonstrate both the results of adopting a fully convolutional network and U-net, and propose a hybrid network consisting of both applied on PA vessel images. Comparison results indicate that the hybrid network can significantly increase the segmentation accuracy and robustness.
Single-shot and twin-image free unique phase retrieval using an aspect of autocorrelation that considers the object asymmetry
Authors: Kumar Gautam Surya , Singh Rakesh Kumar , Narayanamurthy C. S. , Naik Dinesh N.
Published: October 2020

A phase-retrieval algorithm can reconstruct the phase of an object from an intensity image of a diffraction pattern recorded at the Fourier plane, provided one makes a right initial guess. For the algorithms that are based on an initial random guess, at times, the output either becomes nondeterministic, becomes nonconvergent, or develops a twin image. For improving the performance of the algorithms by eliminating the twin image and for bringing uniqueness to the output, prior information about the object or more intensity measurements are needed. In order to achieve this using only a single acquisition of the intensity pattern recorded at the Fourier plane for an object, we propose a method in which object support, along with the object information in the case in which the object has a direction of asymmetry, can be measured from the object autocorrelation and utilized as an initial guess in the phase-retrieval algorithm. In the process, we explore how even a partial asymmetry in the object distribution can lead to a good solution in the phase-retrieval algorithm. This method is beneficial for unique phase detection without any twin artifact in various fields of optics. We theoretically analyze the proposed method and validate it by carrying out the simulations and experiment.
Freedom and Praxis in Plotinus’s Ennead 6.8.1-6
Authors: Andrade Bernardo Portilho
Published: October 2020

In this paper, I argue that Plotinus does not limit the sphere of free human agency simply to intellectual contemplation, but rather extends it all the way to human praxis. Plotinus’s goal in the first six chapters of Ennead 6.8 is, accordingly, to demarcate the space of freedom within human practical actions. He ultimately concludes that our external actions are free whenever they actualize, in unhindered fashion, the moral principles derived from intellectual contemplation. This raises the question of how the freedom of practical actions might relate to the freedom of intellectual contemplation. After considering two previously offered models – a model of double activity, and an Aristotelian model of practical syllogism – I offer a third alternative, namely a model of moral attunement, according to which our rational desires assume a kind of ‘care of the soul’ through active supervision. Practical life is thus imbued with freedom to the extent that the soul supervises its actions to conform to its will and choice of the good.
Az idősek turizmusban való részvétele Magyarországon: motivációk és turisztikai élmények vizsgálata = Participation by seniors in tourism in Hungary: an investigation into motivation and tourism experience
Authors: Kolos Krisztina , Kövesdi Júlia
Published: October 2020

Az idős fogyasztók teljes népességen belüli arányának növekedése kihívás elé állít számos iparágat. Ez alól a turizmus sem kivétel. Az idősek turizmusban való részvételének elősegítése a piaci lehetőségeken túlmenően tágabb kontextusban értelmezendő. Az aktív életmód összefüggésben áll a társadalmi jólléttel és az élettel való elégedettséggel. Kutatásunkban az idős korosztály utazási motivációit és élményeit vizsgáljuk, és arra keressük a választ, hogy az idősebb turisták milyen motivációs tényezők hatására utaznak leginkább, illetve milyen nehézségeket, kockázatokat észlelnek utazásaik során. Mélyinterjúink megerősítik azt a vélekedést, hogy az idősek összetett társadalmi csoportnak tekinthetők, és utazásaik során nemcsak anyagi, hanem sok más, érzelmi és intellektuális tényező is érvényesül, mint például a szocializáció, a tudásvágy vagy akár a nosztalgia.
A rapid improvement program. How to standardise a joint replacement pathway across 10 hospitals in 6 months.
Authors: Wainwright Thomas , Middleton Robert , Ferreira Mark
Published: October 2020

Introduction
There is strong evidence for implementing standardised enhanced recovery pathways after hip and knee replacement surgery. However, many units still do not use defined clinical pathways. A project was therefore undertaken to introduce a standard clinical pathway across a group of private hospitals.

Background
BMI Healthcare identified that there was significant variation across their 60 hospitals in regard to length of stay following hip and knee replacement. Diagnostic investigations into this variation revealed significant variation in the care processes and procedures used at individual hospitals and across units. Therefore, ten hospitals were chosen as sentinel sites, and a standardised pathway was introduced. In each hospital the entire multi- disciplinary team was involved in the project.

Intervention
A 6-month rapid improvement program was undertaken. The first step identified best practice for the provision of hip and knee replacement pathways. An evaluation of current clinical pathways against the gold standard established from the scoping exercise was then completed in each unit. A central improvement team in each hospital were trained in quality improvement techniques and they facilitated the changes in each hospital. The pathway was introduced along with improved documentation and performance measures. This was followed by an evaluation of the new pathway.Regular monitoring was completed centrally via email and telephone, as well as monthly site visits where the hospital team presented their progress, and difficulties with implementation were addressed.

Effects of changes
The new pathway was successfully implemented by all 10 hospitals. This is evidenced by full compliance to the new pathway, which was measured in each unit using variance analysis and process controlmeasures. The new pathway resulted in a 14% reduction to length of hospital stay across the nine sites, excellent clinical outcomes, and high patient and staff satisfaction.

Message for others
Facilitating change in ten separate hospitals concurrently is possible if sound quality improvement methodology is used, along with regular monitoring, and the involvement of the whole MDT team in each hospital. The role of ongoing monitoring from external experts and monthly performance reports for each hospital was a very powerful method for making change happen.
In a high volume orthopaedic unit, managing natural variability and utilising the theory of constraints improves surgical throughput.
Authors: Wainwright Thomas , Middleton Robert
Published: October 2020

Introduction This project involved hip and knee replacement patients at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Throughput of surgical cases is determined by the number of operations you can perform each day and the number of beds available for patients following surgery. Modelling using length of stay data indicated that we had enough beds and so we used the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to optimise surgical throughput. The TOC process is outlined below.

Intervention Put simply, the system was required to complete 1350 joint replacements per year through 2 operating theatres. Having established this, we identified the system constraint using TOC methodology. The constraint is the element of the system that prevented additional throughput from occurring. Our analysis revealed that the constraint in our setting was the surgeon. We then designed an operating template that subordinated everything to the constraint. A staggered operating model in which the surgeon moved between two operating theatres to perform 6 hip and knee replacements in succession each day was introduced.

Results The model has been used in over 2000 patients, and 28 different surgeons and 48 anaesthetists have worked within the model. We found that for all surgeons this has improved their productivity, as well as reducing the variability in the time required to complete each individual case. The staggered model and predictable nature of the model has also had benefits to the nursing and rehabilitation staff on the ward. Admissions to theatre and returns from theatre are now equally staggered throughout the day. This smoothing of flow is a central principle of lean and has made the delivery of care much easier on the ward and requires less staff.

Key message The TOC is a useful model for analysing complex systems where one step determines the rate of the process. Within our context the constraint was the surgeon. By subordinating all processes to utilise the surgeons time maximally we optimised surgical throughput.
What issues must we address if we are to further accelerate recovery and shorten length of stay in total hip and knee replacement ERAS?
Authors: Wainwright Thomas , McDonald David
Published: October 2020

Objectives

UK ERAS pathways are well established but length of stay (LOS) is still longer than for international exemplar sites. This survey asked staff what they felt were the issues that needed to be addressed in order to reduce LOS further.

Methods

Attendees at a multi-disciplinary meeting (Enhanced Recovery in Orthopaedic Surgery Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, 20/01/15) were surveyed.

Results

58 respondents from 23 hospitals in England, Scotland and Ireland were made up of nurses (27), physiotherapists (18), anaesthetists (7), occupational therapists (3), surgeons (2) and a pharmacist. 54 respondents had two or more years experience working in ERAS.

The staff surveyed thought that the most important factors in order to achieve a short LOS within their own hospitals were:

When the respondents were asked which issues they felt they needed to improve within their own hospitals to shorten current LOS, 35 thought that better post-operative analgesia was required and 29 thought better pre-operative patient education and expectation management were required.

There were three other major themes:

One respondent commented Sometimes people can have severe pain but achieve goals and go home early.

Conclusion

Experienced ERAS staff cited pre-operative patient education and post-operative analgesia most frequently as key factors in achieving a short LOS, but as a group also identified these two steps as the ones most needing to be improved. Managing the side effects of anaesthesia, improving physiotherapy access, and greater social and community support post-discharge were also deemed important.
Report on engineering for system development on Enactprover
Authors: Appiah Frank
Published: October 2020

This research poster is on provable forms based on syntactic theorem using Kleene Axiom schema. Enact model I and II of propositional formulas from enactment logic are proven in terms of theorems based on deductive rules. Work proves by deduction rules that Enact Model I and II are model theorems in machine- level interpretation. Enactprover is a machine program for reading and writing Kleene theorem proving axioms based on enactment logic.
Antimicrobial sensitivity of

Salmonella

species isolated from University of Mkar Students
Authors: Gwaza Terzulum
Published: October 2020

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance amongst pathogenic microorganisms is a worrying public health issue which needs urgent fix. Several attempts have been made to overcome this problem, most recently, the advent of broad spectrum antimicrobial agents have been one of them. In as much, antimicrobial resistance seems to persist amongst different pathogenic genera due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. Salmonella, a causative agent of typhoid and other human systemic complications have displayed multi-drug resistance to antimicrobial agents. This research work therefore aims at investigating the antimicrobial sensitivity of Salmonella species isolated from University of Mkar students. A total of 50 stool samples were collected in sterile sample containers and isolation of Salmonella was carried out using two classical selective media, Salmonella Shigella Agar and MacConkey Agar. In-vitro antimicrobial sensitivity test was carried out following the disk diffusion method using 10 antimicrobial agents. Salmonella species displayed high rate of resistance (70%) while showing a worrying low rate susceptibility (30%) to Aminoglycosides, Antifolates and even broad spectrum Fluoroquinolones. Salmonella may have adapted, or acquired resistance inherently as it was evident in very high resistance against common antimicrobial agents like Ampicillin, Co-trimoxazole, Augmentin, and Nalidixic acid. The misuse of antibiotics and therapeutics by the population is obviously the consequential factor for the acquisition of resistance among this genus. Therefore, appropriate drug administration and usage practices must be enforced by government and public health institutions to help curtail the danger of unleashing the post-antibiotic era upon us now, and in time to come.
A Developed Framework for Sequencing of Mixed-model Assembly Line with Customer’s Satisfaction and Heterogeneous Operators
Authors: Rabbani Masoud , Beladian Behbahan Seyedeh Zeinab , Farrokhi-asl Hamed , Esmizadeh Majedeh
Published: October 2020

Goals: We present a multi-objective mathematical model to determine the optimum production sequence of the mixed-model assembly line (MMAL). Maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing costs are the objectives of the problem.

Methodology: Customers are divided into two clusters of high priority and low priority by k-medoids method. Also, to get closer to the real world, heterogeneous workers are considered. As the actual scale of the problem cannot be solved by an exact method, two meta-heuristic algorithms, namely Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2) and Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) are proposed to solve the problem and reach approximate and efficient results in large scale.

Results: It observes that this model can plan the customers' orders by considering their satisfaction. Also, comparing the results of these algorithms indicates a slight superiority of the SPEA2 method.

Limitations of the investigation: This study is mainly limited by clustering criteria. In the future, more criteria can be considered for analyzing customer behavior and expanding customer clusters.

Practical implications: This model can help all manufacturers who use MMAL by providing a Pareto front for deciding between costs and customers' satisfaction.

Originality / Value: Applying k-medoids to cluster the customers for better orders management and proposing SPEA2 and NSGA-II for solving the problem are the main novelties of this study.
Titanium dioxide nanoparticles alleviate cadmium toxicity in lentil (Lens culinaris Medic) seeds
Authors: FEIZI Hassan , AGHELI Nafiseh , SAHABI Hossein
Published: October 2020

This research was carried out with the aim of investigating the effects of different concentrations of titanium dioxide nanoparticles and cadmium on lentil seed germination and seedling early growth. The experiment was conducted as a factorial layout based on a completely randomized design with four replicates. Test plants were exposed to 0, 100, 250, and 500 ppm of cadmium, and then amended with 0, 100, 200, and 300 ppm of TiO2 nanoparticles. Results demonstrated that the application of 300 ppm of titanium dioxide nanoparticles improved the mean germination time (MGT) and seed germination rate by 39 % and 62 % respectively. Most traits exhibited a decreasing trend as the concentration of cadmium increased. Furthermore, application of 500 ppm of cadmium concentration increased mean germination time compared to the control group (1.667 day). In conclusion, the application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles averted the effect of high cadmium stress on lentils, and maintained the length of the shoot compared to the control. However, further studies on plant life cycles should be performed to detect the inhibitory effects of titanium dioxide on heavy metal toxicity.
Effect of sowing date and some organic extracts on organic production of sweet corn
Authors: ABOUL-EL-HASSAN Saad , EMAM Saad Aly , GAD EL-MOULA M. H.
Published: October 2020

Field experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt, during two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018.  This experiment aims to improve the organic production of sweet corn via some organic extracts under different sowing dates. The seeds of sweet corn (Misthi F1 Hybrid) were planted on three different dates on 15 April, 10 May and 5 June in both seasons. Extracts of compost, vermicompost and chicken manure with applying half dose of compost were compared to full dose of compost. Results showed that early sowing had positive effect on growth, yield and ear properties of sweet corn. Applying half dose of compost with adding vermicompost extract gave the highest growth, yield and ear properties of sweet corn without significant differences compared to 50 % compost + chicken manure extract treatment in plant height and leaves number per plant. The treatments of the half dose of compost with adding any organic extracts were superior to the full dose of compost in all studied traits. This study revealed that early planting (April 15) with applying a half dose of compost + vermicompost extract produced the highest yield and quality of sweet corn ears.