bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Insider Trading with Memory under Random Deadline
Authors: Xiao Kai , Zhou Yonghui
Published: July 2021

In this paper, we study a model of continuous-time insider trading in which noise traders have some memories and the trading stops at a random deadline. By a filtering theory on fractional Brownian motion and the stochastic maximum principle, we obtain a necessary condition of the insider’s optimal strategy, an equation satisfied. It shows that when the volatility of noise traders is constant and the noise traders’ memories become weaker and weaker, the optimal trading intensity and the corresponding residual information tend to those, respectively, when noise traders have no any memory. And, numerical simulation illustrates that if both the trading intensity of the insider and the volatility of noise trades are independent of trading time, the insider’s expected profit is always lower than that when the asset value is disclosed at a finite fixed time; this is because the trading time ahead is a random deadline which yields the loss of the insider’s information.
Modeling the Impact of Innovation on Economic Quality and Environmental Pollution Change under Consideration of Environmental Regulation
Authors: Li Xinfei , Tian Yuan , Li Yueming , Xu Chang , Liu Xiaobing , Cheng Baodong
Published: July 2021

Under the constraints of resources and the environment, exploring the channels to improve the quality of China’s economy is very important for China’s current sustainable development. Therefore, this paper studies whether innovation can improve the quality of China’s economy and explore the path of sustainable development from the perspective of the city. Based on the Malmquist–Luenberger index and DEA-Malmquist index, this paper, respectively, measures the green total factor productivity (GTFP) and total factor productivity (TFP) of 193 cities in China. On the basis of obtaining the GTFP, TFP, and various pollutant emissions of 193 cities, this paper selects environmental regulations as the threshold variable and the number of urban patents as the explanatory variable to measure the level of urban innovation. On this basis, we examine the impact of innovation quality on economic quality and environmental pollution under different environmental regulatory intensities. The research results show that the impact of innovation on GTFP and TFP under different environmental regulations is always positive, but the impact coefficient and significance level vary. In addition, the impact of innovation on SO2 emissions under different environmental regulations has also changed. With the increase of environmental regulations, the effect of reducing emissions is gradually significant. The conclusion of this paper better interprets the development of TFP and GTFP under the innovation-driven strategy, provides a decision-making basis for departments at all levels to formulate innovation support policies, and explores the path of sustainable development.
Digital Finance and Firm Exit: Mathematical Model and Empirical Evidence from Industrial Firms
Authors: Ma Fenfen , Lei Linxing , Chen Ziyang , Wang Mancang
Published: July 2021

From the perspective of financial constraint, this paper constructs a mathematical model to analyze the impact of digital financial development on firm exit probability. The relationship between digital finance and firm exit was tested empirically based on the industrial firm data in 2011–2013. The results show that digital financial development significantly suppresses firm exit probability. Mechanism analysis suggests that digital financial development can ease the information asymmetry of the credit market, facilitate the credit acquisition of firms, and alleviate the constraint on corporate financing, thereby reducing the probability of firm exit. This paper provides the theoretical basis and empirical evidence for controlling firm exit from the angle of digital finance development.
A Road Network Enhanced Gate Recurrent Unit Model for Gather Prediction in Smart Cities
Authors: Yuan Mingchao , Tian Ling , Yan Ke , Zheng Xu
Published: July 2021

Gather prediction is an indispensable part of smart city projects. The city government can respond in advance based on gather predictions and greatly reduce the loss and risks caused by vicious gatherings. Compared with other trajectory prediction tasks (i.e., the recommendation of point of interest), gather prediction pay more attention to real‐time trajectory data and requests stronger spatial‐temporal dependence. At the same time, gather prediction is more focused on scenes with multiple types of trajectories. And the existing methods majorly rely on the trajectory data and ignore the great influence of geographical environment (i.e., road network structure). Therefore, this paper transforms the gather prediction into the trajectory prediction task with strong real‐time condition in a certain city and conducts the gathering situations by predicting users’ aggregated movements in next minutes or hours. A novel Spatiotemporal Gate Recurrent Unit (STGRU) model is proposed, where spatiotemporal gates and road network gate are introduced to capture the spatiotemporal relationships between trajectories. Compared with existing methods, we improve the performance of the model by adding road network structure and external knowledges, as well as time and distance gates to reduce model parameters. The proposed STGRU is evaluated on three real‐world trajectory datasets, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.
Efficient Numerical Algorithm for the Solution of Nonlinear Two-Dimensional Volterra Integral Equation Arising from Torsion Problem
Authors: Al-Bugami A. M.
Published: July 2021

In this article, an effective method is given to solve nonlinear two-dimensional Volterra integral equations of the second kind, which is arising from torsion problem for a long bar that consists of the nonlinear viscoelastic material type with a fixed elliptical cross section. First, the existence of a unique solution of this problem is discussed, and then, we find the solution of a nonlinear two-dimensional Volterra integral equation (NT-DVIE) using block-by-block method (B-by-BM) and degenerate kernel method (DKM). Numerical examples are presented, and their results are compared with the analytical solution to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the method.
Efficacy of Mebendazole and Praziquantel against Soil‐Transmitted Helminths and Schistosoma mansoni Infections among Schoolchildren in Northwest Ethiopia
Authors: Ejigu Kefale , Hailu Tadesse , Alemu Megbaru
Published: July 2021

Background. Soil‐transmitted helminths (STHs) and Schistosoma mansoni are the main causes of morbidity among schoolchildren in the tropics. A school‐based deworming program was launched to control and eliminate the infection in endemic countries including Ethiopia. Although periodic deworming is conducted in endemic areas, the prevalence of the infection is high in the country. In addition, periodic evaluation of the efficacy of the anthelminthic drug is limited. Objective. This study is aimed at checking the efficacy of mebendazole and praziquantel with the respective STHs and Schistosoma mansoni parasites. Methods. A longitudinal study was conducted from February to March 2018 among 422 schoolchildren. Stool samples were collected at baseline and at 2 and 4 weeks posttreatment and were processed using the Kato‐Katz technique. Schoolchildren positive for STHs were treated with mebendazole and those positive for Schistosoma mansoni with praziquantel. After two weeks, a second round of stool was collected and examined, and then, single‐dose redosing was given to each positive child. Lastly, the third stool sample was collected two weeks after the initiation of the redosing and checked for STHs and S. mansoni parasites. A close follow‐up of students who were treated was done. All the data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to compute the cure rate and egg reduction rate of mebendazole and praziquantel. Results. Among 422 participants, the prevalence of STHs, hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, and S. mansoni was 44.7%, 35.1%, 21.1%, and 13.9%, respectively. The cure rate of mebendazole against A. lumbricoides increased from 60% in the single dose to 100% in redosing after two weeks. The cure rate of mebendazole against hookworm also increased from 32.4% in the single dose to 91.0% in the redosing. The cure rate of praziquantel against S. mansoni‐infected children was 91.5% in the first round and 100% in the redosing phase. There was a 98.6‐100% egg reduction rate in the redosing regimen of both drugs. Conclusion. The cure and egg reduction rates of single‐dose mebendazole in the treatment of hookworm and A. lumbricoides are lower at week two than at redosing, while cure and egg reduction rates of single‐dose praziquantel are satisfactory to treat S. mansoni. Therefore, single‐dose praziquantel to S. mansoni and redosing of single‐dose mebendazole to A. lumbricoides and hookworm infections can be used for treatment purposes.
The Uprising of Mitochondrial DNA Biomarker in Cancer
Authors: Mohd Khair Siti Zulaikha Nashwa , Abd Radzak Siti Muslihah , Mohamed Yusoff Abdul Aziz
Published: July 2021

Cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases, the progression of which demands an accumulation of genetic mutations and epigenetic alterations of the human nuclear genome or possibly in the mitochondrial genome as well. Despite modern diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to battle cancer, there are still serious concerns about the increase in death from cancer globally. Recently, a growing number of researchers have extensively focused on the burgeoning area of biomarkers development research, especially in noninvasive early cancer detection. Intergenomic cross talk has triggered researchers to expand their studies from nuclear genome-based cancer researches, shifting into the mitochondria-mediated associations with carcinogenesis. Thus, it leads to the discoveries of established and potential mitochondrial biomarkers with high specificity and sensitivity. The research field of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) biomarkers has the great potential to confer vast benefits for cancer therapeutics and patients in the future. This review seeks to summarize the comprehensive insights of nuclear genome cancer biomarkers and their usage in clinical practices, the intergenomic cross talk researches that linked mitochondrial dysfunction to carcinogenesis, and the current progress of mitochondrial cancer biomarker studies and development.
Disruption of MAP7D1 Gene Function Increases the Risk of Doxorubicin‐Induced Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure
Authors: Li Li-Ping , Zhong Jing , Li Mei-Hang , Sun Yuan-Chao , Niu Yu-Juan , Wu Chuan-Hong , Zhou Jian-Feng , Norton Nadine , Li Zhi-Qiang , Shi Yong-Yong , Xu Xiao-Lei , Ding Yong-He
Published: July 2021

Doxorubicin is a cornerstone chemotherapeutic drug widely used to treat various cancers; its dose‐dependent cardiomyopathy, however, is one of the leading causes of treatment‐associated mortality in cancer survivors. Patients’ threshold doses leading to doxorubicin‐induced cardiomyopathy (DIC) and heart failure are highly variable, mostly due to genetic variations in individuals’ genomes. However, genetic susceptibility to DIC remains largely unidentified. Here, we combined a genetic approach in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) animal model with a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) in humans to identify genetic susceptibility to DIC and heart failure. We firstly reported the cardiac and skeletal muscle‐specific expression and sarcomeric localization of the microtubule‐associated protein 7 domain‐containing protein 1b (Map7d1b) in zebrafish, followed by expression validation in mice. We then revealed that disruption of the map7d1b gene function exaggerated DIC effects in adult zebrafish. Mechanistically, the exacerbated DIC are likely conveyed by impaired autophagic degradation and elevated protein aggregation. Lastly, we identified 2 MAP7D1 gene variants associated with cardiac functional decline and heart failure in cancer patients who received doxorubicin therapy. Together, this study identifies MAP7D1 as a clinically relevant susceptibility gene to DIC and heart failure, providing useful information to stratify cancer patients with a high risk of incurring severe cardiomyopathy and heart failure after receiving chemotherapy.
Research on Classroom Teaching Evaluation and Instruction System Based on GIS Mobile Terminal
Authors: Zhang Jing
Published: July 2021

With the development of mobile terminal technology, GIS has begun to be applied in all walks of life. With its powerful spatial indexing, positioning, query, analysis, and graphics processing capabilities, it has become the evaluation and guidance analysis of domestic and foreign scholars. As an essential tool to improve the quality of teaching in our country’s primary and secondary schools and universities and to understand the status quo of education and teaching levels, appropriate teaching evaluation and guidance are essential. In order to adopt a better method to carry out teaching work, this research uses GIS mobile terminal to analyze the classroom teaching evaluation and guidance system, and through the research on teaching evaluation, the teaching work is made more effective. This paper uses questionnaire survey method, index weighted evaluation method, and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process as research methods. In the experimental part, a classroom teaching evaluation and guidance system based on GIS mobile terminal is designed. In the analysis part, a comprehensive analysis of teaching evaluation and guidance is carried out, including the analysis of teacher teaching evaluation, the analysis of teaching evaluation system, and the analysis of teachers and students’ understanding of teaching evaluation. Among them, after adopting the teaching evaluation system of GIS mobile terminal, the number of students who thought the teaching evaluation system was useless dropped from 4.6% to 1.8%. Students tend to emphasize the teacher’s effectiveness in teaching (57.2%) and interesting teaching content in the classroom (56.9%). This analysis has a certain significance for teaching evaluation, and it occupies a relatively important proportion in the improvement of the evaluation system. In general, the teaching evaluation system using GIS mobile terminals can improve the communication and teaching diagnosis between teachers and students and help further improve teaching.
Pilot Assignment Based on Graph Coloring and Location Information in Multicell Multiuser Massive MIMO Systems
Authors: Xiong Canyun , Chen Shiyong , Li Liang , Wu Yucheng
Published: July 2021

A massive multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) system uses a large number of antennas in the base station (BS) to serve multiple users, which significantly improves the capacity of the system. However, in time division duplex (TDD) mode, the pilot contamination (PC) is inevitable due to the multiplexing of pilots. This paper proposed a pilot assignment based on graph coloring and location information (GC‐LI) to improve the performance of users. Specifically, based on graph coloring, the proposed GC‐LI algorithm combines location information like the angle of arrival (AoA), distance, and correlation to construct an interference graph. Then, we calculate the interference between any two users and use the postprocessing discrete Fourier transform (DFT) filtering process to effectively distinguish the users with nonoverlapping AoAs. Finally, according to the interference graph, the GC‐LI algorithm is proposed to mitigate the intercell interference (ICI) between users with the same pilot by assigning different pilots to connected users with high ICI metrics based on some regulation. Simulation results show that the GC‐LI algorithm is suitable for various types of cells. In addition, compared with the existing pilot assignment algorithms based on graph coloring, users’ average signal‐to‐interference‐plus‐noise ratio (SINR) and uplink achievable sum rate (ASR) are significantly improved.
Angle Estimation Using Local Searching for Bistatic MIMO Radar with Unknown MCM
Authors: Tang Chaochen , Qiu Hongbing , Liu Xin , Tang Qinghua
Published: July 2021

Multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) radar systems have advantages over traditional phased‐array radar in resolution, parameter identifiability, and target detection. However, the estimation performance of the direction of arrivals (DOAs) and the direction of departures (DODs) will be significantly degraded for a colocated MIMO radar system with unknown mutual coupling matrix (MCM). Although auxiliary sensors (AS) can be set to solve this problem, the computational cost of two‐dimensional multiple signal classification (2D‐MUSIC) is still large. In this paper, a new angle estimation method is proposed to reduce the computational complexity. First, a local‐search range is defined for each initial angle estimation obtained by the MUSIC with AS method. Second, the new estimation of DOAs and DODs of the targets is estimated via the joint estimation theory of angle and mutual coupling coefficient in the local search area. Simulation results validate that the proposed method can obtain the same precision and have the advantage over the global searching in computational complexity.
Original Article: MicroRNA Dysregulation in the Gastric Carcinogenesis Cascade: Can We Anticipate Its Role in Individualized Care?
Authors: Pita Inês , Libânio Diogo , Dias Francisca , Teixeira Ana Luísa , Nogueira Inês , Medeiros Rui , Dinis-Ribeiro Mário , Pimentel-Nunes Pedro
Published: July 2021

Background: Gastric carcinogenesis progresses from normal mucosa, atrophic/metaplastic gastritis, and dysplasia to adenocarcinoma. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate DNA expression and have been implicated; however, their role is not fully established. Aims: The aim of this study was to characterize plasma and tissue expression of several miRNAs in gastric carcinogenesis stages. Methods: Single-center cross-sectional study in 64 patients: 19 controls (normal mucosa); 15 with extensive atrophic/metaplastic gastritis; and 30 with early gastric neoplasia (EGN). Seven miRNAs (miR-21, miR-146a, miR-181b, miR-370, miR-375, miR 181b, and miR-490) were quantified by real time-qPCR in peripheral blood and endoscopic biopsy samples. Results: We found a significant upregulation of miR-181b, miR-490, and miR-21 in the EGN mucosa (overexpression 2–14-times higher than controls). We observed a significant underexpression of miR-146a and miR-370 in atrophic/metaplastic gastritis (86 and 66% decrease, p = 0.008 and p = 0.001) and in EGN (89 and 62% reduction, p = 0.034 and p = 0.032) compared with controls. There were no differences between lesions and nonneoplastic mucosa and no dysregulation of plasma miRNAs. Conclusion: We found significant dysregulation of 5 miRNAs in gastric carcinogenesis, suggesting a tumor suppressor role for miR-146a and miR-370 and oncogenic potential for miR-21, miR-181, and miR-490. These changes happen diffusely in the gastric mucosa, suggesting a high-risk field defect, which may influence these patients’ surveillance.
Comparing Primary Voice-Hearers with and without Hallucinations in Other Sensory Modalities
Authors: Toh Wei Lin , Thomas Neil , Rossell Susan L.
Published: July 2021

There has been burgeoning interest in studying hallucinations in psychosis occurring across multiple sensory modalities. The current study aimed to characterize the auditory hallucination and delusion profiles in patients with auditory hallucinations only versus those with multisensory hallucinations. Participants with psychosis were partitioned into groups with voices only (AVH; n = 50) versus voices plus hallucinations in at least one other sensory modality (AVH+; n = 50), based on their responses on the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS). Basic demographic and clinical information was collected, and the Questionnaire for Psychotic Experiences (QPE) was used to assess psychosis phenomenology. Relative to the AVH group, greater compliance to perceived commands, auditory illusions, and sensed presences was significantly elevated in the AVH+ group. The latter group also had greater levels of delusion-related distress and functional impairment and was more likely to endorse delusions of reference and misidentification. This preliminary study uncovered important phenomenological differences in those with multisensory hallucinations. Future hallucination research extending beyond the auditory modality is needed.
A Self-Limited Facial Rash in a Lupus Patient: The Case of Primary Facial Raynaud’s Phenomenon
Authors: El-Reshaid Kamel , Al-Bader Shaikha , Sallam Hossameldin Tawfik
Published: July 2021

Skin is involved in 80% of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the second most affected after joint disease. Lupus-specific lesions include (a) acute ones viz. malar rash (80%), (b) subacute ones viz. photosensitive maculopapular dermatitis (50%), and (c) chronic ones viz. discoid rash. The lupus nonspecific lesions include; (a) nonscarring alopecia (86.67%), oral ulcers (56.67%), vasculitic lesions (33.34%), bullous lesions (10%), and Raynaud’s phenomenon (6.67%). In this case report, we describe a patient with SLE and antiphospholipid antibodies that had developed a transient facial form of Raynaud’s phenomenon that was not associated with disease activity and digital changes. Its association with SLE is discussed.
Pedagogias de(s)coloniais: entre experiências e considerações teórico-epistemológicas
Authors: Palumbo María Mercedes , Ramírez Paula , Fernández Mouján Inés , Silva Elson Santos
Published: July 2021

“Pedagogias de(s)coloniais: Saberes e fazeres” é um livro de autoria coletiva publicado em 2020. Assume a polifonia de diferentes perspectivas com olhares de pesquisadores da Argentina, Brasil e Bolívia. Esta resenha resgata as contribuições do livro quanto a: a relevância acadêmica e prática das pedagogias de(s)coloniais em desafiar o padrão hegemônico na América Latina; as abordagens de e nas experiências em que enlaces teóricos e práticos estão entrelaçados em um amplo arco de atuações, que incluem pesquisa, extensão, ensino e a própria vida; as pistas conceituais, epistemológicas e metodológicas das pedagogias de(s)coloniais emergem de perspectivas distintas e complementares, que denunciam a articulação das opressões enquanto anunciam suas possibilidades de transformação. A visibilização de experiências de diversos territórios e em múltiplos registros expressivos permite que o livro, como um todo, interrompa as pedagogias tradicionais.
Potencialidades do Geoturismo para a criação de uma nova segmentação turística no Brasil
Authors: Silva Gilmara Barros da , Neiva Rafaely Moreira Sabbá , Fonseca Filho Ricardo Eustáquio , Nascimento Marcos Antonio Leite do
Published: July 2021

O turismo como atividade econômica, se apresenta através de segmentos turísticos, agregando quem produz, quem distribui e quem consome os serviços em um dado espaço. Há segmentos já reconhecidos, como Ecoturismo e Turismo Cultural, o Geoturismo surge como uma proposta de um novo segmento, que valoriza os patrimônios natural e cultural, por meio de visita e interpretação de atrativos abióticos. Neste sentido, propõe-se a discussão do Geoturismo enquanto segmento turístico sob os auspícios do marco teórico do Ministério do Turismo (MTUR). Para tanto foi realizada pesquisa bibliográfica e documental das expressões “geoturismo” e “segmento turístico” em produções científicas e técnicas nas plataformas Google Scholar, Scopus e Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações. Os resultados demonstram que: não há um consenso entre estudiosos do Geoturismo se é um segmento turístico, mas os pressupostos do MTUR dão subsídios para que seja reconhecido e prioritário nas políticas públicas de regionalização e sustentabilidade no futuro. Recomenda-se a utilização dos dados aqui apresentados do MTUR em parceria com agências governamentais, institutos de ensino e pesquisa, dentre outros, para que o Geoturismo seja elencado e validado como segmento turístico, por meio de políticas públicas que estimulem mais estudos, em especial relacionados à sua comercialização e perfil da demanda.
Intereses y requisitos de la participación en organizaciones cooperativas cafetaleras costarricenses
Authors: Araya Jiménez Lisbeth
Published: July 2021

Al pensar en los requisitos e intereses que atraviesan el importante proceso de la participación de las personas asociadas a cooperativas, en este artículo se analiza la vigilancia y la confianza en diecisiete organizaciones del sector cooperativo cafetalero costarricense. Los datos muestran que existe confianza en la organización, identifican en el control democrático un área de mejora y destacan que la confianza constituye un requisito para que se dé la participación activa.
Measuring investor relations and financial communication: an empirical test of scales of public relations
Authors: Laskin Alexander V.
Published: July 2021

Models of public relations became one of the most researched paradigms in public relations. Yet, after their reconceptualization into dimensions, researchers focused on developing models/dimensions virtually disappeared. This study proposes to continue this research by reconceptualizing models/dimensions into the public relations scales. This paper reports the first empirical test of the Scales of Public Relations by applying them to one of PR specializations – investor relations.
Left Atrial Isolation and Appendage Occlusion in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation at End-Stage Left Atrial Fibrotic Disease
Authors: Zedda Angela , Huo Yan , Kronborg Mads , Ulbrich Stefan , Mayer Julia , Pu Liying , Richter Utz , Gaspar Thomas , Piorkowski Judith , Piorkowski Christopher
Published: July 2021

Background:

Atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation in an end-stage left atrial (LA) fibrotic disease is more complex, has more recurrences, and may compromise transport function and stroke risk. We explored whether a total left atrial isolation procedure (TLAI) followed by left atrial appendage occlusion is a feasible treatment concept for rhythm and stroke risk control.

Methods:

Patients with symptomatic AF with extended LA fibrosis were enrolled consecutively for TLAI followed by left atrial appendage occlusion. At enrollment, all patients received a sinus rhythm LA voltage map. For TLAI, LA anterior and paraseptal ablation lines were placed, combined with right atrial and epicardial line completion and right pulmonary vein isolation as needed. Rhythm follow-up was provided through continuous monitoring using implantable cardiac devices.

Results:

Ninety-two patients (71±9 years, 41% male, 84% persistent AF, CHA
2
DS
2
-VASc 4) underwent 104 ablation procedures. Follow-up duration measured 48±22 months. At 12-month follow-up 70 out of 92 (76%) patients were free from any atrial arrhythmia recurrence, off antiarrhythmic drugs. All intended left atrial appendage occlusion procedures were successfully performed 6 to 8 weeks after TLAI. Combination of TLAI and left atrial appendage occlusion attenuated the native 4% annual stroke risk to <1% over the entire course of the study. Patients’ clinical AF and heart failure symptoms (European Heart Rhythm Association and New York Heart Association classification) significantly improved and remained stable during further follow-up. Invasive hemodynamic assessment as well as echocardiographic transport function analysis did not show evidence of detrimental hemodynamic effects of the treatment concept.

Conclusions:

This is the first report on a structured concept of interventional electrical LA isolation and LA appendage occlusion for rhythm and stroke risk control in patients with AF at an end-stage left atrial fibrotic disease. We report feasibility, safety, and efficacy of such a treatment approach.
Hypothermia for Reduction of Myocardial Reperfusion Injury in Acute Myocardial Infarction: Closing the Translational Gap
Authors: El Farissi Mohamed , Keulards Danielle C.J. , Zelis Jo M. , van ’t Veer Marcel , Zimmermann Frederik M. , Pijls Nico H.J. , Otterspoor Luuk C.
Published: July 2021

Myocardial reperfusion injury—triggered by an inevitable inflammatory response after reperfusion—may undo a considerable part of the myocardial salvage achieved through timely percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Because infarct size is strongly correlated to mortality and risk of heart failure, the importance of endeavors for cardioprotective therapies to attenuate myocardial reperfusion injury and decrease infarct size remains undisputed. Myocardial reperfusion injury is the result of several complex nonlinear phenomena, and for a therapy to be effective, it should act on multiple targets involved in this injury. In this regard, hypothermia remains a promising treatment despite a number of negative randomized controlled trials in humans with acute myocardial infarction so far. To turn the tide for hypothermia in patients with acute myocardial infarction, sophisticated solutions for important limitations of systemic hypothermia should continue to be developed. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the pathophysiology and clinical expression of myocardial reperfusion injury and discuss the current status and possible future of hypothermia for cardioprotection in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Temporal Emotions and Historical Vulnerability: Music as a Vehicle of Ideology in Cold War and Peste Noire
Authors: D’Arcens Louise
Published: July 2021

This essay focuses on the Polish film Cold War and the oeuvre of the French nationalist black metal band Peste Noire, examining them as twenty-first-century texts that disclose music’s capacity to solicit emotion in the service of ideology. Despite their aesthetic and ideological differences, each text demonstrates the importance of temporal emotions – that is, emotions that register a heightened sense of the relationship between present, past and future. Each text portrays these emotions’ ideological significance when attached to ideas of a national past. Dwelling on Peste Noire’s racist-nationalist use of the medieval past, the essay explores music as a medium for emotional performances in which white people appear to convey vulnerability while actually reconfirming white supremacy. Peste Noire’s idiosyncratic performance of aggressive vulnerability is a temporal emotion that self-consciously lays claim to a long emotional tradition reaching back to the French Middle Ages.
Emotions, Activism and Documentary Storytelling: A Biographical Production-Based Case Study
Authors: Murray Tom
Published: July 2021

The biography of Douglas Grant (c.1885–1951) has been publicly and popularly told in media since 1916. Interestingly, Grant’s unusual life-story has consistently been deployed to serve various political agendas. This essay examines the role of popular-media biographies of Douglas Grant and the emotions embedded in them, and utilises a documentary-film production as a case study to examine relations between these emotions, activist agendas and documentary-film storytelling. Additionally, given the consistent use of tragedy as a formal narrative structure employed in tellings of Douglas Grant’s story, this essay also describes how narrative structures are not culturally neutral, but are themselves emotionally suggestive cultural productions. Analysing a century of tellings of the Douglas Grant biography, this essay also offers insights into how conquest-colonial ideology is manifest in these often ‘tragic’ tales. As an attempt at decolonising scholarship, this essay also responds to insights by Indigenous commentators within the case-study text to reflect on Indigenous ontologies and the role of Country and Indigenous futurism as places/sites/histories of hope.
Re-enactment and Traumatic Memory: Cinematic Ethics in The Act of Killing and S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
Authors: Sinnerbrink Robert
Published: July 2021

The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer, 2012) and its companion piece, The Look of Silence (2014), are powerful works of cinematic ethics. The former is a ‘perpetrator documentary’ that invites killers to make movie re-enactments of their crimes, the latter a case of ‘ethical witnessing’ in which a victim’s descendant questions his brother’s killer. In what follows, I explore The Act of Killing’s use of stylised re-enactments, using various movie genres as distancing and mediating devices, which enable the perpetrators to approach and expose their traumatic acts of violence. I contrast this with Rithy Panh’s perpetrator/witness documentary, S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003), focusing on the mass killings perpetrated by the Pol Pot regime (1975–1979), which uses both visual representations and a more direct, bodily performative mode of re-enactment, to represent and communicate traumatic memory. Both films examine a range of moral emotions, solicited through interview sequences and different modes of cinematic re-enactment. These strategies enable the perpetrators to expose their traumatic violence and, in some cases, acknowledge the suffering of their victims, but also allow the perpetrators to be questioned and held to account, staging an ethical encounter wherein the social recognition of traumatic memory of political violence might become possible.
Zacharias Frankel’s Conception of the Septuagint in Context
Authors: van der Louw Theo A.W.
Published: July 2021

Zacharias Frankel had a very low opinion of the abilities of the LXX translators, the quality of their work and the ensuing textual transmission. He considered the Septuagint only useful as a testimony to help prove the antiquity of the halakah, a notion with apologetic value. Methodologically, he conceptualized the genesis of the Greek Pentateuch through the theories of contemporary historical criticism. His monographs on the Septuagint display great continuity with early modern scholarship. This also holds true for the assumption that the Septuagint reflects Jewish interpretation, and the notion of five translators/editors for the Greek Pentateuch. Frankel’s works were considered important, but his innovations, viz. the insistence that all Jewish exegesis was Palestinian in origin and his rejection of textual criticism, were accepted by few and rejected by most scholars, Jews and Christians alike. Frankel’s boldness and his use of German helped to keep his ideas on the scholarly agenda.
Measuring Shallow Convective Mass Flux Profiles in the Trade Wind Region
Authors: Klingebiel Marcus , Konow Heike , Stevens Bjorn
Published: July 2021

Mass flux is a key quantity in parameterizations of shallow convection. To estimate the shallow convective mass flux as accurately as possible, and to test these parameterizations, observations of this parameter are necessary. In this study, we show how much the mass flux varies and how this can be used to test factors that may be responsible for its variation. Therefore, we analyze long-term Doppler radar and Doppler lidar measurements at the Barbados Cloud Observatory over a time period of 30 months, which results in a mean mass flux profile with a peak value of 0.03 kg m−2 s−1 at an altitude of ~730 m, similar to observations from Ghate et al. at the Azores Islands. By combining Doppler radar and Doppler lidar measurements, we find that the cloud-base mass flux depends mainly on the cloud fraction and refutes an idea based on large-eddy simulations that the velocity scale is in major control of the shallow cumulus mass flux. This indicates that the large-scale conditions might play a more important role than what one would deduce from simulations using prescribed large-scale forcings.
The joint impacts of Atlantic and Pacific multidecadal variability on South American precipitation and temperature
Authors: He Zhaoxiangrui , Dai Aiguo , Vuille Mathias
Published: July 2021

South American climate is influenced by both Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) and Pacific multidecadal variability (PMV). But how they jointly affect South American precipitation and surface air temperature is not well understood. Here we analyze composite anomalies to quantify their combined impacts using observations and reanalysis data. During an AMV warm (cold) phase, PMV-induced JJA precipitation anomalies are more positive (negative) over 0°-10°S and southeastern South America, but more negative (positive) over the northern Amazon and central Brazil. PMV-induced precipitation anomalies in DJF are more positive (negative) over Northeast Brazil and southeastern South America during the warm (cold) AMV phase, but more negative (positive) over the central Amazon Basin and central-eastern Brazil. PMV’s impact on AMV-induced precipitation anomalies shows similar dipole patterns. The precipitation changes result from perturbations of the local Hadley and Walker Circulations. In JJA, PMV- and AMV-induced temperature anomalies are more positive (negative) over entire South America when the other basin is in a warm (cold) phase, but in DJF temperature anomalies are more positive (negative) only over the central Andes and central-eastern Brazil and more negative (positive) over southeastern South America and Patagonia. Over central Brazil in JJA and southern Bolivia and northern Argentina in DJF, the temperature and precipitation anomalies are negatively correlated. Our results show that the influence of Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability need to be considered jointly, as significant departures from the mean AMV or PMV fingerprint can occur during a cold or warm phase of the other basin’s mode.
Coupling Coordination Analysis of Technological Innovation, Standards, and Quality: Evidence From China
Authors: Zhang Yue-Yi , Zhou Han-Ting , Younis Ijaz , Zhou Li
Published: July 2021

In the context of supply-side structural reform (SSSR), the central government pays more attention to high-quality economic growth. Technological innovation, standards, and quality (TSQ) are the core elements of the SSSR. Therefore, it is essential to understand the coupling relationship between TSQ subsystems and explore its economic growth effect. This study examines the coupling relationship between technological innovation, quality improvement variables, and standard settings for the listed companies in China during 2007–2016. This study assesses the coupling relationship and development difference among TSQ subsystems by developing a coupling coordination degree model. The findings show that the quality subsystem is the collaborative shortboard subsystem, and the standard subsystem plays a role in three subsystems. Moreover, ordered optimization in coupling coordination for each subsystem’s pair, TSQ subsystems achieve high-level internal coordination and resist coupling. However, the speed of the coupling among I–S–Q subsystems is less in any two subsystems. There is a positive link between the coupling coordination degree of TSQ subsystems and economic growth. Still, the effect of the coupling relationship of I–S–Q subsystems with economic growth is more significant. This study offers support for managers, policymakers, and government officials for better policies to optimize the supply structure, enhanced the manufacturing industry, and promote the economic growth of emerging economies.
CD4+ T cells sustain aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia in Eμ-TCL1 mice through a CD40L-independent mechanism
Authors: Grioni Matteo , Brevi Arianna , Cattaneo Elena , Rovida Alessandra , Bordini Jessica , Bertilaccio Maria Teresa Sabrina , Ponzoni Maurilio , Casorati Giulia , Dellabona Paolo , Ghia Paolo , Bellone Matteo , Calcinotto Arianna
Published: July 2021

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is caused by the progressive accumulation of mature CD5+ B cells in secondary lymphoid organs. In vitro data suggest that CD4+ T lymphocytes also sustain survival and proliferation of CLL clones through CD40L/CD40 interactions. In vivo data in animal models are conflicting. To clarify this clinically relevant biological issue, we generated genetically modified Eμ-TCL1 mice lacking CD4+ T cells (TCL1+/+AB0), CD40 (TCL1+/+CD40−/−), or CD8+ T cells (TCL1+/+TAP−/−), and we monitored the appearance and progression of a disease that mimics aggressive human CLL by flow cytometry and immunohistochemical analyses. Findings were confirmed by adoptive transfer of leukemic cells into mice lacking CD4+ T cells or CD40L or mice treated with antibodies depleting CD4 T cells or blocking CD40L/CD40 interactions. CLL clones did not proliferate in mice lacking or depleted of CD4+ T cells, thus confirming that CD4+ T cells are essential for CLL development. By contrast, CD8+ T cells exerted an antitumor activity, as indicated by the accelerated disease progression in TCL1+/+TAP−/− mice. Antigen specificity of CD4+ T cells was marginal for CLL development, because CLL clones efficiently proliferated in transgenic mice whose CD4 T cells had a T-cell receptor with CLL-unrelated specificities. Leukemic clones also proliferated when transferred into wild-type mice treated with monoclonal antibodies blocking CD40 or into CD40L−/− mice, and TCL1+/+CD40−/− mice developed frank CLL. Our data demonstrate that CD8+ T cells restrain CLL progression, whereas CD4+ T cells support the growth of leukemic clones in TCL1 mice through CD40-independent and apparently noncognate mechanisms.
Transcriptome analysis of resistant and susceptible mulberry responses to Meloidogyne enterolobii infection
Authors: Shao Hudie , Fu Yu , Zhang Pan , You Chunping , Li Chuanren , Peng Huan
Published: July 2021

Background

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an important sericulture crop; however, root-knot nematode infection seriously limits its production. Understanding the mechanism of interaction between mulberry and nematode is important for control of infection.

Results

Using sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly, we identified 55,894 unigenes from root samples of resistant and susceptible mulberry cultivars at different stages after infection with the nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii; 33,987 of these were annotated in the Nr, SWISS-PROT, KEGG, and KOG databases. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analyses of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed key genes involved in hormone metabolic processes, plant hormone signal transduction, flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and peroxisomal and photosynthetic pathways. Analysis of key trends in co-expression networks indicated that expression of unigenes 0,015,083, 0,073,272, 0,004,006, and 0,000,628 was positively correlated with resistance to M. enterolobii. Unigene 0015083 encodes tabersonine 16-O-methyltransferase (16OMT), which is involved in alkaloid biosynthesis. Unigene 0073272 encodes a transcription factor contributing to nitric oxide accumulation during plant immune responses. Unigenes 0,004,006 and 0,000,628 encode ERF and MYB transcription factors, respectively, involved in plant hormone signaling. We verified the accuracy of transcriptome sequencing results by RT-qPCR of 21 DEGs.

Conclusions

The results of this study increase our understanding of the resistance mechanisms and candidate genes involved in mulberry–M. enterolobii interaction. Thus, our data will contribute to the development of effective control measures against this pathogen.
Effectiveness of analgesia with hydromorphone hydrochloride for postoperative pain following surgical repair of structural congenital malformations in children: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Pan Yongying , Wang Yimin , Lie Dongxu , Liu Di , Chen Xi , Wu Zeyan , Chen Liumei , Wang Huaizhen , Peng Liangming , Liang Huiying , Song Xingrong , Zhao Baisong
Published: July 2021

Background

Effective postoperative analgesia is needed to prevent the negative effects of postoperative pain on patient outcomes. To compare the effectiveness of hydromorphone hydrochloride and sufentanil, combined with flurbiprofen axetil, for postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients.

Methods

This prospective randomized controlled trial included 222 pediatric patients scheduled for repair of a structural congenital malformation under general anesthesia. Patients were randomized into 3 groups: hydromorphone hydrochloride 0.1 mg/kg (H1), hydromorphone hydrochloride 0.2 mg/kg; (H2) or sufentanil 1.5 µg/kg (S). Analgesics were diluted in 0.9% saline to 100 ml and infused continuously at a basic flow rate of 2 mL per h. The primary outcome measure was the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) pain score. Secondary outcomes included heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), SpO2, Ramsay sedation scores, scores on the Paediatric Anaesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale, adverse reactions, parent satisfaction with analgesia.

Results

The FLACC score was significantly lower in H1 and H2 groups compared to S. The Ramsay sedation score was significantly higher in H1 and H2 groups compared to S. Recovery time was shorter in H1 group compared to patients H2 group or S group. There were no significant differences in the PAED scale, HR, RR, SpO2, adverse reactions, satisfaction of parents with analgesia, or length and cost of hospital stay.

Conclusions

Hydromorphone hydrochloride is a more effective analgesic than sufentanil for postoperative pain in pediatric patients following surgical repair of a structural congenital malformation, however, hydromorphone hydrochloride and sufentanil had similar safety profiles in this patient population.

Trial registration

Chinese Clinical Trial Register ChiCTR-INR-17013935). Clinical trial registry URL: Date of registration: December 14, 2017.
An evaluation of performance measures for arterial brain vessel segmentation
Authors: Aydin Orhun Utku , Taha Abdel Aziz , Hilbert Adam , Khalil Ahmed A. , Galinovic Ivana , Fiebach Jochen B. , Frey Dietmar , Madai Vince Istvan
Published: July 2021

Background

Arterial brain vessel segmentation allows utilising clinically relevant information contained within the cerebral vascular tree. Currently, however, no standardised performance measure is available to evaluate the quality of cerebral vessel segmentations. Thus, we developed a performance measure selection framework based on manual visual scoring of simulated segmentation variations to find the most suitable measure for cerebral vessel segmentation.

Methods

To simulate segmentation variations, we manually created non-overlapping segmentation errors common in magnetic resonance angiography cerebral vessel segmentation. In 10 patients, we generated a set of approximately 300 simulated segmentation variations for each ground truth image. Each segmentation was visually scored based on a predefined scoring system and segmentations were ranked based on 22 performance measures common in the literature. The correlation of visual scores with performance measure rankings was calculated using the Spearman correlation coefficient.

Results

The distance-based performance measures balanced average Hausdorff distance (rank = 1) and average Hausdorff distance (rank = 2) provided the segmentation rankings with the highest average correlation with manual rankings. They were followed by overlap-based measures such as Dice coefficient (rank = 7), a standard performance measure in medical image segmentation.

Conclusions

Average Hausdorff distance-based measures should be used as a standard performance measure in evaluating cerebral vessel segmentation quality. They can identify more relevant segmentation errors, especially in high-quality segmentations. Our findings have the potential to accelerate the validation and development of novel vessel segmentation approaches.