bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The risk analysis of perioperative complications of cementless hip arthroplasty in octogenarians
Authors: Koettnitz Julian , Jäcker Justus , Migliorini Filippo , Trost Michael , Peterlein Christian Dominik , Götze Christian
Published: August 2022

Introduction

Hip arthroplasty is exposed to demographic change as patients age. Analysis of risk factors for surgical treatment decisions in the group of ≥ 80-year-old patients is crucial. Healthcare systems in developed countries are being tested medically and financially by the ageing population. Therefore, this study analysed the perioperative complications of cementless primary hip arthroplasty in octogenarians and compared them with patients aged ≤ 60 years.

Methods

A retrospective data analysis of the year 2017 was done in a maximum care hospital of General Orthopaedic Surgery. Patients aged ≥ 80 years or ≤ 60 years with primary cementless hip arthroplasty were included. The outcome of interest was surgery-related and systemic complications, the development of haemoglobin and the incidence of blood transfusion after cementless primary hip arthroplasty in octogenarians during the hospitalisation and the follow-up treatment. Chi-square tests and Fischer's exact test were used for nominal variables. The two-factorial variance analysis-mixed model was used for Hb analyses and the Welch test for group comparison for metric parameters.

Results

There was a significantly increased incidence of systemic complications during hospitalisation in the ≥ 80-year-old patients (phi 0.26; Std. Ri − 0.8 (A), 2.2 (B); p = 0.007), as well as a significantly increased rate of blood transfusions (phi 0.403; Std. Ri − 1.3 (A), 3.2 (B); p = < 0.001). No clustered pre-existing conditions in the ≥ 80-year-old patients pointed out a significant association with the incidence of systemic complications. Surgery-related complications showed no significant difference during hospitalisation and follow-up treatment.

Conclusion

The study reveals that primary cementless hip prosthesis implantation is a safe procedure without increased incidence of surgery-related complications. Increased attention should be paid to interdisciplinary preoperative optimisation (adjustment of blood pressure, blood transfusions, if necessary, safe exclusion of urinary tract infections) and postoperative care of octogenarians (tight laboratory examinations, geriatric co-attendance).
Correlation of Eustachian tube function with the results of type 1 tympanoplasty: a prospective study
Authors: Moneir Waleed , El-Kholy Noha Ahmed , Ali Ahmed Ismail , Abdeltawwab Mohamed Moustafa , El-Sharkawy Asser Abdel Raouf
Published: August 2022

Objectives

This study aims to evaluate Eustachian tube (ET) function tests and their impact on outcomes of tympanoplasty in patients with inactive chronic suppurative otitis media.

Materials and methods

A prospective study was conducted involving patients diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and having a central dry perforation. Assessment of the ET function was done for all included cases by three tests; pressure swallow equalization test, saccharine test and methylene blue test. The primary outcome is the graft success rate defined as intact graft without any residual perforation at 6 months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes include hearing assessment and possible associated complications.

Results

64 patients were included in the study with an average age of 36.59 ± 11.96 years. All patients underwent assessment of the ET function by saccharine test, methylene blue test and pressure equalization test (PET) followed by microscopic post-auricular tympanoplasty. Successful tympanoplasty is achieved in 93.75% of cases with residual perforation in four patients. Mean air–bone gap is significantly improved from 23.73 ± 2.80 preoperatively to 10.93 ± 5.46 postoperatively. Results of Methylene blue test has no statistical impact on graft take rate (p value = 0.379), while saccharine test and pressure equalization test results have statistically significant correlation with graft success (p value ≤ 0.001).

Conclusions

Saccharine and Pressure equalization tests have a good positive correlation with the graft healing in tympanoplasty, while methylene blue test was found to have no correlation with the success rate.
Respiratory muscle endurance training improves exercise performance but does not affect resting blood pressure and sleep in healthy active elderly
Authors: Stutz Jan , Casutt Selina , Spengler Christina M.
Published: August 2022

Purpose

Ageing is associated with increased blood pressure (BP), reduced sleep, decreased pulmonary function and exercise capacity. The main purpose of this study was to test whether respiratory muscle endurance training (RMET) improves these parameters.

Methods

Twenty-four active normotensive and prehypertensive participants (age: 65.8 years) were randomized and balanced to receive either RMET (N = 12) or placebo (PLA, N = 12). RMET consisted of 30 min of volitional normocapnic hyperpnea at 60% of maximal voluntary ventilation while PLA consisted of 1 inhalation day−1 of a lactose powder. Both interventions were performed on 4–5 days week−1 for 4–5 weeks. Before and after the intervention, resting BP, pulmonary function, time to exhaustion in an incremental respiratory muscle test (incRMET), an incremental treadmill test (IT) and in a constant-load treadmill test (CLT) at 80% of peak oxygen consumption, balance, sleep at home, and body composition were assessed. Data was analyzed with 2 × 2 mixed ANOVAs.

Results

Compared to PLA, there was no change in resting BP (independent of initial resting BP), pulmonary function, IT performance, sleep, body composition or balance (all p > 0.05). Performance significantly increased in the incRMET (+ 6.3 min) and the CLT (+ 3.2 min), resulting in significant interaction effects (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

In the elderly population, RMET might be used to improve respiratory and whole body endurance performance either as an adjunct to physical exercise training or as a replacement thereof for people not being able to intensively exercise even if no change in BP or sleep may be expected.
HER2 overexpression/amplification status in colorectal cancer: a comparison between immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization using five different immunohistochemical scoring criteria
Authors: Sun Qi , Li Qi , Gao Fuping , Wu Hongyan , Fu Yao , Yang Jun , Fan Xiangshan , Cui Xiaobin , Pu Xiaohong
Published: August 2022

Objective

Although HER2 has gradually become an important therapeutic target for colorectal cancer (CRC), a unified and standard HER2 scoring system was still not established in CRC, and the debatable results of immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in CRC requires further exploration.

Methods

In this study, we use five immunohistochemical (IHC) scoring criteria (i.e., IRS-p, IRS-m, GEA-s, GEA-b and HERACLES) and two FISH criteria to evaluate HER2 status, and further evaluate the correlation between HER2 status and clinicopathological features, survival in a large, unselected Chinese cohort of 664 CRCs.

Results

Finally, we set HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥ 2.0, or an average HER2 copy number ≥ 6.0 as FISH-positive threshold and the amplification rate of HER2 gene was 7.08% (47/664).The HER2 positivity (IHC 3+) was 2.71%, 3.16%, 2.56%, 2.71% and 3.16%, according to the IHC scoring criteria of IRS-p, IRS-m, GEA-s, GEA-b and HERACLES, respectively. Set FISH results as the golden standard; receiver-operating characteristic analysis showed that IRS-p had both high sensitivity and specificity than other IHC scoring systems to evaluate HER2 status. Based on IRS-p criterion, There were significant differences in tumor differentiation (p = 0.038), lymphatic vascular invasion (p = 0.001), pN stage (p value = 0.043), and overall survival (p < 0.001) among IHC score 0–3 + groups. Meanwhile, there were significant differences in pT stage (p = 0.031), pN stage (p = 0.009) and overall survival (p < 0.001) among FISH subgroups.

Conclusion

The IRS-p criterion was more suitable for assessing the HER2 status in CRC patients than other IHC criteria. Whereas for FISH scoring system, only HER2/CEP17 < 2.0, meanwhile HER2cn < 4.0 and HER2cn ≥ 6.0 were subgroups with unique clinicopathological characteristics.
Achieving signal power amplification using energetically passive devices
Authors: Jakoby Bernhard
Published: August 2022

This article discusses some fundamental properties of electronic amplifiers and the associated implications. When defining the passivity of a multi-port circuit in the sense of net power consumption (rather than the ability to amplify signals), devices such as transistors, which are commonly described as “active”, have to be considered passive, which is referred to as “energetically passive” to avoid confusion with other definitions. It is shown that, when using such energetically passive devices to achieve signal power amplification, the amplifier circuit necessarily has to feature a non-linear transfer function. The article discusses how two common concepts (class A and B amplifiers) to achieve signal power amplification with such devices can be fundamentally related to Poynting’s theorem and that both of these concepts allow the realization of at least piecewise linear transfer functions in spite of the necessary non-linearity.
Der Meta-Ökosystem Ansatz in der Praxis – Integration von hydromorphologischen Veränderungen und menschlichen Eingriffen in die Meta-Ökosystem-Theorie zur Entwicklung eines nachhaltigen Flussmanagements an der österreichischen Donau
Authors: Bondar-Kunze Elisabeth , Funk Andrea , Haidvogl Gertrud , Unfer Günther , Muhar Susanne , Hohensinner Severin , Borgwardt Florian , Rauch Pablo , Meulenbroek Paul , Hein Thomas
Published: August 2022

Flussregulierungen haben die Flusslandschaft der Donau bedeutend verändert. Die einstige Habitat- und Artenvielfalt ging dadurch zu einem großen Teil verloren. Obwohl an der Donau laufend Projekte zur ökologischen Verbesserung umgesetzt werden, gibt es nach wie vor große Wissensdefizite, wie sich diese einzelnen Maßnahmen in ihrer Gesamtheit auswirken und welche Maßnahmentypen in Zukunft notwendig sind. Das CD-Labor MERI, welches in diesem Artikel vorgestellt wird, wird in den kommenden 7 Jahren diese Wissenslücken adressieren, um Strategien für ein ökologisch nachhaltiges und ökonomisch effizientes Flussmanagement der Donau zu entwickeln. Um die Auswirkungen menschlicher Aktivitäten auf die zeitliche Entwicklung der Donau vom nicht systematisch regulierten System zum heutigen Zustand nachzuvollziehen, werden historische und rezente Daten entlang der österreichischen Donau und ihrer Hauptzuflüsse mit neuen Ansätzen analysiert. Die Untersuchung von Fischwanderungen und die Dynamik der Habitatwahl von Fischen innerhalb der Donau werden Aufschlüsse über präferierte Lebensraumbereiche bzw. Lebensraumdefizite geben. Trophische, d. h. mit der Nahrung in Zusammenhang stehende Ebenen, werden ebenfalls erfasst und Nahrungsnetzbeziehungen in unterschiedlichen Flussbereichen analysiert. Die aktuellen und potenziellen Ökosystemleistungen des Flusses, wie z. B. Hochwasser- und Nährstoffrückhalt, aber auch Verfügbarkeit von Gebieten für Erholung und Freizeitaktivitäten, werden systematisch untersucht. Auch die fischereiliche Nutzung der Donau und ihrer Nebengewässer wird genauer analysiert, um ein nachhaltiges fischereiliches Management zu entwickeln. Anhand von Modellen für zukünftige Szenarien werden Ansätze für das zukünftige Flussmanagement getestet, um die Multifunktionalität der Donau zu verbessern und die Artenvielfalt zu erhalten. Der Meta-Ökosystem-Ansatz verbindet biologische Prozesse, menschliche Aktivitäten und Ökosystemleistungen auf unterschiedlichen räumlichen und zeitlichen Skalenebenen, um ein besseres Systemverständnis für die Donau zu erhalten.
Determinants and Plemelj-Smithies formulas
Authors: Cardona Duván , Delgado Julio , Ruzhansky Michael
Published: August 2022

We establish Plemelj-Smithies formulas for determinants in different algebras of operators. In particular we define a Poincaré type determinant for operators on the torus $${{\mathbb T}^n}$$

T

n

and deduce formulas for determinants of periodic pseudo-differential operators in terms of the symbol. On the other hand, by applying a recently introduced notion of invariant operators relative to fixed decompositions of Hilbert spaces we also obtain formulae for determinants with respect to the trace class. The analysis makes use of the corresponding notion of full matrix-symbol. We also derive explicit formulas for determinants associated to elliptic operators on compact manifolds, compact Lie groups, and on homogeneous vector bundles over compact homogeneous manifolds.
Premenstrual symptoms across the lifespan in an international sample: data from a mobile application
Authors: Hantsoo Liisa , Rangaswamy Shivani , Voegtline Kristin , Salimgaraev Rodion , Zhaunova Liudmila , Payne Jennifer L.
Published: August 2022

Premenstrual symptoms, including physical and mood symptoms, affect a large proportion of women worldwide. Data on premenstrual symptoms across nations and age groups is limited. In the present study, we leveraged a large international dataset to explore patterns in premenstrual symptom frequency with age. A survey was administered to users of the Flo mobile application (app), aged 18 to 55. The survey queried app users about a range of premenstrual symptoms. Respondents were asked whether they experienced each symptom every menstrual cycle, some cycles, or never. Age was also captured and categorized as 18–27, 28–37, 38–47, 48–55. Data was summarized and Pearson’s chi square test for count data assessed differences in symptom frequency by age group. A sample of 238,114 app users from 140 countries responded to the survey. The most common symptoms reported were food cravings (85.28%), mood swings or anxiety (64.18%), and fatigue (57.3%). Absentmindedness, low libido, sleep changes, gastrointestinal symptoms, weight gain, headaches, sweating or hot flashes, fatigue, hair changes, rashes, and swelling were significantly more frequent with increasing age (p’s < 0.001). Mood swings and anxiety did not vary by age group. Of the respondents, 28.61% reported that premenstrual symptoms interfered with their everyday life each menstrual cycle. In a large international sample, the majority of women reported premenstrual food cravings, mood changes, and fatigue every menstrual cycle. Mood symptoms did not vary by age group, suggesting that premenstrual mood changes are a persistent issue among women of reproductive age.
(Climate) Migrants welcome? Evidence from a survey experiment in Austria
Authors: Henning Karla , Steimanis Ivo , Vollan Björn
Published: August 2022

We study how economic, conflict, and environmental drivers of migration influence immigration acceptance in a receiving country. We carried out an online survey experiment in autumn 2015 with 686 student participants from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. In the survey experiment, respondents state their acceptance for a fictitious migrant from Chad where we vary the following causes of the migration decision: (1) violent conflicts, (2) environmental degradation due to global climate change, (3) environmental degradation due to local overuse, and (4) better economic prospects. We find that respondents support migrants who move because of climate change as much as conflict migrants. Acceptance is lowest for migrants who decide to leave for economic reasons, while it is slightly higher in the case of environmental degradation due to local overuse. Strikingly, a sizable share of respondents (25%) would even reject conflict migrants. Respondents who perceive a negative correlation between welfare, crime rates and job opportunities, and the presence of immigrants display lower immigration acceptance for all motives underlying the migration decision. In addition, we find heterogeneous effects depending on the respondents’ gender and political affiliation. Respondents with right-wing party preferences disclose lower acceptance levels for all causes except conflict. Female respondents are more accepting of climate migrants and less of economic migrants than men. This paper informs the debate around the ongoing political and societal polarization in Europe and elsewhere on the acceptance of different types of migrants.
Gendo-Frobenius Algebras and Comultiplication
Authors: Yırtıcı Çiğdem
Published: August 2022

Gendo-Frobenius algebras are a common generalisation of Frobenius algebras and of gendo-symmetric algebras. A comultiplication is constructed for gendo-Frobenius algebras, which specialises to the known comultiplications on Frobenius and on gendo-symmetric algebras. In addition, Frobenius algebras are shown to be precisely those gendo-Frobenius algebras that have a counit compatible with this comultiplication. Moreover, a new characterisation of gendo-Frobenius algebras is given. This new characterisation is a key for constructing the comultiplication of gendo-Frobenius algebras.
CNN based facial aesthetics analysis through dynamic robust losses and ensemble regression
Authors: Bougourzi Fares , Dornaika Fadi , Barrena Nagore , Distante Cosimo , Taleb-Ahmed Abdelmalik
Published: August 2022

In recent years, estimating beauty of faces has attracted growing interest in the fields of computer vision and machine learning. This is due to the emergence of face beauty datasets (such as SCUT-FBP, SCUT-FBP5500 and KDEF-PT) and the prevalence of deep learning methods in many tasks. The goal of this work is to leverage the advances in Deep Learning architectures to provide stable and accurate face beauty estimation from static face images. To this end, our proposed approach has three main contributions. To deal with the complicated high-level features associated with the FBP problem by using more than one pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model, we propose an architecture with two backbones (2B-IncRex). In addition to 2B-IncRex, we introduce a parabolic dynamic law to control the behavior of the robust loss parameters during training. These robust losses are ParamSmoothL1, Huber, and Tukey. As a third contribution, we propose an ensemble regression based on five regressors, namely Resnext-50, Inception-v3 and three regressors based on our proposed 2B-IncRex architecture. These models are trained with the following dynamic loss functions: Dynamic ParamSmoothL1, Dynamic Tukey, Dynamic ParamSmoothL1, Dynamic Huber, and Dynamic Tukey, respectively. To evaluate the performance of our approach, we used two datasets: SCUT-FBP5500 and KDEF-PT. The dataset SCUT-FBP5500 contains two evaluation scenarios provided by the database developers: 60-40% split and five-fold cross-validation. Our approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods on several metrics in both evaluation scenarios of SCUT-FBP5500. Moreover, experiments on the KDEF-PT dataset demonstrate the efficiency of our approach for estimating facial beauty using transfer learning, despite the presence of facial expressions and limited data. These comparisons highlight the effectiveness of the proposed solutions for FBP. They also show that the proposed Dynamic robust losses lead to more flexible and accurate estimators.
A nested primal–dual FISTA-like scheme for composite convex optimization problems
Authors: Bonettini S. , Prato M. , Rebegoldi S.
Published: August 2022

We propose a nested primal–dual algorithm with extrapolation on the primal variable suited for minimizing the sum of two convex functions, one of which is continuously differentiable. The proposed algorithm can be interpreted as an inexact inertial forward–backward algorithm equipped with a prefixed number of inner primal–dual iterations for the proximal evaluation and a “warm–start” strategy for starting the inner loop, and generalizes several nested primal–dual algorithms already available in the literature. By appropriately choosing the inertial parameters, we prove the convergence of the iterates to a saddle point of the problem, and provide anO(1/n) convergence rate on the primal–dual gap evaluated at the corresponding ergodic sequences. Numerical experiments on some image restoration problems show that the combination of the “warm–start” strategy with an appropriate choice of the inertial parameters is strictly required in order to guarantee the convergence to the real minimum point of the objective function.
Altruistic Foreign Aid and Climate Change Mitigation
Authors: Goussebaïle Arnaud , Bommier Antoine , Goerger Amélie , Nicolaï Jean-Philippe
Published: August 2022

This paper considers one altruistic developed country and several heterogeneous developing countries. We demonstrate that the lack of coordination between countries in tackling climate change finds an optimal solution if developing countries can expect to receive development aid transfers from the developed country. The mechanism requires a sufficiently high level of altruism and specific timing, but a global coalition is not necessary. We also show that the developed country may democratically assign a delegate who is more altruistic than its median voter in order to benefit from the efficiency gain generated by positive development aid transfers.
Teachers’ Beliefs About Inclusive Education and Insights on What Contributes to Those Beliefs: a Meta-analytical Study
Authors: Dignath Charlotte , Rimm-Kaufman Sara , van Ewijk Reyn , Kunter Mareike
Published: August 2022

Teachers’ belief systems about the inclusion of students with special needs may explain gaps between policy and practice. We investigated three inter-related aspects of teachers’ belief systems: teachers’ cognitive appraisals (e.g., attitudes), emotional appraisal (e.g., feelings), and self-efficacy (e.g., agency to teach inclusive classrooms). To date, research in this field has produced contradictory findings, resulting in a sparse understanding of why teachers differ in their belief systems about inclusive education, and how teachers’ training experiences contribute to their development of professional beliefs. We used meta-analysis to describe the level and range of teachers’ beliefs about inclusive education, and examine factors that contribute to variation in teachers’ beliefs, namely (1) the point in teachers’ career (pre-service versus in-service), (2) training in special versus regular education, and (3) the effects of specific programs and interventions. We reviewed 102 papers (2000–2020) resulting in 191 effect sizes based on research with 40,898 teachers in 40 countries. On average, teachers’ cognitive appraisals, emotional appraisals, and efficacy about inclusion were found to be in the mid-range of scales, indicating room for growth. Self-efficacy beliefs were higher for preservice (M = 3.69) than for in-service teachers (M = 3.13). Teachers with special education training held more positive views about inclusion than regular education teachers (d = 0.41). Training and interventions related to improved cognitive appraisal (d = 0.63), emotional appraisal (d = 0.63), and self-efficacy toward inclusive practices (d = 0.93). The training was particularly effective in encouraging reflection of beliefs and, eventually, facilitating belief change when teachers gained practical experience in inclusive classrooms. Six key findings direct the next steps.
Assessing the subjective quality of smartphone anterior segment photography: a non-inferiority study
Authors: Goel Raghav , Macri Carmelo , Bahrami Bobak , Casson Robert , Chan Weng Onn
Published: August 2022

Purpose

To assess the subjective quality of anterior segment photos taken from a smartphone camera adapted to the slit lamp compared to a commercial inbuilt slit-lamp camera.

Methods

Non-inferiority study. Five paired images of the anterior segment of normal eyes were taken using an iPhone 11 (Apple, Inc., Calif., USA) camera attached to a universal slit-lamp adaptor and a commercial inbuilt slit-lamp camera (Haag-Streit Diagnostics, Bern, Switzerland). Images were collated into a survey in which ophthalmology students, residents, registrars, and consultants participated to select the image taken from the inbuilt slit-lamp camera. If the image quality was subjectively indistinguishable, we expected a 50:50 split for each photograph that was presented. We selected a 10% non-inferiority margin, with the hypothesis that no less than 40% of images believed to be from the conventional camera were in fact from the smartphone camera.

Results

There were 27 respondents in the survey: ophthalmology consultants (n = 7), registrars (n = 10), residents (n = 7), intern (n = 1) and students (n = 2). The mean correct identification across the respondents was 11.3 out of 25 (45.2%) images. Overall, the smartphone camera was non-inferior to the inbuilt slit-lamp camera (p < 0.001). The non-inferiority of the smartphone camera was significant for consultants (47.4%, p < 0.01), registrars (47.6%, p < 0.001) and residents (37.7%, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Anterior segment images obtained with a smartphone camera were non-inferior to the commercial inbuilt slit-lamp camera. Smartphone cameras may be a non-inferior tool for communication of anterior segment images having implications for the ease of access to quality telehealth consultations.
Algebraic Effects for Extensible Dynamic Semantics
Authors: Grove Julian , Bernardy Jean-Philippe
Published: August 2022

Research in dynamic semantics has made strides by studying various aspects of discourse in terms of computational effect systems, for example, monads (Shan, 2002; Charlow, 2014), Barker and 2014), (Maršik, 2016). We provide a system, based on graded monads, that synthesizes insights from these programs by formalizing individual discourse phenomena in terms of separate effects, or grades. Included are effects for introducing and retrieving discourse referents, non-determinism for indefiniteness, and generalized quantifier meanings. We formalize the behavior of individual effects, as well as the interactions between effects, in terms of algebraic laws tailored to the relevant discourse phenomena. The system we propose is thus modular and suggests a novel approach to integrating formal accounts of distinct semantic phenomena. Finally, we give an interpretation of the system into pure $$ \lambda $$
λ
-calculus that respects the laws. Future work will aim to integrate more discourse phenomena using the same methodology, for example, presupposition and conventional implicature.
Effect of a Wireless Vital Sign Monitoring System on the Rapid Response System in the General Ward
Authors: Han Won Ho , Sohn Dae Kyung , Hwangbo Yul , Park Hee Jung , Kim Mijung , Choi Yoona , Shin Il Won , Lee Jung Min , Jeon Heungki , Ryu Ki Chung , Yoon Taesik , Kim Jee Hee
Published: August 2022

While wireless vital sign monitoring is expected to reduce the vital sign measurement time (thus reducing the nursing workload), its impact on the rapid response system is unclear. This study compared the time from vital sign measurement to recording and rapid response system activation between wireless and conventional vital sign monitoring in the general ward, to investigate the impact of wireless vital sign monitoring system on the rapid response system. The study divided 249 patients (age > 18 years; female: 47, male: 202) admitted to the general ward into non-wireless (n = 101) and wireless (n = 148) groups. Intervals from vital sign measurement to recording and from vital sign measurement to rapid response system activation were recorded. Effects of wireless system implementation for vital sign measurement on the nursing workload were surveyed in 30 nurses. The interval from vital sign measurement to recording was significantly shorter in the wireless group than in the non-wireless group (4.3 ± 2.9 vs. 44.7 ± 14.4 min, P < 0.001). The interval from vital sign measurement to rapid response system activation was also significantly lesser in the wireless group than in the non-wireless group (27.5 ± 12.9 vs. 41.8 ± 19.6 min, P = 0.029). The nursing workload related to vital sign measurement significantly decreased from 3 ± 0.87 to 2.4 ± 9.7 (P = 0.021) with wireless system implementation. Wireless vital sign monitoring significantly reduced the time to rapid response system activation by shortening the time required to measure the vital signs. It also significantly reduced the nursing workload.
Computer-generated structured electronic medical records are preferable to conventional medical records for patients with acute abdominal pain - a prospective, double-blinded study
Authors: Saaristo Leena , Ukkonen Mika T. , Wirta Erkki-Ville , Kotaluoto Sannamari , Lammi Matleena , Laukkarinen Johanna M. , Pauniaho Satu-Liisa K.
Published: August 2022

Objectives

Structured medical records improve readability and ensure the inclusion of information necessary for correct diagnosis and treatment. This is the first study to assess the quality of computer-generated structured medical records by comparing them to conventional medical records on patients with acute abdominal pain.

Materials and methods

A prospective double-blinded study was conducted in a tertiary referral center emergency department between January 2018 and June 2018. Patients were examined by emergency department physicians and by experience and inexperienced researcher. The researchers used a new electronical medical records system, which gathered data during the examination and the system generate structured medical records containing natural language. Conventional medical records dictated by physician and computer-generated medical records were compared by a group of independent clinicians.

Results

Ninety-nine patients were included. The overall quality of the computer-generated medical records was better than the quality of conventional human-generated medical records – the structure was similar or better in 99% of cases and the readability was similar or better in 86% of cases, p < 0.001. The quality of medical history, current illness, and findings of physical examinations were likewise better with the computer-generated recording. The results were similar when patients were examined by experienced or inexperienced researcher using the computer-generated recording.

Discussion

The quality of computer-generated structured medical records was superior to that of conventional medical records. The quality remained similar regardless of the researcher’s level of experience. The system allows automatic risk scoring and easy access for quality control of patient care. We therefore consider that it would be useful in wider practice.
Mapping the use of knowledge in policymaking: barriers and facilitators from a subjectivist perspective (1990–2020)
Authors: Capano Giliberto , Malandrino Anna
Published: August 2022

The use of knowledge and evidence in policymaking is a recurrent topic of research due to its scientific and policy relevance. The existing and expansive body of literature has been scrutinised in various ways to grasp the dimensions of knowledge utilisation in policymaking, although most of this research has a monosectoral focus and is based on very general criteria of analysis that do not completely account for the complexity of policy making. This paper overcomes this limitation by enlightening the epistemological divide in the field between an objectivist and a subjectivist perspective and by distinguishing two different focuses in this literature: a focus on knowledge for policy making and a focus on knowledge in policy making. Based on this analytical distinction, the paper presents an original and unprecedented systematic, intersectoral metareview by considering the thirty-year period between 1990 and 2020 (approximately 1,400 were selected for fine-grained analysis). This metareview offers a broader and more detailed map with a clear idea of the distribution of interest in the topic among the different policy fields, a better classification of the theoretical/empirical content and research goals that scholars adopt and a novel and, above all, more fine-grained perspective on the types of conditions that favour or disfavour a significant role of knowledge in policymaking. Ultimately, and above all, this metareview identifies three highly relevant components of policy making that can facilitate or constrain the use of knowledge in policymaking more than others: values/ideology/beliefs, actors’ relationships, and policy capacities.
Navigating the role of emotions in expertise: public framing of expertise in the Czech public controversy on birth care
Authors: Durnová Anna P. , Hejzlarová Eva M.
Published: August 2022

Despite the abundant scholarship on sociopolitical embeddedness of expertise, its relation to emotions remains understudied. The paper fills this gap by discussing how public framings of expertise work against the inclusion of emotional contexts, affecting what kind of professional knowledge dominates in a public debate. The analysis of the Czech public debate on birth care shows that while midwives embrace emotional contexts of birthing and integrate them as an essential part of their professional expertise, obstetricians see these contexts as troubling their expertise. This professional difference is sustained by the public framing of expertise in the media, favoring obstetricians’ expertise over midwives’. The analysis shows that public framing of expertise outweighs evidential work done by midwives and legal advisors and impacts how emotional contexts are understood in the debate. Rather than referring to feelings and personal experience of the body, the “emotional” becomes a discursive label to delegitimize professional opinion. The results raise thus important questions about how the public framing of expertise impacts whether emotional context and experiences of bodily harm are seen as relevant in policy debates and policy regulations.
Impacts of Mineralogy on Petrophysical Properties
Authors: Lima Maira C. O. , Pontedeiro Elizabeth M. , Ramirez Mateus G. , Favoreto Julia , dos Santos Hélisson N. , van Genuchten Martinus Th. , Borghi Leonardo , Couto Paulo , Raoof Amir
Published: August 2022

Because of their extreme heterogeneity at multiple scales, carbonate rocks present a great challenge for studying and managing oil reservoirs. Depositional processes and diagenetic alterations of carbonates may have produced very complex pore structures and, consequently, variable fluid storage and flow properties of hydrocarbon reservoirs. To understand the impact of mineralogy on the pore system, we analyzed four carbonate rock samples (coquinas) from the Morro do Chaves Formation in Brazil. For this study, we used thin sections and XRD for their mineralogical characterization, together with routine core analysis, NMR, MICP and microCT for the petrophysical characterizations. The samples revealed very similar porosity values but considerably different permeabilities. Samples with a relatively high quartz content (terrigenous material) generally had lower permeabilities, mostly caused by more mineral fragmentation. Samples with little or no quartz in turn exhibited high permeabilities due to less fragmentation and more diagenetic actions (e.g., dissolution of shells). Results confirm that carbonate minerals are very susceptible to diagenesis, leading to modifications in their pore body and pore throat sizes, and creating pores classified as moldic and vug pores, or even clogging them. For one of the samples, we acquired detailed pore skeleton information based on microCT images to obtain a more complete understanding of its structural characteristics.
The combination of melatonin implants and prostaglandin F2α improves lamb production in a late-autumn mating season
Authors: Barbanoj J. , Abecia J. A.
Published: August 2022

To determine the effect of the combination of melatonin implants and prostaglandin (PG) F2α on reproductive performance in the late breeding season (Dec at the northern hemisphere), 500 Lacaune ewes were divided into four groups. On day 0 (7 Nov), 150 ewes were treated with a melatonin (M) implant. From that group, 64 ewes (M + 1PGF group) were injected with 10-mg prostaglandin (PG) F2α 34 d after melatonin implantation (11 Dec). The remaining 86 ewes (M group) were treated with melatonin, only. Another group of 75 ewes (2PGF group) was treated with double injection of PGF2α (9 days between the first and second application) (2 and 11 Dec), and 75 non-treated ewes (C group) were the control group. The remaining 200 ewes of the flock were not considered in the study. Rams (n = 23) were introduced on 11 Dec. The percentage of prolificacy, lambing and fecundity rates were calculated. Lambing rate did not differ among groups (M: 79%; M + 1PGF: 78%; 2PGF: 69%; C: 71%). The M + 1PGF group had a higher % of prolificacy than the 2PGF group (P < 0.10) and the C group (P = 0.06) (M: 1.65 ± 0.07; M + 1PGF: 1.74 ± 0.09; 2PGF: 1.54 ± 0.08; C: 1.54 ± 0.07 lambs/lambing) (P < 0.05), and a higher fecundity than the 2PGF group (P < 0.05) and the C group (P < 0.10) (M: 1.30 ± 0.09; M + 1PGF: 1.36 ± 0.11; 2PGF: 1.07 ± 0.10; C: 1.08 ± 0.09 lambs/ewe). Ewes implanted with melatonin had significantly higher prolificacy (1.69 ± 0.06 lambs/lambing) (P < 0.05) and fecundity (1.33 ± 0.07 lambs/ewe) (P = 0.01) than did ewes that did not receive melatonin (1.54 ± 0.04 and 1.08 ± 0.04, resp.). In conclusion, melatonin implants increased the number of lambs born per ewe in a late-autumn mating season, and the effect was greatest if it was given in combination with PGF2α administration at ram introduction.
Deep Learning Classification of Treatment Response in Diabetic Painful Neuropathy: A Combined Machine Learning and Magnetic Resonance Neuroimaging Methodological Study
Authors: Teh Kevin , Armitage Paul , Tesfaye Solomon , Selvarajah Dinesh
Published: August 2022

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been shown successfully to assess and stratify patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN). This supports the idea of using neuroimaging as a mechanism-based technique to individualise therapy for patients with painful DPN. The aim of this study was to use deep learning to predict treatment response in patients with pDPN using resting state functional imaging (rs-fMRI). We divided 43 painful pDPN patients into responders and non-responders to lidocaine treatment (responders n = 29 and non-responders n = 14). We used rs-fMRI to extract functional connectivity features, using group independent component analysis (gICA), and performed automated treatment response deep learning classification with three-dimensional convolutional neural networks (3D-CNN). Using gICA we achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 96.60% and F1-Score of 95% in a ten-fold cross validation (CV) experiment using our described 3D-CNN algorithm. To our knowledge, this is the first study utilising deep learning methods to classify treatment response in pDPN.
Evaluation of instantaneous vibration parameters of a snowboard with a prototype granular dissipator
Authors: Bajkowski Jacek M. , Dyniewicz Bartłomiej , Bajer Czesław I. , Bajkowski Jerzy
Published: August 2022

A container partially filled with loose plastic granules was attached to the shovel of the snowboard to suppress large-amplitude lateral vibrations by dissipating energy through non-conservative multi-granule interactions. A custom laboratory stand allowed to evaluate the performance using a full-scale snowboard deck. The response of the system with a prototype granular dissipator was measured for free lateral vibrations of the initially deflected board and under prescribed sinusoidal base motion. The damping characteristics for different fill ratios of the container were obtained using a direct method of nonparametric identification. The applied Hilbert–Huang transform-based vibration analysis method gave more insight into the board’s damping performance than the logarithmic decrement analysis. The results show that using the granular dissipator with a predestined number of granules increases the damping capacity at large amplitudes but is less effective at small amplitudes. At best, the damping factor was 70% higher when the granular dissipator was used than when the board was damped only intrinsically.
GNSS-SDR pseudorange quality and single point positioning performance assessment
Authors: Robustelli Umberto , Cutugno Matteo , Paziewski Jacek , Pugliano Giovanni
Published: August 2022

In recent years, we have witnessed a growing demand for GNSS receiver customization in terms of modification of signal acquisition, tracking, and processing strategies. Such demands may be addressed by software-defined receivers (SDRs) which refers to an ensemble of hardware and software technologies and allows re-configurable radio communication architectures. The crux of the SDRs is the replacement of the hardware components through software modules. In this paper, we assess the quality of GNSS observables acquired by SDR against the selected u-blox low-cost receiver. In the following, we investigate the performance level of single point positioning that may be reached with an ultra-low-cost SDR and compare it to that of the low-cost GNSS receiver. The signal quality assessment revealed a comparable performance in terms of carrier-to-noise density ratio and a significant out-performance of the u-blox over SDR in terms of code pseudorange noise. The experimentation in the positioning domain proved that software-defined receivers may offer a position solution with three-dimensional standard deviation error at the level of 5.2 m in a single point positioning mode that is noticeably poorer accuracy as compared to the low-cost receiver. Such results demonstrate that there is still room for SDR positioning accuracy improvement.
Optimizing the transition from the indoor to the beach season improves motor performance in elite beach handball players
Authors: Eils Eric , Wirtz Svenja , Brodatzki Yannick , Zentgraf Karen , Büsch Dirk , Szwajca Sebastian
Published: August 2022

Beach handball athletes experience an overlap during their preparation phase for the beach and the indoor season for several weeks. This transition phase from playing on an indoor surface to a sand surface is crucial for players’ performance levels both on the sand and indoor surfaces, but coaches and athletes alike are concerned about possible performance impairments when training on a sand surface while still playing indoors. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effects of a specific transition phase from the indoor to the beach season in elite beach handball athletes. With 29 elite athletes participating in the study, we evaluated their jumping (countermovement and drop jump) and sprinting (5–10–20 m) performances and conducted a handball-specific agility test on both rigid and sand surfaces. In addition, we evaluated a drop long jump on a sand surface. Vertical jumping performance was analyzed using a 3D marker-based system on both rigid and sand surfaces under standardized laboratory conditions. All tests took place directly before and after a 6-week intervention program. The results showed that athletes in the intervention group significantly improved their performance in jumping (countermovement and drop long jump) compared to the control group. Furthermore, performance on a rigid surface was not only maintained for all tests but also significantly increased for the countermovement jump. Therefore, the intervention program is effective at improving performance during the transition from indoor to beach seasons without impairing indoor performance.
Triticale doubled haploid plant regeneration factors linked by structural equation modeling
Authors: Orłowska Renata
Published: August 2022

Triticale regeneration via anther culture faces many difficulties, e.g., a low percentage of regenerated plants and the presence of albinos. Plant regeneration may be affected by abiotic stresses and by ingredients added to the induction medium. The latter influences biochemical pathways and plant regeneration efficiency. Among such ingredients, copper and silver ions acting as cofactors for enzymatic reactions are of interest. However, their role in plant tissue cultures and relationships with biochemical pathways has not been studied yet.

The study evaluated relationships between DNA methylation, changes in DNA sequence variation, and green plant regeneration efficiency influenced by copper and silver ions during triticale plant regeneration. For this purpose, a biological model based on donor plants and their regenerants, a methylation-sensitive amplified fragment length polymorphism, and structural equation modeling were employed.

The green plant regeneration efficiency varied from 0.71 to 6.06 green plants per 100 plated anthers. The values for the components of tissue culture-induced variation related to cytosine methylation in a CHH sequence context (where H is A, C, or T) were 8.65% for sequence variation, 0.76% for DNA demethylation, and 0.58% for de novo methylation. The proposed model states that copper ions affect the regeneration efficiency through cytosine methylation and may induce mutations through, e.g., oxidative processes, which may interfere with the green plant regeneration efficiency. The linear regression confirms that the plant regeneration efficiency rises with increasing copper ion concentration in the absence of Ag ions in the induction medium. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression shows that de novo methylation, demethylation, and copper ions may be involved in the green plant regeneration efficiency. According to structural equation modeling, copper ions play a central role in the model determining the regeneration efficiency.
Pilot study of facial and bodily feedback
Authors: Hutchings-Hay Chloë , Dapelo Marcela M. , Briceño Gisselle , Fernández Camila , Tchanturia Kate
Published: August 2022

Background

The modulation hypothesis of facial feedback has not adequately examined how combining facial expressions and bodily postures might influence our experience of emotional stimuli. This pilot study examined a new method for manipulating both face and body together, which is important in furthering our understanding of how face and body interact to influence emotional experiences in the real world.

Methods

Using a within-subjects design, 30 participants viewed positive film clips under four conditions: (1) positive face with positive body (PP), (2) positive face with neutral body (PN), (3) neutral face with positive body (NP) and (4) neutral face with neutral body (NN). Measures of positive and negative affect were taken before and after each clip, to assess the subjective emotional experience.

Results

Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine differences in the emotional experience under each condition. Post hoc pairwise comparisons demonstrated that positive affect in the PP condition was significantly higher than in the NP and NN conditions. There was no significant difference between the PP and NN conditions.

Conclusion

Whilst the study findings are difficult to interpret, this pilot study generated a number of important methodological learnings that are relevant to future research of this kind.
Subloading-friction model with saturation of tangential contact stress
Authors: Hashiguchi Koichi , Ueno Masami
Published: August 2022

The incorporation of the saturation of the tangential contact stress with the increase of the normal contact stress is required for the analysis of the friction phenomenon of solids and structures subjected to a high normal contact stress, which cannot be described by the Coulomb friction condition, in which the tangential contact stress increases linearly with the increase of the normal contact stress. In this article, the subloading-friction model, which is capable of describing the smooth elastic—plastic transition, the static—kinetic transition, and the recovery of the static friction during the cease of sliding, is extended to describe this property. Further, some numerical examples are shown, and the validity of the present model will be verified by the simulation of the test data on the linear sliding of metals.