bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EFFICIENCY OF COMPUTED BRAIN TOMOGRAPHY AND MINIMAL PARA-NASAL SINUS SCANNING IN PATIENTS WITH HEADACHE
Authors: Paswan Rajesh Kumar
Published: December 2020

Background: Headache is the most common human condition and affects a wide range of populations with a number of etiologies. The majority of headaches are accounted for by main headache disorders that involve migraine, cluster and tension-type headaches, whereas secondary headaches are much less common than those with underlying disease (e.g. tumour).

Aims & objectives: To assess the Utility of computed tomography of brain and limited para-nasal sinuses scanning in patients with headache.

Methodology: This prospective research included 400 cases of primary headache symptoms undergoing computed brain tomography and minimal para-nasal sinus CT scans. For the diagnostic yield from imaging, findings were tabulated and analysed.

Results: Isolated headache, accompanied by headache with vomiting, was the most common symptom of referral to CT brain. In 44 subjects, 26 due to intracranial pathology and 18 due to para-nasal sinus disease, a severe abnormality was found. Of the 44 positive cases, 12 were lesions occupying room, 4 vaccine infarctions, 2 subarachnoid haemorrhages, 8 cortical vein thrombosis, and 18 had sinusitis.

Conclusion: Computed tomography is a useful screening tool in the assessment of headache patients.

Keywords: Headache, Computed Tomography, Migraine, Para Nasal Sinus.
建筑工程施工中深基坑支护的施工技术管理探讨
Authors: 周 建东
Published: December 2020

在深基坑支护施工中，技术管理是十分重要的环节。在实施工程项目的建设施工的过程中，要充分的根据施工现场的实际情况，做好深基坑支护施工的分析工作，同时以此为基础制定科学合理的工程项目的施工技术管理方案，进一步的提高工程项目的建造质量和安全。目前，随着中国的高楼大厦的不断增多，对深基坑支护的施工要求和标准也越来越高。为此，我们应认真做好深基坑工程支护施工的技术管理工作，以减少各类质量和安全问题的发生，提高工程项目的建造施工的总体水平。
如何加强房建施工管理及成本控制
Authors: 冯 家华
Published: December 2020

房建施工管理是一项复杂的工作，它是一种工程管理方式，主要体现在施工过程中，通过施工相关工作人员对施工现场中出现的各种施工组织设计问题进行解决，做好不同工种施工工作人员的协调与沟通问题。做好房建工程施工工作需要统筹的方面有很多，其中施工材料的质量、成本都对其有巨大影响，在这种情况下，要保证房建工程进展顺利并获取较好的预期收益，就需要在施工过程中加强对施工工作的管理与成本控制，从而获取较好的经济效益，创造良好的社会价值。
提高建筑工程管理及施工质量控制研究
Authors: 胡 大全
Published: December 2020

随着现代城市的不断发展，人们对建设项目的需求呈现出上升的趋势，与此同时，对建设项目的建设质量提出了更高的要求。为了更好地满足人们的需求，有关工程单位逐步加强了对建设项目的管理，提高了建设项目的质量控制标准，有效提高了建设项目的整体建设质量。因此，有关管理人员必须充分认识到建设项目管理的重要性。
铝合金模板滑移体系在施工中的应用
Authors: 陆 文斌 , 张 乐 , 王 康 , 高 保转 , 阳 威
Published: December 2020

铝合金模板滑移体系是一种应用于现浇结构综合管廊的模板安装技术，其能够极大地提高模板安装效率，在节省工期、降低成本、提升质量等方面都具有明显优势。因此，文章中对滑移体系在现浇结构综合管廊中的应用进行研究和探讨。
BIM在模板滑移体系施工中的应用
Authors: 张 新生 , 王 康 , 王 志成 , 高 保转 , 阳 威
Published: December 2020

综合管廊项目具有投资大、社会关注度高等特点，因此前期策划阶段项目管理具有较高的经济和社会价值。BIM具备其强大的可视化、协同性、模拟性等特点。BIM在综合管廊项目前期策划阶段的应用能够更大程度发挥BIM的价值。本文顺应当前综合管廊项目和BIM技术的发展趋势，提出前期策划阶段中应用BIM技术的具体流程，针对综合管廊项目呈线性分布的特点，提出BIM+铝合金模板滑移施工体系的应用方案，借助BIM模型来进行分析，从而优化方案，提升项目生产效率、提高建筑质量、缩短工期、降低建造成本。内容包括：数据分析、视觉表现、方案比选。本文提出的综合管廊项目前期策划阶段BIM的应用流程和应用点，将作为施工阶段BIM应用的有效补充，促进BIM技术在综合管廊项目全生命周期的应用，最大程度发挥BIM的应用价值。
论室内空间中的凹凸造型装饰
Authors: 徐 止喜
Published: December 2020

伴随时代的不断发展，人类对于室内空间早已不仅是满足实用功能方面的需求，对于造型美观、新颖设计追求也不断增强。呆板的室内空间界面在一定程度上影响人们的视觉享受和整体空间的设计美感，这样就给我们人类减少了很多在室内空间里欣赏设计美的机会。所以在设计中应该创造更多设计新颖且灵活实用的造型装饰界面，让空间界面更富有动感、立体感。文章主要对凹凸装饰的形式进行分析与运用归纳，全文是对有凹凸装饰的不同环境进行研究，如墙上、地上、顶面、家具等，并阐述近几年凹凸造型装饰的创新设计，使空间更具立体感。
建筑工程管理中创新模式分析
Authors: 安 卫龙
Published: December 2020

我国作为能源大国，一直以来就存在着庞大的能耗需求，这使得我国在早期发展中需要不断引进国外石油来填补能耗空缺，但这也使得石油的价格水涨船高，导致我国承受了较大的经济压力。这时煤制油液化化工工艺能够帮助我国解决这一问题，即通过工艺能让煤制油在部分领域中取代石油，用煤制油去生产相关产品，降低国内石油进口需要，而煤制油本身价格较低，最终带来的成本较之石油可谓是天壤之别。因此为了开发煤制油应用价值，文章将对其液化化工工艺展开研究，论述煤制油液化价值，提出两项化工工艺，并对两项工艺进行比较，以便相关领域根据现实需求做出选择。
高层建筑梁式转换层结构设计
Authors: 孔 鹏飞
Published: December 2020

随着城市化进程的加快，土地资源的稀缺和对城市空间的利用率的提高，高层建筑也向着复杂化发展，其中带转换层的高层建筑的运用也愈发普遍。为了满足建筑对下部空间的有效利用，需要将上部小开间结构竖向构件通过水平转换构件转换到下部大开间的结构竖向构件上。由于转换层的上部、下部结构布置和体系不同，容易形成下部刚度较小的软弱层和受剪承载力较弱的薄弱层，这就需要采取相应的措施提高转换层的抗震性能，保证转换构件在不同地震作用工况下的抗震承载能力和延性。
INTERGENERATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: OLDER ENTREPRENEURS REDUCING YOUNGSTERS’ SOCIAL AND WORK DISENGAGEMENT
Authors: Baschiera Barbara , Santini Sara , Socci Marco
Published: December 2020

The current generation of young Italians leaving education have never entered the labour market with more years of schooling and higher levels of academic certifications as now. Nevertheless, they are losing out in the struggle for employment. It is a paradox experienced not only across Europe and poses questions about whether young people are being trained efficiently for twenty-first century employment.
Nowadays employers require that young people possess skills-oriented learning that emphasises adaptability and preparedness for change.
Italian Education systems, however, have not been responsive in this way.
The intergenerational education approach may be an effective method for covering the mismatch between provided education and competences required on the labour market. Experienced older entrepreneurs may give young people Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEETs) the confidence and intellectual resources to deal with the problems they will encounter through professional life, creating new spaces of autonomy and responsibility.
Two focus-groups and questionnaires with 15 NEETs and 15 qualitative interviews and questionnaires to 50+ entrepreneurs were carried out in five European countries, Italy included, to understand how an entrepreneur could help youth to start their own business. Results from Italy demonstrate that to spread a culture of entrepreneurship, senior entrepreneurs are required to strengthen NEETs’ confidence, initiative and courage, the ability to take risks and to invest in the future.
Considering Lev Vygotsky’s cognitive and social development theory as applied to intergenerational learning seniors need to act as a trigger to promote NEETs’ entrepreneurial attitudes, capabilities and aspirations for life.
Keywords: active participation, intergenerational entrepreneurship education, NEETs, senior entrepreneurs, social inclusion.
THE CONTRADICTORY NATURE OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNIVERSITY AND SCHOOL
Authors: Rodrigues André Machado , Rodrigues de Mattos Cristiano
Published: December 2020

There is a growing understanding that teacher education should not be handled either exclusively by the University or in School settings. Nevertheless, the issues on how to foster a fruitful partnership between these two different institutions remains an open and challenging point. The practicum is a critical point in the pre-service teacher’s development, usually because it is the first time they have to face the concrete professional issues, which they only had a partial view of as students. This research is a year-long inquiry on practicum in the Physics teaching program developed in the Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Drawing on cultural-historical activity theory, contradiction is used as an explanatory principle to examine change and development in the practitioners’ activity. Therefore, the research includes in the analytical framework the contradictions and the processes of overcoming it. Examples are provided in which there is little control therefore demanding extra efforts but makes room for active participation. The data analysis indicates that the source of agency and activities transformation is precisely a contradictory process, which might be overlooked. The pre-service teachers’ agency is shaped by contradictory process within the activity – practicum - rather than aligned forces pushing it toward autonomy, student sensitiveness or professional identity. Keywords: initial teacher education, practicum, university-school partnership, qualitative research.
THE EFFECTS OF CARE-GIVING UPON FAMILY MEMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE TREATED IN THE PALLIATIVE CARE UNIT: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH
Authors: BIÇAK AYIK Derya , ŞENTÜRK Sibel
Published: December 2020

Care giving family members are individuals who are directly involved in the care of a life-threatening patient, often facing a wide range of tasks, such as physical care, providing emotional support, and taking part in the treatment process. This research was carried out to determine effects of care-giving upon family members of individuals who are treated in the palliative care unit. This descriptive phenomenological qualitative study was conducted with a total of 16 family members who had been taking primary care of patients for at least three months and agreed to participate in the study. The data were collected in 35-40 minutes by face-to-face interview with a semi-structured interview form. Colaizzi’s phenomenological data analysis method was used in the evaluation of the data, and 5 themes were determined. Family members participating in the research stated that they experienced physiological problems such as pain, sleep problems and fatigue; psychological problems such as stress and fear; economic problems due to job losses and treatment costs; social problems for reasons such as isolation and problems in family relations such as change in roles and communication disruption. As a result of the research, it was determined that especially all of the family members had psychological and social problems. The problems and needs of family members should be questioned in clinical settings, and they should be directed to support units.
DOES DISABILITY STATUS AFFECT MATERNAL CARE AROUND PREGNANCY? EVIDENCE FROM NATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY GROWTH (NSFG) 2013-2015 DATA IN UNITED STATES
Authors: AHMED Munir , BALÓCH Shehnaz
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Introduction
It is estimated that approximately 12% of the reproductive age women have some kind of disability; which is measured as self-reported difficulty in performing basic functions concerning movement, vision, hearing or cognition. Little research has been conducted on reproductive health of women with disabilities using nationally representative survey data; thus body of scientific knowledge on this subject is limited.
Objectives
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of disability status (both mental and physical) among women on prenatal care and post-pregnancy care in U.S. using nationally representative National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) data.
Study design
It’s a retrospective, quantitative, observational study.
Methods
The 2013-2015 NSFG’s female respondent file contains 5699 records one for each woman interviewed whereas the pregnancy respondent file contains 9358 records each related to a pregnancy. The data about disabilities related variables was part of female respondent file therefore using unique respondent ID files were merged and logistic regression models were built using prenatal and postnatal care as dependent and disability status as main independent variable.
Results
Women with Medicaid were significantly less likely as compared to those with private insurance to have received prenatal care in last 12 months. Women with less than 12 years education were less likely to have received post pregnancy care as compared to those with college education.
Conclusion:
Although this study did not find significant effects of disability on utilization of prenatal and post-pregnancy care, further research is needed on this subject with datasets that include comprehensive information about broader spectrum of disability status of women.
EXAMINATION OF PREGNANT WOMEN’S KNOWLEDGE LEVEL AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS RATIONAL DRUG USE APPLYING TO HEALTHCARE FACILITY IN MARDİN
Authors: BAYRAM DEĞER Vasfiye , ÇİFÇİ Sema , UTLİ Hediye , ACAR Dilan
Published: December 2020

Inappropriate drug use is a significant challenge both around the globe and in our country. Potential teratogenicity of these drugs, their impact on the fetus and newborn, and finally the long-term effects that may be observed in the child should be taken into consideration especially when planning the use of drugs in pregnant women since the active ingredients in the drug and its metabolites can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta and cause negative consequences. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the knowledge levels and attitudes of pregnant women towards rational drug use. Pregnant women (n=414) who agreed to participate in the study and were hospitalized in the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinics of Mardin State Hospital and Kızıltepe District State Hospital between 01.12.2018-01.02.2019 were included in this descriptive study. The data were collected by face-to-face interview technique through a questionnaire. The total mean scores of the Rational Drug Use (RDU) scale of pregnant women were found to be 32.43 ± 6.37. It was revealed that painkillers were the most frequently used drugs during pregnancy (with the rate of 71.0%) and most prescribed to be spared at home (with the rate of 86.9%). In addition, one of every two pregnant women held the opinion that they used analgesics uncontrolledly and 34.5% of the pregnant women used antibiotics in such an uncontrolled way. The rate of pregnant women who were prescribed medication to be spared at home was found to be 33.6%. A significant difference was found between RDU scale scores and socio-demographic characteristics of the pregnant women. Again, a statistically significant difference was found between the rate of drug use in the household where pregnant women live (34.8%) and the residential distance from the health institution (p
Hypothermic preservation of rat hearts using antifreeze glycoprotein
Authors: Takago Shintaro , Matsumoto Isao , Kato Hiroki , Saito Naoki , Ueda Hideyasu , Iino Kenji , Kimura Keiichi , Takemura Hirofumi
Published: December 2020

Antifreeze proteins are an effective additive for low-temperature preservation of solid organs. Here, we compared static hypothermic preservation with and without antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP), followed by nonfreezing cryopreservation of rat hearts. The heart was surgically extracted and immersed in one of the cardioplegia solutions after cardiac arrest. Control rat hearts (n=6) were immersed in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution whereas AFGP-treated hearts (AFGP group) (n=6) were immersed in UW solution containing 500 μg/ml AFGP. After static hypothermic preservation, a Langendorff apparatus was used to reperfuse the coronary arteries with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit solution. After 30, 60, 90, and 120 min, the heart rate (HR), coronary flow (CF), cardiac contractile force (max dP/dt), and cardiac diastolic force (min dP/dt) were measured. Tissue water content (TWC) and tissue adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in the reperfused preserved hearts were also assessed. All the parameters were compared between the control and AFGP groups. Compared with the control group, the AFGP group had significantly (p<0.05) higher values of the following parameters: HR at 60, 90, and 120 min; CF at all four time points; max dP/dt at 90 min; min dP/dt at 90 and 120 min; and tissue ATP levels at 120 min. TWC did not differ significantly between the groups. The higher HR, CF, max dP/dt, min dP/dt, and tissue ATP levels in the AFGP compared with those in control hearts suggested that AFGP conferred superior hemodynamic and metabolic functions. Thus, AFGP might be a useful additive for the static/nonfreezing hypothermic preservation of hearts.
Current progress in the therapeutic options for mitochondrial disorders.
Authors: Koňaříková E , Marković A , Korandová Z , Houštěk J , Mráček T
Published: December 2020

Mitochondrial disorders manifest enormous genetic and clinical heterogeneity - they can appear at any age, present with various phenotypes affecting any organ, and display any mode of inheritance. What mitochondrial diseases do have in common, is impairment of respiratory chain activity, which is responsible for more than 90% of energy production within cells. While diagnostics of mitochondrial disorders has been accelerated by introducing Next-Generation Sequencing techniques in recent years, the treatment options are still very limited. For many patients only a supportive or symptomatic therapy is available at the moment. However, decades of basic and preclinical research have uncovered potential target points and numerous compounds or interventions are now subjects of clinical trials. In this review, we focus on current and emerging therapeutic approaches towards the treatment of mitochondrial disorders. We focus on small compounds, metabolic interference, such as endurance training or ketogenic diet and also on genomic approaches.
Hypersensitized Metamaterials Based on a Corona-Shaped Resonator for Efficient Detection of Glucose
Authors: Abdulkarim Yadgar I. , Muhammadsharif Fahmi F. , Bakır Mehmet , Awl Halgurd N. , Karaaslan Muharrem , Deng Lianwen , Huang Shengxiang
Published: December 2020

In this work, a new design for a real-time noninvasive metamaterial sensor, based on a corona-shaped resonator, is proposed. The sensor was designed numerically and fabricated experimentally in order to be utilized for efficient detection of glucose in aqueous solutions such as water and blood. The sensor was inspired by a corona in-plane-shaped design with the presumption that its circular structure might produce a broader interaction of the electromagnetic waves with the glucose samples. A clear shift in the resonance frequency was observed for various glucose samples, which implies that the proposed sensor has a good sensitivity and can be easily utilized to distinguish any glucose concentration, even though their dielectric coefficients are close. Results showed a superior performance in terms of resonance frequency shift (1.51 GHz) and quality factor (246) compared to those reported in the literature. The transmission variation level ∆|S21| was investigated for glucose concentration in both water and blood. The sensing mechanism was elaborated through the surface current, electric field and magnetic field distributions on the corona resonator. The proposed metamaterials sensor is considered to be a promising candidate for biosensor and medicine applications in human glycaemia monitoring.
How Should the Transition from Underwater to Surface Swimming Be Performed by Competitive Swimmers?
Authors: Stosic Jelena , Veiga Santiago , Trinidad Alfonso , Navarro Enrique
Published: December 2020

Despite the increasing importance of the underwater segment of start and turns in competition and its positive influence on the subsequent surface swimming, there is no evidence on how the transition from underwater to surface swimming should be performed. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the role of segmental, kinematic and coordinative parameters on the swimming velocity during the pre-transition and transition phases. A total of 30 national male swimmers performed 4 × 25 m (one each stroke) from a push start at maximum velocity while recorded from a lateral view by two sequential cameras (50 Hz), and their kinematic and coordinative swimming parameters were calculated by means of two-dimensional direct linear transformation (DLT) algorithms. Unlike pre-transition, backward regression analysis of transition significantly predicted swimming velocity in all strokes except breaststroke (R2 ranging from 0.263 in front crawl to 0.364 in butterfly). The inter-limb coordination was a predictor in butterfly stroke (p = 0.006), whereas the body depth and inclination were predictors in the alternate strokes (front crawl (p = 0.05) and backstroke (p = 0.04)). These results suggest that the body position and coordinative swimming parameters (apart from kicking or stroking rate and length) have an important influence on the transition performance, which depends on the swimming strokes.
Microstructure and Photothermal Conversion Performance of Ti/(Mo-TiAlN)/(Mo-TiAlON)/Al2O3 Selective Absorbing Film for Non-Vacuum High-Temperature Applications
Authors: Geng Haibin , Ye Hanzhe , Chen Xingliang , Du Sibin
Published: December 2020

This paper aims to clarify the phase composition in each sub-layer of tandem absorber TiMoAlON film and verify its thermal stability. The deposited multilayer Ti/(Mo-TiAlN)/(Mo-TiAlON)/Al2O3 films include an infrared reflectance layer, light interference absorptive layers with different metal doping amounts, and an anti-reflectance layer. The layer thicknesses of Ti, Mo-TiAlN, Mo-TiAlON, and Al2O3 are 100, 300, 200, and 80 nm, respectively. Al content increases to 12 at.% and the ratio of N/O is nearly 0.1, which means nitride continuously changes to oxide. According to X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results, the diffraction peak that appears at 2θ = 40° demonstrates that Mo element aggregates in the substitutional solid solution (Ti,Al)(O,N) columnar grain. TiMoAlON films have low reflectivity in the spectrum range of 300–900 nm. When Al content is more than 10 at.%, absorptivity is almost in the spectrum range from visible to infrared, but absorptivity decreases in the ultraviolet spectrum range. When Al content is increased to 12 at.%, absorptivity α decreases by 0.05 in the experimental conditions. After baking in atmosphere at 500 °C for 8 h, the film has the highest absorptivity when doped with 2 at.% Mo. In the visible-light range, α = 0.97, and in the whole ultraviolet-visible-light near-infrared spectrum range, α = 0.94, and emissivity ε = 0.02 at room temperature and ε = 0.10 at 500 °C.
Integration of Ordinal Optimization with Ant Lion Optimization for Solving the Computationally Expensive Simulation Optimization Problems
Authors: Horng Shih-Cheng , Lee Chin-Tan
Published: December 2020

The optimization of several practical large-scale engineering systems is computationally expensive. The computationally expensive simulation optimization problems (CESOP) are concerned about the limited budget being effectively allocated to meet a stochastic objective function which required running computationally expensive simulation. Although computing devices continue to increase in power, the complexity of evaluating a solution continues to keep pace. Ordinal optimization (OO) is developed as an efficient framework for solving CESOP. In this work, a heuristic algorithm integrating ordinal optimization with ant lion optimization (OALO) is proposed to solve the CESOP within a short period of time. The OALO algorithm comprises three parts: approximation model, global exploration, and local exploitation. Firstly, the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) is adopted as a fitness estimation of a design. Next, a reformed ant lion optimization (RALO) is proposed to find N exceptional designs from the solution space. Finally, a ranking and selection procedure is used to decide a quasi-optimal design from the N exceptional designs. The OALO algorithm is applied to optimal queuing design in a communication system, which is formulated as a CESOP. The OALO algorithm is compared with three competing approaches. Test results reveal that the OALO algorithm identifies solutions with better solution quality and better computing efficiency than three competing algorithms.
Optical Realization of Wave-Based Analog Computing with Metamaterials
Authors: Cheng Kaiyang , Fan Yuancheng , Zhang Weixuan , Gong Yubin , Fei Shen , Li Hongqiang
Published: December 2020

Recently, the study of analog optical computing raised renewed interest due to its natural advantages of parallel, high speed and low energy consumption over conventional digital counterpart, particularly in applications of big data and high-throughput image processing. The emergence of metamaterials or metasurfaces in the last decades offered unprecedented opportunities to arbitrarily manipulate the light waves within subwavelength scale. Metamaterials and metasurfaces with freely controlled optical properties have accelerated the progress of wave-based analog computing and are emerging as a practical, easy-integration platform for optical analog computing. In this review, the recent progress of metamaterial-based spatial analog optical computing is briefly reviewed. We first survey the implementation of classical mathematical operations followed by two fundamental approaches (metasurface approach and Green’s function approach). Then, we discuss recent developments based on different physical mechanisms and the classical optical simulating of quantum algorithms are investigated, which may lead to a new way for high-efficiency signal processing by exploiting quantum behaviors. The challenges and future opportunities in the booming research field are discussed.
Spatial-Temporal Variability of Small Gas Impurities over Lake Baikal during the Forest Fires in the Summer of 2019
Authors: Zhamsueva Galina , Zayakhanov Alexander , Tcydypov Vadim , Dementeva Ayuna , Balzhanov Tumen
Published: December 2020

Lake Baikal—a unique ecosystem on a global scale—is undoubtedly of great interest for a comprehensive study of its ecosystem. In recent years, one of the most significant sources of atmospheric pollution in the Baikal region was the emission of smoke aerosol and trace gases from forest fires, the number of which is increasing in the region. The transport and accumulation of aerosol and small gas impurities over water area of Lake Baikal is observed every summer due to forest fires occurring in the boreal forests of Siberia. The atmosphere above the lake covers a huge area (31,500 km2) and is still a little-studied object. This article presents the results of experimental studies of ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere over Lake Baikal, carried out on a research vessel during the boreal forest fires in Siberia in the summer of 2019.
Revisiting the Teleost Thymus: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives
Authors: Barraza Felipe , Montero Ruth , Wong-Benito Valentina , Valenzuela Héctor , Godoy-Guzmán Carlos , Guzmán Fanny , Köllner Bernd , Wang Tiehui , Secombes Christopher J. , Maisey Kevin , Imarai Mónica
Published: December 2020

The thymus in vertebrates plays a critical role in producing functionally competent T-lymphocytes. Phylogenetically, the thymus emerges early during evolution in jawed cartilaginous fish, and it is usually a bilateral organ placed subcutaneously at the dorsal commissure of the operculum. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the thymus localization, histology studies, cell composition, and function in teleost fishes. Furthermore, we consider environmental factors that affect thymus development, such as seasonal changes, photoperiod, water temperature fluctuations and hormones. Further analysis of the thymus cell distribution and function will help us understand how key stages for developing functional T cells occur in fish, and how thymus dynamics can be modulated by external factors like photoperiod. Overall, the information presented here helps identify the knowledge gaps and future steps needed for a better understanding of the immunobiology of fish thymus.
Barriers and Facilitators for Implementation of a Computerized Clinical Decision Support System in Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Team Meetings—A Qualitative Assessment
Authors: Klarenbeek Sosse E. , Schuurbiers-Siebers Olga C. J. , van den Heuvel Michel M. , Prokop Mathias , Tummers Marcia
Published: December 2020

Background: Oncological computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSSs) to facilitate workflows of multidisciplinary team meetings (MDTMs) are currently being developed. To successfully implement these CCDSSs in MDTMs, this study aims to: (a) identify barriers and facilitators for implementation for the use case of lung cancer; and (b) provide actionable findings for an implementation strategy. Methods: The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Science was used to create an interview protocol and to analyze the results. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among various health care professionals involved in MDTMs. The transcripts were analyzed using a thematic analysis following a deductive approach. Results: Twenty-six professionals participated in the interviews. The main facilitators for implementation of the CCDSS were considered to be easy access to well-structured patient data, and the resulting reduction of MDTM preparation time and of duration of MDTMs. Main barriers for adoption were seen in incomplete or non-trustworthy output generated by the system and insufficient adaptability of the system to local and contextual needs. Conclusion: Using a CCDSS in lung cancer MDTMs was expected to increase efficiency of workflows. Successful implementation was seen as dependent on the reliability and adaptability of the CCDSS and involvement of key users in the implementation process.
Marine-Derived Biomolecules
Authors: Youssef Diaa T. A.
Published: December 2020

The world’s oceans have been shown to be rich habitats with great biodiversity and chemical entities with proven bioactivities related to cancer, inflammation, epilepsy, the immunomodulatory system, microbial and parasitic infections, and many others [...]
Immunotherapy in Solid Tumors and Gut Microbiota: The Correlation—A Special Reference to Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Koulouridi Asimina , Messaritakis Ippokratis , Gouvas Nikolaos , Tsiaoussis John , Souglakos John
Published: December 2020

Over the last few years, immunotherapy has been considered as a key player in the treatment of solid tumors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the breakthrough treatment, with prolonged responses and improved survival results. ICIs use the immune system to defeat cancer by breaking the axes that allow tumors to escape immune surveillance. Innate and adaptive immunity are involved in mechanisms against tumor growth. The gut microbiome and its role in such mechanisms is a relatively new study field. The presence of a high microbial variation in the gut seems to be remarkably important for the efficacy of immunotherapy, interfering with innate immunity. Metabolic and immunity pathways are related with specific gut microbiota composition. Various studies have explored the composition of gut microbiota in correlation with the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients have gained little benefit from immunotherapy until now. Only mismatch repair-deficient/microsatellite-unstable tumors seem to respond positively to immunotherapy. However, gut microbiota could be the key to expanding the use of immunotherapy to a greater range of CRC patients.
Severity of Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis Is Reduced by Pretreatment with Live Probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917
Authors: Dusek Otakar , Fajstova Alena , Klimova Aneta , Svozilkova Petra , Hrncir Tomas , Kverka Miloslav , Coufal Stepan , Slemin Johan , Tlaskalova-Hogenova Helena , Forrester John V. , Heissigerova Jarmila
Published: December 2020

Non-infectious uveitis is considered an autoimmune disease responsible for a significant burden of blindness in developed countries and recent studies have linked its pathogenesis to dysregulation of the gut microbiota. We tested the immunomodulatory properties of two probiotics, Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) and E. coli O83:K24:H31 (EcO), in a model of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). To determine the importance of bacterial viability and treatment timing, mice were orally treated with live or autoclaved bacteria in both preventive and therapeutic schedules. Disease severity was assessed by ophthalmoscopy and histology, immune phenotypes in mesenteric and cervical lymph nodes were analyzed by flow cytometry and the gut immune environment was analyzed by RT-PCR and/or gut tissue culture. EcN, but not EcO, protected against EAU but only as a live organism and only when administered before or at the time of disease induction. Successful prevention of EAU was accompanied by a decrease in IRBP-specific T cell response in the lymph nodes draining the site of immunization as early as 7 days after the immunization and eye-draining cervical lymph nodes when the eye inflammation became apparent. Furthermore, EcN promoted an anti-inflammatory response in Peyer’s patches, increased gut antimicrobial peptide expression and decreased production of inducible nitric oxide synthase in macrophages. In summary, we show here that EcN controls inflammation in EAU and suggest that probiotics may have a role in regulating the gut–eye axis.
Upregulation of CD109 Promotes the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition and Stemness Properties of Lung Adenocarcinomas via Activation of the Hippo-YAP Signaling
Authors: Lee Kang-Yun , Kuo Tai-Chih , Chou Chih-Ming , Hsu Wen-Jing , Lee Wei-Cheng , Dai Jia-Zih , Wu Sheng-Ming , Lin Cheng-Wei
Published: December 2020

Metastasis is the leading cause of death in lung adenocarcinomas. Identifying potential prognostic biomarkers and exploiting regulatory mechanisms could improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer patients. We previously found that cluster of differentiation 109 (CD109) was upregulated in lung tumor tissues, and CD109 overexpression was correlated with the invasive and metastatic capacities of lung adenocarcinoma cells. However, the contribution of CD109 to lung tumorigenesis remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we identified that CD109 was upregulated in metastatic lung adenocarcinoma cells, and elevation of CD109 was correlated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) traits in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Functionally, CD109 expression was crucial for EMT gene expressions, tumor invasiveness, and cancer stemness properties. Moreover, elevation of CD109 was accompanied by upregulation of the yes-associated protein (YAP) signature in metastatic lung cancer cells and lung cancer patients, and activation of YAP was demonstrated to participate in CD109-elicited EMT gene expressions and tumor invasiveness. Our study reveals the molecular mechanism underlying CD109 in lung tumor aggressiveness, and CD109 could be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for lung cancer patients.
The Influence of Drying Conditions of Clay-Based Polymer Coatings on Coated Paper Properties
Authors: Nechita Petronela
Published: December 2020

Coatings based on pigment and polymer binders are applied on paper surfaces to improve their surface, optical, and printing properties. Besides the coating composition, the structure and properties of the coated papers are influenced by the coating layer consolidation upon drying. In this study, the influence of drying conditions on the structure and properties of coating layers based on natural pigments (clay) and polymer binders (butadiene acrylonitrile latex) has been analyzed. Using a laboratory rod Mayer device, the coatings were applied as thin layer (about 15–16 g/m2) on the paper surface and samples of coated paper were dried at 20 and 105 °C temperatures. The optical, structural, and water absorption properties of the coating layer were evaluated by the measurement of gloss, opacity, void fraction, light scattering, and contact angle. The obtained results highlighted that both the drying temperature and latex content in the coating color have a synergic effect on the coated paper quality.
Numerical Modeling of a Short-Dwell Coater for Bio-Based Coating Applications
Authors: Gozali Ebrahim , Järnström Lars , Papadikis Konstantinos , Idris Alamin
Published: December 2020

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were used for the evaluation of critical issues associated with coating processes with the aim of developing and optimizing this important industrial technology. Four different models, namely, the constant viscosity, shear thinning, Oldroyd-B viscoelastic, and Giesekus models, were analyzed and compared in a short-dwell coater (SDC) using a bio-based coating material. The simulation results showed that the primary vortex formations predicted by the viscoelastic models were highly dependent on the flow Deborah number, resulting in uneven stress distribution over the coated surface. For the viscoelastic models, the dominance of elastic forces over viscous forces gave rise to significant normal stress difference, primarily along the surface of the substrate paper. The shear-thinning phenomena predicted by the Giesekus model, however, tended to relax the stress development in contrast to the Oldroyd-B model. The observations indicate that a reduced coating velocity or modification of the coating material with a reduced relaxation time constant can significantly enhance the uniformity and thickness of the coating over the coated surface under controlled conditions.
Improving Transport Properties of GaN-Based HEMT on Si (111) by Controlling SiH4 Flow Rate of the SiNx Nano-Mask
Authors: Dai Jin-Ji , Liu Cheng-Wei , Wu Ssu-Kuan , Huynh Sa-Hoang , Jiang Jhen-Gang , Yen Sui-An , Mai Thi Thu , Wen Hua-Chiang , Chou Wu-Ching , Hu Chih-Wei , Xuan Rong
Published: December 2020

The AlGaN/AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor structures were grown on a Si (111) substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition in combination with the insertion of a SiNx nano-mask into the low-temperature GaN buffer layer. Herein, the impact of SiH4 flow rate on two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) properties was comprehensively investigated, where an increase in SiH4 flow rate resulted in a decrease in edge-type threading dislocation density during coalescence process and an improvement of 2DEG electronic properties. The study also reveals that controlling the SiH4 flow rate of the SiNx nano-mask grown at low temperatures in a short time is an effective strategy to overcome the surface desorption issue that causes surface roughness degradation. The highest electron mobility of 1970 cm2/V·s and sheet carrier concentration of 6.42 × 1012 cm−2 can be achieved via an optimized SiH4 flow rate of 50 sccm.
Optimization of the Corrosion Resistance of Electroless Ni–W–P Coatings on Magnesium Alloys by the Response Surface Methodology
Authors: Liu Bin , Zhang Qing , Li Yang , Yang Yuebo , Zhang Tao , Wang Yanqiu , Shao Yawei , Sun Haiou , Wang Zhongyi , Wang Fuhui
Published: December 2020

Plating processes greatly affect the corrosion resistance of electroless Ni–W–P coatings on magnesium alloys. In the present research, the corrosion resistance of electroless Ni–W–P alloy-coated AZ91D magnesium alloy was optimized by the response surface methodology. The optimum technological parameters of the plating process were determined by establishing a quadratic regression model, and the influence of these variables and their interactions on the corrosion resistance of the coating was analyzed. The optimum technological parameters of the electroless plating process were nickel sulfate concentration = 20 g/L, sodium tungstate concentration = 15 g/L, sodium hypophosphite concentration = 30 g/L, bath temperature = 60 °C, and bath pH = 9.3. Under these conditions, the coating had the best corrosion resistance. Among the aforementioned five variables, sodium tungstate concentration had the most significant influence on the corrosion resistance of the coating. Different degrees of interactions among the variables greatly affected the corrosion resistance of the coating.
Ultrasonographic Diagnosis of Placenta Accreta Spectrum (PAS) Disorder: Ideation of an Ultrasonographic Score and Correlation with Surgical and Neonatal Outcomes
Authors: Del Negro Valentina , Aleksa Natalia , Galli Cecilia , Ciminello Enrico , Derme Martina , Vena Flaminia , Muzii Ludovico , Piccioni Maria Grazia
Published: December 2020

The objective of this study was to evaluate a novel ultrasonographic scoring system for the diagnosis of PAS and the prediction of maternal and neonatal outcomes. In this retrospective study, 138 patients with at least one previous caesarean section (CS) and placenta previa were included. They were divided into four groups ranging from Group 0 (Non PAS) to Group 3 (Placenta Percreta) according to the histological or surgical confirmation. Their ultrasound examinations during pregnancy were reviewed according to the nine different ultrasound signs reported by the European Working Group on Abnormally Invasive Placenta. For each parameter, 0 to 2 points were assigned. The sum of the points reflects the severity of PAS with a maximum score of 20. The scoring system revealed good performances in evaluation metrics, with an overall accuracy of 94%. In addition to this, patients’ characteristics and surgical and neonatal outcomes were analyzed with an evidence of higher incidence of complications in severe forms. Our study suggests that antenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis of PAS is feasible with sufficient level of accuracy. This will be important in identifying high-risk patients and implementing preventive strategy.
Thrombotic Microangiopathy among Hospitalized Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the United States
Authors: Pivovarova Aleksandra I. , Thongprayoon Charat , Hansrivijit Panupong , Kaewput Wisit , Qureshi Fawad , Boonpheng Boonphiphop , Bathini Tarun , Mao Michael A , Vallabhajosyula Saraschandra , Cheungpasitporn Wisit
Published: December 2020

Background: This study aimed to evaluate thrombotic microangiopathy’s (TMA) incidence, risk factors, and impact on outcomes and resource use in hospitalized patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: We used the National Inpatient Sample to construct a cohort of hospitalized patients with SLE from 2003–2014. We compared clinical characteristics, in-hospital treatments, outcomes, and resource use between SLE patients with and without TMA. Results: Of 35,745 hospital admissions for SLE, TMA concurrently presented or developed in 188 (0.5%) admissions. Multivariable analysis showed that age ≥ 40 years and Hispanics were significantly associated with decreased risk of TMA, whereas Asian/Pacific Islanders and history of chronic kidney disease were significantly associated with increased risk of TMA. TMA patients required more kidney biopsy, plasmapheresis, mechanical ventilation, and renal replacement therapy. TMA was significantly associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality and acute conditions including hemoptysis, glomerulonephritis, encephalitis/myelitis/encephalopathy, hemolytic anemia, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, sepsis, ischemic stroke, seizure, and acute kidney injury. The length of hospital stays and hospitalization cost was also significantly higher in SLE with TMA patients. Conclusion: TMA infrequently occurred in less than 1% of patients admitted for SLE, but it was significantly associated with higher morbidity, mortality, and resource use.
Speaker Recognition Based on Fusion of a Deep and Shallow Recombination Gaussian Supervector
Authors: Sun Linhui , Bu Yunyi , Zou Bo , Fu Sheng , Li Pingan
Published: December 2020

Extracting speaker’s personalized feature parameters is vital for speaker recognition. Only one kind of feature cannot fully reflect the speaker’s personality information. In order to represent the speaker’s identity more comprehensively and improve speaker recognition rate, we propose a speaker recognition method based on the fusion feature of a deep and shallow recombination Gaussian supervector. In this method, the deep bottleneck features are first extracted by Deep Neural Network (DNN), which are used for the input of the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to obtain the deep Gaussian supervector. On the other hand, we input the Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) to GMM directly to extract the traditional Gaussian supervector. Finally, the two categories of features are combined in the form of horizontal dimension augmentation. In addition, when the number of speakers to be recognized increases, in order to prevent the system recognition rate from falling sharply, we introduce the optimization algorithm to find the optimal weight before the feature fusion. The experiment results indicate that the speaker recognition rate based on the feature which is fused directly can reach 98.75%, which is 5% and 0.62% higher than the traditional feature and deep bottleneck feature, respectively. When the number of speakers increases, the fusion feature based on optimized weight coefficients can improve the recognition rate by 0.81%. It is validated that our proposed fusion method can effectively consider the complementarity of the different types of features and improve the speaker recognition rate.
Earthworms as an Ecological Indicator of Soil Recovery after Mechanized Logging Operations in Mixed Beech Forests
Authors: Sohrabi Hadi , Jourgholami Meghdad , Jafari Mohammad , Tavankar Farzam , Venanzi Rachele , Picchio Rodolfo
Published: December 2020

Soil damage caused by logging operations conducted to obtain and maximize economic benefits has been established as having long-term effects on forest soil quality and productivity. However, a comprehensive study of the impact of logging operations on earthworms as a criterion for soil recovery has never been conducted in the Hyrcanian forests of Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in soil biological properties (earthworm density and biomass) and its recovery process under the influence of traffic intensity, slope and soil depth in various intervals according to age after logging operations. Soil properties were compared among abandoned skid trails with different ages (i.e., 3, 10, 20, and 25 years) and an undisturbed area. The results showed that earthworm density and biomass in the high traffic intensity and slope class of 20–30% at the 10–20 cm depth of the soil had the lowest value compared to the other treatments. Twenty-five years after the logging operations, the earthworm density at soil depth of 0–10 and 10–20 cm was 28.4% (0.48 ind. m−2) and 38.6% (0.35 ind. m−2), which were less than those of the undisturbed area, respectively. Meanwhile, the earthworm biomass at a soil depth of 0–10 and 10–20 cm was 30.5% (2.05 mg m−2) and 40.5% (1.54 mg m−2) less than the values of the undisturbed area, respectively. The earthworm density and biomass were positively correlated with total porosity, organic carbon and nitrogen content, while negatively correlated with soil bulk density and C/N ratio. According to the results, 25 years after logging operations, the earthworm density and biomass on the skid trails were recovered, but they were significantly different with the undisturbed area. Therefore, full recovery of soil biological properties (i.e., earthworm density and biomass) takes more than 25 years. The conclusions of our study reveal that the effects of logging operations on soil properties are of great significance, and our understanding of the mechanism of soil change and recovery demand that harvesting operations be extensively and properly implemented.
Fermentation as a Strategy for Bio-Transforming Waste into Resources: Lactic Acid Production from Agri-Food Residues
Authors: Costa Stefania , Summa Daniela , Semeraro Bruno , Zappaterra Federico , Rugiero Irene , Tamburini Elena
Published: December 2020

Lactic acid (LA) obtained by fermentation of carbohydrates is well-known and widely used in the food sector. This process is as an alternative to the chemical synthesis and ensures several advantages especially in terms of environmental sustainability. In particularly, the opportunity to use agro-food residues as fermentable raw materials could improve the overall process sustainability, without considering the indisputable advantages in terms of waste reduction and residual biomass valorization, in a bio- and circular economy perspective. This research deals with the study and development of the fermentation processes of various waste biomasses from the agro-food industries, including milk whey (MW), ricotta cheese whey (RCW), pear processing residues (PPR), potato pomace (PP), tomato pomace (PT), in order to obtain an experimental protocol applicable to the production of LA. Lactobacillus casei DSM 20011 (ATCC 393), a homofermentative L(+)-LA producing bacterium has been used, starting from small-scale tests to verify of the microorganism to grow in complex medium with different carbon sources and the possible presence of potentially toxic substances for microbial growth. Yields from 27.0 ± 0.3% to 46.0 ± 0.7% have been obtained. Then, a scaling-up was performed in a 1 L batch fermenter, using a mixed medium of RCW and PPR in different ratio. The best LA yield was 78.3% with a volumetric productivity of 1.12 g/L·h in less than 60 h.