bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Virtual care to increase military medical centre capacity in the primary health care setting: A prospective self-controlled pilot study of symptoms collection and telemedicine
Authors: Tan Nan-Guang , Yang Lily Wei-Yun , Tan Mark Zhong-Wei , Chng Jeremiah , Tan Marcus Hong-Tat , Tan Clive
Published: October 2020

Introduction

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) recognises the potential benefits and looks to harnessing telemedicine for primary health care services. In this prospective self-controlled pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the safety, efficiency and user satisfaction outcomes of virtual care (VC) at a military medical centre.

Methods

Out of 320 patients seen during the study period, 28 were enrolled in this study and underwent on-premises VC, comprising digital symptoms collection and telemedicine in addition to the usual in-person physician consultation. Safety outcomes were measured based on the diagnostic concordance between physicians. Efficiency was measured based on consultation times, and user satisfaction was evaluated using a standard questionnaire.

Results

There was a higher caseload of both upper respiratory infections and dermatological conditions in our population, in which telemedicine performed well. In terms of safety, telemedicine achieved a mean diagnostic concordance of 92.8% compared to in-person consultations. In terms of efficiency, consultation times were 26.2% – or 2 minutes and 15 seconds – shorter on average with telemedicine ( p = 0.0488). User satisfaction was favourable, with 85.5% of patients satisfied with the VC experience.

Discussion

This study has been invaluable in showing that on-premises telemedicine is a safe, efficient and effective means to extend and increase our surge capacity for primary health care. Our results have given us reasonable confidence to explore a larger-scale implementation in our network of military medical centres in the future.
How scientific reasoning correlates with health-related beliefs and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Authors: Čavojová Vladimíra , Šrol Jakub , Ballová Mikušková Eva
Published: October 2020

We examined whether scientific reasoning is associated with health-related beliefs and behaviors over and above general analytic thinking ability in the general public ( N = 783, aged 18–84). Health-related beliefs included: anti-vaccination attitudes, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and generic health-related epistemically suspect beliefs. Scientific reasoning correlated with generic pseudoscientific and health-related conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. Crucially, scientific reasoning was a stronger independent predictor of unfounded beliefs (including anti-vaccination attitudes) than general analytic thinking was; however, it had a more modest role in health-related behaviors.
Starman or Sterrenman: An acquisitional perspective on the social meaning of English in Flanders
Authors: Zenner Eline , Rosseel Laura , Speelman Dirk
Published: October 2020

Objective:

This paper reports on an experiment conducted with 174 Flemish children in three age groups, namely first, third and fifth year of primary school, aiming to assess the social meaning children associate with English-sourced lexemes in Belgian Dutch.

Method:

The children were presented with 2 versions of a cartoon hero developed specifically for this study: Sterrenman, who only uses Dutch words, and Starman, who uses English alternatives for 17 content words in the cartoon’s script. Relying on extensive pretesting, we adapted standard designs and instrumentation from social psychology (the matched guise technique) and language acquisition research to gauge the children’s appreciation of the two heroes, their understanding of the English and Dutch vocabulary used in the script, and their level of language awareness.

Findings:

The key findings are: rather than an incremental increase in favorable social meaning for English from the first to the third age group under scrutiny, we see a decline of the prestige of Dutch in the oldest age group; the children’s level of language awareness, receptive vocabulary knowledge and age seem associated with their overall appreciation of Sterrenman and Starman; working with children from various age groups inevitably entails methodological risks.

Originality:

This is a first and hence exploratory study on the acquisition of the social meaning of English lexemes by EL2 children and their ensuing progressing bilingualism.

Implications:

Overall, the study helps us contribute to both the recent socio-pragmatic turn in anglicism research and to the upcoming field of developmental sociolinguistics, revealing the transition points in children’s acquisition of the social meaning of contact-induced variation and change.
Experimental and simulated optimization study on dynamic heat discharge performance of multi-units water tank with PCM
Authors: Li Jin , Zhang Yin , Ding Pei , Long Enshen
Published: October 2020

The water tank is most commonly a crucial energy storage device of a solar heating system. However, few existing studies have focused on the quantitative analysis of the heat discharge process of a square water tank. In this paper, a multi-units water tank with phase change material (MWT-PCM) was proposed. The dynamic heat discharge performances of the MWT-PCM and the conventional water tank both with 235.8 dm 3 were compared experimentally. A validated mathematical model was established to optimize the configuration of the MWT-PCM. Results demonstrated that: (1) The water temperature of both tanks had a sharp decline at the initial stage of the heat discharge process. (2) The instantaneous residual effective heat and the instantaneous heat supply of the WMT-PCM were 127% and 45.6% higher than that of the conventional water tank on average, respectively. (3) Due to the PCM, the effective heat discharge time could be prolonged by about 90 min. (4) When the PCM was arranged in a multi-unit manner, a small flow rate operation was recommended. However, the effect of changes in the total mass of the PCM was not obvious, and thus, for the given total mass, a smaller pipe diameter was recommended.
Chilling effects and the stock market response to the Snowden revelations
Authors: Rosso Mark , Nasir ABM , Farhadloo Mohsen
Published: October 2020

This study analyzes the changes in individuals’ Internet search behavior and economic variables following Edward Snowden’s revelation of National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance activities of global Internet communications. We refer to the abrupt changes in individual search behavior beginning in June 2013 following Snowden’s revelations as the “Snowden effect.” The “Snowden effect” is a form of chilling effect. Using data from a unique search engine, DuckDuckGo, we show that chilling effects indeed exist. However, further analysis including the stock prices of the largest cybersecurity companies demonstrate a muted market response to the revelations, while cybersecurity spending data suggest resulting economic harm in the form of increased opportunity costs of buyers of cybersecurity services.
Study of the engine configuration effect on the maximum achievable load in CAI using water injection
Authors: Valero-Marco J , Lehrheuer B , López JJ , Pischinger S
Published: October 2020

The approach of this research is to enlarge the knowledge about the methodologies to increase the maximum achievable load degree in the context of gasoline CAI engines. This work is the continuation of a previous work related to the study of the water injection effect on combustion, where this strategy was approached. The operating strategies to introduce the water and the interconnected settings were deeply analyzed in order to optimize combustion and to evaluate its potential to increase the maximum load degree when operating in CAI. During these initial tests, the engine was configured to enhance the mixture autoignition. The compression ratio was high compared to a standard gasoline engine, and suitable fuel injection strategies were selected based on previous studies from the authors to maximize the reactivity of the mixture, and get a stable CAI operation. Once water injection proved to provide encouraging results, the next step dealt in this work, was to go deeper and explore its effects when the engine configuration is more similar to a conventional gasoline engine, trying to get CAI combustion closer to production engines. This means, mainly, lower compression ratios and different fuel injection strategies, which hinders CAI operation. Finally, since all the previous works were performed at constant engine speed, the engine speed was also modified in order to see the applicability of the defined strategies to operate under CAI conditions at other operating conditions. The results obtained show that all these modifications are compatible with CAI operation: the required compression ratio can be reduced, in some cases the injection strategies can be simplified, and the increase of the engine speed leads to better conditions for CAI combustion. Thanks to the analysis of all this data, the different key parameters to manage this combustion mode are identified and shown in the paper.
Automated Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning for Cervical Cancer Based on Convolution Neural Network
Authors: Jihong Chen , Penggang Bai , Xiuchun Zhang , Kaiqiang Chen , Wenjuan Chen , Yitao Dai , Jiewei Qian , Kerun Quan , Jing Zhong , Tianming Wu
Published: October 2020

Purpose:

To develop and evaluate an automatic intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) program for cervical cancer, including a Convolution Neural Network (CNN)-based prediction model and an automated optimization strategy.

Methods:

A CNN deep learning model was trained to predict a patient-specify set of IMRT objectives based on overlap volume histograms (OVH) and high-quality plan of previous patients. A total of 140 cervical cancer patients were enrolled in this study, including 100 patients in the training set, 20 patients in the validation set and 20 patients in the testing set. The input of this model was OVH data and the output were values of IMRT plan objectives. For patients in the testing set, the set of planning objectives were predicted by the CNN model and used to automatically generate IMRT plans. Meanwhile, manual plans of these patients were generated by 1 beginner planner and 1 senior planner respectively. Finally, dose distribution, dosimetric parameters and planning time were analyzed. In addition, the 3 types of plans were blinded compared and ranked by an experienced oncologist.

Results:

There were almost no statistically differences among these 3 types of plans in target coverage and dose conformity. Dose homogeneity were slightly decreased while the average dose and parameters for most organs-at-risk (OARs) were decreased in automatic plans. Especially in comparison with manual plans by the beginner planner, V40 of bladder and rectum decreased 6.3% and 12.3%, while mean dose of rectum and marrow were 1.1 Gy and 1.8 Gy lower with automatic plans (either P < 0.017). In the blinded comparison, automatic plans were chosen as best plan in 14 cases.

Conclusions:

For cervical cancer, automatic IMRT plans optimized from the CNN generated objectives have superior dose sparing without compromising of target dose. It significantly reduced the planning time.
LncRNA NORAD as a Novel Predictor of Lymph Node Metastasis and Prognosis in Solid Tumors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Ye Tao , Ye Zhangqun
Published: October 2020

Background:

Non-coding RNA-activated by DNA damage (NORAD), a novel identified lncRNA, was found to be aberrantly expressed in various types of cancer. This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the value of lncRNA NORAD as a prognostic biomarker in human cancers.

Methods:

We searched PubMed, Web of Science, PMC, and Embase databases thoroughly for eligible literatures. Studies which explored the relationship of lncRNA NORAD expression with clinical outcomes in human cancers were included in our meta-analysis. Review Manager version 5.3 and Stata SE 12.0 were used to perform the data analyses.

Results:

Our meta-analysis results indicated that cancer patients with high lncRNA NORAD expression tended to have unfavorable overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.67; 95% CI, 1.44-1.95; P < 0.00001). Moreover, elevated lncRNA NORAD expression showed a significant relationship with poor tumor grade (OR = 1.61; 95% CI, 1.01-2.56; P = 0.05) and more lymph node metastasis (LNM) (OR = 2.66; 95% CI, 1.60-4.43; P = 0.0002).

Conclusions:

LncRNA NORAD could serve as a valuable biomarker to predict poor prognosis and LNM in various human tumors.
Therapeutic Efficacy of Urinile Against Gouty Arthritis
Authors: Ahmad Saeed , Mohiuddin Ejaz , Shah Syed Muhammad Ali , Akram Muhammad , Amjad Muhammad , Nisar Jaweria , Riaz Muhammad , Munir Naveed , Rasool Ghulam
Published: October 2020

Gout is arthritis caused due to Monosodium urate (MSU) crystals deposition occurring particularly in patients with associated comorbidities limiting the use of conventional therapies. This study was planned to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of urinile (a herbal drug) for the treatment of gouty arthritis. Allopurinol was used as standard drug (positive control). The study population of 250 volunteers (gouty arthritis patients) were divided into 2 groups as test and control group (n = 125 each). Gouty arthritis patients in test and control group were treated with 300 mg each of urinile and allopurinol, respectively. Clinical symptoms of all the study volunteers were recorded and serum uric acid was determined. Significant (p < 0.05) reduction in serum uric acid level toward normal was found in test group individuals. Clinical symptoms of gouty arthritis patients were also improved in test group compared to control group. Results showed that urinile has the potential to decrease serum uric acid level in gouty arthritis patients probably because of its antioxidant potential and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity. It can be concluded that the tested herbal drug urinile is more potent in treating gouty arthritis patients and can be used as an effective alternative to the most commonly used allopathic drugs.
Improving Diet Quality for Chronic Disease Prevention With Okara “Food Waste”
Authors: Suzuki Asuka , Banna Jinan
Published: October 2020

There is a large amount of food waste in the United States, with high financial and environmental costs. Okara, also known as soybean (curd) residue or soy pulp, is the byproduct of tofu and soy milk, has high nutrition value, and is available at a reasonable price. While it is often disposed, it may instead be incorporated into our daily diet in a variety of novel healthy products. Public health practitioners may help address the issue of food waste by encouraging the use of “waste” such as okara through work with consumers and companies. These efforts may lead to increased food security and promote the health of humans and the environment.
Kinematic of 4SPRR-SPR parallel robots based on VQTAM
Authors: Lan Luo , Li Hou , Yang Wu , Qi Zhang , Yonghqiao Wei
Published: October 2020

4SPRR-SPR parallel robot is a novel closed-loop mechanism. The research of kinematics is the basis of real-time and robust robot control. This paper aims to proposing a method to address a surrogate model of forward kinematics for PMs (Parallel Mechanisms). Herein, the forward kinematics model is derived by training the VQTAM (Vector-Quantified Temporal Associative Memory) network, which originates from a SOM (Self-Organized Mapping). During the processes of training, testing and estimating this neural network, the priority K-means tree search algorithm is utilized, thus improving the training efficacy. Furthermore, LLR (Local Linear Regression), LWR (Local Weighted Linear Regression) and LLE (Local Linear Embedding) algorithms are respectively combined with VQTAM to get three improvement algorithms, aiming to further optimize the prediction accuracy of the networks. To speed up solving the least squared equation in the three algorithms, SVD (Singular Value Decomposition) is introduced. Finally, Data from inverse kinematics by geometric method is obtained, which is for constructing and validating the VQTAM neural network. Results show that the prediction effect of LLE algorithm is better than others, which could be a potential surrogate model to estimate the output of forward kinematics.
Rolling gaits of a strut-actuated six-strut spherical tensegrity
Authors: Zheng Yanfeng , Cai Huiying , Wang Meijia , Yao Junjie , Xu Xian , Zhou Chunlin , Luo Yaozhi
Published: October 2020

A tensegrity is a self-stressed pin-jointed system consisting of tensile members and compressive members. As its shape can be actively controlled by changing the prestress of its members, it has great potential to be used as a shape-controllable locomotive system. Particularly, the six-strut spherical tensegrity has been studied intensively as a rolling locomotive system. In this study, the rolling gaits of a strut-actuated six-strut spherical tensegrity are investigated. Specifically, a mathematical model for generating the rolling gaits of locomotive spherical tensegrities is presented, and a numerical method combining dynamic relaxation method and genetic algorithm is used to solve the model. Various rolling gaits for the strut-actuated six-strut locomotive spherical tensegrity are identified using this approach. Two basic types of touching-ground triangles, two basic distributions of payload, and six cases for the numbers of used active struts are considered. Several rolling gait primitives are noted, their motion features analyzed, and a simple path-generating strategy is proposed based on idealized rolling gait primitives. A physical prototype of the strut-actuated six-strut locomotive tensegrity is manufactured, and experiments are conducted to verify the rolling gaits and locomotion paths generated by the proposed methods.
Leadership practices in collaborative innovation: A study among Dutch school principals
Authors: de Jong WA , Lockhorst D , de Kleijn RAM , Noordegraaf M , van Tartwijk JWF
Published: October 2020

School principals and teachers are expected to continuously innovate their practices in changing school environments. These innovation processes can be shared more widely through collaboration between principals and teachers, i.e. collaborative innovation. In order to gain more insight into how school principals enact their leadership practices in leading collaborative innovation, we interviewed 22 school principals of primary, secondary and vocational education in the Netherlands. All participants have implemented the same collaborative innovation programme, aimed at enhancement of collaboration between teachers and school principals within schools, that has already been implemented by 900 Dutch schools. They were interviewed twice during the implementation year. Interview transcripts were analysed using an open coding strategy looking for leadership practices. Based on 11 leadership practices, we described two main leadership patterns: school principals enacting leadership practices as either a team player or as a facilitator. We conclude that our findings suggest a wider repertoire of leadership practices than is reported in previous studies. Future studies would need to address the generalisability of the practices and patterns as found in this specific context of collaborative innovation.
The development and testing of a co-designed distance learning programme to improve the knowledge of trained auxiliary nurse midwives in normal midwifery practice in central India
Authors: Foss Mary , le May with Andrée , Gobbi Mary
Published: October 2020

Background

In the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh maternal health is poor, and women’s social status is low. For some women, autonomy and decision-making within the family is limited as they seek medical treatment through their husband or father-in-law. The then state government identified a need to strengthen midwifery care given by auxiliary nurse midwives to improve maternal and neonatal health.>*

Methods

This cross-cultural, two phase study was designed in partnership with an Indian non-governmental organisation, utilising Elliot’s action research model within the paradigm of critical theory. Phase 1 investigated the then current situation and established a potential solution to strengthening midwifery practice within Madhya Pradesh. This comprised an educational approach using a specifically designed self-directed distance learning programme focussing on normal pregnancy and childbirth. The distance learning programme was a hard copy workbook supported by a multimedia resource informed by the Rowntree and Analysis Design Development Implementation Evaluation models of educational material development. Phase 2 involved the use and evaluation of the distance learning programme with an initial primary group sample of 28 comprising auxiliary nurse midwives (22), lady health visitors (4) and staff nurses (2) in Madhya Pradesh. Fourteen auxiliary nurse midwife participants completed knowledge tests using a pre- and post-programme multiple choice question paper. This primary group negotiated a 3-day workshop to cover identified gaps within their original 12-week study period. Nineteen additional auxiliary nurse midwife participants joined this workshop (group 2).

Results

The multiple choice question test results indicated that the first group had poor knowledge of the normal process of pregnancy and childbirth. After the workshop, they marginally improved their personal performance scores. The second group demonstrated greater change, which suggests that coupling self-directed guided study material with an enabling, face-to-face environment can be successful.

Conclusions

Distance learning among auxiliary nurse midwives in central India may be enhanced when accompanied by face-to-face workshops. Partnership working – at organisational, team and individual levels, was a crucial, and empowering, component of this cross-cultural action research study. Both points have relevance for others undertaking similar studies.
The real-time big data processing method based on LSTM or GRU for the smart job shop production process
Authors: Wang Chuang , Du Wenbo , Zhu Zhixiang , Yue Zhifeng
Published: October 2020

With the wide application of intelligent sensors and internet of things (IoT) in the smart job shop, a large number of real-time production data is collected. Accurate analysis of the collected data can help producers to make effective decisions. Compared with the traditional data processing methods, artificial intelligence, as the main big data analysis method, is more and more applied to the manufacturing industry. However, the ability of different AI models to process real-time data of smart job shop production is also different. Based on this, a real-time big data processing method for the job shop production process based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Gate Recurrent Unit (GRU) is proposed. This method uses the historical production data extracted by the IoT job shop as the original data set, and after data preprocessing, uses the LSTM and GRU model to train and predict the real-time data of the job shop. Through the description and implementation of the model, it is compared with KNN, DT and traditional neural network model. The results show that in the real-time big data processing of production process, the performance of the LSTM and GRU models is superior to the traditional neural network, K nearest neighbor (KNN), decision tree (DT). When the performance is similar to LSTM, the training time of GRU is much lower than LSTM model.
Social media and journalistic discourse analysis: 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
Authors: Alizadeh Afrouzi Omid
Published: October 2020

This study analyzes the journalistic discourses on social media in order to find out the position of Venezuelan and international press in the coverage of 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. Drawing on Borrat’s and Enguix Oliver’s theoretical approaches regarding newspapers and social networks, and through CDA models of Fairclough and Richardson, this research aims to understand to what extent the national quality newspapers such as El Nacional, El Universal, and Últimas Noticias, and the international ones as The New York Times, The Guardian, El País, and Le Monde participated in the Venezuelan political conflict and constructed the respective political narratives through Instagram. The findings show that both national and international press participated as external narrators in the political conflict and highlight the role of newspapers as political actors and social media as a tool in their hands.
Toward a radical food geography praxis: integrating theory, action, and geographic analysis in pursuit of more equitable and sustainable food systems
Authors: Hammelman Colleen , Reynolds Kristin , Levkoe Charles Z.
Published: October 2020

Radical geographies scholarship has evolved over the past decades in pursuit of transforming spatial, political-economic, social, and ecological engagements within oppressive structures. Similarly, food systems scholarship demonstrates increasing interest in the scalar, sociopolitical, and ecological dynamics of food systems, often with an applied or action-oriented focus. Building on these connected, yet divergent, traditions of scholarship and action, we propose a radical food geography praxis that is rooted in the intersections of active resistance to structures that (re)produce power inequity and oppression in food systems in specific places and across spaces, and an ongoing process of critical and theoretical reflection about these structures and geographies. The radical food geography praxis we propose consists of three primary and interconnected elements: (1) theoretical engagements with power and structures of oppression both inside and outside the academy; (2) action through academic, social movement, and civil society collaborations; and (3) analysis through a broadly defined geographic lens. Through bringing together radical geographies and food systems scholarship, a radical food geography praxis reveals the interconnectivity between places and movements, relationality between land and people, the flows of people, environmental resources, ideas, and culture, and the diverse approaches to achieving justice-oriented objectives. In order to build more equitable and sustainable food systems, it is essential to engage with these geographic realities in deeply theoretical and action-oriented ways.
Littoral cell angioma of the spleen: A case report
Authors: Opatrny Vaclav , Treska Vladislav , Waloschek Tomas , Molacek Jiri
Published: October 2020

Spleen tumors are an uncommon disease. Littoral cell angioma belongs to the group of vascular tumors. It is believed that this tumor originates from the tissue of the red pulp sinuses, specifically from the cells that are lining the sinuses. If this rare tumor is diagnosed, it is necessary to search for synchronous or metachronous visceral neoplasia. Littoral cell angioma can also mimic metastatic lesion of the spleen. This case report wants to draw attention on this rare tumor of the spleen which is very often associated with other visceral malignancy.
Human African trypanosomiasis in two historical foci of the estuaire province, gabon: A case report
Authors: Iroungou Berthe Amélie , Boundenga Larson , Guignali Mangouka Laurette , Bivigou-Mboumba Berthold , Nzenze Jean Raymond , Maganga Gael Darren
Published: October 2020

Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is an infectious disease due to a protozoa parasite of the Trypanosoma genus. In West and Central Africa, this disease is caused by the subspecies Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. Several foci of this disease are currently active and causing the death of hundreds of people in endemic areas. In this article, we report two cases of gambiense HAT in one Indonesian and one Gabonese men in two historical foci of Gabon in 2019. Both patients had fever with temperatures above 38°C, an altered state of consciousness, cachexia, and multiple dermabrasions on the abdomen related to scratching lesions. The diagnostic revealed second-stage infection of both patients with T. b. gambiense; this result was confirmed by a polymerase chain reaction assay. Despite treatment with a combination of eflornithine and nifurtimox, as recommended by the World Health Organization for late-stage T. b. gambiense HAT, one of the two patients died. Thus, these cases highlight the importance of early HAT diagnosis and prompt patient care to fight effectively against this disease.
Laparotomy for duodenal obstruction, caused by a renal haematoma after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy
Authors: Saunders Rebecca
Published: October 2020

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy is a widely used, acceptable and common first line treatment for non-conservatively managed renal and ureteric stone disease. Although considered a relatively safe non invasive treatment for renal and ureteric stones, can carry with it significant associated morbiditiy especially in high risk patients, such as those who are anticoagulated. Renal haematomas are not an uncommon finding after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy, however, fewer than 1% of patients presenting with a symptomatic renal haematoma require intervention in the form of urgent embolisation under interventional radiology, or emergency nephrectomy. Rare cases of splenic and hepatic haematomas have been reported and rarer still cases of gastro-intestinal perforation following extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. We report a case with a significant renal haematoma needing emergency embolisation of the renal artery, and subsequent development of duodenal obstruction from direct haematoma compression requiring a laparotomy and intended duodenal jejunal bypass.

Level of evidence: 5
Keeping it peaceful: Twitter and the Gezi Park movement
Authors: Demir Fatih , Bastug Mehmet F , Douai Aziz
Published: October 2020

Over the last decade, social media platforms have become the leading communication tools for activists and protesters all over the world. Understanding protesters’ motivations and reasons for using social media is a challenging issue for researchers. In this article, we analyzed the use of Twitter during the anti-governmental protests in Istanbul that was launched in May 2013. We examined 13,794 tweets posted to the #direngeziparki hashtag over a 6-day period. Based on the results of a qualitative content coding of the tweets, we found that the Twitter platform was widely used to mobilize protesters, share information about the events, and express opinions about the policing of the protests. We argue that social media can help keep protests peaceful by preventing vandalism, informing the protesters about extremist or violent groups participating in the protests, and can help them to avoid engaging in violent acts against police forces.
Spontaneous Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories in Individuals Experiencing Depression
Authors: Sakka Laura S. , Saarikallio Suvi
Published: October 2020

Listening to music often triggers strong memories of events from our past, which influence how we affectively experience music listening and can therefore contribute to music’s therapeutic capacity. The aim of this study was to examine the valence and content of spontaneous music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) in listeners with self-reported depression, who typically demonstrate negatively biased autobiographical memory. Eighteen depressed and 21 controls participated in a music-listening experiment where they listened to a personalized music stimulus, described their memories, and thereafter rated the valence of these memories and of their induced affect. Participants’ ratings were statistically analysed, while the memory content was analysed with the use of a computerized text-analysis method and with a qualitative thematic analysis. Quantitative ratings of valence revealed a significant difference between groups: half of the depressed, compared to none of the controls, recalled a negative memory, and these were experienced with negative induced affect. The qualitative thematic analysis of the memory descriptions revealed that both depressed and control participants’ memories could be categorized into three first-level themes: (1) personal, (2) relationships, and (3) activities. Depressed participants’ negative memories were mainly located in the ‘relationships’ theme and included memories about loss and dysfunctional relationships, such as bullying, and in the ‘personal’ theme, including memories of mental health struggles and coping with music. Approximately a third of depressed participants recalled positive memories, and these were either related to loving family relationships or to activities. Limitations concerning the small sample size and implications regarding the function of music listening for depressed individuals are discussed.
Comparing Return to Sports After Patellofemoral and Knee Arthroplasty in an Age- and Sex-Matched Cohort
Authors: Schneider Brandon L. , Ling Daphne I. , Kleebad Laura J. , Strickland Sabrina , Pearle Andrew
Published: October 2020

Background:

Return to sports is an important outcome in ensuring patient satisfaction after knee-replacement surgery. However, few studies have directly compared unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and patellofemoral arthroplasty (PFA).

Hypothesis:

TKA will result in lower rates of return to sports than either UKA and PFA due to increased complexity and invasiveness.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Patients who underwent UKA, TKA, or PFA with 1 to 2 years of follow-up were sent a questionnaire regarding return to sports, satisfaction with return to sports, pain, the University of California, Los Angeles activity scale, and the High Activity Arthroplasty Score (HAAS). The patients who underwent either TKA or UKA were matched 2:1 with regard to age and sex to patients who underwent PFA. Differences were compared using analysis of variance, t tests, and chi-square tests.

Results:

A total of 202 patients were eligible. After matching, the final cohort consisted of 23 PFA patients, 46 UKA patients, and 46 TKA patients. The majority of patients were female (87%), and the mean ± SD age was 56 ± 9.1 years. The UKA group had higher HAAS values than the TKA group pre- and postoperatively (9.9 vs 7.1 [ P = .001] and 12.4 vs 9.5 [ P < .001], respectively). Patients with UKA had higher rates of return to sports after surgery than those with TKA or PFA (UKA, 80.5%; TKA, 71.7%; PFA, 69.5%; P = 0.08). In addition, the UKA group had the highest satisfaction with this outcome. Improvement between pre- and postoperative scores was similar in all 3 groups.

Conclusion:

Patients who underwent UKA reported better activity scores and return-to-sports rates than patients who had TKA and PFA. No differences were found in improvement after surgery, suggesting that preoperative differences were reflected postoperatively. These findings inform shared decision making and can help to manage patient expectations after surgery.
Partners in Narrative: Empowering Patient–Physician Partnerships in the Electronic Health Record
Authors: Balhara Kamna S , Millstein Jeffrey H
Published: October 2020

Amidst the chorus of valid laments about the electronic health record (EHR) are voices calling our attention to its potential to enhance transmission of information, patient communication, and decision-making. Herein, we propose ideas which, in addition, may enhance the potential of physicians and patients to become better at storytelling through the EHR. Clinicians can partner with patients to create meaningful, personalized narratives which restore inclusivity and patient agency to the EHR.
Considerations for a combined index for limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis to support drug development and improve outcomes
Authors: Lescoat Alain , Murphy Susan L , Roofeh David , Pauling John D , Hughes Michael , Sandler Robert , Zimmermann François , Wessel Rachel , Townsend Whitney , Chung Lorinda , Denton Christopher P , Merkel Peter A , Steen Virginia , Allanore Yannick , Del Galdo Francesco , Godard Dominique , Cella David , Farrington Sue , Buch Maya H , Khanna Dinesh
Published: October 2020

Systemic sclerosis (systemic scleroderma) is characterized by a heterogeneous range of clinical manifestations. Systemic sclerosis is classified into limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis and diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis subgroups based on the extent of skin involvement. Randomized controlled trials in scleroderma have mainly focused on diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis partly because the measurement of skin involvement, critical for evaluating a therapeutic intervention, is more dynamic in this subset. Nonetheless, limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis, the most common cutaneous subset (about two-third), is also associated with significant morbidity and detrimental impact on health-related quality of life. The lack of interventional studies in limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis is partly due to a lack of relevant outcome measures to evaluate this subgroup. Combining several clinically meaningful outcomes selected specifically for limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis may improve representativeness in clinical trials and responsiveness of outcomes measured in randomized controlled trials. A composite index dedicated to limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis combining such relevant outcomes could advance clinical trial development for limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis by providing the opportunity to test and select among candidate drugs that could act as disease-modifying treatments for this neglected subgroup of systemic sclerosis. This proposed index would include items selected by expert physicians and patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis across domains grounded in the lived experience of limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis. This article reviews the reasons behind the relative neglect of limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis, discusses the current state of outcome measures for limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis, identifies challenges, and proposes a roadmap for a combined limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis-specific treatment response index.
Examining the spatial distribution and temporal change of the green view index in New York City using Google Street View images and deep learning
Authors: Li Xiaojiang
Published: October 2020

As an important part of the urban ecosystem, urban trees provide various benefits to urban residents. It is therefore important to examine the spatial distribution and the temporal change in urban tree canopies. Different from traditional overhead view remote sensing-based methods, street-level images, which present the most common view that people have of greenery, provide a more human-centric way to quantify street tree canopies. This study mapped and analyzed the spatial distribution and temporal change in the green view index, which represents the visibility of tree canopies along streets in New York City during the last 10 years using historical Google Street View images. Deep learning and computer vision algorithms were used to derive the quantitative information of street tree canopies from street-level images and map the spatial distribution of the green view index. This study further investigated the potential disparities in terms of green view index across different racial/ethnic groups by comparing with census data. Results show that non-Hispanic Whites tend to live in neighborhoods with higher green view index and Hispanics tend to live in neighborhoods with lower green view index. The green view index values in New York City have increased slightly in the last 10 years, and the change of green view index has no significant correlation with resident’s ethnic/racial status. This study proves the usability of historical Google Street View images for monitoring the temporal change of urban street tree canopy changes at large scale, and it also provides insights and a valuable reference for urban greening programs.
Personality, Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention Among Ghanaian Students
Authors: Nunfam Victor Fannam , Asitik Akanganngang Joseph , Afrifa-Yamoah Ebenezer
Published: October 2020

The connection between personality traits, entrepreneurship curriculum and entrepreneurial intention has received inadequate research consideration among students in Africa to inform policies and curriculum development. An explanatory cross-sectional survey of 324 Ghanaian university students was assessed in a path analysis to model entrepreneurial intention as a function of personality characteristics, mediated by entrepreneurship curriculum and moderated by teaching methods, while controlling for age, gender and program of study. There were direct significant effects of entrepreneurial attitude, need for achievement and locus of control on entrepreneurial intention. The conditional effect of teaching method on entrepreneurial attitude was also significant. We found evidence of mediated-moderation for entrepreneurial attitude and intention, with no evidence found for locus of control and need for achievement. We have provided empirical evidence to support the ongoing discussion on the effect of personality traits on entrepreneurial intention to guide the development of policy and curriculum on entrepreneurship education. Implications of our study for extant literature on personality traits-entrepreneurship intention nexus, aspiring student entrepreneurs, university managers, entrepreneurship educators and policy decision makers are accentuated.
Peroxisomal-PEX5 Controls Fasting-Induced Lipolysis
Authors: Han Ji Seul , Han Kyung Hee , Kim Jae Bum
Published: October 2020

Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic subcellular organelles which play critical roles for lipid homeostasis upon change of nutritional state. Although several organelles such as mitochondria and peroxisomes are involved in lipid metabolism, physiological roles and mediators involved in the spatiotemporal regulation of these subcellular organelles for energy metabolism has largely remained elusive. Our recent study implicates the importance of peroxisomes in the translocation of lipases onto LDs upon fasting cues. Also, we found that peroxisomal protein PEX5 modulates PKA-induced lipolysis by escorting ATGL toward LDs. This is accompanied by KIFC3-mediated migration of peroxisomes, leading to the physical contact between peroxisomes and LDs. In adipocyte-specific PEX5-knockout mice, fasting induced lipolysis is attenuated due to defective ATGL recruitment onto LDs. These results show that PEX5 plays a pivotal role in PKA induced lipolysis that occurs upon nutritional deprivation. We further speculate that the contact between LDs and peroxisomes could facilitate lipid metabolism via exchange of lipid metabolites between the organelles in response to nutritional changes.
Experimental investigations on ultra-precision machining of polycarbonate and related issues
Authors: Mishra Vinod , Sharma Rohit , Mahajan Kuldeep , Kumar Jayant , Khatri Neha , Gupta Anikate , Garg Harry , Karar Vinod , Pawade Raju , Sarepaka RamaGopal V.
Published: October 2020

Optical plastic lenses are progressively substituting glass optics due to their lightweight and low costs. Polycarbonate (PC) is considered as one of the leading optical materials due to its good mechanical and optical properties. Ultra-precision machining is the most suited process to develop PC optical components. Nevertheless, ultra-precision machining is considered as one of the deterministic processes to ensure the surface quality required for optical components. However, it is important to understand the behavior of the material during each stage of manufacturing. PC offers many challenges during its processing to achieve the nanometric finish and sub-micron form accuracies. In this article, the various issues of PC machining are discussed through experimental investigations. The effect of machining variables, that is, machining parameters, cutting temperature, and vacuum clamping on surface quality is studied. The results show the importance of the selection of optimum conditions for machining PC with good surface quality. The PC optical component is developed with surface finish ( Ra) 18.1 nm and profile accuracies ( Pv) of 0.116 µm. The study is helpful to understand the various issues involved in PC machining and hence to minimize their effects on surface quality.
UBC-9 Acts in GABA Neurons to Control Neuromuscular Signaling in C. elegans
Authors: Kreyden Victoria A , Mawi Elly B , Rush Kristen M , Kowalski Jennifer R
Published: October 2020

Regulation of excitatory to inhibitory signaling balance is essential to nervous system health and is maintained by numerous enzyme systems that modulate the activity, localization, and abundance of synaptic proteins. SUMOylation is a key post-translational regulator of protein function in diverse cells, including neurons. There, its role in regulating synaptic transmission through pre- and postsynaptic effects has been shown primarily at glutamatergic central nervous system synapses, where the sole SUMO-conjugating enzyme Ubc9 is a critical player. However, whether Ubc9 functions globally at other synapses, including inhibitory synapses, has not been explored. Here, we investigated the role of UBC-9 and the SUMOylation pathway in controlling the balance of excitatory cholinergic and inhibitory GABAergic signaling required for muscle contraction in Caenorhabditis elegans. We found inhibition or overexpression of UBC-9 in neurons modestly increased muscle excitation. Similar and even stronger phenotypes were seen with UBC-9 overexpression specifically in GABAergic neurons, but not in cholinergic neurons. These effects correlated with accumulation of synaptic vesicle-associated proteins at GABAergic presynapses, where UBC-9 and the C. elegans SUMO ortholog SMO-1 localized, and with defects in GABA-dependent behaviors. Experiments involving expression of catalytically inactive UBC-9 [UBC-9(C93S)], as well as co-expression of UBC-9 and SMO-1, suggested wild type UBC-9 overexpressed alone may act via substrate sequestration in the absence of sufficient free SUMO, underscoring the importance of tightly regulated SUMO enzyme function. Similar effects on muscle excitation, GABAergic signaling, and synaptic vesicle localization occurred with overexpression of the SUMO activating enzyme subunit AOS-1. Together, these data support a model in which UBC-9 and the SUMOylation system act at presynaptic sites in inhibitory motor neurons to control synaptic signaling balance in C. elegans. Future studies will be important to define UBC-9 targets at this synapse, as well as mechanisms by which UBC-9 and the SUMO pathway are regulated.
Whole-genome sequencing reveals potent therapeutic strategy for monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma
Authors: Huang Dachuan , Lim Jing Quan , Cheah Daryl Ming Zhe , Kahliab Khalilatul Hanisah Binte Mohd , Laurensia Yurike , Pang Jane Wan Lu , Wong Esther Kam Yin , Chia Burton Kuan Hui , Goh Jasmine , Zhang Xiyun , Chan Jason Yongsheng , Chow Edward Kai-Hua , Tan Soo Yong , Lim Soon Thye , Ong Choon Kiat
Published: October 2020

Key Points

Whole genomic and transcriptomic analyses of MEITL revealed multiple potential therapeutic targets. Synergistic effects of pimozide and romidepsin are shown in a well-characterized MEITL PDX model.