bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cardiac auscultation skills in final year veterinary students and recent veterinary graduates, referral hospital veterinary surgeons and veterinary cardiologists or cardiology residents
Authors: Mullowney Deirdre , Fuentes Virginia Luis , Barfield Dominic
Published: April 2021

Background: Cardiac auscultation is an important part of the physical examination. This study evaluated cardiac auscultation skills in veterinary students and compared their abilities to recent veterinary graduates, referral hospital veterinary surgeons and veterinary cardiologists or cardiology residents. In addition it compared their self‐predicted quiz scores to their actual scores, evaluating if they could accurately predict their own performance level.

Methods: A digital recording device was used to record auscultation sounds from 12 different patients with a diagnosis confirmed by a board‐certified veterinary cardiologist. The sound files and associated phonocardiograms were uploaded to a video sharing website. A cloud‐based online multiple‐choice quiz was generated and shared with final year veterinary students, recent veterinary graduates, referral hospital veterinary surgeons and veterinary cardiologists or cardiology residents.

Results: There were 128 participants: 51 final year veterinary students, 62 recent veterinary graduates, and 10 referral hospital veterinary surgeons and five veterinary cardiologists or cardiology residents. No difference was found between the cardiac auscultation skills of recent veterinary graduates and final year veterinary students. Veterinary students' self‐predicted scores were lower than actual scores.

Conclusions: Recent veterinary graduates did not perform better than final year veterinary students in this study, suggesting that auscultation skills do not continue to improve in the first few years after graduation. Efforts should be made to maximise students' learning in cardiac auscultation skills. Veterinary students show a lack of confidence in cardiac auscultation skills.
Layering social class and gender in leadership development
Authors: Pierre Darren E. , Haber‐Curran Paige
Published: April 2021

Insights on leadership education through the identity lenses and intersections of social class and gender are provided. Ideas are offered on how to facilitate leadership learning opportunities that recognize and reduce classism and gender oppression.
How social class identity influences students’ leadership and advocacy development
Authors: Williams Brittany M. , Williams Qua'Aisa , Smith Carlton
Published: April 2021

Social class identity, namely disadvantaged social class status, as a site for leadership development is explored in this chapter. The authors position the forms of resistance, resource, and savvy disadvantaged students display on campus as opportunities for broader social progress and individual leadership development.
Hidden costs and commitments: Leadership, social class, and experiential learning
Authors: Owen Julie E. , Rigaud Shauna , McCarron Graziella Pagliarulo
Published: April 2021

As leadership can be developed and practiced in multiple on‐ and off‐campus contexts, this chapter offers ways to make experiential opportunities more accessible to poor and working‐class students. Aiding students in leveraging leadership learning experiences they already have through family and community roles are explored.
Expanding influence of social class in leadership development
Authors: Guthrie Kathy L. , Ardoin Sonja , Purita Riccardo
Published: April 2021

In this chapter, the authors synthesize ideas presented by authors in this issue and provide considerations of social class in leadership development. Recommendations and guidance for deepening the influence educators have on leadership learning practices regarding social class are included.
Master integrals for bipartite cuts of three-loop photon self energy
Authors: Lee R. N. , Onishchenko A. I.
Published: April 2021

Abstract

We calculate the master integrals for bipartite cuts of the three-loop propagator QED diagrams. These master integrals determine the spectral density of the photon self energy. Our results are expressed in terms of the iterated integrals, which, apart from the 4mcut (the cut of 4 massive lines), reduce to Goncharov’s polylogarithms. The master integrals for 4mcut have been calculated in our previous paper in terms of the one-fold integrals of harmonic polylogarithms and complete elliptic integrals. We provide the threshold and high-energy asymptotics of the master integrals found, including those for 4mcut.
Evaluation of a standardized instrument for post hoc analysis of trauma-team-activation-criteria in 75,613 injured patients an analysis of the TraumaRegister DGU®
Authors: Bieler Dan , Trentzsch Heiko , Franke Axel , Baacke Markus , Lefering Rolf , Paffrath Thomas , Becker Lars , Düsing Helena , Heindl Björn , Jensen Kai Oliver , Oezkurtul Orkun , Schweigkofler Uwe , Sprengel Kai , Wohlrath Bernd , Waydhas Christian ,   the Committee on Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care and Trauma Management (Sektion NIS) of the German Trauma Society (DGU)
Published: April 2021

Introduction

To improve the quality of criteria for trauma-team-activation it is necessary to identify patients who benefited from the treatment by a trauma team. Therefore, we evaluated a post hoc criteria catalogue for trauma-team-activation which was developed in a consensus process by an expert group and published recently.

The objective was to examine whether the catalogue can identify patients that died after admission to the hospital and therefore can benefit from a specialized trauma team mostly.

Materials and methods

The catalogue was applied to the data of 75,613 patients from the TraumaRegister DGU® between the 01/2007 and 12/2016 with a maximum abbreviated injury score (AIS) severity ≥ 2. The endpoint was hospital mortality, which was defined as death before discharge from acute care.

Results

The TraumaRegister DGU® dataset contains 18 of the 20 proposed criteria within the catalogue which identified 99.6% of the patients who were admitted to the trauma room following an accident and who died during their hospital stay. Moreover, our analysis showed that at least one criterion was fulfilled in 59,785 cases (79.1%). The average ISS in this group was 21.2 points (SD 9.9). None of the examined criteria applied to 15,828 cases (average ISS 8.6; SD 5). The number of consensus-based criteria correlated with the severity of injury and mortality. Of all deceased patients (8,451), only 31 (0.37%) could not be identified on the basis of the 18 examined criteria. Where only one criterion was fulfilled, mortality was 1.7%; with 2 or more criteria, mortality was at least 4.6%.

Discussion

The consensus-based criteria identified nearly all patients who died as a result of their injuries. If only one criterion was fulfilled, mortality was relatively low. However, it increased to almost 5% if two criteria were fulfilled. Further studies are necessary to analyse and examine the relative weighting of the various criteria.

Our instrument is capable to identify severely injured patients with increased in-hospital mortality and injury severity. However, a minimum of two criteria needs to be fulfilled. Based on these findings, we conclude that the criteria list is useful for post hoc analysis of the quality of field triage in patients with severe injury.
266 Fuzzy front-end studies: current state and future directions for new product development
Authors: Park Dongmyung , Han Ji , Childs Peter R. N.
Published: April 2021

266 fuzzy front-end (FFE) studies in the new product development (NPD) sector were examined. The studies were selected using a bibliometrics method, and chronologically and statistically examined with ten criteria divided into two dimensions. The first dimension is associated with overall attributes of the FFE, consisting of six criteria: the study taxonomy, model type, NPD speed, NPD attributes, model characteristic, and model structure. The second dimension is relevant to the FFE performance structure related to process parameters, comprised of four criteria: the FFE task, activity, performance method, and toolkit. In terms of those two dimensions, the paper looks at previous FFE studies to gain an understanding of features of each FFE study along with related knowledge and theories, as well as identification of evolution trends of FFE studies. Based on the identification, an FFE model development strategy for each criterion is formulated, and this paper proposes possible options for executing those strategies which exert influence on the form of the cluster network. The intention is for the database to be utilised as an overview of all existing FFE studies and allow specific FFE studies to be selected to examine FFE approaches.This paper provides FFE model development guidance on how to deal with the overall attributes and outcomes of the FFE which affect the entirety of the innovation process, and how to manage the performance structure related to process parameters.
Contribution of GRAV-D airborne gravity to improvement of regional gravimetric geoid modelling in Colorado, USA
Authors: Varga Matej , Pitoňák Martin , Novák Pavel , Bašić Tomislav
Published: April 2021

This paper studies the contribution of airborne gravity data to improvement of gravimetric geoid modelling across the mountainous area in Colorado, USA. First, airborne gravity data was processed, filtered, and downward-continued. Then, three gravity anomaly grids were prepared; the first grid only from the terrestrial gravity data, the second grid only from the downward-continued airborne gravity data, and the third grid from combined downward-continued airborne and terrestrial gravity data. Gravimetric geoid models with the three gravity anomaly grids were determined using the least-squares modification of Stokes’ formula with additive corrections (LSMSA) method. The absolute and relative accuracy of the computed gravimetric geoid models was estimated on GNSS/levelling points. Results exhibit the accuracy improved by 1.1 cm or 20% in terms of standard deviation when airborne and terrestrial gravity data was used for geoid computation, compared to the geoid model computed only from terrestrial gravity data. Finally, the spectral analysis of surface gravity anomaly grids and geoid models was performed, which provided insights into specific wavelength bands in which airborne gravity data contributed and improved the power spectrum.
Duration of response after DEB-TACE compared to lipiodol-TACE in HCC-naïve patients: a propensity score matching analysis
Authors: Bargellini Irene , Lorenzoni Valentina , Lorenzoni Giulia , Scalise Paola , Andreozzi Gianni , Bozzi Elena , Giorgi Luigi , Cervelli Rosa , Scandiffio Rossella , Perrone Orsola , Meccia Donato Vito , Boccuzzi Antonio , Daviddi Francesco , Cicorelli Antonio , Lunardi Alessandro , Crocetti Laura , Turchetti Giuseppe , Cioni Roberto
Published: April 2021

Objectives

To retrospectively compare long-term outcomes of first-line drug-eluting particle (DEB)- transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and lipiodol-TACE, in patients with unresectable hepatocellular (HCC).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed our database to identify adult patients with treatment-naïve unresectable HCC, who underwent TACE from 2006 to 2013. Patients were excluded in the absence of complete medical records relative to first TACE, 1-month follow-up, and/or sufficient follow-up data. Periprocedural complications, duration of hospitalization, 1-month tumor response by mRECIST, time to tumor progression (TTP) and target tumor progression (TTTP), and overall survival (OS) were evaluated.

Results

Out of an initial series of 656 patients, 329 patients were excluded for unavailability of sufficient baseline and/or follow-up data. The remaining 327 patients underwent either lipiodol-TACE (n = 160) or DEB-TACE (n = 167). Patients treated with lipiodol-TACE had a significantly higher tumor burden. By propensity score, patients were matched according to baseline differences (BCLC stage, uninodular or multinodular HCC, and unilobar or bilobar HCC), resulting in 101 patients in each treatment group. Lipiodol-TACE was associated with a significantly higher incidence of adverse events (p = 0.03), and longer hospitalization (mean, 2.5 days vs 1.9 days; p = 0.03), while tumor response, TTP, and OS were comparable. In patients achieving 1-month complete response (CR) of target tumor, TTTP was significantly (p = 0.009) longer after DEB-TACE compared to lipiodol-TACE (median, 835 vs 353 days), resulting in a lower number of re-treatments during the entire follow-up (0.75 vs 1.6, p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Compared to lipiodol-TACE, DEB-TACE offers higher tolerability, reduced hospitalization, and more durable target tumor response after CR.

Key Points

• Compared to lipiodol-TACE, DEB-TACE is better tolerated and has reduced side effects, which translates into shorter hospitalization.

• When complete radiological response according to the mRECIST is obtained 1 month after the procedure, DEB-TACE offers a more durable local tumor control compared to lipiodol-TACE.

• In these patients, the longer duration of response after DEB-TACE translates into a lower number of re-interventions.
Climatology and physical mechanisms of the tropospheric warm cores over the Tibetan Plateau and its vicinity
Authors: Shang Ke , Liu Xiaodong , Dong Buwen
Published: April 2021

The frequently observed tropospheric warm cores over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are unique climate phenomena and are crucial to the Asian summer monsoon development. However, their climatological structure and formation mechanisms remain elusive and inconsistent among previous studies. In this work, two vertically separated warm cores, the upper-level warm cores (ULWCs) and lower-level warm cores (LLWCs), are identified based on the zonal temperature deviation. The LLWCs are basically confined below 450 hPa, and the ULWCs are mostly observed at 200–400 hPa. The active region of the LLWCs is generally within the TP domain and characterized by regional patches with high frequency occurrences. In contrast, the active region of the ULWCs is featured by a zonally elongated band along the southern TP. The physical mechanisms for the formations of these two distinct types of warm cores are revealed: the LLWCs are mainly generated and maintained by the surface diabatic heating, while the ULWCs are dominated by the large-scale circulation associated with the convection over the Indo-Pacific warm pool. During March–June, the ULWCs within the TP domain occur most frequently and the intensities attain their maxima. In March–April, the ULWCs are mainly determined by the TP adiabatic subsidence induced by the convection over the Indo-Pacific warm pool. In May–June, the warm advection induced by westerlies generates the downstream ULWCs and enhances the ULWCs formed in previous months. Hence it might be inappropriate in traditional view to attribute the tropospheric warm cores around the TP solely to the direct thermal effect of the elevated topography.
Cardioprotection by post-conditioning with exogenous triiodothyronine in isolated perfused rat hearts and isolated adult rat cardiomyocytes
Authors: Lieder Helmut Raphael , Braczko Felix , Gedik Nilgün , Stroetges Merlin , Heusch Gerd , Kleinbongard Petra
Published: April 2021

Ischemic post-conditioning (iPoCo) by coronary re-occlusion/reperfusion during immediate reperfusion after prolonged myocardial ischemia reduces infarct size. Mechanical manipulation of culprit lesions, however, carries the risk of coronary microembolization which may obscure iPoCo’s cardioprotection. Pharmacological post-conditioning with exogenous triiodothyronine (T3) could serve as an alternative conditioning strategy. Similar to iPoCo, T3 may activate cardioprotective prosurvival pathways. We aimed to study T3’s impact on infarct size and its underlying signal transduction. Hearts were isolated from male Lewis rats (200–380 g), buffer-perfused and subjected to 30 min/120 min global zero-flow ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). In additional hearts, either iPoCo (2 × 30 s/30 s I/R) was performed or T3 (100–500 µg/L) infused at reperfusion. Infarct size was demarcated with triphenyl tetrazolium chloride staining and calculated as percent of ventricular mass. Infarct size was reduced with iPoCo to 16 ± 7% vs. 36 ± 4% with I/R only. The maximum infarct size reduction was observed with 300 µg/L T3 (14 ± 2%). T3 increased the phosphorylation of protein kinase B and mitogen extracellular-regulated-kinase 1/2, both key enzymes of the reperfusion injury salvage kinase (RISK) pathway. Pharmacological RISK blockade (RISK-BL) during reperfusion abrogated T3’s cardioprotection (35 ± 10%). Adult ventricular cardiomyocytes were isolated from buffer-perfused rat hearts and exposed to 30 min/5 min hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R); reoxygenation was initiated without or with T3, respectively, and without or with RISK-BL, respectively. Maximal preservation of viability was observed with 500 µg/L T3 after H/R (27 ± 4% of all cells vs. 5 ± 3% in time-matched controls). Again, RISK-BL abrogated protection (11 ± 3%). Mitochondria were isolated at early reperfusion from buffer-perfused rat hearts without or with iPoCo or 300 µg/L T3, respectively, at reperfusion. T3 improved mitochondrial function (i.e.: increased respiration, adenosine triphosphate production, calcium retention capacity, and decreased reactive oxygen species formation) to a similar extent as iPoCo. T3 at reperfusion reduces infarct size by activation of the RISK pathway. T3’s protection is a cardiomyocyte phenomenon and targets mitochondria.
Etiologies and clinical characteristics of young patients with angle-closure glaucoma: a 15-year single-center retrospective study
Authors: Gao Feng , Wang Jiajian , Chen Junyi , Wang Xiaolei , Chen Yuhong , Sun Xinghuai
Published: April 2021

Purpose

To investigate the etiologies and the clinical characteristics of angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) patients younger than 40 years old in Chinese.

Methods

Inpatients with diagnosis of ACG and diagnosed age younger than or equal to 40 years old, who were admitted in Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital Fudan University from 2002 to 2017, were included in this retrospective non-comparative case series. The underlying causes and clinical features for all the patients were analyzed by comprehensive review of medical charts.

Results

A total of 298 patients (463 eyes) met the criteria, including 153 females (51.3%) and 145 males (48.7%); the mean age was 25.6 ± 13.0 years. Primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG), uveitis, and anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD) were the top three etiologies in our patients, which accounted for 32.6%, 20.3%, and 15.1% of the total patients respectively. PACG mainly occurs after 30 years of age and ASD is the top reason of ACG in patients younger than 20 years old. Other known etiologies include iridocorneal endothelial syndrome, neovascular glaucoma, nanophthalmos, retinitis pigmentosa, spherophakia, bestrophinopathy, persistent fetal vasculature, iridociliary cysts, congenital retinoschisis, Marfan’s syndrome, retinopathy of prematurity, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, congenital retinal folds, Coat’s disease, and neurofibromatosis.

Conclusions

We described the uncommon presentation of ACG in Chinese young patients. Although unusual, most of the etiologies could be identified. Therefore, more careful and comprehensive examinations are needed for early detection and timely treatment for young ACG patients.
The impact of nurse staffing levels on nursing-sensitive patient outcomes: a multilevel regression approach
Authors: Dietermann Karina , Winter Vera , Schneider Udo , Schreyögg Jonas
Published: April 2021

The goal of this study is to provide empirical evidence of the impact of nurse staffing levels on seven nursing-sensitive patient outcomes (NSPOs) at the hospital unit level. Combining a very large set of claims data from a German health insurer with mandatory quality reports published by every hospital in Germany, our data set comprises approximately 3.2 million hospital stays in more than 900 hospitals over a period of 5 years. Accounting for the grouping structure of our data (i.e., patients grouped in unit types), we estimate cross-sectional, two-level generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) with inpatient cases at level 1 and units types (e.g., internal medicine, geriatrics) at level 2. Our regressions yield 32 significant results in the expected direction. We find that differentiating between unit types using a multilevel regression approach and including postdischarge NSPOs adds important insights to our understanding of the relationship between nurse staffing levels and NSPOs. Extending our main model by categorizing inpatient cases according to their clinical complexity, we are able to rule out hidden effects beyond the level of unit types.
Bootstrapping MDE development from ROS manual code: Part 2—Model generation and leveraging models at runtime
Authors: Hammoudeh García Nadia , Deshpande Harshavardhan , Santos André , Kahl Björn , Bordignon Mirko
Published: April 2021

Model-driven engineering (MDE) addresses central aspects of robotics software development. MDE could enable domain experts to leverage the expressiveness of models, while implementation details on different hardware platforms would be handled by automatic code generation. Today, despite strong MDE efforts in the robotics research community, most evidence points to manual code development being the norm. A possible reason for MDE not being accepted by robot software developers could be the wide range of applications and target platforms, which make all-encompassing MDE IDEs hard to develop and maintain. Therefore, we chose to leverage a large corpus of open-source software widely adopted by the robotics community to extract common structures and gain insight on how and where MDE can support the developers to work more efficiently. We pursue modeling as a complement, rather than imposing MDE as separate solution. Our previous work introduced metamodels to describe components, their interactions, and their resulting composition. In this paper, we present two methods based on metamodels for automated generation of models from manually written artifacts: (1) through static code analysis and (2) by monitoring the execution of a running system. For both methods, we present tools that leverage the potentials of our contributions, with a special focus on their application at runtime to observe and diagnose a real system during its execution. A comprehensive example is provided as a walk-through for robotics software practitioners.
A survey of deep meta-learning
Authors: Huisman Mike , van Rijn Jan N. , Plaat Aske
Published: April 2021

Deep neural networks can achieve great successes when presented with large data sets and sufficient computational resources. However, their ability to learn new conceptsquicklyis limited. Meta-learning is one approach to address this issue, by enabling the network to learn how to learn. The field ofDeep Meta-Learningadvances at great speed, but lacks a unified, in-depth overview of current techniques. With this work, we aim to bridge this gap. After providing the reader with a theoretical foundation, we investigate and summarize key methods, which are categorized into (i) metric-, (ii) model-, and (iii) optimization-based techniques. In addition, we identify the main open challenges, such as performance evaluations on heterogeneous benchmarks, and reduction of the computational costs of meta-learning.
Forcing dividing cancer cells to die; low‐dose drug combinations to prevent spindle pole clustering
Authors: Ducrey Eloise , Castrogiovanni Cédric , Meraldi Patrick , Nowak-Sliwinska Patrycja
Published: April 2021

Mitosis, under the control of the microtubule-based mitotic spindle, is an attractive target for anti-cancer treatments, as cancer cells undergo frequent and uncontrolled cell divisions. Microtubule targeting agents that disrupt mitosis or single molecule inhibitors of mitotic kinases or microtubule motors kill cancer cells with a high efficacy. These treatments have, nevertheless, severe disadvantages: they also target frequently dividing healthy tissues, such as the haematopoietic system, and they often lose their efficacy due to primary or acquired resistance mechanisms. An alternative target that has emerged in dividing cancer cells is their ability to “cluster” the poles of the mitotic spindle into a bipolar configuration. This mechanism is necessary for the specific survival of cancer cells that tend to form multipolar spindles due to the frequent presence of abnormal centrosome numbers or other spindle defects. Here we discuss the recent development of combinatorial treatments targeting spindle pole clustering that specifically target cancer cells bearing aberrant centrosome numbers and that have the potential to avoid resistance mechanism due their combinatorial nature.
Nucleation behaviour and microstructure of single Al-Si12 powder particles rapidly solidified in a fast scanning calorimeter
Authors: Yang Bin , Peng Qin , Milkereit Benjamin , Springer Armin , Liu Dongmei , Rettenmayr Markus , Schick Christoph , Keßler Olaf
Published: April 2021

The understanding of rapid solidification behaviour, e.g. the undercooling versus growth velocity relationship, is crucial for tailoring microstructures and properties in metal alloys. In most rapid solidification processes, such as additive manufacturing (AM), in situ investigation of rapid solidification behaviour is missing because of the lack of accurate measurement of the cooling rate and nucleation undercooling. In the present study, rapid solidification of single micro-sized Al-Si12 (mass%) particles of various diameters has been investigated via differential fast scanning calorimetry employing controllable cooling rates from 100 to 90,000 K s−1 relevant for AM. Based on nucleation undercooling and on microstructure analysis of rapidly solidified single powder particles under controlled cooling rates, two different heterogeneous nucleation mechanisms of the primary α-Al phase are proposed. Surface heterogeneous nucleation dominates for particles with diameter smaller than 23 μm. For particles with diameter larger than 23 μm, the nucleation of the primary α-Al phase changes from surface to bulk heterogeneous nucleation with increasing cooling rate. The results indicate that at large undercoolings (> 95 K) and high cooling rates (> 10,000 K s−1), rapid solidification of single particle can yield a microstructure similar to that formed in AM. The present work not only proposes new insight into rapid solidification processes, but also provides a theoretical foundation for further understanding of microstructures and properties in additively manufactured materials.
Initiation of compatible wheat-Hessian fly interactions triggers the expression of a novel UDP-glycosyltransferase, MdesUGT1, in virulent Hessian fly larvae
Authors: Subramanyam Subhashree , Nemacheck Jill A.
Published: April 2021

Insect UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) play an important role in detoxification of substrates such as plant allelochemicals, and cuticle formation by the process of glucosidation. Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor), belonging to the order Diptera (Family: Cecidomyiidae), is a destructive pest of host wheat causing significant economic losses. In the current study, using the assembled genome, we identified thirteen genes in M. destructor that belong to the family of UGTs (MdesUGT). Expression profiling revealed differential expression of MdesUGT genes in Hessian fly feeding instars. Further, we report the molecular cloning of MdesUGT1, designated as UGT301F1, from M. destructor. Characterization of the MdesUGT1 amino acid sequence revealed a conserved signature motif and sugar donor-binding domains characteristic of UGT proteins. Further expression analysis revealed dramatic increase in transcript accumulation of MdesUGT1 in the first and second feeding instars during compatible interactions (susceptible wheat, virulent larvae) but lacked significant upregulation during incompatible wheat Hessian fly interactions. Similar increase in MdesUGT1 transcripts was also observed during interactions of Hessian fly with nonhost, Brachypodium distachyon. These findings suggest the possible early involvement of MdesUGT1 in detoxification of plant toxins, and subsequent role in cuticular formation, thus contributing to the growth and development of this dipteran insect pest. Identification and characterization of insect UGTs could provide valuable insights into the detoxification and growth inhibitory mechanisms and facilitate future plant pest management strategies.
Tenascin C Promotes Glioma Cell Malignant Behavior and Inhibits Chemosensitivity to Paclitaxel via Activation of the PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway
Authors: Zhang Qingping , Xu Binchu , Hu Fulan , Chen Xianjin , Liu Xinmin , Zhang Qinghua , Zuo You
Published: April 2021

The present study aimed to detect the effect of tenascin C (TNC) on cell function and chemosensitivity to paclitaxel and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling in glioma cells.

Human glioma cells U87, LN-229, T98G and U251 and normal human astrocytes were obtained, in which TNC expression was detected. The U87 cells and U251 cells were chosen and infected with lentivirus of control overexpression, TNC overexpression, control knockdown, and TNC knockdown for functional experiments. Rescue experiments were then performed to evaluate the effect of PI3K/AKT activator 740 Y-P on cell function and chemosensitivity to paclitaxel in TNC knockdown U251 cells. TNC mRNA and protein expression was elevated in glioma cells, including U87, LN-229, U251 and T98G cells, compared to normal human astrocytes. In U87 and U251 cells, TNC promoted proliferation while inhibiting apoptosis. In addition, TNC upregulated PI3K and p-AKT protein expression in U87 and U251 cells. As for chemosensitivity, TNC increased relative viability in U251 cells treated with 400 ng/mL and 800 ng/mL paclitaxel. In terms of stemness, TNC increased the sphere number per 1000 cells, CD44+CD133+ cell percentage and 1/stem cell frequency (assessed by extreme limiting dilution analysis) in U251 cells. In rescue experiments, 740 Y-P reduced the effect of TNC on proliferation, apoptosis, chemosensitivity to paclitaxel, and stemness in U251 cells. 

TNC acts as an oncogenic factor by promoting cancer cell proliferation and stemness while inhibiting apoptosis and chemosensitivity to paclitaxel in glioma via modulation of PI3K/AKT signaling.
Gegner, Konkurrenten oder Verbündete?
Authors: Scherr Albert , Schweitzer Helmuth
Published: April 2021

In diesem einleitenden Beitrag wird ein Überblick zur Entwicklung der Diskussion über das Verhältnis von Polizei und Sozialer Arbeit gegeben. Dabei wird akzentuiert, dass Formen der Zusammenarbeit und wechselseitige Abgrenzungen immer wieder Gegenstand von Auseinandersetzungen waren. Zudem wird betont, dass es allzu einfach wäre, Sozialen Arbeit ein moralisch gutes Mandat der Hilfe und der Polizei ein problematisches Mandat der Kontrolle zuzuschreiben.
Compartment Syndrome: an Acute Femoral Stress Fracture in a Young Male Athlete
Authors: Kanovsky Amelie , Mueller Ernst J.
Published: April 2021

The incidence of an acute compartment syndrome (ACS) of the thigh is less than 1%. It is most common in the setting of muscle overuse or muscle injury, as well as secondary to trauma, such as a femoral fracture. We present a case of an ACS in a young, healthy, and semiprofessional athlete with normal coagulation who sustained an acute stress fracture of the distal femur. After the initial fracture osteosynthesis, the patient suffered from a compartment syndrome in the right anterior aspect of the distal thigh. Following rapid surgical fasciotomy, the case was uneventful, and he returned to his preinjury sport level without any neurological consequences. This case confirms that ACS in the thigh is rare, but mainly occurs in young males with a large muscle mass due to participation in various athletic programs. We hypothesize that constant muscle over-usage primes for a larger amount of contused and protruding muscle mass in the small femoral compartment. Hence, the fatigued muscle subjects the bone to an increased mechanical force resulting in an overloading process. This ensues the accumulation of femoral microfractures and primes for the occurrence of an increased rate of stress fractures and an ACS in the thigh.
Culture as Suture: on the Use of “Culture” in Cross-Cultural Studies in and Beyond Intercultural Information Ethics
Authors: Lennerfors Thomas Taro , Murata Kiyoshi
Published: April 2021

Intercultural information ethics (IIE), a field which draws on the limits and richness of human morality and moral thinking in different societies, epochs and philosophic traditions as well as on their impact on today’s social appropriation of information and communication technology, has been argued to lack an adequate theoretical understanding of culture. In this paper, we take a non-essentialist view of culture as a point of departure and discuss not what culture is, but what we (both in our everyday lives, and as researchers) do when we use the concept of culture. To do so, we look for inspiration in the concept of suture, a concept which means the thread which stitches, or the act of stitching, a wound, but has had a long and intricate journey within psychoanalysis and film studies concerning the issue of identification. Three understandings of the use of culture emerge: suture as cultural misidentification, the evil in the cultural suture, and multiple, repeated cultural sutures. We use these categories to diagnose the use of culture in IIE and beyond, and suggest that the use of culture as multiple, repeated sutures—in other words, a recognition that we constantly fail in describing culture or cultural differences, and that each suture is coloured by its conditions of production, and that we cannot but suture with culture anyway—might be a way forward for cross-cultural research.
Forecasting Spanish unemployment with Google Trends and dimension reduction techniques
Authors: Mulero Rodrigo , García-Hiernaux Alfredo
Published: April 2021

This paper presents a method to improve the one-step-ahead forecasts of the Spanish unemployment monthly series. To do so, we use numerous potential explanatory variables extracted from searches in Google (Google Trends tool). Two different dimension reduction techniques are implemented (PCA and Forward Stepwise Selection) to decide how to combine the explanatory variables or which ones to use. The results of a recursive forecasting exercise reveal a statistically significant increase in predictive accuracy of 10–25%, depending on the dimension reduction method employed. A deep robustness analysis confirms these findings, as well as the relevance of using a large amount of Google queries together with a dimension reduction technique, when no prior information on which are the most informative queries is available.
Male meiosis and pollen morphology in diploid Indonesian wild bananas and cultivars
Authors: Ahmad Fajarudin , Poerba Yuyu S. , Kema Gert H. J. , de Jong Hans
Published: April 2021

Breeding of banana is hampered by its genetic complexity, structural chromosome rearrangements and different ploidy levels. Various scientific disciplines, including cytogenetics, linkage mapping, and bioinformatics, are helpful tools in characterising cultivars and wild relatives used in crossing programs. Chromosome analysis still plays a pivotal role in studying hybrid sterility and structural and numerical variants. In this study, we describe the optimisation of the chromosome spreading protocol of pollen mother cells focusing on the effects of standard fixation methods, duration of the pectolytic enzyme treatment and advantages of fluorescence microscopy of DAPI stained cell spreads. We demonstrate the benefits of this protocol on meiotic features of five wild diploidMusa acuminatabananas and a diploid (AA) cultivar banana “Rejang”, with particular attention on pairing configurations and chromosome transmission that may be indicative for translocations and inversions. Pollen slides demonstrate regular-shaped spores except “Rejang”, which shows fertile pollen grains of different size and sterile pollen grains, suggesting partial sterility and unreduced gamete formation that likely resulted from restitutional meiotic divisions.
Structural design process and subsequent flight mechanical evaluation in preliminary aircraft design: demonstrated on passenger ride comfort assessment
Authors: Krishnamurthy Vikram , Handojo Vega
Published: April 2021

New fuel-efficient aircraft designs have high aspect ratio wings. Consequently, those aircraft are more flexible. Additionally, load alleviation functions are implemented to reduce the structural loads, which results in further reductions of the structural stiffness. At the same time, the structural design impacts other disciplines in preliminary aircraft design, especially flight mechanics. For example, it is important to know how at that design stage such flexible aircraft with load alleviation affect passenger ride comfort in turbulent flight. For an efficient design process, it is essential to answer such questions with accurate multi-disciplinary tools and methods as early as possible to minimize development risk and avoid costly and time-consuming redesign loops. Current available tools and methods are not accurate enough for this task. To address this issue, the DLR MONA based design and the TUB flight mechanical assessment tool MITRA are linked to investigate the impact of the structural design on specific flight mechanical assessments such as passenger ride comfort. This is particularly interesting since the implemented load alleviation functions are designed to reduce loads, and not explicitly to improve passenger ride comfort. By conducting this assessment for a particular aircraft configuration, more insight into passenger ride comfort and the key contributors can be gained during preliminary design. This paper describes the combined toolchain and its application on a generic long-range reference aircraft to investigate the effects of load alleviation functions on passenger ride comfort and discusses the results.
Correction to: Ravulizumab: A Review in Atypical Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome
Authors: Syed Yahiya Y.
Published: April 2021

The article Ravulizumab: A Review in Atypical Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome, written by Yahiya Y. Syed, was originally published electronically in SpringerLink on 18 March 2021 without open access.
The role of PoCUS in the assessment of COVID-19 patients
Authors: Karp John , Burke Karina , Daubaras Sarah-Marie , McDermott Cian
Published: April 2021

The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the burden of stress on the global healthcare system in 2020. Point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) is used effectively in the management of pulmonary, cardiac and vascular pathologies. POCUS is the use of traditional ultrasound imaging techniques in a focused binary manner to answer a specific set of clinical questions. This is an imaging technique that delivers no radiation, is inexpensive, ultraportable and provides results instantaneously to the physician operator at the bedside. In regard to the pandemic, PoCUS has played a significant adjunctive role in the diagnosis and management of co-morbidities associated with COVID-19. PoCUS also offers an alternative method to image obstetric patients and the pediatric population safely in accordance with the ALARA principle. Finally, there have been numerous PoCUS protocols describing the effective use of this technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Does laser surface texturing really have a negative impact on the fatigue lifetime of mechanical components?
Authors: Hsu Chia-Jui , Stratmann Andreas , Medina Simon , Jacobs Georg , Mücklich Frank , Gachot Carsten
Published: April 2021

Laser surface texturing (LST) has been proven to improve the tribological performance of machine elements. The micro-scale patterns manufactured by LST may act as lubricant reservoirs, thus supplying oil when encountering insufficient lubrication. However, not many studies have investigated the use of LST in the boundary lubrication regime, likely due to concerns of higher contact stresses that can occur with the increasing surface roughness. This study aims to examine the influence of LST on the fatigue lifetime of thrust rolling bearings under boundary lubrication. A series of periodic patterns were produced on the thrust rolling bearings, using two geometrically different designs, namely cross and dimple patterns. Base oil ISO VG 100 mixed with 0.05 wt% P of zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) was supplied. The bearings with cross patterns reduce the wear loss by two orders of magnitude. The patterns not only retain lubricant in the textured pockets but also enhance the formation of an anti-wear tribofilm. The tribofilm generation may be improved by the higher contact stresses that occur when using the textured surface. Therefore, in contrast to the negative concerns, the ball bearings with cross patterns were instead found to increase the fatigue life by a factor of three.
Benefit segmentation in the tourist accommodation market based on eWOM attribute ratings
Authors: Nessel Karolina , Kościółek Szczepan , Wszendybył-Skulska Ewa , Kopera Sebastian
Published: April 2021

Given the increasing importance of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the global tourism market, the purpose of the study was to estimate weights customers assign to main attributes of tourist accommodations embodied in easily observed eWOM numerical ratings and subsequently to determine segments of customers with homogenous preferences. To this goal, the preferences tourists attach to price and seven other accommodation attributes rated by Internet users on Booking.com were revealed with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Next, a two-stage clustering procedure based on these preferences was undertaken followed by profiling of the clusters in terms of their socio-demographics and travel characteristics. The results show that even if the ranking of the attributes is roughly the same for all the segments (with cleanliness, value for money, and location always in top four), all eight attributes effectively segment tourists into three clusters: “quality-seekers” (45% of the market), “bargain-seekers” (35%), and “cleanliness-seekers” (20%). The segments differ in terms of tourists’ income and expenditures, type of accommodation, actual payer for accommodation, and trip purpose. In contrast, socio-demographics, and most tourists stay variables are alike across the segments. The proposed method of benefit segmentation provides a new perspective for an exploitation of eWOM data by accommodation providers in their marketing strategy.
Modeling of the Split-Hopkinson-Pressure-Bar experiment with the explicit material point method
Authors: Maassen S. F. , Niekamp R. , Bergmann J. A. , Pöhl F. , Schröder J. , Wiederkehr P.
Published: April 2021

The material point method (MPM) represents an alternative discretization method for numerical simulations. It aims to combine the benefits of a Lagrangian representation of bodies and an Eulerian numerical solution approach. Therefore, especially at high material deformations the method is not prone to mesh distortions such as the finite element method (FEM). For this reason, the MPM is used to a great extent for modeling granular materials as in geo-mechanics. However, high deformations occur in many industrial processes on metallic materials. The Split-Hopkinson-Pressure-Bar (SHPB) experiment is used to characterize material properties at high deformation rates. Although widely used, this experiment is not yet standardized and shows a variety of sensitivities, e.g. to friction. Inter alia for this reason, simulations are conducted with the experiment to allow for a better evaluation of the measured data. The purpose of this work from an engineering point of view is to analyze the performance of the MPM on an SHPB experiment. In order to validate the experimental results for the material characterization under dynamic loading conditions we introduce frictional contact. We use arbitrary tri-linear brick domains in a 3D CPDI1 scheme, instead of originally used parallelepipeds. This allows for a more flexible geometry approximation using standard meshes. The results of the method are analyzed with respect to discretization sensitivity and discussed in the context of the experimental results for a 42CrMo4 steel. We were able to show that the method is capable to reproduce the SHPB experiment. Additionally the method shows convergency in the results with finer discretizations. Thus, the MPM has underlined its importance as an alternative simulation technique for problems with high deformation.
Data science: a game changer for science and innovation
Authors: Grossi Valerio , Giannotti Fosca , Pedreschi Dino , Manghi Paolo , Pagano Pasquale , Assante Massimiliano
Published: April 2021

This paper shows data science’s potential for disruptive innovation in science, industry, policy, and people’s lives. We present how data science impacts science and society at large in the coming years, including ethical problems in managing human behavior data and considering the quantitative expectations of data science economic impact. We introduce concepts such as open science and e-infrastructure as useful tools for supporting ethical data science and training new generations of data scientists. Finally, this work outlines SoBigData Research Infrastructure as an easy-to-access platform for executing complex data science processes. The services proposed by SoBigData are aimed at using data science to understand the complexity of our contemporary, globally interconnected society.
Mitigation of Atmospheric Artefacts in Multi Temporal InSAR: A Review
Authors: Kirui Pius Kipng’etich , Reinosch Eike , Isya Noorlaila , Riedel Björn , Gerke Markus
Published: April 2021

The complexity of the atmosphere renders the modelling of the atmospheric delay in multi temporal InSAR difficult. This limits the potential of achieving millimetre accuracy of InSAR-derived deformation measurements. In this paper we review advances in tropospheric delay modelling in InSAR, tropospheric correction methods and integration of the correction methods within existing multi temporal algorithms. Furthermore, we investigate ingestion of the correction techniques by different InSAR applications, accuracy performance metrics and uncertainties of InSAR derived measurements attributed to tropospheric delay. Spatiotemporal modelling of atmospheric delay has evolved and can now be regarded as a spatially correlated turbulent delay with varying degree of anisotropy random in time and topographically correlated seasonal stratified delay. Tropospheric corrections methods performance is restricted to a case by case basis and ingestion of these methods by different applications remains limited due to lack of their integration into existing algorithms. Accuracy and uncertainty assessments remain challenging with most studies adopting simple statistical metrics. While advances have been made in tropospheric modelling, challenges remain for the calibration of atmospheric delay due to lack of data or limited resolution and fusion of multiple techniques for optimal performance.
Simpson type inequalities and applications
Authors: Awan Muhammad Uzair , Javed Muhammad Zakria , Rassias Michael Th. , Noor Muhammad Aslam , Noor Khalida Inayat
Published: April 2021

A new generalized integral identity involving first order differentiable functions is obtained. Using this identity as an auxiliary result, we then obtain some new refinements of Simpson type inequalities using a new class called as strongly (s, m)-convex functions of higher order of $$\sigma >0$$

σ
>
0

. We also discuss some interesting applications of the obtained results in the theory of means. In last we present applications of the obtained results in obtaining Simpson-like quadrature formula.