bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
D-MT Prompts the Anti-Tumor Effect of Oxaliplatin by Inhibiting IDO Expression in a Mouse Model of Colon Cancer
Authors: Zhao Tiesuo , Zhang Yongxi , Fan Wenyan , Guo Jing , Ren Weiwei , Li Ruipeng , Zhu Gaozan , Li Jie , Li Minjie , Li Xinyi , Wang Shenggen , Dang Chengxue , Jia Huijie
Published: October 2020

BackgroundColon cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive system. Although oxaliplatin, a chemotherapy drug, has been clinically used to treat colon cancer, its therapeutic effect is unsatisfactory. MethodsIn the present work, it has been proved that indoleamine dioxygenase 2,3 (IDO), an immune checkpoint, is a result of tolerance to chemotherapy. Herein, the anti-tumor effect of treatment with oxaliplatin and D-MT, an IDO inhibitor, on the mice was observed by recording the tumor growth and survival of the mice, and detecting T cell infiltration in tumor tissues and the ratios of immune cells in the spleen by corresponding methods. ResultsWe found that the combination of oxaliplatin and D-MT significantly inhibited tumor growth, prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice, increased the cell apoptosis. More importantly, the combination treatment increased the ratios of CD4+ T, CD8+ T and NK cells from the spleen in tumor-bearing mice, and prompted T cell infiltration in tumor tissues. ConclusionThis study provided a new therapeutic strategy for colon cancer treatment in the clinic, especially for patients with oxaliplatin resistance.
How Does Dementia Begin to Manifest in Bipolar Disorder? A Description of Prodromal Clinical and Cognitive Changes.
Authors: Callahan Brandy L. , McLaren-Gradinaru Michael , Burles Ford , Iaria Giuseppe
Published: October 2020

BackgroundThis study aims to identify longitudinal cognitive changes that may signal early dementia in bipolar disorder.MethodsParticipants were 114 adults with bipolar disorder, all initially non-demented, who underwent annual neuropsychological assessment up to ten years (47.3 months average follow-up). A small subset (n=12) also had available structural neuroimaging data. Longitudinal features associated with future dementia status were examined with linear mixed-effects models, and yearly differences between incident dementia and controls cases were examined in the six years prior to diagnosis.ResultsTwenty-six participants (22.8%) developed dementia over the follow-up period (‘incident cases’), and the remaining 88 (77.2%) remained dementia-free (‘controls’). Alzheimer’s disease was the most common presumed etiology in the incident cases, and this aligned with findings of smaller hippocampal volumes relative to controls. The incident cases showed clearly declining trajectories in episodic memory, verbal fluency and attention. Story recall and digit symbol substitution showed the earliest decline, four and five years before diagnosis respectively. Digit symbol substitution was most accurate at distinguishing cases from controls: impaired performance (<-1.5 SD) at any time during the follow-up period was associated with 54% sensitivity and 87% specificity of future dementia.ConclusionsProdromal dementia in bipolar disorder can be detected up to five years before onset using the same cognitive tests used in psychiatrically-healthy older adults. Cognition in the natural course of bipolar disorder is generally stable, and impairment or marked decline on measures of memory, fluency or attention may indicate an early neurodegenerative process.
Study on the macro and micro grouting process and the influence mechanism of cracks in soft coal seam
Authors: Yu Hui , Jia Housheng , Liu Shaowei , Liu Zhihe , Li Baoyu
Published: October 2020

Grouting is an important method to reinforce soft coal roadway, and the presence of primary cracks in the coal body has an important influence on the grouting effect. Using the PFC (Particle Flow Code) method, the grouting process of the soft coal seam was simulated. The mechanism of primary cracks on grouting was revealed, while the influence of fracture characteristics and grouting pressure on the grouting effect was analyzed. The results demonstrated that grouting in the soft coal seam involved the stages of seepage, rapid splitting, slow splitting, and stability. Due to the presence of primary cracks, the grouting diffusion radius increased significantly. Under the slurry pressure, the tensile stress concentration was formed at the crack tip, and the slurry split the coal once the splitting pressure was reached. In addition, the distribution characteristics of fractures were found to have a great influence on the grouting effect. It was observed that smaller fracture spacing was associated with a larger slurry diffusion radius and thus easier penetration of the primary crack tips. The fracture angle affected the direction of fracture propagation. The secondary fracture formed by splitting was a tensile fracture, which was more likely to extend along the direction parallel to the maximum principal stress. Overall, these simulation results have guiding significance for the setting of reasonable spacing of grouting holes in the practice of grouting engineering.
Shear damage stress and frequency spectral characteristics of dry and saturated red sandstone determined by acoustic emission
Authors: Wang Yunfei , Liu Xiao , Li Zhen
Published: October 2020

Dry and saturated red sandstone direct shear tests under different normal stresses were carried out in the rock shear test system to clarify the shear strength and damage characteristics. The cumulative ring count, cumulative energy, dominant frequency, secondary dominant frequency, and the effects of water saturation and normal stress on them were analyzed in detail. Results show that the cumulative ring count and cumulative energy curves of acoustic emission (AE) can be divided into linear increasing and step jump stages. The cumulative curves in the dry state have significant steps, thereby indicating that the repetitive process of “crack rapid development — energy accumulation” is significant. The cumulative ring count and cumulative energy are great when the normal stress is high. Under the same normal stress, the cumulative ring count and cumulative energy in the dry state are greater than those in the saturated state. The shear damage stresses were determined according to the cumulative curves. The failure process of red sandstone is divided into crack initiation and crack rapid development zones. The variation law of shear damage stress and shear strength of red sandstone is basically consistent. The growth rate of shear damage stress and strength of dry red sandstone is greater than that of saturated red sandstone with the increase in normal stress. The dominant and secondary dominant frequencies of dry and saturated red sandstone decrease with the increase in normal stress. The dominant frequency is less than the secondary frequency. Under the same normal stress, the dominant and secondary dominant frequencies of red sandstone shear failure in the dry state are less than those in the saturated state, thereby indicating that the shear microcrack scale of red sandstone in the saturated state is smaller than that in the dry state. The results have a certain theoretical significance to determine the shear damage degree of red sandstone by AE monitoring.
Hybrid-COVID: A novel hybrid 2D/3D CNN based on cross-domain adaptation approach for COVID-19 screening from chest X-ray images
Authors: Bayoudh Khaled , Hamdaoui Fayçal , Mtibaa Abdellatif
Published: October 2020

So far, COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, continues to spread rapidly in most countries of the world, putting people's lives at risk. According to the WHO, respiratory infections occur primarily in the majority of patients treated with COVID-19. For decades, chest X-ray (CXR) technologies have proven their ability to accurately detect and treat respiratory diseases. Deep learning techniques, as well as the availability of a large number of CXR samples, have made a significant contribution to the fight against this pandemic. However, the most common screening methods are based on 2D CNNs, since 3D counterparts are enormously costly and labor-intensive. In this study, a hybrid 2D/3D convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture for COVID-19 screening using CXRs has been developed. The proposed architecture consists of the incorporation of a pre-trained deep model (VGG-16) and a shallow 3D CNN, combined with a depth-wise separable convolution layer and a spatial pyramid pooling module (SPP). Specifically, the depth-wise separable convolution helps to preserve the useful features while reducing the computational burden of the model. The SPP module is designed to extract multi-level representations from intermediate ones. Experimental results show that the proposed framework can achieve reasonable performances when evaluated on a collected dataset (3 classes: COVID-19, Pneumonia, and Normal). Notably, it achieved a sensitivity of 98.33%, a specificity of 98.68% and an overall accuracy of 96.91%
Impact of cultivation conditions on xylanase production and growth in Paenibacillus mucilaginosus
Authors: Ha D. T. , Kanarskiy A. V. , Kanarskaya Z. A. , Scherbakov A. V. , Scherbakova E. N. , Pranovich A. V.
Published: October 2020

Xylanase is an enzyme that hydrolyses β-1,4 bonds in plant xylan. This enzyme is applied in the bioconversion of agro-industrial waste for xylooligosaccharide hydrolysate production to improve digestibility and nutrition value of animal feed, food processing, the utilisation and faster decomposition of crop debris in soil, as well as in cellulose bleaching and other industries. The current trend focuses on using renewable resources, such as agricultural waste, as substitutes for expensive purified xylan in producer screening and xylanase synthesis. This work aimed to determine the impact of Paenibacillus mucilaginosus cultivation conditions on the xylanase production yield. Rice bran ferment lysate along with birch and beech timber xylans were used as a carbon source. Temperature, medium pH, pH correction factors, inoculant incubation time, carbon and nitrogen sources and concentrations were the studied criteria of xylanase biosynthesis and growth in bacteria P. ucilaginosus strain 560. We show that the xylanase biosynthesis and cultivation in P. mucilaginosus strain 560 are more practical and cost-effective with the use of a rice bran ferment lysate-based nutrient medium. Inductors contained in the rice bran ferment lysate improve the xylanase biosynthesis. Calcium ions also facilitate biosynthesis in the studied strain. Cultivation recommendations are: carbon source concentration in medium 0.5% of total reducing substances content; 0.2% carbamide as optimal nitrogen source; calcium hydroxide as an agent for medium pH correction to 6.0±0.2; cultivation temperature 30±1 °С. Under the specified conditions, cultivation of P. mucilaginosus does not require inoculate preprocessing, and a maximal xylanase activity in stationary culture reaches 20 U/mL.
Calcium-suppressed Technique in Dual-layer Detector Computed Tomography to Evaluate Knee Articular Cartilage
Authors: Meng Qinglin , Liu Mengqi , Deng Weiwei , Chen Ke , Wang Botao , Zhang Xiaohuan , Chen Zhiye
Published: October 2020

Background:

Calcium-suppressed (CaSupp) technique involving spectral-based images
has been used to observe bone marrow edema by removing calcium components from the image.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the knee articular cartilage using the CaSupp technique in
dual-layer detector computed tomography (DLCT).

Methods:

Twenty-eight healthy participants and two patients with osteoarthritis were enrolled,
who underwent DLCT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. CaSupp images were
reconstructed from spectral-based images using a calcium suppression algorithm and were overlaid
with conventional CT images for visual evaluation. The morphology of the knee cartilage was evaluated,
and the thickness of the articular cartilage was measured on sagittal proton density-weighted
and CaSupp images in the patellofemoral compartment.

Results:

No abnormal signal or density, cartilage defect, and subjacent bone ulceration were observed
in the lateral and medial femorotibial compartments and the patellofemoral compartment on
MRI images and CaSupp images for the 48 normal knee joints. CaSupp images could clearly identify
cartilage thinning, defect, subjacent bone marrow edema, and edema of the infrapatellar fat pad
in the same way as MRI images in the three knee joints with osteoarthritis. A significant difference
was found in the mean thickness of the patellar cartilage between MRI images and CaSupp images,
while the femoral cartilage presented no significant difference in thickness between MRI images
and CaSupp images in all 48 knee joints.

Conclusion:

The present study demonstrated that CaSupp images could effectively be used to perform
the visual and quantitative assessment of knee cartilage.
Ultrasound Diagnostic Method in Vascular Dementia: Current Concepts
Authors: Siniscalchi Antonio , Gray Cleona , Malferrari Giovanni
Published: October 2020

Background:

Increasing interest in identifying of cerebral hemodynamics alterations as cause of possible onset
or worsening of cognitive impairment in elderly patients with vascular risk factors.

Introduction:

Intracranial ultrasound is a non-invasive, repeatable inexpensive method for recording variation of the
cerebral vascular tree in physiological and pathological conditions as well in the diagnosis of vascular dementia (VaD).

Methods:

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library and reference lists have been searched for articles published until March
30, 2020.

Results:

Clinical studies reported different Transcranial Doppler (TCD) parameters and subsequently transcranial duplex
with color code (TCCD) in patients affected by vascular dementia. The number of studies using TCCD remains limited
and most of available data are still based on TCD. However, the use of transcranial Doppler could better stratify elderly
patients with initial signs of cognitive impairment.

Conclusion:

Intracranial ultrasound employment to detect cerebral hemodynamic changes in VaD patients has been
briefly discussed in this review.
Herbal Drug Interaction: Mechanistic Details through Pharmacokinetic Portfolio
Authors: Ahmed Salman , Khan Haroon , Mirzaei Hamed , Hasan Muhammad Mohtasheemul , Eddouks Mohamed , Daglia Maria
Published: October 2020

Background:

A large number of individuals today use herbs as a drug alongside
medicine and non-physician recommended medications, as herbs are thought to be natural and
safe. However, there are many herbs that can potentially interact with other drugs, causing hazardous
effects and/or diminished therapeutic effects of other prescriptions.

Objective:

It is ought to be comprehended that herbal drugs contain multiple active compounds in
different percentages, which can change the enzymatic frameworks, transporters, and, additionally,
the physiological processes.

Methods:

Different search engines such as Googlescholar, Scopus, ScienceDirect, were used for the search of the data on
the subject; pharmacokinetic drug interactions with the herbal products.

Results:

This worldwide increment in herbal drug popularity has risen with respect to HDIs. These
PD or PK interactions are particularly significant for medications. Assessment of herbal drug interaction
is difficult because of inconsistency in herbal drug composition and frequently meager information
of active constituent pharmacokinetic. These restrictions are bewildered further by the differing
points of view concerning herbal product regulation.

Conclusion:

It is concluded that a basic assessment of certain pharmacokinetic HDI is needed to settle on educated choices
in regard to patient safety. The expanding comprehension of HDPKI will make more attention to the potential interactions.
Microwave-promoted One-pot Synthesis of Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines in Lemon Juice
Authors: Saeed Hani Yeslam , Wagare Devendra S. , Shaikh Mujahed , Durrani Ayesha
Published: October 2020

Objective:

A simple and highly efficient microwave-promoted procedure for the synthesis
of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives from the reaction of aromatic ketones, N-bromosuccinimide,
and 2-aminopyridines in lemon juice was designed. The main advantages of this protocol,
such as clean reaction profile, mild reaction condition, high yield, and minimum reaction time,
were compared to other previously developed methods.

Method:

A mixture of aromatic ketones (1a-m) (0.005 m), N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) (0.005 m),
and lemon juice (10 ml) was irradiated by microwave at 400-watt power at 85°C, and the formation
of α- bromoketones was monitored by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). After completion
of α-bromination, 2-aminopyridines (0.005 m) was added to the reaction mixture and it was further
irradiated at the same reaction condition. After completion of the reaction, the reaction mass was
poured in ice-cold water, the solid product obtained was filtered, washed with cold water, and recrystallized
from aqueous ethanol.

Result:

In the present investigation, we have developed an environmentally benign, easy, and highly
efficient one-pot procedure for the synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo [1, 2-a] pyridines from the reaction
of aromatic ketones, N-bromosuccinimide, and 2-aminopyridines in lemon juice as a natural
acid catalyst and solvent under microwave irradiation. This new protocol offers very attractive features
such as minimum reaction time, clean reaction profile, mild reaction condition, and green aspects
such as avoid poisonous catalyst, hazardous solvents, ease of the work-up procedure, and
higher yield.

Conclusion:

In the present investigation, we have developed an environmentally benign, easy, and
highly efficient one-pot procedure for the synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo [1, 2-a] pyridines from the
reaction of aromatic ketones, N-bromosuccinimide, and 2-aminopyridines in lemon juice as a natural
acid catalyst and solvent under microwave irradiation. This new protocol offers very attractive
features such as minimum reaction time, clean reaction profile, mild reaction condition, and green
aspects such as no need for a poisonous catalyst and hazardous solvents, ease of work-up procedure,
and higher yield.
The Role of Technology and the Continuum of Care for Youth Suicidality: Systematic Review
Authors: Szlyk Hannah , Tan Jia
Published: October 2020

Background

Youth suicide is a global public health issue, and using technology is one strategy to increase participation in preventive interventions. However, there is minimal knowledge on how technology-enhanced interventions for youth correspond to the stages of care, from illness or risk recognition to treatment follow-up.

Objective

This systematic review aims to examine the efficacy of technology-enhanced youth suicide prevention and interventions across the continuum of care.

Methods

Four electronic databases were searched up to spring 2019 for youth suicide preventive interventions that used technology. The review was not restricted by study design and eligible studies could report outcomes on suicidality or related behaviors, such as formal treatment initiation. An adapted version of the Methodological Quality Ratings Scale was used to assess study quality.

Results

A total of 26 studies were identified. The findings support the emerging efficacy of technology-enhanced interventions, including a decline in suicidality and an increase in proactive behaviors. However, evidence suggests that there are gaps in the continuum of care and recent study samples do not represent the diverse identities of vulnerable youth.

Conclusions

The majority of identified studies were conducted in school settings and were universal interventions that aligned with the illness and risk recognition and help-seeking stages of the continuum of care. This field could be strengthened by having future studies target the stages of assessment and treatment initiation, include diverse youth demographics, and examine the varying roles of providers and technological components in emerging interventions.
Intravital Microscopy (IVM) in Human Solid Tumors: Novel Protocol to Examine Tumor-Associated Vessels (Preprint)
Authors: Trumbull Denslow Allerton , Lemini Riccardo , Bagaria Sanjay P , Elli Enrique F , Colibaseanu Dorin T , Wallace Michael B , Gabriel Emmanuel
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Intravital microscopy (IVM) allows the real-time, direct visualization of microscopic blood vessels. This pilot clinical trial will elucidate the physical and functional characteristics of vessels associated with solid tumors.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of performing IVM in patients with solid tumors during the standard course of surgical resection. IVM will also be performed when vasopressors or fluid boluses are administered during the standard course of the operation.

METHODS

This is an open-label, nonrandomized, single-center, pilot study of IVM observation in subjects with solid tumors undergoing surgical resection.

RESULTS

This study was active on January 1, 2019 (NCT03823144) and funded by the Mayo Clinic Florida Cancer Focused Research Team Award. As of September 27, 2020, we had enrolled 20 patients. Accrual period is expected to end by December 31, 2021.

CONCLUSIONS

This trial will support the development of interventions to improve patient treatment by extending the application of IVM to the tumor microenvironment. IVM observations during volume and pressor management at the time of surgery may aid in the development of strategies to augment responses to systemic treatments.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT

PRR1-10.2196/15677
Measurement Properties of Existing Patient-Reported Outcome Measures on Medication Adherence: Systematic Review (Preprint)
Authors: Kwan Yu Heng , Weng Si Dun , Loh Dionne Hui Fang , Phang Jie Kie , Oo Livia Jia Yi , Blalock Dan V , Chew Eng Hui , Yap Kai Zhen , Tan Corrinne Yong Koon , Yoon Sungwon , Fong Warren , Østbye Truls , Low Lian Leng , Bosworth Hayden Barry , Thumboo Julian
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Medication adherence is essential for improving the health outcomes of patients. Various patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have been developed to measure medication adherence in patients. However, no study has summarized the psychometric properties of these PROMs to guide selection for use in clinical practice or research.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the quality of the PROMs used to measure medication adherence.

METHODS

This study was guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. Relevant articles were retrieved from the EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) databases. The PROMs were then evaluated based on the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 121 unique medication adherence PROMs from 214 studies were identified. Hypotheses testing for construct validity and internal consistency were the most frequently assessed measurement properties. PROMs with at least a moderate level of evidence for ≥5 measurement properties include the Adherence Starts with Knowledge 20, Compliance Questionnaire-Rheumatology, General Medication Adherence Scale, Hill-Bone Scale, Immunosuppressant Therapy Barrier Scale, Medication Adherence Reasons Scale (MAR-Scale) revised, 5-item Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS-5), 9-item MARS (MARS-9), 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-4), 8-item MMAS (MMAS-8), Self-efficacy for Appropriate Medication Adherence Scale, Satisfaction with Iron Chelation Therapy, Test of Adherence to Inhalers, and questionnaire by Voils. The MAR-Scale revised, MMAS-4, and MMAS-8 have been administered electronically.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified 121 PROMs for medication adherence and provided synthesized evidence for the measurement properties of these PROMs. The findings from this study may assist clinicians and researchers in selecting suitable PROMs to assess medication adherence.
Correlations Between Facial Expressivity and Apathy in Elderly People With Neurocognitive Disorders: Exploratory Study (Preprint)
Authors: Zeghari Radia , König Alexandra , Guerchouche Rachid , Sharma Garima , Joshi Jyoti , Fabre Roxane , Robert Philippe , Manera Valeria
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Neurocognitive disorders are often accompanied by behavioral symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and/or apathy. These symptoms can occur very early in the disease progression and are often difficult to detect and quantify in nonspecialized clinical settings.

OBJECTIVE

We focus in this study on apathy, one of the most common and debilitating neuropsychiatric symptoms in neurocognitive disorders. Specifically, we investigated whether facial expressivity extracted through computer vision software correlates with the severity of apathy symptoms in elderly subjects with neurocognitive disorders.

METHODS

A total of 63 subjects (38 females and 25 males) with neurocognitive disorder participated in the study. Apathy was assessed using the Apathy Inventory (AI), a scale comprising 3 domains of apathy: loss of interest, loss of initiation, and emotional blunting. The higher the scale score, the more severe the apathy symptoms. Participants were asked to recall a positive and a negative event of their life, while their voice and face were recorded using a tablet device. Action units (AUs), which are basic facial movements, were extracted using OpenFace 2.0. A total of 17 AUs (intensity and presence) for each frame of the video were extracted in both positive and negative storytelling. Average intensity and frequency of AU activation were calculated for each participant in each video. Partial correlations (controlling for the level of depression and cognitive impairment) were performed between these indexes and AI subscales.

RESULTS

Results showed that AU intensity and frequency were negatively correlated with apathy scale scores, in particular with the emotional blunting component. The more severe the apathy symptoms, the less expressivity in specific emotional and nonemotional AUs was displayed from participants while recalling an emotional event. Different AUs showed significant correlations depending on the sex of the participant and the task’s valence (positive vs negative story), suggesting the importance of assessing male and female participants independently.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests the interest of employing computer vision-based facial analysis to quantify facial expressivity and assess the severity of apathy symptoms in subjects with neurocognitive disorders. This may represent a useful tool for a preliminary apathy assessment in nonspecialized settings and could be used to complement classical clinical scales. Future studies including larger samples should confirm the clinical relevance of this kind of instrument.
Capturing, Exploring and Sharing People’s Emotional Bond with Places in the City using Emotion Maps
Authors: Stals Shenando , Smyth Michael , Mival Oli
Published: October 2020

With the vision of ubiquitous computing becoming increasingly realized through smart city solutions, the proliferation of smartphones and smartwatches, and the rise of the quantified-self movement, a new technological layer is being added to the urban environment. This technological layer offers the possibility to capture, track, measure, visualize, and augment our experience of the urban environment. But to that end, there is a growing need to better understand the triangular relationship between person, place, and technology.

Urban HCI studies are increasingly focusing on emotion and affect to create a better understanding of people’s experience of the city, and to investigate how technology could potentially play a role in augmenting this urban lived experience. Artist Christian Nold for example, used wearable technology to measure people's arousal levels as they walked freely through the urban environment, identifying locations in the city that evoked an emotional response from people. After these walks, people’s arousal levels were superimposed on a map of the city and participants were asked to interpret their own data, resulting in aggregated, fully annotated, and beautifully visualized emotion maps of the city.

Based on a systematic review of emotions maps in existing literature, and our own work which seeks to understand how people’s experiences of places in the urban environment that are meaningful to them on a personal level, for example the place where they have met their partner, could potentially inform the design of future technological devices and services, this journal paper discusses the strengths, limitations and potential of capturing, representing, exploring and sharing this personal, geo-located emotion data with other people using emotion maps. Although our analysis seems to indicate that emotion maps in their current form are only of limited efficacy in accurately capturing, representing and communicating the profound, complex emotional bond that people have with personally meaningful places in the city, there appears to be potential for the use of emotion maps as a provocation in a speculative design approach.
Composer-composer collaboration and the difficulty of intradisciplinarity
Authors: Scheuregger Martin , Efthymiou Litha
Published: October 2020

Research and practice involving parties from different disciplines is of increasing importance in many fields. In the arts, this has manifested itself in both increasing attention on established collaborative partnerships – composers, for example, collaborating with writers, choreographers and directors – and a move towards more overtly cross-, multi-, inter- and/or trans-disciplinary forms of working – a composer working with a physicist, philosopher or psychologist. Composer-composer partnerships are far less common, meaning intradisciplinary collaboration is little explored in relation to practice research in music.

This article takes the collaborative music theatre composition I only know I am (2019) created by the authors – Litha Eftythmiou and Martin Scheuregger – as a case study, outlining the issues and opportunities that arise through combining two compositional practices in an effort to create a single artistic output. Ways in which the composers managed this process are detailed in the context of communication, technology, and the issue of tacit knowledge (of both individual compositional process and the working of intradisciplinary collaboration). In particular, reflections on their experience during a week-long residency, in which they collaborated on a single musical work, is discussed in order to understand to what extent two aesthetic approaches can be reconciled to create work satisfactory to both parties.

Notions of composition as an inherently collaborative process are used to contextualise the means by which composer-composer collaborations might be understood. The authors reflect on an understanding of intradisciplinarity in the context of their practice as composers in order to draw conclusions that will allow them, and others, to approach composer-composer collaboration in an informed manner.
Embodied Complexity in Choral Singing
Authors: Galbreath Daniel
Published: October 2020

Amateur musical ensembles draw participants from widely varying disciplines into shared artistic activity in a way that few other artforms do; in particular, choral music, in which bodies both create and directly receive sound, raises profound questions of how performers’ uniquely embodied creative approaches interact. Amateur choral singing therefore offers a lens into how musical creativity is distributed among, and emergent from, a diverse group of individuals. This article explores how the performance of indeterminate and improvisatory choral works offers a powerful example of this distributed creative agency via a network of sounding bodies.

This article centres on a case study (March–October 2017) involving three British amateur choirs in the performance of improvisatory choral scores by Kerry Andrew (2005) and Cornelius Cardew (1968–70). Complexity Theory (Davis and Sumara 2006) offers a useful framework for understanding how creative impulses and constructions interact; both the vocal expression and corporeal receipt of these creative ideas occurs in an embodied way, drawing on dance and embodiment theory (Sheets-Johnstone 2009, Downey 2002). The research process and qualitative-data-processing methodology (Charmaz 2014) of the case study are described, before findings are laid out with a view to how they point towards ideas of embodied, complex interaction. These findings offer an important, and hitherto unexplored, view into how Complexity Theory (a common theoretical framework in other fields across the sciences and humanities) might usefully describe musical performance. In transcending attempts to atomise ensemble interaction according to shared intellectual knowledge and verbal communication, the complex, embodied interaction of diverse singers, through the physical connection of sound, might involve those singers in the distributed authorship of a musical work.
MORENA: de la transición a la llegada al poder presidencial
Authors: Navarrete Vela Juan Pablo , Rosiles Salas Javier
Published: October 2020

Este artículo reflexiona sobre cómo entender el cambio político en la democracia mexicana, en particular tras el arribo de Andrés Manuel López Obrador y MORENA al Poder Ejecutivo, y la primera alternancia de un partido de centro-izquierda. La pregunta que trata de responder es si se puede denominar un cambio de régimen o solamente es un cambio de gobierno
Presentación
Authors: Cano Ramírez Omar Ernesto
Published: October 2020

Una vez más los gobiernos de los países más contaminantes, las corporaciones del petróleo, el gas y el plástico, los bancos y fondos de inversión con negocios fósiles, las autoridades de organismos internacionales y los “economistas” si es que pueden merecer ese nombre nos han condenado a enfrentar un mundo en llamas. Desde abril de 1995, cuando se realizó la primera Conferencia de las Partes (COP) en Berlín, Alemania, todas las reuniones han “fallado” en establecer mecanismos vinculantes obligatorios para reducir drásticamente las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI); y lo mismo ha sucedido recientemente en diciembre de 2019, durante la COP25 realizada en Madrid, España. Frente a la catástrofe climática, los “tomadores de decisiones” respondieron con tecnicismos y pasividad, aplazando un año más la aplicación de soluciones estructurales. Con éste ¡ya son 25 años perdidos en “negociaciones” internacionales! (Harvey, 2019).
Capitalismo omnicida y “nacional-trumpismo”: impulso bélico-industrial, bancario y financiero hacia el colapso bio-climático
Authors: Saxe-Fernández John
Published: October 2020

Este trabajo es una aproximación al encadenamiento estructural de suicidio, genocidio y omnicidio colectivos, presente en la fusión entre una mayor movilización bélico-industrial para una Tercera Guerra Mundial a base de combustibles fósiles y explosivos nucleares, y la aceleración bancario-financiera del colapso bio-climático capitalogénico, vía el incremento anual de la inversión mundial en el sector de los combustibles fósiles. El omnicidio se asocia al negacionismo climático del “nacional-trumpismo”, como una excreción de la crisis del capital monopólico-financiero que se gesta en el epicentro capitalista en crisis hegemónica, y que tiene manifestaciones devastadoras para las naciones de América Latina y para el planeta entero. Por su peligrosidad, resaltan los proyectos de fracking propuestos hasta ahora para ser desplegados en México.
Wilson Cano, intérprete da questão regional e urbana do Brasil
Authors: Brandão Carlos Antônio , Oliveira Fábio Lucas Pimentel de , Guimarães Neto Leonardo , Santos Valdeci Monteiro dos
Published: October 2020

Este artigo é uma homenagem de representantes de quatro gerações de pesquisadores formados e orientados pelo Professor Wilson Cano (1937-2020). O texto percorre uma trajetória acadêmica que legou contribuições fundamentais à compreensão da questão regional e urbana no Brasil. Procura ressaltar os aspectos mais distintivos dos seus estudos, com base em uma concepção histórico-dinâmica e contraditória do desenvolvimento capitalista e dos rebatimentos regionais e urbanos decorrentes de tal processo. Sob a égide do método histórico-estrutural, identifica-se, em suas análises, o exame rigoroso da formação dos complexos regionais, dos movimentos de concentração e desconcentração espacial impulsionados pela industrialização e das determinações da questão fundiária para a urbanização. Ele buscou situar o debate regional e urbano no Brasil no contexto da necessidade de avançar um projeto nacional de desenvolvimento, sem o qual teriam prosseguimento a subjugação das regiões e cidades brasileiras aos determinantes do neoliberalismo e a perda de soberania da nação.
Laboratory Study of a Soil-Cutting Blade Shaping During a Wear in an Abrasive Soil Environment
Authors: Sidorov Sergey A. , Liskin Igor V. , Mironov Denis A. , Afonina Irina I.
Published: October 2020

The authors studied the wear of soil-cutting parts blades samples on a laboratory bench, which allowed simulating conditions close to real soil environment. (Research purpose) To evaluate the possibility of the samples wear modeling in a circular soil bench and to study the structural and metallurgical parameters influence of soil-cutting blades model samples on the intensity of their wear. (Materials and methods) The authors conducted research using soil mass, including quartz sand, moistened clay and crushed stone. (Results and discussion) It was found that with an increase in the base material (steel) hardness, the difference in wear rate between the most and least loaded working parts individual zones decreased. With an increase in the hardness of steel 65G from 20 to 40 units on the Rockwell scale, wear in the most and least loaded zones amounted to 7.5 and 5.5 millimeters, respectively, so it decreased by 13.5 percent. It was determined that an increase in the thickness of the hard alloy promoted the difference approximation between the wear of the maximum and minimum loaded zones. With a thickness of one-millimeter 65G steel, hardened to 40 Rockwell units, the difference in a wear of the respective zones was 4.0 and 4.4 millimeters (1.10 percent), and with a surfacing thickness of 2.5 millimeters - it was 3.5 and 3.7 millimeters (1.057 percent). (Conclusions) The authors proved that with an increase in the base material hardness and an increase in the surfacing thickness, the values of a wear in the zones of the highest and lowest loads came closer due to an increase in the resistance of the less loaded zone compared to the more loaded zone, with the properties of the forming medium being constant.
Justification for Unscheduled Maintenance of Solar Panels Used as a Power Supply for Sprinkler Machines
Authors: Bakirov Sergey M. , Eliseev Sergey S.
Published: October 2020

The modern level of agriculture is described by the introduction of renewable energy sources. New generation sprinkler machines are being put into production, in the power system of which solar panels are used. One of the factors that negatively affect the performance of solar cells in an open field is their dusting, which is formed as a result of dust storms and wind. Cleaning of the battery panels is carried out in various ways: manual, semi-automatic and automatic. Dust cleaning is included in maintenance. (Research purpose) The research purpose is to determine the conditions for performing the maintenance, which consists in cleaning solar panels in the field. (Materials and methods) Theoretical (analysis, hypothesis design), empirical (observation, testing), experimental (ascertaining experiment) methods has been used during research. (Results and discussion) The article describes an introduced parameter for estimating the level of dusting. The power loss indicator shows the ratio of the power of the dusted module to the power of the clean module. Unscheduled maintenance is affected by the distance of the solar module from the repair point, the power of the solar module, the loss from dusting, the frequency of maintenance and cost indicators. (Conclusions) It has been found the dependence of maintenance period of the solar module of the sprinkler machine on the distance to the sprinkler machine, to the point of maintenance and repair, the power loss coefficient in case of dusting of the solar module, the cost of performing maintenance, as well as the frequency of maintenance. Article describes the boundaries of the choice of operating mode of the sprinkler between unscheduled maintenance for cleaning the solar module and the acceptance of additional power of the sprinkler power supply system according to the criterion of minimum operating costs.
Natalizumab in patients with multiple sclerosis in Colombia: a case series
Authors: García Bonitto Juan Raúl , González-Bravo Diana , Prieto-Pinto Laura , Werf Laura van der , Castañeda-Cardona Camilo
Published: October 2020

INTRODUCTION:Natalizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody prescribed in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the most prevalent chronic and inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS). NEDA (no evidence of disease activity) status is the goal of multiple sclerosis treatment.
METHODOLOGY:The clinical records of 22 patients with multiple sclerosis, followed for a mean of 9.2 years (range: 1.9 -18.3 years) between 2000 and 2018 were analyzed. These patients received treatment with natalizumab in a high-complexity neurological outpatient clinic in Bogotá, Colombia.
RESULTS:Eighteen patients (82%) reached NEDA status within a median time of six months. Seven patients (32%) tested positive for anti-JC virus antibodies. However, none of them developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. During the evaluation period, five patients (23%) presented new lesions and 17 patients (77%) had relapses before reaching NEDA status.
CONCLUSIONS:This study gave an exploratory analysis of the characteristics of a series of patients with MS in the Colombian context. In the retrospective analysis, it was observed that more than 80% of the studied sample that received treatment with natalizumab, reached NEDA status. Despite the methodological limitations inherent to this type of study and sample size, it suggests that natalizumab could be an appropriate medication for the management of multiple sclerosis in Colombia.
Diagnóstico neonatal temprano y asintomático de una trombosis cerebral de senos venosos en contexto de displasia septo-óptica
Authors: Lopez-Villalba Manuel E. , Montaña-Jimenez Lina P. , Silva-Valencia Maria J. , Restrepo-Parra Valeria
Published: October 2020

La displasia septo-óptica (DSO) es una entidad que incluye hipoplasia de nervios ópticos, disgenesia de la línea media cerebral y disfunción hipotálamo-hipofisaria. Entre las teorías sobre su patogenia es de resaltar una posible disrupción vascular que altera el desarrollo de las estructuras involucradas. Dado que la (DSO) es una patología infrecuente, se presenta el caso de un recién nacido que desde sus controles prenatales presentó alteraciones anatómicas cerebrales en línea media. Posteriormente al nacimiento se confirmaron las siguientes: ausencia de septum pellucidum, dilatación ventricular supratentorial con sospecha de estenosis acueductal y disgenesia del cuerpo calloso, además de una trombosis de seno venoso. Se resalta la importancia de mostrar la relación de estas dos patologías puesto que solamente encontramos otro caso reportado en la literatura. Igualmente, se destacan herramientas del manejo de trombosis cerebral neonatal. Por último, se resalta la utilidad de los controles prenatales como guía del enfoque rápido para el diagnóstico en este paciente.
Influence of Turbulence, Density, Phase Change, and Phase Interfaces Models on the Performance of the Numerical Simulation of a Two-Phase Closed Thermosyphon
Authors: Gamboa David , Herrera Bernardo
Published: October 2020

A heat pipe can be considered a highly effective thermal conduction device, which is especially desirable in heat transfer operations in order to ensure high energy efficiency. However, the operation of heat pipes comprises different heat and mass transfer phenomena, such phase change, heat conduction and convection, solid-liquid and vapor-liquid surface interactions, surface vaporization, and nucleate boiling. Therefore, modelling heat pipes is a highly complex task that demands detailed knowledge of the physical phenomena involved and choosing suitable theoretical models to obtain a good representation of the real nature of the heat and mass transfer processes. In this study, some models and parameters available in the commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent for turbulence, density, phase change, and phase interfaces were examined to determine their influence on the prediction of the heat and mass transfer in a two-phased closed thermosyphon (TPCT). The numerical results show that using a turbulence viscous model is not necessary and that a variable density model improves the temperature distribution inside the TPCT. Furthermore, using high mass and energy transfer coefficients during condensation makes the vapor remain close to the saturation temperature. Finally, a sharp interphase model is strongly recommended for this type of process.
Characterization of Electrospun Silk Fibroin Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering: A Review
Authors: Mejía Suaza Mónica Liliana , Moncada Maria Elena , Ossa-Orozco Claudia Patricia
Published: October 2020

Silk Fibroin (SF) is a natural polymer obtained from the Bombyx mori silkworm. It has been used in bone tissue engineering thanks to its favorable biocompatibility, adhesion, low biodegradability, and tensile strength properties. Electrospinning is a technique to develop nanofibers. It uses high voltages to convert polymer solutions into porous nanostructured scaffolds with a good ratio between superficial area and volume. In this paper, we examine the effect of the electrospinning parameters on fiber morphology once the spun fibers have been treated. In addition, we present different physicochemical characterizations of electrospun SF scaffolds such as their morphology (via Scanning Electron Microscopic—SEM—), crystalline structure (via Fourier Transform Infrared—FTIR—spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction—XRD—), thermal characteristics (via Differential Scanning Calorimetry—DSC—and Thermogravimetric Analysis—TGA—), and mechanical properties (tensile strength). Finally, we discuss the potential applications and impacts of electrospun SF in bone tissue engineering and future research trends.