bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Current management of moderate to severe traumatic pneumothoraces: a survey of emergency clinicians
Authors: Avery Pascale , Watkins Millie , Benger Jonathan , Carlton Edward
Published: February 2021

Background

Traumatic pneumothoraces are present in one-fifth of multiple trauma victims. Traditional teaching mandates the insertion of a chest drain in the majority of cases. However, recent observational evidence suggests a trend towards conservative management. The aim of this survey was to understand current emergency medicine (EM) practice in placing chest drains for the management of moderate to severe traumatic pneumothoraces.

Methodology

The survey was developed through expert consensus and sent electronically to senior EM doctors in 21 sites internationally. It described six clinical/imaging vignettes asking ‘how likely are you to insert an intercostal chest drain to manage the pneumothorax in ED?’. A five-point response was available fromvery unlikelytovery likely. All pneumothoraces were >1 cm on imaging, but mechanism, physiology and need for ventilation varied.

Results

Of a potential 606 respondents, 222 responses were received (37% response rate). Respondents were from five different countries, with the majority qualified for more than 10 years (median; 18 years). Within each scenario, there was a large variation in responses with the exception of tension pneumothorax. For vignettes without tension pneumothorax, there was a range from 52% (non-compromised 1 cm pneumothorax in a ventilated patient) to 89% (open pneumothorax with minimal clinical compromise) in respondents reporting that they would belikelyorvery likelyto insert a chest drain.

Conclusion

There is considerable variation in clinical practice involving both conservative and invasive strategies in the treatment of moderate to severe traumatic pneumothoraces. This suggests clinical equipoise for interventional trials to determine the optimal management strategy for this patient group.
Assessing Bronchodilator Response by Changes in per Cent Predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in One Second
Authors: Ioachimescu Octavian C , Ramos Jose A , Hoffman Michael , McCarthy Kevin , Stoller James K
Published: February 2021

In pulmonary function testing by spirometry, bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) evaluates the degree of volume and airflow improvement in response to an inhaled short-acting bronchodilator (BD). The traditional, binary categorization (present vs absent BDR) has multiple pitfalls and limitations. To overcome these limitations, a novel classification that defines five categories (negative, minimal, mild, moderate and marked BDR), and based on % and absolute changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), has been recently developed and validated in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and against multiple objective and subjective measurements. In this study, working on several large spirometry cohorts from two different institutions (n=31 598 tests), we redefined the novel BDR categories based on delta post-BD-pre-BD FEV1 % predicted values. Our newly proposed BDR partition is based on several distinct intervals for delta post-BD-pre-BD % predicted FEV1 using Global Lung Initiative predictive equations. In testing, training and validation cohorts, the model performed well in all BDR categories. In a validation set that included only normal baseline spirometries, the partition model had a higher rate of misclassification, possibly due to unrestricted BD use prior to baseline testing. A partition that uses delta % predicted FEV1 with the following intervals ≤0%, 0%-2%, 2%-4%, 4%-8% and >8% may be a valid and easy-to-use tool for assessing BDR in spirometry. We confirmed in our cohorts that these thresholds are characterized by low variance and that they are generally gender-independent and race-independent. Future validation in other cohorts and in other populations is needed.
Surgical decision making in premenopausal BRCA carriers considering risk-reducing early salpingectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy: a qualitative study
Authors: Gaba Faiza , Goyal Shivam , Marks Dalya , Chandrasekaran Dhivya , Evans Olivia , Robbani Sadiyah , Tyson Charlotte , Legood Rosa , Saridogan Ertan , McCluggage W Glenn , Hanson Helen , Singh Naveena , Evans D Gareth , Menon Usha , Manchanda Ranjit
Published: February 2021

Background

Acceptance of the role of the fallopian tube in ‘ovarian’ carcinogenesis and the detrimental sequelae of surgical menopause in premenopausal women following risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) has resulted in risk-reducing early-salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy (RRESDO) being proposed as an attractive alternative risk-reducing strategy in women who decline/delay oophorectomy. We present the results of a qualitative study evaluating the decision-making process among BRCA carriers considering prophylactic surgeries (RRSO/RRESDO) as part of the multicentre PROTECTOR trial (ISRCTN:25173360).

Methods

In-depth semistructured 1:1 interviews conducted using a predeveloped topic-guide (development informed by literature review and expert consultation) until informational saturation reached. Wording and sequencing of questions were left open with probes used to elicit additional information. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, transcripts analysed using an inductive theoretical framework and data managed using NVIVO-v12.

Results

Informational saturation was reached following 24 interviews. Seven interconnected themes integral to surgical decision making were identified: fertility/menopause/cancer risk reduction/surgical choices/surgical complications/sequence of ovarian-and-breast prophylactic surgeries/support/satisfaction. Women for whom maximising ovarian cancer risk reduction was relatively more important than early menopause/quality-of-life preferred RRSO, whereas those more concerned about detrimental impact of menopause chose RRESDO. Women managed in specialist familial cancer clinic settings compared with non-specialist settings felt they received better quality care, improved hormone replacement therapy access and were more satisfied.

Conclusion

Multiple contextual factors (medical, physical, psychological, social) influence timing of risk-reducing surgeries. RRESDO offers women delaying/declining premenopausal oophorectomy, particularly those concerned about menopausal effects, a degree of ovarian cancer risk reduction while avoiding early menopause. Care of high-risk women should be centralised to centres with specialist familial gynaecological cancer risk management services to provide a better-quality, streamlined, holistic multidisciplinary approach.
Carotid artery stenting in a patient with an anomalous vertebral artery origin from the external carotid artery
Authors: Beer-Furlan André , Munich Stephan A
Published: February 2021

The existence of carotid basilar anastomoses has been well documented embryologically, anatomically, and, in the case of the persistent trigeminal and hypoglossal arteries, angiographically. Conversely, anomalous origins of the vertebral arteries (VA) are not very common with an incidence ranging from 3% to 8%. Multiple variations of the VA origin have been reported in the literature, including arising from the aortic arch, from the common, internal, or external carotid arteries and subclavian branches.1 There are only four cases reported in the literature of VA origin from the external carotid artery.2–5 We report the fifth case in which the anomalous origin was identified during the investigation of an acute ischemic stroke. Video 1 emphasizes the importance of anatomical knowledge prior to endovascular or surgical interventions. It also highlights technical nuances of carotid artery stenting in a patient with anomalous VA origin from the external carotid artery.

Video 1
Severe respiratory syncytial virus disease in preterm infants: a case of innate immaturity
Authors: Anderson Jeremy , Do Lien Anh Ha , Wurzel Danielle , Quan Toh Zheng , Mulholland Kim , Pellicci Daniel G , Licciardi Paul V
Published: February 2021

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common viral pathogen associated with acute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children under 5 years of age. Severe RSV disease is associated with the development of chronic respiratory complications such as recurrent wheezing and asthma. A common risk factor for developing severe RSV disease is premature gestation and this is largely due to an immature innate immune system. This increases susceptibility to RSV since the innate immune system is less able to protect against pathogens at a time when adaptive immunity has not fully developed. This review focuses on comparing different aspects of innate immunity between preterm and term infants to better understand why preterm infants are more susceptible to severe RSV disease. Identifying early life innate immune biomarkers associated with the development of severe RSV disease, and understanding how these compare between preterm and term infants, remains a critically important question that would aid the development of interventions to reduce the burden of disease in this vulnerable population.
Disentangling risks to an endangered fish: using a state-space life cycle model to separate natural mortality from anthropogenic losses
Authors: Smith William E. , Polansky Leo , Nobriga Matthew L.
Published: February 2021

State-space population models are becoming a common tool to guide natural resource management, because they address the statistical challenges arising from high observation error and process variation while improving inference by integrating multiple, disparate datasets. A hierarchical state-space life cycle model was developed, motivated by delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), an estuarine fish experiencing simultaneous risks of entrainment mortality from out-of-basin water export and natural mortality. Notable model features included a covariate-dependent instantaneous rates formulation of survival, allowing estimation of multiple sources of mortality, and inclusion of relative observation bias parameters, allowing integration of differently scaled abundance indices and entrainment estimates. Simulation testing confirmed that two sources of mortality, process variation, and data integration parameters could be estimated. Delta smelt entrainment mortality was associated with environmental conditions used to manage entrainment, and recruitment and natural mortality were related to temperature, freshwater flow, food, and predators. Although entrainment mortality was reduced in recent years, ecosystem conditions did not appear to support robust spawning or over-summer survival of new recruits, manifesting as a 98% reduction of adults during 1995–2015.
Traffic flow modeling in fog with cellular automata model
Authors: Qiang Xin-Hong , Huang Lei
Published: February 2021

To explore the traffic flow characteristics in fog, a modified one-dimensional cellular automata model is developed considering the limited visual distance of drivers in low visibility. We suppose that drivers can be categorized into seven groups according to the radical degree, and the number of drivers follows the Gaussian distribution in general road system. Capacity shrinkage is confirmed, and there is a positive correlation between the speed limits and extent of capacity shrinkage. When on-ramp bottleneck is considered in open boundary condition, bottleneck capacity fluctuates greatly when enter probability of on-ramp is lower than the threshold, and the dependency between main lane capacity and distance away from on-ramp is weak in most cases. Besides, capacity phase diagrams of various test scenario show that the bottleneck capacity will not improve after the entry probability of the main lane reaches a certain value. This study can be an inspiration for traffic flow modeling in fog and other infrequent weather.
Book review
Authors: Metcalf Michael
Published: February 2021

Computing was in a state of crisis. As the price of the hardware continued to fall, and the power of processors continued to rise, the cost of programming the devices was becoming a major part of the overall cost. Small wonder. In 1954, although there were only a few dozen computers in existence, their programming was carried by a small army of experts coding at worst in binary code and at best in some form of assembler.

Enter John Backus. This somewhat unorthodox but brilliant mathematician had been hired off the street by IBM in 1949 to work on its Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC) computer. As a result of his experience there, he realised that the only way out of this impasse was to enable programmers to code more efficiently using a higher level of abstraction. But that would not, itself, be sufficient. It would be essential that the final binary code produced by any automatic coding system be as efficient as that being produced by the laborious hand coding.
The diagnostic capability of the Cray, gfortran, Intel, Nag and Oracle Fortran compilers
Authors: Chivers Ian D.
Published: February 2021

This version has been updated with details of the Intel 19.1 release and the Nag 7.0 release.
Byzantine Fault-tolerant State-machine Replication from a Systems Perspective
Authors: Distler Tobias
Published: February 2021

Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) state-machine replication makes it possible to design systems that are resilient against arbitrary faults, a requirement considered crucial for an increasing number of use cases such as permissioned blockchains, firewalls, and SCADA systems. Unfortunately, the strong fault-tolerance guarantees provided by BFT replication protocols come at the cost of a high complexity, which is why it is inherently difficult to correctly implement BFT systems in practice. This is all the more true with regard to the plethora of solutions and ideas that have been developed in recent years to improve performance, availability, or resource efficiency. This survey aims at facilitating the task of building BFT systems by presenting an overview of state-of-the-art techniques and analyzing their practical implications, for example, with respect to applicability and composability. In particular, this includes problems that arise in the context of concrete implementations, but which are often times passed over in literature. Starting with an in-depth discussion of the most important architectural building blocks of a BFT system (i.e., clients, agreement protocol, execution stage), the survey then focuses on selected approaches and mechanisms addressing specific tasks such as checkpointing and recovery.
Indirectly Supervised Anomaly Detection of Clinically Meaningful Health Events from Smart Home Data
Authors: Dahmen Jessamyn , Cook Diane J.
Published: February 2021

Anomaly detection techniques can extract a wealth of information about unusual events. Unfortunately, these methods yield an abundance of findings that are not of interest, obscuring relevant anomalies. In this work, we improve upon traditional anomaly detection methods by introducing Isudra, an Indirectly Supervised Detector of Relevant Anomalies from time series data. Isudra employs Bayesian optimization to select time scales, features, base detector algorithms, and algorithm hyperparameters that increase true positive and decrease false positive detection. This optimization is driven by a small amount of example anomalies, driving an indirectly supervised approach to anomaly detection. Additionally, we enhance the approach by introducing a warm-start method that reduces optimization time between similar problems. We validate the feasibility of Isudra to detect clinically relevant behavior anomalies from over 2M sensor readings collected in five smart homes, reflecting 26 health events. Results indicate that indirectly supervised anomaly detection outperforms both supervised and unsupervised algorithms at detecting instances of health-related anomalies such as falls, nocturia, depression, and weakness.
Named Entity Recognition and Relation Extraction
Authors: Nasar Zara , Jaffry Syed Waqar , Malik Muhammad Kamran
Published: February 2021

With the advent of Web 2.0, there exist many online platforms that result in massive textual-data production. With ever-increasing textual data at hand, it is of immense importance to extract information nuggets from this data. One approach towards effective harnessing of this unstructured textual data could be its transformation into structured text. Hence, this study aims to present an overview of approaches that can be applied to extract key insights from textual data in a structured way. For this, Named Entity Recognition and Relation Extraction are being majorly addressed in this review study. The former deals with identification of named entities, and the latter deals with problem of extracting relation between set of entities. This study covers early approaches as well as the developments made up till now using machine learning models. Survey findings conclude that deep-learning-based hybrid and joint models are currently governing the state-of-the-art. It is also observed that annotated benchmark datasets for various textual-data generators such as Twitter and other social forums are not available. This scarcity of dataset has resulted into relatively less progress in these domains. Additionally, the majority of the state-of-the-art techniques are offline and computationally expensive. Last, with increasing focus on deep-learning frameworks, there is need to understand and explain the under-going processes in deep architectures.
Active Learning for Effectively Fine-Tuning Transfer Learning to Downstream Task
Authors: Bashar Md Abul , Nayak Richi
Published: February 2021

Language model (LM) has become a common method of transfer learning in Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks when working with small labeled datasets. An LM is pretrained using an easily available large unlabelled text corpus and is fine-tuned with the labelled data to apply to the target (i.e., downstream) task. As an LM is designed to capture the linguistic aspects of semantics, it can be biased to linguistic features. We argue that exposing an LM model during fine-tuning to instances that capture diverse semantic aspects (e.g., topical, linguistic, semantic relations) present in the dataset will improve its performance on the underlying task. We propose a Mixed Aspect Sampling (MAS) framework to sample instances that capture different semantic aspects of the dataset and use the ensemble classifier to improve the classification performance. Experimental results show that MAS performs better than random sampling as well as the state-of-the-art active learning models to abuse detection tasks where it is hard to collect the labelled data for building an accurate classifier.
Intimate Relationships and Depression: Searching for Causation in the Sea of Association
Authors: Whisman Mark A. , Sbarra David A. , Beach Steven R.H.
Published: February 2021

This article provides a critical review of existing research on intimate (marriage or marriage-like) relationship distress and risk for depression. Using the meta-framework of research triangulation, we seek to synthesize research evidence across several different methodologies and study designs and to draw the most reliable conclusion regarding a potential causal association between relationship distress and depression. Focusing on existing correlational (i.e., observational), genetically informed, and intervention (i.e., experimental) research on the association between relationship distress and depression, we conclude that the existing body of research evidence supports the claim that relationship distress is a causal risk factor for depression. A secondary aim of the article is to highlight a variety of effective methods that, when viewed from the perspective of triangulation, enhance the pursuit of causal inference, including propensity score matching, target trial emulation, directed acyclic graph approach, and Mendelian randomization.
Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Effluent Water from PFSA Membrane Fuel Cells Operated at OCV
Authors: Yandrasits M. A. , Komlev A. , Kalstabakken K. , Kurkowski M. J. , Lindell M. J.
Published: February 2021

Perfluoroalkylsulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer membranes degrade under accelerated testing conditions such as open circuit voltage (OCV). Fluoride release rate is commonly used for evaluating the membrane degradation rate; however, many proposed degradation mechanisms should result in the release of small molecule polymer fragments. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) methods are well suited to analyze for these fragments and provide insight into the degradation reactions. Accelerated OCV durability tests were conducted on membrane electrode assemblies made with 3M Ionomer ™ or Nafion™ XL membranes. Effluent water was analyzed for fluoride, sulfate, and trifluoroacetic acid by ion chromatography (IC) and other polymer fragments by LC/MS. The detection of partially hydrogenated side chain fragments and long chain dicarboxylic acids suggest hydrogen atoms play a significant role in these reactions. The results of this study show the possibility that more than one reaction may occur at the tertiary fluoride on the polymer backbone. The presence of a tertiary fluoride on the backbone and side chain of the Nafion™ XL membranes allows for these reactions in more than one location on this polymer. Performance loss for the Nafion™ XL samples during these tests is consistent with adsorption of ionomer fragments on the catalyst surface.
Dual-Mode Electrochemical Immunosensor Based on Au@Ag NRs as Double Signal Indicator for Sensitive Detection of HER2
Authors: Ma Qing
Published: February 2021

Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2) as the biomarker of breast cancer is desirable to achieve accurate clinical detection. In the study, the dual-mode electrochemical immunosensor was fabricated to detect HER2 with mutual authentication. The MnO2 nanosheets with abundant base edges offered high external surface areas for in situ grown of Au nanoparticles (MnO2 NSs/Au NPs). MnO2 NSs/Au NPs as the substrate materials could immobilize primary antibody and accelerate the interface electron transfer. The core–shell Au@Ag nanorods (Au@Ag NRs) were used to dual signal indicator of the immunosensor. The Au@Ag NRs could catalyze the H2O2 reduction and amplify current signal through chronoamperometry (CA). Meantime, Au@Ag NRs performed strong oxidation current signals for electron transfer between Ag and Ag+ via differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Due to multifunction of Au@Ag NRs, high sensitivity and accuracy detection of HER2 was achieved by means of DPV and CA. Further, the immunosensor displayed wide linear range from 50 fg ml−1 to 100 ng ml−1 and 100 fg ml−1 to 100 ng ml−1, with low detection limit of 16.7 and 33.3 fg ml−1 through DPV and CA, respectively. The satisfactory detection result was obtained in human serum, indicating the dual-mode immunosensor had potential to improve efficiency and precision for clinical detection.
Effect of Annealing-Induced Tensions on the Mechanical Failure of Copper/Copper Interface in Wafer-to-Wafer Hybrid Bonding
Authors: Ghaemi Milad , Jafary-Zadeh Mehdi
Published: February 2021

The copper/copper (Cu/Cu) interface has an important role in wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding for 3D integration applications. Reports indicate the possibility of the formation of post-bonding interfacial voids and cracks which must be avoided. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effect of annealing-induced tensions on the strength and deformation mechanisms of Cu/Cu interfaces. We perform tensile tests on the pristine and defective Cu/Cu interfaces including a prototypical interfacial grain boundary in two defective limits: the presence of a single (isolated) void, and an array of multiple voids. The latter resembles interfacial nanoscale roughness as a result of weak sample preparation and bonding conditions. We show that in the limit of isolated voids, the strength of the system is lower than that of the pristine interface. The corresponding deformation mechanism is ductile and through dislocation activities which could be accompanied by void growth. In contrast, multiple interfacial voids lead to a ductile-to-brittle transition in the failure mechanism accompanied by a drastic reduction of the system strength. Our findings shed light on the importance of process control to assure the integrity and reliability of the bonded components.
The role of interhemispheric communication during complete and partial cancellation of bimanual responses
Authors: MacDonald Hayley J. , Laksanaphuk Chotica , Day Alice , Byblow Winston D. , Jenkinson Ned
Published: February 2021

We provide the first evidence that interhemispheric communication plays an important role during sudden movement cancellation of two-handed responses. Simultaneously increased inhibition onto both hemispheres assists with two-handed movement cancellation. However, this network is not responsible for the widespread suppression of motor activity observed when only one of the two hands is cancelled. Instead, communication between hemispheres enables the separation of motor activity for the two hands and helps to execute the required one-handed response.
The Protective Effects of Maresin 1 in the OVA-Induced Asthma Mouse Model
Authors: Ou Guochun , Liu Qin , Yu Chengxiu , Chen Xiaoju , Zhang Wenbo , Chen Yong , Wang Tao , Luo Yongqiang , Jiang Guolu , Zhu Mingmei , Li Hongmei , Zeng Mei
Published: February 2021

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that cannot be cured. Maresin 1 (MaR1) is a specific lipid synthesized by macrophages that exhibits powerful anti-inflammatory effects in various inflammatory diseases. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of MaR1 on allergic asthma using an ovalbumin- (OVA-) induced asthma model. Thirty BALB/c mice were randomly allocated to control, OVA, and MaR1 + OVA groups. Mice were sacrificed 24 hours after the end of the last challenge, and serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and lung tissue were collected for further analysis. Western blotting was used to measure the protein level of IκBα, the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, and the expression of NF-κB downstream inflammatory cytokines. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCRs) were used to evaluate the expression levels of COX-2 and ICAM-1 in lung tissues. We found that high doses of MaR1 were most effective in preventing OVA-induced inflammatory cell infiltration and excessive mucus production in lung tissue, reducing the number of inflammatory cells in the BALF and inhibiting the expression of serum or BALF-associated inflammatory factors. Furthermore, high-dose MaR1 treatment markedly suppressed the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, the degradation of IκBα, and the expression of inflammatory genes downstream of NF-κB, such as COX-2 and ICAM-1, in the OVA-induced asthma mouse model. Our findings indicate that MaR1 may play a critical role in OVA-induced asthma and may be therapeutically useful for the management of asthma.
Surgical Treatment of Chronic Giant Left Ventricular Pseudoaneurysm
Authors: Barbosa Roberto Ramos , Sassine Assad Miguel , Rolim Vitor Martinelli Batista , Dall’Orto Lima Pietro , de Mattos Farina Eduardo Moreno Judice , Moura Ramon Chiabai , Barbosa Luiz Fernando Machado
Published: February 2021

Left ventricle pseudoaneurysm is usually a severe complication of acute myocardial infarction, caused by rupture of the myocardial wall with pericardium bleeding. Mortality can reach 50 to 80% within a week if not properly treated. Hemodynamic instability, cardiac tamponade, and cardiac arrest are life-threatening presentations that require surgical treatment. We report a case of a man with a left ventricle chronic giant pseudoaneurysm and unspecific symptoms. After critical judgement on a heart team basis, surgical treatment was successfully performed, with a good long-term clinical outcome.
The Stochastic Resonance Phenomenon of Different Noises in Underdamped Bistable System
Authors: Yang Shan , Fan Zening , Ren Ruibin
Published: February 2021

In this paper, the stochastic resonance (SR) phenomenon of four kinds of noises (the white noise, the harmonic noise, the asymmetric dichotomous noise, and the Lévy noise) in underdamped bistable systems is studied. By applying theory of stochastic differential equations to the numerical simulation of stochastic resonance problem, we simulate and analyze the system responses and pay close attention to stochastic control in the proposed systems. Then, the factors of influence to the SR are investigated by the Euler-Maruyama algorithm, Milstein algorithm, and fourth-order Runge-Kutta algorithm, respectively. The results show that the SR phenomenon can be generated in the proposed system under certain conditions by adjusting the parameters of the control effect with different noises. We also found that the type of the noise has little effect on the resonance peak of the output power spectrum density, which is not observed in conventional harmonic systems driven by multiplicative noise with only an overdamped term. Therefore, the conclusion of this paper can provide experimental basis for the further study of stochastic resonance.
Multimodality Image Analysis in a Cohort of Patients with Atypical Juvenile Ocular Toxocariasis
Authors: Guo Xiaohong , Liu Hui , Li Manli , Fan Ke , Li Shuyin , Lei Bo
Published: February 2021

Purpose. To analysis the multimodal imaging of a group of patients diagnosed clinically with atypical juvenile ocular toxocariasis (OT). Methods. In this case series study, we examined 9 young patients diagnosed with atypical OT. Routine ophthalmological examinations, fundus photography, optical-coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein angiography (FFA), and B-mode ultrasound were performed. A questionnaire was used to record whether the patients were newly diagnosed and whether they had a history of exposure to a cat and dog. Aqueous humor and serum samples were taken for serological tests. Results. In all the patients, yellow-and-white dot-shaped lesions and perivascular white sheath were seen in the fundus. Heterogeneous changes including hyper-reflection in the disrupted neuroretina, hyper-reflection in the outer retinal layer, high-reflection mass on the surface of the neuroretina accompanied with reflective attenuation, and high-reflection mass involving the entire neuroretina or high-reflection mass in the vitreous body were noticed in OCT images. On FFA, seven of these patients (77.8%) showed leakage of fluorescein in the small- and medium-branch veins of the retina, and a “bristle-like” change indicated increased permeability of the vessels. B-mode ultrasound showed proliferative membranes and proliferative bands (33.3%), as well as spotted opacity in the vitreous (66.7%). The antibodies to Toxocara canis in the aqueous humor and serum were positive, and the Goldmann–Witmer coefficient was significantly increased in 6 out of 7 patients. Conclusions. Multimodality images are useful in the diagnosis of atypical juvenile OT, which could be easily overlooked and misdiagnosed.
Toxicity of Methanolic Extracts of Seeds of Moringa stenopetala, Moringaceae in Rat Embryos and Fetuses
Authors: Teshome Daniel , Tiruneh Chalachew , Berihun Gete
Published: February 2021

Moringa stenopetala is a medicinal plant that has been used in Ethiopian traditional medicine as a remedy for the treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and stomach pain. The study is aimed at assessing the toxicity of the methanol extracts of the seeds of Moringa stenopetala on the developing embryo and fetuses of rats. The seeds of Moringa were extracted by maceration using 80% methanol. The extract (250–1000 mg/kg) was orally administered to pregnant Swiss albino rats from days 6 to12 of gestation. Embryos and fetuses were recovered by laparotomy on gestational day 12 and day 20, respectively, and were assessed for developmental anomalies. On day 20, significant prenatal growth retardation such as reduced litter weight and crown‐rump length were observed in near term fetuses of 1000 mg/kg treated rats. Litter weight in 1000 mg/kg and pair‐fed control groups was 2.41 g ± 0.108 and 3.08 g ± 0.093, respectively. Delay in the development of an otic, optic, and olfactory system, as well as a reduction in a number of branchial bars, occurred on day 12 embryos of 1000 mg/kg treated rats. The rate of fetal resorption in 1000 mg/kg and pair‐fed control groups was 1.6 ± 0.55 and 0.42 ± 0.52, respectively. There was also a high incidence of fetal death in the 1000 mg/kg treated group but it was not statistically significant. The offspring’s of Moringa‐treated rats did not show gross external malformations at all doses. These findings suggest that the methanol seed extract of Moringa stenopetala is not safe to rat embryos and fetuses. Its toxic effects were evidenced by a significant delay in embryonic and fetal development and an increase in fetal resorptions and fetal death.
[Retracted] The MGHSS for Solving Continuous Sylvester Equation AX+XB=C
Authors: Feng Yu-Ye , Wu Qing-Biao , Jing Xue-Na
Published: February 2021

This paper proposes the modified generalization of the HSS (MGHSS) to solve a large and sparse continuous Sylvester equation, improving the efficiency and robustness. The analysis shows that the MGHSS converges to the unique solution of AX + XB = C unconditionally. We also propose an inexact variant of the MGHSS (IMGHSS) and prove its convergence under certain conditions. Numerical experiments verify the efficiency of the proposed methods.
Effect of Omega-3 on Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis and Improvement Quality of Life
Authors: Hadian Zahra , Moghadamnia Ali Akbar , Kazemi Sohrab , Shirzad Atena
Published: February 2021

Objective. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases in oral mucosa. Beneficial effects of omega-3 supplements on some inflammatory diseases have been proved. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of omega-3 supplements in recurrent aphthous stomatitis management and improve oral health-related quality of life. Methods. In this double-blind clinical trial, 40 patients with minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis were randomly divided into case and control groups. The case group received 1000 mg capsules of omega-3, while the control group received placebo capsules for 6 months. The questionnaires of the ulcer severity score and the chronic oral mucosal disease questionnaire were filled by the patients in three steps, at the baseline session, after 3 months, and after 6 months. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22 software through ANOVA, Mann–Whitney, and chi-square tests.

P
<
0.05

was considered as significant. Results. In the omega-3 group, the ulcer severity score showed significant reduction by three-month and six-month follow-ups (

P
<
0.0001

,

P
<
0.0001

, respectively). The mean score of the chronic oral mucosal disease questionnaire significantly improved by three-month and six-month follow-ups in the omega-3-receiving group. Conclusion. Use of omega-3 oral supplements decreased the severity of aphthous ulcer and improved oral health-related quality of life.
Experimental Studies on Shale Cracks and Permeability Evolution Based on Acoustic Emission Monitoring
Authors: Chen Hao , Ge Hongkui , Wang Xiaoqiong , Wang Jianbo , Wu Shan
Published: February 2021

The matrix permeability of shale reservoirs is extremely low. Therefore, massive volume fracturing is needed to form a complex crack network and get adequate sufficient capacity during the well completion. After fracturing, the effective stimulated reservoir volume (ESRV) is vital for developing shale reservoirs, mainly determined by stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) and the increase in permeability. Microseismic monitoring is widely used in the field to describe the crack shape and determine the SRV, to evaluate the stimulation effect. However, no studies have been conducted on the relationship between microseismic parameters and permeability. Thereby, we conducted uniaxial compression tests on Longmaxi shale samples and measured their changes in porosity and permeability before and after loading combining the microseismic monitoring under a laboratory scale (acoustic emission (AE)). Results show that porosity has little influence on the permeability before and after loading, while the propagation and connection of cracks are the most critical factors. As the loading stress increases, the crack volume and sample connectivity both grow. Besides, for the Longmaxi shale, when the stress is loaded to 30~50% of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), the cracks start to propagate steadily (dilation), the permeability begins to increase rapidly, and percolation occurs, which indicates that the dilation point is closely related to the percolation threshold. The AE rate and accumulative ringing number both increase when it is larger than the percolation threshold value. The variation of AE characteristics can be used to identify the percolation threshold. Finally, the graphic model including AE parameters, crack, and permeability evolution is established based on the experimental results, which could help us understand the relationship between microseismic parameters and permeability and provide a methodological basis for the ESRV evaluation in the field.
Analysis of Corrosion‐Fatigue Damage and Fracture Mechanism of In‐Service Bridge Cables/Hangers
Authors: Guowen Yao , Shicong Yang , Jinquan Zhang , Yanling Leng
Published: February 2021

Cables/hangers are important load‐bearing components of suspension, cable‐stayed, and through‐arch bridges. Their reliability throughout their service life directly affects the safety of these bridges. In this study, to provide a reference for the design, maintenance, and inspection of bridge cables/hangers, their damage and failure mechanisms were theoretically analyzed using finite element analysis and corrosion‐fatigue simulation tests of steel wires, based on the characteristics of the cable/hanger damage. The finite element analysis showed that a rotation of 0.00113 rad in the lower anchorage area results in a bending stress of 18.8 MPa, indicating that the effect of the bending stress on the steel wires in this area cannot be neglected, as it is a factor contributing to the failure of long cables/hangers. We further used a salt spray chamber to simulate an acid‐rain environment. The results showed the following: (1) corrosion‐fatigue damage of the cables/hangers occurs under the combined action of a corrosive environment and an alternating stress. This leads to an intensified corrosion damage, reduced ductility, increased brittleness, and eventually, brittle fracturing of the cables/hangers. (2) In the same corrosive environment, the highest degree of specimen corrosion occurred during alternating stress, followed by static stress, and no stress. (3) After corrosion‐fatigue damage occurred for a specimen, its breaking stress was about 60% in comparison to the uncorroded specimen. The percentage elongation at the break also decreased; this was about 40% in comparison to the uncorroded specimen, indicating brittle fracturing. (4) The steel wires of the cables/hangers with corrosion‐fatigue damage are more prone to brittle fracture if they are exposed to complex spatial stresses.
Sliding Mode Control Based on High-Order Linear Extended State Observer for Near Space Vehicle
Authors: Li Ouxun , Jiang Ju , Deng Li , Huang Shutong
Published: February 2021

Aiming at the uncertainty and external disturbance sensitivity of the near space vehicles (NSV), a novel sliding mode controller based on the high-order linear extended state observer (LESO) is designed in this paper. In the proposed sliding mode controller, the double power reaching law is adopted to enhance the state convergence rate, and the high-order LESO is designed to improve the antidisturbance ability. Moreover, the appropriate observer bandwidth and extended order are selected to further reduce or even eliminate the disturbance by analyzing their influences on the observer performance. Finally, the simulation demonstrations are given for the NSV control system with uncertain parameters and external disturbances. The theoretical analyses and simulation results consistently indicate that the proposed high-order LESO with carefully selected extended order and observer bandwidth has better performance than the traditional ones for the nonlinear NSV system with parametric uncertainty and external disturbance.
Temperature Correction for FWD Deflection in Cement Pavement Void Detection
Authors: Zhang Bei , Wang Xiaoliang , Zhong Yanhui , Li Xiaolong , Hao Meimei , Ding Yuanhao , Liu Jianyang , Zhang Xu
Published: February 2021

The use of the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) for detecting pavement voids is based on the principle that, under the same impact load, the deflection of pavements with voids increases significantly. Under the effect of temperature, the cement pavement becomes warped, which affects the deflection detection accuracy. In order to improve the accuracy of FWD detection of cement pavement voids, a three‐dimensional numerical model of cement pavement on a multilayered elastic foundation under the coupled action of temperature and load is established in this paper. In addition, under different pavement void, climatic, and load conditions, the influence of temperature difference between top and bottom of the plate on the deflection of the center point of plate angle load is studied. Considering the temperature difference between top and bottom, the temperature correction coefficient is established and experimentally verified the accuracy of the temperature correction coefficient. The results showed that, within the ranges of positive and negative temperature differences, the fitting degree of the temperature correction coefficient for the cement pavement exceeded 0.99, which was consistent with the variation trend of the temperature correction coefficient obtained through field tests. The error was lower than 7%, which verified the applicability of the temperature correction coefficient for the dynamic deflection of cement pavements based on FWD. The accuracy of the FWD method in detecting cement pavement voids was improved, and this study demonstrated theoretical reference value and practical engineering significance.
Effect of Rotational Speed on Performance of Mixed Flow Pump as Turbine
Authors: Chen Jun , Dai Tao , Yang Qing
Published: February 2021

In order to research the flow characteristics of mixed flow pump as turbine (MF‐PAT) with different rotation speeds, a hydraulic model of mixed flow pump was established based on a pumped storage power station. The k-ε turbulent model was used to simulate internal flow fields with three rotation speeds by SMPLEC algorithms. Subsequently, theoretical calculations and experiments were carried out to verify the precision of numerical simulation. The results showed that the rotation speed of MF‐PAT has a significant impact on its performance. Both numerical calculations and experimental test presented that all efficiency curves consist of ascending and descending stages, while the shaft power and head increase nonlinearly from 1000 to 2000 r/min. When the MF‐PAT  deviates from the rated environment, increase in speed is positive to the energy recovery efficiency in the high water period and negative in the dry season. This work could provide a reference for further study of MF‐PAT.
Atrial Cardiomyopathy and Atrial Fibrillation in Cancer
Authors: Ren Mengdi , Yao Yu , Yue Xin , Ning Yuye , Yang Yan
Published: February 2021

The number of patients with oncologic and cardiologic comorbidities is increasing. A growing number of evidence shows an inextricable link between cancer, atrial fibrillation, and atrial cardiomyopathy. Cancer itself and resultant inflammation, anticancer treatment, and other comorbidities lead to atrial remodeling and fibrosis, which increases the tendency to develop atrial cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation. The scarcity of current literature and ambiguous results make its relationship difficult to fully understand. In this review, we will summarize existing evidence of the relationships and interactions among cancer, atrial cardiomyopathy, and atrial fibrillation and discuss the underlying mechanisms, and provide better information for the management of these patients.
Characterization of Potential Virulence Factors of Vibrio mimicus Isolated from Fishery Products and Water
Authors: Hernández-Robles M. F. , Natividad-Bonifacio I. , Álvarez-Contreras A. K. , Tercero-Alburo J. J. , Quiñones-Ramírez E. I. , Vázquez-Salinas C.
Published: February 2021

Vibrio mimicus is a Gram-negative bacterium that is closely related to V. cholerae and causes gastroenteritis in humans due to contaminated fish consumption and seafood. This bacterium was isolated and identified from 238 analyzed samples of sea water, oysters, and fish. Twenty strains were identified as V. mimicus according to amplification of the vmhA gene, which is useful as a marker of identification of the species. The production of lipases, proteases, and nucleases was detected; 45% of the strains were able to produce thermonucleases and 40% were capable of producing hydroxamate-type siderophores, and the fragment of the iuT gene was amplified in all of the V. mimicus strains. Seventy-five percent of V. mimicus strains showed cytopathic effect on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and destruction of the monolayer, and 100% of the strains were adherent on the HEp-2 cell line with an aggregative adherence pattern. The presence of virulence factors in V. mimicus strains obtained from fishery products suggests that another member of the Vibrio genus could represent a risk to the consumer due to production of different metabolites that allows it to subsist in the host.
The Role of FSHR SNPs and AMH in Follicular Fluid and Serum in Ovarian Response during COS: A Pilot Study
Authors: Anagnostou Elli , Mavrogianni Despina , Prifti Ilectra-Niki , Dimitroulia Evangelia , Protopapas Athanasios , Drakakis Peter , Loutradis Dimitrios
Published: February 2021

Background. Several studies have investigated on the polymorphism Ser680Asn of FSHR and its use as a predictive indicator of response to an IVF/ICSI protocol. Furthermore, measurement of AMH in serum and follicular fluid is a useful prognostic indicator for the outcome of an assisted reproduction attempt. The purpose of this study is to examine the FSH receptor Ser680Asn polymorphism in combination with AMH levels in both serum and follicular fluid, on the day of oocyte collection. Materials and Methods. A total of 32 women who underwent IVF/ICSI were included. Women were grouped into 2 groups: those who received rFSH (n=11) and those who received hMG (n=21). Serum AMH was measured on day 3 of the cycle, and AMH in the follicular fluid on the day of oocyte retrieval; the same day peripheral blood was collected for the genotyping of Ser680Asn. Results. No statistical significant difference was found between serum AMH and follicular fluid AMH regarding the FSH receptor genotype for the Ser680Asn polymorphism. Regarding the sAMH/ffAMH ratio in the 3 genotypes, the value was lower in Asn/Asn women than Ser/Ser and Ser/Asn, but no statistical difference was obtained. Women who carry the Ser allele have a higher number of follicles, retrieved oocytes, and mature oocytes than women who do not contain the Ser allele. Women withAMH<2.22 ng/mlpresented lower AMH follicular fluid levels and lower serum AMH/follicular fluid AMH ratio in a statistically significant manner. Concerning the genotype for the polymorphism Ser680Asn of FSHR in relation to AMH levels, no statistically significant differences were found. Conclusions. The identification of polymorphisms, such as Ser680Asn of FSHR, along with the determination of endocrine markers in the follicular fluid, such as AMH, could lead at some point, to the personalized therapy setting per woman.