bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient-proxy agreement on change in acute stroke patient-reported outcome measures: a prospective study
Authors: Lapin Brittany R. , Thompson Nicolas R. , Schuster Andrew , Katzan Irene L.
Published: July 2021

Objectives

Research has indicated proxies overestimate symptoms on patients’ behalves, however it is unclear whether patients and proxies agree on meaningful change across domains over time. The objective of this study is to assess patient-proxy agreement over time, as well as agreement on identification of meaningful change, across 10 health domains in patients who underwent acute rehabilitation following stroke.

Methods

Stroke patients were recruited from an ambulatory clinic or inpatient rehabilitation unit, and were included in the study if they were undergoing rehabilitation. At baseline and again after 30 days, patients and their proxies completed PROMIS Global Health and eight domain-specific PROMIS short forms. Reliability of patient-proxy assessments at baseline, follow-up, and the change in T-score was evaluated for each domain using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC(2,1)). Agreement on meaningful improvement or worsening, defined as 5+ T-score points, was compared using percent exact agreement.

Results

Forty-one patient-proxy dyads were included in the study. Proxies generally reported worse symptoms and functioning compared to patients at both baseline and follow-up, and reported less change than patients. ICCs for baseline and change were primarily poor to moderate (range: 0.06 (for depression change) to 0.67 (for physical function baseline)), and were better at follow-up (range: 0.42 (for anxiety) to 0.84 (for physical function)). Percent exact agreement between indicating meaningful improvement versus no improvement ranged from 58.5–75.6%. Only a small proportion indicated meaningful worsening.

Conclusions

Patient-proxy agreement across 10 domains of health was better following completion of rehabilitation compared to baseline or change. Overall change was minimal but the majority of patient-proxy dyads agreed on meaningful change. Our study provides important insight for clinicians and researchers when interpreting change scores over time for questionnaires completed by both patients and proxies.
Early CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia, association with patients’ age and duration of presenting complaint
Authors: EL Kady Reem M. , Hassan Hosam A. , Daqqaq Tareef S. , Makboul Rania , Ibrahim Hanan Mosleh
Published: July 2021

Background

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory syndrome with a variable degree of severity. Imaging is a vital component of disease monitoring and follow-up in coronavirus pulmonary syndromes. The study of temporal changes of CT findings of COVID-19 pneumonia can help in better understanding of disease pathogenesis and prediction of disease prognosis. In this study, we aim to determine the typical and atypical CT imaging features of COVID-19 and discuss the association of typical CT imaging features with the duration of the presenting complaint and patients’ age.

Results

The lesions showed unilateral distribution in 20% of cases and bilateral distribution in 80% of cases. The lesions involved the lower lung lobes in 30% of cases and showed diffuse involvement in 58.2% of cases. The lesions showed peripheral distribution in 74.5% of cases. The most common pattern was multifocal ground glass opacity found in 72.7% of cases. Atypical features like cavitation and pleural effusion can occur early in the disease course. There was significant association between increased number of the lesions, bilaterality, diffuse pattern of lung involvement and older age group (≥ 50 years old) and increased duration of presenting complaint (≥ 4 days). There was significant association between crazy-paving pattern and increased duration of presenting complaint. No significant association could be detected between any CT pattern and increased patient age.

Conclusion

The most common CT feature of COVID-19 was multifocal ground glass opacity. Atypical features like cavitation and pleural effusion can occur early in the course of the disease. Our cases showed more extensive lesions with bilateral and diffuse patterns of distribution in the older age group and with increased duration of presenting complaint. There was a significant association between crazy-paving pattern and increased duration of presenting complaint. No significant association could be detected between any CT pattern and increased patient age.
Zoledronic Acid vs Placebo in Pediatric Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Phase 3 Trial
Authors: Ward Leanne M , Choudhury Anup , Alos Nathalie , Cabral David A , Rodd Celia , Sbrocchi Anne Marie , Taback Shayne , Padidela Raja , Shaw Nick J , Hosszu Eva , Kostik Mikhail , Alexeeva Ekaterina , Thandrayen Kebashni , Shenouda Nazih , Jaremko Jacob L , Sunkara Gangadhar , Sayyed Sarfaraz , Aftring R Paul , Munns Craig F
Published: July 2021

Context

Glucocorticoids (GCs) prescribed for chronic pediatric illnesses are associated with osteoporotic fractures.

Objective

This study aims to determine the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) zoledronic acid (ZA) compared with placebo to treat pediatric GC-induced osteoporosis (GIO).

Methods

Children aged 5 to 17 years with GIO were enrolled in this multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT 00799266). Eligible children were randomly assigned 1:1 to 6 monthly IV ZA 0.05 mg/kg or IV placebo. The primary end point was the change in lumbar spine bone mineral density z score (LSBMDZ) from baseline to month 12. Incident fractures and safety were assessed.

Results

Thirty-four children were enrolled (mean age 12.6 ± 3.4 years [18 on ZA, 16 on placebo]), all with low-trauma vertebral fractures (VFs). LSBMDZ increased from −2.13 ± 0.79 to −1.49 ± 1.05 on ZA, compared with −2.38 ± 0.90 to −2.27 ± 1.03 on placebo (least squares means difference 0.41 [95% CI, 0.02-0.81; P = .04]); when corrected for height z score, the least squares means difference in LBMDZ was 0.75 [95% CI, 0.27-1.22; P = .004]. Two children on placebo had new low-trauma VF vs none on ZA. Adverse events (AEs) were reported in 15 of 18 children (83%) on ZA, and in 12 of 16 (75%) on placebo, most frequently within 10 days after the first infusion. There were no deaths or treatment discontinuations due to treatment-emergent AEs.

Conclusion

LSBMDZ increased significantly on ZA compared with placebo over 1 year in children with GIO. Most AEs occurred after the first infusion.
A systematic review of the evidence of outdoor air pollution on asthma hospital visits in children and adolescents in South Asia – a call for data
Authors: Malamardi Sowmya , Lambert Katrina A. , Batra Mehak , Tham Rachel , Padukudru Anand Mahesh , Erbas Bircan
Published: July 2021

Background: Outdoor air pollution and childhood asthma are increasing problems in South Asian countries. However, little is known about the associations between levels of air pollution and severe childhood asthma requiring hospital treatment in these regions.

Methods: We undertook a systematic review to assess the evidence between outdoor air pollution exposure and childhood and adolescent asthma hospitalization in South Asia. MEDLINE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest Central databases were searched for peer-reviewed papers, and examination of reference lists was conducted for additional studies. We identified all the literature published in English up to January 2021 for the study population comprised of children aged less than 19 years. The search strategy was designed to identify all the studies and screen them as per the inclusion criteria. The method of qualitative synthesis using the standard tool determined the comprehensiveness of the assessment of bias.

Results: Of the original 367 studies screened three studies were ultimately included from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and a narrative synthesis was conducted. Although studies reported adverse effects of outdoor pollution on asthma hospitalizations, limitations in exposure assessments, varying definitions of asthma hospitalizations and limited data analysis were identified.

Conclusions: There is currently limited evidence that can provide meaningful risk estimates of the impact of outdoor air pollution on asthma hospitalizations during childhood and adolescence. Studies with comparable outcome definitions, appropriate exposure assessments and study designs are needed to inform future public and environmental health policy.

PROSPERO registration: CRD42020156714 (28/04/2020)
Implementation of Environmental Approach to Professional Self-Determination of Russian Schoolchildren
Authors: Nechaev Mikhail , Frolova Svetlana
Published: July 2021

The school should prepare a graduate who is able to successfully socialize and be in demand and competitive. That is why the problem of professional self-determination and choice of future profession by students is particularly acute.

Training of professional personnel of the XXI century should be carried out in educational institutions with pre-professional training, which is the basis for obtaining quality professional education in the near future. A specially organized environment is needed for the pre-professional training of schoolchildren. That is why the authors turned to the problem of formation of the environment of professional self-determination in Russian schools.

The study described the environment of professional self-determination on the basis of early career guidance and pre-professional training of students, which included the following blocks: resources, activities, results.

The results obtained in this study can be useful for creating an environment of professional self-determination, early career guidance and pre-professional training of students in educational institutions, which will ensure the emergence of a graduate of a «new type» – a young man with the ability to consciously choose a professional path in unity with professional mobility.
Diagnosis intercultural con perspectiva de género en escuelas. Estudio de caso múltiple.
Authors: Rodríguez-Casado Rocío , Terrón-Caro María Teresa
Published: July 2021

Desde una visión socioeducativa, los estudios de casos múltiple permiten explorar al detalle colectividades pluriculturales que necesitan respuestas institucionales y profesionales para garantizar una adecuada gestión de los desafíos pedagógicos que continúan inmersos en las instituciones educativas, como son la diversidad cultural y de género. En este sentido, nos cuestionamos si hoy, en las escuelas del siglo XXI, se logra transversalizar un enfoque real y efectivo basado en la interculturalidad con perspectiva de género para dejar atrás la escuela tradicional, que encubre tanto conductas como actitudes racistas y sexistas. En la presente investigación, a través de un sistema metodológico mixto y desde una mirada comparativa, nuestra finalidad es analizar las acciones interculturales con perspectiva de género desarrolladas en cuatro centros educativos públicos, dos de Sevilla (España) y dos de Salta (Argentina), para conocer qué se entiende por dicho enfoque y si desde el profesorado se considera pertinente incorporar y aplicar en sus entornos educativos. Dichas instituciones educativas son seleccionados por criterios muestrales. Los resultados obtenidos, tanto de las encuestas al profesorado como de los grupos de discusión a las comunidades educativas sobre las prácticas desarrolladas para la atención a la diversidad cultural y la perspectiva de género, muestran la necesidad de formación especializada en esta materia, la colaboración de agentes socioeducativos en el sistema educativo y la renovación e innovación de las normativas educativas institucionales a las nuevas demandas sociales y culturales, que influyen directa e indirectamente, para alcanzar el éxito educativo en su máxima expresión.
Experiencia de los egresados de la Universidad Intercultural del Estado de Puebla como intermediarios culturales.
Authors: Roa-González Iliana Viridiana
Published: July 2021

En México, el sistema de educación se ha segmentado y diversificado a lo largo del tiempo, clasificando a los sectores vulnerables de la población; en particular a los jóvenes que viven en zonas con alta población indígena en nichos educativos diferenciados. En el año 2000, nació un nuevo modelo educativo en el Sistema de Educación Superior: las Universidades Interculturales. Una de las características principales de este modelo educativo es su currículo contextual, pues se adapta al lugar donde se localiza cada sede, teniendo como base una pertinencia cultural y lingüística. Aunado a ello, una de las funciones tácitas de las Universidades Interculturales es formar intermediarios culturales: alumnos y egresados nativos de sus comunidades indígenas que entretejen sus diversos saberes en el ámbito laboral, capaces de vincularse y relacionar con las instituciones gubernamentales y con su comunidad, mediante el uso de la lengua originaria. El objetivo principal de este artículo es analizar la experiencia de los egresados como intermediarios culturales. La investigación se delimita a los egresados de la primera (2006-2010) y novena generación (2014- 2018) de la Universidad Intercultural del Estado de Puebla (UIEP). El método utilizado para este análisis fue la etnografía, por lo que se realizó trabajo de campo en el municipio de Huehuetla y Tzinacapan, Puebla del mes de agosto al mes de noviembre del año 2018.
In Cloud We Trust? Co-opting Occupational Gatekeepers to Produce Normalized Trust in Platform-Mediated Interorganizational Relationships
Authors: Karunakaran Arvind
Published: July 2021

Interorganizational trust plays an important role in facilitating business relationships, especially for the organizational adoption of new services. Prior research suggests that interorganizational trust develops when the trustor has adequate confidence in the reliability of the trustee’s services. Nevertheless, reliability breakdowns are also an inevitable part of service provisioning. Such breakdowns are especially prominent and visible in the context of platform-based services. Yet platform-based services continue to be adopted and used by organizational customers. This increased adoption and use of such services despite their inconsistent reliability pose the following question. How is trust produced in platform-mediated interorganizational relationships? To examine this question, I conducted a 20-month field study of a cloud computing platform provider and its customers, focusing on the practices of trust production in the wake of reliability breakdowns. Here, I describe customer concerns about the platform’s inconsistent reliability that hampered the development of interorganizational trust. I then identify four practices of trust work enacted by the platform provider to address some of these concerns and to co-opt the occupational gatekeepers in customer organizations who are responsible for technology adoption decisions. Following this, I describe how and why these occupational gatekeepers performed justification work to rationalize the continued use of the platform despite its inconsistent reliability. Together, trust work and justification work facilitate the coproduction of interorganizational trust through normalizing reliability breakdowns as “business-as-usual” events. Synthesizing these findings, I developed a normalization model of trust production, and discuss the implications of normalized trust for platform-mediated interorganizational relationships in the digital economy.
An Electropalatographic Study of Korean Fricatives /s/ and /s*/
Authors: Kim Ji-Yeong , Woo Seong-Tak , Kim Mi-Jin , Oh Da-Hee , Kim Su-Jin , Ha Ji-Wan
Published: July 2021

Objectives: The present study is aimed an electropalatographic investigation of Korean fricatives /s/ and /s*/. All data from this study is based on the production of 5- adult speakers who speak Korean as their first language.Methods: Electropalatography (EPG) is an instrumental technique for showing tongue and palate contact during speech. The participants recorded /s/ and /s*/ in CV (/si/, /sɑ/, /su/, /s*i/, /s*ɑ/, /s*u/) and VCV (/ɑsi/, /ɑsɑ/, /ɑsu/, /ɑs*i/, /ɑs*ɑ/, /ɑs*u/) context using EPG and then, four variables were analyzed: row of medial groove (RMG), medial groove width (MGW), medial groove length (MGL), and maximum contact frame (MCF).Results: There was significantly greater medial groove width and maximum contact frame for / s*/ compared to /s/. The difference between /si/ and /sɑ/ was also found in the row of medial groove, medial groove width and maximum contact frame. /si/ was produced further back, and had a longer medial groove length. Also, it showed more total tongue-palate contact than /sa/.Conclusion: A various range of palatal contact patterns were found between typical adults for perceptually normal /s/ and /s*/. The results provided the information about tongue–palate pattern of Korean fricatives /s/ and /s*/. These findings would be utilized to build the basic data and useful information for Korean EPG system.
Text Comprehension of Korean Developmental Dyslexic Children Considering Mode and Type of Texts
Authors: Lee Joungmin , Jang Woojeong , Won Hyoeun , Pae Soyeong
Published: July 2021

Objectives: Korean developmental dyslexic upper grade children’s text comprehension abilities were investigated considering the mode of texts (reading vs listening) as well as the type of texts (narrative vs expository).Methods: Sixteen 5th to 6th graders with developmental dyslexia (DD) and grade and cognition-matched typically developing children (TD) participated in 4 text comprehension tasks. Each child responded to 32 questions, 8 in each text, tapping comprehension of texts counterbalancing the effect of mode and type of texts.Results: First, children with DD performed lower than TD children in text comprehension, reflecting developmental dyslexic Korean children’s performance cross linguistically even with the high orthographic transparency of Hangeul. Second, children with DD performed better in the mode of reading compared to the mode of listening, which was the same as the TD children. Third, the effect of type of text was meaningful to only children with DD, while TD children’s performance between narrative and expository text was not different.Conclusion: Korean upper grade children with DD seemed to rely heavily on the mode of reading in comprehending texts similarly to their grade-matched children, while children with DD had greater difficulties in comprehending the expository texts both in reading and listening modes compared to the narrative texts. Each child with DD’s developmental level of the type and mode of texts needs to be considered to support his/her text comprehension abilities. Further studies need to be extended to the Korean language considering the type of texts with the DIER model.
Thematic and Frequency Analyses of Caregivers’ Report on Communication-related Chief Complaints in Progressive Aphasia
Authors: Kim Ka young , Ye Byoung Seok , Lee JuHee , Kim HyangHee
Published: July 2021

Objectives: Progressive aphasia is a symptom that gradually appears and the caregivers are the ones who first notice the changes of patients’ communication abilities. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and analyze the chief complaints (CCs) reported by caregivers in order to better manage communication problems.Methods: First, communication-related CCs of 44 patients (men:women= 19:25, mean age= 70.5± 10.14) with progressive aphasia were extracted from the electronic medical records (EMRs), and thematic analysis was performed using the NVivo 1.0 program. Consequently, a 45-item interview questionnaire was developed based on the contents of the CCs. Second, a semi-structured interview using the questionnaire was conducted with 9 caregivers (men:women= 2:7, mean age= 56.5±12.82) of patients to verify the questionnaire, and additional thematic and frequency analyses of contents of the interview were performed.Results: Six main themes and 18 subthemes were extracted from the caregivers’ interview. The 6 main themes included ‘verbal expression’, ‘verbal comprehension’, ‘written expression’, ‘written comprehension’, ‘calculation’, and ‘speech’. As for the subthemes, ‘word’, ‘sentence’, ‘linguistic aspect’, ‘reading comprehension’, ‘money management’ and ‘articulation’ were the most frequently reported problems. In addition, the most severely perceived main themes of CCs were ‘verbal expression’, ‘verbal comprehension’, ‘written comprehension’ and ‘speech’.Conclusion: CCs contain crucial information regarding the current status of communication abilities of patients with progressive aphasia. The results of this study may provide information for clinicians and patients/caregivers to understand the nature of communication problems among patients and to direct future planning of the intervention program.
Chief Complaints of Swallowing Problems in Korean Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Authors: Kim Han Kyeol , Kim Ja Young , Kim Soomin , Kim Ga-Young , Cho Nam-Bin , Nam Seok In , You Heecheon , Kim HyangHee
Published: July 2021

Objectives: Normal older persons often experience presbyphagia due to aging. This study utilized the 18-item self-reported questionnaire of the Swallowing Monitoring & Assessment Protocol (SMAP) to identify swallowing difficulties that might appear during natural aging.Methods: After excluding those with neurological disorders, dysphagia-related disorders, and/or cognitive problems, a total of 822 healthy older adults aged 65 or older (mean age= 76.88± 5.60; men:women= 277:545) were surveyed by the self-reported swallowing function questionnaire of the SMAP. The total score of the 18-item questionnaire (5-point Likert scale: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) was extracted and the ranking was determined based on the mean score of each item. Ranking among two age groups (aged 65-74 and aged 75≤ ) was compared with a Spearman rank correlation, and the difference in total scores by age group was examined with the Mann-Whitney test.Results: The mean total score was 7.81± 7.63 (range 0-58). Swallowing problems related to ‘dry mouth’, ‘meal volume’, ‘mealtime’, and ‘choking on water or liquid’ were regarded as chief complaints. There was a significant correlation between the ranking of questions by age group. The mean total score was significantly higher for groups aged 75 or older (n = 494; mean age = 80.46 ± 3.98) than those aged 65 to 74 (n= 328; mean age= 71.49± 2.51) (p< .01).Conclusion: The chief complaints for swallowing reported by older adults can be considered as main swallowing problems caused by aging. By identifying precise swallowing difficulties that appear during normal aging, we should be able to alleviate presbyphagia via early detection and intervention.
Collective co-production in English public services: the case of voluntary action in primary education
Authors: Body Alison , Hogg Eddy
Published: July 2021

In this article we explore the extent and distribution of collective co-production across the single policy area of primary education in England. While much attention has been paid to the virtue of co-production, often drawing on particular, single, case studies, there is less literature exploring the wider impacts. However, ongoing marketisation, fiscal pressures and increased competition in education have led school leaders to turn to co-production as one mechanism for survival, while recognition of some of the potential benefits has led to a surge in efforts to implement co-productive activities. Focusing on collective co-production efforts, this article explores voluntary income data from more than 300 primary schools and their respective Parent Teacher Associations, supported by 70 questionnaires looking at volunteer contributions, which were completed by headteachers, and ten in-depth interviews with headteachers. Our data reveal three significant findings: the extent of collective co-production in primary education is increasing; this activity is driven by fiscal challenges, resulting in schools feeling coerced into co-production, which has wider implications; and this is resulting in increasing inequalities. We conclude with a discussion about what this means for the wider policy agenda.
Fringe visibility errors resulting from dual object imaging for stellar interferometers
Authors: Snyder Joshua , Bailey Christopher , Schmoll Walter , Zuraski Steven , Beecher Elizabeth
Published: July 2021

Practical stellar interferometry for space domain awareness is
challenged by the relative motions of orbital objects and telescope
arrays that require array phasing using guide stars. An orbital
object’s image sensitivity to the location and brightness of the guide
star is problematic, possibly resulting in a degraded resolution or
loss of image content when both objects fall within the
interferometer’s field of view. We characterized an orbital object’s
visibility using visibility contrast to noise ratios (

C
N
R

Δ
v

) as a performance metric for orbital
object image quality. Experimental validations included orbital object
visibility measurements for dual binary pinholes that were scaled in
size and brightness individually to match expected interferometer data
collection scenarios. We show agreement in

C
N
R

Δ
v

results, indicating resolvable
orbital object signals during periods of collection when signal
contributions from both the orbital object and guide star are present.
Expanding presented results to imaging interferometers, we discuss how
dual object imaging could degrade performance under the scenarios
examined.
Shift-and-add image processing incorporated with the unsharp masking method
Authors: Baba N. , Miura N. , Kuwamura S. , Ueno S. , Nakatani Y. , Ichimoto K.
Published: July 2021

Shift-and-add (SAA) is a simple image processing procedure. SAA was devised to
reconstruct a diffraction-limited image from atmospherically degraded
stellar images. Recently SAA has been applied to biological imaging.
There are several variants of SAA. Here proposed is an SAA procedure
incorporated with unsharp masking (USM). The SAA procedure proposed
here encompasses an extended version of USM. The proposed SAA method
retains the simplicity and easiness, and the basic features of SAA.
The effectiveness of the proposed method is examined by restoring
atmospherically degraded solar images. It is shown that the USM SAA
reconstructed image exhibits high contrast and reveals fine structures
blurred by atmospheric turbulence. It is also shown that the USM SAA
performs better with a data frame selection scheme.
Vibration modes of a transportable optical cavity
Authors: Xu G. , Jiao D. , Chen L. , Zhang L. , Dong R. , Liu T. , Wang J.
Published: July 2021

Many factors still need to be evaluated to fully understand the physical mechanisms determining optical cavity vibration, which are crucial for designing and constructing a transportable ultra-stable laser. Herein, a detailed dynamic analysis is used to characterize the vibration modes of a transportable optical cavity. The first five resonance modes are identified in the presence of a cavity support, and the guidelines to achieve a high first-order resonance frequency are proposed; thereby, high robustness is described using a 50 mm length optical cavity. The results demonstrate that the first-order resonance of up to 681 Hz with a gross weight of 2.51 kg can be achieved using an optimization strategy for given cavity support. The theoretical results are consistent with simulation and experiment. With the optimal group, a 1.34 Hz linewidth transportable ultra-stable laser at 1550 nm is established, and a linewidth of 1.5 Hz and frequency instability of 9.5×10−15@1s are obtained after the test including 100 km actual road transportation and 34 min continuous vibration. The test condition is equivalent to ∼ 1000 km road transportation. Our method can be readily extended to other transportable optical cavities, providing a powerful tool for improving the robustness of vibration, particularly important for transportable environments.
Dynamical quantum phase transitions in the spin-boson model
Authors: Dolgitzer David , Zeng Debing , Chen Yusui
Published: July 2021

We study dynamical quantum phase transitions in a 2-qubit system interacting with a transverse field and a quantized bosonic environment in the context of open quantum systems. By applying the stochastic Schrödinger equation approach, the model with a spin-boson type of coupling can be solved numerically. It is observed that the dynamics of the rate function of the Loschmidt echo in a 2-qubit system within a finite size of Hilbert space exhibit nonanalyticity when the direction of the transverse field coupled to the system is under a sudden quench. Moreover, we demonstrate that the memory time of the environment and the coupling strength between the system and the transverse field can jointly impact the dynamics of the rate function. We also supply a semi-classical explanation to bridge the dynamical quantum phase transitions in many-body systems and the non-Markovian dynamics of open quantum systems.
Probabilistic shaping and neural network-based optimization for a nonlinear frequency division multiplexing system
Authors: Wei Jiacheng , Xi Lixia , Zhang Xulun , Deng Jiayun , Du Shucheng , Zhang Xiaoguang , Zhang Wenbo , Xiao Xiaosheng
Published: July 2021

A joint scheme introducing probabilistic shaping (PS) at the transmitter and utilizing a neural network (NN) equalizer at the receiver is proposed to improve the performance of the

b

-modulated nonlinear frequency division multiplexing (NFDM) system. Through a numerical simulation, we demonstrate that PS plays a leading role for low launch power case, which improves the performance of the system effectively, while the NN equalizer’s superiority appears in a high launch power region, whose main role is to weaken the correlation among subcarriers for improving system performance. The proposed scheme would enlighten the optimum modulation and detection schemes of the NFDM system.
Millimeter-long metamaterial surface-emitting antenna in the silicon photonics platform
Authors: Ginel-Moreno Pablo , Sánchez-Postigo Alejandro , de-Oliva-Rubio José , Hadij-ElHouati Abdelfettah , Ye Winnie N. , Wangüemert-Pérez J. Gonzalo , Molina-Fernández Íñigo , Schmid Jens H. , Cheben Pavel , Ortega-Moñux Alejandro
Published: July 2021

Integrated optical antennas are key components for on-chip light detection and ranging technology (LIDAR). In order to achieve a highly collimated far field with reduced beam divergence, antenna lengths on the order of several millimeters are required. In the high-index contrast silicon photonics platform, achieving such long antennas typically demands weakly modulated gratings with lithographic minimum feature sizes below 10 nm. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a new, to the best of our knowledge, strategy to make long antennas in silicon waveguides using a metamaterial subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide core loaded with a lateral periodic array of radiative elements. The mode field confinement is controlled by the SWG duty cycle, and the delocalized propagating mode overlaps with the periodic perturbations. With this arrangement, weak antenna radiation strength can be achieved while maintaining a minimum feature size as large as 80 nm. Using this strategy, we experimentally demonstrate a 2-millimeter-long, single-etched subwavelength-engineered optical antenna on a conventional 220 nm SOI platform, presenting a measured far-field beam divergence of 0.1° and a wavelength scanning sensitivity of 0.13°/nm.
A hybrid of light-field and light-sheet imaging to study myocardial function and intracardiac blood flow during zebrafish development
Authors: Wang Zhaoqiang , Ding Yichen , Satta Sandro , Roustaei Mehrdad , Fei Peng , Hsiai Tzung K.
Published: July 2021

Biomechanical forces intimately contribute to cardiac morphogenesis. However, volumetric imaging to investigate the cardiac mechanics with high temporal and spatial resolution remains an imaging challenge. We hereby integrated light-field microscopy (LFM) with light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), coupled with a retrospective gating method, to simultaneously access myocardial contraction and intracardiac blood flow at 200 volumes per second. While LSFM allows for the reconstruction of the myocardial function, LFM enables instantaneous acquisition of the intracardiac blood cells traversing across the valves. We further adopted deformable image registration to quantify the ventricular wall displacement and particle tracking velocimetry to monitor intracardiac blood flow. The integration of LFM and LSFM enabled the time-dependent tracking of the individual blood cells and the differential rates of segmental wall displacement during a cardiac cycle. Taken together, we demonstrated a hybrid system, coupled with our image analysis pipeline, to simultaneously capture the myocardial wall motion with intracardiac blood flow during cardiac development.
Mechanism underlying the DNA-binding preferences of the Vibrio cholerae and vibriophage VP882 VqmA quorum-sensing receptors
Authors: Duddy Olivia P. , Huang Xiuliang , Silpe Justin E. , Bassler Bonnie L.
Published: July 2021

Quorum sensing is a chemical communication process that bacteria use to coordinate group behaviors. In the global pathogen Vibrio cholerae, one quorum-sensing receptor and transcription factor, called VqmA (VqmAVc), activates expression of the vqmR gene encoding the small regulatory RNA VqmR, which represses genes involved in virulence and biofilm formation. Vibriophage VP882 encodes a VqmA homolog called VqmAPhage that activates transcription of the phage gene qtip, and Qtip launches the phage lytic program. Curiously, VqmAPhage can activate vqmR expression but VqmAVc cannot activate expression of qtip. Here, we investigate the mechanism underlying this asymmetry. We find that promoter selectivity is driven by each VqmA DNA-binding domain and key DNA sequences in the vqmR and qtip promoters are required to maintain specificity. A protein sequence-guided mutagenesis approach revealed that the residue E194 of VqmAPhage and A192, the equivalent residue in VqmAVc, in the helix-turn-helix motifs contribute to promoter-binding specificity. A genetic screen to identify VqmAPhage mutants that are incapable of binding the qtip promoter but maintain binding to the vqmR promoter delivered additional VqmAPhage residues located immediately C-terminal to the helix-turn-helix motif as required for binding the qtip promoter. Surprisingly, these residues are conserved between VqmAPhage and VqmAVc. A second, targeted genetic screen revealed a region located in the VqmAVc DNA-binding domain that is necessary to prevent VqmAVc from binding the qtip promoter, thus restricting DNA binding to the vqmR promoter. We propose that the VqmAVc helix-turn-helix motif and the C-terminal flanking residues function together to prohibit VqmAVc from binding the qtip promoter.
Ultraviolet disinfection of Schistosoma mansoni cercariae in water
Authors: Hazell Lucinda , Allan Fiona , Emery Aidan M. , Templeton Michael R.
Published: July 2021

Background

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that is transmitted by skin contact with waterborne schistosome cercariae. Mass drug administration with praziquantel is an effective control method, but it cannot prevent reinfection if contact with cercariae infested water continues. Providing safe water for contact activities such as laundry and bathing can help to reduce transmission. In this study we examine the direct effect of UV light on Schistosoma mansoni cercariae using ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV LEDs) and a low-pressure (LP) mercury arc discharge lamp.

Methodology

S. mansoni cercariae were exposed to UV light at four peak wavelengths: 255 nm, 265 nm, 285 nm (UV LEDs), and 253.7 nm (LP lamp) using bench scale collimated beam apparatus. The UV fluence ranged from 0–300 mJ/cm2 at each wavelength. Cercariae were studied under a stereo-microscope at 0, 60, and 180 minutes post-exposure and the viability of cercariae was determined by assessing their motility and morphology.

Conclusion

Very high UV fluences were required to kill S. mansoni cercariae, when compared to most other waterborne pathogens. At 265 nm a fluence of 247 mJ/cm2 (95% confidence interval (CI): 234–261 mJ/cm2) was required to achieve a 1-log10 reduction at 0 minutes post-exposure. Cercariae were visibly damaged at lower fluences, and the log reduction increased with time post-exposure at all wavelengths. Fluences of 127 mJ/cm2 (95% CI: 111–146 mJ/cm2) and 99 mJ/cm2 (95% CI: 85–113 mJ/cm2) were required to achieve a 1-log10 reduction at 60 and 180 minutes post-exposure at 265 nm. At 0 minutes post-exposure 285 nm was slightly less effective, but there was no statistical difference between 265 nm and 285 nm after 60 minutes. The least effective wavelengths were 255 nm and 253.7 nm. Due to the high fluences required, UV disinfection is unlikely to be an energy- or cost-efficient water treatment method against schistosome cercariae when compared to other methods such as chlorination, unless it can be demonstrated that UV-damaged cercariae are non-infective using alternative assay methods or there are improvements in UV LED technology.
Transcriptome analysis of chloride intracellular channel knockdown in Drosophila identifies oxidation-reduction function as possible mechanism of altered sensitivity to ethanol sedation
Authors: Weston Rory M. , Schmitt Rebecca E. , Grotewiel Mike , Miles Michael F.
Published: July 2021

Chloride intracellular channels (CLICs) are a unique family of evolutionarily conserved metamorphic proteins, switching between stable conformations based on redox conditions. CLICs have been implicated in a wide variety biological processes including ion channel activity, apoptosis, membrane trafficking, and enzymatic oxidoreductase activity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which CLICs engage in these activities is an area of active research. Here, the sole Drosophila melanogaster ortholog, Clic, was targeted for RNAi knockdown to identify genes and biological processes associated with Clic expression. Clic knockdown had a substantial impact on global transcription, altering expression of over 7% of transcribed Drosophila genes. Overrepresentation analysis of differentially expressed genes identified enrichment of Gene Ontology terms including Cytoplasmic Translation, Oxidation-Reduction Process, Heme Binding, Membrane, Cell Junction, and Nucleolus. The top term, Cytoplasmic Translation, was enriched almost exclusively with downregulated genes. Drosophila Clic and vertebrate ortholog Clic4 have previously been tied to ethanol sensitivity and ethanol-regulated expression. Clic knockdown-responsive genes from the present study were found to overlap significantly with gene sets from 4 independently published studies related to ethanol exposure and sensitivity in Drosophila. Bioinformatic analysis of genes shared between these studies revealed an enrichment of genes related to amino acid metabolism, protein processing, oxidation-reduction processes, and lipid particles among others. To determine whether the modulation of ethanol sensitivity by Clic may be related to co-regulated oxidation-reduction processes, we evaluated the effect of hyperoxia on ethanol sedation in Clic knockdown flies. Consistent with previous findings, Clic knockdown reduced acute ethanol sedation sensitivity in flies housed under normoxia. However, this effect was reversed by exposure to hyperoxia, suggesting a common set of molecular-genetic mechanism may modulate each of these processes. This study suggests that Drosophila Clic has a major influence on regulation of oxidative stress signaling and that this function overlaps with the molecular mechanisms of acute ethanol sensitivity in the fly.
Oxidative stress response in children undergoing cardiac surgery: Utility of the clearance of isoprostanes
Authors: Hadley Stephanie , Cañizo Vazquez Debora , Lopez Abad Miriam , Congiu Stefano , Lushchencov Dmytro , Camprubí Camprubí Marta , Sanchez-de-Toledo Joan
Published: July 2021

Introduction

Cardiac surgery (CS) in pediatric patients induces an overt oxidative stress (OS) response. Children are particularly vulnerable to OS related injury. The immaturity of their organs and antioxidant systems as well as the induction of OS in cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery may have an important impact on outcomes. The purpose of this study was to describe the OS response, measured by urinary free 8-iso-PGF2α, in infants undergoing CS and to evaluate the relationship between OS response and post-operative clinical outcomes.

Methods

Infants with congenital heart disease undergoing CS with or without CPB were eligible for enrollment. Children were classified as neonates (<30 days) or infants (30 days—6 months) based on the age at surgery. Perioperative continuous non-invasive neuromonitoring included amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram and cerebral regional oxygen saturation measured with near-infrared spectroscopy. Urine 8-iso-PGF2α levels were measured before, immediately post-, and 24-hours post-surgery, and the 8-iso-PGF2 clearance was calculated.

Results

Sixty-two patients (60% neonates) were included. Urine 8-iso-PGF2α levels 24 hours after surgery (8.04 [6.4–10.3] ng/mg Cr) were higher than pre-operative levels (5.7 [4.65–7.58] ng/mg Cr) (p<0.001). Those patients with a severe degree of cyanosis caused by Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) had the highest post-operative 8-iso-PGF2α levels. Patients with intra-operative seizures had higher post-operative 8-iso-PGF2α levels. 8-iso-PGF2α clearance at 24 hours post-surgery was different between newborns and infant patients, and it was inversely correlated with days of mechanical ventilation (p = 0.05), ICU LOS (p = 0.05) and VIS score at 24 hours (p = 0.036).

Conclusions

Children undergoing CS, particularly neonatal patients, experience a significant post-operative OS response that might play an important role in postoperative morbidity. TGA patients undergoing arterial switch operations demonstrate the highest post-operative OS response. Rapid clearance of isoprostanes, which occurs more frequently in older patients with more mature antioxidant systems, might be associated with better clinical outcomes.
Design and fault diagnosis of DCS sintering furnace’s temperature control system for edge computing
Authors: Qu Na , You Wen
Published: July 2021

Under the background of modern industrial processing and production, the sintering furnace’s temperature control system is researched to achieve intelligent smelting and reduce energy consumption. First, the specific application and implementation of edge computing in industrial processing and production are analyzed. The industrial processing and production intelligent equipment based on edge computing includes the equipment layer, the edge layer, and the cloud platform layer. This architecture improves the operating efficiency of the intelligent control system. Then, the sintering furnace in the metallurgical industry is taken as an example. The sintering furnace connects powder material particles at high temperatures; thus, the core temperature control system is investigated. Under the actual sintering furnace engineering design, the Distributed Control System (DCS) is used as the basis of sintering furnace temperature control, and the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is adopted to reduce the electrical wiring and switch contacts. The hardware circuit of DCS is designed; on this basis, an embedded operating system with excellent performance is transplanted according to functional requirements. The final DCS-based temperature control system is applied to actual monitoring. The real-time temperature of the upper, middle, and lower currents of 1# sintering furnace at a particular point is measured to be 56.95°C, 56.58°C, and 57.2°C, respectively. The real-time temperature of the upper, middle, and lower currents of 2# sintering furnaces at a particular point is measured to be 144.7°C, 143.8°C, and 144.0°C, respectively. Overall, the temperature control deviation of the three currents of the two sintering furnaces stays in the controllable range. An expert system based on fuzzy logic in the fault diagnosis system can comprehensively predict the situation of the sintering furnaces. The prediction results of the sintering furnace’s faults are closer to the actual situation compared with the fault diagnosis method based on the Backpropagation (BP) neural network. The designed system makes up for the shortcomings of the sintering furnace’s traditional temperature control systems and can control the temperature of the sintering furnace intelligently and scientifically. Besides, it can diagnose equipment faults timely and efficiently, thereby improving the sintering efficiency.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of branded and authorized generic celecoxib for patients with chronic pain in Japan
Authors: Karasawa Yusuke , Kamae Isao , Nozawa Kazutaka , Zeniya Shigeki , Murata Tatsunori , Soen Satoshi , Sakamoto Choitsu
Published: July 2021

Objectives

The aim of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of branded and authorized generic (AG) celecoxib for chronic pain patients with osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and low back pain (LBP), using real-world cost information for loxoprofen and pharmacotherapy for gastrointestinal bleeding.

Methods

This cost-effectiveness analysis was performed as a long-term simulation using the Markov model from the Japanese public healthcare payer’s perspective. The analysis was conducted using loxoprofen with real-world weighted price by branded/generic distribution (hereinafter, loxoprofen with weighted price) as a comparator. In the model, we simulated the prognosis of patients with chronic pain by OA, RA, and LBP treated with loxoprofen or celecoxib, over a lifetime period.

Results

A cost-increase of 129,688 JPY (1,245.00 USD) for branded celecoxib and a cost-reduction of 6,268 JPY (60.17 USD) for AG celecoxib were recognized per patient in lifetime horizon, compared to loxoprofen with weighted price. No case was recognized to reverse the results of cost-saving by AG celecoxib in one-way sensitivity analysis. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of branded celecoxib attained 5,403,667 JPY/QALY (51,875.20 USD/QALY), compared to loxoprofen with the weighted price.

Conclusion

The current cost-effectiveness analysis for AG celecoxib revealed its good value for costs, considering the patients’ future risk of gastrointestinal injury; also, the impact on costs due to AG celecoxib against loxoprofen will be small. It implies that the disadvantage of AG celecoxib being slightly more expensive than generic loxoprofen could be offset by the good cost-effectiveness during the prognosis.