bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RESEARCH OF RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF COMPONENTS OF THE DEVELOPED MILK-CONTAINING THERMOSTABLE FILLINGS
Authors: Koshel Olena , Pertsevoy Fedor , Sabadash Sergei , Mashkin Mykola , Mohutova Valentyna , Volokh Vadym
Published: October 2020

The research is devoted to the determination of the properties of the components of the developed milk-containing thermostable fillings and the establishment of the dependence of the effective viscosity on the temperature of the model system. In the work, studies are carried out for a model system containing xanthan gum; a model system containing tara gum; model system containing gelatin; a model system containing xanthan gum and tara gum; a model system containing xanthan gum, tara gum and gelatin; a model system containing xanthan gum, tara gum and sugar; model system containing xanthan gum, tara gum, skimmed milk powder; a model system containing xanthan gum, tara gum and maltodextrin. In this work, the dependence of the effective viscosity on the temperature of the model system is established. To achieve the aim, the following objectives are set: - determination of the dependence of the effective viscosity on the temperature of model systems with xanthan gum, tara gum, gelatin, sugar, skimmed milk powder and maltodextrin with different concentrations of these components; - establishment of the temperature range in which a sharp increase in the effective viscosity of the investigated model systems begins. An increase in the temperature of the system prevents gelation due to an increase in the intensity of Brownian motion and a decrease through it in the duration of the existence of bonds that arise between macromolecules. At the same time, a decrease in temperature promotes gelation, since this increases the number of contacts between macromolecules, which contributes to an increase in the strength of the so-called spatial network. In the article, the dependences of the effective viscosity on the temperature of model systems with xanthan gum, tara gum, gelatin, sugar, skimmed milk powder and maltodextrin with different concentrations of these components are obtained. Based on the obtained dependences, the established temperature ranges in which a sharp increase in the effective viscosity of the studied model systems begins
Density matrices in quantum gravity
Authors: Anous Tarek , Kruthoff Jorrit , Mahajan Raghu
Published: October 2020

We study density matrices in quantum gravity, focusing on topology change.
We argue that the inclusion of bra-ket wormholes in the gravity path integral is not a free choice, but is dictated by the specification of a global state in the multi-universe Hilbert space.
Specifically, the Hartle-Hawking (HH) state does not contain bra-ket wormholes.
It has recently been pointed out that bra-ket wormholes are needed to avoid potential bags-of-gold and strong subadditivity paradoxes, suggesting a problem with the HH state.
Nevertheless, in regimes with a single large connected universe, approximate bra-ket wormholes can emerge by tracing over the unobserved universes.
More drastic possibilities are that the HH state is non-perturbatively gauge equivalent to a state with bra-ket wormholes, or that the third-quantized Hilbert space is one-dimensional.
Along the way we draw some helpful lessons from the well-known relation between worldline gravity and Klein-Gordon theory.
In particular, the commutativity of boundary-creating operators, which is necessary for constructing the alpha states and having a dual ensemble interpretation, is subtle.
For instance, in the worldline gravity example, the Klein-Gordon field operators do not commute at timelike separation.
Exotic $U(1)$ symmetries, duality, and fractons in 3+1-dimensional quantum field theory
Authors: Seiberg Nathan , Shao Shu-Heng
Published: October 2020

We extend our exploration of nonstandard continuum quantum field
theories in 2+12+1
dimensions to 3+13+1
dimensions. These theories exhibit exotic global symmetries, a peculiar
spectrum of charged states, unusual gauge symmetries, and surprising
dualities. Many of the systems we study have a known lattice
construction. In particular, one of them is a known gapless fracton
model. The novelty here is in their continuum field theory description.
In this paper, we focus on models with a global
U(1)U(1)
symmetry and in a followup paper we will study models with a global
\mathbb{Z}_NℤN
symmetry.
Method Development and Its Validation for Simultaneous Estimation of Domperidone and Esomeprazole by RP-HPLC in Combination Tablet Dosage Form
Authors: Reddy V. Tejasvi , Kumar S. Hari Hara , Haque M Akiful , Bakshi Vasudha
Published: October 2020

A simple and validated reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed for simultaneous estimation of Esomeprazole and Domperidone. Different HPLC Chromatographic conditions were used to find out the optimum chromatographic condition for best elution of drugs. Good chromatographic separation was achieved on Develosil ODS HG-5 RP C18 (15cmX4.6mm, 5m Particle size), analytical column using a mixture of Potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH: acetonitrile in the ratio of 45:55 v/v used as mobile phase at the flow rate of 1 ml/min and detector wavelength at 284nm. The validation of the proposed method was carried out for specificity, linearity and range, accuracy, precision, limit of detection and limit of quantification. Linearity range was found to be 0-140 μg/ml and 0-150 μg/ml with correlation coefficients of 0.995 and 0.994 and retention time of 2.59 and 3.85 min for Domperidone and Esomeprazole respectively. The LOD was found to be 0.341 g/ml and 2.031 g/ml and LOQ was found to be 1.023 g/ml and 6.093 g/ml respectively. The result shows the developed method is yet another suitable method for assay and stability studies which can help in the analysis of Domperidone and Esomeprazole in different formulations.
Functional Genomics–Linking Genotype with Phenotype on Genome-wide Scale
Authors: Khan Nida Tabassum , Jameel Namra , Khan Maham Jamil
Published: October 2020

Functional genomics manipulates genomic data to study genes and its expression on a genome wide scale involving high-throughput methods. The keyobjective of Functional genomics is to exploit the data acquired from transcriptomic and genomic studies to explain the functions and interfaces of a genome and its corresponding phenotype.
Preparation and Evaluation of Polyherbal Vanishing Cream of Ethanolic Extract of Crude Drugs
Authors: Uddin Mohd Fahad , Ullah Mohd Kaleem , Ahmed Mohd Aijaz , Samreen Sana , Habeeb Hafsa
Published: October 2020

In the present study, polyherbal oil-in-water vanishing emulsion cream was formulated based on the anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, skin-soothing, and anti-aging potential of aloe vera, kachora plant, linseed, long pepper, nagarmotha plant, nutmeg, turmeric, and wheat grain. All herbs were extracted by using the maceration method with ethanol as solvent. The prepared vanishing cream was then evaluated for various parameters, and results were obtained within acceptable values. The prepared vanishing cream was found stable and firm during the stability studies performed as per the guidelines of International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) at different temperatures for a period of a month. Results have shown that formulations have good stabil¬ity. It can be concluded that the prepared polyherbal vanishing cream was pleasing, simply washable without side effects, and can be utilized to protect and avoid degradation of the skin.
PENGARUH KEPEMIMPINAN KEPALA SEKOLAH, KOMPETENSI PEDAGOGIK DAN KOMPETENSI PROFESIONAL GURU TERHADAP KINERJA GURU SMK BISNIS MANAJEMEN DI KABUPATEN KLATEN
Authors: Nurmalasari Ita
Published: October 2020

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui: (1) Pengaruh kompetensi profesional terhadap kinerja guru akuntansi SMK bisnis manajemen di Kabupaten Klaten, dan (2) Pengaruh kepemimpinan kepala sekolah, kompetensi pedagogik dan kompetensi profesional guru secara bersama-sama terhadap kinerja guru akuntansi SMK bisnis manajemen di Kabupaten Klaten. Penelitian ini merupakan jenis penelitian ex-post facto dengan pendekatan kuantitatif. Populasi dalam penelitian ini yaitu seluruh guru akuntansi SMK bisnis manajemen di Kabupaten Klaten sejumlah 73 guru dari 15 sekolah. Instrumen pengumpulan data yang digunakan yaitu kuesioner. Teknik analisis data menggunakan teknik analisis data deskriptif dan analisis regresi ganda. Hasil penelitian ini yaitu sebagai berikut. (1) Tidak ada pengaruh kompetensi profesional terhadap kinerja guru akunansi SMK bisnis manajemen di Kabupaten (β =0,643, sig = 0,522). (2) Ada pengaruh kepemimpinan kepala sekolah, kompetensi pedagogik, dan kompetensi profesional guru secara bersama-sama terhadap kinerja guru SMK bisnis manajemen di Kabupaten Klaten (F = 33,584, sig = 0,000).

 

ABSTRACT

This study aims at knowing: (1) The influence of proffesional competence on accounting teacher’s performance at vocation high school of business management; and (2) the influence of school leadership, pedagogical and professional competences of teacher’s on accounting teacher’s performance at vocational high school of bussines management in klaten district. This research was ex-post facto quantitative approach. The population of this research simultaneously as sample was all of accounting teachers in Klaten District which involved 73 teachers and 15 schools. The data were collected by questionnaires. Analyzing data referred to descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results of this study are as follows. (1) There is no influence of Professional Competence on accounting teacher’s performance at vocational high school of bussines management in Klaten district (t = 0.643, sig = 0.522). (2) There is an influence of school leadership, pedagogical and professional competences on accounting teacher’s performance at vocational high school of bussines management in Klaten district (F = 33.584, sig = 0.000).
PLURALISME AGAMA DI INDONESIA (Tantangan dan Peluang Bagi Keutuhan Bangsa)
Authors: S.Ag Julita Lestari
Published: October 2020

Abstrak

Keberagaman agama di satu sisi menjadikan perbedaan yang cenderung melahirkan perpecahan di kalangan umat beragama. Di sisi lain, keberagaman agama merupakan pemersatu umat karena saling menghargai perbedaan yang ada. Pluralisme yang melahirkan dua sisi ini menjadikan penting untuk dikaji. Indonesia merupakan salah satu negara yang menganut tidak hanya satu agama namun terdiri bermacam-macam agama, yaitu Islam, Kristen, Budha, Kong Hu chu, Hindudan agama-agama lainnya. Kepluralismean agama di Indonesia ini memiliki tantangan dan peluang tersendiri bagi keutuhan bangsa.  Tantangan terbesar Indonesia sebagai negara pluralisme adalah cenderung menimbulkan konflik. Dikarenakan setiap agama melakukan truth claim terhadap agamanya sendiri dan agama lain dianggap salah. Adapun peluang pluralisme agama di Indonesia bagi keutuhan bangsa yaitu lahirnya sikap toleran sesama umat karena mampu menghargai keragaman beragama.

Abstract

Religious diversity on the one hand makes a difference that tends to give birth to divisions among religious communities. On the other hand, religious diversity is a unifying people because they respect each other's differences. Pluralism which gives birth to two sides makes it important to study. Indonesia is one country that adheres to not only one religion but consists of various religions, namely Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hindudan and other religions. Religious pluralism in Indonesia has its own challenges and opportunities for national integrity. Indonesia's biggest challenge as a state of pluralism is that it tends to cause conflict. Because every religion makes truth claims against its own religion and other religions are considered wrong. The opportunity for religious pluralism in Indonesia for the integrity of the nation is the birth of a tolerant attitude among people because it is able to appreciate religious diversity.

 

 
Psychological Readiness for Professional Activity in Students of Pedagogical Departments
Authors: Dmirtieva Irina , Morozova Irina , Elkina Olga
Published: October 2020

Our society needs highly qualified specialists able to meet the requirements of the modern socio-economic situation in the country, hence the need to identify the features of psychological readiness for professional activity in students of pedagogy. The present research features the peculiarities of psychological readiness for professional duties displayed by graduates of institutions of professional and higher education. The article focuses on the concept of "readiness for professional activity", its typologies and components. The authors revealed the essence and relationship of the concepts of "psychological readiness" and "readiness for professional activity". The research provided key features of students' psychological readiness for professional activity and the possibilities of their formation in the conditions of professional and higher education institutions. The article substantiates the need to develop and test methods for research of students' psychological readiness for professional activity. The authors developed and tested a program for the formation of psychological readiness for professional activity in university and college students. Its implementation can significantly improve the professional competence of future specialists in pedagogy.
Provincial Administration in Siberia in the Context of M. M. Speransky's Reform
Authors: Gavrilov Stanislav , Gavrilova Angelika , Kozlova Nadegda
Published: October 2020

The research featured the reasons behind the development of an optimal management model in Siberian provinces, which slowed down the integrative processes of the official imperial policy. Governor-General of Siberia M. M. Speransky intended to eliminate the legal nihilism and arbitrariness of Siberian bureaucracy. His ideas provided the basis for the so-called Institution for the Management of Siberian Provinces – a document that structured the administration of Siberian provinces in the first half of the XIX century. The document regulated all types of management and record keeping at the level of provinces and governorates. The research revealed the features of provincial administration, control, supervision, and subordination. The author analyzes the powers of Governors-General and Civil Governors as representatives of the Supreme power in provincial administrations. The article outlines the positive and negative characteristics of the transformation of the regional management model. The authors defined a contradiction between the legal provisions and the legal reality that developed after the implementation of the Institution for the Management of Siberian Provinces, which was due to both personnel inconsistencies and the discrete nature of the administrative policy of the autocracy in Siberia.
Legal Framework for Regulating Physical Education and Sports in Kuzbass (1985–2008)
Authors: Kazmin Vladimir , Kazmina Margarita , Yuzupkina Evgeniya
Published: October 2020

The paper features legislative regulation of physical education and sports in different historical periods. The research objective was to describe the legal framework of the Soviet and post-Soviet periods in order to use the experience in modern conditions. The study was based on the following scientific principles and methods. The principle of scientific research made it possible to use of a wide range of published and unpublished archival documents and scientific sources. The principle of historicism allowed the authors to identify the state of legal regulation in various historical epochs, as well as the nature of the changes they underwent. The comparative legal method helped identify the nature of the legal framework, its content in the Soviet period, and the qualitative changes that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, the authors identified a number of stages in the development of the legal framework in question. The period of the Soviet legal norms lasted from the mid 1980s to early 1990s. During the transitional period of the 1990s, Russia was actively searching for legal regulation: the basic legislation was adopted in 1993, and the Law itself entered into force in 1999. The third period began when the state law on physical education and sport was adopted in 2008. Soon after that, a similar document was released in Kuzbass. In this regard, the development of sports law is a system of legal norms that regulate relations in the field of physical education and sports at the Federal and regional levels. The results of the research can be used in the development of the regulatory framework by Federal and regional legislative bodies, the scientific community, and lawyers involved in sports and physical education law.
Qualifications for Legal Advisors
Authors: Rossiev Victor
Published: October 2020

The present research featured criteria of qualified legal assistance. The research objective was to determine the professional and educational qualifications of legal advisors. The current domestic legislation has no legal concept of qualified legal assistance, only some contradicting qualification requirements for lawyers. Since legal assistance requires protection of the interests of the person in a jurisdictional order, the author considered it as the activity of a court agent. The article provides a flexible concept of qualified legal assistance that meets modern requirements of the legal services market. The author proved that it is impossible to establish uniform educational and professional qualifications for all legal advisors. Recognizing the requirement for a higher legal education as reasonable, the author claims that the knowledge of the actual circumstances of the case can sometimes attest to the qualification of the representative. Therefore, each case requires a balance of competence. The research included a thorough analysis of the Concept of Regulation of the Professional Legal Assistance Market issued by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. The paper explains the objective obstacles to the implementation of these provisions. The author also analyzed the draft professional standard of a lawyer, submitted in March 2020 by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, and found it lacking, imbalanced, and contradicting to federal laws. Thus, any unified qualifications for lawyers are premature.
"Success Fee": Old Song, New Tune
Authors: Trezubov Egor , Roze Mikhail
Published: October 2020

The research featured substantive and procedural peculiarities of contract costing for legal assistance through the so-called "success fee", or contingency fee, from the point of view of various legal approaches. The contract costing for legal services based on contingency fee does not comply with the current Russian law. Therefore, it can be difficult for the lawyer to collect the fee from the customer. Though courts do acknowledge contingency fees, the related business practice remains legally unregulated. The situation did not change in 2013 when the institution of invalidity of legal transactions was reformed in civil law. The issue belongs to the substantive sphere, since the procedural area reveals no peculiarities in reimbursing expenses incurred to pay for the services of a legal representative. The recent innovations of legal regulation on "success fee" are related to the new edition of the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Legal Profession in the Russian Federation", which entered into force on March 01, 2020. The authors believe that the problem is not the matter of advocacy legislation because it would then contradict with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which has priority over other regulations in this case. They criticize the obvious lobbying of legally enforceable precautions to include stipulated remuneration on legal assistance, as well as the substantial restrictions on the rights of private lawyers with no attorneyship.
Development of the Emotional Sphere of Senior Preschoolers in Conditions of Pedagogical Support
Authors: Brel Elena
Published: October 2020

The research featured some peculiarities of the development of the emotional sphere in senior preschoolers and their positive changes in conditions of pedagogical support. The research objective was to study the possibilities of developing the emotional sphere of older preschool children in conditions of pedagogical support. The article describes the specifics of emotional development at preschool age, such as uneven development of recognition, expression, and regulation of emotional states. The author declares the necessity for organizing pedagogical support for the development of the emotional sphere in a preschool educational organization. The article introduces forms and methods of pedagogical support of senior preschoolers based on activities that improve their interaction experience with adults and peers. Such support makes it possible to develop emotional sphere in three directions: understanding emotions, expressing emotions, and regulating emotions.
Real-time monitoring of water level and storage dynamics of irrigation tank using IoT
Authors: Krishnaveni Muthiah , Praveen Kumar S. K. , Arul Muthusamy E. , Kowshick J. , Arunya K. G.
Published: October 2020

The internet of things (IoT), an emerging technological marvel, consists of a group of physical objects such as vehicles, machines and sensors to monitor and transfer data over the internet with much less human to machine interaction. It relies on a host of technologies like application programming interfaces (API), which in turn, help the devices to get connected with the internet. Efficient irrigation tank management requires a strong database on continuous water level dynamics for irrigation decision-making. Real-time tank water level monitoring is possible through an IoT device by integrating sensors and microcontroller that can send the water level data to the cloud. Google sheet is used to store the water level data that can be viewed using a web application as well as a mobile application. The contour map of the study tank is used to develop the stage (water level) vs volume curve. The volume of water present in the tank at any time can be arrived at for any tank water level using the above curve. The developed device can provide real-time continuous water level data with low cost and simple infrastructure, thus aiding tank water management.
Mainstreaming climate change into water policies: a case study from Burkina Faso
Authors: Basson Fiacre , Yira Yacouba , Dayamba Djibril Sidzabda , Dipama Jean Marie , Zougmore François
Published: October 2020

Climate change (CC) in Burkina Faso is projected to materialize by, among other things, an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Not properly addressing the impacts of these projected CCs on water resources will yield enormous economic and social cost and compromise the country's development objectives. However, Burkina Faso's National Water Strategy (NWS) had not sufficiently addressed CC impacts, and recently development partners have started an initiative to help fill these gaps. The current study aims at documenting lessons learnt from this multi-partner process of integrating CC adaptation (CCA) into the NWS. The integration process was done using the climate proofing tool, an approach based on evidence of the vulnerability of water resources to CC. It consisted of (i) an initial assessment of the integration of CCA into the NWS and (ii) a formulation of a set of actions to reduce the vulnerability of water resources to CC. Lessons drawn from the CCA integration process are also presented.
Trends in access to water and sanitation in Malawi: progress and inequalities (1992–2017)
Authors: Cassivi Alexandra , Tilley Elizabeth , Waygood E. O. D. , Dorea Caetano
Published: October 2020

Billions of people globally gained access to improved drinking water sources and sanitation in the last decades, following effort towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Global progress remains a general indicator as it is unclear if access is equitable across groups of the population. Agenda 2030 calling for `leaving no one behind', there is a need to focus on the variations of access in different groups of the population, especially in the context of low- and middle-income countries including Malawi. We analyzed data from Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) to describe emerging trends on progress and inequalities in water supply and sanitation services over a 25-year period (1992–2017), as well as to identify the most vulnerable populations in Malawi. Data were disaggregated with geographic and socio-economic characteristics including regions, urban and rural areas, wealth and education level. Analysis of available data revealed progress in access to water and sanitation among all groups of the population. The largest progress was generally observed in the groups that were further behind at the baseline year, which likely reflects good targeting in interventions/improvements to reduce the gap in the population. Overall, results demonstrated that some segments of the population – foremost poorest Southern rural populations – still have limited access to water and are forced to practise open defecation. Finally, we suggest including standardized indicators that address safely managed drinking water and sanitation services in future surveys and studies to increase the accuracy of national estimates.
Irrigation water tariffs: lessons for Portugal
Authors: Pereira Helga , Cunha Marques Rui
Published: October 2020

This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the empirical literature on irrigation water tariffs in several countries, particularly in Mediterranean European countries, and to offer insights into the Portuguese status quo. We analyze a wide variety of tariffs, and the largest differences among them are discussed. In various countries, in those regions with a higher demand for water, irrigation water tariffs are more complex and higher, varying from country to country and, within the same country, from region to region. Large differences in irrigation water tariffs among different water-use associations were found, mostly because each one has its own objectives. A SWOT analysis was performed for Portuguese irrigation water tariffs. It concludes that there is much to do to enact the proposed strategies, including recovering operation and maintenance costs and promoting the efficient use of water and efficient water allocation. Furthermore, the farmers' position in the value chain must be improved along with their ease of access to credit, thus increasing the added value of the produced goods.
Low energy consumption electrically regenerated ion-exchange for water desalination
Authors: He San , Zhang Xiaozhuo , Xia Xingyu , Wang Chuanjun , Xiang Sulin
Published: October 2020

A new regeneration method of ion exchange resin named Adjacent Bed Electrically Regenerated Ion-exchange (ABERI) was proposed to eliminate the environmental impact of traditional chemical regeneration and improve the economy of replacing chemical regeneration with electrical regeneration. The desalting operation of ABERI was the same as the conventional mixed bed. When the resins were exhausted, anion and cation resins were separated and then packed in a dedicated regenerator adjacently. The resins were regenerated by the H+ and OH− ions produced from a pair of electrodes installed on both sides of the resin bed. By optimizing the regeneration time, current, and feed water flow rate, the energy consumption of ABERI was 0.38 kWh/m3 water; that is, 54% of that of another electrical regeneration technology, membrane-free electrodeionization (MFEDI). Compared with MFEDI, the quality and quantity of purified water produced after regeneration were improved. In ABERI, the average conductivity and the volume (times of bed volumes) of the purified water are 0.9 μS/cm and 109; that is, 75 and 133% of that of MFEDI, respectively. The preliminary economic analysis showed that ABERI offers the potential to regenerate ion exchange resin in an eco-friendly and cost-effective manner.
Study of pollution transport through the river confluences by derivation of an analytical model
Authors: Chabokpour Jafar , Azamathulla Hazi Md , Azhdan Yaghoub , Ziaei Milad
Published: October 2020

Due to the entrance of pollutants in different branches of the river network, it is essential to study contaminant transport at the river confluences. In the present study, it was attempted to investigate the conservative pollution transport at channel confluence by operating a series of experiments in the laboratory flume. In the designed laboratory model, two branches, with different widths of 45, 25 cm, were intersected and a channel confluence was created. Five entrance discharges and three initial contaminant concentrations, introduced using a linear feeder, were chosen as experimental variables. Conservative tracer of sodium chloride solution was used, and the electrical conductivities were measured at eight locations of the main channel and upstream branches with 2 seconds interval. Junction zone was assumed as a control volume, and by applying mass equilibrium to it, a new mathematical model was extracted. It was observed that there is concentration fluctuation in the falling limbs of the experimental breakthrough curves of the junction zone; however, it was diminished by downstream motion. Moreover, the observed pollution graphs had double peak points which changed to a single point with an increase of distance from the confluence position. Operation of the presented model was investigated by variation of its parameters. It was found that the contaminant residence time parameters of the confluence zone have the most significant influence in the simulation of the analytical model. Additionally, it was observed that the values of Gaussian distribution of the upstream branches could displace the position of pulses of resultant breakthrough curves or can overlap them. Moreover, the model performance was examined using statistical goodness of fit parameters like Nash–Sutcliffe, R2, and mean absolute error (MAE). Their values were calculated as 0.88, 0.91, 66.88 (ppm), respectively.
A novel gradient current density output mode for effective electrochemical oxidative degradation of dye wastewater by boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode
Authors: Liu Ting , Miao Dongtian , Liu Guoshuai , Wei Qiuping , Zhou Kechao , Yu Zhiming , Ma Li
Published: October 2020

In order to solve the problems of high energy consumption and low current efficiency in electrochemical oxidation (EO) degradation under the traditional constant output process (COP), a gradient output process (GOP) of current density is proposed in this paper. That is, the current density is gradually reduced in a fixed degradation time, and the Reactive Blue 19 simulated dye wastewater was used as the degradation target. The general applicability of the process was further confirmed by studying the optimal gradient current density output parameters, the dye concentration, electrolyte concentration and other dye compounds with different molecular structures. The corresponding results show that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (78%) and the color removal (100%) under the GOP are similar to those in the COP, and the overall energy consumption is reduced by about 50% compared with that in the traditional constant current mode. Moreover, the current efficiency in the middle and late stages of EO process has increased by 8.6 times compared with COP.
Contención militar de la protesta social en Colombia
Authors: Barbosa Parra Eder Julián
Published: October 2020

El objetivo de este artículo es realizar una revisión documental sobre la protesta social, con especial énfasis en la participación que tiene el Ejército Nacional de Colombia en reprimirla o contenerla mediante la figura de asistencia militar a la Policía Nacional. Con este fin se siguió una metodología de tipo cualitativo con enfoque descriptivo, basada en una revisión documental de fuentes secundarias a través de buscadores especializados en la web. La información recogida se analizó desde un enfoque hermenéutico para tener una comprensión holística del tema en estudio. Como resultados concluyentes relevantes se destaca el fenómeno de policiamiento de las Fuerzas Militares en la contención de la protesta social, lo cual contraría su deber constitucional. Se resalta también la falta de un marco normativo nacional e internacional sobre el uso de armas menos letales (AML) en el control de la protesta social por parte de los agentes encargados. Finalmente, se encuentra con preocupación que mediante la figura de asistencia militar a la Policía Nacional el Ejército participa especialmente en contener movilizaciones que tienen lugar en entornos rurales y son realizadas por campesinos, indígenas y afrodescendientes que se expresan en contra de actividades de explotación minera y de extracción de petróleo.
Smartphone-Enabled, Telehealth-Based Family Conferences in Palliative Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Pilot Observational Study
Authors: Wu Yu-Rui , Chou Tzu-Jung , Wang Yi-Jen , Tsai Jaw-Shiun , Cheng Shao-Yi , Yao Chien-An , Peng Jen-Kuei , Hu Wen-Yu , Chiu Tai-Yuan , Huang Hsien-Liang
Published: October 2020

Background

In the palliative care setting, infection control measures implemented due to COVID-19 have become barriers to end-of-life care discussions (eg, discharge planning and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments) between patients, their families, and multidisciplinary medical teams. Strict restrictions in terms of visiting hours and the number of visitors have made it difficult to arrange in-person family conferences. Phone-based telehealth consultations may be a solution, but the lack of nonverbal cues may diminish the clinician-patient relationship. In this context, video-based, smartphone-enabled family conferences have become important.

Objective

We aimed to establish a smartphone-enabled telehealth model for palliative care family conferences. Our model integrates principles from the concept of shared decision making (SDM) and the value, acknowledge, listen, understand, and elicit (VALUE) approach.

Methods

Family conferences comprised three phases designed according to telehealth implementation guidelines—the previsit, during-visit, and postvisit phases. We incorporated the following SDM elements into the model: “team talk,” “option talk,” and “decision talk.” The model has been implemented at a national cancer treatment center in Taiwan since February 2020.

Results

From February to April 2020, 14 telehealth family conferences in the palliative care unit were analyzed. The patients’ mean age was 73 (SD 10.1) years; 6 out of 14 patients (43%) were female and 12 (86%) were married. The primary caregiver joining the conference virtually comprised mostly of spouses and children (n=10, 71%). The majority of participants were terminally ill patients with cancer (n=13, 93%), with the exception of 1 patient with stroke. Consensus on care goals related to discharge planning and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments was reached in 93% (n=13) of cases during the family conferences. In total, 5 families rated the family conferences as good or very good (36%), whereas 9 were neutral (64%).

Conclusions

Smartphone-enabled telehealth for palliative care family conferences with SDM and VALUE integration demonstrated high satisfaction for families. In most cases, it was effective in reaching consensus on care decisions. The model may be applied to other countries to promote quality in end-of-life care in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Need for Sustainable Teleconsultation Systems in the Aftermath of the First COVID-19 Wave (Preprint)
Authors: Giunti Guido , Goossens Richard , De Bont Antoinette , Visser Jacob J , Mulder Mark , Schuit Stephanie C E
Published: October 2020

UNSTRUCTURED

The physical and social distancing measures that have been adopted worldwide because of COVID-19 will probably remain in place for a long time, especially for senior adults, people with chronic conditions, and other at-risk populations. Teleconsultations can be useful in ensuring that patients continue to receive clinical care while reducing physical crowding and avoiding unnecessary exposure of health care staff. Implementation processes that typically take months of planning, budgeting, pilot testing, and education were compressed into days. However, in the urgency to deal with the present crisis, we may be forgetting that the introduction of digital health is not exclusively a technological issue, but part of a complex organizational change problem. This viewpoint offers insight regarding issues that rapidly adopted teleconsultation systems may face in a post–COVID-19 world.
A new medical Internet system in healthcare: innovation of Telegeriatrics and healthcare demands of older patients of different age groups (Preprint)
Authors: Gong Yu , Zhou Jianyuan
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Healthcare for older patients is a worldwide challenge for public health system. A new medical Internet system in healthcare which is a new model of telegeriatrics system has been established. The key innovation is the new telegeriatrics system was conducted jointly by general practitioners in the Community Health Service Center and specialists in university teaching hospital. Unlike the typical telemedicine that has been practiced in other countries, the new model provides a solution for the key issues in telemedicine where a doctor is unable to conduct a direct physical examination and the associated potential diagnostic error.

OBJECTIVE

This study is to introduce the operation mechanism of the new Telegeriatrics system and analyze healthcare demands of older patients in different age groups applying the new Telegeriatrics system.

METHODS

472 older patients (aged≥60) were enrolled and divided into the young older group (aged 60 to 74), the old older group (aged 75 to 89) and the very old group (aged≥90) according to the age stratification of World Health Organization. Proportion of the top 10 diseases of older patients of different age groups was analyzed.

RESULTS

The process of older patients’ diagnosis and treatment made by specialist and general practitioners formed a closed loop. It ensures the timeliness and effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment of older patients. The treatment effect can be observed by general practitioners and specialist can adjust the treatment plan in time. In this study, it was found that older patients in different age groups have different healthcare demands. Coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus were found to be the main diseases of the older patients and the young older patients as well as the old older patients applying Telegeriatrics.

CONCLUSIONS

The new telegeriatrics system can provide convenient and efficient healthcare services for older patients and overcome the disadvantage of currently used models of telegeriatrics. Older patients in different age groups have different medical care demands. Cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases have become the main diseases of the elderly applying the new Telegeriatrics system. Healthcare policy makers should invest more medical resources to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases in the elderly.
Extracting Drug Names and Associated Attributes From Discharge Summaries: Text Mining Study (Preprint)
Authors: Alfattni Ghada , Belousov Maksim , Peek Niels , Nenadic Goran
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Drug prescriptions are often recorded in free-text clinical narratives; making this information available in a structured form is important to support many health-related tasks. Although several natural language processing (NLP) methods have been proposed to extract such information, many challenges remain.

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluates the feasibility of using NLP and deep learning approaches for extracting and linking drug names and associated attributes identified in clinical free-text notes and presents an extensive error analysis of different methods. This study initiated with the participation in the 2018 National NLP Clinical Challenges (n2c2) shared task on adverse drug events and medication extraction.

METHODS

The proposed system (DrugEx) consists of a named entity recognizer (NER) to identify drugs and associated attributes and a relation extraction (RE) method to identify the relations between them. For NER, we explored deep learning-based approaches (ie, bidirectional long-short term memory with conditional random fields [BiLSTM-CRFs]) with various embeddings (ie, word embedding, character embedding [CE], and semantic-feature embedding) to investigate how different embeddings influence the performance. A rule-based method was implemented for RE and compared with a context-aware long-short term memory (LSTM) model. The methods were trained and evaluated using the 2018 n2c2 shared task data.

RESULTS

The experiments showed that the best model (BiLSTM-CRFs with pretrained word embeddings [PWE] and CE) achieved lenient micro F-scores of 0.921 for NER, 0.927 for RE, and 0.855 for the end-to-end system. NER, which relies on the pretrained word and semantic embeddings, performed better on most individual entity types, but NER with PWE and CE had the highest classification efficiency among the proposed approaches. Extracting relations using the rule-based method achieved higher accuracy than the context-aware LSTM for most relations. Interestingly, the LSTM model performed notably better in the reason-drug relations, the most challenging relation type.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed end-to-end system achieved encouraging results and demonstrated the feasibility of using deep learning methods to extract medication information from free-text data.
Perceived Needs Versus Predisposing/Enabling Characteristics in Relation to Internet Cancer Information Seeking Among the US and Chinese Public: Comparative Survey Research (Preprint)
Authors: Zhang Di , Hu Hongchao , Shi Zhen , Li Biao
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

Since the rise of the internet, online health information seeking has become a worldwide phenomenon. However, health and health communication are inherently culture bound. A data-driven cross-country comparison enables us to better understand how cultural factors moderate the association between individual-level determinants and online health information seeking.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to examine similarities and differences in determinants of internet cancer information seeking between the US and Chinese general public (excluding cancer patients and survivors) under the framework of a behavioral model of health services use.

METHODS

This study used Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2017 (US data) and HINTS-China 2017 data to answer the research question. It focused on people with no cancer history and with internet access. For the HINTS 2017, the sample size was 2153; for the HINTS-China 2017, the sample size was 2358. To compare China and the United States, the researchers selected the same set of study variables for each dataset. Under the framework of the behavioral model of health services use, these predictors were predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors.

RESULTS

In terms of the predisposing factors, a higher age, college degree or above, being currently unemployed, and having a family history of cancer were associated with internet cancer information seeking for the Chinese respondents; none of these factors were related to information seeking for the US respondents, although a lower age was associated with information seeking. Regarding the enabling conditions, lower trust in family members and friends as reliable information sources was the only factor associated with information seeking for the Chinese respondents, while no enabling factor was related to information seeking for the US respondents. Regarding the need factors, perceived health status was not related to information seeking for the Chinese respondents, while perception of poorer health condition was related to information seeking for the US respondents. Higher cancer fear was related to information seeking for both groups, but the magnitude of association was smaller for the Chinese respondents than for the US respondents.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, under the framework of the behavioral model of health services use, the results based on multivariate logistic regression reveal clear patterns of cross-country/cultural differences in the factors associated with internet cancer information seeking behaviors: predisposing characteristics and enabling conditions are more important in China, while perceived needs are more significant in the US. Such differences might reflect possible US-China differences in job environment (eg, job pressure) and culture (individualism vs collectivism and family structure).
Examining a Digital Health Approach for Advancing Schizophrenia Illness Self-Management and Provider Engagement: Protocol for a Feasibility Trial (Preprint)
Authors: Kidd Sean , McKenzie Kwame , Wang Wei , Agrawal Sacha , Voineskos Aristotle
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND

In schizophrenia spectrum populations, adherence to treatment is poor, community-based supports are limited, and efforts to foster illness self-management have had limited success. These challenges contribute to frequent, lengthy, and costly hospital readmissions and poor functional outcomes. Digital health strategies, in turn, hold considerable promise in the effort to address these problems.

OBJECTIVE

This feasibility trial will examine a digital health platform called App4Independence (A4i), which was designed to enhance illness self-management and treatment engagement for individuals with schizophrenia.

METHODS

Feasibility metrics in this single-blind, randomized trial include study recruitment and retention, rate of technology use, safety, and utility in clinical interactions. Other outcome metrics include symptomatology, treatment adherence, patient-provider alliance, and quality of life. In this trial, 160 study participants with schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses will be randomized to either treatment or control conditions, with pretest-posttest outcomes measured over a 6-month period.

RESULTS

This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in January 2020 and received Institutional Review Board approval on August 13, 2020. This study plans to begin recruiting in January 2021 and will be completed within 3 years. Data collection is projected to begin in January 2021.

CONCLUSIONS

This research will provide critical information for the development of this new technology in the larger effort to address a key problem in the schizophrenia field—how to leverage technology to enhance illness self-management and care engagement in resource-limited service contexts.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT

PRR1-10.2196/24736