bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anxiety is associated with unfulfilled information needs and pain at the informed consent consultation of spine surgery patients: a longitudinal study
Authors: Fischbeck Sabine , Petrowski Katja , Renovanz Mirjam , Nesbigall Rebecca , Haaf Julian , Ringel Florian
Published: June 2021

Purpose

Meeting the information needs of patients adequately is of high importance in informed consent consultations in surgery. However, information needs often remain unmet in the informed consent consultation. The aim of this study was to assess anxiety and pain in relation to the patients’ information needs fulfillment perioperatively.

Methods

We applied a question prompt list (QPL) for patients undergoing spine surgery (SN-QPL) before (t1) and a question answering list (SN-QAL) after (t2) the informed consent consultation. The patients additionally completed the “State-Trait Anxiety Operation Inventory” (STOA, cognitive and affective scale) at t1, as well as a pain numerical rating scale (NRS) at t2 and postoperative (t3). We analyzed (1) the association between anxiety, information needs and pain and (2) anxiety and pain scores regarding information needs fulfillment after the consent consultation.

Results

A total of n = 118 patients was included. Affective and cognitive state anxiety was only reduced postoperatively (affective p < .001, cognitive p < .05). The higher trait anxiety was, the more patients longed for information at t1–t3 (t1: r = .58/r = .74, each p < .001), (t2: r = .38/r = .49, each p < .001) and (t3: r = .29, p < .01/r = 34, p < .001). Higher grades of trait anxiety resulted in lower information needs fulfilment. Higher state anxiety levels were associated with higher pain levels. Information needs more often remained unfulfilled in high trait and state anxiety patients.

Conclusion

Patients’ anxiety was associated with (un)fulfilled information needs. Meeting information needs should be optimized in the process of surgeon–patient communication. Adapting the information to the patients’ anxiety levels seem to be an effective way to reduce anxiety.
Thiamine and diabetes: back to the future?
Authors: Beltramo Elena , Mazzeo Aurora , Porta Massimo
Published: June 2021

The first reports of a link between thiamine and diabetes date back to the 1940s. Some years later, a role for thiamine deficiency in diabetic neuropathy became evident, and some pilot studies evaluated the putative effects of thiamine supplementation. However, the administration of thiamine and its lipophilic derivative benfotiamine for the treatment of this complication gained consensus only at the end of the ‘90 s. The first evidence of the beneficial effects of thiamine on microvascular cells involved in diabetic complications dates to 1996: from then on, several papers based on in vitro and animal models have addressed the potential use of this vitamin in counteracting diabetic microangiopathy. A few pilot studies in humans reported beneficial effects of thiamine administration on diabetic nephropathy, but, despite all promising proofs-of-concept, the possible role of thiamine in counteracting development or progression of retinopathy has not been addressed until now. Thiamine is a water-soluble vitamin, rapidly expelled from the body, with no issues of over-dosage or accumulation; unfortunately, it is non-patentable, and neither industry nor independent donors are interested in investing in large-scale randomized controlled clinical trials to investigate its potential in diabetes and its complications. Consequently, science will not be able to disprove a promising hypothesis and, more importantly, diabetic people remain deprived of a possible way to ameliorate their condition.
$$\hbox {CDBTune}^{+}$$: An efficient deep reinforcement learning-based automatic cloud database tuning system
Authors: Zhang Ji , Zhou Ke , Li Guoliang , Liu Yu , Xie Ming , Cheng Bin , Xing Jiashu
Published: June 2021

Configuration tuning is vital to optimize the performance of a database management system (DBMS). It becomes more tedious and urgent for cloud databases (CDB) due to diverse database instances and query workloads, which make the job of a database administrator (DBA) very difficult. Existing solutions for automatic DBMS configuration tuning have several limitations. Firstly, they adopt a pipelined learning model but cannot optimize the overall performance in an end-to-end manner. Secondly, they rely on large-scale high-quality training samples which are hard to obtain. Thirdly, existing approaches cannot recommend reasonable configurations for a large number of knobs to tune whose potential values live in such high-dimensional continuous space. Lastly, in cloud environments, existing approaches can hardly cope with the changes of hardware configurations and workloads, and have poor adaptability. To address these challenges, we design an end-to-end automatic CDB tuning system,$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+, using deep reinforcement learning (RL).$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+utilizes the deep deterministic policy gradient method to find the optimal configurations in a high-dimensional continuous space.$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+adopts a trial-and-error strategy to learn knob settings with a limited number of samples to accomplish the initial training, which alleviates the necessity of collecting a massive amount of high-quality samples.$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+adopts the reward-feedback mechanism in RL instead of traditional regression, which enables end-to-end learning and accelerates the convergence speed of our model and improves the efficiency of online tuning. Besides, we propose effective techniques to improve the training and tuning efficiency of$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+for practical usage in a cloud environment. We conducted extensive experiments under 7 different workloads on real cloud databases to evaluate$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+. Experimental results showed that$${\texttt {CDBTune}}^{+}$$CDBTune+adapts well to a new hardware environment or workload, and significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art tuning tools and DBA experts.
User involvement in adolescents’ mental healthcare: a systematic review
Authors: Viksveen Petter , Bjønness Stig Erlend , Cardenas Nicole Elizabeth , Game Julia Rose , Berg Siv Hilde , Salamonsen Anita , Storm Marianne , Aase Karina
Published: June 2021

More than one out of ten adolescents suffer from mental illness at any given time. Still, there is limited knowledge about their involvement in mental healthcare. Adolescents have the right to be involved in decisions affecting their healthcare, but limited research focuses on their engagement and decision-making. Therefore, this systematic review aims to explore the existing experiences with, the effectiveness of, and safety issues associated with user involvement for adolescents’ mental healthcare at the individual and organizational level. A systematic literature review on user involvement in adolescents’ mental healthcare was carried out. A protocol pre-determined the eligibility criteria and search strategies, and established guidelines were used for data extraction, critical appraisal, and reporting of results. Quantitative studies were analysed individually due to heterogeneity of the studies, while qualitative studies were analysed using thematic synthesis. A total of 31 studies were included in the review. The experiences with user involvement were reported in 24 studies with three themes at the individual level: unilateral clinician control versus collaborative relationship, capacity and support for active involvement, the right to be involved; and two themes at the organizational level: involvement outcomes relevant to adolescents’ needs, conditions for optimal involvement. The effectiveness of user involvement was reported in seven studies documenting fragmented evidence related to different support structures to facilitate adolescents’ involvement. The safety associated with user involvement was not reported in any studies, yet a few examples related to potential risks associated with involvement of adolescents in decision-making and as consultants were mentioned.
On the Negativity of Moduli Spaces for Polarized Manifolds
Authors: Zuo Kang
Published: June 2021

Given a log base space (Y, S), parameterizing a smooth family of complex projective varieties with semi-ample canonical line bundle, we briefly recall the construction of the deformation Higgs sheaf and the comparison map on (Y, S) made in the work by Viehweg–Zuo. While almost all hyperbolicities in the sense of complex analysis such as Brody, Kobayashi, big Picard and Viehweg hyperbolicities of the base U = Y ∖ S (under some technical assumptions) follow from the negativity of the kernel of the deformation Higgs bundle we pose a conjecture on the topological hyperbolicity on U. In order to study the rigidity problem we then introduce the notions of the length and characteristic varieties of a family f : X → Y, which provide an infinitesimal characterization of products of sub log pairs in (Y, S) and an upper bound for the number of subvarieties appearing as factors in such a product. We formulate a conjecture on a characterization of non-rigid families of canonically polarized varieties.
Revisiting the pathogenic mechanism of the GJB1 5’ UTR c.-103C > T mutation causing CMTX1
Authors: Grosz Bianca R. , Svaren John , Perez-Siles Gonzalo , Nicholson Garth A. , Kennerson Marina L.
Published: June 2021

The second most common form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy (CMT), X-linked CMT type X1 (CMTX1), is caused by coding and non-coding mutations in the gap junction beta 1 (GJB1) gene. The non-coding GJB1 c.-103C > T mutation (NM_000166.5) has been reported to cause CMTX1 in multiple families. This study assessed the internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) activity previously reported for the rat Gjb1 P2 5’ untranslated region (UTR). Using a bicistronic assay and transfecting RT4 Schwann cells, IRES activity of the human GJB1 P2 5’ UTR was compared to the GJB1 P2 5’ UTR containing either the c.-103C > T mutation or the non-pathogenic c.-102G > A variant. No differences in GJB1 P2 5’ UTR IRES activity were observed between the negative control, the wild-type P2 5’ UTR, the c.-103C > T 5’ UTR or the c.-102G > A 5’ UTR, irrespective of the GJB1 intron being present (p = .429 with intron, and p = .865 without). A theoretical c.-131A > G variant was predicted to result in the same RNA secondary structure as the GJB1 c.-103C > T P2 5’ UTR. However, no significant difference was observed between expression from the wild-type GJB1 P2 5’ UTR and the GJB1 c.-131A > G variant (p = .688). Deletion of the conserved region surrounding the c.-103C > T mutation (c.-108_-103del) resulted in significantly higher expression than the c.-103C > T mutation alone (p = .019), suggesting that the conserved c.-108_-103 region was not essential for translation. The reporter assays in this study do not recapitulate the previously reported GJB1 IRES activity and suggest an alternate pathogenic mechanism for the c.-103C > T CMTX1 non-coding mutation.
Identification of potential rockfall sources using UAV-derived point cloud
Authors: Albarelli D. S. N. A. , Mavrouli O. C. , Nyktas P.
Published: June 2021

Recent advances in remote sensing techniques and computer algorithms allow accurate, abundant, and high-resolution geometric information retrieval for rock mass characterization from 3D point clouds. The automatic application of the extracted information for local scale rockfall susceptibility assessment, where discontinuities characteristics play a major role in rocky slope stability, requires step by step logical procedures. This paper presents a novel methodology to use the extracted discontinuity set characteristics for a local scale rockfall susceptibility assessment, tailored for Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) data acquisition. The method consists of 4 steps: (i) 3D slope model reconstruction using UAV digital photogrammetry, (ii) automatic characterization of discontinuity sets, (iii) slope stability analysis, and (iv) susceptibility assessment using a new Rockfall Susceptibility Index. The proposed method was applied to a road cut rocky slope in a mountainous area of the Samaria National Park, in Crete Island, Greece. Visual validation indicates that the areas of higher and moderate rockfall susceptibility on the 3D model of the rocky slope are adjacent to rockfall source areas marked by the presence of fallen blocks on the foot of the slope. The proposed methodological workflow presents novelties related to the use of point clouds for the estimation of the Rock Quality Designation (RQD) index, the visualization of discontinuity set spacing, the evaluation of the persistence and the Slope Mass Rating (SMR) index, as well as the incorporation of the persistence of overhangs into the rockfall susceptibility assessment and visualization.
Resistance and the Radical Imagination: A Reflection on the Role of the Critical Criminologist in Social Movements
Authors: Naegler Laura
Published: June 2021

At times of global unrest and the emergence of a wide range of protest movements, recent intra-disciplinary criminological debates on the potentials and limits of resistance suggest a paradoxical trend. Critical criminologists—in particular, those associated with the ultra-realist perspective—have become increasingly skeptical of the idea of “resistance,” itself. In the context of these discussions, scholars have resorted to dismissing oppositional activities—including social movements and their different forms of protest—that are both intended and recognized as resistance. In my contribution to this debate, and in response to Jeff Ferrell’s (2019) article, “In Defense of Resistance,” I provide a critical reflection on the analysis of social movements in both ultra-realist and cultural criminological scholarship. Drawing from my ethnographic research with the (post-)Occupy movement in the United States, I argue that the dismissive reading of social movements’ resistance and the calls for stronger political leadership are the result of a narrow analytical lens applied to movements, their temporalities, and their historical context(s). In addition, I contend that the harsh criticism of social movements by ultra-realists connects to the aim of developing an intellectual leadership concerned with informing social movement practice and strategy “from above.” Here, as I maintain, the theory and practice of militant research, or militancia de investigación, as per the Colectivo Situaciones, challenges this understanding of intellectual leadership. The insights provided by radical collective knowledge production in social movements, and their critique of the institutional frameworks of the neoliberal university, allow for a critical reflection on the role of academia in resistance. This critical reflection can generate possibilities for social movements’ knowledge and radical imaginations to influence academic theorizing.
“Skam” (shame) as Ethical–Political Education
Authors: Strand Torill
Published: June 2021

I here explore the educational potential of cinema and TV-series through the eyes of the French philosopher Alain Badiou. To illustrate, I read the Norwegian web-based TV-seriesSkam(shame), which reached out to millions of Nordic teens by a broad distribution, easy access and speaking a language young people could relate to. The series portrays the many faces and ambiguities of shame and shaming embedded in Nordic youth culture. In bringing the question of the pedagogy of cinema and TV-series to the forefront, I here readSkamon three analytical levels. First, to explore the TV-series capability to captivate the viewers through a doubling of the real. Second, to examine Badiou’s idea of cinema as an ontological art, revolving around the question of the relationship between being and appearing. Third, I readSkamanalytically, to consider Badiou’s claim that cinema is a democratic emblem. In sum, what may be the series’ potential for shaping the viewers’ ethical–political awareness?
Toward an integrated framework of corporate venturing for organizational ambidexterity as a dynamic capability
Authors: Weiss Lysander , K. Kanbach Dominik
Published: June 2021

In times of changing business environments, firms must constantly renew their competitive advantage by establishing dynamic capabilities. While often attempting to employ this in corporate venturing activities, they face the challenge of simultaneously exploring new and exploiting existing business opportunities. Examining possible approaches to mastering this feat of ‘organizational ambidexterity’ reveals an extensive but scattered picture. To better integrate this effort by assessing how corporate venturing is linked with organizational ambidexterity in the literature and identifying possible organizational setups, this systematic literature review builds on a sample of 172 studies. Based on different dimensions of dynamic capabilities, the analysis indicates that corporate venturing may take a solely explorative or an exploitative role, or balance both, to directly enable organizational ambidexterity, following a ‘trade-off’, respectively ‘paradox’, school of thought. As a result, this paper identifies four different setups of corporate venturing in an integrated framework, based on the ability and approach to enabling organizational ambidexterity. Here, the synthesis in the proposed framework of the studies examined allows differentiating between not directly ambidextrous separated or integrated corporate venturing and directly ambidextrous contextual or interlinked corporate venturing. As a novel contribution to the fields of strategic management, organizational change and corporate entrepreneurship, this integrated perspective suggests an often overlooked, potentially more strategic role for corporate venturing in the strategic renewal of a firm’s competitive advantage, thus building the basis for further empirical research on strategic corporate venturing approaches for organizational ambidexterity and their application in practice.
Interactive effects of aging and aerobic capacity on energy metabolism–related metabolites of serum, skeletal muscle, and white adipose tissue
Authors: Zhuang Haihui , Karvinen Sira , Törmäkangas Timo , Zhang Xiaobo , Ojanen Xiaowei , Velagapudi Vidya , Alen Markku , Britton Steven L. , Koch Lauren G. , Kainulainen Heikki , Cheng Sulin , Wiklund Petri
Published: June 2021

Aerobic capacity is a strong predictor of longevity. With aging, aerobic capacity decreases concomitantly with changes in whole body metabolism leading to increased disease risk. To address the role of aerobic capacity, aging, and their interaction on metabolism, we utilized rat models selectively bred for low and high intrinsic aerobic capacity (LCRs/HCRs) and compared the metabolomics of serum, muscle, and white adipose tissue (WAT) at two time points: Young rats were sacrificed at 9 months of age, and old rats were sacrificed at 21 months of age. Targeted and semi-quantitative metabolomics analysis was performed on the ultra-pressure liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) platform. The effects of aerobic capacity, aging, and their interaction were studied via regression analysis. Our results showed that high aerobic capacity is associated with an accumulation of isovalerylcarnitine in muscle and serum at rest, which is likely due to more efficient leucine catabolism in muscle. With aging, several amino acids were downregulated in muscle, indicating more efficient amino acid metabolism, whereas in WAT less efficient amino acid metabolism and decreased mitochondrial β-oxidation were observed. Our results further revealed that high aerobic capacity and aging interactively affect lipid metabolism in muscle and WAT, possibly combating unfavorable aging-related changes in whole body metabolism. Our results highlight the significant role of WAT metabolism for healthy aging.
Modelling oscillations in the supply chain: the case of a just-in-sequence supply process from the automotive industry
Authors: Klug Florian
Published: June 2021

Pervasive and ubiquitous oscillations, mapping the repetitive variation in time of a specific state, are well known as abundant phenomena in research and practice. Motivated by the success of oscillators in the modelling, analysis and control of dynamical systems, we developed a related approach for the dynamic description of supply chains. This paper aims to introduce a generic oscillator model for supply chains by the original application of oscillator equations. Therefore an established oscillator model for deductive modelling of supply chain echelons is used. With the help of coupled van der Pol oscillators, the dynamical interaction of an inventory system is described and applied to a real-life supply process in automotive industry. According to its reductionist approach only two differential equations are used to analyse a Just-in-Sequence supply process in car industry. Based on the fact that any oscillatory state can be reduced to the phase of the oscillation (phase reduction), a phase space map is generated. This compact visual reference of the supply process can act as the quantitative basis for an adaptive control mechanism during its operation. By delaying or accelerating the inventory oscillations of the supplier stock a detuned coupled supply process can be re-synchronised without changing the amplitude. An additional analysis of Hilbert transform is applied to determine the boundaries of phase-locking between the inventory oscillation phases, where the instantaneous phases are bounded. Furthermore parameters of the synchronisation threshold and the transient phases between synchronous and non-synchronous regimes have been investigated, supported by an Arnold tongue representation. The investigations show that with the help of a generic oscillatory model it is possible to measure and quantify phenomena of inventory dynamics in supply chains. Especially the analysis of synchronisation phenomena with the help of phase space and Arnold tongue representations foster developments of performance measurement in supply chain management.
Finding shared meaning in the Anthropocene: engaging diverse perspectives on climate change
Authors: Hochachka Gail
Published: June 2021

The scientific evidence of climate change has never been clearer and more convergent, and calls for transformations to sustainability have never been greater. Yet, perspectives and social opinions about it remain fractured, and collaborative action is faltering. Climate policy seeks to forge a singular sense of climate change, dominated by an ‘information deficit model’ that focuses on transferring climate science to the lay public. Critics argue that this leaves out certain perspectives, including the plurality of meanings uncovered through participatory approaches. However, questions remain about how these approaches can better account for nuances in the psychological complexity of climate change, without getting stuck in the cul-de-sacs of epistemological relativism and post-truth politics. In this paper, I explore an approach through which we might find shared meaning at the interface of individual and collective views about climate change. I first present a conceptual framework that describes five psychological reasons why climate change challenges individual and collective meaning-making, and also provides a way to understand how meaning is organized within that. I then use this framework to inform the use of photo voice as a transformative (action-research) method, examining its ability to overcome some of the meaning-making challenges specific to climate change. I discuss how participants from a coffee cooperative in Guatemala reflected first on their own climate meanings and then engaged in a meaning-making process with other actors in the coffee value chain. Findings suggest a psychosocial approach to climate engagement—one that engages both subjectively and intersubjectively on the complexities unique to climate change—is helpful in acknowledging an ontological pluralism of ‘climate changes’ amongst individuals, while also supporting a nexus-agreement collectively. This may in turn contribute to a more effective and ethical process of transformation.
Perioperative respiratory adverse events during ambulatory anesthesia in obese children
Authors: Marjanovic Vesna , Budic Ivana , Golubovic Mladjan , Breschan Christian
Published: June 2021

Obesity is one of the most common clinical conditions in the pediatric population with an increasing prevalence ranging from 20 to 30% worldwide. It is well known that during ambulatory anesthesia, obese children are more prone to develop perioperative respiratory adverse events (PRAEs) associated with obesity. To avoid or at least minimize these adverse effects, a thorough preoperative assessment should be undertaken as well as consideration of specific anesthetic approaches such as preoxygenation before induction of anesthesia and optimizing drug dosing. The use of short-acting opioid and nonopioid analgesics and the frequent implementation of regional anesthesia should also be included. Noninvasive airway management, protective mechanical ventilation, and complete reversion of neuromuscular blockade and awake extubation also proved to be beneficial in preventing PRAEs. During the postoperative period, continuous monitoring of oxygenation and ventilation is mandatory in obese children. In the current review, we sought to provide recommendations that might help to reduce the severity of perioperative respiratory adverse events in obese children, which could be of particular importance for reducing the rate of unplanned hospitalizations and ultimately improving the overall postoperative recovery.
Assessment of the attitude towards childbirth in health sciences students - development and validation of the questionnaire Cave-St
Authors: González-Mesa Ernesto , Rengel-Díaz Cristóbal , Riklikiene Olga , Thomson Gilliam , Cazorla-Granados Olga , Abreu Wilson , Morgado-Neves Dulce , Gökçe Isbir Gözde , Jonsdottir Sigríður Sia , Karlsdóttir Sigfríður Inga , Lalor Joan
Published: June 2021

The purpose of this study is to report on the validation process of a questionnaire that explores health science students’ attitudes towards women’s childbirth experiences. This questionnaire can help inform education programs to enhance the quality of woman-professional interactions, and to improve women’s experiences of childbirth. A standardized procedure for the development and validation of the questionnaire included: item development and psychometric pre-validation, Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient calculation, test–retest and item-total correlation for the reliability analysis. Content validity was undertaken by Delphi method with sixteen panelists over two rounds. We determined the factor structure and refined and validated the questionnaire according to the responses of a cohort of 560 students using principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation. Confirmatory factor analysis was undertaken. A 52-items questionnaire CAVE-st: (acronym for cuestionario de actitudes sobre vivencias y experiencias en el parto) was developed and validated. The results of the factor analysis finally revealed four latent dimensions. The questionnaire CAVE-st is a valid and reliable tool to assess health science students’ attitude towards women’s childbirth experiences. Further work to translate and adapt the instrument in other cultures and languages will be undertaken.
Contextual effects on smile perception and recognition memory
Authors: Krumhuber Eva G. , Hyniewska Sylwia , Orlowska Anna
Published: June 2021

Most past research has focused on the role played by social context information in emotion classification, such as whether a display is perceived as belonging to one emotion category or another. The current study aims to investigate whether the effect of context extends to the interpretation of emotion displays, i.e. smiles that could be judged either as posed or spontaneous readouts of underlying positive emotion. A between-subjects design (N = 93) was used to investigate the perception and recall of posed smiles, presented together with a happy or polite social context scenario. Results showed that smiles seen in a happy context were judged as more spontaneous than the same smiles presented in a polite context. Also, smiles were misremembered as having more of the physical attributes (i.e., Duchenne marker) associated with spontaneous enjoyment when they appeared in the happy than polite context condition. Together, these findings indicate that social context information is routinely encoded during emotion perception, thereby shaping the interpretation and recognition memory of facial expressions.
Evaluating the groundwater quality of Damodar Fan Delta (India) using fuzzy-AHP MCDM technique
Authors: Mahammad Sadik , Islam Aznarul
Published: June 2021

In recent years, groundwater pollution has become increasingly a serious environmental problem throughout the world due to increasing dependency on it for various purposes. The Damodar Fan Delta is one of the agriculture-dominated areas in West Bengal especially for rice cultivation and it has a serious constraint regarding groundwater quantity and quality. The present study aims to evaluate the groundwater quality parameters and spatial variation of groundwater quality index (GWQI) for 2019 using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) method. The 12 water quality parameters such as pH, TDS, iron (Fe−) and fluoride (F−), major anions (SO42−, Cl−, NO3−, and HCO3−), and cations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+) for the 29 sample wells of the study area were used for constructing the GWQI. This study used the FAHP method to define the weights of the different parameters for the GWQI. The results reveal that the bicarbonate content of 51% of sample wells exceeds the acceptable limit of drinking water, which is maximum in the study area. Furthermore, higher concentrations of TDS, pH, fluoride, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and sodium are found in few locations while nitrate and sulfate contents of all sample wells fall under the acceptable limits. The result shows that 13.79% of the samples are excellent, 68.97% of the samples are very good, 13.79% of the samples are poor, and 3.45% of the samples are very poor for drinking purposes. Moreover, it is observed that very poor quality water samples are located in the eastern part and the poor water wells are located in the northwestern and eastern part while excellent water quality wells are located in the western and central part of the study area. The understanding of the groundwater quality can help the policymakers for the proper management of water resources in the study area.
Monitoring and investigating dust phenomenon on using remote sensing science, geographical information system and statistical methods
Authors: Abdollahi Sara , Madadi Meysam , Ostad-Ali-Askari Kaveh
Published: June 2021

Dust is a phenomenon occurring in most parts of the world causing financial loss and adverse environmental effects and impacts. Many parameters are involved in dust phenomenon occurrence, some of which are natural and some of them are due to human processes and their influence on the environment. Monitoring the environmental changes can be worthwhile and efficient procrastination the occurrence of this phenomenon. In this research, we scrutinized the Persian and English database in a structured way using dust keywords, heavy metals, remote sensing, geographical information systems and statistical methods. Articles taking into consideration these three fields were retrieved, analyzed descriptively and reported. In accordance with this methodology, the study was conducted in a period from 1992 to 2016. Findings: Among the methods used, the method of interpolation, zoning of dust and their distribution with GIS is more applicable, and among satellite images, MODIS images are the most applicable ones. The results obtained from this study indicated that statistical methods, remote sensing and geographical information system are among effective tools in studying germane researches done on dust monitoring and detection.
Eco-hydrologic stability zonation of dams and power plants using the combined models of SMCE and CEQUALW2
Authors: Fatahi Nafchi Rouhallah , Yaghoobi Pardis , Reaisi Vanani Hamid , Ostad‑Ali‑Askari Kaveh , Nouri Jafar , Maghsoudlou Bizhan
Published: June 2021

Construction of dams has a significant impact on hydrological conditions of rivers. Eco-hydrology, as a sub-discipline of hydrology, focusses on ecological processes occurring within the hydrological cycle and strives to utilize them for enhancing the environmental sustainability. The aim of this study was to determine the stable and instable eco-hydrologic regions in the study area. First, the factors affecting the eco-hydrologic stability were selected according to field surveys. Afterwards, the layers related to each factor were prepared in geographic information system (GIS) and ArcGIS 10 software. These factors were also weighted using the analytic hierarchy process and pairwise comparisons. Ultimately, the final map was prepared by integrating and determining the homogenous units. The CEQUALW2 software, as a water quality and hydrodynamic model, was used to confirm the accuracy of the quality data and to perform the water quality simulation in the studied dam. According to the results, pollutant source and water quality were found to be the most important factors. The final map indicated that most of the areas had not a suitable condition in terms of stability at the downstream reaches.
Release of toxic methylene blue from water by mesoporous silicalite-1: characterization, kinetics and isotherm studies
Authors: Radoor Sabarish , Karayil Jasila , Jayakumar Aswathy , Parameswaranpillai Jyotishkumar , Siengchin Suchart
Published: June 2021

In the present work, we have developed a mesoporous silicalite-1 using CMC as a template for the removal of MB from aqueous solution. The synthesized silicalite-1 were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm (BET). XRD and FT-IR analysis confirmed the formation of crystallinity and development of MFI structure in the mesoporous silicalite-1. The adsorption of MB dye on mesoporous silicalite-1 was conducted by batch adsorption method. The effect of various parameters such as adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, contact time and temperature on the dye uptake ability of silicalite-1 was investigated. The operating parameters for the maximum adsorption are silicalite-1 dosage (0.1 wt%), contact time (240 min), initial dye concentration (10 ppm) and temperature (30 ℃). The MB dye removal onto mesoporous silicalite-1 followed pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm. The silicalite-1 exhibits 86% removal efficiency even after six adsorption–desorption cycle. Therefore, the developed mesoporous silicalite-1 is an effective eco-friendly adsorbent for MB dye removal from aqueous environment.
Gravitricity based on solar and gravity energy storage for residential applications
Authors: Bowoto Oluwole K. , Emenuvwe Omonigho P. , Azadani Meysam N.
Published: June 2021

This study proposes a design model for conserving and utilizing energy affordably and intermittently considering the wind rush experienced in the patronage of renewable energy sources for cheaper generation of electricity and the solar energy potential especially in continents of Africa and Asia. Essentially, the global quest for sustainable development across every sector is on the rise; hence, the need for a sustainable method of extracting energy cheaply with less wastage and pollution is on the priority list. This research, integrates and formulates different ideologies, factors and variables that have been adopted in previous research studies to create an efficient system. Some of the aforementioned researches includes pumped hydro gravity storage system, Compressed air gravity storage system, suspended weight in abandoned mine shaft, dynamic modelling of gravity energy storage coupled with a PV energy plant and deep ocean gravity energy storage. As an alternative and a modification to these systems, this research is proposing a Combined solar and gravity energy storage system. The design synthesis and computational modelling of the proposed system model were investigated using a constant height and but varying mass. Efficiencies reaching up to 62% was achieved using the chosen design experimental parameters adopted in this work. However, this efficiency can be tremendously improved upon if the design parameters are modified putting certain key factors which are highlighted in the limitation aspect of this research into consideration. Also, it was observed that for a test load of 50 × 103 mA running for 10 h (3600 s), the proposed system will only need to provide a torque of 3.27Nm and a height range of 66.1 × 104 m when a mass of 10 kg is lifted to give out power of 48 kwh. Since gravity storage requires intermittent actions and structured motions, mathematical models were used to analyse the system performance characteristics amongst other important parameters using tools like MATLAB Simscape modelling toolbox, Microsoft excel and Sysml Model software.
Treatment of dental plaque biofilms using photodynamic therapy: a randomised controlled study
Authors: Alsaif A. , Tahmassebi J. F. , Wood S. R.
Published: June 2021

Introduction

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment modality involving a dye that is activated by exposure to light of a specific wavelength in the presence of oxygen to form oxygen species causing localised damage to microorganisms.

Aim

To determine the most effective bactericidal incubation and irradiation times of erythrosine-based PDT on in vivo-formed dental plaque biofilms.

Methods

A randomised controlled study; 18-healthy adult participants wearing intraoral appliances with human enamel slabs to collect dental plaque samples in two separate periods of two weeks each for use in arm-1 and arm-2. These accumulated dental plaque samples were treated with PDT under different experimental conditions. Incubation times with photosensitiser (erythrosine) of 15 min and 2 min were used in arm-1 and arm-2, respectively, followed by light irradiation for either 15 min (continuous) or as a fractionated dose (5 × 30 sec). Following treatment, percentage reductions of total bacterial counts were compared between the different groups. In addition, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and LIVE/DEAD® BacLight™ Bacterial Viability Kit were used to visualise the effect of PDT on in vivo-formed biofilms.

Results

Significant reductions in the percentage of total bacterial counts (~93–95%) of in vivo-formed biofilms were found when using either 2 min or 15min incubation times and applying 15 min continuous light. Although when applying fractionated light, there was more cell death when 15 min incubation time was used (~ 91%) compared with the 2 min incubation time (~ 64%). CLSM results supported these findings.

Conclusion

Improving the clinical usefulness of PDT by reducing its overall treatment time seems to be promising and effective in killing in vivo-formed dental plaque biofilms.
Apps to Teach Social Skills to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of the Embedded Behaviour Change Procedures
Authors: Hanna Nicole , Lydon Helena , Holloway Jennifer , Barry Lorna , Walsh Edith
Published: June 2021

Social skill interventions have become increasingly popular in recent times, as well as the use of technology to deliver and aid interventions for the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. Little research exists on the use of apps to teach social skills to individuals with ASD, in particular the behaviour change procedures that exist within apps. The current review examines the behaviour change procedures that exist within apps according to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Task List, 5th Edition. A total of 15 apps were included within this review. Results indicate that a variety of behaviour change procedures exist within apps. However, the quality of apps and the number of behaviour change procedures vary across app developers.
Investigation into gas lubrication performance of porous gas bearing considering velocity slip boundary condition
Authors: Zhang Xiangbo , Ding Shuiting , Du Farong , Ji Fenzhu , Xu Zheng , Liu Jiang , Zhang Qi , Zhou Yu
Published: June 2021

Porous gas bearings (PGBs) have a proactive application in aerospace and turbomachinery. This study investigates the gas lubrication performance of a PGB with the condition of velocity slip boundary (VSB) owing to the high Knudsen number in the gas film. The Darcy-Forchheimer laws and modified Navier-Stokes equations were adopted to describe the gas flow in the porous layer and gas film region, respectively. An improved bearing experimental platform was established to verify the accuracy of the derived theory and the reliability of the numerical analysis. The effects of various parameters on the pressure distribution, flow cycle, load capacity, mass flow rate, and velocity profile are demonstrated and discussed. The results show that the gas can flow in both directions, from the porous layer to the gas film region, or in reverse. The load capacity of the PGB increases with an increase in speed and inlet pressure and decreases with an increase in permeability. The mass flow rate increases as the inlet pressure and permeability increase. Furthermore, the simulation results using VSB are in agreement with the experimental results, with an average error of 3.4%, which indicates that the model using VSB achieves a high accuracy. The simulation results ignoring the VSB overrate the load capacity by 16.42% and undervalue the mass flow rate by 11.29%. This study may aid in understanding the gas lubrication mechanism in PGBs and the development of novel gas lubricants.
Effect of aging on clinical features and metabolic complications of women with polycystic ovary syndrome
Authors: Falcetta P. , Benelli E. , Molinaro A. , Di Cosmo C. , Bagattini B. , Del Ghianda S. , Salvetti G. , Fiore E. , Pucci E. , Fruzzetti F. , Tonacchera M.
Published: June 2021

Purpose

To assess the distribution of clinical features and metabolic abnormalities of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women according to their age.

Methods

Retrospective study on 602 women (mean age 23.9 ± 6.2 years), diagnosed according to International PCOS Network Guidelines criteria as having PCOS in a University-based Hospital. Anthropometric features, hormonal and metabolic parameters were measured and compared between the different age groups (group A ≤ 20 years; group B 21–30 years; group C > 30 years).

Results

Patients in group A were more often hyperandrogenic, while in group C hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, impaired fasting glucose, and insulin resistance (IR) were more prevalent. After adjusting for BMI, age correlated positively with sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), IR, total- and LDL-cholesterol, and negatively with DHEAS, insulin, and free androgen index (FAI). SHBG was significantly associated with IR and atherogenic dyslipidemia, while FAI levels were linked to hypertension, independently of other factors considered. Furthermore, the regression analysis showed a stronger relationship between BMI and metabolic outcomes, regardless of age.

Conclusion

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) phenotype changes with age. Clinical and biochemical hyperandrogenism are a major concern in young PCOS women, while metabolic burden tends to increase with aging. Some of the cardiovascular risk factors are dependent on FAI and SHBG levels, whereas BMI confirms its key role in the genesis of most of the metabolic sequelae in PCOS, independently of age.
Two view NURBS reconstruction based on GACO model
Authors: Saini Deepika , Kumar Sanoj , Singh Manoj K. , Ali Musrrat
Published: June 2021

The key job here in the presented work is to investigate the performance of Generalized Ant Colony Optimizer (GACO) model in order to evolve the shape of three dimensional free-form Non Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) curve using stereo (two) views. GACO model is a blend of two well known meta-heuristic optimization algorithms known as Simple Ant Colony and Global Ant Colony Optimization algorithms. Basically, the work talks about the solution of NURBS-fitting based reconstruction process. Therefore, GACO model is used to optimize the NURBS parameters (control points and weights) by minimizing the weighted least-square errors between the data points and the fitted NURBS curve. The algorithm is applied by first assuming some pre-fixed values of NURBS parameters. The experiments clearly show that the optimization procedure is a better option in a case where good initial locations of parameters are selected. A detailed experimental analysis is given in support of our algorithm. The implemented error analysis shows that the proposed methodology perform better as compared to the conventional methods.
Correction to: On topological structures of virtual fuzzy parametrized fuzzy soft sets
Authors: Dalkılıç Orhan
Published: June 2021

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40747-021-00412-y
From Argumentation to Proof in Geometry Within a Collaborative Computer-Based Environment
Authors: Dello Iacono Umberto
Published: June 2021

This article is part of a wider research project that has the educational goal of supporting students in the production of conjectures, arguments and proofs, as well as promoting a move from the production of arguments expressed in colloquial registers to arguments expressed in literate registers. In this regard, we Giovannina Albano, Umberto Dello Iacono and Maria Alessandra Mariotti designed and implemented a digital educational environment that allows students to formulate and prove conjectures; three different working areas are available where students can work on a geometrical open problem sometimes individually, sometimes in collaboration. In this article, I report on an empirical study aimed at investigating the functioning of one of these areas, the ‘Working with others’ area, where small groups of students are expected to discuss and formulate a shared solution to a problem. The research question concerns if and to what extent the communication tools, specifically designed to foster students’ collaboration, can promote the production of mathematically acceptable arguments. The qualitative data analysis shows that the ‘Working with others’ area seems to foster discussion within the group and can make students aware of their mistakes. Moreover, it can bring out some students’ misconceptions and can provide useful information upon which the teacher can trigger fruitful discussions. However, this working area does not appear to foster a significant improvement of the production of mathematically acceptable arguments, produced by students in a collaborative and sharing mode. The integration of specific components within this working area seems to be necessary to support the student in moving from argumentation to proof.
New Geographical Record of Three Cumacean Species Eudorella nana, Leucon affinis, Leucon siphonatus and One Rare Amphipod Presence Confirmation, Stenothoe bosphorana, in Adriatic Sea, Italy
Authors: Strafella P. , Salvalaggio V. , Cuicchi C. , Punzo E. , Santelli A. , Colombelli A. , Fabi G. , Spagnolo A.
Published: June 2021

Three cumacean species, Eudorella nana Sars, 1879, Leucon affinis Fage, 1951, Leucon siphonatus Calman, 1905, were recorded for the first time and one rare amphipod presence, Stenothoe bosphorana Sowinsky, 1898, was confirmed in the Adriatic basin.