bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultrasonic augmentation in pool boiling heat transfer over external surfaces: A review
Authors: Swarnkar Abhishek , Lakhera Vikas J
Published: August 2020

Boiling heat transfer is known for high heat fluxes at relatively small temperature differences. However, over the decades, technological innovations have demanded further augmentation in heat fluxes associated with boiling. Among the various active and passive methods, use of ultrasonic waves in boiling liquid has emerged as a proven technique for the required heat transfer improvement as demonstrated by a number of researchers. The present article reviews the application of ultrasonic waves in enhancing the heat transfer in various regimes of pool boiling. It has been found that the use of ultrasonic field is more promising in case of sub-cooled boiling as compared to saturated condition. Along with ultrasonic field of lower frequency and higher power, the usage of various passive techniques of surface improvement such as micro channel, surface topology, nano coatings etc. leads to further augmentation of heat transfer. Also, the relative placement of heating surface in ultrasonic wave field must be considered inevitably while designing an ultrasonic field assisted pool boiling system. It requires further investigations to conduct more parametric studies such as effect of pressure along with the usage of ultrasonic waves during sub- cooled boiling. Also during ultrasonic assisted pool boiling, various nano fluids can be tested for improving the heat transfer characteristics particularly in the saturated nucleate boiling regime.
Performance analysis of Cu-W-B4C composite tool during electrical discharge machining of titanium alloy
Authors: Sahu Anshuman Kumar , Mahapatra Siba Sankar
Published: August 2020

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is broadly used in machining of parts having intricate shapes made of difficult-to-machine materials. During EDM, tool fabrication time through conventional machining processes is generally excessively high. Therefore, alternate tool material and fabrication strategy is sought to reduce machining lead time. In this work, composite tools made of copper, tungsten and boron carbide have been prepared through powder metallurgy (PM) route. The performance of these tools is studied during machining of titanium alloy work piece. The input parameter considered are tool material parameters such as weight percentage of tungsten and boron carbide in the tool and machining parameters like peak current, pulse-on-time and duty cycle. The performance of these tools are evaluated considering the performance measures such as material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR), average surface roughness (Ra), surface crack density (SCD), white layer thickness (WLT) and micro-hardness (MH). It is observed that the tool materials have been transferred onto the machined surface forming a hard layer with increased weight percentage of oxygen and carbon during machining. The PM tools exhibit similar performance as solid copper tool with respect to MRR, TWR and surface integrity.
Effect of process conditions on the surface properties of biomass chars produced by means of pyrolysis and CO2 gasification
Authors: Ahmad Junaid , Vakalis Stergios , Patuzzi Francesco , Baratieri Marco
Published: August 2020

Biomass char is defined as the carbonaceous by-product of biomass pyrolysis or gasification and is an undesired by-product that is disposed as a waste, usually at a very high cost. Chars have interesting characteristics like high carbon content and high porosity. These characteristics can make attractive the utilization of biomass char for alternative and innovative applications, e.g. as precursors for activated carbons or as filtering mediums. In this framework, this present work focuses the attention on the surface properties of char which is a key parameter for the evaluation of its applicability in adsorption applications. The combination of three main variables has been considered: the carrier gas (nitrogen or carbon dioxide), the temperature (set at 500°C, 700°C and 900°C) and the initial heating rate (10°C min−1, 30°C min−1 or 50°C min−1). Maximum heating values are observed at 700°C for the case of inert atmosphere (pyrolysis) and the values reduce slightly for the case of CO2 gasification. On the contrary, CO2 gasification has a positive effect on the porosity of the biomass chars. This present research has the scope to provide a first insight on the effect of operating conditions on the optimal char characteristics for the utilization of biomass char as a cheap alternative for filters and adsorbents. An interesting future potential transition of existing biomass CHP facilities would be the evolution into biorefineries, in accordance with the new mandates about Circular Economy.
The political economy of minimum income benefits: How parties, unions and migration influence benefit adequacy
Authors: Taschwer Mario Tobias
Published: August 2020

How we treat the people most in need of support is a good indicator of the state of our societies. But we lack empirical evidence on how political parties affect minimum income benefits. The classic partisan difference theory leads us to expect opposite effects of governing right and left parties on benefit levels. The analysis of 16 OECD countries over the period of 1990 to 2009 shows that this hypothesis must be rejected as – if anything – right and left parties are associated with cuts. The inconsistent party effects point towards ‘new politics’ of blame avoidance strategies. A novel approach in the field of minimum income benefits is the analysis of the context of partisanship: how do unions and migration alter governments’ effects on benefits? The effect of migration on parties cannot be captured using the net migration rate; in the future we should look at how public opinion on migration influences policies. In line with the power resources approach, trade unions show a consistently strong association with higher benefits, but they cannot constrain right nor left parties in cutting benefits. The findings confirm that the politics of new social policies differ from the politics of old ones: (1) new politics are at work, (2) signs of negotiated retrenchment between unions and right governments are not robust and (3) no evidence of coalition building between left parties and unions was found.
Assessment of Lifestyle Experiences across Lifespan and Cognitive Ageing in the Indian Context
Authors: Paplikar Avanthi , Ballal Divya , Varghese Feba , Sireesha Jala , Dwivedi Ramya , Rajan Amulya , Mekala Shailaja , Arshad Faheem , Kaul Subhash , Alladi Suvarna
Published: August 2020

With rising numbers of elderly and dementia in developing societies, there is a need to understand factors protective against dementia. Evidence suggests that lifetime cognitive activities including education, occupation, and complex leisure activities contribute to cognitive reserve. However, these factors are understudied in India. This paper describes the validation of the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ), a comprehensive measure of complex lifetime activities, to the Indian cultural context. It also examines the relationship between lifetime experiences and cognition among 52 healthy elderly and 30 dementia patients. High inter-rater (κ=0.923, p < 0.001), test-retest (ρ: 0.905 to 0.986) reliability, and internal consistency were found for LEQ-total (0.992) and sub-scores. Literate dementia patients (25) scored significantly lower mid-life (27.5 vs. 23.3), late-life (28.5 vs. 22.5) and total LEQ (83.5 vs. 20.9) scores than literate healthy group (37). LEQ scores positively correlated with global cognition, and domains of attention and memory on the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination, in healthy and dementia groups. Moreover, LEQ scores correlated positively with age at onset of dementia and negatively with clinical dementia rating (CDR) scores. Our study demonstrates that lifetime activities, especially mid-life experiences, play a protective role in development of late-life dementia, and need to be advocated to preserve late-life cognition.
The European Trade Union Federations within the European polity: ETUFs and international trade union activity
Authors: Müller Torsten , Platzer Hans-Wolfgang
Published: August 2020

This article examines the European Trade Union Federations’ (ETUFs) role within the European polity in representing the interests of their affiliates vis-à-vis decision-makers at European level. In order to influence processes at European level, however, ETUFs need to aggregate and coordinate the often heterogeneous interests of their affiliates. This dual focus of the ETUFs’ activities is captured in the article by using the concept of the ‘logic of membership’ and ‘logic of influence’ to investigate how changes in their internal and external environment have affected the ETUFs’ capacity to act within the institutional structures and decision-making processes that constitute the European polity. A key finding of the article is that the European Commission’s renewed focus on strengthening the social dimension in principle opens up new opportunities for ETUFs to increase their influence at European level. The analysis, however, also shows that this is only possible if the ETUFs manage to mobilise the support of their affiliates for joint European strategies. This in turn requires national trade unions to overcome their tendency to retreat to the national level to cope with transnational challenges.
Evaluating Culturally Tailored Strategies for Implementing Cognitive Interviewing on Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Among Chinese Immigrant Women
Authors: Yu Zhiyuan , Jin Yuanyuan , Lor Maichou
Published: August 2020

Introduction

While the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a standard clinical screening tool for postpartum depression, it is unclear whether it is culturally appropriate for Chinese immigrant women in the United States. Cognitive interviewing (CI) is a method for evaluating a scale’s cultural appropriateness. However, CI procedures are problematic with Chinese population. This study assesses three culturally tailored strategies for implementing CI to evaluate the Chinese version of the EPDS (C-EPDS).

Methodology

CI was conducted with 12 participants in the United States. Three culturally tailored strategies—a CI description, a vignette exercise, and debriefing were used. Directed content analysis was used for data analysis.

Results

The strategies increased participants’ understanding and ability to perform CI procedures, enabling them to discuss postpartum depression. Participants had difficulty responding to several C-EPDS items.

Discussion

Findings highlight the importance of using culturally tailored strategies for implementing CI to assess cultural appropriateness of clinical screening tools.
Real-life adherence in capecitabine therapy using two analysis methods and persistence after 6 months of treatment
Authors: Santoleri Fiorenzo , Romagnoli Alessia , Costantini Alberto
Published: August 2020

Medication adherence in the field of Oncology is crucial in therapy management and can influence the probability of achieving and maintaining efficacy over time. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate adherence and persistence to oral therapy with Capecitabine, using two different calculation methods: therapy diary and indirect prescription refilling patterns. The main objective of the study was to compare the two methods of analysis and to propose a reliable adherence datum, yielded by the application of two complementary methodologies. We consequently set out to verify if data collected from therapy diaries can be superimposed to those gathered from prescription refilling patterns. Furthermore, we included data on patient-perceived quality in relation to Capecitabine therapy, as well as adverse reactions and their duration. Of 594 patients who used the study drug as of January 1, 2012, 45 completed their therapy diary. Adherence to treatment was 0.93 ± 0.10 and 0.84 ± 0.15, calculated using therapy diaries and pharmacy refill data, respectively. In terms of persistence, 53% of patients continued with treatment after six months of therapy. On a 1 to 5 scale, perceived quality was 3.31. In conclusion, when it comes to calculating adherence, it is important to preserve the objectivity of the method, which must be unencumbered by any conditioning. Regardless of the method, also considering what has already been discussed in the available literature, adherence in patients under treatment with Capecitabine, unlike persistence, is good.
Narrative Review of Sensory Changes as a Biomarker for Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Romano Raymond R. , Carter Michael A. , Monroe Todd B.
Published: August 2020

Early recognition of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the prodromal period has not been robust yet will be necessary if effective disease-modifying drugs are to be useful in preventing or delaying the condition. The objective of this narrative review was to describe the current, evidenced based understanding of alterations in sensory data as potential biomarkers for AD. Review of empirical studies that tested senses as biomarkers for AD and were published in English within the past 50 years was completed. Eighteen empirical studies were identified that met the strict criteria for inclusion, with 12 of these studies being related to the olfactory system. Two studies examined auditory, two examined vision, one examined proprioception, and one examined taste. Thus, only olfaction has been studied to any extent, leaving a clear gap in the literature for the use of other senses. A promising area of research has begun to be reported concerning differences in responses to pain stimuli in AD relative to cognitively normal subjects. Pain is not a single sense like the others but integrates several senses and may allow for use as an early biomarker for AD, as it integrates several brain areas and pathways. Unlike the other senses, simple devices can be used to measure changes in pain perception in cognitively normal adults with genetic predispositions for possible AD, making this potentially useful for clinicians in the future.
Blood temperature monitoring–guided vascular access intervention improved dialysis adequacy
Authors: Baek Seung Don , Jeung Soomin , Go Jin , Kang Jae-Young
Published: August 2020

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to investigate whether blood temperature monitoring–guided vascular access intervention could improve dialysis adequacy.

Methods:

We retrospectively evaluated all patients who received outpatient-based prevalent hemodialysis patients ( n = 84) in our artificial kidney room between January 2019 and October 2019. Through blood temperature monitoring, access blood flow was calculated every month and Kt/ V was calculated every 3 months. The reference point was set at the time of vascular intervention in the patients ( n = 27) who underwent intervention or at the middle of the study period in patients ( n = 57) who did not undergo intervention. The mean blood temperature monitoring–estimated access flow and Kt/ V before and after the reference point were calculated and compared.

Results:

Among 84 patients, 30 (35.7%) showed access flow rates of <500 mL/min, calculated by blood temperature monitoring during the study period. Twenty-seven patients (32.1%) underwent vascular intervention, of whom 24 (28.6%) showed access flow rates of <500 mL/min, 2 (2.4%) showed weak bruit or thrill incapable of needling, and 1 (1.2%) presented acute occlusion. Six patients (7.1%) whose access flow rates were <500 mL/min refused to undergo intervention. All angiographies in the patients whose access flow rates were <500 mL/min who underwent intervention showed a significant stenosis. The mean change in blood temperature monitoring–estimated access flow and Kt/ V before and after vascular intervention was 483.3 ± 490.6 and 0.19 ± 0.21, respectively, which showed significant differences (all p < 0.05). A weak positive correlation between the mean change in blood temperature monitoring–estimated access flow and Kt/ V was shown in all study patients by Pearson’s correlation analysis ( r = 0.234, p = 0.033).

Conclusion:

Access flow estimation by blood temperature monitoring might identify candidates who require vascular intervention. Blood temperature monitoring–guided vascular intervention significantly improved access flow and dialysis adequacy.
Analysis of thermal dynamic micro-EHL considering bearing assembly temperature
Authors: Liu Xiaoling , Xin Zhaoshun , Zhou Jiangmin , Yang Peiran
Published: August 2020

To investigate thermal failure of dynamic oil film in cylindrical roller bearings(CRBs), based on the temperature field of CRBs, non-Newtonian dynamic thermal elastohydrodynamic (TEHL) lubricating performance in cylindrical roller bearings was conducted. A single surface bump was coupled with longitudinal waviness on the roller surface, and a dynamic non-Newtonian finite line contact TEHL model was established considering the boundary temperature of the bearing assembly. Effects of the roller boundary temperature, the surface bump amplitude, the rotational speed, and the viscosity-pressure coefficient on thermal failure were analyzed. Comparison of lubricating performance between Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid was made as well. Results show that, when the roller boundary temperature increases, the pressure and the oil temperature become larger, and the film thickness and frictional coefficient decrease obviously for roller to outer race contact. As the surface amplitude is large enough, or the rotational speed is low enough, phenomenon of partial contact between the roller and the outer ring may be generated due to high boundary temperature of solids. In addition, when the rotational speed is very low, the temperature of the roller surface reaches the first critical temperature of the adsorbed film, so thermal film failure may occur for roller to outer race lubrication.
Encouraging tourist citizenship behavior through resource uniqueness and service quality: The mediating role of emotions
Authors: Liu Lin , Cui Tingting , Wu Jinnan , Cao Ruilan , Ye Ye
Published: August 2020

Consumer citizenship behavior is widely considered to be vital to business success. However, the role of resource uniqueness and service quality in encouraging citizenship behavior in tourism settings has not been well understood. Grounded on a framework integrating the Stimulus-Organism-Response Model and Social Exchange Theory, this study examines whether tourism resource uniqueness and service quality affect tourists’ citizenship behaviors (i.e., word-of-mouth recommendations and providing feedback) through the mediating effect of tourist emotion (i.e., positive and negative emotions). A total of 321 samples collected from three types of scenic spots in China were analyzed using structural equation modeling and Bootstrapping procedures. Results suggest that both tourism resource uniqueness and service quality positively predict positive emotion and negatively influence negative emotion, which is further positively and negatively associated with word-of-mouth recommendation and providing feedback, respectively. Moreover, both positive emotion and negative emotion mediate the effects of tourism resource uniqueness and service quality on tourists’ citizenship behaviors. Findings provide evidence that both resource uniqueness and service quality are critical to understand tourists’ citizenship behavior, and offer important marketing implications for destinations to manage tourist emotional experiences.
Dishonesty during a pandemic: The concealment of COVID-19 information
Authors: O’Connor Alison M , Evans Angela D
Published: August 2020

Honest disclosures of COVID-19 behaviors and symptoms is critical. A sample of adults on MTurk ( N = 451, 20–82 years of age) were asked if they have concealed social distancing practices, COVID-19 symptoms, and quarantine instructions, as well as how they evaluated others’ COVID-19 concealment. Those who believed they had contracted COVID-19 engaged in greater rates of concealment and evaluated concealment more positively compared to those without the virus. As age and communal orientation increased, COVID-19 concealment behaviors decreased, and evaluations of this concealment were rated more negatively. Implications for public health initiatives and psychological theory on concealing health information is discussed.
Anti-equivalence: Pragmatics of post-liberal dispute
Authors: Davies William
Published: August 2020

In the early twenty-first century, liberal democracies have witnessed their foundational norms of critique and deliberation being disrupted by a combination of populist and technological forces. A distinctive style of dispute has appeared, in which a speaker denounces the unfairness of all liberal and institutional systems of equivalence, including the measures of law, economics and the various other ‘tests’ which convention scholars have deemed core to organisations. The article reviews how sociologists of critique have tended to treat critical capacities as oriented towards consensus but then considers how technologies of real-time ‘control’ circumvent liberal critique altogether. In response, a different type of dispute emerges in the digital public sphere, which abandons equivalences in general, instead adopting a non-representational template of warfare. This style of post-liberal dispute is manifest in the rhetoric of populists but does not originate there.
Recovery processes among young adults treated for alcohol and other drug problems: A five-year follow-up
Authors: Skogens Lisa , von Greiff Ninive
Published: August 2020

Aim:

Studies on recovery from alcohol and other drugs (AOD) among young adults are scarce. In the present study, young adults, previously interviewed with a focus on their recovery process shortly after they completed treatment, were re-interviewed five years later focusing on their recovery process during the last five years in relation to their former AOD problems, other problems and processes of change.

Methods:

Twenty-one young adults were interviewed: 16 women and five men aged between 25 and 33 years. After transcribing the interviews, the material was analysed thematically.

Results:

Three overall themes emerged: previous problems, mental illness and the search for identity. The results were discussed in relation to recovery capital, primarily focusing on human and social capital. The results indicate that the group in focus often needs professional support for mental health issues in order to reach a stable recovery.

Conclusions:

Since the problems described were heterogeneous, this client group might benefit from individual treatment and extended support after treatment. Further, the results indicate that the established period of five years for a stable recovery might need to be extended for young adults.
Levels of mental distress over 18 years after entering treatment for substance use disorders: A longitudinal cohort study
Authors: Hjemsæter Arne Jan , Bramness Jørgen G , Drake Robert , Skeie Ivar , Monsbakken Bent , Benth Jūratė Šaltytė , Landheim Anne S
Published: August 2020

Aims:

The aims were to investigate whether baseline characteristics and problematic substance use were related to change in mental distress over time in patients with substance use disorders during an 18-year period.

Method:

This was a prospective, longitudinal study of patients followed for 18 years after entering specialised treatment for substance use disorders. A sample of 291 patients was recruited in 1997 and 1998. Mental distress was measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25 at baseline, and at six and 18 years. Lifetime psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders at baseline were measured using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, while personality disorders were measured using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory II. At the six- and 18-year follow-ups, substance use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test. Linear mixed model was estimated to assess the overall level of mental distress over 18 years for participants with complete data at baseline ( n = 232).

Results:

In an adjusted model, problematic substance use assessed simultaneously with mental distress, having lifetime affective, anxiety and personality disorder at baseline were associated with greater levels of mental distress over the 18-year period. The change in mental distress from baseline to the six-year, but not to the 18-year, follow-up was significantly larger among females than among males.

Conclusion:

The results suggests a reciprocal relationship over time between substance use and mental health problems. Also, there seems to be an additive effect between ongoing problematic substance use and lifetime mental disorders on greater levels of mental distress. This addresses the importance of integrated treatment for both substance use disorders and mental disorders to improve the long-term course for patients with these comorbid disorders.
Nourishing and protecting our urban ‘green’ space in a post-pandemic world
Authors: Rodgers Christopher
Published: August 2020

‘Green spaces’ provide important cultural ecosystem services in our towns and cities. ‘Green’ space may come in many forms – for example parks, village greens, urban commons, or just neglected and undeveloped wasteland. But all of it is important as it can provide much needed space for open air recreation and exercise in crowded urban areas. The covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdown has shown just how important it is for us to have easy access to open space for recreation and exercise. But much of our green space is, in an age of austerity, under threat. Covid-19 has shown that we need to reappraise planning policy for the designation and protection of new areas of green space in our urban environment; to better protect existing open space, including village greens and commons; and to seek to rebalance planning policy to ensure that the drive for new housing does not take place at the expense of ensuring that adequate green space is provided for existing and future communities.
Applied theater: Using improvisation in social services as an illustrating example
Authors: Chan Gloria Hongyee
Published: August 2020

Since the practice of interdisciplinary collaboration in applied theater for social work with children and youth in Hong Kong is rare, this study explores its applicability for maximizing beneficial outcomes. An improv group for youth was jointly conducted by a social worker and a theater tutor. A mixed-methods study was undertaken involving 38 undergraduate university students to evaluate group effectiveness.

Findings

Quantitative results showed that participants displayed enhanced personal growth and sense of self, and the interaction effect between the intervention and improvisational activities was significant. Qualitative results indicated that participants assessed the collaboration between the two professional tutors as effective for enhancing participants’ self-understanding and various capacities to handle life challenges.

Applications

Interdisciplinary collaboration in applied theater is advocated for social work practice, so as to further strengthen the development of participants’ insight.
Three recent scenes in the affective life of gentrification in San Francisco’s Polk Gulch
Authors: Scott Damon , Parekh Trushna
Published: August 2020

Drawing on the ‘reparative turn’ in queer feminist scholarship, we situate a commemorative march that took place in late March 2018 in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco as an entry point into the affective conditions of living in and through a period of intensifying urban development. Complete with a brass band, drag queens dressed in mourning, and black banners, participants stopped at the sites of former gay bars and other commercial establishments where they laid wreaths, offered eulogies, and affectively asserted the social and historical significance of these places. Nine months later, we interviewed organizers and participants and analyzed recordings of the event in order to register the sensate conditions that preceded, pervaded, and followed in the wake of the March. In so doing, we unravel the ‘undecidability of the urban’ in which residents call into question the impacts of gentrification. Through our tripartite engagement with the affective contours of the March, we situate the procession less as a discrete ceremonial event to re-inscribe collective memories in urban space or to lay claims to a right to urban territory, than as a momentary effort to work out and through the ongoing, shared feelings of loss in an increasingly unlivable city. By attending to the felt conditions of urban development, we argue for foregrounding shared sentiments as a viable pathway to opening up relief from, if not alternatives to, the ongoing displacements and dispossessions of the neoliberal city.
Experimental study of fibre breakup and shot formation in melt blowing nozzle designs
Authors: Formoso Ignacio , Rivas Alejandro , Beltrame Gerardo , Larraona Gorka S , Ramos Juan Carlos , Antón Raúl , Salterain Alaine
Published: August 2020

The high demand for quality in the manufacture of absorbent hygiene products requires the adhesive bonds between layers to be as uniform as possible. An experimental study was conducted on two industrial multihole melt blowing nozzle designs used for hot-melt adhesive applications for hygiene products, in order to study two defects that influence the quality of the adhesive bond: fibre breakup, resulting in contamination, and the presence of shots, undesirable lumps that end up in the finished product. To this end, the fibre dynamics were captured at the nozzle exit region by using high-speed imaging. From the results it was observed that die drool is the main source of shot formation, while fibre breakup occurs as a result of applying a sufficiently large force in the direction perpendicular to the fibre. In addition, three dimensionless parameters were defined, the first two being the air-polymer flux ratio and the dimensionless temperature ratio, both of which represent the operating conditions, and the remaining one being the force ratio, which represents the nozzle geometry. The effect of these parameters on fibre breakup and shot formation was studied and the results indicate that both the operating conditions and the nozzle geometry were responsible for the onset of the fibre breakup and for the formation of shots. More precisely, both defects turned out to be dominated by the air-polymer flux ratio and the air tilt angle. The results that emerge from this study are useful for the enhancement of industrial melt blowing nozzles.
Long Noncoding RNA Plasmacytoma Variant Translocation 1 Is Increased in Multiple Myeloma and Correlates With Lower Induction Response
Authors: Li Pei , Han Xiyao , Xie Yinghua , Liu Yihan
Published: August 2020

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the correlation of long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 with clinical features and prognosis in patients with multiple myeloma.

Methods:

The bone marrow samples were collected from 128 patients with de novo symptomatic multiple myeloma (before initial treatment) and 30 healthy donors (on the enrollment). Long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 expression in bone marrow-derived plasma cells was detected by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In patients with multiple myeloma, their demographics and clinical features before treatment were collected; induction treatment response (complete response and overall response rate) and survival profiles (progression-free survival and overall survival) were assessed.

Results:

Expression of long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 was increased in patients with multiple myeloma compared to healthy donors. Receiver-operating characteristic curve showed that long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 distinguished patients with multiple myeloma from healthy donors with an area under the curve of 0.884 (95% confidence interval: 0.829-0.940). In patients with multiple myeloma, high expression of long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 correlated with elevated β-2 microglobulin, increased International Staging System stage, and raised Del (17p), but it did not correlate with other biochemical indexes or chromosomal abnormalities. Furthermore, long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 high expression patients presented with decreased complete response and overall response rate compared to long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 low expression patients, and high expression of long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 predicted unfavorable progression-free survival as well overall survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Conclusion:

Long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 might be a potential biomarker for the supervision of disease progression and prognosis in patients with multiple myeloma.
MiR-34a Regulates Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Radiosensitivity by Targeting SIRT1
Authors: Liu Yang , Li Qinshan , Liang Huiling , Xiang Miaomiao , Tang Dongxin , Huang Mei , Tao Yixi , Ren Min , Zhao Mei , Wang Jishi , Shu Liping , He Zhixu , Wang Feiqing , Li Yanju
Published: August 2020

Background/Aims:

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a common head and neck cancer in South China and Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy is the standard treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Accumulating evidence showed that the expression of miR-34a was abnormal in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Here, this study investigates the effect of miR-34a on radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and explored the underlying mechanisms.

Methods:

Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the expression of miR-34a in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and NP69 cells. The effect of miR-34a on radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (CNE-1 cells) was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8, flow cytometry, and Transwell migration assays following transfection with miR-34a mimic. Luciferase reporter assay was used to assess the target genes of miR-34a.

Results:

In this study, it revealed that miR-34a was downregulated, while silent information regulator 1 was upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. The overexpression of miR-34a enhanced radiation-induced proliferation and migration inhibition and apoptosis in CNE-1 cells. Bioinformatics, Luciferase reporter, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting assays indicated that silent information regulator 1 is a direct target of miR-34a in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Knockdown of silent information regulator 1 enhanced radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells as evidenced by increasing proliferation and migration inhibition and apoptosis after radiation exposure.

Conclusion:

In summary, our results indicated that the overexpression of miR-34a enhanced radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by targeting silent information regulator 1. Further studies are warranted to investigate the potential use of miR-34a in the clinical management and treatment prediction of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Overview of Current Progress in Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Dai Xinlun , Wang Shupeng , Niu Chunyuan , Ji Bai , Liu Yahui
Published: August 2020

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to a common cause of tumor mortality worldwide and represents the most common type of lethal hepatic malignancy. The incidence of HCC is swiftly increasing in western countries and southeast Asia. Despite poor prognosis, traditional treatments for advanced HCC appear to be minimally effective or even useless since patients are usually diagnosed in the advanced stage of disease. In recent years, immune checkpoint blockade has shown promising results in multiple pre-clinical and clinical trials of different solid tumors, including advanced HCC. Novel drugs targeting immune checkpoints, such as nivolumab (anti-PD-1), durvalumab (anti-PD-L1), and tremelimumab (anti-CTLA-4) have been shown to be highly effective and relatively safe in monotherapy or in combination treatment of advanced liver cancer. Unlike other immunotherapies, this approach can rouse human anti-tumor immunity by relieving T-cell exhaustion and inhibiting the evasion of HCC by blocking co-inhibitory signaling transduction accurately. In this review, we will provide current knowledge of several major immune checkpoints and summarize recent data from clinical trials that applied immune checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination. In addition, this review will discuss the limitations and future prospective of immune checkpoint-targeted therapy for advanced HCC.
Who Makes Whom Charismatic? Leadership Identity Negotiation in Work Teams
Authors: Cohen N. Andrew , Yoon Jeewhan
Published: August 2020

This study examines charismatic attributions among peers within the informal leadership emergence process. We built and tested the theory with a longitudinal sample of 123 teams. Using an identity negotiation framework, we examined the processes by which individuals came to be perceived as charismatic by both teammates and themselves. We found that individuals engaged in self-verification, which caused their teammates to perceive them as they perceived themselves, while the collective team engaged in appraisal and influenced individual teammates to perceive themselves as the team did. Our findings suggest that these processes are stronger when initial perceptual differences are high and when the identity negotiation process aims at yielding a highly charismatic identity or reputation.
Basilar artery origin of an orbital artery – A rare variant and review of the embryology of the orbital arterial supply
Authors: Bhogal Pervinder , Richter Cindy , Schob Stefan , AlMatter Muhammad , Hellstern Victoria , Pérez Marta Aguilar , Henkes Hans
Published: August 2020

We present a patient with separation of the arterial supply to the globe and the extra-ocular muscles. The ophthalmic artery originates from the typical adult location and supplies only the globe. Arising from the basilar artery was a branch that supplies the extra-ocular muscles. There was no apparent connection between these vessels around the optic nerve and no evidence of supply from the external carotid artery. We discuss the embryology of the ophthalmic artery from the point of view of Padget and Lasjaunias and offer our opinion on the on-going controversy. We believe this is the first case to highlight the trigeminal-primitive maxillary-stapedial anastamotic pathway.
Modeling and analysis of megneto-Carreau fluid with radiative heat flux: Dual solutions about critical point
Authors: Ullah Habib , Khan M Ijaz , Hayat T
Published: August 2020

In this article, we aim to analyze the dual solutions for the flow of non-Newtonian material (Carreau fluid) over a radially shrinking surface. Magnetohydrodynamics fluid is considered. Concept of Stefan Boltzmann constant and mean absorption coefficient is used in the mathematical modeling of energy expression. Mass transfer is discussed. The upper and lower branch solutions for the Sherwood number, skin friction coefficient, and Nusselt number are calculated for different pertinent flow variables. Appropriate transformation variables are employed for reduction of partial differential equations system into ordinary differential equations. Dual solutions are obtained for the non-dimensional concentration, temperature, velocity, gradient of concentration, gradient of temperature, and gradient of velocity. The critical values for each upper and lower solutions are obtained for the case of gradient of velocity, gradient of temperature, and gradient of concentration. It is formed that concentration and temperature fields display same impact regarding both upper and lower branch solutions for velocity ratio and temperature ratio parameters.
New development of the dynamic modeling and the inverse dynamic analysis for flexible robot
Authors: My Chu A , Bien Duong X
Published: August 2020

When a segment of a flexible link of a flexible robot is currently sliding through a prismatic joint, it is usually assumed that the elastic deformation of the segment equals to zero. This is a kind of time-dependent boundary condition when formulating the dynamics model of a flexible robot consisting of prismatic joints. Hence, the dynamic modeling and especially the inverse dynamic analysis of the flexible robots with the prismatic joints are challenging. In this article, we present a new development of the dynamic modeling method for a generic two-link flexible robot that consists of a prismatic joint and a revolute joint. Moreover, a new bisection method-based algorithm is proposed to analyze the inverse dynamic responses of the flexible robots. Since the bisection method is a rapid converging method in mathematics, the proposed algorithm is effectively applicable to solving the inverse dynamic problem of a flexible robot in a robust manner. Last, the numerical simulation results show the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed method.
Linking instructional leadership to teacher practices: The mediating effect of shared practice and agency in learning effectiveness
Authors: Bellibaş Mehmet Şükrü , Polatcan Mahmut , Kılınç Ali Çağatay
Published: August 2020

This paper examines the effects of instructional leadership on the change in teachers’ classroom practices, with the mediating role of shared practice and learning effectiveness. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, using quantitative methods. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data collected from 350 teachers in primary and secondary schools in various provinces of Turkey. The results provided evidence consistent with the previous research from western English-speaking societies, suggesting an indirect relationship between leadership and teachers’ instructional practices with the full mediation roles of shared practices among teachers and their sense of agency in learning effectiveness. This work concludes that teacher learning and collaborative practices among teachers, influenced by principals’ instructional practices, can facilitate a significant change in several diverse components of classroom instruction, such as the quality of grouping, questions, homework, instructional strategies and differentiated practices.
Efficacy and predictive factors of immune checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zou Yutian , Zou Xuxiazi , Zheng Shaoquan , Tang Hailin , Zhang Lijuan , Liu Peng , Xie Xiaoming
Published: August 2020

Background:

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown encouraging treatment efficacy for metastatic breast cancer in several clinical trials. However, response only occurred in a small population. Evidence predicting response and survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer following ICI treatment with existing biomarkers has not been well summarized. This review aimed to summarize the efficacy and predictive factors of immune checkpoint therapy in metastatic breast cancer, which is critical for clinical practice.

Methods:

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, www.clinicaltrials.gov , and meeting abstracts were comprehensively searched to identify clinical trials. The outcomes were objective response rate (ORR), treatment-related adverse events (trAEs), immune-related adverse events (irAEs), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

Results:

In this review, 27 studies with 1746 patients were included for quantitative synthesis. The pooled ORR was 19% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 12–27%]. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive patients had a higher response rate [odds ratio (OR) = 1.44, p = 0.01]. First-line immunotherapy had a better ORR than second-line immunotherapy (OR = 2.00, p = 0.02). Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) ⩾5% (OR = 2.53, p = 0.002) and high infiltrated CD8+ T-cell level (OR = 4.33, p = 0.006) were ideal predictors of immune checkpoint therapy response. Liver metastasis indicated poor response (OR = 0.19, p = 0.009). However, the difference was non-significant in ORR based on age, performance status score, lymph node metastasis, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level. In addition, the PD-L1-positive subgroup had a better 1-year PFS (OR = 1.55, p = 0.04) and 2-year OS (OR = 2.28, p = 0.02) following ICI treatment. The pooled incidence during ICI therapy of grade 3–4 trAEs was 25% (95% CI = 16–34%), whereas for grade 3–4 irAEs it was 15% (95% CI = 11–19%).

Conclusions:

Metastatic breast cancer had modest response to ICI therapy. PD-L1-positive, first-line immunotherapy, non-liver metastasis, and high TIL and CD8+ T-cell infiltrating levels could predict better response to ICI treatment. Patients with PD-L1-positive tumor could gain more survival benefits from immune checkpoint therapy.
Ambidextrous learning of engineering project team: Relying on control or BIM AI VR AR MR?
Authors: Yang Suying , Cui Guiyun , Lu Shaokai
Published: August 2020

Through formal control and social control, technology platforms can acquire the information knowledge needed for ambidextrous learning of engineering project team, but whether technology platforms influence ambidextrous learning of engineering project team through the intermediary role of ambidextrous control (formal control, social control) is still lack of theoretical and empirical support. In order to explore the influence of the co-use of technology platform and ambidextrous control on the ambidextrous learning of engineering project team, this paper constructs a theoretical framework between the performance of ambidextrous control (formal control, social control) and different types of technology platform (BIM, AI, VR, AR, MR) and different types of learning (exploratory learning, exploitative learning). A questionnaire survey was conducted among 210 project managers. AMOS22.0 and bootstrap software were used for analysis and test, SPSS22.0 was used for hierarchical regression analysis, the results of hierarchical regression analysis show that formal control, social control and the balanced use of both have significant positive correlation with the ambidextrous learning and balanced use of ambidextrous learning of engineering project team. Formal Information Technology Platform (BIM) and Informal Information Technology Platform (AI, VR, AR, MR) have significant positive effects on the ambidextrous learning of engineering project team. The balanced use of formal Information Technology Platform (BIM) and informal Information Technology Platform (AI, AR) has significant positive effects on the ambidextrous learning balance of engineering project team. Formal control and social control mediate the positive correlation between information technology platform (BIM, AI, VR, AR, MR) and ambidextrous learning of engineering project team. In addition, information technology platform (BIM, AI, VR) regulates the impact of formal control and social control on learning (exploratory learning, exploitative learning). Generally speaking, different types of technology platforms and ambidextrous control strategies are still effective for the ambidextrous learning and balance of engineering project team.