bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Novel Twenty20 batting simulations: a strategy for research and improved practice
Authors: Lopes Tiago , Goble David , Olivier Benita , Kerr Samantha
Published: February 2024

Twenty20 cricket and batting in particular have remained vastly understudied to date. To elucidate the effects of batting on the batter, tools which replicate match play in controlled environments are essential. This study describes the development of two Twenty20 batting simulations, for a high and low strike rate innings, generated from retrospective analysis of international and domestic competition. Per delivery analysis of probabilities of run-type and on/off-strike denomination produce ball-by-ball simulations most congruent with retrospective competitive innings. Furthermore, both simulations are matched for duration and dictated through audio files. The `high' strike rate innings requires a batter to score 88 runs from 51 deliveries, whereby 60 runs are from boundaries. Similarly, the `low' strike rate innings requires a batter to score 61 runs from 51 deliveries, where 27 runs are scored from boundaries. Because batting simulations dictate run scoring outcomes, a method of quantifying a batter's performance from bat-ball contact scores is described. Ten elite batters achieved a mean performance score of 72 (SD = 26) and 88 (21) for the low and high strike rate simulations respectively. This study provides sport practitioners with a training technique to improve specific skill acquisition and enables research in understudied Twenty20 batting.
Factors associated with hypertension and diabetes in rural communities in the Asante Akim North Municipality of Ghana
Authors: Brenyah Joseph Kwasi , Enuameh Yeetey , Okoe-Boye Bernard , Asenso-Boadi Francis , Welaga Miah Ronald , Twum Peter , Dassah Ebenezer , Frimpong Odoom Samuel , Peprah Agyekum Thomas , Ayisi-Boateng Nana Kwame , Adade Richard , Sarfo Fred Stephen , Singh Arti , Ansong Daniel
Published: February 2024

Background Hypertension and diabetes are leading non-communicable diseases that have driven an epidemic of cardiovascular diseases globally. Understanding the factors associated with the occurrence of hypertension and diabetes, particularly in rural settings, is crucial for designing interventions to improve awareness, detection, and control. This study assessed factors associated with hypertension and diabetes in Asante Akim North Municipality, a rural community in Ghana. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 2,576 participants. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire covering sociodemographic, blood pressure measurements, anthropometric measurements, biochemical parameters, and modifiable risk factors for hypertension and diabetes. Descriptive statistics of the outcomes were performed. The factors associated with hypertension or diabetes were assessed using a multivariate logistic regression model. Results The study found that participants' mean age was 35 years (SD) with a slight female preponderance of 53.88%. Age, marital status, educational status, and occupation positively predicted the occurrence of hypertension. The prevalences of hypertension and diabetes were found to be 30.9% and 17.7%, respectively. Community members above 18 years of age had increased odds of developing hypertension [18–44 years (aOR=1.99, CI=1.06–3.71, p <0.05), 45–64 years (aOR=6.12, CI=3.15–11.9, p <0.001), and >64 years (aOR=14.55, CI=7.17–29.53, p <0.001)]. Community members who were fishing/farming (aOR=0.45, CI=0.26–0.76, p <0.01) and being student/apprentices (aOR=0.11, CI=0.02–0.56) were at reduced odds of developing diabetes. Participants who consumed snacks (aOR=0.64, CI=0.41–0.99, p <0.05) during working hours had reduced odds of developing diabetes. Conclusions The study concluded that commonly known risk factors (dietary behaviour, alcohol intake, tobacco use, and physical activities) were not associated with hypertension or diabetes. Sociodemographic characteristics and poor health screening practices were the main predictors of hypertension and diabetes in rural areas. Urgent steps to improve health education and population-level screening are pivotal for controlling hypertension and diabetes.
Advancements in robotic-enabled sensing: A European perspective
Authors: Mineo Carmelo
Published: February 2024

Robotic Non-destructive Testing and Sensing stands at the forefront of technological innovation, offering capabilities in assessing structural integrity, safety, and material quality across diverse industries. This comprehensive review article provides a detailed exploration of the field, focusing on the substantial contributions of European researchers and institutions. The need for non-destructive testing has been a constant in industries that rely on structural integrity, including aerospace, manufacturing, energy, construction, and healthcare. Traditional testing methods, such as radiography, ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle testing, and dye penetrant testing, have been integral for quality control and safety assurance. However, the robotisation of such methods has marked a profound shift, enabling precise, fast, efficient, and repeatable testing while minimising human exposure to hazardous environments. European researchers and institutions have played an instrumental role in driving the evolution of robotic-enabled sensing. The historical perspective of the field reveals the pioneering spirit of Europe, as collaborative initiatives led to the development of robotic platforms equipped with advanced sensors and testing techniques. A critical aspect of the European impact on robotic inspection applications lies in developing advanced sensors, innovative robotic platforms, novel robotic path-planning and control approaches and data collection and visualisation tools. These developments continue to influence the global landscape of robotic-enabled sensing. European researchers remain at the forefront of current trends and innovations as the field continues to evolve. This review article will delve into these recent advancements, highlighting Europe’s pivotal role in pushing the boundaries of technology and application. The implications and applications of robotic sensing reverberate across multiple sectors worldwide. From inspecting critical aerospace components to ensuring the quality of manufactured goods, these technologies underpin safety and quality standards.
Condition-Based Production for Stochastically Deteriorating Systems: Optimal Policies and Learning
Authors: Drent Collin , Drent Melvin , Arts Joachim
Published: February 2024

Problem definition: Production systems deteriorate stochastically due to use and may eventually break down, resulting in high maintenance costs at scheduled maintenance moments. This deterioration behavior is affected by the system’s production rate. Although producing at a higher rate generates more revenue, the system may also deteriorate faster. Production should thus be controlled dynamically to tradeoff deterioration and revenue accumulation in between maintenance moments. We study systems for which the relation between production and deterioration is known and the same for each system and systems for which this relation differs from system to system and needs to be learned on-the-fly. The decision problem is to find the optimal production policy given planned maintenance moments (operational) and the optimal interval length between such maintenance moments (tactical). Methodology/results: For systems with a known production-deterioration relation, we cast the operational decision problem as a continuous time Markov decision process and prove that the optimal policy has intuitive monotonic properties. We also present sufficient conditions for the optimality of bang-bang policies, and we partially characterize the structure of the optimal interval length, thereby enabling efficient joint optimization of the operational and tactical decision problem. For systems that exhibit variability in their production-deterioration relations, we propose a Bayesian procedure to learn the unknown deterioration rate under any production policy. Numerical studies indicate that on average across a wide range of settings (i) condition-based production increases profits by 50% compared with static production, (ii) integrating condition-based production and maintenance decisions increases profits by 21% compared with the state-of-the-art sequential approach, and (iii) our Bayesian approach performs close, especially in the bang-bang regime, to an Oracle policy that knows each system’s production-deterioration relation. Managerial implications: Production should be adjusted dynamically based on real-time condition monitoring and the tactical maintenance planning should anticipate and integrate these operational decisions. Our proposed framework assists managers to do so optimally.

Funding: This work was supported by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [Grant 439.17.708].

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0473 .
Frontiers in Operations: Battery as a Service: Flexible Electric Vehicle Battery Leasing
Authors: Shi Lingling , Hu Bin
Published: February 2024

Problem definition: The electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer NIO adopts a swappable-battery design and a battery-leasing business model known as battery as a service (BaaS). It recently introduced flexible battery leasing, which allows customers to temporarily up-/downgrade their primary leased batteries based on the needs for range. We investigate whether this business model innovation is viable, namely whether introducing flexible battery leasing in BaaS could benefit the manufacturer, the customers, and the environment compared with simple battery leasing. Methodology/results: Adopting a game-theoretical model, we find that introducing flexible battery leasing in BaaS can simultaneously improve the manufacturer profit as well as reduce the total customer cost and the total battery capacity. Such win-win-win outcomes generally occur for large high-capacity battery ranges and moderate high-capacity battery costs—both consistent with the ongoing trend in the EV industry and a model-calibration exercise. We further show that this key finding is robust for correlated regular and peak needs for range and when launching BaaS with flexible battery leasing and that if the manufacturer was to choose a high-capacity battery range for flexible battery leasing, it would choose one such that battery reallocation alone can meet all battery up-/downgrade demand without acquiring additional batteries. Managerial implications: Our findings confirm that flexible battery leasing can be a viable BaaS business model innovation and offer insights into when this may be the case. This insight strengthens the strategic support for EV manufacturers’ potential adoption of the swappable-battery design and the BaaS model, and it may inform their operating policies to implement flexible battery leasing.

History: This paper has been accepted in the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Frontiers in Operations Initiative.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0587 .
Optimal Service Time Windows
Authors: Ulmer Marlin W. , Goodson Justin C. , Thomas Barrett W.
Published: February 2024

Because customers must usually arrange their schedules to be present for home services, they desire an accurate estimate of when the service will take place. However, even when firms quote large service time windows, they are often missed, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Wide time windows and frequent failures occur because time windows must be communicated to customers in the face of several uncertainties: future customer requests are unknown, final service plans are not yet determined, and when fulfillment is outsourced to a third party, the firm has limited control over routing procedures and eventual fulfillment times. Even when routing is performed in-house, time windows often do not receive explicit consideration. In this paper, we show how companies can communicate reliable and narrow time windows to customers in the face of arrival time uncertainty when time window decisions are decoupled from routing procedures. Under assumptions on the shape of arrival time distributions, our main result characterizes the optimal policy, identifying structure that reduces a high-dimensional stochastic nonlinear optimization problem to a root-finding problem in one dimension. The result inspires a practice-ready heuristic for the more general case. Relative to the industry standard of communicating uniform time windows to all customers, and to other policies applied in practice, our method of quoting customer-specific time windows yields a substantial increase in customer convenience without sacrificing reliability of service. Our results show that time windows should be tailored to individual customers, time window sizes should be proportional to the service level, larger time windows should be assigned to earlier requests and smaller time windows to later requests, larger time windows should be assigned to customers further from the depot of operation and smaller time windows to closer customers, high quality time windows can be identified even with limited data, and cost savings afforded by routing efficiency should be measured against potential losses to customer convenience.

Funding: M. W. Ulmer’s work is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) Emmy Noether Programme, [project 444657906].

Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2023.0004 .
Martha's rule: applying a behaviour change framework to understand the potential of complementary roles of clinicians and patients in improving safety of patients deteriorating in hospital
Authors: Subbe Christian P , Steinmo Siri H , Haskell Helen , Barach Paul
Published: February 2024

Aims/Background

Martha's rule stipulates the right of patients and their families to escalate care as a way to improve safety while in hospital. This article analyses the possible impact of the proposed policy through the lens of a behaviour change framework and explores new opportunities presented by the implementation of Martha's rule..

Methods

A descriptive analysis was undertaken of interactions between patients, family, friends and clinicians during clinical deterioration in hospital. The capability–opportunity–motivation behaviour change framework was applied to understand reasons for failure to respond to deterioration.

Results

Care of deteriorating patients requires recording of vital signs, recognition of abnormalities, reporting through escalation and response by a competent clinician. Regarding the care of patients who deteriorate in hospital, healthcare professionals have capability and motivation to provide safe, high-quality care, but often lack the physical and social opportunity to report or respond through lack of time and peer pressure. Patients and family members have motivation and might have time to support safety systems. Martha's rule or similar arrangements allow healthcare organisations to create opportunities for patients and families to report and escalate care to experts in critical care when they recognise deterioration.

Conclusions

The capability–opportunity–motivation behaviour change framework provides insights into the causes of failure to rescue in deteriorating patients and an argument for opportunities through escalation by patients and families through Martha's rule. This might reduce the number of system failures and enable safer care.
Academic workers in crisis
Authors: Hristova Tsvetelina
Published: February 2024

Introducing this special issue, this article summarises the contributions and reflects on the conditions in which the labour processes of their authors reflect the increasingly stressful working conditions of academic workers in the post-pandemic context.
Beyond the limits of solidarity in the post-pandemic university
Authors: Hall Richard
Published: February 2024

This article challenges a liberal analysis of higher education (HE) inside an integrated system of economic production, and instead critiques: first, how UK policymakers sought to re-engineer English HE during and after the pandemic, through governance, regulation and funding changes predicated upon accelerating a discourse of value-for-money; second, the institutional labour reorganisation that followed, and which placed complete class fractions of academic labour in a permanent state of being at risk; and third, how in continually demonstrating that it cannot fulfil the desires of those who labour within it for a meaningful work-life, the university must be transcended. In addressing the entanglement of precarity and privilege, it argues that, if the university is unable to contribute to ways of knowing, being and doing that address socio-economic, socio-environmental or intersectional ruptures, then it must go.
Family Caregivers’ Attitudes and Perspectives About the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Online Survey
Authors: Powell Robyn M. , Albert Sasha M. , Nthenge Serah , Mitra Monika
Published: February 2024

Although sexual and reproductive health is critically important for women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), there is limited research elucidating the role of family caregivers in assisting women with IDD access sexual and reproductive health services and information. Understanding the family caregivers’ attitudes and perspectives is essential to improving access to sexual and reproductive health services and information for women with IDD. A cross-sectional online survey of family caregivers of women with IDD was administered between June and October 2018. Quantitative analysis was conducted for closed-ended responses, and qualitative analysis was conducted for open-ended responses. The analytic sample included 132 family caregivers. Most participants were parents and reported being closely involved in their family member’s access to sexual and reproductive health services and information. Although most participants expressed that sexual and reproductive health services and information are essential for women with IDD, qualitative analysis of participants’ open-ended responses revealed both supportive and restrictive attitudes and perspectives on sexual and reproductive health services and information for women with IDD. Supportive attitudes and perspectives included (1) “knowledge is power;” (2) supported decision-making; and (3) protection against sexual abuse. Restrictive attitudes and perspectives included (1) dependent on the individual; (2) lack of autonomy; and (3) placing responsibility on disability. Greater attention from policymakers and practitioners to systems-level changes, including universal and accessible sexual education for women with IDD, supported decision-making, and sexual abuse prevention measures, are urgently needed.
Zur Vielgestaltigkeit immersiver Konstellationen. Überlegungen aus der Sicht der kritischen Phänomenologie
Authors: Rocktäschel Karina
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Dieser Beitrag möchte das existierende Wissen um Immersion in den performativen Künsten, welches sich vor allem als Diskurs zum umbrella term immersivesTheater entfaltet, um Perspektiven aus der kritischen Phänomenologie unter Einbezug einer Vielzahl künstlerischer Beispiele überdenken. Ziel ist es, ein Verständnis von Immersion vorzustellen, das konzeptuell auf Wissen aus der kritischen Phänomenologie beruht und gegenstandsorientiert um einen multidimensionalen Ansatz bemüht ist. Mit diesem möchte der Beitrag zu einer Reflexion über Orientierungen und Desorientierungen wissenschaftlicher Theorie anregen.
Temperature-dependent index of refraction Sellmeier model for crystalline and polycrystalline materials
Authors: Thomas M. E.
Published: February 2024

The temperature dependence of optical window materials remains an important issue for a variety of applications from spacecraft, laser components, to high-speed aircraft. Concerning the refractive index in regions of transparency, current models are empirically based polynomial fits for the Sellmeier model strength and mode location parameters. These polynomial fit functions limit the ability to accurately extrapolate beyond the experimental range used to develop the fit functions. Thus, the development of a physics-based model as a function of temperature is an important goal for these critical materials. Such a model will allow extrapolation to higher and lower temperatures as long as the physical mechanisms do not change. For vibrational modes, a thermal average of the anharmonically shifted energy levels is investigated and compared to experimental data. The first anharmonic term can be estimated using the Morse potential based on a multiphonon absorption model. Experimentally, these modes redshift, and this is consistent with the developed temperature-dependent index of refraction Sellmeier model. This redshifting phenomena can also be applied to electronic transition shifts. In addition, the temperature-dependent oscillator number density can be obtained from known expansion coefficient models and experimental data. Other model parameters, in particular the electronic and vibrational mode polarizability, still need experimental grounding for a given material. The method is incorporated into a modified Sellmeier model format.
Phase retrieval algorithm applied to high-energy ultrafast lasers
Authors: Wang Jikai , Ghazagh Abdolnaser , Ravi Sonam Smitha , Baumbach Stefan , Dannecker Benjamin , Scharun Michael , Bauer Dominik , Nolte Stefan , Flamm Daniel
Published: February 2024

A standardized phase retrieval algorithm is presented and applied to an industry-grade high-energy ultrashort pulsed laser to uncover its spatial phase distribution. We describe in detail how to modify the well-known algorithm in order to characterize particularly strong light sources from intensity measurements only. With complete information about the optical field of the unknown light source at hand, virtual back propagation can reveal weak points in the light path such as apertures or damaged components.
SCAPSM: attenuated phase-shift mask structure for EUV lithography
Authors: Li Chen , Dong Lisong , Wei Yayi
Published: February 2024

The attenuated phase-shift mask (Att. PSM) is
proven to be a promising
resolution enhancement technology (RET) to improve the
imaging performance in extreme
ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. However, due to the reflective nature
of the mask structure, the serious shadowing effect can affect the
diffraction near field of the mask intensely and further impact the
lithography imaging. With the purpose of improving the contrast of
lithography imaging, a novel structure of the Att. PSM, to the best of
our knowledge, is proposed in
this paper. By introducing an absorbent sidewall along the edge of the
mask absorber, the diffraction and shadowing effects can be mitigated.
By applying the Kirchhoff approximation of mask diffraction, the
ability of the novel structure to improve imaging performance is
theoretically analyzed. Additionally, these analyses are confirmed by
rigorous lithography simulations. The simulation results demonstrate
that the proposed mask structure can improve the imaging contrast of
EUV lithography, which has potential usage in advanced integrated
circuit (IC) manufacturing.
Failure recovery in the MANTRA architecture with an IPoWDM SONiC node and 400ZR/ZR+ pluggables
Authors: Sgambelluri Andrea , Scano Davide , Morro Roberto , Cugini Filippo , Ortiz Jordi , Martinez José Manuel , Riccardi Emilio , Castoldi Piero , Pavon Pablo , Giorgetti Alessio
Published: February 2024

The utilization of IP over wavelength division multiplexing (IPoWDM) boxes in optical networks introduces coordination issues at the control plane level between the optical and packet domains. Indeed, IPoWDM boxes are technically packet devices, but the configuration of coherent optical pluggables requires knowledge of optical network state information (e.g., wavelength availability). MANTRA (metaverse ready architectures for open transport) aims to define a new SDN control architecture for managing IPoWDM, enhancing coordination between the packet and optical controllers. Within MANTRA, two distinct architectures were presented:DualandSingle. However, only the roles related to controller management are defined, while clear procedures are not specified for dealing with resource provisioning and failure recovery. This leads to the need for the definition and implementation of tailored procedures. Besides the characterization of the coherent optical pluggables performance, this paper presents and compares three procedures based on MANTRA to coordinate and control IPoWDM nodes in a multi-layer network performing failure recovery. The considered solutions have been designed and experimentally validated with a focus on the achievable traffic recovery performance considering IPoWDM configuration and communication within the SDN control architecture. An experimental testbed, comprising a sliced IPoWDM node running an extended version of the open-source SONiC network operating system, has been deployed to validate these solutions, with a comprehensive analysis of the time required to recover a real traffic flow that spans both the packet and optical domains.
Optimized Stokes imaging for highly resolved optical speckle fields, Part I: optimized experimental setup
Authors: Staes Jonathan , Fade Julien
Published: February 2024

In this first article of a three-part series focusing on the Stokes polarimetry of optical speckle fields resolved at the individual speckle grain scale, a review of the state-of-the-art techniques for such experimental investigations is provided. An optimized experimental setup is then extensively described, which allows polarimetric Stokes measurements on such complex interference patterns to be carried out at each location of the speckle field without disturbing the wavefront. Specific calibration procedures are also described to provide an estimation of the reliable polarimetric properties of light across a resolved speckle field.
Association of maternal, obstetric, fetal, and neonatal mortality outcomes with Lady Health Worker coverage from a cross-sectional survey of >10,000 households in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Authors: Farrar Daniel S. , Pell Lisa G. , Muhammad Yasin , Khan Sher Hafiz , Tanner Zachary , Bassani Diego G. , Ahmed Imran , Karim Muhammad , Madhani Falak , Paracha Shariq , Khan Masood Ali , Soofi Sajid B. , Taljaard Monica , Spitzer Rachel F. , Abu Fadaleh Sarah M. , Bhutta Zulfiqar A. , Morris Shaun K.
Published: February 2024

Pakistan has among the highest rates of maternal, perinatal, and neonatal mortality globally. Many of these deaths are potentially preventable with low-cost, scalable interventions delivered through community-based health worker programs to the most remote communities. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 10,264 households during the baseline phase of a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan from June–August 2021. The survey was conducted through a stratified, two-stage sampling design with the objective of estimating the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) within the study catchment area, and informing implementation of the cRCT. Study outcomes were self-reported and included neonatal death, stillbirth, health facility delivery, maternal death, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), and Lady Health Worker (LHW) coverage. Summary statistics (proportions and rates) were weighted according to the sampling design, and mixed-effects Poisson regression was conducted to explore the relationship between LHW coverage and maternal/newborn outcomes. We identified 7,600 women who gave birth in the past five years, among whom 13% reported experiencing PPH. The maternal mortality ratio was 225 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (95% confidence interval [CI] 137–369). Among 12,376 total births, the stillbirth rate was 41.4 per 1,000 births (95% CI 36.8–46.7) and the perinatal mortality rate was 53.0 per 1,000 births (95% CI 47.6–59.0). Among 11,863 live births, NMR was 16.2 per 1,000 live births (95% CI 13.6–19.3) and 65% were delivered at a health facility. LHW home visits were associated with declines in PPH (risk ratio [RR] 0.89 per each additional visit, 95% CI 0.83–0.96) and late neonatal mortality (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67–0.97). Intracluster correlation coefficients were also estimated to inform the planning of future trials. The high rates of maternal, perinatal, and neonatal death in Gilgit-Baltistan continue to fall behind targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Frequent and intense human-bat interactions occur in buildings of rural Kenya
Authors: Jackson Reilly T. , Lunn Tamika J. , DeAnglis Isabella K. , Ogola Joseph G. , Webala Paul W. , Forbes Kristian M.
Published: February 2024

Simultaneous use of domestic spaces by humans and wildlife is little understood, despite global ubiquity, and can create an interface for human exposure to wildlife pathogens. Bats are a pervasive synanthropic taxon and are associated with several pathogens that can spill over and cause disease in humans. Urbanization has destroyed much natural bat habitat and, in response, many species increasingly use buildings as roosts. The purpose of this study was to characterize human interactions with bats in shared buildings to assess potential for human exposure to and spillover of bat-borne pathogens. We surveyed 102 people living and working in buildings used as bat roosts in Taita-Taveta county, Kenya between 2021 and 2023. We characterized and quantified the duration, intensity, and frequency of human-bat interactions occurring in this common domestic setting. Survey respondents reported living with bats in buildings year-round, with cohabitation occurring consistently for at least 10 years in 38% of cases. Human contact with bats occurred primarily through direct and indirect routes, including exposure to excrement (90% of respondents), and direct touching of bats (39% of respondents). Indirect contacts most often occurred daily, and direct contacts most often occurred yearly. Domestic animal consumption of bats was also reported (16% of respondents). We demonstrate that shared building use by bats and humans in rural Kenya leads to prolonged, frequent, and sometimes intense interactions between bats and humans, consistent with interfaces that can facilitate exposure to bat pathogens and subsequent spillover. Identifying and understanding the settings and practices that may lead to zoonotic pathogen spillover is of great global importance for developing countermeasures, and this study establishes bat roosts in buildings as such a setting.
Outcomes of fenestrated endovascular abdominal aortic repair in distal entry tears of chronic debakey IIIb aortic dissection
Authors: Cui Chi , Wang Bisi , Liu Wei
Published: February 2024

Currently, there have been very few reports within the literature which specifically address using fenestrated and branched stent grafts to completely isolate and repair distal entry tears of chronic DeBakey IIIb aortic dissection. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of a 3-dimensional (3D) printed aortic model-guided fenestrated stent in the treatment of distal tears of chronic DeBakey IIIb aortic dissection after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). The study was a one-center retrospective study comprising 36 patients who underwent TEVAR and fenestrated endovascular abdominal aortic repair (F-EVAR) between April 2014 and December 2022. Patient data was compiled and analysed for preoperative, intraoperative, and perioperative characteristics. In total, 36 patients (12 females and 24 males) were incorporated into this study. All of the patients included in this study had hypertension, and among them, the leading cause for undergoing II-stage F-EVAR was the progression of a false lumen, accounting for 24 cases (66.7% of the total). The technical success rate was 97.2% and there were no cases of 30-day mortality, myocardial infarction, permanent paraparesis, or organ failure. One year post-F-EVAR treatment, surviving patients showed significant false and true lumen remodelling with 100% complete false-lumen thrombosis. A total of five patients died during the follow-up, two patients died related to aorta complications and three patients died of heart failure, multiple organ failure, or septic shock. II-stage F-EVAR was safe and feasible operation to repair all distal tears of chronic DeBakey IIIb aortic dissection.
Prevalence, treatment, and factors associated with cryptococcal meningitis post introduction of integrase inhibitors antiretroviral based regimens among People Living with HIV in Tanzania
Authors: Minja Makyao , Mbilinyi Tusaligwe , Mkinga Bryceson , Philipo Erick G. , Owenya Joyce , Kilonzi Manase
Published: February 2024

Objective

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of Cryptococcal Meningitis (CM), treatment practice, and the associated factors post-introduction of Tenofovir Lamivudine and Dolutegravir (TLD) regimen among People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in Tanzania.

Methods

This was an analytical cross-sectional study, and the data was collected retrospectively in three public regional referral hospitals (RRHs) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A total of 405 files of the PLHIV admitted in the medical wards on the TLD regimen from January 2019 to December 2022 were reviewed. The collected information includes the patient’s demographic characteristics, Cryptococcal status, CD4 level at the time of CM diagnosis, status of using ART, CM treatment approach, and outcome. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 23.

Results

Out of 405 patients, the majority 267(65.9%) were female, 224(55.3%) were aged between 36–55 years, and 293(72.3%) were married. ART defaulters were found to be 37(9.1%). The prevalence of CM was found to be 48(11.9%), out of which 42(87.5%) received fluconazole alone. ART defaulter and marital status significantly (p-value < 0.05) were associated with those who tested CM positive.

Conclusion

The study found the prevalence of CM among PLHIV to be significantly high and the majority were treated with fluconazole alone. ART defaulters and marital status were significantly associated with one being CM positive. Responsible authorities and stakeholders should enforce guideline adherence and PLHIV should be encouraged on medication adherence.
Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, an American plant used as sweetener: Study of its effects on body mass control and glycemia reduction in Wistar male and female rats
Authors: Mendoza-Pérez Samuel , Orta-Méndez-y-Sánchez Itzel , García-Gómez Rolando Salvador , Ordaz-Nava Guillermo , Gracia-Mora María Isabel , Macías-Rosales Lucía , Rico-Morales Héctor A. , Salas-Garrido Gerardo , Durán-Domínguez-de-Bazúa María del Carmen
Published: February 2024

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni water extracts have been used as a natural sweetener and customary medicine by the indigenous inhabitants of South America for several hundred years. This plant was sent to Europe in the 16th century and was described by Peter Jacob Esteve in Spain. Recently the food industry has started to employ S. rebaudiana as sweetener using its glycosides after purification. Advertisement claims that Stevia glycosides is good for controling body mass and reducing glycemia. This study’s objective was to evaluate the effect of S. rebaudiana leaf extract on Wistar rats as animal model to prove its effectiveness on body mass control, glycemia reduction, and other biochemical parameters. Three groups were randomly formed with 24 males and 24 females: A blank group without any sweetener, a control group drinking water with 10% glucose, and the test group ingesting a 0.94% water extract of S. rebaudiana. Body mass measurements as well as food and drink consumption were daily performed. The experiment lasted 120 days after the specimens were weaned and got used to eating solid food. Euthanasia was done and blood serum was collected to evaluate the following biochemical parameters: Glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, insulin, glucagon, leptin, ghrelin, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, GIP. Results indicated that only female rats had statistical differences in body mass gain. No relevant effects either positive or negative were found in the biochemical parameters measured. The crude extracts of S. rebaudiana did not show any relevant changes in biochemical and hormonal profiles, changes nor body mass with respect to the blank and control groups of young and healthy rats in the age range of infancy to youth. According to the results obtained, the therapeutic properties that have been associated to S. rebaudiana consumption especially for body mass control and glycemia reduction, did not occur in young and healthy male and female rats in equivalent age to infants, young children, and youths.
Upgrading the JANET neural network by introducing a new storage buffer of working memory
Authors: Tolic Antonio , Boshkoska Biljana Mileva , Skansi Sandro
Published: February 2024

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs), along with long short-term memory networks (LSTMs), have been successfully used on a wide range of sequential data problems and have been entitled as extraordinarily powerful tools for learning and processing such data. However, the search for a new or derived architecture that would model very long-term dependencies is still an active area of research. In this paper, a relatively psychologically plausible architecture named event buffering JANET (EB-JANET) is proposed. The architecture is derived from the forgetgate- only version of the LSTM, which is also called just another network (JANET). The new architecture implements a new working memory mechanism that operates on information represented as dynamic events. The event buffer, as a container of events, is a reference to the state of the relevant pre-activation values on the basis of which historical candidate values were generated relative to the current timestep. The buffer is emptied as needed and depending on the context of information. The proposed architecture has achieved world-class results and it outperforms JANET on multiple benchmark datasets. Moreover, the new architecture is applicable to a wider class of problems and showed superior resilience when processing longer sequences, as opposed to JANET which experienced catastrophic failures on certain tasks.
DRGNN - Dilated recurrent graph neural network framework incorporating spatial and temporal features signifying social relationships in IoT network based traffic prediction
Authors: Divya Jegatheesan , Chandrasekar Arumugam
Published: February 2024

The intelligent transportation system seeks to reduce traffic and improve the driving experience. They give us a lot of data that we can use to improve services for both the public and transportation officials by feeding it into machine learning systems. Most importantly, Traffic environment refers to everything that might have an impact on how much traffic is moving down the road, including traffic signals, accidents, protests, and even road repairs that might result in a backup. A motorist or rider can make an informed choice if they have previous knowledge that is very close to approximate all the above and many more real-world circumstances that can affect traffic. Additionally, it aids in the development of driverless vehicles. Traffic data have been growing dramatically in recent decades, and we are moving toward big data concepts for transportation. The current approaches for predicting traffic flow use some traffic prediction models, however they are still inadequate to handle practical situations. We thus aimed to focus on the traffic flow forecast problem using the traffic data and prediction models. The proposed model called DRGNN, a dilated recurrent graph neural network framework aims to effectively analyze and predict the traffic pattern by considering the spatial (space) and temporal (time) aspects of the real-time traffic data considering social relationships between internet of vehicles which indeed produced accurate and valuable insights that could help in deploying the model in any suitable real-time traffic monitoring and prediction system.
PROCEDÊNCIA E PERFIL DEMOGRÁFICO DOS PACIENTES COM PÊNFIGOS DO HOSPITAL DO PÊNFIGO DE UBERABA, BRASIL (1957 – 2015)
Authors: Ferreira Ricardo Vicente , Pinheiro Sandra de Azevedo , Assunção Luiza Maria de , Almeida Maria Juliana da Silva , Galdeano Dolores Noronha , Lima Hellen Moreira de , Silva Ivone Aparecida Vieira da , Timóteo Rodolfo Pessato
Published: February 2024

O objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar a distribuição espacial e analisar o perfil sócio demográfico de pacientes atendidos em Hospital filantrópico que acolheu diferentes casos de pênfigo, entre os anos de 1957 a 2015, e contribuiu com dados epidemiológicos e geoespaciais relativos a essa doença. Trata-se de estudo longitudinal baseado em prontuários médicos de pacientes diagnosticados com algum tipo pênfigo. Foi utilizado o modelo de gravidade espacial para analisar a distribuição espacial dos pacientes; testes univariados e bivariados foram usados para avaliar as características demográficas. Os resultados mostram que a frequência ao hospital decai pela distância, e a partir de 800km os pacientes tem origem aleatória. A associação da significância do número de pacientes e da distância apresentou uma correlação de -0,742. A proporção da população negra foi muito maior do que o esperado. Pacientes negros realizando atividades rurais estavam intimamente associados ao desenvolvimento da doença. Conclui-se que as características locacionais, demográficas dos pacientes, como: residir na zona rural e ser negro, estão associadas à prevalência dessa doença. A cor da pele pode estar relacionada ao nível socioeconômico, sendo uma causa externa da doença. Pacientes residentes em municípios de pequena população e muito distantes do respectivo hospital recomenda-se atenção terciária como tratamento mais viável.
A PRESERVAÇÃO DE CONJUNTOS URBANOS TOMBADOS: REFLEXÕES SOBRE A EXPERIÊNCIA BRASILEIRA A PARTIR DAS CARTAS PATRIMONIAIS
Authors: Cunha Erika Jorge Rodrigues da , Diniz Alexandre Magno Alves
Published: February 2024

Este estudo apresenta uma visão panorâmica sobre o pensamento preservacionista desenvolvido no decorrer do século XX tendo como suporte metodológico as cartas patrimoniais produzidas entre os anos de 1931 e 2000. Por meio delas buscamos identificar os reflexos das orientações internacionais sobre a proteção e gestão do patrimônio no Brasil, em especial dos conjuntos urbanos. O paralelo entre o ambicioso projeto de preservação brasileiro e a acelerada urbanização do país na 2º metade do século XX permite compreender como foram absorvidos os conceitos e desenvolvidos os instrumentos sugeridos pelas cartas. É possível constatar que as orientações estão presentes nas normas brasileiras, mas os instrumentos de gestão ainda exigem esforço de implementação em nome de uma conservação urbana que possa ser efetiva.
FLUXOS (I)MATERIAIS DO TRANSPORTE FLUVIAL E DA TRANSMISSÃO VIA SATÉLITE NAS ESCOLAS DE MANAUS (AM): O ENSINO FUNDAMENTAL E MÉDIO ÀS MARGENS DO RIO
Authors: Doza Bianca da Silva , Nogueira Ricardo José Batista
Published: February 2024

O presente artigo trata-se de uma pesquisa de iniciação científica realizada entre 2020 e 2021 sobre as escolas ribeirinhas, tendo a Escola José Sobreira do Nascimento como estudo de caso. Essas instituições foram entendidas como fixos de uma rede de fluxos materiais e imateriais que possibilitam o ensino fundamental e médio na área rural do município de Manaus. Para isso, as redes de transporte fluvial escolar e transmissão de aulas foram investigadas, já que essa circulação possibilita o acesso das comunidades ribeiras aos conteúdos educacionais das secretarias municipal e estadual de educação. Essa abordagem se deu em decorrência da organização da escola baseada nos fluxos estudados e nas possibilidades de entendê-la como um ponto numa rede de relações, demonstrando como o sistema escolar se relaciona com o território amazônico. Apesar dos empecilhos enfrentados durante o isolamento social e a consequente suspensão das aulas, essa pesquisa permitiu refletir sobre o planejamento das instituições de ensino ribeirinhas a partir de sua relação com os demais componentes das redes.
GEOGRAFIAS MORTAS, VIVAS E ESPECTRAIS: FORMAS DE APREENDER O ESPAÇO
Authors: Silva Leonardo Luiz Silveira da , Costa Alfredo
Published: February 2024

O artigo em questão, de caráter epistemológico, apresenta e analisa as diferenças e congruências de três modos de interpretação geográfica, a saber: as geografias mortas, vivas e espectrais. É importante adiantar neste resumo que as geografias mortas não se autodenominam: a alcunha lhes é atribuída por formulações externas aos seus pressupostos, por vezes com caráter pejorativo. Aqui se demonstrará que os três modos de interpretação geográfica não podem ser compreendidos como herméticos, sendo necessário considerar que invariavelmente se manifestam de maneira híbrida no fazer geográfico. Alerta-se, de antemão, que as expressões “mortas”, “vivas” e “espectrais” não devem criar no leitor expectativas de conteúdo teológico; diferentemente, associam-se às formas distintas de compreender significados e operar a ciência geográfica. A conclusão aponta para a representatividade de tais abordagens na atualidade, ainda que seja notório o crescimento de bases não-representacionais que valorizam os pressupostos das geografias vivas e as espectrais.
INTEMPERISMO DE ROCHAS GRANÍTICAS E PEDOGÊNESE NO SEMIÁRIDO PARAIBANO: RELÍQUIAS PALEOCLIMÁTICAS DO PICO DO JABRE (PB)
Authors: Silva Eridiana Neves da , Marques Ailson de Lima , Moura Debora Coelho , Macedo Rodrigo Santana
Published: February 2024

Os relevos graníticos estão presentes nos diversos domínios morfoclimáticos do planeta. Entretanto, sua exposição se intensifica nas regiões de clima tropical, no Brasil essas paisagens são comumente encontradas no Nordeste setentrional (depressão sertaneja). Assim, o objetivo dessa pesquisa foi verificar elementos geológicos, geomorfológicos e pedológicos de rochas graníticas que corroboram com a hipótese de evolução da paisagem no Pico do Jabre atentando para a Etchplanação (gênese da paisagem) e Pediplanação (entrada do clima semiárido e desmonte de mantos de alteração). Nestes relevos é possível encontrar diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento de núcleos cristalinos como a pré-esfoliação, o manto de alteração e os blocos exumados. Já nas estruturas externas dos blocos ocorre diferentes formas de intemperismo como os Tafoni e Gnamas. Todas essas feições hoje estão exumadas devido a entrada do clima semiárido na região onde prevalecem os processos erosivos decorrentes da Pediplanação.
Scholars and Literati at the University of Pisa (1343–1800)
Authors: Gualandris Tifenn , Vitale Mara
Published: February 2024

This note is a summary description of the set of scholars and literati who taught at the University of Pisa from its inception in 1343 to 1800.