bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lumbar Interlaminar Epidural Injections in
Central Spinal Stenosis: Preliminary Results of a
Randomized, Double-Blind, Active Control Trial
Authors: Manchikanti Laxmaiah
Published: March 2021

Background: Chronic, persistent low back and lower extremity pain is often caused by spinal
stenosis. Surgery and other interventions, including epidural injections, have been used to
relieve this pain. However, there is little in the medical literature to support interlaminar, or
transforaminal epidural injections under fluoroscopy for managing lumbar pain of central
spinal stenosis, while the caudal epidural approach has been studied.
Study Design: A randomized, double-blind, active control trial.
Setting: A private, interventional pain management practice, specialty referral center in the
United States.
Objective: This study sought to determine if low back and lower extremity pain secondary
to lumbar central stenosis can be managed and long-lasting pain relief can be achieved with
interlaminar epidural injections of local anesthetic, with or without steroids.
Methods: The study comprised 2 groups: one that received local anesthetic only and another
received local anesthetic combined with nonparticulate betamethasone.
A total of 120 patients were randomized by a computer-generated random allocations
sequence to one of the 2 groups. The results of 30 patients in each group were assessed.
Outcomes Assessment: Sixty patients were included in this analysis. Outcomes
measurements were taken at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment.
Measurements taken were Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), the Oswestry Disability Index 2.0 (ODI),
employment status and opioid intake. A decrease in both the NRS and ODI of ≥ 50% was
considered significant.
Results: Significant pain relief and improvement in ODI scores were seen in both groups at
12 months. Group I’s significant pain relief was 70%; Group II’s was 63%. The significant ODI
improvement in Group I was 70%; in Group II it was 60%. Group I patients on average received
3.8 procedures a year; Group II patients received 4.0 procedures a year in successful group. Over
52 weeks in the successful group, total relief for Group I was 40.8 ± 11.7 weeks; for Group II it
was 37.1 ± 12.6 weeks. Combined pain relief and functional status improvement were seen in
80% of patients in Group I and 72% in Group II in successful group.
Limitations: The lack of a placebo group and preliminary results are limitations.
Conclusion: Patients might benefit from receiving lumbar interlaminar injections with or
without steroids for lumbar central spinal stenosis.
Key words: Chronic low back pain, lower extremity pain, lumbar spinal stenosis, central
stenosis, lumbar interlaminar epidural injections, epidural steroids, local anesthetic.
Radiofrequency Neurotomy for Treatment
of Low Back Pain in Patients with Minor
Degenerative Spondylolisthesis
Authors: Klessinger Dr. med. Stephan
Published: March 2021

Background: Degenerative spondylolisthesis is one of the major causes for low back pain.
Morphological abnormalities of the zygapophysial joints are a predisposing factor in the development
of degenerative spondylolisthesis. Therefore, radiofrequency neurotomy seems to be a rational
therapy.
Objectives: To determine if radiofrequency neurotomy is effective for patients with low back pain
and degenerative spondylolisthesis.
Study design: Retrospective practice audit.
Setting: Single spine center
Methods: Charts of all patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis who underwent treatment
with radiofrequency neurotomy during a time period of 3 years were reviewed. Only patients with
magnetic resonance imaging confirming the diagnosis were included. Patients with a lumbar spine
operation in their history, patients with neurological deficits, and patients with a follow-up less than
3 months were excluded. Patients were treated with lumbar radiofrequency neurotomy. Positive
treatment response was defined as at least a 50% reduction in pain. A radiofrequency neurotomy
was only performed after positive diagnostic medial branch blocks.
Results: During a time period of 3 years, 1,490 patients were treated with lumbar radiofrequency
neurotomy. Forty of these patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis were included. A significant
pain reduction was achieved in 65 % of the patients.
Limitations: This audit is retrospective and observational, and therefore does not represent a
high level of evidence. However, to our knowledge, since this information has not been previously
reported and no specific nonoperative treatment for lumbar pain in patients with degenerative
spondylolisthesis exists, it appears to be the best available research upon which to recommend
treatment and to plan higher quality studies.
Conclusions: Zygapophysial joints are a possible source of pain in patients with spondylolisthesis.
Radiofrequency neurotomy is a rational, specific nonoperative therapy in addition to other
nonoperative therapy methods with a success rate of 65%. This is the first study to determine the
effect of radiofrequency neurotomy in patients with minor degenerative spondylolisthesis.
Key words: degenerative spondylolisthesis, zygapophysial joints, facet joints, radiofrequency
neurotomy, medial branch, pain therapy, back pain
A Comparison of Chronic Pain Prevalence in
Japan, Thailand, and Myanmar
Authors: Kasai Yuichi
Published: March 2021

Background: Pain has been regarded as important in the improvement of quality of life (QOL). In
the advanced countries of Europe and the North America, a number of large-scale epidemiological
surveys on pain, particularly chronic pain, have thus been performed in general populations.
However, few epidemiological surveys of chronic pain have been reported from developing
countries, and no surveys appear to have examined chronic pain in the least developed countries.
Objectives: To compare the incidence of chronic pain in Asian countries, using Japan as an
advanced country, Thailand as a developing country, and Myanmar as one of the least developed
countries.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study in 4 hospitals.
Setting: A university hospital and a general hospital in Japan, a university hospital in Thailand,
and a general hospital in Myanmar.
Methods: Patients were 1,000 nursing staff working in Japan, 448 nursing staff working in
Thailand, and 405 nursing staff working in Myanmar. The survey was performed by requesting
all nursing staff to anonymously answer the questionnaire. Data were used to calculate chronic
pain prevalence, pain site, presence or absence of consultation with doctors, methods of handling
pain other than consultation with doctors, and whether pain was controlled for each country. The
results were then compared between countries.
Results: The prevalence of chronic pain in Myanmar was 5.9%, which was significantly lower (P
< 0.01) than in Japan (17.5%) or Thailand (19.9%). The most frequent pain sites were the lower
back, head, and shoulders in Japan, and the shoulders, ankle, upper back, and head in Thailand,
whereas in Myanmar, no clear certain tendencies were observed. The most frequent method for
handling pain other than consultation with doctors was over-the-counter drugs in Japan, massage
in Thailand, and relaxation therapy (meditation) in Myanmar.
Limitations: Limitations of this study were the cross-sectional design study, the small
number of hospitals included, the limitation of patients to nursing staff, and the omission from
the questionnaire of questions regarding body height and weight, working situation, family
background, trauma history, sports activity history, smoking history, psychological/character tests,
QOL, and pain levels of patients.
Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic pain was significantly lower in Myanmar than in Japan or
Thailand. With regard to the site and treatment of chronic pain, no clear tendencies were observed
between countries, suggesting that frequency and the character of chronic pain differ from county
to country around the world.
Key words: Chronic pain, epidemiology, prevalence, low back pain, shoulder pain, ankle pain,
headache, developing countries, least developed countries
Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Six
Antidepressants and Anticonvulsants in Painful
Diabetic Neuropathy: A Network Meta-analysis
Authors: Bansal Dipika
Published: March 2021

Background: Anticonvulsants and antidepressants are mostly used in management of painful
diabetic neuropathy (PDN). However there are few direct comparisons between drugs of these
classes, making evidence-based decision-making in the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy
difficult.
Objectives: This study aimed to perform a network meta-analysis and benefit-risk analysis to
evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of these drugs in PDN treatment.
Study Design: Comparative effectiveness study.
Setting: Medical Education and Research facility in India.
Methods: A comprehensive data search was done in PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase up
to August 2012. We then systematically reviewed the studies which compared any of 6 drugs
for the management of PDN: amitriptyline, duloxetine, gabapentin, pregabalin, valproate, and
venlafaxine or any of their combinations. We performed a random-effects network meta-analysis
to rank treatments in terms of efficacy and safety. We chose the number of patients experiencing
≥ 50% reduction in pain and number of patient withdrawals due to adverse events (AE) as primary
outcomes for efficacy and safety, respectively. We also performed benefit-risk analysis, taking
efficacy outcome as benefit and safety outcome as risk. Analysis was intention-to-treat.
Results: We included 21 published trials in the analysis. Duloxetine, gabapentin, pregabalin,
and venlafaxine were shown to be significantly efficacious compared to placebo with odds ratios
(OR) of 2.12, 3.98, 2.78, and 4.43, respectively. Amitriptyline (OR: 7.03, 95% confidence interval
[CI]: 1.87, 29.05) and duloxetine (OR: 3.26, 95% CI: 1.04, 9.97) caused more withdrawals than
gabapentin. The ranking order of efficacy was gabapentin, venlafaxine, pregabalin, duloxetine/
gabapentin, duloxetine, amitriptyline, and placebo and the ranking order of safety was placebo,
gabapentin, pregabalin, venlafaxine, duloxetine/gabapentin combination, duloxetine, and
amitriptyline. Benefit-risk balance favored the order: gabapentin, venlafaxine, pregabalin,
duloxetine/gabapentin combination, duloxetine, placebo, and amitriptyline.
Limitations: We could not include valproate in our analysis owing to the lack of studies reporting
the dichotomous efficacy and safety outcomes.
Conclusion: Gabapentin was found to be most efficacious and amitriptyline to be least safe
among the treatments included in the study. Gabapentin showed most favorable balance between
efficacy and safety.
Key words: Amitriptyline, diabetic neuropathy, duloxetine, gabapentin, network meta-analysis,
pain, pregabalin, valproate, valproic acid, venlafaxine
A Case Vignette Study to Assess the Knowledge
of Pain Physicians of Neuropathic Cancer Pain:
Room for Improvement
Authors: Piano Virginie
Published: March 2021

Background: In more and more countries, a specific pain education curriculum is provided to
instruct pain physicians. However, there is little literature on pain education and in particularly
how to evaluate their knowledge. One of the modules interesting to assess is the use of
clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) by pain physicians.
Objectives: The aim was to investigate if a case vignette is useful to evaluate pain physicians’
knowledge about recommendations contained in CPGs.
Setting: An E-mail survey was conducted with the support of the Société Française d’Etude
et de Traitement de la Douleur to all pain specialists (primary and secondary care) in France.
Methods: The survey consisted of a case vignette about a patient with pain suffering from
an intractable pancreatic cancer with multiple choice questions about diagnosis and treatment
of pain. Percentages of participants who treated the patient as suggested in the CPGs were
calculated.
Results: A total of 214 of those invited to participate (921) answered the questionnaire
(24%). More than 85% of the respondents declared to know and use CPGs. Half of the
participants diagnosed and treated neuropathic pain components in the case vignette
according to the recommendations in the CPGs.
Limitations: This exercise needed to be explained: pain physicians should be trained to this
kind of questionnaire. It explains the low response rate and the progressive diminution of
responders during the questionnaire.
Conclusions: Case vignette is an interesting instrument for pain education because it is
cheap, easy to use, and can be repeated. However, training before using this instrument is
needed for pain physicians, in particular during their pain education.
Key words: Education, case vignette, cancer pain, neuropathic pain, evidence basedmedicine, treatment, guideline, pain physician
Indoor and Outdoor Test Results for “DUSST”, a Low-Cost, Low-Maintenance PV Soiling Sensor
Authors: Muller Matthew , Morse Joshua , Almonacid Florencia , Fernandez Eduardo F. , Micheli Leonardo
Published: March 2021

Soiling can cause significant losses to photovoltaic systems, and therefore it is often measured for the purposes of predicting long-term energy forecasts or for monitoring real time performance and triggering maintenance events as needed. Currently, the most common soiling monitoring technologies are soiling stations that use the electrical outputs of a regularly cleaned PV device and of a naturally soiled PV device to quantify soiling. As part of a new class of low-cost and low-maintenance soiling stations NREL has previously presented “DUSST”. DUSST projects a collimated monochromatic light source through a glass surface (exposed similarly to the PV modules that need to be monitored) and on to a light detector to measure the intensity of the transmitted light. As the glass surface naturally soils, the losses are quantified by comparing this soiled reading with a calibrated reading under baseline clean condition. This work presents the ongoing improvement of DUSST and the ongoing indoor and outdoor validation of this new soiling sensor.
A Comprehensive Survey on the Multiple Travelling Salesman Problem: Applications, Approaches and Taxonomy
Authors: cheikhrouhou omar
Published: March 2021

The Multiple Travelling Salesman Problem (MTSP) is among the most interesting combinatorial optimization problems because it is widely adopted in real-life applications, including robotics, transportation, networking, etc.Although the importance of this optimization problem, there is no survey dedicated to reviewing recent MTSP contributions. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive review of existing studies on MTSP. In this survey, we focus on MTSP’s recent contributions to both classical vehicles/robots and unmanned aerial vehicles. We highlight the approaches applied to solve the MTSP as well as its application domains. We analyze the MTSP variants and propose a taxonomy and a classification of recent studies.
Boletim Informativo sobre contaminados, mortos e imunizados da COVID-19: Amapá, 27 de fevereiro de 2021.
Authors: Figueira Karina , Lacerda Jamille
Published: March 2021

Artigo informativo trazendo todas as atualizações e dados oficiais mais recentes sobre a pandemia do Covid-19 em todo estado do Amapá. Amapá tem 83.505 casos confirmados, 1.297 em análise laboratorial, 60.476 pessoas recuperadas e 1.139 óbitos. A taxa de imunização é 2,95% para a primeira dose da vacina.
Terapi pada DM Tipe 1
Authors: Marzel Rivaldi
Published: March 2021

Diabetes melitus atau DM merupakan penyakit gangguan kronis dalam metabolisme protein, lemak, dan karbohidrat. DM digambarkan sebagai peningkatan glukosa darah setelah semua jenis makan.. Pada tahun 2019 International Diabetes Federation memperkirakan ada 463 juta penderita DM di seluruh dunia. Tujuan dilakukannya literature review ini adalah untuk membahas tatalaksana yang tepat pada kasus diabetes melitus tipe 1. Sumber referensi yang digunakan untuk menyusun tulisan ini meliputi 20 artikel yang didapat dengan melakukan literature searching di Sumber NCBI, Google scholar dan 4 buku yang semuanya dipublikasikan dalam rentang tahun 2000-2020. Literature sarching tersebut dilakukan dengan menggunakan kata kunci Diabetes, diabetes melitus tipe 1, tatalaksana dan filter berupa rentang publikasi tahun 2000-2020. Hasil yang ditemukan dari literature searching ini adalah 9897 artikel yang kemudian dipilih 20 artikel dan 4 buku berdasarkan informasi yang dibutuhkan. Referensi yang telah didapatkan kemudian dianalisis dengan metode systematic literature review yang mencakup kegiatan mengumpulkan, mengevaluasi, dan mengembangkan penelitian dengan topik tertentu secara sistematis. Hasil literature review in menunjukkan bahwa tatalaksana pengelolaan DM tipe-1 dilakukan dengan beberapa penangaan, yaitu dengan pemberian insulin, pengaturan makan, olahraga,dan edukasi, yang didukung oleh pemantauan mandiri.
Aroma Terapi Lavender untuk Mengatasi Insomnia pada Remaja
Authors: Maharani Ardila Putri
Published: March 2021

Insomnia merupakan kesukaran dalam memulai dan mempertahankan tidur, sehingga seseorang tidak dapat memenuhi kebutuhan tidur yang sangat cukup, baik secara kuantitas maupun kualitas. Aromaterapi bertujuan untuk mempengaruhi suasana hati atau kesehatan seseorang, yang sering digabungkan dengan praktik pengobatan alternatif. Salah satu aromaterapi yang dapat mengatasi stres, gelisah, berdebar-debar, gugup, serta menciptakan perasaan tenang dan rileks adalah aromaterapi lavender. Minyak lavender dapat menimbulkan suasana hati yang tenang dan membuat tubuh rileks. Tujuan penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui apakah terdapat pengaruh pemberian aroma terapi terhadap insomnia pada remaja. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah literature review. Artikel dikumpulkan berdasarkan referensi dari berbagai sumber Pubmed, Medscape, Google scholar dan WHO dengan kata kunci dalam pencarian jurnal seperti Aromatherapy lavender, effect aromatherapy to adult, dan manfaat aromaterapi pada insomnia remaja. Berdasarkan observasi kuesioner responden yang mengalami insomnia ringan sebagian besar menyatakan bahwa diketahui sebelum diberikan aromaterapi lavender, masih banyak remaja yang mengalami insomnia ringan. Responden mempunyai masalah kesulitan tidur pada pernyataan kesulitan untuk memulai tidur di malam hari (61%),untuk pernyataan tiba-tiba terbangun pada malam hari (88%). Pernyataan biasa terbangun lebih awal/ dini hari responden menjawab sebanyak 94%, untuk pernyataan merasa mengantuk di siang hari (50%), dan pernyataan sakit kepala pada siang hari (72%). Penyebab lain gangguan tidur yang dialami oleh responden juga terdapat pada pernyataan merasa kurang puas dengan tidur dimalam hari (100%), kemudian pada pernyataan bermimpi buruk sebanyak 83%, untuk pernyataan badan merasa lemas, letih, kurang segar, kurang tenaga setelah tidur (66%), dan pada pernyataan tidur selama 6 jam dalam semalam (56%). Pemberian aromaterapi lavender (Lavandula angustifolla) dapat menurunkan derajat insomnia pada remaja dan dapat meningkatkan kualitas serta kebutuhan tidur pada remaja.
Analisis Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Jawa Tengah Periode 2013 - 2017
Authors: Primalasari Anggi , Indarti Iin , Adnanti Wenny Ana
Published: March 2021

This study aims to determine and analyze the factors that influence economic growth in Central Java in the period 2013 to 2017. The aspects analyzed include variables economics growth (PDRB), Investment, Goverment Expendicture, Saving and Labor . The population of this study was 35 Regencies/Cities and the samples were 26 Regencies/Cities. The data used in this study were 130 data. The analysis technique used was multiple linier regressions. The result of this study indicated that Investment, Saving, and Labor had a positive effect on Economic Growth in Regencies/Cities of East Java in 2013-2017. But, that Goverment Expenditure had no effect on Economics Growth in Regencies/Cities of East Java in 2013-2017. While simultaneously indicated that Investment,Government Expenditure, Saving, and Labor had a significant effect on Economic Growthin Regencies/Cities of East Java in 2013-2017 with 38.9%, while remaining 61.1% wasinfluenced by other variables.
Pengaruh Kinerja Keuangan dan Ukuran Perusahaan terhadap Harga Saham dengan Kebijakan Dividen sebagai Variabel Intervening pada Perusahaan Manufaktur yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia
Authors: Handayani Karunia Mei , Indarti Iin , Listiyowati Listiyowati
Published: March 2021

This study was conducted to examine the effect of leverage ratio, activity ratio and firm size on company’s stock price with dividend policy as the intervening variable in manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2015-2017. This study had a population of 420 companies and a total sample of 114 companies. The sampling technique used purposive sampling. The first regression results showed that Debt to Equity Ratio, Total Asset Turn Over, Firm Size partially did not affect Dividend Policy. The second regression result of Debt to Equity Ratio, Dividend Policy had no effect on Stock Price, Total Asset Turn Over had a positive effect on Stock Price, Firm Size had a negative effect on Stock Price. Debt to Equity Ratio (X1), Total Asset Turn Over (X2), Size (X3) affected Dividend Policy by 1.1% and Debt to Equity Ratio (X1), Total Asset Turn Over (X2), Firm Size ( X3), Dividend Policy (Y2) affected Stock Price of 9.9%. The mediation test results showed that Dividend Policy is proven to mediate the relationship of Total Asset Turn Over and Firm Size on Stock Price, while Debt to Equity Ratio on Stock Price cannot be mediated by Dividend Policy.
El tránsito de la literatura al cómic: "Ajuar funerario", de Fernando Iwasaki
Authors: Pina Arrabal Álvaro
Published: March 2021

En este artículo se examina el cambio que los textos literarios y, en particular, los microcuentos experimentan al ser trasvasados al cómic. Para ello, se efectúa una comparativa entre los microrrelatos de Ajuar funerario (2004), de Fernando Iwasaki, y la adaptación homónima (2018) realizada por Imanol Ortiz y Beñat Olea. En primer lugar, se ofrecen algunos apuntes sobre la adaptación desde un punto de vista tanto cultural, a fin de entenderla como parte de un sistema social y económico que la configura, como formal, con la intención de sugerir algunas características que puedan ser comunes en un microrrelato y en su respectiva adaptación al cómic. A continuación, se plantean cinco bloques principales: “el cambio de página como unidad significativa”, “la concreción de la temporalidad en la imagen”, “desambiguación”, “metáfora” y “ausencia de texto y tipografía significativa”. Con todo ello se pretende valorar hasta qué punto se da una ganancia o una pérdida –si las hay– de las propiedades originales del microrrelato al ser vertido en un medio semiótico donde lo visual tiene una alta carga de significación. Se espera, en definitiva, aportar un estudio de caso a un terreno aún poco explorado: las adaptaciones de microrrelatos a cómics.
Effizienter lagern mit richtig eingesetzter Lineartechnik
Authors: Hermes Klaus-J.
Published: March 2021

Shuttle-Hersteller rund um den Globus setzen auf die leistungsstarke Lineartechnik von Rollon. Sie bringt Steifigkeit, Dynamik, Lebensdauer sowie Zuverlässigkeit in Einklang und hebt die Lagerlogistik auf ein neues Effizienzlevel. Das Ergebnis: höhere Produktivität, weniger Kosten.
Box der 1000 Möglichkeiten
Authors: Walther Ariane I.
Published: March 2021

Immer komplexere Anwendungen erfordern immer flexiblere Anlagen-Komponenten – gerade auch in der Sicherheitstechnik und speziell bei der Absicherung mittels Schutztüren. Mit der „MGB2 Modular“, einer konsequenten Weiterentwicklung der erfolgreichen „Multifunctional Gate Box“ (MGB), kommt Euchner diesem Trend entgegen. Der Vorteil: Dank des neuen Systemaufbaus, bestehend aus Zuhaltemodulen, darin enthaltenen Submodulen mit Bedien- und Anzeigefunktionen und einem Busmodul zur Anbindung an Profinet / Profisafe, lassen sich individuelle Anforderungen einfach realisieren.
Thermoform-Trays für empfindliche Bauteile
Authors: kleine Holthaus Antje
Published: March 2021

Schutzelemente-Spezialist Pöppelmann Kapsto, bekannt für Kappen und Stopfen aus Kunststoff zum Schutz von empfindlichen Bauteilen, hat sein Portfolio um thermogeformte Trays erweitert. Damit reagiert das Unternehmen aus Lohne auf den großen Bedarf zum Beispiel aus der Maschinenbau- und Automobilbranche. Die für das Verfahren eingesetzten Folien stellt das Unternehmen selbst her. Anwender finden hier unter anderem ressourcenschonende Lösungen, die aus einem hohen Anteil von Recyclingmaterial gefertigt werden.
Evaluating, Improving, and Appreciating Peer Review at IJTMB
Authors: Kennedy, LMT, BCTMB, DrPH Ann Blair
Published: March 2021

Peer review is a mainstay of scientific publishing and, while peer reviewers and scientists report satisfaction with the process, peer review has not been without criticism. Within this editorial, the peer review process at the IJTMB is defined and explained. Further, seven steps are identified by the editors as a way to improve efficiency of the peer review and publication process. Those seven steps are: 1) Ask authors to submit possible reviewers; 2) Ask reviewers to update profiles; 3) Ask reviewers to “refer a friend”; 4) Thank reviewers regularly; 5) Ask published authors to review for the Journal; 6) Reduce the length of time to accept peer review invitation; and 7) Reduce requested time to complete peer review. We believe these small requests and changes can have a big effect on the quality of reviews and speed in which manuscripts are published. This manuscript will present instructions for completing peer review profiles. Finally, we more formally recognize and thank peer reviewers from 2018–2020.
GLEAM: Galaxy Line Emission & Absorption Modeling
Authors: Stroe Andra , Savu Victor-Nicolae
Published: March 2021

We present Galaxy Line Emission & Absorption Modeling (gleam), a Python tool for fitting Gaussian models to emission and absorption lines in large samples of 1D extragalactic spectra. gleam is tailored to work well in batch mode without much human interaction. With gleam, users can uniformly process a variety of spectra, including galaxies and active galactic nuclei, in a wide range of instrument setups and signal-to-noise regimes. gleam also takes advantage of multiprocessing capabilities to process spectra in parallel. With the goal of enabling reproducible workflows for its users, gleam employs a small number of input files, including a central, user-friendly configuration in which fitting constraints can be defined for groups of spectra and overrides can be specified for edge cases. For each spectrum, gleam produces a table containing measurements and error bars for the detected spectral lines and continuum and upper limits for nondetections. For visual inspection and publishing, gleam can also produce plots of the data with fitted lines overlaid. In the present paper, we describe gleam’s main features, the necessary inputs, expected outputs, and some example applications, including thorough tests on a large sample of optical/infrared multi-object spectroscopic observations and integral field spectroscopic data. gleam is developed as an open-source project hosted at https://github.com/multiwavelength/gleam and welcomes community contributions.
Reducing Maternal Mortality: A Qualitative Study of Health Workers’ Expectation in Urban Area, Indonesia
Authors: Dewi Arlina , Sundari Sri , Nursetiawan Nursetiawan , Supriyatiningsih Supriyatiningsih , Sugiyo Dianita , Dewi Dyah Tri Kusuma , Meisari Winda Azmi
Published: March 2021

BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality is a sentinel event used globally to monitor maternal health and the overall quality of reproductive health care. Globally, maternal mortality is mostly due to direct causes; apparently, it is not limited by the setting or geographic region. However, Indonesia has failed to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) target for maternal mortality.
AIM: This study aims to explore health workers' and stakeholders' expectations in maternal health services to reduce maternal mortality in urban areas.
METHODS: It is qualitative research through naturalistic, conducted in one of the regencies in Indonesia, the urban area with the highest Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in one province by 2019. Data were obtained in the form of information from Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). FGDs were carried out with stakeholders at the Health Service level (n=3), first-level health facilities or public health centres (n=3), and advanced health facilities or hospitals (n=7). Data analysis in this study employed software (Nvivo Release 1.0) to utilise transcripts in coding and categorising.
RESULTS: The expectations that emerged from health workers' perspectives in the field were an integrated system of collaboration between health facilities, affordability of Hospital with Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEmOC) in action for maternal-neonatal referral urgency, and the skilled health workers as a golden opportunity.
CONCLUSION: Health workers’ expectations can improve the quality of maternal health services in urban areas, thereby reducing the MMR with a system of collaboration between health facilities, the affordability of maternal-neonatal emergency referral facilities, and the availability of Obstetricians who standby.
Reliability Importance Measures-Based Analysis of Substation Communication Network
Authors: Kamra Rakhi , Pahuja G. L.
Published: March 2021

Smart grid can work effectively only when a reliable, fast communication network is available. The communication network is a prerequisite to connect different protection, control, and monitoring equipment within the substation. Ethernet fulfills all the requisites such as reliable, fast, secure, interoperable, LAN-based communication system for smart substations. Therefore, the main aspect is to improve the reliability of the network by prioritizing the critical components by using the knowledge of component importance measures (CIM). In this chapter, analysis of IEC 61850 ethernet-based substation communication network (SCN) architectures has been examined using various reliability importance measures (RIM). The importance measures namely Birnbaum, improvement potential, criticality importance, and reliability achievement worth have given their justified rankings of the various components of SCN architectures. The practice of these CIMs works towards the identification of the components that can be allocation of resources for the improvement of system reliability.
Comparison of Machine Learning Algorithms for Cardiovascular Disease Prediction
Authors: Pandey Stuti , Agarwal Abhay Kumar
Published: March 2021

Cardiovascular disease prediction is a research field of healthcare which depends on a large volume of data for making effective and accurate predictions. These predictions can be more effective and accurate when used with machine learning algorithms because it can disclose all the concealed facts which are helpful in making decisions. The processing capabilities of machine learning algorithms are also very fast which is almost infeasible for human beings. Therefore, the work presented in this research focuses on identifying the best machine learning algorithm by comparing their performances for predicting cardiovascular diseases in a reasonable time. The machine learning algorithms which have been used in the presented work are naïve Bayes, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbors, and random forest. The dataset which has been utilized for this comparison is taken from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) machine learning repository named “Heart Disease Data Set.”
Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Lower Primary in Schools in Ghana
Authors: Quansah Frank
Published: March 2021

Mathematics is a fundamental human activity – a way of making sense of the world. Children possess a natural curiosity and interest in mathematics and come to school with an understanding of mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies that they have discovered through explorations of the world around them. The purpose of this study is to find out how mathematics is being taught and learnt among primary one pupils in basic schools in Ghana. A qualitative approach was employed to provide answers to the research questions raised. It was found that teachers employed variety of procedures for teaching mathematics. However, there were some problems encountered in the teaching and learning of mathematics.
Machine Learning Algorithms for Solving Linear Systems of Equations
Authors: Arslan Hilal , Bozyigit Fatma
Published: March 2021

Moving into the fourth industrial revolution and the rapid digital transformation, there is a huge volume of data to be managed in each industry. Industrial simulations commonly produce data including the inputs and outputs of linear systems with several million unknowns. Solving linear systems is one of the fundamental problems in scientific computing, and it requires significant system resources. Determining a suitable method to solve linear systems can be a challenging task, since there is not a certain knowledge about which method is the most suitable for different numerical problems. In this study, the authors demonstrate how machine learning (ML) approach can be used in selecting solvers for linear systems. The chapter includes frequently used ML methods from literature and explain the usage of them to select optimal solvers and preconditioners.
Blockchain Technology
Authors: Mahmood Zaigham
Published: March 2021

Blockchain technology is one of the latest innovations in computer science that has world-wide scale and reach. A blockchain is a mathematical structure for storing digital transactions in a distributed and decentralized digital ledger consisting of multiple blocks that are linked using cryptographic signatures and spread across multiple computers. Each block records digital transactions data securely and has a hash link pointing to the previous block in the network in an efficient manner. New blocks can be added and removed through an agreed consensus of all nodes that each share the distributed ledger without the need for a centralized controlling authority. This chapter aims to introduce the blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledger technology (DLT), and discuss its applications in various sectors of the society including banking, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, supply chain, and education. Extension of the internet of things vision using the DLT is also briefly discussed.
Blockchain Technology and General Issue of Tax Evasion via Bitcoin
Authors: Çetin Gerger Güneş
Published: March 2021

Cryptocurrencies often also serve money laundering activities, terrorist financing, tax evasion, and other illegitimate activities with a market value of more than 7 billion euros across the globe, though the total amount is hardly measurable. Indeed, the blockchain technology involves many virtual currencies, including bitcoin, to conduct various financial transactions related practices throughout the world economies. Besides, other blockchain applications are making positive contributions to a wide array of other industries including healthcare, supply chain, manufacturing, etc. This technology which constitutes the backbone of digital assets transactions currencies is characterized by anonymity, privacy, security, and speed. In this sense, for tax administration authorities, detection of financial fraud and regulations with respect to taxation of virtual transactions pose newer emerging challenges. This chapter aims to examine the blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, and look into regulations by world governments to combat tax evasion and illegal transactions.
Blockchain Reinventing the Healthcare Industry
Authors: Varadharajan Vijayaraghavan , Bansal Divik , J. Nair Sanal , Leevinson J Rian
Published: March 2021

The fragmented and disorganized nature of data in healthcare poses a variety of challenges to scientific research and medical applications. This mainly stems from the lack of traceability of transactions, complex disconnected networks, and lack of data interoperability. This complexity leads to difficulties in conducting research and clinical trials, and to the problem of counterfeit drugs in the market. This triggers lack of availability and accessibility of data for researchers and medical experts. Blockchain technology offers comprehensive solutions to these problems, and hence it has been of enormous interest in the healthcare sector. Blockchain technology with its innate transparency, traceability, data security, and distributed nature can help to overcome the data related problems in healthcare. This chapter provides an overview of the use of blockchain in the healthcare industry and explores various use-cases and applications. This chapter also discusses case-studies and various challenges faced while adapting blockchain in the healthcare industry.
The Integration of CSR Practices in the Investment Decision
Authors: Ibenrissoul Abdelmajid , Kammoun Souhaila , Tazi Abdelaziz
Published: March 2021

The purpose of the chapter is to understand the practices of decision makers in relation to financial, societal, and environmental concerns and apprehend the appropriateness of integrating CSR practices in the investment decision. The chapter purports to highlight the link between a business strategy based on development investments and the normative or moral obligations of its stakeholders as well as progress in terms of the impact of the proactive integration of societal concerns alongside concerns about value creation for stakeholders. The exploratory study examines the operationalization of CSR practices in the Moroccan mining industry with a focus on the integration of the criteria of four dimensions related to local development, reputation and environmental improvement, water conservation, as well as governance and ethics and their impact on value creation. The chapter sets out some practical implications and further research directions.
Heat and Mass Transport in Unsaturated-Saturated Porous Media Including Water Suspension and Inner Heat Exchange
Authors: Kačur Jozef , Mihala Patrik
Published: March 2021

Water suspension with heat transport into unsaturated-saturated porous media is analyzed. The numerical modeling includes the infiltration of silt. Moreover, the heat energy of suspension is exchanged with the heat energy of the matrix. The deposited silt influence the porosity and hydraulic permeability. The flow model is based on Richard's type equation and empirical van Genuchten - Mualem model describing capillarity driving force and saturation-pressure relation governing the flow in unsaturated part of porous media. The developed numerical method is usable for solving inverse problems determining some model parameters. The numerical method is based on flexible time discretization and a finite volume method in space variables. The nonlinearity in the flow part of the model is solved by iterative linearization based on the idea in Celia et all. The correctness of the numerical approximation is justified also by a different numerical approximation based on space discretization leading to the reduction of the whole system to the solution of ordinary differential equations. But this method requires significantly more computation time. This is not suitable for solving inverse problems. The used method is justified in numerical experiments solving the direct problem.
Preparation and Photocatalytic Performance of Flower-Shaped Zno/GO/Fe3O4 on Degradation of Rhodamine B
Authors: Rezaei Mahbboobeh , Shokuhfar Ali , Shahcheraghi Nikta
Published: March 2021

In this work, a flower-shaped ZnO/GO/Fe3O4 ternary nanocomposite was synthesized via the co-precipitation method. Two significant goals of the study were boosting the degradation efficiency of ZnO and achieving a fast and simple synthesis approach. The structure, properties, and morphology of the product were characterized, and the effect of the ZnO flower-shaped structure in combination with GO nanosheets and magnetite nanoparticles was investigated on the photocatalytic activity. The structure and quality of the prepared nanocomposite were assessed by X-ray diffraction pattern, UV-visible DRS spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The catalytic activity of the nanocomposite was assessed by spectrophotometric analysis. The developed nanocomposite offered high photodegradation efficiency in Rhodamine B degradation under UV-C light in comparison with pure ZnO. At a specific period, the efficiency of the synthesized sample was about two times greater than that of pristine ZnO particles. Our nanocomposite is anticipated to have practical benefits in wastewater treatment given its good performance, economic savings through reducing the amount of catalyst consumption and saving time, and being a facile and fast synthesis method.
Intermetallics Disappearance Rate Analysis in Double Multiphase Systems
Authors: Yarmolenko Mykhaylo V.
Published: March 2021

Electric corrosion of aluminium and copper is investigated experimentally. It is found that the electric corrosion of copper is higher than the electric corrosion of aluminium. It is also clarified that the intrinsic diffusion coefficient of Cu is higher than the intrinsic diffusion coefficient of Al in each phase, so inert markers move to Cu. Copper has a higher electric conductivity, higher thermal conduction, and lower material cost than gold, so it is possible to use Cu instead of Au for wire bonding in microelectronics packaging, because the thin Al pad (1.2 μm thickness) can prevent gold and copper corrosion. Intermetallics disappearance and Kirkendall shift rates calculation methods are proposed. Methods involve mass conservation law and concentration profiles change during mutual diffusion. Intermetallics disappearance and Kirkendall shift rates in Al-Cu (Al is thin layer on Cu), Cu-Al (Cu is thin layer on Al), Al-Au, Zn-Cu, and Cu-Sn systems are analyzed theoretically using literature experimental data. Diffusion activation energies and pre-exponential coefficients for Cu-Sn system were calculated combining literature experimental results.
Preceptor Perceptions of the Immersive Clinical Experience in Athletic Training Education
Authors: Eldred Cameron M. , Neil Elizabeth R. , Dougal Zachary J. , Walker Stacy E. , Grimes Anna Marie , Eberman Lindsey E.
Published: March 2021

Context

Clinical immersion is a newly required concept within athletic training education, and preceptors play a critical role in facilitating athletic training students' learning during those experiences.

Objective

To explore the perceptions of preceptors currently supervising athletic training students who participate in immersive clinical experiences.

Design

Qualitative study.

Setting

Individual phone interview.

Patients or Other Participants

Preceptors from various clinical sites (4 females [40%] and 6 males [60%]) with an average age of 41 ± 18 years. Participants also had an average 7 ± 8 years of experience as a preceptor.

Data Collection and Analysis

Interviews occurred via individual phone interviews using a semistructured interview script. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A 3-person research team analyzed the data and coded it into domains and categories based on a consensus process. Credibility was established with multiple researchers, an external auditor, and member checks.

Results

Three domains emerged from the data: (1) exposure, (2) benefits, and (3) insufficient training. Participants stated that as a result of exposure the athletic training students experienced increased responsibility and trust, increased realistic work environment, increased collaborative practice experiences, and skill use and refinement. Preceptors indicated that the added benefits of immersive clinical experiences led to confidence in clinical and professional interactions. Preceptors noted insufficiency in their training, specific to the expectations of an immersive clinical experience. Many preceptors sought out independent learning opportunities to enhance their role as preceptor. There was a misunderstanding as to what the main differences were between traditional and immersive clinical experiences, as well as a lack of communicated or standardized goals and objectives.

Conclusions

Participants indicated that the immersive clinical experiences were beneficial for the athletic training students' professional development. The insufficiency of training and misunderstanding of the immersive clinical experience are concerning and could be enhanced with clearly set goals and objectives.
Пространственноподобные петли Вильсона в полностью анизотропной модели
Authors: Aref'eva Irina Yaroslavna , Rannu Kristina Allanovna , Slepov Pavel Sergeevich
Published: March 2021

Исследуются пространственноподобные петли Вильсона для полностью анизотропной фоновой метрики, поддерживаемой действием Эйнштейна с полем дилатона и тремя тензорами Максвелла. Показано, что асимптотики этих петель Вильсона сильно зависят от параметров анизотропии и магнитного поля $c_{\scriptscriptstyle B}$, а также от температуры $T$ и химического потенциала $\mu$, а соответствующие натяжения струн испытывают фазовый переход. Найдены поверхности фазового перехода в пространстве $T$, $\mu$, $c_{\scriptscriptstyle B}$.
Development of a Non-Parametric Robot Calibration Method to Improve Drilling Accuracy
Authors: Scraggs Chris , Smith Thomas , Sawyer Daniela , Davis Matthew
Published: March 2021

The drilling of large quantities of repetitive holes during the manufacture of large aerospace components is often considered a key limiting factor with regards to production efficiency. Whilst the desire within aerospace is to use relatively cheap six axis robot arms with drilling end effector units, their poor accuracy remains an obstacle. Robot calibration presents a way of improving robot accuracy such that aerospace drilling tolerances can be met, without permanently committing metrology equipment to an automation cell during production. Extensive research has been conducted into robot calibration by correcting the kinematic model, known as parametric calibration. This method is highly complex, and calibrates the robot across the entire working volume. This is often not required in industrial drilling applications, as drilling routines are often contained within a smaller volume of the robot reach. In this paper, a non-parametric method of robot calibration is proposed. This method involves calibrating within regions of the working volume where the robot pose is similar, and thus the effects of geometric errors in the kinematic model are roughly constant. By establishing the average positional error for each region, the accuracy can be locally improved by compensation through definition of the tool centre point. The proposed method can be completed without the use of kinematic models or complex mathematics, making it more suitable to industrial users. From experimental trials, a significant improvement in the positional accuracy of holes drilled using a standard six axis robot is reported, from 2 mm to 0.1 mm, well within the requirements of the majority of aerospace applications.