bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tensions in integrating clinician and educator role identities: a qualitative study with occupational therapists and physiotherapists
Authors: Ong Sik Yin , Lee Mary , Lee Lee Sian , Lim Issac , Tham Kum Ying
Published: February 2019

Objective

Clinician educators (CEs) frequently report tensions in their professional identities as clinicians and educators, although some perceive a reciprocal relationship between clinical and teaching roles. However, it is unknown if the shared meanings of clinicians’ multiple job roles translate to identity verification. We sought to examine CEs’ perceptions of their clinician and educator roles and the influence of their perceptions on the salience of their professional identities.

Design

Qualitative individual interviews and focus groups, analysed using framework analytic approach.

Setting and participants

23 occupational therapy (OT) and 16 physiotherapy (PT) educators from two acute hospitals and one rehabilitation unit in Singapore.

Results

PT and OT CEs constructed shared meanings of their clinician and educator roles through overcoming feelings of unease and inadequacy, discovering commonalities and establishing relevance. However, shared meanings between clinician and educator roles might not necessarily lead to mutual verification of their professional identities. Individuals’ cognitive flexibility and openness to additional roles, and organisations’ expectations had a mediating effect on the identity integration process. Less experienced CEs reported feelings of distress juggling the competing demands of both clinician and educator roles, whereas more experienced CEs appeared to be more capable of prioritising their job roles in different situations, which could be a result of differences in adaptation to frequent interruptions in clinical setting. Emphasis on patient statistics could result in failure in achieving identity verification, leading to feelings of distress.

Conclusion

Faculty developers should take into consideration the episodic nature of the educator identity construction process and develop induction programmes to assist CEs in building integrated identities.
The iPROMOS protocol: a stepped-wedge study to implement routine patient-reported outcomes in a medical oncology outpatient setting
Authors: Roberts Natasha Anne , Mudge Alison , Alexander Kim , Wyld David , Janda Monika
Published: February 2019

Introduction

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are data capture tools that collect information directly from patients. Several large research studies provide evidence that the use of PROMs in routine care provides benefits to mortality and morbidity outcomes in medical oncology patients. Despite this, implementation of PROMs in daily clinical routine is slow and challenging.

Methods and analysis

This study will use a stepped-wedge design to assess the implementation of a PROM intervention in highly frequented medical oncology outpatient clinics. During a lead-in period of 4 weeks, control data will be collected. The intervention will then be implemented for 4 weeks in Clinic 1 initially, then in Clinic 2 for another 4 weeks. 500 patient encounters will be measured over the 12 weeks in total. The process of implementation will be informed and evaluated using the Medical Research Council Guidelines for Implementing Complex Interventions. The study will be guided by the Promoting Action Research in Health Services framework approach for implementation. The intervention and implementation outcomes will be measured using qualitative and quantitative data.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval has been obtained, approval number HREC/16/QRBW/100 by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and at scientific meetings.

Trial registration

ACTRN12618000398202. Trial Status: Opened on 25 March 2018 and will continue until 12 months after the last PROMs reporting encounter.
Baseline selection on a collider: a ubiquitous mechanism occurring in both representative and selected cohort studies
Authors: Richiardi Lorenzo , Pearce Neil , Pagano Eva , Di Cuonzo Daniela , Zugna Daniela , Pizzi Costanza
Published: February 2019

There is debate as to whether cohort studies are valid when they are based on a source population that is non-representative of a given general population. This baseline selection may introduce collider bias if the exposure of interest and some other outcome risk factors affect the probability of being in the source population, thus altering the associations between the exposure and those risk factors. We argue that this mechanism is not specific to ‘selected cohorts’ and also occurs in ‘representative cohorts’ due to the selection processes that occur in any population. These selection processes are for example linked to the life status, immigration and emigration, which, in turn, may be affected by environmental and social determinants, lifestyles and genetics. We provide real-world examples of this phenomenon using data on the population of the Piedmont region, Italy. In addition to well-recognised mechanisms, such as shared common causes, the associations between the exposure of interest and the risk factors for the outcome of interest in any source population are potentially shaped by collider bias due to the underlying selection processes. We conclude that, when conducting a cohort study, different source populations, whether ‘selected’ or ‘representative’, may lead to different exposure–outcome risk factor associations, and thus different degrees of lack of exchangeability, but that one approach is not inherently more or less biased than the other. The key issue is whether the relevant risk factors can be identified and controlled.
Distal chromosome 16p11.2 duplications containing SH2B1 in patients with scoliosis
Authors: Sadler Brooke , Haller Gabe , Antunes Lilian , Bledsoe Xavier , Morcuende Jose , Giampietro Philip , Raggio Cathleen , Miller Nancy , Kidane Yared , Wise Carol A , Amarillo Ina , Walton Nephi , Seeley Mark , Johnson Darren , Jenkins Conner , Jenkins Troy , Oetjens Matthew , Tong R Spencer , Druley Todd E , Dobbs Matthew B , Gurnett Christina A
Published: February 2019

Introduction

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common musculoskeletal disorder with strong evidence for a genetic contribution. CNVs play an important role in congenital scoliosis, but their role in idiopathic scoliosis has been largely unexplored.

Methods

Exome sequence data from 1197 AIS cases and 1664 in-house controls was analysed using coverage data to identify rare CNVs. CNV calls were filtered to include only highly confident CNVs with >10 average reads per region and mean log-ratio of coverage consistent with single-copy duplication or deletion. The frequency of 55 common recurrent CNVs was determined and correlated with clinical characteristics.

Results

Distal chromosome 16p11.2 microduplications containing the gene SH2B1 were found in 0.7% of AIS cases (8/1197). We replicated this finding in two additional AIS cohorts (8/1097 and 2/433), resulting in 0.7% (18/2727) of all AIS cases harbouring a chromosome 16p11.2 microduplication, compared with 0.06% of local controls (1/1664) and 0.04% of published controls (8/19584) (p=2.28×10−11, OR=16.15). Furthermore, examination of electronic health records of 92 455 patients from the Geisinger health system showed scoliosis in 30% (20/66) patients with chromosome 16p11.2 microduplications containing SH2B1 compared with 7.6% (10/132) of controls (p=5.6×10−4, OR=3.9).

Conclusions

Recurrent distal chromosome 16p11.2 duplications explain nearly 1% of AIS. Distal chromosome 16p11.2 duplications may contribute to scoliosis pathogenesis by directly impairing growth or by altering expression of nearby genes, such as TBX6. Individuals with distal chromosome 16p11.2 microduplications should be screened for scoliosis to facilitate early treatment.
Effect of ballistic impacts on batteries and the potential for injury
Authors: Rabbitt Alex , Horsfall I , Carr D J
Published: February 2019

Introduction

On military operations, ballistic impact damage is possible to lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries worn on the body by military personnel and the potential for exothermic reactions may result in injury. This paper investigated the effect of impact on batteries that might be worn in front or behind body armour.

Methods

Li-ion batteries were subjected to ballistic impact both without and in combination with body armour using 7.62×39 mm ammunition (mean velocity=769 m/s) at charge levels up to 40%. The effect of penetrating impacts on charged batteries was also investigated using an outdoor range.

Results

The backface signature due to ballistic impact was reduced by including a battery pack between fabric body armour and an armour plate, however the batteries were crushed and mechanically disrupted. Ballistic impacts on batteries mounted in front of an armour plate resulted in perforation of the batteries. Increases in temperature, fire and toxic gas emission were noted when batteries were penetrated by an impact.

Conclusions

Batteries provided limited ballistic protection disproving the hypothesis that batteries could replace or enhance existing body armour solutions. Ballistic impact of charged batteries could lead to injury due to heat/flame and toxic discharge. It is recommended that batteries need to be carried in a position from which they can be rapidly removed from contact with the body.
Uterus transplantation in women who are genetically XY
Authors: Sampson Amani , Kimberly Laura L. , Goldman Kara N. , Keefe David L. , Quinn Gwendolyn P.
Published: February 2019

Uterus transplantation is an emerging technology adding to the arsenal of treatments for infertility; specifically the only available treatment for uterine factor infertility. Ethical investigations concerning risks to uteri donors and transplant recipients have been discussed in the literature. However, missing from the discourse is the potential of uterus transplantation in other groups of genetically XY women who experience uterine factor infertility. There have been philosophical inquiries concerning uterus transplantation in genetically XY women, which includes transgender women and women with complete androgen insufficiency syndrome. We discuss the potential medical steps necessary and associated risks for uterus transplantation in genetically XY women. Presently, the medical technology does not exist to make uterus transplantation a safe and effective option for genetically XY women, however this group should not be summarily excluded from participation in trials. Laboratory research is needed to better understand and reduce medical risk and widen the field to all women who face uterine factor infertility.
Long-term transportation noise exposure and incidence of ischaemic heart disease and stroke: a cohort study
Authors: Pyko Andrei , Andersson Niklas , Eriksson Charlotta , de Faire Ulf , Lind Tomas , Mitkovskaya Natalya , Ögren Mikael , Östenson Claes-Göran , Pedersen Nancy L , Rizzuto Debora , Wallas Alva Käte , Pershagen Göran
Published: February 2019

Background

There is limited evidence from longitudinal studies on transportation noise from different sources and development of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke.

Objectives

This cohort study assessed associations between exposure to noise from road traffic, railway or aircraft and incidence of IHD and stroke.

Methods

In a cohort of 20 012 individuals from Stockholm County, we estimated long-term residential exposure to road traffic, railway and aircraft noise. National Patient and Cause-of-Death Registers were used to identify IHD and stroke events. Information on risk factors was obtained from questionnaires and registers. Adjusted HR for cardiovascular outcomes related to source-specific noise exposure were computed using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Results

No clear or consistent associations were observed between transportation noise and incidence of IHD or stroke. However, noise exposure from road traffic and aircraft was related to IHD incidence in women, with HR of 1.11 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.22) and 1.25 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.44) per 10 dB Lden, respectively. For both sexes taken together, we observed a particularly high risk of IHD in those exposed to all three transportation noise sources at≥45 dB Lden, with a HR of 1.57 (95% CI 1.06 to 2.32), and a similar tendency for stroke (HR 1.42; 95% CI 0.87 to 2.32).

Conclusion

No overall associations were observed between transportation noise exposure and incidence of IHD or stroke. However, there appeared to be an increased risk of IHD in women exposed to road traffic or aircraft noise as well as in those exposed to multiple sources of transportation noise.
Visualization of pleural fissures in infants on computed tomography
Authors: Phelps Andrew , Tan Cynthia , Ahuja Saveen , Kolnick Dean , Courtier Jesse , MacKenzie John D
Published: February 2019

Purpose

For infants with prenatally detected lung lesions, a chest CT is performed prior to surgery. The chest CT is performed as close to the surgery date as possible, because it is presumed that the visualization of lung fissures would be poor in the immediate neonatal setting. However, this presumption has never been formally studied. The purpose of this study is to assess differences in lung fissure visualization on chest CT in different infant age groups.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of clinically indicated chest CT approved by the institutional review board performed in infants of different ages. The visibility of pleural fissures was subjectively assessed by three pediatric radiologists who were blinded to age group.

Results

In the 0–2 months age group, 80% of all fissure segments were visible versus 92% in the 5–6 months group (p=0.04) and 95% in the 7–9 months group (p=0.01).

Conclusions

The ability to visualize pleural fissures on CT increases with infant age. This observation should be taken into consideration when choosing the optimal timing of preoperative CT for asymptomatic congenital lung lesions.
Nephroprotective and antioxidant effect of green tea (Camellia sinensis) against nicotine-induced nephrotoxicity in rats and characterization of its bioactive compounds by HPLC–DAD
Authors: Ben Saad Anouar , Ncib Sana , Rjeibi Ilhem , Saidi Issam , Zouari Nacim
Published: February 2019

Nicotine is a potential inducer of oxidative stress, through which it can damage numerous biological molecules. Natural antioxidants that prevent or slow the progression and severity of nicotine toxicity may have a significant health impact. The purpose of this study, conducted on Wistar rats, was to evaluate the beneficial effects of green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract on nicotine treatment-induced damage on kidney. Our results showed that nicotine significantly (p < 0.01) increased serum and kidney malondialdehyde, the serum contents of urea, creatinine, and uric acid. In addition, nicotine intoxication significantly (p < 0.01) decreased the levels of vitamins E and C in serum and kidney tissue as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Interestingly, animals that were pretreated with green tea, prior to nicotine administration, showed a significant nephroprotection, revealed by a significant reduction-induced oxidative damage for all tested markers. The nephroprotective activity of green tea is mediated, at least in part, by the antioxidant effect of its constituents.
Resonant and non-resonant contributions of B → K∗(p1,𝜖1){Kπ,ππ,KK} decay modes
Authors: Sayahi Mahboobeh
Published: February 2019

In this paper, the non-leptonic three-body decays [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] are studied by introducing two-meson distribution amplitude for the [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] pairs in naive and QCD factorization (QCDF) approaches, such that the analysis is simplified into quasi-two body decays. By considering that the vector meson is being ejected in factorization, the resonant and non-resonant contributions are analyzed by using intermediate mesons in Breit–Wigner resonance formalism and the heavy meson chiral perturbation theory (HMChPT), respectively. The calculated values of the resonant and non-resonant branching ratio of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] decay modes are compared with the experimental data. For [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], the non-resonant contributions are about 70–80% of experimental data, for which the total results by considering resonant contributions are in good agreement with the experiment.
Conformity and stability analysis of a modified spring–mass–damper system dynamics-based car-following model
Authors: Munigety Caleb Ronald
Published: February 2019

Modeling the dynamics of a traffic system involves using the principles of both physical and social sciences since it is composed of vehicles as well as drivers. A novel car-following model is proposed in this paper by incorporating the socio-psychological aspects of drivers into the dynamics of a purely physics-based spring–mass–damper mechanical system to represent the driver–vehicle longitudinal movements in a traffic stream. The crux of this model is that a traffic system can be viewed as various masses interacting with each other by means of springs and dampers attached between them. While the spring and damping constants represent the driver behavioral parameters, the mass component represents the vehicle characteristics. The proposed model when tested for its ability to capture the traffic system dynamics both at micro, driver, and macro, stream, levels behaved pragmatically. The stability analysis carried out using perturbation method also revealed that the proposed model is both locally and asymptotically stable.
The thermodynamic critical field and specific heat of superconducting state in phosphorene under strain
Authors: Szewczyk Kamila A. , Kaczmarek Adam Z. , Drzazga Ewa A.
Published: February 2019

In this work, we present the thermodynamic properties of the superconducting state in phosphorene. In particular, we have examined the electron doped [Formula: see text] and biaxially strained (4%) monolayer of black phosphorous, which exhibits best thermodynamic stability and highest superconducting critical temperature [Formula: see text] among all monolayer phosphorene structures. Due to the confirmed electron–phonon pairing mechanism and relatively high electron–phonon coupling constant in the studied material, we carried out the calculations in the framework of the Eliashberg formalism for a wide range of the Coulomb pseudopotential [Formula: see text]. We have determined the thermodynamic critical field [Formula: see text], and the specific heat difference [Formula: see text] between superconducting [Formula: see text] and normal state [Formula: see text] as the functions of the temperature. In addition, we have calculated the dimensionless parameters [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text], and also found their significant deviation from the expectations of the BCS theory. In particular, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text].
New orientations of the Cooper pair momentum in FFLO state for asymmetric D-wave fermion superfluids
Authors: Zhang Lei , Ge Ying-Long , Shang Xin-Le , Gao Yuan
Published: February 2019

The Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state in asymmetric D-wave fermion superfluids is investigated generally. The angle dependence of the pairing gap (angle-dependent gap) for D-wave is also considered. Except the two special orientations of the Cooper pair momentum which are parallel/orthogonal to the symmetry-axis of ADG (called as FFLO-ADG-O and FFLO-ADG-P states), new orientations of the Cooper pair momentum between the two special ones are also found. These new orientations of the Cooper pair momentum correspond to new possible locally stable state (defined as FFLO-ADG-B state). Furthermore, the FFLO-ADG-O state is favored for small asymmetry and the FFLO-ADG-P state is located at large asymmetry, whereas the FFLO-ADG-B state is stable for moderate asymmetry. Moreover, the range of the asymmetry where the superfluids exists is enhanced strongly by taking the ADG to the FFLO state.
The structure and magnetic properties of Eu-doped BiFeO3 prepared by a solid-phase sintering method
Authors: Jiang Zhengming , Peng Anguo , Liu Min , Liu Guoqing , Zhang Ge
Published: February 2019

In this work, [Formula: see text] and Eu-doped [Formula: see text] samples were prepared by a simple solid-phase sintering method and the structure and magnetic properties were studied. The results of X-ray diffraction show that [Formula: see text] sample maintains the same rhombohedral R3c structure as [Formula: see text] sample but with a slight lattice distortion due to the Eu substitution for Bi. Compared with [Formula: see text], the [Formula: see text] sample exhibits a larger remnant magnetization and a higher Curie–Weiss temperature. These results indicate that appropriate doping with Eu is effective in improving the magnetic properties of [Formula: see text] and the solid-phase sintering method used in this study is a simple and good solid-phase sintering method to prepare [Formula: see text].
Note on acoustic black holes from black D3-brane
Authors: Yu Chao , Sun Jia-Rui
Published: February 2019

Black D3-branes are known to admit an effective hydrodynamic description when low frequency and long wavelength perturbations are introduced into the system. We use this perturbed nonextremal black D3-brane as background metric to study the emergence of acoustic black holes, following the same holographic approach in constructing the acoustic black hole in asymptotically Anti-de-Sitter (AAdS) background spacetime. We show that the acoustic black hole which appears on the timelike cutoff surface in the nonextremal black D3-brane also admits a holographic dual description. The duality includes the dynamical connection between the acoustic black hole and the bulk gravity, a universal equation relating the Hawking-like temperature and the real Hawking temperature, and a phonon/scalar channel quasi-normal mode correspondence.
Seismic Responses and Collapse of a RC Pedestrian Cable-Stayed Bridge: Shake Table Tests
Authors: Zheng Yue , Xu You-Lin , Zhan Sheng
Published: February 2019

There have been numerous experimental studies on the seismic collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings and RC girder bridges, but not on the seismic collapse of RC pedestrian cable-stayed bridges. Postearthquake field investigations revealed that if RC pedestrian cable-stayed bridges in seismic regions were not appropriately designed, they are likely to encounter severe damage or collapse. This paper thus presents an experimental investigation on a 1:12 scaled RC pedestrian cable-stayed bridge to explore the seismic behavior and collapse mechanism of the bridge under different levels of ground motion. The design, construction, and installation of the bridge, along with the shake table tests, were performed. The dynamic characteristic tests of the bridge were carried out, with the natural periods and mode shapes identified. The bridge was then tested by subjecting it to three levels of ground motion, i.e. small, moderate and large earthquakes. The seismic behavior and seismic-resistant capacity of the cable-stayed bridge were finally assessed at the component level and the failure mode of the bridge was identified based on the seismic responses recorded by the measurement system. The test results showed that the collapse of the RC pedestrian cable-stayed bridge was triggered from the flexure failure of its columns and ended with the flexure-shear failure of its tower.
Complexity-Based Analysis of the Relation Between Fractal Visual Stimuli and Fractal Eye Movements
Authors: Alipour Hedieh , Towhidkhah Farzad , Jafari Sajad , Menon Avinash , Namazi Hamidreza
Published: February 2019

Human eye movement is a key concept in the field of vision science. It has already been established that human eye movement responds to external stimuli. Hence, investigating the reaction of the human eye movement to various types of external stimuli is important in this field. There have been many researches on human eye movement that were previously done, but this is the first study to show a relation between the complex structure of human eye movement and the complex structure of static visual stimulus. Fractal theory was implemented and we showed that the fractal dynamics of the human eye movement is related to the fractal structure of visual target as stimulus. The outcome of this research provides new platforms to scientists to further investigate on the relation between eye movement and other applied stimuli.
The second-order tangent bundle with deformed 2nd lift metric
Authors: Magden Abdullah , Karaca Kubra , Gezer Aydin
Published: February 2019

Let [Formula: see text] be a pseudo-Riemannian manifold and [Formula: see text] be its second-order tangent bundle equipped with the deformed [Formula: see text]nd lift metric [Formula: see text] which is obtained from the [Formula: see text]nd lift metric by deforming the horizontal part with a symmetric [Formula: see text]-tensor field [Formula: see text]. In the present paper, we first compute the Levi-Civita connection and its Riemannian curvature tensor field of [Formula: see text]. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for [Formula: see text] to be semi-symmetric. Secondly, we show that [Formula: see text] is a plural-holomorphic [Formula: see text]-manifold with the natural integrable nilpotent structure. Finally, we get the conditions under which [Formula: see text] with the [Formula: see text]nd lift of an almost complex structure is an anti-Kähler manifold.
Beyond general relativity models, magnetosphere structure and dark matter stars
Authors: Cirilo-Lombardo D. J. , Minotti F. O.
Published: February 2019

The magnetosphere structure of compact objects is considered in the context of a theory of gravity with dynamical torsion field beyond standard General Relativity (GR). To this end, a new spherically symmetric solution is obtained in this theoretical framework, physically representing a compact object of pseudoscalar fields (for example, axion field). The axially symmetric version of the Grad–Shafranov equation (GSE) is also derived in this context, and used to describe the magnetosphere dynamics of the obtained “axion star”. The interplay between high-energy processes and the seed magnetic field with respect to the global structure of the magnetosphere is briefly discussed.
Facile Synthesis of Ag/ZnO Hollow Microspheres with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance under Simulated Sunlight Irradiation
Authors: Cui Lifeng , Zhang Qiulin , Yin Chaochuang , Kang Shifei , Ge Zhigang , Xia Qineng , Wang Yangang , Li Xi
Published: February 2019

Water pollution caused by intensive use of organic dyes has become an increasingly serious problem recently. Green and efficient processes are desperately needed to remove persistent organic pollutants from waste waters. Herein, Ag nanoparticles loaded ZnO hollow microspheres were synthesized through a simple solvothermal method and used as a photocatalyst for dye degradation. The calculated band gap of Ag/ZnO — 5% (2.97[Formula: see text]eV) is much narrower than that of pure ZnO (3.37[Formula: see text]eV). The obtained Ag/ZnO samples show a remarkable photocatalytic activity in photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The degradation efficiency of RhB for Ag/ZnO — 5% is 98.8% after 100[Formula: see text]min irradiation while only 52.8% degradation rate is obtained over pure ZnO. The enhancement is attributed to the exposed active ZnO (001) plane and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag nanoparticles that promote the separation of photogeneated electrons and holes.
The Cooperative Effect Analysis when Nanoparticles Enter a Biological Cell
Authors: Liu Fei , Wu Dan , Chen Ken
Published: February 2019

The nanoparticle (NP) is one of the most used nanostructures in biomedicine. The Np–biomembrane interface plays an important role in delivering NPs into a living biological cell. While most researchers focus on the interaction between a single Np and a cell membrane, we pay attention to the NP–biomembrane interaction when a cluster of NPs are put into a biological cell together, and analyze the cooperative effect of these NPs. We find that the NPs would not enter the cell individually, but have a trend to form an aggregation to reduce the repel force from the cell membrane. The dissipative particle dynamics simulation shows that the NP aggregation may have three interactive states with the membrane: adhere on the surface of the cell, uptaken by the membrane and enter the cell. We propose to use catalytic (CA) particles which are not sensitive to the membrane to reduce the driving force required in NP delivery. Energy analysis demonstrates that the introduced (CA) particles can decrease the free energy gap between the inside and the outside of the membrane, and increase the success rate of NPs entering the cell.
Hierarchical Matrix Operations on GPUs
Authors: Boukaram Wajih , Turkiyyah George , Keyes David
Published: February 2019

Hierarchical matrices are space- and time-efficient representations of dense matrices that exploit the low-rank structure of matrix blocks at different levels of granularity. The hierarchically low-rank block partitioning produces representations that can be stored and operated on in near-linear complexity instead of the usual polynomial complexity of dense matrices.

In this article, we present high-performance implementations of matrix vector multiplication and compression operations for the
H
2
variant of hierarchical matrices on GPUs. The
H
2
variant exploits, in addition to the hierarchical block partitioning, hierarchical bases for the block representations and results in a scheme that requires only
O
(
n
) storage and
O
(
n
) complexity for the mat-vec and compression kernels. These two operations are at the core of algebraic operations for hierarchical matrices, the mat-vec being a ubiquitous operation in numerical algorithms while compression/recompression represents a key building block for other algebraic operations, which require periodic recompression during execution.

The difficulties in developing efficient GPU algorithms come primarily from the irregular tree data structures that underlie the hierarchical representations, and the key to performance is to recast the computations on flattened trees in ways that allow batched linear algebra operations to be performed. This requires marshaling the irregularly laid out data in a way that allows them to be used by the batched routines. Marshaling operations only involve pointer arithmetic with no data movement and as a result have minimal overhead.

Our numerical results on covariance matrices from 2D and 3D problems from spatial statistics show the high efficiency our routines achieve over 550GB/s for the bandwidth-limited matrix-vector operation and over 850GFLOPS/s in sustained performance for the compression operation on the P100 Pascal GPU.
Algorithm 991
Authors: Richardson Lee F. , Eddy William F.
Published: February 2019

We present a new algorithm for the 2D sliding window discrete Fourier transform. Our algorithm avoids repeating calculations in overlapping windows by storing them in a tree data-structure based on the ideas of the Cooley-Tukey fast Fourier transform. For an
N
0
×
N
1
array and
n
0
×
n
1
windows, our algorithm takes
O
(
N
0
N
1
n
0
n
1
) operations. We provide a C implementation of our algorithm for the Radix-2 case, compare ours to existing algorithms, and show how our algorithm easily extends to higher dimensions.
How Do Patients with Chronic Diseases Make Usage Decisions regarding Mobile Health Monitoring Service?
Authors: Meng Fanbo , Zhang Xiaofei , Guo Xitong , Lai Kee-hung , Zhao Xinli
Published: February 2019

Objectives. The increasing population of patients with chronic diseases generates great challenge of chronic disease management. The occurrence of mobile health monitoring service (MHMS) is beneficial to chronic disease prevention and health promotion. The objective of this study is to investigate how patients with chronic diseases make usage decisions on MHMS. Study Design. A survey. Methods. 213 respondents with chronic diseases were asked to rate their level of health severity, negative health emotions, and health uncertainty avoidance. SmartPLS was used to test the measurement model. Results. Of 213 research respondents, 159 of them have one chronic disease, while 54 have more than one such disease. Perceived health severity of patients with chronic diseases positively influences MHMS usage intentions, while negative health emotions do not. Health uncertainty avoidance strengthens the effect of health severity but weakens the effect of negative health emotions on MHMS usage intentions. Conclusion. Patients with chronic diseases have a unique decision-making process regarding MHMS usage in which their special health-related factors and tendencies play a critical role in determining behavioral intentions.
Improvement of Disease Management and Cost Effectiveness in Chinese Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis Using a Smart-Phone Management System: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Ji Xiaojian , Wang Yiwen , Ma Yingpei , Hu Zhengyuan , Man Siliang , Zhang Ying , Li Kunpeng , Yang Jinshui , Zhu Jian , Zhang Jianglin , Huang Feng
Published: February 2019

Objectives. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic disease that decreases mobility, function, and quality of life. This study introduced the “Smart-phone SpondyloArthritis Management System” (SpAMS), an interactive mobile health (mHealth) tool designed for AS/spondyloarthritis (SpA) disease management and used SpAMS data to evaluate clinical characteristics of Chinese patients with AS. Methods. SpAMS integrates patient’s and physician’s portals in a smart phone application. The Chinese Ankylosing Spondylitis Prospective Imaging Cohort was launched using SpAMS in April 2016. Patient self-assessments were completed online at baseline and at every subsequent clinic visit. Physician-reported assessments and treatments were recorded by rheumatologists during each visit. Results. In total, 1201 patients with AS [mean (SD) age, 30.6 (8.7) years; male, 82.6%] were recruited. Mean (SD) disease duration was 8.4 (6.1) years. Past or current symptoms of acute anterior uveitis (AAU), psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were observed in 21.0%, 3.7%, and 9.4% of patients, respectively. AAU and IBD occurred significantly more in patients with symptom duration > 10 years. The most commonly used medications at baseline were nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (98.2%). Patients using tumour necrosis factor inhibitors accounted for 20.8%, and 66.4% of patients used conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. At baseline, 57.2% of patients had inactive disease (ID)/low disease activity (LDA); this rate significantly improved to 79.2% after a mean follow-up of 13.3 (5.9) months. Compared with relapsed patients, new achievers of ID/LDA underwent more online patient assessments (P < .001). Problems solved in SpAMS caused 29.1% of clinic visits to a tertiary hospital unnecessary. SpAMS saved an average of 5.3 hours and 327.4 RMB per person on traffic expenses; these expenses equalled 16% of the Chinese monthly disposable personal income. Conclusions. SpAMS is a time- and cost-saving disease management tool that can help patients with AS perform self-management and provide valuable data to clinicians.
The Facile Synthesis of Novel ZnO Nanostructure for Galactose Biosensor Application
Authors: La Phan Phuong Ha , Tran Quang Trung , Dinh Duc Anh , Bok Ko Kang , Hong Chang-Hee , Cuong Tran Viet
Published: February 2019

We introduce a novel structure of ZnO nanorods (NRs) grown on ZnO NRs (ZnO NRs/NRs) via a facile, low-cost, and environmentally friendly synthesis for galactose biosensor application. The galactose oxidase enzyme (GalOx) is immobilized on the ZnO NR/NR surface to form the novel electrode structure (GalOx|ZnO NRs/NRs). The GalOx|ZnO NR/NR electrode has a linear detection range of current density from 11.30 μA/mm2to 18.16 μA/mm2over a galactose concentration range from 40 mM to 230 mM, indicating the increment of electrode sensitivity up to 60.7%. The ZnO NR/NR morphology with a high surface area to volume ratio has a great contribution to the electrochemical performance of galactose biosensor. Our results propose a straightforward approach to fabricate architecturally ZnO-based nanostructure for biosensor application.
Tumour-Associated Macrophages (TAMs) in Colon Cancer and How to Reeducate Them
Authors: Yahaya M. A. F. , Lila M. A. M. , Ismail S. , Zainol M. , Afizan N. A. R. Nik Mohd
Published: February 2019

Tumour-associated macrophage (TAM) serves as the site in which most inflammatory cells coreside. It plays an important role in determining the progression and metastasis of a tumour. The characteristic of TAM is largely dependent on the stimuli present in its tumour microenvironment (TME). Under this environment, however, M2 macrophages are found to be in abundance compared to M1 macrophages which later promote tumour progression. Numerous studies have elucidated the relationship between TAM and the progression of tumour; hence, TAM has now been the subject of interest among researchers for anticancer therapy. This review discusses the role of TAM in colorectal cancer (CRC) and some of the potential candidates that could reeducate TAM to fight against CRC. It is with hope that this review will serve as the foundation in understanding TAM in CRC and helping other researchers to select the most suitable candidate to reeducate TAM that could assist in enhancing the tumouricidal activity of M1 macrophage and eventually repress the development of CRC.
Rail Corrugation Detection of High‐Speed Railway Using Wheel Dynamic Responses
Authors: Li Jianbo , Shi Hongmei
Published: February 2019

Rail corrugation often occurs on the high‐speed railway, which will affect ride comfort and even the train operation safety in severe condition. Detection of rail corrugation wavelength and depth is absolutely essential for maintenance and safety. A novel method using wheel vibration acceleration is proposed in this paper, in which ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is employed to estimate the wavelength, and bispectrum features are extracted to recognize the depth with support vector machine (SVM). Firstly, a vehicle‐track coupling model considering the rail corrugation of high‐speed railway is established to calculate the wheel vibration acceleration. Secondly, the estimation algorithm of wavelength is studied by analyzing the main frequency with EEMD. The optimal parameters of EEMD are selected according to the orthogonal coefficient of decomposition results and the distribution of the extreme points of signal. The depth detection is transformed to a classification problem with SVM. Bispectrum features, which are extracted from the reconstructed signal using the high‐frequency components of wheel vibration acceleration, combining with train speed and corrugation wavelength are input into SVM to recognize the rail corrugation depth. Finally, numerical simulation is carried out to verify the accuracy of the proposed estimation method. The simulation results show that the proposed detection algorithm can accurately identify rail corrugation, the estimation error of rail corrugation wavelength is less than 0.25%, and the classification accuracy of rail corrugation depth is more than 99%.
Review of the Current Knowledge on the Role of Stem Cell Transplantation in Neurorehabilitation
Authors: Kamelska-Sadowska Anna M. , Wojtkiewicz Joanna , Kowalski Ireneusz M.
Published: February 2019

The management involving stem cell (SC) therapy along with physiotherapy offers tremendous chance for patients after spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, etc. However, there are still only a limited number of reports assessing the impact of stem cells (SCs) on the rehabilitation process and/or the results of the simultaneous use of SC and rehabilitation. Additionally, since there is still not enough convincing evidence about the effect of SCT on humans, e.g., in stroke, there have been no studies conducted concerning rehabilitation program formation and expected outcomes. It has been shown that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BMSCs) transplantation in rats combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) can promote the functional recovery of hind limbs after SCI. An anti-inflammatory effect has been shown. One case study showed that, after the simultaneous use of SCT and rehabilitation, an SCI patient progressed from ASIA Grade A to ASIA Grade C. Such promising data in the case of complete tetraplegia could be a breakthrough in the treatment of neurologic disorders in humans. Although SCT appears as a promising method for the treatment of neurological conditions, e.g., complete tetraplegia, much work should be done towards the development of rehabilitation protocols.
Enhancement of Cytomegalovirus-Specific Cytokine Production after Modulation of the Costimulation in Kidney Transplant Patients
Authors: Dornieden Theresa , Wilde Benjamin , Korth Johannes , Werner Kai , Horn Peter A. , Witzke Oliver , Lindemann Monika
Published: February 2019

Kidney transplantation is the therapy of choice for patients with end stage renal disease. Due to immunosuppressive treatment, patients are at risk for opportunistic infections. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation is highly relevant in kidney transplant recipients because it occurs—depending on the serological constellation of the donor and recipient—in more than half of the patients and influences patient outcome. Patients with CMV reactivation show decreased allograft and overall survival. Previous studies could demonstrate that transplant patients often show weak CMV-specific immunity. Besides immunosuppressive treatment, additional mechanisms may reduce CMV-specific immunocompetence such as enhanced negative costimulation. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate if the function of CMV-specific cells of kidney transplant recipients could be restored by a modulation of costimulatory molecules. To address this question, lymphocytes of kidney transplant patients were stimulated with CMV-specific antigens and incubated with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), or B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) antibodies. Afterwards, the IFN-γ, IL-21, and IL-17A production was measured by the ELISpot assay. It could be shown that a blockade of the ligand PD-L1 resulted in an increased CMV-specific IFN-γ, IL-21, and IL-17A secretion. The blockade of the receptor PD-1 distinctly enhanced the production of IL-21. BTLA antibodies, however, led only to a marginal increase of CMV-specific IFN-γ and of IL-21 production. Experiments in healthy controls could confirm the results of the kidney transplant recipients. Furthermore, they could demonstrate that treatment with the immunosuppressive drug tacrolimus resulted in decreased CMV-specific IFN-γ and of IL-21 production. Thus, our study could show for the first time that the blockade of the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway also modulates CMV-specific Th21 and Th17 cell function in kidney transplant recipients. Further studies are mandatory to clarify the role of Th21 and Th17 cells in CMV control of these patients.
Epsins Regulate Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Exit from Pluripotency and Neural Commitment by Controlling Notch Activation
Authors: Cardano Marina , Zasso Jacopo , Ruggiero Luca , Di Giacomo Giuseppina , Marcatili Matteo , Cremona Ottavio , Conti Luciano
Published: February 2019

Epsins are part of the internalization machinery pivotal to control clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Here, we report that epsin family members are expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and that epsin1/2 knockdown alters both mESC exits from pluripotency and their differentiation. Furthermore, we show that epsin1/2 knockdown compromises the correct polarization and division of mESC-derived neural progenitors and their conversion into expandable radial glia-like neural stem cells. Finally, we provide evidence that Notch signaling is impaired following epsin1/2 knockdown and that experimental restoration of Notch signaling rescues the epsin-mediated phenotypes. We conclude that epsins contribute to control mESC exit from pluripotency and allow their neural differentiation by appropriate modulation of Notch signaling.
Automatic Testing of Program Slicers
Authors: Pérez Sergio , Silva Josep , Tamarit Salvador
Published: February 2019

Program slicing is a technique to extract the part of a program (the slice) that influences or is influenced by a set of variables at a given point (the slicing criterion). Computing minimal slices is undecidable in the general case, and obtaining the minimal slice of a given program is normally computationally prohibitive even for very small programs. Therefore, no matter what program slicer we use, in general, we cannot be sure that our slices are minimal. This is probably the fundamental reason why no benchmark collection of minimal program slices exists. In this work, we present a method to automatically produce quasi-minimal slices. Using our method, we have produced a suite of quasi-minimal slices for Erlang that we have later manually proved they are minimal. We explain the process of constructing the suite, the methodology and tools that were used, and the results obtained. The suite comes with a collection of Erlang benchmarks together with different slicing criteria and the associated minimal slices.
Decreased Clostridium Abundance after Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Gut Microbiota of a Patient with Schizophrenia
Authors: Kanayama Misako , Hayashida Maiko , Hashioka Sadayuki , Miyaoka Tsuyoshi , Inagaki Masatoshi
Published: February 2019

Relationships between gut microbiota and various disease pathogeneses have been investigated, but those between the pathogeneses of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, and gut microbiota have only recently attracted attention. We observed a change in the gut microbiota of a patient with schizophrenia after administering electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). A 59-year-old woman was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 17 years of age and has been taking antipsychotic drugs since the diagnosis. Clostridium, which occupied 86.5% of her bacterial flora, decreased to 72.5% after 14 ECT sessions, while Lactobacillus increased from 1.2% to 5.5%, and Bacteroides increased from 9.1% to 31.5%. Previous studies have shown that Clostridium spp. are increased in patients with schizophrenia compared with those in healthy individuals and that Clostridium is reduced after pharmacological treatment. Our report is the first report on the gut microbiota of a patient with schizophrenia receiving ECT. Our results indicate that studies focusing on Clostridium to clarify the pathogenesis of schizophrenia as well as potential therapeutic mechanisms may be beneficial. However, further studies are needed.