bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of an implemented new insulin chart to improve quality and safety of diabetes care in a large university hospital: a follow-up study
Authors: Kopanz Julia , Sendlhofer Gerald , Lichtenegger Katharina , Semlitsch Barbara , Riedl Regina , Pieber Thomas R , Tax Christa , Brunner Gernot , Plank Johannes
Published: January 2021

Objectives

To evaluate structure, documentation, treatment quality of a new implemented standardised insulin chart in adult medical inpatient wards at a university hospital.

Design

A before–after study (3 to 5 months after implementation) was used to compare the quality of old versus new insulin charts.

Setting

University Hospital Graz, Austria.

Participants

Healthcare professionals (n=237) were questioned regarding structure quality of blank insulin charts.

Interventions

A new standardised insulin chart was implemented and healthcare professionals were trained regarding features of this chart. Data from insulinised inpatients were evaluated regarding documentation and treatment quality of filled-in insulin charts (n=108 old insulin charts vs n=100 new insulin charts).

Main outcomes and measures

The primary endpoint was documentation error for insulin administration.

Results

Healthcare professionals reported an improved structure quality of the new insulin chart with a Likert type response scale increase in all nine items. Documentation errors for insulin administration (primary endpoint) occurred more often on old than new insulin charts (77% vs 5%, p<0.001). Documentation errors for insulin prescription were more frequent on old insulin charts (100% vs 42%) whereas documentation errors for insulin management rarely occurred in any group (10% vs 8%). Patients of both chart evaluation groups (age: 71±11 vs 71±12 years, 47% vs 42% women, 75% vs 87% type 2 diabetes for old vs new charts, respectively) had a mean of 4±2 good diabetes days. Overall, 26 vs 18 hypoglycaemic episodes (blood glucose (BG) <4.0 mmol/L (72 mg/dL), p=0.28), including 7 vs 2 severe hypoglycaemic episodes (BG <3.0 mmol/L (54 mg/dL), p=0.17) were documented on old versus new insulin charts.

Conclusions

The implementation of a structured documentation form together with training measures for healthcare professionals led to less documentation errors and safe management of glycaemic control in hospitalised patients in a short time follow-up. A rollout at further medical wards is recommended, and sustainability in the long-term has to be demonstrated.
Clinicopathological analysis of 5146 eyelid tumours and tumour-like lesions in an eye centre in South China, 2000–2018: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Wang Linyan , Shan Yi , Dai Xizhe , You Na , Shao Ji , Pan Xiangji , Gao Tao , Ye Juan
Published: January 2021

Objectives

To describe the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with eyelid tumours and tumour-like lesions in South China, investigate possible factors affecting tumour constitution.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

All patients diagnosed with eyelid tumours were included from a high-volume tertiary eye care centre from South China which caring for over 2000 patients per day. All biopsied specimens were reviewed by two senior pathologists and were classified according to the fourth edition of the WHO Classification of Skin Tumours.

Participant

A total of 5146 cases of eyelid lesions were reviewed from 2000 to 2018, being classified by histogenesis and pathologic diagnosis, being compared with data from previous literature containing different races.

Main outcome measures

Age-specific and gender-specific incidence constitutions, time trends, tumour location, distribution in different age groups and relationship with Sociodmographic Index (SDI) were calculated.

Results

Benign tumours accounted for 85.08% (4378) of all cases, among which, nevus was most common (33.07%). Eight of top 10 benign lesions had higher occurrence in upper eyelids. The R² value of linear regression in patient annual number of benign lesions were 0.946 (p<0.01) for male and 0.914 (p<0.01) for female. More than 33.60% (1471/4378) were made up by patients younger than 40 years. The number of patients undergoing removal of benign lesions decreased with age. Among the malignant lesions, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) was most prevalent (48.70%), followed by sebaceous gland carcinoma (34.24%) and majority (81.8%) occurred in patients above 60 years.

Conclusions

Over the past 19 years, most eyelid tumours occurred at our centre were benign lesions. The number of patients presenting with benign lesions increased in both genders, especially among young females who were more likely to request surgeries. Among malignant lesions, BCC remains the most common type, appears a higher incidence in countries with higher SDI.
Hospital bed capacity and usage across secondary healthcare providers in England during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: a descriptive analysis
Authors: Mateen Bilal Akhter , Wilde Harrison , Dennis John M , Duncan Andrew , Thomas Nick , McGovern Andrew , Denaxas Spiros , Keeling Matt , Vollmer Sebastian
Published: January 2021

Objective

In this study, we describe the pattern of bed occupancy across England during the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

Descriptive survey.

Setting

All non-specialist secondary care providers in England from 27 March27to 5 June 2020.

Participants

Acute (non-specialist) trusts with a type 1 (ie, 24 hours/day, consultant-led) accident and emergency department (n=125), Nightingale (field) hospitals (n=7) and independent sector secondary care providers (n=195).

Main outcome measures

Two thresholds for ‘safe occupancy’ were used: 85% as per the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and 92% as per NHS Improvement.

Results

At peak availability, there were 2711 additional beds compatible with mechanical ventilation across England, reflecting a 53% increase in capacity, and occupancy never exceeded 62%. A consequence of the repurposing of beds meant that at the trough there were 8.7% (8508) fewer general and acute beds across England, but occupancy never exceeded 72%. The closest to full occupancy of general and acute bed (surge) capacity that any trust in England reached was 99.8% . For beds compatible with mechanical ventilation there were 326 trust-days (3.7%) spent above 85% of surge capacity and 154 trust-days (1.8%) spent above 92%. 23 trusts spent a cumulative 81 days at 100% saturation of their surge ventilator bed capacity (median number of days per trust=1, range: 1–17). However, only three sustainability and transformation partnerships (aggregates of geographically co-located trusts) reached 100% saturation of their mechanical ventilation beds.

Conclusions

Throughout the first wave of the pandemic, an adequate supply of all bed types existed at a national level. However, due to an unequal distribution of bed utilisation, many trusts spent a significant period operating above ‘safe-occupancy’ thresholds despite substantial capacity in geographically co-located trusts, a key operational issue to address in preparing for future waves.
Chemical attack on concrete containing a high volume of crumb rubber as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in engineered cementitious composite (ECC)
Authors: Alaloul Wesam Salah , Musarat Muhammad Ali , Haruna Sani , Tayeh Bassam A. , Norizan Muhammad Nurzahin Bin
Published: January 2021

Today, scrap tire is disposed of by open burning which harms the environment. To reduce the wastage of the resource, a sustainable approach is needed to dispose of the waste tire as a partial replacement of the fine aggregate in concrete mixes. This research has been conducted with a focus on the chemical attack of an engineered cementitious composite (ECC) containing a high volume of crumb rubber in terms of durability, behaviour, and comparison with conventional concrete. Two variables have been considered in developing rubberized ECC mixtures, that is, the amount of crumb rubber as a replacement for fine aggregate by volume of 0%–30% and PVA fibres by volume of 0%–2% to cementitious materials. The resistance properties of ECC incorporating crumb rubber were investigated for 13 different variable combinations developed using response surface methodology (RSM). The experimental results revealed that the presence of crumb rubber in the ECC matrix enhanced the resistance of the ECC in both acidic and sulphate environments. It was also revealed that by incorporating 15% crumb rubber, the loss of compressive strength significantly reduced from 38% to 15%.
Electron spectrometry with Silicon drift detectors: a GEANT4 based method for detector response reconstruction
Authors: Biassoni Matteo , Gugiatti Matteo , Capelli Silvia , Carminati Marco , Cremonesi Oliviero , Fiorini Carlo , King Pietro , Lechner Peter , Mertens Susanne , Pagnanini Lorenzo , Pavan Maura , Pozzi Stefano
Published: January 2021

Precision electron spectrometry in the keV range has always been considered a challenging task. The reconstruction of the original electron energy from the detected signal is not trivial because multiple effects modify the kinetic energy of the electron along its path. If not correctly accounted for, these effects can spoil and bias the reconstructed energy with a dramatic reduction of accuracy and precision. In this paper we address one of the most critical aspects of electron spectrometry: the generally unknown effect of the detector entrance window. We show that, with a MonteCarlo-based approach, we are able to build a model of the entrance window accurate enough to reduce the negative effects due to its existence. We adopt for this purpose Silicon Drift Detectors that, thought primarily used for X-ray spectrometry, appear a promising device for electron spectrometry. The technique we discuss exploits characterization and validation measurements performed with electron beams from a Scanning Electron Microscope, later reconstructed with a GEANT4 MonteCarlo simulation.
Scaling of Attractors of a Multiscroll Memristive Chaotic System and its Generalized Synchronization with Sliding Mode Control
Authors: Li Xiaoxia , Feng Zhixin , Zhang Qiyu , Wang Xue , Xu Guizhi
Published: January 2021

Memristor can greatly enhance the complexity of a chaotic system because of its nonlinear characteristics. In this paper, three different memristor models are introduced to the Yang system. The chaotic attractors with single scroll and double scrolls can be obtained by adjusting the action intensities of three memristors and all the attractors inherit the scaling property of attractors of the Yang system. By employing the complex polynomials transformation method in the chaotic system to expand the number of scrolls of the system, the ring-shaped multiscroll attractors are generated, and the number of scrolls can be changed by adjusting the powers of complex polynomials, which show that the memristive system has flexible scalability. Next, a synchronization method for the multiscroll chaotic system is proposed. The generalized synchronization controller and parameter adaptive law are designed by employing sliding mode control. The sufficient conditions for synchronization are given by Lyapunov stability theory. This method can be applied to the synchronization of multiscroll systems generated by means of changing the state variables of the original system by function transformation and then adding the transformation matrix to the system. Compared with the existing synchronization method, this method has a wider scope of application, and it can synchronize two multiscroll chaotic systems with greater difference. In addition, the conditions to be satisfied in this method are simpler. Finally, the method proposed above is applied to the synchronization between a chaotic system with a ring-shaped eight-scroll attractor and a grid-shaped [Formula: see text]-scroll attractor chaotic system with interference signals. The numerical simulation results verify the effectiveness of the method.
Finding Saddle-Node Bifurcations via a Nonlinear Generalized Collatz–Wielandt Formula
Authors: Ilyasov Yavdat
Published: January 2021

The Collatz–Wielandt formula obtained by Lothar Collatz (1942) and Helmut Wielandt (1950) provides a simple variational characterization of the Perron–Frobenius eigenvalue of certain types of matrices. We introduce a nonlinear generalization of the Collatz–Wielandt formula and show that it enables finding the so-called maximal saddle-node bifurcations of systems of nonlinear equations. As a consequence, we obtain an easily verifiable criterion for the detection of such saddle-node bifurcations. We illustrate our approach by examples of finite-difference approximations of nonlinear partial differential equations and a system of power flow.
Chaos after Accumulation of Torus Doublings
Authors: Sekikawa Munehisa , Inaba Naohiko
Published: January 2021

A recent paper investigates the bifurcation diagrams involved with torus doubling and asserts that the chaotic attractors observed after torus doubling have two Lyapunov exponents that are exactly zero. Against this assertion, we claim that the absolute value of one of the calculated zero Lyapunov exponents is not exactly zero but is instead slightly positive, because successive torus doubling is constrained by a very small underlying parameter. We justify our position by calculating Lyapunov spectra precisely using an autonomous piecewise-linear dynamical circuit. Our numerical results show that one of the Lyapunov exponents is close to, but not exactly, zero. In addition, we consider coupled logistic and sine-circle maps whose dynamics express the fundamental mechanism that causes torus doubling, and we confirm that torus doubling occurs fewer times when the coupling parameter of this discrete dynamical system is relatively larger. Consequently, the absolute value of the second Lyapunov exponent of this discrete system does not approach zero after the accumulation of torus doubling when the coupling parameter is set to larger values.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Authors: Roy Dhrubojyoti , Srivastava Sangeeta , Kusupati Aditya , Jain Pranshu , Varma Manik , Arora Anish
Published: January 2021

Edge sensing with micro-power pulse-Doppler radars is an emergent domain in monitoring and surveillance with several smart city applications. Existing solutions for the clutter versus multi-source radar classification task are limited in terms of either accuracy or efficiency, and in some cases, struggle with a tradeoff between false alarms and recall of sources. We find that this problem can be resolved by learning the classifier across multiple time-scales. We propose a multi-scale, cascaded recurrent neural network architecture, MSC-RNN, composed of an efficient multi-instance learning (MIL) Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) for clutter discrimination at a lower tier and a more complex RNN classifier for source classification at the upper tier. By controlling the invocation of the upper RNN with the help of the lower tier conditionally, MSC-RNN achieves an overall accuracy of 0.972. Our approach holistically improves the accuracy and per-class recalls over machine learning models suitable for radar inferencing. Notably, we outperform cross-domain handcrafted feature engineering with purely time-domain deep feature learning, while also being up to ∼3× more efficient than a competitive solution.
The Complex Clinical and Genetic Landscape of Hereditary Peripheral Neuropathy
Authors: Ghosh Soumitra , Tourtellotte Warren G.
Published: January 2021

Hereditary peripheral neuropathy (HPN) is a complex group of neurological disorders caused by mutations in genes expressed by neurons and Schwann cells. The inheritance of a single mutation or multiple mutations in several genes leads to disease phenotype. Patients exhibit symptoms during development, at an early age or later in adulthood. Most of the mechanistic understanding about these neuropathies comes from animal models and histopathological analyses of postmortem human tissues. Diagnosis is often very complex due to the heterogeneity and overlap in symptoms and the frequent overlap between various genes and different mutations they possess. Some symptoms in HPN are common through different subtypes such as axonal degeneration, demyelination, and loss of motor and sensory neurons, leading to similar physiologic abnormalities. Recent advances in gene-targeted therapies, genetic engineering, and next-generation sequencing have augmented our understanding of the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms of HPN.
Reconstruction with Total Scapular Reverse Total Shoulder Endoprosthesis after Radical Tumor Excision
Authors: Harvey Michael J. , Rosenthal Howard G.
Published: January 2021

Malignant musculoskeletal tumors about the shoulder girdle region involving the scapula are fairly rare, but when diagnosed, challenging and complex surgical treatment may be warranted with the primary goal of improving patient survival. These tumors are typically extensive and infiltrative at the time of presentation, requiring radical resection to achieve margins and obtain local tumor control. Historically, forequarter amputation or flail extremity were the mainstays of treatment in these cases. Presently, with recent advances in diagnostics, imaging, adjuvant therapies, and surgical treatment, many patients presenting with malignant tumors involving the scapula are candidates for limb salvage surgery. Reconstruction with endoprosthesis seems to have gained acceptance as the preferred surgical treatment for such lesions, as this intervention has resulted in improved postoperative function and cosmesis, with an acceptable complication rate. We present our experience with recent advancement in these surgical efforts in the form of shoulder girdle reconstruction with total scapular reverse total shoulder prosthesis after radical tumor excision.
Interval Information Content of Fuzzy Relation and the Application in the Fuzzy Implication Operators
Authors: Shi Yiying
Published: January 2021

In rule optimization, some rule characteristics were extracted to describe the uncertainty correlations of fuzzy relations, but the concrete numbers cannot express correlations with uncertainty, such as “at least 0.1 and up to 0.5.” To solve this problem, a novel definition concerning interval information content of fuzzy relation has been proposed in this manuscript to realize the fuzziness measurement of the fuzzy relation. Also, its definition and expressions have also been constructed. Meanwhile based on the interval information content, the issues of fuzzy implication ranking and clustering were analyzed. Finally, utilizing the combination of possibility’s interval comparison equations and interval value’s similarity measure, the classifications of implication operators were proved to be realizable. The achievements in the presented work will provide a reasonable index to measure the fuzzy implication operators and lay a solid foundation for further research.
Arsenic and Heavy Metals in Vietnamese Rice: Assessment of Human Exposure to These Elements through Rice Consumption
Authors: Chu Dinh Binh , Duong Hung Tuan , Nguyet Luu Minh Thi , Vu-Thi Hong-An , Ly Bich-Thuy , Loi Vu Duc
Published: January 2021

In this work, twelve heavy metals and arsenic, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn, in a rice sample collected from some areas of Vietnam have been quantified and implemented by using multiple analytical platforms such as ICP-MS, AAS, and mercury analyser. Seventy rice samples collected from the Red River Delta and mining zone activity were analysed. Concentration of heavy metals and arsenic in rice was analysed after appropriated sample digestion using internal or external calibration curves. The mean concentration (mg kg−1 dried weight) of the analysed elements in rice samples decreased on the order of Mn (19.268) > Fe (13.624) > Zn (8.163) > Cu (3.138) > Ni (0.384) > Cr (0.296) > Co (0.279) > As (0.115) > Cd (0.111) > Pb (0.075) > Hg (0.007) > Se (<LOD). Mercury, a highly toxic element, has been only found in rice samples collected in the mining activity zone (frequency detection 14.5% of total samples). The experimental results indicated that the heavy metals and arsenic found in rice collected from mining activity zone were higher than those in rice harvested from normal cultivated areas like the Red River Delta. The heavy metals and arsenic content in Vietnamese rice samples were also compared with the concentration of heavy metals in other foreign rice samples in some recent publications. The estimated daily intake through rice consumption was calculated and compared with the level proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The results indicated that the provisional daily intake of Cd was higher than the level proposed by FAO, while the intake of other heavy metals was in an acceptable range of CODEX standard.
A Research Survey on Applications of Consensus Protocols in Blockchain
Authors: Kaur Sivleen , Chaturvedi Sheetal , Sharma Aabha , Kar Jayaprakash
Published: January 2021

The concept of blockchain, widely known as virtual currencies, saw a massive surge in popularity in recent times. As far as the security of the blockchain is concerned, consensus algorithms play a vital role in the blockchain. Research has been done separately, or comparisons between a few of them have been presented previously. In this paper, we have discussed widely used consensus algorithms in the blockchain. The consensus protocols covered in this paper include PoW (Proof of Work), PoS (Proof of Stake), DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake), PoET (Proof of Elapsed Time), PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance), and PoA (Proof of Authority). For each consensus, we have reviewed the properties, applications, and performance in the blockchain.
A Case of Bedside Ultrasound in COVID-19 to Prognosticate Functional Lung Recovery
Authors: Bartlett Kathryn B. , Laubach Lexis T. , Evans Elizabeth M. , Roth Kevin R.
Published: January 2021

Introduction. The fight against COVID-19 poses questions as to the clinical presentation, course, diagnosis, and treatment of the condition. This case study presents a patient infected with COVID-19 and suggests with additional research, that bedside ultrasound may be used to diagnose severity of disease and potentially, prognosticate functional lung recovery without using unnecessary resources and exposing additional healthcare professionals to infection. Case Report. A 46-year-old male presented to the emergency department (ED) with cough, fever, and shortness of breath. Chest X-ray showed patchy airspace opacities bilaterally. Rapid testing resulted positive for SARS-CoV-2. Bedside ultrasound showed abnormal lung parenchyma, with diffuse comet tail artifacts, consistent with interstitial pulmonary edema. Following a prolonged intubation, patient’s abnormal lung ultrasound findings are resolved.
Children with Auditory Brainstem Implant: How Do They Perform in Motor and Language Skills?
Authors: Ertugrul Gorkem , Aslan Filiz , Sennaroglu Gonca , Sennaroglu Levent
Published: January 2021

Background: Young children are able to explore new objects and practice language through the acquisition of motor skills that lead to their overall development. Congenital hearing loss and total vestibular loss may contribute to the delay in speech and motor skill development. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between motor development performance, speech perception, and language performance in children with auditory brainstem implant (ABI). Method: Ten children, aged 4–17 years (mean age 9.76 ± 4.03), fitted with unilateral ABI for at least 2 years due to the presence of labyrinthine aplasia and rudimentary otocyst at least 1 side were included in the study. Several standardized tests, such as Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test-2 (BOT-2), Children’s Auditory Perception Test Battery, Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS), and Test of Early Language Development-3, were performed to evaluate their skills of fine motor control, balance, manual dexterity, language, and auditory perception. Results: A significant correlation was established between the BOT-2 manual dexterity and MAIS scores (r = 0.827, p < 0.05) and between the manual dexterity and language skills (for expressive language, r = 0.762, p < 0.05; for receptive language, r = 0.650, p < 0.05). Some of the BOT-2 balance tasks, such as standing on 1 leg on a line with eyes closed, standing on 1 leg on a balance beam with eyes open, standing heel-to-toe on a balance beam, and walking forward heel-to-toe on a line, showed a strong correlation with their receptive and expressive language performance (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The current study has indicated that significantly poor manual and balance performances are associated with poor speech perception and language skills in children with ABI. The authors recommend performing a vestibular assessment before and after ABI surgery and the use of a holistic rehabilitation approach, including auditory and vestibular rehabilitation, to support development of the children with ABI.
Local elites, civil resistance, and the responsiveness of rebel governance in Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: van Baalen Sebastian
Published: January 2021

Why is rebel governance more responsive in some areas than in others? In recent years, scholars have started to examine the determinants of rebel governance. Less attention has been given to explaining variation in the responsiveness of rebel governance, that is, the degree to which rebels are soliciting and acting upon civilian preferences in their governance. This article seeks to address this gap by studying local variation in rebel responsiveness. I argue that rebel responsiveness is a function of whether local elites control clientelist networks that allow them to mobilize local citizens. Strong clientelist networks are characterized by local elite control over resources and embeddedness in local authority structures. In turn, such networks shape local elites’ capacity for mobilizing support for, or civil resistance against, the rebels, and hence their bargaining power in negotiations over rebel governance. Drawing on unique interview and archival data collected during eight months of fieldwork, as well as existing survey data, the study tests the argument through a systematic comparison of four areas held by the Forces Nouvelles in Côte d’Ivoire. The analysis indicates that the strength of local elites’ clientelist networks shapes rebel responsiveness. Moreover, it provides support for the theorized civil resistance mechanism, and shows that this mechanism is further enhanced by ethnopolitical ties between civilians and rebels. These findings speak to the burgeoning literature on rebel governance and to research on civil resistance. In addition, the results inform policy debates on how to protect civilians in civil war.
Residential Institutions Redress Board of the Irish Government 2002–2018
Authors: Bradley John
Published: January 2021

In 1999, the Irish Government commissioned a report into the abuse of children who were in the care of facilities managed and run under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church in the Irish Republic in the 1940s and 1950s. It reported in 2009. A Redress Board was set up to investigate and compensate claimants who were abused physically and mentally as children when living in these facilities. The Board sat for 16 years. In total, 16,650 applications were processed with awards worth €970 million. Of these, 1069 applications were withdrawn, refused or had a nil award. This report on work of the Commission and the Board derives from the histories given and the expert assessment of 19 claimants for compensation. Their ages ranged between 47 and 72 years at the time of the expert’s assessment.
Learning upended: How Americans experienced the shift to remote instruction
Authors: Elgart Mark A.
Published: January 2021

In spring 2020, schools had to swiftly shift to remate instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cognia surveyed more than 74,000 students, parents, and teachers in the organization’s network about their experiences with the transition. Based on their findings, Mark Elgart says that educators must be attentive to four challenges common to online instruction: maintaining rigor, providing routines, preserving relationships, and ensuring resources are available.
Numerical simulation of second-order initial-value problems using a new class of variable coefficients and two-step semi-hybrid methods
Authors: Shokri Ali , Mehdizadeh Khalsaraei Mohammad , Mohammad-Sedighi Hamid , Atashyar Ali
Published: January 2021

In this paper, a new family of two-step semi-hybrid schemes of the 12th algebraic order is proposed for the numerical simulation of initial-value problems of second-order ordinary differential equations. The proposed methods are symmetric and belong to the family of multiderivative methods. Each method of the new family appears to be hybrid, but after implementing the hybrid terms, it will continue as a multiderivative method. Therefore, the designation semi-hybrid is used. The consistency, convergence, stability, and periodicity of the methods are investigated and analyzed. In order to show the accuracy, consistency, convergence, and stability of the proposed family, it was tested on some well-known problems, such as the undamped Duffing’s equation. The simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and advantages of the proposed method compared to the currently available methods.
Dual-functional SFP/PAN based nano drug release system for treatment and nutrients
Authors: Han Ling , Ma Yingbo , Dou Hao , Fan Wei
Published: January 2021

Nano drug delivery systems can control the ordered release of drugs. To achieve the target of supplying therapeutics and nutrients at the same time, a novel nano drug delivery system with a core–shell structure was prepared by coaxial electrospinning. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) has been used to produce a drug release scaffold in the shell section, mixed with absorbable silk fibroin peptide (SFP) as a nutrient. Ciprofloxacin (CPFX), a broad-spectrum antibiotic, was used as the core, as well as an antibacterial agent. Owing to its low molecular weight, using a pure SFP thin solution to manufacture nanofibers by electrospinning is still technically challenging. Thus, different ratios of PAN to SFP were used in the shell electrospinning solution. In this research, a novel nano dual-functionality drug delivery system has been successfully prepared. In vitro testing demonstrated that nanofibers could supply more nutrients with increasing SFP in shell solutions; however, the ability to maintain controlled release was reduced. It was found that the nanofiber membrane had the best controlled drug release capability for a PAN-to-SFP mass ratio of 95:5. Overall, most ciprofloxacin was released in the first 12 h, while the release of SFP was constant throughout the first 24 h. Our modeling demonstrated that the release of CPFX and SFP is best described using a first-order kinetic model. The developed drug delivery system is designed to release antimicrobial drugs in a controlled manner and provide absorbable nutrients simultaneously.
That Wasn’t My Reality: Counter-Narratives of Educational Success as East St. Louis’ Educators “Reimagine” Savage Inequalities
Authors: Rivers Ishwanzya D. , D. Patton Lori , Farmer-Hinton Raquel L. , Lewis Joi D.
Published: January 2021

East St. Louis educators provide critical counter-narratives to Jonathan Kozol’s depiction of teaching and learning in East St. Louis, Illinois in Savage Inequalities. Teachers, educators, and administrators provide a complex view of urban schooling beyond deficiency, inadequacy, and despair. Findings highlight educators’ voices as they privilege “unnamed” forms of capital (such as aspirational, navigational, social, familial, and resistant) identified by Yosso (2005) that influence their practices. Ultimately, this study provides a comprehensive and unfettered account of the meaning of teaching and learning in urban communities.
“A Great Injustice”: Urban Capitalism and the Limits of Freedom in Nineteenth-Century New York City
Authors: Manevitz Alexander
Published: January 2021

Seneca Village was the largest African American landowning community in New York City until it was destroyed to build Central Park. Although it has largely been overlooked, Seneca Village reframes the early history of American capitalism at the intersection of race, freedom, and urban development, diversifying the narrative to place African American city-dwellers as actors at the center of the narrative. Real estate capitalism made Seneca Village possible, with residents using it as a means to social, political, and economic advancement, but it also destroyed Seneca Village. That paradox reveals how an emerging American urban commercial capitalism consolidated power in places Seneca Villagers could not access even when they tried. These men and women played critical, yet unacknowledged, roles as the whole nation struggled to navigate multiple visions of capitalism, their inherent inequalities, and their implications for the future.
“And How Pretty They Are!”: Lawn Tennis, Tourism, and Gender Relations at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 1880s-1920s
Authors: Lake Robert J.
Published: January 2021

In the four decades straddling the turn of the nineteenth century, the small Ontario town of Niagara-on-the-Lake experienced marked growth in its tourism industry. Catering predominantly to wealthy upper-middle-class Canadian and American visitors, the lake-side settlement offered numerous opportunities for polite recreation. Chief among them was lawn tennis, a sport that sat somewhat outside of the mainstream in terms of its high-class, mixed-sex participation demographic. While its players were imbued with a strong amateur philosophy, local boosters recognized the sport’s potential to generate tourism income through its two tournaments, but this hinged on the outward presentation among its players/guests of refined gentility—a reflection of both class and gender—both on and off the court. This article considers how lawn tennis tournaments fit into the town’s burgeoning tourism industry, and examines gender relations—particularly the role of women—in relation to this development.
Paul the Trojan Horse: The Legacy of Triumph in Philippians
Authors: Flexsenhar Michael
Published: January 2021

This article describes the use of Philippians in triumphalist narratives about the rise of Christianity. Outlining the place of two key terms in the reception history of the letter – praetorium (Phil. 1.13) and ‘Caesar’s household’ (Phil. 4.22) – the article critiques the underlying assumptions and ideologies that have often guided its interpretation, focusing especially on the use of canonical Acts. A brief survey of the evidence for these two key terms in their original context – literary, epigraphic, lexicographical – suggests new interpretive possibilities for understanding Paul’s life and letter.
Mental health and death in custody: the Angiolini Review
Authors: Bruce-Jones Eddie
Published: January 2021

The author discusses the findings and recommendations of the first official review of practices and processes relating to and following police-related deaths in the UK. Dame Elish Angiolini’s 2017 report paid particular notice to mental health implications and the impact on families who had lost loved ones. Excerpts are provided here of remarks by Deborah Coles (of INQUEST) and Marcia Rigg (of the United Families and Friends Campaign) at the report’s launch – focusing on the call for automatic legal aid for families at inquests and the end to police conferring after an incident. Though not an abolitionist text, the author points to certain recommendations which could lead to less and less dangerous policing of vulnerable communities.
Understanding Google Location History as a Tool for Travel Diary Data Acquisition
Authors: Cools Dillan , McCallum Scott Christian , Rainham Daniel , Taylor Nathan , Patterson Zachary
Published: January 2021

Understanding human mobility within urban settings is fundamental for urban and transport planning. Travel demand modeling and planning typically rely on data that are collected from large-scale household travel surveys (i.e., origin–destination surveys) and compiled into single- or multiple-day travel diaries. The laborious task of collecting these data has left traditional methods with numerous limitations, resulting in significant trade-offs in regard to accuracy, sample size, and study duration, while also being vulnerable to reporting and transcription error. Rising mobile phone ownership has provided opportunities to acquire expansive cellular network data from service providers and location-based service data through smartphone applications. At the same time, the Google Maps smartphone application provides built-in infrastructure that can passively collect detailed location information from user smartphone devices. The resulting data are known as Google location history (GLH). To better understand the potential of these data offerings in transportation modeling and planning, GLH data passively collected from five different smartphones following prescribed itineraries over 12 days was evaluated. As 51% of 934 locations and 32% of 888 trips were matched to the pre-determined travel diary data, it was determined that GLH data does not currently appear to be an adequate tool for travel diary data collection. On average, locations that were missed by GLH were shorter (mean of 355 s), whereas locations that were identified were longer (mean of 762 s).
Selective Atrophy of the Vastus Medialis: Does It Exist in Women With Nontraumatic Patellofemoral Pain?
Authors: Ho Kai-Yu , Chen Yu-Jen , Farrokhi Shawn , Tsai Liang-Ching , Liao Tzu-Chieh , Haas Nicole , Powers Christopher M.
Published: January 2021

Background:

A commonly cited theory related to the pathomechanics of patellofemoral pain (PFP) states that atrophy of the vastus medialis (VM) muscle leads to lateral tracking of the patella. However, isolated atrophy of the VM or atrophy of the quadriceps muscle group as a whole, has not been consistently reported in this population.

Purpose:

To compare individual and total quadriceps muscle volumes between women with nontraumatic PFP and women without PFP as measured on magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

A total of 52 women with nontraumatic PFP and 64 women without PFP between the ages of 18 and 45 years participated. Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the thigh were obtained from the anterior inferior iliac spine to the tibial plateau. Individual quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area measurements were obtained from each image, and muscle volumes for the VM, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and rectus femoris were calculated. Muscle volume measurements were expressed in absolute values and normalized to body mass. Separate 2-way mixed-factorial analysis of variance (group × muscle) were used to compare absolute and normalized individual muscle volumes between groups. Independent t tests were used to compare absolute and normalized total quadriceps volumes between groups.

Results:

There was no difference in absolute and normalized individual muscle volumes between individuals with and those without PFP. Additionally, absolute and normalized total muscle volumes did not differ between groups.

Conclusion:

Our findings do not support the concept of preferential atrophy of the VM or generalized quadriceps atrophy in women with nontraumatic PFP.
“We Are Resilient, We Made It to This Point”: A Study of the Lived Experiences of Older LGBTQ2S+ Canadians
Authors: Stinchcombe Arne , Kortes-Miller Katherine , Wilson Kimberley
Published: January 2021

Promoting health and well-being for older adults is a priority among many jurisdictions worldwide. Canada’s population is aging and becoming increasingly diverse; one axis of a diverse aging population is aging members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S+) communities. We sought to examine the lived experiences of older LGBTQ2S+ people in Canada to understand the barriers and facilitators to healthy aging among members of these communities. A total of 10 focus groups were held in 10 cities from across Canada. Sixty-one older LGBTQ2S+ people (Mean age = 67) participated in the study. Data were analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Through analysis, we identified themes related to the importance of community capacity, resources, resilience, and personal histories in shaping aging experiences. The findings highlight the importance acknowledging diverse sexual and gender identities and the role of the life course in developing and implementing approaches that promote healthy aging.
Living with Autonomy: Public Perceptions of an AI-Mediated Future
Authors: Kassens-Noor Eva , Wilson Mark , Kotval-Karamchandani Zeenat , Cai Meng , Decaminada Travis
Published: January 2021

The arrival of autonomous systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) offers new possibilities for life, yet the focus tends to be more on the technology than the people it serves. Planners should consider the likely reception awaiting emerging intelligent systems. Using an online survey of 3,249 faculty, staff, and students at a major research university, we tested perceptions of autonomy, including domotics and autonomous vehicles. Embracing the new technology with variations in attitude associated with age, gender, and familiarity with new technology, people’s openness to AI-enabled devices applies if they remain a tool to support work and not replace human-centered interactions.
Drivers of Infectious Disease Seasonality: Potential Implications for COVID-19
Authors: Kronfeld-Schor N. , Stevenson T. J. , Nickbakhsh S. , Schernhammer E. S. , Dopico X. C. , Dayan T. , Martinez M. , Helm B.
Published: January 2021

Not 1 year has passed since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since its emergence, great uncertainty has surrounded the potential for COVID-19 to establish as a seasonally recurrent disease. Many infectious diseases, including endemic human coronaviruses, vary across the year. They show a wide range of seasonal waveforms, timing (phase), and amplitudes, which differ depending on the geographical region. Drivers of such patterns are predominantly studied from an epidemiological perspective with a focus on weather and behavior, but complementary insights emerge from physiological studies of seasonality in animals, including humans. Thus, we take a multidisciplinary approach to integrate knowledge from usually distinct fields. First, we review epidemiological evidence of environmental and behavioral drivers of infectious disease seasonality. Subsequently, we take a chronobiological perspective and discuss within-host changes that may affect susceptibility, morbidity, and mortality from infectious diseases. Based on photoperiodic, circannual, and comparative human data, we not only identify promising future avenues but also highlight the need for further studies in animal models. Our preliminary assessment is that host immune seasonality warrants evaluation alongside weather and human behavior as factors that may contribute to COVID-19 seasonality, and that the relative importance of these drivers requires further investigation. A major challenge to predicting seasonality of infectious diseases are rapid, human-induced changes in the hitherto predictable seasonality of our planet, whose influence we review in a final outlook section. We conclude that a proactive multidisciplinary approach is warranted to predict, mitigate, and prevent seasonal infectious diseases in our complex, changing human-earth system.
Attitudes Towards School Violence: A Qualitative Study With Spanish Children
Authors: López David Pina , Llor-Esteban Bartolomé , Ruiz-Hernández Jose Antonio , Luna-Maldonado Aurelio , Puente-López Esteban
Published: January 2021

School violence is a social issue of particular interest both for intervention and research. Attitudes towards violence have been reported in the literature as relevant variables for evaluation, prevention, and intervention in this field. This study aims to examine in-depth attitudes toward school violence. The sample consists of 96 participants from Spanish Elementary Education and Compulsory Secondary Education schools. A qualitative study was conducted through focus groups and thematic analysis of the data. The results identify a habitual set of attitudes towards violence in children. These are related to violence as a way to feel better or increase self-esteem, as leisure or fun, perceived as legitimate, when violence is exercised against those who are different, when it has no consequences, to resolve conflicts, to socialize, and to attract the attention of peers. These results could serve as a basis for the creation of evaluation tools, as well as the design of prevention and intervention plans based on attitude modification.
Study on decomposition and calculation method of EPS assist characteristic curve
Authors: Guan Xin , Zhang Yu-Ning , Duan Chun-Guang , Yong Wen-Liang , Lu Ping-Ping
Published: January 2021

Steering feel is closely related to the matching of the EPS assist characteristic curve, however, due to the lack of theoretical basis for the design of the EPS assist characteristic curve, the steering feel can only be changed indirectly by adjusting the magnitude of assist, which is very difficult. To control steering feel directly and reduce the difficulty of adjustment, this paper proposes a decomposition and calculation method of the EPS assist characteristic curve. At first, the mechanism of the EPS assist characteristic curve is revealed. It is found that the process of designing and adjusting the EPS assist characteristic curve is a process of changing the corresponding relationship between the steering wheel torque and the steering motion intensity based on considering vehicle dynamic characteristics. On this basis, the driver’s desired steering motion intensity and the pinion angle position are taken as intermediate variables, the EPS assist characteristic curve is decomposed into three parts: driving style, steady-state inverse characteristics of chassis dynamics, and steady-state inverse characteristics of steering system dynamics. According to the designed driving style and the calibrated steady-state inverse characteristics of chassis dynamics and steering system dynamics, the EPS assist characteristic curve can be directly calculated. The test results show that the EPS system adopting assist characteristic curve calculated can realize the designed driving style and provide consistent and controllable steering feel on the premise of meeting the requirements of steering portability and road feel.