bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From rolling without slipping to sweet spots
Authors: Twu Yau-Jong
Published: February 2020

An interesting and tricky topic in rotational dynamics is the friction acting on an object that is rolling without slipping. Lessons on friction and rolling without slipping can also lend themselves to discussions on sweet spots, which are often approached through the center of percussion or vibration nodes.
Complete Genome Sequences of Seven New Chrysodeixis includens Nucleopolyhedrovirus Isolates from Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso States in Brazil
Authors: Craveiro Saluana R. , Inglis Peter W. , Monteiro Laura Lisieux S. , Santos Luis Arthur V. M. , Togawa Roberto C. , Ribeiro Zilda Maria A. , Ribeiro Bergmann M. , Castro Maria Elita B.
Published: February 2020

We report the complete genomic sequences of seven viral isolates from the soybean looper (
Chrysodeixis includens
) from midwestern and southeastern Brazil. The genomes range from 138,760 to 139,637 bp in length with a G+C content of 39.2% and 140 open reading frames (ORFs).
Complete Genome Sequences of Five Human Coronavirus NL63 Strains Causing Respiratory Illness in Hospitalized Children in China
Authors: Zhang Lu , Gan Mian , Zhang Zhaoyong , Li Xin , Liu Wenkuan , Zhu Airu , Sun Jing , Li Fang , Wang Yanqun , Zhang Fuchun , Zhao Jingxian , Zhou Rong , Zhao Jincun
Published: February 2020

We report the complete genome sequences of five human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) strains obtained using next-generation sequencing. The five HCoV-NL63 strains were obtained from hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infection detected in Guangdong, China. This study provides several complete genomes of HCoV-NL63 and improves our understanding of HCoV-NL63 evolution in China.
Dorsalis pedis artery aneurysm
Authors: Nolan Fiona C , Bourke Mike , Kenny Avril , Moloney Tony
Published: February 2020

Aneurysm of the pedal arteries is uncommon. Dorsalis pedis aneurysms are a clinically rare phenomenon. We present a case of traumatic fusiform aneurysm of the dorsalis pedis artery in an otherwise well 53-year-old Caucasian man. Initial history was suggestive of micro-embolic disease to the medial toes of the left foot and on examination pulses were palpable throughout the lower limbs with a strong, palpable dorasalis pedis pulse. Ankle brachial pressure indexes were normal but reduced toe pressures to the left toes. Colour flow duplex imaging revealed aneurysmal dilation, involving all layers of artery wall, with irregular intraluminal thrombus across a 16-mm segment. Subsequent CTA run-off revealed all vessels were patent in the left lower limb. Due to concerns over further embolisation, our patient underwent successful ligation of the his dorsalis pedis. He had an uneventful post-operative recovery.
Clinical findings in a group of patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) outside of Wuhan, China: retrospective case series
Authors: Xu Xiao-Wei , Wu Xiao-Xin , Jiang Xian-Gao , Xu Kai-Jin , Ying Ling-Jun , Ma Chun-Lian , Li Shi-Bo , Wang Hua-Ying , Zhang Sheng , Gao Hai-Nv , Sheng Ji-Fang , Cai Hong-Liu , Qiu Yun-Qing , Li Lan-Juan
Published: February 2020

Objective

To study the clinical characteristics of patients in Zhejiang province, China, infected with the 2019 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-2019).

Design

Retrospective case series.

Setting

Seven hospitals in Zhejiang province, China.

Participants

62 patients admitted to hospital with laboratory confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection. Data were collected from 10 January 2020 to 26 January 2020.

Main outcome measures

Clinical data, collected using a standardised case report form, such as temperature, history of exposure, incubation period. If information was not clear, the working group in Hangzhou contacted the doctor responsible for treating the patient for clarification.

Results

Of the 62 patients studied (median age 41 years), only one was admitted to an intensive care unit, and no patients died during the study. According to research, none of the infected patients in Zhejiang province were ever exposed to the Huanan seafood market, the original source of the virus; all studied cases were infected by human to human transmission. The most common symptoms at onset of illness were fever in 48 (77%) patients, cough in 50 (81%), expectoration in 35 (56%), headache in 21 (34%), myalgia or fatigue in 32 (52%), diarrhoea in 3 (8%), and haemoptysis in 2 (3%). Only two patients (3%) developed shortness of breath on admission. The median time from exposure to onset of illness was 4 days (interquartile range 3-5 days), and from onset of symptoms to first hospital admission was 2 (1-4) days.

Conclusion

As of early February 2020, compared with patients initially infected with SARS-Cov-2 in Wuhan, the symptoms of patients in Zhejiang province are relatively mild.
Effects of individual, family and community factors on the willingness of institutional elder care: a cross-sectional survey of the elderly in China
Authors: Wang Zhaoqing , Xing Yanan , Yan Wenxin , Sun Xinran , Zhang Xueying , Huang Shuang , Li Li
Published: February 2020

Objective

To investigate the effects of the willingness to live in elder care institutions associated with individual factors, family environment and the community environment in the elderly in China.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting

Heilongjiang Province, China.

Participants

A total of 1003 elderly people were selected through multistage sampling in Heilongjiang Province.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

A multistage, stratified sampling design was employed. Differences in health status, family environment and community environment of the respondents were compared with the t-test and χ2 test. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess key determinants of willingness to live in institutions.

Results

This study showed that 45.4% of respondents were willing to live in elder care institutions in the future. Factors influencing willingness to live in elder care institutions were age, house ownership, living with spouse and children, disease caregivers and availability of home healthcare services. The elders who had no property (OR=2.37, 95% CI 1.750 to 3.200, p<0.01) and those aged 80 or above (OR=2.25, 95% CI 1.490 to 3.400, p<0.01) were, respectively, 2.370 and 2.250 times more receptive to living in elder care institutions than their control groups. However, those living with a spouse (OR=0.47, 95% CI 0.287 to 0.762, p<0.01), living with children (OR=0.25, 95% CI 0.158 to 0.402, p<0.01) or living with a spouse and children (OR=0.29, 95% CI 0.160 to 0.509, p<0.01) were less willing to live in elder care institutions.

Conclusions

These results suggest that the willingness to enter elder care institutions is affected by individual, family environmental and community environmental factors. We should vigorously develop community-centred intensive home-based elder care services by improving the quality and availability of home health services by expanding investment in the community.
Experiences of people taking opioid medication for chronic non-malignant pain: a qualitative evidence synthesis using meta-ethnography
Authors: Nichols Vivien P , Toye Francine , Eldabe Sam , Sandhu Harbinder Kaur , Underwood Martin , Seers Kate
Published: February 2020

Objective

To review qualitative studies on the experience of taking opioid medication for chronic non-malignant pain (CNMP) or coming off them.

Design

This is a qualitative evidence synthesis using a seven-step approach from the methods of meta-ethnography.

Data sources and eligibility criteria

We searched selected databases—Medline, Embase, AMED, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Scopus (Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index)—for qualitative studies which provide patients’ views of taking opioid medication for CNMP or of coming off them (June 2017, updated September 2018).

Data extraction and synthesis

Papers were quality appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool, and the GRADE-CERQual (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation working group - Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) guidelines were applied. We identified concepts and iteratively abstracted these concepts into a line of argument.

Results

We screened 2994 unique citations and checked 153 full texts, and 31 met our review criteria. We identified five themes: (1) reluctant users with little choice; (2) understanding opioids: the good and the bad; (3) a therapeutic alliance: not always on the same page; (4) stigma: feeling scared and secretive but needing support; and (5) the challenge of tapering or withdrawal. A new overarching theme of ‘constantly balancing’ emerged from the data.

Conclusions

People taking opioids were constantly balancing tensions, not always wanting to take opioids, and weighing the pros and cons of opioids but feeling they had no choice because of the pain. They frequently felt stigmatised, were not always ‘on the same page’ as their healthcare professional and felt changes in opioid use were often challenging.

Trial registration number

49470934; Pre-results.
Accuracy of the general practitioner’s sense of alarm when confronted with dyspnoea and/or chest pain: a prospective observational study
Authors: Barais Marie , Fossard Emilie , Dany Antoine , Montier Tristan , Stolper Erik , Van Royen Paul
Published: February 2020

Objectives

Dyspnoea and chest pain are symptoms shared with multiple pathologies ranging from the benign to life-threatening diseases. A Gut Feelings Questionnaire (GFQ) has been validated to measure the general practitioner’s (GPs) sense of alarm or sense of reassurance. The aim of the study was to estimate the diagnostic test accuracy of GPs’ sense of alarm when confronted with dyspnoea and chest pain.

Design and settings

Prospective observational study in general practice.

Participants

Patients aged between 18 and 80 years, consulting their GP for dyspnoea and/or chest pain, were considered for enrolment. These GPs had to complete the GFQ immediately after the consultation.

Primary outcome measures

Life-threatening and non-life-threatening diseases have previously been defined according to the pathologies or symptoms in the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC)-2 classification. The index test was the sense of alarm and the reference standard was the final diagnosis at 4 weeks.

Results

25 GPs filled in 235 GFQ questionnaires. The positive likelihood ratio for the sense of alarm was 2.12 (95% CI 1.49 to 2.82), the negative likelihood ratio was 0.55 (95% CI 0.37 to 0.77).

Conclusions

Where the physician experienced a sense of alarm when a patient consulted him/her for dyspnoea and/or chest pain, the post-test odds that this patient had, in fact, a life-threatening disease was about twice as high as the pretest odds.

Trial registration number

NCT02932982.
Adherence to healthy lifestyles and incidence of diabetes and mortality among individuals with diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies
Authors: Schlesinger Sabrina , Neuenschwander Manuela , Ballon Aurélie , Nöthlings Ute , Barbaresko Janett
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Lifestyle factors in combination have been hypothesised to be associated with the prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and mortality among individuals with T2D. The aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the association between lifestyle indices and incident T2D as well as mortality in individuals with T2D.

Methods

PubMed and Web of Science were searched up to September 2019. We included prospective cohort studies investigating at least three lifestyle factors in association with T2D, or all-cause mortality in individuals with diabetes. We conducted pairwise and dose-response meta-analyses to calculate summary relative risks (SRR) by using random effects model.

Results

In total, 19 studies were included. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle (mostly favourable diet, physical activity, non-smoking, moderate alcohol intake and normal weight) was associated with a reduced SRR of 78% for T2D (SRR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.32; n=14) and 57% for mortality (SRR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.58; n=5) compared with low adherence to a healthy lifestyle. In dose-response analyses, the adherence to every additional healthy lifestyle factor was associated with a reduced relative risk of 32% (95% CI: 28% to 36%) for T2D and 21% (95% CI: 15% to 26%) for mortality.

Conclusions

Our findings underline the importance of the joint adherence to healthy lifestyle factors to prevent T2D and improve survival among individuals with diabetes. Adherence to every additional health lifestyle factor play a role in the T2D prevention and progression.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42018091409.
Antibacterial and antibiofilm effects of α-humulene against Bacteroides fragilis
Authors: Jang Hye-In , Rhee Ki-Jong , Eom Yong-Bin
Published: February 2020

The rapid increase in antibiotic resistance has prompted the discovery of drugs that reduce antibiotic resistance or new drugs that are an alternative to antibiotics. Plant extracts have health benefits and may also exhibit antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against pathogens. This study determined the antibacterial and antibiofilm effects of α-humulene extracted from plants against enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, which causes inflammatory bowel disease. The minimum inhibitory concentration and biofilm inhibitory concentration of α-humulene for B. fragilis were 2 μg/mL, and the biofilm eradication concentration was in the range of 8–32 μg/mL. The XTT reduction assay confirmed that the cellular metabolic activity in biofilm rarely occurred at the concentration of 8–16 μg/mL. In addition, biofilm inhibition by α-humulene was also detected via confocal laser scanning microcopy. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was also used to investigate the effect of α-humulene on the expression of resistance–nodulation–cell division type multidrug efflux pump genes (bmeB1 and bmeB3). According to the results of qPCR, α-humulene significantly reduced the expression of bmeB1 and bmeB3 genes. This study demonstrates the potential therapeutic application of α-humulene for inhibiting the growth of B. fragilis cells and biofilms, and it expands the knowledge about biofilm medicine.
Crop scouting using UAV imagery: a case study for potatoes
Authors: Théau Jérôme , Gavelle Erwan , Ménard Patrick
Published: February 2020

Crop scouting is essential to manage crops such as potatoes and to detect stresses. In fact, conventional approaches require a lot of time and staff. The rise of unmanned aerial vehicle imagery offers interesting perspectives in this area. However, the development of interpreted and generalizable cartographic products that can be used directly by producers still poses challenges in terms of processing complexity and production time. The purpose of this study was to develop a tool for the phytosanitary surveillance of potato crops using scouting maps in support of conventional methods. The approach is based on relatively simple and efficient preprocessing methods when no radiometric correction data are available. The first step establishes the best correlations between some biophysical parameters directly related to phytosanitary problems and vegetation indices in the visible and infrared domains. The second step allows the development of an approach to classify the following three stresses: pests, diseases, and development problems. Validated by scouting field sites, the developed approach makes it possible to quickly produce accurate scouting maps that producers can use directly thanks to their high potential for generalization to other areas and crop productions.
Leverage effects of financial markets in financial crisis
Authors: Li Jin , Shao Zhi-Gang
Published: February 2020

We have investigated the leverage effects of three major financial markets within a time frame from 2000 to 2012 throughout the 2008 financial crisis. First, dividing the considered time into four consecutive periods, we find the leverage effects of markets exhibiting similar pattern at various periods. Second, splitting the yield data into the positive-return and negative-return series, we find these two series always show anti-leverage effect. The anti-leverage effect of negative-return series usually dominates over the positive one, reflecting people at most times are more sensitive to bad news. However, we observe anomalous behavior in approaching the outbreak of crisis, where the positive-return series shows stronger anti-leverage effect, i.e. people become more sensitive to good news instead. Such phenomenology can persist till after the crisis for an immature market, as opposed to a mature market where it disappears before the end of crisis without external intervene. Our results afford insight into the micro-emotion of various financial markets swept through by the financial crisis.
Numerical simulation of blood flow in intracranial aneurysms treated by endovascular Woven EndoBridge technique
Authors: Sharifi Alireza , Deyranlou Amin , Moghadam Mohammad Charjouei , Niazmand Hamid
Published: February 2020

Over the past few decades, different therapeutic methods for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms have been developed. During recent years, novel standalone intrasaccular Woven EndoBridge (WEB) technique has paved the way for efficient therapy and reduced some deficiencies in prior procedures. Blood hemodynamics plays a crucial role in occurrence and perpetuating of aneurysm; therefore, understanding of relevant parameters can lead to a better treatment and evolution of design. Objectively, this paper has established the first mathematical framework to explore hemodynamic parameters for WEB-treated saccular aneurysms by employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Two ideal models of artery — one is suffered by a bifurcation aneurysm at Basilar Artery (BA) and another Posterior Cerebral Artery (PCA) aneurysm — are selected. Simulations are performed for an untreated and three WEB-treated aneurysms by Dual Layer (DL), Single Layer (SL) and Single Layer Sphere (SLS) WEBs. Results demonstrate that, generally, the WEB reduces flow intrusion and circulation inside the aneurysm sac, which leads to lowering WSS; however, the infiltrated flow to the WEB causes slight increase in intrasaccular pressure. Moreover, the numerical results show that the WEB DL reduces velocity and WSS, and elevates pressure inside the sac more than the WEBs SL and SLS. Among the explored WEB models (DL, SL and SLS), by assuming thorough binding at the aneurysm neck, the WEB DL demonstrates much efficient performance in flow diversion from the aneurysm, while despite the different structure of WEBs SL and SLS, they perform similarly.
Computational study of the cavity flow over sharp nose cone in supersonic flow
Authors: Pish F. , Manh Tran Dinh , Gerdroodbary M. Barzegar , Nam Nguyen Dang , Moradi Rasoul , Babazadeh Houman
Published: February 2020

Heat and drag reduction on the nose cone is a significant issue for increasing the speed of the supersonic vehicles. In this paper, computational fluid dynamic method is applied to investigate the thermal and drag coefficient on the sharp nose cone with different cavity shapes. In order to simulate our model, the CFD method with SST turbulence model is applied to study the flow feature and temperature distribution in the vicinity of the nose body. The effect of depth and length of the cavity on the thermal characteristic of the nose cone is comprehensively investigated. In addition, the influence of the number of the cavity in the thermal performance of the main body is studied. According to our results, increasing the length of the cavity highly efficient for the reduction of the drag at Mach = 3. As the Mach number is increased to 3, the number of the cavity becomes a significant role and it is observed that case 9 with four cavities is more efficient. Obtained results also show that increasing the cavity depth declines the temperature on the main body. Our findings confirm that the main source of the expansion is the edge of the cavity.
SHARI’AH ORIENTED PRECIOUS METAL BACKED CRYPTOCURRENCY: FROM SHARI’AH ADVISORS’ AND FINANCIAL EXPERTS’ PERCEPTIONS
Authors: AJOUZ MOUSA , ABDULLAH ADAM , KASSIM SALINA
Published: February 2020

The suitability of assets-backed money has been the subject of considerable debate, although hampered in part by lack of theoretical and empirical evidence. Therefore, the motivation of this research is to investigate the perceptions of Shari’ah scholars and financial experts on the concepts and salient features of Shari’ah-compliant precious metal backed crypto-currency (PMC). To achieve this, this study adopted a qualitative method using semi-structured interview based on saturation technique. The results from Shari’ah advisors and financial experts indicated that the informants have differences of views on the assets-backed money, but they agreed that it ensures stability of money and adding the cryptocurrency technology is found to be desirable and recommendable. It is also found that PMC would be subjected to financial regulation challenges and using blockchain technology will increase the transparency. The informants agreed that PMC is closer to Maqāsid al-Shari’ah and there is some form of justice and equality compared to the current interest-based financial system. Therefore, the informants recommended the implementation of PMC.
Pair creation in curved Snyder space
Authors: Hamil B. , Merad M. , Birkandan T.
Published: February 2020

We study the problem of pair creation of scalar particles by an electric field in curved Snyder space. We find exact solutions for the Klein–Gordon equation with a constant electric field in terms of hypergeometric functions. Then we calculate the pair creation probability and the number of created pairs of particles through Bogoliubov transformation technique.
A fast technique for calculating master stability function
Authors: Panahi Shirin , Jafari Sajad
Published: February 2020

Investigating the stability of the synchronization manifold is a critical topic in the field of complex dynamical networks. Master stability function (MSF) is known as a powerful and efficient tool for the study of synchronization in complex identical networks. The network can be synchronized whenever the MSF is negative. MSF uses the Lyapunov or Floquet exponent theory to determine the stability of the synchronization state. Both of these methods need extensive numerical simulation and a long computational time. In this paper, a new approach to calculate MSF is proposed. The accuracy of the results and time of simulations are tested on seven different known oscillators and also compared with the conventional methods of MSF. The results show that the proposed technique is faster and more efficient than the existing methods.
Transient dynamic analysis of a pump-turbine with hysteresis effect
Authors: Guo Peng-Cheng , Zhang Hao , Sun Long-Gang
Published: February 2020

Hysteresis effect, which has a significant impact on transient characteristics of a pump-turbine, attracts more and more researchers’ attention and shows great potential. Influences of hysteresis on dynamic characteristics of a pump-turbine are investigated during the transient process in this paper. Transient trajectories of pump-turbines actually do not match their static operation trajectories, especially in the condition of turbine braking. In order to establish a transient model of a pump-turbine in different moving directions of dynamic trajectories, time delays among the relative parameters are introduced in this paper. Furthermore, effects of hysteresis on the dynamic characteristics of the pump-turbine are analyzed in detail by using numerical simulation. Based on the established transient model, influences of unit head on the dynamic characteristics of the pump-turbine are studied during the bidirectional transient process. The simulation results show the transient characteristic of the pump-turbine can be improved with the enhancement of hysteresis effect. While it gradually loses stability with the increase of hysteresis. The conclusions provide us a new approach for regulating the transient performance and stability of pump-turbines by using hysteresis effect during transient process.
Universe with quadratic equation of state: A dynamical systems perspective
Authors: Raushan Rakesh , Singh Ashutosh , Chaubey R. , Singh T.
Published: February 2020

This paper deals with the dynamical systems analysis of Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) model of the Universe in the framework of general relativity with quadratic equation of state and bulk viscosity. The evolution equations are transformed into an autonomous system of differential equations using suitable variables transformation. Stability analysis of cosmological models with quadratic equation of state parameter are discussed in detail in two different scenarios viz, first Universe filled with barotropic fluid and second filled with bulk viscous fluid. The nature of critical points is analyzed for both cases accordance with respective eigenvalues. We have also analyzed the stable attractor for both cases and examined their properties from the point of cosmological view.
Modified holographic energy density-driven inflation and some cosmological outcomes
Authors: Chakraborty Gargee , Chattopadhyay Surajit
Published: February 2020

Motivated by the work of Nojiri et al. [S. Nojiri, S. D. Odintsov and E. N. Saridakis, Holographic inflation, Phys. Lett. B 797 (2019) 134829], this study reports a model of inflation under the consideration that the inflationary regime is originated by a type of holographic energy density. The infrared cutoff has been selected based on the modified holographic model that is a particular case of Nojiri–Odintsov holographic dark energy [S. Nojiri and S. D. Odintsov, Unifying phantom inflation with late-time acceleration: Scalar phantom–non-phantom transition model and generalized holographic dark energy, Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 38 (2006) 1285] that unifies phantom inflation with the acceleration of the universe on late time. On getting an analytical solution for Hubble parameter we considered the presence of bulk viscosity and the effective equation of state parameter appeared to be consistent with inflationary scenario with some constraints. It has also being observed that in the inflationary scenario the contribution of bulk viscosity is not of much significance and its influence is increasing with the evolution of the universe. Inflationary observables have been computed for the model and the slow-roll parameters have been computed. Finally, it has been observed that the trajectories in [Formula: see text] are compatible with the observational bound found by Planck. It has been concluded that the tensor to scalar ratio for this model can explain the primordial fluctuation in the early universe as well.
Performance Enhancement of Air Cooled Heat Sink Used in Inverter Drives of Residential Air Conditioners
Authors: Lakshmanan Vignesh , Doiphode Pushpak , Samanta Indraneel
Published: February 2020

Inverter air conditioners are being widely used in the air conditioning sector for energy saving purposes. These air conditioners use an inverter or a variable frequency drive (VFD) to control the compressor operating speed based on cooling or heating load fluctuations. If the heat generated by the electronic components of the VFD is not dissipated properly, it can lead to failure of the VFD. In general, a heat sink is used for dissipating the heat generated by the electronic components of the VFD. The heat sink can be either air cooled or liquid cooled. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), this paper deals with optimization of the thermal performance of an air cooled plate-fin heat sink with rectangular fins used in a residential split inverter air conditioner. Commercially available CFD tool has been used for simulations. It has been observed that enhancing fluid flow around the heat sink and improving heat transfer area of the fins significantly improve the thermal performance of the heat sink. By using heat sink with rectangular fins having a stepped profile, it has been possible to improve the heat transfer from the baseline case by 27%. Whereas, by using hollow fins, heat transfer improvement of 20% has been achieved.
Experimental Analysis of H2O–LiBr Absorption Refrigeration System Using Al2O3 Nanoparticles
Authors: Talpada Jagdish S. , Ramana P. V.
Published: February 2020

The objective of this paper is to study the effect of nanoparticles on Coefficient of Performance (COP) and thermal load of main components (generator, condenser, evaporator and absorber) of absorption refrigeration system using H2O–LiBr. Al2O3 nanoparticles have been added into the H2O–LiBr solution to make the binary nanofluid, and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) has been used as a stabilizer. Experimentation part involves the preparation of nanofluid and tests on H2O–LiBr and H2O–LiBr with 0.05% Al2O3. The effect of nanoparticles on COP and thermal load of components has been studied by varying the operating temperatures (generator, condenser and absorber temperature) and volume fraction of nanoparticles. The results show that COP and thermal loads of system with nanoparticles at different operating temperatures are following the same trend as base fluid system. The COP of system with nanoparticles at each operating temperature is higher than base fluid system. The heat supplied to generator with nanoparticles is less than without nanoparticles while heat rejected in condenser and absorber with nanoparticles is higher than without nanoparticles at each operating temperature. The heat exchanged in evaporator with nanoparticles is also higher than that without nanoparticles at each operating temperature. We also obtained maximum COP with 0.2% volume fraction of nanoparticles.
Topological Entanglement Entropy of Black Hole Interiors
Authors: Howard Eric
Published: February 2020

Recent theoretical progress shows that ([Formula: see text]) black hole solution manifests long-range topological quantum entanglement similar to exotic non-Abelian excitations with fractional quantum statistics. In topologically ordered systems, there is a deep connection between physics of the bulk and that at the boundaries. Boundary terms play an important role in explaining the black hole entropy in general. We find several common properties between BTZ black holes and the Quantum Hall effect in ([Formula: see text])-dimensional bulk/boundary theories. We calculate the topological entanglement entropy of a ([Formula: see text]) black hole and recover the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy, showing that black hole entropy and topological entanglement entropy are related. Using Chern–Simons and Liouville theories, we find that long-range entanglement describes the interior geometry of a black hole and identify it with the boundary entropy as the bond required by the connectivity of spacetime, gluing the short-range entanglement described by the area law. The IR bulk–UV boundary correspondence can be realized as a UV low-excitation theory on the bulk matching the IR long-range excitations on the boundary theory. Several aspects of the current findings are discussed.
Single-step RT-qPCR for detection of extracellular vesicle microRNAs in vivo: a time- and cost-effective method
Authors: Lee Heedoo , He Xue , Le Trung , Carnino Jonathan M. , Jin Yang
Published: February 2020

Emerging evidence suggests that extracellular vesicle (EV)-associated microRNAs (miRNAs) are a potential diagnostic tool for liquid biopsy in various human diseases. However, the experimental procedure for the detection of EV-associated miRNAs (EV-miRNAs) from body fluids is relatively complex and not cost-effective. Due to the limited amount of EVs and EV-RNAs, a column-based RNA purification, which is an expensive approach, is often used to detect EV-miRNAs via reverse transcription–quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Here, we developed and validated a simple and cost-effective method (single-step RT-qPCR) in which we directly detect EV-miRNAs without RNA purification from the EVs. We validated this protocol using the EVs isolated from mouse broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum. The obtained EVs were first lysed in the EV-lysis buffer, followed by RT-qPCR without isolation and purification of RNAs. We successfully detected the designated miRNAs from lysed EVs; 106 to 107 EVs were optimal to detect the EV-miRNAs using the single-step RT-qPCR. In our previously published work, using the conventional RT-qPCR method, we have reported that miR-142 and -223 are dramatically upregulated in both BALF and serum EVs after lung infection. Hence, we reassessed and confirmed the level of EV-miR-142/223 using the newly developed single-step RT-qPCR. Notably, inhibition of RNase activity in the lysed EVs remains crucial for the detection of EV-miRNAs. Moreover, repeated freeze-thaw cycling significantly interferes the EV-miRNA quantification. Collectively, the single-step RT-qPCR for the detection of EV-miRNAs in vivo will potentially provide a fast, accurate, and convenient way to quantify circulating and/or body fluid-derived EV-miRNAs. This method may potentially be applied to the diagnostic blood testing used in the medical centers or research laboratories.
Derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells from ferret somatic cells
Authors: Gao Jinghui , Petraki Sophia , Sun Xingshen , Brooks Leonard A. , Lynch Thomas J. , Hsieh Chih-Lin , Elteriefi Reem , Lorenzana Zareeb , Punj Vasu , Engelhardt John F. , Parekh Kalpaj R. , Ryan Amy L.
Published: February 2020

Ferrets are an attractive mammalian model for several diseases, especially those affecting the lungs, liver, brain, and kidneys. Many chronic human diseases have been difficult to model in rodents due to differences in size and cellular anatomy. This is particularly the case for the lung, where ferrets provide an attractive mammalian model of both acute and chronic lung diseases, such as influenza, cystic fibrosis, A1A emphysema, and obliterative bronchiolitis, closely recapitulating disease pathogenesis, as it occurs in humans. As such, ferrets have the potential to be a valuable preclinical model for the evaluation of cell-based therapies for lung regeneration and, likely, for other tissues. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide a great option for provision of enough autologous cells to make patient-specific cell therapies a reality. Unfortunately, they have not been successfully created from ferrets. In this study, we demonstrate the generation of ferret iPSCs that reflect the primed pluripotent state of human iPSCs. Ferret fetal fibroblasts were reprogrammed and acquired core features of pluripotency, having the capacity for self-renewal, multilineage differentiation, and a high-level expression of the core pluripotency genes and pathways at both the transcriptional and protein level. In conclusion, we have generated ferret pluripotent stem cells that provide an opportunity for advancing our capacity to evaluate autologous cell engraftment in ferrets.
Free fatty acid receptor 3 differentially contributes to β-cell compensation under high-fat diet and streptozotocin stress
Authors: Priyadarshini Medha , Cole Connor , Oroskar Gautham , Ludvik Anton E. , Wicksteed Barton , He Congcong , Layden Brian T.
Published: February 2020

The free fatty acid receptor 3 (FFA3) is a nutrient sensor of gut microbiota-generated nutrients, the short-chain fatty acids. Previously, we have shown that FFA3 is expressed in β-cells and inhibits islet insulin secretion ex vivo. Here, we determined the physiological relevance of the above observation by challenging wild-type (WT) and FFA3 knockout (KO) male mice with 1) hyperglycemia and monitoring insulin response via highly sensitive hyperglycemic clamps, 2) dietary high fat (HF), and 3) chemical-induced diabetes. As expected, FFA3 KO mice exhibited significantly higher insulin secretion and glucose infusion rate in hyperglycemic clamps. Predictably, under metabolic stress induced by HF-diet feeding, FFA3 KO mice exhibited less glucose intolerance compared with the WT mice. Moreover, similar islet architecture and β-cell area in HF diet-fed FFA3 KO and WT mice was observed. Upon challenge with streptozotocin (STZ), FFA3 KO mice initially exhibited a tendency for an accelerated incidence of diabetes compared with the WT mice. However, this difference was not maintained. Similar glycemia and β-cell mass loss was observed in both genotypes 10 days post-STZ challenge. Higher resistance to STZ-induced diabetes in WT mice could be due to higher basal islet autophagy. However, this difference was not protective because in response to STZ, similar autophagy induction was observed in both WT and FFA3 KO islets. These data demonstrate that FFA3 plays a role in modulating insulin secretion and β-cell response to stressors. The β-cell FFA3 and autophagy link warrant further research.
Transient and sustained processing of musical consonance in auditory cortex and the effect of musicality
Authors: Andermann Martin , Patterson Roy D. , Rupp André
Published: February 2020

In recent years, electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography (MEG) have both been used to investigate the response in human auditory cortex to musical sounds that are perceived as consonant or dissonant. These studies have typically focused on the transient components of the physiological activity at sound onset, specifically, the N1 wave of the auditory evoked potential and the auditory evoked field, respectively. Unfortunately, the morphology of the N1 wave is confounded by the prominent neural response to energy onset at stimulus onset. It is also the case that the perception of pitch is not limited to sound onset; the perception lasts as long as the note producing it. This suggests that consonance studies should also consider the sustained activity that appears after the transient components die away. The current MEG study shows how energy-balanced sounds can focus the response waves on the consonance-dissonance distinction rather than energy changes and how source modeling techniques can be used to measure the sustained field associated with extended consonant and dissonant sounds. The study shows that musical dyads evoke distinct transient and sustained neuromagnetic responses in auditory cortex. The form of the response depends on both whether the dyads are consonant or dissonant and whether the listeners are musical or nonmusical. The results also show that auditory cortex requires more time for the early transient processing of dissonant dyads than it does for consonant dyads and that the continuous representation of temporal regularity in auditory cortex might be modulated by processes beyond auditory cortex.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report a magnetoencephalography (MEG) study on transient and sustained cortical consonance processing. Stimuli were long-duration, energy-balanced, musical dyads that were either consonant or dissonant. Spatiotemporal source analysis revealed specific transient and sustained neuromagnetic activity in response to the dyads; in particular, the morphology of the responses was shaped by the dyad’s consonance and the listener’s musicality. Our results also suggest that the sustained representation of stimulus regularity might be modulated by processes beyond auditory cortex.
A New Evaluation Method for Slope Stability Based on TOPSIS and MCS
Authors: Chen Wenqiang , Zhao Yufei , Liu Lipeng , Wang Xiaogang
Published: February 2020

Slope evaluation is a basic geotechnical engineering issue. The rationality of index weight greatly affects the accuracy of evaluation results in the evaluation system. Furthermore, in practical engineering, some indexes can be considered random variables obeying a certain distribution. Traditional evaluation methods of slope stability ignore the effect of this index uncertainty. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the evaluation results of slope stability reasonably by modifying the previous weighting methods and considering the uncertainty values of the indexes. A new method has been introduced to solve the problem mentioned previously based on TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). TOPSIS is used as a basic model for evaluating slope stability. TOPSIS and MCS are coupled to establish multiobjective optimization simulation model, which can search the more optimal and reliable weight. The optimal weight is then substituted into the TOPSIS basic model to calculate the status of slope stability. In this calculation process, MCS is introduced into the TOPSIS basic model to consider the uncertainty value of index. The new method of evaluating slope stability was demonstrated by taking a practical project as an example. Compared with other weighting methods, the coupled TOPSIS and MCS model can obtain the most reliable weight, and the reliability is 48.7%. Then, the evaluation of slope stability was examined with the certainty and uncertainty cases, respectively. The results demonstrate that the proposed new evaluation method is more realistic than the traditional methods for evaluating the slope stability. The new method has high accuracy and is easy to use.
Early Pregnancy Serum Metabolite Profiles Associated with Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy in African American Women: A Pilot Study
Authors: Ferranti Erin P. , Frediani Jennifer K. , Mitchell Rebecca , Fernandes Jolyn , Li Shuzhao , Jones Dean P. , Corwin Elizabeth , Dunlop Anne L.
Published: February 2020

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are the most common cardiometabolic complications of pregnancy, affecting nearly 10% of US pregnancies and contributing substantially to maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. In the US, women of African American race are at increased risk for HDP. Early biomarkers that reliably identify women at risk for HDP remain elusive, yet are essential for the early identification and targeting of interventions to improve maternal and infant outcomes. We employed high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) to identify metabolites and metabolic pathways that were altered in early (8-14 weeks) gestation serum samples of pregnant African American women who developed HDP after 20 weeks’ gestation (n=20)—either preeclampsia (PE; n=11) or gestational hypertension (gHTN; n=9)—compared to those who delivered full term without complications (n=80). We found four metabolic pathways that were significantly (p<0.05) altered in women who developed PE and five pathways that were significantly (p<0.05) altered in women who developed gHTN compared to women who delivered full term without complications. We also found that four specific metabolites (p<0.05) were distinctly upregulated (retinoate, kynurenine) or downregulated (SN-glycero-3-phosphocholine, 2′4′-dihydroxyacetophenone) in women who developed PE compared to gHTN. These findings support that there are systemic metabolic disruptions that are detectable in early pregnancy (8-14 weeks of gestation) among pregnant African American women who develop PE and gHTN. Furthermore, the early pregnancy metabolic disruptions associated with PE and gHTN are distinct, implying they are unique entities rather than conditions along a spectrum of the same disease process despite the common clinical feature of high blood pressure.
Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Hamy Mean Aggregation Operators and Their Application to Linguistic Multiple Attribute Decision-Making
Authors: Rong Yuan , Pei Zheng , Liu Yi
Published: February 2020

Linguistic aggregation operator is a paramount appliance to fix linguistic multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) issues. In the article, the Hamy mean (HM) operator is utilized to fuse hesitant fuzzy linguistic (HFL) information and several novel HFL aggregation operators including the hesitant fuzzy linguistic Hamy mean (HFLHM) operator, weighted hesitant fuzzy linguistic Hamy mean (WHFLHM) operator, hesitant fuzzy linguistic dual Hamy mean (HFLDHM) operator, and weighted hesitant fuzzy linguistic dual Hamy mean (WHFLDHM) operator are proposed. Besides, several paramount theorems and particular cases of these aggregation operators are investigated in detail, and then a novel MADM approach is presented by using the proposed aggregation operators. Ultimately, a practical example is utilized to manifest the effectiveness and practicability of the propounded method.
Antimicrobial Characterization of Erythorbyl Laurate for Practical Applications in Food and Cosmetics
Authors: Kim Jin-Woo , Yu Hyunjong , Park Kyung-Min , Chang Pahn-Shick
Published: February 2020

In this study, antimicrobial spectrum of erythorbyl laurate (EL) against bacteria and fungi, leading to food-borne and infectious skin diseases, was evaluated for its practical applications in food and cosmetics. Furthermore, the influences of environmental factors including pH, oxidative stress, and dispersion medium on antimicrobial activity of EL were investigated. The three Gram-positive bacteria and the three molds were susceptible to 3.0 mM EL, while the yeast was susceptible to 6.0 mM EL. It was demonstrated EL retained antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus after being oxidized while the antibacterial activity against the three Gram-positive bacteria including S. aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Listeria monocytogenes was significantly enhanced as decrease of pH from 7.0 to 5.0. Moreover, EL exhibited bactericidal effects against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in an oil-in-water emulsion. Treatment of 5.0 mM EL for 4 h reduced 5.29 ± 0.24, 6.01 ± 0.18, 5.95 ± 0.13, and 6.24 ± 0.30 log CFU/mL against S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, respectively. In a multipassage resistance selection study, it was observed minimum inhibitory concentrations of EL against S. aureus were not increased over 20 passages, indicating EL might not develop drug resistance of bacteria. This study suggests EL has a potential to be applied as the multifunctional additive in food and cosmetics.
An Enhanced Deep Neural Network for Predicting Workplace Absenteeism
Authors: Ali Shah Syed Atif , Uddin Irfan , Aziz Furqan , Ahmad Shafiq , Al-Khasawneh Mahmoud Ahmad , Sharaf Mohamed
Published: February 2020

Organizations can grow, succeed, and sustain if their employees are committed. The main assets of an organization are those employees who are giving it a required number of hours per month, in other words, those employees who are punctual towards their attendance. Absenteeism from work is a multibillion-dollar problem, and it costs money and decreases revenue. At the time of hiring an employee, organizations do not have an objective mechanism to predict whether an employee will be punctual towards attendance or will be habitually absent. For some organizations, it can be very difficult to deal with those employees who are not punctual, as firing may be either not possible or it may have a huge cost to the organization. In this paper, we propose Neural Networks and Deep Learning algorithms that can predict the behavior of employees towards punctuality at workplace. The efficacy of the proposed method is tested with traditional machine learning techniques, and the results indicate 90.6% performance in Deep Neural Network as compared to 73.3% performance in a single-layer Neural Network and 82% performance in Decision Tree, SVM, and Random Forest. The proposed model will provide a useful mechanism to organizations that are interested to know the behavior of employees at the time of hiring and can reduce the cost of paying to inefficient or habitually absent employees. This paper is a first study of its kind to analyze the patterns of absenteeism in employees using deep learning algorithms and helps the organization to further improve the quality of life of employees and hence reduce absenteeism.