bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Palliative care for young adults with life-limiting conditions: public health recommendations
Authors: Cook Karen A , Bergeron Kim
Published: June 2020

Objective

To engage young adults (18–35 years of age) with life-limiting neuromuscular conditions, their parents, and health and community providers in the development of a public health approach to palliative care. A public health approach protects and improves health and wellness, maximises the quality of life when health cannot be restored and improves the quality, scope and accessibility of age-appropriate care and services.

Methods

Group concept mapping (GCM) was used to determine the most important priorities for these young adults. GCM involves three district phases: (1) brainstorming ideas, (2) sorting and rating ideas based on level of importance and (3) analysing and interpreting concepts maps. Online software was used to collect information for phases 1 and 2 and develop concept maps. In phase 3, a face-to-face workshop, participants analysed and interpreted the concept maps. The combination of online and face-to-face research activities offered the needed flexibility for participants to determine when and how to participate in this research.

Results

Through this three-phase patient engagement strategy, participants generated 64 recommendations for change and determined that improvements to programming, improvements to funding and creating a continuum of care were their most important priorities. Five subthemes of these three priorities and development of the concept map are also discussed.

Conclusion

This research demonstrates the unique perspectives and experiences of these young adults and offers recommendations to improve services to enhance their health and well-being. Further, these young adults were integral in the development of recommendations for system changes to match their unique developmental needs.
Ability of triage nurses to predict, at the time of triage, the eventual disposition of patients attending the emergency department (ED): a systematic literature review and meta-analysis
Authors: Afnan Michael Anis Mihdi , Netke Tejas , Singh Parminder , Worthington Helena , Ali Fatima , Kajamuhan Changavy , Nagra Arjan
Published: June 2020

Introduction

Exit block is the most significant cause of poor patient flow and crowding in the emergency department (ED). One proposed strategy to reduce exit block is early admission predictions by triage nurses to allow proactive bed management. We report a systematic review and meta-analysis of the accuracy of nurse prediction of admission at triage.

Methodology

We searched MEDLINE, Cochrane, Embase, CINAHL and grey literature, up to and including February 2019. Our criteria were as follows: prospective studies analysing the accuracy of triage nurse intuition—after gathering standard triage information—for predicting disposition for adult ED patients. We analysed the results of this test—nurse prediction of disposition—in a diagnostic test analysis review style, assessing methodology with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 checklist. We generated sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios (LRs). We used LRs and pretest probability of admission (baseline admission rate) to find positive and negative post-test probabilities.

Results

We reviewed 10 articles. Of these, seven had meta-analysable data (12 282 participants). The studies varied in participant selection and admission rate, but the majority were of moderate quality and exclusion of each in sensitivity analyses made little difference. Sensitivity was 72% and specificity was 83%. Pretest probability of admission was 29%. Positive and negative post-test probabilities of admission were 63% and 12%, respectively.

Conclusion

Triage nurse prediction of disposition is not accurate enough to expedite admission for ED patients on a one-to-one basis. Future research should explore the benefit, and best method, of predicting total demand.
Stress and sleep: a survey based on wearable sleep trackers among medical and nursing staff in Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Zhuo Kaiming , Gao Cunyou , Wang Xiaohui , Zhang Chen , Wang Zhen
Published: June 2020

Backgroud

COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the sleep health of local medical and nursing staff.

Aim

We used wearable pulse oximeters to monitor and screen the medical and nursing staff working in hospitals designated for COVID-19 in the Wuhan area. This study aimed to establish a reliable basis to provide sleep intervention for the medical and nursing staff.

Methods

Thirty medical and nursing staff members with symptoms of insomnia were instructed to wear medical ring-shaped pulse oximeters to monitor their sleep overnight. We also used the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Chinese version of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) to evaluate the severity of insomnia and mental health status, respectively, for each participant.

Results

Among the 30 participants, only 26 completed the screening. Ten cases (38.5%) demonstrated moderate to severe sleep apnoea–hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) when using an oxygen desaturation index ≥15 times/hour as the cut-off value. Participants with comorbid moderate to severe SAHS had significantly higher ISI and SRQ scores (p values 0.034 and 0.016, respectively) than those in the insomnia group. Correlation analysis revealed that ISI was positively correlated with total sleep time (TST) (r=0.435, p=0.026), and negatively correlated with deep sleep (r=−0.495, p=0.010); furthermore, patient SRQ scores were positively correlated with TST, sleep efficiency (SE) and REM (rapid eyes movement) sleep % (r=0.454 and 0.389, 0.512; p=0.020, 0.050 and 0.008, respectively). Stepwise logistic regression indicated that SRQ-20 and sex were risk factors for insomnia with comorbid SAHS, and their OR values were 1.516 and 11.56 (95% CI 1.053 to 2.180 and 1.037 to 128.9), respectively.

Conclusion

Medical and nursing staff with insomnia showed clear signs of comorbid sleep apnoea attributable to stress. The wearable pulse oximeters accurately monitored the participants’ breathing when asleep.
Cancer diagnostic rates during the 2020 ‘lockdown’, due to COVID-19 pandemic, compared with the 2018–2019: an audit study from cellular pathology
Authors: De Vincentiis Ludovica , Carr Richard A , Mariani Maria Paola , Ferrara Gerardo
Published: June 2020

Aims

We performed an audit to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic-related delay in the diagnosis of major cancers at a Pathology Unit of a Secondary Care Hospital Network in Italy.

Methods

A comparison was made among the number of first cellular pathological diagnoses of malignancy made from the 11th to the 20th week of the years 2018–2020.

Results

Cancer diagnoses fell in 2020 by 39% compared with the average number recorded in 2018 and 2019. Prostate cancer (75%) bladder cancer (66%) and colorectal cancer (CRC; 62%) had the greatest decrease. CRC was identified as carrying a potentially important diagnostic delay.

Conclusions

For CRC corrective procedures (continuing mass screening tests; patient triage by family physicians; diagnostic procedures alternative to colonoscopy; predictive evaluation on biopsy samples) were advised. Our simple audit model is widely applicable to avoid pandemic-related delay in clinical diagnosis of cancer.
Why lockdown of the elderly is not ageist and why levelling down equality is wrong
Authors: Savulescu Julian , Cameron James
Published: June 2020

In order to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19, governments have placed significant restrictions on liberty, including preventing all non-essential travel. These restrictions were justified on the basis the health system may be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases and in order to prevent deaths. Governments are now considering how they may de-escalate these restrictions. This article argues that an appropriate approach may be to lift the general lockdown but implement selective isolation of the elderly. While this discriminates against the elderly, there is a morally relevant difference—the elderly are far more likely to require hospitalisation and die than the rest of the population. If the aim is to ensure the health system is not overwhelmed and to reduce the death rate, preventing the elderly from contracting the virus may be an effective means of achieving this. The alternative is to continue to keep everyone in lockdown. It is argued that this is levelling down equality and is unethical. It suggests that in order for the elderly to avoid contracting the virus, the whole population should have their liberty deprived, even though the same result could be achieved by only restricting the liberty of the elderly. Similar arguments may also be applied to all groups at increased risk of COVID-19, such as men and those with comorbidities, the obese and people from ethnic minorities or socially deprived groups. This utilitarian concern must be balanced against other considerations, such as equality and justice, and the benefits gained from discriminating in these ways must be proportionately greater than the negative consequences of doing so. Such selective discrimination will be most justified when the liberty restriction to a group promotes the well-being of that group (apart from its wider social benefits).
Earlier treatment initiation is associated with a decreased number of HIV-1 subtype A1 transmissions in Greece
Authors: Kostaki Evangelia Georgia , Hodges-Mameletzis Ioannis , Magiorkinis Gkikas , Adamis Georgios , Xylomenos Georgios , Nikolopoulos Georgios , Lazanas Marios , Chini Maria , Mangafas Nikos , Skoutelis Athanasios , Papastamopoulos Vasileios , Antoniadou Anastasia , Papadopoulos Antonios , Protopapas Konstantinos , Psichogiou Mina , Basoulis Dimitrios , Chrysos Georgios , Paraskeva Dimitra , Paparizos Vasileios , Kourkounti Sofia , Sambatakou Helen , Sipsas Nikolaos V , Lada Malvina , Panagopoulos Periklis , Maltezos Efstratios , Hatzakis Angelos , Paraskevis Dimitrios
Published: June 2020

Objectives

Subtypes A1 and B are the most prevalent HIV-1 clades in Greece. Subtype A1 epidemic is highly monophyletic and corresponds to transmissions that occurred locally. Our aim in this molecular epidemiology analysis was to investigate the role of early treatment in preventing new HIV-1 transmissions.

Methods

Our analysis focused on 791 subtype A1 sequences from treatment-naïve individuals in Greece. Estimation of infection dates was performed by molecular clock calculations using Bayesian methods. We estimated the time interval between (1) the infection and sampling dates (linkage to care window), (2) the sampling dates and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation (treatment window), and (3) the infection dates and ART initiation (transmissibility window) for the study population. We also inferred the putative source of HIV infections between individuals of different groups divided according to the length of treatment, linkage to care or transmissibility window.

Results

A significant decline was detected for the treatment window during 2014–2015 versus the 2 previous years (p=0.0273), while the linkage to care interval remained unchanged during the study period. Inference of the putative source of HIV infections suggested that individuals with a recent diagnosis or narrow transmissibility window (time period between HIV infection and ART initiation) were not sources of HIV infections to other groups. Contrarily, a significant number of HIV infections originated from individuals with longer transmissibility window interval.

Conclusions

Our findings showed that the treatment window is decreasing over time, presumably due to the updated treatment guidelines. Our study also demonstrates that people treated earlier after infection do not transmit at high rates, thus documenting the benefits of early ART initiation in preventing ongoing HIV-1 transmission.
Chinese Stroke Association guidelines for clinical management of cerebrovascular disorders: executive summary and 2019 update of clinical management of ischaemic cerebrovascular diseases
Authors: Liu Liping , Chen Weiqi , Zhou Hongyu , Duan Wanying , Li Shujuan , Huo Xiaochuan , Xu Weihai , Huang Li"an , Zheng Huaguang , Liu Jingyi , Liu Hui , Wei Yufei , Xu Jie , Wang Yongjun
Published: June 2020

Aim

Stroke is the leading cause of disability and death in China. Ischaemic stroke accounts for about 60%–80% of all strokes. It is of considerable significance to carry out multidimensional management of ischaemic cerebrovascular diseases. This evidence-based guideline aims to provide the latest detailed and comprehensive recommendations on the diagnosis, treatment and secondary prevention of ischaemic cerebrovascular diseases.

Methods

We had performed comprehensive searches of MEDLINE (via PubMed) (before 30 June 2019), and integrated the relevant information into charts and distributed to the writing group. Writing group members discussed and determined the recommendations through teleconference. We used the level of evidence grading algorithm of Chinese Stroke Association to grade each recommendation. The draft was reviewed by the Guideline Writing Committee of Chinese Stroke Association Stroke and finalised. This guideline is fully updated every 3 years.

Results

This evidence-based guideline is based on the treatment, care and prevention of ischaemic cerebrovascular diseases, which emphasises on pathogenesis evaluation, intravenous thrombolysis, endovascular therapy, antiplatelet therapy, prevention and treatment of complications, and risk factor management.

Conclusions

This updated guideline presents a framework for the management of ischaemic cerebrovascular diseases. Timely first-aid measures, professional care in the acute stage, and proactive secondary prevention will be helpful to patients.
Examining the decay in serum ferritin following intravenous iron infusion: a retrospective cohort analysis of Olympic sport female athletes
Authors: McKay Alannah K.A. , Goods Paul S.R. , Binnie Martyn J. , Goodman Carmel , Peeling Peter
Published: June 2020

The long-term decay rate of serum ferritin post-iron infusion in athletic populations is currently unknown. Here, we modelled the decay rate of serum ferritin in female athletes after an intravenous iron infusion (n = 22). The post-infusion serum ferritin response and the rate of decay was highly variable between athletes; however, we demonstrate that follow-up blood testing at 1 (154 μg/L; 77–300 μg/L) and 6 months (107 μg/L; 54–208 μg/L) post-infusion is appropriate to observe treatment efficacy and effectiveness.

Novelty Female athletes should have serum ferritin assessed at 1 and 6 months following an intravenous iron infusion to determine efficacy and effectiveness.
Keeping it classy: classification of live fish and ghost PIT tags detected with a mobile PIT tag interrogation system using an innovative analytical approach
Authors: Stout J. Benjamin , Conner Mary , Budy Phaedra , Mackinnon Peter , McKinstry Mark
Published: June 2020

The ability of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag data to improve demographic parameter estimates has led to the rapid advancement of PIT tag systems. However, ghost tags create uncertainty about detected tag status (i.e., live fish or ghost tag) when using mobile interrogation systems. We developed a method to differentiate between live fish and ghost tags using a random forest classification model with a novel data input structure based on known fate PIT tag detections in the San Juan River (New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, USA). We used our model to classify detected tags with an overall error rate of 6.8% (1.6% ghost tags error rate and 21.8% live fish error rate). The important variables for classification were related to distance moved and response to monsoonal flood flows; however, habitat variables did not appear to influence model accuracy. Our results and approach allow the use of mobile detection data with confidence and allow for greater accuracy in movement, distribution, and habitat use studies, potentially helping identify influential management actions that would improve our ability to conserve and recover endangered fish.
Connecting light dirac neutrinos to a multi-component dark matter scenario in gauged $$B-L$$ model
Authors: Nanda Dibyendu , Borah Debasish
Published: June 2020

We propose a new gauged$$B-L$$B-Lextension of the standard model where light neutrinos are of Dirac type, naturally acquiring sub-eV mass after electroweak symmetry breaking, without any additional global symmetries. This is realised by choosing a different$$B-L$$B-Lcharge for right handed neutrinos than the usual$$-1$$-1so that the Dirac Yukawa coupling involves an additional neutrinophilic scalar doublet instead of the usual Higgs doublet. The model can be made anomaly free by considering four additional chiral fermions which give rise to two massive Dirac fermions by appropriate choice of singlet scalars. The choice of scalars not only helps in achieving the desired particle mass spectra via spontaneous symmetry breaking, but also leaves a remnant$$Z_2 \times Z'_2$$Z2×Z2′symmetry to stabilise the two dark matter candidates. Apart from this interesting link between Dirac nature of light neutrinos and multi-component dark matter sector, we also find that the dark matter parameter space is constrained mostly by the cosmological upper limit on effective relativistic degrees of freedom$$\Delta N_{\mathrm{eff}}$$ΔNeffwhich gets enhanced in this model due to the thermalisation of the light right handed neutrinos by virtue of their sizeable$$B-L$$B-Lgauge interactions.
Non-zero torsion and late cosmology
Authors: Cruz Miguel , Izaurieta Fernando , Lepe Samuel
Published: June 2020

In this work, we study some thermodynamical aspects associated with torsion in a flat FLRW spacetime cosmic evolution. By implementing two Ansatze for the torsion term, we find that the model admits a phantom regime or a quintessence behavior. This scheme differs from the$$\Lambda $$ΛCDM model at the thermodynamical level. The resulting cosmic expansion is not adiabatic, the fulfillment of the second law of thermodynamics requires a positive torsion term, and the temperature of the cosmic fluid is always positive. The entropy of the torsion phantom scenario is negative, but introducing chemical potential solves this issue. For a Dirac-Milne type Universe, the torsion leads to a growing behavior for the temperature of the fluid but has no incidence on the rate of expansion.
Branching ratio and CP violation in Bs0 → K∗0K̄∗0 decay in the framework of QCD factorization
Authors: Raslan E. H. , Khan H. R.
Published: June 2020

We present an analytic calculation of Branching Ratio (BR) and Charge-Parity (CP) violating asymmetries of the [Formula: see text] meson decay into the two light vectors [Formula: see text] by calculating the helicity amplitude in the framework of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) factorization approach. We find the BR of [Formula: see text] which is in full agreement with the recent theoretical predictions and experimental measurements. We also calculate the direct CP violation, CP violation in mixing and CP violation due to interference which are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], respectively.
Centrality dependence of pseudo-rapidity distribution in nucleus–nucleus collisions at (4.1–4.5) AGeV/c
Authors: Bhattacharyya Swarnapratim
Published: June 2020

A detailed study of the centrality dependence of pseudo-rapidity distribution has been carried out for [Formula: see text]O-emulsion interactions at 4.5[Formula: see text]AGeV/c and [Formula: see text]Ne-emulsion interactions at 4.1[Formula: see text]AGeV/c using nuclear emulsion track detector. Depending on the values of the total charges or sum of the charges of noninteracting projectile fragments, event samples were classified into four centrality classes. Maximum pseudo-rapidity density, average pseudo-rapidity values, moments of pseudo-rapidity distribution along with skewness and kurtosis of the distributions have been investigated for different centrality classes.
RESEARCH ON THE STRATEGY OF REDUCTION OPERATION OF BASILAR INVAGINATION COMBINED WITH ATLANTOAXIAL DISLOCATION
Authors: BO XUEFENG , WANG WEIDA , CHEN ZAN , LIU ZHICHENG
Published: June 2020

Background: The complicated basilar invagination and atlantoaxial dislocation (BI-AAD) can cause a variety of neurological symptoms. Active treatment should be given. The main method of surgical treatment is to relieve the compression of the ventral bone of the brain stem and to fix the unstable spinal segments for fusion. At present, more surgical methods choose modified posterior cervical reduction and internal fixation fusion. Objective: The clinician has preliminarily designed an internal occipital fixation system capable of restoring both horizontal and vertical AADs, and proposed a new compression and distraction reduction (CDR) technique. The feasibility and effectiveness of posterior AAD reduction surgery using CDR techniques for different types of patients were studied in this paper. Methods: First, according to the CT scan sequence images of the congenital BI-AAD patient’s cervical vertebra, the software Materialize Mimics 13.1 was imported to reconstruct 3D geometric model of cervical spine (C0-C7). Then the geometric topology model was carried out in Geomagic2012 software, and surrounding soft tissue was established using SpaceClaim 14.0. The 3D finite element model (FEM) of cervical vertebra for congenital BI-AAD patients was obtained by assigning material attributes, setting contacts and mesh in ANSYS 14.0. To simulate the physiological activities of the spine under two conditions of forward flexion and backward extension, preoperative verification was carried out with the maximum displacement parameter. According to the postoperative CT data of the patient, the position and degree of freedom (DOF) of the occipitocervical internal fixation system were determined. The FEM of the occipitocervical internal fixation system was established by dividing unit grid in ANSYS. Using multiple loading step of statics analysis method, the CDR technology of posterior AAD reduction surgery was simulated. When the atlantoaxial horizontal and vertical reductions were satisfactory, the displacement data were obtained and verified using the post-operative data. Results: The cervical spine (C0-C7) FEM of congenital BI-AAD patients was established. For some lateral atlantoaxial articulation abnormal ossification II, we simulated the CDR technique for the AAD reduction surgery and proposed using the vertical traction instead of vertical reduction. Conclusion: This study confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of posterior AAD reduction surgery using CDR techniques and proposes the different reduction optimization scheme for the patients with lateral atlantoaxial articulation abnormal ossification II of congenital BI-AAD. The results of this study provide a biomechanical theoretical basis for improving the reliability of simple posterior reduction surgery and optimizing the surgical treatment of BI-AAD.
The translate and line properties for 2-primitive elements in quadratic extensions
Authors: Cohen Stephen D. , Kapetanakis Giorgos
Published: June 2020

Let [Formula: see text] be integers and [Formula: see text] be any prime power [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text]. We say that the extension [Formula: see text] possesses the line property for [Formula: see text]-primitive elements if, for every [Formula: see text], such that [Formula: see text], there exists some [Formula: see text], such that [Formula: see text] has multiplicative order [Formula: see text]. Likewise, if, in the above definition, [Formula: see text] is restricted to the value [Formula: see text], we say that [Formula: see text] possesses the translate property. In this paper, we take [Formula: see text] (so that necessarily [Formula: see text] is odd) and prove that [Formula: see text] possesses the translate property for 2-primitive elements unless [Formula: see text]. With some additional theoretical and computational effort, we show also that [Formula: see text] possesses the line property for 2-primitive elements unless [Formula: see text].
Numerical simulation of the 3D flow field in a ring die pellet mill considering viscous heating
Authors: Wang Yong-Mei , Huang Xiao-Peng , Wu Jin-Feng , Yang Wan-Xia
Published: June 2020

Viscous heating has a substantial influence on the extrusion forming process and product quality of powder materials. This study selected the MUZL420 ring die pellet mill as the research object, from which a 3D flow physical model was established. The numerical simulation of 3D nonisothermal flow in the extrusion pelletizing process of granulated alfalfa was performed with POLYFLOW. The distribution laws of pressure, velocity, shear rate, viscosity, viscous heating and temperature in the flow field were revealed to thoroughly investigate the pelletizing process and provide a reference for structural optimization and process control. The results showed that two extrusion zones in the pelleting chamber were symmetrical with respect to the center, and the significant pressure gradient along the rotating direction of the ring die and the roller caused the material to flow back in the opposite direction. There were larger velocity gradients, shear rates and viscous heating levels in the deformation and compaction zone, the negative pressure zone behind the extrusion zone and the die holes. The distribution of viscosity was opposite to that of the shear rate. The temperature increase area caused by viscous heating gradually expanded from the material inlet to the bottom of the extrusion chamber along the [Formula: see text]-axis direction, and the temperature increased accordingly. The extrusion force and the forming temperature in the extrusion forming zone were captured in the numerical simulation. The extrusion forming density was calculated with the regression prediction model established through the simulation experiment of pelletizing with a ring die. Through a comparison with the results of mean alfalfa pellet density from the ring die pellet mill experiment, the relative error was less than 5%, which indicated that the numerical simulation method was reliable.
Sensory nerve-mediated and nitric oxide-dependent cutaneous vasodilation in normotensive and prehypertensive non-Hispanic blacks and whites
Authors: Wong Brett J. , Turner Casey G. , Miller James T. , Walker Demetria C. , Sebeh Yesser , Hayat Matthew J. , Otis Jeffrey S. , Quyyumi Arshed A.
Published: June 2020

Overt hypertension is known to reduce cutaneous sensory nerve-mediated and nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vasodilation, but the effect of subclinical increases in blood pressure (i.e., prehypertension) is unknown. The combined effect of race and prehypertension is also unknown. In this study, we found that prehypertension reduces cutaneous sensory nerve-mediated and NO-dependent vasodilation in both non-Hispanic white and black populations, with the greatest reductions observed in prehypertensive non-Hispanic blacks.
Acute and chronic sympathomimetic effects of e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette smoking: role of nicotine and non-nicotine constituents
Authors: Arastoo Sara , Haptonstall Kacey P. , Choroomi Yasmine , Moheimani Roya , Nguyen Kevin , Tran Elizabeth , Gornbein Jeffrey , Middlekauff Holly R.
Published: June 2020

Chronic electronic cigarette (EC) users and tobacco cigarette (TC) smokers exhibit a similar level of sympathetic nerve activity as estimated by heart rate variability. Acute increases in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate in EC users are attribute to nicotine, not non-nicotine, constituents in EC aerosol. Acute TC smoking increased BP significantly more than acute EC use, despite similar increases in plasma nicotine, suggestive of additional adverse vascular effects attributable to combusted, non-nicotine constituents in TC smoke.
The Cauchy Problem for Parabolic Equations with Degeneration
Authors: Pukal’skii Ivan , Yashan Bohdan
Published: June 2020

Annotation. For a second-order parabolic equation, the multipoint in time Cauchy problem is considered. The coefficients of the equation and the boundary condition have power singularities of arbitrary order in time and space variables on a certain set of points. Conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the problem in Hölder spaces with power weight are found.
Comparison of the Effects of Desflurane, Sevoflurane, and Propofol on the Glottic Opening Area during Remifentanil-Based General Anesthesia Using a Supraglottic Airway Device
Authors: Kondo Takashi , Izumi Hiromichi , Kitagawa Makiko
Published: June 2020

Purpose. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of desflurane, sevoflurane, and propofol on the glottic opening area during general anesthesia using remifentanil. Methods. Ninety patients undergoing hand and upper limb surgery combined with brachial plexus block under general anesthesia were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomized into three groups to receive desflurane (group D), sevoflurane (group S), or propofol (group P) for maintenance of anesthesia. Following induction of general anesthesia with remifentanil, continuous fiberoptic video recording around the glottis via an i-gel™ supraglottic device was started after establishing mechanical ventilation. Desflurane, sevoflurane, or propofol was administrated after video recording was started. The changes in normalized glottic opening area (n-GOA) and peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) during surgery were compared between the three groups. Results. Intraoperative changes of n-GOA in group D showed significant differences compared with group S and group P (−0.0656 ± 0.0772 vs. −0.0076 ± 0.0499 and +0.0269 ± 0.0809, P=0.005 and P<0.0001). The changes of PIP in group D showed significant differences compared with group S and group P (+3.7 ± 3.4 cmH2O vs. +1.0 ± 1.3 cmH2O and −0.3 ± 3.6 cmH2O, P=0.002 and P<0.0001). Four cases of relapsed glottic stenosis in group D were improved by changing desflurane to propofol. Conclusions. Desflurane narrowed the n-GOA and increased the PIP compared to sevoflurane and propofol during general anesthesia with remifentanil. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of glottic stenosis during desflurane-remifentanil anesthesia when the airway is secured by a supraglottic airway device without the use of neuromuscular blockade.
A Discrete Nonlinear Tracking-Differentiator and Its Application in Vibration Suppression of Maglev System
Authors: Wang Zhiqiang , Long Zhiqiang , Xie Yunde , Ding Jingfang , Luo Jie , Li Xiaolong
Published: June 2020

Vibration of the maglev train levitation system is harmful to riding comfort and safety. The signal processing method is effective in vibration control. In this paper, a novel kind of second-order nonlinear tracking differentiator is proposed and applied to suppress the vibration phenomenon. The switching curves of the second-order discrete time optimal control system are presented by the isochronous region method. A synthetic function is acquired depending on the cases whether a point in the phase plane can reach the switching curves within one sample step. The discrete form of tracking differentiator is constructed based on the position relationship between the state point and the characteristic curves. Numerical simulation shows that this discrete tracking differentiator can quickly track an input signal without overshoot and chattering and can produce a good differential signal. A test in a maglev test bench also demonstrates the effectiveness of the tracking differentiator in the suppression of the track-train vibration.
Isolation of Oxyberberine and β‐Sitosterol from Berberis lycium Royle Root Bark Extract and In Vitro Cytotoxicity against Liver and Lung Cancer Cell Lines
Authors: Anwar Muhammad Asad , Tabassam Shahzadi , Gulfraz Muhammad , Sheeraz Ahmad Muhammad , Raja Ghazala Kaukab , Arshad Muhammad
Published: June 2020

Berberis lycium Royle has been traditionally used to cure rheumatism, eye and ear diseases, malarial fever, diabetes, stomach disorders, and skin diseases. There is a least amount of data available on cytotoxic capacity of Berberis lycium from Pakistani origin, so on this basis, the present study was aimed to screen Berberis lycium root bark extracts for cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines and isolation of chemical constituents from the most cytotoxic extract. Initial screening of extracts was performed on HepG2 cells at 100 μg/mL for 72 hours of treatment by using an MTT assay. Active fractions were subjected to a series of column chromatographies for the isolation of cytotoxic compounds. Molecular structures were elucidated by using combined data from 1H‐NMR, 13C‐NMR, and ESI‐MS graphs. Assessment of reduction in cell proliferation by isolated compounds was performed on three human cancer cell lines (SK‐Hep‐1, HepG2, and NCI‐H1299). Both n‐hexane and chloroform fractions were found active with percent cell viabilities of 8.41 ± 2.23 and 22.31 ± 9.11 in HepG2 cells compared with lupeol 35.43 ± 3.35 percent viability. A protoberberine alkaloid identified as oxyberberine was isolated from chloroform fraction while β‐sitosterol was isolated from n‐hexane fraction. Oxyberberine inhibited SK‐Hep‐1 cell proliferation under a dose‐dependent manner with an IC50 value of 34.26 ± 3.34 μM while HepG2 cells showed 50% inhibition at 62.96 ± 4.12 μM. β‐Sitosterol showed reduction in cell viability in SK‐Hep‐1 cells and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 123.12 ± 3.51 μM and 140 ± 4.21 μM. This is the first report on the isolation of oxyberberine and β‐sitosterol from Berberis lycium root bark and their cytotoxic evaluation against SK‐Hep‐1 and NCI‐H1299 cells. The cytotoxic potential of Berberis lycium Royle extracts and isolated compounds is suggesting that it is a promising candidate for anticancer drug discovery.
The Effect of Ageing Treatment on Shape‐Setting and Shape Memory Effect of a NiTi SMA Corrugated Structure
Authors: Zhan Yuanye , He Liang , Lu Xiaofeng , Zhu Xiaolei , Chen Qing
Published: June 2020

Ageing treatments were performed on Ti‐50.53 at.% Ni shape memory alloy corrugated gasket (SMA‐CG) units. The results of phase transition temperature, shape‐setting, compression‐resilience performance, and the shape memory effect (SME) of NiTi corrugated units were investigated. The experimental results show that high austenite finish temperatures could be achieved at 500°C and at 400°C aged for a long time, while the martensite finish temperatures were basically above room temperature. The peak value of the austenite finish temperature was found to be 500°C. The shape‐setting result was better with the increase of ageing temperature and ageing time. It was stable when units were constrain‐treated at 500°C and the ageing time was longer than 30 min. As the strain increases, the resilience rate of the unit decreased rapidly. The resilience rate decreased with the ageing process. Most of the aged units exhibited good SME when the maximum strain was less than 40%. There was the best recoverability when the ageing treatment was performed at 500°C for 60 min.
Partially Observed Nonzero-Sum Differential Game of BSDEs with Delay and Applications
Authors: An Qiguang , Zhu Qingfeng
Published: June 2020

A class of partially observed nonzero-sum differential games for backward stochastic differential equations with time delays is studied, in which both game system and cost functional involve the time delays of state variables and control variables under each participant with different observation equations. A necessary condition (maximum principle) for the Nash equilibrium point to this kind of partially observed game is established, and a sufficient condition (verification theorem) for the Nash equilibrium point is given. A partially observed linear quadratic game is taken as an example to illustrate the application of the maximum principle.
How Does Technology Import and Export Affect the Innovative Performance of Firms? From the Perspective of Emerging Markets Firms
Authors: Wang Kui , Wang Jintang , Mei Shiye , Xiong Shasha
Published: June 2020

As economic globalization develops greatly in recent years, emerging market firms (EMFs) increasingly grasp the opportunity of cross-border learning to develop and improve their technology capability through learning by exporting (LBE) and learning by technology importing (LBTI). Although LBE and LBTI have been supported by extensive literature, it still is not clear what and how EMFs learn through LBE and LBTI. In this study, we highlight the role of human agency by examining how perceived competitive threat from informal firms determines EMFs relative preference for product innovation and process innovation. Based on a World Bank dataset on Chinese manufacturing firms during 2009–2011, this study finds firms facing high (vs. low) perceived informal competition which may devote relatively more attention to product innovation than to process innovation after entering into export markets, whereas firms facing high perceived informal competition may pay more attention to process innovation in process of learning by technology import. This study is the first to focus on the effect of informal sector firms on cross-border learning.
Effects of Nanofilled Particle Forms and Dispersion Modes on Properties of Carbon-Based Energy Storage Composites
Authors: Yu Jia , Li Hui , Kong Li , Zhu Hongji , Zhu Qingshan , Wang Haoqing
Published: June 2020

How to improve the thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) is always the key to thermal control technology. At present, the thermal conductivity of PCMs has two ways to improve: one is to fill the matrix with high thermal conductivity and the other is to fill nanoparticles. After combining the two methods, the choice of filled nano-SiO2, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), or graphene (GNPs) has different effects on the performance of carbon-based energy storage composites. Filling paraffin with foamed carbon increased the thermal conductivity of pure paraffin from 0.25 W/(m·K) to 8.3083 W/(m·K), an increase of 33.2 times. When the nanoparticle mass fraction is 5%, the enthalpy of GNP composites is 10 J·g-1 less than that of SiO2 composites. Under the same mass fraction, compared with the thermal conductivity enhancement effect of SiO2 composites, the thermal conductivity increase effects of CNTs and GNP composites are 6.7 and 15.8 times the thermal conductivity increase of SiO2 composites, respectively. The comparison of theoretical and experimental values shows that different nanoparticle forms and dispersion modes have different effects on the performance of carbon-based energy storage composites, among which GNPs have the greatest improvement in the thermal conductivity of carbon-based composites.
A Method to Extract Causality for Safety Events in Chemical Accidents from Fault Trees and Accident Reports
Authors: Du Junwei , Zhao Hanrui , Yu Yangyang , Hu Qiang
Published: June 2020

Chemical event evolutionary graph (CEEG) is an effective tool to perform safety analysis, early warning, and emergency disposal for chemical accidents. However, it is a complicated work to find causality among events in a CEEG. This paper presents a method to accurately extract event causality by using a neural network and structural analysis. First, we identify the events and their component elements from fault trees by natural language processing technology. Then, causality in accident events is divided into explicit causality and implicit causality. Explicit causality is obtained by analyzing the hierarchical structure relations of event nodes and the semantics of component logic gates in fault trees. By integrating internal structural features of events and semantic features of event sentences, we extract implicit causality by utilizing a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU) neural network. An algorithm, named CEFTAR, is presented to extract causality for safety events in chemical accidents from fault trees and accident reports. Compared with the existing methods, experimental results show that our method has a higher accuracy and recall rate in extracting causality.
Extracting Skeleton of the Global Terrorism Network Based on m-Modified Topology Potential
Authors: Wang Shuliang , Malang Kanokwan , Yuan Hanning , Phaphuangwittayakul Aniwat , Lv Yuanyuan , Lowdermilk Matthew David , Geng Jing
Published: June 2020

Skeleton network extraction is a crucial context in studying the core structure and essential information on complex networks. The objective of this paper is to introduce the novel network extraction method, namely, TPKS-skeleton, for investigating the global terrorism network. Our method aims to reduce the network’s size while preserving key topology and spatial features. A TPKS-skeleton comprises three steps: node evaluation, similarity-based clustering, and skeleton network reconstruction. The importance of skeleton nodes is quantified by the improved topology potential algorithm. Similarity-based clustering is then integrated to allow detecting high incident concentrations and allocating the important nodes according to the event features and spatial distribution. Finally, the skeleton network can be reconstructed by aggregating high-influential nodes from each cluster and their simplified edges. To verify the efficiency of the proposed method, we carry out three classes of a network assessment framework: node-equivalence assessment, network-equivalence assessment, and spatial information assessment. For each class, various assessment indexes were performed using the original network as a benchmark. The results verify that our proposed TPKS-skeleton outperforms other competitive methods in particular node-equivalence by Spearman rank correlation and high network structural-equivalence defined by quadratic assignment procedure. In the spatial perspective, the TPKS-skeleton network preserves reasonably all kinds of spatial information. Our study paves the way to extract the optimal skeleton of the global terrorism network, which might be beneficial for counterterrorism and network analysis in wider areas.
Z-Control on COVID-19-Exposed Patients in Quarantine
Authors: Shah Nita H. , Sheoran Nisha , Jayswal Ekta
Published: June 2020

In this paper, a mathematical model for diabetic or hypertensive patients exposed to COVID-19 is formulated along with a set of first-order nonlinear differential equations. The system is said to exhibit two equilibria, namely, exposure-free and endemic points. The reproduction number is obtained for each equilibrium point. Local stability conditions are derived for both equilibria, and global stability is studied for the endemic equilibrium point. This model is investigated along with Z-control in order to eliminate chaos and oscillation epidemiologically showing the importance of quarantine in the COVID-19 environment.
Nanocoatings of Bovine Serum Albumin on Glass: Effects of pH and Temperature
Authors: Acuña-Nelson Sergio-Miguel , Bastías-Montes José-Miguel , Cerda-Leal Fabiola-Rossana , Parra-Flores Julio-Enrique , Aguirre-García Juan-Salvador , Toledo Pedro G.
Published: June 2020

Protein adsorption is influenced by many factors such as temperature, pH, protein size and structure, or surface energy and roughness, among others. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique are two of the techniques more used to produces ultrathin films of proteins on surfaces. In this work, we established protocols for the preparation of nanocoatings of bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein on glass surface using SAMs and LB. Furthermore, we determined how small changes in temperature and pH can affect the covering when SAMs are used. Using a combination of different analyses, such as relative roughness, dynamic contact angles, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), it was possible to establish conditions to obtain a uniform nanocoating using SAMs. The results of the analysis of the nanocoating performed using the LB technique were very similar to those obtained using SAMs. The Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) theory in conjunction with the AFM images showed that electrostatic interactions are very important in the self-assembly process, but a process dominated solely by attraction is not sufficient to achieve a good SAM nanocoating, since it does not allow proper orientation and packaging of BSA molecules on the glass surface.
Clinical Characteristics of Six Cases of Tracheobronchopathia Osteochondroplastica
Authors: Guo Rong , Zhou Mingming , Wei Xiaohui , Niu Ling
Published: June 2020

Objective. To investigate the clinical characteristics of tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica (TO). Methods. The clinical data of six patients with TO from November 2016 to November 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of TO were summarized. Result. All six patients with TO were middle-aged males, confirmed by histopathological examination. The main clinical symptoms were cough, sputum, hemoptysis, chest pain, and repeated pulmonary infection. Some patients could make a preliminary diagnosis by chest CT, and bronchoscopy showed that TO mainly occurred in the trachea and the main bronchus and was more likely to invade the right bronchus. The treatment mainly includes anti-infection, phlegm-resolving, and other symptomatic treatment. Conclusion. TO is a benign disease predisposing to adults, and males are more likely to be affected. Its clinical manifestations are lack of specificity, and the cause may be related to chronic infection. Bronchoscopy combined with histopathological examination is the primary approach for the diagnosis of TO. There is no well-recognized treatment standard for TO, and the judgment of therapeutic effect is inconsistent. It is necessary to improve the understanding of this disease from a clinical perspective.
Successful Perioperative Management with Damage Control Surgery in a Patient with Massive Postpartum Hemorrhage of More Than 20,000 mL
Authors: Yoshida Keisuke , Watanabe Kazuhiro , Sato Yuki , Sumiyoshi Miho , Murakawa Masahiro
Published: June 2020

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in obstetrics is related to postpartum hemorrhage and has been a leading cause of maternal death. We here report a successful treatment, via damage control surgery (DCS), of a life-threatening massive hemorrhage of more than 20,000 mL due to DIC. A 30-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because of atonic bleeding. Since she was having a uterine rupture, an emergency hysterectomy was performed. Because of the severe DIC (fibrinogen, 65 mg/dL; platelet count, 6.0 × 109/L), oozing persisted after the hysterectomy; thus, intraperitoneal gauze packing was performed as DCS. Afterwards, the coagulopathy was corrected, and the gauze was removed on the second postoperative day (POD 2). The patient was discharged without complications on POD 16. The present case demonstrated that performing DCS and waiting for improvement of the coagulation system can be one of the treatment options for management of patients with severe DIC.
Blow-Up Solution of a Porous Medium Equation with Nonlocal Boundary Conditions
Authors: Tian Huimin , Zhang Lingling
Published: June 2020

In this paper, we devote to studying the blow-up phenomena for a porous medium equation under nonlocal boundary conditions. Based on auxiliary functions and differential inequality technique, we derive the sufficient conditions to guarantee the existence of blow-up solutions under different measures and obtain an upper bound for blow-up time. Moreover, we demonstrate the lower bounds for blow-up time under some appropriate measures in R3 and in the higher-dimensional space Rnn≥3, respectively. At last, two examples are given to illustrate the applications of main results.
Internal Jugular Vein Injury by Fishbone Ingestion
Authors: Amirian Armin , Ghoddusi Johari Hamed , Karoobi Mohamadreza , Shahriarirad Reza , Ranjbar Keivan
Published: June 2020

Fishbone ingestion is a common occurrence in the Middle East countries. We present a patient with a unique complication of fishbone ingestion. A 65-year-old woman presented with left-sided neck pain and swelling since 5 days before admission. A linear foreign body with horizontal orientation was seen in CT scan at the superior part of the pharynx along with a collection around it which caused a laceration on the medial aspect of internal jugular vein and thrombosis inside the internal jugular vein.