bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Demonstration of Advanced Magnetic Technologies for a Highly Reliable and Retrievable Electric Submersible Pump Topology
Authors: McMullen Patrick , Biddick David
Published: September 2021

This effort designs, builds and tests key enabling technology components of the magnetic drive system (MDS) electric submersible pump (ESP) concept, an advanced high speed ESP that differs from conventional ESP topologies in using magnetic technologies to increase reliability and retrievability. The enabling components include a radial passive magnetic bearing (PMB) system, allowing for a contact-less bearing system and remote removal of rotating components, and magnetic vibration sensors (MVS), enabling prognostics for higher reliability.

An MDS ESP preliminary design has been developed through a DeepStar program, from which the size and integration requirements of the PMB and MVS have been defined. These requirements guide the analysis, design and testing of the full-scale components. Empirical analysis tools are used for initial iterations in size and performance of the PMB and MVS, followed by detailed magnetic finite element analysis (FEA) using commercial validated tools for the final performance prediction. With analytical validation of performance, detail designs are developed and hardware fabricated. Hardware testing is done to validate performance predictions and alignment with system requirements.

The PMB performance results include testing of stiffness capability. These characteristics are used to validate the integration requirements for load capability and deflection during static load events, all in relation to validating performance for use in the MDS system. This test data is used to validate the analysis approach used as well as to finalize the integration size of the PMB to meet the performance requirements of the MDS system. To identify rotor operating speed and rotor vibration magnitude and frequencies, the MVS is tested for sensing rotor motion rate and frequency, including sub-synchronous and super synchronous frequencies. Identifying data reduction needs, i.e. how data is compiled and presented to focus on specific areas of interest, is also critical to determine the vibration characteristic of specific events happening in the ESP, such as bearing wear or dynamic fluid changes. Testing also includes variations in tubing materials to assess performance impact.

These technologies offer bearing and sensor technologies that enhance ESP reliability and active performance monitoring. The PMBs offer a contact-less bearing system that does not require lubrication, can operate with large clearances to allow free fluid flow, and has no operating life limits. The compact MVS offers rotor vibration diagnostics throughout the ESP, including between pump stages, for monitoring performance, detecting ESP mechanical issues or process fluid variations allowing immediately response to increase operational life.
Development of a 1,000-hp High-Power Density PMM for Deepwater Wireline Retrievable ESP Systems
Authors: Cheblak Samer , Benzaid Omar
Published: September 2021

Electric submersible pumps (ESP) are frequently used in offshore high-volume oil-producing wells that do not flow to the surface or in offshore wells with production rates that must be boosted to enhance financial returns. An operator in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico decided to install rigless ESP completions in its wells to mitigate the rig workover cost of interventions and ESP replacements by using slickline rather than more costly workover rigs. However, the solution required the development of a new single-section motor that could deliver 1,000 to 1,200 hp.

This paper discusses the development and qualification of a new ultrahigh-power-density permanent magnet motor (UHPD PMM) for wireline-retrievable ESP systems installed through tubing as small as 5.5 in. The UHPD PMM design can produce significantly greater output than any other ESP technology in a single-section motor short enough to fit in a wireline lubricator. The high-power motor in a short length was achieved by integrating advanced motor technologies and materials. The challenges associated with this development are discussed along with the evaluation of tradeoffs between cost and performance. This paper also discusses the testing and qualification programs, as well as the results obtained during the various development phases.
Perdido GoM Total Field ESP Integrated Full-Field Modeling for Surveillance and Forecast Prediction
Authors: Barrios Lissett , Pydah Vinay
Published: September 2021

The paper reports on the integrated modeling approach for the Gulf of Mexico ultra-Deepwater Perdido Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) meant for performance surveillance and operational predictions n viscous fluid and multiphase flow regimes. The ESP system uses in Perdido field are multistage centrifugal pumps for high flow rate and high boost applications. Multiphase flow and viscous fluids introduce challenges for ESP operations such as performance degradation and system inefficiency which are imperative and to be considered in modeling work for accuracy and proper surveillance.

The effect results from free gas and viscous fluid could be difficult to model and if not considered can result in wrong prediction of pump performance and power estimation over promising forecast and incorrect performance for surveillance and optimization. The objective of modelling work is aimed to correctly predict ESP performance by using proper modeling equations and correction factors that to understand the degradation on head, flow and horsepower, therefore further guide offshore surveillance activities and near and long term forecast predictions.

The ESP system used in Perdido Field is 1025 series tandem P360 mixed flow type pumps with a 725 series 1600 hp motor. The modeling work revealed mathematical relationships among pump performance parameters (pump speed/frequency, brake horsepower, pump head and pump capacity) and free Gas/Viscosity correction factors required to accurately predict pump performance and forecasting.

Using the correct approach for modeling high boost ESPs, an accuracy of 5% or less can be aimed with field operation for precise pump performance troubleshoot, optimization and long term forecast for economic analysis.

The main technical contributions of this work are the detail modelling approach, analysis and data comparison with Field operation for predicting pump and motor performance under two important variables, high viscosity and two-phase flow inside the ESP.
Hybrid Permanent Magnet Motor Application to Electric Submersible Pumps in SAGD wells
Authors: Mansir Hassan , Rimmer Michael , Waldner Leon , Hong Claire , Graham John , Wolanski Michelle , Duong Bruce
Published: September 2021

A Permanent Magnet Motor (PMM) designed to break the 300°C barrier was previously presented that included many advancements to greatly improve the operating temperature and reliability beyond the ability of current equipment [1]. A key design element is the inclusion of a squirrel cage in the PMM rotor that results in a hybrid construction. This paper will delve into the rationale for the hybrid configuration and will assess motor performance using electromagnetic simulations and validation testing.

PMMs are used in many industrial applications and have recently started to gain traction in oil and gas upstream production applications. A significant issue is the PMM compatibility with existing motor drive equipment and their need for special provisions to operate at the end of long cables without position sensors. A hybrid configuration help overcome these limitations and allows operation with conventional variable speed drives using a standard scalar controller as used with induction motors.

The design, development, and qualification of the hybrid PM rotor construction were undertaken using a rigorous analytical approach combined with extensive validation testing.

The motor is designed to maintain stability under the severe transient conditions in the SAGD environment, where the produced emulsion rich in gas and solids creates highly variable conditions for the motor and controller.

A detailed electromagnetic model of the motor for configurations with or without the squirrel cage was undertaken to demonstrate the effectiveness of the hybrid configuration to maintain speed control stability. A time stepped method was used to simulate the motor start with simulated loading conditions, reflecting the starting and operating conditions with breakaway torques up to full load torque condition and 50% transient loads.

The squirrel cage was successfully integrated within the rotor structure of a 150hp PM motor. Extensive design and thermal-structural analysis ensured the construction was acceptable for operation in the ranges −40°C to 350°C. Validation testing was then performed to demonstrate the hybrid PM motor construction functioned for use with conventional and legacy variable frequency drives.
Forty-Seven–Well Case Study: How a Holistic ESP Design for Deep Deviated Wells with Low Flow Rates Achieved Economic Production
Authors: Camilleri Lawrence , Villalobos Jorge Luis , Escalona Pedro Luis , Correal Alvaro , Reyes Carlos , Enriquez Luis Carlos , Gallegos Apolo Johanna del Cisne
Published: September 2021

The Shaya wells have vertical depths of 11,000 ft and are heavily depleted. They, therefore, require 10,000 ft of lift to achieve the target drawdown. Electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) were deployed, but because of the low flow rates (80 B/D), produced solids, and high free gas content, initial run lives were uneconomical. This 47-well case study demonstrates how a holistic design and operating procedure achieved both the target drawdown and an economical mean time between failure (MTBF).

"Learning from history" was the key method as there was sufficient ESP data to determine the root cause of ESP failures based on a combination of dismantle inspection and failure analysis (DIFA) and operating conditions. Moreover, production testing combined with real-time downhole gauge data enabled inflow characterization with both nodal and pressure transient analysis, thereby establishing the well potential and ensuring that the new proposed design was not only reliable but also achieved the targeted drawdown. An additional requirement was to handle both the current low rates and higher rates associated with future waterflooding.

A historical review of 9 wells was conducted, followed by a new ESP design that was proposed and installed in 47 wells, which achieved an MTBF of over 940 days, whereas previous designs in the same wells had an MTBF of only 650 days. This substantial improvement was achieved without compromising drawdown as the wells were produced with a flowing intake pressure of approximately 250 psia at setting depths of 9,500 ft. This result is particularly noteworthy when one considers the harshness of the well conditions and, in particular, bottom-hole temperatures of 240°F, fines migration, deviated wells with doglegs above 2.5°/100ft, intake pressures below bubble point and low productivity indices (PIs) of 0.2 B/D/psi. The high depletion combined with low PIs, which resulted in very low flow rates of as low as 50 B/D, was the most challenging factor of this application. Outflow modeling and wellbore hydraulics were also important considerations to limit solid fallback due to insufficient velocity in the production tubing as well minimize heat rise caused by startup transients, which can be long in low-PI wells.

ESPs are traditionally best suited to wells with liquid rates providing sufficient cooling for both the motor and the pump as well as short unloading transients during startup. This success story, therefore, provides an important reference for future ESP applications in very low flow rates in deep wells, which are beyond the recommended application envelope of alternative low flow rate artificial lift solutions such as progressive cavity pumps and sucker rod pumps.
Fault Identification in a Subsea ESP Power Distribution System Using Electrical Waveform Monitoring
Authors: Obst Larry , Merlino Andrew , Parlos Alex , Rubio Dario
Published: September 2021

This paper describes the technology and processes used to identify in a timely matter the source of an Instantaneous Over Current (IOC) trip during an ESP re-start at Shell Perdido SPAR. Monitoring health condition of subsea ESPs is challenging. ESPs operate in harsh and remote environments which makes it difficult to implement and maintain any in-situ monitoring system. Shell operates five subsea ESPs and implemented a topside conditioning monitoring system using electrical waveform analysis. The Perdido SPAR had a scheduled maintenance shutdown in April 2019. While ramping the facility down on April 19, 2019 the variable frequency drive (VFD) for ESP-E tripped on a cell overvoltage fault. The cell was changed, but the VFD continued to trip on instantaneous overcurrent. During ramp up beginning April 29, 2019 most equipment came back online smoothly, but the VFD of the particular ESP labeled ESP-E continued to experience the problem that was causing overcurrent trips, preventing restart. Initial investigations could not pinpoint the source of the issue. On May 1, 2019 Shell sought to investigate this issue using high-frequency electrical waveform data recorded topside as an attempt to better pinpoint the source of this trip. Analysis of electrical waveform before, during and after the IOC trip found an intermittent shorting/arcing at the VFD and ruled out any issues with the 7,000-foot-long umbilical cable or ESP motor. Upon further inspection, a VFD technician was able to visually identify the source of the problem. Relying in part on electrical waveform findings, VFD technician found failed outer jackets in the MV shielded cables at the output filter section creating a ground path from the VFD output bus via the cable shield. The cables were replaced, and the problem was alleviated allowing the system to return to normal operation. Shell credits quick and accurate analysis of electrical waveform with accelerating troubleshooting activities on the VFD, saving approximately 1-2 days of troubleshooting time and associated downtime savings, that translate to approximately 50,000 BOE deferment reduction. Analysis of high-frequency electrical waveform using physics-based and machine learning algorithms enables one to extract long-term changes in ESP health, while filtering out the shorter-term changes caused by operating condition variations. This novel approach to analysis provides operators with a reliable source of information for troubleshooting and diagnosing failure events to reduce work-over costs and limit production losses.
Automated ESP Failure Root Cause Identification and Analyses Using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Technologies
Authors: Karnik Saniya , Yenuganti Navya , Jusri Bonang Firmansyah , Gupta Supriya , Nirgudkar Prasanna , Mohajer Mahyar , Malik Asim
Published: September 2021

Today, the Dismantle, Inspection, and Failure Analysis (DIFA) process for electrical submersible pump (ESP) failure analysis is a tedious, human-intensive, and time-consuming activity. The activity involves a set of data and various information formats from several activities in the ESP operation lifecycle. This paper proposes a novel artificial intelligence workflow to improve the efficiency of the DIFA process using an ensemble of machine learning (ML) algorithms. This ensemble of algorithms brings together structured/unstructured data across equipment, production, operations, and failure reports to automate root-cause identification and analysis post breakdown. As a result, the time and human effort required in the process has been reduced, and process efficiency has drastically improved.
C-Reactive Protein Knock Out Attenuate Temporomandibular Joint Inflammation in Rats
Authors: He Yao , Zhou Mengjiao , Jian Zixiang , Fang Lingli , Huang Lan , Song Jinlin
Published: September 2021

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker of inflammation, is highly expressed in osteoarthritis (OA)-related diseases, but its exact role remains unknown. In this study, we evaluated the biological effect of CRP on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) inflammation.Methods: Freund’s complete adjuvant (CFA) was used to induce TMJ inflammation in CRP-knockout (CRP-/-) and control rats. Degenerative changes in the TMJ were compared to elucidate the role of CRP in TMJ inflammation. In addition, inflammatory cytokines, macrophage activation and osteoclast differentiation were evaluated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry and tartrate-resistant phosphatase staining to explore the potential regulatory mechanism.Results: Compared to the control, CFA induced TMJ inflammation, which increased systemic and local CRP expression. Furthermore, CRP-/- rats exhibited less severe inflammatory symptoms. The downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6) and upregulation of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were detected in CRP-/- rats, which also exhibited reduced macrophage activation and osteoclast differentiation.Conclusion: These results indicated that controlling the highly elevated levels of CRP during inflammation could modify the cytokine profile, macrophage activation and osteoclast differentiation, thus providing beneficial effects for TMJ-OA prevention and treatment.
A Validation Study of The Greek Version of The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire In Medical Students And A Measurement of Their Empathy
Authors: Voultsos Polychronis , Chatzinikolaou Fotios , Papana Angeliki , Deliliga Aspasia
Published: September 2021

Aims and objectives: Empathy is an important key driver of any therapeutic relationship. It is beneficial not only to the patients, but also to physicians. Enhancing physician’s empathy should be an important goal of medical education. As there is a literature gap regarding the topic of empathy among medical students in Greece, this study aims to contribute to filling this gap.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The (validated in Greece) Greek version of Toronto 52‐item empathy 6-point Likert-scale was administered to all the medical students in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece. In addition, participants were asked to provide information regarding their socio-demographics. A demographic comparison was conducted.Results: The preliminary validation of the Greek version of the Toronto Composite Empathy Scale (TCES) demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability among medical students and could be further tested in larger samples of medical students. The overall reliability analysis of the TCES questionnaire is high (Cronbach's α = 0.895, Sig. from Hotelling’s T-Squared Test < 0.000). The mean total score of empathy showed that students have a moderately high empathy. The 52‐item TCES, 26 for the personal (Per) setting and another 26 for professional (Pro) life, equally divided into cognitive (Cog) and emotional (Emo) empathy in each case. It was found that there is a statistically significant difference in means between the Per-Cog and Per-Emo settings (Sig < 0.001), the Pro-Cog and Pro-Emo (Sig < 0.001), the Per-Cog and Pro-Cog (Sig = 0.004), and the Per-Emo and Pro-Emo (Sig < 0.001). Females had significantly higher empathy scores (mean score 208.04) than males (mean score 192.5) on the Per-Cognitive, Per-Emo and Pro-Emo subscales. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between empathy and factors such as love for animals, interest in medical ethics, belief in God, having an ill person in the family, class year or carrier intention. Conclusions: The Toronto Composite Empathy Scale (TCES) is applicable to medical students. For the most part our findings were consistent with previous literature. However, we identified some nuances that might draw researchers’ attention.
Human Recombinant Leptin Shows Dose and Time-Dependent Release of Nitric Oxide from Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in Endothelium While on Angiogenesis
Authors: Manjunathan Reji , Sinha Swaraj , Swaminathan Akila , Kasiviswanathan Dharanibalan , Ragunathan Malathi , Chatterjee Suvro
Published: September 2021

Nitric Oxide (NO) modulates various assortments of the angiogenic process. The endogenous hormone leptin is able to induce different physiological process such as angiogenesis at low concentration because of its high receptor specific affinity. Various studies speculated leptin’s ability to induce endothelium‐dependent vascular relaxation by stimulating NO through different signaling pathways. So far, no studies have reported the dose and time dependent potential of human recombinant leptin on NO release. Hence, an attempt has been made to understand the optimal concentration and time of incubation of human recombinant leptin for the enzymatic release of NO from endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS). Leptin induced changes in the localization and phosphorylation pattern of eNOS in cultured endothelium under various concentrations and time of incubation is studied. The 5 Nanomolar concentration of human recombinant leptin within 6 minutes of incubation could induce significant levels of NO from the activated eNOS in cultured endothelium through plasma membrane localization and phosphorylation of eNOS. Our findings suggest that human recombinant leptin can modulate NO-dependent new therapeutic avenue for angiogenesis-related disorders such as wound healing if used within the active concentration and time of incubation.
A Fuzzy MADM Approach for Selecting the Best Cyanide Removal Method from a Gold Mine Wastewater
Authors: Hayati Mohammad , Ganji Seyed Mohammad Seyed Alizadeh , Shahcheraghi Seyed Hadi
Published: September 2021

The cyanidation process is the most common method applied for the extraction of gold and silver in the hydrometallurgy industry, in which, sodium cyanide is used as a leaching agent. Therefore, the wastewater of gold mines contains a wide variety of cyanide ions needing to be removed before these wastewaters can be discharged to the receiving environments. In this study, a fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making approach (Fuzzy Delphi AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS) was used for selecting the best cyanide removal method from the wastewater of Muteh gold mine. According to the experts' opinion, three methods including calcium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite were selected as alternatives. Then, by introducing the criteria influencing decision making, including cyanide removal ability, cost of process, amount of material consumed, time, pH, ease of performance and safety, and performing separated experiments, the criteria for each of three methods were determined. Finally, sodium hypochlorite was proposed as the best method for eliminating cyanide from wastewater. It was found that the rank of methods was as sodium hypochlorite (0.517) > calcium hypochlorite (0.474) > hydrogen peroxide (0.463).
Stratifin Indicates Worse Prognosis and Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Proliferation, Migration, Invasion and EMT By Modulating Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway
Authors: Cheng Xiaoye , Li Taiyuan , Shi Jun , Ye Shanping
Published: September 2021

Background: Stratifin (SFN) is closely related to the tumor progression. However, the role of SFN in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical value, biological role and regulatory mechanisms of SFN in HCC. Methods: Immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR was used to explore SFN expression in HCC tissues and corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues. The SFN expression profile data and clinical data of HCC patients were extracted from GEO, TCGA and Oncomine database. The univariate and multivariate analysis were used to investigate the prognosis value of the SFN gene in patients with HCC based on online database. The effects of SFN on HCC cell proliferation, migration, invasion was investigated by preforming CCK-8, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell assays. Xenograft nude mouse were used to observe the role of SFN on tumor growth. Western blotting was used to explore the genes associated with Epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT) and Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The luciferase reported assay was used to validate the activity of Wnt signal pathway.Results: In this study, we found SFN was upregulated in HCC cell lines and tissues. Clinically, SFN was positively associated with tumor size, degree of differentiation, TNM stage and vascular invasion. Survival analysis indicated that patients with high SFN levels had worse OS and DFS. SFN was an independent prognostic factor for HCC. Biologically, knockdown of SFN repressed tumor cell proliferation, migration, invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Conversely, overexpression of SFN promoted these effects. Moreover, SFN promoted matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 expression. Mechanistically, SFN activated Wnt/β-catenin pathway by promoting GSK-3β phosphorylation, decreasing β-catenin phosphorylation, promoting β-catenin nuclear translocation, increasing c-Myc expression and inhibiting Axin2 expression. Furthermore, the TOP/FOP-Flash reporter assays indicated that SFN overexpression or SFN knockdown obviously up-regulated or down-regulated Wnt signaling activity. Conclusions: SFN indicates worse survival in HCC and promotes HCC growth, migration, invasion and EMT by activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Our results suggest SFN may become a prognostic factor and therapeutic target for patients with HCC in future.
Degradation of Phenol by Photocatalysis Using TiO2/Montmorillonite Composites Under UV Light
Authors: Li Huijuan , Yao Yeting , Yang Xiaoyan , Zhou Xusheng , Lei Ran , He Shufang
Published: September 2021

Composites of Titanium (IV) oxide combined with montmorillonite (MMT) with various TiO2/MMT were prepared for photocatalysis application. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diﬀraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and diﬀuse reﬂectance UV–visible spectroscopy. The main influential factors such as the TiO2/MMT dose, calcined temperature and pH value of the solution were studied. The main intermediates of phenol degradation were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the average size of TiO2 nanoparticles was decreased from 22.51 nm to 10.66 nm through the immobilization on MMT. The components in the interlayer domain were replaced by titanium pillars, and the pillaring reaction proceeded in the interlayer domain, and the basic skeleton of MMT was unchanged, and also TiO2 was dispersed on the surface of the MMT. When the initial concentration of phenol is 10 mg/L, the phenol solution pH is 6 and the UV light irradiation time is 240 min, the phenol degradation rate of 30%TiO2/MMT composite is 89.8%, which is better than MMT (11.5%) and pure TiO2 (58.8%). It shows that TiO2 loaded on MMT improves its photocatalytic activity. The phenol reaction process detected by HPLC showed that it had undergone through hydroquinone and benzoquinone, and finally converted into maleic acid and carbon dioxide and small molecules. The possible photocatalysis mechanism is presented.
The Relationship Between Organisational Culture, Leadership Supportive Climate and Hospital Employees’ Perception of Organisational Attractiveness and Level of Innovative Behaviour
Authors: Mutonyi Barbara Rebecca , Slåtten Terje , Lien Gudbrand
Published: September 2021

Background

Within the domain of health services research there has been little research focusing on how organisational culture is associated with leadership supportive climate and specifically whether and how organisational culture and leadership supportive climate either individually or mutually are related to employees’ perception of the attractiveness of the organisation and employees’ level of innovative behaviour. These knowledge gaps in previous research motivated the implementation of this study.
Methods

The conceptual model developed was tested on a sample (N = 1008) of hospital employees. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM) was employed to test the conceptual models, using the SmartPLS 3 software. To test the mediator effect, a bootstrapping test was used, revealing whether the direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and at the same time, when combining two tests, determining the type of mediator effect.
Results

The results can be summarized in four key findings: i) organisational culture was found to be positively directly related to leadership supportive climate (\(\beta\) = 0.87) and organisational attractiveness (\(\beta\) = 0.45), ii) leadership supportive climate was found to be positively directly related to both organisational attractiveness (\(\beta\) = 0.22) and employees’ individual innovative behaviour (\(\beta\) = 0.37), iii) the relationships between organisational culture, leadership supportive climate and employees’ innovative behaviour were both found to be mediated through organisational attractiveness, iv) leadership supportive climate was found to mediate the relationship between organisational culture and organisational attractiveness as well as the relationship between organisational culture and employees’ innovative behaviour.
Conclusions

Organisational culture and leadership supportive climate were highly correlated and imperative drivers to employees’ perception of organisational attractiveness and employees’ level of innovative behaviours. Managers of hospitals should consider organisational culture and leadership supportive climate as two organisational resources that are potentially manageable and controllable. Consequently, managers should actively invest in the two organisational resources. Such resource investment will lead to resource capitalisation manifested in both a growth in employees’ perception of organisational attractiveness as well as employees’ level of innovative behaviour.
∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Self-Administration Induces Cell-Type Specific Adaptations and cFOS Expression in the Nucleus Accumbens Core
Authors: Neuhofer Daniela , Garcia-Keller Constanza , Hohmeister Madeline , Seidling Kailyn , Beloate Lauren , Chioma Vivian , Spencer Sade , Kalivas Peter
Published: September 2021

Given that 30% of chronic cannabis users develop cannabis use disorder (CUD), it is critical to identify neuroadaptations that contribute to this disease. The nucleus accumbens core (NAcore) is important for drug seeking and ~ 90% of all NAcore neurons are divided into D1- and D2-medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that serve opposing roles in drug seeking. Drugs of abuse induce D1- and D2-MSN specific adaptations but whether ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use initiates similar neuroadaptations is unknown. D1- and D2-Cre transgenic rats were transfected with Cre-dependent reporters and trained to self-administer THC + cannabidiol (THC + CBD). After extinction training dendritic spine morphology, glutamate transmission, CB1R function and cFOS expression were quantified. We found that extinction from THC + CBD induced a loss of large spine heads in D1- but not D2-MSNs and a commensurate reduction in glutamate synaptic transmission. Also, CB1R function was impaired on glutamatergic synapses onto D1-MSNs and this was paralleled by an augmented capacity to potentiate glutamate transmission in D1-MSNs. CB1R function and glutamate synaptic transmission on D2-MSN synapses were unaffected by THC + CBD use. Using cFOS expression as an activity marker, we found that D1-MSNs activity remained unchanged after extinction from THC + CBD but significantly increased after 60 minutes cue-induced drug seeking. Surprisingly, the percentage of D2-MSNs expressing cFOS decreased after extinction from THC + CBD and this decrease was restored by drug cues. Thus, glutamatergic adaptations in D1-MSNs partially predict activity changes and pose modulating CB1R function that is down-regulated selectively at D1-MSN synapses as a potential treatment strategy for CUD.
Health Humanities Curriculum and Evaluation in Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review
Authors: Carr Sandra E , Noya Farah , Phillips Brid , Harris Anna , Scott Karen , Hooker Claire , Mavaddat Nahal , Ani-Amponsah Mary , Vuillermin Daniel M. , Reid Steve , MacLean Pamela Brett-
Published: September 2021

Background:The articulation of learning goals, processes and outcomes related to health humanities teaching currently lacks comparability of curricula and outcomes, and requires synthesis to provide a basis for developing a curriculum and evaluation framework for health humanities teaching and learning. This scoping review sought to answer, how, and why the health humanities are used in health professions education. It also sought to explore how health humanities curricula are evaluated and whether the programme evaluation aligns with the desired learning outcomes. Methods:A focused scoping review of qualitative and mixed-methods studies that included the influence of integrated health humanities curricula in pre-registration health professions education with programme evaluate of outcomes was completed. Studies of students not enrolled in a pre-registration course, with only ad-hoc health humanities learning experiences that were not assessed or evaluated were excluded. Four databases were searched (CINAHL), (ERIC), PubMed, and Medline.Results:The search over a 5 year period, identified 8,621 publications. Title and abstract screening, followed by full-text screening, resulted in 24 articles selected for inclusion. Learning outcomes, learning activities and evaluation data were extracted from each included publication. Discussion:Reported health humanities curricula focused on developing students’ capacity for perspective, reflexivity, self- reflection and person-centred approaches to communication. However the learning outcomes were not consistently described, identifying a limited capacity to compare health humanities curricula across programmes. A set of clearly stated generic capabilities or outcomes from learning in health humanities would be a helpful next step for benchmarking, clarification and comparison of evaluation strategy.
Perceptions of Orthopaedic Medicine Students and Their Supervisors About Practice-Based Learning: An Exploratory Qualitative study
Authors: Nsubuga Muhamed , Opoka Robert O , Galukande Moses , Munabi Ian G. , Mubuuke Aloysius G. , Kiguli Sarah
Published: September 2021

Background

Practice based learning is crucial in forming appropriate strategies for improving learning among the medical students that support the country’s understaffed health sector. Unsatisfactory learning consequently results into poor performance of students and poor quality of health care workforce in the long run. Exploring the perceptions about the current practice-based learning system and how to improve is thus vital. This study therefore set out to explore perceptions of Orthopaedic medicine students and their supervisors about practice-based learning at a tertiary training hospital.
Methods

This was an exploratory qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews among 10 orthopedic students during their rotation in the emergency ward of Mulago hospital and 6 of their supervisors. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and then imported into Atlas ti 8.3 for analysis. The data was coded and grouped into themes relating to perceptions of practice-based learning, general inductive analysis was used. The general inductive approach involved condensing the raw textual data into a brief and summary format. The summarized format was then analyzed to establish clear links between the perceptions of practice-based learning and the summary findings derived from the raw data.
Results

Perceptions explored in the in-depth interviews included: presence of too many students on the wards during the rotation, frequent stock-outs of supplies for learning and supervisors being overwhelmed caring for the large number of patients.
Conclusion

Barriers to satisfactory practice-based learning were overcrowding on the wards and insufficient training materials. In order to improve practice-based learning, adequate learning materials are required and the number of students enrolled need to be appropriate for the student – supervisors’ ratio.
Combinatorial Approach of Feature Generation for Traffic Event Detection using Social Media Data: CFGA
Authors: Chaturvedi Narayan , Toshniwal Durga , Parida Manoranjan
Published: September 2021

Confined use of road sensors limits the effectiveness of traffic disturbing event detection. In this context, Twitter is becoming popular among the people to share the events that affect the daily life. In this paper, a novel dictionary formation and a new feature generation approach is proposed to build an integrated machine learning framework to detect the traffic events. The proposed novel combinatorial feature generation approach (CFGA) uncovers appropriate associations among the keywords of tweet and extracts the correlated keyword sets to the data collected. Such keyword sets are denoted as set phrases . The set phrases may comprise of single or multiple words of a tweet. These set phrases may be used as keywords for event-related data collection or further analysis. The frequently occurring set phrases are identified using the notion of support, which signifies the percentage of tweets containing relevant keywords. Since the nature of different events may also vary; therefore, a hardcoded value for support thresh- old will not be beneficial. Hyper-parameter designated as support (!) is tuned for finding threshold value that is used to obtain the set phrases. This process sets up a database of frequently occurring set phrases that can signalize the traffic-related events using ML classifier. The results of the proposed approach suggest that if suitable support is chosen, proposed CFGA increases the accuracy of supervised classification models for extracting traffic information from Twitter data. The classification results obtained by using the proposed approach outperform

their existing counterparts in terms of precision, recall, and F-measure.
Short-Term High-Fat Diet Promotes Increased Lysine Crotonylation in Cerebral Cortex
Authors: Wang Junling , Zhang Jiajia , Wang Xiaolu , Xu Chaojin
Published: September 2021

Protein lysine crotonylation is a newly discovered protein post-translational modification (PTM), which has been associated with cellular metabolism, cell cycle, gene transcription, DNA damage response. However, its potential roles related to human central nervous system diseases remain largely unknown. In the present study, we observed a significant elevated lysine crotonylation in a screening of nine lysine acylations in cortex tissues of HFD-fed mice after short-term overfeeding. On the base of previous reports and molecular weight of proteins, we also speculate that actin, ERK2 or GAPDH and CDK1 might be modified by lysine crotonylation (KCr). Taken together, our findings highlight a potential role of protein lysine crotonylation in HFD-induced brain disorders and as possible therapeutic candidates in the future.
The Ecology of Medical Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Nationwide Study
Authors: Aoki Takuya , Matsushima Masato
Published: September 2021

Background.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on health care utilization. However, the overall picture of shifts in health-seeking behaviors remains unclear.
Objective.

We assessed the ecology of medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and compared it with the results pre-pandemic. We also investigated the associations of sociodemographic and clinical factors with health-seeking behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design and Methods.

We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the general Japanese adult population in May 2021. The main outcomes were health care use for symptoms or health-related events in the last month. We assessed sociodemographic and clinical factors, including age, sex, years of education, annual household income, social isolation, and the number of chronic conditions.
Key Results.

Data were analyzed from 1,747 respondents. Over-the-counter drug use, physician’s office visits, and hospital outpatient clinic visits decreased drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-pandemic levels. The decrease in the use of medical facilities was especially pronounced among the elderly. Sociodemographic and clinical factors were differently associated with health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation and years of education were positively associated with over-the-counter drug use, while female sex was associated with increased over-the-counter drug use and physician’s office visits. In addition, the number of chronic conditions was associated with increased hospital visits.
Conclusions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of medical facilities for health-related events decreased drastically, especially among the elderly. A pharmacy is an important source of health care in a population with social isolation. These findings may be useful to researchers and policymakers in rethinking health care systems during and after the pandemic.
Gradient Eigen-decomposition Invariance Biogeography-based Optimization for Mobile Robot Path Planning
Authors: Wang Jiaqian , Na Xiaodong , Han Min , Li Deicai
Published: September 2021

The path planning for mobile robots has attracted extensive attention, and evolutionary algorithms have been applied to this problem increas-ingly. In this paper, we propose a novel gradient eigen-decomposition invariance biogeography-based optimization (GEI-BBO) for mobile robot path planning, which has the merits of high rotation invariance and excel-lent search performance. In GEI-BBO, we design an eigen-decomposition mechanism for migration operation, which can reduce the dependence of biogeography-based optimization (BBO) on the coordinate system, improve the rotation invariance and share the information between eigen solutions more eﬀectively. Meanwhile, to ﬁnd the local opti-mal solution better, gradient descent is added, and the system search strategy can reduce the occurrence of local trapping phenomenon. In addition, combining the GEI-BBO with cubic spline interpola-tion will solve the problem of mobile robot path planning through a deﬁned coding method and ﬁtness function. A series of experiments are implemented on benchmark functions, whose results indicated that the optimization performance of GEI-BBO is superior to other algo-rithms. And the successful application of GEI-BBO for path planning in diﬀerent environments conﬁrms its eﬀectiveness and practicability.
The Pyroptosis-Related 9 LncRNA Signature and LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Breast Cancer: A Comprehensive Analysis Based On TCGA Database
Authors: Tian Ye , Zhang Yanan , Dong Jing , Li Lin
Published: September 2021

Background: Pytoproptosis has been verified to participate in various malignancies. However, studies on pyroptosis-related lncRNAs in breast cancer and its effects on tumor immune micro-environment are still limited. Consequently, it was aimed in this study to construct a pyroptosis-related lncRNAs signature for prognostic prediction and explore the effect of the pyroptosis-related LncRNAs on tumor immune microenvironment through LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. Methods: The pyroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were discovered using differential expression analysis. The differentially expressed LncRNAs (DELncRNAs) associated with DEGs were discovered using correlation analysis. The function of DEGs was analyed using GO and KEGG analyses. The LncRNAs signature used as the prognostic model of breast cancer was constructed using univariate and multivariate Cox analysis, and the effectiveness was verified by K-M analysis and ROC curve. The risk score calculated using the prognostic model was proved as an independent factor by univariate Cox analysis, multivariate Cox analysis and PCA analysis, and used to predict patient prognosis through nomogram. The pathyways enriched in High risk group and Low risk group were analyzed by GSEA. The differences in immune cell distribution (B cell memory, T cell CD4+, T cell CD8+ among others) were analyzed using ssGSEA. The immune function (type I/II IFN response among others), immune checkpoint (ADORA2A among others) and m6A-related protein expression (FTO among others) of High risk group and Low risk group were compared. The regulatory network of pyroptosis-related LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA was constructed and the core network was extracted. The functions of the target genes of miRNA associated with DELncRNAs were explored using GO and KEGG analysis. Results: A 9 LncRNAs signature (LMNTD2-AS1, AL589765.4, AC079298.3, U62317.3, LINC02446, AL645608.7, HSD11B1-AS1, AC009119.1, AC087239.1) was constructed as the prognostic model of breast cancer. Significant differences were discovered in immune cell distribution, immune function, immune checkpointand m6A-related protein expression between High risk group and Low risk group. The regulatory network of LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA was constructed and found to participate in the crosstalk among apoptosis, pyroptosis and necroptosis of breast cancer. Conclusions: The 9 lncRNAs signature was valuable for predicting breast cancer prognosis, and the pyroptosis-related lncRNAs influenced tumor immune microenvironment of breast cancer through the LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network.
Selection Strategy For The Beverage Sensory Characterization In A Large Arabica Coffee Germplasm Bank
Authors: Nadaleti Denis H. S. , Abrahão Juliana C. de R. , Andrade Vinícius T. , Malta Marcelo R. , Botelho Cesar E. , Carvalho Gladyston R.
Published: September 2021

This study proposes a selection strategy to be applied to a large number of coffee accessions, which can be useful when exploring many genotypes in breeding programs for beverage quality. Over three consecutive years, 270 Arabica coffee accessions from the Germplasm Bank of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were sensorially characterized. At the end of this period, the 20 genotypes with the greatest potential for specialty coffee production were selected, which were subjected to a second sensory characterization. Additionally, we determined the genetic correlations between the attributes that make up the final beverage score. We did not identify an attribute that was more important than the others in the organoleptic performance of the studied accessions. Through the proposed method, we identified genetic variation in our original population and selected five accessions with beverage quality considered excellent according to the SCA classification. These accessions were planted in field conditions of highly specialized farms to study their interaction with the cultivation environment and to promote the increase in production of such coffees. Additionally, the five selected accessions are being used in crosses with elite cultivars create new segregating populations. We conclude that estimation of the heritable variation of each accession, the use over the years of common check cultivars with known performance, and extremely care of experimental precision in the entire processes warrant fair comparisons.