bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Unintended Consequences of Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping Interventions Contributing to the Rise of Violent Extremism
Authors: Rrustemi Arlinda
Published: July 2021

This article uncovers the nexus between the state- and peacebuilding efforts and religious violent extremism. Exploring an exemplary lifestory interview with a directly affected individual, the article makes use of empirical data to inform the current theoretical debates on the subject. The article shows how the inefficient state and peace building efforts unintendedly lead to a rise in religious violent extremism. These errors from the international community in Kosovo became a source of religious violent extremism in the case of Kosovo, as the exemplary lifestory shows.
Parliaments in the MENA Region: Between Timid Reform and Regression. A Comparative Survey
Authors: Grote Rainer
Published: July 2021

Part of a special issue devoted to the role of parliaments in contemporary Arab politics, this article gives an oversight of the evolution of the constitutional rules governing the status and powers of Arab parliamentary assemblies following the “Arab spring” and during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Parliaments have traditionally played a marginal role in Arab constitutional theory and practice. Although the strengthening of the role and powers of parliaments and a rebalancing of the executive-legislative relations in favour of the latter featured prominently in the reform agendas emerging from the protest movements of the “Arab spring,” these movements proved unable to produce lasting change. The reforms have either been rolled back by oppressive governments or given way to a political pactice of renewed presidential dominance which diverges considerably from the initial aspirations of the reformers. The highly unfavourable conditions existing in most Arab countries – with internally divided democratic reform movements, entrenched military, and political elites determined to resist genuine democratic change with all means available and powerful external actors supporting the domestic status quo – are likely to ensure that parliaments will remain confined to a largely ornamental role in Arab politics in the foreseeable future.
Aspidistra longhuiensis (Asparagaceae), a new speices from Hunan, China
Authors: WANG ZHI , PENG SHUAI , PENG YING , HU GUANG-WAN , Wang QING-FENG
Published: July 2021

N/A
A Doppler radar study of convective draft lengths over Darwin, Australia
Authors: Yeung Nicholas K. H. , Sherwood Steven C. , Protat Alain , Lane Todd P. , Williams Christopher
Published: July 2021

Data from an upward-pointing wind profiler radar pair at Darwin in tropical Australia are used to determine the characteristics of individual convective up- and downdrafts observed at the site. Drafts are identified as vertically contiguous regions of instantaneous upward or downward motion exceeding 0.2 ms−1. Most updrafts and downdrafts found are less than 2 km in vertical extent, and updrafts exceeding 5 km vertical length carry no more than 33% of the total upward mass flux. Updraft length correlates positively with rain rates, and on very high rain rates (greater than 20 mm/hr), average updraft lengths are ~5 km. Typical peak updraft velocities increase from ~2.5 ms−1 for the smallest to ~ 4 ms−1 for the largest drafts, while those for downdrafts remain ~ 2 ms−1 regardless of size. These results are broadly consistent with other numerical modeling studies, but contrast with the common view of deep convection as being dominated by continuous, deep drafts.
Research on intelligent vehicle lane changing and obstacle avoidance control based on road adhesion coefficient
Authors: Huang Kang , Jiang Cheng , Qiu Ming-ming , Wu Di , Zhang Bing-zhan
Published: July 2021

Aimed at the safety and stability problems of intelligent vehicles under extreme conditions such as low adhesion road surface and emergency lane change and obstacle avoidance, this article designs a lane change and obstacle avoidance controller based on road adhesion coefficient. Using the nonlinear vehicle dynamics model as the prediction model, using the recursive least squares method to identify the road adhesion coefficient, considering the road adhesion coefficient to plan and adjust in the obstacle avoidance path as well as limit constraint conditions of the model predictive control controller, using model predictive control method for the expectation of intelligent vehicle trajectory tracking, travels tremendously guarantee the security and stability of driving. The joint CarSim–Simulink simulations results show that under poor road conditions, the trajectory tracking accuracy after optimization is higher and the vehicle is less prone to sideslip and instability. The lane change controller designed in this article has strong adaptability to different road surface adhesion coefficient, and all parameters can be controlled within a reasonable safety range at different speeds, with good robustness.
Paris Bakery: Implementing Omnichannel Strategy in the Consumer Value Chain
Authors: Mohapatra Sanjay , Das Amiya Prava
Published: July 2021

Paris Bakery, established in 2013, was one of the leading bakery food chains in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. In January 2019, the founder of the Paris Bakery, Mr. Jaynarayan Pujapanda, decided to use technology (particularly omni channel strategy) to expand and consolidate his market to different locations. However, he was skeptical about the investment and benefits from this approach. While omnichannel would help him to understand consumer behaviors better and predict the demand, the technology backbone required to achieve the scale was a point of contention. His research and discussions with experts had indicated that this approach is guaranteed to be a delightful experience for the customers, provided this strategy took care of the diversity of consumers taste and preferences. Known for his modesty and honesty among his stakeholders, decided to use omnichannel as the backbone for consolidation and growth.
Placental HTRA1 cleaves α1-antitrypsin to generate a NET-inhibitory peptide
Authors: Campbell Robert A. , Campbell Heather D. , Bircher J. Samuel , de Araujo Claudia Valeria , Denorme Frederik , Crandell Jacob L. , Rustad John L. , Monts Josh , Cody Mark J. , Kosaka Yasuhiro , Yost Christian C.
Published: July 2021

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are important components of innate immunity. Neonatal neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNs]) fail to form NETs due to circulating NET-inhibitory peptides (NIPs), cleavage fragments of α1-antitrypsin (A1AT). How fetal and neonatal blood NIPs are generated remains unknown, however. The placenta expresses high-temperature requirement serine protease A1 (HTRA1) during fetal development, which can cleave A1AT. We hypothesized that placentally expressed HTRA1 regulates the formation of NIPs and that NET competency changed in PMNs isolated from neonatal HTRA1 knockout mice (HTRA1−/−). We found that umbilical cord blood plasma has elevated HTRA1 levels compared with adult plasma and that recombinant and placenta-eluted HTRA1 cleaves A1AT to generate an A1AT cleavage fragment (A1ATM383S-CF) of molecular weight similar to previously identified NIPs that block NET formation by adult neutrophils. We showed that neonatal mouse pup plasma contains A1AT fragments that inhibit NET formation by PMNs isolated from adult mice, indicating that NIP generation during gestation is conserved across species. Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated PMNs isolated from HTRA1+/+ littermate control pups exhibit delayed NET formation after birth. However, plasma from HTRA1−/− pups had no detectable NIPs, and PMNs from HTRA1−/− pups became NET competent earlier after birth compared with HTRA1+/+ littermate controls. Finally, in the cecal slurry model of neonatal sepsis, A1ATM383S-CF improved survival in C57BL/6 pups by preventing pathogenic NET formation. Our data indicate that placentally expressed HTRA1 is a serine protease that cleaves A1AT in utero to generate NIPs that regulate NET formation by human and mouse PMNs.
Antibiotic susceptibility of human-associated Staphylococcus aureus and its relation to agr typing, virulence genes, and biofilm formation
Authors: Derakhshan Safoura , Navidinia Masoumeh , Haghi Fakhri
Published: July 2021

Background and objective

Carriage of virulence factors confers some evolutionary benefit to bacteria, which favors the resistant strains. We aimed to analyze whether antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus strains is affected by agr typing, biofilm formation ability, and virulence profiles.

Methods

A total of 123 S. aureus clinical isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk diffusion method, biofilm formation by microtiter plate method, as well as polymerase chain reaction screening to identify virulence genes and the accessory gene regulator (agr) types I-IV. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results

The most prevalent virulence gene was staphyloxanthin crtN, followed by hemolysin genes, capsular cap8H, toxic shock toxin tst, and enterotoxin sea, respectively. Resistant isolates were more commonly found in the agr-negative group than in the agr-positive group. Isolates of agr type III were more virulent than agr I isolates. Strong biofilm producers showed more antibiotic susceptibility and carried more virulence genes than non-strong biofilm producers. Associations were found between the presence of virulence genes and susceptibility to antibiotics. Carriage of the virulence genes and agr was higher in the inpatients; while, resistance and strong biofilms were more prevalent in the outpatients.

Conclusion

These findings indicated the presence of several virulence factors, biofilm production capacity, agr types and resistance to antibiotics in clinical S. aureus isolates. Considering the importance of S. aureus for human medicine, an understanding of virulence and resistance relationships would help to reduce the impact of S. aureus infections.
Characterization of Salmonella serotypes prevalent in asymptomatic people and patients
Authors: Xu Haiyan , Zhang Weibing , Zhang Kai , Zhang Yue , Wang Zhenyu , Zhang Wei , Li Yang , Li Qiuchun
Published: July 2021

Background

Infection with Salmonella enterica usually results in diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, but some people become asymptomatic or chronic carrier as a source of infection for others. This study aimed to analyze the difference in serotype, antimicrobial resistance, and genetic profiles between Salmonella strains isolated from patients and those from asymptomatic people in Nantong city, China.

Methods

A total of 88 Salmonella strains were collected from patients and asymptomatic people from 2017 to 2018. Serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and PFGE analysis were performed to analyze the characteristics of these strains.

Results

Twenty serotypes belonging to 8 serogroups were identified in the 88 Salmonella strains. S. Typhimurium remained to be the predominant serotype in strains from both patients and asymptomatic people. Among the 27 strains from patients, S. Enteritidis and S. Rissen were shown as the other two major serotypes, while S. London, S. Derby, and S. Meleagridis were demonstrated as the other significant serotypes among the 61 strains from asymptomatic people. Antimicrobial resistance testing revealed that 84.1% of strains from both resources were multi-drug resistant. PFGE displayed a highly discriminative ability to differentiate strains belonging to S. Derby, S. Typhimurium, etc., but could not efficiently differentiate serotypes like S. Enteritidis.

Conclusions

This study’s results demonstrated that S. Typhimurium could cause human infection in both symptomatic and asymptomatic state; S. London, S. Derby, and S. Meleagridis usually cause asymptomatic infection, while S. Enteritidis infection mainly results in human diseases. The high multi-drug resistance rate detected in the antimicrobial resistance and diverse PFGE profiles of these strains implied that the strains were isolated from different sources, and the increased surveillance of Salmonella from both patients and asymptomatic people should be taken to control the disease.
Extended infusion of rituximab combined with steroids is effective in inducing remission and reducing relapse in adult minimal change disease
Authors: Liu Diankun , Zhou Zhanmei , Wang Mengyi , Nie Sheng , Li Jun , Hu Bianxiang , He Wenjuan , Wang Guobao , Ai Jun
Published: July 2021

Background

Minimal change disease is a common cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults. Higher relapse rate put patients at risk of steroids toxicity due to long-term exposure. Rituximab has been suggested to maintain long time remission and withdraw steroids and other immunosuppressants with fewer adverse events. However, optimal dose and dosing interval have not been explored.

Methods

Twenty-five patients were enrolled from 2017-10 to 2020-03 in Nanfang Hospital in China. Clinical and biological data were extracted from medical records and laboratory databases. Therapy composed of 375mg/m2 rituximab once three weeks for 3 dose and corticosteroid was applied. Complete remission was defined as reduction of proteinuria to 0.3g/d. Remission rate, relapse rate, steroids used before and after rituximab therapy and adverse effects were documented at a mean time of 14.71 months.

Results

Twenty-two patients achieved complete remission for an average of 3.26 months and only 3 patients experienced one relapse respectively during the follow-up period. The mean remission maintenance time was 11.6 months, and was 5 months after steroids withdrawal. Steroids dose at last follow-up was 6.09mg/d, which was significantly reduced compared to 28.15mg/d before rituximab. Relapse rate before and after rituximab was 1.43 and 0.1, respectively. Only four minor adverse events were recorded.

Conclusions

Therapy consisted of 375mg/m2 rituximab once three weeks for 3 dose combined with corticosteroid is effective in inducing remission in adult patients with minimal change disease. Both of the relapse rate and dose of steroids used are significantly decreased with fewer side effects.
Self-reported pain scores as a predictor of preterm birth in symptomatic twin pregnancy: a retrospective study
Authors: Kim Ji Hoi , Lee Seung Mi , Lee Sungyoung , Kim So Yeon , Hue Hye Jeong , Park Chan-Wook , Park Joong Shin , Jun Jong Kwan
Published: July 2021

Background

To evaluate the self-reported pain scores as a predictor of preterm birth (PTB) in symptomatic twin pregnancy and to develop a nomogram for the prediction model.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of 148 cases of symptomatic twin pregnancies before 34 weeks of gestation visited at Seoul national university hospital from 2013 to 2018. With other clinical factors, self-reported pain score was evaluated by the numerical rating scale (NRS) pain scores for pain intensity. By multivariate analyses and logistic regression, we developed a prediction model for PTB within 7 days. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, the curves were plotted to show the predictability of the PTB according to NRS pain score, while adjusting the other covariates.

Results

Twenty-three patients (15.5 %) delivered preterm within 7 days. By a logistic regression analysis, higher NRS pain score (OR 1.558, 95 % CI 1.093–2.221, P < 0.05), shorter cervical length (OR 3.164, 95 % CI 1.262–7.936, P < 0.05) and positive fibronectin results (OR 8.799, 95 % CI 1.101–70.330, P < 0.05) affect PTB within 7 days. Using the variables, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the prediction model was 0.917. In addition, we developed a nomogram for the prediction of PTB within 7 days.

Conclusions

Self-reported pain scores combined with cervical length and fetal fibronectin are useful in predicting impending PTB in symptomatic twin pregnancy.
Validity and reliability of the lederman Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (PSEQ) in Brazil
Authors: e Silva Janiny Lima , de Sousa Mata Matheus , Câmara Saionara Maria Aires , do Céu Clara Costa Íris , de Medeiros Kleyton Santos , Cobucci Ricardo Ney , Gonçalves Ana Katherine
Published: July 2021

Background

The Lederman Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (PSEQ) is used to assess psychosocial adaptation to pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and maternity. The PSEQ is a tool used in various countries and has been translated into Portuguese; however, it needs to be validated in Brazil. This study aimed to analyze the validity and reliability of the PSEQ in Brazilian pregnant women.

Method

This methodological validity study investigated internal consistency and reliability using Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients. Construct validity was assessed using Pearson’s correlation between domains and confirmatory factor analysis. To assess concurrent validity, Pearson’s correlation between the different domains of the PSEQ and Prenatal Psychosocial Profile-Portuguese Version (PPP-VP) was determined. The level of significance was set at 5%.

Results

This study included 399 pregnant women in the northeastern region of Brazil. The internal consistency and reliability of the total PSEQ score were high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.95). Validity analysis showed positive and significant correlations between all PSEQ domains, ranging from 0.14 to 0.56. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the following values of goodness of fit: RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.08, CFI = 0.61, χ2/df = 1.77. The discriminant and concurrent validities of the PSEQ were confirmed.

Conclusions

The Portuguese version of the PSEQ has adequate psychometric properties and is a valid and reliable tool to evaluate psychosocial adaptation to pregnancy in Brazilian pregnant women.
Dietary and lifestyle inflammatory scores and risk of incident diabetes: a prospective cohort among participants of Tehran lipid and glucose study
Authors: Teymoori Farshad , Farhadnejad Hossein , Mokhtari Ebrahim , Sohouli Mohammad Hassan , Moslehi Nazanin , Mirmiran Parvin , Azizi Fereidoun
Published: July 2021

Background

Inflammation is a precursor of chronic disease, which is affected by lifestyle and dietary habits. Recently empirical dietary inflammatory patterns (EDIP), dietary inflammation scores (DIS), and lifestyle inflammation scores (LIS) were developed to indicate lifestyle and dietary contributions in systemic inflammation. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between these indices and the incidence of diabetes among Tehranian adults.

Methods

A total of 4624 individuals, aged 20–75 years, who were free of diabetes at baseline (2008–2011), were followed for 5.71 years (2014–2017) to ascertain incident diabetes. Dietary intakes were collected at baseline using the food frequency questionnaire. The hazard ratio (HR) of diabetes was calculated by Cox proportional hazards regression across quartiles of EDIP, DIS, and LIS, adjusted for potential confounders.

Results

The mean ± SD for the age and BMI of the study population (45.1% male) were 40.8 ± 12.7 years and 27.1 ± 4.1 Kg.m2, respectively. At the end of the follow-up, 329 (7.1%) diabetes cases were identified. In the multivariable-adjusted model, individuals in the highest compared to the lowest quartile of EDIP (HR = 0.83; 95%CI:0.59–1.15, p for trend = 0.286), and LIS (HR = 2.41; 95%CI:1.61–3.60, P for trend < 0.001) had increased risk of diabetes. However, no significant associations were found between the score of DIS and diabetes incidents (HR = 0.83; 95%CI:0.59–1.15, p for trend = 0.286).

Conclusion

Greater adherence to EDIP and LIS scores was associated with a higher risk of diabetes, while no significant association was found between the DIS score and diabetes incident.
Interactions between Caveolin-1 (rs3807992) polymorphism and major dietary patterns on cardio-metabolic risk factors among obese and overweight women
Authors: Abaj Faezeh , Koohdani Fariba , Rafiee Masoumeh , Alvandi Ehsan , Yekaninejad Mir Saeed , Mirzaei Khadijeh
Published: July 2021

Background

Caveolin-1 (CAV-1) is a cholesterol-dependent essential component located in caveolae. Several studies have been CAV-1 related to cardio-metabolic parameters in animal models, however, there are few studies in humans. Importantly, there is no study has investigated the interaction between CAV-1 rs3807992 gene and dietary patterns (DPs) on cardio-metabolic risk factors.

Methods

The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 404 overweight and obese women. Dietary intake was obtained from FFQ with 147 items. The CAV-1 genotype was measured by the PCR-RFLP method. The anthropometric measurements, serum lipid profile, and inflammatory markers were measured by standard protocols.

Results

There was a significant interaction between CAV-1 rs3807992 and healthy DP on high-density cholesterol (HDL) (P-interaction = 0.03), TC/HDL (P-interaction = 0.03) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P-interaction = 0.04); in A-allele carriers, higher following a healthy DP was related to a higher level of HDL and lower TC/HDL and hs-CRP. As well as, the significant interactions were observed between CAV-1 rs3807992 and unhealthy DP in relation to triglyceride (TG) (P-interaction = 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P-interaction = 0.01) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1) (P-interaction = 0.01); A-allele carriers were more following the unhealthy DP had lower levels of TG, AST and MCP-1.

Conclusions

Our study revealed a significant gene-diet interaction between rs3807992 SNPs and DPs in relation to cardio-metabolic risk factors; A-allele carriers might be more sensitive to dietary composition compared to GG homozygotes. Following a healthy DP in A-allele-carriers may be improved their genetic association with cardio-metabolic risk factors.
Evaluation of antinociceptive activity of Ilex dipyrena Wall. in mice
Authors: Ali Amjad , Nasir Abdul , Shah Syed Wadood Ali , Khalil Atif Ali Khan , Ahn Mi-jeong , Shah Syed Muhammad Mukarram , Subhan Fazli , Faheem Muhammad , Sajjad Wasim , Shoaib Mohammad , Ahmad Saeed , Nazir Nausheen , Nisar Mohammad
Published: July 2021

Background

In order to find a new natural resource for pain-relief, the analgesic effects of Ilex dipyrena crude extract, fractions, and subfractions were evaluated in in-vivo mouse models with possible mechanism of action.

Methods

Analgesic effects of crude extract (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight), fractions and subfractions (75 mg/kg body weight) were screened using heat-induced (tail-immersion and hot plate test) and chemical-induced (formalin and acetic acid) nociception models in mice. The samples were also tested for the elucidation of a possible mechanism through opioidergic and GABAergic systems.

Results

The administration of crude extract, fractions and subfractions produced analgesic responses in acetic acid, formalin, tail immersion, and hot plate model for pain similar to those obtained with the standard. Naloxone antagonized the antinociceptive effects of the tested samples, whereas bicuculline showed partial inhibition. Considering the analgesic response, crude extract, fractions, and subfractions demonstrated promising inhibitory activity against all test models for pain, which was further supported by the possible involvement of opioidergic and GABAergic systems.

Conclusion

The results suggest that this plant may be useful in the development of new analgesic drugs. Further research with regard to the isolation of bioactive compounds is required to verify these findings.
Chitosan nanoparticles containing limonene and limonene-rich essential oils: potential phytotherapy agents for the treatment of melanoma and breast cancers
Authors: Alipanah Hiva , Farjam Mojtaba , Zarenezhad Elham , Roozitalab Ghazaal , Osanloo Mahmoud
Published: July 2021

Background

Melanoma and breast cancers are two common cancers worldwide. Due to the side effects of chemotherapy drugs and the occurring resistance against them, the development of green drugs has been received more attention.

Methods

The anticancer effects of three essential oils from theCitrusfamily and their identified major constituents (limonene) were first investigated against melanoma and breast cancer cell lines (A-375 and MDA-MB-468). By preparing chitosan nanoparticles containing them, an attempt was then made to improve their effectiveness.

Results

Chitosan nanoparticles containingCitrus sinensisandCitrus limonessential oils with IC50s of 0.03 and 0.124 μg/mL on A-375 cells, and 23.65 and 40.32 μg/mL on MDA-MB-468 showed distinct anticancer efficacies.

Conclusion

The prepared formulations could thus be considered as green anticancer agents in complementary medicine and therapies.
Exploring community tuberculosis program in the pastoralist setting of Ethiopia: a qualitative study of community health workers’ perspectives in Borena Zone, Oromia Region
Authors: Megerso Abebe , Deyessa Negusie , Jarso Godana , Tezera Robel , Worku Alemayehu
Published: July 2021

Background

Pastoralist community accounts for a significant portion of the population in Ethiopia. This community is different from majority of the country’s population. Access to TB prevention and control services is uneven in the country. The community TB program is designed to improve the access. Exploring the program performance from the perspectives of its implemters in a pastoral setting remains important.

Method

We conducted a qualitative study using an interpretive description method in the pastoralist community setting of Ethiopia. Study participants were recruited from geographically dispersed areas. We collected data through in-depth interview using semi-structured interview guides and audio recordings during February 01–30, 2020. The guides were developed in consultation with TB program experts and clinicians treating TB patients in the study area. Notes were taken at the interviews to enrich transcription of the data. Principal investigator conducted the interview. The subsequent interviews were informed by emerging ideas from forgoing interview transcriptions and continued until data saturation was achieved.

Results

One hundred and fifty six codes, nine categories and three themes emanated. The first theme was inadequate community TB performance and some of its codes include inadequate presumptive TB case identification and compromised directly observed treatment short course service delivery. The second theme was factors contributing to the program performance. Community factors, lack of physical access to health facilities and indirect non-medical cost were some categories under this theme. The final theme was suggested solutions; and its categories include a need for active community involvement and modification of service delivery approaches.

Conclusions

Community TB performance was inadequate in the pastoralist community. Multifaceted factors contributed to the inadequate program performance. Socioeconomic and access related factors were major contributers. Aligning the program to the context of the pastoralist community setting is required to improve the performance.
Functional respiratory imaging assessment of budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate and glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate metered dose inhalers in patients with COPD: the value of inhaled corticosteroids
Authors: van den Berge Maarten , De Backer Jan , Van Holsbeke Cedric , De Backer Wilfried , Trivedi Roopa , Jenkins Martin , Dorinsky Paul , Aurivillius Magnus
Published: July 2021

Background

For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), greater improvements in lung function have been demonstrated for triple versus dual inhaled therapies in traditional spirometry studies. This study was the first to use functional respiratory imaging (FRI), known for increased sensitivity to airway changes versus spirometry, to assess the effect of the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) component (budesonide) on lung function in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD and a blood eosinophil count > 150 cells/mm3.

Methods

Patients in this Phase IIIb (NCT03836677), randomized, double-blind, crossover study received twice-daily budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (BGF) 320/18/9.6 μg fixed-dose triple therapy and glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (GFF) 18/9.6 μg fixed-dose dual therapy over 4 weeks, each delivered via a single metered dose Aerosphere inhaler. Primary endpoints were the improvements from baseline for each treatment in specific (i.e. corrected for lobar volume) image-based airway volume (siVaw) and resistance (siRaw) measured via FRI taken at total lung capacity (Day 29). Secondary outcomes included spirometry and body plethysmography. Adverse events were monitored throughout the study.

Results

A total of 23 patients were randomized and included in the intent-to-treat analysis (mean age 64.9 years, 78.3% males, 43.5% current smokers, mean predicted post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1] 63.6%). BGF and GFF both statistically significantly increased siVaw from baseline at Day 29 (geometric mean ratio [GM], 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.72 [1.38, 2.13] and 1.53 [1.28, 1.83], respectively, both p < 0.0001), with a greater increase observed for BGF versus GFF (GM, 95% CI 1.09 [1.03, 1.16], p = 0.0061). Statistically significant reductions in siRaw were also observed with both BGF and GFF (GM, 95% CI 0.50 [0.39, 0.63] and 0.52 [0.40, 0.67], respectively, both p < 0.0001). Additionally, significant improvements from baseline in post-dose FEV1 were observed with BGF and GFF (mean 346 mL, p = 0.0003 and 273 mL, p = 0.0004, respectively). Safety findings were consistent with the known profiles of BGF and GFF.

Conclusions

As observed using FRI, triple therapy with BGF resulted in greater increases in airway volume, and reductions in airway resistance versus long-acting muscarinic antagonist/long-acting β2-agonist (LAMA/LABA) dual therapy with GFF, reflecting the ICS component’s contribution in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03836677. Registered 11 February 2019, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03836677
Primary pulmonary epithelioid sarcoma: a case report
Authors: Mizutani Eiki , Morita Riichiro , Abe Keiko , Kodama Makoto , Kasai Shogo , Okochi Yasumi , Motoi Noriko
Published: July 2021

Background

Epithelioid sarcoma most frequently occurs in the dermal or subcutaneous area of the distal extremities. To date, there have been three cases of primary pulmonary epithelioid sarcoma reported. We report a case of epithelioid sarcoma that is considered a primary lung tumor.

Case presentation

A 65-year-old asymptomatic Asian male patient underwent chest radiography during a routine health examination, and an abnormal mass was detected. His past medical history was unremarkable. He smoked 40 cigarettes every day and had slightly obstructive impairment on spirometry. He worked as an employee of a company and had no history of asbestos exposure. He underwent partial resection of the right lung by thoracoscopy. A histological examination of the tumor revealed a cellular nodule of epithelioid and spindle-shaped cells. Some of the tumor cells displayed rhabdoid features and reticular arrangement in a myxomatous stroma. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for vimentin, smooth muscle actin (SMA), CD34, and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA); loss of the BAF47/INI1 protein in the tumor cells was also confirmed. A diagnosis of epithelioid sarcoma was established. Careful screening by whole-body positron emission tomography for another primary lesion after surgery did not detect any possible lesion. He had no cutaneous disease.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the fourth case of a proximal-type epithelioid sarcoma considered as a primary lung tumor.
Disentangled generative adversarial network for low-dose CT
Authors: Du Wenchao , Chen Hu , Yang Hongyu , Zhang Yi
Published: July 2021

Generative adversarial network (GAN) has been applied for low-dose CT images to predict normal-dose CT images. However, the undesired artifacts and details bring uncertainty to the clinical diagnosis. In order to improve the visual quality while suppressing the noise, in this paper, we mainly studied the two key components of deep learning based low-dose CT (LDCT) restoration models—network architecture and adversarial loss, and proposed a disentangled noise suppression method based on GAN (DNSGAN) for LDCT. Specifically, a generator network, which contains the noise suppression and structure recovery modules, is proposed. Furthermore, a multi-scaled relativistic adversarial loss is introduced to preserve the finer structures of generated images. Experiments on simulated and real LDCT datasets show that the proposed method can effectively remove noise while recovering finer details and provide better visual perception than other state-of-the-art methods.
Washback of assessment on English teaching-learning practice at secondary schools
Authors: Rahman Kh. Atikur , Seraj Prodhan Mahbub Ibna , Hasan Md. Kamrul , Namaziandost Ehsan , Tilwani Shouket Ahmad
Published: July 2021

This paper presents the findings of a study which aimed at exploring the washback of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) English examinations on English teaching and learning practice at secondary schools in Bangladesh. For this purpose, a qualitative research (employing interviews with English teachers, FGDs with students and classroom observations protocol) was conducted in 12 secondary schools. The results from data analysis indicate that the SSC English tests had strong negative washback on English teaching-learning practice at secondary schools resulting from a lack of a congruence between the objectives of the curriculum and the format of the tests, teachers’ lack of adequate understanding about the curriculum and present assessment system, respondents’ negative attitudes towards the test, and pressure from the schools and the parents to ensure good grades in the final examination. Consequently, teachers and learners adopted such teaching and learning approaches which are highly examination-oriented. The study puts forward some suggestions on how positive washback could be generated. The findings of the study have implications for the decision makers, designers of curricula, assessment and testing, teachers, and teacher trainers involved in the Bangladeshi educational system and elsewhere.
Investigating the impact of pre-processing techniques and pre-trained word embeddings in detecting Arabic health information on social media
Authors: Albalawi Yahya , Buckley Jim , Nikolov Nikola S.
Published: July 2021

This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of data pre-processing and word embedding techniques in the context of Arabic document classification in the domain of health-related communication on social media. We evaluate 26 text pre-processings applied to Arabic tweets within the process of training a classifier to identify health-related tweets. For this task we use the (traditional) machine learning classifiers KNN, SVM, Multinomial NB and Logistic Regression. Furthermore, we report experimental results with the deep learning architectures BLSTM and CNN for the same text classification problem. Since word embeddings are more typically used as the input layer in deep networks, in the deep learning experiments we evaluate several state-of-the-art pre-trained word embeddings with the same text pre-processing applied. To achieve these goals, we use two data sets: one for both training and testing, and another for testing the generality of our models only. Our results point to the conclusion that only four out of the 26 pre-processings improve the classification accuracy significantly. For the first data set of Arabic tweets, we found that Mazajak CBOW pre-trained word embeddings as the input to a BLSTM deep network led to the most accurate classifier with F1 score of 89.7%. For the second data set, Mazajak Skip-Gram pre-trained word embeddings as the input to BLSTM led to the most accurate model with F1 score of 75.2% and accuracy of 90.7% compared to F1 score of 90.8% achieved by Mazajak CBOW for the same architecture but with lower accuracy of 70.89%. Our results also show that the performance of the best of the traditional classifier we trained is comparable to the deep learning methods on the first dataset, but significantly worse on the second dataset.
Evaluation of rebound tonometer iCare IC200 as compared with IcarePRO and Goldmann applanation tonometer in patients with glaucoma
Authors: Nakakura Shunsuke , Asaoka Ryo , Terao Etsuko , Nagata Yuki , Fukuma Yasuko , Oogi Satomi , Shiraishi Miku , Kiuchi Yoshiaki
Published: July 2021

Background

This study investigated the agreement between a new rebound tonometer, IC200, and IcarePRO and Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT).

Methods

This was a prospective cross-sectional study. We measured the intraocular pressure (IOP) in 145 eyes of 145 glaucoma patients in the sitting position using GAT, IcarePRO, and IC200. IcarePRO and IC200 measurements were also obtained in the supine position. IC200 measurement was performed using two modes: single six (IC200-single) and automatic (IC200-continuous) six-measurements mode.

Results

All tonometers provided high reproducibility in both positions (all intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.90), although it was highest with GAT, followed by IC200-continuous and IC200-single and then IcarePRO. In the sitting position, the mean (± SD) IOPs of GAT, IcarePRO, IC200-single, and IC200-continuous were 14.5 ± 2.9 mmHg, 13.3 ± 3.2 mmHg, 11.6 ± 3.2 mmHg, and 11.5 ± 3.2 mmHg, respectively. IOPs measured with IcarePRO or IC200 were significantly lower than those with GAT, particularly in patients with low IOP. IOPs measured with all tonometers were significantly elevated in the supine position as compared with the sitting position, but this difference was significantly greater with IC200-single and IC200-continuous compared with IcarePRO. IOP elevation was significant in eyes without bleb versus those with bleb, but this finding was not observed when IOP was measured with IcarePRO. The IOPs of the single and continuous modes of IC200 were interchangeable in both positions.

Conclusions

GAT, IcarePRO, and IC200 had sufficiently high reproducibility, but measurements with IcarePRO may not be accurate in the supine position. Elevation of IOP in the supine position, especially in eyes with bleb, was more sensitively captured with IC200 than with IcarePRO.

Trial registration

Japan Clinical Trials Register, No. UMIN000039982.
Evaluation of two microcosm systems for co-treatment of LDPE
oxo
and lignocellulosic biomass for biochar production
Authors: Castillo-Toro Alejandra , Mateus-Maldonado Juan F. , Céspedes-Bernal Diana N. , Peña-Carranza Leonardo , Páez-Morales Adriana I. , Poutou-Piñales Raúl A. , Salcedo-Reyes Juan C. , Díaz-Ariza Lucía A. , Castillo-Carvajal Laura C. , Pedroza-Rodríguez Aura M. , Gómez-Méndez Luis D.
Published: July 2021

Background

The co-transformation of solid waste of natural and anthropogenic origin can be carried out through solid-state-fermentation systems to obtain bio-products with higher added value and lower environmental impact.

Methods

To evaluate the effect of
Pleurotus ostreatus
on co-transformation of oxo-degradable low-density polyethylene (LDPE
oxo
) sheets and lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), were assembled two 0.75 L microcosm systems in vertical (VMS) and horizontal (HMS) position. The pre-treated sheets with luminescent O
2
plasma discharges were mixed with pine bark, hydrolyzed brewer’s yeast and paper napkin fragments and incubated for 135 days at 20 ± 1.0 °C in the presence of the fungus. With the co-transformation residues, biochar (BC) was produced at 300 ± 1.0 °C (BC300) for 1 h, then used to carry out adsorption studies, using the malachite green dye (MG) at pH 4.0, 7.0 and 9.0 ± 0.2. Finally, the biochar was the substrate for the germination of carnation seeds (
Dianthus caryophyllus
) and Ray-grass (
Lolium
sp.) in vitro.

Results

For HMS, the decrease in static contact angle (SCA) was 63.63% (
p
 = 0.00824) and for VMS 74.45% (
p
 = 0.00219), concerning the pristine. Plastic roughness in VMS was higher (26%) concerning the control. Throughout the 135 days, there were fungal growth and consequently laccase (Lac), manganese peroxidase (MnP) and lignin peroxidase (LiP) activities. During the first 75 days, CO
2
production increased to 4.78 ± 0.01 and 4.98 ± 0.01 mg g-1 for HMS and VMS, respectively. In MG adsorption studies, the highest amount of the colourant adsorbed at both pH 4.0 and 7.0 ± 0.2.

Conclusions

Finally, the biochar or the biochar enriched with low concentrations of plant growth-promoting microorganisms and inorganic fertilizer favours the germination of
Dianthus caryophyllus
and
Lolium
sp., seeds.
Appropriate follow-up period for odontogenic keratocyst: a retrospective study
Authors: Jung Hwi-Dong , Lim Jung-Hwan , Kim Hyung Jun , Nam Woong , Cha In-Ho
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The aim of this study was to conduct epidemiologic investigations on the pattern of the lesion and differences between treatment modalities in terms of recurrence by reviewing follow-up records to form a basis for planning patient follow-up visits.

Materials and methods

In this retrospective, single-center cohort study, 266 patients diagnosed with odontogenic keratocyst between 1993 and 2013 were included. Medical records and radiographic images were analyzed for age distribution, occurrence site and size, treatment modalities, and recurrence.

Results

The average age at first diagnosis was 33.1 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.33:1.00. The highest rate of incidence was in the third decade followed by the fourth, second, and fifth decades. The incidence in the maxilla was 34%, and 66% in the mandible. Mandibular ramus was most commonly involved. Lesions between 3 and 6 crowns were the most common, and the rate of recurrence increased with size. Enucleation after decompression had higher rate of recurrence (35.8%) than enucleation (27.1%), but there was no statistical significance.

Conclusion

The recurrence of odontogenic kerotocyst (OKC) was significantly associated with large size, multilocular form, and surgical procedure. A 10-year follow-up period is recommended to determine any recurrence of OKC.
A cannabis oracle? Delphi method not a substitute for randomized controlled trials of cannabinoids as therapeutics
Authors: Hill Kevin P. , Abrams Donald I.
Published: July 2021

Background

With millions of people using cannabinoids to treat a host of medical conditions, clinicians want guidance on how to utilize cannabinoids as pharmacotherapy in their practices. The Delphi method is a systematic, interactive forecasting method that aims to develop consensus best practices where guidelines are not available.

Body

A multidisciplinary group of global cannabinoid experts utilized a modified Delphi process to develop three protocols for the dosing and administration of cannabinoids to treat chronic pain. Two protocols recommend cannabidiol (CBD), for which there is limited evidence as an analgesic, starting well below doses required for other indications. Guidance on prescribing CBD for pain may demonstrate consensus recommendations based upon suboptimal evidence.

Conclusion

Consensus processes like the Delphi method are well-meaning, but they are not a substitute for rigorous RCTs with large sample sizes, adequate duration, and standardized outcome measures.
Effect of chronic kidney disease on total knee arthroplasty outcomes: a meta-analysis of matched control studies
Authors: Cheng Chongjie , Yan Yan , Zhang Qidong , Guo Wanshou
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to review the current evidence in the literature to find out whether the coexisting chronic kidney disease affected infection, revision, transfusion, readmission, mortality, and the length of hospital stay after total knee arthroplasty.

Methods

Medline, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from their dates of inception to June 30, 2020. The primary outcomes were postoperative infection, revision, and mortality. The secondary outcomes were transfusion, the length of hospital stay, and readmission. A P value of < 0.05 was deemed to be statistically significant.

Results

A total of 881 articles were identified, and 7 articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified to be eligible. The most important finding of our study was that the chronic kidney disease was associated with increased postoperative transfusion (P < 0.05) and mortality (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the patients with chronic kidney disease were associated with a higher readmission rate, compared to the patients without chronic kidney disease (P < 0.05). However, chronic kidney disease was not associated with high risks for infection (P > 0.05), revision surgeries (P > 0.05), and a prolonged hospital stay (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

After total knee arthroplasty, the patients with coexisting chronic kidney disease carry higher risks of transfusion, mortality, and readmission. However, the chronic kidney disease may not be associated with the risk of infection or revision, nor the duration of hospitalization.
Amplitude-variation-with-offset inversion based on group sparse regularization
Authors: Xi Yijun , Yin Xingyao , Liu Xiaojing , Feng Deyong , Li Hongmei
Published: July 2021

Seismic amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) inversion from prestack seismic data plays a significant role in estimating elastic parameters and characterizing reservoir properties. In general, sparse regularization is widely used to solve ill-posed inverse problems by reducing the solution space of subsurface parameters, which makes seismic AVO inversion more stable. However, the traditional sparse constraint inversion only focuses on the vector sparsity of reflectivity, instead of the structural sparse characteristics of the estimated parameters. Consequently, various elastic parameters demonstrate different formation structural features in the same location of stratum. In this study, we have developed a novel approach that combines the structural sparsity and the vector sparsity of the model reflectivity to establish the posterior probability density distribution and solve the objective function of the model parameters. Based on the relationship among multiple elastic parameters, we divide the model parameters to be inverted into several groups according to intrinsic structural sparse characteristics of elastic parameters. In this case, all of the model parameters at the same sampling point are classified into the identical group, which ensures that different estimated parameters indicate the same characteristic in terms of stratigraphic structure. From the perspective of Bayesian inference, we use the modified Cauchy probability density function (PDF) to characterize the group sparsity and describe the relationship among model parameters in the same group by Gaussian PDF. Furthermore, we estimate the optimum solution corresponding to the maximum a posteriori probability under Bayesian inference. Synthetic experiments on a Marmousi model prove that the estimated P-velocity, S-velocity, and density are consistent with those of the real models, and the application of field data confirms the availability and feasibility of group sparse inversion.
Reviews
Authors: Brittan John , Taylor Patrick
Published: July 2021

Machine Learning Refined: Foundations, Algorithms, and Applications, second edition, by Jeremy Watt, Reza Borhani, and Aggelos K. Katsaggelos, ISBN 978-1-108-48072-7, 2020, Cambridge University Press, 594 p. Earth Science for Civil and Environmental Engineers, by Richard E. Jackson, ISBN 978-0-521-84725-4, 2019, Cambridge University Press, 492 p.