bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal path analysis of depressive symptoms and functioning among women of child-rearing age in postconflict Timor-Leste
Authors: Silove Derrick , Mohsin Mohammed , Klein Louis , Tam Natalino De Jesus , Dadds Mark , Eapen Valsamma , Tol Wietse A , da Costa Zelia , Savio Elisa , Soares Rina , Steel Zachary , Rees Susan J
Published: March 2020

This longitudinal study indicates that exposure to the traumas of mass conflict and subsequent depressive symptoms play an important role in pathways leading to functional impairment in the postconflict period among women of child-rearing age. Our study, conducted in Timor-Leste, involved an analytic sample of 1292 women recruited at antenatal clinics in the capital and its surrounding districts. Women were re-interviewed at home 2 years later (77.3% retention). We applied the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire for conflict-related traumatic events, the WHO Violence Against Women Instrument covering the past year for intimate partner violence and the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS V.2.0) to assess functional impairment. A longitudinal path analysis tested direct and indirect relationships involving past conflict-related trauma exposure, depressive symptoms measured over the two time points and functional impairment at follow-up. The prevalence of predefined clinically significant depressive symptoms diminished from 19.3% to 12.8%. Nevertheless, there was a tendency for depressive symptoms to persist over time (β=0.20; p<0.001). Follow-up depressive symptoms were associated with functional impairment (β=0.35; p<0.001). Reported conflict-related trauma occurring a minimum of 6 years earlier (β=0.23; p<0.001) and past-year physical intimate partner violence (β=0.26; p<0.001) were each associated with depressive symptoms at baseline and at follow-up. A measure of poverty specific to the context and reported health problems in the mother and infant also contributed to depressive symptoms. The findings highlight the association between ongoing trauma-related depressive symptoms and the capacity of women in the childbearing age to function in multiple areas of their lives in a postconflict country. Recognition of these relationships is important in the formulation and implementation of contemporary international recovery and development policies applied to postconflict countries.
The test–retest reliability of the Military Physical Loading Questionnaire (MPLQ)
Authors: Coppack Russell J , Bilzon J L , Wills A K , Papadopoulou T , Cassidy R P , Nicol A M , Bennett A N
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Despite the high prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries, there is a shortage of data quantifying the risk factors attributable to cumulative occupational demands among UK Military personnel. We developed a new comprehensive questionnaire that examines occupational and operational physical loading during military service. The aim of this study was to examine the test–retest reliability of the Military Physical Loading Questionnaire (MPLQ).

Methods

Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to evaluate the test–retest reliability (4-week interval) of the MPLQ on 18 occupational and 18 operational items in 50 male (mean age: 36 years; SD ±7.9) UK military personnel. A stratified analysis based on duration of Service (0–10 years, 11–20 years and ≥21 years) was conducted to assess whether stability of task items was dependent on participant length of recall. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha (α) coefficients.

Results

Reliability of individual operational items ranged from fair to almost perfect agreement (ICC range: 0.37–0.89; α range: 0.53–0.94) with most items demonstrating moderate to substantial reliability. Overall scores related to occupational items showed substantial to almost perfect agreement between administrations (ICC range: 0.73–0.94; α range: 0.84–0.96). Stratifying by duration of Service showed similar within group reliability to the entire sample and no pattern of decreasing or increasing reliability with length of recall period was observed.

Conclusions

It is essential that data used in planning UK military policy and health services are as accurate as possible. This study provides preliminary support for the MPLQ as a reliable self-report instrument for assessing the cumulative lifelong effects of occupational loading in UK military personnel. Further validation studies using larger and more demographically diverse military populations will support its interpretation in future epidemiological research.
Determinants of modern contraceptive use among married women of reproductive age: a cross-sectional study in rural Zambia
Authors: Lasong Joseph , Zhang Yuan , Gebremedhin Simon Afewerki , Opoku Sampson , Abaidoo Chrissie Stansie , Mkandawire Tamara , Zhao Kai , Zhang Huiping
Published: March 2020

Objective

Zambia is among the world’s top 10 countries with higher fertility rate (5.5 births/woman); unmet family planning need for births spacing (14%) and limiting births (7%). Women in rural Zambia (24%) are reported to have unmet need for family planning than those in urban areas (17%). This study was conducted to ascertain factors associated with modern contraceptive use among rural Zambian women.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Rural Zambia.

Participants

Secondary data of 4903 married or cohabiting rural women (15–49 years) after filtering out the pregnant, urban based and unmarried women from 2013 to 2014 Zambian Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) were analysed using SPSS V.22. Multiple logistic regression, Pearson’s χ2and descriptive statistics were performed to examine factors associated with modern contraceptive use.

Results

Factors that were positively associated with contraceptive use were respondent’s education (secondary adjusted ORs (AOR = 1.61, p≤0.002); higher (AOR = 2.39, p≤0.050)), wealth index (middle class, (AOR = 1.35, p≤0.005); rich (AOR = 2.04, p≤0.001) and richest (AOR = 1.95, p≤0.034)), high parity (1–2 (AOR = 5.31, p≤0.001); 3–4 (AOR = 7.06, p≤0.001); 5+ (AOR = 8.02, p≤0.001)), men older than women by <10 years (AOR = 1.50, p≤0.026) and women sensitised about family planning at health facility (AOR = 1.73, p≤0.001). However, old age (40–49 years (AOR = 0.49, p≤0.001)), other religions (Protestants, African traditionalists and Muslims) (AOR = 0.77, p≤0.007), ever had pregnancy miscarried, aborted or stillbirth (AOR = 0.78, p≤0.026) and women without knowledge of number of children husband desires (AOR = 0.71, p≤0.001) were negatively associated with contraceptive use.

Conclusion

Modern contraceptive use in rural Zambia among currently married women of reproductive age group is relatively low (43%). We recommend that appropriate interventions are instituted to increase contraceptive access and use especially among uneducated older rural Zambian women.
Assessing efficacy of CytoSorb haemoadsorber for prevention of organ dysfunction in cardiac surgery patients with infective endocarditis: REMOVE-protocol for randomised controlled trial
Authors: Diab Mahmoud , Platzer Stephanie , Guenther Albrecht , Sponholz Christoph , Scherag Andre , Lehmann Thomas , Velichkov Ilia , Hagel Stefan , Bauer Michael , Brunkhorst Frank M , Doenst Torsten
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with high mortality and morbidity. Multiple organ failure is the main cause of death after surgery for IE. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) can cause a systemic inflammatory response. In a pilot study (REMOVE-pilot (Revealing mechanisms and investigating efficacy of hemoad-sorption for prevention of vasodilatory shock in cardiac surgery patients with infective endocarditis – a multicentric randomized controlled group sequential trial)), we found that plasma profiles of cytokines during and after CPB were higher in patients with IE compared with patients with non-infectious valvular heart disease. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores on the first and second postoperative days and in-hospital mortality were also higher in IE patients. This protocol describes the design of the REMOVE trial on cytokine-adsorbing columns, for example, CytoSorb, for non-selective removal of cytokines. The aim of the REMOVE study is to demonstrate efficacy of CytoSorb on the prevention of multiorgan dysfunction in patients with IE undergoing cardiac surgery.

Methods and analysis

The REMOVE study is an interventional randomised controlled multicenter trial with a group sequential (Pocock) design for assessing efficacy of CytoSorb in patients undergoing cardiac surgery for IE. The change in mean total SOFA (∆ SOFA) score between preoperative and postoperative care will be used as primary endpoint. Data on 30-day mortality, changes in cytokines levels, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of intensive care unit and hospital stay, and postoperative stroke will be collected as secondary endpoints. An interim analysis will be conducted after including 25 participating patients per study arm (with a focus on feasibility of the recruitment as well as differences in cytokines and cell-free DNA levels).

Ethics and dissemination

The protocol was approved by the institutional review board and ethics committee of the University of Jena as well as by the corresponding ethics committee of each participating study centre. The results will be published in a renowned international medical journal, irrespective of the outcomes of the study.

Trial registration number

The ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT03266302).
Preferences for end-of-life care: a study protocol for a cross-sectional survey of Chinese frail elderly home residents in Hong Kong
Authors: Yan Bo , Xu Xinyi , Chau Patsy PH , Takemura Naomi , Cheung Derek YT , Chan Felix HW , Lin Chia-Chin
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Existing literature on attitudes toward end-of-life care (EoLC) covers the general public but has little information on the frail elderly population. The aim of the current study is to investigate the preferences of Chinese frail elderly home residents with respect to EoLC by conducting cross-sectional surveys.

Methods and analysis

Surveys, including resident and family versions, were developed based on the existing literature and our pilot interviews. The targeted participants were 400 frail elderly home residents (aged ≥65 years old) and 200 family caregivers. Purposive sampling will be used as each elderly home will help to recruit five to 15 elderly participants for the study. Descriptive analysis and modelling will be used to examine preferences on EoLC and related factors, as well as to compare the responses of elderly home residents with those of their family caregivers.

Ethics and dissemination

The cross-sectional survey has obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board. Confidentiality and safety issues will be carefully observed. The results of the study will be disseminated through international conferences, peer-reviewed academic journal publications, and a report in plain language to be shared with elderly residential homes.
Video-based smartphone app (‘VIDEA bewegt’) for physical activity support in German adults: a study protocol for a single-armed observational study
Authors: Fischer Tillmann , Stumpf Paul , Reinhardt Gesine , Schwarz Peter E H , Timpel Patrick
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Insufficient physical activity is one of the most important risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Physical activity should therefore be intensively promoted in all age groups. Several trials suggest that it can be effectively increased through smartphone interventions.

However, few of the smartphone-interventions available on the market have been scientifically evaluated. Therefore, the described study aims to assess the short-term and long-term effects of the smartphone intervention ‘VIDEA bewegt’ to increase physical activity. The trial is designed as a single-armed observational trial to assess effects under real-life conditions.

Methods and analysis

The intervention consists of the smartphone-application ‘VIDEA bewegt’, which is a video-based preventative programme to improve physical activity in everyday life. The application contains several features and components including educational videos, documentation of activity and motivational exercises. A sample size of at least 106 participants is aimed for.

The primary objective of this study is to determine the effect of the application on physical activity in German adults. Secondary objectives are to evaluate the self-efficacy, health-related quality of life and usability of ‘VIDEA bewegt’.

Data collection is based on online questionnaires, as well as system-internal recorded data.

Changes of outcomes from baseline to programme completion and follow-up will be calculated.

Ethics and dissemination

The Ethics Committee of the Technical University Dresden approved the study on 25 May 2019 (EK 272062019). All data are processed anonymously and stored on servers only accessible by authorised personnel. The results of the study and the results of the usability test are aimed to be published in a scientific journal.

Trial registration number

German Clinical Trials Registry (DRKS00017392).
Assessing the feasibility of a rapid, high-volume cervical cancer screening programme using HPV self-sampling and digital colposcopy in rural regions of Yunnan, China
Authors: Goldstein Andrew , Goldstein Lena Sophia , Lipson Roberta , Bedell Sarah , Wang Jue , Stamper Sarah A , Brenner Gal , Goldstein Gail R , O'Keefe Karen Davis , O'Keefe S Casey , O'Keefe McKenna , O'Keefe Tierney , Goldstein Amelia R , Zhao Anna
Published: March 2020

Objective

Implementation of a novel, rapid, high-volume, see-and-treat cervical cancer screening programme using self-swab human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and digital colposcopy in underserved regions of Yunnan China.

Design

480–980 women per day self-swabbed for high-risk HPV (hrHPV+). Four careHPV machines (Qiagen) were run simultaneously to test the specimens. All hrHPV+ patients were contacted the same day and digital colposcopy was performed with the enhanced visual assessment system (MobileODT). Digital images were obtained, and all suspected lesions were biopsied and then treated.

Setting

Rural and underserved areas of the Yunnan province, Kunming municipality.

Participants

3600 women, mean age 50.2 years, who had never been screened for cervical cancer. The women were of the Yi, Hui, Dai and Han ethnicities.

Interventions

Cryotherapy was performed on all lesions suspicious for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 and loop electrosurgical excision procedure was performed on all lesions suspicious for ≥CIN2. Endocervical curettage was performed if the transformation zone was not fully visualised.

Results

216 women (6%) were hrHPV+. 168 underwent same-day colposcopy (23 CIN1, 17≥CIN2). Digital colposcopy was able to identify 15 of 16 (93.8%)≥CIN2 lesions.

Conclusions

This study illustrates a high-volume, rapid and practical strategy that can be used to screen and treat an ethnically diverse group of Chinese women. First, HPV self-sampling allows large numbers of women to be screened rapidly and relatively inexpensively. Only hrHPV+ women will then require further evaluation. Digital colposcopy is then performed on hrHPV+ women with a portable digital colposcope. The high-resolution images obtained can facilitate appropriate same-day treatment as they are able to accurately distinguish between CIN1 and ≥CIN2 lesions.
Game on: a cycling exergame can elicit moderate-to-vigorous intensity. A pilot study
Authors: Berg Jonathan , Moholdt Trine
Published: March 2020

Objectives

The aims of this pilot study were to investigate oxygen uptake (V̇O2) while playing a cycling exergame to assess exercise intensity to determine its potential as a feasible exercise alternative to improve aerobic fitness, and to assess the validity of using heart rate (HR) to estimate V̇O2in exergaming.

Methods

Five males (age: 32±8; peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak): 47.9±7.8 mL·kg−1·min−1) and five females (age: 27±3; V̇O2peak: 33.9±4.6 mL·kg−1·min−1) played the cycling exergame ‘Pedal Tanks’ for 45 min, with measurements of HR and V̇O2.

Results

Average and peak V̇O2during exergaming were 61.7±10.1% and 78.3±11.7% of V̇O2peak, respectively, whereas average and peak HR were 80.0±9.4% and 91.5%±6.7% of HRpeak. There was a strong positive correlation between V̇O2and HR for all participants (p<0.05) although estimated V̇O2from HR was 9% higher than that measured during exergaming.

Conclusion

Our preliminary data suggest that the cycling exergame we investigated can elicit moderate-to-vigorous intensities and may therefore be a viable alternative to conventional aerobic exercise. The exercise intensity during exergaming was overestimated when using HR alone.
Bicycling-related concussions leading to postconcussion syndrome in adults
Authors: Moore Connor , Baharikhoob Paria , Khodadadi Mozhgan , Tator Charles H
Published: March 2020

Background

Concussions among adult bicyclists are common, but little is known about the long-term effects of the consequences of these concussions such as postconcussion syndrome (PCS) including its occurrence, clinical features and recovery potential. Indeed, our study is the first to examine PCS due to bicycling in any age group.

Objectives

We examined patient demographics, concussion mechanisms and persistent symptoms as factors leading to PCS in adults and the potential for recovery.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective chart review of 28 patients age 18 or older who sustained a concussion while bicycling and were referred to the Canadian Concussion Centre for management of PCS.

Results

Eighteen patients (64.3%) fell from their bicycles due to loss of control, attempts to avoid a crash or collision with an object. Eight patients (28.6%) were struck by a motor vehicle, and two patients (7.1%) were injured by collision with another bicycle. The mean duration of PCS was 23.7 months and at the time of the last follow-up, 23 (82.1%) patients had failed to recover completely. Patients with one or more previous concussions had a significantly longer duration of PCS (p=0.042). Bicycling concussions resulted in a greater mean duration of PCS (23.7 months) than a comparison group of patients with PCS due to collision sports (16.1 months) (p=0.07).

Conclusion

Adults who sustain bicycling-related concussions and develop PCS often have long-lasting symptoms; greater attention should be given to prevention strategies such as improved bicycling infrastructure and safer bicycling practices to reduce concussions in adult bicyclists.
T cell receptor repertoire characteristics both before and following immunotherapy correlate with clinical response in mesothelioma
Authors: Vroman Heleen , Balzaretti Giulia , Belderbos Robert A , Klarenbeek Paul L , van Nimwegen Menno , Bezemer Koen , Cornelissen Robin , Niewold Ilse T G , van Schaik Barbera D , van Kampen Antione H , Aerts Joachim G J V , de Vries Niek , Hendriks Rudi W
Published: March 2020

Background

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a highly lethal malignancy in need for new treatment options. Although immunotherapies have been shown to boost a tumor-specific immune response, not all patients respond and prognostic biomarkers are scarce. In this study, we determined the peripheral blood T cell receptor β (TCRβ) chain repertoire of nine MPM patients before and 5 weeks after the start of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy.

Materials and methods

We separately profiled PD1+and PD1−CD4+and CD8+T cells, as well as Tregs and analyzed 70 000 TCRβ sequences per patient.

Results

Strikingly, limited TCRβ repertoire diversity and high average clone sizes in total CD3+T cells before the start of immunotherapy were associated with a better clinical response. To explore the differences in TCRβ repertoire prior-DC-therapy and post-DC-therapy, for each patient the TCRβ clones present in the total CD3+T cell fractions were classified into five categories, based on therapy-associated frequency changes: expanding, decreasing, stable, newly appearing and disappearing clones. Subsequently, the presence of these five groups of clones was analyzed in the individual sorted T cell fractions. DC-therapy primarily induced TCRβ repertoire changes in the PD1+CD4+and PD1+CD8+T cell fractions. In particular, in the PD1+CD8+T cell subpopulation we found high frequencies of expanding, decreasing and newly appearing clones. Conversion from a PD1−to a PD1+phenotype was significantly more frequent in CD8+T cells than in CD4+T cells. Hereby, the number of expanding PD1+CD8+T cell clones—and not expanding PD1+CD4+T cell clones following immunotherapy positively correlated with overall survival, progression-free survival and reduction of tumor volume.

Conclusion

We conclude that the clinical response to DC-mediated immunotherapy is dependent on both the pre-existing TCRβ repertoire of total CD3+T cells and on therapy-induced changes, in particular expanding PD1+CD8+T cell clones. Therefore, TCRβ repertoire profiling in sorted T cell subsets could serve as predictive biomarker for the selection of MPM patients that benefit from immunotherapy.

Trial registration number

NCT02395679.
Validation and modification of the ‘Chiang Mai University Intussusception scoring system’ used to predict failure of non-surgical treatment in infantile intussusception
Authors: Boonsanit Kaimook , Kritsaneepaiboon Supika , Chiengkriwate Piyawan , Sangkhathat Surasak
Published: March 2020

Background

This study aimed to validate and modify the recently released Chiang Mai University Intussusception (CMUI) scoring system in predicting failure of non-surgical management of infantile intussusception.

Methods

A retrospective review was conducted in 151 cases of infantile intussusception who were primarily treated with pneumatic reduction in our institute during 2008–2018. The analysis focused on the validation of the CMUI scoring system. Following this analysis, the scoring system was modified to be more suitable for our clinical practice, in which we perform pneumatic reduction in all cases.

Results

Pneumatic reduction was successfully performed in 120/151 cases (79.5%). A high CMUI score was significantly associated with increased likelihood of failure at the positive likelihood ratio of 1.49 (sensitivity 25.8 and specificity 82.7). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.73. We modified the CMUI System in two ways, first by removing the item ‘method of reduction’ and replacing it with ‘hyponatremia’, and by changing the definition of low body weight to less than 9 kg. The modified CMUI had an AUC of 0.76. A high score (>9 points) on the modified version gave a positive likelihood ratio of 4.77 (sensitivity 53.0 and specificity 80.9).

Conclusion

In infantile intussusception primarily treated with pneumatic reduction, the modified CMUI scoring system gave a better prediction reliability than the original.
Five different cases of ectopic testes in children: a self-experience with literature review
Authors: Joda Ali Egab
Published: March 2020

Background

Empty scrotum may be due to many reasons; besides true undescended testis these are monorchia, retractile testis, atrophy of testis due to torsion and ectopic testis. The location of testis in an aberrant site after passing through the inguinal canal and leaving it via external ring is a condition called ectopic testis. The most common aberrant locations of ectopic testes are superficial inguinal pouch (Denis Browne pouch), within anterior abdominal wall, perineum, femoral canal, contralateral scrotum (transverse testicular ectopia) and prepenile area.

Methods

Description of management of five different cases of ectopic testes over a period of 10 years’ experience in pediatric surgery have been done with review of the literature about this rarity.

Results

Five different cases of ectopic testes were as follows: infants 3 months of age with right ectopic testis in anterior abdominal wall near anterior superior iliac spine, 4 months of age with left perineal testis, 6 months of age with an ectopic femoral testis on left side, 8 months of age with transverse testicular ectopia on left side and 10 months of age with right true undescended testis and left perineal testis.

Conclusions

Search for ectopic sites of testes should always be in mind during examination of patients with empty scrotum. Early surgical repair of ectopic testes is recommended, as there is no chance of spontaneous correction to the normal location. Long-term follow-up is necessary due to relatively high incidence of infertility and malignant transformation. Surgeons should be aware of the rare possibility of transverse testicular ectopia in cases of inguinal hernia with impalpable testis on the contralateral side.
Agarose gel as a soil analogue for development of advanced bio-mediated soil improvement methods
Authors: Rodriguez Corral Javier , Mitrani Helen , Dade-Robertson Martyn , Zhang Meng , Maiello Pietro
Published: March 2020

Bio-mediated soil improvement methods (those that use biological processes) have potentially low cost and environmental impact, but can be difficult to control to ensure effective results, especially if engineered bacteria are used. A novel application of using agarose gel as a soil analogue is proposed, which can enable development of advanced bio-mediated soil improvement methods by reproducing relevant mechanical properties while allowing complex biological processes to be studied in detail, before testing in soils. It is envisaged that agarose gel will be used instead of soil when developing early-stage prototype methods, as it provides an ideal environment to facilitate growth and monitoring of bacteria. A programme of geotechnical tests and scanning electron microscopy on Agarose Low Melt (LM) gel is presented. The results demonstrate comparable pore size, undrained strength, and permeability to soft clays and peats, but more linear stress–strain behaviour and higher compressibility. This paper offers proof of this novel concept, but further investigation is required as only a single type of agarose, at a single concentration is tested. By varying these factors, along with use of different solvents, there is significant potential to tune the behaviour of the analogue to particular soils or construction scenarios.
Magnetic fields in heavy ion collisions: flow and charge transport
Authors: Inghirami Gabriele , Mace Mark , Hirono Yuji , Del Zanna Luca , Kharzeev Dmitri E. , Bleicher Marcus
Published: March 2020

At the earliest times after a heavy-ion collision, the magnetic field created by the spectator nucleons will generate an extremely strong, albeit rapidly decreasing in time, magnetic field. The impact of this magnetic field may have detectable consequences, and is believed to drive anomalous transport effects like the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME). We detail an exploratory study on the effects of a dynamical magnetic field on the hydrodynamic medium created in the collisions of two ultrarelativistic heavy-ions, using the framework of numerical ideal MagnetoHydroDynamics (MHD) with the ECHO-QGP code. In this study, we consider a magnetic field captured in a conducting medium, where the conductivity can receive contributions from the electromagnetic conductivity$$\sigma $$σand the chiral magnetic conductivity$$\sigma _{\chi }$$σχ. We first study the elliptic flow of pions, which we show is relatively unchanged by the introduction of a magnetic field. However, by increasing the magnitude of the magnetic field, we find evidence for an enhancement of the elliptic flow in peripheral collisions. This effect is stronger at RHIC than the LHC, and it is evident already at intermediate collision centralities. Next, we explore the impact of the chiral magnetic conductivity on electric charges produced at the edges of the fireball. This initial$$\sigma _\chi $$σχcan be understood as a long-wavelength effective description of chiral fermion production. We then demonstrate that this chiral charge, when transported by the MHD medium, produces a charge dipole perpendicular to the reaction plane which extends a few units in rapidity. Assuming charge conservation at the freeze-out surface, we show that the produced charge imbalance can have measurable effects on some experimental observables, like$$v_1$$v1or$$\langle \sin \phi \rangle $$⟨sinϕ⟩. This demonstrates the ability of a MHD fluid to transport the signature of the initial chiral magnetic fields to late times. We also comment on the limitations of the ideal MHD approximation and detail how further development of a dissipative-resistive model can provide a more realistic description of the QGP.
NLRP3 Inflammasome: A Potential Alternative Therapy Target for Atherosclerosis
Authors: Liu Yang , Li Chao , Yin Honglin , Zhang Xinrong , Li Yunlun
Published: March 2020

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a complex and chronic inflammatory disease that occurs in multiple systems of the human body. It is an important pathological basis for a variety of diseases and a serious threat to human health. So far, many theories have been formed to explain the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, among which “inflammation theory” has gradually become a research focus. This theory presents that inflammatory response runs through the whole progress of AS, inflammatory cells play as the main executors of AS, and inflammatory mediators are the key molecules of AS. In the inflammatory process of atherosclerosis, the role of NLRP3 in the atherosclerosis has gradually got the attention of researchers. NLRP3 is a kind of signal‐transductional pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). After recognizing and binding to the damage factors, NLRP3 inflammasome will be assembled to activate IL‐1β and caspase‐1 pathways, resulting in promoting the inflammation process of AS, reducing the stability of the plaques, and finally increasing the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events. Taken above, the article will review the potential benefits of drugs targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome in the therapy of AS.
Serum Level of the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme in Patients with Idiopathic Acute Optic Neuritis: A Case-Control Study
Authors: Ghanbari Heshmatollah , Dehghani Alireza , Feizi Awat , Amirkhani Arman , Pourazizi Mohsen
Published: March 2020

Purpose. To evaluate the serum level of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) as an important component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in optic neuritis (ON) compared to the healthy control group in the context investigating the possible role of ACE in ON pathogenesis. Methods. This case-control study was conducted on patients with ON and healthy controls. Serum ACE levels were assessed and compared between the two groups by using commercially available kits by ELISA for ACE. Results. Sixty-five ON patients (75.4% female, mean age 29.70 ± 8.30 years) and 65 controls (75.4% female, mean age 29.66 ± 8.36 years) were enrolled. The median serum ACE levels were 33.5 U/L (range: 25–540) and 26 U/L (range: 22.3–72) for the ON patients and controls, respectively. Serum ACE levels were significantly higher in the patients than in the control group (P<0.001). High level of serum ACE (defined as a serum ACE >65 U/L) was present in 9 (13.8%) patients with ON and 2 (3.1%) controls. Conclusion. Our results indicated that the serum level of ACE appeared to be significantly higher in acute ON than in normal controls.
Cocirculation of Four Infectious Bronchitis Virus Lineages in Broiler Chickens in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia from 2012 to 2014
Authors: Al-Mubarak Abdullah I. A. , Al-Kubati Anwar A. G.
Published: March 2020

Avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is an evolving and dynamic virus that causes major economic losses for the poultry industry worldwide. Continuous evolution and emergence of new variants of this virus are the major challenges for controlling the disease with routine vaccination. Successful vaccination usually requires the use of a homologous vaccine, which in turn necessitates continuous investigation of the circulating strains. Herein, we performed a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction- (RT-PCR-) based investigation in broiler chicken flocks of the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. IBV was detected in 36.5% of the tested flocks (42 out of 115) from January 2012 to March 2014. Direct sequencing of hypervariable region-3 (HVR-3) of the Spike (S)-1 gene was performed, followed by phylogenetic analysis to determine the circulating IBV genotypes. Four lineages appear to coexist in this region, including the GI-13 or 4/91 IBV (31%), GI-16 or CK/CH/LDL/97I IBV (28.6%), GI-1 or Mass IBV (19%), and GI-23 or Middle East IBV (21.4%). The latter lineage include two subgroups: IS/720/99 IBV (16.7%) and IS/Variant2/98 IBV (4.7%). Some of the detections made in the 4/91 and Mass lineages are expected to belong to the vaccine strains. Lineages without a homologous vaccine in use (CK/CH/LDL/97I and Middle East) represent 50% of the isolates recovered in this study. Based on identity with the vaccine sequences, field observations, and frequent detection, these two lineages appear to be out of coverage of the IBV vaccines used in Saudi Arabia. This is the first time to identify Middle East lineage (IS/720/99 IBV and IS/Variant2/98 IBV) in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia.
Fundamental Investigation on Seismic Retrofitting Method of Aging Concrete Structural Wall Using Carbon Fiber Sheet‐Constitutive Law of Rectangular Section
Authors: Hayashi Kazuhiro , Matsui Tomoya , Saito Taiki , Reyna Roy
Published: March 2020

Aging building structure has become a world problem. This problem is particularly serious in developing and underdeveloped countries. The multihazard resilience and sustainability (e.g., seismic performance) decrease at the aging building. A construction method for strengthening aging‐reinforced concrete buildings by wrapping structural members with carbon fiber sheets has been proposed and implemented in recent years. Authors aim to develop a seismic retrofitting method of aging concrete structural wall with a rectangular cross section using carbon fiber sheets. In this paper, authors examined the stress‐strain relationship of concrete elements with rectangular cross sections reinforced by wrapping with carbon fiber sheets. Monotonic uniaxial compression tests were performed on 21 specimens using the ratio of the long side to the short side and the ratio of the element height to the short side of the concrete cross section, the weight of the carbon fiber sheet, and the chamfer radius of section corners as variables. The tests revealed that (1) the compressive strength decreases and ultimate strain increases as the ratio of the long to short side (longitudinal ratio) of the cross section increases even in a range the ratio exceeds 2 and (2) the ratio of the element height to the short side does not significantly affect the stress‐strain relationship. Furthermore, authors proposed evaluation formulas for the constitutive law of concrete elements with rectangular cross sections including the longitudinal ratio which exceeds 2 reinforced by carbon fiber sheets and confirmed that the formulas can reproduce the test results with good accuracy.
Transtornos mentais comuns em estudantes universitários
Authors: Gomes Carlos Fabiano Munir , Pereira Junior Ronaldo José , Cardoso Josiane Viana , Silva Daniel Augusto da
Published: March 2020

Objetivo: identificar a ocorrência de transtornos mentais comuns em estudantes de uma instituição de Ensino Superior e associar com as características sociodemográficas e acadêmicas. Método: trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória, descritiva e de abordagem quantitativa, de levantamento, realizada com 378 estudantes universitários de uma instituição do interior paulista, com a aplicação de questionário semiestruturado e do Self-Reporting Questionnaire. Os dados foram analisados com o uso de análise estatística descritiva e instruções respectivas para a análise do instrumento utilizado. Resultados: 151 (39,9%) dos estudantes universitários entrevistados apresentaram escore de classificação para caso suspeito de transtornos de humor, de ansiedade e de somatização. Das variáveis sociodemográficas, os maiores índices foram para mulheres (43,7%), homossexuais (50,0%), cor de pele preta (42,9%) e em união estável (50,0%). Das variáveis acadêmicas, destacam-se maiores índices entre estudantes do curso de Administração (57,5%) e estudantes no período matutino (44,0%). Conclusão: a necessidade de planejamento de estratégias de prevenção e recuperação relacionadas à ocorrência de transtornos mentais comuns nessa população é clara, tendo em vista a vulnerabilidade a qual está exposta.
Novel Risk Modeling Approach of Atrial Fibrillation With Restricted Mean Survival Times
Authors: Staerk Laila , Preis Sarah R. , Lin Honghuang , Casas Juan P. , Lunetta Kathryn , Weng Lu-Chen , Anderson Christopher D. , Ellinor Patrick T. , Lubitz Steven A. , Benjamin Emelia J. , Trinquart Ludovic
Published: March 2020

Background:

Risk prediction models for atrial fibrillation (AF) do not give information about when AF might develop. Restricted mean survival time (RMST) quantifies risk into the time domain. Our objective was to use RMST to re-express individualized AF risk predictions.

Methods and Results:

We included AF-free participants from the Framingham Heart Study community-based cohorts. We predicted new-onset AF over 10-year follow-up according to baseline covariates: age, height, weight, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, current smoking, antihypertensive treatment, diabetes mellitus, prevalent heart failure, and prevalent myocardial infarction. First, we fitted a Cox regression model and estimated the 10-year predicted risk of AF. Second, we fitted an RMST model and estimated the predicted mean time free of AF and alive over a time horizon of 10 years. We included 7586 AF-free participants contributing to 11 088 examinations (mean age 61±11 years, 44% were men). During 10-year follow-up, 822 participants developed AF. The Cox and RMST models were in agreement regarding the direction, strength, and statistical significance of associations for all covariates. Low (<5%), intermediate (5%–15%), and high (>15%) 10-year predicted risk of AF corresponded to predicted mean time alive and free of AF of 9.9, 9.6, and 8.8 years, respectively. A 60-year-old woman with a body mass index of 25 kg/m
2
, no use of hypertension treatment and no history of heart failure had a predicted mean time alive and free of AF of 9.9 years, whereas a 70-year-old man with a body mass index of 30 kg/m
2
, use of hypertension treatment, and with prevalent heart failure had a predicted mean time alive and free of AF of 7.9 years.

Conclusions:

The RMST can be used to develop risk prediction models to express results in a time scale. RMST may offer a complementary risk communication tool for AF in clinical practice.
Estimation of global and local complexities of brain networks: A random walks approach
Authors: Sotero Roberto C. , Sanchez-Rodriguez Lazaro M. , Moradi Narges , Dousty Mehdy
Published: March 2020

The complexity of brain activity has been observed at many spatial scales and has been proposed to differentiate between mental states and disorders. Here we introduced a new measure of (global) network complexity, constructed as the sum of the complexities of its nodes (i.e., local complexity). The complexity of each node is obtained by comparing the sample entropy of the time series generated by the movement of a random walker on the network resulting from removing the node and its connections, with the sample entropy of the time series obtained from a regular lattice (ordered state) and a random network (disordered state). We studied the complexity of fMRI-based resting-state networks. We found that positively correlated (pos) networks comprising only the positive functional connections have higher complexity than anticorrelation (neg) networks (comprising the negative connections) and the network consisting of the absolute value of all connections (abs). We also observed a significant correlation between complexity and the strength of functional connectivity in the pos network. Our results suggest that the pos network is related to the information processing in the brain and that functional connectivity studies should analyze pos and neg networks separately instead of the abs network, as is commonly done.
Improving Candidate Generation for Low-resource Cross-lingual Entity Linking
Authors: Zhou Shuyan , Rijhwani Shruti , Wieting John , Carbonell Jaime , Neubig Graham
Published: March 2020

Cross-lingual entity linking (XEL) is the task of finding referents in a target-language knowledge base (KB) for mentions extracted from source-language texts. The first step of (X)EL is candidate generation, which retrieves a list of plausible candidate entities from the target-language KB for each mention. Approaches based on resources from Wikipedia have proven successful in the realm of relatively high-resource languages, but these do not extend well to low-resource languages with few, if any, Wikipedia pages. Recently, transfer learning methods have been shown to reduce the demand for resources in the low-resource languages by utilizing resources in closely related languages, but the performance still lags far behind their high-resource counterparts. In this paper, we first assess the problems faced by current entity candidate generation methods for low-resource XEL, then propose three improvements that (1) reduce the disconnect between entity mentions and KB entries, and (2) improve the robustness of the model to low-resource scenarios. The methods are simple, but effective: We experiment with our approach on seven XEL datasets and find that they yield an average gain of 16.9% in Top-30 gold candidate recall, compared with state-of-the-art baselines. Our improved model also yields an average gain of 7.9% in in-KB accuracy of end-to-end XEL. 1
Investigating Prior Knowledge for Challenging Chinese Machine Reading Comprehension
Authors: Sun Kai , Yu Dian , Yu Dong , Cardie Claire
Published: March 2020

Machine reading comprehension tasks require a machine reader to answer questions relevant to the given document. In this paper, we present the first free-form multiple-Choice Chinese machine reading Comprehension dataset (C3), containing 13,369 documents (dialogues or more formally written mixed-genre texts) and their associated 19,577 multiple-choice free-form questions collected from Chinese-as-a-second-language examinations. We present a comprehensive analysis of the prior knowledge (i.e., linguistic, domain-specific, and general world knowledge) needed for these real-world problems. We implement rule-based and popular neural methods and find that there is still a significant performance gap between the best performing model (68.5%) and human readers (96.0%), especiallyon problems that require prior knowledge. We further study the effects of distractor plausibility and data augmentation based on translated relevant datasets for English on model performance. We expect C3 to present great challenges to existing systems as answering 86.8% of questions requires both knowledge within and beyond the accompanying document, and we hope that C3 can serve as a platform to study how to leverage various kinds of prior knowledge to better understand a given written or orally oriented text. C3 is available at https://dataset.org/c3/ .
‘Complete Neutrality’ or ‘Controlled Enmity’? The Role of the Turkish Press during the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–36
Authors: Doğar Mehmet
Published: March 2020

This article examines the relationship between the Turkish government and the Turkish press by taking the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–36 as a case study. The Turkish press attached much importance to the conflict and covered two main issues: the increasingly insecure environment in world politics and how Turkey should position itself in the face of these changing dynamics. Emphasising the divergences between the rhetoric of the government and the coverage of the press about these issues, this article argues that in the early Republican period, the press, rather than being simply dictated to by the government, had a more independent and active position than it is often given credit for in the secondary literature.
The Bedouins, the Ottoman Civilizing Mission and the Establishment of the Town of Beersheba
Authors: Solomonovich Nadav , Kark Ruth
Published: March 2020

According to Ottoman historiography, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Ottoman state adopted the European civilizing mission and discourse towards the nomadic tribal population in the empire. This phenomenon was usually referred to as ‘borrowed colonialism’. However, recently, new studies began to challenge that view, arguing that officials used civilizing discourse to justify their failures in dealing with the nomads, or that they used derogatory references strategically towards specific ends. Interestingly, studies from both groups use the establishment of the town and sub-district of Beersheba in southern Palestine to support their views. Based on Ottoman sources, the main argument of this article is that the fact that the Bedouins were perceived by the state as ‘ignorant’ and ‘wild’ caused its officials to demonstrate leniency and bestow special treatment upon them in order to integrate them in the Ottoman state and administration.
Local Politics and State-Society Relations: State Officials, Local Elites, and Political Networks in Provincial Urban Centres in the 1930s and 1940s in Turkey
Authors: Lamprou Alexandros
Published: March 2020

The historiography of Turkey has until recently exhibited a solid state bias in the study of the formative years of the republic. Conversely, the intersection of the state with local power networks has been understudied. This paper studies the dynamics of local political networks as exemplified in the case study of Esat Adil Müstecaplıoğlu, an exceptional case of a local political broker with leftist leanings in a provincial urban setting in the 1930s. Focusing on a local feud he was involved in and its aftermath, the article studies the dynamic relations, simultaneously conciliatory and conflictual, between local power brokers and state elites within local politics; how networks of patronage operated and shaped the relation between state and society. In doing so, the article explores the state’s infrastructural limits to operate without the cooperation of local power brokers and considers the significance of these dynamics for the ongoing Kemalist nation-building programme. Lastly, it argues that in appearing co-optive towards local elites the state acknowledged its low political legitimacy and the weakness of its ‘cultural constituency’—educated middle classes.
Lyre and Aulos from an Athenian Classical Grave in the Area between the So-Called ‘Eriai’ Gates and the Dipylon (Grave 48, 470-50 BC)
Authors: Psaroudakēs Stelios
Published: March 2020

The remains of two musical instruments, a tortoise carapace lyre and an ‘early type’ aulos, were found in a grave of the Classical period (470-50 BC), outside the Athenian walls, in the area between the so-called ‘Eriai’ Gates and the Dipylon. In this paper, they are discussed in every significant organological detail and are compared with similar finds; and an attempt is made to reconstruct them verbally. Of special mention are: the elegant string holder of the lyre and the affinity of the aulos to some other significant exemplars.