bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Long-term prognostic value of computed tomography-based attenuation correction on thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging: A cohort study
Authors: Huang Jei-Yie , Yen Ruoh-Fang , Huang Chun-Kai , Liu Chia-Ju , Cheng Mei-Fang , Chien Kuo-Liong , Wu Yen-Wen
Published: October 2021

Background

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a well-established diagnostic tool to evaluate coronary artery disease (CAD) and also an effective prognostic tool for patients with CAD. However, few studies investigated the prognostic value of attenuation correction (AC) in MPI, and the results were controversial.

Objectives

To investigate the prognostic value of computed tomography (CT)-based AC thallium-201 (Tl-201) MPI.

Methods

A total of 108 consecutive patients who underwent Tl-201 MPI and received coronary angiography within 90 days were included. Medical records were reviewed and missing information was completed after telephone contact. The prognostic value was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis, univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards model.

Results

After a mean follow-up of 7.72 ± 3.72 years, 27 patients had died, 41 had been readmitted for cardiovascular (CV)-related events and 44 had reached the composite of death plus CV-related re-admission. Kaplan-Meier curves for all-cause mortality for SSS with a cutoff value of 13 for AC and 16 for non-AC (NAC) images showed a significant difference between the two curves for both AC and NAC images (p = 0.011 for AC and p = 0.021 for NAC). In the multivariable model, SSS and SRS showed similar independent predictive values in predicting all-cause mortality and composite of all-cause mortality plus CV-related re-admission, in both AC and NAC images. Subgroup analysis implicated that AC MPI possibly provided better risk stratification in obese patients.

Conclusion

CT-based AC and NAC MPI showed similar value and were the only significant predictors for the composite of mortality and CV events.
Risk factors assessment for radiographically guided port implantations with forearm access
Authors: Nadjiri Jonathan , Geith Tobias , Waggershauser Tobias , Forster Stephan , Paprottka Philipp
Published: October 2021

Introduction

Port implantations at the forearm are associated with an increased risk of relevant vein thrombosis. Therefore, with this study we sought to identify the responsible risk factors to improve technical quality of the method.

Methods

This is a retrospective analysis of 313 patients with port implantation at the forearm in 2019. Then, exploratory statistics were conducted comprising Cox-Regression and Kaplan-Meier-Analyses.

Results

Mean age was 60 ± 14 years. 232 (74%) of the patients were female. No early infection was observed. 29 late infections and 57 cases of thrombosis occurred. In only 9% of the patients with thrombosis hospital admission was necessary for treatment. Median interval to the diagnosis of thrombosis was 23 days; inter-quartile-range: 16–75. Mean interval to elective port explantation was 227 ± 128 days. There was no effect of occurrence of thrombosis of the interventionalist, the assistance nor of several technical aspects. However, there was a significantly lower risk of thrombosis for primary implanted port system compared to replacement ports, Hazard-ratio: 0.34 [Confidence interval: 0.172, 0.674], p = 0.002. Age was a significant risk factor for late infections, Hazard-ratio: 3.35 [Confidence interval:1.84, 6.07], p < 0.0001.

Conclusion

The main risk factor for adverse outcome after radiographically guided port implantation at the forearm is the type of the implanted port system. The reason for that might not be the material itself but the experience of a team with a certain port system. Age is a risk factor for late complications.
Reperfusion After Fibrinolytic Therapy (RAFT): An open-label, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial of bivalirudin versus heparin in rescue percutaneous coronary intervention
Authors: Faour Amir , Collins Nicholas , Williams Trent , Khan Arshad , Juergens Craig P. , Lo Sidney , Walters Darren L. , Chew Derek P. , French John K.
Published: October 2021

Background

The safety and efficacy profile of bivalirudin has not been examined in a randomised controlled trial of patients undergoing rescue PCI.

Objectives

We conducted an open-label, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial to compare bivalirudin with heparin ± glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs) in patients undergoing rescue PCI.

Methods

Between 2010–2015, we randomly assigned 83 patients undergoing rescue PCI to bivalirudin (n = 42) or heparin ± GPIs (n = 41). The primary safety endpoint was any ACUITY (Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage Strategy) bleeding at 90 days. The primary efficacy endpoint was infarct size measured by peak troponin levels as a multiple of the local upper reference limit (Tn/URL). Secondary endpoints included periprocedural change in haemoglobin adjusted for red cells transfused, TIMI (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction) bleeding, ST-segment recovery and infarct size determined by the Selvester QRS score.

Results

The trial was terminated due to slow recruitment and futility after an interim analysis of 83 patients. The primary safety endpoint occurred in 6 (14%) patients in the bivalirudin group (4.8% GPIs) and 3 (7.3%) in the heparin ± GPIs group (54% GPIs) (risk ratio, 1.95, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52–7.3, P = 0.48). Infarct size was similar between the two groups (mean Tn/URL, 730 [±675] for bivalirudin, versus 984 [±1585] for heparin ± GPIs, difference, 254, 95% CI, -283-794, P = 0.86). There was a smaller decrease in the periprocedural haemoglobin level with bivalirudin than heparin ± GPIs (-7.5% [±15] versus -14% [±17], difference, -6.5%, 95% CI, -0.83–14, P = 0.0067). The rate of complete (≥70%) ST-segment recovery post-PCI was higher in patients randomised to heparin ± GPIs compared with bivalirudin.

Conclusions

Whether bivalirudin compared with heparin ± GPI reduces bleeding in rescue PCI could not be determined. Slow recruitment and futility in the context of lower-than-expected bleeding event rates led to the termination of this trial (ANZCTR.org.au, ACTRN12610000152022).
Characterizing epidemiology of prediabetes, diabetes, and hypertension in Qataris: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Al-Thani Mohammed H. , Al-Mutawa Kholood A. , Alyafei Salah A. , Ijaz Muhammad A. , Khalifa Shamseldin A. H. , Kokku Suresh B. , Mishra Amit C. M. , Poovelil Benjamin V. , Soussi Mounir B. , Toumi Amine A. , Dargham Soha R. , Awad Susanne F. , Abu-Raddad Laith J.
Published: October 2021

Objectives

To characterize the epidemiologic profiles of prediabetes mellitus (preDM), diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypertension (HTN) in Qataris using the nationally representative 2012 Qatar STEPwise Survey.

Methods

A secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey that included 2,497 Qatari nationals aged 18–64 years. Descriptive and analytical statistical analyses were conducted.

Results

Prevalence of preDM, DM, and HTN in Qataris aged 18–64 years was 11.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.6%-14.7%), 10.4% (95% CI 8.4%-12.9%), and 32.9% (95% CI 30.4%-35.6%), respectively. Age was the common factor associated with the three conditions. Adjusted analyses showed that unhealthy diet (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.84, 95% CI 1.01–3.36) was significantly associated with preDM; that physical inactivity (aOR = 1.66, 95% CI 1.12–2.46), central obesity (aOR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.02–4.26), and HTN (aOR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.40–3.38) were significantly associated with DM; and that DM (aOR = 2.07, 95% CI 1.34–3.22) was significantly associated with HTN. Population attributable fraction of preDM associated with unhealthy diet was 7.7%; of DM associated with physical inactivity, central obesity, and HTN, respectively, was 14.9%, 39.8%, and 17.5%; and of HTN associated with DM was 3.0%.

Conclusions

One in five Qataris is living with either preDM or DM, and one in three is living with HTN, conditions that were found to be primarily driven by lifestyle factors. Prevention, control, and management of these conditions should be a national priority to reduce their disease burden and associated disease sequelae.
Disparity between knowledge and practice regarding COVID-19 in Thailand: A cross-sectional study of older adults
Authors: Vicerra Paolo Miguel Manalang
Published: October 2021

The efficacy of the public health measures to mitigate COVID-19 is influenced by health literacy which includes the level of knowledge about the disease and the preventive behaviours adopted by individuals. Thailand, being a low- and middle-income country with an ageing society, has to consider both the challenges that its health system has in disseminating information and the disparities in health literacy among its older population. This study investigated the knowledge and behaviour of older adults in Thailand regarding COVID-19 using the Impact of COVID-19 on Older Persons in Thailand, a cross-sectional survey. The data was primarily collected online and included 1,230 adults aged at least 60 years from nine provinces of the five regions of the country. The associated factors with the health literacy outcomes were tested using bivariate logistic regression analyses. It was observed that 43% of the older adults in the sample had proper knowledge of the disease and 33% adopted preventive behaviours. Knowledge about the disease was not associated with preventive behaviour. The associated factors common between the increased levels of knowledge and adoption of behaviours were rural area residence and higher educational attainment levels. Obtaining information from the internet was observed to increase knowledge while having the television and radio as sources of information had negative relationship. Many older adults continued to be employed during the lockdown period and this was associated with decreased adoption of preventive behaviour. The context of vulnerable populations, particularly older adults, is different with regard to their access to information and concern about income. Health information has to be tailored for targeted populations. Their needs also have to be addressed as they have increased risks because of financial and health susceptibilities.
Older (65+) patients’ use of e-mail consultations: A Danish qualitative study using a Foucauldian framework
Authors: Bavngaard Martin V. , Grønning Anette
Published: October 2021

In Denmark, e-mail consultations (e-cons) are now supplementing conventional consultations with doctors and raising questions related to self-governing technology from the patient perspective. Interestingly, old patients are the most frequent users of this kind of consultation. This article examines how e-cons affect old people’s relationships with and perceptions of their general practitioners (GPs) regarding trust, self-governance and indirect/direct power. This qualitative study is based on interviews with twenty patients between 66 and 83 years old. Applying a thematic analysis in which four salient themes were identified, the study demonstrates that the patients perceive the GP as powerful, knowledgeable and busy; this corresponds with the power relationship between disciplinary institutions and individuals. At the same time, many patients use e-cons as a technology of self-governance, thereby taking responsibility for their own health while still being able to contact the clinic. In this way, patients achieve the potential for self-management, while clinics maintain their institutional power.
Ageing, health misinformation and mobile messaging apps
Authors: Choudhury Naziat
Published: October 2021

The wide circulation of health misinformation has the potential to cause major health complications for the older generation worldwide who are less active on digital media and are thus less able to identify misinformation. This article draws on the social ties and relational correction perspective to reflect on the evaluating, verifying and correcting practices regarding health misinformation in messenger apps within the older generation in Bangladesh. Thirty Bangladeshi older adults, between the ages of 60 and 74, participated in in-depth interviews with the aim of mapping out the interpersonal relationships with cultural dimensions that contribute to the sharing and correcting of health misinformation. While resharing health information, the social tradition of maintaining a positive impression and trusting those within their close network was visible among these older adults. Although strong and weak ties contributed equally to this process, strong ties played a dominant role in correcting misinformation.
Digitization of healthcare post COVID-19: Reimagining the role of health education and promotion
Authors: Obuaku-Igwe Chinwe
Published: October 2021

The digitization of health promotion and communication has become a major discourse in healthcare. This paper synthesizes my understanding of the role of health literacy, promotion, education and communication in ensuring effective digitization of healthcare and presents four key findings from a mental health promotion project. First, the pandemic has shown us more than ever how fragile we all are – health-seeking behaviour will increasingly take centre stage over the next decade. Second, why do people refuse to wear masks even though it increases the risk of mortality? Why are individuals not motivated to exercise despite downloading free health apps? Why do people keep eating unhealthy food even when they can afford healthier options? Why? The numbers cannot tell the whole story. Similarly, the proliferation of digital health technology cannot convince people to modify their behaviours nor promote meaningful use of e/m-health apps. Third, deliberate digital health promotion and communication is needed to leverage opportunities in health technology. Fourth, the world needs researchers and experts who understand the broader determinants of health attitudes and are knowledgeable in synthesizing valid health information across various technological platforms, in support of health system needs. I address the implications of my findings and discuss future directions for policy and practitioners.
Reproduction of red-book introduced plants of arboretum (on the example of Eastern Transbaikalia)
Authors: Banshchikova E. A
Published: October 2021

The paper presents the results of seed and vegetative reproduction of woody and shrubby introduced plantsincluded in the List of Objects of the plant world listed in the Red Book of the Trans-Baikal Territory. The objects of thestudy are red-book woody and shrubby plants growing on the territory of the arboretum: Picea obovata var. coeruleaMalyschev; Euonymus maackii Rupr.; Corylus heterophylla Fisch. ex Trautv.; Armeniaca sibirica (L.) Lam. The aim of thestudy is to preserve the gene pool of red-book woody and shrubby plants-introduced by seed and vegetative reproduction;to study the timing of cuttings, the effect of various root formation stimulators on the rooting process. Special attentionis paid to the development of methods of vegetative reproduction with the use of various growth stimulators, taking intoaccount the weather conditions of the Trans-Baikal Territory on coniferous and deciduous species. The features and termsof harvesting cuttings are studied. As a result, a favorable period for the process of rooting of coniferous species wasnoted – the phenophase “bud swelling”. The greatest number of roots was formed in cuttings harvested with a “heel”, nottreated with root formation stimulators (“control”). The greatest rooting of green cuttings of shrub species was observed inexperiments with the use of “Kornevin”. Propagation of Armeniaca sibirica showed good results by seed method.
Nitrogen oxides as a factor in the variability of chlorophyll content in leaf tissues of Salix kochiana Trautv. at different stages of vegetation
Authors: Zakharova L. A.
Published: October 2021

In this work, the variability of the content of chlorophylls in the tissues of the plant leaves of the introducedspecies Salix kochiana in response to the action of low doses of nitrogen oxides was determined. To set up the experiment,a fumigation chamber was used to simulate environmental pollution with nitrogen oxides, concentration 0.5; 1.0; 1.5 and2.0 units of the maximum one-time MPC. It was found that the relationship between the dose of the operating gas and thechlorophyll content is non-linear. At the beginning of the growing season, under the influence of nitrogen oxides with aconcentration of 0.5 and 1.0 MPC, the chlorophyll content increases sharply (1.3 times), a further increase in the dose ofthe operating gas to 1.5 and 2.0 MPC leads to a decrease in the value of this indicator to background level. At the end ofthe growing season, the effect of nitrogen oxides with a concentration of 0.5 and 1.0 MPC, on the contrary, is accompanied by a sharp decrease in the content of chlorophylls (1.7 times), and an increase in the dose of the active gas leads toan increase in the value of this indicator, but its level remains significantly lower than the background. The interpretationof the obtained data from the point of view of the theory of stress makes it possible to characterize the response of Salixkochiana plants at the beginning of the growing season as a stage of the primary stress reaction, at the end of the growingseason as a stage of resistance, which makes it possible to recommend the studied species for landscaping areas with a similar nature of atmospheric pollution.
Floristic findings in the valley of the river Chulyshman (Altai). Part 1
Authors: Zolotukhin N. I.
Published: October 2021

Based on the author’s fieldwork in 1976–2016 and herbarium funds from the river Chulyshman, stored inthe Central Chernozem Reserve, the first part of the information (Magnoliophyta: Liliopsida, not including the PoaceaeBarnhart family) is given on new and rare species of vascular plants for this territory; 5 species are indicated for the firsttime for the Altai nature reserve.
Bryoflora of protected landscape gardens of the city of Voronezh
Authors: Popova N. N.
Published: October 2021

The bryoflora of protected landscape gardens of regional and local significance includes 45 species, whichis more than 80 % of the bryoflora of urban ecosystems of Voronezh; 14 species grow in natural parks, about 40 speciesgrow in natural monuments, 20 species – in landscape gardens of local significance; 2 species from the Red Book of theVoronezh Region are marked as part of the brifolora; the Arboretum of the Voronezh Agrarian University, the Arboretumof the Voronezh Forestry University, the Severny Square, the Central Park of the City of Voronezh, the Patriots Park, andthe Scarlet Sails Park have the greatest environmental value.
Anatomical and morphological study of vegetative organs of Fritillaria karelinii (Fisch. ex D. Don) Baker from natural populations of southeastern Kazakhstan
Authors: Tursynbay A. , Gemejiyeva N. G. , Kurbatova N. V. , Aldassugurova C. Z.
Published: October 2021

The article shows results of anatomical and morphological studies of the vegetative organs of Fritillariakarelinii from various populations of southeastern Kazakhstan, in which differences were found in the rate of developmentof aerenchyma, a number of vascular bundles in leaves and stems. It has been established that moisture conditions of thehabitats of the species affect a number of layers and the ordering of parenchymal cells in the structure of the root and stem,as well as development of the cuticle on the leaf surface. The revealed anatomical and morphological features of the speciescan serve as diagnostic signs of plant materials.
The efficiency of SSR and ISSR markers for the assessment of genetic polymorphism of varieties and hybrids of garden chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × hortorum Bailey)
Authors: Yakushina L. G. , Shhalahova R. M.
Published: October 2021

The genetic analysis of five varieties and seventeen hybrids of the collection of the Federal Research Centrethe Subtropical Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FRC SSC RAS) of Sochi was carried out using DNAmarkers: SSR analysis and ISSR analysis. With the help of these markers, it was possible to identify the genetic differencesof the studied samples. At the same time, the analysis of phenotypic traits was carried out, which allowed us to dividethe studied plants into phenotypic groups. When processing genotypic and phenotypic groups, five related groups ofthe studied plants were identified. SSR-and ISSR-markers allow us to evaluate the genetic polymorphism of varieties andhybrids of Chrysanthemum × hortorum.
The Efficacy of Some Plants Extracts on Fallarmyworm (Spodopterafrugiperda, J.E. Smizh) in Sudan
Authors: Kona Nada Elsheikh M. , KhalafallaTaha Awad , Adam AbubakerHaroun Mohamed , Mahmoud Mohammed E. E.
Published: October 2021

The Fall armyworm worm (FAW) (Spodopterafrugiperda) is one of the important economic pests which goes on several field crops and causes serious damage. The aim of this study was to look for efficient, less cost and environmentally friend plant extract for controlling Fall armyworm worm in cereal crops. A Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) experiments with three replications were conducted in the laboratory to investigate the insecticidal effects of four plant extracts consisting of ethanolic extract of Neem (Azadirachta indica) seeds, Black pepper (Piper nigrum) seeds, Usher (Calotropis procera ) leaves and water extracts of Argel (Solenostemma argel) leaves on larvae of the Fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda). Newly emerged larvae of FAW were treated topically by 4 concentrations (10, 25, 50 and 75%) of each extract, and then the larval mortalities were calculated after 24, 48 and72 hrs. The results showed the highest concentrations (75%) of the three ethanolic extracts gave higher mortality percentages (100%) after 72 hrs of exposure, compared with other concentrations. Also, these were not significantly different from the recommended dose of the standard pesticide “Spinosad”. On the other hand, Argel water extract showed no effect on the (FAW) larvae. It is recommended that this experiment to be replicated under different environments.
Response of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Growth, Yield and Yield Components to Compost and Phosphorus Fertilizers
Authors: Marajan Wael. A. , Idris Baha Eldin. M. , Adam Abubaker Haroun Mohamed
Published: October 2021

Sugar beet is one of the sugar crops which widely grown in different regions of the world due to its advantages over Sugarcane. Several studies were conducted in Sudan to assess its adaptation and economic value. However, the aim of this experiment was to study the effect of application of compost and different levels of phosphorus fertilizer and their combination on Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) growth attributes, yield and yield components. The study was conducted during the winter season 2018 –2019 at the farm of the College of Agriculture, University of Bahri, Alkadaro-Khartoum State, Sudan. The experiment was arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and six treatments, namely the Compost (5t./ha.), Phosphorous (P2O5) (88kg./ha.), P2O5 (176 kg./ha.), Compost (5t./ha.)+P2O5 (88kg./ha.), Compost (5t./ha.)+ P2O5 (176Kg./ha.) and the Control (C) respectively. All cultural practices were carried out timely according to the recommendations of the Agricultural Research Centre in Sudan. Then the data pertaining the following agronomic traits were recorded, the leaf number; leaf dry weight (g), leaf area index (LAI) (cm), root diameter (RD) (cm) and root fresh weight (RFW) (g). The results of statistical analysis revealed the application of compost in combination with phosphorus displayed significant increase at 5% level for the leaf number (22.75), leaf area index (5.23), leaf dry weight(36.78), root diameter(69.67) and root fresh weight (422.68), followed by the application of compost alone compared to the control and other treatments. The study concludes that the combination of compost and mineral fertilizer (P2O5) proved to increase all Sugar beet growth and yield parameters.
A Missing Data on Covid-19 Forecasts
Authors: Isea Raúl
Published: October 2021

Mathematical and computational studies of Covid-19 have underestimated the influence that other countries have on their daily records. To visualize this, a Granger causality analysis was implemented in Python to determine if the cases registered in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the USA have any effect on Venezuela, and between all of them. Finally, this paper highlights the need to incorporate causality analysis employing only the cases of Covid-19 to improve mid and long term forecasts.
STUDY ON BONDING PROPERTY OF POLYURETHANE CEMENT (PUC) TO STEEL BAR
Authors: Zhang Kexin
Published: October 2021

The pull-out test of the bar and PUC is carried out in this paper, the effects of protective layer thickness, reinforcement anchorage length, diameter and shape of reinforcement on bonding properties were studied. The results show that the bond strength between reinforcement and PUC material increases with the increase of the thickness of the protective layer, but decreases with the increase of the anchorage length and diameter of reinforcement. The bond strength of bare round steel is significantly lower than that of ribbed steel, and the maximum bond strength is about 47.4% of ribbed steel. By analyzing the bond slip curve obtained from the pull-out test, the stress process of bond anchorage between reinforcement bar and PUC material is mainly summarized into three stages: the rising stage, the falling stage and the residual stage. The characteristics of the curve, the stress process and the failure mode of specimen at each stage are analyzed.
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY AS A TOOL TO REVEAL SUBSURFACE STRATIFICATION AT A SMALL AGRICULTURAL HEADWATER CATCHMENT: A CASE STUDY
Authors: Jeřábek Jakub , Zumr David
Published: October 2021

Catchment drainage area is a basic spatial unit in landscape hydrology within which the authorities estimate a water balance and manage water resources. The catchment drainage area is commonly delineated based on the surface topography, which is determined using a digital elevation model. Therefore, only a flow over the surface is implicitly considered. However, a substantial portion of the rainfall water infiltrates and percolates through the soil profile to the groundwater, where geological structures control the drainage area instead of the topography of the soil surface. The discrepancy between the surface topography-based and bedrock-based drainage area can cause large discrepancies in water balance calculation. It this paper we present an investigation of the subsurface media stratification in a headwater catchment in the central part of the Czech Republic using a geophysical survey method - electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Results indicate that the complexity of the subsurface geological layers cannot be estimated solely from the land surface topography. Although shallow layers copy the shape of the surface, the deeper layers do not. This finding has a strong implication on the water transport regime since it suggests that the deep drainage may follow different pathways and flow in other directions then the water in shallow soil profile or shallow subsurface structures.
The Context of Suffering
Authors: Church Ian , Warchol Isaac , Barrett Justin
Published: October 2021

While the evidential problem of evil has been enormously influential within the contemporary philosophical literature—William Rowe’s 1979 formulation in “The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism” being the most seminal—no academic research has explored what cognitive mechanisms might underwrite the appearance of pointlessness in target examples of suffering. In this exploratory paper, we show that the perception of pointlessness in the target examples of suffering that underwrite Rowe’s seminal formulation of the problem of evil is contingent on the absence of broader context. In other words, we show that when such suffering is presented alongside broader contextual information, the appearance of pointlessness, on average, significantly diminishes.  In §1 we briefly elucidate Rowe’s formulation of the problem of evil and the thought experiment that motivates a key premise. In §2 and §3 respectively, we briefly explain our hypothesis regarding Rowe’s case and our methods for testing these hypotheses. In §4, we elucidate our results, and in §5 we explore some of the philosophical implications of our findings and gesture towards some areas for future research. Finally, in §6, we briefly connect our research to some of the established philosophical literature on suffering and narrative before concluding.
Blind Recognition of Parameters of Reed Solomon Code from Intercepted Erroneous Codewords
Authors: Sharma Anand , Gupta Praneesh
Published: October 2021

Error correcting codes are designed for reliable transmission of digital information over a noisy channel. Several papers have been published on blind identification of binary FEC codes but papers reported on the identification of non-binary error correcting codes are less. Due to its strong error correction capability, RS (Reed-Solomon) code is being used widely. So technique for blind recognition of RS code is required to analyse intercepted signal as well as for intelligent communication. This paper presents a technique for extraction of parameters of Reed-Solomon code from intercepted demodulated bitstream. The proposed algorithm is very simple and hence it is very practical for hardware implementation. Our approach has been verified using MATLAB simulation.
Impact and Ricochet of a High Speed Projectile from a Plate
Authors: Bassindowa Hussein , Farouk Bakhtier , Segletes Steven B.
Published: October 2021

A computational study of a projectile (either 2024 aluminum or TiAl6V4 titanium alloy) impacting a plate (either titanium alloy or aluminum) is presented in this paper. Projectile velocity (ranging from 250 m/s to 1500 m/s) with varying impact angles are considered. The presence of ricochet (if any) is identified over the ranges of the projectile velocity and impact angle considered. For the cases where ricochet is identified, the ricochet angle and velocity are predicted as functions of the incident angle and the incident velocity. The numerical results are compared with an analytical solution of the ricochet problem. The analytical solutions are from a model developed to predict the ballistic ricochet of a projectile (projectile) penetrator. The dynamics and the deformation of an aluminum (or a titanium alloy) projectile impacting on a finite thickness titanium alloy (or aluminum) plate are simulated. The current work is interesting in that it looks in the field of ballistics of different material combinations than are traditionally studied. The present simulations based on detailed material models for the aluminum and the titanium alloy and the impact physics modelling features in the LS-DYNA code provide interesting details regarding the projectile/plate deformations and post-impact projectile shape and geometry. The present results indicate that for no cases (for specified incoming velocities and impact angles considered) can an aluminum projectile penetrate a titanium alloy plate. The ricochet ‘mode predictions ‘obtained from the present simulations agree well with the ricochet ‘mode predictions’ given in an analytical model.
Data driven TRL Transition Predictions for Early Technology Development in Defence
Authors: Ma Jungmok
Published: October 2021

This paper proposes the framework of TRL (Technology Readiness Level) transition predictions for early technology development in defense. Though predicting future TRLs is an important planning tool, it has been studied less actively than the other critical issues on TRL, and previous studies mostly have resorted to domain experts. The proposed framework is data-driven and utilises both explanatory and predictive modelling techniques. As a case study, the proposed framework is applied to real technology development data from DTiMS (Defense Technology InforMation Service) which is identified as a key resource. The result of explanatory modelling shows that the two predictor variables, TRL before R&D and project cost, are statistically significant for future TRLs. Also, popular predictive models are fitted and compared with various performance indices using 10-fold cross validation. The two selected predictive models are linear regression and support vector machine models with the lowest prediction errors.
La práctica pedagógica de los estudiantes de Educación Física con niños preescolares
Authors: Molano Tobar Nancy Janneth , Jiménez López Gerardo Hernán , Molano Tobar Dolly Ximena
Published: October 2021

Las practicas pedagogicas formativas son espacios de mejora continua que permite proyectarse en diversos contextos, donde se busco Identificar la percepción de estudiantes universitarios de Educación Física, sobre la práctica pedagógica en un jardín de infantes en la ciudad de Popayán. Metodología. Cualitativa con enfoque etnográfico, con 12 estudiantes entre enero y junio de 2017, Resultados. A) Trabajar con niños, un desafío de mayor atención en la práctica pedagógica. B) El juego una herramienta de acercamiento en las prácticas pedagógicas. C) El afecto, la manera de intercambio y aceptación en la relación profesor-estudiante. D) la comunicación desde la acción y el movimiento. Conclusiones La práctica pedagógica es una herramienta para el fortalecimiento de las habilidades de estudiantes universitarios, permitiéndoles proyectarse y visualice como futuro docente, colocando en evidencia habilidades como la creatividad, la afectividad, la comunicación, para interactuar con niños y lograr su empatía y adhesión a la clase
Las voces del Cedid: niñas y niños abriéndose camino hacia la participación
Authors: González Rodríguez Paula Jimena , Pulido Velásquez Shirley Yisela
Published: October 2021

El escenario de la presente reflexión es la escuela.  Específicamente una de las instituciones públicas de la ciudad de Bogotá, de la cual se indagaron sus prácticas, momentos, modos y formas cómo los niños y las niñas se expresan; al mismo tiempo la forma en que participan en la toma de decisiones dentro de esta. Es así, como a través del análisis de las significaciones imaginarias sociales instituidas e instituyentes, veremos que lentamente emergen las voces de la infancia como un acto revolucionario para toda la comunidad educativa, pero sobre todo cómo se van transformando las dinámicas, las relaciones y sujetos en torno al fortalecimiento de su autonomía y conciencia colectiva.
Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
Authors: Kumer Špela , Radonjič Gregor
Published: October 2021

The textile industry is often criticized for its enormous negative impact on the environment and non-human working conditions, especially in third-world countries. One of the goals of sustainability measures is the transparency of communications regarding environmental impacts and the policy measures of companies. So-called sustainability reports have become one of the most popular ways to communicate with stakeholders regarding the sustainability efforts of companies. In this paper, we analysed the content of the sustainability reports of textile industry and apparel companies with an emphasis on environmental criteria. We focused on the number of environmental criteria and analysed the measures taken in a given period. The results revealed that, in all cases, more detailed information regarding the carbon and water footprint were reported every year. In general, companies reported the most about measures taken in the production and raw material extraction phases, and the least about the consumption stage. However, mostly positive information about environmental aspects were included in the analysed sustainability reports. Failures regarding sustainable development programmes were rarely mentioned.
Synthesis and Characterisation of Azo-Based Dichlorotriazine Reactive Dye with Halochromic Behaviour
Authors: Rahman Mustafijur , Uddin Mohammad Abbas , Shibly Md. Moynul Hassan , Hossain Nusrat Binta , Hossain Mohammad Forhad , Rigout Muriel
Published: October 2021

Halochromism or pH sensitivity has tremendous potential for applications in various textile fields, such as protective clothing, wound dressings, etc. Reactive dye is mostly used to colour cotton or other regenerated cellulose fibres due to its better fastness and wide range of hue, from vivid to dull shades. In this research work, an azo-based dichlorotriazine reactive dye was synthesised from H-acid (4-amino-5-hydroxy-2,7-naphthalenedisulfonic acid) and 4-nitroaniline, which incorporates a halochromic behaviour. The change of colour of this dye was evaluated both in the the solution stage and coloured fabric stage in various pH solutions. A visible change of colour with the alteration of pH was observed after dyeing textile fabric with the synthesised dye. However, a significant difference was observed in a few cases with regard to the change of colour with the alteration of pH in the solution stage and coloured fabric stage. The dyed fabric also displayed very good to excellent wash fastness properties. Generally, the reactive dye synthesised in this research demonstrated an obvious change of colour with the alteration of the pH level.
SAND
Authors: Boniol Paul , Paparrizos John , Palpanas Themis , Franklin Michael J.
Published: October 2021

With the increasing demand for real-time analytics and decision making, anomaly detection methods need to operate over streams of values and handle drifts in data distribution. Unfortunately, existing approaches have severe limitations: they either require prior domain knowledge or become cumbersome and expensive to use in situations with recurrent anomalies of the same type. In addition, subsequence anomaly detection methods usually require access to the entire dataset and are not able to learn and detect anomalies in streaming settings. To address these problems, we propose SAND, a novel online method suitable for domain-agnostic anomaly detection. SAND aims to detect anomalies based on their distance to a model that represents normal behavior. SAND relies on a novel steaming methodology to incrementally update such model, which adapts to distribution drifts and omits obsolete data. The experimental results on several real-world datasets demonstrate that SAND correctly identifies single and recurrent anomalies without prior knowledge of the characteristics of these anomalies. SAND outperforms by a large margin the current state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of accuracy while achieving orders of magnitude speedups.
Optimizing fitness-for-use of differentially private linear queries
Authors: Xiao Yingtai , Ding Zeyu , Wang Yuxin , Zhang Danfeng , Kifer Daniel
Published: October 2021

In practice, differentially private data releases are designed to support a variety of applications. A data release is fit for use if it meets target accuracy requirements for each application. In this paper, we consider the problem of answering linear queries under differential privacy subject to per-query accuracy constraints. Existing practical frameworks like the matrix mechanism do not provide such fine-grained control (they optimize
total
error, which allows some query answers to be more accurate than necessary, at the expense of other queries that become no longer useful). Thus, we design a fitness-for-use strategy that adds privacy-preserving Gaussian noise to query answers. The covariance structure of the noise is optimized to meet the fine-grained accuracy requirements while minimizing the cost to privacy.
Efficiently answering reachability and path queries on temporal bipartite graphs
Authors: Chen Xiaoshuang , Wang Kai , Lin Xuemin , Zhang Wenjie , Qin Lu , Zhang Ying
Published: October 2021

Bipartite graphs are naturally used to model relationships between two different types of entities, such as people-location, author-paper, and customer-product. When modeling real-world applications like disease outbreaks, edges are often enriched with temporal information, leading to temporal bipartite graphs. While reachability has been extensively studied on (temporal) unipartite graphs, it remains largely unexplored on temporal bipartite graphs. To fill this research gap, in this paper, we study the reachability problem on temporal bipartite graphs. Specifically, a vertex
u
reaches a vertex
w
in a temporal bipartite graph
G
if
u
and
w
axe connected through a series of consecutive wedges with time constraints. Towards efficiently answering if a vertex can reach the other vertex, we propose an index-based method by adapting the idea of 2-hop labeling. Effective optimization strategies and parallelization techniques are devised to accelerate the index construction process. To better support real-life scenarios, we further show how the index is leveraged to efficiently answer other types of queries, e.g., single-source reachability query and earliest-arrival path query. Extensive experiments on 16 real-world graphs demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed techniques.
Kamino
Authors: Ge Chang , Mohapatra Shubhankar , He Xi , Ilyas Ihab F.
Published: October 2021

Organizations are increasingly relying on data to support decisions. When data contains private and sensitive information, the data owner often desires to publish a synthetic database instance that is similarly useful as the true data, while ensuring the privacy of individual data records. Existing differentially private data synthesis methods aim to generate useful data based on applications, but they fail in keeping one of the most fundamental data properties of the structured data --- the underlying correlations and dependencies among tuples and attributes (i.e., the structure of the data). This structure is often expressed as integrity and schema constraints, or with a probabilistic generative process. As a result, the synthesized data is not useful for any downstream tasks that require this structure to be preserved.

This work presents KAMINO, a data synthesis system to ensure differential privacy and to preserve the structure and correlations present in the original dataset. KAMINO takes as input of a database instance, along with its schema (including integrity constraints), and produces a synthetic database instance with differential privacy and structure preservation guarantees. We empirically show that while preserving the structure of the data, KAMINO achieves comparable and even better usefulness in applications of training classification models and answering marginal queries than the state-of-the-art methods of differentially private data synthesis.
Research on the traditional zoning, evolution, and integrated conservation of village cultural landscapes based on “production-living-ecology spaces” – A case study of villages in Meicheng, Guangdong, China
Authors: Sun Ying , Ou Quanfeng
Published: October 2021

Using traditional remains and the evolution of cultural landscapes as bases for overall protection and “production-living-ecology spaces” (PLE spaces) as carriers, we have established a regional and holistic research path, “evaluation – zoning – zone evolution – integrated conservation,” to cultural landscape protection. The traditional cultural landscape of more than 97% of all administrative villages in Meicheng was evaluated, and the overall Hakka cultural landscape was divided into three zones of low, medium, and high traditional values. The study found that the different impacts of urbanization on geographical space were leading contributors to the generation of different spatial zones. To accommodate the evolving trends of the zones, three conservation modes and their corresponding protection strategies have been proposed: construction with traditional elements; parallel conservation and development; and authenticity preservation. Meanwhile, the regional artery-tributary pattern has been constructed to foster interconnection across hubs, artery-tributary systems, and different zones. Cultural tourism routes should be established, and regional courier roads and greenways should be linked, to ensure the alignment of traditional landscape networks with modern Hakka cultural landscape networks, featuring traditional elements to facilitate integrated regional conservation of the Hakka cultural landscape.
Studies of carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber/butyl reclaimed rubber (XNBR/BRR) blends for shoe soles application
Authors: Abidin Zafirah Zainal , Mamauod Siti Nur Liyana , Khooi Darren , Sarkawi Siti Salina , Ismail Hanafi
Published: October 2021

Rising environmental issues and huge disposal of rubber waste have resulted in an increased interest in the usage of reclaimed rubber (RR) to produce sustainable and environmental friendly applications. In this study, incorporation of butyl reclaimed rubber into carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR/BRR) was carried out where the loadings of each XNBR and BRR were varied. The rubber was cured with sulphur during the melt mixing using a two-roll mill. This study is aimed to investigate the applied BRR loading towards the physical and mechanical properties of the XNBRcompounds. The results appeared that the optimum cure time (T90) increased and curing rate index (CRI) showed that a faster curing reaction with the increase in the content of BRR where the T90 had an increment of 89% while the CRI was faster by 89%. As for the crosslink density which indicates the density of chains or segments in polymer network, it decreased about 20% with increasing level of BRR. Also, the compression set which refers to the ability of rubber to resist permanent deformation, had an increase of 73% as the loading ratio of BRR increased. These results were obtained due to the low molecular weight of the BRR where the high shear and temperature during the reclamation process severely breaks down the molecular chains of the BRR into shorter segments. With the results obtained, it is shown that reclaimed rubber has the potential for further development and could increase the interest of researchers all around the world in the incorporation of reclaimed rubber for footwear application.
Enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO2-CdS composite nanofibers under sunlight irradiation**
Authors: Kudhier Muhsin A. , ALKareem Roonak Abdul Salam A. , Sabry Raad S.
Published: October 2021

Pure TiO2 and TiO2-CdS composite nanofibers were synthesized through electrospinning technique. The effects of various levels of CdS loading in a TiO2 nanofibers composite were investigated. Pure TiO2 nanofibers were polycrystalline with an anatase phase, whereas anatase and wurtzite phases coexisted in the TiO2-CdS composite nanofibers, according to X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy, the impacts of composite CdS nanoparticles with TiO2 nanofibers were investigated. Pure TiO2 nanofibers have a smooth surface with several microns in length and 21–48 nm in diameter, but when CdS nanoparticles are added, the surface becomes granular. The energy band gap (Eg) evaluated from UV-Visible spectroscopy reduced from a value of 3.70 eV for pure TiO2 nanofibers to 1.70 eV for TiO2-1CdS nanofibers. Photocatalytic properties of pure TiO2 and TiO2-CdS composite nanofibers were calculated by a methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution degradation under sunlight irradiation. The results revealed that TiO2-0.5CdS nanofibers have efficient photocatalytic activity of up to 98 % after only 60 min.