bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
C11orf95-RELA reprograms 3D epigenome in supratentorial ependymoma
Authors: Zhu Jacqueline Jufen , Jillette Nathaniel , Li Xiao-Nan , Cheng Albert Wu , Lau Ching C.
Published: September 2020

Supratentorial ependymoma (ST-EPN) is a type of malignant brain tumor mainly seen in children. Since 2014, it has been known that an intrachromosomal fusion C11orf95-RELA is an oncogenic driver in ST-EPN [Parker et al. Nature 506:451–455 (2014); Pietsch et al. Acta Neuropathol 127:609–611 (2014)] but the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis are unclear. Here we show that the C11orf95 component of the fusion protein dictates DNA binding activity while the RELA component is required for driving the expression of ependymoma-associated genes. Epigenomic characterizations using ChIP-seq and HiChIP approaches reveal that C11orf95-RELA modulates chromatin states and mediates chromatin interactions, leading to transcriptional reprogramming in ependymoma cells. Our findings provide important characterization of the molecular underpinning of C11orf95-RELA fusion and shed light on potential therapeutic targets for C11orf95-RELA subtype ependymoma.
Intrathecal treatment trial of rituximab in progressive MS: results after a 2-year extension
Authors: Bergman Joakim , Burman Joachim , Bergenheim Tommy , Svenningsson Anders
Published: September 2020

Objectives

To evaluate the effect of intrathecally (IT) delivered rituximab as a therapeutic intervention for progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) during a 3-year follow-up period.

Methods

Participants of a 1-year open-label phase 1b study of IT delivered rituximab to patients with PMS were offered extended treatment with follow-up for an additional 2 years. During the extension phase, treatment with 25 mg rituximab was administered every 6 months via a subcutaneous Ommaya reservoir connected to the right frontal horn with a ventricular catheter.

Results

Mild to moderate vertigo and nausea occurred in 4 out of 14 participants as temporary adverse events associated with IT rituximab infusion. During the entire 3-year period, two cases of low-virulent bacterial meningitis occurred, which were successfully treated. Walking speed deteriorated significantly during the study.

Conclusions

IT administration of rituximab via a ventricular catheter was well tolerated. Considering the meningitis cases, the risk of infection was not negligible. The continued loss of walking speed indicates that IT rituximab was not able to stop disease progression.

Classification of evidence

This study provides class IV evidence that intraventricularly administered rituximab in progressive MS is associated with a risk for bacterial meningitis and does not halt disease progression.

EU Clinical Trial Register

EudraCT; 2008-002626-11 and 2012-000721-53
Camel regulates development of the brain ventricular system
Authors: Yang Shulan , Emelyanov Alexander , You May-Su , Sin Melvin , Korzh Vladimir
Published: September 2020

Development of the brain ventricular system of vertebrates and the molecular mechanisms involved are not fully understood. The developmental genes expressed in the elements of the brain ventricular system such as the ependyma and circumventricular organs act as molecular determinants of cell adhesion critical for the formation of brain ventricular system. They control brain development and function, including the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Here, we describe the novel distantly related member of the zebrafish L1-CAM family of genes—camel. Whereas its maternal transcripts distributed uniformly, the zygotic transcripts demonstrate clearly defined expression patterns, in particular in the axial structures: floor plate, hypochord, and roof plate. camel expresses in several other cell lineages with access to the brain ventricular system, including the midbrain roof plate, subcommissural organ, organum vasculosum lamina terminalis, median eminence, paraventricular organ, flexural organ, and inter-rhombomeric boundaries. This expression pattern suggests a role of Camel in neural development. Several isoforms of Camel generated by differential splicing of exons encoding the sixth fibronectin type III domain enhance cell adhesion differentially. The antisense oligomer morpholino-mediated loss-of-function of Camel affects cell adhesion and causes hydrocephalus and scoliosis manifested via the tail curled down phenotype. The subcommissural organ’s derivative—the Reissner fiber—participates in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. The Reissner fiber fails to form upon morpholino-mediated Camel loss-of-function. The Camel mRNA–mediated gain-of-function causes the Reissner fiber misdirection. This study revealed a link between Chl1a/Camel and Reissner fiber formation, and this supports the idea that CHL1 is one of the scoliosis factors.
A multi-robot architecture for the RoboCup Logistics League
Authors: Kohout Peter , De Bortoli Marco , Ludwiger Jakob , Ulz Thomas , Steinbauer Gerald
Published: September 2020

Due to increasing demands on flexibility in terms of product configuration as well as delivery time production settings increasingly use teams of mobile robot systems. The RoboCup Logistics League was designed to provide a testbed to develop and test such flexibe multi-robot approaches for production environments. It resembles a product setting with on-demand product orders of different configurations. In this article we introduce the concept of the leagues and we present the solution of the team GRIPS to face that challenge.
Intestinal occlusion by gynecological cancers treated by percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and lanreotide: an Aviano National Cancer Institute experience
Authors: Budel Martina , Martella Luca , Zambon Laura , Morson Isabella , Giorda Giorgio , Cannizzaro Renato
Published: September 2020

The Commentary reports on our experience in Centro di Riferimento Oncologico IRCCS Aviano about the integrated and combined treatment with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and lanreotide in patients with bowel obstructions by ovarian cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis. We treated patients with gynecological cancers and bowel obstruction with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and, when patients were partially responsive, with lanreotide. We registered a constant overall benefit for the quality of life and for the control of symptoms, which is very important especially during the home care follow-up of terminal patients.
An experimental investigation into the salt-weathering susceptibility of building limestones
Authors: Scrivano Simona , Gaggero Laura
Published: September 2020

Dimension and ornamental stones used for built heritage are frequently affected, under all climates, by intense weathering induced by the transport of saline solutions. Accordingly, researchers addressed the weathering mechanisms induced by salts (primarily Na2SO4), the stresses generated in the host material, and the durability of ornamental and dimension stones.

This study investigates the behaviour of four sedimentary lithotypes, differing in texture and structure (Breccia Aurora, Rosso Verona, and fine- and coarse-grained Vicenza Stone) exposed to a selection of saline solutions, aiming at evaluating their susceptibility to weathering and the influence of petrographic features on durability. The chosen Na2SO4, MgSO4, Na2CO3, NaCl, and KNO3 solutions include the anions characterizing the major saline sources affecting built heritage: capillary rise, acid rain, atmospheric particulate deposition, bird or other animal scat, and de-icing salt contamination.

The petrophysical properties of unweathered and salt-weathered samples were characterized by relative mass variation estimation, capillary rise, and hygroscopic absorption-based porosimetry. Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with microprobe allowed studying the morphological changes triggered by weathering and analysing the chemical composition of the efflorescence crust.

The whole of data, consistently with literature, allowed inferring pore type and distribution as the main intrinsic parameters controlling salt weathering susceptibility. Moreover, Na2SO4 and Na2CO3 proved to be the most harmful, probably due to their ability to crystallize in different hydration stages at room temperature. The comparative analysis of the induced weathering can help to choose suitable dimension stones for new buildings or restoration replacements.
Perspective on experimental evaluation of adsorption energies at solid/liquid interfaces
Authors: Zeradjanin Aleksandar R. , Spanos Ioannis , Masa Justus , Rohwerder Michael , Schlögl Robert
Published: September 2020

Almost 15 years ago, first papers appeared, in which the density functional theory (DFT) was used to predict activity trends of electrocatalytic reactions. That was a major contribution of computational chemistry in building the theory of electrocatalysis. The possibility of computational electrocatalyst design had a massive impact on the way of thinking in modern electrocatalysis. At the same time, substantial criticism towards popular DFT models was developed during the years, due to the oversimplified view on electrified interfaces. Having this in mind, this work proposes an experimental methodology for quantitative description of adsorption energies at solid/liquid interfaces based on the Kelvin probe technique. The introduced approach already gives valuable trends in adsorption energies while in the future should evolve into an additional source of robust values that could complement existing DFT results. The pillars of the new methodology are established and verified experimentally with very promising initial results.
How are rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases used in clinical practice: a global survey by the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC)
Authors: Poole Stephen , Townsend Jennifer , Wertheim Heiman , Kidd Stephen P. , Welte Tobias , Schuetz Philipp , Luyt Charles-Edouard , Beishuizen Albertus , Jensen Jens-Ulrik Stæhr , del Castillo Juan González , Plebani Mario , Saeed Kordo
Published: September 2020

Novel rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) offer huge potential to optimise clinical care and improve patient outcomes. In this study, we aim to assess the current patterns of use around the world, identify issues for successful implementation and suggest best practice advice on how to introduce new tests. An electronic survey was devised by the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) Rapid Diagnostics and Biomarkers working group focussing on the availability, structure and impact of RDTs around the world. It was circulated to ISAC members in December 2019. Results were collated according to the UN human development index (HDI). 81 responses were gathered from 31 different countries. 84% of institutions reported the availability of any test 24/7. In more developed countries, this was more for respiratory viruses, whereas in high and medium/low developed countries, it was for HIV and viral hepatitis. Only 37% of those carrying out rapid tests measured the impact. There is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution to RDTs: the requirements must be tailored to the healthcare setting in which they are deployed and there are many factors that should be considered prior to this.
Political leadership and the quality of public goods and services: Does religion matter?
Authors: Prinz Aloys L. , Sander Christian J.
Published: September 2020

Despite some indications to the contrary, religion still plays an important role in contemporary society. In this paper, the association between religion and the quality of public goods and services, measured by the so-called “delivery quality” index of the Worldwide Governance Indicators project, is empirically investigated. Besides religion, different political regimes may also have a crucial impact on the quality of public goods and services. In the paper, a distinction is made between theocratic, autocratic and democratic systems. It is hypothesized that the delivery quality is lower in theocratic and autocratic regimes than in democracies. In addition, religious diversity may enhance the quality of public goods and services in otherwise autocratic and democratic regimes. The level of religious goods and services provision should be lower in religiously diverse societies, because the costs of these goods are higher due to a lack of economies of scale. This may leave more potential for the provision of high-quality public goods and services by the state. These hypotheses are tested empirically with data from 190 countries. The empirical estimates confirm that both theocratic and autocratic regimes provide lower average delivery quality than democracies. Furthermore, a positive association of religious leadership with delivery quality is found in strict autocracies. Greater religious diversity is thus linked to a better quality of pubic goods and services in democracies, but not in autocracies.
Non-excisional laser therapies for hemorrhoidal disease: a systematic review of the literature
Authors: Longchamp Gregoire , Liot Emilie , Meyer Jeremy , Toso Christian , Buchs Nicolas C. , Ris Frederic
Published: September 2020

Non-excisional laser therapies are emerging treatment for grades II and III hemorrhoidal disease (HD). However, so far, their efficiency is based on low-level evidence. Therefore, we aimed to systematically review the efficiency of non-excisional laser therapies for HD. MEDLINE/Pubmed, Web of science, Embase, and Cochrane were searched from database implementation until the April 17th, 2020. We included studies reporting at least one of surgical indicators of postoperative outcomes of laser therapies, encompassing laser hemorrhoidoplasty (LH) and hemorrhoidal laser procedure (HeLP). Fourteen studies describing LH and HeLP were included, representing 1570 patients. The main intraoperative complication was bleeding (0–1.9% of pooled patients for LH, 5.5–16.7% of pooled patients for HeLP). Postoperative complications occurred in up to 64% of patients after LH and 23.3% after HeLP. Resolution of symptoms ranged between 70 and 100% after LH and between 83.6 and 90% after HeLP. Moreover, four randomized controlled trials included in our review reported similar resolution after LH compared with hemorrhoidectomy or mucopexy and after HeLP compared with rubber band ligation. Recurrence rate was reported to range between 0 and 11.3% after LH and between 5 and 9.4% after HeLP. When compared with hemorrhoidectomy, LH showed conflicting results with one randomized controlled trial reporting similar recurrence rate, but another reporting decreased recurrences associated with hemorrhoidectomy. Laser therapies showed lower postoperative pain than hemorrhoidectomy or rubber band ligation. LH and HeLP are safe and effective techniques for the treatment of grades II and III HD.
Numerical Study of Quenching Distances for Side-Wall Quenching Using Detailed Diffusion and Chemistry
Authors: Zirwes Thorsten , Häber Thomas , Zhang Feichi , Kosaka Hidemasa , Dreizler Andreas , Steinhausen Matthias , Hasse Christian , Stagni Alessandro , Trimis Dimosthenis , Suntz Rainer , Bockhorn Henning
Published: September 2020

The numerical investigation of quenching distances in laminar flows is mainly concerned with two setups: head-on quenching (HOQ) and side-wall quenching (SWQ). While most of the numerical work has been conducted for HOQ with good agreement between simulation and experiment, far less analysis has been done for SWQ. Most of the SWQ simulations used simplified diffusion models or reduced chemistry and achieved reasonable agreement with experiments. However, it has been found that quenching distances for the SWQ setup differ from experimental results if detailed diffusion models and chemical reaction mechanisms are employed. Side-wall quenching is investigated numerically in this work with steady-state 2D and 3D simulations of an experimental flame setup. The simulations fully resolve the flame and employ detailed reaction mechanisms as well as molecular diffusion models. The goal is to provide data for the sensitivity of numerical quenching distances to different parameters. Quenching distances are determined based on different markers: chemiluminescent species, temperature and OH iso-surface. The quenching distances and heat fluxes at the cold wall from simulations and measurements agree well qualitatively. However, quenching distances from the simulations are lower than those from the experiments by a constant factor, which is the same for both methane and propane flames and also for a wide range of equivalence ratios and different markers. A systematic study of different influencing factors is performed: Changing the reaction mechanism in the simulation has little impact on the quenching distance, which has been tested with over 20 different reaction mechanisms. Detailed diffusion models like the mixture-averaged diffusion model and multi-component diffusion model with and without Soret effect yield the same quenching distances. By assuming a unity Lewis number, however, quenching distances increase significantly and have better agreement with measurements. This was validated by two different numerical codes (OpenFOAM and FASTEST) and also by 1D head-on quenching simulations (HOQ). Superimposing a fluctuation on the inlet velocity in the simulation also increases the quenching distance on average compared to the reference steady-state case. The inlet velocity profile, temperature boundary condition of the rod and radiation have a negligible effect. Finally, three dimensional simulations are necessary in order to obtain the correct velocity field in the SWQ computations. This however has only a negligible effect on quenching distances.
Nitrogen dynamics after two years of elevated CO2 in phosphorus limited Eucalyptus woodland
Authors: Andresen Louise C. , Carrillo Yolima , Macdonald Catriona A. , Castañeda-Gómez Laura , Bodé Samuel , Rütting Tobias
Published: September 2020

It is uncertain how the predicted further rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration will affect plant nutrient availability in the future through indirect effects on the gross rates of nitrogen (N) mineralization (production of ammonium) and depolymerization (production of free amino acids) in soil. The response of soil nutrient availability to increasing atmospheric CO2 is particularly important for nutrient poor ecosystems. Within a FACE (Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment) experiment in a native, nutrient poor Eucalyptus woodland (EucFACE) with low soil organic matter (≤ 3%), our results suggested there was no shortage of N. Despite this, microbial N use efficiency was high (c. 90%). The free amino acid (FAA) pool had a fast turnover time (4 h) compared to that of ammonium (NH4+) which was 11 h. Both NH4-N and FAA-N were important N pools; however, protein depolymerization rate was three times faster than gross N mineralization rates, indicating that organic N is directly important in the internal ecosystem N cycle. Hence, the depolymerization was the major provider of plant available N, while the gross N mineralization rate was the constraining factor for inorganic N. After two years of elevated CO2, no major effects on the pools and rates of the soil N cycle were found in spring (November) or at the end of summer (March). The limited response of N pools or N transformation rates to elevated CO2 suggest that N availability was not the limiting factor behind the lack of plant growth response to elevated CO2, previously observed at the site.
Prevalence and morphological changes of carotid kinking and coiling in growth: an echo-color Doppler study of 2856 subjects between aged 0 to 96 years
Authors: Di Pino Luigi , Franchina Antonio G. , Costa Serena , Gangi Stella , Strano Francesco , Ragusa Mario , Costanzo Luca , Tamburino Corrado , Capodanno Davide
Published: September 2020

Extracranial internal carotid artery (EICA) kinking and coiling are the most frequently reported carotid anomalies in the literature. Embryogenic and acquired causes for such anomalies have been postulated but the prevalence of kinking and coiling has not been well characterized across age categories. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of EICA coiling and kinking among different age groups to better understand its potential causes and changes during the course of life.
A total of 2856 subjects aged 0 to 96 years were studied by echo-color Doppler (ECD). Morphology and anatomical anomalies of the EICA were assessed. Patients with anatomical anomalies were stratified by age groups and the prevalence of EICA abnormalities was calculated. The maximal velocity recorded at the level of the kinking was compared with that measured in the common carotid artery and the peak systolic velocity kinking ratio (PSVKR) was calculated.
A total of 284 subjects (9.94% of the sample) were found to have kinking or coiling of the EICA. The prevalence was significantly higher at the extremes of age (≤ 20 and > 60 years old, p < 0.001) supporting the hypothesis of a reduction with growth and a new increase in the elderly. PSVKR was higher in subjects with more severity kinking.
This study showed a higher prevalence of EICA coiling and kinking in the very young and in the elderly. This bimodal prevalence distribution supports the hypothesis of a congenital anomaly that resolves with somatic growth, while advanced age with its many anatomical changes leads to its reappearance or worsening. Studies with longitudinal follow-up and paired observation are required to support this hypothesis.
The Sintering of Au Nanoparticles on Flat {100}, {111} and Zigzagged {111}-Nanofacetted Structures of Ceria and Its Influence on Catalytic Activity in CO Oxidation and CO PROX
Authors: Bezkrovnyi O. S. , Kraszkiewicz P. , Mista W. , Kepinski L.
Published: September 2020

The thermal stability of Au nanoparticles on ceria support of various morphology (nanocubes, nanooctahedra, and {111}-nanofacetted nanocubes) in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres was investigated by electron microscopy. A beneficial effect of the reconstruction of edges of ceria nanocubes into zigzagged {111}-nanofacetted structures on the inhibition of sintering of Au nanoparticles was shown. The influence of different morphology of Au particles on various ceria supports on the reducibility and catalytic activity in CO oxidation, and CO PROX of Au/ceria catalysts was also investigated and discussed. It was shown, that ceria nanocubes with flat {110} terminated edges are more suitable as a support for Au nanoparticles, used to catalyze CO oxidation, than zigzagged {111}- nanofacetted structures.

Graphic Abstract
Size-exclusion chromatography of cellulose: observations on the low-molar-mass fraction
Authors: Pitkänen Leena , Sixta Herbert
Published: September 2020

Accurate determination of molar mass distribution for disperse cellulose samples has proved to be a challenging task. While size-exclusion chromatography coupled to multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and differential refractive index (DRI) detectors has become the most commonly used method for molar mass determination of celluloses, this technique suffers low sensitivity at the low-molar mass range. As discussed here, the universal method for accurate molar mass distribution analysis of cellulose samples not exists and thus thorough understanding on the differences of the various methodological approaches is important. In this study, the focus is in the accurate determination of the low-molar mass fraction. The results obtained by combining the two calibration strategies, MALS/DRI for polymeric region of a cellulose sample and conventional calibration for oligomeric region, was compared to the results obtained using only MALS/DRI (with extrapolation of the curve where signal-to-noise of MALS is low). For birch pulp sample, the results from the two approaches were comparable; it should be highlighted, however, that MALS/DRI slightly overestimates the molar masses at the low-molar-mass region.
Adolescence Predictors for Drug Crime Offending: A Follow-up Study of Former Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients
Authors: Kontu Mikaela , Hakko Helinä , Riala Kaisa , Riipinen Pirkko
Published: September 2020

Our aim was to examine adolescent predictors (family- and school-related factors, substance use, and psychiatric disorders) for drug crime offending. The initial study population consisted of 508 former adolescent psychiatric inpatients aged between 13 and 17 years. Of them, 60 (12%) had committed a drug crime by young adulthood and they were matched with 120 (24%) non-criminal controls by sex, age and family type. During adolescent hospitalization, study participants were interviewed using valid semi-structured research instruments. Criminal records were obtained from the Finnish Legal Register Centre up to young adulthood. A distant relationship with a father, lying, and thieving, moderate/high nicotine dependence and weekly use of stimulants were shown to be the most prominent predictors for drug crime offending. Our findings encourage the use of modern child- and family-centered approaches in preventing youth involvement in illegal drug use and drug crimes.
Online summarization of dynamic graphs using subjective interestingness for sequential data
Authors: Kapoor Sarang , Saxena Dhish Kumar , van Leeuwen Matthijs
Published: September 2020

Many real-world phenomena can be represented as dynamic graphs, i.e., networks that change over time. The problem of dynamic graph summarization, i.e., to succinctly describe the evolution of a dynamic graph, has been widely studied. Existing methods typically use objective measures to find fixed structures such as cliques, stars, and cores. Most of the methods, however, do not consider the problem of online summarization, where the summary is incrementally conveyed to the analyst as the graph evolves, and (thus) do not take into account the knowledge of the analyst at a specific moment in time. We address this gap in the literature through a novel, generic framework for subjective interestingness for sequential data. Specifically, we iteratively identify atomic changes, called ‘actions’, that provide most information relative to the current knowledge of the analyst. For this, we introduce a novel information gain measure, which is motivated by the minimum description length (MDL) principle. With this measure, our approach discovers compact summaries without having to decide on the number of patterns. As such, we are the first to combine approaches for data mining based on subjective interestingness (using the maximum entropy principle) with pattern-based summarization (using the MDL principle). We instantiate this framework for dynamic graphs and dense subgraph patterns, and present DSSG, a heuristic algorithm for the online summarization of dynamic graphs by means of informative actions, each of which represents an interpretable change to the connectivity structure of the graph. The experiments on real-world data demonstrate that our approach effectively discovers informative summaries. We conclude with a case study on data from an airline network to show its potential for real-world applications.
Correction to: Interaction between Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense and Radopholus similis can lead to changes in the resistance of banana cultivars to Fusarium wilt
Authors: de Jesus Rocha Anelita , dos Santos Ferreira Mileide , de Souza Rocha Leandro , Oliveira Saulo A. S. , Amorim Edson Perito , Mizubuti Eduardo S. G. , Haddad Fernando
Published: September 2020

This erratum is published due to:
Moving SDG5 forward: women’s public engagement activities in higher education
Authors: Hirsu Lavinia , Quezada-Reyes Zenaida , Hashemi Lamiah
Published: September 2020

Universities play a critical role in the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals through the third mission, i.e. public engagement activities. However, female academics miss opportunities to be part of this mission because they are caught in many roles that prevent them from getting involved in the SDGs. In light of SDG5, Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, we conducted interviews with twenty female academics from Iran and the Philippines to investigate their aspirations, opportunities and experiences with public engagement activities. Our findings show that, while recent gender policies have enabled female academics to develop robust careers, their contributions beyond the walls of the university remain limited because of longstanding patriarchal structures, distrust in women’s professional expertise and unchanged systemic constraints. By bringing women’s engagement activities forward and supporting them in the delivery of the SDGs, we reframe current debates on women’s roles in academia. We argue that HE institutions may enhance their third mission and better achieve the targets of SDGs by valuing women’s work and facilitating their engagement activities that may lead to significant societal impact. We conclude our paper with a series of recommendations for policy and practice that support women’s journeys in academia.
Inquiry-Based Learning Practices in Lower-Secondary Mathematics Education Reported by Students from China and the Netherlands
Authors: Huang Luhuan , Doorman Michiel , van Joolingen Wouter
Published: September 2020

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) emphasizes learning through experiencing and constructing. Where IBL is often applied in science education, the conceptualization of IBL practices in mathematics education is less obvious. We compared students’ reports on IBL practices in two different teaching cultures as an attempt to better understand IBL practices in connection with overarching teaching cultures. In this study, we investigated IBL practices in lower-secondary mathematics lessons in the Beijing area and the Netherlands through a survey about the experiences and preferences of 858 Chinese students and 441 Dutch students. Results show that students from the Beijing sample reported experiencing IBL activities in most mathematics lessons, while students from the Dutch sample reported them in some lessons, and both preferred the same amount of IBL activities as they experienced. The Dutch sample reported little experience with posing questions to tackle. The study also suggests a correlation between IBL experience and IBL preference of each class: students with more IBL experience are likely to show a higher preference for IBL activities. Results of this study do not confirm expectations based on stereotypes about the two teaching cultures. The students’ perspective in both samples suggests that providing complex problems and organizing group work have potential for further encouraging IBL in mathematics.
System for monitoring road slippery based on CCTV cameras and convolutional neural networks
Authors: Grabowski Dariusz , Czyżewski Andrzej
Published: September 2020

The slipperiness of the surface is essential for road safety. The growing number of CCTV cameras opens the possibility of using them to automatically detect the slippery surface and inform road users about it. This paper presents a system of developed intelligent road signs, including a detector based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and the transfer-learning method employed to the processing of images acquired with video cameras. Based on photos taken in different light conditions by CCTV cameras located at the roadsides in Poland, four network topologies have been trained and tested: Resnet50 v2, Resnet152 v2, Vgg19, and Densenet201. The last-mentioned network has proved to give the best result with 98.34% accuracy of classification dry, wet, and snowy roads.
NMR in target driven drug discovery: why not?
Authors: Keiffer Sébastien , Carneiro Marta G. , Hollander Johan , Kobayashi Masakazu , Pogoryelev Denys , AB Eiso , Theisgen Stephan , Müller Gerhard , Siegal Gregg
Published: September 2020

No matter the source of compounds, drug discovery campaigns focused directly on the target are entirely dependent on a consistent stream of reliable data that reports on how a putative ligand interacts with the protein of interest. The data will derive from many sources including enzyme assays and many types of biophysical binding assays such as TR-FRET, SPR, thermophoresis and many others. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses, but none is as information rich and broadly applicable as NMR. Here we provide a number of examples of the utility of NMR for enabling and providing ongoing support for the early pre-clinical phase of small molecule drug discovery efforts. The examples have been selected for their usefulness in a commercial setting, with full understanding of the need for speed, cost-effectiveness and ease of implementation.
Using Administrative Data to Assess the Risk of Permanent Work Disability: A Cohort Study
Authors: Bethge Matthias , Spanier Katja , Streibelt Marco
Published: September 2020

Purpose Unmet rehabilitation needs are common. We therefore developed a risk score using administrative data to assess the risk of permanent work disability. Such a score may support the identification of individuals with a high likelihood of receiving a disability pension. Methods Our sample was a random and stratified 1% sample of individuals aged 18–65 years paying pension contributions. From administrative records, we extracted sociodemographic data and data about employment and welfare benefits covering 2010–2012. Our outcome was a pension due to work disability that was requested between January 2013 and December 2017. We developed a comprehensive logistic regression model and used the model estimates to determine the risk score. Results We included 352,140 individuals and counted 6,360 (1.8%) disability pensions during the 5-year follow-up. The area under the receiver operating curve was 0.839 (95% CI 0.834 to 0.844) for the continuous risk score. Using a threshold of ≥ 50 points (20.2% of all individuals), we correctly classified 80.6% of all individuals (sensitivity: 71.5%; specificity: 80.8%). Using ≥ 60 points (9.9% of all individuals), we correctly classified 90.3% (sensitivity: 54.9%; specificity: 91.0%). Individuals with 50 to < 60 points had a five times higher risk of a disability pension compared to individuals with low scores, individuals with ≥ 60 points a 17 times higher risk. Conclusions The risk score offers an opportunity to screen for people with a high risk of permanent work disability.
Structural, photocatalytic and surface analysis of Nb/Ag codoped TiO2 mesoporous nanoparticles
Authors: Gorgani Mahtab , Kaleji Behzad Koozegar
Published: September 2020

In this study, several TiO2 mesoporous nanoparticles with different mol% of niobium and silver were synthesized using the sol–gel method. The crystalline phase, chemical state, photocatalytic and optical properties, specific surface area, and morphology of mesoporous nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis reflective spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller-specific surface area (BET) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). With increasing calcination temperature, the photocatalytic activity of the samples gradually increased due to the improvement of crystallization of the anatase and rutile phases. Nb/Ag codoping sample calcined at 550 °C has reduced the band gap energy (3.17 eV to 3.06 eV) and improved the photocatalytic properties of samples under visible light (xenon lamp, 200 W for 1 h and 2 h). Doped TiO2 mesoporous nanoparticles were shown to have the highest photocatalytic activity as compared with the pure TiO2 nanoparticles. The best photocatalytic efficiency of codoped TiO2 mesoporous nanoparticles was observed for the TNA3 sample calcined under 550 °C, containing molar contents of Nb (0.5 mol%) and Ag (1 mol%) dopant ions with 95.60% efficiency.
The meaning of meaningful learning in mathematics in upper-primary education
Authors: Polman Judith , Hornstra Lisette , Volman Monique
Published: September 2020

One of the ways in which schools try to improve students’ motivation is through making learning meaningful for students. The concept of meaningful learning, however, has been defined in various ways in the literature. This small-scale in-depth study focused on meaningful learning in mathematics in upper-primary education. We investigated what teachers, according to their own views, undertake to make mathematics learning meaningful for their students. Two interviews (one stimulated recall) were conducted with five fifth-grade teachers from five Dutch primary schools that differed in terms of their schools’ educational concept. Teachers’ beliefs about the meaning of meaningful learning varied from students being able to understand what is learned to connecting with students’ daily experiences. Teachers also differed in their self-reported pedagogical practices aimed at meaningful learning. They used different types of context, including activating prior knowledge, connecting to students’ personal worlds, showing the value beyond school, goal setting for/with students, creating a context that is future-oriented, referring to the personal world of the teacher, applying the learning content in school, and creating cross-curricular context. Practices to foster and support meaningful learning included collaboration and dialogue, working independently and experiential learning. This study provides suggestions for embedding meaningful elements in the mathematics learning environment to stimulate students’ learning motivation.
Noise and acoustic modeling with waveform generator in text-to-speech and neutral speech conversion
Authors: Al-Radhi Mohammed Salah , Csapó Tamás Gábor , Németh Géza
Published: September 2020

This article focuses on developing a system for high-quality synthesized and converted speech by addressing three fundamental principles. Although the noise-like component in the state-of-the-art parametric vocoders (for example, STRAIGHT) is often not accurate enough, a novel analytical approach for modeling unvoiced excitations using a temporal envelope is proposed. Discrete All Pole, Frequency Domain Linear Prediction, Low Pass Filter, and True envelopes are firstly studied and applied to the noise excitation signal in our continuous vocoder. Second, we build a deep learning model based text–to–speech (TTS) which converts written text into human-like speech with a feed-forward and several sequence-to-sequence models (long short-term memory, gated recurrent unit, and hybrid model). Third, a new voice conversion system is proposed using a continuous fundamental frequency to provide accurate time-aligned voiced segments. The results have been evaluated in terms of objective measures and subjective listening tests. Experimental results showed that the proposed models achieved the highest speaker similarity and better quality compared with the other conventional methods.
Health-related quality of life and emotional well-being in patients with glioblastoma and their relatives
Authors: Ståhl Pernilla , Fekete Boglarka , Henoch Ingela , Smits Anja , Jakola Asgeir S. , Rydenhag Bertil , Ozanne Anneli
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for patients with glioblastoma is known to be largely affected. Little is known about the HRQoL for relatives and the relationship between these two. To optimize family care, such issues need to be addressed early on, preferably from the time of diagnosis. This study aimed to describe and compare the HRQoL of patients with glioblastoma and their relatives before surgery.

Methods

A prospective cohort study including 89 patients diagnosed with glioblastoma and their relatives. HRQoL (Short Form Health Survey, SF-36) and emotional well-being (hospital anxiety and depression scale, HADS) were analysed with descriptive, comparative and multivariable regression analyses.

Results

Relatives scored worse for mental HRQoL (p < 0.001) and for symptoms of anxiety (p < 0.001) and depression (p = 0.022) compared to patients. The multivariable regression showed an increased risk of affected mental HRQoL in relatives of patients with poor functional status (WHO) (p = 0.01) and higher levels in symptoms of anxiety (p = 0.03), or when relatives had low physical HRQoL themselves (p = 0.01). There was increased risk of affected mental HRQoL in patients with comorbidities (p = 0.003), and when the respective relative showed higher levels in symptoms of anxiety (p = 0.005).

Conclusion

Relatives scored worse for mental HRQoL and emotional well-being than patients, suggesting that HRQoL in patients and relatives might be connected to symptoms of anxiety in the respective individual at disease onset. The results illustrate the need to screen HRQoL and emotional well-being in both patients and relatives from an early stage—before surgery.
Linguistic sleuthing for innovators
Authors: Greco Francesca , Riopelle Ken , Grippa Francesca , Fronzetti Colladon Andrea , Gluesing Julia
Published: September 2020

For centuries “innovation” has been a topic of book authors and academic researchers as documented by Ngram and Google Scholar search results. In contrast, “innovators” have had substantially less attention in both the popular domain and the academic domain. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a text analysis research methodology to linguistically identify “innovators” and “non-innovators” using Hebert F. Crovitz’s 42 relational words. Specifically, we demonstrate how to combine the use of two complementary text analysis software programs: Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count and WORDij to simply count the percent of use of these relational words and determine the statistical difference in use between “innovators” and “non-innovators.” We call this the “Crovitz Innovator Identification Method” in honor of Herbert F. Crovitz, who envisioned the possibility of using a small group of 42 words to signal “innovation” language. The Crovitz Innovator Identification Method is inexpensive, fast, scalable, and ready to be applied by others using this example as their guide. Nevertheless, this method does not confirm the viability of any innovation being created, used or implemented; it simply detects how a person’s language signals innovative thinking. We invite other scholars to join us in this linguistic sleuthing for innovators.
Informal Caregiving and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Prospective Analyses from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)
Authors: Sacco Lawrence B. , König Stefanie , Westerlund Hugo , Platts Loretta G.
Published: September 2020

Providing unpaid informal care to someone who is ill or disabled is a common experience in later life. While a supportive and potentially rewarding role, informal care can become a time and emotionally demanding activity, which may hinder older adults’ quality of life. In a context of rising demand for informal carers, we investigated how caregiving states and transitions are linked to overall levels and changes in quality of life, and how the relationship varies according to care intensity and burden. We used fixed effects and change analyses to examine six-wave panel data (2008–2018) from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, n = 5076; ages 50–74). The CASP-19 scale is used to assess both positive and negative aspects of older adults’ quality of life. Caregiving was related with lower levels of quality of life in a graded manner, with those providing more weekly hours and reporting greater burden experiencing larger declines. Two-year transitions corresponding to starting, ceasing and continuing care provision were associated with lower levels of quality of life, compared to continuously not caregiving. Starting and ceasing caregiving were associated with negative and positive changes in quality of life score, respectively, suggesting that cessation of care leads to improvements despite persistent lower overall levels of quality of life. Measures to reduce care burden or time spent providing informal care are likely to improve the quality of life of older people.
Living Life as Inquiry – a Systemic Practice for Change Agents
Authors: Gearty Margaret Rose , Marshall Judi
Published: September 2020

The practical orientation of action research, together with its embedded and participative principles, means it is particularly suited to complex, interconnected questions and ‘real life’ systemic issues. In the realm of first-person action research, Judi Marshall’s (1999) influential article “Living Life as Inquiry” described how such research can extend to one’s whole life whereby professional and personal questions can be set within politically relevant frames. Over the past two decades, many students and researchers have worked with and drawn much imaginative inspiration from the idea ofliving life as inquiry (LLI). However little has been written to describehowthe practice develops and the many forms it can take. This article draws on our extensive experience as inquirers ourselves and as educators, working with students and change agents motivated to address social and environmental concerns. Twenty years after the original article we have conducted a reflective review that included surveying the literature, and working in depth with a range of stories and current practices. From this comes a textured expansion of the language and practice ofliving life as inquiryas it is approached from the specificity of people’s lives. Through narrative and visual textures, we present views into the many different ways LLI is developed through day-to-day practices of experimentation, data gathering, artistic exploration, intervention and reflection. We explore what this means for quality in the enactment of inquiry. The article draws particular attention to the embodied nature of inquiry and seeks to capture its fleeting, processual quality.
Maximal Medical Improvement following Shoulder Stabilization Surgery May Require up to 1 Year: A Systematic Review
Authors: Patel Bhavik H. , Lu Yining , Agarwalla Avinesh , Puzzitiello Richard N. , Nwachukwu Benedict U. , Cvetanovich Gregory L. , Chahla Jorge , Forsythe Brian
Published: September 2020

Background

There is increased emphasis on properly allocating healthcare resources to optimize value within orthopedic surgery. Establishing time to maximal medical improvement (MMI) can inform clinical decision-making and practice guidelines.

Purpose

We sought (1) to evaluate the time to MMI as predicted by commonly used patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for evaluation of shoulder stabilization and (2) to evaluate typical time to return to sports and employment following surgery.

Methods

A systematic review of the Medline database was conducted to identify outcome studies reporting sequential follow-up at multiple time points, up to a minimum of 2 years after shoulder stabilization surgery. The included studies examined the outcomes of arthroscopic or open surgical techniques on anterior instability. Clinically significant improvements were evaluated utilizing the minimal clinically important difference specific to each PROM. Secondary outcomes included range of motion, return to sport/work, and recurrent instability.

Results

Ten studies comprising 590 surgically managed cases of anterior shoulder instability were included (78% arthroscopic, 22% open). Clinically significant improvements in PROMs were achieved up to 1 year post-operatively for Rowe, Western Ontario Instability Index (WOSI), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), and Simple Shoulder Test (SST) scores. For the three most utilized tools (Rowe, WOSI, ASES), the majority of improvement occurred in the first 6 post-operative months. Clinically significant improvements in Constant Score and Oxford Shoulder Instability Score (OSIS) were achieved up to 6 months and 2 years after surgery, respectively. No clinically significant improvements were achieved on the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) tool.

Conclusion

Maximal medical improvement as determined by commonly utilized PROMs occurs by 1 year after operative management of anterior shoulder instability. The DASH tool does not appear to demonstrate a reliable time frame for clinically significant outcome improvement.