bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economic model to estimate cost of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation vs control therapies for hospitalised patients in the United States, Germany, and United Kingdom
Authors: Kim Paul J , Lookess Siobhan , Bongards Christine , Griffin Leah Passmore , Gabriel Allen
Published: September 2021

An economic model was developed to estimate the cost of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation and dwelling of a topical wound solution vs control therapies. Economic model inputs were means derived from the results of a recently published systematic review and meta‐analysis of 13 comparative studies of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation. Means across studies comprising complex acute and chronic wounds for negative pressure wound therapy‐instillation vs control (negative pressure wound therapy without instillation, gauze dressings, or gentamicin polymethylmethacrylate beads) groups were 1.77 vs 2.69 operating room visits (P = .008) and 9.88 vs 21.80 therapy days (P = .02), respectively. These inputs plus hospital cost data were used to model costs for the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. For the United States, Germany, and United Kingdom, respectively, economic model estimates of total potential per patient savings were $33 338, €8467, and £5626 for negative pressure wound therapy‐instillation group vs control, based on assumed number of OR visits during therapy, cost of therapy system, and length of therapy. Model results showed an overall potential cost‐savings with negative pressure wound therapy‐instillation vs control, based on fewer OR visits and shorter therapy duration as reported in the published systematic review and meta‐analysis.
How Implementation Affects Revision: EU Decision‐Making on Changing the Posting of Workers Directive*
Authors: Steunenberg Bernard
Published: September 2021

In this paper, I focus on how national policy implementation affects policy revision at the EU level. The main argument is that when policy is implemented in a decentralized manner, it affects the current situation or status quo in member states. This affects the possibilities of any further legislative change at the EU level. The analyses suggests that heterogeneity in national preferences and homogeneity in national status quo points make it less easy to adopt a revised policy. This result is illustrated by the recent discussion on revising the Posting of Workers Directive. Having rather different views on this policy while faced with limited possibilities to shape this policy nationally, makes it difficult to change the Posting Directive. The rather long and difficult negotiations, especially among the member states, about its revision support this implication.
Which symptoms best distinguish fibromyalgia patients from those with other chronic pain disorders?
Authors: Bennett Robert M. , Jones Kim D. , Aebischer Jonathan H. , St. John Amanda W. , Friend Ronald
Published: September 2021

Rationale, aims and objectives

The primary purpose of this study was to test both classic and novel FM pain and non‐pain symptoms to determine their practical efficacy in aiding clinicians to distinguish FM pain from other chronic pain disorders.

Methods

158 pain patients from two primary care clinics were evaluated with history, physical exam, chart review, and a questionnaire containing 26 exploratory symptoms (10 from the Symptom Impact Questionnaire (SIQR) and 16 from the FM literature)). The symptoms were rated on a 0‐10 VAS for severity by those patients reporting pain over the past week. Somers' D and mean severity differences between FM and chronic pain patients without FM were used to rank the discriminatory and diagnostic contributions of symptoms.

Results

Fifty patients (14.2%) carried a chart diagnosis of FM, 108 (30.7%) had pain but not FM, and 192 (54.5%) who had neither pain nor FM. Comparing means between the two pain groups, the 5 best differentiating symptoms (all, P < .0001) were: a persistent deep aching over most of my body, poor balance (7.4 vs 3.1), environmental sensitivity (6.8 vs 3.0), tenderness to touch (6.8 vs 3.6) and pain after exercise (8.1 vs 4.1). Notably, VAS pain though significantly higher for FM was least discriminatory (6.5 vs 5.1, P < .001). The five best symptoms generated a ROC = 0.85 and Somers' D = 0.69, an accuracy of 81%, and an odd's ratio of 14.4.

Conclusions

Our results herein suggest that clinicians may be well‐served to consider symptoms in addition to those contained in current diagnostic criteria when recognizing FM in their chronic pain patients.
Effectiveness of a combination therapy using non‐ablative fractional laser and intralesional triamcinolone injection for thyroidectomy scar treatment: a prospective, randomized, blinded pilot study
Authors: Cheon Jeong Hyun , Hwang Yong Jae , Yoon Eul Sik , Jung Kwang Yoon , Park Seung‐Ha , Chung Jae Ho
Published: September 2021

Background

The occurrence of thyroid cancer has increased dramatically, and postoperative scars are placed at easily visible locations. Many patients show stronger desire for scar prevention. So far, numerous approaches have been discussed for the treatment of scars; this study is conducted to verify whether the early application of combined therapy contributes to minimal scar formation.

Methods

Between March 2019 and December 2019, total of 64 patients with thyroidectomy scars of a size greater than 4.5 cm located on the anterior neck were enrolled in this prospective pilot study. Subjective and objective evaluation were carried out using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) at one, two, and six months after operation. Results were compared between a treatment group and a non‐treatment group.

Results

In PSAS score, the mean values of pain, itching sensation, pliability, thickness, and relief were significantly higher in the laser and steroid treatment group (p = 0.009, p = 0.000, p = 0.013, p = 0.002, and p = 0.007). The value of color of the scars showed no significant differences (p = 0.504). In OSAS score, parameter of thickness, relief, and surface area score was significantly higher score in the combination group (p = 0.029, 0.035, and 0.020), while vascularity, pigmentation, and pliability were not significantly different between two groups (p = 0.548, p = 0.983, and p = 0.128).

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that early combination therapy contributes to scar improvement to a meaningful extent based on POSAS. We believe that the combined therapy has a synergy effect on scar management, which improves the patients’ quality of life in relation to their postoperative scars.
The sense of coherence scale in a clinical nursing perspective: A scoping review
Authors: Sundberg Kay , Nilsson Marie , Petersson Lena‐Marie , Kenne Sarenmalm Elisabeth , Langius‐Eklöf Ann
Published: September 2021

Background

The concept of sense of coherence explains a person's resources to maintain health during times of considerable strain and is suggested to be applicable in nursing. A summary of how it has been applied and adapted in clinical nursing is warranted for further conceptual development and research.

Objective

The scoping review aimed to explore how the sense of coherence scale has been used from a clinical nursing research perspective.

Method

Published articles (N = 2812) through December 2018 were identified in the PubMed, Cinahl and PsychInfo databases. A total of 298 articles were included in the review. A five‐stage process was used to extract data based on pre‐determined selection criteria. Summative content analysis was used for the categorisation of the data. The PRISMA‐ScR checklist was chosen.

Results

A majority of the articles were published within the Nordic countries and the short version SOC‐13 was the most frequently used scale. Most studies stated the significant relationship of a higher sense of coherence and higher emotional and psychosocial well‐being, quality of life, and well‐being irrespective of condition. Other articles proposed identifying patients' degree of sense of coherence either to individualise care or to plan an intervention to strengthen sense of coherence.

Conclusions

The sense of coherence scale has been widely used within nursing and identified as an important factor to individualise care. Future research should focus on rigorous intervention studies to determine if recognising patients’ degree of sense of coherence in clinical nursing enables tailored care for patients when dealing with a disease‐related condition. More evidence is needed when seeking to improve sense of coherence.

Relevance to clinical practice

These results show an expansion of the concept of sense of coherence and endorses its use in nursing care for identifying patients' needs in the process of presenting individualised care.
The effect of melatonin on glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles after a late evening meal in healthy young males
Authors: Albreiki Mohammed S. , Middleton Benita , Hampton Shelagh M.
Published: September 2021

The suppression of melatonin by light at night (LAN) has been associated with a disruption of SCN function and biological processes. This study aimed to explore the impact of melatonin on glucose and lipid metabolism before and after a late evening meal. Nine healthy male participants (26 ± 1.3 years, BMI 24.8 ± 0.8 kg/m2 (mean ± SD) were randomly categorised into a three‐way cross‐over design protocol: light (>500 lux) (LS), dark (<5 lux) + exogenous melatonin (DSC) and light (>500 lux) + exogenous melatonin (LSC). All participants were awake in a semi‐recumbent position during each clinical session, which started at 18 00 h and ended at 06:00 h the following day. The meal times were individualised according to melatonin onset estimated from the participants' 48‐h sequential urine collection. The administration of exogenous melatonin was conducted 90 min before the evening meal. Saliva and plasma samples were collected at specific time points to analyse the glucose, insulin, NEFAs, TAGs, cortisol and melatonin levels. Participants demonstrated a significant reduction in postprandial plasma glucose, insulin and TAGs levels in the presence of melatonin (LSC and DSC) compared to LS (p = .002, p = .02 and p = .007, respectively). Pre‐prandial plasma NEFAs were significantly lower in LS than DSC and LSC as melatonin rose (p < .001). Exogenous melatonin administrated before an evening test meal improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and reduced postprandial TAGs. This study could have implications for shift workers who may have lower melatonin levels at night due to light suppression.
Seroprevalence and epidemiological characteristics of HDV infection among HBV patients in the Nile Delta, Egypt
Authors: Elzefzafy Wafaa , Soliman Reham , Saleh Layla , Mahmoud Safyia , Makhlouf Nahed A , Shiha Gamal , Zaky Samy
Published: September 2021

The epidemiology of HDV infection worldwide is obscure. Mapping the epidemiology of the infection is highly required, so, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis D virus infection among chronic hepatitis B patients and the epidemiological characteristics in the Nile delta in Egypt. This was a prospective observational cross‐sectional study including consecutive chronic hepatitis B patients in the out‐patient clinics at the Egyptian Liver Research Institute and Hospital (ELRIAH) and its satellites in the Nile Delta from January 2016 until August 2018. They were recruited from patients enrolled in Educate, Test and Treat program, which was implemented in 73 Egyptian Villages. Subjects were tested by using HBsAg serological rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), and then HBV DNA by PCR was done in HBsAg‐positive cases. HDV IgG antibody testing and confirmatory HDV RNA PCR were done. Complete liver functions, abdominal ultrasonography and FibroScan were also performed. The prevalence of HDV was 3.4% using anti‐delta antibody (22/631), and only 8 were positive for HDV RNA (8/22, 36.4%). Overall HDV prevalence using PCR was 8/631(1.27%). HDV‐positive cases were mainly males (68.2%). Eight cases were cirrhotic (36.4%), 3 (13.6%) had HCC and 7 (31.8%) were HBeAg positive. HDV prevalence is low among chronic hepatitis B patients in the Nile delta, Egypt. Screening for HDV IgG is recommended in CHB patients who had cirrhosis, HCC or HBeAg positive.
The genomic basis of army ant chemosensory adaptations
Authors: McKenzie Sean K. , Winston Max E. , Grewe Felix , Vargas Asensio Gabriel , Rodríguez‐Hernández Natalia , Rubin Benjamin E. R. , Murillo‐Cruz Catalina , von Beeren Christoph , Moreau Corrie S. , Suen Garret , Pinto‐Tomás Adrian A. , Kronauer Daniel J. C.
Published: September 2021

The evolution of mass raiding has allowed army ants to become dominant arthropod predators in the tropics. Although a century of research has led to many discoveries about behavioural, morphological and physiological adaptations in army ants, almost nothing is known about the molecular basis of army ant biology. Here we report the genome of the iconic New World army ant Eciton burchellii, and show that it is unusually compact, with a reduced gene complement relative to other ants. In contrast to this overall reduction, a particular gene subfamily (9‐exon ORs) expressed predominantly in female antennae is expanded. This subfamily has previously been linked to the recognition of hydrocarbons, key olfactory cues used in insect communication and prey discrimination. Confocal microscopy of the brain showed a corresponding expansion in a putative hydrocarbon response centre within the antennal lobe, while scanning electron microscopy of the antenna revealed a particularly high density of hydrocarbon‐sensitive sensory hairs. E. burchellii shares these features with its predatory and more cryptic relative, the clonal raider ant. By integrating genomic, transcriptomic and anatomical analyses in a comparative context, our work thus provides evidence that army ants and their relatives possess a suite of modifications in the chemosensory system that may be involved in behavioural coordination and prey selection during social predation. It also lays the groundwork for future studies of army ant biology at the molecular level.
Radical responsibility beyond empathy: Interreligious resources against liberal distortions of nursing care
Authors: Dickman Nathan Eric
Published: September 2021

In this paper, I bring together Jewish and Buddhist philosophical resources to develop a notion of radical responsibility that can confront a complicity within nursing and health care between empathy and (neo)liberal white supremacist hegemony. My inspiration comes from Angela Davis's call for building coalitions to advance struggles for peace and justice. I proceed as follows. First, I note ways phenomenology clarifies empathy's seeming foundational role in nursing care, and how such a formulation can be complicit with assumptions about private individualism. Second, I turn to the Jewish philosophies of Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas, and their advocacy for a kind of responsibility that precedes the constitution of individuality as this can provide a resource for action and practice circumventing liberal influenced empathy. I note critical reservations about direct and practical application of Levinasian ethics in nursing care, and turn to engaged Buddhist philosophies of interdependence—such as in Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama—as a corrective. Third, I conclude by indicating ways interreligious radical responsibility can reorient us toward housekeeping habits of character and away from exceptional crisis management, noting specific examples and actions in health care, nursing education and nursing scholarship.
IL‐17A: A promising target in viral lung infections
Authors: Lindén Anders
Published: September 2021

See related article
Government spending and the exchange rate: Exploring this relationship in Mexico using a cointegrated system of equations
Authors: Cruz Moritz , Sánchez‐Vargas Armando
Published: September 2021

The main aim of this paper is to empirically test the effect of both public consumption and investment on the exchange rate in the Mexican economy. Recent increasing literature on the topic has pointed out that effects in either direction of disaggregated public expenditure on the exchange rate can be expected. Therefore, we investigate this using a system of cointegrated equations. The simulations’ results suggest that expansions of government consumption leave unchanged the real exchange rate and depreciate the nominal one; on the contrary, government investment also produces a nominal depreciation, and only large shocks produce small real appreciations. These movements of the exchange rate are in any case negligible. At the economic policy level, the results support the use of fiscal policy to achieve growth and developmental goals.
Re–Engineering Education
Authors: Zeldovich Lina
Published: September 2021

During the first year of the pandemic, colleges of engineering across the country revamped how they deliver lectures, run labs, administer tests, and even attract students to come to their school. These changes to long-standing norms were initially adopted as temporary, emergency measures, but faculty, administrators, and students found that some of them were improvements. As the next academic year is set to begin this month, school administrators have had to assess the lessons from COVID-19 to see what parts of the new normal should become simply normal.
Superconducting electro-mechanics to test Diósi–Penrose effects of general relativity in massive superpositions
Authors: Gely Mario F. , Steele Gary A.
Published: September 2021

Attempting to reconcile general relativity with quantum mechanics is one of the great undertakings of contemporary physics. Here, the authors present how the incompatibility between the two theories arises in the simple thought experiment of preparing a heavy object in a quantum superposition. Following Penrose's analysis of the problem, the authors determine the requirements on physical parameters to perform experiments where both theories potentially interplay. The authors use these requirements to compare different systems, focusing on mechanical oscillators that can be coupled to superconducting circuits.
Time-domain modeling of wave-based room acoustics including viscothermal and relaxation effects in air
Authors: Hamilton Brian , Bilbao Stefan
Published: September 2021

Air absorption can be a significant source of attenuation, which should be considered in long-duration wideband acoustics simulations. In this short contribution, a time-domain model for three-dimensional wave propagation including viscothermal and relaxation effects (air absorption) is developed and coupled with locally reactive impedance wall conditions through a conservative energy framework. The model is discretised with a finite-difference time-domain method, and numerical stability is established with a discrete energy balance. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the proposed method.
Uniting the divergent Wolfram syndrome–linked proteins WFS1 and CISD2 as modulators of Ca2+signaling
Authors: Loncke Jens , Vervliet Tim , Parys Jan B. , Kaasik Allen , Bultynck Geert
Published: September 2021

The structures, properties, and calcium signaling roles of two proteins implicated in Wolfram syndrome are discussed.
Commensal-Related Changes in the Epidermal Barrier Function Lead to Alterations in the Benzo[
a
]Pyrene Metabolite Profile and Its Distribution in 3D Skin
Authors: Lemoine Lisa , Bayrambey Dilan , Roloff Alexander , Hutzler Christoph , Luch Andreas , Tralau Tewes
Published: September 2021

Exposure to xenobiotics has repeatedly been associated with adverse health effects. While the majority of reported cases relate to direct substance effects, there is increasing evidence that microbiome-dependent metabolism of xenobiotic substances likewise has direct adverse effects on the host.
Antimicrobial Peptides—or How Our Ancestors Learned to Control the Microbiome
Authors: Bosch Thomas C. G. , Zasloff Michael
Published: September 2021

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short and generally positively charged peptides found in a wide variety of life forms from microorganisms to humans. Their wide range of activity against pathogens, including Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and enveloped viruses makes them a fundamental component of innate immunity.
Manual reduction of a radial artery loop under direct fluoroscopic visualization
Authors: Luther Evan , Huang Eric , King Hunter , Silva Michael , Burks Joshua , Jamshidi Aria , Peterson Eric C
Published: September 2021

Transradial access (TRA) has become increasingly utilized in neurointerventions because it reduces access site complications. However, radial artery anomalies can be difficult to navigate, often necessitating conversion to femoral access. We describe the case of a female patient in her early 70s who underwent preoperative embolization of a carotid body tumor via right TRA. Her radial angiogram demonstrated the presence of a radial artery loop which was successfully navigated with a triaxial system but would not spontaneously reduce, even after the guide catheter was advanced into the subclavian artery. However, manual manipulation of the catheters in the antecubital fossa under direct fluoroscopic visualization reduced the loop, allowing the procedure to continue transradially. Although most radial loops can be traversed and reduced using standard techniques, this case demonstrates that manual reduction can be successful when other measures fail. We recommend attempting this method prior to converting the access site.
Cross-sectional associations of schoolchildren’s fruit and vegetable consumption, and meal choices, with their mental well-being: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Hayhoe Richard , Rechel Boika , Clark Allan B , Gummerson Claire , Smith S J Louise , Welch Ailsa A
Published: September 2021

Background

Poor mental well-being is a major issue for young people and is likely to have long-term negative consequences. The contribution of nutrition is underexplored. We, therefore, investigated the association between dietary choices and mental well-being among schoolchildren.

Methods

Data from 7570 secondary school and 1253 primary school children in the Norfolk Children and Young People Health and Well-being Survey, open to all Norfolk schools during October 2017, were analysed. Multivariable linear regression was used to measure the association between nutritional factors and mental well-being assessed by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale for secondary school pupils, or the Stirling Children’s Well-being Scale for primary school pupils. We adjusted all analyses for important covariates including demographic, health variables, living/home situation and adverse experience variables.

Results

In secondary school analyses, a strong association between nutritional variables and well-being scores was apparent. Higher combined fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly associated with higher well-being: well-being scores were 3.73 (95% CI 2.94 to 4.53) units higher in those consuming five or more fruits and vegetables (p<0.001; n=1905) compared with none (n=739). The type of breakfast or lunch consumed was also associated with significant differences in well-being score. Compared with children consuming a conventional type of breakfast (n=5288), those not eating any breakfast had mean well-being scores 2.73 (95% CI 2.11 to 3.35) units lower (p<0.001; n=1129) and those consuming only an energy drink had well-being scores 3.14 (95% CI 1.20 to 5.09) units lower (p=0.002; n=91). Likewise, children not eating any lunch had well-being scores 2.95 (95% CI 2.22 to 3.68) units lower (p<0.001; 860) than those consuming a packed lunch (n=3744). In primary school analyses, the type of breakfast or lunch was associated with significant differences in well-being scores in a similar way to those seen in secondary school data, although no significant association with fruit and vegetable intake was evident.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that public health strategies to optimise the mental well-being of children should include promotion of good nutrition.
Improving hospital flow ‘Ensiab Project’
Authors: Alotaibi Yasser , Alnowaiser Noura , Alamry Ahmed
Published: September 2021

Emergency department (ED) boarding is an indicator of less efficient hospital flow and is associated with longer inpatient length of stay, higher readmission rates and increased risk of mortality and medical errors. In addition to being associated with poor patient and staff satisfaction.

This article describes the efforts of six tertiary care governmental hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that have enrolled in a collaborative improvement project to reduce ED boarding time.

The hospitals implemented a multifaceted system intervention that included forming multidisciplinary flow improvement teams, implementing the National Health Service (NHS) SAFER patient flow bundle, visual management system and multidisciplinary ED bed huddles.

By the end of the project, all hospitals significantly reduced ED boarding time with a pooled mean difference of – 7.1 hours (16.6 before, 9.5 hours after, p<0.001), reaching a pooled average of 2 hours in March 2020.

Furthermore, by the end of the third learning session, all hospitals were able to achieve a boarding time below 6 hours. The enrolled hospitals also experienced an improvement in hospital flow process measures without any increase in 30-day readmission rates or bed occupancy rates.

Our project demonstrates that implementing multifaceted system-wide interventions improves hospital flow and ED boarding time. Additionally, our project demonstrates a significant correlation between improvements in ED boarding time, daily consultant-led rounds and early discharge from inpatient units and time till discharge.
Spinal and corticospinal excitability in response to reductions in skin and core temperatures via whole-body cooling
Authors: Hurrie Daryl M.G. , Talebian nia Morteza , Power Kevin , Stecina Katinka , Gardiner Phillip , Lockyer Evan , Giesbrecht Gordon G.
Published: September 2021

Cold stress impairs fine and gross motor movements. Although peripheral effects of muscle cooling on performance are well understood, less is known about central mechanisms. This study characterized corticospinal and spinal excitability during surface cooling, reducing skin (Tsk) and esophageal (Tes) temperatures. Ten subjects (3 females) wore a liquid-perfused suit and were cooled (9 °C perfusate, 90 min) and rewarmed (41 °C perfusate, 30 min). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (eliciting motor evoked potentials [MEPs]), as well as transmastoid (eliciting cervicomedullary evoked potentials [CMEPs]) and brachial plexus (eliciting maximal compound motor action potentials [Mmax]) electrical stimulation, were applied at baseline, every 20 min during cooling, and following rewarming. Sixty minutes of cooling reduced Tsk by 9.6 °C (P < 0.001), but Tes remained unchanged (P = 0.92). Tes then decreased by ∼0.6 °C in the next 30 min of cooling (P < 0.001). Eight subjects shivered. During rewarming, shivering was abolished, and Tsk returned to baseline, while Tes did not increase. During cooling and rewarming, Mmax, MEP, and MEP/Mmax remained unchanged from baseline. However, CMEP and CMEP/Mmax increased during cooling by ∼85% and 79% (P < 0.001), respectively, and remained elevated post-rewarming. The results suggest that spinal excitability is facilitated by reduced Tsk during cooling and reduced Tes during warming, while corticospinal excitability remains unchanged. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04253730.

Novelty: This is the first study to characterize corticospinal and spinal excitability during whole-body cooling and rewarming in humans. Whole body cooling did not affect corticospinal excitability. Spinal excitability was facilitated during reductions in both skin and core temperatures.
Severe frost but not shade could limit the future growing season of Erythronium americanum
Authors: Tessier Jack T.
Published: September 2021

Changes in climate are leading to modifications in the timing of seasonal events such as migrations and flowering. Erythronium americanum Ker Gawl. (trout lily) can break bud early in response to warming, but changes to its growing season may be limited by early shade from canopy trees and frost. I experimentally assessed the impact of shade and frost on senescence in E. americanum and descriptively monitored the response of E. americanum to vernal air and soil temperatures in a garden setting. Early shade did not affect the timing of senescence. Experimental exposure to frost resulted in increased leaf damage, earlier senescence, and greater corm death than in control plants. Despite 10 days in which the air temperature dropped below freezing, there was no evidence of leaf damage in the field. These results suggest that early shade from canopy trees will not hasten the end of the future growing season for E. americanum, but that late frost could bring about early senescence if that frost is sufficiently hard.
The ADB COVID-19 Policy Database: A Guide to Understanding Changes in Sectoral Balances and Private Sector Financial Positions in 2020
Authors: FELIPE JESUS , FULLWILER SCOTT , YUSOPH AL-HABBYEL
Published: September 2021

The Asian Development Bank COVID-19 Policy Database recently added an entry on sector financial balances (SFBs). This addition to the policy database provides information for 35 economies on the financial positions of the private sector, government sector, and the rest of the world, which by construction add up to 0. Data used to calculate SFBs are obtained directly from flow-of-funds accounts. When this source is not available, we obtain data from the national accounts. We use SFBs to understand why the private sector balance moved into a large surplus in 2020. We argue that this surplus is a mirror image of the fiscal deficit.
Reconsidering maximum luminosity
Authors: Jowsey Aden , Visser Matt
Published: September 2021

The suggestion that there is a maximum luminosity (maximum power) in nature has a long and somewhat convoluted history. Though this idea is commonly attributed to Freeman Dyson, he was actually much more circumspect in his views. What is certainly true is that dimensional analysis shows that the speed of light and Newton’s constant of gravitation can be combined to define a quantity [Formula: see text] with the dimensions of luminosity (equivalently, power). Then in any physical situation, we must have [Formula: see text], where the quantity [Formula: see text] is some dimensionless function of dimensionless parameters. This led some authors to suggest a maximum luminosity/maximum power conjecture. Working within the framework of standard general relativity, we will re-assess this conjecture, paying particular attention to the extent to which various examples and counter-examples are physically reasonable. We focus specifically on Vaidya spacetimes, and on an evaporating version of Schwarzschild’s constant density star. For both of these spacetimes, luminosity can be arbitrarily large. We argue that any luminosity bound must depend on delicate internal features of the radiating object.
Nanoparticle Production of Terminalia Chebula Extracts by Expansion of Supercritical Solution (ESS)
Authors: Rezvanjoo Zahra , Raofie Farhad
Published: September 2021

Terminalia chebula pharmaceuticals were extracted by using the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technique. Under the optimal conditions of 184 [Formula: see text]L modifier volume, 46 min dynamic extraction time, and 316 atm fluid pressure, the extraction procedure was optimized by central composite design. A modified rapid expansion of supercritical solution (RESS) technique, named expansion of the supercritical solution (ESS) was used to create the extracted pharmaceutical nanoparticles (NPs). In ESS, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO[Formula: see text] was saturated with the extracts at high-pressure. Next, a pressure drop reduced the SC-CO2 solubility power in a way the extracts started to precipitate. In contrast to RESS, the pressure was permanently conserved above the critical pressure before and after depressurization. Therefore, the expansion process was gentle, which led to obtaining small and uniform particles. In the NP production process, the most adequate parameters were 360[Formula: see text]atm premier pressure, 120[Formula: see text]atm subsequent pressure, 25[Formula: see text]min equilibrium time, 30[Formula: see text]min sedimentation time, and [Formula: see text]C temperature. The average size of precipitated NPs was 41[Formula: see text]nm according to the results of field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry evaluation demonstrated the presence of chebulinic and chebulagic acids in the extracted sample.
Manufacturer EOQ with Considering Customer Stochastic Demand, Different Inspective Strategies and Raw Material Quality Defect
Authors: Li Yongfei , Wei Songbo , Wei Yuzhi , Khan Syed Abdul Rehman
Published: September 2021

Single-period newsboy models and the corresponding EOQ models are, respectively, constructed under the condition that the manufacturer inspects raw materials of his supplier with total or sample inspection strategies and the manufacturer repairs or cheaply disposes the defective quality products when single supplier and manufacturer are faced with the customer stochastic demand and quality defects of raw materials. It is also found that marginal effect will be enlarged when unqualified products are disposed at a reduced price. There is a smaller impact to EOQ when manufacturer cheaply disposes the unqualified products when he repairs the products. Under demand-obeying normal distribution, EOQ will be linearly decreasing when the number of unqualified products increases. But EOQ will be linearly increasing when the order is greater than the mean demand and EOQ will also be linearly increasing with the demand standard deviation increase. Finally, the propositions and inferences are confirmed which can exert an impact on EOQ by adopting Monte Carlo simulation software. This research can provide some theoretical basis for manufacturers to reduce internal and external loss costs.
Difficulties of Global R&D Projects: A Bridge Manager’s Perspective
Authors: Chalarak Nawarerk , Sasaki Yasuo , Uchihira Naoshi
Published: September 2021

In recent years, technology firms have been facing a highly competitive environment on a global scale. The firms are accelerating to establish R&D sites abroad in order to access global knowledge resources. In this context, global R&D projects have become more complex and R&D bridge managers (BMs), who facilitate global research collaboration, play a pivotal role here. This study aims to investigate the difficulties that BMs are facing and to explore the roles of BMs in global R&D projects. We interviewed nine BMs who have facilitated global R&D projects and propose a model depicting four common and critical difficulties present in facilitating research collaboration between teams in the home country and foreign R&D teams. The unique contribution of this paper focuses on the individual managerial level, while most previous studies on global R&D mainly focused on an organizational level.
Project Portfolio Management and Information Technology Strategic Alignment
Authors: Araujo Marcos de , Storopoli Jose , Rabechini Roque
Published: September 2021

This study analyzes the relationship between Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and the Information Technology (IT) strategic alignment in conjunction with the intensity of technology usage. The methodological approach was a survey-based research, using structural equation modeling based on a field study involving 158 responses. The results indicate PPM has a positive relationship with IT strategic alignment and the intensity of technology usage in the organization does not affect this relationship. It is an original practical and theoretical finding that adds to the PPM studies an important perspective to be considered in the organizations and new research.
Annealing Temperature Dependence of Various Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles Investigated with Soft XAS
Authors: Sahu Jyoti , Alvi P. A. , Vats V. S. , Meghwal R. S. , Sublania H. , Phase D. M. , Gupta M. , Kumar Shalendra , Dalela S.
Published: September 2021

In this paper, structural, optical and electronic properties of ZnO nanoparticles were investigated with the variation in the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction, High-Resolution Transmission Electron Spectroscopy, Absorption spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and Soft X-ray spectroscopy techniques were invoked to investigate and gauge the effect of annealing temperature on these properties. Intact Hexagonal Wurtzite phase of the nanoparticles with increasing crystallinity and spherical shape with particle size between 20[Formula: see text]nm and 23[Formula: see text]nm [using both X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) and High-resolution Transmission of electron microscopy (HRTEM)], blue shift of absorption peak from 372[Formula: see text]nm to 366[Formula: see text]nm and Optical Band Gap from 3.24[Formula: see text]eV to 3.17[Formula: see text]eV (UV-Vis-NIR), narrowing of [Formula: see text] mode in Raman Spectra; all indicated enhanced crystallinity with increased annealing temperature. Effects produced by the sole variable such as annealing temperature on the indicative parameters in a definite order catapult the annealing conditions as a significant candidate for customized properties. To have a deeper insight at the electronic levels, Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopic studies of ZnO nanoparticles were undertaken. The analysis of Soft XAS spectra showed the change in number of O 2[Formula: see text] and Zn 4[Formula: see text] unoccupied states with increasing particle size and crystallinity of ZnO nanoparticles for varying annealing temperature.
Algorithm 1018: FaVeST—Fast Vector Spherical Harmonic Transforms
Authors: Le Gia Quoc T. , Li Ming , Wang Yu Guang
Published: September 2021

Vector spherical harmonics on the unit sphere of ℝ3have broad applications in geophysics, quantum mechanics, and astrophysics. In the representation of a tangent vector field, one needs to evaluate the expansion and the Fourier coefficients of vector spherical harmonics. In this article, we develop fast algorithms (FaVeST) for vector spherical harmonic transforms on these evaluations. The forward FaVeST evaluates the Fourier coefficients and has a computational cost proportional toNlog √NforNnumber of evaluation points. The adjoint FaVeST, which evaluates a linear combination of vector spherical harmonics with a degree up to ⊡MforMevaluation points, has cost proportional toMlog √M. Numerical examples of simulated tangent fields illustrate the accuracy, efficiency, and stability of FaVeST.
Scrambled Linear Pseudorandom Number Generators
Authors: Blackman David , Vigna Sebastiano
Published: September 2021

F
2
-linear pseudorandom number generators are very popular due to their high speed, to the ease with which generators with a sizable state space can be created, and to their provable theoretical properties. However, they suffer from linear artifacts that show as failures in linearity-related statistical tests such as the binary-rank and the linear-complexity test. In this article, we give two new contributions. First, we introduce two new F
2
-linear transformations that have been handcrafted to have good statistical properties and at the same time to be programmable very efficiently on superscalar processors, or even directly in hardware. Then, we describe some
scramblers
, that is, nonlinear functions applied to the state array that reduce or delete the linear artifacts, and propose combinations of linear transformations and scramblers that give extremely fast pseudorandom number generators of high quality. A novelty in our approach is that we use ideas from the theory of filtered linear-feedback shift registers to prove some properties of our scramblers, rather than relying purely on heuristics. In the end, we provide simple, extremely fast generators that use a few hundred bits of memory, have provable properties, and pass strong statistical tests.
Uncertainty on Discrete-Event System Simulation
Authors: Vicino Damian , Wainer Gabriel A. , Dalle Olivier
Published: September 2021

Uncertainty Propagation methods are well-established when used in modeling and simulation formalisms like differential equations. Nevertheless, until now there are no methods for Discrete-Dynamic Systems. Uncertainty-Aware Discrete-Event System Specification (UA-DEVS) is a formalism for modeling Discrete-Event Dynamic Systems that include uncertainty quantification in messages, states, and event times. UA-DEVS models provide a theoretical framework to describe the models’ uncertainty and their properties. As UA-DEVS models can include continuous variables and non-computable functions, their simulation could be non-computable. For this reason, we also introduce Interval-Approximated Discrete-Event System Specification (IA-DEVS), a formalism that approximates UA-DEVS models using a set of order and bounding functions to obtain a computable model. The computable model approximation produces a tree of all trajectories that can be traversed from the original model and some erroneous ones introduced by the approximation process. We also introduce abstract simulation algorithms for IA-DEVS, present a case study of UA-DEVS, its IA-DEVS approximation and, its simulation results using the algorithms defined.
Bilateral Filtering Graph Convolutional Network for Multi-relational Social Recommendation in the Power-law Networks
Authors: Zhao Minghao , Deng Qilin , Wang Kai , Wu Runze , Tao Jianrong , Fan Changjie , Chen Liang , Cui Peng
Published: September 2021

In recent years, advances in Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) have given new insights into the development of social recommendation. However, many existing GCN-based social recommendation methods often directly apply GCN to capture user-item and user-user interactions, which probably have two main limitations: (a) Due to the power-law property of the degree distribution, the vanilla GCN with static normalized adjacency matrix has limitations in learning node representations, especially for the long-tail nodes; (b) multi-typed social relationships between users that are ubiquitous in the real world are rarely considered. In this article, we propose a novel Bilateral Filtering Heterogeneous Attention Network (BFHAN), which improves long-tail node representations and leverages multi-typed social relationships between user nodes. First, we propose a novel graph convolutional filter for the user-item bipartite network and extend it to the user-user homogeneous network. Further, we theoretically analyze the correlation between the convergence values of different graph convolutional filters and node degrees after stacking multiple layers. Second, we model multi-relational social interactions between users as the multiplex network and further propose a multiplex attention network to capture distinctive inter-layer influences for user representations. Last but not least, the experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art GCN-based methods for social recommendation tasks.
LegalGNN: Legal Information Enhanced Graph Neural Network for Recommendation
Authors: Yang Jun , Ma Weizhi , Zhang Min , Zhou Xin , Liu Yiqun , Ma Shaoping
Published: September 2021

Recommendation in legal scenario (Legal-Rec) is a specialized recommendation task that aims to provide potential helpful legal documents for users. While there are mainly three differences compared with traditional recommendation: (1) Both the structural connections and textual contents of legal information are important in the Legal-Rec scenario, which means feature fusion is very important here. (2) Legal-Rec users prefer the newest legal cases (the latest legal interpretation and legal practice), which leads to a severe new-item problem. (3) Different from users in other scenarios, most Legal-Rec users are expert and domain-related users. They often concentrate on several topics and have more stable information needs. So it is important to accurately model user interests here. To the best of our knowledge, existing recommendation work cannot handle these challenges simultaneously.

To address these challenges, we propose a legal information enhanced graph neural network–based recommendation framework (LegalGNN). First, a unified legal content and structure representation model is designed for feature fusion, where the Heterogeneous Legal Information Network (HLIN) is constructed to connect the structural features (e.g., knowledge graph) and contextual features (e.g., the content of legal documents) for training. Second, to model user interests, we incorporate the queries users issued in legal systems into the HLIN and link them with both retrieved documents and inquired users. This extra information is not only helpful for estimating user preferences, but also valuable for cold users/items (with less interaction history) in this scenario. Third, a graph neural network with relational attention mechanism is applied to make use of high-order connections in HLIN for Legal-Rec. Experimental results on a real-world legal dataset verify that LegalGNN outperforms several state-of-the-art methods significantly. As far as we know, LegalGNN is the first graph neural model for legal recommendation.
How Do Home Computer Users Browse the Web?
Authors: Crichton Kyle , Christin Nicolas , Cranor Lorrie Faith
Published: September 2021

With the ubiquity of web tracking, information on how people navigate the internet is abundantly collected yet, due to its proprietary nature, rarely distributed. As a result, our understanding of user browsing primarily derives from small-scale studies conducted more than a decade ago. To provide an broader updated perspective, we analyze data from 257 participants who consented to have their home computer and browsing behavior monitored through the Security Behavior Observatory. Compared to previous work, we find a substantial increase in tabbed browsing and demonstrate the need to include tab information for accurate web measurements. Our results confirm that user browsing is highly centralized, with 50% of internet use spent on 1% of visited websites. However, we also find that users spend a disproportionate amount of time on low-visited websites, areas with a greater likelihood of containing risky content. We then identify the primary gateways to these sites and discuss implications for future research.
Recovering Geometric Information with Learned Texture Perturbations
Authors: Wu Jane , Jin Yongxu , Geng Zhenglin , Zhou Hui , Fedkiw Ronald
Published: September 2021

Regularization is used to avoid overfitting when training a neural network; unfortunately, this reduces the attainable level of detail hindering the ability to capture high-frequency information present in the training data. Even though various approaches may be used to re-introduce high-frequency detail, it typically does not match the training data and is often not time coherent. In the case of network inferred cloth, these sentiments manifest themselves via either a lack of detailed wrinkles or unnaturally appearing and/or time incoherent surrogate wrinkles. Thus, we propose a general strategy whereby high-frequency information is procedurally embedded into low-frequency data so that when the latter is smeared out by the network the former still retains its high-frequency detail. We illustrate this approach by learning texture coordinates which when smeared do not in turn smear out the high-frequency detail in the texture itself but merely smoothly distort it. Notably, we prescribe perturbed texture coordinates that are subsequently used to correct the over-smoothed appearance of inferred cloth, and correcting the appearance from multiple camera views naturally recovers lost geometric information.