bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression analysis of lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α factor (LITAF) in the mud crab, Scylla paramamosain
Authors: Wu Yue , Sun Yuxiao , Zhang Wanrong , Yang Jingjing , Zhou Xiefei , Xu Liaoyi , Wang Peichen , Xu Haisheng
Published: July 2020

Lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α factor (LITAF) is an important transcription factor mediating the expression of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, which is involved in the innate immune defence against infectious agents. In this study, the Scylla paramamosain LITAF (LITAF) gene was cloned and identified from S. paramamosain using RT-PCR and RACE. The full length cDNA of LITAF was 1116 bp, contained an ORF of 495 bp encoding a polypeptide of 164 amino acids with predicted molecular mass of 17.86 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point of 8.51. Sequence alignment showed that LITAF possessed a typical LITAF domain with two CXXC motifs and eight conserved cysteine residues. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that LITAF clustered closely with known LITAFs from Eriocheir sinensis and Litopenaeus vannamei. qRT-PCR analysis showed LITAF mRNA transcript expressed ubiquitously in all examined tissues with the highest expression in haemocytes, while lower expression in hepatopancreas. Its expression levels displayed a trend of up-regulation and then returned to its initial value in haemocytes and gill, post challenge with LPS, Poly (I : C), and Vibrio alginolyticus, respectively. Furthermore, the LITAF protein was verified to be located in hyalinocytes, semi-granulocytes and granulocytes, and was distributed throughout the cytoplasm and nucleus, especially in cytoplasm. These results provide a basis for further investigating the roles of LITAF in the immune signaling pathways as a transcription factor in S. paramamosain.
A guest from the past: A new genus and a new species of Deraeocorinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) in Miocene Dominican amber
Authors: KIM JUNGGON , TASZAKOWSKI ARTUR , HERCZEK ALEKSANDER , KIM KWANG-HO , JUNG SUNGHOON
Published: July 2020

The second fossil record of deraeocorine species from Miocene Dominican amber is presented with description of a new taxon, Amberderaeous gigophthalmus gen. and sp. nov. based on a well-preserved specimen. The need for revision of related group Eustictus and a comprehensive study of its tribal placement within Deraeocorinae are discussed.
Rediscovery of a poorly known Chinese stonefly, Flavoperla ovalolobata (Wu, 1948) (Plecoptera: Perlidae)
Authors: LIU HAO , YAN YANHUA , LI WEIHAI , SHI MINGWANG
Published: July 2020

A poorly known perlid species, Flavoperla ovalolobata (Wu, 1948) is redescribed based on an adult male and four females newly collected at the type locality, Wuyishan located in Fujian Province of southeastern coastal China. Illustrations and color photographs are provided for this species. The taxonomic relationship of this taxon is discussed with related taxa.
Some soil-inhabiting mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Kazakhstan, with description of a new species of Gaeolaelaps Evans & Till (Acari: Laelapidae)
Authors: JOHARCHI OMID , ISSAKOVA AIGERIM K. , ASYAMOVA OLGA S. , SARCHESHMEH MOHAMMADHASSAN ABBASI , TOLSTIKOV ANDREI V.
Published: July 2020

This paper presents ten species of eight genera and four families (Ameroseiidae, Ascidae, Blattisociidae, Laelapidae) of soil-inhabiting mesostigmatic mites in Kazakhstan. Eight of them are species that are recorded for the first time in Kazakhstan: Ameroseius corbiculus (Sowerby, 1806), Antennoseius (Vitzthumia) oudemansi (Thor, 1930), Cosmolaelaps lutegiensis (Shcherbak, 1971), C. markewitschi (Pirianyk, 1959), Gaeolaelaps nolli (Karg, 1962), Laelaspis astronomicus (Koch, 1839), Lasioseius ometes (Oudemans, 1903), and Pseudoparasitus missouriensis (Ewing, 1909). In addition, Gaeolaelaps kanati Joharchi & Issakova sp. nov. is described from Kazakhstan, based on morphological characters of the adult female.
Revision of the Pantomorus albosignatus species group (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from Mexico and Central America
Authors: LANTERI ANALIA A. , RIO MARIA GUADALUPE DEL
Published: July 2020

Pantomorus albosignatus Boheman, 1840 (Entiminae: Naupactini), type species of the genus Pantomorus Schoenherr, 1840, is broadly distributed in Mexico, from Oaxaca and Veracruz to Chihuahua and Coahuila, and is probably related to P. parvulus Sharp 1891 (México: Oaxaca and Veracruz), P. andersoni sp. nov. (México: Guerrero), and P. crinitus (Boheman, 1840) (southern Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala). The four species are small (5-8 mm), apterous, usually show a characteristic maculation and erect setae on the elytra, short antennae, vestigial to absent humeri, and well-developed, squamose corbels of the metatibiae, and are here referred to as the Pantomorus albosignatus species group. Our study was based on the examination of type material and about 500 specimens from different collections, and provides a dichotomous key, descriptions or redescriptions of the species, habitus photographs, line drawings of female and male genitalia, a map of distribution, new locality records and new plant associations. We propose that Pantomorus nobilis (Boheman 1840) is a new junior subjective synonym of P. crinitus (Boheman, 1840), and we designate lectotypes for the species Pantomorus albosignatus Boheman, P. parvulus Sharp, P. crinitus (Boheman), P. nobilis (Boheman) and P. affinis Sharp, 1891 (the latter is also a junior synonym of P. crinitus). Pantomorus albosignatus usually inhabits Acacia grasslands and cactus deserts of the Mexican Plateau, at higher elevations than remaining species; P. parvulus occurs in cloud forests and tropical deciduous forests of southern Mexico; P. crinitus in open oak pine forests, cloud forests and tropical deciduous forests of southern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador; and P. andersoni is endemic to the state of Guerrero, in Acacia-cactus woodlands.
Mean Corpuscular Volume Predicts Adverse Outcomes Following Peripheral Angioplasty With Stenting and Is Associated With On-Treatment Platelet Reactivity
Authors: Tscharre Maximilian , Lee Silvia , Kopp Christoph W. , Panzer Simon , Gremmel Thomas
Published: July 2020

Structural aspects of red blood cells have been associated with cardiovascular disease. No data linking mean corpuscular volume (MCV) to clinical outcomes and on-treatment platelet reactivity in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) are available. We investigated a composite of atherothrombotic events and target vessel restenosis or reocclusion following infrainguinal stenting for stable PAD. Residual platelet reactivity was measured by light transmission aggregometry (LTA) and the VerifyNow assays. We included 104 patients receiving dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and clopidogrel. In receiver-operating characteristic analysis, MCV effectively discriminated between patients with and without adverse outcomes and identified a MCV ≤90.8 fL as optimal cutoff. Adverse outcomes occurred significantly more often in patients with low MCV (log-rank P = .002). In univariable Cox regression analysis, low MCV was associated with an increased risk of future adverse outcomes (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.662 [95%CI: 1.304-5.434]; P = .007) and remained significantly associated after adjustment (HR: 2.591 [95%CI: 1.242-5.403]; P = .011). Mean corpuscular volume was inversely correlated with arachidonic acid (AA)- and adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-inducible platelet reactivity by LTA and with the VerifyNow aspirin assay. Low MCV is associated with adverse outcomes over 2 years following infrainguinal stenting. Mean corpuscular volume correlates inversely with AA- and ADP-inducible platelet reactivity during DAPT.
The Concept of a Good Death From the Perspectives of Family Caregivers of Advanced Cancer Patients
Authors: Gurdogan Eylem Pasli , Aksoy Berna , Kinici Ezgi
Published: July 2020

This study was conducted to examine the importance of the concept of a good death and the contributing factors from the perspectives of family caregivers of advanced cancer patients. This descriptive and cross-sectional study, conducted with 182 family caregivers, were collected using a questionnaire form and the “Good Death Scale”. The number and percentage distribution, multiple linear regression were used evaluation of data. The total score of the Good Death Scale was 62.65 ± 4.60. The factors contributing to the importance of the concept of a good death were determined as the presence of chronic disease; the type of treatment given to the patient; the presence of another family member who was previously diagnosed with cancer; the presence of a family member who has died of cancer and previously caregiving to a terminally ill family member. This study revealed that the concept of a good death is seen as very important.
Preparation and application of polyaldehyde trehalose as a new hydrophilic anti-crease finishing agent for cotton fabric
Authors: Lou Jiangfei , Yuan Jiugang , Wang Qiang , Wang Ping , Xu Jin , Yu Yuanyuan , Fan Xuerong
Published: July 2020

Polyaldehyde trehalose (OTr) was prepared and applied to cotton fabric as an anti-crease finishing agent under Lewis acid conditions. OTr contains reactive groups (aldehyde groups) and hydrophilic groups (hydroxyl groups). After the aldehyde groups crosslink with the hydroxyl groups of the fibers, the hydroxyl groups of the OTr improve the hydrophilicity of the finished fabric. The target product was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The optimum process conditions for anti-crease finishing were studied. The optimal anti-crease finishing process for OTr was 10.0%, a MgCl2 concentration of 2.0%, a pH of 3, and curing for 3 min at 150℃. The efficiency of the OTr-treated cotton fabrics was examined, and the anti-crease property, whiteness, tensile strength, hydrophilicity, and staining property of the OTr and conventional anti-crease finishing reagents were compared. The anti-crease property, whiteness, and tensile strength of the OTr-treated fabric improved significantly, but were lower than those of the butane tetracarboxylic acid and glutaraldehyde. Fabric that was treated with the new prepared agent presented a satisfactory hydrophilicity, which indicates that OTr can be used as an effective hydrophilic crosslinking agent.
Does Ownership Matter for Medical System Performance? Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Suqian, China
Authors: Liu Gordon G. , Shi Julie , Wang Xiaoqian , Yang Hanmo , Zhu Hengpeng
Published: July 2020

There has long been a major policy debate on the role of hospital ownership (private vs public) in medical system performance. China’s health care delivery system is mainly a public system. In 2000, a full privatization reform was implemented in the city of Suqian, offering a unique opportunity to assess possible effects of private delivery based on a major external shock to the existing system. Compared with all other cities in Jiangsu province since 2003, Suqian did not experience any greater increase either in total outpatient or inpatient expenditures. In the meantime, Suqian performed equally well as other cities in terms of changes in number of inpatient admissions and average inpatient days, and even better for mortality rate in emergency rooms. This study concludes that under appropriate public financing, private delivery can serve the public demand at least equally well as public providers in terms of cost inflations and utilizations.
“Not So Much Orwellian as Kafkaesque”: The War on Crime, Information Sharing Systems, and the Limits of Criminal Justice Modernization and Surveillance in Los Angeles County
Authors: Bohigian Stephen
Published: July 2020

In response to the increasing frequency of urban rebellions and rising crime rates, President Lyndon Johnson announced a War on Crime in 1965, inaugurating the modernization of criminal justice systems nationwide. Buoyed by federal monetary support from the newly formed Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), Los Angeles County attempted to develop a massive information sharing system to efficiently track suspects and expedite criminal record file-sharing within the county’s criminal justice bureaucracy. However, both projects failed. The failure of the Regional Justice Information System (RJIS) and the Optimum Records Automation for Courts and Law Enforcement (ORACLE) reveals the contingency surrounding the development of massive surveillance systems during the War on Crime and shows that the modern criminal justice surveillance state was not inevitable. Ultimately, it exposes the limits of criminal justice modernization and surveillance during the largest federal investment in local crime control in U.S. history.
June Givanni’s Pan-African Cinema Archive: A Diasporic Feminist Dwelling Space
Authors: Jaganathan Aditi , Malik Sarita , Givanni June
Published: July 2020

What is the role of cultural archives in creating and sustaining connections between diasporic communities? Through an analysis of an audiovisual archive that has sought to bring together representations of and by African, Caribbean and Asian people, this article discusses the relationship between diasporic film, knowledge production and feminist solidarity. Focusing on a self-curated, UK-based archive, the June Givanni Pan-African Cinema Archive, we explore the potentiality of archives for carving out spaces of diasporic connectivity and resistance. This archive assembles the holdings of pan-African films and film-related materials, built over several decades by June Givanni, a Guyanese-born London-based film curator. Givanni’s archive embodies her long relationship with the intersecting worlds of African and Asian diasporic cinema, which hold deep connections to Black British heritage through global networks spanning across empire. In the making of this cultural analysis, we employ a co-produced, decolonial methodological approach by designing and producing the article in collaboration with Givanni over a two-year period. We aim to foreground the role of feminist labour (academic and practitioner) as agents of change who are reclaiming stories, voices and memory-making. The wider backdrop to this co-produced analysis is the ongoing resilience of a cultural amnesia that has pervaded the Black British experience and the current fragility of Black arts and cultural spaces in the UK. Our question is how might archives help us map the connections between racialised ideas of belonging, memory politics and the reconfiguration of colonial power whilst also operating as a site of feminist connectivity?
Acquisition of multi-verb predicates in Nungon
Authors: Sarvasy Hannah S.
Published: July 2020

Studies of the acquisition of verbs tend to focus on one-verb predicates of the prevalent English type. But in hundreds of languages around the world, multi-verb predicates like serial verb constructions are widely used. It could be reasoned that children should begin producing simple, single-verb predicates before they are able to produce multi-verb predicates. But alternatively, many multi-verb predicates are idiomatic and could, as chunks, lend themselves to holophrastic acquisition by small children. This article examines early productions of multi-verb predicates in the speech of three children (aged 1;1–2;4, 2;1–3;3, and 2;10–3;3) acquiring the Papuan language Nungon, comparing patterns there with productions in the child-directed speech of their parents, and with the children’s productions of simple, one-verb predicates. The study’s youngest child never produces multi-verb predicates in the study period, but the child studied for the widest age range produces them from age 2;4, when she has still not acquired productive use of all verbal inflections, and both older children show proportionally increasing trends in multi-verb predicate use. Semantically, the earliest multi-verb predicates can be analyzed as describing multidimensional unitary events, with this expanding to events that can be divided into multiple distinct components at later ages. Delays in production of certain other multi-verb predicate types that are robustly present in parental input at all ages cannot be linked to a single factor, but likely relate to a combination of increased phonological or morphological complexity and increased conceptual difficulty.
Is It Important Which Suturing Technique Used for Pharyngeal Mucosal Closure in Total Laryngectomy? Modified Continuous Connell Suture May Decrease Pharyngocutaneous Fistula
Authors: Avci Hakan , Karabulut Burak
Published: July 2020

Objective:

The aim of this study is to research the correlation between pharyngeal mucosal suture techniques and pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) development after total laryngectomy. We also aimed to investigate other risk factor for fistula development.

Methods:

Medical charts of 85 patients who had total laryngectomy during August 2016 and February 2020 were reviewed. Sixteen patients were excluded due to exclusion criteria. Patients were grouped according to pharyngeal mucosal suture technique. Group 1 had modified continuous Connell suture and group 2 had interrupted submucosal suture for mucosal closure of pharynx. Demographic, medical, and surgical records reviewed for comparison.

Results:

Overall PCF rate was 28%;PCF rates were 16% (5/31) in group 1 and 39% (15/38) in group 2. This difference was significant (Pearson χ2 P = .033). There was no difference between groups due to age, gender, smoking history, tumor stage preoperative albumin levels, preoperative hemoglobin levels, radiotherapy status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and diabetes mellitus history of patients, previous tracheostomy, neck dissection. But correlation analysis revealed that PCF formation significantly related with suture technique ( P = .032), preoperative albumin level <3.5 g/dL ( P = .028), preoperative hemoglobin level <12.5 g/dL ( P = .041), and previous radiotherapy status ( P = .012) of the patients. We also showed that suture technique is an independent predictive factor for PCF formation when other factors were controlled by univariate analysis.

Conclusion:

The suture technique used for pharyngeal mucosal closure, preoperative albumin level <3.5 g/dL, preoperative hemoglobin levels<12.5 g/dL, and previous radiotherapy to the head and neck are risk factors for PCF development. Modified continuous Connell suture is a good option for pharyngeal closure.
Magnetic resonance assessment of the cerebral alterations associated with obesity development
Authors: Lizarbe Blanca , Campillo Basilio , Guadilla Irene , López-Larrubia Pilar , Cerdán Sebastián
Published: July 2020

Obesity is a current threat to health care systems, affecting approximately 13% of the world’s adult population, and over 18% children and adolescents. The rise of obesity is fuelled by inadequate life style habits, as consumption of diets rich in fats and sugars which promote, additionally, the development of associated comorbidities. Obesity results from a neuroendocrine imbalance in the cerebral mechanisms controlling food intake and energy expenditure, including the hypothalamus and the reward and motivational centres. Specifically, high-fat diets are known to trigger an early inflammatory response in the hypothalamus that precedes weight gain, is time-dependent, and eventually extends to the remaining appetite regulating regions in the brain. Multiple magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) methods are currently available to characterize different features of cerebral obesity, including diffusion weighted, T2 and volumetric imaging and 1H and 13C spectroscopic evaluations. In particular, consistent evidences have revealed increased water diffusivity and T2 values, decreased grey matter volumes, and altered metabolic profiles and fluxes, in the brain of animal models and in obese humans. This review provides an integrative interpretation of the physio-pathological processes associated with obesity development in the brain, and the MRI and MRS methods implemented to characterize them.
HDAC inhibition reduces white matter injury after intracerebral hemorrhage
Authors: Yang Heng , Ni Wei , Wei Pengju , Li Sicheng , Gao Xinjie , Su Jiabin , Jiang Hanqiang , Lei Yu , Zhou Liangfu , Gu Yuxiang
Published: July 2020

Inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) has been shown to reduce inflammation and white matter damage after various forms of brain injury via modulation of microglia/macrophage polarization. Previously we showed that the HDAC inhibitor scriptaid could attenuate white matter injury (WMI) after ICH. To access whether modulation of microglia/macrophage polarization might underlie this protection, we investigated the modulatory role of HDAC2 in microglia/macrophage polarization in response to WMI induced by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and in primary microglia and oligodendrocyte co-cultures. HDAC2 activity was inhibited via conditional knockout of the Hdac2 gene in microglia or via administration of scriptaid. Conditional knockout of the Hdac2 gene in microglia and HDAC inhibition with scriptaid both improved neurological functional recovery and reduced WMI after ICH. Additionally, HDAC inhibition shifted microglia/macrophage polarization toward the M2 phenotype and reduced proinflammatory cytokine secretion after ICH in vivo. In vitro, a transwell co-culture model of microglia and oligodendrocytes also demonstrated that the HDAC inhibitor protected oligodendrocytes by modulating microglia polarization and mitigating neuroinflammation. Moreover, we found that scriptaid decreased the expression of pJAK2 and pSTAT1 in cultured microglia when stimulated with hemoglobin. Thus, HDAC inhibition ameliorated ICH-mediated neuroinflammation and WMI by modulating microglia/macrophage polarization.
Accumulation of PSA-NCAM marks nascent neurodegeneration in the dorsal hippocampus after neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in mice
Authors: Chavez-Valdez Raul , Lechner Charles , Emerson Paul , Northington Frances J , Martin Lee J
Published: July 2020

Neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (nHI) disrupts hippocampal GABAergic development leading to memory deficits in mice. Polysialic-acid neural-cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) developmentally declines to trigger GABAergic maturation. We hypothesized that nHI changes PSA-NCAM abundance and cellular distribution, impairing GABAergic development, and marking nascent neurodegeneration. Cell degeneration, atrophy, and PSA-NCAM immunoreactivity (IR) were measured in CA1 of nHI-injured C57BL6 mice related to: (i) cellular subtype markers; (ii) GAD65/67 and synatophysin (SYP), pre-synaptic markers; (iii) phospho-Ser396Tau, cytoskeletal marker; and (iv) GAP43, axonalregeneration marker. PSA-NCAM IR was minimal in CA1 of shams at P11. After nHI, PSA-NCAM IR was increased in injured pyramidal cells (PCs), minimal in parvalbumin (PV)+INs, and absent in glia. PSA-NCAM IR correlated with injury severity and became prominent in perikaryal cytoplasm at P18. GAD65/67 and SYP IRs only weakly related to PSA-NCAM after nHI. Injured phospho-Ser396Tau+ PCs and PV+INs variably co-expressed PSA-NCAM at P40. While PCs with cytoplasmic marginalized PSA-NCAM had increased perisomatic GAP43, those with perikaryal cytoplasmic PSA-NCAM had minimal GAP43. PSA-NCAM increased in serum of nHI-injured mice. Increased PSA-NCAM is likely a generic acute response to nHI brain injury. PSA-NCAM aberrant cellular localization may aggravate neuronal degeneration. The significance of PSA-NCAM as a biomarker of recovery from nHI and nascent neurodegeneration needs further study.
Ten-year retrospective study on mandibular fractures in central Taiwan
Authors: Chen Yi-Tzu , Chiu Yu-Wei , Chang Yu-Chao , Lin Chiao-Wen
Published: July 2020

Objective

To analyse the epidemiology of mandibular fractures and the correlation between combined fractures during a 10-year period in central Taiwan.

Methods

This retrospective study analysed data collected from the medical records of patients that had mandibular fractures between January 2007 and October 2017. Data on age, sex, cause of injury, anatomical site of fracture, treatment and complications were obtained and analysed.

Results

A total of 265 patients who received treatment were included in the study. The mean ± SD age was 30.08 ± 13.47 years (range, 6–70 years) and the 21–30 years age group showed the highest incidence of mandibular fractures. The male-to-female ratio was 1.25:1. Road traffic accidents were the most common cause of fracture (206 of 265; 77.74%). The symphysis and parasymphysis area was the most common fracture site (169 of 420; 39.29%). Single-site fracture represented slightly more than 50% of the total 420 fractures. The most frequent combination of two fractures was an angle fracture combined with a symphysis and parasymphysis fracture (29 of 106 double fracture patients [27.36%]). There was a weak positive association between several combinations of fractures.

Conclusions

A better understanding of the influence of age and sex on the mechanism of injury is of great clinical importance in the assessment and diagnosis of fractures.
Multiple functions of policosanol in elderly patients with dyslipidemia
Authors: Li Chunlin , Ding Yu , Si Quanjin , Li Kailiang , Xu Kun
Published: July 2020

Objective

To determine the multiple functions of policosanol in elderly dyslipidemia patients. Methodology: There were 294 elderly dyslipidemia patients enrolled into this clinical study. They were randomly divided into four groups, as follows: 20 mg policosanol (group A, n = 64); 10 mg policosanol (group B, n = 72); 20 mg atorvastatin (group C, n = 91); and 10 mg policosanol + 20 mg atorvastatin (group D, n = 62). Plasma platelet count, platelet aggregation rate, circulating endothelial cell (CEC) count, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and carotid intima–media thickness (IMT) were measured before the study (week 0) and at weeks 12, 24, and 52.

Results

In group A, the platelet aggregation rate caused by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) after treatment was significantly decreased compared with before treatment (48.79% ± 20.29% vs. 40.37% ± 23.56%), but the arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet aggregation rates were similar. The platelet aggregation rates induced by AA and ADP in groups B, C, and D did not change significantly. CEC counts and hs-CRP and homocysteine levels in all groups after treatment were significantly lower compared with before treatment, but carotid IMTs were similar.

Conclusion

Policosanol regulates blood lipid levels and improves endothelial cell function, and it could delay the progress of atherosclerosis. Trial registration number: ChiCTR-RRC-17013396 (retrospectively registered).
Histopathology of inferior vena cava obstruction in Budd–Chiari syndrome by clamp biopsy
Authors: Bi Yonghua , Zhu Xiaoyan , Yi Mengfei , Han Xinwei , Ren Jianzhuang
Published: July 2020

Objective

We aimed to analyze the pathological changes of the occlusive area of the inferior vena cava (IVC) in patients with Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS) and to explore its possible etiology and pathogenesis.

Methods

Color Doppler ultrasound and IVC angiography were used to evaluate causes of occlusion. Clamp biopsies were performed in the occlusive area of the IVC in 31 patients with BCS, and the specimens were examined pathologically. Clinical data were collected retrospectively.

Results

The success rate of clamp biopsy was 100% (31/31) and the sensitivity of pathology was 96.8% (30/31). By microscopic analysis, we found 27 cases of fibrous connective tissue, including 8 cases of thrombosis and 19 cases of inflammatory cell infiltration, vitreous degeneration, or mucinous degeneration of fibrous connective tissue; 3 cases showed thrombus organized with fibrosis.

Conclusion

The occluding lesion in the IVC of BCS may be caused by local thrombosis, followed gradually by organization and fibrosis.
Case Study of Trend Mining in Transportation Research Record Articles
Authors: Das Subasish , Dutta Anandi , Brewer Marcus A.
Published: July 2020

This study employs two topic models to perform trend mining on an abundance of textual data to determine trends in research topics from immense collections of unstructured documents over the years. This study collected data from the titles and abstracts of the papers published in Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, since 1974. The content of these papers was ideal for examining research trends in various fields of research because it contains large textual data. In previous studies, exploratory analysis tools such as text mining were used to provide descriptive information about the data. However, this method does not provide researchers with quantifications of the topics and their correlations. Furthermore, the contents examined in this study are largely unstructured, and therefore they require faster machine learning algorithms to decipher them. For these reasons, the research team chose to employ two topic modeling tools, latent Dirichlet allocation and structural topic model, to perform trend mining. This analysis succeeded in extracting 20 main topics, identified by keywords, from the data. The research team also developed two interactive topic model visualization tools that can be used to extract topics from journal titles and abstracts, respectively. The findings from this study provide researchers with a further understanding of research patterns within ever-evolving area of transportation engineering studies.
A hybrid electro-responsive SWNT/PEDOT: PSS-based membrane towards soft actuator applications
Authors: Khan Ajahar , Jain Ravi Kant , Banerjee Priyabrata , Alamry Khalid A , Ghosh Bhaskar , Inamuddin ▪ , Asiri Abdullah M
Published: July 2020

The flexible soft actuators of conducting polymers can directly convert electrical stimulus into mechanical motions, which can be used for robotics and biomimetic applications. Herein, an electro-responsive membrane actuator based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate), functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube was fabricated using solution casting method with poly(vinyl alcohol) as a base intermediate polymer membrane. The poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate) was evenly ornamented onto the single-walled carbon nanotube/poly(vinyl alcohol) membrane (single-walled carbon nanotube/ poly(vinyl alcohol)/ poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate)) surfaces through dip coating and verified by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The desirable bending response of the fabricated single-walled carbon nanotube/ poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate) membrane with time at different voltages and generated tip force makes it a promising material as a new-generation conductive polymer-based soft actuator. A permutation of the electrical conductivity, more surface area, and admirable electromechanical properties of the single-walled carbon nanotube/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrene sulfonate) components consequences in the composite electrode exhibited excellent actuation performance compared to the ionic polymer-metal composite actuators with Pt electrodes surface. The fabricated actuator membrane can be employed for artificial muscles, robotics, and other bio-mimetic applications.
Generating Solidarity in Diversity: The Case of Housing Struggles in Rome
Authors: Caciagli Carlotta
Published: July 2020

The article explores the role of solidarity in housing movement organizations in Rome (Italy). Most notably, it enquires the modalities through which activists try to prevent the housing eviction of precarious urban dwellers, the majority of whom are immigrants. The argument is twofold. First, these practices foster solidarity between migrant and non-migrant locals, contributing to the formation of a new collective subjectivity that brings together individualized local and immigrant inhabitants sharing a need for a roof. Second, this process has an impact on the cityscape as it contributes to mapping alternative models of city construction. This article is based on an extensive participant observation (2016) in the network Movements for the Right to Inhabit and on in-depth interviews with activists and experts.
Islamic anti-patriarchal liberation psychology: A framework to decolonize psychology for Muslims
Authors: Ali-Faisal Sobia F
Published: July 2020

Due to the focus in psychology on Euro-American centric ontologies and epistemologies, many non-European psychologists have been calling for the decolonization of the field. In joining this call, I propose an Islamic anti-patriarchal liberation psychology framework to guide psychological knowledge production and application within contexts in which some or most people identify as Muslim. Using Martín-Baró’s proposal of three essential tasks of liberation psychology as a guide, my framework explains how and why it is necessary to decolonize psychological knowledge production and application in such contexts. The first task requires the privileging of Muslim voices, with Muslims being conceptualized as diverse, racialized peoples. The second task involves challenging the internalization of colonial ways of thinking among Muslims. The final task asks researchers and practitioners to recover Islamic histories of scholarship, Muslims’ sense of community, and queer and feminine ways of being. Together, these tasks can provide an adaptable guide for psychological knowledge production and application for Muslims in a wide variety of contexts.
Growth in Foreign Trade in Liberalized India: The Relevance of FDI
Authors: Jana Shib Sankar , Sahu Tarak Nath , Pandey Krishna Dayal
Published: July 2020

Driven by the need of an economic model that can explain the foreign direct investment (FDI)–export relationship, especially in post-liberalized context, we make a special inquiry on whether FDI has a significant export-promoting impact in India under a time-varying parameter model with vector autoregressive specification. The Johansen’s co-integration test suggests a significant and positive long-run co-movement between FDI and export. The vector error correction model (VECM) confirms a unidirectional long-run causality from export to FDI. However, the Granger causality test establishes a bi-directional causal relationship between these variables in short run. Further, the foreign trade (FT) is found to be a strongly exogenous variable as per the variance decomposition analysis. Again, the impulse response function analysis suggests that the responses generated from a positive shock of FT to FDI and vice versa are small and initially negative, afterward remain steadily positive at a constant level. The study finally recommends the policymakers to channelize the inward-FDI into tradable goods industries rather than only linking it to service sector growth to reap the long-term benefit. In this regard, China’s effort to channelize inward-FDI into manufacturing sectors and the resultant momentous success in export performance can be taken as a classic example for FDI-led foreign trade promotion.
Customer Acceptance of Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hospitality Services: An Indian Hospitality Sector Perspective
Authors: Roy Prithvi , Ramaprasad Badrinarayan Srirangam , Chakraborty Manan , Prabhu Nandan , Rao Shreelatha
Published: July 2020

This research endeavour tested and validated the artificially intelligent device use acceptance (AIDUA) three-stage AI acceptance framework in the context of the Indian hospitality sector. For this purpose, data on the constructs that captured primary appraisal (i.e., social influence, hedonic motivation and anthropomorphism), secondary appraisal (i.e., performance and effort expectancy), emotion, willingness to use AI devices and objection to use AI devices were captured from 210 guests/customers from 14 luxury hotels spread across the union territory of New Delhi and the state of Chandigarh in India. Findings that emerge from this study validate the fact that customers do indeed go through three stages of decision-making process before they demonstrate their proclivity to use AI devices or exhibit objection to use AI devices. In particular, the study found that both performance and effort expectancy influenced customer emotion which, in its turn, exercised its effect on the construct of willingness to use AI devices and objection to use AI devices among hotel customers. Accordingly, drawing from the findings of this study, implications for practitioners, decision-makers, and academic researchers are discussed in the article.
COVID-19 and the Australian Human Rights Acts
Authors: Evans Kylie , Petrie Nicholas
Published: July 2020

This article considers how the response to COVID-19 in Australia may be examined and challenged by the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT), the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities 2006 (Vic) and the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) (collectively, the Australian HRAs). It also considers the unique model of rights protection provided at the Commonwealth level under the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth) (2011 Act). The authors argue the Australian HRAs and the 2011 Act have the potential to play a key role in scrutinising some laws implementing the COVID-19 measures, and action taken under those laws.
“I Feel Abused by My Own Mind”: Themes of Control in Men’s Online Accounts of Living With Anxiety
Authors: Drioli-Phillips Phoebe G. , Oxlad Melissa , Feo Rebecca , Scholz Brett , LeCouteur Amanda
Published: July 2020

Men’s experiences with anxiety are under-researched and poorly understood. Existing research gives little indication of how men talk about anxiety in situ, and little is known about how men describe their experiences of anxiety. Online discussion forums provide an opportunity to conduct naturalistic observations of how men describe their experiences with anxiety without the influence of a researcher. Thematic analysis, informed by principles of discursive psychology, was used to examine 130 opening posts to an online anxiety discussion forum. One superordinate theme, where anxiety is constructed as a loss of control, was identified. Analysis of this overarching theme generated three themes relating to how posters described a loss of control: (a) anxiety as an immobilizing force, (b) anxiety as an independent entity, and (c) anxiety as a dualist construction of the self. Our analysis has clear implications for developing and improving interventions for men experiencing anxiety.
Palliative Care During COVID-19: Data and Visits From Loved Ones
Authors: Heath Laura , Yates Sharon , Carey Matthew , Miller Mary
Published: July 2020

Objectives:

A vital component of the coronavirus response is care of the dying COVID-19 patient. We document the demographics, symptoms experienced, medications required, effectiveness observed, and challenges to high-quality holistic palliative care in 31 patients. This will aid colleagues in primary and secondary care settings anticipate common symptoms and formulate management plans.

Methods:

A retrospective survey was conducted of patients referred to the hospital palliative care service in a tertiary hospital, south east of England between March 21 and April 26, 2020. Patients included had a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-Cov-2 or radiological evidence of COVID-19.

Results:

The thirty-one patients included were predominantly male (77%), elderly (median [interquartile range]: 84 [76-89]), and had multiple (4 [3-5]) comorbidities. Referral was made in the last 2 [1-3] days of life. Common symptoms were breathlessness (84%) and delirium (77%). Fifty-eight percent of patients received at least 1 “as required” dose of an opioid or midazolam in the 24 hours before death. Sixty percent of patients needed a continuous subcutaneous infusion and the median morphine dose was 10 mg S/C per 24 hours and midazolam 10 mg S/C per 24 hours. Nineteen percent of our cohort had a loved one or relative present when dying.

Conclusion:

We provide additional data to the internationally reported pool examining death arising from infection with SARS-CoV-19. The majority of patients had symptoms controlled with low doses of morphine and midazolam, and death was rapid. The impact of low visitation during dying needs exploring.
Are Scientists Smart? Kindergarteners’ Gendered Understanding and Use of Descriptors About Science and Intelligence
Authors: Diaz Vanessa , Runyon Kelly , Kroehler Carolyn J.
Published: July 2020

Do kindergarten-aged children associate scientists with intelligence? Do they hold gender stereotypes about these topics? What is related to these stereotypes? Do they affect children’s choice of activity? This study asked 48 kindergarteners to choose “the smart one” or “the scientist” out of gender-balanced arrays. Both genders showed positive in-group biases, but girls did not relate the two concepts. Girls were also more willing to engage in activities for “smart” children, rather than for “little scientists.” Parental occupation had same-gender effects on each gender’s stereotypes about intelligence, but no cross-gender effects. Findings are analyzed using expectancy-value theory as a framework.
SPOT GRADE II: Clinical Validation of a New Method for Reproducibly Quantifying Surgical Wound Bleeding: Prospective, Multicenter, Multispecialty, Single-Arm Study
Authors: Gaizo Daniel J. Del , Spotnitz William D. , Hoffman Rachel W. , Hermann Mark Christopher , Sher Linda S. , Spotnitz Russell H. , Genyk Yuri S. , Schorn Ian J. , Gillen Daniel L. , White Bobby L. , Miller Bruce G. , Manson Roberto J.
Published: July 2020

The SPOT GRADE (SG), a Surface Bleeding Severity Scale, is a unique visual method for assessing bleeding severity based on quantitative determinations of blood flow. This study assessed the reliability of the SG scale in a clinical setting and collected initial data on the safety and efficacy of HEMOBLAST Bellows (HB), a hemostatic agent, in abdominal and orthopedic operations. Twenty-seven patients were enrolled across 3 centers and received the investigational device. Bleeding severity and hemostasis were independently assessed by 2 surgical investigators at baseline and at 3, 6, and 10 minutes after application of HB and compared for agreement. The mean paired κ statistic for assignment of SG scores was .7754. The mean paired κ statistics for determining eligibility for participation in the trial based on bleeding severity and the mean paired κ statistics determining the presence of hemostasis were .9301 and .9301, respectively. The proportion of patients achieving hemostasis within 3, 6, and 10 minutes of HB application were 50.0%, 79.2%, and 91.7%, respectively. There were no unanticipated adverse device effects and one possible serious adverse device effect, as determined by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC). The reliability of the SG scale was validated in a clinical setting. Initial data on the safety and efficacy of HB in abdominal and orthopedic operations were collected, and there were no concerns raised by the investigators or the IDMC.
A real-time co-simulation solution for train–track–bridge interaction
Authors: Gong Wei , Zhu Zhihui , Wang Kun , Yang Weichao , Bai Yu , Ren Juanjuan
Published: July 2020

This study develops a real-time co-simulation solution that combines ANSYS and MATLAB for investigating of the train–track–bridge dynamic interactions, with the aim of providing an effective and robust method for analyzing and assessing the dynamic responses of running train and bridge, considering their complex nonlinear behaviors under extreme excitations such as earthquake and strong wind. The train–track–bridge coupled system consists of the train subsystem, the track subsystem, and the bridge subsystem. With the adoption of a previously developed efficient multi-time-step method, the train subsystem and the track subsystem are analyzed in MATLAB with a small time-step, whereas the bridge subsystem is analyzed in ANSYS using a large time-step. At each large time-step, the train–track subsystem in MATLAB and the bridge subsystem in ANSYS are coupled by communication of the track reaction forces calculated in MATLAB and the dynamic responses at the track–bridge connecting points calculated in ANSYS. The co-simulation procedure is validated through a comparison of the numerical results from computer coding developed by the authors and the measurement data of a cable-stayed bridge. To demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed solution, the responses of a train passing through a cable-stayed bridge under earthquake excitation are analyzed, with consideration of the geometrical nonlinearity of the bridge, using the co-simulation solution.
Impact of clinical pharmacists in an inpatient medical oncology service: A prospective study at a comprehensive cancer center in Jordan
Authors: Faqeer Nour , Mustafa Nour , Abd Al-jalil Noor , Qur’an Tasnim
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Clinical pharmacy is considered an integral discipline in the health care system for optimizing therapy and reducing drug-related problems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacists in optimizing management in a medical oncology service.

Methods

A prospective study was conducted at King Hussein Cancer Center between July 2019 and September 2019 of patients admitted to the medical oncology service. The impact of clinical pharmacists was measured by evaluating their interventions, defined as actions that were expected to result in a change in patient management. Data were collected daily by routine review of patients' profiles and by recording clinical pharmacists’ interventions. The data collected were baseline characteristics of patients, numbers and types of clinical pharmacists’ interventions, their significance, medications involved, and rate of acceptance of clinical pharmacists’ interventions by physicians. The significance of each intervention was assessed by two clinical pharmacists on a Hatoum scale. Physicians’ acceptance was assessed by whether the recommendations were implemented.

Results

During the study period, 748 patients were included, of whom 605 required a total of 1683 clinical interventions. The mean age was 56.3 years (±15.5 SD). Of the interventions, 39% resulted in initiation of a drug and 25% in drug discontinuations. The drug group most commonly associated with clinical pharmacists’ interventions was antibiotics (26.5%). Physicians accepted 98% of the clinical pharmacists’ interventions, and 92.4% of the interventions brought care to a more appropriate level and were considered significant.

Conclusion

Most patients in the medical oncology service required clinical pharmacists’ interventions, as demonstrated by the high number of significant clinical pharmacists’ interventions. Studies should be conducted to follow up these findings with respect to patient outcomes and cost savings.