bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
(More than) doubling down: Effective fibrinolysis at a reduced rt-PA dose for catheter-directed thrombolysis combined with histotripsy
Authors: Hendley Samuel A. , Bhargava Aarushi , Holland Christy K. , Wool Geoffrey D. , Ahmed Osman , Paul Jonathan D. , Bader Kenneth B.
Published: January 2022

Deep vein thrombosis is a major source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. For acute proximal deep vein thrombosis, catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy is an accepted method for vessel recanalization. Thrombolytic therapy is not without risk, including the potential for hemorrhagic bleeding that increases with lytic dose. Histotripsy is a focused ultrasound therapy that generates bubble clouds spontaneously in tissue at depth. The mechanical activity of histotripsy increases the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy at doses consistent with current pharmacomechanical treatments for venous thrombosis. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of lytic dose on histotripsy-enhanced fibrinolysis. Human whole blood clots formed in vitro were exposed to histotripsy and a thrombolytic agent (recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, rt-PA) in a venous flow model perfused with plasma. Lytic was administered into the clot via an infusion catheter at concentrations ranging from 0 (control) to 4.54 μg/mL (a common clinical dose for catheter-directed thrombolysis). Following treatment, perfusate samples were assayed for markers of fibrinolysis, hemolysis, and intact red blood cells and platelets. Fibrinolysis was equivalent between the common clinical dose of rt-PA (4.54 μg/mL) and rt-PA at a reduction to one-twentieth of the common clinical dose (0.23 μg/mL) when combined with histotripsy. Minimal changes were observed in hemolysis for treatment arms with or without histotripsy, potentially due to clot damage from insertion of the infusion catheter. Likewise, histotripsy did not increase the concentration of red blood cells or platelets in the perfusate following treatment compared to rt-PA alone. At the highest lytic dose, a refined histotripsy exposure scheme was implemented to cover larger areas of the clot. The updated exposure scheme improved clot mass loss and fibrinolysis relative to administration of lytic alone. Overall, the data collected in this study indicate the rt-PA dose can be reduced by more than a factor of ten and still promote fibrinolysis when combined with histotripsy.
Predicting dispensing errors in community pharmacies: An application of the Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA)
Authors: Ashour Ahmed , Phipps Denham L. , Ashcroft Darren M.
Published: January 2022

Introduction

The objective of this study was to use a prospective error analysis method to examine the process of dispensing medication in community pharmacy settings and identify remedial solutions to avoid potential errors, categorising them as strong, intermediate, or weak based on an established patient safety action hierarchy tool.

Method

Focus group discussions and non-participant observations were undertaken to develop a Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), and subsequent focus group discussions applied the Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA) focusing on the task of dispensing medication in community pharmacies. Remedial measures identified through the SHERPA analysis were then categorised as strong, intermediate, or weak based on the Veteran Affairs National Centre for Patient Safety action hierarchy. Non-participant observations were conducted at 3 pharmacies, totalling 12 hours, based in England. Additionally, 7 community pharmacists, with experience ranging from 8 to 38 years, participated in a total of 4 focus groups, each lasting between 57 to 85 minutes, with one focus group discussing the HTA and three applying SHERPA. A HTA was produced consisting of 10 sub-tasks, with further levels of sub-tasks within each of them.

Results

Overall, 88 potential errors were identified, with a total of 35 remedial solutions proposed to avoid these errors in practice. Sixteen (46%) of these remedial measures were categorised as weak, 14 (40%) as intermediate and 5 (14%) as strong according to the Veteran Affairs National Centre for Patient Safety action hierarchy. Sub-tasks with the most potential errors were identified, which included ‘producing medication labels’ and ‘final checking of medicines’. The most common type of error determined from the SHERPA analysis related to omitting a check during the dispensing process which accounted for 19 potential errors.

Discussion

This work applies both HTA and SHERPA for the first time to the task of dispensing medication in community pharmacies, detailing the complexity of the task and highlighting potential errors and remedial measures specific to this task. Future research should examine the effectiveness of the proposed remedial solutions to improve patient safety.
Influenza vaccine in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among elderly male veterans
Authors: Young-Xu Yinong , Smith Jeremy , Nealon Joshua , Mahmud Salaheddin M. , Van Aalst Robertus , Thommes Edward W. , Neupane Nabin , Lee Jason K. H. , Chit Ayman
Published: January 2022

Background

Prior studies have established those elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at elevated risk for developing influenza-associated complications such as hospitalization, intensive-care admission, and death. This study sought to determine whether influenza vaccination could improve survival among elderly patients with COPD.

Materials/Methods

This study included Veterans (age ≥ 65 years) diagnosed with COPD that received care at the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) during four influenza seasons, from 2012–2013 to 2015–2016. We linked VHA electronic medical records and Medicare administrative files to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Death Index cause of death records as well as influenza surveillance data. A multivariable time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare rates of mortality of recipients of influenza vaccination to those who did not have records of influenza vaccination. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, comorbidities, and healthcare utilization.

Results

Over a span of four influenza seasons, we included 1,856,970 person-seasons of observation where 1,199,275 (65%) had a record of influenza vaccination and 657,695 (35%) did not have a record of influenza vaccination. After adjusting for comorbidities, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, influenza vaccination was associated with reduced risk of death during the most severe periods of influenza seasons: 75% all-cause (HR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.24–0.26), 76% respiratory causes (HR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.21–0.26), and 82% pneumonia/influenza cause (HR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.13–0.26). A significant part of the effect could be attributed to “healthy vaccinee” bias as reduced risk of mortality was also found during the periods when there was no influenza activity and before patients received vaccination: 30% all-cause (HR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.65–0.75), 32% respiratory causes (HR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.60–0.78), and 51% pneumonia/influenza cause (HR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.31–0.78). However, as a falsification study, we found that influenza vaccination had no impact on hospitalization due to urinary tract infection (HR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.80–1.18).

Conclusions

Among elderly patients with COPD, influenza vaccination was associated with reduced risk for all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
IgG3 and IgM Identified as Key to SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization in Convalescent Plasma Pools
Authors: Kober Christina , Manni Sandro , Wolff Svenja , Barnes Thomas , Mukherjee Shatanik , Vogel Thomas , Hoenig Lea , Vogel Peter , Hahn Aaron , Gerlach Michaela , Vey Martin , Widmer Eleonora , Keiner Björn , Schuetz Patrick , Roth Nathan , Kalina Uwe
Published: January 2022

Analysis of convalescent plasma derived from individuals has shown that IgG3 has the most important role in binding to SARS-CoV-2 antigens; however, this has not yet been confirmed in large studies, and the link between binding and neutralization has not been confirmed. By analyzing plasma pools consisting of 247–567 individual convalescent donors, we demonstrated the binding of IgG3 and IgM to Spike-1 protein and the receptor-binding domain correlates strongly with viral neutralization in vitro. Furthermore, despite accounting for only approximately 12% of total immunoglobulin mass, collectively IgG3 and IgM account for approximately 80% of the total neutralization. This may have important implications for the development of potent therapies for COVID-19, as it indicates that hyperimmune globulins or convalescent plasma donations with high IgG3 concentrations may be a highly efficacious therapy.
Relationship between adiponectin and intramuscular fat content determined by ultrasonography in older adults
Authors: Hioki Maya , Kanehira Nana , Koike Teruhiko , Saito Akira , Shimaoka Kiyoshi , Sakakibara Hisataka , Oshida Yoshiharu , Akima Hiroshi
Published: January 2022

Age-associated intramuscular adipose tissue (IntraMAT) deposition induces the development of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. However, the relationship between IntraMAT and biochemical parameters in older adults remains unclear. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to elucidate the relationship between adiponectin and echo intensity–estimated IntraMAT using ultrasonography in normal-weight older adults (men 9, women 13) and examine biochemical parameters. Blood tests were performed to determine fasting levels of glucose, insulin, hemoglobin A1c, total cholesterol (Total-C), high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), free fatty acid, triglycerides (TGs), adiponectin, leptin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and high-sensitivity tumor necrosis factor, and homoeostasis model assessment index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Mean gray-scale echo intensity was calculated as the IntraMAT index of the vastus lateralis. Waist circumference was measured at the level of the navel as the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) index. Echo intensity was significantly inversely correlated with adiponectin or LDL-C, and that was significantly positively correlated with TG. Adiponectin level was inversely correlated with waist circumference. Partial correlation analysis with waist circumference as the control variable revealed that adiponectin was inversely correlated with echo intensity, independent of waist circumference, whereas no such correlation was observed after controlling for LDL-C and TG levels. When biochemical parameters were grouped in the principal component analysis, among men, Total-C, insulin, and HOMA-IR or hemoglobin A1c, and high-sensitivity tumor necrosis factor–alpha were grouped with the same distribution for factors 1 and 2. Among women, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, and Total-C or TGs were grouped with the same distribution for factors 1 and 2. These data suggest that adiponectin level is related to IntraMAT content, independent of VAT in normal-weight older adults. The dynamics of adiponectin might not be similar to those of other circulating biochemical parameters in older men and women.
INTENSIVE GLUCOSE CONTROL IN THE TREATMENT OF HYPERGLYCEMIA IN PATIENTS WITH AN ACUTE EXACERBATION OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY
Authors: Gao L. , Ren H. , Hao Q.
Published: January 2022

Background and Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of IGC in the treatment of hyperglycemia combined with AECOPD. Methods: A total of 267 consecutively hospitalized patients with AECOPD combined with hyperglycemia in the general wards of the East Ward of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences ＆ Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital and West China Hospital from May 2007 to August 2013 were included in this study. All the patients were allocated to either the IGC group or the control group according to the doctor’s recommendation. The short-term mortality rate as well as the duration and medical cost of the hospitalization were investigated. Results: The median length of the hospital stay was 15 days in the IGC group, whereas the median was 12 days (p=0.05) in the control group. The median medical cost was 8,866 Yuan in the IGC group, whereas this value was 8,051 Yuan in the control group. However, the medical costs, the mortality rates and the positive sputum culture rates were not statistically different between the two groups. There were more cases of hypoglycemia and hypokalemia in the IGC group than in the control group. Conclusions: Intensive glucose control treatment did not result in any benefits in the patients with hyperglycemia and AECOPD and may prolong the length of stay and increase the risk of hypoglycemia and hypokalemia.
La pandemia y el bienestar emocional de los alumnos
Authors: Sanz Labrador Ismael , Doncel Pedrera Luis Miguel , Sainz González Jorge
Published: January 2022

El confinamiento y el consiguiente cierre de los centros educativos provocó un aumento de la proporción de niños y adolescentes con problemas de salud mental desde el 10,9% al 16,0% en Inglaterra, uno de los países para los que mejor se ha medido este impacto. Sin embargo, hay varios aspectos que matizarían esta primera conclusión. El primero es que la experiencia de España, uno de los primeros países en Europa en abrir de forma generalizada y prolongada los centros educativos, muestra que una parte importante de los jóvenes se recupera en su bienestar emocional al volver a las clases presenciales y, con ellas, tener de nuevo la interacción con sus compañeros y docentes y reencontrarse con un espacio como el de los colegios e institutos con el que se sienten identificados. Los novedosos datos de GAD3 para Ernst & Young analizados en este capítulo muestran que la proporción de estudiantes con un estado de ánimo bajo a muy bajo disminuyó desde el 29,9% durante el confinamiento en el último trimestre del curso 2019-2020 al 7,2% del 2020-2021 con las clases presenciales o semipresenciales. El segundo aspecto que gradúa el impacto de la pandemia en la salud mental de los jóvenes es que no todos los estudios encuentran que el bienestar emocional de niños y adolescentes ha empeorado o al menos no en todas las dimensiones.
Increencia religiosa y literatura
Authors: Frontera Izquierdo Pedro
Published: January 2022

Se describe el reflejo en la literatura actual del creciente problema de la increencia religiosa y sobre todo de uno de sus tipos, la indiferencia. Se compara con la literatura de mitad del siglo XX, y se analizan las novelas más significativas del escritor católico más relevante, Graham Greene, del que se cumple el 30 aniversario de su muerte. Se discuten las dificultades de la necesaria nueva evangelización para combatir la indiferencia religiosa y la estrategia de introducción en el amplio campo de la cultura y concretamente en el de la literatura.
A Comic Road to Interiors, or the Pedagogical Matter of Gen Z Humor
Authors: Gilbert Christopher
Published: January 2022

Generation Z (Gen Z) represents something of a quintessence for the broken promises that now seem to make up the promise of higher education. But if despair indicates the dark side of generational malaise around things like civic engagement, community, and student learning, the dark humor that has emerged out of these generations points to modes of democratic citizenship that are more about reconciliation than resignation. This essay offers a critical reflection on Gen Z humor, its place in college and university classrooms, and its usefulness as a resource for reconsidering how teaching and learning might be tied to a comically examined life. It proceeds with a fresh look at pedagogies of hope as developed by Paulo Freire, Martha C. Nussbaum, bell hooks, Henry A. Giroux, and others. This examination allows for the conceptualization of a comic poësis for understanding how instructional practices that meet students on uncommon ground contribute to the production, creation, and care for personhood as well as public culture. Ultimately, this essay balances theories of a comic teaching praxis with actual activities from the classroom to meditate on a pedagogy of reconciling curricula with who and where students are, beginning and ending with feedback loops.
Escenario técnico y económico para la valorización integral a pequeña escala de residuos de naranja en Colombia
Authors: Bedoya Betancur Santiago , Amar Gil Sebastian , Barrera Z. Rolando , Arriola V. Erasmo , Ardila A. Alba N.
Published: January 2022

Contexto: Se estudió la valoración integral de cáscara de naranja bajo un esquema de biorrefinería en el que se obtiene aceite de naranja (con hidrolato como subproducto y la valorización del aceite mediante la extracción de limoneno en etapas posteriores), pectina y harina para uso como suplemento en alimentación animal.
Método: El proceso consistió en cuatro etapas generales: i) extracción y obtención de aceite e hidrolato de naranja mediante el proceso de arrastre de vapor, ii) obtención de limoneno, iii) extracción de pectina por medio de hidrolisis ácida, y iv) obtención de pienso a partir de procesos de centrifugado y secado.
Resultados: Los experimentos y las caracterizaciones se realizaron a escala laboratorio, donde a partir de 700 g de cáscara (húmeda) se obtuvieron 3,34 mL de aceite (80-85 % limoneno), alrededor de 500 mL de hidrolato y cerca de 260 g de residuos sólidos (secos). De estos últimos, a partir de lotes de 50 g de material seco, se obtuvieron 9,7 g de pectina y alrededor de 40,3 g de harina para suplemento en alimentación animal.
Conclusiones: Según el análisis técnico-económico para la escala de producción utilizada y para el contexto nacional, se logran indicadores positivos como el valor presente neto (27’271.933) y la tasa interna de retorno (5,27 %), que muestran la alternativa de inversión interesante como para ser considerada una opción de valoración de residuos por pequeños y medianos productores de cítricos en el país.
STUDI SENSASI RUANG PADA MEDIA TUR VIRTUAL MUSEUM PENDIDIKAN SURABAYA
Authors: Redyantanu Bramasta Putra , Damayanti Rully
Published: January 2022

Kondisi pandemi corona membuat sebagian besar dari kita beradaptasi dengan kebiasaan baru. Keterbatasan untuk menuju berbagai tempat wisata secara fisik, membuat alternatif objek wisata bermunculan. Salah satunya adalah wisata virtual, sebuah media digital yang diatur sedemikian rupa agar dapat memberikan pengalaman maupun sensasi akan sebuah ruang wisata. Salah satu objek yang paling banyak dikonversi ke dalam media digital adalah museum. Media yang digunakan juga beragam, tidak hanya sebatas foto foto tidak bergerak, namun ada video, bahkan tur virtual yang interaktif. Tur interaktif ini dinavigasikan oleh perangkat digital, sehingga pengunjung bisa merasakan sensasi ruang berjalan jalan layaknya berada pada bangunan fisik. Studi ini ingin mempelajari apakah tur virtual bisa menggantikan keseluruhan sensasi indera manusia, walaupun sebenarnya yang dominan adalah indera penglihatan. Ada anggapan bahwa sensasi kadang terbentuk dari memori dan persepsi yang sudah dimiliki oleh masing masing orang sebelumnya, tidak hanya sebatas rangsangan langsung pada masing masing indera.
ARSITEKTUR UMA LULIK FUILORO, LOSPALOS KOTA, TIMOR-LESTE
Authors: Winandari Maria immaculata Ririk , Belo Andre Mariano Dos Santos
Published: January 2022

Uma Lulik is a sacred house for the people of Timor-Leste. This house is the unification of Nain (owner, ruler or supreme), Beala (ancestor), Lulik (sacred "nature and its contents"), Lisan (tradition "family or human life".). Uma Lulik in Fuiloro is built or renovated every 10 to 20 years depending on the lia nain and fatal building problems that occur in Uma Lulik, to serve as a bond between families. Uma Lulik remains a comfortable place for people to carry out rituals with their ancestors, those who are here and those who have gone. The purpose of this study was to find the architectural characteristics of uma lulik in the fuiloro tribe, Lospalos City. Interpretive history method is used by looking at interpreting past conditions with the present. The result showed that Uma lulik in Fuiloro tribe characteristic has a single stilt-shaped building as a place for sacral ceremonies and storage of sacred goods. The interior consists of kitchen and Labor Dato. The shape of the roof is pointed with 55° as high as + 7m-9m. This building has square floor plan + 3m x 3m or + 4m x 4m, rectangular wall + 3m x 4m, and column of 4 round wood arrangements as high as + 3m-4m. Materials consist of ulin wood (ai-bessi), rose wood (ai-ná), acadiro (ai-acadirum), bamboo (au-maus), palapeira/palapa (ai-car) and gamuteira/ gamuti (au-naulurir). Ornaments are woven long ropes and carvings. Structural systems are ‘ikat’ and portal systems.
Leksykografia Andrzeja Calagiusa. Uwagi wstępne
Authors: Jankowiak Lucyna Agnieszka
Published: January 2022

The aim of this article is to review the lexicography of Andrzej Calagius, to present a list of his dictionaries of synonyms and to correct the misinformation about his dictionaries. The article describes three German-Polish-Latin editions (1579, 1595, 1602), one German-Latin edition (1597), and two Latin editions (1592 and 1594). It also proves that these multilingual editions are not revised versions of the 1579 edition but independent dictionaries.
Arka Przymierza w Kronice, to jest historyi świata Marcina Bielskiego
Authors: Kozaryn Dorota
Published: January 2022

This article discusses the ways in which the biblical Ark of the Covenant is presented in Marcin Bielski’s Kronika, to jest historyja świata (Chronicle, that is the history of the world). The analyses point to Bielski’s use of a loanword in the form of arka or archa, the word’s translations into skrzynia (chest), and a sequence of both these terms. Bielski’s ignoring of the biblical translations of this term is also emphasised by his choice of determiners for the Ark. A search for the sources that Bielski drew from for the names he used for the Ark of the Covenant in the Vulgate, P. Comestor’s Historia scholastica, the Hebrew Bible, and the known medieval and 16th-century translations of the Bible, allows for concluding that the author felt free and unrestricted in his choices and followed guidelines known to him alone.
Choroby i ich objawy w XIX-wiecznym Słowniku polsko-łacińsko-łotewskim Jana Kurmina
Authors: Szamryk Konrad Kazimierz
Published: January 2022

This article presents an analysis of the names of diseases and their symptoms in Słownik polsko-łacińsko-łotewski (The Polish-Latin-Latvian dictionary) by Jan Kurmin (ed. Vilnius, 1858). The number of excerpted lexical items (377) is presented in 11 semantic fields (from the most expanded to the smallest one): diseases of the motor system, skin diseases, respiratory system diseases, symptoms of multiple diseases, internal diseases, infectious diseases, diseases of the sensory organs, wounds and cuts, digestive system diseases, mental diseases, cardiovascular diseases. The analysis shows that despite the high ability to observe symptoms, the knowledge of treatments remained limited, which is why the dictionary presents mostly diseases that can be easily observed with the unaided eye. The non-professional character of the dictionary is also evidenced by the use of synonymous sequences, vocabulary with indistinct meaning, and descriptive names of diseases.
Solar activity and COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Ragulskaya Maria
Published: January 2022

Solar activity (SA) dynamics increases mankind’s evolutionary adaptability to pandemics. Flu pandemics from 1880 to 2020 took place during maximum or minimum of solar cycles. The article discusses several factors that modulated the development of the COVID-19 pandemic: SA dynamic, genetic population features, environment temperature, the effect of lockdowns, and vaccination in various countries. The population genetic composition turned out to be the most significant factor for coronavirus mortalities during a SA global minimum 2019-2020. COVID-19 pandemic is most severe in countries with a dominant haplogroup R1b (the relative number of deaths per million is more than 12-25). Local COVID-19 epidemics were more easily in countries with a dominant haplogroup N (relative number of deaths less than 3). The incidence per million people in haplogroups R1b: R1a: N has a ratio of about 7: 2: 1. This ratio does not depend on the pandemic waves and the population vaccinated rate. Vaccination effectiveness may depend on the population’s genetic characteristics too.

It is expected to maintain extremely low solar activity during the 30 years. Under these conditions, a twofold increase in the number of pandemics (every 5-6 years instead of 10-11 years) can be expected with pronounced genogeographic differences.
Image and Word in Postmodern Poetry: Friederike Mayröcker’s BROTWOLKE
Authors: Schloon Jutta
Published: January 2022

This article explores the interplay of visual arts and poetic images in postmodern poetry, focusing on the case of Friederike Mayröcker’s poem BROTWOLKE, nach Karla Woisnitza (1996) [BREADCLOUD, after Karla Woisnitza]. The article shows that BROTWOLKE belongs to a group of texts whose titles indicate an ekphrasis or an intermedial quality, but whose specific point of reference is absent. Rather than referencing to a specific painting, the poem thus showcases different aspects of the visual. Offering a close reading of the poem, the article explores Mayröcker’s special technique of image-writing and its dynamic effect on the reader. The article argues that the poem both “shows the word” and “writes the image.” It is shown that Mayröcker’s stream-of-consciousness is a process that refers to the act of writing in the first place and then to an inventory of texts and images that float the text as a stream of sense-data.
Statistical modeling of COVID-19 deaths with excess zero counts
Authors: Khedhiri Sami
Published: January 2022

Objectives

Modeling and forecasting possible trajectories of COVID-19 infections and deaths using statistical methods is one of the most important topics in present time. However, statistical models use different assumptions and methods and thus yield different results. One issue in monitoring disease progression over time is how to handle excess zeros counts. In this research, we assess the statistical empirical performance of these models in terms of their fit and forecast accuracy of COVID-19 deaths.

Methods

Two types of models are suggested in the literature to study count time series data. The first type of models is based on Poisson and negative binomial conditional probability distributions to account for data over dispersion and using auto regression to account for dependence of the responses. The second type of models is based on zero-inflated mixed auto regression and also uses exponential family conditional distributions. We study the goodness of fit and forecast accuracy of these count time series models based on autoregressive conditional count distributions with and without zero inflation.

Results

We illustrate these methods using a recently published online COVID-19 data for Tunisia, which reports daily death counts from March 2020 to February 2021. We perform an empirical analysis and we compare the fit and the forecast performance of these models for death counts in presence of an intervention policy. Our statistical findings show that models that account for zero inflation produce better fit and have more accurate forecast of the pandemic deaths.

Conclusions

This paper shows that infectious disease data with excess zero counts are better modelled with zero-inflated models. These models yield more accurate predictions of deaths related to the pandemic than the generalized count data models. In addition, our statistical results find that the lift of travel restrictions has a significant impact on the surge of COVID-19 deaths. One plausible explanation of the outperformance of zero-inflated models is that the zero values are related to an intervention policy and therefore they are structural.
Dynamic data-driven algorithm to predict cumulative COVID-19 infected cases using susceptible-infected-susceptible model
Authors: Anand Abhinav , Kumar Saurabh , Ghosh Palash
Published: January 2022

Objectives

In recent times, researchers have used Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) model to understand the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The SIS model has two compartments, susceptible and infected. In this model, the interest is to determine the number of infected cases at a given time point. However, it is also essential to know the cumulative number of infected cases at a given time point, which is not directly available from the SIS model's present structure. The objective is to provide a modified SIS model to address that gap.

Methods

In this work, we propose a modified structure of the SIS model to determine the cumulative number of infected cases at a given time point. We develop a dynamic data-driven algorithm to estimate the model parameters based on an optimally chosen training phase to predict the number of cumulative infected cases.

Results

We demonstrate the proposed algorithm's prediction performance using COVID-19 data from Delhi, India's capital city. Considering different time periods, we observed the proposed algorithm’s performance using the modified SIS model is well to predict the cumulative infected cases with two different prediction periods 30 and 40. Our study supports the idea of estimating the modified SIS model's parameters based on the optimal training phase instead of the entire history as the training phase.

Conclusions

Here, we have provided a modified SIS model that accounts for deaths due to disease and predicts cumulative infected cases based on an optimally chosen training phase. The proposed estimation process is beneficial when the disease under study changes its spreading pattern over time. We have developed the modified SIS model considering COVID-19 as the disease under focus. However, the model and algorithms can be applied to predict the cumulative cases of other infectious diseases.
Existence results for a system of nonlinear operator equations and block operator matrices in locally convex spaces
Authors: Bahidi Fatima , Krichen Bilel , Mefteh Bilel
Published: January 2022

The purpose of this paper is to prove some fixed point results dealing with a system of nonlinear equations defined in an angelic Hausdorff locally convex space

(
X
,

{

|
⋅
|

p

}

p
∈
Λ

)

(X,\{\lvert\,{\cdot}\,\rvert_{p}\}_{p\in\Lambda})

having the 𝜏-Krein–Šmulian property, where 𝜏 is a weaker Hausdorff locally convex topology of 𝑋.
The method applied in our study is connected with a family

Φ
Λ
τ

\Phi_{\Lambda}^{\tau}

-MNC of measures of weak noncompactness and with the concept of 𝜏-sequential continuity.
As a special case, we discuss the existence of solutions for a

2
×
2

2\times 2

block operator matrix with nonlinear inputs.
Furthermore, we give an illustrative example for a system of nonlinear integral equations in the space

C
⁢

(

R
+

)

×
C

⁢

(

R
+

)

C(\mathbb{R}^{+})\times C(\mathbb{R}^{+})

to verify the effectiveness and applicability of our main result.
Pregnancy outcomes with differences in grain consumption: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Yamada Pamella , Paetow Alexandra , Chan Michael , Arslan Alan , Landberg Rikard , Young Bruce K.
Published: January 2022

Objectives

Contemporary obstetrics has begun to appreciate the importance of diet in pregnancy, but guidelines are not based on robust data. The hypothesis that a whole grains diet improves pregnancy outcomes is tested in this study. We compared maternal and neonatal outcomes for a pregnancy diet containing 75% of total carbohydrates as refined grains with outcomes for a diet with 75% of total carbohydrates as whole grains.

Methods

This was a randomized interventional study in a clinic population over the last 4–7 months of normal pregnancy with extensive compliance measures. Besides obstetrical and neonatal outcomes, anthropometric measurements were done. In addition to food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), total plasma alkyl resorcinols, a unique quantitative measure of whole grains, were used as a measure of whole grain consumption.

Results

The data show effective compliance and no difference in outcomes between the diets with regard to maternal weight gain, birth weights, subcutaneous fat and glucose tolerance.

Conclusions

Ensuring compliance to a proper pregnancy diet resulted in satisfactory weight gain and normal outcomes even when the proportion of whole grains consumed is only 25% of total carbohydrates.
Dostoevsky and the Word “Jew”: A Quantitative Analysis of F.M. Dostoevsky’s Greatest Novels
Authors: Nirenberg Yigal , Prebor Gila
Published: January 2022

The relationship of F.M Dostoevsky with Jews attracted the attention of numerous scholars throughout the years, many of whom attempted to grapple with the views of the great writer and their origin. In this article we will attempt to show this relationship by analyzing six of Dostoevsky’s greatest novels, written through the entirety of his career. We are analyzing these novels using Distant Reading in conjunction with Close Reading, tools that are commonly used in the field of digital humanities, which enabled us to show visually the extent of F.M. Dostoevsky’s engagement with this topic. The study poses two research questions: 1. To what extent did the writer use the more denigrating term “Zhid”? 2. Can we see a correlation between the writer’s portrayal of Jews with the definition of Anti-Semitism as it was known during his era? The obtained results show that there is clearly a correlation between the definition of anti-Semitism as it was understood at the time of Dostoevsky and the “Jew” as depicted in his novels, as the financial motif is paramount in the depiction of Jews as this is the central topic in 49% of the negative sentences in which the word “Jew” appears, with 59% of these sentences classified as stereotypes. The negative financial stereotype constitutes 32% of the entire corpus. In addition, we found the term “Zhid” is commonly used by the writer, a variation of which constitutes 75% of the total terms used to depict Jews.
Unusual neurological manifestations of bilateral medial medullary infarction: A case report
Authors: Zheng Ruizhi , Zhang Ting , Zeng Xianzhu , Yu Miao , Jin Zhao , Zhang Jing
Published: January 2022

Bilateral medial medullary infarction (BMMI) is an extremely rare type of cerebrovascular accident often resulting in poor functional consequences. “Heart appearance” on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the unique presentation of BMMI. In this article, we present an acute ischemic stroke patient whose brain MRI showed the atypical “heart appearance” sign, manifested unusual bilateral central facial paralysis concurrently. For an early diagnosis of BMMI, it is essential to recognize the characteristic clinical and MRI findings of this rare type of stroke. Abnormal small dot or linear DWI signal at the midline of the brainstem should not be ignored at the early stage of stroke.
Design framework for polarization-insensitive multifunctional achromatic metalenses
Authors: Heiden Jacob T. , Jang Min Seok
Published: January 2022

Controlling the wavefront of light, especially on a subwavelength scale, is pivotal in modern optics. Metasurfaces present a unique platform for realizing flat lenses, called metalenses, with thicknesses on the order of the wavelength. Despite substantial effort, however, suppressing the chromatic aberrations over large operational bandwidths of metalenses still remains a challenge. Here, we develop a systematic design method enabling a simultaneous, polarization-insensitive control of the phase and the group delay of a light beam based on libraries of transmission-mode dielectric meta-elements. Mid-infrared achromatic metalenses are designed and theoretically analyzed to have diffraction-limited focal spots with vanishing chromatic aberrations in the operating wavelength range of 6–8.5 μm, while maintaining high focusing efficiencies of 41% on average. The proposed methodology, which can be used as a general design rule for all spectra, also provides a versatile design scheme for ultrashort pulse focusing and achromatic vortex-beam generation (orbital angular momentum), representing a major advance toward practical implementations of functional metalenses.
Terahertz meta-chip switch based on C-ring coupling
Authors: Gong Sen , Zeng Hongxin , Zhang Qianyu , Bi Chunyang , Wang Lan , Zhou Tianchi , Yang Ziqiang , Zhang Yaxin , Meng Fanzhong , Zhang Zhenpeng , Fang Yuan
Published: January 2022

Terahertz switch is one of the key components of future communication, radar, and imaging systems. Limited by the strong electromagnetic coupling in subwavelength scale, the traditional terahertz switch is difficult to meet the increasing application requirements. In this paper, a parallel topology terahertz meta-chip switch based on the combination of equivalent circuit theory and electromagnetic coupling is proposed. The meta-chip is realized by adjusting the density of two-dimensional electron gas of InP-HEMT, which converts the electromagnetic coupling between the microstructure and microstrips. By using the 90 nm gate length InP-HEMT process, a C-ring loaded meta-chip is fabricated and tested in this paper. The results show an insertion loss lower than 1 dB with a 10 dB switching ratio, which is 20% higher than that without C-ring while ensuring the rather low insertion loss. It shows that the presented mechanism has positive significance for the design of terahertz band functional devices.
On solitons: Propagation of shallow water waves for the fifth-order KdV hierarchy integrable equation
Authors: Seadawy Aly R. , Rehman Shafiq U. , Younis Muhammad , Rizvi Syed T. R. , Althobaiti Ali
Published: January 2022

This article studies the fifth-order KdV (5KdV) hierarchy integrable equation, which arises naturally in the modeling of numerous wave phenomena such as the propagation of shallow water waves over a flat surface, gravity–capillary waves, and magneto-sound propagation in plasma. Two innovative integration norms, namely, the

G

′

G

2

\left(\frac{{G}^{^{\prime} }}{{G}^{2}}\right)

-expansion and ansatz approaches, are used to secure the exact soliton solutions of the 5KdV type equations in the shapes of hyperbolic, singular, singular periodic, shock, shock-singular, solitary wave, and rational solutions. The constraint conditions of the achieved solutions are also presented. Besides, by selecting appropriate criteria, the actual portrayal of certain obtained results is sorted out graphically in three-dimensional, two-dimensional, and contour graphs. The results suggest that the procedures used are concise, direct, and efficient, and that they can be applied to more complex nonlinear phenomena.
Abundant stable novel solutions of fractional-order epidemic model along with saturated treatment and disease transmission
Authors: Khater Mostafa M. A. , Lu Dianchen , Salama Samir A.
Published: January 2022

This article proposes and analyzes a fractional-order susceptible, infectious, susceptible (SIS) epidemic model with saturated treatment and disease transmission by employing four recent analytical techniques along with a novel fractional operator. This model is computationally handled by extended simplest equation method, sech–tanh expansion method, modified Khater method, and modified Kudryashov method. The results’ stable characterization is investigated through the Hamiltonian system’s properties. The analytical solutions are demonstrated through several numerical simulations.
Prolonged exposure for pain and comorbid PTSD: a single-case experimental study of a treatment supplement to multiprofessional pain rehabilitation
Authors: Åkerblom Sophia , Perrin Sean , Fischer Marcelo Rivano , McCracken Lance M.
Published: January 2022

Objectives

It is unclear how to address PTSD in the context of chronic pain management. Here we examine the potential benefits of an addition of prolonged exposure (PE) therapy for PTSD for adults attending multidisciplinary CBT for chronic pain.

Methods

Four adults seeking treatment for chronic pain from a specialized pain rehabilitation service were offered PE for PTSD using a replicated, randomized, single-case experimental phase design, prior to commencing a 5-week multidisciplinary CBT program for chronic pain. Pre-, post-, follow-up, and daily measures allowed examination of PTSD and pain outcomes, potential mediators, and the trajectory of these outcomes and potential mediators during the subsequent pain-focused CBT program.

Results

Visual inspection of the daily data demonstrated changes in all outcome variables and potential mediators during the PE phase. Changes came at different times and at different rates for the four participants, highlighting the individual nature of putative change mechanisms. Consistent with expectation, PE produced reliable change in the severity of PTSD symptoms and trauma-related beliefs for all four participants, either by the end of the PE phase or the PE follow-up, with these gains maintained by the end of the 5-week pain-focused CBT program. However, few reductions in pain intensity or pain interference were seen either during the PE phase or after.

Conclusions

Although “disorder specific” approaches have dominated the conceptualising, study, and treatment of conditions like PTSD and chronic pain, such approaches may not be optimal. It may be better instead to approach cases in an individual and process-focused fashion.

Ethical committee number

2013/381.
Altered sleep intensity upon DBS to hypothalamic sleep–wake centers in rats
Authors: Masneuf Sophie , Imbach Lukas L. , Büchele Fabian , Colacicco Giovanni , Penner Marco , Moreira Carlos G. , Ineichen Christian , Jahanshahi Ali , Temel Yasin , Baumann Christian R. , Noain Daniela
Published: January 2022

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been scarcely investigated in the field of sleep research. We hypothesize that DBS onto hypothalamic sleep- and wake-promoting centers will produce significant neuromodulatory effects and potentially become a therapeutic strategy for patients suffering severe, drug-refractory sleep–wake disturbances. We aimed to investigate whether continuous electrical high-frequency DBS, such as that often implemented in clinical practice, in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) or the perifornical area of the posterior lateral hypothalamus (PeFLH), significantly modulates sleep–wake characteristics and behavior. We implanted healthy rats with electroencephalographic/electromyographic electrodes and recorded vigilance states in parallel to bilateral bipolar stimulation of VLPO and PeFLH at 125 Hz and 90 µA over 24 h to test the modulating effects of DBS on sleep–wake proportions, stability and spectral power in relation to the baseline. We unexpectedly found that VLPO DBS at 125 Hz deepens slow-wave sleep (SWS) as measured by increased delta power, while sleep proportions and fragmentation remain unaffected. Thus, the intensity, but not the amount of sleep or its stability, is modulated. Similarly, the proportion and stability of vigilance states remained altogether unaltered upon PeFLH DBS but, in contrast to VLPO, 125 Hz stimulation unexpectedly weakened SWS, as evidenced by reduced delta power. This study provides novel insights into non-acute functional outputs of major sleep–wake centers in the rat brain in response to electrical high-frequency stimulation, a paradigm frequently used in human DBS. In the conditions assayed, while exerting no major effects on the sleep–wake architecture, hypothalamic high-frequency stimulation arises as a provocative sleep intensity-modulating approach.
Two new bis(pyridine)-bis(amide)-based copper(II) coordination compounds for the electrochemical detection of trace Cr(VI) and efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution
Authors: Lin Hong-Yan , Liu Qian-Qian , Tian Yuan , Zeng Ling
Published: January 2022

Two new metal-organic compounds (MOCs) [Cu(L)0.5(3-nba)2] (1) and [Cu(L)(2,5-tdc)] (2) have been hydrothermally synthesized by employing the ligand N,N′-di(3-pyridyl)adipoamide (L) and two carboxylic acids (3-Hnba = 3-nitrobenzoic acid, 2,5-H2tdc = 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylic acid) as ligands. Compound 1 displays a metal-organic chain-like structure formed by the {Cu2(3-nba)4} double-paddle wheel units and the µ
2-bridging L ligands. The adjacent polymeric chains form a supramolecular layered structure through hydrogen bonding. Compound 2 shows a 3D metal-organic polymeric framework derived from Cu-L layers and µ
2-bridging 2,5-tdc ligands, which presents a 3,5-connected {4.62}{4.66.83} topology. The electrochemical and electrocatalytic behavior of the two compounds has been studied in detail. Carbon paste working electrodes modified with compounds 1 and 2 can be used as highly selective sensors for detecting traces Cr(VI). Both electrodes show also electrocatalytic performance in oxygen evolution reactions (OERs).
Distorted Tonotopy Severely Degrades Neural Representations of Connected Speech in Noise following Acoustic Trauma
Authors: Parida Satyabrata , Heinz Michael G.
Published: January 2022

Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) struggle to understand speech, especially in noise, despite audibility compensation. These real-world suprathreshold deficits are hypothesized to arise from degraded frequency tuning and reduced temporal-coding precision; however, peripheral neurophysiological studies testing these hypotheses have been largely limited to in-quiet artificial vowels. Here, we measured single auditory-nerve-fiber responses to a connected speech sentence in noise from anesthetized male chinchillas with normal hearing (NH) or noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Our results demonstrated that temporal precision was not degraded following acoustic trauma, and furthermore that sharpness of cochlear frequency tuning was not the major factor affecting impaired peripheral coding of connected speech in noise. Rather, the loss of cochlear tonotopy, a hallmark of NH, contributed the most to both consonant-coding and vowel-coding degradations. Because distorted tonotopy varies in degree across etiologies (e.g., noise exposure, age), these results have important implications for understanding and treating individual differences in speech perception for people suffering from SNHL.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTDifficulty understanding speech in noise is the primary complaint in audiology clinics and can leave people with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) suffering from communication difficulties that affect their professional, social, and family lives, as well as their mental health. We measured single-neuron responses from a preclinical SNHL animal model to characterize salient neural-coding deficits for naturally spoken speech in noise. We found the major mechanism affecting neural coding was not a commonly assumed factor, but rather a disruption of tonotopicity, the systematic mapping of acoustic frequency to cochlear place that is a hallmark of normal hearing. Because the degree of distorted tonotopy varies across hearing-loss etiologies, these results have important implications for precision audiology approaches to diagnosis and treatment of SNHL.