bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Publication venues for L2 pronunciation research
Authors: Levis John M. , Sonsaat Sinem
Published: February 2020

A recurring question for researchers in any field concerns the best place to submit their research. This is also
true of L2 pronunciation research. In this paper, we look at journals that have repeatedly published pronunciation research over
the past decade. Publication venues include specialist journals that focus on speech, general second language acquisition and
learning journals, regional journals, and newsletters. The first two sets of journals are accompanied by word clouds from their
scope and aims statements. The paper encourages authors to consider a number of issues in determining the best places to submit L2
pronunciation research.
Rendering the untellable, tellable
Authors: Thomas M’Balia
Published: March 2020

Goffman’s concepts of face and face work, and his assertion that talk in face-to-face interaction is cooperative, are undertheorized and often critiqued. In an attempt to expand on these concepts, excerpts are analyzed from a single-teller narrative which evolves into a 13-minute conversational story about the relationship troubles of an absent third party. Analyzed for the verbal and nonverbal disruptions and subsequent adjustments and remedial actions manifested by participants, Conversation Analysis (CA) is employed to capture how threats to face surface and how they are recognized, cooperatively managed, and made tellable. Through the analysis, this paper addresses the perceived incommensurability between CA and Goffman’s notion of face, demonstrating the ways in which face is (1) a doing a doing, a situated presentation of self that serves narrative-advancing functions and renders talk tellable as threats to face arise and (2) an achievement comprised of moves that are tacitly cooperative, ambiguously cooperative, or uncooperatively cooperative.
Notes on Modern Hebrew phonology and orthography
Authors: Klein Stav
Published: March 2020

This brief survey chapter starts by characterizing the phonemic inventory of consonants and vowels in Modern
Hebrew (MH). It then notes departures from earlier stages of the language, such as the full or partial merger of
historical “emphatic” stops with plain stops, the loss of pharyngeal and glottal phonemes (“gutturals’), degemination,
and the loss of active phonological rules, such as vowel lengthening and reduction, which together account for the
much reduced inventory of both consonants and vowels in all present-day usage, including “Mizrahi” and more generally used pronunciations. Selected phonotactic features of MH phonology – syllable structure, CV alternations, consonant clusters, stress, and word length – are touched on. A final section deals with the essentially
conservative Hebrew orthography, as compared with the dynamics of its phonology.
Negation in Modern Hebrew
Authors: Shor Leon
Published: March 2020

This chapter examines the expression of negation in spontaneous spoken Modern
Hebrew. It provides a quantitative description of syntactic negation in the Corpus
of Spoken Israeli Hebrew (CoSIH) to address syntactic, pragmatic, and prosodic
properties of negation. The study shows that in addition to the prototypical function of
rejection and denial, negative utterances are used for mitigating evaluations, implying the
desirability of a state/event, and strengthening the speaker’s claim by rejecting potential
counter-arguments. Moreover, the prosodic prominence of negators may be influenced by
cognitive and interactional motivations. Particular attention is paid to phenomena that
usually remain unaddressed in descriptions of negation, such as negative sentences with
extra-sentential scope, negation-based discourse markers, and non-linguistic negation.
“A received pronunciation”
Authors: Beal Joan C.
Published: March 2020

This chapter examines the codification of English
pronunciation prior to the emergence and recognition of RP. I
analyse early citations of “received pronunciation” and contrast
these with later uses of “Received Pronunciation”. Drawing on Haugen (1966) and Milroy & Milroy (1999),
I identify the processes of standardisation and distinguish
standardisation from levelling before outlining the history of
standardisation in English. I then discuss why the need for a
standard pronunciation arose in the eighteenth century and the
criteria used to select and codify pronunciations. I conclude that
authors such as Walker and Sheridan did not succeed in implementing
a standard pronunciation, but their attempts at codification laid
the ground for the emergence of RP in the nineteenth century.
In search of “the lexicographic stamp”
Authors: Queiroz de Barros Rita
Published: March 2020

This chapter is a contribution to the study of G. A. Sala and of the LModE period from the perspective of historical lexicography. Taking as its starting point
“Slang”, an article published by Sala in an 1853 issue of Dickens’s Household
Words, the study investigates Sala’s reliance on
previous glossaries of slang and the possible impact of the numerous
examples he provides upon the first edition of the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED1), prepared
shortly after. The analysis described concludes that, despite Sala’s
discussion of words previously unregistered in dictionaries, his
text had a tenuous impact upon OED1; it shows
furthermore that OED1 did not ignore recent
contemporaneous slang, testifying instead to the complex relation
LModE speakers had with non-standard language.
Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic
integration in English
Authors: Landmann Julia
Published: March 2020

A great variety of French culinary vocabulary
has been taken over into English down the ages (e.g., Chirol 1973). During the
eighteenth century, too, French served English as an important donor
of lexical items which reveal the finesse of French cookery. The
present analysis sets out to shed light on the semantic integration
of French-derived culinary terms. An essential objective of this
paper is to find out whether (a) a particular sense a borrowing
adopts after being introduced into English has its origins in French
(as a result of the continuing influence of French on English) or
(b) whether the relevant change in meaning is due to an internal
sense development within the receiving language.
Clausal nominalization in Kakataibo (Panoan)
Authors: Valle Daniel , Zariquiey Roberto
Published: March 2020

This paper describes the meaning, functions and structure of grammatical nominalizations in two dialects of Kakataibo, a Panoan language spoken in the Peruvian Amazon basin. Grammatical nominalization is a pervasive feature of Kakataibo connected speech, which is explained by the wide array of functions they are used for, which include relativization and complementation. In terms of their morphosyntax, grammatical nominalizations show a mixed behavior in that they combine internal clausal properties with external nominal features. These synchronic properties shed some light into the historical development of some of the switch-reference suffixes in the language.
“We Deserve Better”: Ideologies of Deservingness and Status in the Interpretation of Chinese Goods in an Iranian Bazaar
Authors: Theobald Simon
Published: March 2020

This article argues that even as Chinese imports occupy an increasingly large percentage of the space in Mashhad’s bazaars and marketplaces, such goods are interpreted not only as being of poor quality but, critically, as insufficiently “worthy” of the Iranian middle class who positioned themselves as “deserving better.” In attempting to assess why this is the case, the article suggests that such framing both reveals much of, and requires us to consider, the pivotal role of status in Iran. It holds that this concern for status is expressed at multiple levels: that of the family, as a class, and finally, of the nation. At each of these levels of expression, it is possible to trace different post-revolutionary social phenomena. These include the reification of the family as a moral unit, major shifts in the demographics of education and urbanization, the rise of a consumer culture and the perilous decline of the fortunes of the middle class, and, finally, imaginings of national exceptionalism. This article then uses such readings of Chinese goods as a window into middle class ideologies of worth and deservingness.
Shaking photons from the vacuum: acceleration radiation from vibrating atoms
Authors: Dolan Brian P , Hunter-McCabe Aonghus , Twamley Jason
Published: March 2020

Acceleration radiation—or Unruh radiation—the thermal radiation observed by an ever accelerating observer or detector, although having similarities to Hawking radiation, so far has proved extremely challenging to observe experimentally. One recent suggestion is that, in the presence of a mirror, constant acceleration of an atom in its ground state can excite the atom while at the same time cause it to emit a photon in an Unruh-type process. In this work we show that merely by shaking the atom, in simple harmonic motion for example, can have the same effect. We calculate the transition rate for this in first order perturbation theory and consider harmonic motion of the atom in the presence of a stationary mirror, or within a cavity or just in empty vacuum. For the latter we propose a circuit-QED potential implementation that yields transition rates of ∼10−4 Hz, which may be detectable experimentally.
Growth and infrared switching properties of deposited VO2 films at various sputtering power with a VO2 target by RF magnetron sputtering
Authors: Muslim N , Soon Y W , Voo N Y
Published: February 2020

In this work, structural and morphological properties as well as phase transition temperature and hysteresis width of VO2 thin films grown with a VO2 target by RF magnetron sputtering were studied under the influence of relatively low sputtering power of 80 – 140 W. It was observed that as sputtering power increased, the crystallinity of the films improved with the presence of obvious diffraction peaks of VO2, and a slight increase in the average crystallite and grain sizes of the films. The deposited films revealed a slight change in infrared transmittance during heating and cooling cycles. Films deposited at sputtering power of 140 W exhibited the lowest Tt of 60.5 °C with a hysteresis width of 41.0 °C.
Study on Temperature Related Factors of Asphalt Pavement Based on APRIORI
Authors: Lin W Y , Zhang Z H , Qiu X , Xu W Y , Hong H J
Published: February 2020

Asphalt is a typical temperature-sensitive material. In order to explore the correlation between surface temperature of asphalt pavements and meteorological factors, the association rules mining algorithm (Apriori) was applied to identify the key factors affecting the surface temperature of asphalt pavement. Firstly, errors and missing data in the meteorological dataset were cleaned. Then, Apriori was applied to identify the key factors affecting the asphalt pavement temperature. The results indicate that Apriori would perform an excellent ability to analyze the correlation rules between meteorological factors with the minimum confidence of 0.8 and the key meteorological factors which affect the temperature change of asphalt pavements are excavated including air temperature, air pressure, dew point temperature and relative humidity. The research would serve as a technical support for the machine learning algorithms applied in the field of the association rule analysis.
Analysis of high plasticity clayey soil improvement at subgrade level through Portland cement added to decrease volumetric change
Authors: Castro M , Navarro J , Aybar G , Duran G
Published: February 2020

This research includes the potential for resistance and the expansion that the soil presents, this evaluation was carried out through CBR tests. The soil cement technique was used to improve the physical and mechanical characteristics; this process consists in mixing the material with Portland cement type I. That combination forms soil cement 10%, 15% y 20%, which present an increase of the CBR (max: 138.7% and min: 91.9%) achieving a type of extraordinary subgrade to resist the structure of the pavement and a reduction of 7.18% in the expansion of the samples.
Stabilization of clayey soil for subgrade using rice husk ash (RHA) and sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA)
Authors: Hidalgo F. , Saavedra J , Fernandez C , Duran G
Published: February 2020

This document studies the stabilization of the soil used as a subgrade, by adding locally available materials such as rice husk ash (RHA) and sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA). These aggregates were added to the soil in substitution by weight between 5%, 7.5% and 10%. By adding these, the expansiveness is reduced while the maximum dry density increases, in addition the tendency of CBR is increasing and then tends to decrease proportionally to the addition of the aforementioned aggregates. This indicates a peak in CBR and expandability. The best result obtained from CBR was 33.75% with the 5% replacement mixtures.
Control of fissures generated by the retraction in rigid pavements, applying synthetic fibers of recycled polypropylene.
Authors: Torres V , Chirinos K , Cuervo C
Published: February 2020

The retraction affects the setting process and the useful life of the concrete with the appearance of fissures; in last year’s studies and methods have been generated to mitigate and control it with the use of different products and applications. The development of road infrastructure with the use of concrete as a rolling folder, requires methods to guarantee the durability and reduce the effects of the efforts incorporated by the use, climatic conditions, support base and restrictions of movement of the structure. To evaluate the effects of recycled synthetic polypropylene fibers in plastic retraction tests (ASTM C 1579), 3 mix designs were prepared with different ratios 58 gr., 116 gr., and 176 gr. of recycled and virgin synthetic fibers; the most significant and positive result to reduce fissures without affecting the resistance of concrete by bending and compression, was 0.50 mm without addition fibers, 0.10 mm and 0.15 mm with 176 gr. of virgin and recycled synthetic fibers. Finally, it can be concluded that adding a ratio of 4 kg per m3 allows good workability, in addition, the costs of the fibers are not representative compared to the high costs for future repairs.
Photocatalytic Activity of Cu-based Nanoparticles Synthesized by Glycine-Nitrate Combustion Technique
Authors: Cheng Hsuhui , Jang Liangwei , Chen Shiaoshing , Chen Huamin
Published: February 2020

The copper based nanoparticles was synthesized by glycine-nitrate process (GNP), using copper nitrate trihydrate [Cu(NO3)2· 3H2O] as main starting materials and glycine [C2H5NO2] as complexant and incendiary agent. The as-prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Results of the photocatalytic degradation of Nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NP9EO) in a custom-made photoreactor indicated that the maximum degradation (more than 94% and 70% TOD removal) of NP9EO occurred with CuO+Cu2O composite catalyst (dosage of 0.3 g/L) when a combination of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for 600 min, and a heterogeneous system was used.
Combined opto-mechanical measurements with the transparent indenter’s tip
Authors: Maslenikov I , Useinov A
Published: February 2020

Transparent indenter’s tip proposed elsewhere allows to observe sample surface before, after and during an indentation measurements. Such an ability allows not only to select the indentation with the real-time optic image and observe residual imprints, but also conduct spectroscopic measurements. Current work shows an examples of the tip application, in particular the possibility to observe a cracks during a scratching.
Experimental study of the mechanical effect of a clayey soil by adding rubber powder for geotechnical applications
Authors: Alvarez N , Gutierrez J , Duran G , Pacheco L
Published: February 2020

At present, worrying quantities of tires are discarded due to the growth in demand for vehicles in the world, which has a direct impact on the deterioration of the environment since they normally go to landfills. Based on the background found, the use of this material for geotechnical applications can help reduce the pollution they generate and improve the physical and mechanical properties of soils. Therefore, this research seeks to evaluate a greater shear strength and capacity of support to the penetration of the clayey soil by means of the addition of 1.5%, 2.5% and 3.5% of rubber powder recycled. For this, the Atterberg limits analysis, the modified proctor compaction test, shear box and CBR were performed. For the shear box test, the results reflect that the cohesion of the mixture increased and the angle of internal friction decreased with respect to the natural soil, resulting in the sum in an increase of shear strength. On the other hand, the percentage of CBR increased, this means that the rubber helped the soil to be more rigid and have a greater resistance to penetration. These mixtures could be used in different projects within geotechnical engineering, as it presents an improvement in shear strength and an acceptable support index value (CBR).
Evaporation processes of alloying components duringwire-arcdeposition of aluminum alloy 5056
Authors: Salomatova E.S. , Kartashev M.F. , Trushnikov D.N. , Permykov G.L. , Olshanskaya T.V. , Abashev I.R. , Fedoseeva E.M. , Koleva E.G.
Published: February 2020

Additive manufacturing technologies are developing fast world wide. Never the less, in the machine-building industry, manufacturing of especially large products is required, and common processes, for example, selective laser melting, are not able to satisfy this requirement. Multilayer wire-arc deposition, allows to make high-quality large-scale products. In addition, the productivity of wire-arc deposition is many times higher than the productivity of powder additive manufacturing. Never the less, the metal obtained by this method is likely to lose easily evaporated alloying elements, which is mainly due to excessive heat and high deposition rates. This process leads to reduced mechanical properties of the deposited metal. The paper presents the results of chemical analysis of the sample obtained by CMT deposition of aluminum alloy 5056.It was revealed that during wire-arc deposition there is evaporation of some alloy components, for example magnesium. A nonlinear theoretical model of nonequilibrium processes in the liquid phase of the deposited metal and the processes of evaporation of chemical easily evaporated elements in the zone of influence of the heating source of wire-arc deposition is presented. Verification of the model was carried out by studying the chemical composition of the samples. During X-ray fluorescence analysis, reduced magnesium content of the first deposited layer was revealed. Increase in the magnesium content was in the upper deposited layers
Effect of superplasticizer in anti-washout admixture on paste
Authors: Zhang Ming , Wang Wuxiang
Published: February 2020

Anti-washout admixture used for anti-washout underwater concrete is composed of flocculant (e.g., paste stabilizer), superplasticizer, setting retarder, strengthening agent, etc. Good compatibility among those constitutes is necessary to release the vast material potential of anti-washout admixture. In the study, effects of polycarboxylate superplasticizer on fresh cement paste mixed paste stabilizer of various ionic type were experimentally investigated. Based on the experimental results, the optimizations on the ionic type and molecular weight of paste stabilizer, regarding the compatibility with polycarboxylate superplasticizer, were hence obtained. Additionally, suitable content ranges of polycarboxylate superplasticizer, molecular weight and content of paste stabilizer have been determined through systematic tests, such as saturation point test, fluidity test, and anti-washout test.
Study on anti-permeability of specified density concrete
Authors: Yan Shuaishuai , Zhang Ming
Published: February 2020

Anti-permeability is one of critical properties of concrete, as a porous material, ceramsite in specified density concrete leads to many performance changes compare with ordinary concrete, such as mechanical properties, volume stability, durability, et al. combined with micro-test technology, this study investigated the effect of replacement rate and pre-wetting degree of ceramsite, water to binder (W/B) ratio, the content of fly ash, and the composite of aggregate on specified density concrete, and concluded appropriate range of above narrated factors.
Characteristic enhancement of InGaN-based light emitting diodes grown on pattern sapphire substrates
Authors: Wang Huanyou , Jin Gui , Tan Qiaolai
Published: February 2020

Blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an InGaN multi-quantum well (MQW) structure were fabricated on cone-shaped patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) using a single growth process of metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The PSS was proved to be an efficient method to decrease the threading dislocation (TD) density in GaN epifilm with the lateral growth mode on PSS. The LED designed on PSS increased the electroluminescene (EL) intensity. The internal quantum efficiency is increased by reducing the dislocation density, and light extraction efficiency is also enhanced owing to PSS.
Preparation of Eu(Avobenzone)3TPPO by precipitation method and its luminescence performance
Authors: Wei X Z , Gao S S , Tang P S , Zhang L Q , Hou R P , Chen H F
Published: February 2020

Using Eu2O3 as raw material, anhydrous ethanol as solvent system, 1-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3-propanedione (Avobenzone) as first ligands and triphenylphosphane oxide (TPPO) as second ligands, the rare earth complex Eu(Avobenzone)3TPPO has been successfully prepared by precipitation method. The Eu(Avobenzone)3TPPO were characterized by fluorescence spectrum analysis (FS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR) and color coordinate calculation. The thermal stability of Eu(Avobenzone)3TPPO was studied by thermogravimetry differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC). The results showed that Eu(Avobenzone)3TPPO emitted strong red characteristic fluorescence, the optimal excitation wavelength was 397nm, the characteristic emission wavelength was 612 nm, and the color coordinates were (0.66, 0.34). Eu(Avobenzone)3TPPO decomposes at about 200°C it shows good thermal stability.
The performance of a novel inorganic organic composite drilling fluids loss reducer AM/AA/GO
Authors: Chen Xiuping , Zhang Yunyue , Fan Sheng , Du Weichao
Published: February 2020

In this paper, an inorganic/organic water-based drilling fluids reducer AM/AA/GO was prepared by using acrylamide (AM), acrylic acid (AA) and graphene oxide (GO) as raw material. Performance evaluation showed that the AM/AA/GO has an excellent filtration loss reduce performance. It has a good salt resistance performance and its temperatures resistance ability was up to 140 °C. The comprehensive results showed that AM/AA/GO is expected to be used in anti-collapse water-based drilling fluids.
Low velocity impact analysis of high-order rectangular FG-CNTRC plates using the weak form QEM
Authors: Di Baojun , Hu Qigao , Shen Zhiqiang , Zhang Wei , Wang Chongxu
Published: February 2020

The functionally graded carbon nanotubes reinforced composites (FG-CNTRC) plates have excellent properties and broad application prospects. In the analysis of low velocity impact response of functionally graded carbon nanotubes reinforced composite plates, innovative numerical formulations are urgently needed. As a new high-order numerical method, the weak form quadrature element method (QEM) has its unique advantages and has been widely used in the engineering structural field. In this paper, the nonlinear Hertzian contact law is employed to describe the impact process between a rigid impactor and the rectangular FG-CNTRC plate, that was modelled with the Reddy’s high-order shear deformation theory. By using the weak form QEM, the calculation model for the impact system is established, and the numerical solution is carried out with the help of Newmark-β step-by-step time domain integration method and Newton-Raphson iteration technology. The effectiveness and accuracy of the weak form QEM formulation were verified through the comparison with the existing literature and the relevant low velocity impact properties of FG-CNTRC plate are explored.
Poetic Resistances and the Indian Occupation of Alcatraz
Authors: Hickey Alanna
Published: February 2020

This essay examines the literary writings produced by Native activists during the 1969–71 Indian Occupation of Alcatraz. Analyzing the contentious historiography of the Occupation, I argue that the activists on the island (who collectively called themselves the Indians of All Tribes) deftly invested in media forms that could contest false narrative accounts reported from the mainland. I follow the circulation of poetry written on the island through its print life in the Indians of All Tribes Newsletter, a literary and informational bulletin composed on Alcatraz, in which activists articulated plans to expand Native-controlled literary and art markets as a financial basis for self-determination. Reading through two archival collections from the Indians of All Tribes in relation to ongoing Native community-building in the Bay Area, I argue that, then and now, the Bay Area Native community has strategically and suspiciously engaged with a consumer base marked by a seemingly bottomless appetite for Native media and a disregard for Native sovereignty.
Integrated querying and version control of context-specific biological networks
Authors: Cowman Tyler , Coşkun Mustafa , Grama Ananth , Koyutürk Mehmet
Published: March 2020

Motivation

Biomolecular data stored in public databases is increasingly specialized to organisms, context/pathology and tissue type, potentially resulting in significant overhead for analyses. These networks are often specializations of generic interaction sets, presenting opportunities for reducing storage and computational cost. Therefore, it is desirable to develop effective compression and storage techniques, along with efficient algorithms and a flexible query interface capable of operating on compressed data structures. Current graph databases offer varying levels of support for network integration. However, these solutions do not provide efficient methods for the storage and querying of versioned networks.

Results

We present VerTIoN, a framework consisting of novel data structures and associated query mechanisms for integrated querying of versioned context-specific biological networks. As a use case for our framework, we study network proximity queries in which the user can select and compose a combination of tissue-specific and generic networks. Using our compressed version tree data structure, in conjunction with state-of-the-art numerical techniques, we demonstrate real-time querying of large network databases.

Conclusion

Our results show that it is possible to support flexible queries defined on heterogeneous networks composed at query time while drastically reducing response time for multiple simultaneous queries. The flexibility offered by VerTIoN in composing integrated network versions opens significant new avenues for the utilization of ever increasing volume of context-specific network data in a broad range of biomedical applications.

Availability and Implementation

VerTIoN is implemented as a C++ library and is available at http://compbio.case.edu/omics/software/vertion and https://github.com/tjcowman/vertion

Contact

tyler.cowman@case.edu
Comparison of interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as biomarkers of residual risk in contemporary practice: secondary analyses from the Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial
Authors: Ridker Paul M , MacFadyen Jean G , Glynn Robert J , Bradwin Gary , Hasan Ahmed A , Rifai Nader
Published: March 2020

Aims

In epidemiologic cohorts initiated >30 years ago, inflammatory biomarkers, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were shown to independently predict future cardiovascular events with a magnitude of effect comparable to that of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC). Whether aggressive contemporary therapy for atherosclerosis has altered these relationships is unknown yet has major implications for future drug development.

Methods and results

Interleukin-6, hsCRP, and LDLC were measured at baseline in up to 4168 North American patients enrolled in the contemporary Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial with prior myocardial infarction or multivessel coronary disease who additionally had diabetes or metabolic syndrome and were followed for a period of up to 5 years for incident major recurrent cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Three-quarters of the cohort were previously revascularized and the great majority was taking statins, angiotensin blocking agents, beta-blockers, and antithrombotic agents. Participants were randomly allocated to low-dose methotrexate 15 mg weekly or to placebo. Randomized use of methotrexate had no effect on event rates nor plasma levels of IL-6, hsCRP, or LDL over time. Yet, baseline levels of IL-6, hsCRP, and LDLC were all predictors of major recurrent cardiovascular events; adjusted hazard ratios [HR; 95% confidence interval (CI)] for the lowest to highest baseline quartiles of IL-6 were 1.0 (referent), 1.66 (1.18–2.35), 1.92 (1.36–2.70), and 2.11 (1.49–2.99; P < 0.0001), while adjusted HRs for increasing quartiles of hsCRP were 1.0 (referent), 1.28 (0.92–1.79), 1.73 (1.25–2.38), and 1.79 (1.28–2.50; P < 0.0001) and adjusted HRs for increasing quartiles of LDLC were 1.0 (referent), 1.12 (0.78–1.62), 1.25 (0.87–1.79), and 2.38 (1.72–3.30; P < 0.0001). Effect estimates were not statistically different in these analyses for comparisons between IL-6, hsCRP, or LDLC, although IL-6 was the strongest predictor of all-cause mortality. The highest absolute risks were observed among those with elevated levels of both cholesterol and inflammation [HR 6.4 (95% CI 2.9–14.1) for those in the top quartiles of baseline IL-6 and LDLC, HR 4.9 (95% CI 2.6–9.4) for those in the top quartiles of baseline hsCRP and LDLC, both P < 0.0001].

Conclusion

Despite aggressive contemporary secondary prevention efforts, the relationships between inflammation, cholesterol, and cardiovascular risk are largely unchanged from those described two decades ago. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that future treatments for atherosclerosis may require a combination of inflammation inhibition and additional cholesterol reduction.

Clinical trial

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01594333.
Effects of dapagliflozin in DAPA-HF according to background heart failure therapy
Authors: Docherty Kieran F , Jhund Pardeep S , Inzucchi Silvio E , Køber Lars , Kosiborod Mikhail N , Martinez Felipe A , Ponikowski Piotr , DeMets David L , Sabatine Marc S , Bengtsson Olof , Sjöstrand Mikaela , Langkilde Anna Maria , Desai Akshay S , Diez Mirta , Howlett Jonathan G , Katova Tzvetana , Ljungman Charlotta E A , O’Meara Eileen , Petrie Mark C , Schou Morten , Verma Subodh , Vinh Pham Nguyen , Solomon Scott D , McMurray John J V
Published: March 2020

Aims

In the DAPA-HF trial, the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin reduced the risk of worsening heart failure (HF) and death in patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction. We examined whether this benefit was consistent in relation to background HF therapy.

Methods and results

In this post hoc analysis, we examined the effect of study treatment in the following yes/no subgroups: diuretic, digoxin, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA), sacubitril/valsartan, ivabradine, implanted cardioverter-defibrillating (ICD) device, and cardiac resynchronization therapy. We also examined the effect of study drug according to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker dose, beta-blocker (BB) dose, and MRA (≥50% and <50% of target dose). We analysed the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death or a worsening HF event. Most randomized patients (n = 4744) were treated with a diuretic (84%), renin–angiotensin system (RAS) blocker (94%), and BB (96%); 52% of those taking a BB and 38% taking a RAS blocker were treated with ≥50% of the recommended dose. Overall, the dapagliflozin vs. placebo hazard ratio (HR) was 0.74 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65–0.85] for the primary composite endpoint (P < 0.0001). The effect of dapagliflozin was consistent across all subgroups examined: the HR ranged from 0.57 to 0.86 for primary endpoint, with no significant randomized treatment-by-subgroup interaction. For example, the HR in patients taking a RAS blocker, BB, and MRA at baseline was 0.72 (95% CI 0.61–0.86) compared with 0.77 (95% CI 0.63–0.94) in those not on all three of these treatments (P-interaction 0.64).

Conclusion

The benefit of dapagliflozin was consistent regardless of background therapy for HF.
GADMA: Genetic algorithm for inferring demographic history of multiple populations from allele frequency spectrum data
Authors: Noskova Ekaterina , Ulyantsev Vladimir , Koepfli Klaus-Peter , O'Brien Stephen J , Dobrynin Pavel
Published: February 2020

Background

The demographic history of any population is imprinted in the genomes of the individuals that make up the population. One of the most popular and convenient representations of genetic information is the allele frequency spectrum (AFS), the distribution of allele frequencies in populations. The joint AFS is commonly used to reconstruct the demographic history of multiple populations, and several methods based on diffusion approximation (e.g., ∂a∂i) and ordinary differential equations (e.g., moments) have been developed and applied for demographic inference. These methods provide an opportunity to simulate AFS under a variety of researcher-specified demographic models and to estimate the best model and associated parameters using likelihood-based local optimizations. However, there are no known algorithms to perform global searches of demographic models with a given AFS.

Results

Here, we introduce a new method that implements a global search using a genetic algorithm for the automatic and unsupervised inference of demographic history from joint AFS data. Our method is implemented in the software GADMA (Genetic Algorithm for Demographic Model Analysis, https://github.com/ctlab/GADMA).

Conclusions

We demonstrate the performance of GADMA by applying it to sequence data from humans and non-model organisms and show that it is able to automatically infer a demographic model close to or even better than the one that was previously obtained manually. Moreover, GADMA is able to infer multiple demographic models at different local optima close to the global one, providing a larger set of possible scenarios to further explore demographic history.
Equity in coverage of maternal and newborn care in India: evidence from a nationally representative survey
Authors: Krishnamoorthy Yuvaraj , Majella Marie Gilbert , Rajaa Sathish
Published: March 2020

Despite efforts taken by the Government of India, mothers and newborns are excluded from the maternal and child health services, especially those in poorer and weaker sections of the society. Hence, we have utilized the most recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) data to assess the socio-economic inequities in antenatal care (ANC), intranatal care and postnatal care (PNC) coverage for mothers and newborns in India. We have analysed the NFHS-4 data gathered from the Demographic Health Survey programme. Stratification and clustering in the sample design were accounted for using ‘svyset’ command. Point estimates were reported as proportions with 95% confidence interval. The concentration curve and index were used to represent the socio-economic inequities. Theil index was computed to report inequities across geographical regions and place of residence. In total, 190 797 women who had at least one live birth in the preceding 5 years were included. About 52.1% of women had at least four ANC visits and 81.4% had institutional delivery. About 25.2% and 27.1% of the newborn received PNC within 24 and 48 h of delivery. The proportion of women who received PNC within 24 and 48 h after the delivery was 63.4% and 65.2%, respectively. Maximum inequity was observed for ANC (concentration index—0.195) followed by receipt of PNC by mothers within 24 and 48 h (concentration index—0.106 and 0.103). Women from the rural areas had a disproportionately high proportion of home deliveries (Theil index—3813.6). The findings from this study inform the policymakers and planners about the socio-economic inequity existing across various maternal and child health indicators. This will help them in making informed decisions and strengthen the maternal and child health programme in our country.
Wide dispersal of recently weaned grey seal pups in the Southern North Sea
Authors: Peschko Verena , Müller Sabine , Schwemmer Philipp , Mercker Moritz , Lienau Peter , Rosenberger Tanja , Sundermeyer Janne , Garthe Stefan
Published: March 2020

Grey seals have become an important part of the ecosystem in the southern North Sea over the last 50 years. However, little is known about their spatial utilization of the German North Sea, especially in relation to the dispersal and behaviour of grey seal pups after weaning. We investigated these little-known aspects by recording the movements of 11 grey seal pups born at the largest German colony for 1–9 months after leaving the colony between 2015 and 2017. The individuals moved widely throughout the southern North Sea, including some individuals that moved far along the Danish coast or to Dutch and UK waters. A point process modelling approach revealed that pups increased their distance to Helgoland during the first 70 d at sea. The frequency of inferred foraging behaviour increased until week 7 and decreased afterwards, whereas fast travelling behaviour increased throughout the whole study period. These findings reflect the transition from naive to more experienced pups, with gradual increases in foraging effort, range and efficiency to account for their increasing energy demands for survival and growth. This study provides the first characterization of the dispersal, behaviour, and spatial utilization of recently weaned grey seal pups in the southern North Sea, which profoundly extents our knowledge of an increasingly important top predator in that area.
Experimental assessment of heat and mass transfer characteristics of solar-powered adiabatic liquid desiccant dehumidifier and regenerator
Authors: Oyieke Andrew Y A , Inambao Freddie L
Published: March 2020

Coupled heat and mass transfer performance of an adiabatic solar-powered liquid desiccant dehumidification and regeneration scheme using lithium bromide(LiBr) solution has been conducted experimentally as well as numerically under subtropical climatic conditions. The application of a vacuum insulated photovoltaic and thermal module to provide desiccant regeneration heat as well as electrical power to drive the air fans and liquid pumps have been explored. A square channelled ceramic cordierite packing with a varying channel density of 20–80 m$^2$/m$^3$ has been used to establish the optimum direct air-LiBr contact ratio for maximum effectiveness. The aggregate crammed vertical dehumidifier and regenerator operational indices featured were effectiveness, moisture removal rate (MRR), heat and mass transfer constants and Lewis number. The influence of solar radiation, humidity and L/G ratios, air–desiccant flow rates and concentration on the indices have been scrutinized in details. A 3D predictive numerical thermal model based on falling liquid stream with constant thickness in counter-flow configuration has been developed and solved by a combination of separative appraisal and stepwise iterative technique. The heat and mass exchange coefficients significantly increased with the increase in Lewis number, air and desiccant flow rates for both the dehumidifier and regenerator vessels. The predicted results of heat and mass transfer coefficients, effectiveness and MRRs have been validated with experimental measurements within a general acceptable conformity of less than $\pm $10%.
Leveraging a Landmark Trial of Primary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Introduction From the REPRIEVE Coprincipal Investigators
Authors: Grinspoon Steven K , Douglas Pamela S , Hoffmann Udo , Ribaudo Heather J
Published: March 2020

The Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV (REPRIEVE) is the largest study of cardiovascular disease in human immunodeficiency virus. Enrolling 7770 participants from 2015 to 2019 with sites across 5 continents, REPRIEVE will assess the effects of a statin as a cardiovascular disease prevention strategy in people with HIV (PWH) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Although the primary purpose of REPRIEVE, and its substudy assessing coronary plaque, is to assess cardiovascular outcomes, the trial is a rich source of data on population characteristics and critical comorbidities in PWH, particularly across Global Burden of Disease (GBD) regions, reflective of the ethnic, racial, and gender diversity in this global epidemic. The purpose of this Supplement is to leverage the rich phenotyping in REPRIEVE, to provide data on detailed patterns of baseline ART and immune function by GBD region, reproductive aging among cisgender women, and data on the participation and clinical characteristics of transgender participants. We also leveraged REPRIEVE to assess critical comorbidities, including renal dysfunction, muscle function and frailty, and myocardial steatosis. REPRIEVE is a remarkable collaboration between funders, trial networks, clinical research sites, clinical and data coordinating centers, and willing participants who devoted their time to make the trial possible.
Impact Study of Mathematical Manipulation on the Resolution Efficiency of the Spectrophotometric Technique—An Application on Veterinary Binary Mixture with Overlapping Absorption Bands
Authors: Lotfy Hayam M , Monir Hany H , Michael Adel M , Fayez Yasmin M , Nessim Christine K
Published: February 2020

Background

The impact of mathematical manipulation on the efficiency of smart spectrophotometric approaches was considered for analyzing a veterinary binary mixture of tylosin tartrate (TYT) and doxycycline hydrochloride (DOX).

Objective

Based on subtraction which can be response subtraction via numerical factor calculation between two wavelengths.

Method

Absorbance subtraction (AS) and amplitude summation (A-Sum), or subtraction of constant value or spectrum, was used to eliminate the contribution of the interfering component, as is done in spectrum subtraction (SS), extended ratio subtraction (EXRS), ratio subtraction (RS), and derivative subtraction (DS), or multiplication of a constant value by the divisor to get the spectrum of one component, or division by the normalized spectrum to modulate the original absorption spectrum to concentration as in concentration value and also detected in amplitude modulation (AM). The derivative transformation method (DT) is a form of mathematical manipulation that transforms a derivative to its original absorption form.

Results

The consumption of these methods will become more significant in quality control departments for the repetitive quantitative analysis of different veterinary products in both research and industry laboratories. Some manipulations may be used for simultaneous analysis of DOX and TYT, such as absorbance subtraction, amplitude modulation, ratio subtraction and derivative subtraction coupled with spectrum subtraction, concentration value, and amplitude summation, while others may be used for DOX only, such as derivative transformation and constant value.

Conclusions

The recovery percentages confirmed that the accuracy and the reproducibility were approved by the following ICH guidelines.

Highlights

1. Partitioning methods: which perfectly divide the drugs response at the iso-point such as amplitude modulation, absorbance subtraction and amplitude summation. 2. Extracting methods: which easily calculate zero-order of the two cited drugs in such as ratio subtraction were coupled with extended ratio subtraction method (RS-EXRS), spectrum subtraction (SS), constant multiplication method (CM) or extract their derivative spectra such as derivative subtraction. 3. Transforming methods: which able to change the derivatized spectrum to its original zero spectra such as derivative transformation. 4. Graphical methods: which directly measure the concentration of the drugs from the chart.
Sepsis in Burned Adult Patients: Study of Serie of Cases in Brazil
Authors: Neiverth Alan , Prim Lucas Rodrigues , Franck Cláudio Luciano , Nisihara Renato
Published: February 2020

Sepsis is currently the leading cause of death in burned patients. There are few studies on sepsis in burned patients at intensive care unit (ICU). To determine demographic profile, clinical presentation, evolution, procedures, and treatments used for burned patients affected by sepsis. Retrospective study in medical records of severe burned adult patients who developed sepsis between November 2015 and May 2018 in a university hospital in Curitiba, Brazil. Patients’ details about hospitalization and sepsis were collected. Were included 44 patients, 75% men, and mean age of 42.1±16.88 years. The median TBSA was 50% that was significantly associated with mortality (P = .013). Outcome of death was observed in 50% of the patients. The median duration of hospitalization was 35 days, and in the ICU was 21.5 days. Orotracheal intubation and tracheostomy were the most prevalent aggravating procedures conducted during the hospitalization (77.2% and 56.8%, respectively). The median time to the first sepsis episode was 7 days, and the average total time in sepsis was 13.2 days. The median length of hospital stay among patients with septic shock who died was significantly lower than that of patients who did not die (P = .031). Blood culture was positive in 79.5% of cases, with the majority being typical ICU bacteria. Sepsis occurs more frequently in patients with higher TBSA and long hospitalization time accompanied by aggravating procedures and complications. Infections were caused by typical ICU bacteria, resulting in 50% patient mortality primarily due to septic shock.
Long-Term Outcome After Renal Replacement Therapy in Severe Burns
Authors: Rakkolainen Ilmari , Mustonen Kukka-Maaria , Vuola Jyrki
Published: February 2020

Acute kidney injury is a common sequela after major burn injury, but only a small proportion of patients need renal replacement therapy. In the majority of patients, need for renal replacement therapy subsides before discharge from the burn center but limited literature exists on long-term outcomes. A few studies report an increased risk for chronic renal failure after burn injury. We investigated the long-term outcome of severely burned patients receiving renal replacement therapy during acute burn injury treatment. Data on 68 severely burned patients who received renal replacement therapy in Helsinki Burn Centre between November 1988 and December 2015 were collected retrospectively. Thirty-two patients survived and remained for follow-up after the primary hospital stay until December 31, 2016. About 56.3% of discharged patients were alive at the end of follow-up. In 81.3% of discharged patients, need for renal replacement therapy subsided before discharge. Two patients received renal replacement therapy for longer than 3 months; however, need for renal replacement therapy subsided in both patients. One patient required dialysis several years later on after the need for renal replacement therapy had subsided. This study showed that long-term need for renal replacement therapy is rare after severe burn injury. In the vast majority of patients, need for renal replacement therapy subsided before discharge from primary care. Acute kidney injury in association with burns is a potential but small risk factor for later worsening of kidney function in fragile individuals.