bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
NUMERICAL MODELLING OF DUST DISTRIBUTION IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF A CITY WITH COMPLEX RELIEF
Authors: Surmava Aleksandre , Demetrasvili Demuri , Kukhalashvili Vepkhia , Gigauri Natia
Published: November 2020

Microscale processes of dust distribution in the city of Tbilisi with a very complex topography are modeled using a 3D regional model of atmospheric processes and numerical integration of the transport-diffusion equation of the impurity. The Terrain-following coordinate system is used to take into account the influence of a very complex relief on the process of atmospheric pollution. Modeling is carried out using horizontal grid steps of 300 m and 400 m along latitude and longitude, respectively. The cases of the stationary background eastern and western weak winds are considered. In the model, motor transport is considered as a nonstationary source of pollution from which dust is emitted into the atmosphere. Modelling of dust micro-scale diffusion process showed that the city air pollution depends on spatial distribution of the main sources of city pollution, i.e. on vehicle traffic intensity, as well as on spatial distribution of highways, and micro-orography of city and surrounding territories. It is shown that the dust pollution level in the surface layer of the atmosphere is minimal at 6 a.m. Ground-level concentration rapidly grows with increase of vehicle traffic intensity and by 12 a.m. reaches maximum allowable concentration (MAC = 0.5 mg/m3) in the vicinity of central city mains. From 12 a.m. to 9 p.m. maximum dust concentration values are within the limits of 0.9-1.2 MAC. In the mentioned time interval formation of the highly dusty zones, and slow growth of their areas and value of ground-level concentrations take place. These zones are located in both central and peripheral parts of the city. Their disposition and area sizes depend on spatial distribution of local wind generated under action of complex terrain, as well as on the processes of turbulent and advective dust transfer. From 9 to 12 p.m. reduction of dust pollution and ground-level concentration takes place. After the midnight city dust pollution process continues quasi-periodically. As result of the analysis of vertical distribution of dust concentration is obtained that a basic dust mass emitted into the atmosphere is located in the 100 m surface layer. Concentration value in the upper part of this layer reaches 0.8 MAC and rapidly decreases with altitude increase.
GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL STUDY FOR ELABORATION OF GEOTHERMAL MODEL IN ORADEA-BAILE FELIX AREA
Authors: Asimopolos Laurențiu , Asimopoli Natalia-Silvia
Published: November 2020

Thermal methods consist of measuring thermal gradient and satellite data, which can be used to determine the Earth's surface temperature and thermal inertia of surficial materials, of thermal infrared radiation emitted at the Earth's surface. Thermal gradient measuring, with a knowledge of the thermal conductivity provides a measure of heat flow. Conditions that may increase or decrease and heat flow are influenced by hydrologic, topographic factors and anomalous thermal conductivity. Also, oxidation of sulphide bodies in-place or on waste deposits, if sufficiently rapid, can generate thermal anomalies, which can provide a measure of the amount of metal being released to the environment. The geothermal gradient on the territory of Romania, the increase of the temperature with the depth, has an average value of 2.5°-3°C/100m, which corresponds to a temperature of 100° C at 3000 m deep. There are many areas where the value of the geothermal gradient differs considerably from this average. For example, in areas where the rock plate suffered rapid dips and the basin was filled with sediment "very young "from a geological point of view, the geothermal gradient may be less than 1° C/100m. On the other hand, in other geothermal areas the gradient exceeds much this average. These areas are true underground thermal reservoirs of potentially high geothermal energy which under certain favourable conditions can be exploited to serve heating installations and domestic hot water systems. The geothermal prospecting for the entire territory of Romania, carried out by temperature measurements allowed the development of geothermal maps, highlighting the temperature distribution at different depths. Geophysical data obtained through various methods and geophysical modelling provide generalized and non-unique solutions to the geometry of underground geological relations as well as to the physical characteristics of different formations. The non-uniqueness of these models (solutions to the direct problem) arises from the impossibility of knowing the boundary conditions between different strata, which together with the propagation equations of the different fields (depending on the geophysical method used for the investigation of the basement) form the systems that offer the solutions of the model
ORE CONCENTRATIONS OF METALS IN NAPHTHIDES OF HYPERGENESIS ZONE: ASSESSMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT
Authors: Punanova Svetlana
Published: November 2020

The study examines the formation of secondary-altered crude oils associated with the processes of modern or ancient hypergenesis. As a result of geological processes during intense upward movement of the earth's crust, oil undergoes physical weathering, inorganic oxidation, washing out with water, biodegradation and sulfurization, and turn into heavy oils and hard bitumen. In zones of hypergenesis, the loss of light fractions occurs and the absolute concentration of trace elements (TE) associated with resinous-asphaltene components, such as V, Ni, Co, Mo, Cr, Cu, etc. sharply increases. In addition, oils absorb elements of variable valence (V, Fe, U) from low-salinity stratal waters. As a result of experimental studies on the interaction of oils with low mineralization waters, which are characteristic of hypergenesis zones, leaching of some elements (e.g., Zn) from oils and absorption of others from contacting waters (for example, concentrations of newly-formed organometallic compounds V and Fe increased by 1.3-12 times) were found. The author utilized the method of neutron-activation analysis to study the content of TE in oils and natural bitumens of the Volga-Ural, Timan-Pechora, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and etc. Ore-level concentration values were found, for example: 180-1162 ppm for V and up to 100 ppm for Ni in the oils of the Melekess depression in Tatarstan, and 940 ppm for V and 130 ppm for Ni in the oils of Kazakhstan deposits. Classification of oils by the content of “biogenic” elements V, Ni, Fe and by physical and chemical properties revealed significant differences of hypergene-altered oils in the general cycle of genesis of naphthides. Deposits of secondarily-altered oils are found in a wide stratigraphic range in oil and gas basins of various geostructural types in traps of the combined morphology – lithologically and tectonically shielded. During the development of oil deposits that contain high concentrations of TE, it is necessary to take into account ecological aspects. The environmental aspect is due to the fact that many metals contained in oils – V, Ni, Cd, As, Hg, U, etc. belong to highly toxic compound chemicals.
GRAFTED TOMATOES – ECOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVE FOR CHEMICAL DISINFECTION OF SOIL
Authors: Sora Dorin , Doltu Mădălina
Published: November 2020

This study aimed to identification of an ecological alternative for the chemical disinfection of soil in the greenhouses from Romania. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most popular vegetable crops in the world. The carbohydrate, vitamins, salts of important mineral elements and organic acids content of tomato fruits is very important. Tomato crops are very sensitive to climatic vagaries, so fluctuation in climatic parameters at any phase of growth can affect the yield and the fruit quality. Grafting on Solanaceae is a method which has improved and spread quickly during the past years, a similar approach to crop rotation, a practice meant to increase productivity, resistance or tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress factors and at increasing fruit quality. The research was conducted in a glass greenhouse of the Horting Institute, Bucharest, Romania. The biological material used was a Romanian tomato hybrid (Siriana F1), a Dutch tomato hybrid (Abellus F1) and four rootstocks, a Dutch tomato hybrid (Emperador F1) and three Romanian tomato cultivars (L542, L543 and L544) obtained from the Research and Development Station for Vegetable Growing, Buzău, Romania. The rootstocks have had resistance to biotic stress factors (soil diseases and pests) and the chemical disinfection of soil has was eliminated. The result of this research are presented in this paper.
FORMATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES POLICY AND LABOR POTENTIAL OF THE MELIORATIVE INDUSTRY OF THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Authors: Ugryumova Alexandra , Zamakhovski Mikhail , Pautova Lyudmila , Olgarenko Denis
Published: November 2020

Scientifically substantiated personnel industry policy contributes to the implementation of an innovative development scenario, provides better results with reduced production costs, which determines the relevance of the studying. The main goal of the work was identified factors and indicators which have regulatory influence on the state and development of the personnel potential of the industry. Diagnostics of the labor potential of land reclamation by federal districts revealed leaders and outsiders of sectoral development. The studying made it possible to justify the steady trend of the shortage of reclamation personnel in comparison with the calculated indicators. Objective and subjective reasons and factors that hinder the effective using of the industry’s personnel potential are distinguished. The concept of industry’s labor potential is clarified. The studying of changes in labor productivity in agriculture has confirmed a twofold increasing in this indicator for the period from 2014 to 2018. Methodological approaches to the indicators of assessing the labor potential of the reclamation industry are substantiated. The groups of socio-economic indicators of the reclamation industry’s effectiveness are identified. The methodology for determining the quantitative characteristics of labor potential on irrigated lands is specified, which is depended on the area of irrigated lands. The labor potential of the reclamation industry in terms of staffing the industry is studied. The main positive and negative trends of the personnel policy and the labor potential’s formation of the agro-industrial complex’s reclamation sector of the Russian Federation are specified, the industry personnel policy is assessed as passive, which does not allow predicting the needs for industry personnel, evaluate staff activities and analyze personnel problems. Highlighted characteristic trends in personnel potential in the federal district and regions of the Russian Federation allow: to develop unified approaches to manage this industry development factor; to develop recommendations to improve the efficiency of advanced training and retraining of personnel in irrigated agriculture. The implementation of the recommendations will contribute to increase the efficiency of the managing the human potential’s process of irrigated agriculture at the level of federal, regional and municipal authorities of the reclamation sector of the agro-industrial complex of Russia.
WAVELET ANALYSIS OF HEIGHT AT POINTS OF THE CHANNEL OF A SMALL RIVER FROM THE MOUTH ON SPACE IMAGES
Authors: Mazurkin Peter Matveevich , Georgieva Yana Oltgovna
Published: November 2020

The purpose of the article is to analyze asymmetric wavelets of changing the coordinate - the local elevation of the Irovka river channel, as well as the influence of local latitude and longitude on it of 290 characteristic points along the river channel from source to mouth. After identifying the general wavelet equation, 12 terms were obtained in the form of asymmetric wavelets with variable amplitude and oscillation period. The first three members gave a correlation coefficient of 0.9993, which is slightly less than for latitude 0.9999, but more than for longitude 0.9991. As a result, all three coordinates have the strongest factorial relation with an adequacy of more than 0.999. All 12 wavelets distribute 95.52% of the points of the channel with a model error of up to 5%. The first term of the error distribution formula at 290 points of the river bed is the Laplace (Mandelbrot, Zipf-Perl, Pareto) law of exponential decline, and the second equation shows the stress excitation of the number of errors according to the biotechnical law. The comparison showed that 25 fractal terms were obtained for latitude, 18 for longitude, and 12 wavelets for altitude. As a result, height as a factor also shows high certainty in the quantization of wave equations. A zero rank in the fractal distribution of 12 wavelets receives an arithmetic mean value. The standard deviation decreases from 12.219 for the arithmetic mean to 1.489, that is, 8.2 times, for the first term. After the 12th wavelet, according to the tri-sigma rule, a spread of 0.3 m is formed, which is much less than the actual measurement error of 0.5 m for height from satellite images.
Postural and respiratory function of the abdominal muscles: A pilot study to measure abdominal wall activity using belt sensors
Authors: Novak Jakub , Busch Andrew , Kolar Pavel , Kobesova Alena
Published: November 2020

BACKGROUND:

The abdominal muscles play an important respiratory and stabilization role, and in coordination with other muscles regulate intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) to stabilize the spine.

OBJECTIVE:

To examine a new, non-invasive method to measure activation of the abdominal wall and compare changes in muscle activation during respiration while breathing under a load, and during instructed breathing.

METHODS:

Thirty-five healthy individuals completed this observational crossover study. Two capacitive force sensors registered the abdominal wall force during resting breathing stereotype, instructed breathing stereotype and under a load.

RESULTS:

Mean abdominal wall force increased significantly on both sensors when holding the load compared to resting breathing (Upper Sensor: [Formula: see text] 0.0005, [Formula: see text]0.46, Lower Sensor: [Formula: see text] 0.0005, [Formula: see text]0.56). The pressure on both sensors also significantly increased during instructed breathing compared to resting breathing (US: [Formula: see text] 0.0005, [Formula: see text]0.76, LS: [Formula: see text] 0.0005, [Formula: see text]0.78).

CONCLUSIONS:

The use of capacitive force-sensors represent a new, non-invasive method to measure abdominal wall activity. Clinically, belts with capacitive force sensors can be used as a feedback tool to train abdominal wall activation.
Impact of Patient Mild Cognitive Impairment on Physician Decision-Making for Treatment
Authors: Blair Emilie M. , Zahuranec Darin B. , Langa Kenneth M. , Forman Jane , Reale Bailey K. , Kollman Colleen , Giordani Bruno , Levine Deborah A.
Published: November 2020

Background: Older patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) should receive evidence-based treatments when clinically indicated. However, patients with MCI appear less likely than cognitively normal patients to receive evidence-based treatments. Objective: To explore the influence of a patient’s MCI diagnosis on physician decision-making. Methods: Qualitative study of 18 physicians from cardiology, neurology, and internal medicine using semi-structured interviews. We sought to understand whether and how a patient’s having MCI has influenced physicians’ decisions about five categories of treatments or tests (surgery, invasive tests, non-invasive tests, rehabilitation, and preventive medication). We used qualitative content analysis to identify the unifying and recurrent themes. Results: Most physician participants described MCI as influencing their recommendations for at least one treatment or test. We identified two major themes as factors that influenced physician recommendations in patients with MCI: Physicians assume that MCI patients’ decreased cognitive ability will impact treatment; and physicians assume that MCI patients have poor health status and physical functioning that will impact treatment. These two themes were representative of physician beliefs that MCI patients have impaired independent decision-making, inability to adhere to treatment, inability to communicate treatment preferences, and increased risk and burden from treatment. Conclusion: A patient’s MCI diagnosis influences physician decision-making for treatment. Some physician assumptions about patients with MCI were not evidence-based. This phenomenon potentially explains why many patients with MCI get fewer effective treatments or tests than cognitively normal patients. Interventions that improve how physicians understand MCI and make decisions for treatments in patients with MCI are needed.
Obesity Measures in Relation to Cognition in the Northern Manhattan Study
Authors: Gardener Hannah , Caunca Michelle , Dong Chuanhui , Cheung Ying Kuen , Rundek Tatjana , Elkind Mitchell S.V. , Wright Clinton B. , Sacco Ralph L.
Published: November 2020

Background: Mid-life obesity is associated with cognitive impairment, though the relationship for late-life obesity is equivocal, and may depend on the anthropometric measure. Objective: We examined the relationship between adiposity and cognition across age categories, cognitive domains, and by measures of obesity in a multi-ethnic population-based cohort. Methods: The study included 1,179 Northern Manhattan Study participants with obesity measures at baseline (44% overweight, 30% obese), an initial neuropsychological assessment conducted within 7 years (mean age = 70), and a second cognitive assessment conducted on average 6 years later. Z-scores were derived for cognitive domains (episodic and semantic memory, executive function, processing speed) and averaged to calculate global cognition. Body mass index (BMI) and waist:hip ratio (WHR) were examined in relation to cognitive performance and change over time, stratified by age, using linear regression models adjusting for vascular risk factors. Results: Among those age<65 years at baseline, greater WHR was associated with worse global cognitive performance at initial assessment and directly associated with decline in performance between assessments. The association with initial performance was strongest for non-Hispanic Whites (beta = –0.155/standard deviation, p = 0.04), followed by non-Hispanic Black/African Americans (beta = –0.079/standard deviation, p = 0.07), and Hispanics (beta = –0.055/standard deviation, p = 0.03). The associations were most apparent for the domains of processing speed and executive function. There was no association for BMI among those <65 years. Among those age ≥65, there was no association for BMI or WHR with cognitive performance at initial assessment nor decline over time. Conclusion: Our results support the detrimental effect of mid-life rather than later life obesity, particularly abdominal adiposity, on cognitive impairment and decline.
Effects of Pridopidine on Functional Capacity in Early-Stage Participants from the PRIDE-HD Study
Authors: McGarry Andrew , Leinonen Mika , Kieburtz Karl , Geva Michal , Olanow C. Warren , Hayden Michael
Published: November 2020

Background:

No pharmacological treatment has been demonstrated to provide a functional benefit for persons with Huntington’s disease (HD). Pridopidine is a sigma-1-receptor agonist shown to have beneficial effects in preclinical models of HD.

Objective:

To further explore the effect of pridopidine on Total Functional Capacity (TFC) in the recent double-blind, placebo-controlled PRIDE-HD study.

Methods:

We performed post-hoc analyses to evaluate the effect of pridopidine on TFC at 26 and 52 weeks. Participants were stratified according to baseline TFC score and analyzed using repeated measures (MMRM) and multiple imputation assuming missing not-at-random (MNAR) and worst-case scenarios.

Results:

The pridopidine 45 mg bid dosage demonstrated a beneficial effect on TFC for the entire population at week 52 of 0.87 (nominal p = 0.0032). The effect was more pronounced for early HD participants (HD1/HD2, TFC = 7–13), with a change from placebo of 1.16 (nominal p = 0.0003). This effect remained nominally significant using multiple imputation with missing not at random assumption as a sensitivity analysis. Responder analyses showed pridopidine 45 mg bid reduced the probability of TFC decline in early HD patients at Week 52 (nominal p = 0.02).

Conclusion:

Pridopidine 45 mg bid results in a nominally significant reduction in TFC decline at 52 weeks compared to placebo, particularly in patients with early-stage HD.
School enterprise cooperation mechanism based on improved decision tree algorithm
Authors: Bian Fei , Wang Xuansheng
Published: November 2020

School enterprise cooperation is of great strategic significance to China’s manufacturing industry. The Party Central Committee has repeatedly proposed to strengthen the integration of industry and education and deepen the cooperation between schools and enterprises. In recent years, experts and scholars at home and abroad have been from different perspectives, although they have achieved fruitful results, there are also problems such as insufficient attention to theoretical research, relatively backward research, narrow research scope, and so on. In view of this phenomenon, this paper will study a new school-enterprise cooperation mechanism based on the improved decision tree algorithm. The research of this paper is divided into three parts. First, after analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the algorithm, the algorithm of the decision tree is improved, which makes the improved algorithm more suitable for the field of school-enterprise cooperation. Then, based on cloud computing and intelligence, this paper establishes a new model of school-enterprise cooperation platform, which solves some problems of data management and information exchange in school-enterprise cooperation. Finally, in order to make the cooperation mechanism of this paper better used in practice, this paper builds an online and offline hybrid training base, hoping to make the cooperation between schools and enterprises closer through the training base. In order to test the effect of the cooperation model, this paper takes school as the experimental model. After investigation and research, it is believed that thanks to the school-enterprise cooperation mechanism in this paper, the cooperative enterprise of school has been greatly improved in the past three years, and the willingness of enterprises to cooperate has become more and more strong. No matter students, teachers, or enterprises are reaping huge benefits under this cooperation mechanism, it is a suit for extensive promotion The school-enterprise cooperation mechanism of Guangyun.
Cloud resource optimization based on poisson linear deep gradient learning for mobile cloud computing
Authors: Saravanan G. , Yuvaraj N.
Published: November 2020

Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) addresses the drawbacks of Mobile Users (MU) where the in-depth evaluation of mobile applications is transferred to a centralized cloud via a wireless medium to reduce load, therefore optimizing resources. In this paper, we consider the resource (i.e., bandwidth and memory) allocation problem to support mobile applications in a MCC environment. In such an environment, Mobile Cloud Service Providers (MCSPs) form a coalition to create a resource pool to share their resources with the Mobile Cloud Users. To enhance the welfare of the MCSPs, a method for optimal resource allocation to the mobile users called, Poisson Linear Deep Resource Allocation (PL-DRA) is designed. For resource allocation between mobile users, we formulate and solve optimization models to acquire an optimal number of application instances while meeting the requirements of mobile users. For optimal application instances, the Poisson Distributed Queuing model is designed. The distributed resource management is designed as a multithreaded model where parallel computation is provided. Next, a Linear Gradient Deep Resource Allocation (LG-DRA) model is designed based on the constraints, bandwidth, and memory to allocate mobile user instances. This model combines the advantage of both decision making (i.e. Linear Programming) and perception ability (i.e. Deep Resource Allocation). Besides, a Stochastic Gradient Learning is utilized to address mobile user scalability. The simulation results show that the Poisson queuing strategy based on the improved Deep Learning algorithm has better performance in response time, response overhead, and energy consumption than other algorithms.
Towards improving machine learning algorithms accuracy by benefiting from similarities between cases
Authors: Mostafa Samih M.
Published: November 2020

Data preprocessing is a necessary core in data mining. Preprocessing involves handling missing values, outlier and noise removal, data normalization, etc. The problem with existing methods which handle missing values is that they deal with the whole data ignoring the characteristics of the data (e.g., similarities and differences between cases). This paper focuses on handling the missing values using machine learning methods taking into account the characteristics of the data. The proposed preprocessing method clusters the data, then imputes the missing values in each cluster depending on the data belong to this cluster rather than the whole data. The author performed a comparative study of the proposed method and ten popular imputation methods namely mean, median, mode, KNN, IterativeImputer, IterativeSVD, Softimpute, Mice, Forimp, and Missforest. The experiments were done on four datasets with different number of clusters, sizes, and shapes. The empirical study showed better effectiveness from the point of view of imputation time, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and coefficient of determination (R2 score) (i.e., the similarity of the original removed value to the imputed one).
Long-Term Outcomes in Clear-Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated with Complete Metastasectomy
Authors: Verbiest Annelies , Roussel Eduard , Tosco Lorenzo , Joniau Steven , Laenen Annouschka , Clement Paul , Wozniak Agnieszka , Albersen Maarten , Beuselinck Benoit
Published: November 2020

Background:

Complete metastasectomy is routinely performed in selected patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

Objectives:

To assess (1) outcomes after first and repeat metastasectomy, (2) outcomes on targeted therapy in patients who underwent previous metastasectomy and (3) compare outcomes with and without metastasectomy after correction for selection bias.

Methods:

Metastatic ccRCC patients treated with or without metastasectomy at University Hospitals Leuven were included from prospective databases. We calculated disease-free survival (DFS), time to systemic therapy and cancer-specific survival (CSS) after metastasectomy, and progression-free survival (PFS) and CSS on 1st line sunitinib/pazopanib. We calculated propensity scores to estimate a patient’s likelihood to undergo metastasectomy.

Results:

We included 113 patients who underwent complete metastasectomy and 139 who did not. (1) Median DFS after complete metastasectomy was 18 mo, time to systemic therapy was 73 mo and CSS was 101 mo. 20% did not relapse during long-term follow-up. Outcomes remained favorable after repeat metastasectomy. (2) PFS and CSS on 1st line sunitinib/pazopanib were 15 mo and 35 mo. (3) The propensity scores of patients who did and did not undergo metastasectomy showed no overlap, indicating that correction for selection bias is impossible and comparison of outcomes unreliable.

Conclusions:

Complete metastasectomy and repeat metastasectomy can result in excellent outcomes in highly selected patients, even when its causal benefit cannot be formally assessed. Previous metastasectomy does not impair outcomes on targeted therapies.
Spinal cord infarction in children: Can gymnastics be a cause?
Authors: Rodrigues Margarida , Beça Gustavo , Almeida Ana , Natário Inês , Vilabril Filipa , Pereira Margarida , Barreto José , Dias Leonor , Gandarez Fátima
Published: November 2020

INTRODUCTION: Spinal cord infarction (SCI) in children is rare and difficult to diagnose. Fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE) is probably the underlying cause for some unexplained cases of spinal cord infarcts. Abrupt back pain followed by a progressive syndrome of myelopathy appears to be the typical presentation, with a close temporal relationship between the onset of symptoms and preceding minor trauma. Supportive care and rehabilitation are essential in the treatment of children with SCI. CASE REPORT: A previously healthy 12-year-old girl who practiced acrobatic gymnastics was admitted to a rehabilitation centre 14 days after being diagnosed with an acute anterior SCI with no identified cause. Sensory modality of pin prick and light touch were impaired, with the former more significantly affected. She was not able to run and had difficulty on monopodal standing and performing motor sequencing. Additionally, she mentioned ineffective cough along with flatus incontinence and normal bladder function. After a 4-week multidisciplinary rehabilitation program her neurologic deficits improved. DISCUSSION: Given the patient’s age and clinical presentation, a literature review led to the consideration of FCE as the most likely definitive diagnosis. It should be recognized as a cause of SCI especially in those involved in sport activities, even if previous trauma is denied.
Changes in the office for civil rights enforcement policy on telehealth remote communications in response to COVID-19
Authors: Mortell Thomas J. , Strobel Austin T.
Published: November 2020

The novel coronavirus, the cause of COVID-19, has sent shockwaves throughout the world, shuttered many businesses essentially overnight, and has left billions living worldwide in quarantine. Not surprisingly, the health care industry has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article focuses on how COVID-19 has influenced the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR’s) enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules as they relate to telehealth remote communications, and opines about whether the COVID-19-related changes to HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule enforcement might last beyond the current crisis.
COVID-19 pandemic: Early effects on pediatric rehabilitation medicine training
Authors: Kivlehan Emily , Chaviano Kelli , Fetsko Lauren , Javaid Simra , Chandan Priya , Rojas Ana-Marie , Dubon Mary E.
Published: November 2020

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic hastened the need for graduate medical education (GME) innovation, resulting in the creation of multiple pediatric rehabilitation medicine (PRM) e-learning initiatives. There has been a paucity of data regarding trainee perceptions regarding quickly developed new methods of learning during the pandemic. This study explored PRM trainee perceptions of e-learning and effects of the pandemic on education. METHODS: Questionnaire study with data collected via REDCap. RESULTS: Greater than half of PRM trainees (56.6%, 30/53) responded. Most respondents reported that the virtual lectures series (79.3%), journal club (78.9%), and virtual arts initiatives (75.0%) were valuable to their education. Common benefits noted included access to subject experts, networking, lecture recording, and location flexibility. Common concerns included lack of protected time, virtual platform fatigue, and decreased engagement. Most respondents were not redeployed. Relative to before the pandemic, less satisfaction with clinical education (70.0%) and greater satisfaction with non-clinical education (60.0%) was reported. The majority of graduating trainees felt positively (83.3%) and 16.7% were neutral regarding confidence to graduate. CONCLUSION: Trainees perceived national e-learning as valuable to their education, especially due to the access to expert leaders around the nation. Future work should explore ways to overcome barriers and optimize benefits of GME and PRM e-learning.
Securing the future of statistics in Africa through National Strategies for the Development of Statistic
Authors: Kiregyera Ben
Published: November 2020

Adoption of development agendas at different levels – national, regional, continental, and global level – has led to an unprecedented increase in demand for official statistics. This increase has not only brought to the fore a litany of challenges facing National Statistical Systems (NSSs) in Africa but also it has created opportunities for strengthening statistical production and development. This paper underscores the need for countries to take full advantage of these opportunities and increase investments in statistics, undertake data innovation, and expand and diversify data ecosystems, leveraging on the foundations of the data revolution for sustainable development and in line with current international statistical frameworks. The paper posits that these improvements will not happen coincidentally nor through ad hoc, piecemeal and uncoordinated approaches. Rather they will happen through more systematic, coordinated and multi-sectoral approaches to statistical development. The National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) is presented as a comprehensive and robust framework for building statistical capacity and turning around NSSs in African countries. The paper unpacks the NSDS; elaborates the NSDS processes including; mainstreaming sectors into the NSDS, the stages of the NSDS lifecycle and the role of leadership in the NSDS proces; highlights NSDS extension; presents the design and implementation challenges, and the key lessons learned from the NSDS processes in Africa in the last 15 years or so.
Human factors and ergonomics in the context of COVID-19: Planning for concepts insertion in a productive systems discipline
Authors: Anholon Rosley , Rampasso Izabela Simon , Cooper Ordóñez Robert E.
Published: November 2020

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging companies worldwide and undergraduate courses need to consider this context within their disciplines, especially regarding human factors and ergonomics. For this, professors should plan how to insert this knowledge into the program content of their discipline. OBJECTIVE: This commentary aims to present how this insertion will be conducted in the second academic semester of 2020 in the discipline “Productive Systems” of the mechanical engineering undergraduate course offered by a Brazilian university. METHODS: This commentary is based on the authors’ points of view and experiences. However, the presented discussion is based on institutional websites and international articles. RESULTS: It is possible to verify that human factors and ergonomic aspects related to the pandemic can be debated in several topics of the analyzed discipline. CONCLUSIONS: Besides presenting the planning of inserting these aspects, this commentary expands the debates on the subject.
Comparison of image quality and radiation dose using different pre-ASiR-V and post-ASiR-V levels in coronary computed tomography angiography
Authors: Zhao Yongxia , Li Dongxue , Liu Zhichao , Geng Xue , Zhang Tianle , Xu Yize
Published: November 2020

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the optimal pre-adaptive and post-adaptive level statistical iterative reconstruction V (ASiR-V) for improving image quality and reducing radiation dose in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

METHODS:

The study was divided into two parts. In part I, 150 patients for CCTA were prospectively enrolled and randomly divided into 5 groups (A, B, C, D, and E) with progressive scanning from 40% to 80% pre-ASiR-V with 10% intervals and reconstructing with 70% post-ASiR-V. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated. Subjective image quality was assessed using a 5-point scale. The CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) and dose-length product (DLP) of each patient were recorded and the effective radiation dose (ED) was calculated after statistical analysis by optimizing for the best pre-ASiR-V value with the lowest radiation dose while maintaining overall image quality. In part II, the images were reconstructed with the recommended optimal pre-ASiR-V values in part I (D group) and 40%–90% of post-ASiR-V. The reconstruction group (D group) was divided into 6 subgroups (interval 10%, D0:40% post-ASiR-V, D1:50% post - ASiR-V, D2:60% post-ASiR-V, D3:70% post-ASiR-V, D4:80% post-ASiR-V, and D5:90% post-ASiR-V).The SNR and CNR of D0-D5 subgroups were calculated and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, and the consistency of the subjective scores used the k test.

RESULTS:

There was no significant difference in the SNRs, CNRs, and image quality scores among A, B, C, and D groups ( P > 0.05). The SNR, CNR, and image quality scores of the E group were lower than those of the A, B, C, and D groups ( P < 0.05). The mean EDs in the B, C, and D groups were reduced by 7.01%, 13.37%, and 18.87%, respectively, when compared with that of the A group. The SNR and CNR of the D4–D5 subgroups were higher than the D0-D3 subgroups, and the image quality scores of the D4 subgroups were higher than the other subgroups ( P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION:

The wide-detector combined with 70% pre-ASiR-V and 80% post-ASiR-V significantly reduces the radiation dose of CCTA while maintaining overall image quality as compared with the manufacture’s recommendation of 40% pre-ASiR-V.
Uncovering Time-Specific Heterogeneity in Regression Discontinuity Designs
Authors: Villamizar-Villegas Mauricio , Onder Yasin Kursat
Published: November 2020

The literature that employs Regression Discontinuity Designs (RDD) typically stacks data across time periods and cutoff values. While practical, this procedure omits useful time heterogeneity. In this paper we decompose the RDD treatment effect into its weighted time-value parts. This analysis adds richness to the RDD estimand, where each time-specific component can be different and informative in a manner that is not expressed by the single cutoff or pooled regressions. To illustrate our methodology, we present two empirical examples: one using repeated cross-sectional data and another using time-series. Overall, we show a significant heterogeneity in both cutoff and time-specific effects. From a policy standpoint, this heterogeneity can pick up key differences in treatment across economically relevant episodes. Finally, we propose a new estimator that uses all observations from the original design and which captures the incremental effect of policy given a state variable. We show that this estimator is generally more precise compared to those that exclude observations exposed to other cutoffs or time periods. Our proposed framework is simple and easily replicable and can be applied to any RDD application that carries an explicitly traceable time dimension.
Ensuring Better Privacy of Cloud Storage Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography
Authors: Deorankar A. V. , Khobragade Khushboo T.
Published: November 2020

Cloud technology is very profitable for the business evolution. In cloud computing, the data is mostly outsourced. The security and integrity of the data in the cloud system is always a main worry. Because of rapid development of adaptable cloud services, it becomes increasingly vulnerable to use cloud services to share data in a friend circle in the environment of cloud computing. The user privacy is also an important concern. Many systems and technique are being developed to address these issues, but still there is always a scope of improvement. While addressing the issues related to the user privacy and data security and integrity, we must consider the efficiency of the system while accessing and searching for the data. In this paper, we discuss about the major challenges in cloud environment. Also, presented is a brief overview on proposed system with elliptical curve cryptography is a public key encryption technique uses the properties of elliptic curve in order to generate keys instead of using the traditional methodology of generation of keys.
Identifying Deviations in Microscopic Blood Images using Parallel Computing and Divide and Conquer Image Fragmentation
Authors: Tirumalasetty Sudhir , Latha J. Sri , Neeharika J. , Pravallika L. Sri , Manasa M.
Published: November 2020

Most of the patient diagnosis revolves around in identifying abnormalities in their respective medical images. These images are of various types, likely Ultrasound, CT scan, MRI and microscopic images like bio-chemical slides, micro-biological slides & pathological slides. Few abnormalities are fractures, bad cells in blood, tumors, fungal identification etc. Finding the abnormal portions in these images needs expertise by the physician; this apt identification promotes and guarantees healthy medication by the physician or surgeon to patient. In medical microscopic images normal portions and abnormal portions are mixed together. None of the abnormal portions are related to abnormal and normal portions of image i.e. deviations are scattered among normal portions of image. These deviations are not present in some portions for specific area in the images. None of these deviations are overlapped nor can be grouped together into a single portion physically in the image. Deviations are isolated along with normal portions of images. Identifying such deviations is vital. In previous methods these deviations are identified used BFS and Shortest Path Algorithm. This paper focuses on identifying deviations using parallel computing applied over fragmented portions of blood images using divide and conquer.
Concept of Digital Literation Based on Value of Local Wisdom Piil Pesenggiri in History Learning in the Industrial Revolution 4.0
Authors: Priamantono Regiano Setyo , . Warto , Musadad Akhmad Arif
Published: November 2020

Literacy is one of the abilities that are considered important in facing the 21st-century world. The distinctive character of the 21st-century world is the industrial revolution of 4.0. The impact of the industrial revolution 4.0 has been felt by anyone in every aspect of life, including aspects of education. The low condition of Indonesia's digital literacy capability must be overcome immediately. For this reason, this study aims to propose a thesis on the concept of digital literacy based on value of local wisdom piil pesenggiri in learning history in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0. Local wisdom piil pesenggiri is the behavior and outlook on life of Lampung people who are still held firm to this day. It is hoped that through this strategy the historical awareness of the students at Public High School 2 Kalianda in Lampung Province will increase amidst the current of Industrial Revolution 4.0. This study used qualitative research methods. Data collection was conducted in January and February 2020 with natural conditions, primary data sources and more data collection techniques in participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The results show that there must be a change in conventional history learning resources to a digital history book that can understand current students without losing their cultural identity.
Comparative DNA Analysis of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) palms with polyembryonic and monoembryonic origins
Authors: Toting Daisy Jane , Nuñez Tessie , Ferraren Dilberto
Published: November 2020

Makapuno is a rare, high-value coconut in the Philippines known for its extraordinary thick gelatinous meat with various uses in the food industry. Homozygous makapuno embryos do not germinate in vivo so plantlets are produced in vitro. where one plantlet grows from an embryo. Rare cases of polyembryony were observed in makapuno hybrids developed bythe Visayas State University, Knowledge of the genetic control of polyembryony may be used to increase the production of planting materials of these rare coconut types.

DNA analysis of two sets of twins (polyembryonic), three monoembryonic hybrid palms, and their monoembryonic parental cultivars Coconiño and tall makapuno was done using seven DNA primers to determine differences which may be associated with polyembryony in the hybrids. Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis of PCR products showed DNA fragments amplified by primers CAC2 and CAC56 which are unique to the twins suggesting that polyembryony might have a genetic origin.
Efficacy of Scan Attendance Manager Application Using Quick Response Code in Dagohoy National High School, Bohol, Philippines
Authors: Galgo Jeson Jacinto
Published: November 2020

This study primarily aimed to assess the efficacy of Scan Attendance Manager Application using Quick Response Code as perceived by the teachers in Dagohoy National High School, Dagohoy, Bohol, Philippines, School Year 2019-2020. It utilized Descriptive-Comparative research design through survey method.  It was concluded that the Scan Attendance Manager is a reliable application wherein teachers could conveniently use to monitor class attendance by simply scanning the QR code embedded to each student's ID. As expected, this application provides efficient data output from detecting absent students to generating reports; thus, it is advisable to use. As all teacher-respondents strongly agree, there is nothing to worry about generating the reports since the data produced by the SAM application is definitely accurate. It was also concluded that the Scan Attendance Manager app is not only useful for classroom attendance; it can also be used to different kind of activities considering that there will be attendance to monitor. Moreover, the attendance data report was securely stored in the SAM database, and the teachers need nothing to worry about confidentiality since they are the only ones who have access. There is a significant difference between the weighted average class attendance percentage of the months before and after using the SAM app. It further signifies that the attendance of the class after the teachers have utilized the SAM application had evidently shown significant improvement; thus the Scan Attendance Manager Application using Quick Response Code is useful not just by providing convenience to teachers, but importantly it virtually eliminates absences. There is a significant variance among the five classifications of the Efficacy of the Scan Attendance Manager App as perceived by the teachers. Among the five classifications, teachers have extensively perceived the efficient output that Scan Attendance Manager could provide in terms of its general function in monitoring class attendance.