bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
P13 Medication use and excipient exposure in paediatrics in a secondary care setting
Authors: Paul McCague , Hilary Brennan , Scott Wallace
Published: January 2018

Background and aim

Paediatric patients are widely exposed to a range of excipients which may cause harm to this vulnerable patient group. Legal requirement to disclose quantitative information on excipients changed in 2010,2 however, since most formulations were licensed prior to this date, there is a lack of potentially critical information available to currently practising pharmacists and clinicians. The aim of this study was to quantify excipient exposure to children in a secondary care setting.

Method

A cohort study was conducted within Altnagelvin Area Hospital Paediatric Ward (Northern Ireland, Western Health and Social Care Trust) in January 2017. Medicines prescribed to patients throughout the study were recorded and exposure to ethanol, sodium benzoate and propylparaben was quantified.

Exposure was then compared to proposed safe limits. Off-label and unlicensed use of medicines was assessed as a secondary aim. This study was classified as a service evaluation and ethical approval was not required.

Results

A total of 91 patients were enrolled in the study. Patient age ranged from 5 days to 15 years. The mean number of items prescribed per patient was 3.0. Analysis revealed that 75.8% of patients were exposed to ≥1 excipient of interest including ethanol, sodium benzoate and propylparabens. Excipient safety levels as proposed by the European Medicines Agency or World Health Organisation (where available) were not exceeded.

Quantitative excipient information were not available for two products. There was both off-label and unlicensed use ofmedicines, with off-label prescribing (9.6%) being more common than the use of unlicensed medicines (0.4%).

Conclusion

The paediatric population is exposed to potentially harmful excipients contained in commonly prescribed medicines. Although exposure within this study falls within existing safety limits, further research into paediatric specific safe exposure limits are required. It is notable that despite contacting themanufacturer, quantitative excipient information were not available for two products. Safety limits when considered together with quantitative excipient information will allow clinicians to complete an informed risk-benefit analysis for paediatric patients.

References

Tulec C. Paediatric formulations in practice. In Costello I, Long PF, Wong IK, Tulec C, Yeung V (Ed.), Paediatric drug handling 2007:pp. 43–74. London: Pharmaceutical Press.

European Commission. A guideline on summary of product characteristics [Online]2009;2:1–29. http://ec.europa.eu/health//sites/health/files/files/eudralex/vol-2/c/smpc_guideline_rev2_en.pdf [Accessed: 14th April 2017].
SP4 Can text appeal be used to assess pain control?
Authors: Adrian Barker , Lin Lee Poh , Judith Short
Published: January 2018

Aims

Can an automated texting system be used to gather data about analgesia usage after discharge and post-operative pain scores?

Our opioid analgesic for post-operative pain control had changed from codeine to morphine two years earlier.

Was this dosing and supply adequate or excessive and how could we assess pain control for patients at home? Some surgeons described their technique as ‘relatively painless’ and had as a consequence chosen to stop prescribing any opioid after surgery.

Previous audits by post or telephone had achieved a 40% response rate at best. Could we use the smart ‘phones that all parents carry around instead?

Methods

We recruited patients undergoing tonsillectomy ± adenoidectomy, and recorded their age, weight, gender, diagnostic indication for surgery and surgical technique.

After overcoming a few IT challenges and with written consent, parents were texted a series of questions for 10 evenings postoperatively, starting the day following surgery.

Questions (requiring a single digit response) included the maximum pain score (0–10) experienced, the analgesic drugs administered and any nausea or vomiting (PONV) experienced that day. Responses were stored in a secure database for analysis.

Results

33 patients were recruited with1 surgical cancellation. 27/32 (84%) parents responded to texts on ≥5 days.2 Patients with poor responses were excluded.

Of the 30 studied, 50% were male, with age range 10 months to 15 years, and weight range 6.6 kg to 64 kg. 21 patients had sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and 14 patients had experienced recurrent tonsillitis, including 5 who also had SDB.

All children had paracetamol and ibuprofen available, but 4 patients were discharged without morphine. The average pain score ranged from 4.0 on Day 1 to a peak of 5.5 on Day 6 to a minimum of 2 on Day 10.

In total, 69.2% parents gave their children morphine on one or more days in addition to simple analgesia. The rate of PONV was 30%, unrelated to morphine use.

Conclusion

SMS proved very successful for data collection and has great potential for further audit studies.

Our data shows that pain is a significant problem for up to 10 days post-tonsillectomy and has confirmed the requirement for opioid rescue medication for all patients after discharge.

We have now re-agreed a standard analgesic regime and staved off any suggestion there was just to recommend that parents buy analgesia.

References

Williams G, et al. The prevalence of pain at home and its consequences in children following two types of short stay surgery: A multicentre observational cohort study. Paediatric Anaesthesia 2015;25:1254–1263.

Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. Guidance for the administration of codeine and alternative opioid analgesics in children Nov 2013.
P37 Audit on the quality of documentation of paediatric prescriptions using electronic prescription charts
Authors: Philippa Stilwell , Abimbola Sanu
Published: January 2018

Aim

The aim of this project is to assess the quality of prescribing on all inpatient prescription charts on the paediatric wards in the hospital against the legal prescribing requirements (as stated in Medicines Act, 1968) and trust prescribing standards (as stated in the hospital's Medicines Management Policy).

Methods

Ten audit standards were identified, based on Generic Medical Record Keeping Standards (RCP, 2017), which incorporated all the legal and trust prescribing standards. A data collection tool was then designed.

A single day prospective prevalence audit was conducted; data was collected on a single day from each of four paediatric wards, using the data collection tool. All staff members were blinded to the standards being assessed.

Inclusion criteria: all inpatient prescription charts on the paediatric wards and all medicines prescribed on those charts were included (on the single day where data was being collected).

Exclusion criteria: dietary products, total parenteral nutrition, embolism stockings and chemotherapy.

Results

100% compliance was achieved on the majority of patient demographics. 100% compliance was achieved in the majority of standards on prescription item analysis and in all standards for fluids prescriptions. 95% of allergy status´ were documented and 93% of these included the severity of allergy. 73% compliance was achieved in the documentation of patient weight. Improvement is also needed in documenting indication and duration of anti-microbials, where only 81% and 46% compliance was achieved, respectively.

Conclusion

100% compliance was achieved in many standards (in particular in those which are automated on e-prescribing, for example, patient demographics). More attention is needed to specify the patient´s weight, the allergy status and severity of allergy and the indication and duration of anti-microbials.

Comparing with previous audits done when the trust used paper charts for prescribing, electronic prescribing has clearly overall increased adherence to legal prescribing requirements and trust standards which is a significant step towards improving the safety of patient care within the NHS.

The results from this audit have been disseminated to remind current users of common prescribing errors. This was done by presenting the results locally and by emailing all departmental staff with the results.

Recommendations from this audit include to ensure that all members of staff that have access to electronic prescribing receive the necessary training prior to starting working.

Recommendations also include to discuss with pharmacy whether it is possible to make it compulsory to enter weight and allergy status prior to prescribing, with an option for omission in emergency situations.
P39 Continuous vancomycin dosing: an audit and evaluation
Authors: Fiona Robertson , Rachel Walsh , Mildrid Yeo
Published: January 2018

Aims

Late onset sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality within the field of neonatology, with coagulase- negative staphylococci being the most commonly reported pathogens. Due to staphylococcal resistance patterns vancomycin is an essential therapeutic agent. Its efficacy correlates directly with duration of bacterial exposure at therapeutic levels. Some studies have suggested that continuous infusion achieves quicker and more sustained therapeutic levels than traditional intermittent dosing. Continuous dosing was introduced in our neonatal units in September 2015. This piece of work audits adherence to local prescribing and monitoring guidance whilst assessing the effectiveness of the new continuous regimes.

Method

All infants commenced on continuous vancomycin over a six month period were included. Cases were identified via pharmacy records and data collected retrospectively and prospectively. Key areas were: loading and initial continuous doses, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), time spent in therapeutic range and the associated effects of gestation and baseline creatinine. Adverse effects were also considered. Data was analysed using Excel and Prism.

Results

45 treatment episodes were eligible for analysis. Corrected gestation ranged from 24+5 to 41+6. Mean weight was 1450 g and mean duration of therapy 6.5 days. Loading, initial continuous dosing and TDM were generally carried out in line with local guidelines. Regarding the first level measured after commencement of the continuous regime; 9% of levels with continuous infusion were subtherapeutic. A previous audit of intermittent vancomycin dosing showed that 50% of first levels were subtherapeutic. Statistically there was a weak correlation between creatinine level prior to commencement of continuous vancomycin and the first level. Of all 298 levels measured 56% were therapeutic, 19% were supratherapeutic and 25% subtherapeutic. Time spent in therapeutic range was comparable across the range of gestational groups.

Conclusion

Continuous vancomycin dosing showed promising results in this population. Adherence to local guidelines in terms of prescribing and monitoring was good. The time taken to reach therapeutic range was shorter than previously achieved with intermittent dosing. Maintaining levels with this therapeutic range was also seen to be favourable. More detailed analysis of our results suggests that our dosing guidance is adjusted correctly to take into account important variables in vancomycin pharmacokinetics such as corrected gestational age and renal function. No adverse effects specific to vancomycin were noted during the course of this work.
P7 An audit of the management of resuscitation drugs and trolley contents
Authors: Maidre Mihkel , McVittie Paul , Isaac Rhian
Published: January 2018

Introduction

Every clinical area is equipped with either a resuscitation trolley containing a red emergency drug box (2222 box) or only the 2222 box for emergencies such as cardiac arrests. According to national1 and local guidelines each of these trolleys contains a certain set of drugs and a CD size oxygen cylinder.

Aims were

to audit compliance of drugs, including the medical gas oxygen, with national1 and local guidelines

to audit compliance with the required daily check of resuscitation trolleys and 2222 boxes

to audit frequency of expired medicines

to audit compliance with up to date resuscitation guidelines

The aims of the audit were to assess the pharmaceutical contents in the resuscitation trolleys, monitor if regular checks are done to the trolleys, compare the pharmaceutical contents in the trolleys to those on the local clinical area’s stock list and review the resuscitation guidelines on the trolley.

Method

A data collection form was created which included the drugs and local Trust resuscitation trolley content list. A free text box was included to capture drugs or drug related guidelines found on the trolley that were not officially listed.

Results

Forty seven clinical areas were included in the data collection, 32 held a resuscitation trolley and a 2222 box, 15 held a 2222 box only.

Compliance of drug content: 50%. Reason found for poor compliance was that most clinical areas (84.4%) did not keep 250 ml sodium chloride bags as routine stock on the ward causing a delay in replenishing following an emergency. Twenty of the trolleys contained drugs not included on the list.

Compliance with equipment list

Compliance of Oxygen cylinders on trolley: 5/29. Critical care unit trolleys did not keep oxygen cylinder as each bed space keeps a cylinder. One cylinder was found out of date.

Compliance rate with daily trolley checks: 29/32

Guidelines were found on 31/32 trolleys. Where guidelines were found, revision of the information was required.

Recommendations

Actions following the audit included changing the trolley content list: 250 mL sodium chloride 0.9 bags to a 500 ml sodium chloride 0.9% w/v bag which is kept routinely in each area. The guidelines are being revised to provide clearer information on dosing and administration for children.

The Trust resuscitation committee have agreed to re-audit at least every 6 months.

Conclusion

After the completion of the audit the results were presented to the Resuscitation Committee and implementations were suggested in order to improve the management of resuscitation trolleys in the hospital. Together it was agreed, that a re-audit should be done in the future (3–6 months’ time) to see if these recommendations have improved the current situation.

Reference

Resuscitation Council (UK). Acute care: Equipment and drug lists 2013. https://www.resus.org.uk/quality-standards/acute-care-equipment-and-drug-lists/#paed [Accessed: 6 April 2016].
P36 A review of aspirin discharge documentation in paediatric cardiology
Authors: Gage Susie
Published: January 2018

The humble drug Aspirin, derived from willow bark, is widely used in paediatric cardiology. It is used for a number of different indications mainly for its antiplatelet action; a few such examples include Blalock-Taussig shunts, Glenn shunts, post ablation stroke prevention and in Kawasaki Disease.

The discharge summary is a means of communicating changes to GPs, other hospitals and paediatricians within the paediatric cardiac network. The aim of the review was to assess the situation currently; whether the indication and duration of aspirin were documented on the patient’s discharge summary. This issue has been raised through our paediatric cardiac network meeting.

A retrospective study was carried out. A list of all patients discharged from the paediatric cardiac ward in January & February 2016 was obtained from Medway; our electronic patient information system for admissions and discharges. Using this list of patients, Heartsuite; our electronic cardiac database, was used to find 30 patients, who were discharged on aspirin.

The following data was collected on each of these discharge summaries; whether aspirin was newly started or continued, whether the indication and duration of aspirin was documented.

The data was collected and of the 30 discharge summaries viewed with aspirin on discharge; 18 (60%) were newly started on aspirin and 12 (40%) were continued on aspirin, 4 (13.3%) had the indication documented and 12 (40%) had the duration documented.

The paediatric cardiac patients discharged on aspirin, as shown by the results in this review show that the majority of discharge summaries do not have the indication or duration of aspirin documented. So, there was found to be inadequate documentation and communication to users in our paediatric cardiac network. With this in mind a service improvement is necessary.

The improvement suggestions are two-fold. Firstly, an additional note needs to be made to the surgical operation note that can be transferred to the discharge summary. Secondly, the addition of a mandatory field on the medication section of the discharge summary for the indication and the duration of aspirin.
7 Development of a leaflet to teach children to swallow tablets
Authors: Mawson Charlotte
Published: January 2018

Aim

In paediatric pharmacy a wide range of medications are used, which are often not available in formulations suitable for children. We wanted to design a tool that would enhance our patients’ experience of medication taking as well as improving accessibility to medicines, palatability and ease of administration.

Method

The European Medicines Agency advises that ‘for chronic diseases, the acceptability of tablets in children may be improved by adequate training’.1 Among others a study has shown that almost half of two year olds could swallow a 3 mm tablet, increasing to 85% in 5 year olds.2

A leaflet was suggested as the best way to teach our patients and their parents how to swallow tablets as it could be widely distributed. It was developed with a working group of paediatric clinical psychologists and a paediatric pharmacist. The leaflet aims to be encouraging and provide practical tips and advice. It offers seven different techniques for swallowing tablets which were adapted from web-based advice and previous cases. The leaflet was piloted in a small number of patients and they were given a questionnaire.

Results

Ten questionnaires were returned, with patients’ ages ranging from 5 to 17. All the patients said that they would now be taking all or some of their medication as tablets. All of the techniques were tried by 2 or more patients and each technique was successful for at least 1 child. The most popular method was the ‘big gulp method’ which worked for 8 patients. This involves swirling the tablet around the mouth for 10 s with as much water as possible and then taking a large gulp until all the water and the tablet have gone.

Positive feedback for the leaflet included ‘feels grown up being able to take a tablet’, taking tablets is ‘easier’ and ‘quicker’; one patient wished they had been given the leaflet sooner. Parents also fed back that ‘there was no longer a fight to take medicines’ and ‘it’s much easier for school to manage’.

Conclusion

The findings have shown that this is a very successful and useful tool. It allows children and their families to take ownership of their medicine taking. To enable more patients to benefit, further engagement from multidisciplinary teams e.g. play specialists, is needed. In the long-term this leaflet could be used to proactively start patients on tablets rather than reactively, creating potential cost savings and a reduction in the use of unlicensed medicines and specials.

References

European Medicines Agency. Guideline on pharmaceutical development of medicines for paediatric use2013. http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Scientific_guideline/2013/07/WC500147002.pdf [Accessed: 28 July 2016].

Thomson SA, Tuleu C, Wong ICK, et al. Minitablets: New modality to deliver medicines to preschool-aged children. Paediatrics2009;123(2):235–238.
9 Children/young people taking long-term medicines – a survey of the experiences of community pharmacists
Authors: Aston Jeff
Published: January 2018

Aim

To identify the experiences of community pharmacists in caring for children/young people, or their parents/carers, taking long-term medicines.

Method

A pre-piloted 13 point semi-structured survey, participant information leaflet, consent form and pre-paid return envelope were posted to all 354 community pharmacists who had dispensed a prescription from a single specialist paediatric hospital during November and December 2015. Community pharmacy addresses were obtained from the National Health Service Business Services Authority ePACT system. Telephone follow-up of non-responders and, if necessary, a repeat mailing was made from 3 weeks after the original return by date.

Participants were asked about their experiences of undertaking a medication review with either children/young people or their parents/carers, medication-related problems presenting to them, adherence, information needs of patients/carers and what issues were reported to them from this group.

The data were analysed using SPSS version 22 and NVivo version 10.

Results

A response rate of 76/354 (21.5%) was achieved. Eighteen (23.7%) respondents had undertaken a Medicines Use Review (MUR),122 (28.9%) a New Medicines Service (NMS)2 review and 16 (21.1%) had undertaken another type of medication review in a child/young person. Respondents reported that patients or their carers had presented to them with adherence issues including stopping the medicine (24, 31.6%) and changing the dose (28, 36.8%) without informing the prescriber. Patients or their carers had requested information from them about the indication (59, 77.6%), dose regime (63, 82.9%), administration (64, 84.2%) and adverse effects (58, 76.6%). Respondents also reported patients/carers experiencing difficulties obtaining further supplies of a medicine from their community pharmacy (47, 61.8%) and patients’ general practitioners declining to prescribe a medicine recommended by the patient’s hospital-based specialist (27, 35.5%).

Conclusion

This study has demonstrated that children, and their carers, taking long-term medicines experience a range of issues that they present to community pharmacists. Many of these issues would fall within the purview of currently funded medication review services namely the NMS and MUR.1,2 However, the proportion of pharmacists in this study undertaking formal medication review with children or their parents/carers was low. Further work is required to demonstrate the outcomes that such a review could have in this cohort of patients.

References

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee. MURs: The basics. What is the medicines use review and prescription intervention service? [Internet] 2016. Available from: MURs: The basics http://psnc.org.uk/services-commissioning/advanced-services/murs/murs-the-basics/ [Available: 19 May 2016].

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee. New Medicines Service (NMS) [Internet] 2016. http://psnc.org.uk/services-commissioning/advanced-services/nms/ [Available: 19 May 2016].
Muscular performance and body composition changes following multi-joint versus combined multi- and single-joint exercises in aging adults
Authors: Bezerra Ewertton de Souza , Moro Antônio Renato Pereira , Orssatto Lucas Bet da Rosa , da Silva Mariane Eichendorf , Willardson Jeffrey Michael , Simão Roberto
Published: January 2018

The aim of the present study was to compare muscular performance and body composition changes following low-volume resistance-training programs consisting of multi-joint (MJ) exercises (cable chest press and seated row) versus a combination of multi- and single-joint (MJ+SJ) exercises (cable chest press, seated row, biceps curl, and triceps extension). Thirty untrained healthy aging adults were randomly assigned to 3 groups: MJ (n = 11), MJ+SJ (n = 11), and control (n = 8). Twelve-repetition maximums (12-RMs) for the cable chest press and seated row, localized muscular endurance for the elbow flexors handgrip strength, and body composition were assessed before and after the 8-week training program. All comparisons were analyzed via a mixed-model analysis with repeated measures (group × time) and the Bonferroni post hoc test (p < 0.05). The MJ and MJ+SJ groups increased performance in the 12-RM cable chest press (MJ = 61.5% ± 24.6% and MJ+SJ = 71.1% ± 25.6%), 12-RM seated row (MJ = 46.4% ± 26.3% and MJ+SJ = 51.5% ± 21.0%), localized muscular endurance (MJ = 24.7% ± 16.7% and MJ+SJ = 37.0% ± 11.4%), and handgrip strength (MJ = 9.3% ± 10.4% and MJ+SJ = 16.6% ± 25.3%) after the intervention. Body composition (i.e., trunk and upper limb fat and lean mass) did not change for any groups. No significant differences were observed between the MJ versus the MJ+SJ protocols after the intervention for any variables. In conclusion, for aging adults, either MJ or MJ+SJ low-volume resistance training resulted in similar increases in 12-RM, localized muscular endurance, and handgrip strength, without changes in body composition after 8 weeks of training.
Elaborating a new excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESPT) mechanism for a new π-conjugated dye 2, 2′-((5-(2-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethenyl)-benzene-1,1-diyl)-bis-(nitrilomethylylidene)-diphenol)
Authors: Yang Dapeng , Jia Min , Song Xiaoyan , Zhang Qiaoli
Published: January 2018

In this work, the excited state dynamical behavior of a novel π-conjugated dye 2,2′-((5-(2-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethenyl)-benzene-1,1-diyl)-bis-(nitrilomethylylidene)-diphenol) (C1) has been investigated. Two intramolecular hydrogen bonds of C1 are tested to pre-existing in the ground state via AIM and reduced density gradient. Using a time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method, it has been substantiated that the intramolecular hydrogen bonds of C1 should be strengthened in the S1 state via analyzing fundamental bond length, bond angles, and corresponding infrared vibrational modes. The most obvious variation of these two hydrogen bonds is the O4–H5···N6 bond, which might play important roles in excited state behavior for the C1 system. Furthermore, based on electronic excitation, charge transfer could occur. Just due to this kind of charge re-distribution, two hydrogen bonds should be tighter in the first excited state, which is consistent with the variation of hydrogen bond lengths. Thus, the phenomenon of charge transfer is reasonable evidence for confirming the occurrence of the excited state proton transfer (ESPT) process in the S1 state. Our theoretically constructed potential energy surfaces of C1 show that excited state single proton transfer should occur along with the O4–H5···N6 hydrogen bond rather than the O1–H2···N3 bond. We not only clarify the ESIPT mechanism for C1 but put forward new affiliation and explain a previous experiment successfully.
MP2 or B3LYP: computed bond distances compared with CCSD(T)/cc-pVQZ
Authors: Chong Delano P.
Published: January 2018

The equilibrium bond lengths of 41 small molecules are calculated by Gaussian09 and ADF2013 programs. We use five different basis sets: 6-31G*, cc-pVDZ, 6-311G+(2d,p), cc-pVTZ, and cc-pVQZ, for six different methods: Hartree-Fock, MP2, MP3, CCSD, CCSD(T), and B3LYP. The reliability of each level of theory on 89 bond lengths compared with CCSD(T)/cc-pVQZ is examined in terms of the mean absolute deviation. In particular, basis set dependence of the relative reliability of the two popular methods MP2 versus B3LYP is important to computational chemists. In addition, the efficient even-tempered basis set of Slater-type orbital called et-pVQZ, available in the ADF2013 program, is tested with the popular density functional B3LYP.
Complex relationships among rearing temperature, growth, and sprint speed in clonal lines of rainbow trout
Authors: Bellinger Kristy L. , Thorgaard Gary H. , Carter Patrick A.
Published: January 2018

Cold-water dependent rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) inhabit a considerably diverse geographic range extending from Alaska to southern California, where adjustments in growth and swim performance in response to temperature may be present. Here we measured four clonal lines of rainbow trout for growth and sprint speed, at two different constant temperatures (10 or 18 °C), across 12 weeks. The objective was to characterize temperature responses among different genotypes originating from Alaska, Oregon, and two hatchery populations; we expected that the lines would respond in a way that implicated their diversity in geographic origin and domestication history. We observed all fish achieve the greatest growth and body size and fastest sprint speed at 18 °C, regardless of origin; substantial variation in growth and swim performance among and within line and temperature was also observed. Surprisingly, the Swanson line from Alaska exhibited very rapid growth at the warmer temperature, which may support the countergradient variation in growth hypothesis. The diversity of responses reported here illustrates the complex nature of the relationship among temperature, growth, and performance and provide groundwork for future genetic analyses utilizing clonal lines of rainbow trout.
The influence of turbidity and water temperature on black fly species in the middle and lower Orange River, South Africa
Authors: Rivers-Moore N.A. , Palmer R.W.
Published: January 2018

Water clarity in the Orange River of South Africa alternates between highly turbid and clearer conditions. Multiple ecological effects result from this that affect aquatic community structure and species composition, including switching of dominant black fly species and growth of benthic algae. Fourteen sites in the middle and lower Orange River were sampled for black fly species and abundances, presence of benthic algae, and water quality and turbidity seasonally between November 2015 and December 2016. Logistic regression models, time series analyses, and multivariate ordinations showed that clearer water favours benthic algae and the minor pest black fly species Simulium adersi Pomeroy, 1922 and Simulium nigritarse Coquillett, 1902, while high turbidity favours the major pest black fly species Simulium chutteri Lewis, 1965 and Simulium damnosum Theobald, 1903. Moreover, these switches appear to be less frequent under post-impoundment conditions. We conclude that black fly species composition is dynamic and reflects changes in flow and turbidity levels. Flow regulation has resulted in a trade-off between improved water supply and ecological costs resulting from reduced ecosystem variability.
The A-polynomial 2-tuple of twisted Whitehead links
Authors: Tran Anh T.
Published: January 2018

We compute the A-polynomial 2-tuple of twisted Whitehead links. As applications, we determine the canonical component of twisted Whitehead links and give a formula for the volume of twisted Whitehead link cone-manifolds.
Community detection in complex networks by using membrane algorithm
Authors: Liu Chuang , Fan Linan , Liu Zhou , Dai Xiang , Xu Jiamei , Chang Baoren
Published: January 2018

Community detection in complex networks is a key problem of network analysis. In this paper, a new membrane algorithm is proposed to solve the community detection in complex networks. The proposed algorithm is based on membrane systems, which consists of objects, reaction rules, and a membrane structure. Each object represents a candidate partition of a complex network, and the quality of objects is evaluated according to network modularity. The reaction rules include evolutionary rules and communication rules. Evolutionary rules are responsible for improving the quality of objects, which employ the differential evolutionary algorithm to evolve objects. Communication rules implement the information exchanged among membranes. Finally, the proposed algorithm is evaluated on synthetic, real-world networks with real partitions known and the large-scaled networks with real partitions unknown. The experimental results indicate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm in comparison with other experimental algorithms.
Vector leptoquark mass limits and branching ratios of KL0,B0,Bs → li+lj− decays with account of fermion mixing in leptoquark currents
Authors: Smirnov A. D.
Published: January 2018

The contributions of the vector leptoquarks of Pati–Salam type to the branching ratios of [Formula: see text] decays are calculated with account of the fermion mixing in the leptoquark currents of the general type. Using the general parametrizations of the mixing matrices the lower vector leptoquark mass limit [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 86 TeV is found from the current experimental data on these decays. The branching ratios of the decays [Formula: see text] predicted at [Formula: see text] = 86 TeV are calculated. These branching ratios for the decays [Formula: see text] are close to the experimental data whereas those for the decays [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are by order of 2–4 less than their current experimental limits. For the decays [Formula: see text] these branching ratios are of orders [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. The predicted branching ratios will be useful in the current and future experimental searches for these decays.
Three-Dimensional Dynamic Simulation System for Forest Surface Fire Spreading Prediction
Authors: Li Jianwei , Li Xiaowen , Chen Chongchen , Zheng Huiru , Liu Naiyuan
Published: January 2018

Forest fire is one of the most frequent, fast spreading and destructive natural disasters. Many countries have developed their own fire prediction model and computational systems to predict the fire spreading, however, the user interaction, display effect and prediction accuracy have not yet met the requirements for firefighting in real forest fire events. The forest fire spreading is a complex process affected by multi-factors. Understanding the relationships between these multi-factors and the forest fire spreading trend is vital to predicting the fire spreading promptly and accurately to make the strategy in extinguishing the forest fire. In this paper, we propose and develop a three-dimensional (3D) forest fire spreading simulation system, FFSimulator, to visualize the impact of multi-factors to the fire spread. FFSimultor integrates the multi-factor analysis approach with the FARSITE prediction model to improve the prediction. The FFSimulator developed applies 3D scene organization, template-based vector data mapping and overlaps visualization techniques to provide a 3D dynamic visualization of large-scale forest fire. The 3D multi-factors superposition analysis simulates the impacts of individual factor and multi-factors on the trend of surface fire spreading, which can be used to identify the key sites for the prevention and the control of forest fires. The system has been tested and evaluated using real data of Shanghan forest fire.
Hash-Based Block Matching for Nonsquare Blocks in Screen Content Coding
Authors: Liu Zhi , Zhang Jing , Zhang Mengmeng , Zhu Ang , An Changzhi
Published: January 2018

With the rapid development of electronic and multimedia technologies, screen contents are widely used in video related applications. However, hash-based block matching, one of the important coding tools designed to improve the coding efficiency of screen content video, is faced with the limitation of constrained block shapes. In this paper, based on the analysis of the time and storage complexity in adding nonsquare blocks to the latest block matching scheme, an improved block matching scheme is proposed by introducing two kinds of nonsquare blocks, i.e. [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] blocks to the coding tool, which can improve the coding efficiency and trade-off the efficiency and complexity. Compared with the latest HM-16.9[Formula: see text]SCM-8.0, the proposed scheme achieves 1.47% and 0.94% bitrate saving in low delay and random access configurations with the cost of negligible encoding time increasing for all test text sequences.
Analysis of Feature Fatigue EEG Signals Based on Wavelet Entropy
Authors: Wang Qingjun , Li Yibo , Liu Xueping
Published: January 2018

Fatigue driving is bringing more and more serious harm, but there are various reasons for fatigue driving, it is still difficult to test the driver’s fatigue. This paper defines a method to test driver’s fatigue based on the EEG, and different from other researches into fatigue driving, this paper mainly takes the fatigue features of EEG signals in fatigue state and uses wavelet entropy as the feature extraction method to analyze the features of wavelet entropy and spectral entropy features as well as the classification accuracy under the same classifier. The SVM is used to show the classifier’s results. The accuracy of the driver fatigue state monitoring using the wavelet entropy is 90.7%, which is higher than the use of spectral entropy as the characteristic accuracy rate of 81.3%. The results show that the frequency characteristics of EEG can be well applied to driving fatigue testing, but different frequency feature calculation methods will affect the classification accuracy.
Prior Fusion and Feature Transformation-Based Principal Component Analysis for Saliency Detection
Authors: Shan Dongjing , Zhang Chao
Published: January 2018

In this paper, we propose a prior fusion and feature transformation-based principal component analysis (PCA) method for saliency detection. It relies on the inner statistics of the patches in the image for identifying unique patterns, and all the processes are done only once. First, three low-level priors are incorporated and act as guidance cues in the model; second, to ensure the validity of PCA distinctness model, a linear transform for the feature space is designed and needs to be trained; furthermore, an extended optimization framework is utilized to generate a smoothed saliency map based on the consistency of the adjacent patches. We compare three versions of our model with seven previous methods and test them on several benchmark datasets. Different kinds of strategies are adopted to evaluate the performance and the results demonstrate that our model achieves the state-of-the-art performance.
A Particle Swarm Optimization Clustering-Based Attribute Generalization Privacy Protection Scheme
Authors: Zhang Lei , Yang Songtao , Li Jing , Yu Lili
Published: January 2018

Continuous query in location-based services may reveal the attribute information of the user obliviously, and an adversary may utilize the attribute as background knowledge to correlate the real locations and to generate location trajectory. Thus, the adversary can obtain the personal privacy of the user. In order to cope with this problem, several algorithms had been proposed. However, these algorithms were mainly designed for snapshot query and failed to provide privacy protection service for continuous query. As a matter of fact, continuous anonymous regions can also be used as the trajectory of regions and one can obtain the real location trajectory through calibration. In addition, other algorithms designed for continuous query may also utilize a longer running time to achieve the attribute anonymity and affect the balance of quality of service and personal privacy. Therefore, in order to cope with the above two problems, this paper provides a PSO anonymization, short for particle swarm optimization anonymization algorithm. This algorithm utilizes the particle swarm optimization clustering algorithm to accelerate the process of finding similar attributes in attribute generalization. Furthermore, this algorithm also utilizes the randomly chosen anonymous cells to further generalize the anonymous region, so that it can provide better privacy protection and better service quality. At last, this paper utilizes security analysis and experimental verification to further verify the effectiveness and efficiency of both the level of privacy protection and algorithm execution.
Differentiating between biogenic and thermogenic sources of natural gas in coalbed methane reservoirs from the Illinois Basin using noble gas and hydrocarbon geochemistry
Authors: Moore Myles T. , Vinson David S. , Whyte Colin J. , Eymold William K. , Walsh Talor B. , Darrah Thomas H.
Published: January 2018

While coalbed methane (CBM) is a significant source of natural gas production globally, uncertainties regarding the proportions of biogenic and thermogenic natural gas in CBM reservoirs still remain. We integrate major gases, hydrocarbon composition, hydrocarbon stable isotopes and noble gases in fluids from 20 producing CBM wells to more accurately constrain the genetic source of natural gases in the eastern Illinois Basin, USA. Previous studies have indicated primarily biogenic production of methane (>99.6%) with negligible contributions from thermogenic natural gases. However, by integrating noble gases, we identify quantifiable (up to 19.2%) contributions of exogenous thermogenic gas in produced gases from the Seelyville and Springfield coal seams. Thermogenic gases are distinguished by a positive relationship between methane, ethane and helium-4, lower C
1
/C
2
+, heavier δ
13
C-CH
4
, more radiogenic noble gases (
4
He,
21
Ne*,
40
Ar*), and lower abundances of atmospherically derived gases (
20
Ne,
36
Ar). Biogenic gases displayed lighter δ
13
C-CH
4
, higher C
1
/C
2
+, higher levels of atmospheric gases and lower abundances of radiogenic noble gases. Our data suggest that natural gases from a deeper, exogenous thermogenic source likely migrated to the Pennsylvanian-aged coals at an unknown time and later mixed with biogenic methane diluting the geochemical signature of the thermogenic methane within the Springfield and Seelyville coal seams.
Realizing the Mass Public Benefit of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies: The IAPT Program
Authors: Clark David M.
Published: January 2018

Empirically supported psychological therapies have been developed for many mental health conditions. However, in most countries only a small proportion of the public benefit from these advances. The English Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program aims to bridge the gap between research and practice by training over 10,500 new psychological therapists in empirically supported treatments and deploying them in new services for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. Currently IAPT treats over 560,000 patients per year, obtains clinical outcome data on 98.5% of these individuals, and places this information in the public domain. Around 50% of patients treated in IAPT services recover, and two-thirds show worthwhile benefits. The clinical and economic arguments on which IAPT is based are presented, along with details of the service model, how the program was implemented, and recent findings about service organization. Limitations and future directions are outlined.
Synthesis for Robots: Guarantees and Feedback for Robot Behavior
Authors: Kress-Gazit Hadas , Lahijanian Morteza , Raman Vasumathi
Published: January 2018

Robot control for tasks such as moving around obstacles or grasping objects has advanced significantly in the last few decades. However, controlling robots to perform complex tasks is still accomplished largely by highly trained programmers in a manual, time-consuming, and error-prone process that is typically validated only through extensive testing. Formal methods are mathematical techniques for reasoning about systems, their requirements, and their guarantees. Formal synthesis for robotics refers to frameworks for specifying tasks in a mathematically precise language and automatically transforming these specifications into correct-by-construction robot controllers or into a proof that the task cannot be done. Synthesis allows users to reason about the task specification rather than its implementation, reduces implementation error, and provides behavioral guarantees for the resulting controller. This article reviews the current state of formal synthesis for robotics and surveys the landscape of abstractions, specifications, and synthesis algorithms that enable it.
Recent Past, Present, and Future of the Food Microbiome
Authors: De Filippis Francesca , Parente Eugenio , Ercolini Danilo
Published: January 2018

Sequencing technologies have deeply changed our approach to the study of food microbial communities. This review describes recent exploitations of high-throughput sequencing applications to improve our knowledge of food microbial consortia. In the past 10 years, target amplicon sequencing has become routinely used in many food microbiology laboratories, providing a detailed picture of food-associated microbiota. Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics approaches are still underexploited in food microbial ecology, despite their potential to uncover the functionality of complex communities. In a near future, sequencing technologies will surely advance our understanding of how to effectively use the invaluable microbial resources to improve food quality and safety.
Visualizing 3D Food Microstructure Using Tomographic Methods: Advantages and Disadvantages
Authors: Wang Zi , Herremans Els , Janssen Siem , Cantre Dennis , Verboven Pieter , Nicolaï Bart
Published: January 2018

X-ray micro–computed tomography (micro-CT) provides the unique ability to capture intact internal microstructure data without significant preparation of the sample. The fundamentals of micro-CT technology are briefly described along with a short introduction to basic image processing, quantitative analysis, and derivative computational modeling. The applications and limitations of micro-CT in industries such as meat, dairy, postharvest, and bread/confectionary are discussed to serve as a guideline to the plausibility of utilizing the technique for detecting features of interest. Component volume fractions, their respective size/shape distributions, and connectivity, for example, can be utilized for product development, manufacturing process tuning and/or troubleshooting. In addition to determining structure-function relations, micro-CT can be used for foreign material detection to further ensure product quality and safety. In most usage scenarios, micro-CT in its current form is perfectly adequate for determining microstructure in a wide variety of food products. However, in low-contrast and low-stability samples, emphasis is placed on the shortcomings of the current systems to set realistic expectations for the intended users.
XIAP Regulation by MNK Links MAPK and NFκB Signaling to Determine an Aggressive Breast Cancer Phenotype
Authors: Evans Myron K. , Brown Michael C. , Geradts Joseph , Bao Xuhui , Robinson Timothy J. , Jolly Mohit Kumar , Vermeulen Peter B. , Palmer Gregory M. , Gromeier Matthias , Levine Herbert , Morse Michael A. , Van Laere Steven J. , Devi Gayathri R.
Published: January 2018

Hyperactivation of the NFκB pathway is a distinct feature of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a highly proliferative and lethal disease. Gene expression studies in IBC patient tissue have linked EGFR (EGFR/HER2)-mediated MAPK signaling to NFκB hyperactivity, but the mechanism(s) by which this occurs remain unclear. Here, we report that the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) plays a central role in linking these two pathways. XIAP overexpression correlated with poor prognoses in breast cancer patients and was frequently observed in untreated IBC patient primary tumors. XIAP drove constitutive NFκB transcriptional activity, which mediated ALDH positivity (a marker of stem-like cells), in vivo tumor growth, and an IBC expression signature in patient-derived IBC cells. Using pathway inhibitors and mathematical models, we defined a new role for the MAPK interacting (Ser/Thr)-kinase (MNK) in enhancing XIAP expression and downstream NFκB signaling. Furthermore, targeted XIAP knockdown and treatment with a MNK inhibitor decreased tumor cell migration in a dorsal skin fold window chamber murine model that allowed for intravital imaging of local tumor growth and migration. Together, our results indicate a novel role for XIAP in the molecular cross-talk between MAPK and NFκB pathways in aggressive tumor growth, which has the potential to be therapeutically exploited.

Significance: Signaling by the MNK kinase is essential in inflammatory breast cancer, and it can be targeted to inhibit XIAP–NFκB signaling and the aggressive phenotype of this malignancy. Cancer Res; 78(7); 1726–38. ©2018 AACR.