bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pyogranulomatous pleuropneumonia caused by Nocardia asiatica in a dog coinfected with canine morbillivirus (canine distemper virus)
Authors: Teixeira Ribeiro Allyne Isabela , da Cruz Burema Mayara , de Souza Borges Ana Paula , de Melo Bruno Vanessa Cristina , Brandini Néspoli Pedro Eduardo , Colodel Edson Moleta , Furlan Gouvêa Fernando Henrique , Dutra Valéria , Nakazato Luciano , Ribeiro Márcio Garcia , de Aguiar Daniel Moura
Published: October 2019

Nocardia asiatica causing pyogranulomatous pleuropneumonia is reported for the first time in a dog coinfected with canine morbillivirus (CM), diagnosed based on epidemiological, clinical, haematological, images, microbiological, histopathological, polymerase chain reaction and hsp65 gene sequencing findings. The immunosuppression of CM probably favoured the opportunistic behaviour of N. asiatica. Despite the therapeutic measures, the animal died, mainly due to respiratory distress. The association of methods to improve early diagnosis, therapy procedures and prognosis of canine nocardiosis is discussed, as well as the close relationship between pets and their owners, which may favour the transmission of pathogens such as Nocardia from pets‐to‐humans, which poses an emerging public health issue.
Ultra short‐term probability prediction of wind power based on LSTM network and condition normal distribution
Authors: Sun Yonghui , Wang Peng , Zhai Suwei , Hou Dongchen , Wang Sen , Zhou Yan
Published: October 2019

Considering the inevitable prediction errors in the traditional point predictions of wind power, in this paper, a new ultra short‐term probability prediction method for wind power is proposed, in which the long short‐term memory (LSTM) network, wavelet decomposition (WT), and principal component analysis (PCA) are combined together for ultra short‐term probability prediction of wind power, a conditional normal distribution model that is developed to describe the uncertainty of prediction errors. First, WT and PCA are jointly used to smooth the original time series, then the point prediction model for subsequence data based on LSTM network is proposed. It is worth pointing out that the input matrix of the model includes many features, such as wind power and wind speed, which will be helpful for improving prediction performance. After optimizing the index of the ultra short‐term probability prediction interval (PI) of wind power by particle swarm optimization (PSO), the conditional normal distribution model of prediction errors is developed. Thus, the ultra short‐term PIs for wind power are obtained. Finally, based on the data of two wind farms in China, simulation results are provided to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed prediction model. It follows from those results that the proposed method can improve the accuracy of prediction, and the reliability of probability prediction for wind power is also improved.
Critical considerations for targeting colorectal liver metastases with nanotechnology
Authors: Arshad Usman , Sutton Paul A. , Ashford Marianne B. , Treacher Kevin E. , Liptrott Neill J. , Rannard Steve P. , Goldring Christopher E. , Owen Andrew
Published: October 2019

Colorectal cancer remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Half of all patients develop liver metastases, presenting unique challenges for their treatment. The shortcomings of conventional chemotherapy has encouraged the use of nanomedicines; the application of nanotechnology in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. In spite of technological improvements in nanotechnology, the complexity of biological systems hinders the prospect of nanomedicines being applied in cancer therapy at the present time. This review highlights current biological barriers and discusses aspects of tumor biology together with the physicochemical features of the nanocarrier, that need to be considered in order to develop effective nanotherapeutics for colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases. It becomes clear that incorporating an interdisciplinary approach when developing nanomedicines should assure appropriate disease‐driven design and that this will form a critical step in improving their clinical translation.

This article is characterized under:

Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease
Automated SEM‐EDS pottery classification based on minero‐chemical quantitative parameters: An application on ancient Greek pottery from Adrano (NE Sicily, Italy)
Authors: Cossio R. , Davit P. , Turco F. , Operti L. , Pratolongo V. , Leone R. , Lamagna G. , Borghi A.
Published: October 2019

A new SEM‐EDS procedure for ancient ceramic classification, based on the automated acquisition and the semiautomated processing of multi‐elemental X‐ray maps, is described. Based on the detection of each aplastic inclusion, the procedure allows to simultaneously obtain a quantitative evaluation of both the inclusion mineral–chemical composition and the ceramic matrix chemical composition. The two data sets can individually or jointly be subjected to statistical methods. The proposed protocol was applied on a set of 22 samples of black glaze pottery from Adrano (north‐eastern Sicily), Hellenistic age (4th to 2nd centuries B.C.). Two main groups emerged from the application of the procedure, mainly distinguished for their quartz–feldspars versus calcium–aluminosilicate relative abundance as the inclusion mineral–chemical composition is concerned and for their matrix SiO2 versus CaO. The classification based on the inclusion mineral–chemical data obtained with the proposed method mirrors the results from the traditional OM observation, but when the two data sets are simultaneously considered, a subtler differentiation is observed with the separation of one of the groups in two subgroups, allowing to refine the partition.
Wrinkling in sandwich panels with bi‐modular core
Authors: Birman Victor , Lee Jeffrey
Published: October 2019

The paper is concerned with wrinkling of thin facings in sandwich structures with a bi‐modular elastic core. Bi‐modularity of core implies a different stiffness in tension and compression. The solution to the wrinkling problem is obtained by an extension of the Hoff method. One of two bounding cases are the classical Hoff solution where the stiffness of the core in tension is equal to that in compression. In the second case demonstrated in the paper the mismatch in the stiffness of the core in tension and compression is so large that the higher stiffness can be assumed infinite. The solution for intermediate cases where the ratio of the core stiffness in tension to that in compression is finite is also presented in the paper. In addition, the approach to the analysis of wrinkling utilizing the stresses in the core derived by the theory of elasticity is discussed and the closed‐form solution obtained in the particular case of equal tensile and compressive moduli. It is shown that a mismatch in the elastic moduli of the core in tension and compression results in the change in the mode shape of wrinkling as compared to the core with equal tensile and compressive stiffness. An increase in the stiffness of the facing or using a stiffer bi‐modular core results in a higher wrinkling stress. It is also demonstrated that a higher stiffness of a bi‐modular core in either tension or compression causes only a limited reduction in the energy absorbed prior to wrinkling.
Advances in Wave Digital Modeling of Linear and Nonlinear Systems: A Summary
Authors: Bernardini Alberto
Published: October 2019

This brief summarizes some of the main research results that I obtained during the three years, ranging from November 2015 to October 2018, as a Ph.D. student at Politecnico di Milano under the supervision of Professor Augusto Sarti, and that are contained in my doctoral dissertation, entitled “Advances in Wave Digital Modeling of Linear and Nonlinear Systems”. The thesis provides contributions to all the main aspects of Wave Digital (WD) modeling of lumped systems: it introduces generalized definitions of wave variables; it presents novel WD models of one- and multi-port linear and nonlinear circuit elements; it discusses systematic techniques for the WD implementation of arbitrary connection networks and it describes a novel iterative method for the implementation of circuits with multiple nonlinear elements. Though WD methods usually focus on the discrete-time implementation of analog audio circuits; the methodologies addressed in the thesis are general enough as to be applicable to whatever system that can be described by an equivalent electric circuit.
Chirp Generators for Millimeter-Wave FMCW Radars
Authors: Cherniak Dmytro , Levantino Salvatore
Published: October 2019

The vast number of radar applications generates the demand for highly-linear, low-noise, fast chirp generators implemented in nanoscale CMOS technologies. Off-the-shelf chirp synthesizers are realized in BiCMOS technologies and demonstrate excellent phase noise performances, though, at high cost and limited modulation speed. This chapter describes a new class of fast and reconfigurable chirp generators based on digital bang-bang phase-locked loops, suitable for integration in modern CMOS processes. After analyzing the impact of the chirp generator impairments on a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system, a novel pre-distortion scheme for the linearization of critical blocks is introduced to achieve at the same time low phase noise and fast linear chirps. The chirp generator fabricated in 65-nm CMOS technology demonstrates above-state-of-the-art performance: It is capable of generating chirps around 23-GHz with slopes up to 173 MHz/$$\upmu $$s and idle times of less than 200 ns with no over or undershoot after an abrupt frequency step. The circuit consuming 19.7 mA exhibits a phase noise of $$-100$$ dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier and a worst case in-band fractional spur level below $$-58$$ dBc.
Modeling and Simulation of Spiking Neural Networks with Resistive Switching Synapses
Authors: Milo Valerio
Published: October 2019

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently reached excellent achievements in the implementation of human brain cognitive functions such as learning, recognition and inference by running intensively neural networks with deep learning on high-performance computing platforms. However, excessive computational time and power consumption required for achieving such performance make AI inefficient compared with human brain. To replicate the efficient operation of human brain in hardware, novel nanoscale memory devices such as resistive switching random access memory (RRAM) have attracted strong interest thanks to their ability to mimic biological learning in silico. In this chapter, design, modeling and simulation of RRAM-based electronic synapses capable of emulating biological learning rules are first presented. Then, the application of RRAM synapses in spiking neural networks to achieve neuromorphic tasks such as on-line learning of images and associative learning is addressed.
Pharmakologische Eigenschaften von Notfallmedikamenten unter Extrembedingungen
Authors: Schäfer L. , Schmidt P. , Schiefer L. M. , Sareban M. , Macholz F. , Berger M. M.
Published: October 2019

Notfallmedikamente kommen an nahezu allen Orten dieser Erde zum Einsatz. Damit werden sie unterschiedlichsten Umweltbedingungen (Kälte, Hitze, direkte Sonneneinstrahlung) ausgesetzt. Sämtliche Daten zur Pharmakokinetik, Pharmakodynamik, Medikamentensicherheit und -haltbarkeit werden jedoch unter standardisierten Bedingungen erhoben, die sich von den Anwendungsbedingungen in der Notfallmedizin erheblich unterscheiden können. Durch die Kälte bei Wintereinsätzen im Gebirge können ebenso wie bei Einsätzen in großer Hitze und bei direkter Sonnenexposition chemische Reaktionen entstehen, welche die Eigenschaften der Medikamente bis hin zur kompletten Wirkungslosigkeit verändern können. Zusätzlich können Unterkühlung oder Überhitzung des Patienten zu einer Zentralisation bzw. Vasodilatation führen und damit das pharmakologische Verteilungsvolumen erheblich verändern, woraus Unter- bzw. Überdosierungen resultieren können. Gleichzeitig kann durch einen temperaturbedingt veränderten Metabolismus die Konjugation und Elimination von Medikamenten beeinflusst sein und zu einer unvorhersehbaren Verlängerung der Medikamentenwirkung führen. Trotz der erheblichen klinischen Relevanz dieser Thematik existieren bisher kaum Daten zu den konkreten Effekten extremer Umweltbedingungen auf die pharmakologischen Eigenschaften von Notfallmedikamenten. Diese Übersicht soll dazu dienen, den aktuellen Kenntnisstand der notfallmedizinischen Pharmakotherapie unter Extrembedingungen darzustellen.
A Qualitative Study of Caregivers’ Experiences, Motivation and Challenges Using a Web-Based Mindfulness Intervention
Authors: Stjernswärd Sigrid , Hansson Lars
Published: October 2019

Caregivers report experiences of stress and burden that can affect their health negatively. Web-based mindfulness interventions have shown beneficial health effects in clinical and non-clinical populations, including caregivers. The study’s aim was to explore the experiences of a web-based mindfulness program, including motivation and challenges to use, in caregivers of a person with somatic illness. Ten participants were interviewed. Data was analyzed with content analysis, resulting in four categories illustrating the participants’ experiences of the program, including motivations and barriers to training: A timely or untimely intervention; Mainly positive effects even at low levels of training; Relationship to the patient; and Creating a routine and maintaining motivation. Qualitative studies can contribute to enrich our understanding of the value of such interventions, which may be a flexible supportive tool for caregivers. The findings illuminate the importance of supporting motivation and adherence to such interventions, with the potential for enhanced beneficial outcomes.
On-body Cavity-Backed Low-UWB Antenna for Capsule Localization
Authors: Kissi Chaïmaâ , Särestöniemi Mariella , Kumpuniemi Timo , Sonkki Marko , Myllymäki Sami , Srifi Mohamed Nabil , Pomalaza-Raez Carlos
Published: October 2019

The paper presents a novel antenna operating at the lower UWB band (3.75–4.25 GHz), defined originally in IEEE 802.15.6 standard for Body Area Networks (BAN) applications. The proposed antenna is designed for biomedical application, wireless capsule endoscopy localization. In other words, the concerned application is dedicated to track a capsule, by means of an external device, swallowed by the patient to provide captured images of the Small Intestine (SI), essential part of the GastroIntestinal (GI) tract, and transfer them in real-time to the external device. In this context, antenna with and without cavity-backed structures, are presented and compared with the requirements for a receiving antenna in terms of directivity and bandwidth coverage in question. It was revealed that the cavity approach improved the antenna gain up to 8 dBi, at the 4 GHz center frequency, compared to 6 dBi without the cavity presence. Simulations were carried out using CST Microwave Studio, and the results were validated by measurements in proximity to human body. The antenna safety issue was assessed with CST SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) calculation, in compliance with IEEE/IEC 62704-1 standard. Results showed a maximum SAR of 0.112 W/kg and 0.005 W/kg at 4 mm and 30 mm antenna-skin distance, in the range of the SAR limit guidelines defined by safety standards. The cavity-backed antenna ability to penetrate the human tissues, to reach the small intestine layer was studied by means of CST voxel model and compared to a multi-layer model emulating the dielectric properties of the human tissues at 4 GHz. This analysis was conducted using power flow results and completed by the power field probes at the several tissue interfaces.
Screening Community-Living Older Adults for Protein Energy Malnutrition and Frailty: Update and Next Steps
Authors: Dwyer Johanna T. , Gahche Jaime J. , Weiler Mary , Arensberg Mary Beth
Published: October 2019

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM)/undernutrition and frailty are prevalent, overlapping conditions impacting on functional and health outcomes of older adults, but are frequently unidentified and untreated in community settings in the United States. Using the World Health Organization criteria for effective screening programs, we reviewed validity, reliability, and feasibility of data-driven screening tools for identifying PEM and frailty risk among community-dwelling older adults. The SCREEN II is recommended for PEM screening and the FRAIL scale is recommended as the most promising frailty screening tool, based on test characteristics, cost, and ease of use, but more research on both tools is needed, particularly on predictive validity of favorable outcomes after nutritional/physical activity interventions. The Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) has been recommended by one expert group as a screening tool for all adults, regardless of age/care setting. However, it has not been tested in US community settings, likely yields large numbers of false positives (particularly in community settings), and its predictive validity of favorable outcomes after nutritional interventions is unknown. Community subgroups at highest priority for screening are those at increased risk due to prior illness, certain demographics and/or domiciliary characteristics, and those with BMI < 20 kg/m2 or < 22 if > 70 years or recent unintentional weight loss > 10% (who are likely already malnourished). Community-based health professionals can better support healthy aging by increasing their awareness/use of PEM and frailty screening tools, prioritizing high-risk populations for systematic screening, following screening with more definitive diagnoses and appropriate interventions, and re-evaluating and revising screening protocols and measures as more data become available.
GRID-SITES: Gridded Solar Iterative Temperature Emission Solver for Fast DEM Inversion
Authors: Pickering James , Morgan Huw
Published: October 2019

The increasing size of solar datasets demands highly efficient and robust analysis methods. This paper presents an approach that can increase the computational efficiency of differential emission measure (DEM) inversions by an order of magnitude or higher, with the efficiency factor increasing with the size of the input dataset. The method, named the Gridded Solar Iterative Temperature Emission Solver (Grid-SITES) is based on grouping pixels according to the similarity of their intensities in multiple channels, and solving for one DEM per group. This is shown to be a valid approach, given a sufficiently high number of grid bins for each channel. The increase in uncertainty arising from the quantisation of the input data is small compared to the general measurement and calibration uncertainties. In this paper, we use the Solar Iterative Temperature Emission Solver (SITES) as the core method for the DEM inversion, although Grid-SITES provides a general framework which may be used with any DEM inversion method, or indeed any large multi-dimensional data inversion problem. The method is particularly efficient for processing larger images, offering a factor of 30 increase in speed for a 10 megapixel image. For a time series of observations, the gridded results can be passed sequentially to each new image, with new populated bins added as required. This process leads to increasing efficiency with each new image, with potential for a ${\approx\,}100$≈100 increase in efficiency dependent on the size of the images.
Effect of exogenous stress factors on the biosynthesis of carotenoids and lipids by Rhodotorula yeast strains in media containing agro-industrial waste
Authors: Kot Anna M. , Błażejak Stanisław , Kieliszek Marek , Gientka Iwona , Bryś Joanna , Reczek Lidia , Pobiega Katarzyna
Published: October 2019

In this study, we aimed to determine the effect of exogenous stress factors (sodium chloride as osmotic stressor, hydrogen peroxide as an inducer of oxidative stress, white light irradiation, and low temperature) on the biosynthesis of carotenoids and lipids by red yeast (Rhodotorula glutinis, R. mucilaginosa, and R. gracilis) during cultivation in media containing potato wastewater and glycerol. According to our results, the yeast were able to grow and biosynthesize lipids and carotenoids in the presence of the applied stress factors. Low temperature caused an increase in the biosynthesis of intracellular lipids and carotenoids. R. gracilis synthesized lipids (21.1 g/100 gd.w.) and carotenoids (360.4 µg/gd.w.) in greater quantities than that of other strains. Under these conditions, there was also an increase in the content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic and linolenic acids. The highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (30.4%) was synthesized by the R. gracilis yeast after cultivation at 20°C. Their quantity was 2.5-fold greater than that of the biomass grown in control conditions. The contribution of individual carotenoid fractions depended both on the yeast strain and the culture conditions. Induction of osmotic stress and low temperature intensified the biosynthesis of β-carotene (up to 73.9% of the total carotenoid content). In oxidative stress conditions, yeast synthesized torulene (up to 82.2%) more efficiently than under other conditions, whereas white light irradiation increased the production of torularhodin (up to 20.0%).
Simulation Tests of the Accuracy of Fitting Two Freeform Surfaces
Authors: Groch Damian , Poniatowska Małgorzata
Published: October 2019

The presented method is introduced to simulate and predict the accuracy of fitting two freeform surfaces. For this purpose, the CAD models of both actual surfaces should be determined on the basis of coordinate measurement data obtained in measurements along regular grids of points in the UV space. The NURBS regression surfaces are modeled on the measurement data. Adequate regression models are sought with the iterative procedure. In the following steps of the procedure, the number of control points and/or the degree of the surface is/are changed, and the autocorrelation of residuals from the models is tested using the spatial statistics methods. The designated models are optimal CAD representations of the actual surfaces. Tests of the accuracy of fitting the surfaces are carried out virtually by fitting together both models in the CAD software. The outcome of the study is a spatial model of the gap between the studied surfaces. The obtained model was verified experimentally by measuring the dimensions of the actual gap between the surfaces, applying a measuring microscope. The proposed method is a useful tool in analyzing and improving the accuracy of injection molds machining.
Mind the gap: Coping with delay in environmental governance
Authors: Karlsson Mikael , Gilek Michael
Published: October 2019

Gaps between public policy goals and the state of the environment are often significant. However, while goal failures in environmental governance are studied in a number of disciplines, the knowledge on the various causes behind delayed goal achievement is still incomplete. In this article we propose a new framework for analysis of delay mechanisms in science and policy, with the intention to provide a complementary lens for describing, analysing and counteracting delay in environmental governance. The framework is based on case-study findings from recent research focusing on goal-failures in policies for climate change, hazardous chemicals, biodiversity loss and eutrophication. It is also related to previous research on science and policy processes and their interactions. We exemplify the framework with two delay mechanisms that we consider particularly important to highlight—denial of science and decision thresholds. We call for further research in the field, for development of the framework, and not least for increased attention to delay mechanisms in environmental policy review and development on national as well as international levels.
Effects of different gas flow rates and non-perpendicular incidence angles of argon cold atmospheric-pressure plasma jet on silver thin film treatment
Authors: Hosseinpour Maryam , Zendehnam Akbar , Hamidi Sangdehi Seyedeh Mehri , Ghomi Marzdashti Hamidreza
Published: October 2019

In this study, the influences of variations in the gas flow rate and incidence angles of argon cold atmospheric-pressure plasma jet on the morphology and absorption spectra of silver thin films (60 nm, 80 nm, and 100 nm film thickness) are investigated. To evaluate the surface morphology, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed on the silver thin film surface before and after plasma processing. To analyze the effect of plasma treatment on the grain size, the one-dimensional AFM surface profiles of Ag thin films are approximated using a Gaussian function. The absorbance of Ag thin films is measured in wavelength range of 190–1100 nm utilizing UV–Vis absorption spectrometer. Compared to the gas flow rates 0.5 standard litter per minute (SLM) and 2 SLM, surface treatment of Ag thin film with gas flow rate of 1 SLM increased the valley depth, the peak valley height, and the distance between two deepest valleys remarkably. A sequential argon plasma treatment (2-min plasma treatment perpendicular to surface was followed by 2-min plasma processing with non-perpendicular incidence angle of 60°) offers considerable improvement in the uniformity of grains and also changes shape of grains, especially the peak height (about 44 times higher than untreated sample) and area of grains (almost 136 times greater than untreated sample) which can be applicable for optical sensing technology.
Recent Progresses in Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts for Electrochemical Energy Applications
Authors: Li Yahao , Li Qingyu , Wang Hongqiang , Zhang Lei , Wilkinson David P. , Zhang Jiujun
Published: October 2019

Electrochemical energy storage systems such as fuel cells and metal–air batteries can be used as clean power sources for electric vehicles. In these systems, one necessary reaction at the cathode is the catalysis of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is the rate-determining factor affecting overall system performance. Therefore, to increase the rate of ORR for enhanced system performances, efficient electrocatalysts are essential. And although ORR electrocatalysts have been intensively explored and developed, significant breakthroughs have yet been achieved in terms of catalytic activity, stability, cost and associated electrochemical system performance. Based on this, this review will comprehensively present the recent progresses of ORR electrocatalysts, including precious metal catalysts, non-precious metal catalysts, single-atom catalysts and metal-free catalysts. In addition, major technical challenges are analyzed and possible future research directions to overcome these challenges are proposed to facilitate further research and development toward practical application.

Graphic Abstract
Infrastructure and the Post-Truth Era: is Trump Twitter’s Fault?
Authors: Oliver Martin
Published: October 2019

This paper explores the relationship between social media and political rhetoric. Social media platforms are frequently discussed in relation to ‘post-truth’ politics, but it is less clear exactly what their role is in these developments. Specifically, this paper focuses on Twitter as a case, exploring the kinds of rhetoric encouraged or discouraged on this platform. To do this, I will draw on work from infrastructure studies, an area of Science and Technology Studies; and in particular, on Ford and Wajcman’s analysis of the relationships between infrastructure, knowledge claims and politics on Wikipedia. This theoretical analysis will be supplemented with evidence from previous studies and in the public domain, to illustrate the points made. This analysis echoes wider doubts about the credibility of technologically deterministic accounts of technology’s relationship with society, but suggests however that while Twitter may not be the cause of shifts in public discourse, it is implicated in them, in that it both creates new norms for discourse and enables new forms of power and inequality to operate.
A Small Group Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Daily Pentoxifylline in the Management of Patients With Erectile Dysfunction with Suboptimal Treatment Response to Sildenafil
Authors: Law Yu Xi Terence , Tai Bee Choo , Tan Yi Quan , Lata Raman Nee Mani , Lee King Chien Joe
Published: October 2019

Introduction

Several studies have reaffirmed the use of regular pentoxifylline therapy in increasing the penile brachial pressure index in men affected by erectile dysfunction when compared to placebo.

Aim

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pentoxifylline as an adjunctive treatment for patients with erectile dysfunction.

Methods

This study was a single center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Subjects were recruited between April 2014 and November 2016 from the National University Hospital, Singapore. The combination therapy group was given pentoxifylline 400 mg thrice daily orally and the monotherapy group was given placebo capsules thrice daily orally. Both groups continued their on-demand 100 mg sildenafil. The treatment duration was 8 weeks. Efficacy was measured via the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaire at the eighth week. Differences in mean IIEF-5 score and the domains of the IIEF at 8 weeks between the 2 treatment groups were compared using independent sample t-test.

Main Outcome Measure

Baseline IIEF-5 and the IIEF-15 score vs post-therapy IIEF-5 and the IIEF-15 score.

Results

50 patients were randomized into 2 groups. Patients in the 2 groups were comparable in terms of the demographic and clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and baseline IIEF-5 scores. The mean IIEF-5 score post-therapy of the combination therapy group vs the monotherapy group was 14.11 and 14.87, respectively. There was no significant difference between the outcomes of these 2 groups (unadjusted mean difference -0.76; 95% CI -4.01 to 2.49; P = .641) and the outcomes are the same even after adjusting for baseline IIEF-5 scores. There was a significant improvement in the “overall satisfaction” portion of the IIEF score for the combination therapy group as compared to the monotherapy group (unadjusted mean difference 0.12; 95% CI -1.49 to 1.25) and even after adjustment for baseline scores (adjusted mean difference 1.11; 95% CI 0.10 to 2.12; P = .032) the improvement is significant.

Conclusion

Our trial suggests that the use of combination therapy does not improve the management of patients compared to monotherapy.
A retrospective analysis of factors influencing readmission rates of acute traumatic subdural hematoma in the elderly: A cohort study
Authors: Ho Tran , Frisbie Jacob , Wasfie Tarik , Boyer Jennifer J. , Knisely Tara , Cwalina Natalia , Barber Kimberly , Shapiro Brian
Published: October 2019

ABSTRACT

Objective:

Acute traumatic subdural hematomas (TSDH) readmission rate is high (27.8%) with an increase in morbidity and cost for the elderly. This study identifies risk factors affecting readmission rates for these patients and presents strategies to reduce it.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis was conducted including patients with TSDH admitted to our Community Hospital and followed subsequently for two years regarding readmission within 6 months of initial discharge. The following factors were compared for patients readmitted versus not readmitted: patient age, sex, number of comorbidities, anticoagulation status, surgical intervention, ICU length of stay, injury severity score, and discharge disposition.

Results:

A total of 167 patients were included in the study. Overall, 75 patients (44.9%) were readmitted within 6 months. Readmitted patients had an overall higher mean age (74.1 vs. 65.4, p = 0.001). Readmission with recurrent subdural hematoma was diagnosed in 32.2% of readmitted patients vs. 67.8% (p < 0.0005) with readmission for other medical complications. 80.0% of readmitted patients had more than four comorbid conditions (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion:

This study identifies risk factors that affect readmission rates for patients with TSDH and establishes strategies that may help to decrease readmission.

Highlights:
The effect of paternalistic alternatives on attitudes toward default nudges
Authors: HAGMAN WILLIAM , ERLANDSSON ARVID , DICKERT STEPHAN , TINGHÖG GUSTAV , VÄSTFJÄLL DANIEL
Published: October 2019

Nudges are increasingly being proposed and used as a policy tool around the world. The success of nudges depends on public acceptance. However, several questions about what makes a nudge acceptable remain unanswered. In this paper, we examine whether policy alternatives to nudges influence the public's acceptance of these nudges: Do attitudes change when the nudge is presented alongside either a more paternalistic policy alternative (legislation) or a less paternalistic alternative (no behavioral intervention)? In two separate samples drawn from the Swedish general public, we find a very small effect of alternatives on the acceptability of various default nudges overall. Surprisingly, we find that when the alternative to the nudge is legislation, acceptance decreases and perceived intrusiveness increases (relative to conditions where the alternative is no regulation). An implication of this finding is that acceptance of nudges may not always automatically increase when nudges are explicitly compared to more paternalistic alternatives.
Long-term outcomes in syncope patients presenting to the emergency department: A systematic review
Authors: Leafloor Cameron W. , Hong Patrick Jiho , Mukarram Muhammad , Sikora Lindsey , Elliott Jesse , Thiruganasambandamoorthy Venkatesh
Published: October 2019

Introduction

Long-term outcomes among syncope patients are not well studied to guide physicians regarding outpatient testing and follow-up. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review for outcomes at 1-year or later among ED syncope patients.

Methods

We searched Cochrane Central, Medline, Medline in Process, PubMed, Embase, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing databases from inception to December 2018. We included studies that reported long-term outcomes among ED syncope patients. We excluded studies on patients <16 years old, studies that included syncope mimickers (pre-syncope, seizure, intoxication, loss of consciousness after head trauma), case reports, letters to the editor, non-English and review articles. Outcomes included death, syncope recurrence requiring hospitalization, arrhythmias and procedural interventions for arrhythmias. Meta-analysis was performed by pooling the outcomes using random effects model.

Results

Initial literature search generated 2,094 articles duplicate removal. Of the 50 articles selected for full-text review, 19 articles with 98,211 patients were included in this review: of which 12 were included in the 1-year outcome meta-analysis. Pooled analysis showed : 7.0% mortality; 16.0% syncope recurrence requiring hospitalization; 6.0% with device insertion. 1-year arrhythmias reported in two studies were 1.1 and 26.4%. Pooled analysis for outcome at 31 to 365 days showed: 5.0% mortality and 1% device insertion. Two studies reported 4.9% and 21% mortality at 30 months and 4.2 years follow-up.

Conclusions

An important proportion of ED syncope patients suffer long-term morbidity and mortality. Appropriate follow-up is needed and future research to identify patients at risk is needed.
Ready to Respond: A Survey of Interdisciplinary Health-Care Students and Administrators on Disaster Management Competencies
Authors: Charney Rachel L. , Lavin Roberta P. , Bender Annah , Langan Joanne C. , Zimmerman Rick S. , Veenema Tener Goodwin
Published: October 2019

Background:

A sense of competency and confidence in disaster management is linked to response willingness and efficacy. This study assessed current health-care student disaster competency curricula and resultant confidence.

Methods:

A survey was sent to students and administrators in nurse practitioner (NP), master of public health (MPH), and medical/osteopathic schools (MD/DO), assessing curriculum coverage of 15 disaster management competencies (1-4, total 15-60), and confidence in performing 15 related behaviors (1-7, total 15-105). One-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post-hoc and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to examine group differences.

Results:

A total of 729 students and 72 administrators completed the survey. Low coverage of all topics was reported by both students and administrators (mean 24.4; SD 9.6). Among students, NP students (21.66 ± 8.56) scored significantly lower than MD/DO (23.32 ± 8.19; P < 0.001) and MPH students (26.58 ± 9.06; P < 0.001) on curriculum coverage. Both administrators and students expressed low confidence in competence, with students significantly lower (P < 0.001). NP students scored higher (63.12 ± 20.69; P < 0.001) than both MPH (54.85 ± 17.82) and MD/DO (51.17 ± 19.71; P < 0.001) students.

Conclusions:

Health-care students report low coverage of topics considered to be necessary disaster response competencies, as well as their confidence to execute functions. This may negatively impact willingness and ability of these professionals to respond effectively in a disaster.
Knowledge reuse in industrial practice: evaluation from implementing engineering checksheets in industry
Authors: Stenholm Daniel , Catic Amer , Bergsjö Dag
Published: October 2019

In multi-domain product development organizations, there is a continuous need to transfer captured knowledge between engineers to enable better design decisions in the future. The objective of this paper is to evaluate how engineering knowledge can be captured, disseminated and (re)used by applying a knowledge reuse tool entitled Engineering Checksheet (ECS). The tool was introduced in 2012 and this evaluation has been performed over the 2017–2018 period. This case study focused on codified knowledge in incremental product development with a high reuse potential both in and over time. The evaluation draws conclusions from the perspectives of the knowledge workers (the engineers), knowledge owners and knowledge managers. The study concludes that the ECS has been found to be valuable in enabling a timely understanding of technological concepts related to low level engineering tasks in the product development process. Hence, this enables knowledge flow and, in particular, reuse among inexperienced engineers, as well as providing quick and accurate quality control for experienced engineers. The findings regarding knowledge ownership and management relate to the need for clearly defining a knowledge owner structure in which communities of practice take responsibility for empowering engineers to use ECS and as knowledge evolves managing updates to the ECS.
Aristotelian Priority, Metaphysical Definitions of God and Hegel on Pure Thought as Absolute
Authors: Kreines James
Published: October 2019

This paper advances a philosophical interpretation of Hegel's Logic as defending a metaphysics, which includes an absolute, itself comparable to God in other systems of metaphysics of interest to Hegel, including Aristotle's and Spinoza's. Two problems are raised which can seem to block the prospects for such a metaphysically inflationary interpretation. The key to resolving these problems is consideration of the kinds of metaphysical priority that Hegel sees in Aristotle. This allows us to build a philosophical model of Hegel's absolute, and to demonstrate how the model fits the argument of Hegel's Logic. Application of this model provides a philosophical explanation of the senses in which Hegel's metaphysics is idealist; he argues that thought is absolute and comparable to God in other systems of metaphysics: thought is both self-determining and metaphysically prior to being.
Three-dimensional vibrations of multilayered hollow spheres submerged in a complex fluid
Authors: Wu B. , Gan Y. , Carrera E. , Chen W. Q.
Published: October 2019

Fluid–structure interaction is fundamental to the characteristics of the induced flows due to the motion of structures in fluids and also is crucial to the performance of submerged structures. This paper presents a three-dimensional analytical study of the intrinsic free vibration of an elastic multilayered hollow sphere interacting with an exterior non-Newtonian fluid medium. The fluid is assumed to be characterized by a compressible linear viscoelastic model accounting for both the shear and compressional relaxation processes. For small-amplitude vibrations, the equations governing the viscoelastic fluid can be linearized, which are then solved by introducing appropriate potential functions. The solid is assumed to exhibit a particular material anisotropy, i.e. spherical isotropy, which includes material isotropy as a special case. The equations governing the anisotropic solid are solved in spherical coordinates using the state-space formalism, which finally establishes two separate transfer relations correlating the state vectors at the innermost surface with those at the outermost surface of the multilayered hollow sphere. By imposing the continuity conditions at the fluid–solid interface, two separate analytical characteristic equations are derived, which characterize two independent classes of vibration. Numerical examples are finally conducted to validate the theoretical derivation as well as to investigate the effects of various factors, including fluid viscosity and compressibility, fluid viscoelasticity, solid anisotropy and surface effect, as well as solid intrinsic damping, on the vibration characteristics of the submerged hollow sphere. Particularly, our theoretically predicted vibration frequencies and quality factors of gold nanospheres with intrinsic damping immersed in water agree exceptionally well with the available experimentally measured results. The reported analytical solution is truly and fully three-dimensional, covering from the purely radial breathing mode to the torsional mode to any general spheroidal mode as well as being applicable to various simpler situations, and hence can be a broad-spectrum benchmark in the study of fluid–structure interaction.
Force balance in convectively driven dynamos with no inertia
Authors: Hughes David W. , Cattaneo Fausto
Published: October 2019

We study dynamo action in rotating, plane layer Boussinesq convection in the absence of inertia. This allows a decomposition of the velocity into a thermal part driven by buoyancy, and a magnetic part driven by the Lorentz force. We have identified three families of solutions, defined in terms of what is the dominant contribution to the velocity. In weak field dynamos the dominant contribution is the thermal component, in super strong field dynamos the dominant contribution is magnetic and in strong field dynamos the two components are comparable. For each of these solutions we investigate the force balance in the momentum equation to determine the relative importance of the viscous, buoyancy, Coriolis and magnetic forces. We do this by extracting the solenoidal part of the individual terms in the momentum equation, thereby removing their pressure contributions. This is numerically preferable to the more common practice of taking the curl of the momentum equation, which introduces an extra derivative. We find that, irrespective of the type of dynamo solution, the dynamics is controlled by the horizontal forces (in projection). Furthermore, in the progression from weak to strong to super strong dynamos, we find that the viscous forces in the thermal equation become negligible, thereby leading to a balance between buoyancy and Coriolis forces. On the other hand, no corresponding trend is observed in the magnetic part of the momentum equation: the viscous stresses always remain significant. This can be attributed to the different degrees of smoothness of the Coriolis and Lorentz forces, the latter having contributions from strong, filamentary structures. We discuss how our findings relate to dynamo solutions in which viscosity plays no role whatsoever – so-called Taylor states.
Robust Wasserstein profile inference and applications to machine learning
Authors: Blanchet Jose , Kang Yang , Murthy Karthyek
Published: October 2019

We show that several machine learning estimators, including square-root least absolute shrinkage and selection and regularized logistic regression, can be represented as solutions to distributionally robust optimization problems. The associated uncertainty regions are based on suitably defined Wasserstein distances. Hence, our representations allow us to view regularization as a result of introducing an artificial adversary that perturbs the empirical distribution to account for out-of-sample effects in loss estimation. In addition, we introduce RWPI (robust Wasserstein profile inference), a novel inference methodology which extends the use of methods inspired by empirical likelihood to the setting of optimal transport costs (of which Wasserstein distances are a particular case). We use RWPI to show how to optimally select the size of uncertainty regions, and as a consequence we are able to choose regularization parameters for these machine learning estimators without the use of cross validation. Numerical experiments are also given to validate our theoretical findings.
Comparing lifetimes of coherent systems with dependent components operating in random environments
Authors: Kamal Hazra Nil , Finkelstein Maxim
Published: October 2019

We study the impact of a random environment on lifetimes of coherent systems with dependent components. There are two combined sources of this dependence. One results from the dependence of the components of the coherent system operating in a deterministic environment and the other is due to dependence of components of the system sharing the same random environment. We provide different sets of sufficient conditions for the corresponding stochastic comparisons and consider various scenarios, namely, (i) two different (as a specific case, identical) coherent systems operate in the same random environment; (ii) two coherent systems operate in two different random environments; (iii) one of the coherent systems operates in a random environment and the other in a deterministic environment. Some examples are given to illustrate the proposed reasoning.
THE TERMINOLOGY FOR BEAUTY IN THEILIADAND THEODYSSEY
Authors: Shakeshaft Hugo
Published: October 2019

An ancient Greek proverb declares: ‘beautiful things are difficult’. One obvious difficulty arises from their almost limitless variety: sights, sounds, people, natural phenomena, man-made objects and abstract ideas may all bebeautiful, but what do these things have in common? It is not just beauty's breadth of application, then, that makes it difficult, but the way in which its meaning varies depending on context. The beauty of a child may mean something quite different from the beauty of an old and wizened face, let alone the beauty of a supermodel. In common parlance,beautifulmay be used as a general term of approbation alongside others likelovelyorfine, while in academic discourse, the wordbeautyhas a life of its own: since the emergence of aesthetics as an independent discipline in the mid eighteenth century, beauty has been constantly theorized and responded to in different ways that have laden the term with its own peculiar historical baggage. And although some of these philosophical reflections on beauty may have trickled into the common cultural consciousness, in general they seem a far cry from beauty's most ubiquitous incarnation in modern Western society, in the cosmetics industry; to put it another way, if you go into a beauty salon in search of a Kantian ideal of disinterested contemplation, I suspect you will be disappointed.