bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Distensibility Index of Inferior Vena Cava and Pulse Pressure Variation as Predictors of Fluid Responsiveness in Mechanically Ventilated Shocked Patients
Authors: Mohammad Abdelfattah Wo'oud Mohiedden , Saad-eldeen Elgammal Sahar , Mohammad Elsayed Khaled , Said Mowafy Sherif Mohammad , Mohammad Abdalla Radwa
Published: May 2020

Background: Currently, pulse pressure variation (PPV) is considered the gold standard dynamic variable for predicting fluid responsiveness. Distensibility index of inferior vena cava (dIVC) is also considered a good predictor of fluid responsiveness. However, information from literature comparing the performance of both variables is still patchy and insufficient. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the accuracy of dIVC and PPV in predicting fluid responsiveness and compare the predictive power of both techniques. Methods: We conducted our study in shocked patients receiving mechanical ventilation requiring fluid challenge. Hemodynamic variables, such as PPV and dIVC, were recorded before and after fluid challenges. Fluid responders were identified when cardiac output increased more than 15% after the first fluid challenge. Only the non-responders received a second fluid challenge (SFC) to define delayed responders. Results: A total of 38 shocked patients were enrolled in this study. Twenty-one patients (55.3%) were fluid responders. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve of PPV was 0.78 ± 0.08 with a best cutoff of 10.5 (sensitivity: 76.2%; specificity: 70.6%). The AUROC curve of dIVC was 0.75 ± 0.07, and the best cutoff value to predict fluid responsiveness was 16.5% with a sensitivity of 71.43% and specificity of 76.5%. Four patients from the non-responder group became responders after the SFC. No statistically significant difference was observed between the predictive performance of PPV and dIVC. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the performance of PPV for predicting fluid responsiveness was similar to that of dIVC. PPV and dIVC are moderately predictive of fluid responsiveness.
The history of emergency medical services response to mass casualty incidents in disasters, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alazmy Waleed , Samarkandi Osama , Williams Brett
Published: May 2020

Mass casualty incidents (MCIs) in disasters across the globe are inevitable, and the emergency medical services (EMS) system has played a significant role during such events. This historical review seeks to examine the history of EMS response to MCIs in disasters in Saudi Arabia. Since the first recorded disaster in 1964, the Kingdom has witnessed a range of catastrophic events, causing many deaths and injuries and related economic damage. The country's EMS system dates back to 1934 when it was first incorporated into the health care system. Since then, EMS have responded to various MCIs by providing critical pre-hospital care to casualties during disasters. However, barriers affecting the service delivery often complicate those responses. Additionally, elderly people manifest unique challenges due to their age, which constrains EMS system effectiveness. Therefore, future studies should focus on such barriers to ascertain future EMS system efficiency.
Interpreting Electroencephalogram (EEG) – An Introductory Review of Assessment and Measurement Procedures
Authors: Kalra Anubha , Anand Gautam , Lowe Andrew
Published: May 2020

This work aims to compile various measurement and calibration techniques for Electroencephalogram (EEG). The objective is to provide an assessment of different components of an EEG and their significance in understanding different types of responses to stimuli. This review provides an overview of recommended electrode positions and lead systems for EEG with calibration and activation procedures. The different components of an EEG according to frequency bands – Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta have been discussed with emphasis on their interpretation and their role in several applications. The motivation behind this study is to provide a basic understanding of the composition of EEG, understanding the significance of each brain wave and the locations at which they are most prominent.
Overview of conventional technologies
using the powders of metals, their alloys
and ceramics in Industry 4.0 stage
Authors: Dobrzański L.A. , Dobrzański L.B. , Dobrzańska-Danikiewicz A.D.
Published: May 2020

Purpose: Among the technologies that play a crucial role in the current stage of
development of Industry 4.0 conventional powder engineering technologies are of great
importance. Based on a comprehensive literature review, conventional technologies using
the powders of metals, their alloys and ceramics are described. Development perspectives
of the most widespread among them were indicated.
Design/methodology/approach: Extensive literature studies on conventional powder
engineering technologies have been carried out. By using knowledge engineering methods,
development perspectives of individual technologies were indicated.
Findings: In addition to the presentation of conventional sintering technological methods,
sintering mechanisms in solid-state and liquid phase sintering which accounts for 90% of
the commercial value of sintered products are presented.
Originality/value: According to augmented holistic Industry 4.0 model, many materials
processing technologies and among them conventional powder engineering technologies
play a key role in current industry development. For this reason, these technologies have
been characterized in detail on the basis of available literature sources.
O Acesso Avançado como estratégia de organização da agenda e de ampliação do acesso em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde de Estratégia Saúde da Família, município de Diadema, São Paulo
Authors: Cirino Ferla Maria Simas Bastos , Schneider Filho Douglas Augusto , Nichiata Lucia Yasuko Izumi , Fracolli Lislaine Aparecida
Published: May 2020

Introdução: Pressionadas pela demanda e por agendas lotadas, equipes de saúde têm discutido estratégias de reorganização da agenda e ampliação do acesso. O Acesso Avançado vem ganhando espaço nesta discussão como uma estratégia desenvolvida nos Estados Unidos, que tem como princípio “Faça hoje o trabalho de hoje!”. Propôs-se descrever a influência da implantação do Acesso Avançado sobre acesso ao atendimento de usuários numa Unidade de Saúde da Família no município de Diadema. Métodos: Tratou-se de um relato de experiência da gerente da unidade no processo de implantação do Acesso Avançado, com a proposta de analisar as agendas e os relatórios de produção dos profissionais de saúde (médicos, enfermeiros e técnicos de enfermagem) no período de janeiro de 2017 a abril de 2018 e apresentar estatística descritiva da influência do Acesso Avançado sobre os atendimentos desses profissionais. O Acesso Avançado foi amplamente discutido com a equipe e com o conselho gestor, num processo de construção conjunta de fluxos e novas agendas. Resultados: Identificou-se aumento de 157% no número de usuários atendidos em consultas, passando de 1.048 em janeiro de 2017 para 2.694 atendimentos em abril de 2018, e queda de 13% para 2% na taxa de faltas dos usuários às consultas. Conclusão: Pôde-se demonstrar que a estratégia foi efetiva na ampliação do acesso ao serviço de saúde, gerando também efeitos positivos na organização da agenda e dos processos de trabalho das equipes. Espera-se contribuir e fomentar discussões acerca da otimização do acesso à Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS), suas complexidades e peculiaridades, e propor análise da influência do Acesso Avançado sobre os demais atributos da APS, particularmente nos atributos de longitudinalidade e integralidade do cuidado.
Warschau im Sturm der Geschichte
Authors: Vetter Reinhold
Published: May 2020

Warsaw's cityscape reflects the great upheavals of recent European history like no other. From the complete destruction in the Second World War, through the reconstruction and redesign of the city under communist rule, to the modern European metropolis shaped by capitalism, they all had a formative influence on the Polish capital.

Reinhold Vetter lived in Warsaw for thirty years and explored the city in every corner. He knows the buildings and places and their history and, with this volume, provides a comprehensive study of the influence of war, foreign rule, ideology, politics and economy on urban planning and architecture.
Pharmaceutical Memory Modification and Christianity’s “Dangerous” Memory
Authors: Edwards Stephanie C. ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: May 2020

Pharmaceutical memory modification is the use of a drug to dampen, or eliminate completely, memories of traumatic experience. While standard therapeutic treatments, even those including intense pharmaceuticals, can potentially offer individual biomedical healing, they are missing an essential perspective offered by Christian bioethics: re/incorporation of individuals and traumatic memories into communities that confront and reinterpret suffering. This paper is specifically grounded in Christian ethics, engaging womanist understandings of Incarnational, embodied personhood, and Johann Baptist Metz’s “dangerous memory.” It develops an ethical framework of Christian “enfleshed counter-memory” that responds to the specific challenge of pharmaceutical memory modification, and traumatic experience generally.
Can a Child Die a Good Death? Child Ethics and Mortality
Authors: Boeré Robyn ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: May 2020

Jeffrey P. Bishop argues that contemporary understandings of the good death are predicated on conscious choice. This focus on rational conscious choice as the primary criterion has troubling implications for how we evaluate the death of children, whose capacity for autonomy is unclear. In this essay, I will explore ways in which the death of children creates silences, arising most notably from our ideas about the good death. In contrast, I will argue for a different model of a good death that is predicated on intersubjectivity, shared meaning-making, and presence, and which finds its foundation in Christian eschatology, which is not an escape from the present; rather, all our present actions find meaning in God. Our completeness must always and can only be found in God, and understood this way, children can die a good death.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Authors: Nelson Lisa ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: May 2020

There is little debate that there are important ethical questions that we must answer as we increase our reliance on social networking technologies such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for our communications, interactions and connections. Social media is at the center of many of our greatest public policy challenges but the moral (or immoral) role it plays in relation to human behavior is far from settled. Part of the difficulty we face in addressing the unique challenges of social networking technologies is discerning the significance of social networking on us. This is because we often begin with an erroneous assumption. The moral significance of technologies generally—not only social networking technologies—is hampered by the insistence that technologies are typically considered objects and we are human, and the province of morality has long been ours. Postphenomenological inquiries can help to fashion technological development in pursuit of understanding how our moral behavior takes shape, but we can also take a critical perspective on who we are and what we are becoming in light of what social networking technologies reveal about the state of our ontological Being.
Dona-Arbre [Mujer-Árbol] de Fina Miralles: Recolectando conocimiento corporal.
Authors: Vara Celia
Published: May 2020

En este artículo sostengo que Dona-Arbre [Mujer-Árbol] de Fina Miralles, de la serie Traslacions, es parte de una secuencia de ejercicios y prácticas experimentadas durante las acciones realizadas en las que el cuerpo se percibe y experimenta cada vez más. Todas estas acciones son ejercicios para buscar el cuerpo en conexion con su entorno y con ella misma. Esta acción precede un trabajo que más adelante se centra en el cuerpo y que puede leerse como más abiertamente feminista. Mi argumento es que con Dona-Arbre comienza un método exploratorio del cuerpo y del entorno, y que este método es valioso para un feminismo basado en un autoconocimiento somático. Partiendo de metodologías encarnadas, investigación-creación y empatía kinestésica, utilizo teorías feministas encarnadas y de agencia, y tomo el concepto de kinestesia de Carrie Noland para describir las estrategias específicas en Dona-Arbre tales como el cuerpo inmóvil, kinestesia y micro-movimientos. Los interpreto como resistencias sutiles e instrumentos fundamentales para construir agencia corporal en el contexto de las restricciones políticas del cuerpo durante la dictadura franquista.

In this article I claim that Dona-Arbre [Woman-Tree] by Fina Miralles from the series Traslacions, is part from a sequence of exercises and practices experienced during her performance work in which the body is increasingly perceived and experienced. All them are exercises in a search for the body in connection with its environment and with herself. It precedes her later focus on the body where there is a more overtly feminist political intervention. I argue that an exploratory method of the environment and the body starts with Dona-Arbre, and that this method is valuable to a feminist politics that begins from a somatic self-knowledge. Based on embodied methodologies, research-creation and kinestheticempathy, I engage with feminist theories of embodiment and agency, and take on Carrie Noland’s concept of kinesthesia to elaborate on the specific strategies in Dona-Arbre such as the still body, kinesthesia and micro-movements. I read them as a subtle resistance and pivotal instruments for building corporeal agency in the context of the acute restrictions on body politics during the Franco dictatorship.
Dificultades en el registro y transmisión de un arte fugaz.
Authors: Mateo Sánchez Cecila
Published: May 2020

Desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX las intervenciones artísticas se independizan de los hartados y constantes componentes estéticos, miméticos y matéricos. La imposibilidad de custodiar la obra como objeto demanda nuevos mecanismos que registren un arte tan cambiante como caprichoso. Con los avances de la tecnología, la fotografía digital y las innovaciones acontecidas en el campo del arte, los artistas comenzarán a dejar constancia de sus intervenciones haciendo uso de cámaras fotográficas y pequeñas grabaciones para inmortalizar sus obras. Destinamos esta investigación a trabajar, a través de una representación de autores emergentes, las dificultades en el registro de obras artísticas caracterizadas por su intangibilidad.

El desafío está servido, cualquier persona o entidad vinculada a lo artístico se enfrenta a la difícil tarea de registrar para conservar la inmortalidad del acontecimiento artístico. Estas innovadoras y fugaces categorías llevan implícita la condición participativa del espectador, el espacio como continente y contenido de la obra, el tiempo, la extinción de los materiales, la acción, el desplazamiento, la pérdida de la unicidad del arte, así como su acelerada mortalidad. Condiciones y aspectos que hacen del arte un “arte-acontecimiento”, predispuesto por la condición espaciotemporal a su caducidad, modificación o desaparición.

Since the second half of 20th century, artistic interventions have become independent of the jaded and constant aesthetic, mimetic and mathematical components. The impossibility of guarding the work as an object demands new mechanisms that register an art as changing as it is capricious. With the advances in technology, digital photography and innovations in the field of art, artists will begin to record their interventions, using cameras and small recordings to immortalize their works. We dedicate this research to work through a representation of emerging authors, difficulties in the registration of artistic works characterized by their intangibility.

The challenge is served, any person or entity linked to the artistic, faces the difficult task of registering to preserve the immortality of the artistic event. These innovative and fleeting categories implicitly involve the participatory condition of the viewer, space as a continent and content of the work, time, extinction of materials, action, displacement, loss of the uniqueness of art, as well as its accelerated dematerialization Conditions and aspects that make art an “art-event”, predisposed by the space-time condition to its expiration, modification or disappearance.
Political Influence on Theatre Historiography
Authors: Pukelytė Ina
Published: May 2020

The article discusses the question of the memory of Jewish history and culture in Lithuania in regard to the cultural and political debates that are actually taking place in Lithuanian society. Historical facts, concerning Jewish cultural life in Lithuania before the Second World War, were eliminated from the research field conducted by historiographers during the Soviet and the early post Soviet times. The article argues that this was due to political aspirations of the country; they play the crucial role in defining what type of memories the society would carry on and defend. In regard to the research done by sociologists Maurice Halbwachs, Jan and Aleida Assmanns notions of collective memory, functional and stored memory are discussed. Examples of the recent media persecutions of cultural personas such as Rūta Vanagaitė and Marius Ivaškevičius are discussed in order to illustrate the memory war that is still taking place in the actual Lithuanian society.
Inventing the Past, Re-Writing the Present
Authors: Staniškytė Jurgita
Published: May 2020

In recent years an increasing number of performances on the Baltic theatre stage attempt to escape the dominant understanding of “performing history” as a repetition or reinforcement of the monumental representations of the historical past or as a (re)production of “mythistory” (Joseph Mali). Lithuanian creators of performances about history increasingly choose hybrid approaches of representation, merging memorialization and critique, imagination and fact, documents and speculative inventions as forms of engagement with the past. This playful re-imagination of the historical past serves as a creative laboratory, where audience ability to recognize and/or resist historical manipulations as well as to embrace plural and polyphonic nature of memory are tested. In some cases, however, Lithuanian theatre creators are interested in “truthful” or “authentic” representations of personal memories, rather than a performative investigation ofmechanisms of production of the “reality effect” in historiography and their impact on audience perception. This article examines the ways in which historical events are represented on the contemporary Lithuanian theatre stage and, at the same time, addresses the larger issues around the implications of particular theatricalstagings of the past on the current understanding of the subject of history.
Una aproximación al género del empresariado
Authors: Pérez Anna
Published: May 2020

Tradicionalmente, la creación de empresas ha sido un empleo reservado a los hombres, hasta el punto que el número de empresarios que ponen en marcha un negocio dobla al de las empresarias. Esta falta de igualdad no solo es cuantitativa, sino también cualitativa. Más allá de las diferencias biológicas entre ambos sexos, el artículo sondea otras explicaciones –sociológicas–que permitan mejorar la comprensión del porqué de la brecha empresarial de género, así como promover la vocación emprendedora de las mujeres a partir de la toma de conciencia de la posibilidad de revertir este gap.
CytoCensus, mapping cell identity and division in tissues and organs using machine learning
Authors: Hailstone Martin , Waithe Dominic , Samuels Tamsin J , Yang Lu , Costello Ita , Arava Yoav , Robertson Elizabeth , Parton Richard M , Davis Ilan
Published: May 2020

A major challenge in cell and developmental biology is the automated identification and quantitation of cells in complex multilayered tissues. We developed CytoCensus: an easily deployed implementation of supervised machine learning that extends convenient 2D ‘point-and-click’ user training to 3D detection of cells in challenging datasets with ill-defined cell boundaries. In tests on such datasets, CytoCensus outperforms other freely available image analysis software in accuracy and speed of cell detection. We used CytoCensus to count stem cells and their progeny, and to quantify individual cell divisions from time-lapse movies of explanted Drosophila larval brains, comparing wild-type and mutant phenotypes. We further illustrate the general utility and future potential of CytoCensus by analysing the 3D organisation of multiple cell classes in Zebrafish retinal organoids and cell distributions in mouse embryos. CytoCensus opens the possibility of straightforward and robust automated analysis of developmental phenotypes in complex tissues.
Low FoxO expression in Drosophila somatosensory neurons protects dendrite growth under nutrient restriction
Authors: Poe Amy R , Xu Yineng , Zhang Christine , Lei Joyce , Li Kailyn , Labib David , Han Chun
Published: May 2020

During prolonged nutrient restriction, developing animals redistribute vital nutrients to favor brain growth at the expense of other organs. In Drosophila, such brain sparing relies on a glia-derived growth factor to sustain proliferation of neural stem cells. However, whether other aspects of neural development are also spared under nutrient restriction is unknown. Here we show that dynamically growing somatosensory neurons in the Drosophila peripheral nervous system exhibit organ sparing at the level of arbor growth: Under nutrient stress, sensory dendrites preferentially grow as compared to neighboring non-neural tissues, resulting in dendrite overgrowth. These neurons express lower levels of the stress sensor FoxO than neighboring epidermal cells, and hence exhibit no marked induction of autophagy and a milder suppression of Tor signaling under nutrient stress. Preferential dendrite growth allows for heightened animal responses to sensory stimuli, indicative of a potential survival advantage under environmental challenges.
Opposing p53 and mTOR/AKT promote an in vivo switch from apoptosis to senescence upon telomere shortening in zebrafish
Authors: El Maï Mounir , Marzullo Marta , de Castro Inês Pimenta , Ferreira Miguel Godinho
Published: May 2020

Progressive telomere shortening during lifespan is associated with restriction of cell proliferation, genome instability and aging. Apoptosis and senescence are the two major outcomes upon irreversible cellular damage. Here, we show a transition of these two cell fates during aging of telomerase deficient zebrafish. In young telomerase mutants, proliferative tissues exhibit DNA damage and p53-dependent apoptosis, but no senescence. However, these tissues in older animals display loss of cellularity and senescence becomes predominant. Tissue alterations are accompanied by a pro-proliferative stimulus mediated by AKT signaling. Upon AKT activation, FoxO transcription factors are phosphorylated and translocated out of the nucleus. This results in reduced SOD2 expression causing an increase of ROS and mitochondrial dysfunction. These alterations induce p15/16 growth arrest and senescence. We propose that, upon telomere shortening, early apoptosis leads to cell depletion and insufficient compensatory proliferation. Following tissue damage, the mTOR/AKT is activated causing mitochondrial dysfunction and p15/16-dependent senescence.
mRNA stem-loops can pause the ribosome by hindering A-site tRNA binding
Authors: Bao Chen , Loerch Sarah , Ling Clarence , Korostelev Andrei A , Grigorieff Nikolaus , Ermolenko Dmitri N
Published: May 2020

Although the elongating ribosome is an efficient helicase, certain mRNA stem-loop structures are known to impede ribosome movement along mRNA and stimulate programmed ribosome frameshifting via mechanisms that are not well understood. Using biochemical and single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) experiments, we studied how frameshift-inducing stem-loops from E. coli dnaX mRNA and the gag-pol transcript of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) perturb translation elongation. We find that upon encountering the ribosome, the stem-loops strongly inhibit A-site tRNA binding and ribosome intersubunit rotation that accompanies translation elongation. Electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) reveals that the HIV stem-loop docks into the A site of the ribosome. Our results suggest that mRNA stem-loops can transiently escape the ribosome helicase by binding to the A site. Thus, the stem-loops can modulate gene expression by sterically hindering tRNA binding and inhibiting translation elongation.
Gain of channel function and modified gating properties in TRPM3 mutants causing intellectual disability and epilepsy
Authors: Van Hoeymissen Evelien , Held Katharina , Nogueira Freitas Ana Cristina , Janssens Annelies , Voets Thomas , Vriens Joris
Published: May 2020

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by epilepsy with comorbid intellectual disability. Recently, two de novo heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding TRPM3, a calcium permeable ion channel, were identified as the cause of DEE in eight probands, but the functional consequences of the mutations remained elusive. Here we demonstrate that both mutations (V990M and P1090Q) have distinct effects on TRPM3 gating, including increased basal activity, higher sensitivity to stimulation by the endogenous neurosteroid pregnenolone sulfate (PS) and heat, and altered response to ligand modulation. Most strikingly, the V990M mutation affected the gating of the non-canonical pore of TRPM3, resulting in large inward cation currents via the voltage sensor domain in response to PS stimulation. Taken together, these data indicate that the two DEE mutations in TRPM3 result in a profound gain of channel function, which may lie at the basis of epileptic activity and neurodevelopmental symptoms in the patients.
Acetylcholine in action
Authors: Wall Erin M , Woolley Sarah C
Published: May 2020

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine influences how male finches perform courtship songs by acting on a region of the premotor cortex called HVC.
Matijaner Meyera in Translation: Cultural Identity Construction Through Untranslatability of Language
Authors: Talukder Barnali
Published: May 2020

The concepts of language and cultural identity of a speaker are entwined as they complement each other. However, translation poses a challenge to the identity language predominantly constructs. Therefore, translatable elements of language get the stage of universality while the untranslatable-s essentially bring forth the culture they are descended from. In this study, a short story collection from Bangladesh, Matijaner Meyera, where there is a celebration of diverse branches of Bengali language, has been brought to light to show how untranslatability of a number of culture-oriented vocabularies vibrantly tells about Bengali culture. The primary resource includes a lot many culture-oriented vocabularies as well as few phrases that English, as a language, cannot accommodate in it. Inability of other languages to penetrate such culture-rooted belongings of Bengali language showcases the power a language retains to protect itself from any invading force. This study has argued in favor of the untranslatable base of Bengali that English, due to cultural distance, cannot embrace linguistically. Therefore, such cultural difference eventually develops a distinct linguistic identity of Bengali through untranslatability that this study has attempted to divulge.
Non-parallel changes in songbird migration timing are not explained by changes in stopover duration
Authors: Dorian Nicholas N. , Lloyd-Evans Trevor L. , Reed J. Michael
Published: May 2020

Shifts in the timing of animal migration are widespread and well-documented; however, the mechanism underlying these changes is largely unknown. In this study, we test the hypothesis that systematic changes in stopover duration—the time that individuals spend resting and refueling at a site—are driving shifts in songbird migration timing. Specifically, we predicted that increases in stopover duration at our study site could generate increases in passage duration—the number of days that a study site is occupied by a particular species—by changing the temporal breadth of observations and vise versa. We analyzed an uninterrupted 46-year bird banding dataset from Massachusetts, USA using quantile regression, which allowed us to detect changes in early-and late-arriving birds, as well as changes in passage duration. We found that median spring migration had advanced by 1.04 days per decade; that these advances had strengthened over the last 13 years; and that early-and late-arriving birds were advancing in parallel, leading to negligible changes in the duration of spring passage at our site (+0.07 days per decade). In contrast, changes in fall migration were less consistent. Across species, we found that median fall migration had delayed by 0.80 days per decade, and that changes were stronger in late-arriving birds, leading to an average increase in passage duration of 0.45 days per decade. Trends in stopover duration, however, were weak and negative and, as a result, could not explain any changes in passage duration. We discuss, and provide some evidence, that changes in population age-structure, cryptic geographic variation, or shifts in resource availability are consistent with increases in fall passage duration. Moreover, we demonstrate the importance of evaluating changes across the entire phenological distribution, rather than just the mean, and stress this as an important consideration for future studies.
The association ofEGFrs2237051 variant, serum EGF levels and generalized aggressive periodontitis: a preliminary study
Authors: Wang Xian’e , Li Wenjing , Xu Li , Lu Ruifang , Meng Huanxin
Published: May 2020

Background

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a pro-inflammatory small peptide that stimulates cell growth, proliferation and differentiation through binding to its receptor.EGFrs2237051 and serum EGF levels have been demonstrated to be related with a variety of diseases, including several tumors and inflammatory diseases. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the association of theEGFrs2237051 variant and serum EGF levels in Chinese patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP).

Material and Methods

A case-control study was conducted among 216 patients with GAgP and 138 healthy controls. The clinical parameters of plaque index, probing depth, attachment loss and bleeding index were recorded. TheEGF rs2237051polymorphism was genotyped using time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and serum EGF levels were determined. Logistic and linear regression models were used to investigate the association between the genotypes ofEGFrs2237051, serum EGF levels and GAgP risk.

Results

The AA genotype ofEGFrs2237051 showed higher risk for GAgP than the combined genotypes GG and AG (adjusted OR = 1.65, 95% CI [1.06–2.57]). Increased serum EGF levels were associated with GAgP (adjusted OR = 1.18, 95% CI [1.14–1.22]). Moreover, the serum EGF level for the AA genotype was significantly higher than that for the AG/GG genotypes in patients with GAgP (adjusted β = 4.70, 95% CI [2.09–7.31]).

Conclusion

We demonstrated thatEGFrs2237051 variant and the increased level of serum EGF were associated with the risk of GAgP, the serum EGF was up-regulated in patients with GAgP. It was indicated that serum EGF might be a biomarker of GAgP andEGFrs2237051 may be related to the genetic background of GAgP.
Corrosion Inhibition of Pipeline Steel in 0.5 M HCL Using Cotyledon of Chrysophyllum cainito
Authors: Othaki E. P. , Ngobiri N. C.
Published: May 2020

The corrosion inhibition characteristics of Chrysophyllum cainto cotyledon aqueous extract was studied for the corrosion of pipeline steel in 0.5 M HCl using gravimetric technique. The corrosion surface morphology and corrosion surface film were studied using Scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy respectively. The results obtained showed Chrysophyllum cainto aqueous extract as a good corrosion inhibitors of pipeline steel corrosion in acidic environment, recording an average corrosion inhibition efficiency above 90% at 303 K. The Scanning electron micrograph showed a smoother corrosion surface morphology in the presence of the extract while the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic data showed the corrosion inhibition mechanism to be through adsorption.
Elucidation of Food Security as a Determinant of Malnutrition and Stunting on Children under Five Years: A Case of Insiza District, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe
Authors: Ncube Beauty , Mavondo Greanious Alfred , Kandawasvika Gwendolin , Chamisa Judith Audrey
Published: May 2020

Introduction: Malnutrition remains a childhood scourge in Sub Saharan Africa, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe and in the Insiza District, in particular. The district is rich in mineral (gold) deposits, vibrant agricultural (animal husbandry) and diverse ecosystems that has potential support self-sufficiency of its population. However, the cause to <5-year-old malnutrition and stunting remain to opaque requiring elucidation.

Materials and Methods: A mixed method approach, where both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to elicit and describe in-depth people’s experiences on determinants of malnutrition and stunting in the Insiza District among the <5-year-olds. Statistical comparisons were performed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison post hoc test using Graph Pad In Stat Software. Both probability and purposive sampling were used to triangulate and corroborate findings deriving meaning to explain the factors associated with wasting/ underweight.

Results: Children with birth weights ±2.4kG were predominant in the study sample (57%) when compared to those who were born with 2.5-3.0 kG or >3.1 kG birth weights [19 fold more]. Two meals per day were taken frequently (57%) a mong adults comparable with birth weight underweight frequencies and feeding habits of infants <5-year-olds (53%), showing food insecurity in Isiza District. Households that lived on < US$1.00/day formed relatively the most prominent majority (73%) when compared to those who lived on US$0.87-1.67/day (23%) or US$1.87-2.50 (2%) or US$2.53-3.33 (2%). Health-related expenses (18.3%), education expenses (25%) and staple food related expenses (56.7%) took the bulk of the income without meaningful effect on child malnutrition. Fathers were over represented as household income usage decision markers in households with malnourished and stunted <5-year-olds (43%) compared to mothers, the family or both parents. Poverty was present in 65% of the households which had malnourished and or stunted children. Malnourishment was from nutritional deficit and non-nutritional lack (25%) while 20% had malnutrition from other determinants other than food consumption score.

Conclusion: More than half (57%) children who developed malnutrition were underweight at birth and born in families with who had two meals a day (57%). Malnutrition was influenced negatively by marital status, household leadership, household income, size, religion, educations status and consumption scores.
Comparison of Three Parasitological Stool Examination Methods with the Formalin-Ethyl Acetate Procedure for the Diagnosis of Intestinal Parasites in Humans
Authors: Madriz-Elisondo A. L. , Galván-Ramírez M. L. , O-Carrasco D. A. De la , Eufracio-Maciel A. R. , Cardona-López M. A. , Romero-Rameño J. J.
Published: May 2020

Aims: The objective was to compare the sedimentation spontaneous in tube technique (SSTT), the direct smear, the zinc sulfhate (surface film and sediment analyzed) methods with the formalin-ethyl acetate method as the reference standard.

Study Design: This a cross-sectional study performed in two populations around Chapala lake, Jalisco, Mexico.

Place and Duration of Study: Sample Department of Medical Sciences and Life, University Center of the Ciénega, University of Guadalajara, Ocotlán, Jalisco, Mexico.

Department of Physiology, Health Sciences University Center. University of Guadalajara, Jalisco. México, between June 2018 and July 2019.

Methodology: Sample: We included a total of 297 samples and were analyzed by the direct smear, the zinc sulfhate (surface film and sediment analyzed), the SSTT and formalin-ethyl acetate methods.

Results: The SSTT was able to detect 40% of intestinal parasites, very good agreement for Entamoeba complex, Entamoeba coli, and Ascaris lumbricoides kappa index=0.697, 0.791, 0.696, respectively and excellent agreement for Giardia lamblia kappa index = 0.843. Regarding the isolation of Blastocystis spp, only a poor agreement was found among all techniques. The SSTT was able to detect multiple parasites with a sensitivity of 82.90% and specificity 83.80 kappa index= 0.649.

Conclusion: The SSTT showed a very good agreement for the diagnosis intestinal polyparasitism which could represent another alternative for the concentration and identification protozoans and intestinal helminthes in low-resource settings.
Mental Health First Aid Training: A Study of Community Members’ Pre and Post-training Responses to a 17-Item Questionnaire
Authors: Al-Habeeb Abdulhameed Abdullah , Aleshaiwi Haifa Saad , Qureshi Naseem Akhtar
Published: May 2020

Background: Mental Health First Aid, an important component of metal health educational programs, targets naive community members, public, allied mental health personnel, and mental health experts with specific reference as to how these trained aiders should help people in crisis or with mental health conditions in the community.

Objective: This study aimed to describe pre-to-post-test assessment of those who were trained in MHFA program.

Setting: National Center for Mental Health Promotion, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Trained mental health professionals organized MHFA courses (n=35) for training self-selected, nonrandomized community members (n=862) who were assessed pre-to-post training by using an adapted 17-item questionnaire for measuring the impact of MHFA course on their mental health knowledge, perception, attitude and practice.

Results: The participants’ responses to questionnaire were varied at pre-and post-test evaluation and 65% of them showed mild to significant positive changes in their responses, and the rest were not affected positively after this course, possibly attributed to multiple factors related to naïve community trainees, advanced questionnaire, short timeline and dissimilar instructors.

Conclusion: Although all participants well received the MHFA courses, 65% of participants’ pre-to-post-test responses improved positively. The preliminary results of this study are not generalizable to the whole community, need to be cautiously interpreted and this research is calling for more studies especially randomized controlled trials in future.
Integration of automation into an existing clinical workflow to improve efficiency and reduce errors in the manual treatment planning process for total body irradiation (TBI)
Authors: Thomas David H. , Miller Brian , Rabinovitch Rachel , Milgrom Sarah , Kavanagh Brian , Diot Quentin , Miften Moyed , Schubert Leah K.
Published: May 2020

Purpose

To identify causes of error, and present the concept of an automated technique that improves efficiency and helps to reduce transcription and manual data entry errors in the treatment planning of total body irradiation (TBI).

Methods

Analysis of incidents submitted to incident learning system (ILS) was performed to identify potential avenues for improvement by implementation of automation of the manual treatment planning process for total body irradiation (TBI). Following this analysis, it became obvious that while the individual components of the TBI treatment planning process were well implemented, the manual ‘bridging’ of the components (transcribing data, manual data entry etc.) were leading to high potential for error. A C#‐based plug‐in treatment planning script was developed to remove the manual parts of the treatment planning workflow that were contributing to increased risk.

Results

Here we present an example of the implementation of “Glue” programming, combining treatment planning C# scripts with existing spreadsheet calculation worksheets. Prior to the implementation of automation, 35 incident reports related to the TBI treatment process were submitted to the ILS over a 6‐year period, with an average of 1.4 ± 1.7 reports submitted per quarter. While no incidents reached patients, reports ranged from minor documentation issues to potential for mistreatment if not caught before delivery. Since the implementation of automated treatment planning and documentation, treatment planning time per patient, including documentation, has been reduced; from an average of 45 min pre‐automation to <20 min post‐automation.

Conclusions

Manual treatment planning techniques may be well validated, but they are time‐intensive and have potential for error. Often the barrier to automating these techniques becomes the time required to “re‐code” existing solutions in unfamiliar computer languages. We present the workflow here as a proof of concept that automation may help to improve clinical efficiency and safety for special procedures.
A Tailorable Family of Elastomeric‐to‐Rigid, 3D Printable, Interbonding Polymer Networks
Authors: Zhou Qing , Gardea Frank , Sang Zhen , Lee Seunghyun , Pharr Matt , Sukhishvili Svetlana A.
Published: May 2020

Soft materials with widely tailorable mechanical properties throughout the material's volume can shape the future of soft robotics and wearable electronics, impacting both consumer and defense sectors. Herein, a platform of 3D printable soft polymer networks with unprecedented tunability of stiffness of nearly three orders of magnitude (MPa to GPa) and an inherent capability to interbond is reported. The materials are based on dynamic covalent polymer networks with variable density of crosslinkers attached to prepolymer backbones via a temperature‐reversible Diels–Alder (DA) reaction. Inherent flexibility of the prepolymer chains and controllable crosslinking density enable 3D printed networks with glass transition temperatures ranging from just a few degrees to several tens of degrees Celsius. Materials with an elastomeric network demonstrate a fast and spontaneous self‐healing behavior at room temperature both in air and under water—a behavior difficult to achieve with other crosslinked materials. Reversible dissociation of DA networks at temperatures exceeding ≈120 °C allows for reprintability, while control of the stereochemistry of DA attachments enables reprogrammable shape memory behavior. The introduced platform addresses current major challenges including control of polymer interbonding, enhanced mechanical performance of printed parts, and reprocessability of 3D‐printed crosslinked materials in the absence of solvent.
Mechanochromic and Thermochromic Sensors Based on Graphene Infused Polymer Opals
Authors: Jurewicz Izabela , King Alice A. K. , Shanker Ravi , Large Matthew J. , Smith Ronan J. , Maspero Ross , Ogilvie Sean P. , Scheerder Jurgen , Han Jun , Backes Claudia , Razal Joselito M. , Florescu Marian , Keddie Joseph L. , Coleman Jonathan N. , Dalton Alan B.
Published: May 2020

High quality opal‐like photonic crystals containing graphene are fabricated using evaporation‐driven self‐assembly of soft polymer colloids. A miniscule amount of pristine graphene within a colloidal crystal lattice results in the formation of colloidal crystals with a strong angle‐dependent structural color and a stop band that can be reversibly shifted across the visible spectrum. The crystals can be mechanically deformed or can reversibly change color as a function of their temperature, hence their sensitive mechanochromic and thermochromic response make them attractive candidates for a wide range of visual sensing applications. In particular, it is shown that the crystals are excellent candidates for visual strain sensors or integrated time‐temperature indicators which act over large temperature windows. Given the versatility of these crystals, this method represents a simple, inexpensive, and scalable approach to produce multifunctional graphene infused synthetic opals and opens up exciting applications for novel solution‐processable nanomaterial based photonics.
Multifunctional Chiral π‐Conjugated Polymer Microspheres: Production and Confinement of NLO signal, Detection of Circularly Polarized Light, and Display of Laser‐Triggered NLO Emission Shifts
Authors: Vattikunta Radhika , Annadhasan Mari , Jada Ravi , Prasad Muvva Durga , Mitetelo Nikolai , Zhdanova Karina , Mamonov Evgeniy , Müllen Klaus , Murzina Tatiana , Chandrasekar Rajadurai
Published: May 2020

Two chiral π‐conjugated polymers with optical nonlinearity (NLO), abbreviated as R‐ and S‐BP, are prepared by copolymerization of R‐ and S‐6,6'‐dibromo‐2,2'‐diethoxy‐1,1'‐binaphthyl with 1,4‐diethynyl‐2,5‐bis(octyloxy)benzene by Sonogashira coupling. The R‐ and S‐BP copolymers self‐assemble in a tetrahydrofuran/H2O/ethanol mixture producing microspherical particles. Remarkably, the obtained polymer microspheres support excitation of whispering gallery mode resonances (500–720 nm) in one‐ and two‐photon excited luminescence or two‐photon luminescence (TPL) with a quality factor (Q) of up to ≈700. As a result of a high Q value, a single (R‐ or S‐BP) microsphere displays a circular dichroism (CD) effect in the TPL signal. At high laser pump‐power (≥10 mW), the TPL spectral features of microspheres change significantly, suggesting alterations of the polymer packing. Similar spectral variations are observed for microspheres heated thermally or with high power continuous‐wave laser. Photoluminescence lifetime imaging microscopy down to the single microsphere level corroborate transformations of polymer packing from a J type to a mixture of J, H, and H‐like (with disordered side chains) types. This work demonstrates the tremendous potential of tailor‐made chiral polymer microspheres exhibiting multifunctional properties, such as i) light‐confinement, ii) NLO‐CD, and iii) laser‐driven optical emission shifts, useful for many optoelectronic and photonic device applications.
Structure Ligation Relationship of Amino Acids for the Selective Indole C−H Arylation Reaction: L‐Aspartic acid as Sustainable Alternative of Phosphine Ligands
Authors: Lokhande† Shyam Kumar , Vaidya† Gargi Nikhil , Satpute Dinesh Parshuram , Venkatesh Ashwini , Kumar Sanjeev , Kumar Dinesh
Published: May 2020

The Structure Ligation Relationship (SLR) of free amino acids (AAs) under Pd‐catalysis were examined for the chemo‐ and regio‐selective indole C−H arylation reactions. While the majority of AAs were minor or ineffective, the L‐aspartic acid (L‐Asp) stands out promising to deliver high‐value C3‐arylated indoles with excellent chemo‐ (C vs N) and regioselectivity (C3 vs C2) with high functional group tolerance. Thus, the protocol offers a cost‐effective and sustainable alternative of phosphine‐based ligands for the indole C3−H arylation reactions. Preliminary mechanistic investigations suggested the simultaneous involvement of −NH2, α‐CO2H, and β‐CO2H functionalities of L‐Asp and found critical for its ligation efficiency. The developed catalytic system was compatible with the tandem decarboxylation/arylation procedure for the chemoselective synthesis of 3‐aryl indoles.

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