bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The validation of estradiol extraction and analysis from hair
Authors: Wang Wen , van Dammen Lotte , Moody Shannin N. , Kiesner Jeff , Neiderhiser Jenae M. , Dismukes Andrew , Zhu Junda , Constantinidis Christos , Shirtcliff Elizabeth A
Published: October 2020

Background. Saliva is a popular biospecimen for the measurement of hormones, yet fluctuations in hormone levels limit the extent to which saliva can address focusing on basal or long-term levels. Hair steroid assays return basal hormonal levels by collapsing across short-term hormonal variability, including menstrual cyclicity. Here we sought to validate a hair bioassay methodology that can capture stable estradiol levels from both human and monkey hair samples. Methods. Three projects were involved to examine hair-saliva correspondence and estradiol stability in hair. Project 1. Saliva samples were collected once per week for two cycles in 11 emerging adult women. Hair samples were collected at the end of each menstrual cycle and were segmented by 1 cm for the first 4 cm to reflect the past four serial months’ hormone levels. Project 2. Hair samples collected from 23 adolescent participants (Mage = 14.1, 56.5% female) were cut to three 1.5 cm segments from the scalp end. Project 3. Two hair samples were collected from two adjacent skin areas on each monkey (N = 8, 75% males). Whole hair samples were sheared and used for assay without segmentation. Hair biospecimens were processed using a double-extraction protocol validated in this study, then assayed using commercially-available enzyme-immuno-assays for estradiol. Results. Project 1. Hair estradiol concentrations were significantly associated with averaged saliva estradiol levels (r = 0.77, p< .05). Estradiol levels in two consecutive segments were significantly associated (1st vs. 2nd: r = .63, p < .01; 2nd vs. 3rd: r = .49, p < .05; 3rd vs. 4th: r = .53, p < .05). Project 2. Estradiol concentrations were significantly correlated between the first two successive hair segments from the scalp end (r = .69, p < .01). Project 3. Estradiol levels in the two hair samples from each monkey were significantly correlated (r = .66, p < .05).Discussion. Results suggest hair captures valid and reliable average estradiol concentrations using a double-extraction protocol that is applicable for both human and monkey hair. The measurement of hair provides valuable information on individual differences in average estradiol levels across months. Results also indicate that it is feasible and reliable to collect the first 2-3 centimeters of studies in which basal estradiol levels in the past 2 to 3 months are of interest as a stable hormonal index for different species.
Commentary on „Heterogeneity in direct replications in psychology and its association with effect size” (Olsson-Collentine, Wicherts & van Assen, 2020, Psychological Bulletin, online first publication, July 23, 2020.)
Authors: Witte Erich H. , Zenker Frank
Published: October 2020

We argue that the observed correlation between the effect size and the heterogeneity of replicated studies is artificial. Specifically, that the observed heterogeneity for larger effects exceeds the observed heterogeneity for zero or small effects fails to provide a reason to invest comparatively less trust in parameter-estimates for large(r) effects.
Insomnia Mediates the Association between Eveningness and Suicidal Ideation, Defeat, Entrapment, and Psychological Distress in Young Adults
Authors: Bradford Daniel Royston Russel , Biello Stephany , Russell KIrsten
Published: October 2020

Chronotype describes a person's general preference for mornings, evenings or neither. It is typically conceptualized as a continuous unidimensional spectrum from morningness to eveningness. Eveningness is associated with poorer outcomes across a myriad of physical and mental health outcomes. This preference for later sleep and wake times is associated with increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and behaviors in both clinical and community samples. However, the mechanisms underlying the negative consequences of this preference for evenings is not fully understood. Previous research has found that sleep disturbances may act as a mediator of this relationship. The present study aimed to explore the associations between chronotype and affective outcomes in a community sample of young adults. Additionally, it aimed to investigate the potential role of insomnia as a mediator within these relationships. Participants (n = 260) completed an anonymous self-report survey of validated measures online which assessed chronotype, insomnia symptoms, and a range of affective outcomes (defeat, entrapment, stress, suicide risk, and depressive and anxious symptomology). Eveningness was associated with more severe or frequent experiences of these outcomes, with young adults demonstrating a preference for eveningness more likely to report poorer affective functioning and increased psychological distress. Mediation analysis found the relationship between chronotype and these outcome measures were partially mediated by sleep disturbances as measured by the well-validated Sleep Condition Indicator insomnia scale. Taken together, these findings add further evidence for the negative consequences of increased eveningness. Additionally, our results show that chronotype and sleep disturbances should be considered when assessing mental well-being. Implementing appropriate sleep-related behavior change or schedule alterations can offer a tool for mitigation or prevention psychological distress in young adults who report a preference for later sleep and wake times.
Evaluating the Evidence for Expectation Suppression in the Visual System
Authors: Feuerriegel Daniel , Vogels Rufin , Kovacs Gyula
Published: October 2020

Expectation suppression is defined as a reduction in a measure of neural activity following an expected stimulus compared to a stimulus that is neither expected nor surprising. Reports of expectation suppression have shaped the development of several influential predictive coding-based theories of visual perception. However recent work has highlighted multiple confounding factors that may mimic or inflate observed expectation suppression effects. In this review, we describe four confounds that are prevalent across studies that have tested for expectation suppression: surprise-related response modulations, effects of attention, stimulus repetition and adaptation, and effects of stimulus novelty. With these confounds in mind we then critically review the evidence for expectation suppression across probabilistic cueing, statistical learning, oddball, action-outcome learning and apparent motion designs. We report that there is evidence for expectation suppression within a specific subset of statistical learning designs that involved weeks of sequence learning prior to neural activity measurement. However, across other experimental contexts, whereby stimulus appearance probabilities were learned within one or two testing sessions, there was a lack of consistent evidence for genuine expectation suppression within the visual system that cannot be accounted for by confounding factors. To underline the importance of devising more appropriate tests for expectation suppression we discuss how an absence of this effect would inform models of predictive processing, repetition suppression and perceptual decision-making. We also provide suggestions for designing experiments that may better test for stimulus expectation effects in future work.
Combined spinal epidural anaesthesia versus epidural anaesthesia: a comparative study
Authors: Shrestha Pramesh Sunder , Shrestha Ninadini , Shrestha Anil , Amatya Roshana , Shakya Bigen Man , Karki Bipin
Published: October 2020

Background: Regional anaesthesia are widely utilized in surgical gynaecology practice. The Com­bined Spinal Epidural Anaesthesia (CSEA) technique and Continuous epidural anaesthesia both have been extensively used in elective gynaecological surgeries. This prospective cross-sectional comparative study was designed to compare the quality of anaesthesia between CSEA and Epi­dural anaesthesia.

Methods: Sixty-four patients between age group 15- 65 years of ASA grade I, II were randomly di­vided into 2 groups. Group A patients received CSEA using “double needle double interspace tech­nique” and were given 2.5 ml of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine for spinal block. Group B patients received epidural block with catheter using 10 ml of 0.5% plain bupivacaine. In all patients, subse­quent dosage of 2 ml per unblocked segment 0.5% plain bupivacaine was administered through the epidural catheter to achieve a block up to T4-5. Mean was calculated using t-test, median with Mann Whitney U test and Chi-square test where appropriate and the Statistical Analysis was done using SPSS program, version 11.0.

Results: The surgical anaesthesia and motor blockade occurred significantly early in CSEA group. Duration of analgesia was significantly shorter in CSEA (84.1±40.6 min) as compared to epidural group (138.6±32.9 min). The total amount of bupivacaine required to attain the same target level was two times in epidural group (p<0.05). Haemodynamic changes were comparable in both the groups. No neurological side effects were observed.

Conclusions: Sequential CSEA is superior alternative to epidural block, which combines the advan­tages of spinal and epidural while minimizing their drawbacks in elective gynaecological surgeries.
Use of ultrasonography in reduction of isolated zygomatic arch fracture
Authors: Dhungel Safal , Singh Ashutosh Kumar
Published: October 2020

Background: Isolated zygomatic arch fractures, managed by closed methods, can be inadequate leading to facial asymmetry. Assessment of the reduction and ensuring correct alignment of frac­tured fragments in the operation table always avoids next surgery. This study aims to determine intraoperative, adequacy of reduction of by use of ultrasound in isolated zygomatic arch fracture.

Methods: During the closed reduction of isolated zygomatic arch linear probe of ultrasound was used to check the continuity of the echogenic line. The intraoperative ultrasound finding was com­pared with the gold standard CT scan.

Results: Ultrasound has 100% sensitivity and 80 % specificity. It also has high precision and accu­racy to determine the reduction of the fractured bone.

Conclusions: Ultrasound is a handy tool in the reduction of zygomatic arch fracture. It not only shows but also guides to adequate reduction.
Compound odontoma with unususal number of denticles- a case report
Authors: Singh Vivek , Singh Jasmeet
Published: October 2020

The term odontoma refers to hamartomatous lesions (malformations) rather than true neoplasms. They are the most common odontogenic tumour of jaws. They are slow growing in nature. Miss­ing permanent tooth or retained deciduous tooth brings the patient to the clinician usually dur­ing second decade of life. Two types of odontomas has been described: complex and compound. The compound type is more common and frequently found in the anterior maxilla. A 15-year-old male patient reported to department Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, with missing permanent right central and lateral incisor with retained deciduous in place. Intraoral radiographs were done and multiple small denticles were seen. A total of 39 denticles of various sizes were enucleated from the lesion making this case very unusual.
Students’ perception on educational environment of the postgraduate programme in selected nursing colleges of Nepal
Authors: Bista Archana Pandey , Sharma Kalpana , Tamrakar Neeta , Sharma Muna , Bhattarai Tilrupa
Published: October 2020

Background: Student’s positive perception towards the academic environment determines the quality of education. This study aimed at finding students’ perception on educational environ­ment of the postgraduate nursing programme of Nepal.

Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted among 104 masters level nursing stu­dents from four selected nursing campuses under Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University. Enu­merative sampling technique was used to select the sample. Data were collected using validated standard tool Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Most of the nursing students (81.7%) had positive level of perception on their educational environment and few had excellent perception. Total DREEM mean score was 134.37± 21 out of 200. Specifically, mean score of learning was 31.93 ± 5.1 out of 48, students’ perception of teachers was 30.02 ± 5.072 out of 44; students’ academic self-perception was 22.32 ± 3.54 out of 32; students’ perception of atmosphere was 32.26±5.1 out of 48 and mean score for students social self-perception was 17.82± 3.3 out of 28. Lower mean score < 2.0 was identified on teaching factual learning, oppor­tunities to memorize learning, supporting during stress, time management of programs, well prepara­tion for classes and student’s self-perception.

Conclusions: The findings indicate more positive perception on educational environment among post­graduate nursing students. Still some aspects such as teaching factual learning, memorizing learning, supportive students during stress, and social environment need to be emphasized to enhance the students’ educational environment of post-graduate nursing program by the academic institution.
Purtscher’s retinopathy: a case report
Authors: Chaudhary Sushma , Gupta Sharad , Yadav Reena , Kabmle Vinit Kumar , Shrestha Satbodh
Published: October 2020

Purtscher’s retinopathy is a rare haemorrhagic and vaso-occlusive vasculopathy following severe head trauma associated with sudden blindness. Here we report a case of 28 years old male pre­sented to out-patient department with history of sudden and painless loss of vision in his right eye for two days. He gave history of head injury following bike accident. At the time of presentation his best corrected visual acuity was 1/60 in the right eye and 6/6 in the left eye. On examina­tion, anterior segments of both eyes were normal. On fundus examination, right eye revealed retinal whitening in the peripapillary region (Purtscher’s flecken), an intraretinal hemorrhage and signs of macular edema whereas left eye was unremarkable. Findings were suggestive of right eye purtscher’s retinopathy. Optical coherence tomography and fundus fluorescence angiography was done to support the diagnosis. Purtscher’s retinopathy should not be neglected because it is associated with different systemic disease. Its pathophysiology remains unclear and there is no definite treatment but meticulous management is urgent to prevent from severe complications.
Policy Documents of Nepali Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A Critical Discourse Analysis
Authors: Poudel Tikaram
Published: October 2020

This study critically examines the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policy documents of Nepal, not only to understand the specific plans of the government agencies in designing, implementing and expanding TVET programmes but also to problematise discursive practices of TVET programmes in the existing socioeconomic and power hierarchy of Nepali society. More specifically, it aims at understanding the ineffectiveness of these training programmes concerning the target groups. This study makes use of Fairclough’s (1995) model of Critical Discourse Analysis of three inter-related dimensions of description, interpretation and explanation within the theoretical framework of capabilities approach (Sen, 2009). The findings indicate that the policy documents of Nepali TVET prioritise the development of semi-skilled human resources for the low-paid international labour market but ignore the conservation and development of indigenous knowledge systems of diverse ethnic communities of Nepal. The study initiates the discourse that integrating indigenous knowledge systems in TVET programmes provides a sustainable model of development.
Women in TVET: Contestation of Agency and Patriarchal Power for Liberation
Authors: Rai Indra Mani , Joshi Pashupati
Published: October 2020

Against the effort made through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in ensuring gender equality through providing women with the self/employment opportunities, there exists under-representation of them particularly in male-dominated training courses and jobs. In this context, the paper, based on a qualitative case study of three women who engaged in the courses and then occupations, portrays their struggles for coping with the gender stereotypes of devaluing women’s capability in the context of patriarchal power domination. Visualising from the feminist power perspectives, we came to the insights that the women’s agency (willingness, commitment, motivation, and knowledgeability) contests with the power held by males and patriarchal social structures. The negotiation of within self-power of women and external power of males and society support to unleash them for making a choice of career path.
Hubungan antara Self Efficacy dengan Self Regulated Learning pada Mahasiswa yang Bekerja di Universitas Medan Area
Authors: Wijaya Candra , Siregar Nurmaida Irawani , Hidayat Hidayat
Published: October 2020

Penelitian ini bertujuan melihat hubungan antara self efficacy dengan self regulated learning pada mahasiswa yang bekerja. Dimana yang menjadi subjek penelitian adalah mahasiswa yang bekerja di Universitas Medan Area yang memenuhi kriteria sampel dengan sampel sebanyak 67 mahasiswa. Hipotesis yang diajukan dalam penelitian ini adalah bahwa terdapat hubungan positif antara self efficacy dengan self regulated learning mahasiswa yang bekerja di Universitas Medan Area. Diperoleh hasil bahwa terdapat hubungan positif yang signifikan antara self efficacy dengan self regulated learning mahasiswa yang bekerja di Universitas Medan Area. Selain itu dari penelitian ini diketahui bahwa secara umum para mahasiswa yang bekerja di Universitas Medan Area memiliki self efficacy yang tergolong sedang dan self regulated learning yang juga tergolong sedang.
Model Fuzzy Mamdani Untuk Penilaian Tingkat Kepuasan Pelayanan Pengaduan Masyarakat
Authors: Martin Martin , Nilawati Lala
Published: October 2020

AbstrakKualitas pelayanan adalah salah satu keunggulan kompetitif, karena pelayanan yang baik adalah salah satu faktor dasar yang mampu mempengaruhi tingkat kenyamanan penerima layanan. Pelayanan publik oleh aparatur pemerintah dewasa ini masih banyak dijumpai kelemahan, sehingga belum dapat memenuhi kualitas yang diharapkan masyarakat. Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk melihat seberapa besar kepuasan pelayanan, dan pengaruh tingkat pelayanan terhadap tingkat kepuasan berdasarkan Logika Fuzzy Inference System Model Mamdani. Ada empat variabel input yang digunakan yaitu kejelasan informasi, kejelasan persyaratan, kemampuan petugas dan ketersediaan sarana dan prasarana untuk menghasilkan output kepuasan pelayanan. Berdasarkan tahapan-tahapan menggunakan Logika Fuzzy Inference System Model Mamdani mulai dari pembentukan himpunan fuzzy, aplikasi fungsi impilkasi, komposisi aturan sampai proses penegasan (defuzzyfikasi), dapat dibuktikan adanya korelasi antara variabel-variabel input sehingga dapat menentukan output hasil kepuasan pelayanan. Hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat digunakan oleh pihak instansi, sebagai pendukung sistem keputusan terhadap hasil penilaian yang diberikan oleh masyarakat untuk pelayanan yang dirasakan. Pengembangan penelitian ini kedepan nya akan diuji coba kembali dengan menambahkan lebih banyak variabel dan akan dibuat sebuah interface untuk memudahkan pemprosesan hasil penilaian kualitas pelayanan pengaduan masyarakat.  Kata Kunci: Pelayanan, Fuzzy Mamdani, Logika Fuzzy.AbstractService quality is one of the competitive advantages, because good service is one of the basic factors that can affect the comfort level of service recipients. Public services by the government apparatus today are still often found to be weak, so that they cannot meet the quality expected by the community. This study is intended to see how much service satisfaction is, and the effect of service levels on satisfaction levels based on Mamdani Model Fuzzy Inference System Logic. There are four input variables used namely clarity of information, clarity of requirements, ability of officers and availability of facilities and infrastructure to produce service satisfaction output. Based on the stages using Mamdani Model Fuzzy Inference System Logic starting from the formation of fuzzy sets, application of the implementation function, composition of the rules until the confirmation process (defuzzyfication), it can be proved the correlation between input variables so that it can determine the output of service satisfaction. The results of this study are expected to be used by the agency, as a support system for the decision on the results of the assessment given by the community for perceived services. The future development of this research will be re-tested by adding more variables and an interface will be created to facilitate the processing of the results of the quality assessment of public complaints services. Keywords: Service, Fuzzy Mamdani, Fuzzy Logic.
IMPLEMENTASI ALGORITMA DJIKSTRA UNTUK MENENTUKAN LOKASI DAN JARAK TEMPUH TERPENDEK KAMPUS IT DI JAKARTA
Authors: Sauwani Jeki , Putra Vitcky Nanda , Agung Halim
Published: October 2020

Kemajuan teknologi saat ini tentunya sangat memudahkan masyarakat untuk mencari informasi terkait perguruan tinggi yang diminati, baik itu fasilitas, alamat, dan jalan menuju lokasi, namun pada kenyataannya masih banyak dari masyarakat baik berasal dari dalam maupun luar kota Jakarta yang belum mengetahui lokasi dan rute jalan yang harus dilewati untuk menuju ke perguruan tinggi dengan program studi Teknik Informatika di Jakarta. Hal ini dikarenakan kurang jelasnya informasi yang di dapat. Proses pencarian rute akan menggunakan algoritma djikstra dan hasil akhir yang ditampilkan adalah informasi rute jalan yang harus dilalui, juga peta yang menampilkan lokasi perguruan tinggi dengan program studi Teknik Informatika di Jakarta. Hasil pengujian dapat disimpulkan bahwa tingkat ketepatan rute yang didapatkan dari aplikasi ini adalah sebesar 75 %, dikarenakan masih ada beberapa posisi dan rute yang tidak 100 % akurat
Analisis Kualitas Modul Matematika Kontekstual pada Topik Penyajian Data
Authors: Fera Mirta , Wengki Nopriadi  , Febrian
Published: October 2020

Penulisan artikel ini bertujuan untuk melihat kelayakan modul matematika kontekstual pada materi penyajian data pada siswa kelas VII paket B di PKBM Harapan Bangsa ditinjau dari aspek efektifitas, dan kepraktisannya. Penelitian ini merupakan jenis kualitatif dengan metode diskriptif. Pengumpulan data menggunakan soal post test untuk mendapatkan data kuantitatif dan angket respon siswa untuk mendapatkan data kualitatif. Berdasarkan hasil dari post test, diketahui bahwa ketuntasan hasil belajar peserta didik adalah 80% atau sebanyak 8 orang peserta didik yang tuntas tuntas dari 10 siswa yang mengikuti post test. Dapat dinyatakan bahwa modul Matematika kontekstual pada materi penyajian data efektif. Hasil output person item map dari hasil angket respon siswa yang diolah dengan aplikasi winstep dengan pemodelan rasch diketahui bahwa 9 responden masuk kedalam kelompok praktis dan 1 responden masuk dalam kelompok tidak praktis , sehingga modul Matematika kontekstual pada materi penyajian data bisa dinyatakan praktis. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa modul matematika kontekstual pada topik penyajian data untuk peserta didik kelas VII paket B layak untuk digunakan.
The Information Status of Old English Constructions with Titles and Proper Names
Authors: Sielanko-Byford Elżbieta
Published: October 2020

The paper examines the information status of Old English structures consisting of proper names and titles. The nominal constructions under discussion fall into three categories: the Ælfred cyning type of structure, where the title appears without any determiner and follows the proper name, the Ælfred se cyning type, where the title appears with a determiner and follows the proper name, and the se cyning Ælfred type, where the title with a determiner precedes the proper name. It is demonstrated that the se cyning Ælfred construction is mainly used anaphorically: an overwhelming majority of the examples of the structure in the Old English texts examined here refer back to an entity mentioned in the preceding discourse. Moreover, most of the antecedents of the se cyning Ælfred structures appear to be local, that is they occur in the same or in the immediately preceding structural unit. It is argued that the anaphoric nature of the se cyning Ælfred constructions may be responsible for their distribution in Old English texts.
Relevance, ad hoc concepts and analogy
Authors: Mioduszewska Ewa
Published: October 2020

In Relevance Theory (RT) concepts are “enduring elementary mental structure[s] capable of playing different discriminatory or inferential roles on different occasions in an individual’s mental life.” (Sperber & Wilson, 2012, p. 35). They may be lexicalized atomic concepts, ad hoc atomic concepts not encoded in our linguistic system and some innate concepts (Carston, 2010, p. 14). Concepts may be shared between interlocutors, idiosyncratic but grounded in common experience or fully idiosyncratic and non-communicable. They are “arrived at through the mutual pragmatic adjustment of explicature and contextual implicatures.” (Carston, 2010, p. 10). Ad-hoc concepts are “pragmatically derived, generally ineffable, non-lexicalized […] rough indication to aid readers in understanding what we have in mind in particular cases.” (Carston 2010, p. 13). Concepts encoded will only occasionally be the same as the ones communicated because words are used to convey indefinitely many other ad hoc concepts constructed in a given context (Sperber & Wilson, 2012, p. 43). Apparently, RT restricts the construction of ad hoc concepts by the search for relevance (definitions of (optimal) relevance, principles of relevance and relevance-theoretic comprehension procedure) and the potential connection (narrowing or broadening) between the denotations of the encoded and constructed concepts. The mechanisms underlying category narrowing/broadening seem not to be explicitly described and explained. What provides a very general but, at the same time, precise account of concept-relatedness is Hofstadter & Sander’s (2013) understanding of analogy. The question posed here is whether this understanding may help explain concept-relatedness in Relevance Theory.
Quantifying a successful translation: A cognitive frame analysis of (un)translatability
Authors: Zakaria Ingie
Published: October 2020

Assessing the success of a translated text is one of the controversial topics often discussed in the field of translation studies. The definition of a so-called successful translation is itself controversial. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, the success of a given translation may be defined as transmitting a similar, though rarely identical, semantic frame reference in the Target Language (TL) as was intended by the Source Language (SL) and may be quantified by comparing alternate translations and choosing the one with the highest number of equivalent frame references. One of the factors which could be considered detrimental to the production of a successful translation, as defined above, is the (un)translatability of cultural terms. Cultural terms, defined here as expressions referring to concepts or entities that are unique to a certain culture, are believed to be untranslatable. This paper uses Arabic visual frames referencing the Egyptian garment ǧal-labiy-ya (or ǧilbāb) as an example and argues that (un)translatability can be quantified using semantic frames based on the assumption that all SL terms have multiple frame references, some of which, mostly the ones indicating denotative meaning, have parallels in the TL while some others, mostly the ones indicating connotative meaning, do not. The degree of (un)translatability may, therefore, be quantifiable by observing which TL terms possess a higher rate of similar frame references in SL, which aids in the evaluation of translated texts in terms of relative equivalence and the degree to which the Target Text (TT) audience receives similar information to that received by the Source Text (ST) audience.
Sorption of rare earth coordination compounds
Authors: Cheremisina Olga , Cheremisina Elizaveta , Ponomareva Maria , Fedorov Аleksander
Published: October 2020

Rare earth elements (REEs) are valuable and strategically important in many high-technology areas, such as laser technology, pharmacy and metallurgy. The main methods of REE recovery are precipitation, extraction and sorption, in particular ion exchange using various sorbents, which allow to perform selective recovery and removal of associated components, as well as to separate rare earth metals with similar chemical properties.

The paper examines recovery of ytterbium in the form of coordination compounds with Trilon B on weakly basic anion exchange resin D-403 from nitrate solutions. In order to estimate thermodynamic sorption parameters of ytterbium anionic complexes, ion exchange process was carried out from model solutions under constant ionic strength specified by NaNO3, optimal liquid to solid ratio, pH level, temperatures 298 and 343 K by variable concentrations method. Description of thermodynamic equilibrium was made using mass action law formulated for ion exchange equation and mathematically converted to linear form. Values of equilibrium constants, Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy of the sorption process have been calculated. Basing on calculated values of Gibbs energy, a sorption series of complex REE ions with Trilon B was obtained over anion exchange resin D-403 from nitrate solutions at temperature 298 K. Sorption characteristics of anion exchange resin have been estimated: total capacity, limiting sorption of complex ions, total dynamic capacity and breakthrough dynamic capacity.
Development of the drilling mud composition for directional wellbore drilling considering rheological parameters of the fluid
Authors: Ulyasheva Nadezhda , Leusheva Ekaterina , Galishin Ramil
Published: October 2020

Article presents investigations on the development of a drilling mud composition for directional wells in an oil field located in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia). Various rheological models of fluid flow and their applicability for drilling muds are analyzed. Laboratory experiments to measure the main rheological parameters of a solution, such as plastic viscosity, dynamic shear stress, as well as indicators of non-linearity and consistency are presented.

On the basis of laboratory investigations, it was concluded that high molecular weight polymer reagents (for example, xanthan gum) can give tangible pseudoplastic properties to the washing fluid, and their combination with a linear high molecular weight polymer (for example, polyacrylamide) reduces the value of dynamic shear stress. Thus, when selecting polymer reagents for treating drilling muds at directional drilling, it is necessary to take into account their structure, molecular weight and properties. Combination of different types of reagents in the composition of the drilling mud can lead to a synergistic effect and increase the efficiency of the drilling process as a whole.
Nodal solutions for double phase Kirchhoff problems with vanishing potentials
Authors: Isernia Teresa , Repovš Dušan D.
Published: October 2020

We consider the following [Formula: see text]-Laplacian Kirchhoff type problem [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] are constants, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are positive continuous functions allowed for vanishing behavior at infinity, and f is a continuous function with quasicritical growth. Using a minimization argument and a quantitative deformation lemma we establish the existence of nodal solutions.
5α-Reductase Inhibitors Do Not Prevent the Development and Progression of Urothelial Cancer: In Vitro Evidence
Authors: Nagata Yujiro , Goto Takuro , Jiang Guiyang , Teramoto Yuki , Miyamoto Hiroshi
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND:

Androgen receptor (AR) activation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of urothelial cancer. However, it remains controversial whether 5α-reductase inhibitors (5α-RIs), which are known for blocking the conversion of testosterone to the more potent androgen dihydrotestosterone and often prescribed for the treatment of, for instance, benign prostatic hyperplasia, contribute to preventing the development of bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the role of 5α-RI therapy in urothelial tumorigenesis and tumor progression, using cell line models.

METHODS:

In a human non-neoplastic urothelial SVHUC subline stably expressing a full-length wild-type human AR (SVHUC-AR) with carcinogen/MCA challenge and human bladder cancer lines, we assessed the effects of three 5α-RIs, dutasteride (up to 100 nM), finasteride (up to 500 nM), and epristeride (up to 5 μM), on neoplastic/malignant transformation and cell growth, respectively.

RESULTS:

In AR-positive bladder cancer UMUC3 and 5637-AR cells, an AR antagonist bicalutamide significantly inhibited their proliferation, whereas three 5α-RIs failed to do. Similarly, these 5α-RIs did not significantly inhibit the migration of bladder cancer cells induced by the treatment of testosterone which could be metabolized into dihydrotestosterone in culture medium. In MCA-SVHUC-AR cells, induction of their neoplastic transformation by testosterone, which was prevented by bicalutamide, was confirmed. However, no significant inhibitory effects of 5α-RIs on the neoplastic transformation of AR-positive urothelial cells treated with or without testosterone were observed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Using in vitro models for urothelial cancer, 5α-RI treatment even at supra-pharmacological doses was thus found to have no significant impact on the prevention of both tumorigenesis and tumor progression.
Hydra: Report and technical overview
Authors: Lorenz Ulf , Donninger Christian , Ali Muhammad N. , Günes Erdogan , Lutz Christopher
Published: October 2020

The idea to let machines play games like Chess is quite old, with the Turk11 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Turk&oldid=968314029 being one of the first hints. With the invention of computers, this idea got a new boost, and soon the first chess programs were presented. It took about 50 years until it was clear that the machines are superior chess players, far beyond the playing strengths of any human players. In the 1970s, the era of efficient search engines started and in 2004, the chess program Hydra clearly crossed the 3000 Elo mark, ahead of all other machines and human players. In this paper, we present a review on the chess program Hydra, on a technical level as well as from a social perspective.
Lower limb muscle and joint forces during front and back squats performed on a Smith machine
Authors: Bini Rodrigo , Lock Megan , Hommelhoff Gedd
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND:

Comparison of knee loads on a Smith machine, which is utilised for maintenance of health and rehabilitation, has not been attempted.

OBJECTIVE:

This study compared lower limb muscle and knee joint forces during front and back squats performed on a Smith Machine.

METHODS:

Eleven participants performed front and back squats with loads at 40%, 60% and 80% of their back squat 1-RMs. Ground reaction forces and three-dimensional full body motion were collected and used for modelling lower limb muscle and knee joint forces.

RESULTS:

Larger loads increased tibiofemoral compressive force during back squat at 80% compared to 40% ([Formula: see text] 0.01; [Formula: see text] 1.58) and to 60% ([Formula: see text] 0.01; [Formula: see text] 1.37). Patellofemoral compressive ([Formula: see text] 0.96) and tibiofemoral shear forces ([Formula: see text] 0.55) were not influenced by external load or type of squat. Gluteus medius and minimus produced more force at 80% compared to 60% ([Formula: see text] 0.01; [Formula: see text] 1.10) and to 40% ([Formula: see text] 0.01; [Formula: see text] 1.87) without differences for other muscles ([Formula: see text] 0.09–0.91).

CONCLUSIONS:

Greater external load was associated with increase in gluteus medius and minimus force and with increased tibiofemoral compressive force without effects on tibiofemoral shear force, patellofemoral compressive force or other lower limb muscle forces.
Flexible wheel displacements for electromagnetic harmonic movable tooth drive system
Authors: Liang Yongli , Xu Lizhong
Published: October 2020

In this paper, the structure and operating principle of the electromagnetic harmonic movable tooth drive system is introduced. Equations of the magnetic density and the electromagnetic force are given. The force model on the flexible wheel under magnetic force is presented. The equivalent concentrated force applied to the flexible wheel is determined. Based on it, the displacement equations of the flexible wheel are deduced. Using these equations, the displacement distribution of the flexible wheel and its changes along with the main parameters are investigated. Relationship between coil current and the maximum radial displacement is determined. The limit current corresponding to the limit radial displacement is obtained and its changes along with the main parameters are analyzed. The results show that the displacements of flexible wheel increase with the radius of flexible wheel and the coil current, and decrease with the initial air gap and the thickness of flexible wheel. A limit current under which the flexible ring will be buckled occurs under electromagnetic force. The limit current corresponding to the limit displacement increases with the thickness of flexible wheel, the pole pair number and the air gap, and decreases with the radius of flexible wheel. The results can be used to design and analyze the drive system.
A wall-thinning measuring method based on magnetic permeability perturbation
Authors: Deng Zhiyang , Wei Shilin , Chen Tao , Song Xiaochun , Kang Yihua
Published: October 2020

In the determination of metal thickness by traditional electromagnetic nondestructive testing methods, the material’s electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability are required but practically unavailable or inexact. In this paper, a wall-thinning measuring method based on magnetic permeability variation of steel pipes is proposed. The direct current magnetization is applied to the ferromagnetic material, the internal magnetic field perturbation caused by the wall-thinning brings the permeability perturbation in the surface layer and be sensed by eddy current probe. The simulation results show that the permeability perturbation is closely related to wall thickness loss. The experiment results show that the signal amplitude increases with the thickness of the wall-thinning and the new method can measure the 10% wall-thinning of pipe. Finally, theoretical range of magnetization current values are discussed. The new method takes advantage of the changes in permeability and is not limited by thickness of object to be detected.
Beyond the Traditional Clinical Trials for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and The Future Impact of Gene Therapy
Authors: Cappella Marisa , Pradat Pierre-François , Querin Giorgia , Biferi Maria Grazia
Published: October 2020

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating and incurable motor neuron (MN) disorder affecting both upper and lower MNs. Despite impressive advances in the understanding of the disease’s pathological mechanism, classical pharmacological clinical trials failed to provide an efficient cure for ALS over the past twenty years. Two different gene therapy approaches were recently approved for the monogenic disease Spinal muscular atrophy, characterized by degeneration of lower MNs. This milestone suggests that gene therapy-based therapeutic solutions could be effective for the treatment of ALS. This review summarizes the possible reasons for the failure of traditional clinical trials for ALS. It provides then a focus on the advent of gene therapy approaches for hereditary forms of ALS. Specifically, it describes clinical use of antisense oligonucleotides in three familial forms of ALS, caused by mutations in SOD1, C9orf72 and FUS genes, respectively.. Clinical and pre-clinical studies based on AAV-mediated gene therapy approaches for both familial and sporadic ALS cases are presented as well. Overall, this overview highlights the potential of gene therapy as a transforming technology that will have a huge impact on treatment perspective for ALS patients and on the design of future clinical trials.
On the use of the Box-Cox transformation in censored and truncated regression models
Authors: Carlevaro Fabrizio , Croissant Yves
Published: October 2020

In this paper we revisit some issues related to the use of the Box-Cox transformation in censored and truncated regression models, which have been overlooked by the econometric and statistical literature. We first analyze the shape of the density function of the random variable which, rescaled by a Box-Cox transformation, leads to a normal random variable. Then, we identify the value ranges of the Box-Cox scale parameter for which a regular expectation of the derived random variable does not exist. This result calls for an extension of the concept of expectation, which can be computed regardless of the value of the scale parameter. For this purpose, we extend the concept of mean of a rescaled series of observations to the case of a random variable. Finally, we run estimates of censored and truncated Box-Cox standard Tobit models to determine the range of the scale parameter most relevant for empirical demand analyzes. These estimates highlight significant deviations from the assumption of normality of the dependent variable towards highly right skewed and leptokurtic distributions with no expectation.
Improving fuzzy clustering algorithm for probability density functions and applying in image recognition
Authors: Phamtoan Dinh , Vovan Tai
Published: October 2020

This study introduces a measure called coefficient of within-cluster proximity (CWP) to evaluate the similarity of probability density functions (DFs) within clusters. After surveying the under and upper, and the computational problems of CWP, a fuzzy clustering algorithm for DFs is proposed. This algorithm can determine the suitable number of clusters and find the probability for each DF to belong to specific cluster. The convergence of the algorithm is considered in theory and illustrated by the numerical examples. The algorithm is applied to image recognition. The results show strong advantages of it in comparison to other algorithms. They also indicate the potential of the proposed approach in application to the data of different types.
Nonimmune hydrops fetalis management from the perspective of fetal cardiologists: A single tertiary center experience from Egypt
Authors: Rakha S. , Elmarsafawy H.
Published: October 2020

BACKGROUND:

Despite advances in managing nonimmune hydrops fetalis (NIHF), perinatal mortality is still significant. Fetal cardiac failure eventually occurs regardless of etiology. However, no previous study has addressed NIHF from fetal cardiologists’ perspective. Therefore, we evaluated etiology and management of a NIHF cohort requiring fetal cardiologist consultation in a developing country.

METHODS:

A single-center retrospective cohort study of 70 cases with NIHF that were referred to a fetal cardiology unit over four years was performed. Demographics, etiologic diagnosis, and outcomes of the cases were assessed. Antenatal management was evaluated using cardiovascular profile score (CVPS).

RESULTS:

The most frequent diagnosis was Idiopathic hydrops 42(62.6%), followed by hydrops due to cardiac diseases 19(28.4%), and 3 dead fetuses were detected at the first fetal echocardiography. Treatment of fetal tachyarrhythmia ( n = 7) had 100% success rate in terms of antenatal hydrops resolution. Digoxin was used in cases of structural heart diseases, twin- twin transfusion syndrome, and dilated cardiomyopathy with perinatal mortality occurring in all cases ( n = 9). In cases of idiopathic hydrops, 14 fetuses received digoxin with intrauterine hydrops resolution in 2/14 (14%) while non-treated cases had intrauterine or early neonatal death.

CONCLUSION:

Nonimmune hydrops is the worst complication of diverse etiologies. Limitations in resources for advanced investigations in developing countries increase the possibility of categorizing NIHF as idiopathic. Tachyarrhythmia induced hydrops can be entirely reversed with antenatal therapy while non-tachyarrhythmia fetal cardiac disease outcomes are unfavorable regardless of therapy. On the other hand, idiopathic hydrops shows a limited potential response to digoxin in utero.
Semantic Node-RED for rapid development of interoperable industrial IoT applications
Authors: Thuluva Aparna Saisree , Anicic Darko , Rudolph Sebastian , Adikari Malintha
Published: October 2020

The evolution of IoT has revolutionized industrial automation. Industrial devices at every level such as field devices, control devices, enterprise level devices etc., are connected to the Internet, where they can be accessed easily. It has significantly changed the way applications are developed on the industrial automation systems. It led to the paradigm shift where novel IoT application development tools such as Node-RED can be used to develop complex industrial applications as IoT orchestrations. However, in the current state, these applications are bound strictly to devices from specific vendors and ecosystems. They cannot be re-used with devices from other vendors and platforms, since the applications are not semantically interoperable. For this purpose, it is desirable to use platform-independent, vendor-neutral application templates for common automation tasks. However, in the current state in Node-RED such reusable and interoperable application templates cannot be developed. The interoperability problem at the data level can be addressed in IoT, using Semantic Web (SW) technologies. However, for an industrial engineer or an IoT application developer, SW technologies are not very easy to use. In order to enable efficient use of SW technologies to create interoperable IoT applications, novel IoT tools are required. For this purpose, in this paper we propose a novel semantic extension to the widely used Node-RED tool by introducing semantic definitions such as iot.schema.org semantic models into Node-RED. The tool guides a non-expert in semantic technologies such as a device vendor, a machine builder to configure the semantics of a device consistently. Moreover, it also enables an engineer, IoT application developer to design and develop semantically interoperable IoT applications with minimal effort. Our approach accelerates the application development process by introducing novel semantic application templates called Recipes in Node-RED. Using Recipes, complex application development tasks such as skill matching between Recipes and existing things can be automated. We will present the approach to perform automated skill matching on the Cloud or on the Edge of an automation system. We performed quantitative and qualitative evaluation of our approach to test the feasibility and scalability of the approach in real world scenarios. The results of the evaluation are presented and discussed in the paper.