bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Self-reported disability in rural Malawi: prevalence, incidence, and relationship to chronic conditions
Authors: Prynn Josephine E. , Dube Albert , Mwaiyeghele Elenaus , Mwiba Oddie , Geis Steffen , Koole Olivier , Nyirenda Moffat , Kuper Hannah , Crampin Amelia C. 
Published: October 2020

Background: Disability is a complex concept involving physical impairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction. The Washington Group developed a set of questions on six functional domains (seeing, hearing, walking, remembering, self-care, and communicating) to allow collection of comparable data on disability. We aimed to improve understanding of prevalence and correlates of disability in this low-income setting in Malawi. Methods: This study is nested in the Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in Malawi; the Washington Group questions were added to the annual survey in 2014. We used cross-sectional data from the 2014 survey to estimate the current prevalence of disability and examine associations of disability with certain chronic conditions. We then reviewed the incidence and resolution of disability over time using panel data from the 2015 survey. Results: Of 10,863 participants, 9.6% (95% CI 9.0-10.1%) reported disability in at least one domain. Prevalence was higher among women and increased with age. Diabetes and obesity were associated with disability among women, and diabetes was also associated with disability among men. Neither hypertension nor HIV were associated with disability. Participants reporting “no difficulty” or “can’t do at all” for any domain were likely to report the same status one year later, whereas there was considerable movement between people describing “some difficulty” and “a lot of difficulty”. Conclusions: Disability prevalence is high and likely to increase over time. Further research into the situation of this population is crucial to ensure inclusive policies are created and sustainable development goals are met.
The NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 inhibits IL-1β production in PBMC from 19 patients with Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndrome and in 2 patients with Schnitzler’s Syndrome
Authors: Corcoran Sarah E. , Hafner-Bratkovič Iva , Halai Reena , Domingo-Fernandez Raquel , O'Leary Daire , Banahan Kathy , Jerala Roman , Conlon Niall , Jung Thomas , O'Neill Luke A.J. , Cooper Matthew A. , Irvine Alan D. 
Published: October 2020

Background: The cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are a group of inherited disorders associated with systemic auto-inflammation. CAPS result from gain-of-function mutations in NLRP3, which result in formation of an intracellular protein complex known as the NLRP3 inflammasome. This leads to overproduction of IL-1β and other pro-inflammatory signals, resulting in inflammatory symptoms. Treatments for NLRP3-related diseases are biologic agents that directly target IL-1β. We sought to determine if the orally available small molecule NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 could inhibit IL-1β ex vivo in a cohort of patients with autoinflammatory disease. Methods: Patients were recruited to donate blood, from which PBMCs were isolated and assayed in the presence of MCC950 to determine inhibitory efficacy. Results: We found that apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) and mature IL-1β was higher in ex vivo PBMCs from CAPS patients than healthy donors. MCC950 inhibited production of mature IL-1β in PBMC from CAPS patients with a range of mutations and blocked NLRP3 activity in an in vitro mutation reconstitution assay. Similar results were observed with PBMC from two patients with Schnitzler’s Syndrome, another auto-inflammatory disease. Conclusions: The NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor MCC950 blocked constitutive activation of NLRP3 observed in the PBMCs of CAPS patients. This study highlights the potential utility of NLRP3 inhibition by a small molecule for rare autoinflammatory diseases that are driven by NLRP3.
Evaluation of Semanotus bifasciatus (Motschulsky) Infestation in Platycladus orientalis Plants Using E-Nose and GC-MS
Authors: Wang Zhenhe , Sun Yubing , Wang Jun , Wang Yongwei 
Published: October 2020

HighlightsE-nose was employed for evaluation of Semanotus bifasciatus infestation based on four time-domain features.Plant VOCs were analyzed by GC-MS, and the results proved the feasibility of E-nose detection.PNN, BPNN, SVM, and PLSR were introduced to classify and predict Semanotus bifasciatus infestation numbers.Abstract. Trunk-boring insects such as Semanotus bifasciatus (Motschulsky) are difficult to detect because the larvae are hidden inside the trunks. In this study, the variation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Platycladus orientalis after S. bifasciatus infestation was evaluated using an electronic nose (E-nose). VOCs from sample plants were observed with gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the results indicated that uninfected and infected groups differed both qualitatively and quantitatively, which proves the feasibility of E-nose evaluation. To extract features of the E-nose response signals, four feature extraction methods were applied, and their performances were compared based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Three classification models, including back-propagation neural network (BPNN), support vector machine (SVM), and probabilistic neural network (PNN), were established to identify the severity of infestation based on the optimal feature extraction method (75th second value). The classification results of BPNN, PNN, and SVM based on the calibration set were 96.43%, 91.07%, and 100%, respectively, and the results based on the validation set were 91.67%, 91.67%, and 100%, respectively. In addition, partial least squares regression (PLSR) and BPNN were used to predict the larvae density and achieved highly reliable results. It can be concluded that combining E-nose with GC-MS is a potential technique for evaluating trunk-borer infestation and can be used for pest management. Keywords: Electronic nose, Feature extraction, Pest evaluation, Semanotus bifasciatus, Volatile organic compounds.
Frequency Response Curves and Dynamic Characteristics of a Ginkgo Tree in Different Growth Periods
Authors: Zhou Jie , Xu Linyun , Liu Guanhua , Xuan Yan , Zhou Hongping , Jiang Hongzhe 
Published: October 2020

HighlightsThe frequency domain modal parameters identification method was applied to a ginkgo tree.Dynamic characteristics of the ginkgo tree were tested during five phenological periods.Almost all resonance frequencies were near the peaks of the frequency response curves.Leaves caused the number of natural frequencies of the ginkgo tree to be greatly reduced.Abstract. Understanding the dynamic characteristics of fruit trees is the premise of effective mechanized harvesting. This study performed a tracking test on a ginkgo tree in five phenological periods from the dormant period to the leaf-unfolding period. The frequency domain modal parameters identification method was applied to the ginkgo tree, and the relationship between the natural frequencies and resonance frequencies of the ginkgo tree was obtained. The main factors affecting the fundamental frequency and damping ratio of the ginkgo tree were not the elastic modulus and moisture content but rather the growth of the leaves. The growth of leaves caused the number of natural frequencies in the low-frequency band to be greatly reduced, and the value of the natural frequencies exhibited a slightly decreasing tendency. The damping caused by leaves had a significant weakening effect on the transmission of vibrational energy on the lateral branches. The resonance frequencies that caused strong response of the ginkgo tree were mostly near the peak frequencies of the frequency response curves (natural frequencies), but eccentric motor excitation could not effectively stimulate all the natural frequencies of the ginkgo tree to reach resonance. In the frequency response curves of the ginkgo tree, the main natural frequency with the maximum energy might not cause the maximum vibration response of the ginkgo tree, even if this excitation frequency could induce resonance. Resonance could be used to maximize the transfer of excitation energy, but each position of the tree had its own independent frequency spectrum characteristics. A single excitation frequency could not cause all positions of the ginkgo tree to resonate simultaneously. Changing the excitation frequency of harvesting equipment within a small frequency range could achieve the maximum resonance response of most positions on fruit trees. Keywords: Dynamic characteristics, Growth periods, Leaves, Natural frequencies, Resonance.
Effects of Membrane Concentration Processes on Flux, Nutrient Recovery, and Antibiotic Isolation for Anaerobically Digested Slurry from Swine Manure
Authors: Yue Caide , Dong Hongmin , Zhang Wanqin , Zhu Zhiping , Yin Fubin , Wang Shunli 
Published: October 2020

HighlightsThree membrane concentration processes for anaerobically digested (AD) slurry were investigated.With regard to processing stability and efficiency, NF-RO was recommended for AD slurry concentration.Membrane concentration enables the synchronous recovery of nutrients and removal of antibiotics in AD slurry.Abstract. Membrane concentration processes have been used to treat anaerobically digested (AD) slurry for nutrient recovery and pollutant removal; however, these methods often face the challenges of low processing stability and efficiency. In this study, the performance (processing stability and efficiency) of three membrane concentration processes, including nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO1) and two-stage NF-RO (NF-RO2), in treating ceramic membrane-pretreated swine manure AD slurry was evaluated and compared. Nutrient and antibiotic redistribution in the concentrate and permeate was also investigated. Results show that NF-RO2 had higher processing stability and efficiency than the other two processes. High nutrient recoveries of 61.9% for total nitrogen, 56.3% for total phosphorus, and 67.0% for potassium in the concentrates were observed in NF-RO2. The removal rates for antibiotics sulfamethazine and oxytetracycline in NF-RO2 were 99.3% and 81.9%, respectively. Therefore, NF-RO is an effective way to recover nutrients and remove pollutants from AD slurry. Keywords: Antibiotic flow, Nanofiltration, Nutrient flow, Reverse osmosis, Swine manure.
Spatial frequency-based angular behavior of a short-range flicker-free MIMO–OCC link
Authors: Teli Shivani Rajendra , Zvanovec Stanislav , Perez-Jimenez Rafael , Ghassemlooy Zabih 
Published: October 2020

In this paper, we provide a solution based on spatial frequency

f

sf

to study the angular behavior of a flicker-free, short-range indoor multiple–input multiple–output (MIMO) optical camera communications (OCC) link. We focus on the experimental investigation of OCC’s performance for the transmitters (Txs) [i.e., light-emitting diode (LED) based arrays] located at the same and different distances from the receiver (Rx) with the off-axis rotation angle

θ

. We have used two

8

×

8

distributed LED arrays and a commercial low-cost complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) Raspberry Pi camera with the rolling-shutter capturing mode as the Tx and Rx, respectively. The image and the respective communications link quality metrics are measured in terms of the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the rate of successfully received bits with respect to

f

sf

for different camera shutter speeds (SS). A CMOS image sensor noise characterization is carried in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and PSNR. The proposed study provides a 100% success rate in data reception at the optimum

θ

of 50° at lower captured values of

f

sf

, which is projected onto the image sensor in the form of pixels. Moreover, the effect of channel saturation over

f

sf

is studied with respect to

θ

and SS and we show that, for

θ

exceeding the optimum value along transmission range, the

f

sf

area of the Txs reduces to less than

∼

50

%

of the captured Tx units at

θ

of 0°, where no data can be fully recovered.
Przodkowie w tradycyjnej religii Aszantow
Authors: WITA GRZEGORZ 
Published: October 2020

Tradycyjne religie Afryki postrzegane są nierzadko jako systemy wierzeń, w których podstawową funkcję pełnią przodkowie. Czasem bywają one wprost nazywane kultem przodków. Nie jest to stwierdzenie adekwatne wobec rzeczywistości. Dowodem tego jest pozycja i rola przodków w rodzimej religii Aszantów z Ghany. Choć ma ona charakter wyraźnie ancestralny, to jednak wysoki status przodków wynika z ich powiązania z Istotą Najwyższą, a cześć i rytuały przodkowskie do niej w ostateczności odsyłają. Artykuł prezentuje ideę przodkostwa, rolę duchów zmarłych w społeczności Aszantów, warunki, jakie muszą być spełnione, aby zmarły osiągnął status przodka oraz formy religijnego i społecznego szacunki, jakim przez Aszantów są otaczani „żywi-zmarli”. Przedstawia także zarys aszanckiej eschatologii oraz wpływ, jaki przodkowie wywierają na tę zachodnioafrykańską społeczność.
βOHB Protective Pathways in Aralar-KO Neurons and Brain: An Alternative to Ketogenic Diet
Authors: Pérez-Liébana Irene , Casarejos María José , Alcaide Andrea , Herrada-Soler Eduardo , Llorente-Folch Irene , Contreras Laura , Satrústegui Jorgina , Pardo Beatriz 
Published: October 2020

Aralar/AGC1/Slc25a12, the mitochondrial aspartate-glutamate carrier expressed in neurons, is the regulatory component of the NADH malate-aspartate shuttle. AGC1 deficiency is a neuropediatric rare disease characterized by hypomyelination, hypotonia, developmental arrest, and epilepsy. We have investigated whether β-hydroxybutyrate (βOHB), the main ketone body (KB) produced in ketogenic diet (KD), is neuroprotective inaralar-knock-out (KO) neurons and mice. We report that βOHB efficiently recoversaralar-KO neurons from deficits in basal-stimulated and glutamate-stimulated respiration, effects requiring βOHB entry into the neuron, and protects from glutamate excitotoxicity.Aralar-deficient mice were fed a KD to investigate its therapeutic potential early in development, but this approach was unfeasible. Therefore,aralar-KO pups were treated without distinction of gender with daily intraperitoneal injections of βOHB during 5 d. This treatment resulted in a recovery of striatal markers of the dopaminergic system including dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC)/DA ratio, and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) protein. Regarding postnatal myelination, myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) myelin proteins were markedly increased in the cortices of βOHB-treatedaralar-KO mice. Although brain Asp and NAA levels did not change by βOHB administration, a 4-d βOHB treatment toaralar-KO, but not to control, neurons led to a substantial increase in Asp (3-fold) and NAA (4-fold) levels. These results suggest that the lack of increase in brain Asp and NAA is possibly because of its active utilization by thearalar-KO brain and the likely involvement of neuronal NAA in postnatal myelination in these mice. The effectiveness of βOHB as a therapeutic treatment in AGC1 deficiency deserves further investigation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAralardeficiency induces a fatal phenotype in humans and mice and is associated with impaired neurodevelopment, epilepsy, and hypomyelination. In neurons, highly expressingaralar, its deficiency causes a metabolic blockade hampering mitochondrial energetics and respiration. Here, we find that βOHB, the main metabolic product in KD, recovers defective mitochondrial respiration bypassing the metabolic failure inaralar-deficient neurons. βOHB oxidation in mitochondria boosts the synthesis of cytosolic aspartate (Asp) and NAA, which is impeded byaralardeficiency, presumably through citrate-malate shuttle. Inaralar-knock-out (KO) mice, βOHB recovers from the drastic drop in specific dopaminergic and myelin markers. The βOHB-induced myelin synthesis occurring together with the marked increment in neuronal NAA synthesis supports the role of NAA as a lipid precursor during postnatal myelination.
Entre el sueño de construir un hogar y las pesadillas previas a la casa propia: Nuestra ciudad y su exclusión social
Authors: Masís Morales Adriana 
Published: October 2020

One of the greatest material aspirations of the human being is to take emotional and legal ownership of a decent space in which to live. However, not only is there a broad network of difficulties to face before becoming the creditor of said asset, but also a vast number of urban issues that directly affect the experience of home-living because the city is the context and main connection that reinforces the relationship between the human being and his home.Current problems encompassing territory management require to go much further from the historiographical discourse on cities, the study of the real estate market and the creation of laws that guarantee rights, which in practice do not seem to be so rigorously protected. The present research points out the main forms of social exclusion faced in Costa Rica when defending the right to housing and seeking to build citizenship. As a result of this analysis, a discussion agenda proposal arises, where the urgent issues to be addressed are pointed out in order to provide comprehensive solutions that really appeal to coexistence and the dynamization of the city, which, in conclusion, translates into a higher quality of life.
La importancia de la obligatoriedad para exigir el derecho a la educación en México
Authors: Benavides-Lara Mario Alberto 
Published: October 2020

The present text offers a conceptual analysis about the implications of the Mexican legislation framework as a tool of obligatoriness to advance education as a right. The central argument of the article is that obligatoriness, beyond being a normative postulate, is a mechanism that allows the enforceability of the right to education, which responds to a specific socio-political context. However, the way in which the Mexican state has met this demand requires a new level of reflection in which the pedagogical proposals that are to emerge, be committed to be committed with the recognition of difference and diversity that currently seems to be absent.
A gyermekszívsebészeti beavatkozás hosszú távú hatásai a pszichológiai fejlődésre
Authors: Czobor Nikoletta Ráhel , Ocsovszky Zsófia , Csabai Márta , Róth György , Konkolÿ Thege Barna , Ablonczy László , Székely Edgár , Gál János , Székely Andrea 
Published: October 2020

Absztrakt:
Bevezetés: A korai életkorban szívsebészeti beavatkozáson
átesett gyermekek fejlődése során fellépő viselkedési diszfunkciók jelentősen
függenek a perioperatív szakban átélt eseményektől. Célkitűzés:
A jelen vizsgálat célja, hogy feltárja a hosszú távú viselkedési változásokat a
szívsebészeti beavatkozáson átesett gyermekek körében, és leírja azokat a
perioperatív állapotokat, melyek befolyásolhatják a későbbi megküzdési
mechanizmusokat. Módszer: 80, szívműtéten átesett és 62
egészséges kontroll adatait elemeztük. A pszichológiai status felmérése a
vizsgálati időszakban a Megküzdési Módok Kérdőív, illetve a Gyermekviselkedési
Kérdőív önértékelő kérdéssorának segítségével, míg a perioperatív adatok
felvétele az intézeti adatbázisból retrospektíven történt.
Eredmények: Az operált gyermekek körében mind a
problémamegoldó, mind az érzelemközpontú megküzdési főskála szignifikánsan
alacsonyabb értékeket mutatott az egészséges kontrollcsoporthoz képest. A
Gyermekviselkedési Kérdőív önértékelő változata sem internalizáció, sem
externalizáció tekintetében nem mutatott szignifikáns eltérést. A hosszú időn át
inkomplett keringéssel rendelkező betegek és a kontrollcsoport között
szignifikáns eltérést figyeltünk meg az érzelemközpontú megküzdés, illetve a
szomatizáció terén, míg az acyanoticus és a kontrollcsoport között a
problémaközpontú megküzdés alskáláin (problémaelemzés, alkalmazkodási képesség).
A többszöri műtét mind az érzelem-, mind a problémaközpontú megküzdés
alacsonyabb fokú aktivációjával összefüggést mutatott, és a hosszú kórházi
tartózkodással együtt egy menekülő-elkerülő magatartásforma kialakulásához
vezetett. Következtetés: Úgy tűnik, hogy a kialakult maladaptív
viselkedési mechanizmusok jellege jelentősen függ az inkomplett keringés
fennállásának időtartamától, a műtétek számától és a kórházi tartózkodás
hosszától. A megküzdési stratégiák mozgósítása legfőképp csökkent érzelem- vagy
problémaközpontú válaszkészségben, illetve a szomatizációs tendenciák és a
menekülő-elkerülő magatartásforma felerősödésében nyilvánul meg. Orv Hetil.
2020; 161(42): 1787–1796.
Kansas Family Physicians Perceptions of Parental Vaccination Hesitancy
Authors: Mills Kale , Nilsen Kari 
Published: October 2020

Introduction. In the past few decades, patients expressing the idea that vaccines are unsafe or unneeded have been experienced increasingly by physicians and other healthcare providers. Discussions with patients regarding their reasons for vaccine refusals are important, as it may provide information that can be utilized in an intervention to increase vaccination rates and combat the spread of diseases that are making a resurgence in the United States. The main objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of family physicians as to why parents in Kansas may be vaccine hesitant.
Methods. An electronic survey was distributed to family physicians in the State of Kansas via the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Family Medicine Research and Data Information Office (FM RADIO). Several aspects of physician perceptions regarding patients’ vaccine hesitancy were measured in this study, including vaccines that are most often refused, reasons for refusing vaccinations, as well as what responses physicians employ when presented with vaccine concerns.
Results. The majority of physicians surveyed have experienced vaccine hesitancy or refusal in their practice, and the human papillomavirus (HPV) and flu vaccines were reported to be the primary vaccines refused for children. In addition, physicians reported frequently employing various practices in response to vaccine refusals, including requiring parents to sign a form (40%) and dismissing families from their practice (1.5%). Physician perceptions on the reasons as to why parents/guardians refuse vaccinations also were measured, and the most common response was that parents possess a fear of long-term complications for their children as a result of vaccines (74%). Additionally, the three most commonly refused vaccines were HPV, influenza, and measles, mumps, and rubella.
Conclusion. Physicians must not only deal with time constraints that vaccine hesitant discussions require, but also must try and implement discussions or interventions suited to the varying reasons why parents/guardians refuse vaccines to convince parents of their safety. The results suggested that vaccine refusals by parents/guardians seemed to be affecting Kansas family physicians’ clinics in more than one way. This study could be a useful tool to help physicians better understand why vaccine refusals occur and be able to combat unwarranted concerns about vaccines.