bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Uncertainty propagation in Pu isotopic composition calculation by gamma spectrometry: theory versus experiment
Authors: Sarkar Arnab 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Calculation and reporting of total uncertainties are essential criteria in the nuclear industry since measured results are used in decision making. Plutonium isotopic compositions (Pu IC) in different matrices are required at various stages of a close-loop nuclear fuel cycle. Under- and/or over-estimating uncertainties in Pu IC may result in avoidable radiological emergencies. In this work, we present the uncertainty budget for Pu IC determination using 120–450 keV gamma emission lines recorded with an HPGe. Detailed uncertainty propagation equations based on the propagation of partial derivatives are constructed and solved. Effects of the individual uncertainties on the total uncertainty are studied for different counting durations starting from 5 min up to 24 h. Results are compared with TIMS results and the theoretically calculated uncertainties were verified with multiple experimental data.
Air pollutants and impairments of male reproductive health-an overview
Authors: Kumar Sunil , Sharma Anupama , Thaker Riddhi 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Excessive air pollution, both ambient and indoor are might be detrimental to human wellbeing and are related to morbidity and mortality, it may also affect the reproductive function and its outcome. It is a recognized fact that air pollution contains several toxicants, gases, particulate matter, toxic metals etc. Some of them might affect reproductive and developmental process and a few are persistent. The information accessible on air pollution to human male reproduction is stated to affect semen quality by diminishing one or more sperm quality parameters i.e., sperm morphology, concentration, motility etc. and may causes sperm DNA damage, these might alter the fertility potential which in turn affect pregnancy or its outcome. The impact might be related to the pollutant’s concentration and duration of exposure. The data on impact of air contamination on endocrine function are inadequate, inconsistence and the diversity of existence of air contaminants in area to area and multiplicity in semen quality parameters assessed in various studies as well as study design variables complicated the problem of evaluation of impact of air pollution on male reproduction. The data available suggests the air pollution is might be injurious to human male reproductive health, which depends upon amounts of air pollutants in the air, duration of exposure etc. but more comprehensive data are needed to substantiate the findings. The data are also needed on indoor air pollution on reproduction as people are might be subjected to greater quantities of some of the indoor air pollutants as compared to ambient air pollution.
Signic knowledge: its niche in semiotics and its various aspects
Authors: Jin Yiqiang , Cao Liqin 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Signic knowledge is a crucial link without which the sign as a phenomenon tumbles to the ground. This topic, however, can hardly be incorporated by any existing theory of semiotics. Under the framework of “the theory of intentional sign,” signic knowledge can find its proper niche as an element of the “context” of a sign process. This niche furnishes a good basis on which to investigate the various aspects of signic knowledge, like its role, nature, origin, and life. Signic knowledge can also be automatized or externalized, whose end results tend to create delusions that obscure the nature of the sign and lead semiotics astray.
Spatial diagrams and geometrical reasoning in the theater
Authors: Degani-Raz Irit 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
This article offers an analysis of the cognitive role of diagrammatic movements in the theater. Based on the recognition of a theatrical work’s inherent ability to provide new insights concerning reality, the article concentrates on the way by which actors’ movements on stage create spatial diagrams that can provide new insights into the spectators’ world. The suggested model of theater’s epistemology results from a combination of Charles S. Peirce’s doctrine of diagrammatic reasoning and David Lewis’s theoretical account of the truth value of counterfactual conditionals. I argue that in several theatrical works – in particular those whose central image is dominated by movements – the relation of what Lewis names “comparative overall similarity” between the fictional and the actual world is based on diagrammatic homology. The cognitive process involved in deciphering them is, hence, based on diagrammatic reasoning. The main emphasis of the analysis is on the previously unnoticed but important cognitive role of observation in the theater: the idea that observation takes an active role in the reasoning process that enables the spectators to form new knowledge about their actual world. Samuel Beckett’s plays Quad and Come and Go serve here as case studies.
Health-related quality of life in tension-type headache: a population-based study
Authors: Ashina Sait , Buse Dawn C. , Bjorner Jakob B. , Bendtsen Lars , Lyngberg Ann C. , Jensen Rigmor H. , Lipton Richard B. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Objectives
Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most prevalent primary headache disorder. We assessed the cross-sectional impact of TTH on health related quality of life (HRQoL) in a general population. We also examined the association of HRQoL scores with headache frequency, disability, medication overuse, poor self-rated health, psychiatric comorbidity, and pain sensitivity in individuals with TTH.

Methods
A sample of 547 subjects completed a headache diagnostic interview, the SF-12 to calculate physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health component scores, depression (major depression inventory [MDI]) and neuroticism (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire) measures. We defined the following headache diagnosis categories: pure TTH, pure migraine, and coexistent headache (TTH + migraine). Cases were further classified into chronic (≥15) or episodic (<15 headache days/month).

Results
Using generalized linear models (GLM) adjusted for age, sex and education, both PCS-12 and MCS-12 scores varied in groups distinguished by migraine and TTH status; scores were lower for individuals with coexistent headache (TTH + migraine; n=83), followed by pure TTH (n=97) and pure migraine (n=43) compared to the no headache group (n=324) (p≤0.001). In analyses considering chronicity, PCS-12 scores were lower in chronic coexistent headache followed by pure chronic TTH (CTTH), episodic migraine +/− episodic TTH (ETTH) and pure ETTH than in the no headache group (p≤0.001). MCS-12 scores were lower in pure CTTH, followed by chronic coexistent headache, episodic migraine +/− ETTH and pure ETTH compared to the no headache group (p≤0.001). Multiple regression models showed that in TTH, lower PCS-12 scores were associated with age (p=0.04), female sex (p=0.02), and poor self-rated health (p≤0.001). Lower MCS-12 scores in TTH were associated with depression (p≤0.001).

Conclusions
In a population sample, TTH, and to higher degree CTTH, are associated with decreased HRQoL.
Analysis of the random measurement error of areal 3D coordinate measurements exclusively based on measurement repetitions
Authors: Müller Andreas Michael , Hausotte Tino 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe measurement uncertainty characteristics of a measurement system are an important parameter when evaluating the suitability of a certain measurement system for a specific measurement task. The measurement uncertainty can be calculated from observed measurement errors, which consist of both systematic and random components. While the unfavourable influence of systematic components can be compensated by calibration, random components are inherently not correctable. There are various measurement principles which are affected by different measurement error characteristics depending on specific properties of the measurement task, e. g. the optical surface properties of the measurement object when using fringe projection or the material properties when using industrial X-ray computed tomography. Thus, it can be helpful in certain scenarios if the spatial distribution of the acquisition quality as well as uncertainty characteristics on the captured surface of a certain measurement task can be found out. This article demonstrates a methodology to determine the random measurement error solely from a series of measurement repetitions without the need of additional information, e. g. a reference measurement or the nominal geometry of the examined part.
Matthias Hofmann: Schleiermachers Vorlesungen über das Leben Jesu – Die Einleitungen der Kollegien von 1819/20 und 1829/30. Zwei Teileditionen von Hörernachschriften
Authors: Hofmann Matthias 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Between 1819 and 1832 Friedrich Schleiermacher was giving lectures on the life of Jesus at the University of Berlin. The following article includes two partial editions, which document the introductory parts of the lectures from 1819/20 and 1829/30. Both are based on manuscripts written by Schleiermacher’s listeners. Especially to explore the development of Schleiermacher’s conceptual considerations this two partial editions should be a useful addition to the new critical edition of Schleiermacher’s Vorlesungen über das Leben Jesu published in 2018 by Walter Jaeschke (KGA II/15).
Eco-friendly Bladder wrack extract as a corrosion inhibitor for thermal desalination units during acid cleaning process
Authors: Deyab Mohamed A. , Al-Qhatani Mohsen Mohammed 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
To strengthen the thermal desalination units and sustainability of their performance and reduce their corrosion during acid cleaning processes to remove the scale layers, economy and nontoxic strategies are needed. Here we clarify how Bladder wrack extract (BWE) can reduce the corrosion mitigations for thermal units (carbon steel part) during the acid cleaning (1.0 M HCl). We find that the performance of BWE extract reached an excellent value (94.2%) at 500 ppm. The rate of electrochemical reactions is very low in the presence of BWE extract, and is consistent with the mass loss method. The activity of BWE extract as a corrosion inhibitor is due to the presence of mixture of organic compounds inside the extract. These compounds were identified by HPLC, SEM and FT-IR analysis.
Corticostriatal Plasticity Established by Initial Learning Persists after Behavioral Reversal
Authors: Ghosh Sanchari , Zador Anthony M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe neural mechanisms that allow animals to adapt their previously learned associations in response to changes in the environment remain poorly understood. To probe the synaptic mechanisms that mediate such adaptive behavior, we trained mice on an auditory-motor reversal task, and tracked changes in the strength of corticostriatal synapses associated with the formation of learned associations. Using a ChR2-based electrophysiological assay in acute striatal slices, we measured the strength of these synapses after animals learned to pair auditory stimuli with specific actions. Here, we report that the pattern of synaptic strength initially established by learning remains unchanged even when the task contingencies are reversed. Our findings reveal that synaptic changes associated with the initial acquisition of this task are not erased or overwritten, and that behavioral reversal of learned associations may recruit a separate neural circuit. These results suggest a more complex role of the striatum in regulating flexible behaviors where activity of striatal neurons may vary given the behavioral contexts of specific stimulus-action associations.
Vegan Diet Advice Might Benefit Liver Enzymes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: an Open Observational Pilot Study
Authors: Chiarioni Giuseppe , Popa Stefan Lucian , Dalbeni Andrea , Senore Carlo , Leucuta Daniel Corneliu , Baroni Luciana , Fantin Alberto 
Published: February 2021

Background and Aims: The Western diet is rich in saturated fats, refined sugars and meat consistent with a high-energy load and secondary risk of increased metabolic diseases including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, no data are available on potential benefit of vegan diets in NAFLD and/or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We aimed to study prospectively the effect of a vegan diet, excluding all animal products on liver chemistry in a group of consecutive NAFLD patients.
Methods: This was a prospective, pilot study run on 40 consecutive patients affected by NAFLD. Eight subjects refused to join the study for poor diet palatability, leaving 32 patients (19 males, mean age 50 years), with abnormal measures of liver function who agreed to adhere to a vegan diet for six months. The caloric intake was tailored by the dietitian to obtain a weight loss ≥5% of body weight in overweight patients [body-mass index (BMI) ≥25] and ranged from 1500 Kcal to 1800 Kcal. Patients were contacted monthly by phone to reinforce diet and lifestyle advice and were seen at the gastrointestinal clinic when doubtful about diet advice.
Results: At six-month follow-up, 6 subjects did not attend the clinic leaving only 26 patients for data analysis. Initial anthropometric values were mean weight 78 kg (range 52-95), mean body mass index (BMI) 26.8 Kg/m2 (range 20.3-31.2). Liver function tests showed mean ALT value 99 U/L (SD±45), mean AST value 54 U/L (SD±44), mean GGT value 160 U/L (SD±122), pre-treatment. After six months mean body weight was 73 Kg (range 52-87), mean BMI was 25.2 Kg/m2 (range 20.3-29.7) (p<0.001 compared to baseline for both parameters). Liver enzymes improved to a mean of ALT value 36 U/L (SD±21), AST value 27 U/L (SD±10) and GGT value 55 U/L (SD±57), respectively (p<0.001 compared to baseline for all enzymes). Normalization of liver function tests as a whole was observed in 20/26 patients (76.9%). A loss of ≥ 5% of body weight was observed in 12 patients (46.1%), but it did not correlate with the normalization of liver function tests (p=0.5).
Conclusions: Our data provide preliminary evidence of improved liver enzymes in NAFLD patients with a strict vegan diet and although our study sample is limited, decreased body weight did not seem critical to the outcome.
Six-Minute Walking Test as a Predictor of Clinical Decompensation in Patients with Cirrhosis
Authors: Henrique Diane Michela Nery , Malaguti Carla , Limonge Tuany Mangeste , Siqueira Marcela Rodrigues , Paticcie Thiago Martins Fernandes , Mira Pedro Augusto Carvalho , Laterza Mateus Camaroti , Mourão-Junior Carlos Alberto , Pacce Fabio Heleno de Lima , Chebli Júlio Maria Fonseca 
Published: February 2021

Background and Aims: The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is a measure of the overall functional capacity and is associated with the risk of mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis and in those listed for liver transplantation. Nevertheless, physical performance has not yet been established as a predictor of the risk of clinical decompensation in patients with cirrhosis. We aimed to determine the capacity of the 6MWT to predict the clinical decompensation in patients with cirrhosis after 1 year of follow-up.
Methods: This prospective cohort study included patients with compensated cirrhosis of several etiologies. All participants had stable clinical conditions for at least 6 months prior to baseline. At baseline, patients performed the 6MWT and were followed up for 1 year to detect the decompensation outcomes.
Results: A total of 55 participants completed the evaluation and follow-up. The mean age was 56.3±10.5 years, and 65% were men. Around 65.4% were classified as Child-Pugh class A. In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, a walking distance ≤ 401.8 m during the 6MWT was set as the threshold for predicting clinical decompensation with 64% sensitivity and 82% specificity. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis revealed that patients who covered a distance of < 401.8 m during the test had a decompensation-free outcome rate of 30% as compared to the rate of 75% of those who walked > 401.8 m (p<0.001).
Conclusions: The 6MWT was a significant predictor of clinical decompensation in patients with cirrhosis. A cutoff of 401.8 m was related to an increased risk of clinical decompensation in cirrhotic patients with a stable clinical condition at baseline. The 6MWT should be added to the clinical assessment of the cirrhotic population.
A Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Unnecessary Rapid Responses Using Early Warning Scores
Authors: Penney Scott W. , O’Hara-Wood Scarlett N. , McFarlan Lisa M. , Slaughter Robert P. , Cox Carla S. , Gibbons Amber N. , Sam Ashley E. , Matos Renée I. 
Published: February 2021

OBJECTIVES:
The Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) is an evidence-based tool that allows early collaborative assessment and intervention for a rapid response team (RRT) activation. The goal of our quality improvement initiative was to reduce the percentage of unnecessary RRT activations by 50% over 2 years without increasing PICU transfers or compromising patient safety and timely evaluation.

METHODS:
A PEWS system replaced preexisting vital signs–based pediatric RRT criteria and was modified through plan-do-study-act cycles. Unnecessary RRT activations, total RRT activation rate, transfers to the PICU, total clinical interventions performed per RRT, and missed RRT activation rate were compared between intervention periods. Likert scale surveys were administered to measure satisfaction with each modification.

RESULTS:
There was a significant decrease in the percentage of unnecessary RRT activations from 33% to 3.5% after the implementation of the PEWS and modified-PEWS systems (P &lt; .05). The RRT activation rate decreased from 22.6 to 13.3 RRT activations per 1000 patient care days after implementation of the PEWS and modified-PEWS systems (P &lt; .05), without changes in PICU transfer rates. Physicians reported that the PEWS system improved nursing communication and accuracy of RRT criteria (P &lt; .05). Nursing reported that the PEWS system improved patient management and clinical autonomy (P &lt; .05).

CONCLUSIONS:
The PEWS systems have been an effective means of identifying deteriorating pediatric patients and reducing unnecessary RRT activations. The new system fosters collaboration and communication at the bedside to prevent acute deterioration, perform timely interventions, and ultimately improve patient safety and outcomes.
Kinetic behavior of soluble Pectinex Ultra SP-L converting sucrose into fructo-oligosaccharides in batch and continuous fashion
Authors: Kovács Zoltán , Števek Juraj , Fikar Miroslav , Czermak Peter 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe enzymatic conversion of sucrose to fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) catalyzed by Pectinex Ultra SP-L, a commercial enzyme preparation from Aspergillus aculeatus, under free condition was studied. A mathematical analysis of the transfructosylation reactions was carried out to estimate the dynamic and steady-state performance of an enzyme membrane reactor (EMR) and to compare the continuous production scheme with the traditional batch process realized in stirred-tank reactor (STR). Kinetic parameters were identified simultaneously from a series of progress curves obtained from STR and EMR experimental runs. Model estimates appeared to fit well to experimental observations under the studied reaction conditions. Although conventional batch reactor outperforms EMR in terms of conversion, EMR compares favorably regarding productivity. The on-site industrial implementation of this technology might be attractive for food manufacturers aiming at utilizing a value-added sweetener mixture with prebiotic properties.
Regional Hip Hop and the Seoul Metropole
Authors: Farooqi Amos 
Published: February 2021

Advances in music technologies over the past two and a half decades have effectively democratized the production and distribution of music and de-agglomerated music industries in much of the developed world. Artists are no longer pressured to move to centres of musical agglomeration to further their careers and can now grow their profile while remaining in their respective localities. However, this phenomenon has not taken hold in the Korean music industry, which remains hyper-agglomerated in Seoul. Hip hop artists in Korea continue to cluster in the capital, while hip hop scenes in provincial cities are in a constant state of flux. This study examines the current state of provincial hip hop scenes through the case study of Gwangju, where interviews with local hip hop artists and participant observation was conducted between 2016 and 2019. This article argues that the concentration of commercial, political, media and educational institutions in Seoul forces ambitions of moving to the capital city upon provincial youths from an early age and pushes a Seoul-centric culture that weakens their bonds to their respective localities. Artists and crews in provincial cities are thus largely ignored by local audiences forcing them to move to the capital in search of success, which in turn weakens their respective local scenes.
Touching Outward: Art- Making at the Seam Where Care Meets Risk
Authors: Longley Alys , Fisher Karen , O’Connor Gabby , Hutchinson James 
Published: February 2021

Touching Outward; Art-making at the seam where care meets risk.What it is to touch? If we think with, and take seriously a fluid ontology, can we recognise embodiment itself as fluid? Drenched with unknowing and drenched with sensation and made possible by movement, vibration and magnetism.This video article engages with the potentiality for research in marine sustainability to develop through poetic logics, visual, filmic, relational art practices that bring diverse communities into conversation, to ask; “How might we engage artistic processes to better understand actual and perceived risks to marine sustainability and facilitate community engagement, beyond the circulation of scientific publication?Touching Outward; Art-making at the seam where care meets risk presents two artistic maps, iterations of a single project that explores methods for engaging diverse publics to imagine, feel, consider and care about marine-related issues of risk which impact oceans and coastlines.These artistic maps explore institutional, social and cultural factors influencing coasts and oceans in Aotearoa New Zealand. Embodiment is at the heart of these collaborative projects. We think of how embodied experience folds through imagination to create potentials for unseating convention, perspective, actuality, reproducibility, common sense.Our transdisciplinary project was developed by four artist-researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, each of us working beyond our conventional practices– a geographer, a performance maker, a visual artist, and a film maker. We are moving between philosophy, social science, pedagogy, ecology, performance, poetry, installation and film. The framework of weak theory provides a kind of permission to reach beyond the conventions of our disciplines, to make space for modes of embodied research that entangle abstract and material concepts through relational, artistic and pedagogical intentions.Throughout the process and development of this artistic research, we question where a body begins and ends, how the voice as a vibratile force touches through time and space, and how moving image as a body of textures and cuts might contribute to methods of weak theory (Wright, 2015) and transdisciplinary creative practice.