Search

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive joint disease, that occurs frequently in the aging population and is a major cause of disability worldwide. Both glucosamine and chondroitin are biologically active molecules that are substrates for proteoglycan, an essential component of the cartilage matrix. Evidence supports the use of glucosamine and chondroitin as symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOAs) with impact on OA symptoms and disease-modifying effects in the long term. Glucosamine and chondroitin are administered in exogenous form as a sulfate salt and multiple formulations of these agents are available, both as prescription-grade products and nutritional supplements. However, while all preparations may claim to deliver a therapeutic level of glucosamine or chondroitin not all are supported by clinical evidence. Only patented crystalline glucosamine sulfate (pCGS) is shown to deliver consistently high glucosamine bioavailability and plasma concentration in humans, which corresponds to demonstrated clinical efficacy. Similarly, clinical evidence supports only the pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin sulfate. The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) advocates, through careful consideration of the evidence base, that judicious choice of glucosamine and chondroitin formulation is essential to maximize clinical benefit, patient adherence and satisfaction with treatment. In future, the ESCEO recommends that complex molecules with biological activity such as pCGS may be treated as “biosimilars” akin to the European Medicines Agency guidance on biological medicinal products. It seems likely that for all other complex molecules classed as SYSADOAs, the recommendation to use only formulations clearly supported by the evidence-base should apply. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s40520-017-0861-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The authors of the published version of this article inadvertently omitted the table note of the Table 2 under the Appendix section. The complete Table 2 is shown in this article].

Portable communication devices such as WLAN, WiMAX, LTE, ISM, and 5G utilize one or more of the triple bands at (2.3–2.7 GHz, 3.4–3.6 GHz, and 5–6 GHz) and suffer from the effect of multipath problems because they are used in urban regions. To date, no one has performed a review of the antennas used for these types of wireless communications. This study reviewed two types of microstrip antennas (slot and fractal) that have been reported by researchers (as a single element) using a survey that included the evaluation of several important specifications of the antennas in previous research, such as operating bandwidth, gain, efficiency, axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW), and size. The weaknesses in the design of all antennas were carefully identified to determine the most important challenges in the design of these antennas and name the most important limits in the design to be overcome in future research. This study also indicated some antennas that have circular polarization characteristics, the techniques used to generate the circular polarization characteristics, and the challenges. Finally, several suggestions as a guideline for antenna design and future work in designing antennas for Wi-Fi, LTE, and WiMAX communications, according to the market demands, and methods for overcoming the identified limits are presented.

Patients with cancer are at higher risk of more severe COVID-19 infection and have more associated complications. The position paper describes the management of cancer patients, especially those receiving anticancer treatment, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dyspnea is a common emergency presentation in patients with cancer with a wide range of differential diagnoses, including pulmonary embolism, pleural disease, lymphangitis, and infection, of which SARS-CoV-2 is now a pathogen to be considered. Screening interviews to determine whether patients may be infected with COVID-19 are imperative to prevent the spread of infection, especially within healthcare facilities. Cancer patients testing positive with no or minimal symptoms may be monitored from home. Telemedicine is an option to aid in following patients without potential exposure. Management of complications of systemic anticancer treatment, such as febrile neutropenia (FN), is of particular importance during the COVID-19 pandemic where clinicians aim to minimize patients’ risk of infection and need for hospital visits. Outpatient management of patients with low-risk FN is a safe and effective strategy. Although the MASCC score has not been validated in patients with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2, it has nevertheless performed well in patients with a range of infective illnesses and, accordingly, it is reasonable to expect efficacy in the clinical setting of COVID-19. Risk stratification of patients presenting with FN is a vital tenet of the evolving sepsis and pandemic strategy, necessitating access to locally formulated services based on MASCC and other national and international guidelines. Innovative oncology services will need to utilize telemedicine, hospital at home, and ambulatory care services approaches not only to limit the number of hospital visits but also to anticipate the complications of the anticancer treatments.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the development of bibliographic tools increased: journals, catalogs, and classifications, which helped shape a world scientific order and the global colonialism that legitimized the canon of European science. Under this idea, the scientific production of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) registered in the Catalog of Scientific Papers of the Royal Society of London (CSP-RSL), during the nineteenth century, is reviewed. It seeks to document, through bibliographical sources, the historical process used to expand the European imperial science in America. A geohistoriometric proposal was used to develop geographic indicators of origin, trajectories, and training of the authors who wrote the LAC science. We also cross the information of these indicators of spatialization of human resources with historical scientometric measures of the scientific output of authors, languages, and journals. There is a proportion of just over two-thirds of authors, institutions, languages, and journals that are external to the countries of the LAC region. These geographic and scientometric indicators serve to document that both human and non-human actors have functioned as mechanisms of scientific communication to reproduce the ways of expanding imperial science to America. As a suggestion, we propose to continue the development of historical atlas of science in LAC.

This study aims to examine current trends and patterns of North Korea’s knowledge production in science and technology (S&T) by employing scientometrics analysis. In order to capture the distinctive nature and characteristics of S&T activities in the Global South, this study analyzes co-occurring keywords of papers in the North Korean journal titled Technological Innovation to construct and visualize semantic and network structure of scientific knowledge. Although S&T has long been emphasized as an important means of rebuilding the economy and society in the country, research and development (R&D) activities have been veiled in the shadows, mainly due to difficulties in accessing adequate data and information. The results found that the terms “use” and “method” are predominately associated with a variety of keywords concerning urgent domestic issues regarding energy resources, agriculture, virus, and industrial automation. This pattern of knowledge production is manifested in the national S&T policy framework that has primarily focused on applied and problem-solving knowledge and techniques responding to social and economic needs. While North Korea has embraced S&T as a strategic means to cope with challenges encountered in its autarkic economy, a close and interactive relationship has established between science, technology and society.

A valourising process annexed to a recycling paper mill for converting three plastic-fibre rejects (PFRs) into oil, char and utility energy through pyrolysis provides renewable energy and prevents waste disposal. The economic and technical responses of the process are measured by varying the conversion temperature, feedstock characteristics and energy recovery approach, in order to optimise the processs. Previously measured responses of valourising PFRs were simulated in AspenPlus® according to variations in the fast-pyrolysis temperatures (350–550 °C); the contents of lignocellulosic fibres and plastics; and methods for adding value to excess process heat as steam and/or electricity. Economic models scaled at 540 kg/h were derived to determine the required minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of the oil product. A base case for heat recovery assumes both steam and electricity. For a PFR stream composing mainly lignocellulose, the MFSP of oils ranged from 341 US$/GJ for pyrolysis at 350 °C to 65 US$/GJ for pyrolysis at 550 °C, while the process at 450 °C was most energy efficient. When only recovering steam from waste energy, the MFSPs were reduced by 6%. Pyrolysis of reject streams with increased plastics contents reduced the MFSP of the oil to 37 US$/GJ, due to the higher calorific value of the products. Increasing the feed rate of PFRs to 2400 kg/h could potentially reduce the MFSP to a market-competitive price of 15.3 US$/GJ, at a scale equivalent to a power-plant of 5MWe. PFRs containing higher proportions of plastics are preferred for valourisation through pyrolysis at 550 °C, while waste energy is best recovered as steam.

The Xen Gel Stent lowers intraocular pressure by shunting aqueous humor to the subconjunctival space. While published studies include both open conjunctiva and closed conjunctiva approaches, most publications feature a closed conjunctiva, ab interno approach. While this approach is widely used, other approaches may be preferred for some patients. This paper provides details on surgical steps and tips for enhancing outcomes for an open conjunctiva technique for the implantation of the Xen Gel Stent, as well as reasoning as to when this approach should be used. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s12325-020-01278-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives Using the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) questionnaire, a web-based survey was organized alongside a face-to-face (F2F) survey including a paper-and-pencil (P&P) questionnaire for sensitive topics. Associated with these different modes, other design features varied too (e.g., recruitment, incentives, sampling). We assessed whether these whole data collection systems developed around the modes produced equivalent health estimates. Methods Data were obtained from two population-based surveys: the EHISWEB (web-administered, n = 1010) and the Belgian Health Interview Survey 2018 (BHIS2018) (interviewer-administered, n = 2748). Logistic regression analyses were used to assess mode system differences while adjusting for socio-demographic differences in the net samples. Results For the P&P mode of the BHIS, significant mode system differences were detected for 2 of the 9 health indicators. Among the indicators collected via the F2F mode, 9 of the 18 indicators showed significant differences. Conclusions Indicators collected via the web-based and P&P self-administered modes were generally more comparable than indicators collected via the web-based and F2F mode. Furthermore, fewer differences were detected for indicators based on simple and factual questions compared to indicators based on subjective or complex questions.

To review the highest impact studies published from the UK Biobank and assess their contributions to "precision medicine." We reviewed 140 of 689 studies published between 2008 and May 2019 from the UK Biobank deemed to be high impact by citations, alternative metric data, or publication in a high impact journal. We classified studies according to whether they (1) were largely methods papers, (2) largely replicated prior findings or associations, (3) generated novel findings or associations, (4) developed risk prediction models that did not yield clinically significant improvements in risk estimation over prior models or (5) developed models that produced significant improvements in individualized risk assessment, targeted screening, or targeted treatment. This final category represents "precision medicine." We classified 15 articles as category 1, 33 as category 2, 85 as category 3, six as category 4, and one as category 5. In this assessment of the first 7 years of the UK Biobank and first 4 years of genetic data availability, the majority of high impact UK Biobank studies either replicated known associations or generated novel associations without clinically relevant improvements in risk prediction, screening, or treatment. This information may be useful for designers of other cohort studies in terms of input to design and follow-up to facilitate precision medicine research.

Thermostable cellulases have wide variety of applications and distinctive advantages, but their low titer becomes the hurdle in their commercialization. In the present work, an assessment of optimum levels of significant factors (temperature, moisture ratio, inoculum size, and ammonium sulfate) and the effect of their interactions on production of thermostable CMCase, FPase, and β-glucosidase by Thermoascus aurantiacus RCKK under solid-state fermentation (SSF) was carried out using central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM). The study revealed 33, 13, and 8 % improvement in FPase, CMCase, and β-glucosidase production, respectively. Moreover, crude cellulase from T. aurantiacus RCKK efficiently hydrolyzed office waste paper, algal pulp (Gracillaria verulosa), and biologically treated wheat straw at 60 °C with sugar release of about 830 mg/ml, 285 mg/g, and 260 mg/g of the substrate, respectively. The thermostable enzyme from T. aurantiacus RCKK holds potential to be used in biofuel industry.

The paper industry is heavily using energy during all the phases of the manufacturing process. This is especially the case in Nordic mills where pressure ground wood is the source of fiber. The purpose of this case study is to show how energy consumption behaves on a monthly basis in a Finnish paper mill that has several paper machine lines. The research examines different categories of energy usage, as well as the overall costs. The results show that the monthly energy usage varies significantly. The electricity consumption of the case mill is rather steady, but there is significant monthly variation in steam and natural gas consumption. Moreover, steam and electricity unit costs increased significantly when coming to the end of the research period. The longitudinal case data shows that it is difficult to enhance energy consumption per produced unit at the paper mill. One reason for this is the bleak demand outlook for the end products, which often result in downsizing and closing operations inside the integrated unit.

With the advent of digital cameras, there has been an explosion in the number of medical specialties using images to diagnose or document disease and guide interventions. In many specialties, these images are not added to the patient’s electronic medical record and are not distributed so that other providers caring for the patient can view them. As hospitals begin to develop enterprise imaging strategies, they have found that there are multiple challenges preventing the implementation of systems to manage image capture, image upload, and image management. This HIMSS-SIIM white paper will describe the key workflow challenges related to enterprise imaging and offer suggestions for potential solutions to these challenges.

Although lateral flow tests (LFTs) are easy-to-use diagnostics, they have fundamental limitations for sequential multistep assay that can be reduced to a single chemical reaction step. Paper-based microfluidic devices have attracted considerable attention for use in automatic multi-step assays because paper can be an excellent platform to control sequential fluid flow without external equipment. This review focuses on recent developments on how to control flow rate in paper-based microfluidic devices for automating sequential multi-step assays. The aim of this review is to discuss the limitations of LFTs and potential paper-based microfluidic devices for automated sequential multi-step assays in developing countries; and the existing fluidic control technologies for sequential multi-step assays. In addition, we present future challenges for commercialization of paper-based microfluidic devices to perform automatic multi-step assays.

The need for providers and patients to exchange and share imaging has never been more apparent, yet many organizations are only now, as a part of a larger enterprise imaging initiative, taking steps to streamline an important process that has historically been facilitated with the use of CDs or insecure methods of communication. This paper will provide an introduction to concepts and common-use cases for image exchange, outline challenges that have hindered adoption to date, and describe standards for image exchange that show increasing promise of being adopted by vendors and providers.

Enterprise imaging governance is an emerging need in health enterprises today. This white paper highlights the decision-making body, framework, and process for optimal enterprise imaging governance inclusive of five areas of focus: program governance, technology governance, information governance, clinical governance, and financial governance. It outlines relevant parallels and differences when forming or optimizing imaging governance as compared with other established broad horizontal governance groups, such as for the electronic health record. It is intended for CMIOs and health informatics leaders looking to grow and govern a program to optimally capture, store, index, distribute, view, exchange, and analyze the images of their enterprise.

Despite much research into and development within the complex area of the initial wet web strength of paper, no complete model has yet been developed to describe this property. This type of paper strength is the most important property to ensure an effective paper machine run. Furthermore, the process of strength development in the sheet forming and pressing portion of the process is the basis of the final paper strength. Recent investigations have focused on the surface interactions of fibers on the molecular level. There have also been several innovative findings about fiber swelling and the impact of swelling on the mechanical characteristics of fibers in wet conditions. Overall, progress obtained using new methodologies enables a deeper understanding of the mechanism of strength development. This review discusses these important areas by examining the literature and the authors’ own work to obtain a better understanding of the strength development in wet paper webs. This paper highlights that the fiber morphology and the dryness of the wet web have the greatest impact on the strength of the wet web. As fiber sources and machinery are fixed, the fiber water gel is one of the easiest factors to adjust via the process water quality and the use of chemical additives.

Sludge cake produced in paper mill industries is disposed into a landfill and may cause the environmental and health problems. Now many researchers have tried to recycle rigid materials from it for the purpose of decreasing its volume. The aims of this study were to clarify three hypotheses: (1) whether a flower pot would be economically made from sludge cake, (2) whether it would be safe for environment, and (3) when vegetables would grow enough in it, whether they would be safe for human consumption. Sludge cake was mixed with soil (soil texture: heavy clay). The circular plaster mold was used as a fixed mold. As the toxicological testing, leaching test and seed germination test were used. Heavy metal concentrations in vegetables grown in the flower pot were measured. The flower pot was sufficiently formed by drying in natural open air. The results of leaching test showed three heavy metals, lead, nickel and copper, were lower than the standard in Thailand. The seed germination test suggested no negative effects of the flower pot on the germination of Chinese kale. Lead concentrations in the Chinese kale were higher than the recommended maximum level in leafy vegetables. The new flower pot can be made from sludge cake with soil. It has the possibility to have no negative effect on the environment. Although the vegetables grown in this flower pot are not suitable to eat, this flower pot has the possibility to solve the environmental and health problems.

In this study pre-treatment of pulp and paper mill sludge was investigated to enhance the energy recovery by anaerobic digestion. Two approaches were followed using hydrolytic enzymes or microbiological treatment at 30 °C. In the first attempt, anaerobic digestion of the whole sludge, no significant improvement of the methane production potential was found. In the second test series only the liquid phase after pre-treatment and solids separation was anaerobically degraded. This option provided up to ten times increased methane production compared to the untreated sample. Sludge mass reduction between 6 and 13 % was achieved after pre-treatment. Moreover this concept can be easily integrated in the established wastewater treatment scheme utilizing an existing upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor.

Every day, pulp and paper mills in the USA discharge millions of liters of wastewater. Primary and secondary treatment of this wastewater often enriches it with phosphorus, resulting in uncontrolled eutrophication of receiving water bodies. A new method of tertiary wastewater treatment uses controlled growth of algae in a photobioreactor to sequester phosphorus into algal biomass, which is then harvested. This typically requires addition of a nitrogen fertilizer (nitrate, ammonium, or urea) to the water. We show on the laboratory scale that chitin can be used as an alternative source of nitrogen for the tertiary treatment of pulp mill wastewater using algae. We demonstrate that phosphorus can be efficiently removed from pulp wastewater using algae and chitin. Furthermore, phosphorus removal with chitin did not result in an increase in dissolved nitrogen in the wastewater because it is insoluble, unlike conventional nitrogen fertilizers. Despite its insolubility, it has recently been found that many diverse algae and cyanobacteria can use it as a source of nitrogen. Chitin has many advantages over conventional nitrogen fertilizers for use in wastewater treatment technologies. It is the second-most abundant natural polymer and is a waste product of the shellfish industry. Chitin is sustainable, inexpensive, and carbon neutral. Thus, chitin improves the sustainability and carbon footprints associated with water treatment, while the production of commercially attractive algal biomass helps to offset costs associated with the water treatment system itself.

Various factors have been attributed for delayed recognition of Sleeping Papers, for example introducing new technologies which didn’t yet exist, or proposing ideas that were too much ahead of time to be interesting or usable in practice or for further research. In this letter, we analyse another possible reason, namely missing the target audience.

Laser-scribed graphene (LSG) electrodes have gained popularity in many miniaturized and lab on chip systems such as micro-energy harvester, flexible electronics, portable power storage, electrochemical sensors, etc. This study presents the development of a fuel cell on a cellulose filter paper with integrated LSG electrodes. Here, cellulose paper acts as a microchannel to transport the fluids through capillary action. Paper devices offer several important advantages, including the elimination of membrane and external pumps with the integrated co-laminar flow through embedded capillary systems. Herein, the paper-LSG fuel cell uses HCOOH and H2SO4 as fuel and electrolyte, respectively. Experiments have been performed to enhance the performance of paper-LSG fuel cell by optimizing various electrode types (Plain LSG, Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/LSG, Pure MWCNT), concentration of fuel and electrolyte, and different grades of cellulose paper microchannels to understand the impact to the porosity of paper. The developed paper-LSG fuel cell, with MWCNT/LSG as an optimized electrode, delivered a peak current density (CD) of 166.82 µA/cm2, and power density (PD) of 14.42 µW/cm2, at a stable OCP of 350 mV with Grade-1 cellulose microchannel. Such fuel cells are amenable to be utilized for sustainably powering various microelectronic devices.

Catalogue of billions of phrases from 107 million papers could ease computerized searching of the literature. Catalogue of billions of phrases from 107 million papers could ease computerized searching of the literature.

The economic benefits of the paper industry made it one of the most important industrial sectors in the world. This review will focus on the recent development of nanotechnology, in the context of additives used in the paper industry. Nanotechnology is used to alter the production process based on the changes towards resource-based and industrial knowledge, prompting the changes in a similar direction, with much greater emphasis on stability. Nanofiber, nanofiller, nanocomposites, and nanoscale chemicals used in paper applications forms the crux of the work. The application and production of nano-additives to the paper industry have attracted the attention of scientists and researchers, due to the resulting profound improvement to the properties of the produced papers, encompassing mechanical, printability, glossiness, and gas barrier properties. The purported benefits of nano-additives are numerous, among them high surface area, strength, and low weight, high stiffness, and maintained sustainability. However, the integration of nanotechnology in the paper industry could not be up-scaled or commercialized, due to a few challenges, which are increased cost, lack of compatibility among materials, and knowledge gap.

By employing historical case study methodology, this paper examines the transition towards renewable energy and increased energy efficiency in the Swedish pulp and paper industry (PPI) during the 1 ...

The concept of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) is virtually nonexistent in India. Suboptimally, organized prehospital services substantially hinder the evaluation, management, and subsequent transport of the acutely ill and/or injured child to an appropriate facility. Furthermore, the management of the ill child at the hospital level is often provided by overburdened providers who, by virtue of their training, lack experience in the skills required to effectively manage pediatric emergencies. Finally, the care of the traumatized child often requires the involvement of providers trained in different specialities, which further impedes timely access to appropriate care. The recent recognition of Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Emergency Medicine (EM) as an approved discipline of study as per the Indian Medical Council Act provides an unprecedented opportunity to introduce PEM as a formal academic program in India. PEM has to be developed as a 3-year superspeciality course (in PEM) after completion of MD/Diplomate of National Board (DNB) Pediatrics or MD/DNB in EM. The National Board of Examinations (NBE) that accredits and administers postgraduate and postdoctoral programs in India also needs to develop an academic program - DNB in PEM. The goals of such a program would be to impart theoretical knowledge, training in the appropriate skills and procedures, development of communication and counseling techniques, and research. In this paper, the Joint Working Group of the Academic College of Emergency Experts in India (JWG-ACEE-India) gives its recommendations for starting 3-year DM/DNB in PEM, including the curriculum, infrastructure, staffing, and training in India. This is an attempt to provide an uniform framework and a set of guiding principles to start PEM as a structured superspeciality to enhance emergency care for Indian children.

Pulp and paper industries face serious environmental challenges, especially with regard to the conservation of water resources. Chemical thermal mechanical pulping (CTMP) is a process of pulping that combines chemical and mechanical pulping. This reduces the volume of water used in the process. But on the other hand, CTMP generates an effluent with high concentration of organic matter and is difficult to treat. This study evaluated the efficiency in the combination of physicochemical pretreatment by coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation (CFS) process and advanced oxidation process (AOP) by Fenton in sequence to treat CTMP effluent of a Brazilian industry. At first, the best treatment conditions for this type of effluent were determined. To evaluate the efficiency, pH, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, lignin contents, color, total phenolic contents, turbidity, and solids were measured before and after treatment. The acute toxicity on Daphnia magna was also determined. The treatment with CFS showed better results in the removal of solids and Fenton in the removal of recalcitrant compounds, such as lignin, demonstrating the need to use them in sequence. Combining CFS and Fenton to treat CTMP effluent allowed to achieve a removal efficiency of 95% for TOC, 61% for COD, and 76% for lignin contents.

Temperature is a critical extrinsic physical parameter that determines cell fate. Hyperthermia therapy has become an efficient treatment for tumor ablation. To understand the response of tumor cells under thermal shocks, we present a paper-based photothermal array that can be conveniently coupled with commercial 96-well cell culture plates. This paper chip device was fabricated in one step using Parafilm® and Kimwipers® based on a heat lamination strategy. Liquid was completely adsorbed and confined within the cellulose fibres of hydrophilic regions. Then, Prussian blue nanoparticles (PB NPs) as the photothermal initiator were introduced into the loading wells, and thermal energy was generated via near infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. After assembling the paper device with a 96-well plate, the temperature of each well could be individually controlled by varying the loading amount of PB NPs and laser irradiation time. As a proof-of-concept study, the effects of local thermal shocks on HeLa cells were investigated using MTT cell viability assay and Live/Dead cell staining. The variation of cell viability could be monitored in situ with controllable temperature elevation. The proposed paper photothermal array loaded with thermal initiators represents an enabling tool for investigating the hyperthermia responses of biological cells. Moreover, the facile fabrication technique for paper patterning is advantageous for customizing high-throughput microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) with extremely low cost.

This Position Paper was prepared by members of the Task Force on Global Food Security of the International Society for Plant Pathology. An objective approach is proposed to the assessment of the potential of genetic modification (GM) to reduce the impact of crop diseases. \ud \ud The addition of GM to the plant breeder’s conventional toolbox facilitates gene-by-gene introduction into breeding programmes of well defined characters, while also allowing access to genes from a greatly extended range of organisms. The current status of GM crops is outlined. GM could make an additional contribution to food security but its potential has been controversial, sometimes because of fixed views that GM is unnatural and risky. These have no factual basis: GM technology, where adopted, is widely regulated and no evidence has been reported of adverse consequences for human health. \ud \ud The potential benefits of GM could be particularly valuable for the developing world but there are numerous constraints. These include cost, inadequate seed supply systems, reluctance to adopt unfamiliar technology, concern about markets, inadequacy of local regulatory systems, mismatch between research and growers’ needs, and limited technical resources. The lower cost of new gene-editing methods should open the practice of GM beyond multinational corporations. As yet there are few examples of utilization of GM-based resistance to plant diseases.\ud \ud Two cases, papaya ringspot virus and banana xanthomonas wilt, are outlined. In the developing world there are many more potential cases whose progress is prevented by the absence of adequate biosafety regulation. \ud \ud It is concluded that there is untapped potential for using GM to introduce disease resistance. An objective approach to mobilizing this potential is recommended, to address the severe impact of plant disease on food security.

Compared with wood pulp, straw pulp and papermaking, because of lower cost and abundancy of raw material, has become an indispensable approach in paper industry of China. However, its further application is limited by huge water consumption and wastewater discharge. By employing substance flow analysis, this study built up an optimization model and a performance evaluation system of water saving for the water-use network of a straw pulp and paper enterprise, after identifying the problems in present water consumption. Accordingly, an optimization plan was proposed to combine man-made water circulation with natural water circulation system. Additionally, a contrast analysis between the present and optimized water use was conducted. At last, we applied the proposed optimization plan to one of the most important and largest enterprises of straw pulp and paper industry in China as an illustration. Theoretically, water consumption could be reduced by 75.4 % without wastewater discharge after optimization.

The United States, China, and Japan responded to the Cold War with three distinct orientations towards nuclear weapons. The US decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the product of a mentality that did not distinguish between nuclear weapons and conventional weapons. A non-nuclear China refused to capitulate in the face of repeated US nuclear threats, but these were terrifying experiences that prompted China to develop its own nuclear weapons. Japan responded to being the only nation attacked with nuclear weapons by positioning itself as a leading advocate for nuclear disarmament while simultaneously and surreptitiously collaborating with its attacker to prevent Japan from being struck again. The pattern of interaction that developed between these three nations inhibits progress towards nuclear arms control and disarmament. Changing that pattern by facilitating a more equitable trilateral dialogue on nuclear weapons may remove this inhibition.

Thermochemical heat storage materials for space heating applications such as, ZnSO4 offer high energy storage density, low cost and clean mean of long-term solar energy storage. Herein, we studied the ZnSO4 hydrated salt as potential heat storage material at low temperature and furthermore observed the impact of temperature and concentration on the dehydration/hydration process and enthalpy. The thermal behavior of ZnSO4•7H2O was investigated by applying various dehydration temperatures. The results showed that 85% of water loosed at 100 °C temperature, which released 699 J/g (1.37 GJ/m3) in the dehydration process. The hydration process of ZnSO4.7H2O at 100 °C recovered 541 J/g enthalpies, which delivered 1.1 GJ/m3. Similarly, the dehydration result obtained at 150 °C was the same as showed at 100 °C. However, the enthalpy of hydration was 20% less than prior. The XRD result showed that at higher temperatures agglomeration appeared followed by Van der Waals forces which affect the hydration rate. The result of good cyclability and larger water sorption performance of ZnSO4 make them a promising and suitable for heat storage in space heating application, which can be used as thermochemical heat storage material for thermal storage devices.

Symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) or clinical AF is associated with impaired quality of life, higher risk of stroke, heart failure, and increased mortality. Current clinical classification of AF is based on the duration of AF episodes and the recurrence over time. Appropriate management strategy should follow guidelines of Scientific Societies. The last decades have been marked by the advances in mechanism comprehension, better management of symptomatic AF, particularly regarding stroke prevention with the use of direct oral anticoagulants and a wider use of AF catheter or surgical ablations. The advent of new tools for detection of asymptomatic AF including continuous monitoring with implanted electronic devices and the use of implantable cardiac monitors and recently wearable devices or garments have identified what is called "subclinical AF" encompassing atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs). New concepts such as "AF burden" have resulted in new management challenges. Oral anticoagulation has proven to reduce substantially stroke risk in patients with symptomatic clinical AF but carries the risk of bleeding. Management of detected asymptomatic atrial arrhythmias and their relation to clinical AF and stroke risk is currently under evaluation. Based on a review of recent literature, the validity of current clinical classification has been reassessed and appropriate updates are proposed. Current evidence supporting the inclusion of subclinical AF within current clinical classification is discussed as well as the need for controlled trials which may provide responses to current therapeutic challenges particularly regarding the subsets of asymptomatic AF patients that might benefit from oral anticoagulation.

Applications of digital micromirror device for lidar are overviewed. A large Lagrange invariant value makes DMD as one of the attractive beam steering transmitter and receiver solutions for a time-of-flight lidar, especially with its an extended angular throw by synchronized pulsed laser illumination.

Over the last decade, research on derogatory communication has focused on ordinary speech contexts and the use of conventional pejoratives, like slurs. However, the use of social media has given rise to a new type of derogatory behavior that theorists have yet to address: internet trolling. Trolls make online utterances aiming to frustrate and offend other internet users. Their ultimate goal is amusement derived from observing a good faith interlocutor engage with their provocative posts. The basis for condemning a pejorative utterance is often taken to be the harm it causes or a defective attitude in the speaker. However, trolling complicates this picture, since trolling utterances are by definition insincere and should be recognizable as such to other trolls. Further, these utterances seem morally questionable even when they cause little to no harm (e.g. when a troll’s utterance fails to secure uptake), and they often do not feature conventional pejoratives. I argue that while the potential for negative effects is relevant to ethical assessment, in general trolling is pro tanto wrong because the troll fails to accord others the proper respect that is their due (independently of whether they harm them). However, this characteristic wrong-making feature is sometimes overridden.

The objective of this study is to show the dynamics of the evolution on research of the generations by means of analysis of journal publications from the category of management and business from Clarivate Analytics Web of Science. Bibliometric analysis is used to unveil the authors, journals, institutions, and the most influential countries on the subject from 2001 to date. The most pertinent studies are presented that show the main characteristics of the five generations that can currently be found in the workplace, namely the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z. The results highlight that the studies focus on countries and regions with more developed economies. Studies are scarcer from countries and regions with emerging economies such as Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Likewise, there is evidence of the lack of qualitative studies on Generation Z, which will be of greater importance in the labour force or employment market and with higher purchasing power. The results add knowledge to academics to define their research strategies. For the practitioners it contributes information on the most pertinent academics on the study of generations, which facilitates potential candidates to contract or hire in case they need to study the characteristics of their workforce to define recruitment policies, career planning or motivation.

PURPOSE: To assess the exclusive role and outcomes of Crigler’s lacrimal sac compression in the management of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO). METHODS: Retrospective interventional case-series was performed on patients diagnosed with CNLDO and who were advised Crigler’s lacrimal sac compression (CLSC) at a tertiary care Dacryology Institute from Jan 2016 to June 2019. CNLDO patients who were practicing incorrect techniques of lacrimal sac compression at presentation were separately assessed. All the patients were assigned to four groups (Gr 1: 0–3 months, Gr 2: >3 & 6 & 9 and

The dating of documents is one of the pending issues to be resolved in many fields. Although there are a variety of analytical methodologies focused on the inks of documents to estimate the dating of documents, the analysis of documents itself attracted little attention. A non-destructive method based on Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) was proposed in this research to estimate the dating of documents. First, FTIR spectra of journals dated from 1940 to 1980, naturally aged and conserved in the China Agriculture University library were collected. Second, the least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) was applied to distinguish documents of different dating, and the accuracy was 99.26%. In order to find interested wavenumber that influence the dating process of documents, sparse partial least squares (sPLS) was applied to select informative variables. The average of selected variables was 483 after 100 runs, and the selected variables were focused on the absorption peaks of inorganic components and cellulose. Splicing sPLS with LS-SVM (sPLS–LS-SVM) built model to see the effective of selected variables. Average accuracy of sPLS–LS-SVM model was 99.34%, even the best result could reach 100.00% after 100 circle times. The present work indicates that the possibility of FTIR combined with chemometrics can estimate the dating of documents accurately. Additionally, the wavenumber which influence the dating of documents are mostly focused on cellulose and inorganic components.

System barriers to effective healthcare engagement and navigation contribute to healthcare disparities among Latino children with immigrant parents in the US. We evaluated a nine-minute educational video supporting healthcare navigation and engagement skills of Spanish-speaking Latino parents of infants. Participants viewed the video at their child’s 2-month well-visit, completed a pre-and post-video knowledge evaluation, and answered open-ended questions on video style. A paired t test was used to examine differences in knowledge and open-ended responses were coded using an iterative, consensus-based process. Of the 79 participants, 63.3% had an education level below high school diploma/GED and 84.8% were at risk for limited health literacy. There was a significant gain in healthcare navigation and engagement knowledge after watching the video (p

In the United States and other Western countries, dry needling has been a topic in academic and legal fields. This White Paper is to provide the authoritative information of dry needling versus acupuncture to academic scholars, healthcare professionals, administrators, policymakers, and the general public by providing the authoritative evidence and expertise regarding critical issues of dry needling and reaching a consensus. We conclude that Dr. Travell, Dr. Gunn, Dr. Baldry and others who have promoted dry needling by simply rebranding (1) acupuncture as dry needling and (2) acupuncture points as trigger points (dry needling points). Dry needling simply using English biomedical terms (especially using "fascia" hypothesis) in replace of their equivalent Chinese medical terms. Dry needling is an over-simplified version of acupuncture derived from traditional Chinese acupuncture except for emphasis on biomedical language when treating neuromuscularskeletal pain (dry needling promoters redefined it as "myofascial pain"). Trigger points belong to the category of Ashi acupuncture points in traditional Chinese acupuncture, and they are not a new discovery. By applying acupuncture points, dry needling is actually trigger point acupuncture, an invasive therapy (a surgical procedure) instead of manual therapy. Dr. Travell admitted to the general public that dry needling is acupuncture, and acupuncture professionals practice dry needling as acupuncture therapy and there are several criteria in acupuncture profession to locate trigger points as acupuncture points. Among acupuncture schools, dry needling practitioners emphasize acupuncture's local responses while other acupuncturists pay attention to the responses of both local, distal, and whole body responses. For patients' safety, dry needling practitioners should meet standards required for licensed acupuncturists and physicians.

BackgroundHealth information systems are crucial to provide data for decision-making and demand for data is constantly growing. However, the link between data and decisions is not always rational or linear and the management of data ends up overloading frontline health workers, which may compromise quality of healthcare delivery. Despite limited evidence, there is an increasing push for the digitalization of health information systems, which poses enormous challenges, particularly in remote, rural settings in low- and middle-income countries. Paper-based tools will continue to be used in combination with digital solutions and this calls for efforts to make them more responsive to local needs. Paper-based Health Information Systems in Comprehensive Care (PHISICC) is a transdisciplinary, multi-country research initiative to create and test innovative paper-based health information systems in three sub-Saharan African countries.Methods/DesignThe PHISICC initiative is being carried out in remote, rural settings in Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Nigeria through partnership with ministries of health and research institutions. We began with research syntheses to acquire the most up-to-date knowledge on health information systems. These were coupled with fieldwork in the three countries to understand the current design, patterns and contexts of use, and healthcare worker perspectives. Frontline health workers, with designers and researchers, used co-creation methods to produce the new PHISICC tools. This suite of tools is being tested in the three countries in three cluster-randomized controlled trials. Throughout the project, we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders and have maintained the highest scientific standards to ensure that results are relevant to the realities in the three countries.DiscussionWe have deployed a comprehensive research approach to ensure the robustness and future policy uptake of findings. Besides the innovative PHISICC paper-based tools, our process is in itself innovative. Rather than emphasizing the technical dimensions of data management, we focused instead on frontline health workers’ data use and decision-making. By tackling the whole scope of primary healthcare areas rather than a subset of them, we have developed an entirely new design and visual language for a suite of tools across healthcare areas. The initiative is being tested in remote, rural areas where the most vulnerable live.

The early diagnosis of active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a significant barrier to the treatment of the disease and to preventing the associated significant morbidity and mortality seen, worldwide. Current testing is delayed due to the high cost, long turnaround times and high expertise needed in centralised diagnostic laboratories. Here we demonstrate a user-friendly, low-cost pan-genotypic assay, based upon reverse transcriptase loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). We developed a prototype device for point-of-care use, comprising a LAMP amplification chamber and lateral flow nucleic acid detection strips, giving a visually-read, user-friendly result in, Current HCV nucleic acid-based diagnosis is largely performed in centralised laboratories. Here, the authors present a pan-genotypic RNA assay, based on reverse transcriptase loop mediated isothermal amplification and develop a low-cost prototype paper-based lateral flow device for point-of-care use, providing a visually read result within 40 min.

The disposal of paper mill sludge through anaerobic digestion (AD) combined pyrolysis was investigated. Two paper mill sludge samples, both with very low lower heating values (LHV) were adopted to compare the energy balance change in the disposal process; and the influence of AD step on the characteristics of chars, including their LHVs, specific area, heavy metal stabilisation, and so on was also studied. The experimental results showed that the biogas (methane) generated from AD step can help to improve energy balance in the pyrolysis processes. As a result, the energy balance for paper mill sludge pyrolysis disposal changed from being in deficit to in surplus when AD step was combined for the sludge of relatively low LHV; or the energy surplus increased. Both the micropore surface area and the LHV of chars decreased. The nutrient elements like P and K in the sludges were partially lost into the AD liquids. But the heavy metals in the chars from the digested sludges were found to be similarly stable to those from the raw sludges when subject to leaching. In general AD combined pyrolysis is proved to be a valid method to dispose paper mill sludge with very low LHV.

Organic Loading Rate (OLR) effect on the performance of Modified Anaerobic Hybrid Baffled (MAHB) bioreactor treating recycled paper mill effluent (RPME) was investigated in this present study. The MAHB reactor is operated with a range of OLR of 0.14–4.00 gm COD/lit/day by varying the influent Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentration of 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 mg/lit and Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 1, 3, 5 and 7 days. From the experiment, it was found that the reactor performance decrease when OLRs increase. Highest specific methane yield is 8.47 lit CH4/day with OLR of 1.33 gm COD/lit/day. The highest methane content achieved is 91.63 % from total of 6.43 lit biogas/day at a range pH of 6.6–7.5. Effluent Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) was below 35 mg/lit HOAC throughout the experiment while alkalinity where fluctuated at low OLR and slightly stable as the OLR increases. Higher OLRs of 2.0 to 3.0 gm COD/lit/day results in addition of inorganics in the reactor causing destabilization of the reactor and process failure, and thereby significantly affect the reactor performance in terms of organic removal. The OLR of 1.33 gm COD/lit/day was found to be optimum for MAHB reactor for the effective treatment of RPME both in terms of specific methane yield and COD removals.

Recently, a group of researchers conducted experimental studies on the high-temperature oxidation behaviour of Si-containing steels and published a series of papers in several international journals. Many of the research “findings” in these papers were inconsistent and contradictory with previous results. Based on the different findings, it was claimed that they arrived at “new insights” to the oxidation behaviour of Si-containing steels and discovered a “new method” to reduce the oxide scale amount generated during reheating of Si-containing steels. After examining the experimental methods used, it was revealed that most of the “new findings” were likely the direct consequence of the use of a very low gas flow rate (30 mL/min) in their experiments. This resulted in an extremely low oxygen supply rate when the oxygen concentration in the experimental gas was low, which in turn limited the reaction rate that could be possibly achieved by gas–steel reaction if abundant gas had been made available. The kinetics results and scale thickness/structures thus produced were therefore misleading, which also led to the erroneous interpretation of the results. This paper comments on the main results presented in these papers and briefly discuss several fundamental issues related to the design of steel oxidation experiments.

Scientific papers submitted for publication from U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-funded research projects are an innovative output that has yet to be studied systematically. Using a knowledge production framework, we identify empirically covariates with the number of scientific papers resulting from SBIR projects over the period 1992 through 2001. We find empirically that when the firm involves a university in its funded project, more scientific papers result. When the form of university involvement is taken into account, we find the greatest impact on the output of scientific papers comes from the inclusion of an individual from the university who originally developed the technology being pursued by the firm in its SBIR project. In other words, the project-specific technical human capital knowledge from the university that spills over to the firm’s project begets (i.e., brings about) additional knowledge in the form of scientific papers submitted for publication.

Paper transistors are indispensable devices for paper-based electronic biosensing systems. Existing paper transistors mainly use paper as a mechanical support in a passive fashion. By taking advantage of the cellulose fibers in paper, here we report a transistor-in-paper where paper is employed as an essential part to allow for low-voltage operation, which addresses the long-standing challenge of high-voltage operation with existing paper transistors. Such a low-threshold voltage is because of the ion gel/cellulose fiber composite dielectric formed by modifying the paper with ion gels. We further developed paper-based inverters as examples of logic gates and an integrated tactile sensing mat based on a transistor array–enabled multiplexing device. The results collectively indicate that the ion gel–modified paper leads to a class of flexible, low-voltage transistors and integrated electronic devices, which hold promise in many applications.